Previous -- NextThe rolls turned out nice and dramatic. Of course, I can't expect you all to be excited by numbers, so I turn it into combat narration!
3, 5, 2, 6, 9, 8, 4, 7, 1
. . .
Alyssa Alpine,
Gary,
John,
Bob, the
rock hydra,
Tohil,
Dwain,
Louis,
Dustan.
Alyssa Alpine expressed an interest in retrieving the javelin after Louis throws it, but is going significantly before him (and the enemy), so I'll do a quick tug-of-war for the javelin. Why? Why not?
Alyssa Alpine's me-first roll: 3, Succeed weakly!
Louis's no-me roll: 1, Fail terribly!
Louis was also up for grabbing John's dropped sling, so that should work out. However, I need to see who the enemy will attack, because people (including Alyssa!) want to back away from it. This means considering all the people who will be near it by the time in question:
Rock hydra target priorities: 8, 5, 7, 2, 6
. . . That's Tohil, Gary, Louis, Alyssa, and then only Bob if it fails to distribute its three heads among the first targets. Now, some getaway rolls:
Tohil's getaway roll: 2, Fail!
Rock hydra's chompaway roll: 1, Fail terribly!
Hrm, despite the "failure," I guess this has to mean Tohil escapes (barely). Then I have to check with Louis, as Gary is willingly getting into combat:
Louis's getaway roll: 5, Succeed greatly!
Rock hydra's chompaway roll: 5, Succeed greatly!
Seriously? Ugh. Well, Louis is still SUPPOSED to go after the enemy does, so I suppose he fails to get away. Then Alyssa is trying to get the javelin AND back up again to throwing range. I compare rolls:
Alyssa's geta-part-way roll: 3, Succeed weakly!
Rock hydra's chompaway roll: 4, Succeed!
Alyssa gets attacked while retreating.
Alyssa Alpine's combat table, phasestrike javelin, no longer near an individual wearing an amnesiac robe:
1: Fail terribly
2: Fail
3: Succeed weakly
4: Succeed
5: Succeed
6: Succeed greatly
Alyssa Alpine's attack roll: 2, Fail!
Gary, John, and Dwain using combat table shown before for iron pick:
Gary's attack roll: 5, Succeed greatly!
Damage roll (1d6+6): 3+6 -3 (paralysis) = 6!
Rock hydra, HP: 1/32
John's attack roll: 1, Fail terribly!
(Again?)
Rock hydra's combat table, now near an individual wearing an amnesiac robe:
1: Fail terribly
2: Fail
3: Succeed weakly
4: Succeed
5: Succeed (with paralysis)
6: Succeed greatly
7: Succeed greatly (with paralysis)
8: Fail by succeeding
9: Fail by succeeding (with paralysis)
Rock hydra attack roll: 9, Fail by succeeding (with paralysis)!
(Not joking; I added the "9" option to the roll generator and this came right up)
Damage roll (1d6+1): 2+1 = 3!
Gary, HP: 3/10
Paralysis roll (1d6+3)/2: (5+3)/2 = 4!
( . . . To the hydra, not to Gary)
Continuing to attack Louis and Alyssa Alpine:
1: Fail terribly
2: Fail
3: Succeed weakly
4: Succeed weakly
5: Succeed weakly (with paralysis)
6: Succeed
7: Succeed (with paralysis)
8: Fail by succeeding
9: Fail by succeeding (with paralysis)
Rock hydra attack roll: 2, Fail!
Rock hydra attack roll: 6, Succeed!
Damage roll (1d6+1): 3+1 -4 (paralysis penalty) = 0!
Dwain specified attacking from behind if that made sense, and I'd think there's enough room to avoid the amnesiac robe this time.
Dwain's attack roll: 5, Succeed greatly!
Damage roll (1d6+6): 2+6 = 8!
Rock hydra, HP: 0/32
Blood, violence, and cramped spaces; a bad combination. Seeing merit in ranged combat, Alyssa runs forward to retrieve the phasestrike javelin, intent on retreating just far enough to rear back and give it another throw. This is complicated by Louis trying the same! You unintentially wind up grabbing the weapon at the same time, which slows the both of you when you need distractions the least.
Meanwhile, Gary staggers to his feet and leaps into the fray, followed shortly by John. Gary's muscles cry in protest, but still you strike a blow with your iron pick that goes clear through the enemy's hide! Ha, you feel fully in control again!
John arrives, having recently lost the option of ranged combat with your sling, and you try going back to your pick-to-the-face roots. Instead you manage a pick-to-the-rock-face, and the nearby shale wall rudely wrenches your weapon out of your hands!
The only good part of this is that you have brought your offense/defence gear, the amnesiac robe, into melee range. As the rock hydra heads flail around, scoring a bite on Gary, the body slithers in counterpoint, and it comes into contact with the trailing hem. Would you look at that! It (shall we say) "anti-flinches," relaxing suddenly. Even a base creature as this is affected by the power!
Rock hydra now has -4 to its next damage roll in combat!
This matters as it is still on the attack. Alyssa wins the phasestrike javelin in the spontaneous tug-of-war, and you retreat even as it tries to bite you. Its jaws are too weak to do any damage! Louis is scooping up the dropped sling, and you throw straight over his head . . . to miss completely. Argh!
But the day is saved by Dwain, running around behind the beast as it appears to be well-engaged at its business end. Ends. You bury your pick in its back; looks like a little spinal injury does the job!
Rock hydra has been struck down!
Now, where did that darn seeker skull go?Bob and Tohil had been trying to get out of chomp range, but it seems no longer necessary, as it would appear that "three heads" don't equate to "three lives." Dustan had been approaching, too; it is your medical opinion that dead = dead. Despite all the rules violated in this underground place, that one still seems to hold.To help with any post-battle planning, let me remind you of a rule I had about giant monster carcasses. This thing here masses 200 kg, while your wheelbarrows max out at 90 kg; and if somehow you don't think this would sell well in civilization, you haven't been paying attention to context. But my intention was that you could empty out a wheelbarrow and then wedge the empty thing under the carcass (well, maybe its midpoint or somesuch) and drag it away. The newcomers all have carrying capacity to spare if you feel like you can trust them and/or wish to share (see inventory and current wheelbarrow contents in
the first post).