Sandros Highmount's page

Okay. [puts on Sandros hat] 'Smy own fault for not playing a tactical-type character in the first place... Here's my suggestion. Badru, take your swing, then fall back (5 ft step) to I4. Royl, 5-ft step to L5. Then Royl fires a burning hands directly east - based on the spell templates in Pathfinder, that should hit C, D, and 7, as well as Mahaffy, but avoid Ka'kara. If Mahaffy's not already down from damage, I don't think Royl can kill him, and we're getting desperate. At the same time, Rhianna will move to K4 and fire a burning hands southeast, which should catch D, 3, and 8 without hitting any party members. Whatcha think?

Just say the word, and I will be here!

"We should go... at first opportunity," Sandros says, still weak. His eyes are fixed on Mahaffy and the axe, however. "We need to seek help as quickly as we may."

Sandros Highmount wrote:

Black Tom wrote:

It looks like you'll have to head back to town for a Restoration or two or else have both your primary fighters crippled.

We get another roll each day. We can just wait it out if we don't want to spend the cash...

That sounds reasonable, but I can't find the actual rule. Anyway you have a dwarf that may need some clerical attention.

It's in the description of negative levels in the Glossary. But yes, we definitely plan to head to town for a potential remove curse if need be.

It looks like you'll have to head back to town for a Restoration or two or else have both your primary fighters crippled.

We get another roll each day. We can just wait it out if we don't want to spend the cash...

This would be a good time to roll to shrug off your negative levels.

Fort saves (1d20+3=6, 1d20+3=13)

Hmm... not so much.

Sandros shrugs, looking tired. "A curse, as I said, but I truly do not know. We should probably get back to town, though, so we can find out."

Sandros frowns between the dwarf and the axe, opening his mouth and raising his rapier as though about to cast a spell... but he sways and leans heavily against the wall instead. Shaking his head, he turns to Roylenna, saying, "He may have been cursed... can you sense a dweomer on him?" then lowers himself heavily to the floor.

Hang on, I'm confused - did I even get to make the attack with the critical strike on it? Or do I still have that ability to use?

Mahaffy is beset by four and Sandros by three.

I just want to remind everyone that I voted for the inn. When I die, having been right will be a tiny, tiny comfort. ;)

AoO on the bugbear (Power Attack, flank, neg levels) (1d20+7=16, 1d6+5=11)

Regular attack on the bugbear, with PA, flank, neg levels, and a critical strike via arcane bond (1d20+7=8, 1d6+5=9, 1d6=2)

...

Using critical strike seems to basically guarantee bad dice rolls for me. I should stop. ;P

The half-elf's blade slashes twice, but his arcane-enhanced strike can find no purchase (though it does force Mahaffy to duck slightly).

Sandros readies himself for battle, but he can feel a tremor in his hands as he does so. Everything about this situation is bad, he thinks to himself. Only one exit, an unknown number of attackers, and our two lead warriors at our weakest...

Initiative (with neg level penalties) (1d20+2=22)

The tension of the situation seems to steel him somehow, though, as he rises to his feet and prepares for the onslaught. He moves to stand across the doorway from Mahaffy, trying to clear his weary and confused mind for a spell.

Not readying an action per se, but moving into the room should provoke an attack of opportunity from Mahaffy and I both.

An inn would suit me as well. I'd really rather have these negative levels gone before I have to worry about a random encounter roll...

Sandros hisses in pain as he feels his very life force get stripped away, but his blade is only slightly slower as it dances through a complex arcane movement. As he stabs out, he shouts, "Aika tildemakil," but the wight steps aside as if the half-elf were attacking through molasses.

Rapier attack with bardic music, flanking bonus, and Power Attack and negative level penalties, plus critical strike (1d20+8=10, damage 1d6+5=7, critical strike 1d6=6)

Goodness. After pondering all weekend, that's what I wasted my spell on? (sigh)

I was assuming the same thing.

Sandros is up.

Sorry, I've been trying to figure out what having a negative level does to my spellcasting. As I read it, I have a -1 CL, which means I have a CL of 0 - can I therefore not cast spells? Or are only the spells with CL-dependent effects messed up by that?

Sandros Highmount wrote:

Something to keep that thing from smacking Ka'kara for another negative level would be ideal... do you have protection from evil, by any chance?

'

Does PFE Help? It only gives +2 tp AC and Save

It's a deflection bonus to AC, so it would protect against the wight's slam.

Acrobatics (1d20+10=13)

Sandros attempts to slip around the wight, but getting around the enlarged barbarian proves enough of a distraction that the move has none of his usual grace.

What happens next depends on whether he gets tagged by the wight's AoO...

Are we fighting in a doorway here? How much room to maneuver do we have?

Something to keep that thing from smacking Ka'kara for another negative level would be ideal... do you have protection from evil, by any chance?

Initiative (1d20+4=14)

Perception (1d20+3=4)

Sandros nods and moves toward the left opening, weapon at the ready.

I think Tom said we'd already looked and come up empty.

"Let's try the other direction," Sandros says thoughtfully, "before we put ourselves into a position that is likely to require conflict."

"Let's make another stab at this," Sandros murmurs, trying again to find something vital within the skeleton's frame.

Rapier attack with Power Attack and inspire courage (1d20+8=20, damage 1d6+5=7)

Well, it's not quite minimum damage... (sigh)

I hope that makes it.

The DC for concentration checks to hold on to a spell after damage is 10 + spell level + damage taken, so you should be fine.

Sandros hisses in pain as he feels the skeleton's blade strike him, but he replies in kind, thrusting his rapier toward the thing's empty eye sockets.

Rapier attack with Power Attack (1d20+7=23, 1d6+4=5)

Ugh. Minimum damage. No way that got through the DR...

Initiative (1d20+4=5)

And I was thinking she was bringing up the rear 'cause she was still looking at the statues...

No, that seems to be me...

Sandros grins. "See, this is why I've stopped worrying about making decisions. Eventually, the boredom gets to someone enough and we wind up having another adventure." The grin fades slightly, as memories of some of those "adventures" drift in, but he shakes his head to set those memories aside. "I don't recall being scared of the gnolls, though," he mutters to Ka'kara as he steps up behind her.

"Dog people, or hyena people?" Sandros asks curiously. He looks down the now-empty corridor. "If we follow, we might be setting ourselves up for an ambush, or appearing more threatening than we mean to be."

Initiative (1d20+4=11)

Sandros blinks, suddenly aware of something... changing... but he cannot identify it, and after a moment, it is gone. He shakes his head, then turns around at the sound of falling stone.

Fort save (1d20+3=16)

"Cayden's nose, Royl, what in the world was that?"

Ready to go. No significant changes, except that I've got two favored classes (guess which ones!) and the bonus for the wizard levels is going to hit points.

"Goblins don't entertain me much either, as it happens," Sandros says dryly. "I concur with our lovely warrior; let's head down."

Ka'kara takes an elegant dive and emerges with the key, a simple brass one.

Now what?

Sandros will give the key a once-over with detect magic, just in case.

Sandros Highmount wrote:

Also, for reasons I can't technically discuss, I'm going to be a lot quieter on the boards for the next week or so. I will try to keep in touch with what's happening here, though.

I hope nothing bad has happened to you. You are a nice person. Hope to hear from you again and I hope you are OK. Best wishes to you

No worries - it's actually quite a good thing, it's just taking up a lot of my time at the moment. But like I said, I'm around, and I'm getting close to done with what I'm working on at the moment anyway.

Yes, it's a DC 20 climb.

That's probably Ka'kara then... Sandros has a +6 and Mahaffy a +7, but she's got a +8.

Also, for reasons I can't technically discuss, I'm going to be a lot quieter on the boards for the next week or so. I will try to keep in touch with what's happening here, though.

There are no secret doors within reach, but Mahaffy spots a suspicious-looking crack about 20 feet up on the wall.

Does the wall look climbable?

Elf secret door sense (1d20+3=5)

Sandros looks around the chamber, confused. "This makes no sense," he murmurs. Brow furrowed, he glances around several times, then suddenly looks up toward the now-distant ceiling, squinting into the darkness. "Maybe there's something up there...?" he mutters to himself.

Sandros will delay until after Royl's spell.

Initiative (1d20+4=17)

Seems like a good time for burning hands, Royl!

I've been meaning to pick up identify...

Sandros frowns at the seemingly harmless axe. "I remain wary of that thing," he says, but does not object if someone else wants to use it.

There is also back toward the mist demon. There was some sort of passage or ledge back there, wasn't there?

"It would at least tell us what we're dealing with," Sandros says, nodding.

There is nothing to guarantee that it would stop with the monkey, however; Sandros isn't probably going to think of that, though.

Assuming Royl tells us which she sensed...

"Transmutation, eh?" Sandros muses. "Some sort of permanent telekinesis effect?" He shakes his head. "Regardless, I don't like the idea of leaving a flying killer axe here for the next poor fools to open the door and wind up a head shorter. What do you think?"

The door opens to reveal a small chamber, which is empty but for the finely crafted ancient battleaxe that hangs on the opposite wall.

"No, that doesn't look suspicious at all," murmurs Sandros dryly.

There are six headless skeletal bodies splayed about the floor, and the walls and ceilings are smeared with (ancient) dried blood.

Headless skeletons are always bad, and usually mean screaming flying demon heads. :P

Sandros looks warily around the room, readying his recently-bought quarterstaff at the sight of the skeletons. He squints up at the writing. "Anyone got a clue what that says?" he asks.

Sandros falls toward the rear, letting his sharper eyes drink in the light of Roylenna's magic as they proceed. He too watches over his shoulder for the return of the "mist demon."

Perception (1d20+3=16)

"What the...?" shouts Sandros in surprise.

Initiative (1d20+4=6)

"When do we ever not go to look?" Sandros asks rhetorically, squinting up the stream to see what Roylenna is pointing at.

Not to be paranoid or anything, but does the mist look at all suspicious?

Sandros reappears at the cave the following morning, his "business" concluded (though he seems oddly cagey about what it might have been). I'll figure that part out at some point, I'm sure. He agrees with Ka'kara that they should continue their search of the lake area before moving on any further.