Heroes of Westcrown

Game Master Moondragon Starshadow

Surprise Round

Moshley waits for the distraction. Gorvio raises his spear and moves from his hiding spot into plain sight, taunting the Hellknight.

Map

There's a -4 penalty when the mount takes a double move action, and a -8 penalty to shoot while it's running. I can't find any penalties for shooting during a normal move action or while standing still.

Jimmy stays where he is, but Amaya moves from behind the rock. She readies her shortbow and will shoot an arrow at the horse of the closest Hellknight once in range. (Yup, the horse.)

Arrow: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (17) - 2 = 15 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Updated Map

So far so good, no one has died.

Tristain continues to delay.

So far so good, no one has died.

Tristain continues to delay.

Since everyone has gone, I'll give you a few minutes, otherwise I'm going to move to Round 1.

ROUND 1 - Last round for Guidance Bonus

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 1
Ezren + Scalvo
Tristain + Tavari
Jimmy + Amaya
Hellknights
Moshley + Gorvio
Shanwen

The hellknight driving the carriage points at the "bandits" across the bridge and yells, "Run down the bandits! Guard the prisoner!"

Latest Map

This is where I remind you that your horses are not combat trained. They are used in theatrical performances.

Round 1

Tarvi fires at the lead Hellknight, then bolts away.

1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 1 - 2 = 13 to hit; (1 range increment)
1d8 ⇒ 3 damage.

Tristain delays, waiting for the Hellknights to move away.

Updated Map.

The arrow lands upon the hellknight in the lead but bounces off his armor, and he laughs. "Come on men, let's run that b$!!@ down. I'm gonna stick my stick in her when I catch her!"

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 1
Ezren + Scalvo
Tristain + Tavari
Jimmy + Amaya
Hellknights
Moshley + Gorvio
Shanwen

Scalvo reloads and fires another bolt at the Hellknights. After the bolt is away he turns his mount to flee.

Ezren also delays waiting until the mounted Hellknights move away.

Map

The Hellknights see another crossbow bolt fly over head. There is more laughter.

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 1
Ezren + Scalvo
Tristain + Tavari
Jimmy + Amaya
Hellknights
Moshley + Gorvio
Shanwen

So did the mounted Hellknights get in range for Amaya to shoot her arrow? I made a roll for it, and apparently the others were able to shoot in the surprise round as well.

Amaya shoots (another?) arrow at the horse of the closest Hellknight, and bolts afterward. Jimmy continues to wait.

Arrow: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (15) - 2 = 13 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Updated Map

Jimmy - I'm allowed it to happen for dramatic effect in the surprise round since none of you have hit anyway. I also have a specific reason. There's a method to my madness. May I also only move Amaya 50' since she also shot? If you wish to run 100' next turn, that's fine. My divine knowledge says it will not change the situation.

Another arrow reaches a Hellknight, and the armor is just too strong for such poorly trained shots. "Charge the bandits! they cry out again, and four of the mounted Hellknights race forward; one mounted Hellknight stays behind. The Hellknights riding along the carriage are laughing about it. They are moving at their standard 50' pace. Four did a double move at 100'.

UPDATED MAP

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 1
Ezren + Scalvo
Tristain + Tavari
Jimmy + Amaya
Hellknights
Moshley + Gorvio
Shanwen

Gorvio is very scared as the Hellknights are charging. He doesn't want to waste time shooting, he wants his horse to run away.

Gorvio runs after the rest of the B-team.

Moshley waits a little bit longer till the Hellknights on horse are over the bridge before he attacks the squad.

Map update

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 2 -- Guidance is gone. You still have Bless and Resistance.
Ezren + Scalvo
Tristain + Tavari
Jimmy + Amaya
Hellknights
Moshley + Gorvio
Shanwen

The b-team members are very scared, asking them to do anything other than run away to the East requires a Will Save DC 20.

Round 2

Tristain delays, waiting for the coach to make one more move.

Tarvi (and her horse) run, double move and running. She keeps her head down and eyes forward.

MAP

Don't forget new map links in your posts (it's easy to forget). Move the icon to the side of map to indicate they ran off.

Jimmy continues to wait while Amaya runs away as fast as she can.

Voice: We need that darn ballista down, son! Or at least make sure no one's using it!

Updated Map

Ezren waits until the right moment as Scalvo spurs his horse to a run.

Map

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 2 -- Guidance is gone. You still have Bless and Resistance.
Ezren + Scalvo
Tristain + Tavari
Jimmy + Amaya
Hellknights
Moshley + Gorvio
Shanwen

The four Hellknights on mount continue to charge ahead at 100' per round. The remaining Hellknights are moving at 50' per round. They are unaware of your presence.

MAP

Ezren will now begin casting Summon Monster I.

Gorvio charges on to save himself.

Moshley still in hiding is waiting for the carriage to block off the bridge. He readies himself to cast magic missile at the carriage rider.

Map update

Round 3 - Resistance + Bless Buffs Active

Ezren begins casting a spell, making some rather loud noises. Given where the Hellknights are relative to the noises coming from Ezren's mouth, you believe at least one of the five Hellknights will hear him.

POTENTIAL MAP--Red Dot is Summon Monster Location to appear next round? Ezren, please post a map location of where you are summoning your monster. I believe you have to choose the location now, and max distance at level 2 is 30'

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 3 -- Guidance is gone. You still have Bless and Resistance.
Ezren
Tristain
Jimmy
Hellknights
Moshley
Shanwen

Round 3

Tristain delays, waiting for others to signal its time to strike.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 Perception - other 'knights gone?

"Now?" Tristain whispers.

The other knights are racing ahead 100' per round. You can see them easily enough on the other side of the bridge.

"Jimmy thinks you should shoot the carriage rider now," Jimmy whispers in return. "Don't let anyone use the ballista!"

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Dropping himself from the tree in the process, Jimmy charges off to attack the carriage driver. He ends up next to the carriage with his bastard sword in his hands, and swings the sword at Shanwen.

Two-Handed Attack, Charge: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 27 Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 11 Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Current AC = 21 (+2 Shield of Faith -2 Charge)

Updated Map

Ezren will move out of the brush and complete his spell into the middle of the bridge.

Map

Ezren, that's a full-round action to cast summon monster, as you know. If you move, you cannot cast that particular spell. Please edit your post.

Something went wrong in the code: + + 1 4, instead of + 1 + 4. The dice roller changed my mistake to + 14. I fixed it, but pretty sure 11 on the crit roll isn't enough anyway.

Round 3

Hoping that Tarvi is safely fled, Tristain focuses his attention on the things he must do: kill others.

With a deep sigh and mask of stern determination, Tristain 5' steps out of the bushes and fires twice at the side hellknights (the ones afoot).

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 damage.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 damage.

C'mon, Tristain, man up!

Updated Map.

(the ones afoot).

Technically, none are afoot. They are holding onto the outside of the carriage. This is how they are moving 50' per round. I'll respond to these posts when I get back from the park...Ezren has until then to edit his post or I will assume he moves, which will prevent him from casting the spell. I'm giving extra time because frankly, you guys need all the help you can get.

I'm going to assume Ezren moved since that was his gameplay post, which means if he starts casting now, he'll give up his move action next round. Jimmy, I'm going to assume that your charge somehow allows you to get onto the carriage moving at 50' per round and still attack (albeit a slight stretch of the rule probably).

Ezren moves out in the open and starts chanting and waving his arms around. Jimmy runs out and with a leap lands onto the carriage and plunges his bastard sword into the gut of the driver, puncturing the platemail from his powerful momentum. This causes the driver enormous pain, forcing him to instinctively pull on the reigns. The carriage slows down dramatically (now moving 20' round). The slowing carriage foils Tristain's multiple shots, each missing their mark.

The mounted Hellknights that chased the "bandits" across the bridge continue moving at 100' per round in hot pursuit.

The last remaining mounted Hellknight sees Ezren standing out in the open, and charges him.

Two of the Hellknights riding on the side of the carriage drop off to deal with whomever is shooting at them from the bushes. Two other Hellknights move to attack Jimmy. Shanwen is stunned and hasn't taken his action yet.

The horse's hoof slams into Ezren's chest. Ezren has taken 5 damage while trying to cast a spell. Spell concentration check DC16 needed or spell will fizzle. DC10 + 1 (spell level) + 5(damage)

Jimmy's armor proves too thick to get through.

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 3 -- Guidance is gone. You still have Bless and Resistance.
Ezren
Tristain
Jimmy
Hellknights
Moshley
Shanwen

NEW MAP

Moshley aims for the weak and fires magic missile at Shanwen.
There will be two missiles. If the first one kills Shanwen the second will go to the knight attacking Ezren.
Missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Spell Failure 5% without shield: 1d100 ⇒ 7oh, close, good thing you removed your shield.

Both missiles hit the carriage driver, who falls limp in his seat.

Constitution Save: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 - 2 = 3

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 4 -- Last round for Resistance buff. You still have Bless.
Ezren - Needs Concentration Check DC16 to finish spell
Tristain
Jimmy
Hellknights
Moshley
Shanwen (dying)

Round 4

Tristain fires twice at the side hellknights (the ones afoot).

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 damage.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 damage.

Pot Crit:
1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 damage.

My AC should've been 1 lower last round: I used both hands to swing my sword, meaning I lost my buckler's shield bonus. That would've brought my AC back to 20, though it wouldn't have mattered.

Jimmy, who's landed onto the carriage, moves over to the loaded ballista. If it's necessary for using the ballista, Jimmy will drop his bastard sword at his feet so he can use both his hands. He shoots the huge arrow, from his heightened position, at the horse-riding Hellknight that moved to attack Ezren.

Shoot the ballista!: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 1 = 21 +3 from Dex, and +1 from Bless. I don't know if any other bonuses/penalties to handling this specific weapon. I should note Jimmy has martial weapon proficiency.

I'm not sure how much damage to apply for the ballista, because you wrote it's basically a large crossbow. A Large Heavy Crossbow does 2d8 damage, but a Light Ballista does 3d8 damage. I'll make the necessary rolls, please apply what's correct.

Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4 Additional Damage (if it should've been 3d8): 1d8 ⇒ 4

Updated Map

Tristain feels some kind of inner power and shoots both approaching Hellknights, dropping both of them. Nice Shootin!

When Jimmy climbs on top to shoot the large heavy crossbow, he takes two Attacks of Opportunity from the Hellknights that are flanking him. He avoids any damage.

Jimmy drops his sword, grabs the large crossbow with two hands and shoots at the mounted Hellknight (his only available non-dying target per the rules in the book), who just charged Ezren. It's your only target you can hit now, so applying -2 to shoot since you're medium sized using the weapon and -4 for shooting into melee, but the Hellknight's AC is -2 because of the previous charge, so the net penalty is just -4, resulting in a hit of 4 damage as it's a 2d8 weapon. Reloading the large crossbow is a full round action and can provoke an AoO.

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 4 -- Last round for Resistance buff. You still have Bless.
Ezren - Needs Concentration Check DC16 to finish spell. Has until 8PM PST to post, or I roll for him.
Tristain
Jimmy
Hellknights
Moshley
Shanwen (dying)

REVISED MAP

Ezren's spell fizzles out after the hoof to the chest.

Ezren still has a standard action to take.

Ezren curses at the knight for ruining his spell then quickly swings at him with his morningstar.

The dice gods have smiled upon you and saved this group's lack of planning.

The knight falls off his horse, dead with a morningstar blow to the head.

The four mounted Hellknights continue their chase...off the map.

The two ONLY 2?!? remaining Hellknights climb up and attack Jimmy, flanking him again. One true strike from a sword somehow seems to be magically deflected.

Initiative Order -- Those in bold may act in Round 4(Moshley) Round 5 (everyone else) -- Resistance is gone (except for Moshley). You still have Bless.
Ezren
Tristain
Jimmy
Hellknights
Moshley

Given the time zone difference, do not post your action until AFTER Moshley posts. Thank you.

NEW MAP

"Well he went down easy!"
Moshley casts another magic missile aimed for the west most knight.

spell failure chance: 1d100 ⇒ 325 or below is failed
missile 1: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
missile 2: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Jimmy draws his morningstar and targets the west most Hellknight as well. His attack goes horribly wide.

Smash!: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 1 = 9 Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Round 5

Tristain fires twice at the 'knights fighting Jimmy, trying to avoid hitting his friend revolutionary comrade. Aiming at uninjured one first.

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 damage.

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 to hit;
1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8 damage.

And another one gone, and another one gone. Another one bites the dust. Hey, I'm gonna get you too! Another one bites the dust!

Apparently the planning involved rolling very well, which traditionally is the most effective plan.

Another flurry of arrows, and another Hellknight drops dead, falling over Shanwen's body. At this point I'm going to speed it up, since the last Hellknight is at low health that can be easily killed by Moshley.

Ezren stands amazed that he bashed a Hellknight's head in. Moshley fires 2 more magic missiles, killing the previously injured Hellknight.

The cart is still moving, but Ariel from inside the prison carriage calls out, "Get the key and get me out of here!" Jimmy will pull the carriage to a stop.

MAP

We are out of initiative for the moment. Ariel has called for you to let him out, suggesting you get the key. You can have a few moments to roleplay, but not too long or the other Hellknights are bound to give up the chase and return.

One...two...three... Tristain brings his shaking hand closer to his face so that he might inspect the quakes that come unbidden.

You just killed three Hellknights. Killed. Dead.

Equally unbidden is the bilious eruptions coming from his stomach. Tristain hurls onto rocks next to him, rivulets to acidic, breakfasty goo exploding from his mouth and from his down. It happens once and again.

You killed three men.
Wait! They may yet live!!
Is that what you want?! Them to live?

Tristain stumbles over to the body of the first 'knight he hit, looking down at the body, while drip of his own sick still fall from his lips.

They can't live. They must not be allowed to talk. Ever.

Tristain draws a dagger and plunges into the neck of the man, ensuring its death. A brief whimper of his own humanity leaves flees him even as he frees the soul of this 'knight. When that is done, he breaks off the fletching from his arrow lest it be used to track them down. He will stumble to the next and repeat the process.

Jimmy sheaths his morningstar, pulls the carriage to a stop, and retrieves his bastard sword. "Jimmy doesn't see a key!"

Perception (searching for key): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Ariel calls out, "I don't think it would by lying around, check one of the guards."

Tristain wipes off the sick from his face and chin, stowing the fletchings in his sack to toss aside later. He stands, hands and feet still trembling. He wipes off his dagger and puts it back in his belt, the blood of his sins now wiped away.

"We should...uh...we should get out of here," Tristain says, stating the obvious while trying to reclaim his wits.

Moshley moves from his hiding place and moves to Shanwen to check for any keys.

perception check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

"He must have hidden it in a secret pocket or something."

Or I'm not good enough at searching him...

Moshley finds the key to the carriage, tosses it to Jimmy, who opens the carriage. Ariel steps out and says "Jimmy, thank you! Where is Janiven? Is she okay or did they take her too? We need to get out of here and save her! Do you have horses?"

Moving to Tristain after he finished cleaning up his weapons. "Hey are you alright? You look a little green.....Tristain?" Give the man a shake. "Tristain!!! Snap out of it. Let's get out of here and quickly." Ezren quickly searches and makes sure the Hellknights are dead then gathers the group to move back toward the horses.