Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

"Ah, yes. Sir Edwin. The murdering scum who thinks he's still a high-and-mighty noble officer." Blackerly's voice is amused. "Well, let me think about this. I can let six evil criminal monsters loose on the kingdom. Or I can try to rescue my commander, good Warden Richter here. Hmm..."

Edmin pokes the warden lightly in the throat with the knife and whispers in her ear, "Now would be the time to poor it on."

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

The arrow slits are much too small even for Bref. He might be able to wiggle through a murder hole -- but they're 15' overhead.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Bref hears footsteps overhead.

"Damn you, Blackerly, are you mad? Do as they say! Do you have any idea what my family will do to you if I'm killed?"

need botting DMDM for a while

Edmin begins to drag the warden to the door out and puts his back against it.
"How will this look for you sergeant? The state of this prison? A dead warden? The things that have been going on here? I think it is in everyone's best interest for us just to leave."

The door to the outside opens inward. (Reasonably enough -- this was a fortress once). To open it, you'd need to pull on it.

Edmin grins and attempts to open the door.

"Oh, Warden. Blackerly's voice is concerned. You must be under the influence of some kind of demon spell!"

"What the HELL are you talking about, Blackerly?" The 'Warden' raises his voice to a scream. "These criminals are going to KILL ME! You MUST do as they say!"

"Yeah, Sarge, what if they --"

"Shut up!" Blackerly snaps. "You damn fool, don't you know about demon magic? Those fiends can steal your senses and speak with your voice. You know the Warden would never tell us to turn away from our duty. No," (and his voices drops low, becoming mournful)"poor Warden Richter is being controlled by these monsters. We can't take anything he says seriously."

Sir Edmin pulls on the handle of the door to the outside. It swings inward, opening easily.

Outside, a very solid-looking iron portcullis blocks your path to freedom. The bars are set so close together that even Bref would have difficulty wiggling through. For the rest of you, it's clearly impossible.

"Oh, did I leave the door locked?" You can hear the smirk in Blackerly's voice. "No, my clever clever criminals. You won't be leaving that way tonight."

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

The Judge moves over to Edmin and whispers to him: Based upon his snide voice, we are about to be attacked, he does not care about the Warden. After all, if the Warden dies, all the embezzlement that Blackerly has done will be blamed on the Warden. The result could not be better for Blackerly. In about a minute we will have guards dumping oil from above while guards come through that door and others fire through the arrow slits. It is time to use that window and go through the wall to where Blackerly is.

We take the fight to them.

Edmin nods at the judge, "Let's finish this."

Blackerly chuckles. "Now, my criminal friends, time for a counter-offer. Go and stand over by that wall, and we'll shoot you, nice and clean. I promise it's a better offer than you'll get from the royal executioners when they come through here.

There's a pounding on the small door to the south -- the one that you came through. "Sergeant? What's going on?"

Blackerly raises his voice"Attempted escape, boys! We got 'em cornered in here! Knock that door down and let's finish them off!"

Init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Round 1 will be to go through the window to where Blackerly is and give every one my team work feat for ex 1d6 when flanking

Who has the "window" at this point? Edmin or Jax or Cy? Pretty sure that neither I nor Bref do.

The Judge takes the viel from whoever has it and walks quickly over to the wall by where Blackerly's voice is coming from. Morsum follows him. The Judge turns and smiles at Edmin before ripping the window panel from the veil and placing it against the wall a few feet from Blackerly.

Time for some fun boys.

Assuming a opening is created, Morsum charges through and attacks the closest guard, preferably someone with a bow aimed toward the entry - or Blackerly if he is nearby.

Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Init Morsum: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

The Judge will step aside and allow the others to enter the room before following - since he has a low Init, he will then step into the room and attempt to shoot someone, or just shoot someone if he can see them.

Judge:
Attack-Crossbow: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17 <-- -4 if the person is in melee, he will try to shoot someone not in melee if possible.

Morsum:
Attack-Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Edmin will utilize his Tactician ability giving everyone the Precise Strike feat for 3 rounds.

Couple of points before we break for the night.

Perception1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Bref looks around the room for anything flammable, prefereably a lantern to break in front of the other door.

Initiative1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 - 1 = 23

You certainly left us with a cliffhanger!

Initiative 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Perception to locate Blackerly 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

DM's requested Initiative so far Bref, Morsum, Cуровую (18/+3), Blackerly (18/+1), Edmin (14/+4), Grumblejack (14/-1), Judge (10/+2), Sober Guards (10/+1), Drunk Guards and waiting on Jax.

Phew, what time zone are you all in, always posting at 11:00 to midnight for me, heh.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

We have no more spells to knock them out, do we Cimu? This isn't going to be pleasant. That one guard said Blackerly is good with a blade. Do we want to take him out first?

Jax will make sure both crossbows he has are loaded and easily accessible. He's going to start with one and use it to fire through the window at Blackerly if possible, otherwise the closest guard. If he goes first, he'll put the window in place instead. 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 71d8 ⇒ 3 afterward he'll drop the crossbow and move through the window after Edwin, Bref and Morsum.

It looks like Bref and Jax go first. If Bref delays just half a step, then Jax can open the window and Bref would be the first one through. That would give us the following Init order: Jax, Bref, Morsum, Cуровую (18/+3), Blackerly (18/+1), Edmin (14/+4), Grumblejack (14/-1), Judge (10/+2), Sober Guards (10/+1), Drunk Guards. Does that work for you?

Works for me, Bref has a high AC and if I hit Blackerly hard I get 1d4+2d6 with the precision ability up, if me and morsum hit him hard, he might just drop

I have to run out for a few hours, but I'll try to get the first round of combat started. Any last words before the balloon goes up?

May The Force BE With Us

DM did any of locate Blackerly outside with Preception, and can we cast a spell through a hole, is that enough line of sight? This would be before combat, while they are getting ready outside.

Is there a side where we can put the window without the guards seeing us immediately?

Blackerly is not trying to conceal himself. However, he's on the other side of a wall, behind arrow slits. So it's a DC 15 Perception check to locate him (i.e., find which square he's in).

I figured that the Judge would slap on the window, either in a surprise round or on his init in Round 1. If that were the case, he would be doing this after the guards/Blackerly went in round 1. You have indicated that these guys do not expect us to pull something like this, so I was hoping for a surprise on it.

I will be around for another 2 hours or so, and then gone for most of the day. Bot me as necessary. Morsum will help with flanking/attacking. Round 1 rolls are posted last night, change the targets as appropriate. Judge will use his crossbow. He has one spell left and will use this to Rejuvenate Morsum the first time that Morsum gets hit. If Morsum appears safe, or gets seriously injured, he will dismiss him and cast Grease or use his Summon Monster ability. He has 6 Summon Monster I uses left and the monsters last for 1 minute, or until killed.

There'll be no surprise -- the guards are reasonably alert and are watching you through the arrow slits. PCs with high Init might be able to catch them flatfooted.

Either the Judge or Jax can put up the window. The Judge is less of a combat character, so it might make sense for him to do it while the rest of the party delays actions until after he goes.

DM just read Pyrotechnics you are right its is a good spell, guys (link) what do you think of this cast before combat? DM, would you consider 'the Warden' getting off one action before because he is actually not considered hostile? And I rolled Perception above, with the group tracking.

Okay, you know where Blackerly is. He's standing a bit back from the wall, just in case one of you tries to rush up to an arrow slit and fling a dagger or something.

I would allow the Warden to do a standard action spell, which would include most of your spells and Pyrotechnics. A full-round spell (like Sleep) I might require some sort of check.

Thank you. That's quite fair. Guys any (hopefully not) last thoughts? Pyrotechnics to blind or cause smoke? Charm to try and get Blackerly or Color Spray as we exit? Lets get this Tpk started. Can't wait for Jade Regent.

Okay, then. What do you want to cast? And, will you cast it before opening the window?

Two notes, if you cast sleep and do not get everyone in the room, those that are awake can wake up the others. Also, it only affects 4 HD. Color Spray would definitely be my choice as the preferred spell.

Cy - hold the spell. It will be much more useful as Color Spray to stop the other guards when they come through the door.

She can't cast Color Spray anyway; you can't cast opposition spells from a bonded object. So it's pretty much Pyro, Sleep, or Charm.

Use Pyrotechnics, I'd say. It allows you to get pretty much every guard out there with that huge range for a few rounds. And then color spray for some of the others during combat.

Thanks for all the input!

-

In the Far North the brisk wind had turned into gale force and a herd of snow white elk run for shelter.

-

Whispers to the group, 'now would be a good time to shield your eyes ...'

'Blackerly you DARE oppose me! I will have your have your presumptuous hide flayed! GUARDS in the name of the King and his justice ARREST BLACKERLY!

Cast Pyrotechnics

Edmin closes his eyes and releases The Warden.

Bref closes his eyes and curls into a ball to avoid the flash.

I assume this is the fireworks version?

Jax will close his eyes as well, a sly smirk crossing his face. Oh, such a beautiful night it is today. Just look at that. He'll be ready to allow the Judge to put the window down first, dashing out after Edwin and Bref to attack Blackerly if possible.

As the smoke sparks, 'Fifty gold coins of the realm and position of Sergeant of the Guard to any who brings me that oaf!' Voice carrying, 'Blackerly this is what happens to those who oppose ME! '

Wait, it's the smoke version?

I assume this is the fireworks version?

Yes please. I was about to roll for duration but realized you may want to roll that.

DC 16 I believe.

When Zimu was a little girl, she discovered that she could make the fire explode! into thousands of beautiful sparks! But people got upset, so they made her stop.

Later, when she started to study magic, she sometimes tested that ability. But always carefully, cautiously. No sense in attracting attention, after all.

Now she reaches out to the fire with her mind -- the stone wall might as well not be there, she can feel the fire -- and she seizes the fire, squeezes it hard, reaches into the Other Place and makes a connection

oh gods of ice and fire it's gotten so much stronger

and then releases it.

The fire explodes.

Peeking ever so slightly

TEE HEE TEE HEE HEE HEE!

Time to slice time to dice
Blackerly's eyes will go well on rice

Don't forget to garnish and add some spice,
Pick him clean, don't leave any for the mice.

My understanding is that the window goes up right after the explosion then we begin at top of initiative

Bref charges through the new window, leaping into blackerly's face, knife in one hand shiv in the other, he dances around to the side of blackerly opening a spot for Morsum

bite1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 - 1 = 14 vs FF for 1d4 + 1d6 + 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (3) + (3) + (4) - 1 = 9

I cannot get a good attack roll to save my frickin life

Bref stares to the sky Tee hee