GM RePete: Mask of the.....City of Golden Death (Inactive)

Game Master RePete

"Lorqinor, can you keep them away with that wave thing you do?

I'm going to let you guys agree on a strategy here before I advance things.

Pirates are bad he says.

"Privateers. There's a difference you know."

I'm thinking bless, divine favor, guidance, inspire, myself.

Anyone know anything about Molthune privateers, and who their regular targets are?

What does Syllyn know about these privateers?

Knowledge: 1d20 ⇒ 16, Arcana +2, Hist/Local/Nature +5, anything else +1

In terms of history, Syllyn knows everything listed here. The most important fact is that Nirmathas and Molthune have constantly been at war for a long time now. As part of their war, Molthune authorities sign charters giving privateers permission to attack vessels from Nirmathas. (for real world history to understand privateers, see England versus Spain, especially Sir Frances Drake).

I dont think he can make them that big right now. It is just a blast right now since he is only 2nd level.

"There may be a difference to some, but to us this particular privateer might as well be a pirate since THEY are Molthune and WE are Nirmathas. And yelling to them that we are Pathfinders and should be excluded from any fight is probably not going to help. Prepare for the worst."

"Captain, is there a catapult or Ballista to shot?" "I have never fired one but would like to try."
just checking if there is any way to discourage a boarding party.

The captain shakes his head at Purnel.

Initiative order doesn't really matter at this point, but right now the privateers are three rounds away, and are in range of ranged attacks. You may each make one full round's actions, whether that's a buffing spell or a ranged attack or something else.

Dylph will try to target the nearest enemy he can spot...

Shortbow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Syllyn tries to pop a privateer with a crossbow bolt.

To Hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

but totally smacks the side of the ship instead and stows the weapon after hiding behind something.

"I prefer up close and personal anyway"

"I really need to get a crossbow."
Purnel preps to deflect any arrows at him.

The captain shakes his head at Purnel.

Initiative order doesn't really matter at this point, but right now the privateers are three rounds away, and are in range of ranged attacks. You may each make one full round's actions, whether that's a buffing spell or a ranged attack or something else.

What range (in feet) would that be exactly and what are the current lighting conditions? I'm thinking rather than shooting the unknown number of enemy sailors it might be better to cripple their vessel. Wisdom baby, it's what I do. Or maybe!

"Skipper! What's sailor flag-speak for 'plague'?"

She retrieves her disguise kit.

"I need a good couple of actors! Now!"

"Are you thinking to pass the ship as a plague ship?" Captain, do you have the right equipment to do so, flags lights and such?" "Else we are better trying to fight."
Purnel starts looking for a sack to put over his face, put some holes in it for seeing out of, and wraps his feet in a cloth and walks hobbling on his spear as a cane.
"Now I am a leper." "You okay with me acting that, Lauranna?"

Aerian takes a half-hearted shot at the enemy crew, but it's clear on his face that he doesn't expect to hit anything.

to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
dmg if hits: 1d8 ⇒ 7

... still he looks disappointed when the bolt buries itself in the railing of his own ship...

"Considering I..." *thunk* "...and Aerian just shot a crossbow bolt at them, I don't know if they are going to buy it. But I love a good performance!"

"Guys that was so bad you missed the water. Why not shoot one at their boat however far away it is in feet with a note that says something like: 'We're all really sick over here. Could you come back in a couple of days when we're all feeling better? koff, koff. Love, The Skipper. PS Sorry about the first few bolts, but our hands are little shaky with fever just now. koff, koff. I mean I can't be coming up with all the brilliant ideas all the time can I?"

The captain looks at you in horror. "But if you do that, every ship on the lake will try to burn us down before we can get into harbor!"

Dylph's arrow slams into one of the privateers, who grabs at his shoulder. Aerian and Syllyn try to send crossbow bolts into the privateers, but Aerian's hits the railing of your ship and Syllyn's falls into the water between the ships. Purnell and Lauranna try to find a non-combat solution.

The six privateers send crossbow bolts at you, one at each.

at Lauranna: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
at Syllyn: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7
at Aerian: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
at Purnel: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 4
at Dylph: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
at Lorqinor: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Lauranna, this is a very simplified encounter, we are not going to get into the exact distances. If there is something that you want to try but are not sure about the distance for, ask. The ship is in range for normal ranged attacks. You now have two more rounds before they can try to board.

Everyone can take another round of actions. Lorqinor, you can get 2 rounds of actions.

Status: Syllyn -7 HP, Purnel -4 HP, one privateer -6 HP

Purnel will deflect the bolt away without being harmed.deflect arrow feat.
"Well Lauranna I think the play act is over." "Get out that big hammer of yours and let's define our ship."

Dylph will target the same enemy he hit earlier...

Shortbow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

The captain looks at you in horror. "But if you do that, every ship on the lake will try to burn us down before we can get into harbor!"

"That's stupid! Why would you do that when there's clerics to heal people aplenty in most major ports. We should just be quarantined until we get better or wash our make up off.... Sailors are dumb."

Lauranna, this is a very simplified encounter, we are not going to get into the exact distances. If there is something that you want to try but are not sure about the distance for, ask. The ship is in range for normal ranged attacks. You now have two more rounds before they can try to board.

So we can just throw alchemist fire at them with no range penalty? Or use a jump spell to board them first? Anytime there's combat, stuff becomes not so simple. And a bit more information could be useful. Can we judge the relative sizes of the vessels (ours and theirs), and their crew compliments? Is there cover on the deck we can use? Will there be an accompanying map?

From cover as a free action Laurana asks: "So Skipper, would you say that that is a big floaty thingy (like the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz or Vader's flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor) or a small floaty thingy with six guys with crossbows on it?"

Syllyn begins a Raging Song performance. With Skald's Vigor he should start +2 fast healing. Speaking of damage, Syllyn took cover after firing. Shouldn't there be a miss chance? Or did the bolts fly simultaneously? Or is that irrelevant as we are kind of abstracting this fight?

Cover and concealment are slightly different things. I'm not sure what time of day it is and whether us mere humans can see very far right now. Cover usually gives you an AC bonus. Again though if they are on a bigger vessel they may have a height advantage on us to mitigate some of our low-lying cover (like ship's rails, and such).

The enemy ship is rather small, and probably has a total of 8-10 people on it. The six that are shooting at you are the only ones who will engage in combat with you, there are a few whose job will be to stay with the ship.

In terms of distances, normal ranged weapons will work for three rounds. Something with much shorter range like an alchemists' fire you could throw on only the last of those three rounds. The jump spell would be similar; you could cast it on an earlier round and try to jump across on the last pre-boarding round. From what you said earier, I had the impression you would be using these rounds for buffing spells.

Syllyn, the rounds are things all happening at once. Thus, you can choose to take cover instead of fire this turn if you want, but if you fire, you are also a target.

This is not intended to be the 'main combat,' instead it's a chance for you to either get ready or try to whittle down the enemy forces a little before the main combat, or some combination of the two. They know they have been spotted, so are doing the same to you.

Purnel will wait in frustration not having a real range weapon. He uses his limited ability at seacraft to try to determine if his arsenal of weapons is close to the approach point. He may need to move. He wants to be near where the boats will come together to repel boarders.

Syllyn will indeed begin his raging song from behind cover.

Aerian will fire again, trying to hit one that's already wounded, if he can manage to get a bolt off away from his own ship.

to hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
dmg if hits: 1d8 ⇒ 5

"This is my first time being caught up in a political struggle. I really don't like being used as a political pawn. Nirmathas or Molthune, I have never spent more then 3 months straight in either. Now, I must fight for my life because one ruler declares open season on ships from the other." "What a Crock!" "And I don't even get to fire a ballista." Purnel looks disgusted.

Would someone please bot Lorqinor? I think it's probably a good assumption he would use the water blasts that don't use up resources.

He fires a water blast now that he has so much to use and he has extended range3
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

LOL

Lorqinor does have the extended range infusion too, so he will gather energy to reduce the burn and take a shot for no burn.

To Hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Dylph hits the same privateer with his arrow.

Lorqinor and Aerian shoot at the privateers, but miss.

Syllyn takes cover and starts a song.

Purnell positions himself to prevent the privateers from boarding.

The privateers send a shower of crossbow bolts at you.

crossbow attack at Lauranna: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2
at Purnel: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8
at Aerian: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
at Dylph: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
at Lorqinor: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3
1d5 ⇒ 5
at Lorqinor: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Status: Lauranna -2 HP, Syllyn -7 HP, Purnel -12 HP, Lorqinor -3 HP, one privateer -8 HP

You get one more round before the privateers can board. They spend this round moving to the point they will board from. Lauranna, you get an action for the previous round, too.

GM Redelia, is it not possible for Purnel deflect these bolts? If it is not allowed, I will stop typing that I block away the bolts.

In a blur, Purnel knocks the bolt aside to fly by harmlessly.

It is an immediate action once per round to use the deflect arrow feat on one arrow that would normally hit. I believe Purnel should be unharmed at this point in the battle.

"This waiting is killing me. I need them to get closer."

Yep, that sounds right, Purnel. I missed that when reading over posts.

For the last round, Syllyn maintains his song, heals 2 points of damage, moves out from cover, and goes on all-out defense increasing his AC to 23. All out defense and raging. Sounds counter-intuitive.

He beats on his shield menacingly while roaring at the enemies.

Dylph will yet again target the same privateer he's already hit twice...

Shortbow: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Lorqinor Brightcoral wrote:

Pirates are bad he says.

"Privateers. There's a difference you know."

I'm thinking bless, divine favor, guidance, inspire, myself.

So now what I'm thinking is that Lauranna should just make and execute the plans all the time, as she thinks of them.

She does the following whenever time-space anomalies and cover allow:

• Casts bless (catching everyone she can in the 50' burst, each ally gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and on saving throws against fear effects.)
• Casts divine favor (on herself, she gets a +1 luck bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls)
• and begins inspiring folks with her inspiring ways (unless Syllyn wants to keep the raging song going.)

He will fire at the guy who hit him
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 RTA
1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 and then he takes cover.

...

and begins inspiring folks with her inspiring ways (unless Syllyn wants to keep the raging song going.)[/list]

They stack. Syllyn's bonus is a morale bonus to strength and will saves. Yours is mostly to to hit and damage. You're bonus is quite appreciated. I like the way Skald's and Bard's bonuses work together instead of make each other redundant. The only thing that would not stack is the +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects if it (and it probably would) required a will save.

Also, since it is a morale bonus, each player may choose to use their moment of grateness boost on your bonus instead of Syllyn's.

So my RTA roll would be a 16 then correct?

I'm assuming that Lauranna found a safe place to cast spells, so I will reassign the attacks she was a target of.

In round 1 of 3, Lauranna casts bless.
Not going to reassign that shot, since it wouldn't hit any of you.

In round 2 of 3, Lauranna casts divine favor on herself. Aerian's bolt hits instead of misses. That privateer goes down then.

reassigning the shot at Lauranna: 1d4 ⇒ 1

This would be a second shot this round that would hit Purnel, which I believe still does damage, please correct me if I'm wrong.

In round 3, Lauranna begins to inspire, and Dylph and Lorqinor bring down a second privateer.

Status: Syllyn -5 HP, Purnel -2 HP, Lorqinor -3 HP, 4 privateers left

Aerian is still to post for round 3, I believe.

Bless does not increase damage, but inspire courage does which goes on-line in round 3. Syllyn has 2 more hitpoints since he gained 2 from Skald's Vigor the third round.

Thanks for the clarifications, Syllyn. The enemies still die as indicated above, removing +1 to damage does not change that. I will edit my post, including Syllyn's HP.

Aerian takes one last shot before boarding maneuvers begin, trying to target the wounded boarder.

to hit: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 1 = 21
dmg if hits: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Aerian's shot injures another privateer.

You all get to go before the privateers. Purnell is already standing in the middle of the area they will need to jump to. They are gathered, ready to jump, so there is not room for you to jump to their ship. The gap is small enough to be a trivial jump, so you may attack them in melee over the gap if you wish. The three who are lined up at the gap include the one who is injured, and Purnel is in the middle space of the gap, so he can attack any of them. Any of the rest of you can get close enough to attack in melee with a normal move action. However, there is only room for two more of you, one on either side of Purnel.

Syllyn moves up to the right of Purnel and hisses at the boarder acrossss from him. He maintains the raging song gaining 2 more hitpoints back.

"Your eggs are rotten, and your offspring stillborn."

Raging Longsword with Power Attack +7/1d8+8;19x2;S (+2[BAB] +4[str] +1[bless] +1[inspired] -1[power attack]/1d8 +4[str] +2[power attack] +1[inspired] +1[whetstone])

To Hit Longsword: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Spirit Wisps +5/1d4+3;20x2;neg energy (+2[BAB] +3[cha]/1d4 +3[cha])

To Hit Spirit Wisps: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Damage: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Note: Anyone that accepts the raging song will get one of those Spirit Wisp Attacks against an adjacent enemy.

Syllyn's sword strike almost brings a raider to unconscious on its own, and then a few spirit wisps surround that enemy, and he falls unconscious into the water between the ships.

Current arrangement, one unhurt enemy right in front of Purnel, hurt enemy next to him on opposite side from Syllyn, one unhurt enemy behind others.

Using the water around him he will fire at one of the pirates
1d20 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 22 rta
1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6