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My computer is fixed now (or at least it is working so far). Sorry for the delay.
Also, I've fixed the hp on the initiative chart. Thanks for pointing that out. Kaggrath explains to Dorkiln that there isn't much he can do with the construct right now. Kaggrath waits for any enemies to come into view or for the door to open. The human in front of Vor'ar'isk then shouts, Boss! This isn't working! I can't hold them off here! Rather than counterattacking, he moves down the passage to the southwest, and then turns down the first passage to the northwest (the passage at Y-17). The man used the withdraw action, so he didn't draw an attack of opportunity. Jax waits where he is, like Kaggrath just waiting for an enemy to come into view or the door to open. Bellamin is up next, followed by Jerenon. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vor'ar'isk|V| 20 | |Hits the human warrior Arliana |A| 12 | 04 |Delays Kaggrath |K| 12 | 08 |Delays Construct|C| | |Circles Human |w| 12 | 17 |Withdraws (out of sight) Jax |j| 11 | 08 |Delays Bellamin |B| 09 | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| 09 | 04 | Dorkiln |D| 08 | 04 | Dwarf |d| 07 | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Half-Orc |h| 04 | 03 | Minotaur |M| 04 | |(out of sight) It takes a while to post the maps, and all that has changed is that human w is no longer in view, so I'll update the maps once more changes. 
When the man withdraws Bell breathes a sigh of releaf and whispers to Vor'ar'isk. Ok lad hold here, I shall venture into thee lever room. Keep up thee noise to mask my sound.
Bell moves past the intimidating lizardman being carefull not to move too fast and use his invisibility to his best advantage to remain hidden. Sweat beads down his cheak as he creeps towards the room with the lever. He severly hopes the minotaur isn't there. He enters the lever room and stands next to the lever or at least as close to it as he can and reaches out to pull it. Despite his worries he knows of one way to handle the minataur and will use it if he needs to. He lightly touches one of the feathers on his hat hoping that his whip token would be enough to restrain the Minotaur. double move, while using ivisibility to hide...next round pull lever if able. Hiding while moving, while invisable. (1d20+23=33) 
Jerenon sees his chance to advance on the Half-Orc and steps forward to strike a blow. He calls on his divine powers to smite this evil being, hoping thsi will counteract the effects of teh curse the evil being has put upon him. (Jerenon moves to V15 and uses his longsword to attack the half-orc with Smite Evil (1st use))
However, the effect of the curse must be strong, as even with a shieldless enemy, the blow fails to bite and glances off the half-orc's armor. 1d20+10=13 (includes +10 BAB, +2 Smite Evil, -2 Curse). (I was also assuming there would be no negative for cover around the corner like this, but tell me if that isn't true - as I would then have Jerenon move forward to V16 for a clear attack. I shouldn't draw an AoO (at least not a serious one) against an enemy holding a bow.) (I'm not even going to bother rolling a damage roll for that one - but tell me if I missed the part where the half-orc was wearing only a loin-cloth...)
Bellamin moves over to the lever, trying to stay hidden. However, there doesn't appear to be any enemies around, so it seems the effort to hide was unnecessary.
Jerenon, meanwhile, moves to attack the half-orc. He draws on his power to smite evil creatures, swinging his sword at the half-orc, but with Jerenon's attack slowed by the curse, the half-orc is able to dodge out of the way. You had to move to the end of the hall for the half-orc to not have cover. The rules for cover in melee are different than the rules for cover from ranged attacks. For ranged attacks, you need a clear path from one corner of your square to every point of the target square, while for melee attacks you need a clear path from every point of your square to every point of the target square. Also, even if the enemy had a melee weapon you wouldn't draw an attack of opportunity in this case because the corner provided cover from where you were when you would have drawn an attack of opportunity. After Kaggrath responds that he can't do anything with his construct right now, Dorkiln says, Well, I guess there is nothing to do but wait for them to reach the lever, or for them to call for help and us to have to jump down. Dorkiln waits where he is. The half-orc then says to Jerenon, I see you want to face me head on. As if a weak human could stand up against me! Prepare to die! He drops his bow and pulls the greatsword from his back, then slashes at Jerenon with it. Despite the half-orc's words, between his armor, shield, and magical protection, Jerenon is able to deflect the half-orcs attack (attack = 19). Vor'ar'isk says to Bellamin and Arliana, I'll try to locate the enemies. He reaches the intersection of the hall where the human went and says, That man is here, but I still don't see the minotaur. Arliana then moves to the intersection near the room with the lever, not wanting to go too far and risk running into the minotaur herself. I assume Kaggrath will just delay until the door is opened. The man Vor'ar'isk was following then continues to move away, heading out of sight in the direction of the large chamber. However, he doesn't come into view to those up on the ledge above, perhaps stopping somewhere below them. I assume Bellamin wants to pull the lever. If he does so, the door opens. Bellamin can still take another action this round (pulling the lever is a move action). After that, Kaggrath can act, though your construct would have already acted this round (in order to keep circling). Jax is also up before Jerenon, but you can post Jerenon's actions now if you don't think Jax's actions will have a big effect on your actions. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vor'ar'isk|V| 20 | |Moves Arliana |A| 12 | 04 |Moves Kaggrath |K| 12 | 08 |Delays Construct|C| | |Circles Human |w| 12 | 17 |Moves Jax |j| 11 | 08 |Delays Bellamin |B| 09 | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| 09 | 04 | Dorkiln |D| 08 | 04 | Dwarf |d| 07 | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Half-Orc |h| 04 | 03 | Minotaur |M| 04 | |(out of sight) I forgot to remove the green door on the map next to the party, but it slides back into the wall assuming Bellamin pulls the lever. upper floor map Show  lower floor map Show 
I am going to have Jerenon attack, as I don't think there is anything different that would happen regardless of what Bell or Jax do. (Well, I guess if Bell doesn't pull the lever, some of Jerenon's statements won't make as much sense - but Jerenon's actions would remain the same.)
Jerenon recovers and calls upon his virtuous beliefs again in order to do as much harm as possible to this evil Half-Orc. He wants to dispatch the Half-Orc quickly now that his compatriots are free, as he hopes to rid himself of the evil curse. "It seems the tide has turned quickly, fiend! You have no power against my divine strength!" He swings again with all his might and ability to Smite Evil. Attack on Half-Orc: 1d20+10=21 (+10 BAB, -2 curse, +2 Smite Evil) Damage: 1d8+6=10 (normally 1d8+3, -2 for curse, +5 for Smite Evil)
have to work this weekend so might not get a post in till monday...but yes Bell will pull the lever and than he will remain still and hide next to the lever for right not to make sure nothing comes in and pulls it again.
He'll take 10 on the hide check if allowed, but either way the bonus's for hiding when not moving are insane so hopefully the minotaur doesn't see, hear or smell him. 
"Aha! At last," the Mad Psion remarks as the door slides open. He quickly scurries to the other side of the threshhold so that if the door closes again he won't be stranded again, sizing up the situation as fast as he can. Kaggrath sees only one opponent and focuses his mental power on the half-orc with the sword. An ear-splitting sound rings out around the villain, bombarding his mind with psychic energy.
Kaggrath moves to space V14, then manifests an augmented mind thrust against the half-orc, inflicting 17 damage (Will save DC 16 negates). He spends 3 power points and has 16 remaining.
Bellamin pulls the lever, and the door between the ledge and the hall slides back open. Bellamin then hides next to the lever so that he can stop anyone from pulling it again.
Kaggrath then moves to the other side of the opening and focuses his mind on the half-orc. The half-orc screams and blood flows from his ears, making it clear that the psionic power was effective (will save = 11). Jax then points his bow at the half-orc, trying to fire an arrow around Jerenon. However, he doesn't have much of an opening to aim for, and his arrow ends up just hitting the wall (attack = 14). Jerenon then draws on his divine powers to once again try to smite the half-orc. This time, his blade is able to pierce the half-orc's chain shirt, inflicting a decent wound, though not quite as severe as Jerenon could have dealt if he wasn't under the effects of the curse. Jax would probably have told the party what spells he memorized at the start of the day, so Jerenon would know he had a Resurgence spell memorized (you might not know if it has been used up for healing yet, but you could still ask for it). If you want Jax to use it to try to remove the curse, feel free to ask him to use it. The spell would give you another saving throw to try to get rid of the curse. You would know that the curse will last for an hour if it isn't removed, assuming it is the same type of curse the gnolls used on you earlier. I'm not sure if you killed the gnoll who used the curse on you before, so I'm not sure if you know whether killing the half-orc will end the effect (though in general killing a spellcaster doesn't end an effect they produced). Dorkiln then drops his bow and draws one of his axes. Stepping next to the half-orc, he swings at the enemy with his axe held using both hands. However, the axe is just barely deflects by the corner of the wall, and the half-orc is able to avoid the strike (attack = 20, the half-orc had cover). The half-orc then shouts, They got the door back open!, before moving quickly away and out of sight in the direction he came from. You notice that his speed as he moves away seems unusually fast, perhaps being sped up by similar magic to what Jax and Dorkiln used (Jax and Dorkiln both used Longstrider earlier, and it is still in effect). The half-orc used the withdraw action to avoid attacks of opportunity, and moves around the corner to the southwest. Vor'ar'isk calls back to Arliana, saying, Should I follow after that man? Arliana replies, I think we should regroup here and wait for the others. Heeding Arliana's words, Vor'ar'isk moves next to her. Arliana waits where she is for any enemies to come into view or for the rest of the group to join up with them. Let me know what you want to do now. No enemies are currently in sight (except the unconscious dwarf). However, you should still act in combat rounds since the enemies are still around. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vor'ar'isk|V| 20 | |Moves Arliana |A| 12 | 04 |Delays Kaggrath |K| 12 | 08 | Construct|C| | | Human |w| 12 | 17 |(out of sight) Jax |j| 11 | 08 | Bellamin |B| 09 | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| 09 | 04 | Dorkiln |D| 08 | 04 | Dwarf |d| 07 | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Half-Orc |h| 04 | 30 |(out of sight) Minotaur |M| 04 | |(out of sight) upper floor map Show  lower floor map Show 
"After him!" the Mad Psion orders, pointing after the fleeing orc. His construct suddenly wheels around and swoops down to the ledge, then begins to gallop down the passageway close on the heels of Kaggrath himself. The red-haired mage merely hopes that the ruffian isn't leading him into an ambush.
Kaggrath moves to space Z16 and (assuming he doesn't see any enemies) readies an action to manifest energy push on the first foe he sees. His construct double-moves to space Y16. It has two rounds remaining.
Sorry to be slow at posting. I just couldn't manage to get enough sleep this past week, so I was tired all the time and didn't really feel up to posting much.
Kaggrath orders his construct to go after the fleeing half-orc, and also heads that direction himself. When Kaggrath reaches the intersection, he sees no foes, but prepares to use a psionic attack on any enemy that comes into view. From the sound of the half-orc's footsteps echoing down the halls, you think he is still moving rapidly away from you, though there could be other enemies waiting to attack you. Jax says to Kaggarth, Remember that this place has some traps. Try not to trigger one or go through a portal as you chase after that person. It may be best to let your construct lead the way. Turning to Jerenon, he says, Should we all follow the half-orc, or should some of us go join up with the others downstairs? Jax is delaying until someone lets him know which way to go. Bellamin would be up next, followed by Jerenon. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vor'ar'isk|V| 20 | |Moves Arliana |A| 12 | 04 |Delays Kaggrath |K| 12 | 08 |Moves, readies a power Construct|C| | |Moves Human |w| 12 | 17 |(out of sight) Jax |j| 11 | 08 | Bellamin |B| 09 | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| 09 | 04 | Dorkiln |D| 08 | 04 | Dwarf |d| 07 | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Half-Orc |h| 04 | 30 |(out of sight) Minotaur |M| 04 | |(out of sight) I'll update the maps once more has changed.
"My thoughts precisely," says Kaggrath to the archer, regarding the traps and the portals. As long as the astral bat-monster lasts, it will proves a worthy scout.
I am assuming Bell's actions can't really affect mine, so I'll post my thoughts and moves.
"Tactically speaking, we are better off grouped together, Jax. We have been lucky enough to be able to take on at least two of them individually vs. a group of us - and it has worked well. I wouldn't want to get separated and let them do the same to us - particularly with the Minotaur still on the loose. He can probably easily best any of us one on one - and I still feel the effects of that curse." "With the wizard down and a strong swordsman hurt, we have the advantage now - depending on how well our compatriots are doing below. Let's regroup with them and push forward downstairs. "You guys run below and link up with Bell, Vor'ar'isk and Arliana. I'll wait here and ftake up the rear to cover our backs." "Jax, I think you have a resurgence spell, but my own protections are helping me for now. If you have plenty of casting power left, then I would love a chance to get rid of this curse - but I'm servicable as is, so we are probably better of waiting to see if we need healing with that spell. The Minotaur, and even that half-orc, will leave deep marks on us if they can get through our defenses." Jerenon will delay, waiting for the others to go down the stairs before he takes up the rear.
One quick note Calathan.
I just realized that the half-orc dropped his bow to engage Jerenon with his greatsword - but failed to pick it up upon departure (which would have given Dorkiln and Jerenon AoOs). Does that meant there is now a bow at my feet? If so, Jerenon will definitely pick it up...
Pinchusion posted in my other game, but I guess he is still pretty busy. I'm going to assume that Bellamin's plan is to wait near the lever for now.
About the half-orc's bow, he didn't pick it up, so Jerenon can take it if he wants. Would Jerenon have a free hand to pick it up though? You could put away your sword and then pick up the bow if your hands are full. I'll assume you do that unless you say otherwise (you could always drop the bow again if an enemy suddenly appeared). Jerenon tells the group that he thinks it is best to stick together. He suggests that everyone head downstairs to meet up with the party members who went to pull the lever. He also tells Jax that he should hold onto his spells for now in case they are needed for healing. Jax heads down the stairs, with the magic the speeds his movement allowing him to catch up with Arliana. He tells Arliana and Vor'ar'isk, We're going to all group up here, then try to take out the rest of the enemies. Where's Bellamin? Arliana explains to Jax that Bellamin is currently invisible. Dorkiln follows after Jax, but only gets halfway down the stairs so far. Meanwhile, Vor'ar'isk and Arliana continue to wait for everyone to catch up. Kaggrath would be up next. Everyone else is headed down the stairs. Do you want to continue chasing the half-orc, or do you want to go with everyone else? After Kaggrath acts, Jerenon can go ahead and act, since everyone else is waiting downstairs. If Jerenon wouldn't have put away his sword and picked up the bow, also let me know that. Also, if Bellamin wants to move away from the lever, you can do so (either last round or this round). upper floor map Show  lower floor map Show 
Jerenon will sheath his sword and pick up the bow on this turn. If no enemy appears by his next turn, he will then store the bow right alongside his regular bow, and pull his sword back out.
Well sounds like everyone is free of that ledge and I have given thee lads enough time so I guess pulling it again will not hurt other than to hopefully confuse thee enemy, hmm but I doubt any of them can fly so closing it will not benefit us so instead I shall lay a trap.
Bellamin decides that there has been enough time for the others to get free of the ledge and he is about to pull the lever and than move back towards the others. Instead he moves back towards the others stopping just before the intersection where Arliana is and sticks his hand into his haversack thinking of one item. Magically it appears in his hand. The others are still regrouping he can now see jax has caught up with Arliana, So while they regroup he carefully spreads out his trap for anything that might come from the room with the lever in it he than speaks to Arliana. M'lady I have set caltrops between me and thee lever room please let others know. I shall now go scout out where that one man went that was fighting Vor'ar'isk Pardon me folks as I pass through. Bellamin skinnies past Arliana and Vor'ar'isk and heads down the way the man had went. He stops at the corner to look while also trying to remain hidden while looking around the corner. Bell moves to Z10 during the last round and retrieves bag of caltrops. Second round he places caltrops in Z9 and than moves to Z16 where he attempts to aid his invisibility advantage with hiding. Last time I rolled the hide check I forgot the -5 penalty for moving at greater than half speed so my hide check last time was only a 28. This time I'll roll it correctly. hide check, moving at greater than half speed. Invisible. (1d20+18=20) It's kind of ironic that I roll the same dc that they would need on a spot check to see me if I wasn't trying to hide at all.
It rankles Kaggrath to let the archer escape, but with some many twists and turns and unseen portals, it's impossible to make an organized pursuit. As his friends fall back down the stairs, he has no choice but the follow them with his strange slimy bat cantering before him.
Kaggrath double moves to the stairs, space V9. His construct double moves, as well, to the space just in front of him. It has 1 round remaining.
Bellamin moves over near Arliana. Reaching into his haversack, he takes out some caltrops.
Jerenon picks up the bow the half-orc dropped, putting away his sword temporarily in order to do so. Though he is annoyed at letting the half-orc escape, Kaggrath goes with the rest of the group, moving to the top of the stairs. He has his construct move in front of him, though it probably won't stay materialized long enough to get into battle with any foes. Jax waits where he is, keeping his bow ready in case any enemies appear. He readies an attack with his bow in case any enemies come into view. Bellamin then scatters the caltops his had taken out on the ground in front of the room with the lever. He then tells Arliana that he has placed the caltrops, and that he is going to scout ahead while he is invisible. He moves up to where he can look around the corner, trying to stay hidden by the corner in addition to being invisible. From where Bellamin is, he can see no enemies. Jerenon would be up next. You said you want to put away the bow and take out your sword again. Do you want to start moving towards the stairs as well (you could combine that with taking your sword back out)? Also, I'm sorry to make everyone act in rounds while there aren't any enemies in view, but the enemies may be moving out of sight. Everyone who wants to move in the next round can go ahead and do so, since no enemies will come into view before your next actions. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vor'ar'isk|V| 20 | |Delays Arliana |A| 12 | 04 |Delays Kaggrath |K| 12 | 08 |Moves Construct|C| | |Moves Human |w| 12 | 17 |(out of sight) Jax |j| 11 | 08 |Readies an attack Bellamin |B| 09 | |Drops caltrops, moves (invisible) Jerenon |J| 09 | 04 | Dorkiln |D| 08 | 04 | Dwarf |d| 07 | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Half-Orc |h| 04 | 30 |(out of sight) Minotaur |M| 04 | |(out of sight) One the maps, Kaggrath is next to the top of the stairs even though he is really on the stairs. I didn't put a symbol in for Dorkiln or the astral construct, but they are also on the stairs. I've also marked the caltrops with a *. upper floor map Show  lower floor map Show 
Yes, Calathan. Jerenon will move towards the stairs and the rest of the group as he takes his sword back out.
He will make sure to take a position that is always at the rear of the party so that he can protect against any enemies appearing from behind.
Jerenon puts away the bow and then starts heading for the stairs, drawing his sword again as he moves.
Dorkiln, meanwhile, finishes walking down the stairs, moving behind Jax. So far, there is still no sign of the minotaur or any of the other enemies returning to attack you, though they must be somewhere nearby. It will take Jerenon one more round to get to the bottom of the stairs, at which point everyone will be all together in that general area (unless Bellamin wants to keep scouting ahead). Does anyone want to do anything before Jerenon's next action (such as Bellamin moving further ahead or moving back, or anyone moving anywhere else). I assume Kaggrath will finish walking down the stairs, but if anyone wants to do anything else, let me know.
If no one has any plans until Jerenon gets down with the group he suggests (quietly):
"Bell, can you scout around the corner to see if the minotaur is in a room or area around the corner? I have a feeling that the rest of them are between us and the central room. Just be careful not to step through any portals..." I will be gone for the next 3-4 days (through Sunday), so please NPC Jerenon if necessary.
I guess I should post for Bellamin.
Jerenon and Kaggrath catch up to the rest of the group. The rest of the group tells Jerenon that Bellamin is scouting ahead while invisible. Bellamin suggests that the enemies might be between the hall you have seen and the large chamber. He asks Bellamin to scout farther ahead. While Jerenon talks quietly and Bellamin likely doesn't hear him, Arliana waves at where Bellamin went and points towards the passage to the northwest. She says, Either he's already gone ahead, or hopefully he got the message and knows to scout that way. Bellamin, who was looking at Arliana, does get the message and starts to head around the corner to continue scouting. Upon reaching the next corner up head, Bellamin can see the minotaur. Noticing that he is within range of its massive axe, Bellamin immediately starts to turn around. The minotaur was staring right at Bellamin, and Bellamin thinks the minotaur must have known he was there, but apparently it didn't know exact location. Bellamin's move silently check = 9, Minotaur's listen check = 18. The minotaur had readied an attack to attack any enemy that came within range, but since it couldn't be certain whether Bellamin was in range, I decided it couldn't use the attack. Bellamin moves back to join up with the group. He says, I'm back. The minotaur is just around the next corner after that turn up ahead. He is close enough to attack anyone that gets close enough to see him. I didn't see any of the others. I think the enemies have had time to get where they want to be and do what they want to do, so if we don't go exactly in rounds, that doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, let me know what you want to do. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vor'ar'isk|V| 20 | | Arliana |A| 12 | 04 | Kaggrath |K| 12 | 08 | Human |w| 12 | 17 |(out of sight) Jax |j| 11 | 08 | Bellamin |B| 09 | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| 09 | 04 | Dorkiln |D| 08 | 04 | Dwarf |d| 07 | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Half-Orc |h| 04 | 30 |(out of sight) Minotaur |M| 04 | |(out of sight) map Show 
In response to Bell's information:
"I don't feel like going toe-to-toe with a minotaur right now - unless somebody has an idea about how to incapacitate him. We need to get him into the open where we can surround him to take him down. Plus, they clearly have a plan and know this maze better than we do. My suggestion right now is to go through the lever room and see if we can find another way around to a point where we can catch one or more of the smaller fighters. If we can reduce their numbers, we might stand a chance in drawing that minotaur out of his defensive stance - or perhaps get him to see the writing on the wall and leave the area." "While we have a moment - Jax, take a look at the Half-Orc's bow I took. See if it's something worth keeping. If not, we can just destroy it, but I thought I'd save it in case you or maybe Arliana could use it. In the meantime, I'm hoping that at least the Half-Orc isn't going to be able to snipe at us. I'll enjoy meeting that one in a straight on fight if I can arrange it..."
Bellamin remains silent for a moment as Jerenon speaks and Jax's looks at the bow. However that is just mere seconds as he decides to be the one to take action this time.
I have a way to hopefully neutralize thee Minotaur. Bell than reaches up to his hat and pulls out the one special feather hidden there among some normal feathers. So ye all just follow close behind. And before they can all wonder how they are to follow an invisible bard a huge whip appears out of thin air about six feet from the ground and begins moving slowly down the hall. move silently (1d20+5=20) When Bellamin the invisible gets near to the corner he will go on full defense crouching low while the whip stays floating up high as if held by a small giant. He does this just incase the minotaur decides to take a swing at where the whip is. He than moves up to the corner and has the whip attack the minotaur. The whip snakes around the corner with a crack striking the minotaur and wraps around him tightly and Bellamin can only hope it is tight enough. attack/damage/grapple attempt vs minotaur (1d20+10=25, 1d6+1=4, 1d20+15=18) Since the whip is assentially attacking on its own like a summoned creature/dancing weapon Bell isn't attacking directly so should stay invisible. However it stays in his square so creatures can attack his square possibly hitting him.
Jerenon thinks it would be a bad idea to attack the minotaur where it currently is, and instead suggests the group look for a way around to another entrance to the large chamber. He thinks going through the room with the lever might lead to another entrance to the chamber.
Jerenon also asks Jax to take a look at the bow he took from the half-orc. Jax takes the bow and tries drawing it, but can't. He then tries handing it to Vor'ar'isk, saying, You try it. Vor'ar'isk tries drawing the bow, and is just able to pull it back all the way using his full strength. Jax says, The bow is clearly designed for someone very strong. It takes a lot of skill to make a bow like that, and such bows are always pretty expensive. Later I can check the bow and anything else we find for magic, but I think we should hang on to it regardless of whether it is magical. Even though Jerenon wanted to look for another path to the minotaur, Bellamin thinks he has a good way to confront the minotaur where it currently is. He summons forth a huge whip, which floats next to him. Since Bellamin does not hold the whip, it is visible, though Bellamin himself remains invisible. Bellamin leads the way to the minotaur. I guess since combat basically ended and then is restarting again, everyone should roll initiative again. If anyone wanted to do anything before going to attack the minotaur, let me know and you can have done something first. The minotaur still had a readied attack to attack any enemy that comes within range, and I think it would consider a giant floating whip to be an enemy. So as soon as the whip comes into view, the minotaur is going to attack it. The whip can then make an attack on the minotaur. Since Bellamin is the one initiating combat, I think he can go ahead and make an attack before we start acting in initiative order (basically like a surprise round, even though the minotaur isn't really surprised since it has Scent and could tell someone was coming). As soon as the whip is in view, the minotaur swings its massive axe at it. I'm going to treat this as a sunder attempt. Dancing weapons can't make attacks of opportunity, so the whip doesn't get an attack of opportunity on the minotaur (also, the minotaur has cover, which would prevent an attack of opportunity anyway). The minotaur and the whip need to make opposed attack rolls. The minotaur is using a two-handed weapon, so it gets a +4 bonus, but the whip is described as "huge", meaning it is a size category larger than the minotaur, so it also gets a +4 bonus. Minotaur's attack = 19. The whip's opposed attack will have a bonus of +15 (10 base, +1 enhancement +4 size), and you need to at least match the minotaur's attack to have the whip avoid taking damage. If you are wondering, the whip hass hardness 4 (2 for leather + 2 for its enhancement bonus) and had 30 hp (5 base, x 4 for being huge, +10 for its enhancement bonus). Since the whip is definitely going to survive the sunder attempt, I'm going to proceed with its attack. The whip has a +1 enhancement bonus, which I think you forgot to include in its attack roll, so its attack roll was actually a 26. I don't think the whip gets a size bonus or penalty to attack . . . even though it is a huge weapon, it is only a medium sized creature if treated as a creature (i.e. a weapon is smaller than the creature that holds it). Bellamin's whip lashes out and strikes the minotaur. It seems the minotaur is too tough to be damaged by the leather weapon (whips deal non-lethal damage and can't damage creatures with at least a +1 armor bonus or at least a +3 natural armor bonus), but the whip wraps around the minotuar and tries to hold it in place. However, the minotaur is able to easily shake off the whip (grapple check = 27). Since this was basically a surprise round, the whip could only make a single attack. However, since it has a base attack bonus of +10, in future rounds it can make two attacks (with total attack bonuses of +11/+6). Anyway, Bellamin needs to roll an opposed attack roll for the sunder attempt on the whip, and everyone needs to roll initiative. If you roll higher than a 15, you should go ahead and act. I've placed everyone in the same order on the map that you were in a moment ago, but if you would have wanted to be in a different order, let me know. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaggrath |K| | 08 | Bellamin |B| | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| | 04 | Jax |j| 17 | 08 | Arliana |A| 15 | 04 | Human |w| 15 | 17 |(out of sight) Minotaur |M| 14 | | Half-Orc |h| 13 | 30 |(out of sight) Vor'ar'isk|V| 10 | | Dorkiln |D| 07 | 04 | Dwarf |d| | 42 |(unconscious, stable) map Show 
whips apposed attack vs sunder (1d20+15=35)
Initiative (1d20+2=4) well that did not work did it ole boy, hmm now what will I do? hmm perhaps I should have tried to disarm it instead Bell although aware the minotaur was waiting to attack someone was not aware that it could smell him, perhaps the aroma of cooking spices it just too noticable. Now he can only hope his whip survives long enough to disarm the beast so that the combatants can close in. He places a hand against Vor'ar'isk's chest and whispers. Ye may wish to hold for now lad only thee minotaur can attack from this direction. I'll try to disarm it as it somehow managed to shrug off thee grapple. If you feel like ye can take a hit than feel free to go at him now. I can step up behind ye and heal if needed.
Jerenon was focused on another plan, and hesitates before realizing what has happened.
Initiative: 1d20+2=3 When he finally gets going - he asks Arliana: "Arliana - get some rope. and trip the lever to the door upstairs again. If Bell can manage to disarm the Minotaur and Vor'ar'isk can engage him, then I have an idea on how to help out."
Initiative: 8
With the minotaur entrenched in such a fine defensive position, there's little that Kaggrath can do at the moment until there's a little more space.
Bellamin tells Vor'ar'isk to wait for now since he hasn't been able to disable the minotaur. He says he will try to disarm it.
Here is the initiative chart. I just pasted from Notepad and manually added back the line breaks, but I still want to figure out a way to get it to post correctly when I just copy it.
Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jax |j| 17 | 08 |Attacks the human Arliana |A| 15 | 04 |Readies a move action Human |w| 15 | 09 |Moves into view, attacks the whip Minotaur |M| 14 | |Attacks the whip twice Half-Orc |h| 13 | 30 |(out of sight) Vor'ar'isk|V| 10 | | Kaggrath |K| 08 | 08 | Dorkiln |D| 07 | 04 | Bellamin |B| 04 | |(invisible) Jerenon |J| 03 | 04 | Dwarf |d| | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Here is the map. map Show 
apposed attack rolls vs human/minotaur twice (1d20+15=34, 1d20+15=31, 1d20+15=27) Looks like the minotaurs first attack hit, avoided his second as well as the humans.
Hmm this did not work out as I planned, I shall try once more and than switch positions. Bell whispers back to Vor'ar'isk. I guess my plan failed, thee folly was me not knowing much about overgrown cows. I will try once more and if I fail will switch with ye and begin a song that ye are sure to enjoy. If I succeed I shall move foward so that ye may deal with this one, unless of course thee mad one wants that place for one of his creations.
I think if I put the initiative chart into Word and make all the new lines with Shift+Enter instead of just Enter alone, it will work when I copy it into this board (hopefully).
About the opposed attack rolls for the whip, the one against the human was supposed to have a +19 attack bonus (the extra +4 comes from the whip being two size categories larger than the human's weapon, as opposed to just one size category larger than the minotaur's weapon). I had modified my post to say that, but then the post was lost when I hit backspace and the browser went back, and it seems the version I had copied to Word (because that happens fairly often to me . . . I'm just not careful about when I hit backspace) didn't contain the correction. But anyway, you beat the human's roll with just a +15 bonus, so it doesn't really matter. The minotaur's axe connects once with the whip, and even though the whip is magical, it seems damaged by the blow. You don't think the whip would likely survive another hit from that axe. The whip took 17 damage after applying hardness. It has 13 hp remaining. I've added the whip to the initiative chart so you can see how much damage it has taken. Bellamin says that he thinks his plan has failed, but he will try one more time to use the whip on the minotaur. If that fails, he will switch places with Vor'ar'isk. Vor'ar'isk then hands the rope to Arliana, who starts moving down the hall towards the lever. Kaggrath is up next. After that, Bellamin and Jerenon should act, since Dorkiln isn't going to do anything unless the minotaur is disabled or someone tells him he should go to the front. For Bellamin, keep in mind the whip can make two attacks per round now. I'll update the map once more changes.
"Arliana, I just remembered - aren't you low on bolts? I will need someone with me that can provide cover from above. Perhaps it would be better if Jax came along with me to the upper balcony again."
Really sorry about the absence, lately. I've just been awfully busy.
With the party bottlenecked in the narrow maze, there's little that the Mad Psion can accomplish that will bring the minotaur down any faster. He wanders down the passageway a little, hopeful to find some way around but wary of more teleporters that could spell down for Kaggrath if he wandered into one. Kaggrath will move space Z19, take a look down that passageway, then continue on the junction at Z21 and have a look at those corridors. If he doesn't see anything interesting, he'll end his turn by moving back to the group, at space Z18.
Jerenon, realizing that Arliana is low on bolts, says that it might be good for Jax to come along. Arliana says, I am low on bolts, and I'm also still a little unclear on the plan. You said I should pull the lever again, but did you want me to head upstairs with you? If I pull the lever, the hidden door will close again. If I were to go upstairs with you, who would pull the lever again to open it back up? Also, why not take Kaggrath with you and have him drop a couple of those creatures he creates down in the room. It seems like the passage must connect up to the room there, so hopefully the creatures could hold off the minotaur and his allies while you put your plan into action.
Jax says, I can come with you, but what will we do if Bellamin or Vor'ar'isk gets hurt here and needs healing? Maybe we should all fall back and come up with a new plan as a group. Let me know what you think of those suggestions (i.e. Kaggrath going with Jerenon or the whole group falling back). If Kaggrath doesn't want to go with Jerenon, or Jerenon doesn't want Kaggrath to come with him, I'll assume Kaggrath moves as he suggested (unless the whole group decides to fall back). Bellamin would be up next after that.
"Jax, I want to drop into the ring from the ledge and call my horse to aid in the fight against the minotaur. That way, between Vor'ar'isk and my horse, we can get two heavy hitters in the battle to double team and corner him. In the meantime, I will cover the horse's back on the ground, while you and/or Kaggrath cover from the ledge with arrows or magic."
"If I had to retreat, I could climb back up the rope while my horse covered me, and then dismiss him." "If that doesn't sound like it will work, then we can all back up and regroup - but I thought it was worth a shot to isolate and surround the minotaur." Jerenon waits for a response to his plan.
roll
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Attack/Grapple/grapple damage ? (1d20+10=19, 1d20+15=18, 1d3=1)Actually hit AC 20, forgot the +1 enhancement again, the damage roll I am not sure on. It's not damage from the whip but from the grapple action as if from an unarmed strike if he fails the apposed check. Since you said that the whip would be medium sized if it was a creature the unarmed damage is only 1d3 nonlethal...I didn't apply a +1 enhancement bonus since its from the grapple. Also I wanted to make the attack vs the human this time since he's closer and should be easier to grapple than the minotaur, but forgot to write it in the roll. Feel free to apply it this attack the Minotaur if you wish. As for the second attack with the whip I'd like to make another grapple check in place of that attack as per grapple rules to pin the human. Just in case the first grapple attempt failed I'll roll the attack with the +6 mod. roll Show whip attack/pinning check vs human (1d20+6=8, 1d20+15=33) the attack roll won't be needed if the human was successfully grappled with the first attack. Worried due to not getting anywhere by attacking the minotaur Bell decides to put his full attention on the human, with a thought and wave of his hand the whip stops beating the hairy man beast and instead strickes out with a load crack at the man. It wraps tentively around the mans right arm trying to hold on and tighten enough to do a very miniscule amount of nonlethal damage. If the man succombs to the whips weak hold he'll not only take no damage, but Bell will be forced to try to attack him again with a reduced chance of successfully hitting. From the chaos of the whip cracking and the man struggling a song eminates from where the whips handle is. Each syable is a melody that could hush babies back into sleep and as the song continues the words become more and more beatiful like the sound of angels taking flight and playing their harps for all in the realm. When melody quites Bellamin smiles even though no one can see and than he places a hand on Vor'ar'Isk to indicate that he is ready to switch places. Lets switch friend. He than presses himself against the wall to make way for his ally to take his place while at the same time moving into the vacant spot. If you applied the first attack vs the minotaur than Bell would only move if he failed the grapple attempt as the whip only has a 15 foot range. Oh and the spell Bell cast was Eagle's splendor +4 char, duration 1 min/lvl enless your using the old 1hr/lvl version.
I'll be out of town from tomorrow morning through Sunday evening, and won't be able to post during that time.
Jerenon explains his plan to Jax, to which Jax replies, It seems like a fairly good plan, except that you might have trouble establishing a position down there before the minotaur would attack you. I think the minotaur might be close enough to where you would be climbing down that it could attack you immediately, before you could summon the horse. Maybe if you summon it from up above before climbing down, it would be able to get the first blow in on the minotaur. I'm not sure it would last very long against the minotaur though. If we could somehow get into position to attack it with spells and arrows from behind the horse, that might work better, but I don't know a way to do that other than just jumping off the ledge and possibly breaking our legs. If you want to go with this plan though, we can try it. Also, it looks like another enemy is between Vor'ar'isk and the minotaur now, so Vor'ar'isk might have to go through that other person first before he could help with the minotaur. If you definitely want to go with that plan, Jax will go along with it. Kaggrath goes to look down the other nearby halls. He finds that all three passages turn to the southwest. He doesn't see any dangers within sight on any of those passages, so he returns to the group. Dorkiln says, I would be inclinded to just go up top, summon whatever we can, then jump down behind it. A fall that short won't break our legs, and then we will hopefully have a clear shot at the minotaur. Dorkiln will delay until he is sure what the plan is. For Bellamin's actions, I think you are interpreting the whip's capabilities a little differently from me. I don't think it is capable of taking any action other than attacking. Once it has grappled an opponent, I still don't think it is capable of doing anything other than attacking. That would mean it can't attempt to pin the opponent. It can only use the action to attack the grappled opponent. I think it is reasonable to say that it deals unarmed strike damage like a medium sized creature. While its normal damage can't hurt sufficiently armored opponents, I think its unarmed strike damage could do non-lethal damage like normal (it is squeezing the opponents, not whipping them). So I'll say it does 1d3 non-lethal damage like you suggested when it establishes a grapple, and that after that it can make attack rolls on the grappled opponent to do additional an additional 1d3 damage. Really, I'm not sure what it was intended to do after grappling an opponent, but I don't see any reason for it to stop trying to attack, so I'll say it makes unarmed strike attacks for any attack actions it gets while grappling. Bellamin directs the whip to attack the human, but it can't connect with him from around the wall. The man had cover against the attacks. For Bellamin's other action, you cast Eagle's Splendor a while back, and it is still in effect (you cast it in post #1222 of this thread). By my count (which might have gotten off a little, but its what I'm going with), it has 36 rounds remaining, which is plenty of time to last for the rest of the battle. If you want to use a different standard action since you don't need to cast Eagle's Splendor, let me know. Bellamin can choose another standard action, and then Jerenon is up. If Jerenon wants to go with his plan, I think everyone except Kaggrath, Bellamin, and Vor'ar'isk are planning to head upstairs with you (Arliana suggested Kaggrath go with you, but unless Inanus wants him to go upstairs, I'll assume he stays downstairs). You told Arliana to pull the lever, and haven't said otherwise when I asked for clarification, but I don't think you actually want her to pull the lever (which is why I've been asking for clarification). If you did really mean for her to close the secret door again (perhaps to hide yourselves until you are totally ready to climb down), let me know, but it seemed to me that you would want it open so you can climb down. Also, if anyone else wanted to suggest a different plan or a variation on any of the plans or anything, feel free to suggest anything you want.
oops I forgot to update my character sheet and forgot, Bellamin would have cast a differen't spell. However it would make him visable again and he'd want to cast it before the whip attacks..which might change the result of the attacks.
Bell would cast Grease so that it would effect both the minotaur and the man, so squares U15/16 and V15/16 Reflex DC 19 or fall prone. I'm assuming Vor'ar'isk has been delaying so Bell will switch with him still so that he can do a 5 ft step in order to get all his attacks around the corner. He'll have a chance of hitting the whip if the man is grappled, but its a chance Bell is willing to have him make. Tis all yours lad.
"My plan won't make sense if we can't engage the minotaur from two sides. I think it would make the most sense if Kaggrath and Jax could come with me. Kaggrath for his creatures to give me time to get down and call my horse, and Jax for his ability to get me up and down by the rope and his arrow cover."
"If Dorkiln wants to join, that's fine - but he might be better rear-gaurd cover here, as once my horse is engaging the minotaur, there won't be room for any of us - unless the half-orc is in the arena, too." "If we can incapacitate or hinder that minotaur at any time, we might have a chance to do some real damage. I should be safe in the arena unless the minotaur moves to engage me - but in that case we can all flood into the arena and surround him." (Calathan: Yes, I was assuming that the door above was still open, or that Arliana would trip the door to re-open it.) Assuming Jerenon is aware that "Grease" has been cast, he would push to leave with Jax and Kaggrath right away to take advantage of a weak minotaur by surrounding him.
Kaggrath, faced with the bottleneck below, readily agrees. "I can build another beast to help gain a foothold," he suggests, "to block the minotaur while you shimmy down the rope. And if anyone approaches from the other doors, he'll suffer from our spells and arrows, like that pitiful dwarvish mage."
The plan seems sound to me.
Vor'ar'isk hasn't been delaying. He used his actions this round to take out the rope and hand it to Arliana. If that would change Bellamin's actions, let me know. For now I'm going to assume that it doesn't change Bellamin's actions.
Bellamin casts a spell, and a puddle of grease appears under the human and part of the area where the minotaur is standing. Both the human and the minotaur slip and fall to the ground (minotaur's reflex save = 16, human's reflex save = 9). Bellamin's magical whip then lashes out at the human, striking him but failing to wrap around him as the man wriggles around on the ground (human's grapple check = 27). The whip then lashes out a second time, but misses. Because Bellamin directed his spell into an area occupied by enemies, his Invisibility spell wears off, and he is now visible to everyone again. Meanwhile, Jerenon continues to discuss his plan with the others. Kaggrath agrees to go with him, and Jax says, I'll go too. Bellamin just cast one of his Grease spells, and it can hopefully keep the minotaur and that human occupied down here. Dorkiln speaks up as well, saying, I guess I'll stay here. There probably is enough room for both me and Vor'ar'isk to attack that human. Dorkiln then moves forward in front of Bellmain (Dorkiln was delaying). He says, Lets keep them pinned in on the grease so that can't fight effectively. Dorkiln then swings one of his axes down at the human, striking the man while he can't defend himself well on the ground (attack = 16, damage = 11). The human looks fairly badly wounded, and you expect Dorkiln could finish him off with another blow or two. From what Jerenon said, I assume you want to head for the stairs. I've moved you on the map towards the stairs as far as you could move, but if you wanted to do something else, let me know. Jerenon moves towards the stairs, while the speedier Jax moves past him and all the way to the top of the stairs. Arliana also moves up the stairs, heading just beyond Jax. The human then stands up. He tries to move back away from Dorkiln, but can't (balance check = 6). Attempting a balance check doesn't take an action, so I think the man can still attack this round. Realizing that he would fall if he tries to move, the man instead swings his sword at Dorkiln. However, being occupied with keeping from falling over, the man's attack misses its mark (attack = 13). The minotaur then also stands up, and also tries to move off the grease. It manages to maintain its balance, and slowly walks off the grease in the direction of the large chamber you saw before (balance check = 10). Vor'ar'isk waits, preparing to switch places with Bellamin. He delays. Since Kaggrath said he would go with Jerenon, I'll assume you move in that direction. If you wanted to do something other than move, let me know. Kaggrath moves after Jerenon, ending up standing just behind the paladin. Dorkiln then slashes at the human with one of his axes, cutting through the man's neck and decapitating him (attack = natural 20, critical confirmation = 27 (critical), damage = 37). I've gone ahead and removed the man from the initiative chart and map, since he is at -27 hp and is thus quite dead. Dorkiln doesn't try to cross the grease, instead just staying where he is. Bellamin would be up next, but if anyone objects to how I moved your characters or wanted to do anything different, let me know. The minotaur is no longer on the Grease spell, and it is between you and him. If you want to dismiss the spell at some point, you can as a standard action. Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jax |j| 17 | 08 |Moves Arliana |A| 15 | 04 |Moves Minotaur |M| 14 | |Stands up, moves back (out of sight) Half-Orc |h| 13 | 30 |(out of sight) Vor'ar'isk|V| 10 | |(delays) Kaggrath |K| 08 | 08 |Moves Dorkiln |D| 07 | 04 |Kills the human Bellamin |B| 04 | | Whip | | | 17 | Jerenon |J| 03 | 04 | Dwarf |d| | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Here is the lower floor map. I'll add the upper floor map once more characters reach it. I've marked the grease with *s. map Show 
ok m'boys thee hunt is on. I shall dismiss my spell and move up to engage him, ye both move up past me defensively or attack if ye can. However he has reach so ye may want to stay defensive till ye can move in without providing him a free opportunity to slash ye with that large axe of his. The others should be in position soon.
With a wave of his hand and a shrill whistle that could almost pierce ones very soul the grease shimmers and melts away into the cracks of the corridor. Bell nimbly jogs past the dwarf and to the corner the whip following him as he moves. Than as if of its own free will the whip cracks out at the minotaur yet again hopefully proving more effective this time. attack/grapple/unarmed grapple damage vs minotaur (1d20+11=25, 1d20+15=26, 1d3=1)
Sorry to be slow posting. I was going to post Sunday, but I was sick with something and ended up just going to bed early . . . then I just ended up not having time yesterday. I really need to try posting earlier in the day instead of right before bed, so that this doesn't keep happening.
Bellamin dismisses his Grease spell and then moves forward to allow his whip to attack the minotaur. He moves into the corner of the passage, and can see the minotaur ahead in the room. Bellamin's whip lashes out at the minotaur, stirking it but failing to wrap around the minotaur (minotaur's grapple check = 35). I was trying to determine how far the whip could reach, and I think it would probably be 30 feet (still going with my interpretation of the description calling it "huge" as meaning it is sized for a huge creature). Vor'ar'isk them moves in front of Bellamin, saying, Perhaps we should have waited for the others to be in place before trying to attack him. Anyway, though, I'll try to fight him, but I'll need you to heal me from any attacks he sends my way. By the way, I see the half-orc from before over at the southwest end of the chamber. Bellamin can't see the half-orc from where he is. Jerenon is up next. I've posted the map for the upper level as well as the lower lever. Let me know if you want to just move, or if you want to do something else. I don't want to keep assuming you will just move and not give you a chance to act. It takes 20 feet of movement to move up the stairs, not counting the 5 feet of movement it takes to step onto or off of the stairs (i.e. it is 30 feet of movement for Jerenon to move to the square where Arliana currently is). Character | |Init|Wounds|Action ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jax |j| 17 | 08 |Moves Arliana |A| 15 | 04 |Moves Minotaur |M| 14 | |Stands up, moves back Half-Orc |h| 13 | 30 |(wasn’t in view on his action) Vor'ar'isk|V| 10 | |Moves Kaggrath |K| 08 | 08 |Moves Dorkiln |D| 07 | 04 |Kills the human Bellamin |B| 04 | |Dismisses Grease spell, moves Whip | | | 17 |Fails to grapple the minotaur Jerenon |J| 03 | 04 | Dwarf |d| | 42 |(unconscious, stable) Lower floor map Show  Upper floor map Show 
Calathan:
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I need a call on your part here. My assumption at this point is that Jerenon has no idea the minotaur has moved into the chamber and that the original plan won't work as designed. I am going to go ahead with Jerenon's actions as if he thinks the minotaur is still trapped in the grease area. However, if you think Jerenon would know that the movement of the groups has changed to the current state, he would instead alert Kaggrath, Jax and Arliana that he is reversing course and instruct them to continue supporting from the upper level. Jerenon continues rushing up the stairs, preparing to climb down a rope as soon as possible, and as soon as one of Kaggrath's creations is providing cover. (Based on your description, it looks like a double move would take Jerenon to V12.)
I agree that Jerenon would not know that the minotaur has moved. You could probably hear the sounds of fighting from down the hall, but you wouldn't know any of the details about the situation.
Jerenon heads up the stairs, not knowing that the minotaur is now out in the large chamber. Jax then moves ahead, reaching the edge of the ledge overlooking the large chamber. He says, The minotaur is out here! This is a good chance to attack it with arrows or spells. Jax aims his bow at the minotaur, firing an arrow down at it. Despite having good aim, Jax's arrow bounces off the apparently unarmored minotaur (attack = 20 . . . by bounces off I just mean it didn't beat the minotaur's AC, not that he has DR). Jax says, Either his hide is really tough, or he has some sort of magic protection. Either way, it looks like it may be hard to hurt him. Arliana asks Jerenon, What should we do now that the minotaur is out in the room? Do you still want to try to climb down there? Arliana will delay until Jerenon responds. The minotaur then yells to the half-orc, Get over here and help! The minotaur then roars, and his muscles seem to buldge as he steps towards Vor'ar'isk. He swings his massive greataxe at the lizardman, slashing back and forth twice. Vor'ar'isk collapses to the ground, clearly mortally wounded (attacks = 34, 28, damage = 55 total). The minotaur is raging. You would probably all be familiar with barbarians and would know that the rage will only last for perhaps a minute. Dorkiln, witnessing the carnage, says to Bellamin, There is no way any of us can stand up to him in direct combat! We need to fall back into the narrow halls where he can't fight us effectively. Jax doesn't see exactly what happened, but he does see blood splatter everywhere. He says, This isn't good. I think he got one of the others with that axe, and from the look of things whoever got hit is probably dead or dying. He seems to be in a rage though, so now is probably the best chance we'll get to hit him with ranged attacks. The half-orc, rather than moving to help the minotaur fight, pulls out a potion and drinks it, healing some of his wounds. I think only Jax can see the half-orc at the moment, but I'll still let you know what he is doing. He gained back 8 hp. Kaggrath is up next. About Vor'ar'isk, he is at -20 hp, so you probably can't save him. I figured the first person to get into melee with the minotaur was probably going to die, and I figured it would be better to have that be Vor'ar'isk rather than someone who currently has a player. If you want, after the battle you could return to town and have him raised from the dead (assuming you are able to beat the minotaur). Alternatively, we could just remove him from the party since he doesn't have a player right now. You can decide what to do after the battle.
Kaggrath hurries up to the ledge beside Jax, eager to get the minotaur in his sights while the brute is out in the open. If only he'd been a little quicker in getting upstairs, he might've given the monster some of what he deserves. Hopefully he'll get another chance.
Kaggrath double moves up to space T15, if possible (can't remember exactly how many spaces it takes to make it up the stairs).
sorry for the delay have been busy lately. I'm starting to wonder what the point of having a huge magical whip is if it can't damage anyone where any sort of armor with its normal attack. It seems it's sole purpose is to try to grapple the creature, so I was wondering if it would be targeting a creatures touch AC rather than its full AC since there's no point in it attacking for any other purpose, but to grapple?
Bellamin's knees nearly buckle and collapse at the sight of his new friend being nearly cleaved in half, he can tell right away that his small amount of healing ability can not save him. Bell is nearly paralyzed with fear now and fails to act quickly, the whip however attacks on its own as he regains his composer or perhaps loses it entirely. He yells at the minotaur. Ye horrible cow beast Ye will pay for killin such a noble and brave soul. I shall kill ye with my own hands if I must. Bellamin than retreats from his corner position and begins singing, he draws his bow as he does so. The song is about a fallen hero who once believed to saved the kingdom before meeting his untimely demise in battle. If the whip succeeds at grappling him which is unlikely than Bell will retreat to V16 and start singing, if its fails to grapple him than he'll retreat as far away as he can before he starts singing.
Something went wrong with my post the first time I tried to post it. A bunch of the post seems to have been eaten by the forums. Hopefully this works on the second try. If anything seems to have been left out, then I'm sorry about that. The whip definitely has to make a successful melee attack to try to grapple, and the description doesn't say anything about it making touch attacks. The whip doesn't know that the target it is going after is armored or has tough skin, and can't choose to just wrap around its target. It has to lash out in an attack. Also, I think it would be too strong an item if it could make touch attacks, as it only costs 500 gp and lasts for an hour. Even having to make actual attacks, I think it would be very good at grappling most opponents. It is just that the minotaur is large and incredibly strong, so he has an especially high grapple bonus.
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Hearing the cries of his compatriots, Jerenon rushes to the front of the ledge. From there, he can see the full might of the Minotaur in a his rage - includng his blood-soaked axe. Clearly one of his group is in serious trouble, if not beyond hope.
With Jax's warning and with everyone preparing to fire missiles (as opposed to getting a rope ready for him), Jerenon drops his sword on the way to the ledge while loosening his shield and drawing his bow. Unfortunately, he does not have time to get a shot off yet - even though he can see his nemesis half-orc in the corner of one of the passages. Jerenon moves to T15, dropping his sword in T15, loosening his shield and drawing his bow. Calathan Show Calathan: I am trying to interpret the movement rules correctly. With Jerenon's BAB of >+1, it looks like I can combine both the loosening of the shield and the drawing of a weapon with a "regular" move. I am assuming that this means Jerenon can run to the front while loosening his shield and dropping his sword (free action), and then use a second move action to draw his bow. Technically, it might be legal by the rules to then fire off an arrow as a "regular move" combined with the drawing of the bow - but I didn't want to assume this. Please tell me if it is legal and I will provide an attack roll.
Sorry to be slow posting. I'm trying to post earlier today so it doesn't get to be midnight and I've still not gotten around to posting.
For Jerenon's actions, your interpretation of what you could do in the round was correct, and you could not make an attack this round. For combining an action with a "regular move", a regular move refers to the actual move action where you move up to your speed in distance. The actions can't be combined with other move actions besides the actual move action, and also can't be combined with other actions that involve movement. The terminology was less confusing in D&D 3.0, where you had the move action and other move-equivalent actions. In D&D 3.5 you have the move action, which is one type of move action . . . I'm not sure why they changed that. Basically, the "regular" in the phrase is specifying that it is the actual move action, and not any other sort of move action or any sort of action that involves moving. You certainly can't combine drawing a weapon with making an attack, which isn't any sort of movement or move action, let alone a regular move. Also, note that when you make a double move, you are using two move actions, so you can combine each of them with a separate action that can be combined with a regular move (Jerenon didn't need to double move in this case, but if he had he could have still both loosed his shield and drawn his bow by combining each of them with one of the moves). Jerenon moves up the the edge of the ledge overlooking the large chamber. He drops his sword and unstraps his shield from his arm, and also takes out his bow. Arliana follows after Jerenon, bringing the rope in case it is still needed. She doesn't want to use up her last few bolts when she probably can't hit anything from behind the others. That was Arliana's delayed action, but she isn't going to do anything else, so she will just be delaying again in the new round. Jax then aims his bow at the minotaur again and fires another shot, but distracted by the blood splatter below, Jax's aim is thrown off. The arrow just flies over the minotaur and strikes the floor (attack = 12 - I counted Jax as being close enough to hear Bellamin's song, so that included the Inspire Courage bonus). The minotaur, while previously reluctant to enter the narrow passages, now seems to filled with rage to care about the disadvantage they will give him. He moves as quickly as he can after Bellamin, even continuing when he has to turn sideways to fit through the corridor. It advances next to Bellamin, towering over him. However, slowed by the narrow hallway, it can't attack yet. If Bellamin tries to move away from the minotaur, it will get an attack of opportunity on him (with a -4 penalty for squeezing through the narrow hall). However, if you stay next to it, it would be able to make two attack on you next round, so it is probably better to move away and take the single attack. The half-orc then follows after the minotaur. He still displays the enhanced speed you saw before, and is out of sight of Jerenon and Jax before they can attack it. Bellamin sees him move up just behind the minotaur. Kaggrath is up next. The situation has kind of changed again, as the minotaur is now out of sight. If you decide to summon a construct, I think you can direct it to attack creatures that aren't in your sight if it comes upon them (e.g. you could picture the minotaur and half-elf in your mind, and instruct the construct to go down the hall and attack the creatures you are thinking of if it sees them). That is only if you want to summon a construct . . . and of course by the time you finished summoning one, the minotaur and half-orc might have moved further.
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As he watches the minotaur and his lackey disappear below him, Kaggrath grits his teeth in frustration. But even if he can't punish the beast from above, he can still pitch in with his mental powers. Quickly the Mad Psion starts drawing strands of ectoplasm out of the ether, knowing that Bell and Dorkiln will need some help.
You make some good points, but I think I'll go ahead build the construct anyway. Even if it can't get in to attack from this side, I can send it down the other to help out there. I'll give it flight so it can move up and down the ledge as necessary. Kaggrath begins to manifest astral construct, augmenting it with 4 power point to create a 3rd-level creature. He uses Overchannel to improve his manifester level by one (increasing duration), and Talented (expending psionic focus but avoiding damage from overchannel). He has 11 power points remaining.
Kaggrath starts to summon forth a powerful construct to try to fight the minotaur, or at least hold it at bay while Bellamin and Dorkiln escape from it.
Meanwhile, Dorkiln says to Bellamin, We need to fall back. Don't slow down, just flee to where the others are! Dorkiln then takes his own advice and moves towards the stairs, starting to head up to where the others are. Dorkiln made it half-way up the stairs. Bellamin is up next. The withdraw action won't help you get away from the minotaur due to its 10 foot reach. However, you can still use Tumble to have a good shot of getting away (assuming you want to move away from it, which I would highly recommend, but it is up to you). I'll update the map next time I post after more people have moved (basically, all that has changed is that Dorkiln is now somewhere on the stairs, which doesn't have an actual square on the map).
Bellamin looks at the minotaur with a smirk as he backs up five feet wanting to say more to egg him on, but not wanting to end his song. He continues singing the battle song while preparing to move away.
After backing up the five feet he fakes as if to rush to this left and than falls backwards and towards the his right and the ground tumbling around the corner coming to his feet instantly while barely dodging the the really big Axe that had went toward the direction of his fake out. He continues to move backwards wanting to get as far away from the the minotaur as possible, he slows down breafly to step past his caltrops. Backs up tumbles around the corner than moves to Z8, moving at half speed as he moves past Z9 to avoid the caltrops. tumble check (1d20+7=15) Sorry for the delay, just started a 2nd Job, so going to be slow on posting till I get a set schedule. I should be good to go after this week though.
Bellamin backs away from the minotaur and then tumbles around the corner before it can swing its axe at him. He continues backing down the hall.
I've placed Bellamin at Z8 as you indicated, but are you sure you want to go in a different direction from the rest of the party? I assume you have some plan, but I just wanted to make sure that is where you want to be. Anyway, Jerenon is up next. Upper floor map Show  Lower floor map Show 
Jerenon hears the sounds from the minotaur and half-orc receed as they go underneath their perch above and start through the narrower passages below.
"It sounds like they've gone into the maze. Arliana, get ready to lower me down on the rope. If they come back, I'll back into the main arena, call my horse and face them below. If not, I'll chase them through the maze. Either way, this is our best chance to surround them - if we're lucky we can do it in the tight passageways where we have an advantage." "I'm assuming Dorkiln and Bell will retreat this way, though, so get ready to follow me down unless you want to face a minotaur up here. Kaggrath, you might want to place that construct up here to provide some delay for the rest of you to escape..." Jerenon uses the time to put away his bow and pick up his sword. He leaves his shield unstrapped so that he can climb down the rope easily. (I think sheathing my bow and picking up my sword is all I can do in this turn.)
yes I'd like Bell to be where he is, reason is it keep the minotaur focused on him and not his friends and there's a very nice firing line for his bow right here. I'm pretty sure he's safe for at least a round unless the minotaur can double move for over a hundred feet due to cramping.
besides I'd rather have Bell get lost in a maze running away from a Minotaur than putting the rest of the party in danger. He's his own kind of fool...the kind that dreams of being a hero some day. The ones they write songs and stories about.
Jerenon asks Arliana to get the rope ready. He suggests that they try to surround the minotaur in the narrow passages. He also suggests that Kaggrath place his summoned construct up here to hold off the minotaur if it comes this way. Jerenon then puts away his bow and picks up his sword.
Holding on to one end of the rope, Arliana throws the other end past Jax and Jerenon and over the ledge. She braces herself to hold the rope in place for whenever Jerenon is ready to climb down. Jax says to Jerenon, If you run into the minotaur down there and there is no one on the other side of it to surround it, lead it back out into the open here. Then I can hit it with arrows and Kaggrath can hit it with magic. Jax then readies his bow to fire on the minotaur if it comes into view. The minotaur and the half-orc follow after Bellamin. However, the minotaur is slowed by the narrow halls, and the half-orc doesn't seem to want to move past him. Having lost his bow, the half-orc holds his greatsword, though without the bow he cannot attack Bellamin from a distance. Kaggrath is up next. If you want to send your construct to try to find the enemies, I think you could picture them in your mind and give it instructions to attack those things if it comes upon them. Before you didn't seem to think your construct could look for the enemies, but I think you can at least instruct it to go down a hall and attack them if it finds them. Also, the rest of the party can act now if you want since you will be up before the minotaur and half-orc get another turn. If Bellamin wants to reconsider joining up with the rest of the party, it would take a tumble check to move past the intersection near the minotaur without letting it get an attack of opportunity. If you want to lead the minotaur off in another direction that is fine, but I'm just worried that Bellamin is going to get killed . . . that would make me having Vor'ar'isk sacrifice himself to save you seem kind of pointless. Upper Floor Map Show Lower Floor Map Show 
A shimmering silver wasp takes form in air before Kaggrath, fluttering on feathery wings. "Go," he commands the creature, staring with eyes likewise shining silver, "find the minotaur and his crony and kill them both." As his servant flaps away, the Mad Psion grabs hold of the rope and prepares to help lower Jerenon down. "My pet will help you bring the beast down, or at least distract it a bit while cut it to ribbons," he tells the paladin with a faint smile. "Good luck!"
The construct appears in the air, space S15. It double moves to the lower level and then down the passageway, to space Y17 (assuming double speed while descending). Astral Construct stats: Medium Construct; HD 3d10+20 (36 hp); Spd 40ft., fly 20 ft. (average); AC 21 , touch 13, flat 19; BAB/Grapple +2/+7; Attack Slam +7 melee (1d6+7); SQ deflection (included in AC), construct traits, darkvision 60ft., low-light vision; Saves Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1; Str 21, Dex 15, Con --, Int --, Wis 11, Cha 10.
Kaggarth finishes forming the Astral creature, giving it feathery wings. He mentally directs it to find the minotaur and the half-orc and attempt to kill them. As the construct moves down the hall, Bellamin is able to see it come into view just around the corner behind the minotaur and half-orc. After directing the construct, Kaggrath grabs hold of the rope, preparing to help lower Jerenon.
Dorkiln, meanwhile, moves to stand next to Arliana, preparing to hold off the enemies if they come this way. Bellamin is up next, followed by Jerenon. I think Bellamin would be able to recognize the creature that moved into view behind the half-orc and minotaur as an Astral Construct. You could probably assume that it is Kaggrath's, as you haven't seen a Psion with the minotaur's group.
Construct|C| | |Moves to find the minotaur Upper floor map Show  Lower floor map Show  I accidentally put Dorkiln in two places on the map, but he is next to Arliana, not on the stairs.
I'm going to post Jerenon's actions, as I don't think whatever Bell does will change them.
Jerenon sheathes his sword (one movement action) and grabs the rope to climb down. However, he is too hasty in grabbing the rope and has a tough time getting down smoothly. Climb Check: 1d20-2=3 (I included +3 for strength, and -5 for my chain armor.) I am not sure whether a quick move would be required to make it to the floor in one movement action, adding that would be another -5 penalty to the check. This may or may not matter, depending on your views on the difficulty of the check. (DC 5 or 10) Regardless, at best Jerenon makes no progress, and at worst he falls to the floor below. At least it wasn't an attack roll...
Looks like invisiblecastle is either down for a bit or gone completely. So I followed Mooncussers roll link and am using core colisium...which I thought was gone, but it looks like they remaid the site using a slightly different name.
Everything tis going according to my plans, I hope it works. Come big guy catch me if you can. 1d20+11=21; 1d20+15=19; 1d3+0=3; 1d20+6=25; 1d20+15=21; 1d3=2 The ever grinning bard stares down the shaft of an arrow nocked in his bow. He draws back waiting to for his whip to attack before releasing his shot. The first attack hits and wraps tightly, but Bell can almost tell by looking that it is probally not enough. Once it is shrugged off the whip strikes out again and if by some miracle the minotaur was grappled with the first blow it squeezes slightly inflicting minor pain to the raging beast. Than Bell releases his arrow straight towards the center of the massive beast and just as the arrow leaves the bow he sneezes for no particular reason and as his eyes swell up with tears from the violent explosion from his nostrils he doesn't see if the arrow hit or not. And with all of his friends blood on the Minotaur he doesn't think he can tell if he had hit. He prepares himself to move at least out of site of his two opponents. All the while he continues his song in hopes it will aid him in defeating them both. 1d20+6=12; 1d6+1=3 Bell still has a move action, if the minotaur is grappled he will take a five foot step to Y8, if it is not which I assume it isn't than he will move to W7
Bellamin's whip lashes out at the minotaur, making contact but failing to wrap around it (minotaur's grapple checks = 32, 28). Bellamin then fires on the minotaur with his bow, but the arrow strikes the wall instead of hitting its target. Bellamin then moves back throught the room with the lever, starting to head down the other passage out of there. From where he is, he can now see that the passage up ahead is sloped, so that it goes gradually upwards to the northeast, and gradually downwards to the northwest.
Jerenon then puts away his sword and starts to try to climb down the rope. However, he can't get a good grip on the rope due to his armor pulling him down, as well as the curse affecting him. It is 20' down, and Jerenon has a 20' movement speed. Since normal climbing is at one quarter speed and accelerated climbing is at half speed, you can't climb 20' in one move action regardless of which you use. I think it is reasonable that you could drop 5 feet without risking damage, so you really only have to climb 15' feet down, but you still can't do that this round. I think whether you are using normal climbing or accelerated climbing will matter in terms of whether you fall or not though, so let me know which you were intending to use. The DC to climb down is 5 for the first 10 feet (I don't think the rope is knotted, but you do have a wall to brace against. I think the DC would be 15 for the last 10 feet (or really just 5 feet, since you can jump from 5 feet up), since you don't really have a wall to brace against anymore then. I think you rolled a 1 (after applying the Hexblade Curse you are under) if you aren't using accelerated climbing, and rolled a -4 if you are using accelerated climbing. For a DC 5 climb check, a 1 would mean you make no progress, while a -4 would mean you fall. Personally, I would recommend you only try to climb down 10 feet, then try to jump down the remaining 10 feet (I think intentionally letting go of a rope to drop down can be considered a jump). The DC to avoid damage for the last 10 feet is the same (DC 15 climb vs. DC 15 jump), but with the intentional jump even if you fail the check the damage will be non-lethal damage as opposed to the normal damage with a unintentional fall. Of course, if you were using accelerated climbing you fell before you got to that point, so that issue is then moot. I'll get to the minotaur and half-orc's actions tomorrow, since it is getting late. Sorry for the slow posting.
Jax keeps his bow ready in case any enemies come up the stairs or threaten Jerenon. Arliana, meanwhile, continues to hold the rope. If Jerenon fell, Arliana will instead pull the rope back up and put it away in her pack (unless someone else says they want to climb down).
The minotaur, though enraged, notices the caltrops on the ground (spot check = 22). In its rage, it is unwilling to slow its pursuit of Bellamin, and instead opts to jump over the obsticle, just managing to clear them with a little room to spare (jump check = 8, which included a large penalty for reduced speed, but also a large bonus for high strength). The minotaur ends up in the room with the lever, and now blocks Bellamin's route back to the rest of the party. The half-orc, seeing Kaggrath's construct closing in from behind, goes to confront it. He swings his greatsword at the Astral creature, but the weapon hits the wall of the corridor rather than connecting with the construct (attack = 11). Meanwhile, up above, Dorkiln says, I don't see Bellamin. I thought he would be right behind me. I'm going to go look for him. I'll shout if I need help. Dorkiln is preparing to go back down the stairs to find Bellamin, but if anyone thinks that is a bad idea, feel free to tell him not to do so. I need to know if Jerenon would have tried to use accelerated climbing, and then Kaggrath is up next. For Kaggrath's construct, please go ahead and roll its attacks even though no one in the party can currently see that it is fighting the half-orc. Bellamin and Jerenon can act now as well, since it is just allies who are up before your turns.
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Sorry - was away for the weekend.
I really should have asked the accelerated climbing question before I rolled, but I reallty wasn't sure what the movement rules would be - particularly with regards to whether I could jump the last bit or not. Based on your note above, I would assume that Jerenon would have used normal climbing - under the assumption that he could have jumped the last, harder 10'. So, based on the roll, Jerenon just made no progress and is still up above. (Jerenon will again try to normal climb the first 10' next turn, and then jump the last 10'. If everything goes well, he'll start running after the half-orc and minotaur.)
Bellamin sighs out loud when the Minotaur jumps over the caltrops. A look with a bit of worry on his face, although mock worry at that as he still has one more old trick up his sleeve before he considers himself truely in grave danger. Ye are quite thee persistant cowbeast are ye not? Here tis a bit o lard to butter ye up for thee grill.
Bellamin goes through a few very familiar handgests and insights the proper buttery phrase and once more the floor under the Minotaur becomes slick with grease as he tosses the lard components through the spell into the area. X/Y 7&8 DC 19 reflex With a smiles Bellamin chottles and laughs, Now lets tenderize thee meat. The huge whip lashes out at the Minotaur beathing him frantically and the first hit wraps around him very tightly and this time the smiling bard thinks it might have a chance of holding that beast still for a moment or two. Oh how rude of me I never introduced myself. I am Bellamin Tarmikos Thee Cook. Ha! Ha! Also Can I have ye name so I may properly label this dish? He than waits to see if the whip can keep the beast still, but prepares himself to high tail it out of there if it doesn't. If grapple fails he'll move towards and past R8, if he succeeds than he'll back up to T7 1d20+11=30; 1d20+15=30; 1d3+0=1; 1d20+6=22; 1d20+15=17; 1d3=1 Can anyone tell me if the minotaur looks mad, I know he's raging and all but is he mad or just a little upset? :P Oh btw if you haven't figured it out, I"m hoping to run him out of rage by the time the rest of the party engages him...I hope it works.
Thanks for the description of the required movement. As I thought about it more, I realized that Jerenon would have to make two movement checks on the upper portion of the wall alone, almost necessitating a jump on the lower portion to have any chance of reaching the battle at all.
Jerenon tries to get down the rope again, and after a shaky start finally gets the hang of it and makes some progress. Climb checks: 1d20-4=5; 1d20-4=13 (both include +3 for strength, -5 for chain armor, and -2 for the curse) I think Jerenon passed both based on equalling or beating a DC 5 check - barely... This should leave Jerenon holding on to the rope right at the opening to the alcove. I am not sure if an intentional jump (fall) at this point would be considered a free action, though I know a jump is normally considered a move action. Regardless, here is the DC check for the jump (fall), whether I can use it this round or next. Go ahead and roll for damage... Jerenon then jumps the remaining distance, hoping to land somewhat gracefully - perhaps a bit too much to hope given his cursed state. Interntional Jump check: 1d20-2=4 (includes -2 for the curse. I wasn't sure whether armor and strength bonuses should matter in a fall situation, so I didn't include them. It doesn't really matter anyway, as Jerenon failed the check no matter what.)
The feathery hornet dodges the half-orc's sword and then strikes back with its long, barbed stinger. Attack roll: 17. Damage: 11.
Kaggrath, meanwhile, sees that Jerenon has made it to the floor and decides that he's no longer needed up above. If there had been foes down below, this would have made a perfect spot to unleash his mental powers, but instead he is merely wasted. "I'm right behind you," he says to Dorkiln. "Lead the way." He'll delay until after the dwarf, then follow him down the stairs.
For the minotaur, it appears to Bellamin to be angry, but not completely blinded by rage. It clearly isn't being as cautious as before, but you don't think it would necessarily press the attack if it looked like it was in serious danger.
Kaggrath's construct attacks the half-orc, trying to hit him with its stinger-like appendage. The half-orc's chain shirt isn't enough to stop the blow, and the stinger slams into him. However, having healed some of his wounds from before, he is still able to remain standing. Meanwhile, Kaggrath waits for Jerenon to get to the bottom floor. He tells Dorkiln that he will be right behind him when the dwarf heads back down the stairs. Dorkiln then heads towards the stairs and starts going back down them. He gets close to the bottom, though not quite all the way down yet. I've put Dorkiln on the lower map since he is closer to the bottom of the stairs now. Next, Bellamin casts another Grease spell, placing the spell under and in front of the minotaur. I've marked the grease in brown on the map. With Bellamin's previous spell boosting the potency of his magic, the grease is particularly slick, causing the minotaur to fall to the ground (reflex save = 17). Bellamin's whip then lashes out, easily striking the minotaur, but still the massivle strong creature is able to keep it from wrapping him up (grapple checks = 34, 24). Bellamin taunts the minotaur, suggesting that you might cook him. However, with the minotaur not caught by the whip, Bellamin moves into the passage up ahead, choosing to go in the direction that slopes downward. As he rounds the corner, Bellamin can see that the passage turns and passes under the part of the passage that headed upwards. The passage basically forms a large spiralling ramp, and it is impossible to tell from here how far down it might go. Up above, Jerenon manages to climb down the rope, getting halfway to the bottom. When he runs out of wall to brace against, he lets go, trying to jump the remaining 10 feet to the ground. However, weighed down by he armor he isn't able to control his fall, and lands with a loud crash on his back. For simplicity, you should apply your armor penalty and strength bonus to jump checks even if you aren't jumping off or a solid surface. The armor still makes it hard to control your landing, and strength would help you stick the landing rather than falling over. Jerenon took 5 points of non-lethal damage from the fall. I've put the non-lethal damage in parentheses after the normal damage you have taken on the initiative chart. Jerenon is also prone from the fall. No longer needing to help hold the rope, Kaggrath follows Dorkiln down the stairs. You are faster than Dorkiln, but I assumed you would not move past him. Jax says, I guess I should go with them, in case they need healing. He follows behind Kaggrath. Arliana, meanwhile, pulls up the rope and stores it away in her pack. She says, Jerenon, I'm going to follow the others in a moment. We can try to surround them down there. Hopefully Kaggrath's creature can keep you from having to face them alone until the rest of the group gets down the stairs. Downstairs, the minotaur stands up in the puddle of grease. It tries to walk across the grease to follow after Bellamin, but it is too slick for the minotaur to do anything other than maintain his balance to keep from falling again (Balance = 8, which means it doesn't fall yet but can't move this round). The half-orc then takes a defensive stance, but still also swings at the construct with his greatsword. Despite his defensive posture, the half-orc's blade slams into the construct, leaving a large slash in its Astral substance (attack = 23, damage = 10). The half-orc is fighting defensively. The party is up again now, starting with Kaggrath and his construct.
wew ole boy that was close, so glad he fell. I should not stray too far from the rest and I need to wound him some before the others get to him.
He gently nestles his fingers on the bowstring flicking it lightly as if testing it, he than fits an arrow and taps a foot as he waits for the Minotaur to come after him. Bell once again grins to himself as if he's trying to reassure himself that he is doing the right thing, most would have kept on running. His sense of adventure however holds him to his position ready to take a shot at the minotaur as soon as he rounds the corner. Ready action to shoot the minotaur if it come around the corner at T8
Jerenon stands and begins to move toward the hallway where he can hear what he presumes is the construct fighting something. His movement has a slight limp to it initially due to the awkward angle of his fall, but his training helps him to quickly overcome this minor pain.
On the way to the hallway, he refastens his shield and notes the macabre, yet peaceful scene around him with dwarf lying in the middle of the floor, and the clearly dead warrior and Vor'ar'isk lying almost side by side in front of him. Jerenon stands up, rebuckles his shield, and moves to V16, which is as far as I think he can get this turn.
The weathered wasp takes the hit from the sword stoically, uttering not a sound. But the hefty chop seems to throw off its balance quite a bit, and the stinger doesn't come close to its target. The Mad Psion himself remains cautious, waiting for the dwarf to lead the way through the labyrinth.
The construct attacks the half-orc (natural 1) and misses. Kaggrath delays again until after Dorkiln.
Kaggrath's construct strikes back at the half-orc, but it is off balance after being hit, and it can't connect with its foe.
Dorkiln moves forward, coming to the intersection of the hall. He says, Well, I can see the minotaur and the half-orc, but I don't know where Bellamin is. I assume Kaggrath meant to follow once Dorkiln moved. I've put you right behind Dorkiln on the map, but if you weren't intending to follow him and were going to do something else with your delayed action, let me know. You could also have followed but stopped 5 feet before where I put you, and then used a standard action to do something else (but you wouldn't be able to see the enemies unless you moved all the way to where I put you on the map). Bellamin prepares to fire on the minotaur if it should continue after him. However, the minotaur slips again on the grease and falls back to the ground (reflex save = 10). Meanwhile, Jerenon stands up and starts heading for where the construct went. He fastens his shield back on his arm as he goes. Around the corner of the hall, he can just make out the half-orc and the construct fighting. Jax then walks forwards, moving up by Dorkiln to get a sense of what is going on. He steps behind the dwarf and towards the half-orc, thinking that will be a good location from which to cast spells. Up above, Arliana continues to wait where she is. She takes out her crossbow, in case it is needed, though she doesn't have enough bolts left to do much good with it. The minotaur then gets back to its feet. Seeing new foes, it heads towards them, ignoring the caltrops in its path. However, it steps right on top of one of them, and the sharp point pierces its foot (caltrops attack = natural 20, critical confirmation = 4 (no critical), 1 damage). The minotaur roars in pain, and seems more enraged than it was a moment earlier. The minotaur was able to move off the grease without needing a check since a check is only required for moving into or through it, not for moving directly out of it. Down the hall, the half-orc continues to fight the construct while also defending himself. This time though, he swings his blade too hesitantly, and the construct easily dodges it (attack = 11). Kaggrath is up again now, followed by the rest of the party. By the way I play the cover rules, Kaggrath has cover against the minotaur, but it does not have cover against ranged attacks by Kaggrath (it would have cover against melee attacks by Kaggrath if he happened to have a reach weapon). That means that Kaggrath could target the minotaur with a power without a cover penalty to any attack roll, and it couldn't make an attack of opportunity on him in response. However, if Kaggrath were to end his action where he is, the minotaur could attack you on its turn. Anyway, let me know what you want to do.
Edging past the dwarf and Jax into the next passageway, Kaggrath spots the two adversaries and immediately turns his psychic powers towards the minotaur. Placing one hand on his temple while the other reaches out towards the monster, he projects every ounce of his mental energy to destroy his foe's mind.
Kaggrath manifests an augmented mind thrust at the minotaur, spending 3 power points: 18 damage, Will save DC 16 negates. He has 8 power points remaining. He then moves to space Z13, in order to gain line of sight to his construct. The feathery wasp flaps its wings to gain a little more height, and then jabs viciously at the half-orc with its pointed stinger. Is there space in the corridor for the construct to fly a little bit higher up, making room for Jerenon to move adjacent to the half-orc? Attack: 17. Damage: 9.
Hmm he should have been around thee corner by now, I wonder if perhaps he slipped again or what if he headed back towards thee others giving up pursuit. No I will not accept that he must chase me.
With the Minotaur not rounding the corner Bell begins to worries and being the hero that he is he must act on his gut feeling. He moves back towards the Minotaur and see's that he has given up pursuit. He moves even closer and is glad he still has somewhat of a shot at him. Not wanting to waist time he takes his shot hastily hoping to hit, but more importantly he wants the Minotaur to see him and hopefully charge towards him again. bell moves to V7 and can see the minotaur and takes a shot with is bow, I think he might have cover, but not sure, but he's also squeezing so that I think makes me hitting on its normal ac. 1d20+6=11; 1d6+1=2 The shot goes a bit wide and shatters agains the wall next to the minotaurs head. Bell continues his song hoping his allies can hear him so that they may benefit from his inspiring song. btw Bell has been singing quite loudly so I think everyone should be able to hear him unless the walks completely block, however I"m assuming the song could carry down the corridors quite nicely. But if Cal says you can hear it then don't forget to apply the +1 attack and damage. When the atttack misses Bell almost misses a beat in his song and than his whip being in range attacks again looks as if it is barely connecting or was that the wall? 1d20+11=17; 1d20+15=27; 1d3=2 btw has Bellamin been attacking the minotaur long enough and close enough to his base AC to kind of know what it might be close to?
Kaggrath moves into the hall to get a better view of the foes. He then directs his mind at the minotaur, but the creature has worked itself up into a rage, and Kaggrath can't manage to focus on its now-erratic thoughts. His power fails to work, and the minotaur seems unharmed (will save = 22). Please assume that your character has a general sense of how the state of an enemy would affect your chance to hit it with different sorts of attacks. You would know that a target who is in a rage is hard to affect with mental attacks, but that being large, raging, and squeezing through a narrow space all make a creature easy to hit with physical attacks (or rays). The reason I pointed out in my previous post that you had a clear shot at it was because it was in a very good position to hit with a ray, and I didn't want you to think you couldn't hit it from where you were.
Down the hall, Kaggrath's construct continues to battle the half-orc. The construct jabs at the half-orc with its stinger, but the half-orc uses his sword to deflect the attack. There isn't room in the hall for Jerenon to fit under the construct. Also, I think the construct has average flying manouverability, so it can't fly directly up and can't hover, so I don't think it could just move up and then stay there with Jerenon under it. Dorkiln then says, Well, here goes nothing. Hopefully I can take him down before he kills me. Please heal me if he hits me. Dorkiln then steps towards the minotaur with both axes in his hands. He twirls the axes with tremendous speed, but with a little less accuracy than his was hoping, striking the minotaur only once (attacks = 15, 9, 21, 15, damage = 8). Some of Dorkiln's other attacks deflect off the minotaur with loud clangs, causing the dwarf to exclaim, Either he is actually made of metal or he is wearing invisible armor. Either way, he isn't as easy a target as he looks. Bellamin then decides to move out from around the corner to see what happened to the minotaur. Seeing that it has turned back towards his friends, Bellamin fires on the minotaur. However, his arrow flies wide, striking the far wall of the room. His whip also lashes out at the minotaur, but deflects off the wall of the hallway. The minotaur does not have cover against ranged attacks from Bellamin, but does have cover against melee attacks from Bellamin's square, so it had cover against the whip. I don't think you would have an exact sense yet of how armored the minotaur is, but you can tell that it is protected in some way that isn't visible. As Dorkiln pointed out, it seems to perhaps have invisible armor or a much higher natural armor bonus than a normal minotaur would have. Jerenon is up next.
Jerenon feel rather impotent at the moment. He wants to get at the Half-Orc, but can't with the Construct in the way, and it doesn't seem worth it to switch weapons for a low-odds bow shot.
Jerenon stays where he is and delays to see if he can take advantage of the situation as it develops.
Jerenon stays where he is, waiting for the construct to hopefully defeat the half-orc.
Jax, meanwhile, steps forward and prepares to cast a powerful healing spell on Dorkiln, if the minotaur should hit him. Jax readies an action to cast Cure Serious Wounds on Dorkiln if he is hit by the minotaur's axe. Jax will use up Dispel Magic to cast the healing spell if necessary. Arliana stays where she is up above, keeping her crossbow ready in case any enemies appear. The minotaur then attacks Dorkiln, and though its axe scrapes along the wall of the hall, that hardly slows the weapon down. The massive blade slams into the dwarf, cutting a big gash into his shoulder (attack = 28, damage = 23). Jax immediately makes the final gestures to cast his spell, and healing energy flows into Dorkiln. Jax uses Cure Serious Wounds, healing 17 hp. The spell didn't prompt an attack of opportunity since Jax has cover against the minotaur from Dorkiln being in the way. Seeing what happened, the minotaur says, You no heal him! Me smash you first! It seems the minotaur's mastery of the Lalsharan language is rather poor, and in this instance its skill with the axe fails it as well, as it takes a swing at Jax but only ends up slamming its axe into the wall (attack = 13). As the minotaur fights, it moves its feet around in the pile of caltrops. One of the caltrops again pierces the minotaur's foot, suggesting that its skin isn't actually made of metal as Dorkiln was worried (caltrops attack = 15, damage = 1). Meanwhile, the half-orc continues to fight Kaggrath's construct, while also trying to keep his defenses up. He swings his greatsword at the construct, but the Astral creature dodges the attack (attack = 13). Kaggrath and his construct are up next. Now that the minotaur is engaged in melee and has cover against ranged attacks (due to Dorkiln being in the way), it is no longer as easy a target for a ray . . . I just didn't want you to think my comment from last round still applied to the situation in this round.
All that changed on the map is that Jax moves forward 5 feet. Since it takes a little while to post the map and it is kind of late now, please just refer to the previous map. I'll update it when more changes.
Yeah, a ray would have been a better choice at that point. I just didn't think it through, I guess.
Frustrated by the minotaur's mental resistance, the Mad Psion redoubles his efforts. Summoning up most of the power he has left in him, he unleashes a barrage of psychic jabs at the beast, hoping to flog it into submission. Kaggrath manifests an augmented ego whip. The minotaur must make a Will save DC 18. On a failure, he suffers 5 points of Charisma damage, and is dazed for 1 round; on a success, he merely suffers 2 Charisma damage. Kaggrath spends 7 power points and has 1 remaining. Down the passageway, Kaggrath's mystical wasp continues to strike at the enemy swordsman. Attack roll: 18. Damage: 10. The construct has one round left before disappearing.
Kaggrath unleashes another mental attack on the minotaur, this time attacking its ego rather than trying to inflict physical harm on it. Unfortunately, the minotaur's mind is just a little too different from a human's, and with it currently in a rage, Kaggrath's mental attacks just don't seem to be working correctly on it. It seems like the attack damaged its ego slightly, but the minotaur's only reaction is to glare at you. Minotaur's will save = 21. Unfortunately, monstrous humanoids have good will saves, and I'm happening to roll highly on his saves.
Down the hall, Kaggrath's Astral wasp tries to attack the half-orc again, but the half-orc is just barely able to raise its sword in time to block the attack. Dorkiln then attacks the minotaur again, once again twirling his axes at great speed. Each of his axes cuts into the minotaur once, leaving it with two gashes across its chest (attacks = 20, 13, 14, 21, damage = 22 total). However, the minotaur looks like a very sturdy opponent, and you don't think the wounds are anywhere near enough to drop it. Dorkiln then looks down at his shirt, saying, I could use your help here. A snake pops its head out of Dorkiln's shirt, and then bites into the minotaur's leg (attack = 25, damage = 1). However, the snake's fangs seem too small to do much damage, and its venom is presumably too weak to affect a sturdy creature like teh minotaur (minotaur's fortitude save = 18). I'm not sure if Dorkiln ever introduced the party to his animal companion, but anyway, it is apparently a snake that he carries inside his clothes. I'm considering the snake to be "riding" Dorkiln, so it is acting on the same round as him. Bellamin is up next, followed by Jerenon. Again, I'll update the map once someone moves more.
Btw has everyone been remember the +1 attack and damage from bellamin's song? you just need to be able to hear it.
Bellamin's knees tremble at the prospect of another one of his allies falling to the minotaur as he see's fresh blood on the beasts blade and blood splatter on the wall. He takes a quick step of urgency towards the minotaur making sure that he doesn't step on his own grease. one more round of grease after this one Taking aim he hopes for a miracle and hopes to significantly wound the Minotaur. His shot strikes soundly and deeply embedding in the Minotaurs back. I figured a 22 hit since Dorklins 20 and 21 hit and the -4 for being in combat I think is negated by the -4 for squeezing. 1d20+6=22; 1d6+1=7 Hey twinkle toes do thee caltrops of mine hurt ye? I gander that they do, perhaps ye should come over here and pay mine self back for all thee pain I have inflicted upon ye. Or ye can just let me inflict more. As Bellamin taunts the Minotaur he fits another arrow to his bow and watches as his whip ineffectively beats on the huge beast. 1d20+11=17; 1d20+15=34; 1d3+0=2; 1d20+6=23; 1d20+15=20; 1d3=3 5 rounds of inspire courage left since Bell stopped singing
I'm sorry, I somehow missed the part of one of your posts where you said Bellamin "continues his song", or I would have brought up at the time that you had previously stopped singing and hadn't started again. Also, I had been assuming that no one had heard your song previously except Dorkiln, since everyone else had been on the other floor. Even still though, the effects of your song would have lasted long enough on Dorkiln that he would still be affected when he got back into battle with the minotaur, but I forgot to apply the effects. Those effects make a big difference since he missed the minotaur a couple times by only one on his attack rolls.
Here is what I think should have actually happened. I think everyone up the stairs wouldn't have heard Bellamin's song, but Dorkiln definitely hear it. Looking back, Dorkiln moves back down the stairs, and then immediately after that Bellamin stopped his song (before anyone else moved back down the stairs). So Dorkiln is affected by the song for five rounds starting when Bellamin stopped singing, but no one else was affected (except Bellamin himself). Bellamin would have stopped singing in this post in order to cast the Grease spell. A bard can't use bardic music while casting a spell, so you had to stop singing at that point. On the first of the five rounds of the effect, Dorkiln moved into the center of the hall. On the second round of the effect, Dorkiln attacked the minotaur and rolled two rolls I listed as 15s, plus one that I said hit. However, the 15s should have been 16s, meaning they hit as well. All three hits should have also done 1 extra damage. So instead of 8 damage that round, the minotaur took 29 damage (21 damage more than I said). The third round of the effect was the round where Dorkiln just attacked in my last post, and those two hits would each do 1 more damage (2 more damage combined). So in total, the minotaur took 23 more damage than what I had said. Dorkiln will still be affected by Inspire Courage for 2 more rounds. Since I think Bellamin has taken a standard action (or readied a standard action) every round since stopping singing, you couldn't have started again after casting the Grease spell. So I think the song isn't affecting anyone other than Dorkiln, but since Dorkiln is the one attacking the minotaur, he is the one you care about having be affected. Also, Dorkiln's snake would be affected, but it rolled a 0 on its damage roll and did 1 damage since attacks always do at least 1 damage baring something like DR or hardness. It still would only do 1 damage with the bonus from Inspire Courage. So anyway, the minotaur has taken 56 damage in total, but it still looks like it could take a lot more damage. I'll get to the results of Bellamin's actions in the current round the next time I post. Jerenon is still up next. In theory you could summon your horse behind the half-orc if you want something to do, though I don't know if you are planning to summon it later instead.
sorry I forgot it was standard to start singing again, well bell would have sang more, but he would have still done those other actions so his singing the past couple rounds were purely rp than..I'll probally start singing again next round if the minotaur is still standing. although if it comes after me I'll probally run away again.
Jerenon is visibly frustrated by his inability to engage. He delays again, preparing to act the instant the Construct fells the half-orc, or the Construct disintigrates, thereby leaving an opening for him to get into the battle.
(Jerenon officially delays again for his action so that he can move to attack immediately upon an opening in the battle.) Calathan: Just so we are clear when (or if) I decide to bring my mount into the battle, what are the rules on calling and placement? I know it is a full round action for Jerenon, but more importantly, I thought the horse had to appear adjacent to Jerenon - which would make putting it on one of the half-orc's flanks impossible given current placement. My frustration is that I have been trying to get my horse into the battle, but have not found a good place to use him yet. I would love to place him behind the minotaur to surround it - but I think the placement rules are going to make that impossible.
You are right, the mount has to be next to you, so that won't work. I had just assumed it could appear anywhere nearby, but I was wrong about that. So I guess there isn't much point to summoning it here. Also, when you were planning to summon it next to the minotaur, that had me worried, since if it dies your character will have penalties for a very long time (30 days of game time is ages in real life time).
Bellamin steps forward and shoots at the minotaur, hitting it in the back. While it is a solid wound, it is small in comparison to the large gashes Dorkiln has inflicted. Bellamin tries to taunt the minotaur, but it doesn't turn in his direction, instead still keeping its eyes fixed on Dorkiln and Jax. For the whip attack before, I was confused about the cover rules, and applied the melee cover rules, when I should have applied the ranged cover rules since the minotaur isn't adjacent to you (even though it is a melee attack). I'm going to assume that it wasn't affected before anyway, but now I will apply the ranged cover rules to the current whip attacks. That means the minotaur doesn't have cover against them. Bellamin's whip then strikes at the minotaur. It connects with its target, and finally is able to wrap around it (minotaur's grapple check = 29). The whip squeezes the minotaur, inflicting minor bruises on it. I'm going to assume that the whip makes unarmed strike attacks while grappling. It will be making actual attacks, not attempting to use grapple checks to do damage. The attacks get a -4 penalty due to being in a grapple, but its second attack this round still hits. Since it isn't using itself as a weapon, the attacks do non-lethal damage, but that is better than the no damage at all they deal when the whip uses itself as a weapon. I'll use the second attack and damage roll you rolled for the whip's second attack this round. The whip then squeezes the minotaur again, inflicting futher bruises on it. I've noted the non-lethal damage the minotaur took in parentheses, just as with Jerenon's non-lethal damage. The whip is also now in the minotaur's square. Jerenon waits where he is, ready to act if the construct or half-orc should be defeated. Jax, seeing that the minotaur is held up by the whip, decides to cast an offensive spell. He summons forth a bow of force that hovers near the minotaur (he casts Spiritual Weapon). The bow fires an magical arrow at the creature, striking it (attack = 18, damage = 7). I don't think the Spiritual Weapon attacks count as ranged attacks (even though Jax's spiritual weapon is a bow), so the attacks don't have a chance of hitting the whip. Arliana continues to wait up above. With the minotaur's axe being too big to use against the whip while it is wrapped around the minotaur's body, the minotaur instead tries to snap the whip with its horns. Before I was playing attacks on the whip as sunder attempts. However, I think that doesn't really make sense here, since I don't think you can sunder during a grapple, and you can't sunder with a piercing weapon like a horn. However, it seems unreasonable that the minotaur couldn't attack the whip, so I'm just going to say it attacks the whip as if it was a creature. The whip's AC would be 10, assuming it has average dexterity. The minotaur's horn catches on the whip and damages it some, though not enough to break the whip (attack = 20, damage = 7 after applying hardness). Seeing that it couldn't break the whip easily, the minotaur tries to escape the grapple. It uses up the first of its axe attacks for the round trying to escape the grapple. It flexes its muscles, and the whip is flung off of it (grapple check = 39). I think that beats the whip's maximum grapple check, so I'm assumeing the minotaur got free, and you wouldn't need to roll an opposed check. As part of the attack that frees it, the minotaur moves into an open space next to the grappling creature. This movement doesn't count as an action, so the minotaur will still be able to make the final axe attack as part of its full attack for the round. However, the movement does draw an attack of opportunity from Dorkiln, which happens before the minotaur's attack. As the minotaur moves away, Dorkiln slices into it with the better of his two axes, giving the creature another cut (attack = 21, damage = 9). Despire all its wounds, the minotaur still seems capable of putting up a fight. It also manages to avoid stepping on the caltrops as it strugles to get free of the whip (caltrop attack = 4). Now free of the whip, the minotaur takes the opportunity to try to destroy the whip. It slices at the enchanted weapon with its axe. Now that it is no longer in a grapple, I'm going to treat the attack on the whip as a sunder attempt as I was before. Minotaur's sunder roll = 20. The whip needs to roll an opposed roll, with a bonus of +15. If the opposed roll fails, the whip will take 22 damage and be destroyed. I've put the whip on the map with a "w" symbol. If it survives the attack, I'll assume the whip flies back to Bellamin on Bellamin's next turn, and will remove it from the map at that time. Down the hall, the half-orc continues to fight with the construct, but can't hit the construct while still focused on defense (attack = 11). I need an opposed attack roll from the whip, and then Kaggrath and the construct are up next.
1d20+15=22
Good boy Whippie I knew ye would tangle him soon enough. Bell watches in astonishment and pure joy as the whip for the first time manages to grapple the Minotaur detaining and hindering its attacks on Dorklin briefly. He is almost sad when the minotaur shrugs the whip off very quickly, but it allowed the good Dwarf to get a free hit in on the monster. Than the axe comes at the whip attempting to end its existance, but slippery as a snake the magical weapon shifts out of the way by an inch or two. Than it flies back to Bellamin in a spiral fashion ending near him floating.... waiting to attack once more. That tis thee way to stick it to him my Dwarven friend.
The minotaur's mental defenses are more imposing than the Mad Psion expected in such a brutal beast. No psychic attack seems to break through. He rallies the last of his power to cast of bolt of icy wind, but the Golden Mind appears to be no match for the monster of the maze.
Kaggrath takes a 5' step to Z12, then manifests energy ray (cold). I'm not sure whether the ranged penalties for fighting in a melee apply where the whip is concerned, but I doubt the roll is close to hitting anyway. Ranged touch attack: 7. Damage: 2 cold. Kaggrath spends 1 power point and has 0 remaining. Kaggrath's conjured wasp makes one last desperate jab at the half-orc, but the magic that binds it together is wearing off, and before it can do any more damage it completely unravels and melts away into the ether that bore it. Attack roll: 7 (natural 1). The duration elapses and the construct disappears.
I'm going to go ahead with Jerenon's actions. I think Dorkiln is technically up next, followed by Bell and his whip again, but I don’t think the actions of either of those two are going to change what Jerenon does this turn - and technically Jerenon can go at any time with his delay action from the last round. Also, I am assuming that as soon as the construct dissipates on its turn, that Jerenon can react immediately. If not, just save the below actions until he can act and it makes sense to do so.
Jerenon sees the construct dissolve into a vapor-like mist and leaps forward with his first chance to really get back into the action. However, he overdoes the swing and misses the half-orc. Attack with Longsword: 1d20+8=13 (Roll includes +10 normal bonus, -2 for the curse, and I assume Jerenon never heard Bell's song.) I'm assuming that doesn't hit - so no bother with a damage roll, but tell me if you need one. Jerenon will move into the space vacated by the construct.
For summoning spells (and similar effects like Astral Construct), I've always played that they last the full number of rounds, without cutting the last round of their duration short. Since the construct appeared at the start of Kaggrath's action and lasts 5 rounds, it will disappear at the start of Kaggrath's action after 5 full rounds have passed. That means it will disappear at the start of Kaggrath's next action, not at the end of Kaggrath's action this round. Normally it is benefitial for constructs and summons to last the full duration, as they will continue to distract enemies or hold them back, even after the summoned creature has made its last attack. In this case though, it means Jerenon can't reach the half-orc until next round.
I also have a house rule that if an attack roll is made, and then the situation changes so that the attack wouldn't happen the same way, the roll must be used if an attack is made in the same round, but the roll cannot be used in later rounds. I made that rule because in my experience, even players who didn't mean to cheat were saving good rolls for attacks made the next round but rerolling bad rolls. The reason I keep the roll for the same round is to keep things moving without making players reroll just because they used a different weapon or attacked a different enemy. On the other hand, I don't keep the roll for later rounds because I don't want to have to keep track of rolls for a long time (e.g. if the next attack is several rounds later), and because I want to limit situations where players actions might be influenced by knowing what their next attack roll will be (e.g. intentionally moving next to the strongest enemy because you know your next attack is a critical hit . . . it is possible to do that if you still have a move in the current round, but at least this limits such situations). So anyway, in this case, Jerenon didn't use his attack roll this round, so he must reroll the attack when he makes it next round. Also, for my house rule on delaying, I play that delaying doesn't change your initiative roll, and that you can still take your regular action after your delayed action if your delayed action happens before your turn in the initiative order. That means that when Jerenon does get to attack the half-orc next round, you can use your delayed action to attack it immediately after Kaggrath's action, and then can act again on your normal initiative position after Bellamin's action. This house rule comes with the requirement that people never delay just for the sake of making two actions in a row (e.g. just to hit someone twice without them getting a chance to heal themselves between attacks), but instead only delay when there is a logical reason to do so. Both those house rules were announced at some point in this game, but that was probably a long time ago, so I apologize if no one remembered about them (or perhaps some players weren't even in the game when they were announced). If we start a new game thread at some point if this one gets too long, I'll probably post all the house rules at the beginning of the thread so that they are somewhere people can see. Bellamin's whip moves away from the minotaur before its axe can connect, and starts heading back to Bellamin. Kaggrath then steps forward and fires a ray of cold at the minotaur. However, with both Dorkiln and Jax in the way, Kaggrath doesn't have a clear shot at the minotaur, and ends up shooting the ray into a wall. Kaggrath's construct then makes one last attack on the half-orc, but sensing its body beginning to fade away, the construct misses badly. Dorkiln says to Jax and Kaggrath, If I close in, it will get me with its axe before I reach it, and if I stay here, it can attack me without me being able to get to it without moving onto the caltrops. Now looks like a good time to pelt it with ranged attacks. I'm going to move back, but I'll reingage it if it approachs. He then calls to Bellamin, Be careful not to get too close to it. It should tire itself out soon, and then will be our chance to finish it off. Dorkiln moves back around the corner towards the stairs, and then takes a defensive stance in case the minotaur approaches again right away. He uses total defense. Bellamin is up next. I've removed the whip from the map since it is back to floating next to Bellamin. I'm assuming Jerenon will wait to act until the construct disappears, so unless you say you do something other than delay, I will assume that is what you do.
this was the first round Bell has gone since Calathan said there was 2 more rounds of inspire courage left. So next round will be the last round of it and the grease will end at the same time.
1d20+6=20; 1d6+1=4 Well lads it tis a bit too close for comfort, I shall take one more shot and back up some and if this whip starts working better than it will reveal when his strength is no longer enhanced. Bell takes carefull aim at the minotaur and he knows his shot is a good one but through all the blood and sweat, he's just not sure if the arrow penetrated. He'll know in a second though as he waits for it to show signs of pain from his attack. However in the meen time he lets the whip annoy the Minotaur more, its first attack makes a loud crack as it hits nothing but air and its second strikes soundly wrapping fairly tightly around the Minotaur a good test to see if its str is starting to wain. 1d20+11=17; 1d20+15=22; 1d3+0=1; 1d20+6=25; 1d20+15=27; 1d3=1 After waiting for the whip to finish with its attacks Bell takes one step back, while tipping his hat in respect for the Minotaurs Bravo. Ye fight well, but ye will not win against these odds. Thee dice have been tossed and they have come up snake eyes. takes a 5 foot step back to V7, I figured bell can only take a five foot step when the whip does a full attack even though he himself only did one standard attack. If thats not the case than Bell would have moved all the way to T7.
Sorry, Calathan. It was the Construct appearance / disappearance rule that tripped me up. I figured that Jerenon would either be able to act immediately upon the end of the Construct's turn, or on Jerenon's regular turn after the Construct fully dissipated.
I knew about the re-roll rules, I just figured that either likely dissipation option would have Jerenon attacking this round - it was just a matter of exactly when. The curse appears to have Jerenon moderately addled. In his preparation to jump into the fray he envisions a swift attack - but then the curse seems to take over and he has visions of missing badly. "Bloody curse!", he mumbles to himself, then shakes his head to get the vision out of his consciousness. (Jerenon will remain delayed in his current position.)
Bellamin shoots the minotaur, his arrow connecting but only inflicting a small wound on the large creature. Bellamin's whip then lashes out at the minotaur, striking it once, but easily being shruged away by the minotaur (grapple check = 34). From the minotaur's bulging muscles and angry expression, Bellamin can tell that the minotaur is still in a rage. Bellamin suggests to the minotaur that it can't win, but the minotaur shows no signs of giving up so far.
Jax then also aims at the minotaur with his bow, but his aim is a little off and the arrow flies past the minotaur and hits the far wall (attack = 13). Jax's magical bow of force is much more accurate however, shooting an arrow into the minotaur's side and inflicting another slight wound on it (attack = 25, damage = 3). The minotaur then says to Bellamin, I not dead yet. I crush you soon! Taking one hand off its axe, it reaches into a small pouch on its belt and pulls out a potion. The minotaur then drinks the potion, and some of its wounds heal (the minotaur regains 16 hp). Gripping its axe with both hands again, it says, Now I ready to kill you! The minotaur shifts position, moving a little closer to Bellamin. The potion also healed the minotaur's non-lethal damage and its caltrop wound. The half-orc, meanwhile, attacks the construct one more time while still keeping up its defenses. With his focus on defense, the half-orc can't quite hit the Astral creature (attack = 17). Kaggrath's construct then vanishes, the ectoplasm that formed it returning to the Astral Plane. Kaggrath is up next, followed by Jerenon's delayed action, then Bellamin and Jerenon's regular action for the round. Dorkiln looks like he isn't planning to go towards the minotaur right now, so his action probably won't affect your actions.
As the mighty minotaur is reaching for its potion, Kaggrath is going for a flask of his own. From a pouch in his robes appears a small vial of clear liquid, which he hurls with all his strength at the savage creature. The glass shatters on contact, scattering caustic acid all around.
Kaggrath draws a flask of acid and throws it at the minotaur. He suffers a -4 penalty for range increments. Ranged touch attack: 6. Damage: 6, or 1 splash damage on a miss.
With the Construct fully dissipated, Jerenon finally sees his chance to do some benefit for the group in this battle. He can hear the action acound the corner, and wants to be of help in felling the Minotaur.
He steps forward to the Construct's former position (Y17) and swings at the Half-Orc with all of his power. His efforts are better than his cursed visions in the prior moments. He can only hope it is enough to do significant damage to his enemy. Attack: 1d20+8=20 (Includes +10 Base, -2 for curse) Damage: 1d8+1=6 (+3 base -2 for curse) "That's for the curse, you vile creature! - Now begone from this world forever!" (Calathan: Tell me the result of the attack. If the Half-Orc is still standing (as I expect), Jerenon will attack again, if not, then he will likely be moving towards the rest of the group.)
1d20+6=10; 1d6+1=7
1d20+11=16; 1d20+15=33; 1d3=2 Knowing his grease spell will be ending in a mere instance or two, Bell takes one last parting shot and allows the whip to make one attack before moving away from the Minotaur once more. Good day to ye Sir Cow Beastie, Alas ye must play cat and mouse if ye wish harm on thee. He frowns as the arrow clips the wall in front of him ricocheting towards the wall near the caltrops, shattering to pieces. Yet another arrow that will not return to him. Moves to Q8, what would really suck is if the minotaur drank a potion of reduce person just so that he could chase me down easier.
Kaggrath takes out a flask of acid and throws it at the minotaur. The flask flies over the minotaur and a little to the left, striking the wall behind the minotaur and splashing a little of the acid onto the minotaur (the minotaur took 1 splash damage).
Jerenon, finally able to reach the half-orc, rushes forward and slashes the half-orc with his sword. The half-orc grunts in pain and nearly collaspses, but is just able to remain standing (the half-orc is at 0 hp and is disabled). I was going to have Dorkiln just wait where he was, but I think it makes more sense for him to use his bow. Dorkiln drops both his axes and pulls his composite shortbow off his shoulder. Aiming at the minotaur, he fires an arrow into its side (attack = 26, damage = 6). Bellamin then also fires at the minotaur, but his arrow flies well wide of the bull-headed creature. Bellamin's whip also fails to connect with the creature. With his Grease spell ending, Bellamin turns and moves away from the minotaur, hoping the narrow hall will prevent it from catching up. Bellamin also taunts the minotaur one more time before moving out of sight of it. Both the Grease spell and the effects of Bellamin's bard song wore off. Jerenon is up next.
Jerenon sees the half-orc sway, but also not yet fallen. He opts to finish him off and remove the threat entirely. His strike is true, but the rapidity of the strike after his last means he also can't get a lot of power behind it.
Attack: 1d20+8=25; Damage: 1d8+1=4 (All bonuses as in the last attack) (I think Jerenon can move once the Half-Orc falls. In that case, he will move to Z14, if he can't move, then he will advance 5' to Z17.) Regardless, he announces to the group: "The Half-Orc is down - now the big guy is on his own! I'm coming up to help - just tell me where and when I should jump in."
Jerenon finishes off the half-orc with a quick blow from his sword, and then heads towards where teh rest of the group is fighting the minotaur. He asks how he should join the fight, to which Dorkiln says, If he moves after Bellamin, then we'll need to follow him, but if he heads in this direction, you can take the point in attacking him. Hopefully his rage will subside at any moment, and then he will be tired and unable to fight at full power.
Jax then fires at the minotaur again with his bow, and his spiritual bow also shoots at the minotaur. Jax's arrow strikes the minotaur (attack = 20, damage = 4), but the magical bow isn't quite as accurate and fires over the minotaur's head (attack = 13). Ignoring Jax, the minotaur heads after Bellamin. It is slowed as it squeezes through the narrow passages, and isn't quite able to catch up to Bellamin. With the minotaur now out of Jax's sight, Jax's spiritual weapon floats back over to Jax. Dorkiln says, Let's follow after him, but be careful of the caltrops. I need to pick up my axes, so the rest of you go first and I'll follow after you. Kaggrath is up next. Bellamin and Jerenon will also be up before the minotaur is up again.
As the minotaur chases after Bellamin, Kaggrath pursues. He carefully picks his way through the field of caltrops to get a clear shot at the raging monster, confident that Jerenon or Dorkiln will move up soon enough to block any counterattack from the beast. Using up the last of his psychic reserve, he evokes a roaring bolt of fire that streaks towards the minotaur.
Kaggrath moves to space Z7, moving at half speed through space Z9 to avoid caltrop damage. He then manifests energy ray (fire), targeting the minotaur. He spends 1 power point, and has zero remaining. Ranged touch attack: 9. Damage: 2. 
Ah I got ye where I want ye now, near defenseless. Take this ye brute.
Bellamin takes a quick shot at the Minataur and lets his whip crack at him to possibly squeeze a bit of life out of the beast if successful. He doesn't stick around to find out how much damage he does as he once again moves as far away from the Minotaur as he can, hoping he doesn't walk through a portal or into an undiscovered trap. 1d20+5=11; 1d6=2 1d20+11=26; 1d20+15=26; 1d3=2
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