Iron Gods: Forged into Legends

Game Master polyfrequencies

"Perfect, thank you Khonnir. We'll certainly be able to pay you back out of the reward monies. With this we can make sure we have a little something extra prepared..."
Thawm leads the way to purchase a new wagon, scorpion, ammo, and horse.

I agree that we can probably just narrate forward to the Scrapwall or anything that happens on the way there...

Aghast at the amount of money Khonnir lends them, Keldor pledges to pay him back with interest if needed.

"We shall find our enemy and achieve our goal or die trying. Keep you hearth warm for our return! I look forward to talking with you on what we find and see."

Thawm reflexively scoffs at 'die trying'. "Wait 'till you see what Basil told me about..."

Map of Numeria

Khonnir also pulls out a map of the region. "My suggestion would be to take the long route around following the river. It would be a bit safer. Though it is a longer travel time. You can also go through the plains north east. You might encounter anything out there. Robots, Roaming Barbarians, or even Technic league members on patrol. The risk is there no matter what, but getting closer to the River Kingdoms might be safer."

Up to you three. Both are very possible. Time/danger balance.

Thawm smiles. "With the somewhat mobile artillery we're about to acquire, I'd say we'll be fine heading straight there. I've also prayed to Nethys and I hope I can try out my new magic on a rogue robot soon..."

Keldor shrugs and points at the map slowly.

"The safer route you suggest makes sense friend Khonnir, but do we have that kind of time? Are we in a hurry? I am willing to chance the straighter path if we need to do so. What do you think Basil?"

"I think we should go straight. Hellion probably learned of his servants failure to further his agenda, by now. I doubt he will accept defeat and give up. If we dally and take the longer route, he may act against torch directly before we even reach Scrapwall.", Basil offers her opinion. "We transport no goods, have oversized weaponry with us, no young or old ones - we make a bad mark for any who would prey on us. I trust many who see us would carefully gauge if giving us trouble is worth the risk. I do not worry about our safety."

Keldor pounds a fist into his chest to make a dull 'thump' sound.

"Then we are agreed: We take the direct path. May-hap we will meet a non-violent sort along the way...if we are lucky enough gods willing!"

Khonnir smiles to himself "Looks good to me. As the crow flies it is about 100 miles from here. If you travel with your horse and cart, you should reach the First Blade's Path this afternoon, if you leave today. I would suggest traveling through here." He points to the map, there what looks like a scar across the country. "It should be easier to travel across here. I don't believe its too deep here, and there should be a path across. If you leave today you should have 2 nights on the road and arrive mid the 3rd day. I wish you the best of luck, and may whatever diety you pray to guide your safetly"

What say yall? Leave now? It is early afternoon (say 2pm), for you to gather your supplies and plan. Or wait till tomorrow early?

I say we gather our goods ans supplies and leave early the next morning unless we really are in a hurry? I always like afresh start.

I vote tomorrow morning too

"Then we can leave tomorrow morning.
Hm.
We'll finally have a chance to go through those strange food tubes from the ship..." Thawm says idly.

"Alright, we will gather what we need and say our farewells as is customary, then leave tomorrow at the first light of dawn.", Basil reinforces her companion's opinion.

A night of prep and gathering of supplies. Getting the cart ready and everything tied down.

Khonnir welcomes you for the last night at the Foundry. He has opened up the bar to the masses. You get plenty of thanks from people who rely on the torch to live. Nothing too much, but the town comes to say thank you and wish you luck.

The next morning you are met with Khonnir and Val, his ward, along with Joram. He "I wish you the best of luck on your travel. Do your best to find Dinvaya. Just show her that Holy Symbol, she will know its from me. "

Val walks forward with a tightly wrapped bundle "This is for you three. Some fresh baked food, as well as at least 2 weeks of tried food to keep you going if needed. I don't know what type of foodwill be available at Scrapwall"

--- After any goodbyes ---

Out of the town, you are able to follow a road out, but soon enough you have to move onto barely a worn path through the dirt. After a few hours of offroading you can see in the distance a worn line through the land. Carved very deep in places. This is the First Blade's Path. You know where abouts to cross the path.

I would like perceptions from everyone. Also want to give people a chance to RP a bit before we push forward more

Do I need to drive? I have no handle animal skill.

Sitting on the cart quietly, Keldor will watch the road ahead with interest and hope.

"So far a good start, if bumpy. What say you two? What is our plan if we are attacked out in the open? I don't want to burden the wagon with Gauntlet's weight, and I can now summon him a little quicker but for only a short duration while doing so. Should I conjure elemental and monstrous help, or focus on Gauntlet and his strength added to mine in a sudden rush of enemies? Out in the open like this, I lean towards summoning monstrous help and aiding in any battle directly. Although I am poor at ranged attacks still, unless they are magical in nature. I assume our gunner will take to the wagon as a primary weapon. So I'm to defend the wagon as best I can from the ground as needed so Basil can focus on the the worst enemies at range? Does that makes the most sense? Sorry...lots of things swirl through the mind when when crossing the wilderness slowly."

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

OOH! OHOH! PICK ME!
Thawm has a rank in Handle Animal as well as Ride xD
@everyone: We now have lot's of food besides the goo, so Thawm will just hold on to those 12 lbs of gooey goodness...
Also, I think she can carry all non-gold loot in her haversack ^^
I'll double-check later xD

Handle Animal? (Drive the cart o' doom): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Thawm seems happy with the team's new pet horse as she holds the reigns to drive the wagon.
"Hmm. I hope that I can cast a spell to keep our ammunition stocked and then drive us away. If the foes are relatively weak then we should stop and cut them down.
On the other hand, if we need to run, perhaps Basil can pelt them with Artillery, I can focus on the reigns, and you can alternate between reloading and conjuring elementals to block their path?"
Thawm let's out a faint 'ooph' as the wagon rolls over another stone.

Basil also has a rank in Handle Animal, but she'll prefer to remain with the Ballista anyway :)
"Regardless of the enemies we phase, or how open the terrain is, I would defend the wagon, and by extension ourselves, by projecting firepower with the range-adequate tool. In most cases, that will mean the Ballista. If we are swarmed, I will use my firearm to hit multiple targets. As for your roles, I concur - Thawm should drive, and possible use spells to support if there is an opportunity to do so. Keldor would probably be best suited to provide summoned support, only swapping to Gauntlet if we are forced to stop or a close-range assault becomes inevitable. I would also appreciate help with loading the ballista. For now, it will take quite a long time to load a new bolt and make it ready to fire again. I will look into optimizing this process once we return from Scrapwall."
Which, if the whole book takes part there, is when we'll be ~level 8 and she gets Master Siege Engineer which reduces actions needed to move actions from full-round ones...

Keldor laughs.

"You forget where we are! All you need to do is find a robot to do the loading for you! Remember all those automated machines we found underground? I bet, especially with Khonnir's help, we could find a robot and re-purpose it as a re-loader for you. Maybe with enough work, we can even redesign your ballista itself into an automatic firing mechanism with a steam driven crank! OH! Oooooh! I like it!"

Keldor immediately pulls out a scrap piece of parchment and a quill and begins jotting notes...cursing at every bump in the road now.

Knowledge(Engineering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

"You know we might even design one Gauntlet could carry and use easily..."

Keldor gets a good sketch of a possible crank balista. Not sure of some of the exact small mechanics, but you feel like it might be doable with some work.

GM roll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

You all make your way into the scar. Luckly there is a nice ramp here, and it is not very far accross. It takes no more than 30 minutes to get fully accross. You look east and west and can see it extend as far as you can see. It might be hard to not marvel or fear the cause of this type of mark.

As you cross up into the other side, the environments seem to change. The land seems to gradually turn slightly more scorched. There is still life, but it seems like its been through more difficult times. You move till the light starts to fade. You find a decent enough place to set up camp, off the path. There is a nice large rock you can lean against. Defense from one side. You need to settle in for the night, to rest.

How would you like to break up watches. Reminder you all need rest (even the android needs some downtime, right. I see you are immune to sleep effects, but that doesn't mean you don't sleep/shut down. Elves are like that too).

Updated Roll20 map for you guys. Let me know if I missed anything

Based on Discussion thread. Basil make 2 perception checks. Keldor and Thawm, make 1. And let me know who of you two is taking first and second watch.

I only have low-light vision so I can take either watch, but will have Gauntlet up and running during my watch as it only makes sense.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Darkvision and Low-Light Vision.
Shift 1: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
Shift 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Basil spends the watch shifts idly conversing with whoever is awake with her, checking the perimeter in extremely regular intervalls.

Just the light of the fire and/or her cantrip for Thawm. No special senses xD
Perception (shift 2 if Keldor doesn't mind): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Thawm makes sure that the wagon opposite the boulder, to help hide the firelight and provide extra cover from the road.

Coming from a family of soldiers and mercenaries, Keldor finds keeping a simple watch and camping out a soothing pastime as it allows him to practice skills long left dormant when we he discovered his ability to summon an Eidolon.

GM roll: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Keldor and Basil's first watch goes easily, It is quiet in the wilds here.

During the second Watch Thawm and Basil are resting looking into the darkness.

GM Roll: 1d20 + 9 + 20 ⇒ (8) + 9 + 20 = 37
GM Roll: 1d10 ⇒ 8

The two of you notice strange movement inside the cart. A bit of noise and something seems to be rummaging through it. But as you turn to investigate you hear a crazed voice "Where is it! I see it on you! WHERE IS IT!?"

Neither of you can see anything. Keldor is awoken by the noise, but as he opens his eyes there is a sudden crash of something that suddenly appears as green liquid over the group's bodies.

-- Surprise Round --
Bomb Basil (touch): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
Acid Damage: 4d6 + 5 ⇒ (1, 3, 1, 3) + 5 = 13

Suddenly a leather scrap wearing woman appears on your cart. She looks a bit crazed and her eyes are moving all over the place. Like she is looking for something.
"I see it on you! I see your skin! WHERE IS IT?!?!" As she points over to Basil.

Round 1
Keldor, Basil <-- Keldor is on the floor, but awake/
Monster
Thawm

If you would like to adjust where everyone was that is fine. Basil. Note Basil is not next to anyone, if that changes there will be splash damage

"AUGHHHAAAA!!"

Thinking only of the pain from the acid, Keldor rolls to the side (still prone) and tries to heal himself!

Swift action Lay on Hands(Healing+Fatigue Mercy)on Self: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9

He then get up looking for who attacked!

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Thawm looks around in surprise.
The glowy bits? The harder bits that can turn away a blade? Isn't that just her regular skin?
@Keldor, unless you want to start somewhere else, no splash xD
Personally, I envisioned the sleeping teammate next to the wagon and the two awake teammates leaning on the rock xD
(though that was before I realized that the rock was so close to the road, haha)

Keldor: Yeah Only Basil got hit with the acid. You where just asleep. After the bomb is thrown you can see the crazed woman standing on the cart. Seemed as if she was invisible till she threw the bomb. Feel free to redo your turn with that info

Really the rock is farther from the road, but that is the map I had haha.

I'd like to point out that the check was pointless. With a +10 and Natural 20 I have 30 on Perception - within 10 feet(before penalties accrue). Invisible(+20) and with a +9 modifier she will ALWAYS beat our best score on a natural 20, even if she rolls a natural 1.

As the acid suddenly washes over her, Basils blood starts glowing as the nanites therein move to repair the damage the volatile compounds caused. Repair Nanites undo 8 damage
Basil looks at the crazed woman, then suddenly vanishes.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 + 20 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 20 = 31
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 + 20 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 20 = 39
Disappear aka Optical Camouflage and Blessed Secrecy

Yeah, I know. I wanted to give you a chance to roll, because it was going to be a surprise on you. If you would rather me avoid fruitless rolls like that I understand. Since there was 2 nat20s, I modified it a bit to allow Keldor to wake up and not miss a round.

Want to give Keldor a chance to redo his round, since he wasn't hit

Round 1
Keldor, Basil <-- Keldor can modify round since he wasn't hurt. Awake, but on ground.
Monster
Thawm

I understand. It's just a bit frustrating if you roll a Natural 20, expecting to to good, then realize the enemy did not even need a moderate roll to beat that. I suppose I would be less bitter if my own roll had been moderate. That and as you say, we BOTH had natural 20s.
I would also like to point out that Perception covers all senses, not just visual, while invisibility does nothing to dampen sounds - "Hear the sound of a creature walking is DC 10" as per Perception. So we COULD have heared her as she approached, before she got the jump on us.(One of the ways people without Darkvision/Low-Light-Vision avoid getting straight up murdered from just beyond the campfires light)
It's not criticism and I wouldn't want a retcon, you're cutting us some slack regulary, too. Just saying you did have options there, for next time ;)

Ret-con! - Move action to get up.

Rolling over at the noise and getting up as quickly as he can, Keldor reaches out to his magic!

"Basil! Evil wench!"

Casting Grease on the cart! DC14.

Assumptions: Keldor went first (higher init), and Basil avoided the greased area.

She is buffed currently and can't fail the Reflex Save

With grease coating the cart, the woman stays solid on her feet. She yells out, "Where is it?! Where did it go?! She taking the fluid from me!!" She turns to Keldor and starts to mix an alchemical bomb, at which point Basil appears and removes the contents of her hands before she has a chance to make it explosive.

Did a ton of reading, your wording of the readied disarm I think allows it, but its only going to be the 1 bomb, not all future bombs. Also its not made yet, so it does not explode

With shock in her eyes, "AH! There you are. Where is the fluid. I see it on you. WHERE IS IT?"

She looks to the cart and attempts to move, but is unable. Though she does not fall down into the cart.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Round 1/2
Thawm, Keldor, Basil <--
Monster

OK...whatever. NOTE: I targetted the 'cart' as an object. Not an area. Basil? Could this be about the weird stuff that enhanced your AC temporarily by accident?

Moving to the woman on the cart Keldor draws his sward and swings at her...

MW Silversheen Elven Curve Blade: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Damage/Silver: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

you can always fail on a 1, actually
Saves are fun like that xD

"Calm yourself!" Thawm commands after rising up. She holds out her necklace and casts Calm Emotions (DC 15 will), aiming it to just catch the intruder.

I guess you are right about the nat1. Noted. Its been a busy day haha

Will Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
The woman seems to be maintaining a level of crazed determination through the spell cast by Thawm.

Keldor's swing seems to bounce off a magical barrier that surrounds the woman. Looks like she has at least a few spells on her, likely via her empty potion vials on her waist.

Round 2
Thawm, Keldor, Basil <--
Monster

Could be, but then, there's hardly a chance she got a good look on me from close up, so she must be using some other means of tracking.

Swift Action for Judgement - Justice
Stepping into a flank with Keldor, Basil lifts her arms, ready to lunge forward at the woman and making no secret of her intent:"If you meant to ask me something, you should not have opened with that acidic concoction of yours."
Ready action: If she moves - Initiate Grapple: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 18
Note that using Acrobatics to move in a greased Area makes her flat-footed, so she would loose her likely sky-high Dex.
At the same time, she is in both mine and Keldors threatened area, so if she does something that provokes...maybe she'll be willing to parley without bombs now.

Basil can't really flank without standing on grease. But I moved Keldor into melee range on roll20

I assume the green squares are the calm emotions spell. Deleting them, but I know they are there. Brown square is grease. For the sake of having it on the map. It is not perfect on the cart, but otherwise Basil is standing in it.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
She starts to move out of the square, but Basil reaches out and grabs her. Grappling her into place. Turning around she quickly mixes another bomb and crashes it down onto Basil.
"Tell me where you found it! I need more! I see it on your skin."

Acid Bomb - Grappled Basil: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Acid Damage: 4d6 + 5 ⇒ (1, 1, 4, 3) + 5 = 14

This provokes from Basil (who is grappled) and Keldor. There is not splash on this blast, it is focused on Basil.

I forgot you take more acid 1 round later from the acid bomb
Extra acid from previous bomb: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Extra acid on your next round from this bomb: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Round 3
AoOs: Keldor, Basil <--
Thawm, Keldor, Basil
Monster

I have the grappled condition and can take no AoO.

However, if I felt that Acid was doing ongoing damage(or that she may still use the bombs while grappled - usually you need to have material components in hand - but I guess she could have grabbed them before I got her - then I would have picked the Resistance Judgement for Resist Acid 4

If that would make her grapple attempt fail due to the -1 from justice(or the -2 from not flanking, then Basil would spend a Determination to re-roll the attack.
Alternate Grapple Roll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 Same result as with Flank and Justice Judgement, so should succeed

Current Round, Grapple Roll to Pin, with circumstance bonus to maintain: 1d20 + 4 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 5 = 28

Ignoring the Acid burning away at her, Basil pushes the woman down onto the cart, using her hands as lever to force her into a submissive position: "If you would prefer to leave with your spinal cord intact, I insist you stand down and yield. If you do not, I will end your existance without hesitation."

Fair enough about the bombs, I never considered it tbh - but Basil has Knowledge Alchemy with full ranks, so she'd probably expect the possibility.

With the flat footed, yes that still grabs. Feel free to alter the Judgement. I forgot about the bit of extra acid. So take 4 from the 5 extra, 4 from the 14 this round. etc.

I am assuming she can use one hand to make the bombs. It says no where that it requires both. Which means she can do it while grappled.

Round 3
AoOs: Keldor <--
Thawm, Keldor, Basil
Monster

@DM Nex: it's a spread, not an emanation, so actually it was just a momentary burst of stuff. It's actually a good idea to delete it and pretend that it was never there, especially since I'm not going to concentrate on it xD
If we pin her, she won't be able to use anything not in hand, which might include things like her bomb ingredients...
Also, did she really just acid-splash herself? xD

Realizing that the spell didn't work, Thawm stops concentrating on it and steps around behind Basil to heal her.
CMW (Basil): 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 8) + 4 = 16 with resist acid 4, I think that brings you to full...
"Listen to the android." Thawm adds, as Basil's chemical burns fade away.

Seeing Basil held by the woman, Keldor grimaces and barks a word in elvish.

"Frihet!"

Immediate action for casting my one Paladin spell of the day: Liberating Command on Basil giving her a free escape artist check at +2 right now as an immediate action!

Keldor then attempts to help Basil with her escape!
Standard action
Aid Another(Escape Check)-UNskilled: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

He then uses his Detect Evil ability on the old woman, hoping to see through to her true intent somehow...
Move action.

OK...RET-CON Part II! The Ret-Con-ning Nightmare!Keldor will simply perform the aid another action for Basil's grapple, and assess the woman's evilness, if any.

Didn't see Basil's Edit. Sorry about that.

Basil pins the woman to the ground. Keldor offers his strength to holding her down.

Keldor is not able to detect any evil emanating from her.

The woman thrashes and flails, but goes limp, "I just want the fluid. I can tell you drank some. I want it.. Where did you find it? Give it to me. I see your skin.. It turned it rough and hard. I need more. I need more. I need more"

We can leave init for now. She is pinned down hard.

Thawm scoffs at the woman's waning begging for 'the fluid'.
Reaching into a pocket of her haversack, Thawm produces the tip of fifty feet of Hemp rope and offers it to Basil. "Need some rope?"

"I do. Disarm her" Basil replies as she starts binding the woman. "And thank you for the curative magic."
Once the woman is bound, Basil releases her grip, instead drawing her gun, placing it near the womans forehead so she can see it:"If you struggle and try to break free, I will pull the trigger. Twice. Now that you are aware of that, talk. I assume to know which fluids you talk about. But you came asking while trying to murder me with acid. I cannot risk the health of friends of mine if that is how you greet people. It is also unlikely to cause a positive response in people you meet. In my experience, around 9 out of 10 people did not want to be blown up on the first meeting. On the second meeting, 9 out of 9 did not want to be blown up. You should alter your strategy, or did your experiences differ?"

Having her bomb making materials pulled from her, she tries to squirm and reach, but her arms are pulled back.

Hearing Basil's threat "Fine. I see the fluid in you... I saw you earlier.. I just need more. I figured I could take it off your dead body, when it wasn't in the cart. I don't want to be blown up. I just wanted more. I need more. Please. Do you have any?"

Her voice goes from aggressive then pleading, then innocent, and back on a copper piece. She seems like there are some mental issues. Likely from this fluid.

"I wont fight...." and she goes fully limp.

Thawm nods affirmatively as she hands the rope over and acknowledgingly at Basil's 'thanks'.
When the crazy bomb lady finally goes limp, Thawm decides that now might be a good time for an interrogation.
"No you won't. You can't. We might consider your pleas if we knew what you want to use the fluid for."

Thawm lifts up the woman's chin, a magic aura suddenly appears as she uses Lore Keeper (effect of a roll of 22 on the relevant knowledge check)
"Tell us what you know."

I kind of doubt the knowledge check is all that helpful, but maybe some day~

Trying not to look disgusted, Keldor sighs.

"She's not evil...just addicted I think. My uncle Larnou Whisthawk got addicted to Pesh on a journey to Osirion and acted a lot like this for a few days once he was cut off from it. Killed himself from the shame of it I think. My family does not put up with...or aid...weakness very much."

He then waves waves at the bound woman, trying not to feel like he's betraying the group with his words.

"We could take her back to Torch? Maybe let the clerics heal her? She might know something useful about Scrapwall if we clear her head. She's obviously has useful skills too."

Evtually, when the discussion is over, Keldor will play with his techno-camo-armor ability to match the surrounding 'outside' terrain for a stealth bonus. This should use up 1 charge.

Basil is slightly shocked that Keldor would namedrop Torch, effectively naming the place the fluids are from if she had some ability of deduction left to her broken mind.

"We have no time to return. She will need to come with us, to Scrapwall. That acid was of significant strength - it is likely she has no small skill with Alchemy."
Basil focuses her attention back at the woman:"If what you say is true, she will either overcome her addiction until such time as we arrive in Scrapwall, or, if necessary, I will arrange for some of the fluid to be made available to her in exchange for allegiance and service to a group of our choice."

Wouldn't let her go to Torch...even if they "fix" her addiction, she may relapse and start murdering people on her trip. I wouldn't want to come back and find we missed Val's funeral. If we do arrange for Fluid to be provided for her, then in Scrapwall - we can try and press her into service with the Steel Hawks(or what their name was). While morally questionable, it should be the morally superior choice over letting a murderous junky wander the wastes or straight up killing her, so I hope Keldors Paladin-Side can accept that as a necessity. Even if we "cold turkey" here, I would do that in Scrapwall, far from any known source of "Fluid", to make a relapse less likely.

I won't prejudge any situation until we encounter it. But Keldor will fight for what he things is the rights of individuals, and will not put up with slavery at all. Enforced 'Rehab' on the other hand...might be considered 'helping' her on the way to help herself. I specifically made Keldor Lawful Good at the start in order to see how he maneuvers through this morally-gray land that it is.