GM Silbeg's Gallows of Madness (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

No knowledge check, but you may have had a clue from your discussions with folks.

Valerka searches her near photographic memory for clues, "Wasn't Gellion, you know, the group's leader, made a pair of yellow boots by Pavolus? Maybe it's leading us to him?"

"That's right! That's what the cobbler said! You have a good memory, Valerka! I don't think too many people here would wear yellow shoes."

Excited, Filk runs towards the raven, and motions his companions to follow. Reaching the tree and assuming the raven doesn't fly off, he looks up and waves to the black bird. "Good birdy... Is this where Gellion went?"

While waiting for the others to catch up with him, Filk starts looking for any clues about the missing apprentices.

Khoun observes Filk and Valerka studying the bird, and will try to help if necessary. Let me know if any rolls are needed

"Unless the bird can tell us something useful, I guess we should talk to the last few people on our list."

I would be ok with some more railroading to get us to the next part of the story.

We've talked to everybody on the list. The last group is who informed us of the yellow shoes. So I think it's follow the bird.

The team makes their way from the orchard to the graveyard, following the raven, which keeps squawking "Yellow-Shoes! Yellow-Shoes!"

Hundreds of small grave markers stand between a few large mausoleums in this graveyard. Crows leer from the gravestones, scattering when other creatures draw near, only to resettle some distance away.

Atrix, Mortin, and Valerka all notice some tracks going through the graveyard towards a particular mausoleum. See slide #8.

Move yourselves towards the mausoleum, as you see fit.

Satine draws her sabres. Looking at her compatriots, she starts walking forward.

Is it safe to assume we are all walking in formation? Get to the middle and turn right towards the mausoleum?

Fijeet follows quietly along, shortbow drawn

sounds good

Khoun's still wounded, so he asks others to take front-line positions this time.

Valkea's token added.

"I warned those kids about playing in the graveyard. You heard me say something about it just this morning to the Priest!" Valerka blurts out defensively.

Valerka then casts dancing lights for anybody that can't see which flit off ahead of the party.

Fijeet casts cure light wounds on Khoun before leaving the Orchard clw: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

i am pretty sure no one has a wand yet so this is one of the two heals i have.

The party looks on, but nothing happens. The raven seems agitated, though.

Note of where the tracks lead on the map

Satine begins walking towards the mausoleum. She has her swords drawn and is looking for trouble and or traps along her route.

Perception take 10 for DC 15

"Ouch, graveyard. Veeery gloomy..." Filk observes, unconsciously lowering his voice to a whisper. Seeing Atrix bravely taking the lead, the boy follows her closely.

Fijeet follows Atrix and Filk to the end of the tracks... and follows them towards the mausoleum. with a 5 foot gap between us

The group moves up near the mausoleum, they notice four HUGE ants (by which I mean, man-sized) scurrying around, obviously what is making the raven so agitated. They start moving to attack!

FiJeet, Mortin, and Filk are up!
Universal Adjustments:
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Mortin sighs.

"More things to get me messy..." he mumbles as he steps forward, pulls out his spear, and readies to hit the first thing that comes close.

Fijeet begins singing an inspiring tune.

Inspire Courage +1

"In a wilderness of foggy thoughts
Battling with your minds retorts
And walking on empty plains
Where deserts so calm
Even drowning rains

Soldier on
To this marching song
Head held high
With eyes fixed strong"

"Gads! What is it with the bugs!" Valerka screams with a look of terror on her face.

"Valkea, be ready to flank one of those bugs!"

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Khoun himself moves a few steps forward and readies himself to squash any ant that gets too close.

"Well, the mayor mentioned rumors about enormous insects. Looks like the rumors were true..." Filk looks worried for a moment, wanting to keep some distance between himself and the ants. But then he brightens up: "All we need to do is to find where these bugs come from, and we've earned ourselves one hundred shiny ones!"

And since the ants will not be telling anything, best to squish them quickly. Filk uses his telekinetic powers to lift some loose rocks from the ground, and hurls them toward an ant. I think Filk has clear LOS to the bottom-most ant

Telekinetic blast, IC: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12
Damage, IC: 1d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 1 = 10

As the others prepare or inspire, Filk misses the ant with the rocks he throws.

Gallows of Madness

Valerka and Atrix are up!
Universal Adjustments: Inspire Courage +1
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Atrix will ready to attack whenever an ant comes within range.

Valerka recovers a coil of unknotted silk rope from her pack. She begins dropping the coil on the ground as she makes a loop out on the battlefield. She continues to hold onto one of the coil of rope. "I have a plan! Don't get tripped up in it, and don't cross it," she warns Mortin.

Move Action: Retrieve stored item.
Move Action: Move a total of 30'.
Free Actions (5 total): Drop rope.

While Atrix waits for the ants to attack, Valerka lays down a rope for some future purpose.

The red ant scurries forward and attacks Khoun! He can see patches of the same vile goo that coated the beetles on the ant. Khoun reacts by swinging at the ant, but misses wildly. This ant also misses.
Ant Bite! vs AC18: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

The green ant moves forward to attack Atrix, who swings her vile weapon ineffectively at it. The ant is far more efficient, biting her, and grabbing hold!
Ant Bite! vs AC16: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 bite damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 grab vs CMD17: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

The yellow ant closes in with Mortin, who also fails to connect with his readied attack. Luckily for Mortin, the bug was equally effective.
Ant Bite! vs AC19: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

1: Mortin, 2: Valerka: 1d2 ⇒ 2
The final ant scurries forward, and attacks Valerka with a fervor. She is bitten, and the ant grabs hold of her!
Ant Bite! vs AC14: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 bite damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 grab vs CMD12: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Two of the party are in the jaws of the giant ichor stained ants!

Party is up!
Universal Adjustments: Inspire Courage +1
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Valerka screams in pain and terror equally, "I hate bugs!"

Standard action: break out
CMB: 1d20 ⇒ 20

She wriggles and wrestles to attempt to free herself. Successfully freeing herself, and not entirely sure how she did, she tries to back off 5 feet.

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Look at all that goo! That must be the source of growing these bugs into extraordinary size!"

The enthusiasm from this revelation fades soon as Filk sees his companions being hit hard. Himself, he did not get bitten, but is surrounded by the ants nonetheless. Not wanting to risk getting a bite, he just moves slightly behind Atrix, and pummels the yellow ant with his telekinetic blast.

Telekinetic blast @ yellow ant, PBS, IC: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 19
damage, PBS, IC: 1d6 + 5 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 1 + 1 = 12

Fijeet moves behind Valkea, and readies a shot for after Mortin acts assuming he steps back, if not add a -4

Shortbow, IC: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 2 + 1 = 18
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Continue Inspiring
"Drum beat died
Cymbal crash down
The mud it is thick
With desires to drown
Your feet in earth

And armies of many
Are fighting their fight
Lost in the blackness
They're losing their sights"

Valerka escapes the ant's craw, while Filk blasts the crap out of it with a telekinetic blast.

FiJeet, are you shoooting at Red or Yellow? I assume Red so you don't have cover?

Mortin, Atrix, and Khoun are up (and the AC)

yes - no cover target - which is blue

yes - no cover target - which is blue

Gotcha

Valkea moves to attack the red ant, which attacked her master! She attempts to bite the ant, and succeeds. But, her stubborn attempt to trip the insect fails, most likely due to there being too many legs on the thing. Unfortunately, her bite was not at all vicious, dealing a minimal amount of damage.

Valkea bite!: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 8 + 1 = 27
Valkea trip!: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 1 = 16
damage: 1d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 = 3

As she bounds away, FiJeet fires at the blue ant, also hitting it for a minimal amount of damage!

Mortin, Khoun, and Atrix are up!
Universal Adjustments: Inspire Courage +1
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Atrix studies the rather large ant holding her in its jaws. She looks for any opening in the ant's chitinous armor that she might drive home her sword.

Attack!: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 13Damage!: 1d8 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 12

Mortin stabs forward at Blue then steps away.

"Ugh, more bugs... can't we fight more reasonable, less crunchy things?"

Shortspear: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 1 = 8

Though Atrix is hampered by the ant grappling her, the ant is as hampered as she is, allowing her to land a blow with her wicked looking sabre. The stubborn insect does not go down, however.

Khoun and Mortin will in delay if they do not act by noon, CST, today.

Huh... worlds slowest ninja!

Mortin stabs his shortspear into blue, and steps back from it.
Waiting on Khoun

Wut? 12hp and the mofo isn't dead yet?

Yup, 12 HP and it's not down...
I'm really surprised these critters are in a level 1 adventure honestly, let alone four.

In all seriousness I hope that there's some kind of shenanigans/module stuff going on. Four CR 2 critters is CR 6.

Valerka calls out, "ANTS, ANTS, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ANTS!? TAKE ONE DOWN! We don't stand a chance if we don't focus our fire and work together!"

Nope
Khoun in delay - can take 2 actions next round.

The green ant holding onto Atrix continues chewing on her. Atrix looks like she's had better days, but although the ant continues to chew on her, she still stays conscious!
grapple to maintain CMD17: 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 5 = 20chewing damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

The red ant changes targets to go after the wildcat that has bitten into it. It, however, fails to connect with its oversized mandibles.
bite on Valkea vs AC20: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Blue steps up to bite on Mortin, since he "stung" the ant with his spear so recently. The jaws of death screech off of Mortin's armor...
bite on Mortin vs AC19: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Finally, yellow also steps up to attack Mortin. It bites dirt instead of the ifrit.
bite on Mortin vs AC19: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

FiJeet, Mortin, Filk, Valkea, Khoun(X2), Valerka, and Atrix are up!
Universal Adjustments: Inspire Courage +1
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Fijeet loosely carries his bow in his off hand, while moving in and swinging his cold iron spiked gauntlet at the yellow ant.

spiked gauntlet, flank, IC: 1d20 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 2 + 1 = 6 woot!
damage, ic: 1d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6

Valerka continues to back off, clearly spooked by the huge insects. In what is clearly a near panic she screams, "WHY ANTS?!"

Valerka withdraws.

Looking at the situation she yells, "Get off the rope! Lead them to it."

Atrix is clearly flummoxed by the ant's determination to live. Only Mantises are supposed to be this strong!

"Back to whatever hole you crawled out!"

Attack!: 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 15Attack!: 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 + 1 + 1 - 2 = 21
Damage!: 1d8 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 6Damage!: 1d8 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 + 1 + 1 = 11
Critical Confirmation!: 1d20 + 1 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 1 - 2 = 3

sad trombone...

After FiJeet fails to connect with his spiked gauntlet, and Valerka withdraws, Atrik first slashes into the ant holding her, and then steps forward to attack the red ant, slashing it as well!

The red ant looks to be in pretty bad shape so Khoun attacks it with his morningstar. He bashes the thing square in the head, and it goes down, spraying everyone near it with ant ichor!
Khoun morningstar: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 1 = 25
Khoun confirm: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 1 = 22
damage: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (5, 7) + 6 = 18

Khoun now only has this round's attack

He then sends Valkea after blue, but the cat slips on the mud and misses terribly.
Valkea: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 1 = 10

Mortin, Filk, & Khoun are up!
Universal Adjustments: Inspire Courage +1
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Mortin stabs at Blue again, stepping away to keep his distance.

Attack, Inspire, Flank: 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 + 1 + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 = 9

"There we go... Stupid things."

Mortin thrusts his spear into the blue and, and it goes down with a flump of defeat.

Filk and Khoun

Khoun moves and attacks the remaining ant.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

2nd attack from the round I missed
Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Khoun, you got that second attack over, which finished the red ant. No big, with those wonderful rolls.

Waiting on Filk.

"The rope!? Uh.. sure... I hope you know what you are doing." Filk says, looking down and trying to make sure he's not standing on the rope. Stepping away from the yellow ant's reach, he telekinetically lifts a sizeable rock from the ground, and hurls it towards the bug.

Telekinetic blast, PBS, IC: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11
damage, PBS, IC: 1d6 + 5 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 1 + 1 = 11

Filk, trying to both stay off of Valerka's rope, and stay out of mandible range of the ant, is too distracted to aim properly, and misses the bug.

1: FiJeet, 2: Khoun, 3:Filk, 4:Mortin: 1d4 ⇒ 4
The yellow ant follows the person that has been sticking it, trying to get a bite on against Mortin.
bite vs Mortin, AC19: 1d29 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

1:FiJeet, 2: Valkea, 3: Khoun: 1d3 ⇒ 3
The other ant attacks Khoun, the last to attack him. This ant is also ineffective.
bite vs AC18: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

FiJeet, Mortin, Filk, Valkea, Khoun, Valerka, and Atrix are up!
Universal Adjustments: Inspire Courage +1
Universal Conditions:
Knowledge: Nature

Lingering performance lasts one more round

if blue ant is dead.. how did it attack...

Seeing the yellow ant follow Mortin, Fijeet follows it as well to get a flank in.

spiked gauntlet, flank, IC: 1d20 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 2 + 1 = 7 this is the summary of my pbp rolls this week.

Obviously since you are in a graveyard, it is an undead ant! It missed, so really nothing to retcon.