Homebrew Testing: the Twisted Spire Group 1 (IC)

[JerichoPenumbra]

Asok-Ver grunts as he slices towards the roach with his light saber.

Spoiler

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Attack:(1d20+7)[14]
Damage(2d6+1)[10] Fire

or

Attack:(1d20+7)[19]
Damage:(2d6+1)[7] Fire

[Zaydos]

Asok's lightsaber swishes past the big roach barely as it bites at the Astral Construct behind it. Its teeth tear into the ectoplasmic being, ripping at its leg but failing to pull it down (10 damage).

The other big roach bites at Asok's previous location, still blinded. One of the little roaches seems to have heard Jacind and moves towards him, taking a longspear strike for its efforts and falling to the ground (I hope you don't mind me rolling the AoO to get the enemy action resolved in one post), the other continues to attack the astral construct its mandibles scraping harmlessly against the toughened ectoplasm. One of the non-blind small roaches strike at Jacind but misses completely. The other strikes Tindamel in the back (5 damage; nat 20) but is unable to pull the elf-warrior to his knees.

It is Tindamel and Darya/Astral Construct's turns.

Spoiler: Map

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{table=head]A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
1|-|-|-|/|||||/|-|-|-
2|-|-|||||||||-|-
3|/||||||||||/|-
4|/|||||A||||||/
5|/|||C|R|T|r|||||/
6|||||r|_|D|_||||
7|||||R||J|r||||
8||||||||||||
9|/|||||||||||/
10|-|||||||||||-[/table]
Technically there's more space at the bottom but it seems to be away from the combat (I could have cut off the top as well). This is mostly just assuming the group has avoided being in AoO range when casting (such as healing Tindamel)

/ half space (map has them)
r = little roach
R = big roach
T = Tindamel
J = Jacind
A = Asok
D = Darya
C = astral Construct
Swarm is in 5G and 6G-I
Red indicates bloodied.
Dark red indicates heavily wounded (<40% health)

[Beelzebub1111]

Another swing at the big roach. For justice!

Attack - (1d20+9)[12] and Backup attack - (1d20+9)[20]
Damage - (1d10+2)[11]
Crit Confirm - (1d20+9)[28]
Crit Damage - (1d20+2)[9]

((OOC: Deathwatch is still up so I'd know if anything was at three or less hp.))

[Rendel Nep]

Darya now finally composed, darts through Jacind before unleashing a volley of searing small darts at the various roaches. Burn you horrible vermin! BURN! she screams triumphantly.

Spoiler

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Darya 5 ft steps into Jacind's space and moves to (H9) provoking an attack of opportunity then manifests Energy Missile (fire) DC 17 for 5 PP on F5 (5d6+5)[19] F6 (5d6+5)[26] and F7 (5d6+5)[23]. I don't think it affects swarms but if it does then (5d6+5)[27] is dealt

Astral Construct attacks F5 (1d20+9)[29] Damage (1d8+7)[14]
Crit (1d20+9)[13]

(Astral Construct fades at the end of this round or next one I think)

[Zaydos]

Tindamel's sword swings wide as the astral construct pummels the roach from behind and it falls. Darya dodges a small roach then she releases three missiles striking the remaining large roach and the two uninjured smaller roaches. The fiery projectiles strike them, and they fall leaving only the swarm and the injured roach still standing.

Spoiler: OoC

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The re-rolls were a one round thing (mostly because I knew if nausea didn't strike the mage again a quick evocation would wipe most of the field).

Everything is dying, except one small roach which is dead, the swarm, and the standing small roach which has 3 hp.

[Zaydos]

The swarm moves back over Jacind and Darya (H6-9), biting at them (3 damage).

It is Asok and Jacind's actions (assuming the latter is not nauseated). I can remember to type up what the enemies do.

[JerichoPenumbra]

Another slash with the lightsaber.

Spoiler

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Attack:(1d20+7)[21]
Damage:(2d6+1)[9]

Tindamel sees that Asok is in a fragile state.

[Zaydos]

The last roach falls, the swarm and carpet of small roaches beginning to disperse back into the tunnels.

[Beelzebub1111]

"Well, that could have gone better" Tindamel will take out his mug, conjure up some water and wash off his spine before sliding it back into place. "Any thoughts, gentlemen?" he turns to Darya "And lady."

[Rendel Nep]

Er, Sorry for taking so long. Those horrible bugs were all over me and I wasn't able to manifest anything. Darya apologises.
Um regarding our target...I'd want to hold off chasing them. That was rather tiring and you Tindamel look like you're about to keel over. She says, pointing to the various bite marks he's accumulated.

[Techwarrior]

"It's fine. I'm just glad we survived."

Jacind touches the belt at his waist, set with three white gemstones. He focuses for a moment, and one of them fades to black as his wounds slowly heal. (2d8)[12]

"I believe at this point we need to assess our skills so we know what is and isn't available. I am a warrior primarily, a student of the Sublime Way, and can use it against magical creatures to deadly effect. I also have a small knowledge of arcane arts, though my studies have not been as extensive as I would like. I seem to have an uncanny knack for figuring out how magical items work, and am an accomplished acrobat."

[Beelzebub1111]

"I am fine, Though I see that Asok is clearly at death's door" Tindamel turns to Jacind "I am a Knight of Dullahan. I excel in single combat, especially with other elves. As you saw, I may use my own spine as a blade, but it may also function as a whip that I can use to entangle my foe, and harm them regardless of their protections. I can see the energies of life and death, and my armor contains a small bit of my soul, allowing me to move more freely than most could. In exchange, I am slowly dying. As of now I no longer need rest, and am healed by negative energy."

Spoiler: Knowledge nature DC 15

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Dullahan are Unselee fey that appear as headless horsemen roaming the countryside. They are often depicted as harbingers of death

Spoiler: Knowledge nature DC 20

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On the rare occasion a brave, foolish, or desperate soul has sought out the Dullahan to gain a portion of the power it possesses, these are known as the Knights of Dullahan

Spoiler: Knowledge Nature DC 25

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All Dullahan share an irrational fear of gold. Turning and fleeing at the mere sight of it

[Techwarrior]

Knowledge (Nature) (1d20+4)[5]

"That's interesting Tindamel... Very interesting. Does that mark you as undead? Or has the power you've gained just altered the plane that fuels your body?"

Jacind offers Asok-Ver a charge from his healing belt (2d8)[9].

[Beelzebub1111]

"I am not aligned with the undead, nor am I one myself." Tindamel continues "I draw power from a contract, of sorts, with a spirit of death."

[Rendel Nep]

Not to be rude, but I can't stand the undead. No minds.. nothing to relate to and the smell. if its not clear I'm a manifester. An Avatar to be precise and I can cghange a portion of my powers as required. I'm not sure but I think the relate to various facets of the mind. Darya says.

[Techwarrior]

"That's a neat trick. We should be moving on, any ideas?"

Spoiler: Questions

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Does the area have any kind of other tunnels that we could fit three easily? Failing that, did we see any other routes on our way down?"

[Beelzebub1111]

Tindamel looks up "In my opinion, I think that we should attempt to use this node, if it seems that our quarry has used it, then perhaps we may use it as well, if it is possible for us to do so, that is."

[Techwarrior]

"I've already tapped the node once, although it is not so simple and I wasn't able to pull it off the second time while we were in combat."

[Zaydos]

The tunnels are fairly long, and while you could not fit three abreast and in fact would have to squeeze down the path, you could fit 3 people in any of the 12 tunnels the roaches came from. There did not seem to be any side paths on the way down.

[Techwarrior]

"If we were to make camp, Darya and I should be able to attune more closely to the node, and we could follow whoever used this node last. If we're going to do that though, we should really clear out these tunnels to make sure there's nothing else that's going to sneak up on us in the night."

OOC: Jacind has only three second level slots to work with, but if needed he can use the teleport function. I don't know whether another Glitterdust or Mirror Image is going to be more useful to us than 3 of Darya's PPs.

[Rendel Nep]

I could do it now if you want, Don't think its going to make me much more tired than I already am. Some chance to heal wounds would be good though. Darya offers.

OOC: Power points being the fluid things are means its not that much more effort. people probably needs healing so I'll blow all the power points there.

[Techwarrior]

"Either way, we should clear out the area before we make camp. Do what healing you will, and then we should proceed. It'll take a long time to attune to the node anyway, we might as well rest while doing so. Then we can go through at full strength."

Jacind looks nervously at the tunnels, thinking back to the sickening stench of the roaches. Once Darya is done with her healing, he stows his spear and draws his longsword, and then leads the way down one of the tunnels. Before entering the tunnel, he draws his a rod and casts Shield and Mirror Image, then stows the rod away.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Jacind uses the last two daily charges off of his rod to Extend Shield and Mirror Image, and attempts to tap the node for power while doing so.

Take 10 would let me succeed, but if I can't take 10 for some reason:
Shield (1d20+3)[23] DC 12
Mirror Image (1d20+3)[8] DC 13

Shield gives him immunity to Magic Missiles, and gives him a +4 Shield bonus to AC (which applies to attacks as a Force effect) for 10 minutes, or 12 if he taps the node.

Mirror Image creates (1d4+1)[5] (+1 additional image if he taps the node) illusionary images, each of which have an AC of 13 and are destroyed by being attacked.

Up to date sheet

OOC: Jacind is at full health, and gave Asok-Ver a charge for 9 points off of his healing belt. He'd like to save the last one in case of an emergency.

[Beelzebub1111]

Tindamel will bring up the rear, and cover Jacind's back. It's unlikely that he'll face any elves soon, so he will wield his bow, keeping it at the ready to fire at the first bug he sees.

[Zaydos]

The tunnels walls are small and constricting, too small to successfully wield a longbow, their walls coated in oily, black grime. Tiny, regular sized roaches, scurry in fear ahead of your ingress. As you explore the tunnels you find that they twist and turn.

How long will you risk exploring them without new discoveries?

[Techwarrior]

Well, there's 12 tunnels... Let's say 1 minute in each tunnel for a total of the twelve minutes of Jacind's spells before Jacind turns back.

[Zaydos]

You manage to find some dead ends that you can't squeeze through but between all the branching of the paths and the slow going of squeezing through the tunnels you haven't explored them all by the time your spells end.

[Zaydos]

After 8 hours of rest you manage to attune yourselves to the node's energies allowing you to access them. Gathering your companions around you for a moment you feel a sensation of great weight as the world disappears into absolute darkness, and then you reappear in the bottom of a crater in some larger area. The crater seems to be 30-ft in diameter, and its rim obscures the exact nature of the area you are within.

Spoiler: OoC:

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I'm going to allow you to treat the 8 hour rest as a night and regain stuff for the day, but then one of you needs to mark off a 2nd level spell slot or 3 pp.

[Beelzebub1111]

Tindamel will crack his knuckles and limber up before taking out his bow He whispers "I'll scope it out up there. I'll wave you up if I need you to come quiet, If it's clear I'll call, if it's hostile I'll head back down."and heading up to the edge of the crater peaking over

hide - (1d20-1)[4]
move silently - (1d20-1)[17]

And and apparently he doesn't realize to keep his head below the rim, or maybe the light just reflects off his armor.

[Techwarrior]

Jacind taps the node while casting Mage Armor, Extended from his Metamagic rod. Before dawn, he gave the most injured member of the party his last charge from his belt of healing for (2d8)[8].

After using his magic to bend space-time and bring the party through the Earth Node, Jacind readies his sling and covers Tindamel's retreat.

OOC: Jacind took 10 on the Int check, casting Mage Armor^Abj at Caster Level 6 as an Extended spell from his metamagic rod. He also used a 2nd level spell slot to use the node.

[Zaydos]

Ascending the crater Tindamel is able to see out of it. Beyond the crater opens a wide Underdark vista lit by pale light shining through enormous columns that march into the misted distance. The benighted waters of a sunless sea meet a pebble-strewn shore a half-mile or so away. Across that dark water, a city glimmers around the base of the nearest column.

A cobbled road, which emerges from an opening in the dimly glowing cavern wall about a quarter-mile to the left, passes within 10 feet of the crater and continues on to the right. It finally connects to a narrow but elongated stone formation that spans the shadowy sea, reaching more than a mile to the city.

Just across the road from the crater, a strange covered wagon sits. A broad and dusky dwarf, bald but with a white beard, stands in front of it, smiling. He wears a thick leather coat and gloves that have gold piping. Two large gray lizards stand idly nearby.

The grinning dwarf calls out in a deep baritone in perfect Common, "Node traveler, and unless I miss my mark, a surfacer too! I am Bruthwol Coalhauler, a humble merchant! Are you alone or do others travel with you? And would you perhaps like to see my wares?"