PFS All for Immortality Hard Mode (Inactive)

Game Master KingTreyIII

Nox winks at Hendric.

Or maybe I was there and you didn't see me...

Nox listens to the instructions, as does Xon. Nox prepares his bow, and stays back about 10 feet from the others, Xon floating above Hendric, both ready to move forward on his command.

Same here, waiting for Hendric's signal AKA everyone to finish readying..

wand of cure light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
wand of cure light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
wand of cure light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Géatan lends his wand of cure light wound to anyone who can use it. He also restock his durable arrows.

Oh, sure, Sir Hendric will top off his last 2 HP (with his wand).
UMD, Heroism: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 16 + 2 = 32
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

After we confirm that the key opens the door, then Sir Hendric will do the following.

Before we are in round-counting level of detail: Kaldane casts whatever longer-duration spells he wants. Hopefully a Barkskin on Sir Hendric. Some Deathward or Freedom of Movement spells on some PCs might be useful, Kaldane has both of those.

Round 1: Shield on his back (move), lance in one hand, Armiger's Panoply to switch fullplate with Silken Ceremonial Armor (standard) to avoid ASF

Round 2: Ask Kaldane to cast Bull's Strength from scroll on Sir Hendric; retrieve and use scroll of Shield
UMD, Heroism: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 16 + 2 = 38
Then this separate check you are requiring: caster level check, CL 2: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10

Round 3: Ask Kaldane to cast Moment of Greatness from scroll on party. Retrieve Oil of Bless Weapon (move), apply to lance (standard), and use Tactician to grant Coordinated Charge (swift)

Round 4: Nox opens door and moves through. Sir Hendric uses Tactician to grant Escape Route (swift), Armiger's Panoply to switch armor back (standard), moves through door (move).

Rules question on Tactician: do recipients just have to be within 30' when the feat is granted, and then retain it for the duration, or do they have to be within 30' to benefit from it?

Remaining durations in Round 4:
Bull's Strength: 28 rounds
Moment of Greatness, Bless Weapon, Escape Route: 9 rounds
Shield, Coordinated Charge: 8 rounds

If it takes longer than 8 rounds to get to Loaralis, or if Nox spots a trap and we have to stop, these were cheap scrolls for the most part so no big loss. Wouldn't have time to apply them in a regular combat.

Nox in front with Trap Spotter, Tortuga close behind enough to keep Nox in the dim light, then the rest.

Sir Hendric has almost never had to worry about light levels, but with no caster having Light prepped and three of you having Darkvision, it could be an issue. He can't use the Light power of his Wayfinder because it has a resonant Ioun Stone. So he will light one of his Sunrods during the long-spell-duration prep. Can hold it in his left hand when we go through the door.

----
Party bonuses I am granting
----

Escape Route: An ally who also has this feat provokes no attacks of opportunity for moving through squares adjacent to you or within your space.
Coordinated Charge: When an ally with this feat charges a creature that is no further away from you than your speed, you can, as an immediate action, charge that creature. You must be able to follow all of the normal charge rules.
Banner: +5 morale bonus on saves vs fear, +4 morale bonus on attacks made as part of a charge. 60' radius. Each recipient can double this bonus once during the duration of Moment of Greatness.
Inspiring Rush (Tilernos family, Combat trait): 1/day, +1 trait bonus to attack and damage on a charge, as well as for any allies who make a charge attack before the end of my next turn. Will probably declare this first chance I get.

As written, the 30’ is only at the activation of Tactician.

As you search what remains of Saabira and Kaarim, the only item resembling a key is Kaarim’s cracked holy symbol. With a shrug you try it on the grand door. When you do numerous dials spin, the sound of grinding gears overwhelm your senses, and finally the booming sound of a door unlocking echoes through the chamber as the door opens, revealing yet another long descending staircase. Fun fact: that door actually had SR.

The Seekers descend the staircase into the unknown, the staircase seems to go for hundreds of feet, perhaps more.

From nowhere comes a voice, the source therein coming from among the group; you gaze towards your teammates in paranoia only to find that none of them are speaking—why would they; it’s a woman’s voice, after all. The voice is tantalizingly familiar, and then it hits you: this is the voice of Saabira.

“You’ve done well to defeat my valued lieutenants, but I dare say you’re not prepared to face me. Let me provide you with an offer,”

Saabira’s voice ceases, in its place is the voice of a man with a slight Osiriani accent: that of high priest Kaarim.

“Retreat from this foolish crusade against me and the elixir I’ve rightfully taken. In return, I shall depart Pashow forevermore,”

The voice changes once more, this time to one more easily recognizable: that of Emir Guldis.

”If you require more reason to turn around, know that your descent shall take you below the rioting streets of the city above. Know too that there are certain... structural deficiencies, which if exploited, would be quite terrible for the sheep in the streets,”

Your vision blurs and the stairwell spins as a wave of nausea overwhelms you all. When the vertigo diminishes and your focus returns you clearly see the base of the staircase. As you look back you clearly see into the previous chamber; the staircase’s length became 50 feet, a fraction of the length that it was mere moments ago. The voice changes one last time to that of a person instantly recognizable to you all: Master of Swords Marcos Farabellus.

”Ask yourself if the price of an elixir is worth so many lives. After all, you must remember the Wall of Names, Pathfinders.”

A staircase descends from the west into this roughly eighty-foot-wide chamber with polished stone floors. A five-foot-deep ravine cracks its way through the center of the room, extending into arterial passages to the north and south. Stalagmites jut from the rough ground of the crevice. The remainder of the chamber stretches to the east but is broken by a second crevasse that leads into a small cave complex. Three ten-by-ten-foot square pillars reach from floor to ceiling, each pulsing with a lambent teal glow. The muffled sound of voices sounds from above.

Despite how the map looks, there are no prior light sources in this room; the only light sources in this room are the ones you all brought with you. The ceilings are 40’. The travel combined with talking to Loaralis and basic searching will take the better part of 5 minutes.

Perception: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (20) + 20 = 40 Yes!

Géatan whispers: He is not bluffing. Yasmin bint Faroud just doing a show up. It doesn't seem to do a good one. I don't what his plan is."

The glowing teal pillars are also light sources, are they not? And what "Talking with Loaralis"? By using round-based buffs did I need to specify that we wouldn't stop and wait to listen to a monologue by the villain? You didn't give us a choice, just assumed we stopped; I wouldn't. And what basic searching? Nox has Trap Spotter. It's automatic within 10', no need to take more time. I wouldn't have done the short-term buffs if he needed to stop and check every square.

How long is the staircase? We move at 40' per round. If it is specifically talking to Loaralis and spending more time on Perception checks that makes the trip take so long, those are two things we don't need to do. If it is 500' and difficult terrain, that's understandable.

Sir Hendric draws his other scroll of Shield and uses it.
UMD: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (20) + 18 = 38
CL2: 1d20 ⇒ 6
01-35 ASF: 1d100 ⇒ 100
He re-shares Coordinated Charge
"Let's go. Nox, any traps? Xon, Tortuga, go where you will."
Made Sir Hendric large because he is mounted.

Hmm. Yeah, that’s a fair argument. This is what happens when one assumes; my bad. The scenario actually doesn’t state how long the staircase is (I just pulled a number out of thin air), so I’ll rule that it’s long enough that you have to listen to Loaralis’s monologue. I’ll say it takes 1 minute to get to the next map. Sorry, Hendric. It’s the scenario that assumes that the PCs stop, and the monologue actually gave pertinent information so...Shrug. I’m honestly horrible at improvisation when there’s ambiguity on the part of the scenario; the best I can give is a sincere apology.

As for the pillars, let’s say that they shed dim light out to 5 feet, like a candle.

As for the “searching” part: I meant the basic searching of this room. Got a bit ahead of myself, I suppose.

Okay, fair enough. I've run my share of ambiguous modules.

Sir Hendric has his lance in one hand, Sunrod in the other.
From where he is, he looks around for any sign of Loaralis.
Perception, Heroism: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (12) + 27 = 39

Hendric finds no creatures anywhere in the room apart from his companions. What he does notice, however, is how stupidly obvious it is that the pillars are trapped.

Sir Hendric points out what he sees.
"Nox, can you handle the pillar traps? Tortuga, stay near him."
Can Nox use Disable Device while stealthed as long as he is in dim light?
"Or Kaldane, do you think it better to Dispel them from a safe distance?"

Should be able to, not one of the things that breaks stealth.

Let me see what I can do. Nox whispers as he moves forward, disappearing into a wisp of shadow. Now THIS was his kind of environment.

stealth: 1d20 + 42 ⇒ (1) + 42 = 43Thank goodness you can't crit fail on skills
Perception v traps: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26
Disable device v traps including magical: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (13) + 29 = 42

Okay, I need to know the preparatory buffs that Kaldane cast before you all entered the room, because it'll dictate a lot on this end.

Also Nox, you need to be next to a pillar in order to disable it.

Okay, catching up:

As the group takes a moment to look through the loot of their downed foes, Kaldane begins buffing the group:

He will give each member of the group Barkskin +5 natural armor bonus; lasts 140 minutes; I still have mine up and Freedom of Movement Also 140 minutes; Including himself[/i].

He will give everyone except Tortuga Keen Edge for the piercing or slashing weapon of their choice [ooc]140 minute duration; Hence why I can't give it to you Tortuga, unless you're using a manufactured weapon, and Align Weapon (Good) for one weapon of everyone's choice 8 minute duration; including presumably Tortuga's unarmed strike.

He will then cast Bless 8 minute duration remaining after the stairs on the group.

Spells on me: Extended Barkskin, Bless, Freedom of Movement; Keen Edge and Align Weapon (Good) on my Katana.

Okay, just need Nox to move next to the pillar (his position is important so I’m having the player position themselves).

Tortuga will have passed off his wand to be healed.

Tortuga has a holy amulet of mighty fists, so his unarmed attacks are already good. Also Tortuga's barkskin is probably still up.

Cure Light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Cure Light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Cure Light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Cure Light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Cure Light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Cure Light: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Gulp. Alright, Nox moved to the nearest pillar where he has a full face to work with. Seems the most logical. Here's to hoping I don't die horribly.

Nox feels a chill down his spine—as if someone were watching him. A beastly roar reverberates throughout the chamber. Suddenly, the sight of a Huge blue dragon bedecked in jewelry appears out of nowhere and strikes.

Bite vs. Nox: 1d20 + 32 ⇒ (7) + 32 = 39
Damage: 2d8 + 2d6 + 15 ⇒ (4, 8) + (6, 4) + 15 = 37
Miss Chance (miss on a 1): 1d2 ⇒ 1 Dang It!

The dragon goes upright—flying 10’ above the ground—completely surprised that Nox escaped its grasp so easily. Surrounding it is a cylinder of fast-moving wind.

It speaks in a clearly-heard female voice.

”Welcome to my lair, Pathfinders—the lair of Loaralis the Great! I wouldn’t recommend attacking me, after all,” Loaralis puff out her chest, revealing an elaborate pectoral necklace, in which sits two small bottles filled with a faintly glowing, milky-white liquid. When Loaralis speaks again, it is in a different voice of the court conjurer, Farhaana. ”The elixir, while powerful, is still a liquid alchemical elixir; if allowed to evaporate or mix with the earth—or if mixed with any other liquid or solvent—then the elixir becomes worthless. Please, Pathfinders, from the bottom of my heart I beg of thee: recover the elixir—if not for me, then for my home.”

The dragon laughs maniacally, and the trapped pillar Nox was disabling explodes in a blast of shrapnel and debris. 15’ radius.

Piercing Damage: 8d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 3, 5, 3, 5, 5, 4) = 32
Loaralis Reflex for Half: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32
Nox Reflex for Half: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18 Fail

Because of the scenario cheating, there was a surprise round that no one had a chance of being in and that Loaralis had a full round’s worth of actions.

PATHFINDERS GO! THE BOLD MAY ACT:
Round 1
=============
Hendric
Géatan
Nox
Loaralis
Tortuga
Kaldane
=============

Although I couldn't use Indomitable Mount on the Frightful Presence save, Sentry does have Shake it Off which would grant another +1 in this case if it matters.
And everybody (except Kaldane) gets +5 morale bonus to saves vs fear from Sir Hendric's banner. Does that change anything?
Can Sir Hendric dismount into the empty square diagonally adjacent and full-attack the dragon?

Insane mad dragon! Nox mutters as the explosion goes off in his face, pulling shrapnel from his body.

Bloody ijit is gonna bring this thing down on top of itself... let alone the people above, it's gonna kill us all...

Despite his message muttered to Sir Hendric, he knows what he has to do.

Xon, do what you can. Dragons have magic, Stay underground, it can't fly in here

Xon nods and sinks as Nox makes his way over to the next pillar, trying not to let the limp of shrapnel slow him down.

Stealth moving to other pillar: 1d20 + 48 ⇒ (11) + 48 = 59

Xon "Five foot floats" diagonally down from the dragon, then reaches up from the ground to touch it.

Touch Concealment: 1d100 ⇒ 62
Touch: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Str Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Forget dismounting. Sir Hendric can attack from the square Xon is in, because Xon is in the ground.
The dragon is too close for a lance charge. Intentionally, no doubt. Let's do something unexpected.
"For honor and justice!"
Sir Hendric challenges the dragon and makes a Wheeling Charge Ride-By Attack Spirited Charge, unarmed. He holds his lance pointed upwards, banners flying, rides 10' to the dragon, throws a right hook to the ribs, changes direction, and heads to the corner of the room. Also using the Dragonkiller boon on this.
The transparent image is where he is when he attacks.
Attack, Challenge/Charge, Inspiring Rush: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (11) + 30 = 41
+13 BAB, +7 Str with Bull's Strength, +5 morale on challenge, +4 cavalier, +1 Inspiring Rush = +30
damage, Dragonkiller: 2d3 + 66 + 1d6 ⇒ (2, 2) + 66 + (5) = 75
+7 Str, +6 Horse's Str, +17 Challenge, +2 Seance Boon, +1 Inspiring Rush = +33

Well...Shake it Off actually made Sentry succeed. Also, I don’t think I emphasized it well enough: the dragon is flying 10’ above the ground. Xon can’t reach it from the ground. Also, stupid question: did Kaldane cast Freedom of Movement on the horse?

EDIT: Oops! Forgot to mention: The pillar’s explosion shatters one of the vials on Loaralis’s pectoral necklace.

This AOO is assuming that Sentry doesn’t have Freedom of Movement

Bite vs Sentry: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (7) + 30 = 37
Damage: 2d8 + 12 ⇒ (5, 7) + 12 = 24
Grab: 1d20 + 32 ⇒ (7) + 32 = 39
If Sentry gets grabbed then Hendric stays in the saddle (unless he wants to purposefully fail that Ride check).

And I’m assuming that Hendric doesn’t have magic hands? (His fists can’t overcome DR/magic?)

It would have been my preference that Kaldane cast it on the horse as well. The less often I have to use Indomitable Mount, the better, because it consumes a swift for the next round. Kaldane has tons of spell slots so I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that he did.

That’s fair, but I’m just going to go under the assumption that he didn’t until proven otherwise.

EDIT: Because the gods are knuckleheads who don’t know how Ride-By Attack works, that AOO against the horse never happened.

EDIT 2: Oh! Well speaking of feats that the gods forgot about: this dragon has Hover, meaning that its wings are flinging up debris that provides concealment between 15 and 20 feet and total concealment past 25 feet (the results of this feat are not optional; it must happen). This won’t retroactively change the results of the actions of the people who have gone, but it most certainly is something you all need to keep in mind.

Sorry that I keep forgetting stuff—this game is so freaking massive that it’s hard to remember everything.

That was my mistake then. Xon will try to look for opportunities to touch when he lands or gets close to ceiling or pillars. One good magic blast can toast the poor guy.

Géatan should not be shaken, either, if it is DC 24. His normal Will save is +18, then +2 for Bravery and +5 for the banner. He passes even on a 2.

And Bless gives a morale bonus, which doesn’t stack. Okay. Xon couldn’t hit from the ground, the AOO never happened, the horse may or may not be un-grapple-able, the dragon is flinging up debris with its wings, and only Kaldane and Nox are shaken. Is there anything else that I missed?

Didn’t mean to sound angry there, I just get frustrated when I have to retcon stuff because I missed something. I actually really appreciate you guys pointing out the stuff that I miss, I just am annoyed with myself that I didn’t get it right the first time (I’m an obsessive-compulsive perfectionist).

Update to Initiative (see Discussion Thread):

PATHFINDERS GO! THE BOLD MAY ACT:
Round 1
=============
Loaralis
Hendric
Géatan
Nox
Tortuga
Kaldane
=============

Tortuga drinks a potion of fly to prepare to take to the air.

Surrounding it is a cylinder of fast-moving wind.

"Géatan, get under or over the dragon and shoot!"

"OK. Mister the tactician!."exclaims Gaétan.

He activate his boot of speed, goes under the dragon and shoots.

first attack: 1d20 + 31 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 31 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 37
dommage good alingned adamantine: 1d8 + 31 ⇒ (7) + 31 = 38

edit: activated boots of speed and point-blank shot. The bless was already activated.

Géatan, I'd also activate your Boots of Speed since that is a free action. Will give you +1 AC and +1 to hit. There is also +1 to hit from Bless.
This could hurt, if the dragon full-attacks one or the other of us, but then either you or I should be able to get a full attack next round. Maybe both, if we're both still alive.

Géatan's arrow hits Loaralis square in the underbelly...and promptly bounces right off of her hide the shot missed.

Ouch, that's rough. AC of 38-41? Gaétan can usually hit that range.

I know. Loaralis is a pretty ridiculous BBEG.

Still waiting on Kaldane.

Ouch, that's rough. AC of 38-41? Gaétan can usually hit that range.

That's approaching the need a 20 range for Tortuga.

Should Sentry be hit, Sir Hendric will try to use Mounted Combat to negate the hit. While Indomitable Mount and Snake Style happen before the roll, you use Mounted Combat after the roll. I'm just putting it here so you can resolve the turn more quickly. If Sentry doesn't get hit, Sir Hendric will still have a swift to use next round.

Welcome to Seeker tiers! Where the enemies either cheat to upmost ridiculousness or they’re as well thought-out as most PCs! Where Eyes of the Ten tends toward the former, All for Immortality tends toward the latter.

Posting now. Per the discussion I had with Hendric, I am running low on spells, so I wouldn't have buffed his mount.

Having had luck previously, and given that none of his allies were significantly wounded, Kaldane opts to buff his allies further. Spending a 5th level spell slot to cast an extended Blessing of Fervor.

The dragon growls angrily. She looks over the Seekers in turn with a look of frustration on her face before ultimately landing her gaze on Hendric, which sends a chill down the knight’s back.

”Time for a change of plans.”

Loaralis flies up 5 feet and moves over the central ravine her feet are 20’ up (15’ above the ground the PCs are standing on), so her Hover feat is still active and casts a spell at Hendric.

And successfully dispels Freedom of Movement from off of Hendric.

With a snap of her fingers—er, claws—the pillar in front of Nox explodes.

The choice for Blessing of Fervor happens at the start of each affected characters’ turns, so this doesn’t have the bonus to Reflex.
Nox Reflex for Half: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23Success
Kaldane Reflex for Half: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17Fail
Piercing Damage: 8d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5, 5, 3, 3, 5, 5) = 35

PATHFINDERS GO! THE BOLD MAY ACT:
Round 2
=============
Loaralis
Hendric
Géatan
Nox
Tortuga
Kaldane
=============

Two questions: 1) Exactly which square is the dragon in? Seems to be halfway between the lines in the ravine. And 2) Can you use Bull Rush on an ally? We could have Tortuga move Géatan into position under the dragon. I know it's out-of-the-box thinking but that's kind of what we need. A bard with Jester's Jaunt would be even better, but we don't have that.

1) I placed her more accurately; the lines were hard for me to see and I was running late for something when I did it.
2) Absolutely, as long as there is player consent for such an action (player consent, not player character consent; The in-game person may not like it, but only the OOC player’s choice is what matters).
3) (The question you didn’t ask) The squares where the pillars were are no longer solid, but it is difficult terrain.

Nox hits the deck and manages to avoid the explosion. He looks to the dragon, looks to his struggling allies. Simply put, nothing he could do would be fast enough to affect this battle. Taking speed fevor

Xon He whispers This may hurt, but we have to do something. Fly at that dragon.

He looks at the ravine and starts running.

I regret this already! Bad day bad day!

Acrobatics Long Jump: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32

Nox makes a simply impressive flying leap, jumping across the ravine and landing in a rolling tumble on the other side. He stands up, muttering to himself...

That would have been impressive if anyone could have seen it...

Move and jump over the ravine. Way to close! But I'm useless without my arrows here... and I'm not attacking a dragon with a knife. Hopefully Xon can kinda distract. How deep is the ravine btw? Just in case.

Xon gulps and salutes the general direction of his boss.

GERANAMO!

He flies, charging at the dragon to the touch.

Touch: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22
Str: 1d6 ⇒ 3

And now we play taps for Xon... this is going to hurt, even incorporeal.

Loaralis snaps at the approaching shadow, passing right through it Natural attacks aren’t considered magic. Success on the touch attack.

The ravine is 5 feet deep.

Only 5 feet? I hear ravine and I think a lot deeper than that. My bad. Could I retcon my movement to hop down and move under the dragon to start taking shots? I thought I would be dropping down like, 50-60 feet or something. I still would have to use all my movement and wouldn't be able to take any shots, but I could at least line up to try for next round.

I’m good with that. My use of “ravine” was fairly misleading.

Ugh... this is terrible, cause we're all going to die anyways, but running straight to underneath the dragon means I can attempt a attack... I just will be exposed until the next turn. >.< Oh well, we're gonna die anyways. If you'll let me take the attack, I'll be revealed. If not, i'll stay hidden

Seeing as he moves that the ravine is not as deep as he thought, Nox runs under the dragon... and seeing the direness of the situation, mutters... I've lived a good life...

And without worrying about the cover of the shadows, takes a shot.

Arrow Vs FF: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 6d6 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 1 + (4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 1) + 13 = 401 Str Damage, -2 to AC vs all, -4 AC vs self (Non stack) 5 Bleeding

Are there any miscellaneous bonuses to attack rolls that you might be forgetting?

Bless! I forgot Bless! That's a +1! If that's not enough, I can check my boons when I get home for something. So 33 to hit currently.