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Name: Z
Where: The Burial Room of trapped (by wraiths) treasure
Catalyst: Greed, on the part of the rogue, and having 12 Con.
As above, but just after the party has restored Wulfgar to life and then gotten the Nimbus Bow, they proceed to one of the last rooms on the level.
With all kinds of golden treasures just waiting to be picked up and taken, the rogue/psion Z simply couldn't resist. Of course, touch the treasure, roll initiative.
Both Dread Wraiths show up pretty much flanking the poor rogue. 2 incorporeal touches later, she takes like 8 damage and exactly 12 Con drain. As noted above, she has 12 Con.
Down she goes, and 1 roll a 3 for the time till spawning.
Cleric gets to go, Greater Turning most of the Wraiths followed by a Quickened Greater Turning (Radiant servant of Pelor w/ all kinds of anti-undead abilities), poofs the entire room.
Off we go, this time they Revenance the corpse, Restoration the Con drain away, and teleport off to Sasserine where the Dawnhouse has begun stocking scrolls of Raise Dead, Revivify, and Resurrection, just for Olan's group.
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Name: The Matriarch
Human (Olman) Ranger 11
Catalyst: +7 Will Save, 60-something HP, and stagger-cast Unholy Blight.
In the huge Mud Room, the party managed to slay the 3 Half-Fiend Kopru without too much hassle. Sure, it was a fight, but they carried the day, not losing anyone or even getting too horribly wounded.
They then explored a bit, plugging up the bubbling water tunnel, stopping the steam in the room and basically creating a giant pressure chamber slowly filling w/ steam.
In their explorations, the rogue/psion Z manages to get a glimpse of one of the other Koprus in his resting chamber through touchsight and her ring of invisibility. Goes back to the party, relays the info, they keep exploring.
So, of course, one Kopru goes to get the 3 in the level above, 1 goes over to tell Khala whats going on, and the third gets ready to rumble when his buds come in.
The remaining 6 Kopru swim over, all stealthy like, save that the ranger/psion and ranger (Matriarch) spot them under the mud. Roll initiative, they go first, all 6 pop out, 1 tries to darkness, dispelled by the Radiant Servant's Radiance on his lighty-type spell, then they chain cast 4 unhuly blights. The poor Matriarch fails all 4 saves, takes on the order of 95 damage, and drops instantly.
The rest of the party then Holy Words 4 of them, taking them out of the fight, and proceeds to Arc of Lightning, Elder Mountain Hammer, and Coup De Grace the rest to death.
Again, the party Revenenance's the Matriarch, then pops a Revivify on her when the Revenance time elapses. And yes, the Ranger/Psion has a wand of Revenance.
PC: Pykash, Elf Spellthief 1
Adventure: There Is No Honor
Location: Unnamed room east of P2 and north of P1
Catalyst: Zombie gave into the urge to consume flesh
The party had just walked into the room when two ravenous zombies lurched from the shadows and attacked. One zombie latched onto poor Pykash, a street urchin who lived in the Shadowshore district of Sasserine, and proceeded to tear the elf's throat out with its teeth and rip his chest open as he lay dying on the cold stone floor.
Cleric gets to go, Greater Turning most of the Wraiths followed by a Quickened Greater Turning (Radiant servant of Pelor w/ all kinds of anti-undead abilities), poofs the entire room.
Psionichamster, I think you have a misinterpretation of how the Quickened Turning Feat works. If I recall correctly, you can make a single turn attempt for the round - the feat merely bumps the turn attempt you make from a standard action to a free action.
Other than that, mad props to your Radiant Servant. Shame I 'advised' my player group to not emphasize an ability to turn the undead ...
Well here it is, my first PC death in STAP
PC: Layleth Elven Warblade lvl 5
Adventure: Sea Wyvern's Wake
Catalyst: 2 Ettins with rather large clubs
For whatever reason the party decided to check out the rumors of monsters on Ruja Island. They figured out a way to climb the 1000 feet high cliffs and were quickly assaulted by three terror birds. They waltzed through them and decided to look for something more challenging inland. They found a cave and roused three Ettins who came charging out at them. Neglecting to mention he was already at half health from the terror bird encounter Layleth charged the first Ettin. A second Ettin decided to help the first against this imposing foe, the third going after the parties rogue. Layleth was bludgeoned to death within a few rounds, splattering the druid who was trying to heal him with blood. He gave a good accounting of himself before dieing and the rest of the party managed to finish the Ettins off with no further deaths.
First fatality tonight:
Name: Zareth Darkmore, human cleric 4
Adventure: The Bullywug Gambit
Catalyst: Handaxe crit from a raging Lorb-Lorb in Vanderboren Manor
The PCs had already rescued Lavinia and most of the Jade Ravens, but did a circuit of the house to clean out any stragglers before heading downstairs to the basement. Lorb-Lorb was trapped in a web pretty much instantly once the PCs entered the dining room, but fought her way out as the party warriors cut down her tribesmen. She ended up next to Zareth, the cleric of the god of luck, thieves, and callous bastardry, and landed a solid blow on him that left him in precarious shape. He stepped back, but rather than heal himself tried to cast command on her. She passed her save, stepped in, and landed a mighty axe blow on him, reducing him to -16 hp. Combine that x3 crit multiplier with a pretty decent strength score and a favoured enemy damage bonus, and things get ugly for low-level characters very quickly.
Lorb-Lorb was stunned with a colour spray the very next initiative count, and quickly cut down. Lavinia paid for Zareth's funeral rites (out of duty more than anything, since she found his rather blatantly lecherous advances even less welcome than Tolin's), and his body was handed over to the priesthood of Baron Samedi, the god of the dead, to whom he had pledged his bones on the event of his death in exchange for a bargain rate on divine scrolls...
hm....looks like i was wrong, again
will have to correct that in the future.
oh well, the dungeon was pretty much done, anyways, and the big baddies were dead at that point.
thanks for calling my attention to that, though.
-the hamster
Well, we can't have our players thinking they can pull the wool over our eyes, now can we ? ^_^
I agree, I generally avoid takebacks unless the reason is pressing.
Another death tonight, second time for this character. : (
Name: Skrit
Race: Xeph
Class: Lurk 7
Catalyst: A hungry V-Rex (using the World of Kong artbook for the encounters in HTBM, so they're V-rexes instead!)
Having just scuttled themselves off the shore of the Isle of Dread, the PCs were collecting their scattered belongings. A hungry V-Rex stepped on top of a sand dune near Skrit and the warblade Drake, scenting them out before bellowing a challenge. Skrit, almost foolishly, approached the beast and flung a hidden blade at it, dripping with poison. It skipped harmlessly off his snout, and now the V-Rex knew who to attack. Up in his jaws Skrit went, and then down it's throat the next round. The rest of the group quickly finished the V-rex off, but by the time they gutted it Skrit was long gone.
First Ripclaw, now this. Bad luck with dinosaurs.
Another death tonight, second time for this character. : (
Name: Skrit
Race: Xeph
Class: Lurk 7
Catalyst: A hungry V-Rex (using the World of Kong artbook for the encounters in HTBM, so they're V-rexes instead!)Having just scuttled themselves off the shore of the Isle of Dread, the PCs were collecting their scattered belongings. A hungry V-Rex stepped on top of a sand dune near Skrit and the warblade Drake, scenting them out before bellowing a challenge. Skrit, almost foolishly, approached the beast and flung a hidden blade at it, dripping with poison. It skipped harmlessly off his snout, and now the V-Rex knew who to attack. Up in his jaws Skrit went, and then down it's throat the next round. The rest of the group quickly finished the V-rex off, but by the time they gutted it Skrit was long gone.
First Ripclaw, now this. Bad luck with dinosaurs.
Well, if they think the V-Rex was a nasty critter, your poor players are in for such a rude, rude awakening down the road ...
Alas, "There is No Honor" claims another victim in my Savage Tide game.
PC: Ali'ka, Wood Elf Swordsage 2
Adventure: There is No Honor
Location: Sea Urchin pool in the Lotus Dragon hideout
Catalyst: A bunch of angry Ixitxachitls
While throwing the dead body of a Lotus Dragon thief they had interrogated into the water, the party noticed shapes moving in the water. One shape swam north and disappeared, while another stayed behind and poked its head out of the water, cursing at them in Aquan. Nobody in the party spoke the language, so they had no idea what the creature was saying.
Ali'ka decides to start moving around the pool to the tunnel to the north that led to the Rhagodessa pen. Of course, the Ixitxachitl immediately charges at the elf and takes a big bite out of his leg. Ali'ka quickly dispatches the beast. Unfortunately, this only angers the other five ixitxachitls, who swim into the room to see their friend floating upside down in the water. They all charge Ali'ka and a battle breaks out. Soon, the wood elf falls and in the confusion of battle, one ixitxachitl manages to coup de grace their hated foe, tearing the guts out of the incapacitated elf.
PC: Tarmak Turren, Human Samurai 4
Adventure: The Bullywug Gambit
Location: Lavinia's Bedroom
Catalyst: Opening strikes of one pissed Half-Orc
It had been a long day. After rushing to Vanderboren Manor through obstacles both passive and hostile, the party found themselves rushing up the stairs in a frantic effort to find Lavinia. Wounded but determined, Tarmak lead the charge but was seperated when a group of scorpions blocked the path for the rest of the party. Undaunted, he located the source of the monsters (a oddly-dressed bullywug) and moved to dismember it.
As his companions stated their slight delay below, the bullywug retreated behind a nearby door. Not wanting to allow the creature a chance to buff or heal itself, he continued onward through the door. The sight of Lavinia, two Jade Ravens, and Kora tied up by a by pirate half-orc enraged the samurai, and he reacted by setting a position where one of the two villians would soon taste his blades.
The half-orc bellowed "More adventurers! I'll just cut you down like I did the others!" and stepped up to confront Tarmak. Two brutal strikes later, the half-orc followed through on his promise, and was setting his sights on the new-comers just arriving.
Mr Death, I think it's time for a new update on the totals. Cheers!
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When: Tides of Dread Vanthus Encounter
Who: Human Cleric 10
After wading through hordes of vrocks, yuan-ti etc. and having done pretty well only 2 of the party members got to aid Lavinia (the others were a few rounds behind them). The cleric took a full attack from Vanthus dropping him in a hurry. Psion in the party with 8 hp left narrowly avoided the same fate courtesy of a Quicken Power Mind Thrusts just before Vanthus' next action.
Session 3, short version:
Chapter 1, Part 4 / episode 2 : Peril Under Parrot Island.
PCs Slain: Kobold Monk 2, dragonthingy Duskblade 1, Cleric of St. Cuthbert 2, Dwarf Druid 2 (which was the kobold monk's replacement character).
Catalysts: (#1) Just because you have 8 characters, 5 of whom are 2nd level, does not mean you are going to win when the players' tactics was rather poorly thought out.
(#2) Friendly fire is sometimes literal.
Locations: All the action took place in and about P1 and P2, eventually ending up east of the entry point.
Total Elapsed Time of Combat: 24 combat rounds; 4 hours (estimated) real time.
Summary: Kobold monk dies first, eaten alive by a pair of zombie pirates. Dragonthingie duskblade died next, incinerated in the wizard's burning hands blast while stabilized at -9 hit points. Krund laid low the Cleric of St. Cuthbert with an inflict light wounds which she failed her save against (after which the two zombies that ate the kobold polished her off). Final PC death was also scored by Krund's Death Touch domain ability (8 hp rolled compared to the druid's current hp total of 4 = permadeath ftw!).
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Back from vacation, lots of deaths to be reported.
Brand new update of obituaries' thread :
- 1st adventure (TINH) : 93 PCs / 10 NPCs-familiars-animals
- 2nd adventure (TBG) : 57 PCs
- sidetrek before 3rd adventure : 3 PCs
- 3rd adventure (SWW) : 71 PCs / 18 NPCs-familiars-animals
- 4th adventure (HTBM) : 38 PCs / 21 NPCs-familiars-animals (Avner's horse taken into account)
- 5th adventure (ToD) : 25 PCs / 2 NPCs-familiars-animals
- sidetrek before 6th adventure : 2 PCs
- 6th adventure (TLD) : 16 PCs / 1 NPC-familiar-animal
- sidetrek before 7th adventure : 1 PC
- 7th adventure (CoBI) : 21 PCs / 18 NPC-familiar-animal
- 8th adventure (SoS) :
- 9th adventure (ItM) :
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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Character: Meister, Dwarven Fighter 10
Adventure: The Lightless Depths
Location: Troglodyte Village
Catalyst: Troglodyte Priests
Most of the party had decided to investigate the cages, but Meister and his erstwhile ally, Drekk (another PC, Rogue 9), decided to venture off on their own. Never a good idea, but these two PCs were a little cocky.
Drekk and Meister discovered 6 praying Troglodyte Priests in the northern corner of the village, and decided to ambush them. Drekk conveyed his discovery via telepathic link to Leo, the party Cleric, who warned him not to engage the Priests on their own.
Ignoring this advice (I believe the exact quote was "They're only Troglodytes"), Drekk went invisible and Meister crept behind the mud hut that housed the Priests. Jumping from cover, Meister got surprise and attacked, with Drekk jumping in to flank when possible. The pair managed to take down 3 of the priests before things went horribly wrong: One Priest who was out of combat cast Hold Person on Meister, who failed his save. The Priest in combat with Meister, seeing the Dwarf helpless before him, thought it best to send Meister to meet his maker and finished him off with a Coup de Grace.
Drekk, shocked by what happened, used his next action to go invisible and flee the scene.
Meister was raised by Leo, but I think he's learned his lesson. The Savage Tide is no place for a split party - especially from this point in the adventure forward...
Another death in my Savage Tide campaign! This time in a side adventure between There is No Honor (which we finally finished after many long months and several start-up attempts) and The Bullywug Gambit.
Character: Balathastrius Knowlern, Elf Druid 3
Adventure: Side Trek Between Adventures #1 and #2.
Location: The Scuttlecove Arena
Catalyst: A desperate boneclaw and a not-so-smart druid
Having taken the Sea Wyvern to Scuttlecove to seek out a powerful wizard capable of casting a spell to give the party psion, nicknamed Hobbes by the patrons of the tavern he lived in, a new body (his mind was stuck in the body of a cat, and the geographer the party spoke to when trying to figure out the location of Kraken's Cove was quite outspoken about the dangers of griffons eating small animals in the jungle), the party found themselves betrayed by the very person they just gave 5000 gold to: the notorious (and notoriously misshapen) drug lord/wizard Kedward Bone, who handed the PCs over to the Monks of Dire Hunger.
The cannibalistic monks eagerly placed the PCs into the arena, where they set loose a number of skeletons, both man and wolf, upon the party. A boneclaw also engaged in the battle and proved quite resilient to the party's attacks, nearly killing the telepath (now in the body of a catfolk) and Alberich the Faceripper, a dwarf who grew up fighting in the Sasserine coliseum. Near the end of the battle, the druid, an optimistic scion of the Knowlern noble family of Sasserine, was running low on spells and decided to engage the boneclaw in melee. He had already narrowly avoided an attack of opportunity as he went to heal Alberich but was no match for the boneclaw's full might. He fell quite quickly under the attacks of the boneclaw, who saw that the druid was the one keeping the party afloat.
Later, during the riot that occurred when the party actually defeated the boneclaw, the party wizard, the gray elf Ha'ali (controlled by the player of the deceased swordsage Ali'ka [see above]), used his wand of animate dead on Balathastrius's lifeless corpse, suggesting that the dead elf would be easier to transport to a cleric that way. Alberic suggested that the zombie and its loyal wolf companion Lazarus Longtooth would make decent, if rather foul-smelling, guards for the Sea Wyvern.
Just curious, where did your PCs find the Sea Wyvern if they have not yet played The Bullywug Gambit?
Just curious, where did your PCs find the Sea Wyvern if they have not yet played The Bullywug Gambit?
Yeah, I realized that in the last session. It was actually the Blue Nixie they were sailing.
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We lost several NPC's to the Sargasso on the Sea Wyvern's Wake in our last session. The party inexplicably decided to set off to explore the sargasso in late afternoon, meaning they were exploring off ship all night.
So I ended the previous session with the party approaching the Thunderer (home of the Mother), having to face several waves of Horrors and Assassin Vines along the way. This session segued back to the Wyvern while they were gone, to show how the NPC's managed. They were also joined by the swordsage PC, who missed the previous game and was left on the boat.
Each of my players, except the swordsage, was given one of the named NPCs and the leftover player (the one who showed up late) was given 4 level 2 commoners. The player who was responsible for Avner was also given his 2 servants.
Well, as night fell, Amella and the Swordsage organized the defense, with Urol, Skald, and Feres (he survived his Slaad ordeal) promising to help. Avner of course made no promises and had very much an "each man for themselves" attitude.
In the end, it was a very close affair, and very nearly the ship was overrun by horrors, but as dawn broke, a very tired and beaten Swordsage, along with Amella, Urol, Skald, and Feres, all very near to death, were alive to greet the new day.
Not so for the 4 commoners, Avner, and Avner's servants Barnaby and Quenge. Avner was grappled by an assassin vine, and even managed against high odds to break loose one time, but was caught again by it trying to run away (at 2 hp) and finished off.
Those assassin vines are pretty nasty against the lvl 6-8 PC's, against lvl 2-3 NPC they're just plain devastating. They were also the undoing of his assistants, and the 4 lvl 2 commoners (who were actually rower slaves rescued from the pirate ship blockade a few weeks back).
SO to summarize:
NPC's: Avner, Barnaby and Quenge (his servants), 4 lvl 2 commoner crew members
Adventure: Sea Wyvern's Wake
Location of Death: Deck of The Sea Wyvern (Avner on the Sargasso Mat below)
Catalyst Assassin Vines (summoned by vine horrors)
The PC's will not be warmly greeted when they return, despite the fact that they did manage to defeat the mother and free the ship from the sargasso. They left the NPC's nearly defenseless during a hellish and harrowing night.
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Name: Z
Class: Rogue/Psion/Avenger/Wayfarer Guide
Catalyst: Poor description, inattention, and no search checks.
Where: The Eastern exit of the Taboo Temple
The party, having slain the aspect of old monkey brains and cleared the temple, decided to go back and try to get the treasure from the wraith room and go down one last hallway.
They explore for a bit, see that there are tracks going back and forth from the exit to the burial room, see no treasure there, and head back out the tunnel to the exit.
I (as one of my players stated) pulled some shenanigans when they triggered the (now repaired) fusillade of spears trap in that hallway. Now, they say their characters should have remembered the trap had been triggered and was not there anymore, and they may be right in that aspect.
I say they should have been searching (or Z should NOT have stated she was traveling 10' ahead of the dwarves who think they are leading the party) and that would have meant the trap was found readily.
As it was, 5 of the 6 spears that attacked Z hit, doing some 40 damage (1 was an unconfirmed critical hit, if i recall correctly), and 2 failed fort saves later (1 by only 1 point, too) Z was dead to Con damage. Again.
A revivify spell and heal spell later, they're ready to go, and proceed to trounce the 4 skinwalkers, Thogriff, and the remaining Acolyte (who fled the fight against the chief when she was the only one left alive) in a few short rounds.
Kinda a cheap kill, but I'll take it. And you can bet she's never going to forget to search for traps again!
-the hamster
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RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Name: Z
Class: Rogue/Psion/Avenger/Wayfarer Guide
Catalyst: Poor description, inattention, and no search checks.
Where: The Eastern exit of the Taboo TempleThe party, having slain the aspect of old monkey brains and cleared the temple, decided to go back and try to get the treasure from the wraith room and go down one last hallway.
They explore for a bit, see that there are tracks going back and forth from the exit to the burial room, see no treasure there, and head back out the tunnel to the exit.
I (as one of my players stated) pulled some shenanigans when they triggered the (now repaired) fusillade of spears trap in that hallway. Now, they say their characters should have remembered the trap had been triggered and was not there anymore, and they may be right in that aspect.
I say they should have been searching (or Z should NOT have stated she was traveling 10' ahead of the dwarves who think they are leading the party) and that would have meant the trap was found readily.
As it was, 5 of the 6 spears that attacked Z hit, doing some 40 damage (1 was an unconfirmed critical hit, if i recall correctly), and 2 failed fort saves later (1 by only 1 point, too) Z was dead to Con damage. Again.
A revivify spell and heal spell later, they're ready to go, and proceed to trounce the 4 skinwalkers, Thogriff, and the remaining Acolyte (who fled the fight against the chief when she was the only one left alive) in a few short rounds.
Kinda a cheap kill, but I'll take it. And you can bet she's never going to forget to search for traps again!
-the hamster
Depends: if you described the hallway when they came through the second time, with the description that the trap had been reset or whatever, then it's on them. If you didn't redescribe the hallway, then it was on you.
Session 4, the den of the Lotus Dragons
PC Death #1: scout/fighter dervish wanna-be
Cause of Death: hungry hungry death bug
Location of Demise: Guard Room near Rowyn Kellani's quarters
Lesson Learned: Even a retardedly high AC is no protection against a rhagodessa's grapple-chomp combo when the GM's dice roll hot.
PC Death #2: vow of poverty druid, shapeshifter alternative class feature
Cause of Death: failure to have a decent sense motive against Improved Feint
Location of Demise: Rowyn Kellani's chambers
Lesson Learned: Don't count a retardedly high AC when you get feinted in combat, criticalled by a rapier that also packed a +2d6 sneak attack after you voluntarily agree to the mage's Burning Hands spell ... against which you failed the Reflex save.
Character: Rogorian, male Half Elf Rogue 3/Ninja 5/Shadowthief of Amn 3/Monk 4
Adventure: Serpents of Scuttlecove
Location: The Abandoned Shack (D11)
Catalyst: Vhzorthys' loving gaze ...."Smile when you die"
Entering the hidden Crimson Fleet base, the PCs decided to come in low over the marsh's tree tops, then set down and do some recon inside the sanctum's screen. Rogorian, quite the shadowy guy and stickler for orderly, dispciplined procedure, scouted ahead. He entered the abandoned shack, avoided the illusionary floor and stopped to activate his darkvision item.
Vhzorthys noticed, rose up some and "flashed" him, followed up by a free action "Hold Monster". Rogarion failed both (ridiculously high... mor eon this elsewhere ) saves and could only watch in rapt horror, screaming inside his skull, as the huhe eye of the Deep proceeded to snip off his limbs before devouring him, while bleeding out....
Considering what followed, the player called it " leaving early to avoid the rush"
Character(s): Mullorin ( Half Elf Scout3 /Ranger 1/Favoured Soul 12 ); Syvil ( Human Druid - Elemental focus 16 ) and hier Airelemental Companion (aka "Whistler"); Kek ( gnome Illusionist Spec 6 / Fatespinner 5 /Nightmare Spinner 5 ); Typhion ( Star Elf Wizard 3/bard 2/Ultimate Magus 9 - cohort ); Kunk ( Shield Dwarf Fighter 2/Warmage 11 - cohort )
Adventure: Serpents of Scuttlecove
Location: The Abandoned Shack (D11) (again)
Catalyst: Vhzorthys' loving gaze ...."Smile when you die"
Barely one minute after Rogarion (see above) left to scout ahead some, and with Typhion concetrating on a Clairvoyance to check out the wrecks above, the group noticed a bright and sudden, yet noiseless flash from ahead. everybody froze, melted into shadows or hoped the invis spells held. When nothing notable happened (except for some sloshing noises from the water and wildlife screeching in the nocturnal rainforest around them ), and with Rogarion failing to return as planned after a couple of minutes, they moved ahead, following the Rogaion's last known route to the shack D11 (rogarion's player, Marcus, knowing his fate through a series of written notes and answers kept mum. kudos to him ).
Throwing a fast glimpse inside, they spotted nothing (not interacting with the illusionary floor ), then moved in their best SWAT reeneactment. The Warmage and Favoured Soul dropped straight through the floor, as did the ultimate magus cohort, poor Typhion. Typhion landed smack in front of Vhzorthys, who landed an immediate critical with his AoO, rolling high and doing 52 HP of damage. Typhion at least made his save vs massive damage (and wished he hadn't ).
Since Vhzorthys had spotted them through his own illusion, he gained a surprise round, flashing his main eye once. Basically, after that, the fight was over...
Everyone failed their [DC 34 !!!!] Fortitude saves, except for the Warbalde who covered the rear, and was not looking in that direction anyway. With six out of seven characters dead or stunned, havoc reigned, in spades !
Vhzorthys, flashing its main eye every round, restunning and blinding the entire group (even the Warblade, who had rushed inside on the following round and got struck by a hold monster ) repeatedly, plus shooting "Hold Monster" and "Cone of Cold" (with DC 27 saves) at everyone outside immediate range, it started tearing through the helpless, unmoving heroes, delivering "coup de grace" snips to the head, biting of limbs at random (pure flavour) and looking set for a TPK.
Fate (or was it Tymora ? ) was merciful as the Warblade was pulled outside by the druid's air elemental companion tugging him off in whirlwind form, before it being killed when trying to save its mistress Sylvis and Kek's lemming familliar "Banzai" pulling his hood over his eyes, temporarily protecting them both from the dazzling flashes.
Unfortunately, Kek, when attempting to flee was struck by a Ray'ed Cone of Cold and a Hold Monster, saving against neither and getting turned into a floating icicle for his troubles.
After eleven very one-sided turns, with the Warblade finally coming out of his dazed stun some rounds later outside the base in the jungle and blinking away his residual blindness, the thing was over...
We stopped the game for the night - it's likely a CEE ( Campaign Ending Event ) anyway..... The PC corpses are pretty mangled, probably inside Vhzortys digestive system by now and everyone will be hard pressed to fell like going up against him again. And now they know this thing is there, alll tactical planning for Scuttlecove will take it into account.
To be frank, while the group was well prepared, well armed with resistance items etc. they didn't stand the chance of a snowball in hell. Vhzortys is probably an abomination with a DC 34 save versus an AoE stun, with a success only halving the time spent stunned, with an attack mode usable every round as a free action ....... that is too much ? I mean "stun"..... No actions (even purely mental ) no Dex bonus, drop everything you are holding.... how cheesy is that ?
Actually I feel pretty guilty for not having seen that ahead of time and removed it from the campaign.... But as stated somewhere else, the really deadly encounters in the STAP are not those BBEGs, but the "random stuff" besides.
^^^ Ouch, that's harsh. Sad to hear that your PCs may not get to finish the STAP - if I was on the business end of that flash attack I'd probably feel the same way they do right now. I'm gonna have to go and retool that guy so I don't run into the same trouble.
The huge save is a result of massively advanced aberration hit die, isn't it? That's what happens when aberrations increase 1 CR for every 4 HD they gain - their supernatural ability save DCs scale up every 2 HD... the saves get to be overwhelming.
Bring 'em back as Necropolitans. They can come back totally immune to basically everything an Eye of the Deep can possibly dish out. Probably the worst thing about the encounter is that it is so lopsided; as long as they don't all get caught in the AoE stun at once, it looks fairly easy to kill it by kiting at range or by sending in a wave of undead, deathless, construct, or plant minions.
Incidentally, I must question, "Vhzortys is probably an abomination with a DC 34 save versus an AoE stun, with a success only halving the time spent stunned." A successful saving throw negates the stun and reduces blindness to dazzled. All characters come out of the stun in one to six rounds and are immune to further stunning for as long as they were stunned unless they were somehow immune to being blinded. The baleful flash can also be defeated by the simple expedient of closing your eyes and accepting the 50% miss chance. The whole, "Vhzorthys, flashing its main eye every round, restunning and blinding the entire group" can't happen unless I misunderstand somehow, because "sightless creatures are immune to this attack."
mis-typed above, yes, you are not stunned if you save, but the problem is, one will in all likelihoofd fail the initial save. As for "will being blinded by the effect save you from further blasts"... We passed the question around at the table, and everyone agreed, that the power did not actually "burn out your eyes", but worked similar to 'snow-blindness' = over-exposure of the optic nerves, leaving you with glaring after images, but basically with your sight intact, just useless. Yeah, they could have tried to wriggle themselves out of repeat flash-exposures by going all rules-lawyerly, but kudos to the group, they are to decent and old-fashioned for that.
Hence, you could get re-"flashed", as your eyes were stuck open from the initial blast's stun. And with a follow up free-action "hold monster" by Vhzortys every round solidifying the situation anyway ?
Besides, being stuck down in the mud, close range with the eye and likely without a means to even locate the precise spot it is in (only one character with scent ) the 50/50 chance to hit is the least of their worrries...
As for the tactical advice - sure, all of that works, although IMO not very well in the confines of the stronghold ( no space for kiting without drawing massive unwanted attention + enough places to take cover behind for the critter,a nd no compelling reason for it to chase them. besides, it could simply chase them submerged, adding concealment and cover by doing so..), and summoned monsters... well, if they knew in advance that is was there, and summoned some help... then the whole thing would have gone of differently for sure.
The crux being, the whole thing is an ambush set up in a limited space situation, so basically everyone will be in the AoE of the "flash", and Vhzortys is very likely to gain initiative or a surprise round ( listen +31 and spot +31 will help note approaching groups =) ...).
There is no indication of something like it lurking in the base, no tell-tale clues or rumours. the first thing you notice is when you get hit by the flash... and that is basically game-over. And as I said, had I realized it's deadliness earlier, I would have either removed the beastie, or given some indication as to its presence... The Deinocheus in CoBI is comparably deadly, but there are some advance warnings given for it (and be it the cover of that particular issue of Dungeon, hehe ).
^^^ Ouch, that's harsh. Sad to hear that your PCs may not get to finish the STAP - if I was on the business end of that flash attack I'd probably feel the same way they do right now. I'm gonna have to go and retool that guy so I don't run into the same trouble.
Actually contemplating to run them through "Expedition to the Demonwebs" and re-hit the final installments of the STAP from sideways, catching wind of Big-Ds plot while fighting through that mini-campaign. May have to write up an adventure or two linking it up to the STAP and adding enough XP to make them competitive, but well.....
... gotta run that past the others next WE ( final barbecue for the summer planned, so there will be opportunity enough to talk "shop" ). After all, there is still one initial character alive..@kobold Lord
Nice idea with teh necropolitans, but for one I was under the impression that was a voluntary change to undeath... and well, since Vhzortys was operating in "snipping-lobster"-mode and a carnivore at that... "Return of the zombie torsoes" ?
And may the death toll roll on in perpetuity...
Oh, and Turin, Master Player Slayer Allen Stewart reminds me greatly of my old DM. I too was weaned on a diet of steady character death in my infancy of playing D&D. The benefit...I am a MUCH smarter player, and a nastier DM. Besides there is nothing like playing a PC with such a DM who survives (without dying once) from 1st to 26th level. Mitch was soooo out to get my poor elven wizard. Heeheh.
So to you both, Turin and Allen Stewart!
And may the death toll roll on in perpetuity...
Oh, and Turin, Master Player Slayer Allen Stewart reminds me greatly of my old DM. I too was weaned on a diet of steady character death in my infancy of playing D&D. The benefit...I am a MUCH smarter player, and a nastier DM. Besides there is nothing like playing a PC with such a DM who survives (without dying once) from 1st to 26th level. Mitch was soooo out to get my poor elven wizard. Heeheh.
So to you both, Turin and Allen Stewart!
You bet man. We don't take prisoners!
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Even though we have had over 7 deaths in our STAP campaign (if you count the two familiar deaths as one of my players does) this is the first time I have been moved to post in this thread.
There the PCs were, in Ahazu's well after chasing off the well's guardians. They observed the trapped demon lord inside the pool and despaired of ideas on how to contact him. Then Aramiel, the party's healer/beguiler takes steps to ensure he can breath underwater and has freedom of movement, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and then jumps into the pool. He didn't touch the surface first, giving me at least an excuse to ask for a will save. He instead jumped full on into the pool.
Fare thee well Aramiel.
As an aside, the party then used a telepathy crystal ball to to communicate with Aramiel who acted as an intermediary between them and Ahazu.
Tam
The body count hath gone strangely dormant of late ... I fear for our collective Killer GM-hood if more dead characters are not reported soon ...
Well I for one am appauled to hear that there are dms out there running ST and inccuring PC deaths and then not performing their civic duty to report such deaths on this thread. The audacity.
Well I for one am appauled to hear that there are dms out there running ST and inccuring PC deaths and then not performing their civic duty to report such deaths on this thread. The audacity.
Indeed Sir Knight Dungeon, this travesty must not continue!
I shall endeavor forthwith this coming weekend to butcher as many characters as possible!
Double, nay TRIPLE the numbers of bad guys ! Even the ones with names !
Oh, wait ... probably have to do that anyway, I've got at least 8 dice-chucking soap bars due to show up 10 am Saturday morning.
" Roll for init and get to dying fellas, the day isn't getting any longer ... "
This Sunday i run the battle for Farshore (Tides of Dread), and I'm not saving those Vrocks until the very end. Hit and run tactics all the way through, and that Yuan Ti isn't going to be a sorcerer, he's a wizard and I've retooled his spell selection. I'm going for some kills.
Well I for one am appauled to hear that there are dms out there running ST and inccuring PC deaths and then not performing their civic duty to report such deaths on this thread. The audacity.Indeed Sir Knight Dungeon, this travesty must not continue!
I shall endeavor forthwith this coming weekend to butcher as many characters as possible!
Double, nay TRIPLE the numbers of bad guys ! Even the ones with names !
Oh, wait ... probably have to do that anyway, I've got at least 8 dice-chucking soap bars due to show up 10 am Saturday morning.
" Roll for init and get to dying fellas, the day isn't getting any longer ... "
This Sunday i run the battle for Farshore (Tides of Dread), and I'm not saving those Vrocks until the very end. Hit and run tactics all the way through, and that Yuan Ti isn't going to be a sorcerer, he's a wizard and I've retooled his spell selection. I'm going for some kills.
" Roll for init and get to dying fellas, the day isn't getting any longer ... "
AWESOME!! Quietly gloats as the Killer GM roster steadily grows ...
me bad - this happened two sessions back, the guys (and gals) have finished the Lightless Depths now.
PC: El Castro, Human Monk/Scout 8/4
Adventure: Lightless depths
Location: Crater of Tlalocs Tear
Catalyst: Braincollector....desert !
Scouting ahead of the party, peeking over the rim of the crater he was confronted with the braincollector in all his awesome beauty. Although the aberration saw him, it did not pursue (but started to prepare). When the party charged over the crater's rim in full glory they got struck by "Hold Monster" (DC 25 is... not that easy for PCs) , against which almost everyone (except for the mage) failed to save... The braincollector pounced upon the tasty floating "meals-ready-to-debrain" while Calamus the mage sped up, out of immediate range and grabbed the hapless retired army scout.... He was relished, although the brain collector would have prefferred some mustard and some more spells.
PC: Urol Forol gnome Druid 7/expert 3 (cohort)
Adventure: Lightless depths
Location: Crater of Tlalocs Tear
Catalyst: Braincollector.... "treat"
Same as above, but the braincollector consuming Urol bought the party enough time to escape via "regroup" and "teleport" to Farshore (The mage got free drinks for the evening)
Everyone returned (via teleport) with a vengeance two day later, blasting the braincollector to shreds within two rounds, while flying overhead, out of jumping range and with a huge glob of honey+"silence" touch-bombed onto its back.
El Castro's player decided for playing a warmage... 3 offensive casters now....
Had one in the ambush with Olangru and his two mates.
One poor warlock named Zatara, a pirate formerly of the Crimson Fleet, was one of two PCs on watch as the ambush occured. Olangru did his business on the other PC, who (miraculously) survived. It only took one of the other two (both still invisible, though Zatara could see them with see the unseen) to roll two nat 20s on her claw attacks (confirming both criticals), to rip him apart.
(In an act of mercy, I let him roll an action point to put his hit points up by the amount rolled, so -12 went to -8. Still, brutal bar-lguras...)
Character: Tarmak Turren, Dwarf Samurai 5
Adventure: Sea Wyvern's Wake
Location: Aboard the Sea Wyvern
Catalyst: The Flotsam Ooze
Poor Tarmak. His eagerness and curiousity got the better of him, again. When one of the sailors got splattered against the floorboards by a bunch of ocean junk, he rushed to the side of the boat to sight the source of his employee's death. It only occured to him that it was a slimy creature once he was entangled up in it, and he only had six seconds beyond the realization to comtemplate his fate.
This doesn't quite count, but I'll post it anyway
Character: Czar (mnk 1, barbarian 7, Bear warrior 1)
Adventure: Tides of Dread
Catalyst: Czar didn't die. He was turned into a savage creature when the shadow pearl detonated. In a way this is better than death.
Character: Czar (mnk 1, barbarian 7, Bear warrior 1)
Sound like an "interesting" backstory.... monk + barbarian.... he hearkens from Roquefort ?
This doesn't quite count, but I'll post it anyway
Character: Czar (mnk 1, barbarian 7, Bear warrior 1)
Adventure: Tides of Dread
Catalyst: Czar didn't die. He was turned into a savage creature when the shadow pearl detonated. In a way this is better than death.
May he rend mightily his former associates in adventuring. ^_^
Character: Ak'sad, 3rd level Rogue/Ranger.
Adventure: The Bullywug Gambit
Location: Kracken Cove
Catalyst: Ripclaw
During the battle with the cook and his two savage pals in the mess hall, Ak'sad wandered into the room of hanging silks, investigating some movement he saw there. That movement was Ripclaw. He fled before being ripped to shreds, and the swashbuckler Lorraine DuConst bravely intervened (and so ALMOST became the second kill of the night). While the rest of the party tried to fend off the hungry pirates from the mess hall, Ak'sad moved off to pepper Ripclaw with arrows. And (with his sneak attack and favored enemy) began to really hurt the savage beast. That is when Ripclaw turned and charged the sailor, pouncing and hitting with every attack (and doing some criticals). There was naught left but a bloody smear.
After his brief feast Ripclaw turned back to the retreating party. Lorraine was left in the tunnels, and so was vulnerable to the savage phanaton that dropped her to 0 and began to feast on her unconscious body. He was only able to eat a finger before the Spear Wielding aquatic human killed him with a great shot.
The party then climed onto the Sea Wyvern, and beat feat for Sasserine.
I think they have good incentive to stop the savage tide.
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PC: Nyll Greylocke, human Fighter 1/Rogue 1
Adventure: There is No Honor
Location of Death: Lotus Dragon hideout
Catalyst: Cruncher and a hot d20
After finding the hideout via the taxidermist guildhall, the group (6 strong) stumbled into a barracks full of sleeping Lotus Dragon rogues. They pretty well mopped the floor with them, but let one escape through a door. Said rogue proceeded to nearby sleeping quarters of the worg, who woke the beastie. Cruncher then managed to only roll less than a 14 once in his 10 or so rounds in the fight, which mangled the wizard, the hadozee fighter, the druid, his wolf animal companion and poor Nyll. Nyll was disabled as the worg fought on, but managed to pull a CLW potion from his pack. As he was about to drink it, the rogue (who was down secondary to a Color Spray)came out of it and ended, then quickly plundered poor Nyll.
Character: Deek the Virtuous aka Deek the "weak" (human, fighter 1/paladin 6)
Adventure: Tides of Dread
Location: the waterfront of Farshore
Catalyst: killed by another PC who was turned savage after the shadow pearl detonated.
Details: Deek was a former PC who retired to NPC status and became Lavinia's bodyguard/fan boy after one of our players had to leave the game. Said player later was able to rejoin the campaign and made a new character. Deek stayed on as an NPC and Lavinia's right hand man. He was at Lavinia's side during the battle of Farshore and helped kill Vanthus. The shadow pearl detonated and Czar one of the other PCs turned savage. Czar was busy trying to kill Vessarlin Catherly and Professor Aldwattle when Deek came to their rescue. Thanks to Deek Aldwattle escaped. Vessarlin still died. Czar (an expert grappler) took on an enlarged Deek and tore him to shreds.
Character: Czar (savage human, Mnk 1/Barbarian 6/Bear warrior 2)
Adventure: Tide of Dread
Location: The waterfront of Farshore
Catalyst: Brought down by his own party members after turning savage and trying to kill them.
Details: After having torn apart Deek, captain Breca the party cleric landed on the roof of a warehouse and started blasting Czar with soundlances and crossbow bolts. He finally killed his former companion.
The full details will soon be posted on my campaign journal "canuk runs savage tide". Note I already reported Czar as dead earlier when I found out he had turned savage.
Character: leopard pet (not animal companion) of the druid
Adventure: extended side quest between There is No Honor and the Bullywug Gambit
Location: The Earth Node, ledge 150 ft from floor, The Sinister Spire
Cause of Death: hungry cockroach swarms, really big cockroaches and a giant cockroach
Over the course of a minute, several characters were nearly devoured alive by cockroaches - and the pet of the druid WAS devoured alive - before web spells and a liberal application of alchemists' fire saved the day and phobiad the druid regarding bugs, spiders, webbing and specifically Web spells.
And now said druid is looking right at a hallway full of a Web spell ...