DM Carbide runs *! Rise of the Runelords !*

Game Master John Woodford

Reynard steps in closer and continues his animalistic assault, trying to finish the monster before it can do real damage.

+1 Bite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23
Damage, Magical/B/P/S: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

+1 Claw: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26
Damage, Magical/B/S: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

+1 Claw: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
Damage, Magical/B/S: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Bone Spikes: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31
Damage, Piercing: 1d6 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15

Bone Spikes: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31
Damage, Piercing: 1d6 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
Crit?
Bone Spikes: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
Damage, Piercing: 1d6 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

DM Carbide wrote:

Who cast prayer (which normally only gives a +1), and when? Who cast divine favor, and when? Also too, Erond's bardsong is +4/+4.

Prayer was cast here, by me. I get +2 from it for “Fate’s Favored.”

Divine Favor was declared here, by me. Oops, that should be +3, not +2. Possibly +4, due to Fate’s Favored?

Why is Inspire Courage +4 at this level? It should be +2 at 9th level.

If Bardsong is +4 (vice +2) and I’ve been using Divine Favor as +2 (vice +4), I should be using +26 to attack these giants, not +22.

Chalk that up to the boards' search utility being borked--when I looked for instances of "prayer," the most recent appearance was from over a year ago; searching for "favor" came out similarly. Erond gets +4 from a couple of items he has; one gives him inspire courage as if he was 6 levels higher, and the other adds +1 to his bonuses. (I asked about that a while ago.)

Their forum software, and the server it runs on, both suck. +26 it is!

Their forum software, and the server it runs on, both suck. +26 it is!

That also bumps your damage by 2 points.

All--I'll try to put current party boosts into the initiative order tracking posts. At this point, everyone should have +5 to hit and to damage from prayer and inspire courage, in addition to the other effects of the spell and ability.

Round 5 (ongoing):

Party boosts: Prayer (+1 luck to pretty much everything), Inspire Courage (+4/+4 competence to hit and to damage)

Initiative order
Reynard-acted
Erond
Cordwin
Skarn-acted
Druamin
Trox
Enemies (if any)

Reynard continues his assault and barely manages to take his target down. Skarn continues to beat on the three attacking him, hitting every time but failing to take any of them out of the fight. Cordwin shoots the unwounded ogre, hitting three times and (with the aid of the magic supporting the party) knocks it down.

Erond, Druamin, and Trox to go!

Solid ogres: AC 21 T 10 FF 20 HP taken - Black: dead Blue: 55 Purple: 58
Dashed ogre: AC 17 HP taken: dead
Hill giant: AC 25 T 10 FF 23 HP taken: 52

Trox smiles when he realizes he is close enough that a simple step will allow him to unload on the hill giant. With a grin he steps in and attacks twice, still mindful of being defensive.

+1 Adamantine Longsword PA CE: 1d20 + 12 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 12 + 5 = 33
AC: 32/18/26
Damage: 1d8 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 14 + 4 = 25

+1 Adamantine Longsword PA CE: 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 5 = 15
AC: 32/18/26
Damage: 1d8 + 13 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 13 + 4 = 23

Round 5 (ongoing):

Trox hits the hill giant once, wounding it further but not killing it.

Druamin and Erond to go!

It pleases Druamin to see the monsters falling like flies. He points at the giant. "Kobu, attack!" The giant porcupine lumbers forward then slaps his tail at the giant's thigh.

tailslap, magic fang, prayer, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 11 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 34
dmg,strong jaw, magic fang, inspire: 2d8 + 7 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (5, 5) + 7 + 1 + 4 = 22

hasted tailslap, magic fang, prayer, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 29
dmg,strong jaw, magic fang, inspire: 2d8 + 7 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (8, 3) + 7 + 1 + 4 = 23

Druamin turns his focus to the flaming sphere. He points and directs it to another one of the ogres.

DC 16 reflex to negate
flaming sphere dmg: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 3) = 7

Druamin, Kobu has to move more than 5' to reach the hill giant, so he'll only get one attack. Which ogre are you targeting with the flaming sphere, blue or purple?

Erond will attack the hill giant (purple), trying to finish it off.

Attack Many shot: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 342d8 + 4 + 8 + 8 + 2d6 ⇒ (6, 8) + 4 + 8 + 8 + (6, 4) = 44
Attack Haste : 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 151d8 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 4 + 4 + (3) = 20
Attack RS: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 311d8 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 4 + 4 + (3) = 17
Attack Iterative: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 141d8 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 4 + 4 + (3) = 16

Attack Many shot confirmation: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 203d8 + 6 + 12 + 12 + 2d6 + 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (3, 2, 2) + 6 + 12 + 12 + (6, 4) + (2) + 10 = 59

The hill giant has no border color; the purple-bordered creature is an ogre. Which one are you attacking, Erond?

Isn't Kobu affected by haste? If not, then just disregard that second attack. And the flaming sphere goes for blue.

Haste only gives an extra attack on a full attack action, not on a standard action.

Ok. Got it.

I'll assume that Erond starts with the giant and goes from there.

The blue ogre fails to dodge Druamin's spell. Erond puts two arrows into the hill giant and drops it (it had 5 HP left!), hits the purple ogre with another arrow, and misses with the last two.

The remaining ogres go after Skarn, who avoids all four attacks.

Round 6:

Party boosts: Prayer (+1 luck to pretty much everything), Inspire Courage (+4/+4 competence to hit and to damage)

Initiative order
Reynard-
Erond
Cordwin
Skarn-acted
Druamin
Trox
Enemies (if any)

Everyone can act!

Solid ogres: AC 21 T 10 FF 20 HP taken - Blue: 62 Purple: 75

With only 2 Giants left, it makes more sense for Skarn to make normal iterative swings, in a full attack, and then get the hasted swing, so here it is! Starting with blue, and then purple, and if those two drop in one strike each, I can 5' step and attack that dog looking thing?

Heavy Pick +1 Hit: 1d20 + 11 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 15 = 33
Heavy Pick +1 Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 13 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 13 + (3, 3) = 27 x4, P

Iterative

Heavy Pick +1 Hit: 1d20 + 11 + 15 - 5 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 15 - 5 = 26
Heavy Pick +1 Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 13 + 2d6 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 13 + (1, 4) = 28 x4, P

Haste attack:

Heavy Pick +1 Hit: 1d20 + 11 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 15 = 42
Heavy Pick +1 Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 13 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 13 + (5, 4) = 30 x4, P

The dog-looking thing is your druid's animal companion, Skarn. Attack results coming.

Oh well, we don't want to attack that then!

With Pouncing Fury still running, Reynard moves forward with incredible speed, his two clawed hands reaching for the nearest ogre!

Attack, +1 Claw: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 16 + 2 = 27
Damage, Magical, B/S: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Attack, +1 Claw: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 16 + 2 = 32
Damage, Magical, B/S: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Charge! The Spell allows me to attack with both claws, but nothing else. -2 to his AC for the rest of the turn.

Reynard's claws put an end to one of the remaining ogres, and Skarn finishes off the last one.

Out of combat! Where to now?

Skarn Hornfels stands over the fallen giants and ogres, his chest heaving slightly as he catches his breath. A satisfied grin spreads across his face, though it's tinged with a bit of discomfort.

"Ahh, now that was a good scrap," Skarn says, wiping some blood from his brow, "Always a pleasure to take on my ancestral foes." He looks down at the bloodied bodies around him with a sense of grim satisfaction. "But as much fun as that was, I could use a bit of patching up before we go on. I'm a bit too injured to keep this up without some help." He gestures to the gashes and bruises scattered across his armor and skin.

He then begins to methodically search the bodies of the fallen giants and ogres, eyes scanning the surroundings with careful focus. "Let's see if there's anything worth the trouble of hauling out of here..." he mutters to himself as his pick taps against the ogre's body, looking for loot, weapons, or anything that could be of use to the party. "Hopefully something other than the usual piles of junk these creatures usually carry."

There are three sets of Large +1 hide armor, and three Large +1 ogre hooks.

Ahhh yes, useless large gear from giants!

There's a market for it, at least.

Reynard uses some (relatively) clean scraps of cloth to clean the giant gore from his hands and face. "Ugh, ogre blood is disgusting." he says, spitting some out onto the ground.

Reynard, you notice that this lot tasted like they'd been spending a lot of time around smoke.

As the last of the uglies fall Trox cleans his longsword and takes a good streatch.

"Dummies, should have surrendered or run." looking at the large great "Good money there at least."

He moves to the north. "Lets check up here first and then the others."

As noted above, Skarn is somewhat the worse for wear. Do you want to patch him up before you move on?

"Hmm. Notes of smoke. Guess these ogres have ben hanging out at a campfire." Reynard say, spitting a couple more times.

"Group up and I can channel a little, though I'm not great at it."

channel: 6d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 2, 6, 4, 6) = 25

Erond, that gets Skarn to a little over half HP--he's at 59/101. So he'll need more healing.

ETA: Also, I don't think anyone besides Skarn took damage, so a channel isn't the best option.

They really couldn't not hit Trox.

Somehow they managed it--I went back and looked at the fight, and Skarn was the only one who took a hit. OTOH, he also spent the last few rounds of the fight with three heavy hitters on him, and although he gave better than he got he was distributing that damage across three targets.

And I was going to bot Erond to cast more cures, but he didn't prepare any and his archetype loses spontaneous casting. Who else can fix up Skarn, and do you have any items that will help?

Cordwin will cast a CMW on Skarn.

CMW: 2d8 + 9 ⇒ (6, 2) + 9 = 17

He will then cast his CLW.

CMW: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

He will then tap him with the CMW wand.

CMW: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (5, 8) + 4 = 17

That should bring him up to full.

11 charges remaining on CMW wand.

With the party back in fighting condition, it's time to move on (or leave, but I'll assume that everyone wants to continue). The opening to the south leads to a vast chamber filled with smoke that spews from forge-fire pits. Anvils sized for ogres or giants cluster around each pit. The room is empty of enemies, and from the way that half-finished weapons still glow on the anvils it's likely that the workers here were among the ogres that the party slew. There are several passages that seem to lead deeper into the mountain, with heaps of what Cordwin recognizes as high-grade iron ore next to them. Since nothing seems to be moving down any of the passages, the party moves on.

A foul reek drifts up from the next opening.

I've got a tentative marching order up...does it work for everyone?

Aye! Even though I didn't work in the forges, I can still appreciate a good setup! Cordwin says admiring the forge.

Any knowledge checks to identify what the smell is? i.e. decomp, sulfur, etc.

THrow Trox up front.

Trox looks about the anvil room raising one eyebrow.

"I can't believe many of them were skilled smiths."

Turning around he leads off to the next opening, shield up and at the ready to block the first strike that comes.

Cordwin, the smell is of rotting flesh, with some sort of sharp herbal undertones that do not blend well with the rot.

"Well, now I know why they tasted like smoke."

"Well, I can't say as I ever tasted any of them, so I defer to you on that."

Trox and Skarn round the turn and see a large, foul-smelling cave cluttered with an appalling amount of body parts, dead animals, spoiled food, and filth, along with a huge cauldron that bubbles and cooks over a sputtering fire in a nook to the north. It is perhaps a mercy that the interior of the cauldron can't be seen. In addition, there are three large...well, they appear to be female humanoids of startling ugliness.

Round 1:

Initiative order
Erond
Reynard
Skarn
Hag G
Trox
Cordwin
Hag B
Druamin
Hag L

Erond, Reynard, and Skarn can act!

Enemies: AC ? T ? FF ? HP taken - Blue: 0 Green 0 Lilac: 0

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17 +3 to identify creature abilities and weaknesses

Ok, that's a 20, so in addition to what they are. I'd like to know any special abilities and resistances they have.

Are any buffs still up from the last fight?

"Hold fast and buff up," Skarn suggests.

Skarn will cast divine favor on himself (+4/+4), and make his weapon Bane (+2/+2 +2d6) against their type.

All buffs from the previous fight have expired. Beating the DC by 5 gives you one extra piece of information...what do you want to know?

Resistances.

They're resistant to spells, piercing damage, and slashing damage.

Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28

"Yes, and also..."

Can I get info on any spells/SLAs/that sort of thing? Also, are 10 min/level buffs still running? I've got Barkskin and Mutagen on that duration.

The 10 minute/level buffs are still going, but the 1 round/level buffs (like haste and prayer) have expired, as has divine favor.

Annis hags can cast alter self and fog cloud three times per day each. Three hags together are also capable of casting far more potent spells in concert, including control weather. And it's been raining a lot lately, putting stress on the Skull's Crossing dam, threatening to drown Turtleback Ferry. Probably a coincidence!