Serpent Skull Obituaries


Serpent's Skull

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1st level Random Encounter. Six Shiv Dragons Pack (GM augmented)
>HalfJinn Monk
>Human Natural Weapon Ranger
>Aasimar Inquisitor

3rd level.
"Mother Thrunefang"/Nylithati (death by tactics)
> Tengu two weapon Ranger
> HalfOrc Battle/Oracle

--- details---
Hero Points & Story Trumping Rules:
Both the Aasimar and the Battle Oracle have 'come back' from the dead in a combo of hero point use and storytelling, giving the Isle a "LOST" feel that I am playing up every chance I can.

The Shiv Dragons were dominiated and forced to hunt for a nest of modified Aranea (Monster Manual 1, page 15) augmented with the fiendish template and GM flavor. The Aasimar awoke in webbing and was able to escape. The current party has yet to return to avenge the 2 'real' deaths and recover their fallen friends.

Mother Thrunefang used Obscuring Mist and the 5' corridor to lure them into tight quarters. The tengu and Battle Oracle fell from paralyzing touches and negative channeling. The Oracle was not dead until she burst negative energy one last time before she was defeated. the survivors buried both near the Dryad's Tree. Player of Battle Oracle is 'rising' from the grave KILL BILL 2 style at the start of the upcoming session.

Players and GM having a blast with the AP!
thanks!


For those new to the program, here's the general format for obituaries:

Name:
Race:
Classes/levels:
Adventure:
Location:
Catalyst:
The Gory Details: (optional)

and my own:

Name: Lucas Patentpockets
Race: Gnome
Classes/levels: Alchemist 4
Adventure: Homemade module inbetween SftSS and RtR
Location: The pirate ship The Horrible Death.
Catalyst: A hobgoblin with a crossbow.
The Gory Details: (optional) The party was raiding the ship. While fighting off waves and waves of enemies, eventually, their hobgoblin leader appeared. Lucas tried to bomb him over and over, failed three times and was finally critted for his trouble.

We ended up using the scroll of raise dead and the scroll of restoration from the earlier module portions of the game, to keep the ball rolling.

Liberty's Edge

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Name: Death Blossom
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Rog 3
Adventure:Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Hidden Temple
Catalyst: Slashing trap
The Gory Details: (optional) Rogue failed to disarm and only had 2 HP when she entered the trap room. 2 blade hits and she was effectively slap chopped.

Dark Archive

Stormrazor2000 wrote:

Name: Death Blossom

Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Rog 3
Adventure:Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Hidden Temple
Catalyst: Slashing trap
The Gory Details: (optional) Rogue failed to disarm and only had 2 HP when she entered the trap room. 2 blade hits and she was effectively slap chopped.

Oh ya, nasty stuff. A character in my game got a crit from one of those blades. Only reason she didn't buy it was that small antechamber between that room and the boss room.


Alex Draconis wrote:
Stormrazor2000 wrote:

Name: Death Blossom

Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Rog 3
Adventure:Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Hidden Temple
Catalyst: Slashing trap
The Gory Details: (optional) Rogue failed to disarm and only had 2 HP when she entered the trap room. 2 blade hits and she was effectively slap chopped.

Oh ya, nasty stuff. A character in my game got a crit from one of those blades. Only reason she didn't buy it was that small antechamber between that room and the boss room.

I have really fond memories of setting off that trap three times in a row and basically just playing Spiderman in the middle of that room by myself. Thank god for the total defense action.

Nonetheless, so far Smuggler's Shiv seems to not be all that dangerous... or not many people are playing it. I'm patiently waiting for the first disease related death.


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Name: Demetrius, Son of DeMarcus
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Wizard 1
Adventure: Serpent Skull
Location: Dimorphodon nest south of crash site
Catalyst: Dimorphodons
The Gory Details: Partly due to the effects of wasting disease, the party sent 3 of 6 members out to scout on the 6th day. Demetrius went with a Dwarven inquisitor and a human cleric, but the Dimorphodons surprised them. Demetrius was taken down very quickly along with the inquisitor, but the cleric managed to channel twice and bring them both to positive HP before falling himself. The Inquisitor managed to cast expeditious retreat, picked up the cleric and ran like hell as the Dimorhpodons missed the attacks of opportunity. With the extra movement, they were able to outrun the Dimorphodons, who then started to chase Demitrius through the jungle. Dimitrius, down to 3 HP was unable to shake them, and ran off the cliff, barely missing the jagged rocks below. He did take D6 subdual damage (2).

Unfortunately, he was a low strength player and was not able to make a whole series of swim checks in the water. After failing a series of checks and fortitude saves he became fatigued, then exhausted, and finally drowned in the water off the island.

The next time the PC's look in the water at night, they will see poor Dimitrius beckoning them in as his soul is trapped with the other unfortunate sailors around the island.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Ice Titan wrote:
Alex Draconis wrote:
Stormrazor2000 wrote:

Name: Death Blossom

Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Rog 3
Adventure:Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Hidden Temple
Catalyst: Slashing trap
The Gory Details: (optional) Rogue failed to disarm and only had 2 HP when she entered the trap room. 2 blade hits and she was effectively slap chopped.

Oh ya, nasty stuff. A character in my game got a crit from one of those blades. Only reason she didn't buy it was that small antechamber between that room and the boss room.

I have really fond memories of setting off that trap three times in a row and basically just playing Spiderman in the middle of that room by myself. Thank god for the total defense action.

Nonetheless, so far Smuggler's Shiv seems to not be all that dangerous... or not many people are playing it. I'm patiently waiting for the first disease related death.

I think that Kingmaker has been so popular people are still playing that, (I've been running Kingmaker since book one came out and I'm still on the first book!) So Serpent's Skull is just biding its time. Much like the lost and degenerate Serpent Empire...

Sovereign Court

The first chapter of serpents skull is much less dangerous than the first chapter of KM tbh.

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32, 2012 Top 4

Alexander Kilcoyne wrote:
The first chapter of serpents skull is much less dangerous than the first chapter of KM tbh.

Not sure I agree with you. I think Smuggler's Shiv is potentially very dangerous. Keep in mind you don't have the luxury of retreating to Olaf's to safely rest and restock supplies.


I'll go along with that theory, Tom... I'm starting a brand new Serpent's Skull campaign this Sunday and I'm very aware that there is NO resupply available until the group leaves the island around level 5 or so. No stores, no weapon- or armor-smiths, and certainly no magic shops. So the players will have to make do with whatever they have at 1st level as well as whatever they loot from the island. Also, none of my players are playing a cleric so there will be no healing bursts in combat. The party druid can do some healing but isn't interested in being a walking first aid kit, so will only be providing some limited healing in extreme cases.

So between random encounters, rampant diseases, low-level equipment plus some random treasures, I'm sure this starting adventure will be one of the most challenging adventures that my players have ever faced!

Dark Archive

Maveric28 wrote:

I'll go along with that theory, Tom... I'm starting a brand new Serpent's Skull campaign this Sunday and I'm very aware that there is NO resupply available until the group leaves the island around level 5 or so. No stores, no weapon- or armor-smiths, and certainly no magic shops. So the players will have to make do with whatever they have at 1st level as well as whatever they loot from the island. Also, none of my players are playing a cleric so there will be no healing bursts in combat. The party druid can do some healing but isn't interested in being a walking first aid kit, so will only be providing some limited healing in extreme cases.

So between random encounters, rampant diseases, low-level equipment plus some random treasures, I'm sure this starting adventure will be one of the most challenging adventures that my players have ever faced!

Ouch. You'll have no healing except natural and what you find? That's definitely hard mode. The only reason my party made it off the island was we had an Oracle of Life. That was painfully obvious when 12 cannibals and their leader ambushed the party. That reminds me...

Name: Scurvy Jack
Race: Human
Classes/levels: 3 Oracle of Life
Adventure: Smuggler's Shiv
Location: The Caves of The Mother
Catalyst: Nylithati
The Gory Details: It's a freakin' cleric with time to buff and has three paralyzing attacks. You do the math. After half the party was paralyzed she coup de grace'd the healer of the party. Luckily paralysis wore off the ranger and he got a couple good hits in ending the threat.

Dark Archive

And two more as of yesterday....

Name: Vijai
Race: Human
Classes/levels: 5 Rogue
Adventure: Racing to Ruin
Location: some dwarf guy's house in Kalabuto
Catalyst: High level assassins with poison
The Gory Details: Assassins break into the house we're sleeping in. Vijali wins initiative and goes outside his room to investigate. Four dual wielding guys jump him. He fails save vs paralysis. Second guy coup de graces. No more rogue. See, having a high init mod is not always in your best interest.

Name: Adam Smith
Race: Human
Classes/levels: 2 ranger, 2 witch, 1 fighter. (don't ask I have no idea either)
Adventure: Racing to Ruin
Location: some dwarf guy's house in Kalabuto
Catalyst: High level assassins with poison
The Gory Details: See above. Same move. Dear Pazio, paralysis is a killer. Thanks for using it so much in serpent's skull.

I almost got taken out as well. Me and my animal companion both got paralyzed in different rounds but luckily my animal companion snapped out of it and ran interference before I could get coup de grace'd as well.

So Adam was raised by selling most of Vijali's stuff. Vijali's corpse became spider swarm food (don't ask). Although we're thinking about animating his dessicated corpse to use as a front line fighter. That's our retirement plan for him.


Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

Oh yeah....near total TPK....read 'em and weep:

Name: Kurok
Race: half orc
Classes/levels: ranger 2 (archery spec)
Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Mother Thrunefang and 4 lacedons

Name: Merrick
Race: human
Classes/levels: rogue 2 (plan rogue 3 wizard ?? arcane trickster ??)
Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Mother Thrunefang and 4 lacedons

Name: Kreager Vain
Race: human
Classes/levels: fighter 2 (two weapon fighter and bardiche for reach)
Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Mother Thrunefang and 4 lacedons

Name: Augustus Dominus
Race: human
Classes/levels: summoner 2 (tiger-man biped eidolon named Invictus)
Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Mother Thrunefang and 4 lacedons

The Gory Details: (optional)

I'm a player in a SS campaign that just kicked off about 2 weeks ago. We have five PCs (those listed above and a human cleric of Gozreh, the only survivor...). I was playing the summoner (which was a fun class that I will try again some day btw).

House rules: we use 1 flaw for 1 bonus feat (3.5 Unearthed Arcana....we really hope Paizo picks up this idea and runs with it) and we give 50% min hp rolled at each new level. Thus if a class rolls less than 50% their dice max possible they are given the half max total (fighters get 5 min on the dice, clerics 4, etc..). We did this because melee types that roll 1s and 2s on hp repeatedly ruin the player's fun. Also we've removed the Spell Focus (conjuration) prereq from Augment Summoning (it seemed slightly arbitrary to us.....YMMV).

Anyhoo....the group was having solid success exploring the island and had wiped out the witch and the barbarian chieftain at the lighthouse. We moved our base camp from the beach near the Jenivere's wreck to the lighthouse (after warning the other survivors that the place was formerly inhabited by cannibals so it needed a really good sprucing up).

Then we decided to explore the caves below the lighthouse. Things went pretty smooth at first. We got a little spooked when we fought the festrogs and lacedons by the temple (anything that can paralyze is a cause for concern at low level), but we overcame them and forged ahead. Little did we know what fate had in store....

One lacedon near the south end of the map ran from us and alerted a group to the north of our approach. As we entered the room we found ourselves besieged by four lacedons; difficult but doable we figured. The ranger was paralyzed but we had two of them down when Mother Thrunefang entered the fray.

The eidolon and the fighter put down the last two lacedons and moved forward with the rogue and the summmoner to melee Mother. Bear in mind that all 4 were at around half health by this time. The priest of Gozreh positioned himself to do healing bursts, but of course he rolled 1s and 2s on his d6 to heal us :( .

Then the dice gods turned against us, hard. We rolled horrible to-hit rolls, leaving her relatively untouched while she pumped out negative energy bursts at the guys we had on her. Almost nobody made their will saves. She rolled 8s, 9s, and 10s on her 2d6. We were 2nd level. She did this for 3 rounds. Need I say more? And, of course, as soon as the summoner went to negs, the eidolon disappeared.

So, four rounds after Mother got into the mix, our fighter was at -2 (but stabilized), our summoner was at -8 (stabilized) and our rogue was at -6 (stabilized). On the plus side, the ranger came out of paralysis. He was injured, however, and the cleric was out of healing bursts by then.

The ranger launched two arrows a round (rapid shot) for two rounds, but only hit once (just plain crappy dice rolls, again). The priest threw Entangle on her, which did slow her down. He then spent the 1 round to summon a riding dog on her in the Entangle. The mean little bastard did 10 hp to her. By now she was down to just a few hp, but over two rounds she a. healed herself, b. killed the dog and c. got out of the Entangle and made it up to the ranger.

The ranger 5' stepped back and fired two lasts shots in what was the deciding round. Both missed. Mother tore him to shreds (paralyzing him in the process) as the priest ran off (not sure how he climbed back up since there was a 10' gap between the bottom of the rope and the cave floor at the exit).

We are coming back next week with 4 new characters, at 3rd level, plus the surviving priest of Gozreh, who has also advanced to 3rd level. The group currently looks to be a fighter, rogue, inquisitor and an alchemist.

Moral of the story...sometimes the dice gods hate you.

Good gaming to all

DJF


Alex Draconis wrote:
Ouch. You'll have no healing except natural and what you find? That's definitely hard mode.

Not only no healing, but even with a cleric this starting zone is pretty hard core... everything and it's mother has some sort of poison attack, from eurypterids to dimorphodons, not to mention snakes and spider swarms aplenty. And there is no way to neutralize poison or cure the ability damage it causes other than bedrest until the party reaches level 3, at least! Not just poisons but we have all those wonderful diseases that are running rampant on this island!

We finished the first session and no one has died yet, although a random zombie encounter did knock half the party into negatives. It happened in the evening, and almost everyone was fatigued from heat stroke earlier that day. Anyone else notice that zombies are much more effective at low levels in PF than they were in D&D? +4 to hit with their slam attack and 1d6+4 dmg to a 1st level character? OUCH! Anyway, I think at least 2 PC's have contracted a disease already, and now we're just waiting on the incubation period to run its course before they start taking ability score dmg from diseases too! The druid has her work cut out for her... Maybe the witch should take the CLW hex when he hits next level...


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Name: Lucas Patentpockets
Race: Gnome
Classes/levels: Alchemist 5
Adventure: Racing to Ruin
Location: The apebear besieged village
Catalyst: Apebears not following the rules of monster creation and being far too deadly for their level*
The Gory Details: (optional)

The group hunkered down to wait to be ambushed. The chemosit ape-bears ambushed us, so we ambushed them. It was going perfectly fine until Patentpockets went out to check for the other apebear, who leapt down upon him.

Between his readied action, the AoO and the creatures turn, Patentpockets went from 29 hp to -14.

A grateful shaman of the village reincarnated him luckily as a human, and now he's a mwangi alchemist using all of his old gear. As a side note, wow, permanent negative levels suck.

*A creature with a +11 bonus to hit, pounce and a rake attack should not have power attack. +9/+9/+9/+9 for 1d6+11/1d6+11/1d8+11/1d6+11/1d6+11 at a level where the PCs have between 30 and 50 hp. Really? Seriously shoddy creature crafting IMO. A dire tiger has near the same but lesser damage potential... but is 4 CR higher.

Chemosit: Hits its avg AC characters (AC 21) on a 12 for 12 to 17 to 19 damage damage.
Dire tiger: Hits its avg AC characters (AC 29) on an 11 for 10 to 16 to 20 damage.

Scarab Sages

Name: Seamus
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Barbarian 2
Adventure: Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Thrunefang Camp
Catalyst: Klorak the Red
The Gory Details: (optional) After some failed stealth rolls the camp which had gathered for a feast attacked the intruders. Seamus took some initial damage from the mooks, and when Klorak appeared, raged and charged he managed to get and confirm a critical hit. This ended poor Seamus' adventuring career.


Whew, bad night for my PCs:

Classes/levels: Gunslinger, Paladin, and Cleric (all level 1)
Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Location: The Treasure Pit
Catalyst: The gunslinger's insane decision to jump into the open, water-filled pit
The Gory Details: 4 lacedons (doubled due to party size of 7+) all went to town on the lone target. Then the pally jumped in...then the cleric. All one at a time :(

I wonder if they'll ever get to that scroll of Raise Dead now?


Name: Alexis Tigerius Starslayer
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Paladin of Shelyn 12
Adventure: The Vaults of Madness
Location: The Lair of the Body Thief
Catalyst: Double flurry from the ogre magi monks
The Gory Details: (optional)
So, we got attacked by the ogre magi monks who were floating up in mid-air and being annoying. The first thing that happened was that the rogue activated fly and took Alexis up to fight the ogres. They dropped a cone of cold on him for 35 damage beforehand, but he still had around 80 hit points left, so it wasn't a big deal-- he eschewed a lay on hands for a smite attack. He got lifted up there, attacked them, and then was immediately flurried to -38 hit points. After deliberating if the rogue's positioning choice was the reason why the paladin was flurried to death, we discovered that he would have died no matter what-- the one who was being attacked, and was closest, landed 4 hits, and the other would've just spring attack killed him anyways, bringing him to -15, one past his Con score.

We spent 10,000 gold resurrecting him, returned and continued to slaughter them.


Name: Nigel Remmington Muldoon
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Ranger 2
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Thrunefang Ghoul Caves
Catalyst: Ye Olde Lacedon Paralysis
The Gory Details:

Not of complexity to this one. Nigel, fledgling Pathfinder, got a little further away from the rest of the party. When they were fighting lacedons, he got paralyzed.

It was a pitched fight, and if it had many any sense at all, I would have had the ghoul abandon him for another target. Unfortunately, coup de grace was what made the most sense under those circumstances.

He was just a little too far away from the rest of the party, and the ghoul was looking to even the odds as their side was losing.

They used the scroll of raise dead to bring him back. He might be the only casualty in Chapter One (we'll see, the final encounters against the gibbering mouther and Yarzoth are next week. They're appropriate level, this entry is somewhat backdated a 3-4 weeks).


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Nylithati had 5hp left, but nearly the whole party was bleeding out from her merciless Channel Negative Energy attacks. Her last use finished everyone around her, leaving only Ayres Mavato and the PC Wizard Petronicus, who had both missed her because she was cloaked in her darness spell. She would heal and rip them both to shreds.

But the Half Orc rogue Kore was not yet dead. He had his one staggared action left before he dropped. His darkvision saw though the Darkness, and the modifiers ended with him needing a 14 on the die to hit

He rolled a 14

He needed to do 5 points of damage on a d6

He rolled a 5

If she was staggered, she could have used her last channel to heal, but unlike half orcs, Undead die at 0

Thus was the end of Mother Thrunefang.


Tom Qadim wrote:
Alexander Kilcoyne wrote:
The first chapter of serpents skull is much less dangerous than the first chapter of KM tbh.
Not sure I agree with you. I think Smuggler's Shiv is potentially very dangerous. Keep in mind you don't have the luxury of retreating to Olaf's to safely rest and restock supplies.

I agree with you Tom. This last Sunday the Red Mountain Devil dropped the party Songo halfling witch to -7 in one round, from having full hit points. I went easy, and didn't drain 1 Con, determing that the Devil had a good mouthful of blood from the critical hit on the bite attack. It just didn't seem right to kill a PC at full hitpoints with a full round attack before they could even react. Fortunately, the little witch got saved by the rest of the party.

Scarab Sages

TPK
Name: Piyel
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Ranger 2/Cleric 1
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Paralysis & Darkness

Name: Thraxus
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Ftr 3
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Paralysis & Darkness

Name: Taelin
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Rogue 2/Wiz 1
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Paralysis & Darkness

Name: Ven
Race: Halfling
Classes/levels: Rogue 3
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Paralysis & Darkness

Name: Griselda
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Witch 3
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Caves of the Mother
Catalyst: Paralysis & Darkness

The Gory Details: While exploring the Caves of the Mother, the party encountered a ghoul who ran away and joined 3 others (bringing the total to 4). Advancing slowly allowed Mother Thrunefang to join her children and buff. When the PCs arrived they were facing the Mother & 4 ghouls. The mother advanced on her turn, cast darkness on herself and plunged the cave into a slaughterhouse. With only 1d6 of positive energy flowing out vs. 2d6 of negative it was a losing proposition. Then folks started getting paralyzed.
The elves lasted fairly well, but once set of full attacks from the mother shredded the ranger/cleric into deep negatives, 2 PCs paralyzed (one drowning because the ghouls dropped him into the water), the witch got surrouned by 3 ghouls and the rogue/wiz was behind enemy lines.

Looking at the tactical scenario we determined it was very unlikely that the PCs would manage to escape and called it a night.

Note to self: Darkness & Paralysis = very bad (especially when the party lacks darkvision).


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Name: Yuto Kasuri
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Fighter 1/Samurai 5 (party is underleveled)
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: Merchant district
Catalyst: The sarcosuchus
The Gory Details: The party wandered next to the sarcosuchus lair, upon seeing the gargantuan sized beast the party did not do the smart thing and try to kite it or run, instead the samurai dove in to the fight and got cut down in two bites and a death roll. The party used their scroll of raise dead to bring him back and the samurai spent 8 of his faction points to remove the negative levels.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Killed my first PC, well not true, killed others but they spent Hero Points to negate the deaths, this time that did not happen.

Name: Narash "Hound" Mrynn
Race: Male Half-Orc
Classes/levels: Ranger 8
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location:

Spoiler:
House of the Hezrou

Catalyst:
Spoiler:
Tentagard the Hezrou casting blasphemy

The Gory Details:
Spoiler:
everyone minus the wizard got paralyzed for 1 round by Tentagard casting blasphemy on the group, Tentagard delivered a Coup de grâce against Hound and bit his head right off.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Name: Asher
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Sage Sorcerer
Adventure: Smuggler's Shiv
Location: Lair of the Red Mountain Devil
Catalyst: Dropped from 100' feet up when already unconscious.
The Gory Details:

Spoiler:
The party was making it's way down the gorge, crossing each rope bridge one at a time, when Gelik was grappled at the mid point of the bridge. Two party members raced towards the mid point to help, causing the bridge to collapse.
Gelik dropped into the water.
The Devil decided to go after the soft skinned human that was throwing spells at it, getting a double grapple, then pinning the next round as it flew up.
The party ranger, trying to distract the Devil, rushed it's nest, hoping to threaten eggs. Thought there were no eggs, the devil did try and hit him with a dropped sorcerer.


Name: Garrok
Race: Half-Orc
Classes/ Levels: Barbarian - 3
Location:

Spoiler:
Cross-shaped room above the temple to Zura.

Catalyst:
Spoiler:
Coup de grace after getting knocked unconscious by a Negative Energy channel.

The Gory Details:
Spoiler:

After trading blows for several rounds an Enlarged (and rather badly poisoned) Garrok finally forced Yarzoth to flee. She touched the statue of Zura, turned to gaseous form and flew into the hidden room.

Garrok and one of the other PCs rushed to the statue of Zura and managed to figure out how it worked, following after her without bothering to heal up first. They found Yarzoth lying dead in the small room with "Sasha" beside her. Dismissing gaseous form they talked briefly with "Sasha" (Garrok still using Enlarge Person so that he was forced to Squeeze into the small space). When the other PC (a wizard) checked the body and made his Will save, realizing it was an illusion. Sasha/ Yarzoth immediately channeled Negative Energy and knocked them both out. She then coup de graced Garrok, planning to Dominate the Wizard later and use him to help complete her research.

Silver Crusade

Name- Uruvion
Race- Human
Class/level- Ranger 1

Location:
The wreck of the Tears of Grog

Catalyst:
Being too good at swimming

The gory details:
The party located the tears of grog and all decided to swim out to inspect the wreck. All the party (bar Uruvion) failed their swim checks and I ruled that they had been forced to swim back. Uruvion scaled the side of the ship to come face to face with 4 zombies. He lost initiative, took 24 points of damage and was welcomed into the zombie family...

Silver Crusade

Almost TPK

Name: Dolf
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Barbarian 1

Name: Willem
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Monk 1

Name: Reda
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Rogue 1

Name: Kaji
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Fighter 1

Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv

Location:

Spoiler:
The Treasure Pit

Catalyst:

Spoiler:
Unfortunate combination of good GM rolls, nasty criticals and a missing Witch.

The Gory Details:

Spoiler:
The players came across the treasure pit after some considerable exploration. The main healer was a halfling witch named Lembik but unfortunately his player could not make it for that session and the player did not leave his character sheet so I couldn't NPC him. This would have drastic consequences.

The players dug down to the pit covering and having no relevant engineering skills they decided to smash it. They did take the precaution of roping themselves together however Dolf still impacted the water taking non lethal damage in the process.

At this point the players were ahead. The two lacedons had taken 5 points of damage each from the falling logs and the player's finest combatant was ready for the lacedon's assault. Unfortunately that's where their luck ended. Both lacedon's won initiative and leaped in, one of them scoring a critical on poor Dolf. As I am using the critical hit deck Dolf drew a card and was subjected to 7 points of damage and 7 bleed.

The rest of the party lept down to assist their stricken companion however Reda, Dolf and Kaji all missed with their attacks. In a desperate attempt to save Dolf, Willem dropped down and threw a healing potion to the Dwarf. Unfortunately before the dwarf had chance to drink the potion he succumbed to his wounds.

The ghouls meanwhile had redirected their attacks to Reda and Kaji. Reda was dropped with another nasty critical (double damage and 1 con bleed) and Kaji was paralysed leaving Willem as the only mobile combatant. At this point Willem could have fled but bravely he stepped in with a stunning fist in a desperate attempt to rescue his friends. It missed and he was taken down in a flurry of claws. Kaji recovered from his paralysis just as he was taken apart by the ravenous Lacedons.

I fully believe that if the Halfling witch had been there his healing would have kept the players alive. It just goes to show how quickly things can turn very bad and the importance of at least some healing.


3/5 Party Wipeout

Gunner, Half-Elf Barbarian 3
Lint, Half-Orc Sorcerer 3
Zelijka, Half-Orc Druid 3

Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv

Location:
Caves of the Mother

Catalyst:
Paralysis and Darkness

The Gory Details:
Much like the party a few posts up, they encountered the one random ghoul, who fled back to the larger room to wait with its friends. Mother Thrunefang was not yet with them, but it was still going to be a messy fight. The party had no cleric, with the druid being the only healer other than the NPCs. It looked like it wouldn't be too bad until Nylithati showed up, and the place was shrouded in darkness. The barbarian kept swinging in the dark while the druid (who could see) did what she could, but eventually was paralyzed. While trying to drag the druid out of the fight, the sorc was attacked and also paralyzed, sealing his fate as well. Two other party members with a lantern managed to run to the exit ahead of the ghoul that was the source of the darkness, where they were able to make the ghouls retreat with the help of the NPCs.

The party (what's left of it) will likely repair the lighthouse and travel to Eleder before being commissioned to return with some new allies and better preparation.

Liberty's Edge

Name: Grimsor Morgot

Race: Half-Orc

Classes/levels:Sorcerer (orc blood line) lv2

Adventure: Smugglers Shiv

Location: Caves of the mother

Catalyst: Mother Thrunefang and her brood

The Gory Details: The party of five initially ignored the caves under the cannibal camp at first. They just covered it up and decided to never go in. Well I couldn't have that so as the days passed the castaways started hearing strange noises and they had horrible nightmares. After a few days of this everyone got together and decided that whatever was in the caves needed to be taken care of. Initially the party summoner sent her eidolon into the caves to investigate. It was able to sneak past the Festrogs and it made it's way to the alter. It came back and gave it's report to it's master. They all then tied a rope to something and went in. Everything was going well at first. The festrogs died before any significant damage was dealt. However, upon reaching the throat was when things got crazy. They ghoul there alerted it's friends and they all let the Mother know there where intruders. Combat started in her cave, she came out and cast darkness. While she sat back she buffed herself and in between he buffing she channeled to damage the party and heal her ghouls. by the time she got into the fray two of her four ghouls died. But the party was losing bad. The Ranger failed his save for the paralyzes and so did Grim. They were out for a good deal while the fighter, bard, and summoner battled as hard as they could. The Mother kept channeling and had her spiritual weapon deal with the fighter while the other two ghouls fought with all their might. By the time they took out the other ghouls everyone was in the negatives except for the summoner. Grim ran in to attack (we was doing a battle sorcerer thing) but was destroyed by the Mother in his weakened state. The summoner as a last ditch effort dispelled her eidolon and summoned three riding dogs that luckily surrounded her and rolled really well.

Most of the party has ghoul fever now and since they figured Grim had contracted it as well so they had the riding dogs eat his remains....

Sczarni

First "death" for the AP, although there have been some quite close calls previous.

Name: Metaphor Sadface
Race: Gnome
Class/Level: Illusionist 5
Catalyst: Eloko Bell + Nat 1 Will Save + Critical Halberd Strike
When: Partway through the exploration phase of Racing to Ruin

The Gory Details: My poor Gnome did not stand a chance in this encounter. The dice simply were not with him.

While sleeping peacefully in the jungle, a weird enchanting bell pealed through the darkness. The Rogue and Illusionist both botched their Will saves against the charming sound, and began their trek towards the item.

Unfortunately, the Spriggans who set the trap off had other plans. One broke off to stalk (and eventually fail to abscond with) the elf Rogue Meekra, while the other two charged the camp. Who would be in their way but the poor gnome Illusionist Metaphor (my PC), and he bore the brunt of their Large halberds quickly.

Still under the Eloko Bell's compulsion, he then stepped up from prone, only to receive a regular AoO, which dropped him to 3 HP, followed by a Nat-20 / Nat-19 critical. That blow brought the poor gnome down to -51 or so HP, which he only "survived" by dint of his last two hero points.

It still counts as a "death", in my opinion, even if he did get better.

The Spriggans fell soon afterwards, from combined arrow & knife damage.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Name: Poshmend
Race: Gnome
Class/Level: Sorcerer 5
Catalyst: Chemosit full attack
When: In a sleepy yet cursed little native town

The Gory Details: The PCs set themselves up to ambush the Chemosit but were completely surprised by the arrival of a second one. When the gnome was cornered he chose not to run away and instead tried to send the beast to the floor laughing but, alas, "humor doesn't translate well" and the ape-bear made its save. The rest of the party was heavily pressured by the other Chemosit and before anyone could rush to help a single full attack by the monster was enough to rip the little gnome apart.
But, for what it's worth, at least the brain-eater opted to defend its mate before feasting on the gnome's sweet skull-pudding and both of them were slain by the rest of the party.

The sorcerer's corpse was transported to Kalabuto, supported by Gentle Repose spells by Nkechi, got snatched by a Geier, was almost eaten by an ankheg, and is currently being prepared for a Raise Dead ritual in Kalabuto's temple of Desna.


hahaha! that last part about the gnomes body sounds like it could be the plot to a weekend at bernies sequel, or the very least a robot chicken skit. superbly awesome.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Sadly, another one:

Name: Kyrass
Race: Half-elf
Class/Level: Ranger 5
Catalyst: Shadow Demon-possessed barbarian PC and a whole lot of daringness
When: In the middle of the Screaming Jungle

The Gory Details: As expected, the party missed to notice that the Dire Ape was in fact possessed by a shadow demon. After they put it down, the vile thing got loose, summoned a Crocodile and a fireball, almost killing the whole party with its vicious 10d6 (noone disbelieved... at least some made their Reflex saves).
I threw my players a bone by allowing Nkechi to shout "Remember the Monkey Head!" but the only thing the party's barbarian made of it was to chop off the Dire Apes head, feeling pretty smart until nothing happened. Right after that, he was taken over by the shadow demon who was longing for another physically powerful body.
The rest of the group finally remembered the spirit fetish but (without me even knowing this before) it was stowed in the barbarian's backpack!!

The ranger died honorably in a sunder attempt to cut off the backpack, struck down by the resulting attack of opportunity.

By the way, the group got to the fetish in the end by means of a Hideous Laughter...

Kyrass body was burnt right there by the riverbank and his ash strewn in the river.


First time running this AP and first time any of my players played in this one. I told them to prepare well and make sure you have swimming. So we have a party of 5. A Rogue, a druid, bear shaman, a witch an inquisitor and one cleric necromaner guy (totally forgot right now)
I had them wash up on shore with next to nothing and they did a good job foraging for stuff and they were smart when salvaging anything from shipwrecks like tying themselves off so if they got into trouble the other PC's were able to pull them up. The first death was from wandering monster tables and the NPC Gnome Gelik was pounced upon by the Red Mountain Devil. They had spells create food and water which they cast everyday. Eventually they made it to second level with all the other NPC's in tow. The first PC death came looking for treasure. Area K The Treasure Pit and the 2 lacedons. My PC's made a primitive hoist so when they were able to chop through the wooden plug no one fell down into the hole. The inquistor being the only real melee type person went down 20ft and cast light on a pebble dropping it in. It looked clear and he took a chance, dropped the rest of the way in which was only D6 for damage due to the water and all. When the lacedons attacked the first one missed then inquistor missed and then became paralyzed. The rest of the part tried for 2 rounds to stop the lacedons and the Necromatic Cleric finally stopped one of them. Ishirou (NPC) and the Cleric made their way down into the pit and while controling the lacedon and Ishirou they were able to take out the other lacedon. They found the treasure and after 4 days they were able to find the treasure and get it out. The cleric was going to keep the inquisitors body as a zombie but thought better of it. The PC eventually made a 2nd level barbarian that only uses primitive weapons which was brought in as a captured sacrifice of the vegepygmies which the PC's now have eliminated. When they made it back to camp both woman NPC's and Jask were gone and the blood trail leads deeper into the jungle. The PC's are now 3rd level and are going after the cannibals.


Name: Kaleb
Race: Halfling
Class/Level: Paladin 5
Catalyst: RE, T.Rex, Swallow
When: En route to Kalubuto

Generally unpleasent and quite tricky encounter


Name:
Bhunabhaji Dansak (name taken from 3 take-away menu items)
Race: 
Human, Ijo tribe
Classes/levels:
Spirit Ranger lv 3
Adventure:
Souls for smugglers Shiv
Location:
Submerged Wreck of Alma's Ruin
Catalyst:
Sahuagan chieftain
The Gory Details:
So the castaways meet up with this other 'ship-wreckee'. They have many adventures exploring the island and go to 'shark lagoon' on its eastern tip. Chasing up rumours of a lost colonial vessel that held the legendary spear of a Bas'O chieftain. They used an instant anchor and a potion of waterbreathing to dive down to the submerged wreck only to find it the base of a group of sahuagan raiders and their pet reef sharks.

After fighting their way into the wrecks hold. They found an air pocket which they sent the eidolin into to check out, only to have it killed before it could transmit sensory info. Entering as a group, they found themselves challenged by the Sahuagan known as 'Boss Carcaro' wielding 'the blood spear'. This CR5 bad boy was designed to make the group wake up and stop complacently powering through every beastie they came accross. This worked a little too fell. As the Eidolon, fighter, oracle and ranger all got swatted by flies, the alchemist bombs and summoners air elemental caused the boss to be distracted by a pressing need for air and bashed its skull in when it attempted to leave the air pocket.

But back to the Ranger. His player was absent so I started with the 'no character deaths whils the players away' rule. But when the proxy player moved the ranger in to attack from the flank, it rolled low with the one kukri that hit. The enraged Sahuagan countered by impaling him with the magic spear then criticalling with its secondary bite attack. The damage killed the already damaged ranger outright (death 1), but I rules him as hanging on at about -10 /14 to not be harsh. But when the alchemist started lobbing bombs, one missed and landed on thr poor guy due to deviation (death 2). Finally the guy failed all his rolls to resist suffocating as the group burned/ sucked all the air out of the hold (death 3). After getting the hat trick, I had to ring up and call the missing player and after that he said he didn't care after all.

Sigh...


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Wow, I would be seriously mad if my character was killed during a session I didn't attend.

Of course you are free to handle player absence in whatever way works for your group but (even incredibly) bad luck like this happens and that's why characters without their player present fade in the background in my games.


Name: Bear and Necromancer
Race: Dwarf and Human
Classes/levels: both 3rd level
Adventure: Souls for Smugglers Shiv
Location: Thrunefang Camp
Catalyst: The NPC woman were kidnaped
The Gory Details: After coming back from one of their many excursions into one of the many shipwrecks they came back to their cave hideouts to find that there was a struggle and that Jask was butchered and the two women NPC's were gone. On their quest to find them they came upon the Thrufang Camp and their crazy leader. The cannibal leader Klorak. The PC's saw them on the ridge and new they couldn't out run them. They picked their spot and waited. The Halfling Ranger was up in a tree, the barbarian was enlarged and waited. The witch, drud, and necromancer all waited. Klorak and about 12 of the cannibals came running. The PCs didn't have that hard of a time but just couldn't produce the damage output of the cannibals. The barbarian never advanced and Klorak raged and took out the necromancer after a crit and stood toe to toe with the PC's barbarian. Klorak needed only a 6 to hit and after a ray of enfeelbement he needed just an 8 to hit the PC's. After killing the druids animal companion and then the druid the witch was taken down by the rest of the cannibals party after Klorak finally fell to the Pc's barbarian. Out of healing the halfling and barbarian ran leaving the witch, who was only unconcious and the rest of the party. Running to to shoreline, and there they met up with a newly shipwrecked crew. (yes the dead PC's made new characters)


Name: Hugo Lopisarmov

Race: Human

Classes/levels: 3rd Level Barbarian

Adventure: Smugglers Shiv

Location: Hidden Temple,

Catalyst: Swallowed by Gibbering Mouther and killed by friendly fire.

The Gory Details: Pc's in final room after killing the serepent folk woman, looking around for treasure etc not paying attension, gibbering mouther sneaks up and attacks party, Barbarian rages and rushes in, other pcs fire at it from afar, mouther swallows Barabrian. Pc witch decides to throw the lightning javelin found earlier, kills mouther but also kills said barabian inside it as he is already low on hp's due to being eaten.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Name: Pashnak
Race: Half-orc
Class/level: barbarian 6
Adventure: Racing to Ruin
Location: Ancient Azlanti Ziggurat
Catalyst: Issilar
The Gory Details: The barbarian fought valiantly but when a scorching ray burnt him into negative hitpoints, his rage subsided and the resulting Con "drain" sadly was enough to kill him outright.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Name: Soren
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Oracle 15
Adventure: Sanctum of the Serpent God
Location: Hunter's maze
Catalyst: Astradaemon
The Gory Details: The fight started poorly with the party's ranger getting dropped in the first round. The daemon observed the oracle reach healing up the ranger from way in the back, teleported behind the poor fellow, grappled him, and the next round his soul was a tasty snack, while the rest of the group was pinned down by the urdefhan.

The player had been hoarding PP the whole path, so he was able to dump them on getting brought back.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Name: Tabansi
Race: Human (Mwangi)
Class/level: Monk 6
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: Hidden Cenotes
Catalyst: Critcal corrupting touch followed by an AoO of Death
The Gory Details: The group was scouting the surroundings of their newly-founded camp for potential threats and encountered the ghost of the treacherous half-orc Pathfinder Nareem Garess. Combat ensued almost immediately and in the second round the ghostly ranger landed a critical corrupting touch on the poor Tabansi who at least made his save for 20+ damage. Wounded and nauseated by the ghost's aura the Mwangi tried to move away on his turn but provoked an AoO from the ghost, feeling confident with his +4 AC (Mobility), but the +2 favored enemy bonus tipped the scales and another 30+ damage (failed save) were enough to kill him on the spot.

By now he is alive and well again, the group pooled for a raise dead and the first restoration, and they have already commissioned a forged Chronicle to finally send the undead traitor to Pharasma.


Name: Edward McGinty-Armstrong
Race: Half-Orc
Classes/levels: Zen Archer Monk 7
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: The Government District
Catalyst: Yog'Oltha

Name: Davrosk
Race: Half-Orc
Classes/levels: Ranger 7
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: The Government District
Catalyst: Yog'Oltha

The Gory Details: While the group was exploring the Government District, I rolled a random encounter with the aboleth. I had the person who rolled the highest Perception check spot it while it swam past in the lake, this seemed like a good opportunity to introduce Yog'Oltha as a recurring villain without having him attack the PCs directly. This was the ranger who was able to identify it and got everyone to hide.
The next day, the party announced the were 'Going hunting for the aboleth' and returned to the same district. I rolled another random encounter occurring and the result was... again the aboleth. Yog'Oltha first appeared as a projected image of a serpentfolk wizard and started casting spells he was able to dominate a couple of members of the group, including Davrosk. Edward, meanwhile, came around the side of the ruined building and started shooting at the aboleth. Davrosk came after him and took him down in a couple of rounds and he bled out shotly after. The party cleric was able to use one of his domain powers to free Davrosk, who went and engaged Yog'Oltha in combat, only to be slain by his tentacles.
Funny thing is, Edward had once (purely for out-of-character reasons) untied a rope that Davrosk was climbing up, and it seemed that Davrosk just ignored the slight. But he got his revenge in the end...


Name: Jason
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Cleric 4 / Paladin 2 / Holy Vindicator 2 (of Iomedae)
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: The Farming District
Catalyst: The Green God
The Gory Details: Decided to use his ring of water walking to go investigate that little island with the pile of treasure on it by himself, while the rest of the gropoup waited on the boggard oracle's island.
When the froghemoth came out of the water, Jason was gone in 6 seconds.

Name: Melkesideck
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Skirmisher Rogue 9
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: The Farming District
Catalyst: The Green God
The Gory Details: The surviving members of the party engaged the monster. Two were swallowed but managed to cut their way out. When Melkesideck was bitten and caught in the froghemoth's mouth, it couldn't swallow him due to the muscular damage. He decided to climb down into the stomach anyway, reasoning that would be the safest place as he wouldn't have to worry about all the tentacles etc. His hypothesis was disproved.


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Name: "The 2 hour old dwarf."
Race: Dwarf
Classes/levels: Fighter - 1
Adventure: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Location: South of the starting crash site, past the first Dimor. nest
Catalyst: The glowing green haunted waters.

The Gory Details: This player managed to quickly push Ishirou to the point of hostility very early on, as the PCs grew loathe with the initial hopeless attitude of the NPCs, caused by the shipwreck. Ishirou challenged the PC to a duel and killed him, then summarily was killed by the PCs.
After quickly making up a new character, a dwarven fighter, who washed up against the side of a cliff, after the party watched his boat sink. The group rescued him from the waters and pulled him up to the cliffs they were following. The next night, I decided to run the encounter where the waters glow with a ghostly green light and he randomly got it on his watch. The dwarf saw a ghostly figure in the water and thought it was another shipwrecked victim and tried to climb the cliff down to save the person. Unfortunately he failed his climb roll, and the following check to grab a hand hold, and plummeted 80' to his death, as the party sorcerer watched in surprise.

His gnome would last a few sessions before being eaten by cannibals... but that is another story.


Name: Halima
Race: Mawangi Elf
Classes/levels: Ranger4
Adventure: Racing to Ruin
Location: Tribal village, hunted by Chemosits
Catalyst: "Scout" is a Mawangi term for "bait"
The Gory Details: So Halima is the only PC that speaks polyglot. On our behalf she agrees that will lie and wait for the Ape Bear's attack on the village. We take up three small huts on the outskirt of the built-up area. Halima decides to sit atop one hut, and scout for the beast's approach.
Long story short: she was pounced upon and mauled to death. We did manage to kill the creatures (even the village shaman did not know there were Two), and we are taking Halima's body with us to Kalabuto, hoping to either buy or earn a ressurection for her.


Name: Davin Silvandir
Race: Half-Elf
Classes/levels: Fighter 6/Rogue 3
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: Sozothala’s Fortress
Catalyst: Wall of Fire doesn't end when the caster dies.

The Gory Details:
Having re-killed all of Sozothala's undead minions Davin and his brother (and cohort) managed to flank the Necromancer with a summoned lion forcing him against a wall. Sozothala clearly wasn't pleased and needed a moment to think, so defensively cast a wall of fire around himself. The initial damage from the fire put Davin on negative hit points but a channel from the cleric got him back on his feet. When it reached Davin's turn in the initiative he intended to attack through the fire and run away. He managed the first part, beating the miss chance on total concealment and landing the finishing blow... but took enough fire damage to leave him one hit point short of death and unable to run away. Sozothala was next to act (but obviously couldn't) but the spell was still running and Davin still took damage from the fire.

The party still had the scroll of raise dead from the treasure pit on Smuggler's Shiv and so wasted no time in bringing Davin back. However he now has to track down the vaults of madness with a negative level.


Name: Farra Acuul
Race: Half-Elf
Classes/levels: Ranger 10
Adventure: City of Seven Spears
Location: Sozothala’s Fortress
Catalyst: Paralysis from the mummy's Despair Aura.

The Gory Details:

The party had become somewhat split as a wight approached down one corridor and a pair of ghasts approached from another. Farra, accompanied by a paladin and one of the other front-liners made short work of the ghasts and began moving into a dark hallway, only to be confronted by a mummy.

The mummy's aura of despair, which normally would have been no cause for concern, suddenly became deadly when Farra and one of her other companions both rolled a 1. The paladin became immobilized as well a moment later and no one was able to stop the mummy as it coup de grace'd Farra.

Fortunately, the other party members arrived shortly thereafter and used dimension door to escape with their paralyzed companions.

Liberty's Edge

Name: Lee Croft
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Rogue
Adventure: Racing to Ruin
Location: Kalabuto
Catalyst: Punching out Sasha back on the Smuggler's Shiv
The Gory Details: (optional)

At Kalabuto the Red Mantis Faction decided to strike. Due to physical abuse shown to Sasha while shipwrecked on the Shiv, Sasha who became a full member of the Mantis' decided to target Lee in particular. They snuck into Cheiton's home and launched a series of sneak attacks on sleeping party members. Sasha managed to evade the perception checks of all the other party members and coup d'grace Lee. She was later killed herself as the party discovered the damage.

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