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Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

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Here's what I've got so far. I only want to play along with Breolia just long enough to coordinate a plan of attack to take into account the likely possibility of Invisible enemies, especially Imps. We really need to get access to See Invisibility soon.

Between being underground and potentially having to fight one or more Evil Outsiders, this is a good opportunity for Gorok to shine. Between his Favored Terrain and Favored Enemy abilities, he's got some pretty nice bonuses going in addition to Heroism.

[X] Play along with Breolia for a moment.
-[X] Relay a message to the others via Sirim's telepathy that this is Breolia.
-[X] Aloud, Kori Bluffs, "What in the Nine Hells is going on here and where is the damned strong room? He didn't say anything about a dungeon." To Breolia, he asks, "Who are you and why are you down here?"
-[X] Mina and Sirim begin searching for hidden presences using Detect Magic while Kori talks, including the adjacent chamber assuming the walls between them are not too thick for the spell to penetrate. They'll relay what they find to everyone.
--[X] Once they have had a chance to examine the dungeon, Sirim will coordinate the group's response depending on what they find.
---[X] If there are Invisible enemies, Mina targets their space with her Glitterdust spell and Kori targets Breolia's cell with a Burst of Radiance spell. They overlap their spells if possible. Sirim casts his Hypnotic Pattern spell into the open doorway leading into the adjacent chamber.
---[X] If there are no hidden enemies, Sirim uses Shadow Enchantment to cast Charm Person (DC 18) on Breolia. If it fails, Mina uses her Slumber Hex against her. If that also fails, Kori hits her with a Boneshaker spell. If Breolia is an Undead, she will take no damage from Kori's spell, and he'll attempt to force her to slam herself against the bars of her cell as an Immediate Action. If Sirim's spell succeeds, Mina and Kori will turn their attention to watching out for additional enemies while Sirim interrogates the Charmed Breolia.
---[X] Cob and Gorok remain on guard, ready to respond to hidden attackers or any that attempt to sneak up behind us or from the adjacent chamber.
 
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DragonParadox said:
OOC: Boy am I glad those rolls are public. I would not blame anyone for calling bullshit with how spot on they were.
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DragonParadox said:
??? Wisdom to notice the Unntural Shadow: 1d20+2 = 23 (Success)
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And while we are on the subject of rolls, I had to look inside to see how she managed to roll 21 on d20. Alas, there is no miracle; the bonus is supposed to be +4.

So. The last time we were here, Briolia made a hasty retreat downstairs, indicating something important there. Now, while she is waiting for another intrusion and her house is on high alert, she spends her time here of all places, masquerading as Eleonora. Why is that?

She thought that whoever broke into her house earlier was after the young woman, and that they would return. Does she expect suspicion from Lord Eduamort? If so, what's her plan for dealing with it? Does she think if this party is killed they will stop coming, or does she plan to deal with the problem at the source, perhaps by being delivered back and making a thrall out of Eduamort?

Goldfish said:
-[X] Aloud, Kori Bluffs, "What in the Nine Hells is going on here and where is the damned strong room? He didn't say anything about a dungeon." To Breolia, he asks, "Who are you and why are you down here?"
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She expects whoever broke into the house to know Eleonora. That's the whole point of glamouring herself after the woman. I don't know what story we want to present by pretending otherwise.
 
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Nevill said:
She expects whoever broke into the house to know Eleonora. That's the whole point of glamouring herself after the woman. I don't know what story we want to present by pretending otherwise.
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The only point of it is to try to confuse her for a few moments. This isn't intended to be a long con, after all, just a distraction.
 
Not Bone Burn?

We kinda want a confirmation whether Briolia is undead or not before we settle on which spells to employ against her.
 
xpentakill said:
Guys can we throw a fungal stun vial into the cell here?
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We could, but those are an extremely limited resource, and not something I would want to waste before it is necessary.
Nevill said:
Not Bone Burn?

We kinda want a confirmation whether Briolia is undead or not before we settle on which spells to employ against her.
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Bone Burn still acts as a flask of Alchemist's Acid, so it won't really reveal anything useful here.

Using some spells on her here isn't just to test whether or not she's Undead. Sirim's Shadow Enchantment spell is pretty powerful; DC 18 is nothing to sneeze at. If it snags her, this all becomes much easier. If it doesnt, we still have Mina's Slumber Hex, and only if that also fails do we resort to Kori's Boneshaker spell. That will either hurt her quite a bit, even if she makes her Fortitude save, revealing she's a living creature, or do no damage at all, showing her to be Undead, while possibly forcing her to smash herself into the cell bars.

If she ends up being Undead, the only spell wasted here will be Sirim's Shadow Enchantment.

And this is only if the scenario calls for her to be focused on. The other two possibilities have Kori targeting her with Burst of Radiance, and that's going to hurt her regardless. She's guaranteed to take 5d4 damage and will be Blinded if she fails a Reflex save. Even if she saves, she'll still be Dazzled, but it will be much harder for her to make that save if Sirim's Binding Darkness gets her first.
 
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Wow, the dice gods were with us today! Still hope we can actually find girl soon, since got excited there for a second.

[X] Goldfish
 
Goldfish said:
Here's what I've got so far. I only want to play along with Breolia just long enough to coordinate a plan of attack to take into account the likely possibility of Invisible enemies, especially Imps. We really need to get access to See Invisibility soon.

Between being underground and potentially having to fight one or more Evil Outsiders, this is a good opportunity for Gorok to shine. Between his Favored Terrain and Favored Enemy abilities, he's got some pretty nice bonuses going in addition to Heroism.

[X] Play along with Breolia for a moment.
-[X] Relay a message to the others via Sirim's telepathy that this is Breolia.
-[X] Aloud, Kori Bluffs, "What in the Nine Hells is going on here and where is the damned strong room? He didn't say anything about a dungeon." To Breolia, he asks, "Who are you and why are you down here?"
-[X] Mina and Sirim begin searching for hidden presences using Detect Magic while Kori talks. They'll relay what they find to everyone.
--[X] Once they have had a chance to examine the dungeon, Sirim will coordinate the group's response depending on what they find.
---[X] If there are Invisible enemies and they are all within the potential AoE of Mina's Glitterdust spell, she'll target them. If they are in multiple locations, Sirim will target one with his Hypnotic Pattern spell while Mina uses Glitterdust and Kori target Breolia's cell with a Burst of Radiance spell. Sirim prioritize the area that doesn't appear to contain hidden Undead, based on whether or not an aura of Necromancy was found.
---[X] If there were Invisible enemies all within a single area for Mina to target, Sirim uses his Binding Darkness ability against Breolia while Kori targets her with a Burst of Radiance spell.
---[X] If there are no hidden enemies, Sirim uses Shadow Enchantment to cast Charm Person (DC 18) on Breolia. If it fails, Mina uses her Slumber Hex against her. If that fails, Kori hits her with a Boneshaker spell. If Breolia is an Undead, she will take no damage from Kori's spell, and he'll attempt to force her to slam herself against the bars of her cell as an Immediate Action.
---[X] Cob and Gorok remain on guard, ready to respond to hidden attackers or any that attempt to sneak up behind us.
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When examining the dungeon do you mean just this room, or do you want to go through the door to the east, opposite to the stairs you came down though? There is an open stone door there while the North and South walls of this rectangular room have two cells each only one of which is occupied.
 
DragonParadox said:
When examining the dungeon do you mean just this room, or do you want to go through the door to the east, opposite to the stairs you came down though? There is an open stone door there while the North and South walls of this rectangular room have two cells each only one of which is occupied.
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I didn't realize there was another room down here.

So if I'm reading this right, the open stone door is directly across the dungeon on the side opposite to where we entered?
 
DragonParadox said:
Yes.
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Okay, I don't think the plan needs to change much. I've updated it a bit to take into account the new info.

The emphasis right now is on acting quickly before Breolia or her minions can get the jump on us. We probably only have a minute or two remaining on our PfE spells, so dragging this out just makes things even more dangerous.

Hopefully we'll be able to respond to whatever unforeseen circumstances arise.

Anyone have any suggestions for changes to the plan?

What are the rough dimensions of this chamber, DP?
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jun 10, 2024 at 2:52 AM, finished with 18 posts and 4 votes.
  • [X] Play along with Breolia for a moment.
    -[X] Relay a message to the others via Sirim's telepathy that this is Breolia.
    -[X] Aloud, Kori Bluffs, "What in the Nine Hells is going on here and where is the damned strong room? He didn't say anything about a dungeon." To Breolia, he asks, "Who are you and why are you down here?"
    -[X] Mina and Sirim begin searching for hidden presences using Detect Magic while Kori talks, including the adjacent chamber assuming the walls between them are not too thick for the spell to penetrate. They'll relay what they find to everyone.
    --[X] Once they have had a chance to examine the dungeon, Sirim will coordinate the group's response depending on what they find.
    ---[X] If there are Invisible enemies, Mina targets their space with her Glitterdust spell and Kori targets Breolia's cell with a Burst of Radiance spell. They overlap their spells if possible. Sirim casts his Hypnotic Pattern spell into the open doorway leading into the adjacent chamber.
    ---[X] If there are no hidden enemies, Sirim uses Shadow Enchantment to cast Charm Person (DC 18) on Breolia. If it fails, Mina uses her Slumber Hex against her. If that also fails, Kori hits her with a Boneshaker spell. If Breolia is an Undead, she will take no damage from Kori's spell, and he'll attempt to force her to slam herself against the bars of her cell as an Immediate Action. If Sirim's spell succeeds, Mina and Kori will turn their attention to watching out for additional enemies while Sirim interrogates the Charmed Breolia.
    ---[X] Cob and Gorok remain on guard, ready to respond to hidden attackers or any that attempt to sneak up behind us or from the adjacent chamber.
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Arc 7 Post 29: Tearing the Red Veil
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    • Tearing the Red Veil ​

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

    Mind sent spinning though all the possibilities that had caused her to wait down here: Had those poor sorry puppets' banging been heard after all, had she been expecting someone to look for Eleonora? you inform Sirim of what you had found, hoping that he can guide the others through an ambush. Aloud you curse and spit on the ground, dry as your mouth might feel. "What in the Nine Hells is going on here and where is the damned strong room? He didn't say anything about a dungeon."

    Cob's ears swivel, Mina flinches back, but none of them give the game away aloud.

    "Who are you and why are you down here?" you bark out.

    "Please, you must get me away from here, away from her. My father is rich he'll pay you more than you can find in any vault!" The look of wide eyed terror in hose dark eyes is as convincing as it gets, almost enough to make you doubt yourself, until that is you see her fingers dance lightly on things that aren't there. One might have thought it mere nervousness, but you've done it enough times yourself to recognize the mannerisms of a magician considering what spell to draw from mind into being.

    Akorian Bluff vs Sense Motive: 29 vs 31

    "No sign of any watchers," Sirim speaks inwardly.

    "Open the door and let us be away from this place quickly!" Power passes over you, like a curtain of soft perfumed steam boiling away the soft silence of nature than Mina had laid to keep you from being traced, though the wards upon your mind still linger.

    Breolia Dispel Attempt vs Protection from Evil; Pass without Trace: 11, 20 (Failure, Success)

    "Who is she and what does she seek?" the shadow mage manifests, weaving his own enchantment from the substance of his being.

    "What are y...?"

    From Mina comes a hex of slumber that had downed many a foe, but the sorceress pays it no mind. Bones can be read and bones can be moved, living or dead. "If you would pass strike it open!"

    Now she reacts, though not drawn forth by the spell, instead her face contorts into an expression of pure contempt, beyond even rage as one might behold a fistful of maggots writhing from a corpse. The glamor shatters around her in a corona of unnatural colors to reveal her standing in a silk robe and slippers to match. "Naughty, naughty you don't give orders, poppet!" from mockery to sorcery her words flow, form growing indistinct as she flings herself through the wall of the cell, passing through, like a ghost.

    Breolia Fortitude Save: 1d20+12 = 19 (Success)

    "Ooh, finger!" Cob points. One of her digits had indeed gotten stuck in the stone... not that she seems to have noticed.

    "No Prisoners/Destroy!" Sirim's sending is barely a word, more killing intent hurled into the thoughts of all, but Gorok does not hesitate, charging parallel to the line of cells, the old Taldan blade already moving when she emerges though the dungeon door, striking her once, twice in her escape, though blows that should have torn limbs off barely scratch pale flesh, blood seeping slowly from the wounds. Faster than she has any right to be she rushes though the stone door

    Blink to pass through solid objects: 17, 23 (Failure, Failure) -> Breolia Takes 12 Damage -> Now at 90/102
    Breolia takes 7 Damage -> Now at 83/102 (DR revealed as 10 ???)

    "After her!" you call as all five of you run the length of the dungeon... only to stop in your tracks at the threshold of the chamber. Circular about twenty paces across it may have been a place of worship once. There was still an altar against the back wall upon which were laid all manner of steel instruments and on that wall what seemed at first to be a portrait of Breolia herself, but was in fact a mirror shimmering silver. The real portrait was on the wall above you, the real Breolia was clinging to the ceiling by her silk slippers a crossbow in one hand a spell in the other, but it was under her covering the whole center of the room that the real horror lay, a well of blood, slowing red as though just spilled.

    "Oh," behind you Mina gasps as though something had struck her in the chest, a look of dreadful recognition on her face. "Belle Dame sans Merci... the Beautiful Dead. They sacrifice the living and the dead for their youth and power."

    Mina Knowledge (Religion): 1d20+12 = 32 (Critical Success)

    As she raises her hand to strike or to bless Breolia calls imperiously. "Serlax defend me!"

    A small, gaunt humanoid creature with an oversized saurian head and a tail and sporting hooves in devilish manner bursts out of the blood well, covered in the foul stuff. Yet even though the blood dozens of garish gold runes burning upon its hide. Its fingers and toes end in razor-sharp claws, and a wide mouth beneath incongruously intelligent eyes bristles with rows of tiny needle teeth.

    "Ware the devil, work no spells against it!" Mina barely manages to get out the words before battle is joined

    Mina Knowledge (the Planes): 1d20+12 = 31 (Success)

    How do you fight?

    [] Kill the devil first, its mistress seems to favor enchantments, you trust your wards and protections

    [] Kill Breolia, you can already see the wounds starting to heal.

    [] Write in battle plan

    OOC: And here we have it... the reason she had vampire killing kit in her bug out bag is that she needs to kill one of them to make a new blood well and obviously she can't take the old one with her on the run. Tactically Breolia is on the ceiling thanks to her slippers which means the only way to hit her in Melee for a medium creature is to step into the blood-well. Cob cannot hit her at all without jumping, she still has blink and expeditious retreat on but no other buffs. Also since she has been casting spells you can guess she's a Sorcerer Creature.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Well shit, that's a powerful foe for a level 5 party without blessed weapons.

    Tactically I'd say kill the devil first. It's much easier to bring down, particularly with Cob's silver dagger, and if we don't kill it, it can counterspell or dispel our stuff, making us much more vulnerable to the Vampire.
     
    A spell-turning devil with 28hp?

    Cob, get ze flammenwerfer-- I mean, the Bane dagger.

    What to do with Breolia, though?
     
    The dice giveth and the dice taketh. That was a good Bluff roll Kori made, but Breolia had an even better Sense Motive roll to counter it.

    The vampire hunting kit makes so much sense now. Hindsight is a bitch like that.

    Mina doesn't have much she can really use against Breolia right now. Her Ear-Piercing Scream spell could inflict a bit of damage and maybe Daze her for 1 round, but Breolia has very high saving throw bonuses and the Blink spell makes it even more unlikely that anything will hit her. Better for Mina to use her Slumber Hex on the Devil. It has a low Will save, and her Hex is a supernatural ability rather than a spell or spell-lile ability, meaning it is not subject to Spell Turning or spell resistance. Even if the effect only knocks it out for a second before Cob and Gorok start fighting it, that will make the melee exchange much simpler.

    Sirim doesn't have much he can currently use against Breolia, either. He could attempt a Dispel Magic against her, but Blink makes that complicated and the chances of success are only middling. He could also try to Counterspell the next thing she casts, but that's a bit too reactive for my tastes in a fight like this. Better for him to cast Haste ASAP. It's an amazing buff for combat, but it's also a 3rd level spell, which means it is targeted first when someone casts a Dispel Magic spell at you. I would rather someone lose their Haste buff instead of Protection from Evil, if Breolia tries that again or the Devil uses it's Dispel Magic SLA.

    Kori could attempt to hit Breolia with a spell, but that has the same issues as Mina and Sirim, and he doesn't have anything worth using against the Devil that wouldn't either hurt him or the rest of the party. Instead, his time is best spent using the gem to sic the Large Fire Elemental on Breolia. She isn't fire resistant at all, and as a Large creature with a reach of 10 feet, it will be able to easily attack her on the ceiling without having to wade through the Blood Pool. Blink can only help so much in this case, and the Elemental should at least be able to keep her distracted for a while.

    Gorok is using his axe because it's a better weapon for this fight. More base damage and a higher attack bonus. Between his buffs and the +4 attack and damage bonus he gets against Evil Outsiders, the Devil's DR barely matters. Cob isn't using his newly looted dagger because his Devil Bane Dagger is a better choice here, even if it doesn't bypass the thing's DR since it will bypass the Devil's DR thanks to it's effective +3 bonus against them.

    [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.
     
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    Okay, so for the math, the Bane dagger has an effective 2+2d6 more damage and 1 point higher AB than the Silver Dagger, so it's better despite not piercing the DR.
    Cob goes stabby with his Bane Dagger.

    Goldfish said:
    -[X] Kori uses use the Gem of Foe's Pyre to Summon a large fire elemental to attack Breolia.
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    That would have to run into the bloodpool then?
    I hope that being in liquid doesn't damage the elemental, but on the other hand fighting in boiling blood is pretty metal.

    And man, I know objectively that Enchantment and Illusion are cool schools and all that, but there comes a time when it would be nice if your Wizard could Blast a bit.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    That would have to run into the bloodpool then?
    I hope that being in liquid doesn't damage the elemental, but on the other hand fighting in boiling blood is pretty metal.
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    It shouldn't have to. It's Large-sized, so it should easily be able to reach Breolia without getting into the pool. A Reach of 10 feet means it can reach 10 feet beyond it's own space.
    Artemis1992 said:
    And man, I know objectively that Enchantment and Illusion are cool schools and all that, but there comes a time when it would be nice if your Wizard could Blast a bit.
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    Yeah, that's an issue we'll have to work around somewhat often. Something to keep in mind when we select spells going forward.
     
    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. I am not sure why Gorok has better damage with his axe than his falchion.
     
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