I am sorry, looks like I am not going to be able to keep up with the game, after all. I hope I can still step down and let somebody else take my place in the scenario.
Shoot, that "Geography and Wildlife of the Mwangi Expanse" description really hits the suspension of disbelief kinda hard. Would Gajutai know the author is a Pathfinder? That is kinda getting meta. And if he is a Pathfinder, than what is this tome's worth at all, if it is a first edition of the book by somebody who's still alive and active?
"It's under control than? Good. We'll probably need a couple of days to get back to the red tribe and to show them these heads as a proof they can trust us with a spot on their land. Are we in agreement on where we should place that beacon thing for the Masters? An abandoned settlement, was it?"
He than comes to where Fendel is and looks expectantly at the wizards. "So what was that spell that changed him? How long will it last?" Bronze shoos away the big cat eyeing a chinchilla. "No, boy. Not food!"
Bronze feels a short moment of lust towards the huge lean body between his legs, but the feeling quickly passes. How could the hunter lust for his true soulmate? They have spent countless nights hurdled together in the rain, out in the wilds. Ever since Halflight was just a cub Bronze found in the wilderness, the hunter felt nothing but the fatherly warmth towards the constantly growing ball of fur.
"Think it would've been funny, huh?" Bronze frowns. "Let us show you how we have fun. At him, boy!"
The black demon is conveniently a short Pounce away from Halflight, so charge!
When the mount closes in with the demon, Bronze full-attacks first:
Under Haste, Bronze has three attacks and the first one he will naturally replace with a trip attempt.
+2 Guisarme Trip Attempt first, under mutagen and Bull Aspect, Greater Trip:1d20 + 27 ⇒ (17) + 27 = 44 Tandem Trip for second attempt:1d20 + 27 ⇒ (8) + 27 = 35
After the enemy falls, Bronze proceeds to hit it twice with the polearm in a quick succession, growing increasingly frenzied. Turn on Power Attack after the Trip. +2 Adamantine guisarme Power Attack, Haste:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27 Damage:2d4 + 14 + 9 ⇒ (3, 1) + 14 + 9 = 27
Sorry, I've been using it for some time now in games online without issues and no GMs ever objecting to how it works. It is only now that I used it in a more organized manner that I have found out that there are different possible readings of how it works - so table variation is possible. For the sake of this last battle, we could have applied the less overpowered one - the bonus increase works out for each individual weapon, but Halflight sort of did seven consecutive Bite attacks anyway...
Halflight's Will is indeed +5, but with +4 morale against enchantment, if it matters. So your roll is about right, it's either 20 or 24 total.
Halflight Will for Rasping Tongue:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14 But seriously, he's a cat. He's got Cha to spare.
Bronze Reflex for half vs fire terrain:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25 Halflight Reflex for no damage (Evasion) vs fire terrain:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
AoO's against the demon standing up.:
When the demon tries to get up, Halflight nibbles at it from above.
Bite attack, Outflank, Haste, Power Attack, vs Prone:1d20 + 13 + 4 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 13 + 4 + 1 - 2 = 29 Bite damage:3d6 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (4, 5, 5) + 9 + 4 = 27 +2 to both attack and damage if both bites hit previously.
And Bronze attempts to trip it once again.
+2 Guisarme Trip Attempt first, under mutagen and Bull Aspect, Greater Trip, vs Prone:1d20 + 27 ⇒ (5) + 27 = 32 Second Trip roll for Tandem Trip:1d20 + 27 ⇒ (4) + 27 = 31
If it falls back, it gets another bite for new Greater Trip success and Halflight having Combat Reflexes.
Bite attack, Outflank, Haste, Power Attack, vs Prone:1d20 + 13 + 4 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 13 + 4 + 1 - 2 = 32 Bite damage:3d6 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2, 4) + 9 + 4 = 20 +3 to both attack and damage if all bites hit previously.
Having -4 to attack, though, still lets the demon hit and grapple the cat.
Bronze chuckles. "You think you hold him? Stupid abyssal filth, he holds you..."
Huge hasted cat full-attacking with rake, and possibly a +4 enchantment bonus on first bite...:
Bite attack, Outflank, Haste, Power Attack:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36 Bite damage:3d6 + 13 ⇒ (1, 4, 5) + 13 = 23 +4 to both attack and damage if all bites hit previously.
Multiattack Bite attack, Outflank, Haste, Power Attack:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25 Bite damage:3d6 + 13 ⇒ (4, 1, 6) + 13 = 24 +5 to both attack and damage if all bites hit previously. "Overcoming the alignment DR" part of the deal applies.
Haste Bite attack, Outflank, Haste, Power Attack, vs Prone:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22 Bite damage:3d6 + 13 ⇒ (4, 3, 1) + 13 = 21 +5 to both attack and damage if all bites hit previously.
And four claw attacks... Skipping the +5 reminders... Claw attack 1:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29 Claw damage:1d8 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15
I initially put two rake attacks in here, but I am not sure if it applies when the grapple was not reversed first... Keeping them here for the rolls to stay valid, please skip if you willl. Claw attack 3:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31 Claw damage:1d8 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18
Edit in the confirmation for this first bite roll: Bite attack, Outflank, Haste, Power Attack:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (20) + 20 = 40 Bite damage:3d6 + 17 ⇒ (3, 4, 2) + 17 = 26
After Halflight stops messing with the remains of the demon, Bronze casts Barkskin on him. CL6 for +3 enhancement bonus to the existing natural armor bonus, for a total of 29 AC.
Minor rant on asynchronicity of PbP:
Gah... Making these full-attacks is a mess when I need to start with some backtracking and can't make em on a one-by-one "did it hit/ did it grab?" basis. If you imagine that Halflight could attempt a grab with +24 CMB twice while doing AoOs on the demon standing up, he could indeed start his turn grappling, and not grappled, and make these rake attacks. Grab for first AoO bite:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (17) + 24 = 41 Grab for second AoO bite:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (4) + 25 = 29
Disregard these, just wanted to see what could have been.
Bronze finally lets Halflight bolt towards the closer demon.
Swift action to turn on Aspect of the Bull for Halflight. Judging on the map, the shortest route towards the Blue is only three squares, so it would've been a Pounce charge, but there's some small piece of red stuff in the way on the map. If it is something that is indeed looking dangerous, Bronze will guide the mount around it. If Dunia already killed the Blue, he will activate Chameleon Step to get an effective move speed of 170' to get to White instead.
Some spells fly in their direction, but he doesn't care much for them. What he wants to see now is the one spell that fascinated him so much a couple of days ago.
Bronze watches the half-orc wizard with a glee of a small child expecting an opening of a fair.
Bronze pulls out a bottle made out of the sargavan jungle gourd. A strong scent of mushrooms fills the air when it gets uncorked. After downing the bottle in one go, Bronze whirls the guisarme over his head and laughs, "Time for some 'topple the Bull', it's just like the old times, boy..."
Swift action to turn on Aspect of the Bull, standard to drink Strength Mutagen for +4 alchemical to Strength, -2 to Intelligence and +2 to natural armor.
Bronze motions Halflight to the side, away from the suspiciously looking patch of the steppe in front of them, and out of the main cluster of their allies.
Are these patches of lava on the map or what? If so, I'd say Bronze wouldn't ride that close to them. Given that they are on the steppe, I think they'd see it from some distance.
Also, that white auroch is frightening indeed - its land speed must be more than 90' to avoid Halflight for any time if it lets them come to up to 500'. Hasted, the cat could beat 675 in three rounds. It has Chameleon Step for up yo six rounds a day, so 1350 in six rounds.
I get the desire to streamline things for PbP, but it got railroaded to the extent that a group of high-level Pathfinders does not seem capable of tying their own shoelaces.
Bronze barks a short command in Undercommon and Halflight's feline muscles begin to bulge under the black barding.
Swift action to switch the Animal Companion's Animal Focus from Tiger to Bull - it lowers his Armor Class to 26 (touch 22, FF 22), since the mammoth always hit anyway, but gives +2 to strength.
The cat turns around to face the last undead mammoth standing and pounces at it while Bronze whirls the guisarme to hit its rider.
The mount travels 10', so it is a charge and allows for a Pounce, giving additional +2 to hit and -2 to AC. They stop 10' away from the mammoth, since both have this reach. The mount did also travel significantly less than his move speed of 45', so I'll assume Bronze has time to full-attack.
Fortitude against Negative Levels:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21 No Mounted Combat in his build unfortunately as it is packed up as it is... Knowledge Religion to see if he knows what these are:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Bronze is also Pure of his Faith in the strange sargavan dark-skinned and feral version of Iomedae, so he has +1 trait bonus on saving throws against effects originating from an outsider with the evil subtype, if these can be considered such.
Bronze feels a cold touch of death and vividly remembers the enervation ray that killed him all these years ago and furiously, huffing like a bull, swings against the ghostly rider with his magic guisarme.
Swift action - enable Animal Aspect of a Bull for himself for a minute. +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, his belt is for Dexterity so does not interfere. Because the mammoth went to them, both him and the cat can full-attack. And the cat has Combat Reflexes BTW, so if the mammoth came closer than 10' - it gets AoOd.
At the same time, the furious cat underneath him tries to rip the walking pile of bones apart, reaching out into its rib cage and trying to pull it apart.
If at least one of them hits, Halflight uses Aiding Attack trick out of Skirmisher Ranger's arsenal as a free action to grant the next ally attacking this thing a +2 circumstance bonus on that attack roll, expending one of 6 daily uses.
The group gathers in a circle to discuss the journey at hand. Bronze, constantly trying to push Halflight's big head away from the center of the group, tries to communicate: "So the demon can turn into beasts and grab you with its claws? It's a shame. The kitten likes to grab as well..." Huge sandpapery tongue licks the whole of Bronze's face in one sweep. "And I am afraid he could be susceptible to his mind being destroyd..."
If the journey could be planned in a way that allows the party to determine an hour in which they will confront the demon, Bronze will cast Heightened Awareness on himself and Barkskin on them both before that hour starts. If they can pinpoint the demon half an hour in advance - he will drink a Strentgh Mutagen. And if they can sneak up on it so they know they can take a jump on it in the next five minutes - he will also cast Lead Blades on himself, Bull's Strength on the cat, and apply the Oil of Bless Weapon to the guisarme.
If the traveling conditions are harsh and damaging, Bronze will cast Carry Companion to transport the animal in his palm and suffer alone.
I totally feel that as a character Bronze would be up to handle both, preferably starting with the meaner one. But as a player I actually don't want to be fighting something flying and dangerous while I could avoid it.
Bronze, who've been trying to stay back at all times not to interfere with the talkers, leans forward as well and grins. "That seems like my kind of test!"
He turns back to the group and asks Fendel: "So, what do you think this floating demon is? I am not that versed in the science of different planes... And I am out of ways to get somebody who's flying..." He turns back towards the Chieftain. "How high would you say it floats?"
"All right. Thanks for your assistance. I guess we'll going to be on our way than, as soon as possible. Unless you have any other insights into the matter, or maybe have in mind something we can help you with?" Bronze barely waits for the reply before turning around to leave.
Bronze will try and grab (buy with prestige) another Wand of Cure Light Wounds on his way out as well.
I don't know why alchemical remedies weren't registered as gift to her.
Bronze is near enough bursting in annoyance and anger at spoiled 'elder' himself.
Sense Motive:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
"Lies? Is it the kellid custom to accuse somebody of lies with no proof behind your words? Iomedae help me! You want truth? It is the demons that I hunt, and the way to stay their threat. The truth is I don't care what that expedition should be all about. Some gods-forsaken ruin in the middle of the Abyss-hole. What I care for is the hundreds dead on the walls of Nerosyan last year, and the blood we shed while manning those ballistas shooting at the huge mounds of dead mammoth flesh infested by the swarms of demonic carrion..."
Bronze turns around to see the annoyed expressions on the faces of his companions. He falls silent and gestures for somebody else to take over the conversation, because he realizes that it was not wise for an unaducated savage to speak up.
Bronze notices Fendel nudging Braxus to accept the spear, and steps forward to accept it in his stead.
Sense Motive:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
"I have spoken with your people, elders, and though I am but a simple hunter, I can probably claim right away that I have come to understand it. Because I am a part of one just like yours. Thousands of miles south, people struggle for survival in the same way your people does. And in the same way, Pathfinder Society comes to unite the peoples for greater good, for protection and eventually for prosperity. It is true that establishing a base on your lands will serve multiple purposes. It will allow for the expedition into the demon lands, to strike them down and to rob them blind of anything that could be of use against them later on... But it will serve your interests as much as it will serve ours. Because, as the Society always does, we come offering you to join the effort and take equal share of the benefits."
After speaking out with a heart-felt tirade, Bronze just stands there gasping for air and flailing his hands, hoping that the elders will see at least some kind of wisdom in his amateurish argumentation.
"I have also heard magnificent things about you, Vanna the Mammoth Rider, and about your skill. I know you care for your beasts, your precious companions, just like I do for mine. Outside, there is a crate of alchemical remedies among the supplies my friend transports on his back. I'd like to share them with you, mistress of the beasts. So you could realize that joining the battle on our side is the same as joining the hunt on the side of your fellow tribesman."
After the brief battle is over, Bronze dismounts from a huge cat, and while the team is exchanging crude pleasantries with the kellids, goes into hacking huge chunks of meat out of the allosaurus' carcass. He feeds almost two hundred pounds of the beast's flesh to Halflight before the cat loses the interest for the treat, at which point the hunter packs almost the same amount into the sacks of tarred canvas for future and loads them on the mount's back.
It takes no longer than ten minutes, but Bronze looks up to find himself delaying the group that was ready to move long ago, content with taking only symbolic trophies for the kills.
At the settlement, Bronze finds a quite place near the water source to wash the blood off the cat's armor, constantly pushing away the head his own size trying to lick the fur under the black leather.
Here, the kellids come talk to him on their own. Trying to start a conversation with the hunter, simple members of the tribe share more gossip about how their community works than they would've if he asked them.
Over the course of two hours, he periodically taps both himself and the cat with the curative wand.
Seeing that the vrocks are obliterated, Bronze rides the cat down towards the group .
Bronze is at -19, Halflight is at -38. The Mammoth Rider will not pull out the Wand of Cure Light Wounds just yet, not to unnerve the kellids with additional displays of magic, but will do that as soon as possible without them around.
Being 35' down and 85' away somehow places Bronze just 95' away if there is a straight line drawn, so they'll be in the radius of the burst.
Bronze Reflex vs DC18; +1 vs spell-like by evil outsider:1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 12 + 1 = 19 Halflight Reflex vs DC18; with Evasion:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
The edge of the blast barely touches the pair before dissipating right behind them.
Bronze reads the contests of the scroll aloud with a thick accent of the druidic language that he doesn't really speak. After he touches Halflight, the big cat starts running back towards the demons, but each step taken is now getting him up and up away from the ground.
You can train a mount to move with the aid of air walk, and Bronze did. Halflight charges these 90' diagonally up, and pounces at Red, stopping 10' away from it at its height. His charge AC is 25.
Using Furyborn amulet, each time the wielder damages an opponent with the weapon, its enhancement bonus increases by +1 when making attacks against that opponent (to a maximum total enhancement bonus of +5), so each consecutive attack after one hits will have +1 to both hit and damage.
The hunter's AC also knows a number of Skirmisher Ranger tricks, which it can use HD/2 + Wis mod times per day (6 for Halflight), so the first time he hits he'll use "Aiding Attack" as a free action - the next ally who makes an attack against Red before the start of the animal’s next turn gains a +2 circumstance bonus on that attack roll.
After the dino falls down for the last time, Bronze forces Halflight to let go of the pile of meat in his claws and to move out of the area that slowly starts to crackle with electricity.
Halflight double-moves in the general direction the kellids went, covering 90' distance, but Bronze directs him in a way that always leaves two dancing vrocks visible for him.
Bronze pulls out the scroll and starts to unfurl it.
Replace standard with move, pull ou the scroll of Air Walk.
Bronze looks at the old dinosaur trying to stand up. "Well, if this pathetic excuse for a T-Rex is their idea of the rite of passage, they'll gonna have to find a better one..."
And without letting the creature get up, Bronze tries to repeat the trick and trip it with the guisarme once more.
+2 Guisarme Trip attempt, vs prone CMD:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (5) + 24 = 29 And the one for Tandem Trip:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (10) + 24 = 34
If the trip succeeds:
Halflight has Combat Reflexes, so he still has AoO's left, and as it is worded, getting tripped by Greater Trip is what provokes the second attack from him, not the attempt to stand up.
Halflight bite, with PA, vs Prone AC:1d20 + 12 + 4 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 12 + 4 + 2 - 2 = 26(+1 if the first one hit)
Bite damage:3d6 + 8 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (6, 1, 6) + 8 + 4 + 2 = 27(+1 if the first one hit)
If by that time the dino is still alive and this last AoO hits:
Fourth mighty bite in ten seconds against the creature weakens it enough for Halflight to try and grab it with his claws.
Grab ability riding on the Bite, against prone CMD, with PA:1d20 + 16 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 16 - 2 = 30
That concludes my AoOs. Please let me know how it goes before I decide what to do in the actual round.
"Hope you guys have enough arrows and rays to bring those demons down. I don't think that these Kellids need to see Halflight walking on air..." Bronze pats a scroll case on his belt. He than taps the cat on the back of his heat and the predator bolts into the jungle, towards the dinosaur.
The mount's base movement is 45', which is enough to get into 10' reach area.
The sargavan cat runs towards the huge dino, stops in front of it, swings a little back and tries to bite one of its legs.
Halflight bite:1d20 + 12 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 12 + 4 = 31 A pair of teamwork feats - Pack Flanking and Outflank with Bronze give a +4 flanking bonus whenever they both threaten and are adjacent. Improved Natural Attack(bite) damage:3d6 + 8 ⇒ (1, 5, 6) + 8 = 20
The cat wears a Furyborn Amulet of Mighty Fists, so if this one hits, the next natural weapons attack against the same opponent will be made with an enhancement bonus of +1
Using the momentum of the cat's darting motion, Bronze swing his guisarme's hook to pull the creature's other leg. Halflight, a well-trained mount notices that and adds its own full strength to the pull.
Bronze has Brawler's class feature Maneuver Training(Trip), Improved and Greater Trip as feats, and Tandem Trip Teamwork Feat shared with Halflight. +2 Guisarme Trip attempt:1d20 + 13 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 13 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 36 CMB + Improved + Greater + Maneuver + Enhancement + Outflank Trip attempt, second roll for Tandem Trip:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (11) + 24 = 35
If the dino falls:
Opponents felled by Greater Trip provoke attacks of opportunity. With combat reflexes, Halflight will bite more, this time with Power Attack (for BAB of +6 it is -2/+4). If any body is threatening the dino by the time it falls - they will get AoOs too.
After the creature falls, the cat gnaws deeper into its flesh once more.
Halflight bite with PA against prone:1d20 + 12 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 12 + 4 - 2 = 28 (+1 if the first one hit)
bite damage with PA:3d6 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3, 4) + 8 + 4 = 23 (+1 if the first one hit)
"I am sorry. Please step aside." Bronze says once the group steps into the jungle under the glacier.
He puts the black stone figurine on the ground, and whispers something. The next second, the figurine starts explosively stretching out to transform into a huge feline shape, almost nine feet tall in the shoulders and almost twenty long. Its reddish-orange, thick and well-groomed fur is slashed with black stripes. But most of it is covered by a full set of black masterwork leather barding, sporting a number of military patches as some kind of parade armor. The armor is also significantly better cleaned and taken care of than the oread's own set.
Knowledge (Local) DC10 or so:
The patches show that the mount and his rider belong to two different armies. For first, they are the members of the inter-planar mercenary company operating on the Plane of Earth, the Ungrounded. The second set of signs marks them as "honorary Muckruckers", members of the Absalom's volunteer militia with a dirty reputation.
The big cat stretches its back with a grace of a lethal predator and yawns loudly, showing a pair of huge incisor fangs protruding out of its upper jaw. It than looks at Bronze, who makes a short downward motion with his hand, prompting the cat to lie down so he could get in the military saddle behind its shoulder blades.
When the mount stands back up, Bronze grins. "All, please meet Halflight." The rider lowers the end of the rope produced from the depths of huge saddlebags behind him to the rest of the party. "Here, let us load the goods on his back. Little fella can haul a couple of tons before noticing the weight."
Bronze has a Huge mount (3x3), so single-file might be problematic. They have no stealth capabilities whatsoever, so if we are being careful, they might take the middle, a 3-rd spot for example.
I am sorry, the game started with a very good pace, so I didn't have much time to give a proper PbP treatment to the character updating his profile, and now I need to do two of them somehow. If the specifics of the build are an issue, I can provide those in other formats I have them - PDF/doc via email, etc.
"How long do you think we'll have to trek through the local jungle before we're close enough to Jormundun? How is local jungle different from something you can experience in the Expanse? Can it get extremely cold in these parts?"
"What ... do you mean not famous?" Bronze scratches his beard. It seems like finding proper words for his thoughts is difficult. "Mhlawumbi awuzange ube kwiimigodi..."
Undercommon:
You probably haven't been to the mines...
"Well met, Braxus. I am always keen for free food, especially if I can take some for my little friend here. Feeding him costs a fortune." - the oread opens his palm showing a small black stone figurine of a pouncing cat. "Please meet Halflight. I wish I could give you a proper introduction, but we won't be able to all fit in this hall." He glances at the ceiling once more.
In a short while, another Oread walks in. A beard-like crystalline growth under his chin and the granite color of his craggy skin make his mixed shaitan and dwarven heritages very obvious. He is dressed in a simple traveler's outfit covered by a breastplate that would've been shining if not for a thick layer of dirt. Carrying a long adamantine guisarme over his right shoulder, he clasps something tightly in the palm of his left hand.
The dwarf scans the hall with the squinted eyes, as if trying to estimate the ceiling's height.
Perception:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30
He shakes his head. He than notices Dunia and looks very surprised while staring at her.
