Shadows of the Sand [Planetouched] (Inactive)

Game Master caster4life

Just had an idea as far as how to play this off to get him outside of the inn.

Have Gara/Lucien act like Zaza was "moonlighting" and they take exception as her "handler" maybe intimidate the halfling, take his possessions, and dress him up long enough to go out into the desert where further "questioning" can occur if he will not lead us to the tunnel outright.

Agaban's idea sounds fun, I'd play along if one of you wants to.

Sorry guys, I've been busy lately.

Anyone want to act in the wide-open doorway? Otherwise, the halfling might.

I'll act and go with Agaban's awesome idea.
Sadly my stomach has downed me and it isn't easy to sit down and write a lengthy post atm ...

Hmm wondering if I should attempt to be a "neutral" arbitrator Dont think I spelled that right. to keep in character while also following to help with this action.

Arbitrator or arbiter both work fine. I think it's interesting if you come on out and play a go-between. Though frankly, I think this whole ruse will end very soon and we'll just get to the interrogating.

I don't think I have another language due to Int 10.
Intimidate:
.. Trait for +1 and class skill (+3)
.. Attribute +4
.. Skill Focus (from half-Elf) +4
.. 1 Rank

Ah I was missing the skill focus from half-elf. Thanks.

Well done, Gara! We got the tunnel figured out. As I mention in gameplay, the leader has a scroll of teleport on him. I have no idea how to deal with that--but maybe Gara can learn some more info about him that'll be helpful.

Sorry was still hoping someone else would take a crack at the knowledge check to throw the Halfling off just in case he doesn't die in any of the coming up fights.

Also, how far ahead are the Sand and Lucien, and how wide/tall is the tunnel?

The tunnel is 5 feet wide and 6 feet tall, so rather tight. It's about 200 feet long, demonstrating how will Aroc is to dedicate resources to his paranoia.

We are not a particularly knowledgeable bunch, unfortunately.

It isn't paranoia if they are really out to get you!

True of course I also thought Lucien has knowledge local as a skill.

Follow up to my earlier question then Shadow how far into the tunnel are we when we reached the alarm spell...or would our characters not know though would hope any more than 100 feet or so at most Lucien would have come back to get us.

I was planning on waiting until the battle was done, thinking that he might get killed in the process. Didn’t realize we were leaving him tied up.

Just curious about the weapons the guards are holding and how many can attack Gara in the doorway?

Guards are holding great axes.

Just curious was this round 3 or 4? I thought last round would be the final one for the blindness from the glitterdust regardless of roll.

By my count, we are at the bottom of round 3 as the guards are attacking now. As round 4 starts, everyone can see fine.

Also, I'm pretty sure Aroc would be kicking himself for buying a higher CL scroll of teleport right now so that he could escape with more of his minions... He didn't expect to roll kind of low... XD

Just curious the breakdown for these guys getting +10 on the to hit and damage side of the dice?

guessing:
+ 5 strength (maybe one/two points from somewhere else? like weapon focus or something)
+ 1 bab
+ 4 from spending power points

Was wondering mainly a month or so ago someone pointed out I was misplaying the 2h bonus thinking it applied to both to-hit rolls along with damage rolls. Went back and looked it up afterwards and the way it reads is only get the 1.5x str benefit on the damage side of the 2h weapon aspect, and they just barely hit you so wanting to make sure.

Think the other thing is my first time playing with the stamina points so a little lost there with how it impacted the rolls.

Gara is correct but there's nothing wrong with checking. They only have 1.5x str mod added to damage.

Damn that works was hoping that there was a slight miscalculation cause he just barely hit Gara with that blow.

Also with them hitting him that hard with his AC kinda want to run also now even though that doesn't fit with the mission parameters.

Yeah it's a tough choice but Shadows are allowed a lot of leeway for how they complete their mission. It's up to you guys. Most of these opponents were not wearing their armor as you caught them off guard. On the other hand, you killed their leader and master spellcaster. Decide among yourselves.

Woah . . . we need to run, run, run away. . . .

I fully admit I did not think about this, but did we see a way to collapse the tunnel?

K. Engineering, DC15: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17.
I will take this info and impart it in Gameplay.

So here's how I see this playing out with the remainder of the party staying alive:

Me and Agaban run to the place where we can collapse the tunnel.

Lucien holds off the guards in the narrow tunnel with some combination of parrying, blinding, and plain old AC.

Next round, Lucien takes a withdraw action, Agaban and Zaza attempt to collapse the tunnel, and we have a dramatic scene in which some or all of the enemy gets crushed by their own tunnel.

Sorry if it seems like I'm overreacting, but a group of relatively optimized first level fighters pouring in their Combat Stamina seems like a recipe for death, as we have seen.

Have no issue with that though the GM is allowing the sand to stay around for this combat so that would be helpful.

Not sure how you want to play the Sand; Gara if it will take commands or is it berserker at the loss of its master; either way see that as being the true rear guard.

However, if we want to try to pull some of the guards into the tunnel probably need Lucien to stand back a little with his bow and pepper them so they will chase after they kill the eidelon.

Yeah it's a brutal fight that the chokepoint makes slightly less brutal... It's pretty tough if you don't have someone to lock down the chokepoint with a grease, color spray, reach fighter, etc.

Also, I believe in throwing fairly optimized NPCs at the party upon occasion. Some fights should be a chance for you to show off and have fun while others should be brutal and depend on cunning strategy and a bit of luck. You guys have had some pretty crummy luck but your quick-thinking and sudden strike allowed you to keep a pretty optimized 3rd level wizard separated from his meat shields and take him down at level 1, which is pretty cool in my book.

Yep, a color spray or grease would've been very helpful! Grease is most likely Zaza's next spell if/when she hits Level 2.

Thanks, guys! This was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed your RP, tactics, and team theme. Unfortunately, it is impractical for me personally to continue forward with two tables. Teams Planetouched and Deft Maneuvers were both great to work with during this mission so I had to make a hard choice and I went with DM. I hope to see you guys around the boards in the future! I always appreciate good players. If you're interested in another one of my games, remind me of your character. Thanks!

caster

Hehe, thanks for avenging me guys and gj getting out alive.
Nice one-shot game.
See ya around :-)

Thanks for running both tables at the same time especially when that wasn't the original goal on your part.

I enjoyed it and sad to see it end for us, kinda of wish the two groups could combine/run missions in tandem possibly, but know that would be a lot on your plate.

Let me know if you decide to expand on the setting again was intrigued and wondering where it was going to take us if we continued on.

@Team Also, want to thank everyone especially with the many late changes we had to make to the lineup to even get a game in, and hope to see yall on the boards in other groups.

Yes Agaban, it hurts me to keep things small like this but it's the best decision for me right now.

All: If you have a few minutes, I'd appreciate feedback from this oneshot to help me be a better GM in the future. Here's the survey monkey link