GM Rednal's Rappan Athuk (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Kei pats the android on the shoulder once more, before nodding and pointing ahead. "Keep searching!"

Brass wound down, reloading and re-charging her toys. So far, nothing had been too bad, but it was only going to get worse, and she wanted as much ammo between her and the next bad thing as possible. "Yeah, let's see what our new playmates left behind, shall we?"

Perception (Trapfinding): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25

Alamar will stealthily head down the stairs while keeping an eye out for trouble.

Stealth 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35
Perception 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31

The (many) dire rats didn't seem to have dropped any items in particular - well, they were rats, after all. Still, at least you could go down the stairs...

The air here is foul and eight giant rat corpses lay about, apparently torn apart by some wild animal. Blood spatterings cover the entire area. The north door has been scratched and hacked with a handaxe that is still embedded in it (and a sufficiently strong tug (Strength DC 16) could probably remove it). The key is in the lock to the north door - the others seem locked right now. A loose tile in the floor at “x” hides a secret compartment containing stagnant water and the bones of a small animal.

Kei brushes the various rat corpses to the edges of the path with his staff, before heading towards the door with the key still in the lock. "Shhh... make checking," he whispers as he slowly attempts to open the door.

Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28
Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (13) + 21 = 34

There don't seem to be any traps on the door, and it's easy to pull open as Iyashi manipulates it. This door exits straight into a hallway. To the right, you can see a series of doors (all of which are on the right-hand side), eventually ending in a corner. To the left, much closer, is what looks to be an open room.

Strength Check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Brass glanced at the axe and, with a shrug, put down her hammer so she could use both hands to pull it out. It was a bit more of a struggle than she would have liked, the rapid clicking of the suit's gears switching as the mechanism strained. But after a moment she pulled it free, glancing over it as she picked her hammer back up and followed Iyashi.

Kei continues down the hallway, taking careful, quiet footsteps.

Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21
Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32

Alamar backs up Iyashi, also moving quietly.

Stealth 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36
Perc 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

EDIT: damn! wasting all these rolls out of combat. That's four crit chances in a row. :)

As you head down the hallway, you find... more doors. Including one straight ahead, at the very end, and another one just to its right. The first three on your right seem to be locked, but the two at the very end could be opened without trouble.

Brass glanced at the locked doors, nodding her helmeted head towards them in a non verbal question - did the others want them opened now?

"Yes, let's investigate them now." Alamar whispers. "I do not like leaving unknowns behind me."

Kei gestures to the door, offering to let Alamar lead the way.

Be sure to carefully note which door you're investigating. ^^ Precision is often important in this game - by which I mean not being precise could kill you - so being specific with what you post is a good habit to get into.

I have no lockpicking skills

Brass nodded, moving to the first door from the tunnel they had entered from and pulling out the lockpicks.

Perception (Trapfinding): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19
Disable Device: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32

The lock clicked open, revealing a relatively small room - and sixteen more dire rats that all whirled towards the door as it was opened.

Initiative (Enemy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Initiative (Alamar): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Initiative (Brass): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Initiative (Iyashi): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Alamar waits for Brass to unleash one of her more explosive attacks before venturing forth into the horde of rats.

Alamar gasped slightly at the sight of yet more freaking rats. With a sudden, shocking movement she deployed her cannon far faster than usual, thanks to her combat training and emptied a shell into the room, hoping to reduce the number of rats significantly.

Seriously, what was a pack of rats doing in a locked room? What were they eating? This place was messed up.

Ranged Touch attack (30ft cone): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Damage: 5d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 4, 5, 6) = 19

If anything survives that blast, Alamar will step into the room and begin dispatching them.

Kei reaches out to siphon the life energy away from one of the rats once more.

Kei uses Steal Health on one of the dire rats (standard action).

Steal Health ranged touch attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Steal Health damage: 14 = 14

By the time the roar of the cannon had died down and Alamar and Iyashi had finished stabbing things, there was nothing left except a pile of dead rats. You finally had the chance to look around, and it seemed that this was some sort of storeroom. As for how the rats were fed, that became clear as you looked around - hanging from a knife stabbed into the back of the door was a severed, slowly rotting arm, and there was no sign of the rest of its body.

The good news? Everything was an experience. (And worth 535 points, at that.)

The bad news? If there was anything on this floor that hadn't known you were here, that was no longer the case. You probably weren't going to walk in on anyone who was focused on other things.

"We have announced ourselves so I guess we should just knock down the next door."

Kei shrugs, not really seeming terribly enthused with the idea. "Keep eyes peeled," the tengu suggests, clutching his weapon.

"The best thing about breaking all the things," Brass said brightly, "is using them for spare parts later." Still, she did as suggested, hunting for traps as per usual.

Trapfinding: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

This door, too, is locked - though you don't see any sign of traps on it. However, Iyashi's keen nose can detect a faint, rather foul smell coming from within the room. It's not as bad as the first floor, but it's still noticeably unpleasant.

Kei presses a hand to his beak, trying to block out the stench. "Bad smell!" he squawks, pointing at the locked door.

Brass held up the lockpicks in her gauntleted hands, nodding towards the door in question. Since she was used to going non-verbal before combat it simply came naturally.

As you focused on the door in front of you, a figure approached from the west - a tall man in hide armor, holding a massive greatclub that pulsed with the light of magic. He didn't look entirely sane, which... wasn't actually a rare sight for the three of you, all things considered, but this insanity looked like it was more than natural - and he looked like he was ready for combat, too.

Init (Barbarian): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Init (Alamar): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Init (Brass): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Init (Iyashi): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Brass was tempted to jam the lock of the door, in case whatever was causing the smell decided to come out and play when opponent before them started bellowing, but instead put away her picks and rose, hammer in hand and preparing to attack the man if he tried it.

Move action, put away picks, standard action retrieve hammer

"You go your way, we will go ours. No need to get excited." Alamar says to the approaching man. But he also readies himself.

I will ready an attack if he comes at me.

Kei's mind blade flares into being as he points the weapon towards the crazed man. "Caw! Go away!" he cries, eyes narrowed.

Kei activates his mind blade (free action) and readies an action to use Fading Strike to teleport behind the man and attack him when he comes into melee range (standard action).

Fading Strike: +2 Keen Mind Blade attack (Power Attack): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27
Fading Strike: +2 Keen Mind Blade damage (Power Attack): 2d6 + 21 ⇒ (5, 3) + 21 = 29

For positioning... Brass in front of the door, Alamar just to the left, and Iyashi warping further left.

Also, readied attacks should include the rolls. Otherwise I get to do it! =D

With a roar, the barbarian charged forward - and Iyashi flicked through space, reappearing behind him and slashing out. It hit, but it certainly wasn't enough to down the raging madman, who came to a halt in front of Alamar...

Readied Attack: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (12) + 19 = 31 for Damage: 1d8 + 9 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 5 = 20

...took a blow, and whipped his club out in a heavy blow.

Melee (vs Alamar): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34 for Damage: 1d10 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33 for Damage: 1d10 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21

The attack was a tremendous blow, catching Alamar right where he was weakest after trying to rebuild his guard after slashing out. The Aldori school was a fine one, but even so, it seemed that there were times when pure, brute force could get through it...

Sorry, I should have done my rolls, oh well...

Alamar cringes at the hit and decides to make it much harder for the raging lunatic.

attack 1 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22
damage 1d8 + 9 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 5 = 15

attack 2 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
confirm crit 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
damage 2d8 + 18 + 5 ⇒ (5, 2) + 18 + 5 = 30

Alamar returns the favor...

Kei strikes out at the barbarian's exposed back, hoping to drop the man before he can bring down Alamar, then backpedals away.

Kei uses Brilliant Moon against the barbarian (standard action) then takes a 5 ft. step away.

+2 Keen Mind Blade attack (Power Attack, Flanking, Brilliant Moon): 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 13 + 2 = 32 ignores armor
+2 Keen Mind Blade damage (Power Attack, Brilliant Moon): 2d6 + 21 ⇒ (3, 2) + 21 = 26 +4d4 ⇒ (4, 1, 2, 4) = 11 force damage

Two more levels and I just turn barbarians off with my Shatter Confidence ability :)

All together, the blows are enough to overwhelm the barbarian, and his huge body slams into the ground with a rather unpleasant thud and a sick, squelching sound. With that, you probably have a small reprieve to focus on the lock - or explore the room the barbarian came from.

Drops include hide armor, a +2 greatclub, a loincloth, and a rat tooth necklace.

Brass glanced around to see if there was anything else about to attack them. She was not especially excited by the Barbarian's loincloth or rat tooth necklace. "Soooo...is it me or was he a little crazier even than the average berserker?"

Kei shrugs, before moving to patch up Alamar a bit.

Kei uses Natural Healing on Alamar, spending 6 PP to heal him (60/84 PP remain today), then uses Transfer Wounds on him (6/9 uses remain today).

Natural Healing and Transfer Wounds: 3d6 + 8 + 18 ⇒ (6, 1, 2) + 8 + 18 = 35 HP healed, and Kei takes 9 nonlethal damage.

"Thank you once again." Alamar says to Kei.
"He got a lucky one in. Hopefully this doesn't become a habit."

"We all take a beating now and then. Hence why my tailor is me, and I use lots and lots of sheet metal." Retrieving he lockpicks, she turned to the door. "So...do we wanna try this again? And does anyone else want that guys big stick?" If nothing else, someone would want a magically enhanced hunka wood somewhere.

"It is useless to me."

Kei shakes his head, gripping his staff protectively.

Finally, after a few moments of effort, the three of you are able to pick open the door. The room contains 11 rat skeletons and smells horrible - but otherwise, there isn't too much of interest. On one side of the room, there's an old brass spitoon filled with an odd substance - and directly across from you is another door.

Picking up the club, Brass glanced at the room. She glanced at the old brass spitoon with slight concern. "Anyway to work out what that is, so we don't drag home a load of zombie spit or somesuch?"

Kei focuses on the spitoon, narrowing his eyes.

Kei uses Detect Psionics (standard action).

The liquid doesn't seem to be magical, but glancing over it, you do see a flash of gold and red within. There seems to be something inside it.

Kei nervously approaches the spitoon, his mind blade blinking into being. He carefully pokes the container from as far away as possible, ready to react.

"Be careful," Brass warned, "Some acids don't affect brass. The metal, not me. They pretty much all affect me."

"Just dump it over on the floor."

What could possibly go wrong? :)