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Running Commentary on Rel's 4e Campaign (Complete 8/2/10)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 5266791" data-attributes="member: 99"><p>There was little cover to be had directly in front of the Temple and they could already tell that the door was guarded by a small mob of dark humanoids. They instead circled the Temple and came at the entrance from the right side. The enemy was ready for them.</p><p></p><p>The foes were all dressed in black leather armor and had pale skin, but otherwise they looked human. They quickly demonstrated an affinity for shadow magic as they unleashed a volley of Shadow Bolts that not only hurt but also seemed to sap their life energy somehow.</p><p></p><p>The PC's responded but with some degree of caution. They knew that tougher foes lay ahead and did not wish to exhaust themselves against the guards at the door. Instead they pushed forward as quickly as possible, forcing the enemy to come to them.</p><p></p><p>The party quickly reached the gate that barred their way into the Temple. Now that they were close to it they discovered that it was made of bone! This was in keeping with the necromantic powers that the enemy continued to unleash upon them. What they did not expect however was that the gate itself was a foe. I lunged out and seized Mialain, crushing her within its bony grasp. Astavian and Eshik tried to free her from it, finally succeeding, while Zanne started to unleash some of her powers upon the enemy.</p><p></p><p>It was not apparent that this was no mere token force meant only to slow any intruders. These were skilled enemies bent on their destruction and they had the means to do so. The battle quickly shifted from attempting to smash their way through the Bone Gate to simply trying to stay alive.</p><p></p><p>Mialain retreated some distance away so that she could employ her healing powers without being threatened while Astavian and Eshik plied their blades against the chain-wielding warriors who guarded the outside of the gate. Zanne focused her efforts on the shadow mages inside the gate who were clearly channeling some sort of evil magic into it. Zanne too was seized by the gate's crushing grip but she was able to teleport free from its grasp and lay down a Stinking Cloud of poison to force the shadow mages from their channeling. As the power ceased flowing into the gate, it exploded sending shards of bone ripping into Zanne's flesh.</p><p></p><p>The shadow mages then turned their anger and power against her in retaliation, inflicting a horrible toll on the Warlock. Her Shadow Form's insubstantial nature was all that kept her alive. Outside most of the warriors had fallen to Astavian and Eshik who were both feeling battered since the bursts of shadow unleashed upon them dulled the efficacy of Mialain's healing efforts.</p><p></p><p>They rushed forward, assaulting the last pair of shadow warriors who defended the now inanimate Bone Gate. Mialain hurled more healing magic at Zanne, enough to bring her back form death's door. This allowed Zanne to drop out of her Shadow Form and unleash her ire on the shadow mages. Two more fell before her but the last managed to flee into the depths of the Temple, leaving the party exhausted, wounded and barely on their feet.</p><p></p><p>Astavian and Eshik slew the remaining warriors fairly easily. But they had expended far more of their energy than they had wanted and still barely prevailed. As the pall of necromantic gloom lifted from them, Mialain's healing was able to restore them somewhat, but her powers were nearly exhausted. She reached into her pack and drew out the Crystal of Hygeius.</p><p></p><p>"I was hoping to save this for the final battle, but if we don't use it now I don't know if we'll survive to GET to the final battle!" The others nodded their agreement as they panted in exhaustion.</p><p></p><p>Mialain shattered the Crystal over her knee and a burst of brilliant green energy erupted from it. It washed over the party, restoring them in mind, body and soul. They looked at one another in astonishment, having received the full blessing of Melora. Renewed and restored, they moved quickly into the Temple, ready for whatever may lie ahead.</p><p></p><p>********</p><p></p><p>So the players were treating this as though it was going to likely be a speed bump on the way to the final battle. Surprise! It wasn't like that at all.</p><p></p><p>The enemy was comprised of four Shadar-Kai Blacksouls (minus their dominate ability) and about 8 or 10 of what my notes call "Wicked Fang Recruits" (it looks like maybe those guys got errata-d but my version has them with a "chainsword" that they could use to pull the PC's. This was used to good effect in the early going when the bulk of the group was still trying to get through the gate all at once).</p><p></p><p>But the really big nasty of this battle was the gate itself. I based that off of the Pit of the Abandoned Regiment (really I just turned it on its side). It could reach out and grab anybody within 3 squares and deal a nasty 2d10 +10 Necrotic when they were grabbed, followed by 3d10+10 as a Minor action against any grabbed creature on the same round. 5d10 + 20 adds up quick!</p><p></p><p>I probably didn't do justice to what a pain in the ass this thing was. They quickly learned that they couldn't get past it without somehow stopping the Blacksouls from channeling energy from the Shadowfell into powering it. But Astavian, Eshik and Mialain stood little chance of getting through it to attack the Blacksouls directly. Zanne was able to get grabbed and then teleport to the other side of the gate and drop some area-denial stuff on the Blacksouls to interrupt their channeling. That left the rest of the party outside mowing through the minions pretty quickly once they got down to business.</p><p></p><p>The big problem was that the PC's didn't want to have to blow any of their big powers on this fight. They didn't know that the Crystal of Hygeius was going to restore them completely as though they had taken an Extended Rest so they couldn't count on that (hey, I've got to keep a FEW tricks up my sleeve!). So they started off with mostly At-Wills and a few Encounters. But they got hit HARD in return and it soon became apparent that this was not an enemy to be trifled with.</p><p></p><p>I could see them already wondering how they were going to face down the Dracolich and whatever other minions he had inside the Temple without some of their critical Dailies. They were pleasantly surprised when they broke the Crystal (though I'm pretty sure they still called me a Rat Bastard).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 5266791, member: 99"] There was little cover to be had directly in front of the Temple and they could already tell that the door was guarded by a small mob of dark humanoids. They instead circled the Temple and came at the entrance from the right side. The enemy was ready for them. The foes were all dressed in black leather armor and had pale skin, but otherwise they looked human. They quickly demonstrated an affinity for shadow magic as they unleashed a volley of Shadow Bolts that not only hurt but also seemed to sap their life energy somehow. The PC's responded but with some degree of caution. They knew that tougher foes lay ahead and did not wish to exhaust themselves against the guards at the door. Instead they pushed forward as quickly as possible, forcing the enemy to come to them. The party quickly reached the gate that barred their way into the Temple. Now that they were close to it they discovered that it was made of bone! This was in keeping with the necromantic powers that the enemy continued to unleash upon them. What they did not expect however was that the gate itself was a foe. I lunged out and seized Mialain, crushing her within its bony grasp. Astavian and Eshik tried to free her from it, finally succeeding, while Zanne started to unleash some of her powers upon the enemy. It was not apparent that this was no mere token force meant only to slow any intruders. These were skilled enemies bent on their destruction and they had the means to do so. The battle quickly shifted from attempting to smash their way through the Bone Gate to simply trying to stay alive. Mialain retreated some distance away so that she could employ her healing powers without being threatened while Astavian and Eshik plied their blades against the chain-wielding warriors who guarded the outside of the gate. Zanne focused her efforts on the shadow mages inside the gate who were clearly channeling some sort of evil magic into it. Zanne too was seized by the gate's crushing grip but she was able to teleport free from its grasp and lay down a Stinking Cloud of poison to force the shadow mages from their channeling. As the power ceased flowing into the gate, it exploded sending shards of bone ripping into Zanne's flesh. The shadow mages then turned their anger and power against her in retaliation, inflicting a horrible toll on the Warlock. Her Shadow Form's insubstantial nature was all that kept her alive. Outside most of the warriors had fallen to Astavian and Eshik who were both feeling battered since the bursts of shadow unleashed upon them dulled the efficacy of Mialain's healing efforts. They rushed forward, assaulting the last pair of shadow warriors who defended the now inanimate Bone Gate. Mialain hurled more healing magic at Zanne, enough to bring her back form death's door. This allowed Zanne to drop out of her Shadow Form and unleash her ire on the shadow mages. Two more fell before her but the last managed to flee into the depths of the Temple, leaving the party exhausted, wounded and barely on their feet. Astavian and Eshik slew the remaining warriors fairly easily. But they had expended far more of their energy than they had wanted and still barely prevailed. As the pall of necromantic gloom lifted from them, Mialain's healing was able to restore them somewhat, but her powers were nearly exhausted. She reached into her pack and drew out the Crystal of Hygeius. "I was hoping to save this for the final battle, but if we don't use it now I don't know if we'll survive to GET to the final battle!" The others nodded their agreement as they panted in exhaustion. Mialain shattered the Crystal over her knee and a burst of brilliant green energy erupted from it. It washed over the party, restoring them in mind, body and soul. They looked at one another in astonishment, having received the full blessing of Melora. Renewed and restored, they moved quickly into the Temple, ready for whatever may lie ahead. ******** So the players were treating this as though it was going to likely be a speed bump on the way to the final battle. Surprise! It wasn't like that at all. The enemy was comprised of four Shadar-Kai Blacksouls (minus their dominate ability) and about 8 or 10 of what my notes call "Wicked Fang Recruits" (it looks like maybe those guys got errata-d but my version has them with a "chainsword" that they could use to pull the PC's. This was used to good effect in the early going when the bulk of the group was still trying to get through the gate all at once). But the really big nasty of this battle was the gate itself. I based that off of the Pit of the Abandoned Regiment (really I just turned it on its side). It could reach out and grab anybody within 3 squares and deal a nasty 2d10 +10 Necrotic when they were grabbed, followed by 3d10+10 as a Minor action against any grabbed creature on the same round. 5d10 + 20 adds up quick! I probably didn't do justice to what a pain in the ass this thing was. They quickly learned that they couldn't get past it without somehow stopping the Blacksouls from channeling energy from the Shadowfell into powering it. But Astavian, Eshik and Mialain stood little chance of getting through it to attack the Blacksouls directly. Zanne was able to get grabbed and then teleport to the other side of the gate and drop some area-denial stuff on the Blacksouls to interrupt their channeling. That left the rest of the party outside mowing through the minions pretty quickly once they got down to business. The big problem was that the PC's didn't want to have to blow any of their big powers on this fight. They didn't know that the Crystal of Hygeius was going to restore them completely as though they had taken an Extended Rest so they couldn't count on that (hey, I've got to keep a FEW tricks up my sleeve!). So they started off with mostly At-Wills and a few Encounters. But they got hit HARD in return and it soon became apparent that this was not an enemy to be trifled with. I could see them already wondering how they were going to face down the Dracolich and whatever other minions he had inside the Temple without some of their critical Dailies. They were pleasantly surprised when they broke the Crystal (though I'm pretty sure they still called me a Rat Bastard). [/QUOTE]
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