[Outpost I] GM Abraham's Ancients' Anguish (Inactive)

Game Master Abraham Z.

Now invisible, Shel moves forward to use her sneak attack against the unsuspecting scorpion folk.

Attack with Haste, Invisible, target denied Dex bonus 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 14 + 1 + 2 = 34
Damage 1d3 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 plus
Sneak attack 4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3, 6) = 17

After making her attack the little halfling appears, again visible to all.

Would someone advance me to the remaining beastie, please?

Combat Round 7 - The Bold May Act!!!

Anahita (red) - 183 dmg; 17 non-lethal dmg; bow is dropped at her feet; grappled.
Ardashir (blue) - 163 dmg; 30 non-lethal dmg; 3 negative levels; unconscious, prone, stable.
Enora - 0 dmg; haste (expires round 8)
Ali - 40 dmg; haste (expires round 8); grappled; Fort save needed
Sajan - 60 dmg; 18 Dex dmg; prone; unconscious & stable; haste (expires round 8);
Shel - 0 dmg; haste (expires round 8); invisible.
Sard - 0 dmg;
Chasik - 0 dmg;
Conditions: 30' Pit (expires round 11)

The invisible rogue sneaks up on brave Anahita and, finally, lays her low. With a groan she sinks to her knees and then collapses entirely at the feet of the now visible Shel.

Combat is Over! Pathfinders are victorious!

Yet, just as the group is catching their breath and celebrating their hard fought victory, a groan escapes poor Sajan's lips, as he sinks further into unconsciousness, now no longer moving at all. The poison has finally finished working its way through his system, but at a grievous cost!

Dex dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 4 Ouch!!!

Ali, I still need a Fort save from you

Chasik grabs a potion from his bandolier and administers it to his fallen ally.

pot CSW Sajan: 3d8 + 5 ⇒ (2, 3, 5) + 5 = 15

Although Sajan's wounds are healed significantly by Chasik's potion, he remains unconscious.

Poor Sajan, someone teleport him back to Absalom lol

Poor Sajan, someone teleport him back to Absalom lol

Yeah, not looking too good. Let's see if there's anything your party members can do for you...

In addition to the items in Ardashir's possession already mentioned before (listed again here for your convenience), Anahita also has the following: (I think that taking 10 on Spellcraft will let you identify all of these items, so just giving them to you to move things along)

Ardashir:
2 potions of Cure Moderate
2 potions of Lesser Restoration
+1 hide armor
+1 greatclub
4 ordinary throwing axes
amulet of mighty fists +1
cloak of resistance +1
mwk artisan's tools

Anahita:
2 potions of cure serious
1 potion of haste
3 potions of invisibility
2 alchemist's fire
3 antitoxin
5 smokesticks
3 thunderstones
ordinary studded leather armor
+1 spear
+1 composite shortbow
amulet of natural armor +2
belt of dex +2
2 elixirs of hiding
portable alchemist's lab
5 tindertwigs
a key

Seeing that the CSW potion didn't seem to fix him, Sard grabs one of those potions of Lesser Restoration and dumps it down Sajan's throat.

Lesser Restoration: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Sajan remains unconscious. He currently has 45 points of hp damage and 17 points of Dex damage (with baseline of 59 hp and 16 dex).

Ali has 40 points of hp damage and possible Dex dmg, depending on his Fort save.

Since you can't reduce a score below zero, I don't think I can have 17 points of dex damage, it just stops at 16, meaning I should be at 1 dex currently.

Unless one of you has a means of casting Restoration (at a quick glance, I don't think so), I believe your best options for healing Sajan are: a) take him to the small town that you passed two days ago and see if someone there can heal him (Prestige cost: 7) or b) travel all the way back to Katapesh, where you could find a spellcaster who could do it for 2 prestige (or 380 gold). Of course you have no way to know what, if any, consequences there may be - in-scenario - for this delay.

Since you can't reduce a score below zero, I don't think I can have 17 points of dex damage, it just stops at 16, meaning I should be at 1 dex currently.

That's what I thought too, but when I looked it up in the CRB I was surprised to see that it says "If the amount of ability damage you have taken equals or exceeds your ability score, you immediately fall unconscious until the damage is less than your ability score." (p. 555, emphasis mine)

In practice, I'm not sure it matters. With the amount of damage you've taken, unless someone has an option that I haven't noticed, it seems like you need either a restoration spell or an extensive rest.

Tafhat wrote:

Since you can't reduce a score below zero, I don't think I can have 17 points of dex damage, it just stops at 16, meaning I should be at 1 dex currently.

That's what I thought too, but when I looked it up in the CRB I was surprised to see that it says "If the amount of ability damage you have taken equals or exceeds your ability score, you immediately fall unconscious until the damage is less than your ability score." (p. 555, emphasis mine)

In practice, I'm not sure it matters. With the amount of damage you've taken, unless someone has an option that I haven't noticed, it seems like you need either a restoration spell or an extensive rest.

It appears you are correct, sorry. You guys are free to leave me behind if you'd like.

If no one objects, Shel grabs several of the items. An antitoxin, a CSW potion, an Exilir of hiding, the potion of haste, and a potion of invisibility tomreplace the one she just used. ”Anyone object? This is going to be almost impossible down one man, so we need to use everything we have.”

Not to mention playing up...

I feel like that antitoxin is a cruel joke by paizo T_T

I feel like that antitoxin is a cruel joke by paizo T_T

Not necessarily - someone could easily still be suffering from poison when the fight ends. For example, if Ali fails his save now, he'll be poisoned but the antitoxin could help him avoid the same as what happened to you (which I've never seen before, though I played one scenario where a player took so much con damage from poison that he had 1 left when the poison finally ran out and we were all sweating like mad when that final d4 was rolled (since going to 0 on con damage outright kills you).

In the current situation, my ooc suggestion, in the interest of y'all having fun, is for you to haul Sajan's paralyzed self back to Katapesh, get him restored to full health, pick up any other supplies you may need, and come back. These ruins have stood here for thousands of years - they're not going anywhere...

Fine by me. I have a good chunk of PP I’d donate to the cause, assuming that is allowed. I don’t remember, to be honest.

Fine by me. I have a good chunk of PP I’d donate to the cause, assuming that is allowed. I don’t remember, to be honest.

Pretty sure that you are not allowed to spend prestige for other PCs, but the gold cost for a casting of restoration isn't high (380 gp); you just have to go back to a big city to have it done (it's a level 4 spell - not available out here in the hinterlands). That said, I'm fine with hand-waving it all in the interest of moving us along. I won't even send another storm after you on your return journey! Or have a fresh contingent of girtablilu guards waiting for you when you get back! :-)

So if you are all amenable, we'll say that you carry Sajan's body back to Katapesh, where you are roundly scolded by Venture Captain Roderus, who grumbles about how back in his day one never left home without a scroll of restoration in one's back pocket; when he hears that the whole thing happened as a result of Yanndu's grandstanding, he shakes his head and utters a few choice phrases in an unknown dialect. Nevertheless, he helps you to procure a friendly cleric who casts Restoration on Sajan, fully restoring all of his ability damage, for the friendly cost of 380 gp, or 64 gp each if you are amenable to splitting the cost (I'll note it on your chronicle sheets). I'll let you all sort out the healing of Sajan's and Ali's remaining hp damage, and of course we still have to resolve whether or not Ali is poisoned before moving on. Also, what are you doing with your girtablilu foes, who are unconscious but not dead?

Shel is happy to kick in her portion to get the restoration done. Shel doesn’t feel great about it, but she will vote to finish off the scorpions, since she knows the mission will be wrecked if they heal up.

Normally I'd suggest selling Sajan's gear to cover the cost, but I believe I can only do that when a condition would carry over to my PC that would render him "unplayable". Ability score damage, however, I don't think counts. That being said, Sajan does have 47g on him.

Sard is happy to pay a share of the restoration.

Ali can give you a single Lesser Restoration too via Bracers of the Merciful Knight

Lay on Hands + Lesser Restoration : 7d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (3, 4, 1, 4, 6, 6, 6) + (4) = 34

Fort Save vs Poison: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

After receiving the resotoring burst that Ali gives to Sajan, he slowly tries to stretch out, then rises from the ground, holding his head with his hand the whole time.

"I both apologize for my failure and express my gratitude for your healing. I thought for a moment, that my search for Sajni was at its end, but it seems that I still have a ways to go."

He then struggles to walk and look around.

"Master Grava used to say 'An intelligent warrior knows that consciousness is a state of mind, but a wise one knows not to fight while unconcious'. My body is weakened, but my mind is not, let us forge on pathfinders, this will simply be another trial for me to overcome."

Ali fights off the poison. Barely. (DC was 24)

So, to recap where things currently stand: Sajan has 15 points of hp damage and 13 points of dex damage; Ali has 40 points of hp damage. Given that Ali has the ability from his bracers to cast lesser restoration once/day, you can just camp out where you are for a number of days until Sajan is fully healed, saving yourselves 380 gp and a scolding from Roderus. In a home game I would make you fight some hungry bears or something for this, but in PFS you are fine. Ali has plenty of lay on hands, so go ahead and put all yourselves at max hp and remove your ability damage and we can move forward with the adventure.

Just two other things to sort out before we move ahead: first, what are you doing with the two unconscious scorpions? So far there is one vote for executing them. Second, please divvy up whatever of their loot you are taking - Chasik has created a post on the Discussion tab to summarize what's been taken so far.

Once these questions are settled, we'll move ahead. Unless that was enough for y'all and you are ready to go back to Katapesh? It's not too late to turn back...

I can also prepare the spell in all of my slots tomorrow and blow them all, potentially just taking a single day for this

Enora has 247gp that she would also provide to Sajan!

Chasik will pay the whole bill of 380gp, he has over 15k. I will also buy a few things while back at town.
* pot delay poison, 300gp, lasts 3 hrs
* pot pro fire 60, 750gp, lasts 50 minutes
* pot CSW, 750gp
*

No gold required, nor a trip back to town (which is over a week each way), since it seems that you can simply camp at the site for a day and Ali can use all his spell slots to prep Lesser Restoration and fully heal Sajan.

The only thing I still need to know, and then we can move forward, is what are you doing with the unconscious scorpion-folk? You know that they are not evil, were simply doing their jobs as guardians of the site, and I'll warn you that executing them is likely an evil act.

No execution on Enora’s watch! ;-)

Ali asks Gamins opinion and then talks with Archimedes and all 3 seem to be in agreement - bind them and blindfold them and move them out of the way.

It would be more cruel to have to fight them again after all

That sounds good to me.

Sounds good, although they would likely accept the "might makes right" mentality based on their actions, but I'm fine with tying them up.

The intrepid band of Pathfinders bind up the captive girtablilu, who are still unconscious, and, having looted their prisoners of anything they wish to take with them, and having rested two nights at the site - one to handle the healing and recuperation of the stricken monk, and a second to enable the Paladin to begin the next phase of their adventure with a full set of spells - they now proceed towards the entrance of the ruins. Go ahead and make any changes in spells memorized or other preparations for a new day, as you wish.

Stairs cut into the canyon wall ascend to a sturdy bronze door. There are a number of old vases near the door. The vases are cracked and broken, however, and their contents are long gone.

With the girtablilus’ key, the ancient door opens without difficulty. Directly ahead of you there is a set of steep stairs (unless otherwise noted, all stairs are steep and are considered difficult terrain for ascending creatures)

Some general information: the smooth interior surfaces of the temple have a Climb DC of 25, and the weather-worn exterior surfaces have a Climb DC of 15. The ceiling is 10 feet high in the staircases and 20 feet elsewhere.

As you look inside from the doorway, you see that carvings on the stone walls of this staircase depict groups of humans huddled together, cowering from some unseen menace. Their faces look up toward the sky with despair evident in their eyes.

From this point forwards, I'm going to count on you to update your position on the map. If something happens, I'll assume that you are where your icon is on the map, and if you take an action that you couldn't do from where your icon is, I'll move you to my best guess of a logical position. Thanks.

If someone would please move Shel to the bottom of the stairs....

The tiny halfling begins checking the stairs for any ancient trap that might have been left for the unwary.

Perception 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36 +4 v traps.

Shel does not detect any traps, either on the stairs leading up from the outside, or the stairs immediately after the bronze door.

Prior to entering, Sard casts mage armor and false life.

false life: 1d10 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

-----

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

"Hrm. Someone used a whole lotta magic in here. Stoneshape all over the place."

Enora casts a spell on herself to increase her vitality.
Casting 'false life' for 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 temporary HP.

Then Enora uses her wand with the spell 'mage armor' on herself.

Ali will wait on the rest to move down the stairs and then proceed through the new door, activating his winged boots so he can sort of float over the steep stair way, just in case.

Gamin these pitiful faces...what do you think they are afraid of. The Sages are supposed to be inspirational figures are they not? Even this lich....I assumed his pure intentions still existed somewhere inside him , right?

Sorry, wrong profile. ;-)

"I do not know if that is true Ali. As far as I know some of the Sages believed themselves beyond good or evil and thus went very far to gain knowledge ..."

Shel will lead the others through the bronze door and to the stairs immediately past the door. ”Anyone need to do anything else before we proceed?”

If no one objects, then Shel will look around and see if anything 8n the large room appears strange.

Perception 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32 +4 v traps.

"Be cautious, sight of the eyes doesn't always speak the truth."

Sajan says while following behind Shel.

Enora, do you want to be up near the rest of us on the map?

Just to clarify, both sets of stairs lead up (you've climbed up one set to get to the landing where the bronze door into the complex is, and a second set of stairs just beyond the door leads up from there. The carvings I mentioned are in this second stairwell. Because the stairs are steep, you cannot actually (yet) see into the area beyond.

Regarding the carvings in the stairwell, if you want to examine them please move yourselves into the actual stairwell:

History : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Appraise: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

@Noral, you'll need to be in the stairwell to make your checks - please put yourself where you want to be. Thx. (Because reasons)

@Noral, you'll need to be in the stairwell to make your checks - please put yourself where you want to be. Thx. (Because reasons)

Oops, I meant Enora - keep mixing up the two names. In any case, I'll wait to move forward until Enora puts herself somewhere in the stairwell for examining the carvings...Also, it looks like you've got two distinct tokens on the map right now.

Oh sorry, is ok now that we are all together?

So, if you want to examine the carvings (i.e. the History and Appraise checks that Enora has made) in the stairwell (the one just past the door, i.e. just past where you all are currently gathered on the landing), you need to be in the stairwell. So if you could move Enora to someplace in the stairwell that would be great. Meanwhile, it would help me to know where everyone else is. Are you all waiting out on the landing while Enora is in the stairwell? Are some of you also going into the stairwell? Or climbing the stairs into the room beyond? If you can put yourselves where you want to be (or tell me that you want to remain on the landing outside the door) then I can move us forward. Thanks!

Also, @Ali will you please put a token for your familiar on the map, just so I don't forget it if anything comes up that might affect it? Does anyone else have a familiar/companion/mount - if so, please also put them on the board. Thx.

I am really sorry but cannot move her now as that does not work with my phone somehow. Anybody please move her to where she needs to be to see and make the checks. Would be great if she would not be alone there. ;-)