Gestalt Warrior Arena mk III Fight 13

[Lyndworm]

Eldariel vs. Rockdeworld


A towering figure in a dark robe enters the room where you have been milling around sizing up the competition. His face is completely obscured by his hood. He raises both hands to get your attention and speaks in a deep voice.
Alya, Leaves. You have been chosen to fight. Prepare yourselves! With that he brings his hands down and the two of you find yourself transported to the arena (http://excessivefreetime.org/arena/arena3.html)

OOC:
You've got time for one swift action and one standard action before you get transported in case you need to adopt a stance or activate an item.

On the map, green is open terrain, yellow is difficult terrain, red/brown is the cliffs (10ft, Climb DC20, blocks LoS). Arena has a 60 foot ceiling.

Opening post should have an initiative roll, anything you said after he called your name and what, if anything you did with the 'surprise round' before being transported. After that, start fighting in initiative order.

Eldariel
Alya starts at F28, and cannot see Leaves.
Rockdeworld
Leaves starts at AA3, and cannot see Alya.

[rockdeworld]

"I will do my best." Leaves says, and begins floating a few inches above the ground before being teleported away.

Standard action: activate Winged Boots.

[roll0]

@Lyndworm
Does my tremorsense 30' pick up Ayla?

After teleporting:
Standard action: activate Ring of Invisibility
Move action: draw Spiked Chain
My turn's over.

[Eldariel]

"Oh, a trueborn?", Alya quips. "I could offer to meet you in your shape, but I'd rather stick my tried-and-true form."

Buff Round 1:
Standard Action: Shift form into Sanguaro Sentinel
Free Action: Rage
Free Action: Feral Trance
Swift Action: Law Devotion, to AC
[roll0]

[Eldariel]

Actually, just so I can doublepost:
[roll0] (if you're a Plant)

[Lyndworm]

@Lyndworm
Does my tremorsense 30' pick up Ayla?

Rockdeworld
It does not, no.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: I am indeed a Plant.

Round 2

@Lyndworm
Ok. I should be able to see Ayla after this though.
Move action: Fly 30' straight up.

Any LoS?

[Lyndworm]

Leaves has LoS to Alya in square F28.

Alya can detect movement somewhere above squares Z2-AB4.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: How can Ayla see invisible people?

IC:
Move action: Leaves draws his spiked chain.

My turn is over.

[Eldariel]

OOC: Let's find out:
[roll0]

EDIT: Epic Spot-rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#spot) state that it's a DC20 to note the presence of an active, invisible creature. DC40 to pinpoint; assuming that last action contained movement (as seems logical given LoS was asked for midturn), Alya most assuredly beats the DC20 check. I should not get exact location though, I think.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Should I be looking at that?

[Eldariel]

OOC: Should I be looking at that?

OOC: No, probably not. I'm just waiting for Lyndworm to figure out the consequences of that roll and the Invisibility.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Got it. Blindfight helps you defend from invisible creatures, but I didn't see anything on your CS that would allow you to actually see them - hence my confusion.

[Lyndworm]

My bad. I've since fixed it, but if you want to start over, I understand.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Then we'd have to re-do our first round, and establish LoS all over again. Eldariel are you ok with not using the OOC knowledge you gained from Lyndworm's post? If so, it's fine by me - in which case go ahead and take your turn.

[Eldariel]

OOC: Well, considering I last saw that post about a month ago and have no recollection of it, yeah, let's continue. I...hardly see a problem given I have the general idea of your location anyways and I couldn't remember your exact location if my life depended on it.

Alya starts to flicker and seems to grow stronger, still seeking out her opponent:
Standard Action: Activate Major Cloak of Displacement
Move Action: Active Spot-check to pinpoint opponent [roll0]
Swift Action: Animal Devotion


EDIT: Still can't pinpoint you. Alya stays still. Your turn.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Alright. Since I have LoS to Ayla now, what can I see (eg form)?
IC: There she is... Leaves thinks to himself.
Double move action: Moving (30' above ground at Fly speed 60) from AA3 to K19 (and the surrounding squares).
My turn is over. No LoS change.

[Eldariel]

I'll take this opportunity to recycle my old introductionary text:
In her present shape, Alya is a 15' tall humanoid cactus-like creature. Visible equipment includes a Crown of some sort, a Necklace, a Belt, a Cloak, Boots and a Robe. The towering figure radiates strength and confidence, with extremely focused eyes piercing an observer's mind.

Also, assuming you moved I'm entitled to another passive check:
[roll0]

EDIT: If you:
- Moved
- Are within 90' of me
- Have nothing blocking the LoS
- Are Huge

I succeed in pinpointing you. If all these criteria are filled, please disclose your present location and feel free to check my last spoiler and the spoiler about "Let's find out".

[rockdeworld]

OOC: As a matter of fact they are all fulfilled. See my last spoiler.

I should make up an introductory text of my own...

Edit: Here's an attempt:
You see a large, tree-like creature towering 15' from head to toe. Above where his face appears on the trunk sprout a multitude of branches with bright green leaves. You can tell if the creatures closed his eyes and mouth he could be easily mistaken for a tree, save for the magic items adorning him. His trunk-like head, arms, and wrists are covered in magical bands, and in his gloved hands he swings a gigantic spiked chain that's over 30' long. A slight shimmering field seems to surround the treant, and a cloak so large it could double as a sheet for two king-size beds flies out behind him. His face, though, is set in a stoic and peaceful expression, as though he has finished his life's goals, and needs fear nothing life can throw at him any more.

[Eldariel]

OOC: So Alya currently occupies G27-E29 and Leaves occupies L18-J20 (30' up). And it's Alya's turn. Let's see what I can come up with.

Actions:
Swift Action: Dual Stance into Leading the Charge + Immortal Fortitude
Free Action: Declare Leaves as Dodge-target
Free Action: Activate Boots of Speed
Full-Round Action: Initiate Bounding Assault. Move:
F28 -> G27 (20') -> H26 (30') - I25 (20') - I24 (20')- I23 (10') -> I22 (10') -> J21 (15') -> K20 + Jump (15') = 130' movement; double move at 70' base speed is more than enough

Alya assumes a martial stance and moves towards Leaves at an incredible speed, Tumbling the whole way (autosuccess in spite of difficult terrain; her Tumble-modifier is +21). When she's just under Leaves, she jumps (autosuccess, her jump is around +40) 5' into the air and launches a flurry of attacks from K20, 5' in the air:

Unarmed (High succeeds on Miss Chances):
[roll0] for [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] for [roll5] [roll6] [roll7]
[roll8] for [roll9] [roll10] [roll11]
[roll12] for [roll13] [roll14] [roll15]

Natural:
[roll16] for [roll17] [roll18] [roll19]
[roll20] for [roll21] [roll22] [roll23]
[roll24] for [roll25] [roll26] [roll27]


After that, it's your turn. Attack-types are all Bludgeoning except Bite (which is Piercing) so you should profit of your DR.

[Eldariel]

OOC: By my count, the following hit:
Attack #1 - (1d20+47)[67] for Damage #1 - (4d8+48)[59] Miss Chance #1 - (1d100)[6] Reroll #1 - (1d100)[72]
Attack #2 - (1d20+42)[48] for Damage #3 - (4d8+48)[70] Miss Chance #3 - (1d100)[53] Reroll #3 - (1d100)[26]
Slam #2 - (1d20+37)[49] for Damage #6 - (2d6+37)[39] Miss Chance #6 - (1d100)[80] Reroll #6 - (1d100)[60]
Bite - (1d20+37)[51] for Damage #7 - (1d6+37)[42] Miss Chance #7 - (1d100)[7] Reroll #7 - (1d100)[51]

Rest miss on Concealment. Total damage is: 49+60+29+32 = 172 (accounting for DR) so you're fine, if hurting. Feel free to take your turn.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Was that a charge? It looks like it b/c your Unarmed atk is 37 + Knowledge Devotion (5) + Animal Devotion (3) = 35, and you had a 37 modifier. If so, I get a free attack before you do due to Hold the Line.

Btw, I wasted a half-hour trying to figure out if your movements triggered an AoO before I realized your tumble prevented that >< (I even drew a nice little map - I'll have to upload it :smalltongue:)

[Eldariel]

OOC: Read away:
My attack counts as a charge; the movement is not. As I never enter an area while charging, I do wager Hold the Line does squat. Precise wording of the maneuver I'm using is as follows:
"You combine speed and power into a deadly combination. With this maneuver, you move across the battlefield in a blur, pausing only to deliver a ferocious attack.
As part of this maneuver, make a double move. After you move, you can also make a melee attack. You gain a +2 bonus on this attack. This maneuver is considered a charge attack when determining if feats and other abilities apply to your attack."

As you can see, only the attack is considered a charge. The movement is just a standard double move.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Let's seeSince that wording states that your maneuver counts as a charge, and Hold the Line says
You may make an attack of opportunity against a charging opponent who enters an area you threaten. Your attack of opportunity happens immediately before the charge attack is resolved.As I understand it, that means that as soon as Ayla enters Leaves's reach, he gets an attack of opportunity - not because Ayla provoked it, since her tumble would negate that, but because of the specific effect of Hold the Line, which doesn't include "provoke" in its wording.

I'm going to make the attack as if this is true, but feel free to ignore it if you want Lyndworm to make a ruling on it.
As soon as Ayla enters I-24 (before her attack), the following occurs:
Free action: Activate Rage
Attack of Opportunity Trip attack:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Edit: And a natural 1 makes the final judgement: failure. Leaves is attacked and takes massive damage. Current HP: 10.

[Eldariel]

OOC: More of the same
Key parts:

This maneuver is considered a charge attack when determining if feats and other abilities apply to your attack.


You may make an attack of opportunity against a charging opponent who enters an area you threaten.


Hold the Line triggers of someone entering an area Leaves threatens while charging. Alya is not considered charging with regards to moving, only with regards to the attack, so she should not provoke. She never enters an area while charging; she isn't charging with regards to moving at all.

Ultimately, none of that matters since the AoO was a natural 1, so let's just proceed and if you feel I'm wrong here, ask Lynd to issue a ruling.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Agreed.
IC: Sap gushes out of Leaves where Ayla struck at him. However, he survives, and tightens his hold on his spiked chain, then attacks.

Swift Action: Activate Ape's Fury (Animal Devotion).
Standard Action: Trip attack
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Eldariel]

Before you post your turn, by the way, I feel the need to point out that the "flickering" I mentioned amounts to Displacement and gives Alya 50% concealment unless you have True Seeing.

EDIT: Bah, I was too late. Roll a miss chance, 50%.

[Eldariel]

Actually, I'll just roll the opposed Strength-check to see if that's even necessary:
[roll0]

EDIT: Ok, so just roll the miss chance and if it hits, I'm down.

[rockdeworld]

Miss Chance, High wins: [roll0]

OOC/Edit: Hmm, no go. While I'm at it, is Law Devotion like True Strike (IIRC) in that it affects only the first attack you make, works only for the first attack of a full attack, and then the effect ends?

Also, it appears I'm out of options - unless tripping works with iterative attacks (the rules aren't very clear on that - does it?). If that's so, I have only a move action left.

IC: After his attack misses, Leaves takes on a stoic look.
I'll ready an action to tumble to just outside of Ayla's range after her first attack, thus rendering her iterative attacks useless - provided I survive. The tumble is an auto-success due to my +16 modifier.
Barring iterative trip attacks, my turn is over.

[Eldariel]

OOC: Iterative trips are fine as long as you use Full Attack Action; you may replace every attack (and AoO for that matter) with a Trip-attack if you so desire. That's why...the option works in the first place on higher levels.

Basically, everything in the "Combat Maneuvers"-section (well, DisarmGrapple/Sunder/Trip) takes an Attack Action and thus can replace any of your attacks in a full attack action (or AoO), or all of them if you so desire, though mind taking penalties on at least the Touch Attacks (not Str-check tho). Same goes for e.g. Grapple-checks too.


Also, Law Devotion lasts for 1 minute, as does Animal Devotion. Law Devotion is a bonus to attack OR AC; you decide as a free action at the beginning of each turn. Animal Devotion also has three other options (besides Ape's Fury) in:
- Cheetah's Sprint (5' + 5'/4 levels Sacred bonus to base land speed)
- Hawk's Flight (Overland Flight with +5'/5 levels Sacred bonus to fly speed)
- Serpent's Strike (Gain Bite-attack, deals no damage, but 1d3 Con-damage with Fort DC 10+Level+Cha mod)

EDIT: By the way, your character sheet seems to have some inaccuracies. See here:
Your saves are calculated as if you got the "+2" from taking first level in class with a good save twice.

- You've got all good good Fort-saves all the way, so it should be Base Save +9.5 (rounded down for use).
- You've got 7 levels of poor and 8 levels of good Ref-saves so it should be +2 (Good save bonus) + 8*.5 + 7*1/3 = +8 1/3 (rounded down for use).
- Your will is poor throughout so +15*1/3 = +5 (this one is right).

In other words, you've got 4 excess points of Ref and Fort, presumably for counting the first level +2 multiple times.


Also, you've stacked Horizon Walker's +4 Spot with Eyes of the Eagle; both are Competence-bonus and so overlap.

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Thanks. Regarding my character sheet,I thought I was supposed to add the +2 save bonus from each class - (1) because I thought I saw that in the article on fractional BAB and saves in the arena OP, and (2) because that's what Prestige Classes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/horizonWalker.htm) do. However, I guess you've done what you said with your character sheet, and I can do that too. The only problem I'd have with that is that in that case, using fractional BAB and saves hurts me instead of helping.

I'll fix Spot also.
Now for my action: full-attack!

IC: Leaves swings his chain again, hoping to hit the real Ayla this time and bring her to her knees.

[roll0], [roll1], [roll2]
[roll3], [roll4], [roll5]

Edit: It looks like none of my hits connected (especially as touch attack #3 should be subtracted by 5). My turn is over.

[Eldariel]

OOC:
That's a lousy bunch of rolls. Sorry :/ And yeah, fractionals aren't intended to make anyone strictly better or worse (though they are always beneficial BAB-wise), just make multiclassing sensible. The UA variant of Fractionals allows +2 per save more than once, but the article we're using doesn't. Better that way; it discourages multiclassing for ridiculous saves and means Save-containing effects can actually be useful.

Initiate Shadow Garrote:
[roll0] for [roll1] [roll2]

[rockdeworld]

OOC: I don't know how shadow garrote works (I'm pretty sure that makes you the winner) but Leaves is 10' out of your touch range, and I'm not sure if you can Jump without provoking an AoO.

[Eldariel]

OOC: I don't know how shadow garrote works (I'm pretty sure that makes you the winner) but Leaves is 10' out of your touch range, and I'm not sure if you can Jump without provoking an AoO.

Alya's reach is 15'. It's a 30' range Ranged Touch Attack. Now that I think, I suppose it does provoke an AoO for being a ranged attack, so feel free to take one, but as maneuvers are like attacks (unlike spells), they don't get interrupted (other than if you end up outside my reach, but I think it's impossible).

[rockdeworld]

OOC: Well it wouldn't matter anyways at this point. Now if I'd remembered to ask about jumping causing AoO's during your last maneuver - that could have had an impact (Hey Leaves, don't forget to add in the bonus from Elan's bard song everything else :smalltongue:).

IC: Leaves twists, but cannot evade the encroaching shadows. They travel up from the base of his legs, across his trunk, down his arms and up into the branches over his head. To Ayla, who cannot see leaves, it looks as though the tendrils of shadow are curling in a complex web like so many strands of smoke. Then, once the treant is completely covered by lines of darkness, they constrict - tightening around every part of his body until sap oozes out of his wooden body. Then the shadows disappear while Leaves's body reappears in space - stiff and covered with wounds - and he falls to the ground.

OOC: Well, I don't have any idea how Shadow Garrote works, but I thought that would be a cool description. You win this round Eldariel :smallwink:

I'll pm Lyndworm - and we'll have to battle again :smallbiggrin:

[Eldariel]

OOC: You're allowed to Tumble during all movement and Jumping counts as movement so yeah, that part is...accounted for, so to speak. There are also about a hundred tricks in my bag of tricks I didn't get to use yet. By the way, here's the description of Shadow Garrote:
"With a subtle gesture, you carve a slice of shadow from the air around you and cast it toward your foe. It wraps around the creature’s neck and squeezes the life from it."
I also remembered wrong; it's only 5d6 damage, but given if we remove 6 from that roll, it's still way lethal, that doesn't really matter.


Alya resumes her own shape. "It seems this battle was mine to win. Worthy effort. We'll fight again."

OOC: I suggest you free up two feats for Martial Study: Anything and Martial Stance: Thicket of Blades. This would enable you to take attack of opportunity on anyone moving within your threatened reach, including Tumble, Spring Attack and other similar means that normally bypass AoOs.

It seems like that's your biggest, simplest weakness. I know you're trying to use only free material, but frankly, on an arena (which is by default high optimization as it's PvP), you really can't afford such fundamental weaknesses in your gameplan.

[Lyndworm]

Match Finalized.

Eldariel/Alya Montane, Victor
Wins 2/Losses 0

Rockdeworld/Leaves, Victim
Wins 0/Losses 1