[Gameday XII] GM Jhaeman's PFS1 # 4-15: "The Cyphermage Dilemma" (Inactive)

Game Master Jhaeman

Igor finds a dwarf nearby named Smulwarts Gultrock. She's willing to ferry the party out to the Lionfish for the sum of 5 gp.

Relgar has secured a pouch of 10 gold to use for bribes and tolls at the beginning of the adventure if this helps to expedite the decision making process. :)

"THOLD!" Igor says to the dwarf, indicating that Relgar should pay the woman.

He sees to it that his master is seated first.

"Would Mathter care for a beverage, or an in-voyage thnack?"

Smulwarts remains quiet throughout the short journey, asking no questions. As the rowboat nears the Lionfish, she silently offers a rope and grappling hook, holding up five fingers as a statement of the price for their use.

Relgar snickers softly at the shakedown. He would care more if he had not already wheedled a purse of ten gold coins from their patron at the beginning of the mission.

Unless someone interjects and produces their own rope and grapple the gnome hands over the required gold to the enterprising woman.

He sees to it that his master is seated first.

Vindex takes the seat, and stows his Naginata where he can easily grab it but where it isn't quite as visible.

"Would Mathter care for a beverage, or an in-voyage thnack?"

"No."

Vindex looks tense as the group approaches the boat, waiting for them to be noticed and start a fight on the open water. He's pleasantly surprised the boat gets there without incident, and stows his Naginata to prepare for the climb. He lets Relgar pay the woman for the use of the rope and hook.

Igor of Caliphas wrote:

"Would Mathter care for a beverage, or an in-voyage thnack?"

"No."

"How about thome in-voyage entertainment. I have a thome puppetth, and Thrapth here knowth thome folk dantheth. We could-"

Gold in hand, Smulwarts hands over the rope and grappling hook.

The rowboat makes it unnoticed to the Lionfish, but climbing up the side might make noise and alert anyone on deck. You can attempt Stealth checks if you like, or if you prefer the direct approach, we handle things that way as well.

Arioch is going to use Stealth to climb up the side. Taking 10 for a 19.

"Let me go first, Mathter. Igor will scout for you. Thrapth, tend to Mathter."

He does likewise, taking 10 for 19--unless the boat is made of rocky terrain in which case its 21.

"Let me go first, Mathter. Igor will scout for you. Thrapth, tend to Mathter."

Scraps slowly turns to mutely look up at his master's master with those black liquid eyes like glass beads; completely motionless otherwise, not even breathing.

Relgar's familiar disappears back into its tattoo form. The little gnome tries to quietly climb the rope.

15 Stealth on a take 10.

@GM Jhaeman - My understanding is that climbing a rope with a wall to brace against (like a ship) is a DC 5 check.

Vindex will wait until his sneakier companions get up to the top before starting the climb, stowing his Naginata on his back.

Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Vindex's armor scrapes against the side of the boat with a metallic clang as he climbs up the rope.

Take 10 for a 19 on the climb.

Arioch has just set foot on deck of the Lionfish when a shout goes up: "Intruders to stern!"

There are two pirates on patrol, and even with the distance penalty, one of them spotted Arioch. We will now move on to regular Initiative.

Initiative (Round 1)

Lionfish
Igor
Davor
Vindex
Relgar
Zarjkil
Arioch

Bold should go!

Because Arioch was the first one up and was spotted, we'll begin Initiative with him on deck and the rest of you in the rowboat below. Assume it will take one move action to get up on deck.

We are on the new Slide # 2.

Terrain: A few squares have barrels and other small obstacles; please assume these squares are difficult terrain. The center of the ship has a large mast, and please assume this is impassable terrain that provides total cover to those on the other side.

The pirate who shouted the alarm draws his cutlass and rushes forward to defend the ship! The other fumbles to pull out a crossbow and moves closer for a better shot.

Both Red and Yellow have drawn a weapon and done a move action to get closer.

Initiative (Round 1)

Lionfish
Igor
Davor
Vindex
Relgar
Zarjkil
Arioch

Bold should go!

Because Arioch was the first one up and was spotted, we'll begin Initiative with him on deck and the rest of you in the rowboat below. Assume it will take one move action to get up on deck.

We are on the new Slide # 2.

Terrain: A few squares have barrels and other small obstacles; please assume these squares are difficult terrain. The center of the ship has a large mast, and please assume this is impassable terrain that provides total cover to those on the other side.

Arioch draws his elven curve blade, steps forward, and swings at the Reddie!

MW Elven Curve Blade with Whetstone: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 131d10 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6

Scraps takes off skimming the water along the side of the Lionfish just below the ship's gunwale*.

If the ship's top deck is 5'-ish above the waterline Scraps is at an elevation of 0' and probably getting his feet wet. If the deck is closer to 10' above the waterline then Scraps is about 5' above the water. Either way Scraps is out of line of sight unless someone is actually looking over the taffrail, or is significantly higher off the deck like in a crow's nest.

* The gunwale is that part of the ship just below the taffrail. 'What's a taffrail?' How the heck should I know? I don't even know what a 'starboard' is.

"Thrapth! I told you to look after the Mathter!" shouts Igor after his wayward creation.

After a deep sigh he hoists himself up the side of the ship muttering to himself. "If you want thomething done right...."

Once on deck he readies himself to wallop the first foe to draw near.

Vindex curses as the pirates raise the alarm, then hauls himself quickly up the rope and over the side of the boat, then pulls his Naginata.

The pirate parries Arioch's slash with his own sword. "Whoever ye be, the fish'll be nibblin' at yer innards!" shouts the Lionfish defender.

Meanwhile, Davor, Vindex and Igor join their fellow Pathfinder on deck.

Botting Davor (per Discussion thread), assuming he gets on deck and draws a weapon.

Zarjkil and Relgar are up.

Sensing his master's frustration about climbing rope in combat Gregor decides to spring into action. He transforms from tattoo into animal and then leaps down and grows to a man sized beast waiting for Relgar to jump on board.

Relgar decides to summon flame again before mounting his trusty travelling companion.

Produce Flame is cast.

Making his way up the side of the ship, the Ifrit was happy to not be so near water. With a sigh seeing that the battle was joined, he one again gave a blessing to the group.

Cast Bless. One spell use left.

As Zarjkil's blessing settles over the Pathfinders, reinforcements for the defenders arrive! Bolstered by their increased numbers, one of the sentries slashes at Arioch while the other opens fire with a crossbow!

Two more pirates are now on the board. Red slashes at Arioch with his cutlass, and Yellow shoots with his crossbow. Result: Both attacks miss.

Initiative (Round 2)

Lionfish
Igor
Davor
Vindex
Relgar
Zarjkil
Arioch

Bold should go!

Terrain: A few squares have barrels and other small obstacles; please assume these squares are difficult terrain. The center of the ship has a large mast, and please assume this is impassable terrain that provides total cover to those on the other side.

MW Elven Curve Blade, Bless, Whetstone: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 1 = 81d10 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 + 1 = 8

Wow I'm on a crap streak lately across all my PCs...

Igor attempts to get the drop on the man from behind.

mwk morningstar v Red (bless, flanking): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9 damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

But his big, spiked club clangs off of a delicate, elven blade coming the other way.

Scraps buzzes over the railing (the distance given is from the waterline not the deck as I don't know what the ship's current freeboard is--and no, don't ask me what 'freeboard' means, I just said I didn't know. ;) His actual distance off the deck is probably somewhere between 5-10') and tosses a wobbly bag of gelatin at the first man he sees.

tanglefoot bag v Black (range touch, bless, throw anything, distance): 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 8 - 4 = 19

Arioch and Igor work together with tactical precision, but their foe is canny and dodges their attacks!

Meanwhile, Scraps flies awkwardly over the ship and drops a tanglefoot bag near another pirate! The man avoids the worst of the sticky goo, but it'll certainly sure slow him down.

Arioch's and Igor's attacks missed with nat 1s each!

Scraps tanglefoot bag hits Black, but he makes the save. Black is thus entangled for 8 rounds, but not anchored.

Davor, Vindex, Relgar, and Zarjkil are up.

Attack, Power Attack, Bless: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 6 - 1 + 1 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Vindex strikes at the beleaguered pirate with his Naginata!

If that kills the pirate, vindex will move to the right of Igor's current position.

Relgar guides his mount with his knees easily being a skilled rider. He does not tax his familiar allowing him to rise easily and slowly in the air and to turn in a wide slow arc.

The sorcerer from his perch tosses a ball of fire at yellow.

Produce Flame vs Touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Fire damage, CL 6, Pyromaniac: 1d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 1 = 10

No fly check is required due to careful flying. Ride check succeeds automatically even with -5 penalty for no saddle.

Stepping over to swat at the pirate, Zarjkil was almost as bad trying to hit them as Arioch and Igor.

Quarterstaff red pirate: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 41d6 ⇒ 1

Looks like the dice roller has it out for us :(

Davor casts divine favor and draws weapon, readying for battle.

Stepping over to swat at the pirate, Zarjkil was almost as bad trying to hit them as Arioch and Igor.

[dice=Quarterstaff red pirate]d20+1+1;d6

Looks like the dice roller has it out for us :(

It's me, all my PCs are cursed. :(

Vindex lands a deep cut on the beleaguered pirate, but Zarjkil stumbles and can't finish the job!

Meanwhile, as Davor gets ready for battle, Relgar tries to hurl fire from above at his enemies! Alas, a wind current lifts Gregor at the worst possible moment, spoiling the gnome's aim.

Vindex's attack hits. Red is now at exactly 0 hp with the Disabled condition.

Zarjkil's attack missed.

Relgar's attack missed.

Vindex lands a deep cut on the beleaguered pirate, but Zarjkil stumbles and can't finish the job!

Meanwhile, as Davor gets ready for battle, Relgar tries to hurl fire from above at his enemies! Alas, a wind current lifts Gregor at the worst possible moment, spoiling the gnome's aim.

Vindex's attack hits. Red is now at exactly 0 hp with the Disabled condition.

Zarjkil's attack missed.

Relgar's attack missed.

And now it's the bad guys' turn...

The wounded pirate curses loudly, one hand clutching his bleeding abdomen as he staggers back to the port railing. Another pirate advances, sword in hand.

On the starboard side of the vessel, the crossbowman reloads and takes aim at Gregor, but the bolt only hits air.

Near the bow, the pirate covered in goo decides to retaliate. Drawing his own tanglefoot bag, he hurls it into the air at Scraps! But the homunculus weaves just in time, and the bag splashes harmlessly into the polluted waters of the harbor below!

The battle seems to be going the Pathfinders' way, but then a deck hatch opens and surprisingly-musclebound grippli emerges! Holding a crossbow in one hand and a lit explosive in the other, his mere presence instils confidence in the other pirates.

"First Mate Mumbuckle's here! Now you're going to get it!" sneers one of the pirates.

Red does a 5' step.

Blue draws a cutlass and advances.

Yellow attacks Gregor, but misses.

Black throws a tanglefoot bag at Scraps but misses.

A picture of the grippli has been added to the bottom left of the encounter slide.

Initiative (Round 3)

Lionfish
Igor
Davor
Vindex
Relgar
Zarjkil
Arioch

Bold should go!

Terrain: A few squares have barrels and other small obstacles; please assume these squares are difficult terrain. The center of the ship has a large mast, and please assume this is impassable terrain that provides total cover to those on the other side.

Igor bops the sailor before him in the head like someone might in a Three Stooges short.

mwk morningstar v Red (bless): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

If that fells Red, Igor might move forward.

Scraps gains altitude (maybe, see nautical terminology above) and strafes the frogman with another wibbly-wobbly bag of gelatin.

tanglefoot bag v Brownish-Grey (range touch, bless, throw anything, distance): 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 2 = 17

Attack, Power Attack, Bless: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 - 1 + 1 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Vindex lunges forward and stabs at the next pirate.

Trip AOO, Power Attack, Bless: 1d20 + 8 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 8 - 1 + 1 = 10
Attack on Stand Up AOO, Power Attack, Bless vs. Prone: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 - 1 + 1 = 10

Well, none of that is doing anything good...

Igor's foe crumples like a sack of potatoes, but Vindex swings high against the pirate's companion. Near the bow, Scraps covers the grippli with sticky goo!

Igor drops Red. Igor, you can take your move action if you desire.

Vindex's attack missed.

Scraps tanglefoot bag hit Mumbuckle, but he made the Reflex save so is entangled but not anchored. (and thanks for marking off the resource--I appreciate it when I don't have to remind players!).

Davor, Relgar, Zarjkil, and Arioch are up.

Gregor ferries his master over to his location and then growls at yellow. He is clearly annoyed that he was fired upon.

Move action to fly and then a standard action to intimidate.

Demoralize vs Yellow: 1d20 ⇒ 15

This is a first but then again Mauler Familiars are supposed to be scary. :)

Relgar can cast more powerful spells but with the party doing so well he decides to throw another mini-fireball this time at blue.

Produce Flame vs Touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Produce Flame, CL 6, Pyromaniac: 1d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 1 = 10

"Whee!"

Igor drops Red. Igor, you can take your move action if you desire.

Igor shuffles forward quickly down what looks like a short stair to help his master.

Scraps tanglefoot bag hit Mumbuckle, but he made the Reflex save so is entangled but not anchored. (and thanks for marking off the resource--I appreciate it when I don't have to remind players!).

I try to keep it updated in the moment, if only for PC bookkeeping, but don't always succeed.

Arioch snickers the the Dead Red and says, "You're mother." and moves to attack Yellow!

It looks like 20ish feet to where Arioch is on the map now from where he was.

MW Elven Curve Blade, Bless, Whetstone: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 1 = 91d10 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4

Doubled his roll at least. *sarcasm*

The crossbowman is taken aback by Gregor's growl, but Relgar has a different target in mind, scoring a direct hit on another pirate!

But despite his allies' success, Arioch finds fighting aboard an undulating ship a real challenge!

Gregor's demoralize succeeds, and Yellow is Shaken for 1 round.

Relgar's attack hits Blue and knocks him to exactly 0 hp. Blue has the Disabled condition. Rare that happens twice in the same encounter.

Arioch missed.

Zarjkil and Davor are up (Davor may still need botting--I'll check in my next update).

Dav has divine favor for +2 hit and +2 dmg... on the road now but if you don't mind botting me please have him charge blue; thx!

Finding that combat was not to his liking but needed to be nearby in case one of them went down, Zarjkil moved forward to be close to the battle.

Move forward in case one of them goes down near him. Ready action to drag any ally that goes down near him away from battle.

Davor charges forward impales the pirate with his trident! The foe meets his end with a high-pitched scream before sliding to the deck, covered in blood.

Botting Davor as requested. It's a crit! (I have excellent botting skills). Blue is dead dead.

Davor trident (w/ charge and divine favor) vs Blue: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 28
damage (w divine favor): 1d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 = 8
threat confirmation roll: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 25
extra damage: 1d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 2 = 11