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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5438697" data-attributes="member: 16069">HS1 The Slaying StoneSession 9 Part 1The Severed Eye Orcs press their point.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5360083540/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5360083540_0ce25b923f.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>The real finale.In the opening exchange Maldor is struck twice in quick succession and is reduced from full to just over ten hit points- Bob is not very happy. However his smile returns when he connects with a crit, badly bloodying one of the Orcs, and again rolling maximum on his crit damage- twice in two fights. Resolute is also struck but for minimum damage.It's worth noting that on VTT I called this map 'Victory!', in an attempt to lull the players in to a false sense of security, Maldor (Bob) had this to say in chat-'Why is this map called "Victory" again?' As if to underline the above another Orc steps up and crits Resolute, he's bloodied and on 18 hit points already. That's two PCs bloodied and we're only part way through the first round of combat.And so it continues, which is to say- badly.Soon after the Orcs are all still standing, one or two bloodied, but Maldor is now down to 2 hit points remaining.The following exchange takes place in chat, first up Neb (Christer)-'Drake, pass me the stone, I will run away with it.'To which Drake (Jack) replies-'We made a promise!'Don't you love it when it's only round two of the fight and already the PCs are looking for the exit.Less than five minutes later (and in the same round of play), Neb is now also bloodied, while Drake  has gone from full to 10 hit points, Drake changes his mind-'Alright, who wants to use the stone?'The PCs have been told how to use the Slaying Stone by Channoa, the Dragon, he impressed upon them how dangerous the item is- able to kill an individual dead in an instant, however the wondrous item is a one shot device- miss and... nothing.And then Maldor connects twice in a row, courtesy of an Action Point, and an Orc dies- suddenly things don't look so bad.Drake tells the rest of the adventurers to stay close, he has a plan.Resolute connects with both attacks from his Funneling Fury and then Action Points and strikes both Orcs again with his Dual Strike, and suddenly of the seven Orc Warriors (actually three Bludgeoners and four Slashers) one is dead, and four are bloodied, two of the four are in fact very bloodied.It's amazing how quickly things can turn around, although... the leader types have not got in to the fray yet, or at least have yet to hit anything.And then Drake's Beacon of Hope washes over the PCs and they all get 10 hit points back, to make matters better three of the Orcs are also Weakened. Maldor is quickly healed up to near full with a Healing Word.Neb quickly finds some space to get busy with his spells, courtesy of his Expeditious Retreat, and then tries again with Force Orb, he misses again- he has never hit with the spell yet.Rogar continues in the same style, hitting only once with six attacks with his Steel Wind, but adding a little more damage with his Ironsoul Flurry, the leaders of the Severed Eye swing into action.The Orc Wolf Shaman unleashes his Vengeful Wolf Spirit conjuring a ghostly lupine which charges through five of the PCs, clawing and biting as it goes, actually 4 PCs and Hoyt (who begins to gibber a little). I roll 6-1-4-4-5, and surprisingly hit once- the first '4' which is on Drake (AC 13), the Priest of Pelor is bloodied again.Vohx unleashes his Entangling Chains and attempts to take down Maldor, I roll a '3', and thus the leader types continue to miss, which is what happened in the last encounter... Bugger!Maldor (Bob) has this to say-'There is no point in saving it, use it man.'Screaming for Drake to make use of the Slaying Stone.The fight rumbles on, Resolute soon after is also back down to bloodied status, Jeb having to activate his Repulsion Armour to keep the Orcs at bay (or away), and Kiris Hoyt drawing out his Rapier and getting in to the mix with his Waltzing Attack, he manages to damage another of the Orcs.Alas soon after the Orcs Slashers and Bludgeoneers make it over to Drake, he's attacked twice in quick succession and is down (-3 HP), again it's Maldor (Bob) who is first to chat-'TPK TPK TPK'Which goes to his rolls, he misses with an Overwhelming Strike with a '2', selects his Elven Accuracy, and spills a '1'- things are going badly in Serbia, things are being thrown, we are treated to thirty seconds of Serbian swearing- very guttural.Resolute manages to connect twice again, for very little damage however, with his Dual Strike, he bloodies another Orc who lashes straight back and crits for 18 hit points damage- Resolute is down (0 HP).Even Rogar (Simon) is feeling it-'… we came so far. This is good enough.'Neb to the rescue, two Scorching Blasts, after an Action Point, with five hits from eight attacks, four of the Orc Warrior types are now very bloodied, each with just over 10 hit points.Maldor (Bob) is back on a high, very emotional feller-'NICE!!!!!'Rogar takes opportunity attacks, scurries over to Drake and forces a Potion of Healing down the Priest of Pelor, he's alive.The Wolf Shaman punctures the celebration by launching a Lightning Strike at Kiris Hoyt, it hits and fries the Human/Wererat- who the dastardly DM decides must now make saving throws to maintain his cool each turn- failure and Hoyt goes tonto in Wererat form.The players applaud my efforts, actually there was very little applause, okay- none.Rogar is then smashed by a Orc Morningstar, and goes for his Second Chance, the gods are against him and I roll a crit, the Halfling is suddenly bloodied.Maldor is also caught by an Orc, he too is bloodied again, the Orc hit for 17 damage.Jeb gets Drake out of trouble, exchanging places with his Dimensional Warp, then unleashes his Sword Burst, and rolls 3-1-2, more Serbian swearing followed by an Action Point. This time his Sword Burst connects with all three Orcs, but for not much damage- two of the three Orcs now have less than 10 hit points each.Kiris springs to attack, kills one of the badly wounded Orcs with another Waltzing Attack but is caught by the Orcs Savage Demise, another crit for 22 hit points damage. Hoyt waltzes on, hits a second Orc and then makes his saving throw with ease '17', he screams for the adventurers to 'give all they've got for Kiris Dahn.'Rogar yells back-'Keep it together Hoyt!'Neb and Jeb are both caught again by Orcs, with Neb bloodied again, more cursing follows- this time in Swedish, then Resolute opens his eyes, having just rolled a '20' on his Death Save, he spends a Healing Surge (he only had three left at the start of the fight) and gets ready to rejoin the fight.Drake comes good again- Healer's Mercy, all bloodied PCs in Close Burst 5 can spend a Healing Surge and get an extra 10 hit points back (5 +5 for the Beacon of Hope). The players are yelling and squealing with delight, all of them except Jeb were bloodied, and all of them are within the burst.Drake then spends his last Healing Word on himself (+15 HP on the heal) but not before handing over the Slaying Stone to Neb.Maldor crits, again, third in two combat encounters, this time with his Daily- Aspect of Might, and a second Orc dies, but not before using its Savage Demise to attack and bloody Neb (again x2 or 3). Maldor, after an Action Point, bloodies the Orc Wolf Shaman with Radiant Vengeance, another big hit, alas the Shaman is not best pleased- he conjures his Vengeful Wolf Spirit again.The ghostly wolf snarls and bites its way through Maldor, Kiris and Jeb, hitting the first two but bloodying neither of them.Neb steps up and Magic Missiles the Orc Wolf Shaman- dead, then (to round things off) unleashes the full power of the Slaying Stone, and after one dice roll, Vohx, the Severed Eye Orc Leader, is dead also- having taken not one hit point of damage so far; from full to zero in an instant.The Slaying Stone blackens and smokes a little.The cheer goes up.Kiris steps in and takes down another Orc Bludgeoneer, and again manages to keep his cool, he rolls a '20' on his saving throw- he's in his element, doing the right thing it seems has its reward.The battlefield is clearing, there are only four Orc Warriors left and all of them are bloodied (to very bloodied), they also want to get away, their leaders are all dead.Rogar is cut again by an Orc Slasher (but still not bloodied), Neb is hit again (and now below 10 hit points), the Wizard manages to get away from the Orc that struck him and sends in another Magic Missile, the players are out of Encounter & Daily Powers et al.Neb is still on edge, it seems-'KILL THEM ALL!!!!'From Sweden via chat.And yet another of the Orcs is taken down, a cumulation of blows for piddling amounts of damage from At Wills and a charge (from Jeb), although Jeb is again struck by the creatures Savage Demise attack.Maldor steps up, and with his Overwhelming Strike, crits again (is this some kind of record?), another Orc falls, but not before criting back with its Morningstar on Savage Demise, the Elven Avenger is down to 5 hit points.But it's too late, the remaining Severed Eye Orcs attempt to flee, the PCs are in the mood for a prisoner, and very soon after only one is left alive (but unconscious).A titanic encounter, which played out exactly as I would have wanted it to... two PCs down, countless times players having to seriously think about their attacks, PCs taking hits to save each other- lots of time spent bloodied, something like six or seven criticals, the threat of Hoyt turning in to a Wererat, the fight had it all, and a bunch of Daily Powers and Action Points besides.Although not as much XP for this encounter as the last, it was however a much tougher fight, for a myriad reasons, the encounter was Level 6, that's PC Level +4 and consisted of- Orc, Slasher (Level 3 Skirmisher) x3; Orc, Bludgeoner (Level 4 Brute) x4; Orc, Wolf Shaman (Level 4 Artillery) & Vohx- Orc, Leader (Level 5 Controller).Some notes-What a fight, I know I've said titanic before but... it fits the bill, moments when the players were certain that this was there last encounter, followed by moments when the PCs thought they had spotted a glimmer of hope, only to have hope extinguished with a series of Orc hits.Savage Demise and for the Slasher's Bloodied Swing, the Orcs were just damage machines, even area effect spells delivered from a distance were not safe. Savage Demise and before they drop the Orcs charge, and the number of crits on their Triggered Actions. While the Orcs defences were low their hit points were high, and with good to hit bonuses. No wonder this encounter turned out to be much more difficult than the last.I decided ahead of time to keep the two leader types out of the way for a while, with Vohx using his Eye of Leadership to keep his Orc followers hitting. I figured the death of both of the Severed Eye leaders would cause the rest to flee.Crits- a lot of crits, from Maldor and from the Orcs with their Savage Demise attacks- big damage; and still the fight lasted nine or so rounds.Next Time... Treasure, Treona & Daddy.</blockquote>

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