Didymus the Great's page

Thanks for running this, MG. Sorry it turned into more of a chore than a joy. I certainly enjoyed the ride while it lasted.

It looks like we messed up the Enervation damage. Kvothe rolled it as an instantaneous one and done, but it is actually persistent damage. So they should get a flat check to nix it, but failing that the demon should get another tick of damage that god help us might kill it? :D

@Kvothe, speaking of which you need to roll a DC 15 flat check to try to get rid of your acid damage.

Barring any generous retcon I will try to do what I can to salvage this.
1. stride
2. expert battle medicine
3. hunted shot
ambro uncommanded: stride next to demon

furry ambulance service DC 20: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19
F that. hero point.
furry ambulance service DC 20: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24
healing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (3, 8) + 10 = 21

"Don't you die on me, mister!"

hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 16 + 1 = 23
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 + 1 = 12
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 16 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 16 - 5 + 1 = 24
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 3 + 1 = 11
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 1

Didy frowns as his prey ducks out of his sightlines. He enters the room, trying to keep some distance from his friends after the back-to-back spell blasts. He slings a pair of arrows at the demon.

hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 16 + 1 = 18
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1) + 3 + 1 = 6
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 16 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 16 - 5 + 1 = 27
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 3 + 1 = 10
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 3

1. stride
2. hunted shot
3. A. (Assuming the demon is still up) Command: stride + darting attack on the demon
3. B. (if the demon drops from my arrow) Hunt Prey on the xulgath and Ambro will take his free action to stride up to the xulgath (in the square south of him to set up a flank for next turn for Carl).

Ambrosius jaws+inspire on demon if still standing: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 13 + 1 = 25
piercing: 2d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6, 7) + 3 + 1 = 17
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 7

The ranger looks over his new demonic prey then gives a quick click of his tongue to launch a dinosaur in his direction.

Ambrosius circles around the demon as it rises to face the leshy. Quickly he lashes out with his jaws before darting away to safety.

Ambrosius jaws+inspire vs FF: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 13 + 1 = 28
piercing: 2d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 5) + 3 + 1 = 11
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Afterwards Didy releases a pair of arrows at the red-skinned fiend.

hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 16 + 1 = 24
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2) + 3 + 1 = 9
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 16 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 16 - 5 + 1 = 16
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 3 + 1 = 9
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Hunt Prey with dubious ID on the demon. Command: stride into flank, then darting strike to attack and step away. Hunted Shot on the demon.

Didy reflex: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23 Aww, and I have evasion too so I would have dodged it all. Ah well.

Ambro reflex: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (11) + 18 = 29

Didy points to the door and presses his finger to his lips, then steps aside to let Carl and Ambro take point.

"You've got it, Ulthdar!" Didy says with a salute to the ghost followed by a shrug to his companions.

"Try right first? Let's hope his shouting didn't alert everybody!" he whispers as he approaches to the door to the right and listens with his brass ear.

finally! Explicit permission to plunder the temple.

"Sure! Umm, tell us about yourself. What's your name? We're you the priest here? If, umm, it's not too personal... how'd you die?"

"Don't you worry, Mr. Ghost. Sir Didymus, devout Arodenite is on the job! We already expelled all those evil xulgaths and demons and ether spiders upstairs," he beams proudly displaying his Holy symbol then reaches out to shake the spectre's hand before awkwardly switching it to a wave instead.

Ambrosius emits a strange clicking purr and rubs up against the bark-like hide of the champion as the walk side by side doen the hall.

moved us up to what I presume is an intersection with closed doors on either side. If so I will pull out my brass ear and take a listen at each door.

"I guess that rubble and scorching we saw before may have been from the smelly jerks forcing their way through. The magic of the statue must allow it to repair itself."

Didy frowns at the evidence the xulgaths made it this far. He'd hoped the guardian statue held them at bay.

He gives a good sniff to try to determine if any remain close at hand and then examines the path ahead for signs of an ambush or trap.

perception +18, likely two checks, one for scent and one for traps.

"Thanks, Mr. Statue. Keep up the good work!" the shoony says with a wave as he walks past the guardian and explores the room beyond.

"Huzzah! Well done, Al! Sorry about umm... jumping to conclusions earlier. Hmm, I wonder if that holy text we gave to the Professor is the key? Either way it's about time I wear my faith proudly! I'll pick up a holy symbol of Aroden in town. You guys might want to too. Aroden is the coolest after all."

So heading to the market I will buy a holy symbol. Then let's swing by the circus and grab the holy text, and spend the 2 days Carl needs to upgrade his trident. Between the symbol, the holy text, and the bracers we got from the pool, hopefully one of those will be the proper safety badge to bypass the statue. But if not, we should be armed well with the proper intel and gear to be able to conquer the statue by force. Didy is just really hoping not to actively destroy temple property right after working so hard to fix the place back up.

religion to research the history of the temple: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

Thanks for the heads up.
Welp, I guess we gotta go back and face the stone golem. We should strategize though. In fact I think it is worth taking the time to upgrade your trident, Carl. Hardness is brutal, so we need all the damage output we can get to overcome it.
Hmm, now that I think about it, I'd like to spend some time researching the local libraries/hall of records/bedtime stories/etc. The golem was obviously created to protect something sacred to the temple so there has to be a way that the priests commanded it, or at least let it know that were not enemies.

As I recall, we couldn't fully reconsecrate the chapel below, so I am hoping that repairing the bell and reaffixing it (and topping it off with a nice prayer) will be the last piece of the puzzle. As for the uncovered section, I already searched the room, so doing so again would be pure metagaming on my part.

"Wanna give me a hand? Let's try and fix this bell. Can't have a good temple without a nice bell chorus."

Stacy got favored enemy bonuses :P

"What in the nine hecks were those ether spiders doin' in here. And they don't seem to have been on good terms with the xulgaths." he says as he prods the corpse timidly with the end of his bow.

When it doesn't burst open with anything horrible he gives it and the spiders a thorough search for clues and valuables. Perception +18

nice! Ok with the coast clear I'll command ambro to stride around (to flank with Didy if possible) then use darting strike to bite and then step away.

Ambrosius jaws+inspire: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 13 + 1 = 33
piercing+precision: 3d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 5, 1) + 3 + 1 = 14

Ouch. Ambro is turning into quite the punching bag. And oof, we have no room to maneuver.

fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27
fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

Alright great rolls at least! My first action is to Hunt Prey (with the free recall knowledge check with dubious). I am really hoping to know if these guys have reactions and whether Ambro can even act before I commit to the third action. Most likely though I will be Command: Stride around behind and then Darting Strike (stepping away afterwards).

Didy lets out a startled yip that turns into full blown barking as the spiders descend on his (not so) little buddy. He looks for weak points and threats and communicates his insights to his friends while he rapidly bandages the dinosaur.

Battle Medic DC 20: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23
healing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (4, 8) + 10 = 22

@Kvothe, just a quick heads up your TK projectile should be 4d6+4 (essentially it does 1 die per spell level, so since you can cast 4th level spells now it should do 4d6+4).

"Hmm, I am not sure what or where the creature is that did that. Ah well, back to work on tidying up." he says with a shrug.

I would like to try to light the webs on fire with a torch.

Didy grimaces at the sight of spiderwebs, doubly so when those webs shimmer in and out of existence. Resolutely he sniffs at the air and tries to take stock of the threat.

I would like to use Survey Wildlife (Survival +13 plus Dubious Knowledge) to hopefully get some intel on the apparent interdimensional spider(s) that is(are) about to show us a bad time. Hopefully I can mark it/one as my prey in the process.

Woot! I had planned on buying one of these. Any objections to me taking it?

"Wow! Would you look at that? Aroden is already smiling on us! Hmm I had hoped that we'd be able to get to that room the golem was protecting from this side, but no such luck. Let's head upstairs. Maybe we can find some secret password we can tell it, so it knows we are friendly."

I think we are finally ready to explore the second story.

"Whoa. I think I know this story!" Didy says as he excitedly rattles off one of the many tales he knows of Aroden and his good works.

religion: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18

Boo, hero pointing that crap.

religion: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30

religion: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

"There we go! Much better! Look how pretty the eye of Aroden is!"

religion: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

"Hmm, it seems like some of this mess is magical. I'd like to find a local priest. This place needs to be reconsecrated." he says with real sadness in his voice.

"Ew. That's not okay. Demons these days... no respect for Holy shrines anymore," Didy says as he starts picking up the trash from the area and scrubbing away the filth.

If we do Healing Hymn on Carl that puts him at full, then a Lay on Hands on me would put me just 3 down from max, which is fine by me. And that only costs us ~20 min of down time.
I took the liberty of putting our minis around the otherside in our usual formation so we can explore from the entrance side and bypass the golem.

"Yeah let's get you patched up."

medic DC 20 on Carl: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (20) + 18 = 38
crit heals: 4d8 + 10 ⇒ (7, 3, 5, 6) + 10 = 31

medic DC 20 on Didy: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35
crit heals: 4d8 + 10 ⇒ (6, 7, 2, 2) + 10 = 27

"Kvothe, play us that sweet one." Healing Hymn please :)

Ouch! You only trip on a nat 20! Yowza. These solo monsters are brutal. With his hardness and high AC I am not sure this is a fight we want to have. It is likely confined to that room given its size, and likely its enchantment. I think we just back away and go around. Maybe beg to change your raise shield action to a stride instead? :)

"Whoa! Holy tail-waggers, plant man, I think we better live this thing alone. I am pretty sure this is a stone golem. They are no joke! I think this is more than we can handle. Besides I don't feel right attacking something the priests enchanted to protect Aroden's holy temple. Hopefully it is confined to this room. Let's fall back and just go around."

He whistles for Ambro's retreat and then calls out, "Sorry, Mr. Aroden statue. Devout Arodenite here. No harm meant. Keep up the good work!" he says with a quick wave, then drops to the floor and begins rolling back and forth to douse his flames.

1. command: stride x2
2+3. Assisted recovery on my fire damage

flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 11
2nd flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Oh crap. I missed that I was on fire. Man, that was a brutal opener. Also I forgot to mention that I get my free ID check when I mark it, although I am not sure if my skill set will get me much (Crafting +0, although Religion +13 if this qualifies as a creature of religious significance :D), but hopefully I can at least manage a regular failure for 1 true and 1 false. Also I moved my minis which I forgot to do from my phone last night.

"Why?" the shoony sniffles.

as usual I'll let Kvothe and Al go first in case of buffs/debuffs, but posting now to get it out of the way.
1. Stride
2. Hunt prey
3. Hunted shot
(Ambro strides towards the prey as his free action)

He perks up as Carl heals him and regains his better sense.

He scrambles away, then sizes up his attacker and fires his trademark back-to-back arrows.

Ambro, starting to feel a little neglected takes the initiative and rushes into the fray.

hunted shot: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
piercing: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 2) + 3 = 6

hunted 2: 1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (14) + 16 - 5 = 25
piercing: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (3, 6) + 3 = 12

precision: 1d8 ⇒ 3

"Aroden? Is that you?!" he asks with timid excitement.

I will delay as didy definitely won't strike first.

Well played.

After a lot of hesitation, Didy eventually decides that this is an opportunity he cannot miss. He rushes forward and tightly hugs the leg of the Aroden statue.

Didy gasps in shock at the paladin's suggestion to bash down a wall of the temple.

"Well that looks like a trap! Maybe we should circle around and see if we can approach from the other side."

Is it facing the far door or facing towards us? (Or another direction altogether?) Can I see the hinges on the far door to recognize that it is likely blocking that entrance? Can I make a Religion check to see if I recognize it as Aroden, or some other religious figure?

Didy moves on to the Western door, listens with his brass ear, and then steps back to let Carl open it up.

Didy inspects the wine to see if any of the labels look like stuff that he's seen Pontypool, the Professor, or any of the other circus members drink. "Ooo! These might make excellent presents!"

"Yep! Let's see what is so important back here that they had that beast to guard it."

I'll listen at the single door with the brass ear, and whisper to the party anything I detect and then step back and let Carl open the door.

"Whew!" Didy sighs with relief, then sets about pulling the tooth out of his own skin.

medicine: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35

then medicine all around.

DC 20 on Carl: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24
healing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (2, 6) + 10 = 18

DC 20 on Kvothe: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23
healing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (8, 3) + 10 = 21

DC 20 on Didy: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20
healing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (8, 7) + 10 = 25

"A Krooth? C'mon, Al. That sounds completely made up. It is clearly a wharflegobbler." he says while he finishes his surgery, then looses another pair of arrows.

Ambro continues to rake at the creature of his own free will.

Is it cool to keep the med check roll from last turn?

hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 16 + 1 = 27
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 + 1 = 12
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 16 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 16 - 5 + 1 = 14
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2, 2) + 3 + 1 = 8
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 1

Ambrosius jaws+inspire: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 13 + 1 = 15
piercing: 2d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 3 + 1 = 10
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 8

I will delay until after Carl in case of another hail mary trip.
1. stride
2. medicine
3. hunted shot
Uncommanded, Ambro gets a single strike at my prey for free.

"Uh oh."

medicine: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (13) + 18 = 31

hunted shot 1+inspire: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 16 + 1 = 35
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 3 + 1 = 11
hunted shot 2+inspire: 1d20 + 16 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 16 - 5 + 1 = 30
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 3 + 1 = 9
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Ambrosius jaws+inspire: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 13 + 1 = 17
piercing: 2d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 2) + 3 + 1 = 7
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 1

Didy rushes to the leshy's side and quickly performs impromptu field surgery, tucking the extricated tooth in a pocket as a souvenir. Then the archer deftly looses a couple rapid shots from his bow for good measure.

Left to his own devices, the dinosaur feebly snaps his jaws at the massive beast's ankle.

"Umm, maybe we should fall back. A cornered beast is a dangerous one."

"Holy crap, guys! I think that's a wharflegobbler! Those teeth of his are notoriously loose, and'll break off in ya. It's gonna take some doin' for me to yank 'em out and halt that bleed. But worse yet, they can come and go from one plane to the next. Oh man, this haze is probably ether dust! Try not to breathe in too much or your lungs'll float right outta your chest!"

Carl, next turn I will move up and use first aid to try to halt that bleed.

"Whoa!" Didy recoils as the massive creature lunges forth, and then again as its tail comes lashing around the corner. "What are you big fella?"

1. hunt prey
2. hunted shot
3. command: darting strike (step then strike) + strike.
As a quick reminder, marking him as prey lets me make a free recall knowledge check thanks to Monster Hunter, and Dubious Knowledge should get me something no matter what, though always a chance at erroneous info. Nature is at +15 (expert). Whatever I learn, I will immediately announce to the party.

hunted shot 1+inspire vs FF but cover: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 16 + 1 = 33
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3, 4) + 3 + 1 = 11
hunted shot 2+inspire vs FF but cover: 1d20 + 16 - 5 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 16 - 5 + 1 = 16
piercing+inspire: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 3 + 1 = 11
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Ambrosius jaws+inspire vs FF: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 13 + 1 = 20
piercing: 2d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (7, 3) + 3 + 1 = 14
Ambrosius talon+inspire vs FF: 1d20 + 13 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 13 - 4 + 1 = 13
slashing: 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 6) + 3 + 1 = 14
precision: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Didymus smiles at Carl's sudden excitement, and with an exaggerated bow just like Mr. Thunder used to do, he waves Carl on ahead. As he bends over for the bow, the thought to check for tracks suddenly dawns on him.

I will take the Tracking activity, and see if I can find a new prey to hunt.

Cool. In that case I will make my way to the backdoor off of the chapel and bust out my brass ear to listen at the door.

Moved up to the corner like last time. However I will wait for Kvothe and Carl to join before Ambro steps out from the corner.

Didy and Ambro scout ahead as we descend, wary of any of the xulgath forces lying in ambush.

Taking the Scout exploration mode, and my suggestion is to take the same route through the complex that we took before. If all is as we left it, we can quickly and easily press on.

Thanks although, there is not much more I want to buy til we level up (bracers of armor and weapon property rune, both are L8). So if there is anything else you (or anyone else) needs, I've got over 100gp available for loan.

Didy wakes everybody up bright and early the next morning. Eager to finish clearing out the jerks squatting in a temple dedicated to his hero.