So when we last left off our heroes, they actually passed an encounter for once. Yeah, I had to mess the rules for a bit, but I managed to avoid a single encounter. So, following with the pattern of “you get to learn a new thing about DMing”, we have our first encounter with an NPC that, unlike with the Dragon, doesn’t need to be talked to in a skill challenge. Who is this NPC, you may ask? Well, that we will have to find out soon, won’t we?
The encounter automatically begins with us getting ambushed by four humans, guards for Malareth, as Agent Smith tells the audience our heroes. Time to roll initiative.
- Darerris: 24
- Special Human: 22
- Hollyhana: 18
- Humans: 9
- Agent Smith: 8
- Hugh: 7
Darerris goes first, so she tries to stab the first human she finds.
[Attack Roll: Knife (+6) Vs. AC (19). Roll... 26. Natural 20.] [Damage: 15] *
One of the humans goes up to another human to buddy up with him. See, their tactic has to do with teamwork. From what I understand, the two people work together to hurt their enemy. One person marks them, and then if the opponent attacks them, their partner can counter and hit him back. This will be bad. Now it’s Hollyhana’s turn. She... tries to analyze the statue that’s in the room. Whee...
[Religion Check: 19. Roll... 8]
And she botches it. The statue then emanates an aura that causes -1 to all attack and damage rolls to the non-enemies near said statue. Yay. Now the guards take a shot. But... It actually seems Hollyhana has done something for once. The guards have a melee range of 2 for their signature marking move, but they are unable to mark the same enemy due to one person blocking the way of the other. So Hollyhana going to the statue, despite botching the roll up, actually managed to save us.
Unfortunately, this means that the guards decide to pull off the rechargeable attack. Both on Darerris and Hollyhana.
[Attack Roll: Powerful Strike (+8) vs. AC (16, though Darerris’ darkleaf armor activates, giving her 18). Roll... 18] [Damage: 13]
[Attack Roll: Powerful Strike (+8) vs. AC (18) roll... 27] [Damage: 18]
Mother fucker. They bloodied Hana in one hit. Agent Smith and Hugh realize they need to take one of the guys out together, so Agent Smith hurls a Magic Missile at him while Hugh tries to cut him down.
[Attack Roll: Sword (+8) vs. AC (19) Roll... 10]
While he does fail, the Magic Missile manages to damage him by seven. Darerris should be able to take this guard out.
[Attack Roll: Knife (+6) Vs. AC (19). Roll... 21.] [Damage: 7]
Well, what do you know? Now the guards take their turn. Guard Team B goes up to Agent Smith and begin their marking attack.
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (15). Roll... 23] [Damage: 10]
And nearly bloodies him, but manages to mark him. Unfortunately, his partner doesn’t have a halberd to attack with, so he dilly dallys. Hollyhana spends this turn healing herself by 8 points. The two other guards then attack with their Halberds.
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (16). Roll... 18] [Damage: 12]
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (18) roll... 13]
And manage to bloody Darerris! MOTHERFUCKER! Wait... Darerris is a dwarf! That means... Oh fuck yes. But first, more tag team action from the Fighter and the Wizard. Hugh tries to attack the guard.
[Attack Roll: Sword (+8) vs. AC (19) Roll... 18, using Human Versatility to give it a +4 to hit] [Damage: (using my Power Strike for this) 22]
And then some Arc Lightning. He notes how the guard with the short sword doesn’t seem to know what everyone else is doing.
[Attack Roll: Arc Lightning (+5) vs. Reflex (15 for both of them). Roll... 13 for Guard 2, 25 for Guard 3, natural 20] [Damage: 16]
Now, Darerris has the ability to use Second Wind as a minor action as a Dwarf, and using a Healing Surge of 6, she is able to heal herself. Not by much, but enough to move out of the way of the guard’s attack and backstab him.
[Attack Roll: Backstab (+3 and +6) vs. AC (19) Roll... 22] [Damage: 7]
And it bloodies him. The short sword using human decides to, well, use his short sword on the Wizard, though only using a feint on him.
[Attack Roll: Feint (+6) vs. Reflex (15) Roll... 25]
He has the combat advantage now. Hollyhana then decides to use Sunburst to give the heroes five temporary hit points, and to injure three of the guards.
[Attack Roll: Sun Burst (+3) vs. Will (11 for one of the humans, 13 for the others) Roll... 11, 16, 20] [Damage: 10]
And needless to say, they didn’t like it. Seeing as they are now split, the humans decide to leave the guy fighting the Rogue for dead and decide to attack Hollyhana.
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (18). Roll... 13]
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (18) roll... 13]
And both miss. The Wizard and Fighter decide to help Darerris take out the guard. So... Team attack?
[Attack Roll: Sword (+8 and +2), Knife (+6 and +2), Quarterstaff (+1 and +2) Vs. AC (19). Roll... 25, 18, 12] [Damage: 10]
And they manage to bloody the human guard beyond recognition. The Changeling decides to finish off the Wizard.
[Attack Roll: Short Sword (+8 and +2) vs. AC (15) Roll... 23.] [Damage: 17]
At least this time he didn’t go out like a wimp. He can still heal himself if he manages to do saving throws, which is what he’ll do next turn. Hollyhana attempts to help Agent Smith with that.
[Healing DC: 10. Roll... 22]
And since it’s twice over the DC, I decide to give Agent a +4 to his attempt to come back to life. But first, the humans attempt to skewer Hollyhana.
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (18). Roll... 22]
[Attack Roll: Halberd (+8) vs. AC (18) roll... 20] [Damage: 22]
And she too begins to die... This is just bloody great. Now both of my heroes have to heal up. At least I can try and off a human.
[Attack Roll: Sword (+8 and +2) Vs. AC: 19. Roll... 16]
Fuck... How about the dying save?
[Death Saving Throw... 10]
Good. He stays dying. Darerris should take her advantage now.
[Attack Roll: Knife (+6 and +2) Vs. AC: 19. Roll... 9. Natural 1... I... forgot what to do with this. Or I haven’t established the rules for it... She still misses, so there’s that.]
The Guard then tries to feint on Hugh.
[Attack Roll: Feint (+6) vs. Reflex (11) Roll... 19]
And is able to hurt him. Hollyhana’s turn to not die.
[Death Saving Throw... (gonna use her healing bonus for this) 28, natural 20, so this would mean a very good thing]
Hollyhana gets up with full health, with Pelor’s blessing filling the entire room, giving the enemies eight radiant damage, and searing the unholy artifacts in the room (yeah, there were unholy artifacts in the room. It was an unholy temple where they worshipped some devil god or whatever) Damn, don’t fuck with Hollyhana. So the fighter then turns to kill the one of two human guards.
[Attack Roll: Sword (+8) Vs. AC (17) Roll... 25] [Damage: 11]
Just as a fun fact, everyone save for Hugh are all bloodied. Let’s see if the Wizard can do any better.
[Death Saving Throw (+2): 15]
He’s still not dying. Darerris’ turn. Let’s see what she’ll do. Oh, she’s just gonna take the long way out and...
Uh... What the fuck is that one guard doing to the... JESUS! He... he just...
[Attack Roll: Short Sword (+8 and +2) Vs. AC (19) Roll... 28] [Damage: 16]
He... just... backstabbed... the other guard... Erm... Thanks? The guard drops his sword and reveals himself to be a Doppelganger (I was tempted to call him Changeling thanks to a certain show) by the name of Jixin. He then gives a healing potion to Agent Smith, who drinks it and is instantly revitalized. Agent Smith recognizes him as he reveals that he, Jixin, Malareth, and Traevus were all partners in discovering the temple, but the further they went down, the more Malareth became more crazier. It was to the point where he began to cut out Traevus and Agent Smith out of their deal and had Jixin to work for him, though convincing him with a large and wealthy cheque.
In case you haven’t noticed, this guy’s the NPC I’m talking about. He then asks Jixin to join them. Oh boy, Skill Challenge! Jixin hesitates and tells them how he’d be a terrible fighter.
[Bluff Check: 13]
Let’s see who beats it. Insight check.
- Hugh: 4
- Agent Smith: 1
- Darerris: 4
- Hollyhana: 9
No one. Well then. Oh! I can just have them be blunt! Hugh tells him that a dragon is lurking in the dungeons.
[Insight DC: 12. Roll... 22]
Jixin believes them and confesses that he lied about being a terrible fighter and would probably want to join. The group celebrate this revelation of a new party member, but Jixin tries to sneak away.
[Stealth Check: 16]
Alright, let’s see who beats that one. Perception Check.
- Hugh: 17
- Agent Smith: 15
- Darerris: 7
- Hollyhana: 23 (Natural 20)
Hollyhana notices this and blinds Jixin with the power of the sun. He soon trips as the Hugh gets to him. He then tries to intimidate him into joining the party.
[Intimidate DC: 12. Roll... 16]
Jixin whimpers, and it’s up to Agent Smith to recall some more history between him and the other four.
[History DC: 12. Roll... 14]
And he brings up one bit of info that convinces Jixin to join the party: Malareth, while intending to pay Jixin good before, was way too crazy to keep his end of the bargain now. Jixin then agrees.
[PARTY MEMBER GET! Jixin the Doppelganger Rogue!
◊]
[550 EXP EARNED!]
It’s gonna be so much fun to have an extra body. Tune in next time as we take on The Dragon!
