Neverending Dungeon - Never

[Tanaric]

The air surrounding you fairly hums with the residue of magic, an aftereffect of the spell that brought you to this place. A quick glance reveals that you are in a cramped, rectangular room, devoid of any life save for yourself. The sound of dripping water can be heard faintly, and the stone walls are slick with moisture. In complete defiance of logic, a torch is already lit, resting in a bracket by the sole door visible in the room.

Map:{table]|A_|B_|C_|D_
1|||||
2||N|||
3|||||
[/table]

There is a door at D-3, east side. Unless otherwise mentioned, all doors are sliding metal.

[Aldgar]

Character sheet (http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/profiler/view_char.php?cid=32181), for easy reference.

Never, the azurin NG incarnate/Druid wakes up, takes 1 hour to shape his soulmelds (Astral Vambraces and Soulspark familiar). His Earth elemental companion stays close to him all the time.

As soon as Never is done shaping his soulmelds, he shares them with his elemental companion "Rocky".

The result: two glowing least soulsparks pop into existance. One glows blue, the other red - and they are promptly named according to their colors.

The soulsparks glow as bright as sunrods, and provide some illumination. Never takes a 10'-pole and pokes the door with it.

[Tavar]

Electricty arcs, and you see burnt out copper wires.

[Aldgar]

Never attempts to open the door now. If he doesn't trigger any trap, he will advance carefully, keeping his soulsparks at precisely 10' distance(one ahead, one guarding the rear), while he uses the 10' pole to check for traps. He will continue ahead, bypassing any tripwires he finds, ignoring any triggered traps that do not harm him or his allies, until he reaches a door. Should he come to a crossroad or a place where he is presented a choice of several different paths, assume he will always choose the left path.

Should he eventually reach a door or encounter an opponent, he will open the door after poking it with the 10' pole. (or simply roll for initiative).

[Tavar]

You open the door, immediately turning north on a north south hallway. Eventually you turn west, then south(there were 2 northbound hallways at this point as well). You pass a west bound hallway, turning east, then north, then east again, arriving at a door on the northern wall. The door appears to be covered in a web of tripwires.

[Aldgar]

Never pokes the wires with his 10'-pole. If nothing happens, or if the sound of some bells is heard, or if the wires glow, sparkly and burn out as if they're some sort of electric trap, he will then draw his dagger and cut all of them.

Then, he will open the door and continue with his standard modus operandi(check for traps, advance until he finds a door/enemy, 'go left' if presented with a fork).
His soulsparks will always remain 10' ahead(blue) and behind(red) him. The earth elemental companion is always next to him(if the dungeon is too narrow to allow this, the earth elemental will earth glide below Never's feet).





Please make all reactive rolls(like spot/listen, saving throws, grapple checks and even initiative).

I'll stick to rolling attack/damage, and whatever else I may think off(perhaps some selective skillchecks/ability checks, if the situation calls for it).

[Tavar]

Listen:[roll0]

You cut the wires, and open the door. Before you is a room with pit recessed 5ft into the floor, and in the pit is a chest. There is a 5ft wide lip of normal stone around the chest. Also, there are 3 skeletons standing on this lip.

[roll1]
[roll2]

[Tavar]

The skeletons attack:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]

[Aldgar]

Since Never didn't act yet, he is flat-footed. This means two of those attacks hit(the 13 and 12, respectively). However, Never has Damage reduction 6/magic(from his astral vambraces soulmeld), and therefore, he takes no damage.

Never uses a free action to command his soulsparks to swoop in and attack, and further uses a second free action to talk in terran, commanding his earth elemental to do the same.

He takes a 5'-step back and uses a total defense action.


Combat stats:

Never, the azurin incarnate/Druid
AC 18(10 base, +2 dex, +2 leather armor, +4 Total defense)
HP 12/12
Saves: +6 Fort, +2 Ref, +5 Will
DR 6/magic

Rocky (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elemental.htm), the small earth elemental companion
AC 17(10 base, +1 size, -1 dex, +7 natural)
HP 11/11
Saves: Fort +4, Reflex -1, Will +0
DR 6/magic(he's adjacent to Never and shares his soulmelds)
Attacks: +5 Slam(1d6+4)
Earth Mastery(+1 to hit/dmg if rocky and opponent touch the ground)
Earth glide

Blue(Never's least soulspark)
AC 14(10 base, +2 size, +1 dex, +1 natural)
HP 13/13
Saves: Fort+5, Ref+4, Will+4
DR 1/evil
Attacks: Soul blast +5(1d4+1)
Essentia invested in: Attack(+1 to hit and damage)


Red(Rocky's least soulspark)
AC 14(10 base, +2 size, +1 dex, +1 natural)
HP 13/13
Saves: Fort+5, Ref+4, Will+4
DR 1/evil
Attacks: Soul blast +5(1d4+1)
Essentia invested in: Attack(+1 to hit and damage)

The boni from essentia/earth mastery are not included in the base attack informations. That means an essentia-improved soulblast is (+6, 1d4+2) and an earth mastery-improved slam is (+6, 1d6+5).

Attack!!!

Rocky's slam!(Earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage, penetrating the skeleton's DR)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Blue's blast!(untyped damage? MoI is a bit fuzzy on this, you can invest essentia to *align* the blast to penetrate DR/alignment, but no damage type is given, so it seems more like a magical eldritch blast equivalent to me. If you rule it as physical damage, that's a bit difficult to imagine(especially since soulsparks are weightless), but ultimately fine by me.)
[roll2]
[roll3]

Red's blast!(see above]
[roll4]
[roll5]

Edit: I remembered that Never had *2* essentia invested in Astral vambraces, giving him DR *6/magic* instead of 4/magic. This means no damage taken.

EDIT #2:
Tactics for future rounds:
(also *generic tactics* for any future encounters)

Never: Use total Defense and 5'-steps or movement to avoid being swarmed/flanked/surrounded
Rocky: Stay close to Never to retain soulmelds, attack any opponents that come close enough, focusing on those who attack Never
Red & Blue: Flit about the battlefield(maximum distance from Rocky and Never: 10'), using soul blasts to focus-fire on opportune targets, preferably those who are already being attacked by Rocky;

Default essentia investment in soulspark familiar is in "attack"(bonus to atk/dmg). If the soulsparks are wounded, essentia will be shifted(as a swift action from Never) into "Fast Healing", granting both soulsparks Fast healing 1.

Should opponents flee, give chase if doing so leads across known(regarding traps) terrain; if the terrain is unknown, proceed cautiously, checking for traps first, while the Soulsparks harrass the fleeing opponents for as long as possible.

[Tavar]

Note, you can't quite manage that. I'll provide a map, just a second.
map (http://www.celestine-empire.net/battlegrid/DM.php?sessionID=map)
Note that the F-row is a wall, that doesn't count as a space, so you count as adjacent to the skeletons. You might want to rethink your actions.

[Aldgar]

I think I can. The soulsparks are tiny, so the Soulsparks simply enter the space of the elemental and blast from there.

One 5'-square should have enough room for 1 small creature and two tiny ones, right?

Given the map there, I guess Never simply omits his 5'-step and remains where he is(he still takes total defense).

[Tavar]

Well, then the attacks are all going to take -4 due to cover.

[Aldgar]

Ah, no, that would be bad. Instead assume that Never commands his elemental to move 5ft below the ground, he 5'-steps to where the elemental *was*, the elemental companion rises from the ground in Never's original position(total movement: 5' down, 10ft underground, 5' up = 20ft) and attacks from there. The soulsparks enter the elemental's(new) space and attack, as normal.

This should *swap* never's and rocky's position and avoid the pesky cover penalties.

[Tavar]

Okay. The elemental destroys the skeleton, but the blasts fail to do anything. The skeletons attack the elemental.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

[Aldgar]

All skeletons miss Rocky's AC of 17.

Rocky and Red and Blue attack again, Never does his total defense thing again.

Attack!!!

Rocky's slam!(Earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage, penetrating the skeleton's DR)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Blue's blast!
[roll2]
[roll3]

Red's blast!
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Tavar]

He smashes another one, and the last one attacks.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Aldgar]

Miss(Duh).

And again...
Attack!!!

Rocky's slam!(Earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage, penetrating the skeleton's DR)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Blue's blast!
[roll2]
[roll3]

Red's blast!
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Tavar]

Blue hits. The last one attacks again.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Aldgar]

More misses. What is your ruling on the damage type of soul blast? (magical, physical, bludgeoning/piercing/slashing, untyped, ???)

And Rocky, Red and Blue continue their assault.

Attack!!!

Rocky's slam!(Earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage, penetrating the skeleton's DR)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Blue's blast!
[roll2]
[roll3]

Red's blast!
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Tavar]

It's destroyed. Soul Blast is untyped. Each skeleton had a longspear. You get 150 xp.

[Aldgar]

Never explores the room. He pokes the chest with his pole, and then eventually - if no trap is triggered by the poking, or if one is triggered that doesn't seem to trigger again after poking it again - tries to open it. If it is locked, he tells Rocky to smash the chest. Any coins, potions and interesting items* will be looted.



After the examination of the chest he is searching for traps, poking all walls and the floor liberally with his 10'-pole, and if he discovers no secret doors leading out of the room, he will continue with his standard exploration mode(search for traps, move, go left at junctions, continue until next door/encounter).

Should he discover a secret or not-secret door, or multiple doors, assume he will pick the leftmost door(looking from the door he entered the room from) and poke it, then open it, then continue on...

*Interesting items are hereby defined as all items that are:
-Coins, jewels, trinkets and other things of obvious worth
-Scrolls, wands, potions and magical items of any kind(assuming Never knows/can guess because they're shiney and glowing that they are magical)
-any masterwork quality items(assuming Never can judge their quality)
-any items weighing less than 10lbs

Weapons, Armor and other heavy items that do not seem to be of high quality or magical will be left untouched.

[Tavar]

Nothing happens, and once open you find a finely crafted spiked gauntlet and a combination of coins adding up to 192 gp(10pp, 80 gp, 120 sp)

[Aldgar]

Since the spiked gauntlet seems to be "finely crafted", Never will take it with him(also, it isn't heavy). He thus takes everything in the chest, and puts it(alongside some other equipment whose weight is listed in the "location" section under items) in a sack. He drops this sack on the ground, ties it closed with a simple sling of rope. He then orders Rocky to carry that sack(it weighs a total of 60.2 lbs, putting him at light encumbrance).

Never then proceeds with his poke-heavy inspection of the room for secret doors and traps. Should he find any secret doors, he will proceed through the leftmost one. If he doesn't find any secret doors/crumbling walls, he will exit the room and continue exploring as before(the method is already known).

Since poking and looking for traps takes time, Rocky should have no problems to keep up with Never.

[Tavar]

Okay. You find nothing else of interest. You then backtrack, and when you reach the previously passed western path, you take it. Following it down, you have a choice: in front of you is a door. At the same point, the hallway turns north, then west.

[Aldgar]

Doors are there to be opened! Never pokes the door, then attempts to open it. If it's locked, he tells Rocky to put the sack down and smash the door.

[Tavar]

Listen:[roll0]
Int:[roll1]

Opening the door, you see a 15ft e-w by 10ft n-s room, with the door in the upper west. In the lower east sits a man with glowing blue eyes, with a scroll resting on the floor.

[Aldgar]

Ah, that's the weird Azurin mage with the fell weaken magic missile.

Okay, so Never enters the room, keeping rocky somewhat close to him. Rocky dives underground(still keeping within 5'- of Never), thereby placing the lootbag on the ground. Never advances towards the mysterious guy with glowing eyes, smiling and doing some smalltalk(if that gets him a surprise round), then commands the soulsparks and Rocky to attack, while he does his total defense thing.

The tactics are the same as last time(Rocky/Red/Blue attack, Never uses Total defense).

For combat stats, see some posts above.
Now, some rolls.
Attack!

Rocky(Earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Red(untyped damage, essentia invested in 'attack', granting +1 to hit/dmg)
[roll2]
[roll3]

Blue(untyped damage, see above)
[roll4]
[roll5]


#EDIT: If Never actually gets a surprise round, have a second set of attacks; if not, use them for Round two.
#2nd EDIT: Okay, so editing in new rolls doesn't work.

[Aldgar]

Second set of attacks mentioned above:

Attack again!

Rocky(Earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Red(untyped damage, essentia invested in 'attack', granting +1 to hit/dmg)
[roll2]
[roll3]

Blue(untyped damage, see above)
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Tavar]

You're Int:[roll0]

[Tavar]

Concentration check:[roll0]
Damage:[roll1]

Your first set of attacks misses, and he casts some sort of spell, dealing 3 damage to you and imposing a -1 str penalty for 1 minute. He is then struck down by Red's Blast. Gain gold/silver diadem, 150xp.

[Aldgar]

I'll assume that was a -4 penalty to str, but ultimately, it doesn't matter, because it wears off. Rocky picks up the lootbag, the gold/silver diadem is put into the lootbag. The body of the azurin wizard guy is searched for more loot, if nothing is found, exploration mode(poke floor&walls, look for traps, advance until door/encounter, "go left" in case of junctions/multiple doors) is switched back on.

[Tavar]

You turn north immediately after exiting the room. You follow the hallway for some time, until finally you turn east. Now you have a choice: ahead, a door. To the north, a 4-way intersection.

[Aldgar]

Since exploration mode continues until a door or encounter is reached, the default "go left" at junctions is overruled and exploration mode ends.

Never pokes the door a few times, then commands Rocky to dive 5' below him, placing the lootbag on the ground. Red and Blue hover just above Never's shoulders as he attempts to open the door.

If it's trapped, the poking should hopefully set the trap off early. If it's locked, Rocky shall rise from the ground and smash it.

If it can be opened by Never...it's probably time for another encounter.

[Tavar]

Listen checks:[roll0]
[roll1]

Int[roll2]
[roll3]

Spot check and initiative please.

[Aldgar]

Please make all reactive rolls(like spot/listen, saving throws, grapple checks and [n]even initiative[/b]).

I'll stick to rolling attack/damage, and whatever else I may think off(perhaps some selective skillchecks/ability checks, if the situation calls for it).

I'll roll these checks this time in order to save you time. I guess this is the room with the two toothy fanged veiled(?) elves(?) who cast colorspray and obscuring mist.

Tempting fate...

Spot
[roll0]
Initiative
[roll1]

If this is the room with the two veiled toothy elves, and Never can see them, he moves 10ft into the room(if doing so without provoking an AoO is possible), commands rocky to rise from the ground and attack the veiled guy(the one who looks more like a spellcaster, and doesn't wield a rapier/longsword).

Similarly, Red and Blue will fly into Rocky's square and attack the same guy.

If this isn't the room with the elves, but the room with the evil squirrels(I forgot if there were two or three squirrels), rocky will stay underground and Never will stay back using total defense, merely commanding his soulsparks to fly ahead and attack one squirrel.

If this is a different room/encounter, I will wait for your description.

[Aldgar]

Case A(toothy elves w/ colorspray/obscuring mist)

Rocky's slam(bludgeoning damage, Earth mastery likely applies)
[roll0]
[roll1]

Red's blast
[roll2]
[roll3]

Blue's blast
[roll4]
[roll5]

Case B(evil squirrels)

Red's blast
[roll6]
[roll7]

Blue's blast
[roll8]
[roll9]

[Tavar]

This is a room filled with mist. You can't see anything clearly. What do you do?

Your listen check:[roll0]

You hear movement: sounds like your foes are moving to the south side of the door.

[Aldgar]

I'll need a map of the dungeon after this combat.

Never moves to where he heard the sounds(somewhere south), followed(underground) by Rocky and (aboveground) by Red & Blue.

He commands Red/Blue to attack everyone they can see that is not Never/Red/Blue/Rocky.
Furthermore, he commands Rocky in Terran to surface and attack the same targets in case Never becomes prone(e.g. if he fails his save against Color spray).

After the move action south, Never uses Total defense, while Rocky, Red and Blue all ready an action to attack. Never also uses a swift action to put his last point of uninvested essentia(4 total, 2 in astral vambraces, 1 in soulspark familiar) into the Cerulean Will feat, granting him a +1 bonus to Will saves for 24 hours.

Should Never & Co arrive close enough to one of the elves that they can see him(with 20% concealment regardless), they will attack immediately(except Never, who still does the Total defense thing).

Combat stats:

Never, the azurin incarnate/Druid
AC 18(10 base, +2 dex, +2 leather armor, +4 Total defense)
HP 9/12
Saves: +6 Fort, +2 Ref, +6 Will
DR 6/magic

Rocky (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elemental.htm), the small earth elemental companion
AC 17(10 base, +1 size, -1 dex, +7 natural)
HP 11/11
Saves: Fort +4, Reflex -1, Will +0
DR 6/magic(he's adjacent to Never and shares his soulmelds)
Attacks: +5 Slam(1d6+4)
Earth Mastery(+1 to hit/dmg if rocky and opponent touch the ground)
Earth glide

Blue(Never's least soulspark)
AC 14(10 base, +2 size, +1 dex, +1 natural)
HP 13/13
Saves: Fort+5, Ref+4, Will+4
DR 1/evil
Attacks: Soul blast +5(1d4+1)
Essentia invested in: Attack(+1 to hit and damage)


Red(Rocky's least soulspark)
AC 14(10 base, +2 size, +1 dex, +1 natural)
HP 13/13
Saves: Fort+5, Ref+4, Will+4
DR 1/evil
Attacks: Soul blast +5(1d4+1)
Essentia invested in: Attack(+1 to hit and damage)

The boni from essentia/earth mastery are not included in the base attack informations. That means an essentia-improved soulblast is (+6, 1d4+2) and an earth mastery-improved slam is (+6, 1d6+5).


Now, some rolls:

Readied(or immediate, in case one elf is close enough after the movement) attacks:

Rocky's slam!(earth mastery applies, bludgeoning damage)
Attack:
[roll0]
20% Concealment(1-20 is a miss):
[roll1]
Damage:
[roll2]

Red's blast!(untyped, essentia invested in Attack)
Attack:
[roll3]
20% Concealment(1-20 is a miss):
[roll4]
Damage:
[roll5]

Blue's blast!(untyped, essentia invested in Attack)
Attack:
[roll6]
20% Concealment(1-20 is a miss):
[roll7]
Damage:
[roll8]

[Aldgar]

Critical confirmation of Rocky's slam:
[roll0]
Extra damage:
[roll1]

Well, that sucks. Fortunately, the initial damage should be plenty already.

[Tavar]

Yep, one of the elves goes down. Will saves:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Tavar]

Rocky and blue are unconscious for [roll0] rounds, then blinded for [roll1] rounds. If applicable, the soulspark is also stunned for the duration+1 round. The attack came from a bit further into the room.

[Aldgar]

Soulsparks are outsiders, and thus vulnerable to stunning.

With Rocky and Blue temporarily disabled, Never will move as far as possible into the direction where colorspray originated(since it has a verbal component, I assume he heard where it came from) while maintaining the 5'-distance to Rocky. Then, he will use total defense again. Red will fly 10' away from Rocky towards the source of the colorspray in a similar manner, and attack from there if he can spot the spellcasting elf. If he cannot, he will ready an attack.

Red's blast(if applicable, essentia invested in "Saves", granting a +1 bonus to saves, putting Red's Will save at +5):
Attack:
[roll0]
Concealment(1-20 misses):
[roll1]
Damage:
[roll2]

[Aldgar]

Critical confirmation for Red's blast, if applicable:
[roll0]
Extra damage:
[roll1]

[Tavar]

And the foe drops. Eventually the mist clears away, revealing a elf and some sort of humanoid with sharp teeth. Searching their bodies you find the following: 300gp, 150xp, longsword, longbow, 20arrows, light shield, masterwork studded leather, rapier, light crossbow with 10 bolts, gaudy noble’s outfit, studded leather.

[Aldgar]

Okay, so Rocky and Blue recover, and Never grabs the loot and stuffs it into the lootbag, then commands poor Rocky to carry it around(the loot bag is now significantly heavier than before).

Commence exploration mode(that is, poke liberally around(including walls and floor), search for traps/secret doors, continue until next door/encounter, "go left" in case of junctions.

Oh, and a map of the dungeon explored so far would be nifty.

[Tavar]

Okay, map will be up soon. You leave the room, heading north. At the 4 way intersection you turn left. After a time, you touch a section of the wall, which crumbles to reveal 3 dwarves from clan babyeater. Roll Int!
[roll0]