With Reginald's dispatching of the phasmadaemon he was attacking, Slick turns his attentions to the remaining fiends in the room. He watches as first Sigourney and then Pine focus their attentions on one of the purrodaemons. As the creature happens to be within easy reach (and likely without any reactions left), Slick decides to join in on the fun. He launches himself at his new target and gets to work sending it back to Abaddon.
If Crit Success, you can use a reaction to Demoralize your foe (Battle Cry)
Holy Healing (↺) (1/day)
TriggerYou critically succeed at a Strike against an unholy creature with a Holy weapon
You regain HP equal to double the unholy creature's level.
Protector's Sacrifice (↺) TriggerAn ally within 30 feet takes damage
Reduce the damage the ally would take by 24. You redirect this damage to yourself, but your immunities, weaknesses, resistances and so on do not apply.
Warding Tattoo (Fiend) (↺) (1/day)
TriggerAn enemy, hazard, or the environment makes an attack against your AC, requires you to attempt a saving throw, or causes you to take damage automatically
Until the end of the current turn, against the triggering effect, you gain a +1 status bonus to AC and saving throws and gain resistance 2 to damage.
The Paladin (↺) (1/day)
TriggerYou fail or critically fail a saving throw
Adjust the result of your saving throw up by one degree of success.
Skeptic's Defense (↺) (1/day)
TriggerYou are targeted by or are in the area of a mental spell or effect.
You don't believe in any mental twaddle, and you're certainly not afraid of it. You scoff and verbally refute the triggering effect, attempting a counteract check using your Intimidation modifier with a counteract level of half your level rounded up. If you succeed, you ignore the triggering effect, though any other creatures that were also targeted or in the area are still affected. If the source of the effect you successfully counteracted understands your language and has an Intelligence modifier of –3 or higher, that creature becomes stupefied for 1 round.
Blessed Denial (↺) TriggerAn ally within 30 feet would become Frightened, Drained, Enfeebled, Sickened, or Stupefied.
You exude peace and protection, lessening a harmful condition as it falls upon an ally. Reduce the value of the condition your ally would take by 1 (to a minimum of 0). If the ally takes more than one condition at the same time, choose one to reduce.
Slick finally gets his feet under him and can move again. He wishes he'd had his sword in his hands during the performance, but that might have been seen as unfriendly.
As usual, he waits for his friend Billy's magical boosts before whipping out his sword and launching himself at the Snake that Pine skewered earlier.
Frightful Presence appears to be a fear effect (thus Bravery and the +1 from Billy's Courageous Anthem comes into effect), but not a magical one (so no Antimagic).
Will Save vs DC 35:1d20 + 28 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 28 + 1 = 40, Bravery
Will Save vs DC 35:1d20 + 28 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 28 + 1 = 47, Bravery
...but Slick had seen a lot uglier in his time and ignores their looks.
When the chain lightning reaches Slick, he intercepts it with his armor and grounds the charge before it can do any more harm.
Slick doesn't have his reactions yet, so no Protector's Sacrifice to pull some of Billy's damage his way.
Now one of the ugly snakes was casting spells at them. Slick finds his mind filling with endless images, like countless dreams and lives colliding with each other. A disconcerting situation to say the least...
Phantasmagoria is not a fear effect (so no Bravery or CA), but it is a mental effect, so Skeptic's Defense would have worked except that, once again, Slick doesn't have his reactions yet. So.....
Rerolling with my Harrow Ritual result: Stars (★): - Crit Success (+: reroll a Will saving throw with +4) with Antimagic
Will Save vs DC 38-40:1d20 + 28 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 28 + 1 + 4 = 45
A success, though not a crit. Looks like Slick is about to get his brains scrambled a little.
Slick watches the main show with amusement, then sits through the card-wrenching, portal-opening and monster-appearing epilogue with somewhat less excitement. "That was quite the show, though I think the ending needs work. Looks like we've gone to a lot of trouble collecting all the cards only for someone to come along and steal them from us. How about we take care of these uglies first, then worry about finding the twins and getting the cards back?"
These are the five cards Slick will keep in his hand: The Brass Dwarf, The Cricket, The Paladin, The Survivor, The Tyrant
These are the cards he will get rid of: The Bear, The Big Sky, The Desert, The Mountain Man, The Uprising.
Slick lets out a breath of relief when Billy manages to talk The Fool into performing, but tenses up again when it looks like Billy overplays his hand with a clearly over-the-top reaction to The Joke's pathetic attempts at humor. But, no. The brute bought the deception and all is well again.
When The arguing Twins finally come on stage, Slick decides to get involved. He listens to their bickering for a bit but eventually tires of it. "Now look here you two. The plan seems sound, but you can't both have the final glory, right? Seems befitting in this situation that we let fate decide, right?"
The question is rhetorical as Slick pulls a gold coin from his pocket and holds it up. Pointing to one twin, he says, "you're heads." Pointing to the other, he says, "you're tails." With a flick of his finger, Slick launches the coin into the air. It spins in a great arc before hitting the ground and coming to stop. "Tails, it is!"
He points to the twin he had originally designated as tails."Looks like you're it." He then turns to the other one with a look that brooks no argument. "We're all in agreement here, Right? Good."
Slick will let Billy do the bulk of bolstering The Fool's self-esteem, but does his bit to help his friend out. "Oh come now. Nothing to apologize about. I'm no expert like my friend Billy here, but this act of yours sounds like it's got real promise."
Slick is in no position to provide assistance nor even an opinion on The Dancer's performance. It seems Pinebrush and Billy have things well in hand on that front. He just sits off to one side and keeps an eye on the harrowkin so that he's ready if things get out of hand.
Slick starts to see the path that this particular encounter was threatening to take them. Apparently they would have to help these harrowkin resolve their artistic differences and put together a show they'll all be happy with.
He sighs to himself. "Why do I get a feeling that it'd be easier to herd cats than to get these guys to work together." Knowing that the only other option for retrieving the cards would likely require him to cut these creatures up into little pieces, he puts on a brave face. "Sure! Why not. My friend Billy here is an expert in this sort of thing and I have no doubt he'll actually enjoy helping you out."
Slick wakes with a jolt at the arrival of their quarry. Though old, the mildewed seats in the club were still quite comfortable, and he'd dozed off during the long wait.
He listens to the harrowkin's argument for a moment before loudly clearing his throat and standing up. "A-hem! Hello there! Sorry to intrude on your little argument, but we were hoping to have a word with you."
Went with the +1 Str for the boost provided by The Eclipse.
For the 6th level Arcane spell to use with The Courtesan's Contingency, I'm thinking Unexpected Transposition, though I'm willing to consider alternative suggestions that make sense for Slick
Adding these two items to the loot list results in each PC now getting 13,156.50gp. This may go up if other PCs successfully obtain additional items by similar means.
I finally bit the bullet and went through all the Harrow Cards to re-read their epitomes to see if I'd missed any opportunity to collect free stuff. I've added an Epitome column to the right of the existing Benefits column in the loot sheet with a short description thereof. Slick has already collected the free stuff from The Demon's Lantern, The Keep, The Cyclone and The Mountain Man, but I uncovered several cards whose benefits Slick has yet to claim, something which I will attempt to rectify in this post. You may want to look through the Epitome column to see if your PCs can do the same (search for the word 'free').
Once back in the Harrow Court, Slick wastes no time and heads out once more to pit his will against The Eclipse's perpetual twilight. His first attempt had better prepared him to tackle the feelings of overwhelm and doubt about his accomplishments in life, and ...
Will Save with +4 bonus vs DC 38 Magical Effect:1d20 + 28 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 28 + 1 + 4 = 50
Yay! The +4 made all the difference. Will probably boost Strength, but will need to look things over before I decide for sure.
... sure enough, this time he conquers those doubts and returns to Harrowheart in triumph. "Hah! And they said I wouldn't amount to anything. Who's the loser now?! Not me."
To celebrate, Slick visits The Courtesan in her tower for an 8-hour conversation with an attractive romantic partner, after which she rewards him with a magical charm for his amazing conversational skills.
Will decide later on which Arcane spell I like for the Contingency spell on the charm. I'm open to suggestions.
Since he'd made the trek all the way up to the towers, Slick takes advantage of the situation to ask the Crows to acquire a consumable magic item for him. He doesn't ask them where they find these items, and the crows choose not to provide him with this information before flying off.
The next morning, a common consumable item of <= level 18, or four common consumables of <= level 14, will appear. I'll decide what to get and put it on the loot sheet. If anyone wants something specific, let me know, though you can always go ask them directly.
Slick plans on visiting The Unicorn next. He first prepares himself by purchasing a Messenger's Ring to help him woo the creature and wears it in place of his usual Ventriloquist's Ring for the day. He then heads into the woodlands, and after 8 hours of pleasant discourse with the unicorn, in which he expounds at length on his good intentions and worthiness, ...
Diplomacy with Messenger's Ring vs DC 38:1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 24 + 2 = 29
... the creature is seriously unimpressed and turns away in disgust. "I guess I'll try a different approach next time."
That was a close one. A simple failure for no bonus on the next attempt. Now onto some older ones that I missed.
The last time Slick went rabbit hunting, he had no luck. But his stealth skills had improved since then and he decides to give it another go. After many hours of stealthily scouting the woods, he...
Stealth vs DC 30:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (14) + 24 = 38
... catches a glimpse of the elusive Rabbit Prince, but the creature slips away before he can get to it.
Slick gets a +4 circumstance bonus on his next attempt.
He next plans on matching wits with the gremlin queen that the Peacock had brought into existence in the nearby swamps. Slick prepares himself by purchasing some Greater Charlatan's Gloves and replacing his handwraps with them for the day. Heading into the swamps, he carefully tries to navigate the morass of nooses, tripwires, spiked logs, and disguised quicksand patches with which the queen had infested her domain...
Thievery with Greater Charlatan's Gloves vs DC 38:1d20 + 22 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 22 + 2 = 44
... After disabling what seems like hundreds of traps without a problem, Slick surprises her on her throne and claims his prize.
Another wasted purchase, though with a positive outcome this time. The crit success means he obtains one of greater fortification armor rune, greater brilliant weapon rune, a set of major goggles of night, or a greater ring of maniacal devices. The most expensive of those is 24,000gp, which I will add to the loot sheet once I decide whether Slick can use any of them.
I think that's it. The Lost can be used to retrain feats, skills or class features in 8 hours, which I may have Slick take advantage of.
Slick collects all the loot and looks it over. He purses his lips and makes a Pfft! sound. "A good haul, but I've already got a Quickstrike rune on my sword, so there's nothing here for me." He holds up the three cards. "Any of these look like anything the rest of you might be able to use?"
Loot sheet updated. Currently standing at 9,350.25gp each.
Once they get back to Harrowheart, Slick takes care of epitomizing the new cards. The Queen Mother reappears in one of the basement chambers to answer questions about the natural world. The courtesan remanifests in one of the towers and opens for... business. The Unicorn also returns to roam in one of the local forests and seems willing to part with gifts if asked particularly nicely.
Slick is pretty certain that some of the details of Jetambe's story are off, though he can't quite put his finger on which ones they are. The servants apparently had help from bees in tracking the wasp, but otherwise it was a faithful retelling of events from their point of view.
With no more stories forthcoming after several hours, Slick begins to wonder if the Battle of Lies was still in progress. The fiery appearance of Walkena come morning gives him an answer. This Walkena character certainly had an attitude. Claimed to be a Sun God that can control the sun, and thus had the right to rule over Mzali. Slick is no expert on religion, so cannot tell if Walkena's claim to be a Sun God is true, nor how his second claim would follow therefrom, but his many years of being a bouncer had honed his ability to detect deception...
Perception vs DC 40?:1d20 + 26 ⇒ (11) + 26 = 37
...though after a long night, he has trouble getting a good read on Walkena.
Slick is a little surprised when the servants prove quite voluble in response to his attempts to engage them in conversation. He finds the story of the wasp assassin fascinating and listens raptly to the description of the chase and final kill. "Glad to hear you managed to track down Winged Spear and exact revenge." Still, he couldn't help thinking that there was something more to the story. "Who pulled the clumps of her bristles? who broke her stinger?" So many questions.
Slick has Survival at +22, but his Perception at +26 is better.
Perception vs DC 40?:1d20 + 26 ⇒ (20) + 26 = 46
Having listened to the story of the servants, he turns his attention to the recently arrived magician. "First 'Grandmother Spider' and now 'Jatembe?' These were no ordinary guests and he suspected strongly that they were merely manifestations created by the harrowkin.
Jatembe's tale was another road trip recounting: Kamuda, Locked Mountain, Obsidian the monkey, the Lady of Graves, a sphinx, and finally Baba herself? So many specifics and details in which to hide a lie.
Slick has Arcana at +21, but his Perception at +26 is better.
Slick leaps out of the way as a bolt of lightning crashes nearby revealing the next guest. "Jetambe!? I'd hate to see who shows up next. At this rate, Aroden himself may join us before the day is out."
While he waits for Sigourney to finish drooling over the famous wizard so they can hear his story, Slick waves over one of the servants. While he collects another drink, he tries to engage them in conversation. "Quite the crowd we're getting tonight, eh? Is it like this all the time? What's a regular day like around here?"
So far, it appears that we're rolling against a DC of 40, but there's no guarantee it will stay the same.
Having successfully picked out the deceptive details in the stories of the Queen and Courtesan, he turns his highly attuned ears to that of the Bonuwat woman. Clearly this woman spent time in high company if her name-dropping of Achaekek, Abadar, Asmodeus and Rovagug was anything to go by. He was particularly impressed by her claim to have stolen keys from Asmodeus's belt without his noticing. "This woman would have to be one of the gods for the tale to have any semblance of truth. Is she a god? Was this woman truly Grandmother Spider? Unlikely... but if she were, then maybe the story is a true one."
Slick listens in while the giant termite queen tells Pine about her affair with the Gossamer Prince and how the guy dumped her when someone better came along. He shakes his head. "His loss, your majesty."
Perception vs DC XX:1d20 + 26 ⇒ (16) + 26 = 42
Having finally caught the Courtesan's eye, Slick does his best to keep up with the road-trip story she tells them. Grogrisant? Doppelgangers? Ruby Pharoah? Barrier Peaks? Umdasi-Umalo? Ranage’s Circle? It was all a lot to take in. Still, he suspects that somewhere in that list of names lies a mote of deception, so he does his best to keep up and discover it.
Perception vs DC XX:1d20 + 26 ⇒ (19) + 26 = 45
When the newcomer appears, Slick's attention shifts. "Did I hear the Queen right? 'Nana Anadi'? is this woman an arachnid in disguise?" He eyeballs the simple robe of spider silk suspiciously. Not wanting to give the new arrival a reason to attack them, Slick gives the Bonuwat woman a respectful bow. "If you have joined this little party to share a story, we would be happy to hear it."
Not sure if we're all on our own, or if the whole group is listening to each story and making skill checks, so I'll cover both cases.
Since it seemed they had little choice but to play The Queen's Battle of Lies, Slick listens closely to The Unicorn's tale of the sad old man they met and how their attempts to cure him failed.
Perception vs DC XX:1d20 + 26 ⇒ (3) + 26 = 29
Slick then decides to make another attempt to woo The Courtesan. Approaching them, he dons a smile known well to the barmaids of Absalom. "Hello there," he begins, in a deep and slightly seductive tone. "Our earlier conversation was interrupted before I could properly introduce myself. I'm Slick, an adventurer whose fate is currently the plaything of a deck of cards. What about you? What's your story?"
Upon hearing about the Queen's little game, Slick sighs inwardly. Then in a monotone voice loaded with irony, he says, "Oh, goodie! Another game. I loooove games like these."
He suspected that this particular game would be best played by Billy, but Slick wasn't a total slouch at such things and would likely not embarrass himself too much in the process. But it didn't really matter in the final analysis. These cards were coming back with them regardless of whether they succeeded at the game or not. It's just that in the latter case, things would likely get messy.
The cards we're here to collect are: The Queen Mother, The Courtesan and The Unicorn.
While Billy engages with the The Queen Mother, Slick's roving eye lands on The Courtesan. He smiles broadly at the masked figure, and with a nod of greeting, winks at them knowingly. "How you doin?"
Looks like we're heading back to Harrowheart and taking care of loot and such things. Bottom line is 5,206.03 gp for each PC. Sigourney has claimed the Grimoire. Slick will not claim the Retrieval Belt as the fine print states that it is for an item of Bulk 1 or less and his greatsword weighs in at Bulk 2.
Heading back to the Harrow Court, it seems everyone is eager to get The Eclipse epitomized so that they can throw themselves at the mercy of the dessert in the hopes of being rewarded. Trudging out to the nearest available dessert location, the card it epitomized and the sun immediately turns into a full eclipse; the temperature cools noticeably.
Pinebrush, Sigourney and Slick (and likely Billy) all head out into different parts of the desert to have their mettle tested. As Slick trudges along under the weight of perpetual twilight, he increasingly feels overwhelmed with doubt and the growing conviction that all he's accomplished in his life so far has been for naught...
Will Save vs DC 38 Magical Effect:1d20 + 28 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 28 + 1 = 47
Ooooh! So sooooo close.
... Slick battles the (admitedly rather minimal) doubts he has over his life's accomplishments, but despite nearly attaining self-enlightenment, just barely falls short of fully conquering his inner demons.
Slick gets a +4 circumstance bonus on his next attempt.
Slick looks over all the loot they recovered during their search and nods in satisfaction. "Not a bad haul."
Loot sheet updated. we're at 5,206.03 gp per PC so far.
When Sigourney takes possession of the grimoire, Slick shrugs. "Just make sure to take good care of it. That book is worth a bundle."
Come up with 12,075.00 gp and it's yours.
Slick is eager to get back to the Harrow Court to epitomize the new card and take his chances against the desert. "It couldn't be any worse than what those pub crawl guys put us through. Could it?"
Slick takes a step back when he spots Sigourney's arrows approaching, but he needn't have bothered. Every. Single. Arrow hits home, proving to be too much for the fiery hound to handle.
He then takes cover behind the plinth and lets Billy and The Eclipse battle it out while he does his best to absorb any damage inflicted on the bard by the explosions. When the dust settles, he takes a peek and sees his friend holding the card high in triumph. "Good job, Billy. I knew you could do it."
He trots over and examines the card. "Not much for religion myself, but that one-a-day softening of a blow might come in handy to someone." He glances at both Sigourney and Billy when he says this.
Assuming it is now daytime, Slick will take to the air for his Search of the island. If not, then he won't bother.
Losing interest in the card, he turns, and with an "It's flyin' time," takes to the air and starts a methodical sweep of the small island to see if The Eclipse or the doggies left anything of value behind.
Slick only gets to fly for 5 minutes using his Bravery Baldric, so if this isn't enough time for the Search (or it isn't during the day), then reduce the item bonus from +3 to +2 (the backstop given to him for Visual Perception rolls given by his Obsidian Goggles (Greater))
Unfortunately, the protection provided by The Brass Dwarf is not enough to absorb all the fire damage from the Eclipse's blast, so Slick finds himself with a new tan in addition to being pummeled by the shockwave. He calls to his friend in the distance. "Billy! I hope you can figure out how to turn this thing off soon. Not sure how many more of these we can take."
Slick notices the weaker Sigourney taking damage at a faster clip than he'd like, but Sigh!, she's just a little too far away for him to redirect some of the damage to himself.
When the remaining hound appears and takes a chunk out of him before disappearing again, Slick rolls his eyes. "These doggies and their hide-and-seek tactics are getting annoying. Ready or not, here I come!"
Slick looks around to see if there are any nearby areas in which a creature that size could hide and still keep them in view. Since he wasn't hearing any cries from Billy to the west, he decides to head east instead.
He takes off and rounds the plinth of the fallen statue to the east of him.
I've put down a pink line to indicate Slick's path to the east. If he spots an enemy anywhere along the path, he will redirect his motion to try and get within 50' of the creature.
If No Sign of an Enemy:
Slick curses to himself when his guess once again proves to be wrong. "Dang it! Where the heck is it hiding."
He heads north hoping to find some trace of it in that direction.
I've put down a green line to indicate Slick's path to the north. If he spots an enemy anywhere along the path, he will redirect his motion to try and get within 50' of the creature. If not, then hopefully the walls and plants will provide him with some cover from the next explosion.
Slick calls out to Pinebrush. "Pinebrush! It's over here." Then, turning to face his opponent, he adds "You're mine now, doggie!", then leaps and brings his sword down on the fiery creature repeatedly.
Greatsword Damage:3d12 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (3, 11, 8) + 14 + 1 = 37slashing damage Greatsword Flaming Damage:1d6 ⇒ 1fire damage - no resistance Greatsword Holy Damage:1d4 ⇒ 2holy spirit damage If Target is UnholyGreatsword Holy Extra Damage to Unholy:1d4 ⇒ 2holy spirit damage
ElseIf:
Slick is super frustrated by his inability to track down the hound. He could continue running around this island looking for the dog, but even if he found it, he'd be too tired to do much damage to it. Instead, he decides on a quick prayer for healing and hunkers down to prepare for the next explosion.
Slick had been almost certain that the hound was hiding behind the plinth to the west, but his hopes are dashed when no sign of the doggie is to be found there. He spots Pine having a similar lack of success to the north. "Dang It! Where is it hiding?
He then hears the doggie trying to take another chunk out of Sigourney. "Sigh! Looks like our teleporting pup is back to its old habits." Slick prepares to return to the group when...
"BOOM!!!!"
"What in all the planes was that?" He quickly surmises that it was the work of the Eclipse and he's happy to have had cover from the explosion. Slick is wondering how his friends fared and how soon before the next explosion, when the sudden appearance from thin air of the big bridge and strange harbor surprises him. "Uh... that's a new one. I wonder where that came from." He once again assumes that this is the Eclipse's work, but he doesn't know what it means and doesn't recognize the bridge or harbor.
As usual, don't rely on Slick for RK rolls.
Slick then hears another hound attacking Sigourney, this time with more success. "Oh, that's just great, there's more than one of the creatures.""Keep it busy, Sigourney! We're on our way."
He waits a moment to let Pinebrush sneak in and do his worst...
Action (◇): Delay: Until the end of Pinebrush's turn.
Realizing that he's too far from the hound to reach it quickly, Slick mentally bumps his new Harrow card and instantly feels himself moving at incredible speed across the island towards the ravenous hound.
Action (◇): Activate an Item: The Cricket - This movement doesn't trigger reactions and you can move through creatures' spaces - Action: Stride (50 feet) - Action: Stride (50 feet) - Action: Stride (50 feet)
Catching his breath, Slick leaps and brings his sword down on the fiery creature repeatedly.
A Crit Success! Assuming he hasn't already attempted the Demoralize on an earlier crit success, Slick will use a reaction to Demoralize his foe (Battle Cry).
Given how much damage Pine and Slick just inflicted, I suspect that Slick's next Strike may not be necessary. If so, then Slick will throw up a Shield with his last action instead.
Slick looks around the island they've just landed on. His warrior mind automatically appraises it and comes to the conclusion that with all the rubble scattered around, it would not make for a great battlefield. His eyes glance upwards when the sun is blotted out, but he remembers that looking at eclipses directly isn't a good idea and quickly looks away.
When the howls are heard in the darkness, Slick says, "Seems we're not alone with the Eclipse on this island. Maybe the doggie will be friendly..." but no sooner are the words out of his mouth that a massive hound appears out of nowhere and tries unsuccessfully to take a chunk of Sigourney with it before disappearing once again. "... or maybe not."
Action (◇): Delay: Until the end of Pinebrush, Billy and Sigourney's turns.
Realizing that the island was going to become a battleground after all, he mentally taps The Big Sky Harrow card to make the terrain less of an obstacle to movement.
Slick will touch himself, Billy (and Pine if he's within touch range).
Action 1 & 2 (◆◆): Activate an Item: The Big Sky - For 10 minutes, you and up to four creatures you touch ignore (greater) difficult terrain and any effects that would give a circumstance penalty to Speed.
He turns to Billy and Sigourney. "You guys can take care of the Eclipse while Pine and I go dog hunting. Let us know if you need our help." He then takes off towards the nearest of the likely hiding spots that the hound may have teleported to.
I've dropped a 35' green line showing the start of Slick's path around what appears to be a solid statue plinth of some sort. If Slick catches sight of the dog at any point, he'll change his path to aim directly for it and hopefully get within range of an enemy with the last 15' of his movement.
If Slick spots the dog (or any other enemy) hiding behind the plinth somewhere, he will move within Lunge reach of it and Strike. If possible, he will try to put the plinth between himself and Billy/Sigourney to provide cover if the Eclipse targets them with an explosion.
"Hah! There you are you bad doggie. Punishment time!"
ElseIf Slick Can End Stride within 30' of an Enemy:
Slick will finish off his first Stride using the pink path or whatever other path puts him within 30' of an enemy.
Seeing the massive hound hiding in the distance, Slick lets out a massive roar that makes most enemies soil themselves. "GRRRROAARRRR! You can't hide from me you bad doggie. I'm coming to for you."
Intimidation (Scare to Death):1d20 + 30 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 30 + 2 = 41vs Enemy Will DC
Scare to Death Results: Critical Success The target must attempt a Fortitude save against your Intimidation DC (42 in Slick's case). On a critical failure, it dies. On any other result, it becomes frightened 2 and is fleeing for 1 round. The critical failure effect has the death trait. Success The target becomes frightened 2. Failure The target becomes frightened 1. Critical Failure The target is unaffected.
ElseIf:
Slick will finish off his first Stride using the pink path and throw up a Shield.
"Dang it! Where in all the hells did the doggie get to?" He sighs and with a flick of his head brings up a magical force field in case either the Eclipse blows up or the doggie teleports in to try and attack him.
One morning, after everyone had recovered from the previous adventure, taken care of any required shopping, and finished up their studies, Slick washes down the last bite of his first breakfast, clears his throat loudly while waiting for his second, and says, "How about we go hunting for more Harrow cards? I believe The Eclipse is next on the list. Somewhere above a bunch of islands near the southern end of what's left of Azlant, if I remember correctly."
Slick looks on in wonder as the doprilli go insane around him and each in turn disappears into a big puddle on the floor. He turns to see Billy looking pleased with himself. "This your doing, Billy? Nice work my friend. Things were looking a little ugly there for a bit, but no longer." He runs around and takes out the few remaining doprilli that hadn't yet succumbed to Billy's insanity spell.
"That should take care of..." but he doesn't finish his thought as darkness falls around him. Upon waking in the ramshackle building, he quickly jumps to his feet and reaches for his sword looking for enemies. He relaxes when none become apparent.
His eyes fall on the four Harrow cards laying on the rickety table. "Well, at least our new friends didn't completely abandon us."
Based on the appearance of new cards in Roll20, I assume we're dealing with The Cricket, The Inquisitor, The Teamster, and The Wanderer.
Ignoring the other cards, he picks up The Cricket and looks it over with interest. "Now this could be of real use."
He makes a note of the other items, but after a little thought, none of them are of personal interest except perhaps the potency rune on the lance with which he could upgrade his handwraps.
Loot sheet updated. Not a bad haul. A Constitution Apex item if anyone is interested.
Once they get back to Harrowheart, Slick goes ahead and epitomizes the new cards.
Epitomizing The Inquisitor causes a research library to manifest on the ground floor of Harrowheart. Not of much interest to him, but doubtless Sigourney and even Billy could make use of it.
Moving to the village surrounding Harrowheart, he epitomizes The Teamster and numerous teams of livestock drivers manifest in the village, along with a large number of draft animals and riding horses. Epitomizing The Cricket causes an anthropomorphic cricket simulacrum moves into a previously empty building at the edge of the village. Both these manifestations would be of great help in moving around the Harrow Court at speed.
Finally, The Wanderer, a mysterious wandering centaur simulacrum manifests in the farmlands of Harrow Court. He seemed eager to buy things from them and even hire them to work for him, but Slick didn't think they'd make much use of the fellow.
Slick started with 10 extra temporary hit points from critting the brew save, so starts his turn at 278+10-88 = 200 hit points.
Slick is a little surprised to see the body of the drunken doprillu that he cut down disappear into a cold puddle. "Doesn't look like we have to worry about their regenerative abilities. Should make things a little easier."
Though happy to see Billy and Pine weather the attacks of the encroaching aberrations, he is a little miffed that the ones battering him are not so ineffectual. He is particularly unhappy to find himself grabbed by what appears to be a living furnace.
Unfortunately, The Brass Dwarf's fire resistance that he'd become accustomed to was of no help as he'd earlier switched it to resist mental damage when facing the mirages. He sighs, and with a mental tug, flips it back to resist fire damage once again. "I have a feeling these guys aren't going to be able to keep their hands off me."
Action 1 (◆): Activate an Item: The Brass Dwarf - Switch the current resistance equal to your level from mental damage to fire damage. For 1 minute, you gain weakness equal to half your level to mental damage.
Not bothering to waste time freeing himself (though that would limit his movement-based attack combinations), Slick hacks away at his grabby opponent.
Greatsword Holy Extra Damage to Unholy:1d4 ⇒ 3holy spirit damage
Will assume 34 is a hit since it apparently took all three of Slick's strikes during his previous turn to take down the dropillu, and the last of those Strikes with off-guard would have hit an AC of 34. If it is in fact not a hit, then the next Strike is at MAP1 again, not MAP2
If that is enough to take down Orange 2, then switch the final Strike to Blue 1.
Previous post showed incorrect Fist templates for attack & damage rolls. Here are the corrected rolls for Slick's sword attacks. I have reused the d20 rolls from the original post.
Slick looks over the bar with an expert eye and quickly identifies all the burly humanoids as potential troublemakers. He is therefore not the least bit surprised when they turn out to be belligerent.
Slick also makes note of the fact that harrowkin seem to have gone out of their way to both trap them in this room and provoke the bar fight, only to then mysteriously disappear. He wonders if dealing with these bellicose bruisers was the threatened consequences of the group not taking the harrowkin's Test of Destiny as seriously as they'd have liked.
He sighs audibly. One of the things that Slick enjoyed about going adventuring is that it took him away from his boring day job as a bouncer at The Gutless Griffon. Apparently, the job followed him on this particular adventure. The only difference being that this bar and its regulars were a harrowkin fabrication and he would not need to hold back in the coming bar fight.
As usual, he waits for the others to do their thing...
Action (◇): Delay: Until the end of Billy, Sigourney, and Pine's turns.
... then, happy to find himself both faster and overflowing with courage, Slick pulls out his sword and leaps to join Pinebrush in attacking the nearest drunk
If Crit Success, you can use a reaction to Demoralize your foe (Battle Cry)
Holy Healing (↺) (1/day)
TriggerYou critically succeed at a Strike against an unholy creature with a Holy weapon
You regain HP equal to double the unholy creature's level.
Protector's Sacrifice (↺) TriggerAn ally within 30 feet takes damage
Reduce the damage the ally would take by 24. You redirect this damage to yourself, but your immunities, weaknesses, resistances and so on do not apply.
Warding Tattoo (Fiend) (↺) (1/day)
TriggerAn enemy, hazard, or the environment makes an attack against your AC, requires you to attempt a saving throw, or causes you to take damage automatically
Until the end of the current turn, against the triggering effect, you gain a +1 status bonus to AC and saving throws and gain resistance 2 to damage.
The Paladin (↺) (1/day)
TriggerYou fail or critically fail a saving throw
Adjust the result of your saving throw up by one degree of success.
Skeptic's Defense (↺) (1/day)
TriggerYou are targeted by or are in the area of a mental spell or effect.
You don't believe in any mental twaddle, and you're certainly not afraid of it. You scoff and verbally refute the triggering effect, attempting a counteract check using your Intimidation modifier with a counteract level of half your level rounded up. If you succeed, you ignore the triggering effect, though any other creatures that were also targeted or in the area are still affected. If the source of the effect you successfully counteracted understands your language and has an Intelligence modifier of –3 or higher, that creature becomes stupefied for 1 round.
Blessed Denial (↺) TriggerAn ally within 30 feet would become Frightened, Drained, Enfeebled, Sickened, or Stupefied.
You exude peace and protection, lessening a harmful condition as it falls upon an ally. Reduce the value of the condition your ally would take by 1 (to a minimum of 0). If the ally takes more than one condition at the same time, choose one to reduce.
Halfway across the Pacific Ocean and the wifi connectivity on the plane is pretty skimpy. Good thing the Paizo website doesn't use a lot of bandwidth.
Here is a harrow reroll of Slick's Fortitude save in case his earlier roll turns out to fall short.
Slick drinks of the brew, but this time he detects a strange taste that he hadn't noticed before. He wonders if perhaps it was due to it being the dregs from the bottom of the barrel. He'd rather not end up affected like Pinebrush going into The Destiny Pub, as he suspects the Test isn't over just yet.
Harrow Reroll if Needed:
Rerolling with my Harrow Ritual result: Shields (⛨): - Success (•: reroll a Fortitude saving throw)
Fortitude Save vs DC 37-39:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (13) + 30 = 43
Slick will use his Protector's Sacrifice reaction to mitigate any damage that his friends suffer while chasing mirages. He has two focus points, so at best he can only use this reaction twice.
Reaction (↺): Cast a Spell: Protector's Sacrifice [L9] on Billy, Sigourney and/or Pine
An instance of damage to Billy, Sigourney and/or Pine is reduced by a maximum of 27 hit points which is redirected to Slick.
Slick sighs as they are faced with yet another unnecessary ordeal. "So it's mirages now?" He shrugs and heads into the dunes with the others chasing the visions.
What kind of damage are we dealing with here? Presumably mental given the cleanse our minds comment.
Feeling that his mind is likely to be put to the test while chasing the mirages, Slick closes his eyes momentarily and reaches out with his mind to The Brass Dwarf. With a short mental tug, he flicks the Dwarf's protection from electricity to mental. "Do your worst, mirages. I'm ready for you."
Action (◆): Activate an Item: The Brass Dwarf - Switch the current resistance of 18 electricity damage to mental damage. For 1 minute, you gain weakness of 9 to electricity damage.
Basic Will Save vs DC 38:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (17) + 28 = 45 Basic Will Save vs DC 38:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (10) + 28 = 38 Basic Will Save vs DC 38:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (12) + 28 = 40 Basic Will Save vs DC 38:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (17) + 28 = 45
If magic, then: +1 status bonus (Antimagic). If it is a fear effect, then: Success -> Crit, and regardless, Frightened condition is reduced by 1 (Bravery)
Looks like they are all successes for 1/2 damage, which means that his 18 resistance to mental damage should take care of any damage, assuming it is mental damage. Otherwise, he takes 13+12+9+13 = 47 HP of damage.
Actually, given that he can switch the resistance in one action, he would switch The Brass Dwarf to whatever damage type the first mirage inflicts (assuming it isn't mental), limiting the damage he takes to only 13 HP.
Slick happily absorbs some of the damage from the lightning strikes on his friends. While the group gets patched up, he eyes the harrowkin and wonders how much more they can take. There was a chance that they wouldn't reach the Destiny Pub if all four of them went down on the way there.
He shrugs to himself. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing; at least they'd end up with the cards than way, which is why they were here after all. But Slick was a little curious to see what this Destiny Pub of the harrowkin would be like.
When the harrowkin offer another round of the brew, Slick is more than happy to take a big swig from the barrel.
Fortitude Save vs DC 37-39:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (20) + 30 = 50
Slick listens to the Teamster and watches with some concern as the strange electrical storm quickly gathers in the distance. "Not sure I like the look of that," he mumbles to himself as the lightning strikes get closer and closer.
He closes his eyes momentarily and reaches out with his mind to The Brass Dwarf. With a short mental tug, he flicks the Dwarf's protection from fire to electricity. "That should soften the blow a little."
Action (◆): Activate an Item: The Brass Dwarf - Switch the current resistance of 18 fire damage to electricity damage. For 1 minute, you gain weakness of 9 to fire damage.
Once the storm is upon them, Slick feels the hair rise on his head from all the electrical activity around him. There is little he can do about it except try his best to avoid being struck directly by the lightning, and failing that, hope his armor and The Brass Dwarf's protection proves sufficient to mitigate the damage inflicted.
As the lightning bolts rain down around them, Slick successfully finds some cover. Unfortunately, his friends are not so lucky and each gets struck by bolts.
If Billy, Sigourney and/or Pine Take Damage:
Slick will use his Protector's Sacrifice reaction to mitigate any damage that his friends suffer during the lightning storm. He has two focus points, so at best he can only use this reaction twice.
Slick wonders at the sudden, extreme shifts in temperature, taking them as confirmation of his suspicions: the harrowkin were manipulating the weather. Apparently, the normal desert climate didn’t offer enough suffering for their precious Test of Destiny.
He notices that the cold hadn’t worn the harrowkin down nearly as much as the heat had, and he revises upward his estimate of their survival potential.
Slick ignores their renewed attempts to shame the group into joining their self-inflicted, and, as far as Slick was concerned, utterly unnecessary, hardships. Still, he was more than happy to take another gulp of their brew; somewhere along the way, he had acquired a taste for it.
Fortitude Save vs DC 37-40:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (14) + 30 = 44
Slick is impressed by the harrowkin's commttment to their bit. It sure looked like they were going to stick to the self-defined rules of their Test of Destiny come hell or high water. At the rate they were going, a couple of them would likely drop dead along the way, which would make recovering those cards a lot easier.
Despite the lambasting they'd received from the harrowkin for their unwillingness to take the full brunt of the harrowkin's self-administered desert heat, Slick was unperturbed. He saw no reason why he should put himself through that ordeal. He had nothing to prove to himself or the harrowkin; as long as they collected the cards without unnecessary violence to others or risk to themselves, he would be happy enough.
When the harrowkin bring out their barrel once again, Slick remembers how great he felt the first time he tried it and doesn't hesitate to take another swig of the brew.
Fortitude Save vs DC 37-44:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (10) + 30 = 40
If Failure:
Rerolling with my Harrow Ritual result: Shields (⛨): - Success (•: reroll a Fortitude saving throw)
Fortitude Save vs DC 37-44:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (19) + 30 = 49
Slick is a little disappointed that he and Billy couldn't relieve Pine of his brew-induced weakening. Despite the beneficial effect that the brew had on Slick and the lack of effect it had on Billy and Sigourney, he knows all too well that it was merely due to a small twist of fate that they hadn't all been impaired by drinking the brew.
When the harrowkin also add talk of enduring everything the Desert has to offer. Slick begins to wonder if perhaps these creatures were hoping the desert and drinking would slowly debilitate them to the point that he and his friends would be too weak to defend themselves effectively when combat inevitably broke out. It is only Billy's insistence that they were harmless pranksters that stops his hand from ending this farce and cutting them down where they stood.
Regardless, he wasn't about to make it easy for the harrowkin to beat him down for the sake of this Test of Destiny that he'd never heard of before and suspected was a pure invention of the harrowkin. If the others were happy to take a beating in the desert for the amusement of these merry pranksters, that was up to them, but Slick felt no need to abase himself to the elements for their enjoyment.
He guffaws at the harrowkin's feeble attempt to bully him into dropping his defenses before heading into the desert. "Nice try, but only a fool would head into the desert without protection, and I'm no fool."
Slick downs the brew and almost instantly feels really great. "Wow! This stuff is excellent!" He looks over at the sputtering Pine who appears to be having a decidedly less positive experience. "Whoa there, little buddy. You're looking a little green around the gills," he says before giving Pine a couple of vigorous pats on the back.
Blessed Denial (↺) TriggerAn ally within 30 feet would become Frightened, Drained, Enfeebled, Sickened, or Stupefied.
You exude peace and protection, lessening a harmful condition as it falls upon an ally. Reduce the value of the condition your ally would take by 1 (to a minimum of 0). If the ally takes more than one condition at the same time, choose one to reduce.
Slick considers the possibility of the special brew being a trick of some kind to incapacitate them, and momentarily toys with the idea of pretending to drink it so as to remain sober for what is to come. He discards the thought almost as soon as he thinks it; his abstinence was likely to be noticed and the harrowkin may react badly if they thought he wasn't taking their little Test of Destiny seriously.
He takes the tankard from Billy and fills it from the barrel. "Down the hatch," he says before taking a big gulp.
Fortitude Save vs DC ??:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (14) + 30 = 44
Slick raises an eyebrow when he hears about the Test of Destiny."Hmm... Why do I think this Test of yours will turn into something a bit more vigorous than a simple pub crawl."
Much like the situation with the birds and their Kingdom Chase game, Slick understands that their options are to play the game or get down to slaughtering the harrowkin. And for much the same reasons, Slick was willing to play the game if doing so would get them what they came for without resorting to violence.
Regardless, a pub crawl struck him as something more interesting than a flying race against irritating birds and he knew it would take quite a bit of drink to put him under the table. He wasn't stupid enough to think it would be a cakewalk, but he felt confident that his constitution could handle any drinking that might be involved.
When Billy says he's good to go, Slick adds, "Sounds good to me too. When do we start? Oh, ..." He takes a swig of Billy's honey mead, "... right now, apparently."
Slick barely notices the extreme heat as he eyes the looming electrical storm in the distance. "I hope it doesn't get any closer," he mumbles to himself just before the new Harrowkin come into view and start cheering. "Wow! Good job on the teleportation, Billy. You practically landed us in these guys' laps."
Once all the cheering and chanting dies down, Slick smiles. "Yes, indeed. As you say, the heroes have arrived. Now... what exactly have we got enough people for?"
"Oh, ho! Look what I found, says Slick as he comes across the cache hidden in the roots of a tree. "It seems that someone other than the birds visited these islands in the past."
Loot sheet updated
Satisfied that there is nothing more of value to find in the area, Slick is ready to leave. "I believe it is time to return to Harrowheart and prepare for our next outing."
The new harrow cards seem of limited use. The Peacock is good if you happen to have the Incredible Initiative feat (which Slick does not because he has Battlefield Surveyor). The Winged Serpent also helps with visual perception checks, but I think most of us have that covered already with goggles, though 1/day Foresight might be worth it.
Slick is happy that he hadn't been forced to cut down these wonderous creatures to recover the cards, and the gifts they supplied as prizes were an unexpected bonus. "Looks like a good day's haul, no? How about we make sure they didn't hide any other goodies nearby before we head back to Harrowheart?"
Not really expecting to find anything interesting, he takes a little time for a search of all the nearby islands, if only for his own peace of mind.
"This is getting old," thinks Slick as he picks himself up and finally heads to the fourth island where he lands only to be caught up by the Winged Serpent and once again wrapped up by its tail.
"There's not a lot of time left, so this better work." Slick once again heaves against the constricting tail in an attempt to get himself loose...
Upon landing on the home base island with nary a second to spare, he emits a piercing dragon roar in celebration before transforming back into his normal form.
Slick snickers as the Winged Serpent practically trips over itself trying to do the same to Slick and falls from sight for a moment. "Heh, heh. You okay down there?" The question is rhetorical. He wastes no time waiting for an answer and heads off to the third island where he touches down successfully.
He prepares to leave when he spots the Winged Serpent heading his way again. He suspects it may be close enough for its long tail to try and trip him up again, but there is little he can do to avoid it, so he hopes for another laughable attempt from his tormentor.
