Masters of the Fallen Fortress (Inactive)

Game Master Awenydd83

The stairs you have been coming up do go one level higher.

"Well, you are right.., they are all ugly.. but one of them is quite a bit larger, and is their leader. The rest all look to him. Most of the time, they come here to beat me, but when they first captured me, they took me to a great big throne room at the very top of the tower, then brought me back down here.. it should be right above us."

"Alright...lead the way, then!" Isobel says.

"I'm ready!"

Oh! Well, in that case, let's keep going!

"Agreed," Nikolai says, handing the fellow Pathfinder his equipment. "I doubt he'll be happy to see us when we meet him. How good are you with that blade of yours?"

In passing, Fauxish uses her middle and index fingers to indicate her eyes and then points those digits meaningfully at the bard.

Sense Motive: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 = 13

Nikolai catches the monk's motions out of the corner of his eyes, and gives her a quick nod.

The four wings of the tower are completely open on this level, forming one great, cross-shaped chamber with arched ceilings. The decayed remnants of a carpet run from the doorways at the end of each wing, meeting in the center, where a spiral staircase drops out of sight below. A large, throne-like chair stands in the middle of the eastern wing next to a big chest. Standing next to the eastern doorway and looking out at the city of Absalom in the distance is a very large troglodyte.. very obviously the leader judging by his confident stance and overbearing size (compared to the others that you have seen so far!)

As the party moves upwards and takes all of this in, the troglodyte turns and sees you. Without giving you a chance to respond, he says something to the crocodile, who lunges forward at the party.

Bold May Post
Party
Tasskar
Snapjaw

Xasay approaches the troglodyte king.

ENCORE! I generate a celestial eagle, Smite Evil and full attack a-blazin', with a DC 16 Will save to shrivel it to 20% reality.

bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

talon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Retcon: Turan casts Divine Favor prior to stepping into the throne room

Turan blessed by Erastil who steadies his hand in combating these attrocities to nature aligns an arrow and wordlessly lets fly.

Attack 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26 Damage 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

And here I was thinking we were already done...

"Of course there's a crocodile," Nikolai says as he surveys the room. He looks to Isobel, jerking a thumb at the lizard. "Focus your magics on Tasskar, I'll keep his luggage busy. And I know, don't kill it!"

Attack, PA: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Damage, nonlethal: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

"You!" She commands Balenar. "Bard something!"

kung-fu fightin' v the 'big, ugly' one: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 fists like lightnin': 1d6 ⇒ 6

As the party enters the room, Balenar begins to sing out a song telling of heroic battles and great deeds of courage. +1/+1, +1 vs fear (adjustments made to add +1/+1 to this round.)

Xasay calls forth another eagle, who flies down to smite the troglodyte. He believes in the shadow completely, and the eagle leaves a couple of nasty scores across his face from its talons.
WS: 1d20 ⇒ 10

Turan: Who was your target? Luggage or Lizard?

Nikolai adheres to Isobels wishes and clocks the croc.

Fauxish steps in and does her thing, punching the Troglodyte under the short ribs for a stunning blow.

Bold May Post
Party
Isobel
Tasskar- 16
SnapJaw- 7

Should Tasskar be at -20 hp? or perhaps -18 hp depending on the bard's timing?

The Boss man sorry...

Turans bolt lodges deep into the chest of the trog. Before he even has a chance to react to the party, you have gravely wounded him!

@Fauxish: Adding in the Bards song, Eagle 5+4+ Fauxish 7=16.. Nikolai punched the croc, and Turans shot moved the damage up to 29 for the turn. Am I missing something?

Bold May Post
Party
Isobel
Tasskar- 29
SnapJaw- 7

@Fauxish: Adding in the Bards song, Eagle 5+4+ Fauxish 7=16.. Nikolai punched the croc, and Turans shot moved the damage up to 29 for the turn. Am I missing something?

Nope. I just confused Turan's damage for the bird's and promptly made my Will save and beat it by so much I forgot it could do damage, was all.

"You are making such great progress, Nikolai!" Isobel says in response to the warrior. She looks apprehensively at the massive crocodile.

"But...this animal looks pretty scary! We might have to make an exception this time!"

She prepares her own version of a coup de gras, casting a powerful sleep spell at the lord of the troglodytes in case her companions don't finish it off.

Sleep, DC 21 Will save

Isobel begins to cast a spell to end the encounter early.

Taskar lunges forward at Fauxish, teeth and nails flying.
Claw 1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Claw 2: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
He manages to get a claw and his teeth through her defenses.
Claw 1: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Bite: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Snapjaw tries to repay Nikolai with blood. The croc gets a hold of him and begins to roll, ripping and tearing with his teeth.
Bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Grab: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Party is up, so technically Isobels spell kicks in
Tasskar WS: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
The large troglodyte succumbs to Isobels spell and falls back into his throne, fast asleep.

Bold May Post
Party
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5| Grappled, Prone
Tasskar- 29| Asleep
SnapJaw- 7

(Defensive fighting: +2 AC, -4 Atk)

(flurry defensive: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 3 - 4 = 6 damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3
(flurry defensive: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 4 = 18 damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Fauxish in rapid fire motion pummels the troglodyte chief back into his chair.

Fauxish continues to rain punishment on the sleeping troglodyte, but wakes him up in the process!

Bold May Post
Party ~except Fauxish~
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5| Grappled, Prone
Tasskar- 31
SnapJaw- 7

Fauxish continues to rain punishment on the sleeping troglodyte, but wakes him up in the process!

Bold May Post
Party ~except Fauxish~
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5| Grappled, Prone
Tasskar- 31
SnapJaw- 7

Oops didn't see that that he was asleep though I guess he was faking anyhow since he hit me twice after the spell hit. Though if he's seated and without Dex. That 6 might have hit as well.

GM DevilDoc wrote:

Fauxish continues to rain punishment on the sleeping troglodyte, but wakes him up in the process!

Bold May Post
Party ~except Fauxish~
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5| Grappled, Prone
Tasskar- 31
SnapJaw- 7

Oops didn't see that that he was asleep though I guess he was faking anyhow since he hit me twice after the spell hit. Though if he's seated and without Dex. That 6 might have hit as well.

Sleep is a full round cast, so Tasskar had one turn before his will save/ night night took effect. According to the PRD, a PC only gets a +4 to attack against a helpless creature, unless performing a Coup de Grace, which is a full round action. If I am wrong, please let me know so that I can correct this in the future.

Edit: The helpless creature also gets -5 to his AC. Your 6+4 still does not meet his Flatfooted AC -5 (FF AC16-5=11).

Turan fires an arrow at the Crocodile.

Attack1d20 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 1 = 16 Damage 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Echoing great and primordial symbolism, the ominous eagle continues its attempt to bring low the brutish reptile.

bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

talon: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

talon: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Afterward, the puppeteer works a rather alarming spell, brandishing his shadow stencil in a swift, wild motion, and suddenly the bird makes clear its true nature as a shadow puppet as it explodes into a burst of vitrified feathery darkness projecting from Xasay's stencil directly into Tasskar and Snapjaw!

My first chord of shards, ladies, gentlemen, and otherkin! the good (enough for government work) guys are conveniently spared while the bad guys get caught and must make a DC 14 Reflex save or suffer piercing damage: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3, a successful save negating all.

Turan fires his bolt at the croc and it buries deep into the animals flank.

Meanwhile, Xasay and his puppet finish off the bleeding Tasskar, and end with a massive explosion, sending shadow shards scoring across the crocodiles scales.
Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Bold May Post
Nikolai
Isobel
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5| Grappled, Prone
SnapJaw- 19

Isobel cheers as the troglodyte falls asleep.

"Oh, they are so much more pleasant when they are sleeping!" she exclaims.

"And these beasts," she adds, pointing to the crocodile, "[/b] are so much more pleasant when they are on their backs!"[/b]

She points at it and casts a grease spell to throw it off balance.

grease, DC 16 reflex

Nikolai cries out as the alligator grabs him and begins to roll, knocking him to the ground. "Godsdammit! Let go of me! I am sick and tired of being this damnable tower's chewtoy!" He sizes up the waddling lizard for a moment, and wraps one hand around the alligator's snout, smashing the elbow of his other arm into its eye. The beast's thrashing only send his elbow into its thick skull, doing little but enraging the lizard.

Finally using my Martial Flexibility! I'll pick up Improved Grapple, which ends up giving me a +2 bonus to my CMD against grapples. That's a 15 (17 + 2 IG - 4 prone) for this round. Oh, and I'm going to try to beat the crap out of this thing.

Attack (no PA, lethal): 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 1 - 4 = 5
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Naturally.

Isobel casts Grease under the crocodile, but it manages to keep its feet under it as it uses Nikolai as a chew toy.
Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Bite Dmg: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Nikolai tries to fight back, but is at an awkward angle and his strike does not connect.

Snapjaw tries to keep the deathroll rolling, but lets loose when its feet slip out from under it.
Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Bold May Post
Nikolai
Isobel
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5 | Prone
SnapJaw- 19 |prone

"Quit fooling around down there."

So, if I'm reading that right, the croc beat my CMD, and I take 12 damage, yeah? I'm unconscious. Again.

no. Originally that is what I rolled out, but I was not sure if Grease affects a grapple, so I erred towards you with the second reflex save, which failed negating any damage and releasing you. If anyone else would like to chime in on the discussion tab, I would appreciate it!

-Posted with Wayfinder

I had forgotten that Nikolai was grappled. I could have cast the grease on him to help him get out, I suppose. But my thought is that there are just two things happening at the same time: 1) the grappling and 2) the grease. I think they have to be resolved independently of each other. Both targets have the Grappled condition, but otherwise I think they are just resolved separately. Just my 2 copper.

"And shouldn't you be doing that with a greased pig?"

Bold May Post
Party
~Fauxish- 6
~Nikolai- 5 | Prone
SnapJaw- 19 |prone

Xasay skirts the grappling brutes to get around behind the crocodile, and attacks with his sword.

DC 10 Acrobatics to safely traverse grease: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

longsword, flank, Dirty Fighter: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
critical threat!: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 Well, it's grappling and prone, so that might do it....
damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
critical bonus?: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Turan lines up a shot at the squirming crocodile but it's hard to hit as it offers little area to aim at.

Attack the prone croc 1d20 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 1 - 4 = 15 Damage 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Isobel looks concerned for Nikolai as he grapples with the crocodile. She splashes a bit of acid on the creature, hoping to scare it off.

"Your master is dead...be gone!"

acid splash, ranged touch: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 151d3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

As the magical sludge coats the ground around Nikolai and the crocodile, the Varisian tough strikes at the beast's exposed midsection,

I'm taking the -4 attack penalty, but since the croc is prone and has a -4 AC penalty, it all washes out.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 1 - 4 = 15
Damage (nonlethal): 1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 1 = 9

Taps sandalled foot in mock annoyance.

Are you sure you want to pummel its midsection and not just rub 'em. You're doing nonlethal to put it to sleep after all. "Lullaby and good night...." ;)

Eh, lethal, nonlethal, it's as easy as flipping a switch for both of us. The -4 penalty is for being prone, not attacking for nonlethal. Plus, Nikolai's trying to think of his teammates here. Best to keep the magic lady on his side!

The party works together to bring down the crocodile, and its death throes look almost comical, splayed out on its back in a puddle of grease. Once the crocodile is finished, you check out the room, and using some keys you found on the troglodyte, open a chest in the corner to find:

Balenar steps forward, laughing and clapping the members of the party on their back. "Thats the ugly bastard that captured me and ordered for me to be beaten every day! HA!" he exclaims, nudging the body with his toe. "Now, No good deed goes unpunished, as they say! So, if you good gents and lady would lend me an escort back to Absalom, I will introduce you to the Pathfinder Society, and will personally vouch for anyone that wishes to gain entry. You will travel all over Golarian, doing all sorts of things for your Venture Captains, but know this.. The first song sung of your courage and exploits will be sung this very night by myself!" With a deep bow, he awaits the party by the stairs. Once the party reaches Absalom, Balenar is true to his word and not only gains you admittance to the Society, but also convinces the powers that be of your skill and expertise.. you are Pathfinders in full, not just Pathfinders-in-training!

Thank you for playing. I have greatly enjoyed this group, and hope to see you all in the future. Your chronicles can BE FOUND HERE. In addition, there is a special holiday boon for you.. just download a copy of the Ritual of Stardust for your character!

In addition, I would appreciate it if you could POP OVER HERE and tell me what you thought of your experience.

"I'm already a Pathfinder, Balenar," Nikolai says, pulling out his wayfinder as proof. "But you can do me one better. Talk with the Venture Captains. Get me an assignment that gets me off this damnable island!"

Thanks for the game, DM! :)