GM Mike's Ironfang Invasion

Game Master mike9322

Rand grimaces. "Look, V. I'm the first to say I don't wanna go marauding through here like a murder-hobo either, but there's a kinda big flaw in your logic there. We don't know exactly where we need to go. Might be down, might be across. We just don't know. Somewhere in this mess is, presumably, a tunnel leading to the Darklands, and we need to know where it is. That means we have to search every level thoroughly. I'll be checking my blows, so we're not killing everybody outright, but I know how hard it is to go easy with twenty pounds of razor-sharp adamantine. Let's just try not to turn this into a genocide, yeah? In the meantime, we should keep moving."

Astrid frowns at her bow and sighs. She knew she should have dropped the merciful property on it at some point. Ah, well.

"I know you don't like the bloodshed, Randall. I'm not a big fan of it, either. But we have bigger stakes here; the morlocks are definitely in league with the Ironfang Legion, considering they worship this witch who's a lieutenant or whatever for them. And the Legion wants to wipe Nirmathas off the map. There's just too much at stake to pull punches. If you can do it without making it easier to miss, go for it. The rest of us are going to have to do whatever it takes. I'm sorry."

Rand scowls, but he knows she's right. He can disable enemies as easily as kill them, and prefers it most days. "Alright, alright. I get it. Greater good, and all that. I ain't judging any of you for doing what needs doing. Let's just get the job done, yeah? C'mon, V. Time's a-wasting."

Rand claps his friend on the shoulder, then steps up to the southern corridor and peers down it for danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (14) + 21 = 35

+2 vs traps, +1 vs ambush

V sighs and hefts Hoblopper to rest on his shoulder as he walks. "Yeah, okay."

He follows his friend down the south, trying not to be sullen about it.

Perception: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (1) + 25 = 26

Tink listens to the debate bemusedly. He knows that morlocks are almost exclusively evil and would, if they had the strength and opportunity, kill and eat everyone in the party. He's generally a live-and-let-live type, but Astrid is right: they've thrown in with the Ironfang Legion, who undeniably has "world domination" aspirations. That's about as far as live-and-let-live as you can get, and Tink has the strength to help stop it.

That doesn't mean he thinks the party should subjugate all the hobgoblins and morlocks, just that they need to be knocked down a peg. He's not going to order Loiosh to bite the heads off any creatures that have surrendered.

He follows the party down the southern corridor.

DC31. Nailed it. BTW, I moved you into the room.

A ten-foot-wide stone door stands within an excavated wall of stone on the east side of this basalt-walled rectangular chamber. The door is embellished with imagery of two stout humanoids barring the path with crossed axe-headed polearms. A recess just below the crossed weapons--shaped like a four-pointed star--appears connected to a deeper mechanism. A passage departs north from the excavated door, while a similar hallway leading south has completely collapsed.

Rand's keen and practiced eyes immediately notice the danger: if the door is tampered with (either by attempting to pick the lock or force it open), a particularly nasty trap will trigger. He follows the tendrils of magic from the locking mechanism to the chamber entryway to the north, and he determines what would happen: a wall of stone would spontaneously erect across the entryway, trapping anyone in the chamber. Then, predictably, some sort of fog effect would be released into the room. He can't tell exactly what the fog would do, but chances are it's nothing good.

In any case, he can use his knowledge of magical traps to disable it, though he knows it will be a delicate process.

Rand rubs his chin as he studies the trap. It's a doozy. He's heard of magical fog that can just outright kill you, or suffocate you in noxious fumes. Either way would be bad.

"I think I can disable this trap," he says carefully, "but uh. You guys might wanna wait outside the room until I do. If I screw this up, it's gonna make a stone wall to bar anyone inside while it fills with magic fog. I've heard of fog magic that can do nasty sh*t. Dunno what, I'm not a magician, but if I get trapped inside, I think you probably have a better chance of saving me if you're not stuck inside magic death farts with me."

Astrid blinks in surprise. "You sure? I don't like the idea of leaving you alone with a death trap."

"I wouldn't worry about it," V says mildly. "Ol' Hoblopper here is pure adamantine. I should be able to cut a way through even the thickest stone without too much trouble. But try not to set it off anyway, yeah? No telling what this fog you mentioned will do, but nothing good."

He steps back from the room, hoping to exude nonchalance, and not the worry he definitely feels. He doesn't want to shake his friend's confidence, but he also knows how easily the monk can get distracted.

Astrid gives the pair an uncertain glance, but does as Rand requests.

I'll assume Tink also leaves the room, but if not, Rand won't fight him on it. He'll just shrug and say 'suit yourself.'

Once everyone who's going to back out has done so, Rand hunkers down and pulls out his thieves' tools to get to work.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (8) + 24 = 32

Whew. Not great, but could be worse.

"We'll stay. I trust you." He winks. "Plus, if you set something off, I can probably help you."

Rand weaves and knits the magical tendrils to his will. He doesn't exactly understand what he is doing or how he does it, but his training makes the actual actions second nature. With a final magical snick, the trap is disabled.

Now that the trap is dealt with, Rand examines the locking mechanism. The lock itself is strongly magical like the trap was, and he is pretty sure the star-shaped recess accepts a magical keystone. He could probably pick it given enough time, or maybe there is a keystone hidden somewhere around here?

"Okay," Rand calls as he tucks away his tools and stands up, "should be safe. Problem is, it's still locked. And it's a doozy. I might be able to unlock it, given time and some luck, but this is a very specialized key. Maybe it's around here somewhere?" He frowns at the surroundings. "Maybe not, though. I didn't see any passages aside from this" he points to the locked door "that" he points to the collapsed passage to the south "and the blocked door back there."

He sighs and shrugs. "I'm open to suggestions."

Astrid leans on her bow and purses her lips thoughtfully. "I sure don't have the kind of magic that can lift boulders. What about you, Tink? Got any nature magic for big rocks? I feel like if any of us can do it, you can."

Maybe like transmute rock to mud? Is that a druid spell? It sure feels like it should be a druid spell.

While the others debate, V goes around the walls of th eroom, checking for secret doors or hidden caches. Who knows?

Really regretting not taking underground as a favored terrain lol

Perception: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (2) + 25 = 27

Oh FFS

Tink shrugs. "I do have access to spells that could help but I just topped off my spells for the day when I meditated before. We would have to wait till tomorrow." He looks at Rand. "I believe you forgot one, my boy. The chasm over there." He points to the north, where a pit heads down into darkness.

V doesn't find anything the party hasn't already found.

Astrid frowns at the direction of the chasm. "Guess we're going down, after all." She slings her bow and motions the others to follow. "If we're going, we better go now. The spell's gonna wear off soon. We can worry about how to get back up later."

Rand snorts. "All that debate about down or over, turns out V was right all along." He lopes quickly toward the chasm. "I'll go first, but we should stick close together. C'mon."

V shrugs with a grin. "I keep tellin' him, but he never listens. You go ahead Tink, I'll take up the rear." After a pause, he calls to the descending Rand, "Not one word from the peanut gallery!"

From somewhere ahead, Astrid hears a snicker and a muttered, "Heheh. Rear."

Tink is technically out of carry companion castings but I don't want to get bogged down in minutiae so I'm hand-waving it.

As you reach the bottom of the chasm, you feel the tiny barbs in your hands and feet retract, and you know you might have to get clever to find a way back up to the magically locked door. Now that you are looking at the wall, though, you can see it is craggy enough that it wouldn't be too hard to climb mundanely (IOW, DC15 climb check).

You take a look around. Fungi cover the walls of this chamber, some of them with an oddly putrescent, violet glow. The light travels up along the walls, where it is eventually swallowed by the darkness of an open ceiling.

Several natural fungi-covered corridors lead off to the south and southeast.

Astrid makes a face at the gross looking fungus. "That something we need to worry about?"

Veldanis frowns and studies the fungi for any signs of toxicity.

Kn (nature): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

Tink isn't sure, but V thinks this area looks like a fungus farm. He doesn't recognize the specific varieties of fungus, but given that they are meant for consumption, it is unlikely they are toxic to the touch--even despite the fact that they have probably been mutated by the blightburn.

V makes a face. "That fungus isn't toxic to the touch or anything, but I wouldn't suggest eating it. I think it's been mutated by the blightburn."

Now he knows it's (relatively) safe, he nods toward the easternmost passage. "That looks the least, uh. Squeezy. Let's try that one."

Rand puts a hand on the big man's chest. "Hold up, chunky-butt. Let the skinny guy go first, just in case."

He slinks down the passage and keeps his eye out for danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32

(+2 vs traps, +1 vs ambush)

Astrid snickers at 'chunky butt,' especially considering the young ranger is probably ridiculously fit under that weird breastplate, and follows behind the monk. She's unlikely to be able to get a decent shot off in these tight quarters, but if she's to have any hope at all, she needs to fire past as few people as possible.

V tries to peer around at his own ass unsuccessfully, then mumbles, "It's not chunky... is it?" He follows behind the others, scowling.

V will take up the rear again.

[color=maroon]"CHUNKY! BUTT!"[/color] Loiosh nips at V's rear end.

It is basically impossible to avoid touching the fungus that lines the walls in these narrow corridors, but, as V suspected, it doesn't seem to be hazardous. Rand is navigating his way through a particularly tight section when he catches the slightest of movements on the ceiling ahead. Some creature is definitely lying (dangling?) in wait at the next intersection for intruders to subsume. In the dim glow of the fungus-lined cavern, the creature resembles a massive, oozing pinecone fused with a grotesque tower of leathery fungal caps--its surface slick with moisture and faintly pulsing as if breathing.

The creature fires three fungal growths at Rand.

The first two slam into the wall (i.e., he had significant cover from the narrow passage) but it has refined its aim by the third shot and the razor conk slams into his neck (11 damage). Randall feels the spores enter his bloodstream and his head goes all woozy.

rand fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
wis damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3
rand will: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20 (-1 for wisdom damage)

Rand feels like he was awful close to losing his mind there for a second, as awful visions of madness teased his peripheral thoughts. He girded his brain loins, though, and pushed through it. It definitely feels as if it's not over, though.

It's hanging from the 15' ceiling but is approximately 8' tall, so reachable for melee from the ground.

ROUND 1
Creature (0 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up])
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp)
V (125/125 hp)
Rand (102/105 hp, poisoned [5 rounds], 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)

Bold may act.

Tink and Loiosh holding until they know there is a threat.

Rand feels real funky, but mostly angry. "Problem!" he grunts back at the others, then hustles in and tries to squeeze past the creature to set up a flank.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (5) + 20 = 25

UGH nevermind, that probably wasn't enough. I'm assuming Acro failed so Rand is stopped directly in front of it and it gets an AoO. Also I'm on my phone so I can't move Rand atm.

Regardless of whether he succeeded, Rand will slap this thing once.

Rand slips into the sinuous stride of Snake Style and jabs his fingers at the grotesque pinecone.

Snake Strike: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Elec Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Sometimes I hate this game.

Astrid curses under her breath before moving in 10 feet.

Kn (nature): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

"Psychepore!" she calls behind her. "Avoid fire and any weapon without a cutting edge! V, we could really use you up front!"

Trying to use a longbow in these close quarters feels like a fool's errand, not to mention this thing will resist their piercing point, so instead she screams at the monster. The sound vanishes as it leaves her lips, only audible to the psychepore.

Casting ear piercing scream. DC 16 Will save for half damage, which I'm certain a creature with 'psyche' in its name is just terrible at. >_<

Sonic Dmg: 5d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 4, 6, 4) = 22

Also stunned 1 round in the unlikely event of a failure.

Tink hears Rand's warning but can see that he and V have no chance of navigating this corridor all the way to where Rand is.

So this is a tricky GMPC situation. I know that he can reach the other side of the psychepores by taking the next corridor, but he doesn't. OTOH, he's wise AF and would probably realize he can't even get line of sight and he's a bit of a risk taker, so I'm going to go ahead and let him do it.

He calls "V! Let's try this way!" as he guides Loiosh down the next passageway, hoping it leads in the same general direction. It doesn't take long for him to see the edge of a second creature at the intersection ahead, so he calls back, "V! They're here! Follow me!"

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14

Christ these rolls have been horrific.

Tink waves a hand and three globes of lightning appear: one on each of the psychepores and a third to the south of #2 (I marked the squares). The electricity courses through the creatures.

elec @1: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 3) = 8
elec @2: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 1) = 12

Loiosh lashes out for a bite on #2.

bite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
damage: 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14
grab: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29

Although the psychepore's bulk keeps Rand from squeezing by it, its swat at Rand is clumsy and smacks into the wall by Rand's head.

Tink's globes manage to do a little damage but both Rand and Loiosh can't roll double dijjies and, frankly, look kind of dumb.

ROUND 1
Psychepore #1 (8 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up])
Rand (102/105 hp, poisoned [5 rounds], 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp)
V (125/125 hp)
Psychepore #2 (12 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up])

Bold may act.

It failed its save so it took full damage and it's stunned. Well done!

V yelps a little at the nip in the butt, and is still grumbling about it when Rand calls out about the trouble ahead. V has almost no time to think before Tink and Loiosh go barreling down a side tunnel in hopes of reconvening. Knowing he has basically no hope of getting into the thick of it in the current direction, he only hesitates a moment before following Tink.

He sees the pair up ahead, blocking yet another path, so he hopes the gnome is onto something and takes a different route. "I'm coming!" he calls back. "Just hold on!"

Double move.

#1 practically bulges at Astrid's aural assault and its various appendages (?) hang limply toward the floor. #2 tries to swipe at Loiosh three separate times, but the allosaur takes advantage of the close corridors to direct its strikes into the wall instead of into his flesh. (If I haven't made it clear, Loiosh and #2 have cover from each other.)

rand fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Rand feels his system fighting off the poison but is not quite out of the woods yet.

As noted in Discord, Tink purposefully left V the spot adjacent to #2 so he could attack without cover. Feel free to retcon your move to that spot.

ROUND 2
Psychepore #1 (30 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up])
Rand (102/105 hp, poisoned [4 rounds, 1 save], 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp)
V (125/125 hp)
Psychepore #2 (12 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up])

Bold may act.

Since the plants didn't move (not that #1 could, thanks to Astrid) Tink leaves the globes of lightning where they are.

elec @1: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 3) = 6
elec @2: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 4) = 14

He also conjures a blue-ish energy that flows around his hand like water, then touches Loiosh. The energy surrounds Loiosh in a protective shell (wave shield, which has a target of "personal", but Tink can share it with Loiosh!).

Loiosh does his thing.

bite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
damage: 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17
grab: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
damage: 1d4 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18
damage: 1d4 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

So I totes just realized this, but there is no reason I can find that #1 wouldn't have fallen from the ceiling when it was stunned. I'm going to say it's prone (as much as that makes sense for a plant without legs) and took 1d6 ⇒ 6 falling damage.

Loiosh's lunge with his jaw lands, but the cloud of spores that erupts in his face makes him wish he hadn't.

loiosh fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
tink fort: 1d20 + 13 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 13 + 4 = 36 (+4 vs. plant-based effects)

L wis damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1
L will: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Loiosh is confused :(

ROUND 2
Psychepore #1 (42 damage, prone)
Rand (102/105 hp, poisoned [4 rounds, 1 save], 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, wave shielded, grappled, poisoned [5 rounds], confused [1 round], 1 wis damage)
V (125/125 hp)
Psychepore #2 (26 damage, hanging from ceiling [15' up], grappled)

Bold may act.

V actually did the smart thing and not the dumb thing because even with a modest 10 Int, he's significantly more intelligent than his player.

Now set up for the pain, he brings Hoblopper down on #2 with extreme prejudice.

Power Attack, Furious Focus, Vital Strike. Splat.

Hoblopper vs #2: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36
Dmg: 4d6 + 19 ⇒ (4, 1, 1, 6) + 19 = 31 Adamantine, Magical, Slashing

Confirm: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27
Crit Dmg: 2d6 + 17 ⇒ (3, 4) + 17 = 24

OH GOD SO MUCH SPLAT

Seeing Rand carve deep into #2, Rand decides he's not going to be outdone and unleashes a flurry of blows on #1, who is, happily susceptible to some critical injuries.

Sneak Attack babyyyy! I believe it's a -4 to its AC cause it's prone.

Snake Strike: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Magical, Piercing
Sneak Attack: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
Elec Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Snake Strike: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 Magical, Piercing
Sneak Attack: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7
Elec Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Snake Strike: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 Magical, Piercing
Sneak Attack: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6
Elec Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Snake Strike: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11 Magical, Piercing
Sneak Attack: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9
Elec Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Snake Strike: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 Magical, Piercing
Sneak Attack: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7
Elec Dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Overall, not bad. I think 3 of 5 hit, maybe 4 if the AC penalty is enough to make a 17 hit (which I doubt, but it is also stunned).

Astrid decides to try a trick shot or two.

Probably gonna miss with all the cover, but I don't think it's a good idea to sing right now. Wanna keep the Raging Song rounds a little longer since we seem to have this fight in hand.

Bow vs Whatever is alive: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26
Dmg: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 Magical, Piercing

Bow vs Whatever is alive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Dmg: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11 Magical, Piercing

Hey, plants are immune to stunning! I'm so dumb. It happened so I'm not retconning. And with all the poison spores that are about to be released, it's probably for the best :grimacing:

V's sword absolutely tears into #2, nearly cutting it cleanly in half. Fungus and other plant matter spews everywhere; unfortunately, that plant matter includes a copious amount of poisonous spores.

V fort: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19 Woof, you guys are struggling with the saves.
wis damage: 1d3 ⇒ 2
V will: 1d20 + 10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 3 = 17 +3 mind-affecting

V joins Loiosh on the poisoned and confused train. Choo choo.

Rand's first punch lands on the not at all stunned plant. Spores erupt.

rand fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Rand doesn't get more poisoned. However, he does consider whether he should keep punching. He also notices that V looks a little addled.

This is, at its heart, a turn-based game, and we only take our turns all at once to keep things moving in pbp. In the spirit of the game, however, I'm going to give you a chance here to stop punching. If you decline, his rolls above will apply.

Rand continues his assault, even while taking spore eruptions to the face. The good news is he kills the shit out of the thing. The bad news is so so SO much toxicity.

rand fort save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
rand fort save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Turns out it was a good choice! Rand tanks the additional poison threatening to invade his system. However, he still has the small matter of the poison already in him to deal with.

rand fort save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

What a beast.

Astrid turns her bow to #2 and hits with her first arrow, killing it.

The battle is won! Will the attrition... attrit?

Loiosh and V are both still poisoned and confused. Can Rand, Tink, or Astrid do anything to help before the next round ticks?

ROUND 3
Psychepore #1 (dead)
Rand (102/105 hp, 7 str damage, 3 wis damage)
Astrid (93/93 hp, 3 str damage)
Tink (96/96 hp)
Loiosh (90/90 hp, wave shielded, grappled, poisoned [5 rounds], confused [1 round], 1 wis damage)
V (125/125 hp, poisoned [5 rounds], confused [1 round], 2 wis damage)
Psychepore #2 (dead)

Bold may act.