Into the Blue: Spellgard II

Game Master Rev Rosey

okay, um, healing, that's a wisdom skill, right? .....ok, let's do this. 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 with Brujo's aid. (Thanks Brujo) I hope that worked.

EDIT: Wow! I guess it did.

6 successes before 3 failures:
1 failure: 4 successes
Brujo and Perigia have lowered the DC on the primary skills for their section of the challenge.

Driven by his urgent need to communicate and helped by Brujo's close connection with Perigia, Snaggletooth feels sure that his words have reached his genasi friend.

Perigia/Caine/Leo

6 successes before 3 failures:
1 failure: 5 successes
Brujo and Perigia have lowered the DC on the primary skills for their section of the challenge.

Erik/Snaggletooth/Brujo

Perigia/Caine/Leo

For Rev

6 successes before 3 failures:
1 failure: 6 successes

Success.
Caine/Perigia/Leo

Erik/Snaggletooth/Brujo

Erik/Snaggletooth

"Let friends sleep. Hooded man must have let them go. You can rest, too. I keep watch. Nobody touch friends now." Snaggletooth resumes his vigil by the door to the scythe trap, still listening for cultists.

"Let friends sleep. Hooded man must have let them go. You can rest, too. I keep watch. Nobody touch friends now." Snaggletooth resumes his vigil by the door to the scythe trap, still listening for cultists.

"I believe it's almost my turn, Snaggletooth. Go ahead and get some rest yourself."

Snaggletooth thinks for a minute. "I not want to meet Hooded Man in dream. I wait until we stop ritual and get out of this place, then I rest."

"Very well, if you insist," says Erik with a smile. "I would actually like to meet this hooded man, though perhaps at another time."

With that, he removes the amulet he had been wearing as part of his disguise and goes back to sleep, his flute in hand and laying on his chest.

The group sleeps peacefully under Snaggletooth's watchful eye.

Erik

Wakening, you feel mostly refreshed, but there is no denying that all of you have had less rest than you would ideally like.

All bar Brujo regain one less surge than usual. Brujo regains two less and needs to make his Endurance check to see how the spellplague infection is progressing.

Snaggletooth - please roll a perception check

"I had a flash of an idea while I was sleeping," Perigia says. "Why don't we let Snags set a few traps behind us and then ambush anyone ahead of us. We need to hit fast and hard now. What do you guys think?"

"Well," says Erik upon waking, "it doesn't beat a warm room at an inn but it was better than nothing. Is everyone else alright? There was a rather strange occurrence while most of you slept."

To Perigia:
"I agree we do need to hit them hard and fast. We should have enough strength to get in and out now. I only pray we aren't too late."

It is now early evening as far as you can judge with no access to the sky. Game plan?

Endurance 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Brujo finds himself able to fight the infection and feels distinctly better.

Improve. You regain the use of the healing surge you lost due to the infection. You must still roll a d20 at the start of combat to determine if you are dazed or not. Odd you control it, even you are dazed (se)

okay, perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13 I hope that works

Snaggletooth looks at Perigia and says, "Me and Erik already set traps and disabled way for people behind us." He thinks for a moment, "Still good idea to hit hard and fast. Sooner we stop cultists, sooner we can leave." He looks around. "I not like it here. Too much strangeness. Blue fire surrounds this place, twists it and people here. I want to leave as soon as possible." He walks up to Perigia and touches her arm, "If this is only way to ritual room, then we only have to fight cult bosses. Once we kill them and stop ritual, other cultists much easy to deal with."

let's go for it!

Snaggletooth hears nothing approaching from behind his booby-trapped doors. He can only hope that there will be no interruptions.

All right Scooby gang. I need to know what precautions you are taking. Are you disguising yourselves again? How do you propose to get yourselves down the tunnel of dazingness?

"We need to compel our foes to walk into the traps. Those knowledgeable in matters arcane, what would be a critical component in their ritual that they cannot replace and would compel them to follow us if we take it?"

Leo nods.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21 - religion check

"Volkanth stole the heart of Margant. If we can steal that, we can surely stop the ritual. Didn't Erik say this place used to be an observatory? I think they could be waiting for a precise conjunction of the stars."

"That can be our way in."

"We going down? Okay. Tunnel not harm us, just make us walk down into room. What happen when we get to room, I not know." He looks at the door. "If we going now, I just check on trap and see if cultists are coming."

He moves to the door and slowly opens it. He draws his crossbow and loads it.

Snaggletooth

Erik unsheathes his songblade with a flourish that has become very familiar to everyone in the short time he's been in the party. His eyes sparkle with fervor and a smile is now upon his lips.

"I believe the time for disguise has passed. Volkanth has already seen most of us and I'm not shaving my beard for that man's sake. Any disguise would be very likely to fail except for Perigia's and I wouldn't send her in alone. I say we rush them. We're rested and have superior force."

Snaggletooth slowly closes the door. He turns to the others. "We got problem. You know that monster with the big eye and big mouth and lots of little eyes? Um, there's one on the other side of door. And I think it dead. Or not-dead. Like big scary man from Spellgard. I also think big eye is blind. What that mean? Does that make it stronger or weaker?"

Snaggletooth slowly closes the door. He turns to the others. "We got problem. You know that monster with the big eye and big mouth and lots of little eyes? Um, there's one on the other side of door. And I think it dead. Or not-dead. Like big scary man from Spellgard. I also think big eye is blind. What that mean? Does that make it stronger or weaker?"

Dungennering check to answer Snag's question. 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

EDIT - Perigia posted at the same time as me. Dungeoneering it is.

Perigia recognises the description all too well. She is sure that Snaggletooth is describing a beholder, albeit a zombie one. Blinded and undead, the creature is by no means the appalling threat it would otherwise be, but it is menacing enough.

Living beholders are highly intelligent and egotistical opponents. One bereft of life and eye beams will likely be just as brutal, but unable to display much tactical ability.

Perigia recognises the description all too well. She is sure that Snaggletooth is describing a beholder, albeit a zombie one. Blinded and undead, the creature is by no means the appalling threat it would otherwise be, but it is menacing enough.

Living beholders are highly intelligent and egotistical opponents. One bereft of life and eye beams will likely be just as brutal, but unable to display much tactical ability.

Ya me!

"What we do? Fight blind be-hold-er monster or go stop ritual? Will monster follow us? Maybe better to fight it now? You think we have time?" Snaggletooth asks rapidily. He starts to pace.

"I expecting cultists, not flying, not-dead monsters. I want to go. Now."

He moves over to the machine and moves the eye from the hole, then his face lights up and he smiles.

"I need bait. Who want to bait monster? I need it here so I can hit it with big eye-ball. I would bait it, but I know machine. I need to be here. We destroy not-dead monster and then stop ritual. That my plan. What you think?"

there are two solutions. 1. stop ritual and risk the monster following us or 2. bring the monster here, use the eye to smash the monster, then hurry to stop the ritual.

"If only there was a way to draw the monster into the ritual chamber and get it to attck the cultists," Perigia says, thinking out loud.

"That too risky." Snaggletooth muses. "How we make sure it not team up against us? Better to handle one at a time."

I have this great visual of the party hurling themselves down the chute followed by a zombie beholder. I'm in awe of your inventiveness, but just to warn you, it is a large creature and while the chute itself is wide, the tunnels, as Snaggletooth knows are not that big. There's at least a reasonable chance of the thing getting stuck down there.

So we still have two choices. 1. we go on, finish the task, take as many of them with us as we can, and find another way out. or 2. take the beholder now, use the ball to smash the thing and then hurry to stop the ritual. what does everyone think?

I don't like the idea of leaving a zombie beholder behind us, but fighting one right now might hurt us too much to take on the cultists at full strength. Also, I don't think we could lead it down the chute. Like Rev said, it's probably too big, and we'd lose HP and resources just having it chase us. Might be best to ignore it and hope for the best. We can come back and finish it later.

I don't like the idea of leaving a zombie beholder behind us, but fighting one right now might hurt us too much to take on the cultists at full strength. Also, I don't think we could lead it down the chute. Like Rev said, it's probably too big, and we'd lose HP and resources just having it chase us. Might be best to ignore it and hope for the best. We can come back and finish it later.

Sounds like a plan.

Going down then? I'm happy for you to discuss this more if you want to, but the general consensus seems to be heading towards going down and dealing with the beholder zombie later.

(if ever) I think there might be another way out of the ritual room, as the compulsion tunnel would prevent most people from travelling back out that way. so, I think we need to go down as well. Leo, Caine, and Brujo first. Cloaks on, hoods up. Not a perfect disguise, but then they can absorb a first attack better than Erik, Perigia, and lil' old me.

Rev

Snaggletooth

If you are going with Snaggletooth's suggestion, then I will be making attacks v Will against all of you once you hit the tunnel. On a hit, you'll be dazed and just keep walking as a compulsion (double move).

You can try saving at the end of each double move. For the sake of simplicity and my sanity, I'm going to say that you each take 2 attacks going down the tunnel, with a save on each of them. Obviously if you fail the first save you just keep walking to the end. If you make the saves, then you can help your stricken comrades to break the compulsion. Sound reasonable?

I have your marching order. Unless you tell me otherwise, I'm working on the basis that you are all wearing amulets and cloaks pulled up over your heads. Is Perigia going to disguise herself again?

To be clear. You have had an extended rest which has restored all your powers and all bar one of your healing surges. You have one AP each. You are also going to be hitting level 7 very shortly indeed and might like to make plans for that.

Rev

thievery= 24, I homerolled it, 'cause I don't trust paizo's roller.

Snaggletooth

Erik follows the others down into the tunnel, but takes precautions by readying himself mentally for the psychic attack, reciting a personal poem over and over again in his mind.

Standard Action: Total Defense; +2 to all defenses; Will Defense is now 23

I recommend everyone do this while we walk through since we know the attack is coming.

Bluff Check to Disguise Everyone 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

"Aw, forget it. Good enough that they can't use it against us." Snaggletooth says to himself and follows the others down the chute.

"Aw, forget it. Good enough that they can't use it against us." Snaggletooth says to himself and follows the others down the chute.

"Sorry my kobold friend, but I think it would be too difficult to lure anyone up through that tunnel. At least your devices kept us safe while we slept."