Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna only has one objective left: destroy the final blades. With the knowledge of the blunt the final blade ritual, she travels Galt to destroy as many of the artifacts as she can—and she will certainly need help, as she is unable to be the primary caster of the ritual. She will ensure that no one will fall to the Gray Death ever again.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Marie-Félicité-Denise Pleyel wrote:
I would like PFS credit, but I'm not quite sure which character I want to apply the credit to.
In part, the decision rests on whether the Chronicle gives any character options, like access to Uncommon archetypes. If it does, I'd apply it to a new character and build around the theme; if it doesn't, I'd apply it to an existing character just for the XP.
The Sanctioning document is a free download. If I were to download it and look at it, would there be any spoilers?
Um...I think it just gives access to Gray Gardener Dedication, which is basically a sub-archetype for vigilante.
Three actions to pay tribute, and I’ll let the haste action go to waste. And I know I’m going for more of a hindrance, but it makes the most sense to say that she would drop prone as part of paying tribute.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
RIGHT! I only get a new save for orders against my nature if I critically fail against dominate.
Okay, putting aside the meta-knowledge that I now know that it cast dominate, I would still reroll that save because a) I would assume that it’s a mental effect, and b) I don’t want to become a valid target for its rejuvenation thing. Probably a bad idea because I could crit fail, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Welp. I’m a valid target for its rejuvenation now! Hopefully I didn’t make that into a crit fail. Unfortunately I won’t have Blessing of Defiance for the stubborn roll.
Get out of my head! Get out of my head!! GET OUT OF MY—
Bellaluna’s eyes gloss over as the panic in her eyes suddenly disappear. With a terrifying amount of determination, she levels her crossbows and fires at Gregoth! ◆◆ Paired Shot
If I regularly failed with the reroll, I get a new save at the end of my turn. If I critically failed, I get a new save every time I’m given an order that goes against my nature (if I critically failed, then use this save result, but it happened at the start of my turn).
Okay, if I critically failed the first roll in this post, then that roll I JUST made would happen next, so if that succeeds, then redirect all of those attacks against the worm. If the very first roll in this post was a regular failure, then…whatever.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
As Gregoth charges, Bellaluna moves forward through the gap in the wall. ◇ 10-foot Step from Ten Paces.
Not trusting this massive thing one bit, she observes the tiniest movements to see if there are any unseen creatures in this room. ◆ Deadeye. Not actively Seeking, just trying to see if there are any invisible people just chilling in the room. The rest of the post is assuming there aren’t.
Bellaluna smirks as she swaggers across the battlefield. ◆ Stride (from haste) She looks the disgusting worm in its eyes as she begins lying straight through her teeth.
”Your prophets are dead, false god! And you killed the only other being you’ve made mental contact with. And with our mental protection, your consciousness has nowhere to run! Your death is final!” ◆◆ Grim Swagger.
Deception vs Will DC; heroism:1d20 + 33 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 33 + 2 = 46
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
GM Pudding wrote:
Yes it's your reaction to trigger Foresight on Gregoth Turrey. It may be a little awkward in PbP as it may require a bit of retconning, so try to post it sooner rather than later if you'd like to use it. Otherwise you could specify conditions like "the first time in a round that the enemy rolls a natural 20 or Gregoth rolls a 1" for example. Kaldren I'm assuming you want to cast some of your spells before combat starts, let me know which
Well...I guess I'm here to make it more awkward: foresight isn't a reroll ability, it's a "roll twice" ability. So the reaction has to be used before a roll is made.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna coughs several times, as if to evict the not-her-voice from her throat. ”That…wasn’t what I expected…” She glances over at Félicité with concern. ”You alright there?”
Assuming she tells us about the mental flash she had.
”So. This worm isn’t exactly a social one. The prophets make sense, but Keznin? Why Keznin?” The elf shakes her head. ”Doesn’t matter. We need to act fast; if we waste time then this monster will realize we’ve backed it into a corner and try to expand its options, then we’ll never get rid of it! But…it could also try to invade one of us—if it’s as easy as succumbing to a spell, then this thing will try it on us as a last-ditch effort. That leaves six potential hosts: Keznin and one of us.
“I have NO idea how we would evict this thing once its invaded a host, but considering that any potential host would probably not want this thing to keep living, they’d probably be more willing to get it out of their head.”
Bellaluna turns to the rest of the group. ”I probably don’t need to say this, but no one is to allow a psychic link to this thing under any circumstances!”
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna stares at Gregoth in astonishment. She opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out. She stands there in silence for some time before sighing. "Fine. Just tell me what to do."
And to be clear, for the secondary checks it's actually that one secondary caster attempts a Performance check and the other does a Society check; it's not a list of options, it's a checklist. So our best options are Félicité doing the Occultism at +30, Turrey doing the Performance at +31, and me doing the Society check at +25. The Occultism is DC 37 and the other two are DC 32, so we do have good odds.
Society; DC 32:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (18) + 25 = 43
And that gives Félicité a +2 circumstance bonus on her Occultism check. Now Turrey makes the DC 32 Performance (which he literally cannot critically fail on), and Félicité does the Occultism check last.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
"Well, here's my two coppers: if that...thing wanted us to use this pillar, then that's enough justification for us to not use it. I dunno what happened here, but I don't trust what a corrupted pillar of knowledge will do."
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Unfortunately, Kaldren, while confused you can only use your actions to Strike, cast a cantrip, or facilitate one of the two; you can't use Smite Evil.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Now for me to add a bit of complexity into the mix: As soon as Turrey cast soothing ballad (a composition spell), the lingering inspire courage immediately ended.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Okay, I am 100% going off of vague meta-knowledge I have of this creature, and that’s that I THINK I remember this thing having multiple AoOs. Gregoth would have been the first one to trigger an AoO, so I’m going off the assumption that I saw it take an AoO, and also my own assumption that it probably has multiple reactions (because we’re at the level where that’s definitely common)
Bellaluna ◆ enters Mobile Shot Stance. So now me making ranged Strikes don’t trigger AoOs; unfortunately, reloading still does. She then makes an ◆ Elf Step so I Step twice. Not sure how that would interact with the “second diagonal” rule, so I’m just not gonna try.
Bellaluna then runs as far away from the giant thing as she can! Stride (from haste) She then ◆ reloads one of her crossbows.
If I, the player, remembered this creature incorrectly and it DIDN’T take an AoO against Gregoth, then replace Mobile Shot Stance with a reload.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
GM Pudding wrote:
It used a free action here (Improved Grab) in the middle of an activity that has three subordinate strikes. Is that legal? It's not totally obvious to me if you can put things in the middle of an activity like that, (activities sound like they're not supposed to be split up, but Free Actions say they work like reactions so could interrupt things) so if anyone knows that it can't do that speak now and Bellaluna may not be grabbed
Okay…I’m honestly not 100% sure, and I can definitely agree that this is open to table variation. That said, based on my reading of Improved Grab, it is simply meant to just be exactly like Grab, just that it’s simply a free action rather than an action. I’d argue that that would mean that Improved Grab would still need to respect Grab’s Requirements entry of “The monster’s last action was a success with a Strike that lists Grab in its damage entry…” And because it was a Frightening Flurry (which includes a Strike) and not a Strike itself, then it would fail to meet the requirements.
Yes, I am definitely biased in this conversation, since the argument I’m making is to my immediate benefit, but that is my genuine argument on the matter. I'm also holding off on posting my turn, because it's 100% dependent on how the GM rules this situation.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna hates this. She assumes this is another sahkil—it certain looks like a fiendish embodiment of fear—but she does not know for certain, and that terrifies her more. As this thing’s heads speak, she is inched closer and closer to pulling the trigger and firing at this thing. She barely listens to what it has to say, for she is far too distracted by its unholy mannerisms. She doesn’t detect any deception in it, and that frankly terrifies her more; she is unsure if it’s being truthful or if its nonverbal cues are so otherworldly that she has no hope of getting a proper read on it.
Gregoth Paalus wrote:
Gregoth’s hand tightens around the hilt clutched in his fingers. “Three heads, and none of them tell the truth,” he mutters darkly. “It will use us and kill us.”
She recognizes Gregoth’s voice, as she barely breaks eye contact with the creature. Frankly, some unseen thing could be imitating Gregoth’s voice and she would be none the wiser—nor would she care. She latches on to Gregoth’s words as the first thing that’s made sense in this entire exchange. She speaks almost immediately—perhaps too quickly.
”Good enough for me; KILL IT!” And she attacks the unholy beast.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna sees the absolute monstrosity in front of her and immediately grabs both of her crossbows and points them at it. ”WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!”
The only things keeping her from pulling the trigger is her own terror at the sight before her, and the further terror that this thing apparently wants to talk!
Bellaluna is very much bordering on the mindset of "burn it with fire."
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
GM Pudding wrote:
No it's not a battle form, it's a "morph" spell rather than a polymorph.
Weird, but alright.
Really random tangent:
So…I know I’ve mentioned that this adventure is meant to be a parallel to Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, but it’s actually more of a love letter to Poe’s works
As I mentioned before, the idea of a high-society masquerade ball with a giant clock and colored rooms is pulled straight from the story, and the title Night of the Gray Death follows the same structure as the title of Poe’s story (“[Noun] of the [Color] Death”).
Additionally, this hazard is clearly meant to be a nod to Poe’s short story The Pit and the Pendulum.
Keznin, a somewhat important NPC, being a tengu (AKA a talking raven) is also a tongue-in-cheek reference to Poe’s The Raven, which is about, well, a talking raven.
But the one that’s actually most interesting to me is the poem the hostess was saying, which is, if you didn’t know, a poem written by Poe as well. I didn’t realize that until today, and it made me realize that, while this was supposed to be a nod to The Masque of the Red Death, the adventure was likely more supposed to be based off of this poem, The Conqueror Worm, which is about human mortality and the inevitability of death.
I might just be stating the obvious, but I do like how this adventure’s author made a really good homage to Edgar Allen Poe.
Bellaluna then ◆ reloads and fires at the spellcaster! ◆◆ Paired Shots. I’m guessing that’s a spiritual guardian, so it won’t provide cover to Red Sleeves.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
I want to come out of delay to be before Kaldren; I want him to take advantage of my debuffs.
Bellaluna looks at the magical displays from the priestesses and yawns. ”Is that all? I was expecting something different.” ◆◆ Grim Swagger
Deception vs Will DCs:1d20 + 33 ⇒ (2) + 33 = 35Frightened 2 on a success; frightened 3 (and fleeing for 1 round if level 17 or lower) on a crit success
She then aims at the massive worm, using Félicité‘s words as guidance. ◆ Strike (from haste)
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Hey, y’all. I know I’ve been a bit slow to post recently, but I just needed to say something. So, my grandfather just passed away, so this upcoming week is probably going to be a bit crazy for me as we all figure out funeral details.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
And…I guess they’re gonna keep hammering home that this adventure takes inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe.
Bellaluna instinctively ◇ from Ten Paces draws her other crossbow, but is blown back against the wall as several pounds of pure force just impact with her, opening a large gash on her chest! She glances behind her at the vaguely elf-shaped imprint in the wall where she impacted.
”Welp. Let’s try to not have that happen again.”
Bellaluna ◆◆ stores both of her crossbows and grabs onto the wall to get some height.
◆ Athletics to Climb:1d20 + 21 ⇒ (16) + 21 = 37
Question for the GM: I know I need both hands to Climb, but do I need both of them to stay in place during a climb? Like, could I pull out and use one of my crossbows with one hand while keeping a grip on the wall with the other?
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna looks at the magical darkness, then down at her crossbow.
I mean…can’t hurt to TRY.
She then walks up and plunges her Brilliant crossbow into the darkness.
Counteract:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26
And if that doesn’t work, she tries again. And again.
Statistically speaking, I’ll eventually get a natural 20 on the counteract check, so unless the darkness is counteract level 9 (Or if it’s level 7+ and has a DC of 40+), then I’ll eventually get it.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
She can do Vengeful Spite from that far away?! Also, I’m assuming that the lack of bolding of names is just from a copy-paste error.
As soon as the banshee approaches her and wails, Bellaluna ◆ moves to get some distance between them as she ◆◆ reloads both of her crossbows. Paired Shots is my best option right now to get over this thing’s resistances.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Side note: Turrey also has counter performance, so he could help us with saves against future Wails.
As the elven ghosts appear, Bellaluna’s face pales as she realizes the extent of her mistake to follow Kaldren’s lead.
”Banshee—!” She’s only assuming, as she doesn’t know for certain, but when her words are cut off by one of them echoing their infamous wails, she knows her assumption to be correct.
Over the ringing in her ears, Bellaluna just shouts ”Nope!” She moves away from the banshees ◇ 10-foot Step from Ten Paces then ◆ Strides to get as far away from the banshees as humanly possible.
Still with terror in her chest, she turns heel and fires both of her crossbows at one of the banshees! ◆◆ Paired Shot; I’m not including Didactic Strike damage, since they’re immune to precision.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Bellaluna sighs as she looks over at the glyphs that she does not fully recognize. ”Well, it’s either something so damning to the Gardeners that they needed to keep it locked in the Ethereal Plane, or it’s a sahkil so powerful that even the Gardeners could only lock it away. Either way, it’s probably not good to just ignore it. Let’s free it, and if it helps us, then great. If it tries to kill us, then we’ll kill it.” She pulls out both of her crossbows and loads them.
Female CG Elf Gunslinger (pistolero)/18 | HP 222/222 | AC 40 (Trigger on crit failed attack) | F: +29 (juggernaut), R: +32 (evasion), W: +28 (unwavering mien); +2 circ. vs controlled plus stubborn and ancestral suspicion; +1 circ. vs emotion plus forlorn | Perc. (m): +28, +2 circ. to all initiative rolls; Stealth (e) +30 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None. | ◆◇↻
Marie-Félicité-Denise Pleyel wrote:
"Look at this little tag on the armor. It says ... 'Bellaluna.' Look, Bellaluna, it has your name on it."
"Huh. Well, don't mind if I do." Bellaluna takes off the chain shirt that most in the party probably wasn't even aware that she was wearing and subsequently dons the leather armor. Increases my AC by 1 and my Stealth by 2.
Bah! Meta-gaming based on the initiative rolls of the other directors general, I know that’s a failure by 1 against Mateena. Probably a success against the other Gardeners, so let’s go with that..