We just got back to Rise of the Runelords after a long break, the first session being the Battle of Sandpoint at the beginning of chapter 4 (Fortress).
So, I had planned that Longtooth, seeing the giants jump the gun at the north gate, would come hauling south along the road, flying low to avoid any AA action. Shortly after he starts his run (and loses sight of the wall because he's hugging the terrain) the party's wizard casts wall of force to protect himself and the guards hunkered down there (it extended about 5' over the top of the wall).
The battle proceeds apace, with the fighter and rogue heading out to fight the stone-throwing giants in the woods north of town and the wiz and cleric heading toward the new incursion east of town at Tanner's Bridge. Longtooth didn't see him cast the spell, so he's flying in like a cruise missile at 400'/round. At the last minute he pops up to clear the wall and...BAM...into the wof that he didn't see cast, couldn't detect, and therefore didn't know about.
(note: I did give LT a Perception check to notice the spell as it was being cast and a Dex check to maybe notice it at the last minute and swerve to avoid the worst of the damage. He badly botched both.)
Unless I did something incorrectly that's 20d6 falling damage and a nice cartwheel to land somewhere near the northwest corner of the Sandpoint Cathedral. Nualia (who survived chapter one and hooked up with Mokmurian) was riding Longtooth, packing heals to keep the little guy in the air. She took a fair chunk of damage as well.
By this time, they've more or less handled the Tanner's Bridge incident so the wizard and cleric come back around to see what's up and, just as Longtooth had dusted himself off and taken to the skies again (toasting the wooden wing of the Cathedral at least) there's the wizard with an empowered lightning bolt to finish him off. Nualia had not much offensive in her arsenal (except a miserable negative channel) so she went down shortly thereafter.
It was an ignominious end to poor Longtooth but a pretty happy-making outcome for the players. Even if I botched a ruling somewhere along there I'm okay with the way it turned out.
Of course, the PCs think they've won the battle and aren't that concerned about the three or so giants that crossed Miller's Pond and are wandering around Sandpoint unchecked. They've only recently given chase and Teraktinus has made it to the Old Light and is rooting up a stone as I type this. Only the fighter is heading his way so it's possible that he'll still get away and complete the mission (the rogue and wizard are each chasing down a giant and the cleric is riding her magic carpet up to check out the fire at Scarnetti Manor).
That's where we ended the session...so I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns up. Anybody else have something like this happen?
M
I probably would have given him a fly check to recover. Think that's in the skill somewhere. I would have raised the DC from the RAW though (too low).
I didn't even think about the massive damage rules...though I expect he would have passed his Fort save. The "crashing into stuff" rules aren't well defined (or, at least, I don't know where they are if they are actually laid out) so I just kinda went with the flow rather than pick up the book and dig through it. Luck was on the PCs side and I let them benefit from it, ruling as best I could. It didn't one-shot the dragon (which would have been a little lame) but it made him *very* manageable to a 10th level wizard specialized in evocation.
For LT:
* I gave a perception check to see the wiz casting the spell - retroactively because I didn't think of it until he was barrelling down the road.
* I gave a Reflex check to notice something was off at the last minute and maybe swerve for half damage or something (hadn't decided when I gave it and he didn't pass so I didn't have to make the call).
* I made him take a full round to get up and get his rider onboard again before taking off to continue the attack.
For Nualia, riding LT:
* I gave a Ride check to maybe dismount a little more safely. She failed so I ruled that she arced off to a total height above ground of about 60' and took falling damage from that (she had pretty low hp but she still survived that...barely).
From the PCs point of view they found out a dragon was coming, heard a commotion and draconic cursing and the cheers then screams of the townsfolk and went to check it out. I think they were figuring on a tough fight still.
I'm okay with the way it went, though I might have Big T try to grab one of his smashed out teeth so Mokmurian can rez him...and then be hard enough on him about his failure that he's holed up in his lair when the PCs come calling at Jorgenfist.
M