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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 5474125" data-attributes="member: 151">Saturday's game had a three-stage skill challenge, run mostly free-form, though using some skill challenges grabbed from around the intarwebs.The session began with the players emerging from a chamber under the castle reserved for a guarded teleport circle.  They were returning from a lengthy assignment and opened the door to the courtyard to see the castle in flames and panic everywhere.  Before they could do much of anything, the entryway collapsed, leaving flaming rubble and debris blocking the only exit.  The first stage of the challenge?  To escape before burning to death or suffocating from the smoke.A challenge beaten extremely quickly, as it happened.  The party's illusionist eladrin asked to burn an action point and teleport the entire party 15 feet, which would put them in the courtyard.  DING.  Phase I beaten.The party was now presented with chaos.  The Lord Captain's house, the barracks and the infirmary tower were all aflame.  Recruits were running around, unsure what to do.  Guardsmen were locked in combat with...something?  The air was smoky and visiblilty low.  Worse, servants were trapped in one of the structures, yelling for help.  The knight immediately took control of the situation and used Intimidate to organize a bucket brigade from the well.  Only problem?  No Buckets!  That's where the rogue ran-off, using his Streetwise skill to retrieve as many as he could find and locate the quartermaster to help.  Quickly they set about fighting the fire.  Meanwhile, the Tiefling Warlock took advantage of her natural fire resistance to get inside the burning building, to try and calm and direct the trapped servants.  Diplomacy, however, failed.  After quickly joking that she could Bluff by saying that it was actually safer outside, she used Intimidate to send them running out the now-safe back entrance where the fire brigade was.  Phase II - Partly Completed.While they were doing this, the illusionist and shaman managed to catch of glimpse of the attackers: creatures called Madfire Elementals.  Seeing that there were many and defenders were already engaging they made a perception and religion check to figure out how these creatures had breached the castle's magical defenses.  Reasoning that it would have to be outside the castle walls and guessing a location using Nature to judge the origin of the fires, they quickly ran to the main entrance.  Attempting to use a slide power to move one of the creatures and failing, they accepted Opportunity Attacks to reach the main portal and use Arcana to shut it down.  Phase III completed.The rest of the party managed to use Endurance and Athletics to rescue the patients from the Infirmary.  The rogue retrieved ladders while the warlock leaped through the flames, jumping from building to building.  The knight directed her team and they all helped carry the wounded.  Then they caught up with the other two and the captain, while fighting one of the creatures, dispatched them to the village below.  Phase II completed, Skill Challenge now beaten.Consequence I: they saved the lives of a great number of the castle's servants and fellow guardsmen.  By saving them, they also freed up the guard's half-fey phsyicker and senior guardsment to the fight, preserving most of the castle structures.   This will have long-term affects.Consequence II: because they managed to relieve the burden at the castle, the captain was able to spare more than just their squad to protect the village, effectively halving the difficulty of their next encounter, which was to fight and defeat a madfire elemental before it killed any villagers or burned down any structures.  With a second squad of equal ability to take on the the other elemental, they were able to concentrate fire entirely on one and defeat it (and then help the other group finish theirs off).It was a great deal of fun and we all enjoyed it.</blockquote>

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