Shackled City (Pathfinder) - GM_Chris

Game Master Chris Shannon 719

Silfir only sees the hallway ending in a T-intersection with a door on the far wall.

Glimmil can detect evil on the other side of the 'A' door. You can pick out sleeping cots and chests in the room. The door has been wedged open with a chunk of stone. With your lowlight vision you can see a tunnel opening has been dug into the south wall of the room.

Dyrant can hear himself.

Finneas, you can't see the door from G7. Is that where you want to be?

New map

Silfr looks at Dryant.

Considerate words, and helpful as well. Perhaps this ex-cleric is not on the path to becoming a brigand. This morning he may have merely been suffering from too much to drink.

Assuming I didn't perceive a horde of attackers in the long corridor...

"Thank you, Dryant," Silfr intones as he moves back to Glimmil's position and speaks to the gnome in a lighter tone. "Perhaps the riddle of the doors will yield to your eyes where it was unmoved by your verse. Let us move forward and investigate, with caution for Jzadirune's traps."

So after a few rounds of talking and moving around to get this far...

Silfr will then move up to the door on the left marked with the letter 'A', peak through at the room beyond while not approaching the doors too closely.

From position K, 1

As Glimmil senses the presence of evil creatures beyond the partially opened door, he motions to the others and attempts a low voice -

"I sense evil do-badders in the room beyond, prepare yourselves for heroic deeds!" His last two words are noticeably more audible than the others.

Glimmil gives the open room a few glances, as if he is ready, and is merely waiting for a nod from one of the others to demonstrate his bravery.

I meant to move to G2, sorry.

"Before we go any further let me deal with this."

Put silver man on floor and Coup de Grace him.

Crit roll for Coup de Grace
4d6 + 12 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 2) + 12 = 21

Two rounds pass and Glimmil can detect a single aura of evil of less than 5 HD somewhere beyond the door. The 6" of wood doesn't stop the detect evil, but does prevent pinpointing the location.

Dyrant shoofles GarlGlimGitter to the left door, his free hand waving about while he moves to F1.

Assuming the silver man dies from the Coup de Grace I will move to {K,-1}

"At your ready Glimm."

I've moved Atol to H3 so he can see the action from cover. I'm going to wait a couple hours to give him a chance to take any actions in the last few rounds.

Perception
Atol - 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Dyrant - 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Glimmil - 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Finneas - 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Silfir - 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
1d20 ⇒ 6+???
1d20 ⇒ 15+???
1d20 ⇒ 3+???

New Map

Atol will move to H-0 and then renew the Light spell on Glimmil's shield. Then he will load his crossbow and look around dumb-founded and nervous.

Wow. I never imagined such things existed so shallowly below the city! Truly there is adventure everywhere! Best be on guard. Watch and wait for the leaders to indicate our next move.

"Glimmil. I wonder what purpose this room served originally? Was it a greeting room - or a trap? I don't like the look of those masks. I'll watch your back!"

Seeing the others all prepared to enter the room, Glimmil holds his shield and hammer ready and moves up to the door.

Glimmil will move to L,0 at the doorway to get a good look.

Presuming he still can't see the evil creature within, or that doesn't start a combat...

He will take a standard action for "total defense" then a move action to walk 15ft into the room. AC25 but unable to attack.

Glimmil goes to the door and peaks in. He sees nothing and as a small creature he easily walks through the opening. Upon entering the room the first things he notices is that he is now flanked by two of the silver skinned creatures as theystab at him with their rapiers.

I have you at AC 24 flat-footed.
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
1d6 ⇒ 4
Now AC 22 flat-footed without the hex. Too bad the 24 didn't hit first.

No pereception roll because Glimmil couldn't beat their stealth checks even on a 20. Medium creatures, i.e. the rest of the party, will have to squeeze through the opening. Detect evil penetrated the 6" of wood to detect the one behind the door, but not the stone to detect the one hiding there.

Initiative

Atol - 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (19) + 0 = 19
Dyrant - 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Glimmil - 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Finneas - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Silfir - 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
S11d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
S2 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Initiative

Finneas = 26
Dyrant = 22
Silfir = 20
Atol = 19
S2 = 13
Glimmil = 7
S1 = 6

New Map

Free Action

Knowing do-badders would be waiting for him just inside the door, Glimmil walks in shield first. As their rapiers dart inward at him, he calls back to the others to alert them to their positioning.

"Two silver-men!"

As one of the rapier's sneaks past his defenses, Glimmil lets out a "Eeee..." sound.

Current Status: 9/13HP

Sensing Glim's lack of faith, Dyrsnt sighs, but renews the blessing again.

"Garl, I know that you are a brave warrior, but maybe it would be better if you came back into this room. That room seems to have those who dislike your bravery."

Move action: ready crossbow.

Round 1, Initiative 19

Atol shudders at the thought of TWO of those creatures. We had a hard time with one and we have fewer resources now!

Atol shoulders his crossbow and will ready to shoot the first creature through the door. Other than his friends of course...

Crossbow 1d20 ⇒ 7 doing 1d8 ⇒ 6 damage if it hits.

Round 1 Initiative 26

If I can attack the silver man at {M,1} from {L,0} I will take a 5' step and do so. If this is not possible then I will take a 5' step to {L,-1} and ready an attack against any enemy coming through the door.

Greatsword Melee
+4 Strength +0 BAB Attack = 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Damage +6 Strength Damage = 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 4) + 6 = 15

"Glimm come back into this room."

Or get out of the way. Stupid gnome sized doors.

Round 1, Initiative 20

Silfr seems to be in K-1. He will 5-foot to K-0 and attempt to drag Glimmil so both move diagonally to the upper right. Silfr ending at K-2 and Glimmil at L-1

Silfr, seeing another assassination attempt in progress, steps forward and calls out to Glimmil, "Back!". Grabbing the gnome he attempts to drag him back into the room with his companions.

Drag combat maneuver

Optional CMB: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Finneas steps up to the opening and tries to stab one of the silver men on the other side of the door. Finneas manages to get his sword through the opening and touch the man, but with no room to swing there is not enough strength left behind it and it does not penetrate the tough skin.

Dyrant provides St. Cuthbert's protection to Glimmil again.

With Finneas blocking the doorway, Silfir is unable to reach Glimmil (see OCC thread for further) and can change his action.

Atol stands ready to shoot something.

S2 delays. Glimmil up (with Silfir able to change his action).

New Map

Round 1, Init 7

Ah yes, Dryant is right, I shouldn't hog all the glory - I need to share it with Finneas and the others!

Glimmil looks longingly at the two silver-men and takes several steps backward into the previous room.

Full round action to Withdraw to (L,-1).

S1 flees south into the tunnel and out of sight. S2 flees east and out of sight into the other tunnel. Both of the screaming, "Thorns! Thorns!"

Unless you're pursuing the silver men down one of the tunnels, welcome back to pseudo-initiative. We won't stick quite to initiative, but time and your spot on the map do matter. If someone takes two or three rounds of actions, I'll let other people catch up if necessary before sending in the rust monster. It's pretty much where we were before this last combat started.

"Thorns! Thorns!"?? Dyrant tries to tease out the meaning of that while he goes to check on Glim.

"Let's see if we can open that door fully. And the one next to it as well." Dyrant hopes Finneas will help with that.

"I don't think our map is accurate...or this place may have changed since it was made. There are new corridors in use now. This might be a wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious," Dyrant states originally.

Sorry about that guys, didn't mean to get my fat butt in the way.

Finneas attempts to move the door farther open.

Strength
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

"This may take some time, perhaps we should move into the room they left?"

"...this place may have changed since it was made"

"Perhaps the tunnels were carved to bypass traps too clever for these things to overcome."

Finneas attempts to move the door farther open.

"This may take some time, perhaps we should move into the room they left?"

"Is the door stuck? Let me try"

Strength: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"Is the door stuck? Let me try."

Silfir is able to roll the door open further until a click is heard and he no longer feels pressure from the door trying to roll close. Everyone now has a clearer view of the room. A dozen small cots and chests line the walls of this ten-foot-high room. Cobwebs blanket many of the cots and chests, and tiny spiders scurry about. Two rough-hewn tunnels, each five feet in diameter and tubular, breach the easter and southern walls. Stony rubble covers the floor near each tunnel.

Dyrant witnesses the old man, now reborn, tear open the door with little effort.

Interesting. He is strong now.

Dyrant moves to I-3, pulling out the map to look around in the now open door.

"Interesting. These are not on the map. Can we open this other door? It would be good to see how much they have changed this area."

Glimmil, finishing his celebration of their rousing victory and concluding a good amount of cheering, walks over near the cots and the chests.

"I wonder what's in here?" he says, with curiosity.

Unless someone tells him to wait, he'll try to open one and look inside.

Atol, uneasily suggests, "Perhaps we should keep a sharp eye out for more. 'Thorns!' sounded like some sort of alarm or warning. Thorns are prickly."

Atol walks to Glimmil and converts a Protection from Evil spell to a Cure Light Wounds. Glimmil, you are healed 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 hp.

Atol then returns to his position on the map and loads the spare crossbow so he has two loaded crossbows. He'll use his first.

Twitch.

Unless someone tells him to wait, he'll try to open one and look inside.

The chests have been picked clean. None of them are locked and most of them are open.

Dyrant will move to L-1 and try to open the other door.

Dyrant will move to L-1 and try to open the other door.

It is locked. There is an obvious key hole. However, there is no obvious key about.

1d20 - 2 ⇒ (12) - 2 = 10 Strength check to bust down the door.

Finneas looks at Silfr sheepishly

"Thank you. Truly I am beginning to question my usefulness, I feel I haven't done anything worthy yet."

Move to {O,4}

"Atol has the right idea, these things may be coming back."

Stand ready for anything coming through the tunnel.

"Atol has the right idea, these things may be coming back."

Truly a great day! St. Cuthbert has clearly set me on the right and righteous path. My ideas have validity!

Atol stands a little firmer, with greater resolve, and awaits whatever spawn may come out of those tunnels.

1d20-2 Strength check to bust down the door.

The door does not budge.

"Thank you, Atol!" Glimmil stretches his arm, remarking how his injury has completely vanished.

He then observes as Dryant attacks the door.

Strange, Finneas looked like he might attack the gnomish height-machine earlier. Strange companions indeed!

"Should we head after those silver-men, or should we wait til they all come back to us at once to make our heroic deeds easier?"

"I do not relish the idea of fighting these creatures on their terms. The tunnels provide us no advantage, though allow them to skewer our gnomish companion at their leasiure."

"Perhaps we should close this door and go down the existing corridor, since our opponents do not seem to possess means to open and close it at their whim."

"To specify, the corridor across this room from the stairs we descended, from where a breeze arises."

Dyrant turns his attention from the door to instead looking in the new room, putting away his crossbow.

Pulling out an inkpen, Dyrant will add the new tunnels to map...what he can see from where he is.

"Sure, if you wish to shut and lock the door, let's do it, Silfr. GarlGlitterGlim, please come out of the room."

Silfr will look at the open door and peek into the room.

Is there an obvious control mechanism for the door? If not Silfr will see if the door can be easily pushed closed once everyone is out.

"Dryant, if you are taking notes, write down the rhyme these masks spoke. And Glimmil's response as well, so we will know what has been attempted in puzzling their riddle."

"Dryant, if you are taking notes, write down the rhyme these masks spoke. And Glimmil's response as well, so we will know what has been attempted in puzzling their riddle."

He takes notes!! That's brilliant! I should get some paper...

Dyrant looks up from his mapping to consider Silfr's request.

"Yes, of course, I'll get right on it," Dyrant rolls his eyes.

1d20 ⇒ 1

... I'll probably need some sort of ink pen as well. Maybe Dyrant will let me borrow his?

"While I do not want to go into the tunnels, perhaps it is worth our while to go that way instead of down the open corridor? We also lack the ability to open these doors at will, if these creatures have created tunnels to bypass the traps and doors of this place wouldn't it be better to take them?"

I do not like those small spaces, but what if these tunnels lead us to the children faster?

Are the tunnels large enough for a Medium creature to pass through unhindered or would we be squeezing?

Dyrant looks up from his mapping to consider Silfr's request.

"Yes, of course, I'll get right on it," Dyrant rolls his eyes.

Sense Motive +2 (wisdom) 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Silfr looks disappointed in Dryant, but continues to examine the door rather than get drawn up in the ex-priest's neurosis.

Perception +4 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Edit: This perception was to notice Atol's interest in the mapping.

If only we had someone interested in recording the clues we discover.

"Sound battle tactics!", Glimmil praises Silfr's suggestion at not fighting the silver-skinned men on their own terms.

Although, perhaps he is worried about fighting them? His magical armor looks so splendid, but perhaps it's not enough for him to be confident?

Glimmil hesitates, debating between pursuing the foes, or leaving them behind a sealed door.

Standing near the entrance to both roughly-hewn tunnels, Glimmil holds his shield up to see how long the tunnels go before turning or emptying in an adjacent room.

If summoned back into the mask room, Glimmil will of course agree and rush ahead to the breezy hallway.

Are the tunnels large enough for a Medium creature to pass through unhindered or would we be squeezing?

No squeezing required.

Is there an obvious control mechanism for the door? If not Silfr will see if the door can be easily pushed closed once everyone is out.

Yes, there is a latch within the workings you could release.

Yes, there is a latch within the workings you could release.

Is the latch on our side, room side, or within the door itself? We are looking for a way to secure the door once it closed. It's Silfr's plan, don't look at me that way.

Standing near the entrance to both roughly-hewn tunnels, Glimmil holds his shield up to see how long the tunnels go before turning or emptying in an adjacent room.

The south tunnel ends quickly in the T-intersection. The east tunnel continues straight and out of sight.

Is the latch on our side, room side, or within the door itself?

The latch is within the door itself. Once closed, you will need a key, disable device, or strength check to reopen it.

"Okay," Glimmil announces cheerfully, as he climbs back through the ajar doorway into the mask filled room.

He looks for a moment at Finneas, presuming the half-orc will be the one closing the portal, before moving along to the hallway with the breeze.

Upon reaching the intersection ahead of the others, he looks backward towards Silfr for some indication of whether he should go right or left.

The party closes the door and moves to the T-intersection of the hallway.

New Map

The door in front of you has a "Z" on it in gnome.

Before leaving the room with the masks, Dyrant asks to Glim to look at the latch on the doors.

"Glim, I think this latch is broken. Maybe you could fix it."

1d20 ⇒ 10 Bluff

I've seen him on the locks above, I'm sure he'll 'fix' it the same way...making it unusable for hours.