Curse of the Crimson Throne

Game Master stormcrow27

And...?

The air in this large room is chilly and stinks of the river, thanks
to a huge opening in the floor that drops away to the river shore
three feet below. Several pilings emerge from the waters to
support the roof eight feet above the floor, with mossy ropes
slung between them. In two places, rusty manacles hang from
the ropes over the water. Two fve-foot-wide walkways cross
the hole to the other side of the chamber, where a collection
of old cabinets, lockboxes, and piles of clutter are strewn
about. Chipped porcelain plates, a cracked goblet, badly
rusted silverware, an old wooden shield with a crossbow bolt
embedded in it, the odd dinged helm, and other “treasures”
litter the floor of this side of the chamber. Three tables heaped
with clutter stand amid this mess. In the southwest corner, a
wooden door provides access to a walled-off section.

Sitting at a table is Gaedren Lamm, old and leathery as you remember him.

Picture of Lamn.

Also hanging from the two pairs of rusty manacles over the water appear to be a pair of human children, one male and one female, both of which are unconscious but still alive. The girl has pale blue hair cut it a feathered pattern by a knife while the other, with caucasian skin. The boy has a darker skin tone with black hair, probably Vudrani or Qadiran in nature. The strangest sight is the ugly looking hound wandering around the tables, with no skin and gleaming read eyes.
Picture of Hound

Also, the door appears to be rather hard to go through for medium size creatures, requiring an DC 20 Escape Artist check to avoid spending a move action to go through it, and it will only fit one person at a time through.

Those the kids I think they are?

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Io squeezes through the door with some difficulty and releases her shield directly at her hated foe.

Yanis will wait his turn to get through,

"What do you see up there?"

Those the kids I think they are?

They are indeed the kids you are looking for. No mind trick involved.

Io's shield plows into Lamn and knocks him off his chair.

Corvus will activate the tarot card. What init are we on?

Still need inits from Headsman and Machaera.

Rolling for ugly hound and Gaedren

hound init: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Gaedren init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

I got an 18, in my last post, here.

Init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Map, initiative order, and enemy tokens placed. Albatross is up.

What's the thing marked with a C?

It's the bottom part of an open style dumb waiter that leads up in to A6.

Does it take up space or is the space passable?

It takes up space.

In a blur of rippling white, The Albatross takes a running sprint, blade ready to plunge itself into the heart of Gaedren.

+10 movement from tarot perk.

Once Io and the Albatross are through, Machaera dives for the opening into the room beyond. Escape artist: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Her angle's a bit off, though, and she scrambles through less gracefully than she would like, feeling every second as she straightens up on the walkway on the other side, taking up a defensive stance while leaving room for the others to get past her. That's assuming she can spend a move action to get through the door and split the movement from a regular move between either side. If not, she'll get through next round. In any case, since she should be able to see the nasty dog from the door...

From her position, Machaera assesses the otherworldly hound warily, trying to place it, looking for weaknesses... Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25 Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Once Yanis is up, he will squeeze through the entrance way.

"How did Lamm and his wolf friend get through there?"

Once through Yanis will step to the side, then notice the children.

"More poor victims of your Lamm? Did your mother not teach you to be kind to those around you?"

Machaera that's fine. As you wrack your brain, you recall nothing in your previous training that mentioned ugly dogs with ear tufts and gleam red eyes

Headsman is up, and then the next evil dog. Who knew there were so many evil dogs in Korvosa?

No time to post right now. Quick question: Can I climb around the dumbwaiter?

Yup. It will cost you a move or standard action used as a move to do so, however.

Does climbing around it take my full move even if my speed is 40ft as a barbarian? That seems like a surprisingly large amount of movement for crossing around an obstacle. Also, can I finish my initial move action afterwards? Headsman is looking to close as much of the distance to Lamm as he can.

Headsman rushes in, and hoists himself around the dumbwaiter. They needed to get the kids out of there, but making sure Lamm wouldn't use them as hostages was priority.

Climb: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

As he comes face to face with the old thief, Headsman recalls the days of torture and the years of living in fear; he recalls the frightened eyes of the formers lambs who joined his crews. He recalls the shackles cutting into his wrists as he tore them off the wall.

"Lamm, you old bag of horse dung! Remember me?!"

Headsman grinds his axe against the wall for emphasis, leaving a deep gouge in the wood.

"You know why I'm here, geezer. You've hurt too many people! Caused too much fear for my kids! It's time for you to DIE."

The last word resonates across like a bloodcurdling war cry.

You move to the dumbwaiter's space, roll yourclimb check (which is a DC of 0 given the obstacle), spend 10 feet to move around the dumbwaiter, and then finish your movement. Then you still have your standard action to do whatever (dance, fly, sing about seagulls, whatever).

With that clarification, Headsman gets within melee range of Lam with a double move, and interposes himself between the old man and the kids.

Singing with seagulls is a full round action...

Not with, about. There's a difference. It's a full round+swift action to sing about seagulls with them.

"See gulls? Seagulls."

On 13, The ugly hound in the corner sends up an unearthly howl that radiates across the entire fishery. Everyone needs to make a Will save. Io, you get a +2 bonus to your save due to the protection from evil. If you have bonuses that add to your save vs fear or sonic attacks, go ahead and add them in.

Will: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Heads has the Protection up, not me.

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Oops. Well then Headsmen can add it.

Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

-Posted with Wayfinder

Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Your strong (or not so strong) wills resist the howl's fearful cacophony.

Io is up.

I think you missed me, I go on 13 with the hound.

The Merlin moves up to the small doorway and peer through before moving forward. Seeing the hound on the far side, the vigilante takes careful aim on the beast and fires.

Pistol: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 4

Io, while she does want to wreak havoc on Gaedren, wrinkles her lip as she takes the more tactically sound option- rushing the hound, slipping past Machaera as she does so, she slams the solid steel rim of her shield as hard as she can directly towards this wolf's snout.
Power Shield Slam: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 6 - 1 = 201d6 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 2 = 12

Black Merlin's pistol ball slams into the hound, but it seems to ricohet off its hide. Io's shield slams the hound, but its solid mass resists some of her impact.

Hound
-7

7 Gaedren

Gaedren, shaking off his stupor, suddenly begins to contort and squirm, his body turning into a wolven humanoid radiating malice. He stands up.

Corvus and Headsman, you get an attack of opportunity. Both of you are also hit by Gaedren's aura of malice. Rolling will saves for aura for both, since people wanted me to speed things up

Corvus Will save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Headsman Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Corvus, you feel less competent in fighting Gaedren, as your parent's murder replays itself in your mind. You have a -2 to saves, AC, and attack rolls for the next 24 hours, or until you successfully hit Gaedren. Headsman, you manage to resist this aura with the aid of Machaera's spell.

Yanis, you're up.

Yanis will squeeze through the entrance way.

"How did Lamm and his wolf friend get through there?"

Once through Yanis will step to the side, then notice the children.

"More poor victims of your Lamm? Did your mother not teach you to be kind to those around you?"

Full round action to get through right?

"Being a monster on the inside wasn't enough for you, old bag?"

Headsman attempts to grapple the old man, profiting from the latter's prone position for leverage.

Current AC is 17 as ward and rage cancel each other out for armor.

Power Attack MWK Greataxe: 1d20 + 10 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 4 - 1 = 18Damage: 1d12 + 7 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 3 = 11

"How do you like me now, old man! Still think you can chain me to a wall? Still think you can smack me around every day? I didn't care once I was free, but you had to turn around and nab some of my crew, didn't you? You had to show your ugly face again and force my hand. Well here I am, what now?!"

Yanis will squeeze through the entrance way.

"How did Lamm and his wolf friend get through there?"

Once through Yanis will step to the side, then notice the children.

"More poor victims of your Lamm? Did your mother not teach you to be kind to those around you?"

Full round action to get through right?

Move unless you use acrobatics at DC 20.

Headsman, you get a +1 to your attack roll since you're over Lamm as he stands up due to being higher (since the attack of opportunity comes as he's trying to stand up). However, your axe skitters off Lamn's new body, even with the advantage of height.

That's wrong, GM. I'd get the +1 if I was actually standing on a table or something making me physically on higher ground. Attacking a prone opponent in melee from standing is a +4 bonus, which I applied on my roll already.

Yes I know.

I figured the +4 was there already. I had to look at the height adjustment again.

Yanis, you still have a standard action left, and I need Alabatross' attack of opportunity before we move to next round.

Yanis will then move up towards Headsman and the Albatross, keeping his spear leveled towards Lamm.

"Just give up now Lamm, you have been caught."

Well, that would mean that we would have likely been alive while we were being half eaten, but ended up drowning after the crocodile didn't finish us off. But if you want to be even more pessimistic, it could be our charred carcasses instead. There's only a few ways to die worse than burning alive.

Well, that would mean that we would have likely been alive while we were being half eaten, but ended up drowning after the crocodile didn't finish us off. But if you want to be even more pessimistic, it could be our charred carcasses instead. There's only a few ways to die worse than burning alive.

Being burned alive while listening to Starships' We Built This City on Rock and Roll and watching Friends reruns...

Or, as one of my characters in another game has recently discovered,

Then you've come to the right place! Storm has a long history of swarming characters to death...

Then you've come to the right place! Storm has a long history of swarming characters to death...

Dung beetle swarms for the win!

Orphan swarms? Please no orphan swarms.

Sorry for the delay. I've been fighting a sinus/cold all Sunday due to the 60 degree F weather changes in Michigan (that will go back down to 35 degrees F this week), so I didn't get a chance to post anything after Saturday. I'll get to the Lamm killing tonight.

I am in Ontario and yesterday it was 10 Celcius and today it is -10.

I am in Ontario and yesterday it was 10 Celcius and today it is -10.

Yup. North American winter weather is unpredictable at best.

Or, as one of my characters in another game has recently discovered, ** spoiler omitted **

That adventure path, along with the other two Dungeon Based Paizo APs, are pretty insane. It was a nice extension of Greyhawk into the 3.5 era, though.

Yep. Welcome to Canada. Quebec is just as silly.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I live in Michigan, so we get all the weather you guys throw down at us. Perhaps one day I will introduce you all to the wackiness that is Palladium Books's all in one game system's version of Canada (aka Rifts), where the Quebecois are now an independent nation and the RCMP are a militarized cavalry unit guarding the plains against demons shot through a dimensional Rift. Good times.

I understand all of these problems. I'm from Washington, but I'm currently living in BC. On the bright side, it's actually been quite warm recently.

I'm a Washingtonian too! Not so bad as long as you can keep the rust at bay. Gotta keep an oil can handy.

We had a cold snap that turned into a cold month and half. Nice and sunny, but below freezing for most of it. Cold for Western Washington anyway.

Well at least we all share the same weather, good fun

I'm just outside of Chicago and the weather mirrors Michigan pretty well. Although 55+ feels like summer after the winter months, so naturally a few are walking around in shorts.

Bosch has multiple offices in Michigan, although I only get to visit them during the winter months apparently.

So under the Black Powder description it says a keg(100 doses) causes 5d6 points of damage in a 20 ft radius. I'm thinking a little smaller. Could I use 10 doses on a jury-rigged timer fuse up against the far side of the building as a distraction/possibly cause a little structural damage?

Does anyone have ranks in Knowledge (engineering)? It might help with targeted destruction.

If what we want is a distraction and a little structural damage, I suggest an alternative:

A raging shouting barbarian with a knack for breaking things.

It's also less likely to injure a little lamb or twelve.

But, but, but, kaboom!?!?!

I can also pick up a few sundering feats via martial flexibility. PBP is an awesome format for conjurers, wordcasters, and brawlers.

But, but, but, kaboom!?!?!

“There’s supposed to be a big kaboom!” OK, so elves are from Venus Castrovel, not Mars Akiton, but hey.

Machaera does do engineering, so if we do decide to go with gunpowder distractions and that would help, it’s an option. It wouldn't be her first choice either, depending on how likely she is to miscalculate and the possible consequences.

Yes you can create breaching charges. I would also point out that the fire risk isn't going to be as high since it's water saturated wood over a river, old fishery or not. And if you get some silence 15' radius or a lesser version that taps it on a single item, the explosion won't even cause any noise. This is also where saboteur or bombardier alchemist archetypes come in very handy. And if you want a weapon that satisfies your need for smashing things and a shotgun, the thunderclub from the Dragon mag could work really easily, or a thunderaxe.

Oh wait, I keep forgetting I'm supposed to be the antagonist and not make suggestions. Silly me.

whoopsy, I was under the impression there was a small amount of shore between the building and the boat. This is what happens when you assume. Just on overwatch that whole time.

Sorry I've been down with a cold for Saturday and most of Sunday. combat map and your slaughter of Lamm will commence later Monday.

No worries. Being sick sucks. I'm a firm believer in chicken soup +2...

Orange Juice of Bodily Health.

You may want to hide secret doors on future maps.

Guys, let's not metagame on that.

Yah not too worried on this one. But thanks for the heads up.

So... Are we in area A2?

Also, is this what we spotted during our reconnaissance?

That is exactly what you spotted during your reconnaissance, sans the secret door. And you have just unlocked the door into A2, but have not yet entered.

Orange Juice of Bodily Health.

How about comfortable covers +6? I was able to get most of the way through my latest midterm today before the chills got hold of me, but it looks like the cough/cold I've been fighting off has finally got its claws in.

Which is to say, I might be a bit spacey over the next few days while I try to shake it off. I'll try to keep up, but feel free to bot Machaera if it looks like things are going to start to drag otherwise.

Hope you're starting to feel better, at least, stormcrow.

Vitamin C of remove disease.

Awww... I was kind of hoping for a surprise round, but I suppose it makes sense, given the knock from a few minutes ago.

Ah- I have two little rocks magically orbiting my head. Really, that just screams "Caster! Kill it quick!" Hmm... Maybe I should invest more in UMD, keep the facade going.

Also, Yanis, how exactly does the health-pool work? From my understanding, you can heal us at will with any sources that affect any of us, even when the first target is at full health? Do you take damage instead of us? Half and half? Transfer the wounds to you?

I can transfer your wounds to myself x/times a day or if you are part of my collective if you drink a potion the healing can be transferred to someone who needs it.

I can transfer your wounds to myself x/times a day or if you are part of my collective if you drink a potion the healing can be transferred to someone who needs it.

It will work with any source of healing, from magical to natural, so someone can rest and then transfer the healing to someone on watch for example, as well as cure wound spells, etc. Plus as Yanis goes up in level, he can transfer other powers that have the network descriptor which can be everything from boosts to armor to other powers. Rather then having to constantly spam cure wounds or channels, vitalists can enhance a group and not always be stuck as being labeled the party healer. Plus, they can cause people to have heart attacks via offensive psychometabolic powers. And the best part is Yanis' network can get bigger and he can switch people in and out of it.

Oh, that's cool. I now understand why people like psionics (I've never played with them before).

So, he's like Verizon?

Yup. There was also a versatile mind class somewhere that could do the same thing with telepathic networks for communication and skill bonus replacements and what not, but I never could find it again.

Oh, that's cool. I now understand why people like psionics (I've never played with them before).

Psionics is point based spellcasting. People get ornery about it due to bad anecdotal experiences due to the fact you can pump more points into a power to get a higher save DC or effect (if a power did 1d6 at level 1, you could add more power points to it and it could be 11d6 at level 11) and it didn't require game manipulation feats like metamagic or combat feats quite as much. Spells like magic missile under 3.x rules didn't scale. But what they didn't get is that the psionic in question can only spend as many points as their level, so a spellcaster could jack out a 10d6 fireball at 10th level and only use 1 spell slot, while the psionic spends 11 points and just used up potentially 1 tenth of their available resources. And lastly, some people think psionics/psychic powers are science fiction, rather then magic, which is BS, because I can think of a ton of fantasy settings that use psionics as their magic (Denryi chronicles, Darkover series, Blue Rose...).

For Dreamscarred press psionics, they created class equivalents that would allow you to run a psionics only based game for the Pathfinder rules set. Aegis can replace tank fighters/barbarians/cavaliers as they get d12 hit dice and the ability to create psionic suits of armor, and so on.

Just dropping in to say I added my avatar as a token on the battle map. (And am very grateful that I'm not first in line to meet those wolves!)

Where's the battle map? I only see the regular non-token-having one.

There's a link to a Google drawing under the "Campaign Info" tab.

Latest combat results are up. Albatross is the next PC in line.

Other PCs feel free to throw stuff at me, but doesn't the dazzled condition only give -1 to attacks and Perception checks? *Honest to a fault.* (Though I also want to make sure for spell selection and defense going forward.)

Grr, I always get dazzled and dazed confused

Yah it's -1 to attacks and perception checks. Oh well, he was distracted and missed. No big worries.

(Seriously, it's the first encounter. There are months of gameplay ahead....)

Oh, I know, just making sure so I wouldn't convince myself it worked one way only to be disabused of the notion (by teeth, claws, big axes, or some combination) when it really matters. :)

Hi, folks, I'm about to plunge into at least two weeks of heck at work (just how projects have managed to line up), so I might post a bit slower than usual. I should still be able to manage at least one post a day, though it might be later in the day than usual. If it looks like it's going to be any longer than that, feel free to bot Machaera to keep things moving.

Also, I just had to mention:

Another bipedal wolf with blond fur, leather armor, and wearing an amulet points a wand at headsman and says "burn in acid, false guardian of the streets! Your princess will never seen her throne again."

At least he didn't say she's in another castle. Is there some sort of über-rage that a genre-savvy barbarian can be provoked into by silly cross-genre references? :)

Yeah, but you have to eat AT LEAST a mushroom, preferably a flower to activate the rage.