Hello everyone!
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Hm, I seem to have misplaced my papers. Hold on, I'll get them in order before it's too late. I must say, I really am very embarrassed by being so ill-equipped...
Like I said, I'll get my stats up soon! I just don't have access to my sheets at the moment. Just a few more hours until I'm home, though.
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Oh, and a quick heads up (especially for Frunobulax and ESPECIALLY the half-orc barbarian who's going to join us):
The concept for this character is that while he's an alchemist, he's also modeled after the archetype of an early twentieth-century anthropologist. Having grown up in an urban half-orc community, he's interested (maybe even obsessed) with his "savage" Orc lineage and Orc culture. He goes about this in a very romanticizing, and also very racist, way. If it gets to be too much, or if you'd like me to tone that down before we even really get started, please tell me. I thought this would be an interesting character, but not a very nice one, who eventually goes into the Master Chymist prestige class, whereupon the Mutagenic Form he gains is a separate personality who realizes what a horrible person the "normal" Dr. Gunter is. But again, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, so let me know here or via PM if there's any issue.
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Frunobulax is a Half-Orc Inquisitor of Gorum. I'll be honest, I'm still working on a background for him. Basically: an orphaned half-orc found by priests of Gorum outside the borders of Lastwall. Raised in Vigil, by the priest, Hanhar, who found him. Gorum is raised to despise his orc heritage. He has fully embraced the faith he was raised in, but was unable to serve as a cleric as the other priests in the temple were not as tolerant of Frunobulax as Hanhar was.
Fruno then chose the life of an inquisitor - as a way to demonstrate his devotion to Gorum as forcefully as possible. Fruno decides to join the Pathfinder Society so that he can eventually return to Lastwall able to show that he's been a faithful follower of Gorum.
Because the rest of you weren't there:
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Sooooooo I feel like we're a little stumped here. Or at least indecisive. Does anyone want to try to talk past the guards? We don't have much in the way of physical stealth, but our social skills seem a little better.
Other suggestions:
-Bust the door down and just force our way inside, like we don't even care!
-Examine the carriage outside the gate; if there's nothing valuable (and no people) in it, I could throw a bomb at it to set it on fire to serve as a distraction to get the gate open.
-I could throws bombs at other things, for purposes of distraction or murder.
-If we don't come up with a plan (in character) soon, Dr. Gunter will start the hour-long process of cooking up another mutagen (unless we somehow arrived at the manor before the 20 minute duration of my first one wears off).
Sorry, I've been pretty busy this week too. But once we get past this the action will really start to fly.
Note: approaching the carriages would put you in view of the guards.
One way or another you either need to talk to the guards or sneak past them.
Yeah, sorry. And that's the second time I've killed one of your characters. It's too bad, I really liked Fruno. And at this level you really don't have enough to raise him, even if the entire party sold everything. I've killed characters before but I've never had to report them 'dead' before; they've always been able to raise. It doesn't really feel good. Especially when it happened the way it did, with you not even having a chance to stop it. I really don't like killing PCs but with this encounter it's hard not to.
Supposedly the story is that PFS had been pretty easy in seasons 0-1 and people were hoping for more of a challenge in season 2 but weren't getting that for the first half of the season. So to satisfy everyone's bloodlust, they threw a really well-built magus with some truly mean tactics into the mix and it has proved one of the most deadly scenarios ever written. When I played it we had seven people at the 3-4 tier and two people died before we brought him down.
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When I played it we had seven people at the 3-4 tier and two people died before we brought him down.
Well that's encouraging. :P
I've actually met the guy who wrote this. He's a good GM, although I haven't played with him much, and until very recently was the local VC. I think he stepped down because of the time commitment.
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It's all good. GM - I didn't mean to call you out or anything. I do not feel this death to be unfair in any way - just bad luck on Fruno's part.
And, as cheesy as it may be, Fruno is a new-enough character that I think I'll just remake him using GM credits. He was only a level 1 character anyway, so not a big deal.
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The spell can also be used to create a greasy coating on an item. Material objects not in use are always affected by this spell, while an object wielded or employed by a creature requires its bearer to make a Reflex saving throw to avoid the effect. If the initial saving throw fails, the creature immediately drops the item. A saving throw must be made in each round that the creature attempts to pick up or use the greased item. A creature wearing greased armor or clothing gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks and combat maneuver checks made to escape a grapple, and to their CMD to avoid being grappled.
My first read on this was that if you cast it on an item in someone's hand, they "make a Reflex save to avoid the effect;" i.e., if they make the save the item isn't affected by the grease spell. If you cast it on an item not in someone's hand, the item ends up greased and if someone later picks it up and tries to use it they have to make Reflex saves initially, and every round thereafter, to use the item. OTOH, it depends on how you interpret effect.
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Ugh. Not doing too good with the rules today. I need to retcon Tevaga's actions with orc ferocity. When I read the description, I was checking to see if it was a full-round or just a partial round. When I didn't see that limit, I thought it was a full round. I didn't recognize that 'disabled' referred to a specific condition (that describes the limit I suspected).
It's all good. GM - I didn't mean to call you out or anything. I do not feel this death to be unfair in any way - just bad luck on Fruno's part.
And, as cheesy as it may be, Fruno is a new-enough character that I think I'll just remake him using GM credits. He was only a level 1 character anyway, so not a big deal.
No, I didn't take it that way. It's frustrating to lose a PC. But like you said, at least he didn't have too many XP on him so 'recreating' him on a new number won't be too much of a waste of time. I think levels 2-5 are the worst to die in because you've already sunk quite a bit of time into them but don't yet have enough money or PP to make a Raise viable. After 5 you should have enough PP or gold for a Raise unless you die multiple times or something. Even then by that level party members will have enough to chip in to help out.
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Tevaga: if you have the Advanced Race Guide, Ferocious Resolve has kept Dr. Gunter up and fighting in times like these.
Although it can get you in trouble; if you're still a threat at negative HP, attacks against you are much more likely to kill you. That's why I'm also planning on getting the Lingering Spirit alchemist discovery.
Vanyel: I need your PFS # when you get the chance.
The rest of your can roll Day Jobs if you like. Although if this keeps heading in the direction it's heading it may not matter. But we'll see. I've seen fights turn back around with one person standing before.
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Ugh. Not doing too good with the rules today. I need to retcon Tevaga's actions with orc ferocity. When I read the description, I was checking to see if it was a full-round or just a partial round. When I didn't see that limit, I thought it was a full round. I didn't recognize that 'disabled' referred to a specific condition (that describes the limit I suspected).
OTOH, if you took a 5' step and drew the potion as a move action, you'd be passed out with the potion in your hand and Vanyel might be smart enough to deduce what you were trying to do.
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I thought about that, but I thought you could only take a 5-ft step as part of a full-round action. Oh well.
Take 5-Foot Step
You can move 5 feet in any round when you don't perform any other kind of movement. Taking this 5-foot step never provokes an attack of opportunity. You can't take more than one 5-foot step in a round, and you can't take a 5-foot step in the same round that you move any distance.
You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.
You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn't hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can't take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.
You may not take a 5-foot step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed.
I think that means that you could take a 5' step and perform a standard action while disabled.
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Couple of questions before I make my move:
-What are the chances that I could pick up a large article of furniture (the couch for example), and attack with it/throw it in such a manner that could hamper Dalsine's ability to attack us? And that would be more effective than trying to just trip him with my longsword or something, etc.? I do have the Throw Anything feat, if that means anything.
-Does Dalsine Manor seem particularly...flammable?
Couple of questions before I make my move:
-What are the chances that I could pick up a large article of furniture (the couch for example), and attack with it/throw it in such a manner that could hamper Dalsine's ability to attack us? And that would be more effective than trying to just trip him with my longsword or something, etc.? I do have the Throw Anything feat, if that means anything.
-Does Dalsine Manor seem particularly...flammable?
1. You could easily use the furniture as an improvised weapon, especially in your enlarged state, and Throw Anything would let you use it as a ranged weapon without penalty. I'm not sure it would be much more effective than a regular weapon unless you were going to try to pile up furniture in front of him. That may have hampered his movement if he were across the room but right next to you he'd probably be able to just step around it and still reach you.
2. Yes. Yes he does, haha. Humans tend to be flammable.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32
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Couple of questions before I make my move:
-What are the chances that I could pick up a large article of furniture (the couch for example), and attack with it/throw it in such a manner that could hamper Dalsine's ability to attack us? And that would be more effective than trying to just trip him with my longsword or something, etc.? I do have the Throw Anything feat, if that means anything.
-Does Dalsine Manor seem particularly...flammable?1. You could easily use the furniture as an improvised weapon, especially in your enlarged state, and Throw Anything would let you use it as a ranged weapon without penalty. I'm not sure it would be much more effective than a regular weapon unless you were going to try to pile up furniture in front of him. That may have hampered his movement if he were across the room but right next to you he'd probably be able to just step around it and still reach you.
2. Yes. Yes he does, haha. Humans tend to be flammable.
2. No, no; does THE BUILDING seem flammable?
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I didn't feel like I knew Tevaga as a character - she was more of a mechanical experiment - so I'm not too disappointed. Just wish it wasn't such a cheap end.
I'm starting to suspect it's just a poorly designed encounter, the more I think about it. I'm no tactics expert, but as I wonder if we could have done something different, I don't think we made any glaring mistakes in our approach.
But when a bunch of level-1 PCs face a BBEG that attacks with a modifier of +11, does an extra 4d6 damage when he hits, has an AC higher than 19, and had time to cast two spells just before the PCs enter, at least one PC is going to die instantly, and if you lose the initiative roll, that's likely 2 down (out of potentially as few as four sitting at a table!) before the PCs even get a turn.
I understand people wanting a challenge, but that's not a challenge, that's just chance.
I'd be real interested at the end of this to know if there's a reason given that he had two spells cast before the PCs enter. I know some of the adventure paths give the GM a lot of background info that the PCs may never find out (like a whole story explaining why there was a quasit in this room or something). I don't know if PFS scenarios give as much background, but as a player, it looks like he finally manipulated a face-off between his two nemeses, and instead of enjoying the show watching them fight to the death, he's looking out the front window to see if anyone just happens to be approaching.
You put Sofia Vergara and Salma Hayek in my bedroom stripping each other and inviting me to join them, you better believe I'm not looking out the window to see if my neighbor's bringing over the hedge clippers he borrowed last weekend. He can keep them.
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We actually made three operational errors, AFAICT--we didn't heal up completely after fighting the faceless stalker (I think Rilamon and Gunter were both down a few HP, which was enough that Dalsine's single attack took Rilamon negative instead of disabling him, and his attack on Gunter has taken the doctor to 0 instead of leaving him with a few HP.), we didn't take the time for Gunter to brew another mutagen, and Vanyel has one open spell slot which I'd left pending learning more about what we'd be facing. Granted, I don't know a lot of show stoppers in the way of spells, so I'm not sure what I would have chosen. A second grease might have helped, given that he had a better than 50% chance of blowing his save.
None of that would have helped Fruno, though. He was guaranteed to go down if Dalsine hit him; the crit just made it irreversible.
For my part, I shouldn't have bothered trying to heal Tevaga; I declared that action when I thought she was only at -4, and there was some hope of one CLW getting her back into the fight. I also have a magic missile wand, but given Dalsine's AC I'm sure he's running shield. Summon Monster I would have been a reasonable choice if there were more of you up, but opening with grease seemed like a better choice.
2. No, no; does THE BUILDING seem flammable?Couple of questions before I make my move:
-What are the chances that I could pick up a large article of furniture (the couch for example), and attack with it/throw it in such a manner that could hamper Dalsine's ability to attack us? And that would be more effective than trying to just trip him with my longsword or something, etc.? I do have the Throw Anything feat, if that means anything.
-Does Dalsine Manor seem particularly...flammable?1. You could easily use the furniture as an improvised weapon, especially in your enlarged state, and Throw Anything would let you use it as a ranged weapon without penalty. I'm not sure it would be much more effective than a regular weapon unless you were going to try to pile up furniture in front of him. That may have hampered his movement if he were across the room but right next to you he'd probably be able to just step around it and still reach you.
2. Yes. Yes he does, haha. Humans tend to be flammable.
2. Oh, haha. I missed the "Manor" part. I thought you were asking if he was flammable. Yes, the house is also flammable.
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Any tactical errors on your part were minor and wouldn't have caused death in a normally-balanced encounter. Unfortunately this is not a normally balanced encounter.
About his tactics: he basically engineered a situation where he got someone else to kill off his rival and rather than joining in the fight he cast a minor image and went invisible. So that was his status when you came in. The scenario specifically says that while you are distracted taking in the situation and talking to the illusion, he casts shield and his spellcasting is covered up by the sound of the image.
In the surprise round he cast shocking grasp (still invisible) and then used Spellstrike to deliver his free touch attack on Fruno through his rapier. And it just happened to crit.
His tactics say that he then burns through his arcane pool using arcane accuracy at first and spell recall once he's run out of touch spells so he can recast shocking grasp every round until he runs out of arcane points.
So, yeah, I agree: it's not so much a challenge as a chance. You don't survive this encounter through use of superb tactics-you mostly have to get lucky.
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I see both your points, Vanyel and Tevaga. Maybe our spidey-sense should've been up when we stepped into that scene in the house - been more cautious. And not going in at full capacity hurt - but this is still a tough encounter. I'm not so sure I'd go so far to say it is unfair, but the scales are not in the PCs favor, it seems.
I will miss Frunobulax, even though this was only his 3rd scenario, he was a fun character.
So, ninja'd by Endless and Vanyel. Consider my comments rendered moot by EndlessForms' explanation - but I shall leave my comments up for posterity's sake.
Quick question - can I replay this scenario for credit with a different character? Not sure if character death has an effect on that. Probably not.
And we haven't been, that's for sure.
Incidentally, was there any chance given in the scenario to spot him while he was invisible?
Not really. He turned invisible during the fight that was happening before you entered. And at this level no one really has any way to see invisibility or notice with Perception.
Quick question - can I replay this scenario for credit with a different character? Not sure if character death has an effect on that. Probably not.
Unfortunately no. You can play it again but not for credit. I still have to report it and pass out chronicle sheets for you to keep with your records of that character to remind you that you've already played it (and that that character is dead and can not be played any more). (Although if you toss all physical evidence of that character after this, no one will know the difference except that you'll have an empty number in your character lineup.)
I was thinking more about hearing the casting.
Yeah, they addressed that in the scenario with the cheese about the laughing image disguising/covering up his casting. I don't know if I would have called it that way if it were my own game but I'm running it as-written.