The Search for Aroden

Game Master Molech

I have just a makeshift club and a sling bag at present.

Almonihah,
You'll need to place your Avatar/Token into the room for that 17 to hit. Or, mwahahaha, you can wait for 'Me' to place your PC on a square of 'My' choosing, mwahahaha.

.

We started with another critical hit and, if Almonihah actually enters C9, a second hit. Maybe y'all can kill my Faceless Stalker before Rd 2?!?

Oh right, I can do that.

I hope everyone is okay with the placement of their PC.

I think Lemming is the only one without some kind of melee weapon so I put him out of the way. Everyone else has something to swing at the Faceless Stalker. Obviously the Dagger and the Morningstar are the two best weapons; the scalpel, baton/sap, and one of the stool-legs rounds out the group's meless options.

.

How is everyone doing viewing (and editing for their PC) the Google-Slides document? Are you able to see the combat well enough?

Yeah, it's clear enough to me.

?? I have the baton/sap. I'm pretty useless with it unless I get a crit, and I have been too lucky lately.

Apologies for not posing the last couple of days. I got called into work on both Thurs and Fri(it's officially Sat for me) and haven't had too much spare time to post. I'm in another combat in a different game, and since I can only toss rocks, figured I would just hang back for now. Shoulda said something, but didn't intend to miss my turn.

Monday was a bank holiday and I really thought it would be slow at work but holy moly, yesterday -- and today -- have been busy. I'm free now for a few minutes but trying to read Gameplay and see if it's my turn to attack or not: My brain is just fried. My monster may even be dead but I think it has one more hit left. Maybe in a couple hours, after dinner, I'll be recharged enough to actually *read* instead of stare with unfocused eyes at the blurry words.

Sounds good!

@ Dien,
Yes, I knew I changed your first round action a little bit; please accept my reason: When I first designed this encounter I knew it could be too much of a fight, especially if dice rolls went poorly -- and that without character sheets yet it could be a little harmful to the game as a whole. (I feel we are past that, maybe, but it's still in the back of my mind.) Anyway, I wanted to maximize each PC's Action and try to get one Attack Roll per PC each round, just in case I really need it. Six rolls vs one roll each round was the hope (What if I roll a crit; what if it starts looking like a tpk). So I just made it so everyone got off an attack roll. Also, I swapped your location with Lemming's 'Torch' PC even though you had wanted to be the supply chain of handing rocks to the PCs like a bucket-brigade -- from a safe distance. I did that only because I knew you had something with which to attack the Faceless Stalker. And 'Torch' does not; he can only throw rocks. It is all my fault. I understand and appreciate your concern and moving forward will 100% respect your prerogative to move your PC the way you lay out his actions. This was my acting out of fear rather than impatience. Please continue to roleplay the way you see fit. It is good.

Ummm Okay apparently right now I'm Agnry as a PC

Ummm Okay apparently right now I'm Agnry as a PC

Hopefully you're not 'wasting' all your 20s on a lone foe, lol

Slide Two is updated.

.

The puzzle-box cube is effectively a Rubik's Cube that is 4-by-4 rather than 3-by-3. Just in case my attempt at describing it failed.

.

You can remove the rubble from the bottom of C9 but -- it will be exhausting (obviously worse than Fatigued) and you will release the Zombies in B1.

You can choose to enter B1, fight the Zombies, and then break into a window into the Chapel of Pharasma-- C6.

Or you can try 'something' with the "Thing" behind the tapestry, the Manifesting Eye, that Monkeygod (among others) have pointed out speaks similar nonsense-words to Ulver Zandalus (still imprisoned in B9).

.

So, there's:

Getting to C6

The Manifesting Eye

The Puzzle Cube (no one has yet touched) and its connection to the Needle Khardon Dourstone brought back from his Nightmare of The Tatterman

Ulver Zandalus

The smell of Sulfer from (Lemming's character??) when he was near Ulver Zandalus and the NPC was staring at the PC.

And all the NPC survivors in B5

Hey team, I'm having some semi-serious medical issues right now. I will try to post as I can, but if I am holding anything up don't hesitate to bot me -- in contradiction of my earlier statements. ;)

Get well soon. I'll go ahead and roll an Aid-Another for a Fortitude Save for you, you know, just in case it may actualy help. Good vibes and all that. Let us know when you're able.

Ooof, hope the medical issues decrease in severity quickly!

I think I went through everyone's ideas and tricks with The Cube well enough for group satisfaction. Obviously there will be more to come but for now, it's about as much as you can know: A really, REALLY good roll on a Spellcraft-like Skill attempt (Untrained) ; An attempt to destroy it even with Magic and Silver, and that it heals itslef ; Connecting the Cube with the Needle or Pin from the Nightmare ;... All done. If any new ideas come along, go for it. But at least for now it's still mysterious.

I did rearrange the order chronologically from posting but that seems fair. The order of events I posted made for a reasonably good step-by-step series of attempts and ideas. And of course, just because Player A happens to post one idea/gambit before Player B, well, that's just a symptom of us having different schedules and getting to The Boards to post at different times. .... I think if we were all around a table the order of attempts would have voted for in about the same order: Most innocuous to most pernicious.

Metagame: When we are in a situation where, uh, 'Pushing The Flashing Red Button' would have dire consequences I'll make sure the group votes on an action rather than just let it happen just because the first Player on The Boards goes first. Um, like the following:

Please make the Ulver Zandalus gambits and The Manifesting Eye gambits a little more like votes: "I suggest that we do X instead of Y" rather than "I go and immediately do X." I mean, no Pit Fiend or Balrog is going to jump out of The Manifesting Eye if Ulver Zandalus says "Hi" to it or something. But still, pretty please try to roleplay some suggestions. And remember that ain't no one in the group knows what's what in this situation. (I remember reading the canon for the, er, 'solution' to "The Manifesting Eye" and I really didn't like it. It felt like one of those 'The-PCs-will-never-think-of-that' solutions that sometimes surprise the DM but, if the DM is right and no one thinks of it, the game could stall. .... I went to a few Campaign Journals and AP-Threads for Advice about it and, well, the AP-Threads did mention a few groups that were stumped, even frustrated, with the solution to The Manifesting Eye. Of course, in the Campaign Journals for PbP games the solution was suspiciously solved immediately each time. I wondered if the Players just read the page in the AP to figure it out and then went to their Gameplay. .... For our game, I have made some adjustments. Hopefully all will go well.

After reading the game play posts, I am curious: Did we stumble across a Hellraiser Box?? lol

Also, just as an FYI: We're possibly getting another really bad snow storm tomorrow into Mon. We still have plenty of snow leftover from the last big storm about a month or so ago. Hopefully, we'll be okay, but if I don't post for a few days, you know why.

It was supposed to snow here...Just got cold

What are you taling about, Snow?! It is 77 degrees outside; I have the air conditioning on! .... Oh yeah, I forgot, I live in South Florida. Even though I'm from northern Minnesota.

.

And "Yes," one may guess that it is supposed to be Exactly reminiscent of a Hellraiser Box.

Never seen any of those movies

Snow? What’s that? But…. I’m in Boston at the moment so, I remember what snow is now! And the forecast is that we’re going to get more. Lots more!!!

So far,

One vote for showing The Cube to the Manifesting Eye to see what happens

One (or two) votes for releasing Ulver Zandalus and taking him to the Manifesting Eye to see what happens.

.

If y'all want me to compile a post of the various descriptions and such of the Eye, Ulver Zandalus, and Cube to put here so it's easy to see in one post, let me know.

If y'all want me to compile a post of the various descriptions and such of the Eye, Ulver Zandalus, and Cube to put here so it's easy to see in one post, let me know.

That is certainly appreciated - since I'm kind of posting if and as I have the energy to do so, having things in one place rather than having to re-read a bunch of posts back to refresh myself could definitely be helpful.

Get well soon. I'll go ahead and roll an Aid-Another for a Fortitude Save for you, you know, just in case it may actualy help. Good vibes and all that. Let us know when you're able.

Ooof, hope the medical issues decrease in severity quickly!

Thanks to both of you! I definitely won't turn down any aid-anothers that could help T__T (On the plus side, we are now pretty sure the issues are NOT cancerous in nature, which is of course very good)

" (On the plus side, we are now pretty sure the issues are NOT cancerous in nature, which is of course very good) "

Having just recently lost a family member WAY too fast to cancer, that is good to hear.

dein wrote:

" (On the plus side, we are now pretty sure the issues are NOT cancerous in nature, which is of course very good) "

Having just recently lost a family member WAY too fast to cancer, that is good to hear.

Word. Roomie's dealing with cancer in multiple organs, my grandpa fought with both skin and prostate cancer, another close friend is currently fighting bone cancer.... it's the goddamn plague of our era and I don't know anybody who doesn't have a personal horror story, either their own or someone close to them. F@$% cancer.

Both grandmother's my mom and my dad all cancer deaths.

My grandpa's though 1 died before my dad was 16 from something heart related [50s era] and my other grandpa was Inphazema from smoking.

So yeah cancer sucks.

I lost my Uncle to cancer but especially at times like these I remember my friends who have sought and won: My business-mentor's wife fought and beat breast cancer. Victory! A university colleague back in the day. Victory. The grandmother of a lady I was with several years ago. Victory. We can fight! Keep good thoughts and those Fort Saves rolling!

In Gameplay I just compiled a handful of past-posts and tried to put it in a roleplay-like text. It will seem a little awkward but hopefully it'll help!

.

Coming in a few minutes will be a new Gameplay post....

I'm ready to post what happens if you release Ulver Zandalus and escort him to the Manifesting Eye in B8.

But it may prudent to allow you to suggest exactly what you try to do.

B1}

So the small, southeast courtyard for the doctors and priests has French Windows showing the beauty of the courtyard from Briarstone. But what do you call French Windows when there's no France? I've been saying big window or large glass pane. Or whatever. Also, the room connecting the courtyard to the rest of Briarstone -- confusingly ALSO part of B1 instead of given its own map-key number -- is a "Florida Room." So. Um. What do you call a Florida Room if there's no Florida? I am calling it a "Day Room" -- but it's a FLorida Room. .... Um. Uh. Do folks outside of Florida know what a Florida Room is? (They have 'em Ustalov, LOL.)

B1}

So the small, southeast courtyard for the doctors and priests has French Windows showing the beauty of the courtyard from Briarstone. But what do you call French Windows when there's no France? I've been saying big window or large glass pane. Or whatever. Also, the room connecting the courtyard to the rest of Briarstone -- confusingly ALSO part of B1 instead of given its own map-key number -- is a "Florida Room." So. Um. What do you call a Florida Room if there's no Florida? I am calling it a "Day Room" -- but it's a FLorida Room. .... Um. Uh. Do folks outside of Florida know what a Florida Room is? (They have 'em Ustalov, LOL.)

Apparently, a sunroom? We have one, except ours is an actual room in our hose, but with big heckin windows. And it's on the Eastern side of the house, so it gets plenty of sun. Like, I walked in there before, and it was 80 degrees, while it's around 30ish outside, lol

Yeah, every once in a while I hear someone say Sunroom. Here in Florida we just say Florida Room. I think if our game were in Qadira or Katapesh we could call it a Sunroom. In Ustalov, I think Day-Room is good. But I had never heard of Florida Room until I moved here. We ain't got FL Rooms in Northern Minnesota (or South Philly) so I don't know. But Googling some images gives you an idea of that room is and why it's part of B1 -- and why its outer door broke so easily.

French doors and Dutch Doors!!!

There's also the term 'three-season porch' which describes an attachment to the house that is generally used in all seasons except winter as a place to soak up sun/enjoy weather/view/big windows/etc. Not really the same exact thing as a Florida Room, but kind of? conceptually adjacent.

Emergency at work today (Banking stuff).

Sorry about this week -- work has been bad, putting out fires and fixing some banking and acounting stuff.

I will get to the Campaign this weekend -- likely Friday sometime.

Becasue of the lost week and the feeling of falling behind, and my desire to get y'all to your character sheets asap, I'm going to resolve the Ulver Zandalus-Manifesting Eye Encounter a bit easier than originally designed. Just gonna do it.

Again sorry about the lost week.

Monday Tuesday and Wednesday of *next* week will ALSO be really tough for me. But by all accounts everything should be resolved for the second half of next week and I can get back to a standard routine. Normalcy.

RL happens. No problem. We're here when the game starts moving again.

Well it's been a couple weeks but I am back.

The anxiety of a financial crisis in my business -- even as I was getting ahead of it and resolving it -- took its toll on me emotionally and, even when I had leisure time to come here, and energy rather than exhaustion -- I simply could not concentrate on being a DM. Every time I had a few minutes to try to think of how to develop the next scene -- Ulver Zandalus and The Eye -- my mind would go straight back to real life. I became concerned I could actually lose my business and be forced to retire early, leading me to start looking at retirement lifestyle. I knew I'd get past it, but, well, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I want to get through The Wall without a battle-grid.

Throw out any ideas you may have in Gameplay.

.... I thought about arbitrarily having Ulver Zandalus and The Eye kill each other but, well, in case y'all want to try something to save the patient or whatever, I didn't want to railroad the outcome.

@ Lemming,

Regarding your PM:

Absolutely! and Of Course!

Well it's been a couple weeks but I am back.

The anxiety of a financial crisis in my business -- even as I was getting ahead of it and resolving it -- took its toll on me emotionally and, even when I had leisure time to come here, and energy rather than exhaustion -- I simply could not concentrate on being a DM. Every time I had a few minutes to try to think of how to develop the next scene -- Ulver Zandalus and The Eye -- my mind would go straight back to real life. I became concerned I could actually lose my business and be forced to retire early, leading me to start looking at retirement lifestyle. I knew I'd get past it, but, well, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Welcome back! Just wanted to say that what you've said is completely understandable. I hope that the storm has passed, and that all is better now.

So he eye is causing powerful weird effects

@ Critzible,
I tried to be ambiguous with what the Eye is doing -- "powerful" effects may be too much but certainly "weird" effects. A little ammonia/arsenic ranged-splash attack. And the spider from deep inside its iris. Horror-ambiguity, concern for amnesiac PCs with no stat-blocks. But not exactly Cthulhu.

This part is fun!

Well it's been a couple weeks but I am back.

The anxiety of a financial crisis in my business -- even as I was getting ahead of it and resolving it -- took its toll on me emotionally and, even when I had leisure time to come here, and energy rather than exhaustion -- I simply could not concentrate on being a DM. Every time I had a few minutes to try to think of how to develop the next scene -- Ulver Zandalus and The Eye -- my mind would go straight back to real life. I became concerned I could actually lose my business and be forced to retire early, leading me to start looking at retirement lifestyle. I knew I'd get past it, but, well, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

That is perfectly understandable. It has been an anxious time for most of us, I think.

Gameplay clarification:

Ulver Zandalus is mostly dead and dying from spider bites and ammonia/arsenic/silver-polish-like stuff.

Ulver Zandalus is 'hanging'(?) head first *inside* the hole he made in the Eye. He probably can't breathe.

The Eye is dying or dead. The Spiders are dying or dead as The Eye dies.

To the left, the commotion and sound of insane attacks has drawn the two Zombies in the courtyard to the French-window. I have edited the slide of the inner courtyard, B1, to show the Zombies pressing up against the glass. .... The third Zombie is still (presumably) in the 'Day-Room' connecting the inner courtyard to the southwest wing of Briarstone.

.

Lemming's PC doesn't notice anything extra with his Perception. (I'm not sure what he was looking for. Feel free to clarify for me if needed.)

.

You can freely pull-out Ulver Zandalus from the dying Eye and see if he can be healed somehow. Or just leave him to die and start cleaning off the tendrils and viscera and ichor in order to re-establish entry into C1.

I've played lots of pathfinder. I can't recall any scene being as...visceral as that one. Or as disturbing.

To put it another way: 10/10, well done!