Brian:

Artyom cooper goes to sleep in the same night as he slew the priests of Nerull. Any feelings he has over the dirty deed are known only to him.

Brian:

You stand in an empty plain. Above you floats a man. He wears a fine cloak, but his face is a skull. He takes little notice of you, seeming to survey something very far away.

Brian:

Suddenly, something shoots into your range of vision, and goes through the man's torso. He screams an unearly cry, and blood pours from his wound.

Brian:

The blood forms glowing droplets, which splash on your face, and you awaken.

Brian:

It is early morning, but there is sunlight over the forrest. Only one knight is up and about, as well as a few of the woodland folk who decided to join your young fort, gambling that it's a safer place than the scattered villages.

Jaden:

He's gonna climb up one of the watchtowers and take a looksie at that body he sliced in the shoulder yesterday

Brian:

eventually, a militia senses your confusion source, and comes to talk to you

Jaden:

He turns away, walks off to be alone, then looks at the sword on his hip

Artyom Cooper:

With the power I wield in the name of the king and in the name of our lord, you have nothing to fear

Jaden:

Artyom gazes into the distance, thinking about how much BS he just spewed

Brian:

A shepard comes in, brining in many goats in the event of a seige, and news that the dead will be here by sunset. They seem more organized than normal, forming full battle lines, and making no effort to chase her son when he accidentally stumbled on them.

Jaden:

If I were to summon say, a hurricane or tornado or other storm with an eye, could I keep the eye centered on this fort?

Brian:

that would be an int check, with DC = 10 +1 per 5 points you put into it.

Brian:

But I'm saying before you've put in at least 50 points this storm doesn't have anything resembling an eye

Brian:

yeah, but you can just try to hover bad rain over them if you so desire

Jaden:

I know it's 10 per storm, but would there be any extra mana due to time, etc.?

Jaden:

The first 3 hours I'll spend orgainizing the troops and planning with Eldati

Brian:

The knights seem to be ready to guard the gate, but the militia and Eldati don't really seem to have much of a battle plan

Artyom Cooper:

Eldati, I know from personal experience that you are a great healer

Artyom Cooper:

They are our first line of defence at the gate, if they are wounded and fall, it is the militia that must take up arms and fight

Eldati:

I would like them on the walls in case the undead try to climb. The few knights here are too few to even cover a fort of this size.

Eldati:

My issue with taking the front is if I should fall. The chainmail you see on me is all I plan to wear for the fight, and nothing demoralizes like seeing your leader die. Save perhaps for your death.

Artyom Cooper:

And some will reinforce the knights at the gate should they fall

Artyom Cooper:

It would be best not to have those that can be harmed in the way

Eldati:

Look, I couldn't have gotten this far without you. I don't know how much further I would get, particularly with an army of the dead around me.

Brian:

Well, it rains alot on the dead. I will let that count as giving them a -1

Brian:

honestly, I don't know where you guys got all the wood without chopping trees down...

Brian:

First off, mass units only act once every two turns, while individuals can still do stuff every turn, and have initiative as normal. Obviously, 5 base init to start.

Brian:

units are assumed to take up at least the minimum, but no more than the maximum, radious as defined in their details

Brian:

You are able to see a little bit of the 1st zombies and the second skeletons

Brian:

Alright, new round, and units go after characters, so your turn again

Jaden:

So are the zombies and skeletons clambering at the walls or all scrunched up together?

Brian:

they are all scruned up together. The closest are still about 100ft out

Jaden:

And they aren't really fast enough to get closer all of a sudden by expanding the radius?

Brian:

For now, the idea is that units are assumed to be making good decisions, so that if they planned to hit the wall they were dashing to get in place in advance, so the outer radious is the "attack" distance. This may look like units moving faster than max allowed, but if a unit decides to rush for whatever region, the fastest dashers would get up in time.

Brian:

into the edge of the woods. You can see the middle of the line at this point

Brian:

I honestly don't know a good way to calculate how dense they are, though...

Brian:

The nearest skelitons are about 80ft from the wall. They are actaully pretty far out of the woods at this point

Jaden:

I'd like to cast it just about where I saw them first in the forest

Brian:

go ahead, but it looks to me like it would get about 60 of each kind

Brian:

but the trees are going to be blocking shots, so let's say it's 100ft rad

Brian:

either way, 80 rolls to hit, with an average of +2 to HAC because half have cover

Brian:

so you need 40 rolls against HAC 9, and 40 rolls against HAC 11. Just subtract the bonus from the DC

Brian:

actually, I think I did calculations on this and wrote it down, but yeah, just check for ones for both

Brian:

The first skellys are now starting to climb the wall. each turn I roll a d6. On a 6 one is over.

Brian:

so one is on the tower next to you, while more are coming into the fort, over the undefended wall.

Brian:

The amount in the fort is irrellivent, but the frontline is 11 wide

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.55)*(5)*11 => (75 + 37) / 100 * 0.55 * 5 * 11 = 33.8800

Jaden:

When you said more complicated math for a battle system i didnt expect calculus

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.3)*(3.2)*11 => (75 + 14) / 100 * 0.3 * 3.2 * 11 = 9.3984

Brian:

You have to take one integral to get these numbers, but it's an integral of a linear function

Jaden:

So that when the undead do make it over the wall they're only a percent of what they once were

Brian:

so Eldati doesn't bother to heal again, because the militia have only one damage between them

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.3)*(3.2)*11 => (75 + 23) / 100 * 0.3 * 3.2 * 11 = 10.3488

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.7)*(8.45)*5 => (75 + 8) / 100 * 0.7 * 8.45 * 5 = 24.54725

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.45)*(5)*6 => (75 + 13) / 100 * 0.45 * 5 * 6 = 11.8800

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.3)*(3.2)*11 => (75 + 48) / 100 * 0.3 * 3.2 * 11 = 12.9888

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.7)*(8.45)*5 => (75 + 3) / 100 * 0.7 * 8.45 * 5 = 23.06850

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.45)*(5)*6 => (75 + 47) / 100 * 0.45 * 5 * 6 = 16.4700

Brian:

be lucky I haven't made you guys roll all the diplo checks I should have been

Jaden:

So you're telling me i cant diplo this skeleton to not attack me anymore?

Brian:

alright, well at this point only 10 skeletons are outside the wall

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.3)*(3.2)*11 => (75 + 22) / 100 * 0.3 * 3.2 * 11 = 10.2432

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.7)*(8.45)*5 => (75 + 23) / 100 * 0.7 * 8.45 * 5 = 28.98350

* Brian rolls: (75+1d50)/100*(0.45)*(5)*6 => (75 + 30) / 100 * 0.45 * 5 * 6 = 14.1750

Brian:

one of whom is on the tower, all of the rest of whom are in the fort now

Brian:

sure, but if you hit the skeletons it would give them temp HP too

Brian:

well first roll to see if you killed them all and it doesn't even matter

Jaden:

and then theres the issue of the dex saves for those in that icy spot

Brian:

the other 9 are somewhere in the back, so let's say you got three more

* Brian rolls: 69+(170/14) => 69 + 170 / 14 = 81.14285714285714285714285714285714

Brian:

I'm all for calling it a victory at this point. These ones will fight to the last, covering the others as they flee.

Brian:

And I assume you will be cautious with the spells so as to avoid friendly fire, which means the militia will have to slowly bash the last few up

Eldati:

Nerul may try to undo us, but there is one god who will always defend the living. When you return to your homes, spread the word that there is a light in the darkness.

Brian:

you could use sleeping as a 0 vice and try to recover if you want to go for it

Brian:

Do you have time to go a little longer? I had a tad more in the session planned

Brian:

without warning, Sir Finli, a young knight of the Order of Blood, comes into Ft. Dirtyom.

Jaden:

and dreams of skeletons bouncing off of abs, tentacles being his friend, and lightning pouring down from the sky

Jaden:

I assume Artyom'd be notified and come from his tent or something

Brian:

you just happen to be out and about or taking a piss or something

Eldati:

Very well, thanks for your report. If you need supplies, we can provide them.

Artyom Cooper:

If that 'loyal' citizen happened to be a supporter of Nerul

Artyom Cooper:

But then again, it would still be serious and worth at least investigating ourselves

Eldati:

No. It's suprisingly hard to spot such an army. Nobody wants to go near it, and the dead are silent and make no fires.

Eldati:

We can send out riders to nearby lords, and see who can provide knights. And villagers to build this place up into a proper castle to defend ourselves.

Eldati:

But what about when we push into the goblin lands and clease the land for the races of men to settle?

Artyom Cooper:

If this castle is not on the horizon, its in the center of it

Eldati:

Hmm, I'm still not sure I like it. As long as you aren't planning on dieing in Ensiph though, I guess you'll have time to win me over.

Artyom Cooper:

Now feel free to move it around to make it sound better, perhaps Horizon Castle, or Castle of the Horizon

Jaden:

He gathers his things, makes sure he knows which way to go, and walks a short way off from the fort alone

Jaden:

He's going to start travelling and cast invisibility if he sees any undead

Brian:

no, a few more days and you are there. The upside to an army of the dead rampaging the lands is that not much is left to bother you in the woods

Brian:

There is an elf as the inkeep (rare for the woodlands), and two patrons day-drinking

Jaden:

I remember you said something in one of the first things about some elven gesture of respect or something

Inkeep:

We're already full. Father Mayron might have something for you though, if you don't mind crowds.

Brian:

It turns out there is no Mayron, but ther is a Maryn, and you can't tell the difference because in speech my terrible spelling matters not

Artyom Cooper:

I was told I may be able to find a place to stay here, Father

Father Maryn:

There's already a lot of places taken here, but I think we can find you a good heart in this town, buddy.

Brian:

from this far in the south, Tinsboro is clearly in the capital region.

Father Maryn:

Well, honestly, there's a lot of souls like you. Lost, they just saw dead people try to kill them, and they don't belive Palor is going to see us out of this.

Father Maryn:

And there's a ton of mouths to feed that we didn't have before, and frankly weren't ready for.

Artyom Cooper:

I hear that the church of Nerul were behind these attacks

Father Maryn:

And the dead. I don't know many Nerulians around here, but if they don't get hurt by the dead, I don't think anyone told them.

Father Maryn:

You sure we can afford to be afraid of fellow living people right now?

Father Maryn:

Maybe a priest is gonna walk into town tomorrow. I hope you would be cool with that.

Artyom Cooper:

And those that die sometimes rise again in a vicious cycle

Artyom Cooper:

If one group of priests happens to be supporting this, I'd prefer if I they stayed far away from me

Father Maryn:

Come on man, think about it. You've probably met Nerulians and never even noticed. They're people, just like us. You wanna kill people?

Artyom Cooper:

No, I want to keep people from dying and then killing others after they die

Father Maryn:

Look, I just don't want you starting trouble in town, ok? Cause then people are going to come to me, and I'm gonna have to do stuff I don't want to do. There's already enough going on around here.

Artyom Cooper:

I won't start trouble, but if those that worship Nerul don't allow me to leave their presence, I can't promise that

Brian:

His almost unaturally cool expression breaks into a furrowed brow, then he sighs.

Father Maryn:

Alright, I'll ask around. See if anyone can take you in for the night.

Father Maryn:

We might need to get folks together to make a new shelter soon.

Brian:

many are already closed, many are empty, but two are half-packed.

Brian:

One contains a few wooden soldier toys, a stained dress, and a piece of parchment.

Brian:

The other contains two loaves of bread, a holy symbol of Kord, a holy symbol of Nerul, and a dagger.

Father Maryn:

They're a family of coopers. They have space in the old warehouse if they give up on some have-finished barrels and leave them outside.

Father Maryn:

Well then you know the kind of sacrifice they are making for you. I hope you are nice to them.

Artyom Cooper:

Why would a church of Palor have a holy symbol of Kord and a holy symbol of Nerul in a box?

Father Maryn:

One a Kordite, one a Nerullian. They were on a trip from Tearscreek, and they asked me to ship these back along with some supplies they head, in case the strife we face comes to them too.

Father Maryn:

I doubt I'll find someone brave enough to make the trek, but it gives them hope to have given it over to me.

Father Maryn:

And a pretty rare one when the undead AREN'T trying to kill us all...

Artyom Cooper:

I'm getting older, the pressures to marry were getting stronger at home, and I was still just a cooper

Father Maryn:

Well all I can promise is that we will do our best. Out in the woodlands we look after each other.

Artyom Cooper:

Then perhaps its time I set aside my problems with the Nerullians

Father Maryn:

Know what? I'll talk to em the next time I see the two. Check up on me every now and again, ok?

Brian:

He takes you to them. The half-finished barrels are already outside and awaiting to be sacrificed to the rain.