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The duergar runs into the darkness and the battle ends. A large crowd of mostly dwarven citizens kidnapped from Davarn are liberated and express their gratitude in various ways. After wounds are attended to and any valuables are salvaged, the large group begins the trek back to Davarn to deliver the former hostages to safety. From there the leaders hold a meeting to decide who to send to locate the base from which the attack was staged deep in the Underdark.
Vinnie punches the leader and he drops like a rock. The single remaining Duergar, the one running toward the battle, does an about face and runs as fast as he can the other way.
Trevor's whip slaps against the duergar's armor and does no damage.
On the Table:
DC 18
ACFS 5: ACM 1: Rook's cold bomb smites the foot soldier who took the brunt of the damage. The cold stopped the duergar's already cold heart and he falls. The spray of frost and cold afflicted the leader and took him to death's door.
On the Table:
DC 18
ACM 1: AC 15 Target: AC 21 Target: AC 18 miss Sadaf steps back from the reach of the duergar leader, plucks some items from his spell pouch and lets them go as he says some words in Druid. A spot of flame moves over the head of the leader and down toward the ground, where it turns into a ball of hot flames that proceeds to roll into the leader. The leader calmly steps a little to the side and lets his armor protect him for the moment. Danduun attacks the leader with bites and his sharp talons. All three attacks draw blood. The mercenary leader steps between Trevor and Danduun and attacks the dinosaur, hitting it with his warhammer. The mercenary foot soldier from the far end of the caravan runs toward Vinnie, but stops and prepares to engage Vinnie in combat. The other mercenary foot soldier in the thick of the battle swings his warhammer at Trevor, but Trevor's armor absorbs the damage. Round 4
Trevor's whip hits the foot soldier, but in a place where the armor provides sufficient protection, so he does no damage.
On the Table:
DC 18
ACFS5: The large slow beast is easy to hit with a bomb and expires from the cold the bomb inflicts. The nearby footsoldier gets a facefull of the spray and suffers frostbite. He avoids the staggering effect of the cold, but is near death.
Vinnie jumps well away from the reach of the beetles mandibles. He finds a weak spot in its tough shell and hurts it. It is looking ragged and unlikely to survive another hit. It cringes as if expecting more attacks. Round 3
On the Table:
Target:
AC 19 AC 21 ACFS 5 Reflex DC 14 half Danduun: Vinnie: Behind the screen:
Next breath weapon The second spitting beetle moves forward and lets fly with its acidic breath weapon, spraying Vinnie and Danduun. The leader of the mercenaries surges to the front lines and swings his warhammer at Sadef. He hits him in the chest. The remaining foot soldier moves up and attacks Danduun. His war axe hits the little dinosaur in the leg. One other foot soldier stationed at the far end of the caravan begins to run toward the fight. Round 3
I'll post the enemy actions soon. The front line is more than half defeated, so it shouldn't take many more rounds to complete this.
On the Table:
Vs AC 27
ACFS 3: DC 16 ACFS 3: ACFS 4: ACFS 5: Beetle 1: Sadaf: vs. AC 9 vs. AC 16 Danduun: , fails to confirm. The closest soldier to Vinnie swings his waraxe at him, but can't quite hit. The fire fans out, burning 3 soldiers and a beetle. None are quick enough to avoid the worst of the heat. The beetle and the nearest soldier to Vinnie drop, the others are singed but still fighting. Sadaf steps back far enough from the front line to cast a spell. He cups his hands together, says a druidic word, and a white ball appears in his hand. He hits the closest duergar with the ball and it explodes with cold and ice, nearly dropping him. Danduun gives the poor guy a chomp and he falls.
It's starting to look like this campaign is going to die before we can conclude the last encounter. If everyone can post regularly, however, it should conclude fairly soon, as the enemies are not that tough.
Trevor's missile weaves through the allies to strike the foot soldier, taking him closer to death. Vinnie (Battle Spirit, 2 lethal)
Round 3
Rook's bomb severely injures the closest dark spitting beetle and injures the other and one of the foot soldiers. Trevor (Battle Spirit)
Round 3
On the Table:
vs AC 15
Danduun: DC 12 ACFS 2: ACFS 3: ACFS 4: ACFS 5: DSB 1: vs AC 21 Dark Spitter Beetle 1: Reflex DC 14 half Danduun: Sadaf: Vinnie: AC: 21 ACM 1: Behind the screen:
Monster lore for the Beetle
DC 13 Sadaf: Rook: Rook advances and throws a cold bomb that hits the advance duergar guard full in the chest. Trevor advances to just behind Rook and sends a magic missile around Rook and into the guard. Vinnie draws on spirits with battle experience. Those within thirty feet of the Vanara benefit with better attacks. Vinnie climbs to 20 feet above the passage floor. Sadaf and Danduun advance to confront the badly wounded guard. Danduun is quick enough to make an attack while Sadaf reaches the guard but has not yet been able to attack. Danduun draws more blood with a bite and the guard drops, dying. A large beetle moves toward the fight and sprays a liquid at the closest individuals . The liquid burns where it touches skin, causing acid burns. Another large beetle scurries closer but cannot close to attack anyone. A Duergar officer moves close to the east wall of the wide place in the passagway and lets fly a heavy crossbow bolt at Danduun. It misses. Three Duergar foot soldiers dutifully advance past the beetles to confront the intruders but have not yet been able to attack.
Rook: Rook recognizes the beetles as Dark Spitting Beetles.
They are large vermin with darkvision, a breath weapon (already seen in combat), immune to acid and mind-affecting effects, with a weakness of light sensitivity.
I'll post the first round results on Friday.
Glad you're back. There was never a hold placed on the game. I posted information about the encounter back in late September. It's just that people have been slow to respond.
I'll be reaching out to Rook's player to see if we can expect any more role play from Rook. I'm willing to 'bot one PC but not two.
I'm back. Please post your actions in the Gamplay thread. This battle should not take long if we all post regularly.
I will be traveling most of the next week, with limited time and opportunity to post. Please try to post your first round actions and I'll resume posting when I can.
I'm unable to connect to the Internet. Must replace our router. Hope to be back to normal by Monday evening. I'm posting with my phone.
On the Table:
Stealth
Danduun: Rook: Sadaf: Trevor: 31 Vinnie: Perception
Behind the screen:
Perception
ACFS 1: ACFS 2: ACFS 3: ACFS 4: ACFS 5: ACM : DSB 1: DSB 1: PB 1: PB 2: PB 3: PB 4: On the Table:
Initiative
Rook: Sadaf: Trevor: 15 Vinnie: Behind the Screen:
ACFS: ACM: DSB: PB: Initiative Order
The party is trying to creep as quietly as possible but as it draws near, someone in the camp ahead sounds an alarm. "Someone's coming our way. Git over here ready ta fight!" cries a gruff Duergar voice.
Looks like we have the band back together, so I'll kick off the encounter as soon as I have time to work out the results of the stealth and perception rolls for everyone. I assume everyone will move half speed while being stealthy.
Glad you are back. I can 'bot Sadaf/Danduun for this last battle. But we would need a new recruit to continue.
Thanks for playing. Good luck!
Seems like a lot of people have been traveling and such. Let us know when you're back and ready to plan the attack on the caravan and it can commence. I'm teaching on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this term, so I have four days when I've got a lot of time for posting.
I'm able to GM the caravan battle. Just post a plan of approach. Basically need a stealth check, a perception check, and an initiative roll for anyone approaching the caravan.
I will be attending a Steampunk convention this weekend. I will likely have Internet and a laptop so I'll try to check to see if any posts are needed, but I won't have a lot of time for involved posting.
From Sarxa, you know there is another group of duergar mercenaries keeping a large group of Davarn kidnap victims near the redoubt. The captive Sarxa reveals how to get there. You should decide what you do with Sarxa. You could keep her captive in a room in the redoubt or bring her with. If the latter, you should specify if/how she is constrained. The encounter map is ready. The duergar do not have/need light, so you will have to have your own way of seeing in the otherwise completely dark cave passages. You can rest and reset spells if you want. Just specify what you are doing for light or if you have a way to give everyone darkvision, indicate that. I'll post something in the gameplay thread when it seems you are ready.
I thought I'd run Benson in whatever people want to play next. I'm okay playing a PC in the Blighted Path. I have not read any details from the later parts, so I won't have any real knowledge of the events to come.
I'll set up the battle to recapture the kidnapped residents of Davarn. Might take a day or two.
There is one more encounter in the first part of the Module. The group learned from Sarxa that there is a caravan waiting for the return of the duergar mercenaries and Sarxa from the redoubt. They have prisoners from Davarn who need rescuing. It would be good challenge but you've demonstrated you can best these types already and other than the treasure available, it does not really advance the story much. The module assumes the heroes will return with the captive and news to Davarn before going deeper into the Underdark to try to retrieve the axe. I'll set up a map and moderate this last battle if necessary. Let me know what you want to do. Also someone will need to volunteer to be the next GM and then work out whether they will continue the Blighted Path module or go to something different. I'll likely bring the fighter Benson I used earlier as my PC.
"Please! I cannot rest or enter the boneyard without it!"
“Karexin was a beast... a soulless corrupter clad in an elegant man. He was some kind of fey, an orphne, exiled from the Court of Ether far to the south. His undead abominations dominated so much of our young lives, and confronting him nearly killed us all. But we crushed his body—burned him in Torag’s divine light—and wiped out his unloving army. Only... only the youth survived.” “The... the girl... Young and wide-eyed, but willingly taken of corruption. She was Karexin’s apprentice, and to my shame we spared her. I could not split the skull of a child.”
“I need... my heart, my connection to the divine. I need Firebrand. Can you bring it to me? I miss its warmth, and I cannot sleep when I am so cold.” “Twisting, turning, narrow streaks of death. They were mines, old and forbidden when I was still flush with the gift of youth. The stone bled death, and coaxed back the worst pieces of those who died within. So we walled it off, but bleak things still crawl up through it from the Darklands below. We followed the Blighted Path to fight Karexin, and I can feel Firebrand being dragged back through those cold tunnels.”
I'll download a chronicle sheet and see what it looks like. I may have questions after that.
With the trap disabled, all can enter the room. As their eyes adjust to the light in the room, all notice a gradual appearance of Lady Delbera standing forlornly by her broken open sarcophagus. She struggles to form sentences to explain her thoughts, but gradually, she speaks more lucidly, although she still seems confused and unable to fully accept her existence as a ghost. Delbera explains that she was “disturbed” by an orphne, a death-obsessed race of fey from which her old nemesis, Audalot Karexin, hailed. “I... I saw those who violated my redoubt and stole my Firebrand. Vile duergar thieves and that... that woman. She looked so familiar, like Karexin’s wisp of an apprentice, but older, more confident... perhaps her mother? I... it is difficult to put the pieces together... She held my axe, and her touch... the blessing of Torag and the symbol my soldiers swore their fealty to... I feel her fingers closed around it even now as if they were on my own throat. I do not know who she is, but I can feel the tug of my axe on my soul. It screams in pain over what she is doing to it... and through it I can feel the cold spite of the miserable creatures her magic has corrupted my soldiers into. She lies down the twisting narrows of the Blighted Path.”
A little less than 1/3rd of the book. There are three parts. We're in part 1. Part 1 has one more subsection that involves what should be a relatively easy fight with a few more Duergars of the sort you've easily defeated in the redoubt. I might even recommend skipping it as it doesn't really advance the plot, just provides a little more experience. Parts 2 and 3 involve going deeper into the underdark to try to find the source of the raids and reclaim the legendary weapon that was stolen.
Once the contents of this final room are revealed, I'll sum up the situation and then turn over the GM duties to someone else. I'm not sure we can use this for PFS credit, since we didn't technically play through all the rooms and encounters as written. Those with more experience can perhaps suggest how to handle the XP and Gold gained.
Welcome back. You can start by attempting to disable the trap just discovered. The main events are almost over, however.
Behind the screen:
DC 20
Rook: Trevor: Vinnie: DC 20
Rook and Trevor study the magic that makes the door almost impossible to pick or to break down. They both agree that the group should chant the oath that Delbera made her company make. The words are written in one of Delbera's journals. By sweat and blood, we have come here,
Much of the magical protections melt away as the words are chanted by the group. Finally, a key Sarxa provided allows the lock to be bypassed and the door opened. Ornate chests, tapestries, and geometric stone carvings line this expansive tomb. A heavy stone sarcophagus—its lid shattered and scattered across the floor—rests on a dais to the north. The dry air is heavy with the smell of cedar and berries. Seven dead duergar lie sprawled around the room, their bodies contorted in unnatural angles and their faces frozen in screams of agony. The room is 40 feet wide at the back and 30 feet wide at the side with the door. Perception DC 20: The room is equipped with a trap. Disable device DC 20 will keep it from activating.
Vinnie's spell turns the tide and the haunt begins to unravel. The stones of the statue fall back to the floor and move no more. A thrumming chant of dwarven voices sounds through the hall, swearing,
Examining the room, there are dwarven runes on the north door. “Those who stand against injustice, those sired by the will to defend, announce yourselves and enter.” The door is locked and any immediate attempt to pick the lock or use the key turned over by Sarxa does not open it. The haunts themselves, however, may provide a clue. The words on the door remind you of something. Intelligence Check DC 20: The chants that have rung out as haunts have been defeated are part of an oath the followers of Delbera had to make to join. Those words might be what is required her to open this door. The full text of the oath is in Lady Delbera's journal.
By sweat and blood, we have come here,
On the Table:
DC 17
Trevor's whip wraps around a bit of loose rubble and yanks it from the statue, destabilizing the animated statue a little bit. The statue breaks free of the spider silk and strides toward the group to the south. This afforded Danduun a chance at another bite, which extracted another chunk of rock from the statue's leg. This, however, does not do any real damage to the statue.
Round 3
On the Table:
DC 18 The dinosaur's teeth miss and his claws evolved to rend flesh but not stone. When Sadaf and Vinnie 'heal' the ghostly comrade of Delbera, it seems to weaken the animated statue a bit. The flaming sphere continues to burn but does not do any damage to the statue this round.
On the Table:
Touch AC 8
Rook throws a bomb at the statue after stepping back a bit. The bomb hits and evokes considerable heat, although the creature made of rock doesn't suffer as much damage as a flesh-and-blood creature would.
DC 15 Intelligence check:
The ghostly image of Drovok, the half-orc who collapsed as the haunt manifested, suffered grievous wounds. Any points of healing caused by healing spells on the fallen friend of Delbera do an equal amount of damage to the statue and has a chance of staggering the statue for 1 round.
On the Table:
DC 17
Stone Memory: DC 17 Stone Memory: Vinnie's hex is effective. The rubble statue is not very quick and is entangled with the silk webbing. The webbing distracts the stone memory of Delbera's old foe, Karexin the necromancer. It struggles against the webbing but cannot break free.
The whip just misses the statue, even flat-footed. Knowledge:
Trevor remembers that animated objects are generally created by magic, in this case, the energy of the haunt. They are constructs with construct traits. Constructs are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless). Constructs are not subject to ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, exhaustion, fatigue, or nonlethal damage. Constructs are not at risk of death from taking massive damage.
Contructs are highly variable, so any number of traits may be exhibited. This one is made of stone, obviously, but it could be faster than normal, have more than one slam attack, or have combat maneuvers such as grab, constrict, and/or trample.
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