GM Fuzzfoot's S01-41 The Devil We Know, Part III - Crypt of Fools (Standard PFS) Tier 1-7/Subtier 1-2 (Inactive)

Game Master PJP

"I think so." She nods to the painter. "Where are the snakes, so we can get rid of them?"

The Crazed Painter points to the door in the southeast corner of the room and says, "Down, down, deeper, and down, follow my map to the underground."

He takes a piece of paper and draws what appear to be random lines and circles.

"Understand the map and find the grotto."

"Seems simple enough." says Masa. "Let us continue on to find these snakes. We shall be eating them instead, I think." he remarks as he moves towards the door in the southeast corner and opens it.

Alaneo frowns as he looks at the map.

"Anyone would be capable enough to decipher this piece of... work?"

"Down we go..."

I guess we need to understand why the snakes are carrying a bell.

Behind the door in the southeast corner of this room, Masa finds an open trap door and a ladder that leads down.

The trap door looks like it would have been almost impossible (Perception DC 40) to see if it had been closed.

"I'm more taller than this", Bernard criticizes the drawings of the crazy painter.

"To me, it seems that the snakes will try to catch the bell from us, if we continue. But I don't think it will be a real problem. Let's exterminate them", the confident halfling says, just before get down.

Once more deeper, he asks "through the ladder or will we check the trap door?"

"What do we lose if we investigate the trap door before we continue, isn't it?", Bernard suggests.

Masa, seeing the group's reticence to continue, takes the lead and climbs down the ladder through the trap door.

As there really isn't much more to do here, I am going to move on and assume you go through the trap door and down the ladder.

Refuse rushes by in a stream of garbage carried swiftly through the sewer proper. A five-foot-wide dry ledge sits a foot above the refuse and provides a walkway on both the east and west sides of the sewer. On the west wall, a massive iron door blocks passage beyond. An image carved into the door is of a dispassionate figure holding a gibbous moon.

It is very dark down here, with the exception of your light sources.

Ninja'd

Masa helps the rest of the team down to the ledge and sees the door. "Hmm... perhaps this is the shrine that the Painter spoke of." remarks Masa to the group. "Though, how can we cross this river of filth?"

Darkvision here

"Groetus once again, I presume." says Alaneo, shaking his head at the sight of the shrine.

Turning to Masa, Alaneo shrugs.
"I can't freeze the refuse, the current is too swift and would break the ice. However, if some falls in the water, I can clean him with my water bending."

"Eww. Well, we can cross the plank. I hope it holds." Sheela glances at the plank. "But then we need to open that door. Keep an eye out for snakes!"

Throwing luck into the wind, Sheela eventually crosses the plank to get a closer look at the door.

"Hold up," Nikolai says, grabbing Sheela by the arm before she walks onto the plank. "That seems like a perfect place to set a deadfall into the sludge. Let's check that out first."

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"Niko is right. Let's check it first."

Bernard starts to look around, trying to find any hidden trap.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

What plank?

Bernard and Nikolai find nothing rigged, and think that the only current way across is to balance on the rocks.

DC 15 Acrobatics to get across

Alaneo takes his time to jump over the river.

Acrobatics, take 10: 10 + 7 = 17

Alaneo is safely across.

A five-foot-wide dry ledge sits a foot above the refuse and provides a walkway on both the east and west sides of the sewer.

I thought that was a plank.

Sheela is shocked and intrigued when Nikolai grabs her arm, but she calms down when she sees him scanning the area.

"Oh. How kind of you. Looks like the only way across are on those tiny rocks."

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

"Heehee. It reminds me of my early days. I'd laugh whenever Sigurd fell into the stream in our backyard. He got so mad!"

Bernard looks at Alaneo's jump and says: "aw, yeah? Look at this!"

The halfling jumps gracefully over the river, without much difficult.

Acrobatics, take 10: 19 = 19 :P

Much like the others, Nikolai nimbly hops across the rocks to the other side without much issue. He smirks as he turns back to Masa, folding his arms. "Your turn, noble warrior," he calls out, mockingly. "Should we toss you a rope? Or does your code of honor prevent such safety measures?"

Also taking 10, getting an 18. Stupid ACP, making me less nimble than Bernard. :P

Gonna steal the GM's idea...

Masa scowls at the antics of the party and retreats back up the ladder. After a few minutes the group hears loud scraping and Masa's voice rings out. "Heads up!"

Two pews from the chapel plummet down the short distance from the landing to the sewer. The man breaks down the crude, wooden benches to form roughshod planks and tries to lay them across the sewerway with the aid of those on the other side.

"Pfft. That's no fun!" Sheela frowns when she sees Kusunoki retreat to grab the pews.

"But you did think outside the box. I like that!" Sheela grins as the Samurai crosses the sewage.

Nikolai pinches the bridge of his nose. "So much for the element of surprise..."

Masa makes a lot of noise, but is able to cross the divide without too much trouble.

The iron door on the west wall is locked.

"So, assuming none of you have the key..." Sheela peers at the door. "How do we open this? Ring a bell? Catch a snake?"

As Sheela and Nik comment, the samurai merely feigns a bow with a forgiving wave of the hands.

"We can break it down if need be." Masa says proudly, though the iron aspect to the door makes him less sure.

Does anyone have disable device? DC 20 disable device to open it. Breaking it down is a Strength check. Or you can try destroying either the door and/or lock with enough damage (Hardness will need to be overcome).

"Probably not a surprise to most of you, but I have no training in picking locks." Masa adds as his compatriots stand wordlessly.

Sheela shrugs. "Brute force it is, then. I'm not good at that, and I can't really charm this door with my good looks."

"I can try, friends. No door is resilient to ice itself."

Elemental damages ignore physical damage reduction. I can simply try to break it down with icy blasts.

I hate to break it to you, but the icy blasts will be even less effective. "Energy attacks deal half damage to most objects. Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object's hardness".

Oh indeed! Thanks for clarifying, GM :)

"Ok. So, let's put this door down, c'mon help me here, Masa, Niko."

Bernard gets close to the door and tries to force it to open with all of his alien strength.

Str - aid another (of course): 1d20 ⇒ 11

Str (Aid Another): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (8) - 1 = 7
Sheela isn't sure of what part to pull, push, slide or whatever. She winds up using her mage hand to do some work, but it's not helpful.

"Yeah, sorry, I was hired muscle for my family back in Kaer Maga, not the sneakthief. You'd want my sister, Natalya, for that." He stretches a bit while Masa gets closer to the door, and assists him in battering down the door. Unfortunately, he only succeeds in a nice bruise on his upper arm where he slams against the door.

Assist Strength: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Masa looks to Sheela and Nik as they try to brace themselves against the door. "Shoo. You are not helping." he says firmly as he sees the halfling has some strength to him.

Strength w/ Bernard's Aid: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 2 = 23

Masa crashes into the door, and it budges a bit, but holds firm.

Welp, we're going to be poking this door for a while.

Str Check(Aid Another): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14
Str Check(Aid Another): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19
Str Check(Aid Another): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Str Check(Aid Another): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (8) - 1 = 7
Str Check(Aid Another): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10

"Oh, it's a push door, not a pull door. Right?"

"Again!"

Str - aid another: 1d20 ⇒ 8
Str - aid another: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Str - aid another: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Str - aid another: 1d20 ⇒ 15

"Fine, be my guest, Your Lordship," Nikolai says as Masa dismisses him. "Let me know when you tire." He walks a few steps away from the door and leans against the wall, watching as Masa slams into the door over and over.

Alaneo shrugs and wait for the door to eventually give up.

"While you're at it, you can bash in it with swords..."

Can we just all Take 20 to get through the door?

Honestly, I don't know if you can aid a take 20, but as there seems to be little other options here to complete the mission, we will say it works...

After 20 minutes and banging against the iron door, it finally gives way.

A purple radiance washes over this cold chamber from a variety of lichens and fungi that grow on the walls and ceiling creating an otherworldly sheen. Straw-filled cages line the north and south walls. In the room’s center, a strange pedestal, carved in the likeness of dozens of grasping tentacles, sits fixed into the stone floor.

Masa immediately notices that there is a horrific stench as he barrels in.

Masa - you need to make a perception check and a fort save.

Yeah, this door is weird, but it doesn't seem like there is another way through.

"My shoulder...ow." Sheela rubs her shoulder with a careful circular motion. "Usually it doesn't hurt this much unless I've been awake the whole night. I mean, uh. Training."

Bernard holds his crossbow in hands. "So, what's up, Masa?", he asked anxiously.

You can totally take 20 on a Strength check. It's just that most of the time, taking 20 isn't nearly high enough. Usually, in these situations, it's a good plan to start hacking down the door.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Fortitude Save-Stench: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Masa recoils from the smell as he feels sickened by just the foul stench emanating from the room.

Here it comes!

Distracted by the sickening affect that the stench has on Masa, he fails to see the attack coming.

1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 <== #minutes Masa is sickened for.

Surprise Round
A ghoul steps from the shadows and tries to bite Masa.

Bite Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Masa, need a Fort save, DC 15 (to avoid paralysis) and another Fort DC 14 (to avoid contracting ghoul fever).

Round 1: (Bold may act)
Masa, Alaneo, Sheela
Ghoul
Bernard, Nikolai

"Great. Another one of those...decaying... things. Sigurd is probably yelling at me for not remembering its name."

Disrupt Undead: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 3 - 4 = 8
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Sheela steps up and tries to fire a ray of energy behind Masa, but to no avail.

Gonna burn Resolve against the Paralysis.

Fortitude-Paralysis | DC 15: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 - 2 = 6
Fortitude-Paralysis | DC 15: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 5 - 2 = 22
Fortitude-Disease | DC 14: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 5 - 2 = 11

As Masa recoils from the stench, a pair of teeth lashes out from the darkness and bites into his thigh. "Gah!"

With a quickness, he drops his sunrod to draw his blade, gripping it in both hands, before bringing down the sharp end in the ghoul's direction.

Katana @ Ghoul: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 2 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 6 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 3 - 2 = 12