RD's Fangwood Keep (Inactive)

Game Master Rene Duquesnoy

Round 1
* Tarrow
* Narvik
Armun - readied
Pribam
Troll
Kelvor

Narvik will move forward 30' (double move) and pulls out his crossbow.

This better work or Narvik is toast due to his limited movement speed.

Round 1
* Tarrow
Narvik
Armun - readied
Pribam
Troll
Kelvor

Tarrow up then troll

"Talk to him! He can understand us now!"

He made the save. He resisted the spell.

Given that Armun doesn't know that, but still heard Pribam, he says,"Good troll, we mean you no harm and wish to talk. May we do so? Just a moment of your time, really, nothing more" He puts every ounce of nice into his words.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 (assuming this is a useless roll though)

Tarrow's spidie sense is going OFF! but he sticks with the the plan, and moves into position. When the spell fails (assuming Pribam tells hims) Tarrow fires. " Have at him men!

single attack with point black: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

single attack damage : 1d20 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 4 + (5) = 10

Tarrow's bolt flies true and strikes the troll true.

can i have acid & fire separately going forward?

The troll takes a step back, and fully attacks Pribam
1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
2d6 + 23 ⇒ (2, 1) + 23 = 26
1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
2d6 + 23 ⇒ (6, 6) + 23 = 35
bite: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
1d6 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

according to Pribam's sheet, he only has an AC of 10.
That would mean 73 points of damage.

The troll roars in delight, and gestures to Tarrow in a "Your next" position

Round 1
Tarrow
Narvik
Armun - readied
Pribam - possibly dead
Troll
* Kelvor

Um... I hate to say this, but we might need to consider an exit strategy. I'm certainly thinking about it now. That was a lot of damage.

Well, Pribam died on the second hit. The troll then dismembered him. Enjoy the rest of your game everyone. Don't bother to waste resources bringing him back.

Your GM feels bad

Not bad enough to have not power attacked, to have grappled, or to have taken the hits one at a time, it seems. If the bite were in the middle and the troll had stopped attacking when Pribam went unconscious, he'd merely be unconscious.

He's a GM baby, character number 18. I'll just make version 2 from chronicles from the con in February.

Since we are at the end of round 2, everyone can go.

Round 1
* Tarrow
* Narvik
* Armun - readied
Pribam - dead
Troll
* Kelvor

Per what Kelvor has heard, priests of Razmir don't scream. But he hears a moan from the priest and a shout from the troll from inside the cave and then the terrible, unmistakable sound of steel chunking into flesh. And then silence. The sound of a combat gone badly. He races into the cavern.

ROUND ONE Kelvor moves

Seeing the dead body of Pribam Pey, the young Shoanti sees red, briefly. He lines himself up and then prepares to release the emotional coils constraining his Shoanti-trained savagery! He screams as he races straight in at the troll, ”Sigurx!!!!” Just before he brings his mighty earthbreaker down in an overhand chop at Sigurx the troll, he lets his control loose!

ROUND TWO Kelvor charges, the rages once he's five feet from the torll, and attacks.

PwrAtk Raging: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30
damage: 2d6 + 21 ⇒ (6, 4) + 21 = 31

Full attack. I will 5 foot step if I need to get a good shot

Attack point blank and rapid shot: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17
Damage point blank and rapid shot: 1d10 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 4 + (4) = 17
Arrow = 13
Acid = 4

Attack point blank and rapid shot: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18
Damage point blank and rapid shot: 1d10 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 4 + (2) = 10
Arrow = 8
Acid = 2

Armun, having seen the troll, will first think back to all that he knows about trolls, and gauge this one in particular.

Knowledge, Local: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12 It is Local, right? If not, the modifier is either +8 or +7.

From there, he'll move in to stand beside Tarrow, and cast Grease in the squares where Sigurx the Troll stands. DC 13 Reflex or the troll falls down.

With a glance to Tarrow, Armun says,"Now we really find out who is the better shot, my friend!"

Rene, I've presumed that Armun is still under the Invisibility spell, since it lasts 5 minutes. I'd guess, with the brief planning, that he has maybe a minute or two left on the spell. If I'm wrong, just let me know

Well, would the troll have attacked if he wasn't hit? Tarrow said he would fire assuming he was told the spell had failed. I didn't see that happen. If I'm wrong so be it, but I'm truly hoping our friend is not dead.

Assuming we continue on, Narvik will yell What is happening in there? Seeing his friends attack the troll, Narvik will step 15' closer and cast Bless.

@Narvik: I'm starting to think that, in the end, this is just a big angry troll that doesn't like intruders. Not sure we'd be able to negotiate this, even if it could understand us.

IIRC I didn't want to go in there to begin with, LOL. Also, I would still try to find a way to bring back our fallen with whatever resources we have, OOC stuff aside. I really enjoyed the way Pribam interacted with this group and it was be a tragic to have him die this way.

I definitely would want to bring him back if possible. A raise dead is just 16 prestige, after all :)

Oof. I only have 12.

I'm with you guys, forget what Pribam said, if I (we) can bring him back I think we should make every effort.

I'm with you guys, forget what Pribam said, if I (we) can bring him back I think we should make every effort.

I agree.

So IF you have a smartphone and you can remember all the brackets and backslashes for posting and dice rolling [dice= Sample] 1d20 + 1 then you can relatively easily log in and read/post. Just my two cents.

This is why I have my most common attack written into my description line that appears below my PC name when I post. That way I don't need any damned brackets on the iPhone or iPad keyboard! I just cut and paste it.

Aww! I'm touched! Pribam doesn't have that much prestige, but if you can front him the cash for the spell, he can repay it out of his share of the loot and selling gear.

Pribam Pey, seated in the Third Step below the Living God's throne in his heavenly palace looks down fondly on Ambassador Kelvor, Pastor Navrik, and Masters Tarrow and Armun, praying that they survive the encounter with the troll.

Rene, does Sigurx really have a +23 damage modifier on ranseur attacks and +15 on bites? Those numbers (and, to a lesser extent, the attack bonuses) far, far, far exceed those of a standard troll or even a hill giant. 61 of the 73 points Pribam took were from those highly unusual modifiers. May I ask you to double-check them before the party expends the resources to raise Pribam or he has to be reported as dead?

Since it seems that this has now become a discussion, I'll just let you know about the whole encounter. There is a section in the module that has a map and highlights certain areas. You are coming from the north, I added Seesaw Rock and Sigurx's Cave as flavor, since we probably expect a few encounters before reaching the destination. It was either that or random patrols which I think was lamer.

Here is what the module says about the cave.

So I say to myself, "Self if the party wants to play with the troll, what would the troll be statwise?" I google pathfinder troll fighter, and find this. There is no fighter 3, only fighter 5. So, I dropped the attack down a few, and some hit points down a few. I even let him not have his armor on. Is that the 100% correct statblock? Doubt it, but I was going for speed rather than accuracy, and I'd make that choice again.

Now it comes to the party wanting to parlay with him. I tried to give IC warnings (troll stands up and yells) and OOC warnings. Once combat began, I'm going to play the troll like I think the troll would behave if he is sick of people invading his home and trying to take him out. Of course he power attacks and such.

Long story short, his weapon is 2d6+17+6 from PA, and his bite is 1d6+4+6 from PA

I believe I acted fairly as a GM, and agree that this troll is much more powerful than you could possibly imagine. If you disagree, send me a PM to discuss it, or if you don't feel comfortable raising the issue with me, speak to your local VC/VLs.

Finally, this encounter stinks for everyone. Pribam died. Other characters feel like they have to risk themselves to save him. I have to justify how I ran it, which, as other people GM, sucks the most. I have enjoyed GMing this module and this group, and want to continue.

Do you?

Of course I wish to continue. Personally I do not have any problem with how you ran this and I saw the warnings very clearly. I even put in my vote to leave the troll alone, however the consensus was to at least talk with the troll, if not take it out.

Though, I do admit, this guy hit awfully hard for what was suppose to be a third level monster. Then again, I do not GM at all so I have nothing to compare that to, plus it is a troll after all. Also, nothing says the GM can't adjust the monsters to how he deems fit.

So, back to the game itself. If we can find a way to pull our fallen out of there, we must. Of course, we have stuck a few hits on the troll and our company might feel they can still take the troll out. Narvik will not abandon the party, especially with a member down. I hope I do not lose Narvik as part of a TPK but if that's what happens, so be it.

Thanks for the post, Rene. Given the guidelines indicated from the module, I'd say the monster is right. The only surprise is just how difficult a "flavor" encounter this is, which has probably thrown us all for a loop. A troll with a life of adventuring behind it probably should be able to destroy us handily though, so it's definitely going the way it should.

Knowing what we know now, we either TPK trying to fight the troll or we flee and move on with the game. The story will go that we're brave Pathfinders who faced a troll, were unprepared for it, and (hopefully) ran for our lives to fight another day. Given how many dead Pathfinder we find in the game world, it's pretty realistic.

Sorry too for all the questions. Speaking a bit for the group, we know you're running this fairly. We're just surprised by the level of difficulty. We live and learn :)

ALL: I think Narvik probably had the best idea to begin with. Shall we cut our losses and run for it?

I PM'd Rene about it. Really, there's no need to risk suicide to save my PC. I hope to play with you guys again in other games. It was a blast while it lasted!

If I can drop Cause Fear on the troll maybe we can at least grab his body and high-tail it out of here. Don't be so quick to dismiss ol' Pribam!

Let's retreat.

Kelvor retreats at first opportunity. He brings the body if he can, but doesn't hesitate to leave the body if he must.

After reading some PMs about this, and talking to other GMs on how to handle this situation, I'm willing to hit the reset button to move on to the actual keep. No deaths, no troll, no awkwardness.

There is a keep to be cleaned up. Cool?

I will do whatever we feel is proper. I certainly do not mind going to the keep intact. However, I do not want to "cheat" to do it. Not being a GM I really do not have an informed view on this though.

I'll go with the consensus.

I'd be happy to do that. I was really enjoying the adventure and believe there was only an honest but deadly math error.

Disoriented, Pribam picks himself up off the ground, retrieves "The 31 Steps" and his wand of web off the ground, puts them in the bag of holding and dusts himself off.

"Well, Pathfinders, it seems the troll took unkindly to my proselytizing. Nevertheless, the Living God has decided that it is not quite my time yet. Therefore, let us proceed to the keep and deal with this rogue Molthuni commander."

Alrighty. To the keep!

In.

"Lets move, Men, are burning daylight"

The party clicks their magical ruby slippers and appears near Fangwood Keep. There is a large outer wall that surrounds it, and you see only one gate. The wall stretches up 15 feet high, and it is pretty smooth. The keep inside the wall is a 2 story, clover shaped structure. The keep and its walls is out in the open, and you measure about 150 feet between the walls and forest.

Perception checks

It is about 3PM.

Perception: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1

Distracted by a butterfly, Pribam notices nothing.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

"All clear."

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Narvik doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Should we wait for cover of darkness? There might be patrols, however.

Pribam whispers, "Shouldn't we discuss this and prepare out of earshot lest our voices travel and give us away? There may be no guards at the moment, but that could change." Pribam points back to the woods, starts walking toward cover, and gestures for the others to follow.

Narvik nods and follows. Perhaps we could find another entrance. I do not think storming the front gate would be wise.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

"Hrm. Okay, let's prepare. Though I daresay there's not much more preparation I need. I'm ready."

Once well away from the walls, when he gauges he can spellcast without attracting attention from beings with normal hearing at the keep, Pribam casts message on Narvik and Armun and again on Kelvor and Tarrow. He will recast the spell as necessary to maintain it (duration 20 minutes), so long as he gauges the party is out of earshot, and again just before they start to approach the keep again, whenever that may be.

"Gentlemen," he whispers, "the Church has sent me well-prepared. We have at our disposal a wand of web, a scroll with two castings of haste, a scroll of dimension door, a scroll of resilient sphere, and this holy necklace of fireballs, as well as the scrolls of hold portal, knock, and sending, and the two elixirs of hiding we received from the Forest Marshal."

Pribam continues to whisper, "Once you decide on an entrance, we could sneak in. If we encounter resistance, we can use webs to create bottlenecks and, if necessary, to cover our retreat. The scroll of dimension door will only allow the caster to transport two individuals in addition to the caster, but can be used to get us past obstacles or out of harm's way. They are all at your disposal."

Narvik nods again as the list is presented. Perhaps one of our more stealthy types could see if another entrance even exists. From there we could form a plan. Narvik taps his lame leg. As you are already aware, I am not fleet of foot.

"Good resources, all of them," Armun says to Pribam, a bit grudgingly. "I can help with some stealth with what magic I have. I've one more casting that will render someone invisible. I'm fine with a stealthy approach, and can scout for another entrance. That said, I doubt we'll be able to stay stealthy indefinitely."

"I agree, the front door is probably the worst way to enter the keep."

"I can be quite when required." + 6 on stealth

Looking at Armun. But if you think you can circle the keep faster and quieter solo, then do it that way, however I always have reservations about splitting the party."

After contemplating the situation..

"I say go Armun, find us a second entrance or a good place to scale the wall."

"Right then. Well, now seems like as good a time as any," Armun says, and drinks the Elixir of Hiding. "Off I go. Back in a few."

Armun will scout around Fangwood Keep, looking for alternate entrances, guards, and other dangers.

Stealth: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 37
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9