With a natural movement option like Flight you can easily crest the treacherous innards of Willard, popping up atop him and hanging off the edge of his wide trunk. You can move from any of his W tiles on the map... or remain on the perch. The rest of your Turn is forfeit as the Villains and other NPCs go.
"
HEY! THESE ARE HOSTAGES! RRRR... I'LL CRUSH YOU IF YOU WON'T PLAY ALONG!" Willard bellows again and begins to spin more rapidly in place, pumping his arms and hopping from one foot to the other! He activates a Minor to become
Really Tuff!, gaining Damage Resistance and Channeling Resistance! He then hops, skips and jumps forward in a single
Move to get closer to everybody and begins channeling his
Quake Dance!
I've decided to experiment with a unique type of action. A Channeled spell has an initial effect rolled with an attack to hit, like any power, but if it hits, the attacker can sustain it and produce a bonus effect after every individual unit's turn, with a maximum limit until it resets on his next turn. For example, an initial attack might be 2d8, but +1d8 for each person that acts next, with a cap of 4 people for a possible +4d8 if the Channel is not interrupted.
To break a Channel, damage the Channeler. In this case with Willard, damage him twice.
Willard's rising tempo and increasing speed begin to crater the ground beneath him and unleash a torrent of wild concussive energy! It rattles bones and shakes skulls, making your teeth ache! This deals
20 Psionic Damage to Latir, Ragjen and the Three Guards and a reduced
10 Damage to Wanda and Nossian! The Range of Quake Dance is Close Burst 2, or any tile within 2 tiles of any one of Willard's Ws.
Byss hops back with a yelp as Tikka unleashes a bit of explosive candor upon his introduction! "Yow! That cuts deep, miss!" He brandishes his axes and throws two at Tikka in a set of
Attacks on the Run, moving to the West! He
Moves again and catches the axes as they rebound to him, the attacks going wide and merely clipping Tikka's skirts along the front, the blades barely clashing against Shard-skin for a reduced
7 Damage! Byss ducks under the stairs and then behind them, adopting
Total Cover.
This doesn't save him as Bendetto yells out: "Now that ain't no way to treat a lady, you two-copper bum!" and blasts him with a bit of
Cunning Ferocity, making the man wince as his barb cuts into him... literally. The attack misses but Byss pops his head up over the cover and yells back: "You're robbing the cradle, old man! Or maybe it's the forge in this case! Haw!" Bendetto fumes and
Leads the Waltz with a Utility move up the stairs, bringing Tikka with him! This also grants the two of them
Total Cover from Byss's axes.
Fearlessly, the Guards rush Willard and attempt to break through his shield! Despite several dramatic uppercuts and broad halberd slashes, all they earn is exposure to the Quake Dance as Willard continues to Channel it and some spark-showers from the deflections of the Force Field.
"
GWOORRRRR HOR HOR HOR HOR HOR!" *STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMPITY STOMP!* Willard unleashes an additional total
20 Psionic Damage to Latir, Wanda, Nossian, Ragjen and all of the Guards as he continues to Channel past the actions of others. His dancing produces swirling torrents of ethereal figures around his feet, the little cyclone of ghosts beginning to rise around him.
With a dramatic flourish the Mummytaur reaches for his wrappings and rips them off, swiftly casting off... his clothes as well, trousers and vest all! They fly off to the side... then catch themselves in mid-air and realign, as though still worn! The Mummytaur himself is not a Minotaur in Wrappings... but rather a tall, incredibly handsome Human-looking man, wearing only a pair of silk white trousers and bracers radiating a majestic set of shimmering violet runes that encircle him as well as any plate-mail! His well-muscled chest and tight abs gleam as though oiled! He radiates a pleasant aura of warmth and natural beauty and when he speaks, his voice is silky smooth and perfectly interesting. "Ahhh, Ansom iz 'ere tu clean up ze mezz hyu ar' makin', Weel'ard." He hops onto the buffet table and gestures, unleashing a volley of
Magic Missiles upon Latir. "Ze 'ero, he iz ze mozt likely tu cauze uz trouble, non?" Bearing Willard's Enchanted Lantern and generally being Dwarven and Armored, Latir is able to absorb the volley entirely.
The animated set of Wrappings and fine Minotaur-sized Military Outfit cries out from an invisible mouth in anger. "Ansom, you moron! You miss! This is how you do it!" He thrusts both arms out and tendrils of mummy-wrappings snake out, seizing Rajgen from behind about the throat, head and shoulders! "You kill his moral support! Let's see what he can do standing alone! Ba ha ha!" Ragjen is immediately
Slowed to a Move Speed of 2 and dealt
14 Damage as he's choked! Ragjen is
Bloodied!Up above, Veihj sweats as he watches Karvan leap to broken legs without a moment of hesitation or fear! He slowly unsheathes his new sword and stares at the heights below, having to stand tip-toe to even get his head over the edge of the sky-box. He feels a very natural urge to... run away. Hide. Set a trap and hope it works or the bad guys go away.
He frowns and immediately steels himself! Using his utility
Noble Action, Veihj grants himself a +5 to his next Athletics check... and with a running start and a result of 30, he's able to reach the bare edge of the long chandelier, falling at the end of his jump but scrambling to grab onto the fancy hanging glass shards! He uses another Athletics check to climb but fails by 4 or less, scrambling to remain in place.
First Floor
|_________________________|
|.........................|
|.........................|
|.........................|
|=.......................=|
|S[.].................[T].|
|..[.].................|
|...[.].............[.]...|
|....[^]...........[^]....|
|_________________________|
T - Tikka 88/95 HP Total Cover (+5 to All Defenses)
B - Benedetto 92/92 HP Total Cover (+5 to All Defenses)
S - Sincent HP 64/77 AC/F/R/W 27/25/30/24 Total Cover (+5 to All Defenses)
|_ Walls
. Floor
= Edge of Balcony above
[ ] Stairs(Outlined by Handrails, Provide Cover from all direction,
DC 15 Athletics to Climb/Jump at full speed,
Northern-most set is 5 feet above ground and rises by 5 feet every square further... Southern-most would be 20 feet above ground.)
^ Stairs leading up. Hit the ^ and map-change.
Second Floor
|_________________________|
|.........................|
|.[v].................[v].|
|M[.].................[.].|
|......g....g.............|
|#.....gWWWWg............#|
|#.....gWWWWg............#|
|#....N....ALn......K....h|
|#...m...................#|
|_________________________|
W - Willard (Morgiana and Succubus inside) Force Field HP 600/600 AC/F/R/W 20/40/18/20 Really Tuff! 2/2 *Channeling Quake Dance* Damage Resist(All) 10
g - Guards 10/50 10/50 10/50 30/50 30/50 30/50
N - Ragjen 35/89 HP Bloodied, Slowed(Move Speed = 2)
A - Wanda 58/88 HP
K - Karvan 99/99 HP PRONE!
L - Latir 77/111 HP
n - Nossian 171/201 HP
M - Maximillian 86/86 AC/F/R/W 26/21/25/21
m - Mummy Wraps 99/99 HP AC/F/R/W 27/24/21/25
h - Ansom 67/67 HP AC/F/R/W 27/21/24/25
[v] Stairs leading down to First Floor(hit the v and map-change)
# Tables stocked with food
Third Floor
|_________________________|
|_........[.....]........_|
|.]........_____........[.|
<.].....................[.>
|.]........*****........[.|
|_.........*****........._|
|.]........*****V.......[.|
<.].....................[.>
|.].....................[.|
|_________________________|
V - Veihj
> < Doors (exit box seat, Dungeoneering Check to arrive at 2nd Floor. Result 1-19 = 2 Turns Result 20+ = 1 Turn)
] Box Seat Edges, can be leaped from as part of move action. 60 feet above First Floor, 40 feet above 2nd Floor.
* chandelier