Hell's Rebels Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master TreasureFox

"Move ahead" - Ederion nods, whispering at the others - "Aster, did they spot us? - he adds.

I am going to stay right there, with a readied attack in case any come at us.

"I don't know. These things don't act or look like anything normal. No one waved Hello or screamed and pointed if that helps."

what do you mean by move ahead?

as her remaining action she'll cast bless

Rexandi doesn't want to get caught in that narrow passage.

what do you mean by move ahead?

I meant to continue down the other corridor while I hide here. Maybe they come peeking and see nothing?

Ah, so Aster will not cast bless and instead move a little further down the corridor.

"I... might be able to draw them out with an illusion?" suggests Rexandi tentatively.

"I think the idea is to avoid them..." - Ederion winks at Rex.

A few of the remaining team swim a short ways down the corridor in an effort to hide next turn, while Ederion plans to stay back and strike the first creature that dares swim past him. Aster casts a blessing from Milani to help everyone if a fight unexpectedly occurs.
I shifted everyone who had movement to the right, except for Ederion, who I moved behind cover to the left. Bazzle, Tasha, and both mermaids have taken the Total Defense action.

Ederion waits, but so far there doesn't seem to be any movement. Surely he'd at least be able to hear the dwarf Skum walking on the flooded floor.

Everyone's turn.

Slight recon from my last post

...
Ederion waits. He hears the clanking of stone on stone, but still too distant for it to be within attack range. Then, he hears the strangest of sounds. A collection of guttural sounds, clicks, and deep reverberations. Ederion can feel them reverberate through his body, and even through his mind. Then the clanking of stone begins anew, and they retreat from the corridor.

A moment later, a female voice rings out from the corridor. The words sound sloppy, like someone attempting to speak a brand new language. Yet the voice remains confident, and very sinister.
"You have made a grave error in entering my domain. Surrender now, and I will spare your consciousness from a waking nightmare. Resist me, and I will break you."

Everyone's turn.

Amazing - Ederion almost smiles at the sensation of the reverberations across his body, then peeks around the corner with a wink at Rexandi.

Stealth?: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

Bazzle calls out sarcastically, "Evil leader threat speach. Shocking!"

Crack of Lighting: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Nothing is worse that a good one liner followed up with a no hit.

Who are you attacking Bazzle? :P

"So we move as a group, let Bazzle blast any sitting in the room, protecting him if they attack back?" Aster suggests.

where is Ed going? Peeking into the southern room?

Rexandi looks puzzled at Ed's wink, not sure of his meaning, and waits for her friends to give instructions on whether to proceed or try some other tactic.

Sorry I was thinking there was a big monster making that speech. If not an obvious source of the voice. Nearest foe.

Despite the awkwardness of poking his head around the corner, Ederion manages to stay hidden from the Dwarf Skum he now spies, doing essentially the same thing. This one is wearing plate armour made of stone, which is partially covered in lichen and barnacles. The Dwarf is beardless, lipless, and its eyes are abnormally far apart. Its skin looks thick and leathery. It carries a strange tentacle weapon, which hasn't been set up yet, and there's a stone warhammer strapped to its side.

Bazzle swims over to the entrance of the southern tunnel, and tries to shoot the Dwarf Skum with a bolt of lightning. The bolt ends up hitting the wall that the Dwarf is using for cover. This time Ederion and Bazzle get to see the weird language in action, as the Dwarf clicks and gurgles in that unfathomably deep and reverberating voice. Then the same female voice echoes from further down the southern tunnel.
"It would have been beneficial for you to have remained in Kintargo, Bazzle Gnackle. What did the mermaids promise to give you all for your allegiance?"

"Well they said you're a prick and I was sold. Show yourself we can get this over with."

"You are not the first snub-nosed eel to denigrate my authority, and you will not be the last. From my experiments, it is exceptionally common for those who taunt to also be of the weakest will. I have no need to show myself to you, yet. I am in a far superior position. It is currently up to you to decide what pain you will experience."

"I'm not one to kink shame. But your laying it on a little thick."

Bazzle looks at the others his bluster starting to crack. He says quieter to the team. "Seriously I think we are out of our depth . . . no pun intended."

There is a pause, then the voice replies
"Your cultural phrases have little relevance to me."

Everyone except Bazzle has actions remaining. It would seem as though they aren't budging. Do you want to take the fight to them? Explore the northern tunnel? Or go back to the spider web?

I never meant to engage them, now I will leave the next steps up to Bazzle ;)

Ederion gets back behind the corner and waits.

So even the enemy I shot at is not moving toward us

Nope, but I think we are in initiative still, so might not be his turn yet. And personally I think continued blasts of lightning from a defended position is a great idea.

Aster readies herself to step in front of Bazzle is the dwarf scum moves at him.
readied move to move?

Nope, but I think we are in initiative still, so might not be his turn yet. And personally I think continued blasts of lightning from a defended position is a great idea.

It may be, but not when the plan is bypassing them...

Preparing an action, even if it would normally be a move action, still costs a standard. I think you can do it anyways, though.
Yes we're still in quasi-initiative (which is initiative, but I'm more lenient about it). If no other actions happen in the near future I'll move the enemies along. I haven't given the Skum a chance to charge yet, but I'm also giving you the clue that they have no inclination to move.

Those of you who are strategists would likely notice that you are the aggressors, and they are the defenders. They've designed and taken hold of a chokepoint, and want to stop you from getting past them. That's their only goal. I commend you for not wanting to charge into them. Personally, I would look towards finding ways to pick them off, or otherwise disable/isolate them. I believe some of you possess the required abilities to pull it off. Otherwise, buffing the heck out of Tasha and having her stomp through isn't a terrible plan. Finally, there are other options. Going down a different tunnel may be beneficial.
I hope that gives you a bit more insight. I do enjoy providing difficult scenarios that require a bit more thinking outside the box, but I don't like grinding things to a standstill. I'm sorry about that.

Yep, it looks like a meat grinder. :)

Its safe to assume my bombs wouldn't work underwater?

"Do we have anything that can blow up near this dwarf. You know that hits a whole area."

That's... actually a really good question. Well for fire spellcasters, you have to make a CL check. Alchemists don't have that, but I think the fact that throwing a bomb is nearly impossible underwater, that that's enough of a penalty. So yes, bombs work underwater. It's throwing the bomb that's the hard part.

That's... actually a really good question. Well for fire spellcasters, you have to make a CL check. Alchemists don't have that, but I think the fact that throwing a bomb is nearly impossible underwater, that that's enough of a penalty. So yes, bombs work underwater. It's throwing the bomb that's the hard part.

Throwing would be ruled out underwater. Dropping in a 3d environment like depth charges might work. Honestly I had to ask. But if I was DMing I would say no. Simply because the idea of bombs I have in a world with fireworks and guns is gunpowder not crazy chemicals that require a lab to develop. ALSO I have yet to go shopping after the guards stopped us. After which I have not officially asked if it is assumed I have some supplies at home. Which would have allowed me to resupply. We were going underwater so I chose not to worry about it.

Of course Bazzle also almost broke the 4th wall asking for an AOE attackxD

Depth charge would work, especially if you tie a rock onto it or something. Difficult in this environment since we have to deal with ceilings. I get where you're coming from regarding the reality of the bomb. Yeah I forgot about that time when the guard wrecked your supplies. I don't remember if I put a price on it, but we'll deal with that later on.

I'm going to move things along in a couple hours. Also, I'm about to start working on the rebellion, districts, and titles. You may get a power bump once that happens.

For all intents and purposes, I think that Bazzle (or someone else proficient with the trident) standing behind Tasha and laying onto the enemy would be the best way, while Tasha herself is fighting defensively (which might require me to go for shield only, without the dagger - no need to get more penalised).

At any rate, Tasha would move to her current position, and ready an attack if they go forwards.

Agreed. Aster and Bazzle can trade places if healing is needed. She can also dump a summoned creature to distract people.

You know how I said I was going to move things along in a few hours? Hahahahahaha...

Bazzle reclaims the lightning spear while Tasha gets ready to lead a methodical charge. Everyone starts getting into position, while Mother Kahli begins the raging song. A shot of adrenaline courses through the veins of all the who accept her primal anger, and steels themselves against fear itself.

Raging song: +1 to hit, +1 damage, -1AC, +1 vs Fear, unable to use blahblahblah.
You may reposition yourselves however you'd like. Feel free to reposition the NPCs as well.

The dwarf Skum at the front sets up his jellyfish spear, and braces himself for impact. That's when Rillia makes her move. Using her song to control the water, she rapidly builds up to a creshendo and sends a huge wave through the tunnel, pushing the tentacles into the Dwarf's face and pushing everyone forward. You can choose to resist the push forward if you have a CMD of 16+

Tentacle push: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Fort: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
Hydraulic Push: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Everyone's turn.

Stuck in the back, Rexi gives Bazzle a touch of guidance to help him with the lightning javelin.

At the moment Aster will hold.

Bazzle pokes his head around the corner fires the Crack and then moves back out of the way.

Crack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Damage hope against hope: 1d12 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

Don't forget your guidance, Bazzle.

I'll need to know what Tasha does before I can answer Bazzle's post. Ederion still has his actions as well.

Not Resisting the Push. Will take the raging song, and use Fighting Defensively, if possible. (Not sure how that interacts with THAT rage).

Letting out a roar, Tasha shuffles forwards, shield raised. Her gauntlet grabs the edge of the shield, and she rams into the dwarf. "Look, lady, we just want stuff to go back to normality!", the writer roars. "Just... go away!"

Shield Slam, Raging Song, Bless: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 14 + 1 = 20AC is currently 24.
Damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Ederion really cannot do much in these close quarters, so he waits for Bazzle to move forward as agreed.

I will delay until Bazzle is in position, attacking from behind Tasha I believe?

I think I screwed up thw plan. I have movement left if the DM will let me move behind Tasha. But I already took a shot earlier in the round.

Ugh. Sorry. Thought positioning was okay, but also I'm confused about the movements. I'd happily let Bazzle attack first and miss mine.

Also, have to stop checking posts while I'm at work and I can't respond to them.

I can take care of it. The shot would miss regardless.

Tasha just barely connects with her shield, but she's surprised how the Skum's rubbery skin softens the impact. Bazzle swims in from behind her to make a throw with the Crack of Lightning, but it strikes the Skum's stone armour without effect.

The female voice, which Tasha can see is coming from the snake-like Skum, speaks without any emotion. "This is normality, outsider. I am still the most powerful entity in this portion of the sea, and I still pursue my goals and eliminate my enemies. The only thing lacking normality, is your ludicrous arrogance to challenge me in my own domain. You shall be my first target."

Ederion's turn. Aster still has actions if she wants to use them.

I don't think there is much she can do at the moment, so she'll be rear guard protecting Rexi until healing is needed

Ederion falls in place behind Bazzle.

And that's it for now :P

The serpent looking Skum has a big red eye in the center of her forehead, and it begins to glow. A little blip of pulsing red launches out of the eye, and swims directly for Tasha. Meanwhile, the cave begins to rumble and shake, and suddenly a giant beam of red light rips through the floor and slams right into Tasha, dealing a huge amount of damage as parts of her armour, clothes, and skin suddenly evaporate.
Tasha takes 43 damage.

Then the eye shuts tight.
The Skum lose their stoic composure, and hold their heads in pain. The serpent Skum wobbles around and merely mumbles gibberish. The mermaid skum in the back looks around aimlessly, while the mermaid skum in the front tries to electricute her own dwarven skum teamate! (But she fails). The same dwarf skum smacks himself with the tentacle spear, nearly poisoning him. The only one to do something useful is the last dwarven skum, who draws a stone warhammer and smashes it against Tasha's leg.
Tasha takes 8 damage

Everyone's turn. The hole is under Tasha, and could fit someone if they wanted to squeeze in there.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING!" Aster yells from around the corner, with no view what so ever.

Make room for Aster to heal Tasha! So eye, closed, things go crazy, fits what Treasure had the mermaids(? I think) tell us about the eye control the others. Bazzle kill it! I think at least.

Yes I tried to hint that destroying the eye or killing the one with the eye will make the rest of the scum "feral"

"Tasha's hurt . . . bad to. There is a snake thing with a crazy eye."

Directly South of Tasha is white space. Is that blocked off somehow? Because if I can get a better position I can target the snake creature without shooting through combat.

Bazzle moves back so that he makes room for Aster.

Directly South of Tasha is white space. Is that blocked off somehow? Because if I can get a better position I can target the snake creature without shooting through combat.

That's my fancy mapmaking skills. The white squares are stone walls.