After the massacre in the theater, Magda wasn't sure what to do with herself in the gilded city. The incident had left the entire team in the spotlight and as a medium she began receiving invitations from the extended families of those who died in the tragedy. For the first one she arrived earnest and ready to bathe the body in oil and spices and arrange the flowers for a sitting, but was surprised to find these details already well taken care of by professionals well beyond her skill or means. She stood uncomfortable trying to discern why she was here until it dawned on her that she was meant to be a conversation piece, a prestige "get" for the event. She was essentially another flower arrangement.
City folk were not her typical clientèle and the peasant witch was uncomfortable around them, suspicious that she was somehow the butt of a joke she did not understand. After that first sitting, for which she was paid an outrageous sum, Magda couldn't stand the city any longer. She stewed on it for days while walking the docks before realizing that she had already made up her mind that first night.
About a week after the incident, Magda met the others for dinner and explained that she was moving on. She had heard the new Lodge in Magnimar had an open call for several teams of resident Pathfinders. Varisia was much more to her liking and with the Mushfens nearby might practically feel like her home in Carrion Hill. That night she bid the team farewell and before anyone woke the next morning she had packed and gone.
Magda nods grimly and looks away when Fog brings down the pick. She kneels over the zombie looking for a match to Boddrigan's description. Noting Fog's distracted uneasy stare at the stone she says, "Hmmph. Greatest living artifact, eh? I think we contact local Pathfinders for dealing with stone. Is no way we move that thing. Real mission is idiot Pathfinder though. Eliza will want to bury her boy toy, no?"
Rising again she laughs bitterly, "This guy, he takes months to get paperwork for dig here in Oppara. Then he gets killed and half nobility of Oppara killed with him. You think Pathfinders be doing any digging in Oppara for fifty, sixty years now? I think no. Unless old man over there is half important as he think he is and he remembers who saved him tomorrow."
"Going up to look for boy toy." so saying Magda trudges wearily through the storage room and up the stairs then heads back to the entry hall with the purple carpet where they had fought cultists and zombies outside the bar. Careful to crouch over one of the zombies in case anyone interrupted her she carefully scanned around the room looking for a good place to leave behind the bauble for Valsin's contact.
Take 20 on perception.
@ Fog> It was a huge boulder in the initial description.
Aldred dismisses the grease with a wave of his hand, kicks Fel's pick away and reaches down to remove his holy symbol. The bard pauses with one hand on the hilt of his dagger and says, "We should take him alive to that he might answer for his crimes here, but I have to tell you I don't feel like he deserves to draw another breath. But if we kill him we may never learn Boddrigan's ultimate fate or find his body to record on the wall of the Grand Lodge. I don't have any rope but there should be some backstage for the curtains and set pieces."
Aldred:
Kn Arcana (aid another for Alie) 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Kn Religion (aid another for Fog) 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Magda smiles as recognizes what Alie is up to. The witch bites into her forearm and as blood dribbles down her chin she stands there wracked by mad laughter while staring at Fel.
Spellcraft 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 to know Alie is casting sleep
Move: Cackle to extend Evil Eye vs saves
Standard: Evil Eye on skill checks. Will DC 15 or -2 skills to keep him in that grease. 7 rounds or 1 round.
Aldred: 5' back to X13
Move: drop shield
Move: draw bow
My bad with Aldred before. Thought he was going to step back at first before realizing he couldn't and then I forgot he was still in reach. Actually provoked for two different reasons with the move and spell but unless hehad combat reflexes it is all the same.
I was going to do the same thing before I saw Fel's acrobatics mod, but this evil eye will put him at -11. He cannot get out of the grease except by falling prone and crawling. If Alie doesn't get him with sleep pummel him at range.
Magda spits at Fel Bustrani's feet and glares at him defiantly while backing up. "Now Aldred!" she cries out without taking her eyes off the mad cult leader.
Aldred steps back singing as he does so and a thick layer of greasy fat begins to materialize around the cleric in the tunnel.
Magda: 5' step to W9
Evil eye will DC 15. Duration 1 round or 7 rounds. -2 on his saves.
Aldred: 5' step to X12, MA: sheathe dagger (need a free hand for somatic and has a shield out)
SA: Grease DC 14 to avoid falling.
Area- W-X 10-11
While chewing through a curse in Skald Magda transfers her ward to Aldred who moves in hacking at the zombie with his dagger.
GM if you don't mind handling the placement please do. On my phone and the map is a hassle at the moment.
Aldred:
Dagger 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Confirm? 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Action / dice posted too early and held in reserve:
Spoiler:
The zombie and cultist manage to block the exit to the tunnel with Wadi caught on the front line. Magda quickly activates her wand and begins to heal the sorcerer.
Aldred angles and waits for an opportunity, but can't really get a clear shot. When he finally fires it chips rock and skitters down the tunnel into the room beyond.
Magda rushes past Fog and her hand takes on the same golden nimbus when she calls on the spirits whose gifts fuel her power. She commands it in her native Skald. "Release this shell to the grave!" The witch has to trust that her power and the blessing of her spirit guardians would protect her from the pus leaking from the zombie.
MA: To X10, may provoke if she can't step from Aldred's square to there because of a hard corner.
SA: Healing Hex 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16
Damage 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Whoops. I thought we were still in the opening partial round.
@Fog> Luke has it right there. You'd need feats or magic items to improve your chance to hit at range. Enlarge actually makes you worse at ranged combat. Even if you had a bow your arrows would shrink back to normal size once they were fired.
For melee though, you get 10 foot reach, increased damage die, increased damage mod and the size penalty to hit balances out with the bonus to hit from your str increasing.
But the fire bolts do bypass zombie DR so there is that.
That sounds excellent to me.
How many rounds do you want to estimate?
Probably not a problem. Enlarge person & shield are good for 20 rounds.
Starting right after the burning hands in Init?
Magda grunts as she hurls an armload of costumes into the tunnel around Alie and rushes back for more.
MA: get to the tunnel mouth
Free: drop costumes
MA: return for more.
Sounds good to me. Maybe most valuable once the spread can wrap around the curve to maximize the number of dry squares.
If Fog grabs some plywood set piece or something he might be able to cover two or more squares at once since he is large.
Magda breaks away from the ambush position and grabs an armful of costumes nearby to throw down on the slick cavern floor. "Help me!"
Aldred quickly fires off a parting shot to cover his unsteady retreat.
Not sure about the action for Magda. Probably a move to get to what she wants and a move to pick it up.
Aldred's shortbow 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 I'm not sure if Aldred can see anyone to shoot at, but he'll go for anyone living if he can see them.
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 1 Ugh.
Acrobatics 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Move to S11
Now we have a problem. Fog can't realistically move through the slimed area except by crawling.
Crawling is a move action and you advance 5 ft. So it would take him about 5 rounds to get through the tunnel. We either cover the floor one square at a time or he crawls through.
"Three is not so bad. We are lucky. Now- we draw them out, smoke them out, or go in? Tunnel looks difficult. I wouldn't want to fight standing on slime."
Maga @ N9
Aldred @ P10
This is where the armor sucks. Fog has a -7 ACP from the splint mail and 0 dex mod. It looks like it takes about 50' to fully clear the slick tunnels. He needs 5 rounds of successfully rolling 17 or higher to clear the tunnel. If I enlarge him he takes another -1 penalty on the acrobatics check and needs 18's to move.
I think we are going to have to try to draw them to us.
Wait- another idea. This room is filled with old set pieces and costumes and junk. We could lay down a bridge of sorts to walk over the slime. Either wooden backdrops if we can find some that would fit, or armfuls of costumes one after another.
"Nephelus, we need your eyes. Can you scout for us? We need to know how many people are in there."
Kn Dungeoneering (untrained) 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Perception 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13
Nephelus Climb Take 10 for 20 total, if possible cling to the wall avoiding the slick floor, climb speed 15
He can't speak, but I figured I might ask him to squeak or scratch once for each person he saw.
"It is okay. Wand is very effective. I think is more important we stop any more of these walking dead quickly. The pick- is slow. Fire is good. Alie, Fog and I can slowly unravel the magic animating dead. Any more walkers try to stop us, we must focus and burn them fast."
"When you all ready, we go. Move fast and get backstage. No fighting unless we have to until then. Otherwise, all of auditorium sees us and the walkers will come for us."
Place ward on Fog again.
Maybe a bar towel would make a better sling. We also might be able to scavenge some lamp oil here in the bar if you want to ignite anything or make a DIY torch from a chair leg.
Magda stands over the corpse breathing heavily, "Back to bar! If dead is rising, we must regroup! Heal up! Come!" She stops briefly to revive Aldred then strides past Hustavan ignoring him.
Magda leads the way back into the bar where the other survivors huddle and addresses them shouting, "You! You! Get the dead outside! Something is.. happening, Dead are rising as zombies! Clear them out, NOW!"
I guess with Alie still standing inside the door they haven't blocked it yet.
I'll heal everyone up when I get home this evening and have a chance to see how bad we are.
CLW for Aldred 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Fog> you were on 13 hps before that hit, leaving you on 4 after that hit, not negative 4. So I completely negate the hit leaving you back on 13 at the top of round 7. Round by round details:
Spoiler:
On the last page in round one you channeled saying it brought you from 1 hp to 5.
Surprise round: Only Alie
Round 1: no zombie attacks Fog
Round 2: One zombie hits for for 9 damage
-Fog channels healing 4 and says it leaves him at 5 hps
Round 3: Magda heals 8. 13 hps.
Zombie hits Fog for 6. 7 hps.
Round 4: Magda heals 5. 12 hps
Zombie misses Fog on a 16.
Round 5: No heal.
Zombie hits for 5 (crit not confirmed). 7 hps.
Round 6: Magda heals 6. 13 hps.
Zombie hits for 9. 4 hps.
Round 7: Magda heals 9. 13 hps.
Sorry to be that guy but if it is the difference between a TPK and squeaking by, I'll obsess about the details. I was loosely tracking Fog's hps because I'm trying to keep him up, so -4 didn't strike me as possible.
"Harder dwarf! Stop toying with them!" Magda reaches out and heals the cleric another time.
CLW 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 on Fog
@Fog> Two handed power attack will give you just enough damage mod to punch through the DR. You have to eat the -1 to hit but you get +6 total to damage.
With Aldred down and Fog fighting two of the walking dead alone, Magda decided he could use a hand. She edged just around Fog to get reach out and infuse the corpse with positive energy, "Enough!!! Pharasma calls you home!"
5' step to W35 and use healing hex
Melee Touch 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (11) + 0 = 11
Damage 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Fog could have AC 19 at any time, but he has to declare using a move action to ready his shield. Earlier I was just letting it be known he should have taken a shield from the last encounter. His opening attack had already happened at the time and it was two handed so he started out not using it.
EDIT:
I hadn't been tracking Aldred's inspire courage, but counted back just now. He's used 15 rounds including this action and that is all he has. At the beginning of his next action we no longer have inspire courage for the rest of the scenario.
The zombies were taking a toll with Wadi down and Fog seriously injured. The witch quickly moved into a position to keep Fog on his feet by activating her wand. "I am here Father. You just knock them down and I will keep you fighting."
Magda
MA: X37
Wand of CLW on Fog 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8 Leaves him at 13 hps.
Aldred
5' to U36, flanking with Fog
Maintain Inspire Courage
Dagger 1d20 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 2 + 1 = 6 Sure. Seems like a good time for a natural one right now. Thanks dice roller :(
Magda again reaches out to touch the zombie in front of her with a hand radiating golden light. Meanwhile Aldred slashes out at the same zombie while working his way around another to slowly put it between him and Fog.
I think Z8 is meant to be one square over where it would have attacked Wadi on the map.
Alie hits touch AC 11 with the +1 from inspire courage if it makes a difference.
I've never seen this mod be so tough, but we are an oddball group and not very tactically inclined. I feel like I'm pushing it with Magda as I don't see her as having much in the way of small group combat strategy. Maybe Fog is the guy to call out tactics IC.
If we were smart, we would have fallen back and through the door to the bar, allowing Fog to block it, Magda to continuously heal him and the others to fight ranged. Instead we plowed in (myself included) and spread out allowing all 4 zombies continuous access to all of us. We are going to pay the price for that.
If we make it through this one I'll swap out Magda for a character with some kind of melee ability in the future.
Bear with me being sporadic these days. I'm at work all the time and too tired to get much worthwhile in when I'm home. Here's a little bare bones catch up:
-Fog should have taken one of those heavy steel shields bringing his AC up to 21 when using it. He's attacking two handed with the +3 damage mod above, but carry one so you have the option for more AC.
-Aldred should take another shield and a shortbow with 20 arrows so we have ranged capability if we need it. Next to useless against zombies, but cultists are another story.
-Identifying the potion
Perception 1d20 + 0 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 0 + 2 = 15 Almost, but not quite.
I didn't prep detect magic so spellcraft isn't an option.
Alie and Wadi both have the Detect Magic + Spellcraft combo.
-Magda would have used her healing hex on the battered nobles, instructed them to arm up and put on those chain shirts and barricade themselves in that room. Not that it matters now if the dead are rising. They are toast.
Move to X35.
Healing hex vs zombie 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8
Aldred is immune to Alie's sleep as a half-elf so Alie can include him and hit all three of them. Let's see how well that lands since it will go off just before any actions for this round.
I'm going to lower her AC this time instead of focusing on her saves. Coming up next unless emergency healing takes priority.
EDIT: just realized the other guys are going to go before me. This action remains the plan unless the minions force a change so that I need to heal instead.
While Magda continues mending the injured she mutters, "I am not sure exactly what was that. She kills herself, why? This Fel Bustrani plans to bring her back better than zombie like these maybe? Vampires, ghouls? Is connected to this 'greatest living artifact' Bodriggan sought? Too many questions."
When Fog mentions the nearby rooms, she nods while ditracted with calling up force armor around Wadi, "Survivors were running for bar. Maybe some live. If not, maybe we still find some blades on the dead. Someone should take the armor. We need it. Pick is good for punching holes in skulls too."
Yikes. That one really could have gone either way on any bad roll. We are really going to have to be careful going forward. Maybe we should come up with some strategy in the OOC thread.
Fog- you better take that heavy pick since you are the only one who can use it.
She was wearing splint mail which is +7 armor bonus. Nonsensical as it is that thin woman's armor is going to fit Fog just fine and beats mage armor. It will take 2 minutes to get him into it if he has a helper.
That and a ward will get him up to AC 19. On the downside it drops your move to 15' and has a -7 ACP unless it is masterwork.
Mage Armor on Wadi and Alie. 5 total charges burned. 45 remaining.
Fog 4d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 2, 6, 5) + 4 = 23 from -2 to full at 18
Aldred 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8 from 9 to full at 15
Alie 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (7, 8) + 2 = 17 from 2 to full at 16
Wadi 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (4, 3) + 2 = 9 from 8 to full at 16
9 charges, 37 remaining.
