GM Bold Strider's PFS 01-48 The Devil We Know, Part IV (Subtier 3-4) (Inactive)

Game Master rpblue

@Fingalad: Sorry. :( This guy is way too strong for 3-4, imo. Same with the earth elemental.

That's rough to hear. It seems we really bit off more than we could chew, trying/having to play this at subtier 3-4 with half the characters still at level 2. It's even more unfortunate that Bevek is effectively level 2 as well, after his raise. And that doesn't even account for the damage we might sustain against this undead.

As a player, I think it might be valid to consider whether we should actually try to finish this scenario at all, knowing that we're not quite up to the challenges it poses. As much as it galls me not to properly finish a 4-parter, both serious encounters so far seem to have been a TPK waiting to happen. That's probably not worth it. :( If we find a way out of this encounter with everyone alive, I feel that's definitely something to consider (even if Mariel would rile against the very idea of quitting).

"There," the rumbling voice says assuringly. "Trust in me, and you will manage."
"Who are you? You have to help me friends!" Mariel replies, still now sure where she is, or who's talking to her.
"I'm sorry, Mariel, but we can't help your friends. That's beyond us, on our own. That's why you were brought to us, to help us in aiding others.

umd: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

crap that won't activate a wand... sorry man... bevek, come on, you can do this

It has certainly been a humbling experience. I think Conlaoch, if he survives, is going to be rethinking this light armor philosophy...

If you want to wrap it up, I can fast forward to a resolution of the fight.

Bevek slides down the ladder and slams his hand into Conlaoch's chest, infusing him with some healing power.

CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Raevin tries to aid him in resurrecting the fallen powerhouse, but the aasimar fails to use the wand.

Mariel, Conlaoch, Fingalad and Amon continue to eat dirt.

Stabilization-Fing: 1d20 + 0 - 5 ⇒ (14) + 0 - 5 = 9

Stabilization-Amon: 1d20 + 0 - 6 ⇒ (11) + 0 - 6 = 5

Initiative:
1st: Raging Ghast @ 22
2nd: Amon; Raevin; Conlaoch; Fingalad; Mariel; Bevek

Status
Conlaoch-Diseased/Sickened (8 min.)/Unconscious @ -6/32 HP
Mariel-Diseased/Unconscious @ -6/19 HP
Fingalad-Sickened (10 min.)/Bleeding Out @ -5/16 HP
Raevin-Sickened (10 min.)/Diseased @ 7/17 HP
Bevek-Sickened (7 min.)
Amon-Diseased/Sickened (7 min.)/Bleeding Out @ -6/22 HP

Pending
Stabilization Checks - Fingalad and Amon
Disease Check - Fingalad

LOL - That doesn't sound ominous at all! Resolution: You all die and become a party of ghouls!

I'm not so sure wrapping it up now would be such a good idea. We still have a couple of party member in peril. Let's hope we (read: Bevek and Raevin) can still save as many as possible. :(

Woohoo! Back in the fight!

I'm not sure the best approach here. If I spend the time healing up Conlaoch and Mariel, Fingalad and Amon could bleed out. On the other hand, Raevin and I can't fight this thing on our own.

I see Raevin has a tanglefoot bag. We could throw that at the thing, hopefully sticking it in place. That might buy us time to pull Fingalad and Amon out into the sewer tunnel and shut the door behind us.

Thoughts? Other suggestions?

Well, just let me know the plan! Two people are up and two more need to give me checks!

You're second plan sounds like the best bet. Both me and Conlaoch are quite deep in the negative. It could take two rounds to get either of us back to our feet. Stalling the ghast might just give you enough time to pull out Amon and Fingalad.

stabilization: 1d20 - 6 ⇒ (2) - 6 = -4

-Posted with Wayfinder

You're second plan sounds like the best bet. Both me and Conlaoch are quite deep in the negative. It could take two rounds to get either of us back to our feet. Stalling the ghast might just give you enough time to pull out Amon and Fingalad.

I agree. I think if you can trap him momentarily. enough for us to heal a bit we can draw him out and finish him off. The rest of the scenario can't possibly be as tough :)

Gurgle.....Glag......

Con Check DC 10: 1d20 - 7 ⇒ (17) - 7 = 10

Phew!

Initiative:
1st: Raging Ghast @ 22
2nd: Amon; Raevin; Conlaoch; Fingalad; Mariel; Bevek

Status
Conlaoch-Diseased/Sickened (8 min.)/Unconscious @ -6/32 HP
Mariel-Diseased/Unconscious @ -6/19 HP
Fingalad-Sickened (10 min.)/Bleeding Out @ -6/16 HP
Raevin-Sickened (10 min.)/Diseased @ 7/17 HP
Bevek-Sickened (7 min.)
Amon-Diseased/Sickened (7 min.)/Unconscious @ -7/22 HP

Pending
Disease Check - Fingalad

sorry, as stated in other thread, I am on a cruise and in the middle of hte pacific... limited access to wifi and very expensive... and slow

Raevin pulls out his tanglefoot bag and throws it at the creature, hoping to entangle it.

ranged touch to hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Fortitude: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"All right. On the count of three, I'll slam open the door, you hit the thing with the tanglefoot bag, and I'll run in and grab the nearest casualty. Ready? Lady, shine you light on us today. One ... two ... THREE!"

Bevek slams the door open. Raevin throws the bag at the thing as Bevek runs headlong towards Fingalad. He then grabs the closest extremity on the elf, and starts dragging him back towards the sewer tunnel.

@Bevek: The ghoul will not AoO, but he will desperately stand over his prey and lash out at you as you pull at the body that he is moving.

Bevel runs up and tries to move Fingalad, but the inquisitor moves around to facilitate, however he leaves himself open for a diagnosis.

Hmm... that was a confusing post. My bad. Lack of sleep must have affecting my thinking.

Bevek rushes up to the entangled creature, trying to grab at Fingalad, who is in the hands of the ghoul at the moment. He tries to grab the man from the creature, but he cannot budge the elf from the ghoul's arms.

Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Being secured to the floor, the ghoul drops the elf and lashes out at the glue binding him, slashing with his claws.

Claws: 2d20 ⇒ (15, 13) = 28
Damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (6, 3) + 12 = 21

He cuts through with two swings, freeing himself, before stepping over the fallen man and biting out at Bevek.

Bite @ Bevek-18 AC: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 11 - 2 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Fortitude Saves against Paralysis and Disease.

Entangled: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Initiative:
1st: Raging Ghast-Entangled (3 more rounds) @ 22
2nd: Amon; Raevin; Conlaoch; Fingalad; Mariel; Bevek

Status
Conlaoch-Diseased/Sickened (8 min.)/Unconscious @ -6/32 HP
Mariel-Diseased/Unconscious @ -6/19 HP
Fingalad-Diseased/Sickened (10 min.)/Bleeding Out @ -6/16 HP
Raevin-Sickened (10 min.)/Diseased @ 7/17 HP
Bevek-Sickened (7 min.) @ 10/17 HP
Amon-Diseased/Sickened (7 min.)/Unconscious @ -7/22 HP

Pending
Disease Check - Bevek
Paralysis Check - Bevek

Fort save - Paralysis: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 - 2 = 6

Fort save - Disease: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 5 - 2 = 21

ERRG! I'm assuming the first save fails.

Bevek tries desperately to pull his teammate to safety. He takes a bite from the creature, which causes his muscles to seize up.

"At least I tried..."

Paralysis: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Bevek crumples to the ground, joining most of his team.

Initiative:
1st: Raging Ghast-Entangled (3 more rounds) @ 22
2nd: Amon; Raevin; Conlaoch; Fingalad; Mariel; Bevek

Status
Conlaoch-Diseased/Sickened (8 min.)/Unconscious @ -6/32 HP
Mariel-Diseased/Unconscious @ -6/19 HP
Fingalad-Diseased/Sickened (10 min.)/Bleeding Out @ -6/16 HP
Raevin-Sickened (10 min.)/Diseased @ 7/17 HP
Bevek-Sickened (7 min.)/Paralyzed (1/4) @ 10/17 HP
Amon-Diseased/Sickened (7 min.)/Unconscious @ -7/22 HP

Pending
Stabilization Check - Fingalad

"NOooooo! Dammit not Bevek too!..."

If Bevek has any part of his body out of reach of the ghoul (since Fingalad IS in reach, perhaps Bevek fell beyond the creature's reach?), Raevin will try to pull him out... if that's not the case, he'll instead fire one arrow, and if the ghoul survives, then he'll slam the door and run back to launch a pathfinder rescue party...

to hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
dmg if hits: 1d6 ⇒ 4

to crit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
extra dmg if crits: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5

I know it's a lot of pp to get brought back, but if there's no chance of getting you folks out, I don't see the need for it to be a tpk. Raevin's hands are kinda tied here...

I can't say I blame you, Raevin, with five people down out of six. The crit was a nice touch, though. :)

-Posted with Wayfinder

The ghast snarls at Raevin as she stands outside the abode as the arrow pierces its hide. The creature grabs for the fallen Bevek and hoists him up, covering itself from future arrows.

The creature advances towards Raevin with Bevek as a human shield. Raevin doesn't see any sign of the creature slowing.

Initiative:
1st: Raging Ghast-Entangled (3 more rounds) @ 26
2nd: Amon; Raevin; Conlaoch; Fingalad; Mariel; Bevek

Status
Conlaoch-Diseased/Sickened (8 min.)/Unconscious @ -6/32 HP
Mariel-Diseased/Unconscious @ -6/19 HP
Fingalad-Diseased/Sickened (10 min.)/Bleeding Out @ -6/16 HP
Raevin-Sickened (10 min.)/Diseased @ 7/17 HP
Bevek-Sickened (7 min.)/Paralyzed (2/4) @ 10/17 HP
Amon-Diseased/Sickened (7 min.)/Unconscious @ -7/22 HP

Pending
Stabilization Check - Fingalad

Raevin slams the door shut and runs...(sorry guys)

stabilization: 1d20 - 7 ⇒ (14) - 7 = 7

-Posted with Wayfinder

No biggie. I don't blame you. Would have done the same myself.

I'm annoyed at the scenario designers, but not at any of you. :p

The paralyzed Bevek sees the door closed behind him, locking him in the darkness with the unconscious Pathfinders around him. His eyes widen as the creature throws him into a cell and patches up Fingalad enough to keep the man from dying.

Each of the Pathfinders is put into their own cell and they are allowed to watch as the few others that were here before them slowly begin to succumb to the ghoul fever coursing through their systems. Bevek, slowly regaining movement in his body, peers at each of them, witnessing the hair falling from their heads and their nails getting longer and more claw like.

Occasionally, the ghoul moves around to sniff at the cages and Bevek gets the sense that it is trying to sniff out its plague in the newcomers, hoping that they join his pack as well.

---

Raevin slams the door shut and flies up the ladder, searching for aid, knowing that he needs to find backup to rescue his mates.

Instead of death, I think that 5 PP for Recovery is appropriate. In addition, everyone except Bevek will need to get a Remove Disease (2 PP or some gold, I believe). This is probably the fairest that I can make it after the ridiculousness of the scenario as the ghoul specifically keeps victims alive to let them turn into ghouls, so it makes sense that you wouldn't necessarily need a raise dead (although it would be a resurrection if you turn). Thoughts? Concerns?

That sounds fair enough. Getting out of here alive without the use of Raise dead is more than I counted on. I'll pay the 7 pp and consider myself lucky.

One more issue we have to deal with: We spent 2840 gp on consumables to defeat the earth elemental. As far as I know, we haven't resolved that bill yet. (I haven't deducted it from my present cash, for instance). It would come to 473,3 gp per person. Bold Strider, is it possible to deduct this from the gold we earned in this scenario, so it's already included on the chronicle sheet? (Did we even earn that much money? :S)

thanks, GM, for the fairness in the resolution there... I'm glad running and getting aid helped... I hated running but it did seem the only way to avoid a tpk, I'm just glad for your ruling that we can get them out without resurrections all around.

I hope I have that much PP! I haven't kept good records of my PP so I"ll need to actually look at chronicle sheets. Once I hit level 3 I'll get to apply a Chronicle that will definitely have enough.

[Enter sarcasm] Oh I don't know. I would completely rather get killed and turn into a ghoul, but Society won't allow me to create a undead or Dhampir to keep him going story-wise :)[/end sarcasm]

Sounds great to me! Thanks. :)

I like the plan. Bevek's problem is he spent most of his PP on the resurrection earlier, and he's down to only 2 PP. So, it looks like Bevek is now a ghoul.

That's OK. GM Bold Strider has had it out for Bevek from day 1. ;-)

What a creepy end. I am half tempted to retire Conloach and leave him as a ghoul... maybe he and Bevek can go on the road as the Ghouls Brothers. Although I suppose if everyone is being rescued, then those who come will either rescue or destroy him. This was a rough series... I am running another group through it now (on Part II), and have warned them. Conlaoch does have the 7 PP, though. Thanks for the game, Bold Strider! Despite the outcome, it was entertaining!

Yeah, you should look over the Part IV. Having a Large Earth Elemental underground, which is basically a free surprise round since DC 25 Perception is nearly impossible, is completely unfair at Subtier 3-4. Follow that up with a possible free surprise round for this raging ghast who has DC 20 Fort saves for paralysis.... Sorry it turned out horribly.

As to the other questions, you can spend gold that you will earn. You will earn 1,250-70 GP for the scenario and 0 PP. (1,180 GP) Over 1,000 GP per person was in the ghast's room but your roguish friend made a calculated escape and could at least escape with the chest it was in when he snuck back in to scout out your rescue. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's a shame to end the series without its 'proper' ending, but in the circumstances I'll settle for this result. (The gold reward that's loaded toward the Ghast just seems to add insult to injury from the author, if I have to be frank...)
They do say that failure builds character. What I got out of all this unconsciousness is a good way to introduce Mariel to the spirit. So there's that.

Thanks for GM'ing this series for us, Bold Strider. And thanks to all the others as well, of course. Perhaps we'll run into each other again.

I will take the gold from everyone's final total in equal portions and please check the following list:

Mariel - 7 PP
Raevin - Money or PP for Remove Disease?
Fingalad - Recovery and Remove
Amon - 7 PP
Bevek - Anyone have 5 spare PP to rescue Bevek? I promise that he is good for it.
Conlaoch - 7 PP?

Raevin will pay the gold for the remove disease...

As for pp, he's got some spare he can put toward's Bevek's rescue...

I had 8 PP before this scenario. I'll use 5 PP for my rescue and 150 gp for my Remove Disease, which leaves me with 3 PP to add to Bevek's rescue.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I have 10 PP total.

I will spend 5 for the rescue and 5 on Bevek's rescue.

I will cure disease with gold. That should cover everyone.

Unfortunately Mariel you cannot piecemeal PP towards another character. If you are donating it must be paid in full amounts.

I think I have exactly 5 pp, assuming we got 2 from part iii. I don't have my chronicle sheet for that. I'll pay the rest in gold.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I appreciate the thought, but I was under the assumption that you can only spend PP on yourself. In which case, I'm afraid Bevek is DOA.

Just a question, while we wait for the last decisions and chronicles: did we earn 1 XP for this scenario? If that's the case, Mariel levels up, and this might be of influence for the next game I signed up for...

-Posted with Wayfinder

I believe you can spend PP on others, Bevek. Also, I will check on the 1XP when I get the chronicles ready tonight.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Player characters may not pool Prestige Points to obtain more expensive boons or services, even if they are members of the same faction. As a general rule, Prestige Points are designed to be spent by characters on themselves.

This is what I was looking at, but on a second reading, it is a little ambiguous. I doesn't prohibit spending PP on others, just that all the PP spent for a given service has to come from a single individual.

Based on that, if others want to donate to Bevek's recovery, I will accept, and say thank you. If he has the chance to repay you in the future, I will gladly do so.

I have 10PP, but need to spend 7 on Conlaoch. But I think there are 2 services, one costing 5 and one costing 2, right? I will donate the 2 if you or someone else can cover the 5. EDIT: Or if we gain enough money that Conlaoch can pay for the disease cure without using those two PP, then he would have 5 he can use to have Bevek recovered as well.