GM Blood's Age of Worms in Golarion

Game Master David James Olsen

"Does getting disqualified really matter now?" Rowena asks.

"Get upstairs with magic. I'll meet you there."

Rowena and her 70-foot movement rate take off.

But on the upper ring level, there isn't a way to access the tunnel this thing is crawling up, right? Isn't that where Rauno did a circuit of the ring with detect secret doors going and didn't find anything?

You are currently between the lower level, where the Coenoby is and where you searched without finding secret doors, and the upper level. It has currently burst the opaque dome in the upper level and trying to batter the ceiling/floor of the arena above. The secret door to the secret level you are on is just south of the burst dome.

For a moment, Trevor wonders about the competition, but Rowena's words snap him back: "An excuse?! How about: This thing is trying to destroy us all!?"

Did we fight today, or was it yesterday? I lost track... And is this a new round (meaning buffing)?

"Competition's over. The real champions will be whoever slays this monstrosity before it destroys the city."

Thanks for the location refresher, GM.

With a syllable, whisks the group away to the side of the dome on the upper level.

"We need to stop it here, lest it get to the crowded arena. Those worms would create thousands of infected if it is allowed up there."

He's right! It can't escape... shivers Trevor at Rauno's words.

Huff...huff...puff...puff

Which side of the dome Rauno? And how close to it?

Northside of the dome. Trevor and Kelkzar 20' away in the passage that leads north by the 30' by 30' rooms, the rest behind those two further away from the dome.

Map updated. The dome in underneath the monster. It has been partially broken, but still solid enough for the worm like creature to be on top of it. It squeezed through a smaller hole (Large sized).

Trevor, Quintus, and Kelkar can do a standard action to buff or cast a spell before they leave, but otherwise they are gathering for Rauno to do his Dim door spell.

Rowena you made it to the bottom of the stairs leading up. (Round 2 action). Round 3 you will make it up the stairs and open the secret door. That means you could make it to the creature with a move action (I count 65' of movement remains.)

Rauno casts his spell and you appear in the upper ring. On top of the partially shattered dome sits a large grub-like creature with millions of tiny tendrils whipping about. (Of which extend outwards of 40' which places all of you in). It slams into the roof above trying to burst through. The ceiling buckles, but does not give way.

These tendrils whip about damaging you every round you are in it. Also it imposes a -2 to attack rolls inside the tendrils as well

Tendril Damage: 1d12 ⇒ 3 Everyone except Rowena

Str Check roof: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Round 3

Initiative Order - Rauno, Rowena, Kelkzar, Quintus, Trevor, Apostle of Kyuss

Apostle of Kyuss AC ?? T ?? FF ?? CMD ??

Quintus casts bull's strength on Trevor.

Once we've appeared, does Quintus think that a freedom of movement spell will help with the penalties to hit?

The air around Rauno seems to shimmer as he utters a dire prediction in an otherworldly voice.

"The beast shall fall, but not before it exacts its toll. Strike quickly lest all of Magnimar be its price!"

Activately Foretell ability, round 1 of 9, and stow wand of magic missiles. Rauno will stay where he is for the moment, waiting to see what his allies do.

All within 30' of Rauno: +2 luck bonus on ability checks, attack rolls, caster level checks, saving throws and skill checks.

Edit: Knowledge check 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (5) + 19 = 24. "Good gods! It is a Ulgurstasta! An undead monstrosity of tremendous power!"

Could have opened all the spoilers on a good roll, but nope. Just the first. :P

It won't help with the penalties to hit, but would help with grapple/swallow whole. You would need true seeing or something like that to avoid the negative to hit

How high up is the done from the ground below and would Rowena be able to Ki throw this thing back through it, if positioned correctly?

The hole is smaller than the creature (Large sized hole vs Gargantuan creature. It is able to squeeze through smaller areas with issues since it is a worm. So you don't think it is possible to throw it through the hole it made.

If it's a worm, does that mean it's also immune to tripping?

Just chiming in...Ki throw: On a successful unarmed trip attack against a target your size or smaller...The worm is Gargantuan and probably immune to tripping! :) Looking forward to the battle.
EDIT: I forgot about those damn monks and their ki points! LOL! Good luck.

Good Point. While the 3.5 stats don't outright say it, I think that it is likely that is the case that it can't be tripped. Lucendar, hi! She is a monk and has special ki tricks. Though even those may not be able to overcome this!

Trevor bites his lips as he takes on the sight and might of the creature and shouts, exhalted: "Rafan, my True Love, guide my hand so that we bring down this madness!!"

He rushes forth, ignoring the tendrils lacerating his face, fauchard held high above his head, to the edge of the dome, and sends the blade crashing on the monstrosity.

Cast Bless Weapon last round, Smite Evil, move to J-13.

PA, FF, Bless Weapon, Haste, Holy, BS, Prayer, Foretell, Smite, Vital Strike: 1d20 + 17 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 17 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 442d10 + 19 + 2d6 + 2 + 1 + 9 ⇒ (9, 8) + 19 + (3, 4) + 2 + 1 + 9 = 55

Additional damage (bless weapon): 1d10 + 19 + 2d6 + 2 + 1 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 19 + (5, 5) + 2 + 1 + 9 = 50

Not bad... ;)

Is there a confirm roll in there Trevor? Duh, NVM, that's bless weapon Sweet!

Is there a confirm roll in there Trevor?

Blessed Weapon...auto-confirm crits:)

Rowena finishes her movement by getting right up to the creature on the opposite side, providing a flank for everybody else.

I'm afraid the +2 from flanking is the most she's going to be able to do to this thing.

Trevor, did you double the smite evil damage bonus for his attack, it being the first hit against an undead?

Well, hopefully all of this is made irrelevant by Trevor's crit!
As Rauno gathers the heroes for the dimension door, Kelkzar casts another spell and a fiery glowing rune appears on his falchion. The half-orc's eyes narrow at the sight of the monstrous worm as Rauno's warning rings out. "Ulgurstasta! By the gods you're right Rauno! They have a powerful bite and the ability to swallow whole those they bite! The tendrils will make it hard to hit!"
Casts flames of the faithful last round
Knowledge (Religion) with Monster Lore: 1d20 + 16 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 16 + 6 = 28
Does the Knowledge check help Kelkzar know if the tendrils considered concealment or just the -2 to hit?

Rowena, you are still one round away. This round you get to tip of stairs and open secret door

Rowena finishes her movement by getting right up to the creature on the opposite side, providing a flank for everybody else.

I'm afraid the +2 from flanking is the most she's going to be able to do to this thing.

Don't sell yourself short! You could also give another +2 for aiding another. :) Hey, not everything can be your plaything!

Im not complaining. Rowena has been blessed in this campaign with a large number of trippable, humanoid-ish enemies to play with. I knew going in that there would be foes that would render a lot of her abilities useless.

However, I guess she's not there yet, so hopefully Kelkzar and Trevor can kill the thing before she has to show how useless she is.

Besides, she could always try to grapple the thing and do the move with your opponent while grappling to move through the opening, taking it with her. I just don't think the damage would ever be worth it.

Quintus backs out of the creature's tendrils and levels his scimitar at it in challenge. "Sarenrae, hear your servant! Send down your holy fire!" In response, a column of incandescent flame blasts down from the ceiling into the undead worm.

Flame strike damage, DC 19 Reflex save for half damage: 9d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 5, 4, 4, 5, 2, 4) = 34

Caster level check, just in case: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Yes, I forgot the double on undead's first hit. Thanks! So that's 18 more damage?

If Rowena could Ki Throw this then I would have had to have two so she could throw one into the other!

Kelkzar, it doesn't have concealment from the tendrils

Trevor, yes 18 more damage, but also 10 less, Holy doesn't double on the crit. So 113 Damage!

As Trevor moves forward, the creature stops bashing the ceiling and lashes out catching the Paladin with its bite. Trevor shrugs it off and lands a perfect blow, the Ulgurstasta roars out in agony.

Bite AoO: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (8) + 22 = 30 *Hit, or at least pretty sure even with haste and Smite Cha bonus to AC*
Damage: 3d6 + 16 ⇒ (4, 6, 2) + 16 = 28

Quintus calls down a pillar of flame, but cannot penetrate the Ulgurstasta's defenses against magic.

Rauno and Kelkzar yet to come up.

Is bashing the ceiling its regular action? If not, then I think it gets to go before Rauno does again.

You are right Rauno

Round 4

The air around Rauno continues to vaguely shimmer with the residual power of his prediction. Rauno takes advantage of that, using it to predict the best time to cast a spell.

Maintain Foretell, round 2 of 9. Prescience, 1 of 10 1d20 ⇒ 2

"Trevor, this will help you elude its grasp! Do not relent!"

Cast defensively to give Grease on Trevor's armor, DC 17. 1d20 + 9 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 9 + 7 = 35

He will also stow his rod of metamagic.

Trevor: +10 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks and combat maneuver checks made to escape a grapple, and to CMD to avoid being grappled.

All within 30' of Rauno: +2 luck bonus on ability checks, attack rolls, caster level checks, saving throws and skill checks.

If any PC is grappled before Rauno's next turn, as an immediate action he'll cast Liberating Command defensively to help them escape.

Quintus, your caster level check should have been 2 higher from the foretell ability, if that makes a difference.

"Eeewww! Thanks!?" shouts Trevor as his armour gets engulfed by thick grease.

Okay, Rowena moves forward on round 4 to provide the flanking.

Aid another attack: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 15 + 2 = 37

Trevor gets +2 to his next attack.

Don't get to far ahead of yourselves. Kelkzar and it hasn't gone yet in round 3.

"Bless this battle Ragathiel! Trevor, I'll try to go around the other side to see if we can surround it!" With the added speed of Rauno's haste Kelkzar loops around the edge of the room before attempting to dive in and attack with his falchion.
Think by circling the edge of the room I can attempt to get to M9 to attack.
Free action: Rage, continue judgements
Swift action: Bane against undead
Destructive smite
Attack: 1d20 + 23 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 23 - 2 = 36 Edit: One more for foretell
Confirm if that hits: 1d20 + 22 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 22 - 2 = 40
Damage: 2d4 + 24 + 2d4 + 24 + 2d6 + 1d6 + 1d10 ⇒ (2, 1) + 24 + (1, 2) + 24 + (3, 1) + (4) + (9) = 71 58 magical slashing and 13 fire

184 damage so far? Figure it might be half down by now....

Even with the +2 it didn't overcome its SR

AoO Kelkzar Bite: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (17) + 22 = 39
Damage: 3d6 + 16 ⇒ (1, 5, 1) + 16 = 23

As Kelkzar moves through the tendrils, the creature snaps at him, leaving a big gash. Kelkzar takes it in stride and brings the blade down adding another huge wound, despite the fact that the creature's strange hide absorbed some of the blow DR

Damage taken from Tendrils: 1d12 ⇒ 3 Rowena take this damage when you get to the creature

Don't forget the damage from last round for this too, I don't see it marked off anyone except Trevor

The creature steps back and unleashes a spray of sickly looking acid that sprays Trevor, Rauno, and Quintus. I could only find a 30' cone template and this one is 60', but it should get Trevor if he steps back

Con Drain: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 2) = 12 Reflex DC 18 reduces this to 4 Drain

Round 4

Rowena comes around the corner and gets bit before setting it up for another Trevor attack.

AoO Rowena Bite: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (2) + 22 = 24 *Hit I believe...*
Damage: 3d6 + 16 ⇒ (2, 4, 5) + 16 = 27

Rauno greases Trevor's armor Unless losing 12 Con changes things for you

Round 4

Initiative Order - Rauno, Rowena, Kelkzar, Quintus, Trevor, Apostle of Kyuss

Apostle of Kyuss AC ?? T ?? FF ?? CMD ??

Reflex vs. disgusting spewage 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 18 reduces to 4 drain.

Con is 10, hit points are 38/44. Yes, he'll stay and cast Grease.
.
.
.

And count his hero points while looking up how many he's going to need to cheat death...

Edit: Hit points adjusted for tendril damage. Thanks for the warning on the AoO. Not sure I could survive that, so I'll stay put and stow the rod. Thanks!

Quintus avoids the worst of the spray.

DC 18 Reflex save, incl. prayer and foretelling: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 1 + 2 = 23

CON now 10, HP now 59/62.

Rauno you can do that instead, however you know from the others moving in that it can bit you from there, so if you are willing to take an AoO then yes you can move there

Also don't forget the 6 tendril damage, 3 from last and this round for damage. It affects everyone within 40' of it

I screwed up last round and should not have the extra point from foretell (due to distance). If a 35 would have missed, my crit would not have landed.
Kelkzar looks on in horror as the acid washes over Rauno, Quintus and Trevor, but breathes a sigh of relief as Rauno and Quintus seems to dodge the spray. The half-orc takes a step to the south, trying to get around the creature. "Stay still dammit! We're trying to surround you! Ragathiel, help me end this now!" With that short prayer, the Empyreal Lord lends ever more force to Kelkzar's blows and three more blows from Kelkzar's falchion fall upon the beast.
Continue rage, continue bane
Swift action to switch judgement of purity to judgement of destruction
Destructive smite
5 foot south
Attack 1: 1d20 + 22 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 22 - 2 = 38
Confirm 1: 1d20 + 22 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 22 - 2 = 23 Since that probably did not confirm, I will give you damage separately
Regular damage 1: 2d4 + 28 + 2d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (4, 3) + 28 + (6, 1) + (5) = 47 42 magical slashing, 5 fire
Crit damage 1 if confirmed: 2d4 + 28 + 1d10 ⇒ (3, 1) + 28 + (8) = 40 32 magical slashing, 8 fire
Attack 2: 1d20 + 22 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 22 - 2 = 32
Damage 2: 2d4 + 28 + 2d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (1, 4) + 28 + (1, 5) + (1) = 40 39 magical slashing, 1 fire
Attack 3: 1d20 + 17 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 17 - 2 = 22
Damage 3: 2d4 + 28 + 2d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (2, 3) + 28 + (2, 5) + (4) = 44 40 magical slashing, 4 fire
No, I'm not biting him back!
Status: hp 80/109, rage 9 rounds used, bane 8 rounds used destructive smite 4 used (counting round 4)

A 23 does confirm!

Though divine in nature, even this beast cannot withstand a third critical blow. As Kelkzar lands another wicked slash, it stumbles once before crashing down upon the dome, spider web cracks appear throughout the dome, but it holds, for now.

So far no one has showed up, they probably ran when it broke through the dome or was above. Make your choice on what to do now! With the dome broke the area below will be discovered so if you want to recover what is down there it may be good to do it right away.

Oh and welcome to level 10!

"Maybe we'd better get out of here. A little splash of whatever that thing spit at us just hollowed me out."