If you're enjoying the content here, check out our new site, Thoughtcrime Games. Thanks for visiting!
The Swordmage
I’ve had the opportunity to play most of the classes in 4e for an afternoon or an evening, but there’s only a few that I’ve played in-depth across several levels during the course of a campaign. The Swordmage is one of them.
Out of all the Swordmage’s at-will powers, I think I whipped out Lightning lure the most often.
Lightning lure
“You ‘ear that?” Brighton asked. He pushed a barrel against the wall to get a better view through the arrow slit. The gatehouse hadn’t been made for halflings.
“I’m surprised you can hear anything in this storm.” Cecil leaned against the large crank that operated the portcullis. There was a hole in the floor where the chain had snaked down to the top of the gate.
The chain was broken months ago when it was suspected someone was letting the enemy into the besieged city at night. It seemed foolish posting two guards to stand watch over a broken gatehouse, but it kept drunks like Cecil and Brighton out of the storehouse and out of trouble.
Cecil’s eyes hunted the darkness for the spot where the chain had hooked the gate. Occasionally a bolt of lightning illuminated the fortress as if it were noon and Cecil used these moments to confirm his target.
“I’ve got better ears ‘an an elf!” Brighton exclaimed. “I swears I ‘ear a thrush calling out there.”
“Can’t be,” Cecil replied. “No bird would fly in this rain.”
“at’s why I’m so surprised. What’s a bitty feather doin’ out there?”
“Maybe it’s on important business,” Cecil continued to peer down the hole.
“Don’t talk rubbish. What business does a feather got?” Brighton got down and wiped the rain off his face. “What you lookin’ at down there so serious for?” Brighton noticed Cecil’s concentration. The halfling rarely saw his fellow show interest in anything.
Cecil looked up a bit startled. “I think I see your thrush,” he lied and pointed at the window.
“Where’s?” Brighton turned around and mounted the barrel once more. Cecil could hear the bird call now, but it wasn’t coming from beyond the wall. It was right below him, coming up through the hole in the floor.
Nobody had thought a thrush call would be conspicuous, but it didn’t make a lot of sense to be using it in a thunderstorm, and a thunderstorm was now the only time anyone could get into the besieged city undetected.
Cecil waited patiently for the next bolt of lightning and prayed Brighton didn’t turn around at the wrong moment. He was rather found of the halfling. The less he knew, the better.
The bolt came and Cecil aimed down the hole. A bluish arc of electricity traveled down his arm and into the air. It struck the top of the gate and with all the force his mind could muster, Cecil pulled the energy back. The gate lifted until it collided with the floor at his feet and slammed back down. A dozen or so cloaked figures were briefly illuminated as they slipped through.
“AYE!” Brighton yelped and rolled off the barrel. “Did you ‘ear that! What a clap o’ thunder ‘at was. Shook the floor ‘neath my very feet!”
“Just because you’re the size of a child doesn’t mean you have to run away from a storm like one.” Cecil walked over and helped the halfling up.
“I’m not scared. Jus’ a little startled is all.” Brighton turned round and peered up. “I sure hope ‘at feather is fine. Whatever business it got, it sure aint a good night for it.”
“I hope it’s fine, too,” Cecil replied. It might have been the first honest thing he said all night.
Just bending the rules ever-so-slightly, Cecil is using Lightning lure to quickly lift the gate for enemy soldiers to infiltrate the city. The gate is less than 3 squares away and the floor is arguably thin enough that the space right below it is considered adjacent to the undercover Swordmage. Performing this maneuver in a storm helps cover up the light and noise caused by lightning luring a big iron portcullis and letting it fall back into place.
I started Dungeon Mastering with secondhand AD&D materials in 1996 and have run a vast number of D20 campaigns, from cliche' medieval adventures in a kingdom made of Lego bricks to fighting zombies and the mob in the mid 1930s. I try to make the gaming experience as enjoyable, fast-paced, and easy to play as humanly possible. 