GM Tarondor's The Two-Headed Serpent Campaign - Pulp Cthulhu (Inactive)

Game Master Tarondor

Could be just all the different editions merging with one another. I know that between Pathfinder 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, and then D&D 5e, I get stuff confused all the time lol.

I also technically failed my roll so because of that, I may not have control of myself. If so, you have a turn to decide what I end up doing Keeper! With Father Pena losing more than 5 sanity, he can either spend 12 luck to halve the sanity loss or he is going to suffer a possible bout of insanity.

Father Pena will want to make an INT roll and fail it. If he fails it, his mind represses what he sees and the memory of it. If he succeeds, he understands exactly what he sees and goes temporarily insane for 1d10 hours. There are a whole slew of rules that follow that which we'll deal with if it goes that far.

I'm guessing the snake is build 4 or higher with how long and wide it is. That'll cancel out the penalty die of firing multiple times.

It is size -9-. Everyone gets an extra die of damage.

From what I read, you do maximum damage on an extreme success. If the weapon has impale, you do maximum damage and roll an additional die of damage on top of it. Rifles & pistols impale but shotguns do not without firing slugs.

That is correct.

When Lucking down Sanity loss, it actually works out to be 4 to 1.

Sanity(87): 1d100 ⇒ 34

Whew, just -1

Enoli's eyes widen as the huge snake reveals itself, "One of the demons reveals itself!"

Grandfather give me the power I need whispers Enoli, he raises the strange flame thrower and imagines the flames consuming the giant snake.

As the green flames pour forth, blood pours from Enoli's eyes and nose and he grunts with pain.

Have to sacrifice 2 HP to equal the 10 MP total. Not sure what damage this thing does

Antonio's eyes refocus as Enoli shoots fire at the snake. The priest recoils, but seems to have regained some of his faculties.

Ok, you've convinced me. Antonio spends 12 Luck to only lose 3 sanity.

Forgive me for being slow. I can run the heck out of a Pathfinder game, but I’m a bit overwhelmed with everything I don’t know about CoC. Here goes.

For this fight only, I’m going to say that anyone who loses less than 5 SAN doesn’t risk temporary insanity.

Minerva Sanity Check (39): 1d100 ⇒ 73
Minerva Sanity Loss (if above check fails: 1d10 ⇒ 1

Sanity (there ain’t no sanity clause)
Elliot - Success. 1 SAN lost.
Abraham - Failed. Lost 2 SAN.
Enoli - Success. 1 SAN lost.
Minerva - Failed. Lost 1 SAN.
Chakos - Failed. Spent 8 Luck to reduce SAN loss to 2.
Antonio - Failed. Spent 12 Luck to reduce SAN loss to 3.

Orders
Elliot - Fire shotgun twice - 2 Extreme Hits (48 damage). However, the snake has Armor 10 and because a shotgun uses small pellets, armor is applied against every die of a shotgun blast. Shotguns don’t fare well against armor. 0 damage...

Abraham - Fires pistol three times. Three hits, one ordinary, one hard and one extreme. 33 damage. However, the snake’s unbelievably thick scales means only one shot even hurt it (5 damage done total).

Enoli -Fires his serpent-man flamethrower. 2d6+Burn (the target must roll Luck or catch fire)

I can’t find anything that says that flamethrowers ignore armor, but I’m ruling they do in this case.

Flamethrower Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

Great Snake Luck to avoid Burn (75): 1d100 ⇒ 81 Interesting.

Targets: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 4) = 5 Elliot and Minerva

As shotgun blasts and pistol fire rattle harmlessly off its thick scales, the snake is suddenly engulfed in green fire erupting from Enoli's strange silvery pack!

The Great Snake rears up and attacks! It bites at Elliot and slams Minerva with the enormous coils of its body. Both terrified humans dodge out of the way and the massive snake slams into the columns, shaking the entire edifice!

Bite v. Elliot(60%): 1d100 ⇒ 57 Ordinary Success
Elliot Dodge Roll (60%): 1d100 ⇒ 56 Ordinary Success. Tie goes to defender.

Tail Slam v. Minerva (60%): 1d100 ⇒ 80Failure
Elliot Dodge Roll (50%): 1d100 ⇒ 20 Ordinary Success

DEX ORDER AND STATUS
Elliot
Abraham
Enoli
The Great Snake - 13 Damage and BURN!
Minerva
Chakos
Antonio

Everyone, go!

A few of you are carrying M-1 rifles. They do 2d6+4 damage.

Chakos may never have fought a snake the size of an elephant before, but he had been in some tough fire fights. He was no Danjou but he wasn’t a coward either. He prayed to the Blessed Virgin as he began firing…

Firearms (Handguns) (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 17
Firearms (Handguns) (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 6
Firearms (Handguns) (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 72

…the bullets flying from his pistol and sinking deep into the nightmare creature.

Ok, so an extra die because of its size eh? And max damage plus an extra die for Extreme successes. Well, I’ll spend 1 Luck to make the first shot an Extreme also. Damage then…

Damage: 8 + 2d8 ⇒ 8 + (6, 2) = 16 for 6 after armor?

Damage: 8 + 2d8 ⇒ 8 + (5, 3) = 16 for 6 after armor?

Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3 for 0 after armor?

Chakos backed away a little.

Maybe another 10’ back, but still well inside my first range increment.

Enoli feels a sense of elation as the snake is engulfed in flames, but he also knows that he will not be able to fire it again, dropping nozzle of the flame thrower to hang at his side, he grabs and raises the M1 rifle, aiming it at the writhing creature

Rifle (60): 1d100 ⇒ 34
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 4) + 4 = 9

Can I spend 4 luck to make this a hard success, does that give me more damage?

Can I spend 4 luck to make this a hard success, does that give me more damage?

No, it does not. Hard Successes are merely more difficult to dodge, but the snake isn't trying to dodge.

Without a rifle, I'm not even sure I can hurt this thing...but here goes...

Antonio flinches as the gunfire and hissing fill the chamber with a cacophony of noise. He looks back to his friends firing all manner of weaponry at the snake with limited effect. What happens next, you're not sure if it's the priest's bravery or a break of his sanity. He charges the snake, machete in hand.

Fighting (brawl) 70: 1d100 ⇒ 91 Miss
Machete Damage: 1d8 + 1d4 ⇒ (3) + (2) = 5

After unloading his shotgun directly into the snake's head with no apparent effect, Elliot screams. "We need to get out of here! Fast!"

Then the snake lunges, and he barely darts out of its path as it crashes into the wall behind him. The archaeologist slings the empty shotgun across his back and takes a hard look at the debris pile, hoping to catch sight of the serpent-headed mummy they'd seen atop the throne...

I don't see how Elliot can even try and hurt this thing - even with a machete, so I'll try and make myself useful elsewhere. Trying to find the mummy in the debris, if possible. I'll make a roll just in case...

Spot Hidden check (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 64

Elliot shouts to the others. "There's a passage under the throne!" He starts to move toward it, to see if there are rungs or the like to head down - and to determine whether it might be too small for the giant snake to follow...

I won't make another roll for these answers unless you need me to.

It looks small, but snakes -are- able to get into tight places. -Maybe- it's safe?

I think I am going to try and aim for one of the snake's eyes. Perhaps that'll get past the armor? It'll be a hard roll for sure.

Stowing away the pistol after the bullets mostly ricochet off of its nearly impenetrable hide, Abraham takes out the M1 Garand off of his shoulder and levels an aim at it. He follows those large, piercing eyes and waits for his perfect moment to fire off a shot.

Rifle 65%: 1d100 ⇒ 85Penalty: 1d100 ⇒ 14

The shot goes wide by just a hair, hitting above the monstrosity's face. Elliot mentions that there is a passageway underneath the throne. Swallowing the thought that he did not want to go deeper into this forsaken place, he makes his move towards that escape.

Deeming that the passage might be too tight for the snake to follow (and hoping fervently that he's correct), Elliot makes for the tunnel and begins to climb down...

Before jumping into this hole, is there any sign we have this thing on the ropes at all? I could roll a Natural World, or something? Assuming standard biological signs of injury, etc

It's definitely bleeding and on fire, but you get no particular sense that it is seriously injured, no.

That thing is a beast! Probably 25 damage and on fire, and keeps on hissing!

Yup, I think fire is the only thing that's going to hurt this thing. With 10 armor, even rifle shots aren't going to do much. And I'm not certain that fire will be enough. Maybe that other pistol you found? But Elliot has no knowledge of that. I need some slugs for that shotgun, but that's of no help in this battle. I'm thinking we need to get out of Dodge, if we can. Running along the big passage back to the soldiers won't help, that thing can definitely follow us. Maybe this tunnel is too small? Maybe? Then if we're lucky this thing will go after the soldiers when they arrive on the scene.

Problem with the magic weapons is the cost, the pistol I believe is 2mp and the flame thrower is 10mp (and I'm now out of MP)

"What about the odd gun. Maybe it will hurt it. Abraham do you still have it?" Minerva rushes to the passageway under the throne, and looks down it. "I can't tell if anything's down there. We may have to take the chance. Maybe we can pull some rubble down behind us and block the snake from following."

Spot Hidden 60: 1d100 ⇒ 95

Depends on how bad things go on its next turn. I already took my shot for the turn.

Yep, my action this round is to investigate that tunnel. If it's traversable, etc. I have nothing that can hurt this thing, so an attack would be a wasted action.

Edit: I screwed up and got my targets reversed. Fixed below.

Chakos backs up, the urge to scream competing with the urge to kill. He fires three shot squarely into the fantastic reptile, which it barely seems to notice. Enoli blasts away with his rifle, also striking the beast but hears a metallic whine as the bullet ricochets off as though it were an armored truck. Antonio bravely charges the giant serpent and swings with his machete, but the snake moves and the priest misses his target. Abraham tries to line up a perfect shot against the snake’s eyes, but the snake jerks suddenly forward and the shot merely ricochets off its scales.

Elliot spies a hidden passage beneath the mummy’s former position and runs to it, climbing into the opening. He disappears from view. Minerva rushes forward to inspect the hole, but sees only darkness below her (and no way to block it).

As the fire continues to spread, burning the snake, it takes little notice and attacks again!

Targets: 2d5 ⇒ (5, 3) = 8 Minerva and Antonio

Snake Bite (60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 30 Hard Success.
Minerva dodge (50/25/12): 1d100 ⇒ 9 Extreme Success. No damage.

Snake Tail Slam (60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 19 Hard Success.
Antonio dodge (40/20/8): 1d100 ⇒ 65 Failure.
Tail Slam Damage: 8d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5, 1, 4, 5, 6, 1) = 31

The snake bites at Minerva and the lady dives behind a pillar at the last moment, but the writhing coils of the giant serpent slam the priest into the ground with the force of a runaway coal truck.

DEX ORDER AND STATUS
Elliot
Abraham
Enoli
The Great Snake - 26 Damage and BURN!
Minerva
Chakos
Antonio

Assuming Elliot is still capable of calling out... not sure what he's seeing exactly, but here goes my best guess.

Determining that the passage must go somewhere, Elliot calls up to the others, his voice aflame with barely-restrained panic. "Hey! This tunnel seems clear! Let's get away from that thing quick!" Putting actions to words, the archaeologist continues climbing down into the darkness...

Because fleeing from an enormous snake through a dark tunnel... what could go wrong? :/

Elliot, you're in a narrow chute going straight down. Now that you're here, you're certain the snake couldn't get it because -you- can barely fit in. However, you can't see what's below you in the close, dark, uncomfortable shaft.

Give me a Climb check, please.

"Antonio!" Abraham shouts, seeing the massive snake whip its tail around towards the man. The rifle scored off of it cleanly but it seemed like it could still burn. Reaching down, he would take out that strange, metallic pistol once more. Lining up a shot, he would fire off beads of fiery power.

First Shot: Handguns 70%: 1d100 ⇒ 23Damage: 1d10 ⇒ 8
Second Shot: Handguns 70%: 1d100 ⇒ 44Damage: 1d10 ⇒ 5
Third Shot: Handguns 70%: 1d100 ⇒ 25Damage: 1d10 ⇒ 9

Placing the shots all along its side, Abraham would then rush towards where Elliot had went. Anything was better than staying up with this crazy, dangerous animal.

Spending three points of Magic to fire the pistol. It needs to make a Luck save for each one or it gets...more on fire? Maybe we'll burn it to death.

The sight of Father Antonio disappearing behind the giant snake's tale was too much for Chakos to take, it was time to leave, and Elliot had found a way out.

"Make room for me," Chakos yelled, as he ran across the room, snapping off a single shot at the snake as he went...

Firearms (Handguns) (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 65

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7

...and he jumped into the hole, trying to not smash his lantern as he went.

"I don't think the snake can fit! Hell, I can barely fit! Please God don't let it fit..." Elliot calls up again to the others as he tries to scramble down the chute, breathing the last as a prayer as he tries not to think of what might be down there in the cloying darkness...

*gulp* Climb check, eh? OK, here goes!

Climb Check (20%): 1d100 ⇒ 84
Well that can't be good!

Spending three points of Magic to fire the pistol. It needs to make a Luck save for each one or it gets...more on fire? Maybe we'll burn it to death.

The snake's thick scaly hide still provide is some resistance to the strange death ray, but not as much as against bullets. (5 Armor vs. the silver pistol).

The strange silver weapon sears the monster's hide and it recoils in pain. Chakos's bullets just bounce off its scales. There is a brief and probably unheard yell as Elliot falls into darkness.

Elliot Falling Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3) = 10

DEX ORDER AND STATUS
Elliot - 12/22 hp, momentarily stunned by the fall
Abraham - 28/30 hp
Enoli - 18/26 hp
The Great Snake - 34 Damage and BURN!
Minerva - 13/22 hp
Chakos - 26/26 hp

Enoli and Minerva, are your HP right? Also, go!
Chakos, give me a Climb check.

Climb (20/10/4): 1d100 ⇒ 19

That's how it is done Elliot!!!

Chakos manages to get down the hole safely, "it looks like I still have the moves they taught us at Sidi Bel Abbès!"

Elliot lies stunned at the bottom of the chute, vaguely aware of Chakos landing with an adroitness that sends a flare of jealousy through his mind. The archaeologist struggles to stand, trying to catch his breath and take a look around...

Sadly yes I only have 18 HP, still not fully recovered from the first fight of the game

Anger and grief swell up in Enoli as he sees his friend slammed by the monster's tail. Father was the only friend he had here, the reason he was in this madness to begin with, but despite their spiritual debates he knew the Father to be a good man, and a good friend.

Swallowing the growing lump in this throat, he then wipes away the start of tears with his arm and rushes to the hole, following the others.

Climb(40): 1d100 ⇒ 56
Of course....sigh, I'll spend the 16 luck to not be near death from the fall

Minerva, go!

Minerva heads down into the dark. "Father! Come on. We need to get away from this creature." She runs off the ledge into the dark.

Climb 50/25/10: 1d100 ⇒ 74

Enoli, please make sure you have recorded that Luck spend.

Minerva Falling damage: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 4) = 8

Minerva loses her footing in the narrow confines of the shaft and falls, with a brief whoop of fear, slamming into the floor far below. She's pretty sure she's broken a few ribs and loosened a tooth.

For everyone who's descended to the lower chamber, I'll get back to you. I want to resolve the upper chamber first without revealing what's below.

Abraham finds himself all alone facing the impossibly large snake. It rears back its head and attacks! Abraham manages to dive behind a pillar just as the snake attacks and although the entire temple rumbles, the old soldier is still on his feet! The fire continues to rage on the snake's back, spreading with time.

Snake Bite (60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 91 Fail.
Abraham dodge (60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 67

Snake Tail Slam(60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 32 Success.
Abraham dodge (60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 42 Success.

DEX ORDER AND STATUS
Elliot - 12/22 hp, momentarily stunned by the fall
Abraham - 28/30 hp
Enoli - 18/26 hp - climbed down
The Great Snake - 36 Damage and BURN!
Minerva - 5/22 hp, momentarily stunned by the fall
Chakos - 26/26 hp - climbed down

Abraham, go!

Chakos would, barring another immediate threat being presented, move to Minerva to administer first aid.

Dodging the titanic reptile was pushing Abraham to his limits and he knew his luck was getting close to running out. The others had escaped down below, leaving just the snake and him to fight. Grimacing hard, he waited for the next strike before ducking under the snapping fangs of the beast. Running towards that chute, he would slide into the dark hole and into the unknown below.

Climbing 40%: 1d100 ⇒ 19

Abraham slides down but his calloused hands gain purchase here and there to slow his descent down below. He moves quickly, trying to avoid the burning monstrosity up above before falling into the room below where his comrades awaited him.

Everyone having fallen or climbed down, finds themselves in a tiny antechamber beside a slightly larger circular room, only ten feet in diameter. The walls are covered with peeling paint that shows a prominent portrait of a female serpent person wearing an ornate crown in the shape of a cobra and wielding a scepter in the shape of two intertwined serpents. She is surrounded by prostrate serpent-person worshippers.

The rest of the walls are covered in writing and pictures that show serpent people in many attitudes.

On the plinth in the center of the chamber is a female serpent person, covered in fresh, jewel-like, iridescent scales that glitter like sunlight on water. Her arms are crossed over her chest, in a pose reminiscent of a knight's tomb. You have little doubt that she is alive.

Above, the gigantic snake thrashes and whips its tail, threatening to bring down the entire temple, but it does not follow down the shaft.

Chakos orients himself quickly, and after seeing Minerva land hard, he moves to her to tend her wounds...

First Aid (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 431d4 ⇒ 4 4!!! Not bad, but dang you guys have taken some hits!

...while doing so, he considers the panorama presented to him...

Occult (60/30/12): 1d100 ⇒ 38

... until his mind kicks him. "Wait! That woman is alive!" He points at the serpent woman.

Oh, and a moment later, Father Antonio crawls out of the corner, much battered but alive!

Tell us your amazing tale of survival, Padre!

Antonio coughs and spits up a nasty mix of saliva and dirt as he crawls out from a corner. He groans and rolls over onto his back, then blinks up at the rest of the group. "Enoli? Abraham?" He sits up with considerable effort. "Madre de Dios...Are you ok?" As he asks the question, he turns and vomits on the floor.

The priest holds his head, as he tries to stand up. "That creature picked me up and slammed me into the ground. I think I might have blacked out for a moment, but I remember being on the ground as your gunfire sounded. I found myself next to a hole in the earth and I rolled inside it. Maybe the snake slammed down on the ground again because the next thing I knew, the earth opened up and I fell. I thought I was falling into the underworld! The next thing I know, I'm crawling out of this." He waves back to the dark corner where the priest crawled out of a sharp crack in the wall.

Do I have any hp left?

HP: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Antonio has 5 hp. Also, you don't just lose 30 Luck. You lose -all- your remaining Luck. The rule is that you must have at lease 30 Luck to survive at Death's Door, but then you go to zero.

After seeing to Minerva's recent wounds and helping her to come back awake, Chakos moves to Father Peña. "Some of those ribs look broken from here, and if I can see that from here, you are lucky to be alive. Well, of course, not luck, by the grace of God!" Chakos palpates the Father's chest area, pushes some things back into place, warning him, "this will hurt like childbirth Padre."

First Aid (80/40/16): 1d100 ⇒ 801d4 ⇒ 1 Well, I just made it, but for 1 HP. Every bit helps.

Who else got injured from the snake? Those are the only wounds I can work on fixing at this point.

Antonio cries out as Chakos slide a rib back into place. He pants for a moment afterward and says, "Yeah, that's a little better. But I feel worse than when I went eight rounds with Carl Murdock. And that was when I was younger too. And I lost that fight." He winces and the room spins for a moment. He grabs Chakos' arm until he can steady himself.

"What have you found?" The priest glances around, but you're not sure he's really focusing on anything.

Abraham's attention was on that chute up above, that silver pistol aimed up above. Yet when Father Antonio spoke up, he couldn't help but become distracted as he turned towards the priest.

"Father Antonio! You lucky son of a b%!*$." Abraham says, a small smile on his face even as Doctor Hyluan begins administering first aid to the man. There was little time for rejoicing as the roof above them shook with the creature's rage.

His eyes towards the snake woman that laid there within the center of the room. The trauma of this place, the dangers of it, it had to be messing with his mind.

"Pack it away, soldier. You can't freeze now, you can unpack it later." He heard his captain's word in his head, taking a quick breath before moving about the room. What was most important was finding a way out of this damn place. Then they could worry about transporting the woman.

I would like to do a Spot Hidden for any hidden doors and passageways outside of any obvious exits.

Spot Hidden %90: 1d100 ⇒ 63

Minerva sits up carefully. "Thank you. I can't seem to keep from getting hurt in this place." She looks around the room, and the paintings on the walls. "Did you say she's alive?" she asks Chakos. "She can't be alive."