GM Harker's PFS Season 4 Campaign

Game Master Justin L. Warren

Mel scans for magic by the portcullis and then again by the balcony.

check traps portcullis: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23
check traps balcony wall: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25
stealth for climbing: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

When he gets up, he will again scan for magic and check for traps while having a quiet look around.
check traps balcony top: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26
stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

William finds the mural suitably creepy and intimidating, but finds nothing else of note, nor any traps.

Melufiuos finds no magical auras on the portcullis, nor any traps. He then proceeds to climb the wall up to the balcony and has no trouble reaching the top. In a formerly non-visible corner, he spots three emaciated figures that look like horned human skeletons forced into slimy leather armor, each carrying a longspear. They immediately spot him as well, as his light source instantly gives away his position.

We're in initiative now assuming Melufiuos immediately reveals his discovery. The balcony is 10 feet up, you need to make a DC 20 Climb check to make your way up. Currently, only Melufiuos can see the enemies, and they are not visible for ranged attacks unless you are Mel. The portcullis prevents movement into the balcony area from the north tunnel.

It's a Knowledge (planes) check to identify these creatures once you see them.

PC Initiative
Halkale's Initiative: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 2 = 22
Melufiuos' Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Ophelia's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Quiella's Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
Valik's Intiative: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
William's Initiative: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Initiative (Round 1)
Valik <= Up
Halkale/Frostfur <= Up
William <= Up
3 Thin Enemies
Melufiuos
Quiella
Ophelia

Valik, Halkale/Frostfur, and William up first.

Hearing the movement up above and Mel's call, William looks up the ledge and curses. "Time to make our own entrance..."

He pulls out and levels his musket as he moves towards the portcullis, and takes a shot at it, attempting to break a bar and work to open a path for his allies.

Attack vs Portcullis: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15
Damage: 2d12 ⇒ (11, 7) = 18

[dice=Jump check DC 40, "running start", using Ki to get another +20]1d20+16+8+20[/dice]

Valik focuses for a moment, centering his Ki. He than crouches, and explodes off the ground like the bullet that just came out of William's musket. He lands in front of Mel and instantly takes up a defensive position in hopes to draw the attacks from the new enemies.

Full defensive. Crane Wing: When fighting defensively with at least one hand free, you gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against melee attacks. If you using the total defense action instead, you can deflect one melee attack that would normally hit you. An attack so deflected deals no damage and has no other effect (instead treat it as a miss). You do not expend an action when using this feat, but you must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed.

My current AC is around 34

know planes: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

And holy cow, Valik! That is awesome!

Halkale tells Frostfur to guard the area and then he attempts to climb up the wall.

Climb: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Melufiuos recognizes the thin creatures as demons called Babaus. These evil outsiders specialize in stealth and assassination. He also recalls that they have spell resistance and are either immune or resistant to common energy types (fire, electricity, cold, and acid).

William moves back closer to the portcullis and shoots, doing some minor damage to the metal bars. I'm assuming William's ammo is not adamantine.

Valik makes an amazing jump from his position next to the stairs to land on the balcony next to Melufiuos. He then places himself into a strong defensive posture.

After commanding Frostfur to stay back and guard the area, Halkale attempts to climb the wall but makes no progress up the smooth walls.

The babau in the middle of the group concentrates for a brief moment, and the entire balcony is flooded in darkness, blinding both Melufiuos and Valik. The other babaus take advantage of the lack of light to attack both Valik and Melufiuos, striking them both. Mel takes 24 damage from one attack, while Valik takes 19 damage. I'm assuming a 28 hits Valik since he's flat-footed which negates dodge bonuses and since he cannot anticipate attacks adequately to use Crane Wing. If I am not understanding this correctly, please let me know.

As mentioned above, the entire balcony is in a darkness effect, although if you have darkvision you can see in it. I adjusted the babaus to where they roughly were based on the last time they were seen as well as attack positions. That being said, they may not be in the exact squares on the map since no one up there can see them.

Initiative (Rounds 1-2)
Valik [22 Dmg] <= Up
Halkale/Frostfur <= Up
William [2 Dmg; 1 Wis Dmg] <= Up
3 Babaus
Melufiuos [24 Dmg, will heal 5 on Quiella's turn] <= Up
Quiella [2 Dmg, will take 5 more on her turn] <= Up
Ophelia <= Up

I forgot to place lingering damage totals in the initiative roster when the combat started, the totals should be correct now while taking into account the damage from this round.

Everyone can go!

This darkness causes the illumination level in the area to drop one step, from bright light to normal light, from normal light to dim light, or from dim light to darkness. Does thatit goes from "normal to dim? Or does the scenario write it as "darkness and blinded"? Dim light means you misses me, darkness means you hit me :(

Valik, allow me to address your concerns. The ambient light in this level of the dungeon is dim, so a Darkness spell would eliminate all light. In order to counter the magical Darkness, you need a magical light effect that's at least a level 2 spell. Looking back through posts, it would appear that Melufiuos gave you his ioun torch, which has a second level Continual Flame spell cast on it. This is enough to counter the darkness. I'm basing a lot of this on this link. In the future, I'm going to have to pin everyone down on what light sources they are carrying to avoid confusion.

In this case, however, we'll retcon a bit. Instead of the balcony being flooded in darkness, Valik's ioun torch countered it. This means Valik did not get hit, but Melufiuos is still injured since he is flat-footed.

Here is the retconned Initiative Roster:

Initiative (Rounds 1-2)
Valik [3 Dmg] <= Up
Halkale/Frostfur <= Up
William [2 Dmg; 1 Wis Dmg] <= Up
3 Babaus
Melufiuos [24 Dmg, will heal 5 on Quiella's turn] <= Up
Quiella [2 Dmg, will take 5 more on her turn] <= Up
Ophelia <= Up

Everyone is still up!

I think in my iron gods group I told everyone to get darkvision so I didn't have to ever reference that FAQ. You sir are a braver man than I venturing into such... dark territory.

William hears the sounds of battle from up above and makes a snap decision. "Valik, Melufios turn their overconfidence around on them!"

Spending 1 grit to give everyone Broken Wing Gambit.

He then runs and jump, attempting to grab onto the ledge so he can pull himself up as soon as he gathers his strength.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Edit: Just gonna pick a course of action and stick with it.

Text of Broken Wing Gambit for reference.

Benefit: Whenever you make a melee attack and hit your opponent, you can use a free action to grant that opponent a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls against you until the end of your next turn or until your opponent attacks you, whichever happens first. If that opponent attacks you with this bonus, it provokes attacks of opportunity from your allies who have this feat.

Mel picked up blind fighting with his most recent level, if that affects anything so far

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Halkale attempts to climb the wall again.

Climbing: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

OK, Mel has a scroll of levitate. Can I take a 5' step off of the ledge? Will Nimble Moves help? Naturally, I'll take falling damage either way. But if that is my move action, can Mel then cast the scroll on someone? I was thinking either Halkale/William, put him in the air away from the wall and let him pepper them with arrows/bullets, OR use it on Quiella, lifting her up the wall when she gets there?

Alternately, I could just cast vanish this round, get out of the way, and do the levitate scroll next round.

Could you tie a rope to the balcony, give assist? Levitate places modifiers on ranged attacks, but that would be better than flailing on the wall

Ophelia moves forward, lifting her shield, the death-spiral glowing as she whispers a brief prayer.

Casting prayer, giving all allies a +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, saves, and skill checks. Enemies take a -1 penalty on the same rolls. No save, but SR applies.
Caster level vs SR (black): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Caster level vs SR (white): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Caster level vs SR (green): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

I assumed tying a rope would get me some AoO?

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Mel's Blind-Fight Feat will come into play if he's attacked by invisible enemies, but in this case they still hit because Mel is flat-footed until he acts in combat.

Also, I'm fine with Mel taking a 5 foot step then falling off. You can make an Acrobatics roll to break the fall and not land prone. I would also say that tying a rope off would provoke since you have to pay attention to what you were doing. You would also need to use both hands.

William takes a running leap and manages to grab the railing of the balcony.

Halkale attempts to climb up to the balcony again, but makes no progress up the wall.

Ophelia casts Prayer on the area, giving her allies slight favor in battle, while disfavoring her demon adversaries in the same manner. The black-hued babau seems to shrug off the effect, however.

Mel, Quiella, Valik.

Makes note to get a grappling hook or better climb skills

Valik twists and turns like the graceful breeze of Absalom. His footwork is precise and pin-point. He evades the tip of the spear and lashes back with a punch of his own.

AC 30: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 131d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

You can take the BWG bonus GM if I hit

acrobatics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Not wishing to kill Quellia before she even sees the enemy, the magus figures he better get out of the way. He deliberately takes a step backwards off the ledge and lands gracefully. He then produces a scroll and casts levitate.

I'm popping someone to the top of that wall. Q still has not moved, so I'm thinking her, assuming she runs to the wall and tries to climb up. If that is not possible, then I will toss Halkale up there.

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Valik steps up to punch the nearby demon, but it evades his fist.

Melufiuos steps off the edge of the balcony and gracefully lands on his feet. He then readies a Levitate scroll to cast when one of his other party members gets close enough.

I'll give Quiella a bit longer to respond since her abilities could be handy here, but if we don't hear from her soon she'll delay and Mel will cast the scroll on Halkale.

works for me. Does levitate let you change targets? That is, once I get one person up will I be able to lift another?

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Levitate allows you to move yourself, another creature, or an object up and down as you wish. A creature must be willing to be levitated, and an object must be unattended or possessed by a willing creature. You can mentally direct the recipient to move up or down as much as 20 feet each round; doing so is a move action. You cannot move the recipient horizontally, but the recipient could clamber along the face of a cliff, for example, or push against a ceiling to move laterally (generally at half its base land speed).

A levitating creature that attacks with a melee or ranged weapon finds itself increasingly unstable; the first attack has a -1 penalty on attack rolls, the second -2, and so on, to a maximum penalty of -5. A full round spent stabilizing allows the creature to begin again at -1.

Full round attack I can get to -4, unless attack means round..

I'm down for the levitate plan. More full post coming soon

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Quiella approaches the balcony, drawing her Lucerne hammer as she comes.

life link heals Mel

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right. It says I can move a creature. But when I'm done moving it, if there is duration left, can I then start moving a different one. I'll never be moving more than one at a time.

and yes, I figure it is intended to only move one thing, total. The target of the spell is the thing to be moved, not self. But I figured it couldn't hurt to ask :)

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I'll make a full update later, but I don't believe you can change targets when using Levitate. The spell description says the Target is you or one willing creature or one object. If you could change targets it would say in the text that you could.

My understanding is that you can't change targets, but as long as the total weight doesn't exceed 100 lb/lvl, which from that scroll should be 300 lb, your target can carry someone else as long as they are strong enough. Probably not relevant since none of us are small.

Quiella moves forward towards the balcony, while Melufiuos casts Levitate.

Let us know who you cast Levitate on, Mel.

Hearing Melufiuos' description of the enemy, Tilly shrieks and retreats into the first room with Frostfur.

The (white) babau in the center moves forward five feet and attacks Valik with its longspear. It misses, then the other two (black and green) babau also attempt to hit him with their longspears and miss. Those latter two babau then step back from the monk.

Initiative (Rounds 2-3)
Valik [3 Dmg] <= Up
Halkale/Frostfur <= Up
William [2 Dmg; 1 Wis Dmg] <= Up
3 Babaus
Melufiuos [19 Dmg, will heal 5 on Quiella's turn] <= Up
Quiella [7 Dmg, will take 5 more on her turn] <= Up
Ophelia <= Up

Everyone can go!

delaying to be levitated by Mel

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"P-P-Probably b-b-better idea for everyone to c-c-come d-d-down here." Halkale says as he tries to climb again.

Climb, prayer: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 + 1 = 11

Cast it on Q.

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shall I presume you also take the move action to move Quiella up to the balcony?

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I would imagine they'd just sit up there and poke us with their spears. Same with trying to take down the portcullis.

Mel looks quickly through his scrolls for Spider Climb, to cast on Halkale. His face pales as he realizes his porter has it.. and is nowhere to be seen. (cannot access porter once initiative has been rolled) He looks to Halkale, "I.. I had...." After a few choice curses, an idea strikes him. "Quick, tie your rope to me.". Meanwhile, he uses the wand of shield on himself.

move action to lift Quiella up the wall. standard to use wand. Halkale already moved, but does he still have a standard action available to tie a rope around my waist?

Wild thought.... if Mel were to lay on the ground, could he use Gust of Wind to assist climbers? Like maybe lev on H and then gust on Q, getting them both the the top of the wall at the same time. I assume no on that one too? On the off chance that will work, I do that instead.

Climb: 1d20 ⇒ 15

I'll assume that's a pass since climbing a ledge at 1/4 speed is something like DC 10. If that's not enough ignore everything that comes after this.

William pulls himself up over the ledge, pushes forward to stand side by side with Valik, carefully raises his stun gun and takes a single shot, careful to form a strong defensive line.

Spend 1 grit for Covet Charge

Vital Strike, Defensive vs Touch: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 12 - 4 = 19
Nonlethal Damage: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 2) + 1 = 5

"We shall hold this line until our offense can reach the melee!"

Current Status:
44/46 HP, 1 Wis Damage
3/5 Panache
Current AC of 25
Granting Broken Wing Gambit to party
Granting +1 Dodge to AC to adjacent allies

Valik twists and turns once again. He pivots on his foot then thrusts forward with his fist towards the demonic enemy.

ac 34: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 201d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Ophelia looks around frantically for a way to open the portcullis.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18
There really isn't much else I can do here. :/

Halkale continues to have issues climbing the wall to the balcony and remains on the lower level.

Melufiuos raises the levitating Quiella up to the edge of the balcony, then uses a wand to place an invisible magical shield upon himself.

Mel, it would be a move action to grab the rope, then a standard to tie it around someone else which requires both hands. If Gust of Wind worked like that, more people would have it and use it.

William, actually that Climb DC is not high enough, but you are holding onto the top of the ledge, so you can just take a move action to pull yourself up without having to do anymore scaling. That being said, shooting your firearm will provoke AoO's from all three of the babau. This may be your plan, but let me know if you still want to do that.

Valik, before I can adjudicate your attack, I need to know where you moved to attack and who you attacked.

Ophelia looks around the area for a way to open the portcullis, but does not find anything. Those on the balcony see what looks like a set of controls on the east walll that might lift the portcullis, but they appear very complicated (i.e., you need a Disable Device check to get it to work).

Quiella, Valik's movement and target, and if William wants to provoke 3 times.

Yeah, that was my intention, pull self up, 5 ft step to the side of Valik, and soak up some AoOs. And hope they don't have combat reflexes... although I was thinking its only 2 of them since I've got cover from Valik from the far one. If it's all 3 of them I'll opt for total defense instead. I'll avoid being too generous with Quiella's HP total.

Looking at the map, it seems that they can all make reach attacks against William, although if Valik is serving as cover, the attacker will take a -4 to hit.

Valik would try to put himself in front of Will as a "shield", since I am probably the best ACguy right now. I presume a 5 foot step would suffice as the map doesn't show my enemy positions currently

EDIT: looking at wrong slide, lol. Free 5' to block white and attack him

Unless they have anything to the contrary, you can't take AoOs through cover, even soft cover. Which makes my polearm warpriest very sad. Very very sad indeed. He cries to Torag, but receives no sympathy. I figure between me and Valik we can hopefully take the hits so the rest of the party don't have to.

In the cover section of the Core rulebook, it says treat soft cover versus reach weapons the same as versus ranged weapons. I'll provide a link later when I am not on my phone. I don't see why ranged weapons work through cover and reach would not. Naturally if you have a link to a rule that disputes this in the meantime, please link it.

Go ahead and roll all of the appropriate AoOs on me. I'll test for combat reflexes. I posted the section that always bites me in the rear in discussion. If that applies we can work it out later when healing or poor life oracle.

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Valik moves up to engage the center (white) babau. While he does strike the enemy, it does not appear to do any damage to the outsider whatsoever. Moreover, upon closer look, the babau is covered in a acidic slime which the monk fails to avoid. Valik takes 1d8 ⇒ 8 acid damage from hitting the creature. There is a Reflex save to avoid this damage which I made below for Valik but rolled poorly. If a babau is attacked by melee weapons, the weapon is also vulnerable to this acid.

Valik Reflex save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

William moves forward and begins to fire his stun gun, which leaves him open to attacks from two (green, black) babau. He gets hit by the south (black) babau and then fires his stun gun at the north (green) babau and hits. William takes 12 damage from the AoO, both attackers can hit him with a diagonal. I did not know which target you wanted to attack, so I picked green before making the AoO's.

Waiting on Quiella. If she does not post by tomorrow morning, I'm going to delay her.

Quiella steps onto the balcony and over to the two babaus on the left, dropping her polearm and drawing her greatsword as she comes. Once before the babau, she slashes at it with her greatsword.

hoping the magic reduces the damage to the weapon

greatsword, attack, power attack, prayer: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 11 - 2 + 1 = 22 for slashing, magic, cold iron: 1d10 + 6 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 6 + 1 = 15

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Quiella, since you are under the effects of a Levitate spell, I don't believe you can move normally. That being said, I can see pushing yourself forward with your feet despite gravity not working normally for you, but you can't 5 foot step without provoking. There is also a cumulative penalty for attacking while under the spell, which starts with a -1. See Halkale's post a bit above for how that works.

Everyone please let me know what your target is by the color. I only bring this up because everyone that attacked this round did not initially state which babau they are attacking.

Quiella kicks herself along the floor into position and attacks the greenish babau with her cold iron greatsword. Not only does it hit, it appears to be fully effective. The weapon also gets a coat of acidic slime, but its hardness appears to weather it with no damage.

Quiella Reflex to protect sword: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

The greenish babau takes a 5 foot step, then attempts to bite Quiella, then attacks Valik with its longspear twice. It misses with all three attacks, but open itself up to an opportunity attack by taking advantage of Valik's Broken Wing Gambit. Quiella can take an AoO on Green from BWG.

The pale babau in the center bites at Valik, then steps back and attempts to impale him with its longspear. All three attacks also miss.

The shadowy babau in the south takes advantage of the northern babau's flank to attack Valik twice from reach as well, but none of those attacks hit either.

Initiative (Rounds 3-4)
Valik [3 Dmg] <= Up
Halkale/Frostfur <= Up
William [2 Dmg; 1 Wis Dmg] <= Up
3 Babaus
Melufiuos [14 Dmg, will heal 5 on Quiella's turn] <= Up
Quiella [12 Dmg, will take 5 more on her turn; Currently Levitating] <= Up
Ophelia <= Up

Everyone can go!

William takes a cautious step to maintain the shield wall formation, and then begins attempting to beat the tar out of the black-horned babau. He seems to lose his composure a bit as he begins striking at the creature with his elbows, arms, and shoulders. A wicked smile begins to appear on his face.

"Fiends... now is where you face your doom!"

+1 Armor Spikes: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

+1 Armor Spikes Iterative: 1d20 + 12 - 5 ⇒ (13) + 12 - 5 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

If any of those hit, I'll open up for Broken Wing Gambit. Also, if it attempts to step back, I have step-up and will take the step. Lastly, if Mel, Ophelia, Quiella, or Halkale are attacked and somehow I'm within range to redirect and riposte I'll do so. Trying to redirect away from Valik seems a bit dumb at the moment.

Reflex save bonus is +10, weapon is +1 so has 2 additional hardness. I have no idea what the normal hardness/hp is for armor spikes.

Current Status:
44/46 HP, 1 Wis Damage
3/5 Panache
Current AC of 25
Maybe Broken Wing Gambit bonus on Black?
Granting +1 Dodge to AC to adjacent allies