If her earlier observations revealed that "greasing" the deck was not a viable option, then she will draw her swords and wait for the nearest attacker to board. Then she'll attack, using the Weapon Finesse and Two-Weapon Fighting Feats, which grant +3 and -4 to each attack (since longswords are medium, not light weapons), respectively, for a total -1 per attack. She'll apply the paladin's Smite Evil ability to the first strike, which grants an additional +3 charisma bonus to that strike, and an additional +1 damage for her paladin level, and yell, "If it is death you seek, then may Pelor grant you a peaceful repose!"
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Oh god, you are destroying these guys. Sorry Bodan, pirates go first.
As the ship nears, pirates drop down boards, creating a number of bridges across the ships. Hranos and Mercy instantly kill the first two pirates, before more begin to swarm.
Unless a 9 hits. There could be a slow, encumbered, inattentive pirate who is hemmed in by the crowd pushing him forward right? A guy like that would be a sitting duck for a 9.
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Hranos wrote:
Unless a 9 hits. There could be a slow, encumbered, inattentive pirate who is hemmed in by the crowd pushing him forward right? A guy like that would be a sitting duck for a 9.
just wondering, how can the pirates go before we have a chance to range attack them when we saw them coming from far off? And then had time to prepare before they boarded?
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Bo-dan wrote:
just wondering, how can the pirates go before we have a chance to range attack them when we saw them coming from far off? And then had time to prepare before they boarded?
Your ranged attack missed. I gave them a higher AC because it was dark out, and would be harder to see them. I don't understand about the boarding? What happened was:
1) Pirates lay down boards
2)combat begins in initiative order
On initiative: Startled by the sound of fighting, Enzor gets up and goes to the floor above. Trying see what's going on, he's going to try to stay away from the melee. Just to make sure his defenses are up, he'll cast Mage Armour. It last's for 1 hour.
Okay, Mercy appraises the situation. We took out the first wave, yes? If the second wave has not yet swarmed on deck, or is still mounting the planks, she will attempt to kick the nearest plank out off the boat, hopefully sending its occupant plummetting to the earth below.
If that is not an option, she will simply continue to fight. Her once daily Smite Evil is already expended, so these attacks will both be at the usual -1.
Apparently, Mercy needs to quit trying to look for strategies, and concentrate wholly on whoever is in front of her, because obviously her concentration is way off, as those two attacks missed by a mile.
Enzor
Spoiler:
For Mercy's part, you see an elf, unlike any elf you've ever seen before [unless you're especially well-traveled, which you may be if you're part of this ship's crew, in which case you may recognize her as a Snow Elf]. She is clad is black armor that appears to be made of snakeskin, and wields two elven longswords. Her hair and skin are white as the snow, and her eyes, when she turns her head briefly your way, are solid white. From a distance, she almost looks ghostly. She also wears a holy symbol in the shape of a sunburst at her breast. She is fighting against the invading pirates.
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Enzor sees the swarm of pirates attempting to board the ship. A few crew are being aided by a group of adventurers, and they struggle to hold back the pirates
(i should get a map up soon... that is, if I don't have the usual problems)
just wondering, how can the pirates go before we have a chance to range attack them when we saw them coming from far off? And then had time to prepare before they boarded?
Your ranged attack missed. I gave them a higher AC because it was dark out, and would be harder to see them. I don't understand about the boarding? What happened was:
1) Pirates lay down boards
2)combat begins in initiative order
Mercy is up
Ok, that's fair about the miss. What I had meant about the boarding was that, assuming it would take the pirates some time to do that and as they party would've been just standing there watching the pirates lay the boards down it had been my thought that we would've been able to have a readied attack..um, readied. But no worries, I'm fine to just continue on from here :)
If you want us to post in order, can you let us know when our next initiative is up?
Male Human Urban Barbarian 1| HP 15/15 | AC15 FF 13 T 12 | Saves +4/+3/+1 | Initiative +6 | Perception +4
Rumblefish:
Spoiler:
I e-mailed you two files about vestiges for another pbp game. Now I have lost the flashdrive that I kept them on. Would you e-mail me copies of them, please? My e-mail is matdqn@yahoo.com
Maybe we can come up with a combat system that is better geared toward PbP than the standard round-by-round player input system? Not that there's anything wrong with that system, but I'm thinking it is going to take a terribly long time to finish what would otherwise be a relatively short battle, especially if there are several pirates to fight.
Here's my idea: why don't we put up standing combat orders for our characters, using an "if-then" format to lay out strategies and tactics, then put up several rounds worth of attack and damage rolls. I'd recommend only putting up the damage rolls for attacks that net a 10 or higher, and let the DM discard any that aren't high enough to hit their AC. Say, about 10 rounds worth of rolls should be sufficient for most battles, I would think.
Here's a sample standing order layout (and Joey can use this for my actual combat sequence for this encounter, if everyone is keen to the idea.
Spoiler:
Tactics
For the first (or next) round, Mercy will try to maneuver into a position where she can be protected against flanking and reduce the number of pirates who can attack her at once - such as a doorway, narrow passage, or near a wall corner. If no such position is available, proceed as normal below.
FIRST PRIORITY - ATTACK/DEFEND HER OWN SPACE: On standard attack rounds, Mercy will continue to attack with two weapons, using the Two-Weapon Fighting and Weapon Finesse feats, with two elven longswords. The feats, plus her Dex, will grant a net -1 to attacks with both the main and offhand weapons. The two attacks in each round do not have to be applied to the same enemy if more than one are in her reach range, so if the first attack drops one enemy, the second will go to another one.
SECOND PRIORITY - AID ALLIES: If there are no more enemies within hand-to-hand range when her initiative comes up, she will use a move action to go to the aid of the ally who appears most wounded or most overwhelmed. If she is able to get into a flanking position with her move action, she will do so. If the ally is close enough that she doesn't have to double-move to get to the battle, then after her move action, she will make a standard single weapon attack at +3. She will repeat this tactic each time her reach area has been cleared of enemies.
THIRD PRIORITY - HEAL/PROTECT: If an ally goes down, and Mercy can get to them without having to run the gauntlet, she will take a round to apply her Heal skill to first determine how bad their wounds are and how immediately they are in need of stabilization, and if the need is very pressing, she will use Tumble for Full Withdraw to try to get to them without provoking an attack of opportunity. If she gets to them, she will apply her Heal skill to stabilize the wounds, then return to combat.
Weapon damage, when using two-weapon style, is 1d8+2 for the main weapon, and 1d8+1 for the offhand weapon. On single-weapon rounds, damage is standard 1d8+2. Threat range is 19-20, and Crit is x2.
Following are the first 10 rolls for regular two-weapon rounds, plus the first five rolls for single-weapon rounds when she is moving to a new target and/or into a flanking position. Attack rolls for the former are given in order of main weapon then offhand weapon.
Anyway, it's just an idea. If you would rather we just continue doing input each individual combat round, we can do that too. I just figured doing something like this would save a lot of time and let Joey hash out the entire combat in one sitting, then he can just describe the results in detail.
Both Mercy and Hranos miss. The pirates advance. (there are 5 left, plus the captain. Each of those that have crossed the boards attack the three in front of them. All three are apparently too tired to really put up a fight. "C'mon ye scurvy dogs! Get 'em!"
Mercy, while I applaud your originality and effort, it seems to me that the method you described would end up meaning a lot more work for the DM plus a lot of typing for the 'if thens' scenarios. Plus, with the fluid nature of combat things can change making a whole series of posts worthless. The slowness of PbP's is something which grates on us all but sadly may just be something we have to put up with. But please don't stop trying to think of something! You may just have that stroke of genius that will make all of our PbP days! ;-)
For her next attack Bo-Dan will try and kick another pirate into the sky but misses in the confusion of battle.
Attack & Dam=1d20 5=9, 1d6 4=7
Mercy, while I applaud your originality and effort, it seems to me that the method you described would end up meaning a lot more work for the DM plus a lot of typing for the 'if thens' scenarios. Plus, with the fluid nature of combat things can change making a whole series of posts worthless. The slowness of PbP's is something which grates on us all but sadly may just be something we have to put up with. But please don't stop trying to think of something! You may just have that stroke of genius that will make all of our PbP days! ;-)
Yeah, I know. And it's no big deal as long as the battles stay relatively small and the DM doesn't throw an entire army at us. When he described them as "swarming," I envisioned pirates standing four or five abreast and ten ranks deep, and I was thinking, "Oh, geez, this is gonna take a loooooooong time! Fortunately, he was exaggerating a bit!
For Mercy's next attack, if the first strike (hits AC 14) hits and manages to kill the pirate (dam: 10), then the second attack (hits AC 11, for 8 damage) will go against a new target, if there is one in her reach range.
Sorry, Init. shows pirates before me. I'll delay after the pirates anyway.
Standing out of the way, Enzor waits for an opportune moment to act. Once he sees an opening, he'll jump on the boarded ship and try to hide behind something, while viewing the fight.
Hide check (1d20 2=4)
LOL! In an old 2E game I was DMing one time, we had a thief who tried to Hide in Shadows while he was carrying a lit torch! Perhaps it was something like that!
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Enzor succesfully hides behind an empty barrel.(they get -10 in combat)
Bodan fails to destroy another pirate.
Hranos dismantles his adversary.
Mercy breaks another pirate, but fails on her second strike. There are three pirates left, and thier captain.
Each pirate directs attacks at the fighters, and the captain rushes forward to help. The pirate attacking Bodan fumbles his sword, afraid of what may be coming (nat. 1) The pirate attacking Hranos feels a burst of strength, and hits. ([ooc]nat. 20, confirms. 6 dmg[ooc]), and the final pirate barely misses Mercy.
I know Hranos goes before me, but I'm going to be gone most of the day tomorrow, and I don't want you guys having to wait on me, so I'll go ahead and post my rolls, and Joey can fit them in in the proper order.
First strike is a threat. Confirm roll hits AC 15, so if that is a hit, the total damage is 11. If their AC is higher than 15, then it is not a crit, and damage is only 8.
Male Human Urban Barbarian 1| HP 15/15 | AC15 FF 13 T 12 | Saves +4/+3/+1 | Initiative +6 | Perception +4
Hranos reels back as his enemy deals him a grievous wound. He collects himself just enough to return an attack as the pirate hesitates to survey the injury he inflicted on the young man. Attack roll: Natural 20 +4 = 24
Keeping an eye on the Captain, Enzor waits for the right moment to cast a spell.
Ready a spell for when the Captain attacks.
When the captain looks like he's going to attack, Enzor will cast Grease (DC 13 Ref) on his weapon.
At this point Enzor has no real reason for attacking, or even joining the fight. He hopes the pirates will be easily dispatched, so he can continue on his quest they had no intent on fulfilling. Perhaps joining this new crew in doing so.
'..I should have known...' Desidera would have sobbed as she thought that, but she had no idea how long they planned to keep her down here, deprived of food and water, and she felt that she had done enough crying yesterday. She looked around at the hold of the ship she had been stowed in, hands tied behind her back, and those tied to a short length of rope anchored in the wall. It was just enough of a length that she could reach the pallet just under it, and a little beyond, but that was it. She could see many things such as barrels, nets holding cargo, and other things that she could not name, but she could reach none of them.
She had been lucky this far to have met up with generally nice people, she realized. This was the first time that she had been taken captive by people that seemed less than inclined to treat her fairly, if the comments she had heard were any indication.
Now, she was very thirsty, hungry, dirty, and tired of crying. She did not think that they had put her down here to forget about her, so she was wondering what was going on. Maybe they planned on depriving her of food and water so she would go along with whatever they wanted? Well, it was not going to work! She could still refuse to cooperate, but logic told her that sooner or later, if she wanted to live, she would have to give in.
Frankly, that thought frightened her. It frightened her almost as much as the vulgar promises she had heard from the one that escorted her down here. Just thinking back about what he had said made her feel dirty.
--Was that shouting she heard? Tilting her head, she tried to listen harder.
Hranos and Mercy both kill off another pirate, leaving one left Bodan kicks him backwards, and he tries to turn and run, but isfaced with his captain. "A traitor, eh?' the captain laughs, pushing the ruffian over deck, sending him falling at least 50 feet to his death, into the woods below. "Ha, those lads were a bunch of wimps compared to me!" He says, jumping forward at Bodan, and catching her arm a glancing blow (5 damage) Despite Enzor's spell, the captain manages to hold on to his weapon. A few seconds after this takes place, you hear a cheer behind you, and Enzor and Dessy are in the right position to see that the other pirates on board have managed to kill the elemental driving your ship, causing to to lurch violently. The captian laughs, whistling sharply. The remaining pirates run back towards thier ship, as yours begins to "sink".
Reflex save, everyone. Dessy is up. Bodan, Mercy and Hranos have -2 to the save due to combat.
Male Human Urban Barbarian 1| HP 15/15 | AC15 FF 13 T 12 | Saves +4/+3/+1 | Initiative +6 | Perception +4
As the ship lurches Hranos desperately tries to keep his feet under him. He grips his sword in his right hand while holding his left hand to his profusely bleeding chest and wonders if he is about to die.
Ice she is used to, but lurching airships, not so much! Mercy must use all her wits to keep from tumbling across the tilting deck of the ship, and tries to plunge both swords into the deck like ski poles to keep to her feet, effectively removing her from combat for the moment. Mercy gauges her distance to the rail and planks nearest the pirate ship.
Hey all, I'm not sure if it's just me or not but there seems to be some confusion here so this is my attempt to clear it up if possible. It had been my original impression that both Enzor and Dessy were on Our ship but then it seemed to be misunderstood(?) and then changed to them being on the pirate ship. And now, the pirates have managed to shut down the elemental on Our ship, causing it begin to pitch and 'sink'. As far as I understand it, the two new characters are still on the pirate ship, which is, at this point, still fine. It doesn't matter to me which ship they're on, it's all fine and good either way. I'm just, as I said, trying to clear up any possible misunderstandings so we are all reading off the same page, so to speak. If I am incorrect myself in any of my understanding of the current situation please forgive and correct. Meanwhile, I'll just be seeing what I can do to help Bo-Dan not have to perform her terrible penguin impression ;-)
Hey all, I'm not sure if it's just me or not but there seems to be some confusion here so this is my attempt to clear it up if possible. It had been my original impression that both Enzor and Dessy were on Our ship but then it seemed to be misunderstood(?) and then changed to them being on the pirate ship. And now, the pirates have managed to shut down the elemental on Our ship, causing it begin to pitch and 'sink'. As far as I understand it, the two new characters are still on the pirate ship, which is, at this point, still fine. It doesn't matter to me which ship they're on, it's all fine and good either way. I'm just, as I said, trying to clear up any possible misunderstandings so we are all reading off the same page, so to speak. If I am incorrect myself in any of my understanding of the current situation please forgive and correct. Meanwhile, I'll just be seeing what I can do to help Bo-Dan not have to perform her terrible penguin impression ;-)
About halfway up this page of posts, Enzor snuck over onto our ship. Dessy, I believe, is still on the pirate ship. Hehe, the girl waiting to be rescued just might end up being the rescuer!
That was definitely shouting. Something was going on, maybe fighting? Desi had not been exposed to enough fights so far in her travels to pick out the differences between a 'scuffle' and a 'fight', but it just sounded like someone went screaming downwards.. In an airship, that can't have been good. While she hoped that it was one of the members of this particular ship, she had no way of knowing who. At least the ruffians had the decency to tie her above deck. It was not like she could escape easily.
Her attempts to discern whether or not there was indeed a fight going on had brought her up to her knees, her hands still tied behind her back and roped to the wall. Her hair had come undone, causing her to have to flick her head in annoyance to get the veil of hair out of her face as she weighed her options. She could try to escape now, while the-- 'pirates', she told herself, 'less than honorable people on a boat are pirates.' while the pirates were distracted, or she could remain down here and wait for the victors of the fight to find her.
Pirates winning a fight would want to celebrate. Any celebration involving her and pirates were not likely to be something she wanted, so that ended her debate right then and there. She stood, wavering a bit, and tried to feel her wrists. She had no knowledge of how they were tied, not having had any practice with a rope, but she did know that the lashing that attached her to the wall might come loose with some effort.
She caught a glimpse of the pirates on the other ship doing something, and whatever it was that they did caused the other ship to lurch erratically. Had they-- killed the elemental powering the other ship? Why? Were they not interested in looting it?
A hard tug at the rope that tied her to the wall wrenched her arms, but she bit her lip to keep from crying out, else they might turn their attentions to her. Pulling again, she tried to set herself free.
About halfway up this page of posts, Enzor snuck over onto our ship. Dessy, I believe, is still on the pirate ship. Hehe, the girl waiting to be rescued just might end up being the rescuer!
Ah yes! I Did read that earlier, d'oh :P
All caught up now, muchos gracias : )I'm liking the drama with the captive maiden, pirates and all...good adventure! ;-)
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Everyone is jolted by the attack. Literally and mentally, as they realize what has happened. The ship begins to sink, as the pirates laugh, and rush off. The ship nears the ground, and the hull begins to scrape the trees. There is a large ripping trees destroy the bottom of the ship. All aboard are thrown wildly about. Make another Reflex save
Male Human Urban Barbarian 1| HP 15/15 | AC15 FF 13 T 12 | Saves +4/+3/+1 | Initiative +6 | Perception +4
Hranos watches the ship begin to plummet and times the impact with the top of the trees. When the ship jolts he lowers his center of gravity and jumps forward into a wide stance. His free hand grips the rail of the ship solidly and he keeps his feet under him.
Mercy waits for just the right moment, then launches herself onto the rail, deftly retrieving her blades, launching herself off the rail and into the sky to land on the deck of the pirate ship, proceeds to kick thirty pirates off the boat, ties up the Captain with his own underwear, catches a wayward rope and swings around the mast in a maneuver that would make Captain Jack Sparrow jealous, and finally alights on a nearby branch, immediate going into an interpretive ballet, to wild applause!
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
Myrsandrys of the Snows wrote:
Mercy waits for just the right moment, then launches herself onto the rail, deftly retrieving her blades, launching herself off the rail and into the sky to land on the deck of the pirate ship, proceeds to kick thirty pirates off the boat, ties up the Captain with his own underwear, catches a wayward rope and swings around the mast in a maneuver that would make Captain Jack Sparrow jealous, and finally alights on a nearby branch, immediate going into an interpretive ballet, to wild applause!
The normally extremely agile monk runs to the rails of the ship in an attempt to somersault over onto the pirate ship. However, just as she is about to complete the maneuver she catches sight for the first time of the beautiful half-elf tied captive on the pirate ship, struggling to get free. The sight strikes her heart in a way she's never known before snd she fumbles her dashing move. As she falls her only thoughts are of the vision of beauty she had seen and how she can possibly rescue her...
Reflex Save, Tumble check (1d20 6=12, 1d20 6=10)
And in case you need any other balance, reflex or tumble saves on her way down (they're all the same bonus) Extra Rolls (1d20 6=13, 1d20 6=15, 1d20 6=14) Man! She's really distracted! Well, Love hurts as they say...:P Ouch.
-none- (Don't go there) Fish (Does that make sense?) Rogue 3 (Sneaky!)
As the ship begins to crash into the ground, objects and crew begin to fly. The ship grinds into the ground, throwing everyone over board. You smack the ground at full force (4 damage to all)
Finally, dead quite, except for the distant cheering of pirates, as thier ship floats away. The carnage is unbearable, the bottom of the ship looks like a dying animal, with its belly torn away. All around, crew are lying dead, some crying out for help, others impaled in trees. The rank odor of death is among you. As the three original companions look around, they see a mage (Enzor) get up and dust himself off. Another traveler is seen, getting up, rubbing her wrists. (Dessy)
Enzor dusts his clothes off disregarding the people around, knowing he'd be no help to those suffering. "Well, that was certainly ridiculous. Never trust a pirate, I don't know what I was thinking. Hmpf. Those were no pirates, those were madmen I say. Lunatics... Where'd my stuff go to now.." he says as he tries to locate his belongings.
Ignoring her own relatively minor wounds for the moment, Mercy will immediately go to Hranos' aid, using her heal skill to staunch the blood flow from his wounds, setting splints and applying poultices, all that stuff.
"You're going to need to take it easy for a day or two. In fact, we all are, that was a harrowing attack, but we need to gets our wits about us, tend to our wounded and get our bearings before we jump back into action."
If you obey doctor's orders and enjoy full rest for at least eight hours, you'll recover at double the normal rate - 2hp/level, or at four times normal rate - 4hp/level - for a full 24 hours uninterrupted rest, if I read the skill description correctly (I don't have the book in front of me at the moment (it's on my other computer), so I'm relying on a skills cheat sheet someone posted to the web, which was hopefully accurately rendered.
With Hranos' wounds treated, she will see about the other characters, the two newcomers, and the surviving crew members.
Only difference being that Bo-Dan will first see to the health of the half-elf she saw on the other ship. Shyly introducing herself and asking if the beautiful woman is well and wondering how she managed to escape.
sorry, more detailed post later when i have more time
