GM Blood's Age of Worms in Golarion #2

Game Master David James Olsen

One of the reasons I think I like casters (Bards, Witch, Wizard, Sorcerer), you have far fewer bad rolls because most of the time in combat you are not rolling.

[Spoiler=GM Blood]
Initiative Kilthan Hammerstone - Below Ground: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Initiative Aarakess Halcorn: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Initiative Dryn'taka Devilschild: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Initiative Skorhald Warsong: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Initiative Justin D'Rite: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18
Initiative Rohara Acharya: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Initiative Monster: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

You take some time to rest down here, to recover your spells. You decide it wise to take shifts during the night. While Kilthan is on watch, suddenly the door from the mirror maze opens up and a tentacle faced creature wearing cloths with a symbol on it (The same one as on the paper found here that called the doppelganger leader a thrall).

The things moves across the room and let out some sort of mental blast that hits you and Jagdbach, scrambling your mind Will Save DC 20 or be stunned for 3d4 ⇒ (1, 1, 4) = 6 rounds. Behind it come three drow two move to the stairs carrying rapiers and shields, while the third carries a hand crossbow.

Stealth Drow #1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Stealth Drow #2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Stealth Drow #3: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Stealth Creature: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 20 = 37

Note that the right side of the room is lower (The steps go down about 10 feet) but the throne on the dais is the same level as the left side of the room

Round 1

Initiative Order - Bad Guys, Kilthan/Jag, Sleeping Folk

Drow AC 20 T 13 FF 17 CMD 21

Creature AC ?? T ?? FF ?? CMD ?

Kilthan, an Abberation and Drow while underground...right up your alley! But seriously one of your better make that save to wake the others!

Will (Kilthan): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 Well, crud. Guess I should have dipped something Will-ish instead of staying ranger.
Will (Jagdbach): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 Yay! We're not all dead!

Jagdbach shakes his mind from the blast and looks over at his two-foot friend who seems to be reeling, rather than grabbing his steelclaw and spikeshell. He turns to the newcomers and snarls as he steps over to guard his tall companion... and then remembers the companion's huntpack, and starts to releasing a loud series of yips to wake them, starting with a high-pitched noise, but descending quickly into a lower snarl as the fury in him boils over at the stupid beasts threatening his pack.

While he's intelligent(ish) now, his default position is to guard Kilthan. So -> Move (to Kilthan's side), Standard -> Readied Action: (Kill anything that comes near either of them), Free -> Scream, and enter Rage

Holy crap! I was thinking we were pulling a lever!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz.....

I asked and it was rest first then pull lever. He was scheduled to attack there as you left (Assuming you would leave almost immediately), but I figured why would he wait until you rested up!

The badger's loud scream wakes all of you up. (You are in the next room). This round's actions will consist of waking and rising/grabbing a weapon. You are in the other room with the door closed so you cannot see out there yet or know what is going on.and takes a move action to open You can take next round's action. Remember light armor for sleeping at best for those sleeping (You could have used one of the ones found for those who normally wear heavy armor or you can be without)

The drow with the crossbow shoots first at Jagdbach then drops the hand crossbow and moves in to attack Jagdbach with his rapier

Hand Crossbow Drow #3: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2 Fort Save DC 13 if hit

The other two move closer to Jag, flanking him.

Rapier Drow #1: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 12 + 2 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12 Fort Save DC 13 if hit

Rapier Drow #2: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 12 + 2 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8 Fort Save DC 13 if hit

The remaining creature, not concerned anymore about stealth, casts a spell flinging a lightning bolt at Jag and Kilthan.

Electric Damage: 8d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 6, 6, 4, 1, 2, 2) = 26 Reflex DC 16 for half

Note that the right side of the room is lower (The steps go down about 10 feet) but the throne on the dais is the same level as the left side of the room

Round 2

Initiative Order - Bad Guys, Kilthan (stunned), Jagdbach, Justin, Dryn, Skorhald, Aarakess, Rohara

Drow AC 20 T 13 FF 17 CMD 21

Creature AC ?? T ?? FF ?? CMD ?

((I assume if we were going to rest that Rohara would use what she has left to make sure that others are healed up to an acceptable level, at the very least as much as she could.))

Round 1

Rohara, who choose to rest in some of the light armor that the group discovered is roused by the growls of Jagdbach. She grabs up her shield and weapon and stands to meet the threat...

Round 2

"Justin... Skorhald, if you wish to attack that... that spellcaster creature without going through the others I can get us there." Rohara says as she steps closer to the two men, "Decide quickly."

5-foot step to AJ-24, delay for an answer... (FYI: dimension door can be so much fun. Rohara also has Dimensional Hop as well.)

Justin nods as he grabs his new axe.

"Let's jump!"

Round 2 (continued)

((I am not sure of Skorhald would come or move in to help Kilthan))

Rohara reaches out and touches Justin (and Skorland if he agrees) and starts to cast her spell "Lady Luck, guide us to our destination." And with that the small group disappear only to instantly reappear close to the strange looking spellcaster.

Cast dimension door... transport to (Rohara at AN-16, Justin AM-17 (5-foot step to baddie), (if Skorhald comes along he is at AM-16)

Remember, those in the room sleeping can't see the other room

Aarakess wakes up to the screeching.
What the heck was that?

"Open the door Aarakess we are using Magical travel."

Justin seems as excited to use the magic as he is about the utility of it. Justin looks longingly at his full plate armor in the corner.

Aarakess nods to Cieslx who quickly flies over and begins to open the door with his tiny claws.

At the same time, Aarakess calls upon her patron and a moment later the entire party sees the world slow about them.

Cast Haste. I assume that this will get everyone except Kilthan and Jadgbach.

After Aarakess casts haste (You did have one left over since you haven't had a full night's rest yet, yes?) Rohara grabs Justin and Skorhald appearing next to the tentacled spellcaster At which point you can attempt a dungeoneering roll if you have it

I had to shift Justin and Skorhald one square to the left as I believe you cannot re-arrange positions with Dim Door or Dim Hop either.

Justin and Skorhald out in the main hall are up as well as Dryn inside the room.

Justin round 2

Effects haste+lunging+hopefully inspire

AC=10+4(chain shirt)+2(nat armor)+1(amulet)+1(ring)+1(HASTE)-2(lunge)=17

Justin just starts swinging after popping out of dimension with a big grin on his face.

Five foot step if allowed diagonally up and right. If not, regardless, he uses his lunge feat for {reach and -2 AC} to keep the caster from stepping and casting--Justin will wait for inspire if he can--inspire bonus not included.

attack/damage/xtra elemental damage: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 341d12 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 251d6 ⇒ 3
iterative/damage/xtra elemental damage: 1d20 + 14 - 7 ⇒ (6) + 14 - 7 = 131d12 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 241d6 ⇒ 2
haste bonus/damage/xtra elemental damage: 1d20 + 14 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 14 - 2 = 301d12 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 191d6 ⇒ 4
confirm first?/damage: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 242d12 + 28 ⇒ (3, 1) + 28 = 32

Didn't have all my bonuses calculated correctly -- forgot the power attack 'leveled' and I am level 8 now!
Attack 1 should be 35 to hit with 28 damage (3 elemental)
iterative should be 13 to hit 27 damage (2 elemental)
haste bonus should be 30 to hit 22 damage (4 elemental)
confirm should be 25 to hit 38 extra damage

Justin bites at the tentacle beast.
bite: 1d20 + 13 - 8 ⇒ (19) + 13 - 8 = 241d3 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Pretty sure that I had a haste left considering all the discussion in the last battle. I really do not know what I have other than that as I cleaned my character sheet up thinking that we had leveled and were resting. Pretty sure that I used healing hexes on most everyone, but have not used many fortune hexes. Only a few spells left.

There was one stored in the item too.

50% Miss chance Hit #1 (Axe Crit): 1d100 ⇒ 52
50% Miss chance Hit #2 Axe: 1d100 ⇒ 61
50% Miss chance Hit #3 Bite: 1d100 ⇒ 54

The creature was not exactly where he appeared to be, but it does not matter to Justin who manages to score 2 axe hits and a bite.

DMPC those who are on vacation

Skorhald casts silence near the creature, stopping it from casting. It withdraws however past the are of silence and then disappears after casting a spell

The drow warriors fight on, unaware or unafraid that the creature abandoned them after taking the powerful hits from Justin.

Fast Forwarding the battle

Without the support of the other creature, Justin and Skorhald along with Jagdbach dispatch the drow taking only a couple of minor wounds.

Also there is something odd on the drow's boots, a weird yellow fungus

Image of Creature that Attacked (The symbol is on the creature's clothes at the bottom)

Closer image of the symbol on the forehead of the doppelganger leader

Checks to identify the creature (For those in the room who saw it)

Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 12 + 2 = 32 +2 Favoured Enemy, I assume? -- Also, where was that 18 when I saved?

Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Kilthan explains what the thing that attacked was and its abilities, and why he was unable to help in the fight. He then notices the drow's boots and says, "That looks like Beggar's Gold... It feeds on the cast offs from the smelting of metal... so it grows in dark places where the run-off from foundries or smithies collects..."

As Skorhald and Aarakess describe the loot from the drow warriors, Kilthan nods, "They might have been slaves to the ilithid... which would explain why he was so quick to abandon them... Still, one of those chain shirts might be an upgrade for Dryn... it's the same amount of protection, but a little less restrictive than the hide shirt, in any case."

Edit: To reflect GM Blood's comment about how the drow-loot should be doubled.

Sorry my bad, that loot was for each one of the Drow

Let's try this again

Image of Creature that Attacked (The symbol is on the creature's clothes at the bottom)

Closer image of the symbol on the forehead of the doppelganger leader Closer image of the symbol on the forehead of the doppelganger leader

((That would be 3 sets of the loot Kilthan, considering there were 3 drow))

Spellcraft 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16 (no dice for Rohara)
Knowledge Local 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24

"Smelting cast offs you say?" she asks of Kilthan when he seems to notice something on the drow boots. "There is a rather large smithy here in the Lowcleft district called the Cold Forge. I believe they specialize in making cold iron weapons."

"I am sure that Skorhald might be able to use one of those chain shirts as well... with perhaps some adjusting." The cleric adds her comments regarding the collected armor.

Hey, I was too busy drooling and thinking about calamari to count the drow properly.. :)

FYI, it was pointed out I made a mistake when having the Mind Flayer withdraw and cast, so Justin you get an AoO as he will just move away instead

FYI, it was pointed out I made a mistake when having the Mind Flayer withdraw and cast, so Justin you get an AoO as he will just move away instead

Was wondering about that, but figured that it had some special free/swift action Plane Shift.

Hit him hard Palizard.

Having extended his reach, Justin hits the creature.

conceal/hit/damage/elemental: 1d100 ⇒ 921d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 211d12 + 17 ⇒ (8) + 17 = 251d6 ⇒ 3

If furious focus does not apply to AoOs, subtract 9 damage

It might make more sense to subtract three to hit and keep the damage. Justin likes to power attack. He would only not power attack if the creature looked about to fall.

Justin looks at the chain shirts.
"If there is a spare magic one, I can keep it for a nighty shirt."

Once you power attack you keep the minus to hit and extra damage until your next turn

So the creature moves out of silence and then does his spell.

So you know have the mirror, a bunch of info about the doppelgangers, boots with the runoff on their shoes, and the doppelganger leader meeting with him beneath the cold forge...of which you may know where that is. Also it appears the mind flayer has other thralls and can move around with spells and ability.

No more attacks happen down here. The lever lowers and raises the water allowing you to easily make it out once the water is lowered and the magic rope used.

"Wow, that creature was tough!! Why was he so hard to hit!! Since that bada$$ escaped, keeping the meeting at the Cold Forge may be a trap."

He looks to make sure Kilthan and his furry friend are OK.

"Well, let us take the treasure we have back to town and make sure we can unravel the evil these monsters have done."

Justin concurs with Rohara. Rather than just start handing back the documents of the conspiracy, they will spend the time reviewing the documents then 'grabbing up' a few of those in the documents to make sure they are innocent victims and not part of the conspiracy after some extended questioning and detect evils.

I don't know if you want to hand wave this part--Rohara and Justin want to make sure the evil is cleansed. Rohara rightly pointed out that there may be a few agents left and we may be able to catch some with a little subtlety, which Justin normally wouldn't think of.

Kilthan waves a hand at Justin's concern, "Fine, but with a splitting headache. I'm sure it'll pass."

He looks at the gear and then nods, "That thing has other slaves, and we seem to know where they've been. Perhaps we should take a day to go over the notes and, where we can, warn the appropriate parties -- then head to the Forge and see if we can't finish breaking the spine of all of this.... and some of us can likely deal with this gear while the plans and notes are being studied and the warnings given."

He then adds, "Of course, considering the nature of the threat, I wouldn't recommend telling anyone of our plan to head to the Forge."

Nodding to Kilthan, Skorhald says "Sounds like a good plan, lad. You all have been on this path much longer than I, and I will defer as to next steps."

Justin nods at the suggestion:
"We will spend a day selling and buying goods, going over the notes, and informing the appropriate authorities. The temple of Iomedae can be replied upon to buy our mirror and handle the business of cleansing the remaining evil."

After a day of trading, selling and purchasing, you head out to investigate the cold forge area before the mind flayer surprise attacks you again.

Finding the business is rather easy once you get close. Asking around, you find out the Cold Forge is run by a dwarf named Crusty Patten. It seems he is foul mouthed, but well respected.

Casually walking around the area there is a sewer entrance near the Cold Forge.

"Before we go in, ye lads want to tell me what we're lookin' for in this Cold Forge? I've been in and outta a fair number of taverns and might be able to help if I knew what questions to ask."

Rohara smiles at Skorhald and answers the dwarf's question, "We found a note stating that the leader of the doppelgangers was or had a meeting whomever it was who employed him to deal with us, in this location. As one of the few remaning leads in dealing with this mid flayer creature, we have decided to act first and see what we could discover."

She also adds after a momnet of thought, "There was also evidence on the dark elves boots that they had been near a forge. The cast offs of the Cold Forge seemed to fit in with the fact we knew they had met here."

"Maybe we should have kept the mirror for a bit to get a good look at this smith... Ah well, let us go see what he has to say."

You go into the shop and look around. It seems a legit business without anything to hide. As you talk to the owner, you get no sense that he is involved in anything illegal or shady. If the mind flayer and doppelgangers were doing business, you feel confident it was without his knowledge.

Not sure how much role play you want here.

Someone with personality (other than the dwelf), needs to ask to see the forges and then we need to search around them for signs of footsteps leaving. It is very possible that they have a secret entrance into the forge area.

See my previous post yesterday

Justin agrees and leads then to the sewer.

If dark he takes out the torch that never goes out.

"The hunt is on!"

Aarakess looks down into the sewer and shutters before turning to Skorhald:
How do you dwarves live in dark narrow holes in the ground. It is so unnatural.

Grinning the dwarf says, "Ye mean WE dwarves, lass... We dwarves, eh Kilthan?"

With that he examines the entryway to make sure it looks safe.

Perc StoneCunning: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 10 + 2 = 24

Aarakess shakes her head.
Going in holes to destroy evil I can handle. Living below the earth and away from the beautiful sunlight and trees with the sounds of birds to wake you in the morning, how can anyone live like that? It is so strange.

Rohara followed the others and tried to give her friend something to be happy about, "Look at a positive Aarakess, you can see in the dark now. Some of us must still rely on light to see."

She looks down the sewer entrance, "We heading in?" The woman has reached into her belt pouch where she keeps her ioun torch to use in darkened areas.

The dwarf looks at Rohara and says, "I think we're as ready as we'll ever be, lass." Then addressing the group, "Standard order?