And Then a Skeleton Popped Out: subSPUF Carrion Crown

Game Master Rynjin

Sledge thinks for a moment, and his eyes widen. "When you dropped after that spell... Understood."

Z looks at Darius incredulously.

"Is this some sick joke?"

"We used the power of a goddess. One strong enough to remove my curse to defeat this!?" she yells, indicating to Vrood's body before blasting it apart in fire.

"A piddling necromancer!?"

The flames in Z begin to rise up and out of her body is large sputtering fonts, a sign of her rising aggression.

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Darius' face doesnt change, " No.. We used the card to stop our bodies from likely being dropped to the ground and snuffed of life before we could even act. And by We I mean me, likely whatever it was would have made resurrection difficult or was stronger than we anticipated. The Necromancer was in no way piddling. The only persons you can be upset at is yourself Zin for figuring out this late and myself for using it. I had questioned whether to use it for your curse but regardless you act as if I did not pledge to assist you with it. "

An eruption of fire peels off of Z, bathing herself and everything near herself excluding Darius in flame.

Fireball: 10d6 + 10 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 4, 3, 1, 4, 3) + 10 = 44

The fire seems to have grown so intense even Z herself is burned.

She screams in anger before sending fireballs slamming into the tower walls.

How much structural damage can I do with 9 fireballs?

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After the first fireball, Sledge sprints over.

"Zin, stop! Calm down! These are lives we're talking about. Jones and Darius died, almost. Had I not gotten such a good hit - and trust me, it was a damn good hit - on Vrood, we might have been in a really bad way if it were just the two of us."

"I know you're in a lot of pain, but pain is survivable. All of us have faced pain, and all of us have become strong. Death is death - and it is not cheap to undo, or to transport two corpses from the domain of a powerful necromancer."

"Wasting your magic will do nothing. Do not allow anger to cloud your mind."

Not alot really considering even with stone that 44 becomes 22 and then 14 after Hardness.. and then has alot of HP. But regardless

Darius sighs as she unleashes the first wave of fire... almost allowing it as a way to vent before he decides to act. He activates his Judgement of Resistance and is bathed in Fire protection before wrapping his Whip and himself around her to stop the casting.

CMB: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

You could knock a hole in it with repeated blasts, but not bring the tower down. However, you probably just incinerated the "beautiful" paintings, and Vrood's corpse. Assuming you even get one off on the tower, anyway.

I'm assuming this is consensual PvP, correct?

Sledge already took the paintings.

wrapping his Whip and himself around her

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sledge will grapple Jones, just in case.

Yeah I figured I could bring down a single wall. Not a fan of non disintergrate spells interactions with non attended objects.

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Consensual PVP... it makes it sound like something different. In general yes.

" Zin... Calm.. Down.. "

Darius, tell Zin to calm her t$*#. That'll go over well.

Yeah, gross. When I PvP I do it hard and fast, and never with permission.... I'm not helping.

Z growls at Darius, her eyes have changed in her anger and have become gold, and her pupils have slanted. Her burn fingers turns to claws that she uses to dig into his arms.

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With the fire momentarily dealt with, Darius twitches at the claws and raises a brow, though the feisty woman no doubt would lash out if given the chance. he switches his Blessing to healing, allowing the wounds to restore. This was the difficult portion. He required to.. change his face to that or more than, condescending, scowling, or irreproachable prick. It had to be something.. 'kind'. With a Deep breath he restricts her movements further, then speaks.

The very Consensual Pin: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27

" Zin'Retatarianna. You know I have felt your pain, I have understood your suffering, I have stood by you in battle and out. Sometimes I might not have agreed with everything you do, but you are an ally. You seem to be changing.. even now but, you arent any different overall. You should be upset. However, what do you want me to do? Do you not wish to continue to accompany us? "

Im not falling into the trap...

...feisty woman no doubt would lash out if given the chance ... prick ... With a Deep breath he restricts her movements further ... [dice=The very Consensual Pin]1d20+17 ... what do you want me to do? [/b]

Im not falling into the trap...

"Listen, why don't ya'll work off your stress like adults? Jones and I will be elsewhere."

"C'mon, Jones." Sledge drops his voice, low enough that the perceptive Zin won't quite be able to hear but the extremely-sharp-eared Darius will catch easily, and continues speaking to the investigator. "This repressed sexual tension is getting on my nerves. Do you have any alcohol?"

Z grits her teeth before yelling as fire washes out from her across the ground for several moments before dying down and receding back to her arms.

Seeming to have found a release for her anger, her odd features disappear.

Before she seems to regain her composure and notice Darius pinning her to the ground.

She looks up at him with an arched brow, "Having fun?"

"Get off me."

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Dude he's like 50 years old... He sees her as a rampaging child at best..lol

Darius twitches slightly but tries not to take his attention away at the moment... keeping Zin at bay was exactly easy. His face returned to it's normal state and tone just as much, " Oh no, I find nothing more pleasurable than holding down a living explosion as she goes berserk from bad news. How can I tell you won't make an explosion... or grow claws like you did? You didnt answer my last question either. "

Sledge is well aware. But in human years, Sledge is the oldest so he lords it over the rest.

"Did being dead turn your brain soft, you're talking nonsense."

"If this is some weird courtship method of your house, I have to tell you, it's not flattering."

"So get off."

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You detect what might be the second time a smile, nay a laugh comes from his person as Darius shakes his head. This woman was insane. The threat clearly dealt with, Darius relinquishes hold on Zin, unfurling his whip as well to no longer restrict her movements. He places out a hand to help her up if needed. " HA! No worries on that front, you wont be experiencing that particular method in your lifetime. You ARE starting be a handful though. My brain works just fine thank you. "

Z shakes her head as she takes Darius' hand to get up, the man was clearly insane.

Looking over to the blast mark on the floor of where Vrood's body used to lay, the flames in her arms begin to sputter furiously again before she turns on her heels and leaves the tower.

"Let's get going. Being here just pisses me off."

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"Ya'll go on ahead. Jones and I will search the place one last time. Deal with those skeletons we left behind."

Take 10 on perception for 32, particularly looking for last treasures.

Before giving a sigh, Darius regroups with the rest. " Well now we have what we came for, and I believe clues to where to travel next. The question is how soon should we do this? The brush with death tells me we require more defensive capabilities and perhaps to consolidate the items we have currently. There is also the matter of returning the heart and the Order. "

He then waits outside with Zin, " Why are you so violent? "

Z folds her arms, "What kind of question is that?"

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Darius looked from the edge of his sight at Zin his arms folded, " A simple one. Your rage is constant, you dont even remember your outburst and the claws or golden eyes you sported, nor do you seem to recall Vrood's demise. Even moreso you lash out with dangerous magicks at whatever you wish. A normal group would have left you or assumed you were too dangerous. You realize there are alternate was of dealing with anger? using powerful magicks is reckless and unnecessary. How else do you believe I keep so calm? "

What a horrible night to have a Bio exam.

Jones, who could only watch in terror as the two fought, regains his composure after they have settled down and Zin has left the tower.

"Well...I certainly didn't expect her to become THAT hostile." he sighs, wiping his brow.

I think we cleaned the place out, Sledge. But just in case...take 10 on searching for tweasure, 41 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ 41 + (5) + 2 = 48

"Perhaps I should make it a priority to research a way to remove or alleviate Zin's curse...both for her sake and our own well-being."

You find nothing new exept ash.

Yeah, big surprise. So, who wants healzzzzz?

"Yeah well, being calm got you killed so I wouldn't put too much stock in it." says Z, before sighing heavily.

"Sorry."

"It's not like it's on purpose you know."

"It's like... Hmm... I'm not sure. Like something is always burning underneath the surface trying to get out of me."

"When I can let go, and just let it consume me... When I can bring down destruction... when I can hurt things. The pain goes away."

"I guess it's intoxicating."

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"We prioritize stopping the necromantic doomsday cult. After that, we can deal with the curse."

Darius looks like he was going to respond to the first statement but let's it go seemingly after the second. He listens intently before speaking once more, " I suppose.. as very few people enjoy personal pain. Very well, I didnt know the circumstances but I believe experimenting.. finding some other way to control or even release the same sensation would be appropriate. I apologize as well for restraining you. Just don't fall into that feeling too much, you might hurt yourself again and others. "

There was a long pause, " A more accommodating individual would have either hugged or patted you on the shoulder at this point. But Im sure you dont need such things. "

Overall i agree with Sledge ofcourse.. then again Im sure I said that earlier

"Yeah, well you work on your fortitude."

"You won't have divine intervention next time, and I don't want you to be embarrassed when you meet all your relatives in the after life and have to explain to them how some bumbling necromancer managed to kill you."

"If you're going to die, at least have a death worth it, being consumed by the ever raging fires of Zin, the Witch Queen of Ustalov, for instance. At least then you wouldn't be mocked for all time."

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"We prioritize stopping the necromantic doomsday cult. After that, we can deal with the curse."

"Of course. Hopefully this will be the last time Zin turns her anger on us."

Jones catches up with Zin and Darius. Since they seem to have kissed and made up (METAPHORICALLY!!), he decides not to say anything else.

By the way Darius, just say the word if you want to copy from any of the spell/formula books we're finding. I'm keeping them all in my haversack, and listed their spells by level in Other Notes on my charsheet. I'm probably just going to prepare from the books themselves, since I can easily pass the Spellcraft checks by taking 10.

Inquisitors are spontaneous, IIRC.

He's also an Alchemist.

ohright

So anyway:

CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

One each for me, Sledge, and Darius plus 9 from resting should bring us back to full. I think.

"Let's regroup with the Prince's Wolves and return to the Lodge."

Sledge, how are you getting 3 Feats this level? Brawler 8 is the next Bonus Feat, and that still leaves you with one more than you should be getting.

Rhakis looks at you.

"I assume you were victorious?"

"Quite so." Jones beams. "Vrood is dead, his attempts to raise an undead army were foiled, and the Heart is in our possession."

"Excellent. So we are done here, no?"

"Except, perhaps, determining who is the lucky recipient?"

Sledge, how are you getting 3 Feats this level? Brawler 8 is the next Bonus Feat, and that still leaves you with one more than you should be getting.

I took a monk level. MoMS Style Feat, Iron Mountain Toughness, and Odd-Level Feat.

Ah, thought you were Monk 2/Brawler 6 before.

Earlier

Darius huffed, " If I die in the pursuit of hunting vile creatures and goodness, it wont really matter. There would be nothing to be embarressed about. As for this Zin, I recall pinning and mounting said queen to the ground. Maybe another time then. "

Darius walked off towards the Princes Wolves

Nowtimes

" I assume you mean who gets to deliver the heart? As much as I trust you.. and believe me.. I do, I believe its best we deliver the heart ourselves. We also have need to report some things possibly and reorganize ourselves. We have a hint on our next destination. "

Sledge will eye up the Prince's Wolves to see if they intend to become violent to secure the heart.

Take 10 on SM for 27

Rhakis and the rest seem disappointed that Darius still intends the heart to go to the Dorzhanevs, but they have no intention of getting violent. Against you, anyway. Cybrisa may find her rule short-lived.

Cool bghoul. Who cares about Cybrisa and the scrubwolves, amirite?

Sledge shakes Rhakis' hand. "Pleasure working with you."

"Jones, Zin, Darius - we'd best get moving. The less time we can give this cult to rest, the better off we are."

They are scrubs, but there is no point going against his word, if they get uppity, they can just challenge her

Darius does the same, Casting his spell to make travel faster. " Yes, A pleasure. Now if you need some assistance.. you likely can find ways of contacting me. Cybrisa is weak and conniving but even she has SOME honor. "

Rhakis nods.

"We have members over most of Ustalav, traveling tinkers and merchants. If you wish to contact us, look for the purple flag with a single silver tooth."

"It has been a pleasure working with you."

Once the Wolves have gone on their way, Jones looks over his "translated" edition of the poem.

"It seems Vrood was ordered to send the Seasage Effigy to a town called Thrushmoor, where it could be exchanged for something else. We did not find the Effigy here, which leads me to believe that it's already on its way there, or even arrived already. I say we go to Thrushmoor as soon as we're ready, and try to find out more."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

There's an opportunity cost, granted - my attack bonus suffered. But the damage is really good and the saves are pretty good so that's acceptable. However, everything is valid.

Well yes and no.. the difference would be that you'd have slightly higher saves across the board one way, but lose a feat ad had bypassed all the requirements the other way It seems off, but its what the GM wants. I read it much differently but its clear you doing the similar Hulk Smash MoMS dip brawler, so it works out. I assume he gave you the sme mount of money you had previously?

Yeah, full WBL for a lvl 6 char. I'm expected to be introduced soon, and there's no way to recover Zeke's stuff, so we don't need to worry about wealth shenanigans.

Hrmm So we will get made up for that I assume.. because thats a bit above what we have.. otherwise Instead of that bow Darius would have his headband, Z her stuff.. yadda yadda.

Hrmm So we will get made up for that I assume.. because thats a bit above what we have.. otherwise Instead of that bow Darius would have his headband, Z her stuff.. yadda yadda.

Yeah, essentially I'm just going to split treasure 4 ways until you guys get another 2 or 3k.

Which is completely reasonable, as Sledge would have to "earn his place" before expecting a cut anyways.

Yeah I expected as much.. its basically like if you took an expensive item out of the loot pile.. you'd be in 'debt' and it's 2.3~ish k accounting for things like consumables and whatnot.

So, EvilBrain says he's kinda done with this, at least for now. He might change his mind once we hit Book 3 and an bring in a new character easier, but this is likely the end of Bulldozer the Unchained.

Group vote: Find a new 5th player, or stick with the standard 4?

Well considering he can FLY that was kinda important.

I stand slightly corrected, apparently EvilBrain just wants to roll until he dies, assuming that happens.

Samuel Sledge wrote:

Without provoking a grabbing AoO?

It had its tentacles pretty busy with either two or three other people at the time.

The NPC wasn't the first one up the stairs, he had bee near the very back only ahead of the parties sorcerer, the rest had rushed up the stairs, starting fighting, then starting screaming to run away, when he got up there.

There's no doubt without some very serious martial characters that the promethean is a tough cookie for when he is encountered.

Trying to figure out how that guy even did that much damage in one crit. Best I can think of for 6th level is something like an Orc Barbarian with 28 Str (+13 damage), Power Attack (+6 damage), +1 weapon plus Finishing Blow (+2 damage) plus...Good Hope (+4 damage)? Using Vital Strike? But that's a highly specific high damaging build. And 10d4+96 STILL isn't guaranteed to one-shot this thing. Actually, on average rolls, it definitely would not (2.5x10+96-10 DR leaves you 6 damage off dropping it).

That's not "serious martial character" (which would be Sledge), that's someone who has done nothing but pump points into increasing damage and nothing else...who still would have been taken out like a chump with a full attack from this thing had he not crit, and rolled higher than average on damage.

I'm just a bit confused as to why you're downplaying a CR 13 encounter just because in your game, an NPC you made in the first place managed to score a scythe crit on the thing...after it had already taken down every character in your party but the Sorcerer (who was fleeing in terror).

That just doesn't make any sense. "Contrived scenario X happened, therefore Y is no challenge, even when without contrived scenario X, Y would have been an IMMENSE challenge" is essentially what you're saying.

Hey Rynj, can we have a whole crew of overpowered NPCs in our Skulls and Shackles game? It's a totally legitimate strategy!

You have Gortus and Arron (Arron in particular is a technical CR 8 or 9, but realistic 10 or 11 because every attack he makes can Paralyze, and he has Stench, and Ghasts have amazing stats), I just don't let you make use of them in battles that matter.

The NPC did like 88 which was enough to kill it after everyone else Rynjin.

So it was not, as s/he said, the guy walking up the stairs and taking down the creature with one strike.

Well technically it was.. It was just one strike.. after they were weakened.. and in the same round.

It was more an example of my own chagrin Rynjin, not trying to downplay the promethean. Rather it's just something that stuck with me.

Just a heads up, it's my anniversary weekend and we're trying for a baby, my posting might be... Sparse.

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Understandable.

I apologize for my lateness.

They give you a wonky work schedule again?

I've been working Evenings/Afternoons instead of Nights they gave me tonight off but I work the morning tommorrow then I got distracted by the other games I had as paizo is sometimes iffy on the updating process so I decided to look myself and noticed they are updated. So ow I am making posts for them all.

I won't be able to get online this weekend, starting on Friday. Feel free to bot Jones if needed.

Duristan looks at Zin incredulously, and bleeds some more.

"Has anyone ever told you you're kind of a b~%~%?"

Though I'm sure he means this in the nicest way.

It is a pretty funny image if you think about it.

Person: "Help! I've been stabbed!"

Zin' modern analogue: "Well, I have these bandages and some alcohol, but I might need them to set somebody on fire later."

Person: "Wot"

=p

....Not wrong....

My god these work hours are odd

I'll be out for the next week or so. Luckily, Sledge is a hammer, so he's fairly easy to bot.

His attack routines are in the character description. Remember, he has very good perception and pretty good sense motive.

Righto.

Even then When he was using the wand it would have made no since to be at half health while fighting the boss.. especially since most wolves at this point have shown the uncanny ability to hit super hard.. for some reason.

In the interest of full disclosure, I made the Vollensag a lot tougher by giving them the Advanced template and some buffs (like a CL 12 Greater Magic Fang potion) just to raise their to-hit enough that they could potentially hit...anyone on less than a 20.

The Dorzhanev guys and Mathus on the other hand just got you on the wrong end of a +4 Favored Enemy vs Humans.

I have little issue with that.. save they still hit Sledge.. his AC isnt that high, a +12 for example hits him on a 11.. and the people who had AC outside of Darius had no HP to be getting hit.

Mathus I didnt care about I expected as much. That and Lead Blades.

I figured if he was TWFing with a Bastard Sword by god he should get the good damage dice to go with it.

No more Vollensag SHOULD be appearing as enemies as I recall, so it won't be a problem for Sledge going forward. From here on I think the only wolves are Jezeldans.

Right but the point is Sledge just has a disparity because of his style and class. His AC is pretty set.

I see no reason why Jezeldans would be any better. They are still classed warriors. They can still hit hard. Either way, questioning time. And then how to solve the eventual power vacuum we just made.

Jezeldans will hit a bit less hard because they're Medium for one, and less meant to be threats 1 on 1 like the Vollensag supposedly are (Seriously they're meant to be the most powerful force in the wood when about 30 of them are left, they should be worth several lesser wolves).

I can't really say much more than that without giving stuff away.

Hrmm I forgot do we level spontaneously or..? I'd like to also talk about this.. situation.

What do you mean by spontaneously?

On the spot or after assumed rest basically.

Ah, yes. On the spot, though the same rules about new spell slots apply.

Darius' Mutagen wore off likely during this time. Does he notice anything different, save for that little freakout?

Hmmm. The template says no (basically).

I'm going to say though that the next time a transformation comes on you (tomorrow night and the night after), if you make your save (or fail it and get seen, or make the requisite DC 20 to remember) then you'll know.

Until you actually transform you receive none of the benefits or drawbacks of the template, so there is no sign.

Technically speaking (though this may not be strict RAW, it sounds cool) if you keep making those DC 15 saves to avoid shifting at the full moon, you won't truly be an afflicted werewolf.

Fun times.

I'll update Darius when i return from the employment.

Level up

+6 hp
+1 to charisma
+1 to charisma and wisdom
+1 to all saves from increased charisma Modifier, +1 additional to will

4 th level spells - fire wall, Cure critical wounds, blessing of fervor

Favored class bonus - extra third level spell - Blindness / Deafness

+1 BAB

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+7 hp
+1 to wisdom
+1 to charisma and wisdom
+1 to all saves

2nd level spell - Lesser Restoration.

Favored class bonus - extra 1st level spell - Nature's Paths

+1 BAB

Teamwork Feat solidified Phalanx Fighter

+6 hp
+1 to Int
+1 to Cha and Wis
+1 to Reflex and Will saves, additional +2 to saves against illusions (from Unfailing Logic)

3rd level extract: Paragon Surge

Favored class bonus: +1/4 bonus on Inspiration rolls, +2 total

+1 BAB

+1 Trapfinding

+1 Studied Combat attack and damage, +1d6 Studied Strike damage

+9 HP
+1 Str
+1 inherent to Cha and Wis

+1 BAB
Racial Alternate Bonus Feat: Skill Focus (Sense Motive)
+1 Maneuver Training (Grappling 2, Trip 1)

Would you guys be interested in doing a Vigilante playtest?

It has four different "classes" built in, so everyone can play something kinda different.

Maybe, I'd have to actually look at the class. I've just been listening to Pete tell me bits and pieces about it.

Would you want to do a dry run, like level 1 and up or do you have a specific level range you want to target?

Sure.

I wanted to do something like run a few encounters at a range of levels.

Maybe 5/10/15/20? And then do 4 rounds of 4-6 encounters each?

Try to do a range to get a clear picture:

1.) How do you do against humanoids?

2.) How do you do in social encounters?
2a.) In your community? Out of your community?

3.) How do you do in other skill challenges?
3a.) In your community? Out of your community?

4.) How do you do against non-Humanoids?