WotC_Huscarl, 1/14/2008 1:37:04 PM
Last evening, Biggie's impetuous nature nearly got him killed. It probably saved the lives of everyone in the party, too!
The session started with the usual rundown of anything that had changed since the previous rules update. It was no surprise that another cool power had been stripped away from my character ... I swear, they do that just to spite me. Previously, rangers had an at-will combat power called Careful Strike. It allowed you to roll 2d20 when attacking and use the better of the two. That's just good fun. It was changed to 1d20+4.
On analysis, 1d20+4 gives you a slightly better chance to hit (average ~14.5, compared to ~13.5 with the best of 2d20). Where 2d20 shines is that you have twice the chance to roll a critical hit. Not to mention, rolling two dice when everyone else is rolling one just makes you cooler than all those chumps. "Why did you roll just one die? Oh, yeah ... sucker!"
As you'll recall, we'd been accosted by a dragonborn on our return to town with instructions to bring the 'gift' to the cemetery at noon. It seemed to have some connection to the potential assassination of a high-ranking official in the church of Bahamut. The Farwhere family, two members of which are in our group, was implicated.
So, being dutiful sheep of the Haven Ridge city guard, off we trooped to the park at noon. (Now, Biggie swears that we were told to go to the cemetery, and that it got changed to the park by Jarrett when he tried to misdirect his highly suspect Aunt Nonny. Somehow, we ended up at the park. Biggie knows what he heard ...) Despite all this, Jarrett continued to protest that his aunt must be innocent, and this was all some hideous plot to smear the Farwhere family name (as if it took a conspiracy to accomplish that).
On arriving, what did we find but a dark ritual being performed by a dragonborn and ... Aunt Nonny! In your face, Jarrett Farwhere! Exactly what they were doing was unclear, but it oddly resembled the Time Warp ("It's just a jump to the left ..."). Elias, the half-elf rogue, sneaked forward to get a better look while the rest of us milled about in the distance, trying to keep an eye on the proceedings while appearing uninterested and nonchalant. Asked how far away we'd be, Biggie replied, "just far enough to be of no help to Elias when the scat hits the fan."
Elias wasn't able to garner much useful information from his spying, but Biggie was. He spotted an elf perched in a tree -- always a bad sign -- with a cruelly glinting arrowhead zeroed on Elias's cold heart. There was nothing for it but instant action! Shouting a warning to Elias, Biggie rushed forward and hurled a hand-ax at the arboreal assassin. The ax was deflected by branches, but it ruined the scoundrel's aim and alerted the rest of the group to the danger, which was the whole point.
That brought the figurative roof down. Elves started popping out of the bushes all 'round. Two of them surrounded our redoubtable hero and with a flurry of blows (two attacks each), battered him down to just 1 HP! By then, Biggie's friends were finally getting into motion. I say "motion" rather than "action" because, instead of attacking the pointy-eared murderers, they tried to use diplomacy on them! All because one of them mumbled something containing the word Bahamut! Biggie was fighting for his life, pouring out his blood (and I do mean pouring) to save their too-tall hides, and they wanted to parlay. At least M the warlord tossed some welcome healing in Biggie's direction.
It wasn't until the elves made it personal by stabbing them directly that everyone else finally woke up and drew their weapons. Up to this point, who'd been screaming, "kill them?" Who was that? Oh yeah ... Biggie!
Now he faced a choice -- use his 2nd wind to heal more or make a fighting withdrawal. In Biggie's world, that's no choice at all. Standing his ground = four more attacks = certain death. Healing meant not attacking.* Biggie's grandmum taught him, "when you're in doubt, cut your way out." Thanks to a class power, Biggie could attack one of the elves and then move away without provoking an AoO from that opponent. Calculating that he could survive one attack, he swiped at an elf and scampered. It was the right gamble. He reached the safety of his compadres with 4 HP to spare. After healing up a bit more (2nd wind), he was back in the fray.
Within a few rounds, the elves were supine and lifeless -- serves 'em right. A quick fireball from Kathra into the gazebo was meant to disrupt the ritual, but when the smoke cleared, there were no bodies! During the fight, however, Jarrett had noticed a suspicious figure with a wavering outline lurking in a nearby pavilion. On inspection, Biggie noticed that a stone table was askew. Beneath it were stairs leading, no doubt, to further trouble ...
Steve
* That's a recent change in the rules. Previously, using your 2nd wind was a minor action, so you could heal and still attack. That's now a racial power unavailable to halflings, a change made just to aggravate me, I'm sure.
