DM Carbide's Round-Robin From the Tome of Righteous Repose (Inactive)

Game Master John Woodford

Ash frowns at his bow. "I'm giving you one more chance at this. Otherwise I will turn you into a sling. Think about it"

Ash fires his bow at the aggressive dragon.

Shortbow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

"Sling it is..." he quietly murmurs as the arrow plonks against one of the tiles on the ceiling.

Dragonfire does what arrows cannot, and the creature finally goes down.

Out of combat!

Ryskovich takes a few deep breaths as the dragon falls to the ground. He looks around and takes stock of the current battle wounds done, Everyone alright? as he lays eyes on fallen Sakura.

He heads over and tries to patch their wounds and stop the bleeding. His first attempts fumbles as he manages to make it worse for a moment. He collects himself and manages to do it correctly moments later.

heal DC 15: 3d20 ⇒ (2, 20, 1) = 23

Ahahaha! I am a mighty dragon! Beware of my might!

A red dragon with dragonfly wings, bulging eyes and the size of a sparrow flies under the ceiling and bassily announces the surroundings about what a great dragon he is...

Alas, in my case "alright" would be too loud to say. Zeta looks regretfully from the wounds to the magic wands and back to the wounds.

Ryskovich will take a CLW potion from has backpack and force feed it down Shen’s throat.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

"Oooow! Who put a dragon down here?" Shenendril says as she awakens and sits up, rubbing her arm, shoulder and side where the blast hit her most fully.

It takes her only a moment to take a lay of the land, as it were and she hurries to Sakura's side.

She starts casting curative magic into her.

CLW: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (1, 8) + 6 = 15

Ok, that's a start. I have up to 3 more CLW spells and a wand. Let me know who needs what and what they're going to use to get it (and feel free to roll your own rolls from you CLW wands.

Once she tends to everyone else, she turns to finishing her own healing.

CLW wand: 4d8 + 4 ⇒ (1, 4, 2, 7) + 4 = 18

Ash exclaims as the dragon goes down, but then turns around and sees two members of the crew on the ground. "Well fu... Oh" he stops mid-sentence when Ryskovich pulls out a potion.

"Hah! I need to get one of those for backup." he pats the halfling on the shoulder.

Once Shenendril is on her feet, he moves forward and offers his wand again.

"Please. Nobody else can use these, it seems. Help everyone you can."

CLW: 5d8 + 5 ⇒ (6, 4, 3, 5, 7) + 5 = 30 - 5 charges from some of your wands... sorry - I'll take CLW wand after this scenario too; only infernal healing for now.

Zeta returns to her normal size. It's good that we're all alive. And indeed, it is curious to know how this creature ended up here.

Shenendril uses her own wand to heal Zeta.

"Sorry I can't use yours," she says. "I just honestly don't know how it does anything."

She looks around the group. "Anyone else?"

The foibles of spell lists. They're nice and thorough for the time they're created but anything that comes out after...and the writers who write after don't always think about it.

It's odd that AFAICT the infernal healing spell was published after Occult Adventures, but didn't include it in any of the occult classes' spell lists. It seems like a good match for occultists and spiritualists, at least.

I am missing 12 HP at this point, so I will take you up on the offer.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Hah. Big money. Missing 2 HP. That will do.

Ash walks up to Shenendril. "Yes, please. I am a little worn out." he says as he wipes a damp cloth across some of the skin darkened by the acid burn.

Shenendril nods, turning her wand onto Kridash.

"Hurts doesn't it?" she asks, looking at the burns as they heal and stroking the still sensitive skin on her own arm that was recently healed up.

Ash nods. "Hurts like a motherfu-" he stops himself, and pauses.

"Yes, very." he adds with a little less emphasis.

"Old habits. Bad ones." he looks back at Shenendril, then towards Sakura. "Are YOU TWO okay, though? Dropped down for a while there. And it seems we don't have means to get you back to your feat without potions if that happens again."

"We will have to be very careful, and no more dragons, please."

"Sorry, guys. I usually carry a potion on me for just such an emergency but I guess I forgot to restock," Shenendril says, clearly nonplussed by the situation she let them get in.

The basin on the dais contains about ten gallons of some vile-looking greenish fluid. In addition to the basin, the dragon had a significant amount of treasure none of which is useful during the adventure, but which will serve as the basis for part of your chronicle GP earned.

Where to now?

Ryskovich will pick his blade back up after properly storing his bow. He then takes his empty potion vial and tries to scoop some of the green liquid into it carefully…just in case it’s caustic or harmful. He then looks around, trying to figure out the areas that have been unexplored.

for real…what’s not been look in?

"Looks like some stairs over here!" Shenendril calls.

She goes and stands beside the opening, not in front of it. No need to tempt fate.

"I'll take point. Better if I'm in the front, anyway."

He looks down the stairs before moving through the hall.

"I will keep you company, Ash. There's an old catfolk saying: No good things lie downstairs in a dungeon."

Kridash finds himself in a small empty chamber with several other exits including one that I'll handwave you checking, since there's nothing in it--it's the long skinny room north of where you fought the dragon. The half-orc thinks he may hear a faint hum from somewhere west.

Zeta stands shoulder to shoulder with a half-orc, a faithful miniature dragon flying nearby.

Ash stops as he descends down the stairs. Zeta stands next to him, and he extends a hand to stop her moving.

"Okay, so... I'm not sure if I got this right but... There might be a super large bee colony living here. As in - a large colony. Not a colony of large bees. Do you hear that?"

He points to the front. (west)

Once some of the less fragile folks have gone ahead, Shenendril steps into the doorway with her bow ready.

She listens closely.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Sakura follows with Asb.

perception : 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Ash reaches the doorway and can tell that the hum comes from the broad stairway to the south. He can feel a chill breeze blowing from the opening to the west.

"Let's carry on. Not really good with tippy-toes, but who knows?" Ash starts moving towards the sound and the source of the breeze, as quietly as possible.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

And with surprising silence, apparently.

Camina sneaks alongside Ash.

stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

This grand chamber contains finely carved stone, opulent in contrast to the rest of the crypt. The heraldry of five major houses are inscribed into the wall above five ornate sarcophagi. Each sarcophagus stands open and empty.

The breeze's source is a tiny (about 3" across) hole in the air in the center of the room.

An overwhelming feeling of sadness comes over Ash and Camina as they enter. Camina can do nothing but wail and bemoan the fate of Mordesha.

Ryskovich will hear his allies bemoaning and he will try to silently approach to assess the situation without entering the room. He stumbles over his own feet and falls face first in front of the entrance to the room.

stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Camina slinks in, hugging the wall, a leaden weight tugging down her heart.

Ryskovich scrapes loudly against the wall. There are no apparent enemies in the room--just the hole in the air.

Ash's shoulders slump a bit as he enters the room. He goes into an odd state very unlike his usual semi-jovial self, and just kind of - keeps staring into the distance.

When you say hole in the air, what does that mean exactly?

Sakura also moves forward to look at it.

kn nobility: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

"These are the crests of houses Caliphvaso, Ordranti, Immarin, Kavapesta, and Siervage. These sarcophagi seem to be important!" she says.

Shenendril knows a thing or two about supernatural air.

She carefully approaches the hole, getting close enough to try to figure out what it is with her bow at the ready.

Knowledge (Planes)?: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

The phenomenon appears to be a ~3" diameter disc of inky blackness floating in mid-air. However, despite it looking flat, it doesn't change in appearance when seen from different angles.

Both Sakura and Shenendril feel the weight of the miasma of pain and despair filling the room, but manage to keep control of themselves.

Shenendril, this looks like a portal to the Negative Energy Plane. If so, it could be dangerous to approach closely.

"The venture captain gave us a finger-length scroll case. If we stick it in the hole, do you think it will plug it up?"

Shenendril stares at Camina. "No," she says flatly.

"But, thanks for reminding me about it. If I perform the ritual on it, that should work. Hopefully," she continues and fishes it out of the place where she conveniently put it in her pack.

Ritual Roll: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Below are my potential modifiers -
*Knowledge (Arcana) +9
*Knowledge (Planes) +10
*Knowledge (Religion) +8
*Spellcraft +9

Shenendril reads over the ritual. It's somewhat lengthy, taking a full hour to cast. Mechanically, you need three successful skill checks, at one check per PC. Applicable skills: Knowledge (Arcana, Planes, or Religion), Linguistics, Perform (Oratory), Spellcraft, and Use Magical Device. Positive energy can be used to assist with a single skill check per application; the bonus is +1 per level of applicable spell or +1 per die of channeled energy. The checks are against DC 16, so Shenendril made hers; every five points a character beats the DC by counts as an additional success. It looks like Sakura has +12 Linguistics, and Zeta has +9 Spellcraft.

Botting Zeta: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

The ifrit studies the scroll, then holds it behind her back while she recites her part from memory. As she concludes her section, the scroll rises into the air. One after another, the symbols inscribed on it glow, and when all the writing is lit the scroll itself erupts into holy fire, consuming it completely. The light cast by the burning scroll eats away at the rift, shrinking it until it vanishes with a thump more felt than heard. The voices in the room vanish with it, finally at peace after centuries of anguish.

We're not quite finished yet, despite the final cutscene nature of the post. Where to now?

Camina held Shenendril's gaze for a long moment, her green eyes looking blankly, impossible to read. At times it can be hard to tell if the catfolk's pronouncements are jokes or hopelessly naive - and this was one of them. Finally, with a shrug, she walked off.

Curious as a cat, she wandered into the adjoining hallway while the ritual was being performed.

I've tagged two spots on the map that we haven't explored yet. Maybe they meet up with each other?

Shenendril sighs in relief as the odd hole to nowhere is closed up, though she gives a sheepish grin to Zeta for doing the bulk of the work.

With that out of the way, she draws her bow and nocks an arrow and follows Camina.

Just to clarify, was Camina really going to nose around in unexplored territory while Shenendril, Zeta, and Sakura (since it wasn't immediately obvious that Zeta would crush her roll) are occupied with a ritual that it's unclear can be interrupted and restarted?

No, she'd almost certainly wait for the others. She's been a Pathfinder long enough to know what happens to rogues who wander off.

Good.

With the ritual completed and the rift closed, the party returns to exploration. Camina looks around into the next door to the south and sees that although nothing is moving the room is not empty: three white marble statues that appear to have been deliberately carved lacking defined facial features; they mirror murals on the walls depicting thousands of similar beings streaming towards a great spire in the distance. Shenendril and Sakura recognize the iconography as describing the River of Souls approaching Pharasma's judgment.

However, scattered about the floor of the room are numerous clusters of purple crystal spikes.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

So close.

"This looks like some kind of shrine or acknowledgement of the River of Souls and applicants approaching Pharasma," she says.

"But I'm not sure what these crystals are. I don't think they're part of it."

"Well, that was quite depressing for a moment. Anyone else got that?" Ash snaps out of his torpor and starts to look around the room.

"What happened here?"

kn arcana : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

I'll take Sakura's result as an Aid Another for Shenendril, so go ahead and read the spoiler.

Shenendril puts her head together with Sakura. There's a lot of murmuring back and forth.

"Yeah...yeah, you're right. That's more of a lavender than a violet."

Ok, those are mnemonic crystals. They're...sort of alive and they absorb psychic energy. You guys should all be ok because they only absorb spells. Whatever you do, though, don't break them because they'll send out painful waves of psychic energy if you do."

Is it literally prepared spells or is it slots? Occultists are spontaneous casters.