GM Evil's Trial by Machine (Inactive)

Game Master Steven_Evil

"Aye, there be excitement enough workin' fer the Society," Graxzos says, lounging against one wall as he watches Kaya and Irudiel search. "Though there be plenty o' strange an' scary as well. Well...strange, at th'very least. I've had more'n m'fair share o' worryin' about bein' turned into some kind o' animal, I'll tell yeh tha'!"

Continuing to watch their progress, he muses, "Strange, if it is a trap, tha' it's marked like tha'. Kinda gives it away...mebbe it's a puzzle o' some kind?"

Whoo! Busy, busy weekend there. Update coming soon, though it's safe to say you found the trap. Now, you just have to figure out why it's been marked like that... Curious, isn't it? To recap, you've found one trap that was already sprung, and one trap that has been marked.... And maybe... bypassed?

"Anyone feels the need to activate it? Tog, maybe? GWAHAHAHA!" says the stout dwarf, laughing at his ectoplasmic companion's face.

"No, but really. Pointy, can you disarm the trap?"

How can I forgot to disarm it? ^^

I can try. Kaya do you want to help me? Says Irudiel as he picks his tools. You my want to give me some space, just in case.

Disable device, Masterwork thieves tools: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 2 = 24

Graxzos backs off sharply. "If that don't work, lemme know if yeh want it blown up!"

"Certainly," Kaya agreed amicably, her own tools handy to help as necessary. "I don't think I've seen this kind before..."

Most of the traps she'd seen were very basic - as in a box propped on a stick over some candy levels of basic - so this was a novel learning experience.

Disable Device (aiding): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Between Irudiel and Kaya, the trap (which was cleverly designed; A pressure plate would trigger the walls to fall, however the "walls" are made of wicker, and clearly not meant to be lethal.) is easily bypassed, the group is able to press forward.

Graxos Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Graxos is able to spot the tracks of six humanoids at this point, after noticed more of the red dye from the previous trapped door. These tracks lead north. The passage to the east is also available to head through, but there is a grate on the south passage, blocking the way.

Graxzos holds up a hand not far past the discovered trap. "'old up...looks like there's tracks 'ere. Six folk, movin' together...goin' north. Do we think tha' could be the team tha' set this thing up? 'sweird, I thought they'd've already left." He frowns. "Mebbe someone else?"

"Either way, looks like we gotta choice--I'm all fer followin' the tracks t'see who in the Hells this is!"

"Yup, I'm with ya, lad. Let's see who this is!" shouts Papy in Graxzos' back, trying to keep up the pace with his big set of armor.

Yes, follow them. Either it´s part of a test of they had left them unintentionally and we can use it to give us a leg up.

"Could it be from a group that might've tried the test before us?" Kaya wondered. "Or maybe intruders who thought there might be treasure at the end?" She grinned, flicking an ear. "Either way, I agree - we should see who else came through here. Can you tell how old the tracks are?"

That last question's up to GM Evil. :P

Graxzos hitches his belt higher on his waist and cocks his pistol. "I 'ope it's not intruders...though I guess that'd be a poss'bility! Regardless, decision made: north 'tis!"

"I will admit curiosity about what's behind the grate, "Lissa speaks up finally, "But if the group says north, then north we go."

The tracks appear to be recent, as some of the paint/dye The module calls it both things in different paragraphs is still not completely dry. The tracks end at another door, though guessing by the green light on the control panel beside it, this one isn't locked...

"These tracks be recent," Graxzos says quietly as the group advances. "Some be still wet." Glancing up at the door, he approaches it cautiously and, without touching the panel, presses his ear against it.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

"Sounds like a door t'me."

lol.

Guntir follows along.

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Kaya, then it´s our time. First check for traps and disarm if necesary

Perception: 1d20 + 13 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 13 + 1 + (5) = 39
Disable device: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 2 = 27

"Right!" Kaya agreed, following the half-elf's example and looking around. It had become obvious to her from the way Irudiel had handled that trap that he well knew what he was doing. She didn't see much, however, but assumed that he'd see anything if there was aught to encounter and she'd help him to dismantle whatever trap their more experienced Pathfinders might have lay.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Disable Device: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

"Ay! And door usually open, my dwarven brother! BWAHAHA!" shouts the knight while his phantom facepalms.

Lissa snorts in entertainment, "Yes, but we do need to give those that know where to look for traps time to work on the door."

But if this was made by other Pathfinders, then we should be ready for resistance. After a brief pause, Lissa releases a stream of water that floats for a moment before starting to orbit her in defense.

Graxzos blinks, startled, as Lissa unleashes a torrent of floating water. "Well tha's a neat trick! Canny of yeh t'do tha' without words or nothin'...color me impressed!"

Guntir looks at the various preparations the party takes, and simply shifts his grip on his longhammer.

"Thanks," Lissa replies as she pays a little attention to the water, to make sure it's orbiting the way she wants it too. "I just figured it out recently how to use the water I call to block weapons some. Took me awhile to do more with this then just call and throw it, but the couple tricks I've been able to figure out are already worth it."

The door isn't trapped, and any near it can hear a muffled voice on the other side, talking almost continuously. You can't really make out what's it's saying because of the thickness of the door, but it's definitely words.

Bothered, Papy kicks the door open. "Anyone in here?"

Graxzos follows Papy with pistol drawn, alert for any potential danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Someone must be, Papy.

Who´s talking? Says Irudiel as he enters in the room following the two dwarves.

Guntir follows close behind Papy, longhammer at the ready.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Kaya lingered towards the back, not entirely sure what they'd encounter, but confident that her more experienced companions would know what to do. She followed their lead, rapier still at the ready.

Like Kaya, Lissa lingers toward the back on the group, with water ready to strike at hand. Fighting in melee is not one of her strong points.

my apologies if you were waiting for me to post.

Hey Everyone, sorry that my updates have been rather spotty lately. I'm in the process of a 400 mile move, along with job transferring/hunting, and the usual stuff that goes along with it. Hopefully things have settled a bit and I can get back to at least once a day updates!

Bursting through the door, Papy is greeted by a strange sight indeed! The southern entrance of this chamber might once have housed a sliding door, but it’s now just an empty archway. Three small chests sit before a small wooden table in the center of the room. All three chests are open; one contains seashells, the second holds bricks, and the third contains shards of flint. Some of these items are scattered haphazardly on the floor around the chests. A brass merchant’s scale stands on the table. One of the scale’s arms supports a conch shell and the other is empty, though the scale is perfectly balanced. A harlequin’s mask hangs on the north wall. An intact door exits to the west. A lock has been bolted over the opening panel next to the door, but the lock hangs open.

As soon as anyone enters in the room, a permanent magic mouth appears over the harlequin mask’s lips and speaks in Common, “The shell holds the sea and yet is naught but air! Both key and blade are yours!”

Papy answers the mouth "There's no blade nor key, lad. Are you blind? BWAHAHA of course you are!"

The phantom facepalms and asks the party "I fear Papy's strength doesn't lie in its ability to solve a riddle. Anyone here has a good mind for puzzles and enigmas? Miss Kaya or Ser Irudiel, maybe?"

"Puzzles're not my forte."

-Posted with Wayfinder

I understand GM. I am also job hunting. The only reason I have maintained my posting rate has been the holiday weekend and then getting sick and being bed-ridden.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Kaya looked around to see if any of the items on this apparent test were trapped - it'd be a rather nasty surprise to try to answer the questions and find a poisoned needle in your eye.

"Seashells and bits of flint and whosits and whatsists," Kaya huffed. She eyed the scale suspiciously. "Think it's weighted?"

Graxzos stares at the chanting harlequin mask. "...Wut?"

As the others investigate the elements of the "test," Graxzos goes over and looks at the lock hanging open on the door to the west. "Y'know, it sounds like a riddle, but it don' sound like th'question," he comments. "Rookie mentioned earlier tha' there might be someone else in 'ere, an' I think we gotta consider tha' a poss'bility. Lookee 'ere: someone's opened this lock an' 'eaded tha' way. Tha'd be done wit' the 'key,' right?"

He chews his lip. "Wonder wha' this 'blade' is they got ahold of..."

"Also if that mask keeps sayin' tha', I'mma shoot it."

EDIT: Survival to look for tracks by the unlocked door: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"I agree with Grax. This looks like someone has already solved the puzzle, and the mask is just repeating the 'You got the answer right!!' response it was given to spout off." Lissa looks throughtful for a moment. "I wonder if Papy's barging in startled them enough to flee further into the test. You know, if we want to do this 'properly', we should just keep going post-haste."

As Papy is still trying to talk to the magic mouth, trying to understand if it has magic ears as well, Toggeli turns towards Graxzos and bows graciously.

"My dear friend, I think you are most right. You speak wisdom. Let's run after those folks."

Then don´t stop talking. We must cath them. Says Irudiel as he follows Graxzos wherever the tracks go.

The tracks do indeed lead out of the unlocked door, and following them reveals an L-shaped corridor that makes a right angle from the east to north. Just around the bend a dead half-orc sprawls on the ground. Above the corpse, a wooden sledgehammer dangles
from a rope beneath an open ceiling panel. Though the head of the mallet is padded, the trap was apparently still lethal to the unfortunate half-orc. A few feet up the corridor another chalk “X” is scratched on the floor.

This time, a search shows six sets of tracks continuing on down the corridor, past the "X", and one set coming back, and Graxos can easily tell that the one set coming back was running, and they belong to the dead half orc.

An examination of the body reveals deep gashes across the half-orc’s torso in addition to the obvious head injury (and a face covered in lime-green marker dye).

Graxzos squats by the dead half-orc and rummages through his pockets, checking for any identifying information (or useful gear). "Looks like six went that-a-way, an' only this fella came back. Wonder wha' that 'X' is doin'..." He frowns and squints up and down the hallway.

"This trap weren't meant t'kill anyone...an' I'd guess these gashes on 'is chest did more damage. Looks like our intruders ran inta some trouble ahead. Mebbe he was retreatin' and didn' see the...marking? Ha! Bet tha's wha' th'X is s'posed t'be. He was comin' back in a hurry, so no surprises there. Seems like we got somethin' rough ahead of us, folks. E'eryone keep yer blades an' whatnot ready!"

Pistol drawn, Graxzos pulls his goggles down over his eyes and begins to advance cautiously down the hallway (once he's thoroughly searched the half-orc).

Perception to search the body, if needed: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Lissa whispers a prayer to Desna upon finding the half-orc as Graxzos searches the body. "Understood, I'm good to go for whatever lies ahead. The one thing I am curious about is the green dye. What's that for?"

"Hmmm...there were red dye up at the front door...mebbe some kinda indicator? Tracking their path? Dunno how it got on 'is face, though," Graxzos shrugs as he paws through the dead man's drawers.

"BWAHAHA! Trash! Looks like we don't have anything to fear from those guys!" he looks for the wounds, though, as Tog is insistant about it.

Heal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

"Nope. Only wounds. Wounds happen, you know. In the corporeal world, I mean."

The phantom looks bored and shrugs, as he also tries to diagnose the cause of the wounds.

Heal: 1d20 ⇒ 8

Rearrange yourselves as you wish. The PDF is still giving me trouble with copying the maps, so I had to rip this off of google. Please ignore the text and stuff at the bottom.

The body of the orc carries the following:
masterwork studded leather, daggers (2), quarterstaff, sap, manacles (2), and a masterwork adamantine dagger.

After searching the body, you all begin to follow the tracks further on. After about a minute, you come to the end of the trail and a door that is still open. Inside, you are greeted with a grizzly scene: The dungeon’s red hue is dramatically accented here with a fresh coating of blood. Three corpses lie scattered around the room, all hacked apart with great force. The arterial spray from the last moments of their lives spatters the walls and ceiling and pools on the floor. A dim crimson glow spills from a wide archway to the north, casting a garish light upon the faces of the dead. An open chest sits against the eastern wall, with broken links of chain scattered on the floor around it. Standing in the middle of the room, one bladed arm covered in blood and gore, is a huge robotic construct!

As soon as the group sees the construct, Irudiel points out a trap in the ceiling! He can spot it even if he rolls a 1, so I am just going ahead and revealing it. The traps affected area is marked on the map as a red square.
There! It looks like something is attached to pressure plates in the floor, so be wary!

"Tha's no good..." Guntir grumbles to himself.

Another friendly reminder: Could everyone please fill out the initiative and perception text block located on the map? It's so I can copy/paste everyone's initiative easily to save us all a ton of time in combat. Caps, I know you can't edit it so I did it for you.

I prefer to be in the front or in the back to take vantage of reach+combat reflexes, so I chaned my place with Kaya

How the hell the robot isn´t activating the plates Well, they said this is only a test... But it looks Guntir is right, someone had messed too much with the test

Swapped myself with Tog. Happy to be in the front, but a bit to one side gives more room to get out and start shootin'!

Graxzos ignores the half-orc's armor and mundane weapons, though he pockets the adamantine knife ("Nice blade.") and the sets of manacles. He then hustles to catch up to the group as they're moving forward.

Graxzos brings his pistol to bear on the strange construct as the group enters the chamber. "I got a bad feelin' 'bout this...stay sharp, rookie, 'cause this don' look like part o' no test t'me."