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

Game Master soulnova

Once you have all the equipment you have and have coordinated on who will buff what, Talbern takes you into the Halflight Path.

During the journey, which takes several hours, Talbren insists that you remain silent to avoid drawing unnecessary attention from lurking monsters.

Talbren raises a hand and stops abruptly. Reaching into her uniform pocket, she withdraws a handful of glowing crystals on leather cords. She whispers, "These crystals are called Halflight charms. Each of you should carry one with you. They provide a bit of light, but that is not their primary function. If you find yourself in dire straits, clutch the amulet and call for help. The nearest Duskwardens will learn your location and come to assist."

The Duskwarden leans closer. "Do not call for us lightly. The disturbance in this vault provides me and my fellow Duskwardens with an opportunity to see the mettle of the Pathfinder Society for ourselves. However, if your life is truly in danger, don't let pride get in the way of good sense. Activate the charm and flee, we'll do what we can to cover your retreat. Certain walls and ceilings in the Shining Deep are prone to sudden collapse... you should keep an eye out for any stability that has changed because of this last incident... Good luck."

Talbern bids you farewell and proceeds to leave to check on another vault.

Halflight Charm
Duskwardens lend Halflight charms to travelers in the Undercity for their protection.
This amulet is a small crystal at the end of a simple leather strap. It glows brightly from within, shedding light equivalent to that of a torch. Once per day, the amulet’s bearer can clutch the object and call for help. Doing so immediately contacts the three closest Duskwardens and gives them intimate knowledge of the pendant’s location, as per the locate object spell, out to a distance of a mile.

The small tunnel leads you down to a cavern...

The walls of this chamber are smooth in the western end except for where part of the ceiling has collapsed, creating a rubble pile that reaches towards the center of the room. Just to the east of this pile, a natural chimney's low whistling hints at fresh air entering the cavern from somewhere below. A shallow pool southwest of this hole is slowly refreshed by a steady drip of water from above.

The natural chimney quickly narrows into a crack that does not open into another cavern for several hundred feet. The height of this cavern is 10ft high.

Map updated, we are in Slide 7. If you feel it's too small, there are close ups I can add as independent slides for each section.

Radu nods solemnly at the Duskwardens warnings and thanks her.

"Now we're here we should probably do any last minute preparation and then get investigating."

"I'm a pretty good scout and can be quite sneaky when I want to" says the Varisian, keeping his voice low to avoid drawing unnecessaries attention "So I'm happy to sneak around a little ahead of the party to help us get the jump on anything that looks dangerous, or to try and spot any hazards or traps."

When everyone looks like they are nearly ready to go he puts on some old rags over his existing clothes to which he applies alchemical grease and then swigs a vial of antitoxin.

I'll wait for until everyone else is ready to go before I start moving beyond the cave we are currently in.

While the group are getting ready Radu glances around the cave to see if anything interesting catches his eyes or ears.

Perception (+2 vs devils): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27

What are the light conditions like here?

Unless otherwise noted, the ever-present crystals embedded in the walls, ceilings,and floors throughout the area provide dim light to the rooms. Using the Duskwarden charms or other similar torch like light source would improve by one step to normal.

Also, if you wish to check the structural stability of the chambers, you may roll K. Engineering or Profession (stonemasonry) as you enter. As well as perception for Hazards.

There are two paths, one to the east and one to the south.

Radu catches the echoing sound of running water somewhere ahead. He's unsure of the direction, but otherwise this section seems clear of enemies or hazards...

Shamus places the Halflight Charm around his neck and nods in agreement to Radu.
"Definitely keep an eye out for any hazards and traps." he whispers.

"Finally underway."

Las takes a moment to cast Heightened awareness on himself, also using Guidance from his jade wayfinder.

UMD wFree Insp: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + 13 + 1 + (4) = 26

Las then examines the walls for signs of collapse.

K. Engineering wHA + Free Insp: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 2 + (2) = 24

Las Lajas doesn't find any indication this area will crumble anymore than it already has. The rock and sediments have settled here.

ahh...come back to the game and 14 posts...

I'll take all the luck I can get... Patros says with a smile.

lucky: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Once underway, he follows the scouts closely, should they get set upon by unseen enemies.

Once everyone is ready, Radu stealthy heads towards the cave’s eastern exit, keeping an eye out for any hazards and periodically using detect magic (when he thinks he can do so without drawing attention to himself). He covers his light source with his hand to prevent it from giving his location away.

stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20
perception (+2 vs devils): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (19) + 18 = 37

As Radu ventures forward into the dimly lit underground passage, his sharp eyes catch sight of a set of crude stone stairs, weathered and aged by time, leading upwards about 30 feet ahead. But as he takes a few steps closer, a detail grabs his attention—an adjoining tunnel veering off to the south before disappearing from view.

The distant yet distinct sound of running water becomes more prominent as Radu's keen senses focus on the side tunnel. A faint but unsettling noise reaches him too—the soft clatter of pebbles, originating from the direction of the side tunnel.

Lucky number: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Following shortly behind Radu, Jaakko examines structural condition of the walls and tries move as stealthily as he can.

Knowledge (engineering): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32

Noting the sound of the pebbles, Radu creeps back towards the party.

"I can hear something moving to the south east...like clattering pebbles..." he whispers. "I'll see if I can find out what it is."

Once his allies are ready and assuming no one objects, he then cautiously picks his way along the side tunnel, continuing to obscure his light and keeping an eye out for hazards.

stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28
perception (+2 vs devils): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27

Jaakko takes a moment to closely inspect the structural integrity of the surrounding cave walls. Though unfinished, the stone walls in this section of the cave seem solid and secure.

Just a reminder. I usually wait a day to give everyone the chance to post and update your map location. Please leave your botting instructions in the discussion thread if you can.

Las drinks his extract of false life.

1d10 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10 6 hours[

He pulls out his whip and readies his shield extract in the other hand.

Shamus shuffles along in his slippers, keeping close to his teammates.

Dimak wrote:

Dimak's Lucky Number: 2

Nice! Even if you roll a 2 on a d10 or d12 for damage, you can reroll it. Probably best for a d20 roll, though.

Yep! :-) Already put it in my header.

Shamus shuffles forward and picks out 3 of the wands.

"I can do cure light wounds, comprehend languages, and bless." he says as he plucks the wands from Dimak's hand.

"I, too, like to bless the group before each battle. Unfortunately, I can only do so once per day. This wand of bless will be quite beneficial for our team. Would you like me to cast it at the beginning of each battle?"

"Yes, please do so."

"I cannot help with the enlarge wand. We need an arcane caster for that, I believe."

"Well, if noone in our group can use it, I also have potions that make me bigger."

Talbren raises a hand and stops abruptly. Reaching into her uniform pocket, she withdraws a handful of glowing crystals on leather cords. She whispers, "These crystals are called Halflight charms. Each of you should carry one with you. They provide a bit of light, but that is not their primary function. If you find yourself in dire straits, clutch the amulet and call for help. The nearest Duskwardens will learn your location and come to assist."

The Duskwarden leans closer. "Do not call for us lightly. The disturbance in this vault provides me and my fellow Duskwardens with an opportunity to see the mettle of the Pathfinder Society for ourselves. However, if your life is truly in danger, don't let pride get in the way of good sense. Activate the charm and flee, we'll do what we can to cover your retreat. Certain walls and ceilings in the Shining Deep are prone to sudden collapse... you should keep an eye out for any stability that has changed because of this last incident... Good luck."

"Thank you, Talbren, that's very helpful! One question, though: Is it necessary for a Halflight charms to be worn or does it function when I clutch it in my pocket?"

Dimak draws his longhammer and moves up to stay near Shamus, looking actively for any trouble.

Gotta protect this nice old man from the monsters...

Perception, darkvision: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

From before with Dimak

"The charm is small enough to be carried easily, so you may just have it in your pocket."

-------

As Radu navigates through the winding side passage, it twists and turns, snaking back and forth in an S-shaped pattern. Eventually, he finds himself stepping into a larger chamber. Within this expanse, the eerie illumination of clustered crystals bathe the immediate area ahead of the passage in an otherworldly glow. The remainder of the chamber remains shrouded in dim light.

In the center of this mysterious cavern, a colossal stalactite column rises from the ground, reaching up toward the unseen ceiling above. The soft sound of flowing water hints at the presence of a stream, its currents flowing past the massive column.

Radu's initial search for the source of the shuffling sounds reveals at first sight that this section of the cave before him appears to be devoid of threats. However, as he continues to scrutinize his surroundings, his gaze drifts upward. To his astonishment, what he initially took for a mere shadow within the uneven, rocky ceiling suddenly stirs slightly.

High above, against the cavern's 25-foot ceiling, a mass of inky blackness begins to churn and writhe. It appears to be some sort of huge, amorphous goo lying in wait...

Identify with K. Dungeoneering DC17

I added a visual reference of this creature as Slide 8

Radu gazes up at writhing black mass, unsure of exactly what it is, but sure that it is probably dangerous. He quietly ushers the party back to where they can have a discussion without alerting the thing on the ceiling.

Once they are out of earshot he whispers "There's something up on the ceiling in there... Some sort of huge writhing amorphous black goo... Amorphous black goos are not in my area of expertise... Anyone have an idea of what it could be?"

Shamus pulls out his journal of creature knowledge titled "Get it Off Me!" and flips through it. He whispers to the group,
"Nope. Nothing in my journal with that description. Anyone else have an idea what it could be?"

No ranks in dungeoneering, however, I'm pretty sure I have a boon at home that allows me to make a check untrained vs. aberrations with a bonus to the roll.

Not an aberration tho. ;)

"While I'm not personally sure what it is, I may be able to help someone who might with a bit of Pharasma's guidance." offers the varisian in a whisper.

Radu will cast Guidance on anyone who is able to make the knowledge roll.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure a good shot brings it down. Assuming, of course, its hostile." Jaakko smiles confidently

Blobs? Not my area of expertise...

Las takes a look, accepts guidance and pontificates

K. Dunegon w Free Insp + Guidance: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 1 + (1) = 28

"Ah yes, a black pudding. What would you like to know?"

1) What are is special abilities, like dividing if hit by slash weapons or something, 2) Special weaknesses, and 3) whatever someone in the party asks.

Slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage to a black pudding. Instead, the creature splits into two identical puddings, each with half of the original’s current hit points (round down). A pudding with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hit points.

It has no other particular weaknesses or vulnerabilities.

One bit of information still available.

Shamus chimes in excitedly,
"Special attacks for 500, Lajas!!!"

Sorry. I'm watching game shows right now.

Special Attacks are constrict and corrosion. An opponent that is being constricted by a black pudding suffers a –4 penalty on Reflex saves made to resist acid damage applying to clothing and armor.
Acid
A black pudding secretes a digestive acid that dissolves organic material and metal quickly, but does not affect stone. Each time a creature suffers damage from a black pudding’s acid, its clothing and armor take the same amount of damage from the acid. A reflex save might help with that.

"So just bludgeoning weapons then..." notes Radu, looking over his sizable collection of sharp, pointy knives.

"This does not sound like an opponent to which my skill set is particularly well suited. I guess I can still use this..." he say, pulling out a sling "...and I can bless a few weapons so that they can do some additional freezing damage."

"Its ability to damage equipment sounds nasty, do we have anything for dealing with that?"

I have these... Patros grabs a pair of vials with a flame symbol on them and a few blunt arrows.

that should burn it up pretty good...abd I can fire these from a distance.2x alchemist fire...Patros is nigh useless here...

"Hitting it with frost, fire, and lightning magic from range sounds like the best way to destroy it." he says as he pulls out his wand of burning hands.

"Oh! I have a sling and bullets as well. And a scroll of magic weapon. I'm ready whenever you all are."

"So, what's our plan?"

"It sounds like we're thinking of taking it on from range..." observes Radu "...so one thing we probably need to think about is how to keep it at range."

"Anyone know how fast these things can move? If it's not faster than us we could just keep moving away from it, but then we will need room to do that. One option could be to leave it be for the moment, while we clear out the rest of this vault and come back and deal with it after we know we have plenty of safe space to move around in?"

"So just bludgeoning weapons then..." notes Radu, looking over his sizable collection of sharp, pointy knives.

"This does not sound like an opponent to which my skill set is particularly well suited. I guess I can still use this..." he say, pulling out a sling "...and I can bless a few weapons so that they can do some additional freezing damage."

"Sounds like a job for my hammer and me! And any additional damage is welcome."

"Its ability to damage equipment sounds nasty, do we have anything for dealing with that?"

"Hm... just a thought: If any of you could split this thing into a few smaller things I can kill them easier when they come for us, because I get an opportunity to attack each when they approach. But I'd appreciate if this thing is already damaged..."

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.

"I should point out that if someone has a fireball or some such spell, we could cut the pudding into a number of smaller pieces and then blast them all in one shot. But barring that, I believe I have some alkali that works on oozes."

Las puts away his shield extract and his whip and pulls out three 3 alkali flasks and some alkali salts.

"These flasks are like doubly effective acid flasks on puddings, and I can mix these salts to protect someone's metal armor or weapon for a few hits. Who wants the salts?"

"Are your adventuring companions really serious, Shamus?" the past spirit of a warrior woman asks in disbelief in his mind.
"They want to split a ginormous black pudding!?!" she roars, followed by hysterical laughter.

With his head in the palm of his hand, Shamus just shakes his head in embarrassment.

"So we have a plan now, do we? Avoid splitting it, instead throw whatever will work on it. Are you ready?"

"Okay. Who's going to hit at it first?" Shamus inquires as he looks at each of his teammates in turn.

"Dimak, I can try your enlarge wand on you. I have a few charges left on my gout of flame wand to use on the ooze." he checks his silver plated wand with the stylized dragon head on the end.
"My sling is at my side and magic weapon scroll is ready in my haversack."

"Just in case that ooze gets grabby, I can tear a hole in the fabric of space to hopefully get you out. Oh! I have liberating command as well."

Patros readies a flask of liquid fire.

Ready...just say the word.

readied toss: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 161d6 ⇒ 1
will move up to withing 20 foot so i wont take a penalty...just not moving my token until we get ready for combat..just rolling now to save time...

After the battle plan discussion is done, Dimak hands his wand of enlarge person to Shamus, pulls out one oil of magic weapon and a potion of enlarge person.
He puts the oil on his longhammer, then waits for Shamus to make the wand work. If it doesn't, he imbibes the potion, too.
Then he lets his anger rise...

Using the last two rounds of preparation before combat for magic weapon, enlarge and rage.

"So it sounds like we have a plan." whispers Radu.

"If Dimak is going to go big and get between us and the black pudding, it would probably make sense for him to get the alkali salts. Is anyone else planning on getting into melee with it?"

"What preparations does everyone need to do before the fight? I'm guessing, given its size, its probably not going to be hard to hit, so I think anything which can enhance damage would be the biggest help. I can bless up to 4 weapons so that they will do additional freezing damage, I'll definitely do my sling and Dimak's hammer, and can maybe do more if we have the time."

"I've also got some alchemist's fire and acid if anyone needs it, and like Shamus I've also got access to liberating command if it grabs anyone."

When the time is right, Shamus tries the enlarge wand on Dimak and stays next to and just behind him with line of sight to the ooze.
UMD DC 20: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

He then uses the wand of Bless and passes them both back.

That's 3 rounds of actions right there.

In anticipation of the fight Radu takes out and loads his sling. Once the party start their final pre-combat preparations he casts his hand over a number of the parties weapons, whispering a prayer to Pharasma. As his hand passes over the weapons, they begin to glow with a faint blue-while light and a thin layer of ice crystals form across each. Faint whisps of cold mist spiral down from the weapons surface towards the cavern floor...

Before the Pathfinders enter the cave Radu will use his ice strike blessing to bless up to four of the parties weapons (causing them to deliver an extra 1d4 cold damage each time they hit). As we probably won't be buffing for 4 rounds, he'll do it to as many weapons as the number of rounds that the rest of the party are buffing for prior to combat, prioritising weapons that are going to be used throughout the combat (as a minimum he will bless Dimak's hammer and his own sling). The blessing lasts for a minute.

"Dimak, do you want the salts on your armor or your hammer?"

"On the hammer, please."

Dimak has the following effects:
- on him: rage, enlarge person, bless (1 minute)
- on his longhammer: magic weapon, ice strike blessing (1 minute), alkali salts (1d3 contacts with an ooze’s acidic touch)

Ok then Dimak would need to approach in front of Radu to be at 15ft from the pudding and attack. Go ahead and roll. ;)

Rage +1 Longhammer, Dwarven + RA + PA + bless: 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 12 + 2 - 2 + 1 = 20
Bludgeoning + PA + 1 (magic): 3d6 + 10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 6, 5) + 10 + 6 + 1 = 34
additional cold damage (ice strike): 1d4 ⇒ 3

Hey, a really nice damage roll! :-D (that hopefully hits)

The enlarged barbarian takes aim and swings his hammer in a wide arc, resulting in a powerful blow.

"Dimak... smash... YOU!!!"

Status Dimak:
CMD 19 (10 +5 BAB, +7 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Rage, -2 RA, -1 enlarged)
AC 11, touch 7, flat footed 9 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, -2 Rage, -2 RA, -1 enlarged)
AC vs crit 12, touch 9, flat-footed 11 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, -2 Rage, -2 RA, -1 enlarged, +2 circumstance helmet)
Rage rounds used: 1/17

The black pudding is struck by Dimak and a readied toss from Patros. The inky ooze churns in alarm, surprised by the attack!

Round 1
Patros 27
Dimak 19
Las Lajas 18
Jaakho 18
Shamus 17
Radu 17
Black Pudding 0 (-38 hp)

The black pudding is too slow to react to your coordinated assault. Everyone goes!

Alkali Salts: These tiny granules can be dissolved in water, creating a slimy material used to coat metallic items such as weapons or armor. Such a coating neutralizes the metaleating acid of black puddings and gray oozes, protecting the item from 1d3 contacts with an ooze’s acidic touch.

Black Pudding's Acid: A metal or wooden weapon that strikes a black pudding takes 2d6 acid damage unless the weapon’s wielder succeeds on a DC 21 Reflex save.

Alkali Protected Strikes: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Protected contacts left: 2

Radu calls of the divine favour of Pharasma and launches a sling bullet at the black pudding.

Radu uses Fervor to cast Divine Favor on himself as a swift action (+2 luck bonus to attack and damage due to Fate's Favored trait), then attacks the black pudding with his sling before reloading (I assume he is withing 30 feet of the pudding so can use point-blank shot?).

sling + pointblank shot + divine favor + fates favored
+ bless: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 27 (-8 for firing into combat and cover)
bludgeoning damage + pointblank shot + divine favor + fates favored: 1d4 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5
cold damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4