DM AM's The Confirmation (Inactive)

Game Master overfiend_87

The invitation you recieved last night was remarkably simple, especially given the important of the occasion: "Start where it all began. Meet us at the Pig's Paunch one hour before dawn."

The Pig’s Paunch is a run-down building with a faded sign of a large pig standing on its hind legs, arms folded above a corpulent belly. Inside, the air is thick with the scents of human sweat, stale tobacco, and leftover food. In the center of the room, surrounded by inebriates sleeping off their revelries, a familiar elven man stands high upon top of a large round table.

“Welcome! Welcome, my students! Please, have a seat!” With that, Kreighton Shaine, the Pathfinder Society’s Master of Scrolls, nimbly drops down to sit cross-legged on the table before looking about the tavern with a sense of reverent wonder. “Can you believe it? It all started here years ago—well, over four hundred of them at least. Under this very roof the Pathfinder Society was born.

“But today! Today you will begin your Confirmation! Master Farabellus, Master Zey, and I all agree you each have shown your worth and dedication to the Society, so there’s no better time to see if you can handle becoming full field operatives. Allow me to introduce you to Janira Gavix,” he says as he motions for an excitable halfling woman to approach. She wears a large backpack and carries all manner of tools, pouches, and scroll cases around her waist.

Shaine continues, saying,
“Janira here will be going with you on your Confirmation. She was one of my brightest pupils and will no doubt be an invaluable resource on your journey, for she discovered the caves you are about to explore during her own Confirmation.” Janira speaks up in an enthusiastic and cheerful voice,
“Greetings, aspiring Pathfinders! Six months ago, while I was mapping cave entrances in the foothills of the Kortos Mounts, I witnessed a lone gillman entering a concealed cave. I thought little of it at the time, but I saw another one enter the cave again a month later as my Confirmation stretched on. A few days later, after I completed my assigned task, I entered the cave system, but was unable to find the gillmen.” Master Shaine hops to his feet. “Initiates, for your Confirmation, you will travel to these caves to explore and document its many passages. Additionally, and most importantly, you are to learn what the gillmen are up to in there. Oh, and you need to come back alive as well.” With these parting words, the Master of Scrolls jumps off the table and strolls to the door, but pauses for a moment "Make sure you are all equipped. You will need to take good notes for the society and be equipped. I'll be outside." she states as she makes her way outside, already raring to go.

Kreighton remains sat and chuckles.
"She has been a great student, but certainly not a patient one. If you wish to ask any questions, you best ask now." he states, keeping things to the point as he looks over his scrolls.

now's a chance to ask any questions your characters may be curious about. Afterwards we'll be travelling to the cave where this Gillman was last seen.

Dot

Why would gillmen be in caves? Don't they prefer water?

Amelia looks up from her glass of wine and asks "What kind of response should we expect from the Gillmen? And what adversaries should we expect on our way?"

Essua Day pushes his hair back from his forehead with the flat of his palm and exhales.

He'd imagined this day in his head so many times. Confirmation! A Pathfinder at last! But Gillmen? Really? Gillmen? Sure, goblins or giant spiders, that was what so many young Pathfinders chronicled about in their confirmation, occasionally a bugbear or kobold... But Gillmen?

Why'd it have to be Gillmen?, Essua huffed. I'm not even sure what Gillmen would be doing in the Kortos foothills, let alone going underground there.

Essua concentrates for a moment, thinking his way through all he can remember about Gillmen and the Kortos Foothills, looking for anything that might lend insight.

Gillmen? Knowledge(nature): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Kortos Foothills? Knowledge(geography): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

"Beyond the obvious, what was Janira specifically doing in the area?"
Old, half remembered rumors of isolated fishing villages populated by fishy characters come unbidden to Abaal's mind forcing him to ask the obvious.
"Again, aside from the obvious, what exactly are gillmen? No doubt we shall need to prepare for a journey through lightless, flooded caves."

The Nagaji in yellow & black robes listens carefully to the words of both the master of Scrolls and his students as they speak of the concealed cave and the gillmen. Her bright yellow eyes watch each of them, nodding just slightly as the halfling finishes speaking and starts to head out.

"So, is there a reason we should be expecting the gillmen to be hostile to simply a group exploring a cave? I mean, from what Janira said, she only saw two of the go into the caves. I don't imagine they would be wanting to pick a fight if they are indeed outnumbered like that."

"Let me explain, as far as we know these Gillmen are just entering this cave. We do not know what they are doing, but we are curious." he explains and gives a nod Abaal "To answer your question, The Gillmen are a humanoid race much like humans, save for the three piscine gills on both sides of their necks. They're a little secretive, but not outright hostile. Most live in or near water."

Will be knowledge Local for Gillmen as they're humanoids, not monsterous humanoids.

"As she explained, Master Shaine was mapping out the cave entrances. She is always interested in mapping any new cave entrances as there are a number of mosnterous tribes who live by the mountain."

Amelia nods, and sits back satisfied with the answer

Nigari nods her head to Kreighton and stands up from the table, picking up the large backpack next to her. "Well, I can not think of anything else to ask. Thank you very much."

Thank you for the information. I'm ready.

Essua pulls at his fingers on his left hand with his right in sequence from large to small. *pop!* *pop!* *pop!* *pop!* He switches hands and does the same thing, this time in reverse up his right hand: *pop!* *pop!* *pop!* *pop!* His mind continues to chew on the information that's been able to recall.

"So, lemme get this straight," he says, "We're going down to the Kobar Foothills to map out some caves, find some, ugh, gillmen, and try not to get killed." A wry grin creeps across Essua's face after he voices this; the light from the pub fireplace dancing in his eyes. "What are we waiting around here for?"

Essua stands up and hoists his pack up onto his shoulders while simultaneously dropping a copper piece onto the table for the barmatron.

"One thing that bothers me though...and this might be a better question for Janira, but what did she mean when she said 'as my confirmation stretched on?'"

Nigari smirked as she heard Essua, then turned to look at human who had just popped his fingers. "Sounds like you are looking forward to it? Are you hoping to have a fight start?"

The tall courtesan walked over to the fighter, "Since we are all going to be traveling together, we should probably introduce ourselves. I am Nigari." She extended her hand out to Essua...

Knowledge (Geography) unskilled: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Oh, that's what those pointy things are.
Abaal stands ready.

"Well, many complete their confirmation by themselves, but because of this special assignment it will require all of you to attend this." he states simply "She is a very skills pathfinder and you will be in great hands."

Essua's eyes bulge just a little as he comes face to face with a nagaji for the first time.

He swallows hard and takes the hand offered him awkwardly, unsure if he should take it in his and do one of those suave hand kisses like in the adventure stories. He opts instead for a sincere hand shake.

"Erg...um..." he stammers, My name is

dontsaysnakedontsaysnakedontsaysnake

dc10 will check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

"Snake." CRAP! "Essua! I mean. My name is Essua. Hi."

There is then awkward quiet. But only for a half a second.

"I'm not looking for a fight. I mean, I am a fighter, but yeah. I mean, but you can't loose a fight you didn't pick, right? But I get by as a swordsman. I do a little healing, my family recipe. I've never seen anybody with skin like yours, you know. It's really striking. Beautiful, really.

He realizes he's still pumping Nigari's hand, and drops it limply.

"I just, you know," he pauses for a deep breath, "I'm super excited to have a chance to prove myself as a Pathfinder. I've been dreaming about this forever. That'll show my dad that there's more to life than running a butcher's shop, for sure."

He pauses for another breath, and it dawns on him that he may have been prattling on.

"So I'm super glad to meet you. Is what I'm saying. Um. All of you."

Essua grins earnestly, and hopes for the best. Maybe I didn't make a total fool out of myself, he hopes.

Essua grins earnestly, and hopes for the best. Maybe I didn't make a total fool out of myself, he hopes.

What a total fool Abaal thinks. Still, it could have been worse had his father been a shoemaker or a tanner.

Even still Abaal is impressed by the queer nature of the Pathfinder Society to have a strain of what he figures to be Knowledge (local) unskilled: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 'serpentfolk' and whatever the strange Knowledge (local) unskilled: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 'birdman' is in their party. Strange days indeed.

This is written a bit weirdly. Janeira is now suggestiong people introduce themselves.

Janira returns and grins as she listens to what Essua says with a raised eyebrow.
"Well said Essau. Becoming a pathfinder is quite an adventure after all, but what is most important is co-operation and preparation so I'm sure you'd all like to talk about yourselves?" she states with a wide grin.

Silence and stoicism emanate from the tall Keleshite fighter as if he were an anti-bard. Are those crickets you're hearing?

Nigari couldn't help but grin just a little at the man's reaction as she had stepped up, holding back a laugh as he staggered to say his name. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Essua...and don't worry, I don't bite...unless that's something your into..." the grin on her face increased at her words, an almost predatory glint in her eyes.

Once he finally stopped shaking her hand up and down, she simply smiled, "Never met another Nagaji before, I'm guessing. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them for you..."

"Well, then it is nice to hear that we will have someone ready in case trouble should arrive. Not all members of society appear to be as marshal as some individuals. I am simply a temple servant, hoping to expand her knowledge and find her place..."

She then stopped, looking around at the others, "And what about all of you? "

I am Divdesmit Deviņi. I was born in the Immortal Principality of Ustalav. I am a descendant of the Varisian settlers who came to the shores of Lake Encarthan. I grew up in Canterwall county, right next to the territory of the Belkzen orcs.

As he speaks, his aspect changes from falcon-like to wolf-like to bull-like, etc. With each change of appearance, there is also a corresponding change of demeanor. His falcon self speaks tersely and is hyper-vigilant. His wolf aspect seems ready for a fight. And so on.

Amelia steps forward and greets the group. "I am Amelia Rose, Wizard. Its a pleasure to meet all of you."

Essua turns to Janeira, who he's not 100% sure is really tracking the conversation and who may have been outside and says: "I am Essua Day. I am very excited to be at your service."

He considers saying more, but given how his last attempt at introducing himself went, he decides against it. Instead, he folds his hands together in front of him. Gets uncomfortable, unfolds them. Then puts them up by his chest, decides that probably looks weird, lets them drop down by his side, well now they're just dangling there, folds them together again, leaves them there, and rocks back on his heels a bit.

He steels a glance over at Nigiri, and another over at the stoic man with the exotic grimace, across to the bird-man-bear-wolf man, and then quickly mets the eyes of the blond elven woman. Then, not sure what else to do, he exhales loundly and obviously.

So... he says. Shall we hit the shoppes before we head out, or what?

Nigari smiles a bit more and nods to Amelia and Divdesmit, "It is a pleasure to meet both of you..."

Nigari can't help but chuckle softly, her eyes still watching Essua, entertained as he can not seem to find a way for his arms to be comfortable...so, she decides to have just little more fun with him, entertained by the human. She walks over and slides her arm around his as he suggests they hit the shoppes, "That sounds like a great idea. After you."

Janira appears to be taking notes down in her journal as she listens to you all and gives a wide grin at the mention of shopping.
"A pathfinder must always be prepared for any situation. You should make sure you have rope, lanterns, rations due to our travelling, flint and tinder. Much of this you can get in the pathfinder's kit." she states as a point of saving money. "Make sure you all take notes, here are some spare pieces of paper. Any extra notes you make will help the society greatly."

The hyper-vigilant falcon aspect inside him leads Divdesmit to distrust the situation.

He thinks: So... The overlords want us to keep tabs on each other, eh? A test of loyalty, then! I bet one or more of the others was planted in the group to keep an eye on the rest of us.

He starts writing on his own parchment:

Janira - The leader, friendly and generous. Perhaps too eager and generous... Why did it take her so long to finish her confirmation? What's her real agenda here?

Essua - Naive and awkward. Is he just playing the country bumpkin, or is he truly this inexperienced? Also, must look into the man codenamed "butcher" headquartered in "the shop." Exercise extreme caution; sounds dangerous. Perhaps a follower of Norgerber.

Amelia - Short and to the point. What is she hiding?

Nigari - Smiles a bit too much. Keep an eye out for how deadly those fangs of his are. Also, get the name of her dentist; that person is clearly demented.

Abaal - The unknown quantity...

Let me know when you're finished buying stuff. All the basic stuff is available here under PFS ruling of what items you can buy. We'll make our way to the adventure afterwards.

Amelia stands and joins the rest of the pathfinders, while giving the man with the weird shifting features a questioning look as he begins scribbling furiously. "I am ready to go now, but I will join the rest of you as you go shopping!"

I'm good to go now. :)

Ready

So... Do we have anyone who besides me who can use a Wand of Cure Light Wounds? If not, do you want to hand me your wands for out of combat healing?

I can't and don't have one, so that makes my answer easy.. ;)

I am a wizard and can use them. I dont have one, but I can use them.

Essua has +8 heal skill, but does not otherwise have a means to heal himself. Because he is totally optimistic like that. Please don't make him learn that lesson the hard way. Or do. We'll see what happens. :D

Oblivious to any meaning beyond fellowship that Nigari's arm on his shoulders my indicate, Essua's eyes roll up to the top of his head, as if he were reading a inventory sheet written on the inside top of his skull.

"So, I have 10 torches, and some flint and a bunch of rope and this grappling hook and some other stuff in my Adventure Kit," he recites. "I also have my family spice kits, so i can totally take over cooking duties. I know enough first aid to be helpful out of battle, but I don't really have any way to heal up my own self." He blushes a little. "So, yeah. You know. I've never healed myself. I mean, that's gross, right? I mean, not gross. But, you know. I mean, no judgment, right?" He blushes a little more. "Um, I mean. Yeah. I might need healing some times, but I'm totally ready to go whenever you all are."

Essua grimaces and clenches his fists. Shutupshutupshutupshutup

"So, I mean.... Um. Let's hit the trail."

The silence lingers again as he looks from eye to eye of his fellow adventures.

"How do we get there?"

As she walks past Essua, she pats the man on the back. "This way.. we follow Janira!" She does mostly manage to stifle a giggle at the young mans naivete.

Yes, let's blindly follow the perfect stranger that we only just met... the hunter mutters to himself under his breath, jotting away:

Amelia: Addendum: May be a collaborator.

:-)

Janira smiles towards Amelia and nods.
"Yes, this way." she states as she leads you she explains that you must make this trip on foot because if you came across the centaurs in the area they would see you riding horseback an affront and may make an already territorial species unfriendly.

She points out various siege towers from past wars, interesting mountains of note and the various fauna and flora on the way. After a good day of travel you make good time and end up camping in a safe location.
this give you extra time to re-prepare spells for the adventure ahead, but I don't believe we'll need that considering the length of pbp.

The next day you are getting closer to the location and Janira reminds you that tonight is a full moon, like every night the Gillmen have been entering that cave so that you can find out what they are doing there. However, as you make your way the local wildlife decides to make an appearance.

DM: 1d6 ⇒ 2

A swarm of vicious insects make their way out of a dead tree stump and move menecingly towards you.

M: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Divdesmit: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Amelia: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Essua: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Nigari: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Abaal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Janira: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Order:

Divdesmit
Amelia
Nigari
Janira
Abaal
M
Essua

All in bold are up first and I've got a map here on Google as other people have been using it and it makes map making FAR faster and easier. Plus you can all move your characters. Also be sure to zoom in, I should've resized the map, but didn't realise.

P.S. This is also a reason why pathfinders should always carry Alchemist's fire.

MAP

Edit:

I've also added the map to the top so people won't miss it and I'll update with every new map situation. This way you don't have to dig through pages if it lasts a while.

Non-Action: The hunter moves one 5-foot-step northeast.

Move Action: He draws a flask of acid.

Swift Action: His feral focus changes to that of a tiger. (+2 Dex)

Standard Action: Ranged Touch+Dex-Range Increment: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 3 - 2 = 15, Acid Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 (Yahtzee! If it hits, the swarm takes 9 HP of damage! :-)

Free Action: The tiger sounds different from the falcon. Where the bird aspect was hyper-vigilant and paranoid, the tiger is brave and heroic. "Spread out friends! It cannot attack us all at once if we're not clumped together!"

Very nice hit. Another like that and it'll die.

Whoops! I'm 20 feet away. I forgot to include a range increment penalty. :-( My Bad. Does the new, edited roll still hit? If not, it's only splash damage.

Whoops! I'm 20 feet away. I forgot to include a range increment penalty. :-( My Bad. Does the new, edited roll still hit? If not, it's only splash damage.

Only just. Right on the money.

Abaal takes the time others take to update their spells to update sharpen his falchion.

On the night of the full moon he reluctantly takes his eyes off of Divdesmit (whom he suspects of being the victim of some form of multiple-lycanthropy. How many things bit that man?) to 5-foot one square northeast. He draws his alchemist fire and readies to toss it should the swarm advance.

Do the insects fly? What are they? Unskilled Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Abaal takes the time others take to update their spells to update sharpen his falchion.

On the night of the full moon he reluctantly takes his eyes off of Divdesmit (whom he suspects of being the victim of some form of multiple-lycanthropy. How many things bit that man?) to 5-foot one square northeast. He draws his alchemist fire and readies to toss it should the swarm advance.

Do the insects fly? What are they? [Dice=Unskilled Knowledge (nature)]1d20+2

It's a move action to retrieve the flask. You can use a standard to throw the alchemist's fire. Also as it's untrained, you hit 10 on the knowledge check which is more than enough.

The nagaji reaches down to her belt pouch, pulling out her flask as well, but holds back on it as she sees the others throwing their's at the insects, waiting to see how the insects react to the flame of the alchemist fire, holding on in case one more is needed.

Move action - Move diagonally North West 20 ft, (3 squares)

Standard action - Draw Alchemist Fire

The nagaji reaches down to her belt pouch, pulling out her flask as well, but holds back on it as she sees the others throwing their's at the insects, waiting to see how the insects react to the flame of the alchemist fire, holding on in case one more is needed.

Move action - Move diagonally North West 20 ft, (3 squares)

Standard action - Draw Alchemist Fire

As I said you should be able to move your own picture. I trust you won't be moving too far.

Nigari wrote:

The nagaji reaches down to her belt pouch, pulling out her flask as well, but holds back on it as she sees the others throwing their's at the insects, waiting to see how the insects react to the flame of the alchemist fire, holding on in case one more is needed.

Move action - Move diagonally North West 20 ft, (3 squares)

Standard action - Draw Alchemist Fire

As I said you should be able to move your own picture. I trust you won't be moving too far.

unfortunately, my work does not allow me to access the google doc and I can't move it on my iPhone that I am using to view the map, so I can't do that. If someone could help move Nigari, that would be very much appreciated.

unfortunately, my work does not allow me to access the google doc and I can't move it on my iPhone that I am using to view the map, so I can't do that. If someone could help move Nigari, that would be very much appreciated.

Gotcha covered. :-)

Thanks ^_^

Amelia moves forward and casts Acid Splash.
Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

DM AM, looks to me like Nigari is 170843-1. I was able to confirm this using my own scenario reporting.

Thanks, I should be finished by tonight. I'll scan and send off the emails to everyone.

Just sent out the emails so I hope you have all received them :)

Thanks for the game and for the quick turnaround! :-)

:)

Thank you! I very much enjoyed playing with yall! DM: I am taking a bit of a siesta for a while since I just started nursing school, so once all my characters are out of games I will not be actively looking for games. However, should you ever need a player to round out a table, give me a yell. I enjoyed playing for you.