Name: Avertyn
Race: Gnome
Classes/levels: Rouge 1
Adventure: Stolen Lands
Location: Mite tree cavern
Catalyst: Being noticed by the Gnome-Hating mite chieftain and his Giant Tick
The Gory Details: The attack had not gone well. The party had just entered the battle map room. Basque, the Cavalier, had just been grappled by the Giant Tick and took some Ability Drain, then fell unconscious. Avertyn stepped over Basques body to try and sneak attack the Tick while he focuses on Grull, the Barbarian. Unforunately, the Mite chieftain saw Avertyn, and directed the Tick to attack his hated enemy. In one fell swoop, its giant claws decapitated Avertyn with a critical hit.
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Name: Xonder
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Wizard 4
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: Lizardfolk settlement
Catalyst: pissing off plot devices
The Gory Details: I'm using DM_aka_Dudemeister's monster kingdom idea. With the lizard king, I put a troll "ambassador", who I had statted out as a CR 9 monster to be encountered as part of fighting the monster kingdom. He was a Troll half-dragon(green) monk 2(Master of Many Styles/Monk of the Sacred Mountain). He was clearly not to be messed with: I had him lounging on a throne watching the little lizards fight, and made sure to describe his wings and intimidating physique (str 29, con 30). Xonder proceeded to magic missile this bad boy. The troll shrugged off the first two missiles with verbal warnings, then went aggressive on the third. He charged Xonder and blasted him with a crit claw, a regular claw, and a bite, and then rended. 64 points of damage put the elf at negative his hit point value, leading another player to exclaim "Even in 4e you'd be dead!". The party prevailed (the rest of them were level 6) due to well built characters, lucky crits, and solid teamwork.My first kill!
Glad to see someone getting use out of my expansions, but a Half-Green Dragon Troll? Ouch. That's just mean.
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Glad to see someone getting use out of my expansions, but a Half-Green Dragon Troll? Ouch. That's just mean.Name: Xonder
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Wizard 4
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: Lizardfolk settlement
Catalyst: pissing off plot devices
The Gory Details: I'm using DM_aka_Dudemeister's monster kingdom idea. With the lizard king, I put a troll "ambassador", who I had statted out as a CR 9 monster to be encountered as part of fighting the monster kingdom. He was a Troll half-dragon(green) monk 2(Master of Many Styles/Monk of the Sacred Mountain). He was clearly not to be messed with: I had him lounging on a throne watching the little lizards fight, and made sure to describe his wings and intimidating physique (str 29, con 30). Xonder proceeded to magic missile this bad boy. The troll shrugged off the first two missiles with verbal warnings, then went aggressive on the third. He charged Xonder and blasted him with a crit claw, a regular claw, and a bite, and then rended. 64 points of damage put the elf at negative his hit point value, leading another player to exclaim "Even in 4e you'd be dead!". The party prevailed (the rest of them were level 6) due to well built characters, lucky crits, and solid teamwork.My first kill!
It was supposed to be mean. Too mean to be a tempting target. He was going to talk with the PCs and give out some plot details before sauntering off to be fought later. I should mention that this is a six player party so I have to put fearsome baddies in or they just fall over on the first round.
Name: Crossbowpeon; Mr Straw
Race: human; advanced soulbound doll
Classes/levels: cohort Fighter 15; cohort Rogue 15
Adventure: War of the River Kings
Location: Irovetti's Palace
Catalyst: gaze of despair = paralyzed
The Gory Details: (optional) having both failed their Will saves against the only remaining antagonist's gaze of despair, they were helpless against the ensuing rounds' evocation spells barrages. The Crossbowpeon was incinerated by two delayed blast fireballs while Mr Straw bought his plot one the subsequent round from a delayed blast fireball followed by a quickened fireball. Sadly, the fighter cohort quickly resumed contributing to the villains' demise thanks to a timely breath of life.
No PCs this time Turin? :(
Or worse, he's getting sane...
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Or worse, he's getting sane...
The party used 3 mass heal spells in this part of fight for a total of FIVE (5) for the 3 sessions it took them to crush their enemies (and 10 deaths from these same three sessions). That doesn't count for the several heals, spontaneous cast cures and channeled energies. Fluff Gugg burned *all* of his channels to bring himself and Molly back up to fighting form.
All told my sanity remains questionable. :P
Name: Thor Brutemead
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Paladin 2
Adventure: Stolen Lands
Location: Kobold Lair
Catalyst: Backstory of being racist to kobolds (No kidding, I came up with the character concept long before Kingmaker was written, as Thor was a rehash of a second ed character I ran)
The Gory Details: Racist Dwarf in lair full of kobolds. This cannot end well. The party faces are talking with the chieftan. Meanwhile Thor and another dwarf in the party are holding our own private conversation in dwarven. It mainly revolves around the fact that Thor thinks the kobolds should be exterminated. It gets worse, turns out the shaman was really a gnome and happened to speak dwarven. The shaman calls on the kobolds to attack. The party cuts and runs, Thor at first wanting to fight decides to run as well, but is doomed in the end when the party inquisitor decides to help the kobolds kill the dwarf. I might have been able to flee if it was only kobolds, but with a party member I was doomed (Though I may have been doomed the minute I stepped in the cave in the first place).
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Name: Thor Brutemead
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Paladin 2
Adventure: Stolen Lands
Location: Kobold Lair
Catalyst: Backstory of being racist to kobolds (No kidding, I came up with the character concept long before Kingmaker was written, as Thor was a rehash of a second ed character I ran)The Gory Details: Racist Dwarf in lair full of kobolds. This cannot end well. The party faces are talking with the chieftan. Meanwhile Thor and another dwarf in the party are holding our own private conversation in dwarven. It mainly revolves around the fact that Thor thinks the kobolds should be exterminated. It gets worse, turns out the shaman was really a gnome and happened to speak dwarven. The shaman calls on the kobolds to attack. The party cuts and runs, Thor at first wanting to fight decides to run as well, but is doomed in the end when the party inquisitor decides to help the kobolds kill the dwarf. I might have been able to flee if it was only kobolds, but with a party member I was doomed (Though I may have been doomed the minute I stepped in the cave in the first place).
wow, pc vs pc makes for bad group dynamics. What was his reason? Was it a roleplaying thing?
wow, pc vs pc makes for bad group dynamics. What was his reason? Was it a roleplaying thing?Name: Thor Brutemead
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Paladin 2
Adventure: Stolen Lands
Location: Kobold Lair
Catalyst: Backstory of being racist to kobolds (No kidding, I came up with the character concept long before Kingmaker was written, as Thor was a rehash of a second ed character I ran)The Gory Details: Racist Dwarf in lair full of kobolds. This cannot end well. The party faces are talking with the chieftan. Meanwhile Thor and another dwarf in the party are holding our own private conversation in dwarven. It mainly revolves around the fact that Thor thinks the kobolds should be exterminated. It gets worse, turns out the shaman was really a gnome and happened to speak dwarven. The shaman calls on the kobolds to attack. The party cuts and runs, Thor at first wanting to fight decides to run as well, but is doomed in the end when the party inquisitor decides to help the kobolds kill the dwarf. I might have been able to flee if it was only kobolds, but with a party member I was doomed (Though I may have been doomed the minute I stepped in the cave in the first place).
The inquisitor's player was me wife of all people. Her character didn't feel that my hatred of kobolds was just. She was also worried that I might well have killed the lot of them (my character had pretty good ac for his level). I didn't take it personally. My next character happened to be the Paladin's brother but he and the Inquisitor got along rather well.
Racism as a character flaw on a paladin around kobolds wasn't really a good formula for keeping pally powers at any rate.
Name: Hakon, Lureena
Race: Halfling, Human
Classes/levels: Cavalier/Bard/Battle Herald Level 8, Oracle of Life Level 8 (the duchess)
Adventure: Varnhold Vanishing, 6 Player variant
Location: Vordakais throne room
Catalyst: cleaving power attack smite good flash of insight critical hit with battleaxe
The Gory Details: The final battle srated with the heroes storming into the throne room, Hakon on his half-dragon wolf mount Calidus leading, as usual. Vordakai used his flash of insight on initiative and went first, hitting mount and rider with Waves of Fatigue, canceling Hakons favorite tactic: ride-by-charges. Hakon attacked the bodyguard without effect. Vordakais bodyguard, the graveknight antipaladin from the 6player conversion whom i named Horagnamon (who would come to know the name of the crow anyway?) declared smite good on Hakon, activated power attack, cleave, and flash of insight and attacked. The crit was confirmed, and Hakon dropped dead from the ~100 damage. The cleave hit Calidus too, harming him severely.
Lureena went soon after, having assumed the form of a live-giving fire elemental, and ran to the dead Hakon, using a scroll of breath of life to bring him back, although with very low hp.
Next round, Hakon and Calidus used withdraw to get away from the terrible graveknight - leaving Lureena alone at the front. Horagnamon didnt let this chance slip, and killed the oracle with a normal attack.
Lureena was brought back to life later with the scroll of Raise Dead from Varnhold.
The heroes killed Vordakai pretty fast, mainly due to the inquisitor critting twice with Searing Light, but flew from the furious Horagnamon.
They returned later, Hakon buffed with Mirror Image to successfully avoid the devastating opening attack from the anti-paladin, and they killed him for good.
Name: Juan Guzman, Half-elf Gunslinger 8
Location: the village of Varnhold
Catalyst: Swarms & Fireballs
The Gory Details: The six PCs were exploring Varnhold when they disturbed the many murders of crows roosting in the stables. The two sorcerers & the cleric dove for cover in a nearby farmhouse, while the Ranger/Rogue, the monk, and Juan Guzman attacked the birds with ranged weapons. Once engulfed by the swarms of crows, the Ranger used a bead from his necklace of fireballs and called for "More fireballs!"
All three combatants were engulfed in repeated blasts, with the Monk and the Ranger easily evading the flames and crying out for more, and poor Juan Guzman crying out for the party's casters to stop. Alas, they did not listen to the lone voice of dissent and mighty ball of fire (46 points on 8d6) incinerated not only the last of the crows, but Juan Guzman as well.
Rumours that his brother Pablo Guzman would come to avenge his death are probably just that . . . rumours. #:-]
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Name: Juan Guzman, Half-elf Gunslinger 8
Location: the village of Varnhold
Catalyst: Swarms & FireballsThe Gory Details: The six PCs were exploring Varnhold when they disturbed the many murders of crows roosting in the stables. The two sorcerers & the cleric dove for cover in a nearby farmhouse, while the Ranger/Rogue, the monk, and Juan Guzman attacked the birds with ranged weapons. Once engulfed by the swarms of crows, the Ranger used a bead from his necklace of fireballs and called for "More fireballs!"
All three combatants were engulfed in repeated blasts, with the Monk and the Ranger easily evading the flames and crying out for more, and poor Juan Guzman crying out for the party's casters to stop. Alas, they did not listen to the lone voice of dissent and mighty ball of fire (46 points on 8d6) incinerated not only the last of the crows, but Juan Guzman as well.
Rumours that his brother Pablo Guzman would come to avenge his death are probably just that . . . rumours. #:-]
lol very entertaining
Name: Harkon of Sendis
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Figther 4
Adventure: Stolen Lands/RRR
Location: Stag Lord's castle - now capital of Narland
Catalyst: Being the baron and leading by example/trouble magnet
The Gory Details: After returning from a successful worg routing in the east and picking up the to-be ambassador/diplomat of their fledgling realm, the PCs were greeted with dire news - on their most recent construction site an avalanche of mud and dirt killed not only half of the workers, but released abominations better left undisturbed. Enter the ghoul encounter of KM #1/area Z.
Bolstered by number and a couple of ghasts the PCs were quickly surrounded, though not surprised due to the paladin scanning for evil. The sorc went first and greased a couple of the undead, but all resisted to very good rolls on my side (which should hold true for the whole encounter). Next went the cleric and the paladin spamming channels to finish the petty critters, but lo and behold the dice were in favor of the undead and every single one of them made the saves (twice!).
Next went the baron, wading into melee and killing a ghoul only to be quickly surrounded by ghouls and two of the ghasts, failing his save against the stench, negating the protection from evil and after failing the save vs. paralysis going rigid. The rest of the group could only watch when two ghouls began to feed on the poor baron and him failing the save against the damage done.
Two channels later, the undead were history and everybody rushed to the barons corpse, lamenting his death.
No information about his death was given to the populace, only that he was recuperating from the attack and needed special help... 10 days later he was raised from the dead and returned.
Interesting tidbit: I succeeded in killing this players character twice already, and his are the only casualties so far.
Ruyan.
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Name: Harkon of Sendis
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Figther 4
Adventure: Stolen Lands/RRR
Location: Stag Lord's castle - now capital of Narland
Catalyst: Being the baron and leading by example/trouble magnetThe Gory Details: After returning from a successful worg routing in the east and picking up the to-be ambassador/diplomat of their fledgling realm, the PCs were greeted with dire news - on their most recent construction site an avalanche of mud and dirt killed not only half of the workers, but released abominations better left undisturbed. Enter the ghoul encounter of KM #1/area Z.
Bolstered by number and a couple of ghasts the PCs were quickly surrounded, though not surprised due to the paladin scanning for evil. The sorc went first and greased a couple of the undead, but all resisted to very good rolls on my side (which should hold true for the whole encounter). Next went the cleric and the paladin spamming channels to finish the petty critters, but lo and behold the dice were in favor of the undead and every single one of them made the saves (twice!).
Next went the baron, wading into melee and killing a ghoul only to be quickly surrounded by ghouls and two of the ghasts, failing his save against the stench, negating the protection from evil and after failing the save vs. paralysis going rigid. The rest of the group could only watch when two ghouls began to feed on the poor baron and him failing the save against the damage done.
Two channels later, the undead were history and everybody rushed to the barons corpse, lamenting his death.
No information about his death was given to the populace, only that he was recuperating from the attack and needed special help... 10 days later he was raised from the dead and returned.Interesting tidbit: I succeeded in killing this players character twice already, and his are the only casualties so far.
Ruyan.
I don't know why but I sure do enjoy reading about pc deaths. :)
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Same. Even more so if my 6 player variant was responsible.
Well, then as a way of thanking you for your work, the first death in my campaign:
Name: Kutuzov Garess
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Figther 5 tactician archetype
Adventure: RRR
Location: the Mad Hermit hex
Catalyst: the Mad hermit and his dire lion companion (reskinned as a dire puma)
My six man party is hunting for the troll base. they have already killed some party of trolls sent to the border of their territory to strong arm the local people into supporting the tolls kingdom so they want to scout the troll base, see what kind of force they have and then decide how to proceed. When ready they are decidedly strong, with a summoner increasing the actual party count to seven. When caught by surprise you see the weaknesses of the group.
I pre roll the encounters for several days in advance and try to weave them into the story. So while they are in the ad Hermit hex following the tracks of the trolls they find a few tracks of the Hermit crossing those of the trolls they are following. They find that interesting but decide to keep to the task at hand.
Approximately at the same time the Hermit notice them. Being mad but not stupid he realize that 7 persons are a hard nut to crack, so he attempt to soften them up. Using some kava musk he attracted 2 forest drake toward the party (it was the encounter rolled for that day). The drakes noticed the half elf summoner and targeted the tasty morsel. They did some damage but were repulsed and fled away with less than 1/3 of their starting hp.
The pc, mostly thanks to the witch fox familiar, discovered the lure and realized that someone had attracted the drakes toward them. They suspect a druid, maybe Old Nugrah (he survived and so far his destiny is unknown [and a "wind creature" did stole the Stag Lord head from the pike upon which it was exposed outside Restov. Nugrah being 7th level make so much difference]).
Seeing at it was late in the afternoon in a rainy day in a dense forest they had trouble tracking the culprit, so after some time they searched for a protected sleeping position and made camp.
Late during the night the Hermit struck. Kutuzov and KaeTeHadee (the witch) were sharing guard duty. The hermit companion (a dire lion, reskinned as a dire puma as I see it as more appropriate to the region) approached the camp from the north, while the hermit was approaching from the south. Kae noticed the puma and gave the alarm, but Kutuzov totally failed his perception check. The puma charged and pounced him, hitting with all its attacks and getting a claw critical. The puma easily grappled poor Kutuzov, curtailing his ability to retreat.
Kae tried to put the puma to sleep but he resisted with a natural 20.
All the other members of the party started to roll perception check to wake up. The life oracle was waked by the damage transmitted by her life link with Kutuzov (seeing her track record so far in being waked by the noise of combat [or better, in not being waked] the whole party agree that it is a great way to get her to wake).
People start to scramble out of their bedrolls, the summoner, without even leaving the bed, start to cast summon eidolon to call her friend.
Kutuzov try to free himself from the puma grapple but fail.
As soon as it get to act again the puma drop the grapple and attack Kutuzov. Bite, claw, claw, with another claw critical and the poor Kutuzov is at something like -25.
Arod “Surrender”* Cobb leave his tent and start firing at the cat. As usual for him his first arrow missed.
At this point the hermit intervene, using his whip to try to disarm the archer. The face of the player was wonderful to see when I announced that a guy with a whip was attempting to disarm him and that he had rolled a total of 22 against his CMD of 17. It was even more fun when I rolled the attacker mischance for darkness and the attack failed, disarming the arrow Arod had in hand instead of the bow.
Now that the party is fully awake and functional the 2 adversaries are easily dispatched, and the fight end with Arod (LG) recovering his arrow and firing I point blank in the eye of the dying Hermit, saying “You wanted it so much, take it!”
Later Kutuzov was brought to Restov and raised.
* His nickname was born from the first battle at the Oleg trading post where the players were capable to ambush the bandits inside the trading post and he tried to get them to surrender. He failed but was unable to fire a single arrow during the whole engagement as the bandits were capable to use the buildings for cover against him. It is further reinforced by the fact that apparently his first shot in every combat is a warning shot. He almost never hit with it.
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FUSTERCLUCKERY 2012!
Name: Gren Fallshadow
Race: Half-Orc
Classes/levels: Fighter 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten Keep
Name: Lavro Golka
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Cleric of Abadar 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten Keep
Name: Zoresk "Nikolai" Kronug
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Wizard (Transmuter) 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten Keep
Name: Tessara
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Cavalier (Order of the Shield) 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten Keep
Catalyst: A Ph.D. in Really, Truly, Unbelievably Bad Decision-Making -- No, Seriously, UNBELIEVABLE, with minors in Metagaming and Bad Luck.
The Gory Details: Settle in, folks. It's an amazing tale.
Toward the end of one session, the party discovered the Keep and walked in through the gate. The portcullis trap was duly triggered, and meatshields Gren and Tessara made their Reflex saves (surprisingly!) and wound up alone inside the keep, with the others outside. Rather than even attempt to lift or break the portcullis, they decided to have the ones outside climb the wall. This was a mistake that would have serious repercussions later on, and indeed might be said to be the precipitating event of the whole nigh-TPK.
As Lavro, Nikolai, and Lupan (a bard and Baron of the land) were scaling the wall, Rigg made his first attack. Since I have five players rather than four, I had given Rigg a scroll of improved invisibility at minimum caster level, which I thought would just serve to play up the confusion around what was going on rather than have a serious and direct impact on the encounter. So when Gren felt something poke him in the back and made a Fort save (and passed easily) he assumed, not illogically, that there was someone with a blowgun or an archer on the roof of the keep. So far so good -- Rigg had wasted a dose of blue whinnis to no effect and the party had been alerted to the presence of a threat.
With everyone inside the keep, the party made for the righthand tower -- the rat swarm one. As they did, Rigg made another pass and nailed Lupan, who failed his save against blue whinnis and went unconscious. The party hurried into the tower, dealt with the rat swarms with some minor difficulty, and expended some expendable resources. Again, so far so good -- by the time they were done, Rigg's improved invisibility had expired and they'd have a chance to see the little bastage making his next attacks. The session ended there.
Session 2. Lupan's player had to work and couldn't make the session. None of what follows is his fault.
The session began with Lavro's player arguing forcefully for a retreat over the walls of the roofless tower, and she had everyone convinced...and then Nikolai's player said they should press on, and everyone suddenly agreed for no reason. They didn't even wait for Lupan to wake up. They just strapped their unconscious baron to a makeshift stretcher, which would be carried by the wizard and the cleric -- you know, the ones with low FORT saves and the necessity to use their hands to cast spells. Obligingly tromping in a line, they were up next to the central keep when Rigg, now visible, darted in and gave Nikolai a lil' poke. One failed FORT save later, they were now burdened with two unconscious members and no arcane spellcasters.
OK, now Rigg's perfectly visible, standing a few dozen yards away. Does the cleric cast a spell at him? Do the fighter and cavalier unsling their bows and twang arrows at him? Do they even chuck any of their many alchemist fires? Why no. They do not. They just gape at him until he froze and disappeared.
Rather than act in an expeditious fashion, or even pulling up into a sound tactical formation to get some attacks of opportunity or even held actions, they stood around right where they were arguing for a while about the best escape plan. So, after putting up with several minutes of this inane nonsense, Rigg attacked again, causing another failed FORT save and leaving an unconscious cleric in his wake. By this point I was coming to believe that the players were secretly tired of their characters and wanted them all to die, because I wasn't sure what else could explain this kind of play from otherwise intelligent, forward-thinking, and skilled people.
Now burdened with three unconscious party members and down to two people with terrible WILL saves, Gren the fighter and Tessara the cavalier dragged the unconscious Lupan the bard, Nikolai the wizard, and Lavro the cleric into the main keep. They did something smart in shoving themselves into the corner formed by the staircase and the wall, stacking the unconscious folks behind them and making a wall of pointy swords facing outward. Now if Rigg attacked again, he'd be in big trouble!
So I thought the encounter was pretty much over. All they had to do was stand there like that for a couple of hours until folks started waking up and they'd be out of here with no lasting harm done. So I thought I'd do some foreshadowing, and I had the Dancing Lady call down from above, teasing them that they should come up and see her. Imagine, if you can, the expression on my face when the fighter and the cavalier looked at each other and said, without the faintest hint of irony, "I don't think we have a choice. We have to go up."
I'll give you a moment to let that soak in.
Ready? OK. The two meatshields proceeded to drag the three unconscious members of the party up the freakin' stairs. When they got to the top, the Dancing Lady started doing her thing and Gren became riveted to the spot. By spending her last Hero Point, Tessara managed to pass the check and charged the Dancing Lady, dealing a cruel blow with her sword. The Dancing Lady responded with a Suggestion that Tessara go downstairs and wait for her, which Tessara thought was a very good idea and walked back down the stairs to wait on the ground floor for the next ten hours. Gren became food.
Now, at this point it occurred to me that Baron Lupan, the bard, had played no part in this debacle, as his player had been gone when Hurricane Stupid struck and the character had been unconscious the whole time. I had previously introduced a mysterious outsider that called itself a harbinger, which I intended to use to foreshadow the involvement of Nyrissa, and I had decided long ago that the harbinger was an ace up my sleeve to avoid a TPK that happened through bad luck (rather than through player stupidity, which I feel no obligation to avert). So, the harbinger used his power to awaken the Baron, who immediately fell under the spell of the Dancing Lady as she drained Gren. But, since she didn't know Lupan was now awake, she stopped dancing when Gren fell, and Lupan (his sheet being run by another player) used the opportunity to dart down the stairs.
At this point, the player running Lupan tried to go for a TPK by having Lupan charge back up the stairs alone to try to rescue his friends from the clutches of the mind-controlling, vampiric fey creature that had just destroyed the party and ensorcelled him. Seriously. I have no words left anymore for the sheer level of dumb on display during this session. It's like quantum physics -- it makes no sense to a rational human being, but the evidence suggests that it does in fact exist. Anyway, by threatening physical violence against him, Tessara managed to convince the baron to take his leave. The Baron cast invisibility on himself and left through the gap in the back wall, just barely beating the grimstalker's perception with his invisibility-enhanced stealth.
Upstairs, as day turned to evening, Lavro and Nikolai awakened to find themselves trussed face-down like Christmas geese; I was unwarrantedly nice and gave them a chance to use Escape Artist, but to no avail. The Dancing Lady noticed them and drank Lavro dry while playing seductively with Nikolai's long hair.
Tessara paced around on the ground floor of the keep, triggering the insanity mist trap and making her save, then deciding to blindfold herself in preparation for going back uptstairs. Rigg, who'd been watching this earthquake of inadequacy with considerable amusement, took the opportunity to do a sneak attack plus bleed on the blinded cavalier, making her use up a dose of her limited number of healing potions. Eventually the Suggestion wore off and Tessara put the blindfold back on (in spite of already having made her save against the effect and reasonably assuming she was immune to further effect for the rest of the day) and ran back upstairs, taking several attacks from the Dancing Lady while not being able to land an effective counter. Quickly being overwhelmed, Tessara was forced to conduct a fighting retreat down the stairs, but once they reached the ground floor Rigg cheerfully joined the fight and Tessara fell quickly.
Upstairs, Nikolai failed a long series of Escape Artist checks and was still bound when the Dancing Lady came back up and kicked him into deep levels of unconsciousness, incidentally tenderizing him for the next day's meal.
So there it is. At nearly every decision point, the party not only did the perfectly wrong thing, but flew directly in the face of even the most elementary common sense. Not trying to open the portcullis; not waiting for Lupan to wake up; not leaving and preparing when that was clearly a better option; dragging an unconscious party member through thick undergrowth against unknown opposition; stringing themselves out so they couldn't get in attacks of opportunity; standing around and gawping like tourists instead of attacking; again not escaping when the opportunity presented itself; DOING WHAT THE EVIL MONSTER ASKED THEM TO DO (I still can't believe that!); trying to get the baron killed even when I had deus ex machinaed his escape; blindfolding the last remaining party member and going into a fight literally blind. Bad choice compounded bad choice compounded bad choice.
And then they had the nerve to complain bitterly that the encounter was too hard!
Words fail me...
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FUSTERCLUCKERY 2012!
Name: Gren Fallshadow
Race: Half-Orc
Classes/levels: Fighter 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten KeepName: Lavro Golka
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Cleric of Abadar 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten KeepName: Zoresk "Nikolai" Kronug
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Wizard (Transmuter) 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten KeepName: Tessara
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Cavalier (Order of the Shield) 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Forgotten KeepCatalyst: A Ph.D. in Really, Truly, Unbelievably Bad Decision-Making -- No, Seriously, UNBELIEVABLE, with minors in Metagaming and Bad Luck.
The Gory Details: Settle in, folks. It's an amazing tale.
Toward the end of one session, the party discovered the Keep and walked in through the gate. The portcullis trap was duly triggered, and meatshields Gren and Tessara made their Reflex saves (surprisingly!) and wound up alone inside the keep, with the others outside. Rather than even attempt to lift or break the portcullis, they decided to have the ones outside climb the wall. This was a mistake that would have serious repercussions later on, and indeed might be said to be the precipitating event of the whole nigh-TPK.
As Lavro, Nikolai, and Lupan (a bard and Baron of the land) were scaling the wall, Rigg made his first attack. Since I have five players rather than four, I had given Rigg a scroll of improved invisibility at minimum caster level, which I thought would just serve to play up the confusion around what was going on rather than have a serious and direct impact on the encounter. So when Gren felt something poke him in the back and made a Fort save (and passed easily) he assumed, not illogically, that there was someone with a blowgun or an archer on the roof of the keep. So far so good -- Rigg had wasted a dose of blue whinnis to no effect and the party had been alerted to the presence of a threat.
With everyone inside the keep, the...
Wow!
O.o .. mmmmkaay ..
So are your merry band of chuckleheads going to resume the campaign or head off to do something with at least semi-visible rails?
O.o .. mmmmkaay ..
So are your merry band of chuckleheads going to resume the campaign or head off to do something with at least semi-visible rails?
Last night I said that the baron's escape gave us a basis for continuing the campaign, but upon reflection I've decided that it's best if this flaming pyre marks an end to their kingdom and the campaign.
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Last night I said that the baron's escape gave us a basis for continuing the campaign, but upon reflection I've decided that it's best if this flaming pyre marks an end to their kingdom and the campaign.O.o .. mmmmkaay ..
So are your merry band of chuckleheads going to resume the campaign or head off to do something with at least semi-visible rails?
their brilliance is awe inspiring!
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FUSTERCLUCKERY 2012!
I had a TPK at this point as well, though in that case it was due to the "Dancing Lady grapple/dance issue" that was clarified.
A couple of points that you may want to take home from this (keep in mind this does not mitigate the sheer party-dividing insanity you recorded):
1) Invisibility. A creature attacked by an invisible character is automatically aware of the exact location of the attacker if they are adjacent. It's easy to miss this rule, but it may have played out differently.
2) You probably did the players a disservice by being nice to them. If you had Rigg put the hammer down instead of waiting between attacks they would have very quickly figured out they were overmatched (especially after two party members were out). To clarify something - did they manage to avoid the insanity trap when they entered the tower?
I had a TPK at this point as well, though in that case it was due to the "Dancing Lady grapple/dance issue" that was clarified.A couple of points that you may want to take home from this (keep in mind this does not mitigate the sheer party-dividing insanity you recorded):
1) Invisibility. A creature attacked by an invisible character is automatically aware of the exact location of the attacker if they are adjacent. It's easy to miss this rule, but it may have played out differently.
Ah, this is interesting. I don't think it would have played out differently because Rigg was using his ludicrous speed and spring attack to juke in and out. They'd have been aware it was a melee threat rather than a ranged one, but I doubt they'd have modified their...well, I was gonna say 'tactics,' but I think I'll say 'approach' instead.
2) You probably did the players a disservice by being nice to them. If you had Rigg put the hammer down instead of waiting between attacks they would have very quickly figured out they were overmatched (especially after two party members were out). To clarify something - did they manage to avoid the insanity trap when they entered the tower?
They did, completely, by hugging the side of the staircase going up. Tessara triggered later on when she was alone, but by then it made no difference and she made her save anyway.
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On behalf of one of my poor players who said he was having a bad feeling about his character before the day started... Really just a freaky day for the DM's dice, which were rolling a lot of 20s.
Name: Ragore
Race: Druid
Classes/levels: Druid 5
Adventure: RRR
Location: Hodag lair
Catalyst: Hodag critically hits and goes to town on the druid and his animal companion
The Gory Details: I've built up the legend of the hodag (gave the set encounter one the advanced template), and the party tracked it to its lair. First roll by DM is a confirmed critical hit, and 90% of attacks hit the druid and his companion. Both dead in a matter of rounds, and the party wisely retreatd. Moresoe the DMs dice than anything else. Just one of those days.
Later that game afternoon...
Name: Lodi
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Alchemist 5
Adventure: Carnival of Tears (set nearby the capital village)
Location: Behind peepshow
Catalyst: Newly rolled-up character to replace the above Ragore hears a woman being hit and goes to stop the gangster boss beating her.
The Gory Details: It's a carnival (innocent at first), and the party all split and went their own way. The young alchemist went to a peepshow and investigated a noise behind a tent, where he saw a gangster hitting one of the dancers. The new character decided he couldn't abide this abuse he saw and took to dealing with the crimelord. Two missed bombs and extract spells later, combined with a feint and sneak attack by the bad guy, and the player was rolling another character as the crimelord slit his throat and hid the body...
Later that game afternoon
Should have been another party death (once again a confirmed crit by a battle-axe wielding fey that slew a player), but fortunately we use hero points and the player had squirreled away 2 points, leaving everything thinking she'd been slain but hanging in at death's door. Alas, this character does not make the cut, just honorable mention.
Deaths averted by Hero Points and breath of life most certainly do count! :P
Dammit, Turin, you are doing it again! I am opening the thread to read how you slaughtered your party again and what I get?! One line comment :(
You can do better!
Dammit, Turin, you are doing it again! I am opening the thread to read how you slaughtered your party again and what I get?! One line comment :(
You can do better!
Ah, but slaughter is pending this coming Sunday the 13th! My addle-brained players are talking about going after Treerazer. >.<
Ah, but slaughter is pending this coming Sunday the 13th! My addle-brained players are talking about going after Treerazer. >.<
Hey, I didn't know my group was also playing in your campaign! Or is Teh Dumb contagious?
Hey, I didn't know my group was also playing in your campaign! Or is Teh Dumb contagious?Ah, but slaughter is pending this coming Sunday the 13th! My addle-brained players are talking about going after Treerazer. >.<
It must be contagious since I can't think of any real reason for them to even consider doing this.
An excerpt I gave them regarding Treerazer:
- scrying and similar divinations completely fail;
- consulting the Gawds returns with "attack it at your peril for the danger is much greater than that which you overcame in Irovetti's palace" (a fight that accounted for 10 deaths);
- the only written account of the battle against him 2200 years ago saw less than 500 elves survive out of an army of 50,000 - blessed and enchanted cold iron availed for naught - spells were ignored even though they rent asunder the ranks surrounding it - elves transmogrified into fungal things at great distance - the fallen became carnivorous fungi that fell upon their kin - it has such power that cults worshipping it draw divine power from doing so
I'm hoping that the second point gets The Dumb out of their system before they go and get themselves TPK'd.
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Hey, I didn't know my group was also playing in your campaign! Or is Teh Dumb contagious?Ah, but slaughter is pending this coming Sunday the 13th! My addle-brained players are talking about going after Treerazer. >.<
It must be contagious since I can't think of any real reason for them to even consider doing this.
An excerpt I gave them regarding Treerazer:
- scrying and similar divinations completely fail;
- consulting the Gawds returns with "attack it at your peril for the danger is much greater than that which you overcame in Irovetti's palace" (a fight that accounted for 10 deaths);
- the only written account of the battle against him 2200 years ago saw less than 500 elves survive out of an army of 50,000 - blessed and enchanted cold iron availed for naught - spells were ignored even though they rent asunder the ranks surrounding it - elves transmogrified into fungal things at great distance - the fallen became carnivorous fungi that fell upon their kin - it has such power that cults worshipping it draw divine power from doing so
I'm hoping that the second point gets The Dumb out of their system before they go and get themselves TPK'd.
Looking forward to the tpk lowlights.
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My second death!
Name: Orianna Torsas
Race: Half-Elf
Classes/levels: Magus 6
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Lonely Barrow
Catalyst: Confusion and friendly fire
The Gory Details: I moved the Lonely Barrow underneath Candlemere Island, and had an earthquake reveal its entrance (under the freshly constructed mage's tower). The ruins above had cthulu-cult runes and such on them, so I ran the location as written except with bizarre flavor details on the mobs - the bats were misshapen and caused Wisdom damage instead of bleed damage, the skeletons exploded into gore when killed, etc. I beefed up the Lonely Warrior by having a young intellect devourer riding in its skull (I have a 6 player party (apl 7) with animal companions and familiars and cohorts, I needed him to be even tougher than Alexander's 6-player mod). The party fell victim to its confusion ability, and poor Orianna got battered not only by the Lonely Warrior but by her erstwhile friends. She survived two big hits from L.W., got gnawed on by the Erastilian cleric's elk companion, and was hanging to consciousness with one hitpoint when the psy-warrior rolled "attack nearest creature" on the confusion and did upwards of 40 damage to her.
This is particularly awkward as Orianna was the Baron's backup character, who got married to Varn and snuck out to do some adventuring leaving behind an illusionist bard to masquerade as her. The politics are gonna get interesting!
...got gnawed on by the Erastilian cleric's elk companion...
Oh, how I wish that was the killing blow. "Nibbled to death by elk" beats even the "chewed in half by turtle" from my game!
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My second death!
Name: Orianna Torsas
Race: Half-Elf
Classes/levels: Magus 6
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Location: The Lonely Barrow
Catalyst: Confusion and friendly fire
The Gory Details: I moved the Lonely Barrow underneath Candlemere Island, and had an earthquake reveal its entrance (under the freshly constructed mage's tower). The ruins above had cthulu-cult runes and such on them, so I ran the location as written except with bizarre flavor details on the mobs - the bats were misshapen and caused Wisdom damage instead of bleed damage, the skeletons exploded into gore when killed, etc. I beefed up the Lonely Warrior by having a young intellect devourer riding in its skull (I have a 6 player party (apl 7) with animal companions and familiars and cohorts, I needed him to be even tougher than Alexander's 6-player mod). The party fell victim to its confusion ability, and poor Orianna got battered not only by the Lonely Warrior but by her erstwhile friends. She survived two big hits from L.W., got gnawed on by the Erastilian cleric's elk companion, and was hanging to consciousness with one hitpoint when the psy-warrior rolled "attack nearest creature" on the confusion and did upwards of 40 damage to her.This is particularly awkward as Orianna was the Baron's backup character, who got married to Varn and snuck out to do some adventuring leaving behind an illusionist bard to masquerade as her. The politics are gonna get interesting!
Lol that's good.
Name: Taddäus
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Cleric of Torag 5
Adventure: RRR
Location: Random encounter due south of the Old Beldame's hut
Catalyst: 2 hungry grizzlys having just woken from hibernation and freshly killed deer carcasses
The Gory Details: Having had a rather uninspired talk with the Old Beldame, the party agreed to sent her some venison in return for her stories. After a successful hunt the party was slaughtering the two deers when all of a sudden two hungry grizzlys showed up, demanding their share, well, all of it actually, of the kill. The bears won initiative, charged and concentrated on the poor cleric. Getting in the way of the two ravenous beasts was not the smartest move of our cleric, as he found out a round later after having received 2 claws from one bear and a full attack (2 claws and a bite, all at max damage!) from the second one.
Pooling all their money and actually thinking about plundering the barony in search for the rest (too bad they've good friends who lent them the money), they travelled to Restov and got him raised.
Ruyan.
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Name: Taddäus
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Cleric of Torag 5
Adventure: RRR
Location: Random encounter due south of the Old Beldame's hut
Catalyst: 2 hungry grizzlys having just woken from hibernation and freshly killed deer carcasses
The Gory Details: Having had a rather uninspired talk with the Old Beldame, the party agreed to sent her some venison in return for her stories. After a successful hunt the party was slaughtering the two deers when all of a sudden two hungry grizzlys showed up, demanding their share, well, all of it actually, of the kill. The bears won initiative, charged and concentrated on the poor cleric. Getting in the way of the two ravenous beasts was not the smartest move of our cleric, as he found out a round later after having received 2 claws from one bear and a full attack (2 claws and a bite, all at max damage!) from the second one.
Pooling all their money and actually thinking about plundering the barony in search for the rest (too bad they've good friends who lent them the money), they travelled to Restov and got him raised.Ruyan.
You know how funny it is that all of my pc deaths have been random encounters. :)
I feel kind a sad about this one. First, he was "forced" to take the cleric due to group issues, than he rolled abyssmal on hp and now he's even shamed by the paladin's ability to spam channels better'n him. And on top of that he dies and the party can't pay for the removal of the two negative levels (in addition to the one left on the baron).
Ah, well, life's a b#+!! and then you die!
Ruyan.
... then they throw dirt in your face, then the worms eat you ... ^__^
... then they throw dirt in your face, then the worms eat you ... ^__^
Perfect occasion for revenge on those rabble as The Worm That Walks!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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I just finished running my manuscript version of War of the River Kings, although I redesigned Irovetti as a 16th level bard (arcane duelist), making a few adjustments in his gear to match, plus using a fair spread of spells from Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, and the APG.
He fought the party along with a gaggle of Pitax Archers (Ftr6/Rgr1 with favored enemy human and human bane arrows) and a handful of Pitax Heralds (Bard7 or 8) and Pitax Marshals (Sorc8) and a few cyclopes, plus a double-jotunblood gargantuan troll (who had used a shield other spell to be a hp donator to Irovetti, sucking up and regenerating half of his damage) with a maul of the titans (enabling him to demolish a forcecage the party sorc tried to put around him) grouped into patrols of 3 or 4 at a time that kept coming as reinforcements.
The palace invasion was basically a 3 or 4 session-long running battle. Only two actual deaths (Duavel a fighter/ranger cohort and Nemijian VIII, a large cat animal companion), but there were 3 full PC deaths that were averted by the application of action points and the Heroic Defiance feat (or maybe it was a spell) to forestall death long enough to get healing. I think the party paladin was dropped to -50, healed up, then dropped down to -60 and healed up again.
The cat was put to sleep by deep slumber and then CDG'ed, the cohort I think was crushed by the troll after being brought back from getting riddled with human bane arrows (he's a half-elf). The other "deaths" were from Irovetti himself with his grotesque damage. He was on the ropes, got away in gaseous form, they chased him down and actually managed to use suggestion to lure him back, he got away again, they chased him down... finally, he got hit with a crit from the crit deck that prevented him from talking (so no more spells or bardic performance) and then they nailed him.
An exciting battle and suitably epic for KING Irovetti.
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I just finished running my manuscript version of War of the River Kings, although I redesigned Irovetti as a 16th level bard (arcane duelist), making a few adjustments in his gear to match, plus using a fair spread of spells from Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, and the APG.
He fought the party along with a gaggle of Pitax Archers (Ftr6/Rgr1 with favored enemy human and human bane arrows) and a handful of Pitax Heralds (Bard7 or 8) and Pitax Marshals (Sorc8) and a few cyclopes, plus a double-jotunblood gargantuan troll (who had used a shield other spell to be a hp donator to Irovetti, sucking up and regenerating half of his damage) with a maul of the titans (enabling him to demolish a forcecage the party sorc tried to put around him) grouped into patrols of 3 or 4 at a time that kept coming as reinforcements.
The palace invasion was basically a 3 or 4 session-long running battle. Only two actual deaths (Duavel a fighter/ranger cohort and Nemijian VIII, a large cat animal companion), but there were 3 full PC deaths that were averted by the application of action points and the Heroic Defiance feat (or maybe it was a spell) to forestall death long enough to get healing. I think the party paladin was dropped to -50, healed up, then dropped down to -60 and healed up again.
The cat was put to sleep by deep slumber and then CDG'ed, the cohort I think was crushed by the troll after being brought back from getting riddled with human bane arrows (he's a half-elf). The other "deaths" were from Irovetti himself with his grotesque damage. He was on the ropes, got away in gaseous form, they chased him down and actually managed to use suggestion to lure him back, he got away again, they chased him down... finally, he got hit with a crit from the crit deck that prevented him from talking (so no more spells or bardic performance) and then they nailed him.
An exciting battle and suitably epic for KING Irovetti.
I'm definitely going to use a lot of your original manuscript when my group gets there.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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I'm definitely going to use a lot of your...I just finished running my manuscript version of War of the River Kings, although I redesigned Irovetti as a 16th level bard (arcane duelist), making a few adjustments in his gear to match, plus using a fair spread of spells from Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, and the APG.
He fought the party along with a gaggle of Pitax Archers (Ftr6/Rgr1 with favored enemy human and human bane arrows) and a handful of Pitax Heralds (Bard7 or 8) and Pitax Marshals (Sorc8) and a few cyclopes, plus a double-jotunblood gargantuan troll (who had used a shield other spell to be a hp donator to Irovetti, sucking up and regenerating half of his damage) with a maul of the titans (enabling him to demolish a forcecage the party sorc tried to put around him) grouped into patrols of 3 or 4 at a time that kept coming as reinforcements.
The palace invasion was basically a 3 or 4 session-long running battle. Only two actual deaths (Duavel a fighter/ranger cohort and Nemijian VIII, a large cat animal companion), but there were 3 full PC deaths that were averted by the application of action points and the Heroic Defiance feat (or maybe it was a spell) to forestall death long enough to get healing. I think the party paladin was dropped to -50, healed up, then dropped down to -60 and healed up again.
The cat was put to sleep by deep slumber and then CDG'ed, the cohort I think was crushed by the troll after being brought back from getting riddled with human bane arrows (he's a half-elf). The other "deaths" were from Irovetti himself with his grotesque damage. He was on the ropes, got away in gaseous form, they chased him down and actually managed to use suggestion to lure him back, he got away again, they chased him down... finally, he got hit with a crit from the crit deck that prevented him from talking (so no more spells or bardic performance) and then they nailed him.
An exciting battle and suitably epic for KING Irovetti.
I hope you enjoy it. If I stop being lazy and procrastinating I'll post up my arcane duelist version of Irovetti. The version in the manuscript is, if memory serves, a Fighter 14/Barbarian 1. The APG was still in design phase when WotRK was being written (I don't remember if I wrote the bard section before or after the AP adventure, but it was all still just draft turnover at that point). Using a lot of the stuff published later made him a good deal more hardcore.
I should also point out that I did handwave a little bit; when it seemed helpful for him to have a potion of gaseous form, I just figured he'd have it even though it wasn't on his sheet. Sue me. He's the king. He can have a potion. :)
He's the king. He can have a potion. :)
It's good to be da king! ;)
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...I'm definitely going to use a lotI just finished running my manuscript version of War of the River Kings, although I redesigned Irovetti as a 16th level bard (arcane duelist), making a few adjustments in his gear to match, plus using a fair spread of spells from Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, and the APG.
He fought the party along with a gaggle of Pitax Archers (Ftr6/Rgr1 with favored enemy human and human bane arrows) and a handful of Pitax Heralds (Bard7 or 8) and Pitax Marshals (Sorc8) and a few cyclopes, plus a double-jotunblood gargantuan troll (who had used a shield other spell to be a hp donator to Irovetti, sucking up and regenerating half of his damage) with a maul of the titans (enabling him to demolish a forcecage the party sorc tried to put around him) grouped into patrols of 3 or 4 at a time that kept coming as reinforcements.
The palace invasion was basically a 3 or 4 session-long running battle. Only two actual deaths (Duavel a fighter/ranger cohort and Nemijian VIII, a large cat animal companion), but there were 3 full PC deaths that were averted by the application of action points and the Heroic Defiance feat (or maybe it was a spell) to forestall death long enough to get healing. I think the party paladin was dropped to -50, healed up, then dropped down to -60 and healed up again.
The cat was put to sleep by deep slumber and then CDG'ed, the cohort I think was crushed by the troll after being brought back from getting riddled with human bane arrows (he's a half-elf). The other "deaths" were from Irovetti himself with his grotesque damage. He was on the ropes, got away in gaseous form, they chased him down and actually managed to use suggestion to lure him back, he got away again, they chased him down... finally, he got hit with a crit from the crit deck that prevented him from talking (so no more spells or bardic performance) and then they nailed him.
An exciting battle and suitably epic for KING Irovetti.
I agree and he was fighter 14/1 Barabarian.
... I hope you enjoy it. If I stop being lazy and procrastinating I'll post up my arcane duelist version of Irovetti. ...
Yes, please!