JollyDoc's Savage Tide-Updated 10/8!

Bryon_Soulweaver said:

I'm surprised no one thought of burning something as a distraction.

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As a group we've talked about this before, and dismissed it outright. Hence the previous '56 vs. the Legion'.
We would prefer that they come at us all at once, preferably at the front door, so we don't have to track their sorry ass down. We've also told JollyDoc that if they happen to bring all their treasure with them that would help save time too.

Good grief! Every time I read a new JD Story Hour post these days, I can't think of much else to say! Awesome

Hammerhead said:

I guess the Legion didn't need to resort to the "Plan B" of adventurers everywhere.

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Actually, that's "Plan C" in my book, but all the same; when in doubt, burning something to get everyone's attention. And shame on them for not following the Adventurers Guide Book.

Aracase said:

As a group we've talked about this before, and dismissed it outright. Hence the previous '56 vs. the Legion'.
We would prefer that they come at us all at once, preferably at the front door, so we don't have to track their sorry ass down. We've also told JollyDoc that if they happen to bring all their treasure with them that would help save time too.

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Bah, JollyDoc is being too nice. But the meat shi--I mean, TC can kill gods, so it doesn't matter, really.

Bryon_Soulweaver said:

Bah, JollyDoc is being too nice. But the meat shi--I mean, TC can kill gods, so it doesn't matter, really.

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Nice??? You've got to understand...these guys are battlefield control demons! Mandi can thin out some BBEG's quite nicely. Throw in Tower Cleaver's horrendous damage, Octurus's threat range of 15 or so (complete with auto-confirms with his on-hand weapon), Sepoto's general utilitarianism, and Daelric's constant buff/heal role, not to mention Gregor, who can assist with a summoned elemental here, or a slime wave there, and what's a DM to do??

Still, there is only one original member of the Legion still present, so I must be doing something right
Plus, the Abyss is waiting, and there, things get taken to a whole new level

JollyDoc said:

Nice??? You've got to understand...these guys are battlefield control demons! Mandi can thin out some BBEG's quite nicely. Throw in Tower Cleaver's horrendous damage, Octurus's threat range of 15 or so (complete with auto-confirms with his on-hand weapon), Sepoto's general utilitarianism, and Daelric's constant buff/heal role, not to mention Gregor, who can assist with a summoned elemental here, or a slime wave there, and what's a DM to do??

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Uhh, more monsters?

JollyDoc said:

Still, there is only one original member of the Legion still present, so I must be doing something right
Plus, the Abyss is waiting, and there, things get taken to a whole new level

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Hehe. The Abyss is not for children. How much I know from my own (characters) experience.

dreaded double post

Just to give you an idea of what the JD is up against, here is Mandi as she sails the Sea Wyvern into the start of Into the Maw (I haven't updated her in a while, so quite a bit has changed, especially after I used a limited wish several levels ago to simulate a psychic reformation).

Ozymandia 'Mandi' Enoreth (CR 17)
Female gold elf Wizard 5 / Master Specialist (Transmutation) 10 / Archmage 2
LE Medium outsider (native)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; darkvision 60 feet; Listen -1, Spot -1
Languages Common, Elven, Abyssal, Infernal, Celestial, Draconic, Maztican
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AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 14
(+5 Dex, +4 armor)
hp 130 (17 HD)
Fort +13, Ref +13, Will +20; +2 racial bonus against Enchantment effects
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Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), Swim 15 ft. (3 squares)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Base Atk +8; Grp +7
Combat Gear staff of evocation (31 charges), wand of detect secret doors (48 charges), wand of comprehend languages (50 charges), wand of detect magic (50 charges), wand of knock (50 charges, 11 potions of cure light wounds, 10 potions of invisibility, 10 potions of cure serious wounds, 3 potions of fly, 2 scrolls of Mordenkainen's lucubration, 2 scrolls of Rary's arcane conversion, 5 scrolls of sending, 2 scrolls of teleport, rod of extend spell (lesser), rod of extend spell (greater), rod of empower spell (lesser)

Wizard Spells Prepared (equivalent CL 19th, 22nd for Transmutation, 21st for spells from the Teleportation subschool), +2 to all caster level checks to break SR, can take 10 on all caster level checks, +1 to DCs and SR checks vs. chaotic outsiders, use of circlet of mages (3 charges per day):

9th - Bigby's crushing hand (+46 grapple check), mass hold monster (DC 31), shapechange

8th - mind blank, Otto's irresistible dance, avascular mass (DC 31), prismatic wall (DC 29)

7th - forcecage, glass strike (DC 30), greater arcane sight, final rebuke (DC 29), submerge ship

6th - greater anticipate teleportation, disintegrate (x4) (DC 29), control water

5th - baleful polymorph (x2) (DC 28), cone of cold (DC 26), hold monster (x2) (DC 27), Rary's telepathic bond, plus 5th level Pearl of Power

4th - celerity (x3), dimensional anchor, locate creature, polymorph, solid fog, plus 4th level Pearl of Power

3rd - detect ship, dimension step (x2), fly, greater mage armor, haste, slow (x2) (DC 26), plus 3rd level Pearl of Power

2nd - alter self, glitterdust (DC 23), heroics, scorching ray (+13 ranged touch, 3 rays) (generally empowered by rod of empower spell), see invisibility, snake's swiftness (x2), stormrunner's ward, plus 2nd level Pearl of Power (usually to retrieve scorching ray)

1st - benign transposition, magic missile, nerveskitter, ray of clumsiness (+13 ranged touch, 1d6+5 dex penalty and empowered by spellshard) (x2), shield (x2), wave's blessing, plus 1st level Pearl of Power (usually to retrieve ray of clumsiness)

Cantrips - amanuensis, mage hand, message (x3)

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Abilities Str 8, Dex 20, Con 20, Int 32, Wis 14, Cha 8

SQ Immunity to sleep effects, able to notice secret or concealed doors, prohibited from using spells from the schools necromancy and illusion, no familiar, immediate magic option (PHB II) sudden shift 11/day, minor school esoterica (transmutation), moderate school esoterica (transmutation), major school esoterica (transmutation) 3/day, caster level increase +2 (transmutation), outsider traits, High Arcana (+1 spell power), High Arcana (Arcane Reach), Spell Versatility variant (UA, treat avascular mass as a transmutation spell)

Feats Alacritous Cogitation, Arcane Mastery, Collegiate Wizard, Favored Magic Foe (chaotic outsiders), Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation)(B), Minor Shapeshift, Otherwordly, Scribe Scroll (B), Skill Focus (Spellcraft)(B), Ship's Mage, Spell Focus (Transmutation), Spell Focus (Enchantment)
Flaw Innattentive
Trait Absent-Minded
Team Feats Spell Barrage

Skills Concentration +30, Diplomacy +1, Knowledge (arcana) +34, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +32, Knowledge (nature) +32, Knowledge (the planes) +32, Knowledge (geography) +32, Knowledge (religion) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Profession (sailor) +27, Search +13, Spellcraft +36, Survival +4

Possessions combat gear plus Ring of Enduring Arcana, Ring of Arcane Might, Tunic of Steady Spellcasting augmented with +4 resistance bonus to saves and +6 enhancement bonus to Con, Third Eye (Penetrate) augmented with +6 enhancement bonus to Int, Bracers of Arcane Freedom, Boots of Big Stepping augmented with +6 enhancement bonus to Dex, Robe of Arcane Might (Transmutation), Belt of Battle, Mage's Circlet, Heward's Handy Haversack, Greater Crystal of Aquatic Action (continually attached to robe), Captain's Cloak (grants +5 competence bonus to Profession - sailor), Gauntlets of Ghost-Fighting, Empowered Spellshard (Ray of Clumsiness), Pearl of Power (2nd level), Pearl of Power (3rd level), Pearl of Power (4th level), Pearl of Power (5th) level, focus for greater anticipate teleportation, focus for submerge ship, focus for shapechange, focus for greater plane shift (Prime Material and the Abyss), 9000 gp ruby dust (for forcecage)

Spellbook spells prepared, plus 0 - all (minus illusion and necromancy); 1st - comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, feather fall, grease, identify, lesser orb of acid, lesser orb of cold, lesser orb of fire, lesser orb of sound, mage armor, mount, true strike; 2nd - bear's endurance, cat's grace, fox's cunning, knock, rope trick, resist energy, wraithstrike; 3rd - dispel magic, fireball, sound lance, water breathing; 4th - assay spell resistance, blast of flame, dimension door, evard's black tentacles, flame whips, orb of force, Rary's mnemomic enhancer; 5th - cone of cold, greater blink, Mordenkainen's private sanctum, sending, telekinesis, wall of force; 6th - antimagic field, Rary's arcane conversion, true seeing, wall of iron; 7th - greater arcane sight, limited wish, vision; 8th - chain dispel, ghostform, maddening whispers, greater plane shift, polymorph any object

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Hook "There are two types of people who cross my path. The first either assist me or get out of my way. The second end up as piles of dust on the floor. Which category shall I place you in?"

Thought I'd post this piece-meal, since our game will still be on hiatus for another two to three weeks...

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP

Gashgape Neften and his fellow captains, Two-Stubs Vexir, Casketbreath Gaven, and Rumbelly Wade, had been left behind to oversee this motley crew when the others had left in pursuit of the mutineers, and they were none to happy about it. However, they had known enough to keep their mouths shut, especially after what had happened to Ratline Sid. Now, as they gazed upon the body of their dead commander, the four grinned evilly at one another. Opportunity only knocked once, and more the fool was the man who didn’t answer the door.

With a chorus of howls and curses, their men surged towards the invaders, who, after battling their way to the Wreck and then dancing with Cold Captain Wyther and his cronies, must surely be spent by now. Gashgape realized the error in this line of thinking when a column of fire suddenly washed over the pirates, closely followed by an arcing bolt of lightning that leaped from man to man, frying one of the swabs on the spot, and even managing to sizzle Two-Stubs and Casketbreath. An instant later, and the demon pet that the trespassers had with them completely obliterated the retriever with a blast of some sort of green energy. The Lemorian barely had a chance to register everything that transpired. Within moments, the minotaur was among the pirates, cutting down swaths of them with his enormous axe, while directly across the deck, a goliath swinging a spiked chain handily snapped Casketbreath’s neck. Gashgape wasn’t immediately concerned about this, as it just meant they’d only have to divide the fleet three ways instead of four.

Then the tide seemed to turn in their favor as the buccaneers quaffed Fire Breath and proceeded to spit flames at the land lubbers. Meanwhile, ol’ Two-Stubs knocked back one of his healing draughts and flicked the empty flask at the demon, laughing all the while. He laughed even harder when the fiend threw bolts of fire at him, obviously not recognizing a fellow Abyss-spawn, who couldn’t be harmed by the fires of the Pit, much less the pitiful magic of a demonic slave. The laughter stopped a split-second later, however, only to be replaced by a loud croaking as a small toad appeared where Two-Stubs had just been standing.

The battle turned again, and this time it seemed it would not be turning back. More blasts of lightning crackled around him as the sky above suddenly filled with thunderheads that had not been there a moment before. The pirates began to scatter, losing any semblance of a unified front. In addition to the battle-crazed minotaur, a savage Maztican was leaping among the men, hacking and slashing with a pair of scimitars that reminded Gashgape of a dark elf ranger he’d once seen kill two dozen orcs single-handedly. The crew was falling like cordwood, and then Rumbelly went down…or up, rather, as he was impaled upon the minotaur’s horns and lifted into the air, only to be casually tossed overboard. Before he was fully aware of what had happened, Gashgape Neften found the he was, literally, the last man standing. Thoughts of surrender briefly flickered through his mind, but his last thoughts were of his ship, and wishing to have been able to have sailed the sea one final time before the goliath’s whirling chain sent him on his way to repay a debt he owed to the flesh furnaces of Lemoriax.
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“Is that it then?” Sepoto asked, looking at the carnage that surrounded them. “Is that all of them?”
“It would appear so,” Mandi replied, “though I must say, I expected…more from the Kraken Society.”
“But where are Vanthus and Lavinia?” Daelric chimed in.
“Long gone, I suspect,” Mandi answered, “but where, is the question. I suggest we begin a thorough search of the place. Perhaps we might find some answers.”

They began their investigation of the Wreck at the bottommost ship, the Fortitude. The deck of the old merchant caravel was pitted with deep scratches and gouges, no doubt the handiwork of the retriever that had, until recently, stood guard there. The ship’s mainmast remained in place, and rose nearly to the lower hull of the ship above. Tattered sails hung limply from the yard arm. A single door led below decks, and Mandi sent Tower Cleaver to do the honors, in case any stowaways were still onboard. However, as soon as the minotaur placed his hand on the knob, he stopped.
“Well?” Mandi asked. “We’re waiting! Have you forgotten how to open a door?”
Slowly, Cleaver turned towards her, and what the sorceress saw in his eyes chilled her to the bone…madness!
“Ware!” she cried. “He’s been ensorcelled! There must have been some kind of warding on the door!”
As she spoke, Mandi, still in her demonic guise, flapped into the air, well beyond the reach of Cleaver’s axe.

Sepoto considered himself a skilled warrior, and fearless in the face of his enemies, but he had known Tower Cleaver for several months, and in that time he had seen first-hand what the minotaur was capable of. The goliath did not fool himself with the idea the he could stand toe-to-toe with the brute, especially if his mind had snapped. Calling upon Savras, the crusader stepped into the Shadow realm in order to distance himself from his companion, but in doing so, he forgot about the interdiction spell Mandi constantly surrounded herself with, and promptly vanished into the Astral Plane.

“Daelric!” Mandi shouted to the invisible priest. “You’re the only one who can do anything about this!”
Daelric’s heart quailed at the thought. He knew she was right, but that would mean getting close to the minotaur, which was the last possible place he wanted to be. Though invisible, he also knew Cleaver had keen ears and a keener sense of smell. While he pondered his dilemma, Tower Cleaver snorted, his lips curling away from his fangs. He began to paw the ground with one hoof, and lowered his head, looking directly at Octurus and Gregor. Gulping audibly, the druid quickly shifted his body into that of a great bird and took flight, leaving the Maztican all by himself.
“Damn it!” Mandi cursed from above, and then hurriedly cast a spell. When Cleaver advanced a step towards Octurus, he found his way barred by an unseen barrier. Enraged, he began to beat at the force wall, roaring loudly enough to shake the old ship’s timbers. Octurus let out the breath he’d been holding as a long sigh. Though quick and no slouch with his blades, he too knew his limits and had seen his own death in Cleaver’s eyes.

While Daelric saw the practicality and necessity of Mandi’s spell, mind-numbing fear gripped him as he realized he’d been trapped behind the barrier with Tower Cleaver. Desperately he began backing away as the minotaur spun in his direction. But it was no longer rage that lurked behind Cleaver’s gaze. Instead, it was blind panic. Lowing pitifully, the minotaur lunged forward, running down the far side of the deck, bowling Daelric over in his flight.
“After him, fool!” Mandi commanded.
‘Easy for you to say,’ the priest thought to himself. ‘You’re not the one trapped with an insane, axe-wielding death machine!’
Still, he knew, logically that she was right, and he followed after Cleaver, hoping the minotaur’s own sobs and snorts would mask his approach. Abruptly, Cleaver halted, poised on the bow of the Fortitude as if he might leap over the side. Instead, he paused, raised his head in confusion, and then began shouting at the sky in his native tongue, babbling away as if speaking to someone no one else could see. Daelric knew that it was his only chance. Darting forward, he called to Shaundekal, not only to grant him the power, but also to grant him more life than he feared he had left. Laying his hands upon Cleaver’s flank, he channeled holy energy into his friend. Then he drew back, breathless, waiting. Slowly, tortuously, Tower Cleaver turned to look down at the priest.
“What happened?” the minotaur asked, befuddled. In reply, Daelric fainted dead away.

I called it. Indeed, the last one you'd ever expect.

you and me both mandi IDed that spell and the table went o . Force wall went up and TC used scent to find me standing next to him!!!!!!