Bad to the Bones (A Rappan Athuk campaign) (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Swanson

Komm, there seems to be some sort of mistake - I didn't move Grezzor into the room, but to the corridor outside the room (where I have placed his token again now) - not sure if anyone moved my token by mistake?

Fort in any case: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Actions to come once the Grandfather dictates my final position :P

I remember Grezzor being outside the room as well.
Round 1 Init 12
Cut off from the entrance Keil curses and draws his short sword. Waiting for one of the creatures to draw near, the shadowy man swings his weapon at an opportune moment catching it on one of its many legs.
Att: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Sh.Sw. Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Shadow Blending in effect / 50% miss

Arlok double moves down into the hall.

"Get behind Arlok and Vargrenz. Let creatures come."

Brok points his thumb at Arlok and agrees "What he said..." as he lets the big man past.

Viewing this as an opportune time to get a good meal, Varg moves past his companions and takes a swing at one of the centipedes, not really caring if they get a nip at him in the process.

Move: move forward to where he is.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

With a massive swing, Varg completely misses the bug, but, from the appearance, you think he might have actually damaged the floor with his powerful swing.

Stupid food. Slow down so I can get you.

Centipedes. Let me at 'em. I'll crush em. The also taste good cooked.

"How do you cook them master Varg?" - the wizard seems suddenly interested - "Would you need their chelicerae? I believe I may have a use for them" - he ponders.

Vary calls out from where he is making a poor showing of how to whack centipedes:
Cook in the shell. Crack and open.

He pauses, while preparing to try to hit the centipede again.
They might be poisonous to you though.

Keil continues his dance with the centipede but for second lets his mind entertain the thought of boiled centipede, "Remove the venom sack, add butter and a splash of lemon."

Grezzor: I moved you into the room so you could see the centipede to target. That was my mistake, sorry about that.

Praetor steps forward to assist his new ally and crushes the centipede harassing Grezzor.

Arlok lumbers towards the room while Malzii and Keil both strike blows against their respective centipedes. Vargrenz eagerly lends his aid to the cause yet overeagerness costs him here in this case.

Round 2: Grezzor, Brok, Raaz, Centipedes, Arlok, Keil, Praetor, Vargrenz, Malzii.

I still need a Fort save from Raaz.

Brok lets the big guys deal with the vermin infestation.

He'll keep an eye out for other dangers and keep his crossbow ready.

Grezzor is almost completely blocked from sight, so he leaves the fight to those melee capable in the group.

Just to make sure, if I don't have Precise Strike, I risk hitting a friendly if firing into melee, correct? :D

No, I do not think that Pathfinder has any friendly fire rules. Lacking Precise Shot just means that you have a -4 on your attack rolls. With an additional -4 if someone is between you and the target, unless you have Improved Precise Shot.

Grezzor: Vargrenz is correct.

In that case:

Ranged Touch Attack on closest centipede: 1d20 + 4 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 - 4 - 4 = 15
Damage if it hits: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Yikes! A lot of action since I checked yesterday afternoon. Will check more frequently if work permits.

@Komm - Raaz Al'Zuul has a Reach weapon, so would he get at AoO against centipede as it closes to bite him? I will make an AoO here and please disregard if not able to make the attack

Raaz Al'Zuul hacks at the centipede as it lunges towards him:

Round 1: Attack of Opportunity
Attack of Opportunity: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Well that probably misses so:
Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Round 2 Attack:
Attack of Opportunity: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Grezzor slays another centipede with his magic, while Raaz has some difficulty with the one pestering him. He does manage to wipe away the venom before it gets too deep into his body. Brok steps away from the combat electing to watch the group's back.

The remaining centipedes press their attacks on you, joined by a straggler that joins the fray.

C3 bite vs Raaz: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17; damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3 miss
C5 bite vs Keil: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18; damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1 hit
Miss 1-50%: 1d100 ⇒ 58 no...attack hits.
C6 bite vs Vargrenz: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8; damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3 miss

Keil once again feels a prick on his skin and the venom threatends to enter his bloodstream. Keil takes 1 point of damage and needs to make a Fort save.

Round 2: Grezzor, Brok, Raaz, Centipedes, Arlok, Keil, Praetor, Vargrenz, Malzii.

As her more melee-capable companions filter into the room, Malzii decides that now is the time to get out of the way, though not before reaching out to touch Vargrenz on the shoulder. As she does, she mutters a familiar incantation. Then, she turns and moves back into the hallway to allow the others more room to fight.

Guidance on Varg, then moving into the hallway.

Varg growls:
Can't bite a dwarf. You may not like me, but I'm gonna love you.

With that, he once more begins swinging his gray clublike hands:
Attack-FoB: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 2 + 1 = 22 <-- +1 from Guidance
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

5-foot step if possible to get to another centipede if first is squished.

Attack-FoB: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

With glee, Varg essentially desiccates one (or two) of the bugs.

Vary calls out from where he is making a poor showing of how to whack centipedes:

Cook in the shell. Crack and open.

He pauses, while preparing to try to hit the centipede again.
They might be poisonous to you though.

"Ah..." - Grezzor mutters as he attempts to unleash another ray of frost at another centipede.

Ray of Frost: 1d20 + 4 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 - 4 - 4 = 10
Damage if it hits: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

"Perhaps the poison can be removed?" - he ponders still.

Round 2 Init 12
"BaaHh!" Keil is not pleased with himself. Spitting at the insect the shadowy man swipes at it with his sword cutting the pest cleanly.
Fort: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Att vs. Centipede: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
ShSw DMG: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Shadow Blending in effect / 50% miss | 7/8 HP remain

Arlok moves into position.

"Arlok protect friend goblin Brok. Need guide."

Glaive Sing: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 w/Reach
Damage: 1d10 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Vargrenz displays his combat prowess as he slays two of the centipedes by himself and Arlok easily dispatches the last remaining one. The rest of you watch the mosaic closely but no more centipedes appear.

COMBAT OVER!

Varg moves about the room, checking the centipedes. When he finds two or three that are mostly intact, he gathers them up and strings them together, after which he slings them over his shoulder.

He then looks at several other members of the group.
Much better, and tastier than those disease ridden rats you seem to prefer.

Varg will then move over to the mosaic and carefully examine it to see if there are any more centipedes within, and also what caused the wall behind it to be soft enough for the centipedes to be able to burrow in.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Unfortunately, his mind is on the tasty dinner he is going to have, and he does not really pay much attention to the wall or the mosaic.

When the coast seems to be clear, Brok peeks back around the door to see the carnage left over from the vermin attack.

Seeing no danger, he monkey-waddles over next to Vargrenz and pokes at the mosaic with his sword.

"Was it just a nest hidden back in there?"

perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

Grezzor's attention is actually more focused on the mosaic itself, as he shuffles his memory to try and garner some meaning from it.

Untrained Knowledge (History?): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Varg shrugs:
Strange if it is just stone behind the mosaic.

Wiping the bug slime from his sword onto his cloak, Keil mutters in a foul language before vigorously shaking his wounded hand in the air. While the others stare at the mosaic, the fetchling flexes his fingers to restore some sense of normalcy as he resumes his examination of the door. Having not noticing anything suspicious prior to the centipedes, Keil frowns, grasps the handle and opens the portal.

A closer look behind the mosaic reveals the stone wall beyond is crumbling and not in very good shape, partially due to the age of the wall and also the effects of water seeping over the cracks, not to mention the efforts of the centipedes who have converted it for their nesting ground. You do see signs the nests go deeper into the walls and ceiling than even your enhanced vision can detect. You find no signs of any valuables in the nest area.

More to come later.

Brok moves over behind Keil to back him up as he opens the door to the south.

Raaz Al'Zuul cleans the wound made by the centipede with a little water and rubs some ointment he pulls out of his backpack over it.

HE collects his things and continues following the scouts:

"Lead on Brok and Keil. Let's clear this level before we go deeper."

Once the last of the centipedes fall, Malzii makes her way back into the mosaic room, scowling and kicking at the remains of one of the centipedes. "Τίποτα όμως ζωύφια παραμονεύουν περίπου! Άνευ αξίας παράσιτα!" she grumbles in a tongue unfamiliar to most of the group. "All okay?" she continues, switching back to Common. "Yes? Good! Stupid bug bites not slow us down," she nods resolutely as Brok and Keil open the next door.

"Τίποτα όμως ζωύφια παραμονεύουν περίπου! Άνευ αξίας παράσιτα!" she grumbles in a tongue unfamiliar to most of the group. "All okay?" she continues, switching back to Common. "Yes? Good! Stupid bug bites not slow us down," she nods resolutely as Brok and Keil open the next door.

Grezzor follows suit, shrugging in disappointment that nothing really great was found in the next of the centipedes.

"Там ничего не осталось делать, но топать их - до тех пор, термо не более" - he replies to Malzii.

Brok opens the unlocked and un-trapped door and sees an oddly shaped room on other side. Covering each wall of this room are several tapestries, although you can see they are worthless due to their rough cloth and crude sewing. The tapestries do depict the outside of the dungeon — the demon-mouth which conceals the stairway down into this level. Around the demon-mouth, a battle appears to be raging between a small army of human archers and a larger force made up of ogres, who are led by three black-robed figures wearing helmets decorated with curling ram’s horns. These leaders are apparently human, and each one carries a mace topped with a metal skull.

Map updated.

Guys, just a heads up to let you know I am currently without internet at home - posting may become sparse until I get this one sorted (hopefully by the end of the week...)

From the door, Grezzor observes the depicted image with curiosity - "Interesting"

Knowledge (History) again: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

With his usual suspicious sneer, Keil enters the room and begins to look around.
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Brok crouches and scans the room for any danger.

perception: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 25

"Humans and ogres fighting each other, wonder why?" he muses aloud.

Malzii looks over at Grezzor with some surprise, her eyes narrowing as she studies him once more. Something seems to shift slightly in her demeanor and she smiles, looking pleased.

"Είχες δίκιο - είστε πολύ διαφορετικό από το λίπος ένα," she replies. "Έχετε πάρει το χρόνο για να μάθουν τη γλώσσα των Μεγάλων Ones και μου αρέσει ο τρόπος που σκέφτεσαι," she nods towards the remains of the centipedes. "Νομίζω ότι θα πάρει μαζί πολύ καλά!"

Trailing along behind the others, she regards the tapestries with interest but shrugs at Brok's question. "Maybe humans tried exploring this place too? Humans awful nosy," she snorts.

Varg enters through the door, but pauses there, looking at the tapestries which really make no sense to him.

Hearing Malzii respond to Brok, he comments:
Ogres like to eat humans. I would fight the fat ones if I were a gangly human to avoid being eaten.

Varg's remark causes Keil to turn to Arlok for confirmation before throwing in his 2 cp, "Humans have a superiority complex...think they own everything."

Studying the tapestries closer you realize the humans must be worshippers of Orcus judging by their rainments and the ogres are following their ordersunder their command. The human archers must be forces arrayed against Orcus, perhaps members of the Army of Light when they pursued Orcus's army to the Forest of Hope.

Brok finds a couple of items as well: a concealed pit trap in the northeast corner of the room and a secret door in the far wall of the southern alcove.

Brok marks the pit trap with chalk. "Be careful of this, don't want to find out what's in the bottom of that hole."

Then the bandy-legged little goblin monkey-walks over to the secret door to listen for sound behind it and check to see if it is locked.

perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Varg nods approvingly as the goblin ranger marks out where the pit trap is. When he points out the secret door, the grey dwarf almost breaks into a smile, but not quite.
Well done. While I would expect nothing less than traps and hidden passages in a dungeon such as this.

"Well, if you don't..." While Brok leans his ears to the secret door, Keil frowns then approaches the trap the goblin had marked. Kneeling at the edge, the fetchling begins to careful look for and dismantle the triggering mechanism.
Disable Device: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Brok checks out the secret door, which is nothing more than a sliding stone block, and hears nothing on the other side. Meanwhile Keil believes he has jammed the hinged mechanism thereby disabling the pit trap.

Assuming you press onwards past the secret door...

A corridor greets you on the other side of the door. After scouting ahead for a ways Brok is able to see one branch loops around back to the hallway you came from, while another one winds its way further south. Several doors also provide access to areas you have not explored.

Map updated.

Once it is declared safe, Grey marks the secret door and the outline to the trap with chalk.

"Odd place for a hidden door." he muses.

"I would say loop around left, and explore this section" - the goblin wizard suggests.

Assuming noone objects, Brok follow Grezzors suggestion and heads down the hallway circling to the left.

He moves cautiously, looking for danger as he goes.

perception to check hallway: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 29

Then he stops in front of a door, checks it for traps, and sees if it is locked.

perception to check door: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 2 + 1 = 30

If clear, he signals to the rest of the team to join him.

I put brok on the map in front of the door he is checking

Keil follows along cautiously double checking the goblin's skill but finding nothing to add, He's good.
Perception Aid Brok: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Malzii looks over at Grezzor with some surprise, her eyes narrowing as she studies him once more. Something seems to shift slightly in her demeanor and she smiles, looking pleased.

"Είχες δίκιο - είστε πολύ διαφορετικό από το λίπος ένα," she replies. "Έχετε πάρει το χρόνο για να μάθουν τη γλώσσα των Μεγάλων Ones και μου αρέσει ο τρόπος που σκέφτεσαι," she nods towards the remains of the centipedes. "Νομίζω ότι θα πάρει μαζί πολύ καλά!"

** spoiler omitted **

Grezzor bows shortly to Malzii - "I believe the same" - he offers.

"Это было не просто , но , как я мог не узнал один из самых древних языков в существовании ? Я освоил это столько, сколько возможно, и теперь я могу только прогрессировать дальше, если я могу найти другие листы , вне от тех, которые я узнал от" - the wizard comments - "Или , если я найти учителя"

Raaz Al'Zuul carefully follows the scouts, but does not pass through the secret door until they give him the 'all clear' signal. He watches for any critters coming down the other side of the secret passage to ambush the scouts.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Yeah, it is pretty cool. Also suuuuuper dangerous.

I have some ideas about how to mitigate the risks, but we're going to have a conversation in game just to be sure everyone's on the same page.

Our encounter with more dangerous undead has made clear that we should allocate the magic weapons we have out to different characters.

It doesn't have to be a permanent decision on who gets what, but we should make sure we aren't stuck figuring it out in the middle of a battle.

Ok, so I want to have an out-of-game discussion about the Shadow-

I want to be sure this is something we want as a group. Controlling a Shadow is pretty much the win-condition for low level necromancers. It's awesome to the point of maybe being game breaking. It has the potential to make the game itself less challenging for a while, and also to make individual characters feel obsolete.

Having an incorporeal, nigh-invisible, minion makes scouting pretty easy. Encounters against animals, plants, humanoids, oozes, aberrations and many outsiders are going to become trivial. To make matters worse, Shadows propagate, and because they obey the shadow that created them, Grey could control a lot of them through controlling the first one.

In addition tot he out of game concerns, there's also the in-game issue of this being really dangerous. If your character is the sort that feels this might be a bad idea, I want you to know that Grey is thinking the sam thing, and could be convinced this is more trouble than it is worth.

So, please speak up if you have concerns. I want to hear them and talk about them, and I don't want to go ahead with this unless we are all on the same page.

Brok's favored enemy is undead so he is in the no bueno camp.

What kind of dangers? Can you be more specific? I'd also be interested to know what kind of relationship Keil would have with the shadow as Keil would have ties to the shadow plane.

Once per day it makes a new save (50/50) to get free and try to kill us.

Once per day it makes a new save (50/50) to get free and try to kill us.

This is true, but mitigated by doing a new Channel energy every day, and commanding the shadow to submit to the power ("voluntarily" failing it's save) and effectively resetting the timer.

This breaks down if I ever run out of channels, but since I only use them for command undead and occasional undead healing, I don't foresee this being an issue. If I'm killed or petrified or something for longer than a day, it could put the rest of you at risk (which is why the shadow is under orders to destroy itself before that could happen).

Brok's favored enemy is undead so he is in the no bueno camp.

A bounty hunter with Favored Enemy Human isnt necessarily against being around humans. It just means they are good at hunting them down and killing them too.

Brok might be personally very anti-undead, but the class ability doesn't force that.

Grey is a Necromancer, so this is going to continue to come up (particularly past level 5). Grey recognizes that undead are dangerous weapons, so having Brok around as insurance is something he likes a lot. We should probably have a discussion about this in game.

What kind of dangers? Can you be more specific? I'd also be interested to know what kind of relationship Keil would have with the shadow as Keil would have ties to the shadow plane.

Intelligent undead are notoriously dangerous to control they can "interpret" commands in the ways that best suit them, and do things of their own volition if they aren't commanded not to. I was in a game once when a Cleric managed to control a Vampire, and it still bit him because he hadn't commanded it not to.

A shadow only has a 6 intelligence, so it probably isn't going to be able to pull a fast one on us, but it is a possibility. I think Grey's commands should do to keep it in line.

Also, an enemy necromancer becomes way more dangerous if they can wrest control of a couple shadows from me. I have some contingency plans for this, but nothing is foolproof.

As for Kiel specifically, I have everyone in the party the ability to command the shadow, so Kiel could certainly use the Shadow as a scouting tool.

Brok has it correct here. Once a day the shadow will get a Will save with a 50/50 chance of breaking it. Like Praetor says, a high risk/high reward move. And sorry Praetor I think a command to order it to fail a save or sending it into sunlight to destroy itself would be considered a suicidal command and would trigger an immediate Will save. Your other commands make sense here...once thing Praetor would realize that enemy clerics could try to wrest control of the shadow from him.

As I am also playing Raaz here, I will stay neutral in this debate. I will say this: Rappan Athuk is a dangerous place and you will need all the help you can get here.

Nothing in the control undead spell grants the shadow the ability to speak. It understands commands in any language, but it has no known languages in the prd.

If it does have a language, there wouldn't be a guarantee one of us can speak it.

It's incorporeal and probably won't set off traps.

It's perception is mediocre.

I don't think it makes a very good scout.

Varg is not really a big fan of undead, controlled or uncontrolled. However, that is Grey's forte and purpose, so he will work with it.

I have no problem with the Shadow. As mentioned before, at level 4, Varg will be able to damage the shadow with his fists as he will have the ki which will enable him to overcome DR Magic.

As a player I'm neutral; I don't normally get to see necromancy-style shenanigans in action so the whole thing is actually pretty entertaining in that respect! I think that if we at least work out a contingency or two of what to do in case Praetor loses his control over something like a shadow, it could be a risk worth taking. Right now, I think we've got a few magical weapons plus spellpower from a few of us if it came down to having to fight it, correct?

Malzii finds controlling undead (intelligent or not) a bit distasteful but I believe she's pragmatic enough to understand that they make useful tools if properly controlled. She'd probably be willing to trust Praetor's judgement here.

Nothing in the control undead spell grants the shadow the ability to speak. It understands commands in any language, but it has no known languages in the prd....If it does have a language, there wouldn't be a guarantee one of us can speak it.

Command Undead

I agree with Brok. Although the PRD does not get into the creature speaking, it doesn't say an intelligent undead won't respond either. I'd interpret this as the shadow only understands Grey as the spell grants the caster the ability to communicate with the creature in any language. There's no mention of anyone else gaining that ability. Someone other than Grey wishing to communicate with the shadow will have to speak it's language, whatever that is, or use Grey to interpret.
Perception +8 isn't bad; Keil only has +9 :( I'm willing to play the odds; the more rolls we have the better our odds of finding something, but this will only last so long. The same odds say we will eventually have to put the shadow down.

I still haven't decided if Keil will see this as a good thing, since shadows come from his domain, or a bad thing since it has "no goals or outwardly visible motivations other than to sap life and vitality from living beings". I think shadows would just as soon hunt a Kayal as it would anything else living. With that in mind, Keil is probably very wary of this thing and would have some knowledge of it. I'll make a check in gameplay, maybe Keil will know what language the shadow uses.

I've been trying to play Keil as trusting no one, however Grey worships a common deity (Hel, right?) and that would score a point or two but not as many as Brok's got ;) I'll let Keil's greed win him over, should the shadow produce results.

Here's the data block on shadows.

Languages: Common is listed. They have a language, are intelligent, and they are not listed as mute, so it seems like they could speak. The unofficial errata linked if james jacobs being asked about that.

Regardless, it seems like the consensus is that this is too risky. I'm fine with that. We can destroy it.

Can't go into long winded posts, but my vote is definitely to keep it. This place is tough as can be, and I am sure we will need the extra 'oomph'. Also, scouting through walls and doors? Come on. It is amazing.

Also, I like to see the Necromancer in actual play, so I say live with a little risk people, we stand to gain a lot in my opinion.

Sorry out yesterday. Also.

My parents are coming to stay for the week. So the wife and I are taking a staycation. We will be doing stuff around the house and hitting the beach and stuff with them so my posting will be spotty and way down from my normal rate till next Friday.

So I will catch up today, but my posting may go down to once a day probably at night once I can hop on and check.

Here's the official paizo stat block for Shadows

No language listed.

Yours is the d20pfsrd stat block which added a language as a house rule from James Jacobs.

I don't know if the developers meant for it to talk or not, but they didn't put it in the bestiary and they have had opportunities to errata it since.

My general opinion of command undead is that it shouldn't be a better class feature than a mount or animal companion would be.

@Grey: Actually I see the consensus accepting the shadow, no need to destroy it just yet.
There are more ways to communicate than just verbal, each posing interesting role playing opportunities. Its up to Komm as to which source is accepted, D20 or the PRD and how the shadow will communicate as it is certainly intelligent enough to do so.
The game will certainly get more interesting (not that it's not already!) with a shadow in the group due to the fact we don't know if or when it will turn. The shadow can still be played as an animal companion, using language barriers and misunderstanding (lost in translation) to either benefit the group or lead it astray.
The one thing I don't like is:

"Each day while the sun is high you shall submit yourself to my control, reminding me if I somehow forget to reassert my dominance over your through the power of my Goddess. Should I be unable to renew my control, you shall go to the surface and allow yourself to be destroyed in the sunlight before my control over you wanes."

Ordering an intelligent creature to go destroy itself shouldn't go down well. It's almost worth another will save. It should be Grey's responsibility to remember to renew the command (and I'm sure he will) and if he forgets, we will weep the consequences and I'm ok with that.

Since the shadow has an INT score I will rule the shadow does indeed understand Common, and can speak it to a degree. Consider a creature so succumbed by hate and evil the only thought is to destroy the living. and has basically 'forgotten' to speak. Needless to say I don't think you will have detailed conversations with it though Praetor will have the best chance to understand it due to his link with it.

Ordering an intelligent creature to go destroy itself shouldn't go down well. It's almost worth another will save. It should be Grey's responsibility to remember to renew the command (and I'm sure he will) and if he forgets, we will weep the consequences and I'm ok with that.

That's pretty much exactly what my plan was. Renew the control every day, before it's daily save, to "reset the timer" and make sure that as long as I can channel it never gets an escape attempt.

The "go kill yourself before my control lapses" thing was my idea of a failsafe in case I wasn't able to renew my control for some reason. (I'm hoping that never happens)

Yes, it would grant the shadow a second save at the time it was compelled to kill itself, but since this kicks in when it would get it's daily save to escape anyway, I figured it didn't matter much.

Since the shadow has an INT score I will rule the shadow does indeed understand Common, and can speak it to a degree. Consider a creature so succumbed by hate and evil the only thought is to destroy the living. and has basically 'forgotten' to speak. Needless to say I don't think you will have detailed conversations with it though Praetor will have the best chance to understand it due to his link with it.

This is great. It might not be very talkative, but if it can understand language then it means the rest of the group will be able to command it as well. That turns it into more of a party asset, rather than just a potentially disastrous weapon that only listens to me.

Thanks.

Much thanks to Keil and Brok for being our scouters and shouldering the burden of needing to post a lot!

Also, Happy 4th (if you're in the US) and Happy Monday (if you're the rest of the world) :)

Happy Independence Day!...for all USA players only he he.

Here's the way I figure-

If a Channel has a 24 hour duration before an intelligent undead gets a new saving throw, and a necromancer is willing to throw a new channel at an undead before that time is up, there's no way an undead should ever get to that 24 hour mark.

A smart player can find work arounds to make sure it can't successfully resist.

Even if a Charisma check is required, and I fail it, I'd still know that unless the Shadow out-bluffs me.

Even if I get bluffed into thinking it didn't resist me when it actually did, I can check that by asking "did you resist my power?" and it would have to answer truthfully (unless you think that would require a charisma check too).

As long as I have an extra channel or two to throw at this every day, I don't think it will be able to get that daily save.

Do I have this wrong?

Actually, according to THIS thread:

Once they are under your control they stay that way until:

1) You release them OR,
2) The number of HD you control exceeds your necromancer level OR,
3) Intelligent Undead get a new saving throw to break free each day, so if they make their save.

So once you have control of the undead, re-channeling has no effect on the undead UNLESS you release them. Then you may channel again (and hope they fail the Will save).

And according to THIS and THIS thread:

I believe the Command Undead feat does not have a duration. Mindless undead are your slaves forever, intelligent undead are your friends until they make the save.

They are permanently controlled, until they make their save (intelligent), somone else takes control by feat or spell, they are destroyed, or you let them go (willingly, or by overloading the HD limit of what you can control).

So in essence, the shadow is controlled by you until either you release it or it makes its save. In other words there is no need to re-channel the undead at all.

Neither of those thread say that re-channeling has no effect, but I'll go with that. It's your game and this makes things interesting.

At least we know a fight is coming every 24 hours and can prepare for it.

Might have to have Raaz take Command Undead too. That way we can just pass control back and forth to reset the timer on intelligent undead.

I apologize in advance for any inconvenience but starting tomorrow I will be traveling for the rest of the month with very limited internet access. I'm sure Brok is more than capable, but then a bunch of Aid Other rolls can't hurt. Otherwise, please feel free to bot Keil as you see fit - anything short of bait (well, maybe) and canon fodder if that's not too much trouble :) If all goes well, I expect to be back on the Forum August 1st.

Bah! Bailing out on us are ya?! I never trusted the shadowy fetchling....

On a more serious note - enjoy your travels! :D

Thanks for the notice and be safe!

At OGC con this weekend, at least tomorrow and Saturday. Then family stuff on Sunday, should be able to post Sunday evening, but might no be until Monday.

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I’ll be traveling to Germany for the next week and will have limited connectivity. Bot me as needed.

As an FYI I'm working night shift the next three nights (tonight, Friday, Saturday) and sleeping during the day so my posting rates will likely drop during the time. I'll try and catch up/keep up as best as I can but feel free to bot Malzii as needed to keep things moving along.

Yeah Governor is closing offices at Noon under state of emergency. We had/have plans to travel this weekend so if the the Tropical Storm / Supposed to be Hurricane when it makes landfall tonight leaves us without power you may not hear from me for a few days :)

How closely are we tracking encumbrance?
I've put Keil's name down to some items in the loot list - I hope that's alright. If there are any objections from the group, let me know and we can erase it but I think it would be useful to start dividing up the loot at some point in the near future before Arlok drowns in weight.

Actually you have the two orc hirelings/warriors that are lugging around all this loot you have discovered so I have not worried about it too closely. Of course if your hirelings decide to desert on you, or end up getting slain, then it might become an issue :P

Feel free to take items from the loot list and put them on your character sheets. Just be sure you indicate on the Loot list what items you claimed. Once I get a chance I'll go ahead and audit the loot list and clean it up.

OK I went ahead and cleaned up the Loot List. I consolidated all of the coins into their own cells, and removed any items from the list that I saw recorded on your profile.

Please review the Loot list and notate what magic items/weapons you claim on both the list and on your profile. Once I have reviewed the List I will first verify they are notated on your profile and then remove the items from the Loot List.

I had already added Grezzor's name to some of the items in the loot list - I have also added them to my HL character file. Will update the profile on the alias as soon as possible.

I will take some other stuff if no one picks it up (like the holy water), but for now I'm good.

If only there were any small enemies in this dungeon ....

Thanks for that Komm. I've updated Keil's profile with those items I put his name beside. I will try to add up his character wealth later to make sure he's not getting a lion's share but there is still a lot of items there for the others :) I added the light maces (+1 and silver headed) to Keil as no one else seems to want to use them. The rapier he confiscated from the bandit leader (forget his name) and he had been using the quarterstaff as a walking stick.
Who else is using a bow? There are 4 +1 arrows on the list and a +1 Comp Long bow...anyone?
Most of you have daggers listed, there is a +1 dagger and a silver dagger up for grabs.

I'll take a silver dagger.

If we have unclaimed gear, would anyone mind if I gave something to our orcs as rewards?

There rewards are their lives.

Varg should probably have something silver. He usually goes into defense mode when facing something with resistance. We need to get him Mage Armor before too long, it goes great with fighting defensively or total defense for buffing the AC.

All our combat-types should have silver and cold iron weapons.

^ Yes, if we don't find any other silver or cold iron weapons we'll definitely need to go shopping for some when and if we get out of here.

I (and Malzii) would also not be opposed to kitting out our 'help' with things that we find and/or giving them rewards as appropriate. Although Arlok's point that for the time being their reward has been getting to keep their heads is true, a minion's still gotta eat and indulge their own vices from time to time! Not mention if you treat your help well they're less likely to beat feet down the road when you need them most...

From the list, Malzii will take one of the +1 daggers. Looks like we've got enough CLW/CMW potions for everyone to take one too.

You're right Malzii, I'm gonna grab a CLW pot also ;). Marked on the loot List.

If no one else is going to use the +1 longsword, Brok will carry it around like some sort of goblin greatsword, taking the -2 penalty.

(a net -1 to hit is probably worth an average +2 damage ... it's like power attack)

He'll also take a vial of holy water.

OK Loot list updated. Please mark whatever loot you claimed on your character sheet and then I will remove it from the Loot List.

We have a nicely embroidered bag in the loot list - we can put the gold dust there? ;)

EDIT: Komm, the 'golden wand encrusted with pearls' is not magical, is it?

Grezzor: Yes in answer to the first question, No in response to the second question.