Core #10-2: Bones of Biting Ants (Inactive)

Game Master Z...D...

We can try to get closer to the queen. But I think its better if we are prepared.

D'lack will activate Anwar's wand of mage armor on Shimmer.

Khellek can provide light for the poorly sighted humans... himself included.

Stuinvolk stays outside for this one, for some reason.

With the party prepared to do battle. The queen finally discovers the intruders.

Round 1-Bold May Go
August
Brak
Anwar
GM, Queen
Orange
Green
Yellow
D'lack
Purple
Blue
Red
Khellek

August grabs some of the termites and chews them up before entering the room, hoping to not have to necessarily kill the nest. He looks for anything or anyone that might be controlling the queen.

Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32

Meanwhile, he isn't interested in becoming any food, so he rushes over to one ant and punches it in the head, hoping to knock it out.

Unarmed power attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 - 2 = 25
Damage, nonlethal: 1d8 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 4 = 17

Anwar flies into the room and casts a spell, launching a ball of fire at the giant ant.

Casting flaming sphere, DC19 reflex save or 3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2) = 7 fire damage

Shimmer gives several small yipping sounds and charges towards the giant ant queen.

Bite, bs, charge: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 25
Damage, bs: 1d6 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 2 = 9

Claw, bs, charge: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 15
Damage, bs: 1d4 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 2 = 9

Claw, bs, charge: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 19
Damage, bs: 1d4 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 2 = 8

Talon, bs, charge: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 19
Damage, bs: 1d8 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 2 = 10

Talon, bs, charge: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 27
Damage, bs: 1d8 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 2 = 10

AC is two lower this round due to charge

Sorry holidays got the best of me!

Brak recalls his Pathfinder training Rule #26 and charges forth to aid August before getting in close to the queen.

With a battle cry and a steady hand he swings his axe:

Charge, Power Attack, Improved Vital Strike

ATK v. Orange: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 14 + 2 = 24 for DMG: 2d12 + 18 ⇒ (4, 7) + 18 = 29

I dont believe you can charge and vital strike sadly.

August move in and punches the ant, it connects against the hard exoskeleton of the ant. He punches a hole into. I forgot to post creature information, and it is undead which are immune to non-lethal damage. I changed it to lethal for you.

Anwar's flaming sphere enters the square with the queen and scorches her.

The little raptor moves in and pounces on the queen, unafraid. It lands a majority if its blows against it.

Brak then moves in and lands a hard blow the ant. It crumbles onto itself and releases a cloud of dust. Correct, unless you have Gorum's divine technique, which allows it with a greatsword.

The queen move away from the fire and then tries to bite shimmer, but misses.

Both yellow and green ants move towards shimmer. Yellow grabs hold with its mandibles. Shimmer takes 11 damage

D'lack you are up

I forgot about that, thank you. Still works though :-)

Just as a note, Shimmer is air walking 10' in the air and therefore out of the reach of the smaller ants I believe.

Sorry, missed the save: FORT: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18. Brak spits and coughs, but his immensely thick dwarven nose hairs protect him from the worst.

DC 13 fort save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Religion, drones: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Religion, queen: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Lacking those dwarven nose hairs, August succombs to fits of coughing from the dust an grit filling his lungs. Through it, he tries to shout back some information to the others.

"Re-ani...mated... avoid blades... hit hard... and step back!"

Staggered, he spends the round in full defense.

Noted, they are not too smart, so I am okay with them wasting their turn trying to hit you.

D'lack is on delay

The remaining ants swarm all over Brak as he turns towards the queen. Red and Pink each grab hold of one of the dwarves legs. You take 6 from red and 11 from pink. Both were from bite attacks.

All agents may act

Recovering from the dust attack, August wades back in to help the dwarf.

Flurry 1 vs Blue, power attack: 1d20 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 - 2 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 4 = 11

Flurry 2 vs Red, power attack: 1d20 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 10 - 2 = 25
Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 4 = 12

Activating the worthy foe boon from Tome of Righteous Repose to increase my spell DCs by 1 for 1 round

Anwar rolls the flaming sphere onto the queen.

DC20 reflex save or take 3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 5) = 12 fire damage

He then whistles for Shimmer to get away and readies himself to strike again.

Free action to command Shimmer and then ready to flame strike when she is out of the area

Shimmer, nauseated, scampers away from the giant ant queen.

This will provoke, AC28

Anwar then brings down a pillar of flame on the enemy.

If Shimmer gets away he will hit the queen, purple, yellow and green. If she is grabbed or dropped or similar he will just hit the queen and yellow. It deals 7d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 4, 2, 1, 3, 2) = 14 fire and holy damage wth a DC22 reflex save for half

August move in and delivers a punch at red and blue. Connects vs red. Misses blue.

Shimmer moves away, but not before getting bit and in place by the queen. Shimmer takes 21 points of damage from the bite and is grabbed. I adjusted her position back.

Anwar commands the flaming sphere onto the queen and adds some divine fire into the mix. Both strike true and you notice the swarm of insects that infested the queen seems to have diminished. So much so, that shimmer does not seem affected by them this round.

Brak, D'lack and Khellek go

With where the queen has moved Shimmer to flame strike should be able to hit her, yellow, green and purple. I will try and draw it on the map. Has the queen moved Shimmer to ground level or is she still in the air?

She is intelligent, so I will say she was placed back on the ground so her drones can also attack her

The three drones also suffer from the explosive force of the fire. one of them more so than the others. Noted the damage, removed the lines.

Brak, D'lack and Khellek go

"Outa my way, I want to mess up yer mother!" Brak continues to hack, confident that he'll be able to handle the dust.

Power Attack v. Red. If Red drops, purple.
ATK 1: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17 for DMG if hit: 1d12 + 18 ⇒ (7) + 18 = 25
ATK 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18 for DMG if hit: 1d12 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20

Brak does a one, two hit and drops both of the ants. Their remains crumble to dust.

D'lack and Khellek go

FORT 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
FORT 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Brak's facial hair protects him! "August, you good? I'mma get me that big one!"

D’lack moves and again uses his ancestry to destroy his enemies.

Burn! he says pointing at the queen.

RTA (scorching Ray): 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 6 + 1 = 14
Damages: 4d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (5, 5, 4, 2) + 4 + 1 = 21

sorry of the lack of response, I was caught in the family!

D'lack moves in and sends a fire ray over at the queen, it impacts it as it is distracted by the raptor.

The queen fails to maintain the grapple, Yep, would only fail on a 1 and got it.

It moves away from the flaming sphere once more.

Green and yellow attack the now grounded raptor, but fail miserably.

Blue goes after August and lands a bite. August takes 9 damage

August still needs to make the fort save that is spoilered above.
Everyone may act

nature on drones: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24
relgion on drones: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18
relgion on queen: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

Distracted by the drones, the scholar doesn't take in the full powers of the queen.

"Those drones are undead. They are resistant to non crushing weapons and will.." he winces as the first explodes.

"explode when you kill them."

His words offer advice on the killing of the creatures.

Inspire courage +1 to hit and damage

And I'll take immunities, resistances and special attacks for my extra bits of knowledge about them.

Other than the DR and undead traits, nothing else interesting about them.

In a now familiar move Anwar rolls the flaming sphere into the queen.

DC19 reflex save or take 3d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 3) = 9 fire damage, a save negates all damage

He then throws his arms wide and calls down the storm on her.

Using one of his call lightning bolts on her. 3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 2) = 13 electrical damage with DC20 reflex save for half. If the sphere finishes her off he will instead target yellow.

With a yip of fury Shimmer launches herself at the enemy.

Starting on the queen then moving to yellow then green

Bite, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 11 + 1 = 26
Damage, inspiire: 1d6 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 1 = 14

Claw, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 1 = 28
Damage, inspiire: 1d4 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 1 = 10

Claw, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 1 = 14
Damage, inspiire: 1d4 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 1 = 11

Talon, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 11 + 1 = 27
Damage, inspiire: 1d8 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 1 = 11

Talon, inspire: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 11 + 1 = 23
Damage, inspiire: 1d8 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 1 = 10

The queen manages to avoid the flaming sphere but cannot evade the lightning bolt that crashes down. It makes a fresh hole through the tough exoskeleton and leaves a blackened scorch mark on the ground.

The queen collapses and then crumbles to dust. The remaining ants follow suit.

Combat over

Conclusion post coming

A search of the are reveals multiple items, which were left behind by Stuinvolk, in the throne like mound.

You uncover a watertight satchel filled with charcoal rubbings, sketches, and notes; stone and flora samples; and small, nonmagical findings. Also among the pile are items that radiate magic. A pot with multiple images of animals, a small ant statuette made from ivory, a leather mask which resembles an ant a smooth stone with a rune carved into its surfaces. At the trove’s heart is a rough, fist-sized lump of amber with an empty space inside in the shape of an ant—almost as though a preserved insect had escaped.

The PCs can make their way out of the anthill without incident.

Bujune, if they negotiated a deal with him rather than just killing him, honors his end of the bargain and lifts the curse on Stuinvolk.

PCs who successfully bargain with Bujune without killing the nuno gain the Gremlin’s Token boon.

The return trip is uneventful, especially since it is easier during this leg of the trip to plot a course that keeps the PCs well away from the dangerous Mzali borders.

Stuinvolk is notably less tense, and with his curse removed, sometimes even segues into something that approaches happy. He still has traumas to work through, of course, as he isn’t “cured” of his past, but this expedition helps to put a lot of his ghosts to rest. He mentions that while he doesn’t see himself doing fieldwork again, he might consider working in a supporting capacity at the lodge level.

Paizo seems to be going up and down a lot this morning. Fingers crossed!

Brak scans the wreckage after the battle and gives a wide smile at a job well done. He takes the time to slap everyone on the back and shake their hand.

Going forward, every once in a while he checks in with Stuinvolk to see how thigns are going.

Thank you sir, this was a lot of fun!

Khellek eyes up the items with some interest. Firstly he prepares himself and then he handles each with care.
[Casts foxes cunning
And then takes ten with spellcraft checks for a 22 on each

"[b]Well.. some of these are very powerful. The pot, the spider and the ant are reasonably simple items. Read the spoilers But these other two elude me for the moment.

Anwar scans over the various items but has little skill with such things. We have what we need, lets get ut of here.

As they travel back across the plains he disappears for long periods of time with Shimmer, teaching her and learning how to work in concert with her.

Anwar teaches her 6 new tricks, brining her up to her maximum

Well done Pathfinders! We found some relics, I feel almost like one of the Ten Warrior of the Great Jambele!

On their way back, D'lack tries to convince Stuinvolk to join the Scarab Sage faction.

You will see, there is fine people in this faction and if you are tired from the jungle most of their mission are in the desert of Osirion! More, you will have access to numerous and marvelous library if fieldwork is not your thing anymore you could stay and work with numerous other scholars!

Diplomacy (DC20): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Reroll (with 5* bonus): 1d20 + 5 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 5 = 30