@Knightfall as I understand things, I have to see the target; I see it, just behind Xander...the rest is just an area effect - and it is my decision as a caster to have spell spread as far as possible in THAT direction away from me. If the spells didn't work that way then we would have fireballs that don't curve around or meteor swarm that only falls where the caster can see.
He (Maur) KNOWS there is a hall behind and can (I hope direct the spell)
Yeah, that makes sense. I'm assuming the target is out the maximum that Maur can see, so, 5 feet up the stairway. The spikes are on the stairs above that. Whoa... I just looked at the spell. One 20 ft. square/level! That means Maur makes a total of seven 20 ft. squares. Holy moly, that's a dangerous spell!
Xander is totally screwed (see below).
Eike not going to fair any better, although I'm going to give him another save once he hits the first set of spikes. But if he fails, he's going to flee to his death.
Neurotic said:
As for chaotic part - that was part of the bluff so that Xander thinks nothing really happened because Maur assumed he is chaotic (I, Neurotic, know duergar are usually LE, Maur probably knows the same
)
Bluff: 1d20+1 = [3]+1 = 4 close, but not close enough !
Actually, you're Bluff was successful. I rolled a 1 for Xander's Sense Motive check and he failed his Spellcraft check. Like with Natural 20s on skill checks, I modify a Natural 1 the same way but in reverse. So, while a Natural 20 is 30 for a critical success a 1 becomes a -10 for a critical failure. You got a 4. Xander got a 3.
Maur got very lucky.
now, that doesn't mean the Xander is just going to cast a spell with Maur in his face without being careful. But he will run after that, so the AoO will come into play. Still, considering what I had planned for Xander's next move, Maur still might miss.
Neurotic said:
I expected to make OA against Eike in the last round, not this one
Anyhow, Maur lets Eike go in favor of hittin Xander. And Eike may end up in the spike stones anyhow since it has quite a big area
Yes, Maur made an AoO against Eike last round. I just wanted you you to know that you can choose to do make that your AoO but I didn't expect you would. Heh.