Assuming we open the door, any thoughts how we want to approach this situation? I could try to bluff that we want to be transformed and then if a ghoul approaches to bite us, we could kill it in surprise. I'm assuming we are going to need to fight, so that might reduce their numbers by one or two. Or I'm open to other suggestions.
I have updated the interactive map so you can have a better look at the situation. Please feel free to move your pawn wherever you like, but as it currently stands no one has entered into the room. Please place where you would be outside of the room.
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I'm assuming we WOULD open the door (and posted Vex doing so), given we hear something that needs more dealing with it, really. I have no objection to your bluff idea-- we should also try and use the doors to bottleneck so fighting just one at a time. Even if they use a move action to open a door, that cuts down on them getting full attacks, etc.
Bluff sounds like fun. I'll support how I can!
Thanks! It's fun.
"And you've got the only bow. But we can't let it out of here. It'll just kill and eat some other poor bastard."
We did pick up a second crossbow a while back, though I don't know if anyone grabbed it.
Are we still in initiative?
Yes/no. The creature has given up and is trying to hide. It knows it cannot win the battle. You guys can do whatever you want. So if that is Slip running through his bolts until the thing falls that works for me. With the way you all rolled this combat it shouldn't take long. You guys were rolling fire! Were there 2 crits? YIKES!
EDIT: I made this post before jumping in to see Slips most recent attack... still, you all were rolling great.
I can keep rolling attacks until it's done. This might scar Slip, haha...
I am just going to hand-wave it. No matter if it is Slip or someone else. It wouldn't take long to end the ghoul.
I am going to do a house rule that could help the party a little bit, and I may have said this before... maybe not.
If you make a DC 15 Heal Check with a Healer's Kit you can to a Cure Minor wounds. 1d4+Ranks in heal. Anyone can do this with or without ranks in heal, as long as they are using a Healer's Kit. Rook has claimed one of the Healer's Kits, there is still one more on the loot sheet with 8 usages remaining.
Rook has a +8 to his, +2 from the Healer's Kit gives him a +10, all I had to do was roll a 5 or better to help Chatty... rolled a 1... Darn you dice!!!
You all have several doors to choose from and a set of stairs, where do you go?
I like that. It makes the heal skill worthwhile without sinking several feats into it, and it takes away the burning need for wands of cure light wounds.
Whomp whomp.
I like this house rule, and it may inspire me to invest some ranks in heal next level. I'll look at the map and post IC.
I really do like the creativeness in this one, but you see that while two have their backs to you, the one sitting on top of the crate is facing the room not the wall.
But, your characters did see the southern single door and would know that this leads to the hallway where the wall went down.... Do with that what you must.
Also, Rook can cast guidance. He has one Sanctuary spell remaining, and 4 Channel Energy Burst left (Healing you all or damaging undead). Be sure to include him into a strategy.
Denying them full attacks with the doors may still be useful, but holding at the door makes it much harder for Chatty to flank. GM, can Chatty and I stealth in to try to get into immediate attacking position?
Not necessarily. There are ways to still get flanking. I think luring them to the door could work. If Chatty and Vex or Angry flanked the door on our side, we could have a third person lure the ghouls into the hallway and right in between the two.
Chatty and Vex could even try using Stealth against the wall and holding action to attack once a ghoul moves between us and with luck it might move into position without noticing until we spring the attack.
(We could open the single door to the south or just one of the double doors so that there is only one space for the ghoul to move out of the room to.)
Slip is very sneaky. Let's have him be the bait for the flankers.
Basically rather than sneaking in, Slip deliberately breaks stealth and draws them towards the choke point. We might only be able to get one this way, so we can have Rook and Bolkvar at the other door in case they try to take the other way around. That we we have them surrounded. If you all agree, then Slip will open the door on his initiative and fire a bolt.
Works for me.
Just want to make sure I have this right.
Surprise round
Chatty/Vex flank the bottom door and ready action attack what comes through.
Rook opens the door
Slip fires at one of the ghouls.
Initiative Round 1...
Just want to make sure I have this correct so that I can run the scene up to the start of the initiative order in round 1.
That sounds good to me.
Looks like I jumped the gun and assumed that Angry could flank the doors as well. If he can't do that, then he will be behind Vex, hugging the wall, so round 1 he can move in.
Oh I only said Vex as a name place filler. It doesn't matter to me. I assumed one would be Chatty... Sneak Attack and all...
You all tell me what you want. I'm good to do what that it.
It sounds like, Chatty and Vex will flank the sides of the single door. And Slip will open the door and shoot at a ghoul to lure them in our direction. And Angry wants to wait right behind Vex.
There seems to be plenty of rubble around if we want to put a few large rocks in front of the double doors first.
This group truly is a collection of shining heroes
Are the walls of the box with the monster in it solid? Or can we see it inside? If we can't see in side, how would we? Is there a lid?
It is a crate so you cannot see within it. The ghoul was sitting on top of it to hold it down. Think a cup on top of a spider.
“Are we heading back or are we going to life the crate and face what’s under it?”
Are we able to attempt to drown it? Or do we need to fight it?
You can attempt it. But remember that the door frames are all messed up and the doors don't all work exactly as they should. The hallway rubble would be easy enough to clear out of the way that isn't an issue. Then getting it to drop into the pool and keeping it under the crate while its in there.
I will never say no to you all attempting something.
Vex will get weapon and shield ready then kick the crate over.
Aw $@%! here we go! Cue Slip being unable to do jack probably. Good luck us, and get ready to run if it's too nasty!
If it's hard to hit, Slip will head on in to flank with Chatty.
Chatty collapses to the ground, bleeding out, not even realizing he injured himself.
Hey Chatty. I currently have you at a total of -9, including the -4 you just did. I think you might have missed the channel energy burst that Rook did to heal everyone during/after the last battle. So you are technically at 0/9HP, still standing but extra possibly not for long...
I did factor in the healing before this battle. Then the bite did 5 damage. Then I did 8 damage. (not 4). Unless you are halving it for some reason, but I think you may have just misread.
I'm sorry... reading is hard. It clearly says AT -4 hp, not that you took -4 hp... disregard. Time to go take a nap I suppose...
I mean I am not going to go back and retcon something from round 1 when we are in round 3. And as your spoiler will show, you get your AoO and miss. What I mean mention it as soon as it happens, and it is easier to correct. I’m cool with that.
I brought it up as soon as I could here (with errors from typing it out quickly on my phone), but it was only acknowledged the second time.
I respect not retconning anything distant, but it may also take us time to look things up. For instance, can this tiny creature grapple a medium creature? The rules for the grab special ability suggest no (with exceptions).
Unless otherwise noted, grab works only against opponents the same size category as the creature or smaller.
Also, the free grapple should only go off if the bite hits, which you implied it did not.
If the creature hits with the indicated attack, it deals the normal amount of damage and tries to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
I also just want to check whether the creature is taking penalties to its attacks for being grappled. It sounded like it was making an attack action rather than attempting to grapple our escape.
A grappled creature is restrained by a creature, trap, or effect. Grappled creatures cannot move and take a –4 penalty to Dexterity. A grappled creature takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks, except those made to grapple or escape a grapple.
Ugh, the grapple rules are such a mess.
The bite landed with a crit on Chatty, but the grapple wasn't successful.
The only time it actually grappled was Vex this current round and the previous round. Both with successful bite attacks.
The size thing is on me. Doesn't make sense that a worm like creature that is tiny can not wrap its body around a larger creature. Clearly they've never experienced a Ball Python. lol, logic to a fantasy game... I know.
And yes, grappling rules are a mess. Too many +/- and how they stack.
I will edit Vex's last turn because she wouldn't have been grappled. Her grapple CMB will be an attack, which would hit and it will deal
I'll edit this within the Rook/Ilki turn before the starting the next round.
Hey all!
Sorry for my MIA, I have had a crazy week, family stuff came up that I needed to take care of. I am going to try to catch up today/tomorrow on my postings.
I was starting to worry! I hope that the family stuff is going well.
He glanced over at Chatty and shook his head at the harsh words, but as he saw the wisdom within he held his tongue. Ironically, the man's lack of a filter made him all the more trustworthy. For he spoke his mind, regardless of how it made others feel.
It amuses me that I'm playing Chatty as such an a$$hole but he hasn't really faced any repercussions from the party so it only emboldens him to keep pushing the envelope.
Well it's the best campaign for it! Horror, PCs who feel weak and desperate, shapeshifters making everyone a potential threat...not being an a$$hole would come across as naïve.
Even Slip has blown up once or twice.
A benefit of playing a Deaf character is that if I don't want to confront an issue right at that moment, I can play it off that Slip didn't see what someone said. And he certainly isn't getting any vocal emotion. He isn't even that sensitive to body language or facial expressions with that +1 to Sense Motive. So if anyone's naïve...hello!
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He glanced over at Chatty and shook his head at the harsh words, but as he saw the wisdom within he held his tongue. Ironically, the man's lack of a filter made him all the more trustworthy. For he spoke his mind, regardless of how it made others feel.It amuses me that I'm playing Chatty as such an a$$hole but he hasn't really faced any repercussions from the party so it only emboldens him to keep pushing the envelope.
Haha, I mean, Vex is not the most non-a~%%%*# soul in the world herself-- sure, she's LN and not NE, but she is definitely not at her best and also not feeling the 'normal societal rules' currently apply-- like she's barely hanging on to grim functionality and often on the verge of snapping or snarling, so she just figures Chatty is also under similar stresses and giving into them more than feeling he is inherently, naturally 'an a$#%*~!' as it were. She does think he is kind of a slimy opportunist/suck-up, yes, but he's also good with his blade and she's in no position to be picky about her allies at the moment....
Hey everyone, it seems like the general take is that you will be resting before continuing on. I wanted to let you all know that you gained 2nd level!!! YAY. These levels will not come into play until after you rest, but that doesn't mean that you cannot get things started.
HP - go ahead and roll for HP here in the discussion thread, then on your character sheet make a place where you can track the rolls. Simple example: 1st:Max, 2nd: rolled 3, 3rd: rolled 5, etc... and just to a url link to the post where it was rolled. (right click on the date/time of the post and click copy link.)
Second we have the fun task of leveling up Rook. I am going to let you all choose the direction for him.
4 Skill ranks to use: Currently 1 rank in Heal, K-Nature, Sense Motive, Perception. He does have skill focus: K-Nature and a trait giving him +1 to Sense Motive/Perception. I won't tell you want to do, but currently no one has Spellcraft to help identify magical items when using Detect Magic. There are people back at the Refuge of Dreamers, but how often do you want to go back there.
Spells: 4 0-level spells and 3-1st level spells plus either Lesser Confusion or Comprehend Languages as a domain spell.
I don't think anyone will complain about that roll. +9 HP this level for Rook.
Base Attack Bonus: +1
Reflex Save: +1
Gain: Evasion, Rogue Talent (Bleeding Attack)
Skills: +1 to each of the same skills I currently have
For Rook, I'd suggest still investing points in Heal, K-Nature, and Perception. But switch investing points from Sense Motive to Spellcraft instead. As an NPC, he won't be using Sense Motive as much as an active PC character.
Out of his two domain spells, Comprehend Language would probably be more useful.
As much as I had planned to go straight Barbarian, I’ve decided that it takes way too long to get the feats that I want. So it’s time to multiclass to fighter. Specifically unarmed fighter. Why? Because I want improved unarmed strike and Shikigami Style. Not sure if I’ll take a second level or not, as there is plenty of time to consider it. Given that I don’t want to wait for power attack much longer, what I might do is this:
Lvl 1: Dreadnaught Barbarian
Lvl 2: Unarmed Fighter
Lvl 3: Vampire Hunter (Power attack, furious focus. Less HP, but much needed Ref and will saves with a bonus feat)
Lvls 4+ Dreadnaught Barbarian
Lvl 5: Shikigami Mimicry
Lvl 7: Shikigami Manipulation
So by lvl 7 he will have all of the feats that I really want for the build.
BaB: +1
Saves: +2 Fort
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike, Shikigami Style (improvised flail is now 1d8 damage)
Skills: +1 Perception, +1 Knowledge Dungeoneering
I don't want to crush dreams, but I have to stick with the ruleset I put out at creation. Classes are Core classes and APG. I am cool with the variant Barbarian and Fighter stuff.
Unfortunately it looks like the Vampire Hunter comes from the World of Vampire Hunter book and would not fit into the class rules.
What is the reason of taking that one level dip? I assume it has to be a mechanical thing because we haven't come across any vampires in the game.
Sorry, it’s (mostly) the munchkin in me. XD Was planning on some RP of becoming more attuned to horror and death to represent the abilities (sense undead) but I’ll stick to the fighter/barbarian. Also I completely forgot the limitations in the campaign, so my apologies for that.
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Woo, level up!
Booooooo.
I think Chatty's suggestion of putting Rook's Sense Motive over into Spellcraft is a good one.
Features gained:
Combat Style (Weapon and Shield), Bonus Feat: Shield Focus
BAB +1
F +1, R +1
Skills: swim, handle animal, heal, kn geo, per, and upping Kn Dung and Kn Nature further, given we are light on Kn Skills in this party.
Huzzah Level 2! This has been a busy week, so I probably won't have time to fully level up until the weekend, but I'll go ahead and roll HP now and discuss my most likely leveling choices.
Okay, not too bad! I'll take the shy side of average.
Slip will be progressing through Psychic Searcher Oracle, which means *drum roll* he gets an Inspiration Pool! He can use inspiration for free on Diplomacy, Knowledge (arcana, history, local, nobility, planes, religion), and Sense Motive if he's trained in the skill, so I'm likely going to be sinking some skill ranks there.
With the DM's go-ahead, I'd like to play any new Knowledge as memories beginning to stir. It's been tough not having any Knowledges, so planes and religion are definitely coming. I will most likely put skill points in Heal, Knowledge (dungeoneering, planes, religion), Sense Motive, and Spellcraft. That doesn't advance any of my level 1 skills, but it vastly expands what Slip can do. I'll also grab read magic as an orison, so we can take a look at the scrolls.
@Angry no worries. I figured I would bring it up, and probably will as we level up just for the refresher. Heck, I had to look up and remember that everyone gets the HP/Skill/Favorite class bonus each level.
@Vex I am cool with that switch. as you said, nothing gamebreaking.
@Slip I like that. Also, feel free to make Knowledge checks as we come across stuff. It is a free action to do that and I know that most players know a bit about these creatures we have come across, but currently your PCs only know what they learn from the Knowledge checks. Like little bits of sunlight cutting through the yellow mist.