Rise of the Runelords–Nualia

Campaign Journal

Session 9:

1. Date: 2012 Jul 13
   1. PCs: Camla, Derrik, Gragdar, Vaelmorn, Miyamoto
2. Thistletop
   1. During the middle of the night, they spot a well armed human fleeing across the bridge. He is taken captive by threats of cutting the bridge.

1. He tells them his name is Orik and he wantss no further part of Nualia’s crew; especially after seeing the massacre of the goblins by the heroes.
2. He describes the ritual sacrifices that Nualia does. He requests they spare Lyrie. He is willing to go face justice.
3. They tie him up and leave Shal to guard him.
1. Goblins redux (and Lyrie!)
   1. Crossing back, they discovered the animated corpses of the goblins in the throne room. Entering in, they encounter a Sorceress, who is stationed there to guard against another incursion. Her scorching ray greets Vaehrun as they enter. Her magical attacks greatly injure the group, but she is taken captive.
   2. A fierce debate arises as to her fate. She is allowed to live, determined by the flip of a coin. She is tied up and left on the isle side of the bridge.

1. Nualia
   1. Not wanting to give Nualia time to become alerted, they set off in search for her.
   2. They quickly search a capel to Lamashtu and move on.
   3. Descending, they find themselves in an ancient complex within the isle. The entire level appears to be canted, and the first room shows several statues that have toppled over. In addition, a pair of severed heads on spikes at the far end of the room turn and watch as they make their way forward.
   4. Within the exiting corridor, Camla detects a trap on a pair of statues. Sending forth Koruvus’ skeleton, they watch helplessly as a pair of portcullis slam down, subjecting it to the slashes of ancient weapons, before falling open to a pit beneath filled with spikes.
   5. Beyond, they find a small room within which waits an incensed Nualia flanked by a pair of dogs. “HOW DARE YOU INTRUDE!!” she screams at them as the hounds begin their attack. Her powerful sword blow cuts down Vartha’s skeleton in one slash; the dogs’ unearthly howl sends Gragdar fleeing in fear while Vaehrun is almost cut down by another swing of the magicked sword – he is only able to withdraw when his shield bash forces her to stumble back a few feet. When the drow tries to conceal the room in darkness to gain advantage, she banishes it with a wave of her clawed hand. “HOW DARE YOU INTRUDE!!!” Another howl sends Miyamoto fleeing in panic, his club dropped at his feet. A rout is avoided when Camla and Derrick step up to shore up the faltering line; Camla summons forth a skeletal champion behind Nualia – providing just enough distraction that Derrick is able sneak up and use Lyries’ wand of Shocking Grasp to send a bolt of pure electricity into the wayward Aasimar. Screaming at the sudden pain, her eyes lock onto the paladin and memories of her childhood tortures at their hands feeds her anger. “Camla. Derrik,” she utters, as the fury of the sword and claw dig into Derrik. The paladin uses all the force of his faith to remain standing, shored up by Camla’s healing to buy time for the others to catch their breath. Summoning the deeper darkness again, Vhaerun provides cover for Gragdar to once again use his connection to the negative energies to drain her life. She responds in kind. But the wear of the fighting has taken its toll on her, as she finally drops with a series of blows that find their home.
   6. Upon her last breath, the heroes are assaulted by a wave of emotions; drawn into her death throes, they remember. They remember the fear of the dark, and the man who took her in. They remember the stares and murmurs and finger point by everyone wherever they went. They remember the whispered words murmured at each passing. They remember – was that Camla? – who plucked at her hair. They remember the shoving and rhymes – “Nualia, Nualia, girl with no mum; Nualia, Nualia, dad all gone; Nualia, Nualia, girl with purple eyes; Nualia, Nualia, beware her touch!” They remember the questions and requests – do your tears really cure warts? could you touch this? Could you kiss that? The varisians were always the worst. They remembered watching as their peers snuck their first kisses; and how no boy would talk with her. They remembered the giggling as they walked past. They remembered the young Varisian man who first told her she was wonderful and beautiful and special. They remember Dellek embracing them in hidden smuggler’s tunnels. And the shock when he called her those names when she told him that she was with child. They remember the man who had promised her forever, leaving Sandpoint with a sneer. They remembered her father’s anger and the nightly lectures about her sins. They remember the giggles that turned to snickers at the fishmarket. They remember the fingerpointing as her belly grew. They remember the night the pain felt as if the life growing in her was clawing its way out. They remember the blanching midwives stealing away the thing that came forth from her. They remember drowing into the grief, into the anger, into the loneliness, into the wrath… and waking months later into clarity. They remember locking the door to father’s room, and setting the fire. They remember going to Magnimar and taking vengeance against Dellek; and the quickening of the need for more against Sandpoint. They remember the woman who gave her the medallion that would guide them to destiny. They remember being drawn to the bricked up smuggler’s tunnel, and the quasit within. They remember the calls that led her to Thistletop. ‘FREE ME. FREE ME. FREE ME.’”
   7. Shaken, the heroes emerge from the memories, the pleading, demanding, monstrous voice echoing into the distance.

MECHANICS:

 

Lyrie and Nualia

Lyrie

I changed Lyrie to be a Magus as a solitary level 4 Wizard for 2 reasons: (1) aw written, she would not even be a speedbump against a full party , and (2) I thought that the concept of a magical rapier wielding magus with the high crit chance of shocking grasp would be too sweet to pass up! (My players are min-maxers and it’s fun for me to create similarly powerful challenges). To make it interesting as well, after the heroes’ initial incursion onto the island, the defenders were on alert; the goblin bodies were animated into undead, and Lyrie was stationed at the keep.

Lyrie CR 6

Female Magus 5 / Wizard 1
CE Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +3

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Defense
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AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed (+3 dex, +4 armor, +4 shield)

DEF +11 (+3 dex +8 shield spell), Armor DR 4 (Mage Armor)

hp 39 (5d8+1d6 +6 Con + 5 favored class)

hp 51 (5d8+1d6+Con 12) :
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +5
Defensive Abilities mage armor, shield spell

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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee MW rapier +7 (1d6/ 18-20 & spellstrike)
Melee +1 keen rapier +7 (1d6+1/ 15-20 & spellstrike)
Special Attacks arcane strike (+2 damage), spell combat, spellstrike, arcane pool (6):

Magus Spells Prepared (CL 5^th; concentration +15)
2nd (3/day): Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Invisibility

1st (5/day-5) Windy Escape, Burning Hands, Ray of Enfeeblement, Warding Weapon, Shocking Grasp,

Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1^st; concentration +11)

1^st (2/day) Shield, Mage Armor

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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Scribe Scroll, Combat Casting, Weapon Finesse, Arcane strike (+2 damage), Uncanny concentration, Combat Expertise (Magus bonus feat)
Skills Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knowledge (engineering) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Knowledge (local) +13, Perception +1, Sense Motive +1, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +5
Languages Common, Elven, Goblin, Osiriani, Thassilonian
SQ arcane bone (cat named Skivver), wand wielder arcana

Combat Gear dagger, MW Rapier, wand of shocking grasp (CL 5, 9 charges), scroll of comprehend languages, scroll of minor image, scroll of see invisibility, scroll of sleep, scroll of whispering wind,

Other Gear cloak of resistance +1, silver comb (25 gp), spring loaded wrist sheath (can ready wand of shocking grasp as swift action), fine silk gown (60 gp), everburning torch, small pouch of artifacts (hair, fingernail clipping, used handerchiefs, and a pearl earring worth 50 gp) stolen from Tusto Kaijitsu, 3 pp, 278 gp

Spellbook Contains all prepared spells plus comprehend languages, detect secret doors, floating disc, identify, locate object, minor image, obscuring mist, see invisibility, sleep, and spider climb.

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Tactics
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Before Combat Before combat starts, Lyrie casts mage armor. If she has sufficient warning, she subsequently casts shield.
During Combat

1^st round: Using combat expertise and fighting defensively to augment her defenses while cast defensively warding weapon. (-5 attack, +3 AC)

2^nd round: Swift action to spend 1 arcana pool to enhance rapier to +1 keen (lasts 10 rounds), cast shocking grasp, and use spellstrike to deliver the attack.

3^rd round: Arcane strike each round after (+2 damage)

Lyrie uses windy escape (immediate) against any attacks that successfully hit her. She casts mirror image if she gets hurt even with windy escape. She uses spell recall (swift) for windy escape to use defensively. After using up her prepared offensive spells, she switches to using her wand of shocking grasp with spellstrike, all the while using the high crit modifier of her keen rapier.

Morale Lyrie is a coward at heart, and when she gets to half her hit points, she attempts to flee to the closest ally for help, using invisibility to help flee. If she believes the PCs have harmed Tsuto, though, her anger takes over and she fights to the death in an attempt to avenge him.

 

Nualia

Ahhh… what fond memories of Nualia. I too up’ed her challenge, and what a memorable experience! She is the perfect candidate to be a Antipaladin, so I used a mash-up of suggestions from the excellent Paizo forums on variant interpretations of Nualia. In combination with her aura of cowardice, and the yeth hounds fear effect with baying (and the possiblity of Nualia herself using the bane fear effects!), half the party was always cowering in fear. The memory of the fight was driven home with the monologue I gave the players having their PCs experience her troubled backstory. Quite fun!

Nualia CR 7

Female Angel-Blooded Aasimar (Angelkin) Antipaladin 6
CE Medium Outsider (native)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -2
Aura strong evil, aura of cowardice (10 ft. radius, -4 to saves vs fear)

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Defense
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AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor)

DEF +1 (armor), Armor DR 7 + DR 5/good if fiendish
hp 80 (6d10+24+Con 16) :
Fort +12, Ref +6, Will +8 SR 11 (if fiendish)
Immune disease; Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5 (cold 10/ fire 10)

Defensive Abilities plague bringer, unholy resilience;
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft. (armored)
Melee +3 vicious Bastard sword +13/+8 (1d10+7/19-20/x2 + 2d6 damage if take 1d6) and
Claw +5 (1d6+2/x2)
Ranged Masterwork Composite shortbow (Str +3) +7/+2 (1d6+3/x3)
Special Attacks channel negative energy (3d6, DC 15) x3, cruelty (DC 15; sickened, staggered), fiendish boon 1/day (+1, 6 minutes), smite good 2/day (+2 attack, +6 damage, +2 AC), touch of corruption 6/day (3d6 plus cruelty)
Spell-Like Abilities Detect Good (At will), Remove Disease (1/day)
Antipaladin Spells Prepared (CL 3, touch +9, ranged touch +5, concentration +5):
1 (2/day) Doom (DC 14), Litany of Weakness, Bane

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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 16
Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 20
Feats Channel Smite, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard sword), Lamashtu's Mark (1/day)
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 jump), Bluff +4, Climb +1, Diplomacy +1, Disguise +4, Escape Artist -3, Fly -3, Handle Animal +7, Heal +0, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (religion) +10, Linguistics +2, Ride -3, Sense Motive +2, Stealth +1, Swim +1; armor check penalty -3; Racial Modifiers +2 Heal
Languages Celestial, Common, Elven, Goblin
SQ antipaladin channel negative energy 3d6 (3/day) (aura of cowardice, aura of evil, channel negative energy, clean small objects, cruelties (shaken [dc 16], staggered [dc 16]), fiendish boons (fiendish servant iii [2/day]), touch of corruption (3d6) (6/day), unholy resilience
Other Gear +1 Breastplate, +3 Bastard sword, Masterwork Composite shortbow (Str +3), 20 arrows , Sihedron medallion, gold holy symbol (worth 100 gp)
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Special Abilities
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Antipaladin Channel Negative Energy 3d6 (2 uses of Touch of Corruption) (DC 16) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Aura of Cowardice (Su) Enemies within 10 ft. are not Immune to fear and take -4 to saves vs. fear effects.
Aura of Evil (Ex) The antipaladin has an Aura of Evil with power equal to her class level.
Channel Negative Energy (Su) You can channel negative energy to heal the undead and injure the living.
Channel Smite Channel energy can be delivered through a Smite attack.
Clean Small Objects Small metal items in your hands are cleaned and shined.
Cruelty (Shaken) (6 rds) (DC 16) (Su) When you use your Touch of Corruption ability, you may also make your target shaken for 1r/Antipaladin level

You may only apply a single Cruelty ability to each use of Touch of Corruption, chosen when used.
Cruelty (Staggered) (3 rds) (DC 16) (Su) When you use your touch of corruption ability, you may also make your target staggered for 1 rd per 2 Antipaladin levels

You may only apply a single Cruelty ability to each use of touch of corruption, chosen when used.
Damage Resistance, Acid (5) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Acid attacks.
Damage Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Cold attacks.
Damage Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Detect Good (At will) (Sp) You can use Detect Good at will (as the spell).
Fiendish Boon (Enhance weapon) (1/day, 6 min) (Sp) Add keen
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Lamashtu's Mark (1/day) 1/day: inflict 1d4 CHA penalty on an opponent you strike.
Smite Good (2/day) (Su) +3 to hit, +6 to damage, +3 deflection bonus to AC when used.
Touch of Corruption (3d6) (6/day) (Su) You can inflict 3d6 damage, 6/day
Unholy Resilience (Su) You gain your Charisma Bonus as a bonus to all saving throws.

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Tactics
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Before Combat If Nualia suspects combat is imminent, she summons her fiendish spirit into her sword, granting it the vicious ability, and casts protection from good.

During Combat Nualia activates her Sihedron medallion as a free action at the start of combat to gain false life.

She prefers to casts litanies on her enemies while in melee. She prefers to fight with her bastard sword and claw, her face an impassive mask save for her eyes, which blaze with anger; but she will not hesitate to use her touch of corruption to stagger particularly dangerous enemies. If she can, she will move to make sure her aura of cowardice affects as many of her opponents as possible before her yeth hound ally uses its bay.

She uses smite good as quickly as possible, preferring to target good-aligned divine casters. If possible, she moves into the hall to the south so that it’s harder to surround her, and so she has an escape route handy, using channeled negative energy to clear a path if needed.

Morale Nualia is loath to abandon her hard work, but if reduced to fewer than 15 hit points, she does just that, reasoning that escape and eventual revenge is better than death at the hands of the PCs. She does her best to flee Thistletop, ordering any surviving minions she encounters to guard her retreat.

To increase her nastiness even further, there's a gray area in the rules that suggests she might be able to use her claw to deliver her touch of corruption as a standard melee attack - if you decide to go that way, her claw attack is a +9, and deals 1d6+3 damage (plus the touch of corruption damage and stagger effect).

Also not only is the yeth hound bay a fear effect, but so is bane, and bane's penalty to fear effect saves stacks with her aura of cowardice. She should quite literally leave your PCs cowering in fear! ;)

6hp * 5 + 10 + 3*6 + 6 favored class

False life: 1d10+5

Divine Favor: +1 hit and damage