Glad I Ate Her IC - Aegis013/Hvit

[Toliudar]

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.

[Aegis013]

Hvit rushes directly past the weapons racks, he prowls about the blocked pathway to the arena, knowing the fun lies just beyond. His excitement shows on his features as he licks his lips, drool beginning to drip from his fanged mouth. The only preparation he does prior to the fight is as a swift action, channels his Essentia out of his Necrocarnum Circlet and one Essentia out of his Sighting Gloves into his Wormtail Belt in order to increase his defense (ranged attack damage -1, natural armor +2).

Once the door opens Hvit immediately begins to ascend via his natural flight traveling 20ft into the arena and 20ft into the air, flapping his winged arms frantically, trying to gain altitude as he knows it's his greatest defense.

[Aegis013]

Afterthought, since I'm not planning on any precombat buffs or anything, I'll go ahead and roll initiative:
Initiative: (1d20+3)[6]

[Toliudar]

Rounds of prep]: (1d20)[3]
Opponent initiative: (1d20+2)[5]

[Toliudar]

Spoiler

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Curse Thank you for forcing me to bone up on the incarnum rules. They have a certain elegance to them! Please be patient, and correct me if/when I misinterpret the rules.

Hvit paces the small waiting room for about half a minute before the signal announces the start of the match. As the grim-faced guards open the doors, Hvit sees a brown bear, about 10' away from the double doors, and staring hungrily at the white wyrmling. Behind the bear, roughly in the middle of the 50' cube, are a pair of tigers. Quick as a flash, Hvit is up and in the air, barely clearing the air above the bear's fangscoming to rest above the tigers. All three animals track the dragon as it fights its way up into the air. The doors slam shut behind Hvit, and the crowd beyond the cube roars in anticipation.

One of the tigers reaches up as if to try to claw Hvit from the air. The bear holds position, but turns and gazes quizzically at the dragon. The tiger who does NOT leap up at Hvit instead crouches and begin to yowl in a curiously specific manner.

Spoiler: Opponent actions

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None of the creatures read as undead to Hvit's circlet.

The tiger is attempting to jump up to pounce-attack Hvit. By my calculations, that's a DC 32 jump check, so I'm going to auto-fail it, but let it try for the theatre of it all.

Your turn!

[Aegis013]

Hvit turns clumsily in the air, still trying his best to gain altitude. Seeing the creatures below him are unable to reach him, his eyes lock onto his first target, the Bear - the only creature not like the others. His eyes both locked on his determined prey, he swipes his body somewhat awkwardly and launches viciously jagged spines from his tail at the bear.

Spoiler: Actions

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Movement, positioning isn't very important other than that Hvit wants as much altitude as possible, a clumsy fly speed allows a 45 degree upward movement, so I should climb another 20 ft.
Swift action, channel one Essentia out of Wormtail Belt and back into Sighting Gloves (-1 natural armor, +1 ranged attack damage).

If after ascending I'm more than 30ft away from them, subtract 2 from the attack rolls due to 30ft range increment.

Standard Action Attack:
1. (1d20+10)[14]
(If a critical threat (1d20+10)[12] to confirm)
2. (1d20+10)[21]
(If a critical threat (1d20+10)[22] to confirm)
3. (1d20+10)[22]
(If a critical threat (1d20+10)[29] to confirm)

For...
1. (1d6+3)[8] damage
(If a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[7] damage)
2. (1d6+3)[8] damage
(If a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[5] damage)
3. (1d6+3)[6] damage
(If a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[8] damage)

Hvit's familiar, the rat Buddy (however one would say Buddy in Draconic - the only language Hvit knows), clinging to Hvit for dear life, also snaps its tail, firing one spine at each of the three enemies, using the mystic power of the Manticore Totem shared between the master and familiar.

Spoiler: Buddy's attacks

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The Manticore Belt is shared with the familiar via Share Soulmeld feat and allows the spines to be targeted at enemies within 30ft of each other.

If after ascending we're more than 30ft away from them, subtract 2 from the attack rolls due to 30ft range increment.

Attack 1 against the Bear
Attack 2 against Tiger 1
Attack 3 against Tiger 2

Standard Action Attack:
1. (1d20+10)[22]
(If a critical threat (1d20+10)[28] to confirm)
2. (1d20+10)[20]
(If a critical threat (1d20+10)[26] to confirm)
3. (1d20+10)[20]
(If a critical threat (1d20+10)[12] to confirm)

For...
1. (1d6+3)[6] damage
(If a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[5] damage)
2. (1d6+3)[6] damage
(If a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[9] damage)
3. (1d6+3)[5] damage
(If a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[4] damage)

[Toliudar]

Five of the six spines launched by Hvit and Buddy pierce the bear's thick hide, leaving deep wounds and eliciting a roar of pain and confused rage. The pair then continued to gain some height and tilted away from one of the side walls. Hvit gets close enough to the edge to be able to make out individual faces in the crowd, jeering and yelling.

The bear comes trotting towards the tigers and settles next to them, as all three turn to watch the dragonspawn. A bolt of lightning crashes down on both Hvit and Buddy.

Spoiler

Show

Electricity Damage for both (3d6)[11]
Reflex DC 19 for half.

Your turn!

[Aegis013]

Hvit and Buddy hang in the air attempting to avoid the unexpected blast of lightning.

Spoiler: Reflex Save and condition

Show

Hvit: (1d20+11)[21]

Buddy: (1d20+10)[21]

Edit: Both pass the save receiving 5 damage.
Hvit has 106 HP remaining.
Buddy has 78 HP remaining.

Narrowly avoiding a direct hit, cackling electricity painfully washes over the duo.
Hvit, startled by the blast, redoubles his efforts at killing his prey, Hvit and Buddy fire another barrage of six spines at the Bear. Hvit stops his ascent, comfortably far away from the beasts' claws and fangs, and begins circling.

Spoiler: Attacks

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Hvit and Buddy now at least 40ft into the air, they definitely suffer the -2 penalty for being outside of 30ft range increment.

Clumsy movement speed means I must keep moving to stay airborne, but I doubt they can jump 40ft, and I don't want to get too close to the ceiling.

Hvit:
1. (1d20+8)[13] to hit
(if crit threat (1d20+8)[9] to confirm)
2. (1d20+8)[22] to hit
(if crit threat (1d20+8)[15] to confirm)
3. (1d20+8)[20] to hit
(if crit threat (1d20+8)[14] to confirm)

For...
1. (1d6+3)[7]
If it's a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[5]
2. (1d6+3)[4]
If it's a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[4]
3. (1d6+3)[5]
If it's a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[7]



Buddy:
1. (1d20+8)[16] to hit
(if crit threat (1d20+8)[16] to confirm)
2. (1d20+8)[24] to hit
(if crit threat (1d20+8)[18] to confirm)
3. (1d20+8)[25] to hit
(if crit threat (1d20+8)[9] to confirm)

For...
1. (1d6+3)[9]
If it's a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[4]
2. (1d6+3)[8]
If it's a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[9]
3. (1d6+3)[7]
If it's a critical hit, add (1d6+3)[8]

[Toliudar]

A barrage of spines bury themselves in and around the bear, which roars and disappears. Hvit barely manages to turn sharply enough to avoid smacking into the side wall of the arena.

The tigers continue to watch Hvit circle the arena. Another bolt of lightning smashes down on Hvit and Buddy.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Electricity Damage: (3d6)[12] Reflex DC 19 for half.

[Aegis013]

Spoiler: Reflex saves

Show

Hvit: (1d20+11)[14]
Buddy: (1d20+10)[29]

Both pass, receiving 6 damage.
Hvit has 100 HP remaining.
Buddy has 72 HP remaining.

Hvit is confused and alarmed by the repeated lightning strikes, narrowly avoiding another direct hit, he's unable to deduce their source due to his limited mental capacity and utter lack of magical knowledge. With no bear corpse to land and raise onto his side of the fight, he stays the course, he flaps his wings awkwardly, despite the feeling of pins and needles, circling and choosing one of the two Tigers at random to attack. Hvit knows the discomfort in his wings is nothing next to what the waiting claws and fangs of the beasts will do to him. Once his eyes have locked onto his prey, spines begin to emerge from his tail and with a snap the grotesque bone like structures rain down upon his next victim.

Spoiler: Actions

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Movement - just continue circling as best Hvit can since he doesn't understand the lightning but understands teeth and claws. He's more wary of those.

1 = pouncing tiger/tiger that attempted to jump and attack in the beginning
2 = yowling tiger
Target (1d2)[1]

Hvit's attacks:
1. (1d20+8)[28]
If crit threat, (1d20+8)[25] to confirm
2. (1d20+8)[9]
If crit threat, (1d20+8)[20] to confirm
3. (1d20+8)[27]
If crit threat, (1d20+8)[11] to confirm

For...
1. (1d6+3)[4] damage
If critical hit, add (1d6+3)[5]
2. (1d6+3)[5] damage
If critical hit, add (1d6+3)[9]
3. (1d6+3)[9] damage
If critical hit, add (1d6+3)[6]

Buddy follows suit, matching his master's target.
1. (1d20+8)[28]
If crit threat, (1d20+8)[16] to confirm
2. (1d20+8)[27]
If crit threat, (1d20+8)[24] to confirm
3. (1d20+8)[16]
If crit threat, (1d20+8)[9] to confirm

For...
1. (1d6+3)[9] damage
If critical hit, add (1d6+3)[4]
2. (1d6+3)[7] damage
If critical hit, add (1d6+3)[7]
3. (1d6+3)[5] damage
If critical hit, add (1d6+3)[5]

This is how Hvit and Buddy are intended to fight, fly around in a circle raining spines down on a single creature or spreading spines out across multiple creatures if there's a lot of enemies or if multiple allies are engaged in melee. Once an enemy is downed, try to land and raise a zombie, then return to the sky and continue firing spines. Hvit immediately attacks here because he understands the rules of this place "Kill them, or hurt them until you get stopped, or be killed or hurt". Simple. However, despite being a violent idiot, he's not going to blindly attack things. He was born raised to fight in a pack/horde with safety in numbers. You don't fight alone unless you absolutely must, so he wouldn't be initiating combat unless he believed his safety or the safety of a pack mate was at risk if he didn't, even though killing stuff and making zombies is his favorite activity, he knows what happens if you pick your fight poorly and lose, since he's ended up here because his horde was destroyed.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

I think that that's 38 points of damage on the tiger, including two confirmed criticals. Impressive!

Your turn.

Buddy and Hvit combine to bury three of their spines in the tiger's tough flesh, causing horribly bleeding wounds. The enraged beast leaps up towards the white dragon spawn, but can't get even close to it.

The other tiger hisses, and a big dome of smoke and fog appears in the centre of the floor, rising up half-way into the arena and covering all but a fairly narrow band around the edges. There is the clatter of claws on gravel from within the cloud.

[Aegis013]

Hvit is baffled by the smoke screen. If only the rest of his horde were still here with them, they could collectively fill the entire cloud with spines. He continues his circular flight, Hvit and Buddy fire six more spines blindly at the location where he last saw the wounded tiger land after its pounce. Now unsure of his prey's location, he concentrates his energy on toughening his hide rather than strengthening his spines after firing his barrage.

Spoiler

Show

If the tiger is still where it landed, I have a 50% miss chance, if the tiger has moved, I miss.

Hvit
50% miss chance, misses on a 1.
1. (1d2)[2] miss chance, (1d20+8)[12] to hit.
If it's a hit and a crit threat (1d20+8)[16] to confirm.
2. (1d2)[1] miss chance, (1d20+8)[14] to hit.
If it's a hit and a crit threat (1d20+8)[14] to confirm.
3. (1d2)[1] miss chance, (1d20+8)[10] to hit.
If it's a hit and a crit threat (1d20+8)[13] to confirm.

For...
1. (1d6+3)[4] damage
add (1d6+3)[7] damage if crit
1. (1d6+3)[6] damage
add (1d6+3)[4] damage for crit
1. (1d6+3)[6] damage
add (1d6+3)[6] damage for crit

Buddy:
Hvit
50% miss chance, misses on a 1.
1. (1d2)[2] miss chance, (1d20+8)[10] to hit.
If it's a hit and a crit threat (1d20+8)[15] to confirm.
2. (1d2)[2] miss chance, (1d20+8)[10] to hit.
If it's a hit and a crit threat (1d20+8)[18] to confirm.
3. (1d2)[2] miss chance, (1d20+8)[19] to hit.
If it's a hit and a crit threat (1d20+8)[26] to confirm.

For...
1. (1d6+3)[9] damage
add (1d6+3)[7] damage if crit
1. (1d6+3)[8] damage
add (1d6+3)[8] damage for crit
1. (1d6+3)[7] damage
add (1d6+3)[8] damage for crit

After attacking, use a swift action to move 1 essentia from the sighting gloves to the wormtail belt, -1 to ranged damage, +1 to natural armor.