DM Alexander Kilcoynes Serpents Skull PbP- Chapter 1, Souls for the Smugglers Shiv (Inactive)

Game Master Alexander Kilcoyne

"CHI!! NO!!" Ambroze yells as he sees his severely wounded companion being dragged slowly up the hill away from the party.

Thinking quickly, the gnome scholar begins casting a Sleep spell, attempting to place the spell's effect just on the other side of the top of the slope at the location where the vine dragging Chi passes over the crest.

One round casting time. Spell range is 120 ft; trying to catch anyone who may be pulling Chi up (and hopefully it is a someone and not a something) within the spell's 10-ft radius burst. Will DC 14 negates.

Marcus you don't spot anyone (and the perception check is a free action so you have actions left. The fall might not kill Chi but it would certainly hurt.

Chi in a daze, tries to get her orientation, but her mind is a cloud of pain and confusion. She takes out her newly acquired dagger from her belt as a last resort, as she tries to think what to do next.

Marcus forces himself to be calm as we watches Chi yanked upwards and delays searching for a target.

Still waiting on Gwen, I need superstar to hurry up damn it ;).

Raising her crossbow and taking a deep breath, Gwen fires at the rope/vine holding her friend.

I hope this doesn't kill her...

To Hit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Confirm? 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

I have no idea if that confirms. I hope so. I think.

1d8 ⇒ 1

Oh, for the love of...I crit (maybe) and deal minimum damage. Friggin' dice.

That is indeed a crit- I wouldn't blame the dice that was not an easy target at all!

1d8 ⇒ 5 Crit extra damage.

A bolt from Gwen's crossbow flies true through the air, as if guided by the divines themselves. The bolt severs the rope just above Chi, causing the Elf to tumble back down the slope for twenty feet or so before her momentum makes her airborne.

Chi takes two points of non-lethal damage and is also taking lethal damage from the last twenty feet.

2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4 Lethal damage.

Savarend and Tun'ada you are both in prime positions to catch Chi as she falls- both of you may make DC15 reflex saves to catch her. One success will ignore the 1 point of lethal damage, two successes will negate all the lethal damage.

The group hear the sounds of anger and frustration from above them, and a cannibal pulls himself to his feet and makes to run off out of sight.

Marcus you can take a shot- Ambroze by the time your spell is finished he will be out of sight.

While Marcus hesitates in indecision worried that tearing the snare would drop Chi 35' feet to the ground, Gwenyth acts.

Spotting her attacker, Marcus sights and aims a shot at his shoulderblades.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 221d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Edit: The shot is a good one and the broadfletched arrow slams into the savage.

Reflex save to catch Chi:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Reflex save 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Good thing Tun'ada succeeded.

Tun'ada manages to cushion Chi's fall somewhat but the fall still hurts. Her body utterly battered, Chi falls into unconciousness before Gewn stabilises her (assuming use of stabilise orison).

Chi is below 0 HP, -2HP to be precise.

The arrow takes the cannibal high in the shoulder but is not enough to stop him fleeing. Ambroze's spell is just a little too late to affect him and you lose sight of him almost immediately.

We need to get Chi up and move! Marcus yells eyeing both slopes nervously.

We're too exposed here and we could have company anytime now!

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

C'est la vie...it's just the luck of the rogue I guess. I'm just happy I managed to survive.

Fyi i'm waiting on the groups next move. Chi is stable but unconcious.

Suggest we get Chi mobile and keep moving forward.

Gwen moves to Chi's side, her face calm, but her heart hammering. Positive energy leeches out of her as she tends to her friend.

Kom tilbake til oss, kjære hjerte ... dette er ikke tiden din ...

3d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 4) = 12

3 uses of Channel Energy consumed.

Once Chi is revived and able, Gwen nods briskly.

Let's go.

100XP each.

Continuing on, its only another half an hour's walk to a T junction- the eastern pathway leading around the ridge up to the hut you spotted, and the southern pathway leading further south.

Tun'ada calls a halt as he has noticed yet another tell-tale trip wire of a snare trap. This one is akin to the others you have noticed across the island, rather than the strange guard position trap you encountered a short time ago.

Marcus looks sympathetically at Chi. Do you want to try again? I for one won't blame you if you don't.

Could we go round this one? That may prevent the cannibals from knowing we were here.

You could go work your way around it quite easily, this area is not as narrow.

"Let's work our way around. Who knows what other sodding traps these barmies have laid in this narrow ravine."

"Should we try to trigger the trap so it won't trouble us should we need to quickly move through here at some later time?"

Chi, opens her eyes slowly and looks up to see Gwen in a glow of positive energy, she smiles knowing the power Gwen is releasing will refresh her body and mind after the ordeal. The blood from her many wounds congeals, making her cloths stick to her body. She moves stiffly as each limb in turn is exercised, going through a measured routine to ensure that each extension functions sufficiently for Chi to carry on. The pain subsides as her broken body, bathes in Gwen's light and becomes whole again. As the light subsides, Chi speaks, "Once more I am indebted to you, Gwen. We shall get off this island together, or not at all." Her smile grows to a grin as she addresses the group "Thank you all for rescuing me from them, my fate would have been sealed had I been taken."

Chi, shaken continues with the group, "I will be more careful next time, there is still much to learn from Isharou."

Sorry Chi not sure what your intending- you want to deal with the trap or are you going to work around it?

Sorry Chi not sure what your intending- you want to deal with the trap or are you going to work around it?

Her confidence having taken a bit of a beating, shyly asks that they bypass the trap. "Tun'ada, if you feel you can spring the trap once we're past, to make our retreat safe, then do. Although we can always mark the danger with a colourful rag or cloth, so we don't step through it if we need a hasty retreat. "

Does this look like a trap that we could trip safely?

Cutting the tripwire with some kind of polearm or a thrown dagger/bolt/arrow would be safe, anything closer would be risky.

If slowly sawing it with the head of my longspear will do the job, that's what I will do. If not, I will try the arrow route.

Ambroze's expression shows his worry as he considers the implications of the savage that ran away.

"They know we're here now. They'll be coming for us soon. We need to get back to camp...check on the others. Then set up ambushes to get the savages before they get us...turn the tables on them..." Ambroze mutters to himself as his companions work to disarm the latest snare.

"Aye, the camp will give us a defensible position and protect our flank. This ravine is just begging for an ambush."

Tun'ada is able to trigger the trap eventually with his longspear, almost losing it in the process.

Will be assuming your still heading towards hut, update later.

Marcus points his sword at the south fork of the trail.

If they are coming, and not by the beach or sea, then it seems they will come from there. If we make haste around and up the eastern slope then we could lay a trap for them before they get to the camp.

Alex I'm making some assumptions from the map. Please tell me if I'm wrong but the centre trail seems like a choke point with the only way through climbing the hills or taking the breach.

Gwen's voice is icy cold, but a slow fire burns in her eyes.

Let them come. This island has taken the lives of two of my friends, and if these savages are the caretakers of the island, they will pay the price for those lives if they insist on further conflict. So yes, let them come.

Marcus stares at Gwenyth a bit shocked by the healer's vehemence.

Please excuse typos in my post above. I meant it seems like the only way through the choke point is the trail, the beach or the sea unless you climb. My preferred ambush point would be the bluff near the hut although that leaves the melee out.

Gwen's player is strongly considering an alignment change. However, it's not time for that yet. She's just a little angry.

65XP each btw, missed an award earlier.

It would indeed be a good spot for an ambush once you were up on the ridge- you were ambushed yourself from the west ridge. I'm going to assume your still visiting the hut en route to survey a potential ambush site.

Moving up the trail to the east while discussing the possibility of a cannibal response and ambushing them, the group don't spot the signs of nearby predators, nor the small black eyes watching them from the jungle to the east... Without warning three bright green lizards emerge from the jungle, each the size of a small dog and crackling with small sparks of lightning from their scales as they attack Tun'ada, Ambroze and Marcus with electric shocks, hissing fiercely as they begin their assault to drive the intruders off.

These things don't make attack rolls for electric shock but you may make DC12 Reflex saves to half the damage you take, to a mininum of one.

Tun'ada- 1d8 ⇒ 7

Ambroze- 1d8 ⇒ 5

Marcus- 1d8 ⇒ 3

Their surprise round is over... they got 17 on their stealth checks and no one passed although Tun'ada came close.

Round 1 Initiative-
Chi-1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Savarend- 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Ambroze-1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Tun'ada-1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Marcus-1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Gwenyth-1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Lizards-1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Ordered-
Chi- 24
Lizards- 22
Gwen- 19
Tun'ada- 16
Ambroze- 13
Savarend- 11
Marcus- 8

Map-Link

The jungle is difficult terrain, but the trail is fine.

Reflex save 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 vs DC 12

Marcus is lost in thought about how to best meet the cannibal threat and is caught flat footed by the attack. He does manage however to avoid the brunt of the incoming shock by stepping behind a small tree.

Chi, talking to Tun'ada about the threats they face from the jungle and these cannibalistic natives, is suddenly brought back to their current plight, by the lizard attacking her friend.

Knowledge(nature) 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Paizo won't let me see Chi's stats....ugh!!!(internal server error!!)...so Alex bot her, so as not to hold up play, I'm off to my RL RPG group now. She isn't going to get close to any of these creatures, fire arrow and move her general strategy.

Moving up along the trail (to -B17), Chi draws her bow during movement to turn and fire at Tun'ada's attacker, missing by a few feet.

1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10 Firing into melee penalty.
1d8 ⇒ 2

The lizards move to take up squares B15, C15 and D15 and all begin to glow blue with stored electricity as they build up energy together, releasing it mere seconds later from the central lizard in a massive shockwave of electrical charge that catches everyone except for Savarend. The lizards are completely unaffected...

This is nasty... good dice rolls for them both before and during combat, ouch!...

Gwen, Tun'ada, Chi, Marcus and Ambroze all take 28 points of shock damage, and 14 damage if they pass a DC13 Reflex save.

6d8 ⇒ (4, 5, 1, 6, 8, 4) = 28

Assuming they can act, everyone else is up.

Reflex Save #1:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Reflex Save #2:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Tun'ada, somehow still standing after the bolts of electricity coursed through his body, extends his claws and lashes out at the lizard in front of him.

Claw #1:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Damage:1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Claw #2:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Damage:1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

OK...um...alignment change may come via a new character...

Reflex Save: 1d20 ⇒ 11

With the smell of burnt hair, Gwen collapses.

Yikes more hp than any of us have as an AOE. Go go save

Reflex save 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Edit: With the smell of burnt hair, Marcus collapses

I'll happily discuss the nastiness of this encounter in the discussion thread once combats over, I promise i'm not just tired of you all and deciding to kill you off ;). Those who go down, keep your current HP and reflex saves in a spoiler for me. You'll need to make stabilisation rolls on your turns. Its Chi i'm most worried about... shes a goner on a failed save.

Chi attempts to leap away from the electricity, but your not sure how successful she was. She collapses, leaving only Tun'ada and Savarend up and active...

Savarend is up.

As with his companions, Ambroze collapses with the smell of burnt hair.

Both of Tun'ada's claws puncture the lizard's scales, the Ranger seemingly in his element when attacking the beasts. The lizard Tun'ada strikes hisses in fury at him, very badly wounded by the claws.

If these creatures are magical beasts, please add 2 to my attack and damage rolls. If it applies let me know, and I will apply it in my posts for future rounds, assuming I'm standing long enough to do so.

Favored Enemy (Magical Beasts): +2 Bonus to Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against Magical Beasts. +2 to weapon attack and damage rolls against Magical Beasts. May make knowledge checks untrained when trying to identify these creatures.

If these creatures are magical beasts, please add 2 to my attack and damage rolls. If it applies let me know, and I will apply it in my posts for future rounds, assuming I'm standing long enough to do so.

Favored Enemy (Magical Beasts): +2 Bonus to Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against Magical Beasts. +2 to weapon attack and damage rolls against Magical Beasts. May make knowledge checks untrained when trying to identify these creatures.