GM Mike's Ironfang Invasion

Game Master mike9322

As Astrid whispers to Tink, the female naga (I'm just going to use their names from now on; she's Sylyeese and he's Synvaar) hisses and screeches something to Synvaar in a language no one recognizes. His eyes widen and he turns to the party. "NO! She is ours!" He begins an incantation.

ROUND 1
Astrid (105/105 hp)
Sylyeese (0 damage)
Veldanis (125/125 hp)
Randall (105/105 hp)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp)
Synvaar (0 damage)
Kharazhar (0 damage)

Bold may act.

Astrid nods curtly. She thought something like this might happen. "The trox might be under its spell, don't kill her!"

Then her bow is instantly in her hands, and she plucks a swift, rhythmic tune on it before she hums a few notes and infuses them with magic, then opens her mouth in a silent scream aimed at the naga casting a spell.

Free action draw the bow, move action to start Controlled Inspired Rage, and standard to cast ear-piercing scream at the one casting a spell.

I KNOW I'm gonna regret this, but Astrid simply has no way of knowing that Rand is ensorcelled, so he's included in the Inspired Rage (+2 Str, +2 Dex).

Sonic Dmg: 5d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 3, 3, 5) = 16

DC 15 Fort save for half damage. Also stunned 1 round on a failure.

Synvaar grunts as Astrid's scream hits him, but doesn't seem too phased by it.

Sylyeese launches a fireball at the party.

I'm assuming everyone is taking the Inspired Rage except Tink.

astrid reflex (+2 belt of dwarvenkind): 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 11 + 2 = 30
randall reflex: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27
v reflex: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20
loiosh reflex: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
tink reflex: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Everyone in the party is able to duck behind crystals or around the corner of the corridor and avoid taking the fireball full force (14 damage each).

Synvaar looks at his sister incredulously. "You fool! I had him!"

Rand suddenly feels as if maybe this guy is not his BFF. He doesn't even know his name!

(In case it wasn't clear, Rand is no longer charmed because Synvaar's idiot sister fireballed him in the face.)

ROUND 1
Astrid (91/105 hp, raging song, inspired rage)
Sylyeese (0 damage)
Veldanis (111/125 hp, inspired rage)
Randall (91/105 hp, inspired rage)
Tink (82/96 hp)
Loiosh (76/90 hp, inspired rage)
Synvaar (8 damage)
Kharazhar (0 damage)

Bold may act.

If V and Rand succeeded, they both take 0 damage. Evasion, baby!

V places himself directly behind a crystalline outcropping, letting the blast of flame wash past him on either side before returning to his previous position. Within seconds, his huge blade is in his hands and he's moved all the way around Synvaar to set up a flank with Rand.

Double move, but still accepting the rage because of the AC bump. Just fyi, V has Mobility, in case Synvaar has Combat Reflexes or something.

Rand, who had been grinning like an idiot and staring off into the middle distance, blinks and regains his senses. "Heyyy!" he says with a mock scowl at Synvaar. "You're not my friend at all!" He cracks his knuckles, darts forward, and sends his fingers in a piercing jab at Synvaar's... uh... neeeckkk...? Do snakes have necks??

He aims for the southern facial region, anyway.

Swift action to activate Snake Style, then stabby stabby. Combat Expertise is on, and this be a Stunning Fist.

Snake Strike (lol) vs Synvaar, Flank, FF: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 18 + 2 = 29
Dmg: 1d10 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14 Magical, Piercing
Elec: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Precision: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10
Total: 26

On hit: DC 22 Fort or stunned 1 rd

Tink calls down a flame strike in between the nagas, bathing them both in holy fire.

FS: 12d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 3, 1, 3, 4, 2, 4, 6, 6, 5) = 40 DC 21 reflex half

Then, even before the deafening concussion of the spell has dissipated, he leans over and whispers in Loiosh's ear, "ATTACK."

Loiosh screeches [color=maroon]"SNACKS!"[/color] and pounces at Sylyeese.

bite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19
damage: 1d8 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
grab: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21
damage: 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18
damage: 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

Wow good job.

Why do these dumbasses keep attacking this party? It's just getting ridiculous and sad at this point. ANYWAY... Synvaar takes a jab to the throat and immediately feels all of his muscles seize up. How did Rand know where a naga's pressure points are?!

Then both nagas utterly fail to anticipate Tink's spell, AND all of Loiosh's attacks strike Sylyeese because somehow this book 4 encounter has creatures with AC 16. Oh, also she's grappled, so have fun with that.

HAHA never mind I just added up the damage and she's unconscious. I mean, I guess she's also still grappled, but geez.

Synvaar drools.

Kharazhar roars in fury when Sylyeese goes down and swings its massive fists at Loiosh. Only one of the reckless strikes finds its target (17 damage).

ROUND 2
Astrid (91/105 hp, raging song, inspired rage)
Sylyeese (101 damage, unconscious and dying)
Veldanis (125/125 hp, inspired rage)
Randall (105/105 hp, inspired rage)
Tink (82/96 hp)
Loiosh (59/90 hp, inspired rage)
Synvaar (74 damage, stunned [1 round])
Kharazhar (0 damage)

Bold may act.

Astrid continues plucking her bowstring, stepping forward and raining arrows at Synvaar flawlessly between notes. She glances at Rand. "You've got the best chance of taking them down without killing 'em! They might still be whammied!"

Using Rapid Shot Deadly Aim but I believe Rand is giving soft cover. Also Skald's Vigor gives back 2 hp to Astrid, Tink, and Loiosh.

Longbow vs Synvaar: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
Dmg: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17 Ignores concealment, magical, piercing

Longbow vs Synvaar: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Dmg: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16 Ignores concealment, magical, piercing

Longbow vs Synvaar: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Dmg: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13 Ignores concealment, magical, piercing

V takes a quick, heavy swipe at Synvaar before he loses his flanking partner.

Hoblopper vs Synvaar, Flanking: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 18 + 2 = 28
Dmg: 4d6 + 21 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 5) + 21 = 43 Adamantine, magical, slashing
Precision: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Total: 47

Rand looks disappointedly at the stunned, derped-out naga in front of him; easy pickings. He could dismantle this thing and then move over to take down the trox, but he knows Loiosh isn't one for being gentle. He bites his lip, hesitating for a moment, then decides to leave this guy in V's capable hands. In a blip, he's gone, reappearing with the same momentum as if he'd charged, but from the opposite direction, as he slams a viper-strike down at a pressure point on the trox.

Dimensional Assault is a charge, so no CE and absolutely heinous AC for one round, but hopefully I can at least knock some sense into the trox. (Assuming they're actually under a charm spell right now, that is.) Also using another Stunning Fist, DC 22 Fort, though I'm guessing the trox has WAY better Fort than the Blunder Twins.

Charge (Dimensional Assault) vs Kharazhar, Flank: 1d20 + 18 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 18 + 2 + 2 = 41
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16 Magical, non-lethal, piercing
Elec: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Precision: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7
Total: 24 non-lethal (well, arguably 23 non-lethal and 1 lethal electricity; up to you)

-2 AC for 1 round

Per Discord, I'm redoing V's turn since the naga went down from Astrid.

V hustles over to the trox, says, "Sorry, this won't kill you but it ain't gonna tickle," and tries to clobber them with the flat of his greatsword.

Hoblopper (non-lethal) vs Kharazhar, Flanking: 1d20 + 18 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 18 + 2 - 4 = 30
Dmg: 4d6 + 21 ⇒ (3, 4, 6, 4) + 21 = 38 adamantine, magical, non-lethal
Precision: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Total: 40 non-lethal

Tink leads Loiosh a step back, away from the trox. "Hold, Loiosh. We don't want to hurt this one."

Astrid puts Synvaar down, Rand and V do some non-permanent hurties to Kharazhar, and Tink and Loiosh back off to see what happens. Kharazhar looks down at the fallen nagas, shakes her head, then pounds her temple with one of her mighty fists. She seems bewildered, looking back and forth between V and Rand and the nagas.

She stays in a defensive posture but does not attack.

ROUND 3
Astrid (91/105 hp, raging song, inspired rage)
Sylyeese (101 damage, unconscious and stable)
Veldanis (125/125 hp, inspired rage)
Randall (105/105 hp, inspired rage)
Tink (82/96 hp)
Loiosh (59/90 hp, inspired rage)
Synvaar (107 damage, unconscious and stable)
Kharazhar (1 damage, 63 NL damage)

Bold may act.

Astrid lowers her bow and strides in, ending her magic song. Instead, she says to Tink, "Ask her if she's willing to talk. We have her ownership papers from what's-her-face. We mean her no harm."

She then casts comprehend languages to better facilitate discussion, and stows her bow on her back, hands up placatingly.

Next level up I think Astrid's gonna be sitting down with Tink and learning frickin Undercommon lol

Veldanis has the greatsword poised for another head conk, but at Astrid's words--and with the ending of the adrenaline-pumping music--he lowers the blade and steps back from Kharazhar. He doesn't stow his weapon though, just yet. It looks like she might be fighting the magical charm, but that doesn't mean she's beaten it yet.

Rand, taking his cue from V, steps back and drops out of Snake Stance, also raising his hands in a placating gesture. He already laid the smackdown on the ones who tried to whammy him; he has no interest in continuing the fight if the trox can pull herself out of it.

SM: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Tink doesn't think the trox will immediately smash him, so he extricates himself from Loiosh's saddle and drops to the ground. (Fun fact: you can't fast dismount from a mount more than one size category larger than yourself, but it's still only a move action to hop off. I've also used various ways to increase his ride skill into the stratosphere so he basically auto-passes any possible check, even when Loiosh is large.) He steps closer to Kharazhar, hands raised in non-aggression, and says in Undercommon, "Did you escape from a slaver called Rovalda? We encountered her near here. She offered us a bounty to capture you, but we beat her to within an inch of her life instead. Her guards abandoned her and we obtained your ownership papers." He gestures to Astrid. "Astrid has them. Would you like to see?"

Loiosh moves to the unmoving form of Synvaar and begins sniffing and nudging with his snout. [color=maroon]"ALIVE,"[/color] he says, to no one in particular.

Both nagas stabilized, btw.

At the mention of her ownership papers, Kharazhar's demeanor immediately changes. Her defensive posture drops and she actually coos with joy. Before Tink can react, she snatches him up and squeezes him in a bear hug, making a noise that you can only assume is trox laughter. After this outburst is over (and Tink is safely back on his feet), she holds her massive hand out to Astrid. "Show me!"

COMBAT OVER
Astrid (91/105 hp)
Veldanis (125/125 hp)
Randall (105/105 hp)
Tink (82/96 hp)
Loiosh (59/90 hp)