CR 8 (4,800 xp)
Chaotic Evil Large Construct
Perception +10
Stealth +13, "take 20" check of 33
Hit Points: 79 (49 averaged from 9d10 construct hit dice +30 bonus hp from size)
Note that The Scarecrow attempts to flee when reduced to 20 or fewer hit points. Xanesha has her charms, but he's not willing to die for them.
Fortitude +3, Reflex +4, Will +4 (+2 vs. mind-affecting)
25 STR, 13 DEX, -- CON, 12 INT, 13 WIS, 10 CHA
Intimidate DC: 18
Feint DC: 20
Base Attack +9/+4
Melee AB +15/+10
* +1 large scythe +17/+12 (2d6+11/19-20, x4 = 8d6+44)
** +1 large scythe power attack +14/+9 (2d6+20/19-20, x4 = 8d6+80)
* 2 slams +15 (2d8+7)
Ranged AB +9/+4
CMB +17/+12
CMD 28
DR 5/adamantine
The Scarecrow's immunity to magic and construct traits are a bit different than the norm for a golem. He is not slowed by cold and fire. He is still healed 1 for 3 by electricity. He has no immunity to mind-affecting abilities and spells - and suffers a further -2 penalty on Will saves against such effects. Against Intimidate checks he does not gain the benefit of being larger than a creature attempting to intimidate him.
Feats: Martial Weapon Proficiency (scythe), Simple Weapons Proficiency, Weapon Focus (scythe), Stealthy, Power Attack, Improved Critical (scythe)
Skills: Climb +16, Knowledge (local) +10, Perception +10, Profession (porter) +10, Stealth +13
Gear: Large cloak of elvenkind, Large +1 scythe (hardness 7, 30 hit points)
*****
The Scarecrow is an excellent example of a foe that punishes meta-game player tactics. One player, for example, was rambling on about tagging him with cold and fire to slow him down -- which needless to say did not work as hoped. Another was convinced that mind-affecting abilities wouldn't work on him. No one attempted to use a mind-affecting ability until just before he was dispatched, when the Eldritch Knight fired off a Dazzling Display - and demoralized The Scarecrow for the last two rounds of his existence.
That.
Is.
AWESOME.
And that is one nasty bugger. +80? Good lord.
That.
Is.
AWESOME.
And that is one nasty bugger. +80? Good lord.
^_^ The scary thing is that this is what I would call a "Pathfinderized" version of the original monster. x4 critical multipliers are all kinds of ugly when things go hack in the night...
I didn't include his AC, for example, as it remains unchanged.
no deaths? for reals? aw....
i know full well the power of the critting scythe in the hands of that critter. cost me a perfectly good wolf, mind you.
and i understand Mama Kreeg and her boys are coming 'round later on. can't wait to see their workups, or the obits.
-t
Mammy Graul and her kin are definitely in the pipe for post-CoT. They're so bad-arse, they've killed off the bigger ogres and stone giants and taken over the mountain you see ...
And there is of course a very special surprise waiting for them on top of Hook Mountain that was not in the original script. ^_^ And no, that will not be Xanesha.
Yes, sadly, I had a spell of GM insanity this past Sunday and rescinded what should have been a one-shot-kill. >:(
Sunday 22nd November 2009 should see the conclusion of the "homebrewed" material in between Cot #2 and #3.
Will our heroes succumb to the temptation of vampiric wiles and domination, or will Our Heroes prevail, resisting the temptations of the dark side of life?
Will our heroes resist the temptation to succumb to the power of blood and the night? Will Our Heroes vanquish that which lurks in the night?
Will Out Heroes succumb to Evil and Wickedness bringing the wrath of the gawds they betray?
Or will Our Heroes redeem the recently fallen soul of their beloved torch-bearer?
Only Sunday will tell the tale - stay tuned for the gruesome details!
Today we saw the second confirmed player character death ... at the business end of their vampiric torch-bearer.
PRPG Vampires are deliciously tough customers, as demonstrated by the equivalent of an Advanced Fighter 5 Vampire that they tangled with.
Miraculously, only one player character got themselves energy drained to death - Da Pimp's aspiring Arcane Trickster ate three slam attacks too many and died, destined to spawn the following night at midnight as a full-fledged vampire.
Fortunately, they located the condemned shrine's super-secret stash and dug up a lone surviving scroll of resurrection incorporating the 10,000 gp value of diamond dust necessary to affect the spell.
After driving Vampire Max off, tracking him down, staking him and then zapping the repentant torch-bearer with the aforementioned scroll (barely succeeding on the necessary caster level check), the torch bearer once more is among the living. A single charge from their precious wand of restoration looted from the Asmodean Knot - and, given a lack of any other information, presumed to have included the material component necessary to remove permanent negative levels - reducing that wand's charge count to 6.
Although good fortune saw fit to exclude the three major NPCs from being in the condemned cathedral, eight of the eleven 'future player characters/cohorts' fell prey to death by blood drain courtesy of the newly spawned Vampire Max.
Combined with the release of the Cavalier and Oracle base classes, to encourage play testing - although sadly with no takers - I permitted the PCs to "retrain" at this point. This includes 'retraining' ol' Max.
Our Heroes will enter Chapter 3 of the Council of Thieves at 6th level.
I post Vampire Max's stat block for the enjoyment of all:
Vampire Maximilian
Advanced Fighter 5 Vampire (male human)
CR 7 (3,200 xp)
Neutral Evil Male Medium Undead (Augmented Human)
Initiative: +11
Hit Points: 77 plus 77 temporary; fast healing 5, DR 10/magic and silver
Ability Scores: 26 STR, 24 DEX, -- CON, 22 INT, 22 WIS, 25 CHA
Senses: Darkvision 60’; Perception +21, Sense Motive +21
Feint DC: 31
Speed: 30 feet, climb 20 feet, fly in gaseous form 20 feet (perfect maneuverability); Stealth +20
Defenses
AC: 26 or 29 w/ shield (touch AC +8 natural armor +3 heavy shield)
flat-footed AC: 18 or 21
Touch AC: 18 (10 +1 dodge +7 DEX)
flat-footed touch AC: 10
Saving Throws:
- Fortitude +11
- Reflex +10
- Will +9, +13 vs. channel energy
Resist Cold 10, Electricity 10, Channel Resistance +4
Immune undead traits
Base Attack: +5
- Melee AB: +13
- slam +13 (1d4+8 plus energy drain)
- slam power attack +11 (1d4+12 plus energy drain)
- battleaxe +15 (1d8+11/x3 or 1d8+15/x3 two-handed)
- battleaxe power attack +13 (1d8+15/x3 two-handed)
- +1 mithral battleaxe power attack +14 (1d8+16/x3 or 1d8+22/x3 two-handed)
- CMB +13
- +17 sunder with axes
- +16 sunder using +1 mithral battleaxe power attack
- Ranged AB: +12
- CMD: 31, 34 vs. disarm and sunder attempts against his axes
SQ: Change Shape, Gaseous Form, ignite/quench torch (Sp) [At Will, as part of readying a torch], Shield Training 1 (variant on Armor Training: check penalty reduced by 1 & shield bonus improved by 1), Weapon Training 1 (axes), Trait: human and elven blood (Max - when he was alive - has barely enough elven blood to qualify as an elf for good and for ill, such as favored enemy bonuses and the Arcane Archer prestige class.)
SA (Su): Blood Drain, Children of the Night (1/day), Create Spawn, Dominate (Will DC 19), Energy Drain (DC 19)
Feats: Shields Proficiency, Proficiency with all Simple and Martial Weapons, Improve Natural Armor x2, Endurance, Die Hard, Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness, Caught Off-Guard, Throw Anything, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus - Battleaxe, Power Attack, Weapon Specialization - Battleaxe, Improved Sunder
Skills: Climb +24, Disable Device +11, Escape Artist +12, Fly +15 in gaseous form / +11 in bat form, Heal +15, Knowledge (dungeoneering) & (engineering) +15, Linguistics +10, Perception +21, Profession (porter) +10, Sense Motive +21, Stealth +20, Survival +14, Use Magic Device +16
Languages: Aklo, Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Infernal, Sylvan, Undercommon, Varisian
Gear: explorer's outfit, wayfinder, masterwork heavy wooden shield (hardness 5, 20 hp), +1 mithral battleaxe (hardness 17, 30 hp)
Post-Script and Commentary:
During play I lowered Vampire Max's natural armor bonus by 4 points, making him 'reasonably hittable' by the 5th level party, but only because of the 77 temporary hit points he had as the player characters booted open the door to the condemned shrine. If he did not have them, I would have left his armor class unchanged.
My players were most unhappy at having to face down Vampire Max. His saving throw bonuses and armor class are VERY high for a 5th level party. When I post-combat pointed out that tanglefoot bags remain a Great Equalizer at virtually all levels of play, they were rather quiet. An investment of - presuming 50% hit - a dozen tanglefoot bags would have provided sufficient 0 DEX time for them to stake him on the spot, for example. Factor in the sheer nastiness of paladin's Smite Evil - especially since I believe that I can expect TWO of them in the near future - and one could perhaps understand my reluctance to hand them what would otherwise have been a relative cakewalk.
I applaud the "Advanced Simple" creature template from the Bestiary, it makes otherwise wuss foes not nearly so wuss without requiring more ad-hoc adjustments for smaller groups.
And yes, Vampire Max uses some technically 'unfair' ability scores in his base array. As a BBEG, however, he has the saving throw bonuses and hitting power to do pretty well even against higher-ish level groups.
Against groups packing +6 or higher base attack bonuses, I *highly* recommend an "elixir of divine power" in his arsenal of gear, to strap on an extra attack on a full-attack action. More Fighter levels would also do the trick of course, following the "Sunder/Axe Meister" vein at higher CRs.
Vampires can get really nasty with the ability to absorb their full normal hit point total as temporary hit points. This is, in my opinion, a Good Thing.
The lack of ability to actually create them - whether by create undead or create greater undead - has me a bit puzzled. If memory serves, one of these two could do so prior to Pathfinder. At present, this leads me to believe that 'first vampires' come about from curses, poorly-worded wishes, cheesed-off Gawds and the like. In a way this is also a Good Thing, as player characters cannot achieve vampiric immortality through the deliberate vampirization of their entire party. I would argue lichdom as a better route (due to the phylactery) mechanically speaking, until I saw the PRPG vampire entry in the Bestiary. The sheer number of weaknesses and the like to be discerned by Knowledge (religion) checks is staggering. A DC 46+ is required to learn the entire stack of them as I calculate it, presuming a base DC 16 check. Depending on the GM / campaign world, this DC could be higher or lower - say +/- 5 points - but barring some truly staggering bonus not even a character with 20 ranks in that skill is guaranteed to know *everything* that vampires are vulnerable to as a general rule of thumb.
A bard or pathfinder chronicler is another matter ... but, even now, with 5 players there is not a bard in the group. Zin Sern's player intends to take Leadership at 7th level to acquire such a Bard as his character's cohort, fairly quickly to be followed by a permanent telepathic bond to gain the benefit of a vast pool of knowledge skills without having to routinely endanger the source of this vast pool of knowledge. Rather brilliant I think, since this imposes a short delay - 1 round - to process the communication and receive the results of the check. Combined with my "4 words for free" house rule it makes my players have to think a bit about what they say from round to round. Some times they spend move actions to say more, which is fine by me. I have NPCs/foes do that themselves from time to time as well, although the 'mindlinked source of lore' is a touch I will leave to the PCs ... at least for a time.
After all, Kingmaker lurks ahead in February/March 2010 ...
Brilliant as always, and nasty to boot.
I have plans for an undead-based campaign in the distant future, presumably after I finish Savage Tide. I shall keep your information for future reference.
Brilliant as always, and nasty to boot.
I have plans for an undead-based campaign in the distant future, presumably after I finish Savage Tide. I shall keep your information for future reference.
Glad as always to contribute to an ever-growing pile of rot grub incubation material, Orthos.
If you like, keep your eyes peeled here as I expect future nastiness to be posted throughout this campaign journal.
After all, it's even more fun to post wickedly nasty statblocks ... and see the piles of character sheets with "dead" scrawled across them report in on other campaign journals and GM Kill Threads.
Brilliant as always, and nasty to boot.
I have plans for an undead-based campaign in the distant future, presumably after I finish Savage Tide. I shall keep your information for future reference.
Yes, Turin is brilliant as always. You can also get tons of undead-type references in the Age of Worms issues, if you don't have them already...
Yes, Turin is brilliant as always. You can also get tons of undead-type references in the Age of Worms issues, if you don't have them already...Brilliant as always, and nasty to boot.
I have plans for an undead-based campaign in the distant future, presumably after I finish Savage Tide. I shall keep your information for future reference.
The critters will have to be "Pathfinderized" ... but otherwise the conversion process should be fairly rapid. You'll probably spend more time typing up the converted stat blocks than the actual time necessary to convert them. Although assigning "fill in the hole" feats could add a few minutes...
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The critters will have to be "Pathfinderized" ... but otherwise the conversion process should be fairly rapid. You'll probably spend more time typing up the converted stat blocks than the actual time necessary to convert them. Although assigning "fill in the hole" feats could add a few minutes...Yes, Turin is brilliant as always. You can also get tons of undead-type references in the Age of Worms issues, if you don't have them already...Brilliant as always, and nasty to boot.
I have plans for an undead-based campaign in the distant future, presumably after I finish Savage Tide. I shall keep your information for future reference.
personal favorites of mine, especially with the new PF Power Attack...
Toughness (not as badass as it was, but still nice)
Weapon Focus
Dodge
Power Attack/Deadly Aim
the Save-Boosting feats
pretty much in that order.
the reason? they're all static (well, PA is on or off, but you get the idea) bonuses and all useful in the DM 3-5 round window of activity. thats also the reason i try not to paint/sculpt specific miniatures for the bosses. i am always disappointed with the time spent creating vs. the time spent murdering said critter with die rolls.
but i digress, sorry, can't wait to read more. especially if it involves paladinly demise stories.
-t
personal favorites of mine, especially with the new PF Power Attack...
Toughness (not as badass as it was, but still nice)
Weapon Focus
Dodge
Power Attack/Deadly Aim
the Save-Boosting featspretty much in that order.
the reason? they're all static (well, PA is on or off, but you get the idea) bonuses and all useful in the DM 3-5 round window of activity. thats also the reason i try not to paint/sculpt specific miniatures for the bosses. i am always disappointed with the time spent creating vs. the time spent murdering said critter with die rolls.
but i digress, sorry, can't wait to read more. especially if it involves paladinly demise stories.
-t
An excellent 'default' list, especially since PRPG undead with a positive CHA bonus get the additional hit points that most animated dead do not (due to lacking a CHA better than 10 or 11).
So far, quite possibly the most brutal as-written critter in the bestiary to customize with non-full bab class levels are the cyclops from the PRPG Bestiary. Advanced (simple) template and 12 cleric/monk/druid/oracle/sorcerer/wizard class levels is a CR 12, upping to a CR 13 if you give them PC-grade gear instead of the paltry 21,000 gp value of gear that CR 12 NPC's get. Without going into too much detail, four of them are an "epic" encounter (at CR 12) for 4-5 13th / 6-7 12th / 8 11th level characters.
Nasty. ^_^
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To continue this side-bar discussion about nasty critters with class levels in PRPG:
The primary criteria are (a) low CR relative to racial HD, tossing out almost everything in the Bestiary as a result; (b) at least one casting class-suited mental ability score; and (c) something special adding that extra bit of nasty. The entire concept hinges on the liberal use of the Advanced simple template with the basic stat block. The end results are highly entertaining when you also factor in the assignment of the +4/+4/+2/+2/+0/-2 class ability score array to suit the critter to the class' abilities.
Top of the list are Cyclops. 10 racial hit dice at a CR 6 with excellent Wisdom and adequate INT and CHA, the icing on the cake is the cyclops' racial ability. In short, a cyclops declares a critical hit on its first swing in melee that can't miss - and packing Large greataxes by default, that's a whole lotta damage on the first swing. Since they are combat critters class levels in barbarian, fighter and ranger are right out. However, a 12th level cleric, druid, monk, oracle, sorcerer and so on results in a CR 12 critter with hit points in the 250 range *without* magic, VERY respectable saving throw bonuses and a Perception bonus high enough to stand a good chance of noting invisible creatures at sneak attack range (+44 and up based on my rough drafts so far). A group of four represents a pool of about 1,000 hp that the player characters have to deal with - nasty business for even a 13th level group of characters.
Harpies are good - winged flight and a respectable base Wisdom, adding the Advanced simple template gives a CR of 5. Adding 10 levels of Druid gives a CR 10 with some seriously nasty ability to call down flame strikes and lighting from a safe distance.
Ghasts (advanced ghouls) result in VERY respectable foes at a CR 2, so four non-combat class levels results in a modest CR 4. The resulting ability score array from advanced simple alone triggers the desire for any self-respecting power gamer to want one as a player character. Add on the class ability score array and the level advancement ability score point, the saliva starts to fly.
Mohrgs with advanced results in a 14 HD undead at a paltry CR 9 that is ideally suited to rogue levels.
Chuuls with advanced results in a CR 8 that gets ability scores best suited to cleric, rogue and - oddly enough - wizard. 10th level advanced chuuls are a CR 13, almost as respectable as cyclops - and best suited to both a group of them in their preferred terrain.
Worg with advanced results in 4 racial hit dice at a CR 3 and an innately high wisdom. 6 non-combat class levels yields a CR 6 with 10 total hit dice. The lack of manipulative appendages is a significant weakness however.
Treant with advanced is so-so : CR 9 for 12 racial hit dice, begging for druid levels.
Intellect devourer advanced is a CR 9 terror. One with 18 class levels is a CR 18 horror destined to crawl into at least one character's cerebral cavity ... and party hard in Narleens wearing the shiny new 'meat suit'. Best suited to being either a rogue or an arcane caster - rogue because the ID already has 3d6 sneak attack, the latter just ... because it can much more easily escape - say, buy teleporting out of the skull case of the meat suit that just got dimensional anchored...
Will-o-wisp advanced is a CR 7 for 9 racial HD and some nasty defenses. Its ability scores predispose it to rogue or spellcasting - although they do so nicely! - and lacking any key classes has all kinds of potential.
My personal favorite besides the intellect devourer is going to be an awakened advanced deinonychus dinosaur. For a paltry CR 4 the baddy has a +5 natural armor bonus, 6 racial hit dice and is best suited either as a druid or a wizard. I'm going with wizard, giving me a nasty CR 8 villain with 8 levels of Wizard and the following ability score array: 21 STR (+5), 21 DEX (+5), 27 CON (+8), 28 INT (+9), 16 WIS (+3), 17 CHA (+3). BAB 8/3, base saves 7/7/8, 64 animal skill points & 72 wizard skill points, and a total of 10 free languages including whatever its 'native' language is. Add on a natural land speed of 60 feet, four natural weapons plus pounce and a total of 14 hit dice. Counting only the CON bonus to hit points and averaged hp per HD - 170 hit points for a CR 8. Tack on a saving throw DC of 19 plus spell level and we're cooking on gas.
*awesome dinosaur stuff*
Good Gods. Ripclaw with spellcasting. My players would have a collective conniption. :D
*awesome dinosaur stuff*Good Gods. Ripclaw with spellcasting. My players would have a collective conniption. :D
And I do believe that is the general concept. ^_^
Now, I suppose within the next week or two I should have *awesome dinosaur stuff* statted up. Y'know, once the quartet of cyclops are done.
:D
I first made the discovery of the cyclops' massive potential when stating up a harpy. Turin explained the concept of the non-primary class (which I knew of in 3.5, but didn't make use of it at the time), and I used it in creating two harpies. Then given the success of the harpies, and out of sheer curiousity, I browsed the bestiary book looking for other monsters to use in similar fashion, and there the cyclops was, staring at me;) My players will live to rue the day:D
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I first made the discovery of the cyclops' massive potential when stating up a harpy. Turin explained the concept of the non-primary class (which I knew of in 3.5, but didn't make use of it at the time), and I used it in creating two harpies. Then given the success of the harpies, and out of sheer curiousity, I browsed the bestiary book looking for other monsters to use in similar fashion, and there the cyclops was, staring at me;) My players will live to rue the day:D
their PC's will rue the day they did NOT live. or rather, did not SURVIVE...
hehehehehe, good stuff
-t
I first made the discovery of the cyclops' massive potential when stating up a harpy. Turin explained the concept of the non-primary class (which I knew of in 3.5, but didn't make use of it at the time), and I used it in creating two harpies. Then given the success of the harpies, and out of sheer curiousity, I browsed the bestiary book looking for other monsters to use in similar fashion, and there the cyclops was, staring at me;) My players will live to rue the day:Dtheir PC's will rue the day they did NOT live. or rather, did not SURVIVE...
hehehehehe, good stuff
-t
I find it interesting to eyeball the chart in the Bestiary, seeing what thresholds are used to gauge the CR of a critter.
The irony is that it is possible to attain some truly frightening non-touch ACs - and, for monks, really frightening ACs.
For example, admittedly with rather 'idealized' ability scores one can expect to see player characters roughly as follows:
- 6th: Touch AC 13-29 / AC 27-35
- 8th: Touch AC 13-31 / AC 29-38
- 9th: Touch AC 14-31 / AC 32-39
- 12th: Touch AC 15-35 / AC 35-46
- 15th: Touch AC 16-35 / AC 36-47
- 16th: Touch AC 16-36 / AC 38-49
- 20th: Touch AC 16-37 / AC 40-50
One can probably see Touch ACs as much as 3 points lower and regular ACs as much as 6 points lower, but this gives me a reasonable gauge of the difficulty of hitting characters of (x) party level. A more detailed break down I have available when scribbling my BBEGs.
Scheduling - and battles with the unkillable Real Life Monster - forces delay of the campaign's continuance until early January 2010.
Scheduling - and battles with the unkillable Real Life Monster - forces delay of the campaign's continuance until early January 2010.
Sometimes, the monster that no one can overcome... Glad to hear that Da Pimp is back with your gang. He's MIA with my crowd...
Scheduling - and battles with the unkillable Real Life Monster - forces delay of the campaign's continuance until early January 2010.Sometimes, the monster that no one can overcome... Glad to hear that Da Pimp is back with your gang. He's MIA with my crowd...
Perhaps Da Pimp became weary of some or many of the other participants at your table?
EDIT:
In any case, it has been entertaining to engage in the ongoing "home brewing" of baddies and material with which to 'entertain' the Sunday group post-CoT. The first three or four are drawn from elements of the "adventure paths this group will probably never get to play": Rise of the Runelords, Second Darkness, the 'Urgathoa' elements of Curse of the Crimson Throne and Legacy of Fire. At present I am anticipating an APL (averaged party level) of 15th, with actual character levels at 14th, en route to begin the Kingmaker AP.
From RotRL I am inspired - as mentioned previously - to 'retool' the latter part of Hook Mountain Massacre. Our Heroes will 'only' have to deal with the infamous Graul clan of fiend-tainted ogre spawn. No biggie. ^_^
From CotCT the 'gluttonous' elements, which were unintentionally skipped over during the PRPG Beta test our group did this past spring. While I shall skip over the penultimate end-baddy from there, I think the soothsayer replacements shall be sufficient to the task.
From Second Darkness I am drawing a location for inspiration - the 'tower' - to serve as the basis for the soothsayers' cult. Combined together I expect this should make a fairly intense session or two of game play.
Legacy of Fire I expect to use one of the locations - the name of the precise locale escapes me at the moment. It's the one where the Big Bad Dog-boy is to be found, to be sure. What twist will be implemented there I remain unsure of at the present time.
I finished up the stat block for Gargadros "The Runebound King", found normally as little more than a famous corpse at the end of AP issue 3 "Hook Mountain Massacre". I wrote him up as a Dreadnaught Mummy Rune Giant Fighter 4, *technically* a CR 22, although personally assigned a tentative CR 19. Then I did two 'play test runs' against him with a party of 4 14th level characters using a 25 point build. I expect/hope my own group is only 14th level by the end of Council of Thieves - I could very well be mistaken on this and have a 15th level group on my hands instead.
The play test party is a human paladin 14 of Iomedae packing a sun blade (long sword variant), a human cleric 14 of Iomedae with the Good & War domains - with Quicken SLA for the 1st level abilities of these two domains, an elf wizard 14 (universalist, arcane bond) and a half-elf rogue 14. The first play test resulted in a dead rogue with the wizard pulling the rest of the party out of the immediate vicinity and the paladin almost single-handedly reducing the big guy to 20% of his not-inconsiderable starting hit point total with TWO hits.
The second play test went worse, resulting in both the cleric and the rogue deceased - the cleric died because of a shield other on the paladin combined with eating a dedicated 76 point hit, the rogue because of an attack of opportunity provoked from attempting to link up with the 'escape clause' (wizard). As a result of these tests, I estimate a 14th level group of 4 characters has a 15% chance to beat him. All four characters had an achievable +9 ability score bonus in their 'primary' (17 +3 level advancement +2 racial bonus +6 enhancement totaling a 28 at 12th level) ability score.
Of particular note are the following:
- At Gargantuan size packing an adamantine halberd and a 60 Strength, Gargadros is positively lethal with Greater Vital Strike and Power Attack. In the first play test the wizard's 280 point, 30 hardness Wall of Force folded with a slightly-high-average full-round hasted attack by the big guy. Yep, you heard right - one round collapsed a wall of force, although this would have taken a full-round and another swing or two on the second round if I had rolled average damage. The Vital Strike tree comes into its own with very high Strength and two-handed melee weapons. In his case, on his best possible Greater Vital Strike/Power Attack/Punishing Strike combination, Gargadros has a +53 attack bonus dealing 20d8+83/19-20, x3 = 30d8+249. Average damage from a single non-critical hit is 173 hit points, while a confirmed critical hit deals on average 384 hit points - enough to shatter the force barrier of an 18th level or lower spell caster!
- The 14th level group had some help from +5 barkskin potions to their ACs - of little avail against Gargadros excepting the paladin, who could reasonably count on only eating his best two attacks out of five on a full-round attack. The results of - for this scenario, a fully-prepared party 'buffed to the gills' - the group's AC and save bonuses were pretty impressive - especially for the paladin! The paladin ends up with a 44 AC, the wizard with a 31 AC, the cleric with a 33 AC and the rogue with a 36 AC. Situational modifiers can easily raise these ACs further, such as combat expertise, mobility, fighting defensively and so on.
- The rogue had no direct ability to actually harm him excepting stupidly good luck on a d20 attack roll - however, the rogue can and did Greater Feint the big lug pretty reliably (and definitely not 'feint optimized' - +1 CHA, Skill Focus - Bluff, 14 ranks +3 trained), reducing his AC by 4 points reliably (loss of dodge bonus to AC & 3 points of DEX bonus to AC), contributing greatly to the paladin's ability to carve him up even at what should be a 'guaranteed death for all' APL.
- The cleric's ability to provide the paladin with 3 consecutive rounds of a +7 sacred attack bonus and a +7 untyped melee damage bonus is also a BIG plus - as said cleric still has a standard action on each of those three rounds to cast a standard action spell - putting the paladin's smite evil attack sequence with a sun blade against the big guy at a horrific total: +46/+41/+36/+46 - including boots of speed and a greater heroism from the wizard - dealing 2d8+54 +2d6/17-20, x3 = 6d8+162 +2d6. A sun blade is a NASTY weapon against undead and an *excellent* choice as a primary melee weapon - or as a 'secondary' weapon for a paladin possessing a holy avenger. The Divine Bond, in these tests, added on Holy and Disrupting, tacking on another 2d6 damage per hit from the holy property. The paladin's aura permitting the granting of smite evil at the paladin's CHA & level bonuses is also BRUTAL. In this case, +9 attack and +28 damage - ouch!
- A 15th level party with a maze spell or two could deal with him very easily - maze takes the BBEG out of play for a good long while and gives them the option to set up for his return or simply split the scene, intending to deal with him later - say, when they have 9th level spells... I would add another 10% success rate for that precious 15th level, tacking on another 5% chance of success per additional character over 4 and another 5% per cohort or two tagging along. Add an additional 5% per level for APL 16 (30%), 17 (35%), 18 (40%) and 19 (45%) with a 5-15% bump for 20th (50-60%). For my own group, I would *currently* estimate that they have a 25% - 35% chance of successfully dealing with him IF they do not do something bone-headed when they first encounter him.
- The 14th level party's saving throw bonuses were also pretty impressive: the wizard's were +13 Fort (+17 vs. death & poisons)/+16 Reflex/+16 Will (+19 vs. death and fear)|| the rogue's were +10 Fort (+14 vs. poisons)/+23 Reflex/+11 Will (+14 vs. fear)|| the cleric's were +16 Fort (+20 vs. death & poisons)/+10 Reflex/+24 Will (+27 vs. death & fear)|| the paladin's were - including the Touch of Good - +38 Fort/+31 Reflex/+37 Will, or Fort +31, Reflex +24, Will +30 without the Touch of Good bonus.
- I have come to prefer Improved Critical as a feat, especially for bad guys as they rarely have the gear budget to fritter away on the Keen enchantment when they need all the help their puny gear budget can provide to attack bonuses. For weapon-based characters I personally prefer the feat as well, since it cannot be dispelled, disjoined or sundered away. The paladin took this for long sword, and it paid big dividends carving up 378 out of Gargadros' 536 total hit points with TWO critical hits.
- Greater Sunder is also good news for really big, high-damage critters. In the second play test Gargadros did just that to the paladin's sun blade, forcing the paladin to continue to smite evil with lay on hands. This is rather nasty as lay on hands does not permit the undead a saving throw to halve the damage. And smite evil works just fine with it, since smite evil only cares about 'damage rolls' - not 'weapon damage rolls'. On average, a 14th level paladin dishes out 59 hp with a single lay on hands (28 from smite evil, 31 from 7d6) against an undead creature, corporeal or otherwise.
I am VERY impressed with the performance of a paladin - although admittedly this one is Charisma maximized, the bonuses would only be a point less on saving throws, armor class and attack bonus when smiting evil for a base Charisma of 15 instead of 17. With the ability to smite at *least* 5 foes a day is good (for the players). When they get to where they can grant the ENTIRE PARTY the ability to smite evil for a minute at a clip ... it gets FUGLY real fast. I'm looking forward to seeing how comparable a Blackguard will wind up being to the Paladin at some point. ^_^
** spoiler omitted **...
SPLENDID
** spoiler omitted **...SPLENDID
Naturally I will not be posting the stat block soon.
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very impressive.
I don't think we even noticed the critter the first time we went through RotRL: HMM, so I am sure your peeps will be quite surprised.
The paladin stuff: i completely agree with you, and can't wait to chop my way through Legacy of Fire with my proposed Paladin of Sarenrae!
good stuff, dude.
-t
very impressive.
I don't think we even noticed the critter the first time we went through RotRL: HMM, so I am sure your peeps will be quite surprised.
The paladin stuff: i completely agree with you, and can't wait to chop my way through Legacy of Fire with my proposed Paladin of Sarenrae!
good stuff, dude.
-t
Oh yes, Paladins kick butt in PRPG, make no mistake! If the sample character had been using a two-handed weapon the AC would have been lower, but the damage output wielding a bastard sword two-handed - when said weapon is a sun blade and the victim is an undead - is even nastier than what I found my paladin dishing out.
My "dream paladin" would have the Finding Haleen campaign trait from LoF , the Magical Knack trait and the Birthmark trait .
I will of course gleefully post "The Runebound King's" stat block post-encounter. Presuming we knock out CoT by the end of April 2010, that means late May 2010 at a guess, as I anticipate the group hitting the "interlude" between CoT and KM 2 or 3 weeks after concluding CoT.
'Neath seeming endless drifts of hissing snow
the nation's capitol does softly glow.
It's snowing - and in the Washington D.C. area we've already gotten more snow than we have in nearly a decade. It won't stop until sunrise or so tomorrow morning. The weather talking heads are already figuring this storm is going to set new records.
It will be interesting to see how many people are driving around in this stuff today and tomorrow. Hopefully, no one that doesn't have to be. I mean really, just *how* important is it that a convenience or grocery store be open (a) when they're already decimated in supplies anyway, and (b) there's more than a FOOT of powder everywhere. Is that couple of hundred bucks the store might make on the sorry souls that slog to the stores in question worth risking life and limb to get to and from?
It is quite pretty and calm outside though, almost no real noise except that of the snow itself.
I envy the view but not the rest of the headaches, and will quite happily stick to my - today overcast and unusually rainy - desert home :)
Seems I need to look into paladins as of late. I was aware they'd been streamlined a bit - made to not need so much MAD, with their spellcasting shifted to Charisma base, and some tweaks to Lay on Hands, etc. - but I've not yet sat down and attempted to optimize one. The trouble with being the DM most of the time I'm afraid, don't get to mess with good-only classes very often, no paladins of any real import have popped up in my current campaign as of yet.
Maybe when I get a chance to play on the other side of the screen for a while. *snort* Yeah, whenever that happens, heh.
I envy the view but not the rest of the headaches, and will quite happily stick to my - today overcast and unusually rainy - desert home :)
Seems I need to look into paladins as of late. I was aware they'd been streamlined a bit - made to not need so much MAD, with their spellcasting shifted to Charisma base, and some tweaks to Lay on Hands, etc. - but I've not yet sat down and attempted to optimize one. The trouble with being the DM most of the time I'm afraid, don't get to mess with good-only classes very often, no paladins of any real import have popped up in my current campaign as of yet.
Maybe when I get a chance to play on the other side of the screen for a while. *snort* Yeah, whenever that happens, heh.
I've found a "stand by" group of "DMPCs" can be very helpful to 'test run' my home-brewed horrors. While these DMPCs are not as well-specc'd as player characters tend to be, they do give me a reasonable approximation of what characters can - or cannot - do the horrors in question.
Doing so also is a VERY good way to familiarize yourself with the abilities of the classes in question. I've gotten more than a few "WTF?!" comments from people when they finally realize just how *nasty* paladins can get, for example. ^_^ Naturally, this also helps reduce the nasty surprises that crop up at the table ...
There's a reason I often get asked "Turin, can he DO that?"
Something to do in my excess of free time then I suppose :) One good thing to be had out of unemployment at least! ;)
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Orthos, if you're in the mind to stat up baddies for CoT, feel free to post them in my camp journal, or link-ify them somewhere. my players just decided to off the mayor, AFTER having completed the Asmodean Knot.
having some more NPC stats (will likely be snagging some of yours too, Turin) would be very nice.
-t
Afraid I don't have CoT, otherwise I might consider it. I was referring to Turin's suggestion of building a "test group" of PC-styled NPCs to run beta test encounters against the badguys in my post above.
It's snowing - and in the Washington D.C. area we've already gotten more snow than we have in nearly a decade. It won't stop until sunrise or so tomorrow morning. The weather talking heads are already figuring this storm is going to set new records.
It will be interesting to see how many people are driving around in this stuff today and tomorrow. Hopefully, no one that doesn't have to be. I mean really, just *how* important is it that a convenience or grocery store be open (a) when they're already decimated in supplies anyway, and (b) there's more than a FOOT of powder everywhere. Is that couple of hundred bucks the store might make on the sorry souls that slog to the stores in question worth risking life and limb to get to and from?
It is quite pretty and calm outside though, almost no real noise except that of the snow itself.
I was 'snowbound' for 2 days...
Afraid I don't have CoT, otherwise I might consider it. I was referring to Turin's suggestion of building a "test group" of PC-styled NPCs to run beta test encounters against the badguys in my post above.ah, my mistake.
sorry for the threadjack, Turin
Not a problem psionichamster, I will post stat blocks herein as they either come up or as the group passes the intended encounter range for the bad guy. Well, presuming I do not use them for something else...
And in case you haven't noticed, I have no problem with "out of campaign" discussions in campaign journals.
Orthos, if you're in the mind to stat up baddies for CoT, feel free to post them in my camp journal, or link-ify them somewhere. my players just decided to off the mayor, AFTER having completed the Asmodean Knot.
having some more NPC stats (will likely be snagging some of yours too, Turin) would be very nice.
-t
Whack the Mayor, eh? That should be interesting, as his guards' stat blocks are not specified anywhere ...
I was 'snowbound' for 2 days...
It's snowing - and in the Washington D.C. area we've already gotten more snow than we have in nearly a decade. It won't stop until sunrise or so tomorrow morning. The weather talking heads are already figuring this storm is going to set new records.
It will be interesting to see how many people are driving around in this stuff today and tomorrow. Hopefully, no one that doesn't have to be. I mean really, just *how* important is it that a convenience or grocery store be open (a) when they're already decimated in supplies anyway, and (b) there's more than a FOOT of powder everywhere. Is that couple of hundred bucks the store might make on the sorry souls that slog to the stores in question worth risking life and limb to get to and from?
It is quite pretty and calm outside though, almost no real noise except that of the snow itself.
We (my fiance and I) did not go anywhere from Friday evening through Tuesday late morning - mainly due to the snow plow contractor straddling the fine line between mediocrity and incompetence combined with the 'disputed' nature of the access road that serves four separate small subdivisions. 'Disputed' in this case apparently means that the County Police can ticket and do their thing but the County that collects all the spiffy taxes from a hundred or so households - let alone the assorted and varied taxes paid to the State - conveniently seem unable to plow the road that they derive so much income from.
Jagarses...
Something to do in my excess of free time then I suppose :) One good thing to be had out of unemployment at least! ;)
^_^ About the only good thing - but it is fun, costs nothing (after the initial purchase, presumably done while employed) and can be used as many times as you feel like.
Not a criticism, intended or otherwise!
Over time building a 'sample party' helps in a lot of ways... more on this later when I get some sleep.
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A Very Merry Christmas to everyone!
Yes, even those of you who don't normally read campaign journals. :P
Something to do in my excess of free time then I suppose :) One good thing to be had out of unemployment at least! ;)^_^ About the only good thing - but it is fun, costs nothing (after the initial purchase, presumably done while employed) and can be used as many times as you feel like.
Not a criticism, intended or otherwise!
Over time building a 'sample party' helps in a lot of ways... more on this later when I get some sleep.
On building (for your own edification) 'sample' characters:
You have a stack of characters you can hand out (if the need is dire) to replace the messily deceased or use as NPCs if your PCs get uppity / are evil and run roughshod without your (tacit or overt) approval.
For me (as I type up what the ability does with each stat block) it helps ingrain what the ability is capable of. If I know what I'm looking at having to deal with as the GM, it becomes a lot easier to swallow when a player character deals out some stupidly enormous gob of damage to your villains and mini-onions. Naturally you need to use the same build method as the campaign's player characters for such sample characters.
And of course, it lets you know how fun it will be to toss an (APL+3) encounter at your player characters!
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Orthos, if you're in the mind to stat up baddies for CoT, feel free to post them in my camp journal, or link-ify them somewhere. my players just decided to off the mayor, AFTER having completed the Asmodean Knot.
having some more NPC stats (will likely be snagging some of yours too, Turin) would be very nice.
-t
Whack the Mayor, eh? That should be interesting, as his guards' stat blocks are not specified anywhere ...
after thinking long and hard, this will be a "Do-Able" encounter. Perhaps not at their current level of resources (Mayor = Rogue, Eiteirn = Rogue, guards are decent mooks, but nothing special), but if they hit and fade, without dilly-dallying about the loots/healing, I can see them pulling it off.
The bounty hunters going after them following that (assuming they live, of course) will prove more interesting, I think. Plus, this gives me the perfect opportunity to toss in some of the new classes. Already have an Alchemist (styled after Boba Fett), and will likely have a Cavalier, Summoner, and Inquisitor to add in there before me meet again.
As always, I will have the gory details in my CJ. I expect we'll be playing that game a week from tomorrow.
-t
Orthos, if you're in the mind to stat up baddies for CoT, feel free to post them in my camp journal, or link-ify them somewhere. my players just decided to off the mayor, AFTER having completed the Asmodean Knot.
having some more NPC stats (will likely be snagging some of yours too, Turin) would be very nice.
-t
Whack the Mayor, eh? That should be interesting, as his guards' stat blocks are not specified anywhere ...
after thinking long and hard, this will be a "Do-Able" encounter. Perhaps not at their current level of resources (Mayor = Rogue, Eiteirn = Rogue, guards are decent mooks, but nothing special), but if they hit and fade, without dilly-dallying about the loots/healing, I can see them pulling it off.
The bounty hunters going after them following that (assuming they live, of course) will prove more interesting, I think. Plus, this gives me the perfect opportunity to toss in some of the new classes. Already have an Alchemist (styled after Boba Fett), and will likely have a Cavalier, Summoner, and Inquisitor to add in there before me meet again.
As always, I will have the gory details in my CJ. I expect we'll be playing that game a week from tomorrow.
-t
Very nice. Were I a Truly Evil GM, I would probably stat up the Lord Mayor as a Duelist.
The bounty hunter team is an awesome idea though, a great way to "play test" the new classes. ^_^
Speaking of 'sample characters' I just finished one at 10th level, Bubba 2/Fighter 8 half-orc. Wrong ... just, all kinds of wrong.
Now, Bubba Hack-Toes here needs his pet spell casters to spell him up to save his fragile widdle mind from dominate person ... if nothing else, it is in these self-same casters' best interests to prevent the exercise of such control over a character that - if he crits with his pet battle axe - on a Vital Strike Power Attack Charge deals an average total of 118 hit points at a +26 attack bonus (after the -3 penalty for Power Attack) at 10th level. Ew, just ... ew. I forsee Diablo I-style deaths in Bubba Hack-Toes' future... ^_^
47 points averaged on a non-critical Vital Strike Power Attack Charge, just fyi.
Tack on stuff like "buffs" from Bards, Clerics, Arcanists (sorcerer/wizard), Paladins and Rangers ... well, it gets ugly ugly ugly.
I can't wait to play this guy!
Nasty snow ... it gets the paws wet it does.
The CoT/Kingmaker campaign is slated to resume tomorrow ... weather permitting.
If we only get a little snow, we'll be ok. If we get more, we're probably hosed.
We are intent on taking up James Jacobs' comment - to remove level caps on spells for the entire campaign. Since the characters just hit 6th level at the end of the last session, no actual play time has occurred at the point at which the removal of damage cap is a concern.
Lemme see if I can dig up that thread ...
EDIT: My search-fu is insufficient to that task.
21st February saw the resumption of the CoT/Kingmaker campaign after a long hiatus dating to before Thanksgiving 2009.
Da Pimp - Fighter 1 / Paladin 5, Shelyn, undercover Pathfinder who returned with Ailyn (replacement character for the staked and decapitated vampirized aspiring Arcane Trickster)
Torsin - Paladin 6, Saranrae
Ineptus - Cloistered Cleric 6, cultist (Repose, Rune)
Da Fighter - Monk 6, Irori
Jade - Fighter 1 / Sorcerer 5 (Elemental Water bloodline)
Max - Fighter 6, NPC porter, user of Improvised Weapons
Our Heroes began Chapter 3. Making excellent use of Aid Other actions, they decoded the combination to the Chelish Crux on the second try. Within was the still-living head of an erinyes long driven mad by a combination of sensory deprivation and ... being a living head. They identified the swag within the Crux, figured out the clues and went exploring.
First they went to the water cache, using Max's wayfinder light to locate the portal in broad daylight. The heroes well know of the terrors of the night by rumor. Wisely, they sought to avoid tangling with outlying patrols of nebulous Critters of Shadow. They dragged the lock box out and returned safely to town.
Within was another major cache of swag.
Next up they bought the land and building upon which the Massacre House rests, then proceeded to "evict the Sisters with extreme prejudice".
They then undertook the Hellcaller's Cup, receiving 3:1 odds in their favor. They bet all the cash they had on this fight. Jade had 7500 gp, so if she won she got back her 7500 and another 15000 on top of it. Oh, curses upon the misers...
As written, the Hellcaller's Cup uses a Conjurer Specialist Wizard 8 siccing packs of mere lemures on a single champion. I elected instead to switch this stat block out for a Summoner 8. The rules were (1) the entire party (without Max) against Thrax's Eidolon; (2) the party (without Max) is not permitted to attack Thrax from within the arena; (3) Thrax in turn is not permitted to attack the party directly.
Buffed to the gills on both sides of the arena, "Geigeron" was called in with two clangs of his mithral bracers. Initiative was rolled. The meat shields Da Fighter and Torsin stepped up to block the critter from charging directly into the rear ranks of the party and shredding Ineptus and Jade. Da Pimp stood slightly off to the side in order to pepper the critter with arrows.
After the meat shields moved into position Jade used a scroll to cast a deeper darkness on Da Pimp's arrow, which he then promptly fired into the cage behind Geigeron, cloaking both Thrax and the monster in darkest shadow.
Giegeron, in turn, charged across the entire arena in a single move, goring the monk - only the concealment provided by his potion of blur saved him from a nat-20/nat-20 critical hit. As combat unfolded the player characters' thorough use of haste, heroism, prayer, [/i]bless[/i], bless weapon, both paladins' smite evil (on Geigeron), a shield of faith from all 5 of the cultist's 1st level spell slots and an ability score enhancement from that same cultist's entirety of 2nd level spell slots for everyone made an enormous difference in the group's hitting and staying power.
Geigeron nearly killed the monk and Torsin's paladin, but a willingness to use the previously looted wand of cure serious wounds was all it took - along with Torsin's typical good fortune in threatening critical hits with her longsword - to prevent messy character deaths. It took several rounds, with the 2nd round finding Thrax bleeding from numerous vicious wounds . Max had slunk off around the caged arena via good old-fashioned Stealth.
As the fight drew to a close, a stunned Geigeron was brought low by Torsin's glowing sword at the same time a chair cracked over Thrax's 1 current hit point noggin. The crowd went nuts, bets were collected, the party found itself positively swimming in cash and 2 Fame Points were awarded.
Going into Delvehaven, Our Heroes had looted the following items:
- The Chelish Crux - an extra-dimensional storage item, carried by the cultist.
- a scroll of clairaudience/clairvoyance
- 3 scrolls of CL 10 dispel magic (one of which was used in a botched attempt to de-buff Geigeron)
- 3 scrolls of erase (CL 10th)
- a scroll of heal
- a scroll of true seeing
- 6 sets of antiquated false identity papers
- 4 potions of gaseous form
- 6 potions of cure moderate wounds
- 6 potions of lesser restoration
- a wand of restoration (13 charges)
- a scroll of remove curse
- a scroll of scrying
- a small silver box engraved with dancing skeletons containing four grave candles
- a wand of break enchantment (8 charges)
- a wand of death ward (7 charges)
- a pair of boots of the eternal rose (Da Pimp's paladin)
- a pair of purple lace gloves that always smell faintly of lilac - gloves of arrow snaring given by Max to Jade's fighter/sorceress
- an inheritor's gauntlet (Torsin's paladin)
- a book of cults (Ineptus' Cultist [cloistered cleric, modified to solely grant the lesser extend property to any summoning/calling spell cast by the holder of the open book]
- a robe of the master of masters (Da Fighter's monk)
This does not count all the loot from the previous 2 chapters nor the stuff they'd bought/crafted with the winnings from obtaining the Hellcallers Cup itself.
After roughly mapping out the perimeter of the property, they elected to scale the wall nearest area B6, a wing of the building with an exterior door that was not obviously the main entrance. They managed - without realizing it - to sidestep the "mines" in their approach.
Using a stone shape, the cultist provided a (permanent) portal into the Hall of Armor from the west side, at the "T" junction. The dark room did well to conceal the shadow-cloaked shadow mastiffs. Well, right up until Da Pimp nat-20'd his Perception check and trounced the mastiffs' Stealth check. The Cultist's everburning torch flew right in afterwards, then the beat-down of shadow doggie commenced and more loot was secured.
While they did discover the stairs leading down into the cellar, Our Heroes elected to do a 'sweep and clear' of the ground level of Delvehaven. Naturally, this lead them to entering the now infamous area B8 "The Nautalica". Within the enormous feasting hall is a massive aquarium some 15' tall and shaped in a 20'x20' "plus" sign on a map. Max was volunteered to step forward and toss a torch into the mass of webbing covering the ceiling. As the brilliant woosh of burning web illuminated the entire room ... they then saw the Huge Skeletal Triceretops - with sparkly dark-energy bits.
Originally posted facing east towards the main entry doors, the sudden flash of burning webs from the ceiling combined with having just moved into the critter's blindsight range nearly spelled Max's doom.
Fortunately, other characters saw fit to get in the way. The Critter of Impaling Doom skewered Torsin once, then skewered some one else as well. No one died yet - until Jade tossed off TWO flaming spheres in consecutive rounds, one in direct view of the CoID. Not being terribly bright, it still had enough cognitive ability to put two and two together and figure the one threat that was responsible for the majority of the burning destruction it was suffering ... had remained within a 5' step of its reach.
Needless to say, one 5' adjustment later, the EK died as a result of two stabbity deaths from the CoID. Ironically, said character's turn immediately followed ... and the CoID was reduced to ash by way of the flaming sphere that was merrily burning its way through its hindquarters.
Da Fighter made a brilliant request - to use the scroll of heal as a breath of life in its stead. Since that takes a HEAL spell out of the character's arsenal, and it was being used within the round after the EK's messy demise, I agreed.
After all, this means I can kill the same character again next weekend! JOY!!
After wanding themselves back to respectable hit point totals, Our Heroes elected not to continue the sweep-n-clear, but instead proceeded down stairs into the cellar.
Unfortunately, the stairs only have one possible place to connect to - and the different map scales combined with the complete lack of anything like, say, an ARROW on the maps or something throws off those running the module "on the fly" (as I am wont to do most of the time).
Regardless of the GMs mutterings, Our Heroes pressed forth into the cellar. They first opened the door into B16, the "Insect Museum". Unfortunately, he beat the Sense Motive DC by enough to get the impression at the threshold of that door into the room. Over the next few minutes the paladins thought that the rest of the party was a bit wonky, talking about sudden hunger pangs combined with an unmistakable desire to chow down upon, and drink the blood of, their own race(s). Our Heroes elected to close that door for now and explore a bit further, numerous light sources of varying strengths showing the way.
Turning left at the four-way intersection, Da Monk on point made his way quietly into the "tavern" of Delvehaven. He noted the curious 5-seated tea table set atop the bar, then went scavaging for vino. Needless to say, when he started drinking from a bottle he found in the wine racks, the five Toys of Death whooped his Perception check by a mile.
The next thing Da Monk knows is that (a) Draggy the fiery-mouthed toy dragon is gnawing on an ankle; (b) Fluff Gugg the teddy bear is going all Wolverine on him with retractable little serrated claws; (c) Molly Missy's cute doe eyes did not bend his well but her hair pin did not help his complexion much; (d) Mr. Straw's pitchfork is also good at stabbity death; and (e) Mistah Mwangi's knife is both sharp and poisonous.
The dolls beat the monk on initiative and continued to whittle away at his hit points, resulting in a gibbering, wine-soaked monk gimping down the hallway behind the other paladins and adjacent to the stairs leading back up.
Something along the lines of " why Mr. Fluff-fluff, WHY?!" was heard from Da Monk. Da Pimp's paladin diplomacized most effectively, eloquating about his Pathfinderiness and desire to reclaim the Lodge. The little toys ceased hostilities and assumed their tea party positions, then went dormant. Jade poured some of the VERY expensive wine into the dolls' cups, setting the rest of the bottle adjacent to them. The Cultist mended their damage. They looted the rest of the expensive vino , found the secret door and continued exploring easterly.
They rounded the bend south into B20, saw the shattered bits of "stone statue" on the floor and called it a game at that point. They were a bit distressed to return to the Tavern only to find the wine entirely drank, the dolls nowhere to be found or seen in the immediate vicinity.
Next week, the weather Gawds permitting, Our Heroes continue to explore the cellar of Delvehaven. Will they die horribly - eaten alive, incinerated or drained into shadowy husks? Or, as seems more likely, will they kill everything, loot everything that isn't nailed down and collect XP?
Stay tuned, same hack time, same hack campaign journal. :P
Our Heroes, sans Da Pimp's Paladin, continued to scour Delvehaven clear of critters this past Sunday.
Once they rested for the night, they dealt with the ships-in-a-bottle room, looted the Resting Place Room (from which Max secured a yet-to-be-determined item from the spiffy unique ones in the Society items book Seekers of Secrets and the article contained in Chapter 3 of CoT).
They continued into B21, with the summoning circle and the red stone desk over the stairs leading into the cellar. Our Heroes did not bother with such a pesky detail as decoding yet another combination lock. Tossing a bull's strength on Max and pitching in a series of Aid Other actions to boost his Strength check, they then declared a Take 20 to force open the "desk lock", resulting in a total Strength check of 35. This is the second such 'alarm' sounded by Our Heroes - the first being the baying of one of the shadow mastiffs the previous afternoon.
They then used the second key from the key ring found in the Wave Portal stash to open the door into B19, wherein Bisby's skull rested upon a couch amidst his swag and bones.
Things were ugly at first, Bisby's phantasmal killer attack nearly slaying Jade's EK (again) on the initial salvo. Two shadows rising from the floor beneath their earthy remains added in to the mix. Before a series of lesser restoration spells finally laid Bisby to rest, Max had lost 10 of his 20 Strength from two touches of the shadows, along with additional Strength damage distributed amongst Torsin's paladin and Jade's EK.
Once they bought a few precious minutes of lucid conversation with Bisby's unquiet spirit, they found that one part of a two-part artifact still rests in a vault below the cellar of Delvehaven. Morrowfall, a powerful relic of a long-dead Sun Gawd, the counterpoint item known as the Totemrix is believed to have transmogrified Bisby's former Chronicler half-elf buddy into a foul abomination of some sort.
Bisby imparted a fair bit of additional information as well, concluding with:
" So long as you carry the dolls that are imparted with a bit of my essence, my hand against you shall be staid. They will also act should you betray the deeds of freeing the streets around you from the fell [Critters of Shadow] that have prowled her streets these past decades. Reunite the Morrowfall with its counterbalance the Totemrix, let me at long last know peace and make my accounting with Pharasma. Succeed, and the dolls will bond with you in a fashion beyond the normal ken. "
Proceeding down stairs after mending the beat down administered by Bisby and the condemned spirits of two Thrune-allied Pathfinders, Our Heroes found themselves in a cross-shaped hallway. Directly ahead, three stone vault doors have been smashed in, revealing some thirty-odd yards ahead of them a bright light flashing and flickering of its own accord. 15' wide hallways extended left and right (north and south respectively). A door was on either side of the stairway they descended from the summoning room on the floor above, perhaps leading to a resting place or storage area behind and beneath that same stairway.
Orienting northerly, Our Heroes moved, first listening to the northerly door leading beneath the stairs.
Flinging the door open, Da Monk batted aside the enchanted heavy bolt that would have otherwise bored through his left eye. Beyond, lurking behind a stone sarcophagi, a tattooed vampirized man, gore still caking his lower jaw and fangs, grinned from behind the sights of a repeating heavy crossbow.
The Mazeflesh Man wielding that monstrous crossbow started off the initiative order, attempting to further perforate Da Monk. Sadly, his next two shots were insufficient to hit. "Kill them all!!" He bellowed, the near-roar of the command echoing down the hallways.
The scroll of sunburst was handed over to Jade's EK, who delayed her action, desperate to unleash such enormous destructive power only when all the foes down here with them are within the area of effect. She would not be disappointed.
The invisible vampire cleric of Norgerberger crept down the hallway, a scant 10 feet from unsuspecting Max. The reluctant vampire-hunter ranger charged down the hallway, enchanted wooden stakes in her hands, narrowly missing Torsin as she shrieked " KILL ME YOU BASTARDS!!".
Four vampire spawn boiled out of the shattered vault, closing to within no more than five yards of the group. The group's messy demise seemed assured, multiple "Hudson" moments ensued.
Then Jade's EK - realizing that when all is said and done, she has to throw a natural 11 on a d20 to successfully activate the scroll. A 6 or less and destruction such as the characters had never before seen would likely remove them from solving Westcrown's problems altogether. Eyes squint shut, the d20 clatters across the table, kittens are summoned by the d20 of the Moment ...
Natural 14!
A brilliant flash of sunlight flashes forth, scouring very nearly the entirety of the level. The vampire ranger voluntarily failed her Reflex saving throw, instantly recognizing her permanent release was literally flashing before her eyes.
All seven vampires and vampiric spawn failed their Reflex saving throws - at a DC of 22, neither did a single player character nor Max. The 2nd degree burns would result in a magnificent tan for the group, but everyone was now blind, permanently, until rectified. Vampiric ash settled across them as the dust literally settled.
There was much rejoicing by the players and what may well have otherwise resulted in a near-TPK or an actual TPK had that die roll not rolled favorably.
Rest was undertaken, the four player characters received remove blindness after the Cultist's next spell preparation period and Delvehaven's cellar was looted, including Morrowfall itself.
After a five week down time and advancing the characters to 7th level, along with much fashioning of magic items - facilitated handsomely by Da Monk's cohort Bard item crafter, they began "The Infernal Syndrome".
Chapter 4: "The Infernal Syndrome"
Big badda boom - windows rattle, buildings tremble and the stench of brimstone fills the streets of Westcrown. Peering outside in the light of dusk, a literally Hellish mushroom cloud ascends into the sky from the mayor's abode. Our Heroes, needing no bigger Plot Hammer to get them into action once more, grab their gear, pocket their dolls and beat a hasty advance to the ruined grounds of Aberian's Folly.
Five small tornadoes of Hellfire form a pentagram about a central crater amidst the shattered rubble of the mayor's manor. Our Heroes have acquired said mayor, clapped him in irons and "escorted" him back to face the errors of his ways, Max generally being tasked to manhandle the sorry sod.
An erinyes was made short work of atop a ruined gatehouse. Passing through said gatehouse and into the manor grounds proper, however, an invisible Osyluth, kin to the same bone devil dispatched in the bowels of the Asmodean Knot itself some months ago, greeted Our Heroes. Nearly banishing it back to Hell alongside its brother, the critter was forced to teleport a hasty retreat before being 86'd by Our Heroes. Although Da Monk delivered a bleeding wound, they do not know if it fled only to bleed out ... or if it reached a source of magical healing. After getting thoroughly torn up by said fiend, however, Our Heroes themselves elected to encamp within the ruined gatehouse.
Next weekend should see Our Heroes sally forth once more to do battle with Infernal fiends and Critters of Shadow galore! Will they realize the need for teamwork to lay the smack down upon critters that are still rather difficult to deliver lethal blows to? Will they simply blitzkrieg everything before them and take all their stuff? Or will they die horribly, screaming for mercies not to be received and otherwise suffering Tarantino-style demises?
The cast of player characters are now:
Jade: Fighter 1 / Sorcerer 6 & bearer of Fluff-Gugg (teddy bear wearing a fedora, retractable claws that cause bleeding wounds).
Da Monk: Monk 7 (Irori) & reluctant bearer of Molly Missy, which he intends to pass off to Da Dancer Dude at the earliest opportunity.
Torsin: Paladin 6 (Iomedae) / Wizard (Divination specialist) 1 & bearer of Draggy the Dragon.
Cultist: Cloistered Cleric 7 (domains: Repose, Rune) & bearer of Mr. Straw.
Da Dancer Dude: Paladin 7 (Shelyn)
Max: Fighter 7, DMPC & henchman of Jade; bearer of the Mwangi fetish doll.