Protectors of Golarion (Wrath of the Righteous AP)

Game Master Sensen

Because it's that time of year again, I'm going to be kind of busy for the next few weeks. I won't get any posts up tomorrow or Tuesday, and there'll be a few more days over the next month that I'll have to take off from posting - more on when those are as they come closer. Sorry about the inconvenience, but holidays and all that.

Sure thing, GM. Thanks for letting us know. Have a good holiday and New Year!

That's fine, GM, thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the heads up GM Worldwound.

Enjoy your break GM. And, happy Rosh Hashanah to any who observe it.

Thesius, is the door you're standing by locked? If so, it's much faster to have Merixia bash it down (approximately 30 seconds) than for Thesius to take 20 (2 minutes) to pick it.

Both of the doors on that side are locked and fairly well from what he could tell. This was not simply about unlocking the door either though, it was him taking action to focus the group.

Only one of the doors on the south (to the left) is locked, to clarify. I apparently wasn't terribly clear there. The one further west (up) is locked. The one where your tokens are is not.

For my reference, I'm starting a list of things that we are leaving for after we clear the Gray Garrison, supposing we are able to do so on this attempt. This is roughly in order of how long I think each task will take.

• Collect all the war-room documents from the second floor to give to the Crusade

• Collect all the remaining weapons and armor from the secret room off Iomedae's temple on the first floor

• Strip demonic forces' humanoid allies of weapons, armor, any remaining valuables: this includes 7 tieflings (rogues?) just inside the front door; three human cultists and the tiefling alchemist in the larger temple room; seven tiefling rogues and four human cultists from the upstairs landing

• Determine the fate of the two surviving, bound cultists

• Bury or otherwise lay to rest the demons' victims: Hulrun Shappok and Kandro Nyserian just outside, and the two armored but headless corpses that were with the abrikandilu in the museum room on the first floor

• Burn the bodies of the demons: this includes two vermleks from outside, three abrikandilu from the first floor museum room, five dretches from the first floor stair room

• Bury or burn the bodies of the demons' humanoid allies: this includes 7 tieflings (rogues?) just inside the front door; three human cultists and the tiefling alchemist in the larger temple room; seven tiefling rogues and two human cultists on the upstairs landing

• DONE Clean small shrine to Iomedae right of entrance room
• DONE Clean larger temple of Iomedae which has secret weapons cache

Thanks for the list, Verene! The only other thing I can think of to add is that idol made of body parts… I’m not if we can somehow cleanse it and return the parts to their bodies or if we should just burn it with the cultists, but I think we should definitely do something with it.

That's a good point, Azira. Adding that, and I've adjusted Verene and Varel's positions slightly. Ready to go!

Lol- now Azira will really be convinced finishing cleansing the Chapel was the right call! Someone open that door quick (please).

For my reference, I'm starting a list of things that we are leaving for after we clear the Gray Garrison, supposing we are able to do so on this attempt. This is roughly in order of how long I think each task will take.

• Collect all the war-room documents from the second floor to give to the Crusade

• Collect all the remaining weapons and armor from the secret room off Iomedae's temple on the first floor

• Strip demonic forces' humanoid allies of weapons, armor, any remaining valuables: this includes 7 tieflings (rogues?) just inside the front door; three human cultists and the tiefling alchemist in the larger temple room; seven tiefling rogues and four human cultists from the upstairs landing

• Determine the fate of the two surviving, bound cultists

• Bury or otherwise lay to rest the demons' victims: Hulrun Shappok and Kandro Nyserian just outside, and the two armored but headless corpses that were with the abrikandilu in the museum room on the first floor

• Burn the bodies of the demons: this includes two vermleks from outside, three abrikandilu from the first floor museum room, five dretches from the first floor stair room

• Bury or burn the bodies of the demons' humanoid allies: this includes 7 tieflings (rogues?) just inside the front door; three human cultists and the tiefling alchemist in the larger temple room; seven tiefling rogues and two human cultists on the upstairs landing

• DONE Clean small shrine to Iomedae right of entrance room
• DONE Clean larger temple of Iomedae which has secret weapons cache

It is SO nice to play with someone who is so well organized. I am chronically disorganized, although I try my best, so I truly appreciate everything you do for us.

Exactly as Merixia says. I'm not terribly organized with that sort of thing, at least as a GM for PC goals. xD

Aw, thanks Merixia and GM. My pleasure.

Azira, I also interpreted what happened somewhat as Thesius did. As described, the peryton started the encounter somewhere on top of the long table. As described, Azira moved toward the table but could not reach the creature, and then it attacked her and moved by flying. Presumably, it has Flyby Attack, meaning the attack actually happened during its move and the move continued afterwards.

You are right, though, that if no enemy is available when the door opens for Azira to partial-charge, like for instance because she would have to turn a corner, her 'readied action' would be lost and she would still be in the doorway. However, the peryton still could have hit her while she was standing in the doorway, because it acted before she did in the combat, meaning it was rolling against her flat-footed AC of 17. She also would not get an attack of opportunity, for the same reason.

Rules digression: You can't technically ready an action at all before initiative has been rolled and combat has begun. Readying is a special initiative action, which are "ways to change when you act during combat by altering your place in the initiative order." No combat, no initiative order, no readying.

I know that is not how we have been playing, and I am fine with keeping on as we have been in a sort of ad-hoc way. It can get messy in cases like this, though, where allowing a readied action by the players (or the monsters) essentially invalidates initiative and the flat-footed rules. When both PCs and enemies seem to have been equally aware of each other and thus were equally 'ready,' determining who acts first and what they can do is what initiative is for. The peryton got a natural 20 on its initiative. It's fair that it attacks first before we can react.

It's up to the GM of course, but if, say, Azira is still in the doorway but was hit by the peryton, and her declared partial charge happens as her first turn in combat, then the game state is preserved in all ways but her tactical position.

sounds good

I'm not necessarily in a frame of mind as to how best to handle it, so I just moved her to attack the peryton, and now have moved the peryton away. (It has Flyby Attack, which is actually not that similar to Ride-by Attack).

Thank you!

I have a week of big meetings (its almost like a convention except every event is awful), and I'll have enough time to keep up with posts but frame of mind is definitely an issue for me as well. I'll do my best but if any of my posts don't work properly I apologize and please feel free to alter them as necessary.

Sure thing. It's a bit of a busy time for me, as well.

EDIT: Thanks for correcting me there, Azira. I'm not sure how I got those numbers wrong. x_x

As with last week, I'll be unable to post for a few days in the coming week - tomorrow, on Wednesday, as well as next Monday and Tuesday, I won't be posting. Apologies in advance.

No worries, GM. Thanks for letting us know and enjoy the holidays.

In a burst of serendipity, I've also caught covid yesterday. While it's mild enough that I feel functional right now, I may not be able to post with my usual consistency if it gets worse. I don't think it should last more than a week, but... just wanted to make sure you all knew.

Elliot, don't forget your concentration check to cast defensively if you're using Spell Combat to get two attacks. Everyone, don't forget your NPC First Children's actions. That extra damage could be super important this fight.

Elliot, don't forget your concentration check to cast defensively if you're using Spell Combat to get two attacks. Everyone, don't forget your NPC First Children's actions. That extra damage could be super important this fight.

Is that necessary? If i understand the magus guides correctly, spell combat allows for you to cast, then 5ft step, then attack, which should bypass the concentration so long as he doesnt start adjacent to an enemy.

I'm pretty sure you're correct, Elliot. Also, I moved out of your way so you should be good to take your posted actions. And, I moved you to where I was.

Here are the two rules, for clarity's sake.

Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.

Spellstrike (Su): At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon's critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier.

Touch: You must touch a creature or object to affect it. A touch spell that deals damage can score a critical hit just as a weapon can. A touch spell threatens a critical hit on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a successful critical hit. Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets. You can touch up to 6 willing targets as part of the casting, but all targets of the spell must be touched in the same round that you finish casting the spell. If the spell allows you to touch targets over multiple rounds, touching 6 creatures is a full round action.

Touch Spells and Holding the Charge: In most cases, if you don’t discharge a touch spell on the round you cast it, you can hold the charge (postpone the discharge of the spell) indefinitely. You can make touch attacks round after round until the spell is discharged. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates.

Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets as part of the spell. You can’t hold the charge of such a spell; you must touch all targets of the spell in the same round that you finish casting the spell.

So, we have two relevant questions here:

Second, can you cast a touch range spell, move 5-feet, then use the free touch attack as part of the spell?

I don't have any especially strong feelings on either of these questions, so I'll leave it to those more mechanically inclined to discuss. In the meantime, I won't make Elliot do it until we finish the discussion.

IIRC, I think there was an FAQ post at one time that addressed this, but I don't have time right now to look for it.

I was reacting to the OOC description in the post: "Elliot 5ft's into Azira's space and attacks." That makes it sound like Elliot is 5-foot stepping in before doing anything else, in which case he would need a concentration check. But Elliot and Azira are right that it is perfectly possible, if you say so specifically, to declare Spell Combat, cast his touch spell (I assume brand, so the Fort save DC or take 1 additional damage would be helpful to note there), 5-foot step in, deliver the touch spell with a free weapon attack through Spellstrike, and then make his normal attack as per Spell Combat. This thread is pretty comprehensive and was helpful for me in understanding Spell Combat/Spellstrike, though it is somewhat long and complicated.

Oh also, GM, if Verene is attacked before her next turn, she will use an immediate action for stone shield.

The scroll DC thing is very weird, it's true, and the part of the scroll rules that says "A spell successfully activated from a scroll works exactly like a spell prepared and cast the normal way," had me fooled before. It seems to be in direct contradiction to the "Saving Throws Against Magic Item Powers" rule that says, "For a saving throw against a spell or spell-like effect from a magic item, the DC is 10 + the level of the spell or effect + the ability modifier of the minimum ability score needed to cast that level of spell." But specific trumps general, and everyone seems to agree that the DCs of scrolls are not affected by the activator's or the scriber's actual spellcasting stat. (Unless you take an archetype or feat to change that.)

I do feel a little better about it because their save rolls were high enough that they both would have saved against the normal DC too. Verene doesn't know that, though, and would be annoyed that the expensive scroll was so much weaker than her own magic.

Yeah, they got weirdly high rolls on their saves.

Sorry to hear about the COVID. I hope the symptoms stay mild to non-existant.

Me too. Currently feeling a mostly alright, but not delighted.

Oh wow, I missed that post. Take care of yourself, GM, and I hope you feel better soon.

Oh my gosh, you got COVID? I missed that post. Rest up and make sure to stay hydrated!

Elliot, I think Irabeth is delaying until after Verene in order to 5-foot step back into the space that Verene just vacated and attack. The current initiative order is Azira, Elliot, Irabeth, Verene, Thesius, Merixia, and so Verene is actually still standing just left of the door on Elliot's turn, which means that space is not available for a 5-foot step unless he delays as well. Sorry, PBP and posting order makes this kind of tactical combat confusing. I suppose I should have just had Verene say she was moving and waited to actually move the token until Azira and Elliot's turns had been resolved.

At the table, it would be easy to order this so that everyone could actually attack this round. For instance: Irabeth delays until after Verene, Elliot delays until after Thesius, and Azira delays until after Elliot, for a new initiative order of Verene, Irabeth, Thesius, Elliot, Azira, Merixia. Verene withdraws; Irabeth steps up and attacks. Thesius attacks and 5-foot steps away, as does Jan (Cyan; the other First Children attack on their associated PC's turn as usual, but don't have to move.) Elliot attacks or Spell Combat full-attacks (with concentration check, since he did hit with one attack last turn and that would have used up the charge of brand) and 5-foot steps into Jan's space. Azira moves up into Elliot's previous space and attacks. Merixia moves into Thesius's former space and attacks. Something like that.

Ah, I saw the empty space and figured it was up for use. In that case let's go with your plan. I moved Verene's Icon to the suqare left of Elliot to update the map position.

At the table, it would be easy to order this so that everyone could actually attack this round. For instance: Irabeth delays until after Verene, Elliot delays until after Thesius, and Azira delays until after Elliot, for a new initiative order of Verene, Irabeth, Thesius, Elliot, Azira, Merixia. Verene withdraws; Irabeth steps up and attacks. Thesius attacks and 5-foot steps away, as does Jan (Cyan; the other First Children attack on their associated PC's turn as usual, but don't have to move.) Elliot attacks or Spell Combat full-attacks (with concentration check, since he did hit with one attack last turn and that would have used up the charge of brand) and 5-foot steps into Jan's space. Azira moves up into Elliot's previous space and attacks. Merixia moves into Thesius's former space and attacks. Something like that.

Works for me!

Cool, so Elliot's turn should be just the same except that he delays it to take place after Thesius/Jan act, and he 5-foot steps to a different place (Jan's former square) at the end of his turn. I'll move Verene's token now, then.

Alright, I'm back and feeling significantly better. I'll get a post up shortly.

Seems like you've got a plan, so it shouldn't be too hard to do things.

Welcome back, GM. Glad you're feeling better.

Yes- welcome back and I hope you’re back to 100% soon!

Welcome back :)

To clarify, for the current round, I assume the delaying happened in that order and that Elliot's action thus didn't go through?

If we go with Verene's plan as written with current map positions that would mean Irabeth and Thesius attack around the corner into the doorway and that the demon would have cover, then Thesius 5ft steps... east and Elliot takes that space I suppose? I'll assume this is correct as otherwise I can't move away in the suggested order, and Irabeth is left stuck in place.

Jan (Cyan) has to move too for the plan to work, and Elliot would step into his space, not Thesius's - otherwise, Elliot ends the round occupying a space that Merixia or Azira could have moved into and attacked from.

I thought about it more later and realized we could also have ordered it so Verene and Irabeth act last: that way, Verene would only 5-foot step into Merixia's former space instead of withdrawing, and could attack this turn as well, with her crossbow or the wand of magic missile — but it would have been more effort to reorganize it again. Also, her turn had already been posted, so it seemed unfair to retcon in an attack.

My understanding is that the light blue/turquoise lined child is Jan. So I'm moving him back once more and will have a post up shortly.

Edit: These rolls have been brutal.

I’m checking the map a couple times a day. If/when Elliot moves, I’ll move up and attack (unless someone else beats me to it).

Welcome back, GM! I'm happy to hear that you're feeling better.

Given the importance of initiative order and positioning in this combat, I'm going to wait for Azira before posting IC.

Thesius was able to 5-foot step North (right), East (down, Jan's former square), or Northeast. North or Northeast let this work, but East does not, because Elliot needs to be able to 5-foot step to there and end his turn there, in Jan's former square. Elliot stepping one to the right (Thesius's former square) will not work because it will block someone else from attacking. So I moved Thesius's token to Northeast instead of East of his previous position. Hope that's okay.

I fear I may be screwing something up here, but for the sake of keeping things moving I'm going to just move up next to Elliot and take the partial cover penalty (although, the way my rolls have been going it feels like I really can't afford the extra difficulty).

Edit: Elliot's post says he moves, even though he hasn't on the map, so I'm going to post under the assumption I can move up to where I started and I'll move both of us on the map.

When i posted, there wasn't space yet though the plan was to shuffle everyone around so they could attack in turn. Ihereby give everyone permission to move Elliot if a similar bottleneck occurs in the future for ease of play.

Understood, Elliot. I'll try to make sense of everything.

I'll give Merixia some time to post, but I'll try to get a post up later today whether or not she manages to do so.