skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Death of a Vampire
Name of PC: Malkie Vienne, Halfling Vampire Docker
Name of Campaign/DM: Old Dorks Zeitgeist / roadtoad
Name of Adventure: Island at the Axis of the World
Chapter/Scene of Death:Act Two, Hold the Lighthouse ("For the Wargamers" variant)
Cause of death: A Rebel Investigator Deluded the party Runepriest into attacking Malkie with radiant damage.
Metagame cause (if applicable): Player impatience
Brief Recount of events: The party of four had worked their way into the lighthouse fairly easily and just had to hold out for three waves. During the first wave, Durakh-al, a Goliath Runepriest Skyseer, had activated a Rune of Endless Fire, causing his halberd to do fire and radiant damage for the rest of the encounter. Since the Golden Icon of Urim had made Durakh-al immune to the attacks of the Rebel Patrolmen, and so he didn't need to recover any hit points, I told his player that he could keep the Rune going for the next wave.
The party had the advantage of terrain and cover. All they had to do was keep picking off rebel fighters from behind the barricaded chokepoint near the lighthouse stairs, but Malkie got impatient. Invoking the power of the Golden Icon of Avilona, she flew out over a horde of Patrolmen, killing about half a dozen with a burst of some kind. She then turned invisible and landed in the middle of about fifteen enemies.
One Patrolman noticed her and shot her with his crossbow, and the rest followed. Even at a -5 to hit, a dozen shots can be dangerous. Down to about 5 hit points, Malkie used Docker's Jank to swap positions with the party monk, Cazara, who had been standing right next to Durakh-al, behind the barricade. Malkie hit the last remaining Rebel Investigator with an attack that put the investigator at 1 hit point and tried to slide her over the ledge above the ramp to kill her with falling damage, but the Investigator caught herself on the edge.
The investigator acted next and deluded Durakh-al, convincing him that at any moment Malkie might betray him to the horde of rebels, like she had done to Cazara. Durakh-al hacked at Malkie with his halberd. Thanks to the Rune of Endless Fire (which I had charitably allowed to last for an extra encounter), the attack did extra radiant and fire damage. Vampires are vulnerable to radiant damage. The combined bonuses incinerated Malkie in one fell swoop.
How you handled the aftermath: After the group managed to hold the lighthouse, Cazara scooped up the ashes of Malkie and kept them with her. Months later (a few weeks before starting Dying Skyseer), a Mysterious Stranger gave her instructions to meet Another Mysterious Stranger, who held the secret to reconstituting Malkie's ashes into something resembling a living creature again.
I docked Malkie the price of a Raise Dead ritual from her next requisition allowance (due to pay lost while being dead). When she returned to work, no one really talked about what had happened. It would be rude.
Name of PC: Malkie Vienne, Halfling Vampire Docker
Name of Campaign/DM: Old Dorks Zeitgeist / roadtoad
Name of Adventure: Island at the Axis of the World
Chapter/Scene of Death:Act Two, Hold the Lighthouse ("For the Wargamers" variant)
Cause of death: A Rebel Investigator Deluded the party Runepriest into attacking Malkie with radiant damage.
Metagame cause (if applicable): Player impatience
Brief Recount of events: The party of four had worked their way into the lighthouse fairly easily and just had to hold out for three waves. During the first wave, Durakh-al, a Goliath Runepriest Skyseer, had activated a Rune of Endless Fire, causing his halberd to do fire and radiant damage for the rest of the encounter. Since the Golden Icon of Urim had made Durakh-al immune to the attacks of the Rebel Patrolmen, and so he didn't need to recover any hit points, I told his player that he could keep the Rune going for the next wave.
The party had the advantage of terrain and cover. All they had to do was keep picking off rebel fighters from behind the barricaded chokepoint near the lighthouse stairs, but Malkie got impatient. Invoking the power of the Golden Icon of Avilona, she flew out over a horde of Patrolmen, killing about half a dozen with a burst of some kind. She then turned invisible and landed in the middle of about fifteen enemies.
One Patrolman noticed her and shot her with his crossbow, and the rest followed. Even at a -5 to hit, a dozen shots can be dangerous. Down to about 5 hit points, Malkie used Docker's Jank to swap positions with the party monk, Cazara, who had been standing right next to Durakh-al, behind the barricade. Malkie hit the last remaining Rebel Investigator with an attack that put the investigator at 1 hit point and tried to slide her over the ledge above the ramp to kill her with falling damage, but the Investigator caught herself on the edge.
The investigator acted next and deluded Durakh-al, convincing him that at any moment Malkie might betray him to the horde of rebels, like she had done to Cazara. Durakh-al hacked at Malkie with his halberd. Thanks to the Rune of Endless Fire (which I had charitably allowed to last for an extra encounter), the attack did extra radiant and fire damage. Vampires are vulnerable to radiant damage. The combined bonuses incinerated Malkie in one fell swoop.
How you handled the aftermath: After the group managed to hold the lighthouse, Cazara scooped up the ashes of Malkie and kept them with her. Months later (a few weeks before starting Dying Skyseer), a Mysterious Stranger gave her instructions to meet Another Mysterious Stranger, who held the secret to reconstituting Malkie's ashes into something resembling a living creature again.
I docked Malkie the price of a Raise Dead ritual from her next requisition allowance (due to pay lost while being dead). When she returned to work, no one really talked about what had happened. It would be rude.
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