Endarire
2017-09-11, 12:18 AM
SESSION 8 - HIDDEN CRYPTA PART 1 (ELEVATOR):
Today marked the most awesome action sequence yet in our Frostfall campaign! (Well done, team! Alleluia!) Of all the D&D sessions I've been in as a player, GM, or spectator, this is very likely in the top 10. Why?
-Leo's character (Leodin the Strongheart Halfling Rogue) left quietly and elegantly with his Klaxxon mount.
-After the group identified 3 recently-found scrolls of Identify, the GM remarked how useful Bards were in a party with no Wizard.
-The GM remarked that he gave us a "monster" (likely Salutis the Paladin with his favorite greatsword) as a party member.
-We expected -something- on the elevator on our way down, but weren't sure what.
-This fight used wonderfully-implemented free fall mechanics where all units could fly at half their normal land speed with perfect maneuverability.
-This was a nonstandard set piece scene and battle (an 25' x 25' x 10' elevator down a shaft about 1500 feet deep) where enemies came from above AND below. This very 3D fight (3 dimensional fight) reminded me of the Tower of Terror ride at MGM Studios (Disney) amongst other things.
--Enemies came from above and below, climbing down and up the support chains and using acid to eat through the metal first in the ceiling then in the floor of the car.
-All team members performed their roles well! During this fight (which lasted about 3 rounds), all team members had at least one highlight.
--Pitac the Neraph Swordsage acted as a ninja frog, staying atop the elevator car about 10' in preparation for any danger from above. He lept from one elevator support chain to another and threw an alchemist fire on a scorched (likely fire resistant) zombie that arrived from above. He later descended into the elevator car, killed at least one other zombie, drank a healing potion, and mounted a hippogriff Uriel summoned. Pitac then flew through the elevator's ceiling and became a threat to the skeletal caster.
--Erythai the Whisper Gnome Beguiler used Silent Image to create phantom duplicates of Pitac on other elevator chains. These proved distracting to the mindless skeletons atop the car, but not to the skeletal caster further up the chain. He also got a result of 20 on Disable Device against the elevator's control panel with results TO BE ANNOUNCED BY THE GM!
--Illias the Human Cleric of Heironeous, despite his full plate, succeeded in not being knocked prone when the elevator initially stopped, suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. He used his Clerical training to good advantage, casting Consecrate (his second second level spell with his first being Augury) to undo the effects of Desecrate in the elevator area. When the floor dropped out from under him, Kelly was "stronger than he was fat" (21 STR check vs 14 CON score) and held him in her mouth long enough to prevent harm. He later provoked an attack of opportunity from a skeleton in the elevator car who seemed ready to manically operate the control panel and purposely accepted an attack of opportunity from it on himself with exactly enough AC to avoid being hurt (21 accuracy vs 22 AC). When the elevator car started flying downward, Illias nearly flew up out of the elevator car, but Salutis saved him this time - barely - by letting go of his greatsword which Sal wielded 2-handed. Illias used Turn Undead first with dummy results (a result of 1 from an improperly configured character sheet), but his real result was a 23 for +4 on his next roll (totalling 17). He turned the remaining Zombies in the elevator car to ash, which fell through the grate into the abyss below and made the skeletal caster recoil in agony.
--Salutis the Bladeling Paladin (sometimes called 'Saladin') and apprentice to Illias started in the car by deailng damage to enemies around him and kept dealing damage until he missed or saved Illias. He let go of his greatsword to save Illias from being sucked into the ceiling (or falling into the sky), but his sword fell to the shaft's bottom unharmed.
--Uriel the Human Druid (my main character) started the scene by falling onto his butt from being knocked prone by the elevator's sudden stop. He still used this vantage to start summoning a hippogriff with Summon Nature's Ally II (converted a Kelpstrand spell) and placed it near the elevator's southwest corner where it proceeded to destroy a Zombie with its two talon attacks but miss an adjacent Zombie with its bite. When the elevator car started to free fall, Uriel moved beside Illias and a wounded skeleton beside the car's control panel, activated his Healing Belt for 1 charge, spoke the command phrase ("Heironeous, bless me!") and did 10 damage with a touch attack to the skeleton who rolled a natural 1 on its save then instantly died. Later, Hyppo the Hyppogriff allowed Pitac to mount her and she killed a weakened Zombie with a talon attack before flying through the ceiling to be in position to be a threat to the skeletal caster.
--Kelly, Uriel's Riding Dog Animal Companion, started by keeping her balance when the elevator suddenly stopped, continued by holding Illias in her mouth long enough for him to climb up from the hole that was the elevator's floor, and one-shot a Zombie who emerged from the ceiling, making it fall into the depths of the black abyss that was the 'basement' of the crypt. (That attack was a natural 20 on the accuracy roll and may have critted that Zombie had it been crittable.) Well done, Kelly!
--Rudy the Silverbrow Human Bard used her first normal flavor of Inspire Courage (and her first use of Inspire Courage/Dragonfire Inspiration without the spell Inspirational Boost since she learned the spell) since enemies were expected to be notably fire resistant. She also, mid-battle, gained 6 skill points since the GM refunded her skill points she put into Profession (Astrologer) and Profession (Apothecary). She immediately allocated 5 points into Use Magic Device (UMD) with 1 spare point. This gave her just enough of a result to activate a scroll of Bless Weapon (Paladin spell) which she used on Illias's heavy mace which he then used to destroy a zombie. After the fight ended and the elevator car was about 400 feet (or about 2 rounds) from the ground, she used her caster level 7 Feather Fall wand to save the party from a very splatty death. Less fortunately, according to the GM, the elevator was "no longer a 3 dimensional object" (though, technically, it was - just very broken into many pieces) after its tremendous fall. It also landed with enough force and noise to alert the entire bottom of the crypta - vampire spawn and all.
Throughout this fight, Pitac was the only party member to be hurt - and for 10 damage. (Hyppo took 9 damage from an attack of opportunity, but that was minor.) Overall, our team performed gracefully and excellently with minimal damage to ourselves. Alleluia!
Now I wonder: Do we get EXP for all the 18 or skeletons the elevator smashed on its way to the bottom?
Today marked the most awesome action sequence yet in our Frostfall campaign! (Well done, team! Alleluia!) Of all the D&D sessions I've been in as a player, GM, or spectator, this is very likely in the top 10. Why?
-Leo's character (Leodin the Strongheart Halfling Rogue) left quietly and elegantly with his Klaxxon mount.
-After the group identified 3 recently-found scrolls of Identify, the GM remarked how useful Bards were in a party with no Wizard.
-The GM remarked that he gave us a "monster" (likely Salutis the Paladin with his favorite greatsword) as a party member.
-We expected -something- on the elevator on our way down, but weren't sure what.
-This fight used wonderfully-implemented free fall mechanics where all units could fly at half their normal land speed with perfect maneuverability.
-This was a nonstandard set piece scene and battle (an 25' x 25' x 10' elevator down a shaft about 1500 feet deep) where enemies came from above AND below. This very 3D fight (3 dimensional fight) reminded me of the Tower of Terror ride at MGM Studios (Disney) amongst other things.
--Enemies came from above and below, climbing down and up the support chains and using acid to eat through the metal first in the ceiling then in the floor of the car.
-All team members performed their roles well! During this fight (which lasted about 3 rounds), all team members had at least one highlight.
--Pitac the Neraph Swordsage acted as a ninja frog, staying atop the elevator car about 10' in preparation for any danger from above. He lept from one elevator support chain to another and threw an alchemist fire on a scorched (likely fire resistant) zombie that arrived from above. He later descended into the elevator car, killed at least one other zombie, drank a healing potion, and mounted a hippogriff Uriel summoned. Pitac then flew through the elevator's ceiling and became a threat to the skeletal caster.
--Erythai the Whisper Gnome Beguiler used Silent Image to create phantom duplicates of Pitac on other elevator chains. These proved distracting to the mindless skeletons atop the car, but not to the skeletal caster further up the chain. He also got a result of 20 on Disable Device against the elevator's control panel with results TO BE ANNOUNCED BY THE GM!
--Illias the Human Cleric of Heironeous, despite his full plate, succeeded in not being knocked prone when the elevator initially stopped, suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. He used his Clerical training to good advantage, casting Consecrate (his second second level spell with his first being Augury) to undo the effects of Desecrate in the elevator area. When the floor dropped out from under him, Kelly was "stronger than he was fat" (21 STR check vs 14 CON score) and held him in her mouth long enough to prevent harm. He later provoked an attack of opportunity from a skeleton in the elevator car who seemed ready to manically operate the control panel and purposely accepted an attack of opportunity from it on himself with exactly enough AC to avoid being hurt (21 accuracy vs 22 AC). When the elevator car started flying downward, Illias nearly flew up out of the elevator car, but Salutis saved him this time - barely - by letting go of his greatsword which Sal wielded 2-handed. Illias used Turn Undead first with dummy results (a result of 1 from an improperly configured character sheet), but his real result was a 23 for +4 on his next roll (totalling 17). He turned the remaining Zombies in the elevator car to ash, which fell through the grate into the abyss below and made the skeletal caster recoil in agony.
--Salutis the Bladeling Paladin (sometimes called 'Saladin') and apprentice to Illias started in the car by deailng damage to enemies around him and kept dealing damage until he missed or saved Illias. He let go of his greatsword to save Illias from being sucked into the ceiling (or falling into the sky), but his sword fell to the shaft's bottom unharmed.
--Uriel the Human Druid (my main character) started the scene by falling onto his butt from being knocked prone by the elevator's sudden stop. He still used this vantage to start summoning a hippogriff with Summon Nature's Ally II (converted a Kelpstrand spell) and placed it near the elevator's southwest corner where it proceeded to destroy a Zombie with its two talon attacks but miss an adjacent Zombie with its bite. When the elevator car started to free fall, Uriel moved beside Illias and a wounded skeleton beside the car's control panel, activated his Healing Belt for 1 charge, spoke the command phrase ("Heironeous, bless me!") and did 10 damage with a touch attack to the skeleton who rolled a natural 1 on its save then instantly died. Later, Hyppo the Hyppogriff allowed Pitac to mount her and she killed a weakened Zombie with a talon attack before flying through the ceiling to be in position to be a threat to the skeletal caster.
--Kelly, Uriel's Riding Dog Animal Companion, started by keeping her balance when the elevator suddenly stopped, continued by holding Illias in her mouth long enough for him to climb up from the hole that was the elevator's floor, and one-shot a Zombie who emerged from the ceiling, making it fall into the depths of the black abyss that was the 'basement' of the crypt. (That attack was a natural 20 on the accuracy roll and may have critted that Zombie had it been crittable.) Well done, Kelly!
--Rudy the Silverbrow Human Bard used her first normal flavor of Inspire Courage (and her first use of Inspire Courage/Dragonfire Inspiration without the spell Inspirational Boost since she learned the spell) since enemies were expected to be notably fire resistant. She also, mid-battle, gained 6 skill points since the GM refunded her skill points she put into Profession (Astrologer) and Profession (Apothecary). She immediately allocated 5 points into Use Magic Device (UMD) with 1 spare point. This gave her just enough of a result to activate a scroll of Bless Weapon (Paladin spell) which she used on Illias's heavy mace which he then used to destroy a zombie. After the fight ended and the elevator car was about 400 feet (or about 2 rounds) from the ground, she used her caster level 7 Feather Fall wand to save the party from a very splatty death. Less fortunately, according to the GM, the elevator was "no longer a 3 dimensional object" (though, technically, it was - just very broken into many pieces) after its tremendous fall. It also landed with enough force and noise to alert the entire bottom of the crypta - vampire spawn and all.
Throughout this fight, Pitac was the only party member to be hurt - and for 10 damage. (Hyppo took 9 damage from an attack of opportunity, but that was minor.) Overall, our team performed gracefully and excellently with minimal damage to ourselves. Alleluia!
Now I wonder: Do we get EXP for all the 18 or skeletons the elevator smashed on its way to the bottom?