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  1. - Top - End - #271
    Troll in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGirl

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Kate swings again at the dog-thing!

    Spoiler: fight!
    Show
    (1d20+7)[10] to hit

    (3d6+6)[13] damage
    GNU Terry Pratchett
    Survived Total War: Mandate of Heaven as The Witch-Doctors
    Thrived in Empire! 7 as the Sakura-Jin

  2. - Top - End - #272
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Kate's halberd ate air, and the thug near her swung his axe at her, scraping it's head across her armor and producing a fountain of sparks.

    One of the hellhounds turned around, heading Dent's -- or perhaps it's summoner's -- will to find the Codex and gagged for a moment before regurgitating a fountain of hellish flame over the area where the book had been, catching Alfred and -- invisibly -- Damien in the blast.

    Looking furious, Dent uttered several incomprehensible words in celestial. As he did so, both of his eyes became rimmed in silver. Damien looked up from the flush of fire around him and a cold thrill ran down his spine, as Dent appeared to stare directly at him.

    "He's right there! He has the Codex!" Dent pointed straight at Damien, and the entirety of his minions quickly began to look to see where he was.

    Watching closely, thug two withdrew a special round and began reloading his crossbow.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Damien, make a reflex save.

    Barbara's up.

  3. - Top - End - #273
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    DruidGuy

    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    UK
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    "Kid! Pennyworth get out of there! Kate, might be time to grab Az and run for it!"

    While desperately attempting to put together a combat stratergy Barabara was also moving to disable the threas direct in front of her, a wave of blinding, stunning motes of light and dust washed over in front of Kate and over the Paladin's bleeding form while pushed into a moment of desperation in the turning fight she sent Juluis forward to distract one of the thugs while she sent her knife at him, while Juluis' knife went back towards another one of the thugs.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show

    All the Hellhounds as well as thugs 3 and 5 have to make a DC 18 will save against the effects of colour spray.

    Barbara's Knife: (1d20+11)[15] for (2d6+1)[11] on thug 4
    Bat Knife: (1d20-1)[17] for (1d6+1)[5] on thug 4 if he's still up or thug 2 if not.

    Last edited by JbeJ275; 2022-01-10 at 10:03 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by RadarMonkey1 View Post
    I suddenly feel that my character is not as optimized as it could be...

    Oh well, it should still be fun.

  4. - Top - End - #274
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Barbara's spell washed over the assembled thugs and hell hounds, knocking out both men and one of the infernal dogs, and blinding all three in the process.

    Both Barbara and Julius hurled knives at the mortally wounded thug Alfred had shot; Barbara's went wide, but her bat familiar struck home, and the man collapsed onto the floor. Thug seven began reloading his crossbow, and "Sugar" summoned more celestial energy before sending a burst of bright hot light out at Kate's head. But much like most of the other shots that went Kate's way, this one also went wide.

    As Azreal continued to bleed on the floor, the remaining hell hound jumped back from Kate and vomited it's own gout of flame towards Damien and Alfred. Alfred retaliated by rapidly unloading three arcane bolts from his heavily enchanted repeating crossbow, completely blowing the offending hell hound away.

    The thug nearest Damien continued to swing his axe wildly, but failed to find purchase in the ninja's tiny body.

    The black dressed priestess summoned her own magic, and a dark spell washed through the area, centered on Barbara, Kate, Damien, and Alfred, catching plenty of her own allies in the effect in the process.

    ******************************

    As the spell went off, there was a loud crashing sound from the ceiling high above at the top of the vault. Glass poured down over the battle area from the shattered skylight, and a large dark figure began to descend from above. As the shadow's silhouette expanded, everyone in attendance could see the edges of what looked like bat wings beginning to appear.

    This being Gotham, it was impossible not to think of the legendary Dark Knight as the figure fell towards the battle. At this point, it almost seemed like it would be disappointing if he didn't show up.

    But as the shadow fell closer to the light of the torches near the fight, it was clear that something was wrong. This figure was far larger than any mortal man, and as the light fell over it it became clear that the bat-wing outlines weren't from an elegantly designed cloak, but were from actual wings.

    The monster descended with an incredible crash near the periphery of the fight, coming down violently on thug seven, ramming foot-long claws and impossibly sharp fangs through his body before ripping him in two and swallowing one of his arms. Blood and viscera flew everywhere, and the creature announced it's arrival with a hellish scream, some strange cross between a roar and an agonized howl. It's skin was dark and gray like the grave, it had huge leathery wings that extended from long appendages at the end of it's wrists and attached to the sides of it's torso.

    It's eyes were angled and furious, filled with manic hunger, and it's face was pulled back into a rictus grin filled with far too many teeth. Whatever it was, it was bigger and more terrifying than anything had ever haunted Gotham before. The thugs around the monster all blanched and panicked, and pandemonium rapidly spread through the vault.

    Having finished off it's first victim, the monster leapt forward, gutting the second thug in it's path.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Both thugs are down for 5 rounds, the dog is down for 6. More or less out of the fight at this stage. Damien, you need to make two reflex saves.

    Everyone in the effect (so everyone except Spoiler) needs to make a Will Save.

    After all these saves, it's Damien's turn.
    Last edited by Molan; 2022-01-10 at 11:44 PM.

  5. - Top - End - #275
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Brisbane, Australia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    A child's scream of pain rings out from the empty space beside Pennyworth. It's so unlike the person Damien works to present himself to be, his allies might be forgiven for fearing for a moment that some innocent had wandered into the crossfire to enhance the existing calamity. The first blast of fire had been mild by comparison; it had only clipped him, singed the fabric of his gi, stung but not hurt, and he had stoically bulled through it without a sound to spoil his cover. But the second jet of hellfire had caught him full in the right shoulder and bicep, the spasm of pain shaking through the warrior demeanour and briefly emancipating the child within long enough to do what children do so instinctively when in pain. The sound puts hooks into the sentiment of anyone with a ghost of paternal or maternal instinct, and twists it; and then the sound fades, just as it would otherwise be lost in the smashing, screaming bedlam that followed.

    When the vanishing trick faded, the boy had regained control of himself again; reaching across his body with the dagger-filled hand to snatch the scorched and still flaming fabric of the other side, snaring it with two fingers and thumb spared from the knife grip, and tearing it away in dramatic flourish. Upright, still; unbowed; but perceptive eyes would detect the paleness of shock in his skin everywhere beyond the angry red burns and blisters that reached from his right collarbone. He spares a glance to the monstrosity... and, madly, is not terrified; his attention coming back to the hound bearing down on him, and his voice cast with just a faint quaver to the man beside him.

    "Good shot, Pennywork; but do the next one on the hop if you please."

    The hound makes a move to seize on his now visible form, and with another snap of smoke, he is vanished once more, weaving past the baffled hound, slashing out as he passes it, over the dissolving corpse of another, and slipping sideways into the space between Barbara and Kate, cognizant not to be cleaned up by the whirling arcs of the knight's polearm. It's a dangerous place - it groups them all up again, potentially drawing the area destruction powers from the battery of clerics behind; but the gambit is that Two-Face and his two offsiders, now the closest targets to the newly arrived monstrous combatant, will have the good sense to preserve themselves rather than die spitefully lobbing spells across the room. It also places him close enough to Barbara to reach out and grab the vial of healing potion from her belt, and close enough to splash it into Azrael's open mouth - a fine plan, if he could get a break in the action to do so!

    "Hold here," He hisses from empty space to the warrior women around him; "let the others extract under cover of chaos."

    Spoiler: OOC Actions!
    Show
    Spending second-to-last Ki Point to go invisible as a free action. Attacking with five points of Expertise on the hellhound threatening Damien and Pennyworth. (1d20+4)[19] for up to (1d4)[1] damage and (5d6)[23] sudden strike damage. Not expecting it to hit, but it'll bump Damien's AC to 25 if Dent continues to direct his goons to shoot at him. Move action to go over to the space that seems highlighted by a yellow dot for some reason? This puts him 5ft from Barb and Az, so next round, if all goes well, he can snatch a potion from Barb and medicate the paladin. Barb could do it herself with a 5ft step, but I think this, if any time, might be the best time for that Web, so I'm planning for that!

  6. - Top - End - #276
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Damien's blades landed home this time, embedding deep in the hell hound's eye and striking it's brain. The dog went down with a limp snarl, it's smoldering body promptly snuffing out.

    Behind the dead beast, Spice's spell took effect, and Kate began babbling incoherently while Barbara looked with fury towards the dark cleric, a bloody rage in her eyes.

    In the back, the first thug had finished reloading.

    "Bring it down!" he roared.

    He fired his strange alchemical bolt, and this one bounced off of the monster's rippling torso but exploding just off the mark in a hellatious ball of angry flame. For a moment, it almost seemed like he'd done it, but as the blast receded the monster was still there, just slightly singed, and it released a terrifying gutteral roar from it's throat.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Spoiler's turn.

  7. - Top - End - #277
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    Exclamation Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    =Third round=

    Oracle yelled the most sane idea Spoiler had heard since entering this tomb of a Vault about evacuating, before a hulking bat abomination crashed through the unbreakable skylight and started tearing through limbs as a butcher through corpses. Damien’s scream below tore at her heartstrings, and she waited for the goliath of a man bat muscle-bound hybrid to steal attention from the tart in black. Spotting her moment, she rose up against her screaming impulses to stay small and unnoticed lest the monster have a learned hatred of anyone with a crossbow. A dagger exploded out of the shadows towards the woman in black that had caused her allies so much pain.

    Get yourselves out; I’ll cover!” Spoiler shouted, barely containing her own rising panic.

    Spoiler: combat actions
    Show


    HP: 24 max.
    AC: 18. 20 with the Protection from evil. +4 against ranged attacks. (20)

    Bluff to distract/wait for the giant bat to distract for me: (1d20+15)[22]
    Hide at my second floor position (relative to Wee Jas priestess): (1d20+15)[23]

    1, Move action to stand up, losing my +4 AC against ranged, to draw fire and be ready to run.
    2, Standard action to throw my beloved dagger at the Wee Jas priestess instead.

    Attack accuracy: (1d20+9)[21] (+9 normally)
    Dagger damage: (1d4)[3]
    Sneak attack damage: (3d6)[10]

  8. - Top - End - #278
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Spoiler's life flew through the air with an unerring accuracy fueled by desperation, and sunk deep into Spice's torso. She howled in pain and clutched at the knife as blood poured over her hands.

    Dent looked over the situation, his bugging, undead-ish eye still glaring in Damien's direction, but something about his demeanor seemed to change. He began chanting, and a pair of silvery wings erupted from his back. He turned and grabbed Sugar and Spice's hands and beat his angelic looking "wings", lurching off of the ground and taking both Priestesses with him.

    While he flew, Thug 2 fired his own explosive crossbow bolt, and it cracked into the monster and exploded in another huge ball of fire. Ask the beast ripped through the firestorm, it seemed to occur to Thug 2 that his boss had just decided to take off on him. As he took in the scene with growing shock, Barbara, torn with confused rage from Spice's spell, fired a crossbow bolt at Spice's back, ripping open a new hole in the black priestesses' back. She screamed while Dent continued to fly away, and Sugar began chanting, before a shock of celestial magic burst from her hands, shattering the fortified stained crystal in front of Dent, opening the trio's escape.

    Alfred seemed to notice the same apocalyptic outcome of the fight that Dent and his minions did, and ducked and started running south towards the exit. The monster leapt past him, dropping on Thug 2 as he screamed in vain, ripping him open just like the first two.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    It's Damien's turn.

  9. - Top - End - #279
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Brisbane, Australia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Damien snatches the healing potion from Barb’s belt, and pours it frantically into the mouth of the fallen Azrael. Doing so requires the child growling and straining to brace his boots on the skidded, slain hellhound and using his back to push the unconscious body of a flash-zonked henchman off the paladin's mauled person - no small feat for his small feet. But with horror-howls in the air, he accomplishes this sufficiently to splash a little of the potion in the worst of the paladin's wounds and a good half in his mouth. As he stirs, Damien is already doing what he should, at this point, be assumed to gravitate toward doing: giving commands those not explicitly under his command.

    "Holy man, heal thyself! The battle's not over, and we have to leave!"
    Last edited by MrAbdiel; 2022-01-12 at 04:31 AM.

  10. - Top - End - #280
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Azreal coughs, spitting up blood, but the potion works, and he stops bleeding all over the floor. For a moment, at least, he's back in the game, but still badly hurt.

    Thug 1's seen enough, and he turns tail to run out of the hall.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Spoiler's turn.

  11. - Top - End - #281
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    eek Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    =Fourth round=

    It’s barely even eating them. It’s just hunting, and killing...

    The blood soaked wall of grey leather and rippling muscle lumbered under the balcony, and the creeping dread that it would explode up to hunt Spoiler mercifully proved false. She let go a breathe she had no idea she was holding, only to glimpse the bleeding witch in black being lifted to freedom with Estanna’s favourite weapon still lodged deep. The crossbow was barely in range, but the gang member turned away for concern of her new crew below. She dashed right nearly thirty feet to take a sharp left to sprint again. Stopping over where she roughly gauged all of her crew to be below, her confusion and worry over why the sound of heavy plate and lighter footfalls all rushing to the exit (besides this post taking forever) hadn’t happened already threw words out of her mouth.

    If anyone has better ideas than running ahead of this thing and sealing it in, speak up!

    Spoiler: combat actions – run 60 feet
    Show


    HP: 21/21 max.
    AC: 18. 20 with the Protection from evil. +4 against ranged attacks. (20)

    Double Move. Thirty feet right. Thirty feet ‘down’ back the way we came. So sixty foot run to be on the same side as the group, but still on the second floor.


  12. - Top - End - #282
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    As Spoiler bolted around the second floor and towards the exits, Azreal finally found his feet. Leaving his falchion where it had fallen among the stunned enemies and corpses around him, he pressed his hands to his chest, sending a sudden burst of blue light through his body and further sealed up his brutal injuries. He looked over at Kate, still rendered magically incoherent, and sort of crouched, trying to find a way to grab into the spike-covered giant without impaling himself.

    Alfred grabbed Barbara by the arm as he ran out; she continued to babble incoherently, and he quickly rushed her towards the door along with him. Meanwhile, the monster scraped and scratched it's claws through the stone of the floor as it barrelled after the thug who'd shot it. The man began screaming in pure abject terror, knowing the beast was after him.

    Dent and his two female companions continued to ascend out of the shattered stained portal, disappearing into the night sky.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Damien's turn.
    Last edited by Molan; 2022-01-12 at 05:16 PM.

  13. - Top - End - #283
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Brisbane, Australia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    With the paladin upright, Damien is once again a leaping, scrambling kinetic blur; up the crates nearby, springing to the railing of the stairs leading up to the platform and tumbling elegantly over it, wheeling around, charging up the stairs to almost run right into spoiler then, incredibly, planting his heel against the lip of the topmost step and springing backward into the air with uncanny explosive leaping ability, finally snatching onto the zipline he entered from, dangling there and sheathing the dagger so to grab the line with both hands.

    "If it comes for you, use the Ghostblind!" he calls out, to no one specifically, but certainly to the blonde he glances back to, over his burned shoulder.

  14. - Top - End - #284
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    The surviving, still upright Thug rushed for the door nearest him, ripping it open and disappearing into the room to the west, the monster hot on his heels.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Spoiler's turn.
    Last edited by Molan; 2022-01-12 at 05:36 PM.

  15. - Top - End - #285
    Troll in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGirl

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Kate takes a step back and uses urban strider, then attempts a chin-up onto the second level, hoping to end up there when the spell runs out.
    GNU Terry Pratchett
    Survived Total War: Mandate of Heaven as The Witch-Doctors
    Thrived in Empire! 7 as the Sakura-Jin

  16. - Top - End - #286
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    =Fifth round=

    Spoiler only watched with well-earned indifference as the horribly burnt little boy twisted and leapt and twirled his way to the second floor, with no rope or care for his angry red injuries. A simple nod answered the point about the potion. The oddly named Oracle in bat garb went from babbling incoherently to sprinting suddenly out past the reach of her knight, moments before the armoured knight, still the reassuring size of the monster, used the lower wall to merely pull herself upwards. Kate had also sounded to be making weird babbling noises earlier, and Spoiler saw the obvious foulplay finally explaining why they hadn’t ran earlier. Then the knight immediately started to shrink back to a size that still stood taller than herself, but no longer as reassuring.

    Kate’s empty, gauntleted hand was grabbed. “Unless you wanna go with Damien through the skylight, you’re with me. Just, maybe disarm the weapon?

    With that, Spoiler went south, dragging Kate along if she wanted the guidance in her confused state.

    Spoiler: combat actions – grab hand and move south
    Show


    HP: 21/21 max.
    AC: 18. 20 with the Protection from evil. +4 against ranged attacks. (20)

    Move action (if Feathersnow wants) to take Kate’s hand so I can drag her along.
    Move action south as far as we can go (30 feet is my max) towards an exit I’m not clear what’s up here.


  17. - Top - End - #287
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Kate, Azreal and Barbara continued bolting for the exit of the Vault. The monster chased the fleeing Thug 1 through one of the western doors. It was hard to know what was going on in the other room, but the sounds of snarls, ripping and screaming didn't instill a lot of confidence.

    The stunned thugs and hellhound all began to blink as they came too, and it was clear their vision was coming back, but none of them could actually move.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Damien's turn.

    Kate rolled another 20 so she could just keep moving.

    Spoiler should roll Search on her next turn.

  18. - Top - End - #288
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Brisbane, Australia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Damien watches his allies - all of them - breaking away from the entanglement of the melee. They had the book. They had survived. They could leave, and maybe even lock the vault and trap the beast - though with the enchanted glass roof and window smashed, that seemed unlikely. He hit the third button on the Rod of Ropes, and dropped neatly to the floor as the device retracted its hooks and swiftly recoiled into the compact device. He pivoted on his heel, but then… hesitated.

    Up to this point, the boy-warrior had shown little to no sign of compassion for their opponents. His combat style was vicious, sneaky, and not merciful. But in the other room, the sound of a man being eaten alive echoes into the main vault and manifested as flashes of bewilderment and confusion on the eyes of the slowly recovering criminals on the ground.

    Criminals. Or, from another perspective, people. Would they, he, leave these men to be so brutally destroyed? Dent had done so. They had tried to kill his allies, nearly succeeded. But still. Still.

    For a moment, helpless indecision fills the gunmetal grey eyes; looking to the men on the ground, and then back across the way to the retreating comrades… to Azrael, still mustering himself for the retreat. And then a foolish flash of one patriarch's influence wins out over another, and he pivots, and calls to the armoured warrior.
    "Throw me the potion I gave you, and go! I can save these two, but not you too! Side door!" Then he's vaulting over the railing and skidding to a halt in front of the recovering goons, fumbling for his own potion and trading his Rod of Ropes to hold in his teeth as he beckons for the other potion from the paladin with one hand. "As for you two idiots, if you want to survive you'll keep your mouths shut and do what I say."

    Spoiler
    Show
    Move action to reset the Rod of Ropes. And then, in an inversion of his typical style, he’s going to become extremely impressionable in a vulnerable moment, delaying an action to move towards the first ally that calls to him - either to help get the surviving thugs out of the death trap, or to join the flight and leave them to their meaty fate. Second move action to move to the goons!
    Last edited by MrAbdiel; 2022-01-13 at 07:29 AM.

  19. - Top - End - #289
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    While Damien remained stuck with indecision, the screaming in the other room continued...until it abruptly stopped. Whatever'd happened in there, it was over.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    It's Spoiler's turn.

  20. - Top - End - #290
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Holding the armoured woman's hand still, Spoiler started looking over the area for an exit.

    Spoiler: search
    Show
    1d20+10

  21. - Top - End - #291
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    One more time.....

    Spoiler: search
    Show
    [roll]1d20+10 [/roll]

  22. - Top - End - #292
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Ok this is why I don't post in the morning.....

    Spoiler: search
    Show
    (1d20+10)[13]

  23. - Top - End - #293
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Azreal turned and tossed the potion back to Damien, before continuing to make good their retreat.

    Spoiler scrambled, searching for one of the hidden passages out, but wasn't able to find the door. Instead, she found a hatch leading down to the main atrium. It wasn't as good, perhaps, as an exit, but in a pinch it'd do. She pulled on Kate's hand and she complied, but started babbling incoherently once again.

    Azreal and Alfred moved all the way to the door, nearly, but not quite, exiting the building. In the far room where the man and the monster had disappeared Damien heard a loud shrieking roar before the beast started scratching it's way back out again. Damien couldn't see it re-enter the main hall because of the stairs in between them, but he could hear it.

  24. - Top - End - #294
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    eek Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    =Sixth round=

    After Spoiler's relief burst up inside her for finding a hatch and Kate no longer babbling like a newborn, but instead noisily clanking her way down the ladder solo. The insanity for the evening was close to ending. Sliding down swiftly after the dame, the inquisitor himself only just made it into the room seconds later. “Azrael, Sir knight, would you two take handhold duty for them? I’m gonna start jamming locks behind us. Buy us ti...” She paused beside the church mouthpiece only to glance through the doorway Damien directly standing in front of the two thugs from earlier and their hellish mongrel. A roaring shriek from the monster made her stare wide eyed in the high ceilinged room they left like a traumatized rabbit. The monster was nowhere in sight, but a whole body shudder was still inescapable.

    Spoiler gave a single shrill whistle over to the badly burned little boy immediately, and started doing a series of half-panicked pantomime. Going to jam locks; slow monster. Any more this way?

    Spoiler: combat actions – 1st, move action, free action talk, bluff check to send complex message to Damien
    Show

    Move to door beside Azrael, free action talk to room, then bluff to send a complex message to Damien.

    HideBluff for complex message: (1d20+15)[21]

    Last edited by JoyWonderLove; 2022-01-13 at 03:06 PM.

  25. - Top - End - #295
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

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    Aug 2021
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    Brisbane, Australia
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    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    His free hand snatched the potion out of the air, delaying any effort to thank Azrael due to the time constraint, and he set it on the chest of one thug, whose eyes were just now becoming clear enough to understand. No time to explain anything. He just had to hope they'd take it all on faith.
    Hearing the creature's reentry into the room, his hands are a blur; dropping Azrael's potion on one thug's chest, drawing the identical vial from his gi and dropping that on the chest of the other. He dropped the Rod into his hand from his teeth, and thumbed the second button to deploy the hooks of the grapnel. "Drink these and run, they'll hide you sight, scent and sound. Go."

    There was just one remaining fly in the ointment - one beyond the monster, anyway. The hellhound, a few feet away, was stirring and waking as well, ready to resume its command to hunt and kill him. Looking over his shoulder towards the distant mortal threat, and back infront of him to the immediate, still deadly one, Damien toward the stirring hound by step and angled the rod toward the open skylight.

    Spoiler: Frantic Actions:
    Show
    Never actually dropped the Rod, just cinematically held it in teeth. Begin round with Rod in left hand, catch flying potion in right (Free). Drop potion on Thug 3's chest. (Free). Draw other potion. (Move). Change mode of rod of ropes (Move). 5ft step away from the monster. :(

    Next action is turn invisible, shoot grapnel, and grapnel upward. But if I turn invisible now I'll be invisible FOR the retreat, and that's no good, so... Here's hoping the big bat can't move to see me, move TO me, and then attack all at once. And here's hoping the hound either unsummons or gets up and does anything but crit my head off!

  26. - Top - End - #296
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2015

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Kate, Alfred and Azreal bolted out of the front door of the Vault, and Spoiler quickly slid down the ladder and moved to the vault door. Her plan was simple; hop out, seal it from the outside, and with any luck, get the beast off of their tale.

    Back in the main hall, Damien had finished placing his potions when he heard the telltale sound of claws scraping on stone behind him. As he turned to look over his shoulder, he could see the massive shadow of his pursuer appear from behind the northernmost staircase. The monster had almost slowed down, as if it was less ravenous and more curious to see what prey was left inside the building. It turned it's head slowly, and affixed Damien with a pair of massive, crimson eyes, nothing but hunger and malice encapsulated in it's iris-free orbs. It's entire face seemed permanently scrunched and warped to both be hideously glaring and grinning at the same time, and the eyes were practically framed by a rictus smile filled with rows and rows of speartip teeth.

    The beast let out a bone rattling scream, the sound of rapacious hunger and a hundred people crying out in agony all at once, filtered through a larynx made of glass. The noise ripped through his little frame, and for a moment, it was almost all over.

    Damien grit his teeth, and invoked the inner power of his Ki, summoning forth the power of shadows that his mother had taught him to harness before he could walk. For the briefest of moments, he vanished from view, and his thumb pressed the button on his magical rod, suddenly zipping him up through the mezzanine levels of the Vault and out towards the broken skylight above.

    From the atrium, Spoiler heard the scream, and rushed out the door, quickly grabbing the nearest piece of detritus (in this case, a large half burnt axle from a long ago destroyed and discarded wagon) and, with some effort, rammed it through the handle of the metal doors that led into the vault. Quickly turning around to see who else was there, Spoiler barked out to Azreal and Alfred.

    "Where's Oracle!? We need to reset the Void Seal!"

    Azreal shook his head, and instead of replying, simply pointed. Barbara was already half a block away from them, and very much wrapped up in the ongoing throws of the Confusion spell.

    "We can't seal it yet anyway," said Alfred. "Master Damien's still inside. We can't replace the seal until he's out."

    "Listen I don't want to lock him up either but we've got to do something!"

    While all of this went on, Damien's two new "friends" came to -- and so did the Hellhound next to them. It barked with a hellish yip and ran around them, rushing towards the Monster, while both men tossed down their Potions. Damien, pulling himself up out of the skylight, could look down even as his Ki invisibility faded and see the seen unfold. The dog breathed a gout of flame, and the monster leapt forward, using it's leathery wings to hop through the air, biting the beat's head off. The two men, now under the effects of the potions, quickly turned tail and ran towards the front of the vault as fast as their legs would carry them.

    "Come on," Damien whispered. "Come on come on come on...."

    The monster did not give either man chase.

    Instead, it looked around, letting out another shrill sound, and seemed to spend a few moments searching, stalking, and sniffing, checking some of the dismembered corpses on the ground to see if it had missed something. It lingered for a long while over the white case where Damien had lifted the Codex. As he watched, the hairs began to stand up on the back of his neck, and he dashed away from the opening in the roof, quickly looking for a place to hide.

    The tops of the vaults were dotted with large, metal, heavily oxidized statues of grim angels overlooking the city; they seemed spaced to as to cap each of the key support beams of the building. Damien found the closest one and dashed behind it. A few moments later, there was a crash and the monster blew out of the hole that it had created when it had first entered the building, sending more of the skylight flying in all directions. It let out an unbelievable shriek as it exited and Damien physically flinched and clenched his body, hoping against hope his gambit had worked. But the monster's wings kept flapping, and before long it had soared off into the night sky, barely visible in the moonlight.

    Damien dared to reach around the angel statue to watch it depart, and as he did so, something caught his eye; he could see the still-flapping silvery wings that Dent sprouted to make his escape, not too far off in the distance. As a crow flew, he was making good time, but he wasn't physically much faster than he would have been on foot. He clearly still had both of his female attendants "in tow". Damien made a mental note, and slowly crept his way forward along the roof towards the front end of the Vault.



    Down below, Barbara and Kate finally began to come down from the effects of the Confusion spell. It'd left them both exhausted, disoriented and bewildered, and their pride had taken a beating to boot. Somewhere off to the side, out of sight, Spoiler heard the sound of a loud metal door being opened, and footsteps in the alleyway. She moved to investigate, her crossbow at the ready, but when she reached the ally, she didn't see anyone; only a pushed open metal door, one of the hidden exits of Vault 6. Stephanie pushed it closed and secured it, then moved back up to the main street to meet up with the rest of the party. Kate was standing a few feet apart from the rest of the crew, armored hands on her hips, and her head down, clearly frustrated and exhausted. Barbara had slumped down to lean against the vault itself, shaking her head. Alfred and Azreal stayed on guard, though the latter no longer had his sword about him, each of them looked up and down the street for trouble.

    "Okay, so not to be that gal, but are we gonna seal this thing or what?" Stephanie pressed.

    Alfred seemed to tense, frustration building.

    "Listen, young miss. I don't want to give the impression that I'm not grateful for your assistance back there, but in all sincerity..."

    Before the older knight could finish the thought, a slim, charcoal-smelling figure zipped down on a magical black rope from the top of the vault, dropping somewhat less-gracefully-than-usual into their midst.

    "Oh calm down, Pennyworth." Damien snarked, trying poorly to mask his own pain and exaustion. "Stupid seal probably won't work anyway now that the Vault's breached."

    Spoiler ignored the boy's dismissive comment and rushed over to Barbara.

    "Hey mate, I know you've got your bell rung. But we gotta lock this d@%n thing back up."

    Barbara nodded, and slowly got to her feet, before walking up to the front of the Vault and completing the process to reseal it. As she did so, the "lights" that glowed from the interior of the vault reappeared in their front windows, and it seemed for a moment that their least pleasant stop of the night was finally, once again, off limits.

    "So...did it work?" Stephanie asked.

    Barbara shook her head.

    "Honestly, I'm not sure. It looks like it did. I have no idea how to test it."

    "If it's all the same to everyone, I think it's probably fair to say that's now Lord Fox's problem," said Alfred, sounding relieved. "Perhaps we should cut our losses and go track him down, yes?"

    No one said "yes", out loud, but a general grunt and nod of agreement went up through the party. Before they could leave, Spoiler held up her hand.

    "Hang on just a second there gramps. What the hell were you doing in that Vault in the first place? I though you and old Fox sent us to clear them out?"

    Alfred looked slightly abashed by the question.

    "Yes madam. Honestly, I have to extend a least a bit of thanks to you all. You actually helped me out of a bit of a tight spot there."

    "Certainly. We're amazing. But why were you in a tight spot in the first place?"

    Alfred smiled, before sharing a somewhat knowing glance with Damien.

    "To be honest love, it was really all about that book, the Codex Sanctis Celestialis. I was -- am -- very much committed to finding it, and I was worried that I wasn't alone in that endeavor. With Fox ready to send you to the vaults, I had to cover as many bases as possible. I did honestly hope you'd come up with it, but if you didn't, I couldn't risk anyone else reaching the book first. As it happens, what with Lord Dent's untimely arrival, it seems that I was right."

    But how did you get into the Vault at all?" Barbara chimed in. "They were all buttoned up with those Void Seals."

    "Ah. Actually a clever bit of magic that. Unfortunately not exactly something I'm quite willing to admit to, if you'll beg pardon. I like you, honestly. You seem like good people." His voice trailed off a bit as he looked over the group, resting on Azreal. "But there's quite a lot at stake for the fate of this city, if you didn't notice. And trust is the most expensive commodity in all of Gotham."

    "That cuts two ways." Kate growled. "Seems like you really needed our help, in there. You can't well expect help from people if they can't trust you."

    Alfred held up his hands, in a bit of defeat, or perhaps simply surrender.

    "You're right, of course. I didn't mean to offend. But I cannot stress enough how important this operation was. I won't pretend to surmise your motives; I know a bit about some of you, less of others. And I know most of you were here tonight simply because Lord Fox was paying you to be. But if there's any part of you that wants to help the people of Gotham, hopefully by now you've seen how important it is that my mission is completed."

    "Yes but what mission, Sir Pennyworth? You're still not being forthright with us. Why did you need that book? And why was Dent after it?"

    "Ah." Alfred nodded. "Fair question, only half of which I'll be able to answer satisfactorily. You see, I was frankly not expecting Lord Dent's appearance tonight. To that extent, I can't really tell you why he wanted the book."

    "Fine." said Spoiler. "Then why do you want it?"

    "Well it's quite simple, really." Alfred smiled. "To kill that beast you all met in there."

    ************************************************** ***


    The party eventually made their way away from the vaults and the warehouses back to where they'd promised to meet Fox. They stayed on guard, if wearily, because it was still night in Gotham, and they were still out in fairly abandoned streets in the middle of the Fort Clinton Slums. But mercifully, they made it to their rendezvous unchallenged. As they walked, light began to kiss the sky over the city once again, slowly pushing away the evening's darkness, and with it, the worst of the city's lurking dangers. When they finally reached the meeting place, the scene before them was stunning.

    Fox had assembled what looked like a small army. Most of the men assembled in the square were clearly local sellswords; a minority of them were wearing formal Merchant's Guild insignia. But there were what looked like nearly 200 troops assembled lining the area leading to Fox, where he waited with his lieutenants. Behind him, a huge swarm of peasants and day laborers had assembled and were milling about, ready to receive instructions. Running down Monroe Avenue was a huge line of wagons and carriages, all assembled for the trip to the Vaults. Fox smiled, opening his arms out wide.

    "And our heroes have returned! I'm relieved to see you all back in one piece."

    Azreal stepped forward and cut him off with a raised hand.

    ""You're trafficking in some incredibly dangerous wares, Lord Fox." he growled. "You do not know what incredible peril your actions have unleashed."

    He stepped back and addressed the group.

    "I shall return to the Asylum. The Witch Hunters must know what I have seen here. I will return; the Inquisitors will have questions for you." he turned to look at the rest of the party. "For all of you."

    With that, he departed, strolling back towards the docks and the streets that would lead him to the Narrows. Fox watched him go before continuing.

    "Anyway, I cannot thank you enough. Payment and congratulations are in order. I take it the Vaults are clear and secured?"

    "After a fashion. We got through the first five easily enough. But the sixth Vault is haunted. And broken. Lord Harvey Dent's men nearly killed us in there. Also...apparently all those bat monster rumors are true."

    "Ah..." Fox said slowly. "I see. Well, that's unfortunate but it's not the end of the world, if we've got the other five. If the others are clear, I'll move our new friends here out to secure the area and the routes leading back to the Docklands. I've already got several platoons locking down a few key corners further east. I couldn't justify buying all this muscle before without knowing if we'd be able to move the merchandise, but thanks to your efforts, things around here are going to change." he turned towards his lieutenant. "Send Marcus' group to secure Vault 6. When I come by we'll lock it down and move the goods to the other vaults. We can probably get nearly half of these wares onto ships today given how many laborers showed up to collect some coin. We'll have room."

    The lieutenant nodded, and marched off to begin executing Fox's orders.

    "And Sir Pennyworth! Looks like you got a little scraped up last night too. I hope your errand was...successful?"

    As they spoke, mercenaries began to spread out and march down the street towards the warehouses, and others began directing trains of day laborers and wagons towards their tasks. Their little group was soon surrounded by a flurry of excited activity.
    Last edited by Molan; 2022-01-15 at 06:28 PM.

  27. - Top - End - #297
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Brisbane, Australia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    "The whole endeavour was fraught with disaster once with hit the sixth vault. It's a miracle of divine providence and human desperation that we all escaped with life and limb. And Azrael, for all his grumbling, was instrumental at two, maybe three points; despite nearly expiring on the floor in there. Which reminds me; your men will find his falchion glittering on the floor in a halo of blood and sulphur, in the main warehouse of vault six. I recommend you send it back to him. You can have this back, too; though I admit.. it's a premium product." His left hand flips out the borrowed dagger, and offers its hilt first to Fox - the weapon's journey from idle loot, to icon of treachery, to redeemed instrument of punishment to the dead and damned now wiped from its deadly blade. "You have a great many interesting trinkets in your vaults, Fox. They ought to furnish your project with quite the windfall, now that they're loosened up. But if you find any unsmashed crossbows in the main combat area, as well as the magical crossbow bolts with them, and they turn out not to have been looted from your supply, I expect our group's shooters would appreciate the respect of Right of Spoils over them. Beyond those, and Azrael's sword, I don't think we left anything behind that we have any right to."

    This is all very business like, and he turns then, standing beside fox and Pennyworth, to look over Oracle, Spoiler and Batwoman. The positioning is as transparently condescending as it seems subtly unconscious. But as the gunmetal eyes glance over the women in lofty approval, it's impossible to hide the red, blistered truth of his right side; stripes of incinerated cloth stuck to the flesh, the right arm curled gently to his side to protect itself, shaking slightly in the containment of its own infirmity, betraying his demeanor.

  28. - Top - End - #298
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedKnightGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2019

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Spoiler watched the inquisitor march off with a weary joy, before folding her arms thoughtfully. Vault six, Witch Hunters, the Narrows...and they say Estanna isn’t a rogue. Her stance stayed solid when the little lord returned in full, standing side by side with the old lord and greying knight, all empty gravitas and unnecessary pomp. At least his summary was good. It would have been the easiest thing to shatter the illusion; one left hand, offered seemingly in the innocent spirit of camaraderie, to shake the hands of Fox, the knight, and finally end it with Damien. But what good would it serve Gotham, let alone the child smothered under those graces? They were done.

    It’s over. Fox is on his feet, Damien goes back to his castle, I’m still in the Narrows. Kate and Barb will stick around, though...we all have the same Velnire shaped problem.

    Sorry, sir Lord Fox?” Spoiler interjected tiredly as she thought through what to say. “Lord Damien hit all the high notes in the summary, and we all got as shaken up down there as it sounds. Sixth Vault easily made up for the other five. Your poltergeist wore me like a sock puppet, and Oracle got the worst for it.” It took the same force of will that had failed her hours ago, but she managed not to shudder, if avoiding looking over at Barbara in that instant. “Do you mind having any healing staff on duty checking us out? As much as I know nobles go first, I can wait.

    Spoiler had no other excuse to have the little boy looked after immediately, while preserving whatever that unflattering pride was, but her real work opportunities were only just beginning. The flurry of merchants and mercenaries aplenty around them showed Fox’s Guild would have no more need of them, and five vaults filled with hundreds of thousands of gold worthy items each, minimum, was more than needed to supply numerous families with uplifting opportunities.

    While I do, I admit I’ll likely sleep off the next...three days or so. But I’ve met a ton of people in Fort Clinton alone that would gladly take up a job they can feel proud of. I’d be glad to nudge a few with some details. What opportunities do you have for volunteers? How many jobs are available in a normal platoon now? Do the people in that Marcus group get paid extra for being specialists, or are they really your bog standard sell swords, so they don’t get special rates? Easier to get you the best people, if I know what those opportunities involve.

    Spoiler: I’m not taking ten on anything
    Show


    And certainly not on any kind of Bluff to learn merchant things, especially details on that Marcus group guarding Vault 6. Everything said probably sounds highly believable, which would give the not-bluff a boost. All I’m considering is lawful and has nothing to do with potential Downtime actions, Molan. After all, sleep for 3 days and all.
    Last edited by JoyWonderLove; 2022-01-16 at 07:18 AM.

  29. - Top - End - #299
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Brisbane, Australia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    Damien adds nothing to the request for healing aid - though some healing salve would be extremely welcome right now, the very construction of his humanity means he is unable to ask for it directly. When Spoiler mentions sleeping for three days, he blinks, eyes darting, with a flicker of astonished abandonment in his features before that is paved over in iniquitous Gotham stoicism.

    "Among other things, we ought to get as little rest as we need and then take that charter I'm sure Lord Fox has arranged to South Channel Island. There's a girl out there, hidden among the elves and the trees, captive of Lord Nigma's ego; and delivering her from captivity is a crucial step both to severing the puppet strings foisted onto Fox's people, and exposing publicly that parasite Nigma's madness."

    But then his gaze tracks to Alfred. "...But even something so important might have to wait, pending the immediate impact of our most recent literary acquisition." Now surrounded by allies and protection, he reaches back over his shoulder into his haversack backpack, and plucks the Codex from its magical storage within. It sags his wrist with its weight, the operation one handed, dispensed into the grip of the old knight.
    Last edited by MrAbdiel; 2022-01-16 at 12:41 AM.

  30. - Top - End - #300
    Troll in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGirl

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

    "Sadly, I must concur with Master Wayne. My power reserves are barely touched, if we can secure healing magic, we should go forth as quickly as possible. Apart from... whatever that creature was, there are innocents to protect."
    GNU Terry Pratchett
    Survived Total War: Mandate of Heaven as The Witch-Doctors
    Thrived in Empire! 7 as the Sakura-Jin

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