Mission 3: Siege of Nakakuni Castle

[Zanaikin]

Shigeru's shot lights another shadowcaster on fire, who burns to death within seconds. Two of the ramps vanished with his death, but they had were quickly replaced by the two remaining shadowcasters...

Three spearmen attacks Yuuta, while one ashigaru plus one samurai charged at Terasaka, but all of them missed. In the meantime, the samurai units were moving up to below the ladders and onto the ramps. Another spearman climbs up on the ladder besides Terasaka (Judson: take AoO)

Todoroki knocked two more spearmen off the walls, but one of them managed to climb up onto the battlements besides him, only to be killed by a point blank shot from Yumi.



Shigeru heard a thud from the west side, and as he turned to see, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that two of the patrolling militia, over 100ft away on the south walls, had just been slain. Their killers-- two ninjas-- was visible for only a second before they went back into invisibility. [marked on map]

Yumi also noticed. She frozen for a brief second in shock before calling out towards Terasaka and Yuuta: "ninjas, dozens of them! Climbing onto the southern walls!"

( Let part2 begin! )
( next round of actions from Marty, Dave, and Judson please... )
( also, roll initiatives )

[TheDude51]

Initiative: 7

Attack of Opportunity:
Attack: 1d20+28 = 36
Damage： 3d8+20 = 33

Terasaka says into the comm: "Ninjas, coming over the south walls. At least 20 of them in sight, probably more present. Requesting reinforcements."

He then launches a devastating swing at the samurai in front of him. (Critical Strike to torso, Power Attack)
Attack: 1d20+26 = 41
Damage: (3d8+24)*2 = 76 [38 if hit but no crit]

Regardless of the outcome of the attack, Terasaka then shifts to M12 to avoid being swarmed by the samurai charging up the ramp.

AC: 33
HP: 48/70

[Sajuuk]

Shigeru swore, unable to see the Ninjas to target them (Assuming Scout's headband is still used up), so he launched another bomb at a shadowcaster.
(Initiative: 1d20+8 = 10 ..... X______________X)

(Attack: 1d20+15 = 29)
(Damage: 7d6+7 = 32 fire, plus catch on fire for 3d6 fire/round (DC22 to extinguish)
(10' Radius Splash Damage: 14 fire, DC20 Ref for half)

[Laharl]

(Why are we rerolling init?)
(Init: 15+10=25)

Yuuta starts swearing sulfurously before rubbing his hands together in anticipation at the thought of some worthwhile opponents. He starts by tumbling to N23 (Acrobatics 34) and then stabbing the spearman that's still within reach (Attack 33, 30 damage). He then uses Spring Attack to finish his movement, ending at Q28 on the south wall (Acrobatics 29 to avoid AoOs on the way).

AC: 37, +4 vs any AoOs

[Sajuuk]

(Because this is battle where we will face 400 ninjas. Clearly we are rolling to see who gets stabbed in the back first. I will once again reiterate my point that this is another one of Dai's "Lets do something D&D wasn't designed for" battles where we go up against overwhelming odds in the form of Mass Combat. Marty's Predicted Odds Of Us Winning This Battle Right Now: 1 in 10. Reasoning? Well, I don't have See Invisibility, and I'm down to 12 bombs left today.)

[Zanaikin]

(We're rolling Init because we haven't went into Init for this part of the battle yet. I run large-scale battles by side, not by any particular order xD. However since we'll be going into squad-combat soon... obviously, I'm not so delusion to run Party-vs-400-ninjas... yet anyways, maybe 10 more levels later...)

Terasaka kills the spearmen trying to climb up. Then his next blow smashes through the samurai's guard and into his side, the morningstar crushing armor and rib-bones before piercing his vitals with its spikes. The samurai coughed up a spray of blood before falling dead onto the ramp... (dam, nice hit). Another spearmen was now trying to climb up onto his location (Judson: take AoO again xD)

This time the bomb flung into the darkness and missed, igniting the grass under him and catching the shadowcaster in the explosion, but not to deadly effect. The two remaining shadowcasters fled the brightly lit area. With a lack of no-lighting areas with all the torch-bearing troops around, they instead created their own area of pitch darkness and hid within... and decided not to draw attention with another spell this time.

Yuuta also dispatches the spearmen in front of him with a precise stab before rolling past enemies and moving quickly to intercept the new foes... (unfortunately your see invisi got dispelled so you don't see foes yet).

Todoroki killed another spearmen who had been climbing up, while Yumi shot the samurai climbing behind him with a lethal hit before moving east towards the new enemies. The two corpses fell down upon those below and rolled into a pile of bodies below the walls... while allied spearmen, the last of the frontal 'reserves' on the southwest wall, moved up to fill her spot in defending against those climbing the ladder. For a brief moment during the movement she slowed down, calling out loud: "that's--- the enemy commander!"




In the meantime, the fight was continuing on the southwestern walls. Half a dozen enemies fell, but so did two more allied spearmen. Thankfully, it seems that Tougou has dispatched all of his reserve veteran spears towards the southern half of the wall, and relied purely on his command/shock squad up north. Hiraga and the remainder of the musketeer squads were also fighting back in the center, and were extremely effective against the heavily armored samurai; however, there weren't many of them left.

Responses to Terasaka's call also came fast over the channels:
"Terasaka, Intercept them with what you have! Keiko, fill the hole in the southern walls and back them up with your reserves!" called out Tougou.
"Mumei, take your entire squad there and hold them back! Kongomaru, shift all of the central keep archers to the southern walls and fire at any enemy that reveal themselves! Toss all of your torches down there too and light up that field!"

At this moment, the area near the allied patrol fell was engulfed by magical shadows (partial concealment). Meanwhile, an arrow shot into the side of the archer tower, and magical aura attached to it covers the entire tower (including all of the inside) and and its nearby areas in complete magical darkness (full concealment; remember you also move at half-speed when can't see; you can remember what the inside of the tower look like well enough though)

[ Next round of actions from Marty, Dave, and Judson; we're not engaged into squad-combat yet ]

[Laharl]

Yuuta casts See Invisibility once more and then moves to Y28.

AC: 32

[Sajuuk]

(Assuming you aren't being completely evil and throwing something like Deeper Darkness at us)
Shigeru can see through the darkness with darkvision and launches a bomb at the enemy warlord.

(Assuming the DM's evilness continues or I am misinterpreting Darkvision...)
Shigeru swears and flies to S19, then launches a bomb at the enemy warlord.

(Attack vs Warlord: 1d20+15 = 28)
(Attack vs B6 Naginata Samurai: 1d20+15 = 26)
(Damage to Warlord: 7d6+7 = 37 fire, plus catch on fire for 3d6 fire/round (DC22 to extinguish))
(Damage to B6 Naginata Samurai: 7d6+7 = 30 fire, plus catch on fire for 3d6 fire/round (DC22 to extinguish))
(10' Radius Splash Damage (Hits B5 and anything off map in that area): 14 fire, DC20 Ref for half)



[GM: (Yes that is Deeper Darkness)]
[GM: Shigeru manages to squeeze out from the tower's firing gap and smash both of the targets with a bomb, setting them on fire. However it doesn't seem like they're actually being hurt by the flames, and barely so by the bomb's explosion]

[TheDude51]

AoO:
1d20+26 = 32
3d8+24 = 38

Terasaka makes a full attack against the samurai in L13

Attack 1:
1d20+26 = 45
3d8+24 = 40

Attack 2:
1d20+21 = 37
3d8+24 = 39

AC: 35
HP: 48/70

[Zanaikin]

Terasaka's morningstar crushes the arm of another climbing spearmen and sends him falling back down. His next two strikes both hit the samurai nearby and kills him with two powerful blows.



The samurai are continuing to attack from the ramps/ladders, and they're pushing the defenders back slowly; however, Keiko's reserves with two squads of veteran spearmen are coming into position from the northeast. The remaining allied crossbows were also forced to come out of the tower due to the darkness enshrouding it...
Another samurai charges Terasaka and misses again.

(If you have see invisi) all alongside the western walls, you could see dozens of ninjas climbing over the battlements, with the elite squad anchoring their far left. They were lead by a teal-haired girl wearing a short dress and hurling a very distinctive weapon--- a frying pan attached on a long chain.

Some of them, however, were dropping their invisibility as soon as they climbed up and over. Towards the east side of the castle, you could also see the torches of the veteran axe reserves under Mumei charging their far right, while archers were moving into position all along the inner wall battlements.

Two of the ninjas who climbed over moved towards Yuuta and tossed starknives, but both of them missed Yuuta. They then re-invisibled themselves.
One of the shadowcasters laid down another patch of shadows, while his companion finished casting a friendly buff spell of sorts... (spellcraft + perception check if you can see)
Three ninjas of Kiku's squad then took aimed shots at Yuuta with their shortbows. One of them misses, while two others pierce Yuuta (Dave takes-- Atk1: 26 piercing dmg; Atk2: 8 piercing damage)



Yumi sends out two arrows at the nearest ninja, with the first striking the target and wounding him. Todoroki then moves over 60ft from the western walls.

( next up: Dave )

[Laharl]

Yuuta starts sprinting at Kikkawa, hoping to quickly finish her off (spending Hero Point to allow sneak attacking people with concealment). He hopes this insane maneuver will catch her off guard (Vanguard title).

Attack: 1d20+19=38 (critical threat)
Confirmation: 1d20+17=36
Damage: 56
Miss chance: 80

AC: 34 vs any movement AoOs during the charge, 35 after

[Zanaikin]

Yuuta charges straight in, completely taking the ninjas by surprise by the sheer audacity (and possibly unbelievable stupidity) of his actions. But nevertheless the gambit seems to have paid off partially as he thrusts his shortsword straight into the enemy commander's gut, critically wounding her.

The ninjas nearby drops their bows, pull out starknives, and surround Yuuta from all sides before attacking. Two of their knives struck...
(Atk1: 26 piercing damage)
(Atk2: 15 piercing damage)
Kikkawa, gritting her teeth in pain and in anger, stepped back and tossed the pan twice at Yuuta, but missed both times. Meanwhile, each of the shadowcasters moved in to give her a healing spell, recovering most of her wounds.

(Yuuta also gets a hero point back for that insane stunt...)

[EDIT, as that hit drops Yuuta unconscious, or would have... EVENT TRIGGER...]
Yuuta swayed for a second, coughing up blood and falling--- until suddenly he righted himself once again and thrusted out his arms towards both sides, sending out a massive surge of magical energy that washes over the entire area. Eight of the ninjas nearby screamed in utter agony before they fell dead to the ground, steam pouring off their bodies as their flesh was instantly dessicated. Even Kikkawa herself was screaming in pain before falling to the ground, although she seems to be still moving. Furthermore, every blade of grass in the courtyard within 30ft of Yuuta also swiveled to dry hay instantly...
With the death of the casters, the patches of shadow also vanished.


( next: Marty, Judson )

[TheDude51]

Terasaka launches another full attack against the new samurai in L13.

Attack 1:
Attack: 1d20+26 = 37
Damage: 3d8+24 = 41

Attack 2:
Attack: 1d20+21 = 11
Damage: lol

He then casts Updraft and rockets 100 feet straight up, taking a good look around as he floats back down to earth. He also shifts to N12 on his way down. (I think it'll take more than one round to get all the way back down at feather-falling rates, regardless, I'll make sure to shout "Look out below!" if the spear in N12 isn't getting out of the way)

AC: 35
HP: 49/70

[Sajuuk]

Seeing that his bomb was practically ineffective against the warlord, Shigeru turns his attention to the siege ladder to the south, launching a bomb at the soldiers climbing it.

(Moving to S23, back inside the archer tower)

(Attack vs K28 Samurai: 1d20+15 = 33)
(Attack vs J28 Samurai: 1d20+15 = 29)
(Damage to Warlord: 7d6+7 = 31 fire, plus catch on fire for 3d6 fire/round (DC22 to extinguish))
(Damage to B6 Naginata Samurai: 7d6+7 = 29 fire, plus catch on fire for 3d6 fire/round (DC22 to extinguish))
(10' Radius Splash Damage: 14 fire, DC20 Ref for half)

[Zanaikin]

Shigeru's bomb ignites both samurai, making the one climbing the ladder fall off as he screams in pain from the burns. The ladder was singhed but failed to catch fire this time.

Terasaka struck once, injuring the enemy before him, and then launched into the air to survey the overall battle...

Currently, the western wall seems to be doing relatively well. The enemy infantry have taken particularly heavy casualties in the center yet still haven't managed to breach the ramp gate. The enemy were still scaling the walls, but between Tougou's command and shock squad in the north and the party in the south, the enemy has yet to consolidate a 'breach' through the battlements so their numbers are still all choked up at the ramps and ladders.
The northern wall however, was having a much harder time despite having a large defending force. There were already numerous breaches through the battlements, many sections destroyed by either bombs or ballistae, and the number of ladders/ramps nearly doubled that of the western walls. Unable to contain the enemy breaches, the defenders are now engaged in a vicious melee with the enemy attackers; casualties are extremely heavy (including several lieutenants already) and they were obviously being pushed back by the attackers and their continued reinforcements. However, to the east, the counterattack force had already snuck out from the east gate and was deploying itself along the irrigation ditches east of the enemy's northern formations, preparing to attack their flank once the order is given...
In the south, dozens of ninjas were materializing after they climbed up the outer walls. Some of them went back into invisibility as the archers on the inner battlements opened fire at them. Mumei's two squads of axemen also hurled itself into the ninja assault's right flank, but they were caught at a significant disadvantage against these enemies that they couldn't even see half the time.

Around this time, Ryouma's voice could be heard shouting over the comm:
"Zanma, the enemy forces are fully engaged in the northern walls already. Group four, begin your counterattack; group four, begin your counterattack!"
At this point most of Terasaka's sight eastwards was blocked by the castle keep again, but he could hear the feral battlecry that suddenly roared up from the northeast as the final step of the battle plan began.



Yumi shots twice against a ninja that came over the battlements, but missed both times. Meanwhile, Todoroki struck the ground again, conjuring a 10ft-belt of ground just behind the battlements where the earth was covered with thorny spikes coming out of the ground.

Three ninjas attacked Yuuta by running up and tossing their starknives at him, but the only one that would've hit was deflected as Yuuta suddenly raised a magical shield effect. One of them was then killed as a volley of arrows were shot at him.
Yuuta then retaliated by stepping up and simply poking a ninja in front of him, who then shouted in pain as reddish energy ebbed from the ninja and into Yuuta. Although none of his wounds were healed, Yuuta was suddenly looking healthier.

Kikkawa then leapt back on her feet and hurled her frying pan towards Yuuta again, before changing its direction at the last moment with her chain and striking Yuuta across the chest, although he managed to raise conjure another magical shield to dampen most of the damage.

( Terasaka falls back down to N12--- you can take a partial + swift action this round since you spent some of the time still coming down... )
( next: Marty, Judson )