Pathfinder Module: Down the Blighted Path (Inactive)

Game Master R D

Smugglers? Did we find any treasure to loot on the ghouls' bodies or near there?

Turen looks at the crickets. He scratches his head.

"Are they good?"

Not sure what skills are required for this

Anything fun and creative: CMB to outright catch them, survival to anticipate their movements, perception to find a slow one, etc.

Smugglers? Did we find any treasure to loot on the ghouls' bodies or near there?

My apologies for overlooking that! You are absolutely right. :) You find:

10 vials of alchemist’s fire
five tanglefoot bags
four vials of soul stimulant
two potions of greater magic fang
two potions of inflict moderate wounds
two sets (one for each dead ghoul) of: leather armor, mwk light crossbow with 20 arrows, 204 gp
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Turen looks at the crickets. He scratches his head.

"Are they good?"

Around a mouthful of crickets, Rodert exclaims: "Yup!"

As you look around, you begin to notice that some of the crickets get to be near cat size!
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Rodert suddenly freezes and whispers: "Big uglies!"

He nods towards two small sized creatures and one medium sized creature.

The small sized creatures: This giant fanged cricket is caked in pungent fungal growths and topped with a mushroom-like cap.

The medium sized creature: The rear limbs of this elk-sized insectoid loop into a large, chitinous sphere, and it nimbly propels itself forward with balance and grace.

Everyone in the party gets one turn to assess the situation and decide what to do. There's no wrong answer here. :)

knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
knowledge arcana: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

"I wouldn't worry to much about the little ones. But, the big one can be nasty. Let's grab some of these crickets and go"

With that, she goes to grab a couple.
CMB: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Since wayang have an ability that lets them reverse the effects of positive/negative energy on themselves for 1 minute each day, Bhuukka could use those inflict moderate potions as emergency healing. The only other thing he'd be interested in holding onto is one of the tanglefoot bags.

Bhuukka decides to ignore the crickets for now. He wasn't sure how reliable their guide was.

Kn. Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Kn. Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Bhuukka decides to keep his crossbow aimed at the big one.

With Manaria's arcana roll, she recognizes an unusual pattern the the spiroskek's movements. It's a female with a nest close by. She's a bit agitated by the party's presence.

The fungal crawlers tend to follow in the spiroskek's wake--like hyena's opportunistically trailing larger predators for scraps.

Knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Knowledge arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Oratio uses Wild Empathy to try to identify where the nest is, keep everyone else away from there, and keep the spiroskek calm. It's a magical beast, not an animal, is this OK?

Wild Empathy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Lacking any relevant knowledge of the creatures, Parkhtu will use Handle Animal to try and "herd" the crickets so that he and the others can grab as many of these "delicacies" (?) as possible before carefully leaving this area.

Handle animal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

It's a magical beast, not an animal, is this OK?

Sure! It's the creative application of a skill. :). Plus, it was a nat 20!! :D

Rodert, Manaria, and Parkhtu try to scoop up enough crickets for a meal or two. Oratio tries to calm the spiroskek and assure it that the party has no interest in her nest or young. Collectively, you're able to grab some food and get out of the cave before violence erupts.

Rodert takes you further along the path to a safe spot where you enjoy your meal. The smaller crickets cook up like crawdads. The "jumbo" sized ones are like shrimp. The almost-cat-sized crickets are like lobster. All in all, it's a pretty good meal!

You're all able to get a good night's rest. Nothing happens during the night.
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The next day, Rodert guides you further. Countless small halls and chimneys break off from the primary tunnels here, blocked or redirected by occasional collapses, and creating a dizzying, three-dimensional maze.

Nothing to see here: 1d20 ⇒ 19
Nothing to see here: 1d20 ⇒ 10
Nothing to see here: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Anyone who would like to is welcome to roll a survival check. Else, I shall presume that you're depending on Rodert.

Oratio will keep an eye on Rodert and try to steer him back on course if it seems he is getting us lost.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Kelvor does the same.

”Are we SURE we’re going the right direction?”

Survival: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

Nice roll, Kelvor!

Though several party members keep an eye on the easily distracted Rodert, he did lead you all to a fine repast last night. Those crickets cooked up well! Roderts starts making a few careless mistakes.

Kelvor, however, notes that the air starts to taste stale. Before Rodert leads you all into an area of Quickdeath, Kelvor snaps him out of it, and he directs you down a safer path.

This is an underground hazard. Quickdeath is an odorless, colorless gas that does wisdom damage, renders you unconscious, and runs the risk of suffocation. This is not a malicious mistake on Rodert's part--it's simply one of the many hazards in the Blighted Path. You just avoided a potential non-combat TPK! Whew!
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Rodert leads you farther along. Brilliant stripes of red and black stone and growths of glittering crystal line this massive chamber’s central pillar. It looks like a large gas pocket in the primordial magma formed this enormous, geode-like cavern. It's strangely beautiful here!

Turen looks over the rocks and crystals.

Knowledge Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

He shares what he knows about the rocks with the party.

"Hey these rocks remind me...You guys want to hear the best rock puns? Anyone...Give me a moment and I’ll dig something up! Ha!"

He slaps his leg. "Ha! Ha!"

Knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Appraise: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Oratio laughs. "Thanks for your insights, Turen, I had no idea what these were made from. Now I can see why the dwarves have mined here, some of those pieces right there are quite valuable. Although the presence of rust is a mystery!"

Hm. I'll give it to Turen; he rolled a nat 20. This much rust hints at rust monsters.

Good thing my weapon is wooden then ;)

"This is a major problem!" cries Kelvor. "We'll be completely vulnerable!"

"Perhaps we can scent an alternate trail with some coin or some other metals, to lure them away from our path," suggests the Shoanti. "Either that or hope the pack is small enough that we can fight it off with magic and ranged weaponry."

"Other ideas, anybody?" Survival: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30 Or dungeoneering, if necessary.

He puts away his earthbreaker and pulls forth is composite bow, stringing an arrow in preparation.

"This is a major problem!" cries Kelvor. "We'll be completely vulnerable!"

ROFL! :D

Upon identifying the source of the rust, a few of you can hear laughter echoing in the caves. It's not malicious; it's almost... joyful. The laughter sounds like it emanates from a humanoid creature.

With the bonuses that Rodert confers, the party cannot fail to locate the source.
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Content warning: You're about to meet an NPC with mental health issues and religious zealotry. In no way do I wish to suggest that issues of faith and mental health go hand-in-hand. I'm just trying to present an unusual NPC as best as I can. We can minimize or skip interactions with this NPC, if needed.

You find a half-orc. He clearly and openly wears the unholy symbol of Rovagug, the Rough Beast. However, his countenance seems sincerely welcoming. He has bright eyes and a big smile. "Oho! The mighty are afraid of the heralds of The Destroyer. Hahahahahaha! Why not simply sit back and watch them tear down these caverns? Heeheeheehee!"

He waves a stout piece of wood. "I already fed them my maul, see? Hohohohoho! I cannot wait till they bring these tunnels crashing down. Hahahahaha! The experience will be transcendent!" With a rapturous countenance, he throws his arms up in the air as though trying to "absorb" the chaos and destruction wrought by the rust monsters via osmosis.

It is obvious, even with the barest minimum of engineering knowledge, that the rust monsters won't collapse The Blighted Path--there's not enough metal. It is equally obvious that this half-orc is harmless--despite his open worship of a CN deity like Rovagug. This fellow has clearly been down here a looooong time. He expresses his faith in Rovagug in a very, very unusual way--he's not aggressive at all.

Bhuukka find a place to tuck away his dagger for now so that it is not exposed.

+2 for dagger, +2 for pickpocket's outfit
Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 18 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 18 + 2 + 2 = 34

"Not all of my weapons are made of metal," Bhuukka says pulling his wand of inflict light wounds from his belt. "I do not fear such creatures."

"Fear?!?" The half-orc laughs uproariously. "Oh, no no no no no! They are to be admired. Isn't the destruction glorious? It's truly sublime."

"These tunnels will collapse, but it will not be by these lowly creatures. It will take centuries of the inevitable march of decay to bring them down. A force no one or thing can escape forever. That is a more wonderfully frightening fact than all the wanton destruction that quickly burns out combined."

Not truly comprehending Bhuukka's words and intentions, the half-orc gleefully squeals: "Yes! Yes! Let it all collapse. Let it all burn down. Down with the tunnels! Down with civilization! Down with ..." and he continues ad nauseam about many other structures that are in need of collapse.

Turen turns to the half orc.

"Oh yeah that's GREAT...all the tunnels will come down. But say maybe those rust monsters might want to eat somewhere else? Does anything else want to destroy the tunnels around here too? I heard that's a great place for rust monsters to eat not far from here. It's the Surface Iron Mine?"

Bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

"And its nice talking to you? Maybe someday we can lead you back to the surface?"

"Does anything else want to destroy the tunnels around here too?"

"Oh, there are tons of things that wreak havoc and destruction around here! If you'd like to observe your own destruction, I recommend going into the large cavern over there. You'll find a long-limbed figure with glossy eyespots bulging from its neck. Jagged teeth line the open mouth in its chest. It's poisonous, and it can literally taste fear! Isn't that great!"

The large cavern that he indicates is the way forward. If you choose to avoid this path, you could lose a lot of time finding the evil fey at Phaedextrin’s Maw at the end of the Blighted Path.

Knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

"It sounds like a Narrik. A very strange creature. If we do continue to press onward through its liar, we will be in for one hell of a fight." Manaria pauses, "It has an aura around it that causes fear and can sense it. Also, don't forget the poison." She then sets he bag on the ground and starts rummaging through it.

Damn, forgot antitoxin

She throws her bag back on and readies her wand of shield, "I vote we press on through. Do not need to be wasting time"

Feel free to come up with a strategy, marching order, have weapons at the ready, etc. You found out about the creature, so you get to prepare. :)

Manaria will bop herself with her wand of shield. Giving her the +4 to AC. Might as well cast bull's strength as well.

"Let's buff and then charge."

Kelvor arms himself with his earthbreaker again and then pulls out a potion and a wand. After drinking the potion (Pro Evil) he ask Manaria to tap hims with his own wand of Bull's Strength.

"OK, let's go!"

Any other prep?

Turen can use the wand on Kelvor too

I'm set

Because of the labyrinthine nature of The Blighted Path, I plan to have the party and the enemy start roughly 35 feet apart. If there are no further preparatory actions, we'll start combat either later today (Wednesday, January 29) or early tomorrow (Thursday, January 30).

Knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 Wow, glad that's out of the way.

"I've focused so much on undead opponents that I have no knowledge of this enemy. Thank you for the insights, Manaria."

Oratio will cast gravity bow on himself and moment of greatness on the party. Moment of greatness allows everyone to double a morale bonus one time in the next five minutes, declared before the roll. I presume people will use it on a saving throw vs fear to double the +2 you get from my inspired courage! (The +2 to attack and damage is a competence bonus.)

Right before we charge in, Oratio will start inspiring courage, bow in hand.

Looking down at his full plate, steel shield, and sword, Parkhtu fears the rust monster more than the fear monster! Now he wishes he'd taken a third level of paladin for the immunity to fear and aura of courage...

Parkhtu will hit himself with his wand of longstrider.

UMD: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33

"Anyone else want a speed boost that is able to use the wand?"

He will then cast protection from evil on himself, since the +2 resistance bonus is better than his +1 cloak. "And I can protect a few others from evil, too, if it would be useful. Any takers?

I can't Bestow Hope and give DR until we're in combat, the way the ability is written.

"Sure, I'll try the wand, but the protection from evil isn't much help except for my AC, and I plan to stay well out of melee range."

use magic device: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Commotion in the Cavern

Round 1

Map
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@Bhuukka: You can still take preparatory actions. I'm just getting combat set up since the enemy rolled the highest initiative.
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The party prepares as best they can to encounter the frightening creature. As they approach, they find themselves surprised, nonetheless, by their adversary's countenance, ferocity, and alacrity!

Narrik:

Free Action: Activate frightful presence aura

Move Action: Move forward to catch all enemies in aura

Does anyone want to use a re-roll before I reveal the results of your saves?

Standard Action: tanglespit (ranged touch) at Kelvor: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16, hit!

@Kelvor: Do you want to use a re-roll before I reveal the results of your save?
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Awaiting a bunch of re-roll decisions here. So, let's please pause before the next turn is made because some PCs might suffer multiple conditions.
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Sorted Initiative Order:
Narrik: move, tanglespit
Bhuukka:
Kelvor: (entangled by tanglespit)
Turen:
Manaria:
Oratio:
Parkhtu:

Give that we were warned about the creature using fear, Bhuukka will prepare by casting remove fear on himself. He will then use the moment of glory to double the morale bonus to +8 for the first fear effect he is exposed to.

Give that we were warned about the creature using fear, Bhuukka will prepare by casting remove fear on himself. He will then use the moment of glory to double the morale bonus to +8 for the first fear effect he is exposed to.

Nice! :)

Frightful presence: Kelvor's +1 vs fear, plus the inspire courage buff, increases his save result to 17.

As for the ranged touch attack, DAMN. I'll need to reroll the save.

Reroll Reflex Save w/Pro Evil: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 2 = 14

Failing to avoid it, he spends the next round struggling to break free of the glue-like spit!

Argh! I should've seen that coming, he thinks to himself, angry at his stupidity. I KNEW WHAT IT WOULD DO! STUPID STUPID STUPID!

Enter Rage

Str Chk: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 5 + 2 + 2 = 28

He then uses his incredible barbarian speed to move behind the narrik without getting to close to it.

Kelvor's active buffs
-Rage Str+4,+2Will, -2AC
-Moment of Greatness (one rnd only): Double Rage's effects
-BS Str+4
-Inspire Courage +2 h/d
-Pro Evil +2AC, +2saves
-Unwitting Spelunker +1 init

We also forgot the tanglespit poison:

Kelvor Fort: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 2 = 16

Shoot. I feel like I'm picking on you Kelvor; those were a series of bad rolls. Unfortunately, you take 1 Wisdome damage and now have the shaken condition.

Kelvor Fort: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 11 + 2 = 32
Kelvor Fort: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 11 + 2 = 30

Thankfully, in 2 rounds, it looks like you'll shake it off.
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Commotion in the Cavern

Round 1

Map
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Still waiting to see if anyone else uses a re-roll.

Sorted Initiative Order:
Narrik: move, tanglespit
Bhuukka:
Kelvor: rage, break out of tanglespit
Turen:
Manaria:
Oratio:
Parkhtu:

We also forgot the tanglespit poison:

Kelvor Fort: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 2 = 16

Shoot. I feel like I'm picking on you Kelvor; those were a series of bad rolls. Unfortunately, you take 1 Wisdome damage and now have the shaken condition.

Ugh. I wanted to use the Resolute Oath boon we got from the last adventure, but it only works against the frightened or panicked condition. Boo.

Kelvor's active buffs/debuffs
-Rage Str+4,+2Will, -2AC
-Moment of Greatness (one rnd only): Double Rage's effects
-BS Str+4
-Inspire Courage +2 h/d
-Pro Evil +2AC, +2saves
-Unwitting Spelunker +1 init
–Shaken: -2 attack, saves,skills, and ability checks

I am good with the result

Are okay to post our actions?

It looks like all of our saves didn't include the +2 from my inspired courage, except Bhuukka. Oratio would have used the moment of greatness bonus but in this case that's probably not good enough so he'll use his reroll.

Will save: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 4 = 16

I'm good with a nat 20, of course.

Commotion in the Cavern

Round 1

Map
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OK. It looks like Oratio and Turen now have the shaken condition from the narrik's aura. Kelvor has the shaken condition from the tanglespit attack.
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Sorted Initiative Order

Narrik: move, tanglespit @Kelvor
Bhuukka: Go! <==
Kelvor (shaken): rage, break out of tanglespit, moved to spot behind narrik
Turen (shaken): Go! <==
Manaria: Go! <==
Oratio (shaken): Go! <==
Parkhtu: Go! <==
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As multiple party members succumb to the narrik's effects, the abberation's tongue lolls out and licks the air--as though it was savoring the fear and worry that it has cultivated.

As a swift action, Parkhtu bestows hope on the party, granting DR 1/-, and then staggers forward adjacent to the narrik, trying to set up a flank for Manaria or Bhuukka.

It looks like the creature can be flanked for the +2 on attack rolls, but no precision damage to go with it. Also, I don't think Kelvor took any physical damage, so nothing for the life link to pull at this time.

Commotion in the Cavern

Round 1

Map
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Parkhtu draw upon unknown and unknowable sources of magic to help protect his allies. Then moves to cut off the narrik.
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Sorted Initiative Order

Narrik: move, tanglespit @Kelvor
Bhuukka: Go! <==
Kelvor (shaken): rage, break out of tanglespit, moved to spot behind narrik
Turen (shaken): Go! <==
Manaria: Go! <==
Oratio (shaken): Go! <==
Parkhtu: bestow hope, move

Manaria cast a spell, the end of her staff begins to crackle with electricity. She moves forward and then swings for the creatures head.?

Spell Combat, Combat Expertise, Bull's Strength, flanking
+1 quarterstff, One hand: 1d20 + 9 - 2 - 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 9 - 2 - 2 + 2 + 2 = 241d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
shocking grasp: 5d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 6, 6) = 19

AC is 24 with shield and combat expertise

Commotion in the Cavern

Round 1

Map
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Manaria draws first blood from the foul creature as it feeds upon the emotions of her allies. The abomination screams with pain; its cries echo down the Blighted Path.
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Sorted Initiative Order

Narrik: move, tanglespit @Kelvor, 31 HP damage
Bhuukka: Go! <==
Kelvor (shaken): rage, break out of tanglespit, moved to spot behind narrik
Turen (shaken): Go! <==
Manaria: move, attack
Oratio (shaken): Go! <==
Parkhtu: bestow hope, move

Bhuukka moves to flank it and then stabs.

mithral dagger: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 11 + 2 = 32 Damage: 1d3 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

A narrik’s internal organs are composed of a viscous goo, rendering them immune to precision damage (including sneak attacks) and bleed damage.

Strangely enough it doesn't mention critical hits and I couldn't find any rule that says critical hits are precision damage. Usually things are immune to both.

confirm: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 2 = 18 Damage: 1d3 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Not that it appears to matter.

Shaken, Oratio takes a 5' step back and rapidly shoots two arrows at the narrik, ignoring the penalties for shooting into melee and through cover.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 2 - 2 + 1 = 20 inspired courage, shaken, point blank
Damage 1: 2d6 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 12

Attack 2: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 2 - 2 + 1 = 10
Damage 2: 2d6 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5, 5) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 20

Unfortunately, unless I'm missing a +1 somewhere, the tremors of fear cause the first shot to just miss!