Luke's Runelords Thread (Inactive)

Game Master Luke

I hit her with another ball of flame. I relocated if I need to be able to see her. Attack is 15+3=18. Damage is 1+3=4.

So much for the Magic! Good playoff run, though.

Nualia benefits from cover in this situation. Cha's spell shoots narrowly between Eberk and his upraised weapon. The flaming ball explodes against her shoulder causing parts of her hair burn away, leaving her with a blistered jaw and ear. Yet still she comes on with the nightmare blade.

Eberk presses the attack, driving the woman back down the hall and into the trapped area. He lands a glancing blow to show he's still in the fight.

Orik lingers behind the dwarf, plainly hesitant to close off the dwarf's means of retreat.

The dog lunges again at Yod but is brushed off.

Yod's attack.

Ok I'm activating the Feather token whip
For all

On my next turn, I have Sari stand her ground and use another missile from the wand. There should be 32 left. It is sent toward Nualia for 3+1 points of damage. Next...

The little token springs into a writhing black lash that whistles and snaps over Yod's shoulder. The thong wraps itself around the monster's throat. You're entitled to a damage roll, but between you, me and the tree, you cannot hurt the hound. The monster is grappled, however.

Sari's missile stings Nualia, but does not distract her from her chosen prey. The disgusting claw rakes Eberk across the face as she rips down his shield in a feat of super-human strength. The sword follows close behind, thrusting through armor, flesh and bone to emerge below the dwarf's shoulder blade. Eberk collapses at Nualia's feet.

Cha's turn.

"Orik, get in there! We'll cover you. Shal, get Eberk out of there."

I hit her with the last of the pretty balls of fire. 19+3=22. Damage is 5+3=8.

For DM

Happy Father's Day fellas. Sorry about being slow with the posts. Work is going to be the dominant force in my life until July 1. Anyway, let us continue with the tale of your doom...

Orik squares up on the hall, raises his shield and lunges into combat with Nualia. The narrow passage is filled with giant lengths of lethal steel as the two go at one another with a bastard sword a piece.

"Have at ya, damned witch!" he cries as he plunges his blade home, cutting deep into he her thigh and creating a terrible wound.

What happens next round? The hound goes right before me, does it get a chance to escape the grapple and if it does then the whip gets its turn and gets to try and grapple again? If the hound doesn't escape then the whip would just get a chance to do damage max is d6+1 so should I even bother to roll it? I don't have to activate the whip again if the hound escapes right? I would get to attack correct?

That's alot of questions, and I'd just as soon everyone see the answers, since grappling is notoriously confusing. The hound and the whip are in an ongoing grapple and their choices are constrained by that condition. Two biggies here are that the dog threatens no squares and loses its dex to AC - meaning Yod does sneak attack damage as long as it's grappled.

The hound begins baying for all its worth. The noise goes beyond normal hearing, tapping hidden reserves of fear in your brain. Everyone make a Will save vs fear.

Yod may act if he passes his Will Save.

Will Save is a whopping 4+6=10.

Will Save is 2+2=4. Ouch!

Save is 16+1+1=18 Good enough?
I have a cloak for plus 1 will save I think

Well I'm gonna go with an 18 as saving so I'll attact the grappled Devil-Dog thing
Atk 20+7=27 confirm 20+7=27
It seams my dice really don't like this dog thing
Damage 6+7+14=27 Sneak 4+5=9 Total 36
Well that should either make him howl louder or stop howling completly!
If by chance that takes him out I'll step up to flank Nulia, if not I'll stay put.
What about the whip? I'd have it try to grapple her during its turn if the dog is down.

Heh, good try. The reason you get the extra sneak attack damage is because the whip and the hound remain grappled for this round. The whip remains and can be used next round.

Yod shrugs off the unsettling effect of the howling and takes advantage of the dog's immobility to strike the killing blow. The heavy morningstar crushes the dog's skull, causing its body to instantly smoke and bubble its way to ash.

Cha, Ishah and Orik all suffer the effects of panic. Cha and Ishah are each afftected for 3 rounds while Orik is done for 6.

Sari's turn.

Yeh if figured id get sneak atk on the dog since he lost his dex benefit but I was not sure wheather the whip went before me or after.

Sari launches another missile at Nualia. Luke rolled a 3 for me for a total of 4 points of damage. I have 31 charges left on the wand.

Orik, Cha, and most pathetically Ishah all flee with their tails (figurative and otherwise) between their legs. The baying continues in their minds, making it seem as though the devil-spawned dog is right at their heels.

Cheerfully, this clears a wide lane between Sari and Nualia so the two can glare directly at one another. Perhaps this is the focus that saves Sari from fleeing along with all the man-flesh. Nualia whispers to herself the words of a dark prayer, certainly some terrible spell from her demonic matron.

Then suddenly the silver dart bursts from Sari's wand and streaks across the room. This missile catches the witch below the chin, snapping her head into the wall with a crunch. She slides down the wall into a sitting position and stays there, held upright by her armor. Blood pours from the wound in her hip, mixing on the floor with the smoking pile of ash that was the demon dog. Nualia is unconscious and bleeding out.

Beside her is the crumpled form of the fallen dwarf. Eberk is dead.

So I'm going to smash her clawed armed evilness and finisher her off unless someone is going to stop me!!!
Anyone?????

It's academic. By the time anyone returns to answer that question, she will have bled out. If you do not actively save her life immediately (meaning before Orik or Cha return), she's toast. With your heal skill, it's probably all the same to you anyway.

She killed Eberk, I'll finish her with a Coup de Grace to the face so she don't look so pretty anymore!
Then I'll wander back and start searching the room where she was reading something, the others can join me when they shake off the panic.

"Everything is okay back there. We checked it out. We're good." :)

"Yod is that trap disarmed?"

With help, we'll move Eberk's body back out of the hallway and I'll say a few words. He's way beyond any healing abilities I have.

"Let's try and finish searching this place and then get out of here. We'll rest up top for the night and then head to town in the morning. We've got a lot to carry back and I'm not leaving Eberk's body in this filthy place."

I'll take a 20 and search Nualia.

Here's the original description of the room (a month ago, or whatever :)

In any event, the door on the right opens easily enough. Beyond it is a large ovoid room with a broad shelf of red marble lining the wall. The shelf is covered with books, racks of vials, jars, bottles, scrolls and other sundries. In four places skull sculptures fashioned from the same stone as the shelf are topped by flickering white flames a hands-breath high. Seated in one of four plush chairs is a woman with the face of an angel.

Coming back into this room, Yod sees that there's a broken fountain opposite the room's entrance. Unfortunately much of the clutter on the shelf is utterly ruined, either by whatever cataclysm tilted this place, or by the sheer decay of centuries. The chairs must be recent additions.

There are piles of notes scattered here and there as well as a few modern texts that are filled with prayers and meditations of a disturbing variety.

Among the clutter Yod finds a lever that controls the locking mechanism on the trap in the hall. There's also a satchel that contains 27 pp & 5 gp.

Cha and Ishah find their way back to the group, followed eventually by a shaken Orik. He walks over to where Cha searches Nualia.

"Would you believe I have not killed a woman before? It's unsettling - even with one so vile." He stands guard at the door to the southern hall (14, 16) as the investigation of the room proceeds.

"I don't like the feel of this place at all. There's still something down here - whatever Nualia was after. Maybe the Pathfinders or the Order of the Nail would come look into it. Clean it up once and for all or something."

He pauses, "So what are you going to do with me? Does the deal with the dagger still stand if I choose not to return to Sandpoint?"

Cha, Nualia's bloodstained breastplate is a marvelous piece of armor. The bastard sword is likewise an obvious antique of some sort. Around her neck Nualia wears a silver disk on a leather chord. Etched into the medallion is a seven pointed star - the sihedron rune. She also wears a heavy gold amulet of a stylized jackal head on a long chain. This thing reeks of evil holy symbol.

"Orik, any debt you owed us has been paid, although I hope you'll at least stay with us until we're back on the mainland. We'll work out a share of whatever we find here for you before you leave us."

We'll smash the jackal head but bag the pieces and the chain. Also, we'll bag the amulet for now and remove her armor. Will the armor fit Orik? I don't believe any of the rest of us can wear it.

Pack mule ready to carry armor swords whatever you got! If it doesn't hurt to hold it I'll take it!
Will we be able to ID all the stuff anytime soon, I still have a misc wand I can't use yet. And I'm out of potions, hopefully some cure potions in the stuff we found so far.
Still more to explore down here thats fur sure
On another matter Ryan took four points of damage to his left ear from the sliding glass door frame last night 3 hrs at the ER four stictches later, four of us to hold him!! much fun !!

OUCH!

"Surely I would not part until we are all safely off this island. I just don't fancy going on to Sandpoint. Not with everything that Nualia was doing. Rather I'll strike out for Magnimar. Maybe sail to Korvosa from there. Maybe not. I'll see which way the wind is blowing when I get there."

Orik already wears a similar breastplate. "Add this thing to your loot. Once cleaned up it should fetch a pretty price at the market in Sandpoint. You'd be better off selling some of this stuff in a proper city, though."

So is your plan to return to Sandpoint now, or rest first? Or were you continuing to explore this place?

I'd say rest and do a little more exploring here before going back to town. Can anyone identify any of the stuff or do we need pearls or something?

If we're leavin we should make sure we search the room where Nulia was real good for any thing to take back to have looked at by the various people who would be interested. I think we should take Eberk back with us too. I wouldn't like leaving him here.

Let's do a careful search of the room she was in and the other room Yod checked out. Let's take 20 in each space around both rooms. Also, we'll post someone by the doors in that South room listening while we search. My listen check is pretty high with Ishah by my side. I'll take that duty. I think our overall plan will be to finish any exploring we can do without risking another encounter. Then we'll call it a day, move back upstairs, make sure everything is secure and Lyrie is still there and find a place to hole up for the evening.

Works for me!
I'll string a nice razor wire trap across the entrance once we are up there, maybe something else too just to alert us of anyone or thing coming up from down here.

Sorry guys, we have to stay on hiatus until after this project is complete. I should be able to post again on July 1. Until then, level up your characters.

:)

New sheet has been sent

New sheet sent. I've recorded all of the loot on Cha's sheet purely because Cha has a woeful memory. I think I got it all.

The search through the room yields nothing but the aforementioned notes. These look like a diary of sorts, but they'll need to be sequenced. At least most of them are in legible common and not in some tongue of the netherworlds.

The original description of the next room to the south

The room beyond is dark and dusty. To the left the wall curves around in a hemisphere. At the apex of the curve, the wall has been fashioned to look like a giant stack of coins. The edges of the coins are carved with elaborate spiky runes.

To the right, the room stretches around a corner and beyond your sight.

There's no furniture, and not really any other features in your sight except more of the same stone architecture.

Peeking around the corner you see that the 10' wide hall comes to an end in a pair of double doors. These bear carvings of skeletons who extend their arms towards the handles of the doors. The handles are fashioned to look like a skull when closed together.

Further searching this room reveals that the pillar appears to be made of solid gold, carved to resemble a stack of coins. Shal approaches it cautiously, hand outstretched.

"It's an illusion," she says. "It's just stone. The dweomer must be permanent."

You find nothing else of note in the southern chamber except a foreboding sense that danger is nearby. You finish your examination, gather the items you've collected and head back upstairs. It takes a second trip to bring Eberk's stout frame up from the depths. The bodies in the stockade are beginning to ripen, so you welcome the cool sea breeze that fills the watch tower, where you make camp.

Are you retrieving Lyrie and bringing her to your little campsite as well?

Chris, did you roll for spell points? You get an additional 2d4 + 3 this level.

Map links updated

Also, as an aside - a new product is born! This is why my posts have been so slow of late.

Man, you've been busy. I didn't roll my spell points. 1+1+3=5. New sheet inbound. How about them dice? What time of day is it? I know we're out of spell points, but if we've got some daylight left, I'll go and spend some time with the horse and maybe drag some of the dead bodies into the dog pen or something. I think we'll make camp upstairs with Lyrie. We'll also unprop the door down to the ancient level and move the desk in front of it.

Well I can move bodies and such, probably best if the spell casters are going to rest that they get started asap. There might still be patrols or something coming back this way. Better to have a little mana than none if something happens.

If someone needs to be on watch duty I'll take the first

1+1+3=5. New sheet inbound. How about them dice?

Damn dude. Spell points are important. Cash in some roommate creds and reroll those bones. Ignore the first two 4s you roll. You guys are supposed to be heroes 'n stuff.

Keeping track of time underground is next to impossible, particularly when that time is punctuated by the stress of combat. After barring doors and what-not, you emerge into a yard filled with the dim light of an overcast afternoon. With the stench and the carnage you're not very hungry - though you should be.

You find the watchtower as you left it. The constant breeze off the gulf keeps the air fresh and cold and the view of the coastline from one side to the other is absolute. The tide is out and a narrow band of orange sand is visible at the foot of the cliffs below.

The horse is less energetic when Cha approaches the door this time. As he throws the bar and opens the stout door he's met with an appalling sight. A full-boned Shoanti war-horse lies within the shed. As Cha peeks in it throws its head and struggles to regain its feet. Its coat is matted with mud and dung and it has very obviously been starved. Beside the door hangs a leather harness. The matching saddle lies discarded at the back of the room.

Hey Cha looks like you should respend your skill points on ride as well!!

Wastes no time in taking him up on that offer...4, 2, 4, 4...that makes a 2+4+3=10. Thank you very much. I'll send the sheet again.

"Easy boy. I'm here to help."

Wild Empathy check is 20+5=25.

I move up to him and rub his head. Handle Animal check is 8+10=18.

I spend some time talking to him and then put the harness on him. I'm guessing the only way out of this building is through the front doors.

For the time being I lead him into the main entry area. I dig out some water for him. "Orik, you know of anything he can eat around here?"

I thought we saw some piles of hay somewhere when we were looking around this place?

Can you use a heal potion or spell on animals? Maybe we can fix up the horse after resting.

"Ummm, right. Hang on."

Orik disappears for a few moments then returns carrying a shield full of tattered hay from downstairs. "It was in with some cages. Most of it was used as dog bedding though."

He offers the hay to Cha. "That was Jagen's horse. At least he claimed it was his horse though it didn't seem to like him very much. After he died Nualia left it to the goblins. Maybe it was rent or something. I bet the little runts were terrified of it."

"Thank you. I can't stand seeing an animal in this condition. Let's get some rest and see get out of this hole in the morning."

I spend a little more time talking to the horse and trying to clean him some while he eats and drinks. I'll take a 20 on a health check. Once I think I've done all I can do for him, I'll leave him and go find some sleep.

The horse brightens a bit after food and water and eventually emerges from the shed led by the harness. She is a massive, powerful creature and will surely make a fine mount once properly revived and cared for.

Certainly, all cure spells work on animals. The spell reads all creatures.

Lyrie is conscious and sulking when you find her. When she sees Orik her eyes bore burning holes of hate right through him. She bites her gag but says nothing as she's moved into the watchtower, but continues to shoot Orik the kinds of looks that curdle milk. After a moment upstairs with those going into meditation or slumber Orik finally joins Yod moving bodies or whatever downstairs.

"That b%!#~ can hate me all she wants to," he mutters to Yod. "If she'd have listened to me, neither of us would be here now. I should have left her here with Nualia anyway. My dad always said that thinking with the other head is what's gonna do me. This makes twice that a woman's led me to ruin. I'll be damned if the third time is gonna be the charm."

With that he continues helping Yod with whatever he's doing downstairs.

Yod is satisfied with his trap. Resting a full eight hours will leave you finished just after midnight. I assume you mean to sleep through as much as possible and start early the next morning?