Kumite Round 1, Match 1: IH Warblade vs DS Crusader

[playswithfire]

Come forward, Dar Ironsoul and Arthur Corelan! You shall be the first to fight for the honor of your schools. Enter now, declare yourselves and prepare for battle!

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First post, put a combat block, roll initiative and Reel On will have to roll for maneuvers granted (or give me a list of what's readied and I'll roll it). You also describe your one standard action, or less, of prep; meaning one standard or move or swift. You may also wish to give a little speech to the people watching, but that's not required. All posts after that, the fight is on.

The arena, as rolled randomly, is 80 ft on a side and you're 30 feet apart. Floor and walls are smooth stone. Ceiling is 50 ft above you and magically transparent and capable of letting sound through; the crowd is watching from up there.

If I can, I'll update this for you, but if nothing else, you've got a named grid.
Dorizzit is Green; Reel On, Love is black

[Reel On, Love]

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Initiative: (1d20+16)[29]

Maneuvers Granted time! The #th, in order, skipping already-granted ones, on my sheet:
(1d11)[11], (1d10)[8], (1d9)[8], (1d8)[8], (1d7)[3], (1d6)[1], (1d5)[3], (1d4)[2], (1d3)[2].
They'll be the ones marked as "CG" rather than just "C" on my sheet.

Standard action: activating a Psionic Tattoo of Expansion, ML 9 (size-increase and duration-increase augments). Dar grows to Huge (expanding one square in all directions); this puts Arthur within his now-30-foot reach.
Declaring Robilar's Gambit active (non-action).
Swift action: assume Thicket of Blades stance.

On one side of the arena is a giant of a man--or rather, an orc of some kind, as the blue-green cast of his skin and the short tusks curling just over his upper lip demonstrate him to be. His black hair is caught up in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, held in place by a long white ribbon of some kind that dangles down the back of his armor. The armor itself is mithral, full plate so well-polished it shines and engraved with waves that ripple up his armor and curl, foaming, at his neck. Other wave-tips curl up out of his armor into curved blades, rising from his shoulders, elbows, knees, and bracers like menacing claws. He is helmless, but the flicker of an energy field around his head indicates that the armor is magical, and makes up for the lack of headgear. His movements are surprisingly elegant as he readies his weapon, a long-hafted glaive-guisarme with a green blade. All of a sudden, he begins to expand, growing to half again and then twice his previous size, his weapon growing with him. Something black flickers across one cheek, and then is gone. He levels his guisarme, ready to respond to any movement, the tip flicking through small circles. Before him, a round, dark-blue shield floats in the air, shifting with his movements.

"I am Dar Ironsoul of Sunset-on-the-Sea, Master of Five and grandmaster of the Ocean Soul. Let us fight with courage and honor. I wish you," he says with a slightly ironic pause in his rich bass, "the best of luck."

[Dorizzit]

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Initiative: (1d20+7)[19]
Activate the Stance of Clarity. Keenedge Sword. Draw Sword and Shield.

((Well...crap. Ignore my previous boasting, your build looks like it was practically designed to beat mine. Improvisation time!))

Ahead of you is a man of average height and somewhat muscular build. He has tanned skin and black hair. His armor is odd: an extremely well designed and light suit of Mithral Chainmail, which lays over him more like a shirt than armor. He arms himself with a large, shining shield emblazoned with depictions of Dancers and Birds. His sword unsheathes with great speed and fluid grace, and appears to be a rough-hewn and crudely made Bastard Sword. On closer inspection, however, the blade is revealed to be extremely well made, clearly the work of a master smith. He also wears no helm, allowing him to free his mane of hair. At his back is a fine black cloak of some kind of odd, leathery material.
"Greetings, Dar. I am Arthur Corelan. I have no title or rank." he grins slightly. I wish you good luck, although I doubt you'll need it; the grandmasters of my order sent me because they believe there is no honor in this tournament."

[playswithfire]

OOC:
The massive Dar Ironsoul will act first

[Reel On, Love]

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Granted: (1d2)[2]

"An unknown? Well, this is my first tournament, too. Here is how we do things in the East..."
Recalling that he was paired against an Iron Heart swordsman, Dar probes his opponent with a variant on a strike from his own school. The metal shaft of his guisarme bends as it whips one way, then comes around from the other direction, the flat of the blade leaving a momentary trail of green as it whistles towards Arthur's head.
"Jawsnapper in Twilight," Dar anounces, feet planted in a solid stance.

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Declaring Dodge on Arthur. Declaring Robilar's Gambit. Using Dazing Strike!

(1d20+40)[48] to hit.
The damage is 3d6+31, +1 CON from the Wounding weapon. (+6 is from Mastery of Nine.) Roll it if it hits and you don't stop it with a counter somehow, I guess.
If it hits, make a Fort save, DC 30, or be Dazed for 1 round.

Oh, yeah--Dar has 20% concealment from his Minor Cloak of Displacement, so roll that if and when you attack him. He's probably gonna get an AoO first, though.

[Dorizzit]

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Geh...I don't even know why I bother showing up at these arena tournaments anymore. Even when they seem like fun, I just can't seem to pump enough cheese into my characters to do anything other than be slaughtered.
(3d6+31)[43]
(1d20+11)[23]

Description and turn (ha! Unlikely...) will be edited in soon...

[Dorizzit]

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Geh...I don't even know why I bother showing up at these arena tournaments anymore. Even when they seem like fun, I just can't seem to pump enough cheese into my characters to do anything other than be slaughtered.
(3d6+31)[42]
(1d20+11)[19]

Description and turn (ha! Unlikely...) will be edited in soon...

[Reel On, Love]

With Arthur still reeling from the blow's impact, Dar steps forward. His guisarme pulls back, then cuts at Arthur's legs in a circular swipe that turns into another, shorter circle, keeping the man from getting closer.

"River Hinders Progress," he explains his maneuver, sounding quite at ease.

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last maneuver granted, new set next turn.
Entangling Blade. (1d20+40)[42]
Unless missed or countered:
Damage: 5d6+31, +1 CON. -20' movement speed reduction.

[Reel On, Love]

(Swift action: using my Gloves of Fortunate Striking to reroll that crap. New attack roll: (1d20+40)[59])

[Dorizzit]

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Just when I though I might get missed...once...oh well might as well get finished off fast and be remembered as that guy who couldn't do anything. At all.
(5d6+31)[43]

Arthur recovers in time to be tripped up by Dar's lashing blade. Springing to his feet, he pauses for a second before moving clumsily towards Dar, his blade held at the ready.

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move twenty feet towards Dar, Declare Dodge on Dar.

[Reel On, Love]

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Granted maneuvers done in OOC thread; I need to see which I get back to see which to pick.

5'-step back; use Entangling Blade again now that it's regranted: (1d20+40)[48] for (5d6+31)[44] and one point of CON if it hits. 20' speed reduction, as before.

This time, Dar does not name his technique; his blade retraces the same two circles and adds a third with an elaborate flourish; green afterimages trail behind his guisarme's head.

[Dorizzit]

Dar's Blade sweeps through Arthur without resistance, before he discorporates, revealed as an illusion.

((Heh. Actions will be PM'd to PWF, I'll edit this message and tell you when to go. You're up.))

[Reel On, Love]

"Well. I believe the Western term for such a thing is this isn't cricket!"
Dar's sense of humor seems to be intact, despite his opponent vanishing. He raises a hand to his circlet, and scans the arena.

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Maneuver Granted: (1d2)[1]
Standard Action: activating Scout's Headband, using all 3 charges for True Seeing for a minute. Do I notice anything?

[Dorizzit]

Not as such.

[Reel On, Love]

Dar... uh... waits.

[Dorizzit]

You get one more round....

[Reel On, Love]

Dar waits some more.

[Dorizzit]

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Use Time Stands Still, which when stacked on to my haste effect allows me to attack you a grand total of 14 times.

Sword (crits on a 17+, Shocking Burst on a natural twenty, with normal shock damage on every hit):
(1d20+26)[44]
(1d20+26)[32]
(1d20+26)[38]
(1d20+26)[35]
(1d20+21)[39]
(1d20+21)[23]
(1d20+16)[27]
(1d20+16)[27]
(1d20+11)[30]
(1d20+11)[12]

Damage: 1d10+8+1d6

Dagger (also crits on a 17+, has the flaming ability)
(1d20+26)[31]
(1d20+26)[29]
(1d20+26)[36]
(1d20+26)[27]

Damage: 1d4+8+1d6

also, I need to roll these. Just trust me:
(2d8+3)[7]
(2d8+3)[10]

Also, make a Will Save or be Slowed as the spell. I don't actually know the DC; do you know how to determine the DC for saves against the effects of intelligent items?

Without warning, Arthur winks in to existence next to Dar. Some aspects of him have changed: his shield floats free, and his cloak has changed into a pair of wings. The dagger that hung from his belt now rests in his hand. Before Dar can react, he releases a blinding series of blows that would fell any normal warrior.

[Reel On, Love]

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Three of the sword-slashes hit, but I'll use Shield Counter against the critical hit, adding Aura of Perfect Order as I use the Counter and taking 11: 11+35 = 46 to hit you with the shield bash. And yes, you can bash with Animated shields, they count "as though you're using it yourself".
You take (1d4+15)[16] damage and you lose the potential-crit attack .
Never mind. It turns out the shield defends as though you were holding it. I'm going to be losing Shield Counter or rearranging equipment after this, then, I guess!
My Concealment miss chance made the attack miss anyway, so either way.

Damage for the other two hits: [roll]1d10+1d6+8[/roll], [roll]1d0+1d6+8[/roll] in the OOC thread, as are miss chance rolls.

Dar's turn: declare Dodge against Arthur. Get granted the last maneuver.
Move action: tumble 15 feet away from Arthur, autosucceeding.
Swift action: go into Aura of Perfect Order in addition to Thicket of Blades.
Standard: Use White Raven Hammer. Using Aura of Perfect Order to "take 11"for an attack of 11+40 = 51, which I presume hits; the attack does (9d6+31)[66] + 1 point CON damage, possibly causing a DC 15 Fort save vs. Massive Damage. It also automatically stuns you for 1 round. Which means you drop your weapons. White Raven Hammer: it's cheesy.

"Well done!" Dar roars, his floating shield interposing itself hurriedly between Arthur's sword and him--and then the air around him stills and his guisarme comes up and impacts Arthur's blade with a streak of green and the clang of metal on metal, ruining what was going to be a particularily strong blow. Most of the other slashes bounce off his armor; a few strike it solidly, making him grunt. He intercepts the last with the haft of his guisarme and throws it aside, skipping back with a nimbleness surprising in someone his (enhanced size)--

--and then he lunges forward like a pouncing cat, the flat of his guisarme coming down on Arthur's head like a hammer and causing stars to explode in his vision and his grip to slacken.


"The Wave Wards into The Sea Is Still," he announces his techniques after a moment, "then Thunder Splits the Mountain."

[Dorizzit]

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I thought you said you weren't being cheesy?
(1d20+11)[17]

My dagger casts Darkness.

The blow sends Arthur reeling. As he struggles to recover, a globe of darkness surrounds him.

[Reel On, Love]

Fortunately, the True Seeing Dar invoked lets him see right through the darkness.

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Well, I wasn't, before. But that was before Time Stands Still. TSS is scary!

Declare Dodge on arthur.
Standard action: Emerald Razor, making this next attack a touch attack. Power Attacking for 19 points.
Attack: (1d20+21)[29] against touch AC.
Damage: (3d6+69)[76] + 1 CON. Fort save, massive damage, et cetera.

"And now--the Emerald Razor," the huge orc says, and the edge of his weapon flares with a chill viridian light; it whips in a circle about him before he steps forward and brings it crashing down, passing straight through Arthur's armor and into his body, an arc of light that hurts the eyes to look at left in its passage.

[Dorizzit]

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Yeah, I think that I'm pretty much down for the count.

One question, did you enjoy the battle?

Arthur smiles faintly. "I guess the old man was right..." he says before he is defeated by his foe's falling blade.

[Reel On, Love]

Dar Ironsoul raises his weapon in triumph, holding it high and looking up at the cheering crowd overhead.

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I guess I did. It'd probably have been more exciting if it'd been more even, but I was amused.

[Dorizzit]

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Cool. I think it was worth it for me just for the disappearing trick I pulled.