DM Rah's "Icebound Outpost" PFS (Inactive)

Game Master Kobash

You have been summoned by the Master of Spells Aram Zey to the Grand Lodge of Absalom, center of operations of the world-spanning Pathfinder Society. A man of few words, and most of them often verging on rude and demeaning, Zey's only instructions were to meet him in a vault deep below Skyreach — and to dress warmly.

Seemingly arriving first, Garinol strides in. A small frown crosses his face as he sees he is alone.

"Did I come to the wrong vault? How many deep-below-Skyreach-vaults can there really be? And not even any snacks. I say, it might be time for a new host. . . But, I guess we can't have everything, ha ha."

Looking about for some method of distraction, "Hello! Anyone there? Helllooooo. . ."

The Master of Spells?! How exciting.

The tiny gnome walks into the room, wanting to be sure she was in the right place. "Master Zey, are you here? Anyone?"

She sees the armored male standing around the corner. "Hey there, I'm Pai. I assume you received the same missive I did, looking at your heavy coat. I've never really been in a cold weather situation before, how about you? Looks like you have an affini for the Dawnflower. I like her...maybe she can keep us warm on the trip," the gnome laughs, scanning the room for any treats that might have been provided.

Actually, I'm not seeing a cold weather outfit on Garinol...

Darn it, I thought I saw a discussion post about everyone gearing up. Too late to edit...

I need to pick it up. D-Kal pointed out that I had shorted myself 2 points, so I am making a few minor tweeks real fast. I will buy one, and also rebuy my shield. Also, if it's cool with you, if we do not have a dedicated lock pick in the party, I was going to switch one rank to that, (before we begin). I think my gold may be off, too. It just seems like I should have more.

"Pai, interesting name", he says with a smile, offering his hand. "I am Garinol. And yes, I was sent a request to meat Spell-Master Zay somewhere down here. It's been some time since I was last at the Grand Lodge, and I had forgotten how he tends to work on his own time. That and well, offer less than helpful advice. ha ha ha".

Dotting; more to come.

A strong-looking man with a hard-lined face bundled in layers of thick winter gear enters the vault just in time to hear the introductions of Garinol.

"Hello there. Garinol, is it? Not much to you, is there?" Ruford says, looking him over. "Though there's a fair bit less to this one." he says gesturing at Pai. "What did you say your name was, creature?"

"Im Pai. Strange...I figured someone with as big a pair of ears as you have would have been able to hear me from much further away. Like a mile or so? What's your given name, Big Ears," Pai asks looking innocently at the warrior.

"Hmph." Ruford eyes the small woman for a bit, then decides to answer.
"I am Ruford Pratt, battle expert. If we run into danger, I'll be the one keeping you alive." he says with notable lack of eye contact.

"Pleasant to meet you, Mr. Prattle...er, I mean Mr. Pratt!"

Sweating in his heavy winter coat, a nondescript Andoran walks in. "Good, I'm not late. Haven't dealt with Master Zey before, but you hear stories. Too hot for this stuff now." He sheds a heavy pack and his winter coat after leaning a guisarme against the nearest wall. "I'm Kilian. Don't think I know any of you."

And remember, that's "Pratt," not "Prat." There's a difference.

"Ruford Pratt, battle expert." Ruford says, proffering his hand. "Nice choice of arms."

"It works for me." Kilian holds up his right hand, encased in leather and silvered steel. "Hard to shake with one of these on, and you don't look like an oread so I won't try a fist bump." He offers his left hand instead.

"Kilian? A friend of mine named 'Shel' wanted to know if you had recovered from your rocky past experiences...she said you were a good agent," Pai, said happily recognizing the name from a night of drinking with the rogue.

Remaining silent throughout the introductions, just watching and listening, Garinol thinks "you will. I hope there is not danger. I hate fighting.", and "I wonder what an oread is?"[/i]

"Grleetings?", the native inflection of the Tian Xia people precedes a venerable human stepping into the room. The man has seen better days, his skin is gaunt, taunt and dark, much like the skewered grilled lizard he's snacking on. Grey robes of monastic traditions states his general neutrality on philosophical matters.

He flicks the remains of the garlic treat away; rests his cane and straw hat against the wall introduces himself to the Master and others. "I am Mu Ping. New rlecruit, rleporting foh duty." (Either someone needed a quota filled at the recruiting station or his application was misdirected from the Napfinders.)

PORTRAIT

"Greetings Mr. Ping. I'm Pai, this is Kilian, Garinol, and Ruford. He's a battle expert. It's a pleasure to meet you.". Despite her politeness, Pai was surprised to see the decrepit old man, answer the call, as this mission seemed to be for the newer members. Maybe he's a higher up sent to spy on us? Must treat him well.

I had tried to edit my last post to incorporate Ping and fix there errors, but I guess it didn't take. :)

Watching the other's interactions with interest, Garinol nods respectfully as the grey-robbed foreigner enters, "Elder".

Ruford's face twists into a confused scowl as Ping enters.
"Who in Gozreh's name dug you out of the ground for this?"

"Shyka the Many that's who!", Mu winks at Pai's fey ancestry. "Rleincarnate! Rlight out of Gozleh's glaveyard whea all I was doing was keeping yua great-papa company!", he squints at Ruford through sagging and scrutinizing eyelids, "You new rlecruit too?! You like Tian food? I brought my supprlies. We all be frliends afta you taste my cooking." Mu waves a hand at his pots and pans tied amongst his gear.

"I think I'll be fine, actually..." Ruford responds at the smell of Ping's breath.
Or is it Haris's breath?

Earlier: Kilian smiles at the gnome. "Oh, yeah. I remember Shel. I'm fine now, but it took a couple of days before the aches and pains went away. Wasn't the most comfortable position to be frozen in, right?"

Whoops! Can GM delete and repost?

Sam, unfortunately no. Posts become permanent after about an hour I think.

A young human woman hurries into the vault, clad completely in furs with a silver holy symbol of Pharasma hanging from her neck. Her large gray eyes take in each of other Pathfinders curiously before she finally speaks in a quiet voice.

"Forgive me for my tardiness, I just got off the boat from a mission in Varisia and they told me to rush down here after I bought some warm clothing." She looks down at her outfit and sniffs distastefully before continuing. "My name is Maddie and I'm a servant of the goddess Pharasma. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you, Maddie. You are going to have a busy trip keeping these lot," as Pai gesture to the others, "...up and running. They look like they like to fight."

She didn't include Ping in the gesture, as she wasn't quite sure exactly what he did.

Kilian nods. "But I'm happier when my enemies aren't too close, or are on the ground. Good to meet you, Maddie."

"Kilian's right, of course. Cut 'em down before they reach you and there's no real threat. Except archers. I hate archers." Ruford says with a sneer.

"It looks to be an interesting and diverse group," Maddie replies with a brief smile, "Also friendly, that makes working together easier."

She pauses and looks momentarily troubled, "I didn't miss the briefing, did I?"

"Nah, no briefing yet. I'm starting to think this gnome is playing tricks on us."

"No, though its very possible that we all missed the briefing, way things are looking. Or Zay just forgot. Lets just say that is not out of the realm of possibility with him."

As if summoned by Garinol's insult, Aram Zey enters the room as the inquisitor is making his jest and folds his arms, silently glowering behind the unsuspecting man.

Ruford feels tense for a moment, then has an idea.
"Forgetful, is he? Have any stories about that?"

"Did you just call Zey a gnome?" Ping adds to the budding confusion, goading Ruford into more yammering, "I think he's Keleshite, what do you think of those desert folks? I knew this one Keleshite ranger, he had crazy eyes!"

"Well, I wasn't personally there, but there was a time, in the most dire of circumstances involved the stupid tapestry, a friend was on yet another of those barbaric Tia, . .. uh, I, . . . he was sent on a mission within the Tapestry to unlock a religious riddle. So they went to talk to this reincarnating assassin to get a glowing book, written by the person that first created the dang tapestry. They finally got it, and returned it to the, um, um, and let me emphasize this "master of spells", but he wouldn't even bother to look at the dang thing, I hear. A mage book, written by a mage, containing this huge answer to a mage problem, not to mention him personally needing to answer the arcane riddle, but it came down to the Priest of a different deity entirely to piece it al together without any mage at all. There was also this one time, in bard camp. . ." he seems to go on and on, one story relating to how Zay almost botched a ritual, another about how he left so new recruits standing and waiting on a "critical" mission brief for 2 straight days, another on how he and "that Heidmarch character" almost got everyone killed three full times in a row with some golems, basically until someone stops him. The final one is how he just "magic's" another friend and his faithful allies into an enemy stronghold with next to no clue what they are supposed to do except not get shanked, and can't be bothered to answer any questions."

Yah, these are all things I've either DM'd or played through with this guy.

Pai's mouth open and closed wordlessly listening to Garinol going in on the Master of Spells. All she can do is point over his shoulder to the glowering figure towering behind him, hoping beyond hope Zay had come down with some temporary deafness.

Zey raises an eyebrow, clears his throat, and waits.

Kilian wordlessly stands up, shouldering his pack, puts his coat on, and grabs his guisarme. He looks expectantly at the Master of Spells.

As Garinol goes through his diatribe about Aram Zey, Maddie checks her furs and taps her foot anxiously. When he finally finishes she offers sheepishly, "Um, I'm certain he had good reasons for whatever did..."

I'm mostly just riffing to pass the time while we wait.

Garinol gets the sudden feeling that someone is standing behind him and turns to find Aram Zey there with a wicked little smile.

“Pathfinders,” He says in a curt greeting. He gestures toward the tapestry.

“As I’m sure you know, we recently came into possession of this wonder —the Hao Jin Tapestry—by winning the Ruby Phoenix Tournament in distant Goka. Within this piece of fabric lies an entire world in which one of Golarion’s greatest magicians placed treasures and mysteries beyond imagining. And it was supposed to be ours alone. This promise of exclusive access was made a lie, however, when the Aspis Consortium found a way into Hao Jin’s astral vault that bypassed the tapestry altogether, and Aspis agents are now busy stealing whatever they can move, hoping we will act too slowly to protect our winnings. Fortunately, a recent mission into the tapestry managed to uncover a clue about a possible Aspis base within the tapestry. That is your destination. Or perhaps your tomb, depending on if your skills are truly what I have been told, and not just baseless stories. Zey lets that sink in for a moment before continuing.

“The camp is within a great stone temple complex uprooted from the Vudran jungle many centuries ago by the sorceress herself. Since her disappearance, that part of the tapestry has been encased in a massive glacier. This temple—dedicated to a Vudran monkey-god, we believe—could prove enlightening on its own, notwithstanding the Aspis presence there. It’s a grim thought imagining what the Consortium has done to the place, but apparently more than three-quarters of it is still protected by the glacier, so we can still salvage a great deal.

“Vanaras—the simian humanoids responsible for constructing this temple—are great builders, and this temple is representative of the huge complexes that once graced the Vimada Forest before their wars with men and the rise of Khiben-Sald. It’s a representation of the cosmos, really, a series of nested squares with symbolic shrine-mountains all directed toward great Bahmenu, the mountain birthplace of the god Ragdya and, the vanaras believe, the center of the universe. This symmetry may serve you well, if you have any brains to remember this advice, since it will help you predict the layout and functions of the temple as you make your way around it. Every corner of the temple will be fitted with a small shrine, all facing the symbolic mountain.”

“Even an abandoned temple is a holy place to the vanaras, as it is to most of us Vudrani as well, and we hope you respect that fact. If you can save the sanctuary from the insolence of the gods-damned Aspis, it may draw the mirthful and enlightened eye of Ragdya himself upon our Society.”

Would Know. Arcana tell me anything about any of the mission mentioned, like Bahmenu or the Vanaras gods which might help with the layout of the temple, as described? Know. Arcana 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26, if so.

Pai knew some of the things spoken of by Zey, but nothing more that might be useful right now.

"Two questions: First, it seems as if our main mission is to eliminate the Apsis agents there. Am I correct? Second, if the tapestry gets us there, what gets us back?"

Whispering back to the group, "See, the coot has already forgotten I was just explaining about the dang tapestry. . ." :)

"What else can we expect? Other natives we know about? Do we have anything on these Aspis agents? What are they doing there, how did they get there to begin with, if we have the tapestry? How long do we have?"

If any of these are relevant:
Know Arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Know Dungeon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Know Local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Know Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Know Planes: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 (probably anything about the tapestry or the demi plane within)
Know Religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23 (probably involving any of the deities/faiths mentioned)

Sense Motive: 120 + 7 = 127 to see if he's holding anything back (just for fun)

Well, there went my Nat 20 for this year. . . ha ha

More like your nat 120, eh?

My bad.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

PFS #3-19 The Icebound Outpost

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–5. (We are playing Subtier 1-2)

Summary:
The Pathfinder Society discovers an Aspis Consortium base in an ancient Vudran temple now encased in a glacier and sends the PCs to infiltrate it and investigate the extent of the rival organization's regional operations. Can the PCs get in the well-guarded Aspis outpost and escape with their lives and the information the Society seeks?

***

Everyone please check in with the character you'd like to play.

Hey DM, gnomey wizard goodness here!

I've not updated my sheet yet, but I'll do that in the next day or so.

Andoran fighter on deck.

I've put together a ninja that I'm still uncertain about. Is this campaign still in the works?

Yes. I think a couple people need to make characters. I can begin when everyone is ready.

'Mu Ping' - crusty old monk

PORTRAIT

I'm here, but I just have not had any time recently to make a character or even check out the other game until now. Hopefully today.

But I'm interested. I'll probably use a Pregen, and depending on what is most needed, I'll go with what is lacking. I see a Fighter, Monk, Sorcerer, and Ninja, so it's looking like Kyra so far.

I've decided not to go with ninja, for whatever that's worth. I may actually go Kensai Magus.

Heck, I may just make a new character, as typing in all the info is about the same amount of work. Always wanted to try a Dervish Dancer. Might give that a try. :)

Alright, think I'm going to go with a Lore Warden. Mostly he'll contribute intimidation and battlefield control with Combat Reflexes and a Horsechopper (reach weapon).

So, I'm building a NG Human Inquisitor of Sarenrae, thinking of going high Dex and Wis build and then into Dervish Dance.

I almost did that before I decided to aim for Shadowdancer.
I like that idea because it can give you a very high Initiative, high Perception, high damage output, and some spells. You'd be going first all the time and making it count.
Human? Tengu? Half-elf?

That puts us at 5 players. Does anyone want to refer a 6th or should I ask around?

Kilian is a guisarme trip fighter, so we should be set for battlefield control.

So that gives us

Kilian--fighter
Pai--wizard
Beckett--inquisitor
D Kal--lore warden
Sam--ninja

Looks pretty solid to me. A 6th of any class would be fine.

Rogue would be good. Though I would think an inquisitor could fill most of that role almost as well.

Beckett is Yanos. Haris (Sam) is the 5th, and he is making a ninja. Still need one more.

I edited the last post, DM. Another character who can heal a bit would be helpful, but to be on the safe side, I spent 2 PP for a wand of Infernal Healing to keep us running.

Hello. It's Yanos's other, other alias. I used some credit on First Steps and whipped this guy up.

A pleasure to serve with you all, in these dark days, and I would presume, what will be a very cold journey.

I just need to decide on a personality for this one.

Beckett, are you going into Shadowdancer as well?

Looks about innocently . . . maybe. . .

J/K nah, I was just thinking Dervish Dance and Spring Attack chain.

Haha. Alright. Almost a shame though... it'd be funny to see to competing character concepts level up side by side.
I'm planning on taking reach weapons and whirlwind attack for the hilarity of it all. A level of monk makes me threaten nearby, and some other feats get me tripping with a whip like a maniac.
I have my plan all set out in my profile, if you want to critique.

I'm going to make some minor changes to the character. Buying Cold Weather Outfit, changing skills a bit to add more Knows, and buy a shield.

I have one more player coming, but they probably won't be available for a few days, so everyone take their time to get their characters right, and don't forget to post an introduction of some sort in the Gameplay thread.

Ruford is in, with striking similarities to both Garinol and Kilian.

Kilian's updated. Slightly better armor, plus cold-weather gear and alchemic silver cestus.

ETA: And a masterwork backpack.

I think our last player is just about ready. Hope to start within a day or two.

I hope he's a polearm fighter. We need another.

Ha ha. Take your time. I have different firing range duties all week. I can check posts from my phone sometimes if I have signal, but not maps and posting is difficult but not impossible.

I'm the last person, sorry about the delay! I'll probably have my cleric of Pharasma (sorry, not a polearm fighter) ready by Thursday night Eastern US time.

Thats cool. Welcome aboard. Im at a range all week so hard to post.

DM, I still need to check my Gp, and gear. Do you mind if I alocate a skill to traps?

Go ahead Garinol.

Justin, could you at least carry a longspear?

I could have my character carry them around for you, I guess...

Longspears are simple weapons, so clerics are proficient with them.

But if he has crappy STR it won't matter. Could be a finesse cleric.
We should be fine though. It would just be insane melee control for 3 of us to be using reach weapons. :)

I posted this in my other game, but figured I should repost here as well.

I took a job that has me traveling without my computer until Monday night. I can still post from my phone, but I won't be able to put up maps until I return.

I still think we can continue without them for now, and just run combat in a cinematic style.

That's cool. I must have missed it in the other game, as I was wondering. As far as I'm concerned, take your time and focus on you.

I almost forgot faction mission info. I'll try to get them out later today.

No worries. They tend to be something accomplished later. If you like I can copy them from the PFS Shared Prep folder.

DM Shared Prep

or

The Icebound Outpost (I haven't looked through it)

It's also got some other nifty things like sometimes maps or stat blocks for easy reference.

Is the temperature cold enough to require cold outfits? Or was that only for Skyreach?

The temperature is cold enough that without cold weather outfits you will need to make occasional checks to avoid damage and fatigue.

I can assist you if you need. Both Heal and Survival can be used to help others against cold, and I have an extra Winter Blanket if you need. :)

So basically if you draw an AoO for movement, after that AoO is resolved, you can take a sort of AoO yourself against the person that attacked you. (It's not actually an AoO, though, just works similarly, and is a Swift Action, which means it can only be done one per round.)

This changes the action type from Swift to Free Action, meaning you can potentially do it more than once per round, (in fact up to your Wis mod), but it doesn't allow you to do it more than once per event that actually provoked to begin with. So, with the original Feet, they attacked you and you attacked them back after that. At that point, if you continued moving and provoked from a different target, (because you can only provoke by moving from the same target once per round), with the first Feat only, you would not be able to attack them back, because it is a Swift Action, and you had already used your single Swift Action for the round. With the second Feat, it becomes a Free Action, which you can take multiple of during a round, and you would be able to attack the second target after their AoO, too.

It doesn't, however, allow you to do a sort of Flurry of Blows against a target for the single AoO you provoked, though I can see where it almost reads as if it did.

To my knowledge, there is no rule about how many Free Actions can be taken outside of what is reasonable, (I could be wrong, though). I believe a long time ago the 4 Free Actions per round was suggested due to some sort of item/Feat/Class Feature abuse that allowed some sort of infinite action as a Free Action. Because Panther Claw has a built in limit (Wis mod per round), it's probably not appropriate to impose a limit beyond that, including other Free Actions for the round, as long as they are within reason, which is up to the DM.

Thanks Beckett. Yep, I'm barely hanging on to the basic AoO rules as it is. So basically, if Mu (WIS 15) ran by 5 enemies and triggered 5 AoOs, he would get 1 AoO back at each 3 of them, and then he'd get a remaining standard action at the end of movement, which is likely drinking a healing potion or stabilizing.