Chapter 20 [Parts 1-3]

[reefwood]

Day 87

12:00am – Nim studies fly spell from spellbook (1 hr).


1:00am – Nim writes fly into his spellbook (3 hr).


4:00am – Nim, Zahn, Brion, and Sahme go to sleep (2 hr).


6:00am – Everyone wakes up.
Brion clears mind and prays for some spells (1 hr).
Nim clears mind and preps 3 PAO spells (1 hr).
Sahme clears mind and preps slots (15 min)


7:00am – Brion casts windwalk on himself and up to 5 creatures: Garm, 2 Gorgons, Chimera (16 hrs til day 88 @ 1am) and casts greater magic weapon (16 hr) on Garm's adamantine greatsword

Garm teleports to signal tower mountain, scouts, triggers a flame trap, reports back, scouts again, and the party makes a plan.


7:30am – Nim studies wall of stone spell from spellbook (1 hr).


8:30am – Nim writes wall of stone into his spellbook (5 hr).


1:30pm – More spells cast and fly to signal tower mountain (20 min).
-Brion casts airwalk 4 times: Brion, Garm, 2 Gorgons (160 min til 4:10pm)
-Brion drinks an extract of darkvision (4 hr til 5:30pm)
-Garm uses zone of silence wand on Zahn (10 hr til 11:30pm)
-Nim casts extended darkvision on himself (32 hr til Day 88 @ 9:30pm)
-Zahn casts windwalk on himself and up to 4 creatures: Nightmares #1-4 (13 hr til Day 88 @ 2:30am)
-Zahn casts windwalk on himself and up to 4 creatures: Nim, Sahme, Shade (13 hr til Day 88 @ 2:30am)


1:32pm – Someone? uses 1st charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:37pm – Someone? uses 2nd charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:42pm – Someone? uses 3rd charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:47pm – Someone? uses 4th charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)
Nim casts invisibility 2 times: Nim, Zahn (16 min til 2:03pm)
Nim casts spectral hand w/ 3 hp (16 min til 2:03pm)
Sahme casts spectral hand w/ 2 hp (12 min til 1:59pm)
Sahme casts spell resistance on himself (12 min til 1:59pm)
Sahme casts bull's strength on himself (12 min til 1:59pm)


1:50pm – 150 ft away from signal tower mountain.

Round A
Sahme casts fly on himself (12 min til 2:02pm)
Garm uses good hope wand on 7 creatures: Brion, Garm, Sahme, Gorgon #1, Gorgon #2, Chimera, Shade? (7 min til 1:57pm)

Round B
Sahme casts globe of invulnerability on himself (12 rd til start of turn on Round 10)
Garm uses see invisibility wand on himself (30 min til 2:20pm)

Round C
Sahme casts greater invisibility on himself (12 rd til start of turn on Round 11)
Nim casts haste on everyone (16 rd til start of turn on Round 15)
Brion casts cure spell on Garm
Garm uses greater invisibility wand on himself (7 rd til start of Round 6)

Round D
Nim casts wall of stone
Brion casts wall of stone
Roll initiative!

---

I was somewhat fast and loose on the spells since I really liked the plan, and it was a somewhat abstract combat, but I will be more particular for the rest of the mission.

Invisibility sphere has a 10-ft radius, and it seems like the plan allowed creatures that were only partly in the sphere to be invisible, but that's not how it is going to work. If you are not entirely inside the sphere, you are not invisible. However, you can be half invisible, or you can squeeze to fit entirely inside it. And at this point, I think only Zahn and the Nightmares (and maybe Nim?) are in it. And if you want the Nightmares to remain invisible, we can say they are squeezed to fit, which means they will move at half-speed.

I didn't pay much attention to spell ranges, especially summons, but those will be better measured next time.

Also, the bull's strength cast by Sahme does not stack with his Belt of Str +1, so his total Strength score right now should be 25 (+7) and not 26 (+8). I totally missed this when looking at the character sheet. Though, I don't think this has had an effect yet anyway.

And I'm not sure if I handled the surprise round correctly. Probably everyone on the squad should have received one action, or least the ones smart enough to understand to act after the wall of stone went up, but I think most squad members would have just moved closer and those that wanted to were still able to hit in Round 1 anyway. Plus, it gave Garm one more round of being invisible since I forgot to count the surprise round.

Q#1 - How many fireballs (3?) and flame strikes (2?) were cast? Did anyone else cast any other big explosions in the sky?

Q#2 - Good hope was cast on Brion, Garm, Sahme, and the 2 Gorgons, but it was able to target up to 7 creatures. Who were the other 2? Nim and the Chimera?

Q#3 - Does Brion remember when he cast power word stun? I know it was early on but not right away.

---

Finally, here is the current list of spells in effect and when they expire.

Brion
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 15
good hope til 1:57pm
airwalk til 4:10pm
darkvision til 5:30pm
windwalk til Day 88 @1am
power word stun on Misty #3 til ??

Garm
greater invisibility til start of turn on Round 6 (expired)
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 16
good hope til 1:57pm
see invisibility til 2:20pm
airwalk til 4:10pm
greater magic weapon til Day 88 @1am
windwalk til Day 88 @1am

Sahme
globe of invulnerability til start of turn on Round 10
greater invisibility til start of turn on Round 11
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 15
good hope til 1:57pm
bull's strength til 1:59pm
spectral hand til 1:59pm
spell resistance til 1:59pm
fly til Day 88 @2:02pm
windwalk til Day 88 @2:30am

Nim
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 15
invisibility til 2:03pm
spectral hand til 2:03pm
windwalk til Day 88 @2:30am
darkvision til Day 88 @5:30pm

Zahn
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 15
invisibility sphere til 1:53pm
invisibility til 2:03pm
windwalk til Day 88 @2:30am
zone of silence til 11:30pm

Gorgon #1
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 15
good hope til 1:57pm
airwalk til 4:10pm
windwalk til Day 88 @1am

Gorgon #2
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 15
good hope til 1:57pm
airwalk til 4:10pm
windwalk til Day 88 @1am

Chimera
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 14 – expired when destroyed
windwalk til Day 88 @1am – expired when destroyed

Shade
haste til start of Nim's turn on Round 14 – expired when destroyed
windwalk til Day 88 @1am – expired when destroyed

The combat ended with Round 7. Most of the misty creatures fell out of the sky when taken out. 3 escaped into the porous ground with the Gorgons blowing petrification gas after them. 1 flew away but was magically shot down by Brion and Sahme. 1 remains stunned on the platform. All 5 Ogres were cut down. 1 was turned into a Bloody Skeleton and 1 was turned into a Bloody, Burning Skeleton, but as such, neither can fly anymore.

I will make additions/corrections to spell info as needed, and you all can discuss what you want to do next. Initiative is broken for now, but it seems like we might pick things up right where they left and still keep track of rounds. It just depends on what you want to do and whether you care if the spells with duration in rounds expire or not.


Squad
Brion
-Garm
Sahme
Nim
--Nightmare #1
-Zahn
--Nightmare #2
--Nightmare #3
--Nightmare #4
-Gorgon #1 (Bloody Skeleton Erinyes #1)
-Gorgon #2 (Bloody Skeleton Erinyes #2)
-Chimera (Bloody Skeleton Bone Devil)
-Shade

+Bloody Skeleton Half-celestial Ogre
+Bloody Burning Skeleton Half-celestial Ogre

[michael]

The Rounds/level spells are off by one. If you count backward from where you list their expiration time, you end up one round before they were cast.

Haste was cast in Round C. At the start of Nim's turn in Round D, 1 round will have passed. Round 1 follows Round D, so at the start of Nim's turn in Round 1, 2 rounds have passed. At the start of Nim's turn in Round 15, 16 rounds will have passed, and the spell will expire.

Also, Brion & Nim cast Wall of Stone. Zahn might have cast it as well, but I'm not sure.

[reefwood]

Aug 19, 2011 17:23:02 GMT -5 michael said:

The Rounds/level spells are off by one. If you count backward from where you list their expiration time, you end up one round before they were cast.

Haste was cast in Round C. At the start of Nim's turn in Round D, 1 round will have passed. Round 1 follows Round D, so at the start of Nim's turn in Round 1, 2 rounds have passed. At the start of Nim's turn in Round 15, 16 rounds will have passed, and the spell will expire.

Also, Brion & Nim cast Wall of Stone. Zahn might have cast it as well, but I'm not sure.

Round C
Garm uses greater invisibility wand on himself (7 rd til start of Round 5)

Round C - Rnd #1
Round D - Rnd #2
Round 1 - Rnd #3
Round 2 - Rnd #4
Round 3 - Rnd #5
Round 4 - Rnd #6
Round 5 - Rnd #7
Round 6 - Spell expires right before Garm's turn

Oh, I see what you are saying. For some reason that seems off to me, but if he had cast it on Round 1, then seven rounds would go into Round 8 and end right before his turn on Round 8, so yeah, that makes sense now... he cast it two rounds before Round 1, so it'll end two rounds before Round 8...which is Round 6. I'll make the corrections.

[michael]

Q#1 - How many fireballs (3?) and flame strikes (2?) were cast? Did anyone else cast any other big explosions in the sky?

Brion cast Flame Strike twice, , but one of them was in the indentation at the top of the mountain, so it wouldn't be visible unless someone was viewing it from above.

Q#2 - Good hope was cast on Brion, Garm, Sahme, and the 2 Gorgons, but it was able to target up to 7 creatures. Who were the other 2? Nim and the Chimera?

One was the Chimera. The other was either the Shade or Nim, I can't remember.

Q#3 - Does Brion remember when he cast power word stun? I know it was early on but not right away.

It was cast in round 4. Round 1 was nothing, round 2 was Flame Strike, and 3 was healing.

[Rabbit]

Aug 19, 2011 16:03:56 GMT -5 reefwood said:

1:32pm – Someone? uses 1st charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:37pm – Someone? uses 2nd charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:42pm – Someone? uses 3rd charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:47pm – Someone? uses 4th charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)

I believe that this was done with my wand that had a total of five charges. The wand was passed off to someone else to do the casting, was it Zahn?

[reefwood]

Aug 21, 2011 18:10:42 GMT -5 michael said:

One was the Chimera. The other was either the Shade or Nim, I can't remember.

Oh yeah, the shade. I forgot about that one. It only lasted one hit but did a good amount of Str damage. I think they only cost 150 gp to create, so making 10 or 20 would be pretty cheap and make for an incredible first volley against the right type of foe. Even if they all get destroyed. And they might even make more in the process... though this could result in some loose new shades if the "master" shades are destroyed.

Probably the biggest restriction, though, is that each one requires an 8th-level spell slot, so it would take a while to make several... and I guess being able to control that many would also be difficult.

---

Aug 22, 2011 11:27:05 GMT -5 Rabbit said:

Aug 19, 2011 16:03:56 GMT -5 reefwood said:

1:32pm – Someone? uses 1st charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:37pm – Someone? uses 2nd charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:42pm – Someone? uses 3rd charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)


1:47pm – Someone? uses 4th charge of invisibility sphere wand on Zahn (5 min)

I believe that this was done with my wand that had a total of five charges. The wand was passed off to someone else to do the casting, was it Zahn?

Sahme's wand was the one being used for this, but I can't remember who was actual using/holding it. Zahn can't activate it, so maybe it was Nim who cast it on Zahn.

Also, I realized that Zahn can't give orders to the Chimera (Bone Devil) while inside the zone of silence, but that's a mute point for the time being since it has been destroyed at least temporarily.

[reefwood]

Flying

Combat for the next section won't be as abstract, so I'll be paying more attention to the rules for flight. I would like everyone to figure out their current Fly modifier, even if they can't fly or don't need to make the checks right now. Because it could come up, especially since everyone has wind walk cast on them. These are the basics to calculate your Fly modifier:

Ranks +Dex -Armor Check Penalty +/- Size Modifier +/- Maneuverability

Maneuverability varies depending on how windwalk is used, so if that is your only way to fly, maneuverability can be left out and added/subtracted as needed when it comes up.

It looks like Sahme (fly spell) and the Nightmares (supernatural flight) are the only ones who currently have to make Fly checks, and it seems that it is impossible for Sahme to fail a fly check - at least while using the fly spell. Although, everyone loses speed if they change direction in the middle of a fly move or ascend.

Brion, Garm, and the Gorgons are using airwalk to fly, so they don't have to make Fly checks but do move at half-speed when ascending or descending and are limited to a 45 degree angle (so they cannot go straight up or down).

Nim and Zahn will fall to the ground if their mounts are destroyed since they don't have any flight spells currently functioning.

---

Round 8

It looks like all the spell stuff has been figured out, and we will pick things up at the start of round 8. This is the current initiative order:

26 - Garm
19 - Sahme
19 - Misty Elves (1 stunned, 3 unknown, 6 dropped)
08 - Brion
04 - Nim, Zahn, Gorgons, Nightmares
02 - Celestial Ogres (all dropped)

The opening in the side of the mountain is 1,000 ft below the top of the mountain, but because of the angle, going from the top of the mountain diagonally down to the opening is 1,250 ft.

[icnivad]

Sounds good. I think I'm going to turn the remaining Orgres into Fast Zombies or more burning skeletons. It looks like they have a 30 strength, which is pretty awesome. I notice they are wearing belts; are they magical? (I'll cast detect magic and look at all of their stuff.)

And, yeah, the shades shadows are pretty cool, but taking an hour to create each one is a little time consuming for more than one or two. I can actually do Shadows Wraiths now, which are a little more powerful.

Edit. My previous creation was a Shadow (3 HD). As of level 16, I can create Wraiths, which are similar, but with 5 hd.

[michael]

If everyone wants to post their Round 8 actions, we might be able to get in at least 1 or 2 rounds before Thursday, but I'm fine with waiting to do it at the table too.

Garm: Move next to the stunned Misty Elf, drop my bow, quick draw my +1 Cold Iron Greatsword. Power Attack & Vital Strike. +21 to hit, 6d6 + 27 DMG

Brion: Move next to the stunned Misty Elf, Power Attack & Vital Strike. +17 to hit (19 if flanking), 4d6 + 22 DMG

[reefwood]

Nim - Animate Dead HD limit

Sept 6, 2011 15:15:38 GMT -5 icnivad said:

Sounds good. I think I'm going to turn the remaining Orgres into Fast Zombies or more burning skeletons. It looks like they have a 30 strength, which is pretty awesome. I notice they are wearing belts; are they magical? (I'll cast detect magic and look at all of their stuff.)

And, yeah, the shades shadows are pretty cool, but taking an hour to create each one is a little time consuming for more than one or two. I can actually do Shadows Wraiths now, which are a little more powerful.

Edit. My previous creation was a Shadow (3 HD). As of level 16, I can create Wraiths, which are similar, but with 5 hd.

One of the other things I was thinking about with the Animate Dead is whether or not the PC constantly knows how close he is to his limit? Cos it would be funny if he animated a new undead and then realized one of his old ones had to be released... which I guess could still happen if he cannot determine how many HD the corpse has. Anyway, I decided to point it out this time since it is the first time that me might go over, and it might be the last mission, so the caster realizing this or not isn't something I'm worrying about at this point.

Anyway, I realized during the last session that Nim might have gone above his Animate Dead control limit. He did not, but he appears to be close:

Nightmares: 6 HD x4 = 24 HD
Erinyes: 9 HD x2 = 18 HD
Bone Devil: 10 HD x1 = 10 HD
PRE-MISSION TOTAL = 24+18+10 = 52 HD / 64 HD

+Ogres: 4 HD x2 = +8 HD
CURRENT TOTAL = 60 HD / 64 HD

There are 3 Ogres left on the ground. Skeleton Ogres cannot fly, but Zombie Ogres can fly clumsy - which means they will have a negative Fly modifier.

Nim can spend 3 rounds casting detect magic to determine what, if any, of the items on the Ogres are magic and guess their school auras. To determine what a specific item does, Nim will have to spend 3 rounds per item holding or touching the item. So, he can spend Rounds 8, 9, 10 finding out which items are magic, and then 3 rounds per item after that.

If everyone wants to post their Round 8 actions, we might be able to get in at least 1 or 2 rounds before Thursday, but I'm fine with waiting to do it at the table too.

---

Re: Brion & Garm

Sept 6, 2011 21:58:51 GMT -5 michael said:

If everyone wants to post their Round 8 actions, we might be able to get in at least 1 or 2 rounds before Thursday, but I'm fine with waiting to do it at the table too.

Garm: Move next to the stunned Misty Elf, drop my bow, quick draw my +1 Cold Iron Greatsword. Power Attack & Vital Strike. +21 to hit, 6d6 + 27 DMG

Brion: Move next to the stunned Misty Elf, Power Attack & Vital Strike. +17 to hit (19 if flanking), 4d6 + 22 DMG

This can be accomplished in two rounds. The stunned Misty Elf is from the first batch that attacked the invaders on the signal fire tower. As opposed to the second batch that Brion (and later Garm) was fighting away from the tower - at the rim of the mountaintop of opening. This was already more than a move action from the tower, and then, Brion and Garm may have moved even further away the tower to chase down the retreating Misty Elf.

The stunned Misty Elf is standing on the tower - not on top but on the floor/ledge where most of the Ogres stood. Garm can teleport next to in Round 8 and Power Attack w/Vital Strike in Round 9 (or he could make a Power Attack full-attack?), and Brion can get there with a Run and move action, so he can make one attack in Round 9.

And if the Misty Elf does start acting again, do you want still to Power Attack?

---

Re: Online Rounds

Looks like the actions so far will be:

Round 8
26 - Garm - teleport next to Misty Elf #3, Drop bow, Quickdraw sword
19 - Sahme - ??
19 - Misty Elf #3 - ??
19 - Misty Elves #8-10 in porous ground - ??
08 - Brion - Run toward tower
04 - Nim - cast detect magic on upper level of tower (round 1)
04 - Zahn - ??

Round 9
26 - Garm - Power Attack w/Vital Strike on Misty Elf #3
19 - Sahme - ??
19 - Misty Elf #3 - ??
19 - Misty Elves #8-10 in porous ground - ??
08 - Brion - Move to Misty Elf #3, Power Attack on Misty Elf #3
04 - Nim - concentrate detect magic on upper level of tower (round 2)
04 - Zahn - ??

Let me know if anyone wants to make adjustments, and I'll sum it up once I hear from Sahme.

[icnivad]

Zahn can also help detect magic on things.

[Rabbit]

Sept 7, 2011 11:37:36 GMT -5 reefwood said:

Sept 7, 2011 11:17:18 GMT -5 icnivad said:

Zahn can also help detect magic on things.

Yeah, totally. Nim can cover all the Ogres and Misty Elf #3 with his cone, so what do you want Zahn to do with it? There are 6 other Misty Elves on the ground inside the mountaintop - which is 50 ft below around the top of the tower. Zahn could get 3 in his cone.

I guess Sahme will detect magic on the other three misty elves that Zahn misses.

[michael]

This can be accomplished in two rounds. The stunned Misty Elf is from the first batch that attacked the invaders on the signal fire tower. As opposed to the second batch that Brion (and later Garm) was fighting away from the tower - at the rim of the mountaintop of opening. This was already more than a move action from the tower, and then, Brion and Garm may have moved even further away the tower to chase down the retreating Misty Elf.

Brion and Garm were both fighting an ogre right next to the tower, not on the rim. They were both level with the top of the tower, so about 20 feet up from the stunned elf. Then one of the misty elves made a break for it, and Brion moved 40 feet after him. Garm stayed put, and should be really close to the stunned elf. Definitely within a single move action while under Haste.

If he drew his +2 Guisarme instead of his greatsword and he used Lunge, he might even be within a 5 foot step. (In which case he'll full attack. [+17/12/7 (2d4+23)] Otherwise, I'll attack with the +1 Cold Iron Greatsword.)

Brion should be 50 feet from Garm's current position. If he's within 80 feet of the stunned elf, he'll charge it this round. If not, he'll attack on round 9 as listed above.

[reefwood]

Re: Nim & Zahn

Sept 7, 2011 11:17:18 GMT -5 icnivad said:

Zahn can also help detect magic on things.

Yeah, totally. Nim can cover all the Ogres and Misty Elf #3 with his cone, so what do you want Zahn to do with it? There are 6 other Misty Elves on the ground inside the mountaintop - which is 50 ft below around the top of the tower. Zahn could get 3 in his cone.

---

Re: Brion & Garm

Sept 7, 2011 14:29:59 GMT -5 michael said:

This can be accomplished in two rounds. The stunned Misty Elf is from the first batch that attacked the invaders on the signal fire tower. As opposed to the second batch that Brion (and later Garm) was fighting away from the tower - at the rim of the mountaintop of opening. This was already more than a move action from the tower, and then, Brion and Garm may have moved even further away the tower to chase down the retreating Misty Elf.

Brion and Garm were both fighting an ogre right next to the tower, not on the rim. They were both level with the top of the tower, so about 20 feet up from the stunned elf. Then one of the misty elves made a break for it, and Brion moved 40 feet after him. Garm stayed put, and should be really close to the stunned elf. Definitely within a single move action while under Haste.

If he drew his +2 Guisarme instead of his greatsword and he used Lunge, he might even be within a 5 foot step. (In which case he'll full attack. [+17/12/7 (2d4+23)] Otherwise, I'll attack with the +1 Cold Iron Greatsword.)

Brion should be 50 feet from Garm's current position. If he's within 80 feet of the stunned elf, he'll charge it this round. If not, he'll attack on round 9 as listed above.

I totally forgot to keep Haste in mind, and now my memory is feeling fuzzy. I remember that Garm got caught in a fireball while fighting Misty Elves away from the tower. I thought those Misty Elves were fighting Brion, but maybe they were fighting Nim. I think Garm moved away from the tower after decapitating the petrified Ogre, but there were other Ogres still fighting - against summoned creatures and maybe the Gorgons. When the last Ogre went down, the remaining Misty Elves fled, but I don't remember who took out the last Ogre.

Either way, the Haste speed should be enough for Garm to reach Misty Elf #3 with one move action and for Brion to charge it. Recap coming soon.

[reefwood]

Round 8

Garm
Move next to stunned Misty Elf #3
Drop bow on tower ledge
Quickdraw +1 Cold Iron Greatsword
Power Attack & Vital Strike +21 to hit, 6d6 + 27 DMG

Attack: 1!


Sahme
Cast detect magic (round 1) down to the floor of the mountaintop opening on Misty Elves #5 & #6.
*These remaining Misty Elves are more spread out, so Sahme can only target 2 at a time.

No magic is detected.


Misty Elf #3
No discernible action.


Misty Elves #8-10
??


Brion
Charge vs stunned Misty Elf #3
Power Attack +17, 2d6 + 22 DMG
*cannot vital strike w/ charge

Attack: 14+17 = 31, hit for 5+2+22 = 29 damage


Nim
Ride Nightmare above tower.
Direct Zahn's Nightmare over Misty Elves #8-10
Cast detect magic (round 1) down on the tower: Ogres, Brion, Garm, Misty Elf #3.

Magic is detected.


Zahn
Cast detect magic (round 1) down to the floor of the mountaintop opening on Misty Elves #8-10.

No magic is detected.

---

Round 9

Garm
Full-Attack Power Attack +21/16/11 to hit, 2d6 + 27 DMG

Attack #1: 10+21 = 31, hit for 1+4+27 = 32 damage

The Misty Elf was stunned, so kind of frozen in place, but after this attack, it slumps to the floor of the ledge.

I'm guessing that Nim will continue to detect magic, but do Brion, Sahme, and Zahn want to do anything different?