Hollow's Last Hope (Inactive)

Game Master nilesr

Michael hears the noises coming from one of the last unexplored rooms in the complex(room 16?). Warily, he approaches the room with his hammer in hand and his shield held at the ready.

Not getting taken by surprise this time. I'm going in swinging.

Is anyone else planning on going with Michael?

I kinda hope not. At least, not until I yell for help when the animals start eating my face off.

Ok, well ill give everyone a few hours to respond and then i'll have the animals eat face! Also, I'm in a hotel for the weekend for work so I don't have access to my google docs to update the map. (no laptop just an ipad)

Lucanor sees Michael moving forward, and shakes his head "Hold up, if we're going to get attacked by the gods knows what, best to have some company."

I regret I have only one face to give

Also, cannot update map on ipad even with the Drive app. Just a reminder. Area 14 is unexplored

Silas rolls a perception check Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Sounds ominous..

Hecktor, scythe drawn, move to back up Silas.

"There's movement in there! This chamber has been shut for centuries, must be undead! I'm not sure if this will work, but here goes nothing!", Shouts Silas as he empties a bag of Caltrops on the ground in front of him before taking a 5' step towards Garad.

It was either that or the oil, I suggest people ready actions.

Percival steps hesitantly through the door and raises an eyebrow. He grips a dart tightly as he peers into the darkness.

I'm assuming Silas dumped the caltrops in the square that's actually in the hidden area, not the square that's in the main room. Also assuming that I never actually made it into room 16, but only made it to the doorway of room 15.

Michael halts his approach to the large room as Silas calls out about the undead. He double-times his way back to the room the rest of the group is in, pushing his way through them, and stands directly in front of the secret doorway.

"I'll bottleneck this place. They can only come at me one at a time through the door, so I should be able to handle them. You guys should keep searching for those mushrooms. I'll yell if I need help."

Yes the caltrops are on the square just inside the secret jail.

Gared moves up with his greataxe drawn, ready for whatever lies beyond the portal.

"Bottleneck away" Lucanor draws his blade and moves as those with a plan direct.

MAP

Lucanor tries to recall what he remembers of Skeletons
Knowledge Religion 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20+3 more to identify weakness/abilities

Lucanor you know everything there is to know about the skeletons.

"Blunt weapons are better... they're immune to cold. Wish I were a true cleric, positive energy hurts undead fierce." Lucanor fills the others in

"Blunt weapons are better?" Michael says with a smirk, "Well then, I guess it's time to put this hammer here to good use."

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Michael swings at the skeleton in front of him and whiffs badly.

"So much for that..."

"Ha, and I thought blunt arrows that merchant was selling were a dumb idea! Time to get creative...", says Silas as he deftly throws a handful of marbles at the feet of the lead skeleton.
Ranged touch attack: 1d20 + 3 - 1 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 1 - 4 = 17
I'm guessing this should be a ranged touch attack with an increment of 10', and by pathfinder reckoning Silas is 15' from the skeleton and is shooting into melee so its -5 to hit.
There's now marbles and caltrops on that square, perhaps the skeletons are immune to the caltrops but they are at risk of falling over (DC10 reflex save).

Manouvring seems an issue, with this bottleneck situation.
Niles, would there happen to be any loose bricks at our feet? If so, they could be used as blunt thrown objects, can't they?

Hecktor, feeling confident with his height, thinks he could make a reasonable shot.
I had trouble trying to find what penalties i would get trying to shoot while we are positioned like this though.

Free action: Drop scythe
Move action: draw the longbow while getting on the square above Percival.
Attack: Shoot an Arrow at the skeleton in front of Michael

Release an Arrow from the : 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 1 + 2 = 20
Damage of the Arrow: 1d8 ⇒ 7

"Hey Michael, how many skeletons are in that corridor?"

I'm just guessing, but I'd assume that on top of the -4 for firing into melee, if you don't have precise shot, that the skeletons would have soft cover since there's only an opening where I'm already standing. As for maneuvering, I bottlenecked it on purpose. I'm hard to hit, needing around a 16-17 roll to hit me. And if they can only swing at me one at a time that makes it a lot more likely that I can not only keep them penned up, but that I can probably clear them out without much help. And in the process no one else gets hurt. Very little resource expenditure, hopefully.

"Looks to be three so far, but there could be more. Don't worry though. As long as I can keep them from getting past me, I should be fine here."

Ah yes soft cover, so that's another -2, I probably still hit however. With luck you'll get some AOOs :)

Round 1
Skeletons move to attack. One steps through the caltrops as if they are nothing and swipes at Michael with its bony claws! Michael deflects the attack.
Michael swings at the lead skeleton and misses.
Hecktor shoots at the lead skeleton and narrowly avoids shooting his friend in the back.
Silas rolls marbles at the lead skeleton who Ref: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 falls down!
Gared <---we are here.
Lucanor
Percival

MAP

Round 1
Skeletons move to attack. One steps through the caltrops as if they are nothing and swipes at Michael with its bony claws! Michael deflects the attack.
Michael swings at the lead skeleton and misses.
Hecktor shoots at the lead skeleton and narrowly avoids shooting his friend in the back.
Silas rolls marbles at the lead skeleton who falls down!
Gared attacks the prone skeleton Gaxe: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 but misses and gets his axehead lodged in the doorframe. He spend the rest of the round pulling it free.
Lucanor <---we are here.
Percival

"Try again..." Lucanor advises.

I'll 'aid another' if I can to help Gared's next round

According to your houserule Niles, i can aid another within 30ft. (nice)

Action: aid Michael.

Percival swiftly mixes together another concotion and, moving behind Lucanor, lobs it over everyone's heads at the skeletons.

Mix a bomb, move behind Lucanor, throw it at the mid skelly
Ranged touch attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
6 damage to the other two skeles, splash weapon.

Round 1 recap
Skeletons move to attack. One steps through the caltrops as if they are nothing and swipes at Michael with its bony claws! Michael deflects the attack.
Michael swings at the lead skeleton and misses.
Hecktor shoots at the lead skeleton and narrowly avoids shooting his friend in the back.
Silas rolls marbles at the lead skeleton who falls down!
Gared attacks the prone skeleton Gaxe: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 but misses and gets his axehead lodged in the doorframe. He spend the rest of the round pulling it free.
Lucanor aids gared's next attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Percival destroys all of the skeletons with a well placed bomb!

Combat Over!

"Well, that was impressive. Sure made me look like a dolt."

"Michael, i was sure i had a good shot. Sorry if it startled you there."

"My back doesn't have any holes in it, so it's all good. Definitely gonna have to have Doc teach me how to mix up one of those bombs sometime though. Well, anyways, I'm gonna go check out all that noise from the other room. I'll yell if I need help."

Michael walks out of the room again, and makes his way back to the first room in the hall. Once in the hall, he digs through his backpack for a torch, lights it, and sets it in the sconce on the front of his shield before continuing. As he enters the room he enters a readied stance again and prepares for whatever animals may have made this room their den.
Room 15

EDIT: I remembered my shield sconce this time! Kinda!

"Bravo Doctor!", cheers Silas before carefully searching the area mindful of sharp marble fragments formed by the blast.

Silas takes 20 on searching the room.

Percival blinks in polite surprise as his bombs prove so effective. Shrugging, he looks between everyone and gives a shy grin. "Thank you, gentlemen."

"With the rattling bones down, shall we see if there is anything of interest from those cells?"

Silas takes a few minutes checking the cells and finds a single dwarven skeleton laying in a peaceful posture on his simple straw cot. On one of his hands is a ring. This simple golden ring has a large red gemstone set into it that sparkles with an inner fire.

I'm not sure of the actual rules to identify magic items so I'm going to post the ring under spoilers, we can do the identifying later. Bardic Knowledge DC 20 or a spellcraft DC 25? would be ok right? Detect Magic would help by lowering the DC?

While Silas and Hecktor are searching the cell block.

Michael and Lucanor go into room 15.

Michael with the benefit of his new torch sconce sees into the large room beyond.
Gaping holes in the roof allow faint light to
enter this ruined chamber. One of the stone
columns that once supported the ceiling is
toppled, its broken pieces littering the floor.
A thick patch of black mushrooms hides in a
nearby corner, giving the room an earthy scent
that is barely noticeable above the stench of
wet fur.

Michael you notice a larger than normal wolf with a thick grey pelt and 2 smaller wolves (females) flanking it. Gared growls as he recognizes this animal as a Warg.

The Warg growls deep in its chest Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Well, he's got me shaking in my boots. My DC as a target would only be 11.

Michael swallows his heart and starts to call out to the rest of the group.

"Ummm... Guys? Big wolf. Like, REALLY big! Care to lend a hand here?"

I'm assuming Hecktor and Silas don't hear Michael clear enough? Him being in another room and us over in the cellblock.

Perception Dc 15 to hear Michael, ofc Lucanor and Gared are aware of the threat.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Percepion: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Hecktor's attention is drawn away from the cells, hearing Michael shout for assistance.

"Silas, Michael needs help, let's go!

Assuming this is considered preparation..
Hecktor will pick up his scythe from the ground, equip it and head towards Michael.

WOW morning shift moves fast
Lucanor would have added his congratulations to the doc. But then he and Michael are in a rush into yet another spot

16 wisdom is good, but not good enough

And then when they encountered the wolf, a BIG wolf...with incredibly big fangs "He ain't wrong on that..." Lucanor swallows and waits for a bit of back up.

The Warg takes a few steps forward and speaks

Why have you slain my pack and violated my lair?

as his speaks the normal wolves nearby begin to whine and growl.

Upon arriving, Hecktor sees Michael and Lucanor. Hearing an unfamiliar voice coming from the other room, he peeks in. Needless to say, one of his eyebrows went up.

"Michael....are you skilled in ventriloquism or did the warg just talk?"

Niles, how many wolves are we talking about here?

3 in total, 1 Warg and two smaller wolf females.

"What a pretty little ring, it's got quite the sparkle. I feel this might be significant somehow, I wonder it reminds me of a song...", Silas' exposition trails off with the cry of WOLF!

He hurries to where the others are and upon hearing the Warg's angry cry, Silas raises one sardonic eyebrow and a half smirk steels onto his face. In a cold and shockingly callous way Silas taunt the warg, "Why? Why indeed? Why does the Sun rise each day? Why are we borne condemned to grow old and die? Why is life so damn unfair? What does it all mean?! In a few moments from now my friends are going to introduce you to Pharasma! Ask HER if you dare!"

Silas uses satire, no saving throw.

A talking wolf? I think I'll let the others chat this thing up. He instead keeps his eyes peeled for any visible mushrooms.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

A good smile seeing that action Lucanor. ^^ But the guy has a point, we could bolt if he says "i got the shrooms". Hopefully, said mushrooms aren't behind the angry Warg.

In a soft, near whispering tone, Hecktor leans towards Silas.
*whisper*"Silas, provoking a beast of this size might not be the safest bet. If this was supposed to be humorous, what'd be sarcasm in your book?"

Wisdom never really was Silas' strongest point ;)

Silas winks at Hecktor and whispers back, "There's only one big one, and you know what they say, the bigger they are the harder they fall!"

If Michael moves two steps forward, they're bottlenecked. I think we can take em especially if we focus on the Warg first.

I'd sure like to have a fang of that beast as a trophy of such a fight.

A warg is considered an animal isn't it? Niles, could i try something with the handle animal skill? If so, would you rule a custom DC or go with what paizo says about the skill?
Imagine getting it to "stay".