PbP Gameday #3: GM Silbeg's Thornkeep: The Accursed Halls (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

The young man nods sagely at the nagaji, hoping he does not get wrangled into the butt-rubbing that was apparently quite imminent. Maybe that was an accepted thing in modern society, but he...well he wasn't so sure about it. Poochie wasn't exactly female...or human.

If the door doesn't open with the disable device:

After he gives Ophiuchus' bum a tentative and playful rub, Arturo turns to the Strong Brute, "Perhaps you could put your muscles to use on this door. My tools don't seem to be able to do the trick. I could try harder, but I suspect that brute force might be needed..."

[dice=CLW Wand]1d8+1

By my count GM that is 2 charges for this battle.

That's three now... Poochie, Jaender, and Arturo.

If you take your time, you all easily get up to the upper level (taking 10, with assists).

One was a casting, 2 were wands

Jaender breaths a sigh of relief as he hears his companions finish off the remaining goblins.

"Nasty little creatures... remind me to not take it so easy on them next time." He chuckles to himself. As Einhardt paces back and forth, unable to reach her master, Jaender tries to calm her.

"Easy girl, we'll get you up there. Here, try this. A little thanks for protecting me." He smiles at the wolf, and waves his wand.

Mage Armor on Einhardt and Jaender for the next hour. GM Silbeg you will have to rule how long that hour lasts, and when it is up I will simply recast, so in the end it is more a matter of how many charges I end up using. Not going to let myself get caught without that on again :) Since Einhardt isn't wearing any barding, the armor bonus will stack with her natural armor. Armor bonus is +4

Once that business is taken care of, Jaender uses the ropes and the assistance from his companions to make his way to the balcony.

"As long as it is light in here, I think I will hang back here with the group. I prefer pitch blackness for my scouting. I have no idea what I was thinking a moment ago, but I learned my lesson!" he chuckles, rubbing the spot where the shaft was so recently protruding from his side.

Assuming we all reach the 2nd level of the balcony and heal up + resistance chain

"Little man that burps fire, you can walk behind me. I will protect you better than I did my love Merian. I promise. My butt feels better so don't worry about rubbing it. You might make me startled and I would hate to try to hit you with my sword. Little man that speaks many languages, why didn't you just tell those goblins we were here to find a sword and not to kill us? It was a shame to kill them, but when you try and kill the pretty wolf .... The big man that sings and I can go first into that next room. Even though Mr. Hairylip and I look like twins, I should go first to protect you all since I can kill better than him."

Turning to Strong Brute, "Do you think my hairy lip looks as good as Mr. Hairylip's hairy lip? Maybe we will run across some animals with softer fur that don't smell as much like those zombies I ate in that other dungeon."

The tall man nods solemnly to Ophiuchus's question, keeping the encroaching smile off his face through a supreme effort. He will approach the door Arturo mentioned, set his pack to the side, then lunge at it, throwing his weight and musculature against it.

Strength: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

ok, I reread the door description, and evidently I misunderstood it the first few times. I also reread the effect that is "locking" the door, and Arturo was able to open the door with his 21 check on disable device. My apologies. Recon, and move on. The door Arturo opened we will say is the door that Sven is standing near, if that is ok!

are you dispatching the goblins, or questioning one? It does not appear any of you can speak goblin, and these did not appear to understand you.

"Nice!" exclaims Arturo upon spying the potion, "We can use that next time, instead of wasting charges on your wands! That ring should buy us some nice things, or I could use it to woo a maiden... the possibilities are opening up before me. We should do more of this adventuring thing."

A loud click sounds behind Arturo as he inspects the goods that were brought up along with his sack (which he hands back to the strong brute with thanks), "Oh, it appears as though I managed to unlock the door after all. Looks like the mechanism was just jammed a little. Thanks for loosening that one, you burly brute!"

Arturo will then accept his resistance and take his place in the party order (middle, I believe, just behind Ophiuchus and Strong Brute).

Roudantaimi reloads his weapon for the next challenge, and follows the others to the second floor, taking his place in the line. Middle row, if possible

Marching order, 2x2

I am going to assume the following marching order, unless I hear otherwise.
No space in between (unless you tell me otherwise).
Note: This may be a small problem for Jaender at times, if he needs to get to the front, with his slow movement.

• Sven, Poochie
  
• Roudi, Arturo
  
• Vox, Jaender
  
• Einhardt
  

Marching order is great so far as I'm concerned. Jaender is pretty squishy and shouldn't be heading to the front too often anyway, and he can always delay until we give him some charging space. ;-) Jaender, if you do want to be further up, I'd suggest swapping with me our Roudantaimi - with my preference being Roudantaimi (tactical movement is very important for Arturo).

Since it is a standard action for me, can we assume my sword is out?

@ Damo I know what your are thinking - stop it.

If you want to carry your sword out, you certainly may. However, there are going to be times when this is a detriment... such as if you need to climb (requires 2 hands) or if you are trying to talk your way out of a situation (will likely be a strong penalty to your diplomacy if you walk in waving a weapon).

Lemme know when you start walking down the corridor!

Jaender is good near the back... Also drawing a weapon can be done add pay off a move action if you have a +1 bab, which you do

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Since it is a standard action for me, can we assume my sword is out?

@ Damo I know what your are thinking - stop it.

@Mrs Hairylip: Call it your greatsword, then!

@Silbeg: I thought this was Thornkeep. Talk? Diplomacy?

Arturo starts walking down the corridor - possibly bumping into Strong Brute's back if he chooses to stand still.

Also drawing a weapon can be done add pay off a move action if you have a +1 bab, which you do

Curse = standard action. Having a weapon drawn and can act quicker in combat > dropping a sword for climbing as a free action. Although the weapons will fly 10 feet away.

actually, the curse says retrieve an item is a standard. Draw a weapon is a different action, is it not?

actually, the curse says retrieve an item is a standard. Draw a weapon is a different action, is it not?

Really? - ok what is your ruling on this? I thought they were the one and the same. Rules not my forte, being weird - got that covered.

Reading - a skill I used to possess. I will sheathe the greatsword as Arturo's envious stare is making me uncomfortable. Now Ophiuchus is ready for some diploma-zing!

'Sven', the true diplomancer of the group, keeps his scythe out and at the ready. He is highly doubtful whatever is in here wants to talk, and further doubtful that he is willing to listen even if they are conversationalists. When everyone is ready, he will walk along with Poochie at the front of the party.

Standing just above three feet tall, Roudantaimi's eyes are in a very uncomfortable level when people are showing off their swords. Politely the gnome averts his eyes and studies the masonry.

"Hey, hey, hey! No time to ... polish you weapons, let's move! We have a mission to complete. Multiple missions! Evil doesn't vanquish itself!"

Arturo decides to also have his blade at the ready. If an enormous barbarian with a scythe doesn't put them off from talking, a small Varisian with a scimitar is hardly likely to make matters worse.

"Evil, Roudantaimi? Are we expecting any? Just some bugs and some silly little goblins so far..." Arturo finds himself deep in thought, Were those goblins evil? Should we have squashed them? Ah well, the pest control mission continues.

Ok, I think we're moving on now...

Up ahead in the corridor, you see an area which is not brightly lit, like the rest of the dungeon so far. It is still dimly lit, so you can see through it, but this looks like residual light coming from the areas around it.

Actions?

Note that the somewhat awkward placement of the map is because I have matted out areas you cannot see yet, such as other rooms. Did it in white, so as to remove some of the confusion from last time. I also included the whole approach corridor, which is something that I won't always do, but made sense this time.

"Shall we just enter cautiously?" Arturo asks in a barely audible whisper, "I can sneak ahead if you like, since it's not so bright in there, but anything that can see in the dark will see me plainly enough. Best to stick together if you ask me..." Arturo waits to follow Strong Brute and Ophiuchus into the room.

"What are you saying? I can't hear you Mr. Hairlip. Come on big man that sings, let's see what wants to kill us in this room. At least everything here is alive, well dead now, but it started alive. I guess the skeletons were alive once to but they died before they came to life again. Nothing here died until we killed it. I hope they are not turning into skeletons behind us. Would the centipede turn into a skeleton centipede? Oh well, let's go."

The Nagaji strides confidently forward, but warily looking for obvious signs of things trying to kill him.

I'm back baby! + Resistance chain

So, the Nagaji strides confidently into the room.

A feeling of cold dread is palpable in this oval-shaped hall, which is finished in gleaming dark stone. The shadows in the upper portions of the chamber seem to seethe slowly with foul energy. Doorways exit the chamber to the north and the west.

As soon as Poochie enters the room, something barely seen out of the corner of the eye, a wisp of shadow which is vaguely humanoid in outline and writhes with unholy life steps out, and attacks reaches for Poochie!

incorporeal touch vs flat footed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Amazingly, the creature of shadow misses Poochie!

This must not be Poochie's day, because the shadow acts before he does.
incorporeal touch vs flat footed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 Strength Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Ophiuchus is not so lucky this time, and the creature touches him. The Oracle feels his strength being sapped away by the touch.

It is the party's turn, now.

The brute gives Ophiuchus a level look at his word usage. His eyes widen slightly in alarm...could they have risen as undead? What would cause such a thing? He peeks over his shoulder, looking for a goblin zombie. He then shrugs and follows a half step behind the nagaji, looking around for the things that would try to kill them in this room.

Seeing the shadow burst from hiding to attack Poochie, 'Sven' is torn. He wants to assist, but has a feeling his swings will be ineffectual against the assailant. He looks to the wizardly members of the party, hoping they have a solution.

"Dead thing that looks like a shadow, I have killed your kind before and I will do so again. Prepare to be dead again, but different dead."

Stepping back, the Nagaji utters a prayer to the Great One while whipping out his greatsword.

5-foot step and cast Magic Weapon on his drawn greatsword.

Can someone move me 3 spaces right, then one space right and down? That is 20 feet and gives me los to the shadow...

"one of these again!?" jaender exclaims. He shuffles forward as quickly as he can, and casts a simple, yet effective spell on the undead abomination.

Disrupt undead, ranged touch: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 1 = 23 for damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

extra +1 is for point blank range, I never remember if I get the damage bonus on spells too, if so, add 1 to damage.

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Since rays are "weapon-like" spells, you do get the point blank on to-hit and damage, if you have the feat. Added. Note, you also get the -4 for shooting into melee, but you hit, anyway. Oh, and you know you can crit, as well?

Jaender fires a blast of positive energy at the shadow, which appears to have hurt it.

next level my next feet is precise shot. Hahaha voice to text makes feet a foot.

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Noticing the helpless look on Sven's face, Roudantaimi comes up with an idea. He digs up a container of Holy Weapon balm, and spreads it on the warrior's weapon. "That'll cut through the evil thing! Go Sven, and hit it!"

Only if Sven agrees with this idea... If not, I'll retcon to something else, ok?

Cool item, Roudi! Hadn't noticed that one. Sven will get one GOOD hit!

The man nods his thanks to Roudantaimi, a grim smile on his face as he enters that special state of mind he sometimes gets into when a fight is particularly brutal. With the extra power borne of this inner fire, he steps forward and swings the scythe in a vicious arc at the shadow.

Power Attack Scythe: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 10 - 1 = 27
Damage: 2d4 + 9 + 3 + 2d4 ⇒ (2, 1) + 9 + 3 + (1, 1) = 17

Silbeg, I'll let you roll the incorporeal 50 % check

Wow! What a hit! Assuming that didn't down it...

Arturo retrieves a vial from his belt pouch and unstoppers it, viciously he splashes it over the creature, hoping the holy liquids will have some effect.

Ranged attack of some kind, holy water: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Ranged crit confirmation of some kind, holy water: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Damage, maybe?: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5

In Pathfinder, it isn't a miss chance for incorporeal undead. Magic weapons just do 50% damage. So, you do 17/2 = 8 damage.

However, Arturo is about to throw his vial of holy water, when he realizes that in his training he learned that a vial will not break on an incorporeal target! He then moves up (I assume), to prepare to pour the holy water on top of the shadow.

Vox and Einhardt are still up.

Oh, sorry, I knew it was a ranged touch attack to splash but didn't know the range (and yes, Arturo unstoppered the bottle specifically to splash the shadow rather than throw the vial). Can I keep my rolls? Totally fine if they're lost to the ages... I just don't seem to roll that many 20s for my PCs! Anecdotally, it's way less than 5% of the time. ;-)

Keeping the rolls is fine. It is actually a ranged touch attack where you have to be adjacent... but doesn't provoke.

The youth runs into the room, thinking he might not be able to actually damage the creature but hoping to at least draw some of it's attacks for his friends. A sense panic weighs heavily on him, knowing the last time his friends faced off against such a creature he almost got them all killed.

Now's your chance, redeem yourself! Vox thinks to himself, running into the room and skirting the areas where the vile shadow can reach.

Double Move: set up flanking with Strong Brute. Avoided areas of AoO. *token not yet moved*

As the youth moves, he motions for Einhardt to stay back out of the conflict this time.

Moved your token, Vox. I assume you give Einhardt the "Stay" command?
The shadow, having had a taste of Poochie, goes for another taste.
incorporeal touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 strength damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 (OUCH!)

Ophiuchus visibly sags under the burden of his gear (though there is no encumbrance changes - just RP). Its gut distended, the shadow sort of waves at the party as if to say it isn't hungry any more, belches silently, and steps into the wall. (granting it total cover)

Party is up.

Moved your token, Vox. I assume you give Einhardt the "Stay" command?

Yes, Sir!

With his unstoppered vial of holy water in hand, Arturo waits patiently for the shadow to reappear.

Delay until after the shadow appears again. That should give me a move and standard, right? That way, I'm not relying on it reappearing in a particular square but it acts first (unlike with a readied action). Correct?

Mechanics-wise, you are probably better off readying for it to attack. Incorporeal creatures are able to attack out of solid objects, though it gives them a 50% miss chance, they have total cover except when they attack, when it is just normal cover. Just making sure you all know it does not have to ever come out of the wall!

Unless we all move away from the wall... currently only Vox and Strong Brute are in that position. They can ready their attacks for when / if it comes out.

"Move away from the wall, guys! It can't attack us from in there if it can't reach us! Force it out," Arturo yells, for all the world like he knows what he's talking about.

Hearing Arturo's words of wisdom, Vox steps ten feet back from the wall, and hefts his lucerne hammer into a striking position. "Aye! We'll be ready when it seeps out of the wall," Vox calls out. "Einhardt, here girl. Get behind me!"

Move Action: 10 feet away from the wall, so Vox can use his reach weapon when it first comes out. Not that he can hurt it at all ;) *token not yet moved*

Einhardt move action to get behind Vox. *token not yet moved*

Vox: readied action to attack

Arturo the move-alator has moved Vox and Einhardt! Hope those spots suit.

The strong brute heeds sensible words and gets the hell away from the wall the shade disappeared into, letting his fire burn out and visibly sagging after he steps away.