[PFS]GM Dennis - #7-27 Beyond Azlant Ridge (high tier) (Inactive)

Game Master Dennis Muldoon

Petrok takes a slight step back (5ft step) and cast spiritual weapon ... a falchion made of force appears from behind the creature and attempts to strike through the scales.
spiritual weapon: 1d20 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 3 = 20 dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
FYI just realized I can use the knowledge arcana skill once per session because of my dark archive faction pin I own..(also) get a 1d4 bonus on the roll! I won’t use it here cause this monster is likely to go down pretty quick... but if we do need a knowledge arcana again... at least we’ll have one shot!

Petrok's spiritual falchion slashes into the creature as the woman runs toward the door, huddling next to Captain Absalom. "Oh thank you, thank you!" she cries. "I was worried you'd spread out too much!" With that, she throws back her hood to reveal a head covered, not with hair, but with snakes!

This creature has a gaze attack. As you are all within 30ft, you will all need to deal with the gaze on your turn. You have three options:

Molly quickly averts her eyes!
Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 8
Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Assuming a 23 beats the DC..
Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Molly freaks out and fires a full powered Magic Missile at every enemy target she can remember seeing.
Vs Green: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Vs Purple: 2d4 + 10 ⇒ (4, 2) + 10 = 16

Captain Absalom quickly looks away, and uses his shield to target his enemy instead.

Martial Flexibility for Equipment Trick (Shield), using Keen Eye. AC Drops to 21 but I don't suffer the Gaze attack

The captain releases a flurry of shield attacks against the snake-haired opponent.

Attack1: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Damage1: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (1, 6, 1) + 10 = 18
Attack2: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22
Damage2: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (1, 6, 2) + 10 = 19
Attack3: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Damage3: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (2, 1, 2) + 10 = 15

Pethwen continues to spur her companions on to victory with her strong musical voice.

Continue Inspire Courage. Remember to include +2 Attack/Damage to all rolls (if it hasn't been added already)

Closing her eyes, she then calls to her god, Ketephys, to protect the group from this evil monster.

Cast Prayer on group. Another +1 Attack/Damage to all. +1 Saves to all. -1 on all of the above to the enemies.

Thanks - I did not. So +2 to all of those GM.

I love Equipment Tricks. I hadn't seen that one before.

Molly's bolts and Cap's slams leave the snake-haired woman battered and bleeding, but not quite subdued. Meanwhile, Pethwen calls down the blessings of Ketephys. Both enemies are badly wounded, but still up.

Bolty and Phosdlon may act.

Phosdlon does not have line-of-sight to the woman but can see the other snake. He will close his eyes and attempt to blindly fire two arrows at it...

Applying Point-Blank, Precise, and Rapid Shot feats, if applicable(if not ignore second arrow attack sequence). Also adding +2H/D for Inspire Courage and +1H/D for Prayer. High is good for both miss chances.

ranged attack(#1) vs. Green: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 2 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 9 + 1 + 2 + 1 - 2 = 16
Miss Chance(#1) vs. Green: 1d100 ⇒ 66
possible Piercing damage(#1) vs. Green: 1d8 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 7

ranged attack(#2) vs. Green: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 2 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 1 + 2 + 1 - 2 = 17
Miss Chance(#2) vs. Green: 1d100 ⇒ 80
possible Piercing damage(#2) vs. Green: 1d8 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 11

Not entirely sure what's going on Bolty takes a step forward and looks at the snake-y woman.

fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Assuming Bolty's okay he then unloads another flurry of arrows at hopefully a pair of doomed foes

Adding Prayer and courage now.

Bolty looks for a soft spot on the snake woman.
Using grit to target touch.

Touch Bolt: 1d20 + 16 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 16 - 4 = 20
damage: 1d8 + 18 + 1d8 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 + (1) + 18 = 40

If she goes down, Bolty will regain the grit and use it to target touch on the giant snake. If she doesn't go down Bolty will fire regular shots at her until she does, then switching to touch against the large snake if there are any shots left.

Rapid Bolts: 1d20 + 16 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 16 - 4 = 20
damage: 1d8 + 18 + 1d8 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 + (1) + 18 = 42

Iterative BoltsBolts: 1d20 + 16 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 16 - 4 = 23
damage: 1d8 + 18 + 1d8 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 + (8) + 18 = 47

Phosdlon closes his eyes and fires twice at the serpent, but is unable to connect. Bolty braves the snake-woman's stony gaze, shaking off whatever effect it has, then blows away both remaining foes. Out of combat!

The most interesting thing in the room, now that you have time to examine it, is the intricately-carved heavy flail, its heavy ball etched with images of stylized eagles and sunbursts. It sits on a shelf besides an intricate heavy steel shield sized for a large creature. Though the mosaics depict a cyclops wielding a similar flail in one hand, it looks like it would require two hands for a medium creature (functions as a medium heavy flail).

Petrok avoids looking directly into the eyes of the dead woman with snake’s for hair but nevertheless the less tries to identify her species.knowledge nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11 Not ever having seen the like... Petrok cast detect magic while asking the spirts for guidance to identify the items they found spellcraft flail: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 1 = 22 spellcraft shield: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 1 = 18 if the GM rules that Petrok tried to identify the flail within 36 seconds of Pethwen casting “Prayer” Petrok did succeed otherwise close but no cigar

"Might as well take them with us, like the mask!"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

If the GM rules that Petrok tried to identify the flail within 36 seconds of Pethwen casting “Prayer” Petrok did succeed otherwise close but no cigar

That's fine. There was only one round of battle between the casting of prayer and the end of combat; I think it's reasonable that you could have tried to identify the flail within the remaining 30 seconds.

Where to next? You have 10-15 minutes left before the monolith breaks down the door.

"We should probably address that banging. How many discs do we have, now?"

You have one disc, the one you got from Arletta. There's one room left unexplored, the one on the far side that Juliet told you was dark.

Assuming we can explore the dark room and take only 3-5 minutes, we would potentially have 5-10 minutes left, including time getting to that area. Wanna risk it team? I vote yes. :D

Sounds good to me!

To me as well.

Phosdlon collects quickly collects his arrows and follows the group.

Pushing open the heavy door to this last unexplored room confirms Juliet's warning of a room shrouded in a deep, impenetrable darkness.

Out of curiosity, who is carrying the stone disc you got from Arletta? Nothing happens with it right now, I just want to establish who's carrying it.

Cap has the disc, I believe.

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
"This darkness is similar to that of the actual spell, Darkness."

Bolty looks over at Petrok "Don't suppose you can see in there?"

"I can see!" Pethwen pipes up, her voice resonating like a note from an actual pipe instrument. "There's a disc, sitting on a shelf. It's the same size and shape as the one we've already collected. The darkness seems to be radiating from it. Any precautions anyone would like to take before I head in and pick it up?". She turns to the group with a warm smile. "You know that I want to...and no, not to put it in that crack back there, in case you're still wondering!"

"Do you think the darkness can be prevented by putting it inside a bag or something?"

Just as the bag Arletta kept her disc in blocked the light effect, you suspect storing the disc in a bag or otherwise covering it would contain the darkness effect.

Bolty looks over at Petrok "Don't suppose you can see in there?"

Petrok nods yes and replies...there's another disk...this one is emanating some kind of darkness.. I maybe could counter the effect with some magic the spirits grant me...but whoever I gave this *gift* to would be vulnerable to fire for a while.. Petrok looks around to see if there are any takers on his offer..

GM Petrok is proposing to cast *Fire Nimbus* spell like ability from his flame spirit...It's a 3rd level *spell like ability* DC:16..(according to Herolab) so it may counter 2nd lv and below darkness spells and spell-like abilities.. I've included the text of the ability beneath a spoiler.

"I will take it and put it in my bag...but if it starts to affect me or its other effects still linger, you have my permission to cast any spell upon me that you see fit." Pethwen responds, entering the room and placing the disc in her backpack.

As Pethwen touches the disc, she recoils as if shocked, her hands darting up to rub at her eyes. "I-I just had some sort of vision. The sound of heavy footsteps and a cyclops being blinded by a huge serpent! I-It was if it was I that was being struck, but I was able to resist it somehow." Her voice is slightly off kilter, like a violin being played well but with just slightly out of tune strings.

Instinctively, the cleric casts a spell of blessing to help protect the group and herself from whatever harmful force is at play.

Cast Bless on the party

"Do you want to toss, or roll, that disc over here? I could do without the headache."

We're going to drop into initiative here, as there is something happening in rounds.

Initiave?

Cap remains outside the room, waiting to receive the disc from Pethwen.

"Great Goddess Yuelral, please bless your humble servant and my bow."

Swift to activate SACRED WEAPON(su): to give bow Frost ability. Standard to activate BLESSINGS(Su): GOOD: Holy Strike (minor): At 1st level, you can touch one weapon and bless it with the power of purity and goodness. For 1 minute, this weapon glows green, white, or yellow-gold and deals an additional 1d6 points of damage against evil creatures. During this time, it’s treated as good for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. This additional damage doesn’t stack with the additional damage from the holy weapon special ability. So my bow is now +1 darkwood Longbow with Frost and Good aligned properties.

Forgot Sacred Weapon is Swift and uses rounds. I would like to ret-con that to just the Standard to activate the Blessing if I may. If not that's ok as well.

That's fine, Phosdlon.

Phosdlon calls upon the blessings of Yuelral to empower his weapon. Cap, meanwhile, remains just outside the room, ready pull the disc (or Pethwen) from the room if needed (I'll treat this as a delay).

-----

Initiave

Pethwen withdraws from the room, drawing her weapon, calling back to Cap. "No, it's fine. I think I have resisted its effects for now. Perhaps it's better than no-one else touches it in case they are also assaulted by the vision I saw."

Did Pethwen have time to put the disc in her pack yet, if not, she will do that instead of drawing the weapon, and then move out of the room.

She did not. You only had a surprise-round action last round, and you used it to cast bless.

Pethwen stows the disc, containing the darkness to the inside of her bag, and moves herself out of the room (either walking or stumbling, depending on the results of the second Fort save I asked for).

We can drop out of initiative here. The haunt only triggers within the room.

Oops, sorry missed the call for the second FORT Save.
FORT: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 6 + 1 = 27

Pethwen moves as quickly as she can out of the room, squinting a little as she seems to fight off another occurrence of the vision. As she exits the room, she seems to be unharmed, laughing warmly as she smiles to the rest of the group. "Well that was a little unsettling, but at least it got the blood pumping. What's the plan now and how much time have we got up our sleeves, do you think?"

"Well, we've got two discs, and know where the other two are. There's still than incessant banging..."

"Perhaps it is time we stop the monolith then." Molly looks up to the rest of her team. "Any one have an idea on how to solve that puzzle?"
She draws a wand of mage armor and casts it upon herself.

The huge monolith continues to pound on the door, the cracks becoming more obvious with every passing moment. Based on your earlier examination, you think the door can only withstand another ten minutes or so (you can predict within one minute, based on your earlier check). The four disc-shaped indentations remain empty, eight feet up on the wall.

Sorry guys, missed some treasure in the room with the darkness disc.

Now that the darkness is suppressed, you can see some more items sitting on shelves within this room. On one shelf sit two onyx carvings and a mithral wand. On an adjacent shelf, a valuable-looking platinum orrery and another mithral wand.

Since Pethwen would have had to have spent another round inside to have collected them anyway, I'll need one person to brave the haunt for one round if you want to collect these items. Please make me a Fort save, whoever wishes to do so.

I don't want to sound like I am throwing anyone under the bus, but it looks like the best Fort saves are Captain at +10, Bolty at +9, and Phosdlon at +8

Phosdlon switches his bow with his Elven Curved Blade, quickly casts Sanctuary(only DC=14), and Guidance on himself, then steps into the room to search...

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Almost forgot the Fortitude save. +2 Enchantment/Charm if applicable.

Fortitude save.: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 1 = 10
Scrolling back thru my posts, I do not see myself having used my re-roll this session, (I have a character folio and a sky key t-shirt), I would like to use that now. Please correct me if I missed using the re-roll already.

Fortitude save: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 1 = 13

Bleh.

Phosdlon strides in to the room, searching as he grabs the visible items (and not finding anything but those listed). Suddenly, he hears the sounds of thudding footsteps, closely followed by a vision of a burly cyclops wrestling an immense serpentine creature. The creature lashes out, biting the cyclops in the eye and blinding him. In the same moment, Phosdlon's vision cuts out, as if he were the cyclops! You are blinded, as per blindness/deafness. I'll assume you stumble your way out of the room with the treasure, unless you have reason to stay in.

The rest of you did not see the vision, not being in the room, but you can tell that something is wrong with Phosdlon's vision. You can also examine the the treasure. The statues and the orrery are mundane but likely valuable. The wands are slender, and made of mithril.

Phosdlon stumbles out of the room rubbing his eyes..."I had a vision of a cyclops wrestling a big serpentine creature. The creature bit the cyclops in the eye, blinding him. Now I can't see either."

As the group contemplate their next move, Pethwen shares some information she recalls from her experience looking into the cracks in the wall earlier. "Now that we have two of the discs and know the location of the other two, I think we can see a pattern. The disc from Arletta glows a little, the one I have emits total darkness. While I couldn't see the discs themselves in the crack, I could see light from two sources. One seemed like bright daylight, brighter than the disc we got from Arletta. One seemed pale and purple, dimmer than Arletta's. Paired with the MOON, VOID, SUN, STARS clues we had earlier, I think we may know which disc goes where now...but we still need to retrieve the others, it seems!"

As Phosdlon bravely retrieves the items from the room with the haunt and then returns in a disabled condition, the cleric rushes to attend to him. "My new friend, I'm so sorry you succumbed to that evil effect. I know that is was quite unsettling. I believe I can prepare a spell to restore your sight but it would take longer than the time we have left before that thing breaks free. Are you able to hold on a few minutes?"

What would it take to remove the blindness effect. Is it a Remove Curse spell? Pethwen can spend 15 minutes to prepare a spell in an empty spell slot but we only have 10 minutes left on the clock!