FIND A KEY...TEMPT FATE ITSELF (Inactive)

Game Master Gilthanis

Mr Stinger does as commands. He goes back to its master and relays its feelings. It tells you it is anxious and nervous. As far as "number" of enemies, cannot say. It heard commotion/fighting/noise coming from somewhere down the tunnel/hallway heading towards the next "level".

will try to get the 3rd section up, should you wish to go that route or "clear" this current level. Whichever you guys decide to do, I have content available :)

"There's some kind of commotion coming from the lower levels. Possibly combat, but Mister Stinger is vague on the details. The way ahead seems clear, however."

Lets move forward then. We can repeat what we did at the previous intersection...Marvin moves forward and secures the eastern approach while Thorakiz and Dolgrin move into the northern room (area 11). Binx and I hold the centre, ready to support whichever direction is needed.

"Sounds like a plan."

Dolgrin moved up with Thorakiz to inspect the northern room.

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Moved us all on the map according to the plan. I've also noticed that Thorakiz hasn't updated his HP after being cured. He should be at 11 HP currently. I'm just stating this because it might be relevant if we get into another fight ;)
Dolgrin's Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Cannot get map tool program to work so "level 3" when I get there might have to be winged

The group goes forth in their exploration, avoiding the mass commotion for the time being. They travel north, into a 20 x 20 cavern. In the western corner, there lies 2 skeletal structures, jumbled together in a messy pile of bones. There is nothing else of note in the room.

I just remembered something I tried in the first Dungeon Level. :-)

"Rise, bones! If there is any life left in you!"

Channel to Command Undead. Will DC 12 to resist. Affects 1 HD.

That's also an option. :D
Hearing Binx' words, Dolgrin took a defensive stance, not wanting to be caught off guard by some skeletons.
Dolgrin goes into total defense and takes position in front of Thorakiz. To make certain he would be the first to get attacked if skeletons do rise .... and still feel like attacking us ;)

Binx, calls forth his dark powers, in an attempt to control them should they be evil tainted skeletons. After a few moments, both skeletons stir to life. Both skeletons, are wreathed in flame, wielding shoddy quality scimitars. The enemy, closest to Dolgrin, stands there, stupefied. The other one, lunges forward in an attempt to attack the living body it loathes to this day. skeleton 'a' is under command undead while 'b' is free to harm...know religion if you got it :)

will DC 12: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 81d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

scimitar: 1d20 ⇒ 151d6 ⇒ 61d6 ⇒ 4 first d6 is scimitar, 2nd is fire damage

Dolgrin, surprise round after this if you wish

Dolgrin: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14
Ebenezer: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Marvin: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Thackery: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Thorakiz: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Skeleton 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Init track:
enemy(s)
party

The skeletons, rise to life, but only one is able to attack the living they have come to despise. The skeleton swings, but the dwarf's armor and hardy defenses.

assuming skeleton still stands after Dolgrin's surprise round action if any

The skeleton, manages to catch the party by surprise, and it takes another violent swing at the living.

scimitar vs AC 21: 1d20 ⇒ 151d6 ⇒ 41d6 ⇒ 6

Init track: round 1

skeleton< attacked
dol<
eb<
marv<
binx<
thor<

Lol, didn't expect that to actually work. It's such a low DC. :-)

Binx points at his new servant. "Go stand in the corner!"

EDIT: Know(religion): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

These are burning skeleton, same stats for a regular skeleton except as follows: replace cold immune with fire immune; vulnerable to cold damage; attacks (natural or weapon) deal 1d6 fire of hit; and when they die they go BOOM

Eb shields his eyes from the fiery skeletons, and casts guidance on Thorakiz, Then steps back a few paces to give the melee types room to do their thing.

I took the liberty of moving my new undead friend on the map.

Suprise round

knowledge(religion): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
"Burning skeletons? Get out of their reach, they explode when destroyed!"
With those words Dolgrin tried to focus the creatures attention on him while leading it away from the rest of the group.
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Dolgrin will 5-foot step from position south of the skeleton, to south east keeping up Total defense. (I've put little tokens on the map to represent the actions I'm describing in this post, so it's still visible. After you've seen what happened you can take them away)

Round 1
Dolgrin waited for Thorakiz to take a step back. When Thorakiz stepped back, Dolgrin followedand let out another bolt of acid, while saying to the rest of the group "Shoot it now!"

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Thorakiz takes a step back, readying an attack if the creature isn't down after everyone's actions. At which point Dolgrin will also take a 5-foot step and do his acid dart power.
Acid dart (ranged touch attack): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 121d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
I hope I'm not taking to much liberty with this, but I believe that Thorakiz would try to avoid taking damage due to our limited healing abilities left ...

his int is 6, but has wis 15, that seems fair to me. He would have common sense as not to cause himself harm by a suicide skeleton...hit a long day ahead of me/traveling for retail training...will update when I return home

Marvin, does as instructed, knowing that his allies won't take damage. He loads a blunt arrow and lets it fly hoping to destroy it once and for all.

Marvin bow: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 221d8 ⇒ 3

Marvin's arrow strikes as Dolgrin acid bolt hits the skull. The two combined attacks cause the skeleton to collapse upon itself, erupting in an explosion of fire and ash. Luckily the group is clear of the space directly near the creature and isn't burned in the process.

Binx, the spell lasts for 2 minutes as per the spell command undead, assuming I read the spell right. Are you going to try to use the minion or simply let the ranged folks take a shot at it?

The ability's actually a bit unclear, so I could use a GM ruling. I have the feat Command Undead. The text says it's like control undead (lasts 1min/level) but also says "intelligent undead receive a new saving throw each day to resist your command." To me, this implies it's actually based on the spell command undead (lasts 1day/level). Vagueness is fun. :-( I'm posting from my phone at work, so I can't linkify anything for you, but I'll add the relevant URLs later if needed.

I have thought it over, and I am going to rule it is as per the spell "Command Undead" so 1 day/level, no save for stupid undead, and any threatening action will auto break the spell...besides the save isn't super high and if I ever throw smart undead then I get possible multi-saves so I don't view it as game broken or anything...THE DC IS 10+2+WIS/CHA

That's more than fair, DM. You've far surpassed my hopes. :-) Don't worry about abuse, by the way. I've played in campaigns with miniomancers and know full well the hassle they bring to the table. Any undead I take over or create are expendable meatshields/trapfinders/flank buddies. I'm going the battlefield control/party buffer route, so don't worry about gamebreaking zombie hordes or anything of that nature. :-)

"Are you certain the thing is under your control?", Dolgrin asked now that the first skeleton was destroyed and the other seemed to be in no hurry to attack them.

The group, with some tactics, and a hearty dwarf, manage to destroy one firey suicidal skeleton, while Binx manages to exude an unnatural aura and control the other non-intelligent skeleton. Binx tells it to go stand in the corner, and does so.

COMBAT OVER...where to know y'all

Eb looked dubiously between the burning skeleton and Binx, frowning but saying nothing. Instead, he moves into the cavern and looks about for anything the others might have missed.

Do a quick search of area 11
perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Suggest we repeat with area 12, maybe send in the skeleton first, or set it to guard the approach to the next level.

"I suggest continuing our search. Binx, can that thing guard the corridor to the south?"

moving to room 12 and checking it out while skeleton guards corridor to the south is what I suggest

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"Naturally! While I'll have to renew my domination spell in a few days, in the meantime, it will serve me faithfully and unquestioningly. It's not particularly intelligent, unfortunately, so it would be best suited as an advance scout. It's light will attract attention, and it's too stupid to avoid any traps that may be ahead."

If there's no objections, I'll send him ahead into room 12 - keeping it around 15ft ahead of the party.

Ebenezer, not thrilled about the manner in which the combat was handled, nonetheless was satisfied that none of his adventuring companions were injured. After Binx, was nice enough to command his new minion to leave the room, Eb gave it a quick look around. He scanned the room, starting in the northwest corner, but not finding anything. He did however notice, a small chest, buried and covered in rubble in the northeastern corner of the room.

The chest looks to be simply made, with a lock in the front...what to do?

Ah, Marvin, can you check this chest - make sure its safe to open? Wouldn't want it exploding on us like our boney friends now would we?

"Sure thing. I'll give it a once over. "

perception for traps: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

The small chest is not trapped, but was locked until you easily jimmied the lock mechanism. Upon opening it, you see a small cache of coin. A rough count of coin, you come up with 100gp in total.

The group, then goes on to search the rest of the level, room by room, while avoiding the barricade to the south. Dolgrin and Thorakiz proceed into the next area, while Binx's new minion protects their flank with the help of Marvin's keen eyes.

Before entering the next area, Binx notices written in undercommon on right side of the wall "no enter".

Dolgrin and Thorakiz, can notice that within the area, there is a natural spring in the northeast area, with two smaller alcoves spaced out on the western wall.

Binx points out the writing. "It seems we're not supposed to go in there. Want me to send my new friend in first?"

Well that's an invitation we just can't ignore! Sure, send Skelly McBurns in

The group, decides to send their expendable, "party member" in first. The skeleton, blindly follows the orders given to it. It walks forward, into the room and gets as far as the edge of the natural pool, when suddenly a small humanoid creature with thin, leathery wings, small horns, and a mischievous smile. pops out and taken offense to creatures near its home.

It looks at the thing encroaching on its home, then sprays forth a cone of acid, letting the intruder know how it feels.

reflex DC 13: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 or acid damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3

The skeleton, not expecting an attack coming at it, manages to barely escape the acid.

Init:
Dolgrin: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Ebenezer: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Marvin: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Thackery: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12 w/ minion
Thorakiz: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
WM: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Know Planes if you got it :)

Init tracker:
WM
party <<

After spewing, its acidic cone, it takes two swipes at it, hoping to get rid of the interloper.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 81d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 91d3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

The hostile creature, takes two swipes, but both attacks catch nothing but air. (3 rounds)

Surprise round after the creature attacked the skeleton
Dolgrin tried to figure out what the thing was. He made certain to stay away from the skeleton, lest it explode after being attacked by the creature.
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Knowledge(Planes): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
He might still do something with his standard action in the surprise round, but what exactly might depend on what knowledge he gains from the check about what we are currently facing :)

The creature is a water mephit, they have breath weapons and DR/magic

Still in surprise round
"It's a water mephit. It breaths acid and is resistant to non-magical attacks.", with those words Dolgrin stowed his warhammer.

Round 1
Dolgrin picked up 3 pebbles and then he cast a minor enchantment on them.
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move action to pick up the pebbles, standard action to cast magic stone on them. They now have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack & damage, which should now ignore the DR/magic when thrown (or used as sling bullets). This of course assumes he can find any. If not I will change my actions accordingly.

Marvin will activate Freebooter's bane as a move action and take a single shot.

to hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

everyone is +1/+1 on the mephit

Well that's new - not very oozy though

Eb casts daze (DC15) on the mephit.

Claw 1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 1 + (2) = 6
Claw 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 1 + (4) = 6

"Kill it!" Binx commands his minion, which proceeds to take two claw swipes at the Mephit. Unfortunately, it connects with nothing but air.

will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Marvin takes a shot at the water mephit, and the arrows strikes it full in the chest. The leathery skin seems to shift with the blow absorbing the momentum of the arrow, negating whatever damage could have been.

The shot by Marvin, gives Ebenezer the opening he needs to cast a spell. He taps into the spirit world, and unleashes them to befuddle and cloud the mind of his enemy. The water mephit's mind is bombarded and it's mental wall comes tumbling down as it can only stand there, protecting itself for the momentary time being.

Init tracker: round 1
Water Mephit < acted
Thorakiz <
Binx < minion acted, PC still to go
Marv < acted
Eb < acted
Dol < acted

Will give Thor another little bit, than not if needed

I got nothing this round. Only moderately useful spell has almost no chance of hitting. That's what minions are for! :-)

When it gets to Marvin again, he will try again.
rapid shot
to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 miss
to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 miss

A bit disconcerted with his arrow bouncing off last time, he flinches a bit and misses twice.

round 1Thorakiz, with little regard to his own safety, moves up to take a might hack at the new threat in front of him and his traveling horde.

PA sword: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 162d8 + 12 ⇒ (5, 1) + 12 = 18 vs AC 17

Thorakiz, walks up and takes a mighty swing, connecting with the enemy. As with Marvin's arrow, the blow is lessened by the leathery skin of the creature, but fluid gushes out of the deep gash in its abdomen caused by the angry Orc.

round 2

Init tracker: round 2
Water Mephit < dazed (13 hp)
Thorakiz < go
Binx < go + minion
Marv < hit and miss
Eb < go
Dol < go

Marvin, takes the opportunity and uses the distraction by Thorakiz and the generic befuddled nature of the mephit and takes 2 shots. Unfortunately he overcompensated for Thorakiz's large weapon and both arrowheads shatter against the wall and ceiling.

Dolgrin was waiting to get a clear shot at the water mephit.

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readied action to throw a pebble at the mephit if the skeleton is destroyed.

Claw 1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Claw 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Claw 2 Confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (6) = 9 (6 of this is fire damage)
Crit Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Binx's skeleton takes another couple swipes at the Mephit and manages to land a scratch against its hide.

No actions for Thackery

Init tracker: round 2
Water Mephit < dazed (17 hp)
Thorakiz < go
Binx < attack and passed
Marv < hit and miss
Eb < go
Dol < ready action to sling stone

Eb keeps up his litany of befuddling mumbling...

Daze the mephit again DC15

Eb, a creature is immune to the effects of daze for a minute after it has been used. So might want to do something different?

Dolgrin is right Eb, you can if course redo your action :)

oops. Evil eye for -2 AC then

will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Init tracker: round 2
Water Mephit < dazed (17 hp)
Thorakiz < dmpc
Binx < attack and passed
Marv < hit and miss
Eb < evil eye
Dol < ready action to sling stone

Thorakiz, seeing the water mephit is a slight stupor, takes another mighty swing...wanting to relish in the fight.

PA: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 92d8 + 12 ⇒ (6, 5) + 12 = 23vs ac 15

The water mephit, still in a stupor and feeling shivers down his back, is till lithe enough to easily dodge out of the way of the large blade wanting to smash it to bits. It retaliates against the skeleton that last damaged it.

claw 1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 141d3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
claw 2: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 71d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

The water mephit, takes two swings in anger, but is unable to connect with the skeleton that has angered it so.

Init tracker: round 3
Water Mephit < atk (17 hp)
Thorakiz < go
Binx < go
Marv < go
Eb < go
Dol < go

Two more shots at the critter.
rapid shot, point blank shot, freebooter focus
to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Evil Eye for -2 to attack rolls. Cackle to maintain -2 to AC