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Guiness is levelled up. He improved his Metalworking and Perception skills. He picked up Endurance (pre-requisite for Stalwart Defender next level!) and took Advanced Armor Training (Armored Juggernaut), which gives DR 2/- when wearing heavy armor. Increased BAB, Hit Points, etc. as well.
In the most disappointed voice ever: But not climb....
I say we briefly run two timelines where Kellek resolves his X amount of rounds and the rest of us regroup. With three rounds for healing, does that give Guiness enough time to reach the ground? Kargas and Flo could also climb up the rope again, since that is decidedly bell-free ;)
Kellek is currently on round 3 or 4 of his 5 vanish rounds, and just remembered he learned 4th level spells, and a new feat earlier today. ;)
I'm at work now so it's gonna be late, late tonight before I can get to this. ;)
Give 'em bell, Kellek!
Kargas is leveled up. Took Cornugon Smash for my feat and learned Lvl2 spells (See Invisibility & Mirror Image) plus gained DR1/--. This is a good level for Kargas, almost as much as Lvl8 will be!
Also put my FCB into hp, now hitting 85hp when raging :)
Looks like some nice abilities coming in at this level! If you have any passive defenses like DR, make sure they're in your stat line. I'll probably still forget them half the time, but it'll still help.
For the rest of you guys, please give me a rundown of new stuff you've picked up for 7th level (like Guiness and Kargas have done), so I have an idea of what to keep in mind.
The usual hit points, skills: Climb, Disable Device, Perception, Stealth, Survival. Extra spell at level 1 and 2, Fervor is now at 2d6 and sacred weapon increased at 1d6.
The feat is Stabbing Shot, which Empty Quiver Style allows me to ignore the prerequisite.
4th level spells, skill ranks in her usual skills, Combat Casting, 4d6 worth of channeling, and a point of BAB.
4th level spells are a big boost, but level 8 is where the fun really begins! :)
+5 hp (Wizard +4, Fast Learner +1)
4th level spells (probably wall of fire and ice storm) and an extra slot at 1st (probably feather fall).
New Feat: Brilliant Spell Preparation
Skill Ranks 2 (wizard) + 4 (Int) +1 (Human) + 1 (Fast Learner) + 2 (Background): Appraise +1, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, history, local, nature, planes, religion) +1 each, Linguistics +1 (Aklo), Spellcraft +1
Okay, so to make sure I have this right in my head: we can climb up to our previous starting point using the rope outside (or just walk up the stairs inside), but there's a section now missing from where the bell hit right? So what we're really needing is a way to get past the gap right?
Yes, you can climb back up the rope or up the stairs to get to the fourth floor. There are multiple 10x5ft sections missing (see where I put orange crosses on the map). Colvyn managed to jump over them no problem, but Guiness wasn't confident to do the same.
Dang, Kargas almost took Spider Climb instead of See Invisibility, but I decided against it since he can rage-fly next level.
Alright, I'll try to jump it and anchor a rope for Guiness. It'll only be the second craziest leap he's taken today.
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Yes, in Pathfinder, jumping is based on Dexterity and Land Speed, so Guiness is doubly cursed in that regard. Stack on the armor check penalty, and Guiness has a -8 or -9 (with shield) modifier before he adds Dex and ranks, so it is pretty hopeless in that regard...
...Winged Boots should be pretty high on his list for next magic item, I suppose.
Until then though, a scroll of levitate might just be your best friend ;)
EDIT: GM, saw your post in gameplay. For some reason I thought they were difficult terrain... well, Flo'll be moving much further next round! XD
REDIT: I know Flo could try to pass through a threatened space then an occupied square (vs CMD and CMD+5, respectively), but she gets bonuses from movement to jumping, not tumbling. So, GM, what DC would Flo need to reach to jump high/far enough to not provoke an AoO from the leader cultist, and what DC would she need to reach to make the jump over, but still risk provoking?
If you want to jump so high as to avoid having to tumble, you'd need to hit DC62. This would involve jumping from far enough away and high enough that the whole arc of your jump avoids the threatened range of the cultist. Because you start from further away, you start at a significantly lower elevation than the cultist, and your feet have to clear over 5ft above the cultist's head. Not easy!
Otherwise, you'd need two separate acrobatics checks, one for the jump and one for doing so while tumbling. Jumping over someone while ascending from the stairs below would be DC26 for 6' of height you need to clear, +2 for the slope. If you fail this check you fall short and end up next to the person you tried to jump over.
HA! Maybe in another life as a dexterous monk :) Thanks GM!
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Well, we haven't had any posts from Kellek for the last week, so it looks like you guys will be going into this fight with only four. If Kellek comes back, he can start with whatever round we're currently in, otherwise I'll be skipping him.
I am sorry to report that thanks to a super busy work week, followed by a working weekend, and (in about an hour) a new work week, means I will not be posting today. Be back tomorrow.
Well, we haven't had any posts from Kellek for the last week, so it looks like you guys will be going into this fight with only four. If Kellek comes back, he can start with whatever round we're currently in, otherwise I'll be skipping him.
Just cast fireball from his scroll when appropriate.
Or haste. Failing that he can ready magic missile to hit any obvious casters.
Hope that botting works out for you Kellek. I'll bot you again at the end of this round with a fireball against both targets unless you step in to act otherwise.
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As a bit of trivia: in the original version of Rise of the Rulelords (the 3.5E version, not the anniversary edition) this particular enemy was much much stronger, to the extent that most parties would just get annihilated in incredibly unfair fashion. When the Anniversary Edition came out, she got massively toned down, but even so she still packs a serious punch. Good luck!
Oh, oh! I'm curious to hear about the changes once we get through this! :D
Omg, this is nail-biting levels of tension. AAAAHHHHHH!
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Omg, this is nail-biting levels of tension. AAAAHHHHHH!
:) Absolutely. When I first played through this encounter, our group got totally wrecked. And the last time I GM'd this, the team I GM'd for got super lucky with multiple crits and got through with one death. Looks like you guys might be doing the best so far.
BTW, I hope its clear now why I had you guys level up at a weird point midway through the Clocktower.
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At the end of this, I want my statue to be setup in the middle of Sandpoint with the inscrption: Our Hero and Savior, he will come back in our hour of need.
GM, I don't there is anything she can do with a move action (or even mechanically without the right feats), but Flo is trying to bodyblock Colvyn "the Rock" Johnson Dashtail from harm. I think the best she can do is provide cover from certain squares, but she's going to do her best!
Apologies for being absent and needing a bot, I had a very crazy and not terribly pleasant weekend. I'm back now though!
Kargas, if you pull this off, we might need more than one statue...
So the damage potential is 18-108 and a fully healed raging Kargas has 84hp and DR1/-, which gives him a 78.7% chance of survival...
I'm gonna go for it
[EDIT]: since he's not full health it's actually a 68.5% chance of survival, but Kargas isn't doing the math in his head.
About to start work, but GM would Kargas need to climb over that wall or could he squeeze through a gap somewhere? Since he's still 12ft tall that probably limits options
@Kargas: Not sure which wall you're talking about, the area beyond Guiness and Colvyn is just scaffolding that opens out into open space. Also, this might be one seriously gutsy move. If you're looking to drop down onto her to attack, its the same as last time - acrobatics to aim yourself right and you'll deal her damage as if you were a falling object, plus you'll partially break your fall.
Oh Thunderbirds, please let me survive this...
Reach is via a lesser metamagic rod, so it was at the max level among spells she had available :/ 3rd level spells are all out, and she had the one 2nd level. She has slots available at 4th level, but last I checked, you can't convert an open spell slot into a cure, so they're basically just sitting and waiting for the next time she has 15 minutes to prep spells -_-
EDIT: That was a wild ride y'all from start to finish. So, GM, what did the original Mistress look like? Also, we loot/search the hell out of this place!
So...could we see the original statblock?
Agreed Flo - you can only convert spells you actually prepared into cure spells of the appropriate level.
All things considered, that fight went pretty well! Especially considering the opposition! As I mentioned before, the last group I GM'd through this encounter got lucky with the crits and still lost a party member (they weren't nearly so well optimized and had a front liner with <20 AC and no other relevant defenses. He took a full attack for 60+ damage).
The original 3.5E version of the Mistress was absolutely absurd for the level you fight her. They gave her sorcerer levels instead of rogue levels and let those levels stack with her race's innate spellcasting, meaning that she got to cast 4th level spells. She also just had really good spell selection, including pre-buffing with fly, mage armor, shield, mirror image, haste, invisibility, and silence (on the area that PCs would enter from). She got to cast from both divine and arcane lists. Her tactics were to divine favor while invisible and then petrify someone with the mask as her opening move, followed by full attacking.
She had AC 8 points higher than the version you fought, 25 extra points of HP, attack bonus four points higher before buffing (for a full attack of +21/+21/+16/+11 or +17/+17/+12/+7 while power attacking - with each individual hit being roughly as hard as those you experienced here), and a few dimension door casts in her back pocket for emergencies.
Parties without reach or strong ranged attacks would just melt under her flying above them to full attack.
...hahaha yeah, she'd have annihilated us.
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Ah, the plot thickens!
Haven't checked gameplay yet, but holy cow. She would have eaten us alive! I honestly don't know how I'd even build a party around beating her original stat block. Maybe have an optimized wizard around dispel magic to just turn everything off, so that we'd only be fighting a crazy powerful fighter? Yeesh!
EDIT: The plot thickens indeed! Kargas, I laughed so hard at your sleep it off post XD I hope we didn't lose GGG, but now could be a good time to wrap up our latest exploits and take it slow for a bit while we figure it out? Once we make sure Guiness isn't going to take a dirt nap at the hands of the law, we'll have identifying/selling to do, maybe a little RP as we figure out our next steps. We could take our time with it while we see how GGG is doing IRL?
With two and a half weeks since Kellek's last gameplay post it seems like something has changed significantly for him work-wise and he can't game as much anymore. Even before he started ghosting this game, Kellek had been commenting about long work days and high workload, so I'm guessing it just broke the threshold of being able to post in this game in addition to the stuff he GMs.
For now, I'll keep Kellek as a background character. For the next few in-game days, I'll assume he's working on deciphering the coded journal you recovered from the Sawmill. Feel free to go ahead without him with RP and working out your next steps. As you guys have identified, there's a few loose ends here, between Sgt. Korim and Guiness' supposed trial, the message to the Mistress and the unmasked Justice Ironbriar.
If nothing changes significantly for GGG in terms of being able to commit time to the game, or if we don't hear from him for another week or two, I'll probably drop him from the game.
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So, as far as tactics, I am hoping to make Guiness a bit more effective at ranged weapons, but thematically I don’t see him flying often, given that his prestige class is all about holding his ground.
Hopefully Kellek stays around long enough to craft a few items for Guiness in that vein, such as this belt.
If things don't cool down for GGG and we end up needing to drop Kellek, would we recruit a replacement or continue with four?
This is a strong group for sure, but having a wizard around is pretty nice. I could go either way.
Not bad, didn't expect to get this many.
Medusa Mask -> For Floredana so she can crowd control?
Impaler of Thorns -> Kargas? Since he is the only one that use reach weapon and no shield.
Warding Star For Guiness?
Tunic -> Still unknown...
+1 Scythe -> Again, Kargas?
+1 Cloak of Resistance -> Not sure for who, I already have one.
+1 Mithral Chain Shirt -> Again, not sure for who, medium sized, and I already have one.
+1 Buckler -> Floredana, Kargas?
+1 Shortsword -> I already have one, so... sell?
Reaper's Mask Evil thing, sell?
Fancy Kukri -> Still unknown...
Silver Ring -> Still unknown...
Gold Amulet -> Still unknown...
I was thinking of you for the star since is also give you false life. But we can always sell it if no one wants it.
Kargas would be interested in the bonus hp from False Life but shares Guiness' reservations about wearing the sihedron, given how much evil and murder the star has been connected to.
Definitely don't want the scythe, but he'd swap out the masterwork ranseur for the Impaler of Thorns for sure! The kukri or short sword would be handy if Kargas ever got swallowed whole.
If things don't cool down for GGG and we end up needing to drop Kellek, would we recruit a replacement or continue with four?
This is a strong group for sure, but having a wizard around is pretty nice. I could go either way.
Should it come to it, I'm OK with going with whatever you guys prefer. The party should be more than solid as a group of four though. I think you guys are pretty well rounded.
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BTW, I'll stay hands off for a bit here and let you guys make your sales, purchases, RP and plans. I'll still respond if you have Qs, but will otherwise update once you guys work out what you want to do next.
That mask is really cool! One of those things you'd probably not ever buy, but totally something you'd use for a while if you found. Flo'll nab that, Colvyn is right in that it does give her an interesting CC option. Especially if we want to capture someone!
The buckler is something Flo could use well since it doesn't interfere with anything for her and is a natural upgrade to her regular buckler. Will defer to melee characters first though.
Of the currently ID'd items, nothing else pops out to Flo.
On the topic of replacing Kellek if we need to, as a player, I prefer having some level sort of wizard type in the group. Especially for an AP like this, it seems like a shame to not have one. Arcane buffs and utility are super great too, but also knowledge checks are something that Kellek did all on his own. I don't know that we could manage knowledge checks as this current party of four, tbh (IMO, the higher level you go, the more important those are).
Last topic! Who has been taking point on the loot list again?