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We began our newest PF AP Adventure this past Sunday, namely The Bastards of Erebus, Council of Thieves Pt. 1
Personae Dramatis:
Jackson Friendly, Wiscrani Human Male Bard. He of the high initiative and little action-taking.
Evan Fuzzyfeet, Wandering Halfling Male Cleric of Sarenrae. He of rock-throwing and healing-power wielding.
Nuella Fitzwizzlesprocle,Wiscrani Gnome Female Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline). She of the ever-changing hair color and seemingly limitless Color Sprays
Job, Wiscrani (nee Crusading) Human Male Paladin of Iomedae. He of the sad-faced power attack and Holy Smiting with a rifle.
]Dr. Master Veatrix Magnus Dumptruck Ellypen Rae Chief, Esq. Homeless Bleachling Gnome Female Evoker. She of the ridiculous and the resident Doctor of Confabulation. Doesn't believe in the bleaching, despite looking like an albino WoW addict.
Act the First, Where Random Adventurers form a Party:
The party receives their invitation to dinner via various and sundry means. Job receives a sealed invitation from a young member of the Iomedaen community center, Jackson is approached openly on the street while en route to his next public speaking appointment. Dr. Veatrix received an early morning visit in her alleyway crash spot; the offer of free dinner and possibly a place to sleep were all it took.
Evan and Nuella seemed very afraid of the tall, confident Janiven, and almost fled her approach. Again, the offer of food, drink, and possibly a crash spot appealed to the small folk greatly.
Once there, some good Sense Motive checks told Job and Nuella that Janiven was worried while she went on with her speech/sales-pitch. After her impassioned plea for rebellion, the night quickly fell apart, especially for Jackson and his nice clothes. The Hellknights approaching and their new "friend" seemingly ready to flee, the party accompanies Janiven and Morosino through the secret passage and on into the sewers. (Happily, the Gnomes, Halfling, and Paladin seem quite eager to make snap decisions and follow through on them. This is a welcome change from our usual "hem and haw about everything" method of play.)
Now in the architecturally impressive Wiscrani Sewer System, Janiven quickly doles out potions, instructions, and advice. She then requests leave from the party, believing that her stealth and speed will be better suited to getting Morosino out alive than to hanging around the party (thanks go out to Thom for biting at the relatively easy dangling "lose the NPC" hook :) ). The party sets out and quickly comes across an abandoned storage room with a few pieces of door still blocking the entrance.
The door taken care of readily, Job is now staring at 8 little jelly-bean shaped bugs the size of his hand. Scenting fresh meat, they swarm him. Of course, the Bard rolls 1st in the order, electing to do nothing as he is around the corner and unable to see anything. The Torbles soon fall to longsword/dagger/evoker's missile attacks, but not before scoring a Nat-20/Nat-20 critical on poor Job for a whopping 4 damage!
Having taken stock of the situation, the party progresses through the twists and turns of the sewers before hearing the footsteps of armored men coming round the corner. This is the start of something silly, as the Sorcerer with Max'd out Perception (Draconic Bloodline, remember) not only hears them coming, but has the movement to get into a corner and await the hapless armigers. Once initiative starts, the torchbearing armigers walk directly into an ambush, with Nuella stepping out from cover and hosing them down with a Color Spray. (Gnome, SF: Illusion, decent Cha means DC 18, maybe 17. Armigers have will saves of -1.) There is some stabbing of unconsious dudes before the Paladin move-action Detect Evil's, noting they are NOT, in fact, evil. After that, almost all armigers were simply rendered unconscious and nude, being left in closets, doorways, and the like.
Highlights of the rest of the mighty Sewer Dungeon Crawl include:
-The goblin rogue manages to surprise Jackson, getting a Nat-20 on the poor bard. Of course, I then roll less than 5 to confirm the critical. Damage was 1d4-1+1d6 Sneak Attack. I rolled 2 1's, yielding in a small scratch instead of a gushing neck wound. Said goblin took a Smite Evil rifle round in the back as he fled, becoming so much more flotsam in the sewer channels.
-Another set of armigers, this group attempting to flank the party with a goblin patrol, takes a color spray to the face, making the 3 foot tall giggling Gnome the current holder of "most kills". That goblin patrol, meanwhile, managed to do some small damage on the paladin before it was healed. They then took many longsword wounds, with 1 managing to flee beyond Job's bullseye lantern's radius.
-In a small office, the party found a group of Skeletons, armed with mining picks and wearing hard hats. Dr. Veatrix quickly claimed one as her own (the hardhat) and has been stuffing things underneath to provide for a proper fit. In the same room, the desk turned out to be trapped with a Burning Hands spell, charring the good Dr.'s hands (again) and destroying the bits of paper-based treasure inside.
-Towards the end of the dungeon, in the multi-channel room with 4 exits, the party sees a strangely glowing rectangular archway. Oddly shaped for the area, it radiated Evocation and Transmutaion magic to the Detect Magic wielders, while producing a transparent, smooth, hard to the touch barrier across the doorway. Beyond the portal, all they could tell was that there was a faint shimmering in the halls and a decided lack of organic material. An educated guess put the spell effect as a Wall of Force, and while a brief discussion of "Can we mine through the surrounding walls?" came up, the threat of Hellknight reprisal was considered too great.
-As a final encounter before exiting the sewers, the party came across 3 brain-eating zombies, intent on devouring the newcomers despite having just finished off 3 Hellknight armigers. With a few Channel Energies and some fancy longsword work (seriously, +6 to hit at level 1, with 1d8+6 damage per swing is nothing to sneeze at) they went down without incident. The victorious heroes managed to escape the dungeon and the Hellknight patrols, making it to the abandoned temple of Aroden in the northern Spera.
On to the talky bits!
Act the Second, Where an Adventuring Party becomes a Political Movement:
The party, now safely ensconced with their erstwhile friend Janiven, begins to introduce and be introduced to the growing group of dissidents. Evan and Nuella take quite well to Yakupulio, the meth-smoking, fast-talking, atheist barkeep/pimp. I expect much trouble to come from them later.
Fiosa and Sclavo gravitate towards Job, but his grumpy demeanor and Eeyore voice may well drive them from him. At least, may drive Fiosa away. Sclavo and Job seem well suited for one another, and I forsee much “Second Fiddling” from the wannabe Paladin.
Tarvi tried to talk with the good Dr. Veatrix, but she really is in a world of her own. Smart beyond compare (at least amongst this group) but hopelessly out of her mind, Doc is not the kind to really know she has friends for a while. I look forward to this relationship playing out.
Jackson spent his time chatting politely and trying to determine just what he had gotten into, finally grabbing a bottle of wine and sulking in a corner. Unfortunately, the Gnomes did not help his mood with their cartwheels, giggles, and all around rambunctiousness.
During the evening, the party shot down pretty much any and all suggestions for names, finally settling on “Heroes Against Lawful Opression” or HALO, for short. I think they need to play some new videogames, honetly, but the name is kind of catchy. Also, this was one of the best inter-party RP sessions I have seen in a LONG time. Most of the time, I have to spur this kind of thing on, but I managed to keep my mouth shut and let them do their own thing. As it unfolded, I was rewarded with one of the funniest things I have seen in a decade and a half of RP'ing.
While discussing the new “uniform” of HALO, the subject of masks came up. Now, Dr. V is being played by a rather animated person, one who consistently RP's quite well. Dr. V is taking notes all the while, trying to get everyone to call themselves some form of equation or other, or adding Force to all the suggestions thrown out already. When someone mentions wearing a mask to disguise their identity, Christa (Dr. V's player) calmly rips a sheet out of the notebook she is scribbling in (while her PC does the same) and stabs 2 holes through the paper. She grabs an elastic headband from somewhere and presto, has a serviceable mask with which to disguise herself. I couldn't stop laughing, mostly because of the visceral RP'ing, but also because she kept the mask on. For the rest of the night. When someone made disparaging comments about Gnomes, she pulled it off, drew a frown on it, and threw it right back on. The two Gnomes kept changing the expression in game with obvious Prestidigitation illusions, and the mask IRL, eventually gained eyebrows, a teardrop, and some other cosmetic additions.
The new members of HALO finally settle in, get places for themselves in the temple, and sack out.
Act the Third, Where the Authority is Shown the True Power of Color:
Armed with the knowledge of Arael's (known as the “Mermaid”) transportation, the party sets up an ambush, borrowing horses from uncle Gorvio and following the adventure's plan with a slight discrepancy: Job plans on hiding himself in a small copse some 200' south of the bridge and will charge down the rear of the carriage guards with a lance.
Everything proceeds flawlessly, save that Job didn't count on being quite so effective with his new mounted lance charge attack. He skewered the poor guard with something like 32 damage, well more than the 21 necessary to kill him outright. Shanwen tried his best, rolling a 4 to hit the deadly Job, and then Nuella got to go.
Readers of this journal should know what happens now: 15 foot cones of colors flash out, bad guys fall over (yes, even the cleric) fight is over. With the key from Shanwen and all the weapons and potions they can carry, the party frees Arael, who bluffs the party into believing they have the wrong guy. They grab him anyways, with the rule of “no witnesses” and ride off into the dust, leaving just the 1 dead armiger. They also left all the armor, the wagon and horseteam, believing the remaining 4 armigers would be able to mount a signinficant threat.
On the retun of the horses, Team HALO runs into Thesing Umbero Ulvauno, the pompous local singing celebrity. With truly horrible Knowledge: Local rolls, no-one has heard of him; his strident tone and self-important attitude do not endear him to the group, to say the least. In the middle of a tirade, Evan casts Create Water, soaking the blowhard with a couple gallons of water. Just as he's getting geared up to deliver an ear-splitting and thesauraus-referring retort, the giggling cute little Nuella steps up and ...you gussed it...Color Spray. Down goes the nuisance, down goes the party's chance of a peaceful interaction with him, and off goes the party. Exeunt, and curtain.
Act the Fourth, Where Bastards receive their Comeuppance:
Having successfully reunited the pair of Janiven and Arael, HALO is ready to make strides towards the big-time. Given some time to lay low, research, craft, and train, the party really settles into the Freedom Fighter routine. Job has the NPC's training and working, Dr. V spends her time being a mad scientist and scribing scrolls. Jackson, Evan, and Nuella spend more than a little time with Yakupulio at the Bruised Eel, sharing stories, enjoying libations, and making new “friends” with the employees therein.
Once the dust has settled from the daring prison break, Arael and Janiven approach the party with a new target: The Bastards of Erebus. After some discussion as to whether it'd be better to leave them in place and use their actions to rally the people, it's decided to remove the threat. It's also decided that, since they're tieflings, no quarter should be shown or expected.
Attacking at night, the first place the party finds is the Woodcarver's House, from which issue sounds of rather vigourous lovemaking. They elect not to break in (the door is locked, and with no rogue that will become an issue rather quickly) and move towards the old Church of Erastil. Before they get too far, though, they target the Belltower Sentry with crossbow, sling, and magic missile fire, dropping him without incident. At the front door, Job “knocks” with his boot, failing to kick in the door and alerting the residents inside to their presence. Another good kicking drives the door in, revealing....darkness.
Thus begins an epic, 10-round long battle of cat-and-mouse. Dr. V. moves into the room, for some reason, and takes 3 crossbow quarrels before she can get back out. The dog himself charged the paladin, missed, and was quickly subdued for his troubles. While Jackson inspired his party, Nuella eventually broke one of the windows and Sprayed the curious tieflings who investigated. 2 succumbed to the knockout spray, but the remaining 2 put crossbow bolts through the poor Gnome, one critically. With only a few HP remaining, Nuella wisely chose to withdraw, but managed to attract enough attention in doing so to let Dr. V and Job approach the back of the room, despite the darkness. A lucky burning hands later (doing all of 1 hp to the fire resistant tieflings) and the room is lit again. 1 thug did manage to flee, however, warning the “Mummy” loudly of the intruders. The players were taken aback for a while, scared of the thought that they'd be fighting mummies at 2nd level, but taunting the thug that he'd need his Mum to assist in his fight.
Down below, the fight went similarily, damaging Job, Evan, and Dr. V rather seriously before they could get the magical artillery in the proper spot. The battle went back and forth, mostly because one thug would open the door, his allies would get a readied crossbow shot, and Evan would get his readied action to slam the door shut again. That went on for at least 3 or so rounds before they tried to grapple him (failing) and left all the thugs in a nice cone-pattern in front of the door. 2 Color Sprays later (Nuella's last for the day) and only the “Mummy” Ostengo is left facing an angry Job. He springs across the unconscious bodies of 5 thugs and delivers an 18 point longsword power attack, seperating the Mummy from his head.
After looting for a bit, Job opens the next door, is attacked by the Wolf Skeletons (who can't hit the broad side of a Paladin) and puts them down with some assitance from Evan (Magic Weapon on the Longsword followed by Aid Another actions to assist with Job's attacks).
Jackson calls to borrow Job's rifle, which he provides without question, and heads up to the belltower to loot and stand guard.
We ended the evening there, with everyone out of most of their resources (Nuella is empty and running on Cantrips, Evan has a scroll or 2 left, Job used his smite for the day, and Dr. V. has a few spells remaing. I think Jackson has about 5 or 6 rounds of inspire left and a couple of spells remaining) and in the middle of the dungeon.
They got enough XP to put them to 3800, and have the last few rooms left to deal with. They also have more crossbow bolts and studded leather armors than they could possibly need, and a bunch of dead tieflings. The plan, last I heard, was to stash the bodies in the wolf-skeleton room, and press on.
We will see in a couple of Sundays!
The quote of the game, brought to us by the irrepressible Dr. Veatrix:
With regards to the tiefling's potential treasure: “I got dibs on anything with hinges or springs!” Delivered from beneath her new bright yellow hardhat with its paper “sad face” mask.
-t
Awesome. :)
I'm sorry but the Dr is now known as Dr. Dumptruck or Dumpy.
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In Addendum
...while traveling through the sewers, the party came across a blockage, just past a doorway. the paladin, on point as always, nimbly climbs to the top of the pile and escape artist's through the narrow passageway i described.
the 2 gnomes and the halfling zip through, equally nimbly.
Jackson the bard steps up, braces himself, and launches his not inconsiderable person through the 18" wide space, half filled with loose scree and rubble. He got stuck, much like a familiar bear, and was unable to loosen himself.
The sorcereress tosses off another Grease, and on his next pull slips through like a watermelon seed. Much was made of the condition of his clothes, as well as more griping about the sewers in general.
Come to think of it, Jackson's primary complaint seemed to hinge on their flight into the sewers in the first place. He took offense with the whole "rebel" thing, too. I'm not sure if he'll work out, but I bet someone will get to frag the bard.
-t
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This Sunday, we resumed our heroic activities with the conclusion of The Bastards of Erebus.
Once again, the Cast:
Jackson Friendly, Wiscrani Human Male Bard. Unwilling rebel and averse to dangerm, he recently acquired a tower shield, for the cover
Evan Fuzzyfeet, Wandering Halfling Male Cleric of Sarenrae.
The party's healer and resident "voice of reason" with "reason" being a debatable term.
Nuella Fitzwizzlesprocle,Wiscrani Gnome Female Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline). Blaster of color sprays and arrow-magnet par excellence
Job, Wiscrani (nee Crusading) Human Male Paladin of Iomedae. Emo paladin and resident damage dealer. Equally deadly with sword, dagger, or club.
Dr. Master Veatrix Magnus Dumptruck Ellypen Rae Neil Patrick Harris Chief, Esq. Bleachling Gnome Female Evoker. Collecting names like a bum gets sores, currently going by the name of Dr. Dumptruck or just Doc.
...Our Story Continues...
Having dispatched a good portion of the Bastards, as well as their undead allies, the party takes a moment to regroup, loot, and divide the spoils out. Job takes the lonely walk to the tower to reclaim Jackson (and his rifle) before the group decides to continue.
On through the next door, HALO manages to readily defeat the red-furred and bad-tempered wolves, generally by letting them chew on, trip, and chew some more on Job. Finally, the paladin regains his footing and manages to slay the remaining beasts. Scratched a bit, they use some potions and Lay on Hands to heal up, and move on.
Finding a boarded up door around the corner, out come the crowbars, with Job ripping boards off as fast as he can and Dr. D yanking nails with her much smaller prybar. They rapidly reveal the door and move on into the woodcarver's home. Jackson decides to keep the battered and used tower shield being used as a trapdoor, slinging the small table across his back.
The whole party moves upstairs, with greater or lesser levels of enthusiasm, finding a corpse left on a bed and a small hole in the ceiling. Noone found the giant rot grub before his ambush, and with the good Dr. searching the corpse, his first target was assured.
A good bite and grapple later, and Doc is sweating, especially as everyone's first swings go wide and the bug holds on. Nuella quickly Greases the poor bleachling and she is able to squirm out next turn. The bug is not so lucky, however, falling to combined strikes from Jackson, Job, and Evan in a shower of goo and ichor.
Heading back downstairs, the group continues along the hall, turning again to go upstairs. This time, the pair of "distracted" tieflings is not quite as inattentive; one rolled quite well on his perception to hear Mr. Clanky Shoes coming through the floorboards, and prepare to ambush the 1st opponent up the stairs.
Job, once again, charges up the stairs enthusiastically, eating 2 Sneak Attack alchemist fire bottles in the process. The rogues get initiative on the hapless Paladin, dimming the lights but failing to stab him again. A frantic, groping hunt for the "darkness coin" ensues, with Evan spending the next 4 rounds looking for the source of the darkness while Job tries his best to drop his foes. Everyone pitched in as they could, and once Evan grabbed the "Bastard Pog" the battle was well in hand. 2 dead tieflings later and HALO is ready to move on.
Down below, the party prepares to head into the last side chamber when the 2nd Sorcerer (Vethammer? Ostengo? I forgot his proper name) and his group spring their ambush. Darkness falls, again, and crossbow bolts wing Nuella. A lone magic missile also strikes, leading to the quote:
"This is Soviet Russia. Here, the Darkness Magic Missile's you!"
Again, Evan the Cleric grabs the darkness object and the thugs are readily dispatched with sword and knife. At one point, Job fumbles and drops his sword; not missing a beat, he whips out a club (as he called it, "My baseball bat") and proceeds to go all Joe Pesci on these thugs. Heads burst like grapefruit while the sorcerer continually backs off and zaps the Paladin repeatedly. Nuella handed off her wand of grease, letting Dr. D do something more than wing off ineffectual Ray of Frost cantrips. The entire tunnel became greased, eventually, resulting in slow going and plenty of pratfalls.
Ostengo (or whatever his name was) managed to get just past the threshold of Dravano's room and hiss out "We've got company!" when Jackson's arrows finally found him and put him down.
In the next installment: How to Kill a Tiefling, even if he has claws!
-t
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The Saga of H.A.L.O. continues...
The heroes, low on resources and feeling the bite of a certain crossbow wielding Tiefling gang, nevertheless push on. Having dispatched the Thugs and Sorcerer in the ambush corridor, Dravano and his 3 Rogue 2 buddies come floating around the edge of the darkness.
Hoping to catch the party unawares (a nearly impossible task with Job and Dr. D packing maxed perception scores) the foursome drifts into the corridor and challenges our intrepid heroes. This was probably NOT in their best interest. A few arrows from Jackson, a couple of grease spells off a wand, and the Tieflings (Die, devil-scum!) go down quite handily.
Dravano, with his better AC and decent offensive capability, lasted another couple of rounds, despite being flanked and focus-fired. He put some hurt on everyone, but soon fell to a wicked clubbing from Job.
After some regrouping and the expenditure of the last healing spells/channels, HALO prepares to take on the big boss man. Unfortunately, this was a bit of a let down for me. I think the boss monsters are simply cursed.
Knowing they were coming, Palaveen turned invisible and commanded his skeletal doggies to Defend. This drew the party in (again, they almost spotted him with their stupid-high perception checks) and focused on the doggies. A few cantrips thrown their way miss, leading everyone to believe they are "inactive" or somesuch. When Nuella finally lands an Acid Splash, its on!
The doggies, on their chains, charge. Palaveen, in a stroke of uncharacteristic luck, goes first and casts Spiritual Weapon. The rest of the fight was back and forth until Job steps up and puts another ridiculous damage longsword attack on the poor evil cleric. After that, he tries to heal and survive long enough to flee, but is unable to withstand the combined attacks from everyone. The Bastards finally fall, and the party loots like madmen.
Now for something completely different
Having vanquished the Bastards and receiving a bunch of coin, HALO spent some down-time buying, selling, and crafting. Soon enough, Janiven approaches them with a suggestion that some bandits need to be taken down. Before they can get there, though, Job insists on carrying out a mission to eliminate or capture some of the shadow beasts. It helped that he ran into a certain cerulean garbed individual, who offered an unspecified sum for delivery of said objects.
As you can read in the Obituaries page the plan did not go quite as they hoped. Job perished at the jaws of a shadowy, flying dog-beasty, with Nuella, Evan, and Dr. D almost suffering a similar fate. Only the timely application of tanglefoot bags from Evan and Jackson prevented the fiends from absconding with both Job and Dr. D. As it is, one of the critters managed to escape, leaving the group with 2 bodies.
1 went to the aformentioned blue-cloaked contact, with the remaining critter going home to be dissected and {hopefully} better understood. Job himself was able to be Reincarnated through the Wizard's scribing and Spellcraft shenanigans; the group's "reward" for their slain shadow beast? A scroll of Restoration showed up, just in time for newly Troglodyte Job to regain his lost level.
The rewards of a life of crime include horrible sword wounds and blood
Finally ready to tackle the highwaymen problem plaguing the countryside, HALO sets out on foot with a rented cart and donkey.
What I don't understand is why Dr. D was covered in meat, or the huge amount of meat attached to the cart. I suppose the group thought highwaymen would waylay them, thinking they got an easy score (2 humans, 2 gnomes, and a halfling, with a single donkey-pulled wagon?), but why meat? I think the question will remain forever unanswered.
Luckily, they DID just upgrade the paladin to a Troglodyte, generating a hefty bubble of “normal animals want to stay away” around the party. Otherwise, many pouncings and ambushes loomed in the future, what with the pounds of meat hanging out everywhere.
Our heroes managed to travel uneventfully for a while, making small talk and just hanging out, until they stumbled (completely unintentionally, I am sure) into a bandit ambush. Four large trees on the edge of the path concealed deadfall traps and groups of rogues. Once the group made it into the trap, I called for Perception checks. Once again, Dr. D managed to pinpoint the danger quite readily, gaining a small surprise. Unfortunately, she simply zapped one of the rogues in the tree, starting combat up.
The 8 rogues open up on the group, sending 2 volleys of (hopefully) sneak attack shortbow arrows into Job and Dr. D. Job, with his newfound natural armor and stink manages to dodge each and every one. The good doctor takes some damage, but nothing enough to put her down. Plus, she's standing directly next to Evan, the healer.
During the fight, several rogues get dropped from trees with Magic Missiles, Grease, and finally a Burning Hands that caught 1 directly and torched the tree another 2 were hanging out in.
Job, Evan, and Nuella had their own problems, though, as another 5 toughs step from the undergrowth and demand surrender. These bunch are much better armored and wielding flails.
A brief but bloody skirmish ensued, showcasing the strength of Swift Action Lay on Hands, Channel Positive Energy, and good teamwork. Nuella hopped around, trying to avoid AoO's and put bunches of them down with Color Spray, almost getting perforated for her trouble. Dr. D somehow ended up prone at the feet of a Warrior, and took 2 rounds of getting beaten while whacking him in the shins with a quarterstaff. When he was disarmed of that, he tried to finish her off with his shield, but with Evan's timely intervention she popped right back into the fight.
After several rounds of combat, HALO managed to gain the upper hand, largely thanks to Job's wicked high AC.
With the 13 bandits slain and their gear safely looted, the party headed back to town to report their success and gain some serious coinage.
At this point, they've accumulated 4 Fame Points (1 for Arael's rescue, 1 for the defeat of the Bastards, 1 for slaying the shadow beast, and 1 for defeating the band of highwaymen.) and are solidly into 3rd level. As far as the city is concerned, HALO is simply an eccentric adventuring group operating out of the Buttery Spigot tavern (where Yakipulio and Nuella work) and doing “good deeds for hire.”
Sunday the 29th will see our return to this adventure, and the beginning of The Sixfold Trial. Everyone's been issued a copy of the libretto, and we'll see just how dramatic and crazy we can all get.
Bonus points go out to Christa for wearing her Dr. Dumptruck mask through the entire game, and keeping a sketch/note book going for IC use. (I am ok with you using that for art class, too, if you want, not that you really need permission, but hey...)
-t
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As promised, stat blocks for the Rogue 2 and Warrior 3 NPC's I used for Highwaymen and Bastard reinforcement.
Bandit
CE Male Human Rogue 2 CR 1
Init +3
Senses: Perception +6
Defense:
AC 16 (+3 Armor, +3 Dex)
Touch 13
Flat Footed 13
Saves: Fort +2, Reflex +6, Will +1 (Evasion)
Offense:
Ranged Composite Shortbow (+2) +4 1d6+3/x3 (within 30')
Ammo: 20 Normal, 3 Silver Arrows
Melee Dagger +4 1d4+2/19-20 x2
BAB 1, CMB 3, CMD 16
Special Attacks: Sneak Attack +1d6
Special Qualities: Evasion, Trapfinding, Finesse Rogue
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills: Acrobatics +7, Bluff +3, Climb +6, Disable Device +8, Escape Artist +7, Intimidate +3, Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7
Feats: Point Blank Shot(B), Precise Shot, Weapon Finesse(RT)
Gear:Comp Shortbow(+2 str), Dagger, 20 Arrows, 3 Silver arrows, Studded Leather Armor, Alchemist Fire, 8gp
Thug
CE Male Human Warrior 3 CR 1
Init +1
Senses: Perception +1
Defense:
AC 19 (+4 Armor, +3 Shield, +1 Dex, +1 Dodge)
Touch 12
Flat Footed 17
Saves: Fort +5, Reflex +2, Will +2
Offense:
Melee: Mwk Flail +6 1d8+5 19-20/x2 (Power Attack -1/+2)
Ranged: Longbow +4 1d8/x3
Ammo: 10 Normal Arrows
BAB +3, CMB +6, CMD 17
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +8, Handle Animal +5, Intimidate +5
Feats: Shield Focus(B), Power Attack, Dodge
Gear:Mwk Chain Shirt, Mwk Flail, Heavy Steel Shield, Longbow w/ 10 arrows, Tanglefoot bag
I like to use the Heroic array for my combat NPC's (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8). Otherwise my PC's will simply mop the floor with any humanoid they come across.
-t
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Chapter 2, in which the Heroes emulate Actors, and almost melt to death in a glass bottle.
Having settled up with those bandits and getting used to a troglodyte paladin, the members of HALO sell loot, cash in favors, and start making some items.
Soon, however, Janiven and Arael introduce the lovely Pathfinder Ailyn, who spins a good yarn. She sells the party on the "Iniltrate the Mansion" goal with promise of Delvehaven's goodies. It helps that Jackson is an aspiring Pathfinder Chronicler (both as a character role and the prestige class).
The very next morning...well, mid-morning....okay, when the lazy louts finally roll through to meet the irascible Robhal Nonon and audition for the play, the laughs begin.
My group has a hard time with names for NPC's, so almost everyone ends up with a nickname. Generally, these reflect their first impressions, particular gear/clothing they have, or the in game art. Robhal became the director, Millech was hardly ever mentioned, Aulamaxa was "The Visbarontess" by my insistence. Calsenicia became the girl, the starlet, or that other girl several times, and Umbero became "that serial killer guy."
The party aced their audition trials, and soon became friends with pretty much the entire cast. Dr. Dumptruck immediately took to Millech's side and worked as his production assistant/designer for the remainder of the play.
The play itself went off without a hitch. The party's lowest Charisma score is 14 I believe, on Doc. They failed about 3 or 4 Perform and assorted Diplomacy/Bluff checks all night. The additive friendship bonuses, as well as the bard's selective use of Inspire Competence all made for satisfying dice rollin' all around.
As far as the combat sequences go, Job is very, very impressive with his two-handed power attacks. It seems like every bludgeoning strike rolls max or near max damage, and he so rarely misses. The Lemures managed to hit Job exactly once, Evan exactly once, and Calesenicia twice. The starlet was the only one in significant danger, as the critical claw and regular claw dropper her to 2 hp or so.
The rest of the fight went about as follows: roll, roll, roll, roll, miss, miss, miss, miss, Next! Nuella, Evan, and Jackson couldn't actually damage the devils, and Job could only splat one a turn. It helped that Evan had a Spiritual Weapon spell, and Doc threw a few Magic Missiles from the rafters backstage.
The really cool thing happened at the end: The lemure that managed to hit Evan did some significant damage, so Millech invisibly went onstage and popped a "Mirror Image" of the halfling via Silent Image. He probably saved his skin, as the remaining devil swung at the image on his next turn.
Act 2 or 3, where they all climb into the beast, posed the greatest lethal threat to the party. Job went in first, followed by Evan, Jackson, and Nuella. Calsenicia went in last. Everyone made their fort saves pretty readily, but the climb checks to get out were another story. Finally, it took Job bodily flinging everyone out and up the gullet to break free. Evan, Jackson, and Nuella all took bunches of damage there, all readily healed by Evan via channel energy after the curtain dropped.
The fight against the troll skeletons went fairly uneventfully. Nuella (as Larazod) ate 2 charge attacks, but not enough to drop her, and the morningstar swinging duo of Evan and Job quickly put paid to the bony threat. Doc sat the fight out, seeing her party fighting quite mightily, and distracted by putting more Duct-Tape on something in the rigging.
The curtain went down on a completely successful Theatre Mortressci, save that all the actors and crew survived. More's the pity, but they did end up with some 635gp from the cut, as well as the 500gp bonus and the Circlet of Persuasion I decided to let them keep. They garnered another 4 Fame Points, and are the talk of the town.
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I also am allowing players to switch their character around a bit. Since this is our first real go-round with PF characters, and especially since the APG Playtest came out, I am being lenient with feat choices, skills, and the like. Also, any of the players have the option to swap a character to the new APG classes, or swap to a new PC entirely.
Evan's player elected to switch to an Oracle, choosing the Battle focus and Haunted curse. I forsee lots of greatsword attacks in my near future, and look forward to seeing if the Oracle can stand as the healer in a group.
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Two mornings later, after much celebration, talk of crafting items, and becoming Level Four Heroes, the PC's receive an invite to the Mayor's house for a grand soiree. Going in fully armed and armored is to the group's liking, and with some gentle reminders of the primary goal, they bite.
With a slight hitch about taking a wagon, walking in the rain, or having hordes of hired servants blocking rain with newspapers, they finally elect to hire a carriage. On their entry, everyone's "First Impression DC" was rather high. I think the Paladin got a 23, despite being a stinky, ugly troglodyte actively proselytizing for Aroden and Iomedae. (he gets confused sometimes, and was trying to stay in character for Tybain as well)
After 4 courses, the sly and diplomatic fellows have managed to find out about
1: The pit fiend is real
2: The mayor has a secret vault someplace in a mirror
3: The mayor has a secretly ill kid and hides him in the attic
4: The place has been having some kind of technical glitches recently
Putting this all together, the group comes to the conclusion that the Mayor's secret son is actually a Vampire, trapped in the attic. They break off about halfway through the meals, and in 10 minutes manage to search the western entrance halls, the attic, and make it into the Knot.
Inside the Knot, Jackson calls dibs on the free Haversack, granting himself the runecurse immediately. His line as he put the backpack:
"I'm not cursed or nothing, right?"
I kept a straight face, and they didn't find out about the curse until later, when Nuella and Evan (now a human, btw) inquired about the contents of the bag. Jackson dumped it out, giving Doc the pearl, dispersing the scrolls, and narrowly (and with an action point) identifying the runecurse for what it is.
Oddly, this calmed Jackson, as he now no longer has to worry about heing a rebel in Cheliax; he now has to worry about a devil eating his soul in a few days.
Pushing on, the howlers went down after a short fight, and Evan showed off his new might and greatsword. Again, Job does most of the damage, but Doc's timely Scorching Ray helped one along to death. Noone failed the howl save, and all were fairly pleased with the bunches of books. They also found the Drowned Jabe Graphic Novel, and flipped through it on their way.
The moebius stairway room with the shadows posed a significant challenge. As I saw it, the go up forever part of the room was not technically real, but a combination of transmutation and illusion magic. Thus, if the PC's walked with their eyes closed, they were able to move fine, but with eyes open couldn't get past the next corner. Nuella led the group to one of the jumping spots before the second group of shadows appeared.
The first had been dispatched with force magic, and their strength damage fixed by the handy potions of Lesser Restoration. This second group elicited groans and swears from the party, but they managed to squish them and begin to jump the gap.
Not everyone managed to get across before more spawned, though, and Jackson led them through a lively blindfolded chase through the moebius stairs. Finally, he managed to hold out long enough on the corner that Job, Doc, and Nuella were able to drop the remaining shadows. I decided that enough was enough, and did not send any more their way; it would have meant no fun for any of us.
In the prison room, the group interrogated Szasmir a bit, antagonized him, threatened him with a silver sword, but did not release or actually fight him. I have a feeling they'll come back.
In the aquatic room, Detect Magic showed the wand under the water, and Detect Evil pinged on the lacedons. They were brief opponents, falling equally to scorching rays (19 damage on 1 shot, if I recall correctly), Job's morningstar, and Evan's greatsword. The graphic novel didn't have a chance to come into play at all.
Grabbing the loot and heading on, Evan took point. He opened the next door and promptly fell some 120' down a long, painful, rocky corridor. (He failed the 1st acrobatics check, then the reflex save, and took full damage to the tune of 35hp. This left him at 3 or 4 hp total). Job stepped up and promptly did the same thing, only saving for half damage and taking some 15 or 18 hp.
Jackson, at least, failed his first acrobatics check, making his save, and then succeeded on his second acro check. Bouncing off the wall only slightly, where Evan and Job had left impressions in the rock, he nimbly slid down.
Nuella levitated down via her new wand, and Doc rode her floating disk down. Both gnomes laughed at the menfolk for their clumsy rides down.
We stopped for the night at that point, and will likely resume either the weekend before or weekend after Christmas.
At the end, the party consisted of:
Doctor Dumptruck: (i'll get her to fill in her full name later): Gnome Evoker 4
Nuella Fitzwizzlesprocket: Gnome Sorcerer (Gold Dragon Bloodline) 4
Evan Fuzzyfeets: (keeping that name despite changing race) Human Oracle 4
Job: Troglodyte Paladin 4
Jackson Friendly: Human Bard 4
They've accumulated a bunch of wealth (no tally right now, but Evan's got +1 Fullplate, Job has a +1 weapon and several masterwork, Nuella's packing several wands, and both Evan and Doc are item crafters) and some decent fame. They have 8 total Fame points, although I am not sure how that will pan out for now.
-t
hey now, evan took the damage from the troll skeleton and not the lemure. And don't forget all of my "quicken magic missiles" cast by Dumpy.
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Ah yes, the ostensible wizard Dendris casting Spiritual Weapon and a seemingly endless supply of Quickened Magic Missiles.
...of course, they DID come from the rafters backstage and not from Dendris himself, but the audience never caught on...
and I guess the troll skeletons were more effective than I remembered. I just thought they hit once and got smashed to pieces...
-t
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December 20, 2009
A very eventful night unfolds, wherein our heroes lose their minds, learn to hate stairs, and almost drown in poo.
Our Cast, as of the middle of The Sixfold Trial:
Jackson Friendly, Human bard 4
Nuella Fitzwizzlesprockle, Gnome Sorcerer 4
Job, Troglodyte Paladin 4
Evan, Human Oracle 4
Dr. Veatrix Ellieraepen Dumptruck Industrial Grip...etc....etc...
Gnome Evoker 4
....
Our game began later than expected due to the foot of snow which fell last night, compounded by a condo association crew who did not bother to plow in the AM...grr....
We start with the Heroes of HALO shaking off their nonlethal damage from falling down the mouth of the knot. They set off in search of the singing and faint whiff of sulfur emanating from the tunnel to the west. Upon seeing the corpse in the ball of chains, Job said “Hello” with a silver bullet to the brain. That “awoke” the animated chain object, which promptly dealt a critical slam to the silly troglod-in. Many little zaps targetted the chain ball, which followed up his 1 crit with another, this one on Evan. The gnomes stepped up with their big-guns, Scorching Ray. First Nuella then Doc zapped the construct with fire, the latter dropping it to exactly 0 hp and eliminating the threat. There was some discussion of checking out the pit, and Doc tied herself to Nuella with 50' of rope, but they decided to press on.
On into the Knot's Heart, the party was a bit dismayed to see another moebius-strip like stairway room. At least this one was a circle, straining the brain a little less. Sian took this opportunity to hover and watch the party, planning on levitating through a loop and separating the party somehow. This didn't work exactly how she planned, instead closing her off from them and opening the shortest possible path from their entrance to the northwest exit of the maze. Cursing her luck, she took another 16 turns to open the proper way to follow the party.
The group, meanwhile, continued along the narrow passageways, seeing the Stair to Nowhere and bypassing it with a cursory whack of a morningstar. Next came the cluttered room with the Flawed One inside. Job took point, as always, followed by Evan, Jackson, then the Gnomes. The bard noticed the stealthy critter before he was able to step out and paralyze him; he grabbed a flask of oil from Job's hand in the surprise round. Stepping from his concealment, the Flawed One paralyzed Evan with his aura of fear, leaving Job and Jackson perfectly fine. The gnomes remained out of the area for now.
Job took a significant whack from the critter (Thank you Power Attack!) before being able to act, then another when he moved aside to allow Jackson room to throw. Ol' jawless took a direct hit from the flask of oil, not really thinking anything of it. Nuella and Doc took their turns moving into range, easily making their saves against the fear. Next turn, Job manages to connect with a solid blow, doing significantly less damage than intended. Nuella zapped him with a Magic Missile before Doc hit him with a Scorching Ray (her last for the day) and dealt some 30-35 damage in one shot. She also ignited the oil covering poor Flawed, dealing max damage (1d6) for this turns' burn. Unfortunately for him, that left him with 1 hp and he went down in a burning wreck shortly thereafter. Rooting around for a minute turned up the ruins of an old couch. Jackson appropriated that as his place of relaxation while Evan, Nuella, and Doc dug through the jumble, looking for something magical.
A minute in, Sian came around the corner, Invisible and stealthy, able to smell, but not see Job standing guard just in from the intersection (stupid 2's on Perception checks...). She tried to breeze past him (treated this as an Acrobatics check to go through a square) but botched her roll on that as well. Stuck on the wrong side of the paladin, she did the only thing she could: she shot him in the chest. Unfortunately for her, Job wears a breastplate to cover up his thick troglodyte skin, and she was unable to score a good hit.
Thus began a short, fumble-filled romp through the Stair to Nowhere's room and the halls connecting all those little rooms. At one point, Job moved up and swung, fumbling and dropping his morningstar. Evan moved right ahead of him next turn and did the same thing. With Evan's Haunted curse, his greatsword flew right past poor Job's head, landing right behind the paladin. Using the corners and hiding in plain sight, Sian managed to nick the party here and there, trying to get to the Knot's Heart. Evan and Nuella managed to block that line off, though, forcing Sian to try for the shadowy spiral stairs. She was hoping to get to Nuella and lay some hurt on the gnome when Evan managed to trip her with an AoO. Now prone, she drank her potion of Invisibility, eating another 2 AoO's for her trouble. Everyone laid into her at that point, and between Job's silver longsword, Evan's greatsword, and Doc's crowbar, she started to sweat. The finishing blow came from Nuella, however, as she Color Sprayed the area, dropping the Invisible, Levitating rogue. Job grabbed for her, and ran her through on his silver blade to seal the deal.
Moving along, the party investigated the Room of Infinite Doors, with Doc being given the important clue: This is a one-way door.
After playing around with the endless loop of doors for a while, HALO continued to the entrance to the Outcast King's room. After much debate over just who would get to the chests, and how, Job simply waded down into the muck. I let him get to the stones before springing the King and his devil-friends. Flailing with longswords to no avail, the King's only real threat to Job lay in his tentacle grabs.
The Lemures were effectively a non-threat to Job, who stayed happily grappled for a turn or 2, hitting the blob-devils with silver longsword blows. Evan Enlarge Person'd himself, then jumped down to engage the King. Blessed with a new, much easier to hit target, he relieved himself of Job and set to work on the Oracle. 2 Rounds of full attacks saw Evan in the muck, bleeding from an infernal longsword wound and at -15 (of 16 Con). Without the timely intervention of Jackson's Cure Light Wounds spell, that would have been a dead oracle.
As it was, the melee-specialists managed to hold on while Nuella and Doc tossed Cantrips and wand spells, nickel-and-diming the King. Doc managed the final blow herself, nailing the King with a 3 damage “Ray of Electricity” (I allow for the cantrip attack ray to be whichever type you like, prepared or selected as normal) while he had 2 hp left. Who says cantrips can't kill?
With the expenditure of an action point or two, Doc received a sudden flash of insight regarding the locked chests, touching each with her Drowned Jabe graphic novel and unlocking them. Happy with their loots and having gotten the Chelish Crux they were looking for, the party debated leaving or staying. In the end, curiosity over the “Green Slime room” with the hanging amulet of Asmodeus won out, and they set out for the southeastern corner of the dungeon.
In Livia's “Treatment Rooms” the party slew everything with great alacrity. Snakes, Spiders, Stirges, and Elementals managed only very minor success against the party, most dying within a single round. Job made a game of using his claws and teeth, rather than his sword, mostly to gain those extra attacks. Part of it, I'm sure, was him trying to catch the little gems that dropped after killing the last critter in his mouth. When they went back to talk to Livia, Jackson decided he simply HAD to shoot this annoyingly voiced invisible presence, while the rest of the party really wanted answers. As it turned out, though, Nuella's draconic blood kicked in, and she refused to hand over the gems. A brief period of “shoot random squares” ensused, before Nuella lucked out and caught the poor Imp with a Color Spray.
Jackson got his hands on the invisible critter, and dashed her head against the floor before Job could lop her head off. They pronounced themselves “cured” at that point, or at least rid of the annoying invisible voice.
Heading south, the group encountered the “Green Slime Room” and saw the faintly glowing unholy symbol. Job, of course, put a bullet in it from across the room, then stepped out to go after it. He didn't bother to check the depth of the slime, however, and dropped like a rock into the murky green sludge. That put him, and only him, into the arena a viscous, smelly water elemental, with noone able to really assist him. 2 rounds of being slammed under the water elapsed, with Job unable to really do anything against his enemy. Meanwhile, the rest of the group prepared to Levitate Jackson and push/pull him across to the island. Once he set foot on the outcropping, the elemental redirected his attack, vortexing and pulling Job along to slam into Jackson. This helped in 2 ways: first, the damage on Job was much reduced (can't power attack while in vortex form), and second, the Gnomes and Evan were able to bring their ranged attacks to bear. Beaten badly but unbroken, Job managed to get out of the water just as the elemental missed Jackson. Between the two of them and the Gnomes, they put paid to the “Poo Elemental” and recovered the pentagram of doom ™.
Jackson, for some reason, decided to ask several questions of the amulet, the first being a silly one. “What is your favorite color?” or something similar yielded 4 Wis damage, while “How do we get out of here?” gave a more satisfying answer, plus another 4 Wis damage. His final question yielded more useful information, at the cost of only 1 Wis this time. By this point, Jackson had a 5 or 6 Wisdom score, putting him somewhere between a Shrieker and a Red Slaad. Having uncovered the whole dungeon, the party set back towards the main exit, passing the jail cells while they went.
At Szasmir's cell, Job taunted him until he lunged with his glaive, then “Mozambique”-ed the devil, double tapping him center of mass and following up with a headshot.
They took the glaive, and after Detect Evil showed it as an evil item, only Jackson was willing to use it. I immediately tried to get him to kill Nuella, but he refused. He even managed to overcome the weapon's domination attempt. As unwise as he is, though, I figured it was merely a matter of time before he slipped up.
Out in the main house again, the party split up, some eating, Job bathing in the honey-pool, and Evan wandering around and stealing anything he though he could get away with. On their re-entry, I played up everyone's drunken state, and since they only missed one course, no-one really noticed their absence. Jackson, meanwhile, had already passed his Runecurse over to Doc (she didn't even hesitate, great roleplaying despite the player knowing about the curse) and set the “counter” down to 1 more failed save. Doc decided that the Mayor would be the perfect final recipient, and tried to pass it off to him as a message scroll.
The house's majordomo took the message (and the curse) before the Mayor could take it, making her save with a 18 on the die. Somewhere in the past 5-10 minutes of gametime, however, Doc, Jackson, and Job's players have decided that the Mayor really should die, all for different reasons. We closed the scene just as Jackson was swinging his new, evil glaive at the Mayor.
Personally, I expect to kill Jackson, Job, and possibly Doc in the fracas sure to follow, but they have thought of some decent exit strategies. Nuella will almost certainly get away, with her potion of Gaseous Form (thanks, Sian) and Evan is not even on the same floor as the rest of the party.
We should resume in two weeks time, and hopefully there will be lots of carnage to report.
At last count, everyone has at least a +1 weapon (Job now has 2, the keen longsword as well as his morningstar) and is right about in-line with the wealth guidelines. They leveled to 5, with everyone continuing the single-class route.
-t
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Sunday, January 2, 2010
Wherein our heroes botch an assassination, flee with “dignity”, and eventually make it onto the AP, once again.
Dramatis Personae:
Job, Troglodyte Paladin of Iomedae
Nuella, Gnome Dragon bloodline Sorcerer
Evan, Human Oracle of Battle
Jackson, Human Bard
Doc (has something like 15 or 16 names, says them all infrequently), Bleachling Evoker
Coming out of the Asmodean Knot, Jackson was severely ability damaged. Specifically, he was at 6 or so Wis, and carrying Anvengen's Edge. It had already tried to dominate him, which failed. With his hate of the Gnomes, frustration at being a rebel, and injuries, attacking the Mayor seemed like the best course of action.
I don't know who originated the idea, but Jackson swung his new glaive at poor Mayor as soon as he saw him. Job leapt on the table, wielding a gun, the mayor stabbed and withdrew from Jackson, calling for guards, while Nuella and Doc made “special effects” go off around the combat. They tried to bluff this as continuation of the murderplay, the only one who succeeded was Nuella – more on that later.
The battle raged for quite a while, with Eiteirn going invisible from a wand, the mayor trying very hard to escape, and lots of misses. Nuella and Doc spent 3 or 4 rounds using prestidigitation, ghost sound, and the like to make everything more dramatic, until the guards finally showed up. Evan spent the entire time chatting up the incoming guards and staying a non combatant. Nuella bluffed the archer guards the Mayor was possessed and they went “thataway”.
Once Eirtein made the Mayor invisible, it was pretty much all over. Neither Job nor Jackson could hit either one, Doc hadn't prepared See Invisibility for some reason, and Nuella was holding the rear. In a very nice pattern, Nuella stepped around the Melee Guards and Color Sprayed them all. With Wis damage from drinking and warrior levels...they ALL failed. Doc had left herself out in the open banquet room, and she ate 5 or 6 longhow arrows. I may have crit once or twice, too.
With everyone running, it was only a small matter for the party to escape through the Knot and back home. All told, the melee guards suffered some 6 hp, amongst 5 guys. The archers didn't take a single hit, and dropped Doc, hurt Jackson something bad, and missed Job on all but 18s. If I were able to Deadly Aim, at least one Gnome would be toast.
Evan healed the little bit of damage the guard took, then excused himself gracefully as the guards moved to secure the house. Regrouping back at the Safehouse, they spent 3 days figuring out the Chelish Crux, and another 5 before more events would occur.
Mooks:
LE Human Warrior 5
Init +1 Perception +6
AC 20 (5 Armor, 3 Shield, 1 Dex, 1 Dodge)
HP 54 (5d10+20)
Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +2
Atk: Mwk Flail +10 1d8+4 20/x2, can trip
BAB 5 / CMB 10 / CMD 21
Str 18, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills: Intimidate +7, Perception +6, Sense Motive +6
Feats: (Melee Mooks) Shield Focus, Power Attack (-2 / +4), Dodge, Toughness
Feats: (Archer Mooks)Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot
Gear: Mwk Chainmail, Club, Dagger, (Melee) Mwk. Flail, Mwk Heavy Wooden Shield / (Archer) Mwk Composite Longbow (+4), Quiver w/ 40 Arrows.
Having mightily failed to kill poor Mayor Aberigo, HALO grouped up in the Safehouse, crafting lots of stuff, researching spells (Divine Sacrifice, Close Wounds), and being rebels. On one outing for supplies / company / etc. Nuella has a bad feeling, as if being watched at a a distance. Turns out, she was right, but she failed to mention it to anyone. Job, being the paranoid lizard-din that he is (Sleeps every other night, using Lay on Hands w/ Mercy to lose the fatigue) is on watch in the center of the church.
Gorman di Wulffe, Alchemist 7, enter stage front. While on guard, the paladin in breastplate has a stealth score of 20 or so. Yes, he has maxed ranks and decent dex, he's a lizard, remember? Gorman JUST beats his perception roll, and they sneak around each other. Archer Mooks are much less stealthy, and Job heads to investigate. Delay Bomb seems like a must have discovery, as I planted one 20' directly ahead of the paladin, then moved to the side of the nave. Next round, Job gets 4d6 from the delay bomb, and another 4d6 from a direct grenade hit.
Everyone wakes up, but Gorman gets off a Tanglefoot bag on Job, on which he fails his reflex save. Lizard stuck to the floor and entangled, Evan moves in to heal, the Gnomes do some blasty spells, and Jackson (locked his door in the basement) starts to head upstairs. Here's where the Archers really shone. Up until this point, pretty much any melee or ranged attack against Job has missed. Entire volleys of attacks and swarm-full-attacks, everything misses.
These archers manage to tag him, and doing 1d8+5 damage for each hit. It was great.
Tossing a Fireball bead, both Evan and Job save, taking some minor damage, but enough to put Job down when the archers continue to feather him. Nuella and Doc put some serious hurt on Gorman, and he gets desperate. With the Gnomes, Evan, and Gorman in the corner, he pops a Fireball bead at his feet, wearing another 2 on his neck. He fails the save, takes enough damage to go splat, and 1 of the remaining beads also goes off. Evan and Doc get dropped to negatives, Gorman is now decorating the walls, ceiling, and floor, but Nuella stays up through both. At that point, both archer mooks split, and no-one was in any shape to give chase.
Gorman di Wulffe Alchemist 7
Init +6 Perception +10 (See Invisibility)
HP 59 (7d8+21) (+12 temp HP)
AC 26 (5 Arm, 4 Shield, 2 Dex, 1 Dodge, 2 Def, 2 NA)
T 15 FF 21
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +3
SPD 30
Atk: Bomb +7 Touch 4d6+5 (delay up to 7 rds)
+1 Light Crossbow +8 (1d8+1 / 19-20x2)
BAB 5 / CMB 6 / CMD 18
Swift Alchemy, Poison Resistance 4, Swift Poison, Throw Anything, Discovery (Delay Bomb)
Mutagen (+2 Con, -2 Int, +2 NA)
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 8
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Improved Initiative, Toughness, Deadly Aim
Skills: Appraise +15, Craft Alchemy +17 (+24), Diplomacy +9, Disable Device +13, Know (Arcana) +15, Perception +10, Spellcraft +15, Stealth +9, Survival +10, UMD +9
Extracts: Haste, Cure Mod Wounds, False Life, See Invisibility, Shield, Cure Light Wounds (2), True Strike
Potions: CLW (3), Invisibility (3), Protection from Good (2), Spider Climb (2), Fly (2), Gaseous Form
Gear: +1 Mithral Chainshirt, +1 Light Crossbow, Efficient Quiver, Mwk. Dagger, Haversack, Alchemical Lab, Cloak of Resistance +1, 20 Normal Bolts, 20 Fire Bolts, 20 Acid Bolts, 4 (7d6) Fireball Beads, Mwk Net, Mwk Bolas, Tanglefoot Bag, Purple Worm Poison (4), Large Scorpion Poison (4)
Following that little excitement, they pack up the entire group, and head for the Bastards of Erebus' old hideout. Now north of the wall, its easier to get to the Massacre House, but the loss of fame delays their access to the summoner fight.
Once in that fight, Job played Whack-A-Mole with the swarm of Lemures. His minimum damage squished each one, and hasted for the first few rounds Job managed to kill 2 a turn. He basically stood on the central platform and slew Lemures as Lizardman from Soul Calibur. Evan stayed in the cage (as did everyone else) and cast Minor Image after Minor Image of more Lizardmen, charging into the fray and getting torn apart. Nuella and Doc resumed their FX tricks, while Evan sang.
The whole thing took about 15 min at the table, and less than 10 rounds on the mat. The party left their foe unconscious and in the arms of Lucca. They also stole the bust on their way out. Jackson was the big winner there, as he got 3.5 to 1 odds against Job, and bet 4000 gp on him to win. I think he got a +2/+2 item for that cash.
Next day, at the Massacre House, the only thing the Sisters did effectively was shoot Evan and poison him. The fire elemental did some minor damage before being shredded, and even with flanking, aid another, and lots of attacks, the sisters flailed ineffectually at the lizard, oracle, and sorcerer.
Thus armed with the knowledge and locations they needed, they rented a boat and (quite luckily, with hot dice rolls and action point expenditure) found the wave-door entrance. Job took a critical shadow hit, but they were able to dispatch the undead without much fuss. If I had focused on the paladin, I could have killed him, but didn't see the point at the time. After drooling over the loots within (and much discussion on the relative value of the bench) and agreeing that the stuff inside will probably come in handy for the Delvehaven expedition, they set out in the morning.
I dropped the swarm-mine-traps on the approach, mostly due to time issues. We then charged through every room on the 1st floor, clearing it before we stopped for the night. At one point, Doc's player mentioned how she hoped no Will o' Wisps would be around, as she hates those critters.
The Shadow-Infused Triceratops hit like a ton of bricks, dealing significant damage to both Job and Evan before being felled. He did not get a chance to shatter the fishtank, sadly, as the two meatshields stayed right up close, allowing for full-attacks. The Shadow mastiffs went down like chumps, with the suits of armor on display posing more obvious threat to Jackson. He glitterdusted the mounted one, just in case.
On the invisibility plate, the dolls went down to a well-grouped fireball. Evokers are mean like that. Finally, in the council room, Doc's nemesis flew around, zapping her with electricity until she cast True Seeing on Job. After that, it was a simple matter to blast the flying lightbulb.
We stopped for the night, with Job now wearing the +1 Fullplate, everyone armed to the teeth with padded weapons (at the least), in the council chamber. They all levelled to 6, and the only change will be Evan going back to Cleric. The Oracle, according to the player, simply can't keep up with the damage the party is taking. Especially when multiple characters were getting hit, he couldn't patch them up fast enough. Back to Cleric, I think.
-t
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Sunday, January 17, 2010
Once again, our cast includes:
Evan, Human Cleric 6
Job, Troglodyte Paladin 6
Nuella, Gnome Sorcerer 6
Doc, Gnome Evoker 6
Jackson, Human Bard 6
We last left off in the middle of “What Lies in Dust,” with the party having completed the ground floor of Delvehaven rather violently. We begin in the council chamber, now bereft of its flying guardian.
On the 2nd floor, after throughly searching the Council Chamber, Job sets across the rickety bridge with Doc close behind. A short way across the bridge (20', to be exact), they hear popping and snapping of ropes. Job, still under effects of Doc's Fly spell, grabs the Gnome and flies them both back to safety. At that point, the group decides to lock the doors, set a watch, and rest for the night.
Early on that evening, with Doc on watch, 2 Shadows pop through the walls, threatening the poor Gnome. She wakes everyone and blasts one, which is enough for Evan's Channel Energy to finish off. The pair got off a single attack, taking a few Str from Doc, before succumbing to Sun-domain channelling and a single magic rifle round. Fight over, Nuella and Jackson went back to bed without so much as an “Uh-Oh.”
Off to the Northern Tower, the group used their rope of climbing to get into the Pool of Reflection room. In there, they fixed their hair, changed some clothing options, and did NOT disturb the water elemental, avoiding a smushing once more. Beyond, they ransacked the upstairs guest rooms, and were very sad to find not even an old copper piece.
Down the stairs (which they somehow ignored the 1st time throught the Foyer), and into the Library, the party started to hurt their brains. Job was 1st, as usual, failing his save when it was nice and dramatic. He scored the +2 to breaking stuff and initiative book, at the price of 6 Int damage. Once they realized they could get awesome things, the rest of the group each read a book, with only Nuella and Evan NOT taking nearly max Int damage. Some healing later, and its off to the basement.
Down below, the party quickly finds out the place is haunted, first with cannibalistic bug swarms. Both Job and Jackson recognized the threat, and were able to remove themselves from the room before the haunt took effect, but Nuella, Doc, and Evan all became bug-chow. Ironically, only the Sorcerer failed her save against the Cha damage. With some quick patching up and potion quaffing, they set out again, this time with the cleric ready to blastify those pesky ghost-rooms.
Our heroes set off for a clockwise tour of the dungeon, clearing everything haunted with powerful blasts of channeled Sun-energy, and easily finding the various hidden doors and treasure. Much fun was had in the bar, with the mini-wine-bottle-potions and the doll furniture. Job smashed the entire set before anyone could argue, out of some over-arching need to break evil-doers' chairs, I think.
In the summoning chamber, they managed to NOT trigger the trap, electing to simply disrupt the inscribed Circle and head to the last room yet unexplored. Of course, this is Bisby's room, and one of the few I had hopes of being an actual threat to the party. As usual, I was wrong.
Job triggered the haunt when he shoved the couch containing the skull aside, which promptly tried to zap him with a Phantasmal Killer. Great, fear-based-death-effects against the paladin. Try again, skull. Oh wait, that was your turn, never mind. Between Job's morningstar swings and Evan's channels, the Shadows and Haunt went the way of the dodo. Everyone grabbed their favoritest pieces of Bisby swag, and learned all about the Morrowfall, Totemrix, the trapped door in the next room, and pretty much all the background plot they'd missed thus far.
Now armed with the passcode, the party set off for the next level, walking right into the Vampire Spawn's ambush. Of course, with Detect Evil and Detect Magic going all the time, it wasn't much of an ambush, but more like “Here's the Paladin, come eat him!!!” time. Job, once again, charged into the thick of it, except that Jackson put up a Magic Circle vs. Evil, preventing Job or himself from being dominated. Some wild flailing later, Evan's channels and the Gnomes' scorching rays put paid to the feral jerks once and for all. The Mazeflesh Man, anxious to get his hands dirty, drew them into his room with a “spooky self opening door trick” (really, just good stealth rolls and keeping out of LoS).
A short tussle broke out, with Mr. Crossbow sneaking around to nail one of the stragglers, but failing. Job, Evan, and Jackson quickly ended his career, and decapitated him with a silver sword once he fled back to his sarcophagus.
After clearing that room (and opening all the stone sarcophagi), they went straight ahead, something unexpected. Getting into range of the Morrowfall, Nuella, Job, Doc, and Evan were all blinded at least once. Job, rushing ahead blindly as usual, managed to soak up 2 or 3 Sunbeams and 2 Sunbursts before grabbing the macguffin. He was blinded about 4 times over, and took almost 60 damage in the attempt. Gotta love those paladins...!
Now armed with the Morrowfall (and making MORE than enough noise for both Buffy-Clone and Emo-Priest vampire to hear), the party made ready to clear the rest of the dungeon. That's when 4 Small Earth Elementals showed up, courtesy of Emo-Priest. With that little roadblock delaying them, Buffy-Clone was able to move up and engage with her wooden stakes, flailing and missing almost without fail. She tried to Dominate Job, failing that by a mere 2 on the save.
Neither Vamp was really ready to withstand multiple Sunbeams from the 15th lvl artifact, which Evan used quite efficiently. The only real damage dealt was from a lucky Crit on Jackson via Buffy's stakes and a single shortsword attack from Emo-Priest. Evan was really the MVP here, using the Morrowfall to great effect, along with his channelling to finish off the baddies. Now armed with the Quest Item Artifact, the party set out for the surface.
Unbeknownst to them, a certain Freddy Fixer, Inquisitor for Hire had set up atop the main entrance of Delvehaven, waiting for our illustrious heroes. Along with his 4 Fighter Mooks, he planned on dropping Jackson and Evan right quick, then making off with the Bard for his “Alive or Dead” bounty.
Things didn't go quite how he planned, however. The chainmail clad mooks standing outside the hedge were easily heard by Jackson, long prior to the gates, giving everyone a chance to ready for attack. Each Mook drank his potion of Enlarge Person and moved to attack, while Job ran ahead to do the same. Freddy chose his targets, remaining stealthy for now, and activated his judgements.
Once Freddy started lobbing Merciful arrows into the fray, Job and Evan got a little worried. He was hitting for some significant damage, despite it being non-lethal, while the Mooks' hammers were capable of some serious hurt on their own. Job made the risky decision to disengage from the Mooks, Fly-charging Freddy still on his perch above the entrance. That left Nuella, Doc, and Evan right in the line of fire of the angry, large, Power-Attacking, hammer-swinging fighters.
All in all, this was a close fight, until the Gnomes remembered they could hurt low-reflex-save critters quite readily. Evan tried a Blindness on the Inquisitor, which failed, then went back to his Medic role. Finally, between Nuella, Doc, and Evan using their “blasters” on the mooks (Scorching Ray and Searing Light, respectively), Jackson plinking and singing, and Job keeping Freddy busy, they were able to rout the 4 Mooks. The fight itself lasted just about 10 rounds, however, with the last Mook's Enlarge Person and Freddy's Divine Favor running out just as Freddy fled the fight, Invisible.
This being the 2nd hired gun to come after them, the party's paranoia (and also paty cohesion) is starting to increase rapidly.
Once back at the hideout (the Massacre House, for now), there was much loot dispersal and talk of crafting and spell research. All told, they had 16 days after escaping Delvehaven before the next big Plot Event took place, so they all set to work. Somehow, they decided to go back to Delvehaven the next day and get the Council Chamber lantern they had left the 1st time through. Well, that played perfectly into MY plans, as I could use the Cavalier & Ranger team against them now.
I admit, this was a very very tough scenario, but they had it coming. After all, every bounty hunter thus far has been soundly trounced; it stands to reason the ones with Favored Enemy: Human and Gnome would be the guys to succeed, no?
So, back at the entrance to Delvehaven, all full of new gear/replenished spells/etc, the party sees a large, armored figure on horseback. He's wielding a lance and openly displaying his Mercenary Banner atop his shield's familial crest. This was Werner von Braun, Cavalier for Hire (lvl 8). As backup, he brought 5 Ranger 6's, who were the ones to track the party and set up this little ambush.
Round 1 did not go well for the party, as Evan rolled a nat-1 on his initiative. Remember, he's a brightly glowing, obvious cleric, and the party's dedicated Healer. In other words, Priority 1 Target. Job and Jackson go 1st, moving to block Werner's charge line (readying to attack), and Inspiring Courage respectively. Next up, the Mooks all get to full attack. 4 of them choose to target Evan, with the last giving Werner the Hunter's Bond against Humans. With Rapid Shot and Manyshot, Evan takes 6 effective Deadly Aimed, Favored Enemy longbow arrows and goes down dead. From full hp to -20 or -25, just like that. Gasps were heard, gnashing of teeth commenced.
Next up, Werner Spirited Charges Jackson, Trampling over Job as he goes. Job's readied attack is a Crit, but not a killing blow, and Jackson takes the 45-50 point attack on the chin, dropping to the negatives in 1 shot. At that point, eyes went wide and mouths dropped open; fear of the TPK was imminent.
Nuella and Doc took to the air together (Nuella carrying her friend) and Doc laid into the Rangers with a Fireball – that one hit dropped them to less than ¼ HP, and THEY start thinking about running away. The Rangers tried to extricate themselves from the fight, feathering Job and missing on all but 1 hit. Werner, deciding not to finish off Jackson (Alive pays more than Dead, after all), charges the Paladin but misses. He promptly went down to combined fire from Nuella, Doc, and Jackson. Meanwhile, Job moved to the window housing the closest Ranger, demanding the rest of them surrender. He then slew his one visible enemy mightily, causing the rest of them to withdraw.
The aftermath yielded: Jackson alive, but just barely. Job in serious hurt, in the single digit HP's, Nuella and Doc didn't get touched, due to their flight and invisibility. Evan dead-dead, but reincarnated quickly as a human. For their troubles, they got Fullplate, a handful of weapons, and a dead horse with barding. I think they'll focus on more battlefield control spells, like fogs and whatnot, in the future.
in our next installment, the beginning of The Infernal Syndrome, and lots of lootin', fightin', and burnin'!
-t
Evan - with his bling bling baby!
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wow. last post was 1/26/10. bad journalist, no cookie.
so, a fast recap, hope to put more details up on Friday.
Our intrepid members of HALO have encountered all the worst Hell could throw at them - so far. Ice Devil, Barbed Devil, Erinyes, Tieflings, dead wizards, and crazy Succubuses have all met their maker/sender.
The group has thus far managed to shred the Infernal Syndrome with alacrity. Nothing has really posed a huge threat, and i blame the Lizard-din for that.
This Sunday, we resume our game after a 3 week hiatus, smack dab in the middle of the Nessian Spiral. They will start fresh in the Falling Banquet, having just rested and recovered spells in the good old Rope Trick sleeping bag. The residents of that room have been cleared, so its on through the rest of the containment/entertainment rooms and on to BBEG himself.
I fully expect the few rooms remaining to pose a rather significant threat, with the final encounter as a bit of a let down. Of course, that's just how they roll - ever since Savage Tide, they take down the bosses without a problem and die horribly to the sub-bosses and higher threat mooks.
As far as I recall, the party will consist of :
Job: Troglodyte Paladin 8
Evan: Human Cleric 8 -Bearer of the Morrowfall
Jackson: Human Bard 8
"Doc": Gnome Evoker 8
Nuella: Gnome Sorcerer 8, with her "Bong-Hit-Dragon" Familiar, the Fairy Dragon (forgot what his name is)
being all rough and tough, I expect them to be able to finish the adventure this Sunday, possibly starting on the Mother of Flies book.
I will say this: I am REALLY looking forward to having Dog's Tongue face time. He reminds me way too much of my Goblin Druid Toki not to have crazy fun time voicing him...
-t
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The adventures of HALO continue.
Smack dab in The Infernal Syndrome, our heroes begin their morning shiny with 8th level power. Evan wakes up shiny with Morrowfall, Sarenrae, and gold chains.
They begin the day by pushing poor Nuella through a wall of fire at the end of the Endless Banquet room. Casting Resist Fire, she hops through, taking in the Mirror Room and resisting the urge to drink boiling gold (the entire party actually saved as they entered.)
As everyone enters the room, Doc begins chanting out the names of the Hellish layers. She flubs a couple, and gets some timely name-assistance from Job, the lizard-din. Evan the Cleric, getting bored, shoots one of the mirrors with an acidic crossbow bolt.
A pair of Large Advanced Fiendish Constrictors poured out of the damaged mirror, snacking on Job and Doc right off. One of them even swam through the boiling water to get Doc. Close to death, Doc managed to escape with the aid of Marin the Fairy Dragon's Grease spell. I had wanted to grab and drag her into the boiling water, but no dice.
Job, meanwhile, landed a pair of Crits on sad Mr. Snakey. He rendered it into kibble at about the same time Nuella and Doc managed to drop theirs with lighning. After some healing, Job looked into the mirror, easily passed the Will DC, and grabbed up The Amulet of the Twin.
For some reason, they decided to smash the next one, rather than look in. Another failed smash attempt, and up popped a squad of Sparois soldiers. A pair each yielded 10 total skeletons, each starting in a flanking position to a PC. Evan and Job, spaced just perfectly on the 5' path around the golden pool, were stuck like chuck.
A prolonged melee broke out, with Evan's Aura of Unded Hurtin' Goodness and Channel Energies really shining. Every round, he was putting out between 30 and 40 damage to more than half of the critters. Between him and Job, 4 went down in 2 turns.
The remainder ganged up on the Ice Golem Jackson's been toting around or paired off against Nuella. Evan stayed busy between patching everyone up, hurting the undead, and trying to stay alive, while the Gnomes looked for good Lightning Bolt lines. It didn't help that they kept flubbing their SR rolls. :)
Somehow, they managed to off the last Spartois hitting the Golem while it was at 1 HP. Sorting through the rapidly vanishing bones, they found a leather pouch containing 5 Spartois Seeds. (Evan later made them sell the item off.)
Patched up after that, Evan went around and looked into the remaining mirrors. He managed to save every time, with 1 exception; I dinged him 3 Dex drain which he immediately Restoration'd. They score all the nifty swag, and began arguing who got the Magic Clothes Rod. I believe Job holds the rod, but Jackson was using it for the clothing effect.
Moving on to the Gateway to Hell, the party encountered 4 Four-Legged-Bird-Monsters-From-Hell (FLBM's) in a razor-cactus desert. Once again, the Lizard-Din proved all but untouchable, resulting in a risky Spring Attack against Evan. It resulted in a AoO Crit death on my part, as Job did enough damage to kill an almost health non-advanced Acherai in one blow. Sad to find no treasure, they wandered along the prescribed path, leading them to the mine.
In here, I really liked the description, and think it got in the players' heads. Unfortunately, Mr. B got to come out, cast Suggestion (against which everyone saved or was immune to) and make a Will/Fort save against Phantasmal Killer. I've known this was her intention from the start, hell, I've played just this character from 1st level-color spray, phantasmal killer, and all. I should have steeled myself for these events, but I did not.
I succeed on my first save, do some minor damage and not manage to grapple the Paladin. Nuella goes, I fail, I die. :(
Oh well, at least it didn't take too much time out of the night...
On to the next bunch of chambers, the PC's were sufficiently cowed by Signatory Vaccha, and knew better than to try and mess with him. They asked next to no questions, but DID manage to overcome their fear and grab the broken crystal ball.
In the Library/Laboratory, Senorita Serpiente was at first cordial to Evan, as he took "point" in the conversation. A failed Bluff vs. Sense Motive -by 1- later and it's time for Initiative. Ms. S. manages 1 round of Gaze attacks whilst casting Displacement which protects her from Job's massive sword swings. Evan Sunbeam's her, blinding her, and forcing a quick "does blindness negate Gaze attacks" question. I ruled it "stunned" the Gaze for 1 round, while we researched and went along with the fight.
Once her turn came back 'round, we had discovered that blindness had no effect on Gaze attacks, so she Power Stunt cast Remove Blindess while affecting the party with her stare. Marin, the Bong-Hit (Fairy) Dragon, fails with a 2 on the dice, and nearly smashes to pieces on the ground. Evan manages to snag the falling dragon statue, while Nuella got all kinds of pissed.
2 consecutive Will/Fort saves later, and my medusa is dead. I'm noticing a pattern here.
Finally, on to the Cage/Twin room. The door locks went down rather easily, even if the players' brains didn't give up the clues fast. They all knew the answers, and once again, Job's habit of knowing only the names of things helped.
Jackson: "I know the answer is the name of the ruling house of Cheliax, and the name's right on the tip of my tongue..."
Doc: My name, Joe, Ed, Bob, Sam, Wally, Esteban, Etc....(in game and out of, she went on while everyone else was trying to get the right name)
Job: (after about 2-4 minutes of real time) "Oh what, you mean Thrune"
They can be impossible sometimes, no? It didn't help that Job's player had just gotten the Motorola Backflip, but that's neither here nor there.
Once they'd gained access to the Reactor Room itself, Doc was able to tell the cage would animate as soon as they entered. Pulling back, they buffed themselves to the gills, with Resist Fire, Haste, Bardic Music, Freedom of Movement, Fly, and maybe some other stuff. Flying in, they begin chipping away at the cage-o-doom. Evan flew in, charging right up to the critter, for some reason. As the lowest AC opponent in range, I focused all the chain-slams right on poor cleric boy. Bunches of damage and grapples later, Evan's Grease'd, damaged, and right next to the cage. Job had steadily marched around the cage, until almost flanking it with Evan. Jackson stayed up in midair, while the Gnomes stood in the doorway.
This next fight went very anti-climatically, as I expected it would. The cage exploded (I stupidly forgot the slashing damage from the boom) and I stood there all stunned like. Job wailed on me, hitting twice of his three swings, and did some 50-60 damage. Everyone else did buffs or attacked ineffectually.
Next turn, I Quickend Fireball'd Evan, Jackson, and Job. They all made their saves, and resisted all but minimal fire damage. I then Full-Attacked Job. 5 swings from an advanced Pit Fiend should be a dangerous thing, no? It should inspire some kind of fear, right?
The only thing I hit with was the tail slap, and due to Freedom of Movement, I couldn't even grab him. I then spent the next round puking, not that they'd need that long...
Job's next flurry off attacks yielded a natural 18 and 20 on his Keen Holy (for now) Longsword. Both of them confirmed, with Flat Blade Thwack doing some 105 Nonlethal Damage and the regular crit doing about 50 or 60. After that, it was just a race to keep him unconscious but not under -26 hp. They ALMOST got him back on his feet with damage attacks rather than Coup de Gras's. Evan's morningstar finally yielded a Perfect Blow triple damage crit, which the Twin conveniently nat-1'd.
They spent some time looting and making sure everything was good and unbolted, mourned the loss of lots of really cool toilets, and headed to the most expensive breakfast place possible. Getting in was child's play with the 5000gp outfit Jackson was sporting, and all the sparkles and special effects from the Gnomes. Being clean and smelling like pretty perfume didn't hurt, either.
That's where we ended, and will reconvene in two weeks, after two weeks of in-game downtime. Lots of crazy crafting will be taking place, I'm sure, and likely some character-building exercises.
We left off with everyone at level 9. The party therefore consists of :
Evan Dawnglow:]/b] Human Cleric of Sarenrae, and bearer of the Morrowfall, amonst many many other pieces of bling.
[b]Jackson Friendly: Very very nicely dressed Bard. Smooth talking and recently armored in Mithral from head to toe (Breastplate + Heavy shield)
Nuella & Marin: Gold Dragon-blooded Sorcerer. Fierce little fighter, and wielder of the DC 24 Phantasmal Killer and Bong-Hit Dragon.
Doc: Bleachling Gnome Evoker. Creates through Evocation, as much as possible.
Job: The Lizard Paladin. Troglodyte (reincarnated) Paladin of Iomedae. Now has an AC in the high 30's, all the time. Stinks, hurts the monsters, a DM's worst nightmare.
-t
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We resume the battle against the Shadow-Curse over Westcrown this Sunday.
I expect the Gnomes to die a messy, knife-related death (each), and the utter inability of almost every monster/NPC/trap to do any significant damage to the Lizard-din.
Having just completed The Infernal Syndrome, HALO has generously been provided with a fortnight "off." There will be lots of crafting and probably quite a bit boozing in that timeframe, but no fighting they don't start on their own.
We start fresh with The Mother of Flies with shiny new 9th lvl PC's, and a recently patched up, fortified Delvehaven, Massacre House, and Bastards' Lair under the control of the group.
Also: Christa, Doc will be wearing the M.D.F. sign. Just a bit of fair warning.
-t
It will be interesting to see how our two groups' adventures part ways at the Nessian Spiral. Yours are steamrollering along, while mine ... are about to get themselves stomped into toe-jam if they blitzkrieg all the way through to the end. If they take too long ... :)
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It will be interesting to see how our two groups' adventures part ways at the Nessian Spiral. Yours are steamrollering along, while mine ... are about to get themselves stomped into toe-jam if they blitzkrieg all the way through to the end. If they take too long ... :)
it really is the Paladins ridiculous AC, coupled with the KO power of both Arcane Casters. Cleric / Bard could be in any game I've run without tipping the scales too bad, but that NA on the Pally is just tough to crack.
A certain deformed hammer wielding moron is my best chance to put some real hurt on him, but I fear he will be preoccupied with the smashing of a couple of Gnomes.
(Plus, all the baddies -sans 1-shot mooks- will be getting the Advanced template added on, until and unless I find them to be worthy challenges again)
All that being said, this IS a fun adventure to run, especially as I intend to spend all next game In Character - mostly as Dog Tongue. hehe.
-t
edit: Oh yeah, and I forgot to include the KO power of the Pally himself. Two Handed Power Attack + High Strength + good use of Smite = dead baddies 1, 2, 3.
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....and so, the slaughter continues. Unfortunately for me, none of the deceased were PC's this game.
Dramatis Personae:
Job: Troglodyte Paladin
Jackson: Human Bard
Nuella & Marin: Gnome Sorcerer & Fairy Dragon Familiar
Evan: Human Cleric & wielder of the Morrowfall
Dr. Mechagnome Master Ellieraepen Chief etc, etc, etc...:Gnome Evoker
Having completed the Infernal Syndrome with great aplomb, I awarded the party with 2 weeks of "downtime" to do with as they pleased. Armed with some thousands of GP to spend and a city of resources to tap, they really spread out.
Evan spent his time up near the Massacre House, healing the sick & wounded amongst the poor in Parego Dospera. He has become a local “hero” up there, combining his general city-wide fame with a local reputation for dispensing cures, channels, and remove X type effects free of charge to those who need it.
Nuella spent her 2 weeks playing with Marin and making a crazy illustrated comic of her adventures. Of course, she spent almost her entire time on the “Invisibility Metal” platform at Delvehaven, the group's new base of operations.
Doc retired to her room, and knocked another 2 weeks off her “Robe of the Archmagi” crafting time. At level 9. Yes, she's insane.
Jackson took the opportunity to research Ray of Stupidity, staying well away from both Gnomes as much as possible.
Finally, Job finished up his project to create a hidden egress point from Delvehaven. A new tunnel has been dug and reinforced, leading towards the old sewer entrance behind the manor. The members of HALO have gotten really good at following his orders, and with the infusion of a bit of coin, have managed to make an actually stable escape route.
On to the adventure, itself:
The introduction of Jarvis and his “Plot Point” event went very smoothly.
He gave his little speech, then excused himself to follow up on some more leads. The group left for the Dusk Market shortly thereafter, agreeing to meet up with Jarvis the next morning, if not sooner. On arrival to the Smoke Shop, noone thought anything untoward, at least not until they stepped in and saw Mr. Stabby Face pinned to the wall. At that point, Kruthe couldn't contain his excitement any longer, and initiative was rolled.
Maglin managed to go first, drinking his potion of Cat's Grace (gave him both that and one of Invisibility) and prepared for a perfect little ambush. He did not count on the Paladin and Cleric being all but untouchable. Kruthe and Maglin played cat & mouse with Evan and Job for a bit, putting some hurt on both, but not really able to do significant damage.
The rogues, however, were another matter indeed. Staged around the alley, where the rest of the party had stayed, one was able to drop his flask of oil on Jackson's Ice Golem: IVAN. The rest who could get in range then threw their Fireball Beads. Boom, IVAN went down to a steaming, ice-shard-producing goo-pile. Jackson and Doc both took whole gobs of hurt, while Nuella soaked a whole 3 or 4 pts. Crawling around behind the collapsed well or hiding behind the burning wagon became the order of the day for both Wizard and Bard.
Once their big boom rounds went off, the Thieves themselves went down like chumps. Evan was able to come out and blind a couple, while Nuella and Doc went on the offensive, Fly'ing and Dimension Door'ing up the nearby rooftops to rain destructive magic down on the hapless rogues.
Job easily managed Kruthe while, unbeknown to him, Maglin was angling for the Death Attack the whole darn fight. Finally, Kruthe lands a lucky Knockback Crit, putting Job against the wall and opening a line to him. Moving out, Maglin sees the Fullplate Clad, ridiculous Natural Armor Paladin, and stalls, hoping to land a flanking, invisible, flat-footed shot. For which he needs to roll a 19 or 20.
Once again: :*(
Long story short, Job finishes off Kruthe with a rifle shot Smite, then switches to a fleeing Thief with the same attack. He goes down with ruptured lungs, while Nuella takes care of the last fleeing Thief with a Phantasmal Killer.
Maglin, hoping to escape with his hide, tries to work his way into the Dusk Market. No dice for him, as Doc, Nuella and Jackson are all able to get a line on him as he goes. He finally goes down to Evan's Searing Light spell burning a fist sized hole through his chest.
At that point, as the group is licking wounds, looting, and putting out minor fires, they hear titters of giggling, a weird, high-pitched voice singing in Aklo, and rhythmic **KLANG** sounds from the alleyway.
Introducing Dog's Tongue was fantastic. A bloodthirsty, whole-heartedly evil little sonuvab!*+!, he got the chance to stomp a few human faces at the same time he said “Hi” to HALO. Coming with a message for Nuella, he advised her the “Mother” would have plenty of info and weapons to use against the “Drovengeses”
Some in-character debate raged for a bit, ranging from “Why would we want to help these guys” to “We should get in good with the Dons (what my group is calling the Council's leadership)”. Finally, after much arguing, it was decided they should go to Hagwood and at least check out what the Mother has to offer. They could betray her easily, after.
First, the party extracted the various Quieting Needles from poor ole' Goren One-Eye, attempting to “glue” his jaw back in place. Rather than use one of their 6 remaining Grave Candles, they elected to Reincarnate Goren. Of course, given my track record for d100 rolling, he came back as a Human. Varisian Male Human, but still Human. Now with “Guardian Angels” in the form of HALO, Goren decided to spill his beans, giving up pretty much all of the backstory involved. The Drovenges, the Mother, the Council, the Master of the Night, and similar pieces of information came to light, and the players are finally piecing together the overarching plot. That taken care of, and Goren safely deposited with Arael and Janiven, it was time for trip to the wilderness.
Out in the woods, HALO encounters a patrol of baddies, and Jackson begins to shine. Going well before anyone else, he called out a “nonviolent resolution” play against the pair of Ogres presented. Fascinating one of them, he then suggested that his Ogre buddy was going to steal all his good rape victims. Bubba (as he became known) took distinct offense to this, and moved to bash non-Bubba-Ogre's brains in. The remaining Thieves and Dogs were quickly and thoroughly slaughtered.
Bubba managed to save against Jackson's 1st Charm Monster spell (rolled a 19), but failed his 2nd. Now armed with an 800lb rage & rape fueled meatshield, the party felt a little easier about this crazy Satyr Madjaw. On arrival to the Redcap camp, Dog's Tongue filled the group in a little on challenges and the right of rulership. Bubba, convinced he was about to be made Chief, quickly roared out a challenge. Out sprang the mangy Satyr himself, wielding that Gnome-Chopper of his. Soaking a greatclub bash to the side of his head, Madjaw returned as well as he got, nearly severing Bubba's in one blow.
Unable to withstand the temptation, Madjaw took his next few actions trying to smash poor Nuella. Bad choice, on his part, as that left him open for Bubba, Job, Evan, and Nuella herself (not to mention Doc's ranged attacks) to lay into him. Finally, after being grappled, stabbed, shot, burned, and acidified, Madjaw gave up the ghost. Bubba's reign as Redcap Chief ended almost as soon as it began, though.
Taking offense at leaving such a horrible creature in charge of slightly less horrible monsters, Evan put a near max-damage Searing Light clean through his spine. Bubba sprayed his last bodily fluids from a gaping, pumpkin sized hole in his torso, and Dog's Tongue took his place as “Lieutenant” to the Redcaps, under Chief Evan.
Having secured the assistance of the the murderous little fey, HALO grabbed up their “Lt.” and tromped off to see about this “crazy bug god thing.” Halfway there, there was a question of whether to involve Fmungwa at all, but stories of the lazy drunkard “pixies” that were supposed to be guarding him swayed their decision.
At the Ancient Tree Lair of Fmughwa the Deathgorger (didn't feel like using a cave, and a ruined tree & clearing seemed to fit very well) the party noticed the stink right quick. I think they're getting a little sensitive about smelly things, what with Job reeking like a Troglodyte all the time. Heading in, only Jackson elected to not douse himself in the anti-bug-doom-scent, Eaue de Garbage. Inside the ruined tree, Job got about halfway to where Fmughwa was sleeping before he noticed the little sprites hiding.
Springing from their leaf-litter lairs, each and every one of those little buggers tried to hit/bite/stab Job. Not a single one was able to succeed, as usual.
Action Points & Power Stunts:
Power Stunts (directly from M&M) allow you to do something you normally wouldn't be able to; a Cyclops like Eye-Blast might produce a Wall of Force, or Healing Power becomes a Death Touch. These effects are “bought” with Hero Points (like AP) and work for a single turn. I am going with 2 AP /Feat, and always with DM veto power.
Job, surrounded by a veritable swarm of tiny, toothy, terrible fey, tried a Power Stunt. He spent 4 AP to get access to Great Cleave (2 for Cleave first) for the round, and attempted to slay the little monsters. Unfortunately, he missed the 2nd one by 1, nullifying a very cool attempt with simple bad luck.
Evan was able to Holy Smite the buggers into doom, however. On searching, the party located all 4 of the (unbenknownst to them) cursed items. Job took both the Boots of Speed and Potion of Haste, while Evan grabbed the Ring of the Ram, and Nuella acquired a new Wand of Magic Missile VII. I managed to hold in the “evil DM” laugh and smile very well, I believe.
On to the final battle of the night...
Breaking into the Siege-Camp clearing in a big way, HALO, Fmughwa, and the Redcap Tribe all assaulted simultaneously. If they hadn't created a signal for when to start, the 80' blast of noon-bright sunlight at the northeast corner would have sufficed. As it was, while Nuella & Doc put up a Dancing Lights signal with Ghost Sound dragon roar Evan blasted one entire quarter of the siege group with a single Sunburst (whew, he only gets that 1/day...), blinding that group of Thieves, the Ogres, and the Hill Giant. The doggies all fled at the sound/sight of the opening salvoes of the fight, more for ease of bookkeeping than anything else.
That led into a long, drawn-out assault against the remaining critters. Doc spent her last Fireballs taking out the groups of 4 Ogres coming at her, while Nuella flitted around tossing off MM I wand charges. Other than Inspiring Courage, Jackson flew around and hunted down Stiglor, providing a very successful AWAC'S capability to the party. Job, as usual, charged his slow butt into melee, but not before chugging down his brand new shiny Potion of Haste. I took great relish in telling him he was now a Lizard-Warrior, rather than his usual Lizard-din self.
Lacking next to nothing in the “hit things with swords” category, Job and later Nuella headed to the west, to deal with the incoming Thieves and Hill Giant (the Ogres did the Tiberium Candle-Dance rather quickly here). Bunches of dice were rolled, and lots of interesting little tricks tried, but not even the mighty hill giants were able to do much. One grappled and threw Job a ways away, but promptly ate some Scorching Ray / Rifle death. The other, once he was able to engage with Evan, was promptly blinded by one of the Morrowfall's Sunbeams (along with almost all the Thieves who went after the cleric.)
At the end of it, Jackson was able to trace Stiglor to the southwestern corner, defending his supply wagons (and darkstalker elite infantry) with his remaining Hill Giant, the dark folk themselves, and a pair of Ogres. Of the Redcaps, only Dog's Tongue and one other remained. The party hauled butt across the massive battlefield, just as Stiglor dealt the killing blow to Dog's Tongue and the dark folk cloaked the remaining one in darkness bubbles. Unable to finish the last Redcap with their small knives, the dark creepers still surrounded the poor schmuck and stabbed away. Job, flying now and still under the effects of his cursed Haste, descended on the charge and lopped the poor fey's head clean off.
Jackson, who had been preparing for just this eventuality, started spewing such BS bluffs as to make your head spin. The Drovenges had set up Stiglor, see, and it was only in the nick of time the Traditionalist Dons were able to recruit the Heroes of Westrcrown to save their favorite enforcer. This whole short-sided and unwinnable battle was intended to be his undoing. The only thing that saved his rather jaded hide was their unwavering heroism and fortirude of character.
Unfortunately, arriving as late as they did, HALO was unable to prevent the loss of the rest of the force (except the 12 or so Evan Blinded, subdued, and convinced to work for HALO and Sarenrae.) With an ungodly Bluff (53 or 54 I believe) the unbelievable lie worked, and the subsequent Diplomacy checks were really only a formality. Stiglor turned over his keys (Front Door, Stiglor's Chest, and Stiglor's Room) to Walcourt, as well as confirming what the Mother would later say: Walcourt is the place to go if HALO wants to work for the Council, seeing as how the Drovenges main forces resided and trained within.
Having won the day, the party rejoined just as the Mother made her appearance. (Coincidentally, just as the table-talk came round to “Lets go kill the Bug God dude...”) Full of cackling and insanity, Mother gave her little Gnome friend (whom Nuella has never met) a box chock full of healing gear. She also spilled a few details regarding Ecarrdian and Chammady's familial relationship. Now the party knows to look for the wedge to drive between the siblings, where to go for that wedge, and that they are the baddest arsed humanoids this side of the Great Sea. They also learned the names of a bunch of Council Lieutenants, like Stiglor, Sandor, the Drovenges themselves, and the like.
Everyone levelled to 10, and they all are staying single-classed heroes. Coming back to Westrcrown, they were able to sell all the various loot items, walking away with some 4k GP. Fmughwa the Deathgorger and the Mother of Flies both returned to their places of rest, unmolested by the party (whew), and the group is gearing up for an assault on Walcourt in 2 real-time weeks. I look forward to the attempt, as well as the new Thieves I will have to write up.
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Sunday saw another fun-filled romp through Westcrown. Full update to follows, but the highlights include:
Gnomes wearing feathers...on the end of 3-foot long arrow shafts.
The black guy gets shot.
The lizard smacks someone so hard their kids get bruised.
Rogues, rogues, and more rogues.
Keys + confidence = easy peasy pie.
Stay tuned, the adventures of HALO are really picking up now.
-t
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Bad journalist, no cookie.
So, we resume our adventures this sunday, with the party outside a strange, cruciform shaped and trapped room. The plan is for the Lizardin to smash the doors open, and clear the 3rd floor.
Every single enemy in Walcourt went down like a chump, thus far. I am looking forward to the upcoming encounters, and hopefully we'll get into book 6 by the end of the night.
Bad journalist, no cookie.
So, we resume our adventures this sunday, with the party outside a strange, cruciform shaped and trapped room. The plan is for the Lizardin to smash the doors open, and clear the 3rd floor.
Every single enemy in Walcourt went down like a chump, thus far. I am looking forward to the upcoming encounters, and hopefully we'll get into book 6 by the end of the night.
Ooh, thanks for the reminder. O.H. are set to tackle Walcourt the last weekend of May (this month). I agree with you - they should annihilate the lot.
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May 23, 2010
Gotta go for those cookies!!!
Starting our adventure back up, the party began on the 2nd level of Walcourt, just outside a blue-painted, dragon-decorated, obviously trapped doorway.
The party consists of:
Job, a Troglodyte Paladin of Iomedae
Doc, a Gnomish Evoker
Evan, a Human Cleric of Sarenrae
Nuella & Marin, Gnomish Sorcerer (Gold Dragon) and her Fairy Dragon familiar
Jackson, Human Bard and unwilling rebel
Standing outside the trapped intersection, Job discovered he could slice a door off its hinges with a single blow. Juiced up to resist electricity damage as well as cold, he demolished the 4 trapped doors easily. The rest of the party waited for his violence to abate, then moved through the intersection, seeing a grand sky map on the ceiling, an opulent bedroom, and an astronomy laboratory.
They did NOT see the invisible, flying Diviner in the room until Doc entered, which proved to be her undoing. Readily gaining initiative on the group, Sandor shot Doc with a Disintegrate spell, dusting the gnome and leaving a pair of robotic boots draped in treasure and a lab coat.
Recovering from the ambush rapidly, Nuella grappled the wizard with telekinesis while Evan invoked his Invisibility Purge spell. After that, it became academic, really. Sandor got 2 more shots off before Job was able to separate his body parts from one another, neither to any good effect.
With a Scroll of Reincarnate on her (pile of dust) person, Doc was returned from the dead quickly. Unfortunately, she came back as a Kobold, only slightly less “bad” than a Bleachling, at least from a Gnome's perspective.
Having cleared the ground and 2nd floors, the party took this opportunity to rest in Sandor's bedroom. Sealing the broken doors with Stone Shape walls, they slept in perfect comfort for the 1st time in a long while.
On the morrow, our heroes continued their exploration of the guildhouse, heading to the basement levels.
At the flooded cave section, 2 Half-Fiend Chuuls arose to challenge the group, while they floated across the water. 2 Unholy Blights were the only thing they contributed, with one downed by a combination of Scorching Ray, Magic Missile, and rifle fire. The second caught the full force of Job's Smite Evil, and sank below the surface almost immediately. Rounding a corner, glowing with the light of the noonday sun, a pack of Shadow Mastiffs began baying and howling.
Evan silenced them with his Sunburst, once everyone else took cover around the rock outcroppings.
Having Detect Secret Doors active, both Doc and Jackson spotted the super-hidden secret door and opened it before heading south to meet Iliana.
Ilnerik's lover failed in her mission, mostly due to the undead-blasting Cleric and Smite-Happy Lizard. Even with her Shadow buddies dropping Job's strength significantly, she couldn't keep them from Evan's “Dust All Undead Aura”.
Reduced to gaseous form in rapid fashion, only the Web spell she threw in the hallway posed any real challenge to the party. Job, receiving a Freedom of Movement from Evan, set out in pursuit, while everyone else set about clearing the (now burning thanks to Jackson) Web from their way.
Chasing the vampiress, Job thought nothing of leaping down into the big treasure room. The large blue-skinned assailant there made him reconsider, however. With the opening salvo of a 60 Damage energy beam, Job lost a good chunk of his face. With Status in effect, Evan was able to direct Doc enough so as to Dimension Door the group into position.
The fight with Calikang swung back and forth, with several people close to death. He took his 2nd round to full attack the Lizardin, mistakenly believing him hittable in melee. Once everyone was down there, though, Chain Lightning hurt everyone, also recharging Calikang's energy beam and healing him at the same time. His second energy beam attack almost fried Doc, Nuella, and Evan, dropping Doc to negative HP before receiving a Close Wounds from the Cleric.
Everyone laid into the big blue baddy, but Doc's second Scorching Ray beam merely healed and recharged his beam attack. At the end, faced with insurmountable odds and with a single good shot left, Job took another beam to the face, at point blank shot. Unfortunately, he saved this time, and had been blessed with Resist Electricity by now. He took like 8 damage. :*(
Following telepathic commands from Ilnerik, 4 Vampire Spawn Monks floated down and tried to attack the party. They failed in pretty much every way possible, downed almost immediately.
Chasing Iliana still, the party headed south, revealing Ilnerik and Iliana, as well as dead Jarvis and the Sarcophagi of Watery Doom(TM). Right off the bat, Evan dusted Iliana with a Sunbeam from the Morrowfall, which she rolled a 2 against, failing and going poof.
Ilnerik posed a slightly more credible threat, causing Mrs. Hostage and Little Miss Hostage's screams to turn to bubbles. Evan and Doc remained focused on the Vampire boss, tossing Sunbeams, Magic Missiles, and Scorching Rays while Jackson hid and sang. Job chopped Mrs. H from her sarcophagus and Nuella successfully tore the bars free from Little Miss H's.
With Evan's Zap Undead Aura and the accumulated damage from everyone's focused fire, Ilnerik went down fairly quickly, able to land only a single slam on the Bard.
With the boss of the shadows dusted, Evan's Super-Bling-Necklace lost it's shininess. Sad for a bit, he quickly took the completed Aohl and cast Continual Flame on it. He now possesses the whole of reality, as described in the juxtaposition of Light and Darkness.
Walking out of Walcourt with huge amounts of coin, art, magic items, and gems, HALO took some time to sell loot, craft items, and figure out just what the hell these Drovenges are up to.
12 Days elapse prior to any events of The Twice-Damned Prince, during which time the city becomes safer at night, but begins building towards a watershed of violence and fire. Doc is merely 4 days away from her Robe of the Archmagi, Evan is sporting super shiny mithril armor (+5, if I'm not mistaken), and everyone has all the crazy magic gear they could possibly want. Jackson, for some reason, had over 90k GP stashed away, after the final loot haul from Walcourt. I don't know what he was saving up for, but anything in the book that could reasonably be had by 11th level adventurers is now within his reach.
After some bookkeeping, pizza-eating, and leveling, we resumed, beginning the last book of the AP: The Twice-Damned Prince.
Our heroes, deciding NOT to talk to Janiven, Arael, or any other know information brokers, headed to the Hellknights right quick. After expending a good chunk of Action Points, they were able to recoup the loss of Fame from earlier in the AP (trying to kill the Mayor will do that), and set out with the maximum of 32.
Heading to the Hellknight Chapter House, they encountered a half-dozen Bearded Devils riding Hellcats. Unable to do anything, except on Nat-20's to the Cleric or Paladin, most of the Bearded Devils tried to gank the spellcasters. That didn't work out too well for them, eating a chain lightning and a lightning bolt for their troubles. The Hellcats took one hit each from Job, the only delay coming from his inability to see them. Nuella and Jackson kindly provided Glitterdust's, allowing the Lizard to hack their heads off right and proper.
Once at the Chapter House, HALO learned that Admiral Vorune will be coming to call very shortly, a period of severe riots and fires has broken out, and the Paralictor's hands have been tied. With Citadel Rivad on lockdown, and half his command AWOL and under control of a rogue Signifer, he could do very little, even without specific orders to the contrary. They promised to look into it, and track down the heretics. In return, the Paralictor began preparations to resume patrols and work together with the scattered Dottari.
Following up on a hunch that the Noble Houses will be crucial to their success, the party then flew across the river to meet with the Ciucci and Mhartis families. Finding the Mhartis's to be hostages in their own house, HALO delivered the king's justice with extreme prejudice. Rogue 2, Rogue 4, and single Rogue8/Assassin 3 NPCs last exactly 1 action with this level of PC. Not a single one landed a sneak attack, and Cervesi's one chance to death attack the Cleric failed on a rolled 2. (She needed a 15-17 to hit, IIRC, even with Invisibility and being Advanced.)
Quickly clearing that house of interlopers and rescuing the family, Jackson discovered the secret door to the adjacent wing, meeting crazy old Crux and mean little Drucilla almost by accident. Once the girl came out to see her “Saviors,” everyone's Sense Motive was plenty to see through her bluff, as well as Perception to see through the actual disguise. Evan greeted her hug with a Harm spell that dropped the poor Doppleganger, then went and Heal'ed crazy old Crux. Paranoid B.A. Barraccus Cleric FTW!
We left off there, with HALO having secured the aid of the real Hellknights, saving the head of the Dottari, as well as making friends with 3 separate noble houses (Oberigos, Mhartises, Ciucci's).
Everyone is level 11, staying single-classed heroes, and has 32 Fame Points to spend.
32 points each ... oy ...
perhaps i was unclear
HALO, as a group, has 32 fame points to spend.
Everyone started with that number as their Fame Check basis.
Which makes the Paladin's still like +43 or something silly.
Part 6 should be easy (as far as Fame checks go) for them then, as I do not remember any DC higher than 30 or 40...
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Part 6 should be easy (as far as Fame checks go) for them then, as I do not remember any DC higher than 30 or 40...perhaps i was unclear
HALO, as a group, has 32 fame points to spend.
Everyone started with that number as their Fame Check basis.
Which makes the Paladin's still like +43 or something silly.
no reason it shouldn't stay the same...these characters have torn through each and every encounter, with a few notable exceptions, without real difficulty.
Sure, I've killed the Paladin, Cleric, and Wizard, but their reincarnated selves proved to be upgrades to pretty much exactly what they needed (with the exception of Doc, but that was funny nonetheless)
And the Bard chose to burn ALL his Action Points at the beginning of the adventure, along with a few from Cleric and Wizard, so he got his money's worth.
The new and improved NPC's will pose more direct threats, though...CR 5 mooks in a Level 11-13 adventure? for real?...and the final fight will prove quite thrilling, I feel.
Also, I'm looking forward to running Kingmaker, since Sim-City meets Zelda is pretty much how all our games go nowadays, anyways, so fast completion of book 6 is not that much of an issue.
May 23, 2010
The party consists of:
Job, a Troglodyte Paladin of Iomedae
Doc, a Gnomish Evoker
Evan, a Human Cleric of Sarenrae
Nuella & Marin, Gnomish Sorcerer (Gold Dragon) and her Fairy Dragon familiar
Jackson, Human Bard and unwilling rebel
...
With a Scroll of Reincarnate on her (pile of dust) person, Doc was returned from the dead quickly. Unfortunately, she came back as a Kobold, only slightly less “bad” than a Bleachling, at least from a Gnome's perspective.
ahem...I'm unsure as to where these ugly rumors have originated about me having ever been a "gnome" or a "kobold". I am, and have always been, a green dragon of the most regal ancestry. As I'm sure you understand wizardry isn't exactly the expected path of a dragon and I was booted from the nest quite young. My youth, however, is no reason to go about saying such nasty things about my personage. I'll thank you to cease this nonsense.
Dr. Viatrix Abraxas
"Liar!!! You are a lizard, not a dragon. The only dragons that are here are Marin and me. You are just a reincarnated gnome that was permanently prestied white" says Nuella.
Mr. "T" (Evan) pities the fool who thinks she's a dragon.
"Liar!!! You are a lizard, not a dragon. The only dragons that are here are Marin and me. You are just a reincarnated gnome that was permanently prestied white" says Nuella.
I thought we'd moved past the horrible racism of our parents. I know as a measly green dragon I can't compete with the awesome power of your shiny goldness - but that's no reason to be mean, I am just a baby. What happened to us Nuella, we used to be friends? Damn it - now I've gone and burned through my apron with my acid tears! Waaaaaah...
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June 6, 2010
The beginning of the end: we start The Twice Damned Prince.
Personae Dramatis:
Jackson Friendly, Wiscrani Human Male Bard. He of the high initiative and little action-taking.
Evan Fuzzyfeet, Wandering Halfling Male Cleric of Sarenrae. He of rock-throwing and healing-power wielding.
Nuella Fitzwizzlesprocle,Wiscrani Gnome Female Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline). She of the ever-changing hair color and seemingly limitless Color Sprays
Job, Wiscrani (nee Crusading) Human Male Paladin of Iomedae. He of the sad-faced power attack and Holy Smiting with a rifle.
]Dr. Master Veatrix Magnus Dumptruck Ellypen Rae Chief, Esq. Homeless Bleachling Gnome Female Evoker. She of the ridiculous and the resident Doctor of Confabulation. Doesn't believe in the bleaching, despite looking like an albino WoW addict.
Starting the morning at Vira Ciucci, I deducted the 5 Fame Points they should have spent while buddy-ing up to Paralictor Chard, with the party's permission. They then engaged the two noble houses in polite conversation and cemented a deal between all three groups. I believe it read “We will help HALO become leaders of Westcrown,” more or less.
With Job as party face, and Jackson backing him up by asking the right questions/ providing the right lies, they can't lose any of the Social or Fame challenges as written. Everyone they talk to automatically loves or hates them, depending if they're an enemy combatant or not. On to the fighting, then, eh!?!
Our heroes set off North on 2 carpets. Jackson, Doc, and Job rode Job's 5x10' one, while Nuella, Evan, and Marin flew on Evan's 5x5 rug, Evan spotted Rolan's Toys tearing down a building off to the east, and everyone set off to investigate. 8 Super-Advanced Animated Toys ripped bricks from the building across from Rolan's shop, while the dwarf sat on his stoop.
Each Medium construct sported a different, brightly colored circus-themed paint job. They also matched the mini's in general format, yielding a few clowns, a ringmaster, and one Dancing Bear, complete with pink party hat and foofy clown collar. Free to engage robots without concern, Job dashed in and laid about with his Wannabe Sigfried Sword, an adamantine greatsword.
Rolan moved to join the tussle, ending up shot, stabbed, Telekinesis-Grappled and hanging upside down, 15' in the air. One of Evan's stabs left a critical Jagged Wound, causing horrible bleeding – compounded again, by hanging upside down and “raging” on adrenaline. He tried to smash Evan with his club, that's how angry he got eventually.
Leaving the angry dwarf in manacles, the party set off north again, looking to put out / investigate the fires up in the northern crescent. Rolling high on the “random events” dice, they spot the slave barge and it's Erinyes escort off in the distance.
Unfortunately, casting all that light and wearing shiny golden armor ain't so great for a stealthy approach, so group evil bird lady got to open up with some nice full attacks.
Erinyes Ranger 2
Advanced Erinyes (Medium Outsider)
Ranger level 2 (skill points 20) Archer
Hit die: 10d10+2d10+84+2(152hp)
Init: 10
Speed: 30,fly 50,swim 0,climb 0,burrow 0
AC: 28 +1 Chain Shirt, +0 Shield, none
(Dex +4, Natural +8, +1 Chain Shirt +5, feats +1)
AC flat footed :23
AC Touch: 14
Base Attack/Grapple: 12/20
CMB 20 CMD 40
Attack: +20 Greatsword 2d6+12 Crit(19-20)X2
or +26 (+2/+2) Longbow ,Composite 1d8+11 Crit(20-20)X2
Full attack: +20/15/10+1 Flaming Greatsword 2d6+12+1d6 Fire
or +24/24/19/14 +1 Flaming Longbow(+5 Str) 1d8+11+1d6 Fire (range 110)
Deadly Aim -4 / +8 // Many Shot on 1st Arrow of Volley (+1d8+11)
Space/Reach: 5/5
Special Attacks: Entangle DC(25) 50 ft long rope can hurl 30ft acts as animate rope spell CL16, Other +1 flaming composite long bow,
Spell-like Abilities (Cha Based Saves) 2nd DC(19) At will Minor Image, (CHR) 4th DC(21) Charm Monster, Unholy Blight, DC 24 greater teleport (Self + 50lbs only)
Summon 1/day either 2d10 lemures 50% or 1d4 bearded devils 50%,
Favored enemy Human +2
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/good, Darkvision 60, Immunity to fire and poison, Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, See in darkness , Spell Resistance 20, Telepathy 100, True seeing ,
Track Gains Track as a bonus Feat
Wild Empathy Improve attitude of an animal
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +20, Will +10
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 31, Con 25, Int 18, Wis 24, Chr 25
Skills: Acrobatics 21, Bluff 17, Climb 7, Craft bowyer 9, Diplomacy 20, Escape Artist 18, Fly 22, Handle Animal 7, Heal 11, Intimidate 19, Know dungeon 8, Know geography 4, Know nature 6, Know religion 13, Know (planes) 13, Perception 19, Ride 10, Sense Motive 16, Stealth 20, Survival 21, Swim 6,
Languages: Telepathy
Feats:
Quick Draw, Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Dodge, Many Shot, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run, Weapon focus Longbow
Alignment: Lawful Evil
CR: 11
Armour +1
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Cats grace – (300gp)
+1 Flaming Bow, +1 Flaming Greatsword, rope
A long, tough fight ensued. Each Erinyes took full attacks whenever possible. I dropped Nuella and Doc to single-digit HP, and almost killed Jackson before the Lizardin got within melee range. Once there, he pretty much dropped one chicky every turn. Charge + Smite + everything else yielded LOTS of damage, and I didn't use the recently errata'd Smite Evil. It worked out in the end.
A few well-placed and badly saved against Glitterdust spells later, and 2 blind Devils teleport around the bay. Job charged and smooshed the un-blind one remaining, while Doc set off to tackle one of the blind guys. The wizard and Devil exchanged arrow and Magic Missile fire a bit, until Doc began throwing up energy walls.
Ms. Erinyes didn't take kindly to that, and unleashed a final full attack fusillade that perforated the Kobold wizard. She then expired due to the surrounding energy wall's damage.
Meanwhile, Job caught the express Dimension Door right next to the last living sister while Evan popped by Doc. (Both Jackson and Nuella have D-Door) The last Devil succumbed to Job's full attack, while a timely Breath of Life jolted Doc back to consciousness.
[ooc]Special merit award goes to Evan's healing; empowered and maximized healing spells from the domain really sells in combat healing. The last time I saw it as good was via Druid with Augment Healing and Healing Hymn backup singers.[ooc]
Freeing bunches of Wiscrani citizens from Infernal slavery, our Heroes set them on their way, armed with knives and a spare +1 Warhammer from the Lizardin. Off to the fires they flew.
On arrival at the arson site, they realized a few stand out facts. First: only one building was torched, although being very thoroughly burned up. Second: lots of the fire damage seemed to come from single-target shots. Scorch marks like blaster burns stood out on brick, stone, and similar structures all over. Third: this building is about to crumble. The upper floors look like matchsticks and cigarette ash.
Flying in like a squad of AH-1 Apache Longbow heli's, Doc calms the entire structure's fire in one Quench casting. Upon closer inspection, Job and Evan notice a huge reddish brown oviod object, sitting in the ash on the ground floor. It radiates increasing Evocation and Conjuration magic, does not radiate evil, and sits still until Job whacks it with a sword.
Thats when they realized it was an egg of some kind, and the blow from the Lizardin's weapon awoke it.
Name:
Advanced Half Red Dragon Tyrannosaurus
Hit die: 24d10+240+24(402hp)
Init: +3
Speed: 40
AC: 27 (Dex +3, Natural +11, size -2, +1 Chain Shirt +5, )
AC flat footed :24
AC Touch: 11
Base Attack/Grapple: 18/37
CMB 37 CMD 50
Bite+35 9d6+18 x2 (Imp Vital Strike)
Full attack: Bite+35 3d6+18 (Power Attack +30 3d6+33)
Claw+34 1d4+18 Crit(20-20)X2
Claw+34 1d6+18 Crit(20-20)X2
Space/Reach: 15/10
Special Attacks: Improved Grab,
Swallow Whole( can cut out dealing 25 damage with a light slashing or piercing weapon, Swallow Whole takes 2d8+8 bludgeoning +8 points of acid)
Breath Weapon DC(32) 1/day 6d8 damage 30ft cone of Fire,
Special Qualities: Low-light Vision , Scent , Darkvision 60, Immunity to Fire, sleep, paralysis, Low-light Vision ,
Saves: Fort +25, Ref +18, Will +13
Abilities: Str 44, Dex 16, Con 30, Int 10, Wis 19, Chr 16
Skills: Perception 34, Stealth 21,
Languages: Draconic
Feats:
Ability Focus Breath Weapon, Armour prof light, Cleave, Improved Natural Attack, Power Attack, Run, Skill focus (Perception), Toughness, Iron Will, Improved Vital Strike, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus
Alignment: Neutral
CR: 14
Amulet of mighty fists (+1)
Armour +1
Cloak of resistance (+1)
The fight ended rather quickly. Jackson got initiative, shooting the T-Rex twice with Ray of Stupidity. He dropped it to Int 3, and back to as smart as a T-Rex should be. (well, a smart one, that is).
Mr. Bitey stomped over, causing a nice collapse of the house's 2nd floor onto Job and Evan, and nom'ed the bard. With Vital Strike and nice die rolls, Jackson took some 60 damage and made like a hot-dog. Luckily, Doc was able to defensively cast Teleport, getting the sad bard out of the dinosaur's jaws. On his next turn, Jackson nailed it with another Ray o' Dumb, dropping the big beast.
Job managed to get out easily enough, and Coup de Gras'd the tyrannosaurus on his 2nd try.
The true culprit behind the fires chose to remain out of sight, biding his time. A few party members ALMOST broke off from the group, which would have enabled some more fun. They didn't though, for some silly reason..pshaw.
While in the north, HALO began asking around after Signifer Verennie, which turned out to be easier than it should have been. Rolling the one-day-a-week for Mrs. Vaporous to ride a Hellknight out on the town, it only made sense the party'd happen into the Hellknight faction in a bar. The resultant bar fight was very satisfying, even if next to no property damage occurred. Doc almost died to flail swinging fun, while Evan and Job laughed at their attempts to connect. It's not fun when the baddies have to roll 20's to even hit.
Verennie was driven out via Magic Circle against Evil, after which she D-Door'd the heck out of there. 3 of the 5 Hellknights went down fatally, while 2 others (one dominated, the other knocked out via Critical Fumble) were taken captive. A short interrogation yielded the location of the ghost's house, where they flew in through the attic vents. Verennie didn't stand a chance, only succeeding at pulling Jackson up into the air (via summoned Air Elemental in Vortex form) where he floated back to earth for 3 minutes or so. Between Job and Evan, she went down in 2 rounds (Channel + Aura of Undead Zapping, Smite, Heal) and Evan now sports her black iron +2 Human Bane Dagger.
Heading back to Taranik House, they handed off all the Hellknight armor, the Heretics, and Verennie's corpse to Chard, acquiring 10k GP in reward. Staying the night, they set off for the Heretic Barracks and the Blacknapes on the morrow.
The heretics were a non-event, dropped by empowered fireballs and plenty of AoE damage. With Job's new shield, he's sporting an AC of 44, while Evan has a 45. Both Heretics and Blacknapes fell without incident, and HALO is well positioned to make a push for the rest of the city soon.
Next time:
We'll learn the secrets behind the fires up north.
Find and burn the undead menace!
Where are the Council's new bosses? Will they live up to the hype? Will they drop in one single attack?
What will General Vorune decide?
Just who will rule Westcrown?
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion next time!
Let us not forget : whose face(s) will be eaten first? ^_^
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Gearing up for the big showdown between Ecarrdian, Chammady, their buddy critters, and HALO.
Should prove interesting, as well as cathartic...chopping faces and lopping arms is always so soothing to their bestial hearts, especially with a Kobold, Troglodyte and Baby Dragon (Sorcerer) in the group...
Stay tuned for the carnage...I'm hoping for at least 1 more kill...
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Well, our Wrap-Up session of Council of Thieves went pretty much exactly as expected.
Highlights include: Jackson the Bard talked both Chammandy and the Tiefling Prison Warden into truces, leading to a MUCH easier final fight.
Barbed devils + class levels are fun, but still no match for a smiting paladin.
Hellknights + Aura of Justice against Rogue/Assassins is just overkill. I mean, how smooshed does one rogue need to get in one turn?
Healing Domain Cleric + Close Wounds = PC's stay alive, even when they shouldn't.
A full report to follow, but rest assured, HALO has managed to turn the tide of Devil Worshipping, Shadow-monster wielding House of Thrune patsy's, and is now firmly in control of Westcrown.
Noone died :( during the final adventure, but I wasn't really expecting any of those "BBEG's" to pose a significant threat to my group.
Well, our Wrap-Up session of Council of Thieves went pretty much exactly as expected.
Highlights include: Jackson the Bard talked both Chammandy and the Tiefling Prison Warden into truces, leading to a MUCH easier final fight.
Barbed devils + class levels are fun, but still no match for a smiting paladin.
Hellknights + Aura of Justice against Rogue/Assassins is just overkill. I mean, how smooshed does one rogue need to get in one turn?
Healing Domain Cleric + Close Wounds = PC's stay alive, even when they shouldn't.
A full report to follow, but rest assured, HALO has managed to turn the tide of Devil Worshipping, Shadow-monster wielding House of Thrune patsy's, and is now firmly in control of Westcrown.
Noone died :( during the final adventure, but I wasn't really expecting any of those "BBEG's" to pose a significant threat to my group.
Sounds like they need some encouragement to "voluntarily leave the country" ... *puff* *puff*