Kei sags when the leader falls over, looking thoroughly battered. Pressing a hand to his chest, the tengu channels more of his power to reverse some of the damage he'd taken.
Kei uses Natural Healing to heal himself for 24 HP (standard action, 8 PP, 52/84 remaining today) and then focuses to regain his psicrystal's psionic focus (move action).
Mr Black - Loyal Construct Companion | HP 36 | AC 19, T 11, FF 18 | Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +5 | CMB +6, CMD 17 | Perc +6 | Init +1 |
Brass glanced over at Iyashi. "Are you doing ok? Need a few minutes? Or we can stop here, either camp out in one of the easier to defend rooms or head back to the village." Brass considered for a moment. "Either way, I have turrets."
Kei shakes his head. "Am fine. More check, then rest," he suggests, squawking as he usually does. The tengu pats his chest, nodding deeply. "Tough!"
I'd prefer not to go back and rest until either it gets close to night time or Kei gets really low on Power Points. Have we explored everything on this floor? It looks like the room(s?) next to 1 haven't been checked yet, and I'm assuming the room we just fought in is the one beneath 17.
This room appears to be the den of the ogres. It mainly consists of 5 piles of skins, including a bearskin of fantastic quality worth 300 GP. Buried in the soiled furs are a masterwork silver-edged greatsword, several half-eaten rat corpses, a keg of wine, a bottle of brandy, and a potion of fly.
Mr Black - Loyal Construct Companion | HP 36 | AC 19, T 11, FF 18 | Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +5 | CMB +6, CMD 17 | Perc +6 | Init +1 |
Glancing over at the rat corpses, Brass shuddered slightly. "Well, those aren't going to be added to our rations." Still, the silvered greatsword was never going to be a bad thing, and the keg of wine, bottle of brandy and bearskin also vanished into her Handy Haversack. Picking up the potion of Fly she added, "So...we're underground, but who wants to fly?"
"Fathead ogres!" Kei replies enthusiastically, clearly not responding to the actual question asked. The tengu doesn't seem particularly interested in the potion, more intent to push the rat corpses around with the butt of his staff. "Where go now?" he queries once he seems to lose interest in the dead rats.
Mr Black - Loyal Construct Companion | HP 36 | AC 19, T 11, FF 18 | Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +5 | CMB +6, CMD 17 | Perc +6 | Init +1 |
Brass shrugged. "Passage to the east in the other room?" The armored woman headed that way with a shrug, checking the corridor for traps as well. She doubted there would be any the ogres hadn't already set off or broken, but better save than sorry.
The walls, ceiling and floor of this room are made of hard-packed dirt. As you look up, a slight trickle of loose dirt falls from the ceiling to the ground. Two large tunnels are present on the far wall - one sloping up, the other down. The one heading up is almost vertical (an 80 degree slope), and the one heading down would require a lot of care to navigate safely without something like a rope to support you.
You're to the right of Room 18, through that little hallway, in a room not currently visible on your map - mostly because editing the map for every move is a lot of work, and I figured text would be fine for now.
Well, we have two doors by area 1, a door at the end of the corridor to the right of room 8, and a secret door in room 21 that I'm not sure if we are supposed to see.
Opening the doors, you can smell a horrible stench, like a hot summer day immediately following a massive battle. Chattering can be heard from down the corridor and see bits of bone and flesh litter the way.
"Not pleasant, but also not a smell I am unfamiliar with unfortunately." Alamar says while trying to take shallow breaths through his mouth instead of his nose.
The passageway isn't very long - only 15 feet or so, ending in what looks to be a stone doorway of some kind. There's no lock, and no sign of traps - opening it wouldn't be very hard.
Mr Black - Loyal Construct Companion | HP 36 | AC 19, T 11, FF 18 | Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +5 | CMB +6, CMD 17 | Perc +6 | Init +1 |
"So...this seems like a terrible idea, and we're probably going to need something for the smell." Brass removed her helmet and pulled a strip of cloth to cover her mouth and nose, smother in grease and lubricants. She wrapped it around her face, hoping the familiar scents would help. Putting her helmet back on, she considered the door, then the bits of flesh and bone, and with a sigh activated a third machine. With a series of small clanks and whistles the third machine, Crimson, rose up, greatsword clutches in one hand.
This star-shaped room has a pentagram inscribed within a hexagon in the center of the room. In each of the points of the star there are numerous wooden coffins, some broken. Dozens of hunched humanoids move in flickering torchlight - and a moment later, ghouls (and a few ghasts) turn to face you.
Alamar casts circle of undeath to death and the all die.... No? Well, I guess the hard way then... Know(religion):1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22 I am assuming I at least recognize them as undead.
Alamar leaps into action. Moving to the closest one and attacking.
actions:
Move- to nearest. Standard-attack using PA and fighting defensively. Swift- enter Crane stance. Free-assign Crane Wing to guy I hit, if he drops, assign it to nearest Ghast.
The undead she'd shot blew apart, even as Alamar swung out and killed another one - which left more than two dozen undead still in the chamber, and five of them mobbed Alamar. There was no room for the others to advance.
It was at times like this when the swordlord proved his true worth, and he quickly began fending off their blows, stabbing out at two of them with his counters and ripostes to take them out of the fight.
Kei reaches out as his mind blade hums into being once more, rushing forward to attack one of the undead creatures, his weapon leaving an arc of purple energy as it cuts through the air.
Kei moves in (move action) and uses Brilliant Moon on one of the ghouls (standard action).
Iyashi literally cut one of the undead in half, even as Alamar took down two more (and another two from counters) - and yet the undead continued to swarm forward and attack the swordsman.
Fort DC 13 (Disease):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11Except he's immune. XD Fort DC 13 (Paralysis):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 Fort DC 13 (Paralysis):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20 Fort DC 13 (Paralysis):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
This time, the swarm had done rather better than before - and came disturbingly close to having paralyzed him, even as three of their attacks struck home before Alamar's counters lashed out. The remaining ghouls continued to press forward - the ghasts were further back, well out of melee (and travel, given the mass of bodies) range.
With so many, it was impossible to avoid every blow, but Alamar stood resolute and continued to take down as many as he could. However, he now decided to counter as many as he could.
As before, but this time I will parry until I run out of AoOs or panache. Note I recover a panache every time I kill one or crit so I will actually only lose panache when I miss.
Kei follows through from his previous strike, a trail of purple light following his weapon as he attacks another ghoul. Before they can retaliate, he slips through the ethereal realm, appearing a distance away with his weapon readied.
Kei uses Fading Strike and teleports 30 ft. away (standard action).
...followed by a third as Brass managed to get her rifle aligned and shoot through another. Iyashi had warped back, though, leaving Alamar up front to take the bulk of the enemy's attacks.
Fort DC 13 (Paralysis):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11Paralyzed for # of Rounds:1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Finally, one of the ghouls' claws managed to slip through his guard - his Crane style had focused on a different opponent, and the attempt at parrying had been a failure. With a quick jolt, a surge of paralysis ran through Alamar's body... and the ghouls opened their mouths wide in clear anticipation of a feast.
Brass' bullet struck another one of the ghouls - but wasn't enough to bring it down, even as one of the three of the remaining undead lashed out at Alamar, clearly intending to rip him limb from limb.
Coup de Grace (Alamar):2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 4) + 2 = 9 Fortitude DC 19:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18 Aaaaand if nobody has anything, I do believe Alamar is down...
Rip. Splat. Thud.
The two other ghouls looked up and grinned widely, then moved towards Alamar, lashing out with their claws.
Mr Black - Loyal Construct Companion | HP 36 | AC 19, T 11, FF 18 | Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +5 | CMB +6, CMD 17 | Perc +6 | Init +1 |
Whoops, sorry. I didn't spot the danger of that. Guess my mind is still not fully on business.
"Well, crap. Obsidian, Crimson if you would?" At her order the mechanical fighters moved forwards, attempting to drag Iyashi back and out of the fight while protecting.
Obsidian will drag him, Crimson will use a Readied Attack on anyone attempting to attack him.
Brass herself opened fire on the two ghouls, aiming at the one she'd injured with the turret rifle and the other with the now set up cannon.
Yes, was trying to post from my phone and it wasn't working. I am home now, but I seem to be a little lost in this combat. Are any more left by me? Or all the remainders by Brass?
I generally wait for everyone to do something, and you're going to thank me for this later. For example, I COULD spring traps on you if the first person to go fails their Perception check, but if all three of you go and one of you makes it, then I'll say you spotted it. XD If you're unsure about whether or not to post, you should always come down on the side of posting.
You went before the bad guys. That was Round 1, which the bad guys finished. Then me and Brass went, and you need to go. Then the bad guys will go, and that'll be the end of Round 2.
Round 1 is before the enemies act for the first time. Round 2 is after they act, regardless of how many players went before them. Players are always acting in the same round - it's too confusing when half the party labels their stuff Round 1 and the other half labels Round 2, especially if you're doing a bunch of rounds in one post.
In play by post, it's more confusing otherwise. XD
A good way to think of it is that the enemy's turn always signals the end of a round. So the first time they go, it's the end of Round 1. The next time they go, end of Round 2. And so on.
I generally don't even look at the Gameplay thread until there are several new posts there - it helps me keep track of where in the round you are. ^^ When in doubt, don't wait - post.
When lots of low-level enemies get full attacks... many dice get rolled. XD Probability theory alone can make them a bigger threat than you might expect - and I believe you're still up to act, Alamar!
Sorry, student teaching has left me completely exhausted and this game wasn't progressing particully quickly even when I did have time. I'll try and get something up today, but honestly this is kind of becoming a slog.
There is a plot going on, but you have to look fairly close to find it - Rappan Athuk is not an adventure path, with an up-front story and lots of NPCs to chat with. It is, first and foremost, a dungeon - it's best to think of it in terms of exploration, not plot. ^^
I think I was expecting more story, instead of "find door, search door, enter door, kill things, search room, repeat". It's really not what I was expecting at all.
If you really want to uncover details of the plot, I encourage gathering rumors in town. ^^ That's a good way of starting to piece together what's going on here.
I mean, that sounds cool. But it's taken us weeks to check a handful of rooms. I just don't think the three of us have the availability to make this really work.
If anyone was wondering, I didn't take a look at your collective GP and deliberately make his price just a bit higher. XD That's the price written in the book, and it will remain as such.
(Incidentally, you could also explore the area around Rappan Athuk if you'd like to gather more coin before venturing forth again - there are a number of stories and adventures to come across, and while many of these places are still dangerous, they are less so than the dungeon itself.)
(Also, Zelkor's ferry has a very low purchase limit. XD For selling anything REALLY valuable, you might have to make a long-distance trip outside the area...)
Alright, I hate to do this, but it's pretty clear to me that I just can't keep up in my PbP games and take care of all the stuff life is throwing at me right now. I thought things would get better once student teaching was over, but between looking for a new job, a new car, and a new place to live I just don't have the time to spend on these games anymore. :(
I really feel bad about leaving you guys in the lurch, but I haven't been able to give you guys enough of my time and attention for quite awhile now.
