DM At just about the same time that Jaliera says what she says, Chandan breaks out of the webs. He then points to the exit from where the drow left, calls out "He went that way!" and runs off chasing after him, ignoring the spider next to him. The spider tries to bite him, but it misses and the monk disappears through the doorway.
Chandan break free of webs Neptune rolled 1d20 and got 19
Giant spider #2 opportunity attack on Chandan Neptune rolled 1d20+5 and got 9
Giant spider #5 opportunity attack on Chandan Neptune rolled 1d20+5 and got 17
Giant spider #5 Damage on Chandan,poison dam save DC 11 for half Neptune rolled 1d8+3,2d8 and got 9, 11
Chandan poison save Neptune rolled 1d20+2 and got 22 - saves. Total damage 14
DM Jaliera's arrow didn't do enough damage to the spider that she hit to enable the glancing blow of Davroar's flaming sphere to kill it. The spider screeches in pain as the flames grazed it.
The lone, remaining bugbear was determined to go down fighting. He has three potential targets and as brave as he is, he decides to swing his Morninstar at the one caught in webbing. The spiked club slams into the dragonborn's midsection. He keels over and drops. There is a glint of satisfaction in the bugbear's eyes.
So sorry all for being absent. Things got busy then I got sick. I have some unwinding and fixing to do but we're back on track.
Gypsy, I'll tell you about your perception roll on your turn since you cannot act on it out of turn.
Also, and I should have noticed it earlier but since I didn't, I won't unwind too much. When you have an adjacent enemy that is not incapacitated, like Bugbear-5, your range weapons are at a disadvantage. Placing the bugbear adjacent to range attackers was done with that tactical objective. I did note that you said "As she does so she side-steps...". That is a DnD 3.5e/4e thing. It's not 5e. You'll know for next time and so I won't make you roll for disadvantage now. She hit. However, you must have advantage on the target or an ally must be adjacent to the target to get sneak damage. I have to take that off.
Here's a very trimmed down status. I took Chandan and the Black spider out of the list: Status:
Code
Init AC MaxHP HDU Dam Spell-Slots(Ki)/Used Senses/Conditions
G.Spider#2 23 14 26 19
G.Spider#5 23 14 26 5
Bern 22 15 49 1 13 4/0 Has light 20/20
Jaliera 20 14 28 4 3/0
Whisper - 11 1
Davroar 18 12 36 1 12 9/3
Bugbear-5 17 16 27 8
Ryssa 15 16/18* 43 25 10/9 Has light 20/20
Luminmorn 11 18 37 1 Down 4/2 Restrained Has light 20/20
Kriv 4 16 36 2 13 3/1
----
Chandan - has left
Black spider - has left
Bugbear Who to attack: 1=Jaliera 2=Kriv 3=Lumi Neptune rolled 1d3 and got 3 - Lumi, who is restrained... Bugbear Attack Lumi with advantage with morningstar Neptune rolled 1d20+4,1d20+4,2d8+2 and got 24, 18, 7 - Crit! Bugbear Critical damage Neptune rolled 2d8 and got 9 - total 16. He's down!
It's Ryssa's turn. Note that this melee is not going the party's way so I made a tactical mistake in your favor on purpose. Let's see if you pick up on it
Things were not going well. Ryssa was wounded, while Chandan was hurt even worse - perhaps even dead - while her dragonborn had just received a powerful blow to his midsection from the bugbear. She clutched her shield with its icon of Lathander with her left hand and swung her newly acquired holy mace at the bugbear.
DM With the bugbear being the toughest foe around and the party suffering losses, Ryssa hopes to dispatch him with her mace but the bugbear is able to avoid the swipe of the holy weapon. Luminmorn is down but seems to reach back and find resolve to live. He remains prone.
Luminmorn Death save Neptune rolled 1d20 and got 20 I really did roll that. When someone rolls a 20 on a death save they no longer need to make death saves are conscious and have 1 hit point. Being alive is all he can do this round. He's still restrained.
The other Dragonborn wasted no time whatsoever, delivering first a telling blow with his maul, then an absolutely devastating one, a skull-shattering overhead smash. He then moved over to the nearest spider, skirting around the orb of flame, bringing his weapon crashing down towards it with more power than accuracy, unsuccessfully.
Kriv Maul bugbear 5 AJ rolled 1d20+7,1d6,1d6 and got 21, 5, 3 12 damage
Kriv extra attack maul bugbear 5 AJ rolled 1d20+7,1d6,1d6 and got 27, 4, 5 Critical! Kriv critical damage bugbear 5 AJ rolled 1d6,1d6 and got 1, 5 Kriv critical damage gwf reroll AJ rolled 1d6 and got 1 19 damage
Great weapon master activates on the critical hit and redundantly on reducing the bugbear to 0.
Kriv bonus action attack spider 2 with -5 GWM AJ rolled 1d20+2,1d6,1d6 and got 12, 3, 2
DM Kriv smashes the brash bugbear to bits, leveling his maul onto the filthy monster's cranium that sent brain and blood splattering about. He then turned his attention to the wounded spider but misses.
It is now the spider's turns. Both spiders feel their silk glands fill but the wounded one opts for a bite. The poisonous attack misses. It then moves away from the ball of fire. Then the other spider aims it's web at the Dragonborn and shoots out a glob of the sticky goo. Kriv manages to duck underneath, avoiding both attacks.
The tide of the battle is finally turning but the party realizes that they may not achieve their overarching objective now. They were to rescue the dwarven brothers and to bring the Black Spider to justice. The dwarf has disappeared as has the black spider. Will they achieve their objectives now? They had the drow cornered, but he has managed to escape their grasp.
Your math was shoddy. 4+5 = 9 not 12. It didn't matter. Also, and again it didn't matter, I believe that the idea behind the Great Weapon Master is that the momentum from his critical blow continued on to another nearby target. The fact that Kriv has to move to attack the spider troubles me. I will seek sage counsel on that for my future understanding of the feature. As I said, it has no bearing on the outcome.
I shifted Kriv on the map due to the flaming sphere, which Dugan slammed into the spider. Kriv would not have consciously taken damage from the sphere.
Spider-2, Spider-5 recharge web on a 5-6 Neptune rolled 1d6,1d6 and got 6, 5
DM Bern's arrow whizzes past Luminmorn, Ryssa, the flaming sphere and Kriv to strike the wounded spider. The arrow strikes true but it's not enough to kill it.
What a lousy damage roll! On to Jaliera.
Jaliera, after listening to Whisper, looks about and sees, behind a pillar, a small measure of Chandan's robe sticking out. She would need to move over there to see more.
It's Jaliera's turn. I've "unhid" Chandan in the map.
(Hang on. The 12 damage is from 5+3 (no gwf rerolls) plus 3 strength plus 1 enchantment. The 4 and 5 are part of the 19 critical damage (4+5+1+5+3+1=19). Aside from not showing my working, where's the shoddiness? Also, I was curious about the GWM and movement myself, so provided the link under the word 'move' in that post directly to the main designer for D&D5e explicitly stating that being able to move between the triggering hit and the bonus attack was the original intent.)
[[ This: Kriv Maul bugbear 5 AJ rolled 1d20+7,1d6,1d6 and got 21, 5, 3 12 damage
I just expected to see the pluses on the rolls. 2d6+4 damage rather than the 2 rolls of 1d6 without the pluses. Makes sense. No worries. Had no impact.
I'm glad your found that note from the designer. As I said, there is no change in anything due to that but I raised the point out of curiosity. ]]
She takes her direction from Whisper, trusting her small companion. She heads rapidly over to the pillar at the back of the room, whilst trying to extract a potion of healing from her pack. She has concerns that Chandan might be dead. She has suspicions that it might not be Chandan at all. But if there is a chance to save the old monk, she will take it.
She does want a closer look, out of reach, to see if her senses tell her that it is her monk friend, see if he looks and smells right.
DM It certainly looked and smelled like Chandan. It was getting difficult to tell what wounds were fresh or not on the battered body, but he looked alive. In fact, somewhat peaceful. He was sleeping.
But what Whisper said before was true. She saw Chandan run out of the room, chasing the drow known as the Black Spider. But here he was on the floor, hidden behind a pillar, sleeping.
OOC: Remember that both you and Whisper are acting.
She calls Whisper over to watch this Chandan closely as she gets out her dagger before lifting his head onto her lap. Then she tries to administer a healing potion, ready to stab him if he turns out not to be Chandan. But she likes the monk enough to take a risk if it will save his life.
Since Jaliera is tending to "Chandan" at the moment, and will use her turn to do so, Davroar is up next. Followed by Ryssa and Luminmorn. Since Luminmorn's action will be to try and break out of the webbing...
Luminmorn Str check DC 12 Neptune rolled 1d20+3 and got 15 - Succeeds! That'll be his action.
DM Jaliera gets on the ground next to the sleeping form that is Chandan. With a knife at the ready, and a healing potion in her hand, she shakes the monk enough to rouse him. After a few shakes his eyes open and he shared a familiar glance with Jaliera. This does not drop her guard.
OOC: Chandan can now communicate. We'll continue with the melee somewhat in parallel.
Seeing that Jaliera is tending to Chandan and that the bugbear had moved away from her after she'd missed him, Ryssa decided to keep some distance between herself and the adversary.
She cast a minor spell of flame at the retreating bugbear (5).
OOC: My bad. I didn't remove the token. The only foe left is Spider-5. Kriv just creamed Bugbear-5 moments ago. Would you like me to move the damage to the spider?
[He's back, and now's a good point to repost that flashback, I reckon.]
Chandan
Out of darkness, came the lurid light of unwanted memories.
Chandan waded across a wide, foaming river, in a deep valley cut through immense mountains.
Rain poured, whipped by a biting wind.
Above the rumbling spray, a baby cried. The old monk patted the bundle, slung under his chest, clinging to the haft of a military spear with his other hand.
Now used as a walking stick, it was taken from two horseman who were patrolling the roads, hunting for any more survivors from his district.
Chandan had slain the previous owner, unseating the soldier mid-charge with a flying kick. The soldier's horse had fled along with his comrade.
But there were more spears, just like it, arrayed on the eastern shore. Nadu's soldiers.
So Chandan tucked in his chin, smiled warmly at his small, noisy burden, and pushed on through the waters.
...
Huffing with exertion, the wizened old man now struggled through deep snow, still clinging to spear and baby.
And the baby still cried, the sound echoing in the thin air, as they traversed the saddle between two white peaks.
Chandan's saffron scarf was coiled around his face and neck, and ice matted his grey hair. His eyes were focused on the western horizon, growing less distinct with every step as a blizzard approached.
The monk's free arm craddled the baby and drew it a little closer.
...
Chandan shuffled, hunched beneath the fierce gaze of the desert sun.
His saffron scarf was now wrapped around his head, hiding all but his eyes, his body hung with ragged robes and he relied heavily upon his spear.
The baby cried. Its bundle worn, slung in the shadow cast by the monk's own body.
The unhappy sound seemed to travel far across the Desert of Desolation.
The monk faltered, looking around for signs of life. None. He sang instead, merely a dry whisper, to soothe the poor child.
...
Breaking through the stiff grass, Chandan rocked the baby with one arm, picking out every step with his spear.
He saw the shimmer of river waters ahead, and verdant lowlands beyond.
Under a spring blue sky, the old monk staggered down the hill. The baby cried but he comforted it.
"There now, Giant Voice, we have made it. Faerûn, where the bad men won't follow."
On his last legs, Chandan approached water-bearers on the banks, women of a nearby village, gathering water. Their elderly priest watched over them, blessing the waters, and was first to step up to speak to the stranger.
With the women crowding around, the priest asked:
"Who are you, from where do you come?"
Chandan understood the language well enough, though the accent was very different.
"I am Chandan, and this is Giant Voice, and we have come far. Can you help us?" He begged, "This rascal needs sustenance."
The women leaned in as the priest did, but then gasped and stepped back, uttering shocked prayers.
The priest though, he took the bundle carefully from the monk. The tiny face was withered and ghastly coloured, lifeless.
"I am sorry Chandan, but this babe has been dead for days, weeks even."
Confused, Chandan stared at the corpse, knowing corpses better than most, having spent much of his life conducting sky burials.
After a long minute, he nodded, and smiled kindly at the priest in comprehension.
"I see." He said, simply.
The priest gestured for the women to return to their business, quit their gawking, then said a quiet prayer for the child.
"We will commit this child's body to the Mother of the Waters for you. Will you come?"
Chandan swayed, then resumed his walk. He walked passed the priest and along the river bank, he walked westwards, a road that took him to a port, that took him to sea, ever westwards, alone but for a baby's cry.
...Chandan is shaken. No, he is being shook.
He opens his eyes and sees Jaliera.
Rather than make the obvious comment about needing a drink, the monk feels it polite to ask the equally obvious.
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