Absalom Abberations - A Pathfinder Society Tale

Game Master Brian Minhinnick

Roll 20 Campaign


751 to 800 of 9,619 << first < prev | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | next > last >>

HP: 36/36  |  Martial Maneuvers: 5/5
Stats:
AC 23, T 14, FF 19; CMD 23 (25 vs. Grapple); Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +0; Init +2; Percept +6

Grommuk's shoulders slump and he grumbles like a child that isn't getting his way. "We walk back home now? Uggghhhhhhh!"


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

"If they had one of the blades, I doubt they would part with it and risk it being lost. We will have to find a way to break the spiritual bond another way. I don't think they could last long in Grommuk's hands."


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

Posting from phone at work leads to redundant wordage. Yay.

"As for going in a window, I don't believe that to be practical. Our Orc-blooded friends here would have difficulty fitting, I'd wager, and we would likely lose any surprise element we have. Our main concern is succumbing to the mist of the Tik Taan. If the legends are true, my mask should keep me safe. The rest of you should cover your airways as well. If it isn't true, we will just have to hope we can resist the effect. I can make Grommuk large, and I seem to recall Nyugusk being able to do so himself. With them at the front, I have faith in our ability to methodically clear this place and find the cursed objects as well as the defected Pathfinder that owns the museum. But we should not delay. If you would like to formally strategize quickly back at the Estate, I am fine with that as long as we do not take too long."

Want to table talk out the plan in Discussion?


Table talk is fine with me.


This mist thing started earlier in the day, and you guys just heard about it. It's already dark now. The museum is in the Wise Quarter, probably a 40 minute walk from 457 Jabberwocky.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

Cladissa tries to reassure Grommuk. Our house is on the way. Plus, we need to get something so we don't breathe in the mist. It's dangerous.

She looks at Argor, frowning. Hestram said to start by finding the office. I think the third room there looks pretty office-like. And we don't know how large the windows are until we see them.


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

Argor shrugs as they turn to walk back to the Manor. "We will have to see when we get there, though it will prove more difficult for us to enter regardless, as we will have to take time to climb through as opposed to walking in. We are in agreement to head to this location first, just a difference on the path we take. If yours is the route everyone agrees upon, I will concede my plan."

Whatever it is that has gotten into her has given her a bit of backbone. Unfortunately, she is choosing the wrong person to try to make a display of it upon. For now, though, let us see how long she can maintain this new persona.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

I still don't know why we didn't ask about those obsidian knives. Grommuk wouldn't be the best to use them, but Hrim or Nyugusk could, Cladissa mutters as they reach the manor. She runs up to her room to gather her gear and change into a dark-colored outfit that exposes much of her camouflaged fur. Taking some strips of cloth from her torn bedding, she fashions a mask for her face, but leaves it down around her neck for right now.

She pauses in front of her mirror, remembering what Hestram said about the mists. Men reduced to beasts. Her heart thuds as a strange impulse strikes her. Her hips twinge again in pain for a moment, and she shakes her head. She reaches up and touches her scarf reassuringly.

She comes down ready to go, and hands Grommuk a wide strip of cloth. Here you go. Tie this over your mouth before we go in the museum. The mist is bad; you don't want to breathe it in. She shows her own scarf tied around her neck. See? We'll all be wearing something.


After collecting the necessary masks, the group makes their way to the museum to get a better idea of what they are dealing with.

The Blakros Museum rises into the night sky, its single black spire severing the full moon in twain. The black iron gates surrounding the exhibition hall grind in protest against the wind. Beyond, the museum’s large oaken doors stand wide open, a silver-gray mist belching forth from the dimly lit interior. The building is huge and built in a Neo-Chelaxian (Gothic) style. The museum is covered in stone embellishments. The gutters have many small stone gargoyles watching over them. The spire that rises from the rear of the building is supported by several flying buttresses. The windows all around the building are small patterned affairs, set into solid stone near the gutters (somewhat like this, except smaller). Climbing up to them wouldn't be an issue for Cladissa, but they don't open. They'd have to be broken out to provide an entrance, and none of them are big enough for anyone but Hrimnagel.


"Cladissa, do you want to check the roof? I'll check the perimeter?" Hrimnagel circles the perimeter looking for anything new. Specifically, he's getting up close to the windows and looking inside. He wants to notice movement and the thickness of the walls in order to use his Stone Shape.

Stealth take 10 +22=32
Perception take 10 +9=19
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24


The windows are like 25'-30' up.

Hrimnagel makes his circuit without seeing anything out of sorts. The walls are anywhere from two to four feet thick.


What's the DC to Climb?


DC 15


DM Jelani wrote:
DC 15

Hrim makes Climb take 10+5=15.


Which room are you looking into?


DM Jelani wrote:
Which room are you looking into?

All of them. I'll go clockwise from the front doors.


Area 1. (lit) The grand entranceway’s vaulted ceiling is supported by six great pillars of hewn black stone. Braziers mounted on the pillars cast white radiance from balls of continual light. The light glimmers eerily in the silvery haze that fills the atrium, giving the impression of something alien watching from the glowing fog.

Area 2. (dark) The mists here congeal into a thick and silvery fog that cools the lungs. A giant warrior looms from the haze, his arms crossed at his chest, his helm solemn and still. Beyond lie sarcophagi of varieddesigns, and a few glass cases wherein withered dead are held upright by rods and string, grim exhibits of long-dead citizens whose fallen empires were erased an age past.

Area 3. (dark) The windows here are covered in thick mist, Hrimnagel can't see through them.

Area 7. (dark) The windows here appear to be covered with a thick growth of vines on the inside, Hrimnagel can't see through them.

Area 6. (dark) Mad laughter echoes in this cramped stone chamber audible through the glass. The room is full of mist, but through the haze can be seen smears of blood across the floor, walls, and ceiling, as well as the doors of several bathroom stalls. Once or twice Hrimnagel can see the furtive movements of whatever is laughing in the mist, but it's unclear what it is.

Area 4. (lit) This gigantic chamber is relatively free of mist, and darkness is held at bay by braziers of radiant light. Behemoths occupy these halls, great taxidermy nightmares such as a two-headed bear easily taller than an ogre; a great desiccated beetle, its carapace larger than the face of the grand clocktower of Absalom; a massive specimen of chimera, its jaws open in a mock roar; and an assembled skeleton of a tyrant lizard. The walls here are studded with strange masks, staves, spears, and other implements of long forgotten cultures, most likely used in ritual hunts of the beasts preserved here.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

Cladissa drops Cole off before her own scouting. Keep an eye out, she tells him as she brings up her scarf. Then she clambers up the walls in advance of Hrimnagel, peering into each window and going up on the roof in order to see if there are any skylights or entrances.


She sees the same thing as him, except less since she can't make out anything in the dark rooms. There are no skylights or entrances on the roof.


Is the giant warrior in area 2 alive? How think are the walls near the windows?

Hrimnagel returns and reports to the team.


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

"Well, it seems that the most likely places for our quarry would be in one of these three rooms," Argor says, pointing out rooms 3, 7, and 6 on their map.

He then motions to the doors leading from the hall into rooms 2 and 4, asking "Did you manage to see what these doors looked like, if they could be barred in any way?"


Did I?


Hrim - All the warriors, including the giant man, in that room are taxidermied. They are museum displays, thoroughly dead from the look of them. The interior doors you saw were all simple wooden affairs, and they were all open (it's a public museum after all). The walls around the windows are about two feet thick, same as everywhere except the corners and places where there's ornamentation and it thickens out to 3-4 feet. The interior stone frames of the windows themselves (the parts between the mini-panes of glass that hold them in place) are only about 5 inches thick, but melting them would cause all the panes of glass to fall out and break making a very loud noise and ruining an extremely expensive and possibly irreplaceable part of an important historical structure whose ownership you're trying to get on the Society's good side.

I know you guys got screwed by rushing in last time, but this is a totally different situation. You've done your homework, and honestly your best bet is probably to go in buffed up through the front door as a group. The only live creatures you've seen or heard is whatever's laughing in the bathrooms (area 6).


Hrim tells the crew and readies his longbow.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

Cladissa also loads her crossbow and gets it ready. She uses her scroll of mage armor, and just before they enter, she chants for a few seconds and enlarges Grommuk. She lets him enter first.

She casts her own set of dancing lights, and brings up detect magic as the group passes through the threshold.


"Let me take a look." Hrimnagel fixes his mask and pads inside.

Stealth take 10+22=32
Perception take 10+9=19


An unnatural cold permeates this chamber and the tendrils of silver-gray mist flowing out the front archway into the courtyard beyond seem to effortlessly pierce the flesh and gently caress the bone in a cold embrace.

Hrimnagel Will Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Averted by the mask. Yay knowledge checks. The first room is otherwise as described above.

Map


Hrimnagel pads into the center of the room and looks for open doors and bad guys.

Stealth take 10+22=32
Perception take 10+9=19


The rooms look exactly the same as they did through the windows. Nothing moves.

Map


Hrimnagel returns to the group outside and surprises some of them with his small, thin whisper. "Everything is still. I've opened the first two facing interior doors. I'm going inside the door on the right to reach the office door. I'll listen and wait for you there. Be as quiet as you can. Something's in there."

Stealth take 10+22=32
Perception take 10+9=19
Move into room 2 and head to the square on the north side of the door and listen.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

Cladissa moves into the first room, hanging behind the large form of Grommuk. She casts her eyes in all directions, peering through the mists.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26


The offices are next to room 2, not 4. Cladissa, did you cast the enlarge or not? Hrimnagel's sneaking about is burning time if you did and I need to add it up.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

I know I said I did, but I thought we were going in in formation ready to take on all comers. Then Hrimnagel starts scouting. That's why I pushed in with that last post, since I'd hate for my spell to be wasted while he explored. So it's your call, GM.


I'm making it your call. If you want to hold off, I'm fine with that. This whole thing would probably be easier to parse if we did it in rounds, if you're all going to be moving separately. So, I'm going to put Hrimnagel back at the front doors, and we'll start from right after when he told you guys that the first room and hallway are clear.

Map

So after Hrimnagel comes back with his report that the first couple rooms are clear of obvious threats, and that the masks protect against the creepy cold mist, what do each of you do? Round by round please. You can post multiple rounds of actions, just label them sequentially.


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

While moving in, Argor will remain behind the Orc Meat Wall at all times. Rounds will go as follows:

Round 1: Dancing Lights, 4 white orbs arranged above the group.
Round 2: Mage Armor from scroll
Round 3: Unseen Servant from scroll
Round 4: Shield from scroll, have Unseen Servant carry a Scroll of Magic Missile


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

Okay, so let's say that I cast the spell right after we got the all clear from Hrimnagel, then move in, hanging in the back along with Argor. I'm not so worried about the Mage Armor, since that's an hour.


Argor Constantine wrote:

While moving in, Argor will remain behind the Orc Meat Wall at all times. Rounds will go as follows:

Round 1: Dancing Lights, 4 white orbs arranged above the group.
Round 2: Mage Armor from scroll
Round 3: Unseen Servant from scroll
Round 4: Shield from scroll, have Unseen Servant carry a Scroll of Magic Missile

Thought you already did all those outside? Anything longer than minute per level is fine to pre-buff here. This place isn't that big. It's still going to be a move action to retrieve the scroll that the unseen servant is carrying.


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

The hour/level spells are fine, as Cladissa said, but I'd have waited on Shield until just before going inside. Argor is smart enough to time his buffs to their maximum potential. I just put the stats on there so I didn't forget to later.


Right. Is the plan to head straight for the offices?


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

Yeah, try and get some answers from this manager.


stats:
AC25 T:13 F:22 | F+8 R+9 W+7 | Per+11; darkvision 60’ | Init+2 | CMD 22
Buffs: Greater Magic Fang (CL5, +1 to all limbs), Barkskin (CL12, +5 to Nat Armor), Long arm (+5' reach), See Invisibility, Channel Vigor

Seconds before entering the building, Nyugusk tosses back his mutagen. His teammates immediately recognize the same telltale scent of banana custard mixed with stale urine.

In the span of seconds, they hear the sound of bones stretching and snapping into new positions. Suddenly his mane is shaggier, his chest and arms broader, and his mouth -- somehow -- filled with even more wildly jutting tusks.

The bestial halforc belches and then smiles. "Ahhh, one step closer to True Perfection!"

Stepping beside Grommuk he continues, "Alright then, let's go meet this manager!"

_________________

Back from vacation now. Hoping to retcon in some between adventure RP at some point, but for now I'll just join in.


Round 1

Argor reads a scroll summoning his unseen servant. Grommuk and Nyugusk move into the museum, heading for the offices. Hrimnagel follows them, hidden in his shadows.

Cladissa casts enlarge person?

Map after everyone except Cladissa goes.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

Yes, now I'll cast it. Grommuk's large.

Taking a last look at her familiar's yellow eyes glinting in the darkness outside, she turns and follows the others into the mists.


HP: 36/36  |  Martial Maneuvers: 5/5
Stats:
AC 23, T 14, FF 19; CMD 23 (25 vs. Grapple); Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +0; Init +2; Percept +6

Grommuk looks around the hallway and peers into the nearest room. Eventually he shrugs and calls out loudly "Hello?" Hearing the added bass to his own voice seems to catch the orc's fancy. He begins making random unintelligible noises and chuckling at the deepened sounds he can make.


Exploration Round 1 Cont...

Cladissa calls Grommuk back so he'll be in range of her spell, and then begins casting the lengthy ritual.

Exploration Round 2

Argor casts shield on himself from a scroll, then moves forward. Cladissa's spell completes and Grommuk grows to giant size. He moves after Nyugusk and she follows him. Hrimnagel keeps stealthing forward, and Nyugusk leads the way to the offices, through the West Exhibit Hall.

The mists here congeal into a thick and silvery fog that cools the lungs in the hall. A giant warrior looms from the haze, his arms crossed at his chest, his helm solemn and still. Beyond lie sarcophagi of varied designs, and a few glass cases wherein withered dead are held upright by rods and string, grim exhibits of long-dead citizens whose fallen empires were erased an age past.

As Hrimnagel, Grommuk and Nyugusk move across the exhibition, a few of the long dead display subjects begin to jerk and move, tearing themselves free of their displays, shattering the glass. One is a withered, mummified thing from beneath Osirion’s sands bearing a jeweled scarab on its chest among its spiced wrappings, a scarab seer and warrior-priest of an old pharaonic age. Another is an armored warrior of a long dead empire, clad in heavy discolored bronze plates and helm. A third is a hulking skeleton with some dried fleshy sinew still on it, a towering ancestor of the Kellid race who wields a greatclub fashioned from a mammoth’s ivory tusk. The fourth is a shrunken emaciated corpse wrapped in rotten silks, chainmail and holding a silvered Qadiran scimitar in one bony fist.

Begin Combat Round 1

The mummified scarab seer (yellow) rushes Nyugusk before he can react. A wave of horrible grave rot stench washes over the half-orc and Grommuk behind him. The smell is so bad that they immediately begin retching and vomiting involuntarily. The dead thing lunges forward to bite at Nyugusk with its needle-like teeth while he vomits. The alchemist reels back out of the way and avoids the bite.

The bronze clad warrior on the south wall of the chamber (olive) raises his tarnished longsword and slowly lurches over to Grommuk, who is too distracted by the sudden attack and his own involuntary sickness to make a strike at the thing.

The Qadiran warlord (Orange) spots Cladissa in the doorway and charges her. His skeletal frame and ancient armor clatter as he raises the curved blade over his head. The undead warrior brings the scimitar down in a powerful overhand slice, cutting Cladissa's chest wide open.

The proto-kellid warchief roars. It's a dusty, cracked, horrible sound being forced through 10,000 year old vocal cords. He charges the short distance across the room to Grommuk, swinging his mammoth-tusk club with great force. The club cracks Grommuk over the back of the head, fracturing part of his skull.
_________________________________________

Initiative:

Hrimnagel: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Cladissa: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Argor: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Grommuk: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Nyugusk: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Qadiran: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Bronze: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18
Scarab Seer: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Proto-kellid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Initiative
Scarab Seer 18+
Bronze 18
Qadiran 15
Proto-Kellid 11
Party 9.2

Nyugusk stench save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14 Fail
Gromm stench save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Fail

You are both sickened for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 minutes. Sickened is -2 to all d20 rolls.

Bite on Nyug: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8 Miss

Scimitar on Cladissa: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 3 + 2 = 19
Damage to Cladissa: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Club on Grommy (charge, flanking): 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 2 + 2 = 20
Damage to Grommuk: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Argor's view

Cladissa's View Cladissa won't really be able to see much until Argor brings the light forward.

Everyone Else's View

You guys are up for Round 1


Current AC: 37 (39 vs Evil) HP: (16/16) 224/224
Stats:
AC 33, T 18, FF 25; (All saves +2 vs Evil) Fort +16, Ref +18, Will +22; Init +2; Percept +36
Current Buffs: (Permanent: Darkvision, See Invisibility, Arcane Sight), Heightened Awareness, Shield, False Life, Tears to Wine, Invisibility Sphere

Hearing combat being joined, Argor hustles forward, keeping a wary eye behind him into the other room (if that door is open). When he reaches the doorway, he peers in, reaching and taking the scroll from the invisible force carrying it for him.

"Close that door then return," he commands the unseen servant, and the door to the room behind the group appears to close of its own volition.
__________
Move: To O16
Move: Retrieve Scroll of Magic Missile from Servant
Free: Command Servant to close door to the south.
Servant Move: Close door to the south, if possible.


I haven't put their stats in my profile yet. That takes some time and I'm now running 6 games now. I've got some other work to do before I go to my job today, but I will get them up there eventually. Probably later tonight. Sorry for the delay.


HP: 14/14;
Stats:
AC 18, T 12, FF 16; Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4; Init +4; Percept +9, low-light vision
Human Witch 2

I'm not sure why my vision is impaired. I cast my own dancing lights, and I've got Low Light Vision. Assuming I can see enough to act, here's my turn:

Seeing -- or possibly only hearing -- the huge crack to the skull that Grommuk received, Cladissa slips away from her attacker and moves to assist him. While the pain from her wound burned fiercely, she knew she had to keep the hulking orc up and fighting if they were to prevail.

_____________________________
AoO on Cladissa: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10 Miss even if he keeps his +2 from his charge.
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Move to L17

Cure Light Wounds of Grommuk: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7


I missed that you cast dancing lights as well. You can see fine then, I'll fix it with the next map update.


Round 1

Hrimnagel is surprised. Maybe he missed the trigger to animate the exhibits. Either way, he waits for Cladissa to move and shoots the Qadiran warlord with his longbow.

attack flat-footed & PBS: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 1 = 22
if hit, damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

His concealment should prevent the AOO for using a ranged attack in melee, even if it knew Hrim was there, right?

751 to 800 of 9,619 << first < prev | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / Play-by-Post / Absalom Abberations - A Pathfinder Society Tale All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.