Sigríðr ignores the wine as she lets out a large grunt as she moves closer to the action, the huge shield protecting her as she advances.
"Left side it is. Les' hope these things understand common. I'm not holdin' my breath."
She glares at one of the Lizardfolk. "You there, scaly and ugly. Ya understand mah tongue, or are ya as dense as that one back there? I'd run now, cuz' yah ain't long fer this world if yah stick around. Or are yah afraid a' gettin' beat by a Dwarven lass?"
Move: 15' forward
Standard: Antagonize on the red lizardfolk -> Intimidate:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22
Kiddrik knows that most lizardfolk speak Draconic. The dinosaur is a Dimetrodon. It's reach is not as far as one would expect from such a big creature 5 feet and it's bite is very powerful Tearing Bite (Ex) A dimetrodon’s jaws are filled with razorsharp teeth of two different sizes. This gives the creature a threat range of 19–20 with its bite attack.
Sigríðr, according to D20pfsrd a hurlbat has a range increment of 10 feet, I substracted -2 for the second range increment for a 19. I think you should also take the -2 for using a tower shield in combat, for a total of 17. Please let me know if I made a mistake somewhere. The 17 hits anyway
Sigríðr throwls a hurlbat and hits the dinosaur while Kiddrik is contemplating what to say to the lizardfolk and in which language.
Initiative
Bless active +1 to hit
Belvica
Dekion
Vash & Roc
Kiddrik & Aska
Girzog
- - -
Dinosaur; 5 damage
Enemy
- - -
Sigríðr
Sigríðr, according to D20pfsrd a hurlbat has a range increment of 10 feet, I substracted -2 for the second range increment for a 19. I think you should also take the -2 for using a tower shield in combat, for a total of 17. Please let me know if I made a mistake somewhere. The 17 hits anyway
I completely zoned and read the melee line not the ranged line. My -2 for the tower shield is already factored into all my stat block to-hit values. Hopefully that won't happen again - those are new since the last time I played.
Human Fighter 5 HP 56/56 | AC 26 T 13 FF 24 | F +8 R +4 W +2 | CMB +9 CMD 21 | Speed 20ft Init +8 Perc +3
Dekion furls his brow when Kiddrik walks too far ahead of Sigrid. "Stay behind the fighters. We need you upright to be able to heal us," he says as he moves quickly past him, trying to block any advance of the lizard men or dinosaur. Double move
Belvica charges forward and does massive damage to the dinosaur. Kiddrik then finishes the beast with a well-placed stroke of his spear and Dekion takes on his defensive stance.
Initiative
Bless active +1 to hit
Vash & Roc
Girzog
- - -
Dinosaur; 5 damage
Enemy
- - -
Sigríðr
Belvica
Dekion
Kiddrik & Aska
No problem Sigríðr, I am just trying to understand everyone's tricks. Belvica: thanks for showing me that armor, something I might want to get on my axebeak-mounted druid / hunter ;-)
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
Dekion the Defender wrote:
Dekion furls his brow when Kiddrik walks too far ahead of Sigrid. "Stay behind the fighters. We need you upright to be able to heal us," he says as he moves quickly past him, trying to block any advance of the lizard men or dinosaur. Double move
Kiddrik cuts his eyes over at Dekion as he pulls his longspear from the dying dinosaur. "But if I were back there, this dinosaur would still be alive. I don't plan to stand around and wait to see if you guys can take stuff down."
F Dwarf Ranger(Guide) 5 AC 25, touch 14, flat-footed 23, hp 45
Fair enough, I stumbled on that armor back when I created the character then I figured as part of the back story someone would be working on it in Kibwe and then by the time I could afford it, it would be perfect. Are you sure I didn't get an AOO from the dinosaur? If not cool. Wouldn't want anyone to call me a cheater :) Belvica can take her licks...
Belvica hears the banter and tries to pronounce everything slow and says, " Y-U-M-M-Y...Blyad F-O-R F-o-o-d" then laughs.
The dino only has 5 foot reach. I assume we all try to game in good faith and want to have fun with the game. In other words; if I ever call a player a cheater there is a darn good reason for it.
Hunter 4, HP 32 [32], AC 20 [18], Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3,+2 Vs fear, CMD 17, Init +4, Per +11 Milly HP 18 [18], AC 24 [22], Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +4, CMD 19, Init +5, Per +5, Scent/ Mounted
Oh my gosh all the things!!! Sorry!! Life was crazy with both jobs yesterday! Also unless otherwise noted Vash is riding Milly. Just a heads up.
Vash and Milly swoop in!
"Come on girl. Charge!" Vash yells as they swoop at the one in red.
Vash, no charging when you can't see your target. Also no turns during a charge without wheeling charge. On the other hand, you did not factor in higher ground (you are attacking from above, aren't you?) or bless, so it all cancels out.
Girzog, hard lessons tend to stick. I am sure you will think twice before doing it again ;-)
Vash and Milly swoop in but miss their target! Girzog moves closer. The two lizardfolk do not hesitate and charge Belvica and Girzog, swinging morningstars! They both miss.
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
Kiddrik steps to the side looking for an angle from which to distract Belvica's opponent.
5' step north, then use Kiddrik's attack to Aid Another on Belvica's next attack roll against Red.
Longspear, DC10:1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 1 = 17; success means a total bonus of +6 to her next attack on red (including Bless)
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
I believe GMG is using what I’ve seen called “Block Initiative”. And Block initiative can sometimes create that appearance, but from what I’m seeing, everyone’s gotten to go in the rounds so far.
Block initiative in PbP (apologies if you already know this):
In block initiative, the DM lumps characters into groups of allies for speed of play. So, if only half the group rolls higher initiative than the baddies, then those would be listed as going first, then the baddies, then the rest of the PC’s.
In PbP, most DM’s who use block initiative don’t worry about the particular order of initiative between allies within a block. So it’s basically whoever posts first (within that initiative block) has their actions adjudicated first. Once all the characters from that block complete their actions, the next block is up (in this example, the baddies). They all go, and then the next block is up.
in this particular fight, initiative started like THIS. Kiddrik, Sigríðr, and Girzog were up first (as the first “block”), then the Enemy block (all 3 of them at once), and then the rest of us.
Once the first three of us went (and as our actions were adjudicated), GMG just simply moved our names down into the lower PC block (because basically as there’s only 2 blocks at that point, having 3 is needless). From them forward, GMG has been playing out our actions as we’ve posted them, only pausing when necessary to have the Enemies take their turn.
F Dwarf Ranger(Guide) 5 AC 25, touch 14, flat-footed 23, hp 45
In the games I run, I do block initiative but do it round by round. Maybe it might slow the game down but I generally want those Round 1 people to get a crack before round 2 starts. PFS scenarios don't typically get overly complicated, like one of my pbps that I am running now. My other one is a Gamma World game going old school initiative. Ok.
Sigríðr strides confidently through the middle of the lizardfolk while drawing her pick in the process. She slides in behind the northernmost one and swings her weapon.
Move: 20' through the center of combat into flank while drawing weapon. Standard: Pick Attack:1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 2 = 20Pick Damage:1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Human Fighter 5 HP 56/56 | AC 26 T 13 FF 24 | F +8 R +4 W +2 | CMB +9 CMD 21 | Speed 20ft Init +8 Perc +3
Kiddrik Brown wrote:
Kiddrik cuts his eyes over at Dekion as he pulls his longspear from the dying dinosaur. "But if I were back there, this dinosaur would still be alive. I don't plan to stand around and wait to see if you guys can take stuff down."
Dekion nods in approval of the Oracle's attack. "Huh, well done. But you have a long spear so you can attack from the second rank and I have this plate mail to be in front. Let's try to stick to that."
When the lizardman engages Girzog, Dekion moves to his right, starting to circle it, and swings his long sword.
Clouds of steam rise from the next chamber’s countless pools. Small, rocky islands abound, separated by cloudy, mineralladen waters. Each island supports a stone plinth carved with minute glyphs and elaborate pictograms. Sliding across the floors and floating in the pools, thousands of snakes of various species and sizes slither throughout the chamber and bask in its tropical heat.
The temples priests raise sacred cobras, mambas, and vipers here in natural, mineral-laden hot springs. They etch stone plinths with sacred writings among the hundreds of venomous pets, detailing many secrets of serpentfolk animal husbandry as well as their own
version of the Green Faith, a sort of cold-blooded and detached animism.
The plinths are scattered throughout the large cave, whose floor is covered almost entirely by shallow, opaque pools swimming with venomous snakes. The Pathfinders face a challenge of navigating the room to get close enough to decipher the plinths, all while avoiding the serpents’ fangs.
Each plinth stands upon a small island separated from its neighbors by water. The mineral content of the springs soothes the snakes within, keeping them relatively docile, but they can startle and bite nonetheless. A PC can leap from one island to another with a DC 20 Acrobatics. A PC can instead move through the water slowly with a DC 17 Handle Animal, Stealth, or wild empathy check.
Thanks to the chamber’s steamy haze, a PC must be within 5 feet of a plinth to make out the symbols upon it. Once one or more PCs are adjacent to a plinth, they must succeed at three DC 17 skill checks from the following list in order to decipher and record its inscriptions: Appraise, Knowledge (history, nature, or religion), Linguistics, or Perception. A character can attempt a given skill check only once per plinth, but he can still use a different skill on the plinth. If a PC can read Draconic, the skill checks are instead DC 14.
To make this easy do all 5 plinths in a single post. Acrobatics check to plinth 1 and appropriate check and so on and so on.
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
Kiddrik shakes the tip of his spear, sling a bit of blood off before planting its butt at his feet to lean on it. He looks back up at Dekion. "Fair enough. I ain't claiming to be some hero out of a story, but I figure 'many hands make quick work', right?" He grins, "I'll try to be smart."
As the bodies are searched, Kiddrik pulls a sketchpad from a waterproof pouch at his belt, frowning as he quickly tries to capture this moment ... and this area, in his journal visually. "I reckon we're a bit late, but it'd be good if we had someone who could talk to them. Avoid any more unnecessary killin', if we can help it." He looks up at the team, "Anyone speak Draconic?"
The moment captured, he blows some stray charcoal from the page, then stows his drawing tools and looks around. "So ... where to, now?" He points in the direction the lizardfolk came, "There?"
*** scene change ***
Kiddrik's eyes widen in excited wonder at the strange room. He points to the closest plinth, barely visible through the room's haze. "I gotta get close to one of those. Gettin' some sketches for the journals would be awesome!"
He looks at the waters, the snakes, then over at Vash. "Any chance your buddy there can carry me over to one of those plinth-things?"
none of those skills required to reach a Plinth are good for Kiddrik. If we can figure out a work-around would be good.
Secondarily, GMG, can we do Aid Another's for each other as we work towards different plinths?
Strange languages? My specialty! I may not know whatever ancient language this may be though, so if anybody specializes in that area, I would greatly appreciate your help.Though I don't have Draconic... this is what I get for not taking what I assumed would be almost useless languages haha
Girzog attempts to slowly creep through the water to each plinth.
Consider any skills where somebody else has a higher modifier assist rolls instead skill checks
Now THAT'S how I want to roll!I assumed the moving to plinths could be retried, with some sort of penalty for failure and rolled again. If I wasn't allowed to move after failing let me know.
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
Dang. Can we come up with creative options for crossing? Like if we could get one person across carrying a rope, could they hold one end, another person hold another end, and someone shimmy across without touching the snakes? (And would the DC be lower than those listed for jumping/swimming/etc?)
If not...
Kiddrik eyes the water, vapors, and snakes uncomfortably. But Sigríðr was right ... everyone in heavy armor was likely to have an even harder time getting across. "Anyone got some rope? If I get bit and poisoned and go under or something, someone needs to pull me out."
Seriously, someone tie Kiddrik on and hold on, please ... I don't want my first PFS character epitaph to say "walked into snake water like an idiot". :/
Once tied off, Kiddrik lifts his longspear high as he steps cautiously into the water. He grimaces with each unsee-able footfall, trying his damnedest to coax the snakes out of his way without pissing them off. Aska hovers nervously overhead, twittering little cautionary warnings about all the yucky snakes.
Reaching the first plinth, the young Taldan twists carefully to give the team a nervous grin with a thumbs up. Then he turns to look at the strange designs, fumbling to pull out his sketchpad.
Once again he begins muttering (and arguing) with someone around him. Aska chimes in every once in a while to tell Kidd and this "someone" that they're both idiots, but seems equally interested in what's going on.
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
Gotcha. I missed that detail. I’ll go ahead and roll for the rest.
Plinth 2: Handle Animal, DC 17:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 <— I'll actually stop here until I know the consequences of failing to safely cross the snake-infested waters.
Huh. Can a straight Charisma check be attempted in place of Handle Animal? Otherwise, Kiddrik is pretty much out of luck short of just splashing through the snake-water and dealing with the consequences (which we still don't have details about).
Human Fighter 5 HP 56/56 | AC 26 T 13 FF 24 | F +8 R +4 W +2 | CMB +9 CMD 21 | Speed 20ft Init +8 Perc +3
Dekion surveys the area. "I don't think I can cross without setting those snakes off. I'll just be ready to come save someone who does. Besides, I'm not much of a scholar so I might not be much help in telling what is written on the pillars." He sheathes his long sword and takes out his flail in case he needs to bash some snakes.
F Dwarf Ranger(Guide) 5 AC 25, touch 14, flat-footed 23, hp 45
Belvica says to Sigridr in Dwarven
Spoiler:
"Please inform them that I will cast a spell like a Brobim Geode of old to calm the snakes where some may wish to tread. I will then go to another Plinth. Thanks"
Sigríðr thumbs to Belivca, "She's gunna do sum kinda stone or sumptin. Whatever, the snakes might be calmed. If they chew her face off, it dinnae work."
She watches intently with a smirk on her face as the group laughably attempts to figure out how to manage the room.
Hunter 4, HP 32 [32], AC 20 [18], Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3,+2 Vs fear, CMD 17, Init +4, Per +11 Milly HP 18 [18], AC 24 [22], Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +4, CMD 19, Init +5, Per +5, Scent/ Mounted
"Milly isnt quite big enough yet to carry a full sized human. She can manage with me though." Vash says. She is only medium need to be large or have a feat to carry you."I can try to calm the snakes though." He says as they fly over.
Girzog and Kiddrik are about to step into the waters when Belvica calms the snakes. Vash quickly deduces that it is now quite hard to startle the snakes and Girzog and Kiddrik safely make it to the plinths.
A bit later they are joined by Belvica and together you manage to decipher three plinths. Not only do they learn enough to provide the Society with new insights into serpentfolk society and biology, but they also discover the ritual importance of the hot springs. By performing a short rite, Belvica transforms a vial of the water into a potion of cure moderate wounds (CL 3rd). You think that the potion will retain its potency for 30 minutes
a PC can benefit from the water’s healing properties only once during this adventure. No benefit from deciphering more than three plinths, which is why I have resolved this encounter
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
After initially fearing a frustrating experience in the room, Kiddrik is thrilled with the team’s teamwork. He helps translate, avoids getting snake-bit, sketches a few pages of the different items in the room for a future Society Journal, and finally fills his waterskin with some of the healing waters of this place.
Kiddrik is using his waterskin to carry one dose of that healing water.
With everything documented, filled, and once again prepped, he grins at the crew. ”Well, so far so good. Should we see what else we can find?”
After taking approximately an hour to document everything thoroughly you move on. When you enter a large round chamber with a central pillar you can not fail to notice the small iridescent serpent that slithers through empty space, the air around it distorting as if from heat. The weird creature flies near the ceiling, at a height of 20 feet.
Human Lvl 3 :: HP 21/21 :: AC 18 CMD 15 :: Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +3 :: Perception +1 (Aska +5; low-light)
Does Kiddrik know what this thing is? And if so (and if he rolls high enough), does he know what special offenses, then defenses, it has?
Knowledge (apply appropriate mod from list below):1d20 ⇒ 1
Arcana, Religion: +9
Dungeoneering, Engineering, History, Local, Nature, Nobles: +8
Planes: +12
Kiddrik: it is a flying iridescent serpent ;-) Edit: the 13 is just enough.
Kiddrik identifies the creature as a giant (they are normally tiny) voidworm. It's tailslap may cause the target to become confused for
1 round, although those with strong wills usually resist this.
