You missed a ring of swimming (so random) in the perytons lair which will also turn up during downtime.
Swimming? In the desert? Well I can't wait to see the fight over who gets that...
"You!""No, you!"
:-)
Hey, would that ring actually help against quicksand?
Maybe if you tried to swim through it?
Its definate proof, if any was required, that AP chapters are written seperately.
You might might use it in very specific scenarios in later chapters. But hey 1,250gp.
This is it, last fight of the chapter.
Interested to see how things will go with you buffed to the gills. Everythings gone right on the way. I was pretty sure you were going to lose a significant amount of time from at least one person running away.
At the rate I'm going I will have things up late tonight my time.
Fair enough.
For the shield I'd treat you as twfing if your making an extra attack. Game doesn't really distinguish between main and off or primary and secondary rather unless your twfing. So if your just attacking with the shield it would be a normal, bludgeoning, attack.
Addendum: Hm interesting conundrum. Its a wee bit dumb but shields are actually listed as martial weapons on the weapon chart implying you need martial weapon proficiency although as a cleric you get proficiency in "shields".
You know what, if your ever that desperate I think I'd let it slide.
Addendum: Hm interesting conundrum. Its a wee bit dumb but shields are actually listed as martial weapons on the weapon chart implying you need martial weapon proficiency although as a cleric you get proficiency in "shields".
You know what, if your ever that desperate I think I'd let it slide.
I guess there's a training differential between holding a piece of metal so as to protect yourself and using it to hit someone else. :)
Quite possibly yes :) although it still doesn't answer the basic uncertainty of whether "shield" means only defensive proficiency. I suppose based on how they're all worded they probably are but we're crushing Linah's dreams of shield bashing here.
But i want to shield bash! Nah, i was only asking because it seemed thematically unfitting for Linah to abandon her deity's favored (shining) weapon for a mace when fighting horrors sprung from the shadows in a dark tomb :) would have preferred to strike one with my shield instead if it came to that.
She's probably best off channeling and leaving the bashing to others. :) Not always an option, when you suddenly find yourself in melee, though.
I must say it's a pleasant surprise to find the pugwampi king's hammer so useful thus far: magic and bludgeoning.
Two questions (and one that i should have posted earlier but didn't notice until now):
1) Are we allowed to use stuff from Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat? I use Herolab to create and manage characters and don't pay much attention from what book the stuff i pick comes from. I just now noticed that the Spear of purity spell i took comes from Ultimate magic. Are you ok with me keeping it or should i switch it to something else (like a cure moderate wounds)?
2) If the spell is ok, would Sajan and Grall (and everyone else) be blocking my view at the moment giving Xulthus total cover?
Dan, in the thread you say Xulthos, at 15 ft. up, is out of melee range to anyone but the two enlarged PCs. If the ceiling's only 20 feet up, though, can't Zeladiel attack her/it from the ceiling as long as he's spider climbing? Of course, he didn't save vs. the confusion, but if he rolls an act-normally or attack-nearest-creature, he could attack Xulthos upside down, right?
Btw, hope he's not wearing robes. Or if he is, that he's wearing something under them. ;)
Dan, in the thread you say Xulthos, at 15 ft. up, is out of melee range to anyone but the two enlarged PCs. If the ceiling's only 20 feet up, though, can't Zeladiel attack her/it from the ceiling as long as he's spider climbing? Of course, he didn't save vs. the confusion, but if he rolls an act-normally or attack-nearest-creature, he could attack Xulthos upside down, right?
Btw, hope he's not wearing robes. Or if he is, that he's wearing something under them. ;)
It's magic. :-)
Besides, I may have saved. There could be some sort of +3 hidden bonus to avoid the brand new wizard zapping the grumpy halfling and having to be replaced yet again! Some sort of spellcaster repetition bonus... +1 for Sabeen, +2 for Arjun, +3 for Felliped, +4 for Zeladiel... :-)
Hopefully, with Zeladiel on the ceiling and Nuveril on the floor, the 'attack closest person' result will pit me against a more reasonable PC. *sigh*.
Still, with a DC of 18, we're actually amazingly lucky that only the most pathetic melee fighter has been affected so far.
Well, we're still waiting on Grall. He's got massive saves that would make Nuveril fume if she could see the numbers -- he's obviously going to have higher to-hit and damage than she, but he's better at everything else too! -- but if he fails, we're all in trouble.
I just came out of a game a few months ago where a confusioned PC murdered another one in a single blow. :P
Two questions (and one that i should have posted earlier but didn't notice until now):
1) Are we allowed to use stuff from Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat? I use Herolab to create and manage characters and don't pay much attention from what book the stuff i pick comes from. I just now noticed that the Spear of purity spell i took comes from Ultimate magic. Are you ok with me keeping it or should i switch it to something else (like a cure moderate wounds)?
2) If the spell is ok, would Sajan and Grall (and everyone else) be blocking my view at the moment giving Xulthus total cover?
The ultimates are use with prior consent. Theres some stuff I'm not in love with and still lot I haven't look at. Spear of purity is fine. I checked that out when you memorised it. You can assume that most of it will be fine (I want to use it too :) ) just float it.
Note the move change. As it was you would have been ok. It at 15, Sajan and Grall at 10. I think that is a clear enough LOS. Now youve got people in the way (I promise I didn't change what he was going to do :) ).
As for Joana's question yeah spider climbing would be fine. I just assumed Zeladiel never would be meleeing with it :)
Dan, in the thread you say Xulthos, at 15 ft. up, is out of melee range to anyone but the two enlarged PCs. If the ceiling's only 20 feet up, though, can't Zeladiel attack her/it from the ceiling as long as he's spider climbing? Of course, he didn't save vs. the confusion, but if he rolls an act-normally or attack-nearest-creature, he could attack Xulthos upside down, right?
Btw, hope he's not wearing robes. Or if he is, that he's wearing something under them. ;)
It's magic. :-)
Besides, I may have saved. There could be some sort of +3 hidden bonus to avoid the brand new wizard zapping the grumpy halfling and having to be replaced yet again! Some sort of spellcaster repetition bonus... +1 for Sabeen, +2 for Arjun, +3 for Felliped, +4 for Zeladiel... :-)
Hopefully, with Zeladiel on the ceiling and Nuveril on the floor, the 'attack closest person' result will pit me against a more reasonable PC. *sigh*.
Still, with a DC of 18, we're actually amazingly lucky that only the most pathetic melee fighter has been affected so far.
Just the wizard which is pretty amazing. I ummed and aahed for months about whether I should reduce the save DC. On paper your an APL 5 party of course but saves are one thing you can't compensate as easily for.
And then you basically all go and make the save (except for the wizard) anyway. Can't make this stuff up :)
Still, with a DC of 18, we're actually amazingly lucky that only the most pathetic melee fighter has been affected so far.Just the wizard which is pretty amazing. I ummed and aahed for months about whether I should reduce the save DC. On paper your an APL 5 party of course but saves are one thing you can't compensate as easily for.
And then you basically all go and make the save (except for the wizard) anyway. Can't make this stuff up :)
The Pathfinder Chronicles Podcast guys have something to say about saves. They did a review of 'Realm of the Fellnight Queen' and said it was an almost guaranteed TPK mostly because of the impossibly high save DCs in the final battle.
They even did a lovely demo called TPK theatre. Very cute. I felt it got the point across quite adequately.
Oh I'll take a look.
Laughed my ass off at fire myself from the bow.
Hate saves. There's very little you can do to bolster them, as opposed to AC and to-hit and such, and if the party has a run of bad dice luck, it can be very bad.
Its a very complained about fight and the drone is why. Very easy prep though and I've been dropping hints about the nature of it for most of the chapter.
Anyway happy to talk about him after the fight is over.
Linah is able to block the hypnotic droning but she can't ignore the spray of colors comming of Xulthos. She brings up her shield to ward her eyes from the onslaught while she draws a symbol through the air with her scimitar. A prayer ends the spell and a shining scimitar bursts out of the darkness to hack at the abomination. "Your end has come. From this day all your whispers will go unheard!" Linah calls out defiantly.
There's an interesting question: Do the drone and the dazzling colors affect the attacks of the spiritual weapon which has neither ears nor eyes?
Dunno. I've asked to many questions these past days so i thought i'd let that one slide and just include it in the attack :)
Dunno. I've asked to many questions these past days so i thought i'd let that one slide and just include it in the attack :)
You left out the extra -1 from the drone, though. ;)
Too many little bonuses and penalties. I'm always forgetting the +1 from bless.
D'oh, just when i thought i've done something right!
Yeah interesting I'm going to go with the spiritual weapon not being debuffed. Linah isn't mentally wielding it she is just willing it to go attack Xulthos and it specifically attacks as a spell not a weapon.
I hate DMPCing you guys. Should Sajan have grappled? I can't scrub from my head my knowledge of his chances of pulling a particular action off. I obviously didn't know what the roll was before I worked out what he was doing. Then I go roll 19, 1, 3 almost the worst possible result for the ki/flurry plan. Oh well I don't feel too bad after those will saves (sorry Zeladiel).
Yeah, AK's been MIA since Friday. :(
Even if the internet situation weren't problematic, he has a move across the continent coming up (next week, isn't it?), and I would imagine preparations for that would be taking up quite a bit of time at this point. I just hope his internet and free-time situations once he gets there are as rosy as he expects.
I wouldn't have waited so long but had an early start for paris today and only really have time to post morning and evening. I will DMPC him until further notice.
|
Yeah, AK's been MIA since Friday. :(
Even if the internet situation weren't problematic, he has a move across the continent coming up (next week, isn't it?), and I would imagine preparations for that would be taking up quite a bit of time at this point. I just hope his internet and free-time situations once he gets there are as rosy as he expects.
Family problems decided to rear their ugly head and add to the mix and i've had no net access for several days, other than just about enough to follow the thread; and even if I had found the time to post i'm so pissed off about family s$@+ i'm not sure I would have done. Don't worry about botting me DM I may not be able to post at all until the 12th, hate people waiting on me as I ordinarily pride myself on being reliable.
My internet in Ukraine will be at a flat with 50MB/s, already waiting for me :). The most i've ever got in this country is 2.2 mbps, due to BT deciding that the UK should remain well behind the rest of the developed world and that we don't need anything better than the ancient copper wiring because they basically have a monopoly and don't need to spend money to compete...
Thats fine Alex. Your normally so attentive a short break just seems like a major event. Just take care of your stuff. This (and I presumptiously daresay your other games can wait).
Sure makes things a lot easier on you, though, doesn't it, without an extra PC to run? ;)
Nuveril's only shot of doing any damage at all to this thing is to crit, but the way things are going, she'll get critted before she crits.
Knew I wouldn't get away from it, dammit :)
With no align weapon and no bull-strength Nuveril (more reliant as she is on both hands for damage) is by far the most screwed in this fight, a fact I've been acutely aware of for some months I'm afraid. Nevertheless I have faith she still has options in addition to flanking buddy and hey you are good at those crits for the big fights :)
No need to hold back on the big finish for me, I was aware that action is likely to get Sajan killed, but with his emphasis on protecting others (especially the females) it was the only real move for him. If he dies please kindly describe it well though, its a good death for him trying to protect tjhe others.
Just saying because I know lots of DM's hold back the killing blow when its usually the most logical move, especially when they've been botting a character (possibly splitting that full attack earlier was an example)- if sajan does die its absolutely fine, it will be a good death and a good send off.
Thanks for the note but don't worry. As Zeladiel could confirm I have no trouble killing characters if the situation warrants it. Xulthos is more than happy to take a kill when offered. Its just that its primary goal is to get away and I was trying to give decent credit to its 18 int and the fact it knows quite a bit about the group from Kardswann. Killing you was a hit less on Grall and it (wrongly as it turned out you hits its CMD exactly with the flank) discounted you as a threat on the ground. At that point it thought its best chance to win was to drop the already wounded you, drop Grall and mop everyone else up with your main damage sources gone.
Whether it kills you now is probably going to come down to whether it thinks it can afford to take a full attack next turn. Its taken enough damage to be in official flee mode. That and fickle fate. A max damage on the bite or a crit could kill you. Alternatively, Linah and Zeladiel could conceivably drop it with a decent spiritual weapon hit and magic missiles.
I can just feel Joana's frustration. You may need to buff her in future against her will :)
Any enlarged item that leaves an enlarged creature's possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size.
As Nuveril is only too aware, being stunned by color spray means you drop all weapons. So Grall's falchion has gone back to Medium-sized. At least he has his bite.
Of course, I have the feeling this fight is going to be over one way or the other before they come out of the color spray effects.
Yep. Thank you I never would have picked the change in size up.
I see how ya are...we're actually all rolling half decent for once so the DM has to step in and start making rolls for us ;)
Well I admit to feeling bad about it (particularly if it ends up killing Sajan).
To be honest I was very sorely tempted to delete them and let you effectively re-roll.
But I didn't. Its never really come up before but so far we've played things as the dice have fallen. Theres been good luck and bad luck and the dice roller is neutral*.
I figure thats how everybody wants it.**
*Touch wood.
** Without limitation to your right to curse said dice roller.
*On edge of seat*
Grall wouldn'thave picked the weapon up anyways, that's what he has a +1 Halberd or a silver dagger for :)
Think I might have to look into a serious backup weapon though... :)
Quick question. Been trying to work this out but not having much luck.
If having the grappled condition puts a creatures dex below 13 does it also lose the benefit of its dodge feat?
Not that this might be relevant or anything.
Just to clarify your currently being threatened by Xulthos but it cant AOO. Sajan is currently providing cover to the creature from you and vice versa
Quick question. Been trying to work this out but not having much luck.
If having the grappled condition puts a creatures dex below 13 does it also lose the benefit of its dodge feat?
Not that this might be relevant or anything.
** spoiler omitted **
Yes!
Maybe?Ah, ook. I'll keep the 5ft anyway. don't think i can do anything else with the move action
Quick question. Been trying to work this out but not having much luck.
If having the grappled condition puts a creatures dex below 13 does it also lose the benefit of its dodge feat?
Not that this might be relevant or anything.
** spoiler omitted **
I would say yes. It would be like if a PC got Dex-drained by something and lost the benefits of the feat until he regained a sufficient Dex score. If you're grappled and attacking with a light weapon using Weapon Finesse, the penalty applies and you can't use your full Dex bonus to hit. I don't think you'd be able to Whirlwind Attack, for example, while grappled if the penalty lowered your Dex below 13.
EDIT: Typed drain when I meant damage. I always get those two confused. Although I can see it from the other side, in that grappled is a very short-term condition, unlike ability damage which requires casting a spell or waiting a few days for it to heal naturally.
Here's a thread that says penalties do not actually change your ability score and cause loss of access to a feat. No developer input, but Abraham Spalding makes a good point from RAW.
Not trying to drag this out. Swear to god this issue is the difference between the spear hitting and missing. It also looks like that extra point of damage from Nuveril might end up being the difference. Posting shortly.
So if i'd posted the spiritual weapon attack before the spear this might all be over? :)
Here's a thread that says penalties do not actually change your ability score and cause loss of access to a feat. No developer input, but Abraham Spaulding makes a good point from RAW.
OK yeah this is right I think. It says expressly that ability score penalties are treated like damage. And damage says expressly that it doesn't actually reduce the score. The feat description says expressly that the ability pre-requisite must be reduced for access to the feat to be lost.
OK so the spiritual weapon took it to -1hp.
The spear was hitting AC11 and its touch AC was 12.
I figured I'd swap your order around for dramatic effect. I got all the way to the end and then realised Linah had missed the bless.
So everything worked out :)
A few more posts to wrap things up (we need to free Grall for one) and we are on to chapter 2. Start thinking lvl 5, shopping (loot list isn't quite final) and what your characters will be doing with a year or so of downtime while Kelmarane grows from ruin to small town. What I'd really like is a narration from everyone describing what you do. If you want to introduce yourself some subplots go crazy.
EDIT: Hold of on posting these for now. I'll start a chapter 2 threat when we're ready and a post from everyone would make a good opener.
Apart from Zeladiel's Will save and Nuveril's abysmal damage rolls, we had remarkable dice luck during that encounter. Zeladiel only had to attack Linah once and missed, and no one rolled under 10% for the miss chance.
Yes. It was pretty tough for Xulthos to win with only one person confused. Still I thought he had a reasonable chance of killing someone (and the prospect it would get Sajan jumped enormously with that killer color spray).
I spent a lot of time on its conversion. Happy to post the statblock if people want to see it.
I hoped Haleen turning up didn't seem dumb. Everyone missed the perception checks to hear her. Grall's background made her plucky so she wasn't going to sit by and let him get killed. In the module Kardswann is supposed to show up if still alive so I thought I'd swap them around. Plus she had unbreakable heart so it was a partial anti-TPK mitigant in the event your drone saves were awful.
Dan,
Got the new items you just posted from Xulthos. When you get a chance just let me know any remaining items when we search through the town more thoroughly. I can provide the final treasure list to the team. Thanks!
OK I'll post shortly but to let you finalise the list.
There is a wis + 2 item in the relinquary (secret door room) and the ring of swimming.
I'll try and get a post up tomorrow but the AP also provides for you to get some love out of your year of downtime. I'm consolidating and changing around some of the options there but basically you can choose a small reward based on how you want to spend your time.
These will basically come down to
- an extra 2k gold (per player)
- +1 competence bonus to a skill
- a bonus to knowledge checks dealing with the background of the AP
and a few others.
+2 wis item? Color me intrigued!