GM Kwinten's page

After healing back up, you investigate the urdefhan camp, or what's left of it.

This massive cavern holds a jumble of low-lying tents made of stitched-together pelts and blood-streaked leather. Most of the tents surround a natural stone pillar decorated with strange symbols in brown and red paint, amid skulls tied or spiked to the pillar. Hides of various creatures cover the entrances to three caves to the southeast, each with a narrow wooden door.

The entire camp is deserted. Looks like everyone was sent out en masse to assault you.

There are three doors. You decide to go from the bottom up.

At this cavern’s center sits a single fur-and-skin hovel. A path to the hovel is flanked with skull-topped spears.

Inside are three more urdefhan. One incredibly buff urdefhan wielding a nasty sword, and two spellcaster-looking types. They look at you as you open the door.

"Ah, I was wondering where my people went. Looks like I get to enjoy tearing you limb from limb all by myself. You have the honour to be killed by the great urdefhan war hero Khurfel! Now die!"

Cherry Berry: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23
Dorianna: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36
Kvit: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34
Lough: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24
Initiative Blue: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22
Initiative Green: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
Initiative Khurfel: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (20) + 19 = 39

Dorianna's Battle Cry: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (4) + 20 = 24
I'll cheat Cherry Berry up so everyone is in one nice block at once.

Dorianna lets out a battle cry, but fails to intimidate any of the opponents.
Just for the record, who did you want to intimidate? They're now immune.

Khurfel runs up to the door, evaluates Aesephna's weak spots, and swings hard with his rhoka sword.

Insightful Swing: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 24 + 2 = 37
That's exactly a crit.
Slashing damage: 2d10 + 11 ⇒ (8, 9) + 11 = 28 Deadly dice: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7

Khurfel
Dorianna 75/134
Kvit 60/60
Lough 107/107
Cherry Berry 98/98
Green
Blue

Everyone is up!
Dorianna, who was ineffectually Battle Cry'd?
You can't stand in the space with the hovel (the orange blob on the map), unless you spend an action next to it first to push it over.

Lough, if I read it correctly, you don't add splash damage to your cone attack:

Immanence
Strikes with your hands of the wildling deal an additional 1 spirit splash damage per weapon damage die. You are immune to this splash damage.

Transcendence — Feral Swing
[two-actions]
Spirit Transcendence
You lash out with both arms, rending all before you. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must succeed at a basic Reflex save against your class DC or take spirit damage equal to your normal Strike damage with your hands of the wildling. You can choose to swing with abandon, which imposes a –2 circumstance bonus to enemies’ saving throws, but causes you to become off-guard until the start of your next turn.

Yes, your Strikes get the splash, but a Strike is a specific one-action activity that requires an attack roll. Your transcendence is a separate action that requires a Reflex save on my part. So, if I read it correctly, that doesn't get the splash added to it.

---

Also, that troop went down faster than expected. Originally I was supposed to throw like 30 enemies at you, but that would've been hell to keep track of, so I aggregated them into a troop. But I may have misjudged the encounter budget and undershot. Still, Dorianna rolled badly and that could've ended up bad in a more serious encounter.

Lough keeps tearing into the troop. He doesn't manage to score a solid hit on them, but scratches them up badly enough that several collapse under their injuries.

Reflex save vs Lough: 1d20 + 17 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 17 - 2 = 28

Dorianna feels like she's being run over by an entire football stadium. Sadly, Aesephna's attacks don't fare much better. She follows that up with a blast of noise that finally collapses the last remaining fighters.

Fort save vs Dorianna: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (14) + 21 = 35

When the coast seems to be clear, you go through the bodies of the dead to see if they were carrying anything of use.

4 times the following:
+1 shauth blade, leather armor, moderate necrotic bomb (3)

9 times the following:
+1 striking shauth lash, chain shirt

12 times the following:
composite longbow (20 arrows), rhoka sword, studded leather armor

7 warhammers
One +1 striking kukri

The coast into the camp seems clear!

Reflex save vs Kvit: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31
Reflex save vs Cherry Berry: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18

Kvit suddenly expels a whole lot of fire. The flames aren't super hot, but they burn quite a lot of urdefhan. After that, Cherry Berry summons a bunch of insects from the ground and they feast on the freshly-burnt opponents. Another part of the group dies from their collective injuries. Save against Kvit, crit fail against Cherry Berry.
1d2 ⇒ 1

Cherry Berry 69/98
Dorianna 108/134
Urdefhan troop, 143 damage, bloodied
Kvit 56/60
Lough 90/107, Hasted

Dorianna and Lough may act! Dorianna and Aesephna still need to save vs the overrun, and Aesephna may use Reactive Strike/Dutiful Retaliation.

Cherry Berry forgot their Reflex save. I'll use the 19 they rolled, which makes it a success.

Aesephna moves forward and attacks, but the troop manages to deflect it. Dorianna moves forward as well and casts a spell on them. They make it, but still take quite some damage.

Fort save: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (14) + 21 = 35

Cherry Berry moves forward and summons a ghostly Lough to tear through the battalion. They manage to evade most of it, but several urdefhan die from the onslaught. One segment destroyed! 1d3 ⇒ 2

Reflex save: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32

Kvit speeds up Lough's movements and protects himself.
Lough moves forward and lashes out, but just misses. Still, he grazes one urdefhan quite badly. The splash damage. It's also weird how Aesephna would get splash from this attack, so she's fine. Then he throws a flurry of slashes at the group. Once again, the troop dodges the onslaught, but several warriors still get nasty scratches.

Reflex save with -2: 1d20 + 17 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 17 - 2 = 30

They're in pretty bad shape now, despite succeeding in most saves. But the weakness to splash/area damage adds up.

The troop huddles up and brace themselves, then form a stampede and rush through Aesephna, Dorianna, Lough, and Cherry Berry. The party gets battered by a whole group of blood-crazy urdefhan shoulder-charging them all at the same time!
Everyone except Kvit, please make me a basic DC 27 Reflex save or take 2d8 + 12 ⇒ (5, 6) + 12 = 23 bludgeoning damage.
Ran just out of movement to also take Kvit with me. Can't find anything about sharing space with a troop.

Cherry Berry 92/98
Dorianna 108/134
Urdefhan troop, 104 damage, bloodied
Kvit 56/60
Lough 101/107, Hasted

Everyone is up! Cherry Berry, Dorianna, Aesephna, and Lough need to make a basic DC 27 Reflex save or take 23 bludgeoning damage.
Lough's Reactive Strike misses, but if Aesephna has one, she can use it.

Herp derp, good catch.

Cherry Berry, you don't need to move. Poltergeist has 60 foot reach, which you easily make.
BUT.
Bon Mot doesn't work, as it targets only a single person. And you wouldn't have been in range for that.

Ah, should've specified. Aesephna was out of the burst, so only you needed to save. But I'm gonna be a hardass and say that I'll take the first roll, which is unfortunately the nat 1.
If I then transpose your attack to the 8, it's still a miss, sadly.

Forgot to mention, everyone gets a Hero Point!

Technically no, because it's a weird "not-quite-an-attack-but-simulates-an-attack" troop thing. But the flavour is definitely the enemy hitting you, so I'll say that it counts.

BUT.

Dutiful Strike says Trigger An enemy within 15 feet of you hits you with a Strike and deals damage to you.

I believe you weren't within 15 foot range at the time of the attack. You've moved since then, but if I read my version history right, Aesephna was 10 feet away from the troop and you even more, so a) you weren't in 15 feet for the trigger, and b) she wouldn't have the reach to hit it anyway.

If you move to within 15 feet (which you've done with your current turn, I see), yes, you can do Dutiful Strike.

Botting Cherry Berry to keep things going.

Troop's Reflex save: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (3) + 21 = 24

Dorianna blasts the troop with shadow magic. Despite them being quite nimble, it catches them off-guard and they take quite a hit. Several individuals crumple, but there's still enough people standing to pick up the slack. Aesephna then strides forward.

Cherry Berry throws a beam of divine energy into the troop, but misses. They then cast Shield on themselves.
Best 30+ ft range cantrip attack they have available.

Divine Lance attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (7) + 17 = 24

The urdefhan remain at distance, draw their shortbows and javelins, and rain down a volley of pointy death at you. 10 ft burst catches everyone.

Everyone, please make me a basic DC 27 Reflex save or take 5d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 4, 2, 1) = 13 piercing damage.

Cherry Berry 98/98
Dorianna 134/134
Urdefhan troop, 38 damage
Kvit 60/60
Lough 107/107

Everyone is up! Please make me a basic DC 27 Reflex save or take 13 piercing damage.

So, what you're fighting is a troop, a whole bunch of creatures working in coordination. It's kind of like a swarm, in that it's a pile of creatures working together, but a few important differences. The main part is Troop Defenses. Basically:
- After certain damage thresholds, a segment of the troop will "die." It's still as strong as before, but it loses one ten-foot square part.
- Spells or effects that hit a specific number of targets need to hit at least 5 targets to be effective.
- Spells or effects that incapacitate a whole segment makes them "die off" immediately, and lose HP accordingly. A seventh-level Paralyze can target 10 creatures, so if all of them fail the check, it'll lose two segments.
- The whole troop needs to stay adjacent to each other the whole time. It cannot split up and form two "mini-troops," as per Troop Movement.

Like a swarm, it:
- Has a weakness to area damage and splash damage, as damage gets spread across multiple members.
- Has an immunity to single-target effects. A third-rank Slow won't do anything, as there's still plenty of creatures in the troop that can take over for that one slowed target.
- Deals automatic damage (with a Reflex save). This time not to creatures inside the troop, but adjacent to it. The more actions it spends on this attack, the bigger the damage output. It's not a matter of dodging one attack, it's a matter of dodging like ten attacks at once.

This is all free information that you can use, no Recall Knowledge required. Don't want you to whiff because you didn't know a rule.

You go back to Otari to heal up and recover your spells. The next day, you go back down, and just as you leave the drow encampment, a whole horde of urdefhan come pouring out of their camp. They spot you, and make ready to attack!

"There they are! Lady Belcorra told us to kill them, so let's have some fun! You can eat whatever's left of them!"

Cherry Berry: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 37
Dorianna: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27
Kvit: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20
Lough: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20
Urdefhan troop: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (4) + 20 = 24

Cherry Berry 98/98
Dorianna 134/134
Urdefhan troop
Kvit 60/60
Lough 107/107

Cherry Berry and Dorianna are up!
Information about troops in the Discussion in a moment.

Without any other input, I'm going to assume you're going for a night's rest, either up top or in the drow encampment, and will start a new day tomorrow.

Whelp, fair enough. Kvit can carry the lens without being encumbered.

Bulk Limits says "You can carry an amount of Bulk equal to 5 plus your Strength modifier without penalty; if you carry more, you gain the encumbered condition."

I'm gonna say that 4.x is more than 4, so you're Encumbered.
If a container can be filled with one litre of liquid, it can contain exactly one litre, not one litre and one cup. That cup's worth just spills out.

Nope, 2 bulk is correct. Just checked, they all have different weight classes, from L to 3. Not sure why, but it seems intentional.

Cherry Berry gently approaches the cauthooj. They use the glint of shiny coins to distract the bird so the others can approach.

You see that the cauthooj has stockpiled several bodies of drow, urdefhan, and caligni and thrown them onto a pile. As you get closer, you see why, as the bird is guarding two eggs. You think that if you manage to find the right buyer for these eggs, you could earn quite a bit of coin.

Cherry Berry keeps the bird occupied while the rest search the island. With Detect Magic, you find a brownish-orange glass disc buried underneath a lot of mud on the eastern shore of the island. You dig it out and quickly retreat back to your boats before the cauthooj has second thoughts about your presence.

After identifying it, you figure out it's an Ochre Fulcrum Lens.
Not using AoN because it lists all the lenses on the same page, and spoilers. :)

You hop back in the boats and paddle back to the cauthooj. The cauthooj is warbling nervously as you approach. It clearly doesn't trust you and is making ready to attack if you provoke it.

I'd like a Nature check and a Diplomacy check to know how to calm it down, and to actually do the calming. Doesn't have to be done by the same person.
Or other creative solutions, of course. But I'd like to see at least two different skills.

You heal up the little splash damage inflicted by Lough and continue. There's a door to the south that looks interesting.

These massive double doors are made of black and green stone. An oxidized bronze lock has a keyhole but no handles.

Kvit tries to pick the door open with his thieves' tools, but gets nowhere. Looks like the lock is too complex for him. Lough tries bashing in the doors, but all he gets in return is a sore shoulder. The door don't even budge a millimetre.

You continue clockwise. You pass past the entrance to the creepy spider-thing's lair, and eerie click-clacking sounds of its legs and chomping and slurping sounds of its mouths emanate from within. Sounds like it is the one who recently took down the roper.

Further down is the slime cave.
Hanging streamers of mold dangle from the ceiling here. Several coins protrude from a shelf of stone to the north.

Kvit's spying eye went through here previously (as well as the spider-cave above), and found no real treasure inside. The coins are silver pieces, and are deeply embedded in the slime. You could get them out, but it seems like a lot of effort for only a handful of silver.

Further south is the cave to the dragon's lair. You're not sure if you want to get too close.

So, where are you gonna go? Your options are:
- The cauthooj and the lens.
- The trapped door near the cauthooj.
- The urdefhan camp.

I know I roughed you up in the first fight with the fish, but how are you on resources now? This could maybe still be a one-day dungeon level if you're not too drained, though I don't blame you if you want a rest somewhere in between.

Botting Cherry Berry to keep things going.

Lough attacks, and with his arm now magically imbued, Belcorra's form sizzles as his arm passes through her form. He then lashes out several more times, forcing Belcorra to dodge the onslaught.
Belcorra Reflex save, -2: 1d20 + 22 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 22 - 2 = 36
She makes it, but still catches some of the damage. She winces as chunks of spirit-essence are ripped from her form.

Aesephna strikes twice, hitting once. Her damage gets resisted, but it still hurts. Dorianna then sends a mental jolt Belcorra's way.
Belcorra Will save: 1d20 + 20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 20 + 1 = 38
But Belcorra's having none of it.

Kvit fails his save against stupefication and his eyes glaze over. He manages to cast a spell, but misses Belcorra.
Cherry Berry sends a pulse of vitality out specifically designed to hurt the undead. Vitality Lash

Belcorra Fort save: 1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 16 + 1 = 25
Belcorra fails, and takes 5d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 5, 2) = 17 vitality damage!
Cherry Berry has now officially bloodied Belcorra, at 89 damage.

Wisps of ethereal smoke start to come off Belcorra as her form shimmers like a mirage as she struggles to hold herself together.

"GAAH! I don't have time for this! I'll tell those boneheads to attack you and be done with it, I've got bigger fish to fry."

With that, she dives back into the ground, and combat is over.
You can make another reactive strike if you want, but it won't put her down.

Aesephna's reactive strike hits, and she resists the confusion spell cast upon her as well.
Aesephna lashes out twice, hitting both times. Dorianna boosts her friend and tries to weaken Belcorra's faculties.

Will save: 1d20 + 20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 20 + 1 = 41
But Belcorra's having none of it.
Kvit determines that this is the actual real Belcorra, not an astral projection or anything. But he also knows that ghosts tend to re-form in a matter of days unless you solve their unresolved business, or through very powerful interference. He sustains his magic, then provides Lough with the means to properly hurt Belcorra.
Cherry Berry walks forward and wards Lough against void magic.
Lough feints Belcorra successfully, but his strike misses the mark anyway. Still, a little bit of the attack manages to hurt her.

Belcorra turns to Kvit. "You, annoying little rat. You keep casting spells to hinder me. Stop that."

She casts a spell, provoking from Lough and Aesephna. Lough misses, but she still takes the splash damage. And Aesephna may roll her attack.
Kvit, please make me a DC 33 Will save versus Stupefy!

Lough 107/107
Kvit 60/60, DC 33 Will save vs Stupefy
Belcorra, 37 damage
Cherry Berry 98/98
Dorianna 130/134
Aesephna, hasted

Everyone is up! Kvit needs to make a DC 33 Will save versus Stupefy, and Aesephna gets a reactive strike.

Kvit's going to cast the spell on whichever weapon or deadly appendage he holds out, lol. Meta-wise, usually incorporeal things have a lower than average AC to make up for being so hard to damage. (I think?)

Eh, that's more of a PF1 thing. In PF2, enemy stats are much more uniform. The only real exceptions I can think of are oozes who just have plain crap AC. From a quick glance at monster stats, I can tell you that ghosts don't have a typically lower AC than any other creature of their level.

---

Also, about Confusion: I looked up what Confusion does to Summoners, and it's not as bad as I would've thought.

Lost And Altered Actions

If you or your eidolon becomes slowed, stunned, quickened, or otherwise affected by something that changes the actions you gain at the start of each turn, it affects your shared actions. However, if you are both subject to such an effect, apply only the more severe one. For instance, if you or your eidolon were slowed 1, you would start your turn with one fewer action, but if you were both slowed 1, you would still lose only one action, rather than adding the two slowed effects together. However, if you were slowed 1 and your eidolon slowed 2, you'd have two fewer actions, because that's the more severe effect. If only one of you becomes restricted in how you can spend your actions, that restriction doesn't automatically extend to the other; for example, if your eidolon became immobilized or petrified, it wouldn't be able to move, but you could still use your actions to move. The GM resolves any situation that's unclear.

You, as the player, control both your summoner and your eidolon, and the two are generally considered to cooperate unless you decide for them not to. While a summoner's link with an eidolon is a partnership, ultimately the eidolon is linked to you, not the other way around. If there's ever a conflict of who should act, you win out over your eidolon. This means that if the eidolon comes under an effect that would take its actions out of your control, such as the confused or controlled condition, you can use all of your shared actions so your eidolon doesn't have any actions remaining to cause trouble (as long as you are able to act). However, if you came under such an effect, you would simply use all of your shared actions, preventing your eidolon from acting.

Seems like Dorianna can just take all her actions for herself and decide not to Act Together if Aesephna fails, but I found this too appropriate to not do. Plus, even on a success, she's still Stunned 1, so not a total waste.

I also found this thread, but they seem to miss the bolded part in my quote above. At first I also thought it would affect Dorianna, what with the "It affects your shared actions," but that's specifically about gaining or losing actions, not altering your actions, like Confusion does.
TL;DR: If Aesephna fails her save, Dorianna can just hog all the actions and not let Aesephna act.

I think I fixed the shift. If you're now in a place you weren't before, feel free to put yourself back or take advantage of your new location. :)

Cherry Berry fires a ray of holy energy at Belcorra, but misses.
Dorianna yells at Belcorra, somehow managing to scare her. Then Aesephna runs through her incorporeal form to flank with Lough.
Kvit coughs up a scroll, walks forward, then casts a circle of runes on the floor.
Lough shakes off the effect of Never Mind with ease. He then raises his shield and entrances Belcorra with a lullaby.

Wills save, Frightened: 1d20 + 20 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 20 - 1 = 34

Belcorra is confused, but is not fooled by Lough's strange tactics.

Belcorra laughs at Cherry Berry's plea to stop. "Hahahaha! Groveling already? I like you, little one. No one has tried to ask kindly before. It won't help, of course, but I appreciate the attempt."

She turns to Aesephna. "I might have failed at killing you before, but this time I shall prevail! Go attack your new 'master.'"

Belcorra casts a spell, and Lough lashes out once more. It hurts Belcorra somewhat, but doesn't interrupt her spellcasting.
Didn't Aesephna have a reactive strike as well? Feel free to roll.

Aesephna, please make me a DC 32 Will save versus Confusion!

She then conjures up a new shield of force to protect her.

Lough 107/107
Kvit 60/60
Belcorra, 7 damage
Cherry Berry 98/98
Dorianna 134/134
Aesephna, hasted, DC 32 Will save vs Confusion

Everyone is up!
Kvit has a free Sustain.
Aesephna needs to make a DC 32 Will save vs Confusion.

Yes, technically you're correct. But since there's (AFAIK) no spell to do the equivalent for unarmed strikes, I'll allow it. Or you can cast it on his shield, that's technically also a weapon, if you don't want to abuse my generosity. :)

Dorianna, Battle Cry has a range of 30 feet, Belcorra's just out of range. Unless the feat overrides that, let me do a search if that's the case.
Similarly, Stupefy is also 30 feet. She's 40 feet away.
(I did not consciously place her just out of reach, I just put her in a place that made sense. >_>)

EDIT: The thread is about something else, but Battle Cry range is mentioned here. Seems like by RAW, Battle Cry still has the 30 ft range.

Lough, your unarmed strikes aren't ghost touch, right?

Lough rushes forward and manages to hit Belcorra. His arm goes straight through her ectoplasmic form, but Belcorra winces in pain anyways. She seems to resist most of Lough's damage.
Kvit casts a spell that speeds up Aesephna's movements, then moves forward.

"Ha! You think you can defeat me with your pitiful attacks? How long have you been roaming my halls, defeating my minions, and you've never even thought of equipping yourselves with weapons weapons that hurt my spiritual essence? This shall be your undoing!"

She casts a spell, triggering Lough's reaction. The strike hits, but she seems completely unbothered by it. She finishes casting the spell, and Lough's mind suddenly fills with thick brain fog.
Lough, please make me a DC 33 Will save versus Never Mind.

She then casts a quick spell and a shield of force appears around her.

Lough 107/107, DC 33 Will save vs Never Mind
Kvit 60/60
Belcorra, 3 damage
Cherry Berry 98/98
Dorianna 134/134
Aesephna, hasted

Everyone is up! Lough needs to make a DC 33 Will save versus Never Mind.

You poke around the black sludge, but find nothing of value. No magic, no treasure, nothing. You find some mostly-digested chunks of flesh, so it doesn't look like it starved to death, either. You think Dorianna might be on to something. Some other denizen stumbled upon the ooze and tore it to pieces.

As you're discussing how this pudding met its end, a chill runs down your spines. You look around, and you see that further ahead, Belcorra has appeared!
"I warned you! I told you that you could still go back! But no, you're looking for the lenses and making pacts with my former allies." She looks at you with a combination of smugness and absolute loathing. "Yes, I know what you've been up to. I see all, I know all that happens down here! That drow thinks she can escape from our agreement, just because she wasn't the one who made it. Bah, I'll teach her, just after I've made short work of you all!"

Cherry Berry: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (7) + 17 = 24
Dorianna: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (4) + 17 = 21
Kvit: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32
Lough: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35
Belcorra: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (7) + 22 = 29

Lough 107/107
Kvit 60/60
Belcorra
Cherry Berry 98/98
Dorianna 134/134

Lough and Kvit win initiative!
The squares with the black pudding are difficult terrain.

You keep exploring. You head further east.

A rocky depression at the south end of this chamber contains a thick stalagmite toppled over in a pool of dark ichor.

A bit more to the east, the stench of the ofalth hits you again. It's turned around now to keep an eye on you, but doesn't seem immediately hostile.

More eastward, you come to an entirely spotless room, except for a big patch of black gloop in the middle.

Lough starts ripping chunks of bone apart with brute force, more hurting his own fingers in the process than making any meaningful impact on the workload. Kvit and Cherry Berry take a more methodical approach, melting away the organic material with acid and collecting the metallic remains.

It's quite big, 1 Bulk in total, but you think you have the equivalent of a chunk of adamantine capable of being worked into an item, as well as a few chips of metal for Needle Darts.

You go back to the shuln. It's still there, and it's still dead. You think you can harvest the claws and teeth to be reworked into adamantine equipment, but it's going to be a bit of an issue to get everything home. A single claw is about as big as a human person, so taking everything back isn't really an option. You'll have to chip off the most promising-looking stuff.

Everyone who wants can make me a Crafting or Survival check to see how well you do at harvesting the material.

I should've asked this sooner, but say you harvest the shuln for its adamantine. I could either give you a bit of treasure to sell, or maybe give you an adamantine chunk.

Does the following seem fair?
A chunk of adamantine is 500 gp, and several items ask for X gp worth of adamantine. I'll say that you can make one item out of adamantine (because it's not as pure as actual adamantine, so it requires more metal), effectively using up the entire chunk.
An adamantine weapon would officially be out of your reach, but I'm willing to handwave that. I'd be happy to subtract 500 gp from the weapon's cost, since you're supplying the adamantine yourself. An adamantine shield would be basically free, but then again, you're supplying 500 gp worth of treasure for it. (And hey, whether you spend 440 gp on the shield and 55 gp of the adamantine, and sell the remaining adamantine, or trade the whole chunk of adamantine for the shield, you're still out the same amount of money.)

Cherry Berry wrote:

"At least you can technically eat the food down here. I'm not a mushroom."

"Hmm, does generating light aid you?" asks the girl looking at Cherry

"Trust me eating around here is no fun for us ... but doable "

Dorianna already talking like a veteran after three combats underground. ;P

Yeah, that's sucky. Kvit, you get a Hero Point for "wasting" a good roll.

Officially, no, you just have to ride the poison out. But where's the fun in that? Not like ot matters much anyway.

You pick up Lough and retreat to the safe spot to the west. Dorianna starts treating Lough to get the poison out of his system faster. It works, speeding up the paralysis by 1d6 ⇒ 1 hour.

Aesephna posted just as I was leaving work.

Soothing blossoms swirl around as Aesephna resists the poison, and she's no longer slowed! She hits the creature twice and crits once, and the shuln falls dead to the ground!

Kvit, you get your Hydraulic Push back.

Lough remains petrified for the next few hours.

Lough fails his save versus adamantine poisoning and takes 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7 poison damage.
Aesephna fails her save versus poison and takes 3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 6) = 14 poison damage. She then slaps twice, and crits once! Dorianna then reinforces the eidolon's defenses.
Kvit lobs a ball of fire at the giant thing, but misses.
Cherry Berry heals Lough back up, restoring all his lost hit points.
Lough swings twice, but sadly misses two times. He then critically fails his save against poison and becomes paralysed for 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5 hours. You'll take some more poison damage, but since you're full, it doesn't matter much.

Since Lough is no longer a threat, the shuln focuses on Aesephna.
Fangs vs Aesephna, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 23 - 2 = 25

Claws vs Aesephna, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 23 - 2 - 4 = 22

Claws vs Aesephna, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 - 8 ⇒ (14) + 23 - 2 - 8 = 27

Thanks to Dorianna's reinforcement, the giant rat misses three times!

Dorianna 60/134
Aesephna, Blurred, poisoned, stage 2 (round 2/6), Slowed 1
Cherry Berry 98/98
Kvit 60/60
Lough 107/107, paralysed
Lough's shield, 8 damage
Shuln, 151 damage, prone

Everyone is up!
Lough is paralysed and can only perform purely mental actions.
Aesephna needs to make a DC 30 Fortitude save at the start of her turn (technically the end of her last turn) for the poison. If she fails, she's also paralysed.
The shuln is very heavily injured.

I just found out that I've been doing something wrong (luckily not super impactful) regarding poisons and afflictions. According to this rule, poisons tick at the end of the afflicted user's turn, not on the turn of the one who applied it. (Fun fact: I've been running it correctly for a long time, until someone "corrected" me and now I've been doing it wrong)

Now, in this combat it hasn't really mattered (yet). Aesephna rolls before her turns comes around again. The only thing is that Aesephna could save, become un-poisoned, and become poisoned again, rather than still being poisoned in the enemy's turn and advancing a stage before she gets a chance to reduce it. But that hasn't happened yet, luckily.

Anyway, I'll try to include a reminder to save again at the end of your turn from now on.

Cherry Berry throws more lightning at the giant mole.

Reflex save: 1d20 + 17 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 17 - 2 = 31

It makes it, but still gets zapped a bit.

The shuln, still prone, goes after Lough now in a giant frenzy.
Fangs vs Lough, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 23 - 2 = 29
Piercing damage: 3d10 + 8 ⇒ (2, 9, 8) + 8 = 27

Claw vs Lough, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 23 - 2 - 4 = 19
Claw vs Lough, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 - 8 ⇒ (14) + 23 - 2 - 8 = 27
That would be a hit, but I double-checked just to be sure and it misses due to me not adding Lough's Eye-Catching Spot! is still a hit because he lowered his AC.
Slashing damage: 3d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 5, 7) + 8 = 23

The shuln connects once with its bite! It would've hit with its claw as well, but its beady little eyes are focused on a blemish on Lough's face and throws off its aim. Lough, please make me a DC 30 Fortitude save or be poisoned! On a fail, you're Slowed 1.

Meanwhile, Aesephna feels the poison coursing through her semi-corporeal body. Aesephna, make me a DC 30 Fortitude save or continue to be poisoned.

Dorianna 72/134
Aesephna, Blurred, poisoned (round 1/6), Slowed 1
Cherry Berry 98/98
Kvit 60/60
Lough 49/107, DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison
Lough's shield, 8 damage
Shuln, 125 damage, prone

Everyone is up! Lough needs to make a DC 30 Fortitude save or be poisoned and Slowed 1. Aesephna needs to make a DC 30 Fortitude save or progress the poison (stage 2 is still Slowed 1, Stage 3 is paralysis).
The shuln looks pretty bad. A good round of damage could drop it.
Don't forget to roll your save for poison at the end of your turn as well.

I sort of feel very similar about Cherry. I'm having a hard time gauging when I should be blowing big slots, and when I should hold onto things.

Don't know if this follows conventional wisdom, but my method so far been high level/big damage spells against mooks, buff/debuff against solo encounters. It's the law of inverse ninjas: the more there are, the weaker each individual is. Mooks will most likely fail saves, while solo encounters have good enough saves that they'll succeed. They need debuffs the most, since that makes it more likely that your teammates connect (increasing the odds of connecting from 20 to 25% is proportionally a lot more than from 70 to 75%).

On the other hand, big bosses have more hit points, so blowing a chunk of it up even on a success helps a lot.

Still, my mantra is: casters are best suited for crowds, martials for single targets (with support from the casters).

Yeah, when we started we were pre-remaster. Acid Arrow is okay, but Acid Grip got a stealth upgrade. Pushing people around is interesting. As I said, damage-wise it's mediocre, but I think the real draw is the movement, even on a success. Even 5 feet can push someone out of cover or into a bad situation.

And yeah, lately we've been fighting lots of big baddies, so maybe Fear's not the greatest. But remember that whole clan of urdefhan you're supposed to murderise. :p Like I said, maybe not a primary tactic, but useful in certain situations, especially when rank 3 isn't super valuable anymore.

Two low-level spells I've been impressed with so far are:
Fear. Third-rank spells start to lose a bit of oomph (apart from Haste), so a five-person debuff is pretty cool. Assuming most succeed, a five people being Frightened still adds up. If one or two people fail, Frightened 2 adds up. And most likely, if you target 5 people, they're probably mooks, so their saves won't be too spectacular.

Acid Grip's damage isn't spectacular, especially if people save, but moving an enemy 5 foot can be really useful. Play by post might complicate things with the delay in response, but you could push enemies into a flank, or create space. Imagine if you'd used it this combat, you could've pushed the shuln back and made an escape route, or let people flank. Hell, I've even seen it used to push enemies into a trap or off a platform.

Aesephna fails to resist the shuln's poison, despite her semi-corporeal form. She takes 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5 poison damage. She then strikes it back hard, while Dorianna heals herself.
Lough hits the shuln hard, then keeps slashing, forcing the shuln to dodge his attacks. Lough, you still have the Guidance in your to hit. :P
Reflex save: 1d20 + 17 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 17 - 2 = 34
The shuln is slow, but still manages to dodge most of it.
Kvit fires a flaming bolt from his staff, but misses.

Dorianna 72/134
Aesephna, Blurred, poisoned (round 0/6), Slowed 1
Cherry Berry 98/98
Kvit 60/60
Lough 99/107
Lough's shield, 8 damage
Shuln, 118 damage, prone

Cherry Berry is up! The shuln is pretty beaten up by now, but is still standing.

Yeah, casters start having it rough around this level. The fact that they don't get +1 items for their casting stat starts to really hurt.
I mean, this is a good level for comparison. At level 1, most casters have a spell attack of +7, and a DC of 17. At this level, it's +7 and 27, a nice difference of 10. But compare that to level 1 and 9 creatures, they increase much more. Link for reference. Moderate AC and saves at level 1 are 15 and +7, respectively. At level 9, it's 27 and +18, a difference of 12 and 11. Monsters outpace casters in their growth. And that's when you're the same level, and with average stats. If they're higher level, you could be looking at a creature that's 5 ahead of you in saves. Yeah, a lot of spells do something on a success, but your spells are limited, so that's not a good tradeoff, IMHO. And with that high a difference, critting for zero effect also becomes more likely.

TL;DR: I sympathise with you, and I don't think you're doing anything wrong. Monsters just cheat.

[I waited with Dorianna's turn to see if she wanted to change anything with her remaining action.[/ooc]

Aesephna strikes the shuln twice, only connecting once. Then Dorianna sends a headache toward the shuln.

Will save: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (2) + 19 = 21
The shuln fails and takes it in full.

Then Aesephna tries to trip the creature, and it works! Her follow-up attacks miss, however.

Kvit messes with the shuln's coordination, then pops the blister on its body.
Will save: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (16) + 19 = 35
Fort save: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (19) + 23 = 42

The shuln is clumsy and stupefied for a single round. It completely avoids the effect of the blister, however.

Cherry Berry zaps it with electricity.
Reflex save, clumsy: 1d20 + 17 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 17 - 1 = 33
It avoids most of it, but still gets damaged somewhat.

Finally, Lough tries to feint it, but despite its stupefiedness, it's not easily fooled. His follow-up punch, however, hits home hard, splashing some damage onto Aesephna.
Where did the +1 in attack come from? Last round's Guidance? Regardless, it's a hit.

The shuln goes for the opponent who knocked its feet out from under it, Aesephna.

Fangs vs Aesephna, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 23 - 2 = 40
Flat check for Blur: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Piercing damage: 3d10 + 8 ⇒ (9, 5, 6) + 8 = 28

Claws vs Aesephna, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 23 - 2 - 4 = 24
Flat check for Blur: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Claws vs Aesephna, prone: 1d20 + 23 - 2 - 8 ⇒ (6) + 23 - 2 - 8 = 19
Flat check for Blur: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Its bite attack connects, but luckily its follow-up attacks miss.
Aesephna, please make me a DC 30 Fortitude save versus poison. On a fail, you're slowed 1.

Dorianna 29/134
Aesephna, Blurred, DC 30 Fort save vs poison
Cherry Berry 98/98
Kvit 60/60
Lough 99/107
Lough's shield, 8 damage
Shuln, 82 damage, prone

Everyone is up!
Aesephna needs to make a DC 30 Fort save or be Slowed 1.

Lough tries to fake out the shuln, but fails. Hev then tries to dazzle it with his off-beat presence.

Will save, Frightened: 1d20 + 19 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 19 - 1 = 26

Its tiny beady eyes focus on Lough, forgetting everything around him. Lough then strikes it.

The shuln strikes back, but Lough intercepts it with his shield.
Hardness 9, so 8 damage to shield and Lough.

Dorianna 87/134
Aesephna, Blurred
Cherry Berry 98/98
Kvit 60/60
Lough 99/107
Lough's shield, 8 damage
Shuln, 29 damage

Dorianna has 1 action remaining, everyone else can act.

Ah, my apologies. As I said before, the Exemplar is still a bit of a black box to me. You cycle through so many abilities, I can't keep track of it all. Plus, I must admit, sometimes I skim abilities, thinking I know them by now, and clearly I don't.

Battle Cry is an Intimidate check to Demoralize, just like normal. The feat just allows you to do so at initiative-speed. Only Scare to Death (IIRC) does a similar thing without actually being a Demoralise.

Also, you're no longer Slowed, so you have 1 more action.

Will continue now to keep things flowing. Will account for Lough's turn after his post.

Aesephna fails to resist the poison and takes 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) = 9 poison damage as she slows down. She attempts to strike the shuln, but her movements are already too dulled by the poison to connect. Dorianna then shouts the shuln down, and it shrinks away from the intimidating little lady.
Technically it's immune to intimidate after your Battle Cry, but I noticed it too late and don't want to reverse that as well. Please keep it in mind for next time, though.

Kvit steps forward and casts a spell on Aesephna, making her form even hazier than usual.
Cherry Berry causes flowers to appear in the cavern, soothing the poison in Aesephna's system.

The shuln targets Lough next because he either did some fancy distracting stuff or hit it, and gnaws and claws at him.
Fangs, Frightened: 1d20 + 23 - 1 ⇒ (3) + 23 - 1 = 25

Claw, Frightened: 1d20 + 23 - 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 23 - 1 - 4 = 35
Slashing damage: 3d8 + 8 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) + 8 = 17

Claw, Frightened: 1d20 + 23 - 1 - 8 ⇒ (1) + 23 - 1 - 8 = 15

Luckily the poison-filled bite misses, but Lough takes a nasty scratch to the face.
17 damage noted, will adjust once I know if Lough raised his shield or not.

Dorianna 87/134
Aesephna, poison stage 1 (1/6), Blurred
Cherry Berry 98/98
Kvit 60/60
Lough 107/107, 17 damage pending on whether he raised shield last turn
Shuln, 17 damage, potentially 12 more

Everyone is up!
Lough, please decide one action to undo last round.
Aesephna, please make a DC 29 Fortitude save. On a success, you're no longer poisoned. A fail means Slowed 1, a crit fail means paralysed.

Nah, it's fine. Easier to keep track of this way, I think. And it works better with how Summoners want it to work.

Lough, you're not hasted. Please select an action to lose.

That thing succeeds on fort saves even on a four on the die. So that's ... Not great.

Kvit steps forward and touches Lough, causing his form to blur.

◆ Step ◆◆ Blur - Lough. I wanted to put it on Aesephena, but didn't want to risk a stride over a step in case of reactions.

You're asking an adamantine-reinforced rat to make a Fort save, what did you think would happen? :P

Also, the shuln has 15 foot reach and didn't react to other people moving or casting spells. You're safe to move. Do you want to target Aesephna instead?

I'd normally continue the fight, but with two people potentially changing their actions, I'll wait.