[PFS] GM Skipper's The Heresy of Man series (Inactive)

Game Master SkipperD

I guess we need to push then...

Rogar stares down the hallway and asks one of his companions to cast a spell on his sword making it shed light all around, the the fighter starts moving while keeping an eye out for traps or danger.

Zinkyudo shrugs and joins the others moving forward, sloshing through the water in the harmless hallway.

From his position behind Rogar draws his blade and starts to follow the warrior down the flooded hallway, keeping his eyes dartig between where he was placing his feet and the walls for any sign of ambushers or traps.

"I can see why this place loes unused, they did not factor the sea into its construction it seems." the Hellknight mutters.

perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

@Zinkyudo: That'll teach me to post just before a much needed nap... The water is two feat deep and counts as difficult terrain.

As you slosh through the flooded hallway, Lysaer hears a faint splashing, as if someone is running in the water somewhere.
Lysaer has a surprise round worth of actions.

"Someone comes! And at speed it would seem, be prepared!" the Hellknight snaps, obviously used to giving commands. He kreps his voice level and low, attempting to avoid it travelling too far and alerting the dashing person tht their presence had been noted.

Gripping his Greatsword tightly, the Hellknight chants a low prayer to Abadar, seeking favour in their dealings this day.

Cast Divine Favour

An image of a battered and obviously tortured Keleshite man appears, soaking wet, dripping hair matted with salt, and coughing up gouts of sea water. He holds a large, ornate hourglass tightly with both hands. As he upends the glass, you all feel a malevolent influence wash over you.

Auric, Sparky and Agosa fall asleep. Agosa collapses against the wall with his head above the water, but Auric and Sparky aren't as lucky. To make matters worse, a horde of soaked rats swarm out of the cracks in the walls.

Combat Round 1
Bold may act
_______________________________________
Deaglan, Rogar, Auric (asleep, drowning), Sparky (asleep, drowning), Zinkyudo, Lysaer
Rat Swarms

Kicking his way through the rats and trudging through the shin deep water, Lysaer draws forth a flask of Acid and presses on down the corridor, hefting the flask. He tosses it the Mass of Rats ahead of Deaglan.

Acid vs touch: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 2 = 28 for Splash damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 x1.5

Deaglan and the Blue rats take 1 splash damage

"Knew it would be something, had to be rats!" Zinkyudo mutters, adding, "I feel like I'm back in the sewers of Cassomir!" He takes a few quick steps back down the tunnel, grabbing hold of Auric and Sparky's collars as he moves into the small alcove off the side of the passage. Pulling their heads above water, he shakes them and shouts, "Wake up, wake up!"

Not sure if I can grab and wake them both this round. If not, I'll prioritize grabbing and waking Auric this round (with a 5-foot step if needed), then get Sparky next round.

GM - Is the Keleshite man the circular token at the eastern end of the line? Or is that Agosa?

@Zinkyudo: You can wake one this round. The circular token is indeed Agosa.

Lysaer douses the rats, and to a lesser extent Deaglan, with acid, while Zinkyudo wakes Auric up.

Combat Round 1
Bold may act
_______________________________________
Deaglan (1 damage), Rogar, Auric, Sparky (asleep, drowning), Zinkyudo, Lysaer
Rat Swarms (red: 7 damage; blue: 1 damage)

"zzzz gurgle zzzz"

Auric wakes up with a distressed look on his face. "What happened? Who-" His surprise is soon interrupted by the sudden arrival of the swarm. He retreats immediately and grabs Sparky by the collar to bring his face out of the water.

I'll squeeze with our clerical friend if that's okay.

"Ah! Join the pathfinder's society they said! See the world they said..." Rogar exclaims laughing and slashing right and left at the swarming sea of rodents...

Power attack roll 01: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23 -> Damage roll: 2d6 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (5, 4) + 12 + 6 = 27

Power attack roll 01: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 -> Damage roll: 2d6 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (1, 2) + 12 + 6 = 21

Rat swarms are tiny so they are not immune to damage and Rogar should be able to cause half damage with a slashing weapon, right?

Does that mean Auric woke Sparky up?

@Rogar+Sparky: Yep.

Auric drags the now awake Sparky to safety, while Rogar slices and dices enough rats to disperse a swarm.

Combat Round 1
Bold may act
_______________________________________
Deaglan (1 damage), Rogar, Auric, Sparky, Zinkyudo, Lysaer
Rat Swarms (blue: 1 damage)

Sparky stands up and via his skillful bomb tossing as a grenadier creates a 30ft cone of flame down the hallway towards the rats. Because he can. He is nice enough to select out his allies.

Ranged touch attack against rat swarm including point blank shot, precise shot, and Heroism.

ranged touch attack against rat swarm: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 1 + 2 = 21
Dealing fire damage: 4d6 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (2, 4, 2, 4) + 7 + 1 = 20

And the rats on fire taking 1d6 fire dmg at the start of their turn.

To Auric: "Thanks."

At the start of their turn? You have high thoughts of the fuzzy menaces :P

Sparky's bomb boils the drenched rodents, and the last rats retreat back into the cracked walls.

-----Combat Over-----

Nodding at Sparky's efficiency, Lysaer keeps an eye out for the strange vision, or the one that conjured it. Incase it was a trap, he kneels in the water and begins to feel around, unfazed by the prospect that creatures may try and latch on to his gauntleted hands.

perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31

"An interesting image to be sure, there must be some cause to it around here." he says.

There's no trace of the Keleshite man, but Lysaer's search of the water turns up a thin bracelet of fine copper links caught in a tiny crack in the floor. A small medallion on the bracelet bears the inscription “Bakiri al-Katheer” in Kelish script.

Sparky speaks Kelish.

"Sounds like a name or a title. Owned by the ghostly figure maybe."

Kn History, Local, or Nobility: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 2 = 20

Sparky recalls the Bakirs of Katheer, a noble family from Qadira who fell from prominence a century ago when their most promising scion, a succesful gentleman thief by the name of Sa'ad, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

*cough* The defunct Qadira faction mission for this scenario *cough*

Sparky will pass that on. "I'll hold on to it for now. His family will want closure. Let's keep an eye out for any other clues of his fate. Maybe we can even restore the family to glory."

"Nice work, Lysaer, finding that thing," Zinkyudo offers. "Now can we get out of this water-logged hallway, and see what other harmless chambers lie between us and our goal?"

Auric coughs out some water that remained in his mouth. "Thanks to whoever woke me up- if it weren't for you I'd be a goner. Shall we venture onwards? Allow me to scout and check for traps."

Auric leads the way, his eyes peeled.
Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

The hallway terminates at a mercifully dry stair, which wraps around itself and leads to a closed door.

Perception check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"Mmmmh..." Rogar observes the door from a safe distance and doesn't even try to get near before someone with better instincts than him for things like traps checks it out...

Should I make a different check for traps for the door? If so I'll take 10 for a final 24.

Auric discerns the door to be unlocked and not trapped.

Auric steps back stealthily, motioning that everything is fine and dandy to his companions.

"Happy to help, Auric," Zinkyudo replies to the bard, "you definitely do your job more effectively and efficiently when you are not lying drowned in a perfectly safe hallway."

Once Auric has determined the door is also harmless, Zink lays a hand on Rogar's shoulder and says a few quiet words to Abadar, then steps back and says, "After you, Rogar."

Casting guidance on Rogar, 'cuz it never hurts.

"Glad to oblige" answers Rogar, opening the door and advancing in the dark using his sword, previoulsy enchanted by one of his more mystically inclined companions to shed light and vanquish the darkness...

The door opens onto a dark, dank chamber—a great hollow space that rises into the heights of the fortress above and descends into darkness below. A narrow limestone shelf, without rail or lip, hugs the wall near the doorway, and leads to a rickety wooden stair that clings precariously to the wall and winds its way around the circumference of the chamber to a similar ledge above. The walls of the chamber, starting at the level of the limestone walk and ascending to the top of the chamber 100 feet above, are a honeycomb of small alcoves. Many of these are dusty and cobweb filled but some still hold wooden racks containing an assortment of smoked-glass bottles and darkstained barrels—most shattered and ruined but a few still intact. The rush of the surf can be heard from below where, 10 feet down, the bottom reaches of the chamber fill with the surging foam of high tide through what must be hidden inlets from the sea. A narrow metal ladder descends to this turbulent stew from the limestone walkway, and the rusted skeletons of several metal implements or furnishings break the surface of the roiling surf. The salty smell of the sea is strong here, mixed with an acrid taint.

Zinkyudo studies the rickety stairs and narrow ledge and rolls his eyes before turning to the better-educated members of the group, "Auric, Sparky, do you think you could take a look at those stairs and determine if they're safe to use? That'd be a long way to fall if the stairs gave out."

Maybe some Knowledge (engineering)? Also, I moved all our tokens up to where we are now, in something like the order we had them in before.

Sparky moves up and frowns.
"You don't need my expertise to tell that this setup is a disaster waiting to happen. At best I can try to determine the least dangerous way down."

Any relevant rolls?

"Maybe if you step... No, that wouldn't work. Perhaps if I shore up the... Hmm. I have a better idea. Rogar if I gave you the power of flight do you think you could ferry us past this death trap?"

Sparky clearly knows more about breaking things then fixing them.

Before we use an extract (I'm rather zealous about conserving limited resources), Auric can hit that DC by taking 10. Though I should let him explain that in character.

"Of course, I'll be happy to oblige." Auric then proceeds to inspecting the stairs.

Aye, taking 10 here too.

"Hmmm. These seem shaky but sound. We should be perfectly fine as long as we don't do anything stupid."

"If you say so..." says Rogar casting a dubiou look to the stairs before starting to climb them.

Zink moves up the stairs with the rest of the group, one hand on his bow and one hand on the snapleaf hung on a cord around his neck. He can be heard whispering a few quiet words to Abadar whenever they reach a particularly shaky bit on the rickety staircase.

First water, now going up? What's up with these humans, can't they just build a nice underground citadel?

Deaglan slowly moves up the winding stairs, his longhammer ready.

You start ascending the stairs, and sure enough, it doesn't collapse under you. As Rogar leads the prosession past the first landing, the shaft-like chamber is suddenly shrouded in absolute darkness; even Zinkyudo and Deaglan can't see.

Combat Round 1
Bold may act
______________________________________
Deaglan, Rogar, Sparky, Zinkyudo
???
Lysaer, Auric

"Ugh. Don't want to fight in darkness."

Sparky will pull his oil of Daylight from his haversack and apply it to his buckler.

"Ah it's a..."
identify check: 1d20 ⇒ 20
+20 if it is Arcane or Nature. +10 otherwise.

Then as a swift action he'll get his wand of haste from his wrist sheath.

Sparky's radiant buckler cancels out the darkness, revealing a black-robed, skeletal figure further up the stairs.

@Sparky: It's a dark stalker skeletal champion. 3 questions.

Combat Round 1
Bold may act
______________________________________
Deaglan, Rogar, Sparky, Zinkyudo
Dark Guardian
Lysaer, Auric

Deaglan switches the grip on his longhammer and casts Holy Smite on the undead

Damage: 4d8 ⇒ (1, 1, 2, 8) = 12 plus blinded for one round
Will DC 17 for half and not blinded

Remember that we have a magic circle vs evil active. If you move more than 10 feet away from Deaglan you will move out of it

Considering how he can't reach the enemy up the stairs and attack it, Rogar keeps his swords drawn out and wait for it to come into reach instead...

Power Attack roll: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21 -> Damage roll: 2d6 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 12 + 6 = 23

5 foot step and ready attack

Special defenses, Special attacks, Weaknesses.

Although he's usually loath to attack without reason, Zinkyudo concludes that the skeletal figure across the huge vertical shaft may not mean them any kindness at all. "Perfectly harmless..." he mutters before calling out, "Don't let him knock you off the stairs!" He then unleashes a flurry of blunt-headed arrows at the target, aiming to grind the undead horror to dust!

Flurry with blunt arrows using Deadly Aim. I assume we're not within 30' of the target, given the elevation difference on the stairs.
If we somehow are, add +1 to attack and damage from Point Blank Shot.

Flurry with Longbow, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 11 - 2 = 22
Longbow damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 4 = 14

Flurry with Longbow, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 11 - 2 = 24
Longbow damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 4 = 11

Flurry with Longbow, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 6 - 2 = 8
Longbow damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 4 = 14

Will: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

The dark figure feels the full force of Trudd's might, followed swiftly by two of Zinkyudo's arrows.

@Sparky: Channel resistance, DR/bludgeoning, immune to cold, light blindness, death throes (explody kind), sneak attack.

The blinded guardian moves carefully down the stairs and firmly presents an unholy symbol of Norgorber.

Negative energy damage: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6) = 15
Will, Rogar: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Will, Lysaer: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 7 + 1 = 28

Combat Round 1/2
Bold may act
______________________________________
Deaglan, Rogar (15 damage), Sparky, Zinkyudo
Dark Guardian (37 damage, blind)
Lysaer (7 damage), Auric

Zinkyudo decides the return on investment of using blunt arrows against this skeletal foe is quite satisfactory. He unleashes another flurry of them across the shaft!

Flurry with Deadly Aim.

Flurry with Longbow, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 11 - 2 = 15
Longbow damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 4 = 13

Flurry with Longbow, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 11 - 2 = 19
Longbow damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 4 = 8

Flurry with Longbow, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 6 - 2 = 15
Longbow damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 4 = 12

Hmm. Hope it being blind reduces its AC a lot.

Looking at the rickety stairs and deciding it was better for Rogar to get stuck into a fight, Lysaer draws his fine Darkwood bow and adds his own blunted arrows to the fight.

Bow, Divine favour: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 9 + 2 = 31 for blunt damage: 1d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9

confirm: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 2 = 29 for extra damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (1, 8) + 10 = 19

"Rogar! As this place seems cursed to force us to fight separately, I will let you have this one." he shouts as his arrow flies.