Coldwater's Abomination Vaults

Game Master Quentin Coldwater

Sneakers salutes. "The big thing didn't move much, boss. But a second big thing came stomping by, then returned to the east. I heard a big splashing sound, so I guess it's having a bath. Looks to be a quadruped, and either it was walking backwards, or something's up with its head, because I saw a lot of tails at one end. Or maybe... tentacles? Anyway, that's it, boss. I'll yell if I see something else."

After Fuin's hammer head splatters Pink, he starts twirling it--both to clean off the gunk, whipping chunks wildly about the room, and to ready an attack on Red--when he stops to stare at the violently flailing eyebrows extending from Lough's face. The ball drops to the ground with a stone-chipping clak! as Fuin points. "Hold up. Did you just--?"

The query is cut off as a spell-propelled bedpan fires through the air like a cannonball and splatters Red. Slime sprays all over Fuin's face, and not for the first time, he's very glad he wears a mask over his mouth. Gods know what ingesting these oozes would do--especially considering the projectile that ended the second one.

He was thinking about something before that happened. What was it again...?

Nope, it's gone. He turns to Sneakers.

"What about tentacles?"

"Like I said, one end has lots of long thingies. Could be tails I guess, but why would it be walking backwards? Or tentacles, or some other kind of appendages. The glass is very cloudy, so I couldn't make out much. Just a big body, four legs, and lots of tube-thingies."

Kka had noticed Lough's hirsute weaponry and nods to him appreciatively when the fight is over. "Nice trick you haave there with the eyebrows Lough."

She returns from checking the doors to the South and catches some of the conversation. When everyone shows so much interest in the large creatures in the cave to the north, Kka says, "Look. If everyone is so super interested in whaat these thingies look like, why don't we head baack and say hello? Problem solved, no?"

Cherry shrugs.

Fuin's face droops behind his mask. "Yeah, I guess we should. I can sneak in there and take a look around, give a more thorough report. The windows there are just too dirty to make anything useful out."

If the GM would count the room they're in as "rubble," I can use Terrain Stalker to get within 15 feet of them without requiring a Stealth check, provided I only move 5 feet per round.

Ooh, Terrain Stalker would be perfect! The first bit of the room is natural cave, so that would definitely apply.

Fuìn carefully stalks closer through the rubble until he has a clear view of the giant beasts. There are two giant reptilian creatures, and what Sneakers mistook for tentacles turn out to be long necks. Each creature turns out to have five heads. One is sort of dozing at the water's edge, while the other is taking a bath.

People can roll an Arcana or Nature once Fuìn returns to figure out what they are.

Nature: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28

Fuìn describes the beasts to the group and Cherry Berry recognises them as hydras, famous multi-headed creatures that are notoriously hard to kill.

Gonna do a bit of an infodump here, because I'd like people to know how to fight these things.

These hydras have five heads. The main body has an HP pool, but each head has its own HP total. A hydra does not die until all its heads have been severed. A hydra's head automatically regenerates to full HP after each creature's turn, unless brought to 0 HP. A head has 15 HP. So if Lough attacks it for 14 damage and Lough ends his turn, the head is back at 15 again. You can cauterise a stump by dealing any amount of acid or fire damage to it (or as part of the attack on the head).
At the start of the hydra's turn, the hydra tries to regenerate any uncauterised head by succeeding at a Fortitude save. If it makes that save, two heads grow back. If it fails, it can try again next turn.

Here's where it gets a bit weird. The statblock says the heads are immune to area damage, but it also states that any splash damage or area damage that cover its entire body (so a Burning Hands won't do, for example) will work for cauterisation purposes. So a single Fireball will not kill a hydra outright, but it will cauterise any stumps if he's completely engulfed by it.

The body also has a pool of hit points that regenerates, but only the heads need to be brought to 0 for it to die. I don't know why the body would have HP, except for the fact that it still goes prone if you bring it to 0 HP.

Cherry Berry also knows the heads are especially vulnerable to slashing damage, and each head has its own reaction. So a hydra potentially has 5 reactions each turn.

This is sort of a puzzle encounter, so I'd like people to be aware of how it functions before you start, otherwise you might feel cheated.

Cherry explains all this to everyone.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do area fire. I have one use of Searing Light, which does fire damage, and I can do slashing damage with my Spiritual Weapon. Other than that, I'd have to be mostly support."

Kvit looks through his supplies and equipment. "I have two beads left, the smaller ones, from the necklace of fireballs. Though I suspect that should do the trick. Or... It might be a little riskier but I have just enough left to make three energy mutagens. Which can be acid or fire. Though if they have any elemental energy, that could make you weak to their attacks..."

arcana: 1d20 + 15 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 15 + 1 = 23

"But I don't think they do, so you should be fine. I can make acid or fire for Kka, Lough, and Fuìn if you want it. They will only last a few minutes, so we would have to be quick."

I think 3x Energy Mutagen would do the trick! I have exactly 3 reagents left. It gives your melee weapon attacks 1d4 of the chosen damage, resistance 10 to the damage, and weakness 5 to the other three damage types (cold, fire, acid, electricity)

To be clear! I don't actually know if they do or do not have any elemental attacks! If I had to guess based on my historical knowledge of watching movies with hydras in them, if they did, it would probably be acid or poison rather than the others? I did roll the RK check but don't know if it's enough.

Kvit knows that hydras don't have any special elemental attacks. He also knows that all heads can either attack a different target in a single turn, or they can all gang up on one target, dealing massive damage to it. Other than that, it has no real special abilities, apart from all-around vision, so no flanking.

"We can each keep one head!"

He looks ready, knuckling his slag claw into a fist, and cracking it with bloodlust.

Cherry frowns. "Well, I can support us a couple of different ways, but one of my best spells I only have prepared once. Who would like to be more Heroic?"

Heroism on one person, Spirit Link or Shield Other, and then a Bless I'll expand throughout the fight.

Kka listens as Cherry and Kvit tell the group what it will take to kill the hydras. "So, tricky beasties then. Let's find out just how tricky they really are." She readies her two shortswords, one in each hand. She's been itching to find out if her new dual-weapon training was worth the effort. "So when do we get staarted."

Now that Kka is trained in all martial weapons due to the remaster, that means she can also lob bombs with the best of them. Dex to Damage with unarmed attacks (Fist and Tengu Sharp Beak) for Thief Rogues is also part of the remaster. These are some definite improvements to Rogues over the old rules.

I'm happy to take Cherry's Heroism spell, but it might be best cast of Lough or Fuìn if they can use it. Looks like the hydras are weak to slashing, so if Fuìn uses his hammer, he won't be able to take advantage of it. Not sure he's got any slashing weapon that matches his hammer for damage, so I guess he'll be splatting the heads instead of cutting them off.

Fuin nods along, but frowns when Cherry mentions the creature's weakness to edged weapons. "I got a boring ol' dagger," he offers, "but I'm much better with the meteor hammer. I will probably have to smash the heads rather than chop them. But a little fire in the ol' ball and chain would sure help that along!" He pats the dull iron orb dangling off his arm cheerfully, giving Kvit a hopeful look. Drinking alchemy that makes his hammer cook things sounds like an awful lot of fun...

Are these Lesser Energy Mutagens, or Moderate?

Also! Remember bless and heroism are both status bonuses so they won't stack with the attack rolls. I actually think maybe Kka should get the heroism spell to help with saves and skill checks; I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to successfully trip a hydra with Knockdown, even with the help! XD

moderate energy mutagens

Kvit mixes up a larger batch of a fiery orange liquid that steams when it contacts the air. "Drink up! The mixture will only stay potent for a few moments unless you drink it."

3x moderate fire energy mutagens, last 10mins, adds 1d4 fire to melee weapon attacks, resistance 10 to fire, and weakness 5 to cold, acid, and electricity. I picked fire in case I need to fireball you the hydras. 0 reagents left.

>ULP<

Lough's wily eyebrows catch fire, his black beard glows bright orange, and his mustache curls into little wisps of smoke. Pulsing his limbs, flame jets from his armpit, and the metal around Borbo heats up.

"I feel... angry... is that supposed to happen!?"

Kka takes the proffered container of the fiery orange liquid from Kvit and gives it an I don't know about this look before shrugging and downing it in one. She's suitably impressed when flames spring from her body and work their way down her arms to her shortswords. "Yeah! This is going to be fun. Time to rock and roll."

"I- don't know? This is the first time I've had a chance to test them on anyone."

"Before things get started Kka, take this spell."

Heroism, it has a 10 minute duration after all.

Heroism on Kka. If you want to cast any other spells in advance, you can say so. you wanted to cast Bless, right? I'll give you that one as well. Bless radius is as big as the light radius for now, to keep things simple.

Cherry Berry: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
Fuìn: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26
Kka: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
Kvit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Lough: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
Red: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 37
Green: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23

You make ready to go hydra-slaying and go north to the cavern. The red hydra is indeed sort of lazying on the ground and notices the light shed by Cherry Berry's Light spell. It gets up, roars, and moves closer, its five heads snapping in your direction.

Red
Heads: 5, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism
Fuìn
Green
Heads: 5, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Lough
Kvit

Everyone is up! Since Red is effectively blocking the way for Green, all it can do is move closer. Unless you go through Red, it can't attack you, so I'll let everyone go and move him at the end of the round.

◆) Raise a Shield (AC 26, +2c vs Targeted Spells)
◆) Stride
◆) Snagging Strike
+
↺) Reactive Strike (+17 @ 2d6+4 slashing cold iron w/ 1d4 fire)
↺) Shield Block (Hardness 6, HPs 24/24)

Slag Claw (slashing, cold iron) w/ Fire Mutagen (1d4 fire) vs Hydra Head: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 372d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 5) + 4 = 121d4 ⇒ 1

Lough runs up and rips the hydra's 5th head right off, watching as the fire damage cauterizes the stump, and, stuffing it into his backpack, yells back "Let's rip, boys!"

As Lough comes close to the hydra, one of its heads lunges out at Lough.

Reactive strike: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
Piercing damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (1, 4) + 7 = 12

Lough blocks some of it with his shield, but the rest still injures him.

Then Lough swings with his claw at the offending neck and severs it with one fell strike. The embers on his claw then sear the neck-hole shut.

Red
Heads: 4, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism
Fuìn
Green
Heads: 5, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Lough, 6 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Kvit steps forward and casts a spell over Lough. An ominous sigil appears to hang over his head.

◆Stride ◆◆ forbidding ward on lough/red +1 status to AC and saves v the red hydra..

Kka turns to corner and sees the first hydra. Unfortunately, the hydra saw them first and she loses the element of surprise. "Daang it!" She then sees one of the hydra's heads lunge at Lough as he approaches. "Oh wonderful! This gets better and better! I guess I should get in there and help the big maan or he's going to get chewed up."

First, she takes a quick survey of the situation. She's pretty sure that with all those heads, flanking the creature will prove difficult, plus, the last thing she wants is to end up as a tengu sandwich between the two creatures. No, better to keep the nearest hydra jammed in the opening so that they only have to deal with one of them at a time. Feinting and trying to create a distraction is also likely to be difficult with all those beady eyes watching her. She could try to frighten the creature, or maybe confuse it by darting under its feet, but which would work better? That is the question. All those heads suggest that it is likely better at reacting to Kka's darting motion rather than remain unflustered by her loud cawing. The fact that she's too far away to effectively use the darting approach decides the issue.

If someone could RK these guys to get some idea of their saving throws and perception, I'd know what to target to get sneak attack.

Gripping her flaming shortswords, she charges up to the creature, screaming, "Caw! caw! I'm your worse nightmare you multi-headed mo fo Caw! caw!", and slices one of her shortswords through one of the creature's remaining necks.

Action 1 (◆): Stride (35 feet)

Action 2 (◆): Demoralize with Intimidating Glare, Demon Mask and Heroism vs Red Hydra

Intimidation (Demoralize): 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 13 + 1 + 1 = 28 vs Hydra Will DC

Will presume that worked, but likely wasn't a crit. If not, then ignore the frightened condition and also the sneak attack damage.

Action 3 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket, Dread Striker, Heroism, Fire Energy Mutagen (Moderate) and Sneak Attack vs Frightened 1? Red Hydra.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 14 + 1 + 1 = 32 vs Frightened 1?
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + (2) + 4 = 11 slashing damage
Sneak Attack Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9 precision slashing damage
Mutagen Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1 fire damage and cauterization

Let's hope that it was frightened or that head didn't come off. If the creature was indeed frightened, then that might well be a crit, so free flat-footed on the hydra on Kka's next turn.

Kvit casts a spell and a red sigil hangs above Lough. It seems to track the hydra's movements.

Kka moves in to close the gap between her and the hydra, and one more head lunges out at Kka.

Fangs: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31
Damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (6, 3) + 7 = 16
The hydra sneaks in a quick bite before Kka closes in.

Kka yells at the red hydra, and despite the size difference, it seems to make quite an impact on it. No crit success, sadly.

With a quick slash, she lops off one of its remaining heads and cauterises the wound thanks to Kvit's mutagen.
And that's a crit thanks to Frighten! Red is off-guard!

Red
Heads: 3, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism, 16 damage
Fuìn
Green
Heads: 5, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Lough, Forbidding Ward vs Red, 6 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Cherry Berry and Fuìn are up!

"Two down, Fuìn - let's try and get three!"

◆Sustain Bless
◆Stride
◆Guardian Staff

Cherry moves forward to be closer to the foe, and reaches out an tags Fuin as they approach.

"A little extra armor for your trouble Fuìn."

Fuin feels sluggish as he quaffs Kvit's flame potion. Unlike the other two, he doesn't feel invigorated--he feels like he's trapped in a sweltering heat wave, the wet heaviness of the air in his lungs like an oppressive blanket. His gaze drifts down to his meteor hammer, which he is pleased to see at least is behaving like the others, little flecks of flame dancing across the ugly black iron of the ball.

The sluggishness doesn't leave him when he tries to creep up on the hydras with Kka; a loose stone that he aught to have clocked a mile away trips him up slightly, exposing both him and the rogue to the hydra's gaze.

Silently cursing, he finds himself stumbling as he hurries in to take on the beast, attempting to dodge its remaining heads as he hurries forward. He decides to keep his distance as he whips the meteor hammer forward.

♦ Stride 15 ft.
♦ M. Hammer (Lunge) vs Red: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31 B + F Dmg: 2d8 + 4 + 1d4 ⇒ (8, 1) + 4 + (4) = 17
♦ Cast shield.

Fuìn will react to whichever of the following conditions is met first.

Cherry Berry sustains the Bless spell, increasing its radius, then protects Fuìn with a quick incantation. Fuìn moves forward and uses his extended reach to bash a head in before it can strike back. The fire sears the broken skull shut and now only two heads remain.

This is going much easier than I thought/feared it would, but the careful prepping helps a lot. Kudos!

Green moves closer to see what's happening to its mate.

Red, furious that it's lost three of its heads, snaps at 1=Kka, 2=Lough: 1d2 ⇒ 1 Kka!

Focused Assault, Frightened 1: 1d20 + 16 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 16 - 1 = 31
Piercing damage: 2d6 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (5, 4) + 7 + (3) = 19

Two heads lunge at Kka at the same time. They both hit and tear feathers and flesh from her body.

Red then scampers away out of reach of the fire-wielding maniacs, but Lough lashes out once more before it can get away.
It'd overlap with Green, but then gets shunted back a few spaces since they can't share spaces.

Red
Heads: 2, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism, 35 damage
Fuìn
Green
Heads: 5, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Lough, Forbidding Ward vs Red, 6 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Cherry Berry, Kka, and Fuìn are up! Lough may make a Reactive Strike!

Lough lashes out, but his shield arm is still reeling from the brutal blow...

Used my reaction until the beginning of my next turn!

Cherry Berry rushes forward before casting their strongest healing on Kka

♦ Stride
♦ ♦ Heal, level 3: 3d10 + 24 ⇒ (3, 6, 10) + 24 = 43

Does bless need to be Sustained? I won't calculate it into my attacks just in case, but if it doesn't need to be Sustained, add +1 to the total.

Fuin gripes, "Oi! Get back here!" His limbs don't seem to want to cooperate; he feels like his clothes are soaked in sweat, making them ten times heavier. It's a monumental effort just to push forward through the cooking air he desperately sucks into his lungs. Why is this only happening to him??

With great effort, he plods forward after Red, but it manages to hide behind its buddy. Grumbling irritably, he stumbles forward into range of the meteor hammer and lets it fly with a loud grunt of effort before calling up a small shadowy disc of protection.

♦ Stride 20ft.
♦ M Hammer vs Green: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28 B + F Dmg: 2d8 + 4 + 1d4 ⇒ (4, 5) + 4 + (2) = 15
♦ Cast shield.

Fuìn will react to whichever of the following conditions is met first.

Red, furious that it's lost three of its heads, snaps at 1=Kka, 2=Lough: 1d2 ⇒ 1 Kka!

And in more shocking news! Kka takes the brunt once again :)

As Kka approached the hydra, one of its heads lashed out of nowhere and took a chunk out of her side before she managed to land her shortsword and take a head. Unfortunately, the hydra was not done with her and creature's two remaining heads take their revenge on the tengu's fragile body. "Ouch! That hurt!"

As she's surveying the damage to her person and wondering how to repair it sufficiently to continue the fight, she suddenly feels wonderful again as her torn flesh and feathers rebind leaving her looking none the worse for wear. She waves back to Cherry ("Thaanks, Cherry!") before returning her attentions to the hydras.

I see that Cherry "rushes forward" and that their first action is a Stride. But as far as I can tell, their icon has not changed position since the last round. I went ahead and moved them 3 squares east so as to have their Bless cover those squares immediately to the west of Green. If Cherry wants to end up somewhere else, then let me know. Cherry's Bless does not affect Kka because its +1 status bonus to attacks does not stack with the same bonus from Heroism.

Kka watches as the hydras dance around each other and the healthy one takes center stage. Fine by her. After her successful attempts to cow the other hydra and take a head, she decides to try the same approach with the new one. Redoubling the grip on her flaming shortswords, she charges up to the next creature, screaming, "Caw! caw! Your turn mo fo Caw! caw!", and slices a shortsword through one of the creature's necks.

Cut and Paste

Action 1 (◆): Stride (35 feet)

Action 2 (◆): Demoralize with Intimidating Glare, Demon Mask and Heroism vs Green Hydra

Intimidation (Demoralize): 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 13 + 1 + 1 = 26 vs Hydra Will DC

I will presume that worked, though less confident about it than last time.

Action 3 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket, Dread Striker, Heroism, Fire Energy Mutagen (Moderate) and Sneak Attack vs Frightened 1? and Flat-Footed Green Hydra.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 14 + 1 + 1 = 25 vs Frightened 1? and Flat-Footed
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + (4) + 4 = 11 slashing damage
Sneak Attack Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4 precision slashing damage
Mutagen Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3 fire damage and cauterization

Bless does not need to be sustained. But every time you concentrate on it, the radius grows bigger.

Cherry Berry heals Kka completely back to full health, not even leaving a scar where the hydra bit her.
Fuìn walks up and bashes the Green hydra. Once again a skull is caved in and seared shut.
Kka then follows suit, running up and intimidating the hydra successfully, before slicing up one more neck. But before she does so, the necks lash out once again. Luckily, it misses!

Reactive strike: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21

Missing two of its heads, the Green hydra continues attacking Kka!

Focused Assault: 1d20 + 16 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 16 - 1 = 26
Piercing damage: 2d6 + 7 + 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) + 7 + (4, 5) = 27

One head goes straight for Kka, and the other two heads catch her by surprise from the side, each tearing chunks out of her body.

Then the primary head attacks again, now much more sluggish.
Jaws: 1d20 + 16 - 1 - 10 ⇒ (13) + 16 - 1 - 10 = 18
Kka easily dodges that attack.

Red
Heads: 2, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism, 27 damage
Fuìn
Green
Heads: 3, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Lough, Forbidding Ward vs Red, 6 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Lough and Kvit are up!

With the hydras on the run, Kvit takes a few steps forward while Sneakers hands him one of the remaining beads from the necklace of fireballs!

fireball: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 4) = 19 DC21 Targeting both hydras

◆stride ◆◆draw bead and throw bead

Lough gives chase, keeping his shield raised in anticipation of the nasty reprisal!

◆) Raise a Shield (AC 26, +2c vs Targeted Spells)
◆) Stride
◆) Snagging Strike
+
↺) Reactive Strike (+17 @ 2d6+4 slashing cold iron w/ 1d4 fire)
↺) Shield Block (Hardness 6, HPs 24/24)

Slag Claw (slashing, cold iron) w/ Bless (+1) w/ Fire Mutagen (1d4 fire) vs Hydra Head: 1d20 + 17 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 17 + 1 = 262d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 6) + 4 = 161d4 ⇒ 4

Turn re-do

Kvit is about the throw the bead but thinks better of it at the last second. He hands the head back to Sneakers. "No, this won't do anything for us. The others are already making quick work thanks to the mutagens."

.

Sneakers takes back the bead and whines. "Aww com'on boss, it'd be so cool though! We've been hanging onto these for like sixteen floors!"

.

Kvit ignores the pleas and concentrates to move the red floating sigil from over Lough to over Kka. The sigil appears to somehow track the movements of all the heads at once.

◆stride ◆◆ forbidding ward on Kka and Green

Lough raises his shield, knowing what's coming. He approaches Green and indeed, Green bites at him in return.

Jaws vs Lough: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22
Luckily, Lough dodges out of the way! He then returns the favour, striking at and severing another neck!
Kvit advances and places a protective sigil over Kka, targeting Green.

Red whimpers in the corner, snapping at the air in front of it in an attempt to keep the heroes at bay.

Red
Heads: 2, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism, Forbidding Ward vs Green, 27 damage
Fuìn
Green
Heads: 2, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Lough, 6 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Cherry Berry, Kka, and Fuìn are up!

Kka once again takes one for the team as the hydra bites another chunk out of her. When Lough finally appears at her side, she says, "About time big maan! I caan't do all this on my own you know." Knowing that if she tries to move, the hydra will probably finish her off, she decides to go all out and see if with enough strikes, she can remove one of its heads even if she can't catch it flat-footed.

Action 1 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket, Heroism and Fire Energy Mutagen (Moderate) vs Green Hydra.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 14 + 1 + 1 = 32
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + (3) + 4 = 10 slashing damage
Mutagen Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2 fire damage and cauterization

Action 2 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket, Heroism, Fire Energy Mutagen (Moderate) and MAP1 vs Green Hydra.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 14 + 1 + 1 - 4 = 26
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + (2) + 4 = 8 slashing damage
Mutagen Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4 fire damage and cauterization

Action 3 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket, Heroism, Fire Energy Mutagen (Moderate) and MAP2 vs Green Hydra.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 - 8 ⇒ (19) + 14 + 1 + 1 - 8 = 27
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + (2) + 4 = 12 slashing damage
Mutagen Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4 fire damage and cauterization

Kka slices twice, and two more necks go snicker-snack. Headless, the hydra wobbles for a bit, then falls over, lifeless.

Body is difficult terrain. Also, three hits? Wow. :)
Kka has one action remaining.

Red
Heads: 2, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism, Forbidding Ward vs Green, 27 damage
Fuìn
Lough, 6 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Everyone is up! Kka has one action remaining.

Lough steps over the fallen hydra, bloodlustily in pursuit of killing it's brother as well!

◆◆) Stride x2
◆) Snagging Strike
+
↺) Reactive Strike (+17 @ 2d6+4 slashing cold iron w/ 1d4 fire)

Slag Claw (slashing, cold iron) w/ Fire Mutagen (1d4 fire) vs Hydra Head: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 362d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 5) + 4 = 131d4 ⇒ 1

Kka is surprised by the ease with which she dispatches the last two heads and watches as the hydra's body collapses before her and breathes it's last. She glances over at the other hydra and realizes that there's nothing she can do to help Lough. She decides to duck down behind the large corpse before her and catch her breath. With luck Lough and the others will take out the remaining creature.

Action 3 (◆): Hide (Stealth +14) - SECRET
- with +2 for Standard Cover
- with +4 for Greater Cover

One of the heads appears nearly torn off from Lough's attack. Kvit strides forward and tries to finish it off before it regenerates.

Produce Flame: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
fire damage: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 2, 3) + 4 = 12

◆stride ◆◆ produce flame

Kvit, a head heals completely after each actor's turn. If Lough doesn't finish a head, it's back at full health. Luckily, Lough's hit is a crit, and deals double damage (and besides, his Weakness to slashing would've finished it off anyway). You may re-do your turn.

Lough moves forward, provoking once again from the beast. Then he brutally severs a neck with his clawed hand.

Hydra vs Lough: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
Damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (1, 3) + 7 = 11

Kka hides behind the corpse she just created, hoping to catch the hydra off-guard next turn.

Red
Heads: 1, AC 23, 16 HP, weakness Slashing 5
Cherry Berry, Bless
Kka, Heroism, Forbidding Ward vs Green, 27 damage
Fuìn
Lough, 17 damage, shield 6 damage
Kvit

Cherry Berry, Fuìn, and Kvit are up!

I was thinking I should've let the hydra act after Kka's turn, but aside from a bit of damage, I don't think it would've mattered much. It would only bring it closer to you guys, anyway. :P

Fuin harrumphs at the huge pile of meat in his way, scrambling over the body to reach an ideal striking position on the last hydra head. He stumbles and gasps, the movement significantly more exerting than it aught to have been, and leaving him open to an opportune strike from the remaining head, but at last he reaches his chosen spot and thrusts his meteor hammer at the hydra.

♦♦ Stride 35 ft (w/diff. terrain).
♦ M Hammer vs Red: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26 B + F Dmg: 2d8 + 4 + 1d4 ⇒ (5, 6) + 4 + (3) = 18

Just not doing well with the understanding this critter apparently! Will have used telekinetic projectile, but would have missed either way. So his turn is done.

Yeah, hydras are mechanically complicated, and without immediate feedback it's easy to get tripped up. That's why I front-loaded a lot of information.

Fuìn clambers across the giant corpse and finds solid footing, then bashes the hydra's final head in. With no brains to control the body, it crashes to the ground.

Hero Point for everyone for dealing with this so well!

The hydras don't have any treasure, but you do see the cave continuing to the southeast.

Hearing the sounds of battle die down, Kka pokes her head above the hydra corpse she was hiding behind. She sees another hydra corpse and Fuìn scraping hydra brains from his hammer. "Thaat went a lot smoother thaan it might have thanks to Kvit's flaming potions and Cherry's buffing." She looks around and sees an absence of any valuables. "Looks like these guys were too stupid to be hoarders."

She looks at her wounds and Lough's. "I guess I better paatch us up in case there's any more beasties nearby." She breaks out her medical supplies and patches everyone up.

She then looks down and sees that the cave continues, seeming to turn to the southeast. "Since we're here already, why don't we check out the rest of the cave?" She scootches quietly ahead to get a better look.

As a reminder, in about 12 hours I will be boarding a plane to the States and will likely be unable to post until late Tuesday or more likely Wednesday, PST.