[ACO] PF2e 01-09 Star-Crossed Voyages (P1) (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

"Hello Paravaax! It's so good to meet you. I have not previously encountered a god in person. It was indeed requested that we drive you away, but they did not mention that you are a god. It's nice of you to invite us to stay here with you, but if you do not get along with your neighbors why do you wish to stay at all? This place may suit you, but as you are mightier than they you are much better equipped to find another such suitable place."

Cascade pokes Nazsnaga. "They did tell us he was very old," he whispers loudly, "They mentioned the centuries."

"Y-you know you c-could make a fortune with those s-skills? No need to be in this d-dark place by y-yourself. You'd e-earn loads gathering precious m-metals!" Welby says, trying to avoid a fight.

"Interesting arguments, How about this? I’ll strike you a deal. I’ll leave of my own volition and stay gone for five years’ time… if you leave
me that iruxi as a snack."

Lumki lets out a frightened hiss at this offer.

"N-no. He won't taste n-nice anyway..." Welby says.

"You started that sentence with the right idea... and ended it in the worst posible way. Time to put an end to your nonsense it seems.

With that, Naz gets ready to start the hostilities.

Cascade pokes Nazsnaga. "They did tell us he was very old," he whispers loudly, "They mentioned the centuries."

"I thought they were exaggerating about it and payed no mind to it... well, that's why I don't travel alone." she grins.

Cascade is surprised to learn that Welby is familiar with the flavor of Iruxi, and makes a mental note to ask about that later.

Sensing the obvious lack of interest in the bargain, and the pretty clear (and righteous!) intent of Naz, hostilities break out!

R1
Pooka
Henri

"Yeah, don't thinks peace was ever an options," Pooka remarks as the situation predictably turns south. As she winds up a song, she attempts to infuse it with power to make it linger...

Lingering Composition - Performance (DC 19): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Success; Inspire Courage lingers 3 rounds.

~We live for the magic in the sound, distorted guitars are breaking ground
The drum pounding faster than my heart, the vocals are screaming extreme art
The passion for metal drives us forth, the best heavy metal comes from north

Metal, Metal
Back with the vengeance
Metal, Metal
All that I need is heavy metal
Metal
Screaming together
Metal, Metal
Metal is all that I need~

Metalizer - Sabaton

Then she conjures a magical shield while she tries to remember if she's heard about creatures with control over magnetic fields.
______________

◇ Lingering Composition
◆ Inspire Courage
◆ Recall Knowledge
◆ Cast Shield

Pooka doesn't know much about the 'gargoyle', but knows the others are just run of the mill Steel mephits the party has fought befre

Henri ponders the words of Paravaax and his allies. He is about to take a diplomatic approach to settle a win-win agreement, but the mention of eating the iruxi in exchange for leaving the ruins on his own makes him decide that the enemy is not to be dealt with diplomatically in the first place.

Henri goes into the stair for a better position and magically materializes a ghostly weapon that looks like a scimitar next to Red and slashes it!
Spiritual Weapon Spell Attack w Courageous Anthem vs Red: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 10 + 1 = 21
Spell Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 1 = 13 force damage

◆ Stride
◆◆ Spiritual Weapon

The shimmering blade strikes home, carving into the metal body of Paravaax!

***

The beast takes flight, swooping in to strike at Cascading with a mighty claw before creating distance again with the party, the other two disappear behind the pyramid.

O & Y
◆ Stride
◆ Stride

R
vs Cascading
Attack 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
Damage 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (2, 3) + 5 = 10 slash

◆ Stride
◆ Strike
◆ Strride

R1
Nazsnaga
Cascading
Iustanus
Welby
ENEMY

R 13
O
Y

Inspired by the goblin's singing, Drake rushes forward, striking at Red.

"B-be careful, Drake!" Welby says.

◆◆◆ Act Together
◆ Welby - Protect Companion
◆ Drake - Stride
◆ Drake - Stride
◆ Drake - Peck Attack: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 1 = 15Piercing dmg: 2d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (5, 6) + 4 + 1 = 16

Can Drake fly, or do they have reach?
Enemy flying 10' overhead as marked, so if your flying please also mark your height (for reasons...)

nope.. Drake can't fly. Could you indicate their height on the init?

Naz will charge and attack Red from below, her second attack with enough power to send the flying creature further up... if it hits.

◆◆ Sudden Charge: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 12 + 1 = 14, Fauchard: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 1 = 7
Hero Point: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 12 + 1 = 22
◆ Brutish Shove, MAP: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 12 + 1 - 5 = 16, Fauchard: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 1 = 11

Changed my move as below

"M-make them come to u-us, Drake!"

◆◆◆ Act Together
◆ Welby (Protect Companion)
◆◆ Drake (React to strike if any enemy comes within range)
◆ Stride

Where would I need to move to have LOS on the big bad?

nope.. Drake can't fly. Could you indicate their height on the init?

Heights are all marked on the map, but we can put it in init too

Where would I need to move to have LOS on the big bad?

You have LOS from your position as the enemy is flying, per what is on the map - if you have any requests for how the map could be made clearer I would love to be able to assist, this came up last fight as well so happy to hear how this could be improved for you.

***

The mighty duck gets ready to jump into action as Naz then tears past and tries to spit the flying gargoyle-like a rotisserie chicken - whilst the blow was surely on course, the blade is met with very strong magnetic forces that cause the weapon to move unpredictably.

Paravaax’s body exudes a strong magnetic aura.
Opponent wearing or primarily comprised of metal are clumsy
2 for as long as they are within the aura and for 1 round
thereafter.
In addition, attacks targeting Paravaax made with metal weapons, or weapons whose primary striking surface is metal such as most arrows and bolts, suffer a -2 attack penalty

R1
Nazsnaga - acted
Cascading
Iustanus
Welby - acted
ENEMY

R 13
O
Y

"AaaaaAaah--oh. That hurt, but I did expect more from being attacked by a god. I am resilient!"

Cascading Rapids pursues the god-goyle. He's fast. And out of reach.
It's not ideal, but at least he has very little metal on him.

Instead he gets under him and launches a few hard seedpods into the air.

◆ Stride
◆ Stride
◆ ki strike Red with Flurry of Blows seedpod: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26 for bludgeoning: 2d4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2) + 1 = 6 and force damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6, seedpod (MAP): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23 for bludgeoning: 2d4 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1) + 1 = 4 and force damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3. Combine the damage before applying resistance or weakness. If at least one attack hits, DC 19 Fort save or be Stunned 1 (Stunned 3 on crit failure; Incapacitation effect)

The two seedpods slam home - whilst a large amount just ends up as crushed paste, there are a couple of new dents on the creature.

Fort 1d20 ⇒ 19+mod

The creature remains unphased.

R1
Nazsnaga - acted
Cascading - acted
Iustanus
Welby - acted
ENEMY

R 25
O
Y

Not knowing the power of this creature and hoping to take it down quickly, the half elf makes arcane gestures and speaks arcane words as an arrow made of acid erupts from his fingers as they emulates the pulling back of a bow string and shoot towards big bad gargoyle
1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 1 = 26 range spell attack
3d8 + 1 ⇒ (1, 8, 4) + 1 = 14 acid
1d6 ⇒ 4 persistent acid

he then casts shield on himself

The acid strikes home! The metal sizzles and pops wildly.

R2, Pooka and Henry up!

R2
Pooka
Henry
ENEMY

R 39
O
Y

Pooka and Henry up. Will progress to enemy round in 24 hours

"Hmm."

Pooka considers what a viable approach to flying enemies might be...then she shrugs and points her fingers at Red.

"Pew pew."

Magic Missile (3-Action; Courageous Anthem): 3d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 3, 2) + 3 + 1 = 10

Henri keeps his spiritual weapon active and continues to slash Red with it!
Spiritual Weapon Spell Attack w Courageous Anthem vs Red: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 + 1 = 19
Spell Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 1 = 12 force damage

He then forges temporary link between him and the fighter, Naznaga, to absorb some of the damage the fighter might take.

◆ Sustain Spiritual Weapon
◆◆ Shield Other to Naznaga

The magical missiles slam home, but the spiritual blade fails to land.

The Gargoyle steps (flaps) back into cover and out of reach as it tries shaking off the acid.
Save 1d20 ⇒ 13

The other two flap into maximum range and flick shards down at Cascading and Naz!

Breath Weapon
Damage 2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3 SL
DC 17 basic Reflex save.
A failed save inflicted 1d6 ⇒ 1 persistent bleed.

Damage 2d4 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5 SL
DC 17 basic Reflex save.
A failed save inflicted 1d6 ⇒ 3 persistent bleed.

Pretty ordinary rolls, but Naz and Flowers get hit with both blasts

Party up!

R2
Nazsnaga
Cascading
Iustanus
Welby

R3
Pooka
Henry
ENEMY

R 53 - (flying 15' - behind a pillar/cover vs most of the party)
O - (flying 15')
Y - (flying 15')

Reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 Success for 1 damage.
Reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13 Failure for 5 damage and 3 bleed.
Hero Point: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27 Critical success for 0 damage. Good Hero Point!

Largely avoiding the metal shards, Cascade ducks under his shield and circles the pillar. He sends another round of seedpods into the air. One of the seedpods bursts to life, although the vines slowly winding around Parallelogram's legs probably won't slow him down much in the air.

◆ Raise Shield
◆ Stride
◆ Flurry of Blows vs Red Seedpod: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16 for bludgeoning damage: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3 and Seedpod (MAP): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25 for bludgeoning damage: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3 Combine the damage before applying weakness or resistance. If either hits, DC 19 Fort or Stunned 1 (Stunned 2 on crit fail; Incapacitation). If that crits, he takes a -10-foot circumstance penalty to Speed for 1 round).

Reflex Save DC 17: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

"Oh, look at me, the all powerfull blah blah who just cowers out of reach because I'm afraid" mocks Naz with a nasal voice as she strides back, swaps her weapons and let's an arrow fly towards Red.

◆ stride
◆ swaps Fauchard for Gakgung.
◆ Shoots at red Gakgung: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28. Piercing, deadly d8: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7, Deadly: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Naz, don't forget the +1's to attack and damage

Seeing that the creature is breathing fire, the sorcerer moves in a little closer and casts Resist Elements Fire on the orc

A shield of elemental energy protects a creature against one type of energy damage. Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. The target and its gear gain resistance 5 against the damage type you chose. Lasts 10 minutes

As the spell is cast golden scales erupt on his body giving him a +1 status bonus to AC for 1 rd/

1d6 ⇒ 4 persistent acid damage

"N-now you made him a-angry.." Welby says.

◆ ◆ Act Together
◆ ◆ Welby - Cast Evolution Surge; Drake becomes large
◆ Drake - Stride
◆ Welby - Stride

Drake lets an angry quack.

Ah, I didn't see the inspire courage on the stat lines and I just forgot about it. You're right, that crit would deal 16 total damage with that.

I'm also missing a save.

Reflex Save DC 17: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Every little bit helps

Cascading ducks and dodges, avoiding almost all of the blasts, then releases two seedpods, one of which smacks into the celing and the other that hits the gargoyle but mostly just ends up as crushed vegetation.
Adding in the 1 point from Inspire courage takes you to 8 damage
Fort 1d20 ⇒ 12+modifier.

Naz draws the small exotic bow and nails the gargoyle with a beautifully placed arrow.
Added in the IC

Iustanus uses magical abilities to get the party some protections in place - but also notes the gargoyle has managed to clear off the acid.
Its action was to move and clear the acid - hence it didn't attack on its turn

Welby warns of an angry duck - which magically enlarges to an enormous size!

Good round for the party!

Pooka and Henry up

R2
Nazsnaga - acted
Cascading - acted.
Iustanus - acted.
Welby - acted

R3
Pooka
Henry
ENEMY

R 65 - (flying 15' - behind a pillar/cover vs most of the party)
O - (flying 15')
Y - (flying 15')

Deciding to try and help soften up the two steel mephits, Pooka dashes forward and directs a magical blast of sound upward at Orange and Yellow.

"AOOOOGAH!"

Sound Burst (Sonic; Courageous Anthem): 2d10 + 1 ⇒ (3, 10) + 1 = 14

Both mephits need to make a DC 19 Fort save~
______________

◆ Stride
◆◆ Sound Burst

Henri gets inside and changes his target by moving his spiritual weapon and slashes against Orange!
Spiritual Weapon Spell Attack w Courageous Anthem vs Orange: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 10 + 1 = 29
Spell Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 1 = 11 force damage

He then raises a magical shield for added protection.

◆ Stride
◆ Sustain Spiritual Weapon
◆ Shield

GM, would it be possible to add total damage taken by allies in the initiative tracker?

There is a loud BANG! as Pooka makes a noise!
O Fort 1d20 ⇒ 10
Y Fort 1d20 ⇒ 1
One of the mephits keeps flapping away but the other is blown clean from the sky, impacting with the ground below.

The flying blade slices a mephit as Henri gets focused on the new foe.

Paravaax descends on Cascading!
Attack 1d1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27
Damage 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (8, 5) + 5 = 18 piercing

Attack (claw) 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11 (Agile)
Damage 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (6, 3) + 5 = 14 slash
(Step, Attack x 2)

The flying mephit goes after Naz and the killer bow.

Attack (fist) 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Damage 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 bludgeon

Attack (fist) 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Damage 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 bludgeon
(stride, attack x 2)
Both swings fail to land.

You notice the damage to both of the mephits seems to be healing over.
The one on the ground has woken up!

R3
Nazsnaga - 47/49
Cascading - 12/44
Iustanus - Full
Welby - Full

R4
Pooka - Full
Henry - Full
ENEMY

R 65 - (flying 10' - behind a pillar/cover vs most of the party)
O 18 - (flying 10')
Y ? - (ground)

Party up!

Drake stomps forward and tries to strike at the Red one, letting out a loud quack.

"O-oh dear. I h-hope this place doesn't c-collapse!" Welby says.

◆ ◆ ◆ Act Together
◆ Welby - Protect Companion
◆ Drake - Stride
◆ Drake - Peck piercing dmg Attack: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18Dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 2) + 4 = 12
◆ Drake - Wing buffet Bldg Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9Dmg: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 4) + 4 = 12

"Might as well finish what we started firsy. Does anyone know how to keep them from regenerating?" she asks as she lets 3 arrows fly towards Red.

◆Gakgung: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22, piercing: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
◆Gakgung, MAP: 1d20 + 12 - 5 ⇒ (13) + 12 - 5 = 20, piercing: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
◆Gakgung, MAP 2: 1d20 + 12 - 10 ⇒ (2) + 12 - 10 = 4, piercing: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

The sorcerer concentrates and 4 eldritch bolts in the shape of a golden dragon emerge from his hand to strike the gargoyle
4d4 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3, 3, 4, 4) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 21 force bard inspiration and dangerous sorcery

The drake swings and misses with wing and beak, but a giant drake is very impressive nonetheless.

Naz finds it difficult to get a clear shot, and with all the cover and the strange magnetic fields the arrows miss the mark.

Iustanus continues to blast with eldritch energy - these all overwhelm the gargoyle and it falls to the ground, laying very still.

R3
Nazsnaga - 47/49 - acted
Cascading - 12/44
Iustanus - Full - acted
Welby - Full - acted

R4
Pooka - Full
Henry - Full
ENEMY

R ? - (ground)
O 18 - (flying 10')
Y ? - (ground)

Party up!

Hooray!

"They're still m-moving.. odd.." Welby says. Drake strikes at the last one still moving.

◆◆ Act Together
◆ Welby - Stride
◆ Drake - Peck piercing dmg Attack: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28Dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3) + 4 = 11
◆ Drake - Wing buffet Bldg Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15Dmg: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 1) + 4 = 9
◆ Welby -Recall Knowledge about mephit

The gargoyle smashes through the leshy's shield.

"Oh dear. Ouch I did need a new one anyway..."

↺ Shield Block. Which destroys my wooden shield. Meant to upgrade that to steel when I tool Shield Block, but I did not.

As Cascading notes the broken shield and takes it as the sign to buy something more substantial, the giant Drake wades in with beak and wing and just smashes out the remaining gargoyles - who (curiously) no longer regenerate.

/end combat

Welby nods to Drake. "A-all right, D-drake... you can go to normal s-size now..."

Drake lets out a quack and shrinks back to medium size.

"Now h-he's full of himself.."

"All right! I was worried this was never going to end until we found a way to stop them from healing. Good job everyone!"

"YEAH! Greats work everyone!" Pooka cheers, pumping her fist in the air.

Henri quickly tends Cascading Rapids of his wounds after the chase and combat.

"Let me help you with that."

DC 20 Medicine to Treat Woundsw Healer's Glove: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20
Expert Healing, Medic: 2d8 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (4, 8) + 10 + 5 = 27 HP fr Cascading Rapids