GM Mike...R's page

The game has now been reported via RPG Chronicles and the chronicle sheets are available here. Let me know if there are any issues and thanks again for playing!

It looks like before I can get the game reported I'll need Rogarch to provide an email address on the sign up sheet here as boons will be sent out by email so I need to include those in the reporting.

Boon roll for me...

Mike boon?: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Boon roll for Bael...

Bael boon?: 1d20 ⇒ 9

I'll wait another 12 hours to give Bael a chance to do his rolls and then sort out the reporting / chronicle sheets.

Once Bael has done his boon roll and day job roll I'll get the game reported and the chronicle sheets out.

Level 9 would count as between tiers, so they get the average gold between tiers 7-8 and 10-11.

In addition to the boons, everyone also gets a chance at winning a Paizo voucher, but that those are drawn randomly by the organisers so you don't need to roll for those. As the vouchers and boons are sent out by email, it's worth checking that you have included your email address in the signup sheet.

Any of the scenarios on Redelia's list of suggestions would be good from my point of view, as they are all scenarios I've not previously had a chance to run.

Had there been any thoughts on the multi-table scenario for the next GameDay?

Congratulations everyone on completing The Solstice Scar - Version D. Feel free to do any day job rolls and also everyone gets to roll for a boon (a roll of 19 or 20 wins one). I'll sort out the chronicle sheets in the next few days and post a link to them in the discussion thread.

I'd definitely be interested.

For my table the nightshade took a bit of damage from a positive pulse and a bit more from a spiritual weapon and then was put to sleep by the flying shamans slumber hex.

The Eshimka Defeated condition triggers once a certain number of the tables have reported successes, and removes the treat of her attacking the party while they are fighting her minions. In theory it should happen part way through this section of the scenario, but for this game there were quite a few successes reported all at once, so we are almost immediately moving onto the next announcement.

The tree that Eshimka had been looking to throw at the party falls to the ground. Meanwhile the group of undead that had been heading towards the Pathfinders stop and start to back off.

It looks like there are now enough successes to wrap up this combat so I'll hold off on starting the next wave, as there should be another Overseer announcement soon. The Eshimka Defeated condition also removes the threat of her throwing things at the party.

Just to check did my 'Eshimka's Assault (everyone else)' success come through on the form? I had some technical issues so wasn't sure if the form had submitted it properly.

Things were looking really slow on my table as we were struggling with people not posting actions. But then the monster got Slumbered which ended the first encounter quite quickly!

Bael would have Herosim and Enlarge and long arm on as buffs

As the party only had one round to buff before the start of combat Bael would only have been able to get one of those up before the encounter.

umbral hound will vs slumber (DC 17): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

The spiritual weapon hits the umbral hound which then falls asleep.

I'll keep us in initiative as Eshimka is still about to throw the tree at the party, so anyone still to act in round two (Rogarch, Bael, Kurik and Seltyel) can use their action to try and stop that from happening (I'll also let To-to try as well because I mentioned what Eshimka was doing after To-to had acted).

The party then have two rounds of actions after round 2 before the next encounter starts so feel free to use those to heal or buff yourselves in preparation. Although at the start of the second of those rounds Eshimka looks like she is going to try and attack the party again, which can optionally be stopped during that round using the same methods which were available to stop her throwing the tree.

As Rogarch would have had a round to buff before the fight, I'm happy for the party to decide what you wanted her to do with that round (e.g. using the Kurik's wand to enlarge herself etc...)

Also if you haven't already, remember that you can pick your benefit from the Weekened Rift condition mentioned here.

-- ROUND 2 --

Rogarch
To-to (can take action against Eshimka)
A. Kegdrainer
Bael
Kurik
Seltyiel -31 (prone)

(Bold may act)

As botting characters at this stage of the fight could be a bit tricky for me, I'll hold off until I'm next able to post to give everyone a bit longer to post their actions. That said there is one additional event that happens at the start of round 2...

As the party continue their fight with the umbral hound, they become aware of a looming shape not far away on the battlefield, it's Eshimka herself! Spotting the Pathfinders, she skewers a dead tree with one of her bladed arms and rips it out of the ground, giving every impression that she intends to launch it at the party.

It appears Eshimka is about to throw a dead tree at the party. That said, it may be possible to prevent her from doing that: Either by hitting her with a ranged attack which does enough damage to make her drop the tree (it would need to do a little less than 20 points of damage after punching through her 10 points of DR/good and silver); Or by bluffing her by doing a hard bluff skill check. Doing either of these would need to be part of your turn this round, with the bluff check requiring a standard action and the attack just being a standard attack (with the target counting as being 30 feet away). Alternatively the party could just let her throw the tree and focus on the hound. She starts the action of skewering the tree at the start of round 2 so any actions to stop her would need to take place in round 2.

-- ROUND 2 --

Rogarch
To-to
A. Kegdrainer
-- ROUND 1 --
Bael
Kurik
Umbral Hound -8
Seltyiel -31 (prone)

(Bold may act)

umbral hound will vs positive pulse (DC 15): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

To-to's pulse of positive energy strikes the shadowy canine doing it damage.

-- ROUND 2 --

Rogarch
To-to
A. Kegdrainer
-- ROUND 1 --
Bael
Kurik
Umbral Hound -8
Seltyiel -31 (prone)

(Bold may act)

As Seltyel approaches the umbral hound it lashes out at him with its jaws...

umbral hound bite vs Seltyel: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (12) + 20 = 32
bite damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (6, 4) + 12 = 22
fire damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 3) = 9
trip?: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27

...biting down on the paladin, and knocking him off his feet (It looks like even with the dodge bonus from total defense, the trip still manages to hit Seltyel's CMD).

-- ROUND 2 --

Rogarch
To-to
A. Kegdrainer
-- ROUND 1 --
Bael
Kurik
Umbral Hound
Seltyiel -31 (prone)

(Bold may act)

Altavan recognises the creature as an umbral hound (a variant nessian warhound, LE outsider (evil, extraplanar, fire, lawful)). He knows that it can breath fire (30-ft. cone breath weapon, usable once every 1d4 rounds, 8d6 fire damage, Reflex DC 21 half); It responds to positive and negative energy in the same way as undead (negative energy affinity) and cold is especially damaging to it (vulnerable to cold). His spiritual weapon however is not as accurate as he had hoped and misses the hound.

While To-to blesses Seltyel with divine aid, Rogarch uses the wand to start making Kurik bigger (which will take affect at the start of Rogarch's next tern due to the spell having a 1 round casting time).

The umbral hound moves toward the party and looks like it is readying an attack.

-- ROUND 2 --

Rogarch
To-to
A. Kegdrainer
Umbral Hound
-- ROUND 1 --
Bael
Kurik
Seltyiel

(Bold may act)

Looks like that’s a majority for the shadowy aspect of Eshimka. I’ll say you had one round to buff while Eshimka was doing her grand entrance.

I've added the map for this encounter to slide 6 of the handouts along with your tokens. Feel free to change your starting position to anywhere within the orange square on the map, so long as you do it before the first creature has its turn.

The forested areas on the map have been destroyed by the wave of negative energy so those squares can be moved through normaly and dont provide cover. As before the standing stones are 10 feet high, while the river’s water flows swiftly and would require a successful DC 15 Swim check to traverse. The water also looks numbingly cold and anyone entering it should make a Fortitude save.

It would be a knowledge (planes) check to identify the creature which the party are facing.

-- ROUND 1 --

Rogarch
To-to
A. Kegdrainer
Creature
Bael
Kurik
Seltyiel

(Bold may act)

One other thing I should mention is that, in addition to the Dangerous Drake and Empyreal Approval conditions outlined here, everyone has also now gained the Weakened Rift condition which immediately grants everyone 12 hit points worth of healing each and the choice of one of the following per PC:

• Regain a single use of an ability the PC can use four or fewer times per day or two uses of an ability the PC can use at least five times a day.
• Regain one or more spells or spell slots whose total levels are equal to your character level (minimum 2).
• Remove a temporary negative level or a disease.
• Heal 1d3 points of damage to all ability scores.
• Gain a +1 sacred bonus on all attack rolls and saving throws either for the duration of your combat encounter of for the duration of your next combat encounter.

Just a reminder to everyone to let me know which one of the two encounter options you want to start with, as I'll need that before I can get the encounter set up. If possible it would be great if I could get at least some votes in the next hour or so (so I can get an idea of which option is likely and get some preparation done today, as I'm going to be traveling tomorrow).

I've revealed a picture of Eshimka on page 4 of the slides.

This encounter will take place on the same map as the previous encounter at the stone circle, although the terrain on the map has been impacted by the pulse of negative energy and all of the vegetation is dead and crumbling. As such all of the forested areas on the map no longer impede movement or grant any cover.

For this encounter you get a choice of two potential sets of foes to fight first (depending on timescales you may end up fighting both sets, but whatever happens you will definitely fight the first set of foes). You can either face a part of Eshimka's undead army, or a shadowy aspect of Eshimka which she has torn from herself and which has formed into a separate creature. The second option the more challenging of the two (one big powerful foe rather than several weaker ones). If everyone can pick which option they want to go with and I'll get the encounter kicked off once there is a majority for one option, or 24 hours have passed.

Kurik is successful in driving back the undead both at the start of the ritual and also during the later more powerful assault.

In terms of the two special conditions which are in effect at the moment (the Dangerous Drake condition and the Empyreal Approval condition), the first of these give the table access to one free use of the 'Allied Offensive' Aid Token benefit during the upcoming section of the scenario (see here for details of that benefit), as Zurhriga swoops in to aid the party at a key moment. The second condition (Empyreal Approval) refreshes any used Blessings of Vildeis (see page 5 of the slides for details of those), although I don't think anyone has used the blessing they were given at the start of this bit of the scenario, so in effect this condition doesn't have an impact on the party.

My table have successfully completed the Planar Ritual.

Altavan's efforts successfully help power the ritual during its early stages, then ensure that supplies of reagents can be replaced following the burst of negative energy, and finally aids in driving back the undead assault.

The combined efforts of the Pathfinders is enough to ensure that the ritual is able to successfully reach a sustainable point. In fact the help that the party provided allowed the ritual to get to that point without the mystics needing to use up all of their magical supplies, and they are happy to provide some of that excess to the Pathfinder's in the form of magic scrolls.

Altavan's successes got the party an additional success on the first event and two additional successes on each of the second two, which was enough to get a complete success for this encounter. The party are rewarded with scrolls of cure serious wounds, searing light, and either summon monster IV or summon nature’s ally IV by the Twinhorns.

As this part of the scenario is due to wrap up today I'll hold off on starting anything new until next overseer announcement.

I'll bot Rogarch and give Altavan and Kurik a little longer to post their checks to support the ritual (Although as this section is due to wrap up today, I can't leave it to much longer).

Event 1:
During the initial stages of the ritual To-to's spiritual knowledge proves its worth, as does Bael's skill at dealing with reagents. Rogarch also contributes lending her magic in support of the ritual (she will use a 1st level spell slot to help power the ritual).

Event 1 - Current number of successes: 3
-----

Event 2:
As the ritual progresses and the negative energy surges Seltyel's knowledge of religion helps stabilise the situation. Rogarch tries to assist in defending the ritual site with the aid of RawkNRole...

Rogarch raging lucerne hammer attack: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33
RawkNRole attack aid: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

...successfully driving back the undead.

Event 2 - Current number of successes: 2
-----

Event 3:
With the undead hoard pressing forward, To-to unleashes a burst of holy energy which cuts through the onrushing foes to great effect (earning 2 successes as 'Defend the Site' actions count for double for this event). Rogarch once again looks to her martial prowess, swinging at the oncoming enemy with her lucerne hammer and aided by her familiar...

Rogarch raging lucerne hammer attack: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22
RawkNRole attack aid: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

...once again driving them back (earning 2 successes).

Event 3 - Current number of successes: 4

My table have successfully persuaded Zurhriga to aid the effort against Eshimka. I've moved them on to the Planar Ritual to see if we can quickly get that done before this part of the scenario wraps up.

Returning from Zurhriga's lair, the party find the Twinhorn mystics, under the direction of Medda, have now begun preparing the stone circle for the ritual which they hope will close the rift. The planar tear seems to have a will of its own, though, and it actively fights back and even tries to rip itself wider. It looks like the Twinhorn's could benefit from some aid in successfully completing their ritual.

The ritual to close the rift will take a while to complete, and the mystics will only need the Pathfinder's assistance during some of the more challenging parts. There are three specific events where this aid is needed, and as we're coming up to the start of the next part of the scenario I'll run all three of them together so we can get them all done before this part ends.

During each event there are a number of different ways in which members of the party can aid the ritual. Each member of the party can undertake one of these activities and the party's success in supporting each event will be determined by how many individual successes they get across the party during that event (so its worth everyone in the party attempting an activity during each event). The available support activities during each event are:

Event 1 - Building Momentum: During this time, the ritual participants are preparing the stone circle and beginning the rites. There are relatively few undead threats emerging during this time, so the party can earn only two successes in total using the Defend the Site task.
Event 2 - Planar Surge: As the ritual progresses, the rift contorts in response as if angry. The building negative energy releases violently, washing over the area and causing many of the ritual focuses to crumble. During this event, each successful Prepare Reagents action grants two successes rather than one.
Event 3 - Undead Onslaught: The wave of negative energy acts as a beacon for undead on both planes, and the standing stones quickly come under assault. During this event, each Defend the Site action grants two successes rather than one.

If everyone could roll their contribution checks for each of the three events, I'll then determine how successfully it all went either once everyone has rolled or after 24 hours.

Zurhriga lets out a deep menacing chuckle "At least I cannot fault you on your bravery. Very well, I will help ensure that Eshimka pays for her treachery!". With a furious roar the drake takes to the air. As he does the party notice that he is carry an injury, a nasty festering black scar that clearly causes him pain. "I have some preparations I need to make, but I will return soon and join the battle." he adds before flying off.

The party have successfully persuaded Zurhriga to aid the Pathfinders against Eshimka (which I believe gives the house enough dragon successes to trigger an additional helpful condition for the final encounter). As I think we have around a day remaining until we move on to the next part of the scenario, I'll see if we can quickly fit in the final encounter for this part (It's another skill challenge, so definitely doable in the time), which could gain you some more boons for the final encounter.

To-to's words do help but, the drake still don't look total convinced regarding the point about nobility.

It still looks like the party would need more aids on knowledge (nobility) or a success with another line of argument to finally persuade the Zurhriga.

As Honeyed Tongue from the wand last's for 10 minutes you would definitely have had time to cast it before you approached the drake.

As Bael's argument included both flattering the drake and giving it a reason why it should ally with the Pathfinders, I'll count that as two successes (as Bael's diplomacy is high enough to automatically make one of those checks anyway!).

Zurhriga considers Bael's words and those of the other Pathfinders "You are correct that I am both mighty and wise, and that it is an affront to me that this 'creature' Eshkimka has the gall to encroach on my territory. But how do I know that you can be trusted and that you are worthy allies for one as mighty as me?"

The drake does not seem entirely convinced by Altavan's argument regarding local nobility and currently seems to be weighing up how best to deal with the Pathfinders.

The party currently have 2 successes. You think that one more would be enough to persuade the drake to ally with the Pathfinders. He doesn't appear to have been won over by Altavan's suggestion about nobles, although perhaps that could be turned around with a few move aids to the knowledge (nobility) roll. If the knowledge nobility roll doesn't work out, then you don't think the drake would tolerate another failed attempt to persuade him, so the party would need to make sure their final attempt to persuade him was definitely a success.

The remaining arguments that the party can try for this negotiation are: Bribing the Drake (which would require a bribe and then an average DC Appraise, Knowledge (arcana) or UMD skill check or a high DC Bluff or Spellcraft check); Shame the drake (requiring an average DC Handle Animal or Intimidate, or hard Perform (comedy) or Sense Motive check); Another approach (which would require a hard DC skill check, or an even harder skill check if the skill used is one that has already been make use of in this negotiation).

To-to successfully aids on a Diplomacy check to flatter the drake.

Who want's to lead on the Diplomacy roll to flatter the drake? As we've only got a few days left until the end of this part of the scenario I'm happy for the party to also try a couple of the other approaches to persuade the drake as you will need to succeed at a few of them (before getting too many failures) to totally win the drake over.

From memory when I played this scenario it was definitely one where the high tier encounters took a lot longer than the low tier ones. I was on the tier 1-2 table and we definitely got to feel like we were being super efficient, even though we were probably just going at a normal pace.

It sounds like everyone wants to go with the diplomatic option.

Bayah is very thankful for having his arm healed, rummaging around in his backpack he pulls out a potion "Perhaps this may also be of some help." he says handing the potion to Kurik. "Its a potion of cat's grace.".

After party part ways with Bayah, it takes the Pathfinders about 10 minutes to reach the drake's lair - a steep hill which provides a commanding view of the surrounding area (I've added a map of the hill to page 6 of the slides. Climbing the hill without taking the path would require a DC 16 climb check and all of the rocks on the map are 5 feet high).

As everyone reaches the foot of the hill a reptilian head pokes out from the rock outcroppings on the hill's crest. Spotting the party it roars out a challenge, at first in Draconic and then in slightly broken Common (as I don't think anyone in the party can understand Draconic) "Who dares intrude on the territory of the mighty Zurhriga?".

Mechanically for this challenge the party will need to employ a number of arguments to persuade the drake to ally with them. For each argument they successfully employ they get a success and they need to get a certain number of successes before they get too many failures. Initially I'd suggest the party pick up to three lines of argument that they want to go with and do any roleplay and rolls for those (including any aid another checks). Possible lines of argument are:

Bribing the Drake: A bribe of money or items worth around 300gp would seem appropriate, but they could offer less. This would need to be accompanied with an average difficulty Appraise, Knowledge (arcana) or Use Magic Device skill check or hard Bluff or Spellcraft check.
Give the drake a reason why it would be in the drake's interest to help them: This would require a hard Diplomacy or Knowledge (planes) check or a very hard Bluff check.
Flatter the drakes ego: This would require an average difficulty Diplomacy or Perform check or a hard Bluff check.
Shame the drake: This would require an average difficulty Handle Animal or Intimidate check or a hard Perform (comedy) or Sense Motive check.
Another approach: If the party come up with another good idea not covered above that may be possible, generally the skill checks for this will be hard and will be made harder if the check involved is a skill that has already been used.

The 5-6 table have completed Securing the Rift and are moving on to the Hateful Drake.

With the undead driven off, the Twinhorn mystics move in and begin setting up the ritual to close the rift.

As the mystics are beginning their preparations, the party spot a familiar figure approaching - One of the Kellid scouts who they got to know during the trek north from the Fangwood named Bayah.

The scout jogs up and skids to a stop. “Be careful, Pathfinders. You are near the territory of one of the more fearsome creatures for miles around: a powerful drake. Several other scouts believed the beast emerged from the rift, but I’ve had a closer look, and I recognize the drake as a type common in the Hold of Belkzen, to the southwest. I’m not sure that it’s truly our enemy, though I can see that it’s angry and looking for a fight. It’s likely not safe to leave alone, otherwise it might attack us when we should be focused on Eshimka.” He rubs at his arm, which is raw as if burned. “I tried talking to it but might have given the wrong impression. Whether you defeat it with speech or spears, we can’t afford to ignore it.”

"If you are willing to help with this I can give you directions to the low tor where the drake lives. I would offer to come with you, but I need to continue with my scouting circuit and report back to Medda. What I can tell you is the drake is extraordinarily fast, can fly and can spit caustic globules that explode on contact and spray on everyone nearby." he rubs the injury on his arm again, clearly in some pain from the wound. "They aren't especially smart, but they are cunning and proud." he adds.

What does everyone want to do about the drake? Bayah has suggested that it may be possible to negotiate with it, or it could just be killed. As before I'll with the majority decision once there is a either a clear majority or 24 hours have passed. Bayah is also still around if you want any further interaction with him.

As it sounds like it may be useful to get an extra encounter or two in before the next phase starts in a few days time, I'll see if Rogarch can finish off the deathweb.

Rogarch swings her lucerne hammer at the undead spider again...

PA - MW Lucerne Hammer + bless: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 11 + 1 = 31
damage: 1d12 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22

PA - MW Lucerne Hammer + bless: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 6 + 1 = 19

...her first blow connects and finally finishes the foe.

-- END OF COMBAT --

A. Kegdrainer
Seltyiel -1
Rogarch
Kurik
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink) -79 (dead)

(Bold may act)

pink will save vs positive pulse (DC 15): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Altavan's spiritual weapon strikes the deathweb, as does Bael's blow. To-to's blast of positive energy adds to the creatures woes, but it is not finished yet.

-- ROUND 4 --

A. Kegdrainer
Seltyiel -1
Rogarch
Kurik
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink) -57

(Bold may act)

After one of the bad guys took a big crit from the nodachi wielding paladin its now looking like my table may be able to finish Securing the Rift today if things go well.

Both of Seltyel's blows cut into the deathweb.

Thinking about it as blue is dead, everyone else also gets to act.

-- ROUND 4 --

A. Kegdrainer
Seltyiel -1
Deathweb (blue) -78 (dead)
Rogarch
Kurik
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink) -22

(Bold may act)

Botting Rogarch and Altavan, although I'll have Altavan delay.
Rogarch steps forward, flies into a rage and then attacks the closest deathweb with her lucerne hammer...

PA - MW Lucerne Hammer + bless: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 1 = 24
damage: 1d12 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26

PA - MW Lucerne Hammer + bless: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 = 15

...killing it with her first blow. The second deathweb scuttles up and attacks Seltyel....

pink bite vs Seltyel: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22

...but fails to connect with its jaws.

The blue deathweb's infestation doesn't get to attack the party as the deathweb was killed before that could happen.

-- ROUND 4 --

A. Kegdrainer
Seltyiel -1
Deathweb (blue) -78 (dead)
Rogarch
Kurik
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink)

(Bold may act)

To-to heals his allies.

-- ROUND 3 --

Seltyiel -1
Deathweb (blue) -52
Rogarch
A. Kegdrainer
Kurik
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink)

(Bold may act)

As Bael drinks his potion, Kurik slices at the deathweb, dealing it a grievous wound, but it remains standing.

-- ROUND 3 --

Seltyiel -15
Deathweb (blue) -52
Rogarch
A. Kegdrainer
Kurik -13
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink)

(Bold may act)

Seltyel determines that the deathweb does not detect as evil as he assumes a defensive stance. The first deathweb to approach continues its advance, moving up to Kurik and attempting to bite him...

blue bite vs Kurik: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31
damage: 2d8 + 12 ⇒ (3, 1) + 12 = 16

...which proves successful.

-- ROUND 3 --

Seltyiel -15
Deathweb (blue) -16
Rogarch
A. Kegdrainer
Kurik -16
To-to
Bael
Deathweb (pink)

(Bold may act)

I'm fairly sure we will get Securing the Rift done this week. It's been a slow start to the fight, but I think once they get properly into melee they should get it wrapped up reasonably quickly.