It wraps extremely tightly around her, including her face, and the paladin suddenly finds herself unable to breathe!
I thought it was apparent that Theodora would be unable to speak in the circumstances. I'll be more explicit in the future.
As for Ireena's actions... one way to look at it is in the rush of a sudden and unexpected situation, people will rush to take actions before the full consequences are known.
Or there may be other reasons... for example, you all do know that Ireena is under the effect of an enchantment effect...
Sorry, I must be confused between its grappling abilities and its smothering abilities. I now take it that whenever it grapples the target has to hold its breathe, while if it obtains a smother the target immediately loses consciousness or something to that effect? I think my confusion lies in that what it seems to be doing is smothering already.
Behind the Spoiler tag are the stats I'm using for this monster.
The Camouflage, Damage Transfer, and Suffocate special abilites are my own PFRPG conversions of the monster's D&D 5e stats.
As an aside, I didn't expect this monster to be so nasty!
N Medium construct
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 15 (+0 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 36 (3d10+20)
Fort +1 Ref +1 Will -4
Defensive abilities DR 5 /slashing; Immune Construct traits
Special Defenses Camouflage; Damage Transfer
OFFENSE
Speed fly 30 ft (good)
Melee Grapple +5
Special Attacks Constrict (1d8+2); Smother; Suffocate
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 10, Con —, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1
Feats Improved Grapple
BAB +3; CMB +5 (+9 to grapple); CMD 15 (19 to escape a Grapple) (cannot be tripped)
SQ Construction Points: 7
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Camouflage (Ex) When not moving, a rug of smothering is indistinguishable from a normal rug.
Damage Transfer (Ex) While grappling an opponent, the rug takes half damage from other attackers, and the grappled opponent takes the other half; any damage absorbed by the rug's DR is applied to the opponent is is grappling.
Suffocate(Ex) On a successful Grapple, the rug automatically cuts off its opponent's air supply, forcing its opponent to hold its breath, and preventing the opponent from speaking or casting spells with a verbal component.
Thank you for clarifying. The monster is a little rough if it grapples, but the background makes its placement a little more clearer. I was just taken aback when it was grappling, smothering, silencing, and forcing attackers to do damage to the grappled character at this low to mid level. Castle Ravenloft ain't messing around.
Well, it's still better than "save or die!"
...and there are some far rougher challenges ahead!
I'm having work done on my house that generates fumes, and we can't be in the building for the next 48 hours. We're therefore taking a mini-vacation. I may not get a chance to post again until Monday.
Hi, folks.
Sorry that things have slowed down a little again.
Life is getting busy for me again, and I'm having to limit some of the time I spend on gaming-related stuff. I'm running two non-PFRPG events at Paizocon later this month, and I still haven't finished prepping them.
One of the reasons life got busy is that I had some work done in my house, including having new insulation installed in my attic. One of the side-effects was that I had to take 20 years' worth of junk out of the attic...including some boxes that I put up there when I moved into the house and haven't opened since. One of those boxes was a treasure trove of old AD&D stuff from the late '80s and early '90s that I co-wrote back in college...including a bunch stuff I thought had been lost to the ages when my mom's basement flooded in 1998!
This included the first 13 issues of my college gaming club's monthly newsletter, which was very much focused on the AD&D campaigns that went on in the club. The campaign I was in was kinda/sorta a proto-organized play group: We had six GMs running groups simultaneously in the same campaign world, and stuff that happened in one group regularly impacted the others.
If anyone is interested in the goings-on of the Cornell University gaming club circa 1989-1991, then take a look!
I also found three AD&D tournament adventures I co-wrote in that time period. I have scanned two of those...
The Horror of Castle Nostromo (text) (1989)
Castle Nostromo: Maps & Handouts
One of Our Wyverns Is Missing (1990)
The dot-matrix printing of the adventures is a little hard to read in places, as the ink is fading.
We heavily based the design of Castle Nostromo on the map of Castle Ravenloft... the two are comparable in size and detail.
Enjoy!
--Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando
Based on our previous conversation, I'll assume Theodora's uses of Lay on Hands won't return until dawn.
Based on our previous converstation, I'll assume Theodora's uses of Lay on Hands won't return until dawn.
I'm going to contradict what I said earlier. Let's take a page from D&D 5e and say that all daily use powers reset after a long rest...
LEVEL UP!
Countessa gains:
6 hit points (4 for level, +1 FB, +1 Toughness)
+1 to each saving throw
+2 to Sense Motive
+1 to Fly, Know (arcana), Know (nobility), Know (religion), Spellcraft
2 new spells (summon monster II, haste)
Theodora is leveled up, here is a summary of the changes:
+9 HP
+2 Skill Ranks (Diplomacy, Perception)
BaB increases to +6/+1
Saves all increase by 1
Additional Mercy: Staggered
+1 Usage for Lay on Hands, heals 3d6 now
Damion leveled up. 58 hit points and some small skill advancement
Damion leveled up. 58 hit points and some small skill advancement
Would you please update the class/level line in your Profile?
Still wating for leveling up from Verran and Petracleus.
This might also be a good time to mention that I'm going to Paizocon on Thursday, and probably won't be updating this game until I'm back home on Tuesday 5/30... and it might be Wednesday before I start posting again.
Will any of you be at Paizocon this year?
I got into two lottery games that I'm really excited about...
Escape from Briarstone Asyluym (Pathfinder) GM: Adam Daigle. Two of the other players will be professional game designers Robert Brookes (author of the Aethera Campaign Setting) and Jacob W. Michaels.
Wanted in the Wastes (Pathfinder/Aethera) GM: Amber E. Scott
I'm also running two games myself:
Dungeon World: Murder's Mark, a conversion of the Pathfinder module to the Dungeon World role-playing game.
Night Witches: Introductory Game, a demo of the Night Witches RPG.
Plus, I got into a couple of PFS games and a Swords & Wizardry game.
I'm really stoked for this con! I haven't been to a gaming con since the early 1990s!
Congrats! PaizoCon is too far for me to try to go, even with the arrangement for GMs, because I'd have to find my own way there. And that's a journey of about 2500 miles.
Damion leveled up. 58 hit points and some small skill advancementWould you please update the class/level line in your Profile?
Still wating for leveling up from Verran and Petracleus.
Yeah, 'pologies - umming and aaahing about Bard or Fighter... will get to it!!!
Sounds like you've got a load of cool stuff to do at PaizoCon... there's a few Legendary Planet and Blight games that I'd have loved to have seen in play...
Congrats! PaizoCon is too far for me to try to go, even with the arrangement for GMs, because I'd have to find my own way there. And that's a journey of about 2500 miles.
I live in central New York State, so it's about 2700 miles for me. My wife tavels a lot for work, so I'm burning a bunch of her frequent flier miles for the airfare. Her hotel loyalty points are all with Marriott, so I am paying for the hotel.
Sounds like you've got a load of cool stuff to do at PaizoCon... there's a few Legendary Planet and Blight games that I'd have loved to have seen in play...
My lottery numbers didn't come up for any of the Legendary Planet, Blight, Starfinder, or Unspeakable Futures games I tried to get into, but I'm still really happy with what I got!
Oh, and I got into the Pathfinder Society Special. What's weird is that this will be my first real PFS game ever. (Talk about baptism by fire!)
Damion leveled up. 58 hit points and some small skill advancementWould you please update the class/level line in your Profile?
Still wating for leveling up from Verran and Petracleus.
Done.
Paizocon is a bust this year.
Flight was eventually canceled after a six-hour delay. There were no flights that could get me there today (Friday), with the possible exception of getting on standby for a 8:30 PM arrival. Best guaranteed seat would arrive at 1PM Saturday...which would have meant missing half the con.
I made the decision to just cancel the trip.
So many flights were canceled that there were no rooms at any hotel with airport shuttle service, so I had to take an Uber across town to a so-so Hampton Inn. Checked in at 2:30 AM. At least I got five hours of sleep.
And there are no flights home today, either. Soonest is a 6PM Saturday flight. I'm looking at a one-way car rental for a 5-hour drive home...assuming that I can get a car.
"Disappointed" doesn't really convey how I feel right now.
Awww, I'm sorry to hear this.
That sucks. What happened to cancel so many flights?
That sounds awful, sorry to hear that happened to you.
That sucks. What happened to cancel so many flights?
Two lage bands of thunderstorms passed across the Northeast, from DC to Boston. They were about three hours apart. This caused cascading delays and cancellations across some major airports (including Boston-Logan, NYC-LaGuardia, NYC-JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, DC-Reagan, and DC-Dulles). It hit American Airlines especially hard: their Northeast hub is Philadelphia. Also, a storm drain at the Philadelphia airport got clogged, causing water to back up on one taxiway. There was a rumor going around that lightning struck a jetbridge in Terminal A, causing three gates to close... there had been ine VERY close lightning strike while I was at the airport.
I got back home yesterday late afternoon. I did end up renting a car one-way and driving back.
Yeah, 'pologies - umming and aaahing about Bard or Fighter... will get to it!!!
So, Petracleus just went for a third level of Fighter... +1 to Ref / Will Saves, +1 to BAB, Some skill points and a reduction in Armour Check Penalties... nothing too exciting but the extra HP will surely help!!!
I guess we'll pick things up when Verran's player gets back from the con and levels up!
BTW, I leveled up Ireena to Fighter 5. I decided to keep Celowyn at L5, because she's now an NPC.
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This is a total aside, but after I spent most of the afternoon yesterday putting together the combat maps for the Spires of Ravenloft, I decided to pony up for the Castle Ravenloft VTT combat maps for Curse of Strahd from the Dungeon Masters Guild.
I had been using some very nice fan-made combat maps for Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. However, that version radically changed several encounters from the original 1983 version, meaning I had to modify the maps rather extensively in places. Curse of Strahd hews much more closely to the original, so I won't have to do nearly as much work on the maps.
Bottom line: We're about to have much better maps for the Ground Floor, Second Floor, and dungeon levels.
Verran's leveled and ready to rock. I'll put a post in after breakfast/caffine
In reference of where to go next, were we told that Dawnflower's Radiance was at the top of this tower? If so, that's Theodora's vote. My guess is that the encounter(s) to recover it will be difficult, so it's best to get it out the way first if we can since we have a safe place to rest for now.
Theodora: The ghost of Lady Shantia (the paladin) said that she last saw her sword when fighting Strahd "atop the highest tower," when he and his minions overwhelmed her and her party. She also said that the sword burned Strahd when he grasped its hilt, and he let it lie as she was taken prisoner.
That said, you're not sure if you're actually in the tower that Lady Shantia mentioned, as the castle has multiple towers.
Thanks for clearing that, Haladir. It's very appreciated.
One other thing: Lady Shantia and her party assaulted Castle Ravenloft about a hundred years ago... her sword could have been moved from where she last saw it.
But looking for it in its last known location is a logical place to start!
Hi, folks.
My posting may be a little more erratic than usual for the next few days. First of all, my daughter is graduating high school today, and we have a bunch of relatives in town to help celebrate.
Secondly, I accidentally triggered an anti-theft routine on my phone, and it's now temporarily bricked until Sunday. All of my updates will have to be via my laptop, which is harder to do a quick post from when I have 15 minutes to kill.
Hey, folks.
As much as I hate to say it, my posting will continue to be erratic for the next two weeks. This week, I'm at a week-long off-site training session. I just found out this morning that the new person I'd trained to back-fill for me is now also out of the office due to a family emergency. This means that I'll need to put in 3-4 hours of work after hours every night. I am not going to have much (if any) time for online gaming this week.
And next week, I'm on an actual vacation, with limited access to the Internet. My regular back-up should be back to back-fill for me, so at least I won't have to worry about work piling up.
Hopefully, I'll be able to return to my regular posting schedule after I'm back from vacation on 7/10.
Sorry to have to become scarce in the middle of a combat!
Hey, folks.
Just letting you know that I am still alive. The training was intense, and of course I had a ton of work come in while I was there, so I was up pretty late after-hours keeping my head above water.
My back-up returns next week while I'm on vacation for the upcoming week. I won't have regular wifi or wireless phone service until at least Wednesday, so I'll probably stay dark for another week.
Thanks for you patience!
I'm back!
I started writing a GM post but ran out of time before an IRL commitment. I also started moving tokens on the map. I should get a chance to finish the post in a few hours. Thanks for your patience!
Hey, folks.
Just to let you know, I'm going to a four-day outdoor music festival later this afternoon.
I probably won't be posting again until Monday.
Enjoy!
So i think, the criteria of the original suggestion are completed.
The suggested course of activity can continue for the entire duration. If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do
Just out of curiosity, can she give another suggestion without castin the spell again?
No. The suggestion was to surrender to her, which you are doing. Her follow-up comments/commands aren't backed by magic.
God dang it. Life just...yeah. I'll get caught up in the morning and try to get back to posting properly...at least until GenCon.
Glad you're back!
I cannot be one to criticize another's frequency of posting...
Hey, folks.
I'm posting from my phone right now. Looks like it might be Wednesday before I'll get a chance to run the next round of combat.
I am on vacation this week until next Monday, Please bot me as necessary. If I'm running the game, I will do what I can to check in, but don't expect much activity from me this week. Thank you.
Folks, I have had a busy day packing for holidays and then tomorrow will be travelling - I expect to have wi-fi / internet where we are staying but I think my posting will be sporadic for a week... apologies (and feel free to GMPC me as appropriate)
Okay, bad news on my end. My computer is down for what duration I cannot say. I might be back online in a few days, it may be a few weeks. Needless to say, this suspends my gaming. I can log on through my wife's computer, but I cannot access any of my files. Hopefully, this will be resolved within a week. Please bear with me.
If I am in your game, bot me as necessary (though I will try to log on once a day).
If you are in one of my games, I don't know what to say. I will try to keep things moving as best I can with what I have to work with, but as I said, my files are inaccessible right now. Just hang in there and we'll be back!
Just when I thought I'd get some breathing room, life got complicated. Not bad, just... complicated. I hope to resume posting this weekend.
Sorry for delays!