Leinathan's Motteditor's Kingmaker PBP (Inactive)

Game Master leinathan

Kereek's eyes go wide as he shakes himself free of imagining the dog-feast later. "What what? We am not for murder! We am for stopping Bad Baron who am threatening Hartsland and who am bad to his peoples. If Bad Baron am stopping and am stepping down and allowing good people to rule, then we am not killing him! We am Big Heroes! We am only killing when we am attacked or when we am having to kill to stop bad bad people! Or when bad people am not stopping being bad people. Sometimes even when we am telling them they am needing to leave and stop being bad, they am still being bad and sometimes we am for taking steps to make bad people stop always spreading their bad to good people. But only if there am no choice!" Kereek trails off, looking somewhat troubled.

Diplomancy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Marcelline shrugs. "You say that now, but I'm going to watch, and I'm going to laugh as you backpedal in an hour. Everyone, from the tavern wench to his own g@%&#*n wife has been telling us that he's not going to listen and he's not going to do what we want, and that it's going to come down to a fight."

"Nine Hells, I just threatened this woman's husband with murder and not only did she tell me exactly where he is, but she offered to take over the kingdom when he died. You offered it to her, and she accepted. And she has the balls to call me 'impolitic'. Please, I'm the only normal one here."

She huffs in frustration, throws her grandfather's blade up over her shoulder, and goes into the hallway. "I'll be out here, when you guys are done with the masks and the pretending."

So what's the plan? Baron, mistress, something else?

Kereek shakes his head. "You am for staying here. We am for seeing Bad Baron now. If you am not interfering, we am not harming you." Kereek shakes his head at how strange this big-foot politics is, and follows out into the hallway. On to Baron!

Prazil shakes his head in bewilderment as Marcelline stalks off into the hall, his eyes large with worry. He mutters quietly to Agnar, "Mmm. Prazil am for hoping that she am wrong and she am not normal. That am for sounding too mean to be for being normal." Sighing and banishing the confusing talk of grumpy bigfeets from his little mind, he looks back up to the haughty woman and Jewel. "Prazil am for liking your dog! It am nice meeting you." He smiles honestly then waves and follows Kereek.

Agnar pats Prazil's shoulder. "I understand. You must admit she makes a bit of sense. No one close to the Baron seems to want to defend him. Can you imagine a chief whose mate would not be loyal to him? The only ones who seem loyal are his soldiers--to a point--and this mistress of his, and I'm starting to wonder how such a man commands the loyalty of giants when he can't do the same of those closest to him."

Agnar frowns, tugging at his beard, worried that something in this situation is escaping his notice, but not certain what it is.

"No, not normal at all. But, like Agnar said, she speaks an element of truth. We are here to remove the Baron, with bloodshed if needed. Where she is wrong is that this is not murder for its own sake. When you have strength, you are obligated to protect those weaker than you. Lord Petyr called this "obligation of stewardship". So, lets see to our task."

Noblesse Oblige , anyone?

Putting the discussion aside, you make your way to the room the baroness described, opening the door to discover decorative yellow and brown tile inlays cover the floor of the immense chamber, presenting a rich scheme of royal appointments leading to a raised dais and throne against the far wall. A pair of windows flanks the throne, looking down into the inner bailey below.

On the throne sits what you assume is Baron Drelev, who bears an almost uncanny resemblance to your own beloved Baron Jon.

His eyes widen as Prazil and Katerina enter the room.

"What madness is this?" he calls as he stands up from his throne. "Guards!"

The 8 other men in the room reach for their weapons.

Party is up.

"You and your allies attack Hartsland and you do not expect retribution? You are a fool. By Erastil, there will be a reckoning!"

Agnar touches his holy symbol, raising his other hand in benediction over the group as he utters a prayer, then unslings Skybolt.

Casting blessing of fervor on the group.

"Let's end this with as little bloodshed as we can, Baron Drelev. Fight with honor or have your men die with you!" Katerina steps forward as she issues her challenge, her blade coming free with a steel hiss and ting. With hreat arcs, she spins the blade, showing every opponent in the room why they should let their Baron fight his own battles.

Dazzling Display. Intim: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23

Also, Parry/Riposte as needed... on phone, so will post dice as needed later...no PA, so +23 to p/r.

Kereek steps to the southern door and opens it. He casts fear, arcing the cone to the east to hit as many of the guards as possible! DC 19 Will save or panicked for 10 rounds. Shaken for 1 round on a save.

Kereek roars, invoking his draconic heritage! Purely as part of the spell.

"Madness? Madness am you for taking hostages and- and- ...huh?" Prazil faces screws up and he scratches his helmet. He tugs on Agnar's sleeve and whispers loudly, "Errr, Agnar? Am Prazil for being crazy or am we for talking to Baron Jon? How can he be for being two barons?" Prazil gasps, recalling Kereek's explanations of broken things back in the kobold tribe. "He am for being Baron Jon's evil-twin! Kereek am for having one of them too. Them am always for getting into trouble!" He turns back to the baron and points his lance forward, "You should be for releasing the hostages, evil-twin baron! And you am in big trouble for sending men to be for attacking Hartsland!"

Standard action: activate Strategy
Swift: Challenge (baron Drelev)

Strategy - allies can take one of three benefits (+2 dodge to AC, +2 attack, or move up to their speed as immediate action) for 1 round at any point during combat

"Huh. Getting here was easier than I thought. We didn't even have to talk b@~#&*@! for too long before we fight." She grins, and the familiar crackle of purple energy surrounds her eyes. Just like that, she vanishes from sight.

She creeps into the room, her movement made supernaturally fast by Agnar's holy spell.

I want to move three squares to the right and three squares down, moving at half speed with the +30 movement speed buff from blessing of fervor.

Cast invisibility and move into the room, moving slow to be nice and stealthy.

Stealth (Invisibility): 1d20 + 16 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 16 + 20 = 43

Katerina, reacting before anyone else can, steps up and issues her challenge, clearly throwing a measure of doubt into several of the guards, though they maintain their position.

Agnar casts his spell, followed by Marcelline's disappearance before the eyes of the two kobolds.

Kereek follows up Katerina and Prazil's challenges with one of his own, sending two of the guards fleeing through a door to the south. Unfortunately for the kobold, two of the guards maintain their position, blocking off the door as they slash at him. One lands a blow, kobold blood splattering on the stone floor. 16 hp

Three of the guards close on Katerina, slashing at her to no avail as she bats their blades aside, flowing from sword form to sword form as if she were a ballerina. I only had you parry, which took 3 panache; if you want to use the other two panache to riposte, you can retcon those in.

The fourth guard swipes at Prazil to no avail as Drelev advances toward Katerina and slashes at her. She goes to parry only to -- to her horror -- realize his blow was aimed at her blade not her and she barely holds on. Most of this was color; he didn't attack her so she couldn't parry; he tried to disarm but failed. He did move past Marcelline and would have provoked an AoO if you wanted to take it.

it doesn't cost extra panache to riposte. It DOES cost an immediate action so no matter how many times you parry you can only riposte once.

Other than blocking the blades, Katerina doesn't even respond to the guards. The young duelist focuses only on Drelev, evaluating him and his tactics, He's a bully and wouldn't fight if he didn't think he could win... and he likes his foes helpless. Aloud she sneers, "If you were man you wouldn't be afraid of a fair fight. But if you want to play by your own rules, I'll play along." She lunges, her blade stinging the foul baron's sword arm.

Targeted Strike, Arm, Prazil: 1d20 + 23 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 23 + 2 = 32 for Damage: 1d8 + 13 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 13 + 9 = 27 and if Evil Holy: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8
Menacing Swordplay: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

As the baron's blade clatters to the floor, Katerina's slashes at him again and again.

Attack, Prazil: 1d20 + 23 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 23 + 2 = 29 for Damage: 1d8 + 13 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 13 + 9 = 28 and if Evil Holy: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9

Iterative Attack, Prazil: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 18 + 2 = 24 for Damage: 1d8 + 13 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 13 + 9 = 23 and if Evil Holy: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10

So, Drelev should be disarmed, and is on the receiving end of quite a bit of damage...

I am using Prazil's +2 to Hit, and Agnar's Bonus attack.

I have one Panache left (was hoping for at least one crit in there... flippin' dicebot :/) and will not be Parry/Riposting. AC should still be 29

Marcelline reappears in a spiral of psychic energy, taking a step to the side that that she isn't in direct combat with anyone. She focuses on Drelev, trying to take away his skills and prowess to make killing him easier.

Take a 5-ft step, hypnotic stare, and cast mental block on Drelev. He takes a -2 penalty on Will saves and needs to make a DC 18 Will save in order to avoid losing the benefit of all of his active abilities. Feats, skill ranks, spells. Also the next attack that hits him deals 3 bonus damage due to painful stare.

HP 44/60

Kereek lets out a draconic squawk of pain as the guards hit him and his eyes glow red for a moment. He snarls a curse in Draconic ("Egg-lickers!) and taps his rod of lesser intensifying on his belt! Concentration check vs DC 17: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (15) + 21 = 36 and casts an intensified burning hands! FIRE!: 10d4 + 10 ⇒ (1, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 2) + 10 = 30 damage! Reflex DC 16 for half!

Waiting to see how these all resolve before taking an action!

Agnar?

Sorry.

Agnar sends two arrows flying in swift succession at the nearest guard pressing the attack on Katerina, drawing upon the blessings to steady his aim.

Choosing +2 to attacks/AC/Ref saves this round. Attack #1: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23 Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 Attack #2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

OK, I think I'm back with no further expected interruptions until mid-October. Let's finish this thing in style (and maybe some bloodshed)!

The baron sneers even as Katerina knocks the blade from his arm, though he seems shaken as Marcelline appears behind him and he trembles for a moment. He steps back, reaching out to regain his weapon as he shakes feeling back into his wounded arm. 5 ft. step, which doesn't provoke

Agnar's arrows flash past Katerina, slamming into the guard, who grunts in pain, but he and his companions continue to fight. "For the baron!" one yells, as they continue to slash at Katerina and Prazil.

Kereek's two foes scream in pain as he burns them badly, but they continue to fight, slashing at the kobold before moving away from each other. 6 hp to Kereek

HP 38/60

Bloodied but unbroken, Kereek again roasts them! Concentration vs DC 17: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (8) + 21 = 29 Reflex DC 16 for half! FIRE: 10d4 + 10 ⇒ (1, 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3, 1, 1) + 10 = 32 damage!

Swift action to cast burst of adrenaline. 5-ft. step, MA to feint and SA to attack. If the attack hits, activate outmaneuver to 5ft. step again. I want to end up directly to Drelev's right.

arcelline's eyes spark again as she shifts into melee combat with Drelev. She feels a surge of energy as she brings her curve blade to bear on him. Refocusing, she pivots and turns her first attack into a feint. Directly following that she spins around, unleashing a real blow and using the momentum from the strike to continue moving around the wicked baron.

Feint: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (5) + 21 = 26
attack (burst of adrenaline): 1d20 + 12 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 12 + 4 = 25
Damage (Sneak attack, painful stare, burst of adrenaline): 1d10 + 4 + 3d6 + 2d6 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 + (5, 4, 3) + (4, 4) + 3 + 4 = 38

Back in Round 2 after Agnar!
Prazil surges forward, rearing up on his back legs for a moment before rushing Drelev!
+2 Warhammer (charge): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (13) + 22 = 35for: 2d6 + 28 ⇒ (4, 3) + 28 = 35
This'll provoke from some guards, but I'll trust in my AC with that boost from Agnar's blessing of fervor to cancel out the penalty from my challenge. AC vs anyone who isn't Drelev is 32.

---

Turn 3!
Prazil continues to bring his hammer to bear against the bad-baron, drawing his attention as best he can as his hammer arcs overhead twice in a pair of heavy swings.

+2 Warhammer (1st): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36for: 1d6 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
+2 Warhammer (iterative): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28for: 1d6 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

While Prazil is adjacent to Drelev, ALL ALLIES receive a +3 bonus to hit him!

Strategy - allies can take one of three benefits (+2 dodge to AC, +2 attack, or move up to their speed as immediate action) for 1 round at any point during combat

I forgot about blessing of fervor and strategy. Ill take the +2 bonuses from blessing and the attack bonus from strategy this round. My attack roll is 29 and my AC is 21.

Your attack is actually 32 thanks to the +3 from Prazil's challenge. =)

Katerina lunges into the fray again, whirling in a sweeping arc, her blonde hair trailing in a fan with her movements. Over the guards the duelist tumbles, the stumbling guards barely a hindrance. As she closes with Drelev, she Kais loudly and her blade crashes through the baron again and again and again.

Use Prazil's Strategy to move 30'
Acrobatics to get *over* the guards, flanking Drelev: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (19) + 20 = 39

Attack, Prazil, Strategy, PA, Flanking: 1d20 + 20 + 3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 20 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 47 for Damage, Precision: 1d8 + 19 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 19 + 9 = 31 and If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10
Confirm?: 1d20 + 15 + 3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 15 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 24 for Damage: 1d8 + 19 ⇒ (1) + 19 = 20

Attack (Fervor), Prazil, Strategy, PA, Flanking: 1d20 + 20 + 3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 20 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 40 for Damage, Precision: 1d8 + 19 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 19 + 9 = 32 and If Evil: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11

Gobs of HP removed from the good baron...Is that 84?

Adjusted per Prazil's direction :)

Kat, you already used your use of strategy for a +2 to hit earlier, didn't you? If so, it's sadly gone for you at this point =(

Is it per round, or ever?

Once per combat you can pick one of the 3 options. The other two options are then gone.

oh yeah there's more. I have greater feint so he's flat-footed against everyone for a whole turn, not just me. I also have bleeding stare. If I hit, he takes 2 bleed damage.

I guess Agnar's not going to post. Sorry, I need to be better about GMPC'ing folks more quickly.

Kereek's flame brings a pair of screams that mercilessly end as the two guards fall to the floor, barely recognizable as men with their blackened skins. Flames flicker fitfully on their tabards.

Prazil, Marcelline and Katerina dogpile the baron, who quickly falls in a spray of blood.

The shocked guards raise their weapons, calling out for mercy, though they're clearly ready to continue defending themselves should you not be so generous.

Damn; you guys are deadly against a single big enemy.

I just love that Spike is as equally deadly to castle walls =)

With the bad-baron-twin down, Prazil turns to the remaining guards. "Am you for wanting to still be bad? Where am the tiger people for keeping the hostages?"

Kereek nods as the guards fall. "Yes yes? If you am for surrendering, put down your weapons! If you am not attacking we am not attacking you no more."

Marcelline snarls, whirling around to face the remaining guards, only to see them hesitantly standing around, looks of fear on their faces. She smirks, flicking their baron's blood from her sword carelessly in the air. "So, are you going to run, or are you going to die?"

Katerina snaps her blade once, and most of the baron's blood slides off the polished steel. "I am glad you all have the sense to not die for the fool that brought this on himself. However, you would do well to share anything you know about his hostages. Oh, and keep your hands where Marcy can see them." Though she does not put her sword away, she is clearly not threatening anyone with it.

Mott, I'd say we set that standard with ol' One Eye Wizard Boy ;)

Or, was that one pure luck? I'm going with luck...

"It's not as if he can pay us anymore," one of the guards says, "so there's not really much reason to keep fighting."

A short time later, when order has been re-established in the throne room, the guards claim they have no idea where the Tiger Lords have gone, saying likely only Drelev knew, though maybe some of the other more important people in the castle might have an idea.

To the guard doing most of the talking, kat says, "Fair enough. Names of those that might know. Now!"

"Um, maybe the baroness. Or Lady Quintessa?" the guard says. "I'm not really sure, though!"

Kereek nods and smiles. "Back to talk to Lady with Eating Dog!"

Prazil nods and offers a cheery, "Ok! Thanks!", as if neither him nor the guard in question had just moments before been prepared to brain one another. "You can be for going now. And maybe take your other guard friends with you as you am leaving. We can be for cleaning up and finding where the hostages are now."

"Where can we find Quintessa?"

"You all go ahead," Agnar says. "I'll keep an eye on things down here." Agnar's decided to leave the game, as he's overworked; I'm going to find a replacement.

You move back upstairs, where you can find the baroness or Lady Quintessa the mistress, whose room was also located upstairs..

Bummer. He will be missed!

Kereek nods at Aggy-nar and follows his mates upstairs. "Hey you! Where am Tiger Lords? Where am bad barbarians who am stealing people for hostage?"

When headed upstairs, Marcelline says, "I think I can handle the mistress." She looks at the rest of the party, explaining, "An obvious show of force and she could panic and run."

Prazil coos and nods his head in earnest agreement. "Oooo! Marcy am for having a good point. Maybe Quin-Tessa am for getting scared by Kereek or Prazil." He shakes his head, "No, Prazil am not for wanting that. Nope nope."

Frowning at the idea, but understanding it's value Kat aggrees with Marcy's general plan. "Just remember, if she is not resisting, hands off, ok?" Kat then begins checking unchecked doors for this Lady Quintessa.

Marcelline opens the door, finding a richly-appointed bedroom with a decorative, handmade bed with a carved headboard depicting satyrs and nymphs at play. Lavender curtains trim a massive window that overlooks the inner courtyard and match the bed’s blankets.

An attractive, barely dressed woman glances up as the half-elf enters, an eyebrow raised at the intrusion.

Marcelline's eyebrows raise... on the inside, where nobody gets to see. 'Wow... That's a lot of purple. Somebody insecure that he didn't just leave his wife for her?'

She takes a step inside the room, closing the door behind her. "Hi!" she says, flashing a charming smile and meeting the girl's gaze head-on. "I was wondering if we could be best friends"

Let's hit this girl with hypnotic gaze (-2 to Will) and charm monster (DC 20 Will save).