Protectors of Golarion (Wrath of the Righteous AP)

Game Master Sensen

@Verene, about the detect evil, Laulieh was born a Succubus and has detect good at all times. Over the milennia (she is old enough to know Ragathiel as a devil, she also enjoyed Runelord Sorshens hospitality in ancient thassilon at one point, although those 2 got along quite fine), she honed her skill in reading others, and now has alignment sight basically constant, and no longer has to concentrate on it (that she also has constant detect evil is really useful in her daily life). She also assumes, from experience, that mortals forced into a corner, especially when they are mythic, will nearly always spontaneously develop unusual abilities. For all she knows, Mythic Paladins may well have detect evil without concentrating on it as a constant thing.

There is also a "influence" angle to this, she has a lot of experience, lying about completely obvious things is not useful, while speaking the truth about something theoretically but in the context not really incriminating is already a way to be regarded as "really unusual for a Succubus".

Janeanimine meanwhile is much younger (teenager as far as Succubus lifespan is concerned, a couple of hundred years) and actually not very smart. Charismatic, yes, powerful, yes, a coward, also yes. But her intelligence/wisdom is massively less then her charisma.

There is also, if you think about it a bit more... spoiler, chorussina has no mesmerist tricks implanted on her. That would require her to trust Janeanemine with her mind of all things, which Chorussina empathetically does not, on account of Janeanemines somewhat aerodynamic shape, chorussinas crossblooded abyssal/destined sorceress bloodline, her "energumen" from being a demoniac (prestige class), her half fiend template and her being an Abyssal tiefling to begin with, saying that Chorussina trusts Janeanemine about as far as she could throw her would be a massive overstatement, as she could yeet Janeanemine pretty far actually (and repeatedly considered that, but there is a deplorable lack of large ventilation fans to yeet really annoying coworkers into).

Chorussina has freedom of movement via being crossblooded Abyssal/Destined fyi. A few of the cultists are also level 7 clerics.

To be honest, those black tentacles made the turn much easier!

Also, 2 blessing of fervored minos failing to break free is hilarious.

Other note, a reason why Laulieh is telepath chatting with most of you is that it gives you something to engage in when its not your turn

I'm working on making reason of Elliot. Before going in, I think he would have had the following up: Shared Training (Outflank), Keen Edge, Alter Self (Grippli - Again from the scale), Blade Tutor's Spirt (Recast), Shield (Recast from wand), Heroism, Haste (From Verene), and used an Arcane Point to boost his weapon enhancement by +2. I believe Long Arm would have expired.

I don't think his stats in line are quite right. Heroism, Haste, and Alter Self will boost his Reflex by an additional +4 to give him the save for half.

Spell Combat penalty I believe is negated by the Blade Tutor's Spirit.

I'll have a post up here shortly for him.

I also think Thesius would have made that save. He has both Heroism and Haste currently adding to his save. In turn, he has evasion so he should take nothing.

Elliots last attack and confirmation should have been 34 and 32. I missed the -5 for second attack. Plenty going on there.

Note, if Chorussina (due to flying 20 feet in the air) is not targetable by Elliot I will redirect his pretty good attacks on various Minotaurs, so they dont go to waste.

Also, I am totally converting most prepared caster bosses into spontaneous casters. Yes, less bookkeeping for me is good.
I also think that spontaneous casters are more easy to anticipate and thus in a way more interactive for players.

Like, Chorussina as written has like... spells that would be annoying but really really drag down play by post.

Useing wall of force would be really good tactically, but from my experience in play by post, area denial spells just end up being really really confusing since its trivial to forget about them.

I am not converting cleric mooks because I would be very surprised if they get more then 2 spells off.

Note, something else that is advantadgeous which I will never do is a balor/dragon etc. with an anti magic field. Anti magic field is written a bit oddly, and the sheer brainpower involved into recalculating everything is really annoying.

Also, it gets really wonky with enlarge effects, as these deactivate, which could result in someone shrinking to outside of the antimagic field, only for the enlarge to reactivate, causing them to enlarge back into the field, and then it gets deactivated again making the character shrink once more.

Ah, I misunderstood who that was. He can cast fly...so maybe he should do that, mythic point into flying up, and then make only one attack at -1 attack and -2d6-1 damage. Keep our flying caster busy.

Not a problem, its a complex fight, and I didnt want to add a "20 feet up in the air" thing because that would have made it even clunkier.

I appreciate you calling it out. Elliot is also far more complicated then Theisus so it took a bit to get up to speed with him.

What might help is if we replace the description on the map with the NPCs names. I see hers is very small on the picture, but having it next to the picture would help greatly.

Edit: I also think with the bonuses Thesius and Elliot have, they would have made the Cone of Cold saves. I think you said it was DC 21? If so, Thesius would take name from evasion while Elliot takes half.

DC is 21 yes, great idea with the names, should have done that!

My apologies, I think he could have made all those attacks. Mythic point to use his Flight Hex as a Swift Action, Spell Combat to used Bladed Dash to close the distance for the first attack and then the rest of the attacks.

This would have left them all with the -1 to attack and -2d6-1 to damage.

If you're well do go about it that way.

Probably by

Amazing initiative for an extra standard action

Use this action for flight hex

Bladed dash spell combat into full attack

Consuming 1 mythic point, flight hex and one level 2 spell?

I'm pretty sure the Flight hex can be used with Amazing Initiative since it is a supernatural ability, not a spell. So, Amazing Initiative to activate the hex would turn what is normally a standard action into a free action, leaving his swift action still available for the Mythic Arcane Strike that applies bane against native outsiders to his weapon. That means all of the numbers could be completely preserved as they are, except that the iterative attack of the full attack should be at -5 to hit compared to the others, as Thesius noted before.

In total, then, the turn would cost 2 mythic points, at least 1 minute of Elliot's flight hex, and his prepared bladed dash spell. He should have the mythic power to burn, since I think he has used only 2 mythic points so far today, while buffing with the 10 min/level buffs shared training and keen edge for this dungeon. It looks like Azira and Merixia should also still have keen edge up thanks to him, since the casts last 80 minutes. I'll add those to Azira's status. That would not change her turn at all because her first attack hit a mirror image anyway, thank goodness.

Elliot would now be at 3/7 uses of mythic power remaining for the day.

Sounds accurate, will adjust tomorow!

And I am really thankfull I dont have to play him so thanks a lot!

I think I got that mostly right, again, I think there were some errors (Bane is a +2 to damage in most cases, and iteratives dont take a -5 penalty to damage), but like, its not your character, he is a complex git, and I am gratefull I dont have to run him myself.

(Bane is a +2 to damage in most cases, and iteratives don't take a -5 penalty to damage)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but the weapon property bane gives +2 functional enhancement bonus (so, +2 to hit and +2 base damage) and an additional 2d6 damage on a hit. In this case, Thesius has it as +1 to hit and 2d6+1, I think because a weapon's functional enhancement bonus always maxes out at +5. Righteous Eclipse is at +2 normally and Elliot's Arcane Pool adds another +2 for one minute, then the +2 from bane takes it to +5, not +6. That part all seems correct to me. (Which also means that as a +5 enhancement weapon, the damage would go through all material-based and alignment-based DR, though not, e.g., DR/Epic or DR/bludgeoning.) Also, the 2d6 damage doesn't multiply on a crit, but the +2 (or +1) from enhancement should. (Looking this up told me holy damage doesn't get multiplied on a crit either, so Azira should have done 8 less damage on that crit last turn. I'll keep that in mind for the future.)

Iterative attacks don't take a damage penalty, it's true, so I think the 4 instead of 9 you noted must have been a typo. They are made at 5 less BAB than attacks made at one's highest BAB. So functionally they're at -5 to hit, but the original post had the same base of +13 to hit, before other bonuses, for all four attacks including the iterative one, which was what I was noting.

The bladed dash spell gives you a circumstance bonus equal to your Int bonus on the attack roll, which is what that last +4 was that wasn't reproduced in the other attack rolls.

So, with all that in mind, and not asking you to retcon anything more, do these numbers look right so we're all on the same page for the future?

The bladed dash attack was a 30 to hit / 25 damage.

The haste attack was a 36 to hit / 33 to confirm / 39 damage if confirmed.

The first attack of the full attack was a 37 to hit / 28 to confirm / 27 damage if a hit or 44 if confirmed.

The second attack of the full attack was a 34 to hit / 32 to confirm / 43 damage if confirmed.

Yeah, so the bane should be a +2 to hit and effectively 2d6+2 to damage.

I didnt take into account that arcane pool is an enchantment bonus and that Elliots is already maxed out, so yeah that would explain it.

Maybe we consider some effects tracking tool. It sounds like this will come up a lot during this game and it's more fun to focus on the game than the tiny numbers, I think.

Not that I know of any tools... But maybe even a google sheets could work, like the characters in the rows, and in the columns the bonus names (morale, circumstance, enhancement, etc...) and a few simple formulas can tell the total. I could help set it up if you like.

Oh, is Arthur visible at the moment, I was thinking yes, but his ooc in the beginning had me doubt.

He currently is, feel free to react!

I am also not hurrying anyone who is experiencing seizures to hurry up or be botted.

I'm still checking in as well. The +1 instead of +2 for bane was as you deduced. +2 would have pushed it past the normal +5 limit for enhacncement bonus.

Oh, if Thesius wonders why the Succubus doesnt telepathically talk to him much

Also, feel free to PM or directly post feedback about what you think about this scene so far.

It is kind of ambitious, and not in the AP as written.

I like having a conversation while everything goes to bits. But I think the encounter is still in the early stages.

@Arthur, setting up a sheet is totally a good idea, set one up if you want!

I hope delaying Merixia is fine, its actually advantadgeous because it allows her to interrupt the summoning if she tries to.

I'm alive! I've had a ton of seizures over the past few weeks. (Don't worry, this is just how my brain is. Not a medical emergency.) It's been rough. This is the worst it's been in years. I apologize for not posting to this effect earlier, but the seizures hit my language centers pretty hard, making it difficult to speak or type.

But I'm too stubborn to quit. I'm slowly peeling myself up off the metaphorical asphalt and putting the pieces back together. Thank you for bearing with me.

You can do it!

Also, really really happy to have you back!

So happy to hear from you, Merixia. Please don't feel you have to apologize; we are all rooting for you and really glad you're back.

Merixia really laying the hurt on the nabasu and preventing that summon from going off is just the frosting on the cake!

Post for Azira incoming sometime today, I think. :)

I am well aware that she is complicated, so take your time :)

That would have been 3 babaus on dispel magic spam duty :)

Forgot that Inspire Courage is also a damage bonus, but we will refrain from editing to push the already silly damage number any higher just for the sake of mathematical accuracy.

Note on the defecting cultist:

What you obviously know/see

--He is intelligent

--He can do math, there is a would be sacrifice with a succubus super sword (who likely hates him), a Paladin who just curbstomped the 3nd or 4rd most powerful member of the drezen garrison (who may consider him not worthy of her blade, but who can certainly kill him in under 6 seconds), one very big Half Orc (against whom he isnt fancying his chances) and another Paladin (who came out of a mini gate or something. Gate is something only used by heavy hitters, so she must mean business) who are either within 5 feet step and full attack or within charge range of him.

--While Deskarites sometimes sacrifice themselfs so that "the swarm lives on", and he is a cleric, and as such a normally more fanatic then most, hypocrisy is totally a thing.

--Demonlords steal each others followers frequently, while Deskari will almost certainly cancel his spellcasting abilities, Nocticula or Shamira will likely restore them, perhaps, if he is genuinely useful, with an upgrade.

--Command and control on the demon side has broken down enough that he may just be able to get away with it.

Consolidated INIT with linebreaks between groups:
-------------------------------------------------------
Laulieh 30 (acted round 2)
Sorica 24 (acted round 2)
Idaya 6 (skipped round 1 very sorry your up!)
---------------------------
Thesius 27
Azira 23.999 p
Verene 21 is up
Green cultist (acted kind of)
-------------------------------

all other cultists Cultists 19
Janeanimine 18 ded
Minotaurs 17

-------------------------------
Arthur 15

--------------------------------
Chorussina 14
--------------------------
Elliot 13

-----------------------
Nabasu 9
-----------------------

Wuflric 4
Merixia 11-> (due to delay)

Currently, Idaya, Thesius and Verene can act, very sorry for semi skipping Idaya.

I'll be getting a post up later. I noted the private message too. I'll address that at that time too. About to take a 4 hour drive shortly and do some work event stuff before I'm back on.

No worries on semi skipping her :)

I'm going to need another day. Trip turned out much longer then expected. Hoping to get post up tomorrow.

Wasn't Pink Minotaur already near death from Arthur's attack last turn? That's the one Idaya just hit, yes?

Double checking, I thought he hit blue.

Going back to make sure, it was indeed Pink Minotaur that he wanted to target first, and the damage to it was noted down then.

Will adjust later today!

I am setting up a google sheet in the background.

but lets continue for now.

Just thought of something that happened on Merixia's last turn, when she moved. The archon's aura moves with her, and any hostile creature that enters its radius needs to make a Will save against it. So, the nabasu and Blue cultist definitely have to save, and I think at least the Red and Blue minotaurs, as well as Chorussina, probably also did when she moved past them to get to the nabasu. Unclear if she was close enough to Green to trigger the save. I think it's DC 18 for a 3rd-level spell (though correct me if I'm wrong, Merixia), and the debuff if failed is -2 to attack rolls, saves, and AC until they successfully hit her with an attack or the spell ends.

I also changed slightly where Verene ended up in the previous room, though it does not change her turn at all.

Currently Thesius is up, then Cultists and Minos, then Arthur.

Sorry for the delay. Was recovering from 9-10 hours of driving over the past couple of days. I'm figuring out my post now.

So many modifiers.

Yeah, I know!

Hope you've gotten some good sleep and are feeling recovered, Thesius!

So, after the Total Defense action, Thesius's current AC would be 32, right? 10 + 5 armor + 4 dex + 2 dodge + 4 shield + 2 deflection + 1 insight + 4 Total Defense (also a dodge bonus)? The bonus from shield is non-stacking with the buckler which wouldn't apply this turn anyway because he attacked with a two-handed weapon, but the dodge bonuses from haste and Total Defense do stack with his existing one. If you are attacked, I don't want it to go through when it shouldn't. :)

Can we get an init recount, please? It's a bit hard to keep track with all the staggered blocks.

I think this post has the most current initiative order. Cultists and minotaurs are up, it looks like, then Arthur.

Thanks! Still some fatigue, but definitely doing better.

That checks out to me, Verene.

Nice. What does Thesius's mysterious protector look like to the rest of us?