Arena: Mind Flayer Sorcerer vs. Human Fighter Vampire

Arena: Mind Flayer Sorcerer vs. Human Fighter Vampire

Here's another combat scenario, where we decided to try out something more high-powered - mind flayer sorcerer and human fighter vampire.

TURN 1

Vampire: The vampire goes first, as he has higher Basic Speed. Contemplating the situation, he decides to summon creatures of the night - a rat swarm. (Rolls 12 vs 12). The swarm appears in an adjacent hex. The rats move forward 4 yards.

Mind Flayer: We decided to determine the spell that is currently ready randomly by rolling a die and got Ray of Exhaustion 2. Here some rules were looked up. A Kromm quote said that Diffuse creatures cannot take more than 2 FP damage per hit. So, casting Ray of Exhaustion on the swarm is unreasonable. Then we realised that this fight couldn't have possibly taken place during the day. So, we decided that it's a moonlit arena (-5 illumination penalty (edit: Infravision lets see in thermal equilibrium at -2, so -5 is not right)). Thus, casting the spell at the vampire would be unreasonable too - too big of a penalty (Infravision does not help here - the vampire emits no heat). The mind flayer decided to use Mental Blow on the vampire. (Rolls 11 vs 11). The vampire rolls Will to resist. (Rolls 9 vs 11). Telepathic assault was thwarted.

TURN 2

Vampire: The vampire runs behind the pillar. The rat swarm advances.

Mind Flayer: The mind flayer moves five yards away from the rat swarm.

TURN 3

Vampire: The vampire takes a step and rolls Stealth. (Rolls 3 vs 15). The mind flayer rolls Vision (Rolls 12 vs 5). Mind flayers have Hard of Hearing, so we decided that we shouldn't even roll Hearing here. The vampire also readies his kusari to Reach 4.

Mind Flayer: The mind flayer moves behind the fence. (The plan was to lure the rats behind the fence, then climb over it. I didn't realize that I'd have to roll against 6 to climb the fence though.)

TURN 4

Vampire: The vampire rolls Hearing. (Rolls 10 vs 14). He hears the mind flayer moving behind the fence. He makes a Move and Attack, while moving stealthily (-5 penalty to Stealth). The mind flayer still fails to spot or hear the vampire, so the vampire rolls Kusari to hit. (Rolls 7 vs 9). The mind flayer gets no active defense. The vampire rolls damage. (Rolls 12 on 3d-1). The mind flayer has DR 1, but 11 damage is enough to put him to 0 HP. It rolls against HT to avoid knockdown. (Rolls 10 vs 12).

Mind Flayer: The mind flayer first rolls against HT to remain conscious. (Rolls 12 vs 12). It takes a step and uses Mental Blow again. (Rolls 16 vs 14). The vampire rolls against Will. (Rolls 9 vs 11). The mental attack once again failed.

TURN 5

Vampire: The vampire does an All-Out Attack (Determined) to bite at the neck arteries of the mind flayer. (Rolls 8 vs 9). The mind flayer tries to dodge. (Rolls 11 vs 4). That's why you need to carry a staff. The vampire rolls damage. (Rolls 4 on 1d+1). That transforms into 7 points of injury - another major wound. The mind flayer rolls HT to avoid knockdown. (Rolls 11 vs 12).

Mind Flayer: First, a roll to remain conscious. (Rolls 9 vs 12). It cannot use Concentrate, because the vampire latched on, so it tries to cast Ray of Exhaustion 2 again. (Rolls 11 vs 11). That's a hit, because the vampire cannot defend. The mind flayer rolls damage. (Rolls 10 on 2d). However, the vampire has DR 9, so he only loses 1 FP.

TURN 6

Vampire: The vampire worries, but fails to deal significant damage. We'll drop the details here.

Mind Flayer: The mind flayer changes spell from Ray of Exhaustion to Disrupt Undead, but then falls dead after a maximum damage worry on the next turn and the rat swarm gnawing it.

CONCLUSION

Well, that was short and fun. The mind flayer didn't really do a lot of mind flayer stuff, but at least the vampire got a chance to use some stealth and neck-biting. This fight highlights the importance of illumination and how tough swarms can be to deal with.