Another fun and exciting session! Unfortunately, here in Illinois, I have a satellite Internet connection so I was unable to wear a headset. We collectively decided it would be better to type everything in the session than not to play. Everyone showed great patience as we all arduously pecked out our words and actions. Due to the fact that we were all typing, we had an abbreviated session. It was a combat scenario and the adventurers were thrown right into the action. They were hired by the same noble whom's daughter they rescued and paid to escort his coach through dangerous territory, a monster-infested woods. They were promised $15,000 for protecting the carriage. Also, the payers were told the scenario would be worth 3 character points upon completion. Everyone showed up to the game table, so we had a full roster. Players for this session included: * Archie playing Enarit Wyn, a Shadow Elf Scout (Longbow). 260 points. * Brandon playing Rothuk, a Barbarian Berserker (Greataxe). 255 points. * Chris playing Aldric Cadeyrn, a Defending Knight (Broadsword and Large Shield). 260 points. * Leo playing Lucius, a Cleric of Eysus, God of War (Morningstar and Light Shield). 260 points. * Tyson playing Maelstrom, a Mysterious Wizard (Support Spells). 260 points. Ready for anything, the party marched beside the coach as it rolled slowly down the shadowy cobblestone road beneath the canopy of the forest's towering trees. They were stopped by a massive minotaur standing in the center of the road. He wore partial mail armor and wielded a halberd. The minotaur bellowed: "Halt! You no can pass!" Maelstrom, the Wizard, replied: "We need to pass and will pass." "I hoped you'd say that," the minotaur guffawed as he swung his halberd around. From behind the trees, a motley band of orcs, goblins and gourouni appeared. Some of them had arrows knocked to bowstring while others had axes or swords. None were very close, the nearest being about 15 yards away or so. "Well well, by the Hand of Bandos it seems we have more challengers," Rothuk, the towering Barbarian berserker commented. Just then, an orc shaman stepped out from behind the tree in the distance about 30 yards. In one hand, he carried a gnarled staff. Black robes garbed his figure and a deep hood hid most of his face save for the toothy snout. "Why throw away your lives so easily?" the shaman hissed as he walked forward. "Give us the nobleman and you may go free. I will promise safe passage to the other end for all of you." Rothuk shouted a retort. "You shall be the one throwing your life away if you try to stop the Hand of Bandos!" he yelled, again referencing his menacing greataxe. The wizard cackled, a grating, raspy sound. "You are honorable human warriors. I know that you will not abandon your charge out of fear. However . . ." the orc shaman begins. "Know this! Your charge has plans to double-cross you at the other end of this forest. The only thing that awaits you is a spear in the back! Now, what say ye?" The nobleman stuck his head out of the window but was quickly told to get back into the coach. Maelstrom questioned the man, asking if there is any truth to the orc's claim. "Betray you? You saved my daughter's life. I would sooner take my own life!" he replied. Rothuk heard the nobleman's reply and turns back to the orc shaman. "Spear in the back? Hah, that cannot be as painful as my ears when I hear your laughter." "Then, you choose death!" the shaman screamed. Before anyone could make a move, he hurled two blackened skulls to the ground and uttered some mystical words of power. Black smoke erupted from the shattering skulls and formed into floating, skeletal wraiths. Maelstrom recognized their ilk: skull spirits! Counting the two undead, the party was now outnumbered eleven to five. Five of the monsters were goblin archers and two were gourouni warriors. Enarit, the shadow elf Scout, took off, running for the nearest tree while drawing his arrows. He shadowed Lucius, cleric of Eysus, God of War. Maelstrom cast Bladeturning ( Magic , p. 168) on Rothuk and critically succeeded. The spell description states: "All blades attacking the subject are turned, doing only crushing damage and becoming unready. For each bladed attack, roll a Quick Contest between the wielder’s DX and the caster's effective skill to see which wins out." It lasts one minute—long enough we don't count down from the 60 turns. As a result of the critical success, the spell cost no FP and I also ruled that the converted crushing damage would go against Roth's mail's DR 4 instead of DR 2. Enarit sent an arrow streaking at a goblin archer's skull about 15 yards away, but it ducked out of the way. Roth blasted forward ( Heroic Charge, Martial Arts , p. 131) and tossed a throwing axe at the nearest goblin archer. It blew through the goblin's leg, flinging him like a rag doll and leaving his leg a bloody tatter of severed muscles and splintered bone (22 basic damage). The goblin drug himself over to the tree where he did nothing but wail in pain, blood spurting and pooling in the grass. His place in the battle was over. For a time, the archers on both sides shot arrows largely for no effect; the goblins, because they had skill 14 and the Scout because the dice roller was his worst enemy. The melee combatants either stood and defended or closed the gap. The two skull spirits floated closer and closer. One of the goblin archers was skewered by his own arrow after Maelstrom cast Return Missile ( Magic , p. 168), a blocking spell, on Rothuk's behalf. Another arrow smashed into Lucius' shield. Aldric the Knight ran forward along the road toward the minotaur with Rothuk and Maelstrom, fine broadsword and balanced large shield enchanted with Lighten upraised. He moved into position to use a sacrificial block ( DF11 , p. 12) for either Rothuk or Maelstrom. He then offered Rothuk tactical advice ( DF2 , p. 11) giving him a +1 to attack and defense rolls. To the north across the road and in the treeline, Lucius found himself at a distance from the group after sprinting forward, shield upheld before him. He rocketed toward one of the goblin archers, but the quick little critter sidestepped and Lu rushed past. Behind him, the archer dropped his bow and drew a long knife. Lu spun and whirled his flail, but again the goblin ducked and weaved. The spiked ball whistled through the air, missing its mark. If the dice roller had a second favorite to pick on, it's Leo. At a distance, the orc shaman finished casting his spell: Great Haste (p. M146) on the minotaur. The spell lasts 10 seconds and gives the minotaur the ability to take two full maneuvers per turn! Already a scary opponent, the minotaur became a terrible force to be reckoned with. Maelstrom then cast Stench (p. M24) at a three hex radius centered where the minotaur, orc shaman, two gourouni warriors and a goblin archer were standing. A huge cloud of yellowish gas erupted, enveloping the chocking, coughing monsters. It caused each of the monsters to run as fast as they could out of the area, losing 1 FP per turn (see Suffocation , p. B436). Also, each monster had to make a HT roll to avoid taking 1d injury (Note: I need to make that damage roll for each). A powerful spell for certain, and one that may have turned the tide of battle. The minotaur bust from the cloud and charged forward, taking a Move and then a Move and Attack. He swung his oversize halberd with tremendous might. Again, Maelstrom worked his powerful magic, this time casting Fumble (p. M38) on the minotaur. He won the contest against the minotaur's DX, turning his successful attack into a critical miss! The hulking beast's weapon turned in his hand requiring a Ready maneuver to use. Thwarted! To understand what happens next, one must first realize just how much the Roll20.net dice roller despises Archie, Enarit's player. It's like Roll20.net's random number generator's only goal in the game is to get him in the worst ways possible. Oh, he rolls critical successes all the time . . . on his Fast-Draw (Arrow) and Bow -3 ready rolls. Otherwise, no matter how crazy the odds, he's going to miss or the monster is going to defend or he's going to roll so low on damage it basically doesn't matter. Every session and every practice skirmish this is the case. It's seriously to the point where it's unbalancing to the game. I plan for a Scout to be in the party, but it's almost like he's not even there. It's no fault of Archie's; he's a great player and he does the all right things. It's just the dice roller flat out hates him. So, Archie asked if we're using the "Influencing Success Rolls" on p. B347 and I said he may do so, but am amazed that he's willing to burn character points on a roll. First, he critically succeeds his Ready roll, but that's nothing new. He does that at least once or twice a session. Then, he needs an 11 to make his attack roll to the minotaur's eye. If he misses, he'll use a point to turn it into a success. However, he rolls an 11 on the dot. He then buys a critical for 2 character points. Of course, the minotaur now can't defend since it's a critical, so the dice roller can't screw Archie over . . . or can it? Where there's a will, there's a way, and the dice roller does have a will. Archie rolls a 4 on the critical head blow table. No extra effect at all. Archie then rolls a 1 on his 1d+3 damage. It does 16 damage out of 36 possible. Did I mention the dice roller hates him? It's supernatural, I swear. Scouts do comparable damage to the melee characters, but no one would never know it from Archie's rolls. Well, the minotaur then rolls a 6 on his knock down and stunning roll before going berserk. Oh yes, the ST 20, HP 25, HT 16 minotaur is now berserk and has Altered Time Rate 1. It's PC killing time. Or is it? Mael then cast Grease (p. M142) in a two-hex radius under the minotaur's hooves, putting all close combat, melee attacks, and active defenses at a -3 penalty and making any movement require a DX-2 roll each hex to avoid falling! All those penalties are in addition to the -1 for the One Eye disadvantage the minotaur has while an arrow is sticking out of his socket. I've said it before: Wizards are the most powerful character template. During all that, the skull spirits dove into close combat with Rothuk and Maelstrom, but didn't manage to hit them with their wispy, translucent claws despite having Innate Attack-17. The minotaur swung again at Rothuke, resisting another Fumble casting from Mael, but the barbarian acrobatically dodged over the beast's scything blade. That's how Roth described it, at least. Again, we'll let him have his fun. Suddenly, one of Enarit's arrows shot into the bull-man's right hand, but it barely managed to keep his grip. Roth then counter attacked, cleaving through the minotaur's right arm, cutting it clean off in a shower of blood (again, basic damage 22). Now at -4 HP, the minotaur must make HT rolls to remain conscious, but with HT 16, that may not be a problem for a while. However, his effectiveness has been severely hindered. Player take note: that's what happens when a melee fighter runs away from his caster's support and dives into combat with another melee character who does have a caster to back him up, not to mention a ranged damage dealer and even another major melee heavy hitter as well! However, only one monster has been taken out of the fight, that first goblin archer who's missing a leg. The rest are at full HP and ready to attack as soon as the distance is closed. While the goblin archers may not be much of a threat, the two gourouni warriors are rushing as fast as they can toward the party—though they are still about 9 hexes away. What if one or both is a Knight? The orc shaman is more like 20 hexes away, having been forced to retreat in the opposite direction to get out of the stench. That's not good for the remaining monsters, who are in trouble without magical support. Who knows how much of a threat those skull spirits are going to offer. Still, the PC's haven't taken a single hit. Not a one has lost the first HP. Things are looking pretty good, despite the numerical disadvantage. It was a quarter till midnight (CDT), so we ended the session there. No rewards as we were had to end the session in the middle of the scenario, just when things were getting good. Still, I think we had a lot of fun and it was a good game so far. To be continued! Until next time!