Evidently being stung by the spear has affected Krrzrek's ability to fight, as it misses Mortin twice.
Atrix then steps around, hitting the creature on her attacks. Her blade is deflected by its toughened skin, however.
Filk and Khoun end their "brown alert" and are no longer frightened.
Party (except Atrix) is up! Universal Adjustments:Bless +1 morale, Inspire +1 Universal Conditions: Knowledge:Planes
Fiendish Ambush rd3:
x Valkea [ATTACK] (FRIGHTENED)
x Kzzrekz
=> Valerka [DEX Damage 5]
x Atrix
=> FiJeet
=> Khoun
=> Filk
=> Mortin
U = Unconscious S = Surprised D = Delay D2 = Delay (Take 2 actions)
assuming it is not put to sleep by Valerka
Fijeet will begin a new performance! Verse Two.
Roll out the drums of war
Roll back the freedoms that we struggled for
What were those freedoms for?
Let's not talk about it any more
Roll out the drums of war
Valerka continues to curse under her breath and be poisoned. She finishes casting her spell, cursing out loud at Atrix, "You fools continue to get in the way of my spells!"
Sleep (DC 16) catching both the beastie and Atrix.
Valerka, wounded and out of things to do, starts leaving.
Male N Human (Garundi) Kineticist | HP: 37/37 (3NL) +4 tmp | AC: 18 (13 Tch,15 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 15 | F: +7, R: +6, W: +2 | Init: +5 | Perc: +7, SM: +1 | Speed 30ft | Burn: 1 | Active conditions: Force ward
"Ok, it's kind of small, and not so scary after all." After the initial shock, Filk comes back to his senses. With a bit uncertain steps he walks across the room, and sees his friends fighting outside.
"All right, you horned little bastard... Get ready to taste some gravel!" Filk points his fingers towards the creature. Then his telekinetic blast picks up loose stones from the ground and sends them flying towards the enemy.
Sorry, wasn't paying good enough attention, so moving forward
Khoun waits for everyone to get into order, and then opens the door.
Torches in each corner of this large room shed dim flickering light between high columns of barrels and crates. Four large pillars support the ceiling. Purplish-black slime covers the eastern wall and much of the room’s southeast corner, stretching between the walls, pillars, and crates with long filaments. Countless shapes, varying greatly in size, crowd the sludge. Several of these shapes, pinned to the walls and crates or lying on the floor, appear human-sized.
You hear a loud buzzing sound, which is coming from an very large, nasty looking fly, which sees the open door and starts moving towards you. An individual, also covered in Demon's Bile, is muttering, "must bring the worm demons home..." as he looks up at you with a crazed look in his eye.
The man covered in purple slime has taken cover behind a crate, and fires a crossbow at Khoun.
crossbow vs FF AC16:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18damage:1d8 ⇒ 3
Party is up! Universal Adjustments: Universal Conditions: Knowledge:Planes
Spawning Grounds rd1:
Gellion
=> Valerka [DEX Damage 5]
=> Atrix
x Valkea [DEFEND]
=> FiJeet
=> Khoun
=> Mortin
=> Filk
Hook Fly
U = Unconscious S = Surprised D = Delay D2 = Delay (Take 2 actions)
Fijeet steps into the room.. "That's a big bug! let's squish it!
Kill Kill Kill
Everybody do the Cockroach Stomp.
You'll feel better, like I know you will.
Come on, do the Cockroach Stomp.
You can do it if you try.
You can even stomp a fly.
With a twinkle in our eye,
We make 'em die... die... die, die, die, die." inspire
Male N Human (Garundi) Kineticist | HP: 37/37 (3NL) +4 tmp | AC: 18 (13 Tch,15 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 15 | F: +7, R: +6, W: +2 | Init: +5 | Perc: +7, SM: +1 | Speed 30ft | Burn: 1 | Active conditions: Force ward
Filk follows Atrix's lead, making his way into the room. There, he sees the two enemies, and has to choose which one to attack. But of the two, the giant fly looks more disgusting and more dangerous. So he grabs one barrel with the power of his mind, and slams it into the flying bug.
"Ngghg, you bastard, you'll pay for that and what you've done to your friends!"
Khoun commands his leopard to flank Gellion, moves, and readies an action to attack when Valkea is in a flanking position.
Handle Animal:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
I hope we can agree Valkea was delaying rather than defending because frankly, it seems really rather counterintuitive that the cat doesn't get to act in the first round if it rolls too well.
I hope we can agree Valkea was delaying rather than defending because frankly, it seems really rather counterintuitive that the cat doesn't get to act in the first round if it rolls too well.
You need to give it a command before it will do anything other than obey the last command. Think of it this way: Valkea looks to you for a command but you are too startled to say anything when she is ready to attack. Once you snap out of your initial "What the hell?" she will achieve "Go time!" and obey the next command given.
Atrix has the right of it, based on the rules. You can't really have her on an "attack" or "flank" command, if there is nothing you want her to attack. Which is why "defend" is the base command, so that she can ready to attack anything that attacks you.
You can keep your rolls, but you will be readying for Valkea to make it over to you.
Filk throws a barrel into the flying bug, causing a good deal of damage to it.
The fly then attacks Atrix, but fails to bite her.
bite vs AC16:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Gellion draws his mace, and attacks Khoun. Apparently, he is too afraid to land a solid blow.
mace vs AC18:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Valkea then runs around, so that she and her master can attack. Khoun manages to miss the teenager, but Valkea easily hits, and trips him.
Valerka, Atrix, FiJeet, Morting, and Filk are up! Universal Adjustments: Universal Conditions: Knowledge:Planes
Spawning Grounds rd2:
Gellion
=> Valerka [DEX Damage 5]
=> Atrix
x Khoun
x Valkea [FLANK]
=> FiJeet
=> Mortin
=> Filk
Hook Fly
U = Unconscious S = Surprised D = Delay D2 = Delay (Take 2 actions)
Valerka laughs nervously, "Invested in what? Bugs and demons?"
After moving forward with quite a bit of trepidation, she draws forth her magic again to pull a spear from thin air which she tries to hurl at the fly.
"There's a good girl," Khoun exclaims as the teenager falls prone.
defend & delay:
Alright, thanks for the info. I just checked the PFS guide and FAQ as well as the Handle Animal skill in the CRB for any rules regarding the use of the defend trick & related info. The PFS guide or FAQ don't seem to include any campaign clarifications for that trick, so I'm guessing the rules you're referring to is "The animal defends you even without a command being given". I understand that to mean that the animal is able to defend its master even if no command is given, not that it is the only thing it can do. Either way, if an animal hasn't been taught that trick, it will not and cannot defend its master (unless pushed), so what happens if the animal doesn't know the trick?
You're correct about the flank trick, but I noticed the attack trick doesn't require you to specify a target. ("The animal attacks apparent enemies. You may point to a particular creature that you wish the animal to attack, and it will comply if able.") I couldn't find anything in the aforementioned PFS documents that would change how it works. Or are there other sources I should know about?
In other words, as far as I can tell, "defend" is not the only option the animal has, and indeed, for some animals, it is not an option at all.
Anyway, I'm 100% fine with your ruling, and if the animal companion's inability to act in the 1st round continues to bug me, I'll just use the free retrain option before Khoun hits level 2.
Here's the way I read it. Partially for me this is to keep animal companions balanced vs. players. Your animal needs to be handled at all times. Most people chose the "defend" command as their default command. Therefore, when your AC gets a 20 on initiative, and you get a 1, if you, or your companion are attacked, the companion will leap immediately into action and defend their target. Otherwise they're going to stand there happily waiting to perform their defend action for their praise or treat (whatever training method you've picked).
You could theoretically run the "heel" command at all time. In those instances your animal will follow you and will only defend himself if attacked, or you issue the attack command. If you had been searching the room immediately prior and had given the "seek" command,
that's what it's going to keep doing when the bad guy jumps out.
Think of all the training provided to real life police animals - they're trained to keep doing what they're told until they're told to do otherwise.
As Atrix described, it has a lot to do with you being too startled to tell your companion to do something new, so it, with an INT of 3, follows whatever it's told to do.
You have also hit on a pet peeve of mine - people that take ACs but don't bother to train tricks or try to get them. Things like "Heel" are critical, as is "flee" and "stay" if you want to be safe and not just have your companion go off on people during a careful diplomatic discussion.
Valerka, you've taken 5 DEX damage, is that included in your +4 to hit? Regardless...
Valerka moves in, fear showing on her face, as she uses her ability to harm. Unfortunately, she is not able to get a clean shot off, and just misses the target. Atrix, with her paired blades, also misses her first strike, but the second blade cuts cleanly into the giant fly. However, the fly still lives.
Mortin, and Filk are up! Universal Adjustments: Universal Conditions: Knowledge:Planes
Spawning Grounds rd2:
Gellion
x Valerka [DEX Damage 5]
x Atrix
x Khoun
x Valkea [FLANK]
x FiJeet
=> Mortin
=> Filk
Hook Fly
U = Unconscious S = Surprised D = Delay D2 = Delay (Take 2 actions)
I very much agree that a trained animal does only what it's told to do, and I agree Khoun cannot issue commands before it's his turn to act. What I don't agree on is that the animal automatically defends. If no command has been given, I'd argue that "delay" (i.e. no action) makes more sense than using a trick it hasn't been commanded to use.
For the record, Valkea does have the defend trick (and most of the other "basic" tricks) and I agree that it makes sense for most ACs in PFS to have that trick; I just wanted to point out that ACs aren't required to have that trick, so saying that it's in the rules that an animal uses the defend trick in a particular situation is based on an assumption that isn't always true.
But we can most definitely agree to disagree and go with the GM's ruling. :-)
Male N Human (Garundi) Kineticist | HP: 37/37 (3NL) +4 tmp | AC: 18 (13 Tch,15 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 15 | F: +7, R: +6, W: +2 | Init: +5 | Perc: +7, SM: +1 | Speed 30ft | Burn: 1 | Active conditions: Force ward
"Good kitty!" Filk rejoices, casting a quick glance at the other enemy. Since it looks like the others are handling him just fine, Filk returns his attention to the fly.
Another barrel takes off from ground, and is flung towards the oversized insect.
oops
The barrel flies through the air, striking the fly squarely in the abdomen. This seems to cause a chain reaction, for the fly explodes as thousands of tiny dead larval hook flies fly through the air, slicing through everything as the go.
Atrix is the only one in range of the calamity, at least. Unfortunately, she is unable to avoid any of the flies.
atrix reflex:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9slashing:2d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4
Mortin moves in to the room.
Gellion, accosted by both sides, swings at the Khuon. Though a hard swung shot, it is clear that he is not skilled in combat.
mace, prone:1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 6 - 4 = 16mace:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
gm only:
1d2 ⇒ 1
Though I am on the fence, I am staying for now with my original ruling. This is how I play with my own animal companions, since I personally think it is the most balanced way to handle animal companions.
Party is up ! Universal Adjustments: Universal Conditions: Knowledge:Planes
Spawning Grounds rd2:
Gellion
=> Valerka
=> Valkea
=> Atrix
=> Khoun
=> FiJeet
=> Mortin
=> Filk
U = Unconscious S = Surprised D = Delay D2 = Delay (Take 2 actions)
Valerka looks nervous. Still concerned about bugs, and looking bug-eyed herself, she backs up a bit and pulls out her acid flask - ready for whatever flying, multi-legged creature might appear.
Atrix slices open the first cocoon, and out falls a young woman, dressed in clerical garb. She keeps going, and the team is reasonably sure that they have found out where Betrona, Morvinarr, Noemi, Nolaria, and Pavolus have ended up. Each have some pretty severe wounds, including what looks like puncture wounds from giant fly.
Searching around the room you find a large amount of alchemical reagents and other ingredients, most with labels from Majara Pricknettle's apothecary.
Gellion is stable, but clearly has been infected with some sort of disease, likely from the ingestion of Demon's Bile. You are all pretty sure that this disease could be cured with the proper use of magical healing, but may be tough to heal conventionally.
