Kingmaker in the Forgotten Realms [IC thread]

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose
Deep Woods, the Greenbelt
Morning, Eighteenth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

Jhod stared blankly at Three for a second, eyes going from the warforged to the beast. "A shapeshifter?" The revelation had clearly hit the cleric hard; he had paled even more than he had already done. "No - Earthmother's mercy, no, I - I didn't know it was one, the vision just told me of a beast in pain, terrible pain, I --" He blinked. "A shapeshifter." The cleric's cheeks flushed, the fear replaced by a clear look of anger, growing by the second. He was still sweating, but his teeth gritted, and the cleric turned, gripping his quarterstaff in both hands. "I understand now. I see my path now."

And the strange part of it was - the bear turned its gaze to meet Jhod's own. And its screaming roar came louder still.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I can update once blueseclipse posts up.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann watches as the bear emerges, purple light warding off the effects of their new ally's magic. He frowns as he observes it, considering for a moment what would be the best angle of attack against it - only for his thoughts to be diverted by Three's comment. A shapeshifter? This changes things... He darts out from behind the pillar, advancing along the edge of the pool, but staying close to its side. Calling back to Three as he does, he says, "Is it another fae creature, then? Or some form of mage?"

Spoiler: Action

Show

Double-move to Q37.

[Mercurion 2]

"No, Warrior Korlann! Let poison bear come to us like Warrior Kuros say!" Dergosh bellowed out.

[almondsAndRain]

“It’s humanoid! Watch out for plants and wildlife!” Three yelled back to Korlann as she watched Jhod’s expression shower. A part of her was worried that the skarn just broke formation, but most of her attention was focused on Chauntea’s man. Did Jhod realize something important about the battle? Maybe, maybe not. But when paired with his countenance and the way he was gripping that weapon of his, the cleric’s vague words were worth a response. Even if the Company was about to combat a bear-man.
“I don’t see your path. Does it lead to the neutralization of the bear?”

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose
Deep Woods, the Greenbelt
Morning, Eighteenth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

“It has to die!” cried Jhod in response to Three’s question, as Kuros nicked the creature with his shot and Three’s went wide. “It is accursed in the sight of the Earthmother, and it is mine to end its contemptible existence!”

The Beast’s head swung around to face Jhod. It came thumping down the ancient stone steps leading up to the temple, passing the columns there, eyes fixed on the cleric of Chauntea. Its eyes narrowed as it glanced to the remainder of the group scattered around the clearing.
And then the Beast’s eyes closed.
Syllables of power poured from its mouth, the roaring replaced with the voice of magic.

There was a thump as air was displaced.
And suddenly the Beast wasn’t alone anymore.

Three bears had appeared. But just as the Beast was no bear, neither were these; their eyes glowed yellow, and their flesh had been replaced by pulpy wood and thickly corded creepers. Tiny branches stuck out from their torsos, arms, and powerful legs. Their fur had been replaced by a patchwork of moss and leaves.

While calculating that the creatures had appeared faster than an orthodox summoning spell allowed them to, Akara and Three recognised them. This form of summoning wasn’t well-known, but their heritages and programming supplied them with the knowledge: this was an old, old form of summoning nature’s allies – Greenbound Summoning. And creatures summoned in this form had some abilities—
One of the greenbound bears snarled, and looked at Dergosh, Jhod, and Three.
Thorns appeared from nowhere. Needle-thin, sharp thorns in great briar patches, appearing all around Three, Dergosh, and Jhod – growing, touching, cutting, piercing. Jhod screamed. Three’s internal warning systems glowed red as thorns sliced into her form. Dergosh felt the thorns punch through his armour and into him.

The bear roared, and began lumbering towards Korlann.

A second bear followed it. And lashed in at Korlann, a great, root-encrusted paw smashing into his side.

A third bear charged at Akara. And roared as it, too, caught the half-fey with a paw, ripping at her shoulder, drawing blood.

Jhod groaned, blood pouring out of his face where thorns had slashed it. He gritted his teeth, moving his hands, wincing at the pain as a thorn scraped at his wrist and left a red trail in its wake. The little cleric trembled and, drawing a shuddering breath in, whispered his prayer: “Earthmother – help us!”
A spray of golden, fiery sparks like wheatseed appeared, and a scythe composed of pure force. The spiritual weapon went spinning towards the Beast. Purple light rose – and the scythe carved through it, nicking the Beast, which snarled its contempt and fixed its eye on Jhod once more. It didn’t take a lot of insight to realise who would be its next target.

Spoiler: Tactical Map

Show

Spoiler: Tactical Notes

Show

- Kuros’s shot hits, but DR turns most of the shot – 1 damage.
- Three’s shot misses.
- The Beast moved 40 feet toward Jhod. It cast its summoning spell at R31. Yes, it’s Rapid Spell. Yes, it has Eschew Materials. Yes, it has Natural Spell.
- Greenbound 1: moves on Akara, attacks: 1d20+9 +2 charge = 1d20+11 vs AC 19 = 24 = hit, 1d6+7 damage = 10 points damage -1 DR = 9 damage to Akara.
- Greenbound 2: casts wall of thorns at Dergosh, Three, and Jhod, moves in on Korlann.
- Greenbound 3: Moves in on Korlann, attacks. 1d20+11 vs AC 14 = 30 total, 19, hit! 1d6+7 damage = 10 damage on Korlann.
Wall of thorns: 25 – 12 = 13 hitpoints of damage on Three.
Wall of thorns: 25 – 16 = 9 hitpoints of damage on Dergosh.
Wall of thorns: 25 – 10 = 15 hitpoints of damage on Jhod.
- Jhod: -1 – 15: Casts Spiritual Weapon on the defensive. Concentration check is against DC 13. 1d20+12 = success even on a 1. Spiritual Weapon fires.
- Spiritual Weapon attacks the Beast. Attacks at 1d20+7 vs AC 18 = rolls total of 21, hit! CL check against SR = 1d20+4 = Rolls 11 for a total of 15 – passed! Damage = 1d8+1 = 3 points damage, which isn’t reduced because it’s magic damage.

As to the Wall of Thorns: Greenbound get this as a 1/day ability, and note that only one of the creatures used that ability thus far. Movement – even a five foot step – requires a DC 20 STR check and does damage as per the spell’s rules: 25 – your AC, discounting dodge and DEX bonuses.

The good news is that these thorns appear a somewhat different version of the more powerful Wall of Thorns spell.

They impose damage automatically if you move or try to move to another square (and bear in mind that takes a STR 25 check in effect). But other actions such as using items, or ranged attacks are still unaffected, since you can gingerly do that without hurting yourself or doing further damage to yourself from the thorns. Lastly, for casting, or infusions or similar, Concentration checks are required, or the action fails. The DC for this is 13.

Initiative Order:
Three: +9 – 27 (At 3/16)
Dergosh: +10 – 21 (At 17/29)
Kuros: +4 – 20
Korlann: +3 – 15 (At 13/25)
The Beast: +4 – 15
Greenbound Bears: 15
Jhod: -1 – 15 (At 10/25)
Akara: +8 - 10 (At 10/19)
Ruk: +0 – 1

[jdizzlean]

When she awoke this morning, she did not have on her to do list grappling with a bear. Especially not a magickal bear covered in thorns.

Spoiler: action

Show

5ft step backwards, and launch into the air. if any of the pillars are sufficiently high enough off the ground to stay out of reach of the bears, she'll head there. otherwise she'll aim for the branches of a tree on the perimeter that are likewise high enough as to remain out of reach.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh growlyelled* in anger as the thorns sprung up around him, puncturing and tearing at his green skin. On the one hand it annoyed him considerably, but on the other hand his plan had been to stay put anyway until the poison bear got within range of his Grummsh-spear, but on the third hand there were now a whole bunch of stick bears, too, and on the fourth hand these nasty thorns made for a nice defensive position, yet on the fifth hand Dergosh knew that if they could create the thorns they could probably tear them down whenever they wanted to attack, though on the sixth hand he figured the poison bear was the biggest threat and he could ignore the others for now. The half-orc knew only vaguely that he had run out of hands sometime in the middle of his thoughts.

Peering through the thorns, he got a fix on the poison bear and attempted to replicate Jhod’s attack, only with a much more impressive, intimidating, and louder Spear of Gruumsh. Trying his best to avoid the thorny barrier, he attempted to summon forth his spell.

Spoiler: Concentration check

Show

(1d20+6)[26]

Spoiler: SR check

Show

[roll]1d20+3[/roll]

A massive iron-shafted longspear with a hooked, almost scythe-like head appeared next to the bear. It stabbed at the creature, and as it struck it crumbled to the ground as if rusted away in an instant.

Dergosh seethed.

Spoiler

Show

*”Growlyelled” is a new Dergosh vocabulary word

[Zombulian]

As the battle began in a violent flurry of fur and vegetation, Ruk looked on from his position of relative safety to see the Skarn run out into battle.
“Ah... Korlann. At least stay alive so I can pay you back.” He muttered under his breath.
Ruk then made his way quickly over to the pillar in front of the walls of clinging thorns surrounding his friends, while making his way he shouted to Eral, “Alright Eral, same old deal. Time to make Kuros bigger than he is already!” As soon as he reached the pillar, the Kobold stretched his clawed hand into the brambles to grasp the Half-orc. “I’ll take that Gruumsh-power gladly, Dergish. We’ll need all we can get.”

Spoiler

Show

Ruk moves to O49 and takes a standard action to steal Bull’s Strength with a touch.
Diplomacy check for Eral: (1d20+8)[23]

[Saintheart]

Spoiler: Ruk

Show

The Diplomacy check is good - but Eral will be back in 2 rounds with the Enlarge Person. Also, as suggested, you've stolen borrowed Bull's Strength off Dergosh.

Spoiler: Akara

Show

Sorry, dizz, but you can't take a 5 foot step and then perform any other movement in the round. You could, however, use the withdraw action which allows you to do the same thing in essence, since it doesn't actually require you to run in a straight line. For those purposes, I can move you to Z44, which is the closest tree that's more than 15 feet off the ground, i.e. you're sitting at 20 feet up on a thick branch of that tree.

[bcool999]

Seeing the summons and the havok they cause Kuros grimaces. The company once more finds itself in a life or death struggle against a powerful foe. Kuros' eyes lock on the Beast who glares at Jhod. He purposely strides forth, bringing himself into line of sight of the Beast directly between it and Jhod, and in case the action wasn't clear enough, Kuros shoots another arrow at it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move action: Move 20ft to L44 which should put Kuros directly between Jhod and the Beast.
Standard Action: Provoke Beast via shot arrow.
Attack: (1d20+7)[12] (no range penalty anymore because within 110ft)
Damage: (1d8+2)[6] Piercing damage

[almondsAndRain]

Internal systems screamed at the damage the warforged suffered, and for good reason- another spell like that, and Three would be dead. And if her structural integrity suffered any more damage, she would likely be left inactive. Turning her head to her right, it seemed that Jhod and Dergosh were also harmed, though their injuries weren’t as life threatening. Well, good- they were both better in a fight than Three herself was.

It seemed the Company was wholly outclassed again, except with neither a pig nor a fairy to save them. Greenbound creatures were abnormally powerful summons, and that the bear-druid could summon so many so fast implies that they have reached at least the fourth tier of magic. More than that, they could summon more bears if they chose to do so. Or a dire wolf. Or a satyr. No member of the Company had the magic to compete with this druid.

She was not sure what to do- casting from a scroll was difficult at the best of times, let alone when her body is being crushed to twigs and scrap by powerful magic. The obvious answer was to kill the druid, but when Akara took flight she inadvertently left Korlann with three Greenbound creatures to fight. But Three could not actually hurt those monsters, not without specialized bolts that would somehow slash through their flesh.

Instead, she reloaded her crossbow and took aim at the druid again, while encouraging Kuros’ plan to do the same, “Kuros, good, kill the caster!” She launched another bolt at the bear-druid, hoping that this one will hit.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Move Action: Three reloaded the +1 crossbow.

Standard Action: Three attacks the druid with the +1 crossbow.

Attack Roll: (1d20+4)[6]. Threatens a critical on a 19 or 20, so a rolled 23 or 24.
Critical Confirmation: (1d20+4)[23].

+1 from +1 Crossbow, +3 from her Dexterity modifier, +2 from her base attack bonus, -2 from being 145 feet away.

Damage Roll: (1d8+1)[9]
Critical Damage Roll: (1d8+1)[3]

+1 from +1 Crossbow.

Three has 42 bolts remaining.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann stifles a cry of pain as the conjured beast swipes at him, a thorny paw tearing into his flesh. Grimacing, he looks around - seeing Kuros moving to defend Jhod and the others ensnared within the brambles, while Akara moves to flee from the creatures. If I try to get to the other side of the pool, he thinks to himself, I leave Three and Ruk without any aid.... He shifts, keeping his gaze upon both as he steps back before leaping back out of reach of the beasts and darting back around the pillar near Ruk. As he moves behind it, he calls out to the group as a whole, "Try to bind their movement if possible!"

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Using Withdraw action to move to R48.

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose
Deep Woods, the Greenbelt
Morning, Eighteenth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

Three and Kuros’s shots went wide, but they certainly got the beast’s attention. It fixed its rage-filled eyes on Kuros, and came thumping towards him, down the broken stairs of the temple, moving closer to him. And then it raised itself up, and its great snout once again moved in what seemed an impossible manner, chanting the words of another spell.

Flames erupted from its leading paws, doing it no damage. Ruk had the same chill go through him that Akara did: distant though both of them were, they recognised the spell as an incantation of Produce Flame … but the telltale, grave-green aura on the flames said something more. The spell had been augmented with a more dangerous power: the ability known in shorthand as Fell Drain, the ability to suck lifeforce out of a creature as well as doing it damage by fire.

Jhod’s scythe distracted it for a moment, nicking at it once again; but it had clearly done little damage to the creature.

Akara had only a second to appreciate all this before the branches around her came to life. Leaves, branches, the very twigs of the tree suddenly exploded into motion, lashing out at her, trying to catch her in their grasp. She knew it as an entangle spell, and realised the source as the bear which had been hunting her turned to lumber towards the rest of the Company. The half-fey dodged, quicksilver, with all the agility her heritage allowed her. The entangling branches were fast … but she was, barely, faster. She managed to stay free of the spell.

Below, the greenbound bears roared anger once more and thundered towards the Company. One came at Korlann, and once again huge paws thundered into him, tearing at his legs, drawing blood

And the other turned and came roaring at Ruk. The kobold didn’t have a chance to dodge. A paw tore his side open, rib exposed, blood pouring out of him – but he still – still – managed to keep his feet.

Hanging in the wall of thorns, Jhod turned his head. A bomb of fire went through him as a needle-sharp thorn pushed through his cheek and into the cavity of his mouth. He screamed, thrashing his head, tearing loose of it. He could feel his heart pounding, but he could still feel the connection to the divine, to the land, and he closed his eyes, concentrating once more. Blood filling his mouth, he whispered another prayer.

The greenbound bears screamed, an ululating, hideous cry out of the Hells. Their bodies exploded with vines, leaves, branches, the twigs that made up their forms rising in rebellion against them. They fought themselves … as Jhod’s own entanglement spell acted on their plant-based bodies and the vegetation within them erupted to grapple with them.

Two of them were caught, snarling fruitlessly. The third managed to smash down a vine growing from itself and peer with rage at the Company.

Spoiler: Tactical Map

Show

Spoiler: Tactical Notes

Show

So yyyyyeah, I remembered finally that Jhod has Plant as one of his domains. Which means he gets domain spells that include, you guessed it, entangle. Which he’s now cast. On the bricks and tiles of the temple grounds it’s a bit questionable whether there’s anything for the spell to act on, but greenbound are explicitly of the plant type, so I figured they could sort of grow themselves into submission.

Yes, the Beast has Fell Drain.

The play-by-play:

The Beast: +4 – 15: Fast Heals 3. Moves 40 feet forward (to K31). Casts Produce Flame (Fell Drained). Spellcraft checks from party. Ruk and Akara recognise it as Fell Drain Produce Flame (28 checks on both!). Three doesn’t, oddly – 12 roll.
Greenbound Bears: 15:
Greenbound Bear 1: casts entangle on Akara. Rolls a total of 13 – just saves, but movement is halved while in the zone. Bear 1 moves to R44.
Greenbound Bear 2: charges to Q47. Rolls at 1d20+11 vs AC 19 = 28 total, hit! 8 points damage. Korlann is now at 5/25.
Greenbound Bear 3: charges to O48. Rolls at 1d20+11 vs Ruk’s AC 14 = 16 total, hit! 1d6+7 = 12 points damage. Ruk is now at 1/13.
Jhod: -1 – 15: Concentration check at +9 vs DC 13 = total 15, succeeded. Casts domain spell: entangle.
Greenbound Bear 1: Reflex 5 vs DC 15: Fails! Rolls total 7, Entangled. Can’t run or charge, -2 attack rolls, -4 DEX.
Greenbound Bear 2: Reflex 5 vs DC 15: Rolls total 24, saves vs entangled, move rate reduced to half.
Greenbound Bear 3: Reflex 5 vs DC 15: Fails! Rolls total 9, Entangled. Can’t run or charge, -2 attack rolls, -4 DEX.
Korlann: rolls 17, saves! Movement halved but not entangled.
Spiritual Weapon: Attacks at 1d20+7 vs AC 18: Rolls 18, hit! Damage = 1d8+1 = 3 damage again.


Initiative Order:
Three: +9 – 27 (At 3/16)
Dergosh: +10 – 21 (At 17/29)
Kuros: +4 – 20
Korlann: +3 – 15 (At 5/25)
The Beast: +4 – 15
Greenbound Bears: 15
Jhod: -1 – 15 (At 10/25)
Akara: +8 - 10 (At 10/19)
Ruk: +0 – 1 (At 1/13)

The green circles on the map are the areas of the entangle effects, though the one Akara's in is about 20 feet off the ground and amounts to the trees trying to grasp at her. Remember, in entangle zones, if you save, movement is halved and there’s no charges. For Akara, the circle she’s in right now is basically covering all the trees in that area, but if she stays in the air, she would also avoid the entangle circle that’s caught all the greenbound and Korlann. Kuros is just outside the circle of the entangle effect. One of these days I will figure out how to use MapTools’ templating feature…

[jdizzlean]

Akara curses loudly as her newest safe haven tries to spear her in twain. "By the Halls, back with you!" She then launches herself airborne and launches a blast of fire at the closest bear.

"HOLD WOLFTOOTH, HOLD, PUSH THEM BACK!!!"

Spoiler: actions

Show

Akara flies up and away from the tree enough to get out of the entanglement, but still be within 35 feet of bear 1. She then casts a lesser orb of fire, no save, no sr, ranged touch attack at bear 1. plant based animals must be scared of fire, or at least that's her thinking, especially when their own bodies are what has them entangled. (that is epic btw, i wonder if i could convince my RL dm that that is a thing :p )

(1d20+5)[10] ranged touch, for (3d8+3)[17] fire damage

a reminder, if i have to overcome SR, my CL is 5, and i have a +1 to the check from city of the dead touchstone

[Zombulian]

Ruk wheezed as the claw of the veggiebear slammed into him. Wind knocked out, he was surprised to find himself still standing. Reserves of potent Kobold adrenaline began pumping through his system, and he darted behind the pillar and squeezed between it and the walls of bramble, scrambling out onto the other side unhindered by grasping plants, he rushed to Kuros’ side.

Spoiler

Show

Ruk takes a withdraw action to get to L45

[bcool999]

Kuros eyes the sickly green flames warily. If green fire didn't scream foul magic than nothing would, but Kuros quickly shifted his gaze back up to the beast's eyes challenging it. Kuros doesn't know much about magic, but he hopes that some of a real bear's instincts found it's way into this pale imitation. "That's a new way to paint your nails." Kuros taunts, "Now are you going to actually use them or are you a bear with the heart of a mouse?"

Kuros shifts his stance slightly, preparing for the beast to barrel into him in an avalanche of muscle, rage, and, as if that wasn't enough, foul magicks.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Readied Action: Ready an attack for if the bear gets in range of my Hammer.

[almondsAndRain]

Three recognized Jhod’s Entangle spell for what it was- by this point, she would have believed herself to be as familiar with that magic as one could be. But her understanding was obviously lacking as she had thought her scroll of Entangle would be useless here, in a fight on tiled ground. Jhod’s target- the Greenbound themselves- brought an impressed “Woah!” out of Three. That was a trick she would have to use later.

The big bear stood and created a strange green fire, but the smaller bears were a larger problem. By the time Kuros killed the druid, they will have likely eliminated the rest of the Company. She did not have anything capable of damaging a Greenbound either- not even her new crossbow could. Unable to move and none of her available magic being helpful in this situation, however, Three had no way of handling these bears while trapped in the thorns.

Instead, she simply launched yet another bolt at the druid, and hoped for the best.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Move Action: Three reloaded the +1 crossbow.

Standard Action: Three attacks the druid with the +1 crossbow.

Attack Roll: (1d20+4)[18]. Threatens a critical on a 19 or 20, so a rolled 23 or 24.
Critical Confirmation: (1d20+4)[19].

+1 from +1 Crossbow, +3 from her Dexterity modifier, +2 from her base attack bonus, -2 from being 115 feet away.

Damage Roll: (1d8+1)[7]
Critical Damage Roll: (1d8+1)[8]

+1 from +1 Crossbow.

Three has 41 bolts remaining.

[Mercurion 2]

If Three had few options, Dergosh had fewer still. The mad bear was too far away for a spear cast, he had nothing with which to harm the stick bears, and his spells had little chance to be effective while trapped in these thorns.

He twiddled his thumbs. Loudly.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

No action this round

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann can't help but cry out as the thorn-like claws of the plant-beast tear into his legs, and he stumbles for a moment before shifting back into his stance. Glaring at the bear facing him, he considers - for a moment - trying to retreat further, before shaking his head. "Not yet..." he mutters, taking a breath. He shifts his stance slightly - launching a pair of swift, yet less focused strikes at the conjured creature to see how it reacts. "I'm not through yet..."

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Fighting Defensively, using Flurry of Blows to attack Greenbound 2.
Attack 1: - Utilizing Fists of Iron to add 1d6 damage on a successful hit for 1 Stunning Fist charge
To Hit: (1d20+1)[7], Crit on 21
Damage: (1d6+4)[7], x2 on Crit, plus (1d6)[6] from Fists of Iron.

Attack 2:
To Hit: (1d20+1)[14], Crit on 21
Damage: (1d6+4)[8], x2 on Crit

Additional: +2 Dodge Bonus to AC until my next turn due to fighting defensively.

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose
Deep Woods, the Greenbelt
Morning, Eighteenth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

The Beast’s eyes narrowed at Kuros’s challenge. It had given a loud snarl as Three’s bolt finally struck home, and the magic of the bolt overwhelmed the creature’s defences, penetrating and drawing a thin line of blood. Even so, there seemed to be a sort of amusement hiding there. It came lumbering on, and then reared, raising itself to its full, terrible height. Flames danced from its paws.

It hurled the flames. Fire leapt from its paw, a wheeling raptor of flame that went whipping across the distance…
…to light on Akara’s chest. Green-tinted flame exploded across her form, and in the moments before unconsciousness took her, she sensed the spell’s rider – the pernicious power known as Fell Drain – leach into her lifeforce, tearing spells from her very essence. And then blackness overtook her.
Her wings folded and she fell. She made an awful thump as she struck the tiled ground twenty feet below her.

The Beast snorted, and turned back to regard Kuros once more, all but ignoring the spiritual weapon as it nicked at its massive form.

Korlann fought valiantly, his blows thrown faster than the eye could follow. He noticed the other two greenbound bears were certainly inhibited, at least; the one Akara had bathed in a ball of fire was swaying on its feet, and the third one was snarling, flexing massive sinews against the plants holding it to bay, and the Skarn could hear the slow, growing crrrrrrack as it began to fight its way free. Korlann threw one more blow.

It hardly even seemed to slow the bear down.

The greenbound bear countered. He tried to parry or lessen the blow’s force, but it had all of a bear’s strength behind it and the density of a blow from a tree trunk. Korlann was blasted through the air with one swipe and fell broken to the ground. The bear turned and moved, somewhat more casually, right up to the wall of thorns, growling at Dergosh and Three.

Jhod gasped another prayer. There was anger in the balding cleric’s eyes now, face streaming with blood, and were his lungs not being pierced by needlelike spikes, he would have screamed it: “Chauntea’s bane be on you!”

The Beast, for once, flinched. It roared, and snarled its defiance to the heavens, the force of a goddess placed on it, causing its limbs to sag just a little.

Spoiler: Tactical Map

Show

Spoiler: Tactical Notes

Show

The play-by-play…

Akara: +8 - 10 (At 10/19) Moves to U39, 20 feet off the ground. Orb of Fire, ranged touch attack at 10 … which is a hit, because Greenbound Bear’s touch AC has been nerfed by entanglement from 11 down to 9. 17 points of damage on Greenbound Bear 1. Fort save to avoid dazed. Rolled a 4, total of 11. DC is 16, therefore, failed, Greenbound Bear 1 is dazed 1 round!
Ruk: (At 1/13) (Eral off for Enlarge Person – back in 1 round.) Ruk withdraws to L45.
Three: +9 – 27 (At 3/16): Fires at the Beast. Rolls 18 = hit! 7 damage = fully through as magic weapon!
Dergosh: +10 – 21 (At 17/29): No action.
Kuros: +4 – 20: (At 31/35 under vile damage): Readies attack if bear gets in range of hammer.
Korlann: +3 – 15 (At 5/25): Takes two punches at Greenbound Bear 2. Both misses.
The Beast: +4 – 15: Fast Heals 3. Moves in 40 feet. Throws Produce Flame at Akara. Rolls 13 at BAB 5 for total of 18 vs touch AC 14 – hit! 1d6+5 damage = 7 damage fire. Fell Drain hits: -1 skill checks and ability checks, -1 attack rolls and saving throws, -5 hit points, -1 effective level, lose one spell slot. Akara falls to -2 hitpoints and goes unconscious. Falls to the ground. Takes 3 hitpoints falling damage. Akara is unconscious at -5/19 and dying.
Greenbound Bears: 15:
Greenbound Bear 1: (dazed – no actions, 1 round) (At 8/25) (Entangled: Can’t run or charge, -2 attack rolls, -4 DEX.)
Greenbound Bear 2: Attacks Korlann – NATURAL 20 – but critical confirmation roll is 15, which is just under his Fighting Defensively AC of 16, i.e. normal damage. 1d6+7 = 10 damage. Korlann is down and unconscious at -5/25 and dying. Bear moves to O49.
Greenbound Bear 3: (Entangled Can’t run or charge, -2 attack rolls, -4 DEX) – Full round action attempting to free self. STR check: 27, rolled a natural 20, will rip itself free next round.
Jhod: -1 – 15 (At 10/25) Casts Curse of Ill Fortune on the Beast. Concentration check: pass as casting defensively. DC 16. Beast Will save: +6 = rolls 6, 12, failed! SR: Jhod rolls NATURAL 20, passes! The Beast is hit with -3 to attack rolls, saves, ability checks, skill checks.
Spiritual Weapon (1/4): Attacks at 1d20+7 vs AC 18: Rolls 1, autofail.

Initiative Order:
Three: +9 – 27 (At 3/16)
Dergosh: +10 – 21 (At 17/29)
Kuros: +4 – 20
Korlann: +3 – 15 (At -5/25, Unconscious, Dying)
The Beast: +4 – 15
Greenbound Bears: 15
Jhod: -1 – 15 (At 10/25)
Akara: +8 - 10 (At -5/19, Unconscious, Dying)
Ruk: +0 – 1 (At 1/13)

[jdizzlean]

Akara dreams of sunlight sparkling off the lakes of the Vale, a lazy breeze caressing her face as she gently rocks to and fro in a tree swing, not a care in the world

[Mercurion 2]

“Ho! Stick bear finally come over to play!” Dergosh roared happily*. He let go his silvered harpoon—after all, there was no advantage to pinning the bear in place when he himself was stuck as well—and instead drew Shargas, his clever spear from his back. Doing his best to stay clear of the thorns, the half-orc tipped the head of his spear towards his mouth and…yelled at it with a rasping roar. As he did so, a swarm of angry spear-shaped hornets seemed to fly out of his mouth and warp themselves around his spear tip, buzzing with a throbbing drone.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Drop harpoon as a free action. Draw short spear as move equivalent action. Attempt to cast sonic weapon on the spear.

[spoiler=Concentration check](1d20+6)[26]

*most likely not for long

[Zombulian]

Ruk clenched his teeth as he looked back and forth between the caster bear and the greenbound beasts approaching his friends. He could drop a spell on the greenbound to give Dergosh a much needed hand, but he had already grabbed some of the Cleric’s spell power to give to Kuros, and the kobold was feeling woozy.
He touched the warrior and let the stored divine bolstering energy flow from himself. Then he quickly moved behind the next closest pillar.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Ruk casts Bull’s Strength on Kuros (all spell effects as if Dergosh cast it) and moves to J47.

[bcool999]

Kuros growls as the bear has the audacity to ignore him. The sound of his teeth grinding together in fury is almost audible to Ruk as Akara falls to the ground limp and unmoving. As the power of Ruks filched spell fills him, so to does wrath fill Kuros. The only solace being that Jhod's spell seems to have angered it in some way.

"You will regret ignoring ME!" Kuros roars and charges forth, unleashing a two handed swing with all the power his body can bring to bear against the beast before him. It is not his signature hammer which comes whistling in to claim the beast's life, but his untested magical longsword which Kuros attempts to bury in the flesh of his foe.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Conditions: Bulls Strength (+4 Strength), Charging +2 to hit, -2 AC
Charging at the Beast ending up in K40 swinging with the magical longsword (unidentified) with power attack for full.

Attack: (1d20+9)[24] (+3 Bab, +7 Str, +2 charging, -3 Power Attack) Crit threat on roll of 28-29
Damage: (1d8+16)[24] (10 from two handed str, 6 from power attack)

Did not include bonuses to hit or damage from the magic weapon as it is unidentified and thus I don't know them. Hopefully it is enough to bypass DR.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann watches as his newest ally is struck by the eldritch flame, and falls to the ground. The distraction proves to be costly, as he is struck by the bear and falls himself, blackness filling his vision. I am sorry, my friends... the thought drifts through his head as darkness overtakes him.

Spoiler: ???

Show

Is this it, warrior? Is this the limit of your strength?

...Master Vasq? I... I cannot...

You cannot? You swore to aid the cleric in cleansing this temple, and now you say you cannot honor your word?

But... this foe... this foe is too powerful...

Answer this, then. What of those who followed you into battle? Do you expect them to stand against such a foe, if you cannot?

I... no... but they will, perhaps, be able to escape...

Or, perhaps, they'll see that you weren't able to get away, and resign themselves to their fates?

No... they...

You spoke of wanting to become a Spinemeld Warrior. One of the paragons of our race, and an inspiration to not just other Skarn, but the world as a whole. Do you intend to simply inspire others to die?

...But how could I hope to fight these unnatural beasts?

Have you forgotten all I taught you already? You need no special weapons or tools, no ancient magics or divine blessings. The light of your soul is sufficient, as ever it has been...

And if I die?

Then you die on your feet, as a warrior, and will be remembered as such. But consider this. If you do not get back up, then you certainly cannot do anything to help your friends. Show them what it means to be a warrior... to be Skarn. Get up, and fight.

I will... not... let them fall alone... Korlann's eyes flicker open as he hears Kuros's furious shout, and the distinctive sound of steel slicing into flesh. He grits his teeth and rolls himself over, bracing one arm under him. "I..." he pants, "I am not..." He pushes up to one knee, his gaze swiveling across the battlefield. "finished yet..." With a heave, he rises to his feet, stumbling slightly before drawing out the Sang Kauw that he found previously, and setting himself into a combat stance, before giving a defiant shout. "The Wolftooth Company will not fall here!"

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Using Korlann's Inspiration to regain 1 Hit Die worth of HP (8 - assuming that his CON modifier does not apply to the HP gain from this) - the situation ties into both his first Quirk (that he is confident in his own talents, and tries to push others to be confident in their own skills as well) and his Bond (his honor is his life), so qualifies for the use of Inspiration here. Move action to stand from prone, and standard action to draw the Sang Kauw so that he can get the shield bonus to AC.

[almondsAndRain]

Three did not see Akara fall from the sky, but she heard the winged woman hit the ground. Three swung her head over to catch sight of her injured companion, but instead caught sight of Korlann being tossed aside by one of the Greenbound. She cursed loudly, but any further words were cut short when the skarn clambered to his feet.

The remaining members of the Company fought, but Three was not in a position to. Instead, she struggled against the thorns to fall into a defensive position, to better protect herself if the nearest bear lunged at her.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Move Action: Three twiddles her thumbs. Quietly.

Standard Action: Three uses Total Defense.
Three’s Armor Class is increased by 4 to 17.

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose
Deep Woods, the Greenbelt
Morning, Eighteenth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

Dergosh had thought he’d take a hit from the bear snarling at him from outside the wall of thorns, but as it turned out the thorns were just as much of an impediment to the bear as they were to himself. The bear’s swipe was stopped by the mass of tangled brush surrounding him, leaving the half-orc to complete casting his spell and change his trusty spear into a sonic weapon.

Strengthened by the spell Ruk had lobbed onto him, Kuros turned and charged at the Beast. Big as he was, it was like a fly charging a spider. But the six-armed man moved with the speed and grace of a warrior born and swung the recovered blade in a fast, blurring arc … that passed the Beast’s defences and carved into its abdomen.

The Beast screamed, recoiling from the terrible power behind the strike. And Kuros saw no immediate recovery from his blow, only the satisfaction of a perfectly-driven strike which sent blood gouting from the creature. He felt a sudden thrumming from the weapon, glanced down for a hair’s breadth of a second at the weapon. He hadn’t had a chance to clean it properly as yet, and there had been some faint inscription at the blade’s crosspiece, hidden by long-embedded dirt. Now the dirt had fallen away; three rubies gleamed in the centre of two delicate steel leaves.

Even that moment’s distraction was near-fatal. The Beast screamed rage and swiped at Kuros with gigantic paws. Kuros spun fast, and his shield rang with the impact as one, then another, paw rebounded off the shield, blows hard enough to stagger him …
… and gave time for the Beast’s great fanged mouth to dive forward. Kuros caught a foul smell of dead things and then a lattice of knife-sharp teeth dived into one of his shoulders, sending a red bomb of pain through him, blood spraying. It was a bad hit; even as the Beast wound up for another strike, he knew he wouldn’t be able to take many more of those.

Three had stayed as still as was feasible. But her threat evaluation systems were all glowing red; even amidst a pile of thorns she didn’t think she and Dergosh would last much longer against two of those beasts.

And then Korlann got up. And cried his defiance to the sky.

The greenbound bear that had knocked him down turned with yellow, burning eyes. Ignoring Dergosh and Three, it thumped towards the skarn monk…
…and as it did, it reached the limit of Jhod’s spell, and the leaves and branches comprising its form once more erupted in rebellion. Screaming in rage, the bear thrashed out in an attempt to free itself from its own tendrils once more, no more than three feet from where Korlann stood. As did the bear which was still smoking from fallen Akara’s spells, still trying to free itself.

The last bear stepped forward to the wall of thorns. It roared at Dergosh, and began swiping at him.

Luck, or Gruumsh, was still with him. Despite massive blows and a snapping jaw, not one of the bear’s strikes hit the trapped cleric.

The Beast drew itself to its full height again. Its shadow rolled over Kuros.
“Harrend,” came Jhod’s voice.
The Beast blinked. Hesitated. Looked across at the cleric of Chauntea hanging, bleeding, dying in the wall of thorns.
“Harrend. ‘Tis your name,” said Jhod. He coughed as his mouth filled with blood. “’Tis the name she gave you. You belonged to her, brother.”
The Beast snarled.
“You profaned this place!” Jhod’s voice rose in strength, though strained, though hoarse. “What did you expect? What did you expect for your crop than what you had sown?”
Now the Beast roared. The noise was thunderous, echoed, reverberated off the great carving of the drooping rose on the western boundary of the clearing.
“Her judgment is here.” Jhod shuddered, voice faltering as he raised a blood-torn arm towards him. “In the Earthmother’s name, do no more.”

The spell went forth from him.
And the Beast froze in place, reared back preparing to strike. The Company could see the creature’s eyeballs frantically darting back and forth, but its titanic limbs could not move, held fast by the might of a goddess.

Spoiler: Tactical Map

Show

Spoiler: Tactical Notes

Show

As a preliminary – I decided anyone in the wall of thorns gets the benefit of cover, i.e. +4 to AC for Dergosh, Three, and Jhod, though it doesn’t stop attacks of opportunity and the damage it does to striking greenbound doesn’t do anything to them with their DR.

Anyway, the play-by-play:

Akara: +8 - 10 Unconscious. Fails stabilisation roll, drops to -6.
Ruk: (At 1/13) Receives Enlarge Person. Casts Bulls Strength on Kuros.
Three: +9 – 27 (At 3/16): Total defence, AC rises to 17.
Dergosh: +10 – 21 (At 17/29): Casts Sonic Weapon on spear. Succeeds. AoO from Greenbound Bear 2: 1d20+9. Rolled 18. AC is 18 +4 from cover due to thorns, i.e. 22. Miss!
Kuros: +4 – 20: (At 31/35 under vile damage): Charges to K40. Swings with longsword. 25, hit! Damage = 25, full damage, no DR applies!
Korlann: +3 – 15 (At 3/25): Inspiration, gets back on his feet, pulls Sang Kauw for +1 shield bonus to AC. Entangle check: +4 vs DC 15 – rolls 16, saves!
The Beast: +4 – 15: Fast Heals 3. Full attacks Kuros. The two paws miss on attack totals of 22, 14. Bite attack hits with a total of 29. Damage = 3d6+6 = 20 damage. Kuros is at 11/35.
Greenbound Bears: 15:
Greenbound Bear 1: (At 8/25) (Entangled: Can’t run or charge, -2 attack rolls, -4 DEX.) Full round STR check to rip free (1d20+7): Rolls total of 16, fails!
Greenbound Bear 2 (25/25): Turns back to Korlann, enraged, five foot steps back into Entangle zone. Reflex 5 vs DC 15: Rolls 11, stuck! Takes Full round action trying to free self, 1d20+7 = total of 18, fails!
Greenbound Bear 3 (25/25): Rips free of entanglement. Five foot step to O49. Full attack, vs Dergosh at AC 18 (+4 from cover makes 22): Totals of 20, 21, 13, all misses!
Jhod: -1 – 15 (At 10/25): Casts Hold Person at the Beast (whose type is humanoid, as said earlier, and thus he is still vulnerable to the spell). Casting defensively, passes Concentration check. Will save DC 16: +3, Beast rolls 4 = 7, Beast fails Will save. SR: Jhod rolls 1d20+4, total of 13, passes SR; the Beast is paralysed and helpless.
Spiritual Weapon disappears.

The helpless condition, as you may recall, means melee attack rolls rise by +4 against it and its DEX bonus to AC is dropped to -5. It can’t take attacks of opportunity, either. Coup de grace is possible as a full round action against a helpless target and is an automatic critical hit and forces a save-or-die keyed to the amount of damage dealt. I think I can guess what Kuros and Ruk’s next actions are going to be.

Initiative Order:
Three: +9 – 27 (At 3/16)
Dergosh: +10 – 21 (At 17/29)
Kuros: +4 – 20 (At 11/35)
Korlann: +3 – 15 (At 3/25)
The Beast: +4 – 15
Greenbound Bears: 15
Jhod: -1 – 15 (At 10/25)
Akara: +8 - 10 (At -6/19, Unconscious, Dying)
Ruk: +0 – 1 (At 1/13)

[Zombulian]

Ruk let loose a wheezing laugh as the tide of battle seemed to again shift in the company’s favor. His glee quickly transformed into fierce concentration as he saw the druid fall under Jhod’s spell. The Kobold sprinted forth, claws bared.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Ruk charges Harrend and makes a claw attack.
Attack: BAB 2 + Size 1 + Charge 2 + Helpless 4
(1d20+9)[27]
Damage: 1d3 Claw + 1d6 Sneak Attack
(1d3)[1] + (1d6)[6]

[bcool999]

Kuros grimaces as the teeth dig into his flesh. He is lucky this thing doesn't have the instincts of a real bear or else it would have shaken him like a dog after getting wet. As it stands there frozen above him, Kuros sees the all too human panic in it's eyes and knows that this is over. With a sigh, Kuros extends his blade towards the beast's throat and says, "Hope you enjoyed our little battle of tooth and claw versus muscle and steel, but now you will die like an animal."

That said, Kuros hacks at the Beast's throat with enchanted steel like an executioner's blade.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Full Round Action: Coup De Grace.

Damage (as Crit): (2d8+22)[37] (included enhancement bonus since I now know(?) through experimentation what it is)

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann glares back into the plant-bear's burning eyes, weapon raised. "That's right," he says, stepping back just enough to put some space between him and the summoned beast, raising his weapon in preparation in case it advances. He smiles as he notes in the corner of his eye the large bear suddenly freezing, before Kuros's blade hits home. "Come, then, if you still think you can put me down!"

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

5-foot step to R48 and Total Defense.

Reflex save vs Entangle: (1d20+4)[5] v DC 15