GM 101: JAFO's Monolith (Inactive)

Game Master JAF0

Erasmus pulls a sunrod from his backpack and strikes it against the stone, illuminating the tip. He holds it high as he follows the others into the narrow cavern.

"Let us proceed."

The walls and ceiling of this eerie chamber are made from row after row of stacked bones, layers of skulls, rib cages and arm and leg bones piled from floor to ceiling and cemented in place. On the far wall, red-dyed skulls have been arranged into the symbol of an eye within an elongated hexagon. There is a 5' wide open passage leading to the east near the far southern end of the ossuary.

potential surprise round actions depend on perception rolls requested above

"Oh...oh my," Fran whispers as they make their way into the tunnel. "Is this a burial site too? It uh...looks like it," she says as she stares at the decor with a mixture of wonder and apprehension.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 1 = 5

Mathos nervously scans as he follows the pack.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Well, at least they had light. Rhasuel takes his place and tries to keep his eyes open.
perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Well-camouflaged by the mottled coloration of the bone walls, Rhasuel sees two forms that are busily making their way toward Elena. They are very large multi-legged wormy-looking things...
Elana! Shield up! Battle has come to us! he cries.
Inspire courage activated

Perception, Gulch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Perception, Wormling: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Gulch does his best to be as close to the front as possible, while Wormling tries to stick to the middle of the pack.

When other pull out their light sources, he realizes he was too slow on the draw to cast his light spell. At least torches aren't too expensive...

____________________
To clarify, the 15ft wide hallway our icons are in is actually 5ft wide?

no the east-west tunnel you came through to GET to the 15'wide hallway was only 5' wide... the room with the bones that you are in is 15' wide just like shown on the map

still need a few more perception checks... guess I should have had a macro for that too and rolled it to speed things up... next time I'll do that

Round 1: (Unless this is BEFORE Round 1? I'm so confused!) Pre-Round 1:

After Mathos, Rhasuel, Erasmus, and Enemies; it's Elena's turn.

"Elana! Shield up! Battle has come to us!" he cries.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 9 Nope.

"Huh? A battle?" Elena's heart thrums in her chest with steady resolve. Elena stands at alert, positions her feet, and raises her shield to stand in a defensive position. She looks ahead into the darkness. What is Rhasuel talking about? What's out there? Elena eyes the bone walls. Whatever resides here can't be good.

Elena is in defensive stance because she doesn't see the enemy or enemies Rhasuel is talking about (yet.) She hopes whoever - or whatever - is coming will see the emblem of Iomedae on her raised shield. Elena calls out into the darkness: "Come into the light you coward!
________________________

Standard Action = Total Defense: You can defend yourself as a standard action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round. Your AC improves at the start of this action. You can't combine total defense with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat. You can't make attacks of opportunity while using total defense. (Link)

Free Action, yes. | Move Action, no need.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

"Vile creatures!"

Erasmus steps forward and draws his starknife.

Perception DC15: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Herald is preoccupied with his shield casting too much light on his dirty vestments, and does not notice anything out of the ordinary.

Oh, dear. What is that? Sa'alim sauce from last night? No, it's too brown. That would make it...mutton stew from last week? That can't be. It still looks fresh. Wait, is it dried in or...

Huh? What?

sorry for my absence today - every other saturday is my home PF live game. Came home and crashed after.. just now waking up. Enemies now shown on the map, but only those who act in the surprise round can really see them yet...

surprise round, bold may act:

Rhasuel
Erasmus
---
enemies
---
Gulch

*****

round 1:

Mathos
Rhasuel
Erasmus
enemies
Elena
Herald
Fran (and Mr. Sunshine)
wormling
Gulch

Erasmus takes another step forward and readies an attack for when one of the creatures approaches.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Rhasuel activates Inspire Courage as above

The giant centipedes wriggle forward on their little legs, charging Erasmus and Elena.

Sadly (for the blue centipede anyway), Erasmus was quite ready for it's charge and cut it in two with his starknife before it could even get a bite of him.

The red centipede bites at Elena

to hit: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 2 = 7

Even with it's surprise charge on the paladin, it can't seem to find a way around her armor.

surprise round, bold may post:

Rhasuel
Erasmus
---
enemies
---
Gulch

*****

round 1:

Mathos
Rhasuel
Erasmus
enemies
Elena
Herald
Fran (and Mr. Sunshine)
wormling
Gulch

Targets finally materializing, Gulch goes in for a piece of the centipede that attacked Elena.

Bite (Inspire Courage): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 71d6 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

But in his eagerness to enter combat he misses horribly.

The two centipedes closed with the party. Erasmus was ready for one of them and sliced in half as it approached. The second one pit at Elena and missed her. Gulch moved in and tried to attack the red centipede, but his attack went awry and he only manages to strike the bone wall to his right.

*****

round 1, bold may post:

Mathos
Rhasuel
Erasmus
---
enemy
---
Elena
Herald
Fran (and Mr. Sunshine)
wormling
Gulch

Erasmus moves around the creature.

"Take it out!"

attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 = 6
Damage: 1d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12

Rhasuel continues urging his compatriots on even as he stabs at the big bug.

Rhasuel, you need to move yourself in order to stab at the bug, you're a bit far away... can you access the map?

Not wanting to get close to the vile insect Mathos throws his holy book with all of his might. As he does so he screams I object to this interruption

Hand of the Acolyte IBT: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

The book flies off in completely the wrong direction, causing people to duck and dodge as it flies past. Mathos makes a face like he smells spoiled milk as the book returns to his hand.

Rhasuel, I moved you up to where you could stab the centipede from

Erasmus moves to provide flank for Gulch, Rhasuel (moves up and?) attacks the dust motes floating in the air near the bug, Mathos throws his book, which barely misses Gulch and Elena, as well as the centipede before returning to him.

The centipede rears up and attacks 1 gulch 2 elena 3 Rhasuel 4 Erasmus: 1d4 ⇒ 3 Rhasuel.

to hit Rhasuel: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
dmg if hits: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

fort save Rhasuel dc 13: 1d20 ⇒ 4
dex dmg Rhasuel: 1d3 ⇒ 2

Rhasuel feels a little clumsier as the centipede's poison courses through his system.

round 1, bold may post:

Mathos
Rhasuel
Erasmus
---
enemy
---
Elena
Herald
Fran (and Mr. Sunshine)
wormling
Gulch

Elena, you can clearly see the centipede now if you want to change that planned total defense action, you may

"Oh my, these are quite large aren't they?" Fran gasps as the overgrown centipedes rush the group from the shadows. Gripping her longspear tightly, she steps up behind Gulch and attempts to stab at the remaining centipede before it bites anyone else.

Attack vs. Centipede (Longspear; Flanking, Inspire Courage): 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 = 6
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"Oh, I missed! I'm sorry!" she flinches as her spear fails to hit the mark.
____________

Fran takes a 5 foot step to her current position and tries to stab the centipede! Alas, it wasn't very effective.

Seeing how easily their foes are dispatched, he makes no demands of Wormling. A broad demonic grin is plastered on Gulch's face as the stars align before him, calling for the end of this little creature's life. He let's out a savage roar before tearing into the centipede with everything he has.

Bite (Inspire Courage, Flank): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 241d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Claw (Inspire Courage, Flank): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 201d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Claw (Inspire Courage, Flank): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 161d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Wormling watches in slight horror at the savage attack of the insect. Certainly a savage beast, he enjoys this type of work too much! I hope he hasn't horrified the others too much...

"Grrrr....." Fur standing on end, tail puffed up like a brush, Mr. Sunshine goes full defense.

Gulch tears into the centipede SHREDDING it into parts that go flying every which way, plastering most of the party in ichor, bug guts, legs and chitinous bits of shell casing.

*COMBAT OVER*

There is a 5' passage to the east with a short flight of shallow steps leading down into further darkness.

Elena, would you please go before us and ensure that there are no more nasty surprises ahead

Elena eyes the two dead centipedes. "Of course, Mathos. If someone would provide a light please," Elena requests. Elena moves forward with her longsword and shield raised. See map.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (6) + 0 = 6 (Lol, probably not.)

Mathos reaches over and touches Elena's shield, being careful not to touch the holy symbol upon it. Light begins to emanate from it.

I trust this will suffice

Fran retrieves her sputtering torch from the floor, where she'd dropped it when the centipedes attacked. "Here you go," she offers, holding it up high. "I hope giant bugs are all that we have to worry about down here..."

anyone backing up Elena or is she heading down alone? lol please don't forget to move yourselves on the map.

"HAHAHAH" Gulch bellows at the deceased creatures. "'Fraid o' th' da'k, eh? I'll go wit' ya' 'en. I' ain't eve' given me no troub'e." he says as he wipes the gunk from his claws and face on the bone-ridden wall. Paladins can't do nothing by themselves! Always need a proper demon to look after them, haha!

Wormling meekly keeps to the middle of the pack as the rest assemble.

_____________

Huh? What? What's that ahead? Is it corpses? I don't see corpses. I don't see anything!

Herald pushes to the front just in time to be splattered in centipede juice, adding several more interestingly colored splotches to his already stained tunic.

Uh, well. I, uh, see it's all handled. Well done, er...whatever your name is.

He peers intently at Wormling.

That thing is sentient, isn't it?

Herald follows Elena, keeping as close as he can without pushing ahead of someone else rudely.

Come on, old man. Next time try to be useful!

Rhasuel follows as well, tanning special care to not step in any big juices. His nose crinkled at them Disgusting...

I moved Mathos and wormling up, please feel free to change your location if you don't like your place in the marching order... I will update with a post later today

A broad well with low sides plunges into the middle of this large chamber. A heavy iron cover leans against the east wall. Near the well, a mound of gnawed bones, scraps of clothing and discarded possessions speak to some unholy feast. From deep within the well rises the found sound of scratches, scrapes, and breathing.

As you observe the well, you see a gnarled pair of hands grip the sides of the well and pull up a twisted, wizened humanoid form... He/she/it doesn't immediately attack as it leaps to its feet at the side of the well...

Init order: bold may act, (but you are technically NOT in combat yet and you are not restricted to combat actions, you may attempt communication/diplomacy if you so desire, all Uzziah did on its turn is climb out of the well.)

Uzziah

---

Herald
Fran
Rhasuel
Erasmus
Elena
Mathos
wormling & Gulch

Rhasuel looks down at the well, then back up at the guy. Uhh... Hi?

Herald files into the room for a better view, but waits to see if the more socially adept members want to talk.

Anyone standing adjacent to me is eligible for a +2 Shield bonus on the first attack coming toward them, thanks to the Saving Shield feat. Once per round only: first come, first shielded. Please ignore the smell -- I am told my clothes are quite pungent.

The creature tilts its head at Rhasuel's words, shakes its head emphatically...

No sense motive roll needed: It does not understand what you said... It takes a couple of steps back.... effectively doesn't change location on the map, just being wary 'in place'

Can we identify the creature with some sort of knowledge check? Maybe reveal the languages that it understands?

"Oh! Um...what should we do? He doesn't act like he understands us..." Fran says, looking both apprehensive and curious about the strange creature.

When the party pauses and begin to speak, the creature smiles broadly and begins to speak aloud as well, in a strange language.

Mathos studies teh creature for a moment.

Kn Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Linguistics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

I have made a study of reading about some of the more strange creatures inhabiting our world. This is a Morlock. I believe that they only speak Undercommon. I do not speak it myself, but do any of you?

Sense Motive DC15: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Herald listens to the creature's odd jabbering for a moment, then gasps in astonishment.

I don't know anything about Morlocks or Undercommon, but I've been the target of enough angry villagers to know a call for backup when I hear it.

To the creature, he shouts,

Bloodetty-bliggety Bloo! Who's gonna die? You!

He launches his morningstar at the creature.

Hand of the Acolyte: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

HotA 5/6 remaining

"Mroooow!!!" Mr. Sunshine darts bravely behind Fran.

I don't like this! Get rid of it and get me OUT of here!

___
Going full defense.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

"It would be easy for the creature to assume you were simply hard of hearing, Herald."

Erasmus twirls his starknife and steps further into the room.

Init order: bold may act

Uzziah

---

Herald (delay/ready for offensive action)
Fran
Rhasuel
Erasmus
Elena
Mathos
wormling & Gulch

Ah, sorry, I jumped the gun on my action.

I'm telling you that this thing is calling to its friends, and we're about to get a lot more of them unless we act now.

Rhasuel is shocked by the Herald's sudden action.
SM: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Whoa! Do these things usually come in packs? He lowers his spear
Going defensive

Herald has a readied/delayed action to attack if the creature makes any hostile action. Mr. Sunshine went defensive, which involved some posturing and lots of puffy fur. Rhasuel went defensive, Erasmus moved further into the room and drew a weapon.

Fran, Elena, Mathos, wormling and Gulch may all act (Mathos, your knowledge and linguistics rolls do not constitute an action, so you may still take a move and standard).

*****

Init order: bold may act

Uzziah (climbed out of hole, talked)

---

Herald (delay/ready for offensive action)
Fran (technically hasn't acted yet, Mr. Sunshine total defense)
Rhasuel (defensive)
Erasmus (moved/drew weapon)
Elena
Mathos
wormling & Gulch

*****