GM Endless Forms' PFS Scions of the Sky Key Trilogy (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Tuholski

Jocephus takes aim at the plant creature near the fallen miner and fires.

RTA, PBS, Luck: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 8 + 2 + 1 = 25
Damage: 1d8 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 2 = 5

Splintered Spear: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Myrd still hasn't figured out how to aim his splinters...

Dustwich dashes over underneath the strange leaf-like creature, drawing their dagger, and gestures at the sharp rocks on the ground. They lift their arm and the rocks follow the motion, flinging themselves at the flying leaf.

Earth blast: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Carlyle lets the pint-size psychic do her thing with the flying nuisance while he shouts, "Behold! The greatest knife thrower in Varisia!"

He launches the two knifes in his hands at the xtabay in front of him.

Dagger-TWF-PBS: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 4 - 2 + 1 = 5
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 = 5

Dagger-TWF-PBS: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 - 2 + 1 = 9
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 = 5

The knives clatter uselessly against the ground near the plant creature. He scowls a bit before backing up as he is now weaponless. "Perhaps one more try!"

@Torean: I'm not sure how you are reaching it. It's 20' in the air. I'll let you retcon if you want.

Jocephus finishes off the Xtabay as everyone else has trouble hitting the flying plant.

Initiative:

1. Cyrinda, Carlyle, Jocephus, and Torean
2. Plants
3. Dustwich and Myrd

Cyrinda and Torean are up!

"Ah! A flying thing!" Cyrinda fires off another magic missile, this time at the airborne plant.

MM: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Eh, sorry. Torean will use his Acid Splash cantrip then.

Torean looks up at the flying creature and points at it. A glob of green acid shoots out toward it.

Touch Attack (Sky Sentinal): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3

-Posted with Wayfinder

Crit confirm: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Extra Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

-Posted with Wayfinder

Cyrinda and Torean hit the plant creature! The leaf ray flies down to Dustwich's level and stabs at the halfling!

stinger: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
DC 14 Fort save or take 1d2 ⇒ 1 Dex damage

Initiative:

1. Cyrinda, Carlyle, Jocephus, and Torean
2. Plant (7 dmg)
3. Dustwich and Myrd

You guys are up!

Carlyle slides around Cyrinda as draws one of his daggers and looses it at the flying creature.

Dagger-Single-PBS: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 1 = 7

"Haha! A little warm-up was all that was necessary for the great Carlyle!" the carnivaler states proudly.

Dustwich steps back and psychically flings more rubble at the leaf ray.

Earth blast: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

I had a more elaborate post, but my hand slipped and I hit "Cancel" instead of "Preview"... grumble, grumble...

"Nice work, Carlyle!" Cyrinda cries with joy as the flying plant is further attacked. She again brings back her hand and forms a missile of arcane energy and sends it flying towards the leaf ray.

MM: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Carlyle, Dustwich, and Cyrinda take down the plant creature!

Out of combat!

Among the skeletal corpses scattered through the clearing, some are outfitted with serviceable adventuring gear. You secure a suit of +1 studded leather armor, a masterwork scimitar, and two potions of cure light wounds. In addition, several of the plants growing here are key components in expensive medicines, and you can harvest sundry alchemical and medicinal reagents worth 100 gp.

You find that one of the miners (a female dwarf) is still alive, though injured badly.

Carlyle will recover his three daggers, sheathing two of them at his waist and the other across his chest.

"If you don't mind, I would benefit from that magical suit of armor. Carlyle comments.

Torean leans down to brush away the plants from the dwarf. He uses a wand to provide healing to her. "Here you go, you're safe now. Tell us your name and what happened here."

CLW Wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"Armor's all yours, Carlyle. Doubt it would fit me anyway."

Dustwich joins Torean near the wounded dwarf, with a clearly concerned expression despite the piece of cloth tied around their nose and mouth. "Hey, are you okay? Torean, will she be all right, you think?"

"People! Let's attend to the wounded dwarf first before you start bickering over who gets what!"

The miner thanks Torean for the healing and says, "I'm Svira. The kobolds! The mangy little wanna-be dragons! They took off with about a dozen other miners, trying to keep everyone alive but they must've thought I'd died. Are you chasing them down? Good luck! I'm not messing with those buggers any more, I'll march right up to that ridge and sit and wait for you. What a day!"

Carlyle strips the studded leather from his jacket before slotting in this new magical armor. He does some light calisthenics after he dons his sleeveless, multi-colored jacket.

"Hmm... doesn't feel different." he remarks at the feel of the armor.

---

"Psst... Dusty. Why does that dwarf think we are coming back?" Carlyle asks.

Barely waiting for a response, Carlyle speaks up. "To the kobolds!"

Dustwich gives a brief, skeptical look at Carlyle's nickname with a raised eyebrow, but soon regains their stony seriousness. They whisper back, "We're coming back because we need to rescue those other miners," but is unsure if Carlyle is paying much attention to their response as he cries out his advance.

Dustwich turns their attention back to the miner: "Yeah, we're after the kobolds. Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions? Any idea why they captured you, and why they want you alive? Is this weird behavior for this group of kobolds? Do you know if they had an old human guy with them?"

"Of course it's weird behavior! They've never bothered us before and I don't know why they'd want captives to deal with. I didn't see an old man but then again everything was pretty chaotic."

She stalks off down the trail alone to wait at the top of the ridge.

---

You travel further following the kobold's trail. Eventually you come to a deep ravine bridged only y an ancient and crumbling span of stone reinforced by haphazard wooden reinforcements. A pair of ancient dwarven statues flanks either side of the bridge, each in considerable disrepair. An ancient stone building partly consumed by the jungle is visible across the ravine.

"Does that look sturdy to you Torean? You dwarves know things about stone structures, don't you?" Myrd asks while looking doubtful at the bridge

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Would it be possible to use my Kinetic Cover ability to create 5-ft square sheets of rock and earth to shore up the patches in the bridge (along the bottom side of the tactical squares)? I don't know if the cover would just fall after I telekinetically move it there (although it doesn't list a duration, so I've been assuming the cover can stand vertically with no problem), or if I would have to concentrate, etc.

It would be a little in-game time consuming, since it's a standard action to create the Kinetic Cover. But I could create cover as a stepping stone on top of any given bridge square before stepping on it, and hope that the cover would stay even if the stone crumbled...

Cyrinda studies the bridge, "Yeah, looks a little unsteady. But... I'm light. Maybe I could carefully cross and get a looksy..."

Though willing to help out in any way she can, Cyrinda recognizes that Torean is the likely authority on stone structures and will wait for a consensus on a course of action.

Jocephus moves up to study the bridge.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

@Dustwich: works for me!

The party studies the bridge and although it looks stable, Dustwich uses their powers over the elements to carefully step across over the stones. Unfortunately, everyone failed to notice the leg noose strung across the bridge and as Dustwich's foot reaches out for the next sheet of rock they instead hit a rope!

cmb check: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

The rope snaps around Dustwich's leg and the halfling is hoisted into the air 10 feet, leaving them unable to move.

Standard action to break free (CMB check) or cut yourself free with a light or one-handed slashing weapon. You will fall 10 feet if you get loose.

As the trap is sprung, a creature from the other side of the ravine springs into action. It is an earless, panther-like beast. As it snarls, the skin of its face twitches then peels back to reveal the one and flesh beneath!

As the creature moves up and pulls back its skin, it lets out a loud screech directed at 1d5 ⇒ 1 Torean!

DC 12 Will save or become frightened for 1d4 ⇒ 2 rounds.

Initiative:

1. Beast
2. Cyrinda, Carlyle, Jocephus, Myrd, Dustwich, and Torean

You guys are up!

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

"It's a krenshar! It mostly tries to scare it's prey - as Torean can tell us. You've heard the wail..." (she shares the other things as well)

The gnome hurls a ball of acid at the creature.

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Acid Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3

Since Dustwich is hanging in the air, there's no soft cover, right?

Carlyle runs forward, drawing a dagger with his left hand while he pivots, spins and unleashes another dagger from his right at the skull of the beast.

Dagger-Single-PBS-Two Range Increments: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 16
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

"Back you beast!"

Insert cover bonuses if Dustwich is blocking the view of the krenshar.

Yeah, I'm 10 ft up, so I think it should be fine.

Dustwich lets out a cry of surprise as the trap hoists them up. They curse and shoot a disturbed glare at the cat with its face peeled back. "Whatever it is, it picked the wrong people to mess with!" Dustwich shouts, aiming a hand at the creature and shooting a jet of sharp stones at it.

Earth Blast, Higher Ground?: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 6 + 1 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Sorry. long day at work.

Will Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Will Save (Strong-Willed): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Torean growls and shakes his head. "Come on, you freaky kitten!"

Do the Kinetic covers remain? Can Torean walk on them?

Yeah, they don't list a duration, so they should be permanent (at least until they're destroyed). They have no AC (the description just says, "A creature who strikes the cover can easily destroy it," so I assume that one doesn't need to roll to hit it. They have 0 hardness and 4 HP.

Assuming the GM agrees...

Torean rushes out over the covered stones, trying not to think about the thin bit of earth between him and the broken stones.

If he can stand under Dustwich in the same square, he will. Otherwise, he's 5 feet out from the krenshar.

"Woah!, Are you allright Dustwich?"

Myrd casts daze at the Krenshar DC14

Yep, you can still move across them and Torean can stand under Dustwich.

Cyrinda hits the cat with a glob of acid! Carlyle then tosses across a dagger than hits it square in a flank! From their vantage point in the air Dustwich uses some nearby stones to shoot through the creature and end it!

Out of combat!

You still need to get Dustwich down though.

Carlyle yells to the upended halfling. "I got you Dusty!"

Carlyle cuts through the nearby undergrowth to find the anchor point for the rope snare. If he finds it, he will cut it and slowly lower the light halfling to the ground.

"Good job, team! . . . I'm starting to get a headache . . ." Dustwich says as they dangle upside down, their normally earthy face turning red, making it look somewhat like clay.

Carlyle is able to lower Dustwich to the ground safely and the group continues on!

As you head further past the ravine you become increasingly aware of the kobolds’ influence and presence, from repurposed art made of bone and feather fetishes to sprung traps to occasional glimpses of patrols far off through the trees.

The kobolds’ and miners’ trail leads to the ruins of an ancient building.

What remains of the ruins’s heart may have once been a shrine. Demolished walls encircle an ancient dais, atop which a shattered anvil-shaped altar lies defaced with dried blood, chalk markings, and other detritus. The bones of dozens of humanoid creatures are scattered about the building, along with the larger skeletal remains of what may be wyverns or drakes that are marred with deep claw marks. Behind the altar, a large stairwell stained with the blood of countless creatures descends into some dark vault below.

Several kobolds are in the temple proper, painting the captives with red and white patterns with a single yellow wing upon each human’s forehead. Others are nearby, singing and chanting Draconic paeans to their golden god. In total, seven miners stand by as captives of the kobolds.

They are distracted by their ritual as long as you stay farther away. How do you approach and/or what do you want to do?

The miners are human? Or dwarven?
Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Torean's face becomes a mask of rage. "That is a temple of Torag! They have defiled it!" You realize it's probably only great training that is keeping the dwarf in check right now. He looks back to the kobolds and his eyes widen. "And it looks like whatever killed those bodies had big sharp claws. I'd wager something a tad bigger than the kobolds too."

The dwarf lifts his hammer and appears ready to put an end to the kobolds.

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Carlyle looks to the group and draws two of his daggers. He mimes throwing them at the kobolds and then shrugs his shoulders at the group.

Torean rushes forward and Carlyle is caught off-guard, looking at the enraged dwarf and the rest of the party.

To be clear, Torean hasn't moved yet. You just know he's going to soon.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Dwarven miners.

"We can try talking to them and I have a spell that will befriend one of them, unfortunately I need to be a lot closer than we are right now"

Myrd thinks for a while "I can also cast a spell that will cause 4 humanoids to fall asleep, although I see no opportunity to catch them all within it's affect. It will also affect the miners. I think our best bet is to move closer after which I can magically befriend one of them. It is important he does not perceive us as being hostile for that. So keep your weapons scabbarded."

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Heal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Dustwich grinds their teeth at the sight of the captives, although their frustration is not as hot as Torean's rage. They take a deep breath and address the dwarf, as well as the rest of the group.

"I've no love for anyone who would take captives, and I want to bury them, too, Torean, but I think ambassador Sharpclaw has a point. We told the praetor back at the fort that we wouldn't do anything to make the situation with the kobolds worse. But more than that, what happens if we just rush forward with our weapons out? What's to stop them from killing the miners? And even if we kill the kobolds, what's to stop their friends and families from taking revenge on more miners? Sure, the trading companies will lose out, but it's their employees and slaves who will lose their lives. If Sharpclaw can surreptitiously make one friendly with a spell, that would be good, but if can talk them down without any trickery, I think that would be better.

"So let's try to talk to them. And keep an eye out for anything with claws big enough to kill a wyvern..."

You approach the altar with the best of intentions but as soon as you reach the edge of the ruined temple, the kobolds scream and begin shrilling calling out in Draconic.

Sorry, I liked the idea but the scenario says they attack as soon as they can see you.

Initiative:

1. Cyrinda, Torean, Carlyle, and Jocephus
2. Kobolds
3. Dustwich and Myrd

Cyrinda, Torean, Carlyle, and Jocephus are up!

"So much for chit-chat. Sorry, Myrd, but I'm going to break some faces." Torean rushes the kobolds, gripping his hammer in both hands and swinging it with mighty force.

Attack (PA): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Damage (PA): 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Torean quickly takes down one of the kobolds!

Initiative:

1. Cyrinda, Torean, Carlyle, and Jocephus
2. Kobolds
3. Dustwich and Myrd

Cyrinda, Carlyle, and Jocephus are up!

Jocephus darts forward, drawing his pistol and rapier along the way. Getting to the first kobold, he calls on his luck and stabs with his blade!

Attack, Luck: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 2 = 26
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 2 = 4

Carlyle throws both of his daggers at nearby kobolds. Red and Yellow. Soft cover might apply.

Dagger - PBS/TWF: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 4 - 2 + 1 = 7
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 = 5

Dagger - PBS/TWF: 1d20 + 4 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 4 - 2 + 1 = 8
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

"My aim must be off due to the vernal equinox. That is today, if you were unaware." Carlyle states off-handedly.

"I think you are about two weeks early....." Jocephus calls back over his shoulder.

facepalm, you try not to be a murderhobo, but if the scenario does not give you other options, what do you do?

Myrd sighs and speaks to the trush on his shoulder

"私は誰もが東に考えているように、時には西からこれらの人々は野蛮であると思わ、パックスを知っている"