When outrageous plans work!
- Thread starter Hummingbird
- Start date
Magnus
First Post
picture this: hostile forces are trying to take over the city. somehow, they've managed to import an army of humanoids that no one has ever seen before. after trekking into the wilderness to awaken some undead army to fight for our cause, and making it back to town, we find that the gates have been fortified with ... cannons??? we spend the better part of the night attacking the north gate on two fronts, (top and bottom) so as to allow our army to get in without being blown to bits. then taking out the two signaling towers in the northern sector of the city ... no mean feat mind you: improved invis wizards and all.
after all of this we're preparing to join the war now raging in the streets, only to be sidetracked by a guard who informs us about a "situation" at the city council hall. seems the crooked mayor has taken hostages, and is demanding safe passage out of the city. after yet ANOTHER fight, total of five now, if you count the two separate fronts of the attack on the gatehouse, we confront the mayor and his flunkies, and their hostages. after much to-do, and smooth talking, we convince the flunkies to leave unharmed (they were only following their leader after all). the mayor however, (damn him and his huge diplomacy skill!!!
) isn't going to go along quietly. but a mind blast from the psion, and quick action by my half-orc fighter get the girl out of harms way.
you'd think that after such a busy night, anyone with an ounce of pity would have just branded us heroes and, well, offered some brandy, right? wrong. from our new vantage point, we have a great view of the HUGEmongous beast that has now crashed through the east gate, the wizard that is decimating our undead warriors, and the armoured figure cutting a swath through the citizens trying to defend their homes. *sigh* no rest for the wicked, i guess.
we decide to attack the beast first, using this dwarven version of TNT that we've been hoarding for just such an occasion. three perfect throws from my orc fighter and three shots from that pebble-to-boulder thing the rogue's got, and this thing is starting to look like we might be bothering it. did i mention that it was gargantuan size? ANYWAY, pay attention, coz this is where it gets interesting.
seeing that this thing is trampling the citizenry, and the mounted cannons, yes these bastards have gunpowder, on it's back are destroying the infrastructure, our brave, valiant and none too bright half-orc, fighter/barbarian, former gladiator decides that: when in doubt, attack. and so he does; his player thinking: "well, if i can hobble one of it's legs, which we've just done a whole bunch of damage to ..." abandoning his favoured bladed gauntlets (modeled him after wolverine) for the new katana he's just picked up off the freaky looking humanoids at the gatehouse, he hacks at the thing's leg. "meanwhile, the DM's thinking well if he's stupid enuff to do that ... he's gotta know there's no system for specific area damage in 3E."
somehow, it wasn't overly fond of this new development, and the DM says: "take you AoO." the giant beastie changes gear, backs up, changes gear again and attacks our brave/idiotic hero. it comps down on his pathetic AC of 15, and with it's improved grab, you guessed it, down the hatch! then came all that lovely stomach acid damage, and the DM's inevitable Q: "you still conscious?" i grin and say: "YEAH BABY!! i love rage!" then comes the: "so, can i hack out?" "sure, you can try" the DM answers. three hits and two crits later, our hero falls the 30 feet from it's stomach to the ground, with 1 HP left! a few arrows later, the big bad beastie is shish-kabab.
this one's a lil less dramatic, but one of the most fun sessions i've ever had:
in another game, yeah i play in more than one
, the group, chasing some guy, trying to find out how he managed to get all the orog (homebrew orcs ... storta) tribes to work together. after a nasty fight with some undead creatures, (no clerics in this guy's world) we're all 2nd lvl and hurt bad, when we come across some guards. we manage to subdue them, and intimidate them into telling us where their camp is.
we tie them up, and leave the dwarf fighter and the one hurt guy to guard them, and the rest of us just stride right up into the middle of their camp and demand: "what the hell are you doing out here? you should be in the tower!!!" we concocted an elaborate story about how their none too friendly boss sent us to check up on them. now, we've all seen this ploy before, the intrepid heores try to infiltrate the bad guy's camp and inevitably someone asks something like: "so where'd you meet Dromar?", or "does he still like fish every wednesday?" and it end with the DM saying: "roll for initiative."
BUT! not today. through some excellent roleplaying, some great bluff and intimidate rolls and a nice healthy dose of blind luck! we manage to not only convince them that we were sent by their superior, but that they were now under our command, and ordered them to go back with us in the morning to the tower to retrieve the orog artifacts that Dromar was using to control them. wasn't till we killed the nasty in the tower and tried to open the orog box, that they realised what was going on. pity that by then, the two beefy fighters were, well, sides of beef on the floor, and the mage in charge was almost out of spells
.
still one of the most enjoyable sessions i've ever played!
after all of this we're preparing to join the war now raging in the streets, only to be sidetracked by a guard who informs us about a "situation" at the city council hall. seems the crooked mayor has taken hostages, and is demanding safe passage out of the city. after yet ANOTHER fight, total of five now, if you count the two separate fronts of the attack on the gatehouse, we confront the mayor and his flunkies, and their hostages. after much to-do, and smooth talking, we convince the flunkies to leave unharmed (they were only following their leader after all). the mayor however, (damn him and his huge diplomacy skill!!!
) isn't going to go along quietly. but a mind blast from the psion, and quick action by my half-orc fighter get the girl out of harms way. you'd think that after such a busy night, anyone with an ounce of pity would have just branded us heroes and, well, offered some brandy, right? wrong. from our new vantage point, we have a great view of the HUGEmongous beast that has now crashed through the east gate, the wizard that is decimating our undead warriors, and the armoured figure cutting a swath through the citizens trying to defend their homes. *sigh* no rest for the wicked, i guess.
we decide to attack the beast first, using this dwarven version of TNT that we've been hoarding for just such an occasion. three perfect throws from my orc fighter and three shots from that pebble-to-boulder thing the rogue's got, and this thing is starting to look like we might be bothering it. did i mention that it was gargantuan size? ANYWAY, pay attention, coz this is where it gets interesting.
seeing that this thing is trampling the citizenry, and the mounted cannons, yes these bastards have gunpowder, on it's back are destroying the infrastructure, our brave, valiant and none too bright half-orc, fighter/barbarian, former gladiator decides that: when in doubt, attack. and so he does; his player thinking: "well, if i can hobble one of it's legs, which we've just done a whole bunch of damage to ..." abandoning his favoured bladed gauntlets (modeled him after wolverine) for the new katana he's just picked up off the freaky looking humanoids at the gatehouse, he hacks at the thing's leg. "meanwhile, the DM's thinking well if he's stupid enuff to do that ... he's gotta know there's no system for specific area damage in 3E."
somehow, it wasn't overly fond of this new development, and the DM says: "take you AoO." the giant beastie changes gear, backs up, changes gear again and attacks our brave/idiotic hero. it comps down on his pathetic AC of 15, and with it's improved grab, you guessed it, down the hatch! then came all that lovely stomach acid damage, and the DM's inevitable Q: "you still conscious?" i grin and say: "YEAH BABY!! i love rage!" then comes the: "so, can i hack out?" "sure, you can try" the DM answers. three hits and two crits later, our hero falls the 30 feet from it's stomach to the ground, with 1 HP left! a few arrows later, the big bad beastie is shish-kabab.
this one's a lil less dramatic, but one of the most fun sessions i've ever had:
in another game, yeah i play in more than one
, the group, chasing some guy, trying to find out how he managed to get all the orog (homebrew orcs ... storta) tribes to work together. after a nasty fight with some undead creatures, (no clerics in this guy's world) we're all 2nd lvl and hurt bad, when we come across some guards. we manage to subdue them, and intimidate them into telling us where their camp is. we tie them up, and leave the dwarf fighter and the one hurt guy to guard them, and the rest of us just stride right up into the middle of their camp and demand: "what the hell are you doing out here? you should be in the tower!!!" we concocted an elaborate story about how their none too friendly boss sent us to check up on them. now, we've all seen this ploy before, the intrepid heores try to infiltrate the bad guy's camp and inevitably someone asks something like: "so where'd you meet Dromar?", or "does he still like fish every wednesday?" and it end with the DM saying: "roll for initiative."
BUT! not today. through some excellent roleplaying, some great bluff and intimidate rolls and a nice healthy dose of blind luck! we manage to not only convince them that we were sent by their superior, but that they were now under our command, and ordered them to go back with us in the morning to the tower to retrieve the orog artifacts that Dromar was using to control them. wasn't till we killed the nasty in the tower and tried to open the orog box, that they realised what was going on. pity that by then, the two beefy fighters were, well, sides of beef on the floor, and the mage in charge was almost out of spells
. still one of the most enjoyable sessions i've ever played!
Agamon
Adventurer
My brother plays a crazy monk. He's grappled with a huge water elemental (and actually won the first round), jumped from a ship out onto a canoe filled with enemy warriors attcking the ship (and he has no ranks in Swim), bull rushed an over-sized belker on the top of a two-story building (failing, running through it and falling himself), and, at 6th level, single-handedly charged a half-fiend treant while the rest of the party fought it's animated tree gaurds.
He's almost died twice (flukily self-stabilizing at -9 hp), but he still flies into battle with wild abandon. Funny thing is, outside of battle he's calm and level-headed.
He's almost died twice (flukily self-stabilizing at -9 hp), but he still flies into battle with wild abandon. Funny thing is, outside of battle he's calm and level-headed.
Henry@home
First Post
Hummingbird, HI! Welcome to the land of Post assertion!
I have had many crazy maneuvers work for me in my time of playing characters. Once, in our first 3E game, one of my players became the only player to survive an encounter with a large bunch of skeletons. The PC, a halfling sorcerer, was cornered and the only one left standing (due to a series of good rolls and bad judgement on my part - as I said, it was our first 3E game). The Player RAN PAST 3 SKELETONS, getting 3 AoO's, and despire his abysmal AC of 13, was missed by every attack. He got the heck out of Dodge that day, and a legend was born: The halfling bat out of Hell.
I once bull rushed an enemy UNDER a table, knocking him prone, but that's another day...
I have had many crazy maneuvers work for me in my time of playing characters. Once, in our first 3E game, one of my players became the only player to survive an encounter with a large bunch of skeletons. The PC, a halfling sorcerer, was cornered and the only one left standing (due to a series of good rolls and bad judgement on my part - as I said, it was our first 3E game). The Player RAN PAST 3 SKELETONS, getting 3 AoO's, and despire his abysmal AC of 13, was missed by every attack. He got the heck out of Dodge that day, and a legend was born: The halfling bat out of Hell.
I once bull rushed an enemy UNDER a table, knocking him prone, but that's another day...
DWARF
First Post
Re: outrageous tactics
Actually... due to the fact that Ankheg's don't have a dorsal hollow nerve cord (commonly called a spinal nerve cord) but, as giant insects IIRC they'd have a dorsal neuron bundle. That means that their "spinal cord" is actually on the front their throat. Now unless this character has special knowledge about giant insect anatomy, he probably wouldn't know that, and would instead have punctured it's esophagus. That would most likely have done a lot of damage, and really pissed the Ankheg off.
Well.... I think that's probably enough negative feedback from the Biologist in training. Personally, despite the unknown (to you) anatomical problem with that action, it was probably a lot of fun for your players, so cheers anyway!
Sodalis said:
Actually... due to the fact that Ankheg's don't have a dorsal hollow nerve cord (commonly called a spinal nerve cord) but, as giant insects IIRC they'd have a dorsal neuron bundle. That means that their "spinal cord" is actually on the front their throat. Now unless this character has special knowledge about giant insect anatomy, he probably wouldn't know that, and would instead have punctured it's esophagus. That would most likely have done a lot of damage, and really pissed the Ankheg off.
Well.... I think that's probably enough negative feedback from the Biologist in training. Personally, despite the unknown (to you) anatomical problem with that action, it was probably a lot of fun for your players, so cheers anyway!
spinjammer
Explorer
This is not an outrageous plan, but it caused a long laughing fit.
We played RuneQuest and our current mission was to find a underworld crimelord. So we searched the sewers for his secret meeting place. After a few fights that left us severly battered and half dead, we found the secret room. The room was occupied by the crimelord and his lieutentants, seated at a long wooden table. We were hopelessly outmatched and fighting would be futile. Our end was near. Suddenly one of the characters (a kind of fighter/rogue) raised his hands above his head, looked at the ceiling and shouted: "What should we do?". Next thing we see, he jumps on the table and runs towards the crimelord. One or two guys try to stop him but fail. The rest of our enemies are just staring at the character who finally reaches the crimelord. The lord still sits in his chair as the fighter kicks his head off! (Critical hit + rolled below his martial arts skill. That amount of damage to the head = death). At first, we couldn't believe what we just heard, then we all burst into laughter - the crimelord was no more, we succeded. His minions were intimitated and backed off.
Spinjammer
We played RuneQuest and our current mission was to find a underworld crimelord. So we searched the sewers for his secret meeting place. After a few fights that left us severly battered and half dead, we found the secret room. The room was occupied by the crimelord and his lieutentants, seated at a long wooden table. We were hopelessly outmatched and fighting would be futile. Our end was near. Suddenly one of the characters (a kind of fighter/rogue) raised his hands above his head, looked at the ceiling and shouted: "What should we do?". Next thing we see, he jumps on the table and runs towards the crimelord. One or two guys try to stop him but fail. The rest of our enemies are just staring at the character who finally reaches the crimelord. The lord still sits in his chair as the fighter kicks his head off! (Critical hit + rolled below his martial arts skill. That amount of damage to the head = death). At first, we couldn't believe what we just heard, then we all burst into laughter - the crimelord was no more, we succeded. His minions were intimitated and backed off.
Spinjammer
/edit Ok, so it's not an outrageous plan, but it's a good story.
Alright, I'm playing a dwarven mellee machine (fighter/barb with some niice stats.), and I'm paired up with a psycho necro-mancer with good tendencies. So.
We're in a temple of Mysta, when this evil hag fiend ports in from this place called the "Shadow Lands" via these evil cubes we have, and demands them back. I essentially tell it to go to hell, and it falls on the ground. I managed to work in the line "It's a trick, get my axe." at this point, but anyways...
It then turned into a huge spider type thing, and init was rolled.
During this, I got swallowed not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES! I had to cut my way out each time, and then I got swallowed again.
The 3rd part was the weird part... This spider was.. collosal I think, anyways, it was BIG. It swallowed me, then skittered up the wall, chasing after my partner. It's on the ceiling of the huge cathedral now, but, I can't tell, so I try to hack my way out. SUCCESS.... or is it? I hack my way out, but fall, and take a nice hunk of damage on the way out.
But wait, it gets better.
Then, the necro-mancer fires off a shot of magic missles, hoping to finish the thing off.
He succeeds.... and it falls. Right on my head. His comment?
"Oh no! I squashed my only friend with a giant spider!"
Luckily, I lived.
Alright, I'm playing a dwarven mellee machine (fighter/barb with some niice stats.), and I'm paired up with a psycho necro-mancer with good tendencies. So.
We're in a temple of Mysta, when this evil hag fiend ports in from this place called the "Shadow Lands" via these evil cubes we have, and demands them back. I essentially tell it to go to hell, and it falls on the ground. I managed to work in the line "It's a trick, get my axe." at this point, but anyways...
It then turned into a huge spider type thing, and init was rolled.
During this, I got swallowed not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES! I had to cut my way out each time, and then I got swallowed again.
The 3rd part was the weird part... This spider was.. collosal I think, anyways, it was BIG. It swallowed me, then skittered up the wall, chasing after my partner. It's on the ceiling of the huge cathedral now, but, I can't tell, so I try to hack my way out. SUCCESS.... or is it? I hack my way out, but fall, and take a nice hunk of damage on the way out.
But wait, it gets better.
Then, the necro-mancer fires off a shot of magic missles, hoping to finish the thing off.
He succeeds.... and it falls. Right on my head. His comment?
"Oh no! I squashed my only friend with a giant spider!"
Luckily, I lived.
Last edited:
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