GM Zer0darkfire's Witchwar Legacy (Inactive)

Game Master asdffghjkl01

"Being a dual-cursed oracle, I have some knowledge of curses. Is there some sub-topic in particular that you are interested in? I can't promise to know *everything*, but I am more than willing to offer what assistance I can."

I have also had some experience with curses. How can we help?

The dragon begins telling you her backstory in typical monologue fashion, "I was once a favored ally of the Old Crone, Baba Yaga, but I fell from favor. She cursed me and left me here as an eternal guardian. I am compelled never to leave this chamber." she says before breathing a small amount of steam, "I can tell you that the nature of my curse is that Baba Yaga permanently placed a small elemental fire source in my gullet. It is a source of constant gnawing pain, and it causes several side effects. I no longer radiate cold temperatures, though fire does not harm me as much as it used to either. I've also lost my precious frost breath, which has been replaced by cursed steam instead. IT. IS. VERY. PAINFUL." she snarls.

Gaius winces.

"That... tracks with everything I have heard, and experienced, of Baba Yaga's peculiar sense of humour."

What sort of check is it, to work out what we might need to do to 'fix' things?

Messa frowns at the dragon's story. So the witch imprisoned two creatures for this curse: you and the elemental. That's unusual. She pulls a couple of books from her haversack and begins flipping through them.
Unless someone suggests otherwise, Messa starts looking through the Pathfinder chronicles--she'll use Kreighton's Perusal to "read" the books that boost her knowledge Planes and knowledge Arcana checks. (As a Bellflower agent, she's committed to freeing enslaved creatures...)

It would be very easy checks since she is telling you what the curse essentially is.

Essentially, you'll need either a powerful remove curse, targetting the curse or a banishment type spell targetting the small fire elemental. Keep in mind that this curse was placed by Baba Yaga herself making it very difficult to remove.

Just for fun, you guys can try fighting Baba Yaga after we finish the module. Feel free to stick around afterward if you're interested.

Flint nods at the suffering dragon.

"The curse is difficult to remove. However there are several among us that could probably do so. However to do so will consume some of our resources at the very least."

"What would you offer us if we are able to remove your curse? Do you have knowledge of the Torc of Kostchtchie or have treasure to offer?"

I could use Particulate Form to turn into nano-particles, then crawl into the dragon and Plane Shift the elemental to the Plane of Fire?

I could use Particulate Form to turn into nano-particles, then crawl into the dragon and Plane Shift the elemental to the Plane of Fire?

High level is so crazy.

Just trying to think outside the box ;-)

I like it so sure.

The dragon is willing to allow you try since you were so nice before and she feels she doesn't have much to lose. "The greed of dwarves." she says rolling her eyes at the dwarf, "Matched only by my own. I know where the Torc is that you speak of, and I do have a treasure of my own."

Hidden under a thin layer of ice on the floor (melted by her breath and then refrozen) is Artaregilus’s treasure hoard (DC 27 Perception to locate, hp 50 or Break DC 20 to recover). The hoard consists of 5,580 cp, 17,800 sp, 3,240 gp, 490 pp, and 130 assorted gems worth a total of 11,400 gp.

I do have a Dismissal prepared, which might prove useful against an extra-planar creature trapped here on this plane. Particulate Form is multiple targets, no? That way you would not be alone inside the dragon, and I can ensure we have a means of escape. Aurelia looks at Gaius quizzically.

Flint nods at Artaregilus' comments.

"How true. Your current horde and knowledge of the torc will do nicely. Once you are free of the curse and this place I imagine that you will amass a great fortune quickly."

"Aurelia your plan seems to be more economical but I will let the two or three of you decide."

Gaius nods.

"Right then. Let's give it a shot!"

Assuming the dragon agrees to the plan and Gaius casts Particulate Form on both himself and Aurelia, they will travel down to the dragon's stomach and try to dismiss the elemental.

@GM Zer0darkfire How will this work? Unless there is SR, Dismissal is a will save for the target. Aurelia will spend an Arcane Pool point to increase the save DC for Dismissal to DC28.

I can also use Ill Omen to make it roll twice, and take the lowest, on that saving throw...

Aurelia and Gaius make their way inside of the Ancient Dragon. Gaius curses the cursed elemental while Aurelia tries to banish it back to the plane of fire.

will save: 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 5 = 31
will save: 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 5 = 31
...I wasn't expecting this outcome.

The elemental resists being banished back to another plane and remains inside the dragon for now.

Any chance you could do that again?

If she can't, I certainly can!

Lmao, sure. Same deal, arcane pool point and Dismissal. DC28 will save.

have to fail one of these saves: 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 5 = 16
have to fail one of these saves: 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 5 = 19
There we go

The elemental returns to the 1d100 ⇒ 70 plane of fire. Freeing the dragon from the main punishment of the curse. Without the elemental, the dragon is still technically cursed, but with no actual drawback (making it a fantastic oracle now).

"Thank you creatures. Now, I shall tell you of the Torc and what I know, though I warn you, you may want to protect yourselves from cold as my body drops in temperature." she says once the two magic users return from inside of her.

"The torc is not here." she says smiling. "But this is the only place to get to it." she says with a look of proud amusement.

Flint backs up slightly acutely aware of the cold aura of mature white dragons.

"Some of us are already warded against the frigid cold however there is no need to put this warding to the test just yet."

"I assume you are going to tell us where to go find the torc. A portal to another place perhaps? Baba Yaga is well known to travel the planes."

By this being the only way to get it, do you mean there is a doorway or other method of access, say to a personal dimension, like a hut perhaps, only accessible from here, or something else?

"There is a clock tower in the false city above. It is more than it appears." the dragon says as it tests is frost breath slightly in the air, "There is a way to use the clocktower as a portal to the torc's true location. Beware, Baba Yaga is the master of curses and has placed a curse on the torc's location. Its chamber must always have a guardian, even if the torc were to be removed."

Aurelia nods at the Dragon's words and addresses her again.

Assuming that the dragon answers in kind, Aurelia will bow acknowledgement of her words and turn to the party.

Perhaps it has something to do with the poem inscribed.
A stitch in time saves nine,
But what loop will the witch queen heed?
In pointless slaughter
The Old Crone’s daughter
A hapless mob did lead.
Now she sits in tomb that’s frozen,
The traitors’ blood all spilled
Upon the path that she had chosen,
Enthroned with collar gild.
Ringed in steel, three loops times nine
Prized from the luckless seat,
Supplicants kneel, of porcelain fine,
The banished queen to meet.
It matters not who’s dared to come
The demon’s soul to claim,
The weak shall die, the strongest live
And forever more remain

Aurelia considers for a moment after reciting. Perhaps we should head back up to the clock tower and examine it more thoroughly. Are there any levels further below that we should also investigate before moving on?

Flint looks at Aurelia.

"We should finish all our business before entering the clock tower. The way out might not be the same as way in and I do not want to leave any treasure behind."

"Perhaps we should proceed with exploring what is behind the secret door first?"

If there are no objection Flint scans the secret door for traps and leads the party past it to area 4.

Flint turns to the dragon.

"We are just going to explore the areas around here but we will not be long. So you might want to wait a bit if you want to take a nap. I would not want to wake you by accident."

The dragon smashes the ice hiding her treasure before moving out of the way and curling up to rest.

The passage ends in a low grotto carved through the core of this vast ice formation. The walls, floor, and fifteen-foot-high ceiling are irregular and rough-hewn, but smoothed as if by melting and refreezing. A cold mist fills the air, reducing vision in this labyrinth of ice tunnels.

The constant mist in these tunnels that is equal to a fog cloud in effect but covers the entire area. A DC 22 Perception check is necessary to notice the vertical passage cut into the ceiling at the eastern end of the area, which rises 85 feet to area 11.

Is anyone not flying currently?

Time passed since arriving: ~22min

Aurelia cast Mass Fly for 160 minutes when we arrived.

Cool; there is an encounter here with 15! ice worms (CR 8 each) however, they only have +15 to hit and can't reach you if you're flying, so we can skip it; 15 enemies would take quite a while to finish up in PbP with 104hp each. They have some neat abilities and make decent HP bags, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be worth it. For reference, they are huge creatures that have swallow whole, and hitting them in melee deals 8d6 fire damage to you or your weapon depending on what hit them.

Flint will scan and collect any treasure and then lead the party to Area 3.

Agreed. Fighting opponents that cannot fight back is pointless.

There is no treasure or anything of importance in this chamber. You return to find the dragon beginning to rest.

Area 3 is where you came from. Where to now?

Flint will lead the party to area 2.

What is left to explore in terms of areas to explore? I think that we have covered most of the maps so far.

Looks to me like just area 11.

Area 2: The steaming crater of a geyser has carved a jagged crevasse in the side of the waterfall here, creating a cathedral of dripping ice stalactites above. Barely visible through the steam to the right of the geyser spout is a secondary crevasse in which can dimly be seen a stair, rising upward into the obscuring ice.

You've found the geyser entrance!

From Area 4, you can fly upwards towards area 11 (85ft).

A natural fissure has formed in the ice of the waterfall where it meets the stone of the cliff face, climbing to a height of one hundred sixty feet. The rock face itself is broken by a series of shallow, natural terraces covered by only a few feet of ice. The ice is transparent enough to see the blackened corpses of hundreds of human warriors manacled to the cliff face. Many of the manacles hang empty or hold only the dismembered remnants of limbs. In some places, the ice has actually been chipped away to expose the rock wall, and the exposed manacles hang empty—their previous occupants conspicuously absent.

Map Slide

Other than that, you just have to solve the riddle of the clock tower to explore further.

Flint turns to the others.

"I think that now is the time to deal with the Black Pudding and the mounds of treasure hidden behind the ice. We might not have the opportunity latter."

I think that is Area 20.

Doing a deep-dive on the thread...

Gaius looks thoughtful.

"In reviewing that poem, and cross-referencing what we have uncovered thus far, I find it curious that one of the porcelain dolls was missing, as was one of the 27-link chains from the throne.

Given the reference to 'Ringed in steel, three loops times nine / Prized from the luckless seat / Supplicants kneel, of porcelain fine / The banished queen to meet.', I think those items might be keys to access the next 'tier' of this place? Although whether one pair for the party, or whether we each need one, is open to interpretation. I think we should err on the side of caution, and have a pair each. We probably then need to touch them to that clock, I suppose...?"

That's my best guess, at least...

So are we dealing with the pudding stuff or heading to the clocktower? The choice does have some importance, so I'd like for there to be some group decision there.

Ukuja has more then enough arrows even loaning some to Flint to deal with the pudding. Note to self: Buy 100 more cold iron arrows after this.

I think we are dealing with the pudding as there is some expectation that we might not be coming back here afterward from wherever the clock tower sends us.

Tuwo, if it comes up, I have lots of 2nd level slots available and can cast Versatile Weapon to give a stack of normal arrows Cold Iron (or Silver, or Bludgeoning or slashing) for 15 minutes at a time.

Tuwo has clustered shots so it won't matter much vs the pudding. We can keep it in mind if Baba Yaga has lots of weaker enemies with a vulnerability.

I think that we should let the big cat loose on the ice surrounding the pudding. Let it do something this adventure. :)

This vast, many-columned chamber has icicles forming a maze of stalactites on the ceiling and frozen curtains and ice pillars throughout. The floor itself is crowded with broken shards from dozens of ice columns that have shattered, creating razor-sharp stalagmites of ice.

You smash open the ice to reveal the black tar and the treasure. The immense mound of black slime thunders forward, eyes and mouths and even stranger things forming in its heaving bulk.

Feel free to reposition yourself for free before you take your turn as I didn't want to slow the game down by waiting for everyone to place themselves in their desired spots.

Please make a will save on your turn. Applicable traits include madness/confusion, auditory/sonic, and mind-affecting

If you fail a DC

Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Flint
Tuwo
Enemy
Aurelia
Gaius
Rinaldo
Messa

will save: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (8) + 31 = 39
kn Dungoneering: 1d20 + 13 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 13 + 2 - 2 = 33

Tuwo will pass along it's many many defenses before getting things started.

"Let's make this quick."

Will Save,Heroism: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (3) + 31 = 34
K-Dungeoneering,Heroism: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 24 + 2 = 41

Flint would have renewed his Shield spell from staff at 24 minutes. Last update was at 22 minutes. I don't think that Good Hope is still up at this point. But Flint and Tuwo still go first. ;)

Flint tries to weather the sonic cacophony produced by the beast. He recognizes the monster from his study in Irori's temple and shares this information with the team.

"An ideal specimen. Well, at least at the moment."

He clusters all his attacks together to attempt to put down this mighty adversary. Flint clicks his boots for a touch of added speed. He calls upon the power of Irori to empower his attacks against the Shoggoth.

Post continued from above. I was interrupted mid-post in rl. :)

Flint lets the arrows fly.

Attack 1, Heroism,Haste,Bane: 1d20 + 24 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 24 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 40
Damage,Cluster Shot,Bane: 1d8 + 19 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + 19 + 2 + (3, 4) = 31

Attack 2, Heroism,Haste,Bane: 1d20 + 24 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 24 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 41
Damage,Cluster Shot,Bane: 1d8 + 19 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (7) + 19 + 2 + (2, 6) = 36

Attack 3, Heroism,Haste,Bane: 1d20 + 24 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 24 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 43
Damage,Cluster Shot,Bane: 1d8 + 19 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (7) + 19 + 2 + (6, 6) = 40

Attack 4, Heroism,Haste,Bane: 1d20 + 19 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 19 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 36
Damage,Cluster Shot,Bane: 1d8 + 19 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (8) + 19 + 2 + (1, 3) = 33

Attack 5, Heroism,Haste,Bane: 1d20 + 19 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 19 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 34
Damage,Cluster Shot,Bane: 1d8 + 19 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (7) + 19 + 2 + (6, 4) = 38

Attack 6, Perfect Shot,Heroism,Haste,Bane: 2d20 + 14 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (15, 20) + 14 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 54
Attack Roll is 39 (This would confirm but Ooze traits prevents crits)
Damage,Cluster Shot,Bane: 1d8 + 19 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 19 + 2 + (5, 6) = 33

By my count, it took 329 damage, which leaves it alive, barely.

The ooze becomes filled with arrows that it tries to absorb into its body, but their enchantments prove to be nearly too strong for it to recover. A single arrow falls out of the ooze as it recovers part of its body.

The ooze then charges the entire group! (Trample)

Choose if you're making a reflex save for half/evasion damage or if you're taking an AoO with a -4 penalty (assuming you can take AoOs currently). If you haven't rolled your will save, please do that before you decide if you're taking an AoO as failing that save will remove the AoO option.

Please make a will save on your turn. Applicable traits include madness/confusion, auditory/sonic, and mind-affecting. If you fail a DC

Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Flint; trample choice
Tuwo; trample choice
Enemy, -319hp
Aurelia;
Gaius; trample choice (combat reflexes?)
Rinaldo; trample choice (combat reflexes?)
Messa;

@Flint, consider your buffs active for the remainder of the scenario as it is nearly complete.

The Shoggoth dies before it even gets to react to being freed. You collect your treasure before returning to the Clocktower.

Heaped about the ice-encased shoggoth are 7,670 gp, 11,800 sp, 33,250 cp, 16 blue spinels worth 500 gp each, a copper snuff box (worth 15 gp) holding diamond dust worth 1,800 gp, a gold statuette of Desna with emeralds for eyes (worth 2,000 gp), a +2 bladed scarf, a ring of improved climbing, a scroll of iron body, and a scroll of sunburst (both CL 15th).

This structure resembles a large, two-story cottage with wide double doors at its front and rear. Above the southern doors is a giant clock face, ten feet in diameter. The clock bears strange, arcane symbols instead of traditional numbers and has four hands—one short, one long, one forked, and one wavy—that appears to be keeping time in no recognizable system. Rows of identical white marble statues depicting a bent old crone holding a scythe with a blade of dull-gray metal stand at the building’s base. These statues appear to be on railed tracks of ice that loop around the sides of the clock building, from one set of double doors to the set on the opposite side.

Rinaldo Will save: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14 Because of course I roll another nat 1...
Colwyn Will save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
-----------
Rinaldo Reflex save vs Trample: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (11) + 19 = 30
Colwyn Reflex save vs Trample: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33

Colwyn has evasion, so he's fine and Rinaldo takes half damage (assuming 30 and 33 are successes there. Let me know how much damage I need to heal up.

The DC is 36 so both of those would have been failures where you also would have been engulfed by the ooze.

Discussion Thread

Things I need to know!
Definitely any constant effects your PC has
Any immediate action things they could do in response to an enemies actions
Immunities
Other things you think I should know to make running faster

Shenanigans: True Dragon Familiar who will UMD wands during combat. Daosvaria has a +20 UMD and +6 Init mod. She also has Dragon senses, so 120ft darkvision and 60ft blindsense. She is a true dragon, so has immunity to sleep, paralysis and acid.
Aurelia is a conjuration school Savant Arcanist. Main things about her are constant See Invisibility from Spectral Shroud, constant Freedom of Movement from Ring and she is a Dhampir.
Immediate action stuff is mainly she prepares Emergency Force Sphere

I have 'all day spells' listed as a buff on my character sheet.

My saving throws vary a *lot* depending on the effect I am being hit with, so there is a breakdown of the variable stuff under the 'saving throws' section.

I have Fortune, Mistfortune, Borrow Fortune, and Divine Interference, so my Immediate Actions (when I use them) are frequently taken up by preventing natural 1's on saving throws against things that would kill a PC, or crits from high-damage attacks.

Thank you Zer0darkfire for GMing and getting this going so fast.

Definitely any constant effects your PC has
Perception of +48 but no special senses. If there is a reasonable chance of danger he will keep up Ki Leech. Free to cast for him and lasts 12 minutes.

Any immediate action things they could do in response to an enemies actions
I can take aoos with my bow but only at adjacent targets.

Immunities
Immune to all diseases and poisons. Evasion from a ring. Swarmbane Clasp makes him immune to distraction from bugs.

Other things you think I should know to make running faster
Speed 70 so he will often move at half speed and look around for traps.

Tuwo shoots things very well and has good saves and AC. He has all the archery feats you would expect and some less common ones like Point-Blank Master and Perfect Strike.

Due to poor decision making in the past Raise Dead doesn't work on him but the devs did say Breath of Life type effects do.

Things for the GM to know:
* Rinaldo's armor is Ghost Touch, so protects against incorporeal attacks
* Rinaldo uses a buckler strapped to his off hand. While mounted, the lance is used one-handed, so the buckler's defense counts.
* Rinaldo's archetype gives him a bonded item; this is his glamered cestus. By virtue of being a bonded item, it counts as a "free hand" for spellcasting.
* The Disruptive and Spellbreaker feats mean that when I threaten a spellcaster, the DC for casting defensively is increased by 4, and if they fail I get to take an AoO.
* Between Cavalier bonuses and armor/weapon enhancements, my Aid Another bonuses are much higher than normal. I'll break them down if they come up.
* Colwyn (Rinaldo's mount) has Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/turn) and Improved Evasion
* Colwyn has a Headband of Vast INT +2 (and the necessary feat to use it). He put a rank in Linguistics so that he understands spoken Halfling.
* Colwyn has every trick in the book. In particular he has the "Serve" trick, allowing Messa to give him commands using Rinaldo's Handle Animal bonus.
* Colwyn's archetype allows him to make a single Run or Charge action at 10x normal speed once per hour (500' speed for a 1000' charge or 2000' run).
* Rinaldo has Ride-By Attack and Wheeling Charge, and Colwyn has Improved Overrun and Charge Through. Let me know if you need me to provide the full details on those.
* I have a stack of Runestones of Power for extra spellcasting and several Extend Rods. I will track their use as well as my spellcasting on the spreadsheet linked in my profile header.

================

Things for the party to know:
* Rinaldo's archetype takes away Bardic Knowledge and Lore Master, so don't look to me for knowledge checks. #NotThatKindOfBard
* Particularly during combat, make sure to check my posts for active spell, tactician, and performance effects that may apply to you during your round.

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Constant or Near-Constant effects:
* Colwyn uses Power Attack by default unless I specify otherwise. He will nearly always use Vital Strike.
* Colwyn wears a Swarmbane Clasp.
* Lantern of Auras - bullseye lamp that also reveals magic as if by Detect Magic. Anyone who can see the area illuminated can make Knowledge Arcana and Spellcraft checks as if they had cast Detect Magic. (Lantern is hooked to Colwyn's saddle and faces forward by default.)

================

Immediate actions:
* Timely Inspiration to grant a retroactive +3 to a failed attack or skill check (1st level spell)
* Gallant Inspiration to grant a retroactive +2d4 to a failed attack or skill check (2nd level spell)
* Saving Finale to grant a reroll of a failed saving throw (1st level spell and ends Bardic Performance)
* Aegis of Recovery to heal for 2d8+3 when going below 0 hit points
* Mounted Combat - use a Ride check to negate a successful attack on Colwyn
* Indomitable Mount - use a Ride check in place of a saving through for Colwyn. This is particularly relevant for Will saves (+20 instead of +5!)

@Tuwo - I had a quick look at your sheet. Both Diamond Soul and Purity of Body are swapped out for Zen Archers. So unless you have some special shenanigans they should be removed from your sheet. I suggest that you review your sheet carefully as I was not even looking for errors. :)

On that topic, yeah, my tetori build did the same thing. I dropped some later feature for Diamond Soul via Qinggong, but now he is the Champion of Irori you see before you. Turns out, grappling, especially Tetori grappling, is OP as hell, so I picked up a rebuild boon to be little less of a Menas to my local lodge.

Don't worry, I have all knowledges covered, with Daosvaria able to give me a second roll, albeit with a lower bonus.

If GM Zer0darkfire will allow, I can also make the Kn(Arcana) and Spellcraft checks for Rinaldo's lantern - taking 10 will give me a 40 Kn(Arcana) and 45 Spellcraft.

That's actually why I have the lantern - so that anyone with those skills can check without having to cast the spell *and* can take 10 (since they don't have to be concentrating on the spell).

I did not realize that we were live until I clicked in by accident.
In terms of constant abilities I would say that he does not have much except for Evasion from his ring and Stone Cunning as he is a Dwarf.

He will be putting up a considerable amount of buffs that I will be tracking in his status bars once I put them up tomorrow morning. He has eight level of Zen Archer plus eight level of Inquisitors so it is a fair bit to track.

I have finalized Flint's shopping before the meeting. He will be making a short stop in-game to pick up a discounted scroll (Overland Flight), spell casting services and sundries.

In terms of buffs we should coordinate a bit. Generally I pick up Delay Poison and Ablative Barrier as spell casting services as they are cheap and last long. Protection from Arrows is also quite good for the cost.

It might be a good idea to either put up Life Bubble on the party or pay for it as a spell casting service. 280/6 gp is a pretty good investment in my book unless it is a free cast.

Edit - We might want to talk party tactics. My character makes a great scout as his Stealth, Perception, Survival are all very high.
He can also turn invisible. His KS for monster identifications are quite good. He can See Invisible,has Darkvision and Stone Cunning plus he will have Echolocation (Blind Sight) up a good amount of the time.

I've got +30 on the big six knowledge except local, which is a 31, so should be covered there. Daosvaria can back me up with +17 on all the big six.

I can cover us with a Life Bubble, extending if we need the extra time. I can also hit us all with Mass Fly for 160 minutes of flight once we teleport in and assess the situation. Daosvaria has Blindsense to 60 ft through Dragon Senses.

For combat, I can do Haste if no-one else can. Daosvaria also has wands of Cure Light and Cure Mod that she can use if needed. If anyone else has wands that might be useful here in or out of combat, she can UMD them, for action economy. I intended to buy a Wand of Haste, but opted for the +4 Tome instead since I had enough gold.

Mass Fly is great for me. A scroll of Overland Flight even discounted is expensive. So thanks. I would cast it before teleporting.

I'll spend 2 prestige on a wand of endure elements, which I seem to have neglected doing on this character.

I can cover your character as well if you like for 1-2 days.
Not to mention that Life Bubble includes Endure Elements as an effect. Save your PP to spend on something good like retraining or followers.

Lol, between the prestige rewards from passing the torch and the little I've spent so far, I have plenty.

I also have my dark archive faction card which will give me up to 3 consumable items with a total value up to 1600 gp. Is there anything particular the group thinks we need?

A scroll of Hunter's Blessing (5th level) is always good. My seeker level Druid always casts it. It would cover the entire party and lasts 9 hours.

A scroll of Feather Step, Mass would be handy. We are bound to hit difficult terrain and we might be grounded due to a storm.

Scrolls that create extra-dimensional spaces like Create Pit or Rope Trick have great niche utility.

Mind you the party might have it covered already. Bottled Yeti Fur is good and lasts 24 hours.

Messa usually preps Hunter's Blessing, and she has a wand of Endure Elements with a lot of charges.

Mass Fly is great!

Messa's main shenanigans are
- Bit of Luck: for the next round, target rolls all d20s twice and takes the betters
- Dimensional hop: 30 five-foot increments
- Door sight: look through doors or walls

She's Exploration Domain, so she has some teleport spells and Locate object/creature, too.

She carries a LOT of utility scrolls that she's collected over her career. One of her favorites is Nap Stack: the party only needs to sleep for 2 hours to regain abilities.

Messa also uses Dweomer's Essence to help with SR, and different reagents as power components for different spell schools (from the Alchemy Manual).

Messa also currently has components for:
- 2 castings of Raise Dead
- 4 castings of Restoration (level 4, with 1k diamond dust)

He will be putting up a considerable amount of buffs that I will be tracking in his status bars once I put them up tomorrow morning. He has eight level of Zen Archer plus eight level of Inquisitors so it is a fair bit to track.

Tell me about it. Cavalier 4 / Bard 13 has a lot of stuff going on.

Aurelia: Mass Fly would be awesome. I keep scrolls of Air Walk around for emergencies, but always appreciate nonconsumable ways of flying. :)

Flint: I have Mass Feather Step as a spell known and will cast it as soon as seems relevant. Extended it's good for a bit over 4 hours.

I can also hit the key combatants with Heroism, also extended.

When danger seems imminent, I will drop Good Hope (for 13 or 26 minutes, depending on if it seems worthwhile to extend) which doesn't stack with Heroism but adds bonus to damage and ability checks (including initiative) and applies to the whole party.

I have a number of "remove conditions" spells as needed: Liberating Command, Suppress Charms and Compulsions, Purging Finale, and Joyful Rapture. I also have a bardic performance that uses my Intimidate (+28) as the save vs fear for every ally who can hear me, and another that does a Mass Cure Serious Wounds and removes fatigue and sickened.

My Cavalier Tactician teamwork feat is Escape Route, in case we need to maneuver in tight quarters without provoking AoO.

GM: I need a ruling in advance in case it comes up:

Exquisite Accompaniment (3rd level spell) says "you do not have to expend rounds of bardic performance from your daily allotment to maintain an effect".

Virtuoso Performance (4th level spell) says "While this spell is active, you may start a second bardic performance while maintaining another. Starting the second performance costs 2 rounds of bardic performance instead of 1. Maintaining both performances costs a total of 3 rounds of bardic performance for each round they are maintained. When this spell ends, one of the performances ends immediately (your choice)."

If I were to have both spells active, would I be able to negate the 2 rounds of performance cost for the second effect?

(I just found the Exquisite Accompaniment spell when leveling up this round, and then thought of the interaction.)

Before I forget spells that allow you to bypass traps would be useful as no one is good at disarming them. So Create Pit, Stone Shape or Passwall etc.

Enemy interruptions:

Messa has divine interference, which lets her sacrifice a spell to force an enemy to reroll an attack roll. The level of the sacrificed spell level becomes a penalty on the reroll (e.g., if she sacrifices a 3rd level spell, the enemy takes a -3 penalty on the roll).

In most combats, she'll try to force an enemy to reroll a 20.

@Messa - Aurelia is a Dhampir. Please do NOT target her with Cure spells as they will not have the intended effect. Please do exclude her if you are channeling to harm undead. She does carry a wand of Inflict Light Wounds in a wrist sheath for use in emergencies.

No life-dominant soul? At least you can cast repair undead on yourself.

A few questions for the GM.

1)As we are in Absalom I am assuming that we can just go out and purchase spell casting services with virtually no appreciable time delay. Is this correct?

2)Is it possible to purchase individual durable arrows of special materials like adamantine? I see that Tuwo has done so but I am not sure if it PFS legal. Generally adamantine arrows are purchased in lots of 50 arrows but I can see the argument going either way.

3)My character has a Suggestion ability based on the Deific Obedience feat. Would this SLA be based on Charisma? This is my assumption but is it correct?

1) You are currently in the Grand Lodge in Absalom, purchase whatever you need.

2) As far as I know, durable arrows are always purchased individually. The entry for them is "Arrow, Durable" instead of "Arrows, Durable". Because each durable arrow is purchased individually, you can apply special materials to them individually as well.

3) The standard DC for SLAs is 10 + Spell Level + Charisma Modifier unless otherwise stated.

GM: I need a ruling in advance in case it comes up:

Exquisite Accompaniment (3rd level spell) says "you do not have to expend rounds of bardic performance from your daily allotment to maintain an effect".

Virtuoso Performance (4th level spell) says "While this spell is active, you may start a second bardic performance while maintaining another. Starting the second performance costs 2 rounds of bardic performance instead of 1. Maintaining both performances costs a total of 3 rounds of bardic performance for each round they are maintained. When this spell ends, one of the performances ends immediately (your choice)."

If I were to have both spells active, would I be able to negate the 2 rounds of performance cost for the second effect?

(I just found the Exquisite Accompaniment spell when leveling up this round, and then thought of the interaction.)

The first spell will play a single performance for you but you can cast it again to play a second performance at no cost from the second spell.

A general question. I have noticed Tuwo with two Efficient Quivers. Is there any point at all of using this magical item (except for the obvious weight reduction) and the fact that it looks cool?

I generally use two quivers (40 arrows total) myself with a divider in the second one for specialty arrows and have the rest packed up. I have always struggled with the usefulness of this item (unlike the Handy Haversack) so any insight would be appreciated.

I don't have much comment there. I've never fired or purchased a bow in Pathfinder, even after 3 years of playing. I've never seen anyone do any sort of tracking with quivers either, so no idea from me, hopefully one of the players can help you out there.

Understood. I guess this sort of detailed tracking is abstracted away in this gaming system. As long as you have the carrying capacity you can carry as many weapons (even pole arms) as you like and not worry exactly how they are positioned on your body. 40 arrows is modest even by real life standards so not a problem IMO in a Pathfinder setting where the iconic characters are bristling with weapons.

Realistically combat should be at most 2-3 rounds. Often it will be over before the slowest person can act. At least that has been my experience at other high tier tables so it is likely a very academic point.

Simple. My EotT GM complained about how "unrealistic" it was to have a bunch of quivers on my back and insisted I buy a second one when he audited my character. With no other GM options locally I did so.

Tracking arrows and "where" that gear is just seems like a waste of time in my opinion. The game can take long enough as it is, I don't need to know where or how your carrying 80 arrows.

I agree with this GM. Abstract is good. Why worry about how many quivers it is realistic to carry when your character can jump 40 feet straight up or shoot beams of energy out of their behind (which my Druid does in Wild Shape when he is feeling plucky).

As for the Effortless Quivers. Sure they were a waste of Gold but playing EOT is much better than not playing it. Also there is a sort of cool factor of pulling out arrows from nowhere. Out of all my characters I only have one with a Handy Haversack but I still find it incredible that you can fit all that stuff in one bag. It is one of the items that I would love to have in real life.

Durable arrows are in Elves of Golarion and Alchemy Manual, and are PFS legal, purchased in lots of 1. A single durable Adamantine arrow is 61gp.
https://www.aonprd.com/EquipmentMiscDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Arrow%20(durable)
https://www.aonprd.com/SpecialMaterials.aspx

@Messa - Aurelia is a Dhampir. Please do NOT target her with Cure spells as they will not have the intended effect. Please do exclude her if you are channeling to harm undead. She does carry a wand of Inflict Light Wounds in a wrist sheath for use in emergencies.

Ah! Good to know!

Do we need to grab some scrolls of Inflict Serious or Harm for her?

The first spell will play a single performance for you but you can cast it again to play a second performance at no cost from the second spell.

So if I have Inspire Courage going and cast Exquisite Accompaniment, it stops costing me rounds of performance. If I then cast Virtuoso Performance, would I then spend 2 "rounds" per round to maintain the second, or only 1? (Either way, I am ahead, but I want to see how far ahead I am. ;-) )

And then if I were to cast Exquisite Accompaniment again, I could maintain both at no cost (other than having used two 3rd level spell slots)?

Just FYI: Messa casts at base CL 18: cleric 15 + 2 for Magical Knack, +1 for orange prism ioun stone. When the ioun stone is slotted, she adds 1d4-1 to her caster level.

For transmutation, creation, divination, and teleportation spells, she has reagents to increase the caster level by 1 (mainly for duration or range only).

She also has the Wanderlust racial trait, so she treats her CL as 1 higher "when casting spells or using abilities that provide or enhance movement".

GM Zer0darkfire wrote:

The first spell will play a single performance for you but you can cast it again to play a second performance at no cost from the second spell.

So if I have Inspire Courage going and cast Exquisite Accompaniment, it stops costing me rounds of performance. If I then cast Virtuoso Performance, would I then spend 2 "rounds" per round to maintain the second, or only 1? (Either way, I am ahead, but I want to see how far ahead I am. ;-) )

And then if I were to cast Exquisite Accompaniment again, I could maintain both at no cost (other than having used two 3rd level spell slots)?

Yep, that sounds accurate to me. No idea if there is an official answer, but I don't see why this wouldn't be the case so that's how we will play it.

Question for the group: How many people would benefit from a +10' enhancement bonus to base land speed? I know the monks already have an enhancement bonus. I can use 1 round of bardic performance with a minute "casting" time to give that to everyone it would help for 1 hour. If enough people benefit, I'll do it.

Triple Time

Tuwo does keep a couple of regular quivers with just cold iron arrows on his back then. Would be really awkward if we hit an antimagic feild and all of the archers couldn't access those extrademensional spaces.

Everyone in the party is at least part caster except for you Tuwo. We do not speak of the dreaded anti-magic field except in whispered tones. ;)

My character is still recovering from his stint in the Mana Wastes. He was healing the party with his Heal skill and Treat Deadly Wounds and a healing kit of all things.

For what it is worth, I would benefit from the movement enhancement...?

Tuwo is a caster. His spells are all self buffs or self healing though.

I'll be spoilering my combat spam but to shorten it I'll break down the current ongoing modifiers and just list situational modifier in the post such as range, point blank, haste, prayer, etc...

Sounds good! From what I've read, this isn't a super hard scenario, so don't be surprised if you steamroll it.

My character has the same philosophy with Deadly Aim. Unless there is a good reason it is always on. I am surprised how close the two characters are in offensive capabilities considering the divergence in build.

The Veil of Frozen Tears is a waterfall formed of magically frozen ice. This ice is much more resilient than normal ice, with the physical properties of hewn stone (hardness 8, hp 540 per 10-foot-square section, Break DC 50) but much more slippery (Climb DC 40). In fact, the icy floors of the frozen necropolis are so slick that attempts to run or charge require a DC 15 Acrobatics check to avoid falling. The tunnels and caverns were quarried out roughly enough, however, that the usual ice movement penalties (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 442) do not apply. Ceilings heights are 20 feet unless otherwise noted. Doors are made of the same rock-hard ice, but are hinged and can be easily opened and closed. All of the ice is opaque, preventing anyone from seeing details in adjoining areas, though light sources will appear as diffuse glows from up to 50 feet away. During the day, no light sources are necessary as the daylight suffuses the thick ice and provides normal visibility. Arrow slits are 1 foot wide and 3 feet high, and have no shutters.

The ice of the waterfall does not melt unless exposed to fire damage sufficient to overcome its stonelike properties, and it constantly radiates freezing temperatures such that the interior of the waterfall is considered to be extreme cold (–25 degrees F), dealing 1d6 points of lethal damage per minute (no save). The extreme cold further requires a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) each minute, or it deals another 1d4 points of nonlethal damage and exposes the individual to frostbite and hypothermia (treat as fatigued). See page 442 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for further details. A simple endure elements spell will negate these dangers, as will any amount of cold resistance

No Life Dominant Soul. She's a primary caster with a half-dozen different ways to get away or avoid being attacked, so if she's in melee, I'm doing it wrong.

I've a wand of Inflict Light and the UMD to use it if needed in combat, Or I can just spam some False Life. Daosvaria can also UMD my wand if needed, or my wand of Infernal Healing.

We can discuss here if we want to attack the giants or not. Jumping into combat before we have a plan and before all the players have actually posted in the mission thread is not the best idea.

Edit - As we are not in combat you can actually take 10 for the knowledge checks if you like. Actually most characters will be able to take 1 as the Knowledge DC is so low.

This encounter feels like a bit of a throwback to the original Giant series modules of 1st edition. I have not played them in many years but the feel is the same.

Rule question.

Perfect Strike: "...You can roll your attack roll twice and take the higher result. If one of these rolls is a critical threat, the other roll is used as your confirmation roll (your choice if they are both critical threats)..."

As a Zen Archer: "At 10th level, the monk can roll his attack roll three times and take the highest result. If one of these rolls is a critical threat, the monk must choose one of his other two rolls to use as his confirmation roll."

And Messa possesses Bit of Luck: "You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result."

Would I roll 2d20 3 times or something else?

Also how do you want to deal with Tuwo's Ki Leech?

I regain a ki when I "confirm a critical hit against a living enemy or reduce a living enemy to 0 or fewer hit points."

I won't know if I did either during my turn. But I tend to do both of those things often. Do you want to tell me how much ki I regained each round or are you good with the idea that I'm regaining ki often enough that it isn't worth tracking?

I am not sure if the game allows stacking of rolls in this fashion. I would be inclined to say no. My character could for example put up Fallback Strategy (1st level spell) and then choose to re-roll either of his attack rolls from Perfect Strike or benefit from Messa's Bit of Luck as well.

It would be nice to see if there is any evidence allowing/disallowing these kinds of situation on the boards. I would start from there.