Episode 7: Iron Door, revisited

[Zorroroaster]

Also, we might need a way for the berserkers to get past the rest and into the melee. Perhaps a fighting withdrawal for the front line as the berserkers come up the side and take over?

[barkman]

Randolpho, not having a clear line of sight, will cover the back of the party in case the noise draws anything to us.

[kalstone]

Solaine tries to execute a fighting withdrawal, giving the front rank space to let the berserkers by.

[drpete]

Round 2

Torgyr passes his hammer up to Ranulf, as Zim and Solaine withdraw from the front line, hoping to give the barbarians room to advance. Two of them are able to get to the front, where they swing their great axes in mighty blows that the guardian deflects effortlessly.

The guardian reaches out its hand and claws at one of the barbarians. The blow connects and the barbarian collapses, dead. The guardian strikes at Ranulf again, missing. The other barbarian in the front rank looks at the dessicated corpse of his companion, and howls in a mad rage.

[Zorroroaster]

Ideas? Shall we see what the berserkers and the warhammer can do, and be ready for a fighting withdrawal if this thing really starts wrecking us. If we have to retreat, Torgyr could create a pool of oil that we light once we are safely past, as a way of either damaging and/or slowing the guardian.

Torgyr double checks that he has plenty of oil handy, and keeps an eye on the rear of the party with Randolpho.

[Stirling]

Quinn

Well it doesn't seem to have any range weaponry, just a decay touch. So if we can keep it at arms, oe preferably two arms length then we might be okay. As an idea, could we entice it towards another room and use the knocker to lock him in? The chapel area for instance.

Anyone good with a lasso?

Quinn will pass round his three silvered javelins to folk in case they are more effective than 'normal' weapons. He will work his way through the ruck of folk to the front ranks, to strike at the guardian next round if we keep to a static melee. Personally I think we keep the thing moving and manoeuvre it somewhere else, anyone want to nip in and raid the room while we keep it occupied?

Correct me if I am wrong but does the tower shield also give +AC bonus to allies standing adjacent to the shield bearer?

[drpete]

The tower shield let's you give a +1 to AC of one neighbor, yeah. These shields are all in the back.

From the perspective of moving the combat center, you can either withdraw (easy) or try to push it back (harder). Moving past it requires an "overrun" roll.

10 foot corridors allow 2-3 to fight side by side, and there are 3 berserking berserkers up in front, so Quinn may have trouble getting in to attack this round, but he can definitely move closer.

[Zorroroaster]

While I do agree that we should have some sort of plan for changing the dynamic of the fight, I think we should give it at least one more round to see if our magical or silver weapons have any effect, or if the berserkers are able to connect.

...and I laughed at "berserking berserkers."

[Dogma]

Man, go away for a few days and the whole place goes to hell I agree that we should give it one more round before we retreat.

Does military oil on the ground provide a slipping hazard if we prep a pool ahead of time and then have to retreat through it?

We can sacrifice the berserkers to screen us while we retreat to a better spot if needs be.

Ranulf waits for a opening to get strike in with the hammer past the berserkers.

[kalstone]

We could start letting Quinn move towards the front since he has a magic weapon.

[drpete]

I'd say no, the oil wouldn't provide a slipping hazard. The ground is concrete rather than smooth stone, so there's plenty of grip if you need it.

I'll assume Quinn can move up without trouble past people who aren't trying to attack. It's just tricky to squeeze past somebody who's "fighting" and would require a simplified overrun (a friend would let you go, but you might not find an opening, so basically you need to hit AC 0 to move past a fighting ally)

[drpete]

Round 3

Solaine and Emm clear a path for Quinn to come forward. He passes his silvered javelins to Audi then moves forward. He manages to push forward to engage the guardian in the spot vacated by the dead berserker. He slashes at it with Blackthorn, and the blow connects (7 damage!).

Ranulf attacks the guardian, but the warhammer is deflected by the guardian's armor. The berserker remaining in the front attacks it with fury borne from its downing of his comrade, but his powerful blow is deflected by the guardian.

The wight continues to try to grab Ranulf with its withering touch, but Ranulf continues to evades the thing's attacks.

[Zorroroaster]

Ok, that's a start! So, we know that Guran's warhammer radiated as magical - so perhaps Ranulf missed as opposed to using an ineffective weapon. Next round we'll have Blackthorn, the warhammer and the silvered javelins as potential damage dealers. We can take him!

"Well done, Quinn!" Torgyr offers encouragement from the rear.

[Dogma]

Ranulf watches the creature in front, waiting for an opening to strike. When he sees his momment he pulls back is weapon and strikes a mighty blow!

warhammer to hit [1d20+1] = 20+1 = 21 nat 20! Hoo-yah! Not sure what damage will be for the hammer though...

[kalstone]

If we need to retreat, Solaine can cast Prot. from Evil to keep it from following us.

With no weapon that would affect the creature, Solaine attempts to turn it.

Turn: [1d20] = 15, [2d6] = 10

[drpete]

Rounds 4-5

Ranulf finds the hammer's balance, and gives the Guardian two swift blows (4 damage, 5 damage).

Though Solaine attempts to turn it, it is unimpressed. The Guardian grabs one more barbarian. Its grasp withers the second barbarian much as it had the first. The guardian, however, cannot withstand Ranulf's onslaught, and it collapses to the ground. Whatever force was animating it flows out of the body. You briefly feel this malevolent spirit the room around you before it dissipates, and everything grows calm.

The Guardian is defeated!

The room is filled with large piles of treasure.

[Zorroroaster]

Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Woo woo! Well done, everyone!!! Go team!

[kalstone]

I hate to be the wet blanket, but I have a bad feeling about this treasure.

[Zorroroaster]

Just gotta rain on my parade, eh?

With the defeat of the vault guardian, Torgyr pushes forward, clapping his hand on backs and shaking arms in celebration and congratulations. He takes back the warhammer from Ranulf and stops at the epicentre of the melee where the wight met its end and looks carefully into the room.

"We should tread lightly. There may be traps in here, among other things."

Torgyr will poke at some of the treasure with the end of his hammer, as if disbelieving reality. If it proves real he will search the room for traps.

[drpete]

Torgyr touches some of the treasure with the hammer. It is real, and seems to mostly consist of hundreds of pounds of trinkets and baubles, rather than coinage. There are bangles, necklaces, earrings, little decorative carvings, and lots of other stuff. There's likely some especially valuable stuff in there, but it might take some digging.

The room is 20x30, so it would take an hour to search it all for traps, or half an hour if you split up the job with Randolpho. The searching through the treasure for noteworthy stuff will take a similar number of man-hours.