Necress Nyx |
In the event everyone is willing to delay until after I try to command undead, I'll go ahead and post this action...
A chill runs down the spine of each member of the group as Necress holds out her hand toward the undead, palm toward them.
"You seek my help!" she yells. "I despise you! Now all I can hear is your cries! But I know you will not let me rest until I consent! But you must obey me, first!" she adds in a loud, clear voice.
She stands with a defiant stance, awaiting their response.
Undead each have a DC 14 will save. I can control up to 5 HD of undead, and the duration of the control is double due to Undead Master.
Hskoro Ssithis |
Hskoro held his shot when the corpses emerged from the carriage; although he was not exactly sure why. With the opportunity for range attacks fading, Hskoro stows the crossbow and draws his Urgosh, then watches as Necress attempts to gain control of the situation.
GM Lithrac |
Alright, time's up. Sorry Avelar, but you're taking far too long to post.
The zombies lash out at Gratmal.
Slam vs FF AC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 121d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 *miss*
Slam vs FF AC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 171d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 *hit*
Despite the lack of speed, the half-orc is surprised and fails to dodge the second blow. 10 damage
Initiative - round 1
1. Zombies
2. Hskoro, Kaelen, Silfvery, Gratmal, Necress
Everyone may act!
Gratmal |
10 damage to start the game....ouch. Down to 4/14
"Gratmal need heal," he says looking at the rest of the party. The slam from the zombie leaves Gratmal noticeably hurt by the strain on his face.
Gratmal moves back away from the carriage to avoid taking any more damage and to ensure that Necress has sight of her target.
"Necress, control zombie, or Gratmal kill," the half-orc bellows after being hit by the zombie's attack.
Kaelyn Stills |
I've seen these before—what are they?
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
"Zombies!
Kaelyn heeds Necress's request, but pulls a bomb from her belt, ready to loft it on the zombie.
Round 1, Init 2
15/15, HD 2; AC 17, Touch 13, FF 14, CMD 16; Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0
Standard Action: Ready an action to throw a bomb at the southern zombie once Necress gives the go ahead to attack.
Hskoro Ssithis |
Hold action until after Necress ...
GM Lithrac |
Assuming no one interferes with Necress and delays until she has attempted to subdue the zombies:
Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Both undead creatures groan, and seem to sheepishly follow Necress, their empty eyes gazing upon an eternity of servitude.
Well done! This effectively ends the combat.
Necress Nyx |
"You will heed my every command," Necress says to the zombies, a look of absolute disgust on her face, "and you will do no further harm to my companions."
She seems to be addressing the two zombies, but also looks to the left and right of them, as if addressing many. "Once you help me, I will release you, and you will be free from this bondage."
Yay! It worked! GM Lithrac, do you want to point me to their stats so I can control/roll for them (i.e. are these standard zombies)? I guess I could create an alias for them like I do for animal companions...
GM Lithrac |
Yes, they are standard zombies. Here's the PRD link to their stats. The alias is an excellent idea. Enjoy your new toy! ;).
Hskoro Ssithis |
It appearss that we now volunteers to take point.
Hskoro points down the bloody path ...
Sshall we continue?
Gratmal |
"Necress, control your zombies, or Gratmal remove their heads," the half-orc says angrily, apparently still a little angry at being attacked by the undead creatures.
"Keep moving" Gratmal says in response to Hskoro.
Jocephus Celestrum |
A wiry framed man comes running up, breathing hard. "Sorry! So sorry I'm late! I took me all day to figure out where you guys had run off to!" Pausing to take a deep breath, he smiles, his features betraying some sort of celestial heritage. "Hestram sent me to tag along. Unfortunately, I spent to long listening to my brother, Johender, as he was spinning tall tales of his adventures in the Society.....I missed the boat, so to speak."
Shrugging, "I'm here now.", he offers. As his eyes scan the party, he stares at the zombies for a moment. "When did the Society start recruiting the walking dead?" His gaze falling on Necress, he quips. "Friends of yours?"
Winking, he says. "Where are my manners. I'm Jocephus, Jocephus Celestrum."
And posted! I read through the Gameplay and believe I am up to speed on what is going on.
Kaelyn Stills |
As the zombies fall under Necress's control, Kaelyn relaxes a bit and puts away her bomb materials.
Kaelyn watches the wiry man approach and listens to him speak. When he finishes, she responds.
"Greetings, Jocephus. I am Kaelyn Stills of Absalom. Glad you could join us. Stay on alter—strange things are afoot."
Necress Nyx |
"They are no friends of mine," Necress sneers. She appears not to have heard Gratmal's threats. "I may as well share my secret, for you will discover it soon enough."
She looks at the group in turn, then says "The spirits of the dead torment me without respite. I am deaf to any word you say or any sound whatsoever, save for their incessant cries. They are in my dreams. We are surrounded, as we speak, by the numberless dead."
She looks at the two zombies before her. "But if I will help them, they will heed my command. When these two have served their purpose, they will harrow me no more. Perhaps they will prove of some use before the end."
Jocephus Celestrum |
Jocephus nods, with just a hint of raised brows. "I've heard of stranger things from my elder brother. I'm not one to to pass judgement on anyone."
Heal: 1d20 ⇒ 10
Looking at Gratmal for a moment, he says. "Cayden's fury! Your bleeding all over the place. Let me lend you a hand." Flicking his wrist, a wand appears in his hand and he taps it to the half-orc a couple times.
CLW: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (4, 7) + 2 = 13
"There you go!"
Gratmal |
Watching over Jocephus carefully as he taps him with the wand, Gratmal suddenly feels much better, as though the attack from the zombies never happened.
"Gratmal thanks you," he says as he nods at Jocephus.
Necress Nyx |
:( Sad. I was hoping to keep them, but obviously if they will keep us from accomplishing what we need to, I can leave them behind. That said, if they were staggered, would they have been able to move and attack Gratmal, or were they already next to him?
Necress Nyx |
One thing I'd suggest is let's go forward with them, use them in a couple of combats, and hopefully they will compensate for any disadvantage from the cold by taking damage and shortening combats. If they prove ineffective or start to slow us down too much, we can leave them behind later. I'm hoping they at least prove to offset any disadvantage.
Jocephus Celestrum |
Jocephus shivers as a breeze wafts over him. "Adril wasn't lying when he said it was going to be cold. Good thing I called in a favor from my brother and picked up this other wand." He says, pulling a wand out of his pack. "Supposed to keep you comfortable whether it's hot or cold!" Inspecting the wand he hold it one way, then another. "Can't say I know exactly how to use." Looking up he says. "Maybe one of you blokes can make it work? Be sure, you can all use it if you be wantin' to."
Wand of Endure Elements, a round for the party!
GM Lithrac |
Thank you Jocephus, you've just saved two friendly zombies from becoming stray ones!
Just a slight precision about zombie tactics. Since they're staggered, most zombies usually use the charge action to move and hit (what's often called a "partial charge"). Just like the withdraw action, charging can be performed with only a standard action provided you can't make full-round actions. In that case, the movement speed is just one time the creature's base land speed instead of double. The requisite conditions for charging must also be met. Does it make sense?
Necress Nyx |
Indeed...thanks for the clarification.
This Jocephus seems a helpful ally. Perhaps I should utilize a little more tact than usual to stay on his good side.
Necress turns back to the tracks in the snow.
"Follow the trail!" she commands the zombies. They shamble forward mindlessly.
Turning back toward the others, Necress asks "Shall we continue?" as the zombies lumber up the path.
EDIT: Just thinking, did we search everything here?
Gratmal |
"Keep moving. Gratmal take lead." The half-orc starts off down the trail, then turns to ensure the remainder of the party is following.
Kaelyn Stills |
"Save your wand's charge for me today, friend," Kaelyn says, taking a long swing from a vial handing from her belt. "I've got myself covered for today—I'll prepare something different tomorrow."
Kaelyn drinks extract of endure elements.
Hskoro Ssithis |
Hskoro will follow Gratmal ... after stowing his Urgosh and taking out his crossbow again.
Necress Nyx |
"Wait!" Necress says before they leave. "There might be some useful items here before we leave."
She goes back to the frozen guard and tries to retrieve any armaments it had, and also searches the carriages.
After completing the search, she rejoins the group.
It seemed like there was a guard frozen solid...looking for weapons/armor, then checking the carriages to see if any valuables left inside.
GM Lithrac |
The ranking guard's longsword is masterwork. His breastplate is a normal one.
Making efforts to pry the guard's items off the ice they're enceased in, Necress manages to recover both. You continue your way on the snowy trail and walk for a while in heavy snow, the woods being completely overwhelmed by this eerie winter.
As it enters the full expanse of the Border Wood, the trail passes through a small clearing among the taller trees before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way.
Sifvery Moon |
"Be careful - it appears dropped, but perhaps it is a trap to prevent someone from following."
Having no skills in this area, Sifvery looks around the area to see if anything else appears amiss.
Necress Nyx |
"Do any of you have skill in searching for traps?" Necress inquires, trying hard to look from face to face should any respond.
"If not, you will soon find that these mindless wretches can still serve a purpose."
Jocephus Celestrum |
"I can look about as well as anyone. My brother even taught me how to pick a lock and disable simple traps." Jocephus says as begins looking around the chest and at the chest itself.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Heh, T20, please.
GM Lithrac |
Jocephus approaches the chest with great care, and manages to spot many clues confirming the existance of a trap. The packed snow hides a rope someone strung through the undergrowth to a spiked log suspended high in the trees. Once the trap is triggered, the log should drop down and sweep through every target gathered around the chest and along the trail.
Jocephus Celestrum |
Jocephus holds up a hand. "Smart thinking lass. Let me see if I can disable it."
Disable: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31
"There! I think it's safe." He says as he approaches the chest, to see if it is locked or trapped as well.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
GM Lithrac |
Jocephus succeeds in disarming the trap! The log falls when no one is where it lands, and the aasimar can open the chest safely. Sadly, it appears the chest didn't contain anything! However, Jocephus has a keen eye and spots marks that suggest something has been buried under the chest. Unearthing the loot is but a simple task, and soon you find what may have been the equipment Lady Argentea's guards.
Hskoro Ssithis |
I agree ... iss there anything that might be more effective against fey? Cold iron boltss perhaps?
Sifvery Moon |
"Clearly, someone didn't want us following them. But are they still around to attack after their trap disabled us?"
Sifvery looks around the area for any other signs of activity before continuing on the path.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
GM Lithrac |
I'll let you state if you wish to claim some of the loot, otherwise we'll just assume it gets picked/resold at the end of the adventure, and carried along for now.
Perception (Necress): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 (deaf)
Perception (Kaelen): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Perception (Gratmal): 1d20 ⇒ 4
Perception (Sifvery): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Perception (Hskoro): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Perception (Jocephus): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Initiative (Necress): 1d20 ⇒ 2
Initiative (Kaelen): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Initiative (Gratmal): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Initiative (Sifvery): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 Draw with T: 1d100 ⇒ 35
Initiative (Hskoro): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Initiative (Jocephus): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Initiative (T): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 Draw with Sifvery: 1d100 ⇒ 41
As you continue your way along the trail, the snow becomes increasingly deep in this part of the forest, where a windswept gully carves a path through a tree-covered ridge. A soft cascade of snow falls from an overhead branch, hissing softly as it strikes the ground.
Suddenly, another hiss arises from the snow itself, as some kind of arctic wyrm surges out of the mounds of snow to attack Kaelyn! This serpentine creature has the head of a ferocious dragon and two relatively small forearms that end in tiny claws. These rake into the alchemist as the creature establishes its hold on the unfortunate alchemist.
Surprise round action: partial charge (pounce)
Bite (pounce) vs FF: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 *hit*
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Grab: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 Kaelyn is now grappled.
Rake (pounce) vs FF, grappled: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 *miss*
Rake (pounce) vs FF, grappled: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15 *hit*
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Total: 7 damage
Round 1 action: Poison Gasp
The snake-like creature opens its fanged maw and breathes a cloud of noxious gas into Kaelyn's face. Kaelyn, please make a DC 12 Fort save vs poison. If you fail you take 1d2 ⇒ 1 Strength damage.
Initiative - round 1
1. T
2. Sifvery, Gratmal, Jocephus, Hskoro, Kaelen, Necress & zombies
Everyone can act!
Knowledge (arcana) is appropriate to identify this creature.
Gratmal |
"Gratmal take wyrm's head off!" the barbarian screams as he approaches the wyrm with his axe drawn overhead.
Power Attack Wyrm: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 5 - 1 = 5 Damage: 1d12 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Uh that could be bad...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Hskoro Ssithis |
Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Free Action: Drop Crossbow
Move Action: Draw Urgosh
Special Action: 5 ft step into Melee ... Assuming Gratmal leaves me room.
Standard Action: Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 ... a Swing and a miss ...
Jocephus Celestrum |
Jocephus circles to the north, drawing his gun and looking for clear shot. Focusing on the creature, he tries to get lucky and fires off a shot.
RTA, Melee, Luck: 1d20 + 5 - 4 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 5 - 4 + 2 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Necress Nyx |
"Kill the snake!" Necress shouts to zombies. They lumber forward mindlessly to attack.
I can't seem to move anything on the map. The zombies, as well as Necress, will try to circle around the bottom right to flank it.