Skull & shackles (Inactive)

Game Master DBH

"Welcome aboard! I'm Niobe," says the ocean-themed woman.

"So far? Crazy manifested dreams and phase spiders. And the legend is that this place was inhabited by cyclopes."

"Don't forget the bloody big dragon," Marnir says with a slight shudder as he remembers their flight through the jungle. "We're trying to clean up the island so that we can host a huge party for the Free Captains and gain a seat on the council," he explains.

Dubiously, Niobe says, "I think the dragon may be out of our reach, even with additional help. I can maybe protect us a bit from that nasty breath weapon, but I almost certainly can't hurt it with spells or ground it."

"Wow, sounds like we might have our hands full then. What are we starting with?"

"We go looking for special gem-thing for ghost. He want, we think he leave if we get it for ghost. Something like that. Dragon surprise us on way. So maybe we go dragon? But if dragon not there again, we go find ghost gem thing."

Kung beams with pride at having--and explaining--such a nuanced understanding of their current goals.

Knowledge N: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Listening to everything up top, ladies have their ways Jane pipes up.

"That dragon might have been more interested in defending what it sees as it's territory... If we don't try and steal from it, then it should be okay." thinking to herself really quick. Though, i might be able to sneak in and see what it has."

"I have a spell, commune with nature, that will give me a better idea of the landscape and the creatures in it," says Niobe. "We can probably avoid the dragon-thing's territory and get some idea of what else lives on the island."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30

"Not a bad idea, but depending on how big the island is and how much personal power you have, we might need to cast it multiple times. Do you prepare spells, or do you just know them instinctually like I do?"

"Sounds like a plan. I don't think any of us want to meet up with that dragon again," Marnir says, pleased that there might be another way around it. "As Kung said, the immortal dreamstone is our priority, so we need to get to those cyclops ruins as soon as we can."

"What can you tell me about this immortal dreamstone?" says Maddie.

"I pray to the oceanic powers at the waterline each morning, and choose the blessings that I need," answers Niobe. "I'm not worried if I need to cast the spell multiple times to gather more information."

"It's fairly complicated," Marnir starts, trying to organise the story as best he can in his head. "Basically, it's a magic lens that a mad wizard pirate stole from some ancient cyclops seers that he tried to use to gain immortality in some kind of dream dimension. He made a bargain with a hag, but the wizard betrayed the hag before she could betray him. The ritual he tried to complete to use the stone's magic failed - now he's trapped as a ghost in the fort on the coast and the cyclopses have taken their stone back."

Marnir checks to make sure Maddie has understood before continuing. "We need to get the stone back from the cyclopses so that we can banish the wizard ghost and claim the fort as one of our outposts. Does that make sense?"

"Definitely doesn't sound like the ramblings of a madman!" says Maddie with a chuckle.

Jane stands back and just listens to everyone.

"Let's get going then," Marnir says, checking over his kit and heading towards the waiting ship's boat. "We should probably take a different route this time. No sense in pissing off that dragon again."

"I'll use my commune with nature spell to get a sense of the terrain and the creatures, so we can try to find the best course with the least chance of unwelcome encounters," says Niobe.

You trek across the lands of your island cautiously. Experience has shown you that there are many inhabitants happy to dispute your ownership.

As you skirt the jungle where the Kongomato dragon lairs you move along the shore of the small lake that supplies much of the islands fresh water. Scanning the skies for the dangerous dragon pays off as you all spot a flight of large winged humanoids flying towards the party at combat speed.

New map up top. Flying fight time. At the moment the creatures aren't on the map. You have three rounds before they will be where I have placed them.

The creatures will be on you soon. What are you doing?

Commune with Nature: You become one with nature, attaining knowledge of the surrounding territory. You instantly gain knowledge of as many as three facts from among the following subjects: the ground or terrain, plants, minerals, bodies of water, people, general animal population, presence of woodland creatures, presence of powerful unnatural creatures, or even the general state of the natural setting.

In outdoor settings, the spell operates in a radius of 1 mile per caster level. In natural underground settings — caves, caverns, and the like — the spell is less powerful, and its radius is limited to 100 feet per caster level. The spell does not function where nature has been replaced by construction or settlement, such as in dungeons and towns.

I would like to know about the ground or terrain, people, and presence of powerful unnatural creatures within 10 miles.

You'll need to be a bit clearer on that. What do you mean by Unnatural creatures?

Niobe - what a great spell!

"What the hells are those?" Marnir asks, pointing at the distant shapes approaching the crew at some speed. He readies himself for a fight, summoning magics to protect and strengthen him.

Round 1 - heroism, Round 2 - see invisibility, Round 3 - mirror image for 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 images.

With his spells in place Marnir draws his axe, raises it to the sky, and roars "DRAKES!"

I'll use Battle Cry during round 3, making sure I get it off early given the fear-based issues we've had recently.

While they were travelling:

"So, what do the rest of you do when the fighting starts? I imagine your captain there is some sort of 'hits it with a stick' guy, and I know that she is a druid, but what about the rest of you?"

Now:

Noticing the flying creatures, Maddie will take the short prep time she has to cast Heroism on herself, then Haste on the group, casts then will finally Force Sword and rise into the air to meet the incoming creatures.

"Kung kill things," states the half-orc, simply, in answer to Maddie's question. "Also drink rum and teach crew to fight."

"Oh, Kung like to swim in stormy water too. It relaxing."

When the flying creatures begin their approach, Kung waits patiently for them to arrive, taking up an aggressive stance.

T-minus 1 round: enter rage (free action) and accurate stance (move action)

I don't know! That's literally the text from the PRD. There is no further definition given.

I would presume it refers to anything that is neither a person nor a natural animal (e.g. creatures that have intelligence less than 3, but are not mundane, real-world animals or giant versions of them).

I would presume it refers to anything that is neither a person nor a natural animal (e.g. creatures that have intelligence less than 3, but are not mundane, real-world animals or giant versions of them).

I think this is getting to the heart of it. I would argue that anything that has the animal or vermin type, and that is in the environment described in its bestiary entry, would be considered a natural animal for that environment. I think you as GM would have to judge what you consider to be powerful or not. I would think that kobolds wouldn't get picked up, as they're not powerful, even though they're unnatural in the sense I described above. In the same way, the dragon we encountered would definitely be picked up, as it's quite powerful.

There's also the fact that "person" is a separate category. I was going by the broad definition that anyone you can reason with is a person, so a dragon or a kobold would be a person, but not a powerful unnatural creature (assuming that a critter can only fit into one category at a time).

Well after looking it up, and going through what there is for you to meet on the island, and taking out Animals, Vermin and humanoids to leave the Unnatural creatures. What your spell would detect is: 1 Magical beast in the abandoned Fort. Phase spider. 6 Humanoids with the Fiendish template at 'C' on the map, but currently coming right for you. 1 Dragon in the jungle that you have already met. :)

Anyone going to try that Knowledge Nature roll?

@Niobe. Since the spell tells you what life there is one the entire Island I'm going to tell the party about encounters before you meet them, unless they are a mobile threat such as these creatures. I will put a post in the discussion thread about what life you did detect when you cast the spell.

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24

"Harpies - some kind of fiendish harpies? Devil-touched ones?" says Niobe as the bird-women close.

"Um, ware their mind-controlling song!"

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Jane thinks about the thing but isn't really able to remember much about it.

"Harpies! That's annoying. Anyone got a thunderstone?"

The Harpies move as a unit, swooping in closer then two hover 30' up about 60' away from you. The pair unleash their Captivating song on the party while the rest move to encircle you.

This close you also see they all only have one Cyclopean in their heads along with reddish skin and leathery, bat like wings.

Marnir, Jane & Kung all become captivated by the eerily beautiful song and walk towards Red & Yellow mindlessly.

The party, well Maddie and Niobe at least, may act now.

Just FYI, Kung's will save is currently +14 vs spells or spell-like abilities (+6 normal, +2 rage, +6 superstitious); he obviously fails regardless on the Nat 1 roll, but I wanted to make sure that we had the modifier correct for the remaining combat.

Does captivating song end Kung's rage?

Since the Harpies were nice enough to bunch up, Maddie will open a rip in space time and Black Tentacles will spill out, attempting to wrap themselves around the harpies.

CMB (using caster level +5): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24

I am going to center it so that the front harpies of the group will be on the edge of it, so that our melee people can fight them on a side should they want.

Niobe tries to figure out which harpy is enthralling Marnir so that she can blast it out of the sky!

Flame strike: 10d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 4, 3, 3, 5, 2, 5, 4, 4) = 41 (Ref DC 19 for half; half of the damage is divine. Let me know if I need to check vs. SR.)

@Kung. Yes your Rage has ended.

@Maddie. The Harpies are 30' up in the air, I don't think Black Tentacles can reach them?

@Niobe. Red & Yellow are singing, the others are moving to encircle you.

Black Tentacles doesn't need to be anchored to the ground, at least in my reading of the spell. They just fill an area with 10' reach tentacles that try to grapple anything that enters them. Of course, if you want it to only be a ground-based spell, that's fine.

Red or yellow: 1d2 ⇒ 2
Yellow it is!

Jane`s eyes go slack and she stands there in awe at the beautiful song.

@Maddie, every reading of the spell say they come up from the floor or ground. You can change the spell you cast.

Reflex Yellow: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

The Harpy squawks in shock as a pillar of flames engulf it, darting quickly out before too much damage takes place.

Oddly enough that was the Harpy who everyone failed to save vs. That breaks her song and now Kung, Marnir and Jane are freed again. Unable to act this round, but can act on the next round.

No problem. I'll do the following then:

Maddie will fly to Kung and give him Heroism, to help him better resist the song in the future.

As per the stats spoiler Marnir's Will save bonus is currently +14, so even having rolled a 2 (and assuming the DC is 16 as per the ability's text and isn't modified by the harpies' feats or abilities in anyway) Marnir makes both saves.

"Looks like they're coming round the sides!" Marnir calls, blocking out the eerily enchanting song. He counters it by launching into his own song, a tale of extraordinary heroism about how a single Ulfen archer protected his cliff-top village from a band of harpies that tried to lure the villagers to their deaths.

He weaves a spell into the song, gifting his comrades with the tactical skill of the archer, before moving to confront the harpies.

Inspired rage starts without an action thanks to Savage Intuition, Standard Action to cast tactical acumen, Move Action to move 35ft, ideally ending in cover behind the tree.

As Marnir has taken cover by a tree Orange & Green swoop in and attack, but can't use a Fly-by attack. "Oooh, this ones pretty! Lets keep him alive." One cackles lustily. "He's a bit tiddly?" The other says doubtfully.

attack Orange: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
attack Green: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
attack Green Crit?: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Blue and Violet make swooping attacks on Kung lashing out with their morningstars as they fly past.

attack Blue: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
attack Violet: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Red & Yellow react badly to Niobe casting a spell on one of them and move in to deal with her.

attack Red + Smite good: 1d20 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 3 = 16
attack Yellow + Smite good: 1d20 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 3 = 25

The party may now act.

Damage + Smite good: 1d8 + 3 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 7 = 18

mirror image might cause that hit to miss. 7 images plus me, I'm hit on an 8. 1d8 ⇒ 7 is a miss.

Marnir doesn't even need to duck as the harpy's claw slashes through an illusory duplicate. "I'll stay alive by killing you!" he shouts back before continuing with the next verse of his song. His axe lashes out again and again, quickened by Maddie's magic.

Free Action to continue inspired rage, Swift Action to use Arcane Strike, Full Round Action to full attack orange. If orange dies and I still have attacks left, I'll switch to green.

Axe attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30
Damage: 1d8 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 25

Axe attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29
Damage: 1d8 + 19 ⇒ (4) + 19 = 23

Axe attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

That kills Orange. No attacks leftover.

That kills Orange. No attacks leftover.

That's fine by me. Killing one harpy per round seems like a rate I'd like to sustain.

As the Harpies move into combat with Kung, Maddie reacts by attacking one of them.

Just a reminder to everyone that you are hasted, and to Kung that you also have Heroism. Also, I am swinging my sword two-handed, so I added half my str. mod.

Attack Rolls: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 241d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 271d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Damage Rolls: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 91d8 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 101d8 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Confirmation Roll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Damage Roll: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Ooof. It takes longer to keep the stats spoiler current than it takes to compose a post. There's a lot of effects floating around right now!

Kung comes to his senses, the harpy's magic drifting away as it dies to Niobe's fiery blast. His rage interrupted by the song, Kung finds himself a little winded, and has to take a moment to figure out where he is and what is happening. Still, Marnir's song--and Maddie's spell--inspires him to work through the fatigue, and he looks for a target.

Jane steps back 5 feet and tosses a bomb at the red Harpie.

Bomb Touch: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
Dmg: 4d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 1) + 3 = 8 5 dmg splash, DC 14 Ref. Aiming at the bottom left corner. It should get him 3 times with splash... if it works like that.
Dazed Rounds: 1d4 ⇒ 4

"Kung! Get to me!" shouts Niobe. She bobs and weaves, trying to avoid the claws of the harpies.

Concentration: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19

Casting defensively.

She gestures and a sudden blast of water shoves the harpy near her back toward Kung.

Hydraulic push: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22

That's the effective combat maneuver attack to knock red to the west.