A koan for Kara

[Corwyn]

AoO Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) d20+12: (5) + 12 Total = 17 2d8+7: (3, 8) + 7 Total = 18

[Corwyn]

Kara wheels her massive mount around, ducking under the gnashing teeth of the monstrous beast beside her. Spurring Stomper towards the creature that threatens her rear line, Kara call orders to her allies and brandishes her lance, griting her teeth for impact. The lance pierces the hide of the beast she targets, Stomper's horn making a deep gash just beneath the wound she tears open. Blood streams from the twin wounds and the king lizard shrieks with pain and rage.
Twain and Samus take aim at the beast, launching a stream of arrows from their positions, hoping to finish off the creature that their leader attacked.

arrows Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) 6d20: 8, 16, 4, 4, 6, 1 Total = 39 Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) 6d8: 3, 2, 7, 8, 5, 4 Total = 29

Originally Posted by SRD

A lance deals double damage when used from the back of a charging mount. It has reach, so you can strike opponents 10 feet away with it, but you can’t use it against an adjacent foe.
While mounted, you can wield a lance with one hand.

[Corwyn]

With a groan and a roar, the mighty beast falls to the ground, shaking the earth with its bulk and kicking upa massive cloud of sand. Twain and Samus divert their rain of arrows to the next creature, the beast that the other riders still menace, the one that Kara had initially attacked. That creature can no more stand against the combined assault of arrows, horn and lance, than could the other, and it too roars with pain and collapses to the ground in a cloud of blood and dust. Samus's arrows still stream forth, his last two shots finding the flesh of the third king lizard, only this beast is fresh, it takes the first arrow without flinching, the second arrow explodes against its chest as if it were so much solid rock.
Slasher races around the falling beast, ducking beneath its collapsing tale and turning sharply as he runs through the cloud of sand, coming up behind the final beast, teeth and claws flashing. The king lizard sees the tiger emerging from the shadow of its fallen brethern, and it leans down, opening massive jaws to try and swallow the big cat.

AoO Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) d20+12: (6) + 12 Total = 18 2d8+7: (5, 3) + 7 Total = 15

[Corwyn]

grapples Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) d20+22: (12) + 22 Total = 34 Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) d20+24: (16) + 24 Total = 40

[Corwyn]

Slasher is torn across the back by the saw-like teeth, but the feline twists and leaps, avoiding the fate of being eaten by the beast. Slasher leaps into the air, lashing out with all four claws and snapping its jaws, exactly like a sabretooth tiger hunting wooly mammoths in the tundra.

Slasher +24/+24/+18/+22/+22: Dice * Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) 5d20: 9, 15, 9, 8, 12 Total = 53 Dice * Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) 2d4+13: (3, 3) + 13 Total = 19 2d4+13: (3, 4) + 13 Total = 20 2d6+9: (5, 1) + 9 Total = 15 2d4+9: (4, 1) + 9 Total = 14 2d4+9: (3, 1) + 9 Total = 13

[Corwyn]

Slasher's ferocious assault sends the last beast crashing to the dirt, even as Wen comes running up beside it, his fists balled to strike the beast. Wen slows to a stop and then walks around the beast, ascertaining that it is truly dead. Therous does the same, bringing his mace down onto the nearest king lizard's head, assuring its condition and Univene spurs her mount over beside Kara, nodding at her and glancing at the still ribcage of the beast before them.

**Gain 4,050XP. Your mounts and cohorts will gain levels only when applicable due to your character level/HD. You have Free Actions...**

[turtledunn1191]

((I have the spirited charge feat. It gives me x3 dmg when I charge with a lance))

[turtledunn1191]

Samus, do you know how far away the water is, how far up the river bed. Kara asks, thinking hard about the situation.

[Corwyn]

Therous goes about laying his hands on the wounds of those who were injured, praying for the healing magic that flows from his god. The cleric manages to heal Stomper completely, in one try and he brings both Univene and her mount back almost to full health. He moves over to Kara and closes most of her wounds, looking to her to see if she will command him to complete the process. Normally Therous will heal only the most grevious wounds, saving his magics carefully.
Samus meanwhile squints into the sun, two or three days maybe. Maybe more. Twain moves to collect the animals, as everyone prepares to head out, looking to Kara for which direction they should travel.

**Gain 8 HPs. Univene is also down about 5hps, and her mount is down by 6. You should be down only 3. Do you ask Therous to heal the last bits of damage? You have free actions.**
***Sorry, I missed the Spirited Charge, it is such a rarely selected feat among my PCs, I completely overlooked it. In any case, you practicly slaughtered those 'CR test' creatures...***

[turtledunn1191]

((Yeah, Kara's build is centered on the charge action. +5 damage from the Over the Top aura, X3 from spirited charge, with the rhino dealing 4d6+29 damage. Its ugly, but if she cant charge (if the ground is slippery or rough) then it becomes much more difficult. Which is why one of my next purchases will be the Horseshoes of the Zephyr. Horseshoes let your mount run on a 4 inch cushion of air, over light derbies and slippery material. VERY Usefull.

One more question, how much container space do we have, eg, is it worth it to go 3 days for water, when we can only hold 2, so we actually hurt ourselves.))

[Corwyn]

**I have each of your cohorts having one horse and one camel, you on the other hand have a tiger, rhino and camel, no horse, right? I assume that the party took as much water as they could carry when they left the last watering hole. I assume you wouldn't throw away the waterskins, especially since Therous can summon a certain amount each day (so long as he doesn't use all his magic on healing...). You probably have at least 50 or more waterskins, between you, more like 60. Plus, you would have had to have brought water for the animals, and therefore each horse and camel, and possibly Stomper too, has two medium-sized barrels that can each hold two-three days of water for one large animal or 8-9 days for one medium-sized creature... Therous tries to create more water than everyone can drink each day, hoping to have catch up, filling the containers, but whenever he spontaneously casts away his water conjuring spells on heal spells, he falls behind. Or else Stomper simply drinks his fill...**

[turtledunn1191]

Kara ponders the problem. Okay. We go 4 days. If we do not find any water by then, we continue towards teh mountain. Everybody Mount UP Kara moves over to stepper (teh camel) and slides on top. As soon as everyone is ready, she leads them on down the river bed, staying towards teh edge incase of a flash flood. ((And the camels really only need 1 barrel a week, (if that), so the second barrel is surplus water))

[Corwyn]

The group mounts up and gathers their animals, silently departing the scene of carnage, leaving bloody trails in the sand. Samus leads Kara to the river bed and Kara leads the others into the dry trench. By nightfall, everyone is exhausted and grateful for the food and water that Therous provides. During the night, on Univene's watch there is a strange noise out of the east. The swordswoman awakens everyone and the party prepares to fight, but nothing approaches and soon the desert quiets again.
In the morning the party continues on along the dry river bed. At midday, Samus leads the group to a shallow cave on the bank of the river bed. The ranger then excuses himself and departs the shade to explore the river bed a little further, as is his normal procedure. By the time Kara begins to grow restless, she can see that the others too are beginning to get nervous. Samus usually does not leave sight of the party for more than an hour or so, and if he spies trouble and cannot return there are a few ways that he will communicate with the others, including sending a signal arrow into the air. Wen stands atop the highest rock, gazing in the direction in which Samus had vanished. He glances down at Kara and shrugs. Its been nearly three hours and still no sign of the ranger.

**Free actions.**

[turtledunn1191]

Kara climbs up to the top with Wen, and looks for herself. She plants her spare lance and pennet in a crack in the rock, so they know which rock was theirs, before climbing down. In the cave, she carves a message into the rock. Samus. Gone looking for you. Be back by dark. Water/food hidden in back.

This taken care of, she looks up. Leave all the mounts here but a camel each. Take an extra water skin or two each, in case we get stuck in a storm. We have to look for him. We go up the river bed untill 2 hours till sundown. Then, we turn back. Everyone understand? Keep your eyes peeled, and be carefull of any trickery.

[Corwyn]

The group rides along the riverbed, moving a little faster since they left all excess animals and gear behind. Twain rides point, his sharp eyes roving the terrain ahead for any sign of the lost guide. Samus covers ground much quicker, traveling alone, but leaving without warning is unlike the quiet ranger.

As the sun slowly climbs down from its zenith, casting shadows behind the party, Kara begins to wonder if it is time to turn back. Wheeling her camel around to face the others, the marshal is suddenly distracted by the sudden movement of Twain, a few dozen feet ahead of her. Glancing back at the archer, she sees him turn in his saddle and motion excitedly to the others. Kara spurs her camel towards the archer,a the others following closely. By the time the arrive, Twain has already dismounted and is climbing the loose rocks on the northern bank of the dry river. As Kara approaches, Twain holds up a large rock, Samus left us a message, he says, making his way down the gravelly slope. He holds the stone up for Kara to examine. It is roughly the size and shape of a human head, worn smooth and flat on one side, jagged around the other sides. On the 'face' of the stone, simple symbols have been carved. The stone has been worn pale on the smooth surface but it is streaked with darker shades on the other sides. In order for someone to have noticed it's uniqueness, it would have to be viewed from just the right angle, only someone mounted, and in the riverbed, could have noticed it. Also, Kara recognizes the mark that Samus leaves as his signature, as the last symbol of the carvings.

**Make a Knowledge (nature) and a Sense Motive to make any sense of the message, or else tell someone else to try and decipher its meaning.**

Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 24 24 rs 0 0 1w 1o 1o 1w 1o 24 1o 1w 1w 1o 1w 1w 24 24 1w
@1w 1w 1o 1w 1g 1o 1o 1w 1g 24 1o 1w 1g 1o 18 1w 18 1w 1g *s -1
@2o 24 rs 0 0 1s 18 20 1o 20 1g 28 1g 1s 18 28 1g 20 1g 2o 24 *s
@-1 3q 1v rs 0 0 1w 1s 24 20 2c 20 2k 1s 2s 20 30 20 38 1s 3g 20
@3o 1s *s -1 3i 1o rs 0 0 1w 1s 24 1k 2c 1s 2k 1s 2s 1k 30 1s 38
@1s 3g 1k 3o 1s *s -1 41 22 rs 0 0 1w 28 24 20 2c 28 2k 28 2s 20
@30 28 38 28 3g 20 3o 28 *s -1 2c 2w rs 0 0 24 2g 1w 2w 24 2g 2c
@2w 24 2g 24 20 1w 1s 2c 1s 24 20 24 28 1w 28 2c 28 *s -1 38 2w
@rs 0 0 24 2w 2k 2o 2s 2o 38 2w *s -1 30 2k rs 0 0 30 2k 2s 2k 2s
@2k 2s 2c 30 2c 30 2k *s -1 3w 2w rs 0 0 2s 2w 38 2o 3o 2o 3w 2w *s
@-1 3o 2k rs 0 0 3o 2c 3g 2c 3g 2k 3o 2k 3g 2k *s -1 4g 2w rs 0 0
@3k 2w 3s 2o 48 2o 4g 2w *s -1 48 2k rs 0 0 40 2c 48 2c 48 2k 40
@2k 40 2c *s -1 44 3k rs 0 0 38 3k 38 34 3o 2o 44 2o 44 3k 38 2o
@38 2w 38 2o 3g 2o *s -1 44 3k rs 0 0 38 3k 44 3k *s -1 44 3k rs
@0 0 44 2o 38 3k *s -1 48 3o rs 0 0 48 2s 3k 2s 3c 30 3k 38 40 38
@48 3g 40 3o 3k 3o
*END o2cgtc

***Sorry it took so long for me to post. Holiday lunacy. My busy season at work was suppossed to have ended on November, but it shows no signs of slowing...ever. Good for my wallet, good for the company, bad for my gaming times. Been doing only a little posting each day. Still, after the holidays, less of my personal time will be allocated and I will be able to focus on my first love: gaming. Thanks for waiting.***