A Hero, lost in the dark, shall be found (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

no worries, I'm trying to figure a way to wrap up this encounter quickly. With three characters dropping out of the game, all casters, it has thrown off the balance a little.

"'Tis true sailors keep even keel when decks reel underfoot."

Obviously Agos has this fight in the bag.

down with bronchitis, and I wanted to update this game today, but I don't want to make any mistakes, seeing it is a bit complicated right now - give me a couple of days to get better and I'll give it a go.

Sorry for the delays

Hope you feel better soon! Bronchitis is no joke.

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"no worries, I'm trying to figure a way to wrap up this encounter quickly. With three characters dropping out of the game, all casters, it has thrown off the balance a little."

At lvl 6, Kurgan will kinda-sorta become a caster.

(1) Right now he is a lvl5 fighter, so he has weapon training.
(2) There is a feat called Advanced Weapon Training
(3) This allows Kurgan to get an advanced weapon training option.
(4) When chosen, Kurgan can take the advanced weapon training option Item Mastery

Item Mastery: The fighter gains an item mastery feat as a bonus feat, which functions with any magic weapon he wields, even if the magic weapon does not meet the feat’s normal requirements. He must meet all of the feat’s prerequisites.

(5) Item Mastery Feats allow fighters to cast spells, based on their Fort save.

(6) Now, to make this all work, at lvl 6 Kurgan will be dipping into Brawler. This will give him Martial Flexibility.

"A brawler can take a move action to gain the benefit of a combat feat he doesn’t possess. This effect lasts for 1 minute. The brawler must meet all the feat’s prerequisites. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + 1/2 her brawler level (minimum 1)."

(7) So, at lvl6, Kurgan will have 4 uses per day of Martial Flexibility. He will also have Fort +9. So, with those 4 uses of Martial Flexibility, he can do things like...

(A) Cast Cure Critical Wounds once or Cure Light Wounds 4 times.
(B) Cast Lessor Restoration or Cure Blindness/Deafness
(C) Cast Telekinesis
(D) Get a fly speed
(E) Cast Dispel Magic (as a targeted dispel)
(F) Cast invisibility
(G) Cast see invisibility
(H) Cast Burning Hands or Lightning Bolt

And a few others I haven't looked into yet.

So basically, even though he'll be a fighter, he'll have 4x castings per day of some useful spells.

This should mitigate the loss of so many casters from the party, somewhat.

Glad to hear you're better now, Terquem!

Ooh, thanks Kurgan. That's a really interesting build with the weapon mastery feats. I had no idea there was something like that. I may have to borrow that idea for a different game I'm in.

Also, of course everyone's favorite pyro sorcerer goblin is still involved.

I've always wanted to see how an Iron Caster build played. Looking forward to seeing it in action.

It's been a bit too long since I updated, and I'll be honest I had some struggles figuring out where to go, but I got some ideas in a PM and I think I can bring this around.

I am going to change a few things, hopefully you wont notice the changes, much and then try to bring this battle to a close as quickly as possible to finally get to the reason why these monsters are here in the first place which I hope gives everyone, or at least some of you, a reason to get more involved in the story.

Again, I apologize for the delay, and look for Saturday or Sunday for a full game update

I hope that most of you are still here and will forgive the delay.

Beldain is still here looking for more opportunities to miss with his bow.

Still here. Just stuck without decent reception for a bit.

This old salt is still here. However, for the next few weeks my work/life balance is going to be very out of whack from the norm, and my posting will most likely be spotty and/or brief. I apologize for the disruption, and please feel free to bot me whenever necessary. My hope is that by the end of June I'll regain some equilibrium and be back to my regularly scheduled posting.

My guess is this will be less of an issue here than in my daily games; I should be able to check in at least two or three times a week.

Here, but possibly slow.

I am here

I most likely wont be able to post until the end of the week. bot as needed.

I'm a little confused. Is the chase to see which side finds the chest first?

I'd like to get some clarification before I continue in game.

GM, how do you see this unfolding? What are our options?

The obvious thing, to Moralane, at this moment is that the Undead, under the control of the Drowned Maidens (Who are the Drowned Maidens?), are searching for one of the chests, described a long time ago as one of many chest that held wedding gifts.

Somehow, the wedding gifts are an integral part of the ritual the Vampire Queen seeks to complete that will release her from her curse.

The idea is that stopping them from getting the chest, if it actually is in this town, might be the first priority.

The "Chase" I mentioned, sorry for not being more specific, can be looked at in a couple of ways, either chase the Drowned Maidens, stop them before they can get the chest, or chase after the chest yourself

You know that destroying the Drowned Maidens, or any creature that is made "undead" by the power of the vampire queen (you suspect this creation process is directly connected to the Palace of the Vampire Queen)is ultimately pointless, as they will return and no known way of permanently destroying them is known

So, you must decide to chase after the Drowned Maidens, in hopes of stopping them, or not.

@ Terquem: Do these Drowned Maidens seem to be faster than a dwarf?

@ All: My first thought is to move up and blast them with a channel, but if they're obviously going to outpace us I could instead cast slipstream on one of us Speed 20 folk so that person can keep up with them and maintain some pressure.

Thoughts?

They do seem to move with the ease and speed of a winter storm on the sea (yes they do appear to move faster than the average dwarf).

Not many details are understood about these Drowned Maidens, how many of them there actually are, and what their purpose was or is. It is uncommon to know any stories about them being seen outside of the Palace of the Vampire Queen, such as you are seeing them now.

Oh man, I didn't think I'd ever have to go back to the Eye. But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to.

@Terquem: Actually before I do something completely rash, I have two questions.
1. Could the maidens be overheard talking to each other by the group who was on the eastern side of the map?
2. Did any of the townsfolk listen to Miagnik about getting away from the two Drowned Maidens?

The answers will alter how Miagnik at least will continue with the next part of this.

The Maidens could not be heard through the din of the fighting in the street, exploding skeletons, and other shouting

As my post just described, the towns folk are abandoning the field

The map is updated. One of the drowned maidens has gone off the map toward the top, up the alley and cannot be seen

I posted a heads up last week but it looks like I missed this thread when I did. I won't have access to the internet for the next week but will be back at the beginning of next week. There will be a few other similar weeks this summer.

No worries Barnabas

It looks like a couple of my games are closing due to my negligence - and it is giving me a bit of a negative attitude, but I will try to get updated here tomorrow.

So Miagnik is going to wipe out the skeletons and zombies with a fireball, he is trying to wait for the area to be clear but it may still roast some animals. Despite Barnabas's earlier warning.

So Miagnik is going to wipe out the skeletons and zombies with a fireball, he is trying to wait for the area to be clear but it may still roast some animals. Despite Barnabas's earlier warning.

I'm sorry, I managed to totally miss this in gameplay despite Miagnik pretty clearly voicing his intention. I guess that's what I get for posting while under heavy sinus/cold medication. Perhaps turn order could be shuffled so that Agos moves in after the fireball?

If not, Miagnik should feel free to toast Agos - he can always heal himself!

I'm here, sorry for the delay.

Map update tonight.

Game update tonight if all goes well.

I guess since this encounter is a chaotic event, it makes sense that it feels so crazy. It's a little hard to follow the action though. For the new people it must seem extra disjointed and frantic.

I have to admit I'm a bit confused. I think I'm waiting for Terquem to post an action for the Drowned Maiden now that Miagnik clarified his move. Beldain was trying to stay in sight of the fleeing maidens and likely will continue doing that since he doesn't know who Moralane is.

Miagnik definitely changed his earlier action when it looked like others were still rushing to the maidens and trying to keep up with them. He gave Moralane protection against cold damage so she could chase after the maidens directly.

The Goblin is now going to interact with something that would be better off buried and forgotten about.

I think i'm a bit out of the loop as well, should I be taking an action right now?

I have some more overnights coming up. july 9-13 and 16-20. I may be able to post sporadically for the first week, unlikely for the second. I'll try to catch up in between the two. My sincere apologies for all the prolonged absences but its the way the job goes.

The week of the 4th of July snuck up on me before I was ready. My oldest son flew to Chicago to see Radiohead and my wife and I have our granddaughters age 6 and 2 till they return on Sunday. I will try to post some notes to help everyone on Sunday night if I can. Thanks

So, there seems to be confusion. Let me try to clear it up with some notes

A battle in the streets between various undead creatures and local townsfolk was already in progress when two separate groups of Player Characters encountered problems of their own.

One group, brought together only moments before by a Goblin Sorcerer by the name of Miagnik took on and defeated a pack of Zombified Hill Giants
While a second group, also recently acquainted, led by Moralane, had been making haste to reach a fire observed in the distance when they came upon a group of vampire spawn on the edge of an intersection in this little town.

Once the vampire spawn and zombie giants were dispatched the two groups came to find the intersection crowded with skeletons, zombies, and two strange, undead women in formal wedding attire (humans).

The women were identified by the more well studied in the group as Drowned Maidens, a legendary type of undead creature that plagues the southern part of the island, coming out of the mountain fortress known as the Palace of the Vampire Queen.

The two heroes, Moralan and Miagnik began shouting across the street cryptic messages to each other about some type of “chest” which might be the focus of this undead attack. The Drowned Maidens formed the undead under their control into a line, while they seemed to head into an alley at the top of the intersection. One of the Drowned Maidens stopped at the beginning of the alley to engaged the heroes, probably to delay them while the other drowned maiden was off in search of the chest.

The Heroes Agos, Barnabas, Baradesh, Kurgan, and Beldain engaged the various undead creatures while only getting hints as to what Moralane and Miagnik are shouting about, but it seems that there is something in this village that Moralane refers to as “the Eye” which might have answers to everyone’s questions. Miagnik seems to be saying that he is going to leave this battle, right in the thick of things with a flaming sphere rolling around, to go and talk to this eye

Also, two of the heroes have spotted a curious dwarven fellow in a second story window looking down upon the intersection and it is almost obvious that the Drowned Maiden who escaped is heading in that fellows direrection (assuming there are stairs and access to the second floor of this building from somewhere in the alley.

One of the heroes is in the form of a sauroid like creature, trading blows with one of the drowned maidens, while other heroes are crossing the intersection through a line of zombies and skeletons to get to the same battle. Kurgan has reached a flanking position just to the side of the Drowned Maiden, while Baradesh is coming through a pair of skeletons as quickly as he can.

I posted the above summary, is anyone still confused? Can I update the game thread or are there questions?

...Sigh, once again Paizo ate my post from days ago. I wasn't confused but now that things are laid out in perspective, I realize how foolish Miagnik was being about abandoning the fight. Despite in-game clues, Miagnik hadn't actually caught on to the fact that the Maidens were actually very close the location of the treasure chest.

I knew they were because I could read what they were saying but the chaos and fighting caused by the sounds of battle made it too hard for him to hear. Now if someone closer to the action were to yell the information out, it would probably change the goblin's mind about leaving.

Feel free to update the game, Terquem.

I think I'm ok. Honestly it kind of plays to the confusion of the situation for Beldain. I mean he didn't expect to be assaulted by undead giants...nor does he have any idea why this is happening.

One thing I am still not clear on though - in Terquem's last gameplay post he said "Before I post the Drowned Maidens round 3 action...". Now that Miagnik has clarified things, I think I'm waiting for Terquem to post the Drowned Maidens' action before Beldain's action, right?

yes

I have a non serious family thing going on right now - will be back by Wednesday or Thursday to get a game post up

Glad it's non-serious! We'll be here when you get back.

Oh man, hope everything's going good for you Terquem. Hey everyone, I'm going to be heading to go out of town to my best friend's wedding for the upcoming weekend. Should be back by Sunday and able to check in again then.

I am going to sit down at my home computer tonight - update the map image and try to see if I can salvage this game.

I have shut down all but three games I am running, and I still play in one other as a Paladin Halfling

This has been a rough time for me, and I appreciate everyone's patience.

An awesome halfling paladin.

Does Moralane know if Drowned Maidens have any particular resistances or vulnerabilities beyond ice and fire?

It looks like they have DR vs peircing, so I thought I should check what Moralane had already learned before I start experimenting.

Moralane has only two other encounters with a Drowned Maiden, by now she should be suspecting they have some form of damage resistance.

She can try a basic intelligence roll DC 10, and if she succeeds she has figured out that their bodies take less damage from slashes or piercing weapons

Wouldn't figuring out it's strengths and weaknesses be covered under Knowledge Religion, since it's undead?

I've always felt that the Knowledge checks revealing the strengths and weaknesses of monsters should be based on how commonplace that sort of creature would be within typical Lore.

For the zombies and skeletons it would absolutely work, but for rather unique Undead, like the Drowned Maidens, it would require trial and error. Which you could then turn into lore by inscribing it down afterwards.

Hmmm, yes a Knowledge Religion Check, with a DC of 17 would be a better choice, but I think this would be the roll that tells us Moralane "Knows" the Drowned Maiden is resistant to some forms of attack

While a Basic Intelligence Check, DC 10, might be used to show that Moralane has "Figured Out" the Drowned Maiden is resistant to some forms of attack

Alright, thanks.

Knowledge religion, favored enemy: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 2 = 14

Int check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15 additional +2 if favored enemy counts here

I swear I posted earlier this week...apparently I just thought so in my head. Anyway the link for the map is broken.

Map link repaired

I am having issues when trying to post from one of the computers I use during the day, please forgive the delay

There are some character actions I am waiting on, but it might be that I've lost some more players due to the terrible slow pace

Posted from my phone

Now I kinda want Beldain to sneak after Miagnik to learn what's going on. :)