Chapter 4: Gluttons for punishment

[kalstone]

Torgyr scratches his beard.

"Do we dare follow it?"

Solaine looks dubious. "Strange arms floating around distributing swords is no basis for a system of navigation."

[drpete]

The very physical seeming sword and the arm attached to it float by just south of you. As you look at it, trying to figure out what it is, it shifts to move toward you. As it does, you realize that though they are real, they are not really floating in the air. You realize that they are suspended inside a giant cube of clear jelly, just as it extends pseudopods in an attempt to slam Plud and Zim!

You guys have just started entering the room. Plud, Zim, Emm and Audi are in the room, flanked by two large statues, one to the east and one to the west. The cube is directly to the south. Everyone else is just north of the room, in a short entrance hallway.

Plud (in front) and Solaine (in back) are caught flat-footed in the first round, but the rest of you are free to act. You are welcome to roll your own rolls on the dice roller, or just tell me what you want to do and leave it to me.

[barkman]

Randolpho will attempt to keep the lantern stable and the combat well lit, drawing a dagger in his off hand.

[sulldawga]

Zim pounds on the jelly cube with his war hammer. It goes so, so well for him.

War Hammer: (Attack 9+) [1d20] = 1, Damage [1d6+1] = 3+1 = 4

[drpete]

Round 1

Zim swings his hammer at the gelatinous giant, missing, but manages to deflect the thing's return blow. Randolpho holds up the light to make sure the area stays illuminated, but with all the jostling, Torgyr and Quinn are unable to get off a good shot.

Emm and Audi quickly ready their spears and attack the thing, but they have trouble gauging the distance to the cube, and miss.

Actions?

Cube Fight 1.PNG (201.96 KiB) Viewed 491 times

Torgyr and Quinn lost initiative to the front line guys, so they couldn't attack. If you want to do something else, we can probably fit that in there.

Current situation, including what you can see. The light is mostly illuminating the cube right now, but not the rest of the room. On the left, you can see where the west door is. The area on the right bottom shows one of the statues flanking the double door to the south.

Plud is in the front in the circle, and Zim is in front in the box. Emm and Audi are right behind them, then Torgyr, then Randolpho and Climent, then Solaine and Quinn, the mountain man in the green circle. These are just random images I picked out. If you would rather have a different token, lemme know.

[thirdkingdom]

Plud the Panivorous

Plud moves forward, so as to allow more of his companions in, and attacks the cube of quivering jelly!

[Stirling]

Quinn Coburg

"Move behind the statues, they'll provide some cover so we can dash for the doors."Quinn calls to those in the rank in front, pointing with his drawn broadsword.

do we still have the wardog Ajax?

[drpete]

Quinn Coburg

"Move behind the statues, they'll provide some cover so we can dash for the doors."Quinn calls to those in the rank in front, pointing with his drawn broadsword.

do we still have the wardog Ajax?

Ajax, who was inherited by Galen when his master Tychon died, went with Brother Galen, unfortunately. There was a rumor that bob would be coming back, but maybe for the next trip.

On the movement issue, once someone's engaged by an opponent, there's no "5 foot step" in ACKS. There's "fighting withdrawal", and "full retreat", both of which are backwards. Other movement to scoot around, etc, are overruns (as I understand it) so there's a chance it won't work, but it doesn't count against your ability to attack.

Though they are big, the statues can be moved around and through. If a lot of action is taking place crowded around one, they might restrict some of that activity or provide some cover, but they're not solid. In the picture, though, you can see that from Torgyr on back, people are technically still in a hallway at the bottom of the stairs.

[barkman]

Random pho will continue to maneuver to keep the front rank lit, slashing at any of the pseudopods if they come towards the light.

[kalstone]

Solaine will try to move up and attack from the second rank with her pole-hammer.

[drpete]

Emm and Audi will be spreading out, to give people room to move into the second rank. If Plud successfully moves over, that would give someone room to move into the front rank, as well.

[Zorroroaster]

If either Emm or Audi manage to move up to the front, Torgyr will try and take the opportunity to move into the second rank just long enough to move around one of the statues to put himself in a position to flank the gelatinous cube.

[sulldawga]

Zim doubles down on his attempt to kill the cube.

War Hammer: (Attack 9+) [1d20] = 15, Damage [1d6+1] = 4+1 = 5

[drpete]

Round 2

Quinn calls out instructions to the folks in the front, hoping to clear a path into the room.

The power team of Zim and Plud pound on the cube. Plud's sword bites deep into the cube (7 damage) as moves around to the side of the cube, to give others room to attack it. Zim joins Plud in pounding on the jelly, and they seem to be doing serious damage to it (5 damage).

The cube lashes out at Zim with a pseudopod, but Zim is well protected by his armor, and the blow lands harmlessly.

Emm steps forward and to the side, following behind Plud, and Audi steps around beside Zim. Their blows, though, have little effect on the cube.

Solaine moves into the opening made by the girls, but she is not able to get in a good shot at the cube, either. Torgyr moves around behind a statue, in order to put himself into position to attack it from the flank.

Off in the darkness to the east, you hear the sound of a door slamming open. There is a bunch of high pitched giggling and cheering, as well as some speech, in Dwarf.

Dwarf speech:

"Look what we got here, boys!"

"Shhh!!"

"Get in position!"

An updated tactical map:

Cube Fight 2.PNG (302.21 KiB) Viewed 463 times

[sulldawga]

Zim strives mightily to kill the cube before it can melt his face or whatever.

War Hammer: (Attack 9+) [1d20] = 4, Damage [1d6+1] = 5+1 = 6

[Zorroroaster]

Torgyr takes a swipe at the quivering horror with his axe.

Hand Axe: Attack (10+): [1d20] = 13, Damage: [1d6] = 4

He calls out to his comrades, warning them of what he heard from off in the darkness.

"Get ready for more company, this cube isn't the only member of the welcoming party."

[kalstone]

Solaine keeps swinging the pole-hammer, but she is clearly having trouble with the weight.

Pole-hammer: (Attack 10+): [1d20-1] = 13-1 = 12, damage: [1d6+1] = 1+1 = 2

[barkman]

Randolpho will move forward to spread more light into the statue room , dagger at the ready.

[drpete]

Round 3

The fight against the cube continues, even as something else approaches from the darkness to the east!

Audi attacks the cube unsuccessfully, as Randolpho moves forward to illuminate the room. The lantern light exposes several little figures with red glowing eyes, spreading around the room at the edges of the lantern light. You see some hiding behind a bearded warrior statue along the north wall, and others have clustered behind a bearded judge statue in the south of the room near the double doors.

Solaine presses the attack, and her attack damages the cube (2 damage), but something seems off, like she's not handling the weight of the polearm properly. A volley of javelins emerges from the darkness to the east, and one hits Solaine (natural 20, 4 damage)!

A flurry of blows from Plud, Torgyr and Zim finish off the cube. Its structure sags, and goo starts to pour out. A voice calls from the south near the judge statue, in dwarvish, and more javelins fly from that location. Two of the javelins graze Randolpho! (1 damage, 1 damage) He stays on his feet, but barely!

Dwarvish:

"Target the light! Target the light!"

The cube no longer a threat, Emm moves to try to shield Randolpho from further shots. Additional javelins fly toward the cluster of people around the bottom of the stairs, but they bounce harmlessly off of the ceiling or the statue of the Traveller, which provides cover for them.

Map Update:

Cube Fight 3.PNG (447.77 KiB) Viewed 436 times

I've marked what the statues are of. The most clearly visible, in the dim light of the lantern, are a few little men behind the statue of the warrior. At the very edge of the light, you can see some more near the judge statue by the double doors (the double doors are between the judge and the woman). The javelin that struck Solaine actually came from outside the limits of the lantern light, as shown in the drawing.

Image of these things:

GW371H278.jpg (33.05 KiB) Viewed 436 times

[sulldawga]

Zim runs up to take cover behind the Warrior statue. If he can reach an enemy from there, he'll attack.

War Hammer: (Attack 9+) [1d20] = 20, Damage [1d6+1] = 6+1 = 7

Of course, the nat 20 (and max dmg!) comes when it's unlikely there's an enemy in range...