GM Erich's Devil We Know Series (Inactive)

Game Master Thereus, Silver Crusader

Cyclic is too far back to be of any help this round, but she urges Mange forward and casts her usual bless as they close.

"I think we should hold the line here. No sense in charging in on top of it."

Getting a glimpse of Durant for the first time she exclaims, "Crap. What happened to Durant? He was only in there a couple of seconds!"

knowledge religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

looking for anything not covered by normal ghast abilities.

Qiroyo studies the Ghast carefully. Then he steps forward and casts Protection from Evil on the knight.

I am sure, I can cast, step forward, touch and step back

@Qiroyo, unfortunately the touch can't come in the middle of movement, but I'm going to say being small, you can be in the corner of the edge square without being squeezed and still touch Durant without blocking anyone. Note that the AC bonus won't stack with his smite bonus, though, and the bonus to saves applies after his first two saves are attempted. Also, because you needed to get close to touch, you need a DC 20 Fort save or be sickened.

Qiroyo tries to bolster the paladin's defenses while Cyclic improves the odds with another blessing from the heavens. As she studies the creature, she is taken aback, realizing that it is much! stronger than a typical ghast, and likely has extensive combat training of some type. in other words, class levels

Round 1/2 - Bold can act - Bless is Up!
Ghast
Altorin
Qiroyo -4 damage <Need DC 20 Fort Save or be sickened>
Cyclic
Mange
Eka
------------------------
Sir Durant -20 damage <Need two DC 19 Fort Saves vs paralysis>

@Eka, don't forget your Fort save vs sickened if you step forward.

Eka would love to have a chance to get in there to slice up that ghast. She really would. Unfortunately, Sir Durant was too eager and has completely blocked the doorway. "Ssir Durant! Sstep back sso we can fight it too!"

Of course, she knows full well that doing so is easier said than done. Having noted her companions' successful attempts to control their stomachs closer to the ghast (it smells bad enough from back here as it is), she takes a deep breath and holds it, assuming the ghast will follow him through the doorway. She takes a step to the side, just in case Sir Durant wants to back up more than anticipated.

Then a thought occurs to her! Digging in her pack, she pulls out an acid flask. But wait: it'll hurt Sir Durant, too. Crap! She calculates the risk, still holding the flask, and decides to wait for a window of opportunity. Eka is readying an attack with the acid flask. She will throw it at the ghast as soon as there are 5 feet of space between the ghast and all allies. (I don't think she could see how close any of the victims in the room beyond are.)

Round 1 of holding breath, 'cause it's so stinky!

Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 +4 if disease or poison effect
I thought this was possible, otherwise I would probably have done something else...

@Qiroyo At a regular table, we'd be able to have a proper discusion about the rules while deciding actions, so go ahead and amend your turn if you wish.

Also, those of you wishing to hold your breath against the stench, that will give you a 50% chance each round to avoid the fortitude save. Thanks to his made save, Durant is immune to it for 24 hours.

Thanks, retcon:
Qiroyo casts Protection of Evil on Eka, who's standing in front of him.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Fortitude: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Sir Durant's stomach turns and his muscles freeze as the ghast's claws tear through his armor. Still, he will not back down now...

Not that he has the choice.

paralysis duration: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 ugh

Ghast Grapple vs Durant: 1d20 + 10 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 10 + 4 = 28

Durant's muscles stiffen, and Eka shouts out again for him to step back, but quickly realizes he is unable. The ghast grabs at the helpless paladin, whose eyes still shine with resolve, starting to drag him back into its lair. With a sickly timbre the ghast shrieks. "The spider has the fly now! His days are done! Leave us to be or you will all suffer the same fate."

Round 2/3 - Bold can act - Bless is Up!
Ghast
Altorin
Qiroyo -4 damage
Cyclic
Mange
Eka <Protection from Evil>
------------------------
Sir Durant -20 damage <Paralyzed for 4 more rounds>

@Eka, I didn't resolve your acid attack as the ready condition never materialized.

Fair enough. :)

Realizing that Sir Durant is in very real trouble, Eka quickly stashes her acid flask in a side pouch on her pack (move action) and takes another deep breath to hold. Stepping 5 feet forward, she carefully threads her bardiche around Sir Durant's form to try to get at the ghast.

cold iron bardiche: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 171d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
I assume the ghast has soft cover from Sir Durant, but it's worth a shot.

50% chance to avoid needing Fort save vs. Stinky Ghast (high is good): 1d100 ⇒ 56
Wahoo!

Round 1 of holding this breath

"This does not look good. Eka, I hope your protection will help you in freeing Sir Durant."

Qiroyo starts jumping, bouncing, casrtwheeling past Eka, then the grappled Knight and then runs under the legs of the Ghast.

Acrobatics vs CMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Fort: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 7 + 4 = 21

"YOU are a miserable piece of decayed rot. What, are you afraid of us that you have to hide in your lair?"

Cyclic is trying to enrage the thing with the Antagonize feat.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Nuts. If that does not work (and it does not look like it will since the DC is equal to 10+ the target’s Hit Dice + the target’s Wisdom modifier) can Mange engage? Durant looks to be in the way making that impossible. Well, if I'm lucky it is really, really dumb and has a negative wisdom modifier. One can hope.

Cyclic would have known that an undead creature would have been unaffected by a mind-affecting feat such as Antagonize. Durant is currently helpless, so you can end movement in his square. Don't forget the fort saves vs stench though. Cyclic could hold her breath as Eka did for a chance not to have to save this turn.

Cyclic will, instead, cast Shield of Faith on Mange and urge Mange forward. I'd rather get the ST out of the way now instead of having to take a breath and get all sickened at a more inopportune time.

Cyclic Fort ST: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Mange Fort ST: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Unfortunately, Mange sails on merrily into melee carrying a retching Cyclic on his back. Is she sickened or nauseated?

to hit bite, bless: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 1 = 17
damage bite: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
trip, bless: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 = 12

Mange AC: 19.

I'm a bit worried here. I do not have the kind of STs on Cyclic or Mange to resist this Ghast's paralysis and with a +10 to attack this is not going to last very long. It might have been really stupid of me to advance.

Just sickened

From Durant's immobilized lips, a faint voice can be heard:

"Oil can! Oil can!"

Altorin continues to channel frost into the area beneath the ghoul.

Standard Action #1, hopefully he has a -dex from being in a grapple.

"Just where do you think you're going little spider?"

ghastcrobatics: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 - 2 = 6

Altorin fortifies the layer of ice under the ghast, this time forcing it clumsily into the icy slush, its claws barely holding onto Durant's tilted frame. Qiroyo tries to weasel through the gap, but the ghast's flailing feet knock him back so he slips back into the alcove to let the others into the fray. Cyclic and a divinely-protected Mange force their way to the front and the wolf is just unable to bite into its leather clad chest. Eka uses the confusion to step forward and plant her bardiche deep into the horror next to Mange's bite-mark. With a wail, it realizes it has underestimated you and releases the frozen paladin, bringing its razor sharp claws and vicious bite all out against the wolf in its face - only to miss by the narrowest of margins.

Ghast Bite vs Mange: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 4 = 18
Ghast Bite Damage vs Mange: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Ghast Claw vs Mange: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 10 - 4 = 9
Ghast Claw Damage vs Mange: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Ghast Claw vs Mange: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 10 - 4 = 7
Ghast Claw Damage vs Mange: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Round 3/4 - Bold can act - Bless is Up!
Ghast <prone> -11 damage
Altorin
Qiroyo -4 damage
Cyclic <sickened>
Mange <Shield of Faith, sickened>
Eka <Protection from Evil>
------------------------
Sir Durant -20 damage <Paralyzed for 3 more rounds>

We got pretty lucky there. Nice that it attacked from the ground. I hope it stays there. How long is Cyclic sickened?

Cyclic takes the opportunity to cast shield of faith on herself too from her wand while Mange continues trying to bite the thing. Yuck!

to hit bite, bless, prone: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 + 4 = 18
damage bite: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Mange AC: 19
Cyclic AC: 24

After the attack she urges Mange back to try and force the thing out in the open.

It was a DC 20 so both Cyclic and Mange are sickened for several minutes.

He's down! Now to press the advantage...

Cold Blast Ranged Touch, PBS, Melee, Bless: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 1 - 4 + 1 = 6
damage: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 1 = 5

Pleasantly surprised at how well the group's concerted attacks were executed just now, Eka tries again to slash the ghast into true death.

cold iron bardiche: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 5 + 1 = 251d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Confirm crit?: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 5 + 1 = 201d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Includes Bless

Altorin is far too excited to get a proper blast into the corridor and Qiroyo follows suit. Cyclic blesses herself then commands Mange to withdraw after a quick nip. Eka manages to slam hard into the sprawled ghast. Realizing its predicament, the ghast stands and closes the door!

Provokes from Eka

Qiroyo Studied Attack with cover: 1d20 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 1 - 4 = 9
Eka Hold breath: 1d100 ⇒ 58 No save needed

Round 4/5 - Bold can act - Bless is Up!
Ghast -40 damage
Altorin
Qiroyo -4 damage
Cyclic <Shield of Faith, sickened>
Mange <Shield of Faith, sickened>
Eka <Protection from Evil> Need AOO
------------------------
Sir Durant -20 damage <Paralyzed for 2 more rounds>

Reminder: Sickened = The character takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.

"My. I guess we should have expected that. Eka, do you think you could open that door?"

Altorin will ready an action to slick once the door is opened.

AOO:
cold iron bardiche: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 1 = 161d10 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Includes Bless

And now for our regularly scheduled programming:

"Eka, do you think you could open that door?"

"Ssure. Ssomeone pull Ssir Durant out of the way sso he doess not get any more hurt." Gingerly stepping around Sir Durant's collapsed form, Eka leans her bardiche against the wall beside the door, draws her morningstar, and opens the door.

now to see if it was able to lock it.

"A strange move to shut us out..."
Sense Motive, why would it do this: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 1 = 23

As the door slammed shut, the gnome swore he saw the ghast reach desperately for a vial at his belt.

Assuming Eka gets the door open, go ahead and give me any actions for Qiroyo, Cyclic and Mange. Moved the wolf back a square, not really enough room there for a medium creature.

If the door is opened and she can see the thing, it will depend on whether she and Mange will be able to get into melee range.

If yes:
1) Cyclic will case Decompose Corpse and try to touch the thing.
2) Mange will engage.

If not:
1) Cyclic will cast shield of faith on Eka
2) Mange will move next to Eka as far into the room as possible and still allow Cyclic to cast the spell.

Eka is just able to slice the ghast's arm as it rises to close the door.

Using the brief reprieve to catch their breath, Eka switches weapons and opens the door. The creature remains there, grasping for its potion of unlife. Altorin ices the floor again, but the ghast is prepared this time. Qiroyo strikes out and Cyclic and Mange move in to aid, but the way is blocked once again.

Unable to properly imbibe, the ghast instead explodes in fury at the nagaji, dropping her with two deft blows and then menacingly hissing at all that remain. Need a fort save versus disease, then two for paralysis, even though you are unconscious.

ghast reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Qiroyo Studied Attack with cover: 1d20 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 1 - 4 = 2
Ghast Bite vs Eka: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Ghast Bite Damage vs Eka: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Ghast Claw vs Eka: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Ghast Claw Damage vs Eka: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Ghast Claw vs Eka: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Ghast Claw Damage vs Eka: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Round 5/6 - Bold can act - Bless is Up!
Ghast -48 damage
Eka <Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil, unconscious> -23 damage <Need fort save vs disease, plus two more for paralysis>
Altorin
Qiroyo -4 damage
Cyclic <Shield of Faith, sickened>
Mange <Shield of Faith, sickened>
------------------------
Sir Durant -20 damage <Paralyzed for 1 more round>

Qiroyo sees Eka getting mauled and readies himself rescue his ally.
ready Action to drag a paralyzed Eka behind Mange

So, now Eka and Durant are down in the square o' death so Cyclic CAN approach and do her Decompose Corpse? So...

to hit touch: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

and Mange tries his best to take his target down.

to hit bite, bless: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 1 = 24
damage bite: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
trip, bless: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 1 = 18

Fort save vs. disease: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Fort save vs. paralysis: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Fort save vs. paralysis: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

I guess it's a race to see which side can deal more damage then?

Elemental Blast, PBS, Bless, Melee, Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 1 + 1 - 4 = 10
damage: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 = 9

*sigh*

The pair of unlucky paladin statues frame the doorway awkwardly as Eka succumbs to the paralysis on her way down to the ground. Altorin's blast just smashes into the wall, narrowly missing Sir Durant's head. Cyclic is unable to weaken the undead but Mange finds a cramped space to stick his head in and clamps down on the ghast's leg. With a snarl it crumbles into dust and slides to the ground in successive waves of unholy exhalation, leaving only a half-arrayed pile of armor and a vial that clinks on the stone floor.

The ghast also had masterwork studded leather, a masterwork torturer’s tool (masterwork artisan’s tools) and 250 gp

Sir Durant reanimates shortly thereafter, and Eka a bit after that, only to loosen her limbs into unconsciousness. The subtle whimpers of the prisoners inside the hallway are finally audible now that the din of battle has ceased.

Eka con check: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Combat Over!
Ghast -55 damage <destroyed>
Eka <Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil, unconscious> -23 damage
Altorin
Cyclic <Shield of Faith, sickened>
Mange <Shield of Faith, sickened>
Qiroyo -4 damage
Sir Durant -20 damage

Cyclic and Mange's sickness will go away after several minutes

"That was a bit close for my taste. Left a bad taste in Mange's mouth too, right Mange?"

Cyclic lets the waves of sickness pass before she ventures in to search the room. In the mean time she taps Eka with her wand to try to get him conscious.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Once better she ventures a taste on the vial and shrugs
perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Then enters to see to the prisoners.

Durant scrambles to his hands and knees as he finally regains motion in his limbs. He hastily crawls across the darkened corridor to Eka's side and gives the nagaji more healing to restore her to health.

He then turns the wand on himself to address his own wounds.

Together, that should be Eka at 20/21 and Durant at full. Whew! That was a rough one!

After getting Eka and himself healed up, Durant gets slowly, painfully back to his feet. "I don't think I've been in that rough a shape since my unit stumbled on a roaming group of hobgoblin marauders in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains! Thank you all, for saving me. Now let's go get these poor people out of here." He turns and passes through the door.

Moving along the row of cells, he kneels before one of the prisoners and asks, "Are you alright? Were you hurt at all?"

The prisoners are in dire shape, nearly unconscious and still quite sickened from hours under the ghast's sickly stench. "We will live, thanks to you all. Thank the gods..." says one feebly.

A large, opened chest rests in an empty cell containing 1,800 gp worth of Cassomir trade bars. On the floor next to the chest sits miscellaneous gear (the gear consists of one masterwork longbow with 20 magical arrows and magical bracers of archery).

heal: 1d20 ⇒ 16

"Gads, these poor folks look pretty close to death, or undeath maybe. It's bad news when you die from a ghast bite. I do hope we can find them treatment soon."

Eka gasps raggedly as she regains consciousness, each breath sweetly savored as a sign that she is, in fact, alive. She rises from the filthy stone floor, gathers her things, and places a hand on Cyclic's and Sir Durant's shoulders. "My thankss." Her simple words are conveyed with deep sincerity.

"Now, the Derro are not here, sso they musst have moved on while were were sside tracked. What can we do for thesse people quickly before we try to catch up with our prey?" And which way did they go? She keeps this thought to herself for the moment: one thing at a time, after all. The weakened people come first.

As Cyclic describes the nefarious effect of the ghast bite, Eka feels a bit queasy about the nasty one she suffered.

A weak voice rises from one of the cells. "The derros, you know of them? They rotated this chamber and left through another tunnel. Took poor Jharls with them. I am not exactly sure how they did it, but I saw them playing with the floor tiles in the far end of the room.”

It would take a few minutes to slowly evacuate these people up the ladder and to the relative safety of the town constables.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Qiroyo investigates the room, as he's clearly not the size of man to help those poor people up a ladder.
"They went here. There's a hidden switch..."

Cyclic chaffs at the delay required to ferry the the sad souls to safety hah. nice alliteration there!, but there's nothing for it.

"Well, I guess we need to take them up. Mange won't be much help. I'm a bit small for the job, so I don't know what help I'd be if one of them started to fall."

"The guards should still be patrolling above. They should be able to find them, no?"

It is just up the ladder and then down a level in the prison after all?

Despite her queasy, uneasy feeling, Eka helps the ghast's victims up the ladder as best she can. Once they're up, she murmurs to Sir Durant: "That ghasst bite iss sstill bothering me, even though it iss mosstly healed. I feel sstrange. If it doess not clear up ssoon, I may need to go to a temple to ssee a cleric about it."

"An antiplague tablet should help some since this is a disease. Do you have any?"

The poor souls can be gingerly helped back up to the Prison proper, where Sergeant Dupree of the constabulary finishes up cataloging the prison's damage. Very few of the guards remain.

After a short conversation, he takes the wounded as his charge and solemnly wishes you luck rooting out the dreaded evil below.

--------------------

Examining the lever in the back of the cells, you determine it is quite similar to the one you discovered at the end of your previous adventure in the underground. Convinced that it is not a trap, it is pulled, and indeed the room begins to rotate. The entrance to the sewer disappears as you move but is soon replaced by another opening, this one leading further into the Ismacco tunnel system. as shown on the map

A single piece of blank paper (torn from the same sheet as the note you found in the prison above) lies crumpled in the new hallway. Is this Jharls' hint that you are on the right track?

I need a survival check from everyone. Feel free to aid if you are not strong in the skill.

"Aha! Another sheet for us. We are on the right trail then," Durant whispers with a grin. He let's Cyclic come forward, though, presuming that she is likely the best tracker in the group.

Survival (aid): 1d20 ⇒ 7 Fail