13th Age April 27, 2016
May. 9th, 2016 05:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicollPresent:
Virgil the Tiefling Sorcerer. “Amnesiac”. Didn't used to be a tiefling.
Ren the Dwarven Bard: tall for a dwarf, with red skin
Percival the (ancient) Forgeborn Commander, the perfect Dwarven companion bot.
Ewoud Thon, Human Fighter.
Blunder, Human Fighter (NPC)
So, one or two little issues with our plan to deal with the dragon.
We use the standard arrangement: tough, well-armoured fighters to the front, the people with ranged attacks in the back. Virgil, whose player inconsiderately has been taking spell advances over hit point increases, takes refuge in the ice tunnel through which we reached the ice plain. Blunder stands over Virgil, ready to protect him against the dragon.
While Virgil draws power from the surrounding area (doubles his damage, very useful when the spell he is using can only be used once per battle), the others distract the dragon with a series of hilariously ineffective attacks. This actually works and even better, the dragon's sweeping attacks completely fail to connect.
It's only after Virgil pops into sight and unleashes a lightning blast of stupendous power that things begin to go a little sour. It turns out that A: an angry dragon moves pretty damn fast across ice, and B: once it is fixated on a sorceror, it will completely ignore the fighter standing in its way. It also turns out Virgil cowering in a tunnel is functionally the same as Virgil immobilizing himself. Virgil barely has time to grasp the fundamental flaws in his plans as the teeth snap shut.
interlude in one of the hells
A spectral form begins to manifest. Brizyra looks at it in surprise, recognizing an old friend as the appearance of a tiefling melted away to show its true face. Well, as true as any of the incubi and succubi ever have.
“Thelless! Where have you been?”
end interlude
Even as the echoes of Virgil's scream are fading, the rest of the group takes advantage of the dragon's little oversight, which is that it is very hard to dodge attacks with its head jammed down a tunnel. The Prince's retinue swarms the temporarily helpless dragon while Ren berates the dragon with a Word of such power that one of the Prince's men falls over in a daze.
Of course, bunching up around the dragon just means they are at ground zero for its breath weapon, which does more damage than your average vinterelven fighter happens to have. The only survivor is the one who got nailed by Ren's attack, because he was staggering around bleeding from the ears when his friends died. Always a silver lining!
More carnage ensues but the short version is: we had more hit points that it could dole out, with the exception of Virgil, and the dragon didn't have as many as we could dole out. We win! Except for all the dead vinterelven and of course, Virgil, who is looking a lot more bisectedy than is generally recommended. But that is what healing potions are for.
interlude in one of the hells
A spectral form begins to fade away, taking on the form of a tiefling as it does. Brizyra looks at it in surprise.
“Thelless! Where are you going?”
end interlude
Virgil sits up shakily and slowly climbs out of the tunnel. Someone with the second sight might notice a difference: now every time Virgil moves too fast, there is a slight trail of ectoplasm, as though his soul wasn't quite as firmly anchored to his body as it used to be. Happily, this is exactly the sort of complication that never comes back to haunt characters.
Virgil is not the only one injured, only the one most seriously injured. The survivors decide to rest up for the night before doing what murder hobos do best: loot!
And in fact the haul is not bad: dragon parts, snow goggles, star maps, fragmentary scrolls, Strange's personal journal. Best of all, a certain magical sword turns up, buried in the dragon's trove. The Prince is delighted!
Percival does notice some odd visual effects whenever the sword is near but again, totally the sort of complication that never comes back to haunt characters.
Strange's journal reveals that he left fifty years ago, just before whatever happened happened. Probably a coincidence. The Prince and his remaining warrior need to return to their people with the tusk and the sword, while we need to get back to our patron, the Dwarf King. Even given all the orc patrols, it should not be too hard.
There's just one minor problem: the next morning, when we wake up, everyone except the Prince, his man, and Percival are blind.
Virgil the Tiefling Sorcerer. “Amnesiac”. Didn't used to be a tiefling.
Ren the Dwarven Bard: tall for a dwarf, with red skin
Percival the (ancient) Forgeborn Commander, the perfect Dwarven companion bot.
Ewoud Thon, Human Fighter.
Blunder, Human Fighter (NPC)
So, one or two little issues with our plan to deal with the dragon.
We use the standard arrangement: tough, well-armoured fighters to the front, the people with ranged attacks in the back. Virgil, whose player inconsiderately has been taking spell advances over hit point increases, takes refuge in the ice tunnel through which we reached the ice plain. Blunder stands over Virgil, ready to protect him against the dragon.
While Virgil draws power from the surrounding area (doubles his damage, very useful when the spell he is using can only be used once per battle), the others distract the dragon with a series of hilariously ineffective attacks. This actually works and even better, the dragon's sweeping attacks completely fail to connect.
It's only after Virgil pops into sight and unleashes a lightning blast of stupendous power that things begin to go a little sour. It turns out that A: an angry dragon moves pretty damn fast across ice, and B: once it is fixated on a sorceror, it will completely ignore the fighter standing in its way. It also turns out Virgil cowering in a tunnel is functionally the same as Virgil immobilizing himself. Virgil barely has time to grasp the fundamental flaws in his plans as the teeth snap shut.
interlude in one of the hells
A spectral form begins to manifest. Brizyra looks at it in surprise, recognizing an old friend as the appearance of a tiefling melted away to show its true face. Well, as true as any of the incubi and succubi ever have.
“Thelless! Where have you been?”
end interlude
Even as the echoes of Virgil's scream are fading, the rest of the group takes advantage of the dragon's little oversight, which is that it is very hard to dodge attacks with its head jammed down a tunnel. The Prince's retinue swarms the temporarily helpless dragon while Ren berates the dragon with a Word of such power that one of the Prince's men falls over in a daze.
Of course, bunching up around the dragon just means they are at ground zero for its breath weapon, which does more damage than your average vinterelven fighter happens to have. The only survivor is the one who got nailed by Ren's attack, because he was staggering around bleeding from the ears when his friends died. Always a silver lining!
More carnage ensues but the short version is: we had more hit points that it could dole out, with the exception of Virgil, and the dragon didn't have as many as we could dole out. We win! Except for all the dead vinterelven and of course, Virgil, who is looking a lot more bisectedy than is generally recommended. But that is what healing potions are for.
interlude in one of the hells
A spectral form begins to fade away, taking on the form of a tiefling as it does. Brizyra looks at it in surprise.
“Thelless! Where are you going?”
end interlude
Virgil sits up shakily and slowly climbs out of the tunnel. Someone with the second sight might notice a difference: now every time Virgil moves too fast, there is a slight trail of ectoplasm, as though his soul wasn't quite as firmly anchored to his body as it used to be. Happily, this is exactly the sort of complication that never comes back to haunt characters.
Virgil is not the only one injured, only the one most seriously injured. The survivors decide to rest up for the night before doing what murder hobos do best: loot!
And in fact the haul is not bad: dragon parts, snow goggles, star maps, fragmentary scrolls, Strange's personal journal. Best of all, a certain magical sword turns up, buried in the dragon's trove. The Prince is delighted!
Percival does notice some odd visual effects whenever the sword is near but again, totally the sort of complication that never comes back to haunt characters.
Strange's journal reveals that he left fifty years ago, just before whatever happened happened. Probably a coincidence. The Prince and his remaining warrior need to return to their people with the tusk and the sword, while we need to get back to our patron, the Dwarf King. Even given all the orc patrols, it should not be too hard.
There's just one minor problem: the next morning, when we wake up, everyone except the Prince, his man, and Percival are blind.
