GM Harker's PFS Season 4 Campaign

Game Master Justin L. Warren

Mel moves carefully northward, drawing his rapier. Unsure of what else to do in the darkness, he casts Detect Magic in a vain hope that the Jinkin is carrying something magical.
Not sure what else Mel would know to do, other than stand frozen and cry out 'Where is it? Where is it? Oh Mommy, where is it?'

Slow Fall (Ex): At 4th level or higher, a monk within arm's reach of a wall can use it to slow his descent. When first gaining this ability, he takes damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The monk's ability to slow his fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall when next to a wall) improves with his monk level until at 20th level he can use a nearby wall to slow his descent and fall any distance without harm.

Valik, falls into the pit but is able to use the palm of his right hand to slow his descent. He than focus his ki, and runs up the wall and out of the pit. Once out, he once again defends himself to the best of his ability.

Increase speed by 20' for a round. Then use acrobatics to climb out.

acro, standard defensive AC 30: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Valik, thanks for pointing that out, I'm not as familiar with monks as I'd like to be. You don't take any damage from the fall. As for the acrobatics check, I believe the DC to make a 20 feet vertical jump is 80 (4 times the distance).

Halkale and Frostfur wait for a target to emerge from the darkness, while Quiella jumps out of the way of the flaming sphere and puts herself in melee range with the jinkin.

Melufiuos moves past Sam in the dark and considers casting a spell. Mel, Detect Magic won't work very well if you can't see anything, and the entire area would be magical thanks to the darkness. Would you like to do a different standard action?

Quiella's caltrop chance: 1d100 ⇒ 54

Once I get responses from Valik and Mel, I'll bot Ophelia and Sam if necessary.

Can I use my already rolled 20 on a climb check. Total result is 25. Since I move at 60 feet for this round, I can climb out yes? I will than move 10' closer to the jinxin

I cast shocking grasp, I guess.

Yeah, that's fine Valik.

Using his monk training to its fullest, Valik manages to scale the smooth walls of the pit and advance towards the last known position of the jinkin.

Melufiuos casts Shocking Grasp and holds the charge.

Ophelia casts Prayer, giving her allies a slight divine edge, while making the jinkin slightly ineffective.

Sam casts Scorching Ray, but his aim is completely off and he misses.

Sam's Scorching Ray - Melee: 1d20 + 3 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 - 4 = 1

Looking concerned now that Quiella is hot on its heels, the jinkin steps back 5 feet and casts a spell at paladin. Quiella needs to make a DC 19 Will save or she begins to laugh uncontrollably and falls prone. In this case, she can take a full round action to make another Will save to attempt to fight off the effects next round. See the Hideous Laughter spell for more details.

The Jinkin then directs the flaming sphere up the stairs, where it threatens to burn Frostfur. Frostfur needs to make a DC 17 Reflex save or s/he takes 3d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 5) = 14 fire damage.

Initiative (Round 3)
Jinkin
Valik [Bull's Str active] <= Up
Ophelia <= Up
Halkale/Frostfur [Frostfur: Reflex save needed]<= Up
Melufiuos <= Up
Sam <= Up
Quiella [Will Save needed]<= Up

Effects
Prayer: +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks. Enemies take a –1 penalty on such rolls.

Everyone is up. If you need to make a save, don't forget the Prayer bonus. Please don't forget to take into account the darkness and the pit location.

Quiella shrugs off the spell and steps up to the Jinkin. "You could have hurt my friends and I very badly." Her face grim, she tries to cut it down.

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Reflex, Frostfur: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 = 12

Frostfur is burned badly by the fire.

Nice rolls..grrr Halkale pulls Frostfur back up the stairs with him and pulls out his wand.

does Mel hear the jenkin casting? Can he move in that direction and swing? Or is he clueless about where anything is?

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Mel, you can just figure out the general direction based on the sound of Quiella's voice, but you aren't going to know which square to attack unless you are given further information.

Quiella strikes hard at the jinkin, but it somehow stays on its feet.

Halkale and Frostfur retreat from the whirling ball of fire, and the Ranger pulls out a wand.

Mel, Valik, Ophelia, Sam.

Mel moves closer (but not close enough), randomly poking at the air or deflecting imaginary attacks. "I cannot see, where is that little trouble maker?" (still holding the shocking grasp charge)

"It's over here, Mel. Right in front of me. Come stand by my side."

does that suffice to indicate the square?

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Getting rather tired of the magical darkness, Ophelia attempts to remove one of the effects.

Casting dispel magic to end one of the darkness effects, since I only have it prepared once.
Caster level check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Well, damn.

if Quellia's directions are enough, please move and roll an attack with the rapier for me. Otherwise, I'll assume I'm still where I moved me

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Ophelia tries to dispel part of the magical darkness, but can't quite get it to work.

What Quiella said probably is not enough to locate it, but we can assume she's a little more specific about distances allowing Melufiuos to find the proper square to attack. I'm not sure what sort of attack sequence you want to make Mel, so I'll let you make the rolls. Just remember you have a 50% miss chance on all attacks (1-50 misses), and the creature has spell resistance, so you'll need to make a caster level check (1d20+your spellcasting level+elf bonus) for the Shocking Grasp to work, assuming you hit.

Mel's standard action, plus Valik and Sam. I think we may have lost Sam.

rapier+arcane charge+cats grace + bless: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25
miss if < 50: 1d100 ⇒ 40
dmg: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

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Blinded by the darkness, Melufiuos misses with his rapier strike.

Sam moves closer and casts another Scorching Ray spell that barely misses the jinkin.

Scorching Ray: 1d20 + 3 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 1 - 4 = 17

Unable to see in the darkness, Valik advances 10 feet towards the sound of Quiella's voice.

Looking concerned about its future survival, the jinkin backs away 5 feet and uses Dimensional Door to escape.

Combat Over

After a few more seconds, the extradimensional pits closes up and after a couple of minutes the magical darkness dissipates and everyone can see again.

A search of the room immediately reveals a hole under the center table just big enough for a Small sized creature to squeeze through. It appears to lead further underground, although following up on this isn't part of your mission parameters.

Furthermore, using the instructions given by Sascha, your attention is directed towards several loose flagstones in an unlocked cell. Removing the stones you find a Handy Haversack that contains a +1 Longsword, a +1 Mithral Chain Shirt, a Ring of Sustenance, and several hundred gold and platinum coins. Perhaps most important for the mission, you also find a tarnished, plain silver locket whose interior bears only the inscription “Ever Yours—EK.”

In addition, lodged in one of the corners of the room, you find a battered, damp notebook filled with writing in ink that has run and smeared. It may be intelligible, however, with the proper investigation.

If you want to decipher the notebook, please make a Knowledge (history) or Linguistics check. You can make both checks if you have both skills.

Quiella sighs, happy to not have to kill the fey. At the discovery of the hole under the table, she looks down it eagerly. detect magic, take 20 on perception for 20. She has darkvision out to 30 feet but is blind past that

If no one else is able to decipher the notebook, Mel will use a scroll of comprehend languages.

I just had a terrible thought.... I'll bet would could have either had the jinkin on our side or at least gotten it to leave us alone if someone hadn't started a fight with those two guys by the statue :( Oh well

"Here," Ophelia murmurs, flipping through the notebook's damp pages with a frown. "Let me take a look..."

Knowldege (history): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16 includes a guidance poke
Linguistics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 includes a guidance poke

Quiella finds no magical auras down the hole, nor anything of note 30' feet down. Although it's probably a safe bet that the hole leads to the Underdark, allowing the jinkin access to the Korvosan sewers.

Using both her knowledge of history and skill in linguistics, Ophelia is able to decipher the script in the notebook and finds a treasure trove of information concerning the ancient empire of Thassilon. Undoubtedly scholars in the Pathfinder Society will want to take a look at it later.

* * *
With the locket now safely in tow, the group exits the sewers without further incident and returns to Canayven and Sascha, perhaps after the judicious use of Prestidigitation to remove the nasty aftereffects of adventuring in a sewer. As you greet the Venture-Captain and the former Pathfinder, the latter immediately inquires about her locket. When you return the piece to her, she gives her heartfelt thanks to the you and the society and pledges her friendship to both, being forever in debt to some of you especially for also rescuing her from a Hellknight oubliette. Canayven Heidmarch echoes her praise, and thanks for you a job well done.

End of Chapter 13

Ahem, End of Chapter 14.

Chapter 15: The Sanos Abduction

The renowned Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch strides into her study at the Magnimar lodge. Her eyes scan the space with habitual vigilance, honed by years of successful adventuring. Satisfied that there’s nothing amiss, she stands behind her desk, and turns her blade-like attention to the party before her.

"The Pathfinder Society has long been interested in the First World—the otherworldly realm of the fey. By all accounts the fey homeland is dangerous, bizarre, and entirely unpredictable. It’s the very type of place sane people avoid, and Pathfinders flock toward."

"Countless expeditions and research teams have been dispatched over the years to investigate regions where the boundaries between the First World and our own Plane grow threadbare. Sanos Forest, which lies to the east of this very lodge, is one such place. The Pathfinder Society’s latest research party is currently stationed there, under the capable direction of the druid Ignizi Dinnelletter."

"Dinnelletter doesn’t normally work well with others, but this time she’s got several newly recruited Pathfinders assisting her. We thought it prudent that she pass on some of her best practices, just in case. After all, we Pathfinders are not known for our longevity. Dinnelletter is entirely self-sufficient, but unfortunately the same cannot be said for her five trainees. Consequently, Ignizi’s station needs to be resupplied periodically, something the Magnimar lodge has taken responsibility for. You lot have been chosen to make the next supply run to Sanos Forest, and will leave first thing in the morning. It’s not a glamorous detail, but the fey forest never lacks for intrigue, and I’m sure you’ll make the most of it."

"Your mission is simple: Deliver a pack horse loaded with supplies to Dinnelletter’s cottage in Sanos. I don’t expect any problems, but you never know with the fey. If Ignizi needs any additional help, please assist her in any way possible. And do try to be patient. Ignizi can be a handful."

As Heidmarch finishes, she looks expectantly for any questions.

We'll move forward once everyone checks in and we have our sixth player.

"That's it? Deliver a packhorse? Are we supposed to get any information from this Dinneletter when we arrive?"

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"You've proven yourselves intelligent and resourceful agents numerous times, you should just try to enjoy this simple mission. Naturally, if some issues were to occur, I'm certain you are skilled enough to take of it." Heidmarch replies to Quiella's questions.

Halkale chuckles.

"Nothing is ever s-s-simple. At least we haven't found it s-s-so." he says while scratching Frostfur's ears.

Things are never as easy as they are made out to be, he says while giving Hal a smile.

I am ready to depart when the group is ready. I am going to grab a few other supplies, just in case.

Purchases made in discussion tab. Gold accounted for

"at least we will be in a pleasant forest and not a stinking sewer this time. The main thing that worries me is that recently we've been facing enemies that use darkness. We finally have something to counter that. If something bad were to happen, would we now be facing invisible opponents?"

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"because it is a fey Forest. Isn't that their thing? Invisibility? Or do they have some other favorite trick?" Mel quiets down when he realizes he's been rambling and everyone is staring at him.

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"I know one thing or two about fey and other planes, and I am thrilling to learn more from Ignizi Dinnelletter" a serious half-elf of white long hair leans towards one of the office walls "My name is Vailis and Ms. Heidmarch has called me as a temporal replacement if you would like to accept me"

Perhaps Vailis knows something about the forest, the fey or other places cited.
K. arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
K. nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
K. planes: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

The half-elf summoner knows much of what Heidmarch explained already, the Sanos woods are well-known for its relatively large population of fey and the magical beasts that accompany them. It is probably a very good place do to research on the First World.

I'll give Ophelia a little longer to check back in, but we'll move on either tonight or tomorrow.

The group leaves early in the morning on the next day. The route to the Sanos Forest from Magnimar takes you along the the Dry Way—the trade road along the northern bank of the mighty Yondabakari River toward Korvosa—for several days. Eventually the group spots a distinctive stream, which your instructions indicate you should follow north into Sanos Forest. Once you arrive in the woods, all signs of humanoid activity abate.

Midway through your first day in the forest, the group approaches a small vale where you catch a whiff of rotting meat, find several bear tracks, and notice the forest has suddenly gone quiet. According to your instructions, you should be within half a mile of the cottage where Ignizi Dinnelletter lives.

As you finally approach the cabin, you find it besieged by forest creatures. Two sickly owlbears appear to be clumsily slamming themselves against the cottage which creaks at the weight of their impact. Inside of the structure, you can also hear cries of alarm coming from several distinct voices, although their owners are difficult to discern since the windows and doors are boarded up and reinforced.

As you move up to engage the owlbears, you notice that they appear to be stronger than most creatures their size. There also appears to be something else different about them, although its slightly difficult to discern what that is.

Here is a link to the map.

PC Initiative
Halkale's Initiative: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 2 = 22
Melufiuos' Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Ophelia's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Quiella's Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Vailis' Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Valik's Intiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Initiative (Round 1)
Valik <= Up
Halkale <= Up
?????
2 Owlbears
Ophelia
Melufiuos
Vailis
Quiella

Valik and Halkale are first in the initiative order.

I included Halkale's favored terrain bonus in error, but it won't actually change the initiative order.

knowledge, religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

also, life link on Mel and Valik again

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"Yep, never s-s-simple." Halkale says as he looses an arrow at the nearest owlbeast. Moved myself, will hold frostfur until the melee folks get in..

Attack, PBS: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 12 + 1 = 28 Damage, if hits, PBS: 1d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12

Halkale fire an arrow at the owlbear in the northwest corner and hits it in the shoulder.

Valik is up.

religion: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

I relay what I know about fast zombie.

Valik moves in front of Hal and draws his Sansetsukon. He prepares to strike if the enemy charges.

Headed to work so please not as needed, AC should be 21, attack block updated in profile. Sorry

Valik explains the undead nature of the owlbears and moves to protect Halkale.

The monk does correctly predict the owlbear charge and attacks it as enters melee, but is disoriented by the creature's speed and his weapon misses.

Valik Sansetsukon attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

The zombie owlbear then swipes at Valik, cutting into him with a claw. It hits AC 21, Valik takes 11 damage.

The zombie owlbear on the other side of the house moves in response to the sounds of battle and advances closer to the group.

After the owlbears act, two skeletal creatures emerge from the nearby woods and also approach the party. They appear to have once been some kind of four-legged animal or lizard, but currently are all skeleton.

Knowledge (arcana) can tell you what the four legged skeletons used to be. Although as skeletons, you can surmise that they are undead that require bludgeoning weapons to damage fully and are immune to cold.

Initiative (Rounds 1-2)
Valik [11 Dmg] <= Up
Halkale <= Up
2 Skeletal Creatures
2 Zombie Owlbears
Ophelia <= Up
Melufiuos <= Up
Vailis <= Up
Quiella <= Up

Everyone is up!

Quiella pops her wand of shield out of her wrist sheath and casts it on herself, then throws it to the ground in disgust. She draws her Lucerne hammer and steps toward the skeletons.

"Mel, Vailis, wolfie, take the other owlbear--I'll hold the skeletons."

use magic device vs. DC20: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

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Vailis nods to Quiella, then draws a licorece root from his pouch and points to Valik, Melufuos, Quiella and Frostfur, then casts haste on them.
4 rounds. +1 to hit, dodge AC and Reflex saves. +1 attack when full attacking.
I can give only to 4 characters, thus I choose the melee ones who might go through the DR more easily

The summoner retrieves then his darkwood light crossbow "Seems we will have to work here"

arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

AC 22, 2 swings with haste: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 101d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
1d10 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 111d10 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Quiella tries to activate a wand, but fails to coax it to work. She then advances a few steps towards the skeletons with her Lucerne hammer and offers a battle plan.

Vailis casts a Haste spell on some of the party, and prepares his crossbow.

Using Haste to his advantage, Valik attacks the adjacent zombie owlbear twice, hitting the second time.

Ophelia, Mel(Hasted), Halkale/Frostfur(Hasted)

Haste also gives you +30' speed or +20' if you're small.

Mel casts shocking grasp and moves to attack the undead creature. Humming a charge int his rapier.

rapier to hit : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
rapier dmg: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
shocking grasp dmg: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 3) = 14

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If the rapier does not hit, here is the touch attack I get from shocking grasp
touch: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

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LOL, hopefully the rapier hits

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Valik recognizes the skeletons as hodags, vaguely lizard-like creatures that possess a nasty spiked tail swipe and a tenacity to keep fighting as they are dying. Since they are already dead, you most likely will only have to worry about the former. They can also easily toss opponents away from themselves, but it remains to be seen if the skeletal versions can do the same thing.

Melufiuos moves to confront the owlbear on the south side of the building and easily hits with his electricity infused rapier.

Since it's a holiday weekend in the states, I'll give Halkale until Monday night to respond. As for Ophelia, she is away on a trip, but said she would get a couple of posts in before Friday. Since she did not have an opportunity to do so and won't be back home until after the 15th of June, I'll need to consider what to do about the situation.

Bless is always a winner

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"Bless sounds as a solid course of action" musses Vailis trying to help his companion to react.

Ophelia takes Vailis' advice and casts Bless on the group.

Still holding Frostfur back for the moment, Halkale steps away for a clear space to fire two more arrow at the nearby zombie owlbear that hit.

Halkale arrow 1 + Point Blank Shot - Rapid Shot - Deadly Aim +Bless: 1d20 + 12 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 12 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 = 17
Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Halkale arrow 2: 1d20 + 12 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 12 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Both skeletal hodags rapidly approach Quiella and attack from range, and take bites out of Quiella. Quiella take 16 damage in total. You may need to zoom out the map to see both enemies.

The zombie owlbear on Valik attacks with two claws, a bite, and a slam. Only one claw hits, doing some minor injury. Valik takes 10 damage.

Melufiuos does not fair as well as the monk, as the claws, bite, and slam of the owlbear next to him nearly kill him. Mel takes 35 damage in total.

Initiative (Rounds 2-3)
Valik [21 Dmg] <= Up
Halkale <= Up
2 Skeletal Hodags
2 Zombie Owlbears
Ophelia <= Up
Melufiuos [35 Dmg]<= Up
Vailis <= Up
Quiella [16 Dmg]<= Up

Effects
Haste (Valik, Melufuos, Quiella, Frostfur): +30' speed, +1 to hit, +1 AC, +1 Reflex save, can make an additional attack if full attacking.
Bless (Everyone): +1 to hit and fear saves.

Everyone is up!