First Steps, Parts I, II, and III (Inactive)

Game Master Akinra

At Malik's warning, Bom draws his longsword.

@Akinra, I take it there is no surprise round?

@Team: Since Bom has the highest AC and the most hitpoints, I'll put him in direct line of fire. If someone thinks their PC would be better suited for that position, feel free to move Bom before combat begins.

As Bom is most likely to take damage, I will greatly appreciate efforts to assist him. M'grul, with your longspear, one option you have is Aid Another from directly behind me. That could be to increase my defense or make it easier for Bom to hit.

Good luck everyone

Baz is ready. Bom, Baz can assist you as well.

There will be a surprise round, just want everyone in place first...

Placed.

If needed: Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

You are each struck by something odd as you notice the group now beginning to block the alley way in front of you.

The halfling in front looks very familiar. You could swear he was masquerading as an ill child at Lady Baltwins.

ROFL

GM, can we get a description of our ambusher? What weapons and armor are they carrying, anyone with holy symbols clearly displayed? etc. Humans, elves, dwarves?

A quick survey of the party ahead of you reveals:

The nearer woman:
Young and lithe, with red hair hanging in ringlets that just brush her shoulders, Deandre doesn’t
appear as dire a threat. She wears a long skirt, embroidered with silver and black thread and a
high-necked woolen blouse.

She carries a dagger and a shortsword on her hip.

The further woman:
Full golden blonde hair frames Halli’s healthy, smiling face, punctuated with steely blue eyes and thick red lips. Halli wears a well-made, green silk dress in the most current fashion with a shimmering black scarf draped across her shoulders. She fidgets with the scarf as she move, a nervous habit perhaps?

A light crossbow is cocked, with bolt loaded, in her left hand, and she has a dagger on her right hip.

The human male:
With a face you could easily forget or miss in a crowd—short-cropped light brown hair, light complexion, and forgettable brown eyes—Larkin wears rumpled worker’s clothing.

Larkin is resting his hand easily on the dagger hanging on his left side, and has a rapier in his right hand.

The halfling male:
With his comical handlebar mustache, Ledford is an easy face to remember, but when madness fills his eyes, he’s a sight one soon wants to put as far from memory as possible.

Ledford, the halfling, has a very large greataxe gripped firmly in both hands, resting across his shoulder.

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Looks like everyone is more or less in place! (Only M'grul remains, and his options are somewhat limited...)
Begin Surprise Round
Each of you, including (to the best of your knowledge) the enemies, have one Standard Action OR one Move Action for the Surprise Round. Remember: IF your BAB is +1 or higher, you may draw a weapon as part of a Move Action. Charging is a Standard Action for the Surprise Round. (No idea why) but you CANNOT draw a weapon on the special charge (without the Quickdraw feat), and can only move your normal move, not double. You still need 10 feet...

Marlowe draws his whip & rapier preparation for the shenanigans.

unable to get on the map from my current location - can someone plonk me down? I go last in any case

Stullun draws his rapier.

Malik follows Kensington's lead, drawing his morningstar and shield.

"I'll move down and take the fight to them. Archers take your shots now!"

Bom moves down the alley drawing his longsword, crossing in front of Deandre. Not wanting to be so close to the halfling with the greataxe, but close enough to prevent the little man from building up a head of steam.

Baz intones a prayer to Saranae and is briefly enshrouded in holy light.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Cast CLW on self

The group ahead hesitates, then at last, Deandre lets out a shrill whistle. Behind the group of would be ambushers, a strange mist forms. The common folk scatter like leaves in the wind. leaving only your party and the ambushers.

At Deandre's whistle, Ledford leaps into action, taking a step forward, frothing at the mouth, the halfling swings wildly at Bom. To Hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 The mighty swing skitters across Bom's armor, narrowly missing drawing blood.

Seeing Bom in front of his fearless leader, Larkin attempts to tumble past Bom in order to get into a better position. Acrobatics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14, failing to avoid the ranger. Bom, you have an AoO against the clumsy rogue.

Halli seeing her allies in trouble points her hand at Bom, and lets loose a blast of acid. To Hit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7 The bolt goes wide, sizzling and sputtering against the wall next to Bom.

Not a fool, the ring leader takes a step back and casts a spell, a brief translucent shell forms around her, then fades.

Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Larkin, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, -->M'Grul

Bom takes his swing at the slippery Larkin

Longsword Attack vs Larkin: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

and tries to figure out the spell cast by Deandre
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

"We've got some sort of cleric in the back, she just cast Shield of Faith. But someone take out the one I have just wounded!"

One of the most critical lessons of combat was to focus one's attacks on the same target. The quicker you eliminated a target, the quicker one gained a tactical advantage. The worse thing a group could do was divide up its attacks. Bom was hoping all had been so trained.

Charging up to the front isn't usually his style, but Stullun isn't leaving his good friend Bom alone on the advanced front, plus Larkin appears to be about his speed.

Rapier against Larkin: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Marlowe will move just west of Bom and attempt to attack whoever is just southeast of him.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16, 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

M'grul, as I recall, is in Australia. His posting schedule is the exact opposite of mine. I will update once we hear from him.

M'grul moves forward to get his enemies into his line of sight.

Begin Round 1.

-->Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Larkin, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

Malik waits to see where the battle goes before proceeding with an action.

Delay at least until after Bom

Kensington strikes the rogue, who flinches noticeably. The Cleric waits for an opening.

The enrage halfling tries again to strike out against Bom. 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 Scoring a fearsome hit. 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11, his axe cutting very deeply into Bom's side.

Stullen swings and misses narrowly as he ties to skewer the would be fencer next to him.

Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, ---> Bom, Larkin, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

Bom was worried about the raging halfling and he was worried about that acid shooting caster in the back. Time to call on his friends,

"Malik <pant> I could use some that curative power right about now. M'grul, you have anything that can slow this barbarian down?"

Bom needed to clear the rogue next to him out, but raging barbarians made poor defenders. Bom had to decide if he was going to violate his one rule of ganging up because the halfling would be much easier to hit. Bom decided to give the rogue a face full of spikes first

Shield bash on Larkin: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

And that he did. But Bom couldn't resist the urge to give back to the barbarian and intended to deliver it personally before the day was lost.

Sword Attack on Ledford: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Damage on Ledford: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Bom then took a step forward to put pressure on the brunnet and present a smaller target to the blonde sorcerer. Hopefully she would choose another target.

Bom is down to 1 hit point. If that sorcerer hits me with an acid attack, and she's probably only going to need a roll a 14 with, assuming I get Soft Cover, then I'm down.

Larkin may be dead, so if someone can reach me and heal, I'd appreciate it :)

Bom's shield shatters the teeth of the already unattractive rogue and causes his nose to erupt in a fountain of blood as he collapses to the alley floor, bleeding into the cobblestones.

Ledford takes the blow of the sword unflinchingly even though you can clearly see that the blade has struck bone

Halli laughs and applauds "Well done sir! I bet that really hurt! Did you see the look on his face? That was amazing! Do it again!"

An acid bolt springs from her fingers at Bom as she continues to admire his prowess at causing pain. To Hit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16, barely hitting the warrior. 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 Bom collapses the the alley floor, a large glob is sizzling green acid charring his chest and armor.

"Their warrior is down! The advantage is ours! Press on!" shouts Deandre.

To Hit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Halli, ---> Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

[OOC]Edit: Meh! Precise shot.[/Dice]

Actually, I think Bom is still down. Does she have Precise Shot? If not, then she does miss. If she has it, my touch AC is only 12 and even with Soft Cover, she does hit.

I think Malik has a move after Bom as he Delayed.

Sadly she has precise and point blank, so she hits exactly on the nose. On the bright side, your cleric as holding action until after you, and you opened a space behind you for him to use as needed. Unfortunately, it will draw an AoO from Ledford unless cast on the defensive.

At this point, I might be better of remaining down. Even if Malik heals me for max, I'm only at 4 hit points. Ledford could kill me with one shot. Still, Ledford would have to hit and if M'grul could Daze him or Kensington could kill him before he attacked, I might survive.

Baz draws his longbow, praying to Saranae, asking her to pass judgement of his foes. He draws back and fire at Halli.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Pronounce Judgement of Sacred Destruction (+1 to damage)

Deandre, heartened by the turn of the battle, moves quickly to maximize her groups potential, trying to set up flanking.

Acrobatics: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9
Stullun and Kensington, if your CMD is equal to or greater than 9, take an AoO against Deandre

Malik noting the chaos, and realizing there is little he can do for Bom at the moment, quickly glances over his wounds from afar making sure to take note of his status.

Heal Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Realizing Bom still has some life left in him Malik moves up and saying a prayer to Abadar he is infused with magic.

Casting Guidance

I'll go ahead and roll my stabilize checks now to see how long and if I stabilize

Stabilize vs DC 15: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7, Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Sorry for the brief post...traveling. Regular posting schedule starting tomorrow night.

Stullun v. Deandre: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Stullun's rapier strikes clean and true, slicing through the magical shield and armor only to be stopped short by some mysterious force.

Having wasted her movement in an attempt to pass the two fighters, Deandre grimaces, and an identical image of her forms. Treat as Mirror Image with one image.

Malik utters a short incantation, Will: Ledford: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 and the halfling berserker freezes, dazed.

---> Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

As Kensington is travelling:Kensington takes a five foot step east, and lashes out at the stunned barbarian, To Hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6, causing a brief flash of fear to light up the barbarians face a moment before he crumples to the ground.

Kensington, ---> Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

Since Malik Delayed, his move now comes after where Bom's would have been, in which case Stullun is up

Stullen calls out to Kensington, "Now that we gotten the halfling, we need to get to the sorcerer in the back. If she strikes at then someone else will be able to move past her."

Stullun attempts to tumble and avoid a parting shot as he snakes around the woman in front of him.

Acrobatics to Avoid AoO: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

If Deandre swings at Stullun and hits, Stullun will still move to get in front of Halli, Stullun will call out to Malik to follow him so that Deandre can't flank him. Assuming Stullun is not killed by Deandre's AoO he attacks Halli

Attack on Halli: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Malik, Stullun will need you to get behind him so he can't get flanked. Deandre probably only gets one AoO so you're free to move past her without provoking and AoO and strike her from the back.

Deandre AoO: Stullun: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Deandre swings at Stullun, but her shortsword fails to penetrate half-orc's armor. The rogue makes his way to the sorceress, and lashes out, connecting and drawing blood. The sorceress seems so enraptured with the goings on of the combat, she hardly notices, laughing giddily.

Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, --->Malik, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

Malik moves up behind Stullen to cover his back and takes a swing at Deandre.

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Enraptured by the chaos around her, Halli doesn't think twice about failing to step back as she begins casting Color Spray.

AoO: Stullun: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Surprised by the lack of care the woman exhibits, Stullus's attack is halting, and fails to connect.

"No! You idiot! Nooooooo!" the cleric exclaims as she notes the spell about to be cast by the sorceress.

A rainbow of color leaps from the Sorceress' fingers, causing her giddy laughter to grow more intense. As Stullun collapses to the ground, Halli hops up and down, clapping. Clearly she is very proud of herself.

"Look, boss! I got another one! Two for me, none for you! Ha Ha!" a look of horror briefly crosses her face as the insane sorceress realizes Deandre has also collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

EDIT:OOPS! I didn't include Kensington!

Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Malik, Halli, ---> Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

Bazresh strides forward, praying to Sarane. He points at Halli as he prays and stops in front of Deandre.

Casts Daze DC 13 and switch Judgement to Fast Healing for 1 hp this round.

Halli Will Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7 The Inquisitor steps up to Deandre, his spell seems to halt Halli cold. Sensing the momentum drastically switching in their favor, M'grul advances to just behind Bazresh, and draws his Longspear.

---> Kensington, Malik, Ledford, Stullun, Bom, Malik, Halli, Bazresh, Deandre, M'Grul

As an FYI to Malik and Kensington, I think Stullun is unconscious on the ground so his space in front of Halli is clear. Since she's dazed, she won't get any AoO's... I smell dual flanks :)

Marlowe moves to the far side of Halli and readies an attack until after Malik's action.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12, damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Add +2 to attack if Malik moves to flank.

Malik steps to the side to swing at the caster who has caused a lot of the problems so far this fight.

Attack w/Guidance & Flank: 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 1 + 2 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Malik and Kensington flank the poor sorceress, and together manage to put her down. M'grul levels his spear at the unconsious woman, and with care and precision, performs a Coup de Grace.

Damage: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (7, 5, 1) + 6 = 19

The would be bandit leader convulses and spasms as M'grul drives his spear through the cleric's eye. Of a certainty, she is no more.

Those with Profession or Craft skill(s) please roll in the Gameplay if you want to work on your Day Job with a brief description of what you do for a living!

My notes say Malik and Bom are rebuilding, anything else you want noted? Starting on Chronicles tonight. Will have posted as soon as I hear back from everyone regarding day jobs, exploration remaining, and turn ins.

After the brutal fight Malik takes the opportunity to heal up the party before they continue their trek back to the societies headquarters to report the completion of their tasks. After a long day of errands and the brutal ambush Malik was looking forward to getting some rest!

Malik would be sure to report back about the orphanage, and getting Baltwin assistance.

Day job - Faith Healer: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Malik spends time with the church, following the tenants of Abadar, using his skills of healing to get money for the church and himself.

As you scour the corpses, you come across several useful and interesting items.

Of particular note worthiness, you find an elixir of hiding on the corpse of the rogue. A potion of cure light wounds on the barbarian. You also find two potions of cure light wounds, a scroll of burning hands, a scroll of mage armor, a scroll of obscuring mist, scroll of shield, a scroll of unseen servant, a wand of disguise self (5 charges) on the corpse of the sorceress. The ringleader is carrying a potion of cure light wounds, and a potion of shield of faith.

In addition, you manage to locate two masterwork chain shirts, a short sword, dagger, a gray mask, an unholy symbol, dagger, a light crossbow with 20 bolts, a fan of pigeon feathers, a normal chain shirt, one rapier, a dagger, a notebook of jokes, a ink, a quill, a small hand puppet representing Lord Gyr, a block of wax in a metal tin, a fine comb with a long handle, and a bottle of whiskey with four silver cups.

Of particular import, the sorceress has a small blue leather pouch containing hundreds of not thousands of fingernail clippings! Extra nails for everyone!

Arriving back at the Lodge, you turn over all the items you managed to collect. Please remove the flasks of acid and alchemist's fire, masterwork thieves tools, powder, etc. you may have gathered from your character's sheet.

Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin assures you, "I promise you that not every mission will be simple errands for me about Absalom. I have word from all four of my contacts, and you performed admirably. I am supposed to ridicule you a little about feeling blue at the Sapphire Sage's, but considering you completed the other tasks, I will let that slide. Here is your pay. You should know that others have noticed your success as well, for good or bad."

You each receive the princely sum of 417 gold pieces!

You also each receive 2 Prestige Points.