PFS1 #9-09: Beyond the Halflight Path (GM Mike...R) [PaizoCon 2024] (Inactive)

Game Master Mike...R

Renart's sudden appearance from behind the cover of the crystals catches the robed figure by surprise, however he is sturdy enough to resist the kitsune's attempt to get past him (Renart had enough cover remain concealed, so did catch the foe flat-footed. However, his flat-footed CMD was good enough to prevent Renart moving through his square, but there wasn't an AoO).

Meanwhile Mr. Badger manages to land a solid blow with one of his claws.

As Renart didn't manage to get past the robed figure, he has only used his move action this round as he wasn't in a position to grapple, so I'll hold off on Pink's action to give Renart a chance to use his remaining action's if he wants.

ROUND 2:

Renart (only move action used so far this turn)
Pink
Arxoias
Rani
Purple -9
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

He has a FFCMD of 23+? Damn!

I'll just have had Mr. Badger 5ft step out of the way then to avoid too much retconning.

As the black tentacles count as difficult terrain Mr. Badger wouldn't be able to 5 foot step into them or the square occupied by Renart after he didn't manage to get past the enemy. That said Renart could use a Reposition combat maneuver to move Mr. Badger to another non-'intrinsically dangerous' square behind him (I'm happy to assume that automatically works as Mr. Badger would not be resisting it). That should achieve essentially the same thing in terms of getting Renart to end up in front of the enemy, the only difference being Renart would be one square back and Mr. Badger would not be in the black tentacles. To keep things moving I'll assume that's what happens for the moment.

Black Tentacles grapple: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

The black tentacles writhing around Rani manage to grab hold of her causing some damage...

Black Tentacles damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Meanwhile the grim looking halfling moves up behind his ally and unleashes a blast of lightning which catches all three of the combatants ahead of him (i.e Renart, Mr. Badger and the man in the robes) before slamming into the crystals behind them...

Lightning damage (Reflex DC16 for half): 7d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 4, 2, 2, 1, 5, 5) + 3 = 28

While the halflings sunken-eyed compatriot appears to take the full brunt of the blast, it does not seem to cause him any ill effects.

ROUND 2:

Renart (-28 electricity damage, DC16 reflex for half)
Mr. Badger (-28 electricity damage, DC16 reflex for half)
Pink
Arxoias
Rani -7 (grappled)
Purple -9
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Oops, slight amendment to the above as I've just realised the halfling doesn't have quite as much movement as I thought, so he can't get into a position where can target anyone. Think of the post above as a strange vision of an alternative reality caused by the otherworldly energies of the crystals in this room. What actually happens is that rather than the halfling blasting everyone with lightning, he will move forward and multiple copies of him suddenly appear.

Halfling images: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

ROUND 2:

Renart
Mr. Badger
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -7 (grappled)
Purple -9
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Arxoias readies a shot to shot enemy that comes in sight.
"Get ready to fall back."
Ready: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 1d12 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

escape artist: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (11) + 19 = 30

If that is enough, she'll keep moving

Rani manages to extricate herself from the tentacles grasp (escaping the grapple took a standard action so Rani still has a move action, although remember the tentacles count as difficult terrain).

Meanwhile the robed man with the warhammer steps towards Renart and swings at him again, channeling the destructive power of his blasphemous patron into the blow as he does so...

Purple warhammer vs Renart: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

...the strike misses, slamming into the nearby crystals and doing significant damage.

ROUND 2/3:

Renart
Mr. Badger
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -7 (still has a move action after escaping the tentacles. Tentacles count as difficult terrain)
Purple -9
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Rani continues carefully tiptoeing through the tentacles.

Heh. I could do this with both hands tied behind my back. she grins to herself.

Orenjii moves closer and hurls a charged card at Purple.

+1 Returning Harrow Card: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21 +1 within 30 ft.
Piercing Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 +1 within 30 ft.
Negative Energy Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7 plus staggered 1 round
Card Drawn: 1d3 + 1d3 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + (2) + (1) = 5
{LAW/NEU/CHA},{GOOD/NEU/EVIL},{STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/CHA}

"The Bear. We shall be fierce in bringing your demise if you continue to oppose us."

Renart will again attempt to restrain the bad guy and then reposition him.
Whether you can maintain on the same turn as an initial grapple is something traditionally unclear, so GM decision on if I can grapple and reposition.

Grapple: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
Reposition: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19

Reroll the grapple
Grapple: 1d20 + 16 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 16 + 3 = 37

With the reposition presumably failing and up to GM interpretation, Mr. Badger will remember that he is a badger and use his burrow speed. (double move)

Orenjii wouldn't be able to target Purple form the current location as the crystals would block Orenjii's view. I think Orenjii would have enough movement to get to the square to the north west of the current location which almost has line of sight to Purple. Given how close that square is to getting line of sight and the uneven nature of the crystals I'd allow Orenjii to attack from there, but Purple would have improved cover. Let me know if you want to do that or something else?

With regard to grappling and maintaining on the same round, my reading of Greater Grapple is that you can absolutely do that (standard action to grapple and move to maintain), so that's all good.

In terms of Mr. Badger burrowing, am I correct in thinking he just has standard burrow rather than something like earth glide? If its just standard burrow then that wouldn't normally allow burrowing through rock like the cave floor (although earth glide would).

Renart successfully grabs hold of the wild eyed gentleman although the subsequent attempt to move him is less successful.

ROUND 3:

Renart (grappled)
Mr. Badger (action pending on question above)
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -7
Purple -9 (grappled)
Orenjii (action pending on question above)

(Bold may act)

FYI, improved Cover is like attacking someone through an arrow slip, with +8 to AC. That make everything very difficult to hit even if you're hitting touch AC. You can hold charges almost indefinately as long as you don't cast another spell. Might be wiser to hold charge and wait for an opportunity when it's easier to hit.

Ok, didn't realize the cave floor was solid rock rather than packed dirt and gravel. Badgers also get a climb speed so he can just go over rather than under.

Mr. Badger will remember that he is a badger and use his burrow climb speed to move along the wall of crystals around and behind them.

As Mr. Badger scrabbles along the crystalline wall, the black tentacles try and grab Rani again...

Black Tentacles grapple: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

Am I correct in thinking Rani's CMD is 20? If it is 20 or less she is grappled again and takes more damage...

Black Tentacles damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Seeing Mr. Badger appear behind his ally the halfling spellcaster shoots a couple of beams of burning energy at the angry mustelid...

Ranged touch into combat vs Mr. Badger: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 7 - 4 = 14
Ranged touch into combat vs Mr. Badger: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 4 = 12

As Mr. Badger is raging would I be correct in thinking both of those hit? If so...

Fire damage vs Mr. Badger: 4d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 4, 5, 3) + 3 = 19
Fire damage vs Mr. Badger: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 4, 1) = 15

He then retrieves a scroll and steps backwards.

ROUND 3:

Renart (grappled)
Mr. Badger (-34 damage assuming both rays hit)
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -7 (-10 damage and grappled if CMD is 20 or less)
Purple -9 (grappled)
Orenjii (action pending on question in previous post)

(Bold may act)

Rani gets grabbed again ((CMD:19)) so she attempts to escape again.
escape artist: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (18) + 19 = 37

Again she slips out and moves forward a bit more.

Seeing others fails to understand her tactics, Arxoias lets out a heavy sigh. She moves up and take a shot at the grappled purple through improved cover.
PBS vs touch: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 1 = 23 Deady Aim: 1d12 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 + 1 = 19
Should hit if his grappled touch AC is 13 or less

Due to the crystals in the way Purple would get total cover from Arxoias in that location, its the squares to the east where attacks with improved cover are possible. Due to the angle the situation improves as you get further south and the eastern squares further south would allow attacks with just normal cover or better. For clarity I've marked the square where attacks with improved cover are possible in orange; the ones where attacks with normal cover is possible in yellow and the one where attacks can be made with partial cover in white (although due to allies being between that square and the target it would also currently be subject to soft cover).

I plan her action based on how Orenjii was able to attack through Improved Cover in her square. Using the drawing line from one corner to four corner methods of determining cover, there're same amount of lines that are blocked by terrain as Orenjii's lines (added reference pictures on the right side of the slide).The cover situation is quite confusing here, especially since cover doesn't stack.

Just to clarify Orenjii isn't able to attack from the square that Orenjii is currently in (which is the cause of the question I had about what Orenjii wants to do). The square that I suggested Orenjii would be able to move to in order to get improved cover is the one marked in orange. I've just realised one thing which may be causing confusion with that is that when I made the suggestion I said it was to the north west rather than north east. In terms of cover not stacking, that's correct, so for all of those squares I would be using the worst cover applicable (i.e. improved cover in the orange square and soft cover due to allies in the white square). Hopefully the coloured squares will help clarify the situation in terms of explicitly indicating the type of cover each one would have.

Ah, that's why. The asynchronous nature of the PbP map makes linking positions and replies slightly more difficult, as I didn't know Orenjii need to move as well to shoot. Arxoias will double move to white squares then.

Orenjii will make the move but hold on to the card for now.

As Orenjii only used a move action, is there anything Orenjii would want to do with the remaining standard action?

Rani presses forward through the tentacles, while Arxoias moves into position to shoot.

The robed man being grappled by Renart is clearly not a fan of his current predicament and tries to escape...

Purple escape grapple vs Renart: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

...but despite a good effort is usable to extricate himself (I believe Renart's CMD while raging is 27 vs escaping a grapple, but let me know if I've got that wrong).

ROUND 3/4:

Renart (grappled)
Mr. Badger (-34 damage assuming both rays hit)
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -17
Purple -9 (grappled)
Orenjii (has current turn but also has the option to use the standard action from last round)

(Bold may act)

Renart will maintain the grapple going to pinned and then tie up robed man.

pin: 1d20 + 16 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 16 + 2 + 5 = 31
strangle dmg: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

Tied up from pinned is a DC 36 to escape and as that is higher than 20 + their CMB they cannot escape even with a 20. Not certain if we want to coup him.

Mr. Badger being in danger of sudden-badger-death-syndrome will scamper back to safety, 5 ft on the wall behind Arxoias. (Not quite enough climb speed to get back to the ground with the second diagonal.)

This will be up to you guys. Mr. Badger is in a bad condition to fight and I've only a few rounds of rage left.

Mr. Badger being in danger of sudden-badger-death-syndrome will scamper back to safety, 5 ft on the wall behind Arxoias. (Not quite enough climb speed to get back to the ground with the second diagonal.)

This will be up to you guys. Mr. Badger is in a bad condition to fight and I've only a few rounds of rage left.

We can always retreat and wait for their powerful minutes/level spell to expire while we heal up.

Hey Renart. Was it you who tied me up earlier? Cause I'd like a rematch

Last turn

Orenjii gives the evil eye to purple.

evil eye: -2 to attack rolls for 7 rounds, reduced to 1 round on a DC 16 Will save.

This turn

The witch steps into a position where she has a slightly better view of purple and hurls the card.

Using the previous attack roll?

Orenjii wouldn't have been able to target purple from the location behind the crystals as purple would have total cover. But as it would have been possible for Orenjii to move to the orange square instead, I'll assume that evil eye was cast from there. I'm also good with using Orenjii's previous attack roll for this round.

Black Tentacles grapple: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Black Tentacles damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Meanwhile the black tentacles manage to once again grab Rani doing some more damage.

The halfling caster seeing the rogue approaching through the writhing black mass, sends two more rays of burning energy in Rani's direction...

Ranged touch vs Rani: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Ranged touch vs Rani: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

The first of which finds its target doing further damage...

Fire damage vs Rani: 4d6 + 3 ⇒ (3, 5, 2, 1) + 3 = 14

...before the caster falls back towards the cave from which he originally emerged.

ROUND 4:

Renart
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -39 (grappled)
Purple -29 (tied up, evil eye vs attacks (1 rnd), staggered (1rnd))
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Arxoias fires at purple
Musket vs Touch: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 1 = 9Deadly Aim: 1d12 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 10 + 1 = 17
Rapid shot vs Touch: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 1 = 21Deadly Aim: 1d12 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 10 + 1 = 20

Shirt reroll, 4 stars: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 7 + 1 + 4 = 21

Both of Arxoias' shots hit the struggling robed figure, who now that he is tied up makes for an extremely easy target.

As he is tied up he now counts as being helpless, so in addition to being easy to hit, he can no longer prevent anyone from moving through his square and is unable to make attacks of opportunity.

I assume that Rani will try and escape from the tentacles and then get some cover from the spellcasting halfling (I assume she will duck into cover, but let me know if she wants to continue advancing on the spellcaster instead)...

Rani escape artist: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

Rani once again slips out of the tentacles grasp and manages to get to the other side of the writhing mass ducking into the cover of the side passage.

As a few of the party have taken quite a bit of damage, remember you have some healing potions which you have found in the previous encounters (along with other potentially useful stuff). I don't think it was decided who had what, so I'm happy for you to decide now who has the different potions.

ROUND 4/5:

Renart
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -39
Purple -66 (tied up, helpless)
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Orenjii squeezes past the prisoner and stares at Mr. Pink.

evil eye: -2 to AC for 7 rounds, reduced to 1 round on a DC 16 Will save.

Orenjii wouldn't be able to target Pink from that location as the crystal formations block line of sight. Orenjii would need to be stood in the corridor between the crystals which runs north from where Pink is to target him, although that would also mean Pink would have a clear line to blast Orenjii in return.

Thanks for the bot -I didn't spot it was her turn ... and yes, that's what she would have done.

What potions did we find? - I'll have to scroll back and take a look.

In terms of potions you have definitely identified there are: 2 potions of protection from evil, 2 potions of cure serious wounds, 1 potion of haste, 3 potions of jump and 3 potions of cure moderate wounds. There were also some other items which you have found (although not all of them have been identified)

ROUND 4/5:

Renart
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -39
Purple -66 (tied up, helpless)
Orenjii (still has a standard action, as Orenjii is not able to target any foes from the current location)

(Bold may act)

Alright, if Pink is going to show poor sportsmanship by using stupid magic, Renart will have to adapt to not using his misleading senses.

Renart will move up and trust in the true spirit of the sport. (Use martial flexibility to give himself blind-fight)

"There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball."

Just to check, does Renart have enough movement to get all the way to the halfling and use martial flexibility? Due to where the crystals are it looks like it would be 35 feet worth of movement to get all the way to Pink and I wasn't sure if Renart had taken a barbarian architype (e.g. urban barbarian) that trades away fast movement.

I'm guessing whether or not Renart has enough movement to get there with a single move he would still move to that spot, as he can always double move and then use martial flexibility next round if its not possible this round. So I'll move things forward on that basis...

The dour looking halfling gives Renart a quizzical look, before regaining his focus, stepping backwards and casting another spell, blasting lightning towards the advancing kitsune...

Electricity damage to Renart, DC16 reflex for half: 7d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6) + 3 = 29

ROUND 5/6:

Renart (29 damage, DC16 reflex for half)
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -39
Purple -66 (tied up, helpless)
Orenjii (still has the option of a standard action from last round, plus this rounds actions)

(Bold may act)

Orenjii continues around the crystals, thinking about the days when she was out in the open, providing fortunes to passersby and not having to crawl through a maze of walls and tentacles to accomplish anything.

Moving to that square would only need a move action from Orenjii, so Orenjii still has a standard action and swift action that could be taken this round if desired. One other thing worth noting is that the lightning cast by the halfling in the previous round continued through Renart in a straight line heading north along the corridor until it hit the crystals blocking its path in the middle of the tentacles. So it was able to target the whole corridor that Renart and Orenjii are currently stood in.

Then they can still have the evil eye. And I will need to trust my fellow Pathfinders if something happens, because the alternative is stand in the back and be useless.

Shooting purple: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 1 = 26 1d12 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 1 = 15
Arxoias moves forward, then turns around and shoot purple again, since she can't move fast enough to shoot at pink.

Orenjii gives the halfling spellcaster the evil eye...

Pink will save vs evil eye: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

...although he shakes off its worst effects. Meanwhile Arxoias shoots the tied up human causing him to slip into unconsciousness.

ROUND 5/6:

Renart (29 damage, DC16 reflex for half)
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images, evil eye AC (1 rnd))
Arxoias
Rani -39
Purple -81 (dying (-11hp), tied up, helpless)
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Then they can still have the evil eye. And I will need to trust my fellow Pathfinders if something happens, because the alternative is stand in the back and be useless.

If the front is too crowded/dangerous, you could try to feed cure wound potions to Mr. Badger? Its many natural attacks would be quite helpful should the caster keep supplying himself with Mirror Images

Rani drinks a Cure Moderate Wounds potion
healing: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (1, 8) + 3 = 12

Gonna have to get me some more of these

reflex: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Renart will show the cheating halfling that cheating only cheats the cheater and be one with the ball.

Step up, close eyes, and use the force sports

miss chance, 1=hit, 2=miss: 1d2 ⇒ 1

grapple: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28

Gonna have to get me some more of these

I'm happy for Rani to use one of the potions the party found rather than her own supply, the party also found some cure serious potions as well.

Renart grabs hold of the crazed looking halfling, who not being well suited to forcing his way out of grappled attempts to use magic to help himself escape...

The exact spell used by the halfling and its outcome is dependent on if Renart kept his eyes closed after successfully making the grapple, or if he opened them once the grapple succeeded.

As the halfling may have more actions depending on the outcome of the above, I'll wait for Renart to clarify if he opened his eyes after grappling or not and to resolve what, if anything, the spell may have done to him before moving on to the next round of action.

ROUND 6:

Renart -14
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images)
Arxoias
Rani -27
Orenjii

(Bold may act)

Can Orenjii spellcraft whatever is going on? (and potentially relay the potential spell that being cast to Renart?

Renart kept his eyes closed

reflex: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Yeah, Orenjii would be able to spellcraft the spell as it is being cast.

Renart manages to avoid the worst of the lightning blast conjured by the halfling, which continues on to strike Orenjii and then slams into the crystals beyond leaving behind the stink of ozone.

ROUND 6/7:

Renart -30 (grappled)
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images, grappled)
Arxoias
Rani -27
Orenjii (33 electricity damage, DC16 reflex save for half)

(Bold may act)

Yeah, I think I figured out what it is without Spellcraft.

Orenjii's nanites course through her veins, giving her preternatural swiftness.

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 7 = 18

It's definitely not the subtlest of spells.

Orenjii also manages to dive out of the way of the spell with the help of her nanites.

ROUND 6/7:

Renart -30 (grappled)
Mr. Badger -34
Pink (5 images, grappled)
Arxoias
Rani -27
Orenjii -16

(Bold may act)