GM Jhaeman's "Sanctum of a Lost Age" (Inactive)

Game Master Jhaeman

PREP
Swapped out one False Life for Barkskin
False Life: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Kivuli peers down the corridor.

Perception (+1 for traps): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27 Total of 28 for traps
Just a reminder that Kivuli has Trap Spotter with a 10' range.

Kivuli peers down the corridor, noticing nothing unusual apart from the strange swirling mists.

Thanks for the reminder about Trap Spotter.

Before entering, Raynor applies holy weapon balm to his lance, two daggers and his shield, and drinks a vial of antitoxin and antiplague. He pulls out a scroll of divine favor, then guide his mount gently forward, paying attention to any noise emanating from the fog ahead.

Raynor, just checking: you're going to apply four vials of holy weapon balm (one per weapon)? They only last for 1 strike or 1 minute, whichever comes first.

Luke takes his sword out.

Setare takes the lead and walks forward into the mist with her Scimitar drawn.

With Setare bravely taking the lead, you advance into the corridor. The billowing yellow mists and shifting lights surround you, making it impossible to see. But by moving straight ahead, you’ve only walked twenty or thirty feet before the mists gives way and you find yourselves in the middle of a large entry hall with the strange corridor now behind you.

Across the room, three demonic stone faces as tall as humans leer at visitors like a scornful greeting party; each has an open mouth, extended, tongue, and slightly different features from the others; each is also a different color: from north to south, the faces are blue, yellow, and red.

Between the huge faces, two staircases lead up ten feet to a balcony that overlooks the entire chamber.

A set of ornate stone double doors stands closed along the south wall, while two shadowy alcoves flank the corridor of lights and mists along the west wall.

Setare advances slowly to the faces.

She starts to inspect them and looks at them curiously.

perception : 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Setare, you notice that the central yellow visage bears slightly feminine features, and that all three forked tongues contain an irregular depression that appears designed to fit a humanoid’s hand.

Kivuli quietly pads forward alongside Setare.

Stealth (full speed): 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (19) + 23 = 42

Raynor, just checking: you're going to apply four vials of holy weapon balm (one per weapon)? They only last for 1 strike or 1 minute, whichever comes first.

D'Oh! thanks for catching that... I thought these were like weapon blanch and lasted until you made an attack. Forget about this then: no holy weapon balm; the rest remains as is.

Ridley will drink the following extracts:

Heroism, False Life, See Invisibility, Barkskin, Cognatogen, and I will tap myself with my wand of Heightened Awareness which I will use should we go into initiative.

Ridley will hang back a bit behind Kivuli and Setare, wary for danger.

I should describe general features of this area that will hold unless stated otherwise: walls and floors are made of stone, ceilings are on average 20' high, and rooms are lit with continual flame torches throughout (creating normal light conditions).

Kivuli, I think you'd need cover or concealment in order to use Stealth--unless you have a hide in plain sight sort of ability.

Setare looks back at the group and with a shrug puts her hand into the depression.

For prep, Carina's spells on her sheet is accurate to what she has prepared for this. In addition, Unless you want me to make more checks for my Harrowed feat and the Blessing of the Harrow class ability I have, I have a +2 on any Charisma check and the whole party has a +1 insight bonus to hit for the time in here.

As the group prepares to enter the area, Carina casts Comprehend Languages, See Invisibility, Heightened Awareness and Mage Armor on herself. Unlike Ridley, Carina's holding onto Heightened Awareness, if combat starts.

Like Ridley, she holds back, also worried about any unpleasant surprises.

Setare, which color of forked tongue do you put your hand in?

Blue, yellow then red. And if nothing happens then she proceeds up to the stairs.

As Setare places her in hand in the depression on the forked tongue of the blue face, the face seems to animate in a flash and try to bite down!

Setare, you can try to pull your hand out of the way with a Reflex saving throw

reflex : 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21

Setare tries to pull away and looks a little shocked.

If she is successful she leaves the other heads alone and moves to the double doors and opens them.

Setare pulls her hand away before the animated mouth manages to bite down. The visage returns to normal stone.

The stone doors to the south are thrown open to reveal a large square-shaped chamber. Dozens of life-sized statues of noble warriors garbed in fluted ceremonial armor line the walls, while a pattern of nested rectangles marks the smooth stone floor. Stone walls stretch up forty feet to wide slabs in the ceiling that bathe the whole chamber in bright light. Another set of double-doors stand opposite the entrance. Along the west wall, twenty feet above the floor, a massive panel of clear glass holds back three columns of roiling yellow smoke in an alcove overlooking the room.

Ridley will pull out his Lantern of Auras and scan the room for magical auras. The lantern is a magic item that illuminates magic auras on things it illuminates per detect magic.

In particular, Ridley will scan the three demonic faces.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 18 + 2 = 21

Lets see if we can figure out what is going on with these demons. Nobody stick anymore hands in them for the moment!

Setare waits so that Ridley has concluded his research and after that enters the room.

I already moved my icon.

After learning what I can from the lamp, Ridley will suggest Kivuli inspect the demons to see if the bite is a trap of some sort.

Ridley will auto-aid Kivuli on his efforts.

After the party is done investigating the first room but before they move on to the next.

Before the party moves to the next room, Raynor casts Communal Protection from Evil on himself, his mount, Setare, Ridley, and Carina. He follows with the casting of a scroll of Divine Favor on himself. He then follows Setare into the room.

Setare asks the other Pathfinders to come with her and when everybody is inside she approaches the panel.

The rogue stays close to the Sarenrite. I hope she shows more restraint here. One can't go putting their hands all over everything they encounter. Well, one could, but they probably shouldn't.

Perception: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (14) + 19 = 33 A total of 34 for traps.
Engineering? vs panel: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 9 + (2) = 17

Ridley examines the demonic stone faces with his magic lamp while Kivuli checks if they’re trapped. Meanwhile, Raynor casts several protective spells.

Everyone, please note the buffs that Raynor has cast and add to your taglines.

Everyone, here’s your first friendly reminder to mark off consumables from your inventory tracking sheets/encumbrance sheets when used.

With Setare and Kivuli in the lead, Raynor and his mount behind, and Luke lurking in the doorway, five living creatures are in the southern room when the stone doors suddenly slam shut! Everyone on both sides can hear the clicking of mechanical locks.

The yellow smoke in the wall panel roils and seethes as it slowly begins to take on the image of a giant face. The smoky image seems to look forth from its vantage point behind the glass inset into the wall, scowling hatefully before it speaks in a raspy, disgusted voice: “Foolish apprentices,” it spits, “how should I have predicted your betrayal at my most critical moment. Seek to escape into some unwritten time, eh? By now you must have realized your ioun stone array has failed. You now stand marooned in time, living a day, an hour, a single moment stretched into an infinity over countless centuries yet to dawn—one final lesson in obedience from your very, very disappointed master. It does my heart proud to know that your last, eternal moments will see you hunted like animals. Farewell, my faithless friends. Test all I have taught you against the blades of Azlant!”

From out of three of the myriad statues along the walls, women of living stone armed with swords suddenly appear and move to attack!

Luke, you have a choice because you are adjacent to the doors when they start to slam closed: you can stay in the southern room or try to leap back into the northern room with a DC 16 Reflex save.

As the doors slam shut, the stones on the floor shift slightly—this makes moving from one of the rectangular areas to another count as a square of difficult terrain.

This magical effect happens once five living creatures are in the southern room, and I based which five based on your descriptions of actions and placement on the grid.

Initiative (Round 1)

Setare
Ridley
Statues
Carina
Raynor
Kivuli
Luke

Bold may go!

Arcana: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 10 + (4) = 34

If Kivuli can shout out warnings before his initiative, he shall, otherwise I will wait. I find the different Pbp GM's each have their own procedure for this, so I'm good with whatever your rule is.

That's a fair question. I generally rule that PCs can identify creatures on their turn, and then shout something quickly anytime thereafter.

Looks like I better add one more piece of useful information!

I generally rule that PCs can identify creatures on their turn, and then shout something quickly anytime thereafter.

Gotcha!

Just wondering if there is any response to the spoiler in my previous post.

Setare walks forward and readies an action to attack with her Scimitar to do lethal damage if one of the statues approaches.

Readied action.

Scimitar +1 primary attack roll, Piranha Strike -2 : 1d20 + 13 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 13 - 2 = 24
Damage roll, precise strike +4, piranha strike +4: 1d6 + 7 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 4 + 4 = 20

In case Setare is attacked she uses 'Opportune Parry' and parries by using an AoO to parry and spends a panache point (so if the attack roll of the opponent is lower than Setare's parry then the opponent does not hit and Setare could potentially riposte)

Opportune Parry: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

In case Setare successfully parries she uses 'Riposte' as an immediate action to attack the opponent that attacked her.

Scimitar +1 reposte attack roll, Piranha Strike -2: 1d20 + 13 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 13 - 2 = 17
Damage riposte roll, precise strike+4, piranha strike +4 : 1d6 + 7 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 4 + 4 = 16

* *

Using Bodyguard feat to increase adjacent allies’ AC vs. melee attacks by +4 with aid another by using 3 of 7 AoOs against the next three attacks of the opponent (success on every roll that is not a natural 1) so please increase AC accordingly:

Bodyguard 1 : 1d20 ⇒ 10; Bodyguard 2 : 1d20 ⇒ 2; Bodyguard 3 : 1d20 ⇒ 9

Ridley advances forward and lobs a grease bomb at the blue column.

Range Touch Attack, PBS, Heroism: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 1 + 2 = 17
Damage: 4d4 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4, 4, 1) + 8 + 1 = 19

The squares marked on the map are now covered in grease - the Column needs to make a DC 10 acrobatics check to move. Failure means it can't move, failure by 5 or more means it falls prone.

Kn Arcana: 1d20 + 25 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 25 + 2 = 37

Ridley, you and Carina are on the other side of a locked stone door. If you want to help your companions, that door needs to get opened. You can re-do your turn.

Luke, I need that decision whether you're going to stay in the southern room or try a Reflex save to jump back into the northern room before the doors close.

I thought I had to make that decision on my turn. I will stay in the southern room

No worries, thanks. Once Ridley re-does his turn, the statues will go.

Ridley will see if he can unlock the door.

disable device: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 16 + 2 = 25

Ridley moves next to the door and starts to see if he can unlock them.

Ridley, it'll take a move action to get next to the doors. You can use a standard action to start unlocking the doors, and a second standard action next turn to finish (it's normally a full-round action to do a Disable Device check to attempt to open a lock). I don't see a set of thieves' tools on your equipment list, so the DC will go up by 10.

The statues advance, stone swords at the ready! One threatens Kivuli, one charges forth and slashes at Raynor’s gecko, and a third moves toward Setare. Setare is ready for action and slashes at one of the statues with her scimitar, damaging it, but a crack appears in her blade!

Raynor, your gecko takes 7 points of damage.

Setare, your +1 scimitar normally has hardness 12 and 15 hit points (1-handed blade with +1 enhancement). Hitting the statute only incurred 1 hp of damage over hardness, but this monster has a specific ruling that any hp damage to weapons that strike them gain the broken condition. Weapons with the broken condition have a -2 to attack and damage, threaten critical hits only on a natural 20, and only deal x2 damage on a critical hit.

Blue did two move actions to get next to Kivuli, Black did a charge attack on the gecko, and Yellow did two move actions to get next to Setare. (remember, move from one rectangular area to another is treated as a step through difficult terrain).

Setare, your readied attack hit but your blade doesn’t cut as deeply as you thought (there’s some kind of DR at work) and there are no vitals to focus on (you don’t get precision damage).

Initiative (Round 1)

Setare
Ridley
Statues
Carina
Raynor
Kivuli
Luke

Bold may go!

Kivuli shouts out a quick briefing about the enemy. Open up the spoilers.

+1 Keen ADAMANTINE Estoc vs BLUE {PA/ST/2H}: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 12 + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15

Swift Action to Quick Study target

Luke starts raging and attacks the black statue.

+2 Large bastard sword - power attack: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 15 - 2 = 26

damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (4, 2) + 12 + 6 = 24

+2 Large bastard sword - power attcak: 1d20 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 10 - 2 = 20

damage: 2d8 + 12 + 6 ⇒ (2, 7) + 12 + 6 = 27

Ridley’s estoc cuts into the caryatid column next to him. Luke’s powerful swings also connect, sending large chunks of stone everywhere and reducing the animated statue to a pile of inert rubble!

Ridley, your blade also met some resistance (DR, not hardness, so adamantine doesn’t necessarily go through it). The good news is your weapon has enough hardness that it can’t take damage from attacking the caryatid columns.

Good attacks Luke! Both hit even with the statue getting cover for attacking from around the corner. There is some resistance, but you do so much damage, it doesn't matter. The large +2 bastard sword has hardness 14 (from being +2) and 40 hit points (base 10 for being a two-handed weapon, x2 for being large, + 20 for being a +2 weapon). Your weapon takes 1 point of damage from the first swing, and now has the broken condition: -2 attack and damage, threatens only on a 20, and can only have a x2 multiplier.

When the black statue charges his noble steed, Raynor yanks the reins to the left to move the gecko out of harm's reach.

Mounted Combat feat, Ride check vs. statue's attack roll: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18 likely a fail

Alas the gecko is somewhat not reacting to the threat against the inanimate attacker, and pays the price of its inattention.

Raynor curses under his breath, unable to fully repress his early pirate years, but then Luke comes out of nowhere to destroy the threat! the eye-patched paladin nods to the barbarian, and steers the reptile mount forward in order to attack the statue with yellow paint.

Attack vs. yellow
+1 Adamantine Lance, Power Attack, Mounted, Divine Favor, Fate's Favored, Weapon +1: 1d20 + 13 - 3 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 13 - 3 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 31
adamantine magical piercing dmg, power attack: 1d8 + 10 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 9 = 22

I'll use a standard now and standard next turn to get it open. Apologies, I do have Thieves tools - they just never made it onto my online character sheet. I'll update now.

Carina, as per usual is unaware of trouble until it springs. As the door locks in front of her, and Ridley begins working on the door, Carina nods and unfurls on of her scarves, letting it jingle with a plethora of tiny razors sewn into the cloth. She quietly watches Ridley work, ready to act as soon as he's done.

Move action - draw weapon
Standard action - ready to move into the room once the door is unlocked. And I'll note again, seeing as noone noted it, Carina gave everyone a +1 insight bonus to hit