Bleeding from his wound, and unable to identify what this thing might be, Ragnar bravely provokes an attack from the foul creature, which this time bites at him.
Ragnar returns the favor, sending a torrent of arrows into the monstrosity. Ragnar, help me to understand your full attack sequence - I haven't really played a ranged character yet so some of the subtleties are confusing to me. You are getting 4 arrows because: 1) First shot is your first normal BAB attack and if this one hits, it triggers a second arrow from Manyshot (which auto-hits), which is why your first arrow is doing double damage (because it's actually two arrows); I should apply DR, hardness, etc. twice to this attack since it's actually 2 arrows; 2) Second shot is the extra attack you get from Rapid Shot; 3) Third shot is your iterative attack (at -5); 4) Fourth shot is your hasted attack. Correct? Also, how do you have Improved Precise Shot when it has a BAB +11 requirement - is that waived for Rangers who focus on archery? Thanks for the clarifications - I'm not questioning that this is all legit, I just want to understand it better for when I build my own archer. Perhaps rattled by having such a creature in his face, one of his arrows misses, but the other three all hit home and send the foul creature back to whatever awful place spawned it. Ragnar has the sense that his arrows are especially effective against it. Still, it took all three arrows (ok, four counting Many Shot as two) to destroy it.
Lem casts Heroism on Ragnar, which will last for 70 minutes. Lem, this is a touch spell so I've moved you 5' closer to Ragnar.
The Shadow glowers at the statue, as if perhaps an intimidating look will cause the thing to drop Sir Godfrey, but alas, it is not to be.
Just then, two more of the noxious smelling creatures burst out of the cloud of smoke, quickly moving to flank poor Ragnar. None of you beat their Stealth checks, so I believe that this movement does not provoke an AoO, but if I'm incorrect about this, Red provokes from any of: Lem (if you have a reach weapon out), Oggil (if you have a reach weapon out), Ragnar (if you have shenanigans that let you take an AoO even when armed with a ranged weapon), and Blue provokes from Theodore (if you have a reach weapon out).
Each of their attacks hit, putting the poor Ranger in a rather unfortunate position.
A note about sequencing of actions: moving forward, I'm going to assume that the actions of a particular initiative group happen in the order they are posted, instead of retconning to, for example, add the Heroism bonus to attacks that have already happened. This is how I've seen other GMs doing it on PbP, but as I've told y'all, the is my first time GM-ing PbP myself, so let me know if this seems unfair. I'm just concerned that it will get too complicated to keep track of everything unless I do it this way.
LN Male Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer) 11 Init +8 | HP 101/101 | AC16 T12, FF14 | Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13, Dwarf +2 | CMD 15 | Perception+25, Sense Motive +20
Buffs:
MA, Overland Flight, Heroism
Resources:
Acid Dart 11|11, PoP 2/2, Arcane Bond Unused, Dimensional Steps 330|330, Reroll: Used
| Conditions:
I believe all of that is correct. Rangers get to pick up improved precise at I think 6th or 10th using the ranged combat style.
Alonso gulps at the appearance of this new threat.
Religion:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (14) + 20 = 34 Senses, special attacks, resistances, immunities please. My actions very much depend on the answer to the senses question.
Alonso recognizes the creatures as Advanced Ghuls, chaotic evil undead monstrosities that are usually janni who die while in disfavor to Fate. The biggest, most obvious differences between a janni and a ghul are the inhuman donkey hooves ghul have, which shame them greatly; most ghuls take great pains to hide their hooves, as indeed these ones have.
Alonso, you get 4 questions: 1. Senses: darkvision; 2. Special Attacks: as you have already seen with poor Ragnar, their claws can inflict bleeding wounds. They can also rend with their claws. And you also recall that their claws are cursed, such that they count as cold iron and magic (for DR purposes); 3. Resistances: Fire; 4. Immunities: the usual undead traits (let me know if you need me to list them).
LN Male Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer) 11 Init +8 | HP 101/101 | AC16 T12, FF14 | Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13, Dwarf +2 | CMD 15 | Perception+25, Sense Motive +20
Buffs:
MA, Overland Flight, Heroism
Resources:
Acid Dart 11|11, PoP 2/2, Arcane Bond Unused, Dimensional Steps 330|330, Reroll: Used
| Conditions:
Seeing Ragnar in a bad position Alonso moves to help him. He casts a spell, loudly pronouncing the arcane symbols leaving no doubt that there is an invisible spellcaster further into the room. He then floats forward, careful to muffle the flapping of his robes as he reaches out to touch Ragnar, turning him invisible!
Alonso casts greater invisibility and then stealths towards Ragnar, reaching out to touch him. Stealth, invis:1d20 + 2 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 20 = 39
Animal Reptile 7 | AC 20 (28)| T 13 | FF 16 | HP: 51/51 | CMD 26 | Fort +8 | Ref +8 ev | Will +3 * | Perception +5*
Male Human Ranger 10 | AC 22 | T 18 | FF 17 | HP: 103/103 | CMD 30 | Fort +12 | Ref +17 ev | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perception +21
Correct on the shot routine. I had to just reread it and yes the arrows from manyshot both face DR. Not normally an issue with cold iron/ holy arrows but against the statue it matters. Improved Precise Shot was a level 6 bonus feat from archery style. And I'm also remembering that I only get +1 to hit from Lem due to my bracers being the same bonus. Do those other 2 hits also have bleed 1?
Red Perception:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31 Blue Perception:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32
Bleed effects don't stack unless they do different things
The reduction of Ragnar's attacks by -1 does not affect his attacks on the Ghul, which is still destroyed, but two of his attacks on the statue (including the initial Many Shot arrows) are now misses; I've adjusted the dmg tally accordingly, taking into account the hardness that I had previously taken off.
Gnome Cleric of Cayden Cailean 10 (CORE) | HP 82/82^ | AC 23 | T 13 | FF 21 | CMD 18 | F +14^ | R +10 | W +17 | +2 vs. illusion, +1 vs. poison/disease | Init +8 | Perc +7 (Low-Light) | Sense Motive +11 | Agile Feet 8/8 | Channel 2/9 | Touch of Good 7/8 | Dimensional Hop 20 ft./100 ft. | Holy Lance 1/1 | Beneficent Touch 1/1 | Reroll 0/1 | Active Spells:Death Ward, Extended Longstrider - 3 con damage^, Five negative level (#) (Death Ward)
Hrm, Godfrey being grappled is problematic. Let's fix that.
Five Foot Step
Theodore steps back diagonally from the new arrivals so he can cast freely but can still see the room with the statue.
Standard Action
He casts Freedom of Movement, holding the touch spell in his hand.
Move Action
He activates his Dimensional Hop, teleporting next to Godfrey. Travel domain ability. Has no mention of working like Dimension Door, so he should be able to act after using it. Using 25 ft. of his 90 ft.
Free Action
He touches Godfrey, causing him to be able to wriggle free of its grasp. Not sure it actually frees him but at least he will be immune to it now.
Dwarven monk-8; HP 76/76; Re-roll@+3(+6 FJC) 1/1; Stunning Fist 8/8 (DC18); Ki 8/8; Wand CLW 38/50; AC 20(24 w/mage armor; Fort +10(+12 vs poison); Ref +10(evasion); Will +12;Extra +2 vs spells, +4 vs enchantments; Init +4; Perc +16
Seeing he can do little to the statue, Oggil steps toward the horrible undead, and unleashes a barrage of strikes at it, hoping to free up his more heavy weight companions to finish the statue.
Sir Godfrey is grabbed and bruised, and is ready to resist the statue's hold with a mighty flex of his muscles until he feels a touch on his leg and simply slips out of the stone arms. "Aha! Thank you, Friend Theodore. I shall now teach this statue the importance of teamwork as my dwarfish friend deals with the vile undead!"
He then proceeds to hoist up his great sword once more and lay into the statue with unmitigated righteous fury! At the same moment a flash of holy light sparks from Godfrey, healing his wounds.
If the freedom of movement frees me then I shall lay into with a full attack, and a swift action to Lay on Hands.
Ok, some retconning of these most recent moves may be needed due to: the Ghuls have Step Up. So when Theodore steps backward 5' to cast his spell, Blue follows him (I've moved him on the map). So, Theodore: do you want to cast defensively? Or do something else? Also, assuming you make the concentration check to cast defensively, Dimensional Hop is listed as a Spell-Like Ability, so it will provoke an AoO from him. Let me know how you want to proceed. Consider that, since my previous post, the only things that have occurred are: Theodore has taken a 5' step and Blue has followed him. We'll pick up the action from there (including resolving Oggil and Sir Godfrey's actions) once Theodore decides how he wants to proceed.
Also, Fyi, Freedom of Movement doesn't automatically make you ungrappled. Any (new) grapple attempts auto-fail. And any attempts to escape the grapple auto-succeed.
Also, Alonso, are you armed? i.e. do you threaten the Ghul to provide Oggil with a Flank? Assuming he sticks with the attack routine as posted it will matter.
Gnome Cleric of Cayden Cailean 10 (CORE) | HP 82/82^ | AC 23 | T 13 | FF 21 | CMD 18 | F +14^ | R +10 | W +17 | +2 vs. illusion, +1 vs. poison/disease | Init +8 | Perc +7 (Low-Light) | Sense Motive +11 | Agile Feet 8/8 | Channel 2/9 | Touch of Good 7/8 | Dimensional Hop 20 ft./100 ft. | Holy Lance 1/1 | Beneficent Touch 1/1 | Reroll 0/1 | Active Spells:Death Ward, Extended Longstrider - 3 con damage^, Five negative level (#) (Death Ward)
Cast Defensively (DC 23):1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31- Freedom of Movement Cast Defensively (DC 23):1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20- Dimensional Hop
Result is Freedom of Movement is cast but not applied to Godfrey and the teleport doesn't go off. Refunded the teleport and the spell is still in hand.
However, now Ragnar can at least step away from one of them and not provoke as he no longer can step up. Hopefully he doesn't have see invis either.
In that case, Godfrey will shadow jump out of the statue's grip to be next to Oggil, and attempt to stealth as he appears to avoid the stupid grapple, break grapple, repeat game that's about to start. It's Supernatural, so it requires no concentration check.
Shadow Jump requires that you begin and end in areas of dim light. Not trying to be a jerk about this but I've just checked the scenario and it gives me no guidance about light sources in the temple, so we'll assume that the whole place is dark. In which case: do you all have darkvision, and if not, what light sources are you using? (One thing that's making this tricky is: if some areas are in dim light then we should also be rolling 20% miss chances).
The drunken priest is rather alarmed to find a nasty Ghul in his face when he steps back to do some magical shenanigans, which perhaps affects his concentration. He is unable to teleport to Sir Godfrey's aid, but keeps his Freedom of Movement spell ready to be delivered in the future.
The dwarven monk moves to attack the Red Ghul, delivering a flurry of blows, four of which connect. The fiery portions of his blows seem to have no affect at all on the foul undead creature, and his physical blows do not seem to have as much of an affect as he would ordinarily expect.
Holding off on resolving Sir Godfrey's action until we sort out the question of light sources.
Ok, reviewing the scenario further, although there's no light sources within the site itself, there does seem to be some light from outside spilling in from the stairwell (the one that Ragnar started to investigate before), enough that I'll rule that the entire area can be considered dim light. That means that a) Sir Godfrey can go ahead with the Shadow Jump as previously stated; b) anyone without darkvision will need to make a 20% miss chance roll on each attack, unless your target is within 20' of a light source. You can go ahead and say now whether you would have previously cast Light and if so, upon what. (You probably would have wanted some light sources when you were doing the work in the library in any case). Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but "dim light" has a specific game meaning and just trying to work with that. Otherwise, it would seem like the Shadow Jump ability has no real limitation, which it specifically seems to be trying to avoid.
@Sir Godfrey - are you still swift Lay On Handsing yourself?
Re Sir Godfrey's Stealth attempt, the statue has See in Darkness (Su): "The creature can see perfectly in darkness of any kind." - would you still be able to Stealth and if so, how? Edit: never mind, just noticed the Shadow Dancer's Hide in Plain Sight ability. So what am I supposed to do if the statblock for the Statue gives no Perception (or other skills)?
LN Male Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer) 11 Init +8 | HP 101/101 | AC16 T12, FF14 | Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13, Dwarf +2 | CMD 15 | Perception+25, Sense Motive +20
Buffs:
MA, Overland Flight, Heroism
Resources:
Acid Dart 11|11, PoP 2/2, Arcane Bond Unused, Dimensional Steps 330|330, Reroll: Used
| Conditions:
If it doesn't show a perception score then it just uses its wisdom. Constructs normally don't get skill ranks. Alonso does have darkvision. He does not have light prepped but would probably have turned on his wayfinder to help his feeble eyed companions.
Animal Reptile 7 | AC 20 (28)| T 13 | FF 16 | HP: 51/51 | CMD 26 | Fort +8 | Ref +8 ev | Will +3 * | Perception +5*
Male Human Ranger 10 | AC 22 | T 18 | FF 17 | HP: 103/103 | CMD 30 | Fort +12 | Ref +17 ev | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perception +21
Being a normal human Ragnar would want light. If no one cast Daylight he'll use his Wayfinder to keep Light going on Pookie's harness since he will usually send Pookie after whatever he wants to shoot.
LN Male Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer) 11 Init +8 | HP 101/101 | AC16 T12, FF14 | Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13, Dwarf +2 | CMD 15 | Perception+25, Sense Motive +20
Buffs:
MA, Overland Flight, Heroism
Resources:
Acid Dart 11|11, PoP 2/2, Arcane Bond Unused, Dimensional Steps 330|330, Reroll: Used
| Conditions:
Actually, Alonso has a heightened continual flame badge which he wears for dealing with deeper darkness and I believe he may have made others for some of the people in this party.
Dwarven monk-8; HP 76/76; Re-roll@+3(+6 FJC) 1/1; Stunning Fist 8/8 (DC18); Ki 8/8; Wand CLW 38/50; AC 20(24 w/mage armor; Fort +10(+12 vs poison); Ref +10(evasion); Will +12;Extra +2 vs spells, +4 vs enchantments; Init +4; Perc +16
I suspect if you are grappled it is pretty hard to go into stealth. Once you are out of the grapple however shadowdancers are real hard to pin down if you don't have a stellar perception.
After some typical Pathfinder rules-wrangling... Sir Godfrey leaps from the clutches of the enormous statue into the very shadows themselves, reappearing 10 feet away, and then, before the poor statue has a chance to react, seems to vanish into the shadows themselves.
Just then, the pokiest of the Ghuls arrives at the battlefront, earning himself scowls of annoyance from his fellow undead. With many of the Pathfinders tomb robbers now invisible or hidden from view, he makes a beeline for Oggil, undoubtedly anticipating that - after untold aeons in the grave - even dwarven flesh will be sweet and succulent. His movement provokes from Ragnar, Sir Godfrey, and Oggil, if any of you have reach.
The statue lurches forward, undoubtedly seeking the tasty morsel of Sarenrae that had just slipped its grasp, but not finding it, it strikes out at poor Lem!
Khopesh attack:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (19) + 22 = 41 Khopesh dmg:3d8 + 14 ⇒ (1, 5, 3) + 14 = 23 Khopesh CHA dmg:1d4 ⇒ 2 Khopesh attack, Crit Confirmation:1d20 + 22 ⇒ (19) + 22 = 41 Khopesh Extra Crit dmg:3d8 + 14 ⇒ (7, 4, 1) + 14 = 26 I don't think the CHA damage is also doubled on a crit?
The statue seems to grow slightly stronger from the beauty of Lem it has consumed.
Cruelly, it smashes again at the poor halfling, knocking him unconscious and ending the inspiration he was providing his friends.
As the round draws to an end, the smoke clears away, enabling the Pathfinders to see an open (secret) door into another room (from whence emerged the Ghuls).
I suspect if you are grappled it is pretty hard to go into stealth. Once you are out of the grapple however shadowdancers are real hard to pin down if you don't have a stellar perception.
Right, but it seems that the Shadow Jump ability lets him just jump out of the grapple...
Animal Reptile 7 | AC 20 (28)| T 13 | FF 16 | HP: 51/51 | CMD 26 | Fort +8 | Ref +8 ev | Will +3 * | Perception +5*
Male Human Ranger 10 | AC 22 | T 18 | FF 17 | HP: 103/103 | CMD 30 | Fort +12 | Ref +17 ev | Will +11 | Init +9 | Perception +21
-1 hp from bleed.
Ragnar takes a 5 ft step away from the undead and starts clearing them away. Starting with blue as per Theodore's request then moving to yellow since red can be easily flanked.
I'm including the +2 for the improved invis and this should be vs flat-footed.
Dwarven monk-8; HP 76/76; Re-roll@+3(+6 FJC) 1/1; Stunning Fist 8/8 (DC18); Ki 8/8; Wand CLW 38/50; AC 20(24 w/mage armor; Fort +10(+12 vs poison); Ref +10(evasion); Will +12;Extra +2 vs spells, +4 vs enchantments; Init +4; Perc +16
I'm going to hold off posting for a moment to see how many Ragnar downs, as that may be significant as this battle is starting to look dicy to my poor squishy level seven melee
The invisible archer lets loose a rain of arrows. His first two attacks destroy the blue Ghul while the second two damage the yellow Ghul but leave him on his feet.
Red attempts to return the kindness, moving to where he believes the invisible archer to be and lashing out in blind hopes of connecting.
Bite attack:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24 Miss chance, high is good for me:1d100 ⇒ 96 dmg:1d6 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Claw attack:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25 Miss chance, high is good for me:1d100 ⇒ 99 dmg:1d4 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Claw attack:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14 Miss chance, high is good for me:1d100 ⇒ 23 dmg:1d4 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Lem, Theodore, Oggil, Alonso, and Sir Godfrey are up!
Sir Godfrey now attempts to simply arc his sword cleanly through the statue several times with brutal attacks from the shadows in counter to its so far unchecked abuse of the party. "Sarenrae is not amused by these events!"
Full attacking. Rerolling the Haste attack with one of my Combat boons.
From the shadows, the knight of the dawnflower unleashes a horrific wave of blows against the poor defenseless statue, smashing it to smithereens. Though Alonso may consider this as an act of vandalism, at the very least the numerous shards of stone will keep the archeological division back at the Pathfinder Lodge busy for many months to come.
Dwarven monk-8; HP 76/76; Re-roll@+3(+6 FJC) 1/1; Stunning Fist 8/8 (DC18); Ki 8/8; Wand CLW 38/50; AC 20(24 w/mage armor; Fort +10(+12 vs poison); Ref +10(evasion); Will +12;Extra +2 vs spells, +4 vs enchantments; Init +4; Perc +16
Oggil opens up on the yellow zombie, hoping to finish it off quickly.
"The dead should lie in peace, not rise in swarms."
Gnome Cleric of Cayden Cailean 10 (CORE) | HP 82/82^ | AC 23 | T 13 | FF 21 | CMD 18 | F +14^ | R +10 | W +17 | +2 vs. illusion, +1 vs. poison/disease | Init +8 | Perc +7 (Low-Light) | Sense Motive +11 | Agile Feet 8/8 | Channel 2/9 | Touch of Good 7/8 | Dimensional Hop 20 ft./100 ft. | Holy Lance 1/1 | Beneficent Touch 1/1 | Reroll 0/1 | Active Spells:Death Ward, Extended Longstrider - 3 con damage^, Five negative level (#) (Death Ward)
"He's doing better." Theodore chuckles. This spell in my hand will have to wait.
Five Foot Step
Theodore steps towards to party so everyone is within his sight.
Standard Action
He channels to heal the party. Selecting out the two enemies up and the statue, but considering they're probably undead and the statue is not living I don't think it matters much. Channel Positive Energy (To Heal):7d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 4, 3, 3, 6, 4) = 27
Oggil strikes out at the yellow Ghul, hitting him twice, and although his blows don't seem entirely effective, they are effective enough to destroy the foul abomination!
Lem fails to stabilize and appears to be slipping closer to death until...
Theodore calls upon the blessings of Cayden to heal his fellow Pathfinders, which also ends their bleeding. Lem regains consciousness with a groan, though he remains flat on the ground.
I believe the charisma damage is multiplied on a crit in much the same way negative levels or a shadows strength damage are multiplied.
Hmm, but a rider like, say, +1d6 fire damage, is not doubled with a Crit. I'm not going to apply it here in either case but I'm interested in the reasoning either way for future reference. Since the statue has been destroyed I'll share the relevant bit of its stat block: "Maiming Blade (Su): creatures hit by its khopesh attack take 1d4 points of CHA damage." How is this different from, say, a flaming sword that takes on 1d6 fire damage?
Alonso sends missiles of force to pummel the poor Red Ghul, who wonders where his friends have disappeared to, little realizing how soon he will join them...
LN Male Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer) 11 Init +8 | HP 101/101 | AC16 T12, FF14 | Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13, Dwarf +2 | CMD 15 | Perception+25, Sense Motive +20
Buffs:
MA, Overland Flight, Heroism
Resources:
Acid Dart 11|11, PoP 2/2, Arcane Bond Unused, Dimensional Steps 330|330, Reroll: Used
| Conditions:
Alonso will resume invisibility (you can never be too careful) and grab the torc. Quickly everyone, lets see if this helps!.
He flies back to the three stone slabs and hovers over the one with the snake impression. Should we slot it in? I have no idea if this will help or what might happen?
He looks over to the third slab, and we still need something person shaped to fit into that one as well.
Has the shadowy column in the middle reacted to the tablet being inserted?
Standing up Lem thanks the others.
"Bohoo that was close. But hey Sir Godfrey, what kind of Palaloose are you? Running around with a shadow and not protecting the meek and small non combatants. That gives you no good spot in my epic, thats for sure!"
LN Male Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer) 11 Init +8 | HP 101/101 | AC16 T12, FF14 | Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13, Dwarf +2 | CMD 15 | Perception+25, Sense Motive +20
Buffs:
MA, Overland Flight, Heroism
Resources:
Acid Dart 11|11, PoP 2/2, Arcane Bond Unused, Dimensional Steps 330|330, Reroll: Used
| Conditions:
Ok then, come on Godfrey, hurry up, lets slot this snake thingy in the slab and see if we can stop the whole place crashing down. At least we might avoid losing all of the precious relics... he says looking back to where the demolished statue is.
Hmm, I wonder if make whole would fix it, would that cause it to reanimate? it could be an interesting experiment...
Dwarven monk-8; HP 76/76; Re-roll@+3(+6 FJC) 1/1; Stunning Fist 8/8 (DC18); Ki 8/8; Wand CLW 38/50; AC 20(24 w/mage armor; Fort +10(+12 vs poison); Ref +10(evasion); Will +12;Extra +2 vs spells, +4 vs enchantments; Init +4; Perc +16
Oggil looks at the inert form of Pookie. "The measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable.." he suggests pointedly.
With the battle over Godfrey wipes some rock dust from his blade before setting it over his shoulder again. He reaches down and picks up the torque, which he then tosses towards where he hears Alonso's voice coming from. "Invisible friend, I think it would be wiser for you to handle such things. I'm not particularly book learned."
He then turns and gives Lem a very patient look. "Being a paladin with a code does not mean I forfeit the right to be tactical or that I am forced to be a fool." He points towards the pile of rubble that was previously trying to murder the party. "Had I stayed where I was I would not have been able to act. I would have been pounded into the stones, then so would you and the others as my weapon was the best suited for dealing with it."
"Instead I made one of those heavy choices people of my profession must make. I escaped my situation, used you and Oggil for bait so I could not be disabled, then closed the trap on the threat so I could destroy it and protect the party. You are quite fine now, as is everyone. Sometimes, in order to do the most good you have to accept you can't do everything perfectly or save everyone." And with that he rolls his shoulders and walks around to the stairs up to where the device is.
