[Gameday XIII] Demonic Afterparty

Game Master Michael Hallet

Once the PCs exit the antechamber, they discover the rest of the level is a magically constructed labyrinth designed to confuse and disorient intruders.

The walls seem to close in, shifting and changing in disorienting patterns

Each PC can roll a DC 18 Arcana or DC 20 Occultism to discern the flow of magic and reorient oneself.

As always creative solutions encouraged.

"Ooh... this is a magical maze. I'm gettin' a headache just standin' here. Oh wait, there's a pattern to this... or not!"

Arcana(E): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Arcana(E), HP, Vestments: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 + 1 = 19

GAH!

Sorry I copied the DC for the low-subtier. The DCs should be 3 higher (21 Arcana/23 Occultism).

Occultism: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

If it has mental, fortune/misfortune, or detection/prediction/revelation/scrying traits, I recognize that immediately from Oddity Identification ... but the +2 from that feat doesn't help me with that roll.

Also, if it this confusion and disorienting magic includes the "visual" trait, I can use Counter Performance when we have to roll a saving throw.

"Torag's nosehairs!" Olnik swears. "Can anyone find a way past this madness? Or should I try to dispel it, like I did the mirror?"

Arcana: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
Hero Point: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24

"It's a relatively simple illusion. Come, this way," the gnome leads confidently through the maze.

Meadow frowns. "I don't recognize this magic at all." She turns to Silence. "What about you?"

Silence flaps his wings and hoots softly.

"Yeah I didn't think so. Looks like we'll be doing this the old-fashioned way."

The ranger pulls out her wayfinder to take a directional reading. She then retrieves some chalk from her backpack and places a mark on the floor. "Okay the wayfinder will tell us our heading and we'll mark the floor every 10 steps or so so we don't end up backtracking accidentally."

The plan is to use survival aided by the compass function of her wayfinder combined with directional markings in chalk to find her way using survival or possibly scouting lore if that would be more appropriate.

survival: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Scouting lore is +9 if that would make more sense

I am definitely NOT well versed in the world of magic, unfortunately. Maybe I can also try to help with scouting.

survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

Not adept to something arcane or occult, Charlies thinks for a way to difficulty they are facing. "Maybe this is just like the forest, we can follow trails present within it." He begins to look for natural trails that they can follow. "Or, what if we alright turn right?"

Nature: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

The ghost of an unfortunate traveler follows anyone they come across, wailing mournfully as they stalk them through the labyrinth.

DC 23 Diplomacy to calm the ghost and help it move on, DC 23 intimidation to scare it off, or DC 21 Religion to exorcise it.

Religion: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

"Begone spirit," Sparkin gestures, half-hearted.

"You don't do it like that!" Charlies shows Sparkin the right way to exorcise the ghost with religious prayers to Pharasma.
DC 21 Religion: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28 w Pharasma's shining symbol.

"Begone to the Boneyard!" he exclaims while brandishing his shining religious symbol.

"There, there. I know it's hard ta move on. But don't be afraid." Shayla says gently.

Diplomacy(T): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

Assuming that Spirit Lore will be a better DC here ... And if I can cast guidance first to get an extra +1 (not included in the roll below)

Spirit Lore: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
28 if the guidance is an option.

Olnik uses his knowledge of the spirit world to try to parlay with the ghost.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

"Pssst! Hey ghost. You're not supposed to be here. You should be heading to the other side. Or maybe you're suppose to go into the light. Something like that anyway."

Bulak has none of these skills, so she just waits.

The walls close in, blocking off every path and threatening to crush anyone within.

DC 21 Athletics or DC 23 Acrobatics to scale the wall.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

Shayla climbs the wall with ease...

Follow the Expert for Acrobatics available

Charlies follows how Shayla climbs the wall. But keeping his distance from her.
DC 23 Acrobatics w Follow the Expert: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 11 + 2 = 17

It looks like it is harder to copy her moves than it looks.

Estes silently follows how Shayla climbs the wall as well.
DC 23 Acrobatics w Follow the Expert: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 2 = 29

With all of the grunting, it's hard for Sparkin to concentrate on the interesting magical phenomena in there.

He casts helpful steps and climbs them to get over the wall.

"Must go faster," Olnik mutters as he climbs, also making use of the helpful steps offered by the cleric if possible.

Athletics (Expert): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

athletics: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

Silence flies up and perches atop the wall. He looks down at Meadow and flaps his wings. "Screech!"

Meadow frowns at the owl. "Ha ha! Very funny. Obviously you can get over the wall easily. Laugh it up while you can. We'll see who's laughing the next time you need to get through a closed door."

The ranger proceeds to scale the wall.

acrobatics: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

"Oof. It's pretty high. Maybe I'll just use Sparkin's ladder."

A writhing mass of cicadas blocks the path, scurrying in and out of the surrounding walls.

DC 21 Nature to get the insects to change their path or DC 23 Survival to calculate their pattern of movement avoid them.

Shayla charges at the insects, waving her arms like a green frog she once saw in a poppet show...

Nature vs DC 21: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

... however instead of scattering, they converge on her instead, causing her to cover her head with her arms.

"HEY!! SHOO!! SHOO!! HALP!!!"

Nature: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

"Ack! Begone, pests," Sparkin trise to shoo the bugs away.

Nature: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

Olnik bangs his drum, trying to use the sound to frighten and steer the cicadas out of the way of their group.

nature: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Silly insects!

"Eeewww! Gross! Bugs!" Meadow removes her cloak and uses it to shoo away the insects.

nature DC21: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

DC 21 Nature: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

Charlies tries his best to shoo away the swarm of insects blocking their path, but his technique is not effective as he thought.

A locked door bars the way to the next level of the bunker.

DC 21 Thievery to pick the lock or DC 23 Crafting
to remove the handle

thievery: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Olnik's normal approach to locked doors is to just shoulder them open, but force doesn't seem to work in this place, so he instead tries to dismantle the handle.

Crafting: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

Meadow frowns at the owl. "Ha ha! Very funny. Obviously you can get over the wall easily. Laugh it up while you can. We'll see who's laughing the next time you need to get through a closed door."

Upon seeing the door Meadow turns to Silence and gives him a smug smile. She boldly strides up to the door and attempts to open it. Her smug look changes to one of consternation when the door resists her efforts. She tries several times before lowering her head, shoulders slumped, in defeat. "It's locked."

Silence turns his head almost entirely upside-down and hoots softly at his friend.

The ranger's face reddens as she turns to the owl. "You can knock that off right now Mr. Giggles. It's not that funny." She pauses for a moment to regain her composure. "And where did you learn the word 'irony' anyway?"

In case I wasn't clear, Meadow has neither of those skills and passes in order to avoid a critical failure.

Thievery: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

"Child's play!"

A flicker of torchlight unveils the near empty antechamber, pristine and cold. Stairs leading further up into the floor are blocked by a lone knight in strange, chitinous insectile armor. Her helmed visage resembles the head of a locust, bulbous eyes gleaming menacingly. In her hand is a wicked looking scythe with a mass of sculpted stone maggots forming into a sharp blade. The knight acknowledges the intruders with a slight incline of her head.

“I commend you for coming this far,” she says, voice warped by the warble of insect chirps. “You should be proud to meet death at my hand.”

⬤ Antechamber Round 1 ⬤
Terrain Feature(s): Stairs are difficult terrain
Map Link: ENCOUNTER MAP
Note(s): ☘️: Hero Point, OG: Off-Guard

CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
➤ Charlies (AC 24) (HP 86/86) |
⠀⠀⠀Estes (AC 24) (HP 86/86) |
➤ Meadow (AC 24) (HP 74/74) |
⠀⠀⠀Silence (AC 23) (HP 52/52) |
➤ Sparkin Spellrig (AC 18) (HP 58/58) |
➤ Olnik Shadowstone (AC 21) (HP 64/64) |
Red Swarm (HP -) |
Green Swarm (HP -) |
Black Knight (HP -) |
Shayla Quickfingers (AC 24) (HP 74/74) |
Bulak the Wanderer (AC 23) (HP 82/82) |

Olnik says, "We'll need to be using area damage and magic against the swarm, so be sure to leave some space for us to target without hitting you melee folks. Stick by the red swarm if you can." He then begins playing a lingering composition that rallies the troops, the beats giving you all warning of danger as it approaches.

◇ Cast: Lingering Composition
Performance vs DC 22: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
Spend 1 focus point to last for 3 rounds
◆ Cast: rallying anthem: +1 status bonus to AC/saving throws, and resistance to physical damage ... Does it round up? If so, it's resistance 2. Rounding down is resistance 1.

He then bangs the drum again, sending a blast out that explodes in a burst that captures both the insect knight and the green swarm.

◆◆ Cast: sound burst (rank 3) - DC 22 Fortitude save vs. sonic damage: 3d10 ⇒ (2, 4, 7) = 13

If it gets too crowded in there that it's impossible to avoid allies by the time it gets to my turn, I can try something else.

"Let's take the high ground. Come on Silence!" Meadow's shoes glow briefly as she activates their magic and she practically flies up the stairs to the upper landing. She then launches a pair of bombs at the closest swarm.

quick draw moderate alchemist's fire vs green: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20
damage fire: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 8) = 13 +2 splash damage +2 persistent fire

quick draw lesser blight bomb: 1d20 + 14 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 14 - 5 = 10
damage poison: 1d6 ⇒ 5 +2 splash damage +1d4 persistent poison

◇ Activate boots of elvenkind, ◆ stride, ◆ quick draw, ◆ quick draw

Hero point reroll if necessary on alchemist's fire vs green
quick draw moderate alchemist's fire: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34

"Screech!" Silence takes to the air and joins his friend.

◆ Fly

Hmm... that looks familiar... is Biglock still in the same corner to chat with? ;)

"Estes, bring her down!" Charlies commands Estes while boosting the angel.
◇ Extend Boost, DC 22 (lvl 6) Religion to Extend Boost: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25 (3 rd on Success; 4 rd on Crit Success; 1 rd on Failure and Focus Point is not spent)
◆ Boost Eidolon

He then magically extends his aura for protection while Estes moves close to Black.
◆ Act Together (◆ Protect Companion (+1 to AC of Estes), ◆ Stride)

Estes smacks her in the face!
+1 Striking Vitalizing Fist (Primary) Attack: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29
Damage w Boost Eidolon: 2d8 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 8) + 4 + 4 = 20 bludgeoning damage, 1d6 ⇒ 6 persistent vitality damage vs undead (and Enfeebled 1 on Crit Hit), and 1 spirit damage (from Hallowed Strikes) vs unholy creatures or those with weakness to spirit damage

◆ Strike

The range on my sound burst is 30 feet, so I don't think there's a place I can get green & knight without also hitting Estes. I do think, though, I can target red & knight without hitting Estes, so I'll do that instead ... assuming Sparkin' doesn't run up there.

Nothing wrong with you going first so you have a clear shot for your spell so you can get both.

Sparkin doesn't like the look of the insect knight. "Taste destruction!"

◆◆◆ Force Barrage (3rd)

force: 6d4 + 6 ⇒ (4, 1, 3, 4, 2, 2) + 6 = 22