GMG's PbP: Shackles adventures (Inactive)

Game Master Magabeus

And what is thy intention? Why did thou invade my realm?"

Xasay, can you also give me a Knowledge (Nobility) check?
Everybody, can you describe your stance? Do you have your weapons out?

Knowledge (Nobility): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

"'Invade?' Nay! We ken these great seas art thy rightful demesne, and thine alone. We merely beg they leave to find a ship of our fleet, that hath been lost to the depths hereabouts when one of our fleet set sail 'neath a particularly baleful sun...er, moon. It carried a trinket, one of immense, but strictly sentimental value to our kindred."

Emmett's pistol is in his holster, but he is prepared to draw if things get ugly.

Grisaia stands tall and impassive. Unable to sheath a glaive, she hold it at as close to a parade rest as possible.

Tori stands relaxed in her Taldean garb, her bow stowed away on her back and her rapier still in its sheath.

The dragon moves closer to the Wayang, its giant maw stopping several feet before Xasay, nostrils flaring

"A ship of thine fleet? Sirrah, dost thou truly implicate a relationship to those sailing on the Saber's kiss? To that foul captain that was instrumental in bringing mine own mother down?"

Darned 6 Wisdom.

Xasay brings his hand to his mouth in shock.

"Forsooth, we were not aware of such knavery! The Taldan fleet art vast, as a mighty nation's must be, and though it shame us all, some ships' crews art corrupted by avarice and wrath as the algae corrupt our fresh water, and turn to piracy. 'Tis amongst the highest of crimes in Taldor! We grieve thy dame, and beg thee not permit a single leaden slug unworthy slunk into the ranks of Taldor's golden navy sully us all in thine awesome eyes. It doth fit with that old captain's character, I suppose. He was known as a scallywag and thief, hence his petty pilfering of the trinket we seek, but ne'er did we think he'd stoop to murder a dragon! Upon my word, the courts of Taldor shall hear of this disgrace and tragedy upon our return!"

Bluff: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24 If you'll allow me to use Perform (Acting) instead under the circumstances, add +4 to that.

"What a tragedy, to be so betrayed by the ones thee trusted! It pains my heart to hear that! It wouldst please me to be able to aid thee in thy quest, but alas, one must also take care not to be smitten by a tragedy and look out for oneself, lest thou would seek to fool me! So I beseech thee, if I were to give thou permission to dive to this wreckage, what would thou do for me?"

"Prithee, what favor COULD we humble folk pay so grand and puissant a being as thee?"

"Thou could regale me with some tales of thine magnificent Taldane heritage for starters and then we might discuss thine oath of loyalty to this humble dragon"

I need another diplomacy check to convince him to give you access to the wreck. You (and the rest of the team) can earn modifiers by promising to be loyal to the dragon or by giving him information about Taldor Knowledge (engineering, geography, history, local, nobility, or religion) check or Perform (oratory or acting) check)

Knowledge, engineering: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

"Um... I hear they have some cool new techniques for making bricks outta mud..."

What a great roll!

"Have you heard about the design of the Emperor's palace, milord? The ceilings are held aloft by decorative doric columns and the entrance is protected by an ornate palistrade representing centuries of Taldor history."

Knowledge (engineering): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

"If it please thee, I shall recount the tale of of Taldor's latest Army of Exploration, that ventured forth unto the Worldwound to stifle the demonic hordes ambitions to break the wardstones and wreak terrible havok."

Perform Oratory: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Perform (Acting): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

Xasay attempts to deliver a famous Taldan soliloquy, but forgets the lines to the point that it's all he can do to turn it into a sort of segue for talking about the beautiful Taldan countryside...

Knowledge (Geography): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

...which he's never actually been to.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

"Thou hast given me valuable insights into the workings of the Taldane empire and I thank thee for that. I will give thee permission to search the vessel on the sole condition that thou will leave my realm on night's fall tomorrow."

With that he unfurls his magnificent wings and jumps up in the sky, causing the ship to shake vigorously. As the Magpie Princess sails into the atoll, the shipwreck of the Saber’s Kiss is visible within its clear, shallow waters (see map). The wreck lies 40 feet below, but the tip of its main mast still juts up above the waterline. A large breach in the hull can be seen on the port side. The rest of the sandy sea floor bears scattered outcroppings of coral and colorful aquatic plant life.

Any preparations you want to make before diving down?

"I have prayed to Shelyn for a blessing that allows us to breath as the fish do, but I have nothing to help us swim down as well. Should we wait for the morning, or venture down now?"

"I have something for that. At least for myself."

"It doesn't sound like we have time to wait."

"I have something to help me swim well for a minute, and some air crystals. I'm willing to share one of my crystals with someone, but I'm told you can't cast spells if you're using it."

"Well, as luck would have it, I don't case spells."

You are certain that you can dive tomorrow and get out of the dragon's territory before night falls.

In other words: you can adjust your spells if needed.

Hey guys! Due to lack of any response from Paizo higher ups, I am creating a second account just to get things moving; hopefully you call can vouch for me if things do go awry. I'll post by Tuesday night if it's ok for me to jump back in.

Sincerely, Dave

Just to be certain that we are not waiting on each other: I am waiting for you to cast your spells / do your prep work and dive into the water

I assumed we were waiting for Grisaia to memorize a Water Breathing spell, that should be adequate for what we're asked to do.

Also, in case it comes up, Tori still has a Potion Sponge with Touch of the Sea in it.

I have a potion (not in sponge form) of touch of the sea.

I've noted that touch of the sea is not a cleric spell, so we're just going to have to go with water breathing and swim for it. Grisaia has already had water breathing prepped since boarding the ship, so we can go immediately unless there is something people would request otherwise.

Emmett will wrap his pistol and gear as best he can, and gets ready to go.

In that case, it looks like we're good to go unless someone can have access to Touch of the Sea.

"Emmett, I can pray for a bubble of air for your cannon, if you wish. We have some time."

Air Bubble is at least on the cleric list. :)

"Thanks! That sounds perfect... and fun!"

I do have a couple of potion sponges of touch of the sea, as well as a couple of air crystals

Scratcher, wisely realizing that silence when speaking to a dragon is a better virtue, leaves himself quiet during the dialogue.

You sleep for a night, Grisaia prays for spells and she casts water breathing on all of you and also air bubble on Emmett's pistol. With your potion sponges tucked away so you can reach them quickly and weapons at the ready you dive into the water.

The first twenty feet of your descent go easily and you just need to swim a short distance to the ship when out of the coral reef a immense silvery beast appears, its gigantic jaws lined with rows of serrated teeth. Flanking it are two hybrids of human and shark that hold their spears menacingly, thick, glistening saliva dripping from their razor-sharp teeth....

With surprising speed the great shark moves towards Scratcher, savaging his arms. Big chunks of flesh are ripped out and the water turns red...
One of the humanoids swims closer, spear at the ready.

Combat dice: 1d1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 2 = 20
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (2, 3) + 10 = 15

Initiative
Underwater Combat
Tori
- - -
Blue
- - -
Emmett
Xasay
Grisaia
Scratcher 31/46, bleed 1d6
- - -
Shark
Red
- - -

I edited my post

I should have posted preparations beforehand, so I understand if we go in unbuffed. Grisaia will have removed her armor and would have used bull strength for better swimming. Shield and shield of faith would replace her armor, but I will go without if it is too late to have that up.

Grisaia, that is reasonable

Swim Check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Tori keeps her balance in the water and fires an arrow at the giant sized shark.

+1 Longbow + PBS - DA - Ranged underwater: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 12 + 1 - 2 - 4 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 6 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 + 4 = 19

Emmett uses his pistol and fires at the shark head.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 7 - 4 = 9

Then he pulls out a hammer to defend himself.

Tori is able to keep her balance and shoots the great shark! The other humanoid closes the distance. Emmett tries to follow Tori's example but is not able to hit anything, which might have something to do with the way he is trying to stay at the same spot...

Swim Emmett: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Initiative
Underwater Combat
Xasay
Grisaia
Scratcher 31/46, bleed 1d6
- - -
Shark -19 hp
Red
- - -
Tori
- - -
Blue
- - -
Emmett

Swim Check: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Wary of the great beasts savage jaws, Grisaia offers a prayer to Shelyn before moving to touch Scratcher. "Eternal Rose, staunch the flow of this life's water."

CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Literally from out of the blue appears a beautiful (Celestial) manta ray, it's midnight-black body glittering with starlight!

DC 18 Will save to reduce it to 20% reality against red.

tail slap, Power Attack, Smite Evil vs red: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
damage: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

Scratcher calls upon Milani's will to mend some of his wound and stop the bleeding swift action to Fervor to heal

Fervor heal: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Swim: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 1 = 11 Will succeed if this is considered calm water; if it isn't and has a higher DC, failed and -2 to attack and 1/2 damage; I'll let you note that.

He then stabs at the shark with his "claws"!

CE Tekko Kagi Flurry @ Shark: 1d20 + 8 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 8 - 1 = 25
Damage on hit: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
CE Tekko Kagi Flurry @ Shark: 1d20 + 8 - 1 ⇒ (6) + 8 - 1 = 13
Damage on hit: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Scratcher, the shark has reach, so you need to leave your square to hit it, which is a move action. Will let you decide on that. Swim DC is 10, you can keep your attack roll
Indeed, the humanoids are evil ;-)

Grisaia heals Scratcher and Xasay conjures a manta ray that fails to hit its target.

The Scratcher decides to safely close in to the massive beast, turtling up as he swims closer to the beast.

Total Defense standard action, swim closer to the shark as a move which will provoke from the shark since I don't have a natural swim speed yet. AC is 27. Also corrected my profile statline; realized I forgot to update the AC to reflect the armor.

Shark: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (5, 2) + 10 = 17

Shark: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (5, 4) + 10 = 19

Red spear: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 2 = 11
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Red bite: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 2 = 12
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

The shark tries to prevent the Scrather from closing in and out of frustration bites again! Both attacks miss... The southern humanoid tries to hit the manta ray with spear and bite, but also fails to connect

Initiative
Underwater Combat
Tori
- - -
Blue
- - -
Emmett
Xasay
Grisaia
Scratcher 46/46
- - -
Shark
Red
- - -

Swim check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Unable to keep her balance in the water this time, Tori nevertheless attempts to fire an arrow at the shark.

+1 Longbow + PBS - DA - Ranged underwater - Off Balance: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 2 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 12 + 1 - 2 - 4 - 2 = 13
Damage: 1d8 + 6 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 + 4 = 19 X .5

AC 16, enemies have a +2 to attack Tori until my next turn.

Blue throws spear: 1d20 + 8 - 2 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 8 - 2 - 2 + 2 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 4 = 11

The northern humanoid throws his spear at the struggling Tori and mises her! He quickly readies another spear...

Initiative
Underwater Combat
Emmett
Xasay
Grisaia
Scratcher 46/46
- - -
Shark
Red
- - -
Tori
- - -
Blue
- - -

Xasay's ray lashes out again...

tail slap, Power Attack, Smite Evil vs red: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
damage: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

...while Xasay himself attempts to place a curse on the mighty shark!

Blindness, DC 16.

Swim Xasay DC10: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

The humanoid sees through the shadowy manta ray and only takes minor damage from it, while the mighty shark does not seem to care at all for the spell that Xasay is weaving.

Initiative
Underwater Combat
Emmett
Grisaia
Scratcher 46/46
- - -
Shark
Red
- - -
Tori
- - -
Blue: -2 hp
- - -
Xasay

Uh, you messed up the HTML on that second roll. Might make a difference....

Are you peeking behind my screen? ;-) Trust me; I checked the rolls before putting the spoiler around them and they were both high enough.