Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

Ah, and there's the answer why Breolia didn't run away.

We have 10d6 damage sitting there in Bone Burn potions. No save, as far as I can see? If someone can't inflict direct damage in other ways, they can always sling one.

Can Sirim's Lesser Angelic Aspect be useful here? It grants deflection and DR against evil, makes your weapons good aligned, and perhaps more importantly (for Cob, at least) it grants flying. Wait, is his loadout on the 1st page correct?

Can I get a primer on how DR works in Pathfinder? I want to see how it interacts with alignments and enchanted weapons.
Breolia's Blink spell makes everything more difficult, at least until it's duration elapses or it's Dispelled. Thankfully, it's a short duration spell, and Sirim has a Dispel Magic spell prepared. Next combat round, he'll probably be targeting her with a Dispel. It might not work, but it has a good chance.

Anything we target her with, like a Bone Burn flask, has a 50% chance of missing, and since it's an area attack, will only inflict half damage. Even without the Blink spell, however, she will be a tough opponent. We need to get her Devil helper taken care of so that everyone can focus on her before she has a chance to make this even more difficult.

Sirim is already using his Lesser Angelic Aspect spell, since it provides the same effects as Protection from Evil, which prevents mind control. Between his spell and the PfE spells Kori cast on everyone else, they should have somewhere around 1 to 2 minutes of protection left from Charm, Suggestion, and similar spells, along with the bonuses to AC and saving throws.

Here's a short primer on Damage Reduction:
Some magic creatures have the supernatural ability to instantly heal damage from weapons or ignore blows altogether as though they were invulnerable.

The numerical part of a creature's damage reduction (or DR) is the amount of damage the creature ignores from normal attacks. Usually, a certain type of weapon can overcome this reduction (see Overcoming DR). This information is separated from the damage reduction number by a slash. For example, DR 5/magic means that a creature takes 5 less points of damage from all weapons that are not magic. If a dash follows the slash, then the damage reduction is effective against any attack that does not ignore damage reduction.

Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury poison, a monk's stunning, and injury-based disease. Damage Reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack, or energy drains. Nor does it affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact.

Attacks that deal no damage because of the target's damage reduction do not disrupt spells.

Spells, spell-like abilities, and energy attacks (even non-magical fire) ignore damage reduction.

Sometimes damage reduction represents instant healing. Sometimes it represents the creature's tough hide or body. In either case, other characters can see that conventional attacks won't work.

If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.

Overcoming DR

DR TypeWeapon Enhancement
Bonus Equivalent
Cold iron / silver+3
Adamantine*+4
Alignment-based+5
* Note that this does not give the ability to ignore hardness, like an actual adamantine weapon does.

Damage Reduction may be overcome by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons imbued with an alignment.

Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).

Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment. The following table shows what type of enhancement bonus is needed to overcome some common types of damage reduction.
EDIT: Huh, that reminds me, Cob's Devil Bane Dagger is technically a +3 weapon versus Devils, which means it will overcome the Crepitus' DR.
 
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Sirim is already using his Lesser Angelic Aspect spell, since it provides the same effects as Protection from Evil, which prevents mind control. Between his spell and the PfE spells Kori cast on everyone else, they should have somewhere around 1 to 2 minutes of protection left from Charm, Suggestion, and similar spells, along with the bonuses to AC and saving throws.
PfE is +2, and LAA is +4, no? Either way, I was thinking about how to make Cob participate in vampire stabbing.
Edit: NVM. I was looking at a regular Angelic Aspect, not the Lesser one.

That's not to say Haste isn't a better choice right now; I am just thinking what to do after the devil falls which, given its low HP and combined attention from our heaviest hitters, seems likely to happen in a single turn.

As for DR... vampires have DR 10/magic and silver. Does it mean that once the devil is dead, it's better to switch Gorok to falchion? Yet the Bane dagger still remains better than the silver one.

BTW, Cob has Wrath 1/Day courtesy of the Seal of Infernal Judgement. Might want to remember to use that on Breolia later.

[x] Not quite Bloody Mary...
 
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[x] Not quite Bloody Mary...

@Nevill
Unfortunatly Angelic Aspect is self-targeting, so we can't buff Cob with it.

@Goldfish
Since the total bonus of a +1 Bane weapon against its intended target is +3, does that mean it overcomes the Silver DR, by the table you just posted?
 
[x] Not quite Bloody Mary...

@Nevill
Unfortunatly Angelic Aspect is self-targeting, so we can't buff Cob with it.

@Goldfish
Since the total bonus of a +1 Bane weapon against its intended target is +3, does that mean it overcomes the Silver DR, by the table you just posted?
Yep. Cob is gonna filet that SOB.
BTW, Cob has Wrath 1/Day courtesy of the Seal of Infernal Judgement. Might want to remember to use that on Breolia later.
That provides a Morale bonus, which doesn't stack with the bigger bonus Cob is already getting from the Heroism spell. It would add a +1 bonus to damage, though. Using it depends on whether or not the time required to activate it is worth the lost attack. We'll have to see how the next rounds play out.
 
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Sad we missed out on bluff, but we can still fight!

[X] Goldfish

Only possible downside is elemental removing all evidence if she is burnt to dust.
 
Sad we missed out on bluff, but we can still fight!

[X] Goldfish

Only possible downside is elemental removing all evidence if she is burnt to dust.
The Elemental isn't likely to last long enough to actually destroy her. She's got too much HP, on top of a high AC, Blink, and Fast Healing. It just needs to keep her attention for a couple rounds and I'll be happy.
 
The Elemental isn't likely to last long enough to actually destroy her. She's got too much HP, on top of a high AC, Blink, and Fast Healing. It just needs to keep her attention for a couple rounds and I'll be happy.
Very fair point, she needs to take it out first before us if she doesn't want it to kill her and thus will at least keep her busy.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jun 11, 2024 at 2:36 AM, finished with 20 posts and 7 votes.

  • [X] Not quite Bloody Mary...
    -[X] Mina targets the Crepitus with her Slumber Hex. If the Crepitus is already dead by the time she can act, Mina instead uses Ear-Piercing Scream against Breolia.
    -[X] Kori uses use the Gem of Foe's Pyre to Summon a large fire elemental to attack Breolia.
    -[X] Sirim casts Haste on the party, leaving himself out of the effect if Kori has already Summoned the Elemental in favor of buffing it instead.
    -[X] Gorok and Cob move to engage the Crepitus. Gorok Charges it, Power Attacking with his axe (+7 +2 +2 +4 = +15 attack bonus, 1d12+13 damage). Cob attempts to Flank it in order to Sneak Attack using his Devil Bane Dagger (+12 +2 = +14 attack, 1d4+2d6+7 damage, +2 additional attack bonus, +3d6 Sneak Attack damage if he can successfully Flank it, and he will penalize it's attack bonus with his Debilitating Injury ability). They each use one of the rerolls from their Hermean Potential spells to assist their attacks, if necessary. Their attack bonuses increase by another +1 if Sirim's Haste spell is cast before they attack the Crepitus, and Cob will be able to attack twice.
    [X] Not quite Bloody Mary...
 
Arc 7 Post 30: Songs of Ruin
Songs of Ruin

21st of Lamashan 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

By your command the elemental roars to life on the other side of the well of blood twin pillars of flames leaping reaching to embrace the suspected sorceress into inferno. She pivots on one foot, then catches the stone with her claws, avoiding the first blow, but no matter her inhuman grace there's just no where she can step to avoid the second. Silks catch on fire, the vampire burns. Lo, her eyes burn too, like cold and wicked stars in deepest blackest void, and from that light without a word spills out, a ring of shimmering light that does not burn but freezes body and mind.

Breolia takes 5 Damage -> Now at 85/102 (Fire Resistance 5 Revealed)
Breolia Regeneration Heals 5 HP -> Now at 90/102


Aurora Borealis (Sp): At 9th level, you can create a sheet of cascading colors. This power acts as a wall of fire, but it inflicts cold damage and does not radiate heat. However, one side of the aurora designated by you fascinates creatures within 10 feet, up to a maximum of 20 HD of creatures. A Will save negates this fascinate effect. The save DC is 17. You may use this ability 10 rounds/day. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

Large Fire Elemental takes 24 Damage from Aurora Borealis -> Now at 36/60

Instinctively you close your eyes against the light. Alas that the others did not have the impulse, each frozen in place to watch the rippling hues of dancing colors as the devil cackles from the center of the pool and hurls a chaotic tangle of magical energies straight at you, stripping the mind ward that its mistress had failed to remove previously.

Gorok, Cob, and Mina have been Fascinated
Akorian's Protection from Evil Dispelled


As you look around wildly to shake the others awake, Gorok charges into battle with Pepper still clawing into his leg. Burned by Cold-fire Gorok isn't quite fast enough, the thing loops aside, tongue lolling out of its upside-down mouth in mockery.... right up until he is hit with thirty five pounds of leaping stabbing goblin that sends both of them tumbling into the blood below.

Gorok and Cob have been Awakened (by Pepper and Sirim respectively)
Gorok take 13 Damage from Aurora Borealis -> Now at 40/53
Crepitus takes 26 Damage -> Now at 2/28


"It's just a pit-spit goblin, kill it!" you hear Breolia curse as the elemental hammers on her again, spite driving the blows perfectly.

"Wake up!" you shout in Mina's ear, breaking the last of the enchantment.

"You, darkspawn, this isn't your fight step. away and you will not be harmed..." the voice, so soft, so reasonable, fills your world.

No, that's... you can't remember why you shouldn't listen, but there's a reason, you're sure of it... What was it? Why are you fighting? Why are you even here? To help some Andoran grandee? To find his probably already dead daughter?

Breolia takes 5 Damage -> Now at 85/102
Breolia Regeneration Heals 5 HP -> Now at 90/102

Mina has been shaken awake

Akorian has been Enchanted with passivity by Suggestion

"Kori, what's..." You watch bemusedly as Mina seems very worried about something... Maybe she should stop fighting too... before she turns her power and her song on the devil that had just managed to claw its way out of the pool of boiling blood, only to be sent into slumber. Gorok has no such peaceful means, hacking into the suspended sorceress... vampire? There was something about vampires being bad, something Mina told you. He tries to hit her with his axe, but she's not there. That doesn't feel fair to you, although he is trying to kill her so 'fair's' only worth as much as corpses as the saying goes.

A piteous scream rings out from the pool, Cob had gotten to the devil before he could wake.

Crepitus is Asleep
Crepitus receives a Coup de Grace -> Slain


"One chine to midnight, Lady Ascortus," Sirim speaks without words as his voice forms syllables like onto the whisper of the wind over the wide plains of Nidal, touching all your company, but not you oddly enough. All the company....

"Surrender, because you killed Serlax?" The vampire gives a mad laugh. "Little shade-worm, you think too much of your self and your master's pack of vagabonds. Is he not in my thrall?"

What...?

This time the elemental mistimes its furious flurry of blows. She's looking healthier than she was since the start of the battle. Why's she just waving at Gorok? Really, she should have spent more time disappearing. That axe might not bite as deep, but it's still an axe. A moment later you realize she was trying to dodge Mina's scream. How strange one can do that, you should learn that spell...

Breolia Regeneration Heals 5 HP -> Now at 95/102
Gorok's Protection from Evil Dispelled
Breolia takes 8 Damage -> Now at 87/102


"Die Dead-thing!" Cob screams as he jumps out of the blood pool, propelling himself off Gorok's shoulder to stab the distracted sorceress in the stomach. His second swing goes wide though, just by a hairsbreadth as she vanishes again.

Breolia takes 20 Damage -> Now at 67/102
Breolia is Disoriented: Takes a -2 penalty on Attack Rolls. When targeting Cob, the Attack Roll penalty is instead -4.


Again the strange distorted magics wash over you, this time from Sirim, though your attention is soon draw away as the elemental continues to try to set the lady of the house on fire, though she does not seem to want to burn. "And you, lizard, why do you come to my door, to kill and die neath roof of stone? Stand thou aside and you will not be harmed..."

Gorok heeds her. That's... reasonable you think.

Gorok has been Enchanted with passivity by Suggestion

Breolia takes 2 Damage -> Now at 65/102
Breolia Regeneration Heals 5 HP -> Now at 70/102


"You might want to consider that surrender, master wor..." the word dies in a crimson spewing gurgle as Cob stabs her in the throat, ripping and tearing until her dress is all red with blood. You watch as Mina motions with a staff and much to your amazement a second elemental appears on the vampire's other side, but even through a ruined throat she laughs again. "I can see through your tricks, hag's get!"

Breolia takes 55 Damage -> Now at 15/102 (One Crit Hit and one Regular Hit)
2 Charges of Mina's staff used


"Dispel one of the enchantments!" Sirim hisses.

"I'm not strong enough!" Mina sounds miserable... she shouldn't be miserable.

"Try!" the shadow mage hisses.

Breolia Regeneration Heals 5 HP -> Now at 20/102
Breolia takes 0 Damage from Elemental


"Little Goblin, won't you be good and stop poking me? I can find you all sorts of dogs to poke instead. Poke and kill, poke and eat, won't that be nice...?" she gurgles though a ruined throat.

Cob looks up at her, his face covered in blood...

Cob loses Protection vs Evil
Cob Will Save vs Quickened Charm (DC 19): 1d20+3 = 21 (Success)

"Rather stab you!" he screamed, jumping out of the blood pool to stab her twice more in the stomach, though only one of them connects. Somehow she's still hanging on by the barest thread.

There is terror in those dead eyes now, plain for all to see, but she does not waver, even the elemental manage to set her hair alight again.

Breolia takes 15 Damage -> Now at 5/102
Breolia Will Save not to break and run (DC 25): 1d20+13 =
25 (Success)
Breolia takes 3 Damage -> Now at 2/102


Mina is singing a spell of unraveling, a thing of subtle dread and power inescapable. The well of blood is churning, sloshing at the edges. Mina is singing a Song of Unraveling, it fills the stone chamber to bursting and beyond, dripping through the cracks in reality, pulling at impossible things.



Mina Dispel Check: 1d20+5 = 25 (Critical Success)... Blink: 1d100 (DC 51) = 44 (Failure)

All that's left is a corpse, dripping on the ceiling. All that's left is rage at a thousand plots undone. Heedless, she leaps at Mina, all pretense of grace and dignity forgotten, before a feral thing brandishing a dagger... a goblin's dagger stabs into the back of her neck, angling up. She splashes down, dead weight in truth...

Breolia takes 20 Damage

Breolia Ascortus Ancient Vampire Diabolist Slain
(All Characters gain 2,700 XP)

...and it's as if the blood on your face awakens you from a horrible dream. "What... what was I doing?" You look down at your hands, hands that had done nothing for most of the fight in horror.

The cold light fails a moment later, the elemental gutters, its rage spent. Leaving all of you without a wound on you in the sanctum of a monster, all too aware of just close you had come to being just five more victims.

"You were enchanted," Sirim is the first to answer you, sympathy you are not accustomed to hearing from him in his mind-voice. "I would say it grows less disturbing with experience, but that would be a lie."

"When were you caught?" Cob asks, skipping out of the pool.

For a moment it feels like Sirim will keep his silence, but slowly, almost awkwardly, he answers. "There exist inquisitors of the Midnight Lord who find it more instructive to make the penitent perform their own castigation. Alas, I have not yet had the chance to pay 'Blessed' Yrel back as you did her."

"She called me hag's get," Mina half whispers. troubled. "What did she... Should we take her head? She won't come back if we break the Blood Well, but that still feels..."

"We will need proof of what we found," Gorok says, pulling the savaged corpse out of the horrid well. He's right of course, but there are other matters to consider as well...

How thoroughly do you attempt to loot the mansion?

[] Look the corpse and look through the dungeon, see if you can find the girl Breolia was impersonating

[] Take anything that looks valuable on the way up

[] Case the whole house, take anything of value that fits in your bags

[] Write in


OOC: The reason she had to hit Cob with Charm, for anyone wondering, is that she could only quicken Charm, her highest spell slot was level 4.
 
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[] Look the corpse and look through the dungeon, see if you can find the girl Breolia was impersonating

[] Take anything that looks valuable on the way up

[] Case the whole house, take anything of value that fits in your bags

.....All of the above
 
Holy crap, that was rough. Despite the party taking very little damage overall, this fight was really close to turning into a disaster. Mind fuckery is scary. :o

Cob for MVP. He really fucked Breolia up.

Gorok loses all buffs (Protection vs Evil; Pass without Trace; Haste)
This isn't quite how Dispel Magic works in PF. Only a single spell can be dispelled per casting. When you target a creature with it, the spell attempts to Dispel the highest level effect on them, then the next, decreasing in level until one spell is removed. In Gorok's case, his Heroism and Haste spells would have needed to succeed in their Dispel checks before PfE was eligible for the Dispel.

It doesn't really affect anything in this fight, since Haste and Heroism could have simply made their Dispel checks while PfE failed its check. Just something to keep in mind in the future.

First things first, priority looting and searching our immediate surroundings. If nothing comes up that requires special attention, we work our way up.

[X] Loot the corpses of Breolia and Serlax, store them in our satchel for now, then search the dungeon. See if you can find the girl Breolia was impersonating. As we work our way up, we'll take anything that looks valuable.
-[X] Sirim and Mina are back on Detect Magic inspection detail, looking for hidden presences and magical auras while Cob searches for traps. Sirim will also check for hidden rooms or passages.
 
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The entire party does who knows what, looking at their navels in fascination; the stongest hitters barely scratch the skin of the vampire only for it to fast heal; and then there is Cob dealing the total of 121 damage.

I say he has the run of the house, all traps included. He more than earned that right.

I'd check the more heavily trapped rooms, those are indicative of the owner having something to hide in them. I also dearly want to know just what she was planning to do, and why she ran off to the blood well the first time we barged in. It doesn't look good for Eleonora.
Now that the mistress is dead and no one can aswer those questions, I wonder if we could catch and interrogate any imps still hanging around the house.

Again the strange distorted magics wash over you, this time from Sirim
Which spell was that?
Gorok loses all buffs (Protection vs Evil; Pass without Trace; Haste)
And that?
 
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Cob at this point is the GOAT of the party considering how many times he came in clutch on many encounters, battle and otherwise.

He is our main freaking DPS, considering how good he is at stabbing.

[X] Loot the corpses of Breolia and Serlax, store them in our satchel for now, then search the dungeon. See if you can find the girl Breolia was impersonating. As we work our way up, we'll take anything that looks valuable.
-[X] Sirim and Mina are back on Detect Magic inspection detail, looking for hidden presences and magical auras while Cob searches for traps. Sirim will also check for hidden rooms or passages.


Hopefully we find girl now that vamp is dead.
 
Bloody veils pierced by sight
Of one who did not fear the night
And lost down well in darkness ringed
Upon her face still beats the wind
This was the divination. I am not sure what it meant by 'upon her face still beats the wind'. Briolia did try to steal her identity just now, so whose face really was it?

Breolia was trying to get rid of the PfE, which she did.
She dispelled three spells?
This isn't quite how Dispel Magic works in PF. Only a single spell can be dispelled per casting.
Can it dispel multiple spells?
 
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