Red Hand of Doom [E6] (Inactive)

Game Master Aldizog

He feels the familiar wanderlust of the butterflies and notices the blessing providing a small bit of wiggle room.

Choosing to boost Armor class and by extension CMD

How many boats are we in and who is on what boat?? Mikail needs to be upfront to strike at the creature, but I do not want the boat to move too close if it has people who want to fire from a distance in it

Three boats: Mikail and Shishka, Tal'ariel and Hamailii, and Bran and Trellara.

I was actually thinking of Hamailii's Bit of Luck ability, (2d20 and take the better for 1 round, would help Bran's saves as well as his grapple checks) but her channel is also useful. Variant Channeling also heals a bit (really 2d6/2 but I don't think the dice roller can do division):
Channel: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Since Hamailii did a ranged ability (channel), would Tal'ariel move the boat closer or do something where she is? And Tal'ariel gets one bit of information about the Chuul. What would you like to know?

Shishka is in the boat with Mikail, who has expressed an interest in getting closer if possible. Mikail's sword does more damage than Shishka's pistol if it is a one-or-the-other decision.

Shishka and Tal'ariel are up!

"Full speed ahead!" cries Tal'ariel as she rows furiously to bring her boat abreast of Bran and Trellara. Moving me and Hamailii up!

I would like to know about resistances/immunities.

Immune to poison, nothing else.

Healed 6 from the Channel

This is a misunderstanding. Hamailii did not channel energy to heal. She spend one use of channel energy to prolong Blessing of the Faithful by 1 round to a total duration of 2 rounds. She would also have a move action left. "Blessing of the Faithful (+2 sacred bonus, 40 feet) (Su) Ally gains in close range gains +2 atk, skills, ability checks, saves or AC." Bit of Luck is touch range only, blessing of the faithfull has a range of 40 feet.

My mistake. I thought it was Variant Channeling. Okay, no HP back.

Didn't take any variant channeling.

Shishka moves the boat up alongside the other one. It is a bit in the reeds, but I'll say it can fit.
Mikail can act!

Ok, thanks GM!

As the small skiff gets close to the weird aquatic beast, Mikail stands and swings at it, calling down the power of her goddess to help her defeat this monster quickly and quietly.

Smite evil: +6 damage, Vital Strike

Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Damage: 2d8 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (1, 3) + 4 + 6 = 14
Crit Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (8, 1) + 4 = 13

Would my Smite evil be added twice for the critical attack, or is it just once per attack?

Mikail, that confirms (because the Chuul is taking -4 Dex for having the Grappled condition, and because Inspire Courage is up for +2). And Smite damage is multiplied on a crit (or a lance charge) to the joy of paladins everywhere. So I'll add +6 to the crit damage, and +2 to both regular and crit from Inspire Courage.

The warpriest strikes a powerful blow for 37 damage!

The creature tries to escape with its prey. Bran is no longer flat-footed, and has Blessing of the Faithful for +2 AC, so he has 31 CMD vs grappling.
Grapple, Maintain: 1d20 + 19 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 19 + 5 = 35
Claw Damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (3, 1) + 7 = 11
Constrict: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (1, 4) + 7 = 12
Mandibles: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

As part of the standard action to maintain, it tries to move with its target at half speed -- under the water. Because underwater is a hazardous location for Bran, he gets a free attempt to break the grapple at a +4 bonus - if he passes the DC 19 Fortitude save against paralysis.

In trying to move, the Chuul provokes AOOs from Mikail and Tal'ariel - remember the +2 Inspire Courage!

Round 2
Beastie -37
Bran's DC 19 Fort save and then free attempt to break the grapple at +4
Tal'ariel and Mikail AOOs
Hamailii
Shishka
Trellara
Tal'ariel
Mikail
Bran -70

[b]"Lay your grubby hands off of Bran!"[b] shouts Tal.
AOO: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 2 = 14; Damage: 1d10 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 10 + 2 = 22
She tries to lay a heavy blow against the creature, but her attack is not at all accurate.

"Back to the muck and filth that spawn you beast!", Mikail adds to Tal's battle cry.

Attack (AoO): 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 2 = 15
Damage: 2d8 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 6) + 6 + 2 = 16

Fortitude: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13
Well its been a good run! If Trellara has Saving Finale...

He tries to resist the poison again but the toxins are too much for him to bear. He shouts out to the party, "Don't let her win---"
His jaw stiffens up and so does the rest of him.

"No!" shouts Trellara.
All sound seems to cease around you as her words and music flow into Bran, giving him another chance.
Yep, I gave her Saving Finale, as well as Gallant Inspiration. Reroll that!

Fortitude: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15
It was meant to be... unless a Dare can apply here?
1d6 ⇒ 6
1d6 ⇒ 5 Exploding dice

Once she declares her dare, the darechaser can add 1d6 to the result of any one attack roll, saving throw, or other check that directly helps her fulfill the dare

Yes, but didn't you already declare a Dare, and then use a d6 for your grapple check? It looks like one d6 per Dare, and a Dare must be declared as a Swift action. You could declare a Dare, but save the d6 to use on an out-of-turn thing like a saving throw, but you could not declare the Dare out of turn. So I think it depends on what the party can do -- Hamailii's 1/day any-spell might have a solution here, or not. The dice have been in this thing's favor for sure.
Bran is paralyzed by the tentacles.
"Heal Bran! Kill the beast!"
Trellara seems unsure of which course of action to follow. She settles for re-starting Inspire Courage. Then she jumps out of the boat and wades towards Bran. The water is somewhat more than waist-deep on her.

Round 2
Chuul -37
Trellara
Hamailii
Shishka
Tal'ariel
Mikail
Bran -70

The Chuul is now mostly submerged so you have -2 to hit it. (The rules for aquatic cover would make spear-fishing impossible.) Inspire Courage is up for +2 to hit and damage.

Ugh, I really should've Greased Bran, that would've been much better. Can Hamailii Remove Paralysis? Doesn't solve the fact that Bran is at 12HP, but it's a good start.

*Edit* - Or really, some sort of useful save or suck could always do the trick.

Not sure how you want to handle that, but Hamailii could give Bran a bit of luck, meaning he could roll any d20 twice. Or heal him. No remove paralysis prepared. The beast should actually provoke an AoO from Hamailii as well, since she has a reach weapon.

AoO Elven Spear: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 2 = 221d8 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 2 = 6

Hamailii can 1/day cast any spell from her bonded holy symbol, even if it is not prepared.
Bit of Luck doesn't apply retroactively.
The AOO hits, for 6 damage.

Bad on bit of luck, good on the casting! I actually meant that it would have been good for Bran to delay a bit. Also not sure wether his roll takes place on his turn or in response to the creatures turn, aka on the creatures turn. If after, he could profit from Hamailiis ability.

It was trying to drag me into the water so in order to resolve the free escape attempt I think I had to resolve the poison save first which was on it's turn.

The save happens on the Chuul's turn.

Hamailii casts a spell to bring movement back into Brans seemingly stiff joints. In Desnas name be free and move! Remove Paralysis then!

Bran feels the grace of the Song of the Spheres flowing through his body. He can move his limbs once more!

Bran can take his automatic Grapple check at a +4 now, in addition to the actions on his own turn. There is a -2 penalty for the lack of firm footing, but this does not impact grappling damage.

"Praise Desna! It seems the Lady of Graves isn't ready for me yet!"

Break Grapple: 1d20 + 17 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 17 + 4 = 40

His life flashes before his eyes before seeing a strange image of a horse riding a butterfly. After many attempts the various magical blessings and spells manage to twist fate just enough for him to manage to get some leverage despite the wounds and the terrain.

I could reverse the Grapple here or Break it entirely and choose to Withdraw. I don't know if I can safely disengage at this point though, does it have Reach? What do you all think? If it grabs anyone else we may have the same problem again.

Bran, you could break free with this check here and then do a full withdraw on your turn, that is true. It doesn't seem to have reach. But it could just move up and attack you once, which might drop you negative. Reversing the hold would mean you are no longer taking Grab, Constrict, or Mandible damage, nor would you be subject to the paralytic tentacles. And it would need to beat your Grapple CMD (with the +2 Sacred bonus still applying) to do any damage to you.
I think it is +13 base Grapple, +15 Greater Grapple, +17 Inspire Courage, +15 aquatic penalty (lack of firm footing), +19 moved into hazardous location. Either way, you succeed by a lot.

Forgot the Firm footing. As a Darechaser he has to fight here, he can't risk his allies getting munched on by this thing.

Enter a Rage! +12 "HP" from Increased Con

The large man enters a rage, knowing full well that if he goes down this chuul may not be satisfied and go after the rest of his friends. He manages to get out of the creature's mandibles and grabs a hold of the monster's claw and tries to wrench it in the water.

Maintain Grapple (Standard): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (2) + 22 = 24 +13, +2 Greater, +2 Inspire, +2 Rage, -2 Firm Footing, +5 Maintain
Maintain Grapple (Move): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (15) + 22 = 37 Praise Greater Grapple again!

Move to Pin, Strangle: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

If it breaks the Pin I'm going to have to deal with Constrict due to a successful Grapple check, so the extra HP might help. Not sure about the Mandibles but we'll see what happens. Still beats a Full Round + Grab though that's for sure.

Rage HP
24/94

Bran breaks free and traps the creature's limbs. He almost slips in the swamp and loses his grip, but his lightning-fast reflexes let him recover his hold on the beast.

Round 2
Chuul -50
Trellara
Hamailii
Bran -70
Shishka
Tal'ariel
Mikail

Sensing an opportunity, Tal'ariel fires a snowball toward the grappled Chuul!

Snowball vs Touch AC, into melee, inspire courage, submerged: 1d20 + 7 - 4 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 7 - 4 + 2 - 2 = 6; Damage: 5d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 2, 6, 1) = 18

But her snowball just seems to dissipate in the water.

Mikail moves again towards the great brute, her sword shining like the sun as she slashes once more at the monster.

Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 2 = 15
Damage: 2d8 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8, 7) + 6 + 2 = 23

With it being Pinned this might work! No Dex and -4 AC on top! Not sure if that helps Tal but if it does hit you do get Sneak Attack.

Hm . . . that's true!
Sneak Damage?: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

No bonus for ranged attacks vs pinned foes, only melee. It does lose Dex, which makes its Touch AC 9 (due to size). So still a miss, by 3. Its regular AC of 22 goes down to 19 with Pinned, and melee attacks get +4, but there is a -2 for it being submerged, so Mikail misses by 2. But all is not lost!
1 Tal'ariel, 2 Mikail: 1d2 ⇒ 2
Gallant Inspiration: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5 A net +3 over Inspire Courage
Trellara belts out a note of arcane power, and Fate bends to make Mikail's strike a hit! An off-balance swing from the boat becomes a mighty blow.

Shiska isn't sure what to do, so she starts mocking the creature. Can it understand? Is it offended? "Hey ugly, we got some butter sauce for you! You wanna be steamed or grilled, your choice!"
Will DC 15 vs Bardic Performance: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
The creature begins chittering angrily and you can tell it does speak Common, as within its noises you can discern "Ki-ki-kill you-u-u gnomy-gnomy-gnomy!"

Round 3
Chuul -73
Trellara
Hamailii
Bran -70
Shishka
Tal'ariel
Mikail

The creature tries to break Bran's grip and reverse the grapple.
Grapple, Mocked: 1d20 + 19 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 19 - 2 = 28
29 is the magic number? Shishka's mockery saves the day!

Trellara casts a spell and touches Bran.
CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

"We got this!"

Feeling the rush of the positive energy coming through him, his dread has been turned into hope yet again.

Grapple Maintain 1: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (7) + 22 = 29
Grapple Maintain 2: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (2) + 22 = 24

If successful will knock him prone with Raging Grappler to make it's escape harder and our melee job a little easier.

Strangle: 2d6 + 1d4 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 6) + (2) + 6 + 2 = 19

If this drops it I'll break Rage and Adrenaline Rush

With a kerrr-unch! Bran snaps the Chuul's spine.
Combat over!

"Yeesh, that was close!" says Tal'ariel in relief, as the creature is finally defeated. "Looks like the strongman got the upper hand in the end!
Though we are still gonna need to patch you up.

"I'd say it was as much the work of Desna, Iomedae and all of you as it was him." He looks serious, "I owe you all my life, that much is certain. I cannot forget such an act."

He almost looks like tears are being held back, "That would help. We still have a long way to go and much work to do."

"Come here Bran and let me heal you of some of those wounds.", the angelic priestess says beckoning Bran to come to her skiff.

Fevor: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9
Cure Mod. Wounds: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 6 = 11
Fevor: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11
Cure Mod. Wounds: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (5, 4) + 6 = 15

Let me take care of that! I have a handy tool there, blessed by Desna. You should pray and pay her your respect in the evening probably, to thank her.

Hamailii takes out a nice little wand...

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

26 hp back, let me now if you need more overall.

"We can sing some songs tonight if you and Trellara would care to show me." He breaths in and out, "That's good, it seems the wounds have closed."

I'll update either tonight or over the weekend.

Sheathing her sword, Tal'ariel uses a bit of magic to help Bran dry off and clean up. Prestidigitation. "It's a wonder to me that your people have endured these swamps, Hamailii. There's all manner of beasts ready to strike at a moment's notice." The elf seems to eye the waters warily as she says this.

Hamailii smiles at that.
Yes it is. You learn to cope in time. Look at it from a different perspective though. Those beasts are not only a thread, especially once you learned how to avoid them, but they are also a form of protection.

Trellara chimes in, "Hamailii speaks true. Our giant owls let us avoid the dangerous denizens of the Blackfens most of the time, and the creatures keep intruders away from our homes. Chuuls love lizardfolk flesh above all else, which works to our advantage. Usually. But I feel that something is working against us, drawing these beasts to our location."
Random encounters are in general insanely frequent for PCs. It cannot be possible that NPCs have the same frequency of encounters. So, it's the influence of Tiamat, I suppose.
"I will ward our campsite tonight. I have a spell that may be useful."
Trellara's spells are: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Open/Close, Prestidigitation, Sift, Mage Hand, Alarm, CLW, Saving Finale, Vanish, Cat’s Grace, Heroism, and Gallant Inspiration. I modified them from the AP to make her a little more useful as a cohort.
While I view cohorts as characters in their own right, and not an appendage of the PC (so I don't let players design or fully control their cohorts), I did think that these spells would be necessary for her to contribute effectively. She will take suggestions and use spells as requested, but in combat you are limited to what you can reasonably shout or say in a few seconds.

After some time, you find a wooded hillock not far from the western edge of the lake. You make dinner, and Trellara fusses over Bran a bit, making sure he doesn't have to strain himself making camp. "Bran, I am thankful you are safe. That was a close call. You should rest." She sounds business-like and in control, but an occasional crack in her voice hints that her brother is also on her mind, killed by another vicious swamp beast not a week ago.

From where you are, with Water Walk, you could go over the swamp and get to the shore of the lake in about 10 minutes, and not have to emerge at a navigable channel (which are likely watched). You could even head straight over the water for the flooded city (another 5 minutes or so) on that casting of Water Walk if you didn't take time to do any observation. Or, you could take the boats through the navigable channels. Or, bushwack through the swamp the hard way.
I'll let you figure out how you want to approach the lake and Rhest. Note that Hamailii might want a second Water Walk for returning from Rhest, or you could try to find boats there or just camp there overnight if need be.

For now, watches. Trellara has four 1st-level slots left, so she casts Alarm on the campsite itself (20' radius) and on the two sides of the hillock that offers the easiest approach, leaving one slot for a midnight emergency. She sings quietly to herself as she does this.
Bran and Trellara on first watch, Mikail and Hamailii on second, Tal'ariel and Shishka on third? Sound good?

Got water walk 2 times prepared. Watch times sound good.

Yes, a rest will do us all good. Thank you for warding the camp Trellara. Let's share this elven bread i brought.

Sounds fantastic.

"Yes, I daresay the influence of Tiamat on these lands has brought out more than the usual share of foul beasts. And if your people are correct, infernal spawn as well! "

After setting up a tent and contenting herself with some day-old bread, she settles in for some rest and recovery so she can be fresh for the third watch.