[Gameday XIII] PFS1e 6-04 - Beacon Below (KS) (Inactive)

Game Master phaeton_nz

"With that handy trick if yours, Katswiri, I can grant myself, you, Guy, and Nikita darkvision for 20 hours, and toughen up myself a bit, and put mage armor on all of us."
5 x mage armor extended (can help vs incorporeal), 4 x darkvision extended, 1 x false life extended
false life temp hp: 1d10 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
Before entering the complex, Taresh casts enchantment foil on himself.

Once you are rested, you descend 50ft and arrive at the Halls of Study, where the sages examined new acquisitions.

Fragrant scents float on the warm breeze that circulates around this columned chamber. Jasmine, grapevines, mandrakes, and anemones grow from pots hanging around the room, vibrant and fruitful despite the lack of sunlight. Sycamore saplings fill the alcoves, and a phosphorescent moss has overgrown some of the walls and ceiling. A great seal bearing a written inscription covers the center of the floor.

There is a door in the north wall and corridors lead off to the east and south.

Katswiri inhales deeply. "It smells really nice in here for an area so long abandoned. I wonder what magic is keeping the plants healthy?"
Katswiri will cast Detect Magic and sweep the room, then try to read the written inscription on the floor.

Guy castrs detect magic and applies his knowledge of things to the room.

[dice=knowledge(?)1d20[/dice] see banner for bonuses, typically +6

Since Katswiri knows Ancient Osiriani , she is able to rad the inscription that says Life is fleeting, memory is eternal.

Guy casts Detect Magic and detects what seems to be preservation magic.

Does anyone have Know Nature?

"Cozy. There's more greenery here than up on the sand-blasted desert."
Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Gurgle wrinkles his nose at the scents wafting through the chamber, indifferent to pleasant fragrances.
"Meh. Smells like a Calistrian's den," he grumbles.

Gurgle draws his stonebow, then slinks quietly into the shadows along the north wall. His eyes dart about the room, looking for any dangers.

I put asterisks next to each of Gurgles chosen spells in his profile. If anyone has suggestions for other spells, wands, and scrolls, please let me know! I haven't played him in a long time and I'm at a loss as to what spells to choose.

Use Magic Device: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
Katswiri pulls out her wand of Heightened Awareness and taps herself, sharpening her mind.

Then she falls into a short trance, calling on her oracular powers to reveal anything of interest regarding the plant life in the room.

Knowledge Nature, Heightened Awareness, Focused Trance: 1d20 + 12 + 20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 12 + 20 + 2 = 49

Guy castrs detect magic and applies his knowledge of things to the room.

dice=knowledge(?)1d20[/dice] see banner for bonuses, typically +6

I messed up that roll it seems.

knowledge(?: 1d20 ⇒ 6 see banner for bonuses, typically +6

Ick. No help here.

I put asterisks next to each of Gurgles chosen spells in his profile. If anyone has suggestions for other spells, wands, and scrolls, please let me know! I haven't played him in a long time and I'm at a loss as to what spells to choose.

Rather than take remove disease, I would leave that as an open slot. That way you have more flexibility because you rarely have to cast remove disease right away and you could prepare it if it does become advantageous.

Those who made a a 20+ Nature check realises that the archive’s magic has sustained the slow growth of these plants, several of which are subspecies that have since gone extinct. ((You gain 1 Preservation Point))

Katswiri makes notes in her journal about which plants are extinct outside of these samples. "We could reintroduce them in a controlled fashion. Something thought lost to time, found here!" She looks around the room at the exits. "Shall we head north next, then work around the complex from there? Gurgle or Taresh, if you would like to check the door for any traps or locks, I will ward you in case there's anything unpleasant on the other side."

Katswiri will cast Shield of Faith on Gurgle and Taresh.

That gives a +3 deflection bonus, which I think takes Gurgle to 26 and Taresh to 23.

The map is on slide 4, if everyone wants to get their tokens in place.

For Gurgle's spells, I do really like dispel magic but I think its weaker for Gurgle because of the multiclassing, since it needs a caster level check to work. Prayer is nice, it nudges everything just a bit in the party's favor and doesn't need a lot of level scaling to work at full strength most of the time. Invisibility Purge is also potentially very good, but its one of those spells that does nothing 90% of the time and the last 10% has a huge impact. Resist energy is a little weaker than usual because Katswiri can do the communal version and gets 20 points of resist.

"North is as good as any direction to me so let's go north."

Taresh's AC is currently only 19. I had slapped in the shield spell's +4 too early. Adjusted. I hope shield of faith doesn't run out before we run into something ugly.

"Let's see then. With a treasure trove like these plants, any traps are unlikely to blast us and destroy them along with intruders. But I've heard that Osirion is the place to be if you want to find curses."

Searching for traps in north door: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 22 + 1 = 26

"Might as well take a look at the corridors." Taresh checks start of the corridors, but doesn't actually enter them yet.
Searching for traps in east corridor: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 22 + 1 = 29
Searching for traps in south corridor: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 22 + 1 = 35

When he's sauntering about, he also pays attention to the great seal on the floor, investigating it.
Searching for traps in the great seal: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 22 + 1 = 33

Katswiri will probably recast a few times over the course of the mission. The downside of 1 minute/level buffs, sometimes you put them on and immediately hit a delay and lose them.

"I have been cursed several times, though only once in Osirion now that I think on it. It is rarely a pleasant experience, however."

"No worries. Curses can be removed. Usually."

No traps to be found but ... there's a commotion from the eastern corridor

Katswiri can't hear the commotion, so will wait and follow Taresh or Gurgle's lead on how to proceed.

Taresh informs others of the commotion and requests that we proceed to investigate "I didn't know there should be anyone else down here except us, based on Tahonikepsu's talk about recommendations and such. We should check it out in case there are interlopers or creatures that might eat our rare bushes while our backs are turned."

If there's at least one person willing to go east, Taresh proceeds to check out what's going on.

Could someone kick a token for Taresh on the map, please. I don't have the permissions for that, but I can move existing tokens.

"Surprising. Lead the way, and let us see what we are dealing with.

Katswiri will follow Taresh to the east.

I added a token for you, can you move it ok?

Taresh nods, then advances.
Yes, thank you!

Guy moves forward but lags behind around a nice safe corner.

"What do you see?" he asks curiously and a bit nervously.

There is a battle going on between a group of mummies and fire creatures ((What tier are we in?)) at the intersection just in front of a set of double doors to the east.

I believe we're high tier, 4 player adjustment since we have an APL of 9.4 rounded to 9 and 5 players.

Katswiri casts Eagle's Splendor and Shield of Faith on herself if there is time.

"I think we probably help the elementals? Undead can sometimes be stores of ancient lore, but they're also generally pretty evil."

"No brainer to me. I hate undead."

Ze undead mahst be put to rest. Zeere can be no two opinions. Nikita pulls out a sword, holding it in one hand, and takes his unusual pistol in the other.

First of all, thanks for the buffs. I hope I didn't miss anything. Secondly, I have returned from a trip and hope to write more actively now. Thirdly, who from our party likes to fight in close combat? Nikita can, but he is much stronger as a shooter (advanced firearms + smite is always nice).

If the fight seems to be ongoing and the mummies are not winning, Taresh uses a scroll of bull's strength and scroll of shield before entering. Further preparation will have to wait until we see the situation better.

"Many thanks for the shield of faith, Katswiri."
Hearing the commotion down the hall, Gurgle slings his stone bow to his belt and draws his shiny rapier. He follows the group down the hall.
"I hate the undead, too." he mumbles quietly.

Looks like I'll be a squishy front-liner. Just need a flanking buddy or two, Taresh & Nikita. ;)

We have no true front-liners. Guy might actually have to do a lot of healing on this adventure.

In that case, it's four mummies versus two large fire elementals and four fire mephits.

Initiatives:
Party
Init(Katswiri): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Init(Taresh): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Init(Gurgle): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
Init(Guy): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Init(Nikita Volkov): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

red mummy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
blue mummy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
green mummy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
purple mummy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

mephits: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
elemental (red): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30
elemental (yellow): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

The front elemental (red) smashes into both front mummies with a one-two punch. Unfortunately both attacks miss
slam: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20 fire: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 v green
slam: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15 fire: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 v purple

Gurgle is up before a mummy.

Guy will be activating his aural of heroism and will then try to figure out what these things are. Posting ahead of time so we can figure out what he knows by the time his turn comes. Mostly he is interested in whether these particular mummies are resistant to fire.

knowledge(religion) on mummies, heroism: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 14 + 2 = 21
knowledge(planes) on elementals, heroism: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 2 = 21
knowledge(planes) on mephits, heroism: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 6 + 2 = 15

Oh man, Fire Elementals. I wasn't really expecting to find them when I mentioned an Elder Fire Elemental was our worst case opponent; hopefully these will appreciate the help against the mummies and we can talk to them instead of fighting them, though at least these are probably small enough to not have DR 10-.

Katswiri has the Elemental Ward ability from her Faction cards, with 10 faction card goals completed to give a 10 ft aura of +3 sacred bonus to AC and Saves vs. creatures with a air, earth, fire or water subtype

Knowledge Checks for when its Katswiri's turn.

Knowledge(religion) on Mummies, Heroism:: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 12 + 2 = 16
Knowledge(planes) on Elementals, Heroism:: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 15 + 2 = 34
Knowledge(planes) on Mephits, Heroism:: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 15 + 2 = 20

Katswiri will want Special Attacks, Immunities, DR, Hit Dice for her info.

Gurgle peers around the corner into the hallway.
"Huh. Maybe we should wait to see how the battle unfolds."

"Katswiri, can you speak to the elementals and let them know we will help them destroy the undead?"

He reaches out and pats Katswiri on the shoulder.
"May the luck of the sea be with you." he intones, granting her a bit of guidance.

+1 competence bonus on a single attack roll, saving throw, or skill check. It must choose to use the bonus before making the roll to which it applies. 1 minute or until discharged.

Green slams into the elemental that tried to hit it.
slam: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19 damage: 1d8 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

The yellow elemental seems to be on guard duty by the double doors and the mephits move behind the mummies.

Taresh and Guy are up.

The varisian looks at the throng of elementals and undead cluttering the hallway. "Now that's just ridiculous. It looks like Absalom during lunch hour. The best I can do is to get in line!" To prove our intentions I suppose it's best to do something and not just gawk.

Taresh casts mirror image and walks between the two big elementals, drawing a bow and turning towards the bunch of mummies. He addresses the undead. "You look like kindling in the middle of an oven."

Daosvaria squeezes a wand like she's attempting to coerce magic out of it. "Obey, stick."

Religion to learn something about the undead: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
Planes to learn something about the elementals: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
number of mirror images: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
familiar UMD to cast bless: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33

Nikita scratches his chin thoughtfully. Hov long haz zees place been sealed? Hov many centuriez haz zees battle been goving on? Do zey rezurrect for it every time or djust can't die? It seems that despite his affiliation with the paladins, Nikita is in no hurry to attack the mummies yet.

Taresh and Guy are up.

Please post the results of the knowledge rolls. I need that information before I can post actions.

Mummies: DR 5/—; Immune undead traits. Also anyone getting within 30ft of a mummy has to contend with their Aura of Despair.

Despair (Su) All creatures within a 30-foot radius that see a mummy must make a DC 18 Will save or be paralyzed by fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same mummy's despair ability for 24 hours. This is a paralysis and a mind-affecting fear affect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Elementals: DR 5/—; Immune elemental traits, fire Weaknesses vulnerability to cold

"It said something about protecting their mistress."

Guy activates his Aura of Heroism as a swift action. Every ally within 30' of Guy, including the elementals and mephits, have heroism.

He also boosts Nikki with a Blessing of the Faithful granting him, in particular, an addition +2 sacred bonus on his attack rolls.

Yay aura of despair!
Will vs aura 1: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 2 = 31 Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 1 rounds
Will vs aura 2: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 2 = 17 Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 3 rounds
Will vs aura 3: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 10 + 2 = 26 Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 4 rounds
Will vs aura 4: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 2 = 19 Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 3 rounds
Taresh triggers his sun shogun talisman of freedom to ignore the paralysis.

Guy can see one of the mummies:

will ST: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

Nikki, you provide bonuses against fear being a paladin and all?

Yep, each ally within 10 feet of Nikita gains +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects and charm effects.

The purple mummy attempts to smash the red elemental.
slam: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25 damage: 1d8 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18
((Red Elemental: -13))

Nikita is up

One way or another, the undead must be put to rest.

Nikita takes a step forward, raises his revolver, and says a few words in an incomprehensible language that sounds similar to his accent.

За Родину, за Революцию, за Рагатиэля!

Two shots echo down the corridor, and it feels like they are filled with the power of righteous anger.

5ft step, smite evil vs purple, full attack:
Revolver + Deadly Aim + Smite: 1d20 + 9 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 9 + 4 + 6 = 221d8 + 7 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 9 + 2 = 26 - vs touch AC
Revolver + Deadly Aim + Smite: 1d20 + 4 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 4 + 6 = 301d8 + 7 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 9 + 2 = 25 - vs touch AC
No Precise Shot, but hopefully it's not that important with so many baffs...

Two hits ((Purple mummy: -41))

The blue mummy attempts to take out a mephit.
slam: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36 damage: 1d8 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27
crit?: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

That mephit is blasted out of existence.

Katswiri is up.

Smite Evil bypasses all DR, so I think the mummy might have taken an extra 10 there. Smite also does double damage vs. Undead for the first hit, so that is probably another 9.

Katswiri will cast Blessing of Fervor. She can't quite hit both Taresh and Gurgle, so she'll hit Taresh, Guy, Herself, Nikita and both Fire Elementals. Then she will move up to get closer to the combat.

Will Save vs. Mind Affecting Fear, Aura of Courage: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 14 + 4 = 20
Will Save vs. Mind Affecting Fear, Aura of Courage: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 14 + 4 = 24
Will Save vs. Mind Affecting Fear, Aura of Courage: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 14 + 4 = 21
Will Save vs. Mind Affecting Fear, Aura of Courage: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 14 + 4 = 27

In that case, that's just enough to take the purple mummy out

The Red elemental double slams the Green Mummy
slam: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27 fire: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
slam: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32 fire: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
((Green mummy: -21))

Gurgle is up.

@Katswiri: Are you sure Gurgle isn't in range of your fervor spell?

"What? They're fighting mummies? I'll go in to help!"
Gurgle runs into the hallway, looks north where the mummies are ("Gah!"), then darts south and gets behind the large fire elemental.

Double move.

I went back and counted again, and I think you're right! Your previous position and Taresh look to be 30 feet apart, so Katswiri can get you too. Katswiri will include Gurgle with the spell as well.

The Green mummy continues slamming at the red elemental.
slam: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29 damage: 1d8 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

Two of the remaining mephits breathe on the red mummy, while the other one fires on blue
fire: 3d8 ⇒ (7, 3, 8) = 18

((Green mummy: -21, Red mummy: -15, Blue mummy: -12))
((Red elemental: -31))

Taresh, Guy & Nikita are up.