GM FurtiveZoog's PFS First Steps, Part I: In Service to Lore (Gamma) (Inactive)

Game Master FurtiveZoog

To the best of my knowledge, the viper was still in the wadded-up linen, which fell back into the wicker basket. So we should be good unless GMFZ cares to rule otherwise.

"I'd rather you do kill the snake please," says Tuich as she stands, wobbling a bit. "But I understand the whole 'innocent creature' thing, and as long as it doesn't bother me I guess I'm okay with us not bothering it."

She ponders briefly. "Okay, I can TK the cloth again -- only partway out of the basket this time -- and then shake the dickens out of it. The snake should fall back into the basket. Then I can pull the linen out and we can take a peek in to see if there's another key. Which can also be floated out."

Clearly not wanting to and fighting her own nervousness, Tuich inches slowly towards the basket until she can get a line of sight on the fabric. Muttering encouragement to herself, she points at the cloth and floats it up a bit, then begins having it jerk up and down as forcefully as she can manage given the limitations of the cantrip being used.

Slowly, as she continues to shake the fabric, she also moves it upward until, finally, it's clear of the basket.

GMFZ, do you want a roll of any sort to see if the tactic was successful?

All of this fuss over a little snake, lol. I was thinking it fell back into the basket earlier with the linens, but I'm not concerned either way. Really, with a snake, you have to be sticking your hand in the basket for it to strike.
The snake falls into the basket, and it is obvious that nothing else remained in the linen.

Tuich exhales in relief, floats the fabric to the side and lets it drop onto the table. "Okay, got the cloth, snake's in the basket, somebody look and see if there's anything else in there."

She instinctively takes a single step back, away from the basket.

"It depends if the animal is friend or food."Shoots a fire bolt at the wicker basket after Tuich steps away."Snakes are food."

So I figure I just need a 5 to hit the basket?

Fire bolt: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"It was thoughtful of them to put it in a flammable container so it could be easily cooked."

How much would the basket shield it, though? Hmm. We'll just say enough damage is still done to send the critter into negatives.

This might rapidly become a less dignified puzzle solution with its own time constraints, however, since it is generally considered unwise to start fires in small, closed basement rooms ... with locked doors. :-P At least I picture it as an all-stone cellar!

He will then take the blue rune key and use it on the red chest with the runes around the lock. He will then put out the fire and wait for his snack to cool off.

A good wool cloak could likely be used to smother the fire.

The blue stone key fits in the red lacquered chest's lock and, when turned, opens the chest to reveal a key forged into the end of a jeweled scepter. The jewels and the scepter appear to be quite exquisite.

Curiously, only Zander hears a small click as some mechanism activates. Looking around with a sudden start, glaive in hands, he sees that a small, golden key has been released through a slit in the ceiling, dropping it 6 inches down from the 15-foot-high ceiling.

"Kawrock!" yelps Tuich in shock as the assault occurs.

Appraise: 1d20 ⇒ 2

Har!

Zander notices the key and, using his lengthy weapon and natural height, tries to either cut the string holding the key, or catch the key on the glaive blade and pull it down.

I'm thinking 6' man and 8' weapon would allow me to stretch and reach for the key, especially since arm length gets him to about 7'6"

Dex check?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Zander deftly uses his weapon for the delicate task, cutting string and catching the key, delivering it softly to the ground.

That could be important with a soft key (if it is solid gold and not just gold-plated), which might otherwise be ruined by such a drop onto a hard surface.

"What? You said to kill the snack..I mean snake."

He picks up the key and goes over to the stone box.

"I think everyone should move back, just in case."

Once everyone has moved back he will use the small key on the stone box and open it.

Too funny!

It's a steel box, though.

When the small key is placed in the keyhole of the otherwise-featureless steel cube chest and turned, the chest opens and the room fills with a magical blueness.

Inside you find a map of the Salhar burial vaults beneath Sothis and a wand.

Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

So, you find a way out in there? ask Zander as he tries to avoid the could of blue.

Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Adelaide blinks the blue out of her eyes and peeks over Kawrock's shoulder. "Now that's more like it!" exclaims the half-elf at the sight of real treasure in the chest.

"Cool, so two down and one to go!" She half-shields her eyes at the thought of another magical effect spilling out of the next chest.

Will Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Vyk blinked away the blue lights. "The hells was that?"

He then peeked into the box and saw a map and wand.

"One moment. Can't be too careful."

Detect Magic 3 rounds

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

"Hmm. It appears to be some sort of wand."

Will Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

"Well that was... different."

Eurydes' Will Save: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (3) - 2 = 13d20 ⇒ (19, 17, 7) = 43
Eurydes turns a particularly vivid shade of blue for the rest of this investigation, and then some.
Unless someone has some clever ideas of how to fix it. ;-)

PS - Also, Eurydes was down 4 points from the dire rat attack. Would someone want to heal him up?

Nothing in the steel cube detects as magical except the wand (which, it seems, was shielded enough by the steel - and perhaps a thin sheet of lead? - so that the auras did not show previously).
I also may have forgot about the wand when calculating auras, but this works, too.

Will save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Coughs and fans away the blue smoke."That wasn't so bad now was it."Looks over at Eurydes and chuckles."How come he gets to be blue?"

Will use detect magic to try and identify the wand

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Yup, you and Vyk Tyr agree that it is definitely a wand. No biggie, just wait for the Chronicle sheet ;-) - which reflects, I assume, extra analysis by figures back at the Society.

So, you have your "quest", a locked door, and one unused key (and a fire-roasted snake snack)...

"Here, let me try something..."

Vyk attempts a prestidigitation spell on Eurydes to try and remove the blue coloring.

***

"Alright, we've got a key and a door -- Let's get this done."

Vyk opens the door with the key.

Kawrock will grab his snake snack, which should be cool enough to eat now. Taking a bite he exclaims, "It's no chocolate covered imp but it's not bad."

"Pity it was Eurydes and not you, Kawrock. Just think, enjoying that snack as you are, you could have been the blue bird of happiness!"

That was really funny. Also, great job on the prestidigitation. The difficult Arcana roll was to "Identify a spell that just targeted you" as Prestidigitation, which is DC 25 + spell level (0, in this case).

As you open the door and leave, you see the servant who had brought you here, now taking notes. He seems well satisfied, even with the somewhat smokey condition of the room. He does ask you for any keys but specifically says that the wand is yours to keep.

One group had all of the keys still and one of the players had the idea to put everything back the way that it was, or as near as possible, and then say "What keys?" when he asked for them. (Keeping the map and wand, of course.)

So, what is the 'marching order' for your return? Um ... no reason... I'll have Eurydes bring up the rear since he isn't an active player, with Tuich probably ahead of him. Who to stick first and second, etc, should be up to you, though, probably based on AC and HP and such...

Vyk being an arrogant cur would probably be in the front. Second or third at the most. So he'll blaze the trail so to speak, if no one else wants to cut to the front of the line.

I'm fine where every you want to stick me.

Kawrock will thank him for the snack.

I guess I can go up front.

It was thoughful of Amenophenus to provide a fresh snack for his guests, wasn't it? I would imagine that you were getting a bit peckish by this point in the day.

Sounds good - just an approximate order, and you never really know if you are going to be hit, in these cases, in the front, the middle, or the back.

For some reason I thought there was another chest we didn't open-- or was that just a trapped chest?

In any case, put Adelaide behind/beside Vyk.

After leaving Salhar's, you head back with all four tasks accomplished. When you are passing through the Foreign Quarter on the way to the Grand Lodge, a throng of people blocks the street ahead. A performance art group commandeers the street, drawing graffiti to create a jolly hellscape complete with illusory devils comically dancing around in circles. A few citizens avoiding the crowd slip off-street through a nearby alley, the only egress past the gathering.

As you go down an alley - not for the first time today - some of you notice that something is wrong this time. Eurydes and Vyk Tyr have that same sense that something is watching them, while Eurydes, Kawrock, and Tuich recognize an unforgettable mustachioed face - the halfling!
Eurydes, Kawrock, Tuich, and Vyk Tyr get to go in the surprise round.

You see:
- the halfling, now with a greataxe;
- a woman who may be the previous red-haired woman, now wearing a Norgorber mask and wielding a short sword;
- a blond woman smiling maniacally; and
- a brown-haired man in a brown cloak wielding a rapier.

Before anyone can act, the manical woman casts a spell and a dense, nearly-opaque mist suddenly billows out from her and fills their area!

Just into or out of a yellow-dotted square is Partial Concealment (20% miss chance) and any more than that is Total Concealment (50% miss chance, etc.).

Locations for those not on the edge of the mist are where you last saw them.

SR: *Halfling, then Eurydes, Kawrock, Tuich, Vyk Tyr, then the *Other Bad Guys
R1: *Halfling, Good Guys, *Other Bad Guys

The halfling does something...
Eurydes, Kawrock, Tuich, Vyk Tyr and up!

"So they want to throw up some fog. Lets see if I can flush them out with some phoenix fire."

Moves to D8 and casts burning hands DC 14 Relex for half. This will get C 10,11 D 9,10,11 and E 11. I think this might burn off the fog in those squares.

Burning hands: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Don't forget you are controlling Eurydes GMFZ.

Geez, what is that half-pint's problem!

Tuich curses -- loudly -- and dives through the group to take cover at E5. (MA) "ఫెయిత్ షీల్డ్" she intones while motioning with her hands before crossing them over her chest, touching opposite shoulders, head down in a brief prayer to Ashava. (SA, cast Shield of Faith, +2 Deflection Bonus, 1 minute.)

She whips her scarf off once again, sets her jaw grimly, and prepares to leap around the corner and attack. (Just flavor text, no actual game action.)

GMFZ, I'm seeing buildings along both sides of the alleyway. Any place to climb/leap up onto the roofs?

Kawrock and Tuich - I'll save the second part of your actions since the Surprise Round is only a move action or a standard action (or a few specialty actions like Charge). I usually mention that specifically and better highlight that it is a surprise round, but I neglected it a bit this time. :-\

Kawrock - E11 would have >50% cover, and so would get a bonus to reflex saves since Burning Hands is not a spread but a burst. I am not sure whether to have the mist burnt away or not, honestly, since the fiery spells mentioned - flame strike (lvl 4 or 5) and fireball (lvl 3) are so much more powerful and damaging. Hmm. How about 10/20/50 for depth in for those squares instead of 20/50? Half burnt off, essentially.

Tuich - Yes, you could jump up and catch an overhang and pull yourself up by your hands, which is Climb DC 15. It looks like the roofs are fairly steep and a little uneven, so Acrobatics DC 7 to move half speed or DC 12 to move full speed. Probably strong enough for one person at a time but not the full party, being roofs over smallish buildings and stalls. Also, the halfling is a CE barbarian, to start with his problems...

Surprise Round
Kawrock boldly moves forward towards the mist, preparing to cast a spell, while Tuich moves to a position around the corner and Eurydes hurries to get behind her.

From the mists, you hear the sounds of spellcasting, but are unable to see the motions to properly identify the spell.

Round 1
The halfling, screaming and eyes filled with rage, appears from the mist swinging his small but lethal-looking greataxe, and yells, "Time to behead the chicken!"
Greataxe power attack: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 5 - 1 = 241d10 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 3 = 15 Uh oh!
Crit confirmation: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 - 1 = 16 Whew! (Relatively speaking, because it is a x3...)
Kawrock is at -5. Sorry - I really am the nice GM. :-(

The halfling leaps into the air and the murderous arc is powerful and precise, dropping the tengu druid in one blow with a terrible wound to the neck and shoulder - but a moment's difference would have made good his taunt...

Everyone is up! Kawrock, you can do your own stabilization rolls and such. The the bad guys go again.

I'll take responsibility for the glitch in my case. I knew it was a surprise round but I forgot those are almost like "half rounds." I should have that down by now.

With the obvious intent behind the halfling's shout and the sounds that must have resulted from Kawrock being almost mortally hit, Tuich wouldn't do what I indicated, so I'm going to retcon everything after her reaching E5. Here we go...

Tuich dives for cover behind one of the buildings and raises her hands to cast a spell.

"Time to behead the chicken!" The lunatic scream rockets 'round the corner followed by a sickening crunch and "splorch" coincident with sounds of pain... in Kawrock's distinctive voice.

"Johai keck!" she curses, lapsing into her native Varisian under the strain. Abandoning thoughts of her own safety and the spell she was about to cast, she whips the scarf from around her waist (BAB 0, so MA), takes a five foot step out into the alleyway (D6, which I believe gives her adequate line-of-sight on C9 to not incur a penalty?), invokes the grace of Ashava (SwA, Steel Scarf Revelation), and attacks (SA).

In the blink of an eye the blue scarf she holds in her hands takes on a metallic sheen and then one end lashes out towards the halfling. Reaching its full length it just keeps... on... going... until it reaches the vicious axe-wielder.

Steel Scarf Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Booyah! Let's see if we can confirm that critical!

Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Meh...

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Yeesh, all that for two points... I like you more than that, Kawrock, honest I do!

His glaive always in hand, Zander moves up D6 and, using the reach of the weapon strikes out at the partially hidden foe hooded guy.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 221d10 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"You are fools for attacking us. Whatever you are going to be paid for this, won't be enough." he says as his glaive nearly severs the mans arm at the shoulder.

IGNORE THIS POST

Psst... Zander... Tuich is at D6...

Oy, so much for dropping a guy. I cant charge, or get into Melee range. BLAH

EDIT: rereading what Tuich did, why did she move? You target from the corner of your square, and therefore she can target everyone without issue from her previous E5 location.

Sowwy. And I'd really rather you drop the guy, too. I'd've taken D5 but it didn't look like a clear line of sight.

Taking this to Discussion so as not to clutter Gameplay.

Not sure if you saw my edit since we cross posted. Combat targeting is measured from corners, and therefore Tuich's previous location of E5 is actually the best spot for her. Basically, you can hide behind the wall and fling your scarf out, only having an issue with LoS if they tuck down behind the southern house.

That was a close one. Good thing I have a pretty good AC. So stabilize DC 15.

Stabilize: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

Looks like I am good for now.

For the surprise round, Vyk simply draws his rapier.

For round 1...

Vyk sees Kawrock fall and an inhuman roar escapes his lips. He focuses a measure of his arcane might into his blade and moves in to attack. He fired a freezing cold blast of energy at the face of the brigand who attacked his comrade.

As a swift action I will spend a point from my arcane pool to give rapier a +1 enhancement. I will move to E8. And fire a Ray of Frost at the bad guy in C8.

Ray of Frost (Ranged Touch): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Frost Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

You can share squares with creatures that are helpless, for the record. Also... I guess this is where initiative is still important?

Adelaide strides forward, her eyes blazing in anger at this unprovoked assault. "We have to get Kawrock out of here," she mutters to herself as she breezes past Tuich.

Actions: Move 15 ft to D6, then 5-ft-step to D7. Moving a heavy object is listed as a move action that provokes an AoO. I make a strength check to pull Kawrock's body out of his square and into mine, unless this is a terrible idea that I have not thought through.

Strength: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Edit: not sure how GM wants to rule that. I'm not even sure if a Strength check is needed, actually. But with my Strength of 16 I can drag up to 1,150 lb; I prefer to lift him instead (up to 230 lb, which, as I am already carrying 79 lbs, reduces that to an additional 151 lbs). I don't know how much Kawrock weighs in particular, but Tengu males weigh 65 + (2d6x3) lbs, so even at max weight (65 + 36 = 101 lb), she still has 50 lbs for his gear left over. Luckily, the max weight for light load for his Str 13 character is exactly 50 lbs. I'm assuming he's in light encumbrance due to his unaltered move speed.

TL;DR- Adelaide picks Kawrock up and suffers no additional penalties.

It was pointed out to me by LA that where I chose to stand was not a roof overhang, but the actual roof itself. So instead, I'll do the following. Surprise round is the same.

***

For round 1...

Vyk sees Kawrock fall and an inhuman roar escapes his lips. He focuses a measure of his arcane might into his blade and moves in to attack the brigand who attacked his comrade.

As a swift action I will spend a point from my arcane pool to give rapier a +1 enhancement. I will move to D8, over Kawrock's body and attack with my rapier.

Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

EDIT - Just realized I attacked the wrong guy. But keep the damage on the guy in the hood. Might as well see if I can finish him off. If he's dead anyway, then I hit the halfling.

Clarifying my above post! Actions: Move 20 ft to D7, possibly provoking an AoO. Then a move action (which provokes, if he didn't attack already) to lift or drag Kawrock's body from D8 to D7. Adelaide should be able to lift him (and in that case, will not set him down yet), but if Kawrock + gear weighs more than 151 lbs (which I don't think so, but he might), she will drag him instead.

So: Move, Lift (Move).

Kawrock weighs 76 lbs and his gear is only 45 lbs.

A tough part of this encounter is the constricted space, except that the first two groups I ran through this each had an alchemist who just bombed the heck out of them.

Tuich's scarf whips out and suddenly becomes like fluttering sheet of steel, nicking the halfling over his heart, but his chain shirt prevents a worse fate.
You can't move diagonally 'through' an obstacle, so no 5' step - just for the record since it doesn't matter here. Also, your revelation makes it a melee attack even though it is ranged, so I'll use some awkward mishmash of the the ranged and melee cover rules to say "no cover".

Lady Adelaide grabs the prone form of her tengu companion and lifts him onto her shoulder.
Lady Adelaide - as someone mentioned somewhere, you can't combine a 5' step with any MA that moves you a distance. Fortunately, the cover provided by the corner prevents AoO against you. :) (Cover).

Vyk Tyk lunges forward and attacks the brown-cloaked man, plunging it deeply through a chink in his mail, leaving the man doubled over and wobbling. There will be no contesting who is better with the rapier this day!

Let me know what I missed! As I see it, Zander and Eurydes are left. I'll have Eurydes essentially delay and not block the way yet.

Edit: added the bit below just so that Vyk Tyr can decide if he wants to take his AoO (a withdrawal action wouldn't be good enough, and he might not be able to take one anyway).
The brown-cloaked man drops his rapier and appears to be making to run!

Zander growls in frustration as everyone clogs the alleyway before him, preventing him from being able to join the fight. "Shelyn grant me serenity." says before shouting, "Get out of the way and let me get in there people!" Realizing there is nothing he can do now, he takes a few steps forward D4 and grasps his holy symbol. Muttering a few words of power, his allies see a rose blossom in their minds, clearing any doubt and making them more sure of their strikes.

Cast Bless. +1 to hit and on fear saves for the rest of the fight.

Adelaide rolls her eyes, heaving Kawrock's body into a more optimal position on her shoulder. "I preferred when he acted the preening pretty boy," she sighs to Tuich with a wink.

Let the coward run. I want the halfling. Am I up yet? Because if so I want to 5 foot step to the space he vacated. C8. From there I will attack the halfling.

"You're mine," Vyk says deathly quiet.

Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Or maybe not.

For when my turn comes up:

Tuich glances back over her shoulder at Zander's shout. "I don't think he was acting," she replies to Lady Adelaide with a grin, but she nonetheless steps out of the way, returning to the cover she'd taken earlier. (E5, MA)

She then casts the spell she'd previously intended. "ఫెయిత్ షీల్డ్!" (SA, cast Shield of Faith on herself, +2 Deflection Bonus, 1 minute.)

Looking back towards Zander she calls out, "All yours!"

I feel like I'm being ganged up on here...

Zander grumbles but says nothing about the verbal jabs given by the ladies of the group.