Kulan: Knightfall's Heroes of Carnell Game [OOC]

[Knightfall]

@Knightfall From the range of emojis, I take it you much prefer the colder weather, even icy / snowy, extreme cold weather?

Yes. Fall and Winter can't come soon enough for me.

 

[Knightfall]

I had assumed there were at least some roots or something around. If there isn't, I'll change the 3rd level spell Spike Growth for the 4th level spell Spike Stones instead. It specifically targets rocky ground and stone floors but is otherwise very similar (but dealing more damage).

I'm fine with that.

I just need to figure out if piercing damage of the spikes will hurt the zombies. That the spikes are considered magical and bypass the zombies' DR 5/slashing. I'm thinking it does, but I want to do a bit more hunting for opinions through official FAQs and online resources.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

"Yes. Fall and Winter can't come soon enough for me."

I feel ya on that one, bro. My idea of a perfect day is mostly sunny / partly cloudy, high-50's to low 60's Fahrenheit.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

"Spike stones is a magic trap that can’t be disabled with the Disable Device skill."

"The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities."

The way I read that is, while hand-held weapons (magical or non-magical) need to be slashing to overcome the damage reduction, spells affect the creature, regardless. And this is a spell, so the spikes penetrate the DR.
Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Knightfall]

Hmm, I think I figured it out. Spells like spike stones and spike growth bypass DR because they are spell effects and spells are affected by DR. However, Spell Resistance does apply against those spells, so while the zombies will be damaged, any foe with Spell Resistance has a chance to bypass the spells.

That's interesting, and a little bizarre, but I get how it works now.

Well, so much for my zombies!

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

@Knightfall Yeah, exactly. If it bypasses DR, then SR applies. If it bypasses SR, then DR applies. That's always how I've run it as well. Good deal.

 

[Knightfall]

There are six zombies that have entered the field of of Caerth's spike stones. I figured He'd start them beyond the palisade he's standing behind. Since he's 9th-level now, he can create nine 20-ft. squares. I have to redo the upper part of the map (and add to it) to show where the spikes are going to be.

This might take a while

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

"Well, so much for my zombies! "

Ya know, it's fine when things like this happen; you plan for a big, epic fight, and the players find a way to even the odds; to me, that lends to the realism, and in some instances, acts as a moment of levity.

Spoiler: Old D&D War Story

For instance, in my epic game, the party, who were all between 33rd and 42nd level, were in the Abyss, approaching Orcus' fortress. There's this COLOSSAL+ "Abyssal Dragon" (read: Ancient Wyrm Red Dragons = kindergarteners compared to this thing) who's hiding in the LAVA moat. His tactic is to wait until the party approaches, then fly into the air, splashing lava all over the PCs. That's his surprise round. Then, further tactics are to remain airborne, and pelt the PCs with 60d12 breath weapons and various spells. Truly gruesome.

So the party all have fire resistance of some sort, so the lava splash is no big deal. But the breath weapon is still strong enough to intimidate most of the party members. (Only ONE of them had complete fire IMMUNITY.)

So for the first regular round, initiative is rolled, and the mage wins initiative. In fact, all but 1 of the party members beats the dragon's initiative.

So my cousin Dusty (the party leader) and some of the other players decide to take a smoke break. Sly, the one playing the mage, is a non-smoker, so he decides to stay with me at the table. The plan is to go ahead and get his spell out of the way, so that the others can do their actions when the smoke break is over.

So, Sly's character, Sphynx, has an epic spell of his own design: Power Word, Obliterate. The HD limit is 65, and the dragon is only (only...) 60 HD, so he can possibly be affected. The spell had a long range, and the dragon was still well inside it.

Sphynx manages to break the dragon's SR of 50 (pretty easy for a 42 Wizard) but the dragon's saves are SO GOOD, that he beats the DC 48 on a 2 or better on the d20....

...wait for it...

I rolled a 1.

There it was, the epic battle I had been planning for two weeks, gone with a single spell. I was dumbfounded. It was Smaug all over again. One lucky shot. BAM!

The other guys came back from their smoke break to find the dragon dead. They were SO non-plussed. All of them had been discussing their plans of attacks, and were looking forward to trying out new feats, new magic items recently acquired, etc. Of course, after a few minutes, they started congratulating Sly on his slick use of an epic spell. And a great night of roleplaying still ensued.

But when I look back on it now, I laugh and laugh and laugh. Of course, they still had their hands full with Orcus himself. And the module was GREAT FUN. But I think the thing I loved MOST about that adventure was the sudden dragon death. It's like Indiana Jones when he just shoots the swordsman after watching his little display of prowess.

And it's a reminder that even the toughest foes can be defeated, and sometimes, when you least expect it, and by someone you might be tempted to underestimate. Cheers!

 

[Knightfall]

After adjusting my map and the placement of the zombies, nine of the remaining zombies after round one have stumbled into Caerth's spike stones. The spell trap destroyed four of them and damaged the other five.

I'm assuming the Reflex save is DC 17 unless Caerth has a active spell or other effect that increases the DC.

Zombies - Reflex saves (DC 17): 1D20-1 = [19]-1 = 18
1D20-1 = [4]-1 = 3
1D20-1 = [14]-1 = 13
1D20-1 = [6]-1 = 5
1D20-1 = [15]-1 = 14

One saves and all the others fail.

Four of them have their speed reduced to 15 feet, which is reduced to 5 feet for the difficult terrain.

 

[Knightfall]

The revised map will reflect Maur's darkvision limit.