GM Aarvid PFS PbP : The Devil We Know Series (Inactive)

Game Master GM Aarvid

Morvius follows the others. Down?

"Well there seems to be nothing on deck here. Hey August remember that time we almost fell overboard on that boat? I sure don't like boats...but I guess down is our only choice!"

Yeah, I didn't like that one bit, no sir! Well, we can't go overboard if we ain't on the deck! August says, but then just spins in a circle. Well, which way?

"Lets pull one of these hatches off and see what is inside!"

If not stopped, he will get August's help to remove one of the hatches

Alright. You don't think they keep sea monsters down there, do ya?

"Gosh...I hope not!! In this strange place, who knows??"

If it's completely dark As in we can't see at all Kath will cast Light upon his scimitar, making it glow. If it's just dim he will refrain from using it. No point in signaling potential enemies.

So there are two doors on the main deck and stairs leading down. Who is going where or doing anything on the ship or dock?

Kath illuminates his scimitar, as it is starting to get dark outside and looks darker below decks.

Are we unable to lift one of the grates? If so, we'll head to the door near the front of the ship, or at least August will (and assuming An would come with him.

August, you can lift the grates if you desire. It would be like an 8' drop to the deck below. No ladder is evident.

Do we see anything helpful or is this just a dead-end idea? If so, move us to the door. With An's approval, the dwarf will open said door (unless someone else in the party stops us for some reason.

Looking through the grate into the cargo bay, August sees six large ballistae are housed below, screwed to the deck. No crew evident, even with his darkvision.

Undeterred, August opens the door to the forward cabin. It reveals a storage room full of supplies.

I am all for dropping down. But if you want to move to the door I am cool with that.

Jacen will have his scimitar drawn and at the ready as well.

An follows close to his friend, nodachi at the ready.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

August will go inside and have a look around, just in case somebody is hiding among the supplies. If he finds nothing of interest Hmph, just a bunch o' junk in here., he'll lose interest quickly and move to the other door and open it. On the way, he'll stop at that other grate and take a look down below there as he did with the other grate earlier.

Holman moves silently across the boat and drops down through the grate. Once there, he will continue to move quietly and do more exploring.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Unless I am mistaken Holman jumped into darkness?

Kath will shine his lighted scimitar from above the grate, giving Holman enough light to see. Kath can also be ready in case the little halfling runs into trouble.

"Well one man's junk is another's treasure. Lets look around a bit!"
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Yea, lets check it. I dont want to get ambushed in the middle this bloody boat.

Morvius also casts light on his blade.
Aid Another Perc: 1d20 ⇒ 16

In the front cargo room, Nguyen An searches...

Holman moves across the deck and drops down to the cargo area while Kath shines light from overhead.

Jacen draws his blade and prepares to descend via port or stairs.

Morvius casts light to add to Kath's already glowing blade.

August moves towards the aft cabin.

Perception 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

An continues on, following August towards the aft cabin.
"Ok, lets open it up and see if anyone is here!"

Last round I meant that I was helping Ann in his search.

Morvius moves to help in the search of the aft cabin.
Aid Another Perc: 1d20 ⇒ 10

Kath continues to stand over the ungrated cargo hold, shedding light down to Holman below.

The others move to the aft door that August has opened.

These finely appointed quarters
contain a desk, a chair, a bed, and some chests, all of
which have been screwed to the deck. A single lit lamp
rests on the deck and illuminates the room completely.

Looks like the captain's cabin.

Holman sees the 6 ballista previously mentioned. He thinks he makes out the stairs up in the dim light. Hard to see much else from where he stands.

Hmm, but where is the captain, Morv? I don't get why its empty. August just haphazardly looks around, not knowing what else to do. Guess we ougtha find the rogue fella. The dwarf will go down the stairs, looking for Holman.

Before we leave, An will checkout the chests.

Yea... me neither. Where IS everyone?

Well, Kath will go down with Holman, not wanting to leave the little companion completely in the dark.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Following the group.

Holman is still below deck, but has been quietly waiting, hearing the stomping around overhead of his team. Kath drops down the portal to join the halfling.

Meanwhile Jacen with the help of Morvius finds a logbook in one of the chests. Nguyen An does not find anything else of interest.

With the logbook in hand the group leaves the captains cabin and heads for the stairs.

Holman hears the heavy boots of a dwarf coming down the far stairs and sees a pair of doors closer to him and Kath.

Kath went below with Holman

Kath and Holman stand near a pair of forward doors in the hull of the ship while their team comes down the aft staircase.

Once the party is reunited in the cargo hull, you have a better view of the six large ballistae are housed here,
screwed to the deck and mounted on rails so they can be
pushed through the swinging doors on the side of the
hull and fired at nearby ships.

There is no ammunition present for these weapons, however, and the deck is empty.

I need perception checks from each of you and any other actions while in the hull. 3 doors (2 forward, 1 aft)

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Holman will silently open the aft door and peek in.

Stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

A quick look in the aft cabin reveals finely appointed quarters
containing a table, some chairs, bookshelf, and a few barrels, all
of which have been screwed to the deck. A stack of papers
on the table is dusty and dirty and
the room doesn’t appear to have been used recently.

Perc: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Hmm, nobody been in here for a while. Maybe them other doors have something.

Preception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

August marches towards one of the forward cabin doors and peeks inside.

The dwarf sees simple quarters containing
several recently slept-in beds and the dark lantern on the
floor is hot to the touch, as if it were recently lit.

No sign of the crew.

Hmm, still no one here. Is this what they call a ghost ship or are they jus' hidin' from us? August will call out to An, An! You e'er been on a ghost ship before? I think we're on one now.

Morvius reads the lasts entries in the captain's logbook searching for clues about the missing crew.

"I agree this is eerie! Where is everyone? Its like they just...disappeared."

Holman rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on - I can't imagine ghosts would leave a recently-lit lantern laying around. Since we've been on the boat for a while, I suspect the crew is still here, they're just rather adept at not being found." With that, Holman explores the lower deck for any clues as to the crew's location.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Kath is also interested in the captain's log. Prehaps this contains information about the answers we seek

Kath goes over to where the log book is along with Morvius and will read the latest entry.

August looks at Holman as if he solved an ancient mystery. Oh, right! Ghosts wouldn't need a lantern. With that the dwarf starts to search around for hiding sailors by looking under beds, tables, chairs and behind crates and boxes, anywhere that he thinks someone might try to hide. After he does that he will follow Holman down to the next deck since it is obvious to August that this guy is pretty smart.

Kath and Molvius read the captain's logbook they found upstairs.

Holman and August find the door to the lower deck. The Halfling walks down the stairs with the dim illumination from the two reader's light.

As he descends into the darkness, he spots...a pair of half-orcs waiting in the dark on the side of the stairs ready to strike.

===Surprise Round===

25-Kath (surprised)
20-Morvius (surprised)
18-Jacen (surprised)
17-August (surprised)
15-Nguyen An (surprised)
10-Holman
8-Half Orcs

Holman gets a single action before the bad guys go...then we start the first round (only Holman is aware of the opponents at this point).

Holman, keep in mind you are in dim light unless you provide another light source. Kath and Molvius had the only declared light and they are both reading a book in the middle of the cargo deck.

See Holman? There ain't nobody on this ship. Maybe we ougtha come back some other time...