A Swordsage's Journal: The Gladiator Arena

[Hiro Protagonest]

I unfortunately left my notes at Teddy's house so I haven't been able to write up the next entry yet. It should be up some time later this week.

I ended up forgetting temporary combat modifiers last sessions so I've decided to put my character sheet up electronically. It's easier to keep track of modifications that way. For those interested, here is how Garth Bolstrum is looking at the end of last session.

He's lawful?

[Dralnu]

Hasn't he always been?

All will be explained next recap.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Hasn't he always been?

All will be explained next recap.

Garth Bolstrum: Human Swordsage. Neutral, borderline evil.

I'll have to wait for the recap then.

[Bob the DM]

Don't forget that IF the vampire slamed you with his "mitts", you also have in your inventory, 2 negative levels. :)

[Torvon]

25 AC at level 4 ... nerf tome of battle! ;)

seriously though: looking forwad to your next session. made some advertisement for this thread yesterday with friends it's great fun to read.

[jguy]

God: Himself made me chuckle

[Stallion]

/nitpick

Don't swordsages lose their wis bonus to AC if they equip a shield?

/nitpick

<3

[Lateral]

Wait, WIS: 16?

Naaaaaah. You're joking.

[Dralnu]

I'll have to wait for the recap then.

Character development! >.>

Don't forget that IF the vampire slamed you with his "mitts", you also have in your inventory, 2 negative levels. :)

So I was going to say he only hit me once and I didn't get a save.. But then I looked up vampires, then I looked up energy drain..

Garth is at -8 and not feeling too good. Oops?

/nitpick

Don't swordsages lose their wis bonus to AC if they equip a shield?

/nitpick

<3

My bad. Removed it now. No worries, my ridiculous AC didn't matter last session anyway.

Wait, WIS: 16?

Naaaaaah. You're joking.

"So, you guys realize that bribing the goblin tribe to betray the leaders that we want is far safer than a half-assed suicide mission to kidnap them in the midst of a ~400 population tribe filled with warriors and dire wolves? You know the latter option is bound to get messed up and risk losing our lives over? Right, guys? Right..?"

Yup, wisest person in the group right here.

[Greenish]

Wis doesn't necessarily represent common sense, it's also the natural cunning etc. (hence animals often have higher wis than most commoners).

Also, accept who you are. Embrace the dark side. Revel in your Evilness!

[Bob the DM]

Yay for character developement.

Sweet is progressing nicely as an alcoholic and is learning battlefield tactics at the expense of his hobgoblin allies since the group keeps telling him to direct the npcs.

Garth is becoming ever more lawful as he continuously fulfills his agreements, prompting the truely classic line of "I accepted his bribe, therefore I will do what he asks".

Teddy is still Pelor obssessed. More so than ever.

Dan has developed a healthy/socially akward obsession with asking everyone if they have healing or any other kind of potions for him.

While Fylo continues to think (even though he was conspicuously abset last game), the attracting way to much attention at the start of a fight is a good idea. :)

As for the energy drain, it could be worse. The last act of the Vampire Paladin of Tyranny was to "lay hands" on Teddy for 30 damage before turning into gas to heal. I don't recall if he succeeded on the dc 19 will save to be dropped to - 13 hp or not... :)

Sadly the 2or3 ac difference didn't matter too much to the power attacking, scythe wielding clerics and barbarians... The still needed a 15 or 17 to hit. Thankfully, when they DID manage to land a blow... 2d4+7+power attack.

And yes, with that "let's not attack the whole goblin tribe" bit of advice, you are truely the wisest person in the group. In fact, possibly the wisest pc we've ever had. Even at level 1, 99.9 percent of the time, our players would have tried to figure out a way to kidnap the chief, his right hand man and the shaman and pocket the gold.

[Duskranger]

/nitpick

Don't swordsages lose their wis bonus to AC if they equip a shield?

/nitpick

<3

They are not proficient with it losing the bonus I did not think that would happen though. Can you quote where that is from?

The only thing stated is Swordsages get there wis to armor in light armor. Light shields are also light armor right

[Girshtop]

Yup, wisest person in the group right here.

Hah.

[Dralnu]

Session 9

Wolves, It's Always Wolves:

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(Quick preface: Fylo's player couldn't make it this session. Our standard procedure is in effect for this: Fylo is having seizures, unconscious, or otherwise unable to take any actions this session.)

We ride away from the goblin camp. We've barely made it out alive, have one of our three designated targets captive, and have left half the camp aflame. By our standards, this mission has been a complete success! Hopefully when Sweet turns this tale into an epic ballad he'll leave out the less flattering bits like when I got blinded and accidentally barbequed a bunch of gobbo women and children...

Unfortunately, now's not the time to begin patting ourselves on the back for a job well done. Only a couple minutes into our ride, we spot a pack of large wolves chasing after us. Goblins riding dire wolves or worgs, I don't know. Awesome. I think we're something like 0-3 with wolves so far. They have this nasty habit of showing up when we're half-dead, then guiding us to some unhappy location and pooping in our sandwiches. Frickin. Wolves. I'm half-dead and permanently blind because of a mission that I did not wish to be a part of, can you cut me some slack this time, you goddamn smug canines??

The wolves are keeping pace with us but luckily they're not fast enough to overtake us. We're keeping track of them easily because we're riding through open plains and small rolling hills. Luck soon run out though when our horses start tiring out after a couple hours of riding. Seriously, horses?? You poney princesses can't handle running at full speed for hours with a person decked in fullplate on your back?! I'll turn you ungrateful asses into glue if/when we make it back!

A Good Place To Have A Picnic:

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Our horses are slowing down. The wolves and their riders have maneuvered themselves ahead of us, trying to push us back towards the camp. That's the last thing we want to do. We'll have to fight eventually, but we don't want to fight in the open where we can get surrounded. We spot a small patch of forest not too far away and decide to make a mad dash -- er, slow trot -- for it. The wolves are getting tired as well by this point, so we manage to get there before they catch up.

The patch of trees has an ominous vibe to it. It may be the eerie shadows the trees produce, or the lack of forest critters, or the recently hacked up body parts neatly arranged in a pile at the center. Probably the cut up bodies. We decide that this would be a lovely spot to fight our pursuers.

Now, our group clearly aren't tactical geniuses, but Sweet has heard plenty of tales about people who were. He quickly takes charge, lining us and our hobgoblin minions into an arrowhead formation and have us pull out spears readied for the oncoming worgs, while I have my seeing-eye hobgoblin instruct me when to shoot out a cone of fire. The defense works perfectly. The goblin worg riders charge our position, eat a bunch of spears, and are quickly disposed of. I must say, Sweet is turning into quite the tactician. He's learning how best to organize us into strong battle formations, and most importantly, how to make sure our hobgoblin minions are placed in the most dangerous roles so the rest of us are less likely to messily die.

After combat ends, we check out the bodies we weren't responsible for. It's the goblin cleric and ninja that we fought earlier. We have no idea how they managed to get here ahead of us or who killed them. The wounds on the bodies indicate they were inflicted by some sort of saw and Teddy detects traces of magic on the wounds and in the area. Without any more leads as to what happened, we decide to leave the "Forest Chainsaw Massacre" mystery alone and take the bodies with us as a happy turn of events.

Garth: Idea! Let's not mention that we found the bodies, just that we got all three so we look better.
Teddy: But that would be lying.
Garth: Alright. Majority vote?
Hobgoblins: We got all three by ourselves.
Garth: Majority wins!
Teddy: ...

Interrogations and Missions:

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We get back to the mines. There's even more hobgoblins now and the place is gettng awfully crowded. Master Fu hasn't returned my letter yet. We meet with Grish and give him the mission report. He's happy with our results and gets us up to date with what was going on while we were gone. As usual, I'm fuzzy on the details whenever Grish talks (WHERE IS THE LOOT??), but I will try my best to recount:

- There's a war brewing. Grish's side versus the elf vampires, I think.

- Grish's sibling, or cousin, whatever, is now a vampire. I don't remember why this is a problem, but apparently it's a big deal. Grish's scouts report that they've spotted the vamp's emo goth carriage and if they can kill him they can end the entire war. Grish has sent a squadron to go dispose of him. I'm sure that will end well.

- The four martial schools in the east, the monk, warblade, crusader, and swordsage schools have long trained Grish's best soldiers but have suddenly ceased contact. The prince wants us to find out what happened and recruit them to our cause

- Oh, and the hobgoblin wizard is still a jerk and needs to die / get the book of the dead back

We also have a goblin chieftan to interrogate. I guess that's why we kidnapped him. Whatever. Grish instructs his people to heal him up, take him to an unoccupied room, and employ their standard interrogation techniques (which I volunteer to help with). Teddy is appalled by this "technique" and announces that he can get all the information that they need from the chieftan without any disembowelment (awww!!!). He specifically requests that we ALL be in the room for this though. Odd request, but sure.

Teddy uses Zone of Truth. It works perfectly. Then, looking me straight in the eye, he asks me, "Are you evil?"

I calmly reply, "Of course not." I passed my Will save. Don't forget, I still got my lead sheet with me too!

I honestly forgot what the chieftan said during interrogation. I don't think it mattered. He was "disposed of" later.

When the interrogation business is over, we have to decide which mission to attend to first: the wizard or the monasteries? I'm of course very biased towards visiting my master and the rest of the group agrees. So we stock up and head out!

Garth's Reflections:

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(Personal character blurb, not relevant to the main story, feel free to skip)

The journey to the closest school, the monk monastery, is long an uneventful. It's a good time for reflection. Early events in this journey have not bode well for me. My "kill whoever pisses me off" policy had quickly placed me in lawful good Teddy's bad book and he's had a huge grudge against me ever since. His constant antagonism has sometimes costed me. My "emotional decision making" has also earned the distrust of some of Grish's lieutenants, whom I still closely work with. Again, this hinders my personal goals.

I wasn't always this way though. Back when I was a swordsage pupil, I had to follow strict laws and customs. I didn't love them, but so long as I followed the rules, people gave me what I wanted. Sure, I'd still have outbreaks, but I was more into control back then. I also recall a story I've heard of a, ah, "misguided" halfling ranger that travelled with a goodie band of adventurers and faced a similar predicament. His solution? Work with the team, follow orders, and play by their rules. It worked.

Heading back to my old master, I've decided to give this "play by their rules" thing another shot.

Easier Than You'd Think:

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The journey to the closest school, the monk monastery, is long but uneventful. We arrive at the monastery grounds and find that the entire place is covered by vines and other vegetation, as if the place has been abandoned for years, even though we know that the place had been populated no more than a couple weeks ago. Standing at the entrance is an old bugbear. We cautiously approach but he isn't hostile to us. He tells us that he is the master of this monastery. The place has been abandoned. Two weeks ago the surrounding vegetation started growing at an alarming pace and covered the area. Wild beasts rampaged through the monastery and caused much damage. Then, after the beasts left, a group of elves led by a vampire entered the monastery and started killing any survivors. The monk master, I'll call him Master Monk, managed to escape. The monastery was completely abandoned upon his return. The old bugbear has been waiting for his pupils to return ever since. We also find out that the vampire isn't your normal bloodsucker. He seems to be unharmed by sunlight. He also may or may not know kung fu. Disturbing.

We tell Master Monk why we're here and convince him to come check out the other martial schools. He runs ahead of our horses, actually slowing down so we can keep up with him. Again, uneventful journey, we go to each school and find out the exact same thing happened there, and each time we recruit the surviving master to join us and then we go back to Lax's mines.

Of Swords and Vamps:

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We have another meeting with Grish and the four Masters. We agree that the elves have targeted the schools pre-emptively to make sure their services don't help Grish's side.

The masters also reveal that each school was guarding an ancestral weapon of great power, the four of the fabled "nine swords." They tell us the story behind the weapons: Way back in the day the nine martial disciplines that the schools study stayed separate from each other, each school thinking theirs was the best/only true discipline. One day, a fellow named Rensharr went to every school, mastered each one, and then founded his own monastery where each discipline would be taught together. All was good, there was harmony, blahblah. Then before he croaked he made nine swords that embodied each discipline's principles and left. Over time, these swords were scattered and lost. Four were found again and safeguarded by the four schools.

Now the elves have four of the swords and the Masters want them back. I vow to Master Fu that I will bring the swords back. He's "cautiously optimistic" but thankful.

We also think more about this mysterious day-walking vampire. No, he doesn't sparkle in the sunlight, I asked. The only rumors we collectively know of such vampires are of martial artists called Shadow Sun Ninjas, ninjas that balance the powers of light and darkness to fuel their fighting style. Legend has it that the most powerful ninjas have a chance succumbing to the darkness when pushed beyond their limit. When this happens, it's told that their souls are sent to Hell and their body turns into a day-walking vampire.

Master Fu knows of only one such unfortunate soul. The most promising swordsage pupil he knew, a man named Stallus, became a shadow sun ninja and succumbed to darkness while defending the temple from a particularly nasty attack. Not much has been known of the vampire since, though Teddy knows that Stallus had fought Sandal at least once before. It seems this day-walking vampire that's been owning up each school is this Stallus.

When the meeting wraps up, the Masters have agreed to aid Grish and hopefully re-establish their schools and get their swords back. Without any leads as to where these swords are, we decide to hit our next objective, Mr. Hobgoblin Wizard. Grish gives us some help for our mission -- Bob, the goliath warblade with the really big axe that we rescued from some elf vampire at Sandal's temple, and Edwin, the stone giant punk that killed us when we "rescued" him. Edwin awkwardly greets us. I already want him dead.

BUT BEFORE THAT! I tell Master Fu that I wish to master the nine ways as Rensharr did. I mean, if some random guy can do it and becomes eternally famous, surely I can one-up that, right? To do so, I'll need Master Monk to teach me his ways. Master Fu gives me his blessings. Master Monk agrees to teach me and help me overcome my blindness problem, "see without seeing" etc.

After a sick montage. I. Know. Kung fu!!!!! Level up in monk!

Revelations:

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I'm antsy about this mission. We're going up against a wizard of immense power who has access to rings of Wish and has nearly killed me with a single lightning bolt, not to mention violating me by crawling into my frickin' leg. If we're going to take on such a powerful foe, we must have perfect planning. We must catch him by surprise, maybe when he's asleep. Don't let the old fart cast a single reality-warping spell, for that would spell our doom, DOOM I say!

With this in mind, we journey yet again back to the gladiator arena where everything started. We walk in, enter the pit where we parted ways with the wizard before, and start wandering. We enter a section of the arena we've never seen before and find a lavishly decorated door with a humanoid parked in front of it. It's the wizard's bearded devil servant. He greets us and asks that we follow him, as the wizard has been expecting us. Well, there goes the surprise.

We're led down some winding staircases and into a ridiculously fancy greeting room. As the DM put it, it's like a residential suite at the most expensive Las Vegas hotel. We sit down at a big dining table until the wizard shows up.

The wizard thanks us for coming and tries buttering us up, asking us to eat, drink, etc as we're awkwardly sitting there thinking what we should do. He's in an amazing mood, and he tells us why: the "visions" he planted into our minds and Grish's worked perfectly!

Wait, what?

Oh, you know the vision Grish had about being destined to die and come back and reclaim his throne? That was him. And those visions we all had about the vampires killing us all? Him again. And that vision where Pelor spoke to Teddy and called upon him to pursue a holy quest? Yeah, Teddy believed it in so much that he gained divine powers!

Oh. Snap. Teddy now has an expression on his face like you punted his puppy off a bridge.

But why, you horribly sadistic wizard? Why toy with us like that? Well, other than being your typical hobgoblin assface, this wizard also had a vision. You see, as he got old, he realized that eventually he would die. He doesn't want to die. He wants to live, but not "live" like an undead, he wants to stay alive. His vision told him that, if certain requirements were met, he'd have a chance to become immortal. So he used all his resources and decades of planning to make sure his vision comes to fruition. He's been scrying on us, and on everyone, constantly. He even made sure we didn't screw up any of our missions. You know how we coincidentally found the other two goblin leaders neatly packaged for us? It was his bearded devil servant (note the sawtoothed glaive). He even used one of his Wishes from his ring that he picked up during his adventuring days just to make sure he was doing everything right. And everything has been working out perfectly towards this last goal. His other guests are on their way.

The elf vampires have an amulet that can give immortality. They don't care much about it because they're already immortal, but they really want the book of the dead. The wizard now has that book thanks to us. And now he's willing to work with us one more time. You see, as a proud hobgoblin, the wizard hates elves and undead and sincerely would prefer that Grish's side would win the war. So he made sure that when the transaction for the amulet was made, we'd be here for an ambush. That way, the wizard gets his amulet and we get the book and take out the elf vampire's leadership. Win-win. Otherwise he'll just make the trade of amulet for book and we get squat.

Now this kind of sucks for us. We're quiet and not sure whether we want to try and kill him or agree to his terms. It doesn't help that he throws in another interesting tidbit:

Wizard: Oh, and I bound you all to an efreet as added insurance. He'll call upon you to perform a task for him. Don't worry, he'll pay you for it.
...
...
What?

The old geezer gives us time to discuss amongst ourselves as he has a few things to deal with. Before he leaves, he gives me a vial that will cure my blindness if I drink it. I debate whether or not I should drink it.

Our morale is deflated. We came here to take care of the wizard and get the book back but this guy seems to have played us from the beginning. We're pretty sure that we can't fight him, so it's either help him again and get the book or get nothing. We reluctantly agree to help him. I drink the potion, and sure enough, my sight returns. We tell him our decision when he returns.

Garth: Since I took your bribe, I'm lawfully obligated to help you now.
(DM dies)
This lawful business is a piece of cake!

Also kudos goes to Teddy. He regained his composure after that shocking reveal about his vision and seems even more faithful for it. He tells the wizard that despite what he thinks, Pelor is playing him, not the other way around. The wizard giggles and nods.

The elf vampire leader guy is on his way. And, due to the wizard's constant scrying that eventually got detected, the vampire has magically blocked any divination attempts on him and may be coming with more guards than usual. The bearded devil announces that someone's at the door and the wizard sends him to greet them and bring them down. So it begins.

The Last Supper:

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I tell the group that, no matter what this time, everyone should stick together! If one of us attacks a target, all of us attack that same one! We're gonna do it right this time! Yeeeeah!

The wizard then splits us up and places us in alcoves scattered evenly throughout the room, hiding each of us with an illusionary wall. Yeeeah..

The elf vampire leader arrives with his entourage. A really, really big entourage. At least half a dozen regular soldiers, at least two people decked out in fullplate and clerical gear, and even Prix! Unfortunately, our poor former ally has been vampified. Bringing up the rear are two large zombie things that Teddy, Sweet, and I all identify as flesh golems. We know they're constructs, immune to magic, and pack a huge wallop, but nothing else, as the DM is blocking some extra information from us. I'm reconsidering which side to attack.

The wizard tries to put his new guests at ease, asking them to sit, eat, drink, while his bearded devil servant goes to fetch the book. The vampire looks at him closely and notices something's amiss. He shouts, "IT'S A TRAP!" Crap crap. Initiatives.

The bad guys are starting to advance towards the wizard. Unfortunately, our positioning means that Sweet and I start at the enemy's sides, and if they keep moving forward then we'll be trapped behind them on the other side of our allies. I don't want that. At the same time, I can't help but notice that the villains have lined themselves up perfectly for a cone of fire.

I launch a Hatchling's Flame for pitiful damage, but it hits almost every single enemy, including the two flesh golems. Then I rush out of my hiding spot and move towards the rest of our allies' positions. I'm feeling pretty good about myself, but then the vampire shouts, "They're in the walls!" Oops. I guess fire coming out of a "wall" and then me popping out gave something away.

So fight continues, with Teddy, Edwin, and I on one side of the dinner table, while Dan and the goliath dude fight on the other side of the table, holding off a crazy amount of bad guys. Sweet has decided to remain inside his alcove. The lack of alchohol is wrecking him and he can't manage to get back in "the war" I guess. He quickly finds himself trapped behind enemy lines. But even in his hidey-hole, the bard proves to be a huge boon to the group. The vampire, in a polite voice, suggests that we all sit down at the table and talk this matter out. Will effect. Sweet's not gonna have any of that. The bard had readied Countersong and the clutch tune makes sure none of us fall under the vampire's sway. He follows it up with Inspire Courage, making our strikes more accurate.

Even with the vampire's spell foiled and the flesh golems moving strangely slow, we're taking a beating. I look to the wizard, our strongest ally in the battle. What reality-bending spell shall this mighty demi-god launch at our mutual opponents? Shall he smite them all with but a single spell, or empower us all with arcane magics so great that we can cleave our foes with but a swing?

He casts Mage Armor.

ARE YOU ****ING SERIOUS, OLD MAN? U ****ING PUT A GAEAS ON US AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT BUT WHEN OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE YOU CAST A 1ST LEVEL SPELL??? IMA KILL YOU OLD MAN!!!!!

We keep fighting. The goliath dude and Edwin are barely hanging in there, screaming for healing, but Teddy can't be everywhere at once (and honestly both of them are at Fylo levels of poor positioning). Sweet must've taken a good swig from his emergency flask because he comes out of his alcove and starts pinging away at the vampire with his magical arrows, which gets the vamp's attention, uh oh... But we still have our all-powerful wizard. Wizard! What spell shall ye cast to aid us?

He casts Globe of Invulnerablity.

WHAT THE ****!!! THE ****!!! **** YOU OLD MAN! I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR DEFENSIVE BUFFS! YOU'RE NOT EVEN IN COMBAT! YOU'RE FAR AWAY FROM THE CLOSEST MELEE FIGHTER! ILL FIX THAT WHEN I COME FOR YOU!

Dan goes down. We're chugging potions and trying our best to hold the line. The vampire has started fighting Teddy and Sweet is now kiting the flesh golems, whom move very slowly and can never catch him. Teddy's greatsword appears to be magically powerful against vampires. When he finally landed a hit on Prix, the blade seemed to suck in the creature's very essence and quickly reduced him to mist.

Wizard casts Lightning Bolt to zap a soldier that was coming too close to him. Then he summons his bearded devil to stop standing guard at the exit and protect him because, I don't know, maybe a spot of blood landed on his shoes.

After more fighting, we manage to take down all the soldiers, the clerics, and both vampires, who turn into mist and start floating away. The flesh golems are still up but are too slow to hit any of us. Dan and I are down, the rest of our group can't be looking too good either. We call it here.

Closing Thoughts:

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For the final fight, the DM brought two extra character sheets, Edwin and the goliath, in case any of us died because he was worried that it may be too tough. I don't think Fylo being absent helped either.

It turns out flesh golems are slowed by fire. So my Hatchling's Flame, while pitiful damage and gave away our element of surprise, ended up saving us because they did almost nothing throughout the battle. Sweet unknowingly capitalized on the situation by later kiting them with fire arrows.

DM was nice and not only let me take the Sleeping Tiger monk variant, but he let me rearrange my feats so I took Blind-Fight at 3 instead of Weapon Finesse (I didn't think I could take monk back then). I'm now set to take Master of Nine at level 8.

We all dinged, so we're level 5 now. I effectively leveled up twice this session, woo! Not sure whether I want to take my second level of monk or swordsage. Will think about it.

[Greenish]

I like the wizard's style.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Alright, so you're crimes so so far include animal cruelty, bloody murder for no reason (you start off the campaign by killing a random guy by putting rusty nails in his drink), and lying.

BURN THE WIZARD! BURN HIM!!! He probably has spells for fire resistance though. And spells to prevent being taken by surprise, or stabbed, or all that. Find something that gives you an anti-magic field!

[El Dorado]

They are not proficient with it losing the bonus I did not think that would happen though. Can you quote where that is from?

The only thing stated is Swordsages get there wis to armor in light armor. Light shields are also light armor right

AC Bonus: ". . .you can add your Wisdom modifier as a bonus to Armor Class, so long as you wear light armor, are unencumbered, and do not use a shield."

[Bob the DM]

Don't worry, the head vampire is voluntarily misted. He'll be ready in 2 rounds when he's all healed up.

[Hiro Protagonest]

AC Bonus: ". . .you can add your Wisdom modifier as a bonus to Armor Class, so long as you wear light armor, are unencumbered, and do not use a shield."

Wisdom bonus is also supposed to work in no armor though. And I think it's a fine houserule if you're allowed to use shield with it.

[Dralnu]

Alright, so you're crimes so so far include animal cruelty

The wolves are doing the animal cruelty to us. And that boar was asking for it.

bloody murder for no reason

11 STR dude surrounded by hobgoblins and bugbears in prison. Didn't want to be someone's female dog animal companion.

and lying.

If it's said in a zone of truth then it can't be a lie!

BURN THE WIZARD! BURN HIM!!! He probably has spells for fire resistance though. And spells to prevent being taken by surprise, or stabbed, or all that. Find something that gives you an anti-magic field!

I think he's humiliated us enough.

Don't worry, the head vampire is voluntarily misted. He'll be ready in 2 rounds when he's all healed up.

But we still have our wizard to help us! Maybe next round he'll cast Magic Missile or use Prestidigitation to clean our blood and tears off his shoes!


I should mention that Dan is still rocking out in combat. Especially with Sweet buffing he can full power attack and usually crush someone with 20+ minimum damage, then cleave. I'm probably second with stuff like flurry of blows + burning blade when it hits. Either Teddy or Sweet are after that. Teddy's lvl 1 maneuvers are remarkably still useful in combat and his cleric powers are starting to pick up steam.

Hmm, probably going to take my next level in Swordsage. Flashing Sun, Fire Riposte, Mountain Hammer, Cloak of Deception, so many fun maneuvers to choose from!

[Hiro Protagonest]

The wolves are doing the animal cruelty to us. And that boar was asking for it.

I meant the ponies.

11 STR dude surrounded by hobgoblins and bugbears in prison. Didn't want to be someone's female dog animal companion.

1st session. Not even in the arena yet. Put some nails in a guy's drink.

Hmm, probably going to take my next level in Swordsage. Flashing Sun, Fire Riposte, Mountain Hammer, Cloak of Deception, so many fun maneuvers to choose from!

Another level of monk gets you evasion, a bonus feat, +1 IL, and +1 to all saves. Though it would be a good idea to get more maneuvers from swordsage.

[marcielle]

Just a note, I think the bonuses from setting sun and improved trip stack, meaning your trip modifier is 8+the higher of str or dex. Also, fling straight up for fall damage

[Dralnu]

Rolling HP:
[roll]1d8+2[/roll]

Garth is updated and ready to rock. I think September 4th may be the next session.

EDIT: Hm, guess you can't roll here.

[Palanan]

...and here I was just about to say, I like how you guys roll.

[Lateral]

Looks like you've got the rock, but you don't have the roll.

[nazgulnine]

I've gotta say, I've been reading this for a while now and I'm thoroughly entertained. Kudos to the whole team, I'm always looking forward to your next misadventure.

[Grendus]

I should mention that Dan is still rocking out in combat. Especially with Sweet buffing he can full power attack and usually crush someone with 20+ minimum damage, then cleave. I'm probably second with stuff like flurry of blows + burning blade when it hits. Either Teddy or Sweet are after that. Teddy's lvl 1 maneuvers are remarkably still useful in combat and his cleric powers are starting to pick up steam.

ToB is funny like that. Much like magic, lower level abilities, when chosen right, remain useful all the way into epic. Especially at level 5. It's not until you get iteratives that there's a question about whether you want to use that standard action strike or go for a full attack.

[Palanan]

Just read through your latest installment for the second time. One of your most epic sessions, and easily the most hilarious. Snappily written with high doses of sarcasm: the perfect tone for this campaign.

And I have to say, I'm beginning to share Garth's opinion of the hobgoblin wizard. Garth's inner monologue during the fight, or inner shoutalogue, had me laughing nonstop.

This must have been a marathon session, because you folks sure covered a lot of ground here. I've been in campaigns where just traveling from one monastery to another would have taken up an entire evening. And yet you folks managed to turn back a goblin assault, join a council of war, recruit four monasteries to your cause (okay, your stepcause), confront a mad wizard (okay, stare at his dining room table) and hold your own against a vampire menagerie. Even allowing for the dining room table, that's a lot accomplished.

Also, I enjoyed the digression into Garth's thoughts during the journey to the first monastery. Even though he comes across as randomly psychotic--which is amusing when you're not standing next to him--it seems there are reasons and motives here, and an actual trajectory he's following. Between Garth and Teddy, there's some interesting character development going on, in counterpoint to the latest crazy plot twists.

Looking forward to the next session; soon may it come. If Fylo's player can make it, will Fylo suddenly come charging in, or is he still back at the mines?

[Dralnu]

I'm glad you liked it!

I don't think it was one of our longer sessions but it indeed was packed with content. Inner monologues don't take up real time in sessions so you can cross that out. The journey to the monasteries and back were described as long, but in reality since nothing eventful occured on the trip it was a "blahblahblah and you've arrived," moment. In general though we're pretty quick/efficient at getting through storyline when it doesn't involve stabbing things.

If I recall correctly, Fylo has always been with us, tied to our horses with a rope, getting dragged along while remaining unconscious or whatever. We're not very accommodating towards the vertically challenged.

[Sith_Happens]

If I recall correctly, Fylo has always been with us, tied to our horses with a rope, getting dragged along while remaining unconscious or whatever. We're not very accommodating towards the vertically challenged.

Personally, I think it would be funnier and make more sense from an in-universe perspective if Fylo was back at the mines the whole time, only to be teleported in by the wizard as the one semi-useful thing he does as part of the ambush.

I notice you did in fact take Flashing Sun, in which case I'm assuming that you can in fact use it with Flurry of Blows. Desert Wind in general is looking like a good discipline choice for you, given this campaign's abundance of fights against large groups of non-fire-resistant enemies. The day that Garth Bolstrum masters the Inferno Blast shall be marked in history.

By the way, I like the sudden inclusion in the campaign of ToB material beyond the two guys playing initiator classes. I don't know whether it's been said or decided yet which four of the Nine Blades you guys are going to be chasing after (), but you'd have quite a bit of fun with Desert Wind and/or Umbral Awl (two sets of personal costs might be a bit much) and Teddy is probably dying to get his hands on Faithful Avenger.

EDIT: Just remembered that Weapon Finesse and Shadow Blade both don't work with scimitars. Umbral Awl it is.