GM Aarvid PFS PbP : The Devil We Know Series (Inactive)

Game Master GM Aarvid

And has reach! Bloody hell. Morvius smacks the living statue again with his glaive and steps back hopefully getting out if his reach.
Attk: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Dmg: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

After seeing the beast pound his allies, Jacen swings wildly but does not connect.

Morvius, lashes back after being bludgeoned, and connects with his glaive, taking a chunk off the elemental.

others? .

Nothing from Holman until the thing moves forward. When that happens, he'll ready a 5'step into reach, setting him up for another 5' step and attack next round.

Do we keep backin' up, izzat what we're doin'?

If that's the plan August will take another 5' step to the SE, if the others say step in and fight that's what he'll do.

An will do the same, but will move to the SW so he and August can flank the elemental. Will ready his attack if the monster moves within range

The goal is to get the elemental to come out so that we can have more people attacking it (and so the damage can be spread out a bit)

Please stop letting it hit you and finish it off!

channel: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 5) = 15

Hawk takes in more wounds from an August An and Morvious.

-15 to Hawk, +5 to the three mentioned above and channel heal to everyone. Will double check math HP numbers in a bit

Nguyen An, August and Holman stand out of range of the things massive arms, ready to strike if it comes within their reach.

Hawk heals the group by sacrificing his own body to absorb some pain.

===Round 4===
The elemental steps forward 5' and swings each of its arms, having a long reach towards the group.

"CRUUSHHCHHHEMMM!"

With two mighty swings, it bludgeons Jacen on its right and Morvius to its left, slamming into them with the force that nearly knocks them to the ground.

On Jacen slam, pa: 1d20 + 15 - 3 ⇒ (19) + 15 - 3 = 31 for dmg: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (5, 3) + 13 = 21
On Morvius slam, pa: 1d20 + 15 - 3 ⇒ (18) + 15 - 3 = 30 for dmg: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (2, 4) + 13 = 19

GM: -27: August=48/48 : An=34/36: Morvius=7/27 :Holman=35/35 : Jacen=10/31 : Hawk=27/41 Check my math :-)

Party up...

August will slide up and attack!

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 for Damage: 1d10 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

An moves on the other side and flanks the creature, striking with his nodachi.

Attack-melee: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
Damage: 1d10 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Jacen is going to withdraw for the moment.

Morvius withdraw from the combat.

Holman steps forward and sticks the thing with his new(ish) dagger.

Not an action: 5' step, as indicated on map
Standard action: Attack elemental
Attack (Adamantine Dagger +1, Piranha Strike): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
Damage (Adamantine Dagger +1, Piranha Strike): 1d3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 2 = 6

I'm assuming that I can't get SA damage fighting this thing? Also, Jaycen - it's got a 10' reach. If you withdraw from your current position, you'll still take an AoO

Hawk will end all his links and enter the fray himself.

Attack Rocky + battlecry - Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 1 - 1 = 20 Magic Adamantine Longspear
damage: 1d8 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 3 = 15

I have Hawk's HP at 31, scratched by a rat earlier for 1 then 40 points of life link damage, 31 of which was healed by channels.

August steps up and smacks the elemental hard, breaking a chunk of stone loose.

His comrade at arms, Nguyen An, swings but does not make contact.

Jacen and Morvius withdraw, retreating to positions of safety away from the creature, which ignores the fleeing men for the time being.

Holman steps up and stabs with his dagger, making a small scratch in the creature.

With grim determination, Hawk lunges forward with spear and stabs, piercing the broad chest.

It lets out a bellow and glides forward, focusing its attention on the two foes that hurt it.

August slam, pa: 1d20 + 15 - 3 ⇒ (20) + 15 - 3 = 32 for dmg: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (2, 3) + 13 = 18
August confirm: 1d20 + 15 - 3 ⇒ (18) + 15 - 3 = 30 for dmg: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (6, 4) + 13 = 23

Hawk slam, pa: 1d20 + 15 - 3 ⇒ (9) + 15 - 3 = 21 for dmg: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (4, 1) + 13 = 18

"BrrrrrrrRREEAAKKKKK!"

It pounds the dwarf hard, knocking his helmet around on his head, followed by a backhand to the healer, with the sound of crushing armor.

GM: -50: August=7/48 : An=34/36: Morvius=7/27 :Holman=35/35 : Jacen=10/31 : Hawk=13/41 Check my math :-)

Party up...

Holman stabs again with his dagger.

Not an action: 5' step, as indicated on map
Standard action: Attack elemental
Attack (Adamantine Dagger +1, Piranha Strike): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Damage (Adamantine Dagger +1, Piranha Strike): 1d3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 2 = 5

As it is not within the drarf's nature to run from a fight, August will take another swing despite his injuries!

Attack, Flanking: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 = 15 for Damage: 1d10 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 16 + 1 = 24

Yelling a Tien battle call, An strikes again at the rocky foe!

Attack-melee: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 2 = 22
Damage: 1d10 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21

Move action to activate battle dance then casting shield.

Elementals can't be flanked

Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 1 - 1 = 24
Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 3 = 14

Well they CAN be, we just don't get the benefit I guess! I forgot about that.

Holman pokes at the creature, but even though he hits, it cannot penetrate is rocky hide.

August, Hawk and Nguyen An, tired of being knocked around, bring their weapons down hard on the creature, hitting it high and low. They do considerable damage, and the thing topples and breaks into a large pile of gravel and dirt.

The dirt pushes opened the two weakened side doors, knocking them off their rusted hinges. Beyond are non-descript outer hallways. You suspect the double doors are what the elemental was protecting.

Out of combat...I am going to speed things up a bit. Is anyone of you trying to get to a GD3 game other than mine (Pirate Pact)?

I'm fine with speeding things up, but yeah, Holman's just going to be doing your Pirate Pact...

Speeding up is good but I have enough characters that it shouldn't matter.

August is not slated for an adventure yet but speeding up is fine.

Agreed, and no other adventure for An yet..

Please take care of any healing and update your PC status accordling. I will assume you are finished and move forward.

Opening the double-doors to the north,

Broken furniture litters the room: parts of a stool, a modest
writing table battered in twain, and several smashed chairs
sprawl across the keep’s wooden floor.

Two sets of stairs, one in the northeast corner and
one in the northwest corner, lead to a cellar beneath the
prison dubbed Stavian’s Fair by the Swift’s residents.

Other stairs head to upper floors, but the rooms are similarly destroyed and vacant.

Assuming you head down, I need marching order and perceptions.

Holman heads down the stairs, attempting to be stealthy.

Stealth (Take 10): 10 + 15 = 25
Perception (Take 10): 10 + 9 = 19

As Holman heads down the steps, he hears a click and a green glowing arrow shoot up from the darkness below.

ranged touch: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15 for acid dmg: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

The magical arrow hits him and starts burning with acid. Unless it can be neutralized, it continues to burn for several seconds. acid dmg: 6d4 ⇒ (3, 2, 3, 1, 1, 1) = 11

Continuing downward, the second level of the Fair, like area B7 above, is stripped of nearly everything metal, leaving what was once a tangle
of dank, solitary confinement cages transformed into a
tumbled mess of furniture and prisoner odds and ends.

A collection of broken furniture in the southeast corner
suggests a struggle, and Holman finds
a splattering of blood on the floor in front of the door in
the southeast corner of the room.

Opening the door you find a familiar face: the Crazed Painter (see Crypt of Fools).

The Crazed Painter stands before
the south wall contentedly painting a large mural. The
mural depicts two large snakes carrying a bell into
Cassomir’s sewers and portrays in great detail what is
clearly your party chasing after the snakes.

On the assumption that someone will heal August if he gives them his wand,

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Good enough, August is at 47/48 HP now.

An, why are we chasing snakes in that drawin'?

"That guy again! What is he doing here?", An comments as he sees the man.

I might need a few hits of the CLW wand too, if possible

Morvius heals himself with his wand and will activate other people's ones on request. After the patch up he follows the group staying in the second line, glaive ready.
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

#%$&!
Not this fool again. He whispers under his breath. Turning to the man.
You put us in your painting. Why? What are we suppose to be doing?

Those two snakes, they took the bell” . " he says and points to the mural with a toothless smile.

He turns to Morvius and exclaims “Groetus told me you would come, and he asks that you rid his shrine of the derros. But I warn you, do not interfere with his shrine or Groetus’s anger will be swift.” "

Hawk gives a small sigh as he breaks out his wand of cure light wounds and uses it for the first time since he acquired one.

1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Hawk will then establish links with anyone who has healed themselves.

Which is everyone but Jacen right now I believe.

Well, if we go look I bet that magical bell that we looked at before has gone missing. We were played, but that isn't our primary concern at the moment. We need to track down the leader of this band and put an end to this threat.

The painter approaches Hawk.
Which way did the derros go? . "
At this point, the Crazed Painter points to the door in the southeast corner of the room and says,
"Down, down, deeper, and down, follow my map to the underground. Here take the map” . "

The Crazed Painter hands Hawk a piece of paper with an unintelligible garble of scrawls and pictures on it and says,

“Understand the map and you find the grotto.”. "

Hawk stabs the painter

Thank you...?

Is this a puzzle with a handout or would any knowledges be appropriate to dechipher the scribbles?

The scribbles look to be a series of random numbers, a game of tic-tac-toe and a recipe for some kind of soup. Not really much help.

Behind the door the painter points to in the southeast corner of this room, you find an open trap door and a ladder that descends into darkness.

An shakes his head at seeing the trap door.

"Why do we always have to descend into these dank, close tunnels to battle evil? It should meet us up here in the clean, bright, open air! Stupid evil!"

Despite the darkness and smell, your Pathfinder instincts tell you this is indeed the direction you seek. You climb down the ladder into the sewers.

Refuse rushes by in a stream of garbage carried swiftly through the sewer proper. A five-foot-wide dry ledge sits a foot above the refuse and provides a walkway on both the east and west sides of the sewer. On the west wall, a massive iron door blocks passage beyond. An image carved into the door is of a dispassionate figure holding a gibbous moon.

Map updated

Hawk keeps his light spell active for himself and those around him and will cast detect magic when they get near the door.

Navigating the slick rocks to the other side takes a bit of balance to avoid falling into the dank waters.

This will ruin my suit... Again! Morvius grumbles while looking at the filthy waters.
Lets secure a rope from here to the other side. It should make the crossing easier.
So... Who is going first?

Holman judges the distance, then lightly springs across the gap. "Throw me the rope, ya big'un," he says with a mischievous grin.

Acrobatics (20' speed): 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 11 - 4 = 25

Holman manages to hop skip and jump over the stones to the other side.

Does anyone throw him a rope, and what are you using for light sources?

An will toss a rope to the halfling.

With the rope tied across, it is a relatively easy crossing of the rocks. dc 5 . and unless any of the remaining members fall in when you cross, you end up in front of the heavy door to the north.

1d20 ⇒ 8

August can now take 10 and safely make it across.