
Shadows of Sand GM |

The Jackdaw advances boldly, a risky maneuver that could allow the creatures to unleash massive attacks on him, but Hadha weakens one of them while Amari finishes it off with a perfect shot (but not a perfect strike ;) ). The remaining one climbs toward Jackdaw and attacks while another comes from around the corner to join the fray! The one near Jackdaw unleashes a flurry of attacks, biting with its strange beak and whirling all four tentacles at him! But the beak scrapes against Jackdaw's armor without penetrating it and the wily warrior dodges under the flailing tentacles but the last one clips him on the shoulder.
Attacks: 5d20 ⇒ (2, 15, 13, 5, 14) = 49
Dam: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Highest to hit was a 19 which barely hits ff Jackdaw for 2 dam. The other double-moved, provoking from Jackdaw if he can take aoos flat-footed. It's weird that you're technically ff if you acted in the surprise round but haven't taken your first regular turn yet. Maybe I'll houserule that one someday but for now we'll keep it RAW. Everyone, GO!

Zatinya |
Wait . . . that's crazy. I've never played that characters are flat-footed after they've acted in the surprise round. But now that I've read the rule, I can see why that might be the RAW interpretation. Wow.
Zaza approaches with her whip and tries to distract a grick to leave an opening for Jackdaw!
Whip, Aid another: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13. Giving him +2 to his next attack.
She maintains her encouragement of her allies. Inspire courage still up, +1/+1.

Amari Al'Fahd |

Satisfied with the first arrow, Amari follows up with a quick series of arrows, trying to stitch another ugly beast to the ceiling.
Flurry Attack #1: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 16
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 10
Flurry Attack #2: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 33
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 13
Targeting yellow. If he is 5ft above ground, does that elevate soft cover from jackdaw?
Crit Again?: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 26
Potential Extra Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6, 3) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 14
Potential Extra Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11

Hadha Al-Yatim |

Hadha uses his ray again in an attempt to give Jackdaw an easy target.
ranged touch disrupt pattern, I'm going to assume cover penalties: 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 8 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 1 - 8 = 16
binding pattern, it is Entangled for 4 rounds, damage is minimized: 1 + 6 + 1 + 1 = 9
The ray hits and odd silvery strands explode all over the creature, hindering its movements!
DC 16 str or escape artist to free itself early

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I do have combat reflexes
longspear AoO: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 7 + 1 = 191d8 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 1 = 14
Jackdaw gives a gravely growl as he takes a scratch. But he carefully steps back and stabs at orange!
longspear: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 1 = 141d8 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 1 = 10

Shadows of Sand GM |

The grick being 5 ft up means no soft cover. If you choose a top corner of your cube, you have a clean line to any of the grick's cubes.
This is cool here: Many times little buffs/debuffs don't matter but because of them, Jackdaw's attack hits.
Jackdaw strikes one of the gricks as it moves in then Amari launches a devastating barrage while Lo'laan chops one of them down. Hadha entangles the other and Jackdaw finishes it off. But despite killing these, it seems the strange tentacle monsters aren't finished! Five more pour in from all two different directions! This must be quite a nest! Two get close enough to launch a couple tentacle attacks at Zaza and Jackdaw! But the nimble Ifrit and man of mystery are too quick and dodge the tentacles.
Attacks: 2d20 ⇒ (7, 15) = 22
Everyone, GO!

Amari Al'Fahd |

Noting the arrival of even more tentacled creatures from the flank, Amari steps up and fires another salvo, this time with a free field of fire!
Flurry Attack #1: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 17
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2, 5) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 12
Flurry Attack #2: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 29
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 5) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 15
Targeting purple

Shadows of Sand GM |

Amari picks off an incoming grick!
Purple removed from map.

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Jackdaw holds his position, stabbing once, and then stepping away, hoping the thing will be forced to come at him.
longspear: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 1 = 151d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
longspear aoo next round if appropriate: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 1 = 111d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Shadows of Sand GM |

Jackdaw, note that I have a list of creature's altitudes to the left side of the map. Pink was 15 ft up the wall so you could reach him. 0 ft is your level, 5 ft is above you but you could reach naturally, 10 ft requires a reach weapon, and 15 is out of reach. But he's moving in to attack so I'll just apply that as your aoo.
Amari takes out one creature while the Shadows wound others. The gricks then swarm around madly climbing and one even drops from the ceiling to attack Lo'laan.
To my understanding, falling doesn't provoke so he drops with a free action to get a full attack and 5 ft step. But he does take fall damage.
Acrob: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Fall: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 3) = 9
Attacks on z: 6d20 ⇒ (16, 15, 9, 11, 15, 6) = 72
Attacks on L: 5d20 ⇒ (20, 12, 2, 16, 10) = 60
Attack J: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Confirm: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Dam: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Two bites and five tentacle attacks are directed at Zaza. There were three close calls but she dodges them all (thanks to full defense). Jackdaw also dodges but Lo'laan is bit once!
5 dam to Lo'laan and the gricks moved around a lot. The one that provoked was against Jackdaw, which has been accounted for. Everyone, GO!

Shadows of Sand GM |

Light blue falls very nimbly but still takes 6 falling damage. He isn't prone, however, since Grick's are immune to being prone.

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Jackdaw stabs at (light blue) grick!
longspear: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 1 = 151d8 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 1 = 13

Amari Al'Fahd |

Assuming pink is still 15ft up, it should not have cover right?
Amari tracks the battle in search for the easiest target, settling on the thing sticking high above the right flank.
Flurry Attack #1: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 19
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11
Flurry Attack #2: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 14
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11

Shadows of Sand GM |

Jackdaw wounds a grick while Amari picks another one off.
Attacks on Z: 10d20 ⇒ (8, 5, 12, 7, 18, 8, 11, 20, 3, 15) = 107
Dam: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Attacks L: 5d20 ⇒ (11, 1, 14, 1, 13) = 40
Attacks J: 5d20 ⇒ (12, 11, 16, 20, 4) = 63
Dam: 1d4 ⇒ 4
They make one bite at +4 then 4 tentacle attacks at -1. So they're not very accurate but they get to launch 20 attacks this round.
The gricks retaliate with a crazy swarm of beaks and tentacles, all seeking to land a blow. By freak accident, Zaza is hit once (3 dam) and so is Jackdaw (4 dam).
Everyone, GO!

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Jackdaw continues on the (light blue) grick!
longspear: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 1 = 101d8 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 1 = 7
do we have any buffs cooking besides inspire courage? that that it matters for me, I won't be hitting anything with a 2

Amari Al'Fahd |

Amari takes a deep breath between reloading and aiming.
The last salvo was far from his personal standard of accuracy.
Seeing his fellows getting wounded by those foul creatures, does make his failure even more severe.
He sentences himself to an additional set of 100 Al'Fahd sit-ups once they return for that slip.
Mid thought, he sents another set of arrows flying.
Flurry Attack #1: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 18
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11
Flurry Attack #2: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 4) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 14
But once again, they are far from supremely accurate.
Make that 150.

Shadows of Sand GM |

Amari picks off the grick that was right in front of Lo while Lo and Jackdaw have trouble striking for the moment.
Z and H still to go.

Shadows of Sand GM |

Hadha still to go. Will skip tomorrow once I get a chance.

Shadows of Sand GM |
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A blast from Hadha kills another of the gricks and the last remaining grick tries valiantly to defend its home territory. Their nest had colonized this new place a while ago, force out from the depths by far worse foes full of teeth and terrifying magic. What joy had overtaken them when they had found a safer place to incubate their eggs! But now these strangers had come, slaying his brothers, sisters, and cousins with great speed and absolute refusal to grant quarter. His sister had frantically signaled for peace but they ignored her Aklo tentacle sign language. Perhaps they did not understand it? No... surely they did... If anything, they had redoubled their ferocious attack when she pleaded for mercy... His family was dead and all he could hope to do was join them with honor...
Attacks: 5d20 ⇒ (18, 18, 17, 4, 7) = 64
He flung his beak at the nearest attacker and followed up with a masterful sequence of flailing tentacles. But she dodged every last sliver of hope he threw at her... Surely the end was near now...
Look at those rolls... But his highest to hit was 22... PCs, GO!

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Running forward, Jackdaw tries to impale the green one.
longspear: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 151d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Shadows of Sand GM |

Jackdaw stabs the grick but heroically it fights on!
Lots of people still to go.

Shadows of Sand GM |

After Jackdaw weakens it, Lo'Laan finishes off the last of the strange creatures of the Darklands with a mighty blow.
1280 xp each. Very close to level 5.
You stop to catch your breath and heal your wounds, if necessary. Then decide where to go next.

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Jackdaw takes a moment to examine the ceiling and walls to look for any signs of drow, and any traps they may have left behind.
perception, +1 v traps: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Shadows of Sand GM |

Jackdaw spies a small buckle that seems to have fallen off a bag in the corner against the wall.
The buckle appears to be of Drow make, based on your earlier experience with Drow.

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k local: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (11) + 7 + (6) = 24
Jackdaw grunts and points. "There. A drow buckler. We continue in the right direction, then."
does it gives us a sense of north or east? Jackdaw will lead the group either direction based on the positioning of the buckler.

Shadows of Sand GM |

Should I assume that you guys are being stealthy? If so, give me your stealth synergy rolls. It's a pretty powerful and epic routine.

Shadows of Sand GM |

Amari and Zaza, I know neither of them have the smallest mod in the party: 2d20 ⇒ (11, 15) = 26
Ok so everyone gets a natural 15. That makes the lowest total Lo's 21.
Perceptions: 6d20 ⇒ (4, 12, 17, 8, 3, 14) = 58
Inits: 5d20 + 1d20 + 1d20 ⇒ (1, 2, 10, 11, 13) + (13) + (18) = 68
As you sneak forward, a figure steps from the Shadows. It is Shalazat, your Shadows handler! She raises a finger to her mouth, signalling to maintain silence. She sneaks forward with you until you come to a larger opening cavern. The cavern is very dark and those without darkvision can't see much. But those whose eyes can penetrate the shadows see Drow standing guard while a Drow with an odd staff reads from a book (purple). One of them (orange) snaps his head around, noticing you!
Only one drow (orange) acts in the surprise round. Zaza and Shalazat act first then him then the party. Then round one is Zaza and Shalazat then drow then party.
Shalazat disappears then reappears next to the lead drow!
Zaza can go!

Shadows of Sand GM |

Zaza begins inspiring her allies to great deeds.
Inspire courage +1/+1.
The one drow aware of the threat launches a shaft at the only clear target he has, Jackdaw.
Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Dam: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Jackdaw is hit and begins to feel drowsy!
Save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/minute for 2 minutes; initial effect unconsciousness for 1 minute; secondary effect unconsciousness for 2d4 hours; cure 1 save.
Amari, Hadha, Jackdaw, and Lo, take surprise round actions. Zaza and Shalazat may also take actions for the top of round 1.

Lo'Laan Jin |

Attack: 1d20 + 9 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 9 - 1 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d10 + 7 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 3 + 1 = 18
Lo moves into the room at sweeps his glaive at the nearest Drow warrior.

Amari Al'Fahd |

The already drawn and nocked arrow is underway against the drow fighter directly to the front of the group (red) in less than a second, without any actual thought of its wielder.
Amari steps carefully into the room following his arrow to clear the way for those behind him.
Flurry of Bows!: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 1 + 1 = 15
Damage #1: 2d6 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 13
(Note for GM: I'll try to keep pace but my young one is keeping me quite busy with my wife still recovering from surgery, so ... If I should take to long, please bot me. Don't wonna keep things from rolling.)