The nearest target is only 20’ away so Aulderoot doesn’t need to move to reach it. Aulderoot’s spark bursts against a cloth-wrapped figure with white light, shredding some of the bandages. Sand leaks out of the tents, but the thing continues to advance. It will reach you presently if you do not move?
Realizing the sphinx was making the ruckus and whirling the winds, Merle runs his hands over his staff again (recasting Shillelagh) and as he prepares to swing at the statue similar to the sphinx, he looks over his shoulder and can't see the creature any longer but notices shifting figures in the falling debris of sphinx's making. See8ng the others starting to fall back towards his location and even sending out some attacks as they retreated, Merle desides banging on this sculpture wasn't going to be his best play. Changing course he starts mak8ng his way towards the others (full movement from the sphinx statue towards the hallway the others are coming out of)
OoC: just getting this out there so not to hold up progress when it's Merle turn as he's far enough away that the rest of the turn probably won't affect his actions.
The mummy staggers under Poppy’s spell, takes 3 damage and has disadvantage on attacks next turn
[[ currently I’m at work but I’ll try to put together a battle map when I get home later today, I’ll admit this multi-mob encounter was a last-second addition after running this adventure IRL the other week ]]
Rough not-to-scale sketch of how things are aligned:
(How wide is the tunnel? How close are the mummies to the bearings? Did they dash or just move? Merry considers throwing oil on the bearings’ position but would wait until the mummies arrive.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
We are ready for round 2 with Merry at the top of the order. The mummies silently, seemingly mindlessly, trudge forward towards you. For a tense scene, it is eerily quiet, especially after the loud roar, the only sounds really your chatter and the scuffing of cloth-wrapped feet as the strange figures advance upon you.
If possible, Merry will bonus action dash and approach the nearest mummy to harass it with his whip before bringing at least 30 feet between him and the undead again.
Action: hit 27 (crit) for 13 damage (the maximum possible!)
(How wide is the tunnel? How close are the mummies to the bearings? Did they dash or just move? Merry considers throwing oil on the bearings’ position but would wait until the mummies arrive.)
15 feet wide, the mummies are not using dash action, they’re quite slow, you observe a pace of 20’ movement speed
If possible, Merry will bonus action dash and approach the nearest mummy to harass it with his whip before bringing at least 30 feet between him and the undead again.
Action: hit 27 (crit) for 13 damage (the maximum possible!)
Merry confidently approaches a mummy and brings the whip to bear. It slices a wicked vertical gash in the mummy’s chest and abdomen, and golden yellow sand rapidly spills out like blood from a wound. The bandages sag and unravel as the mummy falls apart into an inert pile of sand and cloth. It is defeated!
As the mummies shamble towards the tunnel the party is occupying it seems a prudent time to position a bonfire in the tunnel entry.
targeting mummy in tunnel entrance.
Dex 13 save vs 7 fire damage.
Aulderoot sets a magical bonfire at the feet of the damaged mummy he had previously sparked. The mummy shows no concern or attempt to avoid it and the flames quickly flare up the dry cloth bandages. They disintegrate into ash, revealing only sand inside, which spills out into a large inert pile. Defeated!
These were the two mummies from the two closest corners. The other 6 are much further off.
Here you all are in the hall, to the right is where it opens into the octagon room.
Here's the octagon room with 6 mummies moving in from the corners. You can see a large opening into more passage/darkness at the far (right) end of the room.
I hope this helps visualize things more. I'm a bit frustrated right now that I couldn't figure out how to display the images directly in this forum using same methods I've done in the past.
"These mummies fall quicker than I would have anticipated based on the stories I've heard," notes Merry. "Aulderoot, your fire got them good and they are super slow. Can you play this trick again with the rest of them?"
(I'm at a loss whose turn it is. Did the mummies move already again? Also if they don't have a trick up their sleeve or something else will be linked to this encounter, we can just assume that they get all light up by bonfire as they cannot possibly catch us.)
I hope this helps visualize things more. I'm a bit frustrated right now that I couldn't figure out how to display the images directly in this forum using same methods I've done in the past.
I usually use https://imgbb.com/ to upload images and request the full html link that can be pasted into the source code (</> ) of the post. This has been working well for me for a long time. With the source code option, you can also do shenanigans like floating images that are left or right and wrapped by text.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
"These mummies fall quicker than I would have anticipated based on the stories I've heard," notes Merry. "Aulderoot, your fire got them good and they are super slow. Can you play this trick again with the rest of them?"
(I'm at a loss whose turn it is. Did the mummies move already again? Also if they don't have a trick up their sleeve or something else will be linked to this encounter, we can just assume that they get all light up by bonfire as they cannot possibly catch us.)
I’m glad you recognize this. Not everyone does and sometimes more melee-based groups have an issue. Of course I could add a wrinkle but I think it’s just fine to hand wave the rest of this encounter and move on.
"Right! That sounded familiar. It must have been that same creature that brought us here!" reasons Merry. "It's toying with us. But I fear we don't yet have much options other than playing along. Not until we discover more. Until we find a weakness in their scheme. I say, let's go deeper for now, but keep our wits about for any hint that we can cut this game short, ideally to our advantage."
He searches the room, the sarcophagi and collects his ball bearings (which alone requires half an hour).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
Aulderoot will move away once his attack happens…
Realizing the sphinx was making the ruckus and whirling the winds, Merle runs his hands over his staff again (recasting Shillelagh) and as he prepares to swing at the statue similar to the sphinx, he looks over his shoulder and can't see the creature any longer but notices shifting figures in the falling debris of sphinx's making. See8ng the others starting to fall back towards his location and even sending out some attacks as they retreated, Merle desides banging on this sculpture wasn't going to be his best play. Changing course he starts mak8ng his way towards the others (full movement from the sphinx statue towards the hallway the others are coming out of)
OoC: just getting this out there so not to hold up progress when it's Merle turn as he's far enough away that the rest of the turn probably won't affect his actions.
Poppy will use vicious mockery on the mummy that was sparked by Aulderoot. The mummy makes a DC13wis save or takes 3 damage. 7
Round 1
25 Merry - moved back and ready to spread ball bearings
17 Aulderoot - attacked G and moved back (into the tunnel)
17 mummy G - took some damage, leaking sand, moving towards the tunnel
17 mummy H - moving towards the tunnel
15 mummy A - moving towards the tunnel
15 mummy B - moving towards the tunnel
12 Poppy - vicious mockery and move back into the tunnel - now Merry can release the ball bearings!
Merle - moving from previous room up the tunnel
7 mummy E - moving towards the tunnel
7 mummy F - same
6 mummy C - same
6 mummy D - same
The mummy staggers under Poppy’s spell, takes 3 damage and has disadvantage on attacks next turn
[[ currently I’m at work but I’ll try to put together a battle map when I get home later today, I’ll admit this multi-mob encounter was a last-second addition after running this adventure IRL the other week ]]
Rough not-to-scale sketch of how things are aligned:
M M
Merle - - other 3 - M M M M
M M
(How wide is the tunnel? How close are the mummies to the bearings? Did they dash or just move? Merry considers throwing oil on the bearings’ position but would wait until the mummies arrive.)
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
We are ready for round 2 with Merry at the top of the order. The mummies silently, seemingly mindlessly, trudge forward towards you. For a tense scene, it is eerily quiet, especially after the loud roar, the only sounds really your chatter and the scuffing of cloth-wrapped feet as the strange figures advance upon you.
If possible, Merry will bonus action dash and approach the nearest mummy to harass it with his whip before bringing at least 30 feet between him and the undead again.
Action: hit 27 (crit) for 13 damage (the maximum possible!)
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
As the mummies shamble towards the tunnel the party is occupying it seems a prudent time to position a bonfire in the tunnel entry.
targeting mummy in tunnel entrance.
Dex 13 save vs 7 fire damage.
15 feet wide, the mummies are not using dash action, they’re quite slow, you observe a pace of 20’ movement speed
Merry confidently approaches a mummy and brings the whip to bear. It slices a wicked vertical gash in the mummy’s chest and abdomen, and golden yellow sand rapidly spills out like blood from a wound. The bandages sag and unravel as the mummy falls apart into an inert pile of sand and cloth. It is defeated!
Dex save at disadvantage due to no attempt to avoid
8
Aulderoot sets a magical bonfire at the feet of the damaged mummy he had previously sparked. The mummy shows no concern or attempt to avoid it and the flames quickly flare up the dry cloth bandages. They disintegrate into ash, revealing only sand inside, which spills out into a large inert pile. Defeated!
These were the two mummies from the two closest corners. The other 6 are much further off.
Here you all are in the hall, to the right is where it opens into the octagon room.
Here's the octagon room with 6 mummies moving in from the corners. You can see a large opening into more passage/darkness at the far (right) end of the room.
I hope this helps visualize things more. I'm a bit frustrated right now that I couldn't figure out how to display the images directly in this forum using same methods I've done in the past.
And oops the topmost player token should be Poppy (no image on character page so I used an image of Chris Pine, will update next time picture updates)
Merle will spend his turn dashing to others, hopefully closing the gap.
"These mummies fall quicker than I would have anticipated based on the stories I've heard," notes Merry. "Aulderoot, your fire got them good and they are super slow. Can you play this trick again with the rest of them?"
(I'm at a loss whose turn it is. Did the mummies move already again? Also if they don't have a trick up their sleeve or something else will be linked to this encounter, we can just assume that they get all light up by bonfire as they cannot possibly catch us.)
I usually use https://imgbb.com/ to upload images and request the full html link that can be pasted into the source code (</> ) of the post. This has been working well for me for a long time. With the source code option, you can also do shenanigans like floating images that are left or right and wrapped by text.
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
I’m glad you recognize this. Not everyone does and sometimes more melee-based groups have an issue. Of course I could add a wrinkle but I think it’s just fine to hand wave the rest of this encounter and move on.
Aulderoot casts bonfire targeting each mummy ending the shambling threat…
”Did anyone else recognize that roar?”
"Right! That sounded familiar. It must have been that same creature that brought us here!" reasons Merry. "It's toying with us. But I fear we don't yet have much options other than playing along. Not until we discover more. Until we find a weakness in their scheme. I say, let's go deeper for now, but keep our wits about for any hint that we can cut this game short, ideally to our advantage."
He searches the room, the sarcophagi and collects his ball bearings (which alone requires half an hour).
I'm away May 11 to 16 and might post sporadically (or not at all)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
Aulderoot uses elementalism to create a swirling wind to help gather and collect the bearings (or at least help).