A Roleplayer is you. IC [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-27, 08:40 PM

"And then the mighty barbarian raised his- and it's dead," Lilleen said, aborting her latest narration with a shrug.

"You gotta be quick," Anthen said with a slender grin.

"Uh-huh. Seriously, though, that was nuts. I'll tell you what, that is the last time I sit on that bench. Actually, I may just go ahead and declare a general moratorium on bench-sitting in general. I don't need the stress."

"That the two events were related is highly implausible," Anthen felt obligated to point out.

"Considering that the entire fight was highly implausible, I stand by my decision," Lilleen countered with a firm nod, before shifting her focus to the group of people who they had assisted in the battle (no, it wasn't "who assisted them"; Anthen and Lilleen were quite clear on their role in the universe). "Hey, guys, just wanted to say, awesome job! That thing was all 'Rarr!' and you were all 'Chop!' and 'Boom!' and 'Bam!' and it's like 'Gurk!'"

"That is...certainly a valid recounting of events. Or, at least, it would be for someone who doesn't have sixteen levels of Storyteller, but whatever. On a more practical note, does anyone have any idea where that thing actually came from? Or, and this is critical, if there are perhaps more on the way?"

Catarang

2014-07-27, 08:58 PM

Grog composes himself, shaking the blood from his Greatsword and turning to address the gathering.

He looks embarrassed and slightly scared.

"I'm am so sorry for bringing this beast upon you all. I will no longer endanger you with my presence."he says, half shouting his words.

He then begins to walk away.

GameSpawn

2014-07-27, 09:08 PM

Forilla turns to the storytellers and the barbarian, "Well, I feel it's perfectly reasonable to expect that dragons will attack from time to time. After all, why would there be statblocks for so many monsters if they never saw combat? But I digress; I think if our group decides to work together, the reason the dragon came here is perfectly clear. Alternatively, the dragon's a precursor to a larger invasion, and we should band together until this threat is defeated. Either way, our course of action is clear." She pauses, then speaks again, "As to your other questions, I'll make some knowledge checks and see if I can't come up with anything." Forilla reflects on whether green dragons would be likely to live in a habitat like this, whether they tended to live in groups, and what the answer to those questions were when asked with regards to zombies.

Knowledge (Arcana): [roll0]
Knowledge (Religion): [roll1]

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-27, 09:19 PM

The angelic twins cast each other surprised, sidelong looks, before flying around to get in front of the barbarian. "Woah, slow down, man! This thing was after you then?"

"In the general sense, the people who think their presence is a danger to others due to an inordinate number of increasingly byzantine monster attacks occurring in their vicinity are the people we most prefer to hang around with," Anthen said. There was just enough sarcasm in his voice to qualify the statement as self-deprecating.

"It saves us time on divinations, you see," Lilleen explained.

"Speaking of which, let us know if you think we should cast a couple of those," Anthen said, turning his gaze to Forilla.

Catarang

2014-07-27, 09:30 PM

"Honestly, I don't know if it was truly after me. What I do know is that the last and only two time's I've been in a settlement of some kind, It was razed by some creature while I was unconscious. I had thought I had gotten off scott-free until we rolled initiative. I hope none of you were injured in the fight on my behalf."

Grog begins talking as if he was addressing the party, but by the end he is looking at his boots, clearly still embarrassed.

NineOfSpades

2014-07-27, 10:04 PM

"Wooooo" Cheered Reiko, her words "Good job every...everybody" She mumbled, digging around in her belt. The young woman slouched against the fallen dragons hide, nursing back a bottle of ale, before splashing a bit onto her scrapes to clean them off. The contrast was, frankly, somewhat frigtening. Moments before, she'd been tornado made of punches, a dervish that seemed to strike from everywhere at once. But perhaps that was just the heat of the moment. Because now, Reiko very much appeared to have little to no grasp of where she actually was, much less of how to fight a dragon. From another pocket at her belt, she produced two more bottles "Who wants to celebrete? Celebrat?...Celebrate?" she chuckled at her slurred words, guping down another mouthful.

In her hazy thoughts, an idea appeared "Hey...Hey guys...Guess what! This is a dragon!" from her excitment, one would really hope that she had a better followup to her observation "And he's dead! You know what that means? Free ****! YEAH! Triple Standard treasure" Winding up, she gave a hard punch to the side of the dragons face "Hey! hey Dragon! HaaaaaaAAAAAAy...where's your loot? I call..." Her balance seemed to give out. The world spun around as Reiko took a tumble head over heels, landing on her back. She didn't seem to mind though, not from the big, goofy grin on her face "...Dibs"

GameSpawn

2014-07-27, 10:19 PM

Forilla smiles at the exuberant woman, "Unfortunately, I think the 'zombie' part trumps the 'dragon' part. So no, no triple treasure for us. Probably. Unless we can find where it laired before it got zombified. I will celebrate with you though." She bends down and reaches out her hand to take the other bottle the woman had produced, then continues, addressing Grog, "If you don't mind me saying so, you looked pretty conscious during this fight." She turns back to Reiko, "You do raise a valid point though. We should probably loot it's corpse, just to be on the safe side."

[roll0]

Catarang

2014-07-27, 10:31 PM

Grog's eyebrows shoot up, as if he hadn't even considered that. "Oh! I didn't even consider that! And I do admit I am quite curious to see what kind of loot drops from such a beast."

NineOfSpades

2014-07-27, 10:38 PM

"Soundzlikea plan" Nodded Reiko, climbing back to her feet, and continuing to climb after reaching a standing position, right up onto the back of the dragon. "Don't worry, I got this. The dragon can take us back to its lair, since he probably knows where it is". now perched atop the decaying dragon head, Reiko gripped two of its horns in hand "Giddy up"

"Don't worry, I'm good to ride" she added, as if to reassure the group of her driving abilities.

[roll0] Ride check

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-27, 11:22 PM

Lilleen leaned over to her brother, saying softly with a bright smile, "I call narrating for her in future battles."

"Oh dear..." he replied with a long-suffering sigh. "Ah, miss! That dragon is, in fact, quite dead. Doubly so, as it happens."

"Ten points says it takes off and starts flying for her anyway," Lilleen said.

"No bet," Anthen replied, far too savvy to fall for a trap like that.

asdflove

2014-07-27, 11:35 PM

Knowledge (Arcana): [roll0]
Knowledge (Religion): [roll1]
The nearest green dragons live to the a good ways north in the lower, forested, parts of the mountains.
What questions were there about zombies?

[roll0]
There's nothing much. Approximately 20 platinum could be found wedged under, or partially wedged under, scalles across the lower half of the body.

"Soundzlikea plan" Nodded Reiko, climbing back to her feet, and continuing to climb after reaching a standing position, right up onto the back of the dragon. "Don't worry, I got this. The dragon can take us back to its lair, since he probably knows where it is". now perched atop the decaying dragon head, Reiko gripped two of its horns in hand "Giddy up"

"Don't worry, I'm good to ride" she added, as if to reassure the group of her driving abilities.

[roll0] Ride check
The dragon is quite dead. The only thing that happened is that one of the horns broke off the head into her hand.

NineOfSpades

2014-07-27, 11:36 PM

"I know its dead" Reiko replied, very matter-o-factly. "Got a 16 in wisdom..." the mental effort of keeping track of her own stats seemed to cause the drunk to loose her train of thought for a moment, before she continued "And 'being dead' didn't seem to stop it from attacking us, now did it?"

Catarang

2014-07-28, 12:30 AM

Grog looks at Reiko quite puzzled.

"Whats wrong with her?", he says, oblivious to the obvious answer.

Simba

2014-07-28, 03:38 AM

".....another green..an undead one, too..disgusting!"

Standing in front of the huge carcass the slender Catfolk swordsman who had been dancing around the monster a second ago, with a powerful song on his lips, now slouches like a sack of potatoes, a pained look on his face. Wiping his slender swords clean on a piece of cloth he looks at the others, obviously trying to manage a smile and failing.

"Disgusting, but fitting, too. What else to bring the new group together? Ah, well, so be it. Let's face it, I am not too old to go adventuring and I have nothing better to do right now. I should be able to recognize at least some of you, high level folks you all are. Well, I'm Feisin Al'Verre. I swing swords and sing, sometimes."

Catarang

2014-07-28, 04:13 AM

Balling his hands into fists, Grog says "At the same time?" obviously impressed by that.

When he realizes what he has said, he goes back to looking at his feet.

Simba

2014-07-28, 05:20 AM

This time the small smile on Feisin's face seems genuine: "Yes, my friend. At the same time. I'm a Warsinger."

GameSpawn

2014-07-28, 07:19 AM

Forilla smiles at Feisen, "I'm Forilla." She looks at the group as a whole and gives her report, "There's a population of green dragons a good ways north of here, in the forested parts of the mountains. It probably came from there, though I think of greater concern is why it was here; if you have any divinations that can answer that, I encourage you to cast them. Finally, there are some coins wedged under it's scales. Anyway, as for it being dead, we can work around that, if we can find 10000 gold pieces worth of diamonds. Not that I am recommending we do so." She begins gathering the coins.

NineOfSpades

2014-07-28, 07:36 AM

"That sounds expensive...Why do wegotta *hic* Bring 'em all the way back?" Asked Reiko, picking at a bit of grim in her hair she'd only just taken notice off, using the dragons broken off horn as an impromptu comb. "Wazzat spell? Chat with dead? Go get a cleric to cast that puppy for us. Then We'll just ask em" Satisfied at her, admittedly rather meager, attempt at personal hygine, Reiko downed the last of her bottle and tossed it aside, letting the glass shatter against the cobblestone street.

Catarang

2014-07-28, 07:44 AM

"THEY CAN DO THAT???" Grog blurts out rather abruptly. When he realizes how loud he said it, he adds on "Just...uhm... If I had known clerics could do that I would've gotten one to cast it so I could find out what killed my tribe... and that other village..."

In a desperate effort to get back on topic, Grog then says "I'd gladly pitch in what little money I have to find out why this beast attacked us."

GameSpawn

2014-07-28, 11:27 AM

Forilla looks at Grog with surprise, "Oh yes, Speak with Dead: it's a third level spell from the player's handbook. Finding someone who can cast it shouldn't be hard. Unfortunately for our purposes, it doesn't affect a corpse that's been turned into undead."

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-28, 01:01 PM

"I am Anthen."

"Lilleen. And yeah, we'll get right on it. We don't have Speak with Dead, but a Legen- oh..."

"Yes," Anthen said, calmly, with with a positively superior smirk on his face. "Oh."

"Ah...I...we...well there's a bit of a...an issue a...minor...with the, the dragon it...and...life energy...ley lines and, and, and...with the oil."

"What my dear sister is trying so futilely to come up with a coherent in-character explanation for is that our divinations at the moment happen to be incredibly limited and also that it's all her fault."

"Not my...it's...star charts and the...dragon it..."

"What it all comes down to, you see, is that the vast majority of serious information-gathering divinations require material components. Which becomes problematic when certain someones insist that Vow of Poverty is a good choice for a first-level feat because it 'fits the whole helpful angels theme'. Now, in ordinary circumstances, we could get around this by spending an hour and a thousand XP creating an oil that would substitute for the components. Unfortunately, we used the last of our stock five days ago. Even that would not have been much of a problem, as creating the oil takes but an hour. However, our buddy there," he nodded to the dragon, "Was apparently worth precisely enough XP to get us up to sixteenth level. This is a good thing, as it means sixth level spells, more Power Word damage, and a fairly awesome new class feature. Unfortunately, it also means that our serious divinations are functionally limited to Contact Other Plane until we get a thousand XP to spare."

Lilleen just sighed. "I could have come up with an explanation involving ley lines," she said moodily. "And it doesn't matter. Contact Other Plane is an excellent divination and we have methods to mitigate the risk. So stop whining about our build and help me cast it."

Anthen gave a brief nod, then looked to the rest of the group. "Any suggestions on who we should contact? Deities of dragons, undead, and magic are preferable. Lesser or intermediate rank are probably the best bets."

"Because why would angels ever need Knowledge (Religion)?" Lilleen asked with her own smirk.

"...Now who's whining about build decisions?"

NineOfSpades

2014-07-28, 02:38 PM

Reiko nodded along with the Four angels as they chatted back and forth over their spell casting. Wait, was it four? Hard to tell. The wings kept throwing her count off. Maybe it was just one angel, and she was seeing slightly doubly. Shaking her head a bit, Reiko knocked her senses back into alignment and concluded there were exactly two angelic figures who were arguing about game rules. "Yeah, Dragon gods!" She cheered, sliding down the backside of the dragon, in a manner that could only be described as Flintstones-ariffic "Niceta meetcha Anty, Lil" Reiko smiled, vigerously shaking hands with the two winged humanoids "Imm Reiko Hideki...or Hideki Reiko...not to sure myself, the setting guidelines are like....SOoooooOoooo inconsistent." At close range, it was a toss up as to which was worse: Reiko's breath or the rotting dragon carcass.

Suddenly, a look of panic ran across Reiko's face"Wait...****...We Screwed up....I think we screwed up" She cast her vision left and right "Uh...forget I said anything...we gotta get to an Inn first...or a tavern. Its like a -1 luck penelty to form a party without a tavern!"

"Oh wait...wouldn't a dragon god be pissed that we killed a dead dragon? I know I'd be pissed if I were a dragon god..." Reiko seemed to be on at least 4 or 5 different trains of thought, of which only a few were releated to the groups current discussion.

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-28, 04:30 PM

Lilleen gave a bright smile at the enthusiastic handshake, saying, "It's good to meet you, Reiko.". Anthen returned it with calm decorum.

~He he...'auntie'.~

~*Sigh* I won't be escaping that any time soon, hmm?~

~Oh no, that one stays.~

~Lovely.~

"No no! It's okay!" Lilleen responded to Reiko's concerns. "Because we...we...we're a bunch of, of stone-cold, hard-core rebels! Yeah! You can tell by the...the..." she looked around, frowning a moment, before her eyes narrowed determinedly, "by the utter lack of trenchcoats! Because if we were all wearing trenchcoats then they'd know, and the ninjas can't catch you if you're on fire!"

"I believe the plural is actually-"

"You see, you've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. We don't need no stinkin' taverns! We blaze our own trails! We make our own luck! We...sing our own songs! From the people who brought you Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast. I reject your screw-up, and substitute my own! Why? Because we are the champions, my friend. And a day may come when the creativity of PCs fail, but it is not this day!"

"I have a dream! It is a dream deeply rooted in the adventurer's dream! I have-"

"Annnnnd I think we're done here."

"..."

"..."

"I don't know whether you fully understand that my epic speech has just been shot..."

"Lill..."

"It...but...Teddy...!"

"Ah...eh..." Anthen sighed and gave a kinda nodding shrug.

GameSpawn

2014-07-28, 05:12 PM

Slightly bemused, Forilla attempts to respond to the angels earlier query, "Well, whether it would have been an appropriate decision for you or not, I have maxed ranks in Knowledge (Religion). Whedab Kornari is the goddess of evil dragons, which green dragons are. And zombie green dragons are doubly evil, I guess, since they're zombies. Although if you'd rather talk to a good deity, Ux Kornari is the god of good dragons. Also, there's Tiaka, who's a god of hate, but also necromancy and negative energy, so maybe she'd be a good choice for questions about undead."

I'm assuming it's OK for us to know the information about the gods you posted in the OOC thread (especially since my minimum result on a knowledge(religion) check is 30).

To see if I have any insight into which, if any, of these deities are of lesser or intermediate rank, or if I just know which ones would be most helpful: Knowledge (Religion) check [roll0]

asdflove

2014-07-28, 05:20 PM

Slightly bemused, Forilla attempts to respond to the angels earlier query, "Well, whether it would have been an appropriate decision for you or not, I have maxed ranks in Knowledge (Religion). Whedab Kornari is the goddess of evil dragons, which green dragons are. And zombie green dragons are doubly evil, I guess, since they're zombies. Although if you'd rather talk to a good deity, Ux Kornari is the god of good dragons. Also, there's Tiaka, who's a god of hate, but also necromancy and negative energy, so maybe he'd be a good choice for questions about undead."

I'm assuming it's OK for us to know the information about the gods you posted in the OOC thread (especially since my minimum result on a knowledge(religion) check is 30).

To see if I have any insight into which, if any, of these deities are of lesser or intermediate rank, or if I just know which ones would be most helpful: Knowledge (Religion) check [roll0]

None of them are, actually. I only mentioned the gods of note in the OOC, there are a ton of Lesser and Intermediate ascended gods.
Tiaka or Whedab would probably be the most useful here, as Ux tends to only pay attention to good dragons.

Catarang

2014-07-28, 07:40 PM

"I'm glad we have all found each other by some strange coincidence." Grog says smiling.
" I haven't had this much fun since... In a long time."

"Maybe sticking with them for now is a good idea. Nothing has happened in a long time, maybe it has left me for good." He thinks to himself.

GameSpawn

2014-07-28, 07:50 PM

Forilla pauses to gather her thoughts on the matter, then continues after Grog finishes speaking, "Those are all the major gods. There's also an intermediate deity for this region called 'The King', and an intermediate god that's related to necromancy called The Render. As for lesser gods, there are four that are relevant: Alec, the gravekeeper; Marius, Lady of Death; Kallian, The Lich Lord; and The Shadowman."

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-28, 08:46 PM

"Thanks. Let's see here...Gravekeeper sounds more like your basic 'death is a neutral force, the dead should stay dead' sort, just going by the name. Correct me if I'm wrong, of course, but if that's so he'll likely have good information and hopefully won't be too annoyed at the line of questions. Lesser keeps the risk minimal and we should still be able to brute force our way to decent accuracy. I'm thinking go with him."

"No arguments."

The twins faced each other, resting their hands atop one another, palm to palm, right hands up and left down. They both closed their eyes, voices mingling in a magical chant. It was a much more mage-like spell than a bardic one, not a melodious incantation, but precisely spoken words of eldritch power. They would remain in that state, concentrating on the spell, for several minutes.

Unless something interrupted them, though, eventually their heads would lean back and their eyes shoot open, shining with pure white light.

Figure I'd just do the whole thing in one post for sake of speed, but yeah it has a ten minute casting time so my guys are just working on the spell for that duration.

Casting Contact Other Plane to contact Alec the Gravekeeper. I'm...honestly not sure if you can Take 10 on the Int check here. I kinda assume not, but you better believe that if you can, they will, auto-passing the DC 12 with a 13 total.

If they can't take 10, however, due to Leaning on the Fourth Wall they definitely can know their own die rolls, and with Dangerously Genre Savvy they can use Narrate Results (as an immediate action) to alter them after rolling. If the check result is from 7-11, Anthen will use Narrate Results to add +5. If not, Lilleen will use Narrate Results to allow a reroll, and if that one is from 7-11, Anthen will then add the +5.

[roll0]. Possible Reroll: [roll1]. EDIT: Okay I feel better.

So, unless I can't take 10 and both dice come up 6 or less and I'm just totally shafted, we get eight questions. Narrating Results is an immediate action, and the Int checks occur simultaneously with the first one. Each question beyond the first is one round later. I can Narrate Results ten times per encounter. So, for any question that comes up 61-80, one of them will use Narrate Results to apply -20 to the d100 roll. The reroll option unfortunately is only for d20s, but whatever.

While lies and random answers are possible, Leaning on the Fourth Wall means they know what the results are, so they'll basically just discard information from questions that roll in that range.

1: "What is the first name of the individual who animated the zombie dragon that we just destroyed." [roll2] Lie (but we know that, so we'll just discard the information. Still annoying, but meh, they probably had a Mind Blank anyway, so makes sense :smallamused:).

2: "In what direction from our current position was the dragon's body when it was animated." [roll3] Truth.

3: "How many feet from our current position was the dragon's body when it was animated." [roll4] Truth.

4: "Who or what was the zombie dragon's intended target." [roll5] Truth.

5: "How many individuals currently share the zombie dragon's last mission parameters?" [roll6] Narrate Results - Truth.

6: "Excluding our party's resources, where can we acquire more information about the zombie dragon?" [roll7] Truth.

7: "Excluding our party's resources, where can we acquire more information about the zombie dragon's mission?" [roll8] Truth.

8: "Excluding our party's resources, where can we acquire more information about the zombie dragon's master?" [roll9] Narrate Results - Truth.

asdflove

2014-07-28, 09:21 PM

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-29, 01:52 AM

"Alright, the dragon was animated about forty-five miles to the south of where we are now, so that might be a place we want to check out. Its target was apparently yon city-"

"Not you!" Lilleen added with a bright grin at Grog.

"-and we can learn more about both its mission and its master at Southern Lake. Err...or at some lake to the south, I suppose. I'll leave that to someone with a greater knowledge of the local geography to determine."

~Smooth.~

~Thank you.~

"Whatever the intent of the attack was, there were no other entities on a similar mission according to the divination, so we shouldn't have to be too concerned about leaving the city unprotected."

"We also learned that the villain behind this attack is someone who does not go by the name Ariel," Lilleen added proudly. Anthen gave an exaggerated eye-roll...but it wasn't quite enough to hide the amused twitch in his lips.

Catarang

2014-07-29, 02:06 AM

Grog gives out a sigh of relief, glad that it wasn't he that brought the dragon to upon the group. Then a thought occurred. "If that wasn't what has been following me, then what ever has been could still be out there. I believe that, while I do not wish to trouble you all too much, that the 7 of us would have a greater chance of defeating it than I on my own. If the beast does show up, could I call on you all to aid me in its defeat?" He looks at you all with a look of hope.

Simba

2014-07-29, 02:13 AM

"Sure thing!" Feisal answers without giving it a second thought. "Any idea what it mightbe? I mean, I am Good, so I offer my help, but I'm also Chaotic, so I might change my mind later, if things get too rough for us to survive. AND it's much better to be prepared for whatever might ambush us around the next corner. So?"

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-29, 02:15 AM

The twins stepped forward. "You have our words," they said together. There was solemn dignity in their voices...but their eyes danced with amusement.

Catarang

2014-07-29, 02:32 AM

Grog has a giant grin on his face. "Thank you! That means a lot!"

"I don't know much about it, besides that it's big... and it attacks me when I'm unconscious. Not when I'm asleep (I think) but when I've been knocked out."

Simba

2014-07-29, 02:49 AM

""That is something we could....trigger, if you want.

Catarang

2014-07-29, 03:00 AM

Grog considers this for a moment. "Hmmm. True, you make a good point. But is everyone here ready for another fight, right after slaying the dragon? I have to warn you, I believe this beast to be a rather potent challenge."

Eslin

2014-07-29, 11:56 AM

Dale appears out of the earth, wings lazily beating and bringing her to a height of six feet or so and she speaks while idly dipping her feet into the ground below her "Hello! I decided to go a very short distance underground after we killed the dragon, thus explaining why I was out of sight and silent this whole time yet know everything that's been happening!"

NineOfSpades

2014-07-29, 01:51 PM

"That sounds both plausible, AND doesn't require any further elaboration" Nodded Reiko, eyeing the man who had risen up from the earth itself. "I could go for another brawl" Reiko nodded, cracking her knuckles "Oh but wait...dragon treasure...Yeah. Dragon Treasure first. Then Tavern. Treasure, Tavern, Fighting...yeah"

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-29, 02:16 PM

"It does seem like it might be the wisest course, assuming it is indeed that predictable. After all, if it does come when you are incapacitated, it would be better to deal with it now, than in any battle dangerous enough that you've been knocked out. That said, it strikes me that a person or creature cunning enough to follow you closely enough to know when to strike, but also to avoid detection, would not be so easily tricked. Surely, it only strikes while you are unconscious to avoid the possibility of your awakening and stopping it, yes? If we just knocked you out ourselves, it would likely recognize the ploy, unless it isn't in fact watching you physically but rather by means of some sort of Telepathic Bond or something."

~Okay, better. So, what I'm thinking is, we start heading wherever we're going first. En route, we'll whip up an illusion of something big and threatening and stuff. We can fake knocking him out during the staged battle, the hunter makes his move, and that's when we dismiss the illusion, Grog stands up, and we welcome our buddy to Action Economics 101: Introduction To Getting Curb Stomped Because You're Soloing The Entire Party of PCs, You Imbecile.~

Simba

2014-07-29, 02:19 PM

"Trial, Treasure, Tavern...the unholy three. Nice! And a good plan if the hunter indeed works that way."

Catarang

2014-07-29, 03:39 PM

"Fine by me, I'm ready to leave when everyone else is." Grog says. He then sits down upon the ground and begins cleaning the greatsword on his back rather intently. It is a rather awkward change of pace, since Grog now seems oblivious to his surroundings and the party.

GameSpawn

2014-07-29, 06:31 PM

"I found 20 Platinum on the dragon. That's all the treasure it seems to have. If someone else wants to look, feel free. I got a 42 total though, so it doesn't seem likely that there's anything that well hidden on a corpse. I suppose I could take 20, but I don't really relish the idea of searching a rotting corpse for minutes on end." Forilla pauses to take a breath, then continues, "Naturally, I'm happy to follow the rest of the adventuring party."

Catarang

2014-07-30, 12:41 AM

"Well then, no time like the present" Grog says flashing a smile "Lets explain the plan to lure what hunts me while we walk to the south" After Grog says this, the confidence drains from his features as he waits for a reply.

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-30, 01:14 AM

The twins nodded, and started walking, heading for the south.

~We don't really have much else to add, plan-wise, but if anyone has suggestions, that'd be good. I'm thinking we'll use mind flayers as the fake threat. They're sufficiently nasty, their weird mind powers means it won't be too much of a surprise if they just appear out of nowhere, and we don't have to worry about making their attacks look realistic. They can just kinda stand there and all we have to do to sell it is make squinty faces and stuff. We could probably pull off a fairly convincing mind flayer attack with nothing but Silent Image, actually.~

Simba

2014-07-30, 01:18 AM

"And I am sure between us we will have no trouble creating convincing sound effects. Is it ok if I sing a little while we walk? I feel like singing, right now. Just like the old days...."

Catarang

2014-07-30, 01:25 AM

"I-I don't know what mindflayers are, but if the attack that knocks me out is a mental effect I don't know if it'll work. The last time I was knocked out I was hit in the head. Shouldn't we try to get as close to that as possible?" Grog says, his head facing the ground but his eyes shifting from Anthlleen to Feisin and back again.

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-30, 01:50 AM

"No complaints here," Anthen said with a smile.

"By all means!" Lilleen agreed.

~Well it depends. What else do you know about the hunter? Do you know why it's following you, why it attacks people when you lose consciousness? From what you've described, I'm envisioning some sort of stealthy, ambush-predator style individual. An opportunist, basically. Since it attacks others rather than you, especially when you're helpless, it seems reasonable to conclude that its goal is to cause you emotional trauma rather than kill you, at least in the immediate sense. Rather cliche villain tactics, all told.~ The dismissal in Anthen's mental voice didn't quite hide the undertone of anger. Hurting others was bad enough, doing it explicitly to make a good person suffer...growing up, Anthen had never been taught a word to describe that sort of evil, and in adulthood, had not gone out of his way to learn one.

~But we don't know. If it's like...some mage who has a contingent alarm telling it to teleport in when you've been knocked out or something, faking it with an illusion won't work anyway. And if it's like...a demon bound to a curse to appear when you're incapacitated in battle or something really off the wall, we might not be able to fake it out at all. And of course, even if you appear to be unconscious, the hunter might still see a bunch of powerful adventurers around and decide not to bite anyway, illithids or no illithids. So anything you can tell us about it would improve our odds of luring it out successfully, or at least of determining whether or not we'll be able to.~

Catarang

2014-07-30, 02:04 AM

"I can't really tell you much at all, I'm sad to say. The first time it appeared, I had just drank the serum that initiates the coming of age rite for my tribe. I was told the rite would involve me talking to the animal spirit that was most like my own soul, and I would be given a task from it that I would have to undergo in real life. But before I could enter the trance-state, I began choking on it. I choked so much that I lost consciousness, and when I woke up my tribe's entire camp was rubble." Grog looks sad as he recollects this story, still looking at the ground. "Later, I was taken in by another village just off the plains. But when I helped defend that village from some ruffians, I was knocked out by a blow to the head. Again, when I woke up it was deja vu." Grog stops talking for a time, still walking but staring into the dirt.

"I think that what we do know is that I have to be in danger, and that I must sustain some sort of damage, and that I must be knocked out."

GameSpawn

2014-07-30, 06:45 AM

Forilla follows along, digesting Grog's words, "Before we get into a fight, I have a buff I want to persist on us." She stops walking for a moment to cast her spell, "Persistent Elation!"

If you're not familiar with Elation, it's a spell that gives a +2 Morale bonus to Strength and Dexterity and an untyped +5 bonus to speed to all allies within 80 ft. I suspect you're all familiar with persistent spell, but if not, that just means it lasts all day.

Simba

2014-07-30, 06:52 AM

"Nice one, thank you. Anthlleen and their Merry WoMen. Sounds good, if a little strange."

NineOfSpades

2014-07-30, 07:29 AM

Reiko nodded along, somewhat dazed, as she listened to her compaions talk about Grog's...condition. At first she didn't mind, but quickly her patience for conversation expired, and yet the debates continued. All this stratagizing and planning was such a waste. If they were so worried about something spying on Grog, and waiting for him to be KOed, wouldn't it also be possible that the thing was also listening to them talk right now? And would know about their plan. Reiko was fairly certain the best thing they could do would be to stay unpredictable, and just go-for it. The bottle of gin she somehow found herself enjoying also agreed with this assessment. Giving a rather loud belch, Reiko walked up to Grog, staggering and swaying a little as she did so. She took a quick moment to steady her mind, refreshing her maneuvers as she did so. Placing a hand on Grog's shoulder, she smiled at him. "Don't worry, we'll handle it!...Better grit your teeth" She advised. "Diamond Nightmare Blade" The blow was as unexpected as it was devastating. A swift jab to Grog's face, the motion more of a blur than anything. "Snap Kick!" Reiko folded backwards, into a handstand, before twisting quickly to the side and driving her foot into Grog's shoulder with a mighty ax-kick, before she tumbled over and sprang back up onto her feet.

...Reiko is impatient, and I am sorry

Not sure if Grog qualifies as suprised or not.

---Diamond Nightmare blade
Concentration check replaces normal attack roll
Concentration: [roll0] DC=Grogs AC

If the concentration check is successful.
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

If Concentration check is not successful
Attack: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]

---Snap kick
Attack roll: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]

Catarang

2014-07-30, 08:25 AM

Initiative: [roll0]

+1 from elation

NineOfSpades

2014-07-30, 08:28 AM

"Oh Right, Better Roll for initiative" Reiko Mumbled to herself, a bit disappointed her first strike didn't hit, considering the damage she'd rolled for it.

Initiative: [roll0]

NineOfSpades

2014-07-30, 08:54 AM

Reiko stood there a moment, waiting for something to happen. That was before she realized that she had won initiative, and could now take her turn again. This, in turn, brought a grin to her face. "Still standing? No problem. I can fix that". She quickly rolled sideways, at first appearing like she lost her balance and fell, but suddenly ducking into a sumersalt as she tumbled around Grog, getting at his backside. Reiko stood, and stomped her feet into the ground, the force reverberating outwards. Her stance was strong and sturdy. Winding up a powerhouse blow, She thrust both her fist forward with tremendous power, the weight of a mountain, behind them "Ancient Mountain Hammer!". She then turned, swiped her foot at the back of Grogs knee "Snap kick!"

Tumble to move without prevoking AoO

---Ancient Mountain Hammer

Attack Roll: [roll1]
Damage: [roll]12d6+4d8+14

NOTE: Ancient Mountain Hammer bypasses hardness and all forms of damage reduction

EDIT: :smallmad: It'd be nice to actually HIT with one of my maneuvers, instead of making really impressive punches and kicks that beat the snot out of the air that they hit.

---Snap Kick

Attack Roll: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

Forgot to add Elation to Snap kick damage. Increase damage by 1, not that it matters.

Diamond Nightmare Blade
Shadow Blink
Ancient Mountain Hammer
Greater Insightful Strike
One With Shadow
Cloak Of Deception
Diamond Defense
Ballista Throw
Bloodletting Strike
Emerald Razor
Bone splitting Strike

Stance: Child Of Shadows (Grants 20% Miss chance against enemy attacks)

Simba

2014-07-30, 09:17 AM

Rolling initiative: [roll0]

Eslin

2014-07-30, 09:23 AM

Dale turns into a halfling in order to get the expression of amusement right, pulls out a container of exploded corn kernels and leans against his wings, eating and watching the show.

Quellian-dyrae

2014-07-30, 12:18 PM

"Hmm...the first event would appear to con-" Anthen was saying, but then Reiko made her move.

"Or we could do that," Lilleen said with a sage nod.

"Ah. Yes. Science. That is a thing that exists."

I don't think they'll be acting in this stage of the fight, but just so I have it, Init: [roll0], including bonus for Elation.

GameSpawn

2014-07-30, 05:29 PM

"Well alright then." Forilla mutters and rolls initiative.

[roll0]

Simba

2014-07-31, 12:41 AM

"So, do we stop a raging bear or do we simply watch then beat the **** out of each other?"

GameSpawn

2014-07-31, 06:16 PM

Forilla also delays, waiting to see how Grog responds, or if anything shows up.

Catarang

2014-08-01, 01:35 AM

Grog drops to his knees as the first kick strikes. The second kick knocks him on his side. And for a time, he does not stir.

Grog, laying in the grass of the clearing, then begins to glow. Or maybe, the areas around him just grow dim. But soon, Grog emits his own were-light, illuminating the small patch of grass where he lays. And then he stands up, his back hunched slightly, one hand clutching his chest, the other limp. And as he looks at the party he flashes a short half smile, and then coughs, spraying blood.

His skin starts to smoke and hiss, giving off a white steam that soon envelopes his entire body and the surrounding area. From where he stood, you can hear thrashing sounds and grunts that soon become deeper and more resonating. The were-light suddenly dims and then vanishes, leaving the forest clearing lit as it was before. And as the steam begins to clear, A hulking quadrupedal form can be seen at the mists center.

A great roar rocks the forest, so great that it forces you a step back, and you can feel it clawing at your mind. The prey within you screams to run. The giant figure is now visible through the cleared steam, and you can see its eyes glowing brightly as it roars again. Then, it swipes out, attacking Reiko.

I shall hit an incorporeal creature on a 51-100.

("Magic" attacks)
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]

[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]

(non-"Magic" attacks)
[roll12]
[roll13]

[roll14]
[roll15]

[roll16]
[roll17]

Catarang

2014-08-01, 01:45 AM

Forgot about the 20% miss chance from Reiko's stance, here are the rolls for that. I will mist her on a 1-20. the attacks are done in order from highest attack bonus magical attack to lowest, then highest attack bonus normal attack to lowest.

[roll0]

[roll1]

[roll2]

[roll3]

[roll4]

[roll5]

[roll6]

GameSpawn

2014-08-01, 05:30 PM

Forilla raises her eyebrows in surprise. The idea that Grog himself would transform makes perfect sense in retrospect. She isn't sure how to respond though, and delays to see how Reiko responds.

Simba

2014-08-02, 12:06 PM

"Told you so." is all Feisin says.

NineOfSpades

2014-08-04, 12:19 PM

Reiko ducked and weaved from the (very suprising) paw swings of the raging bear that had appeared from nowhere. Several times, the blows seemed to find their mark, only to pass through her harmlessly. Not every time though, as the young woman had a fresh wound down her side that dripped a bit of blood. "%&#$@-ing Hell!" she swore "That took a big chunk of my HP". If anything, Reiko was pretty sure that had she not activated her One With Shadow Stance, the bear would have killed her. Not a pretty thought...

Reiko's form flickered and then vanished, jumping backwards about fifty feet or so in an instant. "Gotta refresh..." She mumbled to herself, taking a long drink from her flask and resetting her maneuvers.

Using shadow blink to teleport 50ft away as a swift action, and then using a standard action to reset my maneuvers.

Quellian-dyrae

2014-08-04, 01:17 PM

Anthen and Lilleen both blinked twice in identical expressions of shock.

"Oh."

Right. No time for that. The twins took immediately to the air, and began narrating.

"Dale responded quickly, loosing a barrage of arrows into the bear!"

Both take a move action to fly fifty feet up.

Both take a standard action to use Narrate Action on Dale with Dual Narration. If Dale wishes, he may now spend an Immediate action to take a Full Attack action against Grog.

Encounter Narrations: 8/10.

GameSpawn

2014-08-06, 09:05 PM

Not sure if Dale's acting or not; if so, I'm pretty sure he gets to act first.

With the rest of the party far enough away, Forilla decides to act, first she moves her speed (25 ft./move action) away from the bear, then waves back and fourth, forming somatic components, "(shadow evocation) WALL OF ICE!", evoking half a sphere of shadowy ice surrounding the bear.

Creating a 19 ft. radius hemisphere Wall of Ice with shadow evocation. Will save to disbelieve (if interacted with) is DC 24 (meaning Grog can beat it with ease, but Forilla has no way of knowing that). It's a little unclear how shadow evocation works with wall of ice; I'd treat it as being only 1/5th as hard to break through, but I can understand other interpretations. If asdflove thinks the 20% likely to occur roll is necessary, a high roll means it happens (81+): [roll0]

Simba

2014-08-09, 02:53 PM

Feisin is still hesitating, unsure what to do. Siding with one of the combatants is not easy for him so he waits for another few seconds.

Catarang

2014-08-09, 11:05 PM

Grog roars again, railing against the Wall of Ice now surrounding him. ([roll0] to disbelieve) He then makes a single attack against the wall to break through. ([roll1] Strength check to break the wall)

NineOfSpades

2014-08-14, 12:15 PM

"Alrighty....'ere we go again" Reiko mumbled. She vanished again, crossing the space between herself and the angry bear in an instant, appearing behind the beast that grog had become. "Smile you sunofa-BURP-" Reiko lurched suddenly as some of the alchohal she'd been dowing tried to work its way back up her throat. "Urg...forget it. Diamond Nightmare Blade"

Reiko then took a swing at the ursine, though she deliberatly missed, only to lunge forward and head-bash the bear as hard as she could.

Shifting to Stance of Alacrity

Concentration check
[roll0]

Attack Roll: Don't stand much chance of hitting unless the telephoning behind Grog is surprising enough to leave him flat footed.
[roll1]

If, somehow, attack roll and concentration roll hit

Damage:
[roll2]

Natural 1....Fantastic

Quellian-dyrae

2014-08-14, 12:54 PM

"...Her head connecting solidly with the raging bear's! She then followed up with a flurry of focused strikes intended to pierce its powerful defenses!" the twins narrated, before looking down to the others.

"Attention anyone who is still on the sidelines! Please be advised that there is exactly one side of this battle that is currently mentally capable of resolving it with nonlethal damage! Your assistance in this task would be greatly appreciated! And for a limited time only, we can offer you extra actions on a per-encounter basis! This offer won't last long! Because the bear is going to eat all of us if we don't stop it! Don't Delay! Act now! Please..."

Anthen:
Immediate Action: Narrate Results to give Reiko a reroll on her Diamond Nightmare Blade attack.
Standard Action: Narrate Action on Reiko, Dual Narrating with Lilleen. If Reiko wishes, she may now spend an Immediate action to execute an Emerald Razor against Grog, attacking for nonlethal damage (I kinda assume she has been anyway, but figured I'd specify just in case).

Lilleen:
Immediate Action: Narrate Results to give Reiko a +5 bonus on her new attack roll.
Standard Action: Narrate Action on Reiko, Dual Narrating with Anthen. If Reiko does spend the immediate action, she may also execute a Shadow Blade Technique against Grog, attacking for nonlethal damage.

Encounter Narrations: 4/10.

GameSpawn

2014-08-14, 06:44 PM

Forilla sighs. It seems Grog disbelieved her wall. She wonders, briefly, whether he got lucky or actually had a good will save. Obviously, he has a lot of levels in classes without a good will save, but maybe he'd found some way to boost it. He obviously wasn't very wise, if he hadn't figured out he could turn into a giant bear, but maybe he had Steadfast Determination? Forilla decides to probe for an additional data point while still doing something useful; she muttered to herself, "Activate vest," then flew to the center of the group. "Prayer!"

Swift action to activate winged vest, move action to move so that everyone's within 40 ft. of me, which includes being 20 ft. up so I can get Anthen and Lilleen. +1 luck bonus to attack, damage, saves, and skill checks for Anthen/Lilleen, Reiko, Feisen, and myself. DC 23 will save for Grog to avoid -1 to same.

Simba

2014-08-18, 02:00 AM

Standing well clear of the combatants, Feisin starts to sing, a wordless song in deep, resonant growls. His song is aimed at Reiko, motivating him and enhancing his defensive ability.

Reiko gets a +1 moral bonus to BAB and a +5 moral bonus to AC.

GameSpawn

2014-09-11, 09:06 PM

Forilla looks at the unconscious Grog, wondering what they should do with him. It would have been have so much easier if he'd died, she thinks, then squashes the thought; if she wanted life to be easy she would have been chaotic neutral. She turns to her companions, "Well then. Any ideas what to do with him?"

Quellian-dyrae

2014-09-21, 11:44 AM

"Umm...no idea. I mean...I don't think we can really keep him...around, if he's going to break bear on us like that. Maybe take him back to the town, situate him in an inn, and head on south?"

Simba

2014-09-22, 06:59 AM

"And then, when he does it again the people there who will die are on our conscience? No way! We need to find another way, somehow." Feisin shakes his head, thoughts racing. "Is your alignment 'neutral I don't care?' ""

Quellian-dyrae

2014-09-22, 09:08 AM

"He's not likely to wind up getting knocked out while safe at an inn, was in fact my reasoning," Lilleen replied, a bit primly. "The guy who randomly turns into a giant rampaging bear is, I think, the less significant threat than the person actively sending zombie dragons at unsuspecting towns."

"And we don't have to just leave him there and be gone before he wakes up," Anthen added. "We can let him know what happened. Once he knows that he's the threat, he can take steps to mitigate further risk to others, which would probably be the most fair solution. It's not his fault he breaks bear or anything. It wouldn't be right to kill him. It wouldn't really be right to imprison him either, and even if we did, I question whether a conventional prison could hold him. In most of the stories I've heard, trying to keep someone like that locked up, even if they're totally willing, doesn't usually work out well."

"Unless we can think of something else. Do you think there's any way we could identify what's wrong and cure it, or something? Is it, like, a curse of some kind that can be removed maybe?"