The Storm in Isger

Game Master Sigil

Aidan smiled at the nickname. He had been called worse.

Can Taedric charge the newly-arrived archer?

Taedric does not have a straight line to the archer, though he does to the man with the red eyes.

Aidan is 65 feet away by the quickest approach.

Taedric grimaces and says, "Time to roll the bones...", bringing his weapon to bear and directing Trumps into a charge, striking with his lance as he turns and passes the foe.

Charge (Ride-by): 1d20 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 4 = 17 for 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 6) + 2 = 10

That's not the best dice roll...even with +4 for charging.

Remembering bard song Taedric?

I think I drifted more than 30' away to make the charge, sadly.

Actually I'm given to understand that in pathfinder there is no range. You need only hear the song.

Yep, I think that's right, and Elinor has a very loud voice, her husband, in fact, described her as "kind of shrill when she gets irritated".

Wow, I've just learned something years into playing PF. My RL party's bard will probably quite pleased to learn that also... Ok then, call that 18 to hit and 11 damage, thanks to Elinor's inspiration.

Harlynn falls back on his training, but with disappointing results. He does not detect anything magic on the building.

Taedrics luck is good. A clean hit. The man with the red eyes makes a hiss like an angry snake and turns to face the cavalier.

Speaking of luck, Senecas intuition pays off. Moving the debris at the floor of the closet he sees that there are boards lain loosely across some sort of opening.

Aidans trap has no doubt slowed the dead down, but now some of them free themselves and surge forward like fire ants. The first thing the swarm encounters is Thurzhan, and in an instant they are all around him pummeling him and seeking to make him join them. It happens so fast the cat does not even cry out, the blows simply bring him to the ground.

Meanwhile one of these same creatures rushes Elinor but it cannot connect with shield maiden. As she dodges that blow the ghoul thing advances on her but again she avoids a series of clumsy attacks. Both tooth and nail are denied.

The red eyed man turns and lopes after Taedric. Is Taedric being drawn out, or is the man loosing focus?

Somewhere in the night a spark of orange shoots toward Pluchak. The man works on instinct now. The blow he was saving for the dead he uses to attempt to deflect this sudden mote.

A few notes... First, I placed the red eyed man in the initiative order incorrectly. I do not believe there is a net affect on this change. Second, just a caution to keep player knowledge and character knowledge separate. Obviously there are interesting things going on in the inn and dangerous ones without. No has mixed up this sort of knowledge but I throw this out to hopefully keep it that way. :)

Combat notes: Thurzhan has taken 22 points of damage and should roll to stabilize. Elinor can take a prepped attack at the foe of her choice. Taedric has moved slightly off the edge of the map. Pluchak, please use your readied attack.

Combat order:Archer, Narnel, Elinor, Harlynn, Taedric, Abbas, Seneca, Bryndyn, running dead, ghoul things,red eyed man, orange spark, Aidan, Thurzhan and Pluchak. Aidan and Pluchak are up.

I am having trouble viewing the maps on the windows 8 viewer. Is there anywhere that I can position myself to cast burning hands or should I fall back to the standard god wizard mode?

It is a JPEG. If I sent it as a BMP, or a GIF or PNG would that work better? Otherwise, assuming the orange thing is still around, you should be able to position to hit it and not Pluchak if you choose.

A) Based on the map, Tkurzhan gets at least one attack of opportunity as they rush.
B) The dead cannot run or charge out of or through the mud, meaning they cannot attack after having moved this distance, even if they did charge.
C) The layout allows only three to charge if they could, the rest must line up behind.

I will await the results based on this information, but will also roll an attack of opportunity to perhaps mitigate damage, though unlikely to fell one in one hit.

AoO: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 181d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Narnel rushes to Seneca's position as he sees him uncover something.

Well, what have we here!

Elinor feels Tkurzhan's pain. Her attack goes off which resets her in the initiative to after Bryndyn and before the dead.

Here's a hypothetical rules abuse which I thought up some time ago in another game and never decided if it was an abuse of RAW which works, or an abuse of house rules which doesn't - if your ready action is "hit the first enemy that comes within reach and then take a 5' step directly away from it", does this mean that the enemy can then not make an attack because you are now 5' away?

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 231d10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

I think I'll go for the ghoul thing as mindless Nichtgangen, however hard they hit, can be outthought, and I'm banking on Pluchak to outfight them aswell.

Elinor's battle song starts to sound a bit alarmed as the dead surge forwards, encircling the furry fury in a scrum of rotting flesh. She hopes that the loud meow was just irritation and not injury.

When her round comes around again she'll strike at the ghoul again, but this time will fight defensively for +2 AC, -4 attack since all those undead may be coming her way, and 5'step backwards to cover Aidan.

This came up in my group while fighting ghosts. As it happens, attacking the enemy then stepping away, if possible (which is debateable) does not inhibit them from simply spending five more feet of movement before their attack, as the ready occurs before their action.

Tkurzhan! Aidan calls helplessly from behind Elinor. His grip on his staff tightens, the earth itself roiling about and the breeze suddenly picking up to a steady wind.

Will wait to post action until clarified, but will post this evening clarification or no. Assume Aidan delays, letting teammates go ahead.

Pluchak takes a swing at whatever that was as it passes him by. Suddenly the lot of beasts start down the hall, and it looks like Taedric has taken the red eyed man seriously. Not wanting to hone in on the Gnome's big moment, and also seeing that they are easily out of range, he moves down the street toward the action, stopping just behind Aidan for a mighty chop down upon some undead. They would be on them soon, and he readied his bardiche just before they began their rush.

Readied Attack on Orange Spark (which seems to be an enemy like my readied attack implied): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Damage: 2d8 + 7 ⇒ (5, 7) + 7 = 19
Attack of Opportunity (previous round on Spark as it goes through one of my many threatened spaces): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Damage: 2d8 + 7 ⇒ (7, 1) + 7 = 15
Move, Attack on "x" next to Elinor. 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Damage: 2d8 + 7 ⇒ (7, 6) + 7 = 20
Attack of Opportunity (current round, if needed): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Damage: 2d8 + 7 ⇒ (3, 2) + 7 = 12

I will either cast burning hands if I can get a group if not I will withdraw and begin summoning some monsters.

Elinor, thanks for the reminder on the order. Readied action does bump you somewhere between zombies and ghouls. Also Pluchaks readied action was for the approach of the dead. I just applied to the other, but realized he might not want it that way, so Pluchak, you can take that swing or not, and I will adjust your order (if needed) at the same time.

Elinor, I think I agree with Aidan that the enemy would just move 5 more feet, if it still had movement left.

Aidan, I am looking at the rules involved here and taking your concerns very seriously. I want to make sure that something as potentially game changing as this is done right. I will post when I have a bit more clarity.

ETA Ninja'd by Pluchak. Pluchak, if you use your readied action, you will be waiting until next round for the protective move you describe. Please advise.

Combat order:Archer, Narnel, Harlynn, Taedric, Abbas, Seneca, Bryndyn, running dead, Elinor, ghoul things,red eyed man, orange spark, Aidan, Thurzhan and Pluchak. Aidan and Pluchak are up.

Thanks all for patience here. I appreciate having so many here who know the rules better than I do.

You may or may not read this spoiler as you wish. Some people want some mystery, and I respect that, and some people want accountability and in an effort to accommodate that reasonable request I am posting my thinking with regards to Aidans concern.

Ret Con: The dead swarm Tkurzhan but ultimately are unable to harm Aidans brother.

Elinor on the other hand causes a huge gash in the ghoul thing. It should cry out. It should stagger back. it should recognize how badly it has been injured. But it does not. Its tongue flicks and the hunger in it's eyes is not diminished for a moment.

Who is the "A" directly west of Tkurzhan?

Aidan watches the advancing dead cautiously, trying to formulate a path away from the undead. With their speed, however, even the mounted among our heroes would be run down. He wracks his mind, trying his best to remember the layout of the town.

They'll run us down in the open. Get to the alleys!

Aidan follows his own advice, ducking in behind Elinor towards the inn. Tkurzhan sees his brother retreat, and balks at the close confines. Keeping his unprotected belly low, and turning at unexpected angles, he extricates himself from the ring, rolling backwards and bouncing towards an alleyway.

Aidan uses total defense to duck east into an alley. Tkurzhan uses withdraw to head into one as well, either to the east or west depending on who's in that alley. We'll assume he runs over towards Aidan, though.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Tkurzhan's springing movements frustrate the only undead that might have attacked him, and miraculously the big cat leaps unscathed from the melee.

Ah, I forgot that Readying changes initiative order. I'll forget the readied attack as you are correct it wasn't the proper thing that I expected and I'll just take the attack of opportunity and then the protective move. The other Attack of Opportunity will just be in case something comes by later. Take the attacks in whatever order seems best to you, because had I not taken that first attack, the rolls would line up different.

The A is the archer.

Pluchak sees from the corner of his eye a spark. What is it? Who cares, he reflexively swings at it and feels his weapon make contact, though it bounces well and flies at the giant. The impact feels like a burn.

Aidan sees the dead are moving past his barrier. He heads to the alley behind Elinor for tactical advantage. Tkurzhan moves away from the throng that mobs him and avoiding the dead ducks into an alley opposite of his brother. They groan in what must be frustration.Any other path had an AoO waiting for him.

Now Pluchak moves down the road, and standing behind Elinor he seeks to relieve her of one of her attackers. His haste has him swing wide and the dead man is none the wiser.

The archer is back in the road, shooting out of the alley. He takes just a moment to nock an arrow, and away it goes at Abbas. The swirling staff of the warrior knocks the arrow from flight.

Meanwhile in the inn, Narnel rushes to Senecas side and begins lifting boards away. Revealed is a stone staircase going down in to blackness.

Pluchak, that bite caused 2 points of damage and you need a fort save.

Combat order:Archer, Narnel, Harlynn, Taedric, Abbas, Seneca, Bryndyn, running dead, Elinor, ghoul things,red eyed man, orange spark, Aidan, Thurzhan and Pluchak. Harlynn, Taedric Abbas, Seneca and Bryndyn are next. Harlynn, are you able to see the map now?

Fort save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
That sure looks good.

You nailed it. Whatever it was you dodged that bullet Pluchak.

Abbas knocks the arrow up into the night and gradually steps back down the alleyway to help Pluchak. His spinning staff is put away and out comes his first dagger from behind his back, getting ready to face the zombies.

Move action to stow staff, move action to retrieve one dagger. Five foot step towards Pluchak. AC down to 19.

Harlynn finishes casting his spell and out of nowhere a flash of light bursts and an aerie of celestial eagles swarm to harry the threat of the red eyed creature. By Asmodeus, vile things to combat vile things

Posting from my phone at work in the woods at the moment. I am unable to pull up the other screens to figure out how many celestial eagles I can summon with SMII. They will be doing a full attack smite on the red eyed creature.

1d3 eagles. Smite ignores DR, and adds +1 to damage vs evil, +2 to damage vs evil dragons, outsiders, and undead. Each has AC 14 and 5 hp. Full attack without augment summoning is:
Talon 1d20+3; damage 1d4
Talon 1d20+3; damage 1d4
Bite 1d20+3; damage 1d4

Eagle 1
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Eagle 2
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Eagle 3
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Plus flank if any are able to attain it.
Summoned rounds 1/3

In theory, all should be able to attain flank, by using delays and five-foot steps. Using this strategy:

Atk/Dmg:
21/3
11/3
19/4

20/4
20/5
10/4

20/5
22/4
--/3

I think the summoners charm will increase the duration by one. You need to roll to determine how many appear. They will be there at your turn next round.

The roll to determine was placed in discussion as a reply, to clarify you mean roll again in gameplay?

Ah, I had not noticed it there. That roll is good by me.

I will either cast burning hands if I can get a group if not I will withdraw and begin summoning some monsters.

Said last round so I assumed that was what the round was spent doing.

I had you detecting magic last round. Did I get that right?

That's fine. I'll just keep the rolls for next round if that's okay.

And I had the duration wrong it would be my level in rounds (3) + (1) for Spell Focus in Conjuration + (1) my level rounded down for summoner's charm for a total of (5) rounds or 30 seconds.

another sudden biz trip that went horribly bad. Lots of travel woes (although no damage ;) ) Where am I Sigil?

Bryn, you are in the inn. Seneca found a false floor in a closet, and Narnel removed the boards revealing a stone staircase leading down into blackness.

Taedric and Seneca, what are your moves this turn?

Can Taedric charge again -- I'm not sure where Redeye is relative to him (it'll be another ride-by, if so)?

Love them celestial eagles. Great for summoning.

Taedric, I can position you. You want to head back toward where you started last turn right? Go ahead and roll for it.

With a charge on the way by, yes.

Charge (Ride-by): 1d20 + 5 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 4 + 1 = 21 for 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 1) + 4 = 10
{+4 charge, +1 inspire courage} {1d6+1+1, doubled for charge}

Bryndyn will position himself to support Taedric and Seneca, his new weapon quivering with pent up frustration and suspense.

While Harlynn works his magics and the shimmer of new allies appear, Taedric wheels trumps and takes another go at the foul red eyed man. His weapon again bites the man but the man refuses to fall, and instead follows Taedrics movements with his eyes.

Abbas switches weapons and moves toward his green friend in the hope of closing these ranks some.

In the inn Seneca holds for a moment. Looking toward Narnel and Bryndyn he asks if they should check for the people they are looking for(if indeed they are still there, or even ever were) or should they get the others. Bryndyn considers, but stands wary and ready in case anything comes from down the new found opening.

When the running dead move the foulness of the archer becomes clearer. They ignore him! Instead they mob you. As they come into range, Pluchak easily dispatches one of them. In return they pummel him, with blows landing everywhere. The half orc is very hurt, and this in moments. The dead also breach Tkurzhans defenses. Elinor manages to not only avoid the blows of the dead, but she swings decisively and dispatches the ghoul thing before her.

The red eyed man races at Taedric but is not quiet fast enough to connect with him. The orange spark moves against Harlynn. (Did it just laugh?) And while it sought to harm the man and disrupt his magic it did neither.

Pluchak took a stunning 20 points of damage this round, while Tkurzhan took 7. Combat order: Archer, Narnel, Harlynn, Taedric, Abbas, Seneca, Bryndyn, running dead, Elinor, ghoul things,red eyed man, orange spark, Aidan, Tkurzhan and Pluchak. Aidan, Tkurzhan and Pluchak are up.

Pluchak roars as the undead swarm him. He did not expect their claws to be so quick and was completely unable to deal with them coming from every direction. He watched his own blood splatter against the walls and for just a second, it looked like he was completely overcome by the onrush of the evil dead.

But then a glint of something sparked in his eye and he ferociously tore into the wall of flesh before him, his Bardiche falling to the ground and shrinking back to it's regular size. It's obvious this dragon blooded man wasn't going down as easy, at least not yet. So much blood soaked down into the dirt street it looked like Aidan's soften earth spell had been cast here as well.

Rage, Claws 1 of 6
Claw: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 Damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Claw: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18 Damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Bite: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 Damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
I'm technically at 8hp since my rage increases my Constitution, but I'm leaving it at 2 because when I fall unconscious, those HP go anyway.

It's beginning to look like Pluchak's favourite meal is zombie. I hope that damage does include the bard song because if it doesn't I'm really scared.

Bryndyn's Perception Check

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

sigh, it's out of combat

To Seneca and Taedric he says "I smell a fire, and perhaps a stew cooking. Perhaps they are safely ensconsced within!"

Abbas should be just after the undead on the round now.

The holy warrior looks at the angry zombies before him and cannot help but be worried for the lumps taken out of Pluchak. Simple-minded and direct Abbas calls to his friend, "Get to me!"

Move action Pull out second dagger.
Standard action Fight defensively (+2 AC, -4 to hit)
Five foot step along the line of undead towards Pluchak

He stabs up at the zombie's throat, aiming for the point of the adam's apple - the one between him and Pluchak.

Dagger thrust 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22, damage 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6, confirmation of threat 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8, damage 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5, AC now at 22

It also looks as if Zombie's favorite food is Pluchak. That is with the Bardic song, thanks for that by the way.

As Abbas shouted, the enlarged man tears into the undead separating the two of them first, hoping to be able to step his way.

If we take out one of the undead inbetween us, I can five foot step to the north and be within arms reach of Abbas, which I should be able to do on my turn if it falls,

Narnel tucks the sunrod in his belt, draws an arrow to his bow and walks down into the unknown.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22