Band of Foxes - Harmonious Wisdom of Foxes (Inactive)

Game Master Ietsuna

Oh Juzo. Just missed

Juzo narrowly misses Yellow with a crossbow bolt.

I think Juzo forgot the Onna bonus!

Oh yeah, I always forget to add IC.

With the enemies in close, Onna tries to adjust for the erratic movement of the combat atop the ziggurat.

Shortbow vs YELLOW {IC/Melee}: 1d20 + 3 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 1 - 4 = 71d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Free action to continue Inspire Courage. +1 to hit / damage/ saves vs Fear. {3 of 8, 5 rounds remain}

In that case, YAY JUZO.

Juzu's crossbow bolt hits the enemy and it falls to the ground smoldering.

Combat over. Going to push through this part. There is nothing else here.

There is not much of the ruin left still standing. A search reveals nothing else here, so you leave the ruins. No sooner are they behind you when you see a familiar face camped beside the road. It is the fishing scholar. Gesturing upward, Yue Xin says, So the letters of green fire invoke the sign of the Dog, eh? Dogs may be vicious gluttons or friendly allies, and the wise know to be cautious until a cur’s true nature is revealed. But tell me, what does the Dog have to do with the lost palace?

Hiiragi thinks about it for a moment. There are many possibilities there—the infernal mongrels were known by humans primarily for their sense of smell, for example; alternately, it could be related to the zodiac, or... well, many possibilities.

Hopefully they would not need to befriend any canines in the process.

”It is but one piece of the puzzle, I am certain,” says Hiiragi.

"In the wealthy man's house there is no lean dog."

Ikari, back in human form, bows ever so slightly to the bureaucrat.

"Huh...so this thing works. Has a certain charm compared to a battle of wits, doesn't it?" Juzo says somewhat bewildered he dispatched the thing.

Still the riddles everyone seems to be tossing around are a bit too...exotic for him so he lets the others think about it.

"Sure, I am sure our employer will know the truth behind it or at least send us off to another clue."

Kenta has a tough time keeping up with all the chatter and whispered translations, he simply stays quiet.

The scholar nods to you, disappointment showing on his face. Well I will let you return to your employer. He begins packing away his telescope and chair. As you begin to leave you hear him say Ignorance and choke-vines strangle the unwary.

You return to Mai Chun who recieves you account with her usual stoicism before excusing herself to teach a class.

Next quest incoming

You arrive in Lanming without difficulty and seek out your contact at the school, Jiang Fei. As you get to the town you ask a local for directiond to The School of the Jade Ogre. The woman looks quizzical, then replies, Oh, the Dumpling House! and points you to a small shop in a slow, shabby section of Lanming.

The shouts of merchants hawking wares and students practicing their forms are quieter in this part of the city, but the streets still bustle with activity. Rows of old and run-down dwellings line the streets. One small apartment has been converted into a food stall, where a handsome woman with dark hair chats with a few customers. The sign above the shop reads Jiang Fei’s Dumpling House and School of the Jade Ogre Style.

Excitedly to the team. "I've never been to a dumpling house before! The smells ...mmm...delicious. We have to try some."

Hiiragi grins at Onna’s enthusiasm. ”In my experience, this will be either amazing or terribly gluey. Regardless, it is my duty as a servant of Daikitsu to sample them all,” she says, as if this were a great burden.

Approaching the stall, she gives a friendly smile.

The woman behind the counter is on the young side of middle age with bright eyes and a demure smile. She keeps her long black hair up with a beautiful jade comb and wears a simple monk's outfit.

She smiles at Hiiragi and passes a dish of two dumplings to the Cleric. Certainly

Hiiragi offers a polite bow, procuring a set of chopsticks from her robe. ”May Daikitsu bless all that you make and all that you share,” she says, before pushing a dumpling into her mouth. As she chews, she stows the second in an inner pocket of her robe.

Guidance on dumpling lady!

Onnahas difficulty with the wooden utensils. She eventually resorts to stabbing a dumpling and shoving it into her mouth.

"Of miff gffdnss! Tsss rr suuu ghhd!" While her words my be indecipherable, the smile and enthusiastic chewing indicate her pleasure at the meal.

Perhaps it would be wrong to do so before I can give blessings though.

"You are Jiang Fei? Mai Chun sent us. She believes that we can help each other out."

Ahh, yes. Do come this way. She bustles about closing up her shop. Do come through to my home, please. She arranges refreshments to be served while you introduce yourselves.

Once you are all seated and enjoying the repast the talk gets serious. I would discuss the favour I ask of you. A local school for martial arts, the Scorpion School, is known to be bullies and braggarts. I would like to have this thorn removed from my side by having you best them and teach them some humility. Will you come with me and learn the basics of the Jade Ogre style and confront them tomorrow in a local tea house?

She offers an encouraging smile to her pupil, and follows the rest into Jiang Fei’s home.

When the conversation turns, she considers; ”We are happy to help, of course. What sort of style is Jade Ogre, exactly?”

Kenta smiles, "Bullies? Hmmm... If you are asking for a friendly brawl to teach them a lesson, then I think even I can get behind this job." He thinks for a second and adds with his brow furrowed, "We uh... wouldn't have to dress up like ogres though, right? I don't like disguising who I am."

Named for a family heirloom it is my family's style that I have decided to finally bring to the masses now. Because it is seen as newer it needs to be shown to work. Named for a family heirloom it is my family's style. It has 4 basic movements. Come to the park outside and I shall show them to you.

There will be no need to disguise yourself, my friend.

Ogre Scares the Foe: A hard strike with the knee aimed at the lower body. A target damaged by Ogre Scares the Foe must succeed at a Will save or lose any Strength bonus to attack and damage rolls for 1 round.

Ogre Smashes Rock: A straight-line punch designed to rock a foe backward. A target damaged by Ogre Smashes Rock must succeed at a Fortitude save or be pushed back 5 feet.

Ogre Stomps Around: A fast, jabbing kick that distracts a foe. A target damaged by Ogre Stomps Around must succeed at a Reflex save or lose its Dexterity bonus to AC for 1 round.

Ogre Swings the Club: A strong side kick. Apply 1-1/2 times the character’s Strength modifier to damage rolls when using Ogre Swings the Club.

Onna watches the demonstration. "Um...I'm not very strong. Will these actually work for me? I am much better when it comes to offering support for the team."

Hiiragi grins. "I would not mind trying my hand," she says.

My very large hand, which has reach...

Itami, finally pulled from his wonderings, speaks up. "I have the same concern as Onna. Supporting a fight is more my style," he explains, although the lack of rippling musculature on his slim frame likely speaks for itself.

"Will you need a managerial representative at this meeting of...what would you call this? Either way if I represent you in the fight you may not like the outcome...but I could help in other ways without them even knowing. Sometimes only a gaze can set them off their guard." he says with a smirk.

Yeah, I volunteer for anyone else to handle this fight. Otherwise you will see poor Juzo get trounced by the bully.

"Although, Itami has the look of an old teacher. He may fit in quite well!" he laughs a bit mimicking the moves...likely poorly.

Kenta looks pretty comfortable learning the strikes. As his allies seem concerned about their abilities he encourages them, "It isn't about being the strongest or even the smartest. Just pick something to be good at and focus on that. Ikari, Hiragi and I will keep them all focused on us, the rest can stay back to encourage us or discourage them or even slip in to weaken their attacks or defenses. Teamwork will pull us through." To emphasize his focus on one or two things he really puts all his effort into memorizing the smashes a rock and swings a club strikes.

"A direct style. And one that focuses on debilitating the opponent. Kenta is right, a student of Jade Ogre Style does not have to be especially strong. Ogre Scares the Foe will weaken an enemy; Ogre Smashes Rock can give us space to escape a stronger enemy, or place one in a more vulnerable position; Ogre Stomps Around will make an enemy easier for others to hit; and Ogre Swings the Club will let even a less strong practitioner strike a finishing blow."

Ikari bows to the Master. "Do I have it right?"

The Master bows back to Ikari. You have that right, now please accompany me to the area behind my lodgings and we will begin the training.

You spend the rest of the day mastering the basics of Jade Ogre style under the direction and watchful eye of Jiang Fei. Night comes and she cooks dumplings for all.

The night passes uneventfully and the following day she takes you to a local tea house.

The Wang Li Fa Teahouse is well lit and nicely decorated, with elaborate murals painted on the walls displaying the feats of local heroes. The furniture and serving dishes of the place are somewhat at odds with the decor though, and seem to be of cheap, rough make. The numerous patrons of the teahouse don’t seem to mind, and the place bustles with servers moving around and patrons chatting.

She leads you to an unoccupied table on the front wall and points out a group of rowdy individuals. those are the Scorpion School students. Taking a sip of her tea she continues. What I need from you is to antagonize them into a fight to show the Jade Ogre style. I would warn you against just walking over and punching them though. Such things are crass and vulgar.

"Now, I believe I can start a fight...it is just the fight itself that I am not so good at. I will have them attacking first in a short time...have fun and I can help from behind once they get angry." Juzo says quietly to the table.

He gets up and takes a long walk around the room before leaning against the wall.

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

"So are you the Scorpion School? You have heard the word growing around town right? Your school and it's students pales in comparison to the new Jade Ogre students in town. Actually it is those guys over there..." he adds pointing to the others.

"I don't have an opinion either way but calling Scorpion Style a childs dance routine in comparison seems pretty harsh for such a tough looking bunch like you. Is it true? Or can you take this chance to change the growing rumors?" he says poking the bear...er scorpions further.

One of the Scorpion School students jumps up from her table and shouts, That’s it! You are going to regret insulting the Scorpion Style! Her fellow students follow her lead and leap to their feet, sending teacups and other dishes crashing to the floor.

The other patrons move out and clear a space for you to fight in. The servers hide behind the bar or in the kitchen, while the other patrons cheer you on.

The furniture in the teahouse is cheap because the proprietor expects it to get broken in fights like this one. Any attack that pushes a creature into a square occupied by a table, bench, or chair breaks that piece of furniture, dealing an additional 1d6 points of nonlethal damage to a pushed creature, and forcing the creature to succeed at a DC 14 Reflex save or fall prone.

Combat Round 1 - Bold May Act

Juzo
Hiiragi
Kenta
Itami
Ikari
Onna
Scorpions

Itami moves forward just a bit and prepares to defend himself. Hopefully we've got enough muscle in our group that it won't really matter how I do...
________
Readied Action
Ogre Scares the For: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 01d3 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0 Double zeroes! XD
If only one of us had Improved Unarmed Strike! This would be a cake walk!

Kenta takes a breath to center himself and moves forward eyeing the bullies, "Come at me and prove it, you little punk. I have no respect for bullies."

Move 30 ft, Readied to "Ogre Smashes Rock" against the first enemy that comes into range. I'm guessing we just use our regular unarmed strike damage, does it provoke? How is the save DC calculated for the special addons?

Shouldn't Juzo start close to the other guys?

Hiiragi rises from her seat, looking smugly superior. "The Scorpion Style is no match for the superior style of the Jade Ogre!" she says, her lips not quite matching her mouth's movements.

She crosses the teahouse and takes up the stance she was taught previously.

Ikari approaches the enemy..

acrobatics, jump: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 9 - 2 = 10 good enough for a 2.5 feet high jump, should be enough?

.. hopping up onto a stool, he challenges the scorpion monks in the Tien language:

"Your style is weak - even the old man over there can beat you by using Jade Ogre Style!" He points to Itami.

Ikari gains +1 to AC and to attack if adjacent to two or more enemies, from Urban Barbarian Crowd Control, if it should come up.

Due to your special traing in Jade Ogre style unarmed strikes do not provoke. DC for the special attacks is 10 + half the attacker’s level + the attacker’s Wisdom modifier and damage for them is 1d6+strength modifier and you can deal lethal or non-lethal as you choose with no penalty.

Kenta's readied attack's DC is 11 (Fort) if it happens and hits.

"Time to show them how strong the Jade Ogre is!"

Inspire Courage. +1 to Hit/ Damage / Saves vs Fear

"Oh this is going to be interesting." Juzo calls out from the wall watching green as the scorpion students descend on the others.

Hypnotic Stare: -2 Will Saves / Painful Stare: +1 Damage once per round (I will trigger for free first time he takes damage). He isn't aware of any effect.

Assuming since my Bluff looked successful and they aren't aggressive towards me atm...I will end my turn there.

The two groups intermix as a fist fight breaks out.

Juzo could get an AoO on Blue as it rushes past if you want

As Blue approaches Kenta, the paladin punches at the martial artist with Ogre Smashes Rock. The scorpion student takes damage...

Blue Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

... but is not pushed back.

Blue then punches back at Kenta.

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 NL
Confirm: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 Extra Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Yellow makes a swipe at Hiiragi with an elbow

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 NL

Green makes a double kick at Hiiragi

Unarmed Strike Flurry 1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 NL

Unarmed Strike Flurry 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 NL

Combat Round 2 - Bold May Act

Juzo
Hiiragi -2NL
Kenta -9NL
Itami
Ikari
Onna
Scorpions (Blue-6NL, Green -0, Red -0, Yellow -0)

Blocking the powerful punch with his face, Kenta shakes his head to clear it and then steps to the side, attempting to smash the same target back into a bench and to the ground, "OGRE SMASHES SCORPION WITH ROCK!"

5ft step, Ogre Smashes Rock vs. Blue, DC 11 Fort if hits or knocked back into the bench.

Unarmed + IC: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 3 + 1 = 14 for NL/Bludgeoning + IC: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 = 6

Ikari needs to see if Kenta's attack knocks Blue back or prone before deciding who / where to attack.

Kenta punches at Blue, but the Scorpion dodges the punch.

Ikari hops off the stool hoping that's ok as a 5' step, but if not I'll roll acrobatics.

acrobatics if needed: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 9 - 2 = 26

Then, counting on not only the Jade Ogre training but also his skill for fighting in close quarters, Ikari also attacks the injured scorpion student.

Ogre Stomps Around vs blue, controlled rage to STR, crowd control, bard: 1d20 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 18damage, nonlethal, bard: 1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 1 = 9 DC 11 Reflex save or lose DEX to AC.

Tien: "What do they teach at Scorpion School? How to hide under rocks?"

Ikari reduces the Blue scorpion to an unconscious body on the floor.

Combat Round 2 - Bold May Act

Juzo
Hiiragi -2NL
Kenta -9NL
Itami
Ikari
Onna
Scorpions (Blue-UC, Green -0, Red -0, Yellow -0)

Hiiragi focuses as Scorpions approach, keeping two strikes soft with her arms but taking the third in the rib. While no monk, she at least took the defensive aspects of the training to heart.

She shifts her weight-- first up, then down in a crashing stomp, then follows through with the rest of her body;

Ogre Stomps Around: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

But her form is too flowy, and not firm enough.

With the two groups now successfully engaged Juzo starts weaving his magic and and words into a Charm Spell on the same green-garbed fellow he has been watching.

Standard: Charm Person on Green DC 15 to resist. Green still has a -2 to Will Saves.

If Succesful, Juzo moves closer to the fight"You are making the Scorpion School look bad! Take this spot and get revenge for your brethren he just knocked out!" he gestures and calls for green-garbed to attack Ikari.

Diplomacy (If he would need further convincing that he should beat up Ikari for knocking Blue out.): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

I will take this AoO if he comes through my squares to Ikari.

Green Will, DC15: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 4 - 2 = 20

Green resists Juzo's spell.

While keeping everyone's spirits high, Onna moves closer to the fray!

Round 2 of 8, 6 remaining. Double move.

"You will never defeat us!" Itami challenges the Scorpion School students while doing his beset to give Kenta an opening to land a solid blow.
________
Aid Another (Attack, Inspire Courge) vs Kenta: 1d20 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 + 1 = 11
Just remembered that Aid Another is a thing! Probably going to do that all fight.

Yellow punches at Ikari

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5NL

Green punches at Itami

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2NL

Red punches at Onna

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5NL

Combat Round 3 - Bold May Act

Juzo
Hiiragi -2NL
Kenta -9NL
Itami
Ikari
Onna -5NL
Scorpions (Blue-UC, Green -0, Red -0, Yellow -0)

Trying to take advantage of the distraction from the old man, Kenta swaps to a conscious target and attempts to smash him back into a table! "HAYAAAA!!!!"

Ogre Smashes Rock vs. Green, DC 11 Fort if hits or knocked back into the table.

Unarmed + IC + Aid: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 12 for NL/Bludgeoning + IC: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 = 9

Thanks for the attempted Aid, but it seems that with the more help he gets the worse he rolls! :P