Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Swordlands - updated 28th May; The Hanged Man
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mathew_Freeman" data-source="post: 4803945" data-attributes="member: 1846"><p><strong>Tentacular Spectacular</strong></p><p></p><p>The situation was growing increasingly bleak for the heroes. Whilst the threat of the Crawling Claws was all but ended, the increasing dimness of the room was making finding their targets increasingly difficult. The hideously deformed Drow up on the cages could see in the dark, as could the other Acolytes, and they continued to rain down crossbow bolts and magical attacks from the safety of the shadows.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, on the ground, Karl was still engaged in fighting a couple more Acolytes in hand-to-hand combat. Finally spotting an opening as one over-extended himself, he launched a nasty riposte that bit deeply into his opponents spine, almost slicing him in half. Kicking his sword free, Karl pushed the body into water with a splash, pulled out a sunrod and lit it, forcing back the darkness. Spying the ladder revealed clearly to him, he began making his way over there.</p><p></p><p>Sigurd, having shown forth her magical might, became a crossbow magnet as she was hit repeatedly by the cultists hiding in the upper reaches of the room. The final few claws also mustered a last attack, immobilizing her in place and letting her wounds run even clearer. Weakened already from the necrotic mucus attached to her, Sigurd saw the room start to spin around her and struggled to hold on to consciousness.</p><p></p><p>As Aengus tried his trick with the prism again, splitting his Eldritch Spears four ways to attack the chains of the cage that the monstrosity stood upon, Thunder called upon the power of Kord to aid his allies. Uttering first a Healing Word to close his own wounds, he then stepped up to the beleaguered Wizard and uttered another prayer, watching with satisfaction as her wounds closed.</p><p></p><p>“Kord is with you, Sigurd,” he said calmly, ignoring the continuing hail of crossbow bolts. “You are a brave fighter, never afraid to make yourself a target.”</p><p></p><p>“Melora is with me, also,” she reminded him. “Kord is not the only deity that should occupy our attention.” Grinning, she moved away, her hands already moulding the next spell to be cast. Triggering it, she blasted another group of Claws off the side of the platform with a Thunderwave, the noise of the spell rising above the clash of blades.</p><p></p><p>Thunder had taken his attention to the deformed Drow up on the cage. Lacking ranged capabilities, the Cleric simply moved towards the ladder, but before he could get far the figure jumped back and away from him, ending up near to the large cylinder on the upper level. There was a half-second pause as he gathered himself, and then he once more erupted in tentacles that struck out across the whole group. Karl, this time, managed to dodge clear as they lashed down, and Aengus was shielded behind a cage, but Thunder caught the full brunt of the attack. Several tentacles slapped at him, spinning him around in place and draining his energy again. Metal creaked as they grabbed hold and attempted to pull him apart. Sigurd too took another blow.</p><p></p><p>A sound of distant laughter echoed from above as the tentacles withdrew, and the other acolytes took heart, firing again with their crossbows. However, as Sigurd’s reserves of strength began to drop, the magical properties of her armour activated. The robes she now wore were made of Bloodthread, a powerful magical substance. As the blood from her wounds seeped into it, it hardened and increased it’s protection. The incoming crossbow bolts were deflected away or failed to penetrate it.</p><p></p><p>Seeing this, Thunder pressed the attack. He stepped up, using another magical shot from Aengus as cover, and brought down the final Acolyte with a spearing sword strike. Sigurd’s Icy Hand had been slowly draining him of his strength, and he became easy prey for the Warforged’s sword. Shrugging off the necrotic effect from the tentacles, Thunder pushed up further, followed by Aengus’ teleport as his Fey Pact power activated.</p><p></p><p>“Melora, grant me your aid,” whispered Sigurd to herself, healing her own wounds before launching an acid arrow at the laughing figure above her. It crashed home, splashing acid around him and sizzling as it began to eat away at his skin. Howling in pain, he vomited up another gob of mucus but this one went wide of it’s target to sizzle in return amongst the lower platform. Seeing his attack miss, the figure retreated into the darkness on the top level.</p><p></p><p>With the way now clear, Karl began to climb the ladder to the higher level, seeking to end the fight and sheathe his sword in his enemy’s blood. Aengus, looking to follow him, blasted at the last few Claws as they attempted to follow the Gnome, before another Thunderwave from Sigurd blasted them into smithereens. Thunder, slinging his shield on his back for a moment, joined Karl on the ladder, his weight causing it to creak with his weight. As the light of Karl’s sunrod began to beat back the darkness at the top of the ladder, they could see the figure clutching at his chest where the acid still burned him. The figure took a small flask from his belt and poured it over himself, and it fizzed away the acid.</p><p></p><p>“He’s an alchemist of sorts,” noted Karl from the top of the ladder. “Guess he’s been working on himself, somewhat…”</p><p></p><p>“He’s an abomination,” replied Thunder, reaching the top and pushing past the Gnome. “I’ll get him.” Charging forwards, the Cleric sliced at the figure, but the Alchemist dodged aside and raked him with his claws. Feeling more necrotic energy seeping into him, Thunder stepped back and tried to gather his wits. This opened a space for Karl to charge in with a malicious grin, drawing an attack from the Alchemist which he dodged easily before striking back. Slicing up into vulnerable tissue, Karl attempted to impair his foe’s fighting prowess but to no avail as his attack was deflected away.</p><p></p><p>As the battle raged on the upper level, Sigurd knew she had to do something about the Acolytes still sniping at her. Gathering her clothes, she began to rise into the air under a Levitate spell, casting her magelight forwards for better visibility. The final acolyte left alive found himself drawing level, eye-to-eye with the Wizard as she shaped another spell to attack him with.</p><p></p><p>Aengus had been following Thunder and Karl up the ladder, offering his support. As he reached the top, he saw a gap between the three figures and took a shot, catching the Alchemist with another Eldritch Spear in one leg. As the Drow staggered back from the attack, Thunder lit up his own weapon with radiant power and powered it forwards, smashing into the Alchemist with an Avenging Flame attack. Fire flickered across the Drow’s body, searing into him as he moved around and clawed at the Warforged again.</p><p></p><p>However, in his keenness to try and kill the Warforged who had set him on fire, the Alchemist had forgotten about Karl. With a sudden sidestep and swift blow, the Gnome up-ended the Drow off the side of the ledge, sending him falling thirty feet to the water below. Even as his tentacles erupted again, seeking something to latch on to and save him, he splashed into the water and sank, dead.</p><p></p><p>“So, then,” said Sigurd on the other side of room as she crackled with magical power from her mid-air position. “Do you really wish to continue this battle?”</p><p></p><p>The last remaining acolyte looked at her and fled into a side tunnel.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: orange">Note: Forgive the title, it got into my head and wouldn't leave.</span></p><p><span style="color: orange"></span></p><p><span style="color: orange">This turned out to be one hell of a battle, with the alchemist battering us from above whilst we tried to deal with the claws and other acolytes. Kudos to crater for sorting it all out and thinking it up!</span></p><p><span style="color: orange"></span></p><p><span style="color: orange">After the battle in Glorium against the dead kings, I'd mentioned that being harrassed by infantry at the same time would have made the fight even more interesting. I think this idea was taken on board for this encounter, and it showed up what a good encounter can be.</span></p><p><span style="color: orange"></span></p><p><span style="color: orange">Next time: We discover a prisoner, or is she better described as a victim?</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mathew_Freeman, post: 4803945, member: 1846"] [b]Tentacular Spectacular[/b] The situation was growing increasingly bleak for the heroes. Whilst the threat of the Crawling Claws was all but ended, the increasing dimness of the room was making finding their targets increasingly difficult. The hideously deformed Drow up on the cages could see in the dark, as could the other Acolytes, and they continued to rain down crossbow bolts and magical attacks from the safety of the shadows. Meanwhile, on the ground, Karl was still engaged in fighting a couple more Acolytes in hand-to-hand combat. Finally spotting an opening as one over-extended himself, he launched a nasty riposte that bit deeply into his opponents spine, almost slicing him in half. Kicking his sword free, Karl pushed the body into water with a splash, pulled out a sunrod and lit it, forcing back the darkness. Spying the ladder revealed clearly to him, he began making his way over there. Sigurd, having shown forth her magical might, became a crossbow magnet as she was hit repeatedly by the cultists hiding in the upper reaches of the room. The final few claws also mustered a last attack, immobilizing her in place and letting her wounds run even clearer. Weakened already from the necrotic mucus attached to her, Sigurd saw the room start to spin around her and struggled to hold on to consciousness. As Aengus tried his trick with the prism again, splitting his Eldritch Spears four ways to attack the chains of the cage that the monstrosity stood upon, Thunder called upon the power of Kord to aid his allies. Uttering first a Healing Word to close his own wounds, he then stepped up to the beleaguered Wizard and uttered another prayer, watching with satisfaction as her wounds closed. “Kord is with you, Sigurd,” he said calmly, ignoring the continuing hail of crossbow bolts. “You are a brave fighter, never afraid to make yourself a target.” “Melora is with me, also,” she reminded him. “Kord is not the only deity that should occupy our attention.” Grinning, she moved away, her hands already moulding the next spell to be cast. Triggering it, she blasted another group of Claws off the side of the platform with a Thunderwave, the noise of the spell rising above the clash of blades. Thunder had taken his attention to the deformed Drow up on the cage. Lacking ranged capabilities, the Cleric simply moved towards the ladder, but before he could get far the figure jumped back and away from him, ending up near to the large cylinder on the upper level. There was a half-second pause as he gathered himself, and then he once more erupted in tentacles that struck out across the whole group. Karl, this time, managed to dodge clear as they lashed down, and Aengus was shielded behind a cage, but Thunder caught the full brunt of the attack. Several tentacles slapped at him, spinning him around in place and draining his energy again. Metal creaked as they grabbed hold and attempted to pull him apart. Sigurd too took another blow. A sound of distant laughter echoed from above as the tentacles withdrew, and the other acolytes took heart, firing again with their crossbows. However, as Sigurd’s reserves of strength began to drop, the magical properties of her armour activated. The robes she now wore were made of Bloodthread, a powerful magical substance. As the blood from her wounds seeped into it, it hardened and increased it’s protection. The incoming crossbow bolts were deflected away or failed to penetrate it. Seeing this, Thunder pressed the attack. He stepped up, using another magical shot from Aengus as cover, and brought down the final Acolyte with a spearing sword strike. Sigurd’s Icy Hand had been slowly draining him of his strength, and he became easy prey for the Warforged’s sword. Shrugging off the necrotic effect from the tentacles, Thunder pushed up further, followed by Aengus’ teleport as his Fey Pact power activated. “Melora, grant me your aid,” whispered Sigurd to herself, healing her own wounds before launching an acid arrow at the laughing figure above her. It crashed home, splashing acid around him and sizzling as it began to eat away at his skin. Howling in pain, he vomited up another gob of mucus but this one went wide of it’s target to sizzle in return amongst the lower platform. Seeing his attack miss, the figure retreated into the darkness on the top level. With the way now clear, Karl began to climb the ladder to the higher level, seeking to end the fight and sheathe his sword in his enemy’s blood. Aengus, looking to follow him, blasted at the last few Claws as they attempted to follow the Gnome, before another Thunderwave from Sigurd blasted them into smithereens. Thunder, slinging his shield on his back for a moment, joined Karl on the ladder, his weight causing it to creak with his weight. As the light of Karl’s sunrod began to beat back the darkness at the top of the ladder, they could see the figure clutching at his chest where the acid still burned him. The figure took a small flask from his belt and poured it over himself, and it fizzed away the acid. “He’s an alchemist of sorts,” noted Karl from the top of the ladder. “Guess he’s been working on himself, somewhat…” “He’s an abomination,” replied Thunder, reaching the top and pushing past the Gnome. “I’ll get him.” Charging forwards, the Cleric sliced at the figure, but the Alchemist dodged aside and raked him with his claws. Feeling more necrotic energy seeping into him, Thunder stepped back and tried to gather his wits. This opened a space for Karl to charge in with a malicious grin, drawing an attack from the Alchemist which he dodged easily before striking back. Slicing up into vulnerable tissue, Karl attempted to impair his foe’s fighting prowess but to no avail as his attack was deflected away. As the battle raged on the upper level, Sigurd knew she had to do something about the Acolytes still sniping at her. Gathering her clothes, she began to rise into the air under a Levitate spell, casting her magelight forwards for better visibility. The final acolyte left alive found himself drawing level, eye-to-eye with the Wizard as she shaped another spell to attack him with. Aengus had been following Thunder and Karl up the ladder, offering his support. As he reached the top, he saw a gap between the three figures and took a shot, catching the Alchemist with another Eldritch Spear in one leg. As the Drow staggered back from the attack, Thunder lit up his own weapon with radiant power and powered it forwards, smashing into the Alchemist with an Avenging Flame attack. Fire flickered across the Drow’s body, searing into him as he moved around and clawed at the Warforged again. However, in his keenness to try and kill the Warforged who had set him on fire, the Alchemist had forgotten about Karl. With a sudden sidestep and swift blow, the Gnome up-ended the Drow off the side of the ledge, sending him falling thirty feet to the water below. Even as his tentacles erupted again, seeking something to latch on to and save him, he splashed into the water and sank, dead. “So, then,” said Sigurd on the other side of room as she crackled with magical power from her mid-air position. “Do you really wish to continue this battle?” The last remaining acolyte looked at her and fled into a side tunnel. [color=orange]Note: Forgive the title, it got into my head and wouldn't leave. This turned out to be one hell of a battle, with the alchemist battering us from above whilst we tried to deal with the claws and other acolytes. Kudos to crater for sorting it all out and thinking it up! After the battle in Glorium against the dead kings, I'd mentioned that being harrassed by infantry at the same time would have made the fight even more interesting. I think this idea was taken on board for this encounter, and it showed up what a good encounter can be. Next time: We discover a prisoner, or is she better described as a victim?[/color] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Swordlands - updated 28th May; The Hanged Man
Top