GM Samy's Strange Aeons

Game Master Samy

Malarra merely shrugs at the men as she walks past. "No deception intended. I am merely saying that if I was on that side of the barricade with all those other people, I might be keeping an eye on them as much as the barricade." As she approaches the now open door, she calls out over her shoulder, "We will be back. Whether you will all still be alive here when we return is another matter. Time will tell, I suppose."

With that, she walks into the room and examines the lit boiler and its unlit twin from what, she hopes, is a safe enough distance.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Erisa joins the others in the boiler room to look around, "I wonder if there are clues to where we are or why we are here."

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Saiya frowns at the boiler. Where is that glow coming from? Keeping her distance just in case, she crouches down to look underneath.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 +1 more if it's a trap.

Erisa finds two unused sunrods that have rolled beneath a boiler, about 4 feet from the nearest edge. A Small or smaller creature can climb under to collect them, but larger creatures will have to devise some method to recover them.

The glow that Saiya investigates, however, does not come from the sunrods, which are unlit. Instead, when she investigates:

Anyone who moves to investigate the light catches a glimpse of glowing eyes and writhing face tendrils before

three creatures attack. Two look like huge three-foot tall super-feral rats, and the third is smaller than them, a one-foot-high creature that has a rat's body, simian hands and a molelike nose from which a mass of tendrils flails out. (Pictures will be added to Google Slides later today.) The three creatures attack as they emerge from underneath the boilers. There is no surprise on either side.

Enemy Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Anyone may pose a fluff reaction. Those who roll Initiative higher than 16 may also pose crunch reaction, which will occur before the below:

Enemy Atk (rat 1 bite): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
Enemy Atk (rat 2 bite): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Enemy Atk (molelike bite): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Enemy Atk (molelike claw): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Enemy Atk (molelike claw): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

All three attack Saiya since she went closest to investigate. Both rats hit (working off the AC 14 that Saiya has in her tagline), as does one of the molelike's claws.

Bite Dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 3 plus disease, roll Fort
Bite Dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 3 plus disease, roll Fort a second time
Bite Dmg: 1d2 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0, minimum 1

Total 7hp damage to Saiya, plus two Fort saves.

Init: 1d20 ⇒ 1

The Vixen is slow to react, but when she finally pulls her head out of her ass, she panics a little—

"Gaah... Saiya?! Shit!"

—then stomps violently on the creepy little bastards!

Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 +8 if multiple foes
Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Fort Save 1: 1d20 ⇒ 18
Fort Save 2: 1d20 ⇒ 5

Assuming no one goes before the rats and changes their actions, Saiya will be disabled. Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but can she take a 5 foot step and also cast CLW? I know she can only take one action while disabled; I'm just not sure if the 5 foot step counts as an action.

You can take a 5'step + standard action (cast spell). 5'step does not count as a separate action.

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 Whelp...

Seeing the creatures as they popped out, Malarra throws her shadowy dagger at the first one to emerge. Will leave that GM to determine.

Ranged Thrown Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20 Crit?: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12 Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 +Crit Damage?: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 So 3 damage if not a crit, 7 if crit is confirmed. Piercing, given I threw it.

As the dagger makes impact, Malarra quickly allows it to flicker out of existence, leaving behind nothing but the wound where it was moments ago. The shadows reform around her hands as she creates a rapier from them.

"To arms. These things must fall."

Standard Action: Thrown attack. Move action: Create rapier after attack resolves.

Initiative,Temporal Clarity: 1d20 ⇒ 19
Initiative,Temporal Clarity: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Initiative in 19

Erisa hears the sounds of the rat-like things while she is bent over on her knees trying to get the sunrods out from underneath the boiler. She abandons that endeavor for the moment and chants a prayer to aid everyone in the struggle.

She casts Bless

Miyuki quickly calls her inner power and tries to cloud the mind of the first beast.
Cast daze.

Miyuki quickly calls her inner power and tries to cloud the mind of the first beast.

Cast daze.

Having just been bitten by this in another campaign, Daze only works on humanoids :(

May be true, but Miyuki does not know this

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Jassminder has stayed back, covering the others with her bow as they move to investigate the room. When trouble starts, she moves - but curses as a torn ligament causes her to drop her reaction speed by a fraction of a second. Life or death hinges on such margins.

When I remember who did this to me I'm going to pay them a visit.

Pics of enemies are up on Google Slides.

Init order

21 Malarra - throw dagger - hit but no crit, for 3hp dmg, one of the ratlikes, doesn't go down
19 Erisa - bless
19 Miyuki - daze fails
16 enemies - damage Saiya to 0hp
---------------
16 Danior - EMPTY
12 Saiya - 5'step + cure light wounds on self
11 Jass - EMPTY
03 Milady - EMPTY
01 Vixen - 8hp dmg to one enemy, finishes the one Malarra had injured
21 Malarra - EMPTY
19 Erisa - EMPTY
19 Miyuki - EMPTY
16 enemies - after 6 of you have taken turns, or 24 hours has passed, whichever comes first

Rolling randomly for Vixen and Malarra's non-specified targets.

1d3 ⇒ 3 one of the ratlikes
1d3 ⇒ 3 same one

Rolling init for everyone who hasn't.

Danior Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Miyuki Init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Milady Init: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (3) + 0 = 3

Danior, Jas, Milady, Malarra, Erisa and Miyuki may post their turn. Saiya needs to roll her CLW healing. Vixen has already taken this turn.

Miyuki knows that her spell failed because the target was not a humanoid.

Remember to add in Erisa's bless to your rolls if appropriate.

So two questions for clarity. 1) We killed one of the two ratlike things (very creepy looking, by the way) correct? 2) Whereabouts are the surviving monsters on the map currently?

Sorry, I was waiting to see if the others would roll high enough to kill the enemies before they got to attack. My bad.

Saiya cries out as the rat-like things jump out and attack her. Frantically backpedaling a few steps, she quickly chants a spell to heal herself.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Correct, you killed one of the ratlikes. The surviving two have been placed as tokens on the map. Notably, the molelike is Tiny in size, so it only occupies a quarter square.

If two are still alive as of my second turn AND I can reach both from where I stand or 5' step, Martial Flex: Cleave.
Atk: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Dmg: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

If cleaving:
2nd Atk: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Dmg: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Erisa moves into the room and takes aim at the remaining rat with her light crossbow.

Light Crossbow, In Combat, Bless: 1d20 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (18) - 4 + 1 = 15
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Jassminder moves into position to take a shot, aiming at the molelike thing.

Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Melee Attack (Rapier): 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 1 = 4 Not even going to bother with a damage die on that one.

Malarra attempts to turn the not-a-mole into a kabab on her rapier, but between its small size and her own nagging paranoia at having to work with others, she misses completely. She takes a small step to put herself closer to the boilers they came from, hoping that they will be unable to retreat back under.

Five foot step to marked location.

Erisa hits and kills the remaining ratlike; Jass and Malarra miss.

16 Danior - EMPTY
12 Saiya - 5'step + cure light wounds on self
11 Jass - miss
01 Vixen - 8hp dmg to one enemy, finishes the one Malarra had injured
21 Malarra - miss
19 Erisa - 7hp dmg to one enemy, kills the second ratlike
19 Miyuki - EMPTY
16 enemies - after 6 of you have taken turns, or 24 hours has passed, whichever comes first

Giving a couple hours for Danior/Miyuki to get something in before I move on to next round.

Saiya, you will develop Filth Fever after you have rested 1d3 ⇒ 2 nights. Make note of it somewhere.

Same thing for Danior, actually, I forgot to roll onset during the corpse pile climb earlier. 1d3 ⇒ 3 nights from now, Danior will develop Filth Fever symptoms, please make note of it.

((No need to use Martial Flex then. I forgot the +1 From Bless, so VV's atk is 19, dmg is still 11.))

So did I, actually... not that it matters when you roll a 1 though...

Miyuki, without a means to effect the battle, especially if her comrades are so well versed in it, delays her action.

Enemy turn.

The remaining molelike attacks in melee. Because it's Tiny, it has to enter its opponent's square, which provokes an AoO.

It attacks Vixen, who had a pending attack to be resolved on the next round, so I will use that attack roll for the AoO. It is enough to hit, and the damage is enough to put the molelike down.

The two ratlikes and one molelike are all down. Combat is over.

The Vixen shakes her leg to make sure no rodent bits remain impaled on her stiletto heel.

"Not me most heroic endeavor," she says of her performance. "But the deseased li'l shits're dead. If anyone cares to search the room, I'll just hang out..." Vix looks for a place by the door where it's very likely nothing is hidden. She moves to that out-of-the-way spot and says, "...here."

Noting that Saiya's answer to being bit was to heal herself, the Vixen says to her, "If ye need me for anything, just ask. Unless ye need me to back ye up in a fight. That'd be like asking the sun to shine."

She says this as she opens the door, and the sight of thick yellowish clouds wipes the cocky grin off her face. "Hey, Sun, what the f+!%?"

Saiya coughs, straightening up from her hunched position. "Back me up. That sounds...good. Can you back me up from in front of me?"

She's already out of spells, and they've checked exactly one room. Damn it. Shouldn't have healed that guy; not like it did any good anyway.

Immediate crisis over, her innate curiosity takes over. "Where did those things come from? Were they really just underneath the boiler?" She once again kneels down to check if anything else is under there. Hopefully nothing with teeth!

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

The Vixen replies, "O' course I can... in a fight. Peeking under boilers is another story. I ain't terribly observant. And plus, I don't wanna get bit in the face by a creepy li'l wiener thing.

"That said, I don't want any o' ye to get bit. Fortunately, if me memory serves me right—what li'l it offers—the Vermilion Vixen's a tactical genius. We just need to poke around with a weapon. And that may come off as an excuse to exempt meself since I fight unarmed, but I've a solution: I'll arm meself."

The Vixen looks at the door. If it's made of wood, she closes it tight (while standing on the side that's ideal for breaking a door off it's hinges) and gives it a mighty kick!
Break Wooden Door: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
((+1 if Bless works on break rolls;
–2 if there's a better object to break than a door, such as a table.
Intent: arm self with improv weapon.))

Erisa goes back to trying to retrieve the two sunrods from under the boiler - she crouches down, casts mage hand, and moves them to her.

Stowing her bow for now, Jassminder joins the others in searching the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Ugh, these dice rolls

The drow woman allows the shadows to fade as the last foe falls, reforming them again into a dagger.

"Huh... that was more effective than I thought. I might have to try that again, given the chance. Sadly, none of these are shapeshifters... though perhaps we should toss their bodies at our crossbow bearing friends anyway. You know... prove we are helping out the place."

Erisa's mage hand brings the two unused sunrods to her. Saiya's Perception roll does not uncover any other objects lying around. Vixen can easily obtain an improvised weapon by smashing up something.

The Vixen giggles in gleeful satisfaction as the door is kicked off its hinges. "These boots're like keys to the city!" It takes a few more kicks along a cracked portion to separate the board with the knob on it from the rest of the door. She wields it with one hand on the bottom, one hand on the not-jagged edge. The nasty-looking jagged edge closer to the top of the door is the ideal striking surface.

She replies to Malarra, "I was thinking the same thing. But I don't wanna touch a dead rodent. Because gross."

She uses her two-handed board to scoop and/or "hockey" the dead rats onto the broken, knobless door. The idea being to slide the three bodies out. ((The door is about ~6" narrower than the doorway, due to one board being broken off.))

"Guess there's nothing else in this room. Shall we move on?" Saiya wonders for a second what the Vixen is doing breaking down the door, but she certainly isn't going to ask questions of the woman who could kill her with a kick. When the Vixen grabs a board, suddenly it makes sense. A weapon. Of course.

Calling out to the barricade, she says, "Coming out of this room and heading farther up the hallway. Nothing in here but some...ratlike things. Which we took care of. You're welcome."

Voting to move on to Door #3

Vix follows, dragging the broken door behind her. She leaves it in the hall with the three dead rodents on it.

"Three bodies. I'll leave 'em here in case they turn to dinky dead grey guys. Oh, and ye can keep what's left o' the door, too. Might make a nice addition to yer barricade. A barricade with a front porch."

With her two-handed board in hand, the Vixen heads to door number 3.

She says to Saiya, "Mind if I kick it? Kicking doors is kinda fun, and plus it might startle any hidden rats." ((Voting #3, but not entering unless the party agrees to this door.))

Grabbing the sunrods she asks, "Who wants one? I can cast a light spell, it's not as bright as these, but anyone who can't produce their own light should probably have one incase you're cut off from the rest of us."

"Off to the next door everyone?"

Jassminder shakes her head. "Tactically sound idea, but I need two hands to use my bow." She puts another arrow to the string before continuing further.

The Vixen says, "Last thing I want's to get in the way o' sound tactics. Carrying a torch won't impede me preferred weapon."

She will accept the sun rod, if given, and put it in her bag for now.

((Will keep the two-handed improv weapon for now, but if we need "VV" to use the sun rod, she can simply drop the board.))

Miyuki adds.
"I can also carry a sun rod."

Noting Miyuki's interest, the Vixen lets her take the first sun rod offered.

"Please. 你先, Miyuki."

She then makes sure no one else is interested, assuming Erisa's giving away both. "Saiya, Malarra... either o' ye want the other sun rod?"

((Correction: "VV" will accept the second sun rod only if no one else wants it. Basically, she's only taking it to be helpful, and if someone else wants something she takes, she considers that not-helpful.
_
OoC, I'm well aware "VV" is kinda making a big deal out of a little thing.))

Malarra shakes her head side to side.

"No... thank you. I haven't been having too many problems seeing so far."

Malarra has Low Light vision, and thus sees twice as far as humans in dim light conditions. While this isn't as great as the normal darkvision for drow, I also don't have light blindness either... so... compromises.

As the door of dead rodents gets delivered to the crossbowmen, she smirks at them. "Wouldn't have wanted these coming for you in your sleep, now would we?"

Without waiting for reply, she follows the others to the next door.

I also vote three unless something would prevent that being a good idea.

Saiya also shakes her head. "I'm good. It's probably best if you take it; I do better in the shadows anyway."

As for Vix's suggestion about kicking down the door...

Saiya's spirit recoils at the thought of something so obvious. But then again, this group is about as obvious as it could possibly be. It's not like we could possibly get in unnoticed.

"Uh, sure. Kick it down if you want. Maybe you'll send the door crashing onto a doppelganger's head."

The Vixen accepts both the rod and the invitation to enter the fun way. The 'tactical' way, she tells herself.

She replies, "Alright then. Here goes nothing."

And as promised...
Kick Door: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
...she puts nothing behind that kick. Nothing terribly oomph-wise anyway.

((Well, I made the simple door DC13. Samy?))

Door 3 opens easily with the kick. It's a small 10' by 10' storage room with no other doors leading out. The walls are covered in wall-mounted racks, some of which have collapsed, leaving some debris on the floor. The racks are mostly empty.

Saiya looks around, seeing if there's anything useful on the racks.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Those who spend time searching the storage room discover a lantern, a hammer, and three winter blankets.

That's it for this room.

The next door is just a few feet away from the door to the apparently-threat-free storage room. Once Saiya exits with her findings, the Vixen sees no sense in bypassing the only door left. And plus, she rather enjoys breaking the doors here, so she doesn't bother asking permission. But she does give a warning.

"Whoever's in there, ye best stand clear o' the door! 'Cause it's about to become like me—loud, cracked and unhinged!"

She gives the door a mighty kick!
Kick Door!: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The other door reveals a similar storage room in similar condition. Two giant centipedes skitter out from amongst the debris and are surprised by the sudden intrusion. Everyone may take surprise actions. I'm heading out for the night and will roll initiatives tomorrow.

"The bugs're bigger than the rats! And yuck!"

The Vixen steps toward the danger and attacks!
Kick: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

((Surprise Round Actions:
• 5' STEP: diagonal move into room, so "VV" is not blocking the doorway.
• STANDARD: kick.))