DM Sully's Kingmaker (Inactive)

Game Master Max Hellspont

From their hiding place behind the tree, Karthas sees Harther quickly look around at some unheard sound. The ranger signals to the barbarian by holding up four fingers and then pointing around the tree as he peeks around the side.

Harther waits for the four creatures to move away from the entrance of their lair a few paces, then he jumps out from around the tree trunk with bow drawn and fires at one of the mites.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

If Harther's heads up is enough for Karthas to act in the surprise round, he will move to block the entrance

Initiative:
Eseldra - 1d20+5=22
Berenkor - 1d20+1=17
Blue meanies - 15
Harther - 13
Rani - 12
Tyr - 1d20-1=9
Karthas - 4

Tyr's Stealth check - 1d20-6=12
Tyr's Perception - 1d20+1=7

Tyr hides down the hill opposite the opening of the mites' lair, and even lying in the grass anything that approached from the other side could see him from a mile away.

Eseldra's Stealth check - 1d20+3=21
Eseldra's Perception check - 1d20+2=8

Eseldra lies in the grass about thirty feet from the open, remains almost unnaturally motionless, and more or less disappears in the night.

Rani manages to scramble up about ten feet in the dead tree, and holding still manages to mask her silhouette against the sky.

Suddenly, Harther steps around the old sycamore and looses an arrow right at one of the creatures, striking him square in the back of the head!

But the arrow mostly bounces off, leaving only a small cut as a result of the shot that would have killed most men. He staggers forward a step, then turns, spots Harther, and shrieks like a tea-kettle.

Rani is the only other one in the surprise round, sorry Karthas!

Mwk Longbow (bless, divine favor) atk 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 dmg 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9...if you rule she didn't get bless and/or divine favor off then those get reduced a bit.

Rani squints into the darkness, says a prayer to Erastil, and shoots at the shrieking mite.

Rani is the only other one in the surprise round, sorry Karthas!

Not a problem....my fault for rolling like crap.

Gonna go ahead and post my Round One action, and then it's off to sleep.

Round One: Harther drops his bow and draws his greatsword as he moves to engage with the mites. He steps up to one of the diminutive creatures and swings his sword in a deadly arc.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 3) + 3 = 12

Good night everybody!

Rani's arrow goes right into the screaming creature's mouth and bursts clean out the back of his skull. He quickly slumps to the ground, eliciting new shrieks from the other mites.

Eseldra's turn, followed by Berenkor.

Also, just to note a house rule, if the enemy is reduced to negative hit points I assume they are effectively going to bleed out and die. If it ever become important to take someone alive and they aren't killed outright, then I'll keep track of negative hitpoints. Stops a lot of unnecessary number keeping unless the party is bent on taking someone alive (which you may be in this case). Just clarifying. Basically just tell me if you want to revive someone after the battle. If you don't actively try to use nonlethal damage you do run the risk of killing something outright as well, just remember.

EDIT: That was more confusing than I intended, but you get the idea.

EDIT x 2: Night, Harther! Also, I'm going to sleep as well.

"Hah! Deadeye rules! Take that, bug!"

Not that I want to cause any more trouble for us than necessary and I'm not lobbying one way or the other but: I always used to rule that if enemies were down they were out...unless the party wanted to try to heal them or something. Under Pathfinder's channeling rules, however, it becomes an issue; making Selective Channeling a valuable feat to have. I just wish Rani was better at it (as she can only exclude two).

Wow doesn't look like I missed too much in my sleep for once, just 23 replies lol. Glad the group went along with my ambush idea :). You guys are correct on the spells, I missed the camping post sorry.

Erm it looks like if we made the Perception check we get to act in the surprise round so...

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

In that case, Berenkor also acts in the surprise round, and begins to cast Sleep. As it's a full-round action, I will be using my standard action in the surprise round to cast the majority of it, then finish it with my move action in Round One.

In case i'm not here on my initiative count (but that's unlikely now; I have to say you roll ace for my initiative Sully :))

Round One Action

Finish casting sleep as a move action; ensuring I get all of the remaining mites, irrespective of party members. If possible I will minimise risk to the party, but catching all of the mites is essential.

If any of the mites remain standing, Berenkor fires his heavy crossbow at one as his standard action- 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14 1d8 ⇒ 7

"Hah! Deadeye rules! Take that, bug!"

Not that I want to cause any more trouble for us than necessary and I'm not lobbying one way or the other but: I always used to rule that if enemies were down they were out...unless the party wanted to try to heal them or something. Under Pathfinder's channeling rules, however, it becomes an issue; making Selective Channeling a valuable feat to have. I just wish Rani was better at it (as she can only exclude two).

I guess the short version is: I only pay attention to it when it is necessary. :)

By the way, here is a picture of one of the ugly little guys.

Just waiting on Eseldra's round 1 action!

Rani wrote:

"Hah! Deadeye rules! Take that, bug!"

Not that I want to cause any more trouble for us than necessary and I'm not lobbying one way or the other but: I always used to rule that if enemies were down they were out...unless the party wanted to try to heal them or something. Under Pathfinder's channeling rules, however, it becomes an issue; making Selective Channeling a valuable feat to have. I just wish Rani was better at it (as she can only exclude two).

I guess the short version is: I only pay attention to it when it is necessary. :)

By the way, here is a picture of one of the ugly little guys.

Just waiting on Eseldra's round 1 action!

Eseldra delays until she can see the results of Berenkor's inevitable sleep spell, then uses an acid dart. She tries sniping. Stealth 1d20 - 17 ⇒ (14) - 17 = -3

DM Sully wrote:

Rani wrote:

"Hah! Deadeye rules! Take that, bug!"

Not that I want to cause any more trouble for us than necessary and I'm not lobbying one way or the other but: I always used to rule that if enemies were down they were out...unless the party wanted to try to heal them or something. Under Pathfinder's channeling rules, however, it becomes an issue; making Selective Channeling a valuable feat to have. I just wish Rani was better at it (as she can only exclude two).

I guess the short version is: I only pay attention to it when it is necessary. :)

By the way, here is a picture of one of the ugly little guys.

Just waiting on Eseldra's round 1 action!

Eseldra delays until she can see the results of Berenkor's inevitable sleep spell, then uses an acid dart. She tries sniping. Stealth 1d20-17

Might need to make a Will save in Round One not to run away in fright at Eseldra's polymorph. :( Berenkor doesn't like lizards ;(

Under the compulsion of Berenkor, two of the mites drop into a deep dreamless sleep. One remains standing, and continues the high-pitched, obnoxious screaming while looking back at the entrance to his lair. He seems ready to bolt! Almost before his brothers hit the ground, a crossbow bolt whines at his head, striking his oversized cranium and bouncing off with a splatter of bluish blood.

You'll have to refresh my memory, Esledra, as I don't have my books at work. Do you have to make a ranged touch with the acid dart? I know sniping is firing then popping back into hiding, but doesn't the dart itself require an attack roll?

Under the compulsion of Berenkor, two of the mites drop into a deep dreamless sleep. One remains standing, and continues the high-pitched, obnoxious screaming while looking back at the entrance to his lair. He seems ready to bolt! Almost before his brothers hit the ground, a crossbow bolt whines over his head, narrowly missing his oversized cranium.

You'll have to refresh my memory, Esledra, as I don't have my books at work. Do you have to make a ranged touch with the acid dart? I know sniping is firing then popping back into hiding, but doesn't the dart itself require an attack roll?

I know I'm not the one you asked, but the acid dart does require an attack roll (ranged touch)

DM Sully wrote:

Under the compulsion of Berenkor, two of the mites drop into a deep dreamless sleep. One remains standing, and continues the high-pitched, obnoxious screaming while looking back at the entrance to his lair. He seems ready to bolt! Almost before his brothers hit the ground, a crossbow bolt whines over his head, narrowly missing his oversized cranium.

You'll have to refresh my memory, Esledra, as I don't have my books at work. Do you have to make a ranged touch with the acid dart? I know sniping is firing then popping back into hiding, but doesn't the dart itself require an attack roll?

I know I'm not the one you asked, but the acid dart does require an attack roll (ranged touch)

Thanks! Go ahead and give me a ranged touch and damage roll, E.

Under the compulsion of Berenkor, two of the mites drop into a deep dreamless sleep. One remains standing, and continues the high-pitched, obnoxious screaming while looking back at the entrance to his lair. He seems ready to bolt! Almost before his brothers hit the ground, a crossbow bolt whines over his head, narrowly missing his oversized cranium.

You'll have to refresh my memory, Esledra, as I don't have my books at work. Do you have to make a ranged touch with the acid dart? I know sniping is firing then popping back into hiding, but doesn't the dart itself require an attack roll?

Ranged touch attack yup- d20pfsrd.com is an amazing resource when running PBP.

Karthas you ninja! :O

Damn I missed with a 14? These things are flat-footed right?

Damn I missed with a 14? These things are flat-footed right?

Should be. When you fired your crossbow they hadn't had an action yet.

Berenkor Trandoran wrote:

Damn I missed with a 14? These things are flat-footed right?

Should be. When you fired your crossbow they hadn't had an action yet.

Wow these snivelling little blue snot weasel's really are tough :D

Karthas wrote:

DM Sully wrote:

Under the compulsion of Berenkor, two of the mites drop into a deep dreamless sleep. One remains standing, and continues the high-pitched, obnoxious screaming while looking back at the entrance to his lair. He seems ready to bolt! Almost before his brothers hit the ground, a crossbow bolt whines over his head, narrowly missing his oversized cranium.

You'll have to refresh my memory, Esledra, as I don't have my books at work. Do you have to make a ranged touch with the acid dart? I know sniping is firing then popping back into hiding, but doesn't the dart itself require an attack roll?

I know I'm not the one you asked, but the acid dart does require an attack roll (ranged touch)

Thanks! Go ahead and give me a ranged touch and damage roll, E.

Yikes! Mini retcon (see above) and thanks for keeping me honest Berenkor. My mind was thinking surprise round = first round but obviously not the case! But yes, these guys are actually kinda tough.

EDIT: Link bookmarked. Thanks for the tip!

Yikes! Mini retcon (see above) and thanks for keeping me honest Berenkor. My mind was thinking surprise round = first round but obviously not the case! But yes, these guys are actually kinda tough.

EDIT: Link bookmarked. Thanks for the tip!

No worries Sully, i've made the surpise round = round one mistake on this very thread lol :) I did warn people i'm a bit of a backseat DM and Rules Lawyer so please hit me with the DM smiting stick if I get irritating in that regards. Although I think you secretly have a thing against crossbows and enjoying seeing them miss Sully ;)

We have our two prisoners; don't let the other one escape! Berenkor yells

Not sure who goes next (maybe the last mite standing?), but here is my Round One action re-posted from above.

Round One: Harther drops his bow and draws his greatsword as he moves to engage with the mites. He steps up to one of the diminutive creatures and swings his sword in a deadly arc.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 3) + 3 = 12

We'll assume that Harther attacks the only mite still standing.

Went ahead and made rolls for Eseldra, going by the action she stated. Hope you don't mind!

Eseldra pops up from the tall grass and launches a dart of sizzling green acid at the terrified (but still nasty) creature, striking him in the chest. With a keening wail he claws at his burning skin and drops to the earth.

Eseldra's acid dart - 1d20+3=17
Eseldra's acid damage - 1d6=5

Combat effectively over. 90xp for everyone.

The two remaining mites snore happily, unaware of the situation they now find themselves in.

"Let's bind our prisoners and take them away and see what they know."

This should be interesting...

Harther quickly binds and gags the small fey.

The tightly bound mites and the corpses are brought to the stone outcropping at the base of the hill. The two creatures awaken, blinking sleepily and look at the party. They look at each other, then back at the group and start trying to scream, instead making a pathetic whimpering sound behind their gags.

EDIT: Fixed with Harther's simultaneous post. I ought to change my name to DM Ninja.

Harther breaks out the rope and binds and gags the two sleeping mites.

"Let's move away about a mile or so to question our prisoners. Let's take the bodies of the two slain mites to hide as well, and cover all signs of our combat here," the ranger suggests.

EDIT: Oops! I was typing my post while Sully posted his! Sully, I'll leave it to you to decide if my post is appropriate.

"Silence" Karthas roars. "Your kind seem to be able to handle more punishment than your size would lead us to believe. Tell me what I want to know, and perhaps I won't test those limits."

Intimidate:1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 4 = 15 The extra +4 is from being larger than my target. EDIT:looks like it was a good thing I had that extra bonus

As he reaches for his warhammer"How many more of your kind are down that hole? What else lies in wait below?"

"Silence" Karthas roars. "Your kind seem to be able to handle more punishment than your size would lead us to believe. Tell me what I want to know, and perhaps I won't test those limits."

Intimidate:1d20 + 8 + 4 The extra +4 is from being larger than my target

As he reaches for his warhammer"How many more of your kind are down that hole? What else lies in wait below?"

"Mmmphfh fhadhfhk shfns," says the mite Harther gagged.

"Hdnngad ashdfdie gfhsn!" agrees his friend.

Sorry...couldn't resist.

Karthas wrote:

"Silence" Karthas roars. "Your kind seem to be able to handle more punishment than your size would lead us to believe. Tell me what I want to know, and perhaps I won't test those limits."

Intimidate:1d20 + 8 + 4 The extra +4 is from being larger than my target

As he reaches for his warhammer"How many more of your kind are down that hole? What else lies in wait below?"

"Mmmphfh fhadhfhk shfns," says the mite Harther gagged.

"Hdnngad ashdfdie gfhsn!" agrees his friend.

Sorry...couldn't resist.

Damn Ninja Harther and Ninja DM :). Certainly circustances would have changed part of the action. Once we get them away, Karthas will intimidate them, then remove the gag of one of the mites. If he chooses to scream.....well it could get messy.

I'm sorry folks. I don't have a computer at work on Tuesdays or Thursdays and I leave too early in the morning to post first. I tried from my Blackberry but it really doesn't like posting (especially if I try using an alias). That's what I would have had her do, anyway. I tried to post that action about 5 times, but it never took.

No worries. Sometimes if I know I'm going to be around for a bit I get a little overzealous and post things I'm pretty sure are in character just to keep it moving. If anyone is bothered by that by all means let me know, and I won't post for you. It just means more posts when I'm around if I do post for you! :)

When the gag is removed, the mite sputters and stammers.

"Dere's...dere's...l-l-l-lots o' us doon dere. Like 'leven-teen or sumfin. Dis one not too gud wit countin'. Dere's udder bugs and tings, too. I dunno...I dunno...joo's gonna keel me izn't joo?"

The other nods.

"Yeah-yeah let dese one's go and we woon't bozzer joo. Nope, dese one's runnin far far far far aways from joo. Joo dudn't havva ta keel dese ones. Peez?" He gives a horrible, toothy approximation of a smile.

When the gag is removed, the mite sputters and stammers.

"Dere's...dere's...l-l-l-lots o' us doon dere. Like 'leven-teen or sumfin. Dis one not too gud wit countin'. Dere's udder bugs and tings, too. I dunno...I dunno...joo's gonna keel me izn't joo?"

The other nods.

"Yeah-yeah let dese one's go and we woon't bozzer joo. Nope, dese one's runnin far far far far aways from joo. Joo dudn't havva ta keel dese ones. Peez?" He gives a horrible, toothy approximation of a smile.

Directed toward the second mite"Your friend isn't so good at counting, or at least that's what he says. Maybe you are better?"

Directed toward both of them"Bugs and things? Not very informative. What other things?"

Berenkor remarks casually to Karthas We only really need to spare the life of the more helpful mite Karthas; as a reward for your recent bravery you can eat the less helpful mite.

Which one of you wants to draw a nice map of the tunnels underneath the tree for me? Berenkor says, pulling out a sheet of parchment and an inkpen meaningfully

Since formulating the plan I have wanted to play them against each other; fortunate we took two indeed.

Berenkor remarks casually to Karthas We only really need to spare the life of the more helpful mite Karthas; as a reward for your recent bravery you can eat the less helpful mite.

"I don't have to kill it first, right?" Flashing a sadistic grin towards the mites.

Berenkor Trandoran wrote:

Berenkor remarks casually to Karthas We only really need to spare the life of the more helpful mite Karthas; as a reward for your recent bravery you can eat the less helpful mite.

"I don't have to kill it first, right?" Flashing a sadistic grin towards the mites.

Of course not! Berenkor exclaims, shock written on his face.

I know you like the tenderness of live flesh. I wouldn't dream of killing your dinner before you eat!

Assuming you untie them for map-making purposes the two mites struggle with each other over the pen. One starts drawing, and the other gets in his face, yelling curses in Sylvan. After about five to ten minutes of bickering and scrapping, the two fey creatures present the map to Karthas with fear in their eyes.

Ok...this is going to be interesting. I need everyone to make either an Intimidate check, a straight Intelligence check, a Wisdom check, or a Diplomacy check; whichever happens to be your best. This is going to symbolize the whole good cop/bad cop interrogation meets trying to understand what they have actually drawn. Whoever has the highest check (we don't have to establish that until everyone has rolled) is the primary, and everyone else who gets over 10 on their own check adds +2 to the primary's result. Got it? Once that's established check every spoiler you qualify for.

DC 10 -

DC 15 -

DC 20 -

DC 25 -

Intelligence check: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

I'm going to assume that I'm the primary for this one, my intimidate is +12 vs. these critters. If someone else has a better bonus by all means take the primary.

Intimidate:1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 4 = 13

EDIT: Nice friggin time for a 1

It's ok. As I said, what I was intending since this is such a group activity was to allow you guys to all roll before declaring the primary. Looks like it will be Eseldra...holy smokes!

Looks like no one else needs to roll! Eseldra and Karthas got it on their own...and here I was looking for an interesting mechanic that would come down to the wire and BAM...Eseldra ruins it. :)

It's ok. As I said, what I was intending since this is such a group activity was to allow you guys to all roll before declaring the primary. Looks like it will be Eseldra...holy smokes!

Looks like no one else needs to roll! Eseldra and Karthas got it on their own...and here I was looking for an interesting mechanic that would come down to the wire and BAM...Eseldra ruins it. :)

Eseldra, thanks for picking me up on that one. The sick part is I've had a grand total of one roll of a d20 that was greater than 6 since post #683. Anyone got any suggestions for a different dice program...rolling die to test result 1d20 ⇒ 17

EDIT: ok...guess it's just an extended run of bad luck

EDIT #2: Sully, I see the -2 on attack due to cramped quarters, any effects to AC or movement?

Harther will make a Diplomacy check to Aid Another, since he gets a +2 vs. Fey creatures.

Diplomacy Check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Harther looks sternly at the mites, and tells them (in Sylvan) to watch their language.

Well, looks like that roll wasn't needed after all.

"Indeed. Those curses were quite vile," Eseldra adds in Sylvan.

There are several larger chambers, about six, stacked on top of each other in two columns. Of course, based on the drawing it's obvious that the positioning may not match up correctly but the room count seems right. The ceilings are never more than five feet high. Effectively a -2 to all attack rolls for cramped quarters.

Any additional effects for trying to use two-handed weapons? Since Karthas, Tyr, and Harther all use greatswords for melee, will the low ceilings hinder them any more than the -2 to all attack rolls?

"Now for the really interesting question," Harther says as he looks at the mites.

"What do we do with our prisoners?"

The small passages don't limit your ability to move or hinder your armor class, it just makes it a bit tougher to swing. No worse for a greatsword, so don't worry. I'll let you know if the area opens up and the penalty goes away, but just assume in their you have a flat -2 to attack.

Karthas, I use Invisible Castle and it works really well.

One of the mites looks at Karthas, mustering his bravery.

"If joo gonna keel dese ones, jus' don eet dees ones."

"Dese ones tastes like ugly," says the other, finding the courage to look Karthas bravely in the eye.

"Now for the really interesting question," Harther says as he looks at the mites.

"What do we do with our prisoners?"

Looking at the pitiful creatures, and then looking back at the rest of the group, "They have told us what we wanted to know. If left to me, I would tell them to run and know that if they do return, they will die."

Hooking his warhammer on his belt and then drawing his greatsword, "But, if they are to die today, I would hope to make it a swift death."

I assume that as a small creature I do not suffer these penalties? I'm about the size of a mite, albeit far more handsome.

Mites are cruel and vengeful creatures. These lands will be a better place without these two in my opinion. Berenkor says grimly, his hand on his longsword.