The Party Warily Prepares for the Toad

With Lothar, Engelhart and Mikael responding, the present position is now this.  I would understand at this point that half the party would probably not wish to enter into a combat with the toad according to an ad hoc post deadline, but I did want to force myself to stay focused.

For the moment, the toad shows no interest in advancing ~ perhaps because Rob and Lothar did not fall back.

The salve is fine, Lothar.  Roll a d4 and add that number to your present hit points.

Consider your withdraw spell cast, Engelhart.  I think there may be an issue I'm seeing in the spell description: where it reads, "The cleric may take any action which does not break the 5 ft. diameter bubble that's created ..." this is meant to indicate that the bubble surrounding the cleric is static and does not move with the cleric.  The spell should state that more clearly; note it does not say anywhere that the spell will move with the cleric, as it would indicate what the limit would be on the cleric's movement if that were the case.  I have not altered the spell at the moment, and won't until I hear from you.

Sorry if I'm second-guessing you here.  Earlier comments you made seemed to suggest you had planned to use sanctuary to move through the gate.

It is the player's move; those that do move can state whether or not they're prepared to go forward if we don't hear from the whole party.

Turning Back from the Gates

As the party begins to move away from the gate, keeping an eye open of course, the toad will begin to hop forward, slightly advancing on the party.  As the party reaches three hexes from the gate, the toad will close the distance to seven hexes total (from nine before).

The toad does move towards the wide gate.

[I am sorry, I have made an error that has arisen from the break and my memory having too many things to track.  I'd like to retcon something.  This gate IS the gate you saw in the vision; with wooden doors fifteen feet high and each seven feet wide. The doors are wide open. The bottoms of the door are frozen in place and cannot be moved. There is nothing to prevent the party from moving through the wall and deeper into the cavern ... from beyond there are sounds of croaking: a hollow, resounding echo, that never ceases ...

Added:

Snow Gate Round 4 ~ the Toad is Smacked Around

There, nice and big.  The blowing snow continues to make the toad hard to see, but the snow devil is making a mess of it.

As Embla approaches within two hexes of it, however, she feels as if she's opened a door into a cold outdoors as a freezing blast rushes against her, clearly emanating from the toad.  It is almost a solid thing.  She takes 1 point of damage as frost sinks into her hands and face.

Apart from that, the party is free to act.

Snow Gate Round 3 ~ the Toad is Hurt

The party has this move in hand.  Go ahead and act as you will.  Please don't forget that dagger roll, Mikael.  And remember, Engelhart; the dust devil moves only one hex per round, but it will attack if it is adjacent to the creature.

X.P. so far:

The Toad Shows Contempt

The hex numbers on the map have been adjusted due to Mikael's decision to move back [moving 3 hexes would have cost him 4.5 AP, with the note I made after, so I moved him back 2 hexes, saving the 2 AP Mikael asked for].  I forgot to add a red line to indicate the move [sigh; out of practice].

The toad merely moves to the left of the whirling "snow"-devil, letting out a loud croak.  A gas cloud emerges with the croak, obscuring the toad for a moment before it is sucked up into the snow-devil.  The toad takes no other action.

The party can move again.  This means Engelhart can take a second attack.  Lothar and Embla did not make a move with the last post [that I saw].  I'm just going to rule that, given that they had plenty of time, that the opportunity passed them by.

Everyone has the freedom to act as they will.

Snow Drift

Taking the moment where Embla has seen the open gate across the windswept snow-covered floor of the cavern, the assassin realizes that something is amiss.  Frozen from the march across the lake, the chilled sweat on Embla's body, she is a might slow on the uptake ~ but her eyes focus on a nearby three-foot snow drift.  As she stares at it, unsure and with concern, after several seconds the snow moves and falls away ... and Embla sees a huge eyeball, as large as a cantaloupe, robin's egg blue in color with a vertical iris that's pale yellow.

Whatever it is, the rest is hidden under the snow; the eye's lid is all that moved, so it is all that is revealed.

Embla is not surprised, but she does not necessarily have the initiative, either.  The eye is close; no more than ten feet away.  For the moment she stands as still as she can in the slicing wind; but at some point she will have to test her speed against whatever is under the snow.

I will remind you:  Engelhart is two rounds away; the cleric's arrival could in a bit more than 20 seconds could ignite something.  Rob Munro is right behind Engelhart.  Then Mikael, who has time to hurry along, with Lothar close behind.

I will make an image for this, though that will eat time so it will have to wait until Wednesday; I want to see what Embla does, first.

Move and roll a d6 for initiative.  Wait and see what happens.  Decide what else you might do.

The Lake's Edge

Long before Embla has to walk 500 yards, the height of the cavern ceiling above here will slope until it is only about 150 feet up.  The narrower space will seem to put an end to the blustering snow.  After moving about 250 yards from the party (who, I presume, will make efforts to keep Embla in sight), the wind will drop until the snow is swept across your knees and shins but your visibility becomes clear.

From here you can see the far edge of the lake, another 200 yards away.  There a humps of snow piled upon rocks, forming shapes that are twenty or thirty feet high, about a 3rd of the way to the cavern ceiling, a hundred feet above the lake's edge.  The ceiling continues to slope downwards, until it meets something that might be an enormous grate-like wall ... perhaps another 50 yards past the lake's edge.  You cannot see the bottom of this grate, only the top where it meets the cavern ceiling.

There is nothing you can see that is moving or gives any sign of being alive.

Stars in Retrograde

Players, I don't want to suspend the campaign, but for the next few days things are pretty much up in the air for me.  Tomorrow, Wednesday, I'll be working my second day at my new job.  Thursday, I'll be working my last day at my old job.  Friday, I have a friend going into surgery and I have promised to be with him before and after, so I'll be at the hospital all day.  And Saturday I'll be at my new job again.

At the moment, I have no set schedule yet, but I've been promised full time, five days a week, so this is going to be a period of adjustment.  When I do have a reliable schedule, we can work something out ~ but I won't have access to the game at work and I won't have time to dedicate a continuous 14 hours a week to the campaign.  It only means that we'll spread the campaign a little thinner, and move a little slower.

I do know that I won't be leaving for my job until 10 AM my time, so that's Noon EST and 6 PM for Engelhart.  So we can probably arrange to get some time some mornings, and some time on my days off, whatever seems to work best.  I'll keep you all posted.

Ice Lake Round 23 ~ Nearly Over

I have only one attack; it is still against Lothar.  I hit with a 13, causing 2 damage.  That will stun Lothar and leave him in 1923.

Following the party's move, they're both dead.  Here's the final experience:

Ice Lake Round 22 ~ The End of a Long Fight

Three attacks.

Against Engelhart, I roll an 8 and miss.

Against Mikael, I roll a 5 and miss.

Against Lothar, I roll a 7 and miss.

Easy peasy.  The party can act.

Ice Lake Round 21 ~ Mopping Up

Once again, 1623 attacks Embla, rolling a 16.  It hits for 3 points, which stuns the assassin.

Engelhart is attacked from the front and the rear.  1723 attacks with a natural 14, missing.  1725 attacks with an adjusted 14, +2 from the rear, also missing.

Lothar is attacked by 1826, moving from 1827.  The larva rolls a 7 and misses.  The larva in 1926 rolls a 9, also missing.

There are no other attacks.


And the new positions after the player's turn:

And experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 20 ~ Scattered Mayhem

Embla, isolated now, is attacked from 1623.  The larva rolls a 2, missing.

Engelhart is attacked from 1823, which rolls a 5, missing.  And also by 1723, moving from 1624.  This larva rolls a 9 and misses.

Lothar is attacked by 2025, which rolls a 4 and misses.  He is also attacked on the flank by 1926, which rolls a modified 11.  Also misses.

Mikael is not attacked.

Rob is attacked by 1725, which rolls a 17, hitting the druid for 2 damage.  That will stun and push him into Mikael's hex.

The party can act now, excepting Rob.

Following the party's action, the positions are as follows:

And experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 19 ~ Not There Yet

Embla is attacked twice.  1623 misses with a 10.  1624 rolls a 19, hitting for 5 damage, which stuns Embla.  She falls back into 1722.

Engelhart is attacked twice.  1823 misses with an 11.  1923 would have hit with a 16, but it is modified downwards by the curse and misses by one point.

1826 turns on Rob, so Lothar has two larva attacking, with 1926 from the flank.  1926 rolls a modified 12, just missing AC 7.  2025, however, rolls a 14, and hits for 5 damage. That is half of Lothar's hit points and he is stunned.  He remains in 1925.

Mikael is attacked by only one larva, in 2024.  The larva rolls a modified 8, missing AC 10.

Rob is attacked by 1725, which misses with a 9.  1826 rolls a natural 1, also missing.

Following the party's move, the positions are as stands:

And experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 18 ~ The Circle Crumbles

Shows a move that Mikael made in round 17, that wasn't accounted for. That move has no effect
on his action points for this round.

As the party can see, things have gotten a lot more open now.  None of the larva readjust their position; they don't seem smart enough to do that.

I have two attacks on Embla. Both roll a 14, with 1722 managing an adjusted 13.  1624 hits Embla for 1 damage; and 1722 hits Embla for 2 damage.  Neither stun.  Talk about being blessed.

There are three attacks on Engelhart.  1922 misses with an 11.  2023 hits with an adjusted 17, causing 5 damage.  Engelhart has 19 hp and is stunned.  He falls back into 1824.  2024 misses with an adjusted 7.

Because Lothar turned to kill 1924, he left his flank and rear exposed to 1826 and 1926.  The former gets a +1 bonus, the latter a +2.  1826 misses with an 11, but 1926 hits with an adjusted 20.  It causes 2 damage and does not stun.  Then, 2025 attacks Lothar from the front, rolling a 16.  And that hit causes Lothar 1 damage.  Still, not stunned.  But things for the ranger are getting tight.

Mikael is not attacked.

Rob is attacked by 1725.  It misses with a 4.

The players can act now.

[i'm cutting these maps fairly close; if anyone needs to run into any hexes off map, let me know and I'll post an expanded version]

Following the player's move:

And experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 17 - Blessed by the Dice

With this round, the enemy are finally out of replacements; there are no larva left on the second rank to rush in when one dies.  As well, they can't quite close the ring completely any more.

That said, three creatures attack Embla.  1623 rolls a 4, while 1624 rolls a 3.  Both miss.  1722 rolls an adjusted 16, but only causes 1 damage.

There are three attacks on Engelhart.  1922 rolls an 8, missing.  2023 rolls an adjusted 4, missing.  And 2024 rolls an adjusted 13.  That misses too.

Lothar draws 1826 away from Rob, and is attacked by three creatures.  1826 misses with a 4.  1926 misses with an 8.  2025 attacks from Lothar's flank, with a +1 bonus, but only manages an adjusted 7.

Mikael is attacked by 1724 and 1924.  Both roll a coincidental 7, so that Mikael breathes one more round.

Rob is only attacked from 1725.  And I miss with an 8.

The gods love you guys.

Following the party's move, the positions are as follows:

And experience so far:

Hiatus for Notes

I'd like to take a moment to clear up any details.

Rob, I really can't think of a way to describe your "trunk club."  How do you feel about giving it a name, something druidically groovy, that we can try to remember to call it.

When rolling to see the break on a magical weapon, the usual "break die" is rolled twice, and a 1 must occur on both dice for the weapon to break, or lose one from its modifier.  For example, Lothar's weapon would lose its normal +1 effect, but retain +1 of its ability against amphibians and reptiles.  A sword normally breaks on a 1 in 6, so a magical sword breaks 1 in 36.  Rob's club, similarly would break on two 1s rolled on 2d4, or a 1 in 16 chance of breaking.

Which would be a pity, but there are always more magical weapons.

I think that I failed to update the total experience of the party based on the amount of experience gained from the magic items.  Here's my spreadsheet at present on the players, not including the party's attacks on round 16.  Can you confirm my XP totals, or are they hundreds of points off?

Does not include experience for present battle

Does anyone have any questions they've been holding back because there's been a combat?

Ice Lake Round 16 ~ a Gap Opens

For a moment, the creatures are split into two groups; but understandably, the party doesn't want to break ranks, at least not this round, as they're still protecting the mage.

1625 moves to 1624, so that three creatures attack Embla.  1623 misses with a 10, while 1624 misses with a 12.  1722 then misses with a 2, and Embla survives another round.

1822 moves into 1823, and randomly chooses to attack Engelhart, so that there are three on the cleric.  There's quite a little ring surrounding the poor fellow.  1823 misses with a 10, while 2023 misses with a modified 9.  2024 misses with a modified 12 and Engelhart continues to appreciate his armor class.

Two attack the ranger.  1723 misses with a 6 and 1826 misses with an 8.

There are no attacks on the mage, though 1626 does move forward two to plug the gap and engage Mikael.

Rob is attacked only by 2025, which rolls a 13, hitting the druid.  He takes 6 damage, stunning him and throwing him into Mikael's hex again.  2025 moves forward into Rob's hex.

However, it does open a gap that is not filled, even as a creature in the second rank waiting to attack Engelhart begins to move around to fill it.

Following the party's move, the positions stand as follows:

The experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 15 ~ Engelhart is Knocked About

Times like this, it seems the battle is never going to end ... or that it will end very badly.

Embla is attacked 3 times again.  1623 misses with a 2.  1624 misses with a 9.  And thankfully for the assassin, 1722 misses with a modified 10.

Engelhart is attacked 3 times also.  1922 rolls a 12 and misses.  2023 hits with a modified 17, causing 6 damage; but the cleric was at 27 hit points and is not stunned.  2024 then also hits with a modified 18 ... but that only causes 2 damage.

Lothar is attacked twice.  1725 misses with a 4.  1826 misses with a 9.

Mikael is attacked once.  1724 misses with a 7.

Rob is attacked twice.  1929 misses with a 12.  2025 misses with an 11.

Whew.

After the party's move, the positions are as follows:

And the experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 14 ~ Embla's Hurt

Leading off, Embla is attacked from three creatures.  1623 misses with a 4.  1624 misses with a 1.  The larva in 1722 hits with a modified 13, and causes 5 damage.  This stuns Embla, and would throw her back a hex, except for the rule that states she can't be thrown into an enemy's hex. She stays where she is.

Engelhart is attacked by three creatures.  1922 misses with a 9.  2023 misses with a modified 14.  And 2024 misses with a modified 12.

Lothar is attacked by two creatures.  1725 misses with a 3.  1826 hits with an 18.  It causes 2 damage against the ranger.

Mikael is attacked twice.  1724 misses with a 7.  1823 gets +1 to hit, but misses with a modified 9.

Rob is attacked twice.  1925 misses with a 3.  And 2025 also misses with a 3.  I'm rolling an absurd number of 3s.

Following the players' move, the positions stand as shown:

And experience so far:

Ice Lake Round 13 ~ Whittling Down the Party's HP

The crowd has begun to thin, but the party has lost hit points and stunning is probably going to be more of a problem. [writing this before rolling attacks!]

Three creatures attack Embla.  The larva in 1623 hits Embla with an 18, causing 3 damage, not stunning.  The larva in 1624 misses with a 6.  And the larva in 1722 hits with a modified 15, causing 4 damage.  That misses stunning Embla by 1 point, as I believe the 3 points reduced Embla to a total of 17.  Embla is not stunned this round, and (by my calculations) has 13 hp left.

Three creatures attack Engelhart.  1922 misses with a 3.  2013 misses with a modified 13.  And 2024 misses with a modified 11.  The cleric is very grateful for the armor class.

Two creatures attack Lothar.  1725 misses with a 3.  But the larva in 1826 hits with a 19, causing 2 points of damage.  Lothar shrugs it off, not stunned.

One creature attacks Mikael.  It misses with a 3.

One creature attacks Rob.  It misses with an 11.

Following the party's action, the positions stand as follows:

And corrected experience so far.