Thursday, July 31, 2014

Goblins. Again.

2 am, August 8 by Kingdom Reckoning



The sounds of struggle continue to your north but it seems as if the number of combatants is narrowing. Battle cries in a deep voice mingle with shouts and yips of smaller creatures.

From the east, a volley of arrows flies. Thor is hit twice, taking 7 points of damage and two fly over Twiggy's head. Rayla is also hit once for 2 points of damage. 

You grip your weapons, pluck the strings of your bows and begin to chant the first few words of your spells, preparing for the battle to come when a brilliant flash of lightning splits the sky and crashes into the tree where Twiggy was perched. The light momentarily blinds you and the immediate crash of thunder is enough to rattle your teeth. The tree cracks and begins to burn.

There are still no visible threats. It is the party's turn. (We're in initiative order so please restrict yourselves to the normal move/action or two moves.

23 comments:

  1. ((We can be seen by those to the east but we can't spot them yet right? Or maybe caught a glimpse with the lightning flash but the darkness and cover is hampering our vision?))

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    1. Correct, most likely they are hidden in the trees at the edge of the forest.

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    2. (How deep and wide is the river or stream we are standing next to?)

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  2. Tom mutters to himself, but holds his fire.

    He whispers, "We need light, they can see, but we can't. Light something so we can see!"

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    1. Shade moves as far as he can towards the source of the arrows to the east. Knowing he cannot possibly close the entire distance and attack before the goblins he opts to cast with a quick snap of his fingers a cantrip he often uses for lighting his pipe. This time though, the cantrip lights his lantern and it blazes to life, fueled by the prestidigitation magic and the oil within its reservoir. "I once knew a goblin," Shade announces between his labored breaths, "... He died screaming and in pain. The choice is yours!" Shades use of goblin even mirrors the local inflections in voice that the group had used, a dialect he was familiar with. Already combing through his actions to come he begins to extract his colored ball of yarn and coalesce the colorful arcane energies that will come with that casting.

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  4. "Thunor's Fist..." Thor said in a solemn, reverent awe. "We are truly blessed!" Thor stood silent for a moment before turning to Twiggy. "Thundercaller," Thor named the elf, "you are truly one of Thunor's blessed!"

    Thor fell to his knees before the symbol of the Thunderlord's might.

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    1. Twiggy was slightly confused and taken aback by Thorvald's effusiveness, not to mention his close call with death. He looked at the tree where he'd been perched and then back at Thor. He looked down at himself to make sure he was indeed all in one piece. He shook his head, as if clearing the cobwebs and then decided Thor must be joking with him. And in the middle of a goblin fight at that! That kind of bravery, thought Twiggy, took what we called in the loft "huge pine cones."

      "Um. Yes, well," he stuttered, but then gained steam. "Indeed, Thor!" Twiggy said and stood up to take a courtly bow. "We'll get to the, uh, ceremony later. But our friend Tom needs light and our crazy wizard is farting rainbows, so we'd best have a look at these goblin fellows."

      Twiggy squints into the darkness to see if he can make out any of the goblins around them.

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  5. Rayla digs into her pack and pulls out her sling and a sling bullet. She casts light on the sling bullet and prepares to send it towards the tree line where the goblins are hiding.

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    1. (Shielding the light from the bullet with her hand.)

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  6. Draymun and Kumo dash for the small overgrowth near their position and duck into the cover of the trees. Once in the shade with protective canopy overhead, a quick motion of the hand toward the ground signals for Kumo to remain hidden and await further commands.

    // Best to bide our time instead of charging headlong, my friend. I have a few tricks up my sleeve... //

    Bringing both hands up to his mouth and projecting his voice into the northern forest, Draymun begins to howl and bark in the direction of the arrow volley. From the opposing treeline there is a flash of green and white energy that vanishes as quickly at it appears. His echos from the distant trees intensify until they drown out his own sounds. As the dogs appear they immediately seek out their prey by scent and sow further discord in the Goblin ranks.

    With the turn of his head and a smile at Kumo, he claps his hands together before brushing them on his pants.

    // Let's see how much fun that is... //

    ---

    Move Action: Moving to [27.10] (Kumo can be in the adjacent tile, [28.10])
    Action: Level 2 Casting, Augmented Summoning - Summon Nature's Ally I: Riding Dog
    --- 1d3 summoned creatures, Result: 3 Riding Dogs Summoned
    --- Immediate attacks against near enemies (if available)

    Sam, I will let you roll and control the dogs, if you want, since they may or may not have enemies nearby to attack. They'll seek out the nearest targets on round one and they'll naturally try to trip on their attacks as they're permitted. After that we can see if they need to be reinstructed.

    Here's the stat block for the summoned Riding Dogs (with handy Augmented Summoning brackets already provided!): http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/dog/riding-dog/summoned-creature-riding-dog

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  7. Tom and Thor hold their actions.

    Twiggy looks into the trees and tries to spot the goblins but can't make anything out other than shadows and vague shapes of trees and bushes. (9+2 Int = 11 vs. Stealth)

    Rayla casts Light on a sling bullet and then hides it under a bushel.

    Shade moves to 28.09 and lights his lamp and peers into the trees but sees nothing. (3+4=7 Int. vs Stealth)

    Draymun and Kumo move into 27.10. Kumo hides and Draymun casts Summon Natures Ally lvl. 2 at 30.05.

    Kumo's stealth roll is 13.

    (The perception checks of the summoned riding dogs are 24, 13, 13.)

    You hear loud barking from the forest and then a howl of pursuit. One of the dogs finds it's quarry and a goblin yelps in surprise. (The dog rolled a 1 on it's attack roll.)

    You think the yelp came from 31.07 but I must stress that you can't see anything to attack in that hex yet. You can move closer, you can take a shot in the dark, you can cast an area of effect spell but targeted attacks will be difficult or impossible.

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  8. Goblin's turn:

    The fighting to the north seems to have settled down and 4 arrows fly out of the dark, two at Thor and two at Tom (who I have placed in the front of Twiggy and Rayla, please let me know if that's incorrect.) Only one arrow hits, however, and Tom takes 2 points of damage.

    More arrows come out of the woods to the East and these are at a better angle to Twiggy, Rayla and Shade. Two arrows soar over Shade's head. He hears the sound of a bowstring snapping and a quick goblish curse.

    Two fly toward Rayla and one toward Twiggy. One hits Rayla for 3 damage and one hits Twiggy for 1 point of damage.

    Then a sickly sounding voice calls out from the woods, it grates over your ears and slithers into your mind like mud down a drain, each word biting and coarse. "It is you who will scream in pain, human!" Another bolt of lightning flashes out of the sky and strikes Shade, standing in the open. Shade tries to dodge out of the way but the bolt strikes true and he takes 10 points of damage. (Reflex save 14+1=15 vs. DC 16.)

    Draymun realizes with a start that you must be dealing with a medicine man or shaman, a natural caster.

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  9. Initiative for Round 3: Draymun 12 vs. Goblin 5.

    The party may act.

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  10. Rayla sends the sling bullet flying towards the goblins in the dark.

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  11. Shade advances directly in front of where he heard the voice scream and unleashes a torrent of hatefilled energy with a snarl. This time the color sprays forth in a slightly darker and more malevolent hue as if all the worlds rage was bottled and unleashed from his outstretched. His primal scream issues for the entirety of the cast and it almost appears as though the force of his blast has whipped up his tattered and smoking black robes, pushing back his cowl to reveal a face blacked with soot. "Thorvald these creatures dare to tap Thunors very strength to smite your foes, show them no quarter!"

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    1. Harken flies down from above and lands on Shade's shoulder, cawing at the woods!

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  12. Thorvald's head snaped up with a start at the crackle of another bolt of lightning. Suddenly, he heard Shade call from the treeline. "No," he screamed from his vigil by Thor's burning tree. Thor withdrew his blade with purpose and took off like a stallion at a gallop, making his way toward Shade's position.

    Switching to the language of the goblins, Thor began screaming with a ferocity to wake the dead. "You will not profane the domain of the Thunderlord with your foul natures, for I am the Hand of Thunor, vengeance given life, sent here to cut you asunder and lay your minions low in the dust. Run now, for you shall receive no mercy and no quarter, and I will not be stopped until you have all been destroyed!"

    Rage overwhelmed Thor as he reached Shade's position, looking like a man possessed.

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  13. Tom holds his action until he has a target, but moves forward toward the area the light bearing sling bullet was sent.

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  14. Watching Shade get zapped by lightning so quickly after his own brush with Thunor made Twiggy cringe with empathetic pain. Although, to be fair, the extra body of Shade's electrified hair did look good on him, if Twiggy was being honest. That jester needs to wash his hair more often, thought Twiggy.

    But Twiggy knew it was no time to be thinking about Shade's make-over -- the man was severely injured. Twiggy saw Rayla fending off the goblins so he ran to Shade's side, stopping judiciously behind the rampaging Thorvald. Twiggy put his hands lightly on Shade's shoulder blades and chanted the spell of light curing he had learned in the Loft as a child.

    ((1d8 points of damage +1 point per caster level (maximum +5))
    (( 2+2 = 4 ))

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  15. The baying of the dogs filters back to you through the trees from hexes 31.07 and 32.07. A goblin curses, a dog snarls, another goblin cries out.

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  16. Draymun motions for Kumo to remain hidden for the moment as he directs the undergrowth in the forest ahead to restrain and distract the goblins hiding there in.

    (( The actual goal is to entangle the entire wooded area with as little outside of the woods as possible. Some will escape to hit all of the wooded area, and that's fine. Since it is a 40 ft radius, I can't pick a specific tile and will let you, Sam, decide exactly how that falls/works. ))

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