Against the Whispering Tyrant in his own backyard.

Game Master Vrog Skyreaver

Lefty, were you sharing that info in character? If so, Baergar has a thing or two to share about orcs...

Definitely. I just pasted it for reference. Lefty would share everything he knows about this, or anything else that might help. He's normally secretive, but this will require teamwork, so he's on board. He didn't even try to disguise himself. You need to know what he looks like, in case you find his corpse. LOL

I approve of the plan to split the party already =)

"Come now, boy," Hiram says to Troy with little attention paid to the man's actual age, "Where's the fun in that? These are mortal affairs after all. I'm not sinking to Urgathoa's level yet." The Starstone was a tempting challenge to the wily old soldier but that would come later.

He spun his cane idly in his hand as the considered the forces arrayed against this odd company for a moment. "Besides, it would be in your best interest to cooperate, even without the offer of reward." Hiram smiles at Ambrus, no doubt the Pathfinder knew that Hiram had a price for his cooperation as well but he was polite enough not to discuss it up front like this. Hiram was not merely an aspirant archeologist or explorer after all.

Manisha nods to Troy when he enters, a curious expression on her face, as she could swear she knew him from somewhere else...

Master Morrow, a pleasure, as always.

Manisha was surprised and chastisied herself for not noticing the lowly Lorelei, cute trick.

Leaning against a side wall, Manisha stands where she can see Ambrus and the others. Well certainly sounds a bit more exciting than listening to the latest tax reports. Manisha paused, for she felt a tug within herself, maybe this was as important as it sounded, for she felt a warmness that reminded her of Calistria.

You know that you have my support. We'd better check the library and familiarize ourselves with the area.

Gallowspire:
Know: Arcana: 1d20 + 40 ⇒ (15) + 40 = 55
Know: History: 1d20 + 37 ⇒ (16) + 37 = 53
Know: Planes: 1d20 + 39 ⇒ (13) + 39 = 52
Know: Religion: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (11) + 27 = 38

Tar-Baphon:
Know: Arcana: 1d20 + 40 ⇒ (8) + 40 = 48
Know: History: 1d20 + 37 ⇒ (7) + 37 = 44
Know: Planes: 1d20 + 39 ⇒ (9) + 39 = 48
Know: Religion: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (19) + 27 = 46

Whispering Way:
Know: Arcana: 1d20 + 40 ⇒ (5) + 40 = 45
Know: History: 1d20 + 37 ⇒ (11) + 37 = 48
Know: Planes: 1d20 + 39 ⇒ (18) + 39 = 57
Know: Religion: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (5) + 27 = 32

Urgathoa:
Know: Arcana: 1d20 + 40 ⇒ (9) + 40 = 49
Know: History: 1d20 + 37 ⇒ (2) + 37 = 39
Know: Planes: 1d20 + 39 ⇒ (18) + 39 = 57
Know: Religion: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (10) + 27 = 37

"Interesting... Mr. Lefty knows everything I do. And then some. A trip to the library sounds nice," Lorelei murmurs softly as she does a casually flip in the air. She begins to scratch her small chin and says, "We should leave soon. Teleport in as close as possible. However, we gather supplies first. Also exchange information about our powers. For future teamwork."

I will post my full shopping list tomorrow.

I approve of the plan to split the party already =)

If we can't learn more at this location, then we can't learn more anywhere; at least not quickly. Let's take a few hours to peruse what we can, before we jump into this.

Given what we know, this place is full of evil, and most likely hordes of undead. I'm afraid I haven't much skill with necromancy, nor the undead. Do any of you?

Yeah, I bet you do, Vrog!

I'm going to go ahead and post scenario 1. If any of you are still doing shopping, feel free to pm me your list, and i'll add it to what you already have.

Ambrus stands and says "It is not just for myself that I thank you; it is for the future of our world. We want you to leave immediately, except that I would require a short recess to speak with the members of the society who have been selected for this mission."

It is at this point that each of the pathfinder characters are given their boons: Hiram's sword is awoken, Troy receives his armor, Lorelei her crystal, and Manisha the dreaded shadowstaff. additionally, you are each given a wooden music box with a lockable lid, with instructions that you are not to open it until you stand face to face with the Whispering tyrant.

As the group of pathfinders return from their individual meetings with Ambrus, he gathers you all up and leads you from his office in a staircase so cleverly built that had you not been taken there, you wouldn't have seen it. Up you walk for what seems like hours before you arrive at your destination: A shadowy open area with 11 different portals. Removing a Ioun stone that is shaped like the statue of a woman from his pouch and releasing it to hover around his head, Ambrus once more offers you luck before turning to one of the portals and adjusting a dial at the base of it. It flares with a sickly green color for a moment and then returns to it's normal light blue, which seems to shimmer like water that is reflecting sunlight. Gesturing towards the portal, he waits for each of you to enter.

While the journey is but a single step, as the bards say, the difference in locations is jarring: one moment you are in an austere portal room, the next you are standing in an overgrown set of ruins, the sky above is perpetually overcast. You have arrived in the nation of Ustalov. Quickly orientating yourselves as a group, you begin making your way towards the dread tower that you can just make out in the distance: Gallowspire.

As you near the Tower, you see an odd sight: There is what in a normal nation would be a tollgate, outside of which stands a half-orc wearing some sort of shimmering fullplate, clearly alert for signs of attack. Pausing for a moment to assess the situation, your group sees a sickly looking human in black robes leading a horror composed of dozens, if not hundreds, of decomposing cadavers held together as an amalgamated whole. all three are members of the whispering way, or in the case of the undead monstrosity, they count as such. Continuing to observe, the half-orc approaches, a sign and countersign are given, and then with an almost casual disregard for the sheer size of the thing, the half-orc (moving so fast that it's almost a blur) whips a massive Elven Curve Blade from the frond on her back and then brings it down on the creature in a whistling arc. It screams, but does not perish. Nodding with approval, the half-orc cleans her blade, resheathes it, and then returns to her post before saying, in common, "your offering is acceptable. you may pass."

if any of you wish to move to engage the necromancer and his creation before it leaves you may do so. otherwise, let me know when you wish to act and we will begin initiative. remember to use ooc to delineate things that you need to handle, mechanically wise. oh, and good luck!

me: 1d20 + 74 ⇒ (14) + 74 = 88
baergar/Mumak: 1d20 + 38 ⇒ (9) + 38 = 471d20 + 25 ⇒ (2) + 25 = 27
lefty: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (8) + 31 = 39
hiram: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (20) + 31 = 51
manisha: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (11) + 30 = 41
Lorelei: 1d20 + 41 ⇒ (2) + 41 = 43
troy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

apologies, I did not see that a couple of you wanted to do research. when it is brought up, Ambrus will shake his head and say "there's not time to do proper research. the fate of the world is at stake, and you will need all the time that you can get to deal with the whispering tyrant."

There are: A Half-Orc speed demon, a necromancer, and an undead voltron? How far away? :)

your group is about 100' away, stealthing in the ruined remains of a building. we've paused the action right as the necromancer and his abomination are about to move past the guardian, thus your group has the opportunity to engage team necromancy or let it continue on it's way.

I don't usually take point, but Baergar really hats orcs and undead...

The great bone sword hisses eagerly as Baergar slides it off his back.

"Take them." His voice drips with hate, and he does not wait to ensure all are with him.

Suddenly the dwarf is a blur of motion as he closes the distance in no more than a heartbeat. His sword lashes at the necromancer.

Free action to activate impossible speed (movement is 160ft). Baergar will move to avoid AoO's if possible.

1d20 + 39 ⇒ (18) + 39 = 57 for 3d6 + 49 + 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 5) + 49 + (6, 4) = 71 612 damage.

If it dies, Baegar will coninue to attack if he can reach. If not, he will Fleet Charge the undead abomination.

Lefty will go invisible (ring) and move 30' closer, assuming it's not difficult terrain.

okay, so since someone in your party is moving to attack them, let's go to initiative

half orc guard: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Torak: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (8) + 26 = 34
necromancer: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
monstrosity: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Baergar/mumak: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26
lefty: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29
Lorelei: 1d20 + 35 ⇒ (11) + 35 = 46
manisha: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28
hiram: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (11) + 22 = 33


looks like initiative order will be Lorelei, Torak (one of my characters), Hiram, lefty, manisha, Baergar, the monstrosity, the half-orc guard, and the necromancer. I have no problem with Baergar starting things off by charging, but combat rolls will be handled in PMs from here on out. I'll send you a pm baergar.

initial pm sent. what the rest of you see is Baergar charge the monstrosity and hit it.

Hiram will use impossible speed as well to close the distance with the necromancer and perform Steer Another (Bull Rush for a +2 and additional +1 for every 5 by which CMD is beaten) as a swift action and then perform a Called Shot/Vital Strike to the head (-3 to the roll).

Same move.

So Baergar changed his target and hit the undead monster? Is it still standing?

I hope not. If it is, I still have up to 6 attacks to take on it. If not, I'm moving to the next target. :)

Manisha pulls her staff from her haversack, and tightly gripping it, she'll move forward, trying to stay to the shadows or cover. She'll try to get to a point where she can cast haste and get as many of the party as possible.

Always rushing off, never waiting for magical enhancements, typical hotheaded skirmishers. sigh.

okay, results for the surprise round attack:

baergar charged at a distance that seemed surprising, and the several of the heads that make up the creature turn and have a look of surprise as his blow lands, but it's not as telling as he would expect it to be, as there seems to be no weak spot on the thing. by this I mean that it is immune to critical hits

Going to regular initiative now. please hold off describing what your characters do until I get to you, as your action(s) may have changed.

sending PM to Lorelei now. and yes, it is still standing.

Can we get a hello post in the gameplay thread? The discussion is popping up as an active game.

I was thinking the same thing.

apologies if I hadn't made it clear, but the "game" side of things will be handled in here, and the fiction will be going in the gameplay thread.

You made it clear, but we don't get game updates with the gameplay thread being active :(

I posted one comment in the game thread and then immediately deleted it. Now I get updates. Actions pending. I think Lorelei is just going to go into stealth mode and let the material characters sort this one out.

Me, too. Now I can access it from my character page as an active campaign.

Same

weird. oh, well, such is life; I usually just mark my posts in threads as favorites. didn't even know that you could get auto updates... since it sounds like Lorelei is delaying (which makes sense, so far), I'll go to the next person in initiative and we'll go from there then.

Manisha's perception: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28
torak's stealth: 1d20 + 44 ⇒ (15) + 44 = 59

everyone's awareness lets them know that there is an active invisible creature within 30' of them for just a moment, and then it'll be gone.

attack roll vs. flatfooted ac of 41: 1d20 + 40 ⇒ (11) + 40 = 51 is a hit. For the next minute you will have a -19 con and take

damage roll: 2d10 + 1d8 + 31 ⇒ (3, 3) + (7) + 31 = 44 non-lethal damage along with needing to make a dc 31 fort save at -10, as your con is now 6. the above damage will bypass your DR as well.

upkeep:
monstrosity=-71 damage; manisha -19 con, -44 non-lethal damage and fort save; Lorelei still delaying; sending PM to Hiram to see what he wants to do.

Some of us can see invisibility. I'm pretty sure Manisha can. What is it?

perception: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (8) + 31 = 39
planes: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (3) + 31 = 34

Sure. Delaying sounds fine.

In addition to See Invisibility (which admittedly is easy enough to bypass at this level and tier), I also have Blind Sense 30 ft. and Scent.

I noticed, unfortunately none of those abilities will help you against torak.

the rest of you see hiram also sprint across the battlefield and move to engage the caster (sans charging), first attempting to drive him back, and then taking a swing at his head. waiting on his dice rolls in pm to post the results.

updated initiative list:
Lorelei* (delaying)
Torak (one of my characters)
Hiram
lefty
manisha
Baergar
the monstrosity
Grilka (the half-orc guard)
the necromancer

edit: hrrmmm....looks like they disabled dice rolling in pms for some reason. reposting Hiram's rolls and then i'll send a pm to lefty who will be next.

Steer Opponent (Bull Rush): 1d20 + 41 - 5 ⇒ (7) + 41 - 5 = 43
Attack (PA/Called Shot (Head)): 1d20 + 41 - 5 - 5 ⇒ (10) + 41 - 5 - 5 = 41 +4 for steer opponent=a hit

damage roll: 2d6 + 44 ⇒ (4, 5) + 44 = 531d4 ⇒ 1

upkeep:
monstrosity=-71 damage; manisha -19 con, -44 non-lethal damage and fort save; Lorelei still delaying; necromancer= -53 damage, sickened for 1 round.

might as well avoid pms on attacks since rolling in pms has been disabled...lefty is up next.

perception: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (4) + 31 = 35 Can I pinpont the invisible thing?

Prolly not.

Quickened Greater Invisibility, then Selective/Intensified (Acid) Fireball in it's location. 15d6 + 7d6 + 3 ⇒ (3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 2, 2, 6, 6, 6, 3, 6, 2, 3, 1) + (2, 5, 1, 3, 3, 1, 4) + 3 = 73

DC 29 reflex for half

alas no. so where are you centering the fireball? the location that manisha got hit from?

Yes.

updated initiative list:
Lorelei* (delaying)
Torak (one of my characters)
Hiram
lefty
manisha
Baergar
the monstrosity
Grilka (the half-orc guard)
the necromancer

while lefty's acidball certainly does a number on the terrain, there is no indication that it effected it's intended target. did you wish to move or take a swift after throwing your acidball?

upkeep:
monstrosity=-71 damage; manisha -19 con, -44 non-lethal damage and fort save; Lorelei still delaying; necromancer= -53 damage, sickened for 1 round.

Manisha would be up next, but she needs to roll a fort save first.

btw, I know that some of you are/will be curious, mechanics wise, about some of the things that i'll be doing as we progress. I have no problem explaining what/how I did what I did when the bad guy is dealt with.

Sure, I guess. Not sure who's where.

Can we get maps for this?

I know Baegar wanted to attack the necromancer but I wasn't allowed due to space, but Hiram got there just fine.

A map would be very helpful.

I may even be able to get access for us to Dungeongrid.com as I know the developer. It's pretty rad :)

currently, the monstrosity, the necromancer, Hiram, and Baergar/Mumak, and the Grilka (the half-orc guard) are approx. 100' away from the rest of the party, which consists of Manisha, Lorelei, Lefty, and Troy. it would seem that something moved in to engage one of your party members and then moved back out again. In a fleet sort of way that some might consider a charge, yet mechanically would not be one.

I would like to do maps, but my work blocks a lot of the sites that host map tools. and I do most of my online stuff at work, especially right now as my home is (as of this morning) still having weather related internet issues. I will try to put up some sort of map this evening (at least something to give you guys an idea of what you're dealing with).

the reason that he could get to the necromancer and not you are twofold: surprise round, and you charged, while he just moved.

My first post got lost. Wielding the shadowstaff would make me incorporeal. That does lower my flat-foot to 30. Assuming this invisible creaure that moved, attacked, and moved again also had ghost touch... -19 con is a modifier change of -9, times 15 levels is -135 HP, less another 44 nonlethal for a total of -179 leaving me with 20.

"Torak" apparently has the ability to bypass epic DR/15. The fort save is because? (I should at least know if it was poison entering my system, etc) I have other situational modifiers to the save. Not sure why or how my roll is being penalized on the DC

perception to sense invis Torak moving towards me: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (7) + 31 = 38

fort save DC 31: 1d20 + 23 - 10 ⇒ (14) + 23 - 10 = 27

perception to sense still invisible Torak moving away from me: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (9) + 31 = 40

Assuming she is still able to act...

Manisha will drop into the ground, taking cover.

Can you use google docs? It's ugly, but the spreadsheet function at least allows for grides.

I'll see about google docs. let me take a look.

ya, my math on the penalty is incorrect; you would only have -9. and I messed up. I thought that the ability that I triggered would work one way, and it did not, so I will just deal you damage instead. you may ignore the con penalty and take the following non-lethal damage instead:

damage roll: 2d10 + 20d8 + 91 ⇒ (5, 2) + (2, 4, 1, 1, 2, 3, 7, 3, 2, 5, 8, 4, 6, 4, 3, 8, 7, 7, 4, 5) + 91 = 184 non-lethal damage.

kk, I can get to google docs, so I created a map right fast. you can find it here.

it's up to date for where everyone is.

I think you need to change the map settings to allow general access. It says that I need to request permission to access it.

gee thanks, so he could still hit incorporeal? and that leaves me with 15 HP, unless that is on top of the 44 from earlier?

no, that is total, but it could be much worse.

okay, map should be readable now.

A magic weapon will hit incorporeal for half damage. Ghost touch would getcha no problem.

I also need access to the map, please.

Also, I will be sure to note the difference between charging forth all epic like and charging the game mechanic, in the future :)

EDIT: Baegar is not riding Mûmak at the moment. Mûmak is a statue in my pocket :)

ah. didn't know that you could do that with mumak. good to know =)

I know this is a different format and style then people might be used to, so I know that it'll prolly take a bit to get used to. Please keep in mind that I'm doing my best, but I will make mistakes. don't be afraid to mention if you see something that I missed/was in error about. I want you guys to enjoy the game, and I know that can definitely distract from that process...

with the above being said, note that everything I have done (so far) is all done with stuff that could have been submitted to be one of your teammates/groupmates. It might seem like a lot, but it's all in the framework of the same level of power as the group.

We're just getting started. No worries! :) I'm still looking at my character and all he can do. It's a lot to keep track of. Expecting the GM to know a character I barely know myself is unreasonable.

Check out how I linked the map in the name. It's super easy, but it took everybody some time to get used to. Your map is nicer!

did you still want to drop prone manisha, or do something else? you definitely know that it was someone punching you that hurt you, so perhaps dropping prone wouldn't be the most prudent endeavor.