DM Delmoth's Strange Aeons (Inactive)

Game Master Delmoth

Mara hears only what she heard earlier, very quiet rustling of footsteps in the hallway. Julius draws his rapier and whispers, "Alright, I'm gonna open this door. Based on the evidence, I think we should assume these guys out here are not here to welcome us..."

He motions for Mala to switch him places and then flings the door open.

Outside are what appear to be two very surprised looking guards, one gripping a spear at the ready, and the other launching a crossbow bolt at the door as it open. "Die!" she snarls as she does so.

Heavy Crossbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 161d10 ⇒ 7

"Woah!" Julius shouts as he ducks, the bolt whizzing over his head to smack into the back wall of the closet. When he looks up, he sees the two very angry guards readying to attack.

First up, the first guard and then Julius

The guard that fired the crossbow glares at Julius, and begins loading her crossbow. "You shouldn't be here!" she snarls at him.

"Hey! You almost shot me!" Julius cries out. He tries to assess their intents and the situation, rapidly evaluating all of the facts in front of him.

Sense motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Julius then takes a five foot step up and angles his sword at the guard's crossbow, trying to knock it out of her hands.

Disarm check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 Success! Initially I thought it said "11," but I changed some text and it must have changed the roll!

The crossbow clatters to the ground. "Ha!" Julius taunts. "That's what you get for firing first and asking questions later, right Oscar?" he shouts.

Next up, Mara then Oscar

"Whoa, whoa — survivors here!". Mara cried, stepping forward with her hands in the air. "Don't shoot, there's a child with us!" She slipped past Julius and faced the guard that had been holding the crossbow.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Trying to diffuse the situation and start a dialog.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Mara's attempts to diffuse the tension don't seem to have much effect. As she observes the first guard, she gets the feeling that the guard is lying about something, that something is not right with her.

"I said I'm sorry." Oscar mutters, keeping his bow lowered.
Sense Motive-hunch: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Failed. :/ Crap

Something seems wrong; they were attacking them after all. But didn't the guards send them out here?
No hunch about what's really going on here leaves him confused. Buuuut he's been told to stop shooting stuff. @_@

"Wait! Your guards at the barricade were the ones that sent us out here!" he shouts. "Let's just put our weapons down and discuss this like reasoning people!"

"Something's not right here!", Mara warned her new friends.

Botting for Mala to move action along.

Mala sees trouble brewing and hustles up to try and help diffuse the situation. "Woah there now, don't be hasty. We were just resting before continuing the mission you guys set us on."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
sense motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
perception: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Mala doesn't detect anything amiss and has no reason to doubt these are part of the guard team protecting the other survivors.

The guard with the spear makes a low growling noise and drops the spear, since he is surrounded. He then, in a desperate move, drops his disguise, his skin shifting quickly from the Human tones to a pallid, familiar grey. In the middle of his form shift he lashes out with claws, one to Mala and one to Julius.

claw to Mala: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 201d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
claw to Julius: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 281d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
confirmation: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 171d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Close but no banana!

"Zandalous promised us flesh!" it bellows. "We saw it in our dreams!"

Next up, Dervak then Oscar, then top of the round!

"Hey guys, he mentioned Zandalous! I think these guys might be actual shapeshifters!" Julius calls back sarcastically.

Dervak will delay.
There is nothing he can do until Julius moves out of the way.

"This is really not helping my 'shoot first' mentality!" Oscar mutters.

shortbow+pbs: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

-Posted with Wayfinder

Is it a free action for a doppelganger to use its Change Shape (Su) ability? Change Shape normally references Polymorph, where reverting to normal form is a full-round action. Would make this particular ambush tactic a bit harder to pull off; they would need to rely on the weapons of their assumed forms rather than their very impressive natural attacks. Or spend a round changing.

As the doppelganger hits Julius, he uses the momentum of the claw to allow himself to be shunted across the room, so that he clears the door for someone else to come in.

Blowing a panache point and an immediate action for Dodging Panache, going diagonally 5 feet to the empty space. Door is now clear for Dervak.

True. Ugh i have not been on point this week, had problems at my live game on the weekend too. Anyway, let me see.
We will have to rewind the action a bit.
The "guard" drops his spear and begins changing. No claw attacks, which means no damage, but also unfortunately no chance for dodging panache. Many apologies for the derp.

Oscar's shot goes wide, bouncing harmlessly off the wall above the second shapeshifter's head.

The "guard" who was holding a crossbow looks completely stunned to find herself disarm. She recovers as her partner growlw and begins to transform, and does the same herself. Full round action to shape change

Top of the round. Julius up, then I'm assuming Dervak comes out of delay.I have revised the initiative order based on this assumption.

Going ahead and posting Mara's actions.

Mara watched, horrified, as the guard in front of her changed shape into a grey-skinned abomination. She recovered her composure; her eyes turned completely black, and all the color drained out of her, including from her clothing. A speck of light moved quickly from her eyes to the creature in front of her, and it's head began to glow. She stepped to it's side so she wasn't trapped against a wall. Over the next few seconds, her color returned.

Using the Stardust spirit power. Guard 1 has -1 to attack rolls and sight-based perception checks for one round (as a supernatural ability, it does not provoke an AoO). A very weak ability, but she has no weapon and can't cast a spell without provoking.

Julius sidesteps diagonally to the corner, then stabs at the shifting doppelganger.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

"Man, I am SO out of practice here. This is ridiculous."

Dervak takes a 5' step, uses his Pugnacious trait (+5' reach for 1 round 1/day) and attacks the guard with the spear, to no effect.
Falchion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Gore: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Did Mara put her armor on for 15 AC? It isn't great against these things but it might make a difference.
Hopefully our dice luck will change for Mala's attack and Julius's parry.

Mara hasn't found her weapons or armor yet:( I thought she needed a melee weapon to use the Total Defense action, but it looks like I was wrong.

Mala feels his mind being pulled back from an alternate timeline, a second chance it seems. Not wanting to waste it, he stares at the guard adjacent to him and lashes out with his cane.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (3, 2) + 5 = 10

The nimble creature writhes around the attacks, but manages to twist right into Mara's grasp. The weird attack dazzles the creature just long enough for Mala to take off a significant chunk of it's flesh.

It screams in pain and then lashes out at Mala in retaliation.

claw1: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 151d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
claw2: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 81d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Next up, Oscar, then top of the round!

Oscar pulls an arrow from his quiver and fires it at the one attacking Mala.

shot: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19 damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

-Posted with Wayfinder

The arrow lands true in the creature's shoulder and it screeches in pain.

The second guard takes a five foot step, then strikes out at Julius.

claw1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 101d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
claw2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 211d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

The thing grins as it takes a chunk of Julius' flesh with it's second claw. "You thought you were so clever, knocking that rickety crossbow out of my hand!" it taunts Julius, and cackles.

Top of round 3, Julius up, followed by Dervak then Mara, then Mala

Anyone else getting a lot of fail goblins on the Paizo site today? Tried to post 3 different times with no success

Come on Julius, you can parry that! Technically it's supposed to be after the attack is announced but before it is rolled, but in PbP that's harder to do. So I suppose you should resolve how you want to run that.
Meanwhile, I'll resolve Dervak's turn.
The half-orc steps forward and presses the attack.
Slash!: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Chomp!: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Still no luck.

Yes, I will allow you to attempt a parry in your posts if you like, Julius.
But in true swashbuckler style, if you are successful you must snark the enemy!

Yeah, I do want to try and parry that, I think. How do you think we should handle immediate actions like this in the future? Best we figure this out now, just to set the precedent.

Parry: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Ok, wasn't expecting a tie. Who actually "wins" in this case? I think he still hits me, but I'm not positive.

How do they handle it in other games? My instinct would be to just post it ASAP; if an action or 2 has to get rewound, well that is just what we have to work with PbP style. Only other thing I can think of is set conditional immediate actions up in your regular post, I.e. "Will parry 1st attack (dice roll)"

Black letter text of P&R says "if your roll is greater" than the enemy's attack. A tie does not beat the roll, unfortunately. So close!

The arrow lands true in the creature's shoulder and it screeches in pain.

The second guard takes a five foot step, then strikes out at Julius.

[Dice=claw1]1d20 + 8; 1d8 + 4
[Dice=claw2]1d20 + 8; 1d8 + 4

The thing grins as it takes a chunk of Julius' flesh with it's second claw. "You thought you were so clever, knocking that rickety crossbow out of my hand!" it taunts Julius, and cackles.

Top of round 3, Julius up, followed by Dervak then Mara, then Mala

** spoiler omitted **

Anyone else getting a lot of fail goblins on the Paizo site today? Tried to post 3 different times with no success

Note: this is the first guard, with the crossbow previously. The first attack hits Mala and staggers her. The creature will then take a 5' step and send the second attack at Dervak. Attack 13, a miss. Still taunting Julius over there. The creature seems frustrated it can't take it's claws into Julius' nimbly flesh.

Feeling himself fading in and out of consciousness, Mala swings his sword cane with more grace than a man with a torn pectoral has any right too. With the flourish he brings the sword cane down brutally, swinging for the creatures neck.

"Let's finish the fight before we start gloating." Mala mocks.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Confirmation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (1, 1) + 5 = 7

"Wouldn't want the victory to go too your head before you've a reason to celebrate!" The taunt is followed by a cackle that sounds a little to ecstatic.

Mara took a step backwards to put some space between her and the enemy. "Hey, shapechangers, Daddy's got a light show for you!", she cried. Her eyes turned pitch black, and the colors around her drained away. A split second later, a torrent of clashing colors burst forth from her outstretched hand, washing over the dopplegangers.

Casting a DC 15 Color Spray. She will try to angle the spell to catch both enemies, while missing her allies. If necessary, she will leave one enemy out of the 15 ft cone to avoid hitting her friends.

Julius, you also have your turn to take.

Julius grunts in pain as his vision momentarily wavers. "Okay, that kinda stung a bit, I'll give you that."

He stabs at the doppelganger again, hoping to land a hit finally.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Unfortunately, he's too woozy from the sight of his own blood to reliably land a hit. "Ugh. World's greatest fencer, my butt..."

Getting kind of dangerously low, so if/when he tries to hit me, I'm gonna try and parry. I currently have 4 panache points.

My apologies for the extremely confusing and badly managed combat. I am changing up my methods and using a tablet instead of my phone so going forward, I should be much more on top of it. The following spoiler is a review of combat. Note that pretty much all the damage to the PCs has been rewound thanks to my poor attention to details there, and the only damage that landed has been on the second shapeshifter (the one that had the spear). Please forgive me and don't give up, this is my first PBP experience. Thank you for your patience everyone!

Okay. I think wiping all the damage is generous to us but the AP still feels horrifically dangerous nonetheless. So I'll roll with it.
Perhaps whatever evil force is at work here is toying with our minds, making us feel on the brink of death and then pulling us back...
Round 3 also had Dervak miss again. He has full-attacked twice and missed with everything.

Agreed. This is just a lot of misses, on both sides. Normally these guys are lethal but I keep rolling 8s and lower, except for all those times I bungled the action, lol. Also: Mara, your color spray is going to hit Dervak and he will have to make a throw. I tried drawing the burst in multiple ways but the only one that hits would include Derv.

Noticed on review that Derv had acted so I edited this post to reflect.

M1 Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
M2 Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

The creature to the side of Dervak manages to shake off the effects of the spell, but the wounded creature manages to glance up just in time to get an eye full of strange, colorful lights. It is so distracted, it doesn't even react to the nasty gash Mala gives it.

Blind/Stun: 1d4 ⇒ 2

ZandalousknowsZandalousseesPainandfleshandterror... it begins to mumble in a daze.

Dervak will need to make a will save. Oscar is after the stunned creature, then top of the round.

Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
"Hah! You are a true warrior Mara!"
Hitting as many of the enemy as possible, even if it means hitting some allies, is pretty Gorum-like and so Dervak approves.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. Oscar, waiting on an action from you to start the new round. Will Bot him by 6pm CST if necessary.

Sorry I forgot where we are in the initiative order.

Oscar wonders if he could take one of these guys crossbows as he draws another arrow and fires.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 1 = 18
damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Oscar has a difficult time aiming over Dervak's shoulder, and estimates on the side of caution; the arrow thwacks into the paneling around the inside of the door. A closet really is no place for archers.

The first monster (crossbow) hisses in frustration that it can't quite get at Julius' nimbly flesh. It shifts over a few feet to protect it's vulnerable friend, and rakes at Dervak.

claw1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 161d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
claw2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 141d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Top of round 4. Julius, Dervak, Mara, Mala, second monster (is stunned) then Oscar.

The monster's claws slash deeply into Dervak's neck. (Both hit for 21 damage.)
Dervak is at -11 and still up (though staggered).
He attacks M1 (taking 1 point of damage), takes a 5' step back, and falls unconscious (at -12).
Falchion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Even if he had raged - which I am trying to avoid for RP reasons - that would still miss, I think.

We'll never know :D

"Oh crap, Oscar! Dervak's looking bad, you've got that wand, right?"

Julius slashes at his foe once more.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Mara, saw Dervak stumble back, reeling from the creature's claws, and collapse. "Mommy, give us courage in battle!", she said desperately. What can I use to harry this thing? After casting her spell, she took off her backpack and held it by the straps, so she could swing it at the creature when it's back was turned. She backed away from the monster, trying to stay out of it's reach.

Casting Bless (Standard), taking off her backpack to use a an improvised weapon — mostly for Aid Another and flanking (Move), and taking a 5 ft step back. Each ally gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and on saving throws against fear effects. I don't think she can affect Oscar, because he's out of her line of sight.

She can cast Stabilize on Dervak next round; I wanted to get the +1 to hit out ASAP.

A Worried look crosses Mala's face as Dervak goes down. "S$@&! Dervak! Are you ok!" The worried looks turns into one of anger as no response is heard. "Just leave us be already!"

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Mala's slash is dodged easily by the grinning creature.

The mumbling, wounded creature crumples under Julius' pierce, and behind bleeding out on the floor. Julius you may take a move action if you wish. Note that you may stand in a square occupied by helpless or unconscious creatures without penalty.

Last up, Oscar

Oscar drops his bow and pulls the wand from his pocket where he had shoved it since that 'fake injury' guise was used earlier.

I have to roll this every time we need healing in combat until I know CLW myself. :/
UMD: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Crouching down, he taps the wand onto Dervak's forehead, the healing magic flowing through him and stabilizing the warrior.
Whoo max healing! Stabilized at -3.

The remaining creature carelessly steps over the bleeding body of it's ally and attacks Julius.

claw 1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 191d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
claw 2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 281d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
confirmation: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 111d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

I will allow you to attempt a parry or dodge against the first attack, Julius

Top of round 5, Julius, Dervak, Mala, Mara, Oscar

Parry?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Julius attempts to parry the attack, but he doesn't even come close. It's rather embarrassing. He drops like a rock.

I'm at -3 and dying. These guys aren't messing around.