Evil is Too Mainstream IC

[Gaius]

"Ah, Salan Roka," Will nods, behaving as though he's heard the name, regardless of whether he has. "Got it. Closure'd be great on 'why,' but we got enough mysteries for one night.

"Speakin' of," he adds, "Glad we got some extra loo-- er, do-goodin' in, but we got a task to get back to. So, unless ya got some tips to dispense now, Swordy, or anyone's got anythin' else, let's get outta this sewer." The brawler starts toward the hole in the wall and prepares to put their new asset away, when a thought strikes him. "Also, got a name?" Followed by another thought that makes him smirk. "Or an inside voice?"

Spoiler: Knowledge check

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Does Will have the faintest idea on Roka, beyond what he's just heard? Let's find out if the untrained fellow does!
Knowledge (History/Whatever) : (1d20)[17]

[Archmage1]

Violet seems sad about needing to go back into the horrible sewer.

[Gaius]

Will notes Violet's mood and figures some cheering up is in order. "Look at it this way, Daisy. Sooner we get back in there, sooner we never haveta be in there again."

[Archmage1]

Violet still seems to be sad.
"I know, but... it just smells so bad!"

[Gaius]

"I know; it's still on me, remember?" Will makes another disgusted face at his pants, shoes, and the stench they carry. "Just countin' my lucky stars: bad as it is, 'least I'm not smellin' it with the nose I had five minutes ago."

[Archmage1]

Violet shakes her head.
"It's the same nose, it just looks different! but... if we have to..."
She flies over, near the exit, clearly not eager to go back into the stench.

[alanek2002]

"Don't worry violet! We can't be stuck in there for too much longer" Hedratis says as he flows through the opening back into the sewer, and winces when he sees his cubelet isn't there anymore. "Oh yeah... kinda need to tell it to stop... I hope there isn't anything edible at the end of the sewer. On the plus side, the walkway is clean."

[Archmage1]

The sad faerie follows back into the horrible sewer.

[Gaius]

Will snorts at Violet's, "It's the same," bit. "Yeah, firsthand experience says, 'nah.' 's different. Try it sometime."

After putting the sword away he clambers -- carefully! -- back through the opening. He immediately wrinkles his nose at the smell, setting off to balance down the narrow walkway. "Big plus side, alright," he agrees with Hedratis. Then pauses. "Wait, hold up. Ya can split off little you's to do whatever? An' they keep goin' on their own?" The prideful man actually sounds kind of impressed.

[Archmage1]

Violet shakes her head firmly at Will's foolish words.
"It's still your nose!"

[Gaius]

"Urgh, it ain't my human nose, an'--!" Will takes a deep calming breath. It's a bit less than calming, though, what with all the coughing and sputtering the noxious air makes him do. "... Just meant smells're stronger when I ain't human. Okay?"

[Troacctid]

"Oh, fine, I'll get it," says Jade, cleaning off Will's clothes with prestidigitation.

You all continue down the tunnel, and come to a larger area, about 40 feet wide. Two passageways extend from the north side of the room, although Jade's dancing lights don't provide enough ilumination to see what lays beyond them. Foul water and other detritus swirl in the center of the room, down through a thick iron grate. The sewage drains slowly, however, as if the grate or the tunnel below is severely clogged. The stench in this room is more nauseating than ever.

Suddenly, from the grate, an amorphous mass of eyes and mouths oozes forth, thick with fetid slime and filth. On seeing the party, all of its various mouths begin babbling loudly and incoherently.

Spoiler: OOC

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Act II, scene iii: Almost Out of the Sewers, or, I Thought Mouther's Day Was Last Week

Hey look, another combat already!

Initiatives:
Bartholomew: (1d20+7)[10]
Hedratis: (1d20+3)[22]
Jade: (1d20+7)[17]
Violet: (1d20+9)[11]
Will: (1d20+1)[21]
Monster: (1d20+1)[7]

Anyone with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) is also entitled to a monster knowledge check.

Bartholomew Knowledge (dungeoneering): (1d20+13)[30]
Jade Knowledge (dungeoneering): (1d20+2)[9]

"A gibbering mouther!" says Bartholomew. "Yuck! I hate those things!"

[Gaius]

Will sighs in relief. "Obliged, Ruby. 'tween this and Swordy, you're hereby forgiven for the thing ya said earlier." He then moseys along the wall, hoping the overall sewer situation gets better before it gets worse.

No such luck. His eyes widen at the repugnant thing that surfaces. "Sweet crap! I can see why, Bartie! Did the sewage just get a mind o' its own? Also eyes an' mouths?"

Freshly cleaned as his clothes are, Will's in no hurry to slosh through more sewage just to hurt the disgusting thing. He tries to get it to come to him. "C'mere, Chuckles! Got a present for ya!" He prepares to give it a hell of a kick if it gets close enough.

[alanek2002]

Hope this one goes better than last time... and hope it doesn't taste as bland as it looks.. Ignoring how disgusting the monster looks, Hedratis charges forth, shouting his races' ancient battle cry! "OM NOM NOM!"

Spoiler: OoC

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Hedratis moves forward, and attempts to grapple the gibbering mouther.
Touch attack: (1d20+8)[13]
Grapple: (1d20+16)[35]

Potentially:
Damage:(3d6+4)[19] + (3d6)[9]




edit: FFFFFFFFFFFFF

[Archmage1]

Knowing the real threat of the creature, Violet starts singing again, but this time, she doesn't sing of the winter, but instead her words seem to reinforce your sanity.
Of course, scared petals rarely stick around, in sight, and this one is no exception, darting off to hide behind one of the buttresses along the ceiling.

Spoiler: Action

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Violet's using Countersong. So, instead of your saving throws, you can use Violet's perform check. Which I certain is going to be a lot higher than your will save.
(1d20+20)[25] Perform, for countersong.
(1d20+28)[43] hide
(1d20+10)[18] move silently(With the penalty for singing included.

[Troacctid]

Jade illuminates the creature with a green corona of light, dazzling it, and Bartholomew fires off a shot from his blaster, hitting for 16 damage and leaving the gibbering mouther sickened.

Hedratis successfully grapples it.

The gibbering mouther babbles loudly, but the sound is rendered powerless by Violet's song. It emits a stream of acidic spittle, but rolls a natural 1 and doesn't come anywhere close to landing a hit on anyone. Then it attempts to escape the grapple, rolling a 13 for its grapple check.

While the first mouther struggles, a second one follows it out of the grate, oozing through the bars. Its gibbering is also negated by the countersong, but it spits two streams of acid, one at Bartholomew (17 vs touch, 2 damage) and one at Will (19 vs touch, 4 damage). Bartholomew curses loudly as the acid hits his eyes, blinding him. (Fort save vs. blindness for Will.) Then it sinks under the water (gaining cover), and it starts swimming slowly toward Will.

[Archmage1]

Violety continues singing, her sweet song easily countering the insanity of the mouthers.

[Gaius]

Will makes a new face at the newcomer. "Oh, good, another one. Don' worry! Still got plenty for your--!" He's then forced to raise a hand to his eyes from the acid. "Gah!" He does his best to get it out of his eyes and blink his way back to clear vision, but doesn't quite make it.

Irked and pained by his diminished sight, he decides to focus on detecting its coming. As such, he mostly limits further chatter, other than keeping that second Mouther's attention. Just as well: he does not want to get any of these fetid substances into his mouth. He likewise prepares to throw some crushing kicks at the thing once it gets close enough. Presuming it'll be a slippery one, particularly with so much trouble seeing it, he concentrates on landing a solid blow.

Spoiler: OOC

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On the blinding acid...
Fortitude: (1d20+14)[16]

EDIT: A negatory, I think. Blinded for 1d4 rounds.

On the merry havoc he seeks to wreak on it...
EDIT: Contingent on not missing out of hand for blindness, natch.

Attack 1: (1d20+15)[18]

Damage 1: (4d8+7)[22]

Wrongly presuming it's an ooze, Will expects Stunning Punch wouldn't work. Instead, he uses Concentrated Punch on the second blow. Just a quick reminder of your tweak, if a Concentration check makes a DC of the target's DC (19?), the next blow is a touch attack.

Concentrated Punch: (1d20+5)[19]

Attack 2: (1d20+10)[18]

Damage 2: (4d8+7)[30]

[Troacctid]

Will is blinded! So is Bartholomew. "Jade! Where did it go? I've got acid in my eyes!" he says.

"No prob, boss! Follow my voice!" Jade flies down to where the second gibbering mouther is swimming slowly toward Will, and hovers just above its square. "Right below me here at your 2 o'clock, boss! It's underwater!" she yells.

"Incoming blast!" shouts Bartholomew, aiming at the indicated location as best he can.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+9)[10] to hit for [roll]4d8+1d6[/roll] damage. 50% miss chance: (1d100)[75] (51 or better needed)

Will can also follow Jade's voice, but he has a 50% miss chance as well: (1d100)[4]

Bartholomew fumbles his shot badly and almost hits Jade instead of the monster (but she dodges out of the way). Will's punch would have been a good hit if he hadn't been aiming six inches to the left of the monster's actual location.

Jade sighs and casts faerie fire to dazzle the second mouther.

(Hedratis, then the monsters. Violet can also still take actions if she wishes, as no action is needed to maintain the song.)

[alanek2002]

"OM NOM NOM" Hedratis continues to nom the mouther inside him. Once it was paralyzed, he could move to help the others, but he can only hold one at a time.

Spoiler: OoC

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Grapple check: (1d20+16)[36]

Damage: (3d6+4)[16] + (3d6)[14] Acid

And, IIRC (3d6)[10] Acid for being inside me during the grapple.

DC 20 vs paralysis.

[Troacctid]

Paralysis shmaralysis. The mouther dies. Artist's rendition: X_x X_x X_x_X X_X_x_X_x_X

The second mouther fires another stream of acid at Bartholomew (which hits for 2 damage and blinds him...again), then charges Will (hit for 1 damage), attempting to establish a grapple and pull him underwater (15 on its grapple check).

Meanwhile, Hedratis hears a third gibbering mouther-shaped creature approaching the grate. However, it sounds like it must have started further off than the others, and if it continues at its current speed, it should emerge next round.

Spoiler: OOC

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Opposed grapple check for Will, and actions from everyone.

[alanek2002]

Hedratis, trusting in his party, turns transparent, and quietly moves over the grate, waiting for the next mouther.

Spoiler: OoC

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Hide: (1d20+28)[38]
Move Silently: (1d20+18)[31] (Note the battle penalty.)
Hedratis is hovering slightly above the water, if he can do so without leaving a gap large enough for the gibbering mouther to slip through. (I'm pretty sure he can, as the sewage is draining...
If not, he isn't completely on the ground, leaving a few inches of sewage to not have an obvious clear spot instead of drainage.

Transparent (Ex): [...] Creatures who fail to notice a cube and walk into it are automatically engulfed.

[Archmage1]

Still singing her sweet song, Violet remains out of sight.

[Gaius]

Will curses under his breath as his blows hit nothing but filthy water. He hears something surge through the water at him, but can't pinpoint it quick enough for it to matter. He clenches his teeth as its max clamps on, and then his expression grows more worried as it tries to use that mouth-hold to ooze over him. "Oh ho, the hells you are!" He wriggles his seized arm and tries to rip the monster off with his other.

Spoiler: Grapple Check

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(1d20+12)[29]

[Gaius]

With a grimace, Will wrenches his arm free from the mouther. "Gonna regret that, ya little puke," he snarls, rearing back his fist for a little payback. He tries to concentrate on striking where the awful thing was before it can ooze elsewhere.

Spoiler: OOC

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Blindness: (1d100)[35]

Attack 1: (1d20+15)[28]
Damage 1: (4d8+7)[32]

Concentrated Punch: (1d20+5)[8]

Attack 2: (1d20+10)[21]
Damage 2: (4d8+7)[26]

[Troacctid]

Will's first punch hits the air, but his second punch (by blind luck?) hits the monster, and he lands a solid blow. (Luckily, miss chance is rolled separately for each attack.)

Jade moves with the mouther, continuing to mark its position for Bartholomew, who was just getting the damn acid out of his eyes from the first time, fires another blast and misses again.

Gibbering mouther #2 makes a full attack against Will, bringing to bear a good half-dozen mouths to chomp at him. Blinded as he is, Will is unable to defend very effectively, and four of the mouths taste Will-flesh (1 damage each). Violet's harp starts quickly knitting the cuts closed, but the gibbering mouther gets four more attempts to establish a grapple. (Grapple checks, in order: 6, 21, 23, 18.) It also makes another spittle attack against Will, but this one misses with a natural 2.

Gibbering mouther #3 oozes out of the grate, starts babbling (negated once again by Violet's countersong), and is immediately engulfed by Hedratis.

Spoiler: OOC

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Four grapple checks from Will, damage from Hedratis, and turns from everyone.

[alanek2002]

Spoiler

Show

(3d6)[11] acid

"Come on will, it's biting you! How can you miss?" Hedratis says, no longer hiding from the gibbering mouther inside him. "You don't see me crying about being blind in combat!" [/snark] As he speaks, he continues to pummel the monster inside him.

Spoiler: OoC

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Grapple: (1d20+16)[29]
Damage: (3d6+4)[14] + (3d6)[10]

[Archmage1]

Violet continues singing her sweet song from her hiding place.

[Gaius]

Will cuts short his celebration at giving the thing a well-deserved wallop as the monster's meal-taking intensifies. He twists and wrests as best he can, grimacing audibly. Hedratis's color commentary proves unwelcome. "Shut up! Dealin' with one mouthy blob at a time!"

Spoiler: Grapple Checks

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1) Target: 6
(1d20+12)[18]

2) Target: 21
(1d20+12)[18]
EDIT: Grappled!

3) Target: 23
(1d20+12)[17]
EDIT: Doubly grappled!

4) Target: 18
(1d20+12)[23]

[Gaius]

Will finds that two of the thing's maws latch on securely to his side. Heedless of his efforts, it just keeps oozing steadily onto him. He snarls, "Get off!" punctuating it with the fiercest blows he can muster.

Spoiler: OOC

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Since the second mouth landed its grapple, I think the third's is just redundant. >.> Enh, leaving it open in case I'm mistaken and it's actually able to envelop him from that. Will should still be free to do violence on it, regardless.

Also, whoops, I did miss that last d100 last time. Won't do that twice, though!

Blindness 1: (1d100)[16]
Attack 1: (1d20+15)[30]
Damage 1: (4d8+7)[22]

Concentrated Punch: (1d20+5)[22]

Blindness 2: (1d100)[8]
Attack 2: (1d20+10)[24]
Damage 2: (4d8+7)[28]

Whiff, whiff. While on him, no less. A proud day for Will this isn't.

"Dammit, Heddy! Ya jinxed it!"