Sasha utters a little scream of frustration as both her shots miss.
“Get it together,” she mutters to herself furiously.
“This isn’t just practice!” Meanwhile, the little reptile-birds move toward Kane, all except for the one on the very edge of the cliff, which struggles to regain its purchase on the rocks.
Pterosaur Wranglin’, Round 3
The injured long-necked reptile bird strikes savagely at Castile with both beak and claw, but its blows barely make any impression. It then takes off so suddenly that it avoids Castile’s counterattack and flies beyond her reach.
The less-injured of the two takes off, circles around, and charges Kane, but he has little trouble avoiding the blow.
The smaller creature swoops rapidly down on Noriaki, clawing him and knocking him to the side (which provokes another little scream from Sasha), before veering sharply away and up with a triumphant squawk that sets everyone's teeth on edge. Noriaki feels the sword stir eagerly in his hand, hungry for blood.
[sblock=actions and rolls]Chicks 1-3 move as close to Kane as they can get. Chick 4 gets up from prone.
Pneck 1 recharge diving charge
3(1d6) = 3 fails.
Pneckosaur 1 attacks Castile:
Pneck 1 basic vs AC (+2 CA), Castile; damage
3(1d20) +11 +2 = 16; 14(2d10) +5 = 19 misses.
And a minor action attack:
Pneck 1 rake vs AC, Castile; damage
19(1d20) +11 +2 = 32; 2(1d6) +6 = 8 hits for 8.
Move: sly takeoff, a shift + move that provokes combat challenge.
Castile combat challenge vs AC (-2), Pneck 1; damage
8(1d20) +9 -2 = 15; 3(1d12) +7 = 10 misses. Pneck 1 shifts then moves to E5 (6 squares up).
Pneck 2 recharge diving charge
5(1d6) = 5 success. Move: sly takeoff. Shifts away from Kane and moves up for a charge.
Standard:
Pneck 2 diving charge vs AC, Kane; damage
5(1d20) +11 = 16; 2(2d10) +10 = 12 misses.
Pscreamosaur 1 does a flyby on Noriaki.
Pscream 2 swooping slash vs AC, Noriaki; damage
19(1d20) +11 = 30; 7(1d8) +6 = 13 hits for 13. Hideous squawk gives
Castile, Kane, Noriaki, and Takahaan a
-2 penalty to attack rolls until EONT. Noriaki is bloodied and slid to L10. Pscream 1 moves to T14 (7 squares up)
Note: Takahaan could use Guardian’s Counter to take this hit (in which case he and Noriaki swap places) but would be slid out of the way before he gets to make the basic attack. (And it would prevent Noriaki from being bloodied, of course, which is less fun for his sword.)
[/sblock]
[sblock=SAVE THE CHICKS!]As a
move action, you can make a DC 20 Nature check in an attempt to calm/coax the chicks. If you succeed, each chick immediately takes a move action as you direct, and does not take one on its usual turn. Chicks have a move of 4 (and see the section on terrain).
As a
move action, you can make a DC 22 check with some other skill to attempt to influence the behavior of the chicks. I’ll allow anything that seems reasonable (Arcana to produce compelling lights or noises, interpersonal skills, etc.). If you succeed, pick one of the following effects:
--
one chick immediately takes a move action as you direct (and none on its usual turn) or
--
all the chicks give up their move actions for the round and do nothing.
Regardless of how many attempts you make to influence the chicks, no chick may take more than one move action each round.
As a
standard action, you can make a DC 14 Acrobatics or Athletics check to grab an adjacent chick and hold onto it to keep it safe. You must fulfill the usual conditions for maintaining a grab (hand free, not dazed, etc.). While grabbed, a chick is considered to be in your square, but cannot be targeted by attacks. Each round that you hold the chick, you must repeat the Acrobatics or Athletics check on your turn as a free action. If you fail, the chick escapes into an adjacent square and moves on its turn as usual.
If you successfully influence a chick that you are holding using one of the methods above, it will stop trying to escape for as long as you hold it. You do not need to make any further Acrobatics or Athletics checks.
The chicks count as your allies, and can be targeted by things that affect allies. They do not have any attacks, cannot flank, and they do not provoke OAs when they move. If you use an effect on a chick that allows it to spend a healing surge and recover hit points, it is fully healed by that effect.[/sblock]
[sblock=Special Note about Falling] Because falling off the rightmost edge would probably be fatal (and at the very least would take a character completely out of the fight), it is impossible for a PC or Sasha to fall off into the blue area during this fight. If you would fall off under the normal rules (i.e. you are forced over the edge and fail your save), then you stay prone on the edge and in addition become dazed until the end of your next turn.[/sblock]
[sblock=Terrain and Elevation]All terrain is normal except for the nest, which is difficult terrain. The different shades of grey represent rock ledges at different elevations. The red numbers are elevations relative to the rough, light brown terrain at the top. (You can also tell where the drops are by the shadows: a thin shadow represents a 5-foot difference and a thick shadow represents a 10-foot difference.)
Moving to an adjacent square that is 5 feet higher or lower costs an extra square of movement. Moving to an adjacent square that is 10 feet higher or lower requires climbing (DC 15). Chicks can handle 5-foot changes without spending extra squares of movement, but they can’t handle 10-foot changes at all.[/sblock]
[sblock=Controlling Sasha]
Companion NPCs in Combat
Any PC can take a standard, move, or minor action to have an NPC perform an action of the same (or a lesser) type. E.g., if you want Sasha to use Twin Strike, you spend a standard action. If you want her to move, you spend a move action. An NPC is limited to the usual number of actions each round (but those actions need not all be granted by the same PC). An NPC who has an immediate action can likewise only use it if a PC has an immediate action available to use on his/her behalf.
NPCs can take free actions and opportunity actions normally, without the direction of PCs. They are always considered to have their weapons in hand and don’t need to spend actions unsheathing them.
If all of the PCs act in a given round without giving any actions to a particular NPC, I will have that NPC take
one non-offensive action. This will most likely be Second Wind if it is needed and available, and movement or Total Defense if it is not. (It won’t be necessary for PCs to spend their own standard actions to have NPCs use second wind.)[/sblock]
[sblock=Sasha]
Sasha
HP 22/34, Bloodied 17, Surge value 8; Surges 7/7
Str 10, Con 12, Dex 18, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12
AC 18, Fort 16, Reflex 18, Will 14
Skills: Nature +8, Perception +8, Stealth +10
Striker: 1/round, Sasha can deal 1d6 extra damage when she hits an enemy she has CA against.
longbow +9 vs. AC, 1d10+5 damage (range 20/40)
Twin Strike (standard; martial, weapon; ranged weapon, one or two creatures)
Attack: +9 vs. AC, two attacks
Hit: 1d10+1 damage per attack
[o] Evasive Strike (standard; martial, weapon; ranged weapon, one creature)
Special: Sasha can shift 3 squares either before or after the attack
Attack: +9 vs. AC
Hit: 2d10+5 damage
[o] Crucial Advice (immediate reaction; ranged 5)
Trigger: An ally within range that Sasha can see or hear makes a Nature, Perception, or Stealth check
Effect: The ally can reroll the skill check with a +2 power bonus.
[o] Heroic Effort (no action; personal)
Trigger: Sasha misses with an attack or fails a save
Effect: Sasha gains a +4 racial bonus to the attack roll or saving throw.
[o] Second Wind
Conditions: none[/sblock]
[sblock=status]
Good Guys
Castile (L6) HP
45/52; surges
11/13; -2 attack rolls, bold victory, grants CA
Hú Lí (N3) HP
27/39; surges
8/8; dazed (save ends)
Kane (L1) HP
38/38; surges
10/10; -2 attack rolls
Noriaki (L10) HP
18/45; surges
9/9; bloodied, -2 attack rolls
Takahaan (O7) HP
33/39; surges
8/8; -2 attack rolls
Sasha (L3) HP
22/34; surges
7/7
Chick 1 (N7)
Chick 2 (J10)
Chick 3 (O9)
Chick 4 (H17)
Bad Guys
Pneckosaur 1 (E5 +6)
55 damage taken, diving charge used, -2 attacks, bloodied, marked by Castile
Pneckosaur 2 (O6)
9 damage taken, diving charge used, marked by Kane
Pscreamosaur 1 (N7) dead
Pscreamosaur 2 (J14 +6)
25 damage taken, curdling screech used,
[/sblock]
[sblock=Enemy Stats]Please read the appropriate block(s) only when necessary to resolve attacks or OAs.
[sblock=Pscreamosaur (with the open beak)]
Pscreamosaur
AC 19, Fort 17, Ref 18, Will 17; HP 62, bloodied 31
Bite +10 vs. AC, 1d8+6 damage or 2d6+6 damage with CA.[/sblock]
[sblock=Pneckosaur (with the long neck)]
Pneckosaur
AC 18, Fort 17, Ref 19, Will 18; HP 80, bloodied 40
Bite (reach 2) +11 vs. AC, 2d10+5 damage.[/sblock][/sblock]
[sblock=Possible triggers that the DM doesn’t want to forget]Black Fox
Virtue of Cunning (no action; ally is missed)
Castile
Combat Challenge (interrupt; adjacent marked target shifts or makes an attack that doesn’t include Castile)
Guardian’s Counter (interrupt; ally within 2 is hit by an attack that doesn’t include Castile)
Shield Edge Block (interrupt; adjacent enemy hits or misses Castile with a close or melee attack)
Kane
Aegis of Shielding (interrupt; marked enemy hits a target within 10 and the attack doesn’t include Kane)
Channeling Shield (interrupt; an attack hits Kane or an ally within 10)
x Dimensional Vortex (interrupt; an enemy within 10 hits an ally with a melee attack)
Noriaki
Rampage (free; Noriaki scores a critical hit with a Barbarian attack power)
x Roar of Triumph (free; Noriaki reduces an enemy to 0 hp)
x Shrug it Off (reaction; Noriaki is subjected to a save ends effect)
Thaneborn Triumph (no action; Noriaki bloodies an enemy)
Takahaan
Guardian’s Counter (interrupt; ally within 2 is hit by an attack that doesn’t include Takahaan)
Vengeance is Mine (reaction; an enemy hits Takahaan)[/sblock]
That poor girl is being manipulated by all of our manly men PCs!
