Zeitgeist: The Gears of Revolution (Inactive)

Game Master Fanguar

Narissa drops her rifle as the fire elemental's appear, and grins with an almost manic manner. "Seriously? You brought fire elementals? What are you, stupid?" She pulls her powder horn off her hip, fills her hand with gunpowder, and then throws a handful of powder into the elemental between her and the caster.

RTA: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Up to GM how much damage a handful of black powder does to a fire elemental when it blows up inside them. :) I'd guess it would be 3 shots worth.

"Opus! Attack that sprite!"

The tiny automaton makes a whistle and then splat noise before it extends both of its tiny pincer hands to attack the tiny fey creature.

Opus vs. Sprite: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

It strikes the creature then moves to the side making room for Doc Saturday.

@Narissa: The AP uses 'firedust' instead of black powder. The player's explicitly says it sucks as an explosive and gives the example the a 20 pound cask would only explode for 2d6 fire damage, so I would say that a handful of cartridges wouldn't do anything. Not that I expect you to know that off the top of your head (I had to look it up). Anywho, I'm sure that the PC would know that, so you can redo your action if you want. You can even use that sweet 19 roll if you want.

Still waiting on Saturday and Fulcrum.

That's a stupid game setup, anything that can send a bullet at bullet speeds can't be that weak. It's basically just magic bullets then, as the powder is just a catalyst for the magic.

Narissa, seeing the woman is a caster, flings her dagger at the woman!

Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 + Crit: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

*Shrug* I think it is more about restricting the gases that cause the explosion. Even in RL if you threw a baggie of gunpowder on a fire, it would flare, not explode. That's physics for you. Anywho, there are dwarven grenades in this AP and you will eventually be able to get some.

I was referring to their '20 lb cask does 2d6 fire damage' rule, not your ruling. If you don't think a 20lb cask of powder would blow a taxi into little pieces of confetti. This is 5 lbs blowing up in an old car, you can see bits of metal flying away from the car. I'm fairly certain that if you were in that car, the 5lbs would have reduced you to hamburger, much less 20.

Oh I agree that 2d6 is too little damage, but it's one of those mechanics rules designed to keep the game from breaking. Same reason different weapons do different arbitrary amounts of damage. (A cannon only does 6d6 damage. There should be no situation where you can take a cannon ball to the chest and walk away). As the DM, I am glad you wont be rolling wagon-loads of explosives into dragons' lairs.

Let's see if the sprites can be put to sleep.

Slumber Hex DC 15 on the Fire Sprite in front of me.

Will: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (19) + 0 = 19 The iron will of the 4hp monster proves too strong for Doc's magics.

davin's device nips at the sprite, but it does not fall. Narissa's thrown dagger bites deep into the woman.

Fulcrum swings at a Sprite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4, felling the beastie.

Init: Round 5
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum
5 Doc

One sprite attacks Fulcrum; 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19 Burn: 1d4 ⇒ 3

The other steps forward to strike at Doc: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3, but misses

The engineer advances and he and the halfling focus on Davin's robot:
1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 3 - 2 = 18 Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

The woman casts a spell and a pair of glowing balls of light streak out to hit Narissa: Magic Missile: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (2, 4) + 2 = 8

Everyone is up

Did Narissa miss the woman somehow? No reaction at all from having a knife the size of a short sword slammed into her body in a potential crit?

[dice=Will]1d20+0 The iron will of the 4hp monster proves too strong for Doc's magics.

davin's device nips at the sprite, but it does not fall. Narissa's thrown dagger bites deep into the woman.

You hit her. She didn't die.

SOrry, missed that

Narissa moves around to the left, and then down, pushing her smaller ally around a bit to get past the wall and close to the caster. Then she reaches out two large hands, dropping her rifle behind her ally.

Grapple Caster: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Also, just realized Narissa's CMD is off, she get's +1 for being large (she's treated as Large when it's of benefit to her)

"Opus! That is not how I taught you to riposte! Put your back into it."

Opus vs. Sprite: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Opus vs. Sprite: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

The tiny bot attacks twice with its tiny manipulators. But they are feeble swipes indeed. Davin growls his annoyance and steps back.

"Cheap defective springs. I knew that gnome was gouging me."

Davin takes a 5-foot step back out of immediate danger.

Skullcane: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Doc swung his heavy cane at the halfling.

I think he's still Shaken for a few rounds also.

@Doc: unless the cane has reach, you can't hit the halfling from where you are. You can splat the fire sprite though, so let's say that's what happened. Shaken this round +1 more

Narissa grabs the woman AoO?: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (5) + 0 = 5, wrapping her beefy meat hooks around her. An Doc crushes one of the sprites (I don't think you've tried you sleep spell against the other engineer)

Fulcrum: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11 Fulcrum attacks but misses

Init: Round 6
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum
5 Doc

The woman tries to cut Narissa with a knife: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16
Damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2

The halfling attacks Davin's gizmo 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 3 - 2 = 17
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

and the engineer steps up to Doc: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8, but misses with his wrench

Everyone is up

Narissa has the feat that lets her avoid AoO's, not that it mattered.

Narissa tries to pin the woman to the hot engine...

Pin: 1d20 + 3 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 5 = 12

The Skull Cane is actually an Orcish Skull Ram, which is a Reach weapon. Either it snaps out to combat-length, or it's just a tall cane wielded by a guy with very long arms. How ever you want to describe it. I'm fine with going for the fire sprite though.

Since you mentioned it so nicely, Slumber Hex on the other engineer. DC 15

Doc thumped the flaming sprite with his cane and gestured toward the other engineer.

The halfling smashes Opus, and Davin yells out, "Hey! That's government property!"

Davin moved up and stabbed with his sword cane and dagger, aiming for non-lethal wounds.

5-foot step. Two-weapon fighting.

Sword Cane vs. Engineer: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 3 - 2 = 8
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Dagger vs. Engineer: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 3 - 2 = 9
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Wow, I suck.

Will save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17 The engineer shakes off Doc's suggestion.

Narissa pins down the sorceress and Davin fails around with his blades

Fulcrum attacks the remaining sprite:

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 destroying it.

Init: Round 7
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum
5 Doc

The woman tries to escape Narissa,

escape: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 but fails.

The halfling attacks Davin and the engineer attacks Doc

Vs Davin: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 3 - 2 = 13

vs Doc: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
confirm?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Everyone is up

Narissa, kneeling on the caster's back, grabs her rope from her pack side and ties the caster up. She makes sure to run a loop or two of rope through the caster's mouth so she is gagged.

DC to escape is 23, since this is 21 more than her CMB, she cannot escape, even on a natural 20. Move action to ready her rope, standard to tie.

Saturday grunted at the slight blow, his pupils tightening as his ancestral rage rose within him. He stepped back away from the engineer and made a motion as if pulling something.

5' adjusting back. Using Unfinished Business to Summon the spirit of the Fire Sprite that just died and setting it on the engineer. It attacks, and then vanishes.

Davin scowls and switches his focus to the halfling.

TWF targeting the halfling.

Sword Cane: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 3 - 2 = 16
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Dagger: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 - 2 = 4
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

"You have been ordered to surrender, continuing to resist arrest will not end well for you."

Fulcrum moves closer and tries to convince the engineer to down,

Intimidate: 1d20 ⇒ 3 failing spectacularly.

Unfinished Business: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3
The ghostly apparition sears the engineer.

Narissa ties up the woman and Davin stabs the halfling.

Init: Round 8
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum
5 Doc

The halfling counterattacks and the engineer steps up to follow Doc.

vs Davin: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

vs Doc: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Everyone is up

Narissa pulls her dagger out of the caster, and then moves around to flank the engineer, making him have to defend from either side.

Davin counters the halfing's attack and ripostes.

TWF vs. Halfing. Non-lethal.

Sword Cane: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Dagger: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Davin, you get a +2 flanking bonus, not sure if it will help with those rolls

These a&*#@%#s have made every save and can't seem to miss. Sheesh.

Doc is down to 2 HP.

Doc swung his club-like cane again.

Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

>.<

My rolls have been uncommonly good and the party's have really been awful

Fulcrum rushes in and takes a swing at the halfling,
Fulcrum: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8, but misses

Init: Round 9
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum
5 Doc

The halfling continues his assault on Davin,
Halfling vs Davin: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8, but also misses

The remaining human engineer turns to face the new assailants and attacks Fulcrum,
Engineer vs Fulcrum: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8, splitting the gnome's skull

everyone is up

Narissa stabs at the one she's flanking with Davin.

Stabby Stab: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 3 + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

The blade drives in between two of the man's ribs, and blood spurts out! Assuming AC 17 hits

Narissa's blade strikes deeply, but the halfling doesn't fall.

Davin presses the attack:

Sword Cane: 1d20 + 3 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 3 - 2 + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Dagger: 1d20 + 3 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 3 - 2 + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Davin clubs the halfling in the head and he falls to the ground senseless.

Doc turns the last remaining man standing, "Lay down your weapons, you can't defeat us all."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

He man looks shaken, but just grits his teeth, "I don't have to stop you, I just have to slow you down.

Fulcrum swings ar him: Attack: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 + 2 = 15 giving him a love tap Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Init: Round 10
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum
5 Doc

The metal of the furnace begins to ting and pop due to heat expansion:

The engineer turns to strike at Fulcrum: Swing: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 - 2 = 19 cracking the gnome in the head, Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4. Fulcrum goes down in a heap.

Everyone is up

Doc swung again.

Attack, reach: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Dmg: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

"But you are too incompetent for that..." She says as she drives the dagger into the remaining combatant, and then moves away toward the engine to look for a way to turn it off.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
Prof(Sailor): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Thanks for the bot, GM. And the rolls. Made me look like a superhero there. Apparently the trick with TWF is to hit with both weapons. :-)

Davin picks up Opus, cradles him in his arms, and then runs over to the engine as well.

I want to use Alchemy to see if the machine can be safely cooled. If it doesn't apply let me know.

Craft (alchemy): 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 7 + (2) = 11

Jeez! Even with spending an inspiration point. Down to 1 more today.

The Engineer is still alive....

Doc and Narissa both land solid strikes, but the man does not fall.

The man swings his wrench at Narissa as she moves away, AoO: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 - 2 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

You can see that the door to the furnace as been rusted shut. A cursory glance at the pressure gauge shows that the steamships boiler pressure is above normal operating values and tracking upwards. If things continue on this trajectory the boiler will explode. On either side of machine klaxons alarms are affixed (labeled S on the map). It is odd that they still remain silent, but looking, you see a mass of wires have been torn out.

Init: Round 11
22 Baddies
18 Davin
12 Narissa
8 Fulcrum (KO)
5 Doc

The saboteur follows after Davin, trying to distract him from investigating the boiler.

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10 Miss

Everyone is up.

Saturday moved to flank with Davin, not attacking, but harrying instead.

Aid Another to Davin: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 Crud. Well, at least you still get the +2 from flanking.

Davin turns around and attacks the man behind him. His strikes nearly perfect.

Sword Cane, TWF: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 1 + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Dagger, TWF: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 1 + 2 = 23
Confirm Critical: 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 1 + 2 + (1) = 18
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

Added last inspiration point to try to confirm.

@Davin: Your first hit drops him, so you can save the inspiration (also his AC was 13, so you didn't really need it in the first place.

The last remaining combatant drops to the ground.

Init: Round 12

The pressure gauge on the ship's boiler continues to rise.

Combat is over, but I am still keeping track of actions round-by-round. The ship's steam engine has been sabotaged and if if nothing is done, it will explode, destroying the ship and killing everyone on board. Below are some suggested actions

1. The furnace door (by Narrisa) can be torn open with a DC15 STR check. The PC's may recall:

You hear a female voice shout over the noise of machinery, "Flame gem's in. Seal it up before the elemental shows up."

.

Narissa pulls her crowbar out, and wedges it into the door and gives a grunt!

Str Check, w Crowbar: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 2 = 13 If someone grabs hold and yanks with her, the Aid Another would give +2 and pop the door, otherwise she'll try again next round

Davin helps Narissa with the crowbar.

STR Aid Another: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

That gives Narissa the +2 to succeed.

Narissa grunts as the door pops open, and then she uses the hook on the crowbar to fish the contents of the boiler out onto the floor, including whatever gem the caster had talked about earlier.

She drops one of the anti-fire charms into the mess for good measure, to keep anything from burning.

Saturday kneels next to Fulcrum to check his vitals. With a deep breath he calls a small spirit of time from the gnome's pocketwatch and guides it toward Fulcrum's wounds.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"Get up, little friend. Your day is not yet done."

We are still in combat rounds, please take that into account when you post.

With Davin's help, Narissa manages to pry open the furnace door. Inside is a hellish blaze. Searing heat billows out Narissa and Davin take 1d4 ⇒ 2 fire damage. The furnace has been filled to bursting with fire gems and now burns hot enough to melt steel. Amidst the fire gems, a large jewel pulses with a hellish glow. With each pulse, the fires increase in intensity and briefly, a vaguely humanoid form begins to take shape, before dissipating.

There are shovels nearby, but shoveling out fire gems deals 1d6 fire damage each round. It will take 20 rounds to remove enough fire gems this way to stop the explosion

Fulcrum thanks Doc for his healing and goes over to inspect the situation. "This is very bad. The heat will overload the capacitors and the whole ship will explode. We need to buy some time. There should be pressure relief valves somewhere." They are labeled 'V' on the map.

Round 13
Fulcrum double moves to one of the valves.

You may all act. If you want to brainstorm a bit, please do so in the discussion thread.

"Fulcrum, will your claw-thing withstan' da heat? Could it be used to remove dat jewel?"

Narissa grabs a shovel and removes the big pulsing jewel that looks humanoid. Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2 "Let the pressure out! I got this gem, I think it's an elemental gem..."

HP 8/10

Davin moves over to the pressure release valve and begins to dial it down.

Not sure what roll I should make here, if any. Disable Device?

@Narissa: You have taken 15 damage this encounter. How are you not dead?

@Doc: The shovels work fine, but they melt over time. You don't need to use anything special.

@Davin: It is just 2 move actions to open the valve all the way.

@All: There are a bunch of ways to handle this situation and several possible outcomes. I don't want to lead you too much but feel free to bounce ideas off me if you want.

The gem becomes inert once removed from the furnace.

Round 14
Fulcrum spins open one of valves and you can hear the hiss as steam is released, but the gauge on the engine continues to climb, though slower than before.

Everyone up. You've bought some more time, but the engine will still eventually explode.

Folks if you don't have some sort of idea of how to proceed, that's fine. Grab the prisoners and evacuate the ship. Saving the ship is not a criteria for success in the AP. Letting it blow up is fine. Just not with you still on it is.

Are any of the saboteurs dead? Or did they all make it?

"We need to evacuate da ship." Saturday said quickly. "In case it is too late already. I go! Keep trying to vent da pressure!"

Saturday bolted out the door toward the helm.

It is hard to know what to do since none of us have the right skills apparently, and I haven't posted because Narissa is down yes? After that last one?