Feral's Giantslayer: #5 Anvil of Fire - Sanctioned Seeker Adventure (Inactive)

Game Master Feral

"Well these are awful nice looking for this place." Rhon looks over the doors.
Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (15) + 23 = 38

The artistry in this place is worth appreciating but Rhon detects nothing hidden among the stonework.

Ralph will check the door for magic. If he detects nothing suspicious, he will ask Rhon to try listening at the door. He will speak in hushed tones so as not to give undue notice to awaiting enemies.

"Rhon, perhaps a listen at the door will be more fruitful. Exiel, give me back my ring and be ready to cover Rhon."

Exiel activates Ralph's ring one more time, then passes the ring back to Ralph who also activates it. If Rhon moves up to the door to have a listen, Exiel will follow just behind.

Rhon/Purs If you want, Ralph will also let you borrow his ring to cast a CL3 invisibility on yourself. If the giants are giving us free prep time, we might as well prepare.

Rhon presses his ear to the door and listens intently.
Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (4) + 23 = 27

Ok thanks.

Purs listens at the door too.

perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Ralph detects a weak illusion aura on the door. The source of the aura reveals itself when Rhon approaches to listen against it, as the embossed shape of a fanged steel helm wreathed in fire. Scholarly sorts recognize it as the symbol of Zursvaater, the fire giant deity of conquest, slavery, and weapons.

Through the massive steel doors, Rhon hears nothing but the subtle vibrations of the earth around him.

Ralph rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"A steel door . I don't suppose you have an adamantine weapon, Rhon... Hmm... no you don't but Purs does. That will do."

"Rhon, we are in no hurry. Take what time you need to try to ascertain whether anything awaits us behind those doors. Purs, if you would be so kind as to carve us an opening once Rhon is done. Exiel, stand by to shield them."

Rhon Please do a take 20 perception on the door.

Purs If Rhon hears nothing, please go ahead and sunder the door. Try to make an opening near the bottom so the giants can't just walk through the opening.

Exiel If you are back following the thread again please stand behind them and be ready to use EFS to protect them if something suddenly happens.

"Currently I hear nothing beyond but the normal sounds of the earth but since you where so kind in your request I will listen to the earth move some more. It is soothing after all."

Perception, Take 20: 20 + 23 = 43

Even taking his time, Rhon hears nothing beyond the door.

Feral Then I will ask Purs to start chipping at the base of the door with his adamantine axe. Let's start with an opening just big enough to see through, then if we see nothing we'll break a hole big enough to enter through.

Have we tried to just simply push the doors open? If not let’s try that before we try to cut our way through.

Rhon: I assumed that since they barred our progress they were locked, but we can try to push the doors open first. But if there is anything on the other side then they are deliberately trying to be quiet, meaning they intend to ambush us.

It takes a degree of muscle but the enormous doors open smoothly to reveal an entrance hall that ends with another pair of giant-sized steel doors. The walls of the long hall are decorated with more religious iconography indicating the area to be a temple of Zursvaater. Only his faithful are welcome here.

FeralSame routine. Ralph maintains invisibility and checks for magic. Rhon listen at the door taking 20. If he hears nothing, try to push the door open. If locked Purs hack opening with adamantine axe.

Rhon doesn't hear any speech but he does hear the occasional shuffle of movement through the massive steel doors.

I don't think there's any short duration buffs running at this point but between the two take 20s and travel to this location another 5 minutes have passed.

sorry was GMing PFS this weekend at a convention.

"I heard battle axes were dwarven lockpicks...I guess mine is a gnomish one!"

Feral Do these doors open towards us or away from us? Do they appear locked?

Before anyone else does anything that might alert the giants within, Ralph raises a finger to his lips and then beckons them about 100ft away from the doors.

He passes his ring around the group so that they all get a chance to use it.

"Alright, Rhon and Exiel, try to open those doors. If that doesn't work, Purs will try to cut as an opening near the base of the door. Let's go."

Both this set of doors and the previous one open out. From this side they do not appear locked.

Exiel flies up to the handles of the door and tries to pull it open.

"They open out. Push instead of pull." Rhon will give the doors a mighty shove.

"Oh..I kept pulling!

With a bit of effort, the doors open much as the previous pair.

The walls of this oval cavern are carved to resemble a volcanic mountain range, as if it lay in the center of a miniature mountain valley. Flickering flames behind the volcanic calderas give the appearance of flowing lava, and the walls between the peaks are painted to look like looming shadowy mountains. On the northeast end of the floor is a large glyph in the shape of a fanged helmet, inlaid with red and orange tiles. A large brazier stands lit in the center of the room surrounded by four steel chairs.

There is no sign of whatever was making the sounds Rhon heard a moment ago.

No, Exiel detects nothing invisible.

Feral Are there any exits to this room?

"I have half a mind to just bring the whole cave system down on their heads," Ralph mutters darkly.

Yeah, there's an exit on the opposite side of the room.

Rhon carefully moves into the room keeping a constant eye and ear out for anyone other than ourselves.

Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (14) + 23 = 37

We're still invis thanks to Ralph's ring?

Exiel flies just behind Rhon, looking around the room with his enhanced senses. Echolocation and see invis

As Rhon and Exiel enter the temple proper they both become aware of something in the room with them. Rhon hears muffled movement from beyond the northern wall. Exiel becomes aware of an armored giant moving within the wall itself.

Exiel: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Pursnikkitty: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Ralph: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Rhon: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Giants A: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Giants B: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Exiel can take a surprise action. I'm not going to bother with a wall quite yet but Exiel it's right at the edge of your blindsight.

I feel like I am perpetually one round ahead of the rest of the party. XD

Hmm... if I am picking up the giant with my echolocation, does this mean my echolocation detects the giant but does not detect the wall itself? If this is the case, should I be getting a free will save since I am interacting via my echolocation?

will save to disbelieve: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (9) + 25 = 34

And can I get an updated map so I know where everyone is?

You have not interacted with the wall itself. For all Exiel knows the giant is burrowing or incorporeal.

I will update the map later into round 1. The giant is 40 feet away from Exiel presently.

Wait, hang on. Echolocation literally works by me emitting and bouncing soundwaves off objects and perceiving through the echoes (hence the name echolocation). It's how bats see in complete darkness. I would not perceive a burrowing creature since the sound waves would bounce off a rock wall, and I would not perceive an incorporeal creature since my sound waves would just go through the incorporeal creature, but if my sound waves are bouncing off a creature behind a wall that I see, and not the wall, then I know the wall is not in fact there. For the same reason, due to the way echolocation works (in the real world and in the spell description), I am in fact interacting with the wall through the sound waves.

What the term echolocation actually means

What the spell does

A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn’t real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.

A wall that was incapable of blocking sound waves seems like pretty good proof to me that the wall is not real, so per the CRB I might not even have needed that save.

There is also a PFS precedent of a dragon's blindsense (less precise than echolocation) counting as interacting with a quasi-real illusion if it is in range. So even if the wall is shadow-conjured (as opposed to being a completely non-real figment), I should still count as interacting with it.

If one of the players elected to play the dragon Gazwyr, keep in mind that his blindsense is not able to ignore the quasi-real illusion Aram Zey creates, but the ability does treat the dragon as having interacted with the illusion, granting him a Will save once he is within 60 feet of the figment.

Exiel, you are making this more painful than it needs to be.

Using your logic, seeing the wall is interacting with it because you’re viewing light reflected off of its surface. If you want to make a will save, you’ll need to directly interact with it. Referencing a specific ruling from another scenario doesn’t apply here.

Feral: The specific ruling is on a very similar situation. I think at the very least Exiel should be getting a save when he notices that he discerns one thing through his eyes and another thing through his echolocation. If there is a bonfire in the room and yet the room feels like it is -10 degrees, I have a good reason to believe one of my senses is being deceived. And since I used a very similar tactic in our first fight, this tactic is clearly something Exiel has encountered before, assuming the wall is illusory.

Echolocation doesn't detect anything amiss with the wall.

If Exiel would like to make a save against illusion, he should interact with the wall or actively disbelieve as a standard action.

If I am able to detect a giant within a wall via echolocation then there is plenty amiss with the wall...

Can I at least get a map before deciding what I am going to do? I believe I can at least see where my party members are and the apparent dimensions of the room. This is clearly an ambush, and if the previous fight was anything to go by, we're probably going to need to make every step and move count to survive.

I updated the map.

Feral: Neither Purs nor I entered the room, so I have moved us outside. Unless more than 3 minutes have passed, the entire party should be invisible because I passed my ring of invisibility around for everyone to activate on themselves before opening the door. The giants would only know that someone has opened the door.

Exiel: Just go ahead and disbelieve the illusion for now. Let's see what we're up against.

Alright, disbelieving in the surprise round. Already rolled a 34 earlier.

Exiel's will is strong enough to pierce the veil of illusion. He determines that much of the north wall is false and two giants in heavy armor are hiding within.

Unclear where the attackers are coming from, the giants prepare for battle. They cast divine favor.

Rhon can take an surprise action.

Rhon will move towards the wall that seems oddly out of place given the shape of the rest of the chamber.

Percpetion, Stonecunning: 1d20 + 23 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 23 + 2 = 28
Move 20 towards the wall.

Rhon notices subtle oddities about the wall. They set the hair on the nape of his neck on end.

Rhon you can make a will save vs illusion. If you beat DC 15 you can see the giants as well.

Exiel is up for normal initiative.

Will Save: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (10) + 15 = 25

"Giants! Behind the large bisecting wall illusion!"

"Aye, I see them, Rhon. It's just the two of them though. Both in full armor, so it's possible that the illusion was not cast by either of them. We should be cautious."

Seeing that Rhon has walked right in to do battle, Exiel casts divine favour on himself and takes to the air.

Elevation 15ft

Hearing but not seeing the invaders, the giants draw scrolls and read from them each invoking a powerful aura. Invisibility purge. Nobody has been revealed by it yet.

The party is up.

"Divine spells. Temple of Zurvaster. Clerics, then. Meaning the illusory wall was most likely provided by another. Don't let your guard down."

"The giants have cast spells to purge invisibility enchantments from those near to themselves. Since the spells were cast from scrolls, it is most likely that the effect only extends to a radius of 25ft. Prepare accordingly."

"This should be within their abilities to handle on their own," Ralph thinks to himself. "Minor support will suffice. Better to save my spells for a more difficult battle."

Ralph draws his wand of silent image and readies an action: if an ally is attacked, he will create an illusion of a pane of opaque pitch-black darkness between the ally and his attacker. If Exiel is attacked by both giants, he will not take his readied action against Exiel's first attacker (but he will take it on the first attack on any other ally).

Feral: Ralph will ascend to a height of 25ft or as high as the ceiling will allow. What weapons are the giants using and what other weapons can I see on their persons?

Exiel goes into crane style and takes a full defence action and then flies in towards one of the giants, designating the nearer one as the target for osyluth guile.

AC45; 55vs purple.

Purs moves up next to Ralph. He readies his axe and stares down at the giants.

Something happen to Rhon?

The site didn't show any updates for this thread until just now. My apologies for the delay.

Rhon quickly moves up towards the closest giant with his ax readied to bury into its flesh.

Move 25 feet (double move), Enter defensive stance (free action).

With the party exposed by the giants' auras, they quickly move to engage the intruders.

EFS check for Exiel.

No EFS. AC45 generally; AC55 vs purple.