You’d be surprised who’s putting deadly traps on their doors these days. Anyway, if the door is locked I will attempt to pick it. Otherwise I open the door. Moving back and to one side as I do.
Readying my spear…
♫Pick, pick, pick, pick the deadly trapped door lock…♫
Zachary stands ready to bomb anything that looks like it needs it, but won’t bother unloading on as few as three zombies for now.
“Friend Valente? This is your home is it not? Might you have they key to this door on your person? Do you have any insight on what is happening here?”
The door is not locked, folks, just latched closed. It can be opened at will.
As Giacomo and Joseph stand hunched around the unlocked door, Joseph glances sidelong at the rogue.
“Excellent work, friend!” he says loudly. “Fine work, fine work!”
Oh for heaven’s sake. I said if *…if…*the door is locked I would pick the lock. Otherwise I just open the door.
(sorry if intemperate. Larry is having a real life adventure right now. Will post again tomorrow. I’m not sure if this much fun is legal. Posted from magic answering rectangle.)
Giacomo pronounces the door opened and free of traps, and the group piles through after Aji successfully removes the zombie’s head. A long flight of stairs runs upward, ending in a landing with a door on the left. This door actually is locked. Behind it, you can easily hear the sounds of a battle.
Helvete. We’ll need a battering ram. I’ll go get a table downstairs, shall I ?
Zachary, who speaks Foreign as well as any Englishman, wonders why anyone would swear “O, Swiss”. 
It’s a long run downstairs to fetch a battering ram, and a longer run back up with it. Zachary’s willing to try a simpler approach, which involves lending Aji his light mace for a moment and saying “Gentle friend, could you possibly burst this door in for us? Perhaps a firm tap about here,” he adds, indicating the vicinity of the lock, and carefully not adding “When I nod my head, hit it.”
He reaches for one of the extracts about his person and prepares to apply it. Bomber’s Eye once the door is broken
The Brute casually tosses the zombie head out one of the windows of the palace and takes the mace from Zachary. He looks at the mace, looks at the door, and then kicks the door as hard as he can.
♫Bash, bash, bash down the stubborn door…♫
Giacomo stands to one side, ready to follow the muscle into the room or to meet whatever comes out.
[COLOR=Black]I’ll try to lend a helping shoulder, then.[/COLOR]
[Spear at the ready…]
With a resounding BOOM, the door comes crashing down, the flimsy lock mechanism splintering the wood beyond repair. That’s not the only reason for the loud noise, however; a flash of flame engulfs Aji, Harald, and Giacomo. Harald and Aji suffer large minor burns, but Giacomo successfully takes cover behind the pair of them. That’s 10 damage to Harald, who didn’t save, 5 to Aji, who did save, and 0 to Giacomo, who saved and has Evasion.
Stumbling into the room in a cloud of smoke, the group sees seven more zombies in the room. Two are already on the ground, unmoving and not bleeding so much as… leaking. Three others are walking, but with evident stab and slash wounds, clustered by the window. A final two are menacing the elderly elf, who holds his sword like a master but drags his left leg behind him, obviously wounded.
In the center of the three wounded zombies, directly in front of a large bay window, a small man with white-blond hair dressed in long linen robes of bright orange, glares at the group. He snarls in a language none of you speak and the three zombies near him lunge toward the intruders.
… Messer Valente, who the hell booby traps THEIR OWN HOUSE ? Moreover you could at least have… ah, helvete. To arms ! Pulverize that mage !
If I’ve got a clear line, I’m going to just bumrush the dude in the dress - charge, power attack, rage AND a quickened enlargement for good measure, try and behead him off at the pass before he can cast annoying stuff with more Reflex saves to fail.
Since I’ve got reach when I’m enlarged and can hit over their heads, if some melee fighters in our group get to act after me but before the zombies or the mage I’m going to delay my turn until after theirs, to let them move and attack first before I start clogging up pathways and such.
If I don’t have a clear line, or zombies get in melee with us before I get to act, then I’ll still go the whole shebang but clean up zombies with enlarged rage-y axe+claw attacks and trust Zach, Taye, Aji and Giacomo to deal with the bigger threat. Fart bombs should be just what the doctor ordered to shut down a lowbie caster 
Oh, I forgot, but since I got dinged and am going to be lowering my AC like crazy it might just come up : if I fall within single digit HPs, I will stop being big ASAP, channel positive energy for a turn (I figure I can do that even while raging ?) and call for immediate assistance. If that’s enough to put me back up to 10+ by the time my next turn begins, then we’ll get back to our regular programming of big fat bashing.
If not, and I can actually *survive *this plan : I will use a 5-foot step to disengage from whatever enemy’s dogging me, end the rage immediately (eating the fatigue and the 6 HP loss) and spontaneously cast [COLOR=Blue]Cure Light Wounds with my last spell slot. Then back to bashing zombies but staying medium-sized, fighting defensively and focusing more on providing flanking to people (Giacomo in particular) than anything, since I won’t be good for much else at this point.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]“Foul magician, Oya requires your soul! Prepare yourself?”
If I have line on of sight on the mage I cast[/COLOR] Daze on him.
If I can’t see the mage I stay out of everyone’s way while trying to maneuver into a better position.
Either way I drop the crossbow and grow the claws. I’ll use them if I’m attacked in melee.