GM Blood's Age of Worms in Golarion

Game Master David James Olsen

"This is as much a trial of public opinion as it is a question for law enforcement. If we make accusations against Raknian prior to our victory, it may be seen as cowardice; that we trumped up charges to avoid having to compete in the final rounds."

Rauno holds up a hand to stave off protests at his inflammatory comment.

"We know it to be true, but we have to make sure the public knows and believes the charges against Raknian, or he may be able to evade legal charges through contacts and reputation. We must be certain that, in our rage and grief, we do not allow Raknian the least little channel for escape. As champions of his tournament, our credibility would be at its strongest. If we lose, drop out or preempt the finish, accusations could be leveled at us in turn that it is our failure or fear behind our words."

"Oh, we're winning this tournament, if only so I can see that look he gets on his fat ugly face everytime we win. Speaking if winnings, how much have we won so far? It might be to out benefit to spend some of it on new equipment before tomorrow's bout."

"And I'll need some diamond dust if you want me to cure what that ulgurstasta's slime did to us."

"And I have a great deal of work to do."

Rowena's amulet is next up on the crafting list, followed by Trevor's haversack, Kelkzar's belt and Kelkzar's amulet. Then Rauno's stuff. I think the tournament will be over before any of that is completed; Rowena's amulet is ten days by itself.

"We're fighting the other top team tomorrow, right? Auric's Warband?"

"And I'm bushed!!"

"Auric, yes. Remember when we met him back in Diamond Lake? It seems so long ago."

"Wait, that's the same Auric!?! How can that be?! We're going to hit... 'Friends'?"

"Bothers me a bit too. Of course, I won't mind hitting his golems at all, but it wonder if he's had any of his own run-ins with Raknian having been through this last year."

"Or perhaps they're partners and helping each other. Raknian fixes the matches for him, Auric cuts him in on the winnings."

If nothing else happens the rest of the day, Quintus will ask for 300 gp worth of diamond dust, prepare three restoration spells the next morning, and cast them on Trevor, Rauno, and himself. Was anyone else CON-drained?

"So we should be ready for skulduggery. We should eat and drink only our own supplies, and not trust anything that comes from this complex. I see no reason to treat this bout any different than we have any other; we fight to the best of our ability. Does everyone have what they would need to face golems? Are there any tactics we need to work out before I consult my spellbook for the bout?"

"And we should be wary of disturbances tonight...the way the guards tried to mislead us before this last fight should give us pause."

I was out of the cone and Rowena was still on her way up the stairs.
"You might be right about that Rowena. I think if the opportunity presents itself, I will learn a little more about our old acquaintance. I wonder if the golems should be our focus or Auric and his wizard friend?"

Ekaym goes and acquires the silver dust for you

Rauno will ask Ekaym "Do we know anything about Auric's team from his earlier bouts? Do we know what kinds of golems and how many he has?"

If he can tell us what kind of golems, does Rauno know anything that will be useful for preparations? Knowledge (arcana) 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 35

Golem bane scarabs are relatively cheap. Perhaps we should have Ekaym take our winnings and one for Trevor, Kelkzar, and Rowena?

Golem bane scarabs are relatively cheap. Perhaps we should have Ekaym take our winnings and one for Trevor, Kelkzar, and Rowena?

I have already crafted them for Kelkzar and Trevor. If Rowena wants one, I think it would be a good use of some of our earnings.

Its been half a year since we talked about it though.

Since they both take up the neck slot, Rowena won't be able to use her amulet of mighty fists at the same time as the scarab.

She doesn't have that amulet yet, it's just a +1 natural armour at the moment.

But never mind. Rowena will just be tripping and flipping golems rather than trying to hit them. If we're down to Rowena doing damage, we've lost.

Rowena will also suggest that they should set watches tonight, just in case, and keep their equipment with them.

Not as badly as if we're down to Rauno doing damage ;-).

Hey! I'll have you know I've got a wicked dagger! Its mithril and everything!
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Yeah, you're right. :P

"I can help keep an eye on things while I am awake bestowing power into items. I'll only need a couple of hours of sleep to be refreshed. But I'll be rather absorbed in my work, so if you want to take turns keeping me company, that would be welcome."

"I'd bet Rowena and Auric's wizard would get along splendidly!"

"The wizard will be mine," Rowena agrees. "Our plan should be for me to get right up in her face and prevent her from casting, or at least make it harder."

From Ekyam's description Rauno ponders what they could be and is certain they are Stone golems.

He recalls that they are resistant to all physical attacks other than from adamantine weapons. They are immune to all magic except Rock to Mud and Stone to Flesh. They also have innate magic that can slow down opponent's attacks.

Will update the start of the final battle soon!

"I hope they will allow us some eldritch support, and not remove our magic before the battle..."

"I agree with you Trevor. It would hardly be sporting to allow the golems themselves but no other magic ahead of time. But, these would be Raknian's rules. Ragathiel's blessing can help me overcome their resistance to normal weapons, but I'm afraid only Rauno can help with their ability to slow us."

"The enchantments I placed upon your amulet and Trevor's should allow you to pierce their stone hides as though it were flesh. Well, armored flesh anyway."

"Excellent. Then I can use Ragathiel's grace for other advantages in battle. I'm sure the golems will hamper our path to Auric, but the quicker we can get through them, the faster we can finish things and deal with Raknian."

"Could we use air walk to get past the golems? Though I'd worry about the wizard dispelling that."

"Might work, depending on how he has them arrayed and the ceiling and magic rules they establish for this part of the tournament."

The moment arrives when you are escorted up to the Arena floor. You are introduced first, as challengers to the Auric's champion team. The Arena roars at your introduction. However you immediately notice that Raknian is not in his normal seat and instead has Talabir, the lead wizard making the announcements instead.

After 10 minutes of ceremony recounting your past victories, Auric's team comes out. Auric is announced and the crowd goes wild. Khellek comes in next with the stone golems to a lesser but not insignificant applause.

Both sides are fairly given a 1 minue (10 round) buffing period before combat begins!

Round 1

Initiative Order - Rauno, Rowena, Quintus, Khellek, Golems, Kelkzar, Trevor, Auric

Auric AC 29 T 16 FF 25 CMD 29

Khellek AC 26 T 16 FF 22 CMD 26

Stone Golem AC 26 T 8 FF 26 CMD 33

What do people want for buffs? I can do bull's strength, bear's endurance, prayer, and a few other things--I can give one of us SR 22, e.g.

Preparations.

To allow for discreet communication between the PCs, Rauno will cast Telepathic Bond with everyone except Quintus, and have Message going with Quintus.

He'll have Mage Armor on himself, and use his pearl of power to recall it and cast it on Rowena.

He'll cast extended Mirror Image on himself, giving himself 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 images. To keep tabs on the battlefield, he'll cast See Invisible and Arcane Sight on himself. He'll have Unseen Servant cast as well.

I also have a Bears Endurance to offer. If no one else can use it, Rauno will cast it on himself.

Round 1
Cast extended Haste on the group, then stow away his metamagic rod.

Foretell will be coming round 2 unless circumstances give him a higher priority.

Heroism would be awesome, as would a simple enlarge person, and a bear's endurance.

I forgot about Enlarge Person from the wand! Sorry. I can do that as well for any who would like. It is only a minute duration, so I'll do that last before the engagement starts.

My AC stinks anyway so enlarge person is great. Bear's endurance is also welcome. Bull's strength too although I don't get the full benefit due to my belt. Prayer is also always good. In order, I will cast heroism, shield of faith, deadly juggernaut, hunter's mind, battlemind link (with Trevor), wrath, divine favor, flames of the faithful, brow gasher, and battle trance. Note that some of those will not stack or stack in full. Will also use a swift action to activate judgments of sacred purity and sacred justice 2nd rounds before the bell and a swift action to activate bane constructs 1 round before the bell.

"Where's Raknian?"

During preparations, Trevor will try to detect evil on Auric and Khellek. Then Bless Weapon, Bull Strength, Weapon of Awe, and Divine Favor just before combat. I'm still thinking for Divine Bond... Would golem be immune to non-lethal?

So Bear's Endurance would be good. If we can all be enlarged, that'd be something!

Did we do something about the Con drain?

Quintus fixed the CON drain first thing that morning; I've marked three restoration spells cast out of his normal 4th level spell load.

Yes golems are immune to non lethal

Thanks! and Thanks! I'll go for Flaming Burst then.

I'll clarify the order of Rauno's actions since it may make a difference with durations:

Before we come onto the field, Rauno will cast the mage armor spells on himself and Rowena.

When we are given the one minute warning, he’ll start casting.
10: Telepathic Bond.
9: Message.
8: Extended Mirror Image.
7: See Invisible.
6: Arcane Sight.
5: Unseen Servant.
4: Bears Endurance, Trevor.
3: Enlarge Person, Kelkzar (lasts through round 8).
2: Enlarge Person, Trevor (lasts through round 9).
1: Enlarge Person, Rowena (lasts through round 10).

Round 1 of engagement, extended Haste.

If someone can summarize all the buffs then Rauno, Rowena, Quintus can go first!

Quintus will cast bear's endurance spells on Rowena, Kelkzar, and himself, and a bull's strength spell on Kelkzar. The round that Rauno enlarges Rowena, Quintus will cast prayer.

Is Khellek known to throw around direct damage spells at all?

I suggest it's best if we each post our own buffs and durations, based on what Quintus and Rauno have distributed. In my case:
Divine Bond (Flaming Burst) (minutes),
Bless Weapon (minutes),
Weapon of Awe (minutes),
Bull Strength,
Divine Favor +2 cast on the last round (10 rounds, until round 9),
Enlarge Person from Rauno (until round 9),
Prayer from Quintus (until ?)
Bear's Endurance from Rauno (minutes)
Extended Haste from Rauno on round 1.

Khellek is known to cast from all schools and never seems to focus on one too much. But he does use them

Rowena has: Mage armour, prayer, enlarge person, bear's endurance, telepathic bond, and haste.

10: heroism: Expires 99 mins from start
9: shield of faith: Expires 9 mins, 1 round from start
8: deadly juggernaut: Expires 9 mins 2 rounds from start
7: hunter's eye: Expires 9 mins, 3 rounds from start
6: battlemind link (with Trevor): Expires 9 mins, 4 rounds from start
5: wrath: Expires in Round 6
4: divine favor: Expires in Round 7
3: flames of the faithful Expires in Round 8
2: brow gasher Expires in Round 9 (or when discharged)
2: judgment of sacred purity and justice
1: battle trance Expires in Round 10
1: bane: expires in Round 11 (if I leave it up whole time)

From Others
enlarge person (from Rauno) Expires in Round 8
bear's endurance (from Quintus): 10 mins, 7 rounds
bull's strength (from Quintus): 10 mins, 9 rounds
prayer (from Quintus): Expires in Round 10
telepathic bond
haste

Map is updated. Rauno, Rowena, Quintus can start the whack-a-moling!