GMBobJones PFS 3-10 Haunting of Hinojai (Inactive)

Game Master TheBobJones

Okay, some questions about this pregen credit - mostly for Silbeg.

I'd like to apply it to Haafiz. He got pregen from Siege of Serpents that puts him on exactly 18 XP (level 7.0). Technically, according to the GOP, I don't think I can apply this level 7 chronicle to Haafiz:

For modules and Adventure Path content below 9th level, if you do not have a character in the correct level range, you may use a Pathfinder Society pregenerated character, available on paizo.com or the 1st- and 7th-level iconic characters on pages 275–297 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. You must apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played.

Bold text is mine. It would appear as though I "should" have played Haafiz for this (since he's of the right level range).

Now, running specials (like siege of serpents), pregen modules (like WBG3) or granting credit for sanctioned APs obviously has a special "getting credit" addition to the rules that allows you to apply credit to your existing PCs in a different fashion.

However, this isn't one of the above special situations. I haven't got any chronicles since reaching level 7 with Haafiz... but I'd just like to know (probably from Jack) how the VCs tend to rule on this situation.

I have completely messed up what is going on in this game, by no fault of the GM. I apologize if I have been too lose with player knowledge. I could have sworn I read being briefed about the goldenfire order and the way of the kirin, how they opposed each other and the pathfinder society was trying to get in with the way of the kirin.

I think we are on the right path here, just obviously missing a few clues. This has something to do with the purging of the way of the kirin. The old lady that my character talked to in the beginning got all freaked out when I asked about them.

Not sure that added anything to the discussion or helped clear anything up, but I figured I would share my thoughts nonetheless.

One of the inherit dangers of PBP taking a while. You did ask about the way and did get a bad answer because you had a bad roll, but the other NPC that you all met at the bar could/should have told you about the Way, so it is all good, except for my run-on sentence.

One of the inherit dangers of PBP taking a while. You did ask about the way and did get a bad answer because you had a bad roll, but the other NPC that you all met at the bar could/should have told you about the Way, so it is all good, except for my run-on sentence.

I love this group. The best part about this explanation was the apology for the run-on sentence.

All good by me! :)

Okay, some questions about this pregen credit - mostly for Silbeg.

I'd like to apply it to Haafiz. He got pregen from Siege of Serpents that puts him on exactly 18 XP (level 7.0). Technically, according to the GOP, I don't think I can apply this level 7 chronicle to Haafiz:

GOP / PFS RPG GG v7, p31 wrote:

For modules and Adventure Path content below 9th level, if you do not have a character in the correct level range, you may use a Pathfinder Society pregenerated character, available on paizo.com or the 1st- and 7th-level iconic characters on pages 275–297 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. You must apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played.

Bold text is mine. It would appear as though I "should" have played Haafiz for this (since he's of the right level range).

Now, running specials (like siege of serpents), pregen modules (like WBG3) or granting credit for sanctioned APs obviously has a special "getting credit" addition to the rules that allows you to apply credit to your existing PCs in a different fashion.

However, this isn't one of the above special situations. I haven't got any chronicles since reaching level 7 with Haafiz... but I'd just like to know (probably from Jack) how the VCs tend to rule on this situation.

So, this is probably not as complicated a situation, by the book as you might hope. You cannot assign a pregen chronicle to a character that could have played the scenario (with the obvious exception of level 1 pregens). I assume you meant he got the pregen from Serpent Rise?

Whether or not you have played Haafiz as a level 7 character, he is level 7 since he has 18xp. Sorry. That's how it would get ruled by pretty much any VO I know of.

I guess Bugdip's getting his first chronicle :) (reduce to 500xp, and you don't get any boons from the chron until level 7).

Thanks Jack, I knew you'd know.

500 XP? Wow. Level 167. Sweet.

I'm guessing you meant 500gp. ;-)

Also, it turns out I was missing the more explicit ruling on an earlier page:

If you play a non-1st-level pregenerated character, you choose one of your characters to assign the chronicle to at the end of adventure, and then apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played. You may not assign a Chronicle sheet earned with a pregenerated character to a character that was already at the level of the pregenerated character or higher.

So, done then. I'll assign it to Methodios or whoever. I want Haafiz to stay at level 7 for a while anyway (to help with leveling the Drongos and so I have someone for higher subtier 3-7 scenarios locally), so it actually works out pretty well all around.

Oh, and Bugdip is leveling with the alts. Same chronicles for all of them.

Yeah, of course I meant 500gp. D'oh!

Still have to come up with an idea for a character. So many characters... so little time.

Plus, so many race boons... so little time to play them... probably why I want to trade a sylph for an ifrit, so I can build a suli.

An Ifrit sounds like it could be so much fun.... what would I do with an Ifrit? hrmm.....

So the riddle of the wine. Not to make things difficult for you, but it does give you a clue. Not "Holy Shit! It was Col. Mustard in the study with the lead pipe!" clue.

So it matters not how the wine was made, the rice was a flavor text in the bar.

The real question is wine+oxidation=

And even then, if you were to figure it out, might not make any difference. Honestly, it will not aid nor impede you if you do not 'get it'.

But I will share the answer at the appropriate time regardless.

I will always wonder if I would have 'gotten it'. Hindsight and all.

Wine + Oxidation = Bad wine? LOL

I would think the formation of acetic acid would be the answer, but oh well. Can't wait to hear it!

Ok - so just wanted to mention that I feel bad in this adventure - I have never dealt with haunts before, and I still have no idea what they do, what I am supposed to do, how to deal with them, etc. I have searched the forums, read the material online, and I am still clueless. So I just wanted to say sorry if I am not contributing very well...

What I think we are supposed to do is just let them happen, hope it doesn't kill us, and then by watching it we will know the story behind what actually happened to create the haunt.

What is unclear is supposedly there is a way to "kill" the haunt by doing something that presumably puts the haunt to rest. I have no idea how to figure that out. What Estra suggested seems very logical - and Yoon will be happy to blow the barrel up, but I also don't want to do something that the group doesn't agree with if it has potential bad consequences.

Any thoughts? I feel bad being so useless - and I don't like it when it is because of my ignorance, despite my efforts to the contrary.. :)

Since some of you already passed the knowledge check there's really no reason not to let all of you know it only makes sense in character. The only way to damage a haunt is to use positive energy. That can take the form of a cure spell or something like that. That will temporarily disable a Haunt. But Haunt have a reset whether it's an hour or a day. The only way to permanently get rid of them is a very specific set of instructions that can destroy them. For this adventure you only need to worry about disabling them using the cure spells or another way to channel positive energy. Running away is also an option too. But you may lose out on possible treasure.

Running away is also an option too.

I don't understand... it is as if you are speaking another language. I read and reread and all I hear is charlie brown's teacher.

Yup... still zero comprehension no matter how many times I read that sentence. Are you using words that don't actually exist?

;)

In character, we want to get rid of them permanently. That usually takes a lot of time and research into a place's history, though. For now, we're just checking out the mansion so we know what we need to do in order to return and put these unquiet spirits to rest!

But yeah, positive energy FTW.

Dealing positive energy damage is not really our forte, now is it?

Question: since haunts are in many ways related to undead, is it possible for Rivani (or others) to cause damage using abilities that allow them to use their spells/abilities against undead?

I am specifically referring to Rivanis "Will of the Dead", but could also be for others. I am kind of guessing not.

Also, most haunts only trigger once, so once they've 'gone off' we should be safe for a while... right?

Back this with Rivani's take-10 on Haunts (kn: religion) of a 25. If she needs more, I can burn a spell to make sure. :D

The only way to deal damage a haunt is positive energy, unless it has a weakness.

Checking on Will of the Dead though.

No need for a roll. Once neutralized, ie enough positive damage has been dealt to it to bring it to 0 hp, the haunt eventually 'resets'. Like I mentioned, that can be measured in minute(s) hour(s) or day(s). The only way for a haunt not to reset is to destroy it, and that can only be done by meeting a very specific set of circumstances.

Please feel free to read up Haunts

Some further reading, and using Kn Religion,

You can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In general, the DC of such a check equals 10 + the monster's CR. For common monsters, such as goblins, the DC of this check equals 5 + the monster's CR. For particularly rare monsters, such as the tarrasque, the DC of this check equals 15 + the monster's CR, or more. A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information.

So to spot a weakness, or a reset time, the DC would be 15+5+CR; to figure out how to destroy it would be DC 15+10+CR.

Cool.

I'll go ahead and make the roll when I get an action. :D

The writer sure seems to like haunts :)
I wonder if we are doing this wrong... I mean fighting with the haunts is pretty difficult - and we have a Medium to beat them. The average PFS party would not have a dedicated haunt-fighter, and would have very few means to inflict damage to the haunt. If Cure spells don't work, then many teams would have no way of defeating them by battle...

So, instead of going SOP breach-and-clear, should we be solving the mystery and releasing the haunts somehow?

But I have no idea how to do that... :)
Maybe have a chat with the waitress?

If by "don't work" you mean, "do work"... and if by "chat", you mean "kill brutally", then I think everything should be fine for a regular party! ;-)

... erm, don't go doing a direct replacement. Doesn't work in hindsight. You get what I mean.

To help you all out a bit you're doing it exactly correctly. Damien has the right of it hit them with cure spells or positive energy.

5:30 CST, sit down and read new posts. Post here = Use positive energy to harm haunts.

Read all the cool abilities you all have and how they interact with the most obscure monster in all of Pathfinder - haunts.
6:45 - screw it. Post on my other GM thread.

Come back here - what the hell was I doing for over an hour? Oh yeah - what the hell am I going to do about this as I have no clear rulings?

Rinse - repeat. But I maketh my own bed, and I reserve the right to shit in it.

Oh, I'm sorry for Meligaster pushing others to do something risky. It's just that I feel he's a kind of guys who does not put himself on the line.

Feel free to tell him off... :)

From his backstory, you are probably being tame!

Ok - I have edited that last post 5 times now.

Yoon has a wand of haste with 1 charge left, if someones wants to take that go ahead.

Yoon also has silversheen, which is utterly useless on her character sheet at this level, seeing as her club does a measly 1d4-1 damage, and her basic flame blast does 4d6+1.

Yoon also has a wand of magic missile, cl 5, with 5 charges, which I assume is on there in case the character gets used in a scenario with creatures that have fire immunity. If someone wants that as well that can cast it, be my guest. Yoon is firing up her big blasts for whatever we find next. Hoping it is a vampire, and not another haunt. :)

I'd take the wand of magic missile, but not right now. Rivani fires 4 missiles when she attacks normally, so she'll use those first.

Just to note, to date you have faced three haunts. Erasamus took the first one, and you faced one at the pool, and one in the wine cellar.

Defensive Abilities: A vampire gains channel resistance +4, DR 10/magic and silver, and resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10, in addition to all of the defensive abilities granted by the undead type. A vampire also gains fast healing 5. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, a vampire assumes gaseous form (see below) and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can normally travel up to 9 miles in 2 hours.) Additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect. Once at rest, the vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.

Weaknesses: Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it. Similarly, they recoil from mirrors or strongly presented holy symbols. These things don't harm the vampire—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against that creature. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action. After 1 round, a vampire can overcome its revulsion of the object and function normally each round it makes a DC 25 Will save.

Vampires cannot enter a private home or dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so.

Reducing a vampire's hit points to 0 or lower incapacitates it but doesn't always destroy it (see fast healing). However, certain attacks can slay vampires. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight staggers it on the first round of exposure and destroys it utterly on the second consecutive round of exposure if it does not escape. Each round of immersion in running water inflicts damage on a vampire equal to one-third of its maximum hit points—a vampire reduced to 0 hit points in this manner is destroyed. Driving a wooden stake through a helpless vampire's heart instantly slays it (this is a full-round action). However, it returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the head is also severed and anointed with holy water.

You can also buy a Kit to help you kill a vampire

That is 3/6 who have checked in, please make sure you do so by 9 PM CST tonight so I can move this along. Also please update your tagline to reflect your current information, hp, buffs, AC, saves ect.

I'd like to put this one to bed so everyone can have their characters ready for Sept 19.

@ ravini Thought undead traits means no mind-affecting. Do you have something that affect things w/o minds? At work and limited as to what I can look up. Anyone feel free to chime in on the discussion thread. Thanks

You are probably right, so she would need to use 2 points of phrenic pool for this.

Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms).

Now, Mind Thrust III is, oddly enough, a divination spell, not any of the mind-affecting effects listed, though it is a mind-affecting effect.

Will of the Dead allows the psychic to affect undead. So... mind if I retcon that? Or I can just add the Will of the Dead and use two pool.

This is a HORRID scenario for a psychic. :D

Whenever there is a rules oops, please always retcon your action to whatever makes the most sense. All good jack

@ GM_TheBobJones: I just want to say that I loved your last post in the gameplay thread where Erasmus uses the wand he got from Yoon :)

Erasmus - we have been like Stockton and Malone these last few weeks. Feeling the synergy my friend.

I agree 100%, we're like two peas in a pod anymore.

It's sad there are groups out there that don't feel the love when their forums turn into a total like-fest on Friday nights like ours do ;)

Also, thank you for including a link for Stockton and Malone, because I wouldn't have understood the reference (as sad as that is). To be honest, my first thought was that they were probably some historic duo of old-timey 1920 era gangsters.

Things are looking up with a slowed Larry, I want to move this full speed ahead to be done asap, so please be prepared for a quick heal then on wards and upwards.

Also, I will work on Chronicles, info please.

you mean I have to decide who to put this chronicle on? AUGH!

Player: Jack Brown
Character: Na Na Na Nineteen (GM/pregen credit baby)
PFS#: 74294-19
Chronicle #: 3
Starting PP/Fame: 0/4
Starting XP: 2
Starting Gold: 150+430+500= 1080 (reduce gold for him to 500gp, as this is being assigned to a level 1 character)

No day jobs, so that's easy. Currently grand lodge.

Thank you!

Still deeply unsure about where to assign this chronicle since Haafiz is unable to accept it.

So let's make it Chronicle #1 for Nbu T'ka, my unplayed Tengu... erm, something.

Player: Damien
Character: Nbu T'ka
PFS #: 135100-8
Chronicle #: 1
GP award: 500gp (please reduce - I'm assigning to a level 1 character)

Please just feel free to leave the rest blank.

Thanks, John. Great game as always!

Player: Christopher Lockwood
Character: Ibid. Oxley Abel
PFS#: 141231-2
Faction: Grand Lodge
Last Chronicle was #19
This Chronicle (will be) #20
Starting PP: 17
Starting Fame: 38
Starting XP: 19
Starting Gold: 17,700.3gp

Thanks for running the game, it's been a very cool and creepy scenario so far :)

My favorite part has been all the haunts, for sure. Plus it's been neat seeing all these occult adventurers toons interacting.

Player: Chris B.
Character: Rastil Travoy
PFS#: 73432-10
Faction: Dark Archive
Chronicle: 1
As with Damien, I will be assigning this to a fresh toon, so 500 gp, please! :)

I've thoroughly enjoyed it!

No day job rolls when playing pregens. Sorry Ibid.

Also, forgot:

Faction: Scarab Sages

Hmm, if I understood correctly I cannot give the chronicle to Amaranti, since he's lvl7? No other characters really close to level 7, but Drusilla is the closest, so let's put this in her queue.

Player: Jyri
Character: Drusilla D'Alazario
PFS#: 96960-6
Faction: Grand Lodge

I was thinking I would apply this to Pooka originally, but with the trend we have going, I don't think I want to outpace the others.

This pyro-kineticist was ridiculously complicated and required far more thought that one would think for an Avatar - the Last Airbender knock-off.

I like it. So what the heck - Lets start a fresh new character to apply this chronicle to as well, and see what kind of fun I can have with a kineticist.

Player: Steve Hanis
Character: [blank - Got some thinking to do here]
PFS #: 133958-7
Chronicle #: 1
Faction: The Exchange
GP award: 500gp (please reduce - I'm assigning to a level 1 character)

I've just figured out what to do with Nbu T'Ka! He's going to be an occultist! I can't think of a better homage for this game than to have the first chronicle go towards my tengu occultist! He was originally going to be a spiritualist, but I've really enjoyed playing Mavaro. Hey may not be much use in combat (far less than a fighter of his level) but he's quite versatile at times, especially during investigation-heavy scenarios.

Depending on what happens, he may end up being a vigilante... but only if they really improve that class.

The black tentacle spell is filling the room, correct?

Not anymore! Can I get a "HELL YEAH!" for Mavaro's dispel magic / concentration check combo? "WOOT WOOT!"

*ahem* Against the odds, it seems that one of our number has dealt with that little problem.

In all honesty Damien you roll so ridicously when I gm it is a wonder you play with anyone else.

Heh.

1d20 ⇒ 1

Damn. I was hoping that would be a 20.

Do you think there's a relationship between my roll-good in your games, and your roll-bad in mine? It's such a bizarre thing we have going on with that - like two sides of the same coin.

100% yes. But I have terrible luck in games of chance in RL. Like so bad it is a joke.

Well that one is done and dusted. You can find Chronicles here

I left lots blank as things change. Let me know if you need tweaking. I will report it in a day or two.

Thanks to all, hope you had fun and got to learn the new classes. I thoroughly enjoyed this mod, though it was a bit of a bugger. You all handled it well.

This being my first dungeon house crawl, um..... I nominate Jack for all future crawls. It .... was not so much fun over PbP.

As always thanks for letting me run.

Awesome. Got the chronicle. Thank you so much for the game - I had an absolute blast playing with the occult adventurers, and Mavaro in particular.

What a spectacular idea, John, c'était très bien!

I"m definitely playing a tengu Mavaro clone at some stage in the future - though he'll probably just end up getting to level 11 with GM credits at this rate! ;-)

@ GM_TheBobJones: Awesome job running the scenario, it was a blast! I loved all the creepy vibes and weird, eerie haunts. Thanks so much for running it, I thought the dungeon/house crawl aspect worked really well and was entertaining as heck. Each time a haunt started to develop, (out of character) I got really excited to see what strangeness was going to happen.

Great job running it and thanks again!

Well done as always GM_TheBobJones! Loved it, loved the flavor, the setting, the description... I was feeling it, along with the creepiness of the haunts.

I will get my chronicle downloaded tonight when I get back home. Thanks again!