[4e] Deadlocked - Paragon Circuit (Amya vs. Velna)

[Jokes]

Can you use shield? You used your immediate action this turn with Prismatic Beams. You can only use one per turn.

[Kiara LeSabre]

Can you use shield? You used your immediate action this turn with Prismatic Beams. You can only use one per turn.

No, I can't. You're right. I haven't gotten used to the idea of readied actions counting as immediate actions. Ignore the shield.

[Jokes]

Cool, so I use orb of imposition on your will save (-6 penalty), the others have -2

Fort (1d20)[2]
Reflex (1d20)[19]
Will (1d20)[13]

edit, now this is one of those times where you don't have to take damage from a save. I made the save for Will and Reflex, right?

[Kiara LeSabre]

Cool, so I use orb of imposition on your will save (-6 penalty), the others have -2

Fort [roll0]
Reflex [roll1]
Will [roll2]

edit, now this is one of those times where you don't have to take damage from a save. I made the save for Will and Reflex, right?

You did, even though I forgot that I impose a 2-point penalty to saves, too. And you would still have saved against Sleep, so essentially nothing is changed.

But why wouldn't you suffer the ongoing damage? The start of your turn comes after the interrupt, so I would assume it applies once immediately, and then at the end of your turn, you save, and it no longer affects you (not the fire damage, anyway).

[Jokes]

But when your turn ended, it became my turn, you just interrupted me before I could attack.

[Kiara LeSabre]

Finding herself in an unexpectedly tight spot, Velna touches her amulet, drawing on its power to help her endure this trial.

(minor action) Amulet of False Life: +27 temporary hit points

Saves:

Spoiler

Show

Applying the appropriate penalties and also the bonus for Human Perseverance:

Fortitude: (1d20-1)[2]
Reflex: (1d20-1)[5]
Will: (1d20-5)[7]

[Kiara LeSabre]

But when your turn ended, it became my turn, you just interrupted me before I could attack.

I interrupted before you could do anything. Doesn't that mean it's before you've effectively been able to start your turn?

Well, we might have to get a third opinion on this, because it seems we don't agree on this point. It seems to me that the whole point of having ongoing damage at the beginning is to ensure you suffer it at least once no matter what.

[Jokes]

She extends her palm and fires a blast of energy and Valya. Sheathing her orb, Amya draws her staff.

Spoiler

Show

Standard action: Spectral Ram
(1d20+24)[2](26) vs fortitude.
Minor action: Sheath orb
Minor Action: Draw Staff

I don't mind taking the ongoing damage.
10 fire (5 from last turn)
5 poison (5 from last turn)

[Jokes]

forgot to save

fire (1d20)[18]

And I'm bloodied btw, so Bloodthread gives me a +2 to ac and saving throws, would being dazed have allowed me to use my at will when I became bloodied?. ANd solid sound will give me a +2 to reflex.

[Kiara LeSabre]

Reeling, and by some miracle evading enough of the brutal spell to shrug off its effects, Velna grabs one of her healing potions and downs it in one swift motion.

(minor action only with Quick Draw) Potion of Vitality: +25 hit points, and make a save

Save:

Spoiler

Show

vs. daze: (1d20-5)[14]

[Kiara LeSabre]

Yosh! And end of round saves ...

[spoiler]vs. poison: (1d20-1)[13]
vs. fire: (1d20-1)[1][spoiler]

[Jokes]

Nice save.

Amya too draws a potion and drinks deeply. She fires a volley of missiles at Valya.

Spoiler

Show

Minor: Draw potion
Minor: Drink Potion (regain 25 hitpoints.)
Standard: Force Volley
-attack (1d20+25)[2](27) (+4 for targeting one creature.)
You... are...kidding...me...

+2 to reflex again

[Kiara LeSabre]

No sooner does she manage to shake off the daze with the help of her potion than Velna finds herself in the path of hurtling bolts of force! The attacks come an instant too late, however, as she recovers her footing and throws herself to one side to evade the missiles. In the same moment, she snaps another potion out and downs it, her hand a blur of motion.

Straightening and recovering her briefly shaken confidence, the human flashes a cocky grin. "No good!" Lunging forward suddenly, she gestures sharply and speaks with a voice that seems suddenly to boom with violent authority. "Fly away!"

Spoiler

Show

Minor action (draw and drink potion), move action (adjacent to Amya), standard action:

Forceful Retort (attack roll vs. Fortitude): (1d20+22)[37]

End of round saves:

Spoiler

Show

vs. fire: (1d20-1)[13]

[Kiara LeSabre]

And the effect of that:

Spoiler

Show

(3d8+12)[31], slide one square directly away, and fall prone

[Jokes]

can you put up a map of our positions?

[Kiara LeSabre]

can you put up a map of our positions?

Sure.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][A][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][V][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Actually, since we figured out earlier that Velna would have seen Amya right after her move, and the confrontation began then ... that means Amya never previously moved from her initial spot, I guess. Which means with Velna's move toward her, she's still right against the wall and ... well, Velna would have shoved Amya directly back, but there's no "back" to go to, so she just shoves her directly into the wall of the arena for 0 damage but cinematic goodness. (Or in other words, she forgoes the slide and just knocks Amya prone.)

[Jokes]

Lying against the wall, with Valya towering over her, Amya rises and lets loose with a blast of energy.

Spoiler

Show

Move action: Stand up
Standard action: Forceful retort
(1d20+21)[26] vs fort.
(3d8+11)[3][7][8](29)

[Kiara LeSabre]

Velna again sidesteps her increasingly desperate opponent's spell. "Ohohoho!" she laughs loudly, her expression one of sheer, wicked glee as she torments her victim. She snaps another healing potion out and downs it, the effects of this last one wiping away the last vestiges of her earlier injuries.

"Stay down!" she cries, reaching out as though to grip the air in front of her ...

Spoiler

Show

Spectral Ram: (1d20+22)[33]

[Kiara LeSabre]

... and catching hold of Amya with an invisible hand of pure force, lifting her off her feet! Velna slams her githyanki opponent back against the wall behind her once again, then violently down onto her face!

[spoiler](2d10+12)[19] damage and fall prone ... again (forgoing the slide ... or just sliding Amya back into the wall again, however you want to look at it)[/roll]

[Kiara LeSabre]

~sigh~ I'd edit that so the spoiler actually worked like a spoiler, but then I'm pretty sure my damage roll would vanish.

[Jokes]

Gitting her teeth, Amya again rises to her feet and lets loose a burst of thunder.

Spoiler

Show

Move: Stand up
Standard: Thunderburst
-(1d20+21)[9](30) vs fort

[Jokes]

(1d6+11)[4](15) (oops forgot raging storm, add 2 more)
and pushed straight bac5 5 squares (4 from wisdom, 1 from Gauntlets of the ram)
solid sound: +2 will
minor: draw potion
Blur is back in effect

[Kiara LeSabre]

Unable to evade the concussive shockwave, Velna throws her arms protectively over her face as the spell sends her sliding back.

She straightens a moment later, looking slightly battered but otherwise not much worse for wear, and that cocky grin spreads over her face once again, although it has a slightly more grim edge this time.

"This fight ..." she declares, gathering energy in the palm of her free hand, her orb glowing brilliantly.

"... is over! Disintegrate!"

Spoiler

Show

Disintegrate: (1d20+22)[31]

[Kiara LeSabre]

Damage:

Spoiler

Show

(3d10+12)[29] + ongoing 5 ... but by my count, it doesn't really matter because that pushes Amya below zero no matter what

[Jokes]

Don't forget your move action, you cant see me.

[Jokes]

Because if I go down, I'm using arcane rejuvenation to come back up.

[Kiara LeSabre]

Mm, true. Velna would have taken one step forward to bring Amya back into visible range (funny you had to remind me when I was the one who first pointed out you're only visible within four squares ... blonde moment ).

But ... unfortunately, Arcane Rejuvenation doesn't work quite like (and isn't quite as good as) No Surrender. No Surrender is an immediate reaction, which means it happens after the triggering event (after you drop to 0 or fewer hit points), and then it brings you fully back to half no matter how low you went.

Arcane Rejuvenation is an immediate interrupt, which means it happens before the triggering event (before being reduced to 0 or fewer hit points), and then it only restores your level plus your Intelligence modifier in hit points, after which the triggering event then hits you.

So you end up with:

Start: 112 hit points
Ice Tomb: -27 (85 hit points)
Prismatic Beams 1: -21 (64 hit points)
Prismatic Beams 2: -17 (47 hit points)
Ongoing damage (fire): -10 (37 hit points)
Ongoing damage (poison): -5 (32 hit points)
Drink potion: +25 (57 hit points)
Forceful Retort: -31 (26 hit points)
Spectral Ram: -19 (7 hit points)
Arcane Rejuvenation (immediate interrupt, triggered by Disintegrate: +27 (34 hit points)
Disintegrate: -29 + ongoing -5 (5 hit points, dropping to 0 at the start of your turn)

... which I know is a letdown, especially when you only needed one more hit point to stay up. If it's any consolation, my Arcane Rejuvenation will never be any better than yours. It's only a level 12 utility power, so I guess it would be unbalancing for it to be as strong as a level 22 one.

Edit: Kind of a pity, too. It would have been kind of fun writing Velna's reaction if Amya still didn't go down.

[Jokes]

The trigger is "You are reduced to 0 hit points or fewer" not, "You are hit by an attack that reduces your hitpoints to 0 or fewer." But then it is an interrupt...

[Kiara LeSabre]

Exactly. I know it's a letdown, but think about it: if it worked the other way, it would be a level 12 utility that's arguably better than a level 22 utility (because you don't take a -2 penalty). I actually thought what you thought about it when I made Velna, and then while I was making her, I looked at it more closely, then looked at No Surrender, then looked back at Arcane Rejuvenation and kind of did an "OMG."

I think it's great that we're doing this, though. Look at how much we both learned about the rules in just this one fight!

[Jokes]

True, but No surrender brings you back to half hitpoints, the most you would get out of AR is about the same as a healing surge.

In any case, I'd say you have me beat.