GM Xavier Kahlvet's Strange Aeons 2e

Game Master KingTreyIII

"UNBAG THAT HUMAN, B&!&%!" Urzok roars as he steps in and tries to slash at her arms. What a NUT! She's enjoying that bag waaaaay too much.
________
Demoralize vs Aggra: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Strike (Inspire) vs Aggra (Flanked?): 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 12 + 1 = 182d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 4 + 1 = 12
Step, Demoralize, Strike.

Aggra looks at the screaming half-orc in fear for just long enough for Urzok to get a solid hit on the woman! Okay, I’m actually giving Urzok a Hero Point because that Demoralize was literally the only reason that he actually managed to hit Aggra (and the fact that he was, indeed, flanking).

The old lady attempts to keep her hold on the choking wizard!

Aggra Athletics vs Jevar Reflex DC; Frightened: 1d20 + 12 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 12 - 1 = 21

And manages to keep her hold on the now-suffocating human! Jevar loses 1 round of air. She then tries to knee the wizard in the back!

Aggra vs Jevar FF; Frightened, 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 12 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (6) + 12 - 4 - 1 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 4 + (5) = 13

She then turns to Urzok and screams.

”You’ve seen what became of the heretics downstairs! You shall feel the wrath of Zandalus!”

Demoralize vs Urzok: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 Success, but because of Urzok’s Bravery class feature it turns his frightened 1 to frightened 0.

Bagged and Tagged
Round 3/4
================
Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-4) {grabbed; blinded; Suffocating: 3 “rounds” left}
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-30)
Boodiddly
Shakur
================

"The only wrath we'll be feeling is our own if you kill that wizard!"

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

USING THE HERO POINT!

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Darn. Nope.

And then he'll move up.

”But the folks downstairs are fine...” Boodiddly wonders out loud before he adds another wordless stanza to his hummed song. He then reaches over and tries to help Javer avoid more hostile attention with a bit of magic. ”Don’t try to hit her back, Jevar!” he orders. ”Just focus on getting out of there.”

Casting inspire courage [A] and sanctuary [AA] (Will 18) on Jevar.

Okay, so I take it none of those would have worked. And yes I would prefer he at least take one action to sustain the spell knowing those penalties (and could it reasonably be moved on her since he has an idea of her location?)

escape (unarmed attack), inspired: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 5 + 1 = 24 How's that look? Ungrabbed, an action to remove the bag and then one more to sustain again?

Yeah, I’ll allow you to have moved the sphere last round—it wouldn’t have been smart for you to have done that three times.

Aggra Retroactive Reflex: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

In his thrashing about the wizard manages to elbow the psychotic senior citizen’s nose, distracting her just long enough for Jevar to wrench himself away from her clutches! And now that you’re free, I actually just noticed that you lose an additional round of breath at the end of your turn if you took an attack action that turn, so Jevar actually only had 2 rounds of breath left (because Escape has the attack trait), so Jevar would’ve gone unconscious this turn had he not successfully Escaped right then. Also, forgot to mention that Jevar would’ve taken another 4 damage from when she maintained the grapple.

The wizard grabs the grain bag from his head and removes it I’ll leave it to Jevar whether he wants to continue holding it or just drop it. He then concentrates as the ball of fire pulses right on top of the old lady!

Fire Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 5) = 10
Aggra Reflex: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

But she manages to completely dodge out of the way of the pulsing flames.

Bagged and Tagged
Round 4
================
Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-8)
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-33)
Boodiddly
Shakur
================

Jevar drops the bag, coughing and catching his breath as his mind keeps a hold on the flaming sphere.

Flaming sphere (this) round 4/10

"Finally, someone who listens," Urzok says with relief as he winds up for another mighty swing, while raising his shield in anticipation of retaliation.
________
Power Attack (Inspire) vs Aggra (Flanked): 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 12 + 1 = 192d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 4 + 1 = 12
Raise Shield, Power Attack.

Extra d6 from Power Attack that Urzok forgot about: 1d6 ⇒ 5

The elderly woman grunts in pain as Urzok stabs her in the back. She looks at the gnome in front of her and grins a toothless grin as she rushes forward triggers from Urzok!

Aggra Tumble Through: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

The woman leaps over the gnome, turns around, and opens her arms wide to give Boodiddly a bear hug!

Aggra Grapple vs Boodiddly: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

The woman grabs the singing gnome in a constricting grip! Boodiddly takes 4 damage. The woman then winds up to hit the gnome with her knee!

Aggra vs Boodiddly FF; 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 12 - 4 = 9

The woman brings her leg back as a faint click is heard. Aggra’s grip on Boodiddly tightens as she wails:

”MY HIP!!!”

Bagged and Tagged
Round 4/5
================
Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-8)
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-50)
Boodiddly (-4) {grabbed}
Shakur
================

As Aggra grabs Boodiddly the wizard checks the floor to make sure the bag he dropped is still there... and not about to be put over the gnome's head.

[[A]] Sustain a spell, follow the old maid with the flameball
Fire damage vs. Aggra, DC19 Reflex negates: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 6) = 15
Flaming sphere round 5/10

I'm going to burn you off of the gnome like a discardable goiter.

[[AA]] Cast (somatic, verbal) produce flame (2nd) vs. Aggra
Spell attack vs Aggra, Fire damage (inspired): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 1 = 162d4 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 3) + 4 + 1 = 11

Aggra Reflex: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

The elderly woman manages to worm her way to the side as the sphere comes near her, but her aching hip does not let her move quickly enough, and some of the flames catch her. Meanwhile, the wizard chucks fire at her, but manages to miss her completely.

Bagged and Tagged
Round 4/5
================
Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-8)
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-57)
Boodiddly (-4) {grabbed}
Shakur
================

"Gotcha," Urzok growls grimly as he sinks Red Destiny into her back. As Aggra runs away, he slices at her again before giving chase. Standing between her and the stairs, he winds up for another powerful thrust.

"The Gnome is mine too!" he warns.
________
AoO vs Aggra: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 12 + 1 = 292d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 4) + 4 + 1 = 12
Power Attack (Inspire) vs Aggra: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 12 + 1 = 163d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1, 1) + 4 + 1 = 8
Stride, Power Attack.

Oh yeah. Urzok can crit. Slight retcon:

As the Bag Lady moves over to grab the gnome, Urzok plunges Red Destiny deep in the woman’s shoulder as her eyes glaze over and she falls to the ground!

The amnesiacs search the room but do not find anything of value. You technically find padded armor and some shortswords, but at this point those things aren’t of much value to you guys and are just dead weight.

People aren’t too hurt from that combat, so I’m leaving it to you guys as to whether you want to do Treat Wounds or not.

EDIT: to be clear, Aggra went down before Grappling Boodiddly, so he didn’t take any damage.

"We ought to keep moving. Everybody, gather round."

Shakur quickly gathers the masses.

Mass heal: 2d8 ⇒ (7, 7) = 14

"That should suffice. Let's keep moving. Quickly now."

Yeah... keep moving. Jevar repeats, absent-mindedly as he rubs his throat from the recent trauma. As soon as Shakur releases his wave of healing the throbbing, dull pain subsides.

If this is a preview of what's to come, these cultists are getting more and more unpredictable.

He looks over at his ball of flame and snaps his fingers to dismiss it. As soon as Urzok moves to continue on he will follow.

To the east

A thick, almost sickening cloud of saffron engulfs this entire room as the unintelligible “chanting” grows deafeningly loud. Barely visible through the smoke, cracked pillars bent at broken angles support a sagging ceiling. While most of the walls look ready to fall apart, the northern wall has done so, creating a massive gap open to the strange weather beyond, where the cloud continually pours out.

1d6 ⇒ 2

A massive peal of thunder booms out from the hole in the north wall as it becomes more and more apparently that it isn’t raining—at least not water; chunks of eyeballs fall out of the sky, occasionally landing inside the room with the thick cloud! Everyone needs to give me a DC 13 basic Will save vs 2 sanity damage (because I’m currently feeling too lazy to do the sanity saves myself right now).

Opposite the wall with the massive hole, the wall in the best repair is laden with parchment pages covered in stark lines of coal and chalk. A hall stretches to the west. Map Updated

Through the cloud of gas, barely visible through the yellow fog, are a trio of beds. Tucked neatly into these beds are Apostles in Orpiment, yellow chalk marks on their foreheads and yellow-stained sheets wrapped around their bodies as clothes. They lie on their backs on the rough ground, their mouths hanging open as a thick stream of the yellow smoke gushes from each of their mouths. None of Zandalus’s oneirogens make any movements whatsoever—not even to blink their wide open eyes that stare at the ceiling—as the amnesiacs enter the room.

What do you do?

Hmm, now I wish I hadn't dismissed that flaming sphere.

Will, DC13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Shredded eyeballs... this cult has some odd preferences... I should probably stop being surprised by now.

He looks down at the apostles on the beds and whispers to the others.

Should I drop fire on them before they wake?

The raven hops off his shoulder and darts over to the nearest pile of eyeball-substance.

*Peck* *peck* *chew*

It seems to slide into her beak like any earthworm might.

You know, it's not half bad...

Hmm, now I wish I hadn't dismissed that flaming sphere.

Considering the fact that you guys had to search the previous room, it wasn't going to last anyway.

Will vs DC 13: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

"Wait just a moment - I want to check out those notes on the far wall," Boodiddly answers. "No sense risking them getting burnt just yet." Slowly the gnome edges along the edge of the room towards the far wall.

"Hurry up, Gnome, we need to kill them while they're unaware. No need to turn this into a fair fight," Urzok urges as he adjusts his grip several times on Red Destiny. With the Oneirogens unaware, he takes a moment to wrap his mouth and nose in a few layers of cloth.
________
Will Save, DC 13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
I say we try to sneak up and kill them. Or rush in and kill them. Either way, afaik the only way we know how to stop the smoke is through death.

Will: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

"Yeah. The chalk is....moving. Check that first. While he's doing that, let's all get in position."

As Boodiddly approaches, he finds various occult writings hidden amidst them, which he begins to utter.

Boodiddly Occultism: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 Not a crit fail.

Boodiddly Occultism: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Boodiddly Occultism: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

With his final utterance, the pages on the wall cease to flutter.

What do you do?

The gnome wipes his sweaty forehead before turning back to his companions. "Alright, thanks for waiting. Um, do you want to get into position?"

Urzok steps up with his equipment in hand. "Ready," he grunts.

Alright, I am going to need folks to place their tokens where they would want to be when we enter encounter mode.

Jevar creeps over the mounds of rubble and puts his back against the near wall to the right of the entrance.

Okay, so I drop my fireball on one of them now?

placed

"Ready. Let's see if these things are undead or worse!" Shakur says as he peeks above his shield.

@GM: If possible, I'd like to have shield raised as the encounter begins.

Bodiddly rejoins his companions and hefts a pebble in one hand. "Maybe we should pick one and focus fire on them one at a time?" he suggests softly.

Token placed.

Alright, for ease of play, I’m going to say that Urzok gets a single Lunge off before initiative is rolled, and because the rest of the party are preparing to cast spells, they get to roll their appropriate “Tradition Skill” (Religion, Occultism, etc.) for initiative. The oneirogens won’t do anything unless you actually attack them.

Urzok Lunge vs Red FF w/cover: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 2) + 4 = 12
DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 5

Urzok slices deep into the oneirogen, cutting straight through the bedsheets and deep into the creature’s now-hollow body!

The oneirogens’ “chanting” suddenly becomes discordant and vile as the smoke billowing from their throats becomes much more translucent. The oneirogens all look directly at the amnesiacs as it becomes clear that their chanting has started to sound more and more like screaming!

The Source of the Fog
Round 1
================
Jevar
Urzok
Boodiddly
Red (-12) {prone}
Blue {prone}
Green {prone}
Shakur
================

"That's the way!" Boodiddly cheers. "Now keep it up!" He gives a hearty twang on his jawharp, then throws in an extra twong for good measure before throwing his rock at Urzok's target.

Perform: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Telekinetic Projectile, IC vs Red: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 1 = 22
Flat check vs DC 5: 1d20 ⇒ 5
Bludgeoning damage, IC: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 3 + 1 = 11

As promised, Jevar turns to the nearby oneirogen dropping a ball of flame on it.

[[F]] Drain familiar (2nd-level)
[[AA]] Cast (somatic, verbal) flaming sphere, deployed in BLUE's square
Fire damage, BLUE, DC19 reflex negates: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 4) = 11
Flaming sphere, round 1/10

He then backs up a safe distance nearer to Boodiddly and Urzok.

[[A]] Stride, 25'

These smokestacks have to be it... At first these things were fascinating but they've gotten old really fast.

"That's the way, Gnome! More rocks!" Urzoks cheers as the first Oneirogen starts off the conflict with quite the battering. Ready to keep cutting it down to size, he reaches into the fog again and again with Red Destiny's razor edge.
________
Flat Check, DC 5: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Lunge (Inspire) vs Red (Prone): 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 1 = 332d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 4 + 1 = 15
Flat Check, DC 5: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Lunge (Inspire, Twice, Agile) vs Red (Prone): 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 12 + 1 - 4 = 252d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 6) + 4 + 1 = 14
Raise Shield, Lunge, Lunge.

Boodiddly manages to hit the oneirogen over the rubble, his jaw harp music echoing over the oneirogens’ “chanting.” Lingers for 3 rounds.

Jevar summons a ball of flame on top of one of the oneirogens and moves away!

Blue Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

The ball lands right on top of the cultist and manages to completely burn through the bed’s sheets and the sheet that covers the man’s body!

Urzok lunges forward at Red, stabbing Red Destiny deep into his chest cavity and causing the smoke to cease spewing from his throat! The half-orc then moves over next to Shakur. Killed Red on that nat 20; changing your last action to Stride next to Shakur.

The burned, naked oneirogen Blue stands up from his now completely-burned bed and looks straight toward Urzok, completely uncaring (or maybe unnoticing) his nakedness. The oneirogen continues to scream-chant as it moves up next to the half-orc! As it comes next to the half-humans, they feel an overwhelming sluggishness come into their minds.

Shakur Will: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 Success-->Critical Success (incapacitation)

Urzok Will: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12 Failure-->Success (incapacitation)

The cultist raises his hand as he throws a punch right at Urzok!

Blue vs Urzok: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Urzok snaps his shield as the oneirogen punches, deflecting some of the creature’s blow! [[R]] Shield Block

The other oneirogen Green likewise rises from his bed and points right at Shakur as it scream-chants. He shambles forward right next to the Pharasmin…

Shakur Will: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23 Success-->Critical Success (incapacitation)

…and throws a punch right at Shakur!

Green vs Shakur: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 11

The oneirogen manages to sucker-punches straight at the Pharasmin, who tries to deflect with his shield you guys were very prepared for a combat, so I’ll allow Shakur to have the reaction to Shield Block, but the force of the blow manages to knock an entire, fist-sized chunk out of the top of Shakur’s shield! The remainder of the attack knocks Shakur right in the nose, but the Pharasmin uses the newly-made, fist-sized “hook” in his shield to swipe the fist away. [[R]] Shield Block; Shakur’s shield is now broken (assuming he does Shield Block).

The Source of the Fog
Round 1/2
================
Jevar
Urzok (-6)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 1 of 3}
Blue (-22)
Green
Shakur (-17)
================

”Whew, that stuff’s potent!” Boodiddly complains as he fans away wisps of yellow vapor. ”But now’s not the time to rest on our laurels!” With a magic-infused yell, he throws another broken stone at the wounded smokestack.

Telekinetic Projectile, IC: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 1 = 10
Telekinetic Projectile, IC: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 8 + 1 = 27
Bludgeoning damage, IC: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 4) + 3 + 1 = 10

Casting true strike and telekinetic projectile (aiming around Blue).

Boodiddly chucks another rock right at the naked oneirogen and manages to hit him right in the forehead, sending him backwards and slamming onto the floor, smoke no longer spewing from his throat.

The Source of the Fog
Round 1/2
================
Jevar
Urzok (-6)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 1 of 3}
Green
Shakur (-17)
================

Huh. I guess this is easier without a crazy choke-lady running about...

Jevar rubs his throat again for just a moment before focusing on the last oneirogen.

[[A]] Sustain a spell, move flaming sphere to GREEN
Fire damage, GREEN, DC19 reflex negates: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 6) = 15
Flaming sphere, round 2/10

Jevar begins a new incantation, rolling his hands in his air as if forming a ball. Instead of the usual bolt of flame, an oozing ball of vine and sludge flies from his gestures, angles around Shakur and speeds towards the oneirogen.

[[AA]] Cast (somatic, verbal) Tanglefoot
Spell attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 Certainly not a critical success!

Green Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

In what is perhaps the first instance of some kind of intellect, the oneirogen watches the ball of flame come closer and steps two feet closer to Shakur, causing the sphere to entirely miss, but the sticky ball of sap impacts with his left side, causing his hand to become stuck at the lower thigh, forcing the cultist into an uncomfortable stance.

The Source of the Fog
Round 1/2
================
Jevar
Urzok (-6)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 1 of 3}
Green {-10 to Speed: Round 0 of 2}
Shakur (-17)
================

You're getting good with those rocks, let's keep up the pressure!" Urzok says, clearly ready to gut more of these chimney people. Stepping to the side, he tries to stick the final oneirogen in the chest.
________
Will Save vs Green: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Demoralize vs Green: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Flat Check, DC 5: 1d20 ⇒ 13
Lunge (Inspire) vs Red: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 12 + 1 = 222d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1) + 4 + 1 = 8

Didn't see Urzok's save vs Green despite being in the fog, so I've rolled that as well. If that was unnecessary, the totals should be demoralize (17), Flat Check (17), Lunge (26). Step, Demoralize, Lunge.

Just realized that the tanglefoot should’ve had a flat check too. Aw well. That’s my bad.

The Will Save wasn’t needed, but I’ll let you use that save for the one in this post (see below); I’ll explain after this combat.

Urzok screams in the face of the oneirogen, but the creature continues to stare blankly at the half-orc, completely unaffected by his demoralizing words. Urzok lunges forward and stabs the cultist in the chest.

Botting Shakur:

The Pharasmin moves away from the oneirogen and pelts the beast with one of his daggers.

Shakur vs Green: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 8 + 1 = 29
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 3 + 1 = 14
DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 2

But the fog surrounding the oneirogen covers its form, causing the dagger to wiz past Urzok and become embedded in the column right behind him.

The oneirogen steps forward to Urzok, hand stuck fast to his thigh, and as he moves up the half-orc feels sluggishness in his head.

Will Save vs Green: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

The oneirogen then awkwardly throws two punches at the half-orc!

Green vs Urzok: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Green vs Urzok; 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 9 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 9 - 4 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 7

The cultist continues to stare blankly at the half-orc, his gaping maw spewing both smoke and scream.

The Source of the Fog
Round 2/3
================
Jevar
Urzok (-17)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 2 of 3}
Green (-8) {-10 to Speed: Round 1 of 2}
Shakur (-17)
================

Hmm, okay. This one is hanging on tightly. There's always one...

He outstretches a hand and guides the fireball.

[[A]] Sustain a spell, move flaming sphere to GREEN
Fire damage, GREEN, DC19 reflex negates: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 4) = 12
Flaming sphere, round 3/10

He looks down at his raven. Here, take this over to it.

He begins a different incantation that causes his hands to crackle with electrical energy. He holds out his hands and Oreb hops into them like a delightful bath, splashing around and absorbing the energy.

[[AA]] Cast (somatic, verbal) Shocking Grasp
Spell attack, Electricity Damage: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 122d12 ⇒ (7, 10) = 17

He urges her on. Go!

The little raven speeds from the bath of lightning towards the oneirogen.

[[AA]] Move to GREEN, carrying spell touch attack with Spell Delivery

Suddenly this specific profile pic for her makes sense, even though it's more eagle-like than raven-like.

"Always the one," Urzok says, echoing Jevar's sentiment. With a sigh, he lifts his shield and winds up another mighty swing. Can never lower this thing for some fun...

"Time to clear the air, do us a favor and die now!"
________
Power Attack (Inspire) vs Green: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 1 = 263d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 3, 5) + 4 + 1 = 14
Re. Tagent: No worries GM! Other GM's are as passionate about it going the other way, so I put the numbers there just in case. Didn't expect to use them, just figured if you did it would save you the time on the math. Raise shield, Power Attack.

Green Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

The oneirogen gets caught in the sphere of flame as the little sparking bird makes a b-line for the cultist. As she approaches, though, a drowsiness comes over her.

Oreb Will: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17 failure-->success (incapacitation)
Oreb takes a -1 status penalty to Perception for 1 round.

The raven tries to make contact with the oneirogen, but fails to do so with the ball of fire in the way.

Urzok DC 5 Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Urzok chops at the oneirogen and sends Red Destiny deep into the creature’s chest, feeling little resistance. Rather than blood, the wound gushes a yellow mist forth, only to start to cede in intensity before the remaining oneirogen falls and the mist ceases to burst forth from inside.

As the final creature falls, the oneirogens’ screaming ceases, but the room does not fall silent. Chanting echoes throughout the area, but this chanting is different from the oneirogens’ incoherent drone prior to the amnesiacs’ attack—this chanting is from a single voice and is filled with clear words; words in a language that the amnesiacs do not understand, but words nonetheless.

”Goka fahf agl Iiahe vulgtmor l' Uh'eog ph'nglui Turor, llll mgepgoka h' nyth'drn, Ahnnn Fhtagn.”

The chanting seems to come from all around, bouncing off of the walls of the oneirogens’ den, but careful listening reveals that the chanting is clearing coming from the hallway heading west. The hallway itself, however, is filled with an all-too-familiar sickly yellow fog—the fog in the hallway is the thickest and densest that the amnesiacs have seen inside the building of Briarstone Asylum, but without the oneirogens to feed more fog, the thick mist visibly starts to disperse, eventually falling out of the open hole in the northern wall. Depending on how long the hallway is, it could take several minutes for the fog to disperse enough to be navigable.

What do you do?

"Should we just go for it? Run through and hope for the best? I'm not sure we have time to wait..."

Occultism vs DC 20: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Boodiddly shakes his head. "They're not meaningless words - it's similar to Gnomish," he explains. "Or Sylvan. But that's just the prefixes and structure. The words themselves... don't come from either language." He sighs heavily. "But we don't want to get lost in there, Shakur. Or... worse." He shudders, his memory of running through strange streets filled with yellow mist making itself uncomfortably present at the forefront of his mind.

"That fog looks like it'll be there a bit longer. Let's quickly patch this up. Anybody able to fix my shield while I patch up Urzok?"

DC 20 heals for Shakur: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

DC 20 heals for Urzok: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Heal amount for Urzok: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (3, 8) + 10 = 21

Wand of heal for self, then.

Heal me up: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Yes, I think taking a moment is in order. Whatever lies beyond that mist isn't going anywhere...

By the way, Jevar, I know that Shakur's shield is broken if you want to use the twenty minutes to try to Repair it (DC 14).

The wizard walks over the Shakur, pulling out his repair kit.

Here, let me see that shield. I think I can patch it up...

Crafting, DC14: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Two things: 1: with regards to secret checks, it’s going to be a case-by-case basis for what I roll in secret, but in general I’m going to adhere to the RAW of rolling them in secret with the exception of Perception checks to, say, Seek an invisible creature in the middle of combat (so things can just go more smoothly).

2: Recall Knowledge is worded in such a way that, in my opinion, the character would have to choose the skill you’re using prior to the roll (at least while in combat), with a bit of suggestions from the GM as to which you should roll. But because of the sheer nature of PbP, I’m not going to do that in favor of rolling an appropriate skill to the situation at hand (I’d tell you what skill was rolled) whenever someone takes an action to Recall Knowledge. Here’s the table for the skilled generally used to Recall Knowledge on specific creature types.

Jevar's continued fleeing would be a Stride. Seeing that everybody has stopped and that the creature is no longer in his face, would Jevar be able to proceed with the other two actions?

I wasn't very accurate about this round, so I'm okay with it if not.

Jevar's continued fleeing would be a Stride. Seeing that everybody has stopped and that the creature is no longer in his face, would Jevar be able to proceed with the other two actions?

I wasn't very accurate about this round, so I'm okay with it if not.

I just assumed that you took three Strides. You're good to do your other two actions.

EDIT: Just keep in mind during your turn that you're technically frightened 4 (as it doesn't decrease to frightened 3 until the end of your turn)

Gotcha, thanks.

Now that we're getting clearer on encounter mode and actions, I'll start being incredibly explicit in turn actions. Sample post forthcoming...

FYI: I'm going to be out of town without access to a computer starting next Saturday (9/14) morning (US/Pacific time). I return the next day (9/15) in the early evening.

Given that I can post Friday evening before I leave and Sunday evening when I get back, I hope this will keep disruption to a minimum or non-existent.

Thanks!

Apparently I’m just a dolt who completely missed the post about the rest of Boodiddly’s actions. My bad!

No harm done!

(Well, no harm to me at least. That looked painful!

Please let me know if any of you guys have a problem with that kind of graphic description.

No problems here! Sexually graphic stuff is the only thing (in terms of the written word, anyways) that puts me off.

No problems here! Sexually graphic stuff is the only thing (in terms of the written word, anyways) that puts me off.

Preaching to the choir.

Yeah, nothing seems to be "off the reservation" as far as what I would expect for a "horror" scenario. Thanks for asking though.

Sorry y'all, got back late last night and didn’t get a chance to post. I’ll get something up tonight though.

Two more things for clarity:

1: Sanity damage is a mental effect, so only creatures immune to mental effects are immune to sanity damage (which, by the way, no longer includes intelligent undead or intelligent plants; they are no longer automatically immune to such effects).

2: Because of how initiative is done when there's a tie (opponents go before players, players choose among themselves who goes first), when there's a tie among players I'm just going to put it down as "[Character]/[Character]" and whoever posts first is going to be the one who goes first (unless someone specifically says that they'd wait for the other person to act first). I figured this was the best compromise for this.

FYI: I'm going to be out of town without access to a computer starting next Saturday (9/14) morning (US/Pacific time). I return the next day (9/15) in the early evening.

Given that I can post Friday evening before I leave and Sunday evening when I get back, I hope this will keep disruption to a minimum or non-existent.

Thanks!

reminder

Info-Dump Warning!

Two more orders of business:

First: Apparently included in the upcoming Gamemastery Guide for 2e is rules for a research subsystem, so when that comes out I’m 90% sure that I’ll switch from my thrown-together rules to the more official ones. I’ll let you all know again once that book actually comes out.

Second: I’d like to establish a “Standard Dungeoncrawl Procedure” in order to keep things moving swiftly. This includes party order and general exploration activities. At the moment I’m assuming the party marching order to be (using the first letters of characters’ names):

Front: U S J B :Back

If there’s only a 5-foot hallway, or

Front: U J :Back
Front: S B :Back

if there’s at least 10 feet to allow it.

For ease of play (and because some of you may not have read this section), I’m going to put down the exploration activities laid out in the Core. This list is not be-all-end-all, of course, so you can choose to do something that isn’t explicitly on this list, but this is what’s laid out and generally how I’d rule things. For the Standard Dungeoncrawl Procedure I’d like to know what your character would do and I will try to adhere to that as much as possible, pausing for player input only when there’s an active roll to be made (such as rolling to disable a trap, but not the Perception check to find the trap). When not using the Standard Dungeoncrawl Procedure (such as the case right now) I’d also like you to state what your character would do until the party returned to the Standard Dungeoncrawl Procedure (if what you want to do differs from the activities below, I’ll work something out).
TL; DR I’d like to establish party-wide botting instructions so I can make dungeoncrawling not drag out unnecessarily due to the nature of PbP. The Core’s outlined exploration activities are restated below:

Any reference to speed is referring to travel speed in feet per minute, which is 10*a character’s base Speed.

There are, of course, other things one can do during Exploration, so I would check out anything with the exploration trait as well as Identify Magic. Again, this list isn’t exclusive to what you can do, but it’s a nice and extensive baseline.

I'll take a crack at this!

For our SDP, Urzok will Defend until the party gets the feeling the room is safe. Then, he will Search. When ready to move to the next room, he will Defend again. Follow the Expert will be used every time it is possible and someone in the party has the right skill. He is also willing to be the Expert if the person with the best training modifier is him.

Did I miss anything, GM?

Just curious, what was the reaction the Doctor took when Urzok closed in for another swing?

Just curious, what was the reaction the Doctor took when Urzok closed in for another swing?

I am accepting of curiosity and usually sate it unless I have a reason not to. I have a reason not to.

EDIT: And none of the “doctor’s” instruments are combat-oriented; they’re all improvised daggers. The only difference between that and using your fists to deal lethal is that these things deal a different damage type.

And that kind of explanation for the Standard Dungeoncrawling Procedure is what I’m looking for, thank you.

Jevar's SDP:

Jevar will Repeat a Spell (mage armor) towards the beginning of every day since it's lasts until next prep.

If the group wanders into an area dark enough he will Repeat a Spell (light).

Jevar will Detect Magic in each new room, looking for magical traps or other auras. If there are items of particular focus or interest (e.g., a statue, a chest, a mirror), he will focus detect magic on that object.

Shakur doesn't have much of a need for things. Just make sure the doors aren't trapped before opening 'em, and his dagger (when/if we get it) is out at all possible times (In civilized society he probably doesn't wield it too intently).

So here’s what I’ve got for the SDP:

Urzok Defends until he feels the immediate vicinity is safe, after which he Searches.
Jevar Detects Magic (mage armor and light don’t really make sense for Repeat a Spell, since those are things you cast once for the day, while Repeat a Spell is casting something continually; not sure if you understood that. Also "focusing detect magic" isn't a thing anymore; the spell only tells you if there's something magic in range, not where it is [at this level, at least], but you can choose to ignore magical stuff that you already know about [like Boodiddly's potion]).
Shakur Searches.
Boodiddly Searches (until he checks in and informs me otherwise).

In the process of writing up the next thing. You all have your gear back, FYI, you just needed to search around the furnace rooms a bit more (which you did).

Well, I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment. This gigantic map that I was talking about has the "northern" (as defined by the map itself) and "southern" sides of it being the shorter sides. I tend to stick to "north is up" with PbP, but by doing that I've essentially made the individual five-foot-squares significantly smaller and harder to see. I know I said that I'd use a more zoomed-in part of the map when we go in encounter mode, but I still want the path the PCs take to be clear. Anyone have any strong opinions on the matter?

This map seems reasonable to zoom in on already.

Search sounds like a good plan - though he’ll swap to Follow the Expert as the situation calls for.

I appreciate the real talk! As the player, Urzok will learn to trust these guys and will bring the three shifter bodies to them. He isn't going to like being someone's errand boy, but it'll happen anyways! Generally speaking, I usually have my characters gravitate towards what I think is "smart" for the player to think, but they reach that conclusion through a way the character would. This gets increasingly easy when other players are "in" on it and their characters then start to nudge mine. Suddenly we have organic RP :D

I'd post this in gameplay, but I'm not up and I'd rather share than wait.

Just checking in to the thread while traveling. I’ll get a real post up later today. Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your GMing style on PbP GM!

Just checking in to see what folks are thinking thus far. Hindsight is telling me that this AP was probably not the best one to introduce folks to 2e, and I’m likely going to adjust some of the more brutal early combats to accommodate for that. Nonetheless, I hope I’m not turning people off of the new system because of what’s written in the AP.

I just noticed I was ninja’d by Jevar, to whom I respond: Remember, Attacks of Opportunity are not universal anymore, and creatures almost universally have only one kind of reaction that they can take (maybe two if you count Shield Block), with very few exceptions (I can only think of one where one of the reactions isn’t Shield Block). And even if he did have Attack of Opportunity, he would’ve taken one when you cast shocking grasp.

I'm having a good time! The only "growing pain" for me with 2e is how swingy a fight can be with the potential for three attacks a round at level 1! I do like harder, grittier fights, so no worries here!

It's alright for me. I'd appreciate dumbing down the more brutal fights, but I think it's a decent introduction. Nothing like dying to learn how to play a game. (for reals, though. My first death in PF1 changed how I played.)

I'm enjoying it so far. The 2e rules don't material impede the mood of this AP, at least as far as I can tell (I'm sure there's a lot of work for you in the background). I'm still reading through parts of the book.

RE: the AoO, good to know. I think I still would have had to draw a weapon that round anyway.

Just realized that I completely ignored Urzok's question: yes, rerolls and preventing death are all that Hero Points are used for (at least as far as I know).

Okay, crazy day is basically over.

What I’m mostly wondering from you guys is if you decide to press on or cut your losses and rest for the day.

It's only cutting losses if we're on some sort of time pressure, right? Did I miss that there is one?

There isn’t a pressure for time. Let me rephrase: I’m asking if you guys want to keep going without (to use Jevar as an example) any more of your first level spells or Drain Familiar, because you guys still have one more of those things that you have to fight.

That's a tough one... Are we out of healing? Idk that we can handle one of those without at least being at full HP, and even then it is risky. Alternatively, sleeping might mean we get jumped in the middle of the night by one (or more than one, yay).

It seems to me we have considerable risk either way.

So, because you gave someone with the Medicine skill (Shakur) and a healer’s kit, the party always has healing because someone can always Treat Wounds, it’s just a matter of if you take the time to do so or if you use magic for the time-efficiency but at the cost of using up resources.

Gotcha. I'll leave it up to those with the resources to decide! I'd like to heal up and push forward, but, again, I will follow what the healers want to do!

Roll: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

I'm okay to press forward, cantrips are not trivial in 2e, and keep a caster in the game :)

1's on a d20 are still auto fails for attacks/saves, right?

I’m very glad you asked that! The answer is both “yes” and “no.”

For one, that doesn’t just apply to attack rolls and saves, it now applies to all d20 rolls (the minor exception being ones that you can’t feasibly “fail,” such as Survival to follow tracks; in these cases getting a bad result just results in the activity taking more time than it should’ve).

Second, “nat 1s fail” isn’t completely true. More accurately a natural 1 and natural 20 result in a degree of success one worse and better (respectively) than what you would’ve gotten from the numbers alone. So while, yes, this usually results in a natural 1 being an auto-crit-fail and a natural 20 an auto-crit-success, in some cases (like if you’ve got a high modifier and rolling against a low DC) a natural 1 can actually result in a regular failure or even a success, and if you’re taking massive penalties (like if you’re taking a third attack of a turn), your modifiers could actually result in a failure to hit, but because it was a natural 20, you actually got a success.

Two examples with some devils:

First let’s say that I were to send a pit fiend at you guys (I would never do that) and it decided to attack Urzok with its jaw attack. This is how it would go down:

Pit Fiend Jaws vs Urzok: 1d20 + 40 ⇒ (1) + 40 = 41
Damage: 4d10 + 17 ⇒ (4, 2, 6, 5) + 17 = 34 Evil Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

Now a 41 attack roll beats Urzok’s AC almost two-and-a-half times over, so it’s clearly a critical success, but because it rolled a natural 1, that critical success is stepped down by one, turning it into a regular success, meaning that it would hit, but it wouldn’t deal double damage.

For the second example, let’s say that Urzok is fighting against a bearded devil and is swinging for the fences with his third attack of the turn with his longsword. This is how it would go down:

Urzok vs Bearded Devil; third attack: 1d20 + 8 - 10 ⇒ (20) + 8 - 10 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

A result of 18 is a failure (but not a critical failure), but because Urzok rolled a natural 20, that failure goes up one step to a success, so he would deal the devil 11 damage.

I have an order of business that I’d like a consensus on: initially I said that I’d reset Hero Points at the beginning of each book, but upon further reflection I realized that Hero Points, as written, are supposed to reset “every session.” Now, of course, the nature of PbP makes the concept of a “session” as being very irregular. As such, I’d like to propose an alternative (that I admittedly stole from another PbP GM running a long-running campaign in 2e):

At the first of each month (excluding tomorrow, October 1st so I don’t just spring this on you all), Hero Points will reset back to everyone having 1.

I’m proposing this because Hero Points are supposed to be spent pretty frequently, and this method will encourage using them rather than just stockpiling them for the end of the book (of course, if we were to use this then I’d probably hand them out more frequently to encourage their use).

Thoughts?

Sounds like a decent plan here.

1's/20's: Thank you GM, your posts are very thorough and helpful. As always!

Hero Points: I'm ok with that! I didn't realize they were supposed to be a relatively frequent occurrence. Would you mind posting a reminder for the first couple of months if we do end up doing this? Won't change my vote either way!

This seems reasonable to me.

I like the hero point reset mechanics. It sounds good to me.

GM, I think Urzok is down only 7 HP. He used his Shield Block feat to reduce an attack by 5 points (shield's hardness). Raise shield right now if Urzok can! Otherwise just generally declare hostilities and start fighting.

Forgot about that! My bad.

Seems like a safe enough place to rest and recover some sanity. I'd like to not be taking a -1 to most things. How do those sanity recovery methods work again?

Seems like a safe enough place to rest and recover some sanity. I'd like to not be taking a -1 to most things. How do those sanity recovery methods work again?

You can cure madnesses by reducing their DC to 0 through either mundane means or magical means, both of which are explained in this post (mundane means listed under the “Madness Overhaul” spoiler and magical under the “In addition to the regular choices for the spell Restoration” spoiler). I’ve been keeping track of the madnesses everyone has and the DCs therein.

Quick aside, though: Shakur’s taking a -1 to everything because he’s sickened 1 from something that has nothing to do with his sanity.

Oh? Uhh. What can I do to figure that out. I thought they were the same thing.

Figuring out exactly what’s wrong with you would be a wise starting place.

Hey all!

Due to the fact that I've got 7 irl games in 4 days starting Friday (5 of those in 2 days at a convention), I likely won't have the mental strength to post this upcoming Friday-Monday. Feel free to bot me as necessary.