Myrial, City of Rogues (Inactive)

Game Master Rynjin

Lets wait then.

Around noon, Chimon heads to his merchants' guild to pray.

Do you purchase any supplies or make other preparations before I move on?

Is there some consumable that let you fully damage incorporeals?

Ghost Salt, though it's like 40 gp a pop and only works for one hit.

If you have a good UMD you could get a scroll of Ghostbane Dirge...or Chimon could prepare it.

Hey, I started a new job today, so everything in a bit of rush and my schedule is kinda off... I might not be able to post as much as I'd like for the next few days. Still, I'll try to check my campaigns everyday.

Swapping remove paralysis for ghostbane dirge in the preparation above, then. I never knew it was a cleric spell . . .

Upon returning to Leech Street, Chimon heals his face with a spell and makes his bed. "Wake me if I am thrashing, or if the creature arrives. There should be a loud sound when it does so," he tells Talryn and Korak.

Sleeping eight hours to avoid fatigue. Eight hours, or until something happens . . .

Chimon sleeps that night untroubled by nightmares, though he does find he can have some fun with his newfound ability to control his dreaming state however he wished.

The next day likewise passes uneventfully.

The night after that, however, around midnight, danger comes knocking again.

You hear a shambling outside in the courtyard, and screams coming from inside the area with the other members of the drug ring.

"Boss, stop, what are you doing!?!?"

The sound of crashing can be heard, as combat ensues in earnest.

"Where is Chimon Jivauran?" rasps a familiar voice, managing to make itself heard over the din.

Chimon presses a hand to his heart, whispering, and a shimmering golden field briefly flashes around his body. He then jumps out of bed and runs to the door. "I am here, foul being!"

Shield of faith lasts 6 minutes.

I try to cast fly, shield and invisibility, in that order.

The first thing Chimon notices when he runs out the door is that there is a large, clearly undead creature standing in the courtyard just outside of the other building's door.

The second thing is a slimmer figure floating above everything. His eyes lock on to Chimon when he announces himself, and he smiles.

He looks surprisingly normal, all things considered. He's a human, dressed in fine robes, though the sickly yellow glow to his eyes, and the wisps of shadow dancing around him belie his true unearthly nature.

"How noble of you to show yourself." the shade says.

I try to cast fly, shield and invisibility, in that order.

We'll say you can get Fly and Shield off before Initiative, but you'll need a round of combat to get Invisibility up.

We'll consider this to have been round 1. Talryn has an action, and Jo cast Shield.

Kn(Religion): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 (Shadow)
Kn(Religion/Plane/Nature): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 (things)

I believe I've hinted at or outright said that the "shade" isn't an undead at all a few times now, but I'll say it again: He is NOT undead, or undead related. He does, however, seem to be able to make the,m, implying he's a caster of some sort.

The "thing" however:

This hulking creature is a Necrocraft, the equivalent of an undead Construct or Animated Object. This one is of Large size, and comprised of many different corpses.

Based on its musculature, it seems to be incredibly strong, though not very nimble. It has large hands, ending in wicked looking claws attached to long and slender fingers (though they look powerful, like a python). If you had to hazard a guess, you would say it likes to grab creatures and squeeze the life out of them before biting into them with its massive jaws and razor sharp teeth.

The only thing you can tell about the Shade is that it is in some way connected to the Plane of Shadow as well as the realm of Dreams.

I believe I've hinted at or outright said that the "shade" isn't an undead at all a few times now, but I'll say it again: He is NOT undead, or undead related. He does, however, seem to be able to make the,m, implying he's a caster of some sort.

Ah, I misread your last post. I thought the shade thing was the "clearly undead" creature.

Korak looks for signs of illusions.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29
Will: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Korak perceives no illusions.

"The coward shows himself. It's not surprising to see him so attached to shadows. No wonder we couldn't find him. We can't be bothered to sift among the wretches in the dark." Talryn blatantly insults the assailant before throwing himself through the air at the man.

Chargin him.

Shield Charge: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Damage: 1d8 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20

If the assailant is flying alongside the nearby buildings and not above them, Shield Slam as well if I can knock him into a building, if not I won't bother.

Bull Rush: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28

My apologies for the lack of posting. Between Valentine's Day and getting into a car accident 2 days ago, my life has been hectic.

Jo draws a scrolls and try to control one of those horrible creature. Command undead, Not sure what ist he DC

Ouch, sorry to hear about that. My mom totaled her car last week, so it's goin' around apparently.

Talryn hits the shade...and passes right through him. The illusion disappears.

Sorry Korak. I just didn't think you looking at it from afar counted as "studying it carefully", and you didn't interact with it either, so no save.

The large lumbering undead moves in and slams at one of the nearby landbound creatures.

1d2 ⇒ 2

2d8 ⇒ (8, 7) = 15
1d20 ⇒ 19

1d6 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Grab: 1d20 ⇒ 2

The creature slams Korak, hard, but fails to grapple him.

Korak, take 8 damage before DR.

The REAL shade steps out from the chimney of one of the nearby buildings, 40 feet away from Talryn. Or, at least, 6 of him do.

"So, one of you can fly? That won't do."

He holds out his hand and imbues his voice with one of command.

"Sleep."

Talryn Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Talryn falls asleep.

"Come join the fun, my friends!" he cries.

Out from the main house step a skeletal figure with a fiery light in its eyes, tatters of flesh hanging from its bones, and a child-like translucent human shaped creature with robes tied up at its waist. Its face shows no emotion whatsoever.

2d20 ⇒ (13, 7) = 20

Korak recognizes them as a Crypt Thing and a Bogeyman respectively.

The former is a teleporting creature who can send those around him to random places, who has damage reduction against any weapon not blunt or magical.

The second is more of an enigma, but its main danger is that any creature within 60 feet of it has a chance of being paralyzed by fright. It is also clearly incorporeal.

The Crypt Thing places its hand on the shoulder of the Bogeyman (or inside of it, anyway), and disappears from sight, reappearing near Korak, Chimon, Jo, an the Necrocraft.

1d100 ⇒ 23

The Bogeyman does not follow, to the Crypt Thing's obvious annoyance.

It shrugs, and unleashes a burst of energy.

3d20 ⇒ (14, 18, 3) = 35

1d20 ⇒ 9

2d8 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4

2d10 ⇒ (9, 5) = 14

Korak is teleported inside of a shop, just inside the window. Outside he can see the street you normally take to reach teh compound. He appears to be about 900 feet away.

The Necrocraft disappears from Chimon and Jo's sight as well.

"You idiot!" screeches the shade.

"You're supposed to send THEM away, not our allies, you cut rate corpse!"

The Crypt Thing smirks slightly but wipes it from its face quickly enough.

Korak, Chimon, and Talryn are up.

It would take one turn to activate the wand of sleep

"(If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.)"

And...I'm not sure to undestand what happened... Did the necracraft saved agasint command undead?

It's not a wand, it's an SLA. I actualy did't realize Sleep had a casting time of one round though. Had I known that, his action would have changed slightly.

The shade cast Hold Person instead, so Talryn is instead Paralyzed and can make a check to free himself this round if he chooses.

And...I'm not sure to undestand what happened... Did the necracraft saved agasint command undead?

That hasn't happened yet. You spent the furst round casting Shield, remember?

you said that was before innitaitive. ANd what the burst of energy did?

I ammended that to say you cast Shield that turn. You didn't even have one round's warning, much less two.

The energy teleported them away. To where, Jo does not know.

"Abadar, protect us!" Chimon shouts, holding a golden key above his head. A translucent wave of fine white vapor passes over the group and their enemies, making all allies but Korak stronger and all foes but the lumbering undead weaker. He slides his blue-silver shield onto his arm and straps it on.

Spell resistance if applicable (assume they're rolled in order of decreasing CR): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Round 2: Cast prayer (standard action) and strap on shield (move action). Shield of faith lasts 59 rounds and prayer lasts 6 rounds.

So, Jo, did you want to amend that action, or change it entirely? The Necrocraft is gone as well.

Wait... Don't I get a save against the teleport?

Sorry Korak. I just didn't think you looking at it from afar counted as "studying it carefully", and you didn't interact with it either, so no save.

Also... How is specifically taking the time to look for Illusions neither studying it nor interacting with it? "Interact" doesn't mean "touch". I mean... It wasn't even a passive check. I'm pretty sure if you suspect something is an illusion and specifically look for signs of it being an illusion, that counts as interacting, or at very least, studying it.

You did. Chimon and Jo got a 14 and an 18 respectively. You rolled a 3, and the Necrocraft rolled a 9, so you both failed. Funnily enough you STILL only failed by 2.

As for the second, interact means "act in such a way as to have an effect on another; act reciprocally.". You looking at it doesn't have an effect on it, nor does it have an effect on you. And illusions are kinda wonky...I lean towards illusions actually being useful. If one of you casts Major Image and sends it strolling down the street as a decoy, I don't think it should be automatically foiled by a guard looking at you for a second to see if you're disguised or something.

Well it's not automatically foiled, as IIRC the guard would still have to make her Will save.

Talryn struggles against the magic!

Will Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Well thats rough.

Don't forget prayer!

Talryn struggles mightily, but fails to break free.

Oh no.

Wiating on Jo's action, since it could be significant.

Count down to Talryn getting his throat cut. I'd like to take this time to remind those at home that it takes a full round action.

I agree with Rynkin on the Illusion/interaction thing

And...I not sure if jo is seeing any enemy or not

There is a Crypt Thing (adjacent), a Bogeyman (70 feet away) and the Shade (50 feet away, flying). The Necrocraft was teleported away by the Crypt Thing.

Jo 5 ft diagonal back and up and cast create pit, DC 17 (assuming I can place it so only the cryp thing get caught in its area of effect)

If not, then I draw the scroll of command undead and cast it on the cryp thing, not sure the DC

The guard wouldn't automatically detect by just looking at me (a passive Perception check) but if he took his time to specifically focus his attention on me (an active check) and were specifically looking for an illusion, he would have the chance of making that Will save. I'm kinda annoyed with this one because I was actually smart enough to remember to look for illusions, rolled for it while specifying that I was looking for illusions (not just looking fpr "anything suspicious", but illusions, specifically). So... What do I have to do? Spend 10 minutes staring at anything I suspect is an illusion just to have the chance of making a Will save?

Another thing... I know it's the same chance of success, but it's really freaking frustrating when I don't get to roll my own saves. It means I have zero input on the outcome. It feels barely any better thab if you simply said "you are affected. period." In fact, that's probably the reason why saves are an active defense, unlike AC. Saves are really important and deadly, if they are going to screw me, I want to at least roll the die myself.

Jo creates a pit under the creature's feet.

1d20 ⇒ 20

It catches its balance easily enough.

The Shade raises his hands in the air and cackles madly. A hellish landscape forms before you, grass turning into flames, and the ground becoming cracked and scorched.

2d20 ⇒ (12, 12) = 24

However, it is quickly revealed as a cheap illusion, an image made to scare you and make you more vulnerable to what comes next.

The Bogeyman drifts closer, slowly, inexorably closing in on you.

3d20 ⇒ (14, 13, 5) = 32

1d2 ⇒ 2

1d20 ⇒ 1

Chimon and Jo are left fine, but Talryn and, ironically, the Shade are left frozen in fear as he fails to avert his eyes in time..

1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Talryn, even if you bust out of Hold Person you are still Paralyzed for 3 rounds, however if you break HP, you are no longer helpless.

In case it's not clear, the Shade has no magical control over the Crypt thing and the Bogeyman, and while they won't outright turn on him, they're not above "accidentally" catching him or his allies in the radius of their harmful abilities. This could be used to your advantage. Y'all are up!

The guard wouldn't automatically detect by just looking at me (a passive Perception check) but if he took his time to specifically focus his attention on me (an active check) and were specifically looking for an illusion, he would have the chance of making that Will save. I'm kinda annoyed with this one because I was actually smart enough to remember to look for illusions, rolled for it while specifying that I was looking for illusions (not just looking fpr "anything suspicious", but illusions, specifically). So... What do I have to do? Spend 10 minutes staring at anything I suspect is an illusion just to have the chance of making a Will save?

Another thing... I know it's the same chance of success, but it's really freaking frustrating when I don't get to roll my own saves. It means I have zero input on the outcome. It feels barely any better thab if you simply said "you are affected. period." In fact, that's probably the reason why saves are an active defense, unlike AC. Saves are really important and deadly, if they are going to screw me, I want to at least roll the die myself.

The problem is that it's also one of the big reasons this game moves SO much slower than my other 3 games. Most of you guys post sporadically at best anyway, having to wait for all 4 of you to roll a save every time an ability is used slows the pace from "kinda slow" to "glacial". Do you have a better solution?

As for the illusion thing, what does everybody else think? I'll let my decision stand for this combat (since I'd have to roll back EVERYTHING up to this point), but for the future, how difficult to bust do you want illusions to be?

Identifying an illusion in place is under the jurisdiction of Kn.Arcana ala identifying a spell effect in place.

I don't mind about the saves thing. Also I think you rolled a 1d2 on your last post. And Paralyzed makes me helpless anyways so Im pretty boned.

I post whenever there is something for Korak to do. I try to be proactive but sometimes I just can't think of anything to post other than "I keep listening/following <whatever character>."

And I don't think you need Kn(Arcana) to detect an illusion. That's just to odentify the spell being used to create it. Just like you don't need Kn(Arcana) to detect the flames created by a Wall of Fire spell.

In any case... Korak walks towards wherever everyone is.

Does the shade seem to be made of mist/dust/smoke, or is it out of phase with reality/composed of pure shadow? Basically, does Chimon think wind wall would work on it now?

Chimon clenches his fist, drawing a glowing blue eel-like creature into being around his arm. "Stay still. I command it," he says, stepping forward and wrapping the phantasmal serpent around the crypt thing's neck.

Melee touch (prayer): 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 8 + 1 = 11
Caster Level vs. SR?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
DC 18 Will or "each turn, the target has a 50% chance to act normally; otherwise, it takes no action."

Round 2: Cast bestow curse (standard action) and five-foot step (no action). Shield of faith lasts 58 rounds and prayer lasts 5 rounds.

The shade looks like a solid creature. Not even Incorporeal, actually.

Chimon tries to slap the Crypt Thing with a spell, but misses.

Korak can Run and arrive back at the group in 9 rounds.

Just need Jo's action for this round.

I fly higher (15 ft up) and cast hideous laughter on the shade DC 21.

1d20 ⇒ 9

The creature does not appear to be affected, though barely.

Talryn Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Talryn remains Paralyzed.

The shade doesn't move, as he is also Paralzyed.

The Crypt Thing, out of tricks, attacks Chimon with his claws.

2d20 ⇒ (11, 20) = 31

1d20 ⇒ 9

1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

I need to start giving massive to-hit boosts to creatures because everybody but Jo is edging into "Things of roughly equal CR only hit on a 20" territory. This thing needs a 16 to hit Korak and Talryn, and a 20 to hit Chimon. I'm thinking I made a mistake putting something in that makes this encounter easier by not making the creatures take care with their abilities, since nothing else is aparticular threat. =/

Chimon takes 5 damage.

The Bogeyman, meanwhile attacks his mind instead of his body. Chimon begins to become paranoid, seeing every move Jo makes as an action against him.

Chimon Will: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

But the feeling passes.

You guys are up again.

Create pit on the shade...If he is paralyzed I guess there is no ref save right...right?, DC 17 otherwise

A pit requires a solid surface.

There is no post saying the shade is flying

MM the shade: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 2, 3) + 4 = 12