GM Turmoil's GD VI: The Heresy of Man series (Inactive)

Game Master Korolan

Glen casts an orison and examines the cloak.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

"Well, look here. This is a Dead Man's Shroud. This dirt-stained cloak was woven in shadow from the burial shroud of a condemned murderer. It prevents non-intelligent undead from detecting you, as per the hide from undead spell. Intelligent undead can perceive you if they succeed at a DC 11 Will save. The warding is ended if you touch an undead creature, channel energy against undead, or attack any creature. Once per day as a standard action, you can silently call forth the shadows bound into the shroud, rendering yourself invisible for 5 minutes."

"Anyone need this? Otherwise, why don't we have our precious cargo, Agosa, throw it on. It might help keep him alive."

Two feet of tide water currently stands on the floor, creating conditions similar to a shallow bog

What if you're only 3 feet tall? =)

And agree, put the cloak on the healer fellow. Just in case!

Milo swears colorfully when Masur leads them back to the tunnel they already considered checking out.

"Worse 'n a bloody skipper!" He exclaims angrily, at the sight of the rising tidewater. "Be coopered for rights in that."

Still, he pulls out a small silver rod, and wades in with the others.

"Step short!" He calls, wanting everyone to move quickly, before the waterline rises any more.

Back in the second rank, Lurgh also pulls out rod and wades through the water.

I really hope the fellow was a trustworthy as we think he is. This passage could be a death trap.

Preferring to stay near the priest, Salubri remains in the rear, watchful for ambush, but enters the water as the rest of the group advances.

There appears to be some confusion. I thought we were traveling from right to left, but Salubri's post assumes we are moving left to right Lurgh would rather be near the front.

I'm not sure, honestly. I was assuming that we where placing ourselves, and since I was last to post, I didn't want to step on anyone's toes. The last DM post could kind of go either way, sounding like we are about to head into the water (bog-like conditions), but with the majority of the map behind us, I'm not sure.

That being said, (as I did post last), I generally prefer to be in front, (sometimes deflecting a few ranged ambush attacks or evading a trap), but I'm also perfectly fine "babysitting" the NPC if they need an emergency healing to avoid failing the mission. :P So either front or back is fine by me.

"I agree. It seemed a little too, convenient. Why was he not hiding near entrance he knew we would be approaching form, both to warn us of danger and to help us bypass it from the start? Or, why where they hiding at all, if they are simply going off to "schmooze" the investigators?"

"Or that we would even find him, hidden away?"

Know Religion (from earlier about the cloaks they are wearing, DC 15): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Sense Motive (not that it will really change anything at this point): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

"Still, perhaps he was only nervous. This country is very strange and brutal, from what I hear."

Glen activates his wayfinder, illuminating the narrow corridor, and he examines their path as they proceed, peering into the alcoves along the route.
Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

You are moving right to left on the map, and the whole corridor has the two feet of water in it.

Glen hears a faint splashing sound coming from the hallway up ahead, and what he thinks is a humanoid form, though something seems off about it. Though it's not much to go on, you get a surprise round action, either a standard or move. You can also attempt the following Knowledge check.

Surprise round

Glen
=========================
????

Round 1

Glen
Prophet
Lugh
Guang
=========================
????
=========================
Milo

Missed the perception, and lost init. Yay me!

Realized I screwed up a bit, Guang made the perception check as well. So let's repost this and try again.

Surprise round

Glen
Guang
=========================
????

Round 1

Glen
Prophet
Lugh
Guang
=========================
????
=========================
Milo

Glen whispers loud enough for the party to hear, "I hear a faint splashing sound coming from the hallway up ahead. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's humanoid, though something's a bit off."
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Glen uses his dimension hop domain ability to teleport eighty feet down the corridor.

Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14 wohnn wohnn

Guang holds his peace as the others discuss the situation, and when he and Glen see something ahead he frowns, but his knowledge of religious matters tends more to the far east than the near east as it were. "I also do not know what that figure might be," he whispers, but his eyes flare with little sparks of golden light as he studies for evil ahead while the salt water laps around his calves.

Move action to detect evil in the 60' ahead of me, and swift action to enter Snapping Turtle style

You need line of site to Dimensional Hop to it... don't think the light reaches more then 40'

Glen is a half-elf with low-light vision, enabling him to see twice as far in dim light. (Vision & Light) Should be okay, I think.

Glen blinks down to the end of the hallway, just in time to turn around and see an image of a battered and obviously tortured Keleshite man, soaking wet, dripping hair matted with salt, and coughing up gouts of sea water, run down the hall. He holds a large, ornate hourglass tightly with both hands. As he upends the glass, you all feel a malevolent influence wash over you, urging you to sleep. As your eyes grow heavy and start to close, all the Pathfinders manage to fight it off, though the figure ghostly figure is now gone. Agosa isn't quite as lucky, and immediately falls asleep, slumped over in one of the alcoves. He is quickly covered in small, gnawing rats, and you realize they are coming out of cracks in the walls.

Wow a bunch of good rolls for all of you!

Round 1

Glen
Prophet
Lugh
Guang
=========================
Red
Orange
=========================
Milo

I just want to voice my displeasure with the maps in this scenario. Cramped rooms and hallways do not make for very interesting combats. And then they give you a creature that's supposed to take up a 10ft square...

Lurgh points his rod at the rats in front as he chants his spell, sending a twisting wave of flame at the rats.

Selective, Intensified Burning Hands hitting the swarm (red) but avoiding any allies.

Fire: 9d4 + 21 ⇒ (3, 1, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 1) + 21 = 40 Reflex DC 15 half.

swarms are shapeable, so I'd think you could have them in four 5' squares without upsetting too many rules =)
And descriptively awesome... I keep thinking of that scene in the 3rd Indiana Jones movie, where they're in the catacombs wading through water, and the rats show up

It's been a matter of debate whether swarms can do that in Pathfinder.

Swarms Cant Change Shape
Swarms
Swarms and space occupied

The issue arises because the line of text that existed in 3.5 that explicitly explained that a single swarm could change its shape into any contiguous configuration was left out of the Pathfinder rules. So was that an intentional rules change or was it text cut our for word count considerations. The developers have never said as far as I could find.

Free action: Agile Feet (Travel Domain), ignore difficult terrain for 1 round.
Cursing at the waste of this day's dimension hop, Glen moves back down the corridor toward the rats, snatching his alchemist's fire from his bandolier as he goes. He gets within fifteen feet of the swarm and tosses the flask. Aiming for the square full of rats nearest to himself.
Ranged Attack, 2nd Range Increment: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 - 2 = 31d6 ⇒ 4
Miss Direction: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Don't forget... difficult terrain in the water!

"Our companion, brother Agosa, appears asleep-- the rats are unlikely to kill him before we can destroy them, but can someone ensure his head is being held out of the water?" Guang asks with some concern.

Kn Dung on the rats?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 Just in terms of, are they anything but ordinary rat swarms, anything special connected to the tortured figure. If they're just ordinary rat swarms, don't bother detailing the rules for those. ;) ....and on that roll, i'm not learning anything anyway so never mind

The Tien man plucks a vial of acid from one of the pockets of his robes and lightly, but accurately, tosses it into the center of the rats nearest him.

Acid flask vs red swarm: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Acid: 1d6 ⇒ 1

If Lurgh's fiery boom death killed those rats, he'll instead target orange, with some penalties for cover and range

Red is most definitely down after Lurgh's attack. I'm going to give Prophet until this evening to post

Prophet fire bolt vs orange: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 281d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Glen rushes back down the hall, the water seeming to part for him as he moves, and tosses a flask that breaks harmlessly on the wall. The Prophet turns around and blasts a pack of rats with his flames, while Lurgh does the same, filling the air with the smell of burning flesh and hair. The half-orc's attack does enough to scatter the rats back to the cracks the crawled from. Finally, Guang tosses a flask of his own, though it does manage to hit a few of the rats, most of them dive underwater to avoid it. The mass of fur begins to crawl up the clerics legs, biting and gnawing as they go.

Rats vs Prophet: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Prophet Fortitude vs disease: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32
Prophet Fortitude vs distraction: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

Round 1/2

Glen
Prophet (-6)
Lurgh
Guang
=========================
Red
Orange (-9)
=========================
Milo

Reacting similarly to Lurgh, blasting the rats with sacred fire, aiming it so that Agosa is unaffected. For some reason, it is not letting me post.

Intensified Burning Hands (Refl DC 16: 9d4 ⇒ (2, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3) = 22

Also, is the swarm on me or Agosa? The text indicated Agosa, but the map indicated me.

Oh, I see. It was being updated as I was trying to post. ha ha

I'll go ahead and retcon the combat for your burning hands. It's not like this combat is very threatening to any of you.

Rat Reflex: 1d20 ⇒ 9

The Prophets flames turn enough of the rats cripsy, that the remaining scatter back to whence they came.

Out of combat!

You wake Agosa easily enough, and he's none worse for wear, as he managed to fall into the alcove propped up, keeping his head above the water. None of the rats had time to gnaw through his clothing to get to his flesh either. Next to where Agosa sat, you find a thin bracelet of fine copper links caught in a tiny crack in the floor, glinting through the water. A small medallion on the bracelet bears the inscription “Bakiri al-Katheer”.

Just filler info now, but it was relevant to the old faction missions.

The hallway terminates at a mercifully dry stair, which wraps around itself and leads to a closed door.

Glen takes a close look at the bracelet and the medallion.
Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"This medallion refers to the Bakirs of Katheer, a noble family from Qadira that fell from prominence a century ago when their most promising scion, a successful gentleman thief by the name of Sa'ad, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.We should arrange to return this bracelet to the Bakirs of Katheer. I think we now know where Sa'ad met his end. I'll arrange to return this to the family. It may give them and his tortured soul some measure of peace."

Glen looks around the area for any other signs of the dead man.
Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29

Glen utters a brief prayer to Cayden Cailean and Sarenrae on Sa'ad's behalf.

Milo seems entirely unconcerned about medallions or dead people.... he just wants to get the hell out of the water, which is up to his neck.

He wades forward until he is out of the water, before it can rise even higher. He swears a lot, at he glares at the door up the stairs.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

A quick check of the door determines it is not trapped, and the group proceeds through it. The door opens onto a dark, dank chamber—a great hollow space that rises into the heights of the fortress above and descends into darkness below. A narrow limestone shelf, without rail or lip, hugs the wall near the doorway, and leads to a rickety wooden stair that clings precariously to the wall and winds its way around the circumference of the chamber to a similar ledge above. The walls of the chamber, starting at the level of the limestone walk and ascending to the top of the chamber 100 feet above, are a honeycomb of small alcoves. Many of these are dusty and cobweb filled but some still hold wooden racks containing an assortment of smoked-glass bottles and darkstained barrels—most shattered and ruined but a few still intact.

The rush of the surf can be heard from below where, 10 feet down, the bottom reaches of the chamber fill with the surging foam of high tide through what must be hidden inlets from the sea. A narrow metal ladder descends to this turbulent stew from the limestone walkway, and the rusted skeletons of several metal implements or furnishings break the surface of the roiling surf. The salty smell of the sea is strong here, mixed with an acrid taint.

As you begin to ascend the stairs, one-by-one, your light sources flick out, starting with Guang, and you find yourselves standing in absolute darkness, that even darkvision can't pierce.

Guang is most concerned with Agosa, but, after making sure the cleric is alright and not too impacted by the rats, he carries on again at the front with Glen.

(If Agosa has any HP damage Guang would want to make sure he's fully healed before we go forward, whether Agosa can manage that himself, or with our resources, either way)

When the dark settles in, Guang makes a small clearing of his throat. "One moment, friends. I hesitate to give a signal, but I think we all need to see."

The Tien man touches the holy symbol of Irori that hangs around his neck, causing to shed bright, golden light.

Daylight, CL 8 if it matters

"Nice tac light, Guang. Irori knows how to hook a brother up."

Ever the cautious inquisitor, Glen draws his wand of shield of faith from his spring-loaded wrist sheath, activates it "'Cause I gotta have faith, faith," then stows it in his handy haversack.

Glen takes a look around for what might have caused the darkness.
Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

gah, light conditions give me headaches! So if this was a deeper darkness type effect (which it sounded like) then it and the daylight cancel, and we are returned to the default dark condition (with all other light sources still negated by the darkness effect?)
So those with darkvision can still see, those without are still in the dark?

Lurgh has a ioun stone with a continual light heightened to a 5th level spell floating about his head, so unless the darkness effect is a 5th level or higher spell, there should still be light in the area.

Hold that thought Glen, looks like we'll be jumping into initiative first.

Yes, light levels suck. This blog HERE is the best you're gonna get at explaining it all. So the continual flame has 20 ft radius of light, and another 20 of dim light. Beyond that it will be normal darkness. But based on everyone having darkvision or low-light vision, it doesn't look like anyone will be affected by any of it.

As the darkness starts to creep in, Lurgh's magical flame keeps the night at bay. You spot a figure cloaked all in black, squatting on the edge of the stairs up above. You are barely able to make out a skeletal face under it's hood.

Round 1

Milo
=========================
??? Knowledge Religion DC 19 to identify, one question for every 5 you beat it
=========================
Prophet
Glen
Guang
Lurgh

In case it's not clear, the stair wrap around and continue on the other map portion. The shelves lining the walls look as though they could be climbed if you so choose.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28 (Resistances/Immunities/SR ... whatever that falls under)

Oh, and what's the distance (vertically) from the steps we're on, to the steps the critter is lurking on?

Dark stalker skeletal champion, undead traits, DR 5/bludgeoning, immune to cold, light blindness

The scenario calls it 100 ft. So each 5ft square of stairs also goes up 5 ft.

Edit: You know what, that doesn't make any sense. Deeper darkness, is 60ft radius. So let's say 60ft up. Again, I hate the maps in this scenario, they make things difficult.

Milo scowls up the tower as the light is pushed back by Lurgh's light.

"Carked nobbler tryin' ta be all smooth up there." He calls, pointing up at the skeletal figure above them.

"Bloody bones is mobile." He adds, as flames start to lick along his arms and he moves up the first few steps.

He starts to chant, his words changing to a far more ancient language (draconic) as the flames coalesce in his palm, and he launch themselves towards the figure above them.

Move up 10' of stairs then cast Scorching Ray... 50' range I think?

Ray1: Ranged Touch vs flat-footed?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16, for 4d6 + 12 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 2) + 12 = 18 fire damage.
Ray2: Ranged Touch vs flat-footed?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26, for 4d6 + 8 ⇒ (4, 4, 1, 2) + 8 = 19 fire damage.

Well, you still have us down at the bottom on the map... but we probably went up a ways before we hit the darkness. Perhaps on the 2nd map, along the right side stairs?

Edit: actually, I think you were right... these are very steep stairs, that go up 5' per square... if you just count squares with stairs, that works out perfectly to a 100' tower. So we would likely be on the right side of the 2nd map as mentioned.
Probably difficult terrain too at that steep.

I didn't even think to count them, I'm surprised that actually came out right. Alright, I moved you all on the map a bit. 100ft from the entrance, but 60ft from the top right now. And I guess that would be considered some pretty steep stairs, if every one is a foot high. So yes, difficult terrain then. Sorry for all the confusion! Feel free to alter your actions.

Hrmm.. ya don't think I can get within 50' for the spell then... even with a single move.

OK, back it up, instead he will use his Produce Flame spell like ability... and throw one of those at it! It has a long range!

Ranged touch vs flat-footed?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19, for 1d6 + 5 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 2 + 4 = 15 fire damage.

Though Milo doesn't have the best line of sight, he still manages to summon forth a ball of flame and hurl it at the creature, who is too slow to react. The dark stalker seems a bit shocked that the Pathfinders are able to see him, and you begin to hear a faint whisper before a large cloud of fog begins to billow out from above you.

Round 1/2

Milo
=========================
Dark stalker skeletal champion (-15)
=========================
Prophet
Glen
Guang
Lurgh

Normally, I'd draw something like this on a map but it's a bit difficult when you're talking 3D. It's big enough to fill the entire room wall to wall, and you're at the bottom of it, so you'd have to get all the way to the star on the map to be above it, 40 ft up.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20 (Is this an obscuring mist, fog cloud, or something else? Assuming it is a magical effect...)

Fog cloud

Where'd everyone go? I don't want to go a 2nd time, before others have gone once =)

Not sure if the GM let Glen use his wand of shield of faith or not when he noticed the unnatural darkeness extinguishing the lights, before Initiative was rolled. If not, then that's his action in Round 1. Assuming Glen got the spell off and can act in Round 1...

Glen pronounces judgment of sacred protection (+2 sacred bonus to AC), calls upon his agile feet domain ability, and climbs 80' up the stairs. Double move

GM let me know if those actions are kosher, and if Glen is in the correct position.

@ Glen: Nope, that's what I meant by my comment in the initial combat post. Initiative started before you would have had a chance to get it off.

I know Prophet has some RL stuff going on and I may have to bot him, but I want to wait for the others.

I'm a bit stuck trying to picture where there various spell effects are located.

Can anyone dispel the fog?

The entire room is filled with fog, wall to wall. Since we have to think with vertical dimension in mind as well, you'd have to make it all the way around on the stairs to the star to be above the fog. So you're at the bottom of 40 ft of fog.

"I am afraid I can do nothing about the mist," Guang says apologetically, and hurries after Glen, unwilling to let him be alone in the fog.

Also double-move up the stairs, I suppose, which is 80 ft of move but I don't have agile feet, so I make it half as far as Glen I believe. Swift action to activate Snapping Turtle style.

Yup, I totally missed that, too. I sent the GM a PM.

Chronicles are updated for everyone but Lurgh! I just need a Day Job, and that one will be up then to!

(Updated Chronicles are up as well!)

Thanks again.

Again, much appreciate your stepping in to get us to the finish line.

Chie, can you move this to inactive, if we're all sorted?

Hoping to clear out the campaign tab a bit before everything gets all busy again come Monday.

In process of doing so! (I never -actually- contacted CS to grab the thread, so I did so today. Hopefully it should be done by Outpost!)