Dreadfulness in Dunwich PF1e+ (Inactive)

Game Master DeJoker

" This is not like a jungle, atleast I do not think so. I do not have much experience with those, but this should be useful to swim and climb. We shall head off unless someone wishes to stay for something else. Does anyone know good dragon names?" Salaha queries as they head out.

"So we have underdark goblins trying to corrupt a poor little dragon, drugging and killing people... You land walkers surely need help with many things. We shall cure the illness, then perhaps look into these goblins. How did they get an egg is a great question, and you shall have to inform us more of this underdark. Does it have waters?"

"I don't know truly if it has water," said William. "But to venture there will be a hazard for us."

To Jazlyn, he turns to her and says, "Call me William, scourge of evil."

"Caves have water, but it's nothing like what you are familiar with," Jazlyn offers. "Usually there is water flowing through some tunnels and here and there it pools into what might be called a lake. With no direct sunlight, however, the creatures that inhabit the water are likely nothing like those in the ocean. The water is fresh, not salty."

" Well if it has waters I should be quiet alright in it. We need to explore that somewhat, because stealing eggs is one thing, but unholy issues and now a plague bothers the town is not good signs." With that, without anyone objecting, they could head out.

OCC: Well if there is nothing else the group wishes to do then the heading into the deeper swap is nset on the agenda.

Salaha I am working on the stats for you new companion and will have those before they are needed.

The group is taking their boat into the swamp but is there anything you all want to do and should I assume the Grippli is is lead scout and pathfinder at this point?

Salaha sits on the boat as it goes deeper into the swamp, her new companion draped around her shoulders as they keep watch on the boat, keenly searching for anything out of the ordinary. She has her bow out, but also seems to be checking the swamp water every so often to ensure the health of the waters.

OCC: Okay it is actually a small creature as dragons when born are Small so that be like putting a sizeable heavy python about your neck. Further it is aquatic so can swim

William wraps himself in his robes. He was certainly prepared to go deeper into the swamp, or wetlands. He was no healer, that was for sure. Salaha was a druid, maybe she could heal others of their diseases. william was sure of one thing, he needed to defeat evil.

Jazlyn packs her gear carefully, adding supplies she thinks will be helpful. Should we be keeping track of things like rations, water, etc. Is there anyone in the party who can create light spells when needed or should those without darkvision pack torches or lamps or the like?

Jazlyn is not a talkative traveling companion, although she speaks when spoken to. She focuses on watching the surroundings for threats and makes mental notes of landmarks passed.

OCC: This is as much a survival game as it is an adventure game in fact surviving ones environment is actually a challenge that must be surmounted. That being said yes we are (or at least I am) tracking rations and water (although considering you are in a fresh water marsh/swamp that one is kind of a no brainer granted cooking that water to purify (or casting a spell to do so or casting a spell to create water are all viable options as well).

That being said everyone has full rations and full water as the Grippli tribe would have provided for that. They are very happy that their queen and protector (their swamp queen) has returned. They seem to be okay with the fact that she has a new body as if this is something that has occurred before.

Also on this trip there are no current NPCs at this time those that exist all remained behind for one reason or another.

Dain shivers at the bottom of the boat, once again aboard the feared craft.

The group moves deeper into swamp where the sounds of nature slowly become quieter and the fog seems to hang heavier as the light breeze in the marshes gets quelled by the large trees with their maze like root systems that resemble the clustered branches of a tree rather than one one might consider to be roots. The unnerving stillness is only broken by the semi-rhythmic splash of the paddles or by a the sound of a bug as it flies nearby seemingly greatly amplified in volume due to the lack of other sounds. For those accustomed to Nature {Have at least 1 Rank in Knowledge(Nature) the stillness is more unnerving as it is definitely not natural.

Navigating the maze of trees and their above water root systems takes time with these root systems occasionally looking like tentacled arms in the blur of the fog. Unknowingly this would be a precursor to at least one of the creatures that inhabit this swamp. A relization that comes as the boat is suddenly jarred to the right causing everyone to be slightly knocked off balance as a sort of pseudopodial mouth bites into the left railing and splashing movement can be heard from the right.

Glancing to the right at the sounds, the group sees what appears to be the human-sized tree moving towards them. As it breaks the fog they can see it is not a tree but some strange monstrosity. What is propelling its movement cannot be seen but the water churns slightly as if movement were taking place below the waters surface. The base of the creature has numerous alien malicious eyes and just above the eyes long branch like tentacles ending in puckered maws that drip a green goo with the consistancy of sap and the smell of an open grave seems to accompany its presence. Above the tentacles is a multibranch or antler like feature where the corpses of a couple of small animals are skewered upon them for some most likely unpleasant reason. The sight of this creature is quite unnerving {Will check DC 16 or Shaken}{Knowledge[Religion or Planar] check DC 15 to know anything about this creature}

Three tentacled maws lash out toward the group. Each one striking home, hitting Jazlyn {Damage 9 + Grappled}, Salaha {Damage 14 + Grappled}, and Grün {Damage 14 + Grappled}.

OCC:The group can now react. You are all in a boat that is currently 10 feet from the tree-like creature who has three tentacles attached to the three indicated characters. Grün is at the front of the boat and Jazlyn and Salaha are on the right side of the boat with Dáin across from Jazlyn and William across from Salaha. Lars is in the rear of the boat while the Dragon is next to Salaha.

Yes I realize Dáin posted he was huddled down in the boat but he has to man one of the 4 oars. So he is hunkered down and operating one of the oars, perhaps has his toes hooked somehow to keep him from accidentally toppling over board.

OCC: Sorry this took so long but I did not think you wanted to face CR 12 version of this creature so I had to tone it down considerably which took a bit of time. Still as it stands this thing could be nasty. Oh and yes Salaha I hope to have the dragon done by this weekend.

William casts Magic Missile at the nearest tentacled maw!

Missile 1: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Missile 2: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Dain casts Divine Favor on himself (+1 hit/damage)

OCC: Did the two of you not see the required Save you need to make or the optional Knowledge check?

Will check DC 16 or Shaken

Knowledge[Religion or Planar] check DC 15 to know anything about this creature. Due to the circumstances you cannot take 20 on this check but I will supply that kind of information (unless someone rolls a 20) after the fight upon reflection of what you have faced.

Will save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

OCC: Does Dáin not have Knowledge[Religion] nor Knowledge[Planes] ??

Know-Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Know-Planes: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Know Religion: 1d20 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 10 - 2 = 28

Salaha is too shaken by the creature to do anything, this eldritch horror from beyond the planes clearly was not natural, but completely known to her. The issue now was if she could survive long enough to speak, or die given she looks as if she is near death's door after one hit.

OCC Salaha can do something as Shaken only means you have a -2 to Actions see the Spoilers for both Shaken and Grappled. So you know what your options actually are. Then of course you have your Dragon that you have bounded with which is a companion that you can say something to (Free Action) and it will respond of course it might respond on its own if you do not say anything considering the current circumstances.

I not sure if you realize it or not but you did a pretty good job of actually describing what you know about this creature all-things-considered. Granted I will supply you with more information when I respond considering that was a crit on a knowledge check.

Will vs Skaken DC 16: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Is sneak attack available? By it grappling 3 of us, is Grun now flanking?

William's Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

OCC: No Grün I will have to say due to the circumstances this is not a flanking situation however I will do what I can to alleviate that issue eventually since it is a very big aspect of your character. Still what you plan to do in this situation is still up to you to outline.

For some reason I read it as all I could do the first round was be shaken, which I get isnt what you intended lol.

Salaha will share with the group quickly what she knows of this beast, and tries her best to get loose from it's grip

Trying to escape: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Salaha does nearly the best she can to get from the grip of these beast.

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Not trained in either knowledge skill.

While Jazlyn prides herself on being unflappable in combat, the creepy nature of this swamp denizan takes her by surprise and unnerves her. Jazlyn immediately twists and tries to break free from the gripping appendage and then adjusts her fighting style, drawing on training to more effectively deal with such a monster.

FYI: Jazlyn has improved grapple feat. I put the impact of this in her stat line for CMB and CMD, but I did not have it in her feat list.

Break Grapple, Improved Grapple, Shaken: 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 1 - 2 = 25

If that is successful, Jazlyn will use a move action and her martial flexibility ability to gain Resisting Grappler feat. If the creature tries the same trick, Jazlyn will get an aoo unless it has improved grapple feat.

If the break grapple was not successful, she will instead use martial flexibility to gain the Focused Discipline feat.

Not opining about the character build... But, technically I'm threatening or could with one handed weapon. So if someone for on the opposite side of it...

Grun goes limp, waiting.

I just noticed the break grapple DC is 22, so Jazlyn broke the grapple. She can make AOOs with unarmed attacks and threatens creature for the purposes of flanking, even without a weapon in hand.

OCC: As I have stated before all you need to do is out number your opponent to have flanking and you get a +1 per person which in this case due to the circumstances I give you guys a +1 flanking bonus along with whatever else you get from flanking.

Why is Grün going limp while grappled by a horrific creature that you can guess wants to eat you or worse?

Playing dead. But, if there is a +1 flanking situation because we outnumber the creature, I can sneak. Otherwise, not worth attacking. Figured maybe it would just drop him if he goes limp (and focus on other targets - sorry folks).

OCC: Well okay just wanted to double check on that was all.

Realizing there is still opportunity in his dire situation, the grippli draws a kukri and attempts to cut the creature while it's distracted.

atk, ci kukri, flank, shaken: 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 1 - 2 = 17
dmg, ci kukri, precision, shaken: 1d3 + 2d6 - 2 ⇒ (3) + (4, 3) - 2 = 8

Can I dust off a magic missile now?

OCC: William it seems that you can. I can sort it out if necessary.

OCC: William it seems that you can. I can sort it out if necessary.

William casts another magic missile at the closest tentacle.

Magic Missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 51d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

OCC:Sorry William but I just realized that the Magic Missile cannot, under any circumstance, be targeted at a specific part of a creature, as the wording in Magic Missile says "specific parts of a creature cannot be singled out" which is there specifically to prevent applying things like Sneak Attack damage to a Magic Missile attack, amongst other things. So the Magic Missile can only strike a creatures center mass.

Next William had already used his Action this round to do a Magic Missile so I am using those numbers over the latter set.

Also I made some errors in the translation of the CR 12 creature when taking it to a CR 4 creature and have adjusted for these which changes the damage that was taken thus far. Jazlyn Damage 5, Grün Damage 7, and Salaha Damage 7

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Grün slashes deeply into the tentacle that is currently holding him but is not able to sever it completely.

Salaha attempts to get free of the mouth that has a hold of her but fails.

Dragon attempts to bite the tentacle attacking Salaha and misses.

William fires off a Magic Missile that streaks out and strikes the mass of the creature that is about 10 feet away from the boat.

Jazlyn attempts to get free of the mouth that has a hold of her and succeeds.

Dáin casts Divine Favor on himself granting him an improved ability in combat against his opponents.

Stone struggles but manages to keep the boat from capsizing on the group.

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The tentacle attacking Grün attempts to wrap him up and pin him but loses purchase and Grün is no longer Grappled and due to the creatures error Grün has an opening that he can exploit OCC: AoO and To Hit +2 for AoO and Round -- Note: If Grün makes a Called Shot (-5 To Hit) he can attempt to sever the mouth from the tentacle by hitting the previous wound he inflicted.

The tentacle attacking Salaha attempts to wrap her up and pin her and does so squeezing her in the process and the mouth seems to just start to draw out her essences OCC: Fort Save DC 15; Succeed -1 STR; Fail -4 STR
Pinned No Dex Bonus; -4 AC; Only Verbal and Mental Actions or attempt escape CMB vs DC 26

The tentacle attacking Jazlyn switches targets and goes after William giving Jazlyn an opening as it basically ignores her. OCC: AoO +4, may grapple, also +4 To Hit this Round against this target

The tentacle strikes at William but bounces off the magical field protecting him.

The final tentacle that is near Dáin continues to try to capsize the boat.

OCC: I now it has been a while since my last post so if you have absolutely any questions about what happened last round feel free to ask. Otherwise it is currently the PCs turn and Stone is still keeping the boat from being capsized so is busy.

OCC:Sorry William but I just realized that the Magic Missile cannot, under any circumstance, be targeted at a specific part of a creature, as the wording in Magic Missile says "specific parts of a creature cannot be singled out" which is there specifically to prevent applying things like Sneak Attack damage to a Magic Missile attack, amongst other things. So the Magic Missile can only strike a creatures center mass.

Next William had already used his Action this round to do a Magic Missile so I am using those numbers over the latter set.

Oh, okay. I was sure magic missile could be used to strike a part of the body.

The grippli is desperate and lashes out for his life, and the lives of others!

AoO, ci kukri, flank, shaken, +2 situational: 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 1 - 2 + 2 = 11
dmg, ci kukri, precision, shaken: 1d3 + 2d6 - 2 ⇒ (2) + (1, 2) - 2 = 3

I don't trust a total of +5, no called shot.

Use slashing weapons!

Dain slices with his dagger

Dagger,Divine Favor: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 181d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

OCC: Dáin which one are you attacking? Dain can easily without moving attack the one trying to tip the boat over or if he gets up can attack the one attacking William or if he gets up and moves he can attack the one attacking Grün or attacking the one that has Salaha Pinned.

The one attacking the boat