GM Bigrin's Giantslayer (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

Those Stornly plans will have to be revised. That is a cliff face.

Both of Sander's bombs exploded on target, eliciting a howl from the creature and covering it with frost. Kipa dashed in, his first strike aimed at the junction of leg and body, but the blurred form of the barghest wasn't where he expected it to be, and his blade caught nothing but air. his second stroke fared the same. Storn tried to hack at the thing, but the uneven ground left him off target even as Molly channeled pain into the creature. It roared, and reared, exposing its throat to Quill, who popped off two arrows. The first one missed, but the second flew true.

The beast wavered a moment, then crashed back to all fours before launching a vicious set of attacks at Storn. one claw got through the warpriest's defenses, slamming him up against the cliff wall.

Sad Sander waits a moment as he tries to muster the energy to throw more bombs -- Why waste them, simply throwing good reagents after bad? Surely if someone comes across my body, they could put them to good use, couldn't they?

Finally, however, he does.

Holding action until after Quill, then throwing two bombs. Full attack includes -2 for crushing despair and -2 for Rapid Shot; again excluding Storn and Kipa's squares, even though it's still probably not worth the minimal effort it requires to do so since we're all going to die in a couple more rounds... And then the Giants will probably march across Belkzen and kill Louly and everyone else in Trunau, and then invase the rest of Avistan, and from there conquer the entire Inner Sea region before moving on to establish a Huge empire across the face of all of Golarion.

Bomb (ranged touch), point blank range: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 12 + 1 - 4 = 20
Damage (cold damage), plus DC 14 Fort or be staggered next round: 4d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1, 2, 1) + 3 + 1 = 10
Splash damage: 8 (DC 14 for half)
Miss direction: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Bomb (ranged touch), point blank range: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 12 + 1 - 4 = 21
Damage (cold damage), plus DC 14 Fort or be staggered next round: 4d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 5, 2, 6) + 3 + 1 = 19
Splash damage: 8 (DC 14 for half)
Miss direction: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Round 4

He fires twice at the beast, after waiting to see if Kipa steps back to avoid providing cover. -4 to the below if Kipa cover.

1d20 + 10 - 2 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 10 - 2 + 3 = 21 to hit; (-rapid,+DF)
1d8 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 3 = 19 magic cold iron damage.

1d20 + 10 - 2 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 10 - 2 + 3 = 21 to hit; (-rapid,+DF)
1d8 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 3 = 16 magic cold iron damage.

If the barghest is still standing after all the abuse it has already suffered, Molly starts to chant, her voice reaching out to distant realms.

Summon monster II.

"YOU CALL THAT A PUNCH?!" Storn has great fun as he's hammered against a cliff face before counter-attacking. Again, more wildly than skillfully.

Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 2 = 17 Damage: 2d6 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (1, 3) + 12 + 2 = 18

My kingdom for a roll over 10.

Kipa cursing under his breath takes a steo carefully around the edge and tries again

Kipa's attack was once more foiled by the blurred outline of the barghest, the creature not being where it appeared. One of Quill's arrows met the same fate, clicking off the rock wall of the cliffside. The other sped true, however, and the great beast collapsed on the trail in death, blocking it off with over 600 pounds of muscle and hide. After a moment, the blurriness ebbed, and you could see the monster in all its horrific detail.

"Bracing," Molly deadpans as she heals away some of her injuries. "Alright. Loot him if he has anything, then push him over the edge so we can get on. Who needs healing?"

Healing hex 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 for me.

Quill has a small wound (-8 hp) so doesn’t mention it to Molly. In the past, a blow like that might have killed him, but now it’s just enough to send him running away and crying...it was progress.

Quill will help loot then shove the body off the side with his noodly arms. He will be ready to continue on.

Sander wipes a tear away as his companions dispose of the body.

"That's probably how we'll all end up, dead, looted and shoved off a cliff to rot or be eaten by buzzards. Or worse. Maybe we should just turn around now, and hope we get back to Trunau in time to spend whatever days we have left until the giants come kill us with our loved ones?"

”Nah, I think we’ll be eaten by giants, rather than have our bodies tossed over the side,” Quill mostly agrees with Sander, happy that someone finally understands how unlikely it will be that they survive. ”I hope we’re dead when they begin to snack on our entrails.”

Quill smiles. He’s beginning to like Sander now.

There was no loot to be found on the body, barghests not normally wearing clothing or pouches to keep valuables in. There might be something in its lair, should you wish to try and search it out.

The body was heavy. Like really, really heavy. Think Storn standing on top of Storn with another triple helping of Storn in a bowl full of mashed Storn. Still, with the more muscular members of the group doing the lion's share - barghest's share? - of the work, you managed to push the thing over the edge. The barghest's body fell the hundred feet or more to the ground below, landing with an audible splat, and splitting open. Local scavengers would have a feast tonight, assuming anything could stomach the meat of such a creature.

You dusted yourselves off and continued your trek, warier now than ever before. You had heard rumors of the dangers of the Mindspin Mountains, but these last two ambushes have cemented those dangers in your minds like no stories ever could. You became excruciatingly aware of how narrow the path was, and how precarious your position. If that barghest had gotten just a little luckier, or had caught you on a narrower part of the trail, someone might have been lost. With that in mind, you followed the path upward and around the curl of of of the taller peaks in the mountain range.

Finally, as the sun began to sink low in the sky, the narrow trail topped out at a broad plateau. The scrubby brush and thin twisted trees gave way to a stand of aspens, leaves fluttering in the breeze. The trail cut through the aspens, twisting and winding its way along. While little is left of the path here, small white stones with dwarven runes on them are placed every hundred feet or so, and the trees have not encroached wholly on the way yet.

Quill stops, looking around at the runes. He dismounts from his horse, beginning to lead it by the nose.

"We must be close, right? Dwarven runes and stuff, right Sander?" Quill points to the white stones that quasi-mark the way.

"Do we want to make camp and approach the completely quiet and safe tomb when we are fresh in the morning?" Quill thinks this is a good idea.

"Yeah," Sander agrees, feeling mostly better after their encounter, though he's still pretty certain they're all going to die. Now he's simply resigned to it, instead of despairing over it.

He looks around, staying low in case there are any scouts.

"Yeah. But we should be ready in case there's something else out there," he said.

He creeps up to look at the nearest set of runes. I speak Dwarven.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Leaning against some surrounding tree stump Kipa sighs a bit "Hey cheer squad. Negative feelings bring negative results. We will make it through this if we keep our wits"

Looking over at the runes as they past, Kipa keeps not of what they mean. Dwarven is one of the languages he speaks/reads.

Realizing there's no rush Storn just uses a lot of brute strength and ignorance - primarily ignorance - to finally help push the barghest corpse over the edge. He lets out a whoop as it splats on the ground below.

His journey further and further up is a pretty quiet one. Storn is not one to scare easily, but a giant smelly man in plate mail is not exactly a great rider or climber. He does manage to make it up to the top alive though, evne if his horse has wishes otherwise.

----

Storn groans, dismounting as he looks at the runes. "Rest is good. I want to be daisy fresh when I smash things in the face."

As he looks over the runes he casts a quick detect magic spell.

Kipa and Sander both note that the runes are simply the rune of Angradd, the Dwarven god of War. They are not magical to Storn's sight.

As usual, if you guys are going to camp, I need a watch order, if you intend to set one.

"I need my dinner and then rest," Molly says. "Arcane magic is fueled in part by eight hours of consecutive sleep, so don't wake me up if anything attacks us. But maybe... I can help out a bit with the guard roster."

Molly takes one of the horses apart from the rest, and has a brief conversation with it.

Provided the horse agrees with her request, Molly pulls a grisly little fetish out of her spell component pouch; a withered thumb bone. Chanting over the item, Molly extends her free hand to the horse -- and touches it on the nose ... and the horse changes form.
Standing before the group is a creature half human and half horse, like a lycanthrope. The transformed beast blinks in confusion, even while Molly heads for the cooking fire.

"Come sit down, Dobbin," she says. "Come enjoy dinner like the other half does. It's alright, come on."

OK, that's pretty cool. I guess a horse would totally cry out for help if it's startled...

Sander's jaw drops at the latest feat of magic from the group witch. We'll still need someone to watch for a couple hours at the tail end of the night. I nominate our sole non-caster (sorry, Kipa).

"We still should try to find somewhere that's as much out of sight as we can," he says.

Here is what Molly transformed your steed into

"Good place to run away from better," 'Dobbin' huffs.

8pm to midnight: Quill. Midnight to 4am: Storn and Sander. 4am to 8am: Molly & Kipa.

Quill decides that everyone is right in agreeing with him about making camp before heading into the completely safe and peaceful tomb. When the party finds a good place to make camp, Quill will set the watch and prepare for the morning.

4am to 8am: not Molly. :p And Dobbin is only available for six hours.

Dobbin eyes Quill, and snorts.
"Food?" he asks, pointing at the Elf.

"No, he's not food!" Sander tells the horse-man in alarm.

We have Dobbin able to keep watch the first six hours, though we could certainly double up if Quill wants. Molly, nothing in the class says the 8 hours of sleep has to be consecutive.

Storn looks at Dobbin in obvious horror as Molly turns it into a man-horse. "That ain't right," he mutters.

He then realizes that the horse thinks Quill is food, or wants Quill to be food. "He's not food, but he always keeps oats in his pockets. Look a lot, he hides the oats well!"

With that Storn says his prayers and goes to bed so he can rise for his early watch.

Dobbin gives Sander a look of dull confusion, then screws up what passes for his forehead and says, slowly: "Give... food?"

"Go get the oats, Quill," Molly orders. "And put them in a feed-bag. Dobbin's new to hands."

Dobbin may need to sleep, too. ;) He's my ride tomorrow!

Cocking an eyebrow "Well thats.... something that just happened..." Once settling at the fact that there is now a horse man thing walking with them, Kipa settles into watch for the long night ahead "Ill take the first watch guys and I will stay up most the night as normal. Just let me sleep for 2 hours in the morning"

Kipa will keep watch for all of it until the end and just sleep for 2 hours. my RoS makes this count as a full night

The evening went smoothly enough, though the anthropomorphic horse shied away from the fire that everyone else wanted to huddle around. The night was cold, here in the mountains, and your breath plumed around your face when you weren't near the fire. Finally, everyone moved off to their bedrolls and blankets, leaving the watch to Molly's horse and Quill. The elf was little leery about having the horse on watch with him, even after the misunderstanding about food had been cleared up.

Nights in the mountains were different than in the forests or on the plains. Each had its own night animals, of course, with their own noises, but the ones in the mountains seemed to be more dangerous, filled with fury. A crag lion's cackling purr could send shivers down even Storn's spine, while the buzz of a mountain stirge made even the worst mosquitoes of the swamplands seem like minor annoyances.

Quill was thinking about these differences and wondering if it was time to wake the next watch group when he heard the clicking sounds. At first, they sounded like nothing more than the occasional twigs knocking together in the breeze, but soon it became clear that the noise was growing more frequent and subtly louder. He was just about to wake the others when he saw the giant spiders emerge from the woods and come skittering towards the camp. Behind them were humanoid forms with the heads of spiders, waving their clawed hands and evoking nightmares.

What about me...? ;_;

Spider food...and you didn't make the perception roll needed to act in the surprise round. And you're not combat trained. And really?

Well, I could still scream. :D

Round Surprise

Quill reacts quickly...nearly peeing himself in his haste to begin screaming LOUDLY.

"OMG! WAKE UP!! SPIDERS!!! BIG SPIDERS!!! THEY ARE UGLY, LIKE STORN!! WAKE UP!!! GAAAAHHHH!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE BIT, ESPECIALLY SANDER!"

Quill 5' steps to kick Molly in the side to be *sure* she awakens. He will call upon the Elf Who Hugs the World for aid. DF.

Those of you who had been sleeping weren't sleeping very restfully. Hideous nightmares of large spiders laying eggs in your abdomen and watching the babies hatch rarely lead to peaceful slumber. It was almost a relief when Quill began to shout, though you felt groggy and a bit out of it. And then you saw the spiders...

The big ugly spiders did indeed want to bit Sander...and everyone else. With chittering noise they broke from cover to fall upon the camp, spinning their webs and flashing their mandibles like daggers. Thisck strands of gooey webbing fell across Storn, Sander, and Quill. sander, being small and huddled under a blanket, missed getting caught in the sticky fibers and was able to slide free. Storn and Quill, on the other hand, weren't so lucky.

Then came the spider-headed humanoids, rushing in behind their eight-legged companions to lunge at the entrapped. Quill managed to evade the one attacking him, and Storn somehow managed to not be bitten - likely the smell - but poor Sander was bitten badly. two of the creatures latched on to his head and shoulders, tearing deep wounds and injecting him with some kind of poison.

Edit: Whew! Did you roll enough dice yet?

SIX Will saves?! 0_0; This AP is nuts.

Will saves:
All: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21;
Yellow - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24;
Blue - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12;
White - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11;
Red - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19;
Magenta - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10;

= = = = = = = = = = = =

Molly is shaken vs. Blue, White and Magenta.

Is it? Or am I? Bwahahahahahahaha..<cough, choke, cough>

Will save (+2 vs. fear): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Will save (+2 vs. fear) yellow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Will save (+2 vs. fear) blue: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Will save (+2 vs. fear) white: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Will save (+2 vs. fear) red: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Will save (+2 vs. fear) magenta: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Fort save (+4 vs. poison): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Fort save (+4 vs. poison): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Whew! With the bonuses, I think I made all but one save (assuming 18 is good enough against the poison...).

"AAAAAHHH!" Sander screams as his nightmares suddenly come true.

Going to assume I've got no prepped extracts at this point, but not sure about bombs. The ability reads: In order to create a bomb, the alchemist must use a small vial containing an ounce of liquid catalyst—the alchemist can create this liquid catalyst from small amounts of chemicals from an alchemy lab, and these supplies can be readily refilled in the same manner as a spellcaster's component pouch. Most alchemists create a number of catalyst vials at the start of the day equal to the total number of bombs they can create in that day—once created, a catalyst vial remains usable by the alchemist for years. I haven't prepared any yet today so maybe just what I had leftover from yesterday are available?

Like spells and other use/day abilities, you would have leftover whatever you didn't use the "previous day". As for 18, where are you getting that? I see a 14 vs poison.

Entangled:Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Dexterity. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) or lose the spell.

Sheesh, entangled is pretty painful for a ranged yahoo. Doesn't look like he is tied to anything so can move at half speed...which only mostly sucks for running away.

Round 1, Init 23

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 Will vs. yellow
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 Will vs. blue
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17 Will vs. white
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 Will vs. red
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11 Will vs. magenta

1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22 Concentration to cast Grace (immediate, avoid AoO)

Quill freaks out over the webbing and the looming spider, trying to move away. He calls upon his god to give him 10' of happy movement to O12. He tries to rip and shimmy out of the webs.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25 Escape Artist

It's +4; I never include the pluses that are in the parentheticals (since sometimes I'm not sure whether they count, though this time I was just being lazy.

Felling a pulse of fear wash over him, Kipa shacks it off and gains his wits. He sees that his fellow halfling needs some help so he heads over to give support.

This is nuts

Will Save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 261d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 101d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 101d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 101d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 181d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Storn wakes up with a mighty scream. "KEEP AWAY FROM MY THORAX!!"

He looks around in a blind panic, and is relieved to see their lives are in danger. "Oh good. STOOORN!" A little shakily he grabs his weapon before getting covered in webbing.

"Ugh."

Strength + Bull's Strength: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 3 + 2 = 18

Calling upon his God, Storn's muscles suddenly bulge spectacularly and he... doesn't get out of the webbing!

Quill struggled free of the webbing and danced away from the spiders and spider things, freeing himself to shoot and leaving Molly to face the creatures alone. On the other side of the campfire, Kipa rose and snatched up his blades in a single movement. Slashing at the nearest creature, he felt the blade bend before scratching the creature. he was sure he had hit it with a more solid blow that that!

With Storn wrapped in the webbing, the giant spiders bent down and bit with mandibles the size of daggers. The fangs pierced his unprotected flesh and pumped poison into the wounds. Black widows aren't known for their subtlety. Sander and Molly, unhindered by the webbing, managed to avoid getting bit by their spider foes.

Sorry, are we prone? Trying to figure out my actions and can't tell if we had time to stand up at least before combat.

If you were sleeping, then yes you were prone. Only your horses sleep standing up. :D

Crap; there's nothing I can do here that's not going to provoke AoO.

His wounds healing themselves thanks to the constant alchemical infusions Sanders taken, the halfling stands up, flinching as he's likely to take more injuries in the process. He's grateful that his armor is light enough that he can sleep in it, which just seems to make sense in these horrible mountains.

Stepping away from the combatants, he throws a frost bomb at the Spider-Man right in front of him, slamming it into its ugly head and hoping to catch some of its companions in the splash.

Free: Activate spontaneous healing.
Move: Stand up, provoking a series of AoO
5-foot step to L-13
Throw a bomb!
Bomb (ranged touch), point blank range: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 12 + 1 = 29
Damage (cold damage), plus DC 14 Fort or be staggered next round: 4d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5, 4, 3, 2) + 3 + 1 = 18
Splash damage: 8 (DC 14 for half)

Seeing the arachnid horrors looming over her, Molly lets out a quiet gasp -- and rolls for it.

Acrobatics to roll/tumble to N 14 and avoid AoO: 1d20 + 17 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 17 + 4 = 35. (+4 due to Belt of Tumbling.)

Having come to a full stop just behind Kipa, Molly props herself up on one arm -- bends double and vomits a stream of black, squirming bodies. The stream of blackness resolves itself into a swarm of scuttling spiders, which marches over to the ettercap she just left behind, introducing it to the joys of being a spider's prey for a change.

Molly casts Vomit swarm. The swarm attacks ettercap yellow. Auto-damage 1d6 ⇒ 2. Distraction in effect. Poison: Fort. DC 11 or take 1d2 ⇒ 2 Str. damage.

Remember that standing up from sleep is a move action. I know this encounter sucks and Quill was lucky to be awake, upright, and armed while keeping watch.

I'm using mine next round. But I don't need to be standing up to cast a spell, just awake.

Molly vomited up a spider swarm, which moved immediately around Quill and onto the spider-like humanoid. The creature looked uncomfortable for a moment, then leaned over to chitter towards the spider swarm. The others made the same chittering sound and Molly could feel her hold on the spider swarm being tested before losing control of the swarm entirely. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to send spiders after a spider creature after all!

The spider bit Sander as he stood, but its bulk crowded out the two...things...on either side of it. Once more the halfling felt poison burning in his skin as he tossed one of his remaining bombs at the nearest spider-headed thing. It hurt the creature, somewhat, and the spider next to it, but the spider-man on the other side didn't seem phased.