I guess a lot of you are waiting for an update! Well, the game session was last night. It proved to be a fairly complex combat, and we only managed to get three rounds into it. It will continue next week.
First, I want to thank those who helped out in this thread. You'll notice, as you read this update, that I used various suggestions. I changed some things, but people should recognise their creations, ideas and strategies in the mix. It was quite a juggle, deciding what to use given the fantastic amount of advice I received!
I'm sure I'm misremembering stuff, but here's how I recall things. Details may well be a little inaccurate here and there, and in other places I may have embellished or changed things for narrative purposes. I also apologise for any spelling/grammatical errors - I typed this out pretty hurriedly, and it's more a quick factual account than a work of great literature!
So, OK, here goes....
The party glanced around, assessing their situation. Several walls of crackling black energy formed a loose maze; as they watched the walls shifted - some slid along, others rotated, forming an ever-changing layout to the room. Ozric, the diviner, quickly glanced around the room using his arcane sight, noting the magical emanations and enchantments. He immediately recognised the patterns of a teleport redirection enchantment, and communicated this to his allies, warning them to stick to conventional means of locomotion. He noted a sphere of null magic surrounding the throne upon which the lick-queen sat, and briefly examined the emanations coming from the shifting walls, warning his friends of the life-sapping properties of the ever-changing maze.
The party grimly gripped their weapons and spell components, ready for action. The lich-queen laughed hollowly on her throne, and the slaad king gurgled slightly, a mocking laugh. There was no time to respond, however, for the minions of the two rulers were already closing in with astonishing speed, weapons ready and snarls of death on their lips!
Whitewolf, the elven ranger, instantly loosed an arrow at one of the slaad guards, shooting straight through one of the energy walls - more to test the wall than to injure the slaad. The arrow streaked through the wall unimpeded, and scraped across the slaad's thick, frog-like hide. He grinned, pleased that the walls presented no physical obstacle, although his arrows didn't appear to bother the giant creature much. Shrugging, he continued with a barrage of three more arrows, just to keep the monster busy.
Meanwhile, Ozric had begun casting - a long summoning enchantment. It was imperative that something block the way between the party and the deadly warriors heading towards them. He knew that whatever he summoned would not fight for long against such skilled opponents, but it would buy a little time.
His spellcasting was not fast enough, however, to prevent one of the githzerai assassins from darting through the maze and closing on him in an instant, sword raised. The dextrous creature deftly threaded its way past the party's front-line fighters, the paladin and the samurai, and slashed at the wizard with a wicked looking crystal blade, shimmering with some kind of energy. The blade slashed Ozric's arm, drawing blood, and threatening to disrupt his spellcasting - but he gritted his teeth and grimly continued, trying to ignore the blade-wielding fiend before him. To his horror, he felt his mind slipping - some effect of the blade, no doubt; he felt his neurons slowing, his synapses seizing, and his thoughts felt sluggish and slow. The darn thing had somehow managed to drain some of his intellect!
The other two githzerai spread out. Instead of charging, both whipped out shimmering crystal blades and hurled them straight at Ozric and the cleric. Ozric was lucky, a blade clashing into the wall behind him. The cleric, however, was less fortunate, as a blade pierced his side, causing him to gasp in pain. Like the wizard, he felt his mental prowess attacked, his grasp on the prayers and rituals which allowed him to call upon his deity were weakened.
Some kind of monstrous word thundered through the hall, the noise of it echoing from the walls and ceiling; the strange, short incantation rolled through the room, each echo seemingly louder than the last. Several members of the party realed backwards, the thundering word crashing down on their senses, deafening them, filling their heads with a ringing which threatened to disrupt concentration and spellacasting. The cleric's ears started to bleed, and he stared mutely ahead, his gaze coming to rest on the slaad king who had seemingly just uttered that monstrous incantation.
The lich-queen laughed and stared straight at the archer. The archer felt something psuh at his mind, something cajoling and insistent, but he felt the supportive presence of his paladin companion nearby holding the intrusion at bay. Better stay close to the paladin, he thought!
The massive slaad guards were circling round. One started to make its way down the right hand side of the hall towards them; another two moved forward to engage the warriors guarding the spellcasters, stopping out of reach of the humans' swords and slashing fiercely at them with their long pikes which crackled with black energy. Blows connected, hurting both the warriors as the black energy surged through their bodies. This was going to be a grim battle indeed!
Suddenlly the sky rained fire! The cleric, chanting a prayer to his god, brought down flames from the heavens, filling the room with a raging inferno of roaring heat. The lich-queen sat, immune, in here anti-magical sphere, the flames unable to touch her. The slaad king spread his arms as the fire thundered around him; although visibly singed, he seemed to relish this challenge to his strength, weathering the storm in defiance. Again, he laughed, a deep, ugly laugh of contempt and delight. The two githzerai guards caught in the inferno nimbly dodged for cover, avoiding the worst of the conflagration, suffering no more than minor singes.
The sorceror, glancing at his besieged wizard friend, conjured an orb of acid and flung it in the direction of the githzerai mage-killer attacking him. His aim was poor, however, and the orb splashed harmlessly against a nearby wall.
The paladin braved the long pike wielded by his slaadi foe and closed the distance between them, slashing with his holy sword, laying about the monstrous creature with slashes and cuts. He noted with satisfaction that the slaad did, indeed, bleed. Unfortunately, however, as he moved away from the archer, the elf's eyes changed; bereft of the circle of prtection afforded by the paladin's proximity, the lich-queens telepathic commands compelled him. He swung round and loosed a barrage of arrows at Ozric, the wizard, who stared at him in horror and surprise. Ozric's magical protections helped him weather the storm of piercing death, although afterwards he was bleeding from multiple wounds.
A mighty roar cut through the room; ahead of the party, and enormous shape materialised, hard to see through the smoke from the magical conflagration of fire which had filled the room seconds before. Dimly, a giant reptilian creature could be seen, 20 feet tall and with jaws which could swallow a man whole. A tyrannosaurus rex - a mythical "dinosaur", and one imbued with fiendish energy, at that - strange spikes protuded from its head and back, and its eyes glowed with blood-red fury. The paladin and the samurai, towards the front of the battle, looked at it warily, but breathed easier when the monster charged the slaad who had been moving down the right hand wall. The dinosaur had been summoned by Ozric, the wizard.
Backing away from his githzerai assailant, Ozric followed the summon with another quick spell, calling into existence a cage of pure force which surrounded one of the slaad guards; the cage quickly filled out, forming a windowless cell, a solid block encasing the creature. He grinned to himself - that should hold him for a while! Now what to do about the archer and the githzerai killer, both who seemed determined to kill him?
The githzerai was, indeed, intent on slaying the mage. His mission was simple and singular - to take out any spellcasters. He had been trained for this role, and knew well many of the tricks and defences used by them - and, more importantly, how to circumvent them. He was aware of the displacement effect upon Ozric which caused him to appear a few feet from his actual location, but ignored it, striking at where he knew the mage to be. Another gash, this time across the shoulder, wounded the wizard, and again Ozric felt his control of his magic slipping away from his mind. To his horror, he found that he could no longer recall the details of his most powerful spells, and searched his mind for weaker enchantments which may help him.
The other two githzerai hung back, their way blocked by monstrous slaad, energy walls, a tyrannosaurus rex and a force cage. Crystal blades materialised in their hands, and they circled for good vantage points so that they could hurl the deadly cystal at the spellcasters. One found a gap, and a crystal blade shattered over the cleric's head; the other moved to the side, seeking a way down the left hand edge of the hall.
As the paladin battled with the great frog-like creature before him, he was suddenly thrown off balance as his sword vanished from his grasp! He looked around wildly, in panic, now unarmed and - more importantly - bereft of his magical holy sword which was so effective against evil foes. The samurai, noticing his friend's predicament, pulled out a long sword and tossed it to the paladin, who deftly caught it and grimly pressed his fight on the slaad guard.
The cleric, noticing the elven archer aiming at the wizard, quickly surmised what had happened to his friend. He muttered a prayer and surrounded himself with a holy aura which would prevent mental control, and ran to the elf's side, allowing his aura to envelop his friend. The archer, lowered his bow in confusion, released from the mental bond, before wheeling around and unleashing a barrage of energy-infused arrows into a nearby slaad, causing it to roar with pain.
The sorceror, worried about the two mage-killer gith closing on the group, looked at his friend the wizard, besieged by one of the foul assassins. Knowing that the party could not afford to have more of its spellcasting power drained, he frantically searched for a way to prevent the two gith closing with their magical intellect-stealing blades. Calling upon one of his more powerful enchantments, he summoned a wall of pure force, which cut the room in two, blocking the battle and one end from the gith queen, the slaad king and the two gith assassins. That should keep them away for a while!
The tyrannosaur roared, lunging at a slaad with its great jaws. The skilled slaad guard easily avoided the razor-sharp teeth, however, punishing the dinosaur with repeated blows from its crackling pike. The spectacle was impressive, indeed - a 15 foot tall pike-wielding frog battling a 20-foot tall monstrous dinosaur, but it was obvious the the tyrannosaur would not lats long. Still, its purpose as a shield was being fulfilled - every second it kept that slaad occupied was to be valued.
The samurai, freed of his foe by the forcecage, ran to the wizard's assistance, cutting down the githzerai assassin with a series of mighty blows. Ozric smiled weakly at him in thanks, as the cleric called to his god and infused his friends with holy energy through their telepathic bond. Wounds healed and pain eased, giving the party a second wind. "Haven't got any more of those!" he broadcasted over the mindlink.
The paladin noticed his foe was not fully paying him attention, and realised with horror that the giant slaad's gaze was fixed on the sorceror. Reliq knew that the spellcaster could not withstand a ferocious attack from this monster. He realised, with horror, that the creature intended to simply rush over him, brushing him aside, in order to get at the sorceror; gulping he looked up at the behemoth towering above him. How could he stop it? He didn't have time to think about it, though, for the giant froglike creature leaped forwards, its massive bulk hurtling at him, threatening to crush him. Reliq glanced at the sorceror again - he couldn't let the slaad through! - and threw himself in the monster's path, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath, waiting to be trampled and flung carelessly aside. He felt the slaad's massive body slam into him, and managed to desparately grab a massive leg, hanging on grimly, waiting for the pain to begin. As long as he slowed the thing down!
To his amazement, the slaad slipped; it crashed to the ground with a loud croak of rage, and the paladin managed to stumble aside, keeping his feet. He stared in amazement at the behemoth he had - somehow - just managed to knock from its feet. Looking at his friends, he noticed that they, too, had paused in disbelief at the spectacle. He grinned at them, as though it were nothing, shrugged, raised his sword and began to rain blows on the prone creature.
The slaad king appeared to be conferring with the queen. He strode forward and croaked a magical incantation, gensturing at the wall of force bisecting the room. It fell to his magical onslaught, disentegrating under his powerful magics. Immediately, the two githzerai mage-killers zipped forwards, taking advantage of the cleared path, closing rapidly on the wizard, the cleric and the sorceror at the back of the group. The wizard, Ozric, reacted quickly, as did the sorceror. Ozric slipped a fireball through the gap, aimed sqaurely at the king and queen; the explosion washed harmlessly over the queen and only barely singed the slaad kind. The sorceror, on the other hand, had taken the opportunity to hurl an orb of pure sound at one of the slaad; it crashed into him, and the echoing bellow of the sonic force rang out throughout the room. Everyone winced at the sound, glad that they weren't at the epicentre; everyone, that is, except the slaadi, who just grinned evilly, seemingly immune to the effect.
The gith queen frowned slightly; she was irritated that the paladin, and then the cleric, had managed to block her control of the archer. Familiar with such holy auras, she reached out with her mind and plucked the archer from his location, flinging him through the air, far clear of the protective auras of the two holy men, depositing him before her throne. Irritably, she ordered the elf to continue his onslaught on the wizard, who desparately dived for cover - running right, behind his summoned tyrannosaur and noting how unsteady it was on its feet, bleeding from massive wounds. It would fall in seconds, and he looked with horror at the monstrous slaad on the other side of it, whose path would soon be cleared.
OK, that's how far we've gotten. Just three rounds. The spellcasters have burned through some of the highest level spells, and the wizard and cleric have lost access to their top spell levels. The archer is with the queen, firing on his spellcasting allies. The T-Rex is about to fall. On the good side, nobody is too badly injured yet, although resources are starting to become an issue already. Two gith magekillers are closing on the spellcasters, the two slaad currently tied up (one with the T-Rex, the other in the force-cage) look like they'll be free in seconds - the slaad king, who hasn't really been brought into play yet, will deal with that in the same way that he handled the wall of force.
It has been a battle of attrition so far; I'd say the party has held its own, but is getting bogged down at one end of the room with increasing odds.
), but that definitely sounds like a TPK about to happen.
