[Adventure] Rift in a Bag (DM: treex, Judge ???)

[Son of Meepo]

Dina shrinks to fit the opening in the bag and then enters through the opening.

OOC: I have placed myself in a position where others can gather around me if you want to take advantage of Magic Weapon. EDIT: [MENTION=84680]treex[/MENTION]: As soon as I have an idea what I'm looking at, I'll probably want to make some monster knowledge checks against the monsters, so it would be helpful if you list the relevant skills for each monster somewhere, so I know what to roll.

 

[CrimsonFlameWielder]

Malakai sees Dina enter and moves in after her, stepping toward the bag. He feels a strange tingling sensation as his body is miniaturized, and as he descends into the contents of the magical bag, he finds that he is somehow able to mentally control his descent and lands on the...well, whatever is beneath his feet, behind Dina.

Slightly dizzy from the strange sensations, the Tiefling takes a look about to determine what was happening in the bag, and whether or not something would already need killing.

OOC: Placed Malakai on the map behind Dina. Oooh... this looks like it's going to be a rough first fight if those two blocks S1 and S2 with the auras are each large creatures... way to show us you don't own any kid gloves, treex!

 

[Walking Dad]

OOC: I positioned Nate on the map. Can we get a description to help us decide which to attack first? You mentioned swarm, which calls more for an area attack for example.

 

[treex]

The first two things that you perceive of your surroundings. Firstly, the walls and floor of this place is lined with lines upon lines of glowing purple runes and around three to four dozens of the same maw demons that attacked Dina earlier are gathered in front of the party.

Some of them maw demons have already seen the party entering, but even then they hesitate to attack you. At best, they start snarling and barking in your direction. And after awhile you see why: standing in front of the two groups is a demon with a wicked looking whip. He appears to be the one who disciplines them and cracks his whip at the air to keep them in control.

A demon is riding a horned, lizard-like monster, with a large frill around it's neck. It has red skin with orange and yellow speckles and has spikes protruding along it's spine. As such, there's a large leather (at least it seems to be leather but who knows) saddle and a iron harness attached to it's head. Neither of them notice you and are instead playing with each other. The rider throws what appears to be snacks up into the air and the steed is snapping at it. When it misses he gets a soft bonk on the head with his master's spear.

A demon in robes is taken aback, he was the one trying to remove the seal from the inside and is surprised at how their captors willingly "freed" them.

All of the demons have a charcoal like skin, with glowing veins of orange running across their bodies. Except for a few, they have blue swirling mists where their abdomens should be and nothing seems to connect their upper and lower bodies physically, yet they are able to stand upright.

[sblock=Monsters (Defenses only)]Maw Demon Swarm
AC: 17 Fortitude: 17 Reflex: 16 Will: 15
Swarm Attack Aura 1
Any enemy that starts its turn in the aura takes 5 damage, or 10 if the enemy is bloodied.

Maw Demon Herder
AC: 19 Fortitude: 16 Reflex: 18 Will: 17

Demon Arcanist
AC: 17 Fortitude: 17 Reflex: 16 Will: 18

Portal Key
AC: 16 Fort: 17 Ref: 16 Will: 15

Demon Rider (Elite)
AC: 19 Fortitude: 20 Reflex: 16 Will: 19
[/sblock]
[sblock=OOC]I'll post attacks as I use them. I have some good stuff but that doesn't gurantee I'll get to use it *wink*
EDIT: Because these are homebrew...there's not much fluff ._. Now I have to write some, I guess? Hmm, these demons need a name, too.[/sblock]
[sblock=Knowledge Checks]Portal Key; DC 30 (Arcana)
Demons; DC 27 (Arcana)
Lizard Steed; DC 24 (Nature)[/sblock]

 

[FourMonos]

Artemis shifts into the bag, quickly taking in the gnashing demons and the leader riding a lizard.

"Once more into the fray my friends."

Artemis charges the demon leader in front of him.

[sblock=actions]

Movement: Into Bag

Standard: Charge with Resplendent Blade: Natural 1. of course...

[/sblock]

[sblock=mini-stats]Atremis Harks- Male Human Hexblade 5
Status:
Initiative: +3, Passive perception: 11, Passive Insight: 16

AC 21 (20): For: 16 Ref: 18 Will: 20
Resist 5 cold

HP: 42/42 Bloodied: 21 Surge value: 10 Surges/day: 8 Speed: 5 squares,
Languages: Common, Primordial

Action Point: 1

Second Wind: unused

Powers: Resplendent Blade, Eldritch Bolt, Dire Fate
Wield the Warp 1 2, Heroic Effort, Spectral Fade
Confusion of the Cosmos, Shard of Darkness, Inspiring Word, Frostwolf Pelt, Ironscar Rod, Lesser Planar Ally [/sblock]

 

[Son of Meepo]

[sblock=Knowledge Checks]Portal Key; DC 30 (Arcana)
Demons; DC 27 (Arcana)
Lizard Steed; DC 24 (Nature)[/sblock]

[sblock=DCs]Those DCs are way off. The DCs are supposed to be set by the monster's level. With a moderate check, you should learn the monster's name, origin, type, temperament, and keywords. If you make the hard DC you know the monster's resistances, vulnerabilities, and what its powers do.

Artificially inflating these DCs unfairly nerfs one of my powers. (I'm assuming they are inflated because 27 is a hard DC for a level 11 creature, but the demons definitely don't have anywhere near the defenses of a level 11 creature.)

[sblock=DCs by level]Level - Moderate - Hard
1 - 12 - 19
2 - 13 - 20
3 - 13 - 21
4 - 14 - 21
5 - 15 - 22
6 - 15 - 23
7 - 16 - 23
8 - 16 - 24
9 - 17 - 25
10 - 18 - 26[/sblock][/sblock]

Artemis shifts into the bag, quickly taking in the gnashing demons and the leader riding a lizard.

[sblock=Initiative?]I had thought we were waiting for initiative rolls before acting. Was this not correct? I would have liked to have acted before Artemis if it was not.

EDIT: Also remember that allies inside the bag when init is rolled with get a +2 power bonus to their initiative check.[/sblock]

[sblock=Artemis]I did mention the plan was to wait for Dina to get off a magic weapon. I was even contemplating an AP to provocative order to get you that charge without spending your own action[/sblock]

 

[treex]

[sblock=Checks]I really just pulled up whatever numbers that came to my head, but now that I think about it they should be much lower. Sorry about that. Decreasing them all by eight seven sounds good...[/sblock]
[sblock=Initiative]Roll an initiative after you've taken your standard, move, minor.[/sblock]
[sblock=OOC]Although Artemis did go ahead without your Magic Weapons buff, he'd still miss on a Natural 1.[/sblock]

 

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: A little confused though. Did we already use our move action moving into the bag, or do I still have that available?

 

[FourMonos]

OOC: Sorry [MENTION=78756]Son of Meepo[/MENTION], I thought I would get away from the opening and give Dina a chance to use Commanders Strike if you wanted this or next round. How I read it, we used our move action to enter the bag.

 

[Son of Meepo]

Dina takes a moment to assess the situation accessing thousands of years of knowledge about the demons in front of her. Storing a particularly useful tidbit about the rider, Dina immediately forms a strategy. With Artemis at the front, she calls to Malakai and Nathantiel.

"Hit those swarms with all you have! Show no mercy to these spawns of Chaos!"

She then tosses her spear at the rider piercing it in a vulnerable spot.

[sblock=Action]No Action: Arcana (Maw Demon Swarm) (1d20+16=33)
No Action: Arcana (Maw Demon Herder) (1d20+16=19)
No Action: Arcana (Demon Arcanist) (1d20+16=25)
No Action: Arcana (Portal Key) (1d20+16=34)
No Action: Arcana (Demon Rider) (1d20+16=27)
No Action: Nature (Lizard) (1d20+13=22)

Free Action: Use Vulnerability against Demon Rider
Effect: Gain a +4 power bonus to all defenses against the monster's attacks until the end of your next turn. Additionally, until the end of your next turn, you gain a +5 power bonus to damage rolls against the target, but not when you deal damage that the target resists.

Minor Action: Adaptive Stratagem
Effect: Nathantiel gains a +5 power bonus to damage rolls until the end of Dina's next turn.

Standard Action: Magic Weapon
Magic Weapon (Demon Rider) (1d20+14=30, 1d6+7=13)
Result: HIT Demon Rider (AC 30) for 18 damage. (Forgot the +5 from Use Vulnerability)
Malakai gains a +1 power bonus to attack rolls and a +4 power bonus to damage rolls until the end of Dina's next turn.[/sblock]

[sblock=Dina's Stats]Dina - Deva Artificer-Warlord 6
Passive Perception 17, Passive Insight 17
AC 21, Fort 15, Reflex 19, Will 22
HP 49/49, Bloodied 24, Surge Value 12, Surges 7/7
Speed 6, Initiative +11
Action Points: 1, Second Wind []
At-Will Powers: Magic Weapon,
Commander's Strike
Encounter Powers: Provocative Order [],
Shocking Feedback [],
Memory of a Thousand Lifetimes [],
Use Vulnerability [x],
Curative Admixture [],
Inspiring Word [],
Adaptive Stratagem [x],
Animate Helper [],
Bold Victory Armor []
Daily Powers: Punishing Eye [],
Destructive Surprise [],
Philosopher's Crown [x],
Power Jewel [][/sblock]