Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Friday February 11th, 2022 1:42:58 PM
"Press, is it supposed to look like that?" asks Kezzem. "I don't like it."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Friday February 11th, 2022 3:20:10 PM
Pressi stares into the void. "After all the failures we've had with shadow walk, what are the odds that we'd have a failure again, really? I mean, this seems foreseeable in hindsight, sure..."
She shook her head, "Still, I don't think we got thrown out of the pocket universe, and our only goal is to get out of that house, because if we don't know where we are, they sure don't. So..."
Pressi first tries to see if she can follow the wall around for a bit. If that doesn't work, she tries a different direction away from the wall.
If that doesn't work, she has everyone wait a while, hoping the giants leave.
But no matter what, she stays in for 30 minutes, moves as best as she can to a place nobody is around, and ends the shadow walk there. With some luck, the giants will have moved on, or they will be shunted to a random place without any giants.
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) Friday February 11th, 2022 4:17:50 PM They thought to put cutting wires and shadow barriers into their wall? Pru sends. I wonder what kinds of things usually attack them.
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 d20+27=29 ; d20+16=32 ; d20+25=41 ; Friday February 11th, 2022 11:24:48 PM Bellum Pacem Para...
Tali knowing, continues to verify, & then shares all she can with the group via the various communication spells, bonds, telepathy spells that were cast prior to this foray.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Friday February 11th, 2022 11:54:40 PM
Knowing they've just gone into shadow walk, Murphy tests to see if they can still communicate telepathically. "How are things?" he asks.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Saturday February 12th, 2022 12:20:54 PM "Those giants really think of everything! These have to be some of the smartest giants I've ever seen! Add to that, they are rather set on attacking us. We have been here a while now, but are still no where near reaching our objective, and we are rapidly running out of options. I fear we may have to resort violence, as diplomacy and stealth haven't born any fruit. Anyone have any other ideas, because I'm feel we are losing this cat and mouse game, especially since we have been playing the role of the mice. Maybe it's time to extract our claws, and change our roles. If someone else has another idea, I'm all in, but we need to do something, and soon! Pressi's divination originally suggested the small gate, but I think that is Yesterday's Breakfast. We kinda gave up any thought of stealth now that they know we're here, and anything resembling a surprise attack is shot to heck!"
It's clear by his tone that Succotash isn't upset, he is just trying to break down the current options, by pointing out the ones that have been tried and failed. Those that know him know that he has no desire to start killing giants, but he also wants to get on with the real objective, which is finding and ending Flamscorn, and he is ready to try anything, at this point, to reach that objective.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Saturday February 12th, 2022 2:28:48 PM
If telepathy to those shadow walking is possible, Murphy says, "My understanding of the city's layout is growing. Since teleportation is out, as far as we can ascertain, but flying works, I can fly almost all of us up through the ash cover - and perhaps help tow a few of those who can fly, so we do not get separated. So far it does not appear the giants have any sort of air force.
"I don't think we want to attempt to fight our way through at the street level, though moving with stealth through the streets may be possible, and challenging."
If those shadow walking have gone telepathically 'dark,' Murphy speaks with Sashe (and Ketia, if she's not with the shadow walkers) to say once they come out of the shadows, communication should be restored. If Ketia is not with Pressi & company, he tries to determine where she is, and how she fares.
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Sunday February 13th, 2022 10:31:15 PM
Nikolai asks, "How long does this Shadow Salk last? Could we just use this Shadow Walk to wander the streets of the city and look for the place?"
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Sunday February 13th, 2022 11:05:39 PM
"Usually a Shadow Sulk last until I get hungry and stop sitting sadly in the darkness," offers Kezzem ungelpfully.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Sunday February 13th, 2022 11:38:39 PM
Questions to be considered.
1. Does Pressi know about how far she brought the group within the city?
2. Does telepathy work between those shadow walking and those not?
3. As it's possible, one way or another, that the larger group may join the smaller group (M & T) in the near future, can we get a slightly more tangible description of the area of rubble?
DM Mitch Monday February 14th, 2022 5:48:03 AM Kezzem asks Pressi if things are supposed to look like that wall and remarks he doesn’t like it.
Pressi observes that all the failures they’ve had with shadow walk in the past the odds of having another failure is foreseeable. She tries to move around the wall, going in a different direction away from the wall and waiting the giants out.
Pru observes that the giants put cutting wire and shadow barriers into their walls and she wonders what things normally attack them.
Tali serves as a point of communication sharing everything she can between various members of the group.
Murphy tests to see if they can still communicate telepathically while Pressi and company are shadow walking asking how things are. He finds that he cannot communicate with those Shadow Walking. Sashe did not enter the city with either group. She has secured the exit dais. Ketia is with the Shadow walkers. He figures stealth is still probably their best option albeit a difficult one.
Succotash remarks the Giants have thought of everything and that their attempts at stealth and diplomacy hasn’t really worked so they might have to start going on the offensive to meet their greater objective of stopping Flamescorn.
Nikolai wonders how long the Shadow Sulk lasts and if they can just wander the city to look for the place. Kezzem says a shadow sulk lasts until he gets hungry and then he stops sitting in the darkness.
(OOC:
Pressi brought the group a few hundred feet within the city before shadow walking and can only advance horizontally, not go further in. Telepathy does not work between those in the pocket realm and those shadow walking the pocket realm If the 2 groups condense we will try to give you a better description of the area )
Pressi tries to lead the others around the shadow realm. It’s impossible to avoid the wall and going in a different direction could have you end up outside the city walls. Ultimately she finds a spot she hopes should be free from giants on the other side, and waits 30 minutes before bringing people out of the spell.
The party perhaps forgot about the ogre. He looks rather frightened at the strange place he ended up and he still can’t see the party. Long before the half hour is up he’s begging to be released and promising anything and everything if the scary shadow spirit people will just release him.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Monday February 14th, 2022 10:36:06 AM
In giant, Succotash says to the ogre, "Don't be afraid, we are friends. I am the one who was talking to the giant at your hovel, and what you heard me say to the giant is true. My friends and I have no desire to harm anyone within this city. We only want answers about the one known as Flamescorn. As an aside, we also despise slavery, and if you wish your freedom, we will be happy to take you with us, when we leave. For now though, would you happen to know where we might find the shunned place?"
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Monday February 14th, 2022 2:07:39 PM
"Usually a Shadow Sulk last until I get hungry and stop sitting sadly in the darkness," offers Kezzem ungelpfully.
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Monday February 14th, 2022 8:34:11 PM
"Ok, ok," Pressi said as she released everyone back into the spell. "I guarantee we won't be doing that again for a while, until I get bored. Let's just all settle back down..."
Once they landed, Pressi immediately began getting the lay of the land, looking for places to hide, for patrols still going, for some idea of where they were.
"You should hide too," she told the ogre. "At least until we know better how people reacted to the situation before. Do you know where we are currently and where the nearest place to get a drink is? I believe I promised you that, at least."
Pressi was quiet for a moment. "One of the patrols 'discussed' the last break in, someone sneaking into the temple. We have our suspicions of who did it, but we'd like to hear what happened and if you have any idea of what they were looking for, or why that theft set all these giants off. Did... this other thief get recognized?"
She also asks the ogre how the giants will react to his disappearance.
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Monday February 14th, 2022 9:26:51 PM
"Woah, I just deja vued," says Kezzem. "I could have sworn I made that shadow sulk joke twice. This really is a strange place."
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Monday February 14th, 2022 9:31:11 PM
"Woah, I just deja vued," says Kezzem. "I could have sworn I made that shadow sulk joke twice. This really is a strange place."
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) d20+26=34 ; d20+34=44 ; d20+22=36 ; Monday February 14th, 2022 9:58:13 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility
Nikolai's experience with Shadow Walking was amazing but nothing like this one, leaving some halflings in some kind of time loop, repeating themselves like they'd said it for the first time. Maybe it is just the way such powerful magics affect the little guys.
Having nothing to help in the conversation with the ogre, he gives Pru a peck on the cheek and says in good ol' fashion Mailed Fist way, "Time to secure our perimeter. I'll scout around and be back."
Visible now, he goes out about 50' and then turns to make a circle around the 'camp', going out a little further as he makes his sweep.
Looking for hostiles (Perception) and a safer place to camp (Survival).
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) d20+24=29 ; Monday February 14th, 2022 11:19:04 PM
Pru does her part to help calm the jittery ogre. "I don't much like this either," she confides. "But think how nice it'll be when we're finally out and never have to do this again." [Diplomacy 29 if it matters.]
Be careful, she warns Nikolai, we don't want to have to relocate again.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 d20+25=44 ; Tuesday February 15th, 2022 4:44:38 AM
Not immediately overly concerned with the break in communication during the shadow walk, Murphy does begin to feel a bit of anxiety as moments turn into minutes. He is then relieved as the connection is restored once his beloved and friends reappear in his mind.
He asks as to what happened, in brief. Shall assume he got a reply.
Meanwhile, has Murphy seen or sensed any flying creatures in this pocket plane other than other halflings and stones? If so, what? If there is such (firebat? pteradon? etc.), he thinks it may behoove him and the party for him to assume a different wildshape. If not, well, it likely would not go unnoticed if a raven appeared in the air without its feathers catching afire.
He begins to tick off options in his mind, which he communicates to all.
1. Tali and I try to figure out where the rest of the party is, and see about working our way in that direction. 2. Instead, while the party tries to navigate their way toward our current position, we do further scouting ahead. Advantage? Once they get here, we will have another place to go to. Considerations: * Who knows what the two of us might run into in our explorations - whether for weal or woe? * Don't split the party. * Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 3. What are Tali's thoughts on the matter? 4. What are others' thoughts on the matter?
Based upon Pressi's description of the direction she took after running into the blood wall, Murphy roughly calculates their relative positions. If he comes up with what seems a relatively useful mental map to navigate to them, he lays out the vectors and distances as the crow flies and lets the party know. [Survival 44 (rolled 19+25) to help with calculations]
"You want us to join you, then we can fly ahead Air Murphy?"
DM Mitch Tuesday February 15th, 2022 8:12:52 AM Succotash tries to calm the ogre, explaining who they are and why they’ve come. He also offers to free the ogre from slavery if it so wishes when they leave.
Kezzem reiterates a shadow sulk lasts until he gets hungry and stops sitting sadly in the darkness before experiencing deja vu.
Pressi releases eveyon back to the giant pocket realm. Once they are back she begins getting a new lay of the land. She queries him about the last break in, someone sneaking into the temple and if the other thief got recognized. She also asks how the giants will react to the Ogre’s disappearance.
Nikolai never saw a shadow walk create a timeloop before so he wonders if that is how magicks effect halflings. He then goes to secure the perimeter looking for hostile individuals as well as a safe place to hide out.
Pru also tries to calm the ogre by telling it she doesn’t like this either and that he should think of how nice it will be to never do it again.
The ogre flinches and shakes at the mention of the name Flamescorn, looking about like he expects someone to show up out of nowhere and punish them for saying it. ”Don’t say that name. It’s forbidden. He betrayed the faith. The name was taken from him and he was to be executed. His home, his family, everything marked as desecrated. He escaped. Came back, stole something. Everyone knows he’ll come back to kill us all one day. No one is allowed to speak of him.”
While waiting the half hour before leaving the shadow realm the party is able to get any information they want out of the ogre involving Flamescorn’s banishment, but the ogre doesn’t know more then what’s common knowledge. He was a giant noble, proven both in battle and in the faith, but it was discovered he worshipped another god not Fhorge, one antithetical to the giant’s faith. The ogre doesn’t know which. His manor still exists, but is considered forbidden. Everything else he owned was destroyed and his relatives executed as possible traitors, and/or for failing to catch and stop the sacrilege before it got as far as it did. He’s able to give vague directions to the noble quarter and the home - through the forging district where industry is practiced to the noble district.
The ogre has no interest in the freedom the PC’s offer, he just wants to be left alone to go back to his life of drudgery. He’s been beaten down so long he has no real hope of another life, and detect evil shows that even if he was freed he’d probably just live a life of thuggery like most of his kind or get tracked down and killed by the giants as an example to other slaves that might try to escape.
Once out of the shadow walk the ogre quickly slinks away and finds somewhere to hide unless the party stops him. A bit of searching and coordination lets the party regroup at the relatively safe area of collapsed buildings. Between all the running around and the wait in the shadow realm the invisibility spells cast wear off. Fortunately the rubble provides plenty of space and hiding spots and the party finds a nice hole in the field where they can sit and talk out of line of sight of patrolling giants.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Tuesday February 15th, 2022 10:55:37 AM
Murphy is not waiting for half an hour. Knowing travel time using the spell should have gotten them there within a minute or two, after five minutes, he says to Tali,"Something has gone wrong, or they are in a battle in the place of shadow, or they are exploring alternate routes. You and I have no way to shadow walk, so I can't think of a way to get to them. Here is my thought. If we fly out, and dip down occasionally, we can look up ahead. We need to get past the slums and find the better areas. Surely Flamescorn did not dwell in the slums. Once Press & all come out of the shadow walk, we'll hear from them and rejoin them. But my thought is to take about 15 to 20 minutes for more scouting. If you're up for it, then let's go."
If that sounds good to Tali, he sets forth - first casting know direction, then flying up and further in to the city. He will fly 1,200 feet, then stealthily dip down for a look, then back up, another 1,200 feet, dip down, etc. When nicer areas are found, the distances may shorten to 600 feet or so. He will frequently cast know direction.
Better knowing the lay of the land and how things work, and to speed things up, can he 'take 10' on stealth? If so, that will result in 46 stealth rolls. If he can't take 10, then the DM may feel free to roll.
He may do it such that at the very moment he breaks the visual barrier he immediately ascends, then a bit farther down (maybe 200' or so) he comes in at another spot long enough to look for a moment, then back up. The notion is to get quick snapshots.
And say max 10 minutes one direction closer and closer to the volcano, then about 5-7 minutes back without stopping until they get to the rubble place. At that point, I suppose they just hang out more and wait - and spend a lot of time praying prayers of intercession for the others, and for their situation.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Tuesday February 15th, 2022 12:07:52 PM "Well mister ogre, if you wish to remain in this life, I won't try to stop you. Thank you for the information, you may go where you please. However, I must warn you, if you sound an alarm, My velociraptor here will eat your liver." On ques, Valerie bares her teeth, and growls, to help make her master's point.
Alone with his teammates, Succotash says, "Well what do we do now? It seems to me we need to try to find the wealthier district, and look for an abandoned nobleman's home. Any suggestions as to how we should go about this?"
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) Tuesday February 15th, 2022 3:15:11 PM
"Now that we have a more specific idea of what we're looking for, is there a divination spell of some kind that could help us?" Pru asks. "Aerial recon is also a possibility, but it'll be tricky with that ash cloud."
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Tuesday February 15th, 2022 3:16:42 PM
"Yeesh, talk about bad options," says Kezzem. "Live life as a slave or get hunted down and killed. That's a real soapy choice."
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 d20+16=25 ; Tuesday February 15th, 2022 7:37:05 PM The Noble District
"Mister Murphy, those flight plans to relocate our friends and regroup, sounds sound!, " giggles Tali.
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Tuesday February 15th, 2022 8:21:14 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor Ki pts 13/13
Nikolai finds a good spot for the party to camp relatively safely away from the giants and their patrols, unless some halfling goes out on a diplomacy excursion again, and leads the party to it.
Filled in on what the ogre said, he comments, "At least now we know pretty much where Flamescorn's shunned home is. Do we know what we will be looking for when we get there? Did that ogre say what was stolen? Would help to know exactly what it was, just in case, you know, we come across it."
With a lot of spells being spent recently, he suggests getting some rest before the hunting begins again.
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Tuesday February 15th, 2022 9:22:58 PM
Pressi nods along as the ogre says his peace. "Well, we appreciate what help you can give us. Just wish we could compensate you more for your troubles."
As soon as she touches down, she immediately messages Murphy. "My apologies, lots of traffic. Wanted to make sure the heat died down. And now... it depends on whether we want to head to the old home, hit the temple, or track down where this armor came from? Depends in part on whether anyone has any stomach to split up."
Responding to Prudence, "Divination, Find the Path, Retrocognition, Vision, Prying Eyes, Speak with Dead, maybe discern location or scrying. Honestly, though, it sounds like we can divine it through the power of sight once we sneak into the noble quarter. If it's forbidden, it should be rather straightforward to find." As for flight, "That's easy, we don't. We're better off moving slowly through the city and avoiding patrols than up in the air where they're watching, especially if we can alter self or something. Invisibility might be too short, so we should rely on our wits."
To Nikolai, "I don't think he knew, frustrating as that is. As I said, hitting the temple might reveal as such."
As for camping, "If we do, we should probably trap to the hilt, don't want some troops to come upon us if we do sleep through the night. Personally, I'm worried that it might be harder to sneak around during the day and I'm not convinced that they'll be looking even less over time."
She takes time, speaking of which, to end any unusual weather patterns currently affecting the city.
She also looks over the armor again. "It's a shame I can't just discern location on the rest of this guy."
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Wednesday February 16th, 2022 4:02:02 AM
With the shadow walk exploration, it should be safe to assume that Murphy & Tali have completed the there-and-back-again exploration much deeper into the city - hopefully without raising too much of a ruckus.
Contact resumed with Pressi et al, Murphy expresses relief, and passes on what the two scouts have picked up. If they happened to have found a better place than the rubble neighborhood as a potential place of rest, he lets them know. If not, he suggests they head there, and settle in for rest and rejuvenation. "If we still had the Instant Fortress intact, we could set it up, and no one here should notice a tall portable oven, right?" he jokes. "Flamescorn owes us for that one."
DM Mitch Wednesday February 16th, 2022 6:22:01 AM Murphy isn’t comfortable to wait the half hour for the party to emerge from the shadow walk so he goes for a 15 - 20 minute scout while waiting. Succotash Thanks the ogre and warns it that if it double crosses the party Valerie will eat its liver. He asks the party what their next move should be while voicing his opinion they head for the wealthy district.
Pru asks if there is a divination spell that could help them. She remarks aerial recon is tricky with the ash cloud.
Kezzem says the Ogre’s options are a real soapy choice.
Tali agrees with Murphy’s scout while they wait for the party
Nikolai says they now know where Flamescorn’s shunned home is and asks if they know what they are looking for when they get there. He also asks if the ogre knows what was stolen. He suggests getting some rest before hunting begins again.
Pressi says she appreciates the ogre’s help and that she wishes they could compensate it more for its trouble. She then messages Murphy an apology. She gives Pru a litany of spells that could help and tells Nikolai that the Ogre probably didn’t know. She votes for setting traps if they are to camp and thinks it is a shame she can’t use Discern Location to find the rest of the guy.
Murphy’s exploration reveals a few things. The slum district stretches about a mile in. Then there’s a stretch of land that’s completely open. No buildings and kept relatively free of ash, about 100 feet or so, between the slums and quarters further in. A kill field for invading armies should one penetrate the wall and fight their way through the slums.
Across the field, where Murphy’s at, he can see what seems to be a barracks district. Lots of uniform buildings and bustling giants. Even a training field or two. Probably not the right way to go; it’s so busy there’s very little chance of not being spotted.
Once the rest of the party is out of the plane of shadows and able to compare notes they determine that the city is broken up into clear districts each with their own purpose. Very disciplined and organized. The ogre said they should go through the smithing district, where the giants ply their crafts to be sold in the trading district. It’s a ways west of where the party is camping, then north on through it to the noble district.
Nikolai is able to find a place in the rubble where some walls only partially collapsed, leaving a narrow opening into a rough chamber that’s save to sleep in, limits the chance of them being seen, and provides only one entrance easily watched or trapped while the party rests. There doesn’t seem to be a day/night cycle here - since the time you entered the plane the light hasn’t changed at all.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Wednesday February 16th, 2022 12:49:48 PM "I'm fine on my spells load out, but if anyone else needs to rest, and reload, I'm fine with that too. So are we going to rest here, or should we push on?"
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Wednesday February 16th, 2022 6:41:03 PM
"I haven't stabbed anything all day," says Kezzem. "If I just wanted to sneak around all day, I would have stayed a rogue."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Wednesday February 16th, 2022 8:51:43 PM
"Strangely, avoiding being a rogue is why I'm not having you stab anyone," Pressi replied. "Jerks as they may be, they haven't done anything wrong as far as we know, and we're the invading... non-invited guests?"
"Much as I've used a number of my highest level spells, I'm ready to move out myself. But I will defer to the rest of the group as well, although.... If it's always bright out, then I suppose there's no difference between going out now and eight hours from now, so we might as well rest up."
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 d20=19 ; d20=12 ; d20=9 ; d20=19 ; d20=17 ; Wednesday February 16th, 2022 9:22:02 PM The Noble District
Tali tells the group via Telepathy / Mental Bond, "I really need at least two hours of rest. In addition, I think we are going about this all wrong, Flamescorn has been banished and exiled and his entire family mark of the Giant Gene Pool has tried to be erased by his own people. We need to discover what he did to these people and why his actions deserved the reaction he got! In addition, how does seeing his family's home help us? What did he come back and steal?"
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 880 Minutes Endure Elements | 1255 minutes Mage Armor | 880 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 880 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 65 Minutes
Heroes feast (12 temp HP)
Used Spells slots 3x Invisibility
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) Wednesday February 16th, 2022 9:25:19 PM
"Pretty much all I've cast are the Protection from Energies and Invisibilities I've cast on the party," Pru says. "And if we rested, I'd just have to re-cast them, or most of them, and I'd be right back where I am now. I say keep going.
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Thursday February 17th, 2022 12:35:37 AM
Nikolai answers Tali, "From what I gather, Flamescorn stole a sacred item from the temple and took off with it, not to mention he has dumped Fhorge for some other god. Two strikes against him."
The Half Elf Monk/Ranger points out some obvious things they'll face on their next foray. "You seem to forget that this is a city, and a huge one, not to mention giant sized. Not only are we to dodge armed patrols, we will be dodging the civilian population as well. Kids running around the streets, vendors, giants out on one business or other. Despite the fact that there does not seem to be night or day here, the giants HAVE to sleep sometime. We find out their life pattern and we can avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble. But ONE of you halflings needs to just make the decision to camp or to move on. Otherwise the decision making will take so long we might as well camp."
Nikolai asks Murphy if he can have a rough estimate of the city population, from what he's seen.
DM Mitch Thursday February 17th, 2022 7:25:26 AM Succotash says he’s fine on his spell load out but he is okay resting if other folks need to. Kezzem laments not stabbing anything all day. He remarks if he wanted to sneak around all day he would have stayed a rogue. Pressi tells Kezzem because he’s avoided being a rogue that she isn’t having him stab anyone. She then layouts that why the giants are jerks they haven’t done anything wrong and the party is the uninvited guests. She says that although she’s used some high level spells she’s ready to move on herself. Tali tells the others she needs 2 hours of rest at least and then argues that they are going about things all wrong and that they need to discover what Flamescorn did to the giants and why his actions deserved the reaction he got and she doesn’t understand why they need to see his former home. Pru tells the others all she has cast is protection from energies and invisibility and if they rested she’d just be in the same boat she is now so she argues to keep going. Nikolai points out some details on what they know of Flamescorn and talks about some of what they should expect going forward. He urges the group to make a decision.
Per Tali’s request the party presumably rests a couple hours then prepares to head out. With how little you’ve seen of the city it’s hard to make guesstimates of the population, but from what the party has seen so far it must be a fair sized city of many thousands at the very least.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Thursday February 17th, 2022 11:04:39 AM "If you need to rest Tali, than I think we can hang-out for a couple of hours until you're ready."
After the 2 hours Tali needs to recharge, Succotash, presumably with the rest of the part, starts heading towards the rich part of town, and Flamescorn's former abode. while traveling he answers Tali's question, "Nikolai is right, for these people, betraying their power is betraying their community. That is what seems to have started this whole thing. Than after that betrayal, he stole something sacred to the people, and if what Ironbane said is true, returned and murdered a bunch of giants. That would put just about anyone on your "I want to kill with a vengeance" list. If you remember, Tali, the reason we are here in the first place, is because a divination spell told us we may be able to find a clue of Flamescorn's whereabouts at his former home."
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) Thursday February 17th, 2022 1:04:41 PM
During the two-hour rest, everyone's Invisibility wears off. The Protection from Energy (fire) should still be active, but not for much longer.
"Now that we're all visible, we'll need a strategy for approaching the city across that cleared area," Pru says.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Thursday February 17th, 2022 2:23:11 PM
"Well, I could go as a fire elemental - be right at home here," Murphy says.
"To get there, we need to go toward the west," and the druid points that direction. "Then we cross over to the smiths district, then on to the noble area. But, folks, that 100' gap will likely be watched. I've used many spells which will be just about to expire if we wait only two hours for Tali to rest. If we get a full 8 hours, then we all could freshen up. Sorry, I think we rest now, rejuvenate, heroes' feast in this little cubbyhole, spell up, then travel.
"Either that, or forget any rest whatsoever, and forge ahead. But being visible, we will be quacking ducks crossing that gap. I think that air elemental ferry service up through the ash to the other side is the smarter way to go, since teleportation seems unavailable. I wonder, though - you mentioned that red, maybe Woldsblood? barrier - I wonder if teleportation on the other side of that barrier might work. Nikolai, you can dimension door, right? Have you tried it this far in?"
"So, I strongly recommend we sleep now. We all rest, or none rest. Let us all take advantage of the relative safety of this spot, then set to go in the new pretend morning."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Thursday February 17th, 2022 3:38:00 PM
"I'm with Murphy. If we're going to take the time, at least let me refresh my own spells, and get back some options."
Pressi stretched out some. "As for how to go in, I personally would prefer stealth over magic, and polymorph over invisibility, with some exceptions, yadda yadda. At this point, it sounds like moving around past patrols should be relatively easy. Changing to half ogres remains personally our best bet. We can use alter self, pretend to be slaves, generally move through the population. Changing to giants will be hard and I haven't seen any other kinds of creatures; even a fire elemental would stand out here in the city. At least an air or earth elemental could hide if anyone was coming. If it would help, some of us could burn 9 level spells to take the giant form, just talk our way through on the ground."
"I will need to refresh spells ASAP, particularly planar adaptation. The big problem is that we can't use charms and we can't go ethereal, and we can't just dimensional door. And I'd rather not fly, risk those towers or smog. But nothing's stopping us from just going from rooftop to rooftop and occasionally waiting every few minutes, maybe under a silence spell. And nothing's stopping us from using the old tricks like obscure mist or fear cones, or an old fashioned arcane eye."
Pressi thought for a bit. "There is one more option, but it's risky. We can wind walk it, and that would give us some speed and a little bit of stealth, but we wouldn't be invisible."
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Thursday February 17th, 2022 10:23:16 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor Ki pts 13/13
Nikolai points out some simple benefits of taking a full rest. "We know the giants are still swarming like ants as they know we are probably still about somewhere and we made them pretty angry. If most of a day goes by and they don't smell hide nor hair of us during that time, they will probably, as their nature dictates, declare victory over the mighty halfling army and go back to their normal routine. During this time maybe we can figure out when they rest. That will make getting through the city a lot easier, as we'll have our invisibility capabilities back."
He turns to Murphy, "Seriously? How many fire elementals have you seen going about in this city? Maybe Fire Giants employ Fire Elementals as trash incinerators. That would explain why we see them here and there? You want to blend in, then find out what is common, not flameboyant because it seems fun."
Nikolai puts on a hat and then suddenly looks like the ogre slave they just let go, albeit a good bit smaller. Then he takes the hat off and reverts back to his normal handsome looks.
Use Hat of Disguise to appear as a small ogre.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Friday February 18th, 2022 1:29:53 AM
"Nice trick, that hat, Nikolai. And no, I was not serious about the fire elemental thing," Murphy says. "Well, might want to keep the idea in my back pocket."
"Flameboyant. Ha!!"
Murphy finds a spot, lays some blankets down, sees them start to get smokey, douses them with water (create water), then says, "This is not my idea of a vacation spot." He wrings a good portion of the water out of the blankets, stuffs them back into his extra-dimensional bag, and gets as... wait. First he changes into a small earth elemental, and sinks into the stone. He spends a few minutes exploring the ground beneath them, say 60 feet in every direction (so a 120' diameter hemisphere, 60' deep) just to discern what there is to discern. He reports on anything of particular interest.
Then he goes to halfling, says just before nodding off that he'll take last watch, and sleeps, hopefully with Pressi next to him.
In the morning, he checks on everyone, shuffles his spells, and vaguely recalls experiencing Skald's lonely eons of imprisoned isolation.
DM Mitch Friday February 18th, 2022 6:26:31 AM Succotash is ok with resting the 2 hours Tali needs and summarizes just what Flamescorn did and why the party is seeking out Flamescorn’s former home.
Pru sees the invisibility wear off and suggests they need a strategy for approaching the city.
Murphy suggests he disguise himself as a fire elemental then explains the direction the party needs to go in and suggests a few alternative for getting there before settling on a full rest now.
Pressi is also agreement in taking a full rest so she can replenish her spells. She says she favors stealth over using spells. She outlines her own thoughts on what the party’s options are and the problems with the limitations they discovered so far. She suggests that worst case scenario they could always windwalk but that is risky or alternatively move from roof to roof using a bit of patience and maybe a silence spell.
Nikolai argues that if they take a full rest now it might calm the giants a little and maybe they can figure out more about the giants’ patrol schedules. He suggests Murphy not do the fire elemental disguise as it is too flamboyant and then demonstrates his thoughts on becoming a half-ogre using his hat of disguise.
Murphy explains he was joking and explores a little underground. Emphasis on a little; under the earth the lava flows freely and his movement is severely limited unless he wants to take a lava bath.
After discussion the party decides to take a full rest. Then they head out. The slums quiet down a little over time but the giants never stop patrols. Now instead of a patrol on every other street there’s one every three or four. The slaves also start to become more active; you can see them start to emerge from their homes and head deeper into the city or start working on things such as making themselves meals. Though most are ogres you see other giant species such as hill, stone, even a storm giant that looks especially beaten down and sullen going about their day. Presumably either you guys showed up during the local ‘night’ period or the alert you quickly set off made them all stay inside for their own safety.
Several plans are suggested, one needs to be chosen to enact and the right skill checks made. Please make stealth checks if you want to sneak across the rest of the slums, disguise checks if you want to pretend to be local slaves, and perception checks if you want to try to detect guard patrols and avoid them.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Friday February 18th, 2022 7:57:06 AM
Succotash gets his 8 hours of sleep, and than spends a hour in prayer and spell prep. His ears perk up when Pressi mentions wind walk and he says, "Why do you say that wind walk would be risky? With your Planer Adaptation spell, we could just wind walk right into the ash cloud, with nothing but our heads sticking out of it, and we should completely blend in with the cloud. I can prepare it if we chose to go that route."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Friday February 18th, 2022 8:37:30 AM
"Yeah, but what do we do with navigation? Murphy and Tali already tried that and had to bounce out?"
(OOC: While I lean toward the stealth part, I'm legitimately asking and willing to do this if someone has a good suggestion. Pressi can cast spontaneously.)
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Friday February 18th, 2022 11:57:06 AM "If we just keep our heads, or maybe just our faces, out of the cloud, we should have no problem with navigation. Or for an even more stealthy method, many of us have the ability to cast know direction."
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) Friday February 18th, 2022 2:41:22 PM
Now facing an 8-hour rest, Pru decides she does not want to do it sitting on a pile of rubble. She casts a Mage's Magnificent Mansion, then shows her companions how to enter it if they choose.
She creates enough space for everyone, even the animals, and includes a buffet stocked by the not-quite-unseen servants. Privately, she expects that many of her odd new companions will choose to sit in the rubble instead, but darn it, she's going to be comfortable.
She rests long enough to recover her spell slots, and doesn't bother re-casting the Mage Armor on herself and Nikolai. Her previous casting still has nearly a full day to go.
This time, she does not cast any spells on her companions that they do not specifically ask her for.
When they pause to discuss plans, Pru says, "So far, the giants seem to fit the category of 'crazy prepared,'" she says. "Wires buried inside the wall. A barrier to shadow walking. An ash cloud to prevent aerial recon--though they may not have actually created that. We have to expect that they've got something in that open space to reveal invisible or disguised creatures. So although flying over the area is risky, I think it's less risky than trying to walk across."
"Well, I've cast know direction about 15, 20 times. I think I have a good handle on it. How one determines North, and from it the other directions, in a pocket plane, seems a bit strange, but it has been consistent. That way is north," he points ahead of where he is facing, "and that way is west," and he points off to his left.
Very happy to take advantage of Pru's mansion, he thanks her. "It's even nicer than I expected to have a human and a half-elf to travel with us."
He then nods to Ketia. "How are you doing so far in this fire giants' paradise? If you have any ideas, we're open to listening."
"Succotash, if we are to fly mainly in the ash, but with only our heads poking out, we'd be up near the stony roof of this plane - not much to see up there. If we fly with only our heads out below the ash, we'll be flying upside down, which might be fun. You'll want to be sure that things don't fall out of your pockets."
To the group, Murphy says, "Here's my suggestion. Let a few of us scout ahead briefly, see if we can find a good landing place - a broad roof or such - in the smiths' area. The scouts should travel invisibly. Once we find a good spot, we come back, and ferry or lead - I've got rope to hang onto - up into the ash, then down to the landing spot. Then we figure how to move forward from there."
[OOC: I hate scouting over the weekend. We have to wait so long to find out what happens!]
Should Murphy (& who wants to go with him for scouting?) et al find a good spot, he can run the ferry service. He wants to reach a healthy altitude above the ground where the 100-foot clear space runs as he crosses from the slums into the area above the smiths. At least 400 feet. Is it safe to assume the ash above the open space is about as close to the ground as it is above the slums and smithy area? ================= Perception: 61, 45, 51, 49 ignore accidental d3 Survival (for finding a good spot): 29, 36, 28, 33 Stealth checks (adhering to tactics described in earlier posts): 40, 50, 50, 40
If only one or two recon dips are enough to discern a good target spot, then ignore the unused rolls.
DM Mitch Friday February 18th, 2022 8:29:59 PM
(I thought of it more as giving you guys time to actually figure out which plan you like and commit to it - I'll try to chime in on e-mail if there are any questions on how spells might work in the demi-plane)
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) d20+46=56 ; d20+35=46 ; d20+22=32 ; Friday February 18th, 2022 10:49:20 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor Ki pts 13/13
Nikolai takes full advantage of the Mansion, as he's been in several versions of Pru's incredible imagination and foresight on its provisioning.
For those inside, he proposes a plan: "With an expert trap finder and someone that can detect magic, I think a few of us can find a safe path through that field. Once that is done, we work our way through the streets to Flamescorn's old home. And if ogres are too dumb to know much, maybe one of those beaten down giants would appreciate freedom in exchange for information."
Since he does not need as much rest as the others, after having a good meal, he takes his pen and some parchment and heads to the edge of the slum area and open area. Invisible, concealing as best he can with his body and clothes, he sketches a rough draft of the open area between the slums and city immediately in front of him, about 100 yards wide.
When/if such a team of scouts forms, he directs them to start looking for traps, normal and magical, in a 20' wide area and going forward. He suggests they do so invisible. If no takers, he does his own checking.
Stealth +26 + 20(invisible) = 56 Perception + 35 = 46 vs Trap DC Survival (Track) +22 = 32 look for tracks
Nikolai figures that if he finds tracks across the open field, then that path is probably safe.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Saturday February 19th, 2022 5:40:21 AM
"I wonder if we can free the storm giant. If so, there's a place on a side of a big mountain where they might take him in," Murphy considers.
"Sounds like an exciting plan, Nikolai. But better than flying over the thing? Maybe I've just gotten too used to taking to the air, but there usually is a lot less opposition there."
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 d20+27=43 ; d20+37=42 ; Saturday February 19th, 2022 4:20:45 PM
Kezzem will recast his greater magic weapon and resist energy spells after resting.
"I can help look for traps," says Kezzem, "but I'm a bit rusty at disarming them these days."
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 d20+27=43 ; d20+37=42 ; Saturday February 19th, 2022 4:20:46 PM
Kezzem will recast his greater magic weapon and resist energy spells after resting.
"I can help look for traps," says Kezzem, "but I'm a bit rusty at disarming them these days."
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells d20+35=47 ; Sunday February 20th, 2022 11:06:30 PM
Succotash realizes he isn't any good at disarming traps, but he is pretty good at perceiving things.(Perception 47) He also knows his skills as a stealthy mover are less than excellent, but his ears perk up at the mention of freeing a slave or two, especially the storm giant.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+6/196+6 Monday February 21st, 2022 4:28:14 AM
"I still vote for the air route." Murphy continues, "If by land, I can see how things are underground. Maybe, like below here, fairly solid hot rock down 30 to 40 feet, and lava flow under that. I simply think walking, sneaking, whatever, at ground level over that 100 foot gap [our DM had said 'about 100 feet', not 100 yards] is not the wisest option. It is kept clear of ash. The wires in the stone walls? Who knows that additional traps they may have set underground, as well as along the surface? I understand that is what you aim to discover. As an exercise, the on-the-ground approach may prove educational. As the best among available options, I'd be surprised."
He concludes, "I've already laid out how we can fly/ferry up in the air. So, are we aiming for a consensus? If you want to try your probes, Nikolai, I'm not opposed. But I think the non-aerial approch is fair more likely to raise a hue and cry, punctuated by heavy objects."
DM Mitch Monday February 21st, 2022 8:51:13 AM Succotash gets his rest, says his prayers and then queries Pressi more about why she thinks Airwalk is so risky.
Pressi explains the difficulty that Murphy and Tali had in navigating previously.
Succotash suggests keeping faces or heads out of the cloud or using Know Direction
Pru decides she doesn’t want to be roughing it so she casts a mage’s magnificent mansion creating a pocket reality inside a pocket reality (...creating POCKET REALITY-CEPTION!!!; anyone got a top?) She doesn’t bother renewing the mage armor as it lasts a crazy long time and only casts whatever other spells folks explicitly request. She suggests that with how crazy prepared the giants have been everywhere else they probably have some countermeasures to discourage walking through the empty space separating the slums from the rest of the city.
Murphy relates his experience with Know Direction and explains which direction is which. He thanks Pru for her mansion and ask Ketia how she is doing and if she has any suggestions. Murphy tells Succotash that depending on if they stick out of the top of the cloud or the bottom of the cloud they might face different challenges. He suggests a scouting foray to find a decent roof to land on in the smith district then have that scout ferry or lead folks to the landing area and go from there.
Nikolai lays out the plan of using a trap finder and someone who can cast detect magic to navigate the open field. They would then work their way to Flamescorn’s old home and suggests trying one of the beaten down giants for information if the ogres are too dumb. He then goes to the edge of the slums and sketches a rough interpretation of the first 100 yards of that “no-man’s land.” If the party decides to scout the field he directs folks to look for traps in a 20 foot area and if he personally finds tracks across the field then taking it is probably safe.
Murphy wonders if they free a storm giant if they could find a place it would belong and complements Nikolai’s plan as being exciting but asks if walking the no-man’s land is better than flying over it as there is less opposition in the skies
Kezzem recasts his greater magic weapons and resist energy. He volunteers to look for traps but explains he’s a little rusty on disarming them these days.
Succotash also isn’t very good at disarming traps but he is good at perceiving things and while his skills at moving stealthy are less than ideal he is on board for freeing a storm giant or two.
Ketia makes a face. ”You’ve all got your mental communication going on but with everyone invisible I kept losing track of you. It’s lucky I managed to find you here, almost just went on without you.”
The party discusses scouting and how to cross the gap. In the interest of moving things along I’m going to assume those who actually rolled stealth checks go look at the nearest part of the cleared zone to get a better idea of it. Kezzem looks and looks, but he can’t spy any cleverly hidden traps or dangers. It looks like just a plain, clear field. It also doesn’t seem to be closely watched, though of course giants, slaves, and whoever else happens to be around can see anyone or anything trying to cross it.
Profession: Soldier 15 Highlight to display spoiler: { this feature doesn’t seem to be designed for stopping infiltrators but armies. Presumably after an enemy somehow breached the walls and fought their way through the mazelike slums the giant army would have to fall back deeper into the city. The field gives them a clear space to do so, with fortified, high-roofed buildings on the other side to make good archer positions to shoot any pursuers and narrows street entrances to act as chokepoints at the other end. Once regrouped the giants would force the invaders to cross a kill field as rocks and arrows tore into them. Any traps or tricks would be more harmful to their retreating soldiers then their enemies, }
Another complication arises after the party ends their rest. It seems their rest also gave any giant casters a chance to rest as well, as a high wind starts to kick up over the city, near the bottom of the ash cloud. A windstorm that makes it difficult to fly over the roofs of buildings, though the buildings seem to break it up enough that it’s just kind of annoying at ground level. It seems to extend to just the edge of the slums.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells Monday February 21st, 2022 11:46:53 AM
Succotash is starting to get annoyed as the giants seem to think of everything. "Well wind walk, or any other type of flight, is out. unless someone can deal with these winds. At this point, I'm ready to just charge forward and pray the gods watch our backs!" The cleric takes a deep breath, and regains his composure than asks, "Does anyone else have any ideas? We need to do something, and we should act soon! all this planning is great and all, but eventually we have to act."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 95/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) d20+25=35 ; Monday February 21st, 2022 10:08:01 PM
"Strangely, they still haven't thought of everything. Like making sure we don't just parkour our way along the buildings or through the streets. Or trying to get slaves involved. Or, and hear me out because I'm going to get obscure, trying to contact us in the hopes of learning something about us and maybe figure out some way to deal with the other supposedly more concerning break in."
She shook her head, and touched Succotash on the shoulder. "If we wanted, we have the collective power to level this city to the ground and be done with them. These are the big boys, the ones that studied how to keep everyone else out for years. If they truly thought of everything, they'd have a page of what WE did to repel invaders. We just have to keep not acting in the way they think an invader would act. We just have to keep up the crazy."
Pressi casts her rituals, heroes feast, planar adaptation, and moment of prescience.
After that, she briefly makes her way on to the roof briefly, and decides to test out how the winds are on the roof itself. "Anyone on the team have abysmal dexterity? I still think that we can use ropes and stealth to slowly make our way across this town."
She notes that she could give disarming traps a shot as needed (+20, and she has ways of boosting that) but it's growing on her that these guys really aren't that prepared for a small strike force. Even now, they aren't swarming though the city the way halflings would in a similar situation.
If the winds are too high, she heads back down. But either way, she begins to lead the group stealthily through the streets (stealth 35). "Let's save invisibility for the field as the easiest way to cross it. And in that part, I volunteer to go last... because I can use my broom to erase tracks as we slowly move across, and these bags of flour to replace the ash clouds. Fire giants aren't the only ones who think of everything."
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Monday February 21st, 2022 10:18:38 PM Ah...
Tali just goes along with Mister Murphy's suggestions.
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 860 Minutes Endure Elements | 1235 minutes Mage Armor | 860 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 860 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 45 Minutes
"That open space is meant to counter armies, not small strike forces," Pru says, frowning in thought. "In the event of an attack on the city, retreating defenders would have to cross that area to draw the armies after them. Which means it's unlikely to be trapped, since the traps would be just a likely to hurt friends as foes."
She sighs. "So we don't have to worry about pit traps and things like that. But it's still very exposed. If somebody even glances our way while we're trying to cross, we'll be spotted."
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Monday February 21st, 2022 10:44:41 PM
Nikolai grins, "Great assessment, Honey. And armies usually don't have the capabilities to becomes invisible like our group. On the other hand, does anyone have any spells that could dig a hole deep enough to reach the lava river down below? If we could do that, we could divert some lava flows into town that might cause enough confusion for our invisible group to traverse this open space and get to the temple of Flamescorn's home."
He glances at the spellcasters hoping for some Fun with Lava.
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 12:22:26 AM
"Murphey's only good at making wind," says Kezzem. "At least, I think. Murph, do you have anything that can break wind? And yes, I know what I just asked."
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 d20+16=18 ; d20+43=60 ; d20+36=52 ; Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 4:26:19 AM
"I can break wind all over you, Kezzem, any time you want."
"Well, Nikolai, I do have transmute rock to mud. I could cast move earth - but that takes lots of time - minimum ten minutes, and up to three hours. Pressi has a staff of earth and stone through which we can also cast move earth, as well as passwall. If we can summon a xorn, that sort of critter could dig the sort of tunnel we might use to divert the lava. If we open a path to the lava, a bunch of create water spells would certainly kick up lots of steam... I wonder, if a passageway is open, will the lava rise to street level? I'd guess so, but don't know so.
"As an earth elemental, I can glide easily through stone and earth - think of it as swimming through the ground - but swimming in lava might not be so fun, yet as a fire elemental, I could handle it."
"And yes, Pru - glad to have your knowledge of soldiery the better to figure such matters out."
I figure we have ~7 hours left of Planar Adaptation. Murphy casts additional spells just before they set out.
Murphy does figure should he use his air elemental form he himself would do fine, unless the wind speed above the roofs got over 125 hp. Even then, air elementals love moving air, and can still maintain perfect flight. But he would have to hustle or 'run' to go against so strong a wind. 100 mph or less? No worries for him - but for others, yes. "I could go air elemental and we could race along just below the level of the roofs and give people a thrill."
Bit he opts to join Pressi et al in working his way first westward across the slums, then northward toward the smith area - at least the slum side, just a bit shy of the open corridor. He is far inferior on stealth (18), however. Not his strong suit, especially if not invisible. "Would it be better if I wild shaped into an allosaurus or behemoth hippopotamus carrying carpenter's tools, pretending I'm on my way to work?" he asks. "Or, better still, let me fly up above in the ash, and... could someone turn me invisible, please? Tali, maybe?"
If he can go invisible, he will head up into the ash cloud, figuring the strong winds might provide a sort of cover for him, anyway. Only if they reach super-gale speeds (180mph+) might he reconsider. If they were going that fast, though, likely some roofs - even stone roofs - will be ripped away here and there. If someone wants to join him in the air, he makes certain they first are multiply-rope secured, lest they be airlifted off of him.
================ Stealth as halfling: 18 Perception: 60 (very good multi-sense perception) Stealth as invisible air elemental: 52 (which may, should the DM deem it, have a few extra points - +5 to 57? - added due to the atmospheric conditions. Who's going to notice a disturbance in the air when all the air is disturbed, anyway?)
DM Mitch Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 7:01:59 AM Succotash observes the wind pick up, reflects on how the giants seem to think of everything and that now going by air seems to be out. He suggests just charging forward and praying to the Gods to watch their back. He asks if anyone has any ideas and points out they need to act soon.
Pressi suggests the giants haven’t thought of anything like preventing folks from parkouring through the buildings or streets or getting the slaves involved or contacting the party. She also points out the party has the collective power to level the city and be done with them and if the giants really thought of everything the party wouldn’t be where they are. She suggests they keep acting crazy and not like invaders and they’ll be fine. She advocates for ropes and stealth to navigate where they want to go and points out she could help disarm traps before volunteering to lead the party stealthily through the streets.
Tali goes along with Murphy’s suggestion.
(OOC: Congratulations JonPaul, wishing the newlyweds a happy marriage)
Pru turns her soldier’s eye to the open space and points out its strategic purpose against an invading army. She reasons aside from the exposure of the open space there won’t be much risk in navigating it.
Nikolai complements his wife’s assessment and then reasons that armies don’t normally have the capabilities their small group has. He asks if anyone has the capability to dig a hole to the lava river in order to confuse enough confusion and allow their group to move where they need to without being harassed.
Kezzem reasons Murphy is only good at making wind unless the druid has some means to actually break wind.
Murphy talks about spells that could dig, ways to move through the earth, He also tests the windspeed and requests invisibility.
Murphy had earlier, while resting, checked out the earth below so is able to share the following information. The entire area seems to be volcanic, with lava flows just under the surface. This makes any form of earthgliding or tunneling unfeasible. Creating a distraction by tunneling up lava would be very easy, though the lava does not seem to be under high pressure so might not come bursting out of any hole made - you might just get a hole with lava at the bottom.
The wind seems to be specifically at windstorm levels - that is, between 51–74 mph. Medium sized creatures wouldn’t be able to fly forward and small ones blown away, but it might be navigable with the party’s access to high level spells. It does seem to get faster the higher up you go, but unless you head deep into the ash clouds it doesn’t change enough to matter (IE, closer to 51 MPH in the open air, closer to the 74 MPH while in the very bottom of the clouds).
Pressi’s ready to lead everyone through the city as soon as they roll stealth checks. The constant patrols have died down but things are still tense. Both slaves and giant patrols look very wary. You’ll probably have to pass close to only 1 patrol on the way across the slums.
The slaves don’t seem to have any chains or anything to keep them from escaping. They are all wearing small glowing jewelry, but considering they aren’t dead from heat stroke that seems less of a restraint and more of a minor magical item to let them operate in the volcanic demi-plane. If the party wanted to free a slave they would have to escort them to the exit to the plane.
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells d20+21=26 ; d20+36=54 ; Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 10:40:24 AM
Succotash follows Pressi, hoping he remains undetected (Stealth 26), all the while he is scanning the area, looking for threats, or something helpful. (Perception 54)
active spells: Succotash Heroes feast (12 temp HP) Planar adaptation
Daily stuff: channel energy (10d6) 10/10 speak with animals 22/22 agile feet 13/13 dimensional hop 190/190 Quicken rod (normal) 3/3
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 164/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) d8+9=10 ; d3=3 ; d8+9=14 ; d20+25=32 ; d20+25=44 ; Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 8:57:05 PM
"Now, one thing I will grant you that's frustrating. These guys have no love for the dramatic and that sucks. No cat and mouse diplomacy? No running along buildings? The more I think about it, the more I wonder if this plane has any purpose other than to let giants stare at the paper and shout angrily at clouds. If I visit a bar, do they serve something other than prune juice here?"
She takes some time to study the jewelry and slave outfits before copying it using a mix of prestidigitation, dancing lights, and her own glammer armor. "Just in case I do have to talk our way out of this. Ok, no insults, no threats, but no offers either, maybe more appeals to ego..."
For her part, she doesn't have any plans to free any slaves, having seen the heavy lift it was with the last one.
She continues to sneak around (slealth 32, perception 44). If any patrols seem to be zeroing in on them, she readies ghost sound to mimic the sounds of halflings 2 blocks away.
Prudence Komonov (Kathy) d20+8=19 ; Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 9:48:46 PM
Pru casts Invisibility on herself and Murphy. Then she follows Pressi as quietly as she can.
[Stealth 39]
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 d20=6 ; d20=19 ; Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 10:08:06 PM Step by Step
So, as everyone near Mister Murphy is being stealthy and observant, so will Tali.
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 850 Minutes Endure Elements | 1225 minutes Mage Armor | 850 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 850 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 35 Minutes
Heroes feast (12 temp HP)
Used Spells slots 3x Invisibility
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) d20+46=48 ; d20+35=50 ; Tuesday February 22nd, 2022 10:31:49 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
A little disappointed in the nature of the lava flow underneath, Nikolai shrugs, "Well, this is a pocket dimension, so it would make sense there's no underground pressure to make the lava spew out, although anti-gravity over hole and reaches down to the lava surface would do it. But..."
Turning to Pressi, he comments in an even tone, but with sincerity, "You truly think this group can level a city this size? Consider the magics involved in creating this place to begin with, and that we just barely stirred up the few active guards. You think you can take on the whole Fire Giant Army with its wizards out for bear? I'd not be surprised at all if our next encounter includes a way to remove our invisibility. So, they haven't thought of everything? Don't delude yourself."
Nikolai takes ahold of Pru's before she goes invisible and when she does, he does too.
Stealth +26 + 20(invisible) = 48 (kinda hard keeping Stealth while sneaking a smooch with a giggling wife) Perception + 35 = 50
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 d20+37=41 ; Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 1:20:46 AM
"New guy my have a point," says Kezzem. "We do tend to die a lots. Let's try to avoid another trip to Gargul if we can avoid it."
Stealth: 1d20 + 17 + 20 (Invis) = 41.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 d20+36=52 ; d20+43=52 ; Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 6:49:57 AM
Murphy thanks Pru for invisibility. He then goes to one of his places of comfort as a huge air elemental after getting out his rope harness. If any care to firmly secure themselves via the harness, he'll bring them along to enjoy buffeting winds. He flies on the border along the street near the rooftops. ≈============ Stealth: 52 Perception: 52
DM Mitch d20+16=31 ; d20+16=24 ; d20+16=26 ; d20+16=29 ; d20+16=34 ; d20+13=20 ; d20+29=40 ; 3d6+26=37 ; Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 6:55:48 AM Succotash follows Pressi hoping he remains undetected while scanning for threats or anything helpful. Pressi laments that the giants have no love for the dramatic and wonders if this realm exists for no other reason than for the giants to stare at paper and shout at clouds. She also changes her outfit in case she has to talk her way out of things. Pru makes herself and Murphy invisible and follows after Pressi.
Tali joins the others in being stealthy and observant.
Nikolai is disappointed by the nature of the lava flow underneath and suggests this is due to the nature of the pocket dimension. He raises doubts about being able to level the city and suggests they shouldn’t underestimate the giants. When Pru goes to turn invisible he grabs hold of her, so he can become invisible too and steals a smooch as this is a honeymoon after all.
Kezzem comments on how often the party dies.
The party proceeds. With their perception they're able to spot giant patrols from afar and work to avoid them and with things having calmed down a little they do well but as expected a point comes where they’ll have to pass relatively close to a giant patrol due to being between a few. The party ends up having to cross a street with a giant patrol about 70 feet away or have another patrol walk into them.
Most of the party crosses without being noticed. Pressi gets a glance, but at that distance her disguise efforts works and the giants don’t react. Succotash gets unlucky though, happening to cross just as the patrol does an about face and heads back the opposite direction. Seeing him, the giants point, yell, and charge.
Still at over 60 feet the giants in heavy, slowing armor shouldn’t be able to reach the halfling. Shouldn’t. They cross the gap in a literal second, crowding the street. It’s too narrow for more then one giant to swing at him, but that lead giant makes a power attack, slashing the halfling for 37 damage.
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 184/184](Kathy) d4=3 ; d4=3 ; Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 3:02:37 PM Oh, bother.
Pru casts Time Stop and gains 4 rounds of apparent time.
round 1: Pru casts Haste on the party. round 2: Pru moves up and casts Greater Heroism on Succcotash. round 3: Pru casts Summon Monster VIII to summon 4 Huge air elementals in the air above the giants round 4: Pru casts Reverse Gravity where the giants are (to a height of 30 ft), then returns to her starting position
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 164/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) d20+17=19 ; d20+19=34 ; Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 4:01:14 PM
(OOC to all: don't forget the extra HP from heroes feast.)
Pressi stares at Nick. "I'm quite aware of the dangers involved," she finally said as the giants began to pass. "They haven't thought of everything because they don't understand us, that's our advantage. Also, nobody thought that some chucklehead with a diamond and a wish spell could just start the volcano eruption, but that's another rant."
Pressi is about to get back to an almost volcanic discussion with Nick, when the shouts begin, and as the giants begin to run towards them. "Well, Nick, looks like you're about to get your 'I told you so' moment."
Squeezing past Succotash, she taps the giant on the shoulder, her eyes glowing green with various runes in the pupils (Lore Keeper, Touch Attack hits AC 19, Knowledge roll equivalent 40). Pulling back (spring attack, acro roll 34), she casts a quickened shield of faith upon herself.
"Murphy, can we get some winds of our own to deflect any incoming fire? Succotash, Tali, now's a good time for some range spells, no more holding back, that ship sailed long ago. Prudence, very nice. And can someone guard the other direction? I'd really prefer not to be a giant sandwich."
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 5:29:21 PM
Kezzem will cast divine favor (standard action) on himself. He will also detect evil (move action) on the apparent giant leader or otherwise the nearest giant (60 ft. range). He will step forward to put himself between the giants and the rest of the party (either 5 ft. step if he can use detect evil or moves 20 ft. towards them if he cannot).
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 8:48:57 PM Oh here comes a 5 OG's
Tali, not wasting any time, casts Prismatic Wall spell at the position between 18U & 19U covering the width of (10 feet) from U to V with a height of 36 feet.
Spell Attack: Prismatic Wall cast at level 18: Saving Throw vs My Spell: 36
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 840 Minutes Endure Elements | 1215 minutes Mage Armor | 840 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 840 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 25 Minutes
Heroes feast (12 temp HP)
Used Spells slots 3x Invisibility
{OOC: this assumes each box is 5 ft sq. }
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 8:49:24 PM
"Yep!" Murphy answers Pressi.
He goes full whirlwind. He comes in on top of Giant 1 (G1) [I gave a number to each giant so we'll know who we are talking about], slamming him. He goes down the line, hitting G2, G3, G4, G5, and a bit behind G5. He then reverses course and slams again into G5, G4, G3, G2, G1, then back to G2, where he generously shares the space, requiring the giants to get past him - except for G1, who can dance nearly alone with the rest of the party.
[I will handle the combat rolls later tonight - I just got off work, and have to drive to another place -Kim]
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 9:06:01 PM
NOTE TO ALL: To help keep track of changes over time, use the bottom tabs. "RND1 DM" shows what DM Mitch posted to start out the combat. Put any moves and changes on 'RND1 PCs'.
Late tonight, we can (or DM Mitch can) Duplicate the 'RND1 PCs' to make the 'RND2 DM' tab for Mitch to make any changes to what happens next.
Thanks, all!
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 119/135 Valerie AC 40/14(16)/35(34) CMD 42(34) HP 157(133)/157(133) (33 temp) Spells d20+33=43 ; d20+33=46 ; d20+33=51 ; d20+33=38 ; d20+33=41 ; d20+33=47 ; 3d6+23=34 ; 3d6+23=30 ; 3d6+23=36 ; d8+23=31 ; d6=1 ; d4+23=26 ; d4+23=25 ; d6=3 ; d20=18 ; d6=1 ; 2d6=2 ; 2d6=10 ; 2d6=4 ; 2d6=3 ; 2d6=9 ; 2d6=6 ; d6=1 ; d6=2 ; d6=4 ; d6=3 ; d6=2 ; d6=6 ; d6=1 ; d4=3 ; d6=2 ; d6=4 ; d6=5 ; d6=5 ; Wednesday February 23rd, 2022 9:37:05 PM
Succotash takes a 5 ft step back, and than casts divine favor on Valerie.The Dino than takes a 5 ft step forward, and goes all in on the nearest giant.
Left Talon hits AC 45 for 34 damage +2 bane +1 shock and 2 frost Right Talon hits AC 48 for 30 damage + 10 bane + 4 shock and 3 frost Divine Talon hits AC 53 for 36 damage + 4 bane +2 shock and 6 frost Bite hits AC 40 for 33 damage +3 bane + 1 shock and 3 frost Left claw hits AC 43 for 29 damage +9 bane + 2 shock and 4 frost Right claw hits AC 49 for 26 damage +6 bane + 5 shock and 5 frost (Forgot to add +2 for giant bane)
active spells: Succotash Heroes feast (0 temp HP) Planar adaptation
Daily stuff: channel energy (10d6) 10/10 speak with animals 22/22 agile feet 13/13 dimensional hop 190/190 Quicken rod (normal) 2/3
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Thursday February 24th, 2022 12:42:04 AM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
With all the magic flying about, Nikolai decides to stick by Pru, readying himself for a patrol coming from behind.
Murphy does not have enough travel length to do as written in the quick post. He will simply travel down to G5, then up in the air from there, to a height of 60', and drop from there any who were sucked up into the whirlwind's vortex (60' because he was at 10' above street level on lower end of vortex).
Each giant needs to make a Reflex save DC:23, or it takes damage as though from a slam attack. If it fails its 1st save, it then needs to try a 2nd DC 23 Reflex save, or be sucked up into the vortex. (DC is 23, as Greater Air Elemental, rather than 21, as Huge Air Elemental, due to powerful shape from legacy item.) I don't know whether bonuses 'to hit' from Haste (+1), Greater Magic Fang (+4) and Heroes' Feast (+1) would affect Reflex Save DC... if so, DC 29?
Slam damage is 2d8+7 +4 from Magic Fang, Greater. So 2d8+11.
Giant1 - Reflex Save DC23 or (slam equivalent) Damage 2d8+11=26; G1 2nd Ref Save DC23 or be sucked up into whirlwind Giant2 - Ref DC23 or Dam 23; G2 2nd Ref DC23 or sucked up Giant3 - DC23 or Dam 23; G5 DC23 or sucked up Giant4 - DC23 or Dam 24; G5 DC23 or sucked up Giant5 - DC23 or Dam 23; G5 DC23 or sucked up
Ignore rolls #6-10. If any were sucked up, then falling damage will be: 17, 20, 24, 30, 16 (likely not all 5 - just use as many as were caught up). I don't know if landing on top of others will effect additional damage on 'landing pads.'
While in whirlwind form, Murphy is not subject to attacks of opportunity.
Effects in place (refreshed just before heading out with group) Heroes' Feast (16 temp hp) 12 hours Longstrider 18 hours Magic Fang, Greater (+4) 18 hours Planar Adaptation 7 hours (of 18) (from Prudence) "Planar adaptation grants you immunity to the harmful environmental effects of a particular plane of existence, including such hazards as toxicity, extreme temperatures, and lack of air. Additionally, you gain energy resistance 20 to a single energy type prevalent on that plane (choose one if more than one type is equally prevalent)." (fire chosen) Protection from Energy (fire) 3 hours Resist Energy (cold) (30 points per damage incident) 3 hours Has natural resistance to electricity: 20 points Stoneskin 3 hours (150 hp, adamantine DR/10) Freedom of Movement 3 hours Foresight (9th level divination spell) 3 hours Mage Armor 3 hours [Invisibility 18 minutes - lost with whirlwind attacks]
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 Thursday February 24th, 2022 5:32:03 AM
Oh, I forgot about haste. He could drop them from, let's be conservative, 10' higher, so a 70' drop. Feel free to roll an extra 1d6 to add to any of the falling damage.
Also - he went around Tali's wall prior to dropping onto the first giant - I'm using up the extra 20' from haste to cover that.
DM Mitch d20+9=21 ; d20+9=18 ; d20+9=25 ; d20+9=19 ; d20+9=28 ; d100=89 ; d100=11 ; d100=13 ; d100=36 ; d100=6 ; d100=55 ; d20+29=49 ; d20+29=31 ; d20+24=27 ; d20+19=33 ; 6d6+26=42 ; 3d6+26=37 ; d20+20=29 ; d20+20=26 ; d10=1 ; d8=3 ; d8=2 ; d6=4 ; Thursday February 24th, 2022 7:42:34 AM Pru casts Time Stop and gains 4 rounds. She hastes the party, casts greater heroism on Succotash, she summons 4 huge air elementals above the giants reverse gravity on them.
When time resumes 3 of the giants have managed to grab onto something and do not up due to the reverse gravity. The other 2 are affected as normal.
Pressi makes a touch attack to gain insight into their attackers and then springs away.
Kezzem casts divine favor on himself and detect evil on the nearest giant then tries to put himself between the others and harm’s way. Kezzem detects the presence of evil
Tali throws up a prismatic wall between the party and the giants
Murphy turns into a whirlwind and touches down and spreads havoc among the giants
Succotash casts Divine Favor on Valerie and sees the dino attack the nearest giant doing 204 total damage. The giant twists out of the way of attacks faster then should be possible, making one attack miss, and it’s skin or armor seems to blunt even the magically enhanced strikes of Valerie
Nikolai sticks near Pru and braces for an attack by the other patrol
Pressi realizes the following:
Highlight to display spoiler: { These giants have an ability called split second where they can move with such speed that they appears to be in two places at once. As a full-round action, they can move up double to its movement, then take a standard action at their original location, and one at their new location. They may use the action at its new location to charge and/or pounce, or to make an attack using Spring Attack (which counts as its additional standard action). They are treated as being at both locations for purposes of provoking attacks of opportunity from all actions taken (at either location) or threatening and being threatened, until the end of its action. Once they have taken all their actions, they come to rest exclusively at its new position. They cannot use split second two rounds in a row.
These giants also have an ability called Duck Aside (Ex) : Any round they do not use their split second ability they have a +20% chance to step away from any attack that would otherwise hit it. This stacks with any miss chance due to concealment.
These giants are immune to fire, cold ,mind-affecting(except detect thoughts), sleep, and paralysis
These giants have SR 22
These giants are affected by a constant freedom of movement effect }
Ketia sees the party is committing to the fight. She immediately casts silence on the spot the giant sergeant (#3) stands so he can’t blow his horn and summon the nearby patrolls. As long as you keep him from moving out of the area you should be clear to kill this patrol and keep moving without an alert going off again.
The Giants
Giant 4 and Giant 5 pull out great bows and fire off a total of 6 arrows at Valerie but none manage to hurt the dinosaur.
Giant 1 takes all the punishment Succotash can dish out and lives. With a fierce smile and a salute made awkward by the reverse gravity he responds with a crit and a hit for 105 damage.
Giants 2 and 3 instead look for the biggest threat and pick out the caster who reversed gravity. Pulling themselves up the wall to see the rooftop they look for Pru and nail her with a rock for 23 damage + 4 fire damage.
HP Tracker:
Giant 1: on ground - AC30; 204 damage Giant 2: on ground Giant 3: on ground - 23 damage Giant 4 30 feet in air - 24 damage Giant 5: 30 feet in air Ketia: 0 damage
Note: For attacks, 20% miss chance, for spells, SR 22 - PCs please roll these
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 119/135 Valerie AC 40/16/34 CMD 34 HP 119/133Spells d100=22 ; d100=39 ; d100=95 ; d100=92 ; d100=29 ; d100=86 ; d20+35=53 ; d20+35=39 ; d20+35=53 ; d20+35=46 ; d20+35=46 ; d20+35=40 ; 3d6+23=35 ; 3d6+23=34 ; 3d6+23=39 ; d8+23=29 ; d6=3 ; d4+23=27 ; d6=2 ; d4+23=27 ; d6=5 ; 2d6=9 ; 2d6=4 ; 2d6=3 ; 2d6=10 ; 2d6=5 ; 2d6=7 ; d6=3 ; d6=4 ; d6=6 ; d6=1 ; d6=2 ; d6=3 ; d6=6 ; d6=1 ; d6=5 ; d6=1 ; d8=6 ; d8=8 ; d8=4 ; d8=6 ; Thursday February 24th, 2022 12:34:29 PM
Valerie continues her assault on G1. As Valerie is finishing her assault on G1, Succotash takes a 5 ft step forward, and swaps out a dimensional anchor to cast Cure Critical Wounds on Valerie, healing her 43 HP
Left Talon (22%) hits AC 53 for 35 damage + 9 bane, 3 shock, and 4 frost Right Talon (39%) hits AC 39 for 34 damage + 4 bane, 4 shock, and 3 frost Divine Talon (95%) hits AC 53 for 39 damage + 3 bane, 6 shock and 1 frost Bite (92%) hits AC 46 for 32 damage + 10 bane, 2 shock, and 3 frost Left claw (29%) hits AC 46 for 29 damage + 5 bane, 6 shock, and 1 frost Right claw (86%) hits AC 40 for 32 damage + 7 bane, 5 shock, and 1 frost (Forgot to mention last round that Valerie's damage is non-lethal, due to the mercy on her Amulet of Mighty Fists.)
active spells: Succotash Heroes feast (0 temp HP) Planar adaptation
Daily stuff: channel energy (10d6) 10/10 speak with animals 22/22 agile feet 13/13 dimensional hop 190/190 Quicken rod (normal) 3/3
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 161/184](Kathy) 2d6+6=14 ; 2d6+6=17 ; 2d6+6=9 ; 2d6+6=18 ; d20+24=30 ; 20d6=76 ; Thursday February 24th, 2022 2:49:19 PM
Pru scoffs at 4 fire damage, but does take damage from the rock.
Last round, Pru summoned 4 Huge air elementals. Let's call them Breezy, Puffy, Windy, and Gale. They join Murphy in whirlwind-ing the giants. They concentrate on Giants 4 and 5, dropping in between the buildings to reach them. Breezy and Windy attack Giant 4, who must make 2 DC 21 Reflex saves or take 14 and 17 points of damage. Puff and Gale attack Giant 5, who must make 2 DC 21 Reflex saves or take 9 and 18 points of damage.
[I did not put them on the map as it's getting a little cluttered. They're staying out of Murphy's way.]
Since the three floating giants are all in a nice line, Pru casts Chain Lightning on them, with Giant 3 as the primary. [SR check 30] Giants 1, 2, and 3 each take 76 points of damage, Reflex save for half. Giant 3's save DC is 23; the others are 21.
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 d20+34=53 ; d20+34=47 ; d3+29=30 ; 2d6=11 ; d3+29=31 ; d20+32=37 ; d20+27=41 ; d20+22=31 ; d3+29=31 ; d3+29=32 ; d3+29=32 ; 2d6=7 ; 2d6=12 ; 2d6=8 ; d20+35=43 ; d20+30=41 ; d20+25=39 ; d3+27=29 ; d3+27=29 ; d3+27=29 ; d6=6 ; d6=1 ; d6=1 ; d10+6=16 ; Thursday February 24th, 2022 3:39:13 PM
"He slices, he dices, he makes giant fries!"
Kezzem 5 ft. steps towards G1 and unloads with his daggers. Activating Smite Evil.
----
And now the fun part of playing a self-buffing two-weapon fighter.
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Thursday February 24th, 2022 3:40:00 PM
That should be a frost dagger, not a frog dagger, though this is Kezzem, so I wouldn't put it past him.
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Thursday February 24th, 2022 7:48:53 PM Prismatics
Tali, not wasting any time, casts another Prismatic Wall spell at the position covering the width of 10 feet from 22X & 23X with a height of 36 feet. Hopefully, cutting off their quickest way around the first wall.
Unless something changes, the next spell will also be another Prismatic Wall spell at the position covering the width of 10 feet from 22S & 23S with a height of 36 feet. Hopefully, cutting off their quickest way around the other walls.
Spell Attack: Prismatic Wall cast at level 18: DC Saving Throw vs My Spell: 36
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 830 Minutes Endure Elements | 1205 minutes Mage Armor | 830 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 830 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 15 Minutes
Heroes feast (12 temp HP)
Used Spells slots 3x Invisibility 2x Prismatic Wall
{OOC: this assumes each box is 5 ft sq. }
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 144/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Thursday February 24th, 2022 9:00:48 PM
Pressi's felt pride at actually reaching the giant, despite such a lousy stumble (natural 2) for her touch attack. For a decent while, she smiled as facts swirled before her eyes, green glints of light flowing from her touch to her head, finally learning what was to be dealt with.
And then the smile faded, as she began to see just how prepared these giants were. Succotash and Nick were right to consider the darkness, much as she would never admit to it.
Shouting over the winds and spells, messaging whoever she could, she began to bark orders.
"Move back," she shouted to Kezzem. "They're immune to cold too, and they have an extra ability to occasionaaly dodge attacks when they don't speed burst. They've also got some sort of speed boost, can be almost in two places at once, double movement and charge or pounce, boost, boost, boost, error, error... Wow, I thought I had a ridiculous build. Divination should have mentioned we were fighting in munchkin land.
"But I digress.... Seriously, does that power set come with a years worth of steaks? Ok, now I'm done."
Pressi took a deep breath, thinking. "Prudence, good job on the lightning and summons. Tali, good with the walls. Murphy, we need lightning and reflex spells that don't get beat by freedom of movement. Succotash, do you or Valerie need assistance? Hobie, hell of a time to take a break. Ketia, guess we're deciding to forgo sonic damage. Probably wise."
And as Tali finished her wall, she realized she didn't know her next move. So she just followed a quickened surender blood by reaching out and animating every object in the street she could see, particularly rocks as the giants throw them. (22 levels worth: 2 large, 4 medium, 6 small. She orders them to target Giant 5 from behind.)
-------------
Pressi Actives
Ritual of Warding Ritual of Healing Planar Adaptation Heroes Feast Moment of Prescience Shield of Faith Haste (from Pru)
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) d20+26=42 ; d20+35=43 ; Thursday February 24th, 2022 10:02:44 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
Nikolai mentally warns Pru, 'Mind those rocks will ya?' out of anger that he can't deflect rocks like a Stone Giant Monk could. Out loud he shouts, "You guys with Shape Stone or Transmute Rock, or whatever, target those foundation walls and pull down some of those buildings on those rock loving bas...."
Stealth +26 + 40(invisible) = 42 + 40 = 82 Perception + 35 = 43 keeping an eye on their rear flank.
Since Murphy caught no fire giants in the vortex, then rising high to drop them would not have been a thing. So figure ending height last round was 45, not 60 (and really, he would have just used more flybys against them than he did, with a lower altitude still, but that's water over the bridge).
Murphy hears Pressi's request, and casts chain lightning, striking for the tail end of fire giant #2, and going back to G3, G4, and G5. Their spell resistance is not enough to overcome Murphy's level and feats (and rolls). The first needs a Reflex save DC 35, and the rest vs DC 33. As the book Reflex save for Fire Giants is +4... only one of them manages to come within 10 points of making that save (all fail). One of them (G1) makes a 20% Duck Aside roll, but the rest (G3, G4, G5) take full damage of 63 hp electrical damage each... unless the DM has some other means for them to overcome this 6th level spell. If Duck Aside does not count, all four of them (G2 included) each take the 63 damage. If by some means unknown to this player they make a save, damage is halved for that person.
Murphy uses his movement to simply bounce between G2, G3 and G4 several times. With a total movement of 155 this round, he manages 3 connections each.
I'm assuming that with freedom of movement, none will be pulled into the vortex of swirling air, but each must make several Reflex Saves DC23 (really, each needs a nat 20), or they take slam damage each time he enters their space - unless they get to use Duck Aside for as many attacks as they might otherwise receive each round... for which I rolled - none made Duck Aside (needed 20 or lower, rolls were: 96, 24, 66, 57, 44, 48, 49, 68, 30). Each is connected with 3 times.
Ignore d3=3 and d8=5 rolls (roll chart scoots down when another line of rolls scrolls, so it causes a missed mouse click). With the exception of one duck aside against chain lightning, all other saves and resistances failed for them, and no other duck asides were effective.
G2 takes: 20+24+17=61 hp slam damage. G3 takes: 25+16+18=59 hp slam damage. G4 takes: 20+24+19=63 hp slam damage.
Summary: G2: 61 hp (unless duck aside not used, then add another 63 electrical damage for 124 total) G3: 63 electrical and 59 slam for 122 total G4: 63 electrical and 63 slam for 126 total G5: 63 electrical
Murphy has just enough movement to end his turn at an altitude of his vortex at 40' still leaving 15' of movement.
As he whirls about, he speaks Auran to his fellow air elementals, with words of rejoicing at being able to beat up nasty fire giants together, and enjoying the swift movement of air about them.
As he resumes a spot back up a bit above the buildings, he chats with some of his friends.
"Nikolai, transmute rock to mud just works on unworked stones - not on these buildings - sorry!" Murphy explains.
"Way to wall them in, Tali" he comments.
"Have I told you lately just how remarkable you are, [b]Pressi?"[/i] he asks.
DM Mitch Friday February 25th, 2022 5:48:39 AM
Due to confusion with the map only 2 characters actually made valid actions. The melee fighters who advanced could not due to the wall and the casters who casted could not see through the wall to cast their various spells. As such I'm just going to have to invalidate the entire last round. I couldn't think of any way to advance it with so many invalid actions. The map has been cleaned up - please choose new actions over the weekend (Tali, Valerie, and Murphy's actions remain valid should they wish to leave them the same, but please post stating they do as described in your previous post)
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 144/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Friday February 25th, 2022 1:39:49 PM
Pressi thinks for a bit in regards to the prismatic wall keeping the giants away from them. "You know, technically we could just leave at this point. Wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't raise the option."
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Friday February 25th, 2022 2:37:45 PM
If the wall is in the way, Kezzem will instead cast shield other on Pressi and then fly up on his carpet to just below the top of the wall (so he can peek out next round with a 5' foot step and lob daggers over it).
"Ah crap, my giant-bane dagger is not returning so I can't throw it at them," says Kezzem. "Well, I can throw it, but only once."
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/16/34 CMD 34 HP 117/133Spells d8=8 ; d8=1 ; d8=7 ; d100=87 ; d8=4 ; d8=3 ; Friday February 25th, 2022 3:29:46 PM
Valerie's action remains the same, but Succotash's is obviously going to be different.
Succotash quickly responds to Pressi withdrawal suggestion by saying, "I'm not leaving Valerie behind, and she's stuck on the other side of this wall!" The Cleric than uses his metamagic rod to swiftly cast fly on himself. He than flies to the top of the wall. Once at the top, he swaps a Summon Monster 8 for Mass Cure Critical Wounds healing every ally in range 41 HP. (Please ignore the d100 roll. I bumped it by accident.)
Daily stuff: channel energy (10d6) 10/10 speak with animals 22/22 agile feet 13/13 dimensional hop 190/190 Quicken rod (normal) 2/3
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 Friday February 25th, 2022 3:47:30 PM
Murphy responds to all regarding Pressi's point, "If you'd like, I can provide air taxi. If we're going to do that, Succotash, tell Valerie to let me pick her up. I carried her once before, so she should be good with it. The giant in front will likely try to bash me as I grab and dash, but I should survive."
"SHALL WE FLY OUT, GANG?" Murphy asks all telepathically. For those who are still invisible, he says, "Tell me where you are, I'll pick you up."
If Succotash is good with that, and the party is good with the notion of flying out of there - Murphy is the means to transport everyone, and has the harness to do it with. [If the party agrees to flying out, he will not have gone through his whirlwind attacks and such already posts. If the party does not agree, then let my prior posts stand. I hope they agree! - we can avoid much expenditure of resources, and be perhaps better prepared to advance and maybe succeed should there be another encounter. Will post again once enough of you have decided whether fight or flight is the wiser course. As Murphy and Pressi are in favor of flight, if we have 3 more 'Fly' votes, we can implement that plan. If four 'Fight' votes come in, then we carry on with the fire giants.]
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/16/34 CMD 34 HP 117/133Spells Friday February 25th, 2022 5:38:51 PM
If everyone agrees to Murphy's escape route, after his already mentioned actions, he orders Valerie to allow Murphy to pick her up, after she delivers her assult on G1.
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 144/150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Friday February 25th, 2022 7:46:54 PM
Pressi isn't sure which way the vote will go. Certainly, she's worried about having to dodge a different patrol later on, though they could pick the time and place.
If Kezzem wants it, she spends her turn taking out and throwing him the rod of thunder and lightning. It's not a returning weapon either but it'll at least give him an off-hand lightning weapon (treat as light +2 mace).
Otherwise, Pressi's action is similar, except she animates what she can see, particularly the top floor and roof of the corridor buildings just above the nearby giants. (If they're three stories tall for giants, she should have line of sight above the wall to the buildings along the street.) If she sees any gargoyles or statues, or lamps and hourglasses in windows, she targets those (up to a combination of 22). Otherwise, she animates shutters and wall sconces and shingles. But the point is to have the objects come down, this time on giants 1 and 2.
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 161/184](Kathy) Friday February 25th, 2022 8:21:54 PM I'm not going to insist on fighting these guys, Pru sends through the links. I'm ready to leave with the rest of you.
She does still let Breezy, Puffy, Windy, and Gale do their thing. They should still be able to attack Giants 4 and 5.
Since Pru did not cast an offensive spell, she is still invisible. She uses her Boots of Levitation to float up and grab onto Murphy's harness thing.
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Friday February 25th, 2022 10:54:29 PM
Tali does as described in her previous post.
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Saturday February 26th, 2022 3:26:28 PM
Kezzem is good with his +1 frost returning dagger (+3 with Greater Magic Weapon plus Weapon Focus). Even if it doesn't do the extra 1d6 electricity damage, he has a better chance to hit with it (particularly useful while smiting).
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Sunday February 27th, 2022 12:07:04 PM OOC: Kathy, Pru's health should be back up since the giants could not throw rocks and hit you.
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
Nikolai senses (or Pru tells him she's levitating) and scampers (Slippers of Spider Climb) up the wall of the building next to him to the roof to advise those on the ground how the giants react to the wall.
Stealth +26 + 20(moving invisible) = 42 + 20 = 62 (however, this may be irrelevant) Perception + 35 = 43 peek over the wall, if possible.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 d8+11=17 ; d8+11=16 ; 2d8+11=17 ; d8=1 ; d8=7 ; 2d8+11=19 ; Sunday February 27th, 2022 3:47:46 PM
Murphy decides the best way to avoid further damage - albeit with a bit of buffeting for his friends inside the vortex - is to use his whirlwind ability to pick folks up. He lets Succotash know so he can tell Valerie to leap into the swirling winds (essentially, willingly 'fail' his reflex saving throw) - and the cleric, too, and Pru, unless she wants to hop off, since he starts on the roof of the building.
"Kezzem, Ketia, get to the roof, or I'll pick you up and take you to the roof. Jump into the whirlwind. You might get some light bruising. Pressi, broom up to the roof. I'll be there after getting Valerie, real quickly."
Murphy whirlwinds down to pick up the raptor, and lifts him up to the rooftop, a bit away from the edge, to be out of direct view of the giants. Succotash takes 23 hp buffeting damage, and Valerie 17 hp. He deposits them gently onto the roof, then descends to the (north?) side of Tali's prismatic wall, descends to the street to pick up Kezzem (17hp), Ketia (19hp), and any left below. He drops them all gently to the roof, goes a little higher, and shifts out of whirlwind, back to a softer air elemental. He comes down within reach. People are free then to attach to the rope harness.
I did go ahead and make a second map tab to show what I'm proposing (called 'Whirlwind'). It's to the right of the 'Combat' tab, and shows a blue rectangle with Murphy's outline on the roof, where people can harness up.
Giving them time to do so, in a round or two Murphy can fly away. He will go in a direction about 90 degress away (to the left on the map) from where they intend to head so as to make the giants think that is the way to follow them. When out of sight of them, he banks, flies a way farther, then back toward their aim to cross near the smithy area. "Someone want to make us all invisible?" he asks along the way. Some still are invisible. Once they are all relatively unseeable, he aims to stay along roof level, and book it, at a speed of 280 (125'x2+30) (~32 mph).
As the winds seem to end about the edge of the slum quarter, Murphy thinks to ascend toward the ash in the sky above the smith's quarter, but asks counsel on this matter from his mates.
[DM Mitch, feel free to pull back on my actions if I've covered too much here. At least want to give a heads up as to intentions.]
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 2d8+11=27 ; d20+4=17 ; d100=44 ; Monday February 28th, 2022 12:16:19 AM
Oh, and Giant 1, if he fails a DC 23 Reflex save, will take... 27 hp (max damage) from Murphy's whirlwind buffet. If his reflex save is +4 (or up to +9), he fails (rolled 17 vs 23)... and the Duck thingee does not work for him, either (44, needed 1-20).
DM Mitch Monday February 28th, 2022 7:56:54 AM Pressi points out that the walls Tali is putting up provide a window of opportunity to evade further hostilities at this time.
Kezzem casts Shield Other on Pressi and then positions himself with the carpet to just below the top of the wall before realizing he can’t throw his giant bane dagger because it won’t come back to him.
Succotash tells Pressi he’s not leaving Valerie behind and then swaps out a summon spell for a mass cure critical wounds spell
Murphy volunteers to provide an air taxi in order to transport people away from the battle.
Succotash orders Valerie to let Murphy pick her up
Pressi gets ready to move out by providing distractions in the form of several animated objects.
Pru instructs her air elementals to keep harrying the giants while she uses her levitating boots to get on Murphy’s harness thing
Tali throws up more walls
Nikolai climbs up a nearby wall to get a view of how the giants are reacting on the other side of the wall.
Murphy turns into a whirlwind in order to pick up all his friends and allies
Between Tali’s Walls, Pressi’s animated objects and Pru’s summoned elementals the party is able to keep the giants busy as Murphy’s plan to withdraw comes into fruition. He turns into a whirlwind and picks up all the various party members who need it and is able to set folks down, albeit a little banged up on a roof far enough away from the previous engagement that for the moment is free of any nearby giant patrolls. As they are leaving they can see the leader of the patrol grab his horn and blow on it to no effect - there won’t be an alert sounded until they can escape the area of silence Ketia created.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 Monday February 28th, 2022 11:51:51 AM
So long as all go ahead and fasten themselves down (or get help getting looped in like Valerie) using Murphy's multi-point, many-looped silk rope harness, the buff huge elemental druid flies ahead low. He had requested his invisibility be re-upped. When at the edge of the storm, facing the ~100-foot wide-open field, he asks his mates how they'd like him to proceed. "My thought is to go up into the lower part of the ash cloud, fly over the area of the smiths, until we reach the snooty fire giant nicer neighborhood, then work on finding the general locale of Firescorn's home. As an alternative, we can fly up near this plane's ceiling until we get quite close to the volcano, then descend from there. Less chance of being spotted and tracked along the way. Or perhaps someone has a different plan entirely. I'm all ears. Except for puffy, cloudy stuff."
While he is waiting, he cast know direction, adding another point to his understanding of the layout of this pocket plane.
He awaits their discussion.
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 161/184](Kathy) Monday February 28th, 2022 1:09:25 PM
"That'll work," says Pru of Murphy's plan. To Ketia, she adds, "Nice work with that Silence."
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/16/34 CMD 34 HP 133/133Spells d6=5 ; d6=4 ; d6=4 ; d6=2 ; d6=2 ; d6=6 ; d6=1 ; d6=1 ; d6=2 ; d6=4 ; d6=4 ; d6=4 ; Monday February 28th, 2022 1:28:41 PM
When Murphy deposits him and Valerie, he quickly comforts Valerie, as the ordeal spooked the poor animal, and than, when everyone is accounted for, he channels energy, healing everyone 37 HP. After channeling energy, he straps Valerie into her harness, and than does the same for himself, so Murphy can play taxi.
Daily Stuff: channel energy (10d6) 9/10 speak with animals 22/22 agile feet 13/13 dimensional hop 190/190 Quicken rod (normal) 2/3
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Monday February 28th, 2022 8:39:09 PM
"Ok, can't be any worse up there than it's about to be down here," Pressi agreed. "If there are any requested spells or buffs, let me know."
She spends prep time covering the rest of what she had learned from the touch... and a few things she suspected, like these things could handle more damage than usual (300 HP, better saves). "These guys will not go down easily, and we can assume they're studying our abilities as much as we're studying them. Might not be a bad idea to separate a single giant, get him down, and see what he's got in gear, because I don't know what's granting their invulnerability to cold.
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Monday February 28th, 2022 11:40:52 PM All together now! 1,2,3,4..
Tali, noticing the gangs all here, in this tight but cozy 8'x32' foot "Space", asks through the telepathic bond, Does anyone have a spare [b]Resist energy (fire)/[b] spell they could "buff" me up with? If my timings are correct, it's almost gone!
"Also, anyone knows what effect my walls had on the patrol?"
[u][b]Effective Spells and Conditions:[u][b] Overland Flight | 840 Minutes Endure Elements | 1215 minutes Mage Armor | 840 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 840 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 25 Minutes
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Tuesday March 1st, 2022 12:12:46 AM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
Telepathically, Nikolai check's on Pru, "How are you doing, honey?"
Out loud he says, "We need to get one of those horns. If we do, we can blow it here and there and keep them scurrying away from where we want to be. Can't any one of you halflings burgle one for us?"
DM Mitch Tuesday March 1st, 2022 8:23:31 AM Murphy suggests they all mount up and fly through the lower part of the ash cloud over to the smith area until they get to the nice neighborhood.
Pru likes Murphy’s plan and compliments Sesha on the Silence
Succotash comforts Valerie and channels energy. He helps Valerie to get situated in her harness
Pressi agrees that traveling by air can’t be worse than things are about to be where they are and offers to cast buffs. She also outlines to the others what she has learned from her touch as well as what she suspected. She suggests they get a single giant alone and search his gear for whatever is making them immune to cold
(OOC: I took the knowledge rule and gave you one bit of info on the giant’s for meeting the CR of the individual giant and then an additional bit of info for each 5 your flat check beat the result by)
Tali asks for resist energy fire and asks if anyone knows what effect the walls had on the patrol.
Nikolai asks Pru directly how she is doing and then suggests they capture a horn and use it as a distraction.
Nikolai Highlight to display spoiler: { Before you evacuated you could see the patrols avoiding interacting with the prismatic wall }
Unless someone objects the party goes up and over the empty field. The wind buffest the party and would blow away most of them on their own but the ropes hold so it is merely incredibly uncomfortable not a 100 feet fall. How far does the party advance before exiting the cloud to check their position?
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/16/34 CMD 34 HP 133/133Spells Tuesday March 1st, 2022 12:42:33 PM "Do we get a meal with this flight?", Succotash jokes as they take off. As they are flying in the winds, he ignores his discomfort, and scratches Valerie behind the ear holes, comforting his dino friend, and keeping her calm.
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 161/184](Kathy) Tuesday March 1st, 2022 2:15:53 PM So far, so good, Pru replies to Nikolai. How are you doing?
The ash cloud is extremely uncomfortable. Pru coughs several times, and is convinced she has swallowed about a quart of ash. She is sorely tempted to change into an air elemental to avoid some of this, but she doesn't know how many of her spells will be needed.
"Let's set down," she chokes.
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Tuesday March 1st, 2022 7:10:36 PM
Pressi points out to Nick that any of the casters could probably recreate the sound. (She personally could probably use ghost sound to make the horn sound in every block of the city.)
She does re-up Prudence's resist fire (but reminds everyone that Planar Adaptation remains the primary protection.)
Pressi reminds the crew that they don't know what the monitoring situation is. If they can hold on in the cloud, Pressi releases a bunch of prying eyes under and along the field, giving her an idea of whether there are any checkpoints, monitoring towers, etc. It'll take several rounds, but should tell them whether its safe to fly to the middle of the field or to the next quarter (or even above it).
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Tuesday March 1st, 2022 8:31:17 PM Onward...
Tali asks the group, "What's next?" through the telepathic bond.
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 830 Minutes Endure Elements | 1205 minutes Mage Armor | 830 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 830 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 15 Minutes
Heroes feast (12 temp HP)
Used Spells slots 3x Invisibility 3x Prismatic Wall
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Tuesday March 1st, 2022 8:31:17 PM Onward...
Tali asks the group, "What's next?" through the telepathic bond.
Effective Spells and Conditions: Overland Flight | 830 Minutes Endure Elements | 1205 minutes Mage Armor | 830 Minutes Telepathic Bond | 830 Minutes Resist energy (fire) | 15 Minutes
Heroes feast (12 temp HP)
Used Spells slots 3x Invisibility 3x Prismatic Wall
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 d20+43=47 ; d20+36=38 ; Tuesday March 1st, 2022 9:06:55 PM
[Unless otherwise noted, when Murphy's speech is bounded in double-quotes and italics, he is including all who are enjoying the Prudence-provided mental links, so that, for instance, when he addresses Tali, all can 'hear' his words to her.]
"Tali, the planar adaptation already gives you a fair amount of protection versus fire." (20 hp/round vs 30 hp/round for resist energy.) "I gather your Prismatic Walls helped keep the giants contained. I didn't notice any of them trying to run through them, though that would have been fun to watch."
Murphy had flown over the field (as per DM's description at the end of his post) and a bit beyond into the smithy area. He travels perhaps 800 yards past the 100 foot area (~20 seconds fly time), when Prudence coughs and requests to get out of the ash. [I had presumed that the Planar Adaptation would have ameliorated the effects, but one's mileage may vary.] "All right, Pru. I'm going to lower slowly, so as to attempt a wee bit of stealth, and we can take a look around. Prepare to catch rocks or asbestos kites flown by fire giant children." he slows to 60 movement, and angles down about 45 degrees from horizontal. When able to look about, he does so. The passengers can enjoy their look-see, too.
He is ready to reascend quickly should the need arise, with a "Hold your breath for 30 seconds," bit of counsel to cover moving forward another 1,200 feet forward followed by another easing downward.
On the other hand, if this looks like a good place to land, or they spot a good restaurant, it may be time to descend to the ground. It all depends upon what the local landscape looks like.
============= Low rolls... Perception: 47 (very good, but 'meh' by Murphy's typical checks) Stealth: 38 (good by normal standards, but good enough for fire giant turf? Maybe more people are just looking down focusing on their smithing, one might hope? Perhaps the extra passengers complicate his attempts to remain undetected)
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 161/184](Kathy) Tuesday March 1st, 2022 10:15:45 PM
[OOC: There's no need to cast resist fire on Pru. She walks around with resistance 20 by virtue of being a fire sorcerer. And if she needs more, she can cast it herself. :) ]
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) d20+26=46 ; d20+35=38 ; Tuesday March 1st, 2022 10:48:00 PM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
Nikolai nods at Pressi's assessment of their apparent capabilities of mimicking the horns. "Well, if you can, then let's do it. Casting a simple spell like to keep then chasing rabbits beats having to dodge patrols all day. Besides, if they figure all these calls are fake, they may not pay attention to a real one."
He confirms Murphy's observations about the giants avoiding the wall. "It's like they know how bad it will be for them to walk through it. I'm sure it didn't take long for them to go back up the street and come down another way."
Nikolai proposes that next time they meet a patrol, have that spell readied so that when they charge down the street, the wall goes up right in front such that they don't have time to stop before running into it. The mass of those behind will push those in front right on through. "They will think twice before they charge again. Gotta think outside the box!"
Nikolai is glad to be back on the ground, even if it be a rooftop. He immediately starts checking their immediate area for inhabitants (occupied houses? anyone wandering the streets? open windows? etc.)
Stealth +26 + 20(moving invisible) = 46 + 20 = 66 N20 Perception + 35 = 38 peek over the wall, if possible.
DM Mitch Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 8:03:10 AM Succotash asks if they get a meal with this flight and tries to keep Valerie comfortable.
Pru telepathically telles Nikolai so far so good and asks how he is doing. She finds traveling through the ash cloud completely uncomfortable and it isn’t long before she asks Murphy to be set down.
Pressi suggests to Nikolai that any of the casters could probably recreate the horn sound easy enough while renewing resist fire but reminds folks of the planar adaptation. Pressi suggests they wait in the Ash cloud for her to deploy some prying eyes to tell if landing would be safe or not.
(OOC: did you mean Tali not Pru, see Kathy’s comment?)
Tali asks the group what is next through the bond.
Murphy reminds Tali that Planar Adaptation gives a fair amount of fire protection and that he didn’t see any giants physically walk into any of her prismatic walls. He then flies over the field and a bit beyond into the smithy area and then attempts to lower slowly ready to either retreat back into the cloud or land depending on the situation he finds.
Nikolai likes the idea of the casters mimicking the horn sound to cause confusion and confirms Murphy’s observation of Tali’s walls. He’s prepared to stealth and take a look at their surroundings should the party land.
Pressi’s prying eyes are obliterated almost as soon as she finishes creating them. Some are torn apart by the high winds, others instantly succumb to the burning ash the party is comfortably floating in. She’ll have to exit the cloud first, then create her scouts..
Murphy lowers the party out of the ash cloud and into the smithy district. It’s a vast, open air area with rivers and streams of lava running right through it. Giant smiths hammer away at various projects, tirelessly working to keep a city of soldiers armed and armored. Kezzem even sees one sticking her hand into the lava flow next to her to extract material while patching some piece of armor.
There are probably a few dozen giants in view but they’re all focused on their work and not looking up. There actually does seem to be an eating area or restaurant nearby, two giants with some sort of food cart smoking meats and serving them to a line of hungry giants, most of whom walk off with their meals back to their anvils. Looking about the area seems to stretch for a ways still but you can see the edge of the slums in one direction and some other area in the direction you’re currently heading. Looks like you’re about halfway to the noble district.
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 9:21:05 AM
"So, do I have any takers for stealing some uniforms and gas masks, and doing three halflings in a trenchcoat?
"I'm not saying it's a better way to get past than to continue flying. I'm just saying it looks like a good way to get lunch."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 9:21:44 AM
Oh, and Pressi casts resist fire on Tali, sorry I got confused.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 d20+36=55 ; d20+43=51 ; Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 10:15:49 AM
[Informative post, DM Mitch. Request for clarification: Earlier, you mentioned the storm over the slum district ended roughly at the boundary demarcated by the 100' strip. Is that still the case, or did the storm since expand into the smith area?]
"Looks like maybe some good food, and I could get behind the stack of three halflings in a long coat, Pressi, were it not for the fact that we finished a heroes' breakfast about an hour ago. So, do some or all of us land here and see if we can raise a ruckus by asking questions, or shall we continue forward - the noble quarter is pretty near. I'm thinking let's just keep moving forward. But I'm open to arguments. Every engagement will tend to depleting our resources, however."
If the consensus is to move forward, he'll give Pru and friends the chance to take a few breaths, then ash-travel once more, but - with warning - will advance by a full minute of travel. "Maybe put a cloth over your mouth and nose," he suggests to those bothered by the ash. If travel is chosen, the team moves forward another 2,500 feet, then again gently descends for a look-see. If local exploration is chosen, then, he looks for a suitable landing spot and invisibly descends.
============= Stealth: 55 Perception: 51
Succotash (Jeremy) AC 31/16/29 CMD 24 HP 135/135 Valerie AC 40/16/34 CMD 34 HP 133/133Spells Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 1:15:34 PM
Succotash is about to volunteer for the 3 halflings in a coat bit, I mean he is a halfling, and their is food to be had after all, but reason prevails, and so he just laughs at what he believes is a joke told by Pressi. Besides, where would they find this long coat anyway.
He is ready for take off, whenever Murphy heads back to the clouds, and continues to comfort Valerie, as they fly.
Kezzem (BrianW) - AC 41/21/36; HP 239/248; Rumpus AC 33/16/27; HP 101/101 + 16 Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 6:19:18 PM
"Succo, please leave the comedy to the professionals," says Kezzem. "Or at least to me."
"I'm not sure what you're taking about, Pressi, but I'm for any plan that get's me an extra lunch!"
Prudence Komonov [AC 28; HP 161/184](Kathy) Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 6:32:33 PM
"These are regular townsfolk, not guards," Pru says. "I wonder if we could just travel openly. Just walk toward where we're headed and act like we belong. Maybe a couple of us disguised as giants so we don't stand out too much. I highly doubt that literally everyone in town is looking for us."
Pressi (Melvin) - AC 26 (32), HP 150, CMD 26 (28); Harper AC 31 (32), HP 109, CMD 31 (32) Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 9:14:09 PM
Three halflings in a coat or not, Pressi counts 2 for moving on foot somewhat disguised and 2 for taking back to the skies. Kezzem is a 3rd vote for moving on foot but it seems dependent on grabbing lunch.
Pressi decides against grabbing lunch after all, and she really doesn't want to ask questions or raise a ruckus. She does note that even the guards were fooled by her "disguise" and she was just a halfling in "tattered" clothes and one of the slave pendants. Disguising themselves as giants without Sesha's illusions continues to be a problem, though. (Unless Tali or Prudence have illusion spells of their own.)
If the vote count reaches a majority of on foot, Pressi alters self to a half ogre and begins her glammer and prestidigitations. If the vote count reaches a majority in the skies, she'll take the time then to see if she has any spells to help with breathing.
(OOC: it's a half joke. But most of our polymorphers can't grow beyond medium height as a humanoid, and the other forms like beasts or elementals or even goblins would stick out. So changing/disguising oneself as a giant is out of the question. Half ogres, however, are medium build and the number of ogres indicates they wouldn't get much of a glance.)
Tali (JPWard) -- Tali(JonPaul) AC:38 (T:34, FF:32), CMD:42, Saves:(F:15/R:17/W:19), HP:121/121 , temp HP:12/12 Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 10:50:34 PM
Tali, keeps pace with her group.
{OOC: no internet until the 5th. My phone is a poor tool for this}
Nikolai (JonathanT) AC 36 Tch 33 Ffted 31 HP 144/144 CMD 46/48(Grapple/Trip/Disarm) Thursday March 3rd, 2022 12:33:08 AM
Spells in effect: Mage Armor, Ring of Invisibility Ki pts 13/13
To Pru, "I hate to disagree with you, honey, but we don't know how much word has spread. It's been a day since the first ruckus and if this city is like any other, they will have a pretty good idea we are the ruckus makers."
Nikolai makes note of seeing about getting Permanent Comprehend Language spell on him for the next infiltrating venture.
As much as he'd like to continue on foot, being stealthy as hec, he opts the flying route as he'd rather they all get to their destination at the same time.
Murphy (KimMc) Huge, buff air elemental AC 39/T26/F39(becuz Foresight) CMB 24 CMD 49 HP 196+14/196+14 Thursday March 3rd, 2022 1:07:44 AM
"This ride will now fly..." says Murphy. "The likelihood of something going wrong before we need it to are too high if we decide without a good plan to go by foot, with at least a mile or so still to go. I have not heard a fully convincing plan laid out so far. If someone wants to construct one between now and our next stop, I'll be willing to listen."
I think we're flying forward, per what the druid said - about a half mile further ahead.
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