GM Netherpongo's Emerald Spire (The Automaton Forge) (Inactive)

Game Master Nathan Goodrich

all the pools I have ever seen haven't ended well. The last had a multi tentacled thing and creatures with energy draining. Not entertaining at all. Coreleus says

After looking for traps (and waiting for the expert trap spotters in the group to do the same), Otto casts Shillelagh on his club (8 minute duration) and air walks into the room, being careful to stay above the pool. (GM, how high is the ceiling? Otto's preference would be to be 20' above the pool if there's room.)

Then he casts both Detect Magic and then Detect Poison, concentrating first on the pool, and then scanning the rest of the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

He instructs Allison to follow the group into the room, acting as a rear guard.

Otto: the ceilings throughout this part of the complex are 20' high, so Otto would be 10' off the ground.

Otto doesn't detect any magic or poison in the pool. The bottom of the pool does seem to be coated with a layer of metal.

Otto looks at the metal in the pool with distaste. "Just think of the lovely lotus flowers that might be growing there if not for all that trash someone has thrown in there. I suppose we should probably dredge it out before it gets even more polluted..."

Professor will check for anything special about the material, for traps and for anything mechanical.

Perception: 10 + 29 + 1d6 ⇒ 10 + 29 + (5) = 44 +4 for traps

Professor Kaldosian doesn't find any traps, but as he examines the edges of the pool, he notes unusual sediment rings along the side. The liquid is almost certainly not water.

"Is this liquid water Professor?"

Ranalus hangs back, ready if his spells are needed.

Unrelated, but some stuff I've been forgetting about.

From back in the kitchen, the Steward calls out to you. "Server Two is not equipped to enter the Reclaimers territory. If one of you could carry my head, I can perform the necessary adjustments at the Iron Creche. Chef Two, fetch our emergency supplies. It's time we used them."

Chef Two brings the group three Potions of Cure Serious Wounds.

"Very well, Steward. I can help."

Ranalus will be happy to carry the Patron's head around. He will have the head in one hand, and his buckler on the other (no weapon). Should he need to cast a spell, he'll use the buckler hand and forego the benefit of his buckler that round. And should he need to use Door Sight, he'll hand off the Steward's head.

Ranalus is mostly here for utility casting and a variety of situational abilities - the party won't miss the minor damage he does.

He does not take any of the potions.

1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 "Those were some good cakes."

Otto feast: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Allison feast: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

"Agreed. Delicious cakes. Now, what about this liquid - I wonder what it is?"

Knowledge (Nature) to know anything about the liquid in the pool: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

"It seems like water to me. Probably good for drinking too."

temporary hp: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

cake is always good...

Alchemy: 1d20 + 17 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 17 + (6) = 43

The professor pullout glass volumetric pipette and draws up 1 ml and adds that to a test tube. Then he adds a pH indicator. Following that titrates a strong base of a known concentration he keeps in his kit.

"Strong acid very high concentration. It will eat through normal metal. You could get naked and go for a swim though."

Otto smiles and glances down at his dragonhide Hellknight plate armor. "What about this? Would it be affected? I knew there was a reason I decided to take the form of a water troll today..."

If the Professor feels confident that the acid will only harm metal then Otto will remove any metal from his person but keep wearing his dragonhide armor and wielding his shillelagh, and then will enter the pool to examine the submerged metal. Just to be on the safe side, Otto will also cast Resist Energy (Acid) on himself, giving him Acid Resistance 10 for 10 minutes (this is from his Hunter spell casting, not his Druid list).

Give us a Perception check, Otto.

Perception, HA: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 15 + 2 = 22

As Otto enters the pool of acid, he notices that the consistency is different from water, but it does not seem to burn him or his clothes. He sifts around through the pool and he notices a glint of metal. He treads through the acidic liquid to reach it and pulls out a greatsword that seems to have survived immersion in the pool.

Make another Perception check, this time for everyone.

Perception: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (4) + 29 = 33
Ranalus is unusually lax in his observation.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

"It doesn't even some rusted or anything. How odd."

"Yes these cakes were quite delicious!"

hp: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

- - -

Toshiro looks around the area.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Perception: 10 + 29 + 1d6 ⇒ 10 + 29 + (3) = 42

perc: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (20) + 19 = 39

good find with the sword Otto Coreleus takes a look around and spots something

Perception: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (10) + 28 = 38

As Otto continues his acid bath, the waters are disturbed by another force as part of the metal on the bottom of the pool rises up to attack you. The temperature in the pool room rises noticeably as part of its body rises above the surface of the acid. This thing is hot!

Coreleus Initiative: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20
Ograk Initiative: 1d20 + 11 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 4 = 18
Otto Initiative + Heightened Awareness: 1d20 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 4 = 15
Professor Kaldosian Initiative + Heightened Awareness: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 4 = 22
Allison Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Toshiro Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Ranalus Initiative: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Ooze Initiative: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (14) - 2 = 12

Initiative Order:
Ranalus, Allison, Professor Kaldosian, Coreleus, Otto (surprised), Ograk
Ooze
Toshiro (surprised)

Ranalus, Professor Kaldosian, Coreleus & Ograk can act! Allison can act as well if she makes the Perception check vs surprise (DC 28), which I probably should have just rolled for everyone yesterday. This is a surprise round.

I just looked at the map and it looks like there were some misunderstandings. The big green pool doesn't have a door leading to it and there was much talk about a door, so I thought you guys were investigating the blue pool. I've moved Otto to that pool so we can be in the correct room. People can move themselves around the pool area as they think they would have done before the attack began. The spacing for this encounter...isn't going to make sense given that the ooze is Huge size. Let's just have it take up all the pool squares, and since it's an ooze we won't force any penalties for sharing space with Otto.

Did you see my question about Plane Shift tuning forks in Discussion?

Ranalus casts Resist Energy (Fire) on himself. Shadowy tendrils emanate from his holy symbol and slither onto his rune-cloak.

Would use Communal Resist Energy on the party but we didn't give an indication that we were all clustered together.

I neglected to respond earlier. Sorry. If the guide says you can get tuning forks from the Society of free, I can't imagine what basis I would have for saying no. By RAW it looks like a standard spell component pouch would probably cover it too.

Allison cannot make a DC 28 Perception check so no surprise round action for her.

Ranalus, I think you can cast Communal Resist Energy and then move around and touch everyone, as long as you have enough movement to reach everyone. Otto also has this prepped in case we need it again.

My understanding of Communal spells was that it was a full-round action to cast & touch everyone adjacent to you, then a standard action for each touch thereafter. I haven't looked at the rules recently, though, and don't have my books with me right now. Could be wrong.

The reason for saying no would have been that I did not explicitly have them on my character sheet before we started, but did have a spell component pouch.
As to Communal Resist Energy, can't cast and move in a surprise round, so couldn't touch everybody. Planning to Plane Shift the ooze to Hell next round.

how far away from this thing is Coreleus now?

Honestly, however far away you want to be, based on the map position. We were sloppy about where exactly everyone was at as the encounter setup started. If you can access the map, just choose a position based on where you think your character would have gone as the party explored the pool. If you can't access the map, just choose next to the pool somewhere or down the hall.

I don’t think I can see it? If so I don’t really have a surprise round option. If I can see it, and within 30’, i will use misfortune hex (DC 24 will or roll twice and take lower)

Coreleus is at the back of the group when the sword is found and must five foot step further into the Hall to see the creature pulling his wand and casting gravity bow on himself

umd: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

Professor drinks he potion of reduce person.

Ograk: I'm letting everyone place themselves where they like. It's in the blue pool with Otto, so if your mini is where it is at on the map, you can see it.

Ograk curses the ooze with misfortune worse than being an ooze. The superheated slag strikes out at Otto with a sword that seems to form out of its body, but the attack misses the large druid.

Otto takes 5 fire damage at the beginning of his turn and Professor Kaldosian takes 2 fire damage at the beginning of his turn since they are close to the ooze. If either takes any fire damage, they need to make a Fortitude DC 16 saving throw or be staggered for 1 round.

Initiative is easy now! Everyone can act (Toshiro remains surprised for this round).

Ranalus moves up, casts Plane Shift, and touches the ooze.
"Go to Hell."
He uses Alien Mind (Feysworn ability) as an immediate action to grant himself a +4 sacred bonus to Wis for a round, making the spell DC 23 (5th level, +8 Wis).
Concentration DC 25 to cast defensively: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (2) + 22 = 24
Using my Folio reroll on that
Concentration: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (15) + 22 = 37

I may have been able to avoid the need for a Concentration check by first casting and then moving and touching... not too sure about that.

Will save but not mind-affecting - should be good vs an ooze.
Resist Energy (Fire) should mitigate most of the danger of touching the ooze.

The fire dmg comes off of Otto's temp hp from Heroes' Feast.

Fort DC 16: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

Plane Shift, like any other touch spell, should allow you to cast, move, deliver. You can even cast and then hold the charge, almost indefinitely, before delivering it.

As Ranalus sends the ooze to hell, Otto hurriedly tells it, "Listen, I know we are not on the best of terms right now, but when you get there, will you look for my mother's dog? It's one of the only places I haven't looked yet."

Holding my action to see if the Ooze manages to stay put.

Fort: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22
Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 19 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 19 + (3) = 29

Delay.

Ranalus: some good news and some (not very) bad news. First, since Plane Shift is a touch attack, you could take advantage of the special rule for melee touch spells that lets you cast before you move, hold the charge, walk up to a creature and deliver the charge at the end of your move. So, you didn't really need to make a concentration check at all. Unless you want to force it on yourself, you can have your reroll back. Edit: I only now saw that you were wondering about the touch attack rule. And what Otto said. Anyhow, you can do that.

The mildly bad news is that Plane Shift is still a touch attack, so I need a melee touch attack roll to go with that. It's an ooze, though, so this won't be hard. Assuming you can hit...

I usually roll my dice secretly, but this is midly fun, so here we go:
Ooze Will vs Plane Shift DC 23: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3
Ooze Will vs Plane Shift DC 23 (Misfortune): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

Look at that. He didn't natural 20 twice in a row...

I kind of want to follow along, just to see the ooze's adventures in hell...

Touch attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

The ooze departs this world for a much-deserved (and likely quite permanent) vacation in Hell.

Does Ranalus take any fire damage from touching the ooze? He has Resist Fire 20.

The half-elf smiles a bit. "Okay, then. On to the next room?"

Coreleus blinks as the ooze takes a quick departure to hell and says plainly as it goes say hello to my lord Asmodeus when you arrive as quick as he can but quite sure he for sure heard about searching for a dog...

Toshiro shakes his head and bows it quickly. "My deepest apologies I did not see that coming. But Ranalus has won the day!"

"Nice work, Ranalus. You gave the ooze a means to communicate back to us if it spots the dog, right? Anyway, let's investigate this room thoroughly before we move on. What was the story with that greatsword I found? What was it doing in there? Just a lure for the ooze? Or something else? I wonder if it could be a clue to the doggie's whereabouts?"

Detect Magic & Detect Poison

The sword glows in Otto's hands as he stops to examine the blade. It is definitely magical. He does not find any poison in the room.

If you want to continue examining the room, you can make Perception checks. For the sake of thread length, I'll say that you need to be in the pool to succeed. This isn't to say that something else is in the pool, only that there isn't anything out of it.

Also, we haven't been tracking time with any precision, but I'm going to say that min/lvl buffs from before the Tearoom are down now.

" Well done! I'm happy to take a swim but it takes a little time to get in and out of all my gear. We can double-check every room on the way out. If folks are ok with that?"

Spellcraft re magic sword: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

Otto activates Heightened Awareness from his wand again before they leave the room.

Otto is able to determine that the sword is a +1 Anarchic Greatsword.

Are you guys done here?