#4-20: Words of the Ancients [Tier 10-11] - GM Rutseg (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

shaventalz wrote:

Ranalus wrote:

My one PC who will use that spell is a low-Wis Ifrit who calls himself "The Balrog" and is quite certain that he is pulling one over on Asmodeus every time he uses it.

The rest of my PCs are certain that they would come out behind in that particular deal because that is how it always works with Asmodeus. There is always a catch and some cleverly-hidden fine print; it's what Asmodeus is all about.

The PC-chucker in the Shadow Lodge special? Or is it a different Balrog?

Yep, that's him.

You weren't in that one with him, were you?

He started playing Quest For Perfection and lost the GM after Pt 2... I am not sure if I should run Pt 3 just to apply the Chronicle to him or run him in something else.

And looking him up again, his Wis is actually a 10... I guess I just play it lower.

No, I was on another table. I just remembered seeing his name come up in the overseer posts. I was the PC that just... opened the door. The overseer forgot to tell everyone my PC's name.

Granted, it was a door with an absurd DC, my PC was hyper-focused on that skill, and I still barely made it, but still.

Does Dawa use the resist energy also on K'nai and Duncan?

If not, then two of you can enjoy 20 min resist energy.

(Unless someone else has a divine scroll that would be a better candidate - it appears that I have the vestment but neglected to buy any scroll that would go well there)

Nothing that sounds like a good fit. Tongues, Air Walk, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Diagnose Disease, Comprehend Languages, and some stuff that's not on your list.

"Fully 30% of magic weapons shed light equivalent to a light spell." When's the last time you saw that come into play?

Yeah, having a glowing sword is mechanically suboptimal, especially for someone with Darkvision. However, it really seems like the kind of thing that fits Athelstan. "Stealthy entry by night, weapons drawn? Nah, let's charge them on the open field of battle, calling Aroden's name!"

our entrances lead from the tower’s atrium, which rises fifteen feet before disappearing into a cloud of dense, chill mist...

This 90-foot-tall cylindrical chamber showcases some of Krune’s greatest feats of conjuration, each creature represented being one of the many outsiders bound within the Thousandth Spire or its neighbors.

I'm a bit confused. Is the chamber we're in 90 feet high, or 15 and then mist..?

Sounds like both. We don't know it is 90 feet we just see mist 15 feet up. Maybe the other 75 feet is all misty or maybe it is just a thin layer of mist hiding enemies.

Or maybe we're just assuming 90' because that's about how tall the outside is.

So, uh, stupid question...
Did the inscription on this tower match the one we're here for?

Also, I guess I assumed the bald man in the mural is Krune. Would Sorithar know..?

It is a Haliban comments, you only see up to 15' up, but I gave you the full extend in case you need to know for movement or for some effect. The height of the tower is much much much taller from what you saw from outside.

Also, I guess I assumed the bald man in the mural is Krune. Would Sorithar know..?

Yes, a K. history DC 20 or 25 probably allows to know that.

@shaventalz: these seem just regular wall inscriptions, no tablets with opening words

@shaventalz: these seem just regular wall inscriptions, no tablets with opening words

Not in here. The ones on the outside, that the Venture-Captain said would mark the correct tower.

I do not remember about that, but this is the proper tower, no worries on that ;)

I think he was referring to:

[quote=
GM Rutseg]...its entryway will be marked by these runes,” she states, placing a slip of paper on the table.

I think he was referring to:

GM Rutseg wrote:

...its entryway will be marked by these runes,” she states, placing a slip of paper on the table.

That's the one. It would be embarrassing to get to the end of this tower only to find, I don't know, a set of Thassilonian cookbooks.

If we decide to all head down this side path, Athelstan will go back and collect/dismiss Duncan. If it curves around and meets up in some chamber directly east of B1 like I'm hoping, just call him in.

Either way, not letting the wizard wander off by himself.

Embarrassing, or disturbing? I can only image the recipes in such a cookbook.

Remember the corridor is under mist, you only see those of you 5' around.

I am assuming anyone making those rolls is actually following Sorithar and Athelstan into B2.

I would like if you could take an extra effort to set your tokens and keep track of where exactly they are all through this section of the adventure.

Dang you guys are quick... There was no post when I started posting and by the time I clicked port, there were three... Ninja'd again.

Embarrassing, or disturbing? I can only image the recipes in such a cookbook.

Mmm, stuffed inverted giant. Is the stuffing on the inside or the outside? It's a meal and an intellectual conundrum!

Ah I misunderstood. I thought the mist started 15 feet above us and stretched to the ceiling. Apparently we are in mist that covers everything up to 15 feet above us.

On a second read I think your first affirmation is the correct one. There is no mist in the other tunnels, the mist is concentrated on the ceiling, from 15' onwards.

That would let you see the murals easily and also one to each other.

Can he choose to believe the Lantern Archon is real, and therefore get full benefit of the Aid spell?

I could run with this if you were portraying Ranalus as someone delusional who has no clue of what he is really doing.

As I understand Ranalus is on his senses, he perfectly knows he is casting a shadow conjuration spell, not a real summon.

On a second read I think your first affirmation is the correct one. There is no mist in the other tunnels, the mist is concentrated on the ceiling, from 15' onwards.

That would let you see the murals easily and also one to each other.

So can we see what's to the east of B1, then?

Ranalus wrote:

Can he choose to believe the Lantern Archon is real, and therefore get full benefit of the Aid spell?

I could run with this if you were portraying Ranalus as someone delusional who has no clue of what he is really doing.

As I understand Ranalus is on his senses, he perfectly knows he is casting a shadow conjuration spell, not a real summon.

The rules do say that you can voluntarily fail a saving throw and accept the spell's result. If you would rather I not do that, then I won't.

GM Rutseg wrote:

On a second read I think your first affirmation is the correct one. There is no mist in the other tunnels, the mist is concentrated on the ceiling, from 15' onwards.

That would let you see the murals easily and also one to each other.

So can we see what's to the east of B1, then?

Probably, but let's go part by part or people will miss things as there is only certain amount of attention and retention we can handle.

GM Rutseg wrote:

Ranalus wrote:

Can he choose to believe the Lantern Archon is real, and therefore get full benefit of the Aid spell?

I could run with this if you were portraying Ranalus as someone delusional who has no clue of what he is really doing.

As I understand Ranalus is on his senses, he perfectly knows he is casting a shadow conjuration spell, not a real summon.

The rules do say that you can voluntarily fail a saving throw and accept the spell's result. If you would rather I not do that, then I won't.

It does not have to do with disbelief. You just know it is a shadow because it is what you are casting. You know how your magic works and even chose to use an illusion instead of a conjuration because of this.

And I was just about to post that I was picking up Duncan, since Kivuli joined me up front."

Athelstan considers the suddenly-clear hall. "For that matter, I probably would have just moved forwards if we saw things joined up - but NO MATTER!"

Given that Duncan and Athelstan are currently seperated, do you want them acting on Athelstan's init or on their own counts?

EDIT: Also, don't forget that Athelstan will dismiss HA for +4 init. I think that matters here.

EDIT: Also, don't forget that Athelstan will dismiss HA for +4 init. I think that matters here.

Go ahead and act as if you had dismissed the spell and put yourself into upper initiative.

Thanks. Improved Initiative in stick form, at 15gp per battle. Dirt cheap.

Assuming no Flagbearer, since Dawa's token hasn't been moved inside yet. If he's in range, please add that to the rolls.

Knowing what these things are OOC, I am very glad I have Feyskinned up.

After this scenario, when Ranalus hits level 12, it will be an always-on ability.

"Always with the corners!"

First that sphere guy, now the dogs. Why can't the Dark Tapestry ever do anything normal?

I had assumed Dawa was staying in the center of the group.

I don't know if his tiger has Narrow Frame or not. If it doesn't it might be in the main chamber. Haliban should be in range and in line of sight either way but I'll message him to check in.

Does Dawa use the resist energy also on K'nai and Duncan?

If not, then two of you can enjoy 20 min resist energy.

Sorry for the posting delay - getting caught up now. I'll leave the animal companions out of the communal resist energy for simplicities sake.

I had assumed Dawa was staying in the center of the group.

I don't know if his tiger has Narrow Frame or not. If it doesn't it might be in the main chamber. Haliban should be in range and in line of sight either way but I'll message him to check in.

Yes, K'nai has Narrow Frame. And Dawa will in general try to stay in the center of the group. Just catching up on the gameplay thread now.

Dawa blinks his eyes in alarm as the hounds appear. "What are those!?!"

Athelstan shrugs. "Hopefully we're about to find out how they feel about blessed cold iron."

"But seriously, don't ask me. Do I look like the kind of guy that knows a qlippoth from a protean?"

Ha, I'll do a knowledge check when my turn comes around (though I'm not too good at it).

I'm rather surprised they all focused on the horse and not on anything that could actually hurt them.

How far dead is Duncan?
I do have a Breath of Life prepared.

I'm rather surprised they all focused on the horse and not on anything that could actually hurt them.

How far dead is Duncan?
I do have a Breath of Life prepared.

I know the logical procedure would be to fall on one of the less armored characters (a caster most probably), but I feel bad enough to kill an animal companion.

Unless Ranalus has some deathwatch to know how dead the horse is or Athelstan decides to share his sheet or at least this data as player knowledge, I fear you do not know. Still, there are the gaze attacks, so there might be more damage involved.

If it serves you, the horse fell before the last hound started to attack (which probably means more of those attacks landed on the helpless horse).

I'm rather surprised they all focused on the horse and not on anything that could actually hurt them.

How far dead is Duncan?
I do have a Breath of Life prepared.

He's at -28, which is... looks like exactly dead. Combat-relevant numbers are in Duncan's profile line.

Double-checking, it looks like the math is right on my character sheet and on the damage total. Including the crit and the just-barely-hit.

Seriously, a half-dozen hasted blenders teleport in around you... ugh. Especially when they're rolling all their attacks at +18.

Ranalus wrote:

I'm rather surprised they all focused on the horse and not on anything that could actually hurt them.

How far dead is Duncan?
I do have a Breath of Life prepared.

He's at -28, which is... looks like exactly dead. Combat-relevant numbers are in Duncan's profile line.

Double-checking, it looks like the math is right on my character sheet and on the damage total. Including the crit and the just-barely-hit.

Seriously, a half-dozen hasted blenders teleport in around you... ugh. Especially when they're rolling all their attacks at +18.

Continuing to attack a downed PC is not normally par for the course in PFS and I really think it was an unreasonable decision to do so here.

DR 10/Cold Iron means that Ranalus would have taken 17 damage from the full sequence of attacks. And they have no way of knowing about his DR, so I think it's unreasonable that they targeted the horse (which had proven ineffective against them) rather than Ranalus.

In any event, if the horse is exactly dead without counting the 6 gaze attacks... let's say it had failed 3 of the saves and taken another 52 damage. Yeah, that would be beyond what I can heal with Breath of Life. I will chip in for a Raise Animal Companion.

I'm sorry I couldn't save your horse. I tried, making myself a target.

I'll post my turn after everyone else goes.

In any event, if the horse is exactly dead without counting the 6 gaze attacks... let's say it had failed 3 of the saves and taken another 52 damage. Yeah, that would be beyond what I can heal with Breath of Life. I will chip in for a Raise Animal Companion.

True, but since the gazes apparently happen on the PC's turn, he hasn't had to make any yet.

And yeah, it's annoying that the last one didn't come after Athelstan or anything.

Another way to look at it is the horse took 100+ damage instead of a PC. I would be dead.

I'll chip in for the raise. But if this is their tactics: Blink in, Do insane amounts of damage, then blink out, We are in trouble.

Maybe a readied spell will help.

I'll chip in for the raise. But if this is their tactics: Blink in, Do insane amounts of damage, then blink out, We are in trouble.

That would be appreciated, thanks.

Maybe a readied spell will help.

Not sure about that. It depends on where they are when they're not here, and whether they can still see us. If they're intelligent and see someone readying a spell... that sounds like someone who's just readied an AoO from everyone that just appeared around him.

True, but since the gazes apparently happen on the PC's turn, he hasn't had to make any yet.

Duncan, Ranalus, Dawa and K'nai, all took a turn on the presence of the hounds as pointed in Gameplay. They have to roll the Fort saves.

I forgot about the gaze on the Initiative post and that is why I did not comment on it there. I should. But I forgot. Sorry.

Take into account you cannot ready an action while out of combat. But if you are still on Initiative, it can really work, depending on the action.

shaventalz wrote:

True, but since the gazes apparently happen on the PC's turn, he hasn't had to make any yet.

Duncan, Ranalus, Dawa and K'nai, all took a turn on the presence of the hounds as pointed in Gameplay. They have to roll the Fort saves.

I forgot about the gaze on the Initiative post and that is why I did not comment on it there. I should. But I forgot. Sorry.

Ah, true.

Out of curiosity...
Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Oooooh yeah, he's dead.

I'll hold off on posting Athelstan's turn for a while, since he's at the tail end of the order now.

I'm waiting to see if Dawa inspires. I can work on the stunned enemies.
Because I get 4 attacks I'd rather do that then ready an attack. If someone has high damage but low # of attacks they could stand near a caster who readies to cast.

Taking damage when casting doesn't automatically cause you to lose the spell. It's a concentration check with the DC based on how much damage you take on the attack.

Stunning them worked well.

Shield Companion (AA) is great if you have an animal companion and can cast.

Note that I really can't blame the GM for this outcome. The creatures are, I think, a bad thing for the writer to use in a large group like this, but that's the writer's fault. The GM did put all the enemies on one initiative, which tends to enable this kind of thing, but that's reasonable in something like PbP or when the monsters are springing an ambush like that.

The gaze attacks sealed Duncan's fate (and a half-dozen simultaneous free attacks against everyone for 5d6 per? Crazy!)

Looks like fixing Duncan'll cost 3450 in total (Raise Animal Companion, plus two Restorations from Ranalus.) Donations appreciated but not required.

Taking damage when casting doesn't automatically cause you to lose the spell. It's a concentration check with the DC based on how much damage you take on the attack.

Right. It's the damage I was worried about. And that's as an AoO, so they're still got their full blend cycle and you're surrounded.

Stunning them worked well.

Very.

Shield Companion (AA) is great if you have an animal companion and can cast.

True. Didn't remember that spell.

But, uh... how does a horse wear a platinum ring?

Nose ring? Through one of the hooves? Maybe through an ear? Farmers put tags through cow's ears.

I doubt it but they might be invisible.

If a caster stands in the other doorway before a readied cast it would at least restrict how many enemies could attack them. Especially if other party members stood near them. K'nai alone can block 2 spaces.

GM, I'm a little confused about the gaze attacks and what is needed now (at the start of my turn). If I'm reading correctly, Dawa and K'nai each need to make 7 saves, 5 from when the hounds initially appeared and then 2 from the two remaining (stunned) hounds that are still present at the start of their turn. But I don't think this can be right since neither Dawa nor K'nai have acted yet. The passive gaze attacks go off at the start of our turn, in which case we would each need to make 2 saves (vs the 2 hounds that are still visible), but not any vs the 3 other hounds that disappeared from view.

It's possible that you are also counting the active gaze attacks that the hounds might have made on their turns but a) this would have used each hound's standard action, making them unable to also physically attack and b) those attacks only target a single foe not everyone within 30'.

Also, how do you rule the possibility of averting eyes and/or closing eyes? Some GMs would allow the target to do so at the start of the first turn where the gaze came into play, meaning you could potentially avoid all saves by just averting/closing eyes at the start of your first turn. Other GMs (including myself) say that you can only opt to avert/close eyes after the first round, since you had no way of knowing that this was needed at the start of your first round after rolling initiative.

One other thing: (I think?) you mentioned upthread that making your save will make you immune to that particular gaze attack - I don't think that's usually the case for gaze attacks?

Lastly, everything I've said here relates to general gaze attacks - it's possible that these hounds have some special version in which case please just tell me that my questions are irrelevant.

Also, my apologies for rules questions and hope it doesn't seem like quibbling. Normally I'm all for just following whatever interpretation the GM deems suitable but in this case since 7 gaze attacks could easily kill both Dawa and K'nai, I thought I should check first.

Edit: one other question: are the gaze attacks subject to the Bardic Performance (Distraction) ability? I think probably no, but asking just in case. If they are, I would probably use that instead of Inspire Courage.