GM Shady's Legacy of Eagles (Inactive)

Game Master shady18

Harry looks back at the fop and broadcasts on the secure channel "Are you insane? Don't you realize how powerful he is?"

Considering this is all happening before initiative, can I change my action? I don't want to waste a turn activating Chain Lightning if the enemies are already visible and within running distance.

Eoten looks down toward his erstwhile companions as if looking upon them with fresh eyes, then in his rumbling voice answers Challenger;

"Us insane? Feh. It is this Protector that is beset by madness..."

The brutish giant casts his baleful gaze toward the disembarking soldiers and their lighting emblemed leader;

"Yon enemies need to be dispatched before we can test ourselves on the lunatic! I will bury them in a barrow of stone and gravel!"

Eoten stoops, huge hands seeking to tear into the ground next him...

Eoten's initial plan will be to tear a huge chunk of the tarmac up ready to be thrown at their foes - subtle he is not.

Lightning Blade laughs heartily.

"Eoten, you've got the right attitude! I can disarm the pistol guy, then you crush him and his friends!"

Great, it's not just rooks- it's crazy rooks. Good thing I'm built like a tank now. I might survive.

back to the radio
Yes, probably best to stop the riff raff and then either focus on Protector or hope he ignores us. I don't think we're ready to handle him first time out.

Things rapidly descending into chaos, Grace tries to force herself into some form of action. The "blue team" was to be kept from Protector -- and why is he in costume? I thought he was a prisoner? -- so she plans to jump forward to get between the bandits and their goal.

"I'll try to get in their way, slow'em down," Gracie says over the comm.

I just wish I had taken Well-Informed.

I just wish I had taken Well-Informed.

Worth checking with Shady if you still can - we're in our game infancy so my thought would be to pitch a change now if you think it has merit?

Initiative, finally:

Eoten: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (15) + 0 = 15
Lightning Blade: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19
Spellbound: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Challenger: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Gracie: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Longbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Bandit Leader: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Bandit Soldiers: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Protector: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29
DICE Agents (Chinook): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Blue (Bandit) truck: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

PCs in the same initiative group can post in any order within that group. I'll usually resolve in the order they post. If you already posted an action, let me know if you would like to change it or use it. Feel free to post dialogue out of turn.

So order is as follows (groups are enclosed by braces - {}): Protector, Bandit truck, { Lightning, Gracie, Challenger }, Bandit Soldiers, { Eoten, Longbow, Spellbound }, DICE Agents, Bandit Leader.

I will post the Protector/Truck moves in a second, as a separate post.

The man referred to as Protector zooms into the sky, his expression taut but inscrutable. He reaches a certain point, then stops, allows himself to fall until he is hovering about 100 feet in the air, observing the situation.

Protector takes no other action this turn ...

Along the spine of the blue truck, two further openings appear, and another two cannons rise into place, while from the back of the truck, another individual appears, a masked woman dressed in some kind of black leotard.

Another initiative throw:
Female Bandit: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
She'll take no further action for this round but will act in future rounds at the same time as the bandit soldiers.

The first cannon at the top of the blue truck fires at the smouldering remains of the white truck ...

... somehow contriving to miss completely.

Lightning, Gracie and Challenger are now up.

"We need to deal with those cannons!" shouts Longbow.

"Right. So, how many of you can fly?"

Challenger will move up to the truck and attempt to flip it on top which should put the cannon into the ground.

(assume this is a grab, he should be strong enough to lift the truck. )
to hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

A new voice, a female, joins the conversation over the comm:

"This is Delta 20 Agent Danzy, speaking from November Kilo. The Tantalus system has identified the antagonists: Jeff Anderson, AKA Protector we know about; the other two enhanced are Johann Westerhaus, AKA Frostorm, and Mai Lee Noh, AKA Python. Both minor players but they've never had access to this level of tech before. And the other bandits aren't wearing insignia."

The attack hits but the truck passes its resistance check.

The blue truck slams into reverse before Challenger can exert his strength against it. It pulls away from his grip.

BTW, had to be the case the first action would be a grab, wouldn't it? Never really understood the 3e grab rules but think it's correct to run a STR resistance check.

Yes, the first action was a grab, which is why I used +4 instead of +10 which is my normal melee attack bonus. I believe you did it right as my grab resistance DC should be 25.

Assuming they're all within 60 feet of each other...

Lightning Blade dashes toward the bandits and truck, as his rapier starts to glow and hum with energy.

"You DARE to oppose me, when the very wrath of the GODS resides in my blade?!"

Then he unleashes a massive blast of electricity, enshrouding everyone within 60 feet of him (though somehow avoiding all of his allies).

Rank 6 electricity damage (DC 21) on all the enemies on the ground. A successful Dodge check (DC 16) reduces the damage rank to 3 (DC 18).

Yes, grab is resisted with Strength (unless you have the feat that lets you use Dexterity instead). What isn't clear to me is if you have an overall bonus to close combat (via ranks in the advantage) if that applies to grab, or if you have to buy up bonuses to grab with a skill only. That's actually one thing I failed to address in Gracie's build.

"If Protector's out, why are they still attacking the white truck?" Gracie says over the comm, while trying to think of an answer to her own question:

Insight: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

But she really has no idea.

Still, there's no point in staying between the bad guys and Protector if he's flying in the air, so she jumps on top of the blue truck (leaping--up to 120 ft.) and tries to tear off one of the cannons.

I am not sure if the cannon is considered "worn or held by another character" or a freestanding inanimate object, so I'll check for both:

Eoten grins, thick hands tearing into the ground below him.

"Sod and earth, myne weapons be..."

The brute ripping free a massive chunk of earth and tarmac (Rank 7 - 3 tons)

Do I need a STR check? Eoten can handle 200 tons, so 3 should be easy, but tearing it up less so??

He watches as his companions swarm onto the foes and their blue locomotion, then warily eyes the superhuman hovering some 100ft above them.

"Steadfast companions put down these reaving wolves! Yonder mad dog to heel shall I bring!"

Eoten's initial plan is to launch this at the blue truck - should his allies fail to stop the artillery or chuck it at Protector if he begins to go on the offensive or attempts to flee...

@LB yes they are all starting off from behind the truck, I'll assume within 60 feet; your attack however has no effect on the truck itself. To be clear, both trucks are about the size of large petrol/gasoline vehicles (which is about 60ft), but one - as you're finding out - is heavily armoured and armed.

With a loud CRAKKK, Lightning Blade's sword thrust causes an electrical tremor through the surrounding ground; around half the enemy combatants hold in place for a second as they experience the lightning's surge. Some of them hang in place for slightly longer, and are left standing somewhat unsteadily by the effect.

Let me know if this becomes too difficult without a map and I will try to come up with one. Assume the enemy is clustered, at this point, at the back of the truck from which they've just emerged. Python and enemy soldiers A, B and C are spreading out at 10 foot intervals to the left (as you face, so their right) along from the back of the enemy truck, with Python on the far left. Frostorm and D, E and F are on the right side, getting into position in similar intervals on the right, with Frostorm on the far right. I know this means >60 ft but they aren't in position yet - they will be by next round.

Protector is about 200ft up in the air, 400ft to the far right (as you face) and level with the white truck. The helicopter is about half a mile away in the same direction.

The heroes' starting position is spread out in front of the white truck.

As a result of LB's electrical attack: enemy soldier D is at -1 cumulative; Python and A are -1 dazed; B and E are -1 staggered.

@Gracie: finishing blow.

Gracie leaps onto the truck and pounds at one of the cannons, bending it into uselessness, without quite shattering it.

@Eoten: I'll assume you don't need a separate check and that this is a readied action. But note: if you throw the rock at the blue truck this turn, Gracie is standing on top of it.

The enemy soldiers move next. I'll put that in a separate post

The knock-on effect of the shocks is to break up the smooth movement of the enemy troops into what seems to have been their planned position. On the left side (facing the heroes) Python and her contingent all cluster relatively near the blue truck. On the right side, two of the soldiers are in a similar group.

So Python, A, B and C are basically stood together; on the other side D and E are stood together; F has moved into his position about 20 feet away from D and E; Frostorm is still moving.

Now aware of the heroes, and of the potential disruption to their master plan, the enemy chooses to target the more immediate threat. The soldiers all unshoulder their weapons, drop to their knees and fire, the PANG PANG PANG of automatic ammunition fire echoing in the air.

A Attack on Challenger: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
B Attack on Challenger: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
C Attack on Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
D Attack on Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
E Attack on Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
F Attack on Spellbound: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Damage is multi-attack 5, so if successful, increase the resistance check by +2 for 2 degrees of success and +5 for three or more.

Will wait for resolution of damage before next moves.

With Dodge 10, the attacks won't even hit Spellbound.

Damage is 5, I have impervious toughness 16, so I ignore attacks before 8, so it all bounces off.

You can throw the rock at Gracie, Eoten. She'll deal. :)

@ Gracie: Haha. Know she will, but won't do much for inter-team relations lol...

@GM-Shady: Roger that. Will belay chucking anything anywhere until Eoten's initiative group comes up next

She would actually be happy you were confident she could handle it.

So wait, shouldn't the normal soldiers all be incapacitated from my lightning? Minions suffer the worst degree of any effect they fail to resist.

Or are you telling me these nondescript gunners are not minions?

@LB - sorry, you're right, my mistake. I'll have them drop before their next turn.

Sorry, looks like Paizo ate my toughness roll post.

Toughness Roll #1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Number 2 missed
Toughness Roll #1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

OK, E should have gone down, per LB's correction, so am ignoring anyhow. Which leaves C ... 20-11 = 9, Dazed -1.

Longbow takes a slug in the shoulder from one the rifles, as several of the soldiers totter and fall.

Only C and F are still standing, plus the super-villains. The remaining heroes - Eoten, Longbow, Spellbound are up.

Longbow will fire an arrow into C:

Attack Roll (with power attack): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

The Damage Rank is 23. If he drops, I will use takedown to shoot F

Attack Roll (with power attack): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

If he drops, I will shoot Python.

Attack Roll (with power attack): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Regardless of how my attacks turn out, I'll be doing the following once the shooting is done.

Longbow moves into the shadows of the predawn light and fades from view.

Stealth check with Hide in Plain Sight: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (15) + 18 = 33

Eoten bellows his challenge as he launches the massive chunk of rock toward Python an her cohorts near the blue truck;

"Fie! Hide under this rock I gift thee vípere and thīn most griggish lackeys!"

Throw (Rock/Debris): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Damage Rank: 19

Very likely above is a wayward throw? :S

Regardless once he has thrown his lump of real estate, Eoten will close distance, moving toward the nearest foe

Spellbound lets fly an eldritch bolt at Frostorm.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 (DC 27)

Longbow's arrow hits the first soldier, taking him down; Longbow reaches for another arrow, quickly draws and hits the last standing soldier, with the same effect. His third arrow is also a hit, Python rocks again with the impact of the hit, looking somewhat punch drunk, as Eoten's boulder flies in her direction.

Python is staggered, -2[/dice]

Luckily for her, the rock misses the entire enemy group, landing with a loud SMASH in the ground behind. Similarly, Spellbound's bolt hits several yards from Frostorm, spreading sparks along the ground.

Fowlds' voice comes over the comm: "Golf Hotel One, good job so far. Asset Zero seems confused; our intention is to watch for next steps - November Kilo does not possess enough armaments to bring him down."

A pause, then Fowlds' voice again: "Similarly we will not engage the bandit vehicle; we have no idea what will happen if we blow it up. Suggest you mop up the remaining hostiles and then see if we can talk Protector down."

The man in the white suit with the blue bolt, identified as Frostorm, shouts something at Python, then aims his gun at ...

... Lightning Blade.

Frostorm Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

A bolt of - what? - some kind of freeze ray - zings past Lightning Blade's head, the speedster's enhanced abilities easily allowing him to judge the attack and to take evasive action.

New round.

The being known as Protector hangs in the air, seemingly disinclined to act for either side. He seems to be saying something, over and over again.

Finally, and meanwhile, the blue truck's two remaining cannons retrain on the DICE helicopter.

Two rockets fire from the cannons, while the helicopter swerves to dodge. A scream of "Incoming, incoming, two bogies," pierces the comm. Both rockets hit the helicopter on its port side; November Kilo's swerve contrives to make the first a glancing blow, so that the explosion happens slightly away from the vehicle. The blow is enough, however, to fatally alter its course. A further scream, many screams, inchoate, echo over the comm as the second rocket scores a direct hit and explodes; almost in slow motion, it seems, the helicopter falls from the sky, an expanding ball of flame, framing the still oblivious form of the metahuman formerly known as Protector, as a silhouette against the fire.

The helicopter hits the ground with a sickening crash, and explodes again, the two main rotors spinning off at different angles as the flaming hulk sinks into the ground.

The comm goes dead.

"Well, that's not good," Spellbound says into her comm.

The comm's no longer working.

Would it be possible for Challenger to use his built in radio to take over for the com system?

Shady, can we see inside the blue truck to see who is firing the cannons? If not, where are the points of access? I assume cabin door and rear, but if it's a military vehicle I am not sure.

@Challenger: no - otherwise there would have been no reason for them to put themselves in harm's way.

@Gracie - you can't see, there's a conventional-looking cab with darkened windows and a rear access door.

Okay, here's a question: I have the Interpose advantage. Here is the description:

Once per round, when an ally within range of your normal movement is hit by an attack, you can choose to place yourself between the attacker and your ally as a reaction, making you the target of the attack instead. The attack hits you rather than your ally, and you suffer the effects normally. You cannot use this advantage against area effects or perception range attacks, only those requiring an attack check.

Could Gracie try to interpose herself between the cannons and the helicopter? They seem to be targeted, requiring attack rolls, not area effects. It's a reactive action, not something you do on your turn, and she didn't already use the ability this round. She's right next to the cannons so she could easily jump right in front of the barrels.

Let me know if I can. I assume it'd hit, and I can roll a Toughness save.

Eoten bellows in frustration as his earthen missile overshoots by some distance.

Then as communicated screams, then crackling static fill the ether, the brute scowls and grunts, ripping the earpiece free before crushing it into a final silence;

”Gaaah! Like a hornet inside my head; I’ll not abide such keening whilst feohtan! ”

Okay, here's a question: I have the Interpose advantage ... Could Gracie try to interpose herself between the cannons and the helicopter? They seem to be targeted, requiring attack rolls, not area effects. It's a reactive action, not something you do on your turn, and she didn't already use the ability this round. She's right next to the cannons so she could easily jump right in front of the barrels.

Let me know if I can. I assume it'd hit, and I can roll a Toughness save.

No, I think it's too much of a retcon. I need to bear it in mind in future though.

"Okay, now I'm angry. En garde!"

Lightning Blade dashes toward Frostorm and unleashes a blinding flurry of stabs.

Stabstabstab: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Welp. If that somehow hits, DC 24.

When the cannons rotate, Gracie instinctively drops and they fire over her head. Looking on in horror as they strike the helicopter as a frightening silence replaces the comm static, she resolves to not let anything like that happen again. Standing up again, she works to destroy the remaining cannons, as they clearly are doing more damage than anyone else involved in the fight.

Attack Object-Finishing Blow for Auto-Crit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
DC 25

She also prepares herself to be ready to jump in front of anyone else who may get hurt by the bandits. So she is on the alert to Interpose: if she doesn't destroy the cannons, her priority is to protect anyone from cannon fire. If she does, then the next person within range of her that she can protect.

Frostorm laughs as he dodges Lightning Blade's jabs. "You'll have to do better than that!" he snarls.

Gracie's efforts, meanwhile, are enough to once more break one of the enemy truck's cannons, leaving one still functional.

Challenger is up.

Challenger will jump onto the truck and try to break the other cannon.

to hit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23 DC 25 toughness

Challenger's fist pounds down, smashing the last of the cannons into smithereens.

Python's move. Going through the heroes, Challenger and Gracie are on the blue truck; LB is the other side of the blue truck with Frostorm; Eoten and Spellbound are attacking from distance and Longbow is in stealth. Python is staggered for at least a minute so has limited options.

Python, still slightly out of it and unable to close in combat with the others, picks up the gun of one of the fallen soldiers.

Eoten, Spellbound and Longbow are up.

Bereft of the crackling screams in his ear, Eoten turns his focus back to the chaotic scene of battle before him.

The giant barrels toward Python, his quick strides covering the ground easily. (Movement 60ft).

Looming above the staggering woman he bellows a warning:

"Foolish cwénn of the East! Yield now!"

Intimidate (Demoralize): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Python looks up at the giant towering over her, and grins. "Get lost."

Edit to the above - just noticed Intimidate should have been +13 not +3 (!!!) for 17 total. Didn't change result but lesson learned - don't try and compose posts whilst taking work call!