GM Tektite's The Dragon's Demand (Inactive)

Game Master Hawkwen Agricola

"Maybe we should go back before we explore any more. Get our magic back and tell that druid fellow what we're up to. He might be able to help." Kaelic suggests, shrugging in tiny gnome fashion.

"We just broke the dragon's favorite toy. I don't think I'll sleep well until we finish the job."

We got back our spells and such when we leveled, right? I don't see much purpose in resting now.

You did get back your spells, hit points, and abilities after leveling.

Actions?

New (and final) map

Dagon flips a coin. 1d2 ⇒ 2

"My vote's for east."

"Sounds good. Gnome, you first."

"Why is it always me first?" Kaelic asks, drawing his sword and mace. "Just kidding. That's rhetorical. Of course I'm first."

Stealth: 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 2 + 4 = 20

Heading to the east, you quickly some to 30' high cliff that drops to the main cavern.

"We should probably scout a bit north before we go falling off of any cliffs. Don't you think?"
Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

"Yeah, I'd have to agree there."

"Good idea."

Moving to the north, you follow the long tunnel before entering a large, empty cavern, that has an opening to the east. Following the opening, you descend a short set of stairs to a natural ledge forming a balcony 20 feet over the main cavern. To the northeast you spy the dragon.

1d20 ⇒ 5

Suddenly you hear a booming voice echo across the cavern. "What is this? Who are you? You dare come before the mighty Aeteperax uninvited and soil this lair with your abject disrespect?! Name yourselves so that I might know whose blood will stain my cave!"

"Yo. Mama."

"Szangi, Szangi, Bo-Bangy, Banana-fanna Fo-Fangy... well, you get the idea. Come out and play!"

Move action, study the dragon, in case it's another illusion meant to distract us.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Will to disbelieve: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Kaelic starts casting spells on his insane companions.
How far into the other min/lvl spells are we by now?

Heroism lasts 10 min/level, so should be fine. Did we have anything else?

Bear's on Juma & Prot Evil on me.

I'd say it has only taken a few minutes to get to the cavern, so there should be plenty left on the spells. 20 rounds, sound good?

The dragon seems shaken by the use of his true name (staggered for a round), roaring with anger. "You will pay for your impudence!" The dragon flexes his wings, preparing to lift off.

The dragon lifts into the air, its wings snapping and cracking loudly as it catches air and begins flapping toward the party. As it nears, you all feel a feeling of dread, but you find the feeling quickly disappears.

Initiative:
Dragon
Maffei
Kaelic
Dagon
Juma

Party up!

Dagon sings, faster than ever before, and quickens the party with a spell.

Inspire +2 as a move, Haste the party. Can't see the map, but maybe 5 foot me somewhere safer?

I moved you back, sort of behind a rock (I think)
Kaelic swirls some hotness in his hand before chucking it at the dragon, watching with wide-eyed awe and whispering "Boom."
Fireball Reflex DC 18 Half: 10d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 2, 3, 5, 2, 5, 2, 5, 5) = 38
He then runs away to hide as noted on the map.

Juma levels his staff at the dragon like a rifle, then fires a laserbeam.

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 18, Fire Damage: 4d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 1, 1, 5) + 2 = 10
-_-'

Dagon begins to inspire his party, while simultaneously speeding everyone's movements!

SR check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Kaelic evokes a fireball on the dragon, but the flames gutter out and dissipate before burning the dragon!

Juma fires a flaming arc at the dragon, singeing some of its scales!

SR: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

Maffei tries conjuring a shadowy arc of flame, but the spell dissolves as it nears the dragon!

The dragon flaps to the southwest, drawing in a large breath, then with a roar, breathes a cone of acid on Juma, Maffei, and Dagon!

Acid Breath! DC 20: 10d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 5, 5, 2, 1, 5, 6, 1, 2) = 31
1d4 ⇒ 4

Maffei Reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Party up!

Reflex: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Dagon grits his teeth, maintains his song, and casts a spell at the beast.

SR: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Blindness, DC 20 Fort save

Arcana: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

Dagon casts spell on the dragon and for a moment shakes its head on confusion, but then blinks its eyes, before glaring at the merbard!

Kaelic pops out and fires another ball of fire.
Reflex DC 18 Half: 10d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 2, 6, 1, 5, 1, 1, 5, 5) = 35
Vs SR: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Reflex: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 = 9

I don't suppose the dragon happens to be positioned conveniently within reach of the cliff, like they always are in all the promotional art that tries to make it look like fighters can engage dragons?

Nope. I don't suppose you had the foresight to purchase a potion of fly?

*reviews inventory*

Apparently not. Memory's a little fuzzy, but I might have been anticipating a gap in between clearing the monastery and engaging the dragon, during which I'd make final preparations. Did you have the foresight to take fly as a spell known?

At what point did I convey the message that I was a wizard?

Juma runs for cover behind a rock and reaches for his rope, with shenanigans in mind.

Wanna borrow my crossbow?

Don't forget what you found in the crypt: +3 breastplate of luck (as banded mail of luck). Her +1 keen composite crossbow (+2 Str) lies at the body’s left side. Her famed weapon Wyrmsmite (a +2 dragonbane transformative longsword) lies atop the body under the crossed arms. The right hand holds 10 +1 dragonbane bolts, and the left just a single shaft—an bolt of dragon slaying.

Dagon knows that dragons like Szagni are only harmed fully by magic weapons, immune to paralysis and sleep, as well as acid for this species. Couple more pieces of info, for you.

1d20 ⇒ 1

Kaelic evokes another fireball, the dragon taking the full brunt of the spell, this time!

Juma runs for cover, formulating a plan!

Maffei steps back, behind a boulder.

The dragon flaps over the cliff edge, it claws crumbling the lip as it lowers its bulk and snakes it head out to bite Kaelic!

Bite vs Kaelic: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27
Imp Vital Strike: 6d8 + 18 ⇒ (6, 4, 4, 4, 2, 5) + 18 = 43

The toothy maw snaps out, biting Kaelic, crunching and breaking many bones!

Party up!

"Kaelic, quick! Stop being delicious!"

You've got Haste up. Mess him up.

Dagon peeks from around the pillar, and tries another spell, lashing out with a whip of dark energy at the dragon's neck.

Cover should protect me from AoOs. Target is large enough I don't take melee penalty on the ranged touch, and I don't think he has cover relative to me. No save.

Limp Lash ranged touch: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
SR: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Str penalty: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Dex penalty: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Con penalty: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Then, 5-foot step further behind the pillar. Maintain performance, draw crossbow.

EDIT: @#$&! penalty rolls! Oh well, it's every round.

"Ouch! My most of me!"
Kaelic ducks behind a rock and casts a spell on himself to save his own life.
CSW: 3d8 + 7 ⇒ (4, 3, 8) + 7 = 22
I think I have cover, so I don't need to cast defensively.

Dagon casts a spell, but once more, the dragon's natural resistance seems to thwart the spell. SR 22

Kaelic limps behind a rock and begins mending himself!

Attack 1: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 1 = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 6 + (6) = 16

Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 1 = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 3 + (2) = 7

Hasted: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 1 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 6 + (6) = 17

Maffei steps forward and slashes at the dragon many times, but she only lands her last strike.

Juma!

Juma?

FYI, there are two diagonals between you and the dragon (so 15ft of movement to get adjacent). You would of course provoke, but you can get into melee.

Seeing the conveniently-placed dragon, Juma temporarily abandons his schemes and moves forward to attack with the nifty sword he found earlier.

Provoking on the move and drawing the +2 dragonbane longsword, then 2HPA with it.

Sword 2HPA: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 = 25, Damage: 1d8 + 7 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + (3, 6) = 34

AoO vs Juma: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
Damage: 2d8 + 18 ⇒ (5, 5) + 18 = 28

As Juma darts in, the dragon turns and bites the him! Juma then swings his weapon, but the longsword merely deflects off the dragon's tough hide!

Bite vs Maffei: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27
Damage: 2d8 + 18 ⇒ (6, 8) + 18 = 32
Miss: 1d100 ⇒ 92

Claw vs Juma: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Damage: 2d6 + 15 ⇒ (2, 5) + 15 = 22

Claw vs Juma: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 15 ⇒ (4, 6) + 15 = 25

Tail vs Kaelic: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Damage: 2d6 + 18 ⇒ (6, 5) + 18 = 29

Wing vs Maffie: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Miss: 1d100 ⇒ 56

Wing vs Maffie: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Miss: 1d100 ⇒ 6

The dragon roars in anger and unleashes its full fury, biting Maffei, clawing Juma, and slapping Kaelic with its tail!

Party up!

So, like, am I the only conscious one right now?

One of the claws missed, so I'm still up. Oh, also, I forgot to add +1 to hit for haste. Does that change anything?

Full attack:
2HPA: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 = 20, Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + (2, 3) = 28
2HPA haste: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 = 23, Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + (6, 5) = 36
2HPA iterative: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 = 25, Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + (3, 2) = 24

EDIT: #tableflip

I have 9 HP.
Juma, you suck at dice.

You're including Inspire and Heroism in that, right?

And do we get our shirt/folio rerolls? *fingers crossed*

Seeing his companions in dire straights, and having trouble with the dragon's spell resistance, Dagon loads his slaying bolt and gives that a try.

"Eat this, Szangy!"

*Gulp*

Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

You're including Inspire and Heroism in that, right?

Yep. Those are among the +2's listed.

And do we get our shirt/folio rerolls? *fingers crossed*

I like this idea.

Sure, you can each have a reroll.

AC is 28, so the +1 would not have changed anything. A roll higher than a "7", on the other hand, would help.

1d20 ⇒ 9
1d20 ⇒ 16

Dagon fires the dragon slaying bolt at Szagni. The bolt hits the dragon and burrows itself deep into the dragon's side, likely hitting a major organ based on all the blood spurting from the wound! The dragon roars in pain and anger, but also seems unfazed by the use of his real name.

Maffei Attack 1: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 11 + 1 + 2 = 29
Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 2 + (1, 2) = 17

Maffei Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 1 + 2 = 16
Damage: 1d6 + 3 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 2 + (5, 2) = 18

Maffei Attack Haste: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 11 + 1 + 2 = 23
Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 2 + (1, 5) = 19

Maffei continues attacking, despite her wounds, landing a single blow! After the slaying bolt, the dragon is looking very wounded!

Reroll?

Kaelic!

2HPA reroll: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 2 + 2 + 1 = 28, Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + (2, 6) = 33

Unimpressive, but I'll take it.

Kaelic once again backs up and tries to keep himself alive.
3d8 + 7 ⇒ (6, 3, 6) + 7 = 22

Juma collects himself and changes the direction of his swing at the last second, connecting with the dragon! The huge creature's eyes go wide and its body shudders. Its claws grasp feebly at the ledge as it begins to sway backwards. Suddenly its eyes rolls back and it lets out a long, shuddering breath, then falls backward crashing into the cavern floor twenty feet below. Peering over the edge you see Szagni is not moving.

Out of Combat!

Well done. That didn't take too long. I even went over the damage numbers thrice to make sure they were correct.

With the dragon defeated,you are able to search the dragon's lair, finding the dragon's treasure horde, as well as the druid's captive wife, Rima.

Within the hoard, you find Rima has spent much of her time of late resting on a large mound of furs, one of which is a finely-preserved chimera fur worth 900 gp.

Aeteperax kept his large collection of books (roughly two-thirds of which were recently looted from the monastery’s various libraries) in six 5-foot-wide wooden lockers.. The hundreds of books in these chests (all with names like Codex of the Ebon Depths, Grimoire of Impossible Secrets, Kargeth’s Blackest Encyclopaedia, and so on) are worth a total of 12,000 gp. Each chest weighs 250 pounds when full of books. (In addition to granting a +6 competence bonus on all Knowledge [arcana, geography, history, planes, and religion] checks attempted while using them as resources, their pages detail additional magical rituals—including the one Aeteperax performed to open the rift he uses to access to the Dark Tapestry.

Five smaller chests hold the bulk of Aeteperax’s more valuable treasures, including 8,940 cp, 5,100 sp, 2,300 gp, 93 pp, a small silver cauldron with carvings of wolverines on the side worth 120 gp, a gold scarab engraved with the symbol of Nethys worth 75 gp, a silver hand mirror with a darkwood frame worth 120 gp, a silver bowl worth 75 gp with six tiny jade statuettes of panthers inside (each statuette is worth 20 gp), a platinum holy symbol of Abadar worth 500 gp, a masterwork darkwood flute worth 300 gp, a painting of Queen Abrogail II on black velvet worth 1,500 gp, a pouch of a dozen flawed garnets worth 20 gp each, a 6-pound lump of voidglass worth 600 gp, a potion of good hope, a potion of water breathing, a scroll of chaos hammer, a suit of masterwork leather armor, a +1 light fortification buckler, a +1 returning starknife, a masterwork rapier, a +1 flaming burst hand crossbow, a +2 light mace, a pouch containing six screaming bolts, a wand of longstrider (44 charges), a wand of remove paralysis (38 charges), a ring of animal friendship, a belt of physical might +2 (Strength and Constitution), a cape of the mountebank, a pair of winged boots, and a circlet of persuasion.

-------------------------

The party returns to Belhaim, meeting the druid along the way who is eternally grateful for being reunited with his wife. Upon learning of the party's slaying of the dragon, the town erupts in a flurry of activity, preparing a hero's feast and week long holiday in your honor.

Baroness Devy holds a special ceremony, naming all of you Knights of Belhaim....

After the ceremony, Maffei wishes you all a long and prosperous adventuring career and returns home to the Plane of Shadow.....