[PFS] GM Fez's Carrion Hill Gameday VI Table 2 (Inactive)

Game Master Nathan Hartshorn

Sorry, should have been clearer, this is a climb check to descend without slipping all the way down.

Amiri and Pendergast secure a rope to the top of the chute before Amiri slips down the hole. The tunnel is slick and would be difficult to walk normally, but Amiri keeps her feet. She exits the tunnel and finds herself on a ledge 20 foot over a dark lake...

Partially composed of natural cavern, partially remnants of long-buried buildings and foundations, the ceiling of this dank, 40-foot-tall cavern is supported by several stone pillars. Water drips from numerous spots in the ceiling, pattering into a fungus-choked lake below. Here and there, islands and beaches rise from the sides of the dark lake, but these areas of doubtful land are clogged with hideous fungi of pale yellow, bone white, bruise purple, and other noxious hues. Noticeable among the islands are four enormous mushrooms a deep violet color. One of them snaps out with a vine and grabs a rat running nearby which begins to rot away.

Amiri yells up to the rest of the party about the conditions of the tunnel, as well as the cavern at the ledge.

"There's a slippery tunnel down here! It ends in a ledge that overlooks a lake in a cavern. It's got some mushrooms that seem somewhat sentient...at least enough to know when there's food skittering by."

For whenever I have a chance to identify:
Applicable Knowledge: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 13 + (2) + 1 = 19

The Inspector climbs down just below Esmeralda, coaching her on where and when to grab what.
Aid Another: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

EDIT: I'll go ahead and equip the ring and belt for now; will update profile shortly.

No need for Ring or Belt here

Narayan deftly guides himself down the tunnel, and waits at the end of it to ensure that any of his new friends who slip do not meet with tragedy.

What is the lighting in the cavern?

Parrym comes down the tunnel, and has Meneldor hover just outside the tunnel's exit.

The light is dim from some bio-luminescent fungi spread throughout the cavern.

The four mushrooms are violet fungi, the creatures that make the poison Hyve had. Their tentacles are known to rot whatever they touch to make food for the plant.

Looking towards the northern island some dark shapes make themselves out to be a skeleton in what appears to be Crow armor. A blade glows dully from its side, within easy reach of the two fungi on that spit of land.

Parrym looks at her companions: "If you wish, I can summon a companion from Ketephys' Hunt, some Hawk, to fly over and see what that skeleton is like. I imagine the rotting tentacles will slay it, but we could at least know some more..."

"You would make an excellent lab assistant, Miss Parrym. I approve of your test."

To save some time, I will post the action Parrym is aiming for, in case people are okay with this

With the height of the ceiling Parrym's summoned hawk is able to easily stay out of reach of the grasping tentacles of the violet fungi. It comes back and reports some script on the blade itself, though it could not tell Parrym what it said. The skeleton was relatively intact, as was the Crow armor on it, but there were no identifying marks on it.

"Excellent work. We have determined that these fungi are immobile..."

The Inspector pauses mid speech.

"...that is actually quite an odd thing to say. But nevertheless, shall we dispatch them one at a time? I am guessing this is Dr. Hyve's "garbage pit", where he must have disposed of anyone who caught on to his ill doings."

Miss Parrym lab assistant... Missus Parrym Pendergast lab manager?, Parrym is lost in thought.
'Oh, sorry, what were you saying, Inspector? Yes, maybe we can try to get rid of these fungi...".
Parrym pulls out her darkwood composite longbow, that you see has been specially built for strength-- for lower strength!

"I guess there's no where else to go but down?" Amiri unravels the make-shift dummy she constructed earlier, retrieving her rope and shovel. She rips one of the creeper's bedrolls used and tries to make herself a mask in case these mushrooms expel a poisonous gas of some sort. She then tries to find a stone with some weight to it, and tosses it into the water, just to see if any living things seem disturbed by it.

With the Discussion thread being tied to both games, I guess I should ask this question here. I still have that Augury available, but I can't for the life of me think of something to ask. Initially I just wanted to confirm that the "Horror" was Undead - and we can still ask that if we want - but does anyone else have any suggestions? At this point I'm thinking some sort of Outsider, Aberration or Magical Beast.

I am not sure, but is Augury not to see whether an action bears good or bad results (rather than answering a question)? And is not a short term thing - like 1 hour into the future or so?

Do you want to get rid of all 4 of them, or the two on the island with the corpse?

is Augury not to see whether an action bears good or bad results (rather than answering a question)?

Correct.

So a question such as, "Would positive energy be effective against the Carrion Hill Horror?" would help us determine if it was Undead.

Or, if we had a caster that could choose an offensive element, "Would fire be effective?", can help us narrow down some tactics.

It is limited in its application, but I've seen it be useful before. Commune is nicer, but that's higher level.

Sometimes a question like "Should we rest and regain our spells before engaging?" is nice, too.

"Unless our Inspector wishes to collect one of these to analyze, I would vote for getting rid of them all, starting with the solitary ones... in case they can do something special and attack us?".

Sorry, I thought you meant asking direct questions. But I think knowing if it is Undead or not is already a good question, the Pos' Energy question for example

"I have no desire to study them alive. Although Miss Zarta may appreciate an in-depth survey of the capabilities of their tendrils, I am happy performing a necropsy."

As far as augury, if we took Hyve alive and/or the one in the asylum, when we face this thing, we could have him(them) present and you can use it to ask if killing said keepers is indeed beneficial. If so we can perform a coup de grace immediately upon getting the answer. And Amiri will have no moral objection to doing so.

Good one.

Let me give you some details:
AC 15, touch 9, ff 15
hp 30
No ranged attacks, so I don't feel the need to start combat rounds if you engage them from a distance.

Amiri's stone creates a lot of ripples and brings up some algae hovering just below the surface of the water. It doesn't react to anything and just sinks below the surface as its buoyancy is lacking.

"Any objections to removing those things from back here? Lets not create more risk than is necessary. The tentacles have limited reach, and I don't want to deal with poison."

"Fire away."

The Inspector takes the opportunity to brew up another Napalm Grenade for later.

Amiri takes out he longbow and fires at the Mushroom directly across from the ledge

LBow: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 6

I think, since we're not staying in rounds, we can just roll a bunch of attack and damage rolls until we've eliminated each one.

"Just like shooting mushrooms in a cave."

Arrow 2 of 20
LBow: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Arrow 3 of 20

LBow: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Parrym shoots a dozen arrows, asking Ketephys to help her aim true, starting with the one on the island on the way to the back.

Maybe I'll have enough time to brew two...

Imhakaru joins in with crossbow volleys. The belt is not useful, but I could use the ring for now.

Narayan sits placidly as his companions dispense with the danger.

I could use the ring for now.

Sure thing. I'll adjust my header. It doesn't stack with Smite Evil, though.

Man, not very much ranged power without spells here.

4/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 1

5/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 7

6/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 7

7/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 4

8/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 7

9/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 8

10/20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
DMG: 1d8 ⇒ 1

"Maybe we should focus on the two inhabiting the last island, since those are the ones we are going to have to kill."

Math crunch time! H(D+S)+TCHD

Amiri's DPR per round vs a Mushroom is 2.997

Parrym's is roughly 1.65 (the DPR formula can't account for nonlethal damage from a low damage roll)

With a total Hit Point pool of 120, we'd need Amiri to shoot 40 arrows to kill them all. She only has 20, so she can only kill 2.

Parrrym has 50 arrows. She needs 37 to kill the remaining 2.

Expend resources for kills? I'm fine with that if you guys are up for it.

"I am a great archer!" says Parrym as she launches her third dozen arrow at the second mushroom that just sits there, in range, with no cover, and cannot dodge.
Her hawk, Meneldor, does a sound that is close to some ironic snort.

I am fine with using 37 arrows to slay two fungi

A hail of arrows rain down on the fungi, Parrym and Amiri taking turns sniping from the ledge. Amiri runs out of arrows before Parrym does, but at the end of the deluge of wood-shafted death four mushrooms are dead. Appreciate the mathin' Pendergast. I didn't have time to do that myself, otherwise I would've suggested it before.

Sure thing! It was a slow day at work =P

Once the archery contest concludes and Pendergast is finished funneling his concoction he helps search the area for anything of use.

Perception: 1d20 + 16 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 16 + (1) + 1 = 22
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 9 + (4) + 1 = 32

"Mushroom omelet tonight!"

Maybe not these mushrooms...

Getting to the islands is simple, just...disgusting. The water is slimy, scummy, and smells foul. It is on par with the odors from the middenstone vats, just in liquid form. Examining it Pendergast figures it could be used as a reagent for poisons with very little to change. DC 14 Fort saves to avoid being sickened, but that don't matter cause you're not fightin' anything.

A thorough search of the cavern reveals nothing of interest other than that intact skeleton. Amid the remains is a distinctive-looking weapon—a beautifully crafted longsword with the name Khorg Eldreen engraved on the hilt. On the mithral blade itself is the etched phrase, "My blade is my life, used to protect citizens and wife, may it prevent chaos and strife." Pendergast's examinations reveal it to be magic of moderate power, specifically to fight the unnatural. It is a +1 aberration-bane mithral longsword.

A blade of Purposse. It deserves better than to molder here. Will one of you ssee itss Purposse fulfilled again?

"Either Sir Imhakaru or Miss Amiri, I would suppose."

"It would probably be better served in Imhakaru's hands"

Parrym is happy to have Meneldor to be upon and avoid the dank waters...
"And who is this Khorg Eldreen, and what did he die fighting here?"

"Perhaps something we can discern when Dear Esmeralda and I examine the tome from earlier."

Back to the top?

"Back to the fresh air!"... and the never ending rain?

So, did we take Hyve alive then?

"I guess it's on to the asylum?"