[Outpost VIII] GM Jhaeman's PFS1 # 2-16: 'The Flesh Collector' (Inactive)

Game Master Jhaeman

Initiative (Round 2)

Students (Yellow disabled, Blue shaken, White grappled))
The Rock
Tull
Master (unconscious, stable)
Pai
Nikita
Lorian
Spica

Bold should go!

"Ummm... I don't wanna accidentally kill anybody again!" Pai whines. "Hey guys! Can we please just chill and talk! That's what we tried to do in the first place!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
I don't expect her to convince everyone, so this is just RP.

When no one stops fighting instantly, Pai's nonexistent patience snaps. "Alright, fine! But don't say I didn't warn you!" She sends a regular blast of lightning at the black-robed student, but tries not to make him too crispy.

Electric blast vs. Touch AC, nonlethal: 1d20 + 15 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 15 - 4 = 215d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 5, 3) + 3 = 21
Spell Resistance, if applicable: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21
Extended Range = 120'. Infusion Specialization covers the Burn cost, so it's free.

"Your master lays at our feet. One of you is also on the ground, one is wrapped up like a pretzel, and the last of you is ready to run for the hills. Drop what you are doing so we can get this mess sorted out. Lorian said in a clear and commanding voice.

"I know that the writing on the statue is in the language of the Vudrani, it says "Thief". Let us find out what is going on as I am more use to seeing the word Thief on a flyer and not a statue."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 41 ⇒ (5) + 41 = 46

Spica tries to use her Dispel Magic scroll to remove the possession.
clc: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 ((since it's a scroll))

I sahpport zeat, zees fight doezn't make any sense. You have been deceived by oahr common enemies! Zeee capitalists!

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34

As Pai blasts one of the newly-arrived students with electricity, Spica expends a valuable magical scroll in a valiant but futile attempt to remove whatever magical enchantment is affecting the unconscious master. And although Lorian and Nikita make persuasive cases for a truce, the students' zeal and devotion to their master make them deaf to reason!

Pai's blast hits Black.

Spica's dispel magic caster level check doesn't make the DC.

Unless someone has something like the Call Truce feat or enchantment magic of your own, these students are Hostile and Diplomacy isn't going to work on them in the middle of a battle.

Despite the odds stacked against them, the dedicated young monks refuse to surrender! One slams the side of Tull's face with a spinning backhand and follows it up with a jumping front snap kick to the bridge of his nose! Another struggles (and fails) to break free of Ginger's grip, while a third gets warily to his feet and a fourth swallows the contents of a small glass vial and begins to float a few inches off the ground . . .

Blue does a 5' step closer to Tull, uses another ki point for AC, and does another nonlethal flurry of blows. Results: Tull is hit once for 10 NL damage. (@Tull: Please add this cumulative NL damage to your tagline).

Yellow expends 2 ki for Wholeness of Body to recover 7 hp, and no longer has the Disabled condition. He will do Total Defence as a standard action and get to his feet as a move action. This provokes an AoO from Nikita.

White tries to break Ginger's grapple. Result: Fail.

Black spends 1 ki on AC and then draws and drinks a potion.

Initiative (Round 3)

Students (Blue shaken, White grappled))
The Rock
Tull
Master (unconscious, stable)
Pai
Nikita (+AoO vs Yellow)
Lorian
Spica

Bold should go!

Tull has now taken 27 non-lethal (tag line updated).

Tull steps 5' to the northeast and then casts protection from evil on the fallen master (gives an immediate save vs mental control with a +2 morale bonus) using Lunge to give himself 10' reach. Tull's AC is now 17 until his next turn.

GM, if you feel that Lunge can only be used for attacks, but not for spell delivery, then in that case Tull would just move to the Master, provoking an AoO from Blue (with Tull at AC 19), and then still do the same action.

"Well, shucks guys! Looks like we'll have to knock 'em all out and sort this out later. Geez!" Pai shrugs and flies a bit closer to the student with the black clothes and zaps another arc of electricity at him.

Electric blast vs. Black's Touch AC, nonlethal, Point Blank Shot: 1d20 + 15 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 15 - 4 + 1 = 17
Electric damage vs. Black, Point Blank Shot: 5d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3, 1, 2, 2, 4) + 3 + 1 = 16
Spell Resistance, if applicable: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

Much to her annoyance, Spica doesn't have any non-lethal options. So she casts Cat's Grace on Tull.

Open to suggestions here people

Tull shrouds the unconscious master with abjuration magic in a bid to drive out whatever is dominating his mind! But all around them, the battle is still going on. One of the student monks leaps just over Pai's electric blast!

As the master is currently unconscious, it won't be possible to determine through Sense Motive whether or not he is still dominated (though detection spells will still work).

Pai's blast misses Black's touch AC (thanks to the ki point spent on AC).

The Rock, Nikita, and Lorian are up.

"So be it!" Lorian said as he stepped over to assist Nikita. Looking to time it just right, he proceeded smash the pommel of the rapier across the grappled foe.

Rapier NL: 1d20 + 14 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 14 - 4 = 201d6 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

At his master's direction Ginger tries to pulls in the grappled monk and attempts to pin him in her sizeable jaws.

Grapple vs White, Failed to Escape Grapple bonus vs CMD: 1d20 + 19 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 19 + 5 = 25

That is a miss. :)

The Rock flies down and stomps on the ground hard reducing the area around the two monks to rubble (White and Black are in the line area of effect).

Earth Tremor, Bludgeoning Damage,Reflex DC 18 for half damage and to avoid falling prone: 10d4 ⇒ (2, 3, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 3, 1, 3) = 23

Areas marked in blue now require 2 squares of movement to cross.

This is definitely not the most efficient spell to use against monks but I love the visual effect. It is just so much fun to blow up the battlefield. :)

No melee weapon now for AoO.

Well... Nikita shoots several times, but without enthusiasm - he does not feel evil in them.

Revolver + Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 171d8 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 - vs touch AC
Revolver + Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 161d8 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 - vs touch AC

Two shots at the enemies (those who are still standing); hopefully this minor damage won't kill them.

THUD! Lorian's rapier pommel smashes into the back of one of the student monks, knocking him out instantly.

And then, the quadrangle rumbles as The Rock's stomp creates an earth tremor! One of the monks is too slow to react and is knocked to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

Gunshots accompanied by acid smoke fill the courtyard as Nikita starts to shoot at the unarmed foes!

Yellow takes enough nonlethal damage from Lorian to go unconscious.

White failed the Reflex save vs the earth tremor and is Dying. Black made the save and, with evasion, takes no damage.

Both of Nikita's attacks missed Blue's Touch AC (thanks to the ki point spent on AC earlier this round).

@Everyone: I've rotated a token on its side to reflect if the creature is unconscious or dying.

Nikita takes a spinning crescent kick to the jaw while another monk magically flies into the air in a bid to get Pai in a painful submission hold!

Blue (still shaken this round) spends its last ki point on AC again, and then does a charge on Nikita with a stunning fist and nonlethal damage. Result: Hit. Nikita, you take 7 nonlethal damage and need to make a DC 14 Fortitude save to avoid being stunned for 1 round.

Black is under the effects of fly and ascends 25' to get within reach of Pai. It spends 1 point of ki on AC and then tries an improved grapple on her. Result: Success. Pai (and Black) now have the grappled condition.

Initiative (Round 4)

Students (White dying, Black grappling, Blue shaken/charged)
The Rock
Tull
Master (unconscious, stable)
Pai (grappled)
Nikita
Lorian
Spica

Bold should go!

Spica suddenly slams her palm into a forehead. By the Gods, I'm an idiot. I DO have one.

She had completely forgotten about her Lesser Merciful Metamagic Rod until now. She grabs it and fires a volley of non-lethal missiles at the flying monk. (Black)

mm: 5d4 + 5 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 3, 4) + 5 = 19

Pai is surprised by the sudden bear hug she's getting from the black-robed studen. "Whoa! Hiya, handsome! No need to hug so tight!" She squirms in his grasp, just enough to distract him, as she tries to plant a cheeky little electric swat on his cheeky little rump.

Electric blast vs. Black's Touch AC, Grappled, Point Blank Shot, Nonlethal: 1d20 + 15 - 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 15 - 2 + 1 - 4 = 14
Electric damage, Point Blank Shot: 5d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3, 3, 2, 1, 1) + 3 + 1 = 14
Spell Resistance, if applicable: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

Unfortunately, he's holding her a bit too high for her shorter arms to reach her target. Boo! That would've been hilarious! Oh, well. "Kiss me like you miss me!" She taunts.

Tull invokes sacred healing energy from Desna, in hopes that healing the master will enable them to see if he has been freed from whatever malevolent control has consumed him and thus, perhaps, get his students to stop fighting before they get (even more) hurt (and also hopefully keeping White from dying).

Standard action: two uses of Fervor (3/9) to channel energy to heal everyone within 30' of Tull
Channel Energy healing: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 6) = 14
Tull now has 13 non-lethal dmg

Tull still has a move action and a swift (that he could use to swift cast on himself) but he'll wait to see if there's any obvious impact from healing the master.

Ginger moves forward and attempts to bite a chunk out of Blue.

Bite vs Blue: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Bite Damage (Magic): 3d6 + 18 ⇒ (1, 3, 6) + 18 = 28

Grapple attempt on a hit: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (20) + 19 = 39

The Rock flies forward and attempts to slam his elemental body into Blue.

Slam Attack, Power Attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 11 - 2 = 28

Slam, Power Attack: 1d6 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 6 = 13

Rapier vs Blue, NL: 1d20 + 14 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 14 - 4 = 211d6 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Stepping over the unconscious foe, Lorian continued to use the wrong end of the rapier on the foes.

As Spica sends magical missiles of pure force at the monk wrestling with Pai in mid-air, on the other side of the quadrangle The Rock and Lorian work together to pummel another monk into unconsciousness!

Spica's magic missiles does full (nonlethal) damage to Black.

Pai's blast misses Black's modified touch AC.

Ginger's and The Rock's and Lorian's attacks all hit Blue, who is knocked unconscious by having more nonlethal damage than current hit points.

Nikita is up.

And how is White doing after channel energy ? Is he still dying?

That's an excellent question--I forgot to describe the effects of the channel on the NPCs. Here is the run-down:
White is no longer dying (was 1 round away!), and is actually conscious now at 1 hp.
The master monk is now in positive hp and conscious as well.
Blue's current hp now exceeds his nonlethal damage (magical healing also removes an equal amount of nonlethal damage) and is conscious again.
Yellow is now conscious again as well.

Nikita, it's still your turn.

What sort of action is it to Sense Motive on the Master?

Fort: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

Nikita puts the pistol away, and goes to the lying Master Monk, pulling out a one-and-a-half sword as he goes. Don't get up, he says, standing with the blade raised over the body.

The master stirs as Nikita strides over, blade in hand. The old man looks groggy and confused, and then it's as if the world comes crashing down on him in a moment. He wails in Vudrani and rolls on the ground gibbering. His students suddenly stop fighting, looking at their master with confusion and compassion.

@Tull: Officially it "generally takes at least 1 minute, and you could spend a whole evening trying to get a sense of the people around you." My general approach is to require some interaction with the person (like Pai had in speaking with him) and then I allow a check.

We can go off Initiative.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Lorian was happy at the sudden change of things and held up his hand as he tried to remember what he could of the Vudrani language. "Would any of you by chance speak the trade tongue?" he asked.

Spica looks annoyed. I would if I had the right spell. I got Comprehend Languages but not Tongues.

The students nod in Lorian's direction, indicating they know enough Taldane to understand his question, but then they return to anxious glances at their master's bizarre behavior. The old man seems incredibly agitated--besides himself with dismay and regret.

It's going to take either a Diplomacy check to calm down the old man enough to speak, or a Diplomacy/Intimidate check to convince one of the students to speak with you.

Nikita sheaths his blade and makes soothing gestures, spreading his arms to the sides and shaking his head, showing that as a guest he is not offended at all. It was a good workout (and not too difficult, except for the moment when we had to try not to kill any of the students).

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27

Once the students stop fighting, Pai does too. At the sound of the master's wails, her face melts. "Ohhh, poor man!" She flies down and throws her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry for hurting you so badly! I didn't mean to. Let's start over and make this all okay!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Nikita's soothing gestures and Pai's kind embrace finally seem to settle the overwrought master. He speaks in a sad whisper "I do not know why I have acted the way I have . . . Everything has become so strange over the past year, about since the papermaking workshop shut down. I believed, like many of us, that sacred visions and the presence of Irori were guiding my words and hands--but now . . . I don't have confidence this was true. For some reason I can't fathom, I decreed that only myself and the senior priests would be allowed inside the temple, and I sent many of the priests to the far corners of Golarion to return with documents to study."

The old master looks over at Nikita and tears begin to well up in his eyes. "I owe you a deep apology. I do not remember why you were marked as a thief. Priestess Isa returned several days ago from a trip to Ecanus and Andoran. She carved the bust of you soon after returning. Our library has been plagued by the theft of dozens of books and scrolls, and yet I know you were not even present in the monastery during this period!"

We came here investigating a theft as well. Maybe whoever has been raiding your library raided ours as well.

"Let us work to locate this person or creature that seeks to disrupt the harmony of this temple. " Lorian said. "While everyone is getting patched up, we can use the time to start from the beginning and see if we can figure out what happened."

Diplomacy (Gather information): 1d20 + 41 ⇒ (20) + 41 = 61

Eet's not your faahlt, obviously. Somezing affected your mind and vye veell find zee culprit. Nikita holds out his hand for a handshake.

"And then we'll give them a piece of our minds! And they'll choke on it! OOOO! I'm so steaming mad they did that to you! Messing with people's minds is not cool!" Pai exclaims vehemently. Her normal peach coloring darkens with furious indignation into an orange almost as bright as her hair. "Oh! Who else around here is possessed? Is Priestess Isa still here? Can you help us just talk to her, without all the fighty bits? --Hey! She just came back from Andoran, huh? What a coincidence." She shoots a meaningful look to her teammates.

The old master says "You will find Priestess Isa and the other clergy in the temple." He points to the large pair of double-doors on the east side of the quadrangle. "I will not accompany you. I am not worthy to enter such a sacred space." Tears of shame begin welling up in his eyes, as his students look on with feelings of concern.

@Lorian: A skill check isn't needed at this point (the old master has been made Helpful already), though you'll need to ask specific questions if there's something else you want to learn.

Just out of curiosity, to which deity is the place sacred to? Irori?

k religion: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

She tries to remember who Irori is

While the group converses with the master Tull uses his wand to heal himself and anyone else in need.
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7 Tull is fully healed

Listening to the master's narrative, Tull grimaces. "So it was Priestess Issa who tried to pin the blame on Nikita, was it? By Desna's Dainty Dentures, she'd better have a good explanation!"

He strides off in the direction of the temple, gripping his axe angrily.

I'm fairly sure Desna has all her own teeth Tull Spica says as she starts to follow.

"Well of course she does! How do you think her dentures have stayed so dainty?!?"

"I will not accompany you. I am not worthy to enter such a sacred space."

Pai gives the old master another hug. "Ohhhh, don't give up hope! All gods let you atone for your mistakes, if you mean it. I'm Pai, by the way. What's your name?"

"By Desna's Dainty Dentures..."

"Well of course she does! How do you think her dentures have stayed so dainty?!?"

"Weeeheeheeeheeehee! I'm just picturing a woman with a regular-sized mouth and itty-bitty-sized teeth. The same number, mind you, but they're all spaced out and, like, minuscule. Hahahaha! Sorry, Tull! I don't know what Desna looks like, so I'm not picturing her, I swear! Just some random lady. Heeheehee!" Pai giggles irreverently.

Recovering, she glances toward the temple. "Huh. Surely they heard the ruckus out here. You think they're laying an ambush for us in there?"

Spica just sighs. She just hopes that Desna finds all of this humorous.

Although unwilling to enter the temple himself, the master offers up a key to the temple's heavy wooden doors. He hangs his head in shame as Pai asks him what his name is, saying that he is no longer worthy of bearing a name!

Tull opens the doors to show that the huge temple encloses a peaceful, echoing space. A faint aroma of old incense lingers here. Polished blue flagstones decorate the floor. Where the walls meet, the corners curve gently so that nothing jars the eyes.

At the temple’s center, a round wooden pillar rises out of the floor, stretching up to support the roof ninety feet above. Bizarrely, the pillar bristles with a motley collection of lumber, as if someone were building some horrific mockery of a tree. Joists, beams, a door, and a ship’s figurehead--an angel holding twin scythes--all hang off the pillar like branches. Thousands of scrolls and books hang from every surface as if they were leaves!

Between the door and pillar sit four priests--two men and two women--facing one another as in in meditation; in front of each is a teacup.

Map updated.

Before entering the temple the Rock spends a few moments recovering a couple of expended spells with two pearls of power. He then prepares himself for another possible confrontation with the use of his wand (Heightened Awareness).