Green Eyed Liar

I won't stop you from attacking the bones, but I will boost their AC by 2 (the equivalent of raising a shield) and grant immunity to criticals, because they are moving pretty rapidly and will not be as easily hit as when they are assembled.

He is not dead yet, but he will definitely be dying soon. One of Paizo's next books after Player Core 2 will be about a divine war. Several minor deities and one of the big 20 (Gorum) will be killed off. One of the two new classes will be like a demigod (the iconic looks like Disney's Maui). War of Immortals is a rulebook, like Guns & Gears or Dark Archive. Divine Mysteries is a Lost Omens book, like Gods & Magic (which it's replacing). There will also be a related Adventure Path and novel.

So, did you guys hear Gorum died?

Zum's first attack slices deep into the morlock's chest, sheering bone and flesh. The dwarf yanks his greataxe free and brings it down again, splitting the mutant's skull in two. Before the morlock hits the ground, the large bones scattered about the room start to quiver, then start sliding together. The table is yours.

Taking full advantage of Rok's distracting presence, Mic stabs true, and the Morlock screeches in pain.

The morlock stops its panicked flight long enough to turn and squeeze the trigger of its projectile launcher, sending something resembling a rivet ricocheting down the hallway. Eyes bulging even further out of its head, it scrabbles at the door knob and runs across the next room. A ruined table and several destroyed chairs lie in a heap in the middle of this room, along with several large bones. The table is yours! The morlock lost its Fleeing condition, attacked poorly (only missed a critical failure by one), opened a door, and fled across a new room. Its Frightened condition then decreased to Frightened 1. GM Dice Morlock Engineer Ranged Projectile Launcher Strike vs Zum AC 18 Projectile Launcher Damage

Back issues are the worst! I hope you get better soon.

I just moved him 20 more feet.

Zum catches one of the fleeing morlocks and chops off a leg. It tumbles to the ground and tries to crawl away before collapsing and going still.

You are correct about the bonuses. The standard morlocks (the ones equipped only with clubs and without spellcasting ability) are level two creatures. When I compare their stat array with the default creatures on , defensively they have moderate AC, moderate -1 Fortitude, moderate +1 Will, and high Reflex and Hit Points. Offensively, they have a high Attack Bonus and low +1 Strike Damage. The scavengers were level 1, engineers level 3, and cultist level 4, but they generally followed the same patterns statistically. The party's spells have all targetted either AC or their strongest (by far) saving throw. Against your party, they are likely to hit but not do much damage. Both saving throws and damage have been made significantly worse due to my high d20 rolls for most of this level. Also, this is in fact considered a brutal AP. EDIT: If you choose to not pursue the morlocks, there are several rooms that you ran through but did not explore thoroughly, plus there are a few doors that were bypassed but not opened while chasing the cultist.

Taking advantage of the distraction provided by Rok running next to the morlock, Mic stabs his rapier through the mutant's thigh. Janos staff smashes into the face of the morlock closest to him, splitting his cheek open and making it squeal in pain. Zum then trundles past both Rok and Mic, catching up to the morlock leader just as it is starting to pass through a doorway to the north. With a heavy swing, he buries his flaming greataxe in the back of the spellcaster's skull, killing the morlock's leader instantly. Seeing their leader fall in battle clearly demoralizes the two launcher equipped morlocks. Expressions of sheer horror plain on their faces, the two shriek and flee to the north, then follow the corridor west, opening a door and doing everything they can to put distance between them and those invading their home. Now that the threat is not immediate, first Zum, and then the rest of the party, notices that the door at the north end of the corridor is outlined by green light. The table is yours! The two morlock engineers are and currently . If you want, you can continue the combat by pursuing the two engineers, or you can call it a fight. I leave the option open to you.

🚧 Both morlocks in the corridor convulse briefly as Janos' spell arcs through them. The leader then continues to retreat to the north, stopping to open a door in the east wall. The morlock fighting with Rok bursts through the door next to the rest of the party and continues to the north, joined by the morlock between Zum and Mic. Both stop to reload their projectile launchers, then grin maliciously at the party. The table is yours! Both morlocks succeeded at their save against Janos' spell and only suffered half damage. GM Dice Morlock Engineer Basic Reflex DC 18 Morlock Cultist Basic Reflex DC 18

Mic and Rok's attacks fall short, but Zum's flaming axe opens a large gash in the flanked morlock's side.

The morlock leader spins to avoid Janos' fire, then whacks Rok's helmet with its club before thinking about the better part of valor and turning tail and running. A second morlock waiting around the corner for the valiant dwarf champion strides away from Rok and turns, hefting a strange looking upright crossbow-like contraption. It pulls the trigger and fires true, a barbed projectile blasting a hole through Rok's shield, further injuring the dwarf. In the corridor, a door to the north opens and a second ranged weapon wielding morlock steps into the hallway, aiming at the party to its south with a rictus grin splitting its face. A moment later, the morlock leader bursts through the door and runs to the north. The table is yours! Poor Rok ws hit twice for a total of 17 hp damage, but five of this was negated by Shield Block. I hope you roll better this time! GM Dice Morlock Cultist Club Strike vs Rok AC 20 Club Damage Morlock Engineer Projectile Launcher Strike vs Rok AC 20 Projectile Launcher Damage

Generally, if your shield is not raised, I wait until I have made all of my rolls before determining which attack benefits from Retributive Strike. Most of the time this means I use it to help the character that would lose the highest percentage of his hp that turn. The only exception to this might be a decision to take advantage of the free strike the reaction can grant (so, if Rok can hit the creature who did minor damage to Zum but the creature that did lots of damage to Mic is not in range, I would put some more thought into it before deciding which attack to affect). If your shield is raised, I lean toward saving whoever would be hurt the worst. However, the squishiness of the shield has been disappointing, and I do take that into consideration as well. To me, the ease with which basic shields become broken is the biggest disappointment in the "must Raise a Shield to Shield Block mechanic." The Remaster has added runes for shields to help some, but it still feels like a sword-and-board character needs to either carry multiple shields or invest heavily in Crafting. There is a level 4 Sturdy Shield that is Hardness 8 with 64 hp (BT 32), but it costs 100 gp. With the Remaster, there is a 75 gp level 4 rune that can be added to a steel shield and will turn it into a Sturdy Shield stat wise. Unfortunately, level 4 loot is not very common at level 2. Your assumption is correct, passing through a stone corner is not possible. You have bottlenecked the second morlock that was waiting around the corner.