LEIF & VORN
Complexity 2 SC, Level 2 (DCs 9/13/20)
Goal:
Slay whoever's running the Elect cell in the Tombwood before they reinforce or relocate.
5/6 Successes/
0 Failures/
0 Hard DC Available/
1 Secondary Skills Available/
1 Stealth Advantage for 2 x Success Available/Primary Skill Training exhausted;
Insight, Stealth, Athletics, ATK
High above the gravesite clearing, Lief and Vorn can see the profane contents of the scene below. The hour is very...very nigh. They must act quickly or things will escalate dramatically.
As the pair of Elect Militants watch on from the ruined opening to the mausoleum, a hooded Ritualist pulls her veil up and throws her head back as a molten crucible is prepared to be poured down her throat by her Acolyte assistants (who will take up her mantle if she is slain and consume the crucible's contents for apotheosis). Before this, she speaks hushedly to The Mogul and her acolytes reverberate her chant with background vocals.
"We give to thee the gold of the weak. We give to thee their blood. I commit myself to your purpose, my master. Let me hunt this heretic for you."
The crucible rises on a stanchion held by the pair of Acolytes and the Ritualist's head goes back...
-----------------------
NESTED CHALLENGE FOR FINAL SUCCESS (WIN CON): (1) Slay the Ritualist and her Acolytes, (2) destroy the ritual crucible to prevent apotheosis, (3) escape.
LOSS CON: If any of the Ritualist or the Acolytes consume the contents of the crucible, they gain apotheosis (becoming an Elite Lurker and a threat to hunt down the heretic Lief) and either (a) we go to combat to slay the creature or (b) you guys flee and forfeit your win (but not xp)!
*
30' x 30' gravesite clearing behind the thorny hedge wall (boundary). Mausoleum w/ long-gone roof and door (4 walls and an opening.
*
Surprise Round: One Action w/ CA (any successful attack with CA here will slay an enemy; see
Stealth entry for charge attack). After which, roll Initiative.
*
Lief and Vorn are currently out of line-of-sight, stealthed, in a concealed overwatch position (15 feet up for now) over top of the middle of the map (the map shows the SW end for legibility). Tree canopy criss-crosses the entirety of the gravesite clearing at a height of 15 ft. Limbs are unstable but not narrow; 1 extra sq of movement and DC 13 Acrobatics to traverse. See all of
Balance, Taking Damage While Balancing and
Reduce Falling Damage:
*
Minor Concealment due to light conditions (Vorn takes -2 penalty to hit).
*
Stealth vs Passive Perception 13. See entry:
*
Crucible: HP 7, AC 10, NADs 5, (exception) Resist 3 piercing (bow) and Vuln 3 crushing/bludgeon (unarmed strike etc).
*
Ritualist (R): HP 38, AC 16, Fortitude 13, Reflex 14, Will 15, Init +2.
*
Acolytes (A): HP 1, AC 16, Fortitude 13, Reflex 15, Will 14, Init +2.
*
Skirmishers (S): HP 38, AC 16, Fortitude 13, Reflex 16, Will 13, Init +4.
SURPRISE ROUND
LIEF is moving before he realizes it, dropping from the trees into a rolling charge, into the mausoleum and toward its hellish hearth. His snarls draw feverish glances from those inside. He leaps toward their crucible, bashing it apart with a spinning kick that wheels into a slash of claws across an acolyte, splaying his body as molten gold pours sizzling across the stone floor. "Look at you. You die for NOTHING!" he screams at the others in primordial.
* Free: Controlled fall from tree. Acrobatics r(15)+12 = 27. r(3) damage, which is mitigated and Lief is standing.
* Standard: Charge to MBA crucible, using Stealth vs Passive Perception 13 to maintain CA, -5 for moving more than 2 sq. Stealth r(1)+12-5 = 8 vs 13. Fail, CA lost. MBA r(12)+6+1 = 17 vs. AC 10. Success. r(8)+2 = 10 Damage.
CRUCIBLE DESTROYED.
* Free: Centered Flurry of Blows deals 5 damage to Acolyte on right.
1 x ACOLYTE SLAIN.
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VORN watches as Lief drops down and charges the cultists, destroying the crucible and slaying one of the acolytes. He takes aim at the priestess and puts an arrow through her neck. He fires again, but the acolyte recoils as his leader dies, and the arrow misses him. Vorn curses under his breath, and gets ready for a fight.
* Standard: Twin Stike: r(11) + 9 = 20 vs. AC 16 for
Ritualist. SLAIN. Second shot r(6) + 9 = 15 vs. AC16 for Acolyte. MISS.
There is a small stone stairwell leading down into the depths of the tomb where the remainder of The Elect are (2 x minions). The remaining
Acolyte (artillery) is going to shift 1 sq away and channel a Voidbolt while the
Militants (skirmishers) are going to rush Lief and then use Claws (1 of the two will have CA from flanking):
(➶)
Voidbolt (implement, necrotic) ✦ At-Will
Attack: Ranged 15 (one creature); +5 vs. Ref
Hit: 4 necrotic damage, or 6 necrotic damage if the target has no cover.
(⚔)
Claws ✦ At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +7 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6 + 5 damage, or 2d6 + 5 while the militant has combat advantage against the target.
If any of the members of The Elect cell get into that stairwell, they will call down to their (minion) allies who will reinforce next round).
INITIATIVE
Vorn r(13) + 9 = 22
Militant Skirmishers (2) r(10) +4 = 14
Lief r(5)+7 = 12
Acolyte Minions (1) r(9) +2 = 11
TRIGGERS VORN (FREE ACTION) BATTLEFRONT SHIFT ON LIEF AND LIEF'S CIPHER FEATURE TO MOVE SPEED IF NOT AT TOP OF INITIATIVE: Shift 3 sq (No Action on Initiative) and Move 6 (No Action after Initiative)
LIEF to top tread of the stone stairs down into the mausoleum's tomb to position himself to slay the Acolyte if need be and prevent either Militants (Standard, Skirmisher) from ganging up on him or flanking; only 1 sq wide steps so complete bottleneck.
ROUND 1
VORN reaches out with his spirit. Even in a place as corrupt and demented as this, there is still nature. He calls forth a defensive mist about his ally, hoping that will be enough to keep him safe from the charging soldiers. Then he takes aim at the remaining acolyte and lets fly. The Acolyte doesn't avoid the shot this time, and tumbles to the ground dead.
Vorn turns and aims at the guards. He raises his bow, and aims at the one on the left. He fires, then rallying all his strength, quickly draws and fires two more times. All three arrows find their mark, leaving him in bad shape, but not putting him down.
* Minor: Stalker's Mist (r10, ABu1) on top of Lief's position at top of stairs. Heavily Obscured. Can move zone 5 squares with a Move action.
* Standard: Twin Strike vs. Acolyte's AC 16: r(8) + 9 = 17. HIT,
Acolyte SLAIN. Second shot vs. Militant 1's AC16: r(19) + 9 = 28. Hit. Damage: r(8) + 1 = 9.
* Action Point spent- Standard: Twin Strike vs. Militant 1’s AC16: r(8) + 9 = 17, HIT. r(7) = 1= 8 damage. Second attack vs. Militant 1's AC16: r(14) + 9 = 23, HIT. r(5) + 1 = 6 damage.
LOCATION: still above on tree limb
DAMAGE: 1 to
Acolyte, SLAIN. 23 To Militant 1,
BLOODIED.
CONDITIONS TO ENEMIES: Militant 1 Bloodied.
CURRENT HP: 31/31
HEALING SURGES: 8/8
CURRENT DE/BUFFS:
AP: 0
Thwarted so devastatingly by the Lief's furious assault to disrupt the ritual, by the slaying of the Ritualists and her Acolytes, and by the barrage of areas and the opaque mist at the entrance to the tomb below, the MILITANTS sprint toward and through the razor-sharp Bramblehedge that is the perimeter of the mausoleum. They accept the injuries that come with it as there are no good choices here. The only hope is to get to THE CREEP...
* Level +2 SC as The Elect Militants know these treacherous grounds better than the heroes do and they know where they are going. However, the heroes gain 1 x Advantage due to the Injured Militant. They can use that to(a) refresh a Primary Skill, (b) opt-into a Hard DC at your discretion for 2 x Advantages, or (c) step down a Primary Skill DC from Medium to Low.You guys can use that to refresh a Primary Skill, opt-into a Hard DC at your discretion for 2 x Advantages, or step down a Primary Skill DC from Medium to Low.
Complexity 1 SC, Level 4 (DCs 10/14)
Goal:
Chase down the Militants and slay them before they can get to The Creep.
0/4 Successes/
0 Failures/
0 Hard DC Available/
1 Secondary Skills Available/
1 Advantages Available due to injured Militant/Primary Skill Training exhausted;
LEIF
Your situation is thus:
* You're on the ground at the top of the stone stairs at the far end of the clearing.
* Being on the ground, you can barrel through the hedge like they did (Endurance) with the threat of HP loss (1/4 HP) on the line for any coming conflict on a failure. Alternatively, if you want to try some crazy wire-fu with Crane's Wings, you can run and try to reach the lowest branches to pull yourself up and vault over the hedge. This would absolutely have to be an "opt-into the HARD DC (21)" move in order to clear the distance required to reach the lowest branches and vault up and over the hedge. Failure there would be -2 forward to next Primary Skill Check as the effort delays you, but you pull it off.
If you have something else in mind in your bag of tricks, we'll discuss.
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VORN
Your situation is thus:
* You can try to fire off a shot right now to slay the one you pin-cushioned, but you'll take a -4 penalty to hit their AC 16 because of both Minor Concealment and Cover. You can spend your Advantage to negate those penalties though (describe the Advantage of course). Failure here and the shot is delayed and puts you behind schedule; -2 forward to next Primary Skill Check.
* Alternatively, you're on some precarious limbs, so Vorn is going to have to navigate that labyrinth of limbs (Acrobatics) to the base of the tree before he hops down and pursues. Failure and the limbs snap over the Bramblehedge, leaving you cascading into them. Your a Ranger with thick hide armor who has seen such terrain a million times. You roll with it and deal with the brambles just fine (no HP damage), but the delay of this gives me 1 x HARD DC for the SC.
* If you have something else in mind in your bag of tricks, we'll discuss.
