Benedetto's page

Doesn't your heritage give you dark vision? I thought it did. But, of course, the rest of the group still needs a light source.

Nope. It gives Benedetto thick skin.

The tunnels are hewn by hand for the first few hundred yards, then they break into a maze of tunnels that have been carved out by underground springs, some of which still trickled through, though only a few inches deep. Dank and wet, any tracks that may have been left in the past have long been washed away. Dim light can be seen from a northerly direction, while to the south and east, the tunnels descend into ominous darkness. The sound of skittering and scratching can be heard from the east.

Rochelle stops at the intersection of tunnels, looking from tunnel to tunnel. "I vaguely remember these passages, but I have no idea which way Regina retreated before her ... change. If only we could find her." She looks back at you, "But you are flesh, of course. If we find her, you should take extreme caution. In her new ... condition ... she can be very dangerous."

Benedetto gestures, half shrug and half nod. "So am I, but there ain't no cause to fight.

"Regina," he calls out. "It's all good. We done killed that hobgoblin feller. I come for Rochelle's body. It ought get buried proper-like."

Firing up a hooded lantern, if necessary. (No, I'm only turning into an Illithid, one of the terrors of the Underdark. Of course that doesn't mean I can see without a lantern.)

"So, let's get the lady's body for her. Maybe find her sister, too." Down the stairs to the caves.

As Benedetto moves to the cloakroom, and thereafter to the caves, he relates all of what he saw --minus the horrific debasement-- to Rochelle, as well as Miho and Yalla. "Ma'am, does that sound like it makes sense? Would yer sister have taken yer body down this-a-ways?"

It would seem that the djore of Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions, which allows Benedetto to view the history of a place, might be useful here, if he can use it to retrace the goblinoids' steps and locate her body.

"Rochelle, what happened here?"

Does Rochelle have any reaction to all of this?

Benedetto tries to remove the body from inside the green aura and take it downstairs to the ghost. As he does so, he asks, "Yalla, what in the world's been a'goin' on here?"

She doesn't seem to understand those languages any better. You recall that earlier when she spoke to Amie, she spoke in Sylvan, and also asked if anyone speaks Goblin.

Then Benedetto shrugs. "Sorry. I know no Goblin words."

Benedetto repeats his query in Orc and Undercommon.

You know, if I can't get another player to reply to an out-of-combat question, the game might indeed be dead!

Benedetto gingerly tries to remove the crucified body from its position without setting off whatever wards might be indicated by the green aura. Psicraft: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23.

"Yurgan, Miho, an' myself were just a'wanderin' about, havin' gotten us-selves chewed up by a green dragon out on a bridge a mite yonder, some days back. We were lookin' to find some reinforcements when we happened on this fracas. So, who's who, and why were you gettin' blood all over the furniture here?"

He looks over at the winged fox. "Is that one o' you folks?"

Nightwish, Benedetto was one of the characters who joined in the middle of this fight. So far, he hasn't even gotten much of a chance to introduce himself. The long delays aren't helping. If there's a chance the bugbear could drop over and we could just talk, that would be nice.

Benedetto moves over to the bugbear shaman, taking his scythe in two hands, and striking.
Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Damage:2d4 + 2 ⇒ (3, 1) + 2 = 6

How is Rochelle's ghost reacting to all this?

Well, it looks like Benedetto is going first. He stands, and takes a couple of steps towards the shaman. He's deadly serious as he says, "You there. You've done some terrible things. You ain't fit for any sort of decent company, an' this here ghost of the lady you tortured is decent company enough."

Benedetto concentrates on a mindthrust against the shaman. The Save DC is 21. If the bugbear fails, he'll take 6d10 ⇒ (8, 1, 8, 7, 9, 4) = 37 points of damage.

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14.

You'll need to roll Perception to see if you notice the attack on Miho, which is on the other side of the room from where you're concentrating.

Invisible Castle seems to be down. Using dmTools; 1d20+13 = 26.

"Hey, y'all! Miho's under attack up here!"

Where the body was crucified. If Benedetto sees the attack on Miho, and if he can spare a free action, he'll call downstairs for assistance.

Benedetto turns to the ghost of Rochelle. "Ah see what you mean, ma'am. What were they doin' up here?"

Does anybody have any Knowledge skills for all this? After people weigh in, Benedetto reaches for a sealed tube at his belt, that looks something like a scroll case. He unfastens the lid and draws forth a long, black crystal, rough-hewn, and decorated all around with brass and silver wire filigree. It's his djore of Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions.

At Neevan's request, Benedetto turns to the spirit next to him. "Well, ma'am, let's see what all kind of mischief we can be gettin' ourselves into." He offers her his arm as he begins to move.

He moves to I10, which provokes an attack of opportunity from the hobgoblin in H9. If the hobgoblin elects to take the AoO, there are options Benedetto could take to avoid damage (such as displacement) but he'll choose to just take the damage.

Then he will attack the hobgoblin in H9 with his scythe. He hits AC 26 for 9 points of damage.

"Well, sweet thang, you don't look like one of those nasty things that's infested my home, and I'll bet that if I had a sense of smell, you wouldn't smell like them either, so that puts me on your side ... if I had an actual body to attack with, that is."

"Don't go frettin', ma'am. We seem to be all loaded up on attackin'. What can y'tell us 'bout these critters?"

To get line of sight to the hobgoblin Benedetto fried, he'd need to be in L6, I believe. Which also provides for a handy wall next to him.

The ghostly head of a pretty red-haired woman emerges from the wall next to you, turns in the direction you're looking, and says in an eerie whisper, "Nimble little minx, isn't she?"

Benedetto turns and replies, "So's I says, but I'd reckon she's got nothin' on one such as yeself, pretty lady. So, who's side you be takin' in this here rumble?"

Benedetto looks at Neevah as she sprints up the stairs. "That 'un's sure nimble," he thinks to himself.

He calls after her: "Do yah think the bugbear mage'd be keepin' a bodyguard or two? If'n so, would you like another hand?"

"Whoever you people are, you are most welcome! "

"So," Benedetto replies with a drawl, "what all's goin' on here? How'd y'all end up in a big ol' house with a mess o' angry furry guys?"

Benedetto moves to where he can see the hobgoblins (probably K4). He lets fly a mind thrust at the poor hobgoblin in H10. If the creature fails a Will saving throw (DC 18), it'll take 3d10 = 20 damage.

"So, ah may presume we are killin' 'em all, then?"

Here's the battle map for round 4. I changed it over to Excel, since it's easier to make adjustments. I didn't know if everyone has Excel, though, so what I posted was a screen capture jpeg.

For what it's worth, I have Excel.

22 Coraline ... 20 Tate - moves to L1 and wounds minotaur. 17 Neevan ... 17 Miho ...

16 Bad guys (I'll wait until after Coraline and Yurgan post their actions before I do the bad guys).

15 Hans - moves back to K9;...)....15 Johnny ...

Benedetto is still act on 16, correct? And he'll act after the minotaur, correct?

(Tate, that assumes that Miho didn't take out the minotaur with her blow.)

Who are we waiting for?

Neevan dashed and leapt at the closest of the new hobgoblins, bringing her knee down in a crushing strike and attempting to place herself between the enemy and Lady Amie.

Neevan, Benedetto has training and experience as a bodyguard. If he were paying attention to you, do you think he'd notice your intentions and professionalism?

Seeing the minotaur reel in agony, Miho rushes to the attack, charging as she prepares her swing.

"Dang. That there's a lady what knows how t' swing a sword."

Now, bear in mind, the minotaur is not arriving until the end of the round, so if you want to attack him in this round, then you'll have to delay action on your initiative , which means your initiative in future rounds will be the same as his. Is that cool with you?

Sure.

We still need Coraline and Benedetto to post their actions for this round.

Let's assume that Coraline does, in fact, take out the remaining injured hobgoblin.

Benedetto turns to the arriving minotaur and now uses his mind thrust. 5d10, resisted with a Will save DC 19.

He calls out, in a rural drawl, "Do we need ta keep any o' these critters for interrogatin', or are we fixin' to kill 'em all?"

You changed your attack from Mind Blast to Illithid Blast. The first only affects one target and does hit point damage. The latter affects multiple targets, and does stun damage, according to the feat description. All three are still standing, but only one is able to do anything. They're all badly wounded.

I had missed the fact that Illithid Blast did stun damage. How silly of me.

Edit: upon closer examination, it doesn't look like you took the Illithid Blast feat. You mentioned it on the previous page, so I thought you had taken the feat, but you don't have it down on your character page.

It's a freebie that comes with the first rank of the Flayerspawn Prestige Class.

(Which, come to think of it, is an odd definition of "prestige". It's not like my mum is so very proud of me for turning mauve and licking people from 3' away.)

On the other hand, I haven't given you your award for your character back story yet (which is usually a bonus feat or a magic item that ties into your background), so we can just say that you gained Illithid Blast as a bonus feat at some point, and we can figure out exactly why later.

Something with tentacles, I should hope.

Do we have any idea what caused the hobgoblins to stop in their tracks? (Not me; my power only does hit point damage, so far as I know....)

And how many hobgoblins remain standing now?

The three hobs that [Benedetto] can see all appear to be of similar rank. They're all dressed and armed pretty much the same, and none of them seems to have the bearing of a leader. Wherever the leader is, he's not among these three.

How far away are they? Rather than use mind thrust, I have an illithid blast that can catch more than one of them if they're close enough.

I'm going to be in the Twin Cities for the next three days; I'll post as I can, but I won't be reliable.

Benedetto would have been standing right outside a window, if there were one. Failing that, he'll move to M6.

Regarding background, how many days ago was the fight at the bridge? (Since we're up to full hit points and full psionic points, I'm presuming that we've had at least one full eight-hour rest since then.)

Those toward the back of the party, nearest the door, see a dwarf with a close-cropped beard wearing robes and no armor, leading a tall male human with a pale compexion and a cloak and chain shirt, and an even taller well-toned female human of obviously Tian ancestry (think Japanese) in a gleaming breastplate and brandishing a greatsword. They look haggard, as if they've traveled many days without sleep.

Have we, in fact, travelled many days without sleep?

Yurgan, Miho and Benedetto (who still needs to roll Initiative, by the way):

Initiative: 16

"Looks t' me like we's found either some potential allies, or else the hobgoblin horde's next victims to inspire us. Ah think we need t' shake a leg, friends."

Benedetto moves to where he can see the hobgoblins better. He's looking to see someone who's likely some sort of sergeant or enforcer. (You know the type; high hit dice, low Will save/) If he sees a likely candidate (Perception modifier is +13), he'll loose a 5d10 mind thrust (Will save of DC 19 to avoid all damage). To the casual observer, it sounds like there's a swarm of bees in the area, which grows louder and more distinct as it converges on the target.

Where do we fit in the initiative order?

Am I there?

If you think Benedetto is ready to start play, is he tromping along with Yurgan?

If so, then his demeanor has never really challenged Yurgan's sense of superiority. Benedetto comes off as a yokel, using a modified farm implement in battle. You know he's good in battle against individual foes (dropping them from a distance, hiding from their perceptions, getting answers from them, and as of last week grappling them with a preposterous 4-foot-long tentacle in his mouth) but ill-equipped to deal with rampaging hordes or with undead.

(boy I'm glad I saved before hitting "submit")

Hello. This is Benedetto, Chris Mortika's psionic character. I took the concept from a PC I'd been running in a late, lamented PbP here, converted him to Pathfinder and advanced him to 6th Level.

Basic concept: hick from the border between Ustalav and Last Wall, from a town where the folk have "that look" about them. He went a'wanderin' when it became obvious he was beginin' to show signs of his great-grandpappy's ancestry.

Here's the build:

Benedetto is displayed in a more coherent form on his homepage.

Magical and Psionic Stuff
Amulet of Natural Armor +1, shaped like an octopus.
Chain shirt +1
Cloak of Resistance +1 decorated in the livery of a professional bodyguard guild.
Djore: Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions, 20 charges left. This djore is built in the form of an elaborate prism. Activating it requires a full minute and either sunlight or a light spell.
Gloves of Object Reading, (EPH, pg 174).
Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2 (Pathfinder Beta, page 377) (the green gem is set in a black band with gold lettering, spelling out "great power requires great sacrifice" in Undercommon; if anyone wears it for longer than 24 hours, his irises fade to white)
Potion of Glibness.
Scythe +1
Shard providing a one-time boost of +7 to an Intimidate roll. (It makes a quiet sussurant noise when held.)

Otherwise, he's carrying a backpack with conventional and alchemical stuff.

Benedetto gets to his feet and calmly walks to D6. From now on, even if he's just having dinner in a tavern or waling down the street, he's going to carry some sort of hand weapon. Right now, all he has is the ale stein, and he's still sipping from it.

Does he have line of sight to any of the Wands? Say, the fellow at F1?

If so, that man needs to make a Will save, DC 15, to avoid taking 19 hit points.

Benedetto is now close enough to Urthona so that the Ardent can drop his focus and take damage for him.

Urthona steps from the table (C8) and moves very fast (Shift On) to the front door and blocks it with a full defense option (E4).

These guys have wands. I bet that's gonna sting.

On initative 17, Benedetto turns and, not even getting up out of his chair, attacks the nearest intruder with a mind thrust. He commits 3 power points, so it does 3d10 damage, that's 19 points, resisted by a Will save DC of 15.

Aubrey, when we were casing the place, did we see any civilians going in? We know from our ostelier friend that people do enter.
How tight is security during the day: do they check papers, or are the gate guards just there as a checkpoint?

And I'm suspecting that the initial snatch-and-grab is probably not going to involve all seven of us. Andrei, Shagraat, Colvare and Urthona are probably more effective as a secondary "loud distraction and tuchas-rescuing" team in case Rayne (shapeshifter) Mirra (beguiler) and I (mind-clouding psionic) find trouble.

"All right, then. Let's get ourselves a plan."

The Old Tower is pretty easy to find in Whitewash. Standing by itself in the middle of a quiet plaza, it is quite distinctive in shape. The lower portion is large square building, maybe 120 feet a side and about 40 feet high. ... On top of this foundation, and built mainly over the north-east corner of the giant building, a more modern tower rises another 50 feet or so. ... From the top of the tower, a wooden bridge projects 30’ to an earthmote, about 20’ by 20’, that hovers next to the tower. On top of this is built another building, a squat tower two stories high.

There seems to be one entrance at ground level – an archway in the middle of the south wall. There is no gate to this as such, though it is heavily guarded by six armoured guards. These guards look pretty proficient – they wear breastplates, longswords and heavy shields with the Aundairean coat of arms on them, and wandbelts are clearly visible at their belts. You can also see a few officers, lighter armoured (or unarmoured in some cases). The plaza is also patrolled by another group of guards.

A brief peer through the arch (from a distance) indicates that the lower part of the structure would appear to be a large empty space, in which a few modern structures, like stables and barracks, have been built. The interior has a soft lament glow, presumably magical. ...

"The place is large an' complex, probably with a fair number of people comin' an' goin'. We might git away with muggin' a guard and impersonatin' him, but wouldn't it be simpler to impersonate someone else who comes to work in the mornin'? Less serious combat, the other guards wouldn't have worked with the target as closely as they would if we replaced one o' their fellows, and fewer problems movin' around the building once we're in.

"A buildin' that old also seems like it would be connected to the underground tunnel system. There might be a way in through that."

"Ah think, afore we go in there, we need better intel.

"Rayne, why don't the two of us case the joint, inside 'n' out, and report back what we find?"

Aubrey, did the guards have uniforms? Standard-issue sidearms aside from the wands?

Benedetto just looks unhappy. "This is a tower o' wizards. We ain't gonna be the first group that's tried to get in there all invisibile, and they got ways around that.

"And once we do get in, I am of the opinion that the lot of us, all invisible but still wearin' armor, ain't gonna last five minutes bumpin' 'round in there afore somebody cottons on t' us and raises an alarm.

"I think we have to know the layout of the place first. What the security is, how they're expectin' to respond, and where the professor is.

"Then we go in, break 'er out, and vamoose. We save the invisibility for escapin', not fer gettin' in."

"So, what're we all fixin' t' do? We could just sneak in and try to find the professor, and bust 'er out. We could charge in, an' try to find the professor, and bust 'er out. Those plans have the benefit of bein' short on plannin'. We could do that right now.

"We could ask around for some information, and and use it t' make a better plan, but we mihgt end up askin' someobdy who'd maybe alert folks or all that askin' might give 'em time to kill 'er.

"We could buy Adiber's freedom from 'em. Or try to compel 'em through political pressure.

"Anybody see an idea I missed?"

Tracking down the thieves' guild is a whole new ballgame, not an off-the-cuff thing.

Sure. I'm trying to get a feel for how big a deal "breaking into the Wands' Tower" is. If it's something that happens regularly, then fine, let's do it.

If it's something that's never been achieved, then maybe we want to go into this with the best plan we can pull off.

"Does Stormreach have a Thieves' Guild? Could we take a day to find 'em? I wouldn't mind payin' for their experience, in tellin' us what they've sussed out 'bout the Tower's defenses. I'm sure wwe're not the first to try an' break in, an' I'd reckon they have a list of 'things not to try again.' I'd rather we make newer, better mistakes."