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."
HP 19/31 | AC 16 | T 13 | FF 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 | Ref +6 | Will +2 | Init +3 | Perception +5 | Sense Motive -1 Human (Varisian) Brawler 3
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?"
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.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 50/50|F +3, R +8, W +4 (+1 vs water/cold, +2 vs shadow, +3 vs poison, +4 vs fear/drain/death/Necr)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +6 CMD 18|25/25 Perform, 3/3 Sooth, 3/3 FWIT, 1/1 comic relief
Xasay approaches the troglodyte king.
Draconic:
"I believe it is customary to greet foreign nobility with either presentations of the fine artistic expressions of one's own people, or gifts of strange and wondrous fauna from one's own lands - so here you go, have the best of both worlds!"
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.
HP 19/31 | AC 16 | T 13 | FF 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 | Ref +6 | Will +2 | Init +3 | Perception +5 | Sense Motive -1 Human (Varisian) Brawler 3
"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!"
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.
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?
Female Human (Tian-Shu) Monk 1/Unchained Rogue 1 | hp 16 | AC 16, T 16, FF 12 | CMD 17 (19 v trip) | F +3, R +8, W +4 | Spd 30' | Init +6 | Perc +7:
actually she's Kitsune (gains low-light vision and +2 acrobatics in hybrid form) )
GM DevilDoc wrote:
@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.
Kitsune Sorcerer 3 | HP 20/20 | AC 16; Tch 12; FF 14 | F +4; R +4; W +3 | CMB-2; CMD 10 | Speed 30 ft | Init +2 | Sling: +3 (1d4-3) | Perc +4
"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.
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
Female Human (Tian-Shu) Monk 1/Unchained Rogue 1 | hp 16 | AC 16, T 16, FF 12 | CMD 17 (19 v trip) | F +3, R +8, W +4 | Spd 30' | Init +6 | Perc +7:
actually she's Kitsune (gains low-light vision and +2 acrobatics in hybrid form) )
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.
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.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 50/50|F +3, R +8, W +4 (+1 vs water/cold, +2 vs shadow, +3 vs poison, +4 vs fear/drain/death/Necr)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +6 CMD 18|25/25 Perform, 3/3 Sooth, 3/3 FWIT, 1/1 comic relief
Echoing great and primordial symbolism, the ominous eagle continues its attempt to bring low the brutish reptile.
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
HP 19/31 | AC 16 | T 13 | FF 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 | Ref +6 | Will +2 | Init +3 | Perception +5 | Sense Motive -1 Human (Varisian) Brawler 3
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.
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
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!
Kitsune Sorcerer 3 | HP 20/20 | AC 16; Tch 12; FF 14 | F +4; R +4; W +3 | CMB-2; CMD 10 | Speed 30 ft | Init +2 | Sling: +3 (1d4-3) | Perc +4
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.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 50/50|F +3, R +8, W +4 (+1 vs water/cold, +2 vs shadow, +3 vs poison, +4 vs fear/drain/death/Necr)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +6 CMD 18|25/25 Perform, 3/3 Sooth, 3/3 FWIT, 1/1 comic relief
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
Female Human (Tian-Shu) Monk 1/Unchained Rogue 1 | hp 16 | AC 16, T 16, FF 12 | CMD 17 (19 v trip) | F +3, R +8, W +4 | Spd 30' | Init +6 | Perc +7:
actually she's Kitsune (gains low-light vision and +2 acrobatics in hybrid form) )
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...." ;)
HP 19/31 | AC 16 | T 13 | FF 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 | Ref +6 | Will +2 | Init +3 | Perception +5 | Sense Motive -1 Human (Varisian) Brawler 3
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:
Treasure:
A masterwork short sword, 15 cold iron shurikens, two flasks of acid, a potion of cat’s grace, a potion of lesser restoration, a wand of summon monster I (CL 3rd, 9 charges), an amethyst worth 100 gp, and 247 gp in assorted coins.
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.
HP 19/31 | AC 16 | T 13 | FF 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 | Ref +6 | Will +2 | Init +3 | Perception +5 | Sense Motive -1 Human (Varisian) Brawler 3
"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!"
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 50/50|F +3, R +8, W +4 (+1 vs water/cold, +2 vs shadow, +3 vs poison, +4 vs fear/drain/death/Necr)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +6 CMD 18|25/25 Perform, 3/3 Sooth, 3/3 FWIT, 1/1 comic relief
It's time to play the music!
It's time to light the lights!
It's time to conjure shadow-puppet creatures of the night!
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 50/50|F +3, R +8, W +4 (+1 vs water/cold, +2 vs shadow, +3 vs poison, +4 vs fear/drain/death/Necr)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +6 CMD 18|25/25 Perform, 3/3 Sooth, 3/3 FWIT, 1/1 comic relief
Player I'm Hiding In Your Closet
Character Ṣ̄ilpin k̄hxng ngeā thī̀ xāṣ̄ạy xyū̀
PFS # 40025-12
Faction Silver Crusade
Day JobPerform (Keyboard):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
Ok, as per suggestions from prior games, just a few notes and housekeeping before we get started. Thank you for posting your player data. If everyone else could do so as well, I would appreciate it! I would have put that up last night, but Fridays are my 20hr day between work and class, so please excuse my laxness!
Second: Posting. I am in nursing school through the week, and work 16 hr days fri-sun. My posting through the week will mostly be in the afternoon/evening, after class. I will be most proliferative on the weekends, as most of my work is done on or near a computer and I am able to get on here pretty frequently. I will post a minimum of once a day, but mostly will be more than that.
Third: Combat. I will roll for initiative, and create a tracking block that will track conditions, dmg dealt, and turn order. This will be at the bottom of every one of my combat posts. If you are Highlighted, then you may post. It does not have to be in the exact order that your name is listed, just as long as you are going during that "block" of actions. Any saves, held actions, special dmg, etc should be rolled by the players. I try to keep it as close to a tabletop game as I can, barring the obvious limitations of PBP.
I do not expect this run to last overly long, despite the fact that it is labeled as a module. It is mostly dungeon crawl, but it really is not that long.
For those that have not played with me before, I am a relatively new Pathfinder GM. I still make mistakes, but am pretty good about owning my screw-ups and trying to learn from them. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. There will be a feedback form at the end, and I greatly appreciate any feedback that you are willing to give.
Lastly, HAVE FUN!! I will get the first posts up here shortly. Thank you for playing!
Edit: I was able to figure out how to sign up for GM IV thanks to some helpful posts in the Flaxseed, so this game will be reported as such and be eligible for boons.
Sorry about that, Niolai. I think when I was getting set up that I got mixed up and confused you and Turan because he wasn't on the signup list. Welcome! Your token is next to Fauxish.. and if you wish to retcon purchasing those knives, you may.
It turned out ok.. my son got a hold of some cleaning supplies at his mothers house then went to watch TV and suck his thumb leading to mild chemical burns on his lips and mouth. We are very fortunate that it was not as bad as it could have been.
Thank you. Just for everyones knowledge (I had no knowledge of this at all) we learned that cleaning products are rated on scale between Gain to Tide. Even if it is ingested, most Gain products will only give the patient diarrhea. Tide on the other hand is major bad ju-ju. Thankfully, Lysol products are closer to the Gain end of the spectrum! Score one point for being poor and cheap, and a second for having poison control on speed dial! lol
Session is reported, so don't everyone just run off and no one is allowed to die in the bbeg fight.. got it? lol. Seriously though, this will be given GD4 credit, and to the two lucky souls that won a boon, you will receive a separate email from the organizers that will have a special chronicle for your character. Tally-Ho!! Once we decide what to do with the prisoner, there is not a whole lot left.
Just as a side note, I would like to thank you guys for helping me to obtain my first GM Star. I thought I was still a table away from it, but after reporting this game yesterday, it popped up! Anyways, Thanks for contributing, and I hope that I am living up to yalls expectations.
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas holiday. If Christmas is not your thing, I wish you a very merry ______! (Yule, Kwanzaa, Festivus, etc) The point being that I wish all of you very happy memories and prosperous times!
I know that I have some pretty experience people in here and I am still a pretty fresh GM, so I have a question: How do you handle grappling in an area of Grease?
HP 19/31 | AC 16 | T 13 | FF 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 | Ref +6 | Will +2 | Init +3 | Perception +5 | Sense Motive -1 Human (Varisian) Brawler 3
It depends on how the spell was cast.
The PRD wrote:
A grease spell covers a solid surface with a layer of slippery grease. Any creature in the area when the spell is cast must make a successful Reflex save or fall. A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a DC 10 Acrobatics check. Failure means it can't move that round (and must then make a Reflex save or fall), while failure by 5 or more means it falls (see the Acrobatics skill for details). Creatures that do not move on their turn do not need to make this check and are not considered flat-footed.
The spell can also be used to create a greasy coating on an item. Material objects not in use are always affected by this spell, while an object wielded or employed by a creature requires its bearer to make a Reflex saving throw to avoid the effect. If the initial saving throw fails, the creature immediately drops the item. A saving throw must be made in each round that the creature attempts to pick up or use the greased item. A creature wearing greased armor or clothing gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks and combat maneuver checks made to escape a grapple, and to their CMD to avoid being grappled.
It depends on whether the spell was cast as an area or on an item. If it's cast on an area, then the grapple is more or less unaffected. Prone members of the grapple receive the prone condition, but I don't believe they'd lose the grappled condition.
If it's cast on an item, like Nikolai's clothes or armor, then he gets a +10 bonus to his CMD to avoid being grappled. It's a fairly useful defensive measure against grapple-focused creatures.
It looks like Isobel was trying to knock it prone, which it looks like she succeeded at doing. Which of the two rolls was the creature's combat maneuver roll? The first or the second? I assume the first, which would still beat my CMD, even after we take into account the prone penalty.
That's the way that I read it to begin with, and so I continued with the attack.. then I reread it a couple of times, and couldn't find anything saying that grappling was not affected, so I rewrote the post. I think this is where your confusion came from, nicolai, I think you saw my post in between these times. It worked out in nicolai's favor this way.. I was reluctant to do that much damage to you and not be sure that it was legit. I am very thankful for Yalls input on this.. I am still learning.. and would rather ask questions when I am not sure. GGG: do you have any input?
Ahh. Looking back, I forgot to delete the bite damage roll when I changed his CMB roll to a reflex save, and in worrying that i was making a wrong ruling, things got all out of order on my post. Going with my ruling that grease does apply, you take no damage.. the damage roll should have been removed, and the croc is prone.
Thank you for your input. Things will stand as-is.. and this will be a learning experience for me! The croc slipped while trying to roll, and lost the CMB. Nikolai takes no damage this round, but both are prone.
This is why I like recruiting from the Flaxseed.. I have not had an issue with any players picked up from there, and for the most part, everyone is pretty cool with the mistakes that I have made. That makes learning to GM so much better of an experience. BTW, I will be posting a feedback form.. your responses are anonymous.. but should you have any suggestions/tips/tricks/criticisms, feel free to voice them either here or on the sheet.
