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She pauses for a moment, and then takes a deep breath, “Just what I’ve heard from the townsfolk. It’s a little contradictory, isn’t it? Some people seem to think it’s a hag, others a demon, others a priest of Ghlaunder, and others a ghost. If you’re planning to go looking for it, I’d bring cold iron along—that would help you against demons and hags—and fire to help burn away swarms of insects. And if it turns out the witch is a ghost, run and hide! Your weapons won’t do a thing against spirits, and I doubt you’ll have enough holy water to chase it away.”

Haru then whistles to recall her overly friendly dog, signalling her that it's almost time to go.

do you want us rolling for perception before opening the spoiler?

Yes please!

The dog bounces around everyone as you engage in conversation. "Oh well, is that so. Not exactly the same objectives, but I’ve been traveling around the River Kingdoms, recording the local legends and customs. For obvious reasons, Shimmerford was high on my list to visit. I may have gotten more than I bargained for.”

Galia explains that the town primarily worships Hanspur, a demigod of the waterways popular in the domain of the River Kingdom. Typically known as a travel god, he keeps waterways moving and floods those who displease him. After being well fed, you head to the brewery hoping some locals would be able to shed a bit more light to the mystery at hand. The loud buzzing of the mosquitos resume.

Just outside the brewery, a shaggy dog with cream-white fur bolts down the town streets, scattering the clouds of mosquitoes hovering above the ground. A woman’s voice follows after the dog: “Peaches! Peachy! Get back here!” A Tian woman in simple traveling clothes sprints into view a few moments later, stopping to stand by the dog. “Sorry about that,” the woman says, as the dog whines for attention. “I didn’t think there was anything out here but insects, or I would have kept a closer eye on him. My name’s Haru Kwon. What brings you to Shimmerford? It’s not exactly a popular destination right now.”

Character portrait of Haru updated in handouts!

If no one has any specific places in mind to visit based on the map in the handout, I'll start investigating clockwise

"Ack..the p-people, they w-were really desperate about the whole plague. He lives a little outside town but there's nothing there! Everything's burnt to nothing, a few monster hunters investigated it as well and found nothing.."

The cultist house is not in scope of the scenario.

The gnome turns her head unusually slowly towards Kimmo as her eyes widen. “Oh! Um. Yeah! Yeah! About that... um. So there was a Ghlaunder cultist who we found lived a little ways out in the woods! But when we found him the others got a teensy-tiny wee bit mad, and um... k-killed him. And then whacked him into pieces. And then burned his house to the ground with his body in it, and then salted the ground where the ashes were. But, um. The mosquitoes and bloodseekers didn’t leave. So I guess... it actually wasn’t him? I… I feel kind of bad about it now.”

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind, they want this p-p-plague gone as much as I do! It's killed our town livelihood. I mean, no one's going to stop you anywhoo..the town watch is gone.." She almost nearly cries as she finishes her last words. "I'm at a lost, Most people think it’s…” Galia lowers her voice to a whisper. “…the witch. I thought that maybe it could have been a c-cultist of Ghlaunder, but that turned out to be wrong, so I don’t know what else it could be.”

The map of the town in the handouts are updated with some specific locations that Galia has mentioned. If you have no further questions, you could choose a specific location to visit or we could investigate in a clockwise or anticlockwise manner from your current location if you guys want to stay as a party for the whole investigation.

The Gnome happily refills the refreshments of boiled barley and sliced beets with hopes the Pathfinders solve this problem. She tries to lock eyes with Kimmo but fails to meet them."Err..Y-Yes, a lot of the homes have been abandoned recently, but there are a few old timers still hanging in there, er-r-rm, Mrs Lyons, the bell family, and even Anna!"

Galia let's out a huge sigh, “W-well, you probably noticed the mosquitoes. There’ve been a lot of bloodseekers, too. Those are mosquitoes that are as big as your heads! The little ones are bad enough, but the big ones have been driving people out of the town. One even carried off poor Mrs. McClairby’s cat, and some of them killed all of Mr. Rujat’s prize cattle. It’s been really, really, really awful around here! No one knows when it actually started, but it feels like it must have been months now!” She speaks with desperation in her voice.

Your investigation is open ended, if you refer to the handouts, I have updated a map of Shimmerford, you are now in location A1. Feel free to continue asking questions and once you are ready to move to a location, let me know the who and how you approach this.

Once the party has finished their travel preparations, and had a light meal, the journey begins from the city of Tymon to Shimmerford in the River Kingdoms along one of the larger rivers heading south bound. As time passes along the river, the humidity feels heavier as the density of trees becomes evident. On the approach to the forested town, the thick black clouds hanging over the shoreline make apparent that they are not clouds, but a writhing black mass of mosquitoes. Though the mosquitoes are harmless, the incessant buzzing and bites become increasingly annoying.

Upon disembarking from the vessel, you recall the paper with the name given to you from the venture captain, Galia Farrsmith. But, before you are able to ask around, a gnome with blueberry-blue hair and copper skin emerges in front of you, eager to greet. "“Oh, thank goodness! Oh, thank goodness! You actually came! Smine actually sent someone! You must be them, right? No one comes here a-a-anymore unless they’re planning to help! Do you want to talk inside? My house is mostly mosquito free! Can I get you anything? My beet juice is also mostly mosquito-free! Would you like to sit down? A fresh haircut, maybe? Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” she speaks while wringing her hands and swatting away any mosquitoes that come near her.

Upon a quick glance, you observe a relatively dead town for what was described by Captain Holgarin as a vibrant tourist attracted town.

If everyone else is good, we'll progress to journey to Shimmerford in a bit over 12 hours

The captain's eyebrows slightly raise, "It's ugly, but it raises a point and piques curiosity! Shimmerford the name of the town, did I not mention it? As far as I know, the whole town is built on he idea of the witch, Never been there myself. Small town. Cheery place. Tourist attraction. Sells Mosquito Witch dolls, masks, bread. See them in the markets here sometimes. Hold a big festival for the witch once a year. I’ve never gotten to go. Too busy.”

Based on the description, I feel recall knowledge religion might be a bit too much of a stretch. So no occultism I'm guessing.

Does the original handouts link work? The link in my header.

The GM permits!

Try this link for temporary handouts, will correct the original when I'm on my computer.

The captain turns his head to Sunshine of Happiness, and smirks as he responds without skipping a beat.“Looks like this.” Smine wiggles the wheat-stalk doll. “Missing the wings, though folks disagree about that piece. People claimed to see it a while back. Some claim they saw it more recently. No one’s proved it. No one’s caught it. No one’s sure what it is. Would be exciting if we found out.” Smine smiles wryly. “Don’t expect us to.”

Soon after your arrival, a door to a kitchen opens, and a soot-smudged dwarf dressed in a leather apron steps out: Venture-Captain Holgarin Smine.The dwarf’s gestures brusquely to a table within the kitchen, his hands wiped passably clean of the ash and grease of his trade. An assortment of bread, cheese, and cider has been set out on the table for refreshments, as is a bizarre doll made of dried wheat stalks.

“Hope the journey went well.” Smine greets. “Dangerous these days. More dangerous further west, so suppose I shouldn’t complain. Where's the rest of ya” His short sentences almost matching the staccato cadence of the forges below. “Hmmp, won’t waste your time. Ever heard of the Mosquito Witch?”

Smine grins and leans across the table, picking up the grotesque doll. Beady, painted red eyes and a needle-like snout is barely visible through shaggy wheat-stalk hair, and six handless arms are clutched to the doll’s chest. “Local legend. Ugly thing. People claim it lives near a town out here called Shimmerford. Hunters have been trying to catch it for over fifty years. No one has managed to. Villagers sell the failed hunters dolls and souvenirs instead. Fun for all.” He frowns and sets the doll down “Not now, though. Mosquitoes and bloodseekers started plaguing the villagers. Killing livestock. Swarming people outside. Getting into food. Been happening for a year or so. People are starting to leave the town entirely. They blame the Mosquito Witch. I don’t. Doesn’t matter. It’s a problem either way. You’re going to stop it."

He pauses to give you some time to think, and perhaps ask some questions.

Anyone trained in Recall Knowledge Occultism? Going by RAW, it would seem I roll in secret for you, but if you guys seen anything that works really wellin PBP, I'm all ears.

Barbarian 2 CP:3
Druid 4 CP:6
Paladin 4 CP:6
Sorcerer 1 CP:2

CP total 17, high range.

The below bonus should apply to our level 1 character for this adventure.
Increase every DC the PC has by 1.
Increase the attack modifiers, attack damage, spell damage, saving throw modifiers, skill modifiers, Perception modifiers, and AC of the PC by 1. Increase the Hit Point totals of the PC by 10 or by 10%, whichever is higher.

Personally I think tier 3-4 is good for the group. Gros, your level 1 character won't suffer in this tier, so I think it's fine if you want to stick to him.

On a side note, if a level 1 character plays at tier 3-4, do they still receive the higher tier rewards?

Our APL is 2.4, so we could go up or down, if more people are comfortable at tier 1-2 with 6 player adjustment, we could do that instead. I'm easy both ways. But it would be a bit too easy for our level 4 players.

I do just want to say, thanks for joining me, I'm really excited to start playing again and in advance appreciate your patience with me picking up the rules / GMing once more.

Once you have your characters down, please post your character intros and we will get started immediately :)

GM B, what tier are we going to be playing? If it's 3-4, I'll drop out or change characters--I have no one available in tier, and playing a 2nd level front-line combatant in high tier seems like a really bad idea. On the other hand, playing low tier with two 4th level strong melee characters doesn't seem like it'd leave Kimmo much to do.

Also, just out of curiosity, how many of you have played this scenario before and are using replays?

Doing the quick math, we'll be playing at tier 3-4 (without the 6 player adjustment unless combat seems way too easy), I've gone through the stats and I think Kimmo won't be disadvantaged in this scenario at this tier, but I also understand if you think it's best not to let a level 2 join a tier 3-4 adventure.

If I'm not mistaken, no one is using a replay for this.

I actually don't have any 2e pfs characters, but I can make one. Its been a while since I have done any pfs games so I don't remember if I can make past level 1 so that might be what I'm at lol that being said what level is this campaign and what kind of source books are available?

If I'm not mistaken you can use higher level pregens, but if it's your own you'll have to start from level 1.

It's a level 1-4 campaign and all paizo 2e sources are legal for use to some extent, with uncommon and rare abilities/classes having some selection criteria, archives of nethys is a great resource for PFS references. This link is handy

I think I got most of it, but other players here have much more experience than me at this point!

The din of ringing steel and the simmering heat of the forge makes Smine’s Weaponworks easy to find, beyond even its sterling reputation and its well painted sign. An open sliding door leads into a work area filled with apprentices, each toiling to fuel the ceaseless demands for weapons to feed the city’s famed Arena of Aroden. One of the workers, a grim-faced halfling woman barely taller than her own anvil, flashes a smile and points to a narrow staircase at the back of the smithy. Climbing the stairs provides a small respite from the din and the heat, with hanging bowls of cloves and aromatic bark making a heroic, if futile, effort to cover the smell of coal and sweat.

The Pathfinder Lodge above the smithy resembles an adventurer’s boarding house, providing an excellent cover for the comings and goings of the Society’s agents.

Let's begin! Please post your character introductions and we'll start with gameplay immediately. In the meantime I'll also start updating the visuals for the gameplay!

Opening the thread for discussion.

Going back in the day, I'm guessing the below information is still relevant for reporting purposes! Feel free to make any other discussions as necessary for party preparations.

Name:
Character name:
Class/Levels:
PFS ID:
Faction:

Interested! I was slow to get into PFS2E, so by the time I started no one was running this any more. I have a few possible PCs depending on party needs.

Yay! While you're here, whats RPGchronicles? seems like a new thing, after my time.

Hello all! By means of introduction, I'm GM Batpony. Once upon a time a venture agent GM, but had stopped playing due to some mental health challenges. After 5 years, I'm attempting to pick the game up again and thought to go back to GMing PBP to re-learn the game. I have only the season 1 stuff so the game I would like to try my hand with starting over is 1-2 Mosquito Witch (for levels 1-4).

My playstyle tends to be quick with 1 post/update every 12 hour intervals, if that sounds up your alley and you can bear with me picking the rules back up, please join me!

Recruitment Link here

General rules for my table:

1. 1 post per day absolute minimum, 1 post every 12 hours preferable.
2. Clean language
3. I'm probably going to not be familiar with a lot of class abilities at this time, if at any moment it's something fairly unique, do let me know what that is in spoilers or in the discussion so i can familiar myself with it.
4. I'm going to do first come first serve for this recruitment.

Hello all! By means of introduction, I'm GM Batpony. Once upon a time a venture agent GM, but had stopped playing due to some mental health challenges. After 5 years, I'm attempting to pick the game up again and thought to go back to GMing PBP to re-learn the game.

My playstyle tends to be quick with 1 post/update every 12 hour intervals, if that sounds up your alley and you can bear with me picking the rules back up, please join me!

I target to kick off the game this weekend, i.e. tomorrow Saturday 6th of April if there's enough players.

You earn both reputation and fame as it's written in the chronicle.

Sorry for getting back so late, but chronicles are uploaded/updated in the aforementioned link!

Chronicles are uploaded in the aforementioned link, except for Merisiel whom I'm waiting on a dayjob roll. As usual, let me know if a correction is required.

[dice=Tanning Lore]1d20+7

Question: in PF2, if the selected character is lvl 1 and the game was of higher level and played with a pregen, do we apply the chronicle when it reaches level 5 or can we do it immediately?

Depends on the level you wish to assign the chronicle. If you choose level 1, you immediately get the assigned rewards, if you choose level 5, then rewards are only applied at level 5. For example, Ezren/Tusk's level 2 selection means that he would apply this chronicle at level 2.

Game has been reported,
but chronicles are incomplete due to a few missing information, that's mostly my fault for not asking/making clear earlier.

Everyone does have an opportunity to roll for dayjob. The guild guide clearly allows Pregens to participate in downtime.
Guild guide
Earn Income

In short, your pregens will roll against a DC 18 (level 5-2), but will earn rewards based on the character applied to.. i.e. level 0 rewards for a level 1 character.

Also, did everyone wanted their chronicles applied to level 1? Once i get dayjob and level confirmation, chronicles will be uploaded here!

Boon Rolls! Starting with GM and in alphabetical order.

GM: 1d20 ⇒ 8
Amiri: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Ezren: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Fumbus: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Kyra: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Merisiel: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Valeros: 1d20 ⇒ 19

Boon?: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Congrats Valeros! please PM me your email that you wish your boon be delivered to.

I'm back from my work trip! Apologies for dragging this game longer than it should have. But with that said, both alchemist are defeated after those hits. At this point the doll will retreat, the ooze remains a threat but will easily be overcomed with such a low AC, also the machine will likely be disabled by Merisiel, and if it does pour out more oozes, they get weaker and are not going to be a threat to the Pathfinder's victory! Will get reporting and chronicles done before tomorrow is over.

Valeros and Amiri fight through the pain of the acid as it burns their skin and punishes the alchemical pair by forcing them into submission with their swords. Meanwhile, Merisiel works the machine and proves to be adept in tinkering the the mechanism with her hand and manages to disable it permanently by pulling apart a few key gears.

Fumbus is momentarily trapped but is soon released through the efforts of Ezren and Kyra as they continue to direct magical fire towards the ooze like creature.

With the threat gone, you are free to explore their belongings and search the area, In the corner of the chamber, by the walkway to the southeast includes an untidy pile of notes, tomes, and diagrams jammed into several wooden crates. For the most part, these are materials the Ohrlavis stole from Nexus House, but including several works on ooze creation, the folio regarding the Open Road Pact, and the written records of Kerinha Napsunar’s early adventures. While there are numerous pages to browse, at a glance the records indicate that Kerinha often undertook risky operations, such as rescuing religious artifacts by smuggling them out of Rahadoum.

The Open Road Pact folio details the Mwangi expedition by Durvin Gest, Selmius Foster, Gregaro Voth, and Kerinha Napsunar. They set out to uncover what they believe to be a magnificent treasure hidden within the expanse. It entails the many means that of how the Pathfinders overcame many guardians, traps, and obstacles, only to be stymied by a locked door covered in countless keys. All four examined the keys, but none seemed the right shape to open the door. A supernatural guardian bound to the site mockingly informed the Pathfinders that any one of the keys could open the door, but only after all the other key holders (that is, the other three companions) were dead. The four Pathfinders agreed that whatever treasure was beyond was not worth the cost of betrayal. They formed the Open Road Pact, swearing to each take a key and let whoever among them lived the longest return to claim the prize—an embodiment of the cooperation element of the Pathfinder Society’s creed of “explore, report, cooperate.”Oddly, included in the pile area also, several other diagrams and notes that are obviously stolen from other wizards and alchemists across Quantium.

Back at the Nexus House, Sebnet is happy to see the return of the missing texts. If you had not cleaned yourself of the sewers slurry, it gradually disperses as the Nexus House’s enchantments subtly clean the you and their gear. Sebnet makes a cursory inventory of the texts, but it’s clear she’s most interested in finding out more about the Open Road Pact. This piece of forgotten lore featuring the early heroes of the Pathfinder Society is something she is eager to know more about. She asks to have her scribes copy the folio as well; as with the other materials discovered in your research, she intends to let the Shaine keep the originals and maintain a copy here in the Nexus House archives. Sebnet also aids the PCs with any other loose ends of thr mission, ensuring the Ohrlavis are taken into proper custody if they are still breathing. She also also provides a bag of holding type II she discovered tucked away in the Nexus House archives earlier in the day to carry the countless documents on your journey home.Finally she wishes you safe journey and invites you back to Quantium at their soonest convenience.

Upon your arrival at Absalom Kreighton Shaine is pleased to see you've acquire all four pieces of archived information that he requested, but he’s even more delighted to hear about the Open Road Pact and the folio that had been languishing in the Nexus House archives for centuries. The historical importance of the folio alone makes it a valuable find, but the tantalizing hints of key-bound treasures hidden in the Mwangi Expanse promise further adventure for the Pathfinder Society.

[dice=Fort Save, round 2]1d20+11

Not a good day for the little goblin. So that means he's still paralyzed, but now engulfed? Does he get a new save at the end of round 3? I think he also starts suffocating...

You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier. Reduce your remaining air by 1 round at the end of each of your turns, or by 2 if you attacked or cast any spells that turn. You also lose 1 round worth of air each time you are critically hit or critically fail a save against a damaging effect. If you speak (including casting spells with verbal components or activating items with command components) you lose all remaining air.

Since you would have critically failed the second paralysis save, that's one round of air loss, but you do get another Fort save at the end of this round!

Fumbus, refer to the last post... but you essentially you have a few saves to make, Fort DC 20 (if you fail this skip the rest and remain paralyzed) -> Reflex DC 19 (if you pass this skip the last fort) -> Fort DC 20(if you fail this you are paralyzed again)

The doll get's slightly scorched by Ezren's fiery blast.

Reflex, Doll: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 - 1 = 17

However, the doll retaliates in full fury! Though barely making an impact in the fight.

fist: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29B: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
fist: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 10 - 4 = 10B: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
fist: 1d20 + 10 - 8 ⇒ (12) + 10 - 8 = 14B: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Unfortunately in 2e, Ooze's are really easy to hit, but because they have no anatomy are immune to crits. This one is not resistance/immune to weapon damage so we've got that going!

~~~

Combat Round 3

Kyra (Bless 10ft)
Doll -4
Ezren -4, Amiri -16 (2d6 persistent), Merisiel -10, Fumbus -5, Valeros -8 (2d6 persistent)
Orhlavi's Zaynap -74 Bijan -54
Machine (1 success/disabled for 1 round)
Ooze -48

Hey Amiri and Valeros, go ahead and make your persistent damage rolls before taking your actions.

Valeros strikes strong, hard enough to critically wound the alchemist, but she remains stupidly valiant and refuses to give up!

Crit: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (7, 4) + 4 = 15

After being shocked, Fumbus attempts to recall things he would know about the ooze called the gelatinous cube. It does not have the ability to split apart like the black pudding, but it is clearly immune to acid, critical hits, mental, precision, unconscious and visual effects.

The alchemical pair take a guarded step backwards and continues hurling alchemical components at the Pathfinders. Acid covers Valeros and Amiri as the bottles smashes against them.

Vs Valeros
moderate acid flask, frightened 1: 1d20 + 16 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 16 - 1 = 32 Damage = 1, Splash 5, and persistent 2d6
moderate Frost vial, frightened 1: 1d20 + 16 - 1 - 5 ⇒ (9) + 16 - 1 - 5 = 19Cold: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11 Splash 5, and -10 ft speed for 1 round.

Vs Amiri
moderate acid flask, frightened 1: 1d20 + 16 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 16 - 1 = 35 Damage = 1, Splash 5, and persistent 2d6
moderate Frost vial, frightened 1: 1d20 + 16 - 1 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 16 - 1 - 5 = 18Cold: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4 Splash 5, and -10 ft speed for 1 round.

The ooze attacks and attempts to engulf Fumbus and Kyra by moving through them!

cube face vs Fumbus: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29 Acid: 1d6 ⇒ 6 Plus Paralysis (DC20 Fortitude)

Fumbus and Kyra are being engulfed!

Engulf: DC19 Reflex save to avoid, and if fail you also have to DC20 Fortitude to avoid paralysis.

Fumbus, forgot to mention you could have attempted a new saving throw at the end of your turn.

~~~

Combat Round 3

Kyra (Bless 10ft)
Doll (Ready Action/Frightened 1)
Ezren, Amiri -16 (2d6 persistent), Merisiel -10, Fumbus -5, Valeros -8 (2d6 persistent)
Orhlavi's Zaynap -74 Bijan -54
Machine (1 success/disabled for 1 round)
Ooze -25

I'm unclear on why Amiri suffered 14 hps of damage, the second bottle missed her I think and if it hit she should have -18hp

Splash: On a failure (but not a critical failure), the target of the attack still takes the splash damage.

Before Zaynap could act, Valeros reacts with a well timed swing to injured the alchemist badly. The sword cuts deep into her thighs, and causes her bleed profusely.

Kyra realises the dangers the ectoplasmic machine created ooze poses and turns her attention to destroy it through a divine fire blast! The slow moving gelatinous cube is easy to hit, but only it's outer slime melts away, looking like it barely took a hit.

The doll begins to retaliate by turning on Kyra, waddling it's little hands and legs in and waving them furiously. Fortunately, his small stature allows Kyra to merely avoid him by taking a step back!

fist: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11B: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
fist: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 10 - 4 = 9B: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Ezren follows Kyra's lead and dives into combat releasing a cone of fire from his palm. The Ooze barely moves and get's caught in the burn, but still looks relatively healthy.

Ooze reflex: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Amiri strong arms Bijan with some powerful strikes while under the effects of rage.

Amiri hits exactly thanks to the frighten 1 status!

Fumbus can still take recall knowledge actions if he wishes to while he is paralyzed.

Ezren, you might be able to get your burning hands to also target the doll, let me know...

~~~

Combat Round 2

Kyra (Bless 10ft)
Doll (Ready Action/Frightened 1)
Ezren, Amiri -14, Merisiel -10, Fumbus -5, Valeros -7
Orhlavi's Zaynap -24 Bijan -54
Machine (1 success/disabled for 1 round)
[ooc]Ooze (Occultism to identify) -25

Apologies for my unannounced absence these past few days! I've been unable to post due to a poorly planned work trip bundled with lack of internet connection. I have internet connection now and am attempting to catch up on all my games. Hopefully by tonight. With that said, I'm still on the work trip till Sunday so I might still have some unexpected loss of connectivity until I'm back home.

Ezren takes a second look at the machine and realizes soon, that it's tougher than it looks (Hardness 12) but even worse is the potential horror and nature of the machine. This protoplasmic extruder draws in the arcane slurry from Quantium’s sewers and magically transforms the slurry into dangerous oozes.

Disable Occultism DC 22 (expert) twice or Thievery DC 24 (expert) causes it to lose its action on its next turn. Two successes (or one critical success) disables it completely. Dispel magic (3rd level; counteract DC 20) causes the protoplasmic extruder to lose its action on its next turn but never disables it. Alternatively the machine can be destroyed by raw force but it's got hardness and a considerably good amount of HP.

The alchemical pair shakes off most of the threats hurled towards them but are visibly shaken when Amiri and her weapon comes face to face to them. However, Bijan yells in response to your threats, "You'll never take us alive!" And moves further back into the sewers hurling alchemical flask at the barbarian. As the bottles break on her skin, lightning crackles and shocks the warrior! Merisiel feels a slight shock from the lightning as well.

moderate bottled lightning, frightened 2: 1d20 + 16 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 16 - 2 = 28 Electricity: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9
moderate bottled lightning, frightened 2: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 2 = 20 Electricity: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9

Meanwhile, the twin sister named Zaynap, begins to mutter a short verbal command before retreating back like her brother. She then hurls a single flask towards Valeros, zapping the human fighter.

moderate bottled lightning, frightened 2: 1d20 + 16 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 16 - 2 = 23 Electricity: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

Valeros can make an AoO.

?: 1d8 ⇒ 1

Suddenly, the machine begins to churn loudly, and seems to be slurp the slurry around. Out of one of it's sides an ooze like creature emerges and forms. It begins to attack the nearest goblin!

cube face: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23 Acid: 1d6 ⇒ 4 Plus Paralysis
cube face: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 Acid: 1d6 ⇒ 1 Plus Paralysis

DC20 Fortitude to avoid paralysis

~~~

Combat Round 2

Kyra (Bless 10ft)
Doll (Ready Action/Frightened 2)
Ezren, Amiri -14, Merisiel -10, Fumbus -5, Valeros -7
Orhlavi's (Frightened 1)
Machine
Ooze (Occultism to identify)

Kyra's quick glance at the doll is enough to inform her that the doll is one infused with fragments of a creature's soul gibing it sentient life.

On the other hand, the Orhlavi's are trained alchemist to the book.

Mechanically they are of the alchemist class and don't have any unique variations.

The soulbound doll looks around the room and eagerly waits without making any funny movements.

~~~

Combat Round 1

Kyra
Doll (Ready Action)
Ezren, Amiri, Merisiel, Fumbus, Valeros
Orhlavi's

The group carefully moves deeper into the sewers and finds themselves within an extremely large area of the sewers. This large, vaulted chamber is filled with a shallow pool of greenish slurry and is ringed by a stone walkway. Large inflow passages to the east and south add slow rivulets of sludge to the pool, which drains lazily away to the northwest. An enormous metal contraption, 20 feet in diameter, with gears and hoses assembled in a multitude of parts stands in the middle of the pool. Four round legs support the machine, and several hoses slurp the slurry in the pool. The contraption chugs and hums ominously.

Two humans, and a doll the size of a dog seems to be standing around working on the machine. The humans, who you presume are the Ohrlavis, are tall, wiry Garundi twins with high cheekbones and dark skin pockmarked with acid scars from long years of alchemical toil. Both of them have long, dark luscious hair that shines in the reflection of the torches decorating the chamber. Bijan wears his hair in two thick braids while Zaynap wears hers high on her head in an untidy bun. The twins both wear studded leather armor with straps and hooks to hold an array of alchemical tools and vials of alchemical weapons. The doll is a stout, fleshy doll made of pale clay. It has rough facial features and an unfinished appearance, including several warts and rough knots.

The twins clearly look unhappy as they observe your arrival! Bijan shouts, "Get out of hear or we'll have to use force!"

They are immediately presumed hostile and go into combat, most always everyone gets into combat but if you prefer to do something different here let me know.

The textual description of the doll and the pictorial that both come from the scenario book are a bit conflicting, I believe the text is a better representation even from a stat block vs the pictorial. He has no sword/weapon.

Kn. Arcana for identifying the doll and Kn. Society for the Alchemist.

~~~

Combat Round 1

Kyra
Doll
Ezren, Amiri, Merisiel, Fumbus, Valeros
Orhlavi's

With Ward medic, Kyra can Treat Wounds for two targets

Did you mean to treat Valeros with the second roll? As I understand Ward Medic, you can treat two targets with a single roll. As oppose to treat the same target twice, Merisiel is still limited to the single check in an hour.

On my count, Valeros has healed 30hp, being short 15hp and Merisiel has healed 46hp, being short 10hp.

After her recovery, Merisiel is able to safely disable the contraption to obtain the dagger.

Would the party like to continue? Or spend another hour of downtime healing?

Am I correct that Kyra could use the Refocus action to recover the spent focus point while tending the wounds of others?

Yes, that's a possibility

Amiri wrestles the ooze with the flat of her blade and eventually wears it down enough that it sinks right back into the emulsion from which it rose from. After waiting for a few seconds, no more creature seems to emerge from the waste indicating that the coast is now clear.

Combat Over! Am going to go ahead and open up the next area to help speed things up, we're close to the end gang. Go ahead and do your healing as required. Merisiel - dying 2, Valeros -55

Further ahead from the area, you find a small chamber. Area B3. This room appears to be a combination alchemy lab and bedchamber. Two narrow beds line the north wall, partially concealed by hanging curtains. Equipment-laden tables stand against the west and east walls. To your pleasant surprise, the pervasive chemical tang of the sewer is absent here; this room instead smells faintly of spices and tobacco.

At a glance, you find on the tables are several scattered notes on crafting golems and creating oozes.

Two everburning torches provide light to this room. Among the alchemical equipment here are two lesser tanglefoot bags, a lesser elixir of life, and a magical dagger that seems to be attached to some kind of fancy contraption. To remove the dagger is a Thievery or Occultism check

~~~

Exploration tactics for next part after this - Unless I'm told otherwise that you're changing

Valeros - Searching
Kyra - Searching
Merisiel - Searching
Ezren - Detecting Magic
Fumbus - Sneaking
Amiri - Scouting

Map updated! At this time don't worry about the cavernous corridor, it leads to the same place and does not add anything to the scenario, it's a shortcut to avoid the ooze but you do have to go through the hazard.

Is Valeros still Grabbed? I thought he would not have been since the closest critter is dead and the still living one is out of reach from Valeros.

If he is not Grabbed, Valeros picks up his longsword and uses two move actions to get closer to the thing. If he is Grabbed, Valeros will make attacks.

He should have made attacks last round if he was Grabbed and could Strike.

My mistake, Valeros is not grabbed anymore. Forgot to remove that condition when the last creature attacking him went out.

A myriad of attacks using flat blades, frost rays, alchemical fire hit the creature from every angle possible! The oversized blob wobbles violently but still stands and refuses to let go of the badly wounded elf! Kyra turns to her deity to bestow healing upon the unconcious elf, forcing her to open her eyes once more in the heat of the fight.

constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 7 + (3) = 12
constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 7 + (1) = 14
constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 7 + (3) = 12

Merisiel, please make 3 basic fortitude saves vs constrict! DC26. Unless you roll really badly on all the aves, looks like you'll have another round to fight!

~~~
Round 3/4

Valeros -55 (Grabbed)
Black Pudding Blue -60
Merisiel -12 (Grabbed/wounded 1)

@GM - just making sure you saw I retconned Ezren's actions to cast Electric Arc instead of Ray of Frost, doing 12 points of electrical damage to each of the split puddings (DC 21 Reflex save).

Yessir, their reflex saves were rolled in my previous post and damage applied in that post.

Valeros first blunted strike at the ooze turns it into pure mush and causes it to wither back into the sludgy waters in which it came from.

Valeros is at -66 hp

Blue is down after Valeros's first action. So let me know if Valeros and Ezren want to retcon those actions.

Good news is that these creatures are easy to hit, bad news is immune to crits! Though, with that said 12 misses.

Merisiel and Valeros adapt their fighting styles in light of recent developments attempting not to exacerbate the situation with sharp weapons. The fighter attempts to push back on the creature attempting to eat him whole, and does it with some success, but the creature still persist to squeeze the life out of the human!

constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + 7 + (4) = 19
constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 7 + (5) = 16
constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 7 + (6) = 19

Valeros, please make 3 basic fortitude saves vs constrict! DC26.

Persistent DC15: 1d20 ⇒ 13

The other black pudding attempts to do the same towards the rogue.

pseudopod: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (16) + 18 = 34 B+ACid: 2d8 + 7 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 8) + 7 + (3, 2) = 24 Grabbed
Crit,B+ACid: 2d8 + 7 + 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) + 7 + (6, 1) = 21
constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 7 + (1) = 9
constrict: 1d8 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 7 + (5) = 19

Merisiel, please make 2 basic fortitude saves vs constrict! DC26.

~~~
Round 2/3

Valeros -22-? (Grabbed)
Black Pudding Blue -28, Red -71 (3 persistent)
Merisiel -35-? (Grabbed) Rest of Party!

Correct, yet because Prof still exist it seems to make people think that it is still medium or heavy armor and then put ....limitations on it.

I believe the pricing has to do with how much material you are using, that doesn't help the issue at hand. What is changed by the armor change? What does your ETC mean? Does it count for medium for enchantments?

The ambiguity of rules does allow each GM a certain freedom in how to judge rules which lends flexibility and a more tailored experience. Which I agree can be awesome, I found however, that it hindered my own. When I read the rules on mithril armor I found no issue, in my mind the rule was clear cut and free of other interpretation. I was wrong on that regard, but found my error far too late, I had planned my character out and now cannot do as I planned because what I thought was clear cut was not. Which then presents issue. That means every character has to be vetted through the GM and every purposed plan of action as well, that I think, can become cumbersome for the GM. So a clear consensus of rules is good because it gives the structure of the universe in which we play.

And that very well could be done, and we would see a lot less people buying mithral armor. If that is the case I do not believe the 4k or 9k is worth the value. It would still provide us with clear direction instead of people planning a character out and not being aware of the rules dispute. I think the introduction of the brawler class has prompted this discussion since the brawling enchantment has been around for a while, just no class worthy of it.

Why beware of it? If an answer is not what you thought or want at least it is a definite answer and now no longer bound to the whims of separate GMs. I fear, since the brawling enchantment is the one brought up most of the time that the issue lies in GMs believing the enchantment to be too strong, and thus the combination OP.

I tend to agree, I do not see the logic in saying it means it is light for everything except enchantments. I would easier follow the logic that it ONLY applies for movement and sleeping and things that armor does to the wearer, although, then that makes the gold cost seem pretty steep.

Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light.

It does not say limitation of the armor specifically, just other limitations. It goes on to say treat armors as one class lower, except light remains light.

Elven Chain says "in all ways treat as light EVEN proficiency." It is called out specifically and most people cite this as the reason why a mithril breastplate remains medium, even though it weighs less and is less cumbersome via ACP value.

So, with specific regard to medium armors they are treated as light for movement and other limitations, and the Elven chain is treat in all ways, but still doesn't just say, Elven chain is light armor, which confuses me.

If it were that clear cut, Mark would agree, but he does not.

I am just curious what this means in regards to class features, enchantments and other things that require a certain armor type. Thanks.