[DnD 4E] Dragondeep (Post-Game Discussion)

TheMadjai

The voices in Ahilgen's head suddenly go silent, as quiet as the water here. Something was here. Something that didn't need to talk into his mind anymore.

cytorak

Lilliana nervously flicks her longsword in and out of its scabbard. She swears she could see the face of the creature she made her pact with in the mist, laughing at her.

Steeling herself against whatever horror awaited her and her companions, she says, Let's go before I lose my nerve.

TheBog

The voyage to the mist was not easy on B'auw either. He's had experience swimming in the past, but that was in lakes and ponds, never in the merciless sea. To see nothing but water in every direction made B'auw feel claustrophobic, not to mention the storms. Nature itself tearing at the ship with walls of water. And the crew with no escape, unable to do anything but hold tight and try to get through it in one piece. Despite the apparent discomfort, B'auw did his best to soak it all in (no pun intended) and enjoy this new experience. Nature's wrath was to be respected! How beautifully the waves crashed down on the man-made decks of the Free Wind. Thousands of them. The wrath of the gods. Yeenoghu's right hand!.. Of course he would feel discomfort. Yes.. This was a sign. The gnoll barks loudly in glee up into the sky. The flashes of lightning reflected in B'auw's eyes and he knew he would taste blood soon, long overdue.

With the storms lulled and the dark mist arising seemingly from just a spot in the sea, B'auw appeared anxious, uneasy and.. strangely happy.. like he was feeding on it. This was it! Finally!.. Vague figures shimmering in the thick mist provoked aggressive barks with B'auw leaning over the edge. His cohorts pulled him back before he got too carried away..

Then the ship comes into view.. Many ships.. A floating graveyard. The concept of death didn't scare gnolls. Many in his clan were known to eat carrion.. though he didn't particularly have a taste for it.. It was the anticipation of battle that made B'auw's teeth clench and drip with saliva.

"Feel it! Do you feel it? I hear it begging for release from this world! It may have devoured a hundred ships but today it will meet its match. Today we will cleanse the weak!"

Denada

The crew watches in silence as you board the small whaleboat. It barely fits your group and your gear, but it holds your weight well enough. First Mate Pent assists you as you shove off from the Free Wind. "Come back alive," is all he says to you.

-

The way into the Floating Grave is no less disturbing for the smooth sailing. You can't help but feel like your oars are sticking slightly in the water, as if the sea is clinging to everything that touches it. The eerie quiet grows more unsettling as you draw closer and closer to the wreckage. The only sounds you can hear are the creaking of the rotting wood ahead of you, and your own small boat sliding through the dark water. All that's visible of the Free Wind now are a few dim lights, distorted by the haze of purple mist.

Ahead, you see an opening in the hull of one of the many derelict ships. It proves large and stable enough to tie up your boat, and you do so. The hole opens to an L-shaped hallway with a few short stairs leading down. The wood is old and rotting, and the smell of mold is heavy in the moist air. Somehow this hallway hasn't flooded with water, though there are small murky puddles littering the floor. At the end of the hallway is a single door, warped and swollen but still functional.

Spoiler:

I'm not going to bother posting a map for a hallway. Post your actions (if any) and who's in the lead.

Dajian

Danarous waits for the rest of the group to move into the hallway before double checking the rope is secure to the boat and heading in.

Spoiler:

Danarous will take the rear gaurd.

Snake Gandhi

Kava's nerves begin to settle some as they board the Floating Grave, as she knows soon battle will be joined, and her sword and shield will be useful once more. She readies her heavy shield and draws her blade, an smirk upon her face as she stares down the hallway.

"I shall take point, and woe to the first foul foe that crosses our path!"

Spoiler:

Kava will stay in the front unless someone else's skills are needed. as soon as everyone has prepared themselves she'll cautiously walk down the hallway to the door.

TheMadjai

Ahilgen says nothing, but simply falls in line. He is unnerved by the sudden silence in his mind.

cytorak

Lilliana will fall in behind Kava, anxious to see what lies beyond the door.

TheBog

B'auw behind Lilliana.

Denada

Spoiler:

Kava - Lilliana - B'auw - Ahilgen - Danarous

Perception: In the quiet of the hallway, B'auw notices the faint sound of chopping coming from the other side of the door. Someone - or something - is moving in there.

TheBog

B'auw raises his paw and grins.

"I hear something... Our prey is on the other side of this door.. Ready your weapons."

Spoiler:

Or did you actually want me to roll a perception check?

TheMadjai

Ahilgen draws his dagger, hoping not to need it.

Dajian

Danarous pulls a small vial of deep red liquid from a pouch and uses it to draw the same symbol as the worn metal pendant around his neck on the inside of his right wrist. Once completed it smolders, smokes, and then disappears leaving a burn mark on the tiefling’s skin.

As he looks up at the rest of the group his eyes normally a shimmering gold turn to a deep red and he says:
I am ready. May the flame consume all those who stand in our way.

Snake Gandhi

TheBog wrote: »

"I hear something... Our prey is on the other side of this door.. Ready your weapons."

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting." and with that Kava kicks open the door with a snarl.

Spoiler:

24 Athletics check to kick open the door

If that is enough Kava will move in 1 square in to the room, enough to block the door from most of the enemies, but leaving enough room for her allies to get around her as needed.

Denada

Spoiler:

Bog: No check needed. Whenever you see a skill name like that in italics with something happening, it means your passive check was a success.

SG: Yeah 24 is plenty.

The door shatters under Kava's mighty kick, and as she moves into the room the stench of rotting flesh nearly overwhelms her. Fighting off the smell, Kava sees a large eating area and a kitchen, where a blood-stained skeleton wearing a filthy apron and wielding a rusty cleaver stands over a large cutting board. Bodies in various stages of decomposition litter the floor in both the kitchen and the eating area. A deep groove is worn into the cutting board, and on it lay bits of rotting flesh and stale blood.

No sooner do you step into the room than what at first looked like piles of old rags suddenly burst into life as swarms of starving rats rush at you.

Map:

Spoiler:

Roll Initiative!

Dajian

Spoiler:

Danarous INIT: (1d20=12)

TheMadjai

Spoiler:

Initiative! (1d20+1=3)

Sweet. Let's get rid of these rolls now, shall we?

TheBog

Spoiler:

B'auw rolls like shit. 1d20+3=8

cytorak

Spoiler:

Lilliana's Initiative 1d20+1=17

Let's hope my attack rolls are as fortuitous.

Snake Gandhi

Spoiler:

Kava= Initiative 10

Denada

Round 1

Spoiler:

Map:

Spoiler:

Initiative Order:
Rat Swarm 1 (R1) - 24
Skeleton (S) - 23
Lilliana - 17
Danarous - 12
Kava - 10
Rat Swarm 2 (R2) - 9
B'auw - 8
Ahilgen - 3

Party Status:
Lilliana - HP 24/24
Danarous - HP 24/24
Kava - HP 28/28
B'auw - HP 29/29
Ahilgen - HP 24/24

Enemy Status:
Rat Swarm 1 (R1) - HP 36/36 - AC 15; Fort 12; Ref 14; Will 11
Rat Swarm 2 (R2) - HP 36/36 - AC 15; Fort 12; Ref 14; Will 11
Skeleton (S) - HP 45/45 - AC 18; Fort 15; Ref 16; Will 15

Before Kava has a chance to react, the skeleton and one of the swarms of rats advances toward her position. Both look as though they've just found a very large meal. Fortunately, they're not quite fast enough to reach her.

Spoiler:

Skeleton (S)-
Move: H2 to J6

Rat Swarm (R1)-
Move: F3 to I7

Denada

Spoiler:

Since this is our first combat encounter, lets go over the basics:

Actions will be posted in order of initiative. If you're going to delay or something like that, you can say so then post your action when it comes up.

I have posted your enemies' stats so that you can resolve your attacks in your own post.

Questions? Just ask!

Dajian

Spoiler:

Do we need to move into the room to attack? Or is there a J-11 position available for us to attack from?

cytorak

Lilliana knew that she needed to maneuver to a better position to give her comrades room to breathe. She takes a step into the Fey wild and back out again behind the table.

Seeing the Skeleton as the bigger threat, she locks eyes with its empty sockets.

Hey, butcher! Face me if you dare!

Spoiler:

Move action: Fey step from J11 to F9. Shadow Walk gives me Concealment until the end of my next turn.
Minor Action: Divine Challenge the Skeleton. -2 to his attack rolls that don't include me, and the first time he attacks a non-me combatant he takes 7 radiant damage.
Standard Action: Eyebite the Skeleton (CHA vs Will)
Hit! (19+4=23)
Damage (3+4=7)

I am invisible to the skeleton until the start of my next turn.

Spoiler:

Can I make an Arcana or Religion check to see if Lilliana knows if skeletons are vulnerable to specific attacks damage?

Denada

Spoiler:

Daj: Since Kava's foot completely obliterated the flimsy door, you can see well enough to attack from J11. Farther down the hall would be too difficult though.

Cy: Yes, either will be fine.

Dajian

Danarous moves into the doorway and as he raises his staff slowly and begins to utter an abyssal chant the temperature of the air around the skeleton and rats begins to rise sharply. Then as the crystal of Danarous' staff reaches eye level and he finishes his chant a column of red gold flame springs up from the ground rising 15 feet in the air surrounding all inside. Then as quickly as it sprang to life the flames come crashing down burning and charring the creatures inside

Spoiler:

Move: to J11
Standard: Scorching Burst focused on I6
Damage, Atk vs Skeleton, Atk vs Rat Swarm (R1) (1d6+6=8, 1d20+6=17, 1d20+6=17) Hit and Hit

Skeleton 30/45
Rat Swarm (R1) EDIT: with the +5 for being an area attack they went to 23/36

Snake Gandhi

Kava's senses sharpen as she flows in to battle mode. She rushes forward and brings her sword across in a mighty slash that cuts through the Skeleton and into the hoard of rats.

Spoiler:

Kava will move to J7 and Cleave the Skeleton.

19 vs AC, 14 damage on the Skeleton, and 4 damage on Rat Swarm 1.

Skeleton 16/45
Rat Swarm (R1) 24/36

Both targets are marked.

TheBog

B'auw hears sounds of battle and unleashes himself, darting through the doorway, pushing Danarous out of the way... Rats?.. His glorious battle was to be against rats?.. In frustration he growls and charges the little vermin, swiping his claws furiously. Grabbing them, crushing them in his hands, throwing them against the walls.. Little rat parts flying everywhere.. Pathetic!

Spoiler:

After seeing the rats, B'auw designates Rat Swarm(R1 at I7) as his quarry and uses Ferocious Charge on them. Moving to I8.

1d20+7=27, 2d6+5=12

Critical hit! The damage roll above is actually not accurate since that program doesn't know it's a critical hit.. sooo. a full 6+3 dmg (attack) +6 dmg (quarry) +2 dmg ferocious charge = 17dmg... Assuming crits maximize quarry damage. Rats die, yo.

Denada

Spoiler:

Just a few notes:

-The Rat Swarms are swarms, meaning they take half damage from melee and ranged attacks, and an additional 5 damage from area or close attacks. Sorry, I should have mentioned that before. Taking that into account, (R1) is currently bloodied at 13 HP.

-The Skeleton is also bloodied at 16 HP.

-B'auw moved before his turn, but that's not a big deal. Just remember it next round.

Amid the furious slashing and burning already going on, the other swarm of rats floods over the tables to reach B'auw, but finds him to be too hard a target to latch onto.

Spoiler:

Rat Swarm 2 (R2)-
Move: E4 to H8
Standard: Swarm of Teeth vs. B'auw (9) Miss!

Next turn: Ahilgen

TheBog

Spoiler:

.

Dajian

Spoiler:

Forgot to post this earlier:

As a readied action for the rest of the encounter if an attack hits Danarous and the roll exceeded a defense by 2 or less he will activate his “Staff of Defense” as an immediate interrupt nullifying the attack.

The full power text reads:
Staff of Defense -
A staff of defense grants you a +1 bonus to AC. In addition, once per encounter as an immediate interrupt, you gain a bonus to defense against one attack equal to your Constitution modifier. You can declare the bonus after the Dungeon Master has already told you the damage total. You must wield your staff to benefit from these features.

Since it is difficult to call out immediate interupts in a PbP game I figured declaring it as a readied action would work.

TheMadjai

Ahilgen tucks himself into a corner where he can survey the scene and yet remain out of the line of direct attacks. Seeing that his new friends had everyone pretty much occupied, he sheaths his dagger and closes his eyes.

Ela Ku Na Meh Na Menamen

A whirling white vortex appears in the air above the skeleton, and immediately a bolt of pure light strikes downwards. It strikes the ground just beside the skeleton, and the room echoes with the sound of Ahilgen swearing.

Spoiler:

Move Action: Move to J7
Minor Action: Sheathe Dagger
Standard Action: Lance of Faith (1d20+4=13) Miss!

Denada

Spoiler:

Kava is in J7.

TheMadjai

Spoiler:

Gruuu... I7, then.

Denada

Spoiler:

(R1) is in I7. I'll just put you in I10, since it's a corner and you said you go to a corner. I'm assuming you don't want to provoke OA's from using a ranged ability anyway.

Also, both Lilliana and Kava marked (S). I'll be applying Lilliana's Diving Challenge, since it has a stronger effect. This will generally be the case in instances of competing effects. However, because he can't see Lilliana and isn't particularly intelligent, he will attack Kava anyway. Good power combo on that one!

Round 2

Spoiler:

Map:

Spoiler:

Initiative Order:
Rat Swarm 1 (R1) - 24
Skeleton (S) - 23
Decrepit Skeleton 1 (D1) - 22
Decrepit Skeleton 2 (D2) - 20
Lilliana - 17
Danarous - 12
Kava - 10
Rat Swarm 2 (R2) - 9
B'auw - 8
Decrepit Skeleton 3 (D3) - 6
Decrepit Skeleton 4 (D4) - 4
Ahilgen - 3

Party Status:
Lilliana - HP 20/24
Danarous - HP 24/24
Kava - HP 14/28 - Bloodied, Marked (S)
B'auw - HP 29/29
Ahilgen - HP 24/24

Enemy Status:
Rat Swarm 1 (R1) - HP 13/36 - AC 15; Fort 12; Ref 14; Will 11 - Marked (Kava)
Rat Swarm 2 (R2) - HP 36/36 - AC 15; Fort 12; Ref 14; Will 11
Skeleton (S) - HP 4/45 - AC 18; Fort 15; Ref 16; Will 15 - Divine Challenge (Lilliana)
Decrepit Skeleton 1 (D1) - HP 1/1 - AC 16; Fort 13; Ref 14; Will 13
Decrepit Skeleton 2 (D2) - HP 1/1 - AC 16; Fort 13; Ref 14; Will 13
Decrepit Skeleton 3 (D3) - HP 1/1 - AC 16; Fort 13; Ref 14; Will 13
Decrepit Skeleton 4 (D4) - HP 1/1 - AC 16; Fort 13; Ref 14; Will 13

Whether it was the noise, the magic, or just the smell of living beings, something causes four of the skeletons littering the floor to crawl up from the filth, ready to attack. As they struggle to their feet, the skeleton chef takes a mighty swing at Kava, bursting into radiant flame as his cleaver tears into her shoulder.

Meanwhile, the swarm of bloodied rats nips at the feet of both Kava and B'auw, but are nothing more than an annoyance.

Two of the decrepit skeletons manage to make it to their feet in time to attack Kava and Lilliana, and both drive long knives deep into their targets.

Spoiler:

Skeleton (S)-
Standard: Attack vs. Kava (22 - 2 = 20) Hit! 10 damage.
(S) suffers 12 damage from Lilliana's Divine Challenge, bringing HP to 4.

Rat Swarm (R1)-
Free: Swarm Attack (aura) vs. Kava, B'auw (18, 4) Miss!, Miss!
Standard: Swarm of Teeth vs. Kava (10) Miss!

Decrepit Skeleton 1 (D1)-
Move:/I] H4 to I6
Standard: Attack vs. Kava (24) Hit! 4 damage.

Decrepit Skeleton 2 (D2)-
Move: F7 to F8
Standard: Attack vs. Lilliana (18 - 2 = 16) Hit! 4 damage.

*status and map above reflect these actions*
Next turn: Lilliana

TheMadjai

Spoiler:

I'm bad at maps. Sorry. Which token is Kava? I assume she will want some *mend wound* action this round. Also, I'm bad at maps. 2x.

Denada

Spoiler:

Kava is the dragonborn in J7. Lilliana is the darkish-looking eladrin in F9. B'auw is the black-and-white gnoll in I8. You're in I10, and Danarous is just barely on the map in J11.

cytorak

Lilliana draws her longsword and swings on the worthless wretch who dared harm an agent of Corellon. She easily dispatches the foe and runs to aid her comrade Kava in the fight.

Spoiler:

Minor: Draw Longsword
Standard: Melee Basic Attack against DS2; Hit! Dead DS!
Move:H5 to flank with Kava

Spoiler:

Arcana Check: Critical Failure! (1+8=9)

I suspect Lilliana's knowledge of skeletons includes their ability to stab her in the stomach, and they probably explode into candy like pinatas if hit with sticks. *whistles*

Dajian

Danarous steps forward and shouts at the Gnoll B’auw step back and begins to repeat his chant.

Spoiler:

Move: J10
Ready Standard: After B’auw finishes his movement action Danarous will uses Scorching Burst on H7.
Damage, Atk vs D1, Atk vs R2, Atk vs R1 (1d6+6=10, 1d20+6=9, 1d20+6=14, 1d20+7=9) D1 Miss, R2 Hit for 15 DMG, R1 miss

Denada: If R2 moves out of the blast then I miss everything.

TheBog: after your move action can you post this result (and add to it if you are caught in the blast as well. roll to see if I hit you [1d20+6 vs REF])

Danarous with staff still raised finishes his chant and the red gold column surrounds the rats and one of the newly animated skeletons, but only some of the rats come away burned due to the tiefling losing focus as he watched the gnoll dance out of the way.

Snake Gandhi

Doing her best to ignore the pain, Kava roars as she whirls her blade in a flash, slicing at the skeletons before her. She roars again in triumph as her blade carries such force that it passes through both with little trouble, leaving nothing more than a pile of bones.

Spoiler:

Another Cleave on S and D1.
24 to hit AC, 8 damage to S and 4 damage to D1.

That puts S at -4 and D1 destroyed.