Motteditor's Strange Aeons PBP

Game Master motteditor

If it makes you feel better, Lothan, you actually hit twice.

With Tristain acting as normally as he can, the group takes a moment to recover and protect itself. Lothan manages to feather the elder thing twice, and it throws a few more bombs -- burning Starflit ever so slightly 4 hp after resistance before you all gang up on it. Once you're able to see it, it provides little more threat and you're able to hack it to pieces.

Combat over. Might've lasted another round or two, but Al's spell made it pretty elementary, even with it switching to another damage type.

”Well that was tough!” Kyffin chuckles as he ended the combat fully healed.

I have a lot of ways to heal folks… please let me know how wounded you are (hp down) and I’ll top you up.

Kyffin moves through the crowd healing here and there as needed. When it’s done, he smiles at the group. ”Shall we press on then? I still have some juice, though I know we’re all getting weaker in here as tough as it is.”

If it makes you feel better, Lothan, you actually hit twice.

Yay!!! Lol! Heck yeah! It totally does. Especially, after all those single digit, crappy rolls. :D

”Well that was tough!” Kyffin chuckles as he ended the combat fully healed.

I have a lot of ways to heal folks… please let me know how wounded you are (hp down) and I’ll top you up.

Kyffin moves through the crowd healing here and there as needed. When it’s done, he smiles at the group. ”Shall we press on then? I still have...

Giving a real tough-looking *sniff*, "Meh. It wasn't too tough. I knew I could handle these freak shows." His eyes move from one group member to the others before, "I mean 'we'. And I'm ready to move on. I'm good. Although, I guess I could use a bit of healing. Or a lot. You know, whatever." He shrugs, internally hoping he uses the healing wand one hundred thousand times on him because he got tore up pretty good from those stupid bombs.

Hp's 40/142; I'm down 100. Lol! Lothan could PROBABLY use about a million hits from the wand. ;P

Tristain continues to act weirdly: babbling incoherently about sugarlips and the like, lashing out at himself, and others, and generally not doing the normal thing of bonking his head into the wall. He will need healing when the effect ends.

1d8 ⇒ 6 damage
1d8 ⇒ 8 damage

Looks like 57+14=81 damage.

16 charges. Oof.

"I'm sorry, Kyffin. I don't know what came over me. I felt like such an a&#%!@~," Tristain apologizes as he goes to bonk his head against a wall.

Kyffin starts healing Lothan. He starts with two fast healings (60hp), and adds a Cure Serious of his own.
CSW: 3d8 + 15 ⇒ (7, 8, 6) + 15 = 36

Down just 4hp, he leaves it at that.

He turns to poor Tristain, and gives him one fast healing (30hp) and casts three cure moderates.
CMW: 6d8 + 30 ⇒ (5, 2, 8, 1, 2, 1) + 30 = 49

That leaves him down 2hp, which should be OK. "Oh, don't worry about it. They were powerful foes, and you healed me when I needed it. It's all square."

"Anyone else need any?" he looks to Al and Starflit, though he's getting into wand territory.

"Yeah, I could use a bit of healing." Al uses a few charges to heal his remaining wounds.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

HP: 108/109

"Let's be extra careful as we continue exploring. There's no telling what traps or creatures are still hiding in here."

Thanks! That's perfect.

Popping his neck from one side to the other, "Appreciate that, big guy. Okay, let's get this show on the road. And like the old man said, let's be careful around this place. We can't just be walking into bomb traps all day. Bomb traps suck and nobody likes them." Lothan takes the lead when they decide to move out, keeping an eye open for every single trap known to Golarion.

Perception: 1d20 + 33 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 33 + 7 = 58 +7 is trapfinding I can see EVERYTHING. ;D

Starflit heals herself multiple times, still looking a bit ragged when she's done. Her Goth Moth mask and wig combo has been pretty much destroyed by all the firebombs, so she rips off its remnants and prepares to go it the rest of the way unmasked. With her plain, simple face, the inquisitor of the Black Butterfly no longer looks intimidating in the least. Giving a wan smile, she offers, "Well, at least I don't look as weird as I did before...."

Starflit cure serious wounds (self): 3d8 + 15 ⇒ (7, 7, 7) + 15 = 36

Starflit cure serious wounds (self): 3d8 + 15 ⇒ (5, 7, 3) + 15 = 30

Starflit cure moderate wounds (self): 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (2, 7) + 10 = 19

Satisfied everyone is at least mostly healed, Kyffin searches the bodies for loot before heading on.

Starlit casts detect magic and aids Kyffin in his search.

Starflit heals herself multiple times, still looking a bit ragged when she's done. Her Goth Moth mask and wig combo has been pretty much destroyed by all the firebombs, so she rips off its remnants and prepares to go it the rest of the way unmasked. With her plain, simple face, the inquisitor of the Black Butterfly no longer looks intimidating in the least. Giving a wan smile, she offers, "Well, at least I don't look as weird as I did before...."

Raising an eyebrow and sporting an incredulous look, "Weird? No way, not you, Butterfly. You're gorgeous, gorgeous, and don't let anyone else tell you different. You can trust ol' Lothan. He won't steer you wrong." He winks, grinning slyly. "And don't think I've forgotten about our dinner date once we're done with all this. Just like you promised." He points and nods emphatically before quickly returning to scouting for traps, wondering...

Maybe? Maybe? Gotta be because Lothan, my friend, you are as smooth as glass. Oh yeah! Man, you should write a book. He ponders that, thinking that idea is pretty dang good.

Tristain is very glad, yet again, that he is not a telepath and lacks the ability to read the thoughts of others. The currently reality is scary enough without adding the thoughts of someone without a third brain cell to wonder how stupid the first two were.

Sigh. Good think my thoughts are normal.

While others search, he will bonk his head against a wall.

*bonk!*
*bonk!*
*bonk!*
*bonk!*

*bonk!*
*bonk!*
*bonk!*
*bonk!*

The elder things each have a cloak of resistance +2, and scarlet and blue sphere ioun stone (Intimidate), plus alchemist formula books. They also have five more number chips between them (1, 3, 5, 9, and 10). The mutate had nothing on it.

You are fortunately able to explore the rest of the lab safely.
A small worktable covered with alchemical equipment occupies the eastern corner of the high-ceilinged, five-sided room you enter next. The bottom of a steep ramp begins at the western edge of the room, constructed from the same cold marble as the rest of the building. A five-sided corridor disappears into darkness to the northwest.

PCs who search or take a quick inventory of the materials discover a strange “notebook” made of several thin, gold plates engraved in Aklo. PCs with at least 5 ranks in Craft (alchemy) or who succeed at a DC 20 Knowledge (arcana) check determine the notebook contains research into creating cognatogens that could be administered to creatures other than an alchemist. The research conclusions are illegible, however, as the final plates have been melted, likely through the application of some great heat source.

The next room has a ten-foot-by-five-foot block of greenish black marble at the north end of the pentagon-shaped chamber. A large section of the top of the block has been cut away and lined with a strange steel alloy to form a basin or pool. A scent like a mixture of lavender and ozone lingers in the air. The walls and floor are smooth stone here as elsewhere, but also remarkably clean.

That brings you to the final area of the lab:
A level corridor runs south from the first central area and terminates in a dead end, but careful examination of the south wall reveals a hair-thin outline that suggests it is separate from the corridor, but there is no physical mechanism to move it.

A pentagon is engraved plainly on the surface of the door with a sigil in its center. At each exterior point of the pentagon and at the middle of each straight line is a small five-sided indentation, as if designed to accept some object inserted in each of the 10 slots. See the combat map for a handout

Translated from Aklo, the symbol in the pentagon’s center is the number 19. You think this is likely a mathematical puzzle.

I'll give you a chance to decipher it, but holler if this isn't fun. You can also just attempt a DC 18 Intelligence check to solve it, or try to come up with some other solution.

"Oh, a math puzzle." Kyffin begins slowly, "Not my strong suit really."

"Tristain, you're the smart one, can you figure it out?"

Intelligence Check: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (19) + 0 = 19 vs DC 18

LOL! I think I want to wait to see if Tristain has a clue, or someone else, before Kyffin blurts out his lucky idea.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

"Math? I like math. Let me see if I can figure this crazy thing out." After studying it for a moment, Lothan shrugs. "Yeah, I got nothing."

I got nothing. I've no idea. I'd need more clues. I like puzzles, but I am NOT very good at them. :P

Starflit moves up to the pentagon door and stands there, hands on her hips, examining it. Well, if you add the 3 numbers on each side of the pentagon's five sides, you get 19--th number in the middle. And you could exchange the positioning in certain ways to keep the total at 19, so long as you keep the 'corner' numbers' and 'middle numbers' consistent. Hmmm...."

Turning to Lothan, she asked, "Did we find all ten numbered chips? If not, which ones are we still missing?"

'Flit could also use ears of the city to try to gain a clue or two. I'll make her rolls in a spoiler below, just in case we opt to go this route--as I'll be busy later today and may not post again.

"Tristain, you're the smart one, can you figure it out?"

Tristain pauses his bonking to look at Kyffin. "Yes? Sure? Maybe? I'll give it a look."

Tristain gives it a looksee.

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 Int check

"Maybe we need to put the prime numbers in line in accordance with Gustav's Theory of Feline Reality, maximizing the radial entries with diametrical opposites?" Tristain suggests.

Kyffin is able to figure it out: This is a mathematical puzzle that emphasizes the elder things’ preference for odd numbers, especially 5. The stone door slides up into the wall when all the number chips are placed in the slots such that the three numbers on every straight line equal 19. LOL; the handout I copied actually had the solution. Whoops...

A familiar-looking column stands in the southern point of this room. Two metal objects stand on either side of the stela, mounted on a metal apparatus to hold them in place. The objects are long, thin, rectangular sheets of silver metal that are curved to a semicircle, resembling a tube cut lengthwise, and they cup the stela from a few feet on either side. Cables run from the objects and snake upward, disappearing into the stone wall. Blinking lights and a series of changing symbols emanate from directly inside the stone wall. A soft hum fills the room.

A pentagonal section of stone can be found on the southwest wall. It is approximately shoulder height and the size of a human palm. When pressed, it causes the southeast wall to slide away to reveal a small compartment with a strange container: a chest-sized box made of an unusual silvery metal that resembles chrome-plated steel. The locking mechanism is a combination lock with five dials with numbers written
on them in the Elder Thing language.

Turning to Lothan, she asked, "Did we find all ten numbered chips? If not, which ones are we still missing?"

Nodding, "Yep. We got 'em all."

"Maybe we need to put the prime numbers in line in accordance with Gustav's Theory of Feline Reality, maximizing the radial entries with diametrical opposites?" Tristain suggests.

Staring annoyingly at Tristain, "Seriously? You know, I think he just made all that crap up. I don't think any of that means anything." He shakes his head, choosing not to believe it. Mainly because he didn't understand a single word of it.

LOL; the handout I copied actually had the solution. Whoops...

Are you freaking kidding me?! Lol! Of course you did! What better way to hide an answer? Right in front of everyone's eyes. Ugh. And here I am, looking for "What's the point of the numbers?" Lol! I make things more difficult than they appear to really be, that's MY special ability. And I can do that AT WILL by the way. ;P

A pentagonal section of stone can be found on the southwest wall. It is approximately shoulder height and the size of a human palm. When pressed, it causes the southeast wall to slide away to reveal a small compartment with a strange container: a chest-sized box made of an unusual silvery metal that resembles chrome-plated steel. The locking mechanism is a combination lock with five dials with numbers written on them in the Elder Thing language.

Catching sight of the fancy-looking container, Lothan's interest is piqued. "Well, well, well, what have we here, hm? This looks like an interesting challenge." Pulling out his tools, Lothan pops his neck on one side and then the other before getting to work.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 37 ⇒ (7) + 37 = 44

It isn't long after that the little lock pops. "Um... okay. Not near the challenge I thought. I guess ol' Lothan is just too stinking good. Don't applaud, people, just throw coin." He grins wryly.

Starflit talks through some theories about how all the weird equipment in this area might function. She sincerely hopes his brain has returned from its weird excursion into mathematics and Feline Reality theory.

I'll have 'Flit use the Aid Another action to help Tristain with a Knowledge (arcana) check; I'd need to roll a 15+ for her to hit the DC herself, and I don't think the Dice Roller likes me that much.

"You know, I think he just made all that crap up."

Tristain looks at Lothan.

How did he know that? There could be a rule about Feline Reality.

Tristain chooses *not* to focus on the idea that Lothan might be able to read his mind, and also, might be really smart, and returns to the tasks at hand.

1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 27 + 2 = 43 Know (Arcana)

Feel free to read spoiler.

His task done, he steps WELL back to let Lothan do his job as he waits for the inevitable explosion or swearing or 'OMGThisVampireIsEatingMyFace'.

Surprised when that doesn't come up, he will move to identify the items within.

"Wow, this is one hot rod," he says, holding up the Rod of Lordly Might. "But it's too heavy for me to use correctly, but man, if I could." He will offer the rod around.

Following the rules of feline reality, Al steps way back from the power collecting stela before it gets disabled by someone with more curiosity. "That thing looks dangerous, be careful with it."

Al will pass on the rod of lordly low DCs