[LPF] Bats in the Belfry


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[sblock=Link]http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/chases

It is from the PFSRD, the first result that comes up when you search chases. No wonder we were confused.

Blah, I say just keep rolling - you know the modifiers I am sure - until we find out what happens and let us know so we can post descriptive posts of our efforts. Aressa goes full speed after him until he gets away. Otherwise this could potentially take ages.

Honestly it would be a lot more practical to give up, I just can't justify it in character yet.[/sblock]
 
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Loose tiles don't seem to bother Aressa in the slightest; if one foot slips she has three more to keep balance and keep moving. The sloped roof gives her a bit of trouble but she just digs in her claws and scrambles up more by sheer force of will than any other means. She's only needs for the Tengu to make one slight misstep so she can catch up and pounce.

Izzik wracks his brain to remember how the buildings in this area were laid out. He hasn't spent much time off the main streets but he manages to remember (or make lucky guesses) which way he needs to go to keep in the chase.

Syldar seems to know exactly which way to go but is having difficulty in directing the dancing light where she needs it to be. While she has keen eyesight, the light is too far and the darkness in the alleys too deep for it to benefit her much.

The Tengu continues his mad flight over the rooftops almost losing his balance as he runs across a narrow ledge (DC 15). When he gets to a wall (DC 25) he manages to climb partway up but slips and falls. He lands hard on the roof below.

[sblock=OOC]
AF, if you want Izzik to full out follow in round four you have to make a Perception check. I could make it for you but I prefer you make your own checks. Until I get a check I'm going to assume Izzik only attempts to move one 'card'.

At the end of round four these are the standings:
O --> Aressa (R), Izzik (G), Syldar (G) --> O --> Tengu (R)

Round Five:
Aressa needs to navigate through a thin ledge and/or a gap in a wall:
Acrobatics DC 20
Escape Artist DC 15


Izzik and Syldar need to navigate through a narrow canal and/or a rubble-strewn street:
Swim DC 10
Acrobatics DC 15
[/sblock]
[sblock=Combat]
Combatants posted in init order
Code:
[U]Character         AC  HP  InHand/Condition[/U]
Syldar            16   8  l.bow/none
Leanan            15   4  none/none
Xan               18  10  c.bow/none
Xan's eidolon     12  11  none/none
[color=red]Tengu1[/color]            15 [COLOR=Red]-12[/COLOR]  s.bow/[I][COLOR=Red]dead[/COLOR][/I]
Leonion           19  11  none/none
Heather           12   [COLOR=Yellow]5[/COLOR]  staff/none
[color=red]Tengu2[/color]            15 [COLOR=red]-10  [/COLOR]s.bow/[COLOR=red]dead[/COLOR]
Izzik             15   9  none/none
[color=red]Tengu3[/color]            15 [COLOR=Red]-14[/COLOR]  s.bow/[color=red]dead[/color]
Aressa            [COLOR=RoyalBlue]18[/COLOR]    [color=yellow] 10[/color]  none/[COLOR=RoyalBlue][I]mage armor[/I][/COLOR]
Tengu4            15   [color=yellow]6[/color]  s.bow/[I]none[/I]
[/sblock]
 
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[sblock=OOC]
I'm sorry that you are uncomfortable with the way I've handled this. I have a question for you: If we were playing face to face and I rolled behind a DM's screen would you question it? In fact, the npc did make his skill checks; I just made them while working on the chase scene in my living room with real dice.



Again, I'm sorry you don't like the way I'm handling the end of this encounter. Aressa can shout "this way" or something like it, and I would give you a bonus to your Perception roll. The npc hasn't auto-succeeded on anything you are assuming he has.


Earlier, the GM was using the dice roller for all of the NPC rolls, so I think we both assumed the lack of posted rolls meant that there was no roll. I know that it didn't occur to me that it might be the result of a different GM.

It had looked like there was no way we could succeed at the chase. If the NPCs are rolling it's possible and many of my complaints are voided.

Your line of sight issues are a direct result of the decisions you made earlier in the combat; it's not fair to blame me for that.
I am fine with not currently having line of sight. When I posted the turn, I was not sure if I did (and if the lack was due to barriers, distance or both). Since Syldar would know if she could see the Tengu, I posted what she would do for either case. Your response appeared to only address the negative case and did not say anything about what effect the lights have.

Since (I think) the Tengu is fairly far away, possibly on the other side of the roof and may have even gone past a branch point, it's perfectly reasonable that the lights don't illuminate it. OTOH, if the Tengu is on Syldar's side of the roof, there were other choices on where it could be and it is within range of the lights, I would expect that they would show the Tengu (until it moves). You have a much better idea of the geography and the location of everyone than I do, so a description of why it fails (at the level of Syldar's knowledge) would be nice. E.g., "the lights scan the rooftop, but find nothing" (probably because the Tengu is on the other side or too far away) or "the lights scan over several connected houses but find nothing" (above reasons, or the rooftops branch and the Tengu might be on a different branch).


It comes down to this: do you trust me to be a fair DM? It seems the answer to that question is 'no' and that isn't much encouragement for me to continue this game. Frankly, at this point, I feel like stepping down and letting HolyMan finish when he returns.
In short, yes. There were some misunderstandings, partly because we were assuming you were doing everything like HolyMan while you were actually doing some things in a different but also acceptable manner.

From my point, it looked like the chase was being set up so that we had our choice of how to fail. While a GM can fiat that we fail, it's much more fun if we have some (even small) chance of success and, if we must fail, I at least would prefer a quick "and he gets away" rather than a complicated, days long scene.

[/sblock]
 

Aressa attempts to catch the Tengu by hurrying across the slippery tiles with feline ease and looming over the Tengu with a malevolent leer. Meanwhile Izzik stops short at the thought of having to get wet and attempts to negotiate the rubble strewn street instead.

"Aressa where are you? How warm am I?"


"This way idiot."

[sblock=OOC]If Aressa can she will attack, but I don't think she can the tiles preventing a charge. She will get next to the Tengu and hopefully finish it off with attacks of opportunity - I think she still gets the bardic music effects to right? It was 5 rounds after it finished in 3.5 what is it in PF.[/sblock]
 
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Syldar looks at the canal and the street. "What did they say about swimming in armor? Sounds like a great idea to me." she says, jumping into the canal. She starts swimming in what she hopes is the right direction, shouting out encouragement. At least, until she realizes that shouting with your mouth under water is a bad idea.

[sblock="Bardic Music"]In pathfinder, it lasts for zero rounds after the performance ends, barring feats that Syldar does not have. So no bonus. [/sblock]
 
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[sblock=OOC]Unless I'm totally misinterpreting the +2 cumulative to skill checks based on increased speed, Aressa would have a +8 modifier on her Escape Artist check (not counting whatever her check normally is). EDIT: Sorry, I got confused for a moment. +2 for each 10 feet of speed better than the baseline, not a cumulative +2 for each skill check that she faces. So it would be +2 on all skill checks not +2 on the first, +4 on the second, +6 on the third, etc. Also, each 'card' is a 30 ft. section so she would still be too far from the Tengu to gain AoO when he stands up unless she makes that second skill check.

Ditto what udalrich said re:bardic performance.

I'll expand this post when I'm sure I have all the necessary dice roles.[/sblock]
 
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Syldar struggles to swim the canal. Water soaks her clothing and weighs her down more than she expected. Though she may have inadvertently swallowed a bit of canal water she is in no danger of drowning.

Izzik has trouble navigating the alley in the dark. Crates are stacked nearly everywhere and where they aren't the broken boards of broken crates lie scattered. He careens from pile to pile and into a stack that topples into his path.

Aressa flies over the rooftops like an angel of vengeance. The thin ledge proves to be no obstacle and she takes it at speed. She takes advantage of a gap between two walls to pull up behind the Tengu and when he falls from the wall he lands at Aressa's feet.

The Tengu leaps to his feet and snaps at Aressa with his beak.

[sblock=OOC]Since Syldar & Izzik both failed their checks they'll have to face the same obstacle they faced this turn on their next turn (unless Aressa finishes things, then the chase will be done and you can pass the obstacles automatically). Since Aressa made both of her checks she can advance three cards though the Tengu is only two ahead. It still takes a full round action for her to get there. Regardless, the result is that Aressa has caught the Tengu.

When the Tengu stands he provokes an AoO from Aressa. If she hits and does enough damage then the Tengu won't get his beak attack.

Current standings:
O --> Izzik (G), Syldar (G) --> O --> Aressa (R) + Tengu (R)[/sblock]
[sblock=Combat]
Combatants posted in init order
Code:
[U]Character         AC  HP  InHand/Condition[/U]
Syldar            16   8  l.bow/none
Leanan            15   4  none/none
Xan               18  10  c.bow/none
Xan's eidolon     12  11  none/none
[color=red]Tengu1[/color]            15 [COLOR=Red]-12[/COLOR]  s.bow/[I][COLOR=Red]dead[/COLOR][/I]
Leonion           19  11  none/none
Heather           12   [COLOR=Yellow]5[/COLOR]  staff/none
[color=red]Tengu2[/color]            15 [COLOR=red]-10  [/COLOR]s.bow/[COLOR=red]dead[/COLOR]
Izzik             15   9  none/none
[color=red]Tengu3[/color]            15 [COLOR=Red]-14[/COLOR]  s.bow/[color=red]dead[/color]
Aressa            [COLOR=RoyalBlue]18[/COLOR]    [color=yellow] 10[/color]  none/[COLOR=RoyalBlue][I]mage armor[/I][/COLOR]
Tengu4            15   [color=yellow]6[/color]  none/[I]none[/I]
[/sblock]
[sblock=Roll Notes]Beak damage is 1d3. No way to roll 1d3 so I chose to do 1d6 and reroll if it came up a one. I started to do this before I confirmed the critical but I remembered and changed it to a crit confirmation roll; I just forgot to uncheck that reroll ones box. Because of that I rerolled the crit confirmation roll. Anyway, that's the reason for the odd roll stuck in there.[/sblock]
 
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