Results 121 to 150 of 488
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2017-09-11, 04:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2012
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Maria looks through the shelves and uses her research experience to try to get any information on the land they are in, the nature of the fog that brought them here and more on Strahd.
Spoiler: Investigation Checks(1d20+5)[21]
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2017-09-11, 10:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Kyran is twitching a bit, muttering to himself as he skims the material here for anything that seems remotely connected to their situation, "I am in the house of a thrice damned family who sacrificed in Strahd's name, no way out, and at least one deadly trap is involved, even if some other poor soul disarmed it for us. But praise the Morninglord, there is a bard with us who is an utter loon. Hmph, at least we can use him as bait."
Spoiler: OOCInvestigation (1d20+4)[11]"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
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2017-09-12, 05:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Maria hits the books and finds even more information. Most books seem at least a few decades old and are still in good condition. Some don't speak of Barovia as the village, meaning they might even be older. You cannot make anything of this realm's year numbering. You just understand you are not in Toril anymore.
As an arcane specialist the magical mist is far more intriguing after you learn that you cannot add much more to Strahd's story with these books. Too much has happened in the last few decades. The Mist seems to be some kind of planar border, and anything you read about this realm reminds you of pocket dimensions and demiplanes. They are severely limited in size and usual don't house a rich backstory or even that many living creatures. Additionally not even the mightiest magisters of the realm can pierce it to travel the worlds. Usually, planar travel is dangerous, but possible for any prepared and powerful mage. As you don't think all Vistani are arcanists there only two possibilities left. Either they are exempt from the curse trapping everyone here or, much more like they are allied with the vile forces that enforces this realm's borders. You find this information readily available but only after looking for a fair bit more through all too familiar rituals you find a few other tidbits of info: The rituals the Dursts tried are not made for this realm. They tried to invoke powers that were barred from this realm, as they could contact anything in the multiverse but the transdimensional barrier simply redirects most of these efforts to the Dark Powers, or Strahd in their substitute. This means Strahd is connected to the Dark Powers in some way. Realizing that he is a trapped conqueror you are not so sure he is the one in power in this relationship.
Meanwhile Kyran checks the room to the left of the staircase. It is the conservatory, fully equipped with a piano, a standing harp and enough place to dance. It has another fireplace with a beautifully decorated mantelpiece of dancers. Closer inspection reveals the dancers are mere skeletons. The tiny room is the servant's pitiful bed chamber. A pair of straw-stuffed matresses, a footlocker for each "bed" and a closet with two tidy servant's' uniforms.
The voice drowns out in Kyril's head. Sadly so does anything else.
SpoilerKyril, do a DC 10 Con save or be exhausted 1 stage.
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2017-09-12, 06:05 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2015
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Finally pulling his nose out of his history books, Nestor hurries back downstairs after Kyril. He listens to the end of his companion's rant, then speaks up. "Come on now, lad. It's not as you say. Or perhaps it is, I can't quite tell what exactly you were saying. But it's brighter than all that, because there's hope in the world. We may have been brought here by a force we don't understand, something that may be malevolent, but perhaps we were chosen for what we could do for the people of this land." Grinning proudly, Nestor proclaims, "I myself am an egregiously famous and talented calligrapher and artisté! You create music with your words, even in your sadness." Casting an appraising eye around the room and out into the entry hall, Nestor gestures vaguely. "Why, even the craftsfolk who built this house for an evil man had the good humor to mock him and his foul quest and beautify the world with their laborious decoration." Knealing down, waiting until Kyril will make eye contact, and patting the drunken fellow gently on the arm, Nestor says, "Come now, let's go get those Tyrish villains and whatever monster they're terrorizing the children with."
GENERATION 18: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. social experiment.
DEGENERATION 90: Copy this into your sig and subtract 1 from the degeneration when you first see it. antisocial experiment.
78% of all DM's start their first campaign in a tavern. If you're among the 22% who didn't, copy and paste this into your signature and tell us where you DID begin.
A census office. Quest: convince the workers that 32.21% of statistics are made up.
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2017-09-12, 10:54 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Lucian carefully enters the room behind Kyran. Seeing that there's not much else, in the room, but the footlockers Lucian draws his sword and carefully uses it to open one of the footlockers.
Glancing over at Kyran, and seeing something is amiss with him, Lucian voices his concern.
"Are you all right my friend?"
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2017-09-12, 11:57 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
"You have to ask that? You lot got me stuck in here. More than half of you refuse to take it seriously, and then the poet over there, Kyril was it? Goes completely nuts. My family is counting on my coming home, and I feel as if I'm watching the chances of that happening draining away."
Last edited by Daishain; 2017-09-12 at 12:05 PM.
"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
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2017-09-12, 09:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2012
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
"Well from what I have gathered we are in a pocket dimension or demiplane, brought here by the mists for some unknown reason. I know from my research here that the owners of this house were transported here too. As to why one can only guess. I can also glean that Strahd is also a prisoner here as well.", Maria thinks for a moment, I must warn you guys that any attempt to make contact with other planes or your homeworlds will be directed instead to Strahd or whatever Dark Powers control this place.
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2017-09-12, 10:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
"Easy, friend. You offered to show us the way to the Burgomeister's house. You even brought us this particular way. All of us stopped to help those kids. At that point..we were left with no option, but to come inside here. Now, let's calm down and figure out what the problem is here, so we all can go home."
Lucian stands there doing his best to keep Kyran calm.
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2017-09-13, 10:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
There's more than a tinge of anger in his voice, but Kyran has stopped twitching, "I've walked down that same exact street hundreds of times in my life. Never so much as a hint of trouble. No, something wants you in here, and I just got swept along."
He finishes sweeping through the servants quarters, then moves on to the next room.
Spoiler: OOC
Investigate (1d20+4)[12]Last edited by Daishain; 2017-09-13 at 10:50 AM.
"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
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2017-09-14, 12:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
- Location
- California, US
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Kyril starts to wipe his eyes with the hand that held the wine glass, but then quickly jerks his hand away and wipes away the glass shards on his pants. After wiping his face with his other hand, he gets up and grabs the other wooden goblet. He tries the cask he's been drinking from only to find that it's empty - some fool must have been drinking obsessively. In fact, that's a lot of alcohol - it's surprising that there isn't a body on the floor!
Dropping the goblet, he turns towards Nestor and replies:
"A foolish lady was handed a jar
Within which all the monsters of the world
Were trapped, bound to each other for all time
Til the lady grew curious of it
And the lid was lifted from the prison.
All the evils of this cruel world escaped
From that pale jar, infecting this dark earth.
All but just one, a tiny voice inside
Begging to be let free. Dread Hope remained
Within the jar, controlled by the lady,
At her mercy. The fair lady refused
And monstrous Hope remained to be in chains.
So now Hope is the only monster chained
The one evil we have in our control.
Music marks my verses, even in woe?
Then let us make our way to the upstairs
For there is hope, against our best efforts.
There is hope that shall drag our fates onward."
Glancing around at the decor Nestor mentions, Kyril begins again.
"These all are ugly and foul creatures.
Beauteous? Hardly so. What they are
Is naught but poetic. All things end."
When he gets upstairs, he sees the second open room, and the harp within it. Rushing in, Kyril starts to play a lilting tune: slow, but not nearly as creepy as his viol music.
Spoiler: OOCKyril is narrating the story of Pandora's box.
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2017-09-14, 01:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Lucian follows Kyran out of the room and stops him.
"If this Lord Strahd turly wanted us to come in here...then it's possible that he wanted you as well. For what purpose...that I can not say. So for that...I'm truly sorry that you got stuck with us. There's not much in this new realm that I'm sure of, but one thing is certain.....I will use all of my ability as a noble and a knight to make sure you get back to your family. For what it's worth you have my word on that."
Having said what he wanted to, Lucian pats Kyran on the shoulder and leaves him be. Heading back into the servants room, he returns to checking out the two footlockers.Last edited by Squadfather42; 2017-09-14 at 01:43 AM.
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2017-09-14, 01:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Everything you do is accompanied by the harmonic, almost relaxing tune of the harp. While it sounds a bit like a struggle in the beginning, a somber harmony soon envelops the entire floor.
You finish up your research and investigations. You could find out other things about this realm and Strahd with the books but they seem a few decades old and the information may be misleading. Also after a bit of study, Maria claims that most of the arcane rituals described in the books are way off. If the Dursts are cultists, they are terrible at it. They ignore or don't know about the dimensional lock and try to summon demons and the like. And with the indistinguishable soulless people most ritualistic murders are entirely pointless as their death means nothing.
Kyran's search doesn't turn up anything worthwhile. You are certain a spell "time-locks" the items in the house to prevent decay. But this aura exempts the servants' equipment, bar the uniforms. The footlockers are empty with dust. You find a few rivets belonging to shoes long decayed.
The only way leads up. The spiral staircase greets you with a cold wind.
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2017-09-14, 01:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Kyran says slowly, "Thank you for that. I don't know if I can believe it will make a difference, but thank you for understanding."
He checks back in with Maria and assists in deciphering the texts as best he can. When this is done, he'll call out, "That seems to be everything on this floor, lets proceed up together.""No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
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2017-09-14, 02:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Lucian walks out of the servants quarters in time to gear Kyran say this level is clear. Following the group, he heads up to the next level.
"This should be the level that the children said their brother is in. We must tread carefully just in case."
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2017-09-14, 02:57 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
- Location
- California, US
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Kyril's music comes to a stop, as he stands up to follow Kyran.
"Onward and upward, or so it would seem.
To the poor brother lost in this dread house.
Let us hope his face has not been taken
Lest we should find ourselves fighting the same.
Wizard and Lizard and Townsman and Knight
And pairings of poets, shall we all go?"
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2017-09-14, 09:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2012
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
These folks also summoned demons. Not a good thing. Not a good thing at all., shaking her head she follows the others. In reality she is scared to death about what is happening around her. But she also has inner courage and a strong will to survive. So she soldiers on.
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2017-09-15, 05:20 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Spoiler: CorrectionI said there was a big balcony on the third floor but it is actually a rather small one.
As you enter the final floor you are immediately greeted by dust and cobwebs. Whatever spell kept the house clean does not apply to this part of the house. You see another wolf-headed armor adjacent to the end of the spiral staircase. It is covered in cobwebs but colored black, as to stand out from the rest. The walls are carved with a scenery taken from woodlands this time. There is a double-door to your right - tucked away in a nook. To your left are two single doors. One to the east and one to the west. You hear a haunting lullaby from your left (south).
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2017-09-15, 07:51 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Lucian looks around at the armor and dust, as the sound of the lullaby reaches his ears. "If we can, lets search all of the other rooms up here first. Without knowing what's singing that lullaby, we should leave that room for last."
Last edited by Squadfather42; 2017-09-15 at 08:24 AM.
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2017-09-15, 08:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Kyran takes a look around the balcony first
Spoiler: OOCAny pings on Detect Magic up here?
Perception (1d20+3)[9]
Investigate (1d20+4)[12]"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
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2017-09-15, 08:31 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Lucian moves away from the sound of the lullaby and turns his attention towards the double doors. Taking his sword and tapping the door knobs, to see if any surprises await.
If none await he slowly opens opens the doors.
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2017-09-15, 09:37 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2015
- Location
- Ann Arbor, MI
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Not normally a thoughtful dragonborn, Salasar looks at the others around and attempts to connect the people to the situation. Overwhelmingly his mind continues to land on the question, "Why?" A ragtag goup, but seemingly capable of defending themselves. This Strahd must grow bored, requires the excitement and drama associated with a potential challenge. Moving to the door where the lullaby is drifting out, Salasar raises the blade so the light can pierce through the tiny cracks and bottom opening above the floor boards.
"Rosavalda? Thornboldt? Are you up here? Is that you singing in there?"
A slight bit of fear tingles down Salasar's spine, feeling cautious he checks the door for any potential traps.
Spoiler: Investigation CheckInvestigation: (1d20-1)[12]
Perception: (1d20+3)[6]I shook Wil Wheaton's hand once... and haven't rolled a nat 20 since...
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2017-09-15, 09:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
As Kyran investigates the area the others follow suit. The area is pretty confined so while he checks the murals on the wall, Lucian goes towards the double-doors, close to the black plate armor.
As the suspecting warrior tries to open the double-doors he spins around, blocking the animated armor's first fist attack. The second attack however uses a gap in Lucian's attack.
Spoiler: Animated Armor's attackBecause you said you are careful I only roll 1 attack of two. However you are unaware the armor is a monster so it gets its surprise round with a single attack:
Attack: (1d20+4)[11]
Damage: (1d6+2)[6]
Initiative: (1d20)[10]
The others please define their space right now.
Spoiler: Combat rulesYou have about 12-24 hours to input your action. If you don't do anything I will use the character as appropriate. If I can avoid using up resources I will. However if a well placed spell does wonders I will not refrain from using up resources.
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2017-09-15, 10:28 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
With a curse, Kyran flattens himself by the wall so others can get by as he raises the tube he's been lovingly carrying this whole time. There's a sound not unlike thunder as energy flashes out of the end, streaking towards the animated armor.
Spoiler: OOC(1d20+6)[19]
(2d6+4)[7]"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
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2017-09-15, 11:13 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2015
- Location
- Ann Arbor, MI
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Slightly startled, Salasar whips around, brandishing the lit sword before him. Tilting his head to the side, he momentarily tries to understand the unmanned armor, but the fury quickly builds and he races into the developing fray with a full-bodied swing.
Spoiler: Initiative and AttackInitiative Roll: (1d20+1)[15]
Moving adjacent to the animated armor, preferably flanking position. (Flanking rules applying or no?)
Attack Rolls: (1d20+5)[24] or [roll]1d20+[/roll] if ADV with flanking Damage: (2d6+3)[6] Crit Dice: (2d6)[3]
Fudged the roll, forget ADV.Last edited by Wheaton's Whelp; 2017-09-15 at 11:17 AM.
I shook Wil Wheaton's hand once... and haven't rolled a nat 20 since...
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2017-09-15, 11:41 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2015
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
As he followed the others up the stairs, angrily brushing a stray cobweb out of his hair, Nestor heard the lullaby. A crawling sensation ran up his spine. He stopped before the landing and leaned against the wall, taking a steadying breath and eying the decorated wall across the way. This place...
He jumped with a clank as what he had assumed to be decorative armor lurched forward and lashed out with its mailed fist. Nestor scrambled for the chain of the reliquary looped around his shield and hefted his warhammer as he watched his companions and the suit of armor start attacking each other. "Taste the sacred flame of Lady Sune's displeasure!" he cried. Something was wrong. He didn't feel his goddess' presence when he invoked her blessing. He felt empty and distant from her beauty, though his command still brought the torrent of searing light roaring forth around the armor.
Spoiler: OOC
DC 12 Dexterity Saving Throw or take (1d8)[6] radiant damageLast edited by WMO?; 2017-09-15 at 06:02 PM.
GENERATION 18: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. social experiment.
DEGENERATION 90: Copy this into your sig and subtract 1 from the degeneration when you first see it. antisocial experiment.
78% of all DM's start their first campaign in a tavern. If you're among the 22% who didn't, copy and paste this into your signature and tell us where you DID begin.
A census office. Quest: convince the workers that 32.21% of statistics are made up.
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2017-09-15, 12:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2012
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Maria again does not move but guards against attacks. She knows she is not a fighter. Her place is for magical support and defense. And as she had eventually expected, it was now needed. With the thrust of her hand, three glowing darts fly out of it and strike the animated armor.
Spoiler: ActionsCast Magic Missile. Automatically hits for 1d4+1 Damage. 3 attacks.
Magic Missile 1: (1d4+1)[5]
Magic Missile 2: (1d4+1)[4]
Magic Missile 3: (1d4+1)[3]
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2017-09-15, 12:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
- Location
- California, US
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
As the knight headed toward the double doors, Kyril turned toward the music. He almost reaches the door before hearing the armor clank behind him. He whirls around in time to see the suit of armor bludgeoning the knight. He reaches for his newfound crossbow on his belt, but realizes he's far too close in for ranged combat. Instead, he grabs his rapier with the same hand and instantly slices at the suit's neck.
"No room nor time for the crossbow
But let my sword pierce your foul void!"
Spoiler: OOCAttack: (1d20+5)[14]
Damage: (1d8+3)[7]
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2017-09-15, 03:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Spoiler: Init CountKyril, Salasar, Armor, Nestor, Kyran, Lucian, Maria (0 until she rolls Init)
Kyril's bolt hits the armor but doesn't even dent it from the angle it is hitting the construct. Salasar however is charging in from the left, pinning the animated armor to the wall and denting the chestpiece quite a bit. The armor retaliating by attacking Salasar
Spoiler: AttacksSlam 1: Attack (1d20+4)[5]; Damage (1d6+2)[6]
Slam 2: Attack (1d20+4)[10]; Damage (1d6+2)[3]
Much to Nestor's surprise his hand lights up in a beautiful holy flame and shoots towards the Armor. Sune has not forgotten him but her power feels distant and dampened.
SpoilerDex Save: (1d20)[20]
Kyran's Thundercannon straight blows a big hole into the chest part of the armor and Maria's force projectiles chunk the armor further. It looks heavily damaged but it is still standing and fighting. As Lucian sees how much momentum Salasar has gained he tries to topple the armor [Salasar has advantage].
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2017-09-15, 04:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Balian feels the blow come out of nowhere. Staggering under the sudden hit, instinct kicks in. Partially turning so as to see his attacker, Lucian strikes back with his longsword.
Attack-
(1d20+5)[12]
Damage-
(1d8+5)[11]
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2017-09-15, 04:49 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Curse of Strahd, Chapter 0: Death House IC
Quickly snapping open the small chamber in his cannon, Kyran slots in another of the strange cubes. Snapping the hatch closed, Kyran aims and fires once more.
Spoiler: OOC(1d20+6)[17] (2d6+4)[9]Last edited by Daishain; 2017-09-15 at 04:50 PM.
"No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." -John Donne-
Guides, tables, and other useful tools for 5E D&D