[Gameday] [PFS1] GM Pudding's 6-01 Trial by Machine (Inactive)

Game Master Tom G

Fentar calls out, "Fall back! Let our numbers count!"

Everyone should be able to fall back and ready an action except for the frontline, who will have to use the withdraw action. Get them where we can get at them, in the previous room.

"Ouch, that'sh hot!" Brakkik yelps, his already-wayward fur standing even more on end as he retreats to the rear. "Shomebody go poke them or shomething!"

Withdraw.

"Ouch, that'sh hot!" Brakkik yelps, his already-wayward fur standing even more on end as he retreats to the rear. "Shomebody go poke them or shomething!"

Withdraw.

Withdraw lets you move double your speed. You could get in a much better position and give the rest of us more room.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Kseniya backflips out of the frontline, landing one foot after the other with all the grace of someone stepping onto a dance floor. She muses for a moment, then draws her crowbar.

Move action to move with an acrobatics check, move action to draw the crowbar. As it's technically not a weapon (yet), she can't draw it while moving, afaik. Next turn, she will be Martial Versatility'ing into Catch-off Guard so she has a bludgeoning weapon other than her fists :D

"These are rare Plasma skeletons! They are immune to fire and electricity! Bashing attacks will be most effective!" Pertheus shouts as he backs up and launches a magic missile from his wand at the furthest back skeleton.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"Oh, they also explode when they are slain! Watch out!"

The group makes a tactical withdrawal, Brakkik with care and Kseniya with aplomb. As Pertheus calls out a warning about their tendency to explode, he neatly punctuates the lesson by blasting one at the back and causing it to do just that. The explosion of white flame is accompanied by little arcs of electricity that touch the surfaces around it for a second. The plasmatic death explosion looks like it would only reach adjacent creatures

The stairs going up are difficult terrain, Pertheus I moved you back slightly to account for that

Schecera nods at Fentar and does her best to follow the orders, moving into the room above, while the remaining skeleton in the back of the room rushes forward to threaten Fentar and Etna with its strange glowing glove and arcing/burning bones. As it stands there burning plasma surrounding it licks out with tiny arcs of electricity that scorch Fentar and Etna.

Listening to both Fentar and Pertheus' advice, Meleren moves back into the room, dropping his crossbow at the top of the stairs and drawing his morningstar.

Burning Bones: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Fentar and Etna both take 1 point of electricity damage

--- Round 1 ---
Skeleton 2
Skeleton 1
Kseniya (-6)
Brakkik (-6)
Pertheus
Shechera
Skeleton 3
Skeleton 4
Etna (-1)
Meleren
Fentar (-1)
Duskin

Etna, Fentar and Duskin are up!

Fentar moves back, switching his greatsword to his off hand and pulling out a chakram as he moves.
acrobatics to avoid AoO: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Then he readies an action to throw a chakram once others move out of the way as well.
attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

It's nice to be consistent with your rolls...

Etna will flip back using the full withdrawal action to make room for the rest of the group.

"Anyone got something blunt for me? I'm really only worth much with a rapier but I doubt I'll be doing any real damage with one to these bony brutes."

I've got nothing for ya. I'd recommend buying a morningstar, as since they are both piercing and bludgeoning, you can do bludgeoning damage while still using your swashbuckler abilities

Etna will flip back using the full withdrawal action to make room for the rest of the group.

"Anyone got something blunt for me? I'm really only worth much with a rapier but I doubt I'll be doing any real damage with one to these bony brutes."

I realised with my swashbuckler/bard that she was only really good with a rapier. She currently owns cold-iron, silver and adamantine rapiers and she has the weapon versatility feat.

She is currently saving up for a sharding weapon to cover ranged enemies.

Also, these are undead so your wand of CLW is a weapon against them.

Duskin summons another of his shadow celestial eagles, moving his fingers as if dealing with a puppet, and retreats.

The celestial eagle proceeds to smite evil and attack the closest skeleton (4).

Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 B/P/S, Smite

Talon 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 S, Smite

Talon 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 S, Smite

The DC is 15 to disbelief. Damage drops to 1 if disbelieved, AC/Touch/FF of eagle (usually 14/13/12) drop to 11 if disbelieved. Eagle has 1 HP.

That last talon attack is a crit threat

Talon 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 Extra damage

Gauntlet: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Will: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

The plasma skeleton swipes at Fentar as he retreats, but it is clumsy and catches only air. Fentar's thrown chakram whooshes with incredible force, but it is wide and sails past the assembled skeletons into the room beyond. Duskin causes the shadow of an eagle to manfiest and bite at the skeleton. It bites and chews at the skeleton's bones, but the skeleton seems to ignore the effects. My understanding is that 1/5th of 2 is 0, but there is a minimum of 1 non-lethal, to which undead are immune. Correct me if I'm wrong

The eagle however so close to the burning plasma risks being burned itself.

Hot bones bite: 1d6 ⇒ 1
1 point of electricity damage, which it ignores!

It then strikes with a shadowy claw which seems sufficiently substantial to scratch the bones of the skeleton slightly, but not impact it in any way.

Hot bones claw: 1d6 ⇒ 6
3 fire and 3 electricity

This time the shadow eagle bursts in a puff of fire and sparks, and Duskin then backs up the stairs a little.

Duskin with the stairs being difficult terrain and your move speed of 20 feet you can only get 2 squares with a single move action. I've moved you back

Two skeletons advance on the party, turning their heads toward Kseniya as they advance to the stairs, and then following her into the alcove.

Skeleton 2 provokes and AoO from you Kseniya as it moves through

Gauntlet 1 on Kseniya: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Gaultlet 2 on Kseniya: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Both strike at her with their glowing gauntlets but she is able to avoid both. The sheer heat of their crackling electric aura though is overwhelming.

Plasma Aura 1: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Plasma Aura 2: 1d6 ⇒ 1

That's 2 fire and 3 electricity from skeleton 1, and 1 electricity from skeleton 2. If you killed Skeleton 2 with the AoO you wouldn't take that as it happens at the start of your turn

--- Round 2 ---
Skeleton 2
Skeleton 1
Kseniya (-12)
Brakkik (-6)
Pertheus
Shechera
Skeleton 3
Skeleton 4
Etna (-1)
Meleren
Fentar (-1)
Duskin

Kseniya, Brakkik and Pertheus are up!

Kseniya uses her crowbar as an improvised weapon, not wanting to touch the burning plasma. She takes it in two hands and hurls its weight in a horizontal swing.

I think it’s reasonable that a crowbar would do bludgeoning damage, yes? 1d6 damage also seems reasonable, I think

AoO: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 - 4 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Even without having a feel for the items weight yet, she strikes with great accuracy right for the skeletons head.

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
In her excitement at hitting it, she is distracted just a moment too long and is caught in the explosion.

She growls and shakes it off then centers herself, calling upon her training. Move action to use Martial Versatility to get Catch Off Guard so she has no penalty for using an improvised weapon

Attack with Crowbar (catch off guard): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Since 5 damage killed the other one, I’m gonna assume that’ll do so here

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

She is prepared for this one, though, and she avoids the worst of it.

Kseniya destroys two skeletons in rapid succession, quickly getting the hang of wielding the crowbar to cave in flaming skulls, and seeming to find her footing and better avoid the second explosion too.

1d6 and bludgeoning sounds right to me. I'll use the unused aura roll as the explosion damage for the first one

Plasmatic Death S1: 1d6 ⇒ 2

--- Round 2 ---
Kseniya (-13)
Brakkik (-6)
Pertheus
Shechera
Skeleton 4
Etna (-1)
Meleren
Fentar (-1)
Duskin

Brakkik and Pertheus are up!

Pertheus again points the magic missile wand and lets fly at the one directly before him not near any companions.

Force Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Brakkik sadly pulls a sling from his belt and grabs a rock from the floor, his face fallen. "No fire?" he asks with disappointment.

Pull out sling and loads it with not-sling bullet.

Pertheus fires a bolt of energy from his wand at the skeleton. It slams in and rattles its burning bones, but this time its not quite enough to explode it on impact.

Thrown Dagger: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 - 2 = 3

Shechera moves her staff into one hand, draws a dagger from her belt as she moves, and flings it at the remaining skeleton at the bottom of the stairs, but misses wildly.

The skeleton, showing no signs of fear nor thought of any kind, mindlessly shambles toward the nearest living thing, Kseniya. Once it's close enough it reaches toward her with its glowing glove, but clumsily.

Gauntlet: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Plasma Aura: 1d6 ⇒ 5
2 fire and 3 electricity to Kseniya at the start of her turn

Meleren looks calmly to Fentar and the others in the room. He holds his morningstar and looks ready to fight, but seems perfectly unpeturbed. He says "How can I help?" in the same tone a bored receptionist might.

Meleren delays

--- Round 2 ---
Kseniya (-13)
Brakkik (-6)
Pertheus
Shechera
Skeleton 4
Etna (-1)
Fentar (-1)
Duskin

--- Round 3 ---
Kseniya (-18)
Brakkik (-6)
Pertheus
Shechera
Meleren
Skeleton 4
Etna (-1)
Fentar (-1)
Duskin

Everyone is up!

The minimum damage, as far as I understand, is 1, and it's lethal. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.

Duskin repeats his routine, creating yet another of his shadow illusions to attack the skeleton. The new eagle, commanded like a puppet, proceeds to smite the enemy and full attack it while flanking.

Bite: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 2 = 22
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 B/P/S, Smite

Talon 1: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 S, Smite

Talon 2: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 S, Smite

Duskin moves away again.

Again, the DC is 15 Will.

Two things: 1. Minimum damage is indeed nonlethal and 2. The smite that celestial creatures get is NOT the same as the smite paladins and half-celestials get. It does not have the bypass DR language. Likewise, fiendish creatures can't smite good on players and get past DR, though half-fiends can

Aiming at the same one again, Pertheus fires a third magic missile.

Force Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Kseniya has the relevant rules Duskin. My hunter with a celestial animal companion would love it if the template's smite evil bypassed DR, but sadly not

Will: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Duskin's shadowy eagle bites the plasma skeleton, and this time the skeleton seems to feel the effects more.

Plasma aura: 1d6 ⇒ 6
The shadowy eagle is immediately consumed by sticking its head into the plasma, but its job is done and the skeleton explodes!

Plasmatic explosion: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Kseniya Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Kseniya is unable to get out of the way of it and takes the brunt of the blast, falling unconscious and dropping her crowbar to clang on the metal floor.

You didn't need the last magic missile Pertheus so you can save that charge

Combat Over!

--- Final Report ---
Kseniya (-22)
Brakkik (-6)
Pertheus
Shechera
Etna (-1)
Fentar (-1)
Duskin

Kseniya is unconscious and dying, but I'm expect someone will be able to help her before 12 failed stabilization checks. Please post any healing in your next post

Once you've had a chance to heal up, you explore this new area. Little is left of the exploded skeletons save for their gauntlets, which still glow with some of energy. There bear a resemblance to some of the panels in the main room, but beyond that they are a mystery. Meleren and Shechera also look at them uncomprehendingly, although Meleren's gaze lingers on it as if trying to remember something.

Gathering up the gloves as something potentially of interest to the society you move into the octagonal room. The round table in the centre of the room is around 4 feet tall and topped with a flat, dark glass plate. Dials and controls that surround it are set with dozens of small wheels with letters upon their rims, seeming to spell out gibberish. Amongst the other dials a glowing crystal next to a lever blinks with amber light. There are doors to the east and west, and a door into a red metal pillar to the north.

Only a few seconds after you've all entered the room and begun looking around, some lights in the room flicker on and off, and you hear an incredibly loud scream of metal scraping against metal, along with the deep rumbling and grinding of immense gears.

The room you are in stays stationary, as does the room where you fought the metal man, but the oval room in between rotates slides to the right, as if it were rotating around you. Before you can react it has moved enough to block off the exit, and then the grinding stops. Warning sounds blare around you and several slights on panels start flashing red. The stairs up now end in an impassable metal wall.

What would you like to do?

Etna will slowly hold her hands up. "Hey, I didn't touch anything. It looks like going backward is not much of an option anymore. Once we are all healed up, everyone ready to move forward?"

"I don't shuposhe any ov you can make any shenshe out ov thish, can you?" Brakkik asks, scratching behind one ear before perking up suddenly. "Oh! I almosht forgot about that!" Grinning, he pulls out a gnarled stick and taps himself on the head with it. "Not much ushe iv it never getsh ushed, now ish it?"

Using wand of comprehend languages, then examining the writing on the wheels. Could he try to make sense of the panel's intended use somehow? Or shall we make some hypothesis and run some TESTS!? *cue evil scientist laughter*

Even after using his magical wand, Brakkik can make no sense of the readouts. Each dial is inscribed with letters the Taldane alphabet, but while they could show any conceivable word, currently they appear to be randomly scrambled.

As he looks at the readouts though, trying to make sense of them, that one blinking crystal next to a lever keeps blinking and drawing his eye.

Your options at this point are pretty much 1) Play with the dials 2) Try a door. There are three of them (one of them into a pillar), each with easy access panels

So... Should we try one of these doors? - says Duskin, not really volunteering for the task. In fact, he had been mostly hiding behind people at this point - There's also... That lever there, near the blinking crystal?

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Should get her back to max, taking the charges off her own CLW wand

Once she is conscious, Kseniya preens at her triump, taking out half the skeletons with her own cleverness.

"I say we just try the lever. How bad can it be?"

"Shoundsh like a plan!" Brakkik answers Kseniya with a grin, reaching up and pulling the lever next to the flashing light.

As soon as Brakkik pulls the lever, a strange transparent model appears over the flat glass of the table. Moving around it you can quickly see that it is a model of the layout of this level. It shows the room you are in, and a ring of rooms surrounding it, half of which are the same size and shape as the oval room you came from, and the other half more round. It currently shows that ring out of alignment. It also shows two adjoining rooms from the octagonal room you are in.

There is a depiction of this arrangement on the slides, but it shows the ring in alignment. Imagine it turned by 15°

When this ghostly model appears, many of the dials and buttons on the side of the table light up. As soon as Brakkik touches any of them, or if anyone attempts to touch the spectral model, the wheels with letters on whir and display a message.

The message is on the slides too

What would you like to do?

Fentar scowls, "We must be thorough." and opens the left-hand door.

As Fentar pushes the button to activate the door, there is another sudden rush of wind from behind you into the new room. It lasts only a few seconds and you can see no sign of what might have caused it.

Inside you find rows of metal shelves that bear the look of long disuse but are surprisingly dust-free, considering the age of this place. Most of the shelves hold assorted pieces of machinery: wires, gears, and cases of bolts and screws, though nothing seems organized in any logical fashion.

Meleren, who had up until now been transfixed by the strange display on the centre table, seems interested in the odd collection in the room.

If you would like to spend a few minutes searching, you can make an Appraise or Perception check. Multiple people can search, but each person may only search once.

After people begin searching the room, Meleren and Shechera look to each other and ask: "May we help?"

"Ov courshe!" Brakkik answers cheerfully, happily pawing through the fascinating collection of stuff piled everywhere.

Perception, Take 10: 10 + 9 = 19

"Ooo, look at thish!" the ratfolk exclaims happily, pulling a small box with buttons out from underneath several buckets of screws and nails mixed haphazardly together. "It shaysh shomething about a livt? That'sh shilly." Brakkik almost tosses the box over his shoulder before getting distracted with another shiny thing on top of a large shelf full of boxes and strange empty jugs. "Almosht... got... it..." he squeaks, reaching up on his tiptoes and not quite able to get his grubby little hands on what resembles a lockpick, but with wires poking out at random intervals. After stretching and jumping and even trying the climb the shelves for almost a minute, Brakkik gets distracted by yet another strange - this one resembling a harpsichord keyboard without the harpsichord. "Ooo, vhat do you think a Shubshonic Vermin Manipulator doesh?" he asks, fondling the strange device.

Meleren Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Shechera Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Shechera nods her thanks.

"Thank you! I just thought as strangers you might not trust us to turn everything in. We're honest though"

Meleren and Shechera also search through the odd assortment of mostly metallic items. Meleren looks disappointed to not find anything of use, but Shechera also finds one of the strange lockpicks that Brakkik found. She dutifully turns it over to you, but Meleren clearly looks interested.

"There you go, just like I said. I'm sorry my idea to go this way got us trapped, but Meleren and I will pull our weight in getting us out"

If you'd like to share one or more of the items with Meleren or Shechera, and perhaps tell them about how Pathfinders share and cooperate and so forth, you could make a diplomacy check to see how inspiring you are. Fentar and Kseniya would get the +4 for being silver crusade.

The storage room seems to have been well picked over, and further searches mostly just turn up rusted bolts.

Where next?

Etna will take the lead this time now that they explored the room and open the door to the right.

Etna taps the illuminated panel that opens up the room to the right, and once again there's a rush of air into the room as it opens. Inside she finds an oval room with two shiny metal tables or beds standing across from one another in the centre. There are metal restraints positioned at the head, foot and middle of each table. Metal racks along the north and south walls hold assorted sharp looking implements, and a rounded hutch protrudes from the eastern wall.

Having a look around the tools appear to be medical in nature, and the rounded hutch is locked by a strange technological lock that incorporates a handprint indentation.

You could attempt to bypass the strange lock with a disable check if you wanted. It would take a -5 penalty if you used ordinary tools

What would you like to do?

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Fentar gives them the second lockpick and the device with numbers on, "Look after these, they might come in handy." He nods when they take them, "Pathfinders work together: explore, report, co-operate, that's our motto."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 2 + 4 = 25

Fentar shrugs, "Hey, maybe one of these weird lockpicks would work on that thing?"

"Yes, perhaps those will work? It seems like a spot to place a hand. . . but I am not skilled in devices like this."

Meleren and Shechera are stunned when Fentar offers them a share of the findings. You hear them whispering to each other about if it can possibly be true that an organisation exists that is so egalitarian, and talking seriously of ending their association with the Blood-Red Raiders.

Meleren is quick to jump on Fentar's subsequent suggestion of using his new toy, and brings it close to the lock like you would an ordinary lockpick. It begins to whir and light up, reconfiguring itself with various spikes and tools that insert into the lock and open it up very quickly.

Meleren Disable Device: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

The hutch pops up, and Meleren begins handing out the contents to you.

Feel free to open up the spoiler above for the contents. Once again you may make a diplomacy check if you choose to share any of the contents with Meleren and Shechera

With only one avenue left to explore, you try the door to the odd pillar. It opens much as the previous ones, but to a tiny room with a noticeably different floor to the previous chamber. When you enter it, you spot some kind of keypad attached to the wall, with the numbers 0-9 on separate buttons. Next to it is another panel with an imprint of a splayed hand, much like the one on the hutch.

What would you like to do?

Taking ten on perception

Fentar passes round the potions, "Healing potions, in case we are separated we should share them out."

Fentar holds one for himself and offers the other two around, including the new people.

”Aha!” Brakkik starts rummaging around in the storeroom for the box with numbers painted on the bottom. ”Vhere did it go...”

92746

Pertheus attempts pressing the numbered buttons.

Kseniya assists with the handing out of potions. "Now darlings, hold onto these in case of emergency."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 4 = 13

Kseniya folds her arms and taps her foot as she watches the others fiddle with the door. "Maybe we are supposed to put our hand on it? Gah, why do these Numerians never include instructions."

Fentar puts his hand on the palm pad.

Meleren and Shechera treat Kseniya's generosity a little more coldly than Fentar's. Perhaps they are suspicious that there might be an ulterior motive, but whatever the reason they seem unsure of her, especially Shechera.

In the small room-in-the-pillar neither Pertheus pressing buttons nor Fentar placing his hand in the palm-print recession elicits any effect. Pertheus double-checks the numbers but they seem correct.

Meleren Knowledge (engineering): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Meleren seems unsure of how to proceed.

"Perhaps Brakkik and I could try to enable it with our new picks?"

Unless you have any other ideas (or anyone can roll Knowledge engineering, I think Duskin can), you could use disable device to try to power the panel. Meleren can aid Brakkik automatically for a +2. You can take 10 but not 20 (not with the fancy electronic picks anyway, they have charges)

Etna will measure her hand to see if it will fit the hand outline on the outlet. If it does not she will go back to see if their is anything they can use to do so.

Maybe if it needs a specific race one of the skeletons will work? Or were we supposed to take the hand from the metal robot we killed?