Aidan Ayrvar's page

Tkurzhan sniffs at the air, and then the ground, on the lookout for tracks or signs of activity.

Aidan stretches and follows his companions out.

Is it still dark? If so I'll light a torch.

Or we could spend the night and hope tomorrow is sunnier.
Survival: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

But her right-hand man did not, and neither did the pathfinder that was at the tower we haven't heard anything further from.
There is magic to conceal such things, as well.
I'm inclined to believe she's (relatively) truthful: she needs some esoteric ingredients to provide a large ward for the town; and those ingredients are somehow tied to a greater mystery she may or may not understand herself. I'd just as soon get her the parts to make the ward, and deal with her plans then.

Aidan, however, is not so trusting.

In any case, I prepared Campfire Wall specifically so we could get a good rest even in the rain. We could wait it out and explore the rest, which seems ill-advised, or we could explore the rest and then move along to nice dry ground. I think I've expressed Aidan's patience when it comes to searching the cemetary - he's likely to wait out the rain in the shelter of the crypt.

Aidan shoots the gnome a look between amusement and indignation.

Hmm, that's a good point. I wonder if we'll find any more items or if we'll have any idea what they do? Maybe it's time to prepare identify a few times.

I do feel like we're missing something.
Why were there monsters at every warding point? I suppose except for Levi's.

Are the trolls and goblins being directed by some sinister force?
Let's grab any remains we can, preferable an unburnt head if such a thing exists, and we could "interrogate" it with the right spells.

If we're stuck, for 1700 gp I can reincarnate the herbalist, assuming she's willing to return. I'd probably Augury that before trying.

I'm assuming the trolls came to the tomb FOR something, so they either had it or didn't find it. Either one is a worrying possibility.

Aidan smiles almost imperceptibly and waits for what he is sure to be a great tale unfold.

Aidan comes to a stop and studies the face of the building. Tkurzhan sniffs at the air.

Tkurzhan continues to sniff at things and generally make a menace of himself in the rain, shaking his coat time to time.
Aidan continues his slow, methodical search of the site as the group approaches the small building.

Hah! Well, I suppose that makes sense.

Aidan crouches to check the tracks, and Tkurzhan smells the air and tastes the rain.
Survival, and Scent
Survival: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30
Scent should recognize the tracks of any familiar creatures.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Aidan gazes off into the rain and stands up, brushing the mud from his legs.
I suppose we should have a look around. Stay in sight.
Assuming he sees nothing out of the ordinary, Aidan begins to peruse the graveyard with the rest in tow. He takes 10 on perception checks, stopping to investigate each tombstone briefly. It's possible this takes a pretty long time.

-Meeting with Ilyssia
-Maralictor Orms and Enzo Garrick of the "Rough Bloods" enforce curfew
-Darian Vysni, 27 year old barrel-chested drunkard is sent to scout orcish castle-thing
-Orim Causen, Iomedean
-Hirm and Tirm, Dwarven brothers
-Sem Dumas, the shady but quick-witted PFS representative
-Mirian Espitz, red-haired beauty
-Jagger, who looks like a Rabid Poodle

Gillamoor has fallen to the dead. Curse moves towards Haugins Ear. An ancient ward might protect the town but Ilyssia needs ingredients.
The herbalist has grown a "corpse flower" and the devil's hole contains an ancient knife and Ilyssia needs three skulls.
Observe the old fortress and determine if orcs have taken it

-Devil's hole
Kythis, Armand, and Jad attack
Jad taken back to Haugins ear by "Nicodemus" but they never make it and Nicodemus' boot is found severed later
Spiders near hole attack
two girls in the hole, who have been dumped with the word "whore" carved into their abdomens alongside a small fortune in gems and jewelery
Ressa Garrow, the spinner's daughter; and Sadi Desmin, the pig farmer's daughter.
Giant Maggots attack
Lizardfolk bodies abandoned in hole, some sort of ancient temple or shrine
Emaciated figure holds knife, attacks. Rises undead lizardfolk from hole
Elinor nearly dies; Bryn nearly dies; everyone makes it out safely
Ancient spirit of lizardman possesses bryn
Make it back to town with knife
guards inform 2 more girls taken from town

-Herbalist
Goblins carrying net; led by hobgoblin, attack.
Herbalist's home has been ransacked - some sort of fire burnt in a circle around the house, leaving lawn intact. One large stone out of a ring of stones is missing, was taken recently.
Aidan retrieves the herbalist's hair, her head being far too gone for speak with dead.
Pigeon, probably Herbalist's companion, hangs out with aidan, but he is unable to communicate with it. Not sure what happened to the thing.
Taedric recovered goblin scout as a prisoner to be interrogated later. Not sure what happened to him either
Abbas spoke to herbalist's ghost and received a gold staff
Aidan sends message to Illyssia via animal messenger before second attack
Huge ogre-like creature attacks alongside goblins, but Taedric kicks some butt and Tkurzhan eats all the goblins.
Encounter with Orms and Garrick after curfew
Abbas thinks jagger is dark inside, probably detects as evil.
Party must return to devil's hole for the skulls

That's just the beginning. As I recall, we then returned to the hole and got a bunch of treasure; then we fought a large contingent of archers and their leaders, but were taken prisoner by lizardfolk. After the lizardfolk welcomed us to their tribe, we started back to Haugin's ear, but ran across a farmer fleeing gillamoor. We decided to stop in for tea and rescue some people, which we barely made it out with. We stopped back at Haugin's Ear with the people and the skulls and whatnot, and Ilyssia sent us to talk to the weird guy that had the bears and liked Taedric. He had the stones like the herbalist. He described a sort of clock-face around haugin's ear; we headed to the closest "site of interest" which was the cemetery, where we are now. We are to scout the cemetery for any clues as to what the hell is going on.

Things of note: The cleric/priest that started the trouble in Gillamoor was a self-proclaimed priest of Aroden, the dead god. Theories at the time were that he seeks to raise his master, that Aroden is now a god of the undead, and that he was always a cleric of Urgathoa that just lied to the people.

That's all I've got so far.

I'm on page 30 of my read-through of our earlier adventures. It's actually pretty fascinating.

You know I'm not even 100% sure anymore, but I know that Levy, with the bears and his stone circle, gave us some info on where to look for clues as to what's causing the undead crisis; and Lady at the tower gave us a task as well. It's all in the 17 pages here and god knows how many on the other thread xP

It will be wet for a while, looks like.
Spells re-prepared to reflect info gained; good to go.

Damn, should have predicted the rain.

Tracks: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15
Aidan good-naturedly pokes around with Bryn, but seems distracted.
Weather: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23
Wonder if she's got any more surprises in store? He wonders aloud, head tilted towards the sky.
Goodberry: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6
Instead of cooking, the druid instead passes out a few ripe red berries, filling the stomachs of his companions with a nutritious and satisfying, if somewhat bland, meal. Augmenting the berries, he refills all waterskins as needed and purifies existing rations of any taint in the rainwaters. He brushes down and saddles his horse for the day's ride.

Spells prepped and ready to head out.

sense motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Aidan busily attends to camp.

Aidan will start a fire, collecting wood if any is nearby, or using the firewood he packed.
He also sets up his blanket as a wind- and rain-shield, and uses soften earth and stone to create a patch of soft dirt and sand in which to camp. In this area he includes several of the boulders, transmuting them to clay. One of these he fashions into a fire pit. He passes out bedrolls, blankets, and waterskins to any that do not have them, and sets about on the fire with his cooking kit to make some squirrel stew from the jerky he has available.

I do like 5e, and the "return to the roots". Even the book art is more old-school.
Still, a lot of players I've spent my time rolling dice with have a passion for the numbers - all the rules and nuances in PFRPG. I think that Pathfinder is pretty safe as a system, simply because it will continue to iterate itself.

We played temple of elemental evil on "hard mode" or what my GM called "Ironman". Roll 3d6 for stats, in order, and 1d6 for race. You get to pick your gender, your +2 ability score for humans, and your class, that's it.
Every time someone died, they could rez if they had the money, otherwise it was back to level one.
That was a frustrating and harrowing game, to be sure.

Random generation of character's power level is pretty much the antithesis to a good gaming experience. The chance to feel slighted, or superior, is just too high.
This is why I love mechanics like point-buy.

Honestly there are a great many things that are done in this game because "tradition".
That's a great theme for a musical, but not a wonderful game design philosophy.

I will rebut by saying there are a lot of things that are not very aptly named, like "armor class" even when you're not wearing any armor. It's not a "dodge class", is it? How is that different than a "hit point" that isn't exactly a "hit" point?

The mechanics allow every GM to decide for themselves. The unwritten guideline in PFS is that anything above 1/3 its hit points is bruised, maybe scratched; anything below 1/3 hit points is visibly beaten and injured. You could decide every 1-hit point scratch is just that, a scratch(The rules support this with injury poison). You could even decide that heroes are not actually hit until the final, deciding blow - as long as the mechanics balance, it's not a big deal.

As for the 5e rest rules, your health doesn't return in some strange way. First of all, healing is based on your level, which means that the more hit points you have, in general, the more you heal. That actually supports the suck-gut rapier tip philosophy, as you're essentially dealing with small wounds. You're wrapping ankles, stuffing bleeds, righting dislocations, what have you.

I'm actually a huge fan of the 5th edition rest rules, which let you recover some hit points over the course of a one-hour rest. It quasi-officially confirms that "hit points" do not indicate getting hit in the actual face.

Wow Bryn I totally disagree, the same cut meaning less is so... cheesy. Energy expended dodging, your "luck" running out, etc. is so much more intriguing to me.
I've been checking out 5e, and it does look nice. It's not nearly as intricate, and I doubt it will fill my need to design complicated and awesome things. On the other hand, simpler is sometimes better. I'll probably get the books and have a monthly game.

Still, pathfinder unchained looks very promising.

Eh, a backpack full of wands costs gold. Gold is a depletable resource, after all. If you do wand-of-cure everyone after a fight, you're giving up a lot of the minute-per-level buffs at low level, and all the round-per-level ones at high level. There is a tradeoff, it's just subtle... Still, it does irk me. There should be identifiable consequences to be being hit in combat. Pathfinder just doesn't exactly work that way, since hit points aren't always deducted from a wound.
I have yet to try the optional wound and vigor system, but it looks intriguing for that reason.

I'm out of spells and I'm pretty sure we're low on challenge, bard rounds, and smites. Besides, it never goes as planned - we should set up here and rest until morning, giving us a full day if we need it at the cemetery.

Taedric: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (5, 6) + 2 = 13

Four for Eli, two for Bryn, Three for Narnel, two for Tkurzhan:
Eli: 4d8 + 4 ⇒ (5, 5, 6, 8) + 4 = 28
Bryn: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (3, 6) + 2 = 11
Narnel: 3d8 + 3 ⇒ (2, 6, 1) + 3 = 12
Tkurzhan: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (2, 7) + 2 = 11
Healing overnight
Heal Check: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 8 + 1 = 15
Everyone that rests recovers 2 hit points per level, so that'd be 8, and any diseases under DC 15 are expunged.

Aidan begins unpacking his supplies and gathering wood for a fire he packed firewood if there is no wood nearby. Absently, he grinds a paste with his mortar and pestle and applies it to the thin strips of bandage he has in his healer's satchel. Seneca's magical healing is impressive, he knows, but the risk of infection is now what threatens.

Plenty of time to look around while we make camp, Aidan says, looking around at the rag-tag group.
Those of us without eyes for twilight should be on first watch. Narnel, Taedric, on second.
Seneca has a wand of cure light, which averages 5 points per charge. Aidan will tend to the wounded overnight to prevent anyone getting diseased, and provide goodberries for meals.

The elemental dives, finally, onto its foe with a crackling of joy, immolating the troll's corpse even as they flicker out of existence. Aidan jogs around a rocky outcrop as the troll falls, and slows to a walk.

Alright, everyone get healed up!

I just wanna say that my home game fell apart tonight because my friends are total morons, and I love you guys.

Dang, that's one lucky troll or one unlucky Cleric. He's at 13. Wand at 49 charges - I think we'll all be fine. Anyone else have, or need, healing?

Is the troll actually running away, or just taking "withdraw" every round?

Fire elemental takes charge action every round to keep up with troll, which is basically just it being "hot on his heels" (hehe!)
Tkurzhan races ahead and attempts to find cover to ambush from, and keeps the troll in the open.

Aidan sets off at a jog to catch up to them, running when he has a straight line. He keeps an eye out for Troblins.

Charge: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 101d4 ⇒ 11d4 ⇒ 1

Perception: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 2 = 13
Wow. Just... just wow.

This isn't over yet, the druid says as he hefts his staff and takes off at a trot.
With a sound like leaves in the flame, the troll's corpse bursts into fire as the elemental dances on it.
The distant popping of sparks and whoosh of flame can be heard on the now-quiet battlefield as the second elemental harries its foe, punctuated by the battle-cries of a gnome and the low growl of his four-legged comrades.

Beautiful up there. Bring a good raincoat on the maid of the mist!

3002!
Aidan, in that case, would order Tkurzhan to chase after the other troll to back up Taedric. He's the only thing on the map that can keep up. He'd have the fire elemental go spinning off in that direction, as well, after it coup de ...graces?

Seneca pulls his wand from his belt as he rushes towards Narnel.
Move to N20, drawing wand, and cast. Provokes one AoO, for which mobility applies. AC 23.
Heals!: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Fan-freaking-tastic. Welcome to staggered, Narnel.

Map posted HERE.
I have no problem playing Seneca. I'll get familiar with his character tonight.

Aidan barks a command that sounds like the popping of a tree fallen to a wildfire, and the elemental surges forwards, ravaging the troll.
Coup de Grace, burn.
Coup de Grace: 2d4 + 2d4 ⇒ (2, 2) + (4, 4) = 12
4 points of damage and 8 points of fire damage and the troll's smoldering carcass catches on fire, taking 1d4 more every round. Muahaha!

The other elemental sputters and sparks, lunging at its enemy with soulless repetition.
Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 2 = 161d4 ⇒ 21d4 ⇒ 2
16 to hit for 2 damage and 2 fire damage against south troll. DC 11 reflex required.

I'm guessing by the new map that the other troll came down towards Seneca and is essentially standing where the last one fell?

Aidan sees the elf fall in the corner of his vision.
NARNEL! He cries in anguish as the lithe body of the hunter crumples.
A heat strikes his face, turning the world orange for a few moments, followed by the sickening waft of burning troll. Harlynn's hands smoke from the spell, but the Troll does not fall- it turns slowly to face the new threat.
With no time for caution, Aidan lets loose a roar and charges.
Charge: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 192d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8
19 to hit for 8 damage. New AC is 15. (4 armor, 1 deflection, 2 natural, -2 charge) Charge to Q16.
The ashen staff smashes against the troll's back with a solid crack that resounds throughout the rocky clearing and, impossibly, knocks the creature off-balance with the force of the blow.

This is probably gonna hurt...

Northern troll doesn't have any fire on him, so probably there. Plus, closest. S14? That's some pretty decent damage. You might get squished this round, though.

Bryn Charges to P19. I -think- Abbas is actually in Q19 next to Eli. Thus concludes my wrap-up, I think that's everyone.

FYI, there's a fire elemental right next to it that's about to go crazy on it, but Eli needs help.

Can we get an updated map, actually? Quick rundown of what I know - Harlynn Withdrew somewhere indeterminate in the rocks, X14 is 30' straight back. Aidan joined her there, probably in X15. Tkurzhan moved from O16 to L18 (I goofed reading the map earlier). Narnel just moved down to N22. Elementals are in O20 and Q15. Are you DMPCing Seneca? We could seriously use his wand of Cure Light and Abbas could definitely use the Touch Of Law. I'm not sure where Taedric is, but I'm guessing somewhere around K20? Aidan's almost out of spells, so it's time for him to start beating on people. Elementals will be around for another few rounds, but after that we'll need fire spells. Eli, Harlynn, Tkurzhan need healing - anyone else? I know Taedric was hit, but he's still up, so that's good.

You might have been, but I healed you back up. We could use scorching ray or burning hands in this fight.

Aidan whistles and points back away from the fight, and the big cat stalks, growling, from the field... for now.
Order disengage and move to M19, and stealth.
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Not sure if I get a bonus from the rocks or not. Improved cover is a +10, total cover makes noticing impossible. Normal cover is no bonus.

I have the map from mid-round 7, and you're too far from middle troll to make the AoO, but there was one, yes.
I was actually a little confused by the "burn" ability. I thought it could be that you have to save to keep from taking any fire damage... But with a re-read, quoted here:

Burn (Ex) A creature with the burn special attack deals fire damage in addition to damage dealt on a successful hit in melee. Those affected by the burn ability must also succeed on a Reflex save or catch fire, taking the listed damage for an additional 1d4 rounds at the start of its turn (DC 10 + 1/2 burning creature's racial HD + burning creature's Con modifier). A burning creature can attempt a new save as a full-round action. Dropping and rolling on the ground grants a +4 bonus on this save. Creatures that hit a burning creature with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the burning creature and must make a Reflex save to avoid catching on fire.

Emphasis mine

I think it may be the case that you take it automatically.

AoO Tkurzhan: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 231d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
23 to hit for 4 damage.
AoO Elemental: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 2 = 161d4 ⇒ 21d4 ⇒ 4
16 to hit for 2 damage and 4 fire damage. DC 11 reflex save required.

Did any of the trolls get hit by elementals last round? If so, did they catch fire? The attacks were 17 and 11, which should have suckerpunched at least one troll's regen. Just not sure which one.

Aidan jogs the rest of the way to Harlynn, weaving through the rocks, his hands already charging with white light.
I'll use the rest of my movement to get within touch range and discharge my cure light.
CLW Harlynn: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

The elementals continue their assault, their forms cracking and sparking with white-hot sparks.
Elemental attacks: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 = 141d4 ⇒ 11d4 ⇒ 11d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 2 = 131d4 ⇒ 21d4 ⇒ 3
14 to hit for 1 damage and 1 fire damage.
13 to hit for 2 damage and 3 fire damage.

Bryn, I think it was announced by Eli to use fire. If not, it is by now pretty obvious from the rest of our tactics.

M16>N17>R17. i should move just outside the Troll's reach. I'm hoping Narnel drags Harlynn towards me so I can heal in the same round. I didn't know she had gone back into the rocks, or even if she was still conscious. If he uses the drag combat maneuver it shouldn't provoke AoO from baddie, and it'll get her in range so I can heal.

Tkurzhan is struck, and counters with an unprecedented fury.
Defensive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 261d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 81d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 251d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 51d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 261d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Holy mother of God that worked out
Confirm: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 141d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 71d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 171d3 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
26 to hit, 8 damage. 14 to confirm, 7 damage, total 15.
25 to hit, 5 damage.
26 to hit, 3 damage. 17 to confirm, 4 damage, total 7.
Summary:
If a 25 doesn't hit, I quit xP
If a 25 hits, deals 16 total damage.
If a 17 hits, deals 20 total damage.
If a 14 hits, deals 27 total damage.
These don't include bardsong, if it's going on.
Bardsong makes this 26, 18, 15 for 19, 24, 33 damage.

Marco?

Well I'm still around, but I'm headed to a wedding this weekend so my posting will be low to none until Monday/Tuesday. I'm going to guess that's not a problem xP

You should be able to stick a link like this one in the campaign description and update it every so often.

Are these things really good, or really lucky?
Climb: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Fire elementals appear in O20 and Q15 in order to flank.
Attack 1: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 2 = 17
Damage 1: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Attack 2: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 2 = 11
Damage 2: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Any troll hit by an elemental must succeed on a reflex save DC 11 or catch fire for 1d4 rounds, taking 1d4 damage per round.
How not-okay is Elinor? Is anyone other than Harlynn critically injured? If Harlynn is the only one critically injured, then the following action stands:
Narnel, pull her back! Aidan beseeches as he jumps down from his perch. Lightning strikes the ground, and flaming snakes rise from the smolders to strike at the trolls as Aidan points at them in turn. Ducking through the melee, Aidan prays he is not too late to get the conjurer back into this fight.
Wish I had that damn horse, he thinks as he jogs the distance.

TGIF!

Yupp, that's correct. Do I need a climb check? How tall are they?
Tkurzhan steps towards the larger monster and attacks.
5-foot to O16?
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 91d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 81d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 231d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 61d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 141d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

• 9 to hit for 8 damage
• 23 to hit for 6 damage
• 14 to hit for 7 damage