GM Top's Dungeon Delver's

Game Master Pete H.

Nothing super concrete seems to be decided yet so I’ll give y’all another day to talk it out. Then I’ll move us along to something related to what is being discussed.

Well I have shown that I do not have the gift of gab, but I do have a spell that might help enhance someone else in that department, should we need to convince someone of our good intent and I'll cast it before we get into any serious discussions given the chance. Enhanced Diplomacy

Still traveling - back Thursday,

"I see no path other than trying to talk to them again and fighting our way through if that fails. I hope Torag lends grace to our tongues or strength to our arms."

Don't cost us nothin' to try a chin wag...worth a shot.

"Alright. Dran, can you prepare a few battle spells? I think it would be worth a Bless before we approach the guards. If they let us past, it'll help against Dakang. If they don't, well it'll still help us. I don't think we need to show them anything, they'll have seen it already or talked to a monk who's seen it.

Our ancestors are with us. I hope our gods are too."

Enhanced Diplomacy looks like it'll work on everyone, helping our Aid checks. Halali has Guidance which doesn't stack but will cut down buff time if that's an issue. I'd suggest Enhanced Diplomacy on Kaz and on Dran as the best Aid. If Halali stands at Kaz's shoulder, she can get into a position where she might catch all of the guards in her Colour Spray, but we'd need others close at hand to take the weapons they drop if they get stunned.

I think we've time to put minutes/level spells up before we talk to the guards. They're physically close to Dakang. If we fight the guards, we may want buffs up and if we talk our way past then we're near certain to fight Dakang without a pause. Halali has one Magic Weapon and one Protection from Evil prepped (3 mins duration). She'll need her Mage Armour wand activating again.

The group finally remembers they have a ton of different ways to improve their chances in both this social combat and the possible physical combat afterwards. They start making a good detailed plan.

Halali summarized things pretty well, does anyone oppose piling up social buffs and trying to diplomacy past the guards? Secondly, does anyone oppose prebuffing short term combat spells before the social attempt? Diplomacy takes one minute, fyi. So odds are about 1 to 1.5 minutes of the combat spells will be gone by the time any combat occurs. Discuss yay or nay to parts of the plan and please mention anything anyone wants added.

FYI, this is vintage pathfinder 1 action and planning here. Adding up buffs and modifiers. Pre-casting things so action economy isn’t wasted later. Making a good plan and then going for it.

Tolvaj can have a magic fang. Bilos has nothing else useful for precombat buffing.

I'm all for anything that makes the diplomacy work! Unfortunately I don't have anything that applies....

Once the group was ready, Kaz took whatever boosting magic they could hand out.

He then heads back to the aasimars, and tells them to look at the evidence one more time—the zombies, the haunt, the hand cutting machine in the garden, the evil leader, and anything else the others could think of to supplement his memory.

Dice gods, I beseech you!

Diplomacy 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21 not counting aids or magical boosts.

lol...all i can do precombat is load my gun...

Dice gods, I beseech you!

Diplomacy 1d20+6 not counting aids or magical boosts.

I think you get a +2 for Enhanced Diplomacy and reroll (and take the best) from Fortune Hex, before any Aids. At least a couple of Aid rolls should also get +2 from Enhanced Diplomacy I should think - I'd suggest Dran since he at least has a positive skill modifier. The rest of us can probably count on Guidance on Aid rolls.

Halali will pre-cast Magic Weapon on Dran's greatsword and Protection from Evil on herself, as well as Mage Armour via her wand and Bilos.

Diplomacy Aid, Guidance: 1d20 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (16) - 3 + 1 = 14

"We apologise for our bluntness. As you know dwarves are not renowned for etiquette. But we have taken the opportunity that your good grace afforded and have meditated upon Korada's wisdom. We hope that you have done similarly in our absence and will allow us the freedom to act."

The lead guard replies, ”We have meditated upon peace and our duty, of course. There are also reasonable explanations for all your accusations. So you will need to tie everything together properly to explain why we should forego our duty.”

Alright, here is what I need. Another roll from Kaztor from the fortune hex. Aid attempts from Dran and Grunigon with a +2 from enhanced diplomacy. Aid attempts from Bilos and Ander with a +1 from guidance. Then I will total everything up and see if you all hit the DC.

dip aid: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6

"We are dwarves. We fully believe in duty. Until that duty interferes with true justice."

Diplomacy aid?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7 The giveth.... but not this time!

Diplomacy, Aid, Not as Terrible as Usual: 1d20 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) - 2 + 1 = 4

It is in fact not as terrible! This time it's positive.

Fortune hex diplomacy roll 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Dran Aid

Diplo Aid: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 2 = 13

Best Roll Result: 21, +2 Enhanced Diplomacy, +6 from aids results in a 29. It... does not succeed.

The bodyguards think for a moment while the dwarves are pleading their cases, then the front one responds, "I'm sorry, you have brought us some evidence. But it is simply all circumstantial to tie it to something Dakang has done or is doing. Each thing is concerning, but nothing is going to make us violate our oaths. Please leave."

A tense showdown occurs for a few seconds, then Halali turns to walk away and the Asimar's release the breath they didn't even know they were holding. This is when the lady dwarf strikes, spinning around and blasting them all with a stunning spell!

Will vs. DC 14 Blue: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 = 13 for Stunned: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Will vs. DC 14 Green: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5 for Stunned: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Will vs. DC 14 Yellow: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

Halali's spell works! On at least two of the Asimars, who just stand there stunned and blind. Probably. It's hard to tell they are blind cause they are stunned.

Initiative
Halali: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Dran: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Grunigon: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Bilos: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Phantom: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Ander: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Kaztor: 1d20 ⇒ 19

Blue: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Green: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Yellow: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Round 1: MURDER THEM ALL!!! (Or maybe disarm them or something non-lethal? Iono, the plan wasn't super clear.)
Phantom (Magic Fang 17 rds, Incorporeal?)
Yellow
Green (Stunned/Blind 3 rds)
Kaztor
Halali (Prot Evil 16 rds)
Bilos
Ander
Dran (Magic Weapon 17 rds)
Grunigon
Blue (Stunned/Blind 3 rds)

Bold are up! I will remind you all that NO ONE has weapons drawn. It would have 100% negated the opportunity for Diplomacy.

I believe the plan was for Dran to pre-cast Bless? He was going to bring one less Divine Favor for the day.

I missed that on my look back. No worries, it’s up. I’ll add it to the next tracker.

Tolvaj is indeed incorporeal and thus must wait to act.

Kaz tries to deal non lethal damage with his hammer, knowing that this lot had only been swayed by the evil of the cult master.

Non lethal attack with Bless 1d20 + 7 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 4 + 1 = 11

Damage 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Ya jumped the gun a bit there Kaz. The phantom was up but didn’t want to show themselves yet.

The dwarves are slow to react, but the one asimar able to do something is not! She yells, ”Ouch my eyes! It burns, but not enough to stop me from smiting you infidels right out of our temple! Run and hide, Dakang. These bastards mean to murder you!!!”

She squeezes up next to her stunned ally, pulls her spear and stabs at the unholy abomination known as ‘Halali’.

Spear vs FF - Squeezing: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 8 - 4 = 11

But the mage armored monk easily deflects the clumsy attack.

Kaz, are you attacking blue or yellow? Yellow just tried to stab Halali.

Round 1: MURDER THEM ALL!!!
Buffs: Bless (17 rds)
Yellow
Green (Stunned/Blind 2 rds)
Kaztor
Phantom (MF 16 rds, incorporeal)
Halali (Prot Evil 16 rds)
Bilos
Ander
Dran (Magic Weapon 17 rds)
Grunigon
Blue (Stunned/Blind 3 rds)

Bold are up! I will remind you all that NO ONE has weapons drawn. It would have 100% negated the opportunity for Diplomacy.

Tolvaj moves through the wall and readies an action to hit Green when he is fully ectoplasmic.

Bilos begins transitioning the phantom's form.

Grunigon shakes his head sadly and mutters "We aren't trying to murder anyone. Just trying to figure out the evil in this place...." Then he hexes the man working to make him easier for the others to hit.

Hex Evil Eye to reduce AC by 2. Duration 5 rounds. Will Save DC13 will reduce duration to 1 round.

"Deal with this one quickly, and disarm the stunned guards!" Halali informs her comrades, speaking in Dwarven in hopes that the active aasimar won't understand.

"If they recover from the spell and take up their arms again, this is going to be a whole lot more difficult" she continues.

Those who are stunned will have dropped their spears, but we'll provoke AoOs by picking up the spears from the ground.

Not needing a weapon, Halali strikes the active guard with foot and fist...

stunning fist, bless, flurry: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 = 12nonlethal damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 on a hit, forces a DC13 Fort save, Stun for 1 round.
unarmed strike, bless, flurry: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 1 = 16nonlethal damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

...then she steps back to allow Dran an opening.

Sorry, GM. Yellow please.

wauting to see what resulted from the others' actions...

Kaztor can’t land a blow on the squeezing foe. The phantom zips through the wall and feels their body start the process of solidification. It is incredibly enjoyable!

Grunigon hexes the crud out of the remaining foe, who seems a bit more concerned now.

Halali manages to just barely miss her stunning fist hit, but connects on the backhand slap to the face. It doesn’t make her target happy though.

Yellow will dc 13: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12

Round 1: MURDER THE BIG BOSS AND MAYBE JUST MAUL THESE GUARDS A LITTLE!!!
Buffs: Bless (17 rds)
Yellow (-4 NL, -2 AC 5 rds)
Green (Stunned/Blind 2 rds)
Kaztor
Phantom (MF 16 rds, incorporeal)
Bilos (Corporealing…)
Grunigon
Halali (Prot Evil 15 rds)
Ander
Dran (Magic Weapon 17 rds)
Blue (Stunned/Blind 3 rds)

Bold are up! The two stunned enemy’s weapons are sheathed, not on the ground. They never drew them. Since they are stunned though a move action would be ok to grab their weapon, but it would likely provoke from yellow.

if i can get in there, i'll punch yellow...im on my tablet since my computer borked. Cant blow up map or move token....will roll attack if i canpunch gauntlet: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 111d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

There is only one spot and I think it is sorta saved for Dran. We will see what he chooses to do.

makes sense...

Dran is frustrated that the blasted guards would not listen to sound dwarven reason and realizes that at least Yellow is attacking for real. But it feels wrong to kill these men and his greatsword is not gentle so he attacks to subdue. Stepping up as he casts Diving Favor he tries to quickly take down the man, whacking him properly upside his head. Maybe that'll knock some sense into ya!

MW greatsword (currently magic): 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 7 + 1 + 2 - 4 = 262d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5, 2) + 4 + 2 = 13

Confirm?): 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 1 + 2 - 4 = 192d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (3, 2) + 4 + 2 = 11

Nice time for a crit. If 19 confirms that is 25 points of non-lethal.

If Yellow goes down and he can use his move action to do so, Dran will disarm the man beside yellow.

Dran steps up and smacks the lady guard really hard in the head! Blood spurts from her ears as the concussive smash makes her reel back, but she still stands!

13 + 11 is 24, but regardless she is still up.

Round 1: MURDER THE BIG BOSS AND MAYBE JUST MAUL THESE GUARDS A LOT!!!
Buffs: Bless (17 rds)
Yellow (-28 NL, -2 AC 5 rds)
Green (Stunned/Blind 2 rds)
Kaztor
Phantom (MF 16 rds, incorporeal)
Bilos (Corporealing…)
Grunigon
Halali (Prot Evil 15 rds)
Dran (Magic Weapon 16 rds)
Ander
Blue (Stunned/Blind 3 rds)

Bold are up! The two stunned enemy’s weapons are sheathed, not on the ground. They never drew them. Since they are stunned though a move action would be ok to grab their weapon, but it would likely provoke from yellow.

Ander is up and... has very few places to go!

We don't want to do this....please stop.... Ander pleads, realizing they will probably not listen. i assume i cant do anything melee related....ugh...wait...can i squeeze by to try to grapple? I know i'd eat an aoo...

She glances at Ander like he is LITERALY INSANE. Wiping the blood from her nose the guard replies, "Sure feels like you want to do this. We didn't attack first, remember that when you settle your debts in the afterlife. I'm sure I'll be there first though, but maybe not yet."

She falls back, stumbling through the incorporeal phantom and prepares to make a last stand in the hallway.

Withdraw Action, no AoOs.

The other two guards 'look' (they don't really, they are also blind) on helplessly as their only defender has retreated. Will the dwarves knock them out and then slit their throats? Time will tell!

The phantom materializes and swings a heavy cudgel, cracking his target upside the head.

The stunned foes aren't technically flat footed, but they do lose their dex to AC.

Round 2: MURDER THE BIG BOSS AND MAYBE JUST MAUL THESE GUARDS TILL THEY FALL DOWN!
Buffs: Bless (16 rds)
Yellow (-28 NL, -2 AC 4 rds)
Green (-9 HP, Stunned/Blind 1 rd)
Phantom (MF 15 rds, ectoplasmic)
Bilos
Kaztor
Grunigon
Halali (Prot Evil 15 rds)
Dran (Magic Weapon 16 rds)
Ander
Blue (Stunned/Blind 2 rds)

Bold are up! The two stunned enemies' weapons are sheathed, not on the ground. They never drew them. Since they are stunned though a move action would be ok to grab their weapon.

If I was trying to kill ya, I'd put a bullet between yer peepers...think on that... Ander says as he moves up and grabs the green guard's weapon.

Kaz again attempts to deal non lethal damage with his hammer, this time to the green enemy. b]”We are just trying to knock you out, not maim you! If you’d have just listened to reason!”[/b]

Non lethal attack with Bless 1d20 + 7 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 4 + 1 = 13

Damage 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

"We only need to hit the one that's moving, you know" Halali admonishes, sticking to the Dwarven tongue. "Take the others' weapons away and I doubt they'll threaten us when they've recovered. We'll move quickly on to the priest and clear up this whole mess!"

Halali matches actions to words, and retrieves the weapon from Blue guard. For good measure, she grabs hold of the same guard's leg and pulls...

reposition combat manoeuvre v blue, bless: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 1 = 7
If this succeeds by at least 10, blue will be repositioned behind Dran, next to Grunigon. Otherwise I think she stays where she is. I think I can pull her through Dran's square anyway.

Oh well, the plan is completely moot with that roll!

How are you getting to green, Ander and Kaztor? I shrunk the enemies a bit so hopefully you can see the walls now.

Halali disarms blue. At least of his obvious spear. Then tries to grab his shirt and move him, but he is stockier than expected.

ahh..will delay then...sorry

While a stunned and blind enemy might be the ultimate easy mark for a rogue.... Grunigon can't get to either. With the standing guard no longer visible he hexes the closest (blue) to make him easier to hit.

Hex: Evil Eye to reduce AC by 2. Duration 5 rounds. Will Save DC13 will reduce duration to 1 round.

Bilos can't do much through this press of bodies, so he flips the switch on the phantom again to prep for the real fight.

"Just grab these goons, take their arms, stick them behind us, right?" Halali continues her monologue.

"Make some room, drag them away, it's the quickest way."

Bilos and Gruni are right. The two stunned guards are just a wall of flesh right now. However, combat manouevres are generally quite easy to land on stunned blind opponents - if you don't roll a 1 - so it should be feasible to Drag or Reposition the guards as Standard actions whilst disarming them with a Move, if we manage the odd 5' step to shuffle ourselves around.

GM do the guards have any other apparent armament aside from their spears?

Stunned and/or Blind enemies aren't specifically super easy to Combat Maneuver. They literally only lose their dex, regarding CMD. Those conditions also add a -2 to AC each, which really weirdly stacks, but that's about it. Also, one of them can now see, but is still stunned. If they were helpless, that would be a a bit different.

Bilos starts incorporealing his phantom, even though the phantom is literally the only one that can easily go after yellow or hit green. His phantom chills.

Ander also chills.

Grunigon hexes another guard, it's super successful!

Will DC 13: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

The guards appear to have a tanglefoot bag and a masterwork spear. Unless they are secreting away other weapons, that's all you can see.

No answer from Kaz about his target so I'm going to assume he smacks at blue instead of green.

Kaz connects with a nice thunk. The guard seems stunned! Oh wait, he already was.

Round 2: MURDER THE BIG BOSS AND MAYBE JUST MAUL THESE GUARDS TILL THEY FALL DOWN!
Buffs: Bless (16 rds)
Yellow (-28 NL, -2 AC 4 rds)
Green (-9 HP, Stunned 1 rd)
Phantom (MF 15 rds, ectoplasmic)
Bilos (incorporealing the phantom...)
Grunigon
Halali (Prot Evil 14 rds)
Kaztor
Dran (Magic Weapon 16 rds)
Ander
Blue (-7 NL, Stunned/Blind 1 rd, stunned 1 rd after that, -2 AC 5 rds, no spear)

Bold are up!

Halali, where is your bird?

Thanks GM, it’s been a wildly crappy week.

Dran is up!

Where bird?

Bird is vibing in the chapel, flapping about the ceiling. (I've moved the token, don't know how Grim got stuck in the mess hall.) Grim has no combat relevant abilities as a Sage familiar, he'll try to keep out of the way.

Stunned and/or Blind enemies aren't specifically super easy to Combat Maneuver. They literally only lose their dex, regarding CMD. Those conditions also add a -2 to AC each, which really weirdly stacks, but that's about it.

Penalties to AC normally also apply to CMD, so no DEX bonus and a total of -4 in additional penalties usually means it's a lot easier to land a combat manoeuvre.

Penalties to AC normally also apply to CMD, so no DEX bonus and a total of -4 in additional penalties usually means it's a lot easier to land a combat manoeuvre.

You are correct, for some reason I missed or forgot that (either are entirely possible). Still even then far from a guarantee with their high cmd. I have a busy day tomorrow but if Dran hasn’t posted I’ll do a bot eventually.