[4e] Adventures in the Planes - OOC

[Hzurr]

Nice....

Map updating momentarily. Map updated.

Also, the Lolth's Influence thing that Zyrr is under basically means that the priestess can command him to take a standard action each round. Zyrr can still act on his own, however.

On a related note, Zyrr is now standing very close to that portal.

[Nai_Calus]

I was going to be all 'Wait how did Eltain end up on the altar' but then I re-read my post and realized I put the wrong square when I'd meant to go to F17. Oh well.

Eltain is bloodied at 45 HP as of the start of his turn, woo.

Also, what do you mean when you say +5 to arcana/religion to redirect the portals?

[DSCrankshaw]

Who does Lucan have line of effect to? I can afford to start throwing around some healing. Since I can heal two people at once, it would be nice if I had LOE on both Eltain and Asheroth or Aramil.

[Orsik Vondal]

The Draegloth next to Asheroth and Aramil both create globes of darkness around them before launching their attacks.


Does this darkness cancel out magical light initiated after the globe happens?

[Hzurr]

I was going to be all 'Wait how did Eltain end up on the altar' but then I re-read my post and realized I put the wrong square when I'd meant to go to F17. Oh well.

Yeah, I'd thought that was odd as well, but I figured you just wanted to check out both the altar and the portal or wanted the high-ground or something.


Also, what do you mean when you say +5 to arcana/religion to redirect the portals?

My understanding was that the initial plan was to try and redirect the portals to a plane other than the demonweb pits. If you decide you want to do that (which will still be very difficult), Eltain has a +5 to any arcana or religion checks that come up as part of it.


Who does Lucan have line of effect to? I can afford to start throwing around some healing. Since I can heal two people at once, it would be nice if I had LOE on both Eltain and Asheroth or Aramil.

At the moment, Lucan has line of effect to Aramil and Zyrr. Don't think it's possible to get Line-of-sight to both Aramil and Eltain, but you can get LOE to Eltain and Asheroth by moving across the room.


Does this darkness cancel out magical light initiated after the globe happens?

Depends on what kind of magical light. What are you thinking?


Also, because of wedding craziness, Toric has given me a set of guidelines on what to do with Zyrr, so I'll be posting for him. Basically, he wants to re-direct the portal as much as possible to try and zap people, other than that he's going to focus on taking down mages. Though at the moment, I think his goal will be to not jump in the portal. If anyone can help him with that, I think he'd appreciate it. Regardless, since he delayed until the end last round, I'll hold off and post for him after everyone else goes.

[Orsik Vondal]

My halo that activates when Ash becomes bloodied can shed dim light out to five squares (minor action). Also now that Ash IS bloodied, if the draegloth attacks Ash while adjacent , he will take 10 force damage.

Another question: can Ash push the draegloth one square east then one square south then one square east as a push 3 action? Or does the one square south not count as "away from" Ash?

::edit:: Never mind found a way to do it. Push it diagonally one then there is no problem. :smallbiggrin:

[DSCrankshaw]

Maybe I'll wait for them to move before I take my action.

[Hzurr]

My halo that activates when Ash becomes bloodied can shed dim light out to five squares (minor action).


Dim light? Nope. If it was bright light then maybe.

[Orsik Vondal]

Oooooh! My Sun Globe can shed bright light! Take that, magical darkness!

[Hzurr]

Oooooh! My Sun Globe can shed bright light! Take that, magical darkness!

I said maybe. Give me a sec while I look up what a Sun Globe is/does.

--edit--

A level 1 common wondrous item vs. a lvl 20-something Draegloth's magic? Hells no. Mentally I was thinking "ok, if it's in at least 10 levels I can see that working" but what you've got is the dnd version of an LED flashlight.

[Nai_Calus]

Yeah, I'd thought that was odd as well, but I figured you just wanted to check out both the altar and the portal or wanted the high-ground or something.

My understanding was that the initial plan was to try and redirect the portals to a plane other than the demonweb pits. If you decide you want to do that (which will still be very difficult), Eltain has a +5 to any arcana or religion checks that come up as part of it.


Nope, just plain herpderp with the wrong square. It's OK, the second one missed anyway and they likely would have both attacked anyway in the other square.

And yeah, the initial ideas did include doing something exactly like that. I figured we'd need some kind of ritual for it, but if you'll let me try it even at a ridiculous DC I'm totally cool with that. I assume I need to be adjacent to the actual portal to try to mess with it and not on/behind the altar?

Also, as far as falling into the portal goes, which squares are at risk of that? You said earlier that most weren't, but I'm not clear which ones are dangerous. Also, do these things have threatening reach?

Also, they aren't drow, so shouldn't they take the 25 damage from being between the altars? :smalltongue:

Also, is the area next to/behind the altars safe? Otherwise I'd think all those drugged fey would be dead before they could get sacrificed. I plan to react to my damage with Winter's Shroud but which square I go to is heavily influenced by the answer to that/the the portal messing questions.


Maybe I'll wait for them to move before I take my action.

Eltain can probably take care of himself for the round at least. Winter's Shroud will take care of movement, so I'm thinking mess with the portal if possible, activate Divine Aegis, curse or ranged attack something and action point to second wind which will get me two surges.

Also, there's nothing Eltain can do for Zyrr that doesn't involve attacking him so if someone can grant him a save/move him without it, that'd be great.

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm assuming that Zyrr's turn happens before the forced action. If so, I can help with his normal save.

[Hzurr]

Also, as far as falling into the portal goes, which squares are at risk of that? You said earlier that most weren't, but I'm not clear which ones are dangerous.

E/F 14/15, V/W 14/15. Basically, where the flames are (but not the tips of the flames, if that makes sense)



Also, do these things have threatening reach?
Nope

Also, they aren't drow, so shouldn't they take the 25 damage from being between the altars? [/quote]
Half-drow, half-demon is enough to protect them :smalltongue:



Also, is the area next to/behind the altars safe?

Yes


I'm assuming that Zyrr's turn happens before the forced action. If so, I can help with his normal save.

Yep, Zyrr is at the bottom of initiative, so he'll act after the rest of the party, but before the baddies do.

[Hzurr]

Sorry everyone, looks like Asheroth used all the good rolls for this round, so I expect everyone else to miss with everything. I'm fairly certain that once the crit damage is calculated, that will be a very dead draegloth.

[Orsik Vondal]

Y'know, I was hoping that Ash would crit!

Crit damage Ashen Rod of the Bloodthorn - [roll0] extra damage

Ashen Rod of the Bloodthorn daily power - free action - Ash steals a healing surge from the draegloth, and since he is at full surges, he regains 33 HP!

[Orsik Vondal]

Sorry everyone, looks like Asheroth used all the good rolls for this round, so I expect everyone else to miss with everything. I'm fairly certain that once the crit damage is calculated, that will be a very dead draegloth.

I've never actually killed anything in one hit before. :smallbiggrin: I hope this does drop him! Then I can help Aramil with his draegloth problem!

Also, if it drops, Ash gains 11 Temp HP from Soul Feast.

[Nai_Calus]

What about Eltain's Draegloth problem? ;P Especially since Eltain is going to be trying madness and will not be at full fighting capacity due to giving things at least an attempt.

I assume that I'll take the damage in G12, right? Eltain plans to try to mess with the portal and figures he needs to be next to it.

[Orsik Vondal]

What about Eltain's Draegloth problem? ;P Especially since Eltain is going to be trying madness and will not be at full fighting capacity due to giving things at least an attempt.

I assume that I'll take the damage in G10, right? Eltain plans to try to mess with the portal and figures he needs to be next to it.

I keep getting you and him mixed up! :smallmad: Excuse me. Eltain's draegloth problem.:smallwink:

[Nai_Calus]

They look so much alike, I can totally see how that would happen. :smalltongue::smallwink:

[Nai_Calus]

Asheroth did not, in fact, use all the good rolls. Natural 20 Arcana for 53, hah. :smallbiggrin:

[Hzurr]

Asheroth did not, in fact, use all the good rolls. Natural 20 Arcana for 53, hah. :smallbiggrin:

Why have the dice gods abandoned me and chosen to side with the PCs? Its not fair...


Also, what exactly are you doing with that completely ridiculous arcane check?

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain is trying to use what he knows about similar portals to work the mechanisms controlling it to try to divert it to a better location, in this case since it's drawing power from a divine realm to, naturally, his own god's. He has no idea if it's even possible, but he's making the attempt, damn it. Shutting it down would be a bad idea, so he's trying to keep it powered without said power killing us all.

Also, Corellon loves us, obviously, and he wants us to survive. It's so annoying to have to try to find another Chosen.

[DSCrankshaw]

So that's where the bad rolls went!

[Hzurr]

So that's where the bad rolls went!

...well, at least now we know.

[dariathalon]

Okay, so what exactly does the group want Pavick to do now? There were so many ideas thrown around that I guess I lost track of what we finally decided on.

Should he be making a beeline for the other portal to try to set a different destination for it? Should he be using the orb to try to wrestle control of the spider and/or the portals from the wizards? Something else?

Pavick also has sequester that he could use on the drow priestess, which would in theory protect Zyrr from trouble for at least one round, assuming Lucan's saves don't work. I'm very tempted to do that, it means running through the hurty-place, but that seems unavoidable at this point anyway.

As side notes, Pavick is hating this big map and wishing he had prepared Ball Lightning today.

[Orsik Vondal]

Redirecting the portal would be nice. So would sequestering the priestess. And you might be able to action point and do both. But that would mean standing in the hurty place for an additional round.

I would say redirecting the portal is better, because then we can try to mitigate
the constant 25 damage and concentrate more on killing drow than healing ourselves.

[Nai_Calus]

I'd go for redirecting the portal or gaining control from the wizards with equal preference. And getting rid of that damn priestess if you can before she gets rid of the one drow here we actually like. ;P

[dariathalon]

I assume (failing to) redirect the portal was a standard action. If it took less than that, let me know and I'll use my second standard for something else.

[Nai_Calus]

*puts out bait*

[Mando Knight]

Blinded: the perfect time to spam your high-power Reliable abilities.

[DSCrankshaw]

If you think it's important for that attack to hit, Lucan can grant some re-rolls. It's kind of his thing.

[Mando Knight]

If you think it's important for that attack to hit, Lucan can grant some re-rolls. It's kind of his thing.

It's not. That's why I used a Reliable attack. Due to the blindness and the death-field-thing, Aramil's mobility is heavily restricted, so I used a souped-up attack that happens to be Reliable... if it had hit, it would've dealt a relatively large amount of damage. Since it missed, there weren't any resources expended.

[Hzurr]

I'll be posting for Zyrr & the enemies later today. Toric said he wanted to focus on the mages, but with him being immobilized, his options are a bit limited, so if anyone wants to glance over his character sheet and make suggestions, feel free

[Nai_Calus]

Do you have a link to his actual L21 sheet? The one linked in the OP is for L17.

[Hzurr]

Do you have a link to his actual L21 sheet? The one linked in the OP is for L17.

Check the op in the ic thread.

[Mando Knight]

That's listed as level 17. As is Pavick's.

[dariathalon]

It doesn't help with Zyrr, but here's the correct and current link for Pavick so you can update the links in both OOC and IC threads.

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=473617

[Nai_Calus]

For that matter, while the IC has the right sheet for Eltain, this thread still has the L17 one linked.

[Orsik Vondal]

The sheet says 17, but it is actually his level 21 sheet. Check the powers.:smallwink:

Zyrr could use his Shadowstep power (standard) to teleport to V23 and help flank with Aramil. Action point attack or total defense.

[DSCrankshaw]

Could he retry redirecting the portal again, or whatever he did that incinerated a mage? I'm a little nervous of that Draegloth.

[Mando Knight]

Zyrr could use his Shadowstep power (standard) to teleport to V23 and help flank with Aramil. Action point attack or total defense.

If you're blind, you can't flank.

[Hzurr]

K, I updated the IC thread to include Pavick's new sheet, and the OOC thread to include Eltan & Pavick's new sheet.

Looking back, it actually appears that Toric only updated 90% of his sheet, and never took things all the way up to 21. I'm seeing lvl 20 powers, though, so at least part of it was done. He was going with the Thief of Legend ED last I heard, and the lvl 21 ability is just a bonus to dex. So for the moment, he should have the powers listed, but his to-hit should be +4 higher than is listed.


Could he retry redirecting the portal again, or whatever he did that incinerated a mage? I'm a little nervous of that Draegloth.

He'd need to be adjacent to the machine to re-direct the energy again. He could try re-aligning the portal like Eltain did (& Pavick tried to do), since he's adjacent, but that's not really his area of expertise.

[Hzurr]

Oh, in case it comes up, it's a move action to try and re-direct portals.

Also, sorry if it looks like they're picking on Pavick. Eltain succeeding on re-directing the portal was surprising, but Pavick's reputation precedes him, and these mages are fully aware of how awesome he is when it comes to portals, so they're going to do everything possible to keep him away from it.

Especially since you missed the portal re-direct DC by 1 :smallwink:

[dariathalon]

It's not a big deal. Pavick is good at this sort of thing. Focusing on him makes a certain degree of sense.

A couple of notes however:

The priestess should have 2 saves this turn. One for the sequester and another for the curse eye tattoo (-2 penalty to saves, save ends). Technically her saves are a -4 (2 for the spell focus and 2 for the tattoo).

Pavick is actually not going anywhere. His Location Mastery paragon path feature allows him to ignore their teleportation attempt. (You and allies within 5 squares of you cannot be teleported against your will.) He'll still probably end up dazed by the attack, but it's better than dazed and too far away from the portal to make another attempt to redirect it.

[Hzurr]

The priestess should have 2 saves this turn. One for the sequester and another for the curse eye tattoo (-2 penalty to saves, save ends). Technically her saves are a -4 (2 for the spell focus and 2 for the tattoo).


She's got a +2 to saves, so at a net -2.

But good call on the other save. Save vs. curse: [roll0]



Pavick is actually not going anywhere. His Location Mastery paragon path feature allows him to ignore their teleportation attempt. (You and allies within 5 squares of you cannot be teleported against your will.) He'll still probably end up dazed by the attack, but it's better than dazed and too far away from the portal to make another attempt to redirect it.

NICE! I'd forgotten how Pavick is basically the location master. That's an awesome ability. I'll try and update the map tomorrow

[dariathalon]

She's got a +2 to saves, so at a net -2.

But good call on the other save. Save vs. curse: [roll0]



NICE! I'd forgotten how Pavick is basically the location master. That's an awesome ability. I'll try and update the map tomorrow

I honestly never expected it to come up. I haven't seen a whole lot of enemies that have teleportation abilities, but I suppose I haven't played past mid-paragon with my home group so there may be more up at this level.

[Orsik Vondal]

Am I correct in assuming that the energies from the west side portal will not harm Ash, or is that only wishful thinking. Is this correct?

[West Side]
drow take damage

[Middle Room]
both take damage

[East Side]
non-drow take damage

[DSCrankshaw]

So the Draegloth hit Pavick? I'm surprised. He has an incredibly high AC. Now may be a good time to use Lucan's Virtue of Prescience on Pavick.

Also, don't forget that Shots on the Run does half damage on a miss. So even if both arrows missed, that should be 28 damage.

[dariathalon]

No, I think that should have been a miss on Pavick. Nice catch, I hadn't looked too closely at the attack roll. Pavick has a 41 AC even after the shield expires, so that 38 is a miss.

[Hzurr]

Am I correct in assuming that the energies from the west side portal will not harm Ash, or is that only wishful thinking. Is this correct?


Wishful thinking. You'll still take damage, unfortunately now so will the Drow.


Also, don't forget that Shots on the Run does half damage on a miss. So even if both arrows missed, that should be 28 damage. Ah, you're right, I had missed that. Good call, I'll edit it in.


No, I think that should have been a miss on Pavick. Nice catch, I hadn't looked too closely at the attack roll. Pavick has a 41 AC even after the shield expires, so that 38 is a miss.

Oops, I misread your. I thought that the 41 was before the shield expired, not after. Also, HOLY CRAP YOU HAVE A 41 AC? How did you get the +3 feat bonus? +1 feat bonus to defenses per level only applies to Fort/Ref/Will.

[dariathalon]

Let's see...

10 Base
+10 1/2 Level
+8 Int
+3 Armor (Feyleather)
+1 Shield (Dagger)
+4 Enhancement (on Flowform Feyleather Armor)
+2 Item (Elven Chain Shirt)
+3 Feat ??? I think I must have counted the free bonus on all defenses instead of just NADs; I'm not sure where else I would have gotten that. I'll get rid of it.

So I guess the total should be 38, meaning he hit exactly, so it's up to you DS if you want to use your ability.

[DSCrankshaw]

Does Pavick have a decent ranged basic attack? I'm trying to remember whether that free basic attack granted by Karmic Strike can be used by me, or if I have to give it to someone else.

[dariathalon]

Nope, Pavick pretty much sucks at basic attacks all around. I suppose he could throw his dagger at something, but it isn't even really worth doing. He'd probably miss and it does minimal damage.

[DSCrankshaw]

Does Aramil have a ranged basic attack for throwing his sword? It would be easiest if I could just use my own pretty decent ranged basic attack.

[Mando Knight]

Does Aramil have a ranged basic attack for throwing his sword?

Not with this sword, and not likely a good idea when in melee.

Doesn't Zyrr use daggers, though? That would work, too.

[DSCrankshaw]

He's pretty far away for that. Hzurr, can Lucan make the attack? I can't remember how Karmic strike works.

[Hzurr]

Karmic Strike (16th level): When you use Virtue of Prescience, one ally within 10 squares of you can make a ranged or melee basic attack as a free action against the triggering enemy.


Virtue of Prescience
Once per encounter as an immediate interrupt, when an enemy hits one ally within 5 squares of you, you grant that ally a power bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier to the defense targeted by the triggering enemy until the end of that enemy’s turn.

So yeah, you could use Virtue of Prescience so that the attack would miss Pavick, and you could allow Zyrr to make that attack at long range.

[DSCrankshaw]

All right, let's do that. And since I have Extended Prescience, the bonus to defenses will last awhile, so the mage's attack should miss too, and Pavick isn't dazed.

[Nai_Calus]

Hmm, so looks like no matter what we do we're gonna be on a time clock with this, although them getting hurt too helps. I think Eltain will go for the mage trying to fix the portal and see about making his life more difficult. What he gets for not having the sense to convert.

[DSCrankshaw]

I may delay and see how much healing Zyrr needs.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'll be posting soon. Probably within the next two hours.

[dariathalon]

The dice hate Pavick. First arcana check a 6. Second Arcana check a 3. If trends continue, next round they'll find a way to give him a 0. :smallmad:

[Orsik Vondal]

Wait! The portals on the ground were actual portals to the Abyss? As in: you fall in, you go there? Did I read/assume that wrongly again? :smallconfused:

If they are true portals to the Abyss, does that mean the one Eltain opened is a true portal to Arvandor? Assuming they don't die upon entering the space between the altars, could the sacrifices escape through the Arvandor portal?

[Nai_Calus]

Now I feel bad for Pavick. :(

Pretty sure they're portal-portals. Now, they may be unsurvivable period, but we'll find that out when we get the other one changed.

I can do a couple of things this round. I can make an attempt at the other portal, or I can use Roaring Storm of Cania to try to slide the mage and the draegloth into the portal. Thoughts?

[Orsik Vondal]

Slide 'em on in therr!:smallbiggrin:

[DSCrankshaw]

It occurs to me that I can grant Zyrr a save. That'll be more effective than delaying and fixing the damage later, so I'll try that instead.

[Nai_Calus]

...So does Zyrr take the ongoing now? Because that would be awkward.

[Nai_Calus]

Oh, there are my bad rolls. :|

[Mando Knight]

A 9 isn't bad... it might not be good enough, but it isn't bad...

[Nai_Calus]

True. And the slide is an effect so it happens anyway. If they can fall into the portal they either will or they'll end up prone regardless.

[DSCrankshaw]

So if I'm reading the spell's effect right, Zyrr takes 10 damage each time we damage a drow or demon. And we're all throwing out our area effect attacks right now, so . . . Yeah, I hope I manage to grant him a save.

[Orsik Vondal]

Whoops! Forgot about that. :smalleek:

[DSCrankshaw]

Can I see whether Zyrr makes his save before I take my remaining actions?

And how much damage has he taken from Demonic Grasp by now?

[Hzurr]

Can I see whether Zyrr makes his save before I take my remaining actions?

And how much damage has he taken from Demonic Grasp by now?

Zyrr goes very last (since I specified I'd be posting for him after everyone else goes, so I think he's taken around 60 damage. His save:
[roll0]

[DSCrankshaw]

Zyrr goes very last (since I specified I'd be posting for him after everyone else goes, so I think he's taken around 60 damage. His save:
[roll0]

However, I granted him a save on my turn. So I think he only takes 30 damage.

[Nai_Calus]

*perches on Crankshaw and Mando's monitors*

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm still waiting to see if I'm right and Zyrr saved before taking full damage.

[Hzurr]

I'm still waiting to see if I'm write and Zyrr saved before taking full damage.

Oops, sorry, no, you were correct, only 30 damage. Didn't realize you were waiting on my verification.

[DSCrankshaw]

Is anyone besides Zyrr in serious need of healing? I can heal two people at once, but I think Zyrr's the only one seriously (more than a healing surge) hurt.

[Hzurr]

Is anyone besides Zyrr in serious need of healing? I can heal two people at once, but I think Zyrr's the only one seriously (more than a healing surge) hurt.

Eltain & Ash have taken a little damage, but you guys are destroying this encounter. They're barely touching y'all.

[DSCrankshaw]

Unfortunately, I don't have line of effect to those two. So I guess Zyrr and Pavick are my best bets.

Majestic Word:
Surge + [roll0] hp healing + 8 temp hp to both Pavick and Zyrr

[Nai_Calus]

Actually as of the start of the next turn assuming he doesn't get attack damage, Eltain will have taken more damage this fight than he has HP. :smalltongue: He's actually taking a pretty good beating, it's just that he used action point BS to pop two surges in one round. :smallwink:

[DSCrankshaw]

Actually as of the start of the next turn assuming he doesn't get attack damage, Eltain will have taken more damage this fight than he has HP. :smalltongue: He's actually taking a pretty good beating, it's just that he used action point BS to pop two surges in one round. :smallwink:

Actually, that confused me. Why are you taking damage next round? I thought you only took damage from the room if you were in the central chamber, and it looks like you're in the side chamber. Do we take damage in the side chambers too?

[Hzurr]

Actually, that confused me. Why are you taking damage next round? I thought you only took damage from the room if you were in the central chamber, and it looks like you're in the side chamber. Do we take damage in the side chambers too?

You do if you're between the altars, yes.

[DSCrankshaw]

You do if you're between the altars, yes.

I may need that spelled out better. Directly between, or in a certain region, or something else? Was this in one of the IC posts, and I missed it?

EDIT: Okay, I saw the IC post. I still don't know whether Lucan's current location would take damage or not.

[Nai_Calus]

I may need that spelled out better. Directly between, or in a certain region, or something else? Was this in one of the IC posts, and I missed it?

EDIT: Okay, I saw the IC post. I still don't know whether Lucan's current location would take damage or not.

Where you are currently, yes.

[DSCrankshaw]

Guess I know what to use my move action for.

[Hzurr]

Cool, just saw that you edited in your action. I'll post for Zyrr this afternoon, but I can't do an IC post and map update til I'm home from work this evening.

[Hzurr]

And Zyrr rolls a crit. [roll0] extra damage

Also, saving throw for priestess [roll1]

-edit- That should have been at a -2, but it doesn't really matter

[Mando Knight]

Hzurr: Epic Basic Attacks and At-Wills all get bumped up to 2[W]. Also, as you've noticed, you can't mix die types in the roller.

[Hzurr]

Hzurr: Epic Basic Attacks and At-Wills all get bumped up to 2[W]. Also, as you've noticed, you can't mix die types in the roller.

Right. So that second attack should have been

[roll0]+[roll1]+[roll]5d8+28[/roll

[Hzurr]

plus another d4 because I'm dumb [roll0] and [roll1]

[Hzurr]

Oops, realized that the Draegloth on the ground by Eltain forgot to attack. It'll need a nat 20 to hit, but I'll roll it just in case.

[roll0]

-edit- Wow. These things can't hit the broad side of a barn.

[Nai_Calus]

Zyrr used all your good rolls for the round. Pesky Thieves, always stealing things. :smallbiggrin:

Oh, you didn't answer the DM, are the prisoners with it enough to be yelled at enough to move against a wall or behind an altar?

OK guys, so there's a couple different things Eltain could do this round. Ash has probably got the Draegloth covered, so Eltain is going to go use his retarded amounts of mobility to do other things.

I can:

Use my dagger's daily power to minor action teleport to say, P14, Ethereal Sidestep 7 squares to R7, and try to use Lash of the Long Night to slow the Archmage and push him 8 squares to give him a hard time with his leg worker killing mission.

or:

Use my dagger's daily power to minor action teleport to U13, make an attempt to redirect the portal, and then use my standard to Delusions of Loyalty on the priestess to try to take her out for a bit longer.

[Hzurr]

Oh, you didn't answer the DM, are the prisoners with it enough to be yelled at enough to move against a wall or behind an altar?

Yes, Asheroth actually already did that last round for the prisoners near him.

[Nai_Calus]

Yes, Asheroth actually already did that last round for the prisoners near him.

Ah, yeah, I see where they moved now. Cool. Talking is a free action, so I will yell at them.

[Orsik Vondal]

Are you saying that as soon as this round begins Ash will fall? Or that this round he has the opportunity to brace himself?

[Mando Knight]

This round to brace, next to fall.

[Orsik Vondal]

Oh, goodie! :smallbiggrin:

I think Ash is going to try intimidating the drivers to turn the gravity back on. Unless we want to see all the baddies fall to the back? :smallconfused:

Ash has a power to let him fly for the encounter and he can intimidate pretty decently. What do you guys think? Or he might be able to "surprise" the priestess. Can't tell you, 'cause then it wouldn't be a surprise! :smallwink:

::edit:: Also, Hzurr, did the draegloth by Ash take the 10 fire damage for ending its turn in my Vortex of Fire (E12-G14)? I know he's a demon, so if he has resistances, that's okay.

[Nai_Calus]

What do y'all think for Eltain's options?

[Orsik Vondal]

Third times the charm for Pav. Foil the wizard, so we don't plummet to our deaths in this metal monstrosity. If the priestess wants to take us all down in flaming suicide,

1) we can use that to our advantage to sway more drow to "our" cause
and
2)she'll have to do it herself, which will keep her preoccupied for a bit

If the draegloth isn't taking damage from the vortex, Ash is not going to sustain it and let the portal do the heavy lifting. Otherwise, he will sustain the vortex (which also slows the draegloth)

[Hzurr]

If the draegloth isn't taking damage from the vortex, Ash is not going to sustain it and let the portal do the heavy lifting. Otherwise, he will sustain the vortex (which also slows the draegloth) Yes, it is resisting.

[Orsik Vondal]

Thought so. Blasters! :smallannoyed: But good to know.

[Orsik Vondal]

Forgot CA from being prone. So that's 38 vs. AC, and if it will help Insightful Riposte can add another +3 for 41.

[Hzurr]

Minor action: "Spined Devil's" Boon Ash gains a fly speed of 6 for the rest of the encounter.

Standard action: Charge to G16 use Soul Eater on draegloth
[roll0] (+2 if the draegloth is bloodied) vs. AC
on a hit [roll1] fire and necrotic damage; Ash gets +2 to hit the draegloth next turn.

Move action: Fly to F20 and get ready to stand upright on the side of the altar.


Using a charge ends your turn, Asheroth can't both charge, then move.

[Nai_Calus]

Fly while charging so you're already flying at the end of your turn and then fail to fall at the end of it?

Also, drow are spider-kissing jerks, so I'm going to assume at least some of these guys are going to pull drow BS to not fall because spiders, so I need to know how high the ceiling is in this thing.

Edit: *sigh* Apparently, Eltain can't hit the broad side of a barn either. Even *my* Fort isn't that bad.

Oh, did the Draegloth on the floor with Ash get the 14 damage from Eltain's miss applied?

[Orsik Vondal]

Eeerrrrrrrrrrrggggggg! Basic ruuuuuuuules! I want them to not exist right now! :smallfurious:

Are you okay with me changing my IC to Spined Devil's Boon, Curse of the Fiery Soul (encounter ranged atk), fly move to H23? You can deem the attack an automatic miss if you wish.

[Hzurr]

Oh, did the Draegloth on the floor with Ash get the 14 damage from Eltain's miss applied?

Oops, nope, I forgot that. I'll edit it back in.



Are you okay with me changing my IC to Spined Devil's Boon, Curse of the Fiery Soul (encounter ranged atk), fly move to H23? You can deem the attack an automatic miss if you wish.

Is the to-hit/damage the same?

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm waiting to see if Pavick has better luck with the portal this round.

[Hzurr]

I'm waiting to see if Pavick has better luck with the portal this round.

He only needs to roll I think a 7 or higher. Other people can aid him on this check if they wish (Aiding is a move action as well)

[Orsik Vondal]

To-hit is less. -2 to ranged for being prone, +2 for dazed CA, and the normal to-hit is +27. As opposed to Soul Eater +29, +2 for CA.

Damage is more. 3d10 rather than Soul Eater's 2d12.

[Hzurr]

If it comes up, Ceilings are 15' high

[Orsik Vondal]

Swing and a miss!

[Nai_Calus]

And here Jon was lamenting that we were killing his monsters.

[Orsik Vondal]

Technically, he's killing his own monsters now.:smallbiggrin:

[Nai_Calus]

And we're trying to stop him from killing his own monsters. Which is hilarious.

[DSCrankshaw]

So now that I've dominated the priestess (if a 39 vs. Will misses, I'm sure the 44 from the Fated Action re-roll will hit), what should I do with her? Her dominated action will take place during her normal turn.

[Mando Knight]

Lucan gets +7 to damage because he spent an Action Point while Aramil was around. :smalltongue:

[Nai_Calus]

Holy crap, the dice hate Pavick trying to fix the portal.

[Hzurr]

Holy crap, the dice hate Pavick trying to fix the portal.

But they really do love Lucan, that's for certain.

[dariathalon]

On the bright side, at least it can't get any worse next round.

[Nai_Calus]

Oh, I'm sure the forum roller will figure out a way to roll a 0 on a d20. It's a miserable bastard like that.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan gets +7 to damage because he spent an Action Point while Aramil was around. :smalltongue:

How does that work? Just the AP attack, or once that round, or everything that round?

Nevermind, looked it up:


Resourceful Leader [Multiclass Warlord]

Heroic Tier
Prerequisite: Int 13 or Cha 13
Benefit: You gain training in one skill from the warlord’s class skills list.
When an ally you can see spends an action point to make an attack, the ally gains a +3 bonus to damage rolls on a hit or gains 3 temporary hit points on a miss. This bonus increases to +5 at 11th level and +7 at 21st level. These temporary hit points increase to 5 at 11th level and 7 at 21st level.

Unfortunately, I used the action point on the Song of Discord attack, which doesn't have a damage roll, unless you count the priestess's attack against herself.

[Orsik Vondal]

So now that I've dominated the priestess (if a 39 vs. Will misses, I'm sure the 44 from the Fated Action re-roll will hit), what should I do with her? Her dominated action will take place during her normal turn.

Well, if you want to be funny, you can move her to R24 and then let her fall when the gravity shifts. That would be 8d10 damage from the fall. Why would she stop herself from walking? :smallbiggrin:

[DSCrankshaw]

I was considering having her jump in the portal, remain where she was but make an ranged attack against one of her allies (and fall next turn), or maybe even having her belay her order and have them keep the gravity on. I'm not sure whether that last one is possible, though.

[Hzurr]

On the bright side, at least it can't get any worse next round.

Aww! You're so cute thinking a natural one will have no effect on things in the future!

[Hzurr]

On the bright side, at least it can't get any worse next round.

Actually, while I thinking of it, could I get a saving throw from Pavick?

[Orsik Vondal]

Actually, while I thinking of it, could I get a saving throw from Pavick?

:smallsigh: Oooh! Buuurn!

[DSCrankshaw]

I believe Savior's Song allows Pavick to roll twice for the save.

[dariathalon]

Actually, while I thinking of it, could I get a saving throw from Pavick?

Do I get to know what the saving throw is for so I know what to kick in? For example, gnomes get a +5 vs illusions (doubtful it will apply in this case, and it probably never will, but it's there). There is also the possibility of using crest of eternal vigilance or flowform item powers if they apply and are worth using in this instance.

[Hzurr]

Do I get to know what the saving throw is for so I know what to kick in? For example, gnomes get a +5 vs illusions (doubtful it will apply in this case, and it probably never will, but it's there). There is also the possibility of using crest of eternal vigilance or flowform item powers if they apply and are worth using in this instance.

Ok, just checked, and none of those will apply. I don't want to go into too much detail about what all this save is for, because I have a handful of possibilities that I'll want to discuss with you in private in case you fail. Unfortunately, this is really a triple whammy, because it's the third failure, it's the first time you've missed by more than 5, and it's a natural one. So bad things are going to happen.

So you'll get to roll twice, thanks to Lucan, but none of the other bonuses will apply. And I almost guarantee that you want to make this (and in case you're wondering, this isn't a "save vs death" type situation, but there are lots of bad things that can happen with a portal to the Abyss, so just let your mind mull over the possibility. But I can assure you that this won't result in the death of Pavick. Probably).

[dariathalon]

Okay. :smalleek: I realized I forgot one bonus, Pavicks ring gives him a +1 to all saves. I'm including that for now, if for some reason it won't apply either, you can manually take it out.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Hzurr]

Cool, well that makes things a bit easier. I mean, it's still bad, but not nearly as complicated as some of the ideas I had.

Once Mando Knight posts for Aramil, we'll be good to go.

[DSCrankshaw]

I still need to decide what to do with the priestess. Unless Hzurr wants to post everything up to her turn first.

[Orsik Vondal]

Can she attempt to redirect the portal? If she fails, she has to save. If she succeeds, good for us!

How close does one have to be to redirect the portal?

[Hzurr]

Can she attempt to redirect the portal? If she fails, she has to save. If she succeeds, good for us!

How close does one have to be to redirect the portal?

Adjacent.


I still need to decide what to do with the priestess. Unless Hzurr wants to post everything up to her turn first.

Go ahead and post your intentions. It'll make things easier

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm going to have her jump in the abyss portal.

[Hzurr]

I'm going to have her jump in the abyss portal.

Ah. Well ok. This should be entertaining...

[Nai_Calus]

*uses Scroll of Summon Mando Knight*

[Mando Knight]

Working on it...

...Does Restrained (no forced movement) beat gravity (falling is being pulled down...)?

Can the altar be used as a platform to avoid falling damage?

Can Aramil surf a Draegloth to the bottom to reduce falling damage on himself?

[Hzurr]

...Does Restrained (no forced movement) beat gravity (falling is being pulled down...)?

No



Can the altar be used as a platform to avoid falling damage?

Yes


Can Aramil surf a Draegloth to the bottom to reduce falling damage on himself?
Hell yes. Make an acrobatics check, DC 26

[Nai_Calus]

Can Aramil surf a Draegloth to the bottom to reduce falling damage on himself?

This is quite possibly the third most ridiculously epic idea I've seen for trying to avoid falling damage.

[Mando Knight]

Hell yes. Make an acrobatics check, DC 26

And now I wish I had training in Acrobatics.

[Hzurr]

And now I wish I had training in Acrobatics.

You've got a +13. Gives you just under a 50/50 chance. Totally worth it.

[Mando Knight]

What kind of action would it be?

[Hzurr]

What kind of action would it be?

Immediate Reaction to falling.

[Mando Knight]

Well, unless someone can grant a +6 to skill checks, I'm going to have to hope that one of the Draegloth triggers the Aegis, so Aramil can get into a better position...

[Hzurr]

And a dice roll that I need: [roll0]

[Hzurr]

and Zyrr's attack: [roll0]

[dariathalon]

Well, unless someone can grant a +6 to skill checks, I'm going to have to hope that one of the Draegloth triggers the Aegis, so Aramil can get into a better position...

I haven't looked at the IC thread yet, but Pavick did just order them to move over a bit and beat each other up. Sounds like a mark violation to me, though you might mean after this, I suppose.

[Mando Knight]

That also depends on them hitting each other.

[Hzurr]

I haven't looked at the IC thread yet, but Pavick did just order them to beat each other up. Sounds like a mark violate to me, though you might mean after this, I suppose.

Pavick's attack happened before Aramil marked them.

On a side note, it actually isn't going to matter very much. IC post is incoming before too long.

[dariathalon]

I thought the mark from last round would still be in effect then. Or maybe he didn't mark them last round?

[Mando Knight]

Pavick's attack happened before Aramil marked them.

Aegis stays on a target until something takes it off.

[DSCrankshaw]

Well, there's one spider taken out of commission. Not quite the way we planned it, though.

[Mando Knight]

Does anything ever go the way we planned it?

[Nai_Calus]

We've ever actually planned things?

Ok, so. I have a flying mule, but not enough information to do anything with it yet.

Hopefully Frank can get at least a couple of people to safety before we splatter messily.

[DSCrankshaw]

I suppose not. We usually manage to survive it though. Not sure what I have. If we're close enough to the branches, I can try to snag one. Maybe Eltain can summon a snow bank, and we can land in soft snow. Maybe sublime snowfall can do the same thing. I can use Majestic Word. That comes with a slide which can move people--enough so they can reach a branch?

Of course, Pavick has a ring of Featherfall, and I could raise Yuri easily enough. (Raise companion is pretty cheap compared to raising a PC.)

Dang, in 5 more levels Lucan would totally have this. In three, death would be a minor inconvenience.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain has Frank so that's a little help. Can probably get Lucan and Aramil to safety if there are branches. We don't know how far apart we are though. The falling damage is almost certain to kill us, however, so.

[DSCrankshaw]

Whatever happened to the archmage I shot, anyway?

[DSCrankshaw]

Doesn't the ring of feather fall have a daily power? Don't have my books, so I can only rely on the web, and not the official database, either.

[Mando Knight]

Aramil has the Cloak's daily left (to teleport to safety, taking an ally with him with Fey Step/Fey Tactics), and an Adventurer's Kit, which includes 50 ft of hempen rope.

[Hzurr]

Does anything ever go the way we planned it?

I think one thing did, once.



Ok, so. I have a flying mule, but not enough information to do anything with it yet.

Hopefully Frank can get at least a couple of people to safety before we splatter messily.

Frank can carry a second person, but with that load he can't really change altitude, he could just glide or do a controlled decent.


Eltain has Frank so that's a little help. Can probably get Lucan and Aramil to safety if there are branches. We don't know how far apart we are though.

Assume you're all about 8 squares away from each other (including changes in altitude)


The falling damage is almost certain to kill us, however, so And if it doesn't, the army of Drow might...


Whatever happened to the archmage I shot, anyway?

Between getting shot twice and the explosion, it's safe to say he's in small pieces.


Doesn't the ring of feather fall have a daily power? Don't have my books, so I can only rely on the web, and not the official database, either.

Not the version that Pavick has, no.


Aramil has the Cloak's daily left (to teleport to safety, taking an ally with him with Fey Step/Fey Tactics), and an Adventurer's Kit, which includes 50 ft of hempen rope.

This could lead to some interesting swinging...


---------------

Keep brainstorming, I've got an idea about the best way to resolve this mechanically, but I need to mull it over on my way home from work, so I'll post again in an hour or two with more details.

[Orsik Vondal]

Should Zyrr and Ash attempt to save the sacrifices? Ash can fly. Don't know about Zyrr. If Zyrr starts falling, Ash will save him first, and regret not being able to save the others later.:smalleek:

[Nai_Calus]

Actually, Frank can only possibly save one person, since we're falling 500 feet a round, looking at the falling rules.

Technically, we're still going to die even if we teleport as it does not actually change our momentum, so we're still taking 50d10 falling damage even if we maneuver to something since we're falling the maximum distance each round. So, we can't actually save ourselves by the rules.

8 squares means we're not able to reach each other either. Eltain can still teleport 9 squares once to get in range to summon Frank to get someone. Would that be a move or a minor to have him pick someone up?

[Mando Knight]

Teleportation already runs through several laws of physics, I don't see why it can't also prevent falling damage...

[Hzurr]

Hmm...ok, two ideas:

1) Run the fall as a skill challenge. This would let y'all use skill checks to get away (nature check to use Frank the Mule to catch someone, Athletics or Acrobatics to try and lasso a branch with rope, Arcana to try and bend the natural magic of the Feywild to save you, etc. Those are just random ideas from the top of my head or what y'all have posted so far).

2) Run everything as actual rounds. This means that you'll be able to do some things without making rolls (flying Frank), or give you freedom to try more complicated things (use the rope to lasso & use your momentum to fling yourself higher into the tree to decrease how long you'll have to climb), but with more freedom means more dangerous consequences.

I'd say option 1 is probably the easiest way to make certain everyone survives, but option 2 presents more difficult and freeform possibilities with both the greater potential for exceptional success or exceptional failure.

Anyone have strong opinions on one or the other?

[Orsik Vondal]

Hells, if it allows Ash to save more people, I'll go with option one.

[dariathalon]

Doesn't the ring of feather fall have a daily power? Don't have my books, so I can only rely on the web, and not the official database, either.

Pavick's ring is a lesser ring of feather fall. It just protects him from falling damage, nothing else.

I don't really have a strong opinion on which way to run this. I'd be tempted to say skill challenge, just because it might allow for some more interesting things to happen. But we've all seen Pavick's luck with skill checks lately.

[Nai_Calus]

Teleportation already runs through several laws of physics, I don't see why it can't also prevent falling damage...

Unless something expressly stops a fall, which teleporting does not, you keep falling and fall 500 feet at the end of your turn. Which is why Frank could only get one person in time; not even Eltain can manage 500 feet in a round. ;) (16+12+11+9 would be his maximum with an AP, two daily item powers and two encounter powers. 48 squares is only 240 feet.)


Hmm...ok, two ideas:

1) Run the fall as a skill challenge. This would let y'all use skill checks to get away (nature check to use Frank the Mule to catch someone, Athletics or Acrobatics to try and lasso a branch with rope, Arcana to try and bend the natural magic of the Feywild to save you, etc. Those are just random ideas from the top of my head or what y'all have posted so far).

2) Run everything as actual rounds. This means that you'll be able to do some things without making rolls (flying Frank), or give you freedom to try more complicated things (use the rope to lasso & use your momentum to fling yourself higher into the tree to decrease how long you'll have to climb), but with more freedom means more dangerous consequences.

I'd say option 1 is probably the easiest way to make certain everyone survives, but option 2 presents more difficult and freeform possibilities with both the greater potential for exceptional success or exceptional failure.

Anyone have strong opinions on one or the other?

Well, Eltain won't be able to consistently make nature checks for L21 DCs and would quickly get us three failures. (Need a 6+ for easy DC, 13+ for medium and he's not actually capable of hitting the hard DC.)

That said, I'm not really excited by either, so I have no real opinion one way or the other.

-

It could play out the following way without much in the way of BS: Ash gets the sacrifices to safety and is fine himself because he can fly. Zyrr jumps out to fall with the others, he's got a flying carpet so he can get himself and Aramil on it. Eltain summons Frank and gets Lucan and Pavick on him to prevent Pavick from just landing and getting immediately killed/enslaved by drow.

[DSCrankshaw]

A skill challenge sounds reasonable. Though I suggest Eltain use skills other than nature.

[Nai_Calus]

A skill challenge sounds reasonable. Though I suggest Eltain use skills other than nature.

Which is completely reasonable, but that's what Hzurr gave for directing Frank, which is literally the only thing Eltain could contribute to this. His trained skills are Arcana, Diplomacy, Insight, Intimidate and Religion. Reasonable modifiers for untrained are Bluff, History and Streetwise. Absolutely none of that is of any use in a skill challenge of this nature.

(And of the untrained off-primary/secondary-stat skills, Nature is actually his *best* of those. At Epic, due to the lack of adequate scaling of skill modifiers, your untrained skills are useless unless they're in your primary/secondary stats. Eltain has actually gotten worse at Athletics, for example, since he almost drowned at back at L6 crossing the river. Still needs an 11 to hit Easy DC, but he needs an 18 instead of a 15 to hit Medium now. And his STR is 2 higher than it was at L6. Since your other stats don't meaningfully scale, the +1/2 level to mod doesn't keep up with the increase in DCs. He's never been able to hit Hard DC in it, but the gap widened there as well. 3 short on Nat20 to 7 short.)

We might as well go with what I suggested earlier and Eltain can teleport himself over a sturdy branch and hope the DM rolls nothing but 1s and 2s on the 50d10. >_>

Well, OK, we can do a skill challenge, but in the interest of not contributing to the party's failure, I won't participate. Law of averages is very much against me, and the way I've been rolling... Yeah. :smalleek:

[Hzurr]

Which is completely reasonable, but that's what Hzurr gave for directing Frank, which is literally the only thing Eltain could contribute to this. His trained skills are Arcana, Diplomacy, Insight, Intimidate and Religion. Reasonable modifiers for untrained are Bluff, History and Streetwise. Absolutely none of that is of any use in a skill challenge of this nature.

Don't take my stream-of-consciousness examples as "THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN DO THIS!!" If you can make a case for using another skill for Frank (athletics, diplomacy, whatever), then use it.

I'll admit, I'm not seeing much of a use for Streetwise, but I've been surprised in the past.

And you seem to use the word "literally" the way that Rob Lowe does in Parks and Rec. So...not "literally" at all. There are plenty of things you can try to do, but you'll need to be creative, or think outside the box.

I'll have a more detailed IC post up in a bit, outlining how things will work.

[Hzurr]

Also, if anyone wishes to try and fly, I'll leave you with this piece of advice.


There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.

The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.

That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.

Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.

One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.

It is notoriously difficult to prize your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinty, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.

This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration. Bob and float, float and bob. Ignore all consideration of your own weight simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of "Good God, you can't possibly be flying!" It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

Waft higher and higher. Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.

DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.

When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly easier and easier to achieve.

You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your maneuverability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it were going to anyway.

You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly screw up, and screw up badly, on your first attempt.

There are private clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitchhikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them

[Orsik Vondal]

Also, if anyone wishes to try and fly, I'll leave you with this piece of advice.



Ash is going to try this! :smallsmile: Flying is "fairly new" to him. It just might prove to be a wonderfully awesome solution to this unfortunate predicament we find ourselves in at the moment.

[Nai_Calus]

Don't take my stream-of-consciousness examples as "THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN DO THIS!!" If you can make a case for using another skill for Frank (athletics, diplomacy, whatever), then use it.


I generally take the way the DM says to do things as the way to do things, you should know this by now. :smalltongue: Only thing I can think of to justify anything else is claiming that since Frank is a holy magical intelligent Silver Dragonmule asking him to please do something vaguely qualifies as Diplomacy.



I'll admit, I'm not seeing much of a use for Streetwise, but I've been surprised in the past.


I will use it to ask for directions to the ground, except I will botch the roll so badly that I get lost and end up at the top instead.

No, better yet, I will INTIMIDATE THE GROUND YOU HAD BETTER GET OUT OF MY WAY, GROUND.



And you seem to use the word "literally" the way that Rob Lowe does in Parks and Rec. So...not "literally" at all. There are plenty of things you can try to do, but you'll need to be creative, or think outside the box.

I'll have a more detailed IC post up in a bit, outlining how things will work.

I can think of plenty of things to do, sure. :smalltongue: They have very little chance of success done by me and by the rules of skill challenges the party is *much* better off if I don't try to do them. :smalleek: I am not willing to actively endanger the party trying to be creative with something I have very bad odds of doing. :smallfrown:

[Hzurr]

Ash is going to try this! :smallsmile: Flying is "fairly new" to him. It just might prove to be a wonderfully awesome solution to this unfortunate predicament we find ourselves in at the moment.

Just remember, if you throw yourself at the ground, you've got a 1 in 20 chance of critically failing and missing the ground.

(If I remember correctly, I actually had a PC try this in an old 3.5 game)

[Orsik Vondal]

Nai, the truth of the matter is that none of the other characters would try to direct Frank most likely. He's your companion. Ash, at least, would not usurp Eltain's control of his own companion. Not unless Eltain tells him to. Which would seem odd anyway.

[Nai_Calus]

Yes, but Eltain's worried about everyone else first. You'll notice that first suggestion for shoving everyone onto flying things made no provisions for actually getting *Eltain* onto something. :smallwink:

@Hzurr: So I assume I need to be making some kind of Athletics checks here from what you're describing to try to get on Frank/get him not falling/try to help someone else(And that just teleporting onto him like I usually do isn't an option)? Time to roll d2s, except later because I have to go to work.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan's going to attempt to fly. Sort of.

[DSCrankshaw]

I suppose the question of whether that succeeded or not depends on whether Hzurr thinks that was a hard or moderate DC.

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash is using Insight to figure out the best course of action. Of course, this is a hair-brained, but darned courageous plan.:smallamused:

[dariathalon]

Just remember, if you throw yourself at the ground, you've got a 1 in 20 chance of critically failing and missing the ground.

(If I remember correctly, I actually had a PC try this in an old 3.5 game)

Reminds me of an old dm I had. He'd been running D&D since... well before there was a D&D I think. He mostly homebrewed his system. In one of the incarnations of his "system" monks had the ability to actively dodge things. Anything that tried to damage them, they got a roll to negate the damage.

At the time he decided to end the campaign, one of the players had a high level monk. The dm declared that the world ended when the sun went supernova. The monk dodged.

[Nai_Calus]

I once avoided getting crushed by several tons of rubble whilst falling amidst it by convincing the DM to let me curse bacteria and then blow up the rubble it was on to trigger my Fey pact boon.

So far for this I've considered bluffing the ground to convince it to not kill me, intimidating it into getting out of my way, and botching a streetwise check to ask for directions to the ground and thus getting lost.

In actuality, it's probably going to work out to flipping a couple of coins since I have exactly a 50% chance of succeeding an easy athletics DC. Which still won't help Eltain save anyone else, blargh.

All my actual ideas involve powers and normal turn progression and thus are useless in a skill challenge.

[dariathalon]

Okay, now the roller is just mocking me. "HAHA I wouldn't roll above a 6 when you were trying to redirect the portal. Now that you've screwed the whole thing up I'll give you a 20."

[DSCrankshaw]

Well, Lucan's in the midst of inventing skydiving, sans parachute. And he has a 60% chance of making a moderate Acrobatics check, which is what I think he needs.

I'm still trying to figure out how to rescue Yuri, though.

[Orsik Vondal]

Right on, Pav! :smallcool: Sweet action!

[dariathalon]

I'm thinking I can have Pavick use his illusory wall to create a slide-style chute leading down to one of the branches. It is only an illusion, but if hopefully Yuri wouldn't notice that until he was safely on a branch.

[DSCrankshaw]

What all can Eltain's cloak do?

[Nai_Calus]

Give you guys cold resist and Snow-covered landicewalk, freeze the ground I walk on, make snow. None of this is especially useful currently.

[Hzurr]

In actuality, it's probably going to work out to flipping a couple of coins since I have exactly a 50% chance of succeeding an easy athletics DC. Which still won't help Eltain save anyone else, blargh.

So if you're that nervous about it being an athletics check, make it something else. I could see an argument for religion or arcana to summon Frank in a way that you'll easily land on him mid-fall.

[Nai_Calus]

Simple physics would allow for Eltain to summon Frank under him and just let gravity do its thing, really

This would be a very bad idea, given that Frank would be stationary and likely already flying at the moment of summoning, and Eltain is falling at a rate of 83.3... feet per second, or about 56.82mph. The results would not be pretty for either of them as Eltain would be somewhat stopped by the impact, though inertia would keep downward force going with painful consequences for both of them. Since he's technically 'landed' by hitting a relatively stationary object, Eltain would take 50d10 damage from the impact; the rules don't actually specify that anything would happen to Frank, but.

Granted, this is attempting to discuss the realistic consequences of a half-human half-eladrin holy warrior/mage falling out of a gigantic magical spider construct and landing on a flying mule. Realism went out the window several decades ago there.

And yet my brain still insists that attempting to fall onto Frank is a terrible idea because 56 miles per hour holy god what is wrong with you. :smalltongue: Ignorance really is bliss. :smallbiggrin:

Granted, realism also demands that Eltain can't summon Frank next to him and attempt to grab on either for exactly the same relative speed reasons. (Not to mention that even if he did succeed he'd rip both his arms out of their sockets.)

I'm still trying to think of something clever and useful, but honestly nothing is coming.

Also I can't believe nobody has made a joke about Paladins falling yet.

[Orsik Vondal]

On the map it looks like there are two people in each of the sacrifice tokens. Does that mean there are two people to be saved per (four by Ash, four by Zyrr)? Or does one token=one person?

[Hzurr]

...snip...

Wait, did you just use physics to explain why you can't do something, and then say that physics don't really apply here anyway, and conclude that none of the...4 possible skill checks I've suggested will work (athletics, acrobatics, arcana or religion)?

At this point, I feel like you're trying to kill yourself.


On the map it looks like there are two people in each of the sacrifice tokens. Does that mean there are two people to be saved per (four by Ash, four by Zyrr)? Or does one token=one person?

For the moment, treat each sacrifice token as one person. I'd originally planned on each representing two people, but changed my mind when the encounter started and forgot to update the tokens.

[Orsik Vondal]

At this point, I feel like you're trying to kill yourself.


Well, Hzurr, if you remember the character I tried to kill off, you will understand the thrust of Nai's rant. :smallamused: I tried my dangdest to off that dwarf, even going to such lengths as going one on one against a mindflayer and jumping off a bridge spanning a bottomless chasm. And he would...not...die!

So, I think Nai is trying to fail a suicide check. :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

[DSCrankshaw]

Now that I've reached Yuri, we can see if I can figure out a way for us both to survive. It'll have to wait until I'm on my laptop though.

[Hzurr]

Now that I've reached Yuri, we can see if I can figure out a way for us both to survive. It'll have to wait until I'm on my laptop though.

Congratulations. You're now falling while riding a unicorn.

This should be interesting...

[DSCrankshaw]

I have some ideas about what should happen here, but I'll let the DM comment on my plan first.

[Hzurr]

I have some ideas about what should happen here, but I'll let the DM comment on my plan first.

I've seen enough cartoons to know what happens when a falling character lassos a bendy branch.

I believe Lucan should warm up his vocal cords for the impending "Yaaaaahoohoohooey!!!!!!!!" noise the Goofy taught me is appropriate in these situations. :smallwink:

But I'll actually wait to see what Aramil, Eltain, & Zyrr do before I post. (Sent a PM to Toric to see if his life has gotten any less crazy, still waiting on an answer before I continue to NPC him)

[DSCrankshaw]

One thing I'll say for this exercise, it really forced me to review my character build and abilities. There's a lot of things I forgot about. Preternatural Senses, for example, or Prescient resurgence (I regain Virtue of Prescience when I spend an action point).

For example, did you know that I can now speak Yuri's language, and that of others of his species? Of course, unicorns speak elvish, so that doesn't help a lot--elvish is one of a half-elf's automatic languages, plus I get it from Envoy to the Fey feat. There's also what happens when one of us dies:


If you die or your companion drops below 1 hit point, it retreats back into the Feywild. If that occurs, you can use one of these two ways to call it back.

Minor Action: You lose a healing surge, and your companion appears in the nearest unoccupied space, with hit points equal to your healing surge value.

Short Rest or Extended Rest: At the end of the rest, you lose a healing surge, and your companion appears in the nearest unoccupied space, with full hit points.

Of course, since we're in the Feywild, I'm not sure where Yuri would retreat to, so I figured a rescue was in order. So a crazy plan and some lucky rolls, and here we are.

[Nai_Calus]

Well, Hzurr, if you remember the character I tried to kill off, you will understand the thrust of Nai's rant. :smallamused: I tried my dangdest to off that dwarf, even going to such lengths as going one on one against a mindflayer and jumping off a bridge spanning a bottomless chasm. And he would...not...die!

So, I think Nai is trying to fail a suicide check. :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

Mostly it's that IC Eltain is more worried about other people, and I can't think of anything clever to save them. Also, I really don't want Eltain to die, so I was trying to think of something creative that might help.

Also, I have never liked and never will like skill challenges. They make me freeze up completely creatively to where I won't use a subobtimal skill unless I absolutely am required to. Hate them. Least favorite thing in 4E.

And yeah, physics and the 4E falling rules do not mesh, which makes me cranky. :smallbiggrin:

Speaking of which, D&Dworld has either really low gravity or very heavy atmosphere since teminal velocity isn't anywhere near what it is on Earth.

-----

Well that was a close roll. :smalleek: Now for the followup:

Acrobatics to move into a more aerodynamic posture to accelerate to try to manuver onto Frank: [roll0]

Ouch.

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm not sure why Eltain needed two rolls. Shouldn't the first one have been enough?

Anyway, now that Lucan's done inventing skydiving, he's working on bungee jumping.

[Hzurr]

I'm not sure why Eltain needed two rolls. Shouldn't the first one have been enough?


Yeah, the first one was enough, not certain why the second one was needed, but I'm actually going to say that the aiding roll of Pavick canceled out the poor acrobatics roll, so no net penalty.

Eltain will be on Frank to do what he wishes (I'll sum this up in an IC post once I also get either Mando Knight or Toric to post)

[Mando Knight]

Yes, Aramil is reversing polarity to try to invent a plasma rocket on the fly. And yes, that was a natural 1 on the check.

[Nai_Calus]

Aramil should totally get a +20 to that check as long as he's willing to babble about reversing the polarity of the neutron flow.

[Orsik Vondal]

Is this challenge another encounter, or a continuation of the previous one? The answer will affect what happens to Ash very soon. Gotta add some drama to an otherwise mundane situation, y'know. :smallbiggrin:

[Hzurr]

Is this challenge another encounter, or a continuation of the previous one? The answer will affect what happens to Ash very soon. Gotta add some drama to an otherwise mundane situation, y'know.

This is only like 3 rounds after the construct exploded. No time for a short rest, I think over half the party is bloodied after that explosion.


Yes, Aramil is reversing polarity to try to invent a plasma rocket on the fly. And yes, that was a natural 1 on the check.

A+ for creative thinking, F for execution.

[Mando Knight]

This is only like 3 rounds after the construct exploded. No time for a short rest, I think over half the party is bloodied after that explosion.
Aramil's fine, though, provided he can avoid going splat.

A+ for creative thinking, F for execution.
Cs get degrees, right? :smalltongue:

[Orsik Vondal]

Just checking. No teleporting for Ash, then.

[Orsik Vondal]

Curse these treeeeeeeeeeeeeees! :smallfurious:

[Nai_Calus]

The trees don't like you because you don't hug them enough.

[Orsik Vondal]

The trees don't like you because you don't hug them enough.

True. Ash has the unfortunate tendency to set things on fire, which trees tend to dislike. Hmmm...

I diplome the tree into not caring as much, because I'm saving feyfolk- [roll0]

I intimidate the tree so it accepts my sword now, instead of my fire later - [roll1]

I bluff the tree into thinking I won't hurt it at all - [roll2]

Silly trees. :smallamused:

[Hzurr]

Silly trees. :smallamused:

Big words for someone currently falling to his death.

[Orsik Vondal]

Big words for someone currently falling to his death.

That curmudgeon eladrin threw Ash off his game! If he hadn't said that, they would be fine, chillin' on the branch waiting for Keezul to come for them. But NOOOOOO! He had to go and say somethin' to distract Ash. Now they are plummeting to their death. Ash might be able to get out of this. I don't know about Bob.:smallannoyed:

[Mando Knight]

Bob's fine. I didn't summon him.

[Orsik Vondal]

Bob's fine. I didn't summon him.

You have a "Bob"? :smallconfused: Who is Bob to you, Mando? Bob is what I named the guy Ash is currently falling with.

[Nai_Calus]

Bob is Aramil's Eladrin fighter pet.

Reposting questions from twitter: What would I need to do to try to help Aramil? Swoop under him? Arcana to force one of his teleports? Catch him and then Eltain teleports to a branch?

Also, Jon, don't forget Zyrr has a flying carpet.

[DSCrankshaw]

So now I have to figure out how to get a unicorn to climb a tree. That might be a challenge.

[Nai_Calus]

Have Zyrr get Eltain with his carpet and have Yuri ride Frank

[Orsik Vondal]

They have been falling for a bit now. I say, oh so selfishly :smallredface:, that Zyrr should help save Ash, because he's closer.

[Orsik Vondal]

Also...

Sweet, baby Jesus! Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaahhh!

I hope that does something good. :smallwink:

[Hzurr]

Ok, that was a bit a-typical, but Orsik & I have exchanged a few PMs over the weekend, and as part of his epic destiny, he requested that we go ahead with Asheroth progressing from owing his soul to Mephistopheles, and onto a different power. I was more than happy to oblige, because I'm all about working y'all's epic destinies into the story (so if anyone else has ideas about how they want to incorporate their destiny into the story, feel free to reach out to me and we'll work something out). This one may have been a bit melodramatic, but WHATEVER GET OVER IT! :smalltongue:

(oh, and for clarity we refluffed Asheroth's broom of flying into wings. Functionally it'll be the same, with the added bonus that it can't be taken away from him, but with the detriment that he can't give it to anyone else).

To keep the overall story progressing (since things have been moving fairly slow lately), you've got a few options.

1) Travel up the trees of Senalisse. You risk dealing with attacks and enchantments from above, but you're high enough now that you may have bypassed most of them

2) Catch up to the other construct (and try plan (a) over again, hopefully with less explosions this time.

3) try to work your way over to the Fomorian siege tower and board it/ride it to the top.

4) The way I haven't considered yet but that I'm certain someone will come up with.

Oh, also, you're officially able to take a short rest now so your powers re-charge and you're able to spend healing surges as need-be. Don't forget to include the damage from the explosion.

[Hzurr]

Also, I'd mentally put Eltain on the "safe" list, but reading back through the thread I realized that's not the case. Unless the following roll is a natural 1, I'll assume that he's fine:

[roll0]

-edit-

Oh good, I'm not certain what I would have done if it had been a 1.

[DSCrankshaw]

There have been explosions in downtown Boston. I'm not sure whether I'm the only one in the area, but I hope everyone's safe.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm not in Boston, but ditto.

[Hzurr]

Hmm...I know that Toric, Nai, and I aren't in Boston (nor is Haberdashery). Only person I'm not certain of is Mando Knight.

[Mando Knight]

I'm not in/from Boston, either.

...I don't think I've even ever had the opportunity to go to Massachusetts...

[Nai_Calus]

Glad you're ok, Crankshaw.

Yeah, I'm in Oregon, Hzurr is Houston, TX, toric is Oklahoma, think Hab is California, Orsik I'm not sure but he's reported ok, same with Mando.

I also don't know where dariathalon is at. Hope he's not in Boston. :(

[dariathalon]

I'm not in Boston either. I'm in Iowa. Glad to hear everyone is okay.

Pavick will spend 2 more surges during the short rest, bringing him to full.

Pavick's vote would go for the siege towers. Pavick doesn't much like the idea of climbing. He's a little gunshy on the other construct, there's some strange magic going on there that obviously he just can't figure out. I can't think of option 4, so siege towers is his preference.

Edit: After reading the IC and seeing that we have the option of getting into the stairs from here, I guess that might also be an okay option.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm in Houston, as well. I would be up for any of the options in this order

1. Up the trees
2. Siege engines
3. Other construct

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan has some healing left for the two most badly injured.

[roll0] + surge value

Also, don't forget to add 8 to your surge value for surges spent during your short rest for Song of Rest.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain is all for stairs, but that's because he's a cheating bastard who doesn't have to climb them and can just teleport up. ;p

[DSCrankshaw]

I say we climb the stairs this time.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'll find those stairs. I'll whip their butt, too. Those stairs won't know which way they're going... take drastic steps, kick it to the curb. Don't mess wit' me. I'm the Stair Master. I've mastered the stairs. I wish I had a step right here, right now, I'd step all over it...

[Mando Knight]

Let's go with the stairs.

[Hzurr]

Oops, somehow I missed the email update, and thought that no one had posted anything in two days. Not only did people post, but a decision was made. GREAT SCOTT (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ITiKby59UY/TpWxQoLKpWI/AAAAAAAAAy0/CzlneqjBELA/s1600/BttF_pic9.jpg)!

[Mando Knight]

Yep. Now we'll go jump on the other spider construct anyway. :smalltongue:

[Nai_Calus]

I thought we were going to conjure giant snails and ride them up.

[Hzurr]

Fair warning, I was drawing a bit of a blank on what all would be waiting in the trees (since I didn't expect y'all to blow up the spider, I didn't really prepare for this bit), so I asked the twitter masses for ideas. First idea suggested was for an encounter with dropbears (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_bear).

For those of you too lazy to click on a link, a dropbear is a bear that drops on people from trees.

I eventually decided against using them, but not before I got bored and had Microsoft Paint open on my work laptop.

So now you get this:

http://i.imgur.com/K0DkNEl.jpg

In more positive news, I do know what y'all will encounter in the trees, so an IC post will be up later tonight.

[Mando Knight]

Look, dropbears are already considered an endangered species in the greater Senaliesse metropolitan area due to centuries of overzealous population control. We don't need to threaten wiping them out entirely just because we are trying to get to the top of the trees faster.

[Orsik Vondal]

History - [roll0]

Sweet action! And I assume that each of us will have to choose our trial separately.

[Mando Knight]

+25 to History. Win!

[Hzurr]

I assume that each of us will have to choose our trial separately.

No, last time y'all split the party, Zyrr died, so I assume you'll want to do things together. Though there is something about the yellow that looks like you might not have the team support you would normally have.

[Orsik Vondal]

No, last time y'all split the party, Zyrr died, so I assume you'll want to do things together. Though there is something about the yellow that looks like you might not have the team support you would normally have.

That's what was throwing me for a loop. The first and third pools seem like they could be team attack, but the second one sounded like a solo run, so I was thinking the other two were, as well. Good to know! :smallannoyed:

Ash would rather stay together. Let's test our minds! Blue pool! :smallbiggrin:

[Hzurr]

+25 to History. Win!

I'll assume that Aramil & Asheroth share what they know with the rest of the party.

[Mando Knight]

With that high of a modifier, is there anything else Aramil might be able to recall?

Roll if needed: [roll0]

[Hzurr]

With that high of a modifier, is there anything else Aramil might be able to recall?

Roll if needed: [roll0]

I was going to say no, but a nat 20? Dang.

Is there anything in particular Aramil would like to know?

[Nai_Calus]

My first thought here is that Hzurr has been reading too much Planescape. (Portal-in-Sigilesque door, the room reminds me of Bytopia, and the thought of 'Petitioner? We're not dead.')

I kind of lean towards blue or pink. Eltain doesn't want to do something he has to do alone because then how is he going to try to protect everyone else?

[Mando Knight]

Hm... any hints as to what the trials might involve beyond the purposefully-vague verse (like legends of The Mortal That Did It or something)?

[Hzurr]

My first thought here is that Hzurr has been reading too much Planescape. (Portal-in-Sigilesque door, the room reminds me of Bytopia, and the thought of 'Petitioner? We're not dead.')


Unfortunately, no. :smallsmile: I don't know what Bytopia or the Petitioner are, the door idea came from the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife", and the room was inspired from The Magician's Nephew by C.S.Lewis.