Gotcha! That must have been why I held off on making the note... Man, the dice are making this a tougher fight than it looks on paper...
Spawn 1 turns its attention to Shade!
Ranseur 1:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24Not a crit. If my calculations are correct, Shade should have an AC of 18? Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 55 hp to Snag! Jaws 2, MAP, agile:1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 10 - 4 = 16Miss! Jaws 3, MAP, agile:1d20 + 10 - 8 ⇒ (1) + 10 - 8 = 3Miss!
Mangrove, another Flat check DC 12.
Spawn 2 turns to Mira!
Ranseur 1:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30Eeep! Crit! Shield Block? Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14Holy moley, these dice want you all dead! Sorry! With the shield block, that would bring you to 11. And break your shield. If you do not use your shield block, you will be able to keep your AC bonus for the rest of the round, but your hp total will drop to 6...
Order - Round 2
Anthony Slater 0/28 hp; shield hp 6/12 (broken); dying 1
Lucien 19/24 hp
Sinspawn 1 -25 hp Bloodied!
Mangrove 0/30 hp; dying 2
Sinspawn 2 -18 hp Bloodied!
Snag 21/26 hp
Mira Pending
[dice=Arc Lightning, Basic Reflex DC 18]2d4[/dice][dice=Shade Bites w/Trip]d20+7[/dice][dice=Shade Damage]d8+3[/dice]
Sorcerer 2: AC 18 [19 w/Shield]: HP 26/26: Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +6: Hero Points: 1; Spells +8; DC 18: 1st: 3/4; Perception (Darkvision) +4:
18 looks right for AC. I should have done 1 point less on damage with it. His strength is 16 at the moment and I had the attack right, but not the damage.
Do these creatures seem to get AoO's from casting?
Yes, it seems that they do. It triggered when Anthony cast... You would probably know that if you have a spell without the Manipulate action, you may not provoke. When you cast earlier, they had used their reaction, I think. I won't retcon the damage. It was only 1 hp and will only make a difference in certain cases.
Mira is thankful she raised her shield, putting it front of her to absorb as much damage as possible. As it cracks from the blow, she slings it to the ground, discarding it. KNowing somethin need to change, she turns to her attacker and glares at it, trying to will it into submission.
Intimidating Glare:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10Sigh.
Unfortunately, her downed allies distract her and she's unable to summon the strength to pull the maneuver off. She falls back on standard technique, and swings away.
[dice=Arc Lightning, Basic Reflex DC 18]2d4[/dice][dice=Shade Bites w/Trip]d20+7[/dice][dice=Shade Damage]d8+3[/dice]
Sorcerer 2: AC 18 [19 w/Shield]: HP 26/26: Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +6: Hero Points: 1; Spells +8; DC 18: 1st: 3/4; Perception (Darkvision) +4:
Aeshuura wrote:
Yes, it seems that they do. It triggered when Anthony cast... You would probably know that if you have a spell without the Manipulate action, you may not provoke.
Do I think they threaten Snag? Neither are adjacent to Snag.
They have polearms, so you think they have reach, though they seem to be short-hafting it. You think you are safe for now. I will say that changing its grip will be the same as changing from 1-handed to 2-handed (1 action).
Forgot that Anthony moves in initiative to right after the creature that dropped him... Changed the order.
Mangrove moves up to Dying 1.
Snag calls upon the shadow realm and Anthony feels the tug at his soul as he wait in line for the Boneyard. He hears the goblin's voice, Come on back, longshanks, not your time yets...Anthony is awake with 4 hp!
Shade snaps at the abomination, but the fleshwarped menace fends the shadow hound off!
Mira tosses her broken shield aside and steels her best icy look, but is too concerned for the souring situation to be effective! Instead, she lets her warhammer talk for her, missing her first hit, but catches her opponent with the backswing! 8 damage to spawn 2!
You have been fighting it enough to figure out its AC is 16.
Order - Round 3
Lucien19/24 hp
Sinspawn 1 -25 hp (AC 16) Bloodied!
Mangrove 0/30 hp; dying 1
Sinspawn 2 -26 hp (AC 16) Bloodied!
Anthony Slater 4/28 hp; shield hp 6/12 (broken); wounded 1
Snag 21/26 hp
Mira 11/34 hp; shield destroyed
The first hit misses the shadow mastiff, but the second seems to impale it! In response a dark gash tears across Snag's torso! The abomination's final attack, hoping to finish off the shadowy canine, but Shade is too fast and hops out of the way, causing sparks to kick up from the floor, where the spawn's blade strikes!
Spawn 2 aims to finish off Mira!
Ranseur @ Mira:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19 Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12Oof, Mira is down.
The spawn's strike is true and stabs Mira in the stomach and the town guard slumps to the floor...
The creature, no noticing that Anthony is awake, looks to Snag, shifts it grip and thrusts at the little goblin! Ranseur @ Snag, MAP:1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (19) + 10 - 5 = 24Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Order - Round 3
Lucien 19/24 hp
Sinspawn 1 -25 hp (AC 16) Bloodied!
Mangrove 0/30 hp; dying 1
Sinspawn 2 -26 hp (AC 16) Bloodied!
Anthony Slater 4/28 hp; shield hp 6/12 (broken); wounded 1
Snag 0/26 hp; dying 1
Mira 0/34 hp; shield destroyed; dying 1
Okay, I feel like these next two turns, of Anthony and Lucien, will be crucial. These things are on the verge of death, but the dice roller is being very unforgiving. Mangrove, Snag, and Mira, please make a Flat check, DC 11 for each of you.
Anthony and Lucien, you make both take your turns. I do apologize, but I did I hand out a hero point before you headed back down into the catacombs?
Watching his teammates drop like flies, Lucien gets increasingly anxious, but he grits his teeth takes careful aim and fires at the nearest sinspawn again. He hits one of the targets with deadly accuracy, but isn't sure if its enough to start to even the odds.
If that drops the one, then Lucien moves to where he has LOS on the second and fires again. If not a second shot is also at the first.
Lucien shortbow vs SS2:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 crit?
Piercing Dmg to SS2:1d6 ⇒ 3 6 base dmg
Deadly Dmg, if Crit:1d10 ⇒ 3 so 9dmg total if crit
Lucien shortbow MAP:1d20 + 8 - 5 ⇒ (5) + 8 - 5 = 8 miss
Reactive Strike, prone:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30*Sigh* Just when the dice roller gives a little hope... Am I right, in that you drop to dying 3 as well since you were at wounded 1? Or do you just drop to dying 2 (taking the worst of the 2 effects)?
Damage:1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
The fleshwarped abomination looks at Anthony, attempting to heal himself again, and stabs down finishing the cleric. Looks like the wounded condition increases your dying value by the value, so Anthony is at dying 3! This is becoming a disaster! >.<
Order - Round 5
Lucien19/24 hp
Sinspawn 1 -25 hp (AC 16) Bloodied!
Mangrove 0/30 hp; stable
Anthony Slater 0/28 hp; shield hp 6/12 (broken); dying 3 Sinspawn 2
Snag R.I.P. :(
Mira 0/34 hp; shield destroyed; stable
[dice=Arc Lightning, Basic Reflex DC 18]2d4[/dice][dice=Shade Bites w/Trip]d20+7[/dice][dice=Shade Damage]d8+3[/dice]
Sorcerer 2: AC 18 [19 w/Shield]: HP 26/26: Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +6: Hero Points: 1; Spells +8; DC 18: 1st: 3/4; Perception (Darkvision) +4:
According to the map, Sinspwan 2 was fighting Shade, not 1. So 1 would have been the one that changed to a reach weapon to strike Snag. If he has a reach weapon, and the ability to strike at Snag, can he use an AoO against Anthony who is adjacent to him? If not Anthony gets his heal off and Snag avoids painful death.
It was 1 that shifted his grip, rather than 2. I kept getting them mixed up. Because 2 wouldn't have been able to strike at Mira, and 1 wouldn't have been able to strike at Shade otherwise. Because it was my fault in mixing them up, I am willing to walk it back, but if you swap 1 & 2 for the descriptions, you will find that it makes more sense, based on positioning. Sorry about the confusion!
EDIT: Technically, by the rules, there is nothing about not being able to attack within 5 feet when you have reach. It made sense to me that they would have to shift grip, but they make no provision for it in the rules. Sorry!
But Anthony can always try something else, rather than provoke. He knows it has been swinging at him every time he leaves an opening. Though it seems like he tried to take that chance that it would miss... But I don't want to tell you folks what your options are...
With the fall of the last defender of this area, a hush falls over the room. Lucien stands alone in the room, but though his initial instinct may have been to leave his new companions, he finds that they are not dead, though Anthony looks to be bleeding out...
Anthony, would you like to risk a roll or use your Hero Points to stabilize?
Lucien looks around the field of wounded and bleeding allies. He checks his pack and finds he has two minor healing potions on his kit. Looking at Anthony, he bends and pours the first one in his mouth, hoping that the natural swallow reflex takes over.
Minor Healing Anthony:1d8 ⇒ 2
He goes to Manny with the other, hoping the healing magic works the same on the tree-like ally as it does on others. "I think the two of you have the best chance to get everyone else upright," he says aloud, but to himself. He hopes that's right.
When that's done, he moves to the bodies of the fallen sinspawn to see if they have anything valuable or helpful on their grotesque bodies.
Minor Healing Mangrove:1d8 ⇒ 2
Sorry that's consistent, but consistently bad healing...
Darkness folds around Mira like heavy velvet, warm at first, almost ... comforting? The pain fades, the shattering of shields, cries of pain are lost in a great, muffled hush. She feels herself falling through it.
Weightless...
... until her feet touch stone. She stands in a vast, sunlit desert. The wind is hot carrying the scent of scorched sand. The sun hangs impossibly large in the sky, and from it steps a figure wreathed in golden light, her form shifting between humanoid and flame. A scimitar hangs at her side, its blade glowing like the dawn. Mira knows, without being told, who she is seeing.
"You are not finished. The fire within you still burns, child of steel. There is more for you to do. They need you."
"Rise, my ember. The world has not yet seen your full light."
"Wait!" she calls out, reaching her hand out ..."
Mira gasps out "...Wait!" as she throws herself forward, reaching out and grabbing a hold of Anthony shoulder, wide-eyed.
She seems about to say something else, but looks around, dazed, taking a moment to collect herself, blinking her eyes rapidly.
"...I... We... Won?" she asks, spitting out a moutful of blood.
There does not seem to be much of a rush, but this place is kind of creepy. Would you rather head back up to recover and talk, or stay down below... Just asking what you think your characters might do... Lucien can search the place while you folks do your first round (ten minutes) of healing...
While the others rest up and get healing, Lucien searches the bodies and then scopes out what he can of the rest of the room.
After the search is done, he agrees with Snag. "Not sure that whatever is down here is going to succumb to just us. Mira, you should get the sheriff to send the whole damn unit down here. How is this creepy place lying just under Sandpoint and no one knows about it?"
Lucien finds that though everything looks old and rickety, but it is remarkably sturdy for its apparent age. Maybe magic? In most of the cells, the halfling finds skeletal remains of prisoners that starved in there many years ago...
Society DC 18; Lucien:
The remains of the clothing of some of these remains are styles that have not been seen in centuries... You remember seeing something about that in an old museum that you cased a few years prior on a job.
Lucien returns to report. "The area there is full of cells, like a jail. Some have skeletons in them, and the remains of the clothing on the skeletons, it old. Not like oh 30 years ago old, but I mean centuries old. Like stuff from a museum or what not. I don't know what we stumbled on down here, but its kind of a lot...Nothing valuable found though."
Lucien agrees with leaving, but is not sure about coming back. "There's an able bodied sheriff and town guards. Why come back here? This place has obviously been here for a loooong time, and the town's none the wiser. I say we forget we ever say this place. Only bad to worse down here, as far as I can tell."
Mira concurs with returning to the surface, but she's not sure that sending the sheriff's guards down here is best. "I will talk to Sheriff Hemlock, but I'm not opposed to returning to finish what we started. I feel like there is something down here and Sandpoint won't be safe until it's sorted."
As it seems everyone is good with returning to the surface...
You return to the Rusty Dragon to nurse your wounds, before returning to your individual homes, after a quick stop with the town guard standing outside the hole in the wall leading down and filling in those guards.
You all look terrible! Ameiko calls out to you with concern, What happened?
Before you respond, she tells Utami, her assistant in the kitchen, Bring them some plates. We need to get them some food!
She sets about getting you all drinks, knowing your regular orders by heart, her attention directed your way as she performs a task that is second nature to her.
