GM Rennai's Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale (Inactive)

Game Master Rennaivx

How about we wait until the time the dragons attacked this morning in case of a repeat attack and then head out?

I'd hope that dragons would be smarter than attacking at the same time the next day, but let's play it safe and do this.

Perry wrote:

@GM: One of the usual sociopathic questions: Would mounting the drake's head on the wall count as some intimidate check? We could use the shaken or frightened condition when Round 2 comes by.

Yay sociopathy! ;) I'd probably let it count as some sort of an Intimidate check - it kind of makes sense. I'd still make a roll for it instead of it auto-succeeding. Sound fair?

Fair enough. Perhaps Jetta should mount it (having experience crucifying criminals and all). Her Intimidation bonus is enough.

@Jetta: :P

Perry informs Sir Tolgrith about their plans, advises the hold be on maximum readiness for a counter-attack, and instructs Enrico to prepare and cast illusions of their image and two extra ballistas.
That will deter the dragons, hopefully.
I'd prefer we go out early after sunrise. By then, we have our spells, advantage of daylight (since we don't have Darkvision), and since they're in the east, we'll be able to see their shadows before they see us (taking cover in the forest) and can intercept them.

We have two scenarios:
1. They decide to attack again, don't notice us coming and bypass us (and we are unable to intercept them). They head to the fort for Round 2, notice the drake head (roll vs. fear), the illusions of us (which might be worrying), and the three extra (illusory) ballista along with the real one. With Enrico managing the fake ballista, he could harass them with near-misses, and the real ballista and archers could deal damage again. They'd probably circle strafe and retreat ASAP, leading us to their lair. We then fight with the advantage of them slightly (or heavily, depending on the RNG) wounded.

2. They don't attack again and spend the time licking their wounds. We barge into their cave, flying/attacking via ranged, and down the two remaining.

Of course, GM, the plan might change depending on the Speak With Dead results.

Questions (Revised):
1. Why are you collecting fey ears?
2. Who commanded you to do so (if not necessary, then: did you come for the book?)
3. This branches as so:
A) If Jetta's suspicions are correct and there is a wizard behind this, the third question is about the wizard.
B) If it's done by self-interest, Perry asks about their clutch and if there are other drakes.

Man, divinations are badass.
If all divination spells were like this...

Minor tangent: in Medieval Spain, Necromancy (or Nigromancy) to learn information from the dead was either from conjuring it and talking to it normally (like speaking to a zombie), or (which is a bit more morbid), eating its eye to see what it saw.
Without salt, of course. Salt is associated with life as a preservative.

RE: Necromancy - The eye thing reminds me of the movie Wild Wild West, where they shone a light through a dead guy's eyes to get the image of the last thing he saw from his retinas. (If you haven't seen it, the rest of the movie is of comparable quality and probability.) It is interesting how much cultural significance tends to be placed on the eyes, though - presumably other sensory organs would contain as much information, but it's always the sights people want.

And it always comes back to cannibalism in this thread, doesn't it? ;)

The plan indeed sounds like one, but I'll go ahead and get the speak with dead results up in the next little bit, and you'll have a chance to adjust the plan accordingly should you wish.

@Jetta: I know it was my idea, but yikes!

Hellknights don't f&~# around.

Map questions:

So what are the three 'tepees'?
Where is the draon we see?
How high is the top?
Don't forget Slasher.

Katsa is here? Balthus is not happy about that. :)

The tepees are the dragons' markers. And I'll get Slasher (and Ursa) put out.

I forgot to get it into the main post, but yes, she's come along. After she managed to curse the last one into falling, she for some reason considers herself a formidable asset against them. ;) (And hexes and more flying available don't suck.)

I never seem to remember Ursa in combat and dragons are scary. He would leave the puppy behind for this one.

Get over it Balthus! ;)

My character is not that good of a disabler. Without prep, I can only support group troops.

Anyone have ideas?

I assume we'll go with the same buffs as before, though Amund might require alternate means of getting up in the air. Anthuria, Balthus, and Perry will have to do their best to cover for our previous artillery. We'll focus fire and take them down one by one. Hopefully Katsa can disable one or more of the others, so we don't have to worry too much about them breaking off to cause trouble while we do.

That's all I've got. Hopefully we can sneak up on them when they're down on the ground. They're likely to be on their guard, though.

That was why I wanted to know if Perry could cast air walk more than once. Kasta has two spells for that level and can do fly twice or put herself up there and hope to hit another one with bestow curse which worked rather well. I still have the anchor token so if Amund can touch one then that grounds another one.

Here's the plan. Perry summons minor fortifications (circle of stone shape with an inward slope--the orange half-circle in the map) with Stone Shape. All of us stay inside it (benefiting from partial cover).

Perry also casts the Glyph of Warding spell (red star; within it a Summon Monster III to get the Resolute Constrictor Quan'Strict, the Divorce Case Prosecutor of the Lawful Realms to grapple the target). Perry also casts Com. Prot. from Elements to give everyone Resist Fire 20.

Perry casts the following spells in order: Communal Resist Energy on all of them, Air Walk on Jetta, Stone Shape to make fortifications, Bless, Shield of Faith on Amund (since Jetta has more than enough AC), Shield Other on Balthus (since he can be targeted since ranged character), and Sanctuary on himself.
That means all targeted players gain +1 to attack and saves vs. fear, energy resistance 20 vs. fire, +3 to AC (for Amund), takes half damage (for Balthus), Air Walk for Jetta, and drakes must make a DC 15 Will to target Perry.

We taunt the dragons from behind cover and initiate ranged combat at them. Once they begin circle-strafing us to test our defenses, the trap triggers and summons a Resolute constrictor, which grapples and drops the first drake inside our fortifications.
Perry then casts Wind Wall on the inward sloped-fortification to provide Wind Wall cover from above, and we make short work of the drake.
Then Amund flies out of cover, sticks one drake with the anchor, and drops it into the killing field next. If it wasn't dismissed yet, the snake flies with Amund and jumps to grapple and constrict the drake.

Both flying characters must stay within the fortifications or risk being carried off by the drakes without cover or the wind wall dome.
Fly only when necessary.

TL;DR Version:
Amund: Perry will cast a spell to summon a snake to constrict and drop the first dragon, dropping him inside a circle of stones. Kill it, and then fly out and stick the next dragon with the anchor token.
Anthuria: Haste, magic missiles, all the good stuff.
Balthus: Archery until the dragon drops. Chop till it flops. Amund gets seconds.
Jetta: Hold position/ranged attack until dragon drops, chop chop chop and wait for seconds, delivered via Amund.
Kasta: Fortune Hex for the constrictor snake, misfortune for drakes' saves, and disabling spells (if any).

How is Amund going to be flying?

Assuming we get the enemy to come to us, flight won't be as much of an issue. Feel free to take the air walk instead of Jetta, if you'd rather be up in the air. Getting that anchor token delivered is a priority over dealing damage.

I can be ok with most things. If Kasta goes into the air and manages another bestow curse that takes out one.

Also I thought everyone failed the arcana and we still think they are Dragons not drakes?

Perry's not trained in Arcana.

But what difference does it make?
Young dragons may reasonably be called drakes.

Different creatures, different biology, and different tactics. Mostly I was curious if someone actually passed it.

Different creatures, different biology, and different tactics. Mostly I was curious if someone actually passed it.

They fly, they breathe fire, and they look like dragons.

"Them's dragons!" :)

Balthus has of course never seen a dragon.

I don't think anyone has passed the check as far as I'm aware of it. Balthus couldn't even roll...

Hitting on everyone's points of question (hopefully, because I had a huge project at work and an extra-long shift and my brain is fried):

Yes, Perry, your spell preparation sounds good, assuming you traded dispel magic for glyph of warding during your normal preparation - it can't be changed once it's prepared.

There is not a cave, Balthus - the only path up you can see is an open one winding up the hill's side. The smaller round area is a taller pillar, while the larger area is a plateau at its base, so the rock creates the effect of a hand with a finger pointing upward. I suppose I'll leave it to the reader to determine which one. ;) There's a chance you'd make it up without being noticed, but as others have mentioned, it does leave you exposed (and it sounds like the plan moved on from that point, anyway).

No one's passed the Knowledge (arcana) check, but as Perry said, drake isn't an unreasonable term for a young dragon. And not knowing doesn't make too much difference, considering that since only one person's trained in Knowledge (arcana), likely you guys wouldn't have any clue what real dragons could do, anyway. ;) You have seen most of their special abilities in combat already, so you've got a decent idea of their capabilities, if not a specific name.

Point of order, Katsa doesn't necessarily have to be flying to deliver her bestow curse as long as she can end up with one within thirty or forty feet (close enough to make a card throw). Having her flying will make it a little more certain she can get into place, but I'll leave it up to you guys if you think having a second melee flying is more valuable. (And Fortune-ing a possible summoned snake sounds good, too.)

So, to confirm, plan's to

• build a small fortification with stone shape,
• place a glyph of warding in such a spot as to draw the drakes over it,
• get definitely Amund and possibly Jetta a way into the air,
• taunt them into flying your way,
• and use a combination of the anchor token, the glyph of warding, and possibly another bestow curse (50% chance to forbid action) in order to get them stuck to the ground in turn?

Works for me.

Card Caster's Spellstrike variant is a really cool ability.

Shocking Grasp Cards anyone?

On the plan: That's a good assessment, but the two melee DPRs/off-tanks remain on the ground under cover until we can't draw the drakes into combat.
Hopefully, we'll be able to pull this off without needing any flying.

Hmm...

Perry doesn't think that far ahead, but I'm (OOC) a bit worried.
The drakes withdrew and must have reported to their wizard boss (who had an entire night to re-prepare his spells if he senses that we're reasonable threats). I'm fearful that the wizard is waiting for combat to go down and then intervene.

A few dispel magics thrown around could remove our wind wall, drop Amund/Jetta, and a few AoE spells (like sleet storm or Slow) can mess with our prep.

But there's the challenge, I take it.

The card caster is really cool isn't it. I really want to give one a try eventually.

Point of order, Katsa doesn't necessarily have to be flying to deliver her bestow curse as long as she can end up with one within thirty or forty feet (close enough to make a card throw). Having her flying will make it a little more certain she can get into place, but I'll leave it up to you guys if you think having a second melee flying is more valuable. (And Fortune-ing a possible summoned snake sounds good, too.)

Casting fly on either Amund or Jetta seems more prudent. If all goes as planned, we'll get the drakes within card range. We wouldn't want Katsa flitting around on her own, in any case. Witches are squishy.

Perry doesn't think that far ahead, but I'm (OOC) a bit worried.

The drakes withdrew and must have reported to their wizard boss (who had an entire night to re-prepare his spells if he senses that we're reasonable threats). I'm fearful that the wizard is waiting for combat to go down and then intervene.

A few dispel magics thrown around could remove our wind wall, drop Amund/Jetta, and a few AoE spells (like sleet storm or Slow) can mess with our prep.

Could you stop giving the GM ideas, please? :D

My guess is that the big bad wizard dude is sitting in a dungeon somewhere ("hidden man-rocks"), securely behind a load of other minions and traps and whatnot. At most, they'll send another henchman to deal with us.

Oh, and we'll probably want to cast all our buffs (expect maybe haste) before we get into position. Out of earshot and all that.

But it can be fun to give the GM ideas! Makes it more of a challenge sometimes :D. I do agree that haste is last as would the flying. If Kasta is not flying then Jetta and Amund could both be in the air.

Alternativly I could have Kasta on my back and fly to get her close enough for cards but that is dangerous to her and probably would give me attack penalties.

Alternativly I could have Kasta on my back and fly to get her close enough for cards but that is dangerous to her and probably would give me attack penalties.

Let's just launch her from a catapult. We brought one of those, right?

No! No Kasta from a catapult. Also I forgot to pack the catapult...sorry!

Another option is I put Jetta on my back and fly. Kasta can do her thing and then we will be a destructive duo!

Or, and I like this idea, I can carry Balthus up in the air, bridal style of coarse, and drop him on a dragon so he can axe for a ride.

My guess is that the big bad wizard dude is sitting in a dungeon somewhere ("hidden man-rocks"), securely behind a load of other minions and traps and whatnot. At most, they'll send another henchman to deal with us.

That's a pretty wizardly way to act.

Jetta Stahle wrote:

My guess is that the big bad wizard dude is sitting in a dungeon somewhere ("hidden man-rocks"), securely behind a load of other minions and traps and whatnot. At most, they'll send another henchman to deal with us.

That's a pretty wizardly way to act.

It's almost like you play wizards.

It's really masochistic of me, but I love seeing high-level wizards played as smart as they can and should be, even if they're enemies. With the high intelligences they tend to have, the ability to prepare for literally any eventuality and the tools to figure out exactly what those eventualities are...they should be tough enemies. It's only right. (It's also straight-up what TPKed my RotRL game, but I ain't even mad.)

(Ok, maybe a little. RIP Kazi Rose.)

The trope of the Batman wizard is well-established indeed.

I do it with rogues.

That sounded wrong.

Although rogues don't get nearly the toys wizards get. Flying, handling incorporeals, teleportation, scrying--the good stuff.

Well, rogues can have a good many of the wizard's toys if they've got the money at hand...so, you know, if they're Batman. Batman is literally a rogue (or, more precisely, stalker vigilante) with money to get the wizards' (i.e., superheroes') toys. :P

Is the downed drake reachable with melee attacks?

How far away are the others in the air?

As I understand it, yes--but it's outside the battlements' protection.

I'm quite surprised to see the snake provokes AOO on grappling.
No wonder he ended up as a divorce case prosecutor. He failed Snake School's Grappling 101 class.

That is correct - it's down on the ground, but just outside the battlement, so going for it will require being outside for a bit. The ones in the air are pretty high up, about 150 feet total between them and you.

I was surprised too, Perry, but they don't come with Improved Grapple, so they do indeed provoke. But hey - it did the trick.

Quite so. We'll see if we can adapt our plan to the unfolding events.

Marshal-General Percival Aldeferi Arizian IV speaking, apparently. :P

Edit: stalker vigilante

*Armchair turns*
Ah, my arch-nemesis, the vigilante...we meet again.

I've always wondered why the vigilante's talents could not be re-purposed and rolled under the Unchained rogue (released about a month later).
>:(

Yay for strategy! \o/

I assume that if Jetta is enlarged, she can stab at the drake from over the wall. Is that reasonable?

Are we getting full round actions?

I thought the drake fell outside our 'fortification' and we would need to get to it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for full-round actions...

EDIT: Or Jetta is a just a 'big girl' and can thus attack. :)

@Jetta: Question--if Perry gives Jetta his (actually Mairen's) longspear, could Jetta use it instead of her halberd?
I thought that Jetta used the halberd with reach, thus I haven't suggested this before.

Enlarged and longspear means 15 foot reach (or 20?), and can easily reach the drakes.

In the meantime, Balthus and Amund can attack from range with cover. We gain +2 to AC and saves, attack while hasted, and down a dragon a round (or two).

@GM: Would this fly? The spear-giving and improved reach, that is.

Both halberds and longspears have a 10 foot reach, or 15-20 feet when enlarged. I don't really see why I would want to switch to a longspear.

Both halberds and longspears have a 10 foot reach, or 15-20 feet when enlarged.

That's what I used to think, too. CRB, SRD, and most sources say otherwise.

Huh. Halberd is not a reach weapon. That's new.

Well, since a medium-sized horsechopper is a thing that can exist in Pathfinder, I don't think it would be too unfeasible to have a halberd with a longer shaft. Essentially the same stats, but I'd swap out brace (which hasn't been used yet) for reach. That's up to the GM, I guess. I'd have to do a total rebuild otherwise, since Jetta is specifically focused on using halberds and reach weapons.

That'll remove use of your Ready Pike ability, though, since Horsechoppers don't have it.

I recommend the Glaive-Guisarme. It uses the same dice (1d10), is a martial weapon, and is a brace and reach weapon (with a useful little -2 to ride checks for one round when hitting a mounted opponent). It's slashing-only, however.
That can be easily retconned (and re-sprited).

I don't really mind losing out on Ready Pike, and I'd rather retcon as little as possible. The reason I chose to use a halberd in the first place was because it's the Order of the Nail's signature weapon, so I'd rather not swap it out for something less meaningful (even if it's better mechanically).

I'm fine with just giving the halberd reach - as Perry pointed out, there's already a 1d10 brace/reach martial weapon, so it's not like it's forging into new, terrifying, and overpowered territory. Also, I'm pretty sure I was working the entire game under the impression that halberds were reach weapons already. *shifty eyes*

Yay! We all win.

So Jetta can stab over the wall (and through the wind wall), I presume.
Though I'd inflict -2 to attack rolls myself due to aerial interference myself.

@GM: New question: Perry was kind (and meticulous/artsyfartsy) enough to add battlements to the stone fortification. He cast Wind Wall as a circle around them, starting from the battlements themselves.
Could Perry have made archery holes to allow attacking from under the wind wall?

In that case, Balthus (and Slasher) wouldn't need to leave cover and attack, and Balthus could get a full-attack with his bow + haste.

Yay, thanks! Reach weapons aren't always a good thing, either. I've had to swap to my mace every once in a while due to a lack of space.

The wind wall anchors along the ground (and it does specify the ground), so I'd be inclined to say no. Good thought, though.

My weapons are horrible for this reach weapons and a flaming sword. And yes that was the goal GM Rennai. I should be a little more attentive now, I think. But if I seem to be lagging this month then bot me. August sucks.

Not to say that it isn't obvious at this point, but Anthuria is definitely a Grass-type.

Wonderful spell descriptions, as always. :)