Gong will keep his distance and soften up the beast at range before charging in for melee combat.
Perception: 21
Arcana: 14
Sacred Flame cantrip targeting the beast: Dexterity save DC 12
Radiant Damage: 4
Gong notices the beast's carapace seems to be made of rock and concludes the beast must have an elemental connection, but no additional info (aside from Elaric's shouted words) comes to mind.
Seeing the beast freed from its magical restraints and open to attack, GH lets out a bellow and runs full tilt toward it, attempting to leap on its leg or tail and scramble up onto its scaly back, the better to rain blows down on its loathsome hide.
Athletics: 12
Attack: 10 Damage: 12
Bonus Attack: 25 Damage: 10
With the beast's 20' stature, Guan Hao's athletic endeavor proves a little too tricky. However, as the beast is fully distracted in it's chewing and swallowing of the cultist, GH finds his attack to be easier than first expected (i.e. he had advantage so these are the second rolls)
Second attack and bonus attack rolls (use whichever attack and, separately, bonus attack roll is highest):
A - 19
BA - 19
GH sprints up to the creature, realizes that scaling it would be a fool's errand, and elects to strike at the back of one knee, hoping to sever some useful tendon, if this thing even HAS tendons. [Is his Perception check any good for spotting a physical / anatomical weakness?]
He'll take the second roll of 19 for his main attack, and keep the 12 damage. He'll keep his original rolls for the bonus, for both attack (25) and damage (10).
With a grand gesture and a series of arcane words bellowed in his dark, gravely language, the cult leader points his staff at each of the casters and their protective ritual circles. As he does so, each circle flares in response with elemental energies and, within the great circle, the two yellow gems pulse with barely contained magic. The beast snarls with fury and renews its efforts to escape the confining circle. You notice with some trepidation that its blows do not trigger the same degree of opacity as before - the barrier seems to have weakened.
In imitation of their leader, the three remaining casters raise their staves and chant in echoing response to his words. As they speak, beams lance from each of their circles and seem to lend strength to the central circle. However, the shells of protective magic about the casters appear to become less substantial as this occurs.
In response to this, the heroes respond simultaneously. Realizing the 30’ climb required to reach the cult leader would leave him a very vulnerable target to attacks, Guan Hao runs to a good position and hurls an axe at the leader. However, the projectile whistles past harmlessly as the cultist ducks from its path. Skoth fires his crossbow at the leader but the bolt deflects off the man’s armor. Wendell, finding a small rock nearby, casts catapult at leader. The tiny stone whistles through the cavern and hits its mark squarely on the side of his head. Running around casters and past the collapsed pillar, Mady positions herself to get a good shot on the cult leader with her bow. Rather than firing, however, she points a finger at the leader a whispers a word. Her eyes briefly flare with faint silvery light. Elaric closes in on the nearest caster, drawing his short sword as he advances, and attempts to break the protective barrier through arcane means, but he seems to struggle in vain. Gong, calling upon his newly granted divine powers, casts sacred flame on leader who appears to momentarily writhe in pain as a faint golden glow surrounds him. With no unprotected cultists left to hit, Balasar runs at the nearest caster and attempts to breach his barrier with sheer physical force. Amazingly, his blade bites through the weakened arcane barrier, causing it to explode in a burst of flames. The flames merely singe Balasar, whose draconic heritage protects him from fire, but the cultist is not so lucky. Not only does Balasar's blade cut deeply into the man with both physical force and divine power, but the fire of the explosion engulfed and ignited the hapless man. As the last energies of the barrier fade, the central barrier about the beast seems to flicker and spark with small holes appearing in its shimmering surface.
Watching all of this with a growing air of rage, the cult leader waves his hands about and chants quickly. Immediately after finishing his spell, he shouts out in a bellow resembling two large boulders grinding against one another. In response, the two remaining protected casters fling up their arms, dispelling not only their barriers, but that of the beast as well! All three casters begin chanting arcane words.
Balasar, Skoth, Elaric, and Mady all rush to attack the focused casters, but only Balasar succeeds in landing a blow. While that caster, still ablaze, falters and fails to save his spell, the other two finish their incantations and step backwards INTO the stone walls, blending seamlessly with the crumbling rock and effectively vanishing from sight.
The barrier about the beast flashes and flickers one final time before collapsing. The beast, clearly injured from the arcane ritual, roars with pain and furious rage before pouncing upon the still sleeping cultist left near the entrance to the chamber.
Despite a clumsy attack, the beast bites the magically slumbering cultist cleanly in half, killing him instantly, before gulping down the remains.
Swinging twice at the enormous beast, Guan Hao's magical glaive carves two wounds into the beast, prompting small spurts of steaming hot blood to arc out. Meanwhile, Skoth steps back several feet, considering the use of his crossbow. However, as he sized up his opponent, a sudden look of comprehension spreads across his face. He raises his hands and casts acid arrow at his foe, piercing the creature's rocky armor with a magical bolt. The beast howls in renewed pain.
Wendell, partially protected by the cover of a pillar, hurls a sling bullet at the cult leader, hitting the man hard enough to dent his armor and eliciting a snarl of frustration that carried across the room. At the opposite pillar, Mady, moving far away from the beast, never lost sight of her primary target - the cult leader. Her eyes still glowing with a silvery light, she let fly a single arrow with incredible precision, striking the cultist in a seam between two pieces of armor. However, even before the arrow hit home, Mady was moving back into the shadows and out of everyone's sight.
Elaric, recognizing the beast’s elemental nature and its particular vulnerability to thunder damage, shouted as much to the group before pulling a large diamond from his pouch and casting chromatic orb. The precious stone, now imbued with the arcane essence of thunder, sails into the beast, exploding with a shocking BOOM which shattered chunks of rock armor from the creature's back. Seeing the gleam of malevolent spite in the beast's eye, Elaric rapidly traces a complex symbol in the air. Becoming surrounded by a silvery mist, Elaric's form wavers and then vanishes, only to reappear near Balasar and the flaming cultist with which the barbarian struggles.
Gong, noting the beast’s rock plating as an indication of its elemental nature, files the information away as he casts sacred flame, burning the beast with divinely granted radiance. Nearby, Balasar swings his enchanted greatsword at the burning caster, but the blade merely glances off the man’s armor as the flames engulfing him lick at Balasar’s arms and hands.
Atop his high pillar, the cult leader waves his hand about in another spell which ends in a startling flourish of movement. With nigh impossible speed, the cult leader dashes down his 30’ high pillar like a spider, hits the ground in an upright position, and continues to his wild sprint covering nearly 90’ and reaching the great chamber’s exit in seconds.
Simultaneously, both of the casters who had stepped into solid rock reemerge from the stone at their original points with the hands already waving in synchronized spells. As they finish, two hands made of solid earth spring from the ground, one next to Skoth, the other by Gong. Both heroes are seized in inescapable crashing grips, their bones creaking under the pressure. Neither can move.
With the reappearance of his brother casters, the flaming caster raises a rod of black stone in defiance of Balasar’s attack. Elemental magic suffuses the rod, causing it to vibrate with barely contained power as the cultist swings at Balasar, but the agile barbarian steps out range just in time.
A deafening roar draws everyone’s attention as the beast storms forward, lunging at the nearest cultist. Its cavernous maw gaping wide, the beast snaps twice before catching the cultist in its powerful jaws. Teeth as large and sharp as Balasar’s greatsword impale and restrain the struggling caster, but fail to kill him. As the beast begins to gnash and chew, Skoth’s acid arrow, still lodged in its rocky hide, now bursts in a cloud of caustic green mist, bringing forth yet another earsplitting roar.
Guan Hao, focused on what he considers the greatest threat and the most glorious prey, moves around behind the great beast's hindquarters and attacks again.
Guan Hao, focused on what he considers the greatest threat and the most glorious prey, moves around behind the great beast's hindquarters and attacks again.
Attack: 16, Damage 11
Bonus Attack: 11, Damage 7
[I highly doubt that an 11 beats its AC, but I should get in the habit of re-rolling 1's for damage, so: 8 ]
Gong notices the beast's carapace seems to be made of rock and concludes the beast must have an elemental connection, but no additional info (aside from Elaric's shouted words) comes to mind.
GH sprints up to the creature, realizes that scaling it would be a fool's errand, and elects to strike at the back of one knee, hoping to sever some useful tendon, if this thing even HAS tendons. [Is his Perception check any good for spotting a physical / anatomical weakness?]
He'll take the second roll of 19 for his main attack, and keep the 12 damage. He'll keep his original rolls for the bonus, for both attack (25) and damage (10).
Skoth steps 5' away from the beast, takes a moment to focus on his magic, and casts acid arrow at the foul monster!
Attack: 22
Damage: 10
acid arrow follow up damage to be applied at the end of the beast's turn: 5
Wendell loads a sling bullet and fires off another shot at the cult leader.
To hit: 18
Damage: 6
Balasar attacks the burning cultist caster!
Attack: 14
Damage: 15
First attack radiant damage: 6
Dex save to avoid damage the fires engulfing the cultist: 10
Failed to avoid flames!
Fire damage (this will be halved and rounded down): 3
Two casters reemerge to their original positions and cast Maximilian’s earthen grasp at the nearest targets they can see!
Skoth and Gong must both make Strength saves:
Skoth: 17
Gong: 10
Skoth: 12
Gong: 12
Both Gong and Skoth take 7 bludgeoning damage and are restrained.
Flaming caster (who is just barely alive) attacks Balasar using a magical rod that crackles with infused magical energies!
Attack: 19
Damage: 8 bludgeoning damage
Bonus magical bludgeoning damage: 23
Beast first attacks nearest caster!
Attack: 12
Damage: 28
Second attack!
Attack: 15
Damage: 35
Critical hit! Beast bites caster for 51 piercing damage!
Balasar's second Dex save to avoid taking more fire damage from his opponent:
Dex save: 19
Swinging twice at the enormous beast, Guan Hao's magical glaive carves two wounds into the beast, prompting small spurts of steaming hot blood to arc out. Meanwhile, Skoth steps back several feet, considering the use of his crossbow. However, as he sized up his opponent, a sudden look of comprehension spreads across his face. He raises his hands and casts acid arrow at his foe, piercing the creature's rocky armor with a magical bolt. The beast howls in renewed pain.
Wendell, partially protected by the cover of a pillar, hurls a sling bullet at the cult leader, hitting the man hard enough to dent his armor and eliciting a snarl of frustration that carried across the room. At the opposite pillar, Mady, moving far away from the beast, never lost sight of her primary target - the cult leader. Her eyes still glowing with a silvery light, she let fly a single arrow with incredible precision, striking the cultist in a seam between two pieces of armor. However, even before the arrow hit home, Mady was moving back into the shadows and out of everyone's sight.
Elaric, recognizing the beast’s elemental nature and its particular vulnerability to thunder damage, shouted as much to the group before pulling a large diamond from his pouch and casting chromatic orb. The precious stone, now imbued with the arcane essence of thunder, sails into the beast, exploding with a shocking BOOM which shattered chunks of rock armor from the creature's back. Seeing the gleam of malevolent spite in the beast's eye, Elaric rapidly traces a complex symbol in the air. Becoming surrounded by a silvery mist, Elaric's form wavers and then vanishes, only to reappear near Balasar and the flaming cultist with which the barbarian struggles.
Gong, noting the beast’s rock plating as an indication of its elemental nature, files the information away as he casts sacred flame, burning the beast with divinely granted radiance. Nearby, Balasar swings his enchanted greatsword at the burning caster, but the blade merely glances off the man’s armor as the flames engulfing him lick at Balasar’s arms and hands.
Atop his high pillar, the cult leader waves his hand about in another spell which ends in a startling flourish of movement. With nigh impossible speed, the cult leader dashes down his 30’ high pillar like a spider, hits the ground in an upright position, and continues to his wild sprint covering nearly 90’ and reaching the great chamber’s exit in seconds.
Simultaneously, both of the casters who had stepped into solid rock reemerge from the stone at their original points with the hands already waving in synchronized spells. As they finish, two hands made of solid earth spring from the ground, one next to Skoth, the other by Gong. Both heroes are seized in inescapable crashing grips, their bones creaking under the pressure. Neither can move.
With the reappearance of his brother casters, the flaming caster raises a rod of black stone in defiance of Balasar’s attack. Elemental magic suffuses the rod, causing it to vibrate with barely contained power as the cultist swings at Balasar, but the agile barbarian steps out range just in time.
A deafening roar draws everyone’s attention as the beast storms forward, lunging at the nearest cultist. Its cavernous maw gaping wide, the beast snaps twice before catching the cultist in its powerful jaws. Teeth as large and sharp as Balasar’s greatsword impale and restrain the struggling caster, but fail to kill him. As the beast begins to gnash and chew, Skoth’s acid arrow, still lodged in its rocky hide, now bursts in a cloud of caustic green mist, bringing forth yet another earsplitting roar.
PLAYERS MAY NOW ACT
Guan Hao, focused on what he considers the greatest threat and the most glorious prey, moves around behind the great beast's hindquarters and attacks again.
Attack: 16, Damage 11
Bonus Attack: 11, Damage 7
[I highly doubt that an 11 beats its AC, but I should get in the habit of re-rolling 1's for damage, so: 8 ]
If the cult leader is still in range, Wendell is going to cast Sleep on him.
Sleep Strength: 15
Otherwise, Wendell will hold his spell and launch a sling bullet at the beast.
To Hit: 22
To Damage: 4