[Gameday XI] GM Zin's CORE 10-10 The Shattered Shield (Inactive)

Game Master Zin Z'arin

Fort Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Did I miss a DC? Also, is it a new day?

Menudo draws his Elven Curve Blade and swings.

If I can see, and it's a new day, I Smite the thing, otherwise I just swing blindly.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17 for Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Smite would add another +2/+3 or +6 damage if it's an evil outside, which my gut tells me it is.

I thought there was (17 or 18?) but either I imagined it or it was edited out?

And yes, new day--everyone healed and slept after the fire.

What in the hells... Theron yells as he tries to shield his eyes from the falling glass.

fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 221d8 ⇒ 2

I knew there was something up...get after her! he tells the others as he draws his blade in a smooth practiced motion and lashes out at the creature as he rushes it.

attack, PA, FF: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 231d8 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 4 = 11

Sorry, DC 14

I'm feeling under the weather today. I'll shoot for an update at some point, but I'm heading back to bed now.

Sorry for the delay; got the winter crud.

Zim, Milo, and The Red Reverend all get the worst of the falling glass, having glanced up for whatever reason at just the wrong time. Squeezing their eyes shut to protect them from the tiny shards all over their faces, each does what they can to help.

Zim channels Abadar openly--not needing eyes to seek her god--but the connection is hard to open here in Rahadoum and the healing delivered is a mere trickle.

Milo drops to the ground and blindly rummages for his healing wand, activating it openly to recover from the mess of glass embedded in his face.

damage, P, Red: 1d8 ⇒ 3
The Red Reverend ignores the glass and gives his scythe a sightless and too-short swing, completely missing the beast as it shifts its weight to meet Theron.

Iladora, Menudo and Theron all fare better, shielding their eyes at least from the falling glass. Eyes wide open, all three get a good look at the creature. Covered in a familiar sheen of flaking gold, the monster looks like a horror out of nightmares, a mangled, mashed-up mess of various other corpses, composed of creatures too various and decayed to identify.

Iladora takes a ready position and demands answers from the winged, gold-encrusted, beast. Even if it had the capability to answer, it doesn't look interested in talking.

½ damage, P, Menudo: 1d8 ⇒ 2 = 1
Menudo stands with Erastil's resolve stiffening his back, issuing the creature a wordless challenge--one the creature won't be able to ignore. He swings mightily, trying to back up his resolve with action, but the creature's thick skin just barely turns the divinely-powered blade away.

Theron wastes no time, knocking chairs over as he scrambles to the aisle and rushes forward right at the creature, blade extended. He drives his sword deep into the creature's thigh, drawing a ragged, other-worldly scream from the terrifying thing!

Unfortunately, the wound looks like less than Theron would expect after he withdraws his blade, and the creature looms over both Theron and Menudo, wings spread wide! It returns Menudo's challenging gaze with a smiteful look of its own that almost makes the holy warrior take an involuntary step back. It brings two claws down in a sweeping cross that catches both warriors exposed. Both wounds drip with blood, some vile contaminant preventing the gashes from closing! Menudo takes 18 points of damage from the creature's own Smite attack, and Theron takes 14 point of damage. Both wounds have bleed 1d4 (triggers at the start of your turn).

Zim hears silence fall in the hallway behind her as footsteps fade away, both their host and the other guests having fled the museum. All three of her, Milo, and Red can safely open their eyes now, though after taking in the gold-encrusted horror at the front of the room, they may be wishing they were still innocently blinded from the sight of the thing.

For the purposes of bleed only, we will follow initiative order. Only people who are in the list before Menudo and/or Theron can stop the bleed from triggering on their turn. You can still post in any order; I will roll bleed damage in my round summary if it applies.

Round 2 (all may act!)
Aya (out of the room)
Zim (8/13 hp)
Menudo (10/28 hp, bleed 1d4)
Milo (14/15 hp)
Iladora (34/36 hp)
Theron (26/40 hp, bleed 1d4)
Red (33/35 hp)
Creature (-6 hp)

Conditions
Bleed: A creature with this ability causes wounds that continue to bleed, dealing additional damage each round at the start of the affected creature’s turn. This bleeding can be stopped with a successful DC 15 Heal skill check or through the application of any magical healing.

Iladora rushes to within striking distance, heedless of the danger it puts her in.

Go ahead and make an attack of opportunity.

Adamantine greatsword - Power Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 +2 if it's undead
Damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (6, 1) + 12 = 19 +2 if it's undead

"In for a penny..." Zim mutters as she finally get the glass out of her eyes. She moves to the right and channels again.

healing: 1d6 ⇒ 6

What do we need to identify it? Zim has Religion

Milo stands up once he can see again, and can't quite stifle a vulgar curse in Halfling when he gets a good look at the monster. He steps into the aisle and moves up behind his companions.

Move to stand, move to move up (assuming the chairs prevent a 5-ft step diagonally?). Rolling to identify, assuming it's undead.
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Also, in case he see the front of the room clearly enough: Is the Shard still there?
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Menudo adjusts his battle strategy. This time, he will hit instead of missing.

Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21 for Damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Extra +3 damage if it's an evil outsider or undead, or both, which my gut still tells me it is.

"Not you guys again."

+1 Scythe: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Slashing Damage: 2d4 + 6 ⇒ (1, 4) + 6 = 11

Critical Confirmation: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 1 = 22
Crtitical Damage: 6d4 + 18 ⇒ (1, 4, 3, 1, 1, 2) + 18 = 30

"Now what did I just cut in half?"

Knowledge (Religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

NICE shot.

Agreed!

obligatory "Hey men, nice shot!" comment...lol

Theron nods in approval of Red's gutting shot.

once more, if you could... he says with a chuckle as he lashes out with his own blade.

attack, PA, FF: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 141d8 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 4 = 14

The Red Reverend recognizes the creature as undead, but pretty much everyone could see that. Milo, though, knows a bit more.

Knowledge (religion) DC 22 to learn additional abilities beyond this:
It's an advanced fiendish necrocraft: a horrific animated fusion of multiple cobbled-together corpses, each one unique, possessing varied abilities depending on what goes into its making. The one before you is winged, and seemingly covered in the same flaking gold as what you've fought before. Milo confirms what you've already seen: the creature resists damage from all but good-aligned weapons, its wounds cause bleed damage, and it has a fiendish smite good ability, which it's already deployed against Menudo. He notes that it likely has strong resistances to both fire and cold damage.

Iladora throws caution to the wind, scrambling over chairs and The Red Reverend to get in position. Though she fails to land a blow, spinning somewhat awkwardly and almost falling into a chair, the monster's reactive strike also fails to land.

Zim reacts quickly, her connection to Abadar growing stronger as she channels more healing into the room, causing both Theron and Menudo's wounds to cease bleeding.

Milo stands up and looks past the monster for the Shard; it no longer sits atop the podium where it had been during the auction.

Menudo tries hitting this time, and finds that works much better as a strategy, his smite-aligned blade easily slicing through the undead creature's unholy defenses.

Red, using his eyes this time, looks for a particularly important section of the creature's cobbled-together form and slices it right off! DR applies, obvs, but that's one way around it for sure; just do that much more!

Amazingly, the creature still stands! Theron tries a finishing blow, but can't get through the unnaturally thick hide of the bone-chitin original form of the creature composing the section near him.

Reeling from such massive damage, the monstrosity swipes at what appears like a glowing beacon of good in its eyes, and at the source of the massive bodily loss it just experienced. Though it stumbles, missing Menudo entirely, it leans in close with Red and draws a claw down the length of the Urgathoan's arm, leaving a bloody trail that won't clot.

Round 3 (all may act!)
Zim (13/13 hp)
Menudo (16/28 hp)
Milo (15/15 hp)
Iladora (36/36 hp)
Theron (32/40 hp)
Red (24/35 hp, bleed 1d4)
Creature (-60 hp)

Since Red is naturally last in the initiative order, healing from anyone (regardless of posting order) can be used to stop Red's bleed condition.

Conditions
Bleed: A creature with this ability causes wounds that continue to bleed, dealing additional damage each round at the start of the affected creature’s turn. This bleeding can be stopped with a successful DC 15 Heal skill check or through the application of any magical healing.

Press on! We've got it beat! Theron yells as he spits at the beast. He drops his shield and grips his blade in both hands and lashes out again.

attack, PA, FF, 2H: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 131d8 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 6 = 16

"Just DIE why don't you?" Zim snarls, fed up with these stupid gold things, no matter what size they are. She yanks out her crossbow and closes her eyes, praying to Abadar to grant Red the benefit of his clear sight (Inspiring Word - +2 attacks, skills, abilities, saves for 1 round), even though he's wrong.

Milo sees the necrocraft rip a deep wound into Red, but instead of using his wand immediately, he ducks under the scythe's backswing, touches the grim cleric's hem, and murmurs, "Keep the luck flowing our way."

Milo uses Bit of Luck on Red: For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result. (Would've used that on Theron, but he posted before I could. *shrug*)

Edit: Nice synergy with Zym!

+1 Scythe: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
+1 Scythe, Bit of Luck: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Slashing Damage: 2d4 + 6 ⇒ (2, 3) + 6 = 11

Used all my luck last round. Sorry not sorry.

Iladora slashes at the undead monster again.

Adamantine greatsword + Favored Enemy - Power Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 2 - 2 = 27
Damage + Favored Enemy + Power Attack: 2d6 + 6 + 2 + 6 ⇒ (2, 2) + 6 + 2 + 6 = 18

Theron swings at the undead beast again, but can't connect.

Zim uses the strength of her connection to Abadar so that he watches over Red momentarily, giving the cleric focus for his next action.

Milo joins Zim's attention on Red, having seen what that scythe is capable of; he grants Red some luck on his next attack.

bleed damage, Red: 1d4 ⇒ 1
Red tries to use Zim and Milo's aids to repeat his worthy strike, but maybe Abadar doesn't look kindly on Urgathoans, and his attack misses.

Iladora--no longer wobbling on upturned chairs--uses her firmer footing to deliver a powerful blow that nearly ends the fight, but the necrocraft fights on! DR applies

Round 3 (bold may act!)
Zim (13/13 hp)
Menudo (16/28 hp)
Milo (15/15 hp)
Iladora (36/36 hp)
Theron (32/40 hp)
Red (23/35 hp, bleed 1d4)
Creature (-73 hp)

Since Red is naturally last in the initiative order, Menudo can still post a healing action to stop Red's bleed damage; if so, I will remove that damage from the tracker.

Conditions
Bleed: A creature with this ability causes wounds that continue to bleed, dealing additional damage each round at the start of the affected creature’s turn. This bleeding can be stopped with a successful DC 15 Heal skill check or through the application of any magical healing.

Menudo sees his bleeding friend, but decides ending the beast is more important, at least for now.

Attack, Smite: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Menudo tries to finish off the misshapen creature, but can't get the strike past its unpredictable moves.

The necrocraft follows its recent strategy of both attacking the paladin and retaliating against the most recent strike--in this case, Iladora. It easily hits Iladora, but Erastil's protection does what it needs to for Menudo, and the creature misses him. 14 damage to Iladora.

Round 4 (all may act!)
Zim (13/13 hp)
Menudo (16/28 hp)
Milo (15/15 hp)
Iladora (22/36 hp, bleed 1d4)
Theron (32/40 hp)
Red (23/35 hp, bleed 1d4)
Necrocraft (-73 hp)

Healing bleed must be done by a party member earlier in initiative than the bleeding PC to avoid bleed damage for that round, regardless of actual posting order. Other aspects of posts will still be resolved in posting order.

Conditions
Bleed: A creature with this ability causes wounds that continue to bleed, dealing additional damage each round at the start of the affected creature’s turn. This bleeding can be stopped with a successful DC 15 Heal skill check or through the application of any magical healing.

Menudo just shuts up and swings.

Attack, Smite: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Red agrees that the creature is more important. Healing is for after all the enemies are dead.

+1 Scythe: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Slashing Damage: 2d4 + 6 ⇒ (4, 4) + 6 = 14

Theron hacks away again.

attack, 2h , Pa, FF: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 141d8 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 6 = 17

Milo doesn't think his puny weapons can do much good directly against the monster, and certainly doesn't want to move any closer to those wicked claws. Instead, he pulls out his whip and snaps it between his allies to try to distract the necrocraft from focusing quite so intently on murdering the paladin.

Whip attack vs AC 10 to aid AC: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Huzzah! Menudo gets +2 to AC against the monster's next attack, if it lives long enough to get another turn.

Seeing her companions wounds continue to bleed, Zim calls on Abadar's blessings once again.

healing: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Zim sends another blast of Abadar's healing through the room, stopping everyone's wounds from bleeding.

Menudo just shuts up and swings, and it works! His blade slices easily through the necrocraft's tough natural armor and the beast falls to the ground, its already lifeless form completely un-animated now.

After the necrocraft falls, all you hear is your own labored breathing from the battle. The sounds of Aya and the other bidders' retreat have long faded away.

Status
Iladora (26/36 hp)
Menudo (20/28 hp)
Milo (15/15 hp)
Red (27/35 hp)
Theron (36/40 hp)
Zim (13/13 hp)

Zim sighs with relief as the creature collapses. Thrusting her holy symbol at Milo, she asks "Please take this and hide it. I don't know how much people saw. And I'm sure the Pure Legion is on their way." She rushes over to the group to wrap bandages around any open wounds and any which have been healed (in case there are questions about that).

As she does so, she looks around for the auctioneer and the Shard. "Anyone see where she went? And maybe we should gather up the evidence of what we were here for..."

Heal: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 in case it's needed.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

God job...she can't have gotten far...she went out that way...

Milo puts away his own wand, and winks at Zim as he silently makes her elaborate Abadaran key disappear. He keeps his whip in hand, in case more trouble comes their way, as he looks around.

Move to stow wand, standard to conceal holy symbol.
Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Iladora stows her sword. "She's out prime suspect now. And she got quite a head start on us in the confusion."

While they are still alone, Menudo swiftly lays hands on himself.

LoH: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Red starts to give chase, since he won't be able to keep up with the others if he falls behind.

Sorry folks, the holiday weekend ended up being fuller than I expected. Back to normal now.

As the battle winds down, guards from the auction appear. They're shocked when they see the remains of the necrocraft in many pieces on the floor. "What happened here?" the guard captain asks. "Where's Aya; is she safe?" Continuing with urgency, he moves to the podium, looking for any of the artifacts on auction; he breathes a small sigh of relief when he sees that nothing remains. "The Pure Legion is on their way; let's make sure the scene is clean of any religious artifacts. If you bought anything, make sure it's put away!"

Note: to be clear, just because the Pure Legion is on their way doesn't mean that you need to stick around for them.

Status
Iladora (26/36 hp)
Menudo (26/28 hp)
Milo (15/15 hp)
Red (27/35 hp)
Theron (36/40 hp)
Zim (13/13 hp)

Milo hides the incense that the Pathfinders won in the auction, then follows after Red to pursue Aya. He doesn't even acknowledge the guard's question about the auctioneer, as he very strongly suspects that she took the item they seek.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Standard to conceal item (poorly, sigh), move to move.

Theron bolts through the door Aya used.

She can't be too far...hopefully...

"I'm not sure where she's gone off to. She ran away when the monster dropped in through the roof!"

Zim follows along with the rest of the party to follow our missing artifact.

Menudo clanks along behind, making a mental note to pick up one of those druidic move fast wands.

You all spill into the streets, but there's really no physical trail to be followed. Aya appears to have disappeared.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Milo quickly sifts through the dross of speaking with bystanders, and shares the nugget he uncovers regarding Alhanzir Cemetery with his companions. (He shares everything under the spoiler above.)

"I suspect we'll find her there. That necrocraft's arrival was far too well-timed to be random chance," he judges.

”Agreed. And if there are more of those things, we need to destroy them before this gets any more out of hand.”

"I agree. Let's get that dealt with before the Pure Legion find us," Zim says nervously. She's obviously worried about being discovered.

I can't remember if wands are OK, since there are non-divine uses. If so, Zim will heal everyone up on the way to the cemetary. I'll take averages, if you will allow it.

It's not difficult to find your way to the cemetery.

A field of arid soil the color of a rusty blade is littered with grave markers arranged in symmetrical rows. Despite the lack of water, the ground and gravestones are covered with mossy lichens, spiny cacti, and knotted, thorny brambles with pale blossoms that bloom in clumps. A few yucca trees stand between the graves, their trunks the color of bleached bone. None of the more recent, cleaner headstones show any signs of religious patronage, and many of the older headstones bear scars where religious iconography and aphorisms have been chiseled away or ground to dust. Toward the back of the cemetery stand a few cylindrical stone structures with tarnished metal doors.

Zim keeps a close watch on her surroundings.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Or at least, she thinks she does.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

The Reverend runs into something.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19 Success!
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 Never mind...

Milo looks around at the gods-forsaken cemetery with distaste. "No wonder this land is plagued with undead, when the dead are robbed of everything remotely sacred," he mutters. "Calistria laughs at such fools, and Pharasma weeps."

"Over here," he adds, still keeping his voice down as he points out palm prints of gold dust smeared on one tomb's door.

Good eye, Milo...get behind me... Theron says as he pats the holy thief on the shoulder. He heads to the indicated crypt with his blade ready for action.

Menudo nods.

Everyone can attempt the Knowledge (religion) check inside the spoiler now that the tomb has been pointed out.

You assemble around the tomb entrance, looking at the door. Theron draws a blade as you wait for someone to open it.