Torsten the Tormented's page

I've had a lot of fun. I really liked the high tempo. And one of the things I'm enjoying abut PBP is much more banter in combat.

Ok so I assume we have at least one round and maybe more.

Torsten drinks the potion, being in a rush and all.

CMW, Fey Foundling: 2d8 + 7 ⇒ (5, 2) + 7 = 14

"Let's heal up as fast as we can, but let's also be prepared to evacuate the engineers in an orderly fashion if it becomes clear we can no longer hold this position. We seem to be drawing heavier attention from the demons. Price of success I suppose."

With no more enemies, are we out of initiative (but still in rounds)? I'll spend rounds healing up as fast as possible then providing healing to anyone still unhealed. Which may include the siege engineers.

It's in the swingy range. A lucky crit one way or the other could change things completely. Speaking of crits...

"You chose poorly coming here today demon. I'm not afraid to die here. Dying here, fighting you to protect them? looking at the siege engineers might be just the thing that wipes clean some of the slate for me."

to hit, bless, bull's strength, flank: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
confirm?: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

damage, cold iron slashing: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
crit: 2d10 + 13 ⇒ (4, 6) + 13 = 23

Yeah two brimoraks is hefty, especially with all the distractions (false crusaders, siege engines siphoning action economy).

It's the strangest thing, I always buy cold iron weapons if there's no compelling reason to buy a different material, but I checked my records and I didn't buy the boulder helmet cold iron.

And it's tough luck that I'm not level 4 yet, it would give me an immense amount of extra durability.

idea The second brimorak came up the ladder, rather than teleporting up. Summoned creatures can't teleport. Many demons can summon demons of the same kind. Maybe if this one is summoned we can run out the clock on it. It probably spent some time climbing the ladder, too.

Torsten continues on the defensive, trying to buy time to heal himself up before subjecting himself to more burns from striking the demons. He carefully positions himself to set up a flank for Taniian and to prevent lining up too many people for a breath weapon.

I'll be under Flip

to hit, bless, bull's strength, flank, fight defensively: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

AC vs this demon: 26

Lay on Hands (last one): 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

reflex, protection from evil: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
I could use inspiration on that

Staggering about all burnt and scorched [0 hp] Torsten calls on more holy power to keep going.

Lay on Hands: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"Guys we need help here!"

to hit, fight defensively, bless, bull's strength: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

My AC against the demon should be 26 this round due to protection from evil and defensive fighting.

Torsten is starting to look a bit worse for wear but grimly strikes on at the demon.
to hit, bull's strength, smite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16

"NO. I have to destroy you!"

campaign coin reroll, 4 stars: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (16) + 18 = 34
damage, cold iron slashing, bull's strength, smite: 1d10 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Lay on Hands: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Ok I'll abstain from using the oil if enemies are this far and few between, it would wear off too fast. And I only really need it for fiendish animals.
CLW between waves on self: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Seeing another brimorak, remembering how tricksy the last one was, and not wanting anything that fiery near the siege crew, he closes in fast.

"WE DON'T WANT YOUR KIND HERE" SMITE EVIL

to hit, bless, bull's strength, smite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
damage, cold iron slashing, ignore all DR on evil enemy due to smite; extra damage due to first hit with smite against evil outsider: 1d10 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Geez, that's a long time between waves of enemies. Are we more efficient than expected? I'm used to it normally being "after the PCs defeat a wave, 1-2 rounds to recover before the next wave". Doesn't this many rounds in between mean we fire off an insane amount of siege weaponry?

Fort vs. poison: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20

Feeling much improved Torsten looks back at the front line, but notices the bee being hacked to bits first takes a moment to apply some Oil of Bless Weapon to his axe. Then he steps back in. "Alright, I'm ready again now."

"Ugh.. excuse me a second, I wasn't prepared for poisonous bees..."

5ft step back and drink an antitoxin

fort vs. poison: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

"OOFFFF"
Fort vs. poison: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Lay on Hands: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

To hit, BS, bless: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

"I've been better but it takes more than that to kill me."

He looks around at the dead siege crew. "Ah crap. Dana, if you're out of spells, can you fill in with the crew? I'm sure you're tough enough to stand here, but so am I and at least in theory I can hack this thing apart, and you can't.."

Torsten quickly rubs some alchemical grease on his armor, just in case a demon gets grabby and tries to pull him off the ramparts. Gives me +5 alchemical bonus to CMD and Escape Artist to avoid being grappled.

@GM Top: Will standing directly in front of the big ballista be bad, or does it shoot upward at a high angle? (Since we can't use it to shoot demons in front of it...)

@Team:
I've drunk one Bull's Strength. That should work for 30 combat rounds, I think we can get a lot done in that time. Someone else can take the other one if they like.

I could use a Magic Weapon scroll on my axe, but it's only +1 damage, so only if nobody else gets more out of it.

Could we even properly use our siege weapons if we block our own line of sight with mist?

Surveying the oncoming hordes, Torsten drinks a helpfully provided potion of Bull's Strength. Depending on map size, also Enlarge Person. Right now the map is too small.

I was mostly thinking about like 5 spaces more. Right now if we just stand at the battlements there's almost no space for enemies even to get on the map.

Right now the map is so small that enemies getting onto the map pretty much get to the siege engine immediately.

I know you get the map pack that you get, but in this case, wouldn't it make sense to paste some more generic map grid to the north?

Torsten kicks their weapons away, keeping the axe hanging over their heads. He's scathing as he speaks to them. "You're hoping for a reward in the Abyss? Lowlifes such as you will just be reborn as maggots to be eaten by real demons. There is no hope for you there."

Torsten will supervise the rest tying them up so they can be brought in for judgment later on.

In my case, I've run this scenario before at 10-11 and so I knew about the impending betrayal. I tried to keep it out of my initial reaction and went forth to deal with the dretches, but when other people began pointing out pieces of evidence against the crusaders it wouldn't make sense to ignore it completely.

AoO, bless: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Torsten squares off against the traitor next to him [i.e. green]. "Why? What made you turn your back on mankind and sell yourself to the Abyss?"

To hit, bless: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Yeah specials are tough for low-level casters. I can tell from experience though, after a while Psychics just don't stop anymore. Need to cast Placebo Effect every 8 minutes to keep an ally from turning into a blob? No problem, can keep that up for two hours.

To clarify what Torsten was trying to do:

- Use the fact that the false crusaders can no longer see through the stinking cloud
- Because they can't see him when he's 10ft off, he can close in to 5ft without provoking
- At 5ft he should be too close for the crusaders to attack, given that they seemed to be using some kind of trippy polearm

hold breath, high is good: 1d100 ⇒ 81

Torsten bears down through the cloud, hearing the oh so predictable drama unfold. Noting a change in tone from Guy's song and the "crusaders" suddenly squinting into the pea-soup, he steps forward, slipping within the reach of their polearms and stepping around to put himself between his allies and the traitors.

Finally out of the cloud: "It's not the dretches that are weak, it's you. Allying with the Abyss? Look at yourself. Pathetic."

Ah, ok, I got the impression from your earlier post that Red had provoked and would have cast the Cause Fear if the AoO didn't disrupt it. In that case the AoO could only have been against Blue.

My previous strike as well as my AoO were at the red Dretch; as is the upcoming strike.

Torsten holds his breath (50% chance not to need to save against inhaled poisons this round, CRB p.558): high is good: 1d100 ⇒ 61

He peers through the rotten gas at his adversary, hoping to finish this fight.
to hit, bless: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
miss chance, high is good for me: 1d100 ⇒ 97
damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Not wanting to get separated from the rest though he walks backwards. Risk AoO from Red if Red is still alive. He walks backwards, coming in range of the song and spotting Blue, stopping there and nodding to Gordy on the other side to go for the flank.

AoO, bless: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 Torsten takes a whack at the demon casting a spell within his reach.
cold iron slashing: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

He's immune to fear due to Aura of Courage (not shared with others, due to Alone In The Dark).

"Sì, lo parlo. Senti, puoi tenere d'occhio quei crociati? Questi demoni non sembrano troppo duri, posso tenerli occupati per ora."

He saves vs. the cloud:
Fort vs. SLA: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

I'm really digging the tempo on this group :)

Torsten glances at Guy and shouts;
"Können Sie diese Kreuzfahrer im Auge behalten? Diese Dämonen sehen nicht so unheimlich aus, finden Sie heraus, was mit den Leuten auf unserer Seite nicht stimmt."

Torsten strides forth to keep the small demons pinned down. He strikes at Red:

to hit, bless: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
cold iron slashing: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

"Well actually we probably won't. From what I've been told, the demons coming out of the Worldwound are fully here, body and soul as one. So if they die here they die for good. It's not like when a wizard summons just a representation of a demon. It's as real for them as it is for us. So anything we achieve here today is really making the world safe."

Looking at the positioning of the crusaders and demons Torsten strides forward to block the demons' path.

The "big idea" of monsters is something that's a bit underrepresented in the way scenarios are formatted these days. Often, if you read the whole Bestiary description of a monster, it will make a lot of sense why that particular monster is in the scenario. Like, it really fits the region, it's exactly the sort of undead that you get from this kind of outrage, or it's a demon with a specialty in the kind of atrocity happening here.

But the monster stats that you get in the scenario appendix will leave out that text, including only the bare hard numbers. Leaving the GM without some important context he can use to enhance his storytelling.

For players, I think it makes a big difference in their appreciation of a scenario if a monster can be run as being really about something, instead of as Encounter #3.

---

And, practically speaking, a monster's theme tends to be linked to at least one of its abilities. So it also gives the GM a handhold for what to start with on Knowledge questions.

The core rule is that players should be getting pieces of useful information. Sometimes, knowing that monster can't do something particular is really useful, but usually it's a dud.

I tend to go with: first answer is a "what is this creature called, what is it about". Almost every creature has a theme, a big idea. A medusa petrifies you with snakes. A dragon breathes something. An undead rose from the grave for some particular reason (and that gives it a certain mindset).

I will give type/subtype traits as a bit of a freebie, especially among common types. I won't charge people a "piece" for undead traits for example. If you identify a wight with just enough, I'll tell you the big thing about wights is they drain levels and of course it has undead immunities. For a vermlek, I'd say it's a demon [so generic demon traits] that wears corpses as skinsuits.

Rarer subtypes like asura, or what kind of DR this demon has, those are worth Pieces of their own.

A lot of groups do "player asks questions", but I consider that just as an advisory for the GM to indicate what kinds of information would be most useful to the players. He's not obliged to answer those specific questions, but whatever he answers, should be useful.

"grumblegrumblegrumble" Torsten isn't happy (when is he ever) but there's no sense in picking this fight, now. He just bites his tongue during the negotiations.

I'm not brilliant at skill encounters but I've had a good run with combat so I don't mind sitting back a bit if you wanna go skillz.

religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Torsten eyes the fiends, cocking his head when he hears Guy talk about devils. "There had better be a really good explanation for this."

Torsten reads it and looks at the edge of his axe, judging its sharpness. "It looks like treason to me."

"There don't seem to be any enemies in here. Lets first secure the remaining room and then we can unstack this."

Torsten also moves to the west door, ready to intercept trouble if it comes out. "Let's secure the building against monsters first, but after that let's check that portrait. Either a message stuck to the back or a hidden wall safe - know your classics. Oh, and the trap that will typically torch whatever evidence is in there if you open it wrong.."

1 point of damage is stopped by my DR. I've had a troubled youth.

"Yep, biting our faces off, told you!" With gallows cheer Torsten whacks at the thing.

to hit: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
confirm?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Someone else being eaten first seems to have really motivated him.

critical hallelujah: 3d10 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (3, 10, 9) + 9 + 3 = 34

I see no way to avoid an AoO if one is available

The monster is still flat-footed, so you got to take advantage of that. Winning initiative isn't just for rogues :P

Noting people darting past behind him, Torsten nods approvingly. "I'll try to keep it on this side..." And the best way is probably to grab the beast's attention violently.

to hit: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
cold iron slashing: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

"Well I'd like that too. Especially since I'm probably the first one whose face will get bitten off." And yet that thought almost seems to cheer him up.

Torsten remains grim as usual. "Just because nothing is trying to scratch our face off yet doesn't mean everything is alright. There should have been people here meeting us, or Thurl should have reported in to the Starrise Spire. Something isn't right here."

Torsten mutters, half joking maybe, it's kinda hard to tell as he also seems to be concentrating on lining up a blow on the (relative to him) small and nimble demon. "M'colleague Taniian, please remember the flanking lessons I'm sure the master of blades taught you.. there was a whole chapter about large and medium allies flanking..."

to hit, bless, bard: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

"GOTCHA"

cold iron slashing, bard: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (7, 2) + 4 = 13

Torsten takes advantage of his reach to try to not get splashed with any more boiling blood.

Gaaah these short legs are driving me crazy, I'm so getting boots of striding and springing next paycheck.

Mouthing a quick prayer that it won't disrupt the ritual, Torsten steps over the small elf to put himself between Shaine and the critter.

to hit, bless, bardic, flank: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

He's momentarily distracted because he almost knocks over an important-looking candle, but after wobbling for a while the candle miraculously settles back in place. Torsten is inspired.

Lucky number!: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
cold iron axe realness, bardic: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (3, 5) + 5 = 13

The demon is 15 ft up on top of the roof of that building. I'm fine with leaving Torsten's attack as a readied action if it comes into range if that is acceptable.

I figured since I'm Large myself and have 10ft reach that I could reach him.

Planes: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

"Have to keep the demon's attention away from the obvious ritual circle..." Torsten mutters under his breath as he huffs and puffs up to the demon, just about reaching him thanks to the Enlarge potion carried by those very helpful bandits.

to hit, bless, bard: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
cold iron axe realness, bard: 2d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (7, 8) + 4 + 1 = 20

Nice 1 on the lucky number again