Episode 08: Trapezoid Mountain

[Deleted]

Minion drops the foamer and grabs a Lightning Spear to blast away at the closest oncoming squishy toads!

[ehiker133]

Hopefully we can take out the demi-god and the spawn will disperse... otherwise, we don't really stand a chance against so many numbers.

The Shadow presses his attack against the leader.

[kipper]

Breath moves towards the leader-toad. "Minion, our best chance is to take down the leader!" If she can get him to join her, she will attack MOR, otherwise she'll zap some of MOR's minions with her arc-welder.

[Deleted]

If possible, Minion will switch his arc-welder to Mor instead.

[Mushgnome]

OK with me if Minion switches his attack to the leader.
Unless I hear otherwise from Fated shortly, I will assume all 4 of you are concentrating your attacks on MOR (for a total of 2 attacks).

[crusssdaddy]

Fated continues to beat the crap out of the big guy, driven by his hatred for what these froggy bastards did to the Pastor.

[Mushgnome]

ROUND 3

The vote is unanimous... the four Veteran heroes attack as one, under the leadership of Supervisor Whitman!

Initiative: Party 6!!!, Squishies 1

Breath, Fated, Minion, and Shadow jab with their neon arc welders...

AF vs MH 1 die/2 men: 1d6=1!

Alas, [1d4] Fated and Shadow cross their streams and drop their arc welders in a shower of sparks!

needs a 6... 1d6+2=2+2=4

Minion and Breath's neon spears are mere pinpricks to MOR the Corpulent!

It's all up to the Supervisor who rolls 2d6 = 5 ... a miss vs Lycanthrope on the Fantasy Combat Table!

The fates toy with our tragic heroes...

[Mushgnome]

MOR attacks Whitman on the Fantasy Combat Table: 2d6 = 7

The giant toad's charge stops just short, held at bay by the Green Man's polearm -- or so it would seem! Its croaker opens wide and its prehensile tongue slams him in the solar plexus for 1d10=3, 1d6=1 hp damage for a new total of 14 as he yelps in pain!

Outside you hear the distant rumble of a motor... the roving tank-droid returning to base, perhaps? But it's small consolation in the present moment as your position is completely overrun by a swarm of squishy toad things.

Unless anyone has a better house rule, I'll say that 6 toads maximum can attack each of you at a time. They get 1 die/2 toads=3 dice vs HF (Fated) and 1/3=2 dice vs AF and need a 6.

Whitman's 6 attackers: 4, 6!
Breath's 6 attackers: 3, 2
Fated's 6 attackers: 6!, 6!, 3 (he has 5 hit points)
Minion's 6 attackers: 3, 3
Shadow's 6 attackers: 2, 5

Supervisor Whitman is pummeled by gelatinous bodies for 1d10=1, 1d4=3hp damage, reducing him to 11hp.

Is Fated to Die fated to die? He takes 2 dice damage from the stampeding toad spawn.

1d10=3, 1d6=5 The first wave of toads knocks Fated prone with exactly 0 hit points!

"NOOO!!!" cries Pack Slave, flinging himself into the pile of toads in despair. 1d10=4, 1d6=6hp damage. Every bone in his body is crushed as the Slave sacrifices himself for his charismatic Master!

ROUND 3 is a disaster for the party! I assume I don't need to draw you a map... there are toads everywhere!

Health check:

Shadow: 4
Minion: 6
Fated: 0 hp just enough strength to crawl and scream!
Breath: 4
Supervisor Whitman: 11
Pack Slave: DECEASED
B'Yakhee: unknown

[Deleted]

Minion yells "don't cross the streams!" and fires another blast at Mor!

[ehiker133]

If the Shadow's firestick is no longer working, and he can do so, he'll grab up another one and continue his attack against the leader. If that's not possible, he'll use his flail against the leader.

[kipper]

Breath continues to assault MOR.

[crusssdaddy]

Fated rolls himself beneath Pack Slave's body, trying his best to look dead.

[Mushgnome]

ROUND 4

Initiative: Party 1, Squishies 2

The party's bad luck continues as they lose initiative under the onslaught of toads!

MOR attacks Whitman (2d6 = 6) but loses track of the tiny human in the wriggling mass of its own spawn.

Then the toads pile on...

Whitman's attackers: 1, 2
Breath's attackers: 3, 5
Minion's attackers: 4, 2
Shadow's attackers: 1, 5

Fated plays dead and [Cha check = 11]] his ruse succeeds!

Miraculously, the party survives unscathed, and it is their turn to retaliate.

Minion and Breath jab with their arc welders [1d6+2, need a 6... 4+2=6!] and MOR feels the sting of neon technology! 1d10=10, 2d12=12

Flares of neon light criss-cross the giant toad's viscous surface as it takes 12 hp damage for a cumulative 22 hp sustained since the battle's start. Not enough!

Shadow's arc welder is spent, so he draws his flail instead. Because he only gets 1/2 attack die, he only gets to attack on even-numbered rounds. Good thing Round 4 is an even number! [1d6+2=7!] He smashes the giant toad for 1d10=5, 1d8=3hp damage, for a cumulative sustained of 25. Yet MOR fights on!

Supervisor Whitman attacks with abandon, hoping to finish the job with one mighty blow! [2d6=9] He hits and deals 1d10=3, 2d6=6hp neon energy damage.

MOR has sustained 31 hit points damage, but it only seems to make the beast angrier! Yet somehow our heroes survive another round (alas poor Pack Slave) to hear the approaching sound of heavy machinery punctuated by wet explosions!

[ehiker133]

I guess he loses his bonus because Fated is down?

If the Shadow cannot attack MOR in the next round, can he attack one of the minions, instead?

And then attack MOR again in Round 6 (assuming all are still up)?

Or how does all of that work?

[Mushgnome]

Nov 10, 2011 8:40:11 GMT -6 ehiker133 said:

I guess he loses his bonus because Fated is down?

If the Shadow cannot attack MOR in the next round, can he attack one of the minions, instead?

And then attack MOR again in Round 6 (assuming all are still up)?

Or how does all of that work?

AF vs. MH rolls 1 die per 2 men (or 1/2 die per 1 man).

I interpret this to mean 1 attack every 2 rounds. I let Shadow strike in Round 4 (instead of waiting until Round 5) because y'all needed a lucky break.

Another way of looking at it is that the party as a single unit (excluding Whitman) just dropped from 2/1 number-of-attacks to 3/2 number-of-attacks with the loss of Fated. So it's kind of like a 1st ed. AD&D weapon specialist with 3/2 attacks: 1 attack per round with a bonus attack every 2nd round.

I have seen other people interpret the fractional dice to round the fractions up and everyone gets at least 1 die per round. That doesn't make sense to me, among other consequences it would mean rolling 1 die for each squishy toad (and I'm sure you don't want that)!

All that being said, I will allow Shadow to strike a toad on Round 5 and then MOR on Round 6. Why not? Let's say you can't get a good attack at the boss because a spawn stands in the way, you need to take out the spawn this round so you can hit the boss next round.

[kipper]

Breath continues zapping MOR in desperation, if he doesn't go down soon she's as good as dead anyway.

[Deleted]

Minion makes a stand with his Bone Sister and continues dealing NEON DEATH to Mor.

[Mushgnome]

ROUND 5

Initiative: Party 6!, Squishies 2

A lucky break for the party!

Shadow loses his arc welder but draws his flail and attacks an unlucky toad. [4+2=6] He splatters the squishy thing and now 45 of the toads remain.

Breath and Minion stab at MOR with their arc welders [1d6+2=8!!!]

The giant toad suffers [1d10=5; 2d8=8] 8 hit points of neon energy damage and is slain! MOR bursts open, splattering all with gore (except Fated to Die who is cowering under Pack Slave's body).

Supervisor Whitman shouts with victory and turns his attention to the swarm of squishy toads. He attacks as 4 men [5, 5, 2, 5] and hits 3 times for 2 dice of damage each, killing 6 more of the toad-spawn in a blast of neon light!

The garage door bursts open and the ROVERZOID crashes into the mass of toad-spawn! [It kills 1 die of toads: 1d10=10!; 1d12=12!] It crushes 6 of the toads under its metal treads, and its turret sprays a wide swath of gamma radiation that instantly evaporates another 6!

27 toad spawn remain and they fight mindlessly to their death!

Whitman's attackers: 1, 3
Breath's attackers: 4, 4
Minion's attackers: 4, 6!
Shadow's attackers: 6!, 5

Minion is struck for 1d10=7, 1d10=5hp damage and reduced to 1 hp!
Shadow is struck for 1d10=8, 1d10=10hp damage and is crushed beneath a writhing mass of toad-spawn at -6 hit points!

Health check:

Supervisor Whitman: 11
Breath: 4
Minion: 1
Fated: [Cha check = 5] plays dead and is stable at 0hp.
Shadow: -6 hit points
Pack Slave: DECEASED
B'Yakhee: unknown
MOR: SLAIN
Toad count: 27

[ehiker133]

Oh, no!

[Deleted]

Minion presses with his arc welder, trying to blast the writhing batrachian horrors away from the still form of Shadow.

[Mushgnome]

The Shadow of Evermore's soul departs his body and begins its descent to the realms of eternal torment...

"NOT SO FAST!" calls a familiar voice... "GET BACK HERE!" Shadow is disoriented...

... now he finds himself in an alien and unfamiliar jungle. He is lying on his back in the mud, wind knocked from his lungs, looking up at the canopy of razor-sharp leaves and carnivorous vines. High above, a giant dragonfly and butterfly are locked in swooping, spiraling mortal combat.

"OATHBREAKER!" screams the Purple Stranger, slowly dragging himself toward you on shattered limbs. Blood and tooth-fragments spray from his mouth as he shouts: "YOUR SOUL IS MINE!"

[ehiker133]

The Shadow waits, regaining his senses and breath, until the Purple Stranger is closer.

"I cannot give you what I never had, purple man. My soul belongs to the Watery Depth. It is not mine to give. If you want it, you'll have to go take it yourself."

When he is within reach, The Shadow will grab for the Purple Stranger's gun, if it is visible, and use it on him.

If he does not see the gun visible, then he'll stand up before the Purple Stranger gets too close to him. And he'll kick the purple man in the head.

"Good luck with that."

[kipper]

Breath of New Moon continues zapping Toadies, hoping to hold of death until another day.

[Mushgnome]

With MOR, Fated, and Shadow out of the fight ROUND 6 hangs in the balance

Initiative: Party 1, Squishies 3

Whitman's attackers: 1, 1
Breath's attackers: 5, 1
Minion's attackers: 4, 2

An ineffective round for the toads, disorganized without their leader.

But their stumbling dislodges the corpse of Pack Slave and [Cha check = 18] the jig is up for Fated to Die. He weakly shoos the toads away [3, 3, 5] but he cannot hold them off much longer!

Now the PCs. Breath and Minion roll 1 die each and miss only on a natural 1...

Breath rolls 3+2=5 and Minion rolls 5+2=7.

4 toads are slain by neon energy and 23 remain.

Supervisor Whitman attacks as 4 men [2, 1, 3, 6] but his arc welder's battery is spent! He hits 1 time but only for 1 die of non-neon damage, so 22 toads remain.

ROVERZOID is a toad-killing machine as its gamma turret vaporizes 5 toad-spawn! [1d10=5; 1d8=5]


Health check:

Supervisor Whitman: 11
Breath: 4
Minion: 1
Fated: 0
Shadow: -6 hit points
Pack Slave: DECEASED
B'Yakhee: unknown
Mor: SLAIN
Toad Count: 17

[Mushgnome]

Shadow [Con 11] has an 80% chance of surviving adversity and rolls a 41. He will have to roll again each round until his condition is stabilized.

As his mortal body faces almost certain destruction, the battle for his soul begins!

Shadow raises his hands to defend himself from the Purple Stranger but his bones are completely pulverized! His limbs flop and slosh about in the most uncoordinated motions. You might imagine this would be extremely painful, but the actual sensation is disorienting and cartoonish.

But the Purple Stranger is in not much better condition himself. He crawls toward you at about 1" movement rate, struggling to breathe--broken ribs, perhaps. Gone is his high-tech equipment; he drags himself near-naked through the muck and looks intent to tear you apart with his bare hands!

[ehiker133]

Noting the struggled breathing, The Shadow throws dirt in the Purple Stranger's face, attempting to increase his breathing difficulties.

He then attacks the Purple Stranger with the nearest weapon at hand he can grab.

[Mushgnome]

Nov 12, 2011 23:51:25 GMT -6 ehiker133 said:

Noting the struggled breathing, The Shadow throws dirt in the Purple Stranger's face, attempting to increase his breathing difficulties.

He then attacks the Purple Stranger with the nearest weapon at hand he can grab.

Shadow attempts to throw dirt in the Purple Stranger's face, but his boneless hands have become abnormally moist! He accomplishes naught but a muddy palm and initiative is rolled: Shadow 1, Stranger 3. Both will attack/defend as Light Foot (Shadow having sloshed right out of his armor).

The Purple Stranger (rolled 4+1=5) and Shadow's Melting Soul (rolled 2+1=3) swat ineffectively at each other. The Stranger tries to apply a choke-hold but Shadow's neck slips through his fingers like jelly! Meanwhile Shadow's clumsy, ameboid blows do no more harm than gently-pounding ocean waves.

The situation appears to be a stalemate, with time running out...

[kipper]

Breath: "Die already!" *ZAAAP*

[Deleted]

Minion screams and rakes the Toad Spawn with his arc welder again.

[Mushgnome]

ROUND 7

Initiative: Party 1, Squishies 2

The toads are first to attack:

Whitman's attackers: 6, 6
Breath's attackers: 4, 2
Minion's attackers: 3

Supervisor Whitman is overcome by the toads for 1d10=3, 2d6=6hp damage, reducing him to 5hp. But he retaliates using his powerless arc welder [6, 4, 6, 1] and kills 3 toads! 14 remain.

Breath rolls 6+2=8 and Minion rolls 5+2=7. 4 toads are slain by neon energy and 10 remain.

ROVERZOID crushes 3 toad-spawn under its treads and 7 remain! [1d10=2; 1d4=3]

Shadow of Evermore must roll under 80% to survive adversity... 75! He clings to life, just barely...

Health check:

Supervisor Whitman: 5
Breath: 4
Minion: 1
Fated: 0
Shadow: -6
Pack Slave: DECEASED
B'Yakhee: unknown
Mor: SLAIN
Toad Count: 7