Gameday VIII GMAdrian's #1–03: Escaping the Grave (closed) (Inactive)

Game Master Adrian Ng

Trying in vain to smooth his sweat-rumpled clothing, Tarafi smiles at the gnome. “Thank you, Pip, but I’ll be” Tarafi erupts into a loud coughing fit before sheepishly finishing ”...I’ll be all right.”

He listens intently to Salliss’s plan, seeming to take the rogue much more seriously, and follows him carefully, doing his best to muffle any further coughs and wheezes.

QA for me, three

With quick and focused gesticulation, Salliss motions the party toward a path weaving through the low hills, hoping to avoid detection. Trilidyn, Tarbh, and Tarafi follow attentively. However, a loose rock and a rustle of grass—caused by the faintest scuffle of boot to earth—alerts one zombie, whose head slowly turns toward your direction, maw agape. However, suddenly a patch of vines near the troop suddenly begins shaking violently—a plea by Pip to the forces of nature! The rest of the troop turns to investigate the disturbance, and the suspicious zombie turns in turn. With that, the group is able to slink by the zombie troop and carry onward!

Nice roll, Salliss!

The band continues southward, gray sunlight softly illuminating the amber grasses of the Gravelands. No other patrols cross your path, but as you travel, the terrain becomes overgrown with thick undergrowth and brambly vines. Eventually, forward progress becomes untenable. To the east and west, the density of the undergrowth seems to thin, with faint trails revealing the decisions of exasperated travelers.

The plants aren't so tough that you can't hack through them (weapon attack that deals slashing damage against AC 15), and you could also try to nimbly maneuver through the undergrowth (DC 14 Acrobatics). A setup PC can attempt a DC 17 Nature or Survival check to identify an easier path through. As before, I'll accept other relevant skill checks or other solutions you might have.

Trildyn pulls out a dagger and slashes at the plants.

Once the group is safely past the Zombies, Salliss gives a sigh of relief. "That was much closer than I would have liked!" Looking to Pip, he adds "Thanks for the distraction!"

When the underbrush gets too thick to easily move through, Sallis tries to nimbly squeeze his way through the gaps.

Pip is determined to make things easier for everyone else, like the good little Envoy's Alliance lawyer that she is. Fortunately, she's fey-blooded and has spent a lot of time studying nature. Darting through some of the underbrush, she helps the big people find their way. "Um... guys? The easier path is this way!"

Holy cow... this has been a good series of skill monkey moves for this little gnome!

"Yeah, but this is fun!" Tarbh pulls out a hatchet and begins to hack away at the plants in front of him, a manic grin on his face.

botting Tarafi

"I'm too busy over here hacking up a lung to be hacking up anything else!" screams Tarafi as he tries to navigate the brambly undergrowth.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Pip spots a slightly thinner spot in the undergrowth, and Tarbh gets to slashing away, clearing much of the tangle. Salliss deftly navigates the path, hopping expertly between bald spots. Trildyn tries to cut her way through, but somehow, she lodges her entire arm in a berry bush. In the background, a canny observer would notice Tarafi landing flat on his face again after attempting to mimic Salliss's movements. The group has to spend time freeing Trildyn and Tarafi from their entanglement.

A small town crests into view. As you follow a road leading toward the town, you see a guidepost indicating that it is in fact Goldenflame. A bit farther in the distance, a large, eerie building looms.

Map is up in the Slides presentation! Please place an icon for your character in your preferred marching order in the bottom-right corner (coming from the northeast). And let me know what'd you'd like to do.

I’m on mobile, but Trildyn can be up front!

Seeing the town, Sallis asks Pip “Would you mind taking the tether for my donkey? It’s name is Kong.”

He suggests to the group “Given what Pip knows of the town, I think finding the main chapel would be an excellent place to start. Any other ideas?”

He then does his best to stay concealed as he approaches the town. He moves towards the nearest building.

Avoid notice, Stealth +9
Will be doing Search and Investigate actions as I get to each building, Avoid Notice to move between buildings.

Position is forward scout when I can scout, otherwise probably rear guard.

"The chapel sounds good!" Pip looks around for any such building.

I also put in a tentative marching order, and added everyone's avatars to the map.

"Sounds fine to me, but maybe we should split up? Looks like there's lots o' places to check." Marching order looks fine to me, thanks.

"We know there have been undead through here. If we encounter some, I would rather everyone were close enough together to support each other."

Tarafi looks beside himself as he pulls burrs and brambles out of his clothing.
”I really don’t think it wise to part ways.”
He steps closer to Sallis, almost as if trying to hide behind him.
”However, the main chapel sounds like an excellent place to begin.”

As the group enters town, everything is still and quiet. The buildings here seem mostly intact, with only a few signs of disuse: cracked gutters, dry and decaying flower beds, weeds growing against flaking walls. Suddenly, low moans fill the air, and the corpses what seem to have been humanoid in life lurch from behind the buildings toward you! And at the center of town, near a bone-dry fountain, an emaciated horse, bones exposed and eyes glowing red, opens its maw in a grotesque pantomime of a whinny, but no sound comes forth.

The zombie horse charges forward, eyes ablaze, and as it approaches, you smell the stench of rot and disease.

Everyone is up!

Salliss looks at the horse, trying to remember what he can about such creatures.
Religion +4

He then draw his rapier and moves up on to the steps of the building.

Interact, Stride. Trildyn should now have flank.

Action 1: Pip inspires courage!

+1 status bonus to attacks, damage and saves against fear!

Action 2: Pip also attempts to identify the creature!

Bardic Lore +7

Action 3: Then Pip pulls out her bow*, ready to attack if needed.

All dice expressions can be cut and pasted from my 'bot me' spoiler.
*If my lore reveals something interesting like a slashing vulnerability, Pip reserves the right to pull her whip instead.

We knew we were in a dangerous place; is it reasonable to say we had weapons out? If not, Trildyn draws her hammer, then does her actions as follows, but cannot raise her shield.

"Poor beast. I'm sure it was a good horse, once."

She Steps into position across from Saliss and Strikes at the creature with her hammer. She then Raises her Shield into a defensive position.

Hammer, against flat-footed AC, inspired: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 1 = 27
damage, bludgeoning, inspired: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 1 = 9

Edited to add Pip's inspiration!

I don’t think you needed to step to get flank. Pg. 476 “To flank a foe, you and your ally must be on opposites sides or corners of the creature.“ and we had opposite corners.

"A line drawn between the center of your space and the center of your ally's space must pass through opposite sides or opposite corners of the foe's space."

The line through the centers of our squares did not pass through opposite corners, which is how I interpret the requirement.

Adding my reaction in a spoiler!

Adrian, if you rule that we already had weapons out, here is Pip's third action.

Yes, totally reasonable for y'all to have had your weapons out as you approached town, so go for it!

Having had his rapier out, Sallis tries to poke the creature with it.

Rapier, IC: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 6 + 1 = 14 Disarm, Finesse
Piercing, IC: 1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 = 10 Deadly d8

"That ain't how horses're supposed to be! THAT AIN'T RIGHT!" Tarbh bellows in anger and charges forward, completely forgetting about the fencepost in his hands as long, sharp horns sprout outwards from his temples before curving forward. He lowers his head as he passes by pip, aiming the horns right at the horses's rotting flank!

1st action: Rage, 2nd+3rd action: Sudden Charge

Horns (1st attack): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

His enthusiasm gets the best of him, though, and he stumbles on his approach, throwing off his aim. This, of course, only makes him angrier.

Tarafi lets out a choked yelp as the horrifying horse bears down on the group. "G-gah!"

He staggers backward (Step) and hurriedly sends two darts of magical force at the creature's rotting chest.

magic missile: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (2, 3) + 2 = 7

The enraged Tarbh charges forward, but in his haste, he misses the beast.

Salliss stares hard at the horse, a faint memory of past knowledge learned, but the memory fails to come to him. He steps up toward the nearest building, providing tactical position against the horse, and jabs with his rapier, stabbing the horse pointedly. Hit!

The scared Tarafi staggers back, the projectiles of pure energy rocketing from his hands and hitting the terrifying monster squarely in its sides. The horse snorts angrily as the missiles strike true.

Trildyn, noticing Salliss's strategic positioning, moves to flank the horse and swings down as if bringing hammer to anvil, bashing the creature's exposed skull with a massive blow. Crit!

Pip strikes inspiration in the hearts of her allies! She thinks hard, but in the heat of battle can't recall anything she knew of these creatures. With a swift drawing and releasing arrow to bowstring, her shot connects. Hit!

The zombies lumber from town, arms outstretched toward warm, living flesh and mouths agape, emitting unholy moans. One closes on Salliss and lashes out with its rotting arm!

Fist Attack Roll: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Salliss just barely ducks out of the way as the disease-ridden appendage cuts the air above his head. The horse turns in anger toward the primary source of its near destruction, Trildyn, and kicks at her with its back hoof!

Hoof Attack Roll: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

But it misses by a wide margin to Trildyn's right! It kicks at Trildyn with its other back hoof!

Hoof Attack Roll: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

And it misses by the same margin, this time on Trildyn's left!

Initiative
Zombie Horse (-38 HP)
Tarbh
Salliss
Tarafi
Trildyn
Pip
Shamblers

Trildyn continues hammering at the dead horse.

Hammer, first attack, vs flat-footed: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
damage, bludgeoning: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Hammer, second attack, vs flat-footed: 1d20 + 7 - 5 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 5 = 7
damage, bludgeoning: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Unable to connect, she Raises her Shield in defense.

"Keep going, guys! With teamwork, we can kill it!" Pip inspires courage.

Short bow+I.C.: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 1 = 23
Piercing damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Deadly?: 1d10 ⇒ 10

As the zombies approach, she frantically considers what she might know of them. "There sure are a lot coming, gang!"

Bardic Lore +7

With two opponents there, Sallis decides a little more defense would be good. He says a few words of power and a shield comes into being.

Then he thrusts his rapier at the horse twice, taking full advantage of the flanking he has with Trildyn. He was much too hasty with the second attack, and completely off mark.
Rapier, IC: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 = 16 Disarm, Finesse
Piercing, IC: 1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 = 10 Deadly d8
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Rapier, Second Attack, IC: 1d20 + 6 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 6 - 5 + 1 = 4 Disarm, Finesse
Piercing, IC: 1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 = 5 Deadly d8
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Undeterred, Tarbh seems if anything more enraged by his failure, lashing out over and over at the horse before him. If it goes down before his third strike he'll instead move toward one of the zombies and strike if he has a remaining action.

Horns (1st attack), IC: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 1 = 12
Piercing damage, IC: 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 1 = 11

Horns (2nd attack), IC: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 2 + 1 = 13
Piercing damage, IC: 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 = 15

Horns (3rd attack), IC: 1d20 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (6) - 3 + 1 = 4
Piercing damage, IC: 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 = 16

Collecting himself and emboldened by his allies' success, Tarafi moves behind Pip to put as much between him and these awful undead as possible. His eyebrows crackle with blue flashes of electricity as he raises his hands to lash out an electric arc at the horse-monster that leaps to the nearest (blue) shambling horror.

Both get basic Reflex saves.

Vs. horsey
Electric Arc: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Vs. shambloid
Electric Arc: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Trildyn mirrors the horse, missing twice before raising her shield to protect against the advancing zombies.

Pip unleashes another bolt into the horse's side, causing it to buck in agony before crashing to the ground! Indeed a crit, and you down the horse! She turns to the incoming zombies, and thinks quickly, pulling forth knowledge from past tomes about tales of a legendary holy warrior culling waves of undead with mighty sword swings and bursts of divine energy. You remember that these zombies are weak to positive and slashing damage!

Salliss summons a protective shield, then jabs retaliatory jabs at the zombie that tried to take his head off. He connects squarely with the first, stabbing the zombie right in the eye, but misses with the second.

Tarbh charges in with horns lowered and fells the zombie with a massive jab! His rage insatiable, he moves on to the next foe.

Tarafi follows the raging Tarbh to switching to the next incoming zombie. Calling forth the power of lightning, he unleashes an arc at the moaning undead. Full damage!

The zombies continue closing in. One from the south bears down on Salliss. Another, engaged by Tarbh, swings at him.

Zombie fist Strike: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Zombie fist Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 bludgeoning

Its gnarled hand then latches on to Tarbh, and the zombie's mouth yaws wide, emitting a ghastly moan.

The farthest zombie shambles up to Tarbh and lashes out with its own grisly arm!

Zombie fist Strike: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Zombie fist Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 bludgeoning

And it also connects with a sickening blow, bashing the grabbed Tarbh!

Initiative
Tarbh
Salliss
Tarafi
Trildyn
Pip
Shamblers (yellow -8 HP)

Everyone up! Let me know if there are any problems with how this played out.

Trildyn moves over to flank with Salliss.

"We'll get 'em!"

Hammer, first attack, vs flat-footed: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
damage, bludgeoning: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

She Raises her Shield.

Enraged, and seemingly unbothered by the grasping zombie, Tarbh lashes out at the creature holding him! Not sure which one grabbed him, yellow or green, but Tarbh will attack that one first.

Horns (1st attack), IC: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 1 = 11
Piercing damage, IC: 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 = 15

Horns (2nd attack), IC: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 2 + 1 = 23
Piercing damage, IC: 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 = 16 -> Crit = 32 damage

Horns (3rd attack), IC: 1d20 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (11) - 3 + 1 = 9
Piercing damage, IC: 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 = 16

“Thanks!” Sallis says as Trilbyn provides flank. As the zombie is trying to defend against Trilbyn’s attack, Sallis lunges with his rapier attempting two swift attacks,

Rapier: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10 Disarm, Finesse
Piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 Deadly d8
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Rapier, Second Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 5 ⇒ (5) + 6 - 5 = 6 Disarm, Finesse
Piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 Deadly d8
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 2

He then repeats the words of arcane power to bring up a protective shield.

Strike w/ flank twice, shield cantrip

Pip inspires courage, moves, and shoots at whatever Zombie Tarbh damaged! "It looks like I have the wrong weapon for this, gang! They're vulnerable to slashing damage and positive energy!"

Short bow+I.C.: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 1 = 21
Piercing damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Deadly?: 1d10 ⇒ 1

Trildyn cleans zombie guts off her hammer. ”Well, that was nasty, but we did a great job! Do you think there are any more coming?”

1/2

Looks like I missed deleting the red shambler off the map, so Trildyn and Salliss will go after one of the remaining ones instead.

Tarbh grows furious, lashing out at the zombie that grabbed him and destroying it with one fell swoop of his horns.

Pip continues to shout words of encouragement to her friends. She lets loose another arrow at the remaining zombie next to Tarbh, landing a solid hit.

Trildyn and Salliss surround the final zombie, and with expert positioning and keen aim, they fell the last zombie. The town is quiet yet again.

Tarafi looks impressed—and a bit aghast—at his allies' ruthless efficiency and smiles at Pip's encouraging words. He reflexively smooths his now unrumpled clothing. "Well, that was over quickly. Shall we continue to the chapel?"

2/2

With the town peaceful again, you get a better look at the buildings. Next to you along the path you entered town from is a small guardhouse. To the west, a building that appears to be some sort of armory sits next to the town chapel, and resting alongside it is a broken cart. South of the chapel is a modest building labeled "Wort's Apothecary." A large tavern occupies the south facing of the town, with a small paddock to its side. And to the east of that building is a general store.

From here on out, I'll be keeping track of the time you spend performing the various tasks; essentially, this will be "rounds" of activities taking roughly 10 minutes each, so just let me know what each of you would like to do each round. I've spoilered descriptions of the insides of each of the buildings below; a cursory examination of each building takes no time for this purpose, and neither does traveling between buildings so feel free to look at the spoilers when your character moves to each location. Searching each building thoroughly takes about 10 minutes, so that would be a use of your "turn." Exploration activities that take 10 minutes take up your turn, and I'll let you know when other activities in various locations would take time as well.

Tarbh, Pip, Trildyn, and Salliss notice the gleam of what appears to be a large metal compass poking out from one of the zombie horse's wounds. One person can attempt a Thievery check to try to get it out, although failure means that you jam it in farther and make it impossible to get with another Thievery check and instead requiring you to spend more time cutting it out.

Tarbh looks around when the last zombie falls, searching for more foes to charge with a wild look in his eye. After a few moments, his breathing slows and the horns slowly retreat back into his temples. Moving to follow Tarafi to the chapel he winces a little as the damage done catches up to him. "Damn shamblers." Reaching into his pack as he walks, he pulls out a small vial bearing the glyph of the open road next to the symbol for the School of Scrolls, uncorks it, and downs the contents before letting out a loud belch and wiping his beard with the back of his hand. "Huh, that ain't too bad! Thanks, Kreighton!"

Drinking the minor potion of healing provided to me by the School of Scrolls, since we're on a timer.

Healing: 1d8 ⇒ 2 Current hp 21/25.

Sallis collects his donkey, calming it. Then he checks each of the Zombies to make sure they don’t match the description of any of the Pathfinders.

Having seen what he assumes is a Wayfinder sticking out of the zombie horse, he tells the others “I’m going to try and retrieve the Wayfinder. I know that in similar situation, I would want someone to retrieve mine!”

Waving towards the Tavern, he says “If the only way into the tavern is locked, I will deal with that next.”

It wasn’t clear to me if that is my Exploration activity or not.

Trildyn heads to the Armory to look around. "I wonder if anything is still here."

Seeing where Trildyn is headed, Sallis encourages him by pointing out “If there is any clue as to what happened to Bryrigar, I bet it is there!”

Tarafi looks as though he's about to protest, probably to suggest the chapel again, but Trildyn's question about there being more undead shuts him up quickly. He scurries along behind Trildyn to check out the armory with her.

Oh, you can still go to the chapel! I figured it would save tome to search a couple of locations in parallel.

It wasn’t clear to me if that is my Exploration activity or not.

The Thievery check allowed you to do it quickly, so you still have your exploration activity and can explore the tavern, if you'd like.

Since you said my success allows me to do that...

With nimble fingers, Salliss is able to deftly extract the compass from the dead horse. Only after he has it securely in his hands does he let out a cheer of “Got it!”

He glances at it, looking to see if it had an engraved cover or anything that would identify its owner. Then he puts it in one of the bags and joins with one of the others in searching a building,

Waiting for others to post to see where they are going.

Pip looks at Saliss, and says, "Shall we go to the chapel?"