Darkest Corners volume 2

Game Master Harakani

Seven minutes hasn't passed, so yes. And yeah, she's got the same cloak still.

"Thirus, tag out and get healed, then switch with me again!" Diene rushes forward to pick up Thirus, intending to shield him for a round so Mia could heal him.

400 lbs light load.

"We have a suspect, downstairs at the zoo. Cages open!" Ophelia reports as she hurries down the stairs.

greatclub: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
lay on hands round 1: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 3) = 6
lay on hands round 2: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5
Was on 0 before the heals. laid on hands for 11 over the last 2 rounds (all his lay on hands) +19 from Mia, so 30 hp. Max is 39, so nice!

"Don't cut them!" Thirus warns, nodding assent.
Diene flies in like a rocket, grabbing Thirus arm and spinning him around as she transfers her momentum to him. His feet leave the ground for a second and he reaches out with a club to tag an ooze, then he comes down hard, but stable. He staggers a few feet away and heals a little, then beats the flames out on his head.
A second later Mia arrives to finish the job. Thirus stands tall. His hair and beard may be ash, but the skin beneath is smooth and undamaged.

From this vantage it is possible - if difficult - to see beyond the Oozes.
Constance de Morgan is all but completely sunk into a protoplasmic blob that is somehow, impossibly, deeper than the floor it lies on.

Further on a mechanical man with a giant scythe pauses at hammering at the cage doors to look at Diene. It tilts its head and declaims some words in the goblin tongue

ooze 1: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
ooze 2: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19
ooze 3: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
damage: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (6, 2) + 13 = 21 + burn: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 3) = 6
damage: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (2, 5) + 13 = 20 + burn: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7
free grab 1: 1d20 + 20 - 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 - 20 = 7
free grab 2: 1d20 + 20 - 20 ⇒ (3) + 20 - 20 = 3

Round 3! Everyone is up!
You come down the stairs to the entrance to the zoo. The gates are thrown open, and beyond lies a site from Abaddon. A large, clear, gently curving corridor lies beyond. Huge 'glass' cages bedeck the walls.
Twenty five feet inside Diene battles a swarm of beautiful, crystalline creatures shimmering with heat. Thirus and Mia lie just before her.
Twenty five feet further on Constance de Morgan struggles as a protoplasmic puddle on the floor swallows her whole.

you are at 0. Gate is at 15. Mia is at 30. Thirus is at 35. Diene is at 40. Constance & puddle is at 65. Gardener (which most of you can't see) is at 90.

Well, Diene is a small puddle of ash. Been fun!

Diene's dead and gone?

Opportune Parry and Riposte would not work in this case? I know it says to announce before rolling to hit, but thats kind of hard in pbp...I would assume after the first one hits, you'd tend to use it on either of the other 2 in a face-to-face game...

Also, it's a CR 10 encounter, or APL+5...and thats before the protoplasmic ooze joins, or whatever the BBEG releases currently...would have seemed kind of harsh even with a full party but guards can't be choosers I guess. I assume I'll be a smaller puddle of ash next to Diene next round...

Can we nuke this location from orbit? How would that affect our debrief rating?

All three of them actually hit, and I'd need a nat 20 to parry one of the thirties.

1d20 ⇒ 1

Nope. Diene is completely dead. Assuming an average damage roll on that unrolled hit, she'd be in the negative 40s. As it is, she's at -15 with 12 con.

Diene didn't so much fight the beasts so much as instantly vaporize.

ret-con power ON!

Diene is slammed back into the Mia and Thirus, her coat somehow keeping her alive through temperatures hot enough to melt rock. take the first hit only

The oozes tussle to get past each other.

party is at 0. Gate is at 15. Mia is at 30. Thirus is at 30. Diene is at 35. Oozes are at 40. Constance & puddle is at 65. Gardener (which most of you can't see) is at 90.

Round 3

Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

"Ghhhrrgg... About a sentence worth of goblin." Diene grits her teeth, on fire as she barks out one last rebuke, before falling back. Determination and fury in her eyes and tone, even as she is covered in flames.

Then she runs away towards her team as fast as she can. "AAAAAHHHHH PUT ME OUT PUT ME OUT!"

"Ser Thirus, we must fall back. If you insist on going after Morgan, I will have to go after you, and 3 of us will die instead of 1. Please, let us regroup, reinforcements are here"

As Diene prepares to withdraw, Mia touches her with healing as well before trying to pull the stoner-dwarf away from the oozes.
CMW Diene: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (7, 2) + 5 = 14

"Splash the oozes with water - it will slow them down even further. Thirty feet away from them are out of their intermediate reach, twenty if the water works. There might be opportunity to extract officer Constance still!"

Ophelia did roll well enough to peek at their page. Tried to give a condensed overview of the useful parts above!

Aka - they have 10' speed and a 5' reach, so 25' with a charge. A bucket of water/create water have a decent shot at staggering them which reduces the danger zone to 15' (partial charge)

"Maybe splash some at officer Diene too ..." Ophelia adds in a somewhat worried tone as the burning woman runs towards them.

If possible, Ophelia will attempt to circle the oozes and keep at least 30' away from them moving towards Constance

Didn't roll for the gibbering mouther

Know(Dungeoneering): 1d20 + 7 - 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 1 + (6) = 17

"Do you think they could be quenched if splashing them with water would impede them, Ophelia?"

assist Spellcraft or KN:Arcana: 1d20 ⇒ 10+7/11=17/21

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 - 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 7 - 1 + (1) = 21

"Uhhm. The Quench spell injures all creature native to the plane of fire, but it would take a while to completely extinguish the oozes. And ---"Insert yey or nay on the slow effect here

Castor moves inside the gate and quickly checks the situation. He stops a bit to the side as to get a clear view of the oozes.

"Isama, quench them. Quench them all!" he shouts.

He takes out a scroll of Merciful Flurry of Snowballs and casts it at the fire creatures.

That is 6d6 nonlethal cold damage to the oozes (surprisingly oozes are not immune to nonlethal) with DC 13 for half damage (too bad it is only a scroll)

Oooh! The cold damage will both inflict a lot of damage, and split 'em so that Quench probably can finish them. Nice : )

Isama aims at Whatever is left after Castor's spell cast and casts 'Quench'. That weird mechanical thing seems to be freeing all these critters!

snowball's chance: 6d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 1, 2, 6) = 19
reflex: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (9) - 2 = 7
reflex: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (9) - 2 = 7
reflex: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6
quench damage: 7d6 + 1d3 ⇒ (2, 6, 1, 5, 5, 1, 4) + (3) = 27

The Oozes recoil from the flurry of snowballs, shivering into five monstrosities. A second later Isama's wand activates, and they freeze into black obsidian statues.

Diene's flames seem to hold on a little more stubbornly, but after a second they too extinguish.

I think Isama, Castor and Mia took an action. Ophelia and Diene, do you want to go through? The Oozes now appear to be little more than a ten foot patch of difficult terrain. Ophelia - I know you stated an action, but I wouldn't mind a reinterpretation with the new situation, please. Diene, you were pretty much at Mia, so I'm not going to make that an action!
party is at 0. Gate is at 15. Mia is at 35. Thirus is at 30. Diene is at 35. Difficult terrain 40-50. Constance & puddle is at 65. Gardener (which most of you can't see) is at 90.

"Quick, how do we help Constance?" Diene delays her action, not eager to rush into more insanely powerful beasts. There's a challenging fight, and then there's instant death.

Castor is at 20. He moved before casting

Diene, not sure if you saw or if you were at minus 2 already from one attack, but I healed you..."As Diene prepares to withdraw, Mia touches her with healing as well before trying to pull the stoner-dwarf away from the oozes.
CMW Diene: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (7, 2) + 5 = 14"

@Mouther - Did anyone make the roll on it? If so, would they be willing to tell us what to expect? Else we could simply advance and stab ... : )

Seeing the oozes turned to glass, Ophelia makes her way forward towards Constance. She wasn't sure exactly *what* that puddle was, but a name came to the back of her mind. But that doesn't help overly much...

"I think the creature is preoccupied with eating officer Constance. We could probably approach!"

Double move puts Ophelia 50' ahead (40' normal then 10' double costed movement)

Finally found my rolls regarding the creatures:

Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 Gibbering Mouthers
Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23 crystalline magma ooze
Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 Otyugh
Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 Hounds of Tindalos - I should have rolled (planes) instead for a total of 15

And here is the post with GM's info: Zoo inhabitants

"I just know that creature is some kind of protean blob of flesh that screams insanely and spits acid. Anybody knows more about it?" Castor asks quickly.

I just checked and I am afraid nobody rolled 20 for this creature. Although I am a bit confused about Ophelia's rolls ;-)

"We should proceed quickly but cautiously" he adds.

This place ain't natural sir. Dont' know anything about any of these things Isama says from right next to Castor

Isama is at 20 as well. Pretty much right with Castor

start is at 0.
Gate is at 15.
Isama and Castor are at 20.
Mia is at 35.
Thirus is at 30.
Diene is at 35.
Difficult terrain 40-50.
Ophelia is at 50.
Constance & puddle is at 65.
Gardener (which most of you can now see) is at 90.
Init: Castor, Isama, Mia, Diene, Thirus, Mouther, Constance, Gardener

Diene, you're up.

Diene'll charge gardener, if it's a straight line.

Wham?: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25
Wham!: 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

AC 14, 14 HP (yes, Mia, Diene was already hurt pretty good), here's my parry, assuming I am attacked. Last Rage and last Panache. Reckless Abandon on.

Anti-Wham: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
I can't parry anything... :(

That's unexpected. Ok - Corridoor curves a little (the reason for the sight restriction), but is close enough. There's a Large Mouther in your way (will need Acrobatics to avoid AoO), but more importantly you can't normally charge over difficult terrain. I guess given they're only ten feet you could jump them, which is another acrobatics roll.
Summary:
* Acrobatics DC 16 to jump the Oozes (10 foot long, 4 foot high)
* Acrobatics DC GM's CMD (18) to avoid AoO
* Surprise Acrobatics roll to jump softened ground DC 10 & Reflex 10
Assuming that goes okay, first wham will hit. Roll for damage. Is the attack a nonmagical bludgeoning?
What is the second wham for?
Edit: Wow - you've had some terrible rolls lately :(

Dragon style allows me to charge through difficult terrain.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Oh - the second Wham is the damage - sorry saw it as a d20 for some reason.
AoO
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
grab: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
As your CMD is 22 (20 for charging, I think), you're good to go
Diene rushes past the gibbering horror, slipping a little when the marble-veneered floor gives like wed mud.
In a flash the protoplasmic horror latches on to Diene with a single mouth, but she pushes on and the teeth are ripped out of the amorphous attacker.
A second later she lands a blow on the Gardener, rocking it backward.

The Sergeant roars and races forward to the start of the glass.

Thirus runs forward, slipping over the glass but still reaching the Mouther.
The Mouther screams a cacophony of maddening sound. All creatures other than gibbering mouthers within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or be confused for 1 round.
It then lurches towards Thirus, hissing and spitting as it bites with multiple mouths.
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
bite confirm: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 6) + 4 = 14

The Gardener backs away from Diene, looking almost puzzled, once again speaking in goblin

Will You or Won't you?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

A manservant appears at the far end of the hall
"The fire is out", he announces."

start is at 0.
Gate is at 15.
Isama and Castor are at 20.
Mia is at 35.
Sergeant is at 30.
Difficult terrain 40-50.
Ophelia is at 50.
Thirus is at 55.
Constance & puddle is at 60.
Diene is at 85.
Gardener (which most of you can now see) is at 90.
Init: Castor, Isama, Mia, Diene, Sergeant, Thirus, Mouther, Constance, Gardener

Whamy Wham: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 121d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Nonmagical Bludgeoning: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

AC 16

I'm not even on the initiative list : /

Sorry Ophelia! You're up!
Diene hits home on the Gardener.

Yey :D

Finding herself face to face with the blobbing mess, she barely has time to duck as Diene flies past. After a quick confused blink at the red blur, she realizes that the mouther too seems focused on it. Seeking to maximize the opportunities given, she circles around and tries to stab the creature in the 'back', whatever that was.

Move-action to attempt to circle the blob, 30' might not be enough to flank it with Thirus. Then standard action to stab!

To Hit: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 7 + 2 = 29

Crit? Even possible against this thing?: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 2 = 15

+2 to hit if flanking is possible and speed is enough!

Damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Damage, if crit possible and 15/17 is enough: 2d8 + 20 ⇒ (3, 8) + 20 = 31

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19 Nearly forgot this one, pew!

Mia lets lose a bolt against the...Thing eating DeMorgan, then rushes forward as she see's Diene run past and Thirus charging.
Suicide Squad...damn right this seems a suicide squad...what happened to slow and steady-

Will Save DC 13: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Swift Action: Activate Archeologists Luck
Standard Action: Shoot at Gibbering Mouther
Attack : 1d20 + 9 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 3 - 4 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 3 = 5

Move action: Try to move forward, past the difficult terrain, and if applicable, the mouther, trying to come at it from the other side to provide a flank for thirus and ophelia, or have the option to reach Diene if she gets downed...and being very careful not to look at the Cage with the Hounds.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 8 + 3 = 18

Will Save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Ignoring the insanely distorted scream from the puddle Isama moves forward as fast as she can, replacing the wand of Quench with her trusty scimitar.

Double Move. With the difficult terrain I think that gets her to 50

Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
1d100 ⇒ 22 01–25 Act normally

Castor feels his thoughts are muddled by the scream, so he shouts the first thing that comes to his mind.

"Let's try to get the construct unbroken. And it is resistant to non-magical weapons!"

He moves closer to the action and unleashes hell...

Burning Arc: 5d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 2, 6, 3) = 18 Reflex DC 18, G. Mouther

I'm so sorry, Ophelia. Amorphous beings are immune to crits. Still, 15 damage is quite good!
Ophelia circles to next to the Struggling mouther (next turn can go to flanking with 5') and stabs straight through where the 'brain' would be. The blade sinks home and rips free - the soft flesh stretching like taffy - and the flesh rejoins quickly. DR/Bludgeoning. 10 points of damage.
Mia's bolt strikes home in an eye, and is quickly sucked into the creature. Quickly she advances, up to the very borders of the creature.

The sergeant advances. There's no difficult ethical questions here. Just a simple good-vs-evil. He raises his symbol high, calls upon Iomedae - and nothing happens.
Thirus, on the other hand, is in his element, pushing forward into the creature with his club. moving to get flanking with Ophelia

The creature reacts, furiously, ejecting the still, skinless, pallid form of Constance as it turns its attention on the dwarf, crawling snapping and snarling up his club and starting to engulf his form.
"Go!" snaps the Stonelord.

Meanwhile the now cracked gardener reels from Diene's blow, then turns and strikes the lock once more. With a CRACK the lock falls off. Nothing now holds closed the door to the Hounds of Time, save a fragile looking ornate handle.
Is an action to open door. Door opens onto the fight. Door can be blocked by leaning on it, but then the leaner loses dex to AC (like dangling on a rope).

Round 5

Castor moves toward the gardener, avoiding the mouther. He takes out a scroll and utters a short arcane phrase, pointing at Diene and making her a bit larger Enlarge Person.

"Sergeant, you might want to keep the dwarf healthy. Mr. Thirus, please keep that thing occupied. Everybody else, keep the perpetrator away from the cage, keep the cage closed and if you happen to find the broken lock, hold it back where it kept the door locked. I can repair it. Let's remain steady but be fast this time." he pauses and then continues quickly. "The perpetrator may be able to use a black ray of negative energy that suppresses the life force of any living creature it strikes, it might also try to claw you, grab you and crush you. Do not try nonlethal attack, it would be useless, try to restrain it physically or mentally. If all else fails, destroy it, just do not harm the mask."

Enlarge Person spell description including increased weapon damage

Round 5

Isama is in Medium armor so probably can't make any sort of fancy flip past the puddle. So she'll stop at 55 in Round 4. Enough space for three I hope?

Muttering a quick chant she casts a Hydraulic Push at the Gardener. Casting defensively

Concentration check cast defensively against DC17: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
Hydraulic Push BullRush Combat Maneuver: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Welp.

I already had a size bonus to strength..