GM Thunderspirit's "Fistful of Flowers" for PbP Gameday XII — Gameplay (Inactive)

Game Master thunderspirit

"Let's go!" Bamboom says over Fluff Fang, marching into the lead as he heads to the awful-sounding shop.

The leshys make their way to the south side of Petalbrook to find Crystals and Candlewax.

As the shop's door swings open, a crystalline wind chime rings pleasantly. Far less pleasant is the shop's overpowering aroma of jasmine flowers, which rises like a curtain across the threshold. Crystals of all shapes and sizes are displayed in fine glass cabinets and hung from the ceiling, while colorful candles adorn shelves that line the walls and floor.

A man up to his elbows in wax starts as you enter. What in the name of— He quickly composes himself. I'm terribly sorry, it's just that I've never seen walking and talking plants before! Er...are you customers? How can I help you?

Map updated.

"Liar! We know you stole our friends, Darius Wick!" Bamboom leaps straight to the point -- a pointed accusation!

"Liar! We know you stole our friends, Darius Wick!" Bamboom leaps straight to the point -- a pointed accusation!

Oh, are you friends with Darius Wick? He's my boss, the man says, perfectly pretending he didn't hear Bamboom's accusation like any good retail salesperson. I'm Galan, at your service.

"Ha! You can't fool us! You're Darius!" Bamboom says, happy to have caught the stupid fleshy in such an obvious lie!

"Where is Darius? Where is his sack? Where are the leshys he took!?"

Popcorn's question reminds Bamboom of the description Glimmer gave of the man they have identified as Darius. This fleshy doesn't resemble that at all.

Oh, I'm afraid Darius is far too busy to be disturbed at the moment, Galan says politely. He's currently hard at work on a new batch of jasmine candles. Because we need more jasmine candles, don't you know. After all, it's hot and delicate work.

Galan appears to need some convincing.

They all look alike to Bamboom!

"Jasmine! That's what we smelled earlier! He's our killer!" Bamboom declares.

"Tell us where he is now before you become an accomplice!"

Intimidation (untrained): 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Fluff Fang notes "That smell, Bamboom also puts that off when they get angry, so why don't you help out out before it gets real bad in here."

deception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

"Tell us now! Where is he?"

Intimidation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Slo nudges the brim of his hat up just enough to glare at the man behind the counter. "Best be answerin' quick." His voice is quiet, but the malice and growing inpatience are clear.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Reaching Rings opens his bag of rotten fruit.

"There are worse smells than Jasmine, trust me. And If I was to start throwing this stuff around, it will take you a week to get the stink out. Better you start cooperating and save us both the trouble.

Deception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Flufffang continues their train of Bamboom will make the place and them and everything they own stink of lavender forever if they get mad.

While Reaching Rings' fruitless ultimatum doesn't appear to sway Galan, Fluff Fang's jasmine-scented consequence is more, er, fruitful.

Two successes, versus two (at the moment) failures from Popcorn and Slo Poke. I'll count Reaching Rings' fruit toss as a +1 circumstance bonus to Aid for someone else's Intimidation check.

hero pointing original check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

[dice=hero pointing original check]1d20+9

Sorry I wasn't clear — I took the reroll to a 20 as that hero point roll. This brought the party to two successes and two failures (Popcorn and Sol Poke).

I mean, I knew what I meant...

Hero point:Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

The dual threat of even more jasmine and potential violence is enough to sway Galen. Hey, no need for that, he says holding up a hand. This is just a job, and no one should be subjected to irrational violence and potential loss of life in a job that shouldn't entail that sort of thing in the job description. He tosses a key to Slo Poke. In fact, consider this my resignation. Please pass the information along to Mr. Wick when you see him. I'm going to go be a schoolteacher, which is a non-threatening job with no danger of loss of life as part of your duties.

Galen hastens out the door.

The key unlocks the basement door, and the stairs lead down into the gloom, opening into a room below. A wooden table covered with crystals of various size, including three particularly large ones measuring nearly four feet in diameter, sits against the southern wall of this storeroom. A wooden door is tucked into the wall in the southwest corner.

Slides updated with new map.

"Oh, we'll tell him!" Bamboom promises in a threatening voice, not quite realizing that doing exactly what they've been asked isn't really a harsh blow to this fleshy!

He looks around the new room, debating whether they should just smash the crystals. To teach them all a lesson! He decides to take a closer look at them first, though, just in case. Recall Knowledge? +8 Nature

Recall Knowledge? +8 Nature

Would be Occultism, or maybe Crafting. And I don't mind if you roll it, just roleplay the crit fails.

Thanks. Sorry, I lose track of which of my games prefers what method. :D

"What are these stupid crystals?" Bamboom demands, having no idea himself. "Fleshy food? If so, I'll smash 'em! That'll teach them to steal leshies!"

Popcorn leads the way in, looking around angrily for any sign of Darius.

Popcorn and Bamboom step into the room.

Bamboom is distracted, but the rest of you notice the three large crystals on the table begin to vibrate and emit a sound — one that begins to gradually grow louder.

This is classified as a hazard. The crystals work like an alarm. You can try a Crafting or an Occultism check to figure out how to defeat the hazard, or a Thievery check to disable it. Also can take a a Performance check with counter performance to counteract the sound. Of course dispel magic might work too.

Fluff fang tries to get a counter harmony with their bardly abilities.

counter performance: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Fluff Fang strikes just the proper chord to quell one to the crystals! 1 down, 2 to go.

Hazard — hum/vibrate
Fluff Fang — good vibrations
Slo Poke — GO
Popcorn — GO
Reaching Rings — GO
Bamboom — GO

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Slo has no particular skill in these things, but he's generally good with his hands, so he gives it a go.

Thievery (Untrained): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

"AGGGGGGH! THAT NOISE IS SO ANNOYING!!!! AGGGGGH! HOW DO I TURN IT OFF?"

Crafting: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

"I don't know!" Bamboom yells back, trying to see what the others are doing. "Stupid fleshy trick!"

His attempt to emulate the others fails miserably.

Thievery (untrained): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"ON IT"

Thievery (trained): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Slo Poke moseys over to one of the crystals, and his deft hands deactivate a second one! Meanwhile, Popcorn studies the crystal for a heartbeat, then head-buts it in just the right place! It, too, falls silent. Hazard thwarted! Nicely done!

The room falls silent once more.

Bamboom scowls, satisfied that the group has solved another problem, and moves to the door. "Let's find this stupid Darius and burn that Wick from both ends!"

Popcorn agrees and goes to lead the way.

I'll take Reaching Rings' Thievery check above as a success to unlock the door.

Bamboom tries the door, and finds it locked. Reaching Rings steps up and makes quick work of that, and Bamboom successfully opens it this time.

The concentrated smell of jasmine flowers in this spacious laboratory is somehow even stronger than it was upstairs. Long wooden tables along the south wall are covered with candles. A large, unlit stone fireplace takes up the room's rounded southwest corner. The north wall features two rounded tables, one holding a cauldron of stew and the other riddled with burn marks and covered in wax. Similar scorch marks and splatters appear on the floor at the center of the room, beneath a massive cauldron of gently bubbling wax. Next to the bubbling cauldron, a towering set of sturdy wooden shelves are laden with a hodgepodge of tools for candle making and alchemy. Two other doors lead out of this room, one further south along the east wall and the other in the northwest corner.

Floating near the northern tables are a pair of candles with odd-looking arms. Next to the cauldron of wax is a human man with shiny teeth, messy red hair, and muddy boots below his green and yellow outfit. He growls at you with a scowl. What is the meaning of this interruption in my workshop, Galan? Out! OUT! he says, then realizes it isn't Galan who's entered. Oh! More leshys, eh? Guess I'll add you to my collection! he grins, grabbing a flask off his belt and gulping it down.

[u]Initiative[/u]
Bamboom — GO
Darius
Reaching Rings
Floating candles
Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Slo Poke

"So you admit it!" Bamboom yells. "Smart move, fleshy, but that's not going to stop us from putting an end to your reign of terror!"

Splinters of wood suddenly begin to flow around him, whirling in a deadly rain of shrapnel as a handful slash toward the fleshy evil-doer. A moment later, a tree springs from the ground, offering protection!

"And Galan quit!" he yells as a final blow!

Channel elements with free kinetic blast; timber sentinel (two actions)
Kinetic Blast, ranged (30 feet): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
bludgeoning or vitality, one action: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Brainstorming on this: the basement floor isn't described in the module, but I think it's reasonable to consider it being made of cobblestone or the like, since there's a fireplace and an openly bubbling cauldron. Protector tree calls out GM adjudication in "certain inhospitable environments," and while I can't call this like the surface of an asteroid on Eox :-) I do think the tree can't really take root, as it were, here.

All that said, I hate to deny a creative game element. So, I'm ruling this way: in this case, the tree sentinel creation acts as one level rank lower than 2nd; it has 10 Hit Points instead of 20, and falls over more or less inert at the start of Bamboom's next turn.
What do you mean, he quit? the candlestick maker bellows. He just became vested in our retirement plan!

Bamboom's splinter spray lands squarely in Wick's midsection, causing him to grunt a bit in surprise. The tree is a bit of a shocker too.

Wick grabs a metal contraption from the table in front of him and hurries around the table. You'll pay for that! He squeezes a trigger, and a spray of hot wax comes out! DC 20 Reflex.

Crit success: no damage
Success: burning wax (fire): 2d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6
Failure: as success, plus an additional burning wax (fire): 1d6 ⇒ 5 and 1d6 persistent fire
Crit failure: as failure, plus additional burning wax (fire): 2d6 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4 but with 2d6 persistent fire

Initiative
Bamboom — channeling Joyce Kilmer
Darius — bad guy stuff
Reaching Rings — GO
Floating candles
Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Slo Poke

Who is the hot wax hitting?

Undaunted, Reaching Rings tumbles through the hot wax.

Reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

"You sir, have made a terrible mistake, and I fear your wick is drawing low."

Twin Feint [two-actions]
Rapier: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Piercing: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Shortsword vs flat footed: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Piercing plus Precision: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + (4) + 4 = 14

That sounds like a fair ruling for timber sentinel. Also not sure who the hot wax is hitting.

Wax is a 15 foot cone (yellow template on map, added a label) that catches Popcorn and Bamboom. No one else said they were close to the door, which prompted my post in Discussion.

Also, it should have some effect on the floor, but doesn't list one in the module, so it's just a shiny Mop & Glo effect. You can see your face in it!

Wick is entirely nonplussed by Reaching Rings' feint attempt!

The floating candles move into the fray to protect their maker. Each smells strongly of jasmine, and the aroma grows more intense as they approach. This effect's extent is indicated by the dotted box around each candle. Leshys beginning their turn inside the box (currently Bamboom and Reaching Rings) need to make a DC 15 Fort save. Darius Wick, accustomed to his favorite scent, is wholly unaffected.

Orange bite vs Bamboom (standard cover): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Yellow bite vs Reaching Rings: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Initiative
Darius — bad guy stuff
Reaching Rings — sad trombone DC 15 Fort save
Floating candles — float like a candle, sting like a...candle
Popcorn — GO
Fluff Fang — GO
Slo Poke — GO
Round 2
Bamboom — DC 15 Fort save, then GO

Reflex (expert): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Fortitude (expert): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14 Will Hero Point that one
Fortitude (expert): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Bamboom screams as he catches on fire but rushes into the room and spins, firing a hail of splinters into Darius.

Stride (possibly provoking), two-action kinetic blast
Kinetic Blast, ranged (30 feet): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
bludgeoning, two actions: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Fire: 1d6 ⇒ 6 Ouch!
Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 7 Still on fire.

Also, I marked the protector tree on the map

Slo Poke ambles quickly to a better position, his gun appearing in his hand from beneath his leafy serape. With a flourish, he twirls the gun around his finger and fires, reloading in a flash as he glares at the candlemaker.

Draw weapon as part of rolling initiative (Ten Paces), ◇Stride 10 ft. (Ten Paces), ◆Feint (Pistol Twirl), ◆Strike, ◆Raconteur's Reload (Reload and Intimidation to Demoralize).

Deception to Feint: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Pistol shot: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Intimidation to Demoralize: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Reflex: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

Popcorn gets really, really mad about the wax. Really mad.

She marches up to the man and hits him with her flail!

Rage, Stride, Strike

war flail!: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
ouch!: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 (bludgeoning, disarm, sweep, trip) Plus 4 fire (arcane, evocation)

Fluff Fang moves closer and flings dirty mop water all over the bad guy.

telekinetic projectile: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
bludgeoning damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 2) + 4 = 10

Popcorn slides smoothly across the shiny waxed floor and clobbers the candlemaker with a solid blow! It will clearly take more than that to bring Wick down!

Slo Poke, who realizes it will clearly take more than that to bring Wick down, (much) obliges with a dead center pistol shot! It clearly impacts the opponent! Feint a success, but a crit anyway.

Initiative
Darius — bad guy stuff
Reaching Rings — sad trombone DC 15 Fort save
Floating candles — float like a candle, sting like a...candle
Popcorn (-6) — flailing mad
Fluff Fang — GO
Slo Poke — kaboom

Round 2
Bamboom (-11) — turn pending, plus persistent fire

Fluff Fang tries to delver a fine washing, but Wick isn't having any of it all over his nice clean floor! Miss.

Bamboom slips past the waxman, who does not react to the movement, and unleashes a rain of toothpicks, which clearly affect Wick, and he reels...

...but does not fall!

Instead, he races away from the fury of Popcorn and dunks his metal contraption into the cauldron of boiling wax! After a few seconds he pulls it back out. Reloaded! he says with a shiny metal grin.

Round 2
Bamboom (-17) — wooden you know it?
Darius (-47) — moar bad guy stuff
Reaching Rings — DC 15 Fort save, then GO
Floating candles — pending
Popcorn (-6) — pending
Fluff Fang — pending
Slo Poke — pending

Fortitude: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

REaching Rings ignores his sickness and pursues the enemy!

Twin Feint [two-actions]
Rapier: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (6) + 10 - 1 = 15
Piercing: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Shortsword vs flat footed: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 5 - 1 = 20
Piercing plus Precision: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + (6) + 4 = 15

Mathfinder: Reaching Rings' second attack is with a weapon that has the Agile trait, so the MAP on it is -4, not -5. A 21 does not crit, however.

Reaching rings throws up in their mouth a little, causing their rapier attack to miss, but success is found with their shortsword follow-up! The precision damage is enough to drop Wick to the floor!

The pair of floating candles look at each other...as, y'know, candles do...then try to avenge their creator!

Orange bite vs. Popcorn AC 20: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 miss
Yellow bite vs. Reaching Rings AC 20: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 miss

Round 2
Bamboom (-17) — wooden you know it?
Darius (-47) — moar bad guy stuff
Reaching Rings — sick, stab, gack
Floating candles — candles in the wind, caused by their misses
Popcorn (-6) — DC 15 Fort save, then GO
Fluff Fang — GO
Slo Poke — GO

Fort: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Hero Point!: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

After initially gagging, Popcorn decides she doesn't care about the smell at all! She wails on the candle with her flail!

war flail!: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
ouch!: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 (bludgeoning, disarm, sweep, trip)
Plus 4 fire (arcane, evocation)

war flail!: 1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 10 - 5 = 23
ouch!: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 (bludgeoning, disarm, sweep, trip)
Plus 4 fire (arcane, evocation)

war flail!: 1d20 + 10 - 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 - 10 = 7
ouch!: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 (bludgeoning, disarm, sweep, trip)
Plus 4 fire (arcane, evocation)

If it goes down, she moves to the other candle.

Fluff Fang inspires their allies and tries to cut orange's wick with more telekenesis.

projectile: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 1 = 26
slashing damage: 2d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4) + 4 + 1 = 10

Inspire Courage +1

"Weeeeeelp," Slo says, in no hurry, [b]"wasn't expectin' to be fightin' no candles today, but I s'pose these things happen. In a flash, he fires off another pair of shots at the nearby candle, twirling his pistol in between.

◆Strike vs. nearer candle, ◆Raconteur's Reload (Deception to Create a Diversion), ◆Strike. If the nearer (orange) candle is already down, he'll instead Stride, then Strike, then do a regular Reload.

Pistol shot, IC: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 12 + 1 = 19
Damage, IC: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 1 = 5

Pistol shot, IC, 2nd attack: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 1 - 5 = 28
Damage, IC: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 1 = 7