Wrath of the Righteous for Paladins

Game Master trawets71

Oh, I almost never actually bother with the followers from Leadership. Heck, most of the time I don't even stat them up. The only time I did was for a Kingmaker game, and even then they were mostly to serve as an honor guard that didn't actually do anything. Eventually my Leadership score got high enough that I had enough Level 1 followers that the GM let me assemble them into an army of 100 Level 1 Fighters - who I don't think I ever actually took out of the capital.

I haven't had the chance to play around with Leadership before. It's always been banned at the tables I play at. One day, would love to dive in and use it, but I don't think Fley is the right character to do it with.

I think splitting the party will be fine however we do it. I had split up the four primary melee fighters two-and-two. I imagine that you could do other combinations.

I am fine with whatever.

"... You are not getting through those armies to their leaders without the Knights of Kenabres right behind you. You charge for the gap..."

huh, not sure why I thought the commanders were on the outside of the armies instead of the inside...

I think we are all better at fighting demons than fighting humans. So some of us are going to have to suck it up and fight those we are less optimized for facing.

Leothar will go for the humans even though he'd rather be fighting the demons.

I have evil outsider bane, so in this case I have a legit reason for going demon ;)

Fley can go to either side, though he's just going to be a nuisance to the humans instead of a threat really.

Why don't Fley and I switch then? I can smite humans just as easily as demons, and your favored enemy type bonus is more useful to the demon side.

Here is how I would do it:

Demons
* Dadna (evil outsider bane)
* Ian (evil outsider bane)
* Fley (evil outsider favored enemy)

Tieflings
* Donnen
* Leothar
* Ardriel

I think that this will maximize our chances of success here.

I think we have very high odds of success no matter how we do it.
But let's go with that.

Long day today. Went gem mining. I'm beat. Hopefully we will get things moving again now.

So now I'm wishing Ian's Spell-Like Ability was glitterdust instead of daylight

I am assuming somebody went invisible on your side?
When I made a PC for this AP before (campaign died before starting), I took the Touched by Divinity trait to get Faerie Fire from Iomedae's Light subdomain.

Invisibility Purge might be a good choice for Unsanctioned Knowledge if anybody has or can take that, or for a Legendary Item.

I took Unsanctioned Knowledge, but for Bard, not Cleric. GM said I can take it multiple times, so I might grab it or See invis for that one.

Of course, as paladins, we do have Litany of Sight.

I think that I'll take it at lvl 7. It fits hierophant to have spells worth casting. Will go inquisitor, so I can take:

Lvl 1: ?
Lvl 2: See Invisibility
Lvl 3: Invisibility Purge
Lvl 4: Dismissal (for when demons want to stay out of melee)

That should help alot with our invisibility problems.

Oh, that's a good spell. I didn't know about that one.

There are certain enchantments for weapons like Limning and Phase Locking that can be particularly interesting for this AP! They're from Ultimate Equipment, though, so I'm not sure if they're available for us.

There are certain enchantments for weapons like Limning and Phase Locking that can be particularly interesting for this AP! They're from Ultimate Equipment, though, so I'm not sure if they're available for us.

Good finds! Given that Dadna can enchant her weapon at 1/2 cost due to mythic, she would very much like to take Phase Locking if it is available.

To be fair, Litany of Sight is from Ultimate Combat, which means it's up to the GM whether or not we can take it. Still, it does give Paladins an option for finding invisible foes.

+1 great sword
+1 full plate
+1 cloak of resistance
+1 ring of protection
4x +1 scythes

We found loot! People should grab stuff, because it's good loot. Even if you don't want to keep it, it's better for loot to be used than to sit in the loot pile.

Fley, given that you are melee and have AC18, I think you should grab that ring.

Sure! I'll take that ring if it's okay with everyone else.

Cool with me Fley

I hope that one felt a little more difficult. I gave everyone max hp. The incubus was at 0 when he teleported out. Your characters wouldn't know without a spellcraft check why he disappeared. The cultist were the ones from the first book with a level of fighter and cleric. The leader was a basic 6th level fighter.

It did feel more difficult - especially since we had to split the party for this fight. That cost us our action economy advantage, and, vs the cultists and human, gave it to the enemies. I think my smiting longbow crit on the human did a lot to turn the tide in our favor.

I'm fine with Fley taking the ring. As for the cloak of resistance...I don't have one. Does anyone else not have one?

Is that +1 full plate an armor upgrade for anyone?

Leothar has only MW Full Plate, but since this armor is sized for a human, I would imagine that it should require extensive modification. I don't know if there are PF rules on that, or if all Medium-sized full plate is considered to be identical.

@GM - yes, I would say it felt more challenging. There will definitely be combats that don't play to our strengths (like if there are foes at a height with ranged weapons) but a melee fight is our strength.

By RAW, armor comes in small, medium and large. Dwarves are medium, just like humans.

I'm fine with Ardriel grabbing the cloak and Leothar the fullplate +1.

And for the fight...it was more challenging. While I'm usually not a fan of splitting the party, that worked remarkably well. Also, the Incubus was at 0HP? Gah...so close! I do hope that we hit lvl7 before we meet him again, so we can get some anti-invisibility spells.

Yeah, the incubus had taken exactly the hit points I gave him. He stepped back and used his SLA dropping to -1.

Yeah, my plate is also just masterwork, but I can’t afford right now to pay the “party loot” so... :)

As for the scene, I enjoyed it. I think it would work too even with all of us together, so we wouldn’t have to do the whole spoiler thing! It’s more about economy and different enemies on the same fight.

Well, 'afford' only matters if your going to keep it right? I certainly think one of the dwarves should use the armor at least until we do the cash split. May be different if you have to spend money to get it 'sized.'

Yeah - feel free to use the armor. I'd rather have you have it now than wait for later.

I just want to confirm that Leothar and Ian are not giving Fley the chance to scout. If you are, I need to know how far back and how much time you are giving him. Based on his intend path he looped out to the west to approach from that direction and not the gorge. Moving north from where I put you guys may NOT give Fley any chance to scout. If you can see in, it may be possible for someone to see out. If it seems I am being picky, I am trying to set the starting point for this temple exploration and I will be going to round as soon as anyone could conceivably be seen from inside whether your characters think so or not. If you are moving to where your icons are you will not be starting from there as you have moved into full view of the compound. If that is your intention I need to know how far back to move Fley. He hasn't reported back to you and I have him and the elemental at the corner. How close to the scout you can be will depend on the situation, outside with wide open line of sight like this place has in most directions means you need to be well back. In a forest where you can't see far, you can be a lot closer though you may be heard and not seen if you are too close. In a building pretty much all you need to be is out of sight of where the scout is trying to scout. Being the scout is dangerous as he has to stick his neck out to do his job and it is understandable to want to be close to help him, but in a lot of cases being close means he can't do his job.

Leothar will remain back with Donnen and Dadna.

Sorry, Ian will stay back with Donnen and Dadna as well.

I suppose I was being overprotective of Fley, and the GM makes a good point - if he is going to be a scout, he has to stick his neck out. Part of the job description.
He's a Mythic Trickster now, I should let him do his thing.

I would give him... five minutes, I guess.

Well, it is very IC for a Paladin of Torag to be both overprotective and not completely understanding of a scout.

"Right, time to scout. Form up a shield wall. I want three ranks of solid steel going down that corridor. Be sure to cover the man to your left with your shield, his life is in your hands! Watch the flanks when going through doors. Shields to the doors when passing, rear ranks be alert for ambush."

"Sir, this is a scouting mission."

"Right, right. And men, keep your eyes open! Shields up, spears sharp!"

Sorry for the delay. We found termites at work, and then I had family coming out for the holiday.

Dadna, your item doesn't become a minor artifact until you have taken Legendary Item twice. It becomes a major artifact when taken three times.

Legendary Item (Ex): You gain a legendary item. This item grants a number of abilities equal to your tier (maximum 3). At 3rd tier, you can select this ability again, increasing the maximum to six abilities and causing the item to become a lesser artifact. At 6th tier, you can select this ability again, increasing the maximum to 10 abilities; the item then becomes a greater artifact.

Oh! Jeeze. Missed that. Hope it doesn’t break before then.

I foolishly forgot to put in Ian's inspiring sword. If it is not too late, Dadna would thus have a 20 to hit with 22 damage, and a 22 to hit with 25 damage. If it's too late, then no problem, it's my fault for forgetting it.

Difficult situation we find ourselves in. Doorway chokepoint so our melee can't come in without being completely surrounded. Enemy has at least one full caster.

In a situation like this, my gut reaction is to have Adriel smite the enemy cleric with arrows while we take up our own defensive position. Not in the "whomever comes in is dead" type formation like they have, but rather "come at me, bro" where we step back to allow them to swarm in. A solid line of all 6 melee (including elemental) on the second row, with Adriel right behind us. Give the enemy the option of coming in and facing us, or sitting back and seeing if their magic can overcome Adriel's arrows. I think in a situation like this, Adriel's arrows would come out on top.

Charging in though? Either through this door or trying to go around via the north, it just seems like a great way of getting a PC surrounded and downed.

I could also Overrun to break through their lines. Does seem an ideal situation for it.

Another idea to try...
Fleet Charge and attack Blue, then full attack Blue, then 5' step south if I drop him in 3 attacks.

Or...
Fleet Charge, then Withdraw

Hopefully I'll get the ghoul cleric finished off so they only have one spellcaster, then I'll smite arrow shoot wing-boy.

If someone could figure out if he's a demon or some other evil outsider it would be helpful.

As for charging in or keep trying to strategize too much these fights - Donnen is defensive, and based more on cleaving than nova'ing a single enemy, so the character benefits from being surrounded by champs - as I suspect Leothar as well. As dangerous as it might be, that's my preferred way of playing the character. Notice that Donnen isn't reckless, but keeping pressure is his best way to be useful. Each of us can play their own character, right? :)

Donnen has a better AC than Leothar, plus DR and Fortification. I would be more averse to getting surrounded. That's why I used a hit-and-run with Fleet Charge, and considered Overrun to break through their lines.

I am not entirely sure about the extent to which Improved Overrun eliminates AOOs. Certainly I do not provoke for the combat maneuver itself, but the movement associated with it would have me leaving several ghouls' threatened areas. It may not be as good for a "linebreaker" approach unless I take Mobility.

Overrun definitely provokes from the surrounding targets. I had used bull rush before here in the game, and I feel that might be a better maneuver in this case (to open space and occupy it). Regardless, my point was simply that staying behind will likely never be truly useful to Donnen, and I suspect that most of the party.

what is the barroom you are adding in?

Donnen has the Alternate race trait:

I think it's a type-O

Sorry for the delay today. I am not feeling great. Things may be slow for a couple of days. We will see.

There is a Mythic Champion ability where a 1 is no longer an automatic miss...

You pretty much found the only way to miss those ghouls. They have a 14 AC.

Can we say that Fley has bought a masterwork backpack? He has the gold for it, and it would increase his carrying capacity to the point where he can hold his gear. I think that we, as players, might not have thought about it, but someone constantly struggling under a heavy load would certainly have done so before going on campaign.

Fley already has a masterwork backpack and that won't fix his issues. His problem is his 10 strength. He can only carry 24.75 pounds of gear before hitting medium load.