Hemmed in by hooligans, Creature, Buck and Zarko hunker down trying to catch a breather. It's barely a minute since the onslaught began and you've lost half your crew. The Ape Sultan Abdul Nomascus struggles against a vulkin's nerve pinch...Abdul's lieutenant Philimon bounds to his sovereign's aid...the last of your klengon recruits is force fed his mustache by a grinning human with bad tattoos and an oily tan...the Head Masher, guess you forgot about him, takes another guy out with one of his brutal noogies, a Triple Twisting Skull Blister... A chaotic rumble closes in on all sides.
In the middle of it all are Thorax and Hobson and the Aarn boys: Now armed with brass knuckles, Aarn, Son of Aarn swings once, and misses. Swings again, and thumps Thorax right between the eyes! Swings again, and Thorax dives low and tackles him. Aarn is slammed to the ground. He struggles to get up, rising up on one hand. "Toot, toot," he whispers, and gives a final blare of his trumpet.
[take 10 damage, hope the letters AA imprinted on your forehead don't leave a scar...]
Any thrill of victory Thorax feels is trampled by the agony of the feet. Olley's feet, that is. Enraged by Hobson's taunting, the Cousin of Arn, etc. runs right over Thorax to get at the hobling. Thorax rolls over to see a size 13 wrestling shoe stomping down toward his face...
[Make another Saving Throw. Full damage is -- whoof -- 16. Feel free to fill in the results for good or ill. If you take full or half damage you'll need to make a Survival roll to continue fighting.]
...and then Olley jumps high in the air, aiming to land feet first on Hobson. "How ya like that ya little heckler!" he sneers.
[Once again, Lesser Feat to outrun or Sneak to evade. If that roll fails, make a saving throw against 11 damage.]
Meanwhile, Oolak sits.
Chanting under his breath, he could easily pass for a crazy person talking to himself on a bus. But in fact he is piercing the veil of Maya with his inner vision, expanding his consciousness beyond the limits of his illusory mortal form, opening up his third eye. And so forth. He does, however, open his actual eyes once or twice to sneak a peak around. It's a good thing too, because otherwise he might never have seen the thing paddling toward him on ethereal currents, a skeletal, scabrous, wretched platypoid with eyes hollow of everything save for bottomless, gulping hunger. Otherwise, this thing...
...might have caught Oolak off Guard.
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Zarko looks at Creature, and then at Buck.
"Fellas," he says, "It looks like it's time to go out in a blaze of glory. If we all launch a coordinated attack, we just might break out of here.
"Or, you know, we might all get knocked out and disqualified." He grins, broadly. "Whaddya say?"
(corrected and re-posted)
For the new guys, and as an update for the others, your Brawl allies:
1. Abdul gib'n Hylobat Nomascus (Pioneer 1): The Gibbon, jungle princeling and wealthy adventurer.
2. Abdul Philimon III (Warrior 2): the Gibbon's valet and instructor-at-arms, an orang utan of formidable mien.
3. Harmon Brewster, Esquire: snobbish hobling, really top drawer. Dressed in khakis and deck shoes.
4. Wiggy Plop (Doxy 1): clown on the lam from the Gnilgnir Munrab Circus.
5. a wooky in a coonskin cap
6. a skeezy black & white ratling
7. a fat vulkin
Of the first four only Harmon is unleveled. The last three haven't been around long enough, is why you don't know more about them.
(sneak) - rolled 40 (success).
rolled here:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5588233&postcount=170
"I like it very much!" Hobson cries triumphantly, snorting at his own wit.
"Buck? Creature? Guys?" Zarko says.
"...is thing thing on?"
[Sorry to have been out of the loop, haven't been getting notifications of new posts for some reason!
Saving throw vs. shoe = 18, success
Survival, if necessary = 90, fail]
I look at Harmon.
"Damn Uncle Bilbo" I mutter.
Thorax instinctively balls up like a pill bug, and Olley boots him in the gut instead of the skull. Unfortunately, this knocks the wind out brave Thorax. With a gasp, his cranial feelers twitch once, twice, and then go limp.
[Brawl damage is subdual, so Thorax ain't dead yet. He's at -2 though: unconscious and most likely out of the fight. If you want to stay in the Brawl as a player you can run one of the NPCs.]
Olley doesn't stop to gloat. Bellowing, he looks left, right and sideways for the elusive Hobson. There! The hobling's just about out of running room, with his circle of allies giving ground on all sides.
"Where you gonna hide now, hop-a-long?" Olley croons, lacing his fingers together and cracking his knuckles. "You're about to find out how that hat tastes."
Oolak shows no outward sign of fear as the horrid ornithorhyncoid draws near. It swims clumsily through the air, sometimes passing through the bodies of other fighters, fixed only on the psychic ape. Yet still Oolak sits. Is it the calm repose of a trained psi-knight, or is he frozen with fear? The beast will reach him in an instant!
Seeing all this, Creature grunts, and Buck chuckles, "A blaze of glory my friend Zarko? Ha, maybe so! You got a plan?"
[For the duration of the Brawl Creature & Buck will do as you or Fable direct them, Will.]
[Ow! Sure, I'd be up for playing any of the NPCs - my preference would be for the wookie or the vulkin, I reckon.]
The wookie suddenly stops giving ground and steps forward, one hairy hand protectively pressing his coonskin cap onto his head.
"Shucks, fella, you shouldn'ta said that about a man's hat," he growls. If Ollie comes closer, Jowkazza (this being the wookie's name) is going to try to wrap his free hand around Ollie's neck, squeeze for all he's worth, and then sit down.
[Melee attack 68% = 75, miss.
Lesser feat 58% = 74, miss.
Saving throw 29% = 48, fail.]
"More like you are" replies Hobson. He pulls out a pad and writes down this stinging reposte for future use.
"No," Zarko replies, shaking his head. "No plan. Just take on who you can, and take 'em all out. This is getting old!"
With a wild laugh the Earthman hefts his broomhandle club and throws himself back into the melee. Hoping to distract the burly wrestler from hobling-hunting, Buck whacks Olley in the back of the head. The club rebounds off Olley's thick skull without much effect. Joey the wooky also tries to help by dragging Olley into a headlock, but he can't find an opening.
Olley lunges for Hobson, who has inexplicably stopped to jot a quick note to himself. Two huge hands wrap around Hobson's shoulders and lift him from the ground. "Better finish writin' yer will, cause I'm gunna break you and yer pencil too!"
[Hobson is grappled. He's like 3xStronger than you so you might want to try something other than a Feat roll to wriggle free.]
Even when forced into action Zarko ain't one to go off half-cocked. Hobson might be hosed unless someone can get to him double quick. Creech is too slow, but the big monster has his big monster face on again, ready for clobberin' someone. Oolak is... still sitting, despite the platypoid squatting on his shoulders. The skeletal thing prods at the top of his head with its fanged bill.
Your crew is down to five fighters. The spotted ratling is the latest to fall, his tail caught up in some kind of orcish jiujitsu hold. With a short squeak the ratling faints from the pain. The orc straightens his studded leather motorcycle jacket/gi and steps toward Zarko and Creech.
[I don't think I've had an initiative roll yet for Zarko in this sequence, so please include that along with any action you take. Feel free to roll a melee attack for Creature as well -- he goes last.]
Zarko moves up alongside Creature, looking like he's going to let the big lug have the first swing but piling on immediately instead:
Initiative (+4; DR 9): 13
Melee Attack (55%; DR 40): Hit!
Damage (+0; DR 3): 2*
Saving Throw (37%; DR 07): Made it by half! Wow!
* (Woo hoo! Personal best for me, there!)
Um, er, ah, yeah, sure! I can roll for Creature! Here ya go!
Initiative (-4; DR 6): 2
Melee Attack (107%; 62): Hit!
Damage (+7; 3): 9
Saving Throw (-1%; DR 99): Urgh!
[Have any particular target in mind for Zarko and Creature?]
The orc straightens his studded leather motorcycle jacket/gi and steps toward Zarko and Creech.
Yeah, this guy.
Joey the Wookie tries to leap onto Ollie's shoulders, wrapping his arms around the brawler's eyes, using his legs to push Ollie's arms apart and free the hobling, while also savaging Ollie's scalp with his teeth.
"You shoulda worn a hat, big boy!" he shouts through a mouthful of hair.
[Melee 68% = 10, hit
Lesser Feat 58 = 35, hit
Damage 1-3 = 1]
My next update will be late tonight. Hopefully in the meantime Hobson will have a chance to check in.
Prodding head bad. A voice mutters, "ok dum-dum, you really need a new strategy here, or that psychedelic playta-thingy is going to eat your brain". Oolak replies, "you have a point old chum. This is no way for an Apish gentleman like myself to exit the grand stage of life." Oolak stops all psi activity and attempts to become invisible to the ethereal ocean. He drops all concentration, calms down, slows his breathing, and reduces his pulse.
[Invisibility 49% -> 65% failed
Lesser Feat 61%(to control the body) -> 56% success]
Zarko spins out of Creature's shadow and smacks the orc. It flinches and returns the favor, but Zarko dodges out of the way. While the slapfight continues Creature rumbles slowly forward, arms stiffly raised in a classic fighting frankenstein stance...
Grabbing a fistful of collar Olley lifts Hobson high in the air. The dapper lines of the hobling's cloak and breeches are spoiled by the effect of his kicking and squirming, and the dapper feather on his dapper cap tickles his nose as Olley shoves the hat into Hobson's mouth. "Chew on that!"
[yeah, roll Consume Alien Food along with whatever else you want to do.
[Game ran late last night. Update continues Noon CST. Thanks for your patience.]
Oolak can still feel webbed claws scratching at his shoulders, but the platypoid seems baffled for the moment by his blank mind and slowed metabolism. The prodding bill stops, but it still snuffles at his temples and forehead.
Meanwhile, Buck swings his club wildly. Olley steps back untouched, but this gives Joey a chance to leap onto his back. The wooky strains with all his might but can't budge the wrestler's arms. Desparate, he tries chomping down on the wrestler's balding cranium, but Olley jerks back and slams his skull into the wooky's jaw.
Joey still clings weakly to the blonde bruiser's neck. Smiling bravely, he mumbles something about hats through mouthful of blood.
[11 damage, save for 5. Roll Survival to keep fighting below 0]
....and Creature finally reaches the leather-robed orc. The orc raises his arms in a loose defensive stance, shouting "Uruk Hai-Keeba!" But his studies in orc jiu-jitsu avail him naught when the frankenstein gets a hold of him. Creature grabs him by the throat and squeezes. The orc's face turns a shade that matches purple belt exactly. Creature lets go, and the orc falls down.
[Joey's save is 13, out of 29% = success. If that means he takes 5 damage, he's still got 5 left; if not, his Survival roll is 54 our of 40% = fail.]
With a laugh Joey realizes he's suffered no more than a split lip!
[Take no damage at all, despite my over-dramatic narration! Per EC p. 22: “A Saving Throw roll that succeeds impressively (would have succeeded with half the Saving Throw value) dodges the damage entirely.”]
>Whew!<
Okay, who is left for Zarko and Creature to fight?
Who *isn't* there to fight? is the question, you realize.
Each of your men is fighting off at least one or two challengers. Olley (CoA, SoA) has three of your men tied up all on his own. And there's, ugh, something nibbling at Oolak's ears.
It doesn't look like there'll be a chance to rest anytime soon, either. More poltroons cluster around your shrinking crew. Leery of Creature slab-like fists, no one steps in after the orc, but they're circling.
A bit further back Zarko spots a strange pair: an imposing lizard woman in a hooded robe, and a short, battered robodroid with sweeping bull horns. The huge yellow eyes of the lizardess stare back at Zarko, unblinking and glowing in the sun like cut topaz.
Shaken by a brush with death, or at least unconsciousness, Joey decides to fight dirty. From his perch on Ollie's neck, he's going to dig his fingers into the blond wrestler's eye sockets and see if he's concealed any treasure in his brain.
[Roll of 72 is likely to fail whatever skill that might be. Save for next round is 83, also fails. If he needs a Lesser Feat for wrasslin', he succeeds on that one with a 51 out of 58%.]
Maintaining his calm, cool, collected self, Oolak slowly stands and surveys the physical realm. He sees the lizard woman approaching, and his eyes go wide. This ape has a natural fear and loathing of reptiles. Oolak carefully raises his hands and plucks the platypoid off his head. He accomplishes this by ensorceling (generously using the definition of the term ensorcel to mean: to bind or wrap) the billed-creature, and then launches it at the female lizard creature. *shudder*
[Ensorcel 74% -> 58% Success
Missle Attack 64% -> 50% Success]
[Planning an evening update. Hoping to hear from Will and Fable, and find out how Hobson's hat tastes, and who Zarko and Creature will face next...]
A bit further back Zarko spots a strange pair: an imposing lizard woman in a hooded robe, and a short, battered robodroid with sweeping bull horns. The huge yellow eyes of the lizardess stare back at Zarko, unblinking and glowing in the sun like cut topaz.
That looks like the target, then. Creature and Zarko, teaming up again, will go after these (preferably the Lizard Woman first, but the robodroid might intercept, so whatever.)
Zarko:
Melee Attack (55): 17 -- Hit!
Damage (1d6): 5 -- 3 Damage!
Saving Throw (37): 72 -- Oops!
Creature:
Melee Attack (107%): 25
Damage (1d6+7): 4; = 9 damage
Saving Throw (-1%): 30
New in character post and thread here.
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