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If you aren't critting, are you even playing? Crit arrow, crit monster hit, crit battle medicine, crit phase bolt... I guess Vildran needs to pray to the dice gods for a crit fail on his frostbite spell.
Before I post about it, how do you feel, GM, about a reactive strike with a fist?
Shortbow is 1+ hands which means I need a hand free to use it but that hand is otherwise available.
Fist is totally valid, go for it.
I was thinking of using the warhammer as a backup weapon especially as I'm the only one proficient in using it. It's better than a fist even if it does take an action to take it out.
Sounds like a good idea to me!
There may be times when we're in tight quarters and a bow isn't practical. So yeah, go for it!
Also, does this dwarf look familiar? Morga wasn't there when you went on the ship, so she wouldn't know if he matches the description of the person they were ferrying.
The dwarf didn't match First Mate Janis' description of either Captain Perrios (the captain of her ship) or Meitremar (the ship's passenger). Both of them are human. The dwarf doesn't look familiar, but does seem like maybe an important person.
Fair enough. I must've misremembered one of the descriptions.
Vildran can drain bonded item for one more force barrage.
Oh ****! If we survive, we should have a discussion about tactics. :)
@GM: I like how you orient the dying tokens. :)
Real bad turn for team good guy, but if level 1 play is anything, it's swingy!
Yeah, probably my mistake to count on "damage soakers" ahead of Vildran at this level.
Also, I wouldn't characterize his actions as heroic/martyr'y. He simply thought he could safely cast from behind Morga and didn't think a space might open up in front of him.
Oh, and (sigh) I missed Morga's post yelling "back up" somehow when the battle started :/ (also my bad).
So I moved up again. If the dog thing comes at me I either get cover from the wall or a reactive strike (with the dog having cover). Fist isn't doing much damage but it's something.
I'm sure I can drag both of you back to town. Speaking of dragging, what actions would it take to start that? An interact to basically grab a shirt collar?
We just have to get away from here first... and up all those stairs. I'd be surprised if the cynthigot doesn't harass us all the way out the doors at least.
Also, I wouldn't characterize his actions as heroic/martyr'y. He simply thought he could safely cast from behind Morga and didn't think a space might open up in front of him.
I agree. But note that everything I write IC for Autumn (even narrative outside her thoughts and words) reflects her point of view, not necessarily mine.
So I moved up again.
OMG--this is going to be such a TPK! (That's me speaking, though I'm sure Autumn feels the same.)
I'm not worried about the dog right now--I'm more worried about the cultist who felled Vildran. The cultist that San moved right next too. The cultist who'll be hacking away at San while he tries to drag the bodies away.
I think our only chance of saving Morga and Vildran is to neutralize the cultist and dog first--how many attacks do you think San will withstand while passively dragging the bodies at reduced speed?
Part of the pitfalls of PBP. I meant to put some if/then statements in my post but got distracted. I'm hoping (assuming) we were able to put the cultist down between our attacks. Moving up next to him would be a bad idea while he's still up for sure.
If the dog wants to keep hiding, we can drag our comrades out. If it does give chase, my plan is to stop dragging and run. It might be a losing equation but a two action move and shoot might be able to keep me away enough for only one attack at least. But I only get one as well, and we see how much the dice love me... That would leave Autumn exposed though. It could be a long sequence of fleeing and popping off shots when we have the room to do so. I'm not overly excited about fighting that thing with only two of us if we can avoid it.
So I moved up again. If the dog thing comes at me I either get cover from the wall or a reactive strike (with the dog having cover). Fist isn't doing much damage but it's something.
I'm sure I can drag both of you back to town. Speaking of dragging, what actions would it take to start that? An interact to basically grab a shirt collar?
We just have to get away from here first... and up all those stairs. I'd be surprised if the cynthigot doesn't harass us all the way out the doors at least.
Yep, let's say single action to grab hold. After which you can move them at (let's say) half speed. Alternatively, since your strength is good, you could pick someone like Vildran up and throw him over your shoulder and move while encumbered (him and his gear are probably about 9 bulk, which still leaves you below your max encumbrance).
Hm. Maybe having the main party healer also be the meat shield was a poor plan. Good luck, guys!
Any thoughts from the unconscious PCs on what to do? Right now all I can think of is pushing ahead and exploring rooms, in the hopes of finding a healing potion.
Autumn can also disguise herself as a cultist and use her Charm spell, but that's really a backup plan for if/when San goes down too. Plus, that would lead to a solo adventure that wouldn't be fun for the rest of you.
That was my thought as well. Hope we imminently come across another form of healing. We can stash Morga and Vildran in the workshop as they aren't bleeding out.
Alternately, we can try to detect if the cynthigot is still in the other room. I mean, it didn't really have anywhere else to go so that's probably not a good plan.
One hour after Morga's last Treat Wounds on herself, Autumn could Treat Wounds on her with the healer's tools. Morga can cast Heal three more times today once she's conscious.
Of course, that relies on surviving until then. I have no useful ideas there, unfortunately. Your plan of stashing us and exploring could work, but the likelihood of you getting cornered and outnumbered seems high.
I don't know how this would be handled in the game, but exploring to find more healing might have to be fast. I don't see why the cynthigot wouldn't tear into the unconscious bodies once you left (once other cultists re-open the door and let it out).
Just as a warning: You may find multiple encounters before you meet your first healing potion.
Just as a warning: You may find multiple encounters before you meet your first healing potion.
Honestly, I was mostly grasping at straws with the idea of finding a healing potion—these cultists don’t seem like the healing type.
@San: Thoughts? As I see it, we could:
1) Keep exploring and hope that we can survive more combat (albeit with cultists, who should individually be easier than the cythnigot, but there’ll be more of them) in the hopes of finding a healing potion fast enough.
2) Hunker down and prepare defenses for a last stand, like the Alamo.
3) Reverse course and try to kill the cythnigot so that we can slowly drag Morga and Vildran up the long way to the surface. Since the cythnigot appears resistant to piercing damage, San’s ignition spell is our best bet. If there was a hole in the door Autumn could try using her phase bolt through the door.
4) Autumn gambles everything on a huge deception check. She can look like a cultist, but no one would recognize her, so she’d have to say something like she’s a new cultist sent by Meitremar, and that he wants the intruders brought to him alive—which is a really big lie.
I hope you have some other ideas, because I’m not really keen on any of these.
P.S.--Oh wait … how about moving all of us to the privy and trying to lure the cythnigot into the workroom (say with a Figment spell) and locking it inside there? Then we could exit. We’d still have a really long, slow slog up to the surface carrying dead weight, but I can’t think of anything better right now. The big trick is ensuring it goes into the workroom instead of waiting outside the privy though.
And if any other cultists come along, you'd be cornered in *there*. And the privvy holes are probably too small to toss any cultists into them. Pity, because it would be so satisfying to drop a one-liner about decay while you stand above them as they're treading "water" down there.
My only potentially useful input is a question: Do Autumn and San think there's a chance that the cythnigot could be fooled by Autumn's cultist disguise? We don't know how keen its sense of smell is.
Yeah, a better bet may be getting around the cynthigot. We could do some shenanigans with door opening and closing. As in, Autumn opens the door and readies an action, San shoots an arrow, Autumn uses a reaction to close the door. As long as it isn't smart enough to change tactics, we'll get it eventually.
We could prepare the "trap it in the workshop" as a backup plan.
Thanks for the input. Let's try to get past the cythnigot then--I've got an idea.
My next thought is that we open the door to the main room and there's just so many cultists waiting for us because the cynthigot went to another door to scratch. We still don't really know how smart this thing is. It did cast a spell at me after all.
My next thought is that we open the door to the main room and there's just so many cultists waiting for us because the cynthigot went to another door to scratch. We still don't really know how smart this thing is. It did cast a spell at me after all.
So what exactly do you propose we do? We're in a really bad situation with lots of 'what ifs' and unknowns. I submit it's better to act and hope for the best than to wait/be indecisive until they come to kill us.
Oh yeah, absolutely. I just thought it would be funny... for a certain definition of funny.
Yeah, agree with Autumn. Only other idea is to leave behind distractions as we go in case there is any way to slow down chasing cultists. E.g., damage a door or something else in a direction you don't go.
Once we make sure we have a viable path through the halls back to the big room, do we want to move our people to the privy? That way we'll have some wiggle room between the workshop and the cage room to trap it. It'll be gross but Vildran has prestidigitation to clean up once they are awake again.
I'm a little bit faster so I'll do the running?
Lure it through the north door then come running through the halls into the workshop where Autumn is hiding and she can slam the door in its face. Then hopefully be able to sprint around to the north door to shut it from the "big room" side? That leaves it free to roam the hallways.
Alternately, Autumn hides in/by the cage room to slam the door when San and the dog come running through. Not sure if she'd want to hide in the hallway or in the room itself. In the hallway she could close that door then go north to get back out. Hopefully San has enough actions to get out and close the other door to the workshop. Then gather our snoozing companions and start the trek out.
By the way, this is the first time I've started play from lvl 1. It sure is tough. Going down in ~ two hits, even for a tanky character, doesn't make for a lot of survivability.
Agreed! I thought Morga was built pretty solidly, but apparently not solidly enough.
Once we make sure we have a viable path through the halls back to the big room, do we want to move our people to the privy?
No, I think we’ve already wasted too much time moving the bodies around.
I'm a little bit faster so I'll do the running?
Yes; Autumn definitely wouldn’t refuse that offer. :)
My suggestion: Grab the cythnigot’s attention by shooting an arrow at it (unless it’s already really close, in which case run for your life), then run back past Autumn into the workroom. Autumn will stay by the wheel; she’ll pull out the block to trap the cythnigot in the cage. No need to close doors (which cultists can open) when we can just trap it in a cage (which the cultists will have a lot more trouble lifting). From the map, it looks like the 10’ x 10’ cage will also block entrance into the rack room from the north and west.
By the way, this is the first time I've started play from lvl 1. It sure is tough. Going down in ~ two hits, even for a tanky character, doesn't make for a lot of survivability.
This is basically my first time playing PF2e at any level, but I’ve read that it plays differently from PF1e (e.g. deadlier, with an even chance for enemies to hit you). But in any case, level 1 play can always be swingy, especially if facing a higher level opponent with only one source of in-combat healing.
@Morga: I think Morga was built as best as you could. We just had problems with tactics and a lack of secondary healing. Our current predicament definitely isn't your fault!
Sounds good! Lets hope the dice like us assuming there's some rolling involved. Once it's trapped we'll have to hustle to get out of here with Morga and Vildran. Autumn actually has a better Con score than San... elf might be fast but elf is not sturdy.
@GM Assuming nothing pops out in the hallway, San will scope out the door to first locate then get the cynthigot's attention with an arrow. Then full sprint back to the cage room through the hallways.
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Through no fault of your own, you've also stumbled across some of the more challenging encounters. On one hand, you'll be leveling up quickly, but on the other the party TPK risk is way up! If you feel this place is too challenging, you can back off and pursue your other leads until you're better prepared to deal with the cultists.
As for the cythnigot, well, I think you got it! :)
Hope you don't mind I abstracted the chase a bit. I'm quite conscious that in the PbP medium we want to cut a few corners so our unconscious party members can rejoin in less than a month real time!
Agreed! I thought Morga was built pretty solidly, but apparently not solidly enough.
And the squishiest of mages needs even more defenses, and to always back off as far as possible.
A crit fail vs the cage? The dice really were with us... neat!
I was hoping you would do the chase like that. I'm not a fan of leaving half the party unconscious and out of play for a while. That segment could have taken days to resolve. It only taking one post is fantastic. Similarly to the escape, I hope our intentions are clear to just run and avoid combat if we can. All my decision making would be to those ends.
It is sorely tempting to try to finish off the cynthigot. It's taken 33 damage so far. It's got to be close to dead at this point... but that's time that could be spent getting everyone out so it's not worth.
Whew! Glad that worked! Hopefully they won't figure out how that cage fell until you're long gone.
Also, just so it's plainly stated vs being assumed... I'd like one of us to grab Morga and Vildran's equipment they dropped when they went unconscious as well. I'm pretty sure Vildran's Arcane Bond is his staff so it wouldn't do to leave it behind.
Through no fault of your own, you've also stumbled across some of the more challenging encounters. On one hand, you'll be leveling up quickly, but on the other the party TPK risk is way up! If you feel this place is too challenging, you can back off and pursue your other leads until you're better prepared to deal with the cultists.
I had a feeling that this is the big bad end dungeon, and that Stonehome is meant to be the warm-up. :)
And I agree with San--thanks for speeding up the chase to expedite the (hopeful) return of our unconscious PCs!
I'd like one of us to grab Morga and Vildran's equipment they dropped when they went unconscious as well. I'm pretty sure Vildran's Arcane Bond is his staff so it wouldn't do to leave it behind.
If San grabs Morga and Vildran, Autumn will grab their gear.
I assume Morga's pack is still on her back, but she was holding her shield. Any chance Autumn could grab that, too? If that's unrealistic, don't worry. Better to live and buy another one later.
The staff should be the only loose thing Vildran was holding.
When he awakes he will reconsider adventuring life and suggest to the party that they consider alternate businesses. Perhaps start a magic shop in Iron Harbor :P
Ah, I forgot that you'd be wearing your packs. In that case Autumn would grab Morga's shield instead of Vildran's backpack.
@San: Good idea on carrying them one at a time! It seems like that way you can move everyone 60' in 3 rounds:
Round 1: Stride x3 (encumbered with 1st PC) for 60', drop 1st PC
Round 2: Stride x2 back (unencumbered) for 60', Pick up 2nd PC
Round 3: Stride x3 (encumbered with 2nd PC) for 60'
Autumn will carry Vildran's staff & Morga's shield--that should reduce their bulk by 1 each.
We definitely need to exit together. Getting back in through the rust door is a risky prospect. If we need to move as one out the doors, I think Autumn could carry Vildran (and be maxed out on bulk) while San can carry Morga. This way we can get both of them out at once. Our move speeds will only have a 5ft difference even if we'll both be slower than our adversaries.
Going up the stairs is the obvious way out. They wouldn't be able to swarm us but that's not much reassurance when we can't make a fighting retreat very well. That also might mean that if the cultists chase us out, they might assume we went that way. This leads into the next idea...
We can take the risk to go down the unexplored path, at least far enough to find a place to hide. all we know about it so far is
To the east, a 10 foot wide passage that looks perfectly flat and straight heads eastward. It disappears into the dark.
I was doing some research about spells going away when the caster goes unconscious... Light lasts "until the caster's next daily preparations" so we should still have visibility which is both good and bad unless we can hide the light.
All that being said, I think going down the passage is the best option to avoid pursuers. We should have a little while of running down there to hopefully find a curve or a rock or something... at least get far enough that they can't see us in the darkness unless they also come down the tunnel.
Side note: I only just now noticed the stairs artwork leading from the tent on the Rusthenge slide... Excellent work!
We definitely need to exit together.
Agreed. Going in different directions would be bad!
I'm assuming the rust door has been open all this time, so I'm not worried about it suddenly closing on us.
As for going up the stairs vs down the unexplored eastern passage, I feel we'd get Vildran & Morga back into the game more quickly if we go up, but I'm happy to follow your lead, whatever you decide.
If you can't shut off the light spells, they'll easily be able to see you in the dark tunnel, and possibly come at you from the other side. Or maybe it's a dead end, or leads to another threat we don't know about yet. Granted, the stairs will be slow and no less obvious, but at least they won't be able to flank you.
There's no certainty that they will immediately know that intruders came through here. It might take them a few rounds to decipher that, which you could use to hustle in either direction.
The continued light is a really good point--that was my biggest worry about creating a disguise. Also, it's seldom safer going deeper into the dungeon. :)
Agreed up and out is at least the most certain solution. A dungeon is more likely to have more inhabitants rather than conveniently having the healing supplies we'll need.
I'm assuming the rust door has been open all this time, so I'm not worried about it suddenly closing on us.
You're right, I thought it had closed behind us as we entered and didn't go back to check.
Fair enough! Up the stairs we go.