GM Aarvid PFS #6-20: Returned to Sky (High) (Inactive)

Game Master GM Aarvid

I know this has been odd, but just posting here for everyone's benefit, as far as the illusionary door goes. The way I have always seen other GM's (including venture officers) both F2F and on these boards play illusions...if you interact with it (touch it, melee attack it etc) then you are granted a save.

Per the PRD, once a save is successful, the illusion is known to be fake and only a translucent outline of the 'door' in this case remains. No longer blocking LoS. Arguably having some concealment, but so far that has not been a factor.

At this point, 3 of your party are aware the door is fake...and with the fireball and other attacks going through (or even anyone announcing it is fake) the saves are made at +4.

I have searched the boards and FAQ etc but have not found anything counter to the above or my other experiences, but am interested in hearing other table/GM variations you have seen in the past.

I had asked about it on the facebook group when it came up. There were many varied replies.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/28750893996/permalink/10154249551253997/

The question at the moment is can I interact with the door by trying to toss a fireball at a square on the other side of the door? I believe I had a clear view of the layout on the other side of the door before the illusion was created, Assuming we didn't come through that door in the first place. I don't need to know where the enemy is. I just need to know where the furthest wall opposite the door is.

That is an interesting question for a many reasons (along with others that come up in similar situations):

1) First, while LoS is preferred, I believe you only need line of effect to target a space/grid for a spell like fireball. However, if you still believe there is a door in the way at the time of casting, you would believe you do not have line of effect at the time you cast. Does it matter? Would you unintentionally target the door since that is as far as you think the spell can go?
2) If you target the door specifically with the spell (or see the effect of the blast affect the door) then that definitely grants a save.
3) What happens if there really is a door but it is invisible? Or as I have seen many times over the years, an invisible wall of force? Can you still target the far side without LoE? How do you know you do not have LoE (our GM had the fireball impact the wall and hit our side).
4) What about a wall of fog or even an areas of Darkness? No LoS but full LoE...that I think most folks would rule is fine to lob a fireball into at range.

In this case you did come through the same front door (or the one that was destroyed). Naur would still think there is a door there until he disbelieves it through some personal interaction with the door (or just having a friend say it is not there - then make a will save at +4 and lob away if you pass).

Well no one has said the door isn't there but a fireball did come into the room through the closed door. Would that have allowed a save?

Actually from what I have read, seeing fireball or arrows or even someone's hand coming through the door may not automatically grant you a save. However since Naur had a successful spellcraft roll he could not use earlier, I woukd allow that check plus the other affects coming through to count as studying the door. (Normally you'd have to touch it etc)

With that being said, the Attackers may have less concern casting fireballs into a bar of "resistance fighters" than those same "resistors" lobbing stuff into the street. :)

That is why I bought the merciful rod. Hopefully anyone near them has been smart enough to move away.

If Tortuga is able to get onto that table between him an d the construct, can he reach it with melee attacks? If so, what does it take to get there?

Tortuga, getting onto the table is an easy DC5 climb or vertical jump. And yes, on the table you would be able to just reach the hovering globe.

How high of a vertical jump?

it would be about 4' high to the table top.

In my case I have seen plenty of variation on ruling illusions, which is why I barely use them in combat or near-combat situations.

Every person would have dealt with the door illusion differently but I think you dealt with reasonably. Just I probably would have taken a different action if I had seen there were more Technique Siege members out the door and they will just burst-attack without asking first.

I recently have seen plenty of scenarios running burst ambushes on players, some of them even in very unfeasible circumstances.

Yes, this definitely was an ambush and they came loaded. I provided a surprise round for everyone (not just them) to try to even it up a bit...especially since they did not know you were in there.

I can sum this fight up in one word for my character: Ow!

Or as one of my regular gaming group members has previously described these types of situations "I'm leaking but I've still get a few drops in me."

I am finding it interesting running two tables, albeit one high and one low, and seeing how they unfold differently based on tactics selected

A reminder about non lethal damage. For it to be fatal the total must equal the targets full hit points twice. So for example if someone had a Con score of 14 and 30 hit points max it would take 74 non lethal damage to kill them.
It gets a bit complicated when you combine lethal and non lethal.

"If a creature's nonlethal damage is equal to his total maximum hit points (not his current hit points), all further nonlethal damage is treated as lethal damage. This does not apply to creatures with regeneration. Such creatures simply accrue additional nonlethal damage, increasing the amount of time they remain unconscious."

Correct. I had to look that rule up again to make sure I had it right.

FYI - Ice storm hitting us this weekend, so we could potentially have service interruptions.

Heyy guys, I am larping this weekend so I won't be able to post from now. I should be back Sunday evening to post, if not Monday morning. (UK time)

Ok, no worries - thanks for letting us know. Have fun storming the castle. :)

Considering changing my spells a bit. But if the enemies are immune to magic there isn't much I can do about it.

FYI - flying to see my family tomorrow and will be traveling so may have short posts from phone until I return Monday.

Enjoy your family time.

Flying home tomorrow and will move us along. Sorry for the slow posting this weekend.

Kai, just for my future knowledge on running a magus...since I probably screwed up with the whip leader earlier.

What feats/skill allows the magus to cast more than one shocking grasp in a round? I thought they could only cast one with spell combat and a full attack. Do you need to have more than one shocking grasp prepped to do it?

In the bar fight, the leader may have been missing some key feat/trait etc. so I only cast once.

I think I have that amulet on backwards.

Ahh, no that is my bad based on how i split up the attacks i think. After i posted i realised i should do it like Tortuga.

The only shocking grasp rolls should be the initial and then the extra if the first attack crit. Anything else is a copy/paster error due to illness.

Ok, it still takes it down, but I wanted to make sure I had it right.

I do it that way because of the number of attacks I could potentially get in 1 round would produce a huge wall of text.

3 primary, 1 secondary, 1 tertiary, 1 ki, 1 haste, 2 medusa's wrath, 1 vicious stomp so 5-10 attacks depending on circumstances.

I think Naur should take the reroll grace.
Chances are next explosions don't hurt him due to the way they do interact with walls.

If the rockets had piercing damage (which personally, I think they should have) instead of bludgeoning, I think he'd been fine due to defending bone.

But low hp and low(er) reflex saves is definitely hard in this scenario with all the blasting by the opponents...and no significant healer in the mix.

If I were to pass by the yellow door would I be able to see Tortuga?

What's left to explore. Just that area where there is a black circle on the map?

Sorry - was putting together the long tread. I have it up now. :-)

Ok, getting ready to wrap up. I have all session numbers.

Chronicles will wait until this weekend since they have several parts and almost every one is unique. Kai is the only one I had listed as slow-track.

Check your session (I entered them) and make sure those look correct.

I had a good time with the PC interactions with this group. Let me know if you have any suggestions on my GM'ing for next time (and my other table).

Nobody died, so that is always a plus. :-)

GM Aarvid: My session is showing up as "core" on my sessions listing which is incorrect for this session.

Same here

Jesse was able to fix the reporting for us.

Oops - that was my bad. I have been GMing more Core lately

Ok, session corrected (including Pandora, I updated her to slow XP as requested).

Let me know if you cannot get to them or need any corrections.

Looks good. Thank you. It is missing my name but I can manage that.

By any chance was there a divine spellcaster id an evil deity in the bar fight?

If not I'll tick off the goal of accepting an enemies surrender. Though admittedly it was a close one.

Thank you GM Aarvid for running enjoyable game. Also thank you to my fellow players for a fun time.

@Naur - no divine casters in this one, sorry. Accepting surrender, yes. I leave the name blank since some people use their real name (which I rarely know) or their PF board alias. Lets you decide. :)

@Roc - glad you enjoyed it. I like this scenario, if you don't mind tech in your PFS. :)