[PbP; ED4] Wild Barsaive Adventures

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Pixels
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Post by Pixels »

Markis intends to double move towards Horus's Life Circle. He will be in a defensive stance, and will ideally end up on EE7.
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Longes
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Post by Longes »

Horus stands behind his troll allies and weaves a thread for a new, smaller circle that will lie inside of the existing one and give them two lines of defense against enemies.
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tenngu
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Post by tenngu »

Gurunk furrows his brow and whispers to Horus "Why are you hiding behind me? I was gunna hide behind y-". His words were cut a bit short noticing the placement of the defensive wards. He approvingly nods.


OOC: I feel like the idea is we all group up where the life circles are and bring the dudes to us right? If so, I intend to pick up a rock or something and throw it in the direction of the cadavermen, trying to get their attention to see if they can come to us.
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Post by Eitan »

Saoirse will also double move towards the Life Circle and activate a defensive stance. Saoirse will squeeze in wherever there is room in the Life Circle.
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Post by Lokathor »

Okay, so, first time doing PbP combat, I'll be a little extra precise about stuff. Declared actions:

[*]Markis double moves to EE7 with a Defensive Stance (+3 Physical and Mystic Defense, -3 on Tests other than Knockdown Tests and other GM approved defensive tests).
[*]Horus weaves a thread for Life Circle of One.
[*]Gurunk moves to the circle and deliberately tries to provoke in the Cadavermen in some way.
[*]Saoirse does a double move with Defensive Stance like Markis does.
[*]The Cadavermen, for their part, will attempt to claw your throats out.

Initiative steps:
9 Vistaru
5 Saoirse
5 Horus
7 Markis
7 Gurunk'Gall
5 Cadaver A
5 Cadaver B

Results:

[*]10: Markis double moves to within the current Life Circle, but within plain view of the Cadavermen.
[*]8: Vistaru is only a big cat after all, and just stays hidden.[/color][/size]
[*]7: Cadaver A shuffles closer to the group and stops just outside the Life Circle without testing it.
[*]5: Horus rolls Threadweaving [Step 9] against 5, gets a 6, and weaves a thread into his spell.[/color][/size]
[*]4: Saoirse double moves into the Life Circle at the back of things.[/color][/size]
[*]4: Cadaver B shuffles forward as well. He gets up to the Life Circle and tries to move into it. Horus rolls a Spellcasting Test [Step 11] against the Mystic Defense of Cadaver B and succeeds, leaving Cadaver B stuck outside the circle.[/color][/size]
[*]2: Gurunk'Gall directs Vistaru into the circle and steps in himself. Since the Cadavermen are already very well attracted over to their position, Gurunk'Gall tries to slash with his claws, but misses.[/color][/size][/list]

What now?[/color][/size]

It should be noted that the spell thread woven has to be used next round or it's lost.[/color][/size]

https://imgur.com/a/XPaX4

EDIT: Also Cadaver B takes [Step 9] mystic damage, rolled 16, adjusting for mystic armor this still deals a wound (Knockdown Test passed), and Cadaver B visibly begins a berserk rage.
Last edited by Lokathor on Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Longes
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Post by Longes »

The circle also does WIL+2/Mystic [Step 9] damage to Cadaver B.

Horus casts a second Life Circle within the first one, with a slightly smaller radius.
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Post by Lokathor »

updated
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Post by Pixels »

The time is ripe! Markis will enter an aggressive stance, swinging his spiked mace with pounding, powerful blows. He intends to remain within the Life Circle(s) and attack a cadaverman he can reach, which probably means Cadaver A.

OOC: Sure am looking forward to two raging cadavermen. Here's hoping for some good luck on those Life Circle rolls.
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Post by Eitan »

Saoirse drops down to her knees for a moment to grab a double handful of dirt in her hands and throws the clumps of dirt into the air, saying with some excitement in her voice, "Edar hatobi!"

OOC: Saoirse will start weaving Earth Darts with an additional target thread so she can hit both Cadavermen.
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Post by Lokathor »

Note that Earth Darts is a 0 thread spell in 4e, so you could just cast it right away and hit one target, then again next round and hit the other target. However, if you weave any threads into the spell you always have to make the casting test the round after your threads are complete.
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Post by tenngu »

Gurunk growls and snorts, trying again to sink his claws into his foes withered flesh.

OOC: simple action to claw shape and attack the nearest Cadaverman.
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Post by Lokathor »

I was told via Discord to just have Saoirse use Earth Darts right away.

As the players already know, but as non-player readers don't yet know, one issue came up with trying to resolve this round: When a cadaverman is in a Fury they get 4 actions a round. How does this interact with the Life Circle of One spell? The spell says that it blocks one creature a round and can be overrun by a group of opponents, and that you need a series of life circles set up if you want to block a lot of things. It seems clear that if a creature's movement is blocked, then all of its movement is blocked that round (as well as it's possible attack). And it seems clear that if a creature is blocked one round it can try to get through again on the next round. What was less clear was if a creature with more than one action could get through by having the first action get blocked and then going through with its extra actions. If that's the case then things are really dangerous (even though the spell is still quite useful), and if that's not the case then the encounter is a total pushover. At first I did the dangerous option rolls and Gurunk'Gall got all of his blood ripped from his body. Then I was reminded of the Air Armor, and accounting for that left him one point away from dead. I asked Tengu if he was cool with that and they said to let the dice fall where they may. Others were less cool with that, and Pixels came up with a middle ground: The Life Circle attunes to one creature per round, and if a creature has more than one action it can try to get through more than once, but the life circle will block any attempt from a given creature as many times as the creature tries to break in (potentially causing damage each time). This seems like a fair compromise, so we'll go with that.

Turns:

[*]7: Vistaru is still unclear about the glowing lights and all that, and just sits at the middle of the circle as ordered.
[*]6: Cadaver B does an Aggressive Attack against Gurunk'Gall, which lowers their Mystic Defense by 3 as a side effect. Unfortunately for them, that means that they're actually extra vulnerable to the Life Circle's blocking mechanic. Horus rolls Spellcasting [Step 11] vs 6 and gets a 10, dealing [Step 9] Mystic damage (9 damage rolled). The cadaverman rolls again, Horus gets a 20 on his Spellcasting (no bonus damage from this form of attack unfortunately) and the circle dishes out 5 Mystic damage. Cadaver B tries again, fails again, and takes another 16 Mystic damage. He tries a final time and fails a final time, taking 13 Mystic damage. The animated body burns and shreds completely to ash in front of you (dead/dead-again/destroyed/whatever you want to call it he's gone).
[*]5: Markis swings his spiked mace at Cadaver A [Step 10] and it (Roll: 9, Damage Roll [13]: 11) barely connects with the cadaverman's stomach. One of the spike tips slides through the flesh, opening a gash that lets out a wave of black blood onto the forest floor. This, unfortunately, sends Cadaver A into a Fury of pain and rage.
[*]4: Saoirse focuses on their Earth Darts spell matrix and makes a Spellcasting test [Step 10] against the now raging Cadaver A, getting a 7, which does not connect.
[*]2: Horus and Cadaver A act simultaneously with each other. Horus rolls Spellcasting [11] against 6, getting a 5, and the second life circle fails to align. The spell's mana collapses back into astral space. Cadaver A is in a Fury (giving 4 attacks) but they didn't declare an Aggressive Attack stance at the start of the round so they're just four normal attacks. The first hits with a bonus success, the second misses, and the third and fourth both hit normally. Damage rolls are all below average: 12, 8, and 8. With Markis' Hide Armor + Air Armor protecting him, he luckily only takes 4 damage total.
[*]1: Gurunk'Gall momentarily feels the Blessing of Mynbruje pass through him, though he's not quite sure why. Not one to stop and ask questions during a fight, he swings claw at Cadaver A [Step 9], rolling a 9 to hit and an impressive 18 for damage. Cadaver A's feet are ripped out from under him and he lands face-down in the leaves.

Pic:

https://imgur.com/U3Og5Mz

Since players aren't doing the rolling I'll probably start to elide a lot of the specific roll numbers in favor of just describing what's going on.

EDIT: whoops I did half of it away from roll20, fixed.
Last edited by Lokathor on Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Pixels »

The cadaver's claws leave a trail of pain down Markis's arm, but this only emboldens him to strike back harder! He smashes at it wildly with his spiked mace.

OOC: Aggressively attack Cadaver A.
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Post by Longes »

Horus sees Markis being hit, but in the heat of the moment has nothing he can do to help. Focusing on preventing further damage, Horus conjures a purple bolt of astral energy and sends it into the cadaver's face.

OOC: Spirit Dart, is what I'm saying.
Last edited by Longes on Wed Oct 18, 2017 11:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by tenngu »

Gurunk flinches momentarily, unsure why he feels like a ghost just passed through him, but shrugs it off. He continues to attempt to get a good claw into the Horror, and commands his beast to do the same.

OOC: I don't actually know the action required to have animal companions do things, but if its not a simple action just pretend I didn't say anything.
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Post by Eitan »

Saoirse rips another chunk of dirt out of the ground and flings it into the air, intoning "Edar hatobi!" as she hardens the dirt into a projectile.

OOC: Second verse same as the first.
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Post by Lokathor »

Markis strains himself to swing a power swing with his spiked mace and totally takes out that branch that he hits. If that had been the cadaverman's head, it would have been really dangerous for the cadaverman.

Gurunk'Gall aims his claws at the back of the cadaverman's leg, and everyone thinks that it couldn't possibly work, but to their surprise it actually does because the cadaverman is all knocked on the ground and whatnot. Hope he didn't need those calf muscles because they're not there any more! (damage+wound). He turns to Vistaru and delivers a remarkably long and eloquent trollish speech to Vistaru which Markis later translates for the others as basically being a 500 word essay that just says "this is how you do it", but in a much longer way.

Vistaru has nowhere to fight from within the circle and doesn't understand it's importance, so he moves up to the cadaverman and scratches hard. It's not an impressive calf hit, but it gets the cadaverman good on the top of his foot.

Saoirse is quite concerned that Vistaru will get sliced into a pulp and so she launches a rock all the way through the cadavarman's brain, clearing up the matter quite nicely. [clarity: the second cadaverman is also dead now]
Last edited by Lokathor on Sat Oct 21, 2017 2:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Longes »

"God damn, we are lucky to be alive. Markis, are you alright?"
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Post by Pixels »

Markis spares a glare for the branch that so foolishly threw itself between him and his enemy, then turns to his teammates.

"Mmm. I've had worse picking blackberries. Let's make sure the villagers are safe."

He puts his words into action by going to the tied up villagers and looking them over. Are they injured? Conscious? How are they restrained?
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Post by Lokathor »

Kentram and his brother Mantek (humans) and Lintak (ork) are tied up and a little beaten but no major injuries you can see. They are happy to see you but seem to be staying quiet while motioning you over to them. They're died up with ropes that are easily cut apart.

Gram Strongbrow (dwarf) has a huge head wound. There's blood all down his face, but most of it seems dried in place by now instead of flowing. He's unconscious.

Tartuk (ork, Genna's son) as well as the draft horse are nowhere to be seen.

Assuming that you cut them free, Kentram and Mantek take Gram and move him away from the cave into the brush as quietly as they can. Lintak explains in a whisper that her fiance Tartuk was taken into the cave by their attacker not long ago and she pleads with you to hurry and save him. The attacker, a huge troll, kept muttering something to himself in trollish. She doesn't remember any of the words, but he seemed a lot more deranged than just some bandit.
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Post by tenngu »

Gurunk pats his beast pal and gently tugs him away from the decaying corpses on the floor.

He listens in on the citizens words and silently notes to himself that troll may not be any normal bandit, but he's not any normal troll. He nods to himself happy with the assessment of himself.

He turns toward the unconscious dwarf. "You still have that spare healing salve Markis? Looks like he could use one or five."
Last edited by tenngu on Tue Oct 24, 2017 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Pixels »

"Mm. A troll that consorts with Horror-spawn is no troll at all."

Markis will be happy to use the Wound Closure Salve he's carrying to cure Gram's head wound before the other villagers move him.

After a moment of pained hesitation, he takes the blanket out of Buttercup's saddlebag. He turns to the villagers and offers them the blanket and his dagger.

"Cut a pair of strudy branches and push them through the weave to make a stretcher for Gram. Kentram and Mantek can carry him. Lintak, you should run ahead and warn Tsenin of what you've seen here. We will find this... not-a-troll and your fiance."
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Post by Lokathor »

Kentram and Mantek are happy to take Gram away.

Lintak is not willing to leave the cave until Tartuk has been rescued.
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Post by Eitan »

Saoirse slips forward, brushing a hand across Markis' broad arm as she does, "I promise Lintak, we will rescue Tartuk as best we can but if the village is in danger from a corrupted Troll then we need to warn Tsenin and the rest." Her voice gentle and trying to be persuasive.
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Post by Lokathor »

Lintak says that she'll wait outside the cave while the others go back to the village and your group goes into the cave, but she's totally adamant about her not leaving.
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