Curse of the Crimson Throne for PF2e by DM Doctor Evil

Game Master DM DoctorEvil

Wow, did that alligator have champion DR or something? I'm genuinely curious how I managed to do nothing to it. Just not hitting the AC?

Yes, AC was 18, so the rest was just flavor.

EDIT: Just realized, you might not have added the Inspire Courage bonuses, which might have made at least one of those into a hit.

I did a little research, and the person behind Ioca's alias hasn't posted anywhere since Apr 11 (hoping my research is still current, ha.)

I certainly hope they are alright as none of their other games had any kind of notice regarding a break or expected life delays. :(

My apologies I was just trying to remind Talindra where it was as she was closest. Can was not meant to narrate in any way. And establish if reaching to get it was a problem, which I didn’t think it would be.

Won’t happen again.

Hey, folks, I should mention that I'll be moving to a bigger apartment (with a bathtub! and a den!) this weekend and working on a major school assignment due next week, so I may be a bit slow to post. I should still be able to keep up, but if not, please know that I have not abandoned the game and will be back in a few days.

Thanks for the heads up Talindra. Hope the move goes well.

I am also a bit worried about Ioca. I will continue to run him without hesitating for the rest of this encounter and then see if he has returned, or if we just go on w/o.

I hope the move goes well!

Sorry guys, have had an house-guest here the last two nights which has taken up my time a bit more than I anticipated. I will get a post up for you tomorrow

No stressing here

First: Yay Bathtubs!
Second: Yeah, I'm worried about Ioca Player as well.
Third: No worries DM Doc Evil. RL comes first. Hope whoever is a pleasant guest :)

That Lie attempt did not fail by much...

Sorry Lenrelle is rather indecisive. Wasn't sure if using Battle Medcine would be wise if it meant we couldn't use it later to heal later if someone got downed anyway. Then I remembered there were two kids who MIGHT for all I know be dying so, went with what Len would be tempted to check on.

I think it makes a lot of sense to check on the children.

Yes, agreed, making sure the kids are okay is wise. You're in a better position to do that than I am; all I have is the Medicine skill and I believe you're better at that than I am. Not going to complain about the buff, either :) Besides that, as I mentioned, I'm best up front where the action is, and I'll be getting a post up after work. Talindra's going to want to monologue a bit, and I need to do some strategery for positioning to make sure everyone can get in close who wants to.

Hope the move went well. Unpacking boxes is more fun than packing them.

Seems space will be constrained — Billi could remodel and make another door behind the bed.

Move is this weekend, actually. Doing the last bits of over the next 72 hours. I’m planning on taking a space 10’ from Lamm to take advantage of my glaive’s reach.

I've been waiting since January to make that last post.

Also, Billi, I gave you your shield. Are you choosing not to raise it?

One more point: as Billi and Sable are positioned right now, Ioca can't get a flank, which means he can't use his sneak attack ability.

Billi might not even be there, as his action this round was destroying the door, as Dr. Evil did say that only Billi had acted this round, and the rest of the party was up.

That said, while flanking is an easy way to get sneak attack, it's not the only way. Ioca could Feint, or Lamm could be tripped, just to give two examples.

I assumed Lam shot and reloaded so no reaction and Billi will go before Lamm

Lamm had readied an action to fire at whoever appeared in the doorway first. So his initiative count moves after Billi's.

I will get the posts adjudicated, but Billi's actions will be at the start of the next round.

Good luck with moving. Still unpacking boxes etc 9mos later....

Now it seems the dice want no damage. Both of Lamm's damage rolls and then mine were all 1's. Yay, low dice for everyone :)

Billi is virtually switching dice now. But he was running hot at the beginning, so it is really just averaging out.

I totally empathize about the boxes! It took me months when I moved last time (June 2020). It was just me, still is, and I don't have a lot of stuff. My executive function at that point was almost zero; the only thing that kept me employed was the understanding that everyone's productivity was rubbish.

Finally, finally, everything is moved to the new place. Just to be sure I'm not holding things up, it is not my turn currently, correct? I used my reaction, used my three actions, and am waiting for Lamm to respond. Is that right?

Yes, he just went. And even with your reaction, Lenrelle is down. Billi has a reaction, then all the group, including Talindra, is up again.

Now that Lamm is on the ground, we need to make sure we know where he is so that Bili can be next to him for the AoO when he stands back up.

KOd by a crit may make our cleric in worse shape.

Well, OUCH!

One of the ironic benefits of this maybe that I'll get a good look at the dying rules. The 'levels of death' throw me off and I've had trouble grasping all of it.

So focus on killing Lamm.. Lenrelle maybe forgiving, her player wants vicarious revenge! :)

I think we will learn the administer a potion action, the target must be helpless or willing, I think Lenrelle is both.

Let me try and explain the dying rules. When you go below zero, you fall prone, drop anything in hand, and go to Dying 1, or 2 if a crit dropped you.

Your initiative immediately changes so that you now go one count before the foe who dropped you. This is so that you don't have to immediately make a Recovery Check, and to give allies the chance to stabilize (via cantrip or Administer First Aid) or revive you.

Any healing brings you up, though you are still prone, Dying falls off, and you gain Wounded 1.

Any damage you take when Dying increases your Dying number by 1. This makes persistent damage, or splash damage, incredibly scary when you have the Dying Condition.

On your next turn, you make a Flat Check - just a straight d20 with nothing added with a DC of 10+current Dying number. If you make it, you are stabilized at 0 HP. If you fail, your Dying value increases by one and by two on a crit fail.

If you reach Dying 4, you die.

If you are healed and then drop again, your initial dying value starts at one plus your wounded value.

Note that certain spell effects, and Death by Massive Damage, bypass these rules and just kill you.

Let me show an example. Sable is doing a high-wire dance and is 40 feet up. She slips and falls and lands on the stage, taking 20 damage. Since she has 17, she's Dying 1.

Everyone is shocked and gasping in horror, and her turn comes up again. She needs an 11 for the Recovery check and rolls a 3. She's now Dying 2.

On her next turn, she needs a 12 and rolls a 14. She's still knocked out but at 0 HP, Wounded 1, and safe from dying. Had she rolled a 1 or a 2 on that check, she'd have crit failed and died.

Wounded is removed any Treat Wounded success, or being healed to full and resting 10 minutes.

I hope this helped!

Damn, death comes easy in PF2!

Edit: Unless your name is Gaedran Lamm. Dude's as slippery as a greased pig against damage!

Not really. There is no death at -10 HP. Normally the party will have 4 rounds to give a downed person some sort of healing. By third or so level, Death by Massive Damage is close to impossible, barring a fall from a massive height, and there are an incredible number of ways to mitigate or even ignore falling damage.

Toughness not only gives more HP but gives a rare bonus to flat checks as it makes the flat check DC 9 instead of 10 on Recovery checks.

Diehard takes your max Dying value to 5, so both feats give more leeway on the checks, and both Divine and Primal casters have Stabilize cantrips, so they can just say from 30' away, 'Don't worry about the recovery check at all."

I think the system hits a nice mix between a party member being down and the tension that brings, and the actual ability to save them. Going down is a real danger, as it should be, but if a party works well together, the risks are mitigated, at least from what I've seen when GMing.

Lenrelle can crawl to Billi's space and we can swap them on the map.

Hope I got the spell right...
not that she hit. Good speech wasted there. Darn it. The die roller does not respect Lenrelle's dramatic moments- the philistine!

The dice don't respect my attempts at theatrics, either, don't feel bad! We'll get you through this, I promise!

If Lamm's AC is higher than 17 when prone, we just need to run. :/

It’s not his AC that’s the problem (and, based on my observations and some math—I promise I haven’t looked it up—we’re fine there), it’s his dagger that’s the issue. Disarming him should be a priority. I can say with certainty that Talindra will want to go shopping for an alternate weapon (not saying it's going to be a scimitar but it's almost certainly going to be a scimitar) and a shield after this.

Lol, I just mean, Billi's two Strikes should be enough to end this. If he manages to dodge that? We're totally out-classed. :P

His normal AC is 19, but flat-footed due to proneness, I think you are going to be okay. He also has a Nimble Dodge reaction which helped a little.

Talindra and Sable -- wow. The glimpse of redemption and finally the +1s needed to actually hit Lamm were due to inspire courage!! And, Perivolt has the potion right at the nick of time. And, of course, did we fully use all Lenrelle's healing?? It was a lot and we needed every bit to get through the gator.

That is what it is all about!!

Don't undersell your own efforts; this was very much a team accomplishment! I think we've used everyone's healing spells for now, but Lenrelle and I have healing abilities as focus spells (which we can recover after 10 minutes in-game time) and we can use Treat Wounds like we did earlier. This, conveniently, takes 10 minutes, and tending to others' wounds should qualify for both of us to use the Refocus action. Up to DM DoctorEvil, of course, but that's my reading.

I'll get up a post-combat post in a bit; still processing the emotions of the combat myself, to say nothing of Talindra :)

Len tapped out of heal spells fast... One on Talindra, Mar 5, Another on Tal, Mar 18, Apr 19 a heal on Sable plus Healer blessing . So she's out

Darn Shark and Gator were killers whew

Three encounters, with one heal per encounter, is not bad. We did a decent job of managing our rather limited level one resources.

Inspire Courage did turn out pretty nice, even if I only made one lasting roll, and Sable will need to refocus, too, just in case we have another fight.

Champion reactions are also very handy, and Talindra used them really well!

Overall, I think everyone did a good job of showing off the good parts of their classes, and there was tons of great RP.

We also still need to get the kids to safety and find out what's going on in the city. The start of this AP has been crazy and fun!

I thought it was a good team effort, with just enough challenge to make it edgy without being impossible. Feel like the balance is really good between the party, and versus the challenges.

Prepare yourselves to advance to level 2 as we wind up the fun at the fishery also. Make sure to post the changes and selections you make as you level up.

I think Lenrelle should take the hand crossbow. It's a simple weapon, so anyone can use it, and it would give her a ranged option.

We need to identify the scroll but is easy in PF2E. If you look at it and either know the spell or it's a common spell from your list, you make a Recall Knowledge that automatically succeeds. We have three of the four schools covered, so unless it's a Primal spell, we'll know what it is.

Dr. Evil, do you mean for us to level up now, as we're RPing, healing, looting, etc? Or do you mean to be ready to once we're back to safety?

I'm sorry, it seems I wasn't clear in my gameplay thread post. I'm not comfortable using Treat Wounds on Lenrelle when a critical failure could cause her to drop again. My plan was, indeed, just to meditate / pray for 10 minutes to Refocus. Alternately, if someone who has more than 8 HP wants me to try my hand, I'll be happy to :)

Well Lenrelle has a sling. She hasn't used it much. Probably should have but targets were often behind walls. So hand crossbow is not a must but if you think it would be better for her I'd not object.

I'm sorry, it seems I wasn't clear in my gameplay thread post. I'm not comfortable using Treat Wounds on Lenrelle when a critical failure could cause her to drop again. My plan was, indeed, just to meditate / pray for 10 minutes to Refocus. Alternately, if someone who has more than 8 HP wants me to try my hand, I'll be happy to :)

Heh. This was the same reason I hadn't used the medicine skill either yet. I'm a bit skittish with the die roller right now and am afraid she'd hurt herself further ;) Sadly, Healer's Blessing, the focus spell, BOOSTS another heal spell, it doesn't actually heal itself. So meditation won't help Lenrelle I don't think. However, I'm looking at it. To critically fail DC 15, she'd have to get under a five total. So.. maybe just on a nat one? Not sure! I'll take a chance so she's not a walking wounded cleric afraid of her own skills. I may get assurance for the medicine checks though if I can.

YAY! Bare minimum expectations for a healer achieved!

;)

Pardon, despite my bitter snark and grumbles about the die roller, I should say I have enjoyed the game. Good inter character RP all around, team work paid off, etc. And our GM made Lamm a truly WRETCHED villain who it's very gratifying to finish off :)

Just FYI, while I am fairly comfortable translating the NPCs/monsters from PF to PF2, I am mortified by my inability to think about the treasure/exchange rate differences, and wealth by level. The items detailed in Lamm's lockbox are from the text, but i have to modify the values considerably. If it's not enough, or too much, will try to balance out later on.

I think you are fine to level up now. I'll even allow you to have the spell slots available since you seem to need the healing benefit.

Remember you have a Hero Point available if you really critical fail on a super-important roll, and you also have Harrow Points if its a Dex-based check.