Red Hand of Doom [E6] (Inactive)

Game Master Aldizog

Oh yeah... Desna miraculously extends the benefits of the Water Walk spell to Gaius.

Gauis is coming for a ride then. I don't mind if that's what you like. I'll pull then hide behind the boat if Gauis lays low.

No, I meant that literally. Wasn't being snarky. I forgot to add a boat to the map. So I've decided that Desna will extend the benefits of Hamailii's spell to Gaius.

I knew I liked Desna for a reason!

Gaius moves quietly along with the rest, leaving his swords in their scabbards so that they don't catch the light and give away their position.

Flame, who doesn't seem to like the idea of walking on water, stays firmly in her backpack.

Ah. I see what Hamailii is trying to do and why she asked about surprise round vs regular round. Double move could get her to the cover of the other building, whereas now she is in the open - but that's only because I limited it to a surprise round. Got it.

It's not reasonable to declare that she has no cover and is spotted. You could have seen the situation, gone back south to where there are more ruined buildings, moved over, and then used that building as your cover to approach the Town Hall.

Please forgive the retcons - I'm trying to get momentum back after the board outages and then the "open sandbox" difficulty of figuring out what to do next. In the process of hand-waving to move things along, I might place the party somewhere. But if it's a bad position that you'd have seen, I'll try to fix the error quickly so we can move on.

Party is up!

No issue at all! I just ask how you want to do that because i was unsure what to do and didn't want to do too much^^ Could have thought a bit more and placed myself better instead of running into the open though now that i think about it. I believe i can see the ogre where i placed myself now, if not, just move me forward a bit.

Hamailii moves around the building and then casts hideous laughter on the ogre DC 16, trying to stay in cover a bit.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Bran sees the flashes of magic but doesn't quite understand them. He waits on the result of the spell, looking back and forth between the elf and the ogre for some kind of sign.

Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
The ogre starts to chuckle and then bellows "So then I bashed his head! Hahaha!"
He looks around and shakes his head - "Huh?"
You need line of sight to affect the ogre with the spell, so he can see you - there is no Sniping option for spells that I am aware of.

We'll call that Hamailii's surprise round action. Everybody else take an action and then we'll go into intiative.

Surprise Round
Hamailii
Bran
Tal'ariel
Gaius
Trellara

Bran uses his quick movement upon hearing the ogre laugh, thinking it's the spell doing its work.

"Guess we're doing this!" Move 40 feet toward the nearest lizardfolk.

Tal hurries forward, not quite as fast as Bran. Moved 30 feet forward.

Gaius does his best to close with the rest.

30ft forward, drawing swords as he goes.

Trellara moves up as well.

The enemy is aware of you! They start to move - the lizardfolk are quick to react, though not so quick as Gaius and Hamailii.

Round 1
Gaius
Hamailii
Lizardfolk
Trellara
Tal'ariel
Bran
Ogre

Hamailii moves forward, trying to trip the lizard next to Bran.

Trip: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Gaius hurries forward, one of his blades lancing out at the ogre's hamstring.

Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15 Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Hamailii just manages to knock one down with her spear.
Gaius' sword fails to pierce the ogre's hide armor.
The lizarfolk begin shouting.

Trellara begins Inspire Courage; +2 to hit and damage.

Round 1
Gaius
Hamailii
Lizardfolk
Trellara
Tal'ariel
Bran
Ogre

Tal'ariel moves up and strikes at the slow ogre!

Curve Blade vs flat-footed, inspire: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 2 = 24; Damage, inspire, sneak: 1d10 + 10 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 2 + (5, 2) = 26

The ogre roars in pain, and looks badly wounded, but does not go down.

Bran is up!

Not having his axe drawn, for fear of being too noticeable, he goes for a quick flurry of punches against the foe before him.

Cestus: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 Assuming Inspire
Iterative: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Damage 1: 1d4 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Damage 2: 1d4 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

If for some reason the first strike takes it out, he will draw the +2 Rapier and test it out as his move.

It takes two hits, but Bran ends the lizardfolk.
Both hit because it was prone. They have 11 hp, so it was staggered after the first blow.

The ogre roars and attacks Tal'ariel.
Greatclub: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
The monster's strike comes close to hitting her, but she is too fast.

Round 2
Gaius
Hamailii
Lizardfolk
Trellara
Tal'ariel
Bran
Ogre

Hamailii makes a step around Bran, takes out a wand and aims it at a lizardman (orange one).

UMD: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (9) + 19 = 28

Scorching Ray: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 204d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 3, 3) = 12

A searing hot beam emerges and shoots towards the lizardman.

Scorching Ray Ranged Touch Attack, Inspire Courage: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 8 + 2 = 12
Also +2 damage from Inspire Courage, but not needed.

Hamailii's wand strikes down a lizardfolk.

Ah yes, but the +2 to hit are welcome!

Oops! Should have been +6 damage per hit. Not raging Currently, though I suppose it doesn't matter.

Attack1: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 2 = 31 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Attack2: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 2 = 13 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Attack3: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 2 = 8 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Attack4: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 2 = 19 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Confirm: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 10 + 2 = 18 Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Gaius lashes out in a whirl of steel, but finds fighting while standing on water more tricky than he is used to!

Gaius's first blow fells the ogre.
Gaius, since your first attack dropped your foe, you can take a move action if you wish. Then the lizardfolk are up.

Gaius steps onto the platform and sets himself, ready for the lizardfolk to attack.

Two lizardfolk hurl javelins and flee. The ones who couldn't see the ogre fall still take their cues from their fellows and flee.
Red vs Tal'ariel: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
White vs Gaius: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
A hobgoblin steps out of the Town Hall, carrying two swords. He looks at Gaius, assumes a dueling stance, and growls.

Round 2
Gaius
Hamailii
Trellara
Bladebearer
Tal'ariel
Unknown 1
Bran
Unknown 2
Unknown 3 & 4

Tal'ariel is up - this hobgoblin clearly wants to duel Gaius, but you can do whatever you want.

I got this! :D (Although I like extra buffs? ;))

Oh this will be interesting. Bran looks at the twin blades of the two warriors quickly, How does he not cut himself?

Tal'ariel looks to the hobgoblin and then looks to Gaius. "Looks like you've got this!" she says with confidence. Choosing not to interfere for now, she busies herself by charging the lizardfolk that hurled a javelin at her.

Charge, Inspire: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 7 + 2 + 2 = 21; Damage: 1d10 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 10 + 2 = 22

You go Gaius!

Hamailli moves a bit west and unleashes another blast from her wand at the lizardman farthest away (black one).

scorching ray: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 144d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 1, 1, 2) + 2 = 11

UMD: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34

Tal'ariel easily kills a lizardfolk.
You're actually not up right now, Hamailii. One of the monsters is.
Levitating up over the roof of the Town Hall is a foul canine beast with goblinoid features. It flickers in and out of reality.
It snarls at Gaius, and a wave of despair washes over him.
Gaius, Will Save DC 16 vs Crushing Despair.
Also, note that there could be other things up on the roof - the angle means you didn't see this new enemy until it levitated up.

It's a barghest. A pack of three of these creatures tried to ambush the party some ways back. One of them fled, escaped to the barricade, and then fled that battle.

Round 2
Gaius
Hamailii
Trellara
Bladebearer
Tal'ariel
Barghest
Bran
Unknown 2
Unknown 3 & 4

Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

The thrill of a potential duel is buoying Gaius up far too much for any magical effects to bring him down.

Bran eyes the barghest again, "I'm going up there, it's not escaping again!" He vaults onto the dock and starts toward the levitating creature on the roof.

How high is the roof? Bran will probably climb up there unless those stair looking things connect up to the roof.

Climb: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28 If he doesn't have to climb he will draw the +2 Rapier, remembering that it absorbed the non-magical blows last time.

The stairs actually do go up to the roof.

And my mistake - that isn't a door on the east side of the building, it's just a window (because water-level was the second floor previously). So the two-weapon fighter came down the north stairs from the roof.

As Bran starts to ascend the stairs, a shaggy head comes into view. It's another ogre! Then he hears roars as another ogre starts to rise.

Bran has only taken a single move (I think) so can make an attack or take another standard action. Or move back down. His call.

Bran can see that there are stairs down into the Town Hall from the roof.

Yeah it was a single move, Climbing would have consumed the other half had I had to.

"Ogres and a barghest? What a challenge!" He draws the rapier as he moves into sight of the creatures.

Using a Standard Action to probably activate Martial Flexibility. Can I see what the Ogres are armed with?

The ogres have greatclubs and javelins.

With a deafening shriek, a black shape clambers up through the hole in the roof. Then, it leaps into flight, soaring up and west from the Town Hall. The dragon is not quite as large as a giant eagle, and it is smaller than the late Ozzyrandion. Mounted on its back is a goblin with a (small) longbow.

"You are all doomed!" shouts the dragon in Common, "I will melt your flesh, crack your bones, and eat your marrow!"

The twin-sword duelist snarls something upwards, at either the Barghest or the dragon,

Round 3
Gaius
Hamailii
Trellara (GM note: Has cast 3 1st-level spells today, and used 3 rounds of performance; will have her act after Hamailii)
Bladebearer
Tal'ariel
Barghest
Bran
Unknown 2
Dragon & Goblin

Right about now is when a Haste would be really useful... make it through this and you can get scrolls for either Tal'ariel or Trellara to use when you get to Brindol. But this will definitely be a challenging fight.

Seeing that they are using Greatclubs and we are a little outnumbered here, I'll Martial Flexibility into Defensive Weapon Training for Hammers; can't take too much residual damage here. Would have done that earlier before seeing the dragon, just was waiting for the response.

Bran assumes a slimmer profile, knowing that the clubs work best when being slammed down. With the buckler and the rapier in hand, he looks like a bear trained by a duelist.

"Come you ogres! Bring me your best!"

Guess that means what i posted before never happened? If so

Hamailii starts to sing a song about good hope and Desna's guiding light. You instantly feel a lot better.

+2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls for the next 6 minutes.

Yes, that was not actually your turn - if you wanted to still do that you could, but given the way things have developed, Good Hope is probably a better option than attacking a fleeing lizardman.

ACTIVE EFFECTS
GOOD HOPE - +2 morale bonus to attacks, saves, ability checks and damage
INSPIRE COURAGE - +2 competence bonus to attacks and damage

Trellara moves up behind Bran and casts Cat's Grace on him.

Gaius is up!

"Just us." Gaius agrees, as he lopes forward and strikes out with one of his swords!

Attack: 1d20 + 12 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 12 + 2 + 2 = 21 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 11

I can't remember what we agreed about Flame, is she still a mauler or not?

If So:
Flame slips from Gaius' pack and circles around the hobgoblin, still small, hoping to escape notice.

If she's not a mauler then just ignore :)

@Gaius - mauler is fine, but there is no cover to hide behind. So your fox would be spotted. Seen but not considered a threat? Maybe, but even so the hobgoblin might take an AOO just for sport. Your call if you want to send Flame.

The hobgoblin was prepared, and manages to dodge Gaius's strike. He had moved and used Total Defense last round. He retaliates with a pair of shortsword strikes.

Left: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Right: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
One strike is easily dodged, and the other glances off of Gaius's armor. The hobgoblin begins to realize he might be in trouble.

Realized I skipped the ogres at the end of the last round, so will put them here and say they delayed.

One ogre strikes at Bran.
Greatclub: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Two more stand up and move closer to the combat.
The last throws a javelin at Tal'ariel.
Javelin: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Round 3
Gaius
Hamailii
Trellara
Bladebearer
Ogres
Tal'ariel
Barghest
Bran
Unknown 2
Dragon & Goblin

Tal'ariel moves up the stairs and strikes at the nearby ogre.

Curve Blade, Inspire, Good Hope: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 2 + 2 = 23; Damage, Inspire, Good Hope: 1d10 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 21
I think the Ogre has cover?

Tal'ariel hits the ogre hard.
The barghest drops down to the ground and scurries away from Bran (provoking AOO, but with 50% miss chance).

It then tries to sway his mind.
Charm Monster on Bran, DC 16, +5 for being currently attacked by its allies. Also +2 from Good Hope.

Bran is up!

Attack of Opportunity: 1d20 + 12 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 12 + 2 + 2 = 26
Damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 16
Concealment: 1d100 ⇒ 56 High is good right?

Bran sees the barghest come down but the magical weapon along with all of the surging power from the spells helps him drive the rapier home.

Will Save: 1d20 + 5 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 5 + 2 = 27

Empowered by the adrenaline and the comradeship, he is able to shake off the charm from the barghest before stepping up to the nearest ogre and thrusting the weapon past the club's guard. 5 Foot Step

Full Round: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
Iterative: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Damage 1: 1d6 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Damage 2: 1d6 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Confirm Critical 1: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15

That should be +16 to hit and +10 damage for Bran, right? Not +14 and +12? That's what it was against the Barghest, any reason it would be different against the ogre?
Also, yes, normally high is good for concealment; I usually put in the dice description something like "Miss Chance 01-50" just to be clear.

Yeah it shouldn't be different, just a slip of numbers. My bad! There are no bonuses against Ogres or Barghests, should be +16 to attacks and +10 damage.

6 BAB + 4 Strength + 2 Enhancement + 2 Inspire + 2 Good Hope = +16
1d6 + 4 Strength + 2 Enhancement + 2 Inspire + 2 Good Hope = 1d6 + 10

Assuming the Rapier hits, they should then be +35 on the first hit, +26 on the second hit. Then 16 and 13 damage.

Bran slices the Barghest, shakes off its spell, and deals the ogre a fatal blow.

Bran, you dropped the ogre on the first hit, want to take a move action?

Meanwhile the black dragon wheels about in the sky to come back with its caustic breath...
Fly: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
Or tries to. It doesn't succeed.
Trying to do a 180-degree turn at the cost of 10' of movement is a DC 20. Didn't fail by 5, so doesn't start to plummet... I'll say it can turn 90 degrees and then has to take its move.

It screeches, and tries another banking turn.
Fly: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
It swoops back towards the Town Hall, but is not where it meant to be.

The rider on its back looses several arrows at Trellara.
Rapid Shot, Favored Enemy +4, Double Move, 3rd range increment (midpoint of move): 1d20 + 14 + 4 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 14 + 4 - 2 - 4 = 31
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 4 = 7
Rapid Shot, Favored Enemy +4, Double Move, 3rd range increment (midpoint of move): 1d20 + 14 + 4 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 14 + 4 - 2 - 4 = 13
Iterative, Favored Enemy +4, Double Move, 3rd range increment (midpoint of move): 1d20 + 14 + 4 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 14 + 4 - 2 - 4 = 17
One arrow hits the bard, though fortunately two others go wide. The goblin shouts at you,

Round 4
Gaius
Hamailii
Trellara -7
Bladebearer
Ogres
Tal'ariel
Barghest -16
Bran can take a move action
Unknown 2
Dragon & Goblin

ACTIVE: INSPIRE COURAGE +2 (attacks/damage), GOOD HOPE +2 (attacks/saves/skills/damage)

I 5 footed to the Ogre so I cannot unfortunately. I'll jump in place as a move though to draw some Ogres in.

"Over here! Take on someone you're own size!"

Gaius, parrying the hobgoblin's blows with ease, unleashes a flurry of his own! The first blow is too fast for the hobgoblin, but the rest lack power.

Attack1: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 31 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 9
Attack1b: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 21 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 9

Attack2: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 18 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 15
Attack2b: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 17 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 10

Confirm 1?: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 18 Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 12