You're waiting on me. Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. Someone told me about a free online program, Lego Digital Designer. You can digitally design your own model and I have been playing around with that a bit. I LOVE building my own designs of Lego, but do not have the money or space for it now. I used to have a HUGE Lego collection, worth about $6,000, and had to sell it when I moved back to Argentina. This free program helps satisfy those cravings. Anyhow, moving on.
Sama fires a bolt at the blue-tasseled man and it pokes him in the arm and falls out.
Aldhranhald thinks that if there was a way to stop up the hole in the vase, it might stop the flow of gas?
The man with the blue tassels swings his sword at Gansu, but Gansu dodges out of the way. "Oh, so you want me to stand still but you won't! I see how it goes!":-P
Blue's attack:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
The man with the orange tassels swings his sword at the dwarf.
Orange's attack:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
But in his haste, he nearly drops his sword.
The man with the red tassels continues to sleep. 2nd Round
CURRENT INITIATIVE:
Block 2:
Boudacia, Aldhranhald, Brother Guiness, Gansu, & Sama
Aldhranhald uses an arrow tip to puncture the dead woman's clothing and then tears a large hunk of the fabric away. Then he casts his spell that summons water out of thin air, soaking the fabric in it. Holding his breath and moving forward, using the arrow and the wet fabric, he attempts to plug the hole in the vase that the gas is leaking out of.
Let me know if you want any dice rolls there. I just figured none of that would really come with a chance of failure, so why roll? :D
Brother Guiness swings his warhammer and smashes the orange tasseled human on the helmet, dropping him to the ground. BG then steps over the body so he can get a better view down the hallway.
First off he notices there is a short hallway almost immediately, to the east with a wooden door. Then, there are again crates and supplies stacked in a couple of places in the lengthy main hallway here. There are 3 doors close together up ahead that lead east, 1 door to the west, 1 hallway opening to the west, a very similar statue of a woman holding a vase at the end of the hallway, where the hallway turns to the east.
The map has been updated, but please keep in mind that BG is the only one who can see this currently.
Sama, gets distracted wondering what Aldhranhald is up to, and loses her focus with her crossbow, almost shooting Aldy instead.
In the meantime, Aldhranhald manages to use some of the woman's clothing to plug up the hole of the vasse in the statue. ... Did that stop the gas? ... ?
Poor woman! I mean, you just had a whole wardrobe with a bunch of robes and stuff in it right there in the supply room!?!?! Hahahaha!
CURRENT INITIATIVE:
Block 2: Boudacia - Let me guess! Blue has to make a will save vrs sleep? ;-) - & Gansu - I'm not even bothering to guess! :-D
The blue-tasseled man suddenly falls to the ground unconscious.
Boudacia, you are not aware of any effects from the gas.
With the two remaining humans unconscious and at the feet of the two fighters, I see no reason to stay in initiative currently. We'll just go ahead and say they are both dead unless you all want to keep one or two alive for some reason. Feel free to continue exploring! Please! There is a potentially deadly encounter (or two or three!) awaiting you on this level! :-D
As the last of the enemy falls before their onslaught, Brother Guiness leans down an plucks off a mask.
"You say these masks are coating with an herbal remedy to the gas?" asks BG of Gansu. BG looks at the mask. "Well, the gas didn't seem to affect me, but just to make sure..." Brother Guiness puts on the mask and takes a few breaths to see if he feels any different, leaving it on for the moment.
Grunting, BG grabs a couple of bodies and starts dragging them towards the coat closet. "Let's move the bodies out of the way and check them for treasure." Turning to Aldhranhald, he asks "What did you say to make them attack? Did you recognize them from somewhere?"
Boudacia returns to human form and follows Brother Guiness's lead in donning a gas mask, saying "Seems like a good idea brother. Rather stylish don't you think?"
Still wearing the mask, Boudacia begins searching the bodies and the rooms for anything of note or, more particularly, of value.
No one notices any difference when they put on the masks.
Searching the bodies and rooms, you find, a total of 8 potions of cure light, 32 small vials with a liquid none of you recognizes, 8 daggers, 8 light crossbows of very good quality (Masterwork), 8 short swords. 170 Gp, 1 rose quartz, 1 malachite, 1 hematite, 1 pink diamond & 1 blue sapphire. Also, hanging on the wall in the guardroom you find 7 wooden noisemakers. What their purpose is ... ?
Aldhranhald will take a close look at the small vials of liquid, and if the testing requires it, will even take a small taste. Knowing a thing or seven about alchemy, he does his best to figure what those 32 vials might be.
I'm going to use one of my uses of Skill Inspiration on the Alchemy.
Taking a look at the daggers and shortswords, he says, "If it's all right with you all, I think I'll take one of those daggers and shortswords. I've been realizing that it's nice to have a sharp blade in a lot of different circumstances."
Aldhranhald realizes that the liquid in the vials is a poison of some sort, but he does not know what type of poison.
Nothing magical about those 32 vials. - I am assuming you would use Detect Magic at some point of this process. The afore-mentioned Cure Light potions would be the only thing that 'pinged'.
By the way, I could not find any rules about identifying poisons. I thought there was some sort of rules for that? How does one determine the DC for identifying them? I figured 15 was high enough to tell you it is definitely poisonous, but not high enough to identify it, but I'm not really certain about that. Any help available out there please? From discussion threads I read it does seem to be a 'gray' area.
Picking up one of the masterwork crossbows, Brother Guiness take is over to Sama and hands it to her. ”You had some nice shots there, Sama. Perhas this will help even more.”
He then shoulders his share of the loot, making sure everyone gets at least one potion of CLW to carry, then moves back down the hall to the east. Indicating the door to the east down the short hallway, BG asks, ”So what’s next? Do we want to plug up the other statue, or maybe just check this door right here?”
Stormstrider, the only "official" rules on identifying the nature of a poison are included in the descriptive text of the Detect Poison Spell. There it states that once someone knows a liquid is poisonous they can attempt either a DC 20 Wisdom check to identify the exact type. It also says, though, that a character with the Craft (alchemy) skill can attempt a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check either prior to the Wisdom check, or even if the Wisdom check fails. Just for a frame of reference, I've always just made it the same DC as the poison's saving throw to determine the nature of the poison, as some poisons are considered "common," and there would probably be a considerable knowledge base out in the world about such things. I have also seen DMs who use the Potion Identification rules for poisons, but the problem there is that poisons don't have "levels" as spells do. So, I guess, in the end, which is just another one of those reasons I don't like Pathfinder, even in a ruleset that attempts to have a rule for every situation, there isn't an actual rule for identifying poisons, without using the Detect Poison spell. Which means it falls under DM's discretion. :)
Realizing the vials are all some kind of poison, but not being able to determine anything further without the use of a proper alchemy lab, Aldhranhald suggests they hold onto the vials for later study. Before heading out to further examine this level, the black-haired elf takes a moment to examine all of the gems to see if he can determine a baseline for their value.
Appraise:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
... and he determines the value of the gems wildly inaccurately... "Hmmm I think they might be worth 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 gp...?
”Um,,,Okay, Aldhranhald, I’ll make sure we get our fair share for these priceless gems...”. Looking at him a bit strangely, BG continues, ”I’ll just check out this door while you make plans to spend your fabulous wealth.”
BG Perception for traps and or sounds on the door:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Looks like BG doesn't need the rest of us for anything really. If the dice algorithm keeps treating him like this, he can just clear this whole level himself. "Brother Guiness, just come and back and let us know when this level of the Spire is cleared okay? All right." :P
Stormster... in my own head "common" poisons would be things made out of readily available plants or out of the venom of commonly encountered creatures, say like spiders, scorpions and snakes. That's just my own imagining though, and comes from knowledge of our real world, which rarely if ever translates well into fantasy worlds. :)
Boudacia, still wearing the mask, asks "Does anyone have any idea what that gas was? Or what it's effects are? I got a good whiff of it and it does not seems to have done anything. And neither has this mask, aside from making me look different."
"Ready when you are BG." Aldhranhald says, having looped his quarterstaff in its leather loop on the side of his backpack and taken out his shortbow to nock an arrow.
Ready action to shoot the first clearly hostile creature I have a line of sight/attack to.
This chamber is a small barracks with a pair of double bunks. The eastern portion of the room is partitioned into a pair of cells with doors made from iron bars. Inside each cell is a shoddy bunk and a rusty bucket.
Bunks & buckets inside the cells not pictured on the map for whatever reason.
There is also a small table and a couple of chairs in the middle of the room.
Brother Guiness waves the others forward, also going into the room himself. ”Let’s search the room—especially the cells—for signs of our missing Goldenfire wizards.”
As BG enters the room (How far in?), talking to the others he suddenly hears ... ? what sounds like several incoherent voices? speaking all at once? And from under the bunk in the southernmost cell he sees ... a horrifying sight. A horrid mass of eyes, mouths, and formless flesh, its countless maws yammering ceaselessly.
Please feel free to enjoy the enlarged picture of the creature over to the left hand side of the map! :-D
Aldhranhald, you don't have line of sight for your readied action regrettably.
BG lets out an inarticulate yell and stumbles back a few feet as the horrendous creature reveals itself (5 foot step back to the West). He then pulls out a light hammer and flings it at the horrid creature, trying to aim between the bars.
Having been a DM for a number of years now, I'm convinced the beast is a Gibbering Mouther, and therefore not to be taken lightly! Of course we need to see if the dice let Aldy recollect what it is.
Aldhranhald steps into the room with his bow still drawn but doesn't fire. Instead the monster niggles his brain about something he's read, and that recently. He sets the proverbial hamster wheel to turning to see if he can recall any details about the beast to help them protect themselves.
Used another one of my skill inspirations there, as the dice weren't terribly friendly. Thankfully my Monster Lore ability allows me to use my Wisdom bonus in addition to all other bonuses when identifying creature abilities and weaknesses. :) Hopefully, if the creature is a gibbering mouther, my 22 will give us at least two more useful pieces of information to work with. :D
Aldhranhald is correct of course! Yes, it is a Gibbering Mouther! I said there was a potentially deadly encounter ahead right? In discussion groups online this has been the encounter that usually kills at least one party member! Let's see if I DM this thing properly & how you all react!
Random dice roll to see what else Aldy knows:
Random 1:1d12 ⇒ 7And random 2:1d12 ⇒ 8
Aldranhald recalls reading that these nasty, and very dangerous creatures are able to engulf a person completely, causing a lot of pain, and they are also able to emit a sound which can drive a person literally insane!
Speaking of which ... Gibbering Mouther's turn! ... Unless Aldy was doing anything else on his turn?
The ugly creature suddenly lets out a sound ... that you cannot describe! You all feel your senses going crazy for a second! Except Boudacia, who instead of hearing this maddening sound she sees a wild swirling of colors, which throws her senses completely off for just a split moment. (Making the sound is a free action.)
I need a Fort save from each of you, and I actually need two of them from Boudacia!
At the same time the creature seems to slide forward, sliding right through the iron bars of the cell door with no trouble. (Move Action) Then it reaches out with it's pseudo-pods trying to grab the dwarf. Standard action(Yes, this would provoke an AoO from BG, but - per his own words - he does not have a melee weapon out since he threw a throwing hammer. Message on facebook.)
CMB to grapple:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
And the horrid creature grabs onto the dwarf! To everyone's horror - especially the dwarf's! some of the creatures mouths instantly latch onto the dwarf. Creature ability anytime it successfully grapples.
grappling bite damage:1d4 ⇒ 1
Though it has trouble sinking it's teeth through the heavy armor it does scratch BG. But BG somehow feels like it drained something more? BG also takes 1 point of Con damage! Don't forget that if that lowers your Con to a different bonus, then you also lose HP per level accordingly!
Fending off the auditory attack, Aldhranhald calls out to his companions. "This creature is deadly, especially in close range! That sound you just heard has the potential to induce insanity. Plus, if it latches on it can engulf its victims to deadly effect. Stay at range and hit it with elemental damage wherever possible! BG, get out of there if you can!"Hopefully all that is still within the limits of the free action to talk outside of my turn.
Oops! My bad! BG pointed out to me, that's a Will save not a Fort save that I need from everybody. Aldhranhald, obviously I will let you keep that good roll, especially since your Will is even higher than your Fort. *** Now for Boudacia, that means I need a Will save AND a Fort save. Yes, your finally finding out the effects of the poison gas! Also, whenever someone is speaking, you cannot understand them. Instead of hearing words, you just see myriad colors coming out of their mouths, and you smell various different things that make no sense since there is no source for such a smell. This also means you cannot act on any of the information they are providing about this creature! Roll that Fort save (AND the Will save) and I will let you know if there is more. *** BG past the Will save!
Talking as a free action: Yes, it is allowed, but try to limit it to one sentence or so. Aldhranhald, your pushing the limits there this time buddy! :-) Best DM I ever played with (Tamlara's RL husband) was very tough/strict on this & would only allow 6 words I think it was? And your sentence has to be at least roughly grammatically correct, or 'normal'. Not just one long thing putting a bunch of stuff together to claim it as 'one sentence'.
The ever-vigilant BG has once again made me aware of my errors! Thanks BG! I somehow forgot that Sama already went! So I will correct the current initiative. *** Now, I have noticed it has been a couple of days since we have heard from Boudacia/Joynt Jezebel (Who incorrectly posted with the wrong avatar - it happens.) so I will give her until Friday morning - USA Central time zone ;-) - to make a post, or I will bot her slumber hex. ...? Does slumber work on a Gibering Mouther? We may find out possibly? ;-)
Since the Fort save is for the poison gas which came first, I'm going to say that save comes first & thus any results for failing come first. And yes, Boudacia failed the Fort save.
Boudacia loses 1 point of Wisdom, was Fascinated, but that went away as soon as Gansu threatened her. However, Boudacia is still Sickened by the poison gas. This means she basically takes a - 2 to all her rolls, including saves, which means she also fails the Will save vrs the Gibbering Mouther, so she is now also Confused.
Random roll to see how Boudacia acts:1d100 ⇒ 59
51 - 75 = Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand. Since to the best of my knowledge the hex casting witch that likes to transform into a bat, has nothing in her hands, so I'm going to rule she can't do that, so she just babbles incoherently.
After Gansu took a swing at Boudacia turns to him and utters, "lfldo, rj cu fi, G eo wl dumr ekwl otn fkwis.";-P
