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A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

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TonedMite said:
[X] Goldfish
Also, once this is over, let's try and grab those sweet sweet corpses for the Flesh/Fungus Forges. Can't wait to experiment with the Rune Giant stuff, and a mythic Efreet has got to be worth a lot.
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There's also this:
DragonParadox said:
Your first sight of the herald of Kalandragor the Rune Carved is a ripple in the water far closer than you would have accounted for. A woman's face shows itself, as much animate water as living flesh, before growing more solid like a mirage suddenly gaining substance, sea-green hair flowing out behind her. She is a true Marid, not one of their scattered offspring, you realize, startled, though not so much as to waver in your greeting.

"Hail and well met, my lady, may the waves of our purpose flow together this day," you nod graciously, still weighing in your mind how the Dragon might have gained the service of one of the proud tempestuous genies.

"Bright fortune to you also, Lord of Fire. I, Ramazaof the House of Ifril, greet you in peace in the name of my lord, for though he has never seen one of your kindred in the flesh he knows well your strength and wisdom both," she replies, somehow managing to be both ornate in her language and blunt in her purpose.

No sooner had she sat down across from you that she draws forth an oiled scroll from a pocket of her sea-silk robe and unrolls it upon the table, keeping silent for a moment while you observe it. The being depicted there seems to be a Giant, skin ashen grey and hair the color of fire, bearing some kinship to the Fire Giants that make up the mailed fist of the Brazen Throne, but this Giant is different, not only in his armor, crafted with masterful skill and carved with seals of power and ruin, but in the lines of his face. You see nothing of the savagery you had come to expect from those who take the Sultan's coin for the chance to torment those smaller than themselves, there is a cold calculating purpose it its gaze. As you watch the subtly enchanted scroll the image move, revealing arcane markings not just upon the Giant's armor but his skin also as wisps of wild leashed lightning dance in his left hand.

"What am I looking at?" you ask at last, for no memory flickers to the forefront of your thoughts. Either a very uncommon being or a new one, perhaps both.

"That is what my benighted flame-crazed kin call a Rune Giant," Ramaza explains, eyes flashing with disgust at the mention of the Efreeti. "A warrior crafted as a smith crafts a fine blade. They unite the brute strength of Giants and the spark of arcane power slumbering within without the 'unfortunate' independence of those born to storm or cloud, in truth they are the finest slavers of other giants one could imagine. My lord has no interest in that aspect of their nature, his subjects hold to their oaths from honor and their pragmatism both, but he would much wish to study flesh-bound spells that he might craft his own script. Obviously he does not expect you to capture such a fearsome foe alive, bodies will be more than sufficient. He is willing to pay seven-thousand of your imperial marks for each giant corpse in gold or treasure from his hoard. My lord is of course willing to provide the locations where you might find and slay such Rune-Carved Giants if you agree to the a collaboration."

"Your pardon, my lady, but asking me to fetch corpses as a cat does dead mice seems less like collaboration and more like a mercenary contract," you reply in a carefully neutral tone.

"Should you wish a deeper collaboration in light of your demonstrated skills of shaping living things, my lord would be agreeable in principle," she responds instantly. She had obviously spoken to her draconic lord sometime after you had revealed the flesh-crafting to the mercenaries.

How do you respond to Kalandragor's offer?
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Instead of being paid in money, which we don't need at this point, we can convince him to part with his lore and get some of that runecarving intel for ourselves. One of our dragon vassals might feel like going that route at some point.
 
@DragonParadox I don't understand, like Goldfish pointed out, you acted as though Avalanche of Blades being interrupted ended Richard's turn, and for non-Mythic PCs that would be correct, but Amazing Initiative is Capital Grade Bullshit and allows him to use his Belt of Battle on the first turn. And Garin's was so non-descriptive that you didn't really differentiate his Surprise Strike ability from other attacks, just saying "strikes and shadows" making it little different from any other turn involving him.

This poetry stuff is nice, but when someone is using special moves, you need to take time to separate that narratively since it informs players of what occurred mechanically.
 
Crake said:
@DragonParadox I don't understand, like Goldfish pointed out, you acted as though Avalanche of Blades being interrupted ended Richard's turn, and for non-Mythic PCs that would be correct, but Amazing Initiative is Capital Grade Bullshit and allows him to use his Belt of Battle on the first turn. And Garin's was so non-descriptive that you didn't really differentiate his Surprise Strike ability from other attacks, just saying "strikes and shadows" making it little different from any other turn involving him.

This poetry stuff is nice, but when someone is using special moves, you need to take time to separate that narratively since it informs players of what occurred mechanically.
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Ser Richard only got one attack through the AC, Garin likewise and that on a 19 which he could not confirm as a crit. These are very tank-y giants taking the full defense action.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jun 20, 2021 at 10:58 AM, finished with 50 posts and 10 votes.
  • [X] Of Flames Endured
    -[X] As an Immediate Action, Viserys uses Wings of Cover to shield himself from the spell if targeted, or attempts to shield Garin or Richard with a Brilliant Barrier if they are targeted. He then acts to directly Counterspell the next spell the mage casts.
    -[X] If his target is dead, Garin spends one Mythic Power to use Surprise Strike (target is considered Flat-Footed) as a Swift Action against the mage in order to make a Sneak Attack (+33 attack bonus, 7d8+34 damage; 17-20/x4. Ignores Damage Reduction, plus Staggering Strike; Fortitude DC equal to damage to avoid being Staggered for 1 round). He then makes a Full Attack against the mage while dual-wielding his daggers (+30/+30/+25/+20 [1d4+17; 17-20/x4] and +29/+24 [1d4+17; 17-20/x2]). If his Rune Giant is not yet dead, he instead uses Surprise Strike against it, then continues attacking it.
    -[X] If his target is dead, Richard switches focus to the mage, spending 1 Mythic Power to use Fleet Charge as a Swift Action to attack (+51 attack bonus, 7d6+31 damage; 17-20/x2, 1 CON damage), then follows that up with a full attack (+46/+46/+41/+36/+31). If his Rune Giant is not yet dead, he makes a Full Attack against it instead, though if it dies before all of his iterative attacks are expended, he immediately uses Fleet Warrior to move to the mage and start attacking it, then follows up with a Fleet Charge. If targeted by the mage's spell, he reflects it using Spell Turning.
    --[X] If Richard killed the Rune Giant in the 1st round, Oathkeeper immediately cast an Empowered Maximized Cure Moderate Wounds on him as a Free Action to restore 34 HP. If he didn't kill it, Oathkeeper instead cast Cure Moderate Wounds to heal him for 2d8+10 HP as a Free Action. At the beginning of this turn, Oathkeeper casts another Cure Moderate Wounds on Richard as a Free Action.
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This guy is also very much in Viserys' peer group as a mage, and is a member of a huge organization that has the resources to protect assets like him.

The odds that he doesn't have something set up to avoid being soul trapped or similar are pretty low. Actually catching him is the sort of thing we'd probably need to make a whole mission of, not pick up as a side objective.
 
BronzeTongue said:
This guy is also very much in Viserys' peer group as a mage, and is a member of a huge organization that has the resources to protect assets like him.

The odds that he doesn't have something set up to avoid being soul trapped or similar are pretty low. Actually catching him is the sort of thing we'd probably need to make a whole mission of, not pick up as a side objective.
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Well he is here and we can kill and grab him
 
Ouranous said:
Well he is here and we can kill and grab him
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My point is that at this level of combat just physically being in front of him doesn't ensure that we can pull whatever shenanigans we want on him even if we win.

We've got a number of different things cooking to protect ourselves on that front, and have discussed more over the years that he could theoretically be using.

To make anything really stick we need some level of knowledge on what he's done to protect himself.
 
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Part MMMDCCCXX: Reaping Ruin
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    • Reaping Ruin ​

    Eleventh Day of the Ninth Month 294 AC

    Out of the corner of your eye you catch a glimpse of Oathkeeper expending its own magic to heal its bearer, but your eye is fixed upon the foe before you, he must not have a chance to strike...

    Ser Richard heals 17 Damage
    (Ser Richard at 90/211 HP and 35 Temp HP)

    The bolt of black desiccating power flies directly at Garin as he stands under the shadow of the giant, but you are ready for it. A wall of light rises between them, just wide enough to catch the blow, yet offering no cover from his blades. Yet even as the spell fizzles the mage is not daunted. Hollow eyes behind a mask of brass meet yours...

    Time warps and roils, first a ripple too quick to counter, then a sea change no senses, even yours, can feel, though one would have to be blind and deaf to miss the foes the tide brings. The mage now stands more than fifty feet from his guards and surrounded instead by four titanic beasts of fire and molten stone. Low slung, they are like hounds of some dread god and just as loyal to their makers as any mastiff.


    The belt of iron and adamantine around his waist shines with familiar power, his fingers click together like some mechanical monstrosity, and magic unseen and unknown twists and writhes in the space between you like serpents each trying to swallow the other. For a moment you think you have the upper hand, but then the spell surges in a knotwork of strange energies and slips into being... Withering flame that does not shine falls over you and all your company, and your life burns at its touch like dry kindling...

    You, Ser Richard, and Garin take 66 Damage

    (Ser Richard at 62/211
    Garin at 156/222
    Viserys at 159/225)

    For you and Garin the curse is grievous, but one you can endure, for Ser Richard it is nearly his death. The sizzling sound as the knight spits blood on the hot floor is dreadful to hear, and alas, you are not the only one with ears to hear it. The giant who had been lending his shield and his life to ward his master now raises a hammer festooned with runes of sundering.

    Yet he is too eager, too sure of his kill, as the knight darts aside from the blow that shakes the hall and then cuts at the giant's armored wrist, thinking to sever it. The blow has not the strength to cut through adamantine and rune-scored flesh, yet still the foe recoils enough for he knight to lunge and deal a blow to its already wounded leg.

    The howl of the giant is even louder than the blow of its hammer had been, but by spite and stubbornness he does not fall, at least not until Garin, graceful as the reaper's scythe, jumps forth and cuts a second smile under its chin. Finally, like a mountain collapsing in avalanche, the giant dies as Garin's flesh begins to mend once more.

    Garin Heals 22 HP
    (Garin at 178/222)

    And that is when you realize the mage had not fled merely for fear of Garin's daggers or Ser Richard's blade...

    Even as Oathkeeper's bloodied blade again surges with the light of stolen life to heal its bearer, the runes upon the dying giant flash so bright they seer the eye and the light explodes outward in a wave of soundless death that envelops your friends, breaking bone and tearing flesh.

    Ser Richard heals 20 Damage
    Ser Richard and Garin take 68 Damage
    Garin gains 35 Temp HP

    (Ser Richard 14/211
    Garin at 110/222 and 35 Temp HP
    Viserys at 159/225)

    The armored mage laughs, the sound hollow, like a great bell deep underground. "Behold the King of the Garden, Great Dragon Returned and Lord of all he surveys. Rich shall be my reward when I bring your skull before the Throne of Iblis whom I served of old."

    What do you do?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Viserys cannot see Death Throes on the other giant which means it had it as contingency the way you guys have heal, so when it drops below a certain amount of HP the spell triggers and then when it dies explosion time. Also, that did not feel like Mythic time stop, just the regular kind.
     
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