Manbearcat
Legend
found here. We're playing this one in real life now that we have some time, so I figure some folks who were following that adventure might be interested to find out what has happened to Saerie et al.
So we left Saerie, her bear companion, Yamel, and his 4 remaining rangers as they were about to square off with The Rotting Man, a primordial of muck and decay who has been reconstituting himself by decomposing and assimilating the biological material of his unwitting acolytes taking up refuge in his mountain. Sponsored by The World Serpent, the group was on the doorstep to his lair with bad intentions.
Mechanically, the fight was constructed as a level + 5 combat that would increase in difficulty as they bloodied each of his corporeal bodies (4 below). It was basically:
1) 3 Elites of The Rotting Man - Each a large elemental humanoid (necrotic, primordial) Controller with:
* necrotic immunity
* a necrotic aura which inhibits healing (1/2 surge value healed while in aura)
* a standard action, melee 2 attack (necrotic) that drains healing surges
* a minor action, ranged 10, recharge (psychic) attack vs Will that slides and forces an MBA
2) 3 Necrotic Eruption (CB2 with zone after) Hazards that trigger on proximity violation of the seeping fissures that marred the lair floor.
3) The standard Hindering Terrain stalagmites found in the other encounters of those caverns and the stalactites for stunting.
4) On triggering the Bloodied condition for each Rotting Man Elite, a zone of Collapsing Ceiling would occur in a specific place in the large, cavernous lair that would last until the end of the encounter.
The fight was extremely rough (as intended). The mobility of the entirety of the group (especially Yamel's own, his aura buff, and his artillery minions) was central to The Rotting Man's defeat. The climactic moments of the fight were:
(a) a massive force multiplication nova that blew up the 1st elite
(b) a huge swing as 3/4 rangers died almost immediately thereafter from Collapsing Ceiling and (why hello thar!) Necrotic Eruption
(c) Near the end of the fight when things were dodgy, Saerie and her bear were both on the edge of going down. They were spread out and each engaged (to avoid the minor action attack vs will that would cause them to move and MBA each other). Saerie needed to get to he bear. She charged (narrowly avoiding an OA that would have brought her down) in to Power Strike the Elite engaged with her bear (thus Slide 1) to move her Bear out of the nerf-healing aura. She then used her Iron Resurgence on her Bear (who would have went down at the start of its turn). She then went down shortly thereafter but her Bear Challenging Roared the elite they were engaged with (moving it away from them so no nerf healing aura) and healed Saerie (bringing her back up) with Loyal Companion's Presence.
d) Her bear ultimately perished in the fight as did the last ranger minion. Only a low HP and very low HS Saerie and a very low HP Yamel survived the titanic battle against the primiordial. But in the end, they vanquished him.
However, upon the primordial being vanquished, the entirety of the cavern structure was coming down on them. A complexity 3 Skill Challenge ensued with the stakes being certain death and the goal being to get out alive with as many of the occupants of the caves as possible.
The first thing Saerie wanted to do was to try to bring the body of her fallen beloved companion who had been by her side as long as she remembered. This was no small feat (Hard DC). It was so important to her that she gave it everything she had (spent one of her 2 Advantages to knock the DC down and one of her 3 Secondary Skills to augment). She used History to flood herself with the memories of her friend and bulwark her strength. Her Athletics check passed and she somehow succeeded, pulling and dragging her fallen friend out of the crumbling structure.
The got out, but barely. In the doing, they failed in their efforts to reach anyone else and escort them to safely. Every inhabitant of the caves perished except for Yamel.
Saerie buried her friend the next morning, said her goodbye and asked The World Serpent to embrace her mighty friend in the spirit realm, fallen to destroy his enemies. With the quest to defeat The Rotting Man finished, Saerie's player proposed a new quest with Saerie swearing it; "In the name of her fallen ally, find, protect, and raise a vulnerable bear cub who has lost his mother."
They went back the next morning to try to recover some bodies (Group Dungeoneering check failed). It was a lost cause. There was nothing more to be done. Yamel swore his services to see Saerie through her quest. They said a tearful goodbye and set out to find the grave of the Eladrin.
Yamel knew these mountains like the back of his hand and led them there through dangerous, hostile territory (a complexity 1 Skill Challenge with the goal of evasion of the dark horrors of the forest as they move nearer the lycanthrope stronghold). They found the grave. Saerie felt an extremely strange sense of oneness with this place that she couldn't explain. She hated to do it, but she knew she must. She defiled the grave, ultimately digging up her own bones. She found articles belonging to the Eladrin including the bow with the exact runes and inscriptions that haunted her memories (+ 1 Weapon of Speed). Feeling its familiar grip and weight, she knew. Finally, she found the woman's diary. Her diary of course as the handwriting was the exact same as her own.
And that is where we left it! I'll update more after we play the next session (TBD when that will be)!
Tactical Skirmish Miniatures Game linked by free-form roleplay in my opinion. Amirite?
So we left Saerie, her bear companion, Yamel, and his 4 remaining rangers as they were about to square off with The Rotting Man, a primordial of muck and decay who has been reconstituting himself by decomposing and assimilating the biological material of his unwitting acolytes taking up refuge in his mountain. Sponsored by The World Serpent, the group was on the doorstep to his lair with bad intentions.
Mechanically, the fight was constructed as a level + 5 combat that would increase in difficulty as they bloodied each of his corporeal bodies (4 below). It was basically:
1) 3 Elites of The Rotting Man - Each a large elemental humanoid (necrotic, primordial) Controller with:
* necrotic immunity
* a necrotic aura which inhibits healing (1/2 surge value healed while in aura)
* a standard action, melee 2 attack (necrotic) that drains healing surges
* a minor action, ranged 10, recharge (psychic) attack vs Will that slides and forces an MBA
2) 3 Necrotic Eruption (CB2 with zone after) Hazards that trigger on proximity violation of the seeping fissures that marred the lair floor.
3) The standard Hindering Terrain stalagmites found in the other encounters of those caverns and the stalactites for stunting.
4) On triggering the Bloodied condition for each Rotting Man Elite, a zone of Collapsing Ceiling would occur in a specific place in the large, cavernous lair that would last until the end of the encounter.
The fight was extremely rough (as intended). The mobility of the entirety of the group (especially Yamel's own, his aura buff, and his artillery minions) was central to The Rotting Man's defeat. The climactic moments of the fight were:
(a) a massive force multiplication nova that blew up the 1st elite
(b) a huge swing as 3/4 rangers died almost immediately thereafter from Collapsing Ceiling and (why hello thar!) Necrotic Eruption
(c) Near the end of the fight when things were dodgy, Saerie and her bear were both on the edge of going down. They were spread out and each engaged (to avoid the minor action attack vs will that would cause them to move and MBA each other). Saerie needed to get to he bear. She charged (narrowly avoiding an OA that would have brought her down) in to Power Strike the Elite engaged with her bear (thus Slide 1) to move her Bear out of the nerf-healing aura. She then used her Iron Resurgence on her Bear (who would have went down at the start of its turn). She then went down shortly thereafter but her Bear Challenging Roared the elite they were engaged with (moving it away from them so no nerf healing aura) and healed Saerie (bringing her back up) with Loyal Companion's Presence.
d) Her bear ultimately perished in the fight as did the last ranger minion. Only a low HP and very low HS Saerie and a very low HP Yamel survived the titanic battle against the primiordial. But in the end, they vanquished him.
However, upon the primordial being vanquished, the entirety of the cavern structure was coming down on them. A complexity 3 Skill Challenge ensued with the stakes being certain death and the goal being to get out alive with as many of the occupants of the caves as possible.
The first thing Saerie wanted to do was to try to bring the body of her fallen beloved companion who had been by her side as long as she remembered. This was no small feat (Hard DC). It was so important to her that she gave it everything she had (spent one of her 2 Advantages to knock the DC down and one of her 3 Secondary Skills to augment). She used History to flood herself with the memories of her friend and bulwark her strength. Her Athletics check passed and she somehow succeeded, pulling and dragging her fallen friend out of the crumbling structure.
The got out, but barely. In the doing, they failed in their efforts to reach anyone else and escort them to safely. Every inhabitant of the caves perished except for Yamel.
Saerie buried her friend the next morning, said her goodbye and asked The World Serpent to embrace her mighty friend in the spirit realm, fallen to destroy his enemies. With the quest to defeat The Rotting Man finished, Saerie's player proposed a new quest with Saerie swearing it; "In the name of her fallen ally, find, protect, and raise a vulnerable bear cub who has lost his mother."
They went back the next morning to try to recover some bodies (Group Dungeoneering check failed). It was a lost cause. There was nothing more to be done. Yamel swore his services to see Saerie through her quest. They said a tearful goodbye and set out to find the grave of the Eladrin.
Yamel knew these mountains like the back of his hand and led them there through dangerous, hostile territory (a complexity 1 Skill Challenge with the goal of evasion of the dark horrors of the forest as they move nearer the lycanthrope stronghold). They found the grave. Saerie felt an extremely strange sense of oneness with this place that she couldn't explain. She hated to do it, but she knew she must. She defiled the grave, ultimately digging up her own bones. She found articles belonging to the Eladrin including the bow with the exact runes and inscriptions that haunted her memories (+ 1 Weapon of Speed). Feeling its familiar grip and weight, she knew. Finally, she found the woman's diary. Her diary of course as the handwriting was the exact same as her own.
And that is where we left it! I'll update more after we play the next session (TBD when that will be)!
Tactical Skirmish Miniatures Game linked by free-form roleplay in my opinion. Amirite?
