(#Q-06) "Archaeology in Aspenthar" (Inactive)

Game Master rainzax

@ Bikpek why the -2 to your attacks?

@ Elize you are jumping initiative order a little bit - I will bump your post resolution until just after Syringe Man!

Oh, sorry didn't mean to jump, just wanted to leave it ready for when is my turn in case I'm not online later on x.x

So I haven't take those action yet n.n

@QM Bikpek is still prone from falling unconscious! Standing up is a next turn problem.

Players,
As Syringe Man seems to be gaining the upper hand, I'd like to open Discussion to talking Strategy and Tactics here to overcome this Tough Fight!

Q) How can the Team pool together to turn this around?

Yeah, I think we're overlooking something since just attacking isn't working...

Perhaps flanking? I considered demoralizing too but it is likely immune to that and Bon Mot...

What spells do we still have? I think @Landitho still has color spray but we gotta move a little to not get caught in the flash.

Using the oil of potency we found early is tempting but that would be two actions and will just give me some extra damage, I think we should rather hinder syringe man...

@Bikpek, attacking isn't working so far how about trying to trip it with your Horse hopper?

@Endra, looks like you can cast Ray of frost, it uses two actions instead of one but it lacks the volley trait and perhaps cold damage is more effective than physical.

As for my, I'll try to tumble through again and keep the panache, that will help me to use one for all, Bikpek is our heavy hitter so I'll aid him to land his strikes.

Landitho could use Sleep - though not sure if that would work. Did anyone do Recall Knowledge on it yet? If it's a construct, it may not work.

If push comes to shove, she can move up and use Color Spray. But that would mean no Inspire Courage this round.

Or I can cast Soothe, healing Aktuh or Bikpek.

One round without inspire courage isn't that bad, if you can blind it we may have a chance to counter attack.

Aktuh already do one when he devices a stratagem but besides the fact of it possibly having a person inside we had no more info, it's likely immune to sleep however as it's a construct, or so I assume... It doesn't look "talkative" so Elize haven't tried bon mot or any. Other social thing against it.

I'd say that bikpek is our workhorse so soothe should be for him if used, I Also has one potion of healing if needed.

Nevertheless we can't leave Aktuh Down for too long.

Aktuh did Recall Knowledge for free with his Devise a Strategem, but maybe the GM would allow a little OOC discussion of the results ...? A Perception check about Melota, maybe?

Does anyone else have Crafting or Arcana?

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Strategically, I think we're hitting an approrpriate amount, just not doing enough damage to get through the hardness. Bikpek's STR modifier is strong, we should flank to give him the best chance to hit (Aktuh was trying to grapple for that reason) - I would recommend that he Strike as much as possible, and not spend actions tripping. Those who have little chance of breaking the hardness - like Aktuh with his 1d6+0 shortbow - should try to debuff, buff, or heal. I don't know what Bikpek is like without rage - he exits rage when he gets knocked out, right? So he's int he cooldown period?

The other possibility is to retreat (preferably with Aktuh limping along, but I won't take it personally if not) and hope for bow crits.

I will add: I count 7 Unspent Hero Points across the table...

If you didn't know, I track these in my QM Bar, and now you know!

Before it gets us all killed, Aktuh identifying Melota inside the construct is a total figment of his imagination. Anyone should be able to see that there's not a human female inside.

Someone else may want to Recall Knowledge because Aktuh's information is ... unreliable. :\

If anyone is worried about not dealing enough damage to hurt it I would recommend trying to trip it if you can, that will bring its AC down and hopefully help us all hit. I’m also willing to believe a retreat is a good idea. If nothing else we can get it squeezing. And I’m still not convinced hose syringe hands will be much good at opening doors.

And for the record, Bikpek is dealing 1d8+4 without rage, so still a solid hit. If we do retreat the oil of potency may be worth it.

Inspire Courage should work for spell attacks/damage, right? So Endra should have +1 on her ray of frost attack/damage rolls.

Yup, you're right. I forgot about that. Let's see if my post is still editable...

Anyway, here's hoping that's a good chunk of damage.

@QM I think you missed Bikpek using one of his hero points at this post. So Bikpek is all out!

As much as I would love to pretend I didn't notice :P

We got this team, its just a bunch of splinters!

Not gonna lie, I'm a sucker for heroic last stands... Elize has pretty good AC with dueling parry and okay saves so I suggest the party to retreat back to the corridor while I keep it distracted, we can then device and strategy or even ambush or trap it there.

Also... I'm a little new to Hero Points... Besides rerolling I don't know what else to do with them x.x

Spend them to stop Dying. :)

Hero Point Rules

Spend all your Hero Points (minimum 1) to avoid death. You can do this when your dying condition would increase. You lose the dying condition entirely and stabilize with 0 Hit Points. You don’t gain the wounded condition or increase its value from losing the dying condition in this way, but if you already had that condition, you don’t lose it or decrease its value.

I see... Kinda like Resolve in Starfinder :D

Hey... I was just looking at the map, isn't syringe man too big to enter the corridor? Or would it squeeze through? In any case that will really hinder it.

Kinda video game like but set it on a place it can't move and shoot it with our ranged attacks like Endra's ray of frost, the middle of the corridor also has a "cross" we can lure it to the middle of it and attack from the sides flanking it.

@QM I think you missed Bikpek using one of his hero points at this post. So Bikpek is all out!

1 + 1 - 1 = 1

I apologize for my absence, I haven't been feeling very well this week.

Don't worry, take your time n.n

By the way, battle medicine is more impressive in action than just reading it on the books :o

By the way, battle medicine is more impressive in action than just reading it on the books :o

Well, to be fair, you haven't seen the downside yet, which is that if you crit-fail, you do 1d8 damage. I once crit-failed a Battle Medicine on our front-line fighter with 4 hp remaining. =( And no Hero Point to reroll.

Aktuh crit-failed 2 Battle Medicine checks in his first adventure. It wasn't the only reason, but one of many reasons we got into serious trouble in the final battle. We escaped by failing the scenario and running away, limiting the number of character deaths to 1 (plus 2 animal companions). =(

But, yes, overall, Battle Medicine is a really good feat. On non-WIS-based characters, I almost always pair it with Assurance (Medicine) to avoid having to roll. Rogues and Investigators get extra skill feats at Level 2, so Aktuh's unusual that he got the DC 15 check locked up already. Characters that have high Wisdom end up with solid modifiers so Assurance is less valuable.

Players,
Looks like we have a loose plan here!

Aktuh,
As your excellent roleplay is partially responsible for getting us into this mess, you may Assign a Hero Point to Any Single Player you Choose to help us get out.

Who?

Elize! As un-swashbucklery as a retreat is, it's what we need.

...now 8 unspent Hero Points upon this table!

And while saving them for when you are dying is one idea, another idea is using them proactively to re-roll important attacks rolls, skills checks, or saving throws!

Good luck!

So to be clear, it he plan to back up just a smidge so we can surround it for flanking?

Seems like it, yeah.

Oh, I thought we were backing up through a doorway.

Either way is fine.

Sorry I'm a little slow the weekends x.x

Elize, could you describe on the Map exactly where you'd like your Token moved to?

(30 feet w/ Panache @ Success)

Just behind of Bikpek and in front of Erryn n.n

Now what?

(Opening Discussion here once again)...

What are the mechanics to drag someone who's unconscious?

We'll go:

1) Bulk of Creatures
2) Interact (◆) to Lift (2 hands)
3) If you go this route, I will ask you to show whether or not doing so would make you Encumbered!

Landitho has one use of Soothe left. Will do that to wake up Bikpek. But after that, will be outta spells.

So, honestly I’m still a fan of the current plan. Surround it, get flanking, and just beat it to death. We have a few hero points to go around, and a lucky crit may be all we need to take out this thing. It’s AC is manageable once we have that flanking.

Okay, Aktuh will run around and flank then.

We still have a decent amount of hero points for those crits to be reasonably possible.

Is there a way to determine how badly injured/damaged an enemy is?

Info on a Recall check!

This combat is so deadly...

Do I have to be in my shortbow's square to pick it up, or can I pick it up from an adjacent square?

Opening up Discussion in light of Incoming Information!

@Aktuh - adjacent is cool by me.

We just need a few good hits... but darn. Bikpek dying for the cause is a fairly suitable end to his story, but I don’t want to drag the party down with me. If we don’t turn the tide this turn, we may need to do a proper retreat.

I don't mind Aktuh dying, either (I'll probably revive him with AcP), but I'll confess that I was pretty downtrodden to realize we're only halfway.

If there's no time constraint, I suggest we retreat this round, while everyone is up. We can't do 32 damage in a round.

Option 1: Heal up (Aktuh can Treat Wounds given enough time, and getting people to full should clear Wounded), and re-enter with torches to do bludgeoning damage.

Option 2: Just run.

I’m fine with just running. Maybe come back tomorrow after we rest and such. This is such a brutal fight.

I'm fine with making a hasty escape as well. It probably won't fix itself up in the meantime, and unfortunately I just came with the wrong spell loadout for this fight. Plus, any successful healing with Treat Wounds removes the Wounded condition, even if the person isn't back to max HP.

This is totally unrelated to the topic at hand, but Aktuh has decided what he wants to Craft during downtime - a periscope! Next scenario, he can peek around the corner and hopefully get a head start on identifying enemies.

It should be 3 days Crafting lead time, and -12.5 gp up front.