Barham Topperbush's page

Barham lifts himself up on the tips of his toes, trying to look over shoulders to see what his companions have discovered.

"Have we found anything, have we encountered anything of interest?"

Any time! Barham will give Scrumpy a tap as well, 45 to 43 charges.

The canid eidolon twists his head to the side. His lips peel back and his long tongue snakes around his teeth, trying to dislodge a scrap of paper stuck between them. Barham reaches in a finger and thumb and plucks out the offending object. Holding at a distance, he examines the illegible smudges of ink.

"Well then, well well" he starts, releasing the scrap to let it slip wetly to the floor, "if that's the worst scrape we have, we'll count our blessings, eh? What have we got now, just the one more room down the hall?"

How about some infernal healing?

"I do have this trinket, this little curiosity." As the summoner speaks, he snaps his wrist straight, and a wand springs from within his sleeves to be snatched between his fingers.

"It will fix up those little nicks and scratches, but you might not feel yourself."

Thanks, I'm terrible at remembering the flat-footed first round rules.

Scrumpy Fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

"I do hope we didn't need any of those books," Barham laments, as Scrumpy hacks up half a leather cover.

HP fixed. Do Scrumpy, Kyrie, and Taalaako get AoOs from the swarm moving through their threatened squares?

Barham fires his bow into the whirling pile, while Scrumpy continues battling the books as they close around him.

Crossbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Claw 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Claw 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

I did no such thing.

If they had been immune to weapons, however, it would have been that or run away.

The eidolon snaps and thrashes at the encyclopedic enemy.

Power full attack.

Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Claw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Claw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Know (arcana) to ID enemy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Two non-knowledge questions: what size are the books, and where is Scrumpy on the initiative track?

Sorry for the lack of activity recently, got laid low by a stomach bug on Friday.

Scrumpy will search with Perception. If Barham can use Know (religion) at better than -5, he'll do that, otherwise he'll use Perception.

Summoner and eidolon meander about the room, their runes flickering as they silently converse over potential finds.

Scrumpy's Perception: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 5 - 2 = 13
Barham's Know (religion)?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 Minus some penalty

Are that pressed for time that we need to split up? If the rooms don't come any smaller than 4, we can't fill out two at the same time anyway. Also, anyone can get a Guidance from Barham if they like.

Kyrie - You can roll Craft untrained, so something like Craft (book), if allowed, would give you a better modifier than rolling Perception.

Barham and Scrumpy follow Robert and Vassago into the room. The summoner surveys the area for magical auras, wary of encountering any animate guardians less friendly than the stone lion.

Sweep with detect magic.

Barham inhales sharply. At his side, Scrumpy glances at the tiefling and snorts.

Barham and Scrumpy are prepared.

"Yes, why not, a simple plan is a good one," Barham agrees. Summoner and eidolon follow Vassago toward the end of the hall, the former resisting an urge to scratch the library's guardian behind his ears as they pass.

Whoops, my bad. I came across the name browsing reviews of the scenario before signing up. I don't think I've spoiled myself on anything else--at the time I figured there was some sort of lion boss encounter.

"Thank you very much, sir," Barham smiles, gratified that his performance had been well-received. With only a brief hesitation, he reaches into the lion's mouth and removes the key.

"Well then, fellows--which door should we start with?"

"I'm not good at puzzles," Barham mentions for the third time today, "but riddles? Entirely different! Now let's see..."

He pauses, one hand on his opposite elbow, and the other twirling his scruffy goatee. After a moment, he chuckles to himself.

"Aha, how about this one, Mr. Glorymane: Why is it hard for people to believe you outside of a zone of truth?"

Perform (comedy)?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Will save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Recognizing and overpowering the enchantment, Barham quickly glances about to see how his companions reacted to the magical effect. He decides that alerting his companions would only risk antagonizing their new observer.

Bowing at Robert's mention of him, the summoner waits to speak until Vassago has finished his soliloquy.

"Ahem, yes," the summoner clears his throat. "It is just as Robert says, sir, and may I add that I have never meet any statues, nor any lions, who were anything less than the image of dignity."

Aid Robert, Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Barham furrows his brow. He glances to his eidolon, who snorts lazily.

"You're no help, no help at all."

He turns to Robert.

"Magical construct of some sort. Divination--perhaps it is a scrying device, but I hope we're not being scryed upon. Whatever the case, there seems to be a sort of..." he pauses, and shrugs, "...an intelligence about it."

"Perhaps it's some sort of library assistant? A record keeper, like our friend Thomas?" the summoner continues, thinking aloud. "If it were security, if it were some intrusion defense, well, it's already seen us, so we may as well give it a test." Barham turns back to the face of the stone beast.

"Hello, Mister Lion? Do you know anything about the Shining Crusade?"

"This is no mundane sculpture, no simple adornment," Barham gasps. "Our friend here is infused with magic--not scrying, I hope."

The summoner takes a moment to compose himself, then renews his concentration, attempting to parse the nature of the lion head's aura.

Guidance, then recast detect magic and hold for three rounds.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

"A start, an excellent start," the halfling pips. "I'm afraid I haven't found anything myself just yet."

Cast detect magic and sweep the full room.

One more question about searching rooms... If we want to roll Perception, not to for information, but to detect traps, secret doors, hidden creatures, etc., do the special conditions apply?

Distracted by the lion carving, Barham is of little use in unearthing clues.

"But take a look at this fellow over here, he's rather an odd sort," he motions to his companions. "What are you doing here, I wonder."

"Have we found anything about the Crusade? Or jumbled letter codes, perhaps?"

Guidance on whoever wants it.

Barham begins leafing through the towering bookstacks, gaining a boost from his eidolon when he needs to reach a higher shelf.

Barham Know (the planes): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Scrumpy Know (the planes): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

As theu meanders about the room, they stop to examine the bestial visage carved into the eastern wall.

"That's quite a decoration for a library, quite a fixture, wouldn't you say Scrump?" the halfling muses.

Check out the lion carving, if that can be done independently of the main search.

B Perception aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
S Perception aided: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Just a heads up I will be putting a lot of info on the campaign tab as there will be vital information and special rules to reference.

My bad, totally missed this part. All good now.

I'm not entirely clear on what it means to "search" a room, in this context. Do you have to actively declare it, or is it implied in any sort of investigative check? Do we have to guess the relevant skill, or will any skill suffice with proper justification, or will we be prompted for the correct one?

GM - What's your take on stacking multiple aid another actions? Barham will aid Talaako in a Perception check, with Guidance on both.

Aid another (Perception): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

"No good at riddles, no use at all," Barham laments. He turns to his tengu ally.

"Big picture, it says--like a bird's eye view?"

Aha, shouldn't have assumed it would be one attempt/round. That makes more sense, thanks.

Cool, but I'm still hesitant to take the two hour allotment at face value. Even setting aside a third of the time for logistics, that's enough to take 20 on 40 separate checks. There must be a catch somewhere down the road--but I don't want to get too metagamey, so this is purely OOC.

Right, but to what extent is that time actually tracked? Wondering if we need to budget time as long as our strategy doesn't involve a dozen casts of mending.

Slow goings with only 2+Int per level, sadly.

Is there anything we should know, in character or out, about a time limit to the scenario (if there is one)?

"Oh my," the halfling gasps as the hidden staircase reveals itself.

"That wasn't too hard, not too difficult. Let's be on our way then, eh?"

Crazy bird beast. I like it.

"I'm sure we'll find a way, I'm sure it will suffice," Barham nods to the librarian. Once the man has gone back out the door, he casts a practiced spell and sets to searching the room with his eidolon.

Guidance and rolling Perception, Barham aiding Scrumpy.

B Aid Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
S Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

"Tobias the librarian? Wonderful, excellent," Barham volunteers. "My friends and I are scholars, sent here to study the Rare Book collection with permission of the, er..."

He trails off, having forgotten precisely whose signature was imprinted upon their letter of admission.

Barham waits on the edge of the crowd with his fellow Pathfinders. His hand rests on his companion's shoulder, and the halfling is gratified that his companion has been allowed inside with him.

"Our my last visit to an Opparan theatre, to a Taldan opera house" he offers to the group, "poor Scrump had to wait outside. There was some sort of cultish business afoot, and things got hairier than my left heel right quick, I can tell you. Let's hope this venture goes more smoothly, eh?"

No preference. Seeing how various GMs cast the eidolon is actually one of my favorite parts of the character--previous Scrumpy tokens include wolf, Final Fantasy ifrit, and tentacle blob monster.

I had this big post typed up talking about how with out party composition we ought to be well-prepared for stealth challenges and taking inventory of all our skills, then accidentally refresh and lost everything. Here's the short version:

I find these sorts of breakdowns helpful so that when the party find the need to pick a lock or charm an NPC, we have some idea of who should roll straight and who should aid. As it stands, between his generally high modifiers and class Inspiration ability, Robert should be our point man for most skill challenges that are best undertaken by a single person, such as aforementioned lock picking. Barham, with his wand of infernal healing, can play party healer should the need arise, but anyone who would object to the [evil] descriptor should pack their own.

Awaiting what has been sold as a mission secrecy, Barham takes time to procure a few scrolls he believes will prove useful in keeping the group ahead of detection.

Picking up a scroll of alarm and a scroll of reduce person.

"With haste, I think with haste," Barham agrees.

It's largely dependent on the honor system, Taalaako. The random seed doesn't reset, but an unscrupulous individual could just reorder their checks after the preview, or cancel the post and burn off their bad rolls somewhere else. Without a shared log, there's not much for it other than to hope everyone follows the spirit of the game.

Barham Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Scrumpy Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

"What a curious code, what an interesting cipher," Barham muses. "I'm useless at these sorts of puzzles, I'm afraid, and Scrumpy is no better."

At the halfling's feet, a jowly quadrupedal creature lifts its blocky head from the floor, snorts once, and plops it back down. A rune flickers on the beast's forehead, identical to a marking that adorns the summoner's brow. Barham shrugs apologetically, as he lifts the parcel of cards from Lady Morilla's desk.

Tactics: As far as I can tell, Barham is the only party member packing Guidance. With the GM's approval, in any situation where the spell wouldn't risk wasting time or breaking cover, you can post him casting it on you without waiting for me to RP it out. He also provides a +4 bonus on successful aid checks thanks to a trait, so unless he's the only one that can make a given check that will be his likely MO to overcome skill challenges. In a pinch, he can aid his own eidolon, who comes equipped with a broader variety of skills that Barham himself.

Fresh from the Siege of Nerosyan, checking in.

Hey, we won.

Thanks Tektite for taking this on. It was great fun, and I hope it serves as a promising prototype for the online PFS leadership. I realize I was probably the least active member at this table by a decent margin, but our excellent party leader made everyone look like bums.

No day job for Barham.

Okay, cool. I didn't think he was at full going into this last encounter, but like you said it all ends up about the same. Since all he can do versus DR is eat hits and set up flanks, I'm gonna figure a summoned monster can do that just as well. If we get at least 3-4 minutes of downtime later, Barham can resummon and heal him back up.

Okay. Care to give a hint?

He was at 6 with, I think, 6 rounds of Infernal Healing remaining at the start of the encounter. He regained 2 more health and took 20 over two rounds, leaving him at -12 with 13 Con.

Will save: 1d20 ⇒ 19

Barham will use Life Link to redirect the 3 damage to himself. On his turn, Scrumpy heals to -11 and Barham will dismiss him.

"SCRUMP!" Barham shouts as the eidolon collapses. Seeing that the demon's final burst of negative energy will be too much for the creature to withstand, he mentally reconstitutes the ineffable bond between beast and master. The brunt of the foul burst surges into Barham, leaving Scrumpy wounded by intact.

"Go wait outside," Barham whispers through gritted teeth, and the eidolon disappears.

During downtime, Barham will Infernal Healing himself and anyone else who needs it, then summon a Celestial Pony if he has a round remaining. His current health is after two rounds of FH 1.

Barham likewise readies his manned ballista, while Scrumpy moves back to the wall and adopts a defensive posture.

Barham readies to attack when Nicolae does, Scrumpy adopts total defense.

I also am around.

B Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
S Will: 1d20 ⇒ 18

1 to each. Think it's been more than 10 rounds by now, so the scrolls of shield have worn off Barham and Scrumpy.

Scrumpy leaps at the encroaching crusader, fang and claw bared.

5-foot and Power full attack.

Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Claw 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Claw 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Claw 1 Confirm: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Barham shifts the siege engine to aim towards the enemy, and unleashed a heavy bolt.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 -4 for firing into melee?
Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 4, 2) = 11

Probably should have done this before Scrumpy's move, but I didn't think of it until I had already made his rolls. Anyway, I'm out for the night.