So my party foiled Olangru's first abduction attempt. I'm not sure I'm running Olangru and his mates correctly, and I know I strayed from the text of the adventure, so I figured I'd check in with you guys.
After getting my players quite worried about being stuck in the Fogmire (they followed an Olman road away from the stone ruins only to arrive at the ruins again an hour later, from the opposite direction; then sent a flying scout up only to retreat once they realized there was no visibility above the tree-tops), they decided to bed down for the night in the ruins. As per the suggestion in the adventure, the fiends teleported in invisible. However, I didn't follow the direction of the adventure by making the fiends attack in the first round. Instead, the two mates chose locations to arrive at that would allow Olangru to move away from the campsite with a grappled victim more easily, and Olangru teleported directly next to Urol.
The first round was appropriately frightening. The three fiends all made their Move Silent checks versus the rogue-on-guard's Listen, so in the surprise round three orangutan-like beasts appeared from no where with no warning. Olangru grappled Urol; each of his mates attacked one of the prone NPCs that might be able to make movement out of the camp harder for Olangru. The arrangement of camp was by chance/player decision. The mates would have attacked PCs instead if it had been PCs blocking the escape route. Unfortunately for Tavey, he was criticalled and killed in one attack from one of the mates. The other mate attacked Avner, wounding him badly.
The next round consisted of Olangru moving 25' with Urol grappled (standard action) and the two mates attacking Venakalie and the sorcerer (the other PC on guard). The rogue got an attack in, while the sorcerer retreated (taking an attack of opportunity due to a failed cast-defensively Concentration check). The rest of the party (three other PCs) got up from their bedrolls to join the fight.
The second full round consisted of Olangru pinning Urol (a standard action) and one mate making a full attack and another stepping out of reach and turning invisible. The mate that turned invisible did so because the sorcerer unloaded on it, the rogue sneak attacked it, and the fighter Improved Tripped it, leaving it at about 30% health.
The third full round consisted of all three fiends teleporting away but Urol making his Will check to avoid being abducted.
The abduction attempt would have been so much easier if Olangru just had ranks in Concentrate. He couldn't cast defensively, so I house-ruled that you didn't have to Concentrate to cast spells in a grapple if you had your opponent pinned. Is this how the rest of you are handling this? I don’t want Olangru to have to kill everyone just so he can make off with a victim with little fuss. I guess he ought to have simply made a touch attack as part of casting Greater Teleport, as long as only Urol was adjacent to him and no one with a significant melee attack was threatening Olangru.
In the end, I think I might have done better to stick with the text of the adventure, having all three fiends charge in during the surprise round, probably killing two NPCs and badly damaging the sorcerer. Olangru could have turned invisible the next round and moved somewhere with good access to Urol, then moved adjacent to Urol in the third round and risked an attack of opportunity when he made a touch attack on Urol as part of casting Greater Teleport.
I guess I'll get another chance at this, since I still need Olangru to abduct someone. Venkalie is probably the best candidate, since the party likes her, and I think Olangru will take a different victim if he determines his preferred victim has a high enough Will save to avoid abduction.
It's kind of a plot-moving-forward thing, so I would've done two things differently:
1) Does Olangru need to pin someone to use his abduct ability? And why did he move at all with him? I might be wrong on this but couldn't he just pop in, grab Urol, and pop out?
2) To this end I would've had Urol fail his Will save (you're the DM -- you can do that).
And to answer your question, I don't think you can do any spellcasting while pinning an opponent (indeed, you must spend an action each round to maintain the pin).
Maybe the 3.5 version of the bar-lgura is different, but in the Book of Vile Darkness the bar-lgura's teleport is a supernatural ability, not a spell-like ability, so it wouldn't require concentration.
Unfortunately, the bar-lguras greater teleport ability is listed as a spell-like ability in one section of its stat block, then as a supernatural ability in another part of its stat block. The people who did the stat blocks have basically stuffed up. They really shouldn't have listed greater teleport with the other spell-like abilities, since it is actually a supernatural ability for bar-lguras (that is the stance taken by the adventure anyhow).
Unfortunately, the bar-lguras greater teleport ability is listed as a spell-like ability in one section of its stat block, then as a supernatural ability in another part of its stat block. The people who did the stat blocks have basically stuffed up. They really shouldn't have listed greater teleport with the other spell-like abilities, since it is actually a supernatural ability for bar-lguras (that is the stance taken by the adventure anyhow).
Well that depends... it might be able to do greater teleport as a spell-like ability and use its abduct power as a supernatural ability. They're separate, I believe.
It turns out that the BoVD and Fiendish Codex versions of bar-lgura do differ on two pertinent issues. The BoVD defines the teleporting ability as a supernatural ability, but uses the word 'grab' when defining how their teleport ability is used to transport foes. It also says that the teleport ability can be used in a grapple, but only if the opponent is pinned. The Fiendish Codex doesn't require pinning, but does define the teleport ability as the spell-like ability 'greater teleport' at will.
I've decided I'm going to run the encounter as bar-lguras' abilities dictate; basically, run the rules like the first encounter, but with some thought on the bar-lguras' part on how to better get earlier abduction attempts, perhaps from multiple bar'lguras, without exposing themselves to as much damage. The first attempt was doing with interest in terrorizing and abducting, the second will be just for abduction's sake. I will, though, have Olangru demonstrate his pounce ability this time, so the players are properly worried about it, before facing him in the temple.
Well, as the Bar-Igura's description appears in the adventure text, no grappling is necessary for Olangru to use his Abduct ability. All he has to do is successfully touch his intended target and then use his Greater Teleport ability. I agree with those who see the Abduct ability as something seperate from the SLA Greater Teleport. It's basically an independent ability that just alters his Greater Teleport SLA. The safest way for him to do this is to be invisible when he makes the touch attack, since you can't take attacks of opportunity against a target you can't see (also, you can't make AoO's if you don't threaten an area, so if Olangru's target doesn't have a viable weapon in hand, no AoO either). Also remember that an AoO doesn't defeat a touch attack unless the touching creature takes damage from the AoO, which Olangru's DR 10/cold iron or good may prevent. All in all, Olangru basically had a much harder time abducting his target in this scenario than he should have.
On another note, your sorcerer PC technically shouldn't have received an AoO for failing a Concentration check. Casting defensively automatically prevents AoOs, but if you fail the Concentration check you lose the spell. However, I know a lot of people (including me, until I read the "casting defensively" entry under the spellcasting section thoroughly) play the mechanic the way you do.
The main reason I think they should be treated separately is that greater teleport is willing creatures only.
You guys worry about the semantics of the D&D magic system too much, but let's say you are right. If that's the case a wounded bar-lgura who wants to teleport away and is not abducting someone must make a Concentration check or take an attack of opportunity if it can't take a 5-foot step to get out of reach. Right? Then why wouldn't a wounded bar-lgura grab onto something (like a stick or something in the jungle) and abduct it? It could then teleport away as a supernatural ability without a problem.
Plus, in the original write-up for the bar-lgura, its teleport ability was purely supernatural. It wasn't listed in the creatures spell-like abilities. Why also would Ed Stark, James Jacobs, or Erik Mona confuse DMs by making the use of the ability unclear? It's the reason I think its an accidental stuff-up that wasn't fixed for the STAP adventure. I could be wrong, so only someone like James or Erik can validate my argument.
Hint, hint!!!!
A Bar-Igura using Greater Teleport, whether or not it's attempting to bring along another creature, is still using an SLA, and thus still provokes AoO's. Picking up a stick or some other creature wouldn't change that. Think of the Abduct supernatural ability as a modifier of sorts. The clearest wording for the ability would look something like this:
"Abduction (Su): When a Bar-Igura uses its Greater Teleport spell-like ability, it may transport other creatures. It can bring up to one Large or two Medium or smaller creatures with it each time it teleports. It can teleport unwilling targets as well, although an unwilling victim can attempt a DC 18 Will save to resist being transported. The save DC is Charisma-based."
So to use its Abduct supernatural ability involves using the Greater Teleport SLA, and thus provokes AoOs as normal.
So to use its Abduct supernatural ability involves using the Greater Teleport SLA, and thus provokes AoOs as normal.
So... it's a supernatural ability... that's a spell-like ability... (headsplode)
Nah, its just a supernatural ability that modifies a spell-like ability.
Oh, and I didn't describe what happened to the sorcerer above, correctly. He failed his casting defensively check, so wasn't able to cast greater invisibility. He flew away (dragonborn), getting an attack of opportunity, cursing that he'd rolled a 4 on his Concentration check. Of course, he didn't know that being invisible wouldn't have helped him avoid the attack of opportunity.
Ahhhhh, I gotcha. Yeah, the bar-iguras' See Invisibility SLA is just another reason they make such nasty ambush demons. Pair a couple of these with a couple of Babau demons and you'd have a very nasty team of abyssal hit-demons. Despite the trouble the demons had, I'm betting that little assault still put the whole party on edge, since now they know that they've gotten the attention of a pack of demons that can roust them so harshly. Doubt they'll be sleeping very easily anytime soon.