PFS: AP: Carrion Crown (CORE!)

Game Master R D

Faria tends to Grog's wounds. Then, the group moves on. There's a secret door leading to U11. Sharien hears her name being called insistently.

U11: Several iron doors line the walls of this partially ruined cellblock—the doors themselves hang askew on their hinges, revealing empty cells beyond. Partially burnt wooden support timbers still function to the north, while to the south they’ve collapsed and caused cell walls to crumble as well. Rivulets of water drip down the southwestern wall to create a shallow pool in this ruined portion of the room, with overflow filling an oubliette hole in the middle of the room nearly to the rim.

Rusty manacles hang from pegs on the wall here, next to the secret door.

Blackheath Will Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Faria Will Save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Gravleon Will Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Grog Will Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Sharien Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Upon entering this room, Grog feels "off". He (and only he) sees the first letter of his name appear in blood on the wall. Upon seeing the "G" he suffers 2 points of Wisdom damage.

Everyone notices drops of blood welling up all along all of the walls in U11.

I'm getting a hole poltergeist vibe ;_;

Gravleon looks about the room "oh this can be good...

Faria, a serious permanent crease starting to form between her brows from her near constant fretting, looks at the blood with distaste. "Is this perhaps another one of our wayward spirits? We're down to two, so they likely will bring a terrible assault against us, seeking to prolong their damned existence."

Nobody moved, so...

The party, shocked by the obvious malevolence in the area pauses.

Grog Will Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Grog suffers another 2 points of Wisdom damage.

"Sharien, why don't you leave the book here?" the elven wizard hears.

Faria, noticing that Grog and Sharien both seem to be distressed, proceeds into the room, hoping to find a cause of their malady.

As the party moves to exit the cell in U11 into which they came from the secret door, they notice a ghostly figure across the way. You can see right through him. He's on the other side of a pool of water in the middle of the room created by runoff filling an oubliette. No charging, sorry.

Knowledge Religion to know what he is.
Knowledge History or Local to know who he is.

We are in combat. The party is up first. Then this guy.

Kn History: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Kn Local: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Kn Religion: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Gimme gimme gimme

Religion: It's a ghost! Incorporeal, channel resistance, touch attacks for 6d6 of damage. Try not to get hung up on the fact that this guy is a ghost. He's special. Most ghosts are CR 7; he's only CR 6.

Local: You're pretty sure that this is the Splatter Man.

"Arghh..Not feeling so great but maybe I can hit it"

attack: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

damage: 1d12 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14 halved

Sharien begins summoning the celestial wolf that she keep calling out to from across the planes then shutting the door in the poor wolf's face right before get gets to our plane.

Begin casting summon monster II.

Grog moves up to the splatter man and swings. His axe does a little damage. The splatter man doesn't seem to notice; his eyes are transfixed on Sharien.

The wizard begins summoning. Spellcraft: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19 The ghost nods with understanding as he realizes the elf's intentions.

Blackheath, Faria, and Gravleon are up!

With Faria's knowledge religion check, do we know if the haunt siphons would work against the Splatterman?

Blackheath snatches two "ghost touch" arrows from his quiver and rapidly shoots them at the apparition...

First arcane point-blank +1 ghost touch arrow vs favored enemy: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 6 + 1 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 20
First Ghost touch arrow damage: 1d8 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 11

Second arcane point-blank +1 ghost touch arrow vs favored enemy: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 6 + 1 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 18
Second Ghost touch arrow damage: 1d8 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 10

Nope. He's a ghost, not a haunt. Also, remember that these are 10-foot squares. You'll have to move closer to get the point-blank bonus.

Blackheath rapidly shoots at the Splatter man. He eyes the bard with anger as the arrows find their mark.

Faria and Gravleon are up!

Knowing the man was a wizard in life, and not sure if that carried over into death, Faria channels a burst of power from Pharasma, her last of the day. She then steps away from the others, hoping to lessen the effect of any area spells he might cast.

"Who has the spellbook!?"

Channel: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8

Will Save + Channel Resistance: 1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 4 = 24

The splatter man eyes you all angrily. Sharien has the book.

Gravleon is up!

"I think it must be him who has been calling to me... he's telling me to hand the book over!"

Nope. He's a ghost, not a haunt.

Correction: the haunt siphon can be used as a grenadelike splash weapon that deals 1d6 points of negative energy damage with a direct hit.

GM Engleaktig wrote:

Nope. He's a ghost, not a haunt.

Correction: the haunt siphon can be used as a grenadelike splash weapon that deals 1d6 points of negative energy damage with a direct hit.

Positive energy?

Fire swirls around gravleons hand, it launches to the ghost fire bolt touch: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 1) + 2 = 9

Positive energy?

Nope. It siphons the negative energy from a haunt. When a siphon "kills" a haunt, it can use the negative energy as a weapon.

Gravleon's attack does damage, but not as much as he'd hoped.

The Splatter Man moves through the walls and floors (providing cover and denying Grog an attack of opportunity) into a locked cell. Then he casts a spell.

All four missiles hit the bard for a total of 20 HP of damage.

The party is up!

Party is up but the Bard is down. With the reduced Con from the iron maiden curse, Blackheath is now at -2.

Blackheath collapses under the force of the Splatterman's magical attack.

"Blackheath!" Witnessing the raw power unleashed by the Splatter Man, the priestess rushes back into the room, chanting a quick prayer to her goddess, casting aside one of her gifted spells for a quick healing jolt to help her fellow.

CMW (Lesser Restoration) on Blackheath: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (1, 4) + 4 = 9

Blackheath gasps as air fills his lungs once more.

Thanks!

Faria heals Blackhealth for 9 HP. Doesn't that bring you up to 7 instead of 6?

The rest of the party is up!

Technically his math was wrong and he was at -3, so the 6 would be correct. :) And you're welcome! You should be able to act, Blackheath, if the GM allows it, even if you are prone.

Aha! Thanks for pointing that out.

Yes! He may act. :)

Sadly, is is prone and he dropped his bow. :(

Arrgh....Blackheath glad you're ok

attack: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

damage: 1d12 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Sharien's celestial wolf appears, growling at the apparition. (Which map are we on?)

Then, Sharien will use one of her acid darts for the day.
ranged touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
acid: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Grog moves towards the Splatter Man and attacks through the cell bars. Unfortunately, due to the cover provided by the locked cell, he misses.

We're in Harrowstone Prison--Lower Level. The map squares are 10-feet. Grog is represented by his character's picture. The remainder of the party is together in adjacent squares--represented by Faria's picture.

Sharien summons a wolf inside the prison cell with the enemy. It attacks, but, since its weapons are not magical, they simply pass through the ghost without harm.

The wizard then conjures some acid, harming the enemy a little.

The Splatter Man speaks to Sharien: "Leave the book here. Flee. And I will let you live."

Blackheath and Gravleon are up!

Doesn't the wolf's Smite Evil let it attack the ghost??

EDIT: Damn... it doesn't.

Does smite evil bypass the defenses of the incorporeal special quality?

Smite is not an effect on the weapon, it is an effect on the paladin. The weapon still needs to be magic to harm the incorporeal creature, and even a magic weapon still only deals half damage against it.

Doesn't the wolf's Smite Evil let it attack the ghost??

EDIT: Damn... it doesn't.

Smite evil wrote:

Does smite evil bypass the defenses of the incorporeal special quality?

Smite is not an effect on the weapon, it is an effect on the paladin. The weapon still needs to be magic to harm the incorporeal creature, and even a magic weapon still only deals half damage against it.

Happy to let you retcon the summons. Sharien, the character, would know about incorporeal stuff.

Blackheath casts another cure spell upon himself while thinking about what they learned from the spirit board:

Moldy Spellbook: The covers and pages of this thick, leather-bound spellbook have become caked with mold over the years, but some of the contents remain legible. This book once belonged to Professor Hean Feramin, the man who would eventually achieve fame not through academia but through murder. Known in his final days as the Splatter Man, he was dealt a hideous blow to his morale and sanity by the loss of his spellbook.

"There must be some way to use the spellbook. If it hurt his morale while he lived to lose it, maybe it would do the same now. He clearly wants it. Taunt him over the spellbook! Threaten to take it away forever."

The Bard thinks to himself: "Hopefully we don't need to scribble in it or slap a bookmark on it."

Sigh. I suppose she would have tossed another of the acid darts at him instead of that summon.

ranged touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
acid: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

"He wants me to leave the book for him, but I get the feeling I shouldn't do that." Sharien then pulls out the book and displays it to see what the ghost does.

Sorry, Sharien.

The Splatter Man encourages Sharien, "Yes, that's it. Leave the book and flee while you can."

Gravleon is up!

"Sharien, I don't know what's going on, but the last thing we need to do is leave that book in here with him. Set it afire!"

Gravleon summons a ethereal scimitar and directs it to attack Splatter Man "No! you evil will end this night"

casting Spiritual weapon

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Force damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

The splatter man moves through the floors and walls again, avoiding attacks of opportunity. He comes out in a different locked cell zapping folks with another maximized magic missile barrage. This time, he splits the missiles:
- Two missiles hit Blackheath for 10 HP of damage.
- One missile hits Gravleon for 5 HP of damage.
- One missile hits Faria for 5 HP of damage.

The party is up!

Move action to have the weapon move and attack him oh and i forgot to add 1 more damage from my trait

gravleon calls another bolt of fire to burn the splatter man

"Your cowardice in life will not save you in death"

my attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
damage: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 1 = 8
spell: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
damage: 1d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 1 = 5

"Blackheath I have a BOOKMARK for that spellbook!"

attack on ghost: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

damage: 1d12 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Grog's attack goes wide.

Oops! Forgot to put in my heal roll before.

clw: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

So with that heal and after the Splatterman's last attack, Blackheath is at 2 hp. Posting from a phone so I can't edit the banner to reflect that just yet.

Wincing as the missiles hit home, Faria nevertheless keeps her composure, moving to heal Blackheath again, so as to let him concentrate on offense. They would lose this fight if they all concentrated on healing.

CMW (Remove Paralysis): 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (8, 8) + 4 = 20

Booyah! About time!

Blackheath and Sharien are up!

Is it possible to move up to the cell door to get a clear shot at the Splatterman? Just in case, I'll post the attacks now though they may need cover modifiers.

Rapid shot arcane ghost-touch arrow vs favored enemy 1: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 20
Damage arrow 1: 1d8 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 12

Rapid shot arcane ghost-touch arrow vs favored enemy 2: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 1 + 2 - 2 = 20
Damage arrow 2: 1d8 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 10

"That spellbook must do something!"

Yes, but you're still prone, and you haven't yet picked up your bow.

Blackheath grabs his bow and stands.

Sorry about that. That's me for this turn, I think. If my turn comes around again, if it is okay with you, GM, I'll use the attacks above for my next action -- if the situation hasn't changed.

Totally fine. :) Use those good rolls! Also, aren't you at full HP now that Faria healed you with Cure Moderate Wounds?

Sharien is up!

Sharien casts disrupt undead at him.

Ranged touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
pos. energy: 1d6 ⇒ 1 BOOOO

lol

Yeah, I'm up to my 17 hp now. Edited banner to reflect that.

BOOOO

LOL!

From the safety of the locked cage, the Splatter Man casts another spell. Again 4 magic missiles hit members of the party--though these feel less powerful. Empowered Magic Missile.

Magic Missile at Blackheath: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2, +50% == 2 HP of damage
Magic Missile at Faria: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2, +50% == 2 HP of damage
Magic Missile at Gravleon: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2, +50% == 2 HP of damage
Magic Missile at Grog: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2, +50% == 2 HP of damage

ROFL! What a joke! He used a metamagic slot for NO effect whatsoever! :-)

Then, he moves into the walls and you cannot see him anymore.