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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Anabstercorian" data-source="post: 1847214" data-attributes="member: 2550">Tristan Fastknife stood calmly before the army. "Tell them that you fight for my life," his mistress had said to him; "Tell them that you mean no disrespect, should they fall before your blade." And so he did. And as he spoke, the soldiers before him seemed to quake with fear. Their nation had never sent a hundred soldiers to fight a single man. And then, moments later, they knew why.Tristan stopped on the other side of the battlefield, shook the blood from his sword, and turned to face the destruction behind him. One hundred awestruck corpses. There was no question as to who deserved whose respect this day.  (Flavor text courtesy of Aosaw.)Aristeia (Profound Cleave) [Fighter]Prerequisites: Str 17+, Cleave, Great Cleave, Power Attack, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, BAB 6+Benefit: When you make a normal melee attack as a standard action, you may choose to take a -5 penalty to your attack roll to attempt an Aristeia.  If, with this attack, you deal damage equal to or greater than twice your target's maximum hit points (after all damage reduction and similar effects are applied), you slay the target without effort, as a free action.  Effectively, though the target does suffer the damage, it is as though you had never taken the action to attack the target.  You may use this feat no more than once per round per point of base attack bonus.Normal: You may not attempt an Aristeia.Tristan Fastknife stood calmly before the army. "Tell them that you fight for my life," his mistress had said to him; "Tell them that you mean no disrespect, should they fall before your blade." And so he did. And as he spoke, the soldiers before him seemed to quake with fear. Their nation had never sent a hundred soldiers to fight a single man. And then, moments later, they knew why.Tristan stopped on the other side of the battlefield, shook the blood from his sword, and turned to face the destruction behind him. One hundred awestruck corpses. There was no question as to who deserved whose respect this day.  (Flavor text courtesy of Aosaw.)Aristeia (Profound Cleave) [Fighter]Prerequisites: Str 17+, Cleave, Great Cleave, Power Attack, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, BAB 6+Benefit: When you make a normal melee attack as a standard action, you may choose to take a -5 penalty to your attack roll to attempt an Aristeia.  If, with this attack, you deal damage equal to or greater than twice your target's maximum hit points (after all damage reduction and similar effects are applied), you slay the target without effort, as a free action.  Effectively, though the target does suffer the damage, it is as though you had never taken the action to attack the target.  You may use this feat no more than once per round per point of base attack bonus.Normal: You may not attempt an Aristeia.Example: Tristan, a ninth level fighter with a BAB of +9, stands before a swarm of a hundred soldiers, each of whom has 10 hit points:[code]SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS    T[/code]Tristan wins initiative, but does not attack first, instead electing to take a total defense action and offer one final chance to retreat.  Confident in their numbers, the mass of soldiers charge with their longspears.  Tristan is struck once and suffers damage.[code]SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS "He can't stop us all!"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS "Get him!"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS    T[/code]His ire raised, Tristan responds on his turn by taking a normal move action directly in to the crowd, while fighting defensively.  He comes face to face with the first three soldiers, and provokes attacks of opportunity from each of them as he moves in to their threat range.  Then, as a standard action, he attempts an Aristeia on the soldier directly in front of him.[code]SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS    T[/code]The soldier, like all the others, is a normal human, has no dexterity modifier, wears scale mail, and has no shield - his armor class is thus 14.  Tristan, with a -5 penalty for the Aristeia and an additional -4 penalty from fighting defensively, can still easily hit this armor class, and does.Tristan wields a +3 Bastard Sword, has a strength of 20 (thanks to magical enhancements), has Greater Weapon Specialization, and he's Power Attacking for five.  To deal double the target's hit points, he must inflict 20 points of damage with a single blow.  He does so, killing the soldier, and thus succeeds at his Aristeia.  The standard action is no longer expended, and he can continue moving.  However, before he does so, he attempts (and luckily succeeds at) two more Aristeia to kill the soldiers on either side of the one before him.  He advances (taking several more attacks of opportunity) and slays two more, but on his sixth attempt at Aristeia, he deals only 18 damage.  This still downs the soldier, but not enough to let him succeed at his Aristeia.  He still has Great Cleave, but unfortunately, he's already killed all targets available to him at his current position, so his turn is over.[code]SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssSSSSSSSsTsSSSS[/code]He weathers another volley of spear-stabbings before he continues.  This time, he devotes all of his attention to offense, in order to maximize his chances at Aristeia - he ceases to attack defensively, and moves diagonally.  He provokes many attacks of opportunity, but his magical protections help him avoid most of them.  He kills nine with Aristeia's, and, no longer able to use the feat, finishes the round with a dramatic Great Cleave.[code]SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssSSSSSSSsTsSSSSSSSsssSSSSSSSsssSSSSSSSsssSSSSSSSsssSSSSSSSsssSSSS[/code]At this point, sadly, Tristan is bleeding from almost twenty attacks of opportunity, and perishes before the force of the collective horde.  Thus, we learn an important lesson - for goodness sakes, don't try to perform Aristeia on masses of foes with reach.  If he'd attempted this on a mass of sword-wielding men, or continued to fight as defensively as possible, he'd have likely slaughtered them to the man.  This feat makes you great, but great men nonetheless die great deaths.</blockquote>

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