[PFS1][Gameday XII] PFS1e #9-09: Beyond the Halflight Path (STANDARD) (Inactive)

Game Master soulnova

This will be for OOC talk.

We will officially begin to play next Monday, September 4.

We'll be starting out soon. In the mean time, is there anything about your characters you would like to share? Special mechanics we should be aware of?

Good ol' Shamus here has a plethora of Saving Throw modifiers, Non-Standard Skill Bonus modifiers, and Boons.

They're all listed in his profile for easy access.

I'm very much looking forward to adventuring with everyone here.

We can get started with introductions in the Gameplay thread, right?

One thing I should mention about Radu is that he has the Murksight witch hex, so he is able to see through fog, mist, rain and murky water without any hinderance (although if it's a magical effect he can only see through the first 15 feet).

Jaakko's Oracle curse is Tongues, so speaks and understand Infernal in combat.

Dimak is a STR-frontliner with a longhammer(reach!), a greatsword, a Dwarven Boulder Helmet (which is a weapon, too), Combat Reflexes and Power Attack who likes to be enlarged. If ranged attacks are necessary, he uses his sling. His best skills are physical (Acrobatics, Climb, Swim), he looks a bit intimidating (Intimidate), and he knows a few things about surviving outdoors, too (Handle Animal, Knowledge: Nature, Perception, Ride, Survival). He has no magic talent at all, but is quite curious about it and has no problem using it to his advantage (UMD) although it usually takes him a few tries to get one of his wands (CLW, Infernal Healing, Comprehend Languages, Enlarge Person) to work.

He also loves to make crude jokes, mostly in the form of short rhymes.
(Gotta show his extremely low CHA somehow!)

Okay! It's still Sunday over here, so I'll start tomorrow. You can go ahead and present yourselves. Also, please don't forget to add your info and tokens to the slides. :)

Throwing this here to help me (and the GM) remember save modifiers. I'm just as forgetful as my PC.

•Lifebound: +2 racial bonus on all saves made to resist death effects, saves against negative energy effects, Fortitude saves made to remove negative levels, and Constitution checks made to stabilize.

•Inured to the Elements: +2 saves vs. spells with acid, air, cold, earth, fire, elec., water descriptor; 1/day (faction card).

•Four-Leaf Clover: +2 luck bonus any save, 3/day.

•Ghoul Hunter: +1 Fort saves vs. disease, paralysis, and stench of ghouls & ghasts.

•Nexus Crystal: Resist negative energy 10.

Purchasing Handy Haversack...and probably some want with PP.

Alright, I'll wait for Dimak before continuing.

Oh, I forgot to mention: Dimak recently bought a Swarmbane Clasp that he is currently wearing.

Purchases:

4x Potion of Enlarge Person (50 gold)
Eyes of the Eagle (2,500 gold)
Wand of bless (2 PP)

Total: 2,700 gold, 2 PP

I'll be adding some slides for visual references as we play. :)

I'll give some time for everyone to present themselves to Horus and I'll continue tomorrow. :)

I'll wait for everyone to check in to continue in case you want to buy something else.

Botting instruction: Jaakko uses against enemies that have high AC or otherwise dangerous. If the enemy seems very difficult to hit, he can cast divine favor. He can ignore a firearm misfire 3 times per day as a free action.

If we first damage and then split the black pudding into 2 (or 3 or 4), a raging and enlarged Dimak (20 ft reach!) should be able to kill them with 3 AoOs and a readied action. Everyone who acts should either then move behind (or adjacent to) Dimak or already be standing there.

Bad idea to split them. Let's just use bludgeoning & energy attacks (except acid).

As mentioned in the other, please be aware the split is identical in size, as well. This thing is huge. I'll update the map in a bit.

Just a note to clarify, when split the pudding is identical, no size change, just split HP. I just wanted to make sure you are aware as you got that bit of information.

Was the "huge" you used in the first description of the black pudding just a synonym for "big-sized" or is it really in the size category huge?

Edit: I really should refresh before I click submit post...

Okay, splitting is off the table, then.
But the rest of the plan is sound. And Dimak can still be the first line of defense.

Las Lajas, can you use my wand of Enlarge Person on me just before we start combat?

Yeah, it's huge, huge. No puddin' splitting.

I've seen splitting work like gangbusters when you have a wizard or sorc that can deliver a 10d6 fireball. An archer and fighter split them up into 4 parts in one round and the caster blasted all four with one fireball.

If you're laughing at that, then you've no clue on how to play tactically.

But this party most likely can't put out a 10d6 AoE, so we'll have to do it the hard way.

I can try umd on your wand, but it won't be right before combat, Las will need time to re-arm himself with flasks.

Also, I have one dose of salts that protect one metal item for d3 rounds from black pudding acid....so let me know who wants to avoid having their armor eaten.

One thing worth thinking about is whether we want to fight the black pudding now or leave it until later. If it can potentially damage our equipment and we fight it now, may end up needing to deal with the rest of this vault with damaged or destroyed equipment, but if we leave it until later that will be less of an issue. What does everyone else think?

You can tackle the encounters in whatever order you prefer. Right now you have two other paths you can take, one to the East of this passage and another to the south from the initial chamber.

I've seen splitting work like gangbusters when you have a wizard or sorc that can deliver a 10d6 fireball. An archer and fighter split them up into 4 parts in one round and the caster blasted all four with one fireball.

I read a bunch of posts yesterday about that too.

But this party most likely can't put out a 10d6 AoE, so we'll have to do it the hard way.

Exactly. Which is why I think we shouldn't split the creature. Just hit it with blunt weapons & energy attacks.

Since we're here, I say we destroy it now.

Las Lajas wrote:

But this party most likely can't put out a 10d6 AoE, so we'll have to do it the hard way.

Exactly. Which is why I think we shouldn't split the creature. Just hit it with blunt weapons & energy attacks.

Since we're here, I say we destroy it now.

Works for me.

@Las Lajas: Ok, then instead of doing this Dimak will drink a potion to enlarge himself right before combat starts.
Before that, he will also use an oil of magic weapon on his MW longhammer.

@all: Dimak also has 2x Alchemist's fire, so if anyone who is good at ranged attacks wants to throw them, be my guests...

@Dimak: I forgot. Shamus can UMD your wand of enlarge. On the puddin', I'm willing to use 3 charges from my wand of burning hands (CL 5), then switch to sling & magic weapon.

@Dimak: I forgot. Shamus can UMD your wand of enlarge.

Thanks. However Dimak (+7) could try to UMD it himself nearly as good as Shamus (+8).

Please use my wand of bless on the party before trying UMD enlarge person.

Shall I move into the cave (indicated by my large half-transparent icon) to get out of the way of your ranged attacks? I can set up AoOs and a readied attack...

Also, as consent is needed in PFS, you have permission to use area attacks that include Dimak - splash damage from flasks, burning hands, etc.

I suspect even if Dimak is between the ranged folk and the black pudding we shouldn't have any issue hitting it as is oozes tend to be pretty easy to hit. So ideally, we'd probably want Dimak to have a bit of space behind him for the ranged members of the party as otherwise they would end up in front of Dimak and the pudding would go after them instead of Dimak which would prevent Dimak from getting an AoO and would make using ranged weapons and spells tricky due to potential AoOs form the pudding. That said, obviously if Dimak is to far forward he looses the opportunity to AOO as the black pudding moves in.

Even though its not a small room, it looks like getting everyone in a position where they can contribute to the attack could be a little tricky. I guess if need be Shamus could use Heaven's Leap to move people so they can get involved, or we could see if there is another entrance to this cave and potentially have party members use both so more of us can get into the cave and get involved?

With Patros rolling ahead and Dimak starting to position himself in the cave, I don't think you'll be able have the chance to look for another entrance just now.

I see Dimak has reach so he can attack with a 5ft step to the east without being on reach of the pudding. Assuming Patros won't stand in front of him, that means he will incur in one increment throwing it from behind.

Dimak may have a surprise attack and that will trigger initiatives. As you had the time to prepare, please position yourselves, state what effects you have on and how many rounds will it last. You may stand in Half-covered squares as if you were squeezing.

Alternatively, Dimak could ready an attack, let Patros stand in front of him (no range penalty) and make the surprise attack.
Or am I mistaken?

I suspect it would be best if Dimak made the surprise attack as he's the only member of the party using one of his preferred weapon so is likely to do the most damage and the surprise attack would let him get an additional attack in at the start of combat, which would be a big help as the rest of us are going to be doing much less damage. Given the size of the black pudding I would expect it to be pretty easy to hit, so ranged increments are probably not a major concern as its only a -2 to hit.

Works for me.

@GM soulnova: I moved Dimak a bit so the others have a better position to shoot, but I have no idea how near he needs to be to hit the black pudding if it 'stands' on the 25' ceiling. I couldn't find the average height of a huge creature, so I estimated 15-20 ft. Please move Dimak's token accordingly, if necessary.
Also, Dimak has Combat Reflexes, so he can make AoOs when flat-footed.

Nice damage Dimak!!

I had added a small visual aid of the side view on the position of the pudding relative to you on the side of the map.

That side view graphic is awesome! Good idea.

Sorry for the delay. The toddler and I got sick and I wasn't able to check in today. Ill try to get around it tomorrow.

Don't worry about it, real life comes first.
Get well soon, both of you!

Hope you both feel better soon.

I'll try to reply tomorrow. I might be busy.

Would Radu and Patros both be able to 5 foot step forward to get a flank from where we are, or would the steps be too steep?

Would Radu and Patros both be able to 5 foot step forward to get a flank from where we are, or would the steps be too steep?

Unfortunately, no. Going up steps is difficult terrain and, apparently, these steps lead up into the room.

Edit: Dimak just pointed out the creature took a 5-ft step going up the stairs. GM probably didn't know the rules about 5 foot step and going up stairs.

From the Core Rule Book.
You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn't hampered by difficult terrain or darkness.
(...)
Stairs are the most common means of traveling up and down within a dungeon. A character can move up or down stairs as part of their movement without penalty, but they cannot run on them. Increase the DC of any Acrobatics skill check made on stairs by 4. Some stairs are particularly steep and are treated as difficult terrain.

I regarded the intellect devourer was already at the top of the stairs, and the height difference between both rooms is 5ft so I do not consider them as steep. You may 5ft-step these stairs.

Well. I got served. ;)

We've been doing it wrong here in my neck of the woods. We always considered going up steps as difficult terrain no matter how steep.

@soulnova: Thanks to his dwarven boulder helmet, Dimak threatens also all squares adjacent to him. Just a reminder in case the creature moves or withdraws...

Oops. You are right, Soulnova. A cleric does have to be 5th level to cast a 3rd level spell. So the cure serious wounds are CL 5.

No problem. You would have passed anyway.

Identifying Potions: In addition to the standard methods of identification, PCs can sample from each container they find to attempt to determine the nature of the liquid inside with a Perception check. The DC of this check is equal to 15 + the spell level of the potion (although this DC might be higher for rare or unusual potions).

Decipher the Writing: The writing on a scroll must be deciphered before a character can use it or know exactly what spell it contains. This requires a read magic spell or a successful Spellcraft check (DC 20 + spell level). Deciphering a scroll is a full-round action.