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The map shows stairs but the text description of the room when we first entered didn't mention the stairs. Are they there?
"Is it possible that Exurkian was that guy we dealt with out there?" Tathane gestures over his shoulder to the room that they started in.
"In any case, what do you guys think?" Tathane addresses the councilors. "Can you wait here while we check out the rest of this place then we can escort you back to wherever?"

GM MattMorris |

"Exurkian is a drider, and the master of this tower. He delights in cruel experiments. I think that the Reborn had him kidnap the council when they resisted the Reborn efforts to spread influence throughout the city."
The caligni continues, "I think Exurkian's workshop is at the base of this tower. I haven't been taken there yet, thank the gods. He visits us periodically to torment or threaten us, but I haven't noticed a pattern to his behavior. The only other thing I know is that Exurkian's liason with the Reborn is an owb named Xhamila. She's terrifying!"
Owbs are Knowledge (planes)

GM MattMorris |

Is Lolth a thing on Golarion? Cannot help but ask when driders get mentioned.
They mostly follow various demon lords in Pathfinder, depending on their House.

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"Nah, Aryas. Wits are overrated. Causes more problems than help in my mind. Keep it simple, I say."
kn planes: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10, noooope
Hekk wanders about the room and finds the stairs behind the wall. Turning back to the ex-prisoners, he asks, "Is this the way to the guy we get to fight?"

GM MattMorris |

"Yes. Down those stairs is some sort of guest chamber, then further down is the drider's workshop."

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Kn(planes): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18
"Can you get back to the city safely enough without us? We've cleared the way thus far."

GM MattMorris |

"We should be able to escape, now that we are healed up. Especially if you distract Exurkian."
He pauses to think about it. "Were you attacked by skavelings on the bridge? I saw some on my way in here."

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"Skavelings? What is that?"

GM MattMorris |

"They are monstrous, ghoulish bats. If you didn't encounter them, perhaps someone scared them off."
Not that there is any way for you all to have found out about this, but in exchange for fighting off the assassins in his store, the cloaker arranged for those skavelings to be run off.

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"Uh, no, no skavelings. Just that guy that tried to stop us. You might be safe. Guys, we should go deal with this alchemist."

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Aryas nods at his companions.
”The emissary and I are ready!!“

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Hekk nods and proceeds down the stairs.

GM MattMorris |

A wide, canopied bed rests against the curve of wall that holds the stairs leading to this finely appointed chamber. Stone tables bearing crystal decanters and multicolored glass carafes stand against the sections of wall between three doorways that open out onto balconies.
This map leaves a lot to be desired. Imagine that the staircase you are walking down opens where Hekk is standing, then continues down another floor.
Across the room from Hekk, standing at the opening to one of the balconies, is a shimmering, little more than a floating head and torso shrouded in a diaphanous cloth. Hekk hears a voice in his mind,
"Visitors? How interesting."
The figure looks like it is about to cast a spell!
Branson: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Hekk: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Aryas: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
LeGuin: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Tathane: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21
Leopold: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
black: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Aryas
Tathane
Black
LeGuin
Leopold
Branson
Hekk

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Tathane spots the creature and races into the room. So far everything they've found in this place, except the prisoners, has been evil and by the looks of the creature, this one is no different. He draws his bow and shoots.
shortbow@black: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19
dmg,sneak: 1d6 + 1 + 4d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (3, 6, 6, 6) = 24

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BTW, GM, I wanted to remind you that I have Snap Shot (Ex) On surprise rd treat init as if roll 20, but must make a ranged att, then roll normally.

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Aryas moves forward and readies an action to starts his crane style and to fight defensively while attacking.
Swift action Crane style.
AC while fighting defensively vs. melee attacks: AC 35, Touch 31, FF 19 (mage armor +4, Cha +5 Scaled Fist Monk, Dex +6, Dodge feat +1, Fighting Defensively +8 (+2, + 1 ‘Crane Style’, +4 ‘Crane Wing’, + 1 Acrobatics 3 ranks) [only -2 on attack rolls due to Crane Style while fighting defensively’]
To hit / damage calculation: +1 Adamantine Ghost Touch Scimitar: +14 (1d6+7; 18-20/×2) (To hit: BAB +8, Dervish Dance Dex +6, +1 enhancement bonus, Weapon focus Scimitar +1, fighting defensively -2 / Damage: +6 via Dervish Dance feat and +1 enhancement bonus
Ready action:
Primary attack, fighting defensively, nonlethal : 1d20 + 16 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 16 - 2 = 251d6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
”What are you?!?!“

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*bump*

GM MattMorris |

Sorry, y'all. Just busy with end of school year stuff. Tathane, I will remember that. I think, in this situation, both parties were equally unaware of each other.
Tathane's arrow catches the creature off guard, though she seems to repair some of the damage when she regains her composure.
A voice whispers in your minds, "So, now you will be lost in shadows."
The creature casts a spell!
Tathane, you feel your vision blur. Please make a Fortitude save.
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Aryas
Tathane (Fort save)
Black (-22)
LeGuin
Leopold
Branson
Hekk

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Hekk looks around in confusion.
"Huh? Is that just something you say all the time? Heck, I'm not lost; I don't think so at any rate."
Not sparing the oblique treat any more thought, Hekk rushes forward and swings his bardiche in a broad arc, not yet entering a rage.
To hit bardiche: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
Damage bardiche: 1d10 + 19 ⇒ (4) + 19 = 23

GM MattMorris |

15. As printed, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Imagine that you are on a staircase that opens up just behind Tathane. (Near the D in Down.)
Tathane resists the creature's spell, though he feels an icy pull in his chest.
Hekk's swing misses the floating creature.

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FYI:
If this thing has an incorporeal touch attack, Hekk has an AC of 20 as he has a mage armor and shield spell up.

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spellcraft: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19
"Watch out, guys. This fella is casting the Ole Jeblanski. Powerful stuff."
Leo double moves into the room and uses bold/painful stare to add +5 to the next damage, -3 to Will saves and attack rolls.

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Branson moves into the room and determines that this is definitely a searing light situation...
Searing Light: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 vs touch
Normal DMG: 5d8 ⇒ (6, 2, 4, 7, 6) = 25
Normal DMG: 10d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 4, 6, 4, 1, 5, 1, 1, 2) = 28 vs undead
Normal DMG: 10d8 ⇒ (6, 3, 8, 1, 2, 4, 1, 8, 8, 4) = 45 vs undead with light vulnerability
Normal DMG: 5d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 3, 6) = 26 vs construct or inanimate object
I'm not sure which of those qualifies, but there you go...

GM MattMorris |

Leopold gives the creature the old stink eye, and Branson fires a beam of sunlight that seems especially damaging to the foe.
~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Aryas
Tathane
Black (-67, Bold Stare)
LeGuin
Leopold
Branson
Hekk

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Leguin hustles to close the distance between himself and this shadowy creature. double move

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I'd love to find out whether this thing ids resistant to certain damage. Right now I'm going to stick to the bardiche since it is magical and I'm not sure his natural weapons will have any effect. Is it knowledge religion to get info on it?
Still not raging, he swings his bardiche again and then follows up with a viscous stab, each blow getting a teensie bit more accurate.
To hit bardiche: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Damage bardiche: 1d10 + 19 ⇒ (5) + 19 = 24
To hit bardiche, iterative: 1d20 + 11 - 5 ⇒ (14) + 11 - 5 = 20
Damage bardiche: 1d10 + 19 ⇒ (2) + 19 = 21
Then he steps forward to bite the thing, unable to resist the temptation to see what it tastes like. You can tell a lot about a creature by the way it tastes!
To hit bite, secondary: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29
Damage bite: 1d6 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

GM MattMorris |

Hekk's bite does hit the creature, who takes like ash and bitterness.
The creature retreats out into the air outside the tower, casts a spell, and disappears into darkness.
This will trigger AoO from Hekk and LeGuin. I overlooked the fact that this creature has constant blur (oops), so please roll miss chance as well.

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To hit bardiche: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13
Damage bardiche: 1d10 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26
For some reason Hekk is being exceptionally clumsy with his pole arm.
spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

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spellcraft: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16
"I've been feeling very thetonny since breakfast. But I just invented the word 'thetony' so the day's not a total wash."

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[dice=spellcraft]1d20+15
"I've been feeling very thetonny since breakfast. But I just invented the word 'thetony' so the day's not a total wash."
”Ehhh ... what?! Where is the attacker?!?“

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"Leo!? Where did he go?"
Hekk swishes in the general direction of the missing foe, hoping to make contact with the haft if nothing else.

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Ah, into the...aether. Yeah. This guy is slippery what the- aether thing.

GM MattMorris |

The ghostly figure does not reappear, and you have leisure to examine the contents of the room, which seem the mundane trappings of a guest bedchamber.
A staircase along the northern wall continues down into the depths of the tower.

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"I'm concerned that we haven't seen the last of that thing." Tathane rummages through the room quickly and discovering nothing of value moves to the stairs. "We may as well continue down."

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"I hope not. Not a very satisfying fight if you ask me."
Hekk really, really wants to try that mirror image spell again but he is to embarrassed to do so. So, instead he heads on down the stairs.

GM MattMorris |

Two doorways open out of this large circular chamber to the east, and a stairwell curves up along its west side. The entire room is shrouded in deep shadows and dust-covered cobwebs. A large knot of thick webbing forms a nest, and next to this nest hangs a cocooned humanoid figure. Only the man’s face and hands protrude from the webs. It appears to have once been a drow, but now its ebony skin is shrunken tight and faded to a dusky gray, and its jaw hangs open. Near the center of the chamber is a wide well from which an acrid miasma issues.

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Shelob's lair!
Branson will see if he can figure out what killed the drow, if it's not the obvious death...
Heal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
If no one else does, then he'll check for magic items and loot.

GM MattMorris |

There is an old wine cask in the corner that radiates conjuration magic.

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"Heck, I figured the smokey guy went down here. I hope he didn't return to the prison area. That could get messy for all those wimps."
Heck takes out a wand and taps himself with a heightened awareness spell. Thinking himself crafty, he then draws out a potion flask and pretends to take a drink from it as he casts mirror image. He looks rather surreptitious as he does so.
ASF 5%: 1d100 ⇒ 43
images: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
"Creepy guy. He's seen better days. Probably food for them dryders."
How bad does the webbing look? We going to have to hack our way inside, or will it be difficult terrain, or will we get all entangled?

GM MattMorris |

It appears the drow died from blood loss.
Dispite being very obvious on the map, it seems the webs are just atmospheric in nature.

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"Well, it's not as nice as my home but I guess for some creatures, this is a cheery place. Doesn't look like there is anyone here. Maybe through those doors? But first, let's make sure no one is hiding anywhere here. Or worse, a trap."
Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20 Do I see any traps or anyone hiding? +4 for finding traps.