DM Rich's Carrion Crown

Game Master Briccone

Bert takes the lead up the ladder. Opening the trap door to the next area, he finds that strange art and artifacts from distant lands fill this tower room. Another ladder rises upward to a trapdoor in the ceiling.

Also in the room are two tiny winged creature with leathery skin and bone and metal jaws. They scream in alarm at Bert's presence.

The new map is to the right of second floor map. I placed Bert on it to make it easier to find. Everyone else is still on the second floor map.

Unless you climb up the ladder you cannot currently see the creatures. The ladder's location in the new room is currently under Bert's icon. You don't need to make a Climb check, but it is a move action that takes 30' speed to go up the ladder (you move slower when climbing).

When you do see the creatures, it's a Knowledge (arcana) check to identify them. Since they are tiny, you can move around them and into their squares without provoking.

PC Initiative
Amaria's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Bert's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Sophie's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Stefan's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Tara's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Vivian's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Initiative (Round 1)
Vivian <= Up
Tara <= Up
Sophie [7 Damage] <= Up
Stefan [6 Temp HP] <= Up
Amaria [1 Damage] <= Up
Bert [9 Damage] <= Up
2 Tiny creatures

Everyone is up!

"Oh, my!!"

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24

Waiting to see what, if anything, the doctor knows about these creatures before acting...

Once he sees the creatures, Dr. Von Herzog will recognize them as homunculi, although their bone and metal jaws signal they are some sort of variant of the typical kind. He recalls they are constructs and have the subsequent traits of such creatures. He also remembers that their poisonous bites are capable of putting their victims to sleep and that they have a telepathic link to their creators.

Standing at the bottom of the ladder, Tara's eyes widen at the scream. "Bert, is everything okay?" Grasping onto her holy symbol, Tara waits a moment before casting a blessing upon the party.

Tara will cast Bless +1 to Attack and +1 to will saves vs fear

Sophie climbs the ladder. double move

Tara casts a spell and the group is granted a small Blessing from Pharasma.

Sophie moves up the ladder to directly confront the homunculi menace.

Vivian and Stefan are up. After they go, I'll bot Bert and Amaria. Since it's been 3 months since Amaria said she'll be gone, I'll assume she's disappeared into the ether.

Vivian follows Sophie up the ladder

Vivian follows Sophie's lead and moves up the ladder into the room.

I'll give Stefan a bit longer before botting him.

Sorry for disappearing again. Life hasn't been condusive to online gaming of late. Hopefully, I'll be able to post at least every-other-day for a while.

Stefan climbs the ladder to discover the homonculi in the loft above.

"Alas, I've already spent all of my thaumaturgy that would prove efficacious against magical constructs!"

He then swings his finely-crafted walking stick at the nearest homonculus.

Bless

Melee attack: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 + 1 = 8
Bludgeoning damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5

Stefan makes his way up the ladder into the next room. You only move 1/4 your speed while climbing, which I believe would require all of your movement this round to reach the next room. In any case, the melee attack would have missed.

Bert draws his sword and attempts to slash the black homunculus. He hits it solidly, but not enough to drop it from the air.

Amaria stays on the lower floor for the moment to make sure Tara stays safe.

The black homunculus then attempts to fly at Bert, and the fighter strikes it again. Undeterred, the creature bites the Fighter. As it's iron jaws cut into his flesh, Bert feels poison attempt to seep into his system, but successfully fights it off. Bert takes 6 more damage.

The white homunculus goes toward Vivian and Bert's combat reflexes kick in. The fighter makes another opportunity attack but misses this time.

If it survives entering Vivian's personal space, the white homunculus makes a failed attempt to bite the roguish inquisitor. Vivian gets an AoO from the tiny creature entering her threatened space.

Bert's Sword attack: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 1 = 21
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Bert's Sword Aoo: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 1 = 27
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Bert's Sword Aoo 2: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 9 + 1 = 13
Damage: 1d12 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Initiative (Round 2)
Vivian <= Up
Tara <= Up
Sophie [7 Damage] <= Up
Stefan [6 Temp HP] <= Up
Amaria [1 Damage] <= Up
Bert [15 Damage] <= Up
2 Homunculi

Effects
Bless: +1 to attack rolls and fear saves

Everyone is up! Vivian has an attack of opportunity she can take if she likes.

Blessed AoO: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 1 = 13
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Blessed Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 1 = 21
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Vivian first strike is quite clumsy, but the second, more desperate thrust shows more swordwomanship.

Vivian misses the white homunculus as it enters her personal space, but slashes it good when she makes another attack on it.

Sophie, Stefan, Tara.

Stefan swings his walking stick at another.

Melee attack: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 + 1 = 9
Damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Dr. Von Herzog swings his staff at one of the homunculi, but it easily dodges the blow.

Sophie? I'll bot Tara afterwards. If someone wants to bot Amaria, Bert, or Tara please be my guest.

"Tara! Your marksmanship would be duly appreciated! Shoot that abominable construct out of the air!"

Tara shoots the doctor a look that telegraphs "What do you THINK I'm doing?" She then fires her crossbow at the homonculus.

Tara's crossbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Piercing damage: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Sophie claws at the homunculus.

claw, power attack: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 - 1 = 8 for slashing: 1d4 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 2 = 10
claw, power attack: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 7 - 1 = 26 for slashing: 1d4 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 2 = 9
confirm crit: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 7 - 1 = 16 for slashing: 1d4 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 2 = 8

Playing for Bert&Amaria, hoping I got their bonus right
+1 Longsword: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Dmg: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

in such close quarters, the lucerne hammer isn't a good idea, so Bert switches to his magical longsword, while Amaria sends a few arrows in support

+1 Comp Bow, Weapon focus, Precise shot, point blank ,Deadly aim: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 23
Dmg, Deadly aim, Point blank: 1d8 + 3 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 4 + 1 = 16

+1 Comp Bow, Weapon focus, Precise shot, point blank ,Deadly aim, Rapid shot: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 = 15
Dmg, Deadly aim, Point blank: 1d8 + 3 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 4 + 1 = 10

Thanks to Stefan and Vivian for botting the others, it helps take the load off.

With a homunculus now visible from her position at the bottom of the ladder, Tara fires a bolt from her crossbow up at the creature, but the projectile misses as she avoids hitting Bert. She then promptly begins to reload her weapon.

Sophie uses both of her claws against the same enemy creature, and the second swipe critically hits the magical construct. The black homunculus' body swiftly falls out of the air and crashes to the floor on the lower level.

Bert then swings his sword at the remaining enemy and nearly cleaves it two from the blow. The creature also falls to the ground, now inert.

Combat Over

Injury Report: Amaria -1, Bert -15, Sophie -7

With a better opportunity to look around, you all see that strange art and artifacts from distant lands fill this tower room. Another ladder rises upward to a trapdoor in the ceiling.

Taking a closer look at the curios and artifacts that line this chamber, you find an ebony tribal mask from the Mwangi Expanse worth 175 gp, a silver torc from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings worth 200 gp, and a mammoth tusk scrimshaw from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords with several spells carved on its surface. The tusk weighs 20 pounds and functions as a magic scroll containing the spells Bull’s Strength, Ice Storm, and Phantom Steed.

I'll give you all a couple of days to react or heal if you wish before moving you up the ladder to the next room.

Grasping her holy symbol, Tara whispers a quick prayer to Pharasma as healing washes over everyone. "I'm almost out of healing energies. Hopefully we can get through this before anything bad happens in town."

Channel Energy: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 3) = 8

Sophie murmurs a prayer for herself.

bull's strength, active for the next 5 minutes

Perception, Traps (Trapfinding): 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 10 + 1 = 20

Vivian climbs the ladder, looking for any potential trap on the ladder or on the trapdoor itself

After Tara uses her holy powers to heal some wounds and Sophie uses magic to make herself stronger, Vivian takes the lead to check the ladder and trap door for traps. Finding none, she opens the door.

Unfortunately, an undiscovered magical trap on the door goes off, and a loud burst of destructive sound hits both Vivian and Bert below her. Both of them receive minor injuries, but Bert appears to be stunned by the effect. Bert and Vivian take 3 damage from the trap, Bert is now stunned. In order to keep things moving, I made the Fort saves for the affected parties.

Spell Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3
Vivian Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Bert Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

To make matters slightly worse, another aggressive Homunculus with a metal jaw appears at the top of the ladder and seems ready to dive at the group.

To give everyone a good idea of the combat set up, the homunculus is flying in front of the opened trap door, so currently everyone can see it. Vivian is on the ladder adjacent to it. To attack it in melee without reach, you'll either need to be in Vivian's spot or move to the next floor past the creature. Since it is tiny, you can move through its square with no issues.

PC Initiative
Amaria's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Bert's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Sophie's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Stefan's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Tara's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Vivian's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Initiative (Round 1)
Stefan [6 Temp HP] <= Up
Vivian [3 Dmg] <= Up
Sophie [Bull's Strength Active] <= Up
Bert [10 Dmg; Stunned]<= Up
Amaria [1 Dmg] <= Up
Homunculus
Tara

Effects
Bless: +1 to attack rolls, fear saves

Stefan, Vivian, Sophie, Bert, and Amaria are up first!

Sophie moves closer, drawing her longspear. Then she thrusts it at the homunculus.

longspear, attack, power attack, Bull's Strength, bless: 1d20 + 8 - 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 8 - 1 + 2 + 1 = 25 for cold iron, piercing: 1d8 + 7 + 3 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 3 + 3 = 17

Sophie steps up and stabs the homunculus with her longspear. The weapon completely pierces the creature's body, killing it instantly.

Combat Over

Injury Report: Bert 10 Damage, Vivian 3 Damage, Amaria 1 Damage. You can heal retroactively if you wish.

Shortly afterwards, Bert shakes himself out of the sonic stun.

Moving up the ladder, you see slatted timber openings cover the windows of this dirty tower-top room, 60 feet above the ground. The only thing of value is found outside, which is a copper lightning rod in the form of a raven eating a wolf, worth 100 gp.

* * *

Having finished exploring the upper levels, the group returns to the ground level, as the cowed mongrelmen in the vat room give you all a wide berth.

You return to the courtyard and open the eastern double doors. Inside you find a chamber that contains numerous boxes, crates, and bales of straw for packing. You also see three mongrelmen working. Apparently not aware of what happened to their bosses, the deformed humanoids arms themselves with clubs and appear ready to attack.

PC Initiative
Amaria's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Bert's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Sophie's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Stefan's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Tara's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Vivian's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Initiative (Round 1)
Tara <= Up
Amaria [1 Dmg] <= Up
Vivian [3 Dmg] <= Up
Bert [10 Dmg]<= Up
3 Mongrelmen
Sophie [Bull's Strength Active]
Stefan [6 Temp HP]

Tara and Vivian are up first! I'll bot Amaria and Bert afterwards unless someone else wants to do it again.

"I don't see any need to fight these creatures. We should tell them they are free now."

Yes, but would they listen?

Vivian lowers her sword, a little , ready to fend of the attackers but not pressing the attack herself Total defense

Stop , we wish you no harm. Your masters are already dead! We can prove it.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

The mongrelmen appear completely unmoved by Vivian's attempt at diplomacy.

Until aggressive actions are taken, I'll allow Diplomacy. Would you like Bert and Amaria to aid? It looks like Amaria has a +11 to Diplomacy, it might be better if she just tries by herself.

Rolling for Amaria Diplo: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25 That's better!

Amaria tries to convince the mongrelmen to lower their weapons. She does not ready an arrow into her bow, showing her peaceful intention.

Meanwhile Bert tries to look as inoffensive a warrior ready for battle can be.

The mongrelmen react much more positively to Amaria's words as they lower their clubs. The one in the center then asks, "Okay, who's the boss now? Are the terms of employment the same? We need this job, no one else will let us work for them."

Out of Combat unless someone still wants to attack.

What was your "job", in fact? Could you tell us? Maybe we can't find you the same line of work, but I already have an idea, if you don't mind some traveling. People who could accept you as you are, and who would be loyal to you if you are loyal to them.

Maybe the Crooked Kin would be happy to get some reinforcements?

With the mongrelmen willing to talk instead of fight, Vivian learns that they basically do whatever odd jobs Vorkstag or Grine give them as part of the chemical factory. Most of the time they work on brewing the acid and bleach in the vat room, but these three were given the task of doing inventory in this storage room. The mongrelmen seem receptive to the idea of working for the Crooked Kin, but would prefer if your group made the arrangements since their deformities make city traffic difficult for them.

With a potential deal in the works, the mongrelmen point out the items in the room that might be helpful to you. These include 12 vials of alchemist’s fire, 12 vials of liquid ice, 10 smoke pellets, 10 smokesticks, and six bottles of bleach (worth 5 gp each) with the same labels as the one found in the Sanctuary. In addition, the leader offers a bottle of port wine hidden in the room, worth 100 gp.

* * *

Examining the room to the east, you find simple stable that contains two stalls filled with straw, one of which holds an ancient horse one step away from the knacker’s yard. In the other stall you find bedding for numerous individuals. The mongrelmen in the previous room tell you that this stable serves as their bedroom.

* * *

With the ground level searched, the group moves to the cellar. Finding the door at the bottom of the vat room, you discover it is locked.

Map updated, moved the party to its current location.

"We'll see what we can do for you. We will not forget to return to help you."

--

"Can you get us in there, Vivian?"

Did we find some keys earlier?

Perception to find traps: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 1 = 30

I do hope so..I'll check for traps first

DD with masterwork tools (trap or door): 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 2 = 29

Yes, you do have keys which work in the lock. I'll leave it up to you whether Vivian uses the key or shows off by opening it with lock picks.

Finding no traps on the door, Vivian opens it easily and the group progresses further. This first underground room contains several dozen crates, a few coffins, lots of straw, and several huge bell jars. Searching the room you find five pots of bladeguard, 10 doses of bloodblock, 5 applications of silver weapon blanch, 5 applications of cold iron weapon blanch, and a single application of adamantine weapon blanch.

Vivian also finds a secret door to the east.

PC Perception
Vivian Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
Tara Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Stefan Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Sophie Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 8

* * *

Making your way through the secret door, the next room contains grisly things in jars, two complete skeletons of monstrous creatures, a coffin, and a handcart.

The jars contain various preserved specimens waiting to be shipped, including a preserved drow head, a pickled pair of hill giant eyes, the half-changed head and spine of a wererat, and a trio of chuul tentacles.

The skeletons both appear to be owlbears, while the coffin holds a preserved male human body in traveler's clothes.

In the cart, you find a magic wand on top of a ledger. The ledger lists the objects in the room, their buyers, and delivery destinations. All of them are destined for scholars in Caliphas and have commanded high prices.

A narrow corridor to the east ends at a locked iron grille, which is easily unlocked with one of Vorkstag's keys. Forty yards beyond the grille, the tunnel joins the local sewer.

I'll give you all time to react and/or spellcraft the wand before moving to the next room.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

I have seen something like that, at my mom's temple in Karcau. It's a wand of Gentle Repose: this spell is used only on dead people. Pharasman use it either to ensure a corpse won't deteriorate before burial, or to delay the decaying so a Raise Dead spell can be used, if Pharasma allow such a Fate.

Finishing up in secret room connected to the sewers, the group continues back to the storage room, then through a door to the south and down a flight of stairs to come to an iron door.

Finding no traps on the door, Vivian opens it up to reveal the floor of this large chamber is hidden beneath the murky water filling the room to just below the bottom of the door. Dozens of pale cadavers silently float in the ice-cold waters, bumping into each other or against the damp walls. The air is still and quiet, broken only by the sound of water lapping against stone walls.

A 10-foot-long gaff hangs on the wall beside the door, probably used to gather up bodies.

Gazing over the room, Vivian notes that two of the bodies seem to twitch slightly, as if animate.

You can move through the water, but it acts as difficult terrain.

We will wait for Vivian to react to what she sees.

I guess those are undead. We should put them to rest, but as long as they pose no threat there might be more urgent matters.

Vivian looks at the pool, trying to figure if the cadavers inside have a chance to get out of it all by themselves.

Taking 20 if needed in Perception, total 30. If there is a way for the moving corpses to get out of the pool, Vivian will try to find out a way to keep them inside with Disable Device (knock the ladder off,or something like that)

Please note, this appears to be the last unexplored room in the building.

From her position at the door, Vivian takes a couple of minutes to examine the room. The entire room is full of water with dozens of dead bodies floating in it. The water seems shallow enough to tread. There does not appear to be any other exits. There is also no way to secure the door with the materials nearby other than grabbing the gaff from the wall and wedging it under the door. This method would be quite easy to circumvent, however, to a determined, strong enemy.

If we have time, I'd like to destroy theses unliving yet moving corpses, if you don't mind. Bert could use his halberd, or whatever his weapon is called, to hit them from afar, and I'll be there to help him if they come too close. Or maybe Tara could bring them the peace of the grave, finally?

Sophie nods approvingly.

As Vivian comes up with a battle plan, the two twitching corpses she spotted earlier rise up from the water. With their tight, leathery skin, sunken eyes, and emaciated figures, they appear to be some type of undead. They both turn their attention to the door.

Knowledge (religion) will provide more information.

Moving at the speed of a living person and unencumbered by the water, they wade up to the door and attack Vivian. The male creature hits her in the head, hard enough to almost stun her, but she manages to keep her senses. The female enemy does exactly the same, also striking her in the head yet this time stunning her. Vivian takes 19 damage in total and is stunned for 1 round.

PC Initiative
Amaria's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Bert's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Sophie's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Stefan's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Tara's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Vivian's Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Initiative (Round 1)
2 Corpse-like enemies
Stefan [6 Temp HP] <= Up
Vivian [22 Dmg; Stunned for 1 round]
Tara <= Up
Sophie <= Up
Amaria [1 Dmg] <= Up
Bert [10 Dmg] <= Up

Everyone is up except for the stunned Vivian. If you enter the room, all the water squares are difficult terrain.

knowledge, religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Sophie recognizes these creatures as Juju Zombies. They are undead creature that tend to keep their class abilities and intelligence from before their deaths. They also resist weapon damage unless the source is a magical slashing weapon, and are immune to cold, electricity, and magic missiles while having a moderate resistance to fire.

Everyone is up except Vivian.

Sophie shares what she knows and then murmurs a prayer, blessing her longspear, Vivian's weapon, Bert's weapon, and up to two other weapons. weapons against evil: up to 5 blessed weapons can ignore up to DR/5 on any evil creatures they attack. 5 round duration.

Sophie blesses her weapon and those of her fellow investigators.

I'm guessing Amaria would probably take the blessing as well. That leaves either Stefan or Tara if they want the ability to ignore some DR.

Stefan! Vivian! Tara! (Bert and Amaria!)

I'm back! Thanks to everyone for putting up with my absence this past month!

Give the remaining weapon blessing to Tara—Stefan isn't terribly effective using weapons.

Know (religion): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31

Catching a glimpse of the walking corpses as they approach the landing, Stefan gasps, "Yes—Juju zombies!"

Stefan utters magical incantations and traces glowing sigils into the air. A wave of energy pulses outward from that point, which seemingly affects the zombies.

Turn undead. DC 14 Will save or flee as if panicked.

Tara looks on in concern as Vivian is paralyzed by the strikes. "That does not bode well." Conjuring up some healing energy, Tara taps Vivian on the shoulder, helping her regain some of the lost blood.

Burning Lesser restoration to cast cure moderate wounds on Vivian

Healing: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (5, 8) + 5 = 18

Dr. Von Herzog attempts to turn the the juju zombies, but both creatures resist his attempt.

Seeing the extent of Vivian's injuries, Tara uses a healing spell to alleviate most of her wounds.

Bert attacks the female zombie who stunned Vivian, hitting her with his sword

Bert Sword attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Amaria focuses on the same target and fires two arrows. Although the first projectile misses, the second hits the juju zombie in the head which destroys it.

Amaria Arrow 1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Arrow 2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

The remaining zombie curses in common and grabs Vivian, placing her in a grapple. Vivian is now grappled.

Vivian is no longer stunned, but she did drop her sword when she was.

Initiative (Round 2)
1 Juju Zombie
Stefan [6 Temp HP] <= Up
Vivian [4 Dmg; Grappled] <= Up
Tara <= Up
Sophie <= Up
Amaria [1 Dmg] <= Up
Bert [10 Dmg] <= Up

Everyone is up!

Escape artist?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Vivian tries to get free from the grappling undead, fearful of an infectious bite

Wow! The last two CC games I played this character in spent weeks IRL and 50+ posts at Kendra's house on the night of the will reading! None of them got much farther than that.

Gm Harker likes to keep things bouncing along. We'll try to keep up!

I can slow down if you like, but hey, we got a lot of story to get to.

I can slow down if you like, but hey, we got a lot of story to get to.

No,no! PbP moving fast is great. As the honored Doctor said above, it is a rare treat to move through so quickly!

I love the fast movement! Scarfing some food now and thinking my post up!

No, this is great! Players got bored and abandoned those campaigns.

Yeah, I try to keep pushing forward, since slow games always die. At the beginning is especially critical, since you tend to have the most momentum when the game is fresh and new.

Maybe we shouldn't let the person whose name starts with 'V' do all the talking! Very funny, GM.

*Makes a face at Sentir*

@ Gm: That was a nice, unexpected touch! I love it!

Also, since we are solving crimes maybe I should use this power?

Automatic Writing (Su): Once per day, you can spend a full hour in uninterrupted meditation. During this period, your hands produce mysterious writing that pertains to the future. At 1st level, the prophetic writing manifests as an augury spell with 90% effectiveness. At 5th level, the writing takes the form of a divination spell with 90% effectiveness. At 8th level, the writing manifests as a casting of commune with no material component required.

It certainly can't hurt when we have a moment of downtime!

I don't think we have enough clues. Shall we move on Drace? I ask you because we are buddies now, lol.

Heh. I like it. I think so, pending any other information from the sheriff, I think we can get on with our day.

Rolled a 20, hopefully doesn't go to waste. Care to be my hired retainer, Drace? Since I'm a rich gentleman?

Heh. Drace doesn't mind!

Another 20 in Bluff! At least this one isn't ruined by no disguise. Even a ragged man can have high interests.

What do you think Drace? The Gm isn't handing over the obvious map with the X mark all penciled in. Any ideas?

We could even go to Harrowstone or that false crypt, but I doubt we want to do that alone.

Yeah, I think swinging by those areas would be best to do in a group.

I think Drace will enjoy a second breakfast at the Inn, we can use another diplomacy check to see if there's any interesting information to be had. Drace is happy to spot a meal for Sentir as well.

When we go back to the house, I'll try some automatic writing and see if that gives us a clue. It can't hurt and might give the GM a chance to point something out we missed.

Or scare the pants off of us. Whichever.

Just a brief note about Automatic Writing at 1st level. It acts as an augury spell, so you're limited to asking whether an action you'll perform up to 30 minutes afterwards will be good or bad for you, although it does work 90% of the time.

Finally, some clues!

Back... Trial has been crazy and I am the prosecutor. We broke for the weekend but it has been 18+ hour days in a courthouse with no internet access. I will try to catch up. Trial resumes Monday but should be done Tuesday and I will be back to 1+ posts a day no problem.

Y'all are flying along...

Well that is creepy GM!

Excellent RP Vivian, I like it!

Thankies!

Nice choice of song! "The Spanish Lady" is a traditional Irish folk song. I'm partial to the version by Gaelic Storm.

I've done some writing of "filk songs" (folk songs from fictional lands) as well. I think the one I'm proudest of was an adaptation of the Scottish Jacobite song, "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" for Pathfinder. I changed it to an anti-Thrune song from the Chelish Civil War called, "Hail Ye Chelish Lords" (a song still banned in Cheliax).

Yes, that was very cool Vivian.

Progressing forward, I'm assuming Dr. Stefan is going to busy himself with research at the Lorrimor home. Vivian, are you still going to visit Hearthmount's residence? Is there any other pending character business that I'm forgetting?

Yes, I will pay a visit to Heartmount, alone or with someone

Pretty sure it'll be woe, but worth a try.

At least Drace is entertained. :-)

Wait, WEAL. To go, alone to this crypt? Seriously?

You didn't specify that you would be going alone.

If I head to the Crypt, doctor in tow, will we go through town. Ie, can I grab Drace and Vivian as we go or not?

First, I would be remiss if I didn't give you the same advice as I would if I was playing: if going into a potentially dangerous situation, it's best to bring the entire party.

Second, it takes you an hour to do the automatic writing, and Stefan will be busy throughout the afternoon in study, so if you want him along you'll need to wait until after dark, and by that time I would hazard to guess that the entire group will be back at the house.

First, I would be remiss if I didn't give you the same advice as I would if I was playing: if going into a potentially dangerous situation, it's best to bring the entire party.

Second, it takes you an hour to do the automatic writing, and Stefan will be busy throughout the afternoon in study, so if you want him along you'll need to wait until after dark, and by that time I would hazard to guess that the entire group will be back at the house.

Don't worry, I won't go kill myself. My first question working had the words 'with friends in tow' added. Would that have been a working question? I wasn't sure how far to push it.

And I'll take you advice, and wait for the others. How do I IC explain why I got this news and didn't interrupt the Doctor right away? This is an issue with Pbp, but I want to know how you, the GM, handle it.

I don't see an issue with adding a conditional variable to your augury questions such as 'with friends in tow.' In most cases, I would assume you would imply that unless you specifically asked about doing something by yourself. That's what I assumed in this first case, anyway, since Sentir spoke about going to the crypt with multiple people before hand.

I've been pretty fluid with time on this first day, in an effort to keep things moving with the player's individual schedules, especially since Teil said he was going to be extremely busy with work.

If you need a good in character reason not to go right now, I can offer you a few. You can say that the automatic writing experience was so intense for Sentir that he lost consciousness afterwards and woke up in the early evening, or he can just decide to go after dark since the group would be less likely to be noticed trespassing than during the day, or since he doesn't know where everyone else went, he can just wait until the entire group returns to ensure safety in numbers.

Thanks GM. I can think of good in-character reasons, I just wanted to see what you had in mind. See what your views were on temporal time distortions due to Pbp.

I once had a snarl time issue in a Pbp game I hosted which I resolved by having kobolds attack. Not my best moment but I was desperate.

Thanks for being understanding and keeping the pace moving. I am really enjoying this game so far. I hope I speak for everyone!

Well, I don't really want to force anyone's character to perform actions they wouldn't do, but if you could help me out and come up with in character reasons that would probably best for the story.

I'll be happy to throw in a random zombie kobold attack though if you think it would help. :)

GM Harker, I think that Teil and Tara were going to head back to the Lorrimor estate and see if they can glean any more research from the professor's private library.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I'll edit the post accordingly.

It's not a big issue, but when making research rolls, even if there are multiple skills you can roll, please just roll one of them unless I advise you otherwise. If multiples are rolled, I'll just take the results of the first roll.

Drace will defer to Vivian in speaking here, don't wait on my account.

I'm thinking more of what he doesn't know is going on, the less he can get in our way.

Wow, everyone went along with me. I figured everyone would call me crazy.

let's hope the voices were right.

I am going out of town for the weekend and will be leaving tomorrow afternoon. I'll have my smartphone, but am not planning to bring my laptop. I may be able to get a short post or two in, but maybe not. I should be back to my regular posting schedule on Monday.

Thanks for letting me know. In case the group encounters combat while you are gone, is there any particular actions you'd prefer Stefan to perform if botted?

I would like to let everyone know that I will be attending a convention this weekend, from Friday March 24 to Sunday March 26. I am running several pathfinder society scenarios, so my posting may be spotty this week, and it will be unlikely for me to post over the weekend.

If we engage in combat, Tara's first action would be to cast bless, and then move into combat to perform the aid another action for attack. (she has a dagger), if it looks like any of her allies are going to fall, she will channel, hoping to ensure that all enemies are either outright dead or out of her channel range.

If the party faces undead, Tara will choose to channel up to half of her channels, as I prefer to save the remaining on healing.

After combats, Tara will touch any enemies to get a free DC 20 check, as per her knowledge subdomain ability and note the name of the creature and any interesting things about them in a small journal that she keeps on her person for notes.

Whoo hoo, combat!

Dice them up Drace!

Sorry bugs... no devouring the pretty, flat-footed rogue.

Nice rolls Teil!

There, now we should have some light to fight and look around in.

We do have Stefan's dancing lights floating about. Three lights, each bright as a torch...