City of Nine Stars -- City of Twilight (Inactive)

Game Master therealthom

I forgot to mention there are seven foot wide walkways around the edge of the pool. Damp and slimy in places, but you won't need to swim.

NOW he tells us!!!

Marius takes the right hand pathway..

No way I am going widdershins in this place if I can help it

At least you didn't actually go swimming before I told you. Wouldn't taking the right mean you were circling the pool widdershins? Although the room and the pool are long and straight.

Marius takes the right side.

Standing marching order single file behind him? Marius, Waifrin, Zarabeta, Fiosa?

Sounds good.

"It seems almost inevitable that something is going to heave up out of this sludge and attack us. Be ready." Zarabeta says, stating the obvious.

Marius shoots Zara a pained look "You had to say it didn't you"

On edge, the party advances. Marius reaches the top of the stairway when Fiosa spots a swirl in the water's surface above a shadowy body. Her warning gives the party a second to prepare before the water erupts in a flurry of long grey limbs tipped in claws. Four man-like creatures rise to assault the party. They look like bloated corpses with wrinkled skin and their eyes burn with unholy fire above fanged mouths.

Their stealth was miserable. I'm giving you guys the surprise round. So act for that and roll initiaitve for round 1.

Knowledge (religion) 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

"Ghouls!" Zarabeta warns, "Undead, whose touch will freeze your blood and leave you helpless!"

"Ghouls and ghasts!" Fiosa gasps. "Be careful they don't paralyze you, everyone."

"Oh Joy..and exultation" Marius readies himself again

So, you all get one standard action in the surprise round. They are close enough for melee. And you can take your first round turn if you beat the higher initiative roll --

Ghouls 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Ghast 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Initiative

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Surprise round..

Marius engages the lead ghoul but fails to strike it

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Waifrin surges and targets the nearest creature with a ray of fire:

1 pp with wild surge.

Enervation (15%): 1d100 ⇒ 83%

Attack (ranged touch): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 Damage: 3d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 6, 1) + 3 = 15

initiative 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Zarabeta begins casting a spell to call upon aid from the outer planes.

summon monster III to summon a lantern archon, full round action

Waifrin Init 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Fiosa Init 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Surprise Round:

The ghoul's break the surface and move to attack, one to a customer.

Marius jabs at his foe without drawing blood.

Zarabeta begins summoning.

Waifrin blasts hers to true death.

Fiosa to post her surprise and first round action. Zarabeta finishes casting before the ghouls. So she can post her first round too.

Round 1 :

Fiosa
Zarabeta
Ghast
Ghouls
Marius
Waifrin

The archon, a glowing figure of light, appears floating behind the ghouls approaching her companions, and immediately generates two pale golden rays of sunlight that track to any ghoul that seems affected by its aura of menace.

Aura of Menace, each hostile in 20 ft. of the archon must make a Will DC 12 save or suffer -2 to all attacks, AC and saves for 24 hours, or until it strikes the archon that generated the aura, which might make it slightly easier for the archon to hit them with its attacks.The archon has AC 15, 17 hp, DR 10/evil, Fort save +4 (+2 more vs. evil).

ranged touch attack 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
untyped damage that ignores DR 1d6 ⇒ 3

ranged touch attack 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
untyped damage that ignores DR 1d6 ⇒ 3

Zarabeta waves her dagger in front of her, attempting to keep the ghoul approaching her at bay.

Total Defense action, AC is now 19, counting Dex (+3), mage armor (+4) and Total Defense (+2).

The ghouls seem not to notice the archon at all until its rays strike the one nearest Zarabeta. The ghoul is scorched, but keeps coming.

Fiosa starts playing her pipes to inspire courage in her allies. (surprise round).

She delays until after the ghouls on round 1.

Interesting.

The ghouls drive at their targets. The smell rolling off the lead ghast attacking Marius is intensely sickening. Fort save DC 15 or be sickened. Fiosa is out of range.

Attacks.
Fiosa:

Bite 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19.... 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Claw 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20.... 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Claw 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13.... 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Zarabeta:

Bite 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9.... 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Claw 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6.... 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Claw 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15.... 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Marius:

Bite 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18.... 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Claw 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23.... 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Claw 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22.... 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

If they hit you need a DC13 Fort save or suffer paralysis.

Sickened: The character takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.

Save 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Save 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Fortitude Vs Sickness 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Vs claw1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

vs bite1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 Paralyzed

\Ok I have to ask why Fiosa chose not to channel for damage and to delay until after the ghouls had acted because we are now probably going to be left with Waif vs the three off them

Fort save vs. stench 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

To be honest, I was a bit confused by the sequence of events, where we saw the ghouls underwater, and we surprised them...and then they moved, and then we got to act?

HHmmm. The limits of my narrative powers strike again. Laid bare:

Pre combat:
The party is really keyed up, ready for anything. The ghouls try to sneak into position. They intend to break out of the water and strike with surprise.

Fiosa spots them and warns the party.

Surprise round: Party counterattacks the ghouls as they break the surface. Surprise goes to the party and the ghouls take it on the chin.

Round 1: Proceed with initiative. Action as normal.

And this suggests another retcon. Treat the ghoul's round 1 action as a charge. That would take away two strikes apiece, but their first strike would be at +2.

And it gets worse (for me) -- I forgot to roll the ghast's save against the Aura of Menace. 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13. No joy in Mudville.

Let's take this to the discussion thread.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 Waifrin gags at the stench, but can still focus. Seeing Marius falter she falls back a step and lets rip another blast at his attacker as he falls.

Energy ray, 3pp spent, wild-surged for +2, +1 to hit/damage from surging euphoria which I keep forgetting, +1 Inspire Courage, -2 sickened.

Enervation(15%): 1d100 ⇒ 55%

Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 6 + 1 - 2 + 1 = 13 Damage: 5d6 + 7 ⇒ (4, 6, 5, 1, 6) + 7 = 29

In absence of an OOC consensus, I will stumble on. Retcon the ghoul's first round as a charge.

Fiosa takes a bite for 7 damage. Her save succeeds. No sickness save required.

Marius saves v. sickness. The ghast misses him.

Zarabeta saves v sickness. Fends off attacks.

Waifrin fails sickness save. No attacks against.

Back to the action:

Waifrin sends an energy ray at the ghast....

That's going to miss if it's subject to -4 to hit in melee.

Marius and Fiosa to finish the round.

Then Zarabeta to start the next.

Fiosa will 5' step back and channel energy to damage the undead.

2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 5) + 4 = 13, Will DC 17 for half, ignores channel resistance

Marius attacks the Ghast

1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16 Damage 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22 Damage 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Will saves: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18,1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6,1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

The undead wither under Fiosa's channel. Only the ghast remains animated and Marius' swords make quick work of him. The bodies slip down into the water quite dead. The ones nearest Fiosa and Zarabeta float with their backs awash. Its lung pierced by Marius' sword, the ghast sinks to the bottom.

Waifrin still feels sick. And will for some time :1d4 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8 minutes.

Dabbler, for future reference, is the ray subject to ranged weapon penalties firing into melee?

Recover your breath here or outside this room -- either way -- the party moves down the stairs and reaches a door, the only way onward. While Waifrin checks for traps, Fiosa notices something glinting on the edge of the pool. Walking over and reaching down, she picks up a ring. Wiping off the dirt shows it to be gold.

Waifrin opens the door to see:

The walls of this twisting circular tunnel are of smooth polished gray stone, shimmering with moisture and sloping downward at a sharp angle.

Yes it is, but I assumed if Marius was paralysed he'd drop and she'd get a clear shot. No matter!

"Now what a strange place to find a ring..is it Magical?"

Halflings finding Magical Rings in unexpected places..why does that sound familiar..lol

The ring is not magical, a mundane wedding band.

"This could be very slippery indeed. I really wish we'd managed to bring some rope!"

Fiosa looks at the ring. "How sad to think that someone was waiting for a husband or wife who would never return. Well, there's no time for that. Lead on, Marius."

How many people have taken damage and how much?

The moisture, the floor's curvature, the slope -- Waifrin is likely to be right. This passage will likely be quite slippery.

Ya'll should answer the cleric when she asks for status, else you might not get the care you need.

Without looking back, hogarth. I think the HP damage is light. The worst is Marius' strength damage. I could be wrong.

Waifrin is a little down, but nothing serious.

"Well, if we try climbing down we might make it without slipping...but coming back will not be easy."

Waifrin takes the small, glittering gem from her pocket and breathes on it, and a set of tiny legs sprout from it, and insect like it scuttles down the passageway, relaying all it "sees" and hears to Waifrin.

The psicrystal has a telepathic link within a mile of it's creator, can "see" to a range of 40 feet, and has a climb speed of 20. It will advance stealthily, letting it's maker know what it perceives.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"I am unharmed, thanks for asking... What the hells is that?" Zarabeta says, clearly shocked by the unnatural behavior of Waifrin's psicrystal, which I don't believe we've ever seen grow legs and wander off before...

I think she's deployed it thus at least once, but maybe she was alone at the time.

How about an acrobatics check for the psicrystal? Or climb would work too I guess. Acrobatics to stay upright and walk normally and carefully; Climb to scuttle crab-like.

Marius is down 5 or 6 hp I think..

Climb: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32 Having a climb speed is handy.

"Something I managed to make," Waifrin replies absently. "It's kind of like part of me is in it," she struggles to explain, then shrugs. "Either way, it shows me what is around it, in my head," she adds.

The psicrystal scuttles slowly down the slope. The bends in the passage carry it out of sight.

I'm not going to bother spoilering the psicrystal for now. I assume Waifrin' going to tell all anyway.

After reaching the bottom of the slope the passage becomes smooth grey wood again. Straight ahead is a short hall ending in a door. To the right a hallway runs about 30' before opening into a larger room with a high ceiling. A bundle of chains or lines hangs in the room.

Waifrin does indeed repeat what she "sees" through the psicrystal's senses.

"An ordinary passageway at the end of the chute...a ahead and to the right. Ahead, a door. To the right a large chamber, with many chains hanging from the ceiling. I'll look there first..."

The psicrystal scuttles down the right hand passageway to perceive the chains, and noses about to find what they might be for, if there are other exits, etc. still moving stealthily (probably on the ceiling, as it can climb like an insect).

There's a pit to mirror the soaring ceiling. Chains run up and down from floor to ceiling and form a tangled ball around humanoid figure in the center. A few chains hang loose, sparking and waving.

My laptop has crashed badly. It may be next week before I can post regularly. I will post as opportunity arises, but may be slower than usual.

"The passageway meets the room in the middle of one wall. There's a humanoid figure....wrapped in chains...hanging in mid-air in the the centre of the room. If we could use one of the chains...but we can't. There may be another way out. All right. I'll look at the door."

Waifrin directs the crystal to return to the door and see if there is room to squeeze around the jamb.

"Another Devil or some poor unfortunate held captive here" Marius asks of no-one in particular

Snagged the wife's laptop! Doesn't happen often.

There is a wide ledge around the right side of the pit and an opening in the far wall.

The doors have been pretty tight, but there would be room for the crstal to wriggle through.

"There is a way around the chain-room...but let's see behind the door first."

The crystal squirms into the gap, and halts as soon as it has a "view" of the room beyond.

"I would suspect that the figure at the center of the chains is either long dead, an outsider with no need for food or drink, or in some sort of magical slumber that negates the need for sustenance, as that arrangement does not sound particularly well-suited for regular meals to be delivered..." Zarabeta posits.

Beyond the door the passage branches. A rough natural cave to the right. Straight ahead stairs go up. To either side of the stairs, branching away from the hall diagonally are stairs running down. There is writing above each of the stairways.

"There are stairs up and down beyond that door. All right, I think we can risk the chute, it certainly seems there will be ways out," Waifrin reports to the others.