(02) The Moat House

[acodispo]

Perhaps Witherun would have ventured up to the top of the gatehouse that morning to watch for the returning scouts. If so, he'll begin to loose missiles down on the flying creatures from above as soon as he becomes aware of them.

[waysoftheearth]

I think Garamon shut the portcullis here: viewtopic.php?p=37533#p37533

Yes, I went back and re-read all the posts since then. The portcullis has not been raised, so it is currently closed. The portcullis is down between the players and the winged interlopers.

[zygarti]

As reasonably experienced adventurers we would probably know what harpies are and know to block our ears?

[waysoftheearth]

This topic was getting a tad noisy, so I've split Thanis and Tass' scouting trip out into a separate topic (03) Scouting the Ruins here.

So now that this topic will focus on what's happening at the moat house, I've renamed it (02) The Moat House.

[mushgnome]

I think Garamon shut the portcullis here: viewtopic.php?p=37533#p37533

Yes, I went back and re-read all the posts since then. The portcullis has not been raised, so it is currently closed. The portcullis is down between the players and the winged interlopers.

Excellent. So in that case I imagine Stern is in the archway, firing his crossbow through the bars of the portcullis?

If he notices his friends plugging their ears, he will follow their example and do the same.

[waysoftheearth]

As reasonably experienced adventurers we would probably know what harpies are and know to block our ears?

Yes, as an experienced player, it's up to you to tell me what Flin does. I'll assume this means you want Flin to block his ears...

So, I have Garamon and Flin blocking their ears; Witherun and Stern shooting; and nothing from Goldwen or Wraislin. Unless they come back before my next post, I'll assume the latter pair are caught flat-footed and/or out of position and don't react meaningfully...

[waysoftheearth]

Garamon and Flin recognise their peril and immediately jam fingers in their ears while Witherun atop the battlements, and Stern inside the portcullis (with his recently acquired crossbow), loose missiles as the trio of interlopers on the bridge make their ghastly-sweet song.

Arrow and bolt nick two of the creatures, spinning them back and cutting short their new-sprung chorus, but the third harpy's vox carries clear and strong through the air to the moat house party. Stern and Witherun are overcome by a compulsion to attend the creature of the glorious aria, while Goldwen and Raislin resist its sickly charm and Garamon and Flin focus hard on hearing nothing.

Stern drops the crossbow and turns toward the portcullis winch.
Witherun drops his bow without a thought as he bee-lines toward the stair down.

Garamon and Flin can block their ears (with fingers) in time.

The question of which missile/spell should go first is an interesting one. Using a simultaneous move system (as we are), missiles/spells can be fired more-or-less simultaneously, or in some kind of order. The Warlock rules actually track individual missile speeds and flight time. However, M&M says that dexterity should <<indicate the character's ... speed with actions such as firing first, getting off a spell, etc.>> which seems to be exactly what we're looking for here.

However, for expediency we have PCs sans ability scores. But no matter, it isn't the exact ability scores we care about, but rather who has the relatively higher scores. This can be satisfactorily determined with on-the-spot initiative dice.

Harpies: 1d6=1
Players: 1d6=5, so the players will fire first.

Witherun (hero THAC2 14 vs AC 7) 1d20=18 hit. 1d6=1 hp damage.
Stern (hero THAC2 14 vs AC 7) 1d20=17 hit. 1d6=2 hp damage.

Let us say the first two harpies are interrupted.
The third one sings, and everyone bar Flin and Garamon must save vs magic: Witherun and Stern need 14+ to be saved; Golden 12+, and Wraislin 11+.

4d20 (for Witherun, Stern, Goldwen, and Raislin) = 9, 4, 20, 12. The fighting men are affected!

What next?

[ehiker133]

Goldwen, having never heard one of these creatures before, was unaware of the dangers of their voices. But as soon as they started their singing, she instinctively covered her ears to block out the noise. It seems she was quick enough.

She shouts to the others, "Quick! Take them down before they can ensnare any more of us! Anyone with ranged weapons, use them!"

Without any ranged weapons herself, she can't be useful there, so she tries to prevent Witherun from opening the portcullis by breaking the charm of the evil flying creature.

[rredmond]

Garamon starts bellowing his loudest battle cries, and trying his best to keep his ears plugged, he trips Stern as he runs by.

Glad I didn't throw the spear! What a time to have a split party With only spears for weapons, I'm not sure Garamon is the best misseleer for the harpies anyway.

[Tonneau]

Wraislin opens a reddened eye at yet another disturbance to his much needed slumber. This time it seems someone is...singing???

He is attempting to process this - and the strangely seductive quality of the song (which of the barbarians he is travelling with could produce such?) when the almighty bellow from Garamon forces him entirely out of the cover of his bedding and onto the cold floor.

"What in the name of..." he manages, before finally glimpsing the view beyond the portcullis, upon which he retrieves his bedding and quickly assembles (most of) it around his head, wobbling precipitously as he does so, and failing entirely to leave a hole open from which to view developments.