GM Aarvid PFS PbP : The Devil We Know Series (Inactive)

Game Master GM Aarvid

What should be our approuch here? Do we tell them of the missing engeneers and the cult? Say we are Pathfinders? Morvius asks before entering the building.

August and Kath notice faint screaming from inside the hall.

It appears you can enter the building through the front doors or one of the many windows or by scaling the walls and entering via the skylight.

The walls of the hall are 20 feet tall and require a DC 10 Climb check to scale. .

Do you hear that? I hear someone screamin'! Maybe we should go help! August will make his way to the front door and try to enter the building unless someone commands him to stop.

An will follow August through the front door.

Once inside the Hall of Wonders, August and An can see the
outlines of three great structures piercing a thick mist
that chokes nearly the entire western half
of the building. The noise is deafening in the room, from the whirling of gears.

A brass planetarium rotates in
the northeastern corner. Next to the celestial model, a
clockwork contraption ticks and tocks as it turns on its
axis.

Finally, a giant metal crab sits with its claws extended
on a southwestern platform. A hatch at one end of the crab
provides an entrance into a barrel-like chamber; inside
two levers rest near the front of a cockpit.

Kath enters in with the two friends. While he is confident that he could climb, getting everyone up a rope would be tricky and time consuming.

The front door it is

Morvius hurriedly follows the others inside. By the inheritor, what a rackety! I cant even hear my own thoughts! Lets look for an office. He says almost shouting.

August tries to find the source of the screaming he had heard. If he does, he will move toward it.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

August hears the screaming off to the south east...off in the mist.

August will head that way! C'mon An! This way!

An follows August as he heads across the room towards the noise.

====Initiative====

As August pops clear of the mist in the building, he sees a trio of halforcs with clubs,
beating up what appears to be a female gnome engineer on the floor next to an open platform.

10' overhead of the group you see a female in armor, that looks vaguely familiar...
reminding you of one of the priestesses on the ship you raided several months ago on the docks.

Between the noise and mist, they do not seem to have noticed August yet.

You have one action or single move in the surprise round

=== Round 0 - Surprise ====
21-Kath (unaware)
20+Nguyen An
20-August
17-Morvius(unaware)
16-Holman(unaware)
12-Armored Woman (Surprised)
9-Jacen(unaware)
7-Halforc Thugs (Surprised)

Only August and Nguyen An have seen the thugs at this point

August will charge the closest half-orc, yelling as he does. In here! They're in here! Get off o' her, you ugly orc!

Standard Action Charge!: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 = 15 for Damage: 1d10 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

AC now 18

August just manages to hit the unsuspecting thug from behind, dropping him to the ground.

The rest of you have heard his yell. Nguyen An has an action in the surprise round, then we are at the top of the round for round 1

An also yells, "Hurry, there are 3 of them and one on the catwalk above us!", as he too charges the half-orcs.

Attack-Melee(Charge): 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 2 = 22
Damage: 1d10 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

AC now 14

Morvius follows his companions into the mist.

Double moves to the combat.

Since I assume Kath will move up ahead of me to face the nearest living enemy August will move through friendly squares and reach the SE corner. From there he will strike the enemy to his left (add +2 if I do flank with Morvius if he is where I think he might be).

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22 for Damage: 1d10 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Holman makes his way into the room, out of the mist, trying to make more sense of things.

Full-round action: Double move, as indicated

Jacen will draw his scimitar and move to the action.

Double move toward combat if someone could move me, I'd appreciate it.

Nguyen An partial charges the second of the three thugs around the gnome. It also drops to his onslaught.

=== Round 1 ====
21-Kath (delays)
20+Nguyen An
20-August
17-Morvius
16-Holman
12-Armored Woman
9-Jacen
7-Halforc Thugs (1)

August there is only one left and you will provoke to move to that spot, unless Nguyen An drops it first

Morvius and Holman both move up and clear the mist (remember half speed in mist). Both see 2 dropped halforcs and the armored woman on the catwalk.

An takes a step forward (5' step) and swings at the last half orc thug

Attack-Melee: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Damage: 1d10 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

Nguyen drops the last thug.

August (and Kath) goes and then the woman, who is furious at the thugs for passing to Groetus so quickly.

If they were flat-footed I'd have been fine, right? Doesn't matter since they died!

August will open the door he is next to and look for a way to reach the level that the woman is on. If there are a set of stairs in this other room I'll use full movement to head toward them.

Sorry for the delay

Moving and drawing his new dagger while he does, Kath then throws it as he nears the woman.

Move Action: Move and draw weapon
Standard Action: Throw Dagger: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Damage+Precision Damage: 1d4 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 3 = 7

Morvius moves to the fallen engineer and casts a healing spell on her.
CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Are you alright mam?

Kath comes out of delay and throws a dagger at the woman, hitting her despite the railing. She shrieks

"You fools will pay...with your pitiful lives! " she casts a spell from her loft.

sonic damage : 1d8 ⇒ 5 on Kath, August, Nguyen An, and the gnome engineer,

And fort save to avoid stunned 1 round

=== Round 2 ====

Party up... Remember to roll fort for three in front.

Morvius moves up to cast a cure on the gnome...

Jacen will move up and slice at the woman's neck.

Swift: Arcane Strike
Move:
standard action attack

1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 1 = 251d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 = 5

Jacen, she is 10' up on a catwalk .

You didn't account for my action, which was to open the door and move toward any stairway or ladder that might be inside.

Then apply the previous roll with a +6 for acrobatics to jump and grab the catwalk. That should be 5' off the ground plus my height should be enough to grab the catwalk. Do I need a climb roll to pull myself up?
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Fort Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

If not stunned, An follows August through the door in search of the stairs leading to the catwalk.

Sorry August, was not sure which door you wanted (since you were in corner but now in middle) and forgot to ask before posting...assuming you moved back to and opened the middle door (you currently stand next) to opens to a 10x10 room with a window and no stairs. Let me know if otherwise.

Jacen, you can move and then jump to grab the catwalk. If you can, Indicate on the map where you want to grab and climb over the rail. Also are you sheathing scimitar or what.

Nguyen An is stunned by the blast of sound and drops his weapon.

The gnome nods weakly as Morvius heals her.

Can't indicate what square as I am posting from my phone, I would like to not draw AoO if possible but will if I have to. Yes, I will sheath the scimitar.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Oh well, at least Kath doesn't have a weapon in his hand to drop

This is one of those times where PbP makes things messy. I was where I stand now before I had said I wanted to go attack a thug. However, only one was left and then An killed the remaining thug before my turn. So, I elected to open the door to see if I could find stairs. Since no stairs are in that room, August would have used his move action to go to the door where the dead thug is. He'd then use his standard action to open it (again not finding stairs). At this point, I would think August would still be caught by the spell so I'll make a save.

Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

August easily shrugs off the effects of the stun, however he feels the physical effect of the spell. How do we get up there to her?!?! August asks frantically.

HP 34/39. I'll now move my pog to the spot in front of said door.

Holman shouts to the gnome, "How do we get up there?!" and watches for any indication of direction.

Holding action until the gnome responds

The gnome shouts to Holman over the din... " Quick ! There is a ladder back in the first room... Hidden in the fog I am sure" and she rushes into the room August opened to get out of line of fire.

Holman rushes in the indicated direction, finding the ladder.

Full-round action: Double move to base of ladder

Morvius nods and follows.

Keep in mind, all movement in mist is halved. iPad battery died and need to find charger in suitcase. Will have next round posted later today .

Is this a special mist? I don't believe that normal mist or spells like obscuring mist effect movement.

I have always seen: Hampered Movement: Difficult terrain, obstacles, and poor visibility can hamper movement (see Table: Hampered Movement for details). Per the table on poor visibility, movement is 2x.

I suppose that's fair, but surely normal mist can't be worse then being blinded can it? Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone.

No argument there from me. I would think blinded far worse than poor visibility. Poor visibility is defined as not seeing beyond 60' outdoors but vague for indoors or in mist. Certainly if visibility is only 5' - that qualifies as poor. This is how other GM's have played it as well.

Kath and Nguyen An are stunned by the burst of sound. August shrugs it off.

Holman listens to the lady gnome engineer and rushes off into the mist to find the ladder with Morvius not far behind.

Jacen sheathes his scimitar and moves to jump to the rail and pulls himself up to the catwalk still in the mist.

Let me know if I missed anything from anyone for round 2.

The woman looks down and sees her allies have all dropped.

"Groetus, show them your power!"

channel negative: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8 DC Will for half. All but Holman.

=== Round 3 ===

Party Up

Jacen will activate his arcane strike ability, rage , and start at battle dance

Will 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Acrobatics check for last round to move at full speed
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

...and for this round.
Holman climbs up the ladder, then rushes toward the cleric.

Full-round action: Double move (40', or 10' climbing), as indicated on map
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Will Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Curse this troublesome priest! Kath says as he shakes his head and uncovers his ears from the burst of sound only to then shake off the filthy and painful feeling that crawls over his skin.

Kath can make a DC 10 acro check with a 1, but making the roll in case any penalties need to be applied

Kath runs back through the mist towards the ladder, cursing slightly. he should arrive just at the base of it.

Acrobatics to move at full speed: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

August double moves toward the ladder now that he knows where it is.

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 What's the DC to save?

Bending down to retrieve his fallen weapon, An is struck with the woman's second spell. Will save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

He is able to shake off part of the damage, and quickly ducks through one of the open doors to get out of the woman's line of sight.