GM TOP #3-02: Sewer Dragons of Absalom (Standard) (Inactive)

Game Master Pete H.

Thyste grins. "I've had closer scrapes. ...Though not many," she admits.

Buffs and summons are expiring, tic tock.

Seeing that several companions are hurt, Garsita channels positive energy again.

1d6 ⇒ 2

After that, she is happy to use anyone's wand to heal them; please roll your own healing. If you don't have one, I'm happy to share.

(I used channel because it's a bit faster and hopefully lets buffs last a little longer)

Like a fool, I forgot to bring my own healing D: this is... actually the first time Thyste has taken enough damage to not just get a Channel Positive or two and be good to go.

Probably a 2nd d6 for that channel: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Current Status
Kobold (-56 HP, bombs used: 6, Tied Up & Helpless)
Voices (-16 HP, 28 rds shield)
Thyste (-11 HP and begging for heals*)

*:P

What do you all do next?

3d8 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4, 3) + 3 = 11
heals for Thyste from my wand

Voices, do you have one?

Thyste's snarling grin turns to Garsita as she receives a few quick pokes; her fur almost seems to grow back in the places it's been damaged, even.

"Thanks, Gar. Good as new!" she growls as she retrieves her hand-helds.

Ruinor gives Engashez a confused look. "Perhaps some of your stomach acid got in your eye and you couldn't see well enough to notice how that went," he says sarcastically.

While Garsita is healing the wounded, Ruinor takes the opportunity to search the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

buffs:
Barkskin - dur 30 min
Shield - dur 27 rounds
AC=25
HP: 20 of 46

For what it's worth, I don't care if the goblin dog summons runs out.

Voices taps himself with a wand while arguing with Cat, Smerowr hspts! What Cat mean sssilly. Cat no help. Phfsits. Isss too Cat job. ...

Start up fast healing with wand of Infernal Healing. I would not mind waiting the 2.6 minutes to get up to full. Not like we are going to surprise anyone after all those explosions.

Voices tells Cat, Find hidden ssstuff. .
Cat perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29

Voices decides to wait for his buffs (except Barkskin) to expire and dog to disappear to make sure his wounds are healed.

Garsita heals up Thyste.

Ruinor and Cat look around.

Cat mrows at a selection of five filled vials on one shelf. They are apparently brand new Alchemist's Fires.

There are other things here, but they are all related to faction missions which don't count anymore and tend to severely distract people from their missions, even pitting them against each other. I do not like to use them for those reasons.

Where or What next? There are double doors to the west, but they are currently covered in webbing. There are bay windows on the second floor that face the same direction as the doors.

buffs:
Barkskin - dur 30 min
Shield - dur 27 rounds
AC=25
HP: 46 of 46

Hsst! Can Reenunor make ssspider websss gone?

Ruinor dismisses the web (bot).

Where or What next? There are double doors to the west. There are bay windows on the second floor that face the same direction as the doors.

Thyste rolls out her shoulders.

"Through the doors, or smash through the windows? Kinda wanna do the latter; it's not like we've avoided property damage up 'til now."

buffs:
Barkskin - dur 30 minutes
AC=25
HP: 46 of 46

Voices looks out the windows. Pretty room. No one there. Then heads down to go out the doors.

Garsita follows Voices towards to door.

Voices and Garsita head through the door. They see a large red carpeted foyer, like one would see at a theatre. There is nothing moving in the foyer and stairs lead up to double doors to the west.

New Map is up!

Thyste keeps an eye out for traps--

Take 10 Perception: 10 + 6 = 16

--as they move toward the stairs (and, in turn, to the doors and, in turn, to throw those doors open if there's no new information upon reaching them and no traps are spotted).

Cat slinks ahead looking for trouble. Mostly so he can say "I told you so."
stealth: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31
perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29

Garsita keeps moving forward with the group.

Ruinor frowns at the lack of interesting books in the collection. "Perhaps I can come back when this is over and take a better look," he says as he follows the group out the door.

Eng cheerily follows along.

The stairs seem safe. The doors seem safe. Apparently this isn't part of the expected trapped area. Thyste throws open the door and a booming voice welcomes the group from the stage.

It’s clear that at one point this was a grand theater. The gold railings still gleam despite years of sitting unpolished, and plush red velvet covers the walls and cushioned furniture. The cushions are mostly brown now, covered with mold and dirt. The damp, pervasive scent of moldy fabric and rot fills the air. There are two large balconies on each side of the theater about twenty feet above the orchestra level. The floor slopes down slightly, ending at a theater pit at the base of the stage. The stage itself is empty save a large, comfortable-looking chair in the center, illuminated with an ingenious system of magical lighting and mirrors.

A grizzled looking old kobold sits in the chair with a large blue dragon curled behind him. The dragon stands as the doors open and looks ready to launch into the air before the kobold raises his hand.

"Welcome Pathfinders! Or Assassins? Or just very unfortunate souls. Either way, STOP RIGHT THERE or your lives will be forfeit!"

The kobolds in the balcony cheer at this command. None of them are armed, they seem to be here for the show. What show? That's hard to know, yet.

Thyste snorts and unfurls the top of the sack, revealing two kobold heads.

"Same to you. We're here for a negotiation, not a slaughter."

She raises the tip of her spear to the alchemist's neck.

"Let's talk."

Intimidation: 10 + 8 = 18+4? I imagine she's larger than the speaker.

I'm also gonna take the chance to Spell-Like myself into an Alter Shape, if I can... which is just gonna be to enbeefen. +2STR.

intimidate assist, untrained: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Garsita stands behind Thyste, trying to look tough.

buffs:
Barkskin - dur 30 minutes
AC=25
HP: 46 of 46

Ooooo Dragon Shiney! Can Ssself petsss dragon? Maybe give belly ssscratchesss? Voices steps forward slowly. Clearly fascinated by the sight of a dragon.

Cat slinks forward under the chairs on the right side of the aisle.
stealth: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27
perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22
can't edit map on phone will draw path when get home.

Thyste snorts and unfurls the top of the sack, revealing two kobold heads.

Realized some poor phrasing here; the heads are clearly still connected to the rest of the kobolds they belong to. Thyste didn't behead them when no one was looking!

The Kobold laughs, his voice booming, "You think you can intimidate someone with everything to gain?!? No, I hold all the cards. So release the Kobolds and maybe we'll talk about how much TRIBUTE is OWED. Otherwise my dragon here will cook you alive."

If Trained, you may roll Knowledge “Arcana” Re: the dragon. With a success on your roll I will ID the creature. This ID will include basic type/subtype and one tidbit of knowledge. I will dole out the tidbits starting with signature special abilities and then working to more mechanical things like DR and other resistances. Multiple rolls from multiple players, assuming they both beat the DC, will grant additional information and not duplicate tidbits.

Voices, I stepped you up 5-ft, please move Cat as you wish. He is sufficiently stealthy to move up.

His hand, which was gesticulating wildly to the crowd in the balconies, snaps back up, "STOP THERE SNAKE! I SEE YOU CREEPING UP. ANOTHER STEP AND I ATTACK!"

Alter Self is fine. What medium humanoid form is taken?

"A blue dragon as a pet?" Ruinor wonders to himself, almost not believing his eyes.

Knowledge(Arcana): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

Form of: Thyste, But Buff. ...Well, more buff.

Garsita grips her glaive more tightly, but otherwise waits to see the results of the negotiations.

Arcana: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

Calls sweetly, Here dragon dragon. I have sssome nice ... trail rationsss for you. Ssself very good at belly ssscratchesss. Self should brought honey cakes. ... Do dragons likes honey cakes? Probably. All likes honey cakes.

Thyste looks more like a fox than a devil now, though her form hasn't changed a ton.

The kobold on the stage stands and seems to be waiting for something. Perhaps waiting to see if his demand is met?

Ruinor is pretty sure this is a chromatic blue dragon, but his concern over how tasty he probably is to a dragon overwhelms his mind and he recalls nothing else (missed the DC by 1).

Engashez, an expert on all dragonkind easily recognizes this to be a Young Chromatic Blue Dragon. Lawful Evil and very intelligent creatures, perhaps the kobold leader has some sort of contract with him? Or perhaps the dragon is just allowing the leader to pretend to lead. Either way, the biggest danger here is the breath weapon. And the 'good' kobold is pretty sure it comes out in a line of electricity.

What do you all do?

I'm happy to pretend to be Party Face for a bit, but I think Engashez may have been waiting on the Arcana check first ;P

Voices begins to rummage around in his bag. Uhm ... Does Mister Pretty Ssshiny Dragon want Cat food? What about wine? Oh hey! How about sssome fireworksss to celebrate new friendsss?!?

Engashez belts out loudly, "Great true true blood! We respect your electrifying countenance! We line up and come on behalf of the Pathfinder Society to offer tribute and seek an agreement! We know that power is only matched by your intelligence! While some might perceive your actions as evil, we know that it is to preserve your status as a superior species!"

The kobold stamps with frustration, "YOU IGNORE THE LEADER OF THE DRAGON CLAN?!? NOW SURRENDER YOUR CAPTIVES AND I SHALL LIST MY DEMANDS!"

He nods to the dragon who takes flight and hovers about twenty feet in the air.

Thyste raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not exactly super mobile with the hostages here; if you want us to not stand in a row, it's gonna be everyone else separating from me."

The kobold stamps with frustration,

"Aw, cute. Look at his little feet," Thyste snorts. "Hey, when you're done pretending to have a dragon, I'm guessing your position here is gonna be real tentative. I can open these kobolds right now or you can sit back down in your little 'throne' and negotiate."

"I think you already have made a demand, so what you are saying makes no sense..."

The kobold advances to the edge of the stage, "YOU DOUBT MY DRAGON'S POWER?!? OTHERS HAVE AND OTHERS ARE DEAD!!!"

The dragon releases a roar and then a gout of electricity crackles over the heads of the crowd in the balcony, who all shriek in fear and then cheer loudly!

The roar echoes through the hall and you all clearly hear the crackling of electricity from the dragon's breath.

Total Surrender? :P

"No, I don't doubt the dragon's power. I doubt whether the dragon really listens to you, because I'm sure he or she knows that he or she is smarter and wiser than you. This is clear, because you are not negotiating with us, but instead making demands."

You all are welcome to roll a sense motive here to get a hunch about this kobold and his current state of mind.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Thyste isn't impressed with the dragon. "Feels like if you wanted an actual demonstration you'd have atomized one of us," she points out. "It's fake."

sense motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

folio reroll: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 3 + 4 = 20

Do you have two rerolls Garsita? I thought you gave yours to Voices on that earlier grapple to end the last combat.

He laughs, "I MAY BE MIGHTY AND A BIT MAD, BUT I DON'T AUTOMATICALLY WANT TO KILL MY KIN. BUT IF YOU PUSH ME, YOU WILL ALL FEEL THE PAIN OF THE DRAGON'S BREATH!"

"I've pushed you, like, three times already," Thyste points out. "If that dragon could incinerate me it would've by now."

I have a campaign service coin reroll, which is intended for me to give away; in fact, I can't use it for my own rolls. I also have a folio reroll, which technically is only for me and cannot be given away.

edit: yes it's a bit messy, and I'm sorry I was not more explicit.

The rest of you notice it doesn't appear the kobold king is going to leave the stage as he paces back and forth, gesticulating to the crowd and having his dragon fly around the theatre and roar. He now seems to be now ignoring your babble as he switches language and riles up the crowd.

buffs:
Barkskin - dur 30 minutes
AC=25
HP: 46 of 46

Voices stands up on the backs of the chairs trying to reach the dragon. Ooo, Ssself callsss you Missster Ssshiny Ssscalesss. Pleassse come hear for hugsss!

Cat slinks further forward under the chairs on the right side of the aisle.
stealth: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27
perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34