Friday, April 17, 2009
Campaign: In The Army Now
Tiberius is organized into the troop of men, now numbering about twenty. The master-at-arms gives his name as Wilhelm Vornamen; he separates the troop into those with bows/crossbows and those without, putting Tiberius and his bow in the rear. Then as a unit all move in the direction of the giant.
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Tiberius unshoulders his bow, and greets the other fighting men in the column, introducing himself and saying a little nervously that he hopes that the group can take the monster down.
ReplyDeleteMost of them aren't going to survive, so I'll save giving them names at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYou are moved through a nearby lane and then out onto a road that follows the city wall. This road is about twenty feet long, and at present you are some seventy yards from the monster. At this range you are -5 to hit.
You get quite a surprise (given your above comment): there are about two hundred citizens in the street surrounding the giant's feet. Some that are close enough are hacking at its feet and lower legs with weapons, some are throwing spears or axes, and there is a drizzle of bolts and arrows landing on the creature's back. It seems largely ignorant of this, though signs of blood are starting to show where the damage is being done.
"RUN!" shouts Wilhelm, and leads the charge forward towards the giant.
Tiberius loads his bow carefully and shoots an arrow at the giant. Tiberius does not charge and stays with the group of archers.
ReplyDelete(OOC: Rolled a 4 to hit, without the range penalty taken into account. Rolled a 4 for damage.
19/20 arrows left.)
Uh, no, the archers charge also. They are moving forward to a better range, giving them an improved chance of hitting.
ReplyDeleteYour arrow completely misses the giant. In many cases, given the bulk of the creature, most "hits" will not yield damage...but in this case, with the -5 modifier, you rolled a less than zero.
At this point, the giant has at last succeeded in thrusting his fist completely through the tower wall. It now reaches into the hole begins to pull out the blocks adjacent to the created hole.
(OOC: Oh, the archers charge as well? Okay. Tiberius will stay with the group. I was looking at the movement tables, and it didn't look like I could charge, fire an arrow, and still stay with the main body with Wilhelm.
ReplyDeleteHow big is this hole? Is it a complete breach to the ground, or is it just an inverted bulge at this point?)
True enough, but Wilhelm didn't give the command to fire.
ReplyDeleteThe hole is about ten feet wide and in the middle of the tower, about 30' above the ground. But the giant is quickly enlarging it.
(OOC: Ah, yes, you're right, he did not. How about I just copy whatever it is the other archers are doing. From now on, I mean.)
ReplyDelete(OOC: That's not a problem.)
ReplyDeleteYou move forward to where you are near the back of the crowd. The giant rips the tower wide open, and it suddenly collapses--not by rolling over, but by falling apart within (similar to 911). Boulders rain down on the crowd from above as the tower crumbles. Bouncing, crunching rock falls in every direction--dozens are killed suddenly, more injured.
(rolling)
A tumbling, bounding stone spins past about seven feet to your right, instantly crushing the skull of one of the men in your troop.
At once, panic breaks out.
Meanwhile, you catch a glimpse of some thirty magic missiles (you would recognize their signature) as they contact the giant from multiple angles, along with three fireballs which flash one after another in the vicinity of the monster's head. The giant turns, collapses against the curtain wall, arms spread along its top (a good thirty-five feet from fingertip to fingertip), then brushes away at the air, largely unhurt.
Wilhelm is screaming "FIRE! FIRE!"
Amid the chaos of battle, Tiberius fires frantically at the giant.
ReplyDelete(OOC: Rolled a 9 to hit. Rolled a 2 for damage. 18/20 arrows left.)
(OOC: following the intervening weekend...)
ReplyDeleteThe arrow strikes the giant, but it is impossible to see if the arrow did any damage.
Another volley of magic missiles scores hits across the giant's front, along with a number of Melf's acid arrows, flame arrows and chromatic orbs, along with other magical detritus. More fireballs explode around the creature's face and shoulders. A lightning bolt snakes out and leaves a burn along one of the giant's collarbones.
Around Tiberius' feet, thousands of crawling insects erupt from the cracks in the road and from under the nearby houses and swarm towards the monster's feet. Other clouds of flying insects converge on its body.
Throughout all this, the giant chooses a stone from the ground, about two feet in diameter, and hurls it at a nearby building--about twenty yards from Tiberius. The stone punches a hole in the second floor and the building shakes. Simultaneously, the giant crushes several people with a slam of its foot.
Everyone in Tiberius' troop is reloading.
Tiberius will take the time to reload as well.
ReplyDeleteThe creature will pick up another stone and hit the same building. The only magic strike on the creature this round is another lightning bolt. This strikes you as strange, that every mage would run out of magic missiles at the same time (third level mages get two missiles, 5th level mages get three and so on, each fired once per round).
ReplyDeleteYour intelligence suggests that the mages are in the building being attacked. Several humans matching their description leap out of the lower floor windows on the side of the building facing you--they are dressed in robes with yellow belts, exactly as you saw earlier that day.
Tiberius fires his arrow.
ReplyDelete(OOC: Well, it seems like the defense rests solely on the Mage's Guild. Is there anything Tiberius can do to help them besides what he's doing now? I rolled an 11 for any Intelligence/common sense check you might want me to make.
Rolled an 8 to hit. Rolled a 5 for damage. 17/20 arrows left.)
As far as additional help, I couldn't say. Two of your archer companions turn to flee this round in terror. The number of people at the feet of the guard still attempting to do damage has dropped from 200 to fifty. Another lightning bolt scores the giant's middrift and at this point you'd guess that someone up on one of the roofs has a wand of lightning.
ReplyDeleteThe giant strides forward, covering the 25' wide avenue along the wall in half a round, then kicks the aforementioned building with one foot. The building, five stories tall, gives way...the giant kicked it on the right and the building wavers, then falls over towards the left--towards you.
Over the next two rounds, you can't really load, as you are dodging the collapse of the building.
The archer on your left, not two feet from you, is crushed by a 2' timber as it bounds down the street.
(OOC: Is there time to help the archer out from under the timber?)
ReplyDeleteI think you misunderstand. The archer was almost cut in two by the timber...he is pulp and bone at this point.
ReplyDeleteTiberius will retreat so as not to get crushed from the falling debris.
ReplyDeleteUnderstood, Tiberius. The troop has largely broken up at this point. You look around and Wilhelm is nowhere to be seen.
ReplyDeleteThe giant has turned its back to you and is now starts to lope along the wall towards the North Gate. By the time you get your bow loaded, it has moved about sixty yards further away.
(OOC: So, he's sixty yards away total? Or sixty yards further than he was originally?)
ReplyDeleteRight now, about 80 yards. And moving.
ReplyDeleteFearing that he cannot slay something so large with only his bow, he goes over to the wreckage of the building and try to help any survivors.
ReplyDelete(OOC: That is, if the building is done collapsing.)
The building is treacherous, but at the moment is not falling down. The back corner is partly standing, up to 40' over the ground, and could conceivably fall on its own at any moment.
ReplyDeleteSeveral people are in the process of pulling stones and timbers off victims. How long do you intend to do this? You could spend the next hour at least of campaign time.
(OOC: That's fine, actually. I'm going to be pretty busy for the next couple of hours in real time, but I should become available at lunch time, at around 12 PM CDT. Tiberius will help in any way he can, in the mean time.)
ReplyDeleteGood enough.
ReplyDeleteTiberius spends a good while helping pulling debris off the victims and getting them to safety.
ReplyDeleteTiberius should take 200 X.P. for his contribution (and risk) in that part of the battle with the giant. Don't forget to add 5%.
ReplyDelete(OOC: Alrighty!)
ReplyDeleteI probably won't be picking up Tiberius today. When I am ready to reveal what happens, I'll post a new, relevant description.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, the townspeople are grateful for your strength and endurance in working to pull up boards and help survivors. You quickly gain friends among the working populace (Heiner, a teamster, Abraham, a tailor), and among the mages' guild (Isaac, clearly Jewish, and Gebbert).
That's fine, I've been having a hectic morning myself, and I'm just now trying to catch up.
ReplyDelete