PH2- The Darque Portal (B4cchus judging)

[Phoenix8008]

"Yes, of course. We already sent a runner out to notify the Hunter and the halfling of our plans. With luck, they will return shortly with our runner." Captain Niko replies. "I see you are ready to set off, so I'll delay you no further than to wish you luck." With that, Niko turns and gets back to work supervising the people's preparations to evacuate.

Returning down the passages towards the gate you entered this place from, you find the darkness to be heavy as a lead blanket around you. The dead silence is only broken by the scrape of your boots on the stone and your breath leaving your bodies. Amazingly, you encounter no enemies until you Come within sight of the gate itself. Far in the distance you can make out the light of the gate playing over the cavern. Upon the bridge stands Allahastor, weaving magicks of power in a ritual not yet completed. Beside him is a large wolf, growling at him menacingly but not disturbing him enough to break his concentration. Between them and yourself is a pale man in hide armor leaning on a staff and watching the wizard with untrusting eyes. It must be Balthazar.

[sblock=OOC]The party is at a corner turning into the final passage leading to the gate. The path to the gate is 10' wide and there is about 80' between you and Balthazar. From here, you have the chance to make any final preparations before moving forward to engage. From here you can speak or cast and not be heard, but moving closer will be difficult to do undetected unless you ALL can make good move silently checks.[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

ooc: Does either Balthasar or the wolf look like the Snuffles, either pre or post transformation to human? I.e. would we have reason in character to suspect that the wolf can turn into a person, or that the person can turn into a dog?

More practically, how do we want to handle this? Periwinkle can buff Kona'i and Xir with AC buffs again, and then she and Peladus stand back and throw magic missile and ray of enfeeblement around? I suppose we could double buff Kona'i, and Xir can stand back too, but I feel like that's less safe.

 

[Boddynock]

[sblock=OOC] My guess is that Balthazar, in the hide armour, is a druid who can shapechange and that the wolf is his companion. If we can't see anybody else, does that mean that there are no goblins in hiding?

Peladus has three long-range spells at his disposal: Sleep and two Magic Missiles. All the rest of his spells are short range. All his spells are offensive in nature so no buffs from him. He has one scroll of Mage Armor which he'll reserve for his own use.

We have two objectives. The first is to take down the wolf before it can kill Darque, or at the very least disrupt his casting (and blow our chance of getting home). The second is to defeat Balthazar.

B's going to be the more difficult opponent but the wolf will be tricky to kill quickly. I hesitate to use the Sleep scroll because it has a Will save, which B's likely to make easily (DC is only 11).

If B is 80 feet from us, how far is the wolf, and how far Darque?[/sblock]

 

[stonegod]

[sblock=OOC]Xir can charge in very far (burst adds ten to speed, so that means Xir can get 80' away in one charge). Best to get some buffing on.[/sblock]

 

[Boddynock]

[sblock=OOC]Sweet! In that case, we can do buffs - AC for Peladus, Xir and Kona'i, anything for Periwinkle? - followed by ... Bless, perhaps? - and then, while Xir and Kona'i charge, Periwinkle and Peladus can stand back and lob Magic Missiles at the wolf (assuming it's within range). That should be the surprise round, and then we wait to see how the initiative pans out.

If the wolf's hit by a couple of MMs in the surprise round and another couple in round #1, we might get lucky and take it out of action.

Then Peladus will have to close to use the rest of his spells.

Meantime Xir and Kona'i can be putting the hurt on Balthazar! [/sblock][sblock=Today’s Spells]Spells per day: 4/3

Cantrips:
Acid Splash
Acid Splash
Ray of Frost
Ray of Frost

Level 1:
Color Spray
Magic Missile
Magic Missile[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

ooc: That sounds like a plan. Periwinkle casts as a level 2 cleric, and all her prepared buff spells are 1 min/level, so it shouldn't matter what order they get cast in. So I guess it's:
round 1: shield of faith on Kona'i
round 2: protection from evil on Xir
round 3: Bless on everyone. Peladus casts mage armor from a scroll (right?)
round 4: surprise round. Xir and Kona'i charge, P&P lob magic missiles at the wolf.
...
round 21: SoF expires.


[sblock=Periwinkle's spells]
Cleric spells per day: 3/2+1, caster level 2
Save DC: 12 + spell lvl
0: detect magic, message, light
1: bless, prot. from evil (D), shield of faith

Sorcerer spells: 5/4, caster level 1
0: prestidigitation, detect magic, ghost sound, dancing lights
1: magic missile, ray of enfeeblement
[/sblock]

 

[Boddynock]

After hasty consultation, Periwinkle starts casting protective spells on the two fighters while Peladus digs out his spell of Mage Armor. When everyone is protected, and the Lady's blessing has been sought, the two magic users make eye contact, Peladus counting to three (nodding his head in time). They then cast magic missiles which dart towards the wolf threatening Darque, as Xir and Kona'i charge towards Balthazar.

OOC: Of course, if the wolf's more than 110 feet away, that blows that plan and we'll have to think again.

 

[Phoenix8008]

OOC: Neither Balthazar or the wolf looks like Snuffles. But Balthazar is indeed the human that Snuffles turned into it seems!

Round 1: Periwinkle casts shield of faith on Kona'i (+2 AC, up to 15)

Round 2: Periwinkle casts protection from evil on Xir (+2 AC, no possession, no contact from summoned creatures unless he attacks first)

Round 3: Periwinkle casts Bless on everyone. (+1 on all party member attacks and saves vs. fear)
Peladus casts mage armor from a scroll. (+4 AC to himself)

Round 4: (surprise round)
-Xir and Kona'i charge forward but are unable to reach close enough to attack Balthazar during the surprise round.

-Peladus and Periwinkle each fire a magic missile at the wolf near Alahastor, causing it to howl loudly in pain and rage as Balthazar turns towards you with a snarl on his lips.

Round 5:
-The wolf moves forward to bite at Xir while guarding Balthazar, but the Xeph easily evades the injured creature.

-Balthazar begins making arcane gestures with his hands while snarling an incantation that ends in an echoing howl. An answering howl sounds from far off as another wolf appears out of nowhere right in front of Kona'i, bringing his charge to a halt.

-The new wolf bites at Kona'i, but the monk barely manages to dodge the fangs of the beast this time thanks to the magical protection from Periwinkle.

-Kona'i smacks at the new wolf in front of him with a quick double attack with his staff, hitting it once. The wolf remains standing though.

-Peladus, Xir, and Periwinkle can go...
[sblock=Init/Status]23- Wolf (-8 hp)
19- Balthazar
19- Wolf 2 (-7 hp)
17- Kona'i
16- Peladus
12- Xir
10- Periwinkle[/sblock]Here's a starting map of starting positions at least:

And here is the map after the surprise round:

And finally, the map after the bad guys and Kona'i have gone:

Inits for Kona'i, Periwinkle, Peladus, Xir, Balthazar, and the wolf. (1d20+1=17, 1d20+2=10, 1d20+2=16, 1d20+3=12, 1d20+3=19, 1d20+3=23)
Periwinkle and Peladus magic missile damage to wolf (1d4+1=4, 1d4+1=4)
Wolf bite attack at Xir AC21 (1d20+4=13, 1d6+2=8)
Wolf bite attack at Kona'i AC15 (1d20+5=14, 1d6+1=6)
Kona'i flurry of blows w/ quarterstaff at wolf 2. (1d20+3+1-2=3, 1d6+3=7, 1d20+3+1-2=19, 1d6+3=7)

 

[stonegod]

OOC: Unless Balthazar has a feat/special ability, he's still summoning. Its generally 1 round action (take this from a former summoner specialist).

Xir sidesteps the wolf, and slashes out with his psychically charged blade, the green blade thrumming with ill intent.

OOC: 5' step aside the wolf so he can attack B; AC 20, 11hp.

 

[Boddynock]

OOC: Given that the issue stonegod raises could significantly change the battle landscape, I'll wait to hear P8's response before posting Peladus' action.