Strange Aeons, with GM Pendrak

Game Master karlprosek

Will Save vs Fear: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Neither am I, thankfully

spoiler=Resources] Acid ray 4/5. Spells 1: 4/5[/spoiler]

Fort vs disease: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Fort vs distraction: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

"Oh no! Not more rats!" Broom shouted in dismay as the squeaking mass swarmed around her. Flashbacks to the encounter with giant rats plagues her mind as she fled the hoard, drawing her sickle as she did. The last day or two had taught her that she really needed to learn to draw her weapon faster.

Ducking around the bookcase, she saw Harrow and another rat thing on the top of a shelf.

She flings another ball of black acid at the beast.
acid blob (ray}: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
acid damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Just as she threw the blob, she glanced fearfully behind her to make sure the rat swarm hadn't followed her as the sound of squeaking continued. The lapse in concentration caused her shot to land nowhere near her target.

fort (distraction): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
fort (disease): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
unfortunately, ranged means no AoOs...

"Agh, what..." Miniel moves up as a swarm of rats suddenly appears and tears at her. With the spellcasting rats coming into view, she fires up at one of them.

move forward, attack blue. (3 arrows used so far, I think)
attack (longbow vs blue): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
damage (longbow vs blue): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

I almost forgot, Alico and Xander are both shaken for 1 round even though they made their saves. You guys both get your turns as well though, you both just rolled saves but didn't take action.

Despite the distraction of the rat swarm, Miniel manages to send an arrow streaking toward one of the ratlings, which sticks into the creature's shoulder. The monster yips in pain.

Laura, Alico, and Xander may act. Still need saving throws from Laura as well.

Fortitude save vs distraction: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Fortitude save vs disease: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Laura shakes her head like a bull ignoring a fly, and drags the ladder a few steps before climbing it to reach one of the ratlings (the blue one). She proceeds to swing at it with her axe.

Greataxe attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Greataxe damage: 1d12 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

I am seriously done with rats. Perhaps I used to hate them. I know I do now.
Xander moves towards the ladder in the far corner. double move

"This is entertaining, yes?" Harrow slides down the ladder he was on and moves to the far corner so he could see [Blue] and casts another spell, hoping for better luck.

Casting a Daze of my own on Blue

Laura slices her massive axe into the same ratling that Miniel feathered with her arrow. As if it couldn't get worse for the creature, Alico then dazes it with a spell. It looks rather worse for the wear.

The two ratlings on the eastern shelf begin a similar ritual to the one that the other two ratlings did before. The un-dazed ratling near Laura hisses as it tries to scare her away from it and its injured and dazed friend with its magic.

Laura needs to make a DC 12 Will save vs. fear or be frightened for 2 rounds. If she makes the save she is shaken for 1 round.

Xander, John, Miniel, Mashiki, Laura, and Alico may act.

Will save vs fear: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Laura appears to go away inside as her eyes widen in fright. She backs off of the ladder and moves quickly towards the room exit, holding her greataxe before her like a shield.

John tries to interrupt one of the ratlings involved in the ritual with an arrow.

shortbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Having hopped on the ladder,Pouch slides the ladder towards the nearest ratling (yellow), trying to slash it with his blade.
shortsword: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21 damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
confirm?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 crit dam: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
holy cow, I think I might have hit one?!

Seeing the ratling she'd targeted before try another magic spell, Miniel shoots at it again, hoping to put it down for good.

4 arrows (2 missed)
attack (longbow vs blue): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 1 = 19
damage (longbow vs blue): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Broom watched Rope running for the door "There are an awful lot of rats, maybe We should be running for the door as well." Just as she was about to turn around when she saw Pouch deliver a devastating strike to one of the human rat things and she smiled. "We can't leave, We have to help Pouch!"

Her resolve strengthened for the moment, she pooled the acid in her hand once more and waited for a second or two to find an opportunity to toss it at the rat thing Pouch was fighting. Unfortunately the way he was moving about and the small nature of the rat thing made her very concerned about accidentally hurting him.

Getting impatient, she just turned to the closest rat thing that had started making weird movements and tossed the viscous blob at it.

Acid blob touch at orange: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Acid: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Broom's grin widened as the acid struck home. Somehow this all seemed vaguely familiar to her, but she didn't know why.

Xander stabs one of the ratlings from the top of the ladder, and it seems to break the creature's concentration. It shakes its furry head in disgust and hisses at the half-orc.

Mashiki also hits her target with her acid blob, with a hiss and a disgusting, melted fur smell. The ratling squeaks in pain and anger.

Meanwhile, Miniel strikes another of the creatures with an arrow, and it tumbles off the top of the bookshelf, down for the count.

Alico may act.

Sorry for the delay. I doubt I can reach Orange, so I'm getting up there on its level and try and intimidate it before getting into melee range.

Harrow, seeing the ratling fall - ignorant to the failure of his spell - climbs up the ladder near the "orange" ratling and bares his sickle threateningly. "Do you desire to join the others, dearie?"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

The ratling that Alico is shouting at seems unfazed by his threats; in fact, it seems to laugh at him, in a coughing and hissing cackle.

The two swarms of rats surge towards John and Xander respectively, biting and scratching, but almost as soon as they attack they vanish with a "POOF" as the summoning spell ends.

However, almost as soon as those swarms vanish, one of the other ratlings finishes casting his own spell-like, and another swarm appears right on top of Miniel and and the already fear-stricken Laura, gnashing and slashing at them. That same ratling then glares at Miniel, and seemed to use its fear magic again. The ratlings near Xander and Alico do the same, seemingly, though the one near Xander steps back before it does so.

John, Laura, and Miniel take 2 points of damage, and Xander takes 6.

Miniel, Laura, Xander, and John need to make two DC 12 Fortitude saves each, the first against distraction (failure causes you to become sickened for 1 round) and the second against disease (filth fever). If you already caught the disease (which I don't think anyone did...) you can forgo the save.

Miniel, Alico, and Xander need to make DC 12 Will saves against fear, or be frightened for 3, 4, or 2 rounds respectively. If they succeed, they are shaken for 1 round.

Xander, John, Miniel, Mashiki, Laura, and Alico may act.

fort (distraction): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
fort (disease): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
will (fear): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Miniel shakes off both the rat swarm and the ratling's scary face, moving forward and shooting another arrow at said ratling's face.

5 arrows, 3? missed
attack (longbow vs green): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 = 12
damage (longbow vs green): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
filthy and fearful apparently

Pouch jumps down the ladder and flees from the scary rats.

Will Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Shaken it is

Disturbing as it was to see the filthy creature's face contort so, Harrow's feminine voice growls "I may not remember, but I'm pretty sure I've seen worse!"

He then goes to attack the ratling. Attack?: 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 - 2 = 2 However, the human side of his mind is thrown off more than the hag's, so he misses and the sickle leaves a shallow scratch across the top of the bookcase.

It was difficult shooting at things that your friends were fighting without risking hitting them as well. Harrow didn't seem to be in any immediate trouble so Broom moved a bit closer and opted to toss some more acid at the yellow ratling that was scampering around on top of the bookcase. Again she pooled a bit of viscous black liquid smelling faintly of vinegar and tossed it at the rat thing.

acid blob(ray): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
acid damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Broom flinched a bit as they took a step closer to the squeaking swarm in front of them, causing their shot to go wide.

Broom couldn't keep this up much longer though, tossing bits of themselves like this made them dizzy if they did it too much.

John continues to empty his quiver of warped arrows, shooting a wild shot at the yellow ratling.

shortbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

The ratlings manage to dodge or avoid all the attacks that come their way, continuing to fight back. Laura runs for the door, but then her fear seems to end, and she turns around to stand next to John.

The remaining swarm of rats rushes up and over the tables and floods over Mashiki. They nibble and claw at her, but as soon as they've done their damage they vanish with another POP.

One ratling tries to bite Alico, but he sidesteps it. The others use their fear magic again, targeting Miniel and Mashiki.

Mashiki takes 5 points of damage, and needs to make a pair of Fortitude saves against distraction and then disease. Then she and Miniel also both need to make Will saves against fear, or be frightened for 3 and 1 rounds respectively.

By the way, if Xander tries to go out those other doors he will find them jammed, so he'd probably then turn and try to flee back the other way (though its up to you, he might try to force them open).

Xander, John, Miniel, Mashiki, Laura, and Alico may act.

Fort vs distraction: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Fort vs disease: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Will vs fear: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

The part of Broom's body that was solid was a bastion of fortitude as They fended off the many bites and and maladies the rats afflicted upon them, even as their less solid part that couldn't cope with the assault started to leak out.

The part of Broom's mind that felt things was overwhelmed with fear while the part that was cold and calculating, while fascinated with the emotion, kept Broom largely steady.

Although a little shaken, she also felt anger welling up as she pressed her lips into a line and clenched her fists at her sides.

"We have only been awake for a few days, and one thing we know for certain is how much We really hate rats!"

She lobs just a little more acid at the yellow rat before stomping across the room towards the ladder to get up closer to them.\

blob(ray) of acid while shaken: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 - 2 = 19
acid damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Xander jiggles the handle of the doors, but nothing happens. If he were a little more rational at the moment, he might simply try to dislodge whatever seems to be affecting the door mechanism, but in his state, he simply runs back toward the door he knows leads back to "safety."

Fort save vs distraction: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Fort save vs disease: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Laura shakes her head, finally clearing the supernatural fear that had afflicted her, and turns to lumber back toward the ratlings, intent on causing them harm with her axe.

(Double move, goes to ladder and moves it.)

will save vs fear: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

"Stop that!", Miniel finds herself shouting as she draws and fires and misses yet again.

6 arrows, 4 missed
attack (longbow vs green): 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 - 2 = 10

This isn't working. What else can I do?

"I am also tired of these vermin!" Harrow hisses, taking another swing at the orange ratling.

Swing with Sickle: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

However, the ratling dances out of the way once again.

John shoots a shot at the yellow ratling.

shortbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Once more the adventurers struggle to make a dent into their adversaries, though Mashiki is able to hit one of the monsters with her acid blob.

The ratling near Alico continues to be no better at hitting the spiritualist than vice versa. The other ratlings continue to try to use their fear magic, this time targeting Mashiki and Laura.

Laura and Mashiki again need to make DC 12 Will saves vs. fear or be frightened for 1 and 3 rounds respectively. If they make the save they are shaken for one round instead.

Xander, John, Miniel, Mashiki, Laura, and Alico may act.

Will save vs fear, DC 12: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Laura pushes the ladder closer to the green ratling and ascends to swing at it with her axe. She narrows her eyes angrily and twists her lip, swinging with extra force.

Greataxe attack, rage, shaken: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Greataxe damage: 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Critical confirm greataxe attack, rage, shaken: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Greataxe damage: 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Greataxe damage: 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

This dance is adorable

Harrow huffs, flexing the fingers of his off hand. "Enough of this." Harrow's left hand twitches and lunges out, trying to touch the ratling before him.

Touch Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
Inflict Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

His fingertips brushed across the fur of the ratling, leaving lines of decaying fur and bruises. The hiss of flies could be heard buzzing as the strike lands.

is that the sound of exploding ratling I hear? what a beautiful sound.

Before Miniel fires off another arrow, she racks her brain for ideas. Drawing some power from her new holy text, she tries to peer into the future to predict the ratlings' next moves, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

swift/free to use the divination base power for a paltry +1 to attack
attack (longbow vs yellow): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 1 = 8
7 arrows used, 5 missed.......

Still didn't work. Running out of ideas...

John fires an arrow straight into the ceiling.

shortbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

sigh, low level combats are so embarrassing. Like some sort of Benny Hill sketch
Pouch sees his chance and bolts for the door the came in. He accidentally bumps Cage's bow as he runs past, sending his arrow off target.

Will vs fear: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Once again the cold and rational part of Broom is able to anchor Their psyche as Their emotional part descends into panic. But the struggle is not without its costs as Broom is still shaken by the experience.

Broom dredges up the memories of deep places and with them the words to summon the electricity that some denizens of that place manifest. The strange, purplish sparks dance around her hand as she grimly climbs the ladder, holding onto the rungs with her other hand so as not to lose the spell.

She reached down and tried to grab the creature by the scruff of the neck
Shocking grasp (touch, shaken): 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 1 - 2 = 14
electricity: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11

Seven straight misses for John

Laura focuses, and cuts one of the ratlings nearly in half, sending its corpse tumbling to the floor from the top of the bookshelf.
Things may have begun to go right for the adventurers. Meanwhile Alico injures another with a touch of negative energy, though the others cannot manage to hit their ratling targets.

The ratling that Alico touched bites at him again, but he dodges. The other, seeing her comrade sliced asunder by Laura's axe, thinks twice. She looks around for a way out, gives a shriek of panic, steps away from Mashiki, and teleports across to the opposite bookshelves with another POP.

Mashiki just barely missed with the touch attack, but the charge stays on her hand. Did you mean to have her climb atop the shelf and try to get to yellow? As Laura has confirmed, regular AC on the ratlings is 16 (Touch 15, FF 13).

Did Alico already have an inflict light wounds charge on his hand? Otherwise he'd need to cast the spell, which would either provoke (and risk losing the spell if he is hit), or require him to cast the spell defensively (and risk losing the spell if he fails his concentration check).

Xander, John, Miniel, Mashiki, Laura, and Alico may act.

Laura, slightly mollified, forces herself to calm down and steps down the ladder. She turns and moves implacably toward the ratling that teleported away.

(She cancels her bloodrage, which leaves her fatigued for two rounds, and double moves.)

Oops, no he had not.

Concentration Check?: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Frick

Spewing forth a long tirade of curses in Infernal, Harrow snarls and swings with his sickle once again. Predictably, he misses.

Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Figuring that perhaps discretion is the better part of valor, Pouch pulls out his sling and grabs a convenient rock to hurl at one of the ratlings (yellow).
sling: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

John shoots a shot at the yellow ratling.

shortbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

"It was a bout of severe depression resulting from my ineptitude that put me in this place to begin with...." he says with a sigh.

Seeing the rat teleport across the room, Miniel tries again with the bow. This time her arrow seems to fly true.

attack (longbow vs yellow): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 1 = 22
damage (longbow vs yellow): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
8 arrows used, 5 missed

"As if rats weren't bad enough, these rats can blink away to wherever they want to go!"

Broom slides back down the ladder, careful not to touch anything with the electricity on her hand. She then rushes over to the other book case and climbs up that ladder to help Harrow.

Melee touch: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

The rat thing scampered out of her grasp as she reached down to zap it.

Xander sends a sling bullet smashing into the jaw of the ratling on the outer bookcase, and Miniel follows it up with an arrow that ends the creature's miserable existence.

The one remaining ratling, hemmed in by Mashiki and Alico, seems overwhelmed at this point and simply falls to its knees, blathering something in Aklo.

"Make it reveal the evil magic it used to make me miss every shot!"

Harrow's feminine voice replies in Aklo before huffing, clearly livid from this comical ordeal. "I do not believe these creatures are capable of that kind of hexing, my dear vexed archer." His female half growls from atop the bookcase. "If they were, we wouldn't still be breathing, I'm sure."

Harrow's masculine voice returns in Aklo, asking the surviving ratling questions.

Miniel looks confused. "Are we not killing them anymore? What are they saying?"

"Wait, when did you learn to speak rat?" John asks confused.

"and when did rats learn to talk?"

Laura sniffs, grunts with annoyance, and watches the doors to make sure they are not disturbed.

Broom looks down at the ratling, the sparks still dancing around her hand. "We never wanted to fight you in the first place! Do you know what is going on here?"