Master of the Fallen Fortress (Inactive)

Game Master Baerlie

Shin draws hit crossbow and shoots it at the skeleton he can see. Doesn't think punching it will be a good idea.

Ranged attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Shin shoots a bolt at the skeleton, but the bolt goes through it and hits the wall on the other side of the room.

Alexis, if you want to do your redied action, you can do it in the same post with your second turn.

Round 2
Saleem
Alexis
Tûrak
Willow
Kaede
Skeleton 1 - 3HP
Skeleton 2
Natsume

Round 2

By my measuring, Alexis is too far away to use the ray so no standard action in round 1.

Now that the Skeletons have advanced into the room, Alexis jumps into action.

Move action: S, S

Starting with a monotone chant, Alexis summons a ray of cold from the far north. Ray of Frost

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Damage (double): 2d3 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

Willow braces as the flaming skeletons advance, warning herself that she should expect to get burned. She waits for the volley of magic and lead from Saleem, Alexis, and Tûrak, before moving to intercept the skeletons in an attempt to keep them from the spellcasters.

I'll pick a particular target once I see how they do; maybe they'll bring at least one down before Willow has to intervene. Fingers crossed!

Alexis chants and summons a ray of frost at the skeleton which is already damaged but the skeleton dodges just in the right moment. Willow waits for her fellowers before attacking one of the skeletons.

Round 2
Saleem
Alexis
Tûrak
Willow
Kaede
Skeleton 1 - 3HP
Skeleton 2
Natsume

Turak shoots the damaged skeleton and then moves backward in an attempt to get out of the reach of his enemies.

Pistol (ranged touch attack): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

If hit

Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Turak hits the skeletin directly in the spine. It explodes into a burst of flame and disappears.

Round 2
Saleem
Alexis
Tûrak
Willow
Kaede
Skeleton 2
Natsume

Saleem twists his fingers slightly and send another dart towards teh skeleton.
Acid Splash, Ranged Touch. 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 161d3 ⇒ 1

Knowing that the last skeleton will be able to reach someone in a couple of seconds, Willow decides that it should be her. She drops her bow, takes her morningstar in both hands, takes a deep breath to call up her strength, and goes in swinging. Activating her controlled rage for +4 Str... Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 damage, hopefully: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 Phooey, so much for a calculated risk. Hopefully this won't hurt too much. :o

Saleem and Willow both attack the skeleton, but only Saleem can damage it. The acid splash starts meltin it's bones.

Round 2
Saleem
Alexis
Tûrak
Willow
Kaede
Skeleton -1HP
Natsume

In the meantime, I thought I'd ask everyone's opinion on tactics. I'm not sure how well the wolf pack sort of thing would work, but since Willow's closed this round anyway, what if next round Saleem, Alexis, and Tûrak delay until after Willow's turn? She'll fall back (possibly after taking another swing), and then the ranged folks can blast away without a penalty for shooting into a melee. Thoughts?

I will bot for Kaede, she didn't post for several days now.

Kaede will use Total Defense and stay where she is. That is what she did in the last turn.

The remaining skeleton tries to hit Willow with it's claws.
Attack 2 Claws: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Claw Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Fire Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1
But his burning claws grab only air.

Round 2
Saleem
Alexis
Tûrak
Willow
Kaede
Skeleton -1HP
Natsume

I swear I posted last night. Huh. Well, that's what I was going to do for the remainder of this encounter unless something drastic changes, so bot away for now.

Hm, strange. I also had troubles with the paizo page yesterday, but it displayed the PC eating goblins fore me. If you want to do something else, just post it and I will put it in between.

Shin will put his crossbow away and move closer to assist Willow. Hesitant to engage this in melee.

I'm in favor of this tactic. Bot me if I'm still too slow to respond.

Sheathing the weapon and moving is all i got this round.

Shin moves a few steps closer to Willow and the skeleton. He can already feel the fire.

Round 3
Saleem
Alexis
Tûrak
Willow
Kaede
Skeleton -1HP
Natsume

I am on board with the delay until after Willow

Alexis waits until Willow shows an opening in combat. That is the delay.

Once an opening is made, she tries again to summon the power of cold.

Ranged Touch, Ray of Frost: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Damage: 2d3 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

Willow manages to dodge the thing's burning claws, but getting this close means that just breathing sears her lungs. Taking a step back, she brings her morningstar around again in a vicious upswing, trying to drive the skeleton back so she can get clear and let the mages work their magic. So, Willow will attack first, and then take a step back, which I've already shown on the map.
Attack, raging, two-handed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 critical threat?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
damage?: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 or if confirmed crit: 2d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 3) + 8 = 19
Well, that's more like it!

Saleem moves back and fires off another Acid Splash.
On his turn, Saleem firesand Acid Splash. 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 101d3 ⇒ 1

The attacks of Alexis, Saleem and Willow were too much for the sekelton, it explodes into a burst of flames. Willow stepped back fast enough so she didn't get burnt.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Quick scan of the room for any other threats

Alexis asks "Is everybody OK?" before joining Natsume in looking around the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

"I'm ok, Ale, thanks for your concern."and then scans the room along with Alexis and Shin.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Shin, Alexis and Turak check the room for any remaining treasures and they find the following: the altars still contain their silver altar services, as well as two silver holy symbols of Nethys. In addition, a divine scroll rests atop each altar.

On the north east wall near the White altar the three also find a hidden door, but it is locked. The 'S' on the map, DC 10 strength check to force break it open

"I am pleased our infernal foe has been dispatched," says Kaede, smiling. "That it was not I who struck the killing blow, even more so. Well done, my friends."

Anybody interested in busting this latest door down, or should I take 10 to unlock it?

Willow stretches the tension out of her arms and catches her breath before collecting her bow from where she dropped it. "Fascinating," she says, as she examines the altar fittings, "It looks like this tower was quite the pied-à-terre, complete with a private chapel. I wonder what's on the other floors... For that matter, are all the sealed castles like this?"

Approaching the hidden door the others have found, the elf notes that it seems to be stuck, so she puts her shoulder to it. Str check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 It holds, and Willow faces the rest of the group with a blush. "Apparently ... I still need to get my breath back."

She steps aside. Maybe it would be better to let Kaede try to find a subtler way to open this next door after all.

The door needs a DC25 Disable Device check to be opened without the key.

Willow throws her body against the door, it makes a cracking noise, but it does not break.

Can Kaede make the DC if she takes 20?

Yes, if she likes, she can take 20 on this check.

DC 25? Ouch. Breaking it open is the safer option by far. The maximum number I can roll on a Disable Device check right now is 26, and I can't even take 20 on a check that high. Unless adding the +6 bonus is something I can do while taking 20?

EDIT: Ninja'd by Saleem. Okay then, I will take 20 on it.

Kaede sets to work on the lock, eventually opening it.

Kaede opens the door.

A living, moving fabric seems to cover the ceiling of this half-collapsed chamber, which stretches northwest into darkness. The pungent smell of ammonia rises from the droppings that litter the floor.

"Excellent work. You have an impressive talent." To Kaede.

Shin then steps into the doorway cautiously.

Shin can now see what's covering the ceiling: a swarm of bats. When they see Shin entering the room they attack.

Init. Kaede: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Init. Saleem: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Init. Tûrak: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Init. Shin: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Init. Alexis: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Init. Willow: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Init. Bats: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

The bats attack Shin who entered the room but Shin reacts fast enough to step aside.
Melee Swarm: 1d20 ⇒ 10

Round 1
Bats
Saleem
Turak
Willow
Shin
Kaede
Alexis

Know (nature): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 She who lives by the dice, dies by the dice, apparently. I would appreciate it if anyone who's got it more together would relay to the party what's special about these bats. :)

Hearing the thin shrieks of the swarming creatures, Willow hesitates to get in their way. Maybe they'll just fly out once they've expressed their displeasure at being disturbed, she hopes. She draws an arrow, but waits until the swarm gets closer, not wanting to agitate it further if she can help it. Besides, at most I might be able to skewer a few of them at once. Maybe a halberd haft could clear them out of the way?

"Shin!" she calls, "Get out of there! Maybe they're looking for a way out!"

Shin withdraws back to the previous room.

Shin jumps back to hide from the bats.

What do you want to do? Fight the swarm (they are immune to weapon attacks) and hope the excape through the hole in the wall or close the door?

Alexis tries to remember what she knows about bats.

know(nature): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

"Be careful. Normal weapons won't do much to the bats at large. You may kill a bat or two but there are likely thousands of them, " she warns.

She fingers the bottle on her bandolier. We could try to burn them out. Does anybody else have fire or oil? Then, looking at Saleem, she asks "Can you project fire over a distance?"

Saleem grimaces.
"Alas despite my fiery appearance, such magiks are not known to me......My apologies."

"I have a couple of flasks of oil for my lantern," Willow nods, "and I'm willing to try it, but then again... I'm only an untried apprentice, but wouldn't it work better if we had magic to spread the flames? I suppose we could report back that whoever comes after us should be careful on this level and bring scrolls or otherwise prepare themselves, rather than insisting on clearing the things out on our own."

I'm not sure how good swarms are at Reflex saves, but I'm also not sure how well lobbing improvised weapons and hoping we can set our target on fire is likely to work. If we had access to burning hands, that might be something else. Just a thought: I don't mean to be dogmatic about it.

Kaede runs to the door and slams it shut. A bout of muffled screeching and thudding is followed by silence. "My apologies," she says, "but this conversation will be more pleasant without the swarm of bats' involvement, yes?"

Saleem bows.
"Pretty much yes."

"Well I'm not sure if we actually need to clear out that room. My vote is to move on."

Turak approaches Willow, Shin and Kaede. "Well, I have gunpowder, if you want we can cheer this place with Willow's oil and an explosion. Maybe the smoke scare away the bats ..."

Responding to Natsume, Alexis shrugs. "I could go either way. The stars are always an option if we don't want to deal with the bats."

Do you want to move on to the upper levels or open the door again?

Unless anyone vehemently objects, Willow will lead the way to the upper levels.

Fine with me.

Tûrak follows the brave elf and Kaede.