Can you give me an estimate how long it'll take Ezren to climb down off the roof? I'm debating whether it's worth burning my use of Arcane Bond for the day for another dimension door... From the entrance to the curtain looks like a move action to me; the question is how long does it take Ezren to get down off the roof.
Just guesstimating as the height of the towers is not a part of this encounter.... Assuming you plan to run back in and choose your dimdoor target to facilitate this (say ending in the corner above area 5). Move action (& climb check) down + move action to front of tower double move to door 10 feet of room entrance... 2 Rounds. That sound reasonable?
As the nasty starts flowing from the shattered tank, Merisiel's nose crinkles in disgust. "Oh, my gods, do these freaks drink this stuff?" she gags as the ooze flows towards then lashes out at her. "Ow! What the hells are wrong with these people!"
Merisiel begins to heave at the smell, but then her the stench changes to something sweet. Something pleasant and almost... desirable.
Axia: does not break grapple
Valeditoros: attacks G1
PBP Ezren: moves to A, dimdoors to roof.
GenRo: tanglefoots G2
Brass gearsmen: G1 attacks V, G2 attacks glass
Egelsee Cocktail: attacks GenRo
Beggars: moves only (still non-combatants so far)
Kyra: <=we are here now also fort save needed.
Axia becomes non-combatant, Valeros on deck.
Kyras lunch begins climbing her throat and adding its own terrible smell to the odor of the room. she is sickened for 10 rounds (still your turn for R2 :).
Valeros' swords cut into the men made of armor and its limbs begin to droop. The light in its eye dims, then disappears. A slow whirring comes to a stop and the creature tumbles to the floor.
Fearing that she has been poisoned, Kyra uses her turn to draw her antitoxin and drink it, giving her +5 to poison based Fort saves for the next hour. Suspecting there may be secondary saves, she mutters a quick prayer to Sarenrae to guide her, hoping the antitoxin will suffice.
She then prepares to draw her scimitar and engage this weird slime that assails her and her allies.
"Ack! Poison, use your antitoxins if you have them!"
Jumping in line ahead of Ezren, who's otherwise occupied with running back to us...
sniff, sniff..."Actually... this stuff doesn't smell so bad up close like this... kinda like... cookies right out of the oven...", Merisiel declares to the room at large. Of course, pleasant scent or not, the stuff is trying to eat her, so she has no intention of standing around and letting it do so...
Standard action: she makes an Escape Artist check to break free of the things oozy clutch.
1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18
The target DC is the Cockstail's CMD. If that check fails, she simply sighs and uses her move action to draw her rapier. If that beats it, she then uses her move action to make an Acrobatics check to get the hell out of the way without getting whacked. The floor being difficult terrain now, that means I'd be traveling at half speed, and a normal Acrobatics check means I move at half speed as well, so I'll be doing this with a +10 to the check DC to at least let me move a full 15 feet. Fortunately I don't think either the goo or the gearsman have a killer CMD, so... yeah, wish me luck.
1d20 + 20 ⇒ (11) + 20 = 31
Target goals are the CMDs of both the ooze and the remaining gearman, +10. Merisiel is going to head 15 feet straight north, to put her directyl NE of the "4".
[EDIT] Argh. looks like I failed the easier check and would have made the harder one. Grumble. Lovely. mental note to make preliminary checks first before typing out a lengthy followup action, in the future.
"But I don't CARE how nice it smells, someone get over here and KILL this thing!" She draws her rapier.
The first gearsmen whirs back to action and at the sword wielder with the humming mancatcher. The second gearsmen moves over to the fighter, but takes its time getting through the water.
The cocktail stretches and slams the rogue with a globular psuedopod to maintain its grip on the rogue. The oil on its slick skin, burns into the rogue sucking all the liquid from her body.
One of the addicts sees an opening and runs up to the ooze looking for a free hit. Ironically getting only a miss.
G1 v V:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28, dmg:1d2 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7+ electrical:1d6 ⇒ 2 Sorry about the confusion, G1 still up I missed hardness and recalculated damage), G2 too slow in difficult terrain. egelsee maintains grapple:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21, doing con:1d2 ⇒ 1 addict:1d20 - 5 ⇒ (4) - 5 = -1
Valeditoros: attacks G1
PBP Ezren: climbs down roof (make a check?) & runs toward door.
GenRo: bakes cookies
Brass gearsmen: G1 attacks V, G2 moves through water
Egelsee Cocktail: fluid drains GenRo
Beggars (3): 1 moves and swings at egelsee
Kyra: <=we are here now
R2 summary:
Axia: does not break grapple
Valeditoros: attacks G1
PBP Ezren: moves to A, dimdoors to roof.
GenRo: tanglefoots G2
Brass gearsmen: G1 attacks V, G2 attacks glass
Egelsee Cocktail: attacks GenRo
Beggars: moves only (still non-combatants so far)
Kyra: draws potion & drinks it
Axia becomes non-combatant, (nice job)
Kyra moves drawing her scimitar to engage the oozy critter in the hope it falls quickly, or at minimum, releases her ally, actively seeking a flanking position if possible.
She strikes out at the beast, (Standard melee attack)
Attack Roll: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
That will be 2 higher if I can get flanking position with one of the beggars / my party members.
Damage would be: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
GM Note - Kyra crits on 18-20's and when she does, she does additional fire damage with the scimitar - doesn't apply this go unfortunately. Oh, and Kyra wants a new dice machine, this one seems like it's forgotten numbers 10 and above >.<
Climb:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11 You didn't declare a DC, but a failure probably means falling, which shouldn't slow me down too badly.
If Ezren reaches the battle while I'm incommunicado on Shabbat:
Ezren will be stationing himself by the curtain closest to the entrance door (SE of the tank). His area spells would be horrible under the circumstances, so he opens with scorching ray, giving him two ranged touch attacks.
Valeros now has two gearsman near him, but with their long weapons they stand just back far enough apart that he cannot hit both.
G1 is now backed against the wall, V can 5 ft. to either one, they currently have flanking on V.
Valeros: <=we are here now
PBP Ezren: double moves into room (fort save for stench)
GenRo:
Brass gearsmen:
Egelsee Cocktail:
Beggars (3):
Kyra:
R3 summary:
Valeditoros: attacks G1
PBP Ezren: climbs down roof (make a check?) & runs toward door.
GenRo: bakes cookies
Brass gearsmen: G1 attacks V, G2 moves through water
Egelsee Cocktail: fluid drains GenRo
Beggars (3): 1 moves and swings at egelsee
Kyra: slashes ooze
"If I could, I so would, Val..." Merisiel replies, once again trying to contort her body out of the ooze's grasp.
Escape Artist check: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22
Okay, I THINK that gets her free from the ooziness. Going with the rest of my actions assuming that beats its CMD.
With a rather nasty-sounding wet 'POP', she wrenches herself loose from the pseudopod. She glances around, uncertain of where to swing next, when seeing a huffing Ezren run back into the room, she makes up her mind.
"Ezren, spot Kyra with this thing? I KNOW I can skewer the brass monkeys, but not sure how good pointy things are against blobs that don't have kidneys to poke!"
And with that, she runs as best she can across the slimy floor to try and lend a hand to the fighter.
I'm a little fuzzy on positions at the moment, but from my current position (2 S and 1 E of the "4"), my goal is to close the distance between myself and the gearsmen as much as possible. With 15 feet of movement available to me, ideally I'd like to go diagonally NE one square, then one north and one east to get around the corner of the tank. That should put me due west of the "4". Not dealing with an acrobatics check, so I'll at least be provoking an AoO from the cocktail, possibly from one or both gearsmen as well. With her Mobility feat, this puts her AC at 27 for purposes of provoking. If I can't do any of that because I'm running through something, then feel free to adjust my movement with that ultimate goal in mind. Oh, and just for extra comfort she draws a knife while moving, holding it in her other hand.
Merisiel HP count: 41
Merisiel Constitution count: 11
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
From my phone, please excuse hasty format :(
Because they have reach the G's are 20 ft apart, G2 is two w of "4".
Dice=aoo ooze 1d20+7 /dice, dice=dmg1d6 /dice
Dice=aoo G2 1d20+10 /dice dice=1d2+5 /dice, plus dice=dmg 1d6 /dice
Dice=G2 at V
Dice=aoo G2 1d20+10 /dice dice=1d2+5 /dice, plus dice=dmg 1d6 /dice
The gearsman have Valeros between them now and press the attack. The Egelsee stretches out to the nearest human with two pseudopods. The man stops moving and the creature engulfs it. The other addicts close with their source while Kyra does the same with her scimitar.
INI
Valeros: <=we are here now
PBP Ezren: fires two scorching rays, but only one hits.
GenRo:
Brass gearsmen:
Egelsee Cocktail:
Addicts (3):
Kyra:
R4 summary:
[ooc]Valeros: attacks G1<=we are here now
PBP Ezren: double moves into room (fort save for stench)
GenRo: slips away from ooze moves to G2
Brass gearsmen: attack V
Egelsee Cocktail: attacks Addict
Addicts (3): hit for a hit
Kyra: attacks ooze
Oh, cool! Missed that. Don't you worry - I'm the one trying to get a handle on the mechanics here; it's been a looooong time since I've used combat rules, and even then we mostly fudged everything.
Last rounds AoOs from both the ooze and G2 miss the living hell out of Merisiel.
Merisiel, eyes glinting with long-held frustration that FINALLY is about to get payoff, maneuvers her way past one gearsman and instead slips around to face the other one. Right opposite of where Valeros stands swinging.
If I've got this right, 15 feet of movement should just be enough to get me to flanking position on G1. This will again incur AoOs from both G1 and G2, but I'll take it.
And then she jabs her rapier firmly up the gearsman's a!&$*+*.
The first gearsman swings at the closing rogue. Then shudders as her rapier hits some internal important bits. Flanked by the two adventurers it has no choice but to move then swing at the fighter. The second gearsman steps up and does the same.
The Egelsee drains the fluids from the creature it has grappled. Two addicts again attempt to hit it. Though the mindless creature cannot be flanked, Kyra's scimitar fairs much better.
Egelsee v addict grapple:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12, con drain:1d2 ⇒ 2 addict v Egelsee:1d20 - 5 ⇒ (17) - 5 = 12 addict v Egelsee:1d20 - 5 ⇒ (3) - 5 = -2
not sure if it would continue to drain fluids from a dead person, but will stick with it as it feeds off the fluids itself.
Valeros: attacked G1 <=we are here now
PBP Ezren: scorching ray
GenRo: attacked G1 (the move did not provoke from G2 since its weapon has reach)
Brass gearsmen: attacked V
Egelsee Cocktail: drained victim
Addicts (2): attempt hit
Kyra: missed Ooze
before/after G1 5' shifts:
V.G1.M
V.-.M
-.-.G1
Does that make sense?The two of you are against the wall, one will have to move or both will have to five foot to re-establish flanking. This will mean a delay on V's part, a ready on M's part but is doable at level 7.
Merisiel gives a grunt as the gearman's mancatcher gives her a thwak as she gets in position, but is still satisfied that she managed to do a lot more damage in return. As it steps away, she cries "Keep 'im between us, Val!", while preparing to take another step to get behind the hunk of junk.
Valeros will happily wait a moment to get an advantage -- his wounds are starting to add up.
Valeros continues to hack wildly at his foe. It's easy enough to make contact, but he's not sure if the many dents he's putting in its armor is actually doing any damage to it.
Minmaxer time! Just want to point out some stuff that might get overlooked. So, I assume that means Valeros delayed till my initiative count, I five foot stepped and readied an action to attack as soon as he five-foot stepped, and then we both went stabbity on G1 at the same time? That's how that works? As long as we both get flanking, sweet. However, since that means we BOTH go after Ezren, I'd like to point out that Valeros benefits from haste, now. So with the +1 bonus added in, three of his attacks, instead of one, should hit. Also, he has a trait that gives him +1 damage when flanking. Altogether, this means that instead of doing 9 damage that doesn't even make it past hardness, he just did 10, 13, and 11 damage, which means 4 damage after hardness? Plus, since he's full attacking, he now gets to take one more swing from the haste
Merisiel grins as the benefits of Ezren's spell wash over her. "Ohh, I LOVE when you cast that."
She takes a step to place herself on the gearsman's right side, then waits for Valeros to take a similar step to its left. Then she presses her own attack while Valeros makes like a buzzsaw across from her.
A tiny splash sounds in the chamber as a metal gear lands in the puddle of water. In the echo of Ezran's spell the raining of metal is easy to hear. With expert timing and precision teamwork Valeros and Merisol reduce the first gearsman to small metal and broken gears. The second gearsman swings at the rogue.
The ooze moves toward the bright life of the cleric, looking for a better meal than it has had in years, even as the meals it has grown used to attempt to feed themselves to it.
Egelsee v Kyra:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13, dmg:2d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 3) + 3 = 10,
Egelsee v Kyra:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12, dmg:2d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 1) + 3 = 8 plus grab:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26, need fort save for each hit (remember sickened).
Good question I might have lost some as well in relation to the room. :) Hopefully next year the sandbox announced last PaizoCon will be up :)
M is 1 ne of "4"
V is 3 e and 1 n of "4" (flanking with M)
G2 is se of "4"
addict1 is 3s of "4"
addict2 is 4s of "4" (flanking with K)
Egelsee is 4 s and 1 e of "4" (near the south door)
K is 4s and 1e of "4"
Ezren is 4s and 4 east of "4" though you could have gone an addtional 20' after entering the room if you want to re-position your self.
Kyra is up, but others can take the top of the next initiative's actions if they want to keep things moving.
Before doing my rolls, can I check if the grab counts as needing a save too, i.e. does it count as a hit? - I'm fairly sure the 12 and 13 miss, but the 26 I think is a hit - I will check when I get back to my home laptop and character sheet.
The advantage to pre-gens is that I also have a copy (or you can add AC/perceptions/ to the characters profile under race/gender).
Both are misses, so the grab and fort saves are not needed.
pm sent, but moving on
Kyra attacks the ooze with speedy swipes of her scimitar, then Ezren sneaks a shot past the cleric.
scimitar:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10, dmg:1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 hasted scimitar:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21, dmg:1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 V & M are up.
"Rinse, wash and repeat with metal man number two, Valeros..."[b], merisiel says, wincing from said metal man's last blow. She holds her rapier up in response to its mancatcher zap, showing it the residue of its buddy smeared along her blade. [b]"You're next."
Since Val & I are now on the same initiative count, I'm going to hold off until he moves in. (Assuming he moves in; don't wnat to speak for Jacob, but just making a reasonable guess.) Then she follows through with a series of tumbles and rolls to avoid the gearsman's attacks as she closes in to get up close & personal, positioning herself directly across from wherever Valeros positions himself. (With the extra 30 feetof movement from haste, I should have enough to place myself pretty much in any square next to it, even moving half speed from Acrobatics.) Once she's in place, another rapier jab.
Valeros steps in again against the other gearman, willing to take a few scratches if it gives him a chance with the android.
Where did she go? I hope we're not looking for her because our friend's interested. That'd be a shame. I'd hate to have to go to all this trouble only to break his heart.
His swords flashes again, the sound of metal on metal filling the room as he puts a few more small dents in his new foe. sigh; crap rolls again
The second-and now only-gearsman finds itself in a small bind. It steps five foot back (nearly to the ooze) and swings at the rogue. Rather than try to damage the creature it decides preventing the nimble pair from getting the best of it.
The ooze continues toward the bright life of the cleric, looking for a better meal than it has had in years, even as the meals it has grown used to attempt to feed themselves to it.
Egelsee v Kyra:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20, dmg:2d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 2) + 3 = 6,
Egelsee v Kyra:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18, dmg:2d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 1) + 3 = 5 plus grab:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19, need fort save for each hit (remember sickened).
INI
PBP Ezren: crossbows egelsee
GenRo: attacks G2
Valeros: attacks G2
Brass gearsmen: G2 grapples M
Egelsee Cocktail: attacks K
Addicts (2): attack Egelsee
Kyra: <= we are here now.
last round:
PBP Ezren: castes haste
GenRo: readies, attacks G1
Valeros: delays, kills G1
Brass gearsmen: G2 attack M
Egelsee Cocktail: drops addict, attacks K
Addicts (2): attack Egelsee
Kyra: attacks ooze 5 foot closer to V
Fort Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20 _5 for antitoxin if it's poison based
56 - 6 = 50 hp
Grab gets me too :(
I'll continue to stab at the thing grabbing me... but as I'm grappled, I can't do a double scimitar attack as that would be a two handed attack - so just the one attack then... (I can't escape artist as Im not trained, so there's only one way out for me I think, hack it to death)
Merisiel grits her teeth and works to squirm out of the mancatcher's grasp.
Escape artist check: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29 vs. gearman's CMD.
Assuming that breaks her free, she five foot steps back underneath the mancatcher'sthreat range, once again getting up in the gearman's grill. She drops the dagger she's been holding in her off hand and pulls out a vial of alchemist's fire. Just in case.
If I'm right on postions, G2 is now 2 S and 1 E of the 4; Merisiel's step should put her 1 S and 2 E of the 4, right on one of G2's corners.
"See if we can't back this guy up against Kyra and her slimy buddy back there; once he's stuck where he can't move, he's dead."
Unlike the cleric, she escapes its grasp and continues fighting.
... starts to suspect, on the history of attack rolls, that the d20 in use is, in fact, one of those weird ones that go 0-9 and... 0-9 - it would explain so much...
For when you get to Kyra, to speed up play... she continues to hack away... unless someone moves beside her for healing
{if attacking)
Fort Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 +5 is antitoxin bonus counts
"Keep that stuff away from me. I can't stab it until I'm done cutting this thing up!"
He chops away again at the gearsman, growing frustrated as it continues to block most of his swings. "By Calistria's cleavage, after we're done here, I'm going to find whoever made these things and if they're as hard to hit with my sword!"
Mechanics:
Assuming I still have flanking
+2 Longsword: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 12 + 2 = 20 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
I need a bit of clarification.
The link provided in the encounter says that these gearsman are vulnerable to crits. Vulnerable (as a universal monster ability) says a creature takes 50% more damage from a particular energy type. Does this mean the gearsmen take 1.5 damage from a crit? Or does it mean that as a construct they can be critically wounded? (Assuming that most constructs are not subject to crits (throwback to 3.5 ??)
I hope one of you has the InnerSea Bestiary and it will clarify. Thanks.
Vulnerable to Critical Hits: Whenever a robot takes extra damage from a critical hit, it must make a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid being stunned for 1 round. If it makes a successful saving throw, it is staggered for 1 round. The robot remains immune to other sources of the stunned condition.
Didn't want to ask this and derail the game thread, but just wanted to clear something up for myself: Curaigh, you said the gearsman is stunned til its next move. I assumed that since it was stunned by my attack in the previous round, that its one-round stun ended right before my initiative count the next round. Is that... not how it's supposed to go? Have I been getting a pretty fundamental game rule wrong all this time?
(It's irrelevant for my move itself, since I'm perfectly happy with sticky-fying it.)
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
No worries, that is what discussion thread is for. I have always played it 'until the start of your next turn' but your right it could be on the instigator's turn, as this results in a 'round and a half' of the condition. Your interpretation fits most spells (end immediately before casters turn the next round). On the other hand, if you stun someone on your attack you should get one round against them, unless stunning something is more like a buff, you do it for your allies more than for yourself. OK now I think I am overthinking this.
Not seeing anything in the PRD, do others have any thoughts on this?
I have always said that the acting round of an effect starts with the turn of the player/npc placing the effect. So it starts effectively at the end of that turn and continues through to the same point in that players next turn, delaying makes no difference.
i.e. If I am on initiative 16, then when my initiative cards come round to me again, that stun ends on my next turn at initiative 16 - if I delay, I miss my opportunity to benefit from my stun.
So a strict reading of that would be that, much like a spell that had a one round duration, I wouldn't get to benefit from a stun that I had caused. Actually, I think this is easily comparable to Stunning Fist, which specifically states that it ends before your next turn. So yeah, ultimately I think it's more of a buff you're giving your teammates than setting up an idealized combat situation for yourself. (Although I suppose if I were making a full attack, critted on the first hit & the gearsman failed the save, then it would be stunned for the rest of my iterative strikes & I'd get SA damage on those...)
But anyway, kind of relieved I didn't 'waste' my chance to get in an extra SA.
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
This hardness 10 is huge, V has barely scratched it. I was unaware critters could even have a hardness (as opposed to DR). Which leaves me with a bunch of questions, namely am I running them correctly?
Since I am using the links provided, can someone tell me if the Innersea Bestiary matches the d20pfsrd?
Does hardness on a critter work like hardness on an object?
I am doing it like DR, is this correct?
I think it should be done like an object. I suspect these are special, considering they're constructs.
Busy night tonight, so can't really doublecheck the pfsrd, though I'll see if I can get to it later.
Part of the problem for Valeros is the die roller is just KILLING him (and me in general, lately). I think I've probably only hit them three times (four with this last attack), despite having made about 13 swings.
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
This is getting close to voting. I dinnae remember where this was for me in the votes. I have a clearer understanding than before and has probably moved up in my esteem. If you want to see my playtest notes from the GM screen, I can add them. Do you want to add yours?
I am more than happy to finish the encounter even after voting closes :)
The only thing I have found disappointing so far is the lack of environmental effects - when the tank was broken, maybe the floor should have become greasey/slippery - difficult terrain / move at normal speed requires Dex check to not land on your bottom sort of thing. That would have fit really well with the slime creature.
The only thing I have found disappointing so far is the lack of environmental effects - when the tank was broken, maybe the floor should have become greasey/slippery - difficult terrain / move at normal speed requires Dex check to not land on your bottom sort of thing. That would have fit really well with the slime creature.
Honestly, (speaking as the player of the character with the most need for combat mobility), I think that the floor becoming difficult terrain after the tank shattered is more than harsh enough of an effect. Making it the equivalent of a grease spell would be a bit excessive. Especially since really, it's only water- even losing half my movement to it felt a little bit of an arbitrary difficulty bump.
I'm definitely in for playing this out even after voting as well.
Honestly as one who likes challenges the broken tank was more for the water slowing people down than for freeing the ooze. Fortunately I can justify the gearsman using this (more so than freeing the ooze). As written I think Axia is supposed to spring the 'trap' (or the addicts once the attendant Axia is not paying attention.
Also as written (discovered on play test) the ooze is supposed to attack whomever broke the glass (presuming they are closest) but the gearsman have been given reach weapons. Also they are con-less, so not sure it makes sense for Axia to free the Egelsee in an attempt to distract them. Both minor details, that I will not hold against the author. I only find them interesting because this is one of the things playtesting showed where reading it did not.
I do think these gearsman are pretty powerful for their CR, AC 20 is not too bad at level 7, but hardness 10 is. That is a problem with the gearsman's CR & not the author, but had it been tested, he might have found them too much. Of course, the die roller here has been pretty much against us. I think it would have gone the other way if the dice would listen to the bell curve :)
The gearsman will fight to the death as written, even after their prey is gone? Or better yet (for them), once they have captured her?
The gearsmen were getting wailed on - would have been a poor GM who didn't call the ooze into play - I would have done exactly what you did fella - totally good call in my opinion. (and it doesnt say anywhere that I can find that only PCs can "set off" the trap :P)
The only thing I have found disappointing so far is the lack of environmental effects - when the tank was broken, maybe the floor should have become greasey/slippery - difficult terrain / move at normal speed requires Dex check to not land on your bottom sort of thing. That would have fit really well with the slime creature.
Honestly, (speaking as the player of the character with the most need for combat mobility), I think that the floor becoming difficult terrain after the tank shattered is more than harsh enough of an effect. Making it the equivalent of a grease spell would be a bit excessive. Especially since really, it's only water- even losing half my movement to it felt a little bit of an arbitrary difficulty bump.
I'm definitely in for playing this out even after voting as well.
Thats kind of true - my problem was that the difficulty of the terrain from water would last about 5 seconds (or one round), after the initial rush, the water would disperse really quickly - so having it slimy water would keep the encounter movement interesting.
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
Good point AA, though not made clear the sticky fluid filled with all kinds of stinky oils from its skin, not sure if that is in the encounter, but it makes sense to me as to why it would stick around. :)
*grumble grumble grumble* :
Encounter wrote:
...The central tank, pipes, and all of the dispenser stations are constructed of metal fixtures and reinforced glass panels (hardness 2, 5 hp). Sundering the central tank or any of the dispenser stations frees the Egelsee cocktail within as well as spilling water in a 20’ radius causing the floor to become slippery (+2 to Acrobatics DCs). Sundering one of the pipes on the ceiling has a similar effect and will allow the Egelsee cocktail in the central tank to make its way out of the breach.
So it appears I added the difficult terrain, not the encounter, :( probably because I read it too long before we played it. Originally I thought this was NOT a trap. Though it frees the Egelsee cocktail and adds to the encounter, a +2 to acrobatics checks (which will only be relevant to avoiding AoO) is DEFINATLY NOT a trap in my book. I want to add one of those little yellow sandwich boards custodians use; you know, the one that reads:
Guys, I apologize, but I'm gonna need to duck out for the coming week. It's Pesach (Passover); pretty much every other day is shabbat or a holiday, keeping me AFK, and the rest of the time is festively overscheduled as well.
I might suggest it's time to end it. We're going to have the reveals of the adventures tomorrow and honestly, I'm just doing the same thing every turn -- hacking away at the gearsman.
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
Lastt round as ooze is at 2 & G2 is at 4. I think we can call out there, but if anyone wants to take thr least action please go ahead. otherwise we are done :)
Hah! Missed the discussion update because I kept refreshing the gaming thread. Yeah, ending here is fine by me; at this point it just seemed a bit of slogging through damage rolls till we got an eventual victory. Thanks for the gaming, gents. it was fun. (Well, the play was fun & the encounter was pretty good, but I kind of want to strangle whoever designed gearsmen...)
M Draco Electricus author 2, herper 4, canine exerciser 9,
Me too! hardness 10? on a CR 4? WTF
and thanks for everyone participating. I will try and set play tests for next years round 4 BEFORE the top 8 are announced.
Though I like the idea of a RPGSuperstar Party to play test them all :)
As an after thought, this was very educational too - I revisited my encounter designs realising that so many end up descending into the hit point bash - so Im no looking at things I can do to make things interesting throughout the fight...
E.g., for this one, I would think about changing the gearsman to have no more than 5 hardness, but at 50% health or less, their plating starts to breach. And the water in the room causes them to spark with electrical discharges when struck, introducing a new element to the fight mid way.
Similarly, the ooze could split at half and quarter health creating smaller oozes, providing multiple targets and attacks - but losing the ability to grapple. The remaining health of the ooze splitting shared equally between the two new oozes.
This would make the grapple less of a problem in the end game, a threat at the start, but not so much as to completely tie weaker characters to no tactical movement possibilities.
Mmmm, I wonder how my players are going to react to my new found deviousness.
