Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

The Judge sits back and watches everyone else be paranoid.

Dren, On second thought, let's be on our way. Dren motions for them to go to the door and casts Sanctuary on himself, wiggling his finger at the skull and blob of as if casting the spell at the skull.

He looks back up at the golem, seeing if it starts moving towards them.

You cast Sanctuary on yourself.

The golem stands motionless.

just get all the loot items and get the hell out of there! Throw tihem in my haversack and we will figure out what they are a later

Curious. The Magister walks over and picks up the items.

Is there any reaction?

Yes -- you get to roll for initiative now.

If they all die, I call first dibs on their stuff.

One of the things about PBP: y'all can't see the expression on my face.

Last time I listen to you clowns...lol. I assume that is not just me for init since we are all staring at it?

initiative 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 :] It goes first...hopefully it was ordered to not use it's breath weapon in the lab...otherwise there will be a lot of destroyed stuff in here...lol.

Luckily it isn't immune to Sanctuary...although the way Doug is rolling it probably won't make a difference.

Initiative 1d20 ⇒ 7

Okay, so that's a big Will save: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Well, woo.

The golem seems to lean forward... and then it stops. It emits a faint chime, which is maintained, like a high pitched whine: eeeeeeeeee.

But it doesn't move.

Do I have the items at this point?

Don't move towards it or it may attack you.
Anything else before we are on our way? My protection spell will only last a few more seconds and we need to be out of here before that occurs. We can figure out what these are once we get below...or later.

Do I have the items at this point?

Yes -- you have everything that was on the Magister's body that survived his explosive demise. Whether that stuff is still in working order will require, as noted, a round or two of examination.

Hey, Jax is no clown! He was against the magister plan :P

Edmin watches the golem as Dren picks up the items. "Time to be leaving."

Tell me what you're doing, and I'll tell you what happens. Search the body, call for help, attack the golem? -- Dren, I assume you're using the Hat here?

-

Dren

Cуровую will move to the door, but keep an eye out for either the ice guardian or a Familiar. She casts Detect Magic as she moves to the door.

Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

Yes, there are objects in the ashes. You'd need to spend a round sifting through the ashes to recover them, and then another round or two examining them to have some idea what (if anything) survived.

Kindly note that Cуровую already casts Detect Magic and made a Perception check before she Bluffed the guard about 23 posts before Dren even had asked.

One of the things about PBP: y'all can't see the expression on my face.

I'll bet all the money in my purse that its more cheerful than my expression.

DM Why would the programed guardian be attacking the magister or his actions to retrieve his own items it was commanded to protect?! (Dren)

DREN READ WHAT THE MAGISTER SAID at the initial meeting with 'Cellia'. Do not turn this situation into a setback. Discuss on the discussion thread before you take an action.

DM what does Cуровую know about gaining command or at least a semblance of control of the guardian, of its possible responses to our actions and the limits of its previous instructions. It should think Dren is the magister.

Knowledge Arcane 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

At some point to during the search of the magister's rooms using Message to Edmin and Dren.

As we entered the courtyard where the men were having stew, I saw two people were coming out of the choir hall. One of them was one of the acolytes. The other was a young woman in blue robes with a gold sunburst. We have never seen her before.

The two of them cross the courtyard and enter a door in the base of the southeast tower. area 32 of the plans we saw

The colors are Mitran, but I do not recognize the outfit. Which in and of itself is strange, I should be familiar with all the major divisions of the church and its auxiliaries. This is either something obscure, something new. She may very well be a form of celestial called to aid the fort.

As the 'magister' we command the guard outside to escort the group where we want to go at this point. The 'magister' will come as well later. We are at a distinct advantage if the fort is not aware that the magister is dead, we can take command of portions of the fort during the bugbear attack. Leave the guardian as a surprise for whomever comes to fetch the magister.

We need the magister's spell book, and Cуровую cast Detect Magic at least a two rounds even before the guardian revealed itself. Dren should do likewise. There may be magical items that were NOT on the magister as well as valuable items of use in his rooms.

Cellia, Lady Sackville's Hand wrote:

'Does it recognize me as your friend my lord?'

"Ah heh heh. It does not "recognize" anyone, my dear. It's still on those few default instructions. It only will respond to you if you threaten me, my possessions, or this laboratory."

Clearly the golem does have preset orders which we can navigate around! And if we retreat from this room AS THE MAGISTER and guests and it follows us, that can be advantage as well.

Here are possible commands the golem will recognize from the magister.

The Magister chuckles. "So many questions! Hm... perhaps it would be simpler to provide a little demonstration."

"Hm, hm, let me see... aha, this should do." There's a small plant in a pot on a shelf; he plucks a leaf from it and holds it up. "Green and fresh, yes?"

Magister Tacitus turns back towards the golem.

"Arise!"

And the golem rises. It's even more alarming standing up. It... looms.

"Stand by," says the Magister (apparently still speaking to the golem). He takes the metal tongs from the fireplace and uses them to pick up the leaf. Then, leaning well backwards, he holds the leaf in front of the golem's face-hole. "This leaf. Destroy it."

I've been mulling over a question. Under the RAW constructs are immune to "all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)." However, Xen's Hat of Disguise works like a Disguise Self spell, which is a glamer. (This is a change from 3.5, where constructs were simply immune to illusions.)

So, under a strict reading of the RAW, it seems like the golem would be fooled. Though I suppose it would still get a Will save. Well then, Will save: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Well, fudgeknuckles.

Okay, the golem accepts Dren as the Magister. This does not mean that Dren can give it commands; the armband was needed for that. It does mean that it will allow you to search the body and the lab and take whatever you please.

And here I was looking forward to you guys grabbing the loot and then having this utterly remorseless engine of destruction following you until forever. Shucks.

Okay, you can search the laboratory and/or examine the stuff taken off the Magister. Note that Dren's Sanctuary wears off in four rounds. (The golem will continue to consider him the Magister, sure. Just saying.)

Perception to assist 1d20 ⇒ 11 I assume that is Cy, +2 to your perception

He had four scrolls. Three of them were destroyed. One survived -- a single scroll of Dispel Magic, caster level 8th.

He had two potions; both were destroyed.

He had a spell pouch, which included a number of interesting spell components, including enough diamond dust for two castings of Stoneskin. Unfortunately, diamond dust burns just great. Destroyed.

Magical cloak... yeah, you guessed it. Destroyed.

His masterwork silver dagger, on the other hand, came through intact. So did his set of keys. Of his various rings, four, worth 50 gp each, survived.

His metamagic rod (Lesser Extend Spell) survived.

His wand survived.

Do the keys appear to fit any doors or desks or anything in his rooms? We will take them of course and try them, after sweeping the roomd with detect magic.

Cy, the scroll seems obviously yours as does the wand. Do you mind if I hold on to the rod for the moment? Until we identify the wand we can't use it, although I can activate it blindly with a mishap on only a natural one.
Who know maybe he by some miracle made a second control armband...

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Edmin growls as he moves through the room. "We are leaving. Grab what you can and prepare to exfil."

At work, I will post in a few hours, please wait for me, I can Spellcraft but we may want to do that elsewhere but we are looking for other useful items and the spellbook.

I am distraught by the cloak even more than I am the armband, I look great in that color. Feeling really down and unhappy about losing so many items :(

I guess now we can add emotional roller coaster to DM's skills of running a game.

I guess its like a good movie.

Well, fudgeknuckles.

-

I am not well versed in the rules enough I was just going by what I thought seemed right, thanks to DM for finding the rule that gave us a chance.

He had a spell pouch, which included a number of interesting spell components, including enough diamond dust for two castings of Stoneskin. Unfortunately, diamond dust burns just great. Destroyed.

Magical cloak... yeah, you guessed it. Destroyed.

-

So did his set of keys. Of his various rings, four, worth 50 gp each, survived.

-

DM are any of the rings magical, and do the keys appear just for these rooms or are some possibly for elsewhere in the tower?

His metamagic rod (Lesser Extend Spell) survived.

His wand survived.

-

Dren, let's see who will make the best use of the Rod, but there are several clerics in the fort who will items and you have the headband, as well as the armband was most likely going to you. I am not saying no but I very much need that Rod too, perhaps even the Judge or Jax or Dren, lets discuss that.

The wand is his 'beloved' wand of Fireballs.

Spellcraft with Detect Magic if the Wand is unique or has special qualities and how many charges it may have 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

Who know maybe he by some miracle made a second control armband...[/ooc]

That would be lovely.

Players PLEASE read regarding our next phase, under spoiler for length

DM counting from the time we entered the room, how long has it been, I do not want to stay any longer and would rather be less than 15 minutes as the commander may send someone to fetch the magister or worse the commander himself comes to check on the magister's results.

What part of the fort is easily accessible from the magister's tower?

Spellcraft with Detect Magic if the Wand is unique or has special qualities and how many charges it may have d20 +12

Fireball, cast at 8th level. Seven charges left.

(Why only seven charges? Because he was in a couple of big fights with patrols over the border, and then he was also fond of flying over the border and blasting away at anything that moved. He actually did a pretty good job of clearing the area immediately north of Balentyne of monsters. Of course, in the last couple of weeks Sakkarot's army has moved into that area...)

See above post. We are leaving.

Perception: 1d20+5

Edmin growls as he moves through the room. "We are leaving. Grab what you can and prepare to exfil."

The keys fit several cabinets. (There are more keys than locks, though.)

Sir Edmin's search is swift but efficient. It turns up the following items:

-- a complete alchemist's lab (value 200 gp, weight 40 lbs, includes some rather bulky and fragile glassware.) Would give +3 on craft (Alchemy) checks.

-- a Cauldron of Brewing (+5 on craft [Alchemy]).

-- 66 gp in gold and silver, tossed rather carelessly into the back of a drawer. (The Magister wasn't very interested in money.)

-- miscellaneous spell components, alchemical reagents, gewgaws and doodads. None look immediately valuable. If you like, you could spend ten minutes and do a craft (Alchemy) check to see if anything interesting could be done with them.

-- A locked strongbox that was pushed under the Magister's bed. It's about 2' x 2' by six inches thick, and weighs about 20 lbs. The lock looks pretty strong. The strongbox bears the trefoil symbol for "magical hazard".

For simplicity's sake, I will assume that Edmin searches but Dren actually grabs the loot. (You have correctly figured out that the golem doesn't do anything as long as it's the "Magister" grabbing his own stuff. What it would do if someone else did... well, give it a try and find out.

Edmin is team leader again, so unless both of you object I will say that you're leaving. (Where are you planning to go?)

BTW, Dren's Sanctuary has worn off now.

Fireball, cast at 8th level. Seven charges left.

Interesting. I was thinking it would be caster level 6 with 19 or less charges. What's the DC for the save from an evoker's wand?

Also since we did not find a familiar as I had asked above, what was his bonded item?

Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

Fireball, cast at 8th level. Seven charges left.

Interesting. I was thinking it would be caster level 6 with 19 or less charges. What's the DC for the save from an evoker's wand?

Why would you think that, particularly?

DC 18 Reflex save.

As for bonded items, note that they don't retain any special properties once the wizard is dead.

Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

So did his set of keys. Of his various rings, four, worth 50 gp each, survived.

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DM are any of the rings magical, and do the keys appear just for these rooms or are some possibly for elsewhere in the tower?

Why would you think that, particularly?

DC 18 Reflex save.

As for bonded items, note that they don't retain any special properties once the wizard is dead.

Understood but let's call it a momento of sorts and it will aid for Dren's Disguise. And it could be used for a future component. Also I am curious. You have a back story for everything.

I assumed it would be more powerful than a normal wand, bump it up from 5d6 to 6d6. Regarding the charges I thought there was no way you would give us a full wand, and you said 'it was his beloved wand' that soldiers saw him use in action. Trying to read between the lines, I expected to see less than 50 percent of charges left, then take another 10 percent off for DM frugality leaves 20 charges. I still thought you may consider that too potent, so final guess, 19 or less charges. Yes I work in finance.

The keys fit several cabinets. (There are more keys than locks, though.)

-- a complete alchemist's lab (value 200 gp, weight 40 lbs, includes some rather bulky and fragile glassware.) Would give +3 on craft (Alchemy) checks.

-- a Cauldron of Brewing (+5 on craft [Alchemy]).

-- 66 gp in gold and silver, tossed rather carelessly into the back of a drawer. (The Magister wasn't very interested in money.)

-- miscellaneous spell components, alchemical reagents, gewgaws and doodads. None look immediately valuable. If you like, you could spend ten minutes and do a craft (Alchemy) check to see if anything interesting could be done with them.

-- A locked strongbox that was pushed under the Magister's bed. It's about 2' x 2' by six inches thick, and weighs about 20 lbs. The lock looks pretty strong. The strongbox bears the trefoil symbol for "magical hazard".

We can divide the items later, what can we take with us.

Brief question for the group. I'm not sure how rules work, could Xen Disable that trap? And we do have a higher level Dispel Magic, would the magister's own Dispel Magic automatically remove his own magical ward?

DM are any of the rings magical, and do the keys appear just for these rooms or are some possibly for elsewhere in the tower?

None of the rings are magical.

As I said a few posts back, "The keys fit several cabinets. (There are more keys than locks, though.)" To be precise, there are three (3) keys that don't seem to fit anything in here.

You've been here five rounds (half a minute) since the Magister died, four since Dren cast Sanctuary. As noted, I assume all three of you have been searching but only Dren has been grabbing stuff.

We can divide the items later, what can we take with us.

Well, that depends on encumbrance. You do have the haversack (assuming you haven't reached its capacity limits). Note that packing up the alchemical lab will take a couple more rounds.

Brief question for the group. I'm not sure how rules work, could Xen Disable that trap? And we do have a higher level Dispel Magic,

RAW: "Magic traps may be disarmed by a character with the trapfinding class feature with a successful Disable Device skill check (DC 25 + spell level). Other characters have no chance to disarm a magic trap with a Disable Device check."

-- that's pretty much the only reason for a rogue character to keep the trapfinding skill, BTW. It's almost worthless otherwise. But when you're facing a magical trap, yeah, it's pretty nice to have.

would the magister's own Dispel Magic automatically remove his own magical ward?

Nope.

One of the rings was his bonded item. There's nothing special about it now but, sure, memento.

Even with only 9 charges, a CL8 wand is very valuable. 50 charges would be worth 18,000. 9 charges it is still worth like 3240. And when used against groups of mooks, or rookeries, it should be quite helpful to shore up our forces.

Cуровую will grab a set of the magister's clothes for use later.

What is the most accessible part of the fort? I was thinking of Charming the guard for information but then he may be identified with a Sense Motive.

Best bet, as the magister have Dren instruct the guard at the door to escort the group to where we want to go. Then tell him to deliver a verbal message to the commander to meet either here in the magister's rooms or in the commander's rooms on a time we think we can return as a group. After that he is to return to his post. Until then the guard is not to let anyone in.

Dren then comes back inside and becomes Lady Dragville and we leave. Dren please take the three rings and any robes the magister had to aid your Disguise.

What part of the fort is easily accessible from the magister's tower?

You're on Keep Level 3 -- areas 40-41 on the map. (If someone wants to relink to the map every page or two...? That's probably a good idea going forward.) The single guard is at area 39.

From 39, you know that stairs go up to the 4th level of the keep (area 44). You have no idea what's up there beyond the layout of the map.

Stairs also lead down to the 2nd level (area 36). You know that there's a "Hall of Honor" with the names of every man who has died defending the Tower, captive banners, and the like -- that's area 34, which you go through en route. There was a modest crowd of people in there when you passed through -- a couple of guards and several dwarves. Your escorting guard moved you through, so you couldn't see what they were doing.

Above the fourth floor is the roof. Below the second floor is the ground floor (Keep Level 1, Area 31) with access to the courtyard.

Okay, you're leaving. You open the door...

Perception check for the guard: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

The guard's eyes widen. "Sir! Are... are you all right? That smell..."

DM waiting on the the others opinions of the plan please, they need to put their ideas as well as answer a few questions.

From behind the door, right by the 'magister'.

'Yes, yes! We DO need to cure the men don't we soldier!'

'The best medicine always smells the worst! And we need a large batch now don't we! You'll be taking some of this shortly, preventive measure and all that.

Bluff come on 20! 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26