Red Dead Annihilation: Campaign Thread

The good thing about fighting, one does not have time to question one's methods or the morale of the situation. The sound of cracking eggs under the obvious and now as obviously dead mother sent a painful wave through Meili's very bones. A bite from the creature defending the nest paled in comparison and was almost welcome - it returned Meili's thoughts and feeling to the present. She acted instinctively - diving under the claw, slashing it with the sword and kicking the head in front of her:

At the one attacking Meili: Sword Attack: 18 Damage: 4
                                               Kick Attack: 9 Damage: 7

Ran watched Mica move quickly down to the ledge below. He looks over at Inete and nods then rapidly moves down his own knotted rope to the ledge below. Once he reaches the bottom he draws both his longswords and rushes forward to join Mica.

Movement - full movement to climb down.

Action - Dash to get the rest of the way.

Athletics if needed (advantage from the knots he put in the rope): 17  

Backed into a corner by the Pterafolk, Danica's claws come out.  She channels the power of nature and wildshapes into a panther... her fur the color of night with moon and star patterns.  She raises her hackles and gives a hearty wild-cat growl to the enemies.

Ran now stands beside Mica at the mouth of the cave.

Meili, the Pterafolk ducks under your sword but the move drops its head right into the path of your swift kick.  Several of its teeth are jarred loose.

Round Two

1. Mica
2. Inete
3. Pterafolk Group A
4. Hew
5. Pterafolk Group B
6. Danica
7. Ran
8. Meili

Round 2

Mica nods at Ran as he joins him on the ledge.  “Let’s keep them bottled up in the tunnel.  Keep them on the ground.”  He pulls the tarp down to allow light to enter into the tunnel and then moves down to attack the lead creature, swinging his hand axe across its body.

Attack: 23 Damage: 6.

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Mica's axe cuts deep, sending blood across the cavern wall, some of it hitting his torch and hissing.

Inete continues to stand on the cliff edge above, looking down at Ran.

The two Pterafolk near the entrance charge toward Mica, trying to push him back.  The nearest, wounded Pterafolk shoves Mica while the other helps by pushing from behind.  Shove contest: 22  [We need an athletics or acrobatics check from Mica to resist.  On a failure, Mica is pushed back 5' toward the entrance, with the Pterafolk moving forward to fill the space.  On a success, Mica stands his ground.]

The Pterafolk at the back of the cave continue their furious and reckless attacks on Meili and Panther Danica.

Pterafolk attack on Meili:

Bite:  Attack: 20 Damage: 9

Claws:  Attack: 6 Damage: 5

Pterafolk attack on Panther Danica:

Bite:  Attack: 19 Damage: 9

Claws:  Attack: 17 Damage: 5

The last one, behind the other two, continues to hold a readied attack.

Hew bursts forth from the chute, drawing his rapier.  "Meili!  Danica?  (cough cough) Bah!" he looks at the nearest Pterafolk.  "Try me on for size!"

The Pterafolk's eyes widen at the appearance of the dwarf, seemingly only now realizing that their cave has a small back door.  He obliges Hew, however, - "Ass you wissh!" - and his readied attack is directed at the Dwarf.

Claws:  Attack: 23 Damage: 5

Two more Pterafolk emerge from the lower room into the main chamber.  They take flight, but with the low ceiling there isn't enough room to really fly.  They bump into each other and struggle to stay aloft, just 10' off the ground. "Kill the intruderss!  Defend the nesst!  Defend your motherss!"

Panther Danica deftly darts out of reach of the Pterafolk's attacks.  She bares her fangs and then swipes at the Pterafolk harassing Meili, trying to bring it down with a big clawed paw.

Claw:  Attack: 5 Damage: 3

[DM will post an updated map once I have Mica's shove contest.]

Round Two

1. Mica
2. Inete
3. Pterafolk Group A
4. Hew
5. Pterafolk Group B
6. Danica
7. Ran
8. Meili

As Panther Danica prepares to attack, she notices that Meili has collapsed under the assault from these winged-humanoids.  As BA she drops the wildshape and turns to her traveling companion.  She casts cure wounds (upcast to 2nd level), restoring Meili to consciousness and granting 13 HP.

[Sorry for the wasted wildshape but this seems more important.]

There are some advantages to the petit constitution - and some disadvantages too. It seemed, in this jungle disadvantages overweighted anything. Meili opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor of the cave with the pterafolk above preparing to strike again. Instinctively, she kicked the toothy beak, jumping up with the same move and trying to reach the monster once again with her blade. [Technically, the order of the strikes should be reversed. If it's important, consider them reversed - first sword then kick.]

Sword Attack: 6 Damage: 4
Kick Attack:     19 Damage: 5

Ran shakes his head when he takes in the situation.

"I thought those two were doing a touch of recon to see what was what, not taking on the whole cave by themselves," Ran says to Mica as he watches the birdiefolk try and push the large ranger back towards the exit.

He then slashes out at the injured one doing the shoving, quickly bringing his second sword around for another blow.

Action: Longsword - Attack: 9 Damage: 4  

Bonus Action: Longsword - Attack: 19 Damage: 9  

Mica athletics: 7.

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Quote from LAXGunner >>

Mica athletics: 7.

 Mica did not expect the two creatures to rush him in the tunnel.  Caught unawares and unable to brace himself, he staggers and is pushed back 5 feet.  

Round 3

Undeterred, he strikes out with his hand axe again, an overhand swing toward the lead beast’s shoulder and wing. "They are stronger than they look" he grunts to Ran. 

Attack: 17 Damage: 8  plus 8 damage from colossus slayer.

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The Pterafolk nearest the mouth of the cave falls to Mica's axe.

No sooner does it fall, than the one behind clambers over the body and surges toward Mica, attacking with teeth and claw.

Pterafolk attack on Mica:

Bite:  Attack: 9 Damage: 7

Claws:  Attack: 17 Damage: 3

At the rear of the cave, the Pterafolk attacking Meili is gravely wounded.  It hisses through broken teeth.  "My life for the nessst!"  The two continue their attacks on Meili and Danica, trying to finish them.

Wounded Pterafolk attack on Meili:

Bite:  Attack: 23 Damage: 9

Claws:  Attack: 17 Damage: 8

Pterafolk attack on Danica:

Bite:  Attack: 14 Damage: 7

Claws:  Attack: 12 Damage: 5

The last Pterafolk at the back of the cave continues to focus on Hew.

Bite:  Attack: 7 Damage: 6

Claws:  Attack: 24 Damage: 12

Hew, seeing Meili and Danica cornered, ignores the monster attacking him.  He charges the Pterafolk next to Meili, reckless and fighting with abandon.  [If his first attack kills that Pterafolk, his second attack will target the Pterafolk attacking Danica.]

Attack: 19 Damage: 7

Attack: 15 Damage: 7

"It's us or them!  Let it be them!"

The two Pterafolk who had emerged from the side chamber swoop down and land toward the entrance to the cave.  They line up behind the survivor fighting with Mica and start pushing toward the exit.

The desperate Pterafolk must be favored by his ancestors... for the second time he strikes true against Meili, beating her near to death.

His victory is short-lived.  "You'll die for that!" snarls Hew, and sure enough, the Pterafolk falls to his rapier.  The circle of violence sees Hew pay for that in kind, as the Pterafolk attacking him lands a grievous blow to the one-armed dwarf.

For the second time, Danica is forced to cast  cure wounds (at level 1 this time), restoring Meili to consciousness and granting 10 HP.

Round Three

1. Mica
2. Pterafolk Group A
3. Hew
4. Pterafolk Group B
5. Danica
6. Ran
7. Meili

Yet again Meili found herself unconscious on the floor of the cave with yet another pterafolk ready to kill her. Not that she blamed the creature but did not plan to die right away either. Nor was she about to let Hew die for her. Another thrust of the sword, jump-kick and with the last strike she briefly pressed the one vital point at the base of Hew's skull, opening the meridian channel of the body and forcing him to regain consciousness.

Spending the last Ki point for Flurry of Blows with one of the unarmed strikes replaced with Hand of Healing:

Sword Attack: 17 Damage: 6
Kick Attack:     14 Damage: 6

Hand of Healing on Hew: 4

[Great description, but I didn’t mean to imply Hew was unconscious (unless grievous literally means something like ‘killing’ and if so poor word choice by me). If you’d prefer to use that move another way that’s fine… otherwise I’ll give Hew the HP.]

[My mistake, the combination of "pay the price" and "grievous blow" somehow translated into "killed" for me. Let's scrap the Hand of Healing then, no Ki spent, the kick is just a kick, no FoB]

Things certainly had a way of going belly up lately, the recon mission turning into bad assassination job. Seeing the smashed eggs turned something in the elf's stomach, but she tried to focus on keeping Meili and herself alive. Though with Hew added to the mix, it both complicated things yet dramatically helped. "Oy oy oy! Focus on me you winged c****!" She tries to get the attention of the Pterafolk, shifting into her Starry Form, the constellation pattern of the Chalice glowing on her chest as she touches Meili to heal her. 

Movement: Approaching Meili
Bonus Action: Wildshape Starry Form Chalice
Action: 1st Level Cure Wounds Healing Meili 10 (Bart's roll) + 3 (Disciple of Life) // Extra Chalice Healing to Meili: 4

Ran presses in close to Mica to lunge past the ranger at the advancing pterafolk.

He slashes foward, pivots and slashes with his second sword. As those two blows are hopefully landed, Ran martials the energy he has and while he's fresh lunges forward again.

Action: Attack: 20 Damage: 5  

Bonus Action Attack:  18 Damage: 7   

Action Surge Attack:  20 Damage: 7  

Mica ducks under the lead Pterafolk, jaws snapping shut just above his head, but takes a glancing blow from the creatures claws.  He flattens himself against the tunnel wall, allowing Ran to lunge in with an attack.

Round 4

As Ran strikes, Mica follows through with an attack of his own, slashing across his body with his hand-axe before shouting, hoping to be heard at the far end of the cavern “Cap’n!  Hold on, we are coming!”

Attack: 25 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll. plus 3 colossus slayer damage. 

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