The Kolloseaum: Team Go Hard or Go Home (DM: Iron Sky, Judge: Luinnar)

[Iron Sky]

But I'm posting to ask: Pressing Strike lets me shift 2 before the attack, but that's not enough to get me to K19 from where I am, because crossing the wall takes an extra square of movement, correct?

GM: Technically, you're outside the wall and would take a DC 15 Athletics (or Acrobatics if you want to run along the top of the water walls which are just a little above the waterline and ramp up to the regular walls) to get in there. If you guys had missed more - like not killing 7/23 enemies before they had a chance to go - it probably would have been different too. I'm not complaining, just was expecting it to be more of a challenge.

 

[Faraque]

In a single fluid movement, as the sword hits the Dragonshield, Rilissa spins in place and begins moving quickly towards the trees in the northwest, leaping over the river. Murder glinting in her eyes, she dashes through the trees and lands a solid blow upon the leader of the goblin forces.

"The Raven Queen calls for you, it's time to die!"

[sblock="Actions"]Move to G7, Athletics check to jump 1 sq of river.
Charge to B5
-After roll, realized -2 to hit for cover, still succeeded on hit though.[/sblock]

[sblock="Stat Block"]Rilissa Shandalar - Female Shadar-kai Assault Swordmage 1
Initiative: +1 Passive Perception: 9 Passive Insight: 9
AC: 19 Fort: 14 Ref: 14 Will: 14
HP: 14/27 Bloodied: 13 Surge Value: 6 Surges left: 9/9
Speed: 6 Languages: Allarian, Imperia
AP: 1 Second Wind: Unused

Powers: (Underlined is used)
Aegis of Assault, Lightning Lure, Greenflame Blade
Shadow Jaunt, Flame Cyclone
Frost Backlash[/sblock]

 

[WEContact]

GM: Technically, you're outside the wall and would take a DC 15 Athletics (or Acrobatics if you want to run along the top of the water walls which are just a little above the waterline and ramp up to the regular walls) to get in there. If you guys had missed more - like not killing 7/23 enemies before they had a chance to go - it probably would have been different too. I'm not complaining, just was expecting it to be more of a challenge.

OOC: I decided not to risk failing the check and taking extra hazard damage just for the chance to get the extra 2d6 damage. I got lucky and got enough for the kill anyways, if you include the damage the sorc will take at start of next turn. I can understand expecting this to be more of a challenge; luck was mostly on our side, for sure. I don't think that using the old Siege rules would have been the right way to increase difficulty, because they make the match arbitrary- making more of the minions be standard goblins, even weak ones, would have done the trick, as long as they had enough hp to live through one hit. Then it would have been a game of trying to use forced movement and focus fire without getting mobbed. The increased durability would have made things very scary without making us feel like our efforts had no effect on the outcome.

 

[Iron Sky]

Move to G7
Charge to B5
-After roll, realized -2 to hit for cover, still succeeded on hit though.

GM: Note that the river and the trees are all difficult terrain. You could throw some athletics checks in there (clear 1 square per 5 Athletics with running start) to try to make it thought. [MENTION=69684]WEContact[/MENTION] - tough to do with level 1 characters. Had you been level 3 or more, I could have thrown some "weak" N-2 monsters in to mix it up, but I was on a budget. Still two more tough fights to go though

 

[Faraque]

OOC: The trees were accounted for in the 6 squares of charge. Starting G7, F7 to D7, to C6 to B5 (difficult). Forgot to jump the river though, will add that. Fortunately, can only fail on a 1

 

[Medina]

Corragan staggers to his feet, feeling groggy after the onslaught. Taking stock of the situation he sees Ignatz standing over the sorceror in boiling water, the warmonger on the retreat and Rilissa chasing him down, and the lone sniper just across the wall from him. "I guess you're mine." he mutters.

Corragan calls upon the wind to buffet the goblin and the area around him, pelting him with debris, killing him.
[sblock="Actions"]Move Action: Stand up
Standard Action: Grasping Tide centred on F14.[/sblock]
[sblock="Stats"]Corragan - Elf Druid (Unaligned) Level 1
Initiative +3
Passive Insight 15; Passive Perception 22; Senses Low-Light

HP 28 Bloodied 14 Surge Value 7; Surges Per-Day 7

AC 16 Fortitude 11 Reflex 14 Will 16
Speed 8; Size Medium
Str 13 (+1), Dex 16 (+3), Wis 20 (+5)
Con 11 (+0), Int 10 (+2), Cha 8 (-1)

AP: 1, Second Wind: Unused

Powers:
Wild Shape, Savage Rend, Fire Hawk, Grasping Tide
Thorn Spray, Elven Accuracy - USED
Summon Giant Toad

HP Remaining 13/28
Healing surges remaining 5/7[/sblock]

 

[Son of Meepo]

Dina stands, making her way through the model city until she stands beside the druid. She takes one hand off her longspear and uses it to grab a javelin from her back which she lobs over the wall.

The javelin manages to weave between the branches and graze the goblin in the shoulder.

The deva then readies her longspear once again.

[sblock=Actions]Move: H10
Free: Remove main hand from longspear
Minor: Draw Javelin
Standard: Magic Weapon to A4. (1d20+8+4-2=20, 1d6+5=6) HIT for 6 damage. Corragan gains +1 to hit and +3 damage until the end of Dina's next turn.
Free: Return hand to longspear[/sblock]

[sblock=Dina]Status:

Dina - Level 1 Artificer|Warlord
Init: +2 Speed: 6
Passive Perception: 13; Passive Insight: 13
AC: 17 Fort 11 Ref 15 Will 15
HP: 18/24 Surges: 7/7 Surge Value: 6 AP: 0
Languages: Allarian, Draconic, Eladrin
Str:10 Dex:10 Wis:17 Con:12 Int:20 Cha:8

Powers:
Commander's Strike
Magic Weapon
Memory of a Thousand Lifetimes [x]
Healing Infusion [x]
Inspiring Word [x]
Use Vulnerability []
Provocative Order [x]
Second Wind[]
Punishing Eye[][/sblock]

 

[VanderLegion]

Sha'kar moves around the city to get a better shot at the goblin warleader and looses a bolt at him, but it goes wide, almost hitting Rilissa instead.

"Sorry about that!" He yells to his ally.

[sblock="Actions"]Move: to K5
Standard: Magic Weapon vs. Rikroc - 1d20+5=8 Miss[/sblock][sblock="Stats"]Sha'kar Menoth Male Genasi Artificer
Initiative: +0, Passive perception: 17, Passive Insight: 12, Senses: Normal

Defenses:
AC: 16, Fort: 15, Reflex: 14, Will: 14
Resist 5 Psychic

Vitality
HP: 20/30, Bloodied: 15, Surge Value: 7, Surges Left: 10/10
Action Points: 1/1, Second Wind: unused

Languages:
Allarian, Tsugo

Basic Attacks:
Melee Basic Attack: +2 vs AC - Quarterstaff 1d8
Ranged Basic Attack: +2 vs AC - Repeating Crossbow 1d8

Powers:
At-Will: Magic Weapon, Thundering Armor
Encounter: Burning Weapons, Healing Infusion: Curative Admixture, Healing Infusion: Resistive Formula, Void Assumption
Daily: Icebound Sigil
Item:Alchemist's Fire (1/1)

Weapons:
Quarterstaff - 1d8
Repeating Crossbow - 1d8
Current magazine: 6 bolts
Full Magazines Remaining: 14

Conditions:

Crossbow Caster - Use Crossbow as implement for implement attacks
Voidsoul - Resist 5 Psychic damage
Arcane Empowerment - Empower magic item once per day + once per milestone (Augment Energy or Impart Energy)
Augment Energy - A weapon gains a +2 bonus as a free action once. A weapon can't be infused twice (lasts until next extended rest or until used)
Impart Energy - Recharge a daily magic item. An item can't be recharged twice in a day.
Arcane Rejuvenation - When an ally uses a daily magic item they gain 4 temporary hit points.[/sblock]

 

[Iron Sky]

Match One: The Assault on Anakabar, Round 4

As the goblin sorcerer drowns in the boiling water, the Warmonger slips back from Rilissa and shoots her point-blank with his longbow and makes a (probably final) defiant goblin warcry.

GM: Obscurement doesn't provide concealment unless you're 2 or more square away (melee 1 attacks unaffected). Also, Rikroc's power let him shift 2

[sblock=Enemy Actions]Goblin Sorcerer 1: Take 5 damage from water and die.

Goblin Warmonger Rikroc: Move to A1. Rilissa's OA: 1d20+6=21 vs Rikroc's 18 AC, hit, 1d8+3=4 damage. Longbow(Range 30): 26 vs Rilissa's 21 AC(+2 concealment), hit, 8 damage and Relissa grants CA until the end of the goblin's next turn.

Reinforcement Roll: 11 vs DC 17, fail. Reinforcement now DC 16.[/sblock]

[sblock=Combatants]-Party-
Corragan: I11, 13/28hp, +1 hit and +3 damage
Sha'kar: N9, 20/30hp
Rilissa: M10, 6/27hp, grants CA
Ignatz: K17, 22/30hp, Thunderfury Rage
Dina: K8, 18/24hp

-Enemy-
All enemies have Goblin Tactics(Immediate Reaction, when missed by an attack): the Goblin shifts 1 square.

Goblin Warmonger Rikroc: A4, 17/46hp, concealment
Goblin Warmonger: 46 HP, AC 18, Fort 16, Ref 17, Will 16. MBA: +9 vs AC, 1d8+6 damage.

Goblin Sorcerers Killed: 2
Goblin Snipers Killed: 4
Goblin Assaulter Killed: 8
Goblin Shield Bearers Killed: 8

Effect Key: location, hp/max hp, damage related, TenT or TsnT, conditional, save ends, encounter[/sblock]

[sblock=Terrain]Walls: Crossing the walls takes an extra square of movement if you are crossing between walls within the city or crossing walls to leave the city. Crossing walls to enter the city takes a DC15 Athletics (Climb) check.

Cover: The walls grant cover against attacks made from outside the city to the inside.

Water: The water is boiling for extra drama. Any creature that enters or starts its turn in the water takes 5 fire damage. The Athletics DC to swim in it is DC 10.

Walls in Water: Creatures can cross the wall segments in the water leading to the Bluffhold by making a DC15 Acrobatics check. Failure means the move action ends and the creature falls into and adjacent water square. Crossing the gap at L16 requires a DC 10 Athletics (Jump) check.

Difficult Terrain: City, forest, and river squares are difficult terrain. For any square, its terrain type is whatever the majority of the square contains. When in doubt, ask for clarification.

Obscurement: Forest squares are light obscurement (grant concealment, 5 squares of them provide total concealment).[/sblock]

[sblock=Special Rules][sblock=Appease the Crowd]
*As a minor action, a PC may make a skill check to wow the crowd. If they succeed at the check, they gain +2 to their next d20 roll if they beat the DC, plus +2 per 5 by which they beat the DC. If the check is failed, the PC takes a -2 penalty to their next d20 roll, -2 more per 5 by which they miss the DC.

I.E, if the DC is 15, 1-5 would be -6, 6-10 would be -4, 11-14 would be -2, 15-19 would be +2, etc.

*All skill DCs will start at 15 and each individual skill's DC goes up by 2 per time the skill is used as the crowd gets more jaded. The DCs go up at the end of the round in which they are used. The DCs do not drop between arena rounds.

*Any skill can be used, as long as the player can provide relevant character action to back up the roll.

Current Skill DCs:
Athletics: 17
History: 17
Perception: 17
Others: 15[/sblock]

[sblock=The Siege]Overrun: If any enemy starts their turn within a district (any of the eight labelled areas with cities) that district is "overrun" for the remainder of the match.

Loss Condition: If six of the eight districts are "overrun", the group loses and everyone dies (To the Death).

Reinforcements: At the end of each of the monster's turns there is a chance reinforcements will arrive. I'll roll a d20 each round vs DC 20. If the roll succeeds, reinforcements have arrived and all PCs gain an AP that must be spent during the next round or it is lost. The reinforcement DC goes down 1 after the roll each round.[/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: I can try to run out of the city to give Rilissa a bonus to hit and damage, but I don't want to go until after Corragan so that he still has his bonus from my last round.

 

[Faraque]

"ARRRGH!" yells Rilissa as she is hit by an arrow. Her blood boils as an errant bolt flies by. Summoning the power of her people, she looses herself to the ether and teleports beside the goblin, becoming insubstantial doing so. "Send your regards to Mother," and she swings her blade in a fury of green flame, burning leaves off the trees nearby.

Her first blow being not enough to down the foe, she summons a burst of power from within to finish him off. Her blade strikes true one last time, and as the goblin falls to the ground, Rilissa also falls to her knees, clearly exhausted.

[sblock="Actions"]Move - Shadow Jaunt to A2. (teleport 3, insubstantial TSoNT)
Minor - Aegis of Assault
Standard - Greenflame Blade vs. Rikroc (+7 vs AC 18, 1d8+4 Fire damage)
Critical Hit! - Ignore the unlabeled damage roll, deals 14 damage
Action Point - Greenflame Blade vs. Rikroc (+7 vs AC 18, 1d8+4 Fire damage)[/sblock]

[sblock="Stat Block"]Rilissa Shandalar - Female Shadar-kai Assault Swordmage 1
Initiative: +1 Passive Perception: 9 Passive Insight: 9
AC: 19 Fort: 14 Ref: 14 Will: 14
HP: 14/27 Bloodied: 13 Surge Value: 6 Surges left: 9/9
Speed: 6 Languages: Allarian, Imperia
AP: 0 Second Wind: Unused

Powers: (Underlined is used)
Aegis of Assault, Lightning Lure, Greenflame Blade
Shadow Jaunt, Flame Cyclone
Frost Backlash[/sblock]

 

[Medina]

Corragan steps further into the town, heading towards the north-west to bring the last standing goblin into his range. Corragan calls the nature spirits and the fires answer his call, a flaming hawk appearing in the skies and striking down at the Warmonger.

[sblock="Actions"]Move Action: Move to G7
Standard Action: Fire Hawk on the goblin warmonger. If he does anything that would provoke an OA then I can make an additional attack.[/sblock]
[sblock="Stats"]Corragan - Elf Druid (Unaligned) Level 1
Initiative +3
Passive Insight 15; Passive Perception 22; Senses Low-Light

HP 28 Bloodied 14 Surge Value 7; Surges Per-Day 7

AC 16 Fortitude 11 Reflex 14 Will 16
Speed 8; Size Medium
Str 13 (+1), Dex 16 (+3), Wis 20 (+5)
Con 11 (+0), Int 10 (+2), Cha 8 (-1)

AP: 1, Second Wind: Unused

Powers:
Wild Shape, Savage Rend, Fire Hawk, Grasping Tide
Thorn Spray, Elven Accuracy - USED
Summon Giant Toad

HP Remaining 13/28
Healing surges remaining 5/7[/sblock]

 

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: w00t! Looks like that's the match. Great job everyone. Hopefully we didn't burn through too many resources.

OOC: Faraque, what did you spend that AP? Everyone else in the group still had an action to bring down the last goblin who was at single digit hp after your crit. (Corragan would have finished him on his action). I really hope blowing that AP isn't going to come back to haunt us in the next battle. It's usually a bad idea to AP once a battle is well in hand.

 

[Faraque]

OOC: Character based decision: I promised to send him to meet the Raven Queen, and I wasn't about to let him squeak out . OOC based reason 1: People miss, frequently, and he had a non-insignificant AC to beat. OOC based reason 2: We get an AP after the next match, so I'll have one for round 3. OOC based reason 3: That recruitment DC was too low for my liking, I wanted no chance that he'd get to roll it again and stretch this out longer.

 

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: Character based decision: I promised to send him to meet the Raven Queen, and I wasn't about to let him squeak out . OOC based reason 1: People miss, frequently, and he had a non-insignificant AC to beat. OOC based reason 2: We get an AP after the next match, so I'll have one for round 3. OOC based reason 3: That recruitment DC was too low for my liking, I wanted no chance that he'd get to roll it again and stretch this out longer.

OOC: I understand, but I still disagree. Character: Normally I'd be all for this. But I feel like based on our choice of difficulty we set this adventure up to be a tactical/roll-playing exercise rather than a role-playing adventure. So I guess I'm more sensitive to people making what I consider suboptimal choices for their actions. That's why I spent so much time trying to coordinate our actions during the first round. I felt like we should have all agreed on our course of actions for round one before anyone posted a turn. Heck, I built this character around role-playing considerations. Divine Secretkeeper is completely suboptimal choice for a feat. But I wanted him to be a ritual caster and also be an invoker for character reasons as well as Paragon Path choice. When you all decided to go as hard as possible, I almost backed out of participating in the adventure. But anyways, back to your other points: 1. Most people had about a 50% chance to hit, chances are 1 attack in 4 was going to connect. 2. But now we have one less for the next one. We have 2/5 AP remaining, I believe, which means we have fewer total accessible resources for the second encounter than we did for the first. 3. I thought reinforcements were a random bonus. Making that check meant we got a free AP. I didn't see anything that explicit said more monsters appeared. I assumed that it meant reinforcements for our side, represented by the free AP. If that's not what it meant, then it could have been made more clear by the DM. Anyways, let's figure out how long we have to rest and how we are going to heal up for the next encounter.

 

[Faraque]

OOC: ...to be a tactical/roll-playing exercise rather than a role-playing adventure.

OOC: RPG's, the last place where you can have your cake and eat it too. Also, our future matches are actually supposed to be a bit easier. The first one was the hardest.

OOC: 3. I thought reinforcements were a random bonus.

OOC: You know... my bad on that. You are right, and I fail at reading.

 

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: RPG's, the last place where you can have your cake and eat it too. Also, our future matches are actually supposed to be a bit easier. The first one was the hardest.

OOC: Maybe I misremembered. I though we chose to go as hard as possible for all 3 encounters. I think my point was that when we choose to go hard, we're choosing to play a game of chess with D&D rules rather than a role-playing game. That tactics should come first, playing the character second. But maybe I'm in the minority on that opinion.

OOC: You know... my bad on that. You are right, and I fail at reading.

OOC: We could both be right. It could just not be clear and it never came up.

 

[Faraque]

OOC: Our arena hazards are harder, but the enemies are easier in both of the next encounters. As for the reinforcements, he doesn't say anything about reinforcing the enemies, and he specifically mentions that we get an AP to burn, so its more likely that you were right and it was just reinforcements for us, to represent more people coming to help the city defense.

 

[Iron Sky]

Match Two: The Jade Tomb, Round 0

As Rickroc is cut down, the crowd goes wild, cheering for the "Heroes of Anakabar."

After the cheers die down, the forcefield is dropped and the group is allowed to leave. A goblin is there waiting for them. "You just cost me five silver. You'd better die in the next match. Anyway, you go that way. Your next match is in Arena Three, starting in about half-an-hour. Someone will yell at you when it's time to go."

The group heads the way he pointed, walking past a glass wall where goblins with long hooks are fishing three dead goblins off the bottom of a boiling water hazard.

Before long, a crudely painted "3" is before the group, along with an arrow pointing at a set of stairs going up with a portcullis blocking them off.

As the group rests and prepares for the next fight, the sounds of rocks rumbling from somewhere up the stairwell seems ominous. The crowd noises slowly grow louder as well until a voice booms out from upstairs.

"The Jade King had vast wealth indeed, but nothing matched the three treasures he had buried in his personal tomb, hidden away on a remote mountain on a floating isle. After a decade of searching, following the trail of a thousand scraps of thousand-year-old maps, a group of tomb-robbers finally found the tomb. But did they survive its dangers, evade the un-killable and escape with its treasures...?"

With that, the portcullis rises, rumbling up into the ceiling. The stairs stand open, the crowd cheering above.

GM: I rolled 6 for your number of short rests. Feel free to take them. Be sure to track your resources spent in the first encounter and during this short rest. I'll try to watch the thread pretty closely as you explore the tomb. This sort of thing is rarely done because of that requirement, but I'll give it a go. It takes a move action to enter the map, then you can move from there where you will. No initiative rolls necessary, nothing activates in the tomb until you enter.

[sblock=Combatants]-Party-
Corragan: I11, 13/28hp
Sha'kar: N9, 20/30hp
Rilissa: M10, 6/27hp
Ignatz: K17, 22/30hp
Dina: K8, 18/24hp

-Enemy-
Goblin Warmongers Killed: 1
Goblin Sorcerers Killed: 2
Goblin Snipers Killed: 4
Goblin Assaulter Killed: 8
Goblin Shield Bearers Killed: 8

Effect Key: location, hp/max hp, damage related, TenT or TsnT, conditional, save ends, encounter[/sblock]

[sblock=Terrain]Stairs: The stairs take a move action to ascend (enter the map) or descend (leave the map).

Walls: The walls are fairly rough, DC 18 to climb. The arena is 2 squares tall with a forcefield shimmering over the top to keep the gladiators (read: you) in the arena.[/sblock]

[sblock=Special Rules][sblock=Appease the Crowd]
*As a minor action, a PC may make a skill check to wow the crowd. If they succeed at the check, they gain +2 to their next d20 roll if they beat the DC, plus +2 per 5 by which they beat the DC. If the check is failed, the PC takes a -2 penalty to their next d20 roll, -2 more per 5 by which they miss the DC.

I.E, if the DC is 15, 1-5 would be -6, 6-10 would be -4, 11-14 would be -2, 15-19 would be +2, etc.

*All skill DCs will start at 15 and each individual skill's DC goes up by 2 per time the skill is used as the crowd gets more jaded. The DCs go up at the end of the round in which they are used. The DCs do not drop between arena rounds.

*Any skill can be used, as long as the player can provide relevant character action to back up the roll.

Current Skill DCs:
Athletics: 17
History: 17
Perception: 17
Others: 15[/sblock]

[sblock=The Jade Tomb]Treasures: To win, the group must find, collect, and escape with the three treasures.[/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Faraque]

OOC: I could use some healing, if Dina wouldn't mind. 2 Infusions from her would be equal to 3 of my surges in healing.