Pirate 5-06 Have What you Hold PbP GD VI (Inactive)

Game Master Pirate Rob

no, feather step only helps with difficult terrain, not sand hazards.

Searlas will take some time to go over a battle plan with Hariwini. "All right girl... So here's the plan. As soon as our match starts I'm gonna need you to help us out. Unlike last time, these folks wont really be trying to kill us, so you shouldn't get too worried when we take a few hits. What we will need to know is where are the traps. Your job will be simple. Fly around the arena and chirp whenever you spot a flooded sand trap."

He pauses, looks at Hariwini's somewhat confused look, and rephrases himself. "Look for pits full of water covered in sand to hide them. When you see one, circle the edges of it and chirp three times. Once you're done, keep looking for others. We'll do what we can to avoid jumping into them."

Tomorrow morning (morning of the fight), I'll set her 1 pt evolution to Skilled (Perception) to boost her perception through the roof. If you want to have her act on her own initiative instead of mine she has a +2. Feel free to bot her and have her spiral out from my position, keeping about 20 ft above the field. As soon as she spots a trap, she should chirp, fly around its border, then continue her route. Her perception tomorrow should be 5 (My ranks) +3 (Trained) +3 (Skill Focus) +2 (Wisdom) +8 (Racial from Skilled evolution) = +21. She should be suffering at least a -2 penalty for being 20 ft up, plus whatever additional penalty she distance from the trap. Each turn she'll fly as a move action and search as a standard action. It would probably be best if you bot her for the whole fight so you can handle her flight path, checks, and revealed information without waiting for a back and forth between me and you.

Would Air Step help? It says you can't walk over liquid. If the watered down sand is considered liquid it's a no go.

"I'll try to get her allies to turn on her. Things like Murderous command and Cause Fear."

I was looking at air step, but it's a personal spell so I'd have to do a scroll. I consider myself widely skilled, but with only a +4 to UMD...

"Turning them against themselves... that's definitely something I can do. Anyone wanna see if her posse enjoy a good drink tonight?"

Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment), Murderous Command, and Id Insinuation ready to go. This scrawny half-elf prefers to sow confusion and cower in a corner.

"Better yet, just command them to surrender..." replies Itra with a chuckle. "Though I'm not sure that would fly."

air step should work. I just spent far too much time going through hydrogel science articles.

With her purchases made-- and a few more arrows for good measure-- Zephyr's ready to go, and looks forward to a night's sleep before the duel.

Your match against Helkit headlines a long day of battle.

In the late morning, a handful of naked, convicted criminals, including the pirate captain you turned over to the authorities “fight” a gelatinous cube, warming the crowd for more brawls to come.

After herding the skeleton filled cube offstage, numerous one-on-one matches fill out the schedule as up-and-coming gladiators face off.

With your match coming up you are herded to your locker room where you may make preparations.

As a reminder you are expecting 10 minutes of wait between any prep and the start of combat

Searlas will activate his wand of Mage Armor on both himself and Hariwini, and then casts False Life on himself.

False Life: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

"Alright girl... you know the plan?"

GM, are you OK with botting Hariwini's searches?

Itra spends the preparatory time in silent meditation, alternately grasping and releasing her weapon as she attunes herself to her inner fortitude. No mechanical effect.

"Yep! Search and chirp!" CHIRP CHIRP

Yup, I'll deal with Harimini's looking when the time comes.

Just gave her a profile and stat line of her own for your (and my) convenience. Time to watch her get 'killed' twice in one scenario!

Shera kneels and prays before the match. "Erastil help us."

"It might be wise to come up with a plan of action for the first couple of seconds. Should we concentrate on the leader or her companions?"

Itra opens her eyes and stretches her legs for a moment, nodding slightly at Shera's prayer and nodding again at the idea. "It would probably help if we could immobilize or otherwise incapacitate Helkit quickly; her lackeys are more likely to yield if their leader is... indisposed."

"I've got a few ways to do that... I can cloud her mind with oppressive boredom, but she could possibly shrug that off quickly. I can overcome her id and drive her to confusion. If I do that and I'm able to overcome her force of will then I can keep her mind clouded so long as I focus on her. She may still be able to make rational decisions periodically, but it should give us a major advantage. Although if I do that, I'll be forced to focus on her for the remainder of the match. Perhaps it would be best to sow some confusion in her ranks at the beginning and then focus on her afterwards? Of course you know what they say... no plan survives first contact with the enemy..."

"Good luck! Have fun! Don't die!"

"I think we should focus on the boss lady first. If we can take her down we can turn the crowd against them, and then we can really play with their heads."

"I'll try and calm the animals, if there are any. Daffy, can ya link us all with that whisperin' thing again? If we find the holes, it might be handy if we can tell each other where they are without alertin' the other side too, neh?"

"Can Hari...bird use that spell as well? Better than chirping, and less likely to draw attention."

I think Daffy just cast message last time.

Right; if Hariwini can use that to tell us where the holes are instead of chirping, it'll be harder for the enemy to correctly interpret and use to their advantage.

Ah, just read the spell. For some reason I thought message was 1 way. Derp.

"Yeah, I think that should work, what do you think girl? Instead of chirping loud, just whisper it. Don't worry, we'll hear you."

"Sure, I can do that. Once I get my song cranked up it don't take much to keep it rollin'."

I can on message three creatures (one creature touched per level), so I'll have to choose carefully. Is the bird casting message, or replying to mine? If she's replying to mine, then it will be the bird and two of you.

Bird can't cast or deliver spells. Will have to be Daffy casting

-Posted with Wayfinder

Hoping to get this prep sorted out so we can start the action by this afternoon.

Thumbs up from me: let's do this.

Good to go.

Got it: So I can send a message to three targets as a standard action. One target will be the bird, who would like to be the other recipients?

I'd suggest me, simply because I'm probably the best interpreter for Hariwini if she spots anything out of the ordinary. She speaks common but with int 7 that could come out... less than clear. For the other I'd say Itra since she's a melee and is more likely to rush forward. She'll probably need the earliest of warnings.

Yeah, I support that selection.

Actually, it's a 10m/level cantrip; can't you just cast it on all of us before the fight? DM's ruling as to whether that would work, of course, but I don't see anything in the spell that would contraindicate it.

Alright, with message on Itra, Birdy and Searlas...

You are all oiled up and made to look as shinny as possible as you are introduced to the ring after about 10 minutes of hullabaloo.

A large man with a bull horn shouts to the crowd.

"Time to introduce our challengers... Itra Javek, as a guard she's killed hundreds of goblins, and has been considered too deadly for the ring, she is able to appear today under special waver from the Lord Mayor himself."

"Introducing Searlas Savy. His magic's can make even the bravest warriors' heads explode."

"Next is Daffy Johns, from the plane of Water his extraplanar exploitss are sure to be exciting."

"Zephyr has learned the ancient secrets of the Azlanti people and has used them to not only survive the Eye of Abendego but harness it's power and use it to make her arrows bend in mid-air to her will."

"Shera Dionas, priest of Erastil. She fights, she arrows, she blesses! She does it all!"

With the final introduction, the crowd’s cheers reach a crescendo, demonstrating that the citizens of Tymon are impartial in their favoritism so long as bloodshed is imminent. As the opposing gate opens, Helkit and her Slayers do not emerge. Instead, part of the arena’s floor begins to lower as the master of ceremonies continues shouting.

“Despite their achievements, it would be a sad event to just drop anyone into the arena cold against one of the bloodied! It’s only fair they be given a chance to warm up first, don’t you agree?”

Supportive as always, the crowd’s cheering drowns out anything else the announcer attempts to say for a moment. “Then let’s bring out our favorite pet! She’s been aching for a hardier challenge, and I think our friends here are just the thing!”

With that the MC bows and steps away as a snarling lion with draconic wings and a long spiky tail rises in the center of the arena.

Initiative
Zephyr
Itra
LION
Searlas
Daffy
Shera

Zephyr and Itra are up!

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Itra's eyes roll at the descriptions of the group, and then widen as the creature appears. "A manticore," she grunts. "Watch its tail; it may start flinging spikes."

Grasping her weapon firmly, she moves to the side and beckons the monster to attack her. Moved 25', total defense.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (16) + 19 = 35

"Ah. A Manticore. Lovely. Don't think you're safe just cos you're away from its jaws. Flings spikes from its tail too."

For additional info could I get lowest save, special defenses, any other special attacks, and... um... does it understand any languages?

Manticores speak common and have relatively weak will saves.

"Haha! Great introduction," Zephyr grins, though the grin turns to a grimace as the thing that is released isn't Helkit. "....ahhh, shoulda expected that."

She snaps her wrist down in a flick of motion, a wand dropping into her palm. A whispered command word, and Zephyr's bow grows a little heavier. Gravity bow, 1 minute

Rather than rushing into a more advantageous position, Zephyr scans the sands with her keen eyes. Harawini is supposed to look too, she knows, but more eyes don't hurt.

Move action -Active Perception for traps: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

If the sand immediately east of Zephyr's feet looks okay to her, she'll take a 5-ft step forward, as arrowed on map

Zephyr doesn't notice any sand out of place.

nothing was mentioned about shifting sands this bonus match, so it's probably safe.

With Itra taking up a forward position and Zephyr taking a moment to buff the Manticore flaps its wings and takes flight, leaving 15 feet between it and the ground.

Ignoring the defensivly positioned warrior it insteaad snaps it's tail and flings a quartet of tail spikes at the airy ranger.

Initiative
Zephyr (8/32)
Itra
Manticore
Searlas
Daffy
Shera

Everybody is up!

Searlas turns and strikes a pose, two fingers to his temples and an outstretched hand towards the Chimera, hamming it up as much as possible. "Hah beastie! Your mind is weak and will be crushed like a bug trodden underfoot! Now... HALT!"

Casting Oppressive Boredom, DC 20

"I'm pretty sure this is cheating, but now we have to deal."

Shera moves up to Zephyr and touches her shoulder. She casts Cure Moderate wounds on her.

CMW: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (7, 5) + 3 = 15

The Manticore beams, energized by the cheering crowd .

One more thing, abbreviated Performance Combat rules below...

CP 0 Party/Manticore 3
Initiative
Zephyr (8/32)
Itra
Manticore
Searlas
Daffy
Shera

was posting same time as Shera, meant to post with the manticore turn. If Shera or Searlas would rather do something different due to reacting to the crowd please feel free.

I'll stick with oppressive boredom. Maybe it'll roll a 1 on his save =P

♫Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble Little Lion Man,
You'll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck♫

Daffy moves away from the creature as he begins to sing.

Inspire Courage +1

Zephyr is taken off guard by the brutal spine attack, and lets out a cry of pain as the thorn-like spikes tear into her. "Owrr! Argh!"

Shera's healing helps somewhat (assuming Shera keeps her action) and Zephyr grits her teeth. "Right, my turn. CREW, LET'S GET THAT BASTARD!"

move action - Freebooter's bane (+1 to hit/+1 to damage for party) - free - drop wand - standard to fire

Bardic, FB, PBS: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 1 + 1 = 12 ....that's nice. I'm gonna use my reroll with GM stars on that. >:[ Zephyr's not going down like that!

I SAID GET HIM: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 24
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 6) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 16

Itra frowns at the creature's unsporting behavior, sticks her staff-weapon in the sand beside her, and looses her bow. With a flourish that doesn't exactly add anything to the shot (but looks pretty spiffy), she draws her bow and releases an arrow straight toward the manticore!

Perform (any): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Pew (inspire, FBB): 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 1 + 1 = 14
Damage?: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4

Hrmph.

sorry for the delay, wanted to give Shera a fair chance to take a difference action if desired.

willsave: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 2 = 25

The manticore starts a yawn but is too energized by the cheering crowd as it swallows its yawn and glares down at the party.

Meanwhile Shera heals Zephyr a bit as the crowd boos, discouraging the pathfinders bit.

Daffy inspires the party.
Zephyr's arrow appears guided by fate and strikes the manticore anyway.

Itra gives up her defensive posture for a bow but is unable to connect with the manticore.

With the crowd firmly on its side the Manticore fires another volley of spikes at Zephyr.

Zephyr is once again impaled by 3 spikes but manages to remain standing.
21 damage from 3 spikes

The intensity of the crowd has increased, they are clearly enjoying the match, even if they are rooting for the manticore.

With your CP at -1 from the healing you all have a -1 morale penalty on attack rolls, combat maneuver checks, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws.

CP -1 Party/Manticore 5
Initiative (Inspire Courage)
Zephyr (2/32)
Itra
Manticore -16 (Free Booter Bane)
-Searlas
-Daffy
-Shera

Itra glares at the crowd before loading another arrow and firing at the manticore again!

Pew! (inspire, FBB, CP): 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 1 + 1 - 1 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4

Daffy draws a shortbow with a flourish, draws an arrow, and fires, all in time with his song. Move action to draw the bow, standard to fire, free to maintain Inspire Courage.

attack, PBS, IC, FBB: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 19
damage, PBS, IC, FBB: 1d6 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5

If I'm understanding the performance combat rules there, I wouldn't get to make the perform check unless I crit on that shot, right?

The blue-skinned sylph is studded with spines, blood running scarlet over her azure skin. She weaves on her feet, but sights an arrow all the same, knowing each shot from her bow must count before she goes unconscious.

Vs Manticore, PBS, IC, FBB, crowd penalty: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 1 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 9 + 1 + 1 + 1 - 1 = 21
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6, 1) + 3 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 13

After firing her arrow, Zephyr drops prone with a groan. MAybe it'll land to try and finish her off... then Itra can attack. AC 25 vs ranged now

Yeesh, that thing hits like a truck! Do what you feel best, Shera: obviously heals would be appreciated, but they're also going to negatively impact us as a party.