Targost |
Tiring of missing, and hoping this fellow will follow the other thug's lead and surrender, Targost fires an azure missile at the fellow.
Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
"My word isn't very strong, but-" "Flee!" Norine commands again, this time of the remaining thug combatant.
Command, Will save DC 13.
Ebon Kai of the Skoan Quah |
" Gahh! Die!"
Hearing the man surrender, Ebon barely checks his swing, bringing it around at the last second to stab at the other foe.
raged , blessed/inspired attack: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 1 = 11 Bless and inspire don't stack
damage: 2d6 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1) + 7 + 1 = 10 Inspire adds damage XD
Soo hating this site right now. Couldn't access it all day, then it keeps giving me really bad rolls....Also Ebon's hit points are actually 16 cause o his rage, but I don't want to forget and die when rage ends so I don't keep track of the rage hit points on his character sheet.
Liadain Serelion |
Bless and inspire do stack, fyi! Bless is morale, inspire is competence. It was a chance in PF from 3.5. :) .... Not that that helps Ebon.
GM Mezegis |
Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
The remaining man's eyes widen as Norine's magic takes effect, and he dashes off to the southern end of the room, allowing Ebon a parting shot.
Ebon AoO: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 1 + 1 = 122d6 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (3, 3) + 7 + 1 = 14
But Ebon is just as surprised at the turn of events as the man. The mercenary scoots down an open trapdoor, and moments later, a new line of curses can be heard from below. The severely wounded one just lets the sword fall from his hands as he was told and withdraws into a corner, trying to look very small.
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
Norine rushes between the and around the legs of her comrades, dropping a wand of CLW into her hand, then repeatedly commanding it and touching it to Ebon, healing the front-line fighter first.
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
...then attending to Alexia.
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
CLW (Wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
If someone else breaks out a wand along the way, we could divvy up the charges (and get it done quicker).
Liadain Serelion |
I think everyone has a wand and everyone but Targost can use them, so long as you heal up Alexia once we should be okay to hand the wands out and get it done within a round or two, haha.
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
So, I'll heal Alexia:
Norine brings Alexia back from unconsciousness, and she wakes to find a goofy-looking gnomish face hovering over her. "Alexia, you missed it," Norine says, bright-eyed and probably quite innocently, "but Ebon was very 'useful'!"
Only getting a dig in at Alexia, though, not WhtKnt. ;-)
Liadain Serelion |
While the injured get healed, Liadain turns her rapier on the scared man trying to make himself turn invisible by force of will. She smirks, pressing the thin blade's tip just close enough to his chest to make him nervous. "You'll talk, now, won't you, friend? Who are you, and what are you doing here?" There's certainly nothing 'friendly' about her tone of voice.
Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Alexia Whitemane |
Alexia merely scowls at the gnome with a look that betrays her annoyance as she finds her feet. "Thank you," she says, in a voice dripping with venom. Alexia will spend charges from her wand to bring Ebon back up.
CLW (wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW (wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW (wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW (wand): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Turning to Lia and the prisoner, she says, "He'll talk, alright, if he values his pitiful life." She draws a dagger to emphasize her point.
GM Mezegis |
The cowering merc doesn’t seem too impressed by Liadain’s words, but begins talking anyway, ”Naw, you Pathfinders are do gooders, you won’t kill me now wot I’ve surrendered. But to keep ye from roughin me up more, I’ll tell ye what I know, since it aint much. Some lady yappin about her family birthright talks to the boss and they makes an arrangement. They stick me’n a couple o others here and sez to shiv anyone wot comes through, ‘specially meddling Pathfinders. I spect they thought yed send the B squad. Any chance I might get a little sumptin ta stop the bleedin? Yous done stuck me good a couple o times.”
Talwin Bernhold |
Talwin sheathes his dagger and retrieves his spear. He walks over tothe man and fixes him with a stern gaze.
"I can stop the bleeding, but you had better make your self scarce, and I mean right away. In fact, I'd be more than happy to show you the door."
Intimidate: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 1 = 13
Talwin casts stabilize on the man and escorts him out the door, making sure he leaves.
Alexia Whitemane |
"Oh, rest assured that I would kill you," Alexia says, her voice implying that she speaks the truth.
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
Intimidate (Aid Another): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Norine tries to get in on the act: "Yeah! What she said!" It doesn't add much. "I think my friend just 'stabilized' you, keeping you from dying. I think that is all you are going to get," Norine scowls, "Unless you have something better to offer."
Norine will help make sure that the man is stripped of weapons and gear before being sent away.
OK, I took Alexia's three charges off of mine. The next after battle can be on Ebon or someone. ;-)
Alexia Whitemane |
Alexia waves her arms and mutters a few words in an unintelligble language. "If you speak to anyone about what you have seen here, I will know about it. If you betray us, I will know about it. I will come and seek you out and punish you in ways that you cannot begin to imagine," she says in a level voice, twirling the dagger in her fingers.
Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
GM Mezegis |
Rolls: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
While being dragged away by Talwin, the merc gives a rogish smirk and just says, "Talk about what? before muttering to Talwin, "That one's kinda creapy eh? But that curvy one, MMM, bet you like practicin your longspear skills with that eh!, EH! On another night I mighta tried my luck, but after shivin her ugly friend, it'd probably be a no... still..." and he uses a free hand to slick back his greasy hair away from his pockmarked face just before Talwin gives him a swift kick to send him on his way.
Ebon Kai of the Skoan Quah |
Ebon works hard , not to chase the fleeing man by himself. Slowly he drops back into coherence, and slumps to the floor panting.
" Thank you for the healing my friends, next time lets use my wand, it is nearly fully charged."
He will sit for a few minutes while the others interrogate the prisoner, letting his body recover from the stress he put it thru.
relaxing til fatigue goes away.
When he feels a little recharged he will grip his sword and move over to the trapdoor. " What do you see Targost?"
He asks peering down the drop.
perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
GM Mezegis |
Looking down, you spot a small, stuffy square room that was cut from the building’s stone foundation. The room’s east wall features a large stone mosaic of stone that shows several faceless people worshipping at the top, and others being condemned at the bottom, with no figures in the middle pattern. The mosaic contains a set of three identical circular indentations: one set within the top section, one in the empty center, and another set within the bottom section. Illuminating the room are two lit torches in sconces on the north and south walls.
Propped in the corner, you spot 3 stone disks with the pictures of a happy looking female child, a grandiose city, and a brooding devil.
Talwin Bernhold |
Talwin's ears are burning by the time he marches the thug out of the building.
"Insufferable wretch! Begone!"
He turns back to examine the room below.
"Well, Targost, I haven't known you for vey long, but you seem to be a bright fellow. Why don't we head down there and see if we can't solve the thing?"
With that, Talwin lowers his spear into the room, then climbs down. Or takes the stairs, if there are any.
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
While Ebon recovers from his fatigue, perhaps we could search the rooms quickly?
Norine scans the rooms above for magic, and then descends after Talwin."Hmm. Hmm. Hmmmm...," she says about the puzzle, thinking hard.
Liadain Serelion |
"Family birthright, you say...?" Liadain lowers her rapier, stepping back as she muses the information garnered from the lecherous rogue. She's more than happy to let Alexia and Talwin deal with him (and it's probably best she did, for he would certainly be leaving the building with even more bloodloss should she have overheard his comments to the Abadarian priest) and instead do some thinking of her own. "It must be Celeena. She must be expecting us to pay a visit..."
With that in mind, she sheaths her sword and follows Norine and Talwin down below. Her deep blue eyes drift over the mosaic as she considers the puzzle at hand. "Rather tacky decor if I do say so myself," Liadain mutters sardonically, before striding up to the disks and taking them in hand.
"Orias chose his daughter," she places the first disc in the slot depicting worshippers, "over his city," she places the second disc in the plain slot, "which he chose over his motherland," she places the final disc in the condemned position. "That makes sense, don't you think?"
GM Mezegis |
No magic Norine, just classic, Indiana Jones style puzzles
Liadain places the stones and takes a step back. Nothing happens for a moment, but then then a few stones slid away to reveal a passage beyond. In the distance, the chingchingching of chain rattling followed by a muffled thud can be heard.
Well that was easy, lets see how you do on the next one
Casting their various illumination spells, the group creeps down the roughly hewn corridor a good 40 feet before it makes a sharp turn into a partially open cavern lit with sconces. Dividing this cavern and blocking the way on is an iron portcullis, rusted with age, set into a stone wall. There are 4 levers set equidistant on the wall, two up, and two down. Footsteps echo from the corridor on the far side of the barrier as someone flees further into the vault.
Semi-combat rounds here. When a lever is pulled, things happen, so feel free to talk amongst yourselves, but let me respond between each level flip.
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
"I would never have gotten that..." Norine mutters, quite impressed. "Oh, there are a lot of possibilities here..." she looks with some despair at the levers. "Let me at least cast spells for divine Guidance and Resistance on whoever pulls the levers."
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
16-ton weights that fall on my head when you pull one. Giant blades to swing across, reaping. Traps and stuff - four levers is a lot for one portcullis! Also, I was wondering what was on the other side, to reset it, though I should have mentioned that. Perhaps it is just timed.
Clarification - what do you mean by equidistant? Is there a map so I can better visualize the pattern?
"Inspect the sconces, too - these levers may just be decoys," Norine suggests. After casting Guidance and Resistance on herself, Norine tries pushing the down levers back up, using her shillelagh to move the levers.
GM Mezegis |
Roll: 1d20 ⇒ 18
Ahh, understand now.
Norine sees nothing that looks dangerous, nor a way to reset them from her current position. Pushing the first lever up, there is a pause, then the second lever moves down.
No map while I’m at work. Basically there is a wall with 4 levers, one every few feet, and then a portcullis. Equidistant just meant there wasn’t two next to each other, then a big space, then the other two.
Current levers: 1: Up 2: Down 3: Down 4: Up
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
No problem about the map, then. Thanks for the 'Current Levers' - is that the starting position? So, Norine first move all of the levers down, then try moving all of the levers up.
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
Hmm. Well, there are several of us, so we could position ourselves at each lever, but I see what you mean.
"We may have to record all of this. Unfortunately, the possible combinations of positions and sequences are ... well ...", Norine looks upwards this way and that, mumbles some numbers, "... carry the 7 ...", squints one eye then the other, and concludes: "Lots. Maybe infinite."
Talwin Bernhold |
"Not so, little one. Fortunately a you have a man of Abadar present. There should be no more than 16 possible arrangements. Perhaps even 14. All up, all down, and several possibilities with some up and some down. Now, the consequences of each, I cannot say..."
My own math skills forgot the formula, but I drew them out and checked with a website, but even then I may have missed something. I figure Talwin, being an Abadarian priest and a clerk, should simply know this, but I can roll check if need be.
Ebon Kai of the Skoan Quah |
Ebon stares with respect as Liadain figures out the puzzle. Hmmp. I would have had to smash thru a wall before I figured that out...
Staring at the levers and the portcullis, his head begins to hurt.
" Aww. can't we just have some guards to smash!?!"
He flex in frustration, Eyeing the portcullis and its frame.
" Wonder if I could just lift it?"
flashback to 1st or 2nd edition when you had a 1% chance unless you scored way high on strength, like 18/00, then you had a 3% or 5% chance
futile strength check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Strain as he might, it doesn't seem to move...
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
But, if it is the sequence of moves and not just the final positions, then it becomes many, many more possibilities. After all, DNA has four base pairs, and binary is only 1's and 0's. So, it could be all up, then number 3 down, then 2 down, then 3 up back up again, etc. It also, it seems, didn't let me do all up and down, with one up causing another to go down...)
"I have a flask of acid..."
Talwin Bernhold |
True, true... if that's the case we are well and truly boned. PFS scenarios usually give you at least a chance, however slim. I wasn't sure if each lever raised or lowered a specific other lever. Like does level 1 always affect lever 3? because if the affected lever changes, we'll need an ULTRA descrambler to solve this...
Norine Pepfarin Epfafeen |
"This does not bring any ... leverage ... to bear on the problem at hand, but it occurs to me that I have not scanned for magic in this room." Norine positions herself in a corner, cast Detect Magic, and scans the room until the auras resolve.
Trying both Arcana and Spellcraft, since they both can work.
With Guidance on Spellcraft.
Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 1 = 23
Liadain Serelion |
While Norine fiddles with the contraption and the others lament the potentially infinite possibilities here, Liadain stands back, arms crossed as she considers this second puzzle door. Her eyes narrow and she seems to murmur under her breath as she considers.
"Come now, Norine. If there was no order to the puzzle, if there was an infinite number of combinations, there would be no point to it," she says matter-of-factly before stepping up to push the second lever up.
We know that they already follow a pattern.
0 0 1 1
- Norine pulled first one up
1 0 0 1
- Norine pushed first one down
0 0 1 1
We just need to see what happens when we move each in turn (and then return them to the "default" state) to figure this out.
GM Mezegis |
Rolls: 2d20 ⇒ (10, 1) = 11
Ebon strains against the portcullis, but the heavy iron gate doesn’t budge. Norine moves to the corner and detects magic in the room, but as it resolves, it is only that which the part possesses. While she is doing that, Liadain pushes the second lever up, and none of the other levers move.
Current Levers: 1: Up 2: Up 3: Down 4: Up
Liadain Serelion |
"Hm! Fascinating," Liadain remarks, before pulling the second lever down once again to its original position.
Shouldn't it be 1: Down 2: Up 3: Up 4: Up?
Followed by 1: Down, 2: Down, 3: Up, 4: Up after my turn.
Liadain Serelion |
Mental notes:
Lever 1 changes levers 1 & 3
Lever 2 changes lever 2
Not noticing the disturbance, Liadain pulls the third lever down, determined to puzzle this thing out.
Liadain Serelion |
"Okay, I think I got it!" Liadain announces confidently upon seeing this set of lever changes. She pulls the first lever up. "Well, assuming they all need to be up..." she adds, almost as an afterthought.
Liadain Serelion |
"... huh?" Liadain's eyes narrow as the levers defy her expectations. She points at it, exclaiming, "That doesn't make any sense whatsoever...! This machine is cheating!"
Now I'm not sure. Back to the drawing board to figure this one out.
Targost |
"Norine! There was some sort of...I don't know...disturbance in the air over your head just a moment ago. I do not know if it was because of the levers, or perhaps the spell you cast. I will cast a cantrip and you look to see if you see any such disturbance over my head...and no one touch the levers for the time being...just in case!"
Targost will cast Detect magic as well, aimed at the levers
Liadain Serelion |
Though she paused for a while to let Targost worry about magical disturbances or god-knows-what, Liadain can't help but feel drawn back to the code-door, and she stubbornly tries again, her brow creased in thought. She pulls the fourth lever down!