Day Five (Turned Tables)

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi cheeks were turning red again, she could feel it. She tries to ignore it as she concentrates on what Barlemus is saying. "I'm kind of small though, so how can I knock someone off balance?" she asks.

[JadedDM]

"It's not your weight, it's how you use it," Barlemus says. "You can knock down guys bigger and stronger than you, if you know where to focus your attacks. Everyone has a center of gravity. If you can mess it up, they'll fall easily."

[HorizonsDream]

"How do you find their center of gravity then?" Tavi seems to be a bit skeptical about this so far. "Could I really knock someone down that is say, your size?"

[JadedDM]

"Sure, I can show you," he says. "First, it's way easier to knock someone down if they're moving than standing still. Oh, and also, it's even easier if they don't know it's coming. But you can't always rely on surprise. Anyway, the trick is to go for the legs. The knees work best. If you can disrupt their center, they'll come tumbling down, no matter how big they are. Then, once they're down, you can finish them off, usually."

He sheathes his sword. "I'll show you. Come at me. Try to knock me down."

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi places her sword down on the ground as she tries to think of the best way to knock him on the ground. Just running straight at him would only result of running into his chest as she was pretty sure that he was bracing himself on the ground. The legs tended to be weaker, usually in the back like at the knee. She couldn't get to the knee, so she was going to have to improvise here.

~I can do this,~ Tavi says to herself as she runs at Barlemus at full speed. The idea was to get her foot in between his legs so that she could sweep his leg out from under him.

Roll to Hit(11)

[JadedDM]

Barlemus goes into a defensive posture, steadying himself. Tavi goes for his leg, but he evades and counters, thrusting his own leg between her own! Luckily, Tavi is able to keep her balance and not fall over.

"Not bad," he says, impressed. "I expected you to drop after that."

=============================

Tavi attempts to knock down Barlemus (11, miss).
Barlemus attempts to knock down Tavi (1d20): 16, hit.
Tavi makes a DEX check (1d20): 7, pass. She is not knocked down.

[HorizonsDream]

"I wouldn't be much of a fighter if I fell down every time someone ran into me," Tavi says. "Being a farm girl helps too, I think." Tavi backs off from Barlemus, but she doesn't leave him a lot of time to think as she runs at him again to tackle him down.

Roll to hit (19)

[JadedDM]

Tavi comes at Barlemus quickly, thrusting her leg between his, then turning to bend his knees. Surprised, the big warrior goes down, landing flat on his back. "Oof!" He lies there a moment, a bit incredulous. "Ut...yeah, just like that," he says.

======================

Tavi attempts to trip Barlemus (19, hit).
Barlemus makes a DEX+6 check (1d20): 19, fails. Barlemus is knocked down.

Octavia has learned how to pull/trip. Make a normal attack roll against their AC. The victim then must pass a DEX check or fall. They get a +6 to their check if they are not moving and a -3 to their check if they are caught unaware.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi grins, obviously a little proud of herself at this point. She holds a hand down to him to help him up. "I knew I would get it at some point," she said. "Teach me another one?" she asks.

[JadedDM]

Barlemus takes his hand and allows her to help him get to his feet. "Well, what else would you like to learn?" he asks, dusting himself off.

[HorizonsDream]

"What else can you show me?" Tavi asks, sounding eager. "Maybe how to disarm someone or something like that?"

[JadedDM]

"Sure, okay," Barlemus says, sounding a little less sure of himself now. He draws his blade, and then gestures for her to do the same. "There are lots of different kinds of disarm attempts. But we'll start with the simplest--disarming a one-hand weapon."

The two go into defensive stances and circle each other a bit. Then Barlemus suddenly lashes out, striking her blade with his own with such force that it is knocked from her grip and lands eight feet behind her.

Grinning, his confident renewed, Barlemus lowers his blade. "Just like that. Go ahead, pick it up, then you try."

================

Barlemus attempts to disarm Tavi's sword (1d20+2-4): 14, success. Tavi's sword is knocked from her hand. The sword flies (2d6): 8 feet (1d8): 4, straight behind her.

(OOC: To make a disarm attempt, make a normal attack roll with a -4 penalty. If successful, the number of feet the weapon flies is determined by 2d6 and the direction it goes is determined by 1d6. A roll of 1 means it goes straight ahead, 2 means ahead to the right, 3 means behind to the right, 4 means straight behind, 5 means behind and to the left, and 6 means behind and to the right.)

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi watches as her sword goes flying behind her with a sigh. "I'm starting to get use to that," she mutters softly. Turning around, she runs to grab her sword and rejoins Barlemus. Taking on the defensive stance once again, she circles around him a couple of times until she finally sees her opening. Quickly, she slashes forward, clashing her sword against his. Despite the fact that she hits him with enough force to send small vibrations down into the hilt, Barlemus is able to still hold on.

Disarm attempt (8, fail)

[JadedDM]

"Good," he says. "But not good enough. It's not enough to just hit the weapon hard enough to make me lose my grip," he explains. "It's just like the tripping exercise. You have to disrupt the balance. Everything has a center of balance, even swords. Try again."

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi steps back from Barlemus and steps back into her defensive stance. The two circle each other, and Tavi takes her time. Upon seeing a small opening, Tavi goes for it, once again her sword clashing against Barlemus'. Though, sadly, it barely has any power behind it at all, and Tavi knows it. "Oh, I know I can do better than that!"

Disarm attempt(2, fail)