GM_MG's Extinction Curse (Inactive)

Game Master GM_MG

Carl hold his hand up toward the group.
"I got to make a fiber talkic connection." With that he kneels down and extends a few tendrils of himself to join the nearby foliage.

10-17. This is Carl jumping in on the party line. If anyone is in the Local Area Connection, can I get the scoop on the dude with the fire by my 20? Over.

10-4, wood buddy, you want to watch out for these fellers, these floating light things have been hiding on this island luring travelers to their doom for a minute. There's a dead two-legger here fertilizing my roots as we speak.

Been a while since I handed out hero points, so everyone can have one.

Roger that cousin. I appreciate the tip. We got too many friendlies around to let this continue. I got to ask a man I respect for a favor to make up your loss. Sooner started, sooner completed. Out.

With that Carl retracts the vines and moves back to the rest of the group.

Nature 7T if I can, maybe the others will do better.

"Local friendlies said we got bad news over there. Some sort of light is luring bipeds to their death. Made it sound like plural. And the weird part is not someone making lights. But like it was the floating light doing this.

We have too many children and non-combatants coming to the show. I think it knows we are here."

Hearing the music inspires Kvothe to join in. I slinging his lute and checking the tune, he then begins to play and sing

When I was just a little boy
Standin' to my Daddy's knee
My Papa said "Son, don't let the man get you
And do what he done to me?
'Cause he'll get you
'Cause he'll get ya now, now"
Well, I can remember the Fourth of July
Runnin' through the backwood bay
I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'
Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou
Lord, Lord

performance: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

can I switch my movement activity to perform cantrip (inspire)?

At Carl's warning, Didy takes up a position at the water's edge. He nocks an arrow and gives the leshy a nod to know he has him covered.

If I can, I will switch my activity to Track and mark one of the creatures as my prey. Otherwise I would like to Search to try and spot or sniff the hiding threats.

There's a pause after Kvothe begins playing, and the song across the swamp changes.

♫This summer I went swimming
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and kicked me feet
And I moved my arms around
I moved my arms around♫

The light changes quality, flaring brighter.

♫This summer I swam in the ocean
And I swam in a swimming pool
Salt in my wounds, chlorine my eyes
I'm a self destructive fool,
I'm a self destructive fool♫

Didy doesn't detect anything over there. Curiously, he doesn't even smell smoke.

Carl is unable to recall any creatures like this. Occultism to identify.

Racking his brain to see if he's heard of any stories about what these creatures could be, Kvothe continues to play

Wish I were back on the bayou
Rollin' with some Cajun Queen
Wish that I were a fast freight train
A-just a-choogling on down to New Orleans
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou
Do it, do it, do it, do it
I can remember the Fourth of July
Runnin' through the backwood bay
And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'
Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Chasin' down a hoodoo there

occultism is +9 to ID

Kvothe isn't familiar with whatever these creatures are.

Didy whispers, "I don;t even smell smoke. There's definitely some magical hijinks going on. But we know they are hostile, so we gotta clear 'em out to protect the circus. Lead on, Carl, and Pinchy'll follow ya. The rest of us'll cover you from here. Good luck!"

@Carl, when you move up, please move Pinchy along with you, wherever it would be most convenient to position her for your sake.

Carl takes a moment to adjust his shield, nods to Mr. Pinchy, and moves to 15' from the source of the light.

Didy
Carl
Kvothe
Al

As Carl steps forward, he sees a small, sandy area in the center of the island, surrounded by thick, gnarled roots. The 'campfire' is apparently just a ball of red-orange light, floating among some of the roots on the north-western side of the island.

Didy is up!

Would it be possible to post anything from Kvothe occult roll?

I'm not sure what you mean. I posted above that Kvothe wasn't able to identify the creatures.

oops. I totally missed that. This is going to be interesting combat.

The ranger takes stock of the strange creature, before deciding his options are fairly limited and firing his bow. He makes a few clicks with his mouth, advising caution in Pinchy.

Hunt Prey on the creature, which gives me the free ID check but it is a total stab in the dark with my +0 Occultism. Then Hunted Shot and Command: Ready a stinger attack if it gets into melee range for Pinchy. I am not sure if Kvothe was able to inspire precombat. If so, please add the +1s.

hunted shot 1: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29
piercing: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 3) + 1 = 6
hunted shot 2: 1d20 + 14 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 14 - 5 = 27
piercing: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 3) + 1 = 10
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Didy
Red light (-20, hidden)
Blue light (hidden)
Carl (-26)
Kvothe
Al

Didy hits twice. The creature evidently has some solidity to it.

The light promptly winks out. Shortly after, however, an arc of electricity strikes Carl, briefly revealing the creature's location.

Attack, vs. flat-footed: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35 Crit
Electrical damage: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (8, 3) + 2 = 13

Two more discharges of electricity strike Didy.

Attack, vs flat-footed: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21
Attack, vs flat footed: 1d20 + 15 - 5 ⇒ (3) + 15 - 5 = 13

Luckily, both miss.

Up next, everybody else!

Carl shakes his head to clear the sudden ringing and to try and bring things back into focus. Setting his shield at a better angle he tries to bat the creature. Swinging his trident like he wants to bounce the creature on the ground. Then he steps back to be able to cover his allies.

Raises shield to keep AC 25
Trip: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 13 + 1 = 30
Hidden check: 1d20 ⇒ 11
Going to use my reaction on the first hit. Either Shield Block (Hardness 10) on myself, or Glimpse of Redemption on an ally(-7 hp damage & Enfeebled (or Stupefied) 2)[Whatever works best against those electric strikes.]

Continuing his tune on his lute, Kvothe belts out the chorus again

Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou

He then summons his arcane energy and hurls a telekinetic bolt at the blue ball of energy

inspire then TK projectile
telekinetic blast: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 11 + 1 = 16
bludgeon damage: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 3) + 1 = 10

Al shakes her head mockingly at the nearby creature as if to say that they chose their prey poorly, then unhinges her jaw to belch forth a thousand stinging insects.

intimidating glare on blue: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31

DC 21 basic reflex vs Vomit Swarm's piercing damage: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 8) = 11

Vomit Swarm is a 30ft cone, which should hit both Red and Blue while avoiding any allies. If they fail the reflex save they are also sickened 1.
1st 4/4
2nd 2/4
3rd 3/3
Focus 1/1

Didy looks over his shoulder in alarm at the horror tale the gnome just unleashed. His wide eyes turn back to the more pressing concern in front of him. He watches for movement of the air and any remnant sparks of electricity to aim his arrows at his elusive prey.

Seeking with the +2 Prey bonus to try to make my prey (Red) observed. It looks like this is a secret check in case I get it wrong and shoot at the wrong spot. With the prey bonus I am at +15. Then Command: Stride and Strike. Finally Hunted Shot. I will include the flat checks in case they are still needed.

flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 4
hunted shot 1+inspire vs FF: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 14 + 1 = 18
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 1 + 1 = 12
flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 1
hunted shot 2+inspire vs FF: 1d20 + 14 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 14 - 5 + 1 = 22
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 2) + 1 + 1 = 9
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 4
persistent poison: 1d6 ⇒ 6

if it's not too late I'd like to add lingering comp to my inspire

perform for lingering: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

Didy
Red light (-20, hidden)
Blue light (hidden)
Carl (-42)
Kvothe
Al

Carl somehow trips a sentient ball of light!

Kvothe misses with his attack, but succeeds at lingering composition.

Al's spell seems not to affect the creatures in the slightest.

Didy is pretty sure he knows where the creatures are, but misses both of his shots all the same.

Sparks of red lightning reveal the presence of the red orb, in front of Carl.

Attack: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 15 - 2 = 29
Damage: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8

Shield block reduces the damage to 0

Suddenly the blue orb strikes from behind Carl.

Attack, flat footed: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
Attack, flat footed: 1d20 + 15 - 5 ⇒ (3) + 15 - 5 = 13

Electical damage: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (8, 6) + 2 = 16

Everybody is up!

Did my intimidation seem to have any effect? Either way I am going to cast Faerie Fire this turn (10ft burst can easily get both thankfully), but if my intimidation worked I will use my 3rd action to intimidate the other one (red). Otherwise I will try to recall knowledge (+3 occultism).

"Yikes! These things are scary! We can hardly seem to even hurt them. If we can't turn the tide, we may need to consider running away, guys."

I will Command: Stride + Support, to get Pinchy into flank for Carl and hopefully get some poison damage going on these things. I will Stride to get clear of any cover from Carl and then fire Hunted Shot on Red.

flat: 1d20 ⇒ 13
hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 14 + 1 = 22
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6, 6) + 1 + 1 = 14
flat: 1d20 ⇒ 9
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 14 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 14 - 5 + 1 = 28
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4) + 1 + 1 = 7
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 1
persistent poison: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Didy
Red light (-20, hidden)
Blue light (hidden)
Carl (-42)
Kvothe
Al

Intimidate does indeed work.

22 is a miss, but the 9 will fail on the flat check for the second roll. Do you want to use a hero point?

Aren't they just concealed now that Al cast Faerie Fire?

Great! Al will happily glower at the other evil glow worm.

intimidating glare: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

Didy
Red light (-30, hidden)
Blue light (hidden, Frightened 1)
Carl (-42)
Kvothe
Al (-35)

Ah, missed that game actions were happening in out-of-character tags.

This spell seems to work

Didy's second arrow hits the creature, apparently destroying it.

Carl and Kvothe are up!

Carl grimaces from the bolts that keep hitting his body. "I think they wanted a vegatarian option tonight. Thanks for marking them Al!"

Carl again sets his shield. Seeing the first one bounce, he tries again on the other floater. Then tries to stab the creature.

Raises shield to keep AC 25

Flat check vs hidden or concealed: 1d20 ⇒ 20
Inspired Trip: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 13 + 1 + 1 = 33

Flat check vs hidden or concealed: 1d20 ⇒ 19
Inspired Strike2: 1d20 + 13 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 13 - 5 + 1 = 28
Inspired Piercing: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 1 = 8

Going to use my reaction on the first hit. Either Shield Block (Hardness 10) on myself, or Glimpse of Redemption on an ally(-7 hp damage & Enfeebled (or Stupefied) 2)

Trying to recall if he'd ever heard of creatures such as these, Kvothe takes a moment to think. He then passes along any info he recalls and then hurls another telekinetic blast at the remaining creature.

recall knowledge occult +9 then cast

telekinetic blast: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 11 + 1 = 27
bludgeon damage: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 4) + 1 = 10

Didy
Blue light (concealed, frightened 1, -4)
Carl (-42)
Kvothe
Al (-35)

Ah! Kvothe suddenly recalls what these are! Will-o-wisps, horrible aberrations of physical light! The wisps have natural invisibility, but can appear as floating balls of light, which they use to lure travellers to their doom. Their most famous trait is a near total immunity to magic, with only a handful of exceptions: faerie fire, glitterdust, magic missile, and maze.

These wisps seem notably weaker than normal. Weakened template, or this encounter would likely have been a TPK, as they're faster than you, difficult to hit, invisible, and have a ton of hit points.

Carl trips the light fantastic, and the wisp takes damage as it falls to the ground. Crit, thanks to the intimidate check.

Crit trip: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Since Kvothe knows his spell won't work on the creature, you may want to change two of your actions.

yea, let's switch to magic missile

magic missile: 2d4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2, 2) + 2 + 1 = 7

Didy
Blue light (concealed, -11)
Carl (-42)
Kvothe
Al

Suddenly vulnerable, the ball of light concentrates its focus on Carl.

Attack: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 15 - 1 = 24
Attack: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 10 - 1 = 24
Attack: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 5 - 1 = 8

Ah, dumb old frightened 1.

Up next, everybody.

Pulling his last reserve of arcane power at that level, Kvothe point his finger at the last Wisp and unleashes the missile

[Ooc]magic missile x3]

magic missile x3: 3d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1, 4) + 3 + 1 = 11

Does it have to spend an action to get up, or does it automatically hover? Going to use trip first, but if still down it can be a strike.

Carl sets his shield and unleashes another set of blows.

Raises shield to keep AC 25

Flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Inspired Trip: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 13 + 1 + 1 = 19if this is an attack, there is a -1 to the result
If Inspired Critical Trip Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Inspired Piercing: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 1 = 8

Flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 11
Inspired Strike2: 1d20 + 13 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 13 - 5 + 1 = 18
Inspired Piercing: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 1 = 13

Going to use my reaction on the first hit. Either Shield Block (Hardness 10) on myself, or Glimpse of Redemption on an ally(-7 hp damage & Enfeebled (or Stupefied) 2)

Edit if first trip attempt fails. (If a strike I would like to save the point. But keeping this thing FF is important)
Flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 13
Hero Point Inspired Trip: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 13 + 1 + 1 = 28i
If Inspired Critical Trip Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

"Good work, team! We've got this!" Didy cheers.

He studies his remaining opponent and then calls Pinchy into position again and fires his arrows.

Hunt Prey (which grants a free ID check, but with my +0 occultism), Command: strike + support, hunted shot

flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 17
hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 14 + 1 = 20
HERO POINT: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 14 + 1 = 18
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2, 3) + 1 + 1 = 7
flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 17
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 14 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 14 - 5 + 1 = 14
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3, 5) + 1 + 1 = 10
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 1
persistent poison: 1d6 ⇒ 1

I hate miss chance

"That's it, Kvothe? Well I have apparently done all that I can with my magic to harm this creature, but I can at least help defend our leafy friend."

I will cast Faerie Dust with the sole intention of giving Carl some concealment of his own thanks to Anoint Ally. Sadly I have nothing else useful with my other actions. I should have held on to Heal as a spell :(

Didy
Blue light (concealed, -30)
Carl (-42)
Kvothe
Al

Oops, missed the attack roll from Carl. That and the magic missile from Kvothe will finish this guy off. Anyone who went after Kvothe's second magic missile, save your resources.

After Kvothe's spell, the creature dies with an audible pop. Out of combat!

You spot a skeleton with a satchel nestled among the roots, covered in moss and dead leaves.

Carl sags in relief as the last missile pops against the creature. Drawing nutrients from the soil some of the burns start to fade. Using Lay on Hands to get back 18 hp, out of Focus Points.

"There looks to be some gear over here. And some poor soul that needs to be a little deeper." He looks uncomfortable for a moment. "That reminds me, I have to make a request of the Professor about this when we get back."

Nothing of use has survived among the possessions of the corpse here. However, you do find, concealed among the tree roots, a simple silver chain, bearing a brass housing with tiny brass wings. At the center of the housing is a clear, spindle-shaped stone.

arcana to ID: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

"Whew! That was a close one. I was worried it was gonna get away too, and then we were gonna have two angry monsters running around on us."

Not needing to eat or drink seems pretty inconsequential, but getting to cast air bubble 1/day is pretty nice. Carl already has stiff competetion for his Reaction each round and Stacy already knows the spell, so why don't you take this, Kvothe.

"That's a nice thought, Carl. Once I finish putting these bandages over your burns, I'd be happy to help you dig a nice grave for this poor soul. After that, let's check and see if there is anything interesting on that other little island you jumped to. This area seems full of all kinds of neat treasures!"

medicine DC 20: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25
healing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (6, 2) + 10 = 18

After the whisps disappear, Kvothe takes a moment to cast healing hymn on Carl and then refocuses before they move on

If it is not too late to save Kvothe the focus point, I will use medicine a second time.

DC 15 medicine: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19
healing: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 3) = 5

correcting my previous post. I need to refocus first, then healing hymn, then refocus again

After the last Wisp pops into nothingness, Kvothe finds a quiet place to refocus and contemplate the song of the Wisps. That complete, he will cast Healing Hymn on Carl and then refocus again

That'll put Carl back to full.

Where too?

I would refocus while getting treated. Reciting prayers for the dead this time. More reflective than active this time.

I do not think we looked around that building yet. I think the light distracted us before we got to far. We can look at that and then keep going SE? Carl can Leap with no problem. Might need a log or something for the others.

You did search the building, you found a skeleton with some gold and a map.

I think we are going to check that other island Carl jumped to before we came here