(Casual D&D III) The Man in Black

[Sparky]

Oliver: Init 20, AC 18, HP 13/13; short swords: atk +4/+1, dmg d6-1

Oliver pads silently down the stairs, his dire work done. He pauses a beat as Fendric’s Silence falls over the house. He sticks a finger in his ear and waggles it. This cripples us too, except that we’re expecting it… I bet you’d rather have cast this in a temple for meditation, eh Fen? He hurries down the stairs, squeezing past Raven as the big man lets fly with a volley. Seeing Fendric threatened, Oliver tumbles past the orc facing the Pelorite blades coming out as he dives into his roll.

OOC:
AC: 18 -- forgot Fendric's bonus
Tumble: 23
Attack: 6 Damage: 10 (6-1 +5 sneak attack)
Attack: 4 Damage: 8 (1-1 +7 sneak attack)

Couldn’t remember how you handled dual-wield sneak attacks, so I’ve provided you with a variety of rolls to make your update with – of note – the completely tanked attack rolls that make how we handled bonus damage largely irrelevant.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Round 1 Cont'd

Oliver makes his way down the stairs, getting in position behind Fendric's attacker, but is unable to make contact with his blade. (Multiple weapons can only be used as a full round action -- not after moving -- so you only miss once, not twice.)

Shavah stays where she is -- none of you can hear it (okay, Aerda has a one in four chance of being able to hear it), but she's just cast Bless. (+1 morale bonus to attacks and saves v. fear for all.)

Nurthk (who did have plenty of time to move between the one-eyed orc and the girl during the surprise round) makes his presence known with a series of attacks. His armor proves to be heavy enough to provide protection from the first and last; the others leave him significantly injured, and apparently quite angry, his surprise having faded before even the second blow landed...

Raven steps over to get a clear line on his target, and sends the arrow into the meat of his enemy's neck. It doesn't appear to have hit anything too vital, as the orc remains standing, but clearly he has been heavily injured by the shot.

Hiritus then moves forward, and strikes the orc down with a single blow. (Note: Out of curiosity, how is Hiritus getting a +8 bonus from Holy Smite at 5th level? Also, "+2 - opponent with ranged weapon" isn't something I've heard of before, or can find reference to in the SRD, not that it makes a difference in this case. Since I don't ask anyone to post math, I'm not going to count it against you, but I do want to make sure we all understand the applicable rules.)

21 Orcs
20 Oliver
14 Shavah
13 Nurthk
11 Raven
11 Hiritus
9 Aerda
8 Tatlock
6 Niccolo
1 Fendric

 

[dpdx]

Fendric: Init 1, AC 16, HP 41/49; light flail: atk +5, dmg d8+1.

[D'oh - misread the description: Smite Evil, according to the SRD under Classes (pt. 2 - Paladin is at the beginning), is Charisma bonus (in H.'s case, +3) to attack, not damage. My bad - first paladin I've ever played. Hiritus only deals 15 points, but hits on a 23.

And the +2 to hit an opponent defending himself in melee with a ranged weapon is something I saw once in an game I DM'ed. Perhaps it's just a general advantage-type +2, or a house rule one of my players suggested to me at that time. I'm fine without it, for my part.

Now, is the orc in front of Fendric disarmed this round?]

 

[Guilt Puppy]

(Ah, so that's what it was... Figured it was some off-interpretation of the rules, but I couldn't put my finger on just what would bring in those numbers. For now, I'll let the attack stand as is... Hiritus does have Power Attack, which he could use to get the same result. Since it was possible to achieve those bonuses, and also what you in some sense "intended", I don't see much reason to go back and edit anything.

All of that excepting the +2 for melee v ranged, which didn't make a difference either way. I just want to be clear that no, that's not a rule we're using here.

Also, disarmed? The orc in front of Fendric holds a greataxe, and I can't find any reference to a disarm attempt.

Also also, regarding the silence in the basement, the radius might be off by some amount, but the position is correct. The stairs aren't on the same horizontal plane as the circles, so they aren't represented perfectly accurately on either story, which is why there's some discrepancy there -- I could do some math and cut out some jagged notches to portray them more accurately, in which case they would match up, but no.)

 

[dpdx]

Fendric: Init 1, AC 16, HP 41/49; flail: atk +6, dmg d8+1.

[Last round, an orc tried to attack Fendric and fumbled. That's what I was asking about. Didn't know if it actually meant 'dropped the weapon' or not, and I didn't know which orc it referred to. Sorry if that wasn't clear from my question.]

Fendric, after wincing from the arrow lodged in his leg, chastises himself silently for his spell choice, draws his flail and shield, and swings at the orc in front of him.

[Attack: 9; Damage: 5]

Fendric's lips form a defiant sneer as he realizes the beating that must now await him.

 

[DrZombie]

Raven takes a few steps (5') down the stairs to get a clear line of fire. His hands dart from quiver to bow as he unleashes a hail of arrows at the orcs, his face an impassive mask as he focuses solely on the battle.
We got to hurry up, Nurthk will be in trouble soon.

(attack, first on the orc on the carpet behind oliver, if the orc is down on the orc attacking Fendric if possible. If noone in sight move + attack until he's got a target)
Attack : +12/+7 ->+10/+10/+5, +1 bless, +1 point blank ->+12/+12/+7 1d8+3+1 precise shot no penalty when firing into melee)
Attack 12+5 dmg 6+4=10
Attack 12+12 dmg 7+4=11
Attack 7+19=26 dmg 8+4=12

 

[Sparky]

OOC: dpdx reminded me Fen's spell to boost Oliver's AC and I found Oliver's sheet and posted corrections to his stats -- above.

Oliver's face clenches and his lips move angrily, though, with the shroud of silence, no sound comes out. Anyone who can seem his face can easily make out the ear-reddening curses he seems to be uttering as he makes two feeble swings and gets his balance.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Round 1/Round 2

(autopilot) Aerda advances and attacks the orc near Fendric with his rapier, but fails to land a meaningful blow. Tatlock moves somewhere out of sight, in the direction of the backdoor. Niccolo, for now, is on full defense.

Fendric draws and swings his flail, but also strikes only air.

(Round 2)

Downstairs, Nurthk's adversary drops quickly into a battle stance. He holds his weapon out to the side, and with a flick of his wrist both axeheads ignite in flames, illuminating the room. Quickly, he brings it forward, twirling, into three quick strikes. (Attack 18, Damage 12; Attack 16, Damage 13; Nat 20, 16 to confirm, damage 15, or 33 if critical)

The orc from the top of the stairs heads down, drawing his blade, and stands over the girl, attacking Nurthk from behind. (Attack 12, Damage 6)

Upstairs, the orc with an arrow in his neck steps behind Oliver and stabs with his scimitar. (Attack 20, Damage 8)

Fendric's attacker continues his assault with his greataxe, but still shows little effectiveness. (Attack 9, definite miss.)

There's no sign whatsoever what the orc in the back room might be up to.

Oliver's next attack on Fendric's enemy fails, but the one after that finds its mark: One clean blow to the back of the orc's head, and the enemy falls. The old pitfighter then steps out of the way, to give Raven a clean shot.

Shavah also disappears from sight, following Tatlock.

Stepping forward, it takes just one shot for Raven to bring down the last orc in the room.

(Hope no one minds any of the autopiloting, but given that most actions seemed reasonably clear, it seemed like time to move things forward.)

21 Orcs
20 Oliver
14 Shavah
13 Nurthk
11 Raven
11 Hiritus
9 Aerda
8 Tatlock
6 Niccolo
1 Fendric

 

[dpdx]

Hiritus: Init 11, HP 37/37, AC 17

Hiritus watches each enemy in the room fall, and while his action is simple, his thoughts are not.

(Justice?) [Hiritus is empathically linked to his mount.]

I am here in the stable where you left me, Hiritus. How may I be of service?

Can you leave, and come to the inn?

I do not believe so, Hiritus. But I do not know for sure - the door was closed behind us when last we walked into the stable.

All right, IF there is someone to let you out, and you can 'convince' him to let you out, come to my voice. When you get to the house, stop. I need you to be my eyes and ears outside, and if you can, draw the attention of anybody in the inn. We need the townspeople to come out now, if they can.

I will try, Hiritus.

Meanwhile, Hiritus moves toward the basement stair, and motions the others to do likewise.

[Full move action toward the stair.]

 

[wings]

Bah

Aerda recovered from the clumsy strike, and you imagine he'd be cursing if it wasn't for the sphere of silence. He shakes his head, all of his mirrors mimicing him, and they all move lithely after Fendric. When they get to the section that isnt silenced he spits, "I hate that spell!" before they dive back into it's radius.