Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 7036776" data-attributes="member: 6669384">I haven't written a Story Time in quite a while, but today's session almost requires it.Picture, an officious junior officer in the service of the ruling nobleman, Baron Tenebris Dominicus, attempted to arrest a 7th level Paladin of Freedom.  The officer is a 4th level Adept, and in way over his head.Said Paladin refuses, but a day later is convinced to go to the Baron and seek audience, to plead his case.He does a pretty good job, though the Baron is still unconvinced.  He acknowledges that the offense, while serious, was the result of an honest mistake and a desire to do the right thing.  Yet he refused an order from a representative of the crown, and that can't simply be dismissed.During the discussion the officer grows incensed and, after asking permission to speak, says, "He refused my direct order and injured one of my men.  I demand satisfaction!"The Baron thinks for a moment, then orders the man to his knees.  Drawing his own sword he lays the blade on the man's shoulder and states, "In the name of Wee Jas, in dedication to the law, and by my own authority I bid you rise, Sir Thomas."  There's a shocked pause as the man comes to his feet."Now that you're a Knight you have the right to make that demand for satisfaction directly.  Do you still wish it?"Sir Thomas realizes that he is stuck, and that he pretty much has to challenge Sir Pax, a Paladin who definitely knows his way around a battlefield.  He issues the challenge, and Pax accepts.The Baron declares, "And by the results will hang my judgment in this matter."At two that same afternoon the two are to meet.  The word was quickly spread in town:  Small festival and tournament, public welcome/As the challenged party, Sir Pax gets choice of weapons, and he knows this guy is a spell caster, not a reall fighter type.  He also knows, because he's a Paladin and he checked, that the guy is Evil, aside from being a self-important ass.He chooses combat, ahorse and afoot, with bated lance and blade.  In essence, his own specialty, but wit capped lance and padded or dulled swords.  You can still get killed by these things, but half the damage is non-lethal.  The battle itself is to be to "Second Blood", meaning disability rather than death.People gather for the tournament.  There are some other events, including archery and a few other jousts, along with a public display/competition of weapon skill.  The latter was an "Open to all comers" game:  Toss an apple into the air, then cut at it.  Winner is the one who gets it to land in the most pieces.The Baron's champion displays the technique:  He tosses the apple up, then cuts upward at it, to give it a little hang time.  He swings in a complete circle to catch it a second time, lso cutting upward, then across to catch the pieces in a group.  Final total 8 pieces.  The mighty Barbarian, Sir Mash (the Orc in the party) decides to enter.  He wants to use his scythe, but quickly realizes that he won't be able to swing the two handed weapon around quickly.  He considers borrowing a great sword fro another PC, is offered a magical long sword, but settles on his heavy mace.Yeah, he entered a competition of blade speed and precision with a bludgeoning weapon.  He figured that he'd hit it so hard that it would splatter/shatter, and how many pieces are there in apple sauce?He took one mighty swing and rolled 18 points of damage (I think he miscalculated on the power attack, but who cares, it was an apple.)  The thing smeared all across the flanges of the mace, but nobody knew how to judge the results.  It finally went to the Baron himself, who noted that the skin was in once piece.  However many pieces it should be counted as, he didn't think it topped eight, which was the winning score.Now came the main event.  Sir Pax against Sir Thomas.  Each was asked if they were ready, as they lined up.  Sir Thomas was there, in full plate with a shield and a lance.  He managed to cast a spell, and Mirror Image came up.  There were four of him.  All of them nodded that they were ready.  Sir Pax cast a spell, Divine Favor, and they were off.  Pax won Initiative, so he struck first, but scored an image.  The poor Adept had Mage Armor and Shield spells, and a Disguise Self spell so he'd look armored, but he couldn't fake any proficiency with a lance.   He needed a 20 to hit.So, naturally, that's what he rolled.  And then he did it again, to back up the crit.Double damage for the charge (specific to lance, per the book), and triple damage for the critical.  D&D multiplier rules call that four dice, not six, but he still rolled well and did over 20 points to Sir Pax.Pax rolled a natural 1 on his Ride check, and ended up unhorsed.  Sir Thomas, so surprised that he had hit at all, and having no Mounted Combat skill, landed in the sand as well.Now it was blades.  Sir Pax did a lot of damage with his first hit (rolled a good number on the D3 and hit the real guy.)  The man spent the round casting defensively, then Pax slapped him around again.  Then to the surprise of all, Thomas slid in an exceptional shot, and scored a hit on Pax.  (True Strike will do that ).After scoring that hit, Thomas stepped back and, holding the sword across his two hands, raised them up and declared that he was yielding.  Though decidedly ahead on tournament points, he knew that Pax next blow could kill him.Pax accepted the man's surrender, and was cleared of all charges.  The Adept had, for a brief time, been besting him on the fieldWe had a rollicking good time over all, and Mash lived up to his name.  Sir Pax was slightly humbled that the man half his size and obviously a complete novice at armed combat had managed to stand up to him, even for that short time.He even spoke well of the man to the Baron, which was a bit of a shock.And next week we may finally get to the nitty gritty of the adventure.</blockquote>

Verification