Glad I Ate Her IC - Esprit15/Ilil

[Toliudar]

character sheet

It has occurred to me that, with a bunch of monster characters, the balance amongst which is hard to determine, and with us starting in a gladiatorial context, it might be useful to give the players with completed PC's an opportunity to try them out 'in the ring.'
• All of you will face the same opponent. No XP will be rewarded for these fights.
• Winning is explicitly not the point of this, so feel free to read each others' threads.
• Instead, I'm looking at how a character works, and how a player writes (which is NOT to say that I need sonnets in each post).
• Participation is voluntary, and I may accept players who don't participate in this process, but I figured that it might be fun, and gives me more information.
• The Friday deadline for new applications remains, but I may delay selection of a team to move forward to group play by a few days while I move some of these individual threads forward.

Should you choose to participate, from your past experience, you know the following:

The arena is a 50’ cube, with a tight lattice of force on all sides, and there are audience bleachers on all four sides. The floor of the arena is gravel and dirt, but you know from talking to other gladiators the force lattice extends below the surface.

Usually, your opponents are already in the ring when you enter. You start in a small waiting area adjacent to the arena, supervised by a pair of grim-faced guards.

There is a table in the waiting area with a disorganized pile of battered-but-serviceable weapons and shields, in a variety of sizes and configurations. Spending 1 round at the table finds you any medium sized common weapon, or a medium sized buckler, large shield or tower shield. For each size smaller or larger, add one round of searching. For a martial weapon or spiked shield, add 1 round of searching. For an exotic weapon, add 2 rounds. None of the weapons are masterwork, of special materials, or otherwise mechanically exceptional. If you are searching for a missile weapon, the associated ammunition is found with the weapon.
Anything that you do in the waiting area that harms the guards gets you summarily and efficiently killed. Otherwise, you can go through any preparations/buffing/etc that you wish. Once the signal comes for the doors to open, the two guards immediately force you out into the main arena, and the fight begins. Resisting the guards gets you summarily and efficiently killed.

From your past experience, you might have only a few seconds in the waiting area, or you might wait a minute or two before the fight begins. Functionally, this means I’ll be rolling a d20 to determine how many rounds of preparation you have before the start of the fight. In your first post, I’ll ask you to lay out your character’s actions in each of 20 pre-fight rounds, and I’ll let you know when that sequence of actions is interrupted by the start of the fight. You're under no obligation to do anything in any of those rounds.

[Esprit15]

Spoiler: OOC

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Given that this is a gladiator type match, I assume our normal equipment is not available, correct?

Ilil looks around at the weapons, annoyance in their mind. They were supposed to be a servant, but it seems that Metkalf became bored with their service, or suspected subterfuge. The Erinyes smiles to their self. Suspicions well placed. A few days here and they would be back to peace and planning. They'd give the audience a bit of a show, though... Ooh, yes, like that! That would be fun.

Spoiler

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Round 1: Look for Longbow
Round 2: Find Longbow
Round 3: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance in the arena
Round 4A: If enemy is human/humanoid, turn into woman of the same race
Round 4B: Jokingly ask a guard if they happen to have any poison that I could borrow, I promise to pay him back.
Round 5: Ready to go.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: OOC

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Given that this is a gladiator type match, I assume our normal equipment is not available, correct?

Spoiler

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Round 1: Look for Longbow
Round 2: Find Longbow
Round 3: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance in the arena
Round 4A: If enemy is human/humanoid, turn into woman of the same race
Round 4B: Jokingly ask a guard if they happen to have any poison that I could borrow, I promise to pay him back.
Round 5: Ready to go.

You are correct in that there is no starting equipment. However, you've missed the fact that Clairvoyance takes 10 minutes to activate.

Rounds before the doors open: (1d20)[13]

--

Ilil manages to pull a serviceable longbow and quiver of arrows out of the clutter on the table. Shifting back and forth, settling onto the balls of his/her feet, the fiend prepares for whatever awaits.

About a minute later, there is a brief fanfare, and the pair of stone-faced guards yank open the doors, just as a section of the force lattice disappears beyond the doors. One of the guards reaches forward and unceremoniously yanks Ilil into the ring.

Waiting about 10' in front of her is a massive brown bear, shaggy and with a mottled hump of silver-grey fur at the shoulder. About 20' behind the bear are a pair of snarling tigers, crouched and ready to pounce.

[spoiler]You can either roll for initiative, or roll and give a round of actions if you win initiative.[/roll]

[Esprit15]

Spoiler: Initiative

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(1d20+3)[17]

”Oh that’s hardly any fun...” Ilil pouts as they are shoved into the cage with the animals.

Ilil immediately takes to the air, flying as high as their average maneuverability allows. Looking down at one of the bears, they hum a little tune and gesture vaguely in its direction, hoping to get one of them to think more about protecting their new friend than killing them.

Spoiler

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Charm Monster, DC 23 Will save
While the spell needs comprehension to follow orders, it says nothing about needing it for the initial casting.

[Toliudar]

Opponent Initiative: (1d20+2)[6]

[Toliudar]

Ilil takes to the air, reaching a point more or less dead centre in the 50' cube. Looking back, the devil sends its influence back on the simple mind of the bear. It sits back on its haunches, its head swivelling to follow Ilil's flight path.

One of the tigers yowls and coils to leap at Ilil. The other also yowls, although in a slightly more structured way.

Spoiler

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Bear will save (1d20+4)[6]

Both the bear and the tiger on Ilil's left read as animals, with animal-level intelligence. The tiger on the right reads as humanoid, very intelligent.

[Esprit15]

Ilil chuckles to their self. Ooh, very interesting, they think to their self. "I expected you filthy humans to send more than just animals my way," they call out to the crowd and guards. "You capture a devil, a fallen angel even! Yet this is all you can think to throw at me?" Their mind drifts over to the other simple animal. Now you, you'll join me next. The devil otherwise flies around the top of the force cage, taking their time. The druid that they placed in here would be a pain, especially if they ever decide to start casting spells this way. The fight would come down to whether their new friends would raise a paw to defend them or not when that happened.

Spoiler

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Charm Monster on the non-intelligent one, DC 23

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Will save vs charm: (1d20+3)[22]

Slam 1 [roll]1d20+12] (2d6+4)[9]
Slam 2 [roll]1d20+12] (2d6+4)[14]

As Ilil circles, the devil focuses their attention on the tiger that had leapt up. It paused, looking up at the circling fiend, and sat back on its haunches.

The other tiger hisses, and a misty form, a cloud about 10' in diameter, appears in a top corner of the arena. It soars past Ilil, and a pair of tendrils of the cloud angle toward the erinyes with surprising solidity. It continues on toward another upper corner of the arena.

Below, the tiger growls and screeches. Both tigers are engulfed in a deep grey hemisphere of gauzy mist. There is the sound of claws moving on the gravel below.

[Esprit15]

Rolling to see if I’m hit by those, since the formulas were broken:

Slam 1 (1d20+12)[16]
Slam 2 (1d20+12)[14]

Are the two tigers engaged in melee?

[Toliudar]

Sorry re the broken attack rolls, and thanks.

Your tiger friend is indeed your friend, but that doesn't stop it from being someone else's friend as well. So it would attack the cloud-creature if it could, but has no beef with the tiger next to it.

[Esprit15]

I meant literally engaged. I don’t have the feat for safely firing into melee.

[Toliudar]

Neither tiger is in melee.

[Esprit15]

Ilil's smile disappears as they deftly weave out of the way of both strikes. "You know, some people have the guts to fight without dragging in subordinates." Ilil waves their hand, and a dark cloud fades into existence above the intelligent tiger.

Spoiler

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Unholy Blight
Will Save DC 23 for half and no sickened effect
Damage: (5d8)[31] if Good, half if Neutral, none if Evil
Enemy is sickened for (1d4)[3] rounds
If possible, I'd want to get the cloudy creature and probably-a-druid in the AOE and nobody else, but if I can't then I'll err on just the latter.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Nothing to see here: (1d8)[1] (1d20)[17]

[Toliudar]

Ilil's blight goes off without a hitch, blanketing the half of the cloud that Ilil is sure does not contain Ilil's friendly tiger.

The great bear that had been watching Ilil patiently vanishes without a trace.

The cloud-creature zips past Ilil again, battering at Ilil again as it returns to the position in which it appeared a few seconds ago.

A bolt of lightning slashes down at Ilil from the top of the arena.

From within the ball of fog below, there is the crunch of claws on gravel, and a low keening.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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The flying creature was not in the area of the blight, but would be just within reach of such an area effect this time, assuming that the possibly-a-druid is still in the same spot that they were when the cloud appeared.

Slam attacks from the flying creature:
Attack (1d20+12)[31] Damage (2d6+4)[12]
Attack (1d20+12)[32] Damage (2d6+4)[14]

Lightning is (3d6)[12] electricity damage, Reflex DC 19 for half.

[Esprit15]

Spoiler: OOC

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Let me confirm that crit for you: (1d20+12)[24]

Reflex save: (1d20+8)[20]

[Esprit15]

Ilil is battered to and fro by the cloud, one of its tendrils slamming them right in the gut in such a way to make them seriously question their earlier pride. The erinyes has barely enough time to notice the forming bolt of electricity above them, moving their core body to the side and managing to be merely singed rather than fried. The fallen angel spits out a tooth and allows theirself to glide down. Desperation was kicking in, and they hated feeling desperate.

Hey... Look, I don't think either of us really wants to be here in this situation. I'm no brawler like you, but I can be a good friend to have outside of this stadium. How about we fake this ending?

Spoiler

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2/48HP left

Let's go for broke with my last Charm Monster on the probably-a-druid DC 23. It's better odds than anything else.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: Quick clarification

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Since the maybe-druid is somewhere inside the cloud, you're going to need to get close enough (5' away) to target it. Are you going to land in the cloud and walk around? Try to skim around while flying? Guessing that the tiger hasn't moved, or that it has?

[Esprit15]

Spoiler

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Mindsight lets me pinpoint any creatures with an INT score.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Fair point that I should have told you where the critters were moving in the cloud.

However, mindsight (or as this browser keeps correcting to, hindsight ) provides neither line of sight nor line of effect. You can know what square an invisible creature is in, but still not be able to target it with a spell.

[Esprit15]

Spoiler

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Then I’ll move to within 5ft of them. Also, I still have line of effect, though possibly not line of sight. I can’t find any rules about casting spells that don’t have at attack roll on a target with concealment.