The closest square from which you can attack Tristram must lie (about) 20' south of him, not east. Furthermore you moved straight north when Tristram is standing NW of your position; that is not moving directly towards your target. Movement directly toward Tristram is blocked (obstructed) by the corner of the pillar in U16.

*sighs* Very well, as you would have it. Then consider Cathain jumping into the water from where she can attack you (N/O 16/17 I think). I'll keep the old rolls (jump check 41 should really cover nearly everything), I'm not gonna give away that attack.

Oh and yes: She has the Twisted Charge skill trick to alter her charge route :D

Still debating if the final version will also have Nimble Charge or Extreme Leap ;)

Round 2:
  [Move]Move to G14
  [Free]
  [Standard] Ready action: use 1 charge of healing belt on Tristram when in range


Status: Shield of faith +2 deflection AC, 4 mins. Divine favour +2 to attack & damage 1 min.
  Initiative: 2
  AC (Touch AC): 21 (13)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   0

Final position: G14

Tristram is taken by surprise as the giant woman warrior burst forth and with a mighty leap lands in the river. Spraying water all over him, and allowing her to strike him hard and with impunity. Bleeding profusely from a gash across his chest the knight makes a tactical retreat to the waiting dwarf, to get patched up a little.

Round 3:
  [Free]
  [Move] Full round action: Withdraw to F14, no AoO
  [Standard]

Status:
  Initiative: 15
  AC (Touch AC): 18 (13)

  Damage Taken: 7 (23)
  Damage Dealt: 0

Effects: Bulwark of defence (threatened squares treated as difficult terrain)
Bull's strength: +4 STR for 4 mins
Knight's challenge against Cathain: +1 attack & damage 5 rounds

Final position: F14

Gwendol rolled 16 with 2D8 (healing belt)

OOC: Also, you will need to make a DC15 swim check each round if you want to stay in place, otherwise move 10' downstream (swift running water). Don't think it's possible to claim you take 1d3 (non-lethal) damage from drowning if you don't pass the check though; you're only waist high in water. Also note that you gain cover (+4 AC) from standing in the river.

ooc: Not sure about the movement since there is this little corner right before the bridge and I think she doesn't need to swim, just wade ;)

On a side note, I've edited my post for round two to reflect the changes for the altered jump. Sorry for the whole mixup :(

Round 3: Cathain's lip curled in a viscious smile, watching the knight retreat and getting healed by his companion before she turned back to climb out of the river. It seemed like she was walking back to where she came from but her shadowy form was blurred and soon lost from sight. She would have to use the hunter's patience to wear them out...

  [Free]
  [Move] Out the water and back the direction of her starting point.
  [Standard] Move. Hide 23, Move silently 22 (includes penalties for size and reduced dex).

Status:
  Init: 6
  AC (Touch AC): 16 (11) - assign Dodge bonus vs. Tristram: 17 (12)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   Tristram 23 (-16 healed = 7pts.)

Effects:
 - Blur, 3mins - concealment - 20% miss chance
 - Enlarge Person, 08rds.

Final Position:

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
T/U 17/18

---

ooc: Please note Cathain has 20ft reach
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Wed 24 Nov 2010.

OOC: Can you really hide in plain sight using blur? That seems... overly powerful. Don't you need to perform a distracting act, or duck behind cover or something?

ooc: Yes, though not because of blurr but because of the template (Dark, see "Tearing of the Weave" or contact DM BadCatMan), it allows hiding while being observed (that's Hide in plain Sight) unless in full daylight. As I don't want to take advantage of the non-defined lighting conditions in the arena, I have waited until there was a pillar near to offer some sort of shadow before I considered her hidden. So you know she has to be somewhere near the pillar before the green box.

OOC: Roger. Though I have assumed the arena to be subjected to daylight (invisible wall of force as ceiling and all that).

ooc: Yes, that is why I assumed the pillar offering shadows... where there is light, there must be shadow :)

Alternatively we can say the fight takes place at night :P
This message was last edited by the player at 10:11, Thu 25 Nov 2010.

Round 3:
  [Move]Double Move to D20
  [Free]
  [Standard]


Status: Shield of faith +2 deflection AC, 4 mins. Divine favour +2 to attack & damage 1 min.
  Initiative: 2
  AC (Touch AC): 21 (13)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   0

Final position: D20
This message was last edited by the player at 13:25, Thu 25 Nov 2010.

With their opponent vanishing from sight, the knight and the priest make their way around the battlefield in order to get better field position.

Round 4:
  [Free]
  [Move] Double move to F24
  [Standard]

Status:
  Initiative: 15
  AC (Touch AC): 18 (13)

  Damage Taken: 7 (23)
  Damage Dealt: 0

Effects: Bulwark of defence (threatened squares treated as difficult terrain)
Bull's strength: +4 STR for 4 mins
Knight's challenge against Cathain: +1 attack & damage 4 rounds

Final position: F24

Round 4: Patience! She reminded herself and separated from the shadows of the southern pillar. Her blurred form moved swiftly, yet eerily silently, only to swallowed by the shadows again when she nears the eastern pillar...

  [Free]
  [Move] As described above.
  [Standard] Move. Hide 24, Move silently 28 (includes penalties for size and reduced dex).

Status:
  Init: 6
  AC (Touch AC): 16 (11) - assign Dodge bonus vs. Tristram: 17 (12)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   Tristram 23 (-16 healed = 7pts.)

Effects:
 - Blur, 3mins - concealment - 20% miss chance
 - Enlarge Person, 07rds.

Final Position: P/Q 23/24
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Thu 25 Nov 2010.

OOC: So, whenever you are next to a pillar you are close to invisible? In that case I wish to end the fight here and suggest we meet in the archery range or the sands of Set. I can live with the concealement miss chance, but not being able to target you makes it impossible for me to mount anything resembling either offence or defence.

ooc: As you wish. I give up her most potent ability, you may know her position.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:27, Thu 25 Nov 2010.

Don't get me wrong here, right now you have solid cover behind the pillar and should certainly be allowed to roll for hide. I just like to be able to see you when you don't have cover and to prevent you from hiding in plain sight, which is a very, very, potent ability (rangers don't get it until level 15!)

Round 4:
  [Move]Double Move to I24
  [Free]Spot (20), Listen (4)
  [Standard]


Status: Shield of faith +2 deflection AC, 4 mins. Divine favour +2 to attack & damage 1 min.
  Initiative: 2
  AC (Touch AC): 21 (13)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   0

Final position: I24
This message was last edited by the player at 08:35, Fri 26 Nov 2010.

ooc: Actually you are reading this wrong. Hide in plain sight still needs cover or concealment to hide within, it just circumvents the necessity for a distraction or having to get out of sight in any other way to break eye-contact. If you round the corner and Cathain loses cover, she has no concealment to hide in since you said it is daylight and thus she has no concealment to hide within or behind. Even though technically her own concealment would work. It's silly and totally unrealistic, but the skill says:

So, I think a simple pillar with no protrusions that grant cover and no shadow that grants concealment cannot be counted as a hiding place. So there, Cathain cannot hide anymore.

Round 5:
  [Free]
  [Move] move to N26 (provoking AoO, having cover makes it impossible to make an AoO)
  [Standard] Attack (p.a. -2) (11), miss

Status:
  Initiative: 15
  AC (Touch AC): 18 (13)

  Damage Taken: 7 (23)
  Damage Dealt: 0

Effects: Bulwark of defence (threatened squares treated as difficult terrain)
Bull's strength: +4 STR for 4 mins
Knight's challenge against Cathain: +1 attack & damage 3 rounds

Final position: N26
This message was last edited by the player at 09:35, Fri 26 Nov 2010.

OOC: I guess I should have been paying attention to this. :)

Hide In Plain Sight comes in different varieties, each with different conditions: Ranger 17 in natural terrain, Shadowdancer 1 within 10ft of a shadow, etc. In this case, for reference:



...at level 2. A Dark character could HiPS in the middle of an empty room, well lit by a fire or non-direct sunlight (indeed, that's how I've played the NPCs). It's free invisibility with a skill check, so this is one of the most powerful and earliest versions of HiPS.

I endorse Cathain's interpretation of standing next to pillars to find some patch of shade, as the lighting conditions for this map weren't defined. Though she could potentially hide wherever she likes.

OOC: No problem. I don't object to the rules here, only to the situation. Cathain has maxed out her stealth and uses blur to it's full potential, which in this case makes it near impossible for me to fight her. I'm asking to either not hide so much, or to switch to an arena where it's harder for her to take advantage of her superior skills. Gwendol and Tristram both are lousy scouts and have no perception skills to talk about. If I can't fight, then I don't know what I'm doing here, she could just have set up some sparring dummies with HP's, it would have been almost the same.

ooc: Thank you BCM for clarifying this special rule, this will help me a lot in the adventure. For this game I've given up the use of the ability, so Cathain may be attacked freely.

And for the record: Cathain has NOT used the Blurr ability even once to hide. She has used what I consider natural shadow near the pillars, never anywhere else! - The sole exception to a regular rogue being that she was able to hide while being observed. I am fully aware this is 'pseudo-invisibility', given her high skill modifiers, however this could happen in a regular adventure as well and I tend to plan for this contingency when I create rsp. develop a character (see Nalia's scorpion, Aerin's scout's headband or Cathain's Hear-the-unseen feat).

Anyway: On with the show...
This message was last edited by the player at 09:38, Fri 26 Nov 2010.

ooc: I can see the discussion coming about cover, so here's from the SRD: "To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC)." - I chose the rightmost corner of Cathain's square and it doesn't pass through a square that grants cover, hence I assume you don't have cover against her attack.

Round 5: Cathain took a step outside of Tristram's reach and whirled her chain, letting it snap towards the knight like a cobra striked at her targets.

  [Free]
  [Move] 5ft step to Q/R 24/25 (as previously clarified, taking a 5ft step OUT of difficult terrain is no problem.)
  [Standard] Attack 20, damage 15.

Status:
  Init: 6
  AC (Touch AC): 16 (11) - assign Dodge bonus vs. Tristram: 17 (12)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   Tristram 38 (-16 healed = 22pts.)

Effects:
 - Blur, 3mins - concealment - 20% miss chance
 - Enlarge Person, 06rds.

Final Position: Q/R 24/25
This message was last edited by the player at 09:53, Fri 26 Nov 2010.

In what square am I leaving to provoke? I follow the far right side of the arena wall down to N26.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:57, Fri 26 Nov 2010.

ooc: Your unedited post said you provoke an AoO, sheep that I am I rolled for an AoO. My post reflects that she didn't get an AoO :)

- Your turn :D

Gwendol steps out from behind the pillar and moves a few steps forward while calling on Haela to bring forth a flaming greatsword, right on top of Cathain, slashing her across her shoulder.

Round 5:
  [Move]Move to L25
  [Free]
  [Standard]Cast spritual weapon, Attack (18), Damage (5)


Status: Shield of faith +2 deflection AC, 4 mins. Divine favour +2 to attack & damage 1 min.
  Spiritual weapon, 4 rounds
  Initiative: 2
  AC (Touch AC): 21 (13)

  Damage Taken:   0
  Damage Dealt:   0

Final position: L25
This message was last edited by the player at 10:12, Fri 26 Nov 2010.