Saga of the Taighean Dubha - a Reign of Winter PbP (Inactive)

Game Master Mark Sweetman

Rikka delays briefly until the troll is dropped - either by Skane or Annalisa - then...

The sorceress moves close into the shadow of the troll and bathes the creature in occult fire, hoping to stop its unnatural healing.

MOVE: to J12
STAND: Cast Burning Hands 4d4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 2) + 4 = 17 DAM - Reflex DC:16 for 1/2 DAM

Kló recoils as if hit between the eyes, then staggers back behind Annalisa to try again.

5’ step to K.11. Lose Frost Fall to begin casting Summon Nature’s Ally II for eagles…
# of eagles: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Sorry for the hold-up, had an epic work Sunday, and epic work Monday.

Skane's langsword drinks deep in trow blod for the second time in a hand of seconds, opening a rent on the beast's belly that spills guts into the snow. The string goes out of the iss trow's form and she crumples to her knees, looking to topple forward...

After Skane's action she is down, but not dead. Any retcon? - or hold to actions as stated?

I'll hold to my action but avoid getting toppled on. If J12 looks like it will get hit with the troll corpse, I'll step back to K12.

If it's doable, I'd turn Annalisa's action into a coupe de grace.

Apologies again - my two year old stumbled out of bed awake last night so I didn't get to the map.

Rikka conjures eldritch flame that flash melts some of the snow before her... but wreaks further havoc upon the trow's wounds. Blood blisters, fat bubbles and a foul stench of burning flesh pervades the air. Annalisa takes advantage to position for an accurate sword thrust into the trow's throat and with a forceful grunt puts paid to it's life.

Round 11: Guardsmen, Skane, Rikka, Annalisa, Klo, Katherson

The trow's corpse is big enough to cause it to be difficult terrain, but given the angle of the crossbow men up on the wall is does not provide cover - unless you drop to prone.
I'll update tonight with the guardsmen as I want to ensure that I can update with a map so that there isn't any more confusion over positioning.

Nodding grimly as the ice troll falls, Katherson taps Skäne with the healing wand before moving in front of Kló to block any crossbow shots at him.

WCLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Klo withdraws and begins gestures primal and utterance guttural to seek allies natural while Katherson salves wounds.

The guards captain on the wall swears and spits, turning to the southern men on the wall "Shoot the flamecaster." before him and the two guardsmen to his left draw bead upon the chanting Klo...
Heavy Crossbow at Klo: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 2 = 13
Heavy Crossbow at Klo: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Heavy Crossbow at Klo: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Heavy Crossbow at Rikka: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Heavy Crossbow at Rikka: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
...though all shots taken are ineffectual, spearing only into the snow. The guardsmen drop their crossbows and return hands to the earthen pots while the guard captain begins the process of reloading his own crossbow.

Round 12: Guardsmen, Skane, Rikka, Annalisa, Klo, Katherson

Map

Katherson - I know there's some confusion... but please check back over what's already posted.
You already healed Annalisa in Round 11 back here. Do you intend that as a Round 12 action instead? - or are you now not healing Annalisa?

Rikka watches the bolts deflect off her arcane shielding with a small sense of relief. The threat hones her senses. She hisses to her allies.

"Someone is coming towards the gate - chain clinks and footsteps crunch the snow."

Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Round 12:
Eagles appear in F.9, E.10, E.12, and G.13, then they all make charging bull-rushes on different targets: the captain and the guards in C.8, C.12, and C.13 (with the eagles ending in D.8, D.9, D.12, and D.13). I’m hoping they can’t make AoO’s because of no melee weapons ready.

With a chorus of shrieks, four streaks of mist rush out of the gray sky, coalescing into a flight of eagles as they bear down on their prey. They slam into the four nearest crossbowmen with as much force as their small bodies can manage.

Perception DC 25: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

Kló growls as he watches the magnificent eagles crash into the crossbowmen like some airborne avalanche, then he gives a dark, eager smile at Rikka's words. ”To the gate! Form up! Stick to the plan!”

Putting words to action, he begins more chanting. Instead of being answered by the shrieking of eagles, his muscles bulge, skin thickens and begins sprouting white fur, and he begins to grow.

Begin casting Enlarge Person on self.

Eagle Stats, for reference

Katherson - I know there's some confusion... but please check back over what's already posted.

You already healed Annalisa in Round 11 back here. Do you intend that as a Round 12 action instead? - or are you now not healing Annalisa?

Ah, the confusion was caused by missing the Round markers and only looking at my bolded name in the recap. Round 12 will be healing Skane.

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Heading Rikka's words, Annalisa moves around the trow's corpse (I13) and holds to see who or what is coming out of the wall next.

Round 12

Skäne has little time to dwell on the slaying of the trow as Rikka's warning shout comes quickly on that victories heels.

The vikingr sheathes his langword (Move Action) and draws a throwing ax that he lets fly at the pot holders on the battlement;

Throwing Ax: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Nae 100% if I can do all of above, if not I'll ready attack for next round

Rikka delays to see what happens before acting.

Skane sheathes his blade and puts a throwing axe to hand as Rikka pauses.
Skane - move action sheathe, move action draw. Can't throw till next round

Annalisa repositions as Klo's words of conjuration sound out and are replaced by other words of primal intent. Katherson moves to Skane's back and salves his wounds.

The eagles that answer the call surge towards the men of the guard and for the most part fail at their attempt to force them to yield position. That is, except for the one that targets the Guard Captain. It's small body hits the captain square in the upper breast and drives him backwards and though there is a railing to brace himself against behind him, his footing is not sound, and he falls prone upon the battlements.

Technically some issues with the proposed eagle actions:
1) You've had them appear outside of your summon range (which is 30ft)... because you haven't accounted for the fact that the guardsmen are ~25ft up on the wall. But that is solved by summoning them closer to you and higher up.
2) the area in front of the guardsmen consists of battlements (low wall) - so they get cover against the bull rushes if the rushes are flat. I've adjusted that to have your eagles end up essentially 5ft higher than the guardsmen (which has the added benefit of giving +1 to attack for higher ground).
3) most of the guardsmen (and specifically the captain) have a low wall behind them which prevents them from being pushed backwards... so I've remade the bull rush into a trip, which succeeds against the captain.
Hope that works for you?

Round 12: Guardsmen, Skane, Annalisa, Klo, Katherson, Rikka

Just need Rikka actions, then I'll move on.

Rikka casts a glamer on a guard on the parapet holding a pot at the ready, attempting to confuse his mind. Then she pulls a scroll from her sash.

STAND: Cast Daze Will DC:14
MOVE: Pull scroll

Daze is close range - 30ft at this level. Given the fact that the guards are up on a 25ft tall wall they are out of range of that spell.

Then I'll pull the scroll but not cast anything this round.

Hope that works for you?

I don’t normally play characters with any real summoning, so I appreciate the help on points 1 and 2. Thanks. :)

As to 3, the low wall behind the captain completely prevents him from being bull-rushed? I’d think a full wall (or even 3/4 height wall) could completely block bull-rushes (and would constitute the ‘solid object’ mentioned in the Bullrush rules), but I’d think you could still push someone over a low wall (waist-high or so)… especially on a nat 20.

From the PRD: You cannot bull rush a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle.
The battlements are an obstacle, ergo no bull rush.
The fact it's a natural 20 makes no difference to that... why do you even bring it up?

I guess I've always seen that line used as objects that could logically fully block a bull-rush, where you mentioned the "low wall", which didn't seem to fit that criteria. All kinds of movies and stuff where folks are bull-rushed over a parapet or something. If you're saying that this wall fully blocks regardless of height, it's moot.

I brought up the nat 20 because i've seen dm's apply a penalty or bonus given the situation (like I read the low wall to be)... which a nat 20 would have bypassed entirely because of the 20 equals auto-success thing. But again, if this wall is a full-block, it's moot.

And have I in the 2000 odd posts that we've had ever used critical fumbles or allowed natural 20s to do anything outside of RAW? - the answer is no... so I'm not entirely sure why you think I'd change that now.
I am finding this combat incredibly tiring to run... as pretty much every single round I'm expending more effort on corrections and rules related debate rather than just running the combat.
Looking specifically at your action I corrected two errors that you'd made in your favor and yet still you're arguing a point well after the fact after I've given a ruling.
Should I have instead taken your actions explicitly as written and had your summon and corresponding effects fail entirely?

Also - Rikka... you haven't even stated which scroll you've retrieved from your sash.

Sorry about the slow mo DMVoV - we'll endeavour to move this along somewhat... I for one will try and be sharper on the rules/options

I wasn’t attempting to ask for special consideration. And I didn’t intend for you to change the way you’re running the game.

I’ll also apologize for my part in slowing this combat down. It certainly hasn’t been intentional, and I’ll do my best not to unnecessarily bog things down further. I took your questions as invitations to discuss your rulings. Maybe I misunderstood.

I appreciated (and still do) the help on the summoning thing. However, I don’t want you to feel like you’re having to go out of your way to do me favors. If you want to leave the trip in place, I’m fine with that. If you want to go with a more strict translation of my stated actions, I’ll understand that, too. My feelings won’t be hurt either way.

Scroll: Ray of Exhaustion

Ok - back on deck.
Rikka - keep in mind that the scroll for ray of exhaustion is still attached to the spellbook, so technically you've drawn the spellbook.

As the vikingr and ulfen upon the snow watch the eagles do the dirty work that they cannot the guardsmen upon the wall react. Those with eagles upon them turn attention to defence, keeping the clay pot in hand while drawing steel with their other hands. Their sole focus is upon reacting to the assault and girding their forms and avoiding harm. Effectively total defence

The guard captain swears under his breath in Irriseni and slips a shield from behind his back while taking cover prone. He barks at the others beside him "Hold the line... they're still outside the walls."

The sole guardsman at the end of the fighting line slips from your view as he backs away from the wall for the moment.

Round 13: Guardsmen, Skane, Annalisa, Klo, Katherson, Rikka

Klo - don't forget to make Fly checks as appropriate depending on the eagle's movement.
From your position on the ground, you cannot currently see the guard captain as he's dropped prone below the line of the battlements.

Map

R13 - keeping things moving.

The eagles’ assault continues with flurries of claws, beaks, and war-screeches screamed at the armored men.

Where the big ulfen stood moments before is now a massive bear-man … all fur and muscle, giant's blade in-hand. With ground-eating strides he makes his way towards the vacated spot on the wall. "Anna! To me!" he makes a hefting motion indicating his intent to throw her up on the wall. "Skäne! Forward and ready blades!"

I’m fairly certain feather step would allow Kló to take a run action even over the fallen troll and through deep snow. If that’s the case, he’ll run to C/D-6/7. If running is disallowed, he’ll double move to D/E-8/9.

Round 13

Seeing Rikka is still badly injured Katherson moves over to her and heals her with the wand.

"Aim true now."

WCLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Annalisa gives Klo a feral grin and moves to him.

Round 13

Skäne curses under his own frozen breath as the guardsman hunker into their fortification but lets fly with his ax regardless - however not at the cowardly Irriseni but at their frozen gate;

Throwing Ax: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

The vikingr then moves forward toward the gate, drawing his remaining ax as he does (Move Action + Draw as free combined with Move)

Am trying something inspired by the Kirk Douglas classic The Vikings DMVoV - thought is the nail the gate with a couple o' axes, then climb over said ice gate with the axe ladder...

Rikka advances alongside Skane.

Skane's thrown axe strikes the ice wall and sinks blade first into it. As he advances though he wonders if the bite of the axe would be enough to support his weight...

The newly enbiggened Klo strides forceful through the snow and past the trow to the wall.
Note you've still got your weapon in hand.

Having paused to follow Klo, Annalisa then makes much harder work of the passage, but still manages to draw up adjacent to him.

Katherson salves Rikka's wounds before the sorceress advances to the wall next to Skane.
Note: Skane moved as close as he could with a single move action, I've moved Rikka adjacent to him.

The attentions of the eagles above are mostly foiled by a stout defence, and only two strikes draw blood. The Captain exhorts his men "Keep the shields up boys! The fecking eagles can't last forever." and they do exactly that - hunkering down for another fusillade of attention, though the guard captain does seek to regain his feet.
Provoking.

Round 14: Guardsmen, Skane, Klo, Annalisa, Katherson, Rikka

Map

Eagle AoO: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Even as the eagle attempts to scratch at the rising captain, Kló’s hold on them is lost. Mid-flight, they dissipate into white mist once more and are carried off by the wind. Below, Kló sheaths his massive blade and cups his hands near to the ground, ready to toss Annalísa up onto the wall. ”Give’em hell, Anna!”

”Skäne! Kath! Who’s up next?”

Move to stow weapon, ready action to toss her up once she moves into position. If it’s going to instead require a move to pick her up and a standard to toss her, he’ll instead simply drop his sword and Delay until she’s in place. Whichever gets Anna up there this round. >:D

Does getting up there take her round? What rolls, do I need to make to make the landing?

I'll allow for just a standard to throw - but Klo will need to make the roll for accuracy first.

Round 14

Skäne eyes the frozen gate and grasps the first ax with gritted teeth;

Here goes nithing...

Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Feck.

Rikka examines the gate, trying to determine if there is a way she can open it.

Knowledge: Arcana 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Spellcraft 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Anna toss: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

/facepalm ... sorry about this, Anna. Here's to hoping that's bad enough not to land you isolated on the other side of the wall. :(

Katherson hustles to catch up with the others.

Move to E7. Stow wand.

Annalisa is given flight by the enhanced Klo... though it proves to be a short and painful trip. Klo's hand slips as he hefts her skyward and insufficient height is gained. She crunches into the side of the walls below the crenellations and falls twenty feet into the snow...
Falling damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7 and Annalisa falls prone.

Skane's ill fated attempt at climbing the ice wall lasts but a few moments, when his first attempt to heft unto his lodged axe results in his fingers slipping.

Still room for actions from Annalisa and Rikka.

Rikka gestures at the gate, "Looks like a permanent wall of ice controlled mechanically by something in the fort. We might be able to bring this down with fire or blows... but I'd rather not use my last bit of magic trying to melt it."

Rikka jabs her spear into the ice, trying to determine how hard the gate will be to bring down.

STAND: Boarspear (crit: 20/2x)
MODS: None
HIT: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
DAM: 1d8 ⇒ 1 lol

HP 13/34

Annalisa drags herself to her feet, wiping the snow from her face and looks up at Klo. "Ow!" she yells in a growling voice. "Dammit, do it again. Careful this time!"

Rikka's thrust at the wall skips off the surface of it, but does cut a slight gouge from the ice. Annalisa recovers from her ill fated flight... and prepares to sign up for a second helping.

The guard captain exchanges position with his kinsman, clearly readying himself to meet anyone who manages to be thrown atop the wall.

The guardsmen slowly recover after the eagle's disappearance, slightly wary after their quick departure - but a shouted "Send clay" from their captain soon rouses them to action.

The three upon the wall turn at those who are helpfully now near and close, releasing the clay pots that they had held near with arcing parabola towards their targets...
Pot at Rikka: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 21
Pot at Rikka: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 2
Pot at Annalisa: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 9
...two breaking uselessly into the snow, but the third breaking over Rikka's shoulder and spreading a quick hardening resin across her body. It freezes as the chill of the air touches it and threatens to glue the sorceress in place...
Save vs tanglefoot bag please Rikka.

Round 15: Guardsmen, Skane, Klo, Annalisa, Katherson, Rikka

Mapski

Reflex Save DC:15 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Kló growls through ursine lips at his own clumsiness, then tries again with a roar.

Anna toss attempt 2: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

He looks over at the other warriors, ”Skane! Kath! Who’s next?!”

Are there any rolls that I need to make to land it? I know you said it was a standard action, but didn't specify if there were rolls or not.

Klo's second attempt is much fairer - sending Annalisa in an easy loop and in such a way that she does not need to twist or move to land upon her feet. The brief elation she feels at landing well though... is swiftly banished when the guard's captain steps to and unleashes a readied strike with his sword...
Longsword at Annalisa: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 = 15 for 1d8 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 2 = 8 Which hits as Annalisa is still raging and with no shield
...the steel sinking into her belly and rendering her nearer to Pharasma's door.

Round 15: Guardsmen, Skane, Klo, Guard Captain, Annalisa, Katherson, Rikka

"Klo, get them up here fast with that damn wand, they're gonna start firing on me! I don't have much left."