As the Dune Squad pulls back, A forked bolt of lightning rips from the shaft and blasts towards them. The bolt electrifies the walls and floor of the room, lighting everything -and everyone- completely up. For a brief moment you can actually see the glowing internal skeletons of Team Polymorph, like a hideous X-ray.
when the Dune Squad looks to see where the bolt comes from they see a familiar face, a grim faced sniper pointing a wand rifle at them. He's floating at the bottom of the shaft.
And that ends the round. . .
And expecting exactly this kind of cowardly attack, Moonpate the Potentate has prepared for Sceptre's return.
His ringed hand out flings out, arcing its stored arcane power outward to intercept the lightning bolt.Using his ring of counterspells: lightning bolt.
And expecting exactly this kind of cowardly attack, Moonpate the Potentate has prepared for Sceptre's return.
His ringed hand out flings out, arcing its stored arcane power outward to intercept the lightning bolt.Using his ring of counterspells: lightning bolt.
Gandel turns to Karek excitedly, "I need to pass through the archway to see the rest of this, let's hurry up and do it before Hal gets back!"
Gandel moves towards the archway unless Karek stops him...
Karek grabs on to Gandel's arm to hold him back a moment. Wade. Someding's wrong. Karek refers to the strange sense that they are all connected, and getting hurt.
Gandel winces as he feels a pain in his hand, the same hand which Donkor sliced open.
"Hmmm. That WAS strange! Still, we need to figure out how to operate this contraption if we have any hope o getting out of here and thwarting our foes". Gandel looks at Karek trying to ascertain if the dwarf will come with him or pull him back towards the others.
Karek grabs on to Gandel's arm to hold him back a moment. Wade. Someding's wrong. Karek refers to the strange sense that they are all connected, and getting hurt.
-
Roll away - Karek knows Hurgah was hit at least, and roughly where he is. Same goes for the rest of the Dune Squad.That will buy me some time to catch up and sort out Moonpate's curve ball.
Hurgah fixes his gaze on the arcane assassin's hated wand rifle, then barks a phrase in draconic.
In an instant, the metal parts of the rifle superheat, filling the tube with a white glow. Sceptre suddenly finds himself with less than half a second to contemplate a very unpleasant choice: drop his precious weapon, or face smoldering burns on both hands.
- DC 14 Ref save to drop the rifle and take no damage.
"Reaver don't chase after him! Make him fight our fight!" barks Hal from the cover of the tunnel.
Karek turns and starts moving back towards the rest of the party, bringing Gandel along if necessary.
And expecting exactly this kind of cowardly attack, Moonpate the Potentate has prepared for Sceptre's return.
His ringed hand out flings out, arcing its stored arcane power outward to intercept the lightning bolt.Using his ring of counterspells: lightning bolt.
-
OK! I'll splash my thought process here.Buzz kill here, but I see that a ring of counter spells does not work as against area effect spells. Lightning bolt is an area effect spell. The ring only works on spells that actually target the bearer.
While that's a correct ruling, in my view, it now causes some problems:
1. As he notes above, Moonpate loaded his ring with lightning bolt for the exact reason of countering a future sniper shot from Sceptre. He specifically alerted us that he was loading his ring with lightning bolt in a post and he recorded it on his sheet. Not realizing the problem at the time I didn't caution him. I feel like Moonpate would have known the limits of his own magic ring. One solution is to permit him to reload his ring with an alternate spell for which the ring will actually work.
2. Didn't the ring of counter spells previously work against the Sand Sage's merciful fireball during the distraction assault on khymrasa's camp? A strict ruling now causes a continuity problem. I might be able to harmonize that: we could say the Sand Sage was specifically targeting Moonpate, not an area. Why would he do that though? Maybe because a diviner who knows everything knows what Moonpate loads in his ring, and for reasons the Dune Squad still doesn't quite understand, he only wanted to look like he was battling the Dune Squad in their last encounter with him, rather than actually fight.
So here's what I'm going to do. We'll say Sceptre was specifically targeting an individual with his lightning bolt and not an area. We'll do that this one time only.
But here's the problem. How do we know Sceptre was actually targeting Moonpate? Well, OOC we know Sceptre mistakenly thinks Moonpate is Dr. Hoffenburrow and he's madly trying to kill him, so it's reasonable. But Hurgah was interposed in front and Sceptre's been trying to bag Hurgah almost since the start of the adventure. He could have been targeting either. It won't be Hal - the dwarf's just collateral damage at this point. Sceptre barely knows him, save for the one time he saw him when he emerged from the oasis after fleeing from Deca Jaws.
So we'll give it a 50/50 shot. If the spell targeted Hurgah it's going to fail.
That's going to suck though, I sure do love it when a plan comes together. . . so either way, I share Jace's view, well done Phrip.
("Success!")
-----
Just before the bolt reaches the Dune Squad, Moonpate's famed ring commandeers the wizard's arm once again. It flings Moonpate's arm forward and forcibly waggles the wizard's fingers, ejecting the powerful store of energy hidden within the ring.
A second bolt, this one of a brilliant silver, races out to meet the first, canceling it out in a dazzling display of energy.
When the massive light show recedes, no one has been harmed.
I'm in for initiative.
"What was that!?"
After removing the damage on Xaven from Sceptre's lighting bolt:
At the sight of the electrified explosion the Mithral Scarab hits the deck.
-
I'll resolve this on Hurgah's next turn - pardon my delays, I appreciate you getting this in so we at least have something on the boards.
-
At the north arch, Karek is currently just over 100 feet away from Team Polymorph.
And expecting exactly this kind of cowardly attack, Moonpate the Potentate has prepared for Sceptre's return.
His ringed hand out flings out, arcing its stored arcane power outward to intercept the lightning bolt.Using his ring of counterspells: lightning bolt.
-
OK! I'll splash my thought process here.But here's the problem. How do we know Sceptre was actually targeting Moonpate?...
Juuuust filling in a few initiatives:
Gandel:
Breach:
Karek:
Donkor:
Initiative for Round 2
.
.
.
Xaven - 21 (but with the helpless condition)
Xerissa Auraraun - 13
Hrokon the Assailant (and friends) - 9
Lydia (Mithral Scarab) - 8
Gandel - 7+
Breach - 7-
Karek - 7-
Suekahn - 9-
The Reaving Pharaoh - 1
Halstadt 'Cricket' Morgrym - 1
Moonpate the Potentate - 1
Donkor - 1-
Sceptre - 0
The run action, then. It's only a difference of 20 feet, but it could help.
"Cut me loose! Cut me loose!"
"Hrokon! Get your bony green ass down here now!"
Gandel will run along with Karek glancing back at the archway longingly.
I was in the course of preparing what I had hoped would be a really funky post for Hrokon, when I belatedly realized: nobody can see him.
All I can tell you is Hrokon does not come crash landing down on the floor in front of Team Polymorph.
You can though hear loud noises from up atop the shaft, confusion or perhaps combat.
At this point Karek begins his powerful but short-legged dash across the great white stone. Gandel falls in behind him, easily keeping up thanks to his ability to skate across any surface with his magic boots.
Breach is up next! Then somebody fun goes.
Breach is up next! Then somebody fun goes.
Breach turns toward all the commotion and follows after the others, although, not nearly as fast. "Stay close, lass! I'll not be losin' ya again," he says just before he takes off.
"Careful everyone!"
A pair of screams echo down the tube. Each is cut short, ending in a horrible gurgling noise.
A single clattering scimitar blade falls down the shaft bouncing upwards after it first hits the floor.
-
-----
Once Hurgah goes charging back under the shaft and looks upwards, he sees Sceptre, slowly floating up the shaft, his trade mark wand rifle firmly clutched in both hands.
Sceptre is levitating.
Hurgah fixes his gaze on the arcane assassin's hated wand rifle, then barks a phrase in draconic.
In an instant, the metal parts of the rifle superheat, filling the tube with a white glow. Sceptre suddenly finds himself with less than half a second to contemplate a very unpleasant choice: drop his precious weapon, or face smoldering burns on both hands.
-
Sceptre does his best to supress a grunt of crippling pain as his palms and fingertips are coated with smoldering blisters. But he steadfastly refuses to relinquish his wand rifle, even as it glows a cherry red in his hands.
". . . Yerghghghghg, unhhh."
-
The pool reports it has a bruised tail bone!(Still 642 of 659)
Hurgah also sees the following when he's peering up the tube:
A humanoid figure is attempting to climb down the shaft. It doesn't look like it has gone very well for him. He seems to be stuck in place and a cord with a grappling hook is dangling from his hands instead of being affixed to something useful. Worse he has what looks like a sarcophagus lid strapped over his shoulders. Surely the weight of that will rip him from the smooth surface of the tube in the next few seconds.
Perhaps Hrokon will follow Halstadt's advice after all. . .
Halstadt is next, then Moonpate, then Donkor!
-
Hurgah smiles a feral smile as the assasin is burned by his own weapon, his piercing stare holding the promise of further pain.
Spying the crawling figure, Hurgah says Hey halfling, looks like your big buddy decided to join us anyway. He looks like he's about to take the fast route down, though.
On his last turn, Hal withdrew 20 feet and so at his current angle he can no longer see up the tube to know the answer to that.
He could though, take his move action to re-join Hurgah so that he's standing directly under the tube and then look up and judge the distance. He would then have a standard action left over to hurl his fireball if he determined it was worth it. This does though expose Hal to any attacks coming down the tube should there be any.
Does Hal rejoin Hurgah?
-
Hurgah smiles a feral smile as the assasin is burned by his own weapon, his piercing stare holding the promise of further pain.
-
Still floating above, Sceptre returns the stare, reaffirming a very similar commitment.
Hurgah smiles a feral smile as the assasin is burned by his own weapon, his piercing stare holding the promise of further pain.-
Still floating above, Sceptre returns the stare, reaffirming a very similar commitment.
Hal rejoins Hurgah and releases the fires of Angradd upon his allies mortal foe.
Fireball
Krythodan with Scepter at the Epicentre.
Wow! A potential 22 point swing factor – Krythodan has just proven to be an awesome tool.
As you have probably deduced or assumed then, you can indeed exclude Horkon from the area of effect. Sceptre is 35 feet up whereas Hronkon is currently 60 feet up. That means you can keep Hrokon out and still keep Sceptre in the centre of the blast so you can use Krythodan at the same time. (Now that Hal is looking up the tube, you can read the spoiler tag I left for Hurgah)
I do miss the good old days of 1st & 2nd edition, when fireballs used to fill an insane number of cubic space and would mould to the container they were set off in. Tossing it off in a reasonably enclosed tube like this would cause it to explode out both ends and burn all sorts of interesting individuals. Today's pressure-free fireballs are much more user friendly.
("fails")
Sceptre is really starting to wish he had prepared energy resistance (fire). He's taken 56 points of fire damage in the last few seconds.
Hurgah lets out a roar of triumph as the floating assassin burns even further. He turns to Moonpate, a feral grin on his face.
"Come, friend, and help us burn this coward with the flames of vengeance. He will spend his last few seconds regretting he ever crossed Moonpate the Potentate and Hurgah the Reaver!"