[PFS] GD-VII AoA GM Thread (Inactive)

Game Master Dennis Muldoon

Broken Horns is also triggered. Quickly wrap up your current encounters (feel free to call them, if you're in a good spot to do so) so that your tables can participate fully in the last parts.

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***OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT***

Fighting alongside the First Guard forces, Pathfinders have defeated many of the invading army’s commanders. Without their minotaur overseers to direct their wrath, many of the demon-flesh constructs slow—or even begin fighting one another. The victory is short-lived. Bellowing with Abyssal rage, a massive construct takes to the sky, for a moment blotting out the sun before landing messily atop a squad of the First Guard. The brute is shaped almost like a dragon, but its elongated body, misshapen limbs, bulbous head, and grotesque wings are all stitched together from demonic skin and flesh. It easily swats a dozen soldiers into the sky with one of its immense claws before roaring a second challenge.

As if sensing a worthy rival, the statuesque Gulgamodh flares with angry light and roars “Gulgamodh stands ready,” before leaping Absalom’s walls and lumbering to stand beside the ones who hold its key: the Pathfinders. Who among you is prepared to guide Gulgamodh’s hand?

Table GMs, the Broken Horns condition on page 29 is now in effect.

As my core party exists out of 4 level 3 characters they're always in the market for aid tokens! :-)

Question for the GM's. The monk at my table wants to fly up to Atalazorn and land on top of it. It is gargantuan, so I could see it realistically and cinematically happening, but I am unsure how to address that in game mechanics. Any suggestions?

Sounds like a combat maneuver, something like a bull rush, or maybe a grapple check to 'land' and 'hold on.'

Does the monk PC want to it, or control Gulgamodh (gargantuan itself) to do it?

The monk has a 1 round only fly ability and wants to land on it so she can attack. We are tier 10-11 and don't get the gulgamodh help.

I'd go with CMB. Maybe reflex if that fails and Fly ends.

And an acrobatics check to avoid an AoO, perhaps.

Folks, the encounter in area L (the Gulgamodh encounter) is the most memorable one fo the whole scenario, especially for lower-level tables. If you have not moved there yet, please do so soon so your tables have time to participate. Feel free to wrap up any remaining undead or minotaur encounters by narration, rather than playing them out, if you wish.

My table was happy to be done with the aquatic adventures, those jellyfish really slowed them down, and a crit they couldn't negate (already having negated one) took down the Investigator (-3, stabilized, healed) on the ship.

Right now they're trying to punch Atalazorn out of the sky and slinging Power Rangers and other meme-y quips, so big change.

With a perfectly timed Mana Cannon crit, my table managed to turn Atlazorn back into its many pieces.

So now they can use the giant robot to stop on the tier 7-8 minotaurs and graveknight, is that correct?

With a perfectly timed Mana Cannon crit, my table managed to turn Atlazorn back into its many pieces.

So now they can use the giant robot to stop on the tier 7-8 minotaurs and graveknight, is that correct?

Yes

My 1-2 table pretty handily got beaten by Atalazorn. I suggested that Gulgamodh can self-repair and we can restart the fight from the start. They played well and really used abilities and skills as best as we could arrange, am I missing some edge that Gulgamodh has?

My 1-2 table pretty handily got beaten by Atalazorn. I suggested that Gulgamodh can self-repair and we can restart the fight from the start. They played well and really used abilities and skills as best as we could arrange, am I missing some edge that Gulgamodh has?

I think the two constructs are quite matched, but Atazalorn has flawed tactics, as the disengaging to use its breath is quite bad (provoking and Gulgamodh's ranged abilities are matched as well, and it can buff/debuff). My table had a lucky crit on an AoO or it could have gone quite differently.

Losing initiative is bad too, but the Catch a Spy and other reroll initiative boons that could be gained in the first act you should have a good chance.

If the scenario is ending on 11/12, I'll need a back up GM from 11/10-11/12. I'm going to be away those days, and not finishing this with them makes me sad.

It's a 3-4 table.

If the scenario is ending on 11/12, I'll need a back up GM from 11/10-11/12. I'm going to be away those days, and not finishing this with them makes me sad.

It's a 3-4 table.

Hey CariMac!

They had Atalazorn down to 20 HP, if the gunslinger who took gun arm didn’t insist on shooting it every turn, Atalazorn wouldn’t have had the AoO as part of his final full attack and Gulgamodh would be sitting at 12 HP.

Did he know he could slam with it?

With a fair bit of help from our ACG friends, we've reached the Siege Castle condition. Please move soon to area A1; to stick to schedule we need to get to Open Gates by Tuesday.

***OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT***

An elite team of Pathfinders pins down one of the draconic monstrosity Atalazorn’s limbs, giving Gulgamodh an opportunity to grab the beast’s head. After a brief struggle, Gulgamodh decapitates the abomination, which falls to the battlefield with a shuddering crash. With the giant construct leading the way, formations of the First Guard and Pathfinders converge on the siege castle.

Gulgamodh bulldozes down the outer gate head-first. Waiting inside is a battalion of demons led by a minotaur champion with metal plates bolted to its body and wielding an overlarge sword. It sweeps the sword at Gulgamodh, tearing open a terrible gash that nearly splits the giant construct in two. Gulgamodh lets out a drawn-out, metallic wail before collapsing in the gateway.

The ancient guardian may have fallen, but the path into the castle is open. Don’t waste this opportunity!

Table GMs, the Siege Castle condition on page 29 is now in effect.

Dennis, I'll push ScorchedOne's table, heading there to catch up and post soon.

Thanks, Khaoz!

How tall are the exterior walls of the siege castle's gatehouse?

If a PC makes the climb, how may a PC access the interior of the gatehouse from the roof?

I could make a reasonable guess, but I thought a ruling from the Overseer GM would provide consistency across tables.

Suggestion: Exterior walls are 20ft tall. The interior is accessible via a 20ft ladder. Seems reasonable for a hastily constructed siege castle.

Thanks.

To me, the interior of those two side sections are at level with the ground. 20ft walls seem reasonable, but from the roof they would have to climb down by the stairs and then go in.

Okay, I'll go with that.

So my 7-8s elected to take the choice to fight the Big Scary Implacable Beast, but at least one of them is looking for an out.

Is it okay to allow them to retreat, lick their wounds and come back for the 7-8 encounter instead?

If so, should they have to actually grab their fallen, enlarged comrade who's 3 hp from bleeding out? (Or does someone have an Aid Token they could throw my way to "explain" the retreat?)

You can make a call for your table. There are enough pathfinders around that you could say a group of 10-11s came by and distracted the monster long enough for them to retreat.

Great - I'll move 'em out.

FYI, I'm going to have to call this section early if we have any hope of ending the special on time. That said, does anyone feel like their table is within a day of completing a Gate success?

My group is maybe one round away from doing so.

In round 1. Getting everyone to act/post and they'll be done quick.

No, my team started the fight, round 2, but they've all... disappeared today.

Irish, it looks to me like your table is still doing the combat, and haven't begun the strength checks yet. Has anyone besides OMB begun the strength checks?

Not mine or the table I’m playing at.

We're in Round 3 of the fight.

No, my team started the fight, round 2, but they've all... disappeared today.

Its the midterm elections in the US. Many people are stuck at the polls, I suspect.

GM Blake wrote:

No, my team started the fight, round 2, but they've all... disappeared today.

Its the midterm elections in the US. Many people are stuck at the polls, I suspect.

Good point. I was fortunate enough to live were there's two weeks of early voting, so I didn't even think of that.

GM Irish202 wrote:

GM Blake wrote:

No, my team started the fight, round 2, but they've all... disappeared today.

Its the midterm elections in the US. Many people are stuck at the polls, I suspect.

Good point. I was fortunate enough to live were there's two weeks of early voting, so I didn't even think of that.

I've had the news on and off most of the night. I also voted early.

GMs, I'm about to post the Open Gates condition. We're on a timer for the last section; the scenario calls out for a strict 40 minutes, and rewards are based on the number of successes. For PbP, this translates to 7 days; we have a hard cutoff on the night of the 13th.

Please don't take long to advance to area M2. As per page 29, reduce the hp of any remaining enemies in are M1 by half their original hp, minimum 1hp.

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Teams of Pathfinders wielding battering rams crash against the inner gates again and again until, with a decisive crack, the doors shatter inward. The Pathfinders can now enter the castle’s inner reaches as waves of reinforcements arrive to help finish off the defenders outside.

Table GMs, the Open Gates condition on page 29 is in effect.
[/spoiler]

ah man, I just needed a few more minutes.
OK, will work that in! =)

Hey folks, we're making good progress on the the successes here in the final battle. We aren't to the milestone yet, though, and the number of boons a player gets on their chronicle depends on us reaching that milestone. Please make sure you keep your table moving forward quickly, and make sure you report your successes as soon as you get them.

A special note for tier 10-11: I neglected to include a 'report 2 successes' option, so please just report your success twice.

A special note for tier 10-11: I neglected to include a 'report 2 successes' option, so please just report your success twice.

Good thing I thought to do that.

On another note. Anyone need a token?

GM Dennis wrote:

A special note for tier 10-11: I neglected to include a 'report 2 successes' option, so please just report your success twice.

Good thing I thought to do that.

On another note. Anyone need a token?

Always.

As we approach the end, here’s the info you need for creating chronicle sheets (thanks for the reminder, R. Sweet):

Event: PbP Gameday VIi
Event # 686641
End date: November 13th 2018

Once it’s done, you’ll need to report the game through this link as well.

Don’t forget to have your table roll for boons too. Everyone, including you, rolls a D20. Anyone who gets a 19 or 20 should also roll a d4. You’ll report the result of that d4 along with the email address of the winner when you report your game, so that HQ staff can send them their boon.

If my table beats a second second encounter, do I report another success?

Yes, please. On that note, folks, we have reached the milestone! Well done; this means players will get two of the rewards on the chronicle sheets, rather than one.

Hey all, an important clarification:

Despite what the text may say, there was a change to the way chronicle rewards are done in this special (I’ll try to dig up the link to the change when I get the chance). In choosing their two rewards, players may select from any missions the house completed (all of them), rather than just ones your table completed.

It's on the chronicle sheet.

"Defender of Absalom: You aided Absalom in its hour of need, breaking the siege of demon-flesh monstrosities,
undead saboteurs, and ghastly ships. The people of Absalom witnessed your triumphs and will remember your
courage for several deeds in particular. Choose one (or two, if so instructed by the Overseer GM) of the following
rewards corresponding to a faction’s objective that either the House successfully fulfilled (corresponding to
one of the conditions announced during play) or that your table successfully fulfilled; cross the others off your
Chronicle sheet. You do not need to be a member of a particular faction to choose its associated reward."

One question: When will we end ?
(13th ... What are the hour H (aprox.)? Time zone?)

Tomorrow evening, roughly 10pm US Pacific time.

My poor 5-6 table can't really handle the nabasu. He's basically toying with them right now. I think they are having fun regardless, but only 1 PC having darkvision is hurting them right now.

Hopefully this will teach them the value of an oil of daylight.

Ha. My table keeps blinding the nabasus with glitterdust. They poured oil of daylight on the animal companion's barding.