World of Warcraft - Interbellum (OOC Thread)

[MrAbdiel]

Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll drop a post today or tomorrow that will make the price of compassionate hesitation very apparent!

[MrAbdiel]

Combat begins! Initiatives please. I've explained a little about Verdan's grab attacks in the IC post. I'll also note here, for the purpose of strategizing and targeting, that Verdan is mechanically three opponents, taking three actions on his initiative. You might consider him composed of his Left Arm, Right Arm, and Core. All of these portions can be targeted and 'killed' independently, and targeting any of them does not require special called-shots. He's big enough you can focus your efforts on portions without penalties. This means part of him might be stunned, incapacitated, or even dead, and the other parts will still be thrashing on fighting, albeit at a reduction of one action per turn.

Also, Emilia's Initiative: (1d20+0)[19]

[BananaPhone]

Marions bulging initiative: (1D20+0)[17]

[Feathersnow]

Initiative!
(1d20+1)[2]

[WindStruck]

Isaera's initiative: (1d20-2)[8]

[Plaids]

Jakk'ari's initiative (1d20+1)[2]
He will be going forgoing the pre-emptive strike but fighting on turn 1.

[MrAbdiel]

The Heroes Vs VERDAN

Emilia - 19
Marion+Vargheist - 17
Verdan - 9
Isaera - 8
Mor'Lag - 2
Jakk'ari - 1

So Marion and Emilia (me) can go, then Verdan; then we'll be back into the comfortable to-and-fro of Goodguys, Badguys, repeat. Plaids, if you can make those rolls for Jakkari detailed in the IC thread, that'll give Marion an idea how desperate things are looking right off the bat!

[Plaids]

Toughness roll against Verdan's attack(1d20+1)[11]
Dodge roll against Verdan's grab attack (1d20+1)[16]
It looks like Jakk'ari got whacked but avoided getting caught.

[MrAbdiel]

Looks like you're right! Jakk'ari takes a -1 Wound Penalty to further damage rolls in the combat, and he's also Dazed (a single action instead of a move and an action) this turn! I'll do a quick turn for Emilia, then Marion and Vargheist are up.

[BananaPhone]

Posting tomorrow.

[MrAbdiel]

Well, I spiked Verdan-Core's toughness - at a +8 and rolling a 1, he manages somehow to take 3 degrees of damage from that corruption's first round. Big oofs for the plant boy. But he does smack Vargheist and Jakk'ari again.

With that, it is time for ALL THE PCs to attack! Roll good!

[Plaids]

Rolling for Verdan's second barrage against Jakk'ari.

Toughness roll against Verdan's attack (1d20)[11] with the -1 toughness penalty added. DC20
Dodge roll against Verdan's grab attack (1d20+1)[6]

Looks like Jakk'ari got whacked with only one degree of failure and got grabbed.
I will roll how much air Jakk'ari has left once he tries to break free and attack on his turn.

[BananaPhone]

Oh yeah, I had checks to make! Sorry about that.

Toughness: (1D20)[19] + 8 = 27 total.
Dodge: (1D20)[18] + 0 = 18 total.

[Plaids]

Once Jakk'ari's turn comes around if he is still grabbed by Verdan he will use a basic melee strike with his tusks to hit the piece of Verdan holding him.
(1d20+1)[3] Based on Fighting stat. Using tusks for piercing damage on the piece of Verdan grappling Jakk'ari.

[MrAbdiel]

Isaera's attack fails to land, but Mor'Lag out-hulks the plant and tears Jakk'ari free! I started rolling Emilia and Verdan's attacks, but I have realized that Marion has yet to act in this pass, BananaPhone - she got an early strike because you aced that initiative test, but you and Vargheist get to go again before they do; so I'll scrub that set and await your action. Once you've struck, I'll remember to roll the secondary save on the corruption, too.

[BananaPhone]

Marion casts Death and Decay.

Ha ha, I'm just kidding.

[BananaPhone]

I was going to cast Cripple, but then I realise that (of course) Marions version is a bit more hardcore and it's a Burst Area, which means it'll cripple anyone in the whole area which is...less than ideal.

[BananaPhone]

Sorry, forgot to roll Vargheists attack.

Varghest Attack: (1D20)[11] + 4 for a total of 15, and DC 15 Toughness if he hits.

[MrAbdiel]

Good stuff. Are you targeting the middle “part” of Verdan again? It’s the most vulnerable but you get more value putting corruption on the left or right arms, as they are “fresh” and recasting the spell on the same target overwrites the pending secondary effect roll. I have read in the SRD that this is the primary limitation of secondary effect, so it’s not just a two-for-one forever!

[MrAbdiel]

I made the assumption you'd drop the Corruption on another part of Verdan rather than overwrite the previous one on the core, BananaPhone; as it struck me as most sensible. And just as well; because the second corruption was shrugged off by his toughness, but the first one's secondary effect did good work. with a +8 toughness bonus, I needed a natural 1 to take the first 3 degree hit. And this turn I rolled a natural 2 - minus one from the last wound, which escalates to a 4 degree injury and 'kills' that part of Verdan. Looks like everything's coming up Marion!

New round of PC actions. Jakkari, you're no longer grappled or dazed thanks to Mor'Lag's powerful assistance. Emilia is, however. Everyone may act!

[Plaids]

That's good. Now Jakk'ari can run and do an action this turn.
Unfortunately, since elemental descriptors are weakened, I will need to get creative.

I'll have Jakk'ari move out of reach from Verduran and attempt to either demoralize healthiest arm or the arm grappling Emelia or any other party member.
Dice will be rolled in the IC thread.

[MrAbdiel]

Actions resolved - Isaera and Marion still free to act on Verdan, who is down to 2/3!

[MrAbdiel]

Those firebolts are the right tool, Windstruck - but you just can't catch a break on those dice! :( I think I might justify your bad luck with a spontaneous complication affliction in my next post.

[WindStruck]

Here's a revolutionary idea. A tabletop game without dice!

[MrAbdiel]

Hey, I grew up on that good free form RP; but at some point you gotta roll a dice, draw a card, or flip a coin or else nothing happens! But you’re due for a good hit. And hey, if the monster mistakes you for harmless, he’s unlikely to smoosh you!

[Plaids]

It was mentioned that bees exist in the cave. I was thinking of possibly using a victory point to temporarily get a minion sometime later.
Would this stat block be acceptable.

Spoiler: Bees stat block

Show

Budget - 15pts
Powers:
Fluid 1: 5pts - Swarm of bees moves fluidly like water
Flight 1: 2pts - Swarm of bees can fly
Dazzle 4: 8pts - Swarm of bees can interfere with the senses of others and sting
Immunity2 Slashing: 2pts - Swarm of bees can't be slashed
Immunity2 Piercing: 2pts - Swarm of bees can't be pierced
Senses Accurate4 & Counter Concealment2 Olfactory: 6pts - Swarm of bees has great sense of smell
25pts Total

Stats:
STR -2: -4pts
FGT -1: -2pts
PRE -1: -2pts
INT -1: -2pts
-10pts Total

Everything not mentioned would be a default value.

[BananaPhone]

I'm posting tonight.

[MrAbdiel]

It was mentioned that bees exist in the cave. I was thinking of possibly using a victory point to temporarily get a minion sometime later.
Would this stat block be acceptable.

Spoiler: Bees stat block

Show

Budget - 15pts
Powers:
Fluid 1: 5pts - Swarm of bees moves fluidly like water
Flight 1: 2pts - Swarm of bees can fly
Dazzle 4: 8pts - Swarm of bees can interfere with the senses of others and sting
Immunity2 Slashing: 2pts - Swarm of bees can't be slashed
Immunity2 Piercing: 2pts - Swarm of bees can't be pierced
Senses Accurate4 & Counter Concealment2 Olfactory: 6pts - Swarm of bees has great sense of smell
25pts Total

Stats:
STR -2: -4pts
FGT -1: -2pts
PRE -1: -2pts
INT -1: -2pts
-10pts Total

Everything not mentioned would be a default value.

I like it, Plaids. Kind of a .. troll primal connection thing, like the loa-connections we've already played with on Jakk'ari as a shaman who is somewhat witchdoctor adjacent. I'm afraid the numbers don't quite add - specifically, immunity to a broad damage type like slashing and piercing would cost a whopping 20 bps each. But I'm not going to sweat that for a short term VP summon you want to pull out later, because I trust you not to make me cry by, say, spreading out the fluid bee swarm into wall impenetrable by weapons so you can run through a hail of arrows or anything silly. If you decide to pick up "summon bees" as a genuine power later on, we'll crunch harder numbers!

I'm posting tonight.

Awesome!

[Plaids]

I didn't consider how the slice and piercing immunities could be abused. I just wanted a power for a minion composed of small bodies to pair with the fluid body power. The immunities will be removed for the final proposal. Maybe the fluid body power could give some advantage or force friendly fire be hit?

The bee inspiration came from some types of orchids which fool bees into attacking them by smelling like enemy wasps. I was thinking Jakk'ari would have one of those flowers in his bag.

Inspiration video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRoszURcgKY

[MrAbdiel]

No worries at all, mate. If you end up wanting to buy it proper, we'll stat it out cleanly. For now, keep the build you listed in your back pocket for a VP use.