GM Harker's PFS Season 4 Campaign

Game Master Justin L. Warren

Quiella's current AC against the Giants is 36, thanks to haste, shield, and racial bonuses

Quiella steps up to the blue giant and hits it with a barrage of swings from her hammer.

Lucerne hammer, attack, power attack, haste: 1d20 + 13 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 13 - 2 + 1 = 28 for bludgeoning, silvered: 1d10 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 6 = 15

Lucerne hammer, attack, power attack, haste: 1d20 + 13 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 13 - 2 + 1 = 20 for bludgeoning, silvered: 1d10 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 6 = 20

Lucerne hammer, attack, power attack, haste: 1d20 + 8 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 8 - 2 + 1 = 10 for bludgeoning, silvered: 1d10 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 6 = 21

Valik contorts and twists his body from the ginat clubs trying to squash him like a bug. He grits his teeth as he punches at the giant in front of him, while trying to protect himself as best as possible.

AC 34 with haste, all aimed at who ever is more injured

ac 34, all vs most injured: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 1 = 201d10 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

ac 34, all vs most injured: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 1 - 5 = 141d10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

ac 34, all vs most injured: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 11 + 1 = 181d10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

Heccan casts a Glitterdust spell and blinds both giants with golden sparkles.

Quiella advances on the blue giant and hits it with her first two attacks.

Valik turns his fist towards the blue giant and strikes it with his first attack, knocking the creature to the ground. He then turn his other two attacks against the red giant, but both miss.

The dazed, blinded red giant does nothing except remain blind.

Initiative Roster (Rounds 3-4)
Vailis [Life link with Quiella] <= Up
Valik <= Up
1 Hill Giant
Heccan [Life link with Quiella] <= Up
Melufiuos [Life link with Quiella] <= Up
Quiella <= Up
Vanzetti [Life link with Quiella] <= Up

Group Effects
Haste

All PC's are up!

When Vailis ends moving his wand Quiella is now as large as the giant.
enlarge person effects 1 minute

Vailis drops the wand, and seeing a clear line to the giant he draws his crossbow and shots.
Darkwood light crossbow+haste (blinded, slowed): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 1 = 28
P damage: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Another powerful pyrotechnic follows the first...

[dice=Dazing snapdragon fireworks, DC 18, vs Red]1d4+2[/dice]

...followed by a small orb of potent sulfuric acid.

[dice=acid splash, augmented by sulfur, acid as material component, and Sacrificial Boon, heroism, melee penalty vs Red]1d20+2[/dice]
acid damage: 1d3 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

next round's: 1d3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Valik continues to pummel the giant still standing.

ac 34: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 1 = 321d10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

1d20 + 11 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (14) + 11 + 1 - 5 = 211d10 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 1 = 191d10 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

crit?: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 321d10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Lamenting the fact that he didn't get a strike in, the young elf throws caution to the wind, rushes (hate, invisible) around the giant and tries to stab it in the back.

rapier: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 10 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 33
piercing+backstab: 1d6 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 3 + (2) = 6
stored shocking grasp: 5d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 6, 3, 3) = 17

confirm crit?: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 30
piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Heccan, hands held to his side at the shoulder, closes his eyes ready to summon more painful infernal power. Before he unleashes another spell, he opens his eyes and watches his fellow agents converge on the giant adversaries. He watches one giant fall and the rest of the part whir into action, a blur of magically enhanced ferocity. He relaxes his hands and straightens, a smirk of satisfaction crossing his face. "I think that will do." The crafty sorcerer decides to hold his power in reserve for the moment.

Vailis' Enlarge Person spell activates and Quiella grows a little larger. The Summoner then fires a crossbow bolt into the remaining hill giant

Another of Vanzetti's fireworks hits the hill giant, but it resists becoming dazed. The sorcerer follows up with an augmented acid orb spell that also strikes its target.

Valik turns his full attention into attacking the hill giant and successfully hits twice, with his first strike a critical hit.

Melufiuos finishes the combat with a critical strike augmented with Shocking Grasp spell. Mel, remember if you crit using your rapier to deliver the spell, the spell crits as well.

Combat Over

There is nothing of value on the Hill giants.

With the giant threat out of the way, the group has time to survey the area. The clearing overflows with what appears to be the shattered and burned wreckage of a caravan. A huge pile of wagons and other debris burns in the center of the clearing to no discernible purpose. The trampled and burned remains of a variety of trade goods litter the clearing. Look in more detail, the only item of obvious worth that remains is a pair of finely carved ivory tusks that were hidden from whoever looted the site by an overturned wagon.

You can make a Survival roll here to look for more clues. If you want to do anything else here, let me know. Otherwise, I'll presume you all begin to move up the stairs.

Mel scans the place with detect magic, but his survival skills are weak.

aid survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

He uses his pearl of power to recall shocking grasp and then casts it into his rapier. He also grabs his last scroll of cat's grace from his porter and stuffs it in with the rest of his combat scrolls.

"That is what I call a bumpy landing" Vailis saves back his wand and reloads his crossbow before looking around for more danger.

"It seems the giants attacked this caravan. But where are the merchants?" confused still by the magical travel, he sits to recover and starts summoning Coco.
[ooc]The ritual takes 1 minute, I guess we will have time enough[/b]"

"Perhaps Coco can help on our research. Can someone find any human track?"
Survival aid: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 8
Coco Survival aid: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (6) + 0 = 6

Not a very outdoorsy bunch, are we? LOL

survival untrained: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Valik looks around the carnage and wreckage for any clues or information that may be held gil in their mission.

Heccan sighs relieved as the party finishes off the giants. As he gathers himself, he watches the others root around the area. "By the nine, what are you all doing? We can play in the sand lot later, we have matters to attend." The haughty Chelaxian readies to climb the stairs.

Before we begin the climb, Mel casts Ablative Barrier. It has a 7 hour duration.

It doesn't look like anyone has enough Survival to make the DC's, so we'll move on.

After a brief search of the wreckage reveals nothing else of interest, the group moves towards the base of the stairs.

The ancient ruins at the base of the stairs lurk in the perpetual shadow of the monstrous cliffs known as the Storval Rise. The stairs form a fifty foot-wide cleft cut deep into the cliff. The stairs bear the weight of the millennia lightly; though rounded with age and cracked in a few places, they remain level from end to end. Each ponderous two-foot-deep step stretches two feet upwards. Massive landings flanked by monstrous structures obscure the top of the stairs from the bottom. The angle of the sun means shadows blanket the entire length of the Stairs, and will probably do so all day except for a short period around midday.

Massive statues flank the stairs; they rise three hundred feet above the base of the stairs and proudly looking out over the surrounding countryside as if standing guard. Each statue holds an immense tome in one arm and a deadly looking glaive in the other.

On either side of the statues, buildings carved directly out of the cliff face rise from the valley floor. The gargantuan proportions of the structures make it difficult to judge their height. They rise nearly to the top of the plateau, four hundred feet above the valley floor.

You can make a Knowledge (history) roll to identify the statues.

Here is a map. Currently the group is at the bottom. I may adjust it, but each square is actually 10 feet, so there's 4 five-foot squares in each of them. Also, the stairs counts as extremely difficult terrain for the purposes of ascending or descending; movement by Medium or smaller creatures costs 3 squares of movement per square traveled, or 4 squares of movement per diagonal square traveled. Medium and smaller characters cannot charge or take a 5-foot-step up or down the stairs.

Since you said 'extremely difficult terrain', I assume Nimble Moves does not help here, since it only covers difficult terrain. Right?

Would riding a horse make things easier? (ie, mount spell from a scroll)

"Damm that's big! Let's stick together and make sure no one gets too far ahead."

Since we are going to be moving extremely slowly anyway, can I take 20 on checking for traps on the way up?

Vailis contemplates the massive stairs from the bottom "Impressive. It is a marvel this stays here from the time of Thassilion"

Coco: K. history: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32
Coco examines also the place.

"I wonder where exactly the giants are hidden" the half-elf tries to peer through the buildings and the cliff to find "As we already found our wagons, we shall find this King of the stairs. Do you think we can still find some survivor from the caravan alive?"

"I hope so, but I doubt it. Things look thoroughly smashed." He frowns in thought.

Heccan sighs and looks up at the upcoming arduous climb. "Codes and codicils! No one mentioned the climb would be this...challenging. One would think that with all the resources the Society has at its disposal they could have provided a litter, or at least some animal to make this climb less, well less." Heccan sighs and readies himself to ascend the massive stairs.

To Vailis "I do not suspect stealth to be a worry with these giants Vailis. Crushing us to a pulp in the open? Much more of a trouble. If we hurry, perhaps we can save what's left of the caravan from a giant stew."

"Valik, Melufiuos, keep those keen eyes open for trouble."

I believe Nimble moves still counts for the first square.

Large sized creatures move at normal speed.

Mel can take 20 on Perception if he wants, but that means every time he checks, it takes 2 minutes.

Vailis recognizes the statues as depictions of Karzoug, the Runelord of Greed.

After a long, demanding trip up an untold number of large stairs but no traps, the party finally reaches what appears to be a landing.

The stairs cut deep into the cliff at this point, and walls tower fifty feet or more overhead on either side. A massive landing, fifty feet to a side, offers a brief respite from the relentless climb. To the north and south, large hewn caverns with elaborate facades plunge deep into the solid bedrock of the cliff, three to the north and one to the south. Though the sun shines in the sky above, the landing is in the shadow of the walls towering on either side.

A macabre scene of torture and ruin defiles the landing. Flies swarm around four human-sized corpses held vertical by impaling stakes. Another lifeless body is suspended twenty feet above the landing, its limbs dislocated by the merciless pull of taut ropes affixed to hooks in the walls.

A pair of tortured hill giants completes the display. One is barely alive; she is hog-tied, and lurches and convulses as she tries to tries to free her broken limbs from the sturdy ropes. Her companion is similarly bound, but is dead, with vultures picking the meat from his bones. The wreckage of several wagon beds lies near the northern caverns.

Oily black smoke pours from the large central opening on the north side of the landing, carrying the putrid smell of burnt hair and decomposing flesh. A loud whimpering sound and a man’s terrified scream fills the air from the cave.

Here is another new map. The squares are still 10 feet, so there's 4 5-foot squares in each of them. This landing is not difficult terrain. Vailis will need to add Coco. North is left where the scream is coming from.

The Storval Dtairs didn’t disappoint. Made for Giants and such.

Valik grabs a scroll 2 scrolls from his pouch and hands them over to Heccan.

These will help protect us a little, especially if there are harpies present. The are Magic Circle spells attuned to evil creatures. I’d like it me on myself, and I suppose another on someone staying near the back to hopefully protect the rear line

Magic Circle

my ac goes up by another +1

Vailis nods to Heccan "Let's make the stew choke on those giants..."

When the half-elf observes the cruel scene he grows somber "That giant seems still alive. We should try to talk her up to try discover what is going on here"

Ignoring for now the smoke Vailis approaches the giant and talks over in Chelish, Elvish or Igneous if she does not understand "Do you need help? If so tell us what happened here"
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

If the group decides to go look for the smoke, Vailis uses his wand to cast shield on himself.

Heccan takes gulps of air and rests his hands on his knees trying to recover from the arduous climb. "Honestly, they really do downplay all the physical exertion in the recruitment materials." Another gasp of air..."I mean one should know how much condition... His words stop abruptly as he fist lays eyes on the ghastly scene. Never has he seen such carnage. "By the laws!" The usually gregarious Chelaxian visibly holds back a wretch as he does his best to maintain his courtly composure.

He nods to Valik and accepts the scrolls. Heccan gives them a cursory glance. "Very wise Valik. I believe I can use my nature to tap the power of these writings. I shall use them to protect us. You have my word." Valik can tell Heccan's tone is uncharacteristically forthright.

As Vallis steps toward the captive giant, Heccan places a gentle but restraining hand on the hal-elf's shoulder. "Easy friend, we are not sure what is waiting for us yet. Let us be certain we are in no danger, then I will aid you in speaking to that behemoth. I have some abilities that may aid us."

Heccan will go with Vallis to speak to the giant captive once the party is certain the party is in no immediate danger. He will accompany Vallis and attempt to aid or speak to the injured giant. Heccan will use his wand of infernal healing to heal the giant to help with the questioning. He can cast comprehend language if necessary.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (12) + 25 = 37

Quiella does what she can to heal the giant. Let's try channel energy first for 2d6. She can spend another channel and at least two CLW. All from Oracle resources.

diplomacy, aid Heccan: 10 + 20 = 30

The magus is shocked as well and unwilling to risk speech for fear that more than words will come spilling out. He takes 10 checking for traps, somehow convinced that the very corpses are a source of danger. He lets the rest of the party do their thing while he keeps an eye out for trouble.

V struggles to ascend the steps, but is surprisingly persistent, making his way slowly but surely.

"Charming," He says tersely of the scene, breaking stride for only a moment before moving to assist the survivor.

Automatic aid on Diplomacy.

I can also help heal if it's called for.

The severely injured Hill Giant doesn't seem to understand a word that you're saying.

The giant doesn't speak Common, so unless one of you do, the Diplomacy is unlikely to work. Also, she's hog-tied, so let me know if anyone frees her from that and specifically how much you are healing her, if at all.

Noticing that the giant does not seem to be understanding our speech, he tries Common, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc. He suggests we untie her, slowly. Before we touch her, though, he mimics untying, indicating that it is hard to untie her while she is thrashing about.

Heccan shakes his head. "I was afraid of this. Let us undo her bonds, carefully. Melufious, let me know if she understands any of your vast linguistic skills. Otherwise, I shall use my power to discern her words."

If the giant does not understand any of Mel's known languages, Heccan will cast comprehend languages and see if the giant will tell us what happened.

OH!!! I forgot. I have linguistics! I have no clue how it works, but Mel (with his parrot sitting on top of his head) try to talk to the big gal.

linguistics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 (ignore if DM is supposed to roll in private)

What is the effect of using linguistics while having Comprehend Languages running? You get a double-checker on understanding what they are saying. But what about speaking... With linguistics, you can try to speak the language but my say something wrong/stupid instead. But if you have Comprehend Languages running, will you understand that you just said something stupid and be able to correct it?

Quiella's intention is to heal if at all possible.

The giant only speaks Giant. Comprehend Languages only works in interpreting the language, not communicating in it. Hill giants are dumb and have no reason to trust you, so it's unlikely it will understand or try to understand other methods of communication, but feel free to try if you wish. Linguistics appears to just work on written messages. With this info in mind, let me know what you want to do.

I was reading *somewhere?* about linguistics vs comprehend languages and the general gist was that comprehend languages was one-way (ie, you can understand but cannot talk or write it) but linguistics let you do both. But it must have been from an unofficial source since I cannot find it to link to it. Sorry for the confusion.

Mel believes that the best way to gain her trust is to heal her and then untie her. Once healed, he will begin untying her. He moves slowly and tries to be gentle. (hope it works, LOL)

Vailis ponders for a while the groups options "Ok, so we really want to talk with this giant first. Ok. Got it, I will call on some divine help so we can move on with this"

The summoner looks sad at Coco "Thanks for your help with the ruins, I will call you later if we need to friend" and then with a gesture summons an augmented archon hound.

"Salutes good archon. I am sorry to call you once more. There is here a Giant, a brute creature sure, but someone that might have important information for the survival of merchants we have pledged to rescue. Please, could you in our behalf talk with her and find out what has happened in this place?" the half-elf looks confident and amiable to the hound then points to the suffering giant.

Enforced by its summon link the archon walks over and casts aid on the giant to help Quiella's healing. Then, using his truespeech it tries to make sense of the giant mumbling "My caller wants to bring help to this place. His friends need to know who you are and what has happened here. What can you talk about it?"

The archon lasts 8 minutes and comes with a circle vs evil already active, so perhaps we can save one of the scrolls for now

Heccan quirks a brow. "Well well, you certainly have many tricks in your bag Vallis. I shall have to remember that." The wily Chelaxian waits to see if the Archon succeeds at communicating with the giant.

V helps suture the giant's injuries with a trick he learned back in Razmiran....

I cast infernal healing on her, assuming she could still use it.

"Well now, don't i look stupid ?" jests the young elf who stops himself mid pantomime. ;)

Vailis dismisses Coco, then summons a Hound Archon. The creature uses an Aid spell on the Giant and speaks to it. The injured giant's response does not sound enthusiastic.

Meanwhile, more screaming erupts from the caverns to the north.

I'll wait to see how the group responds before figuring out if Vanzetti is still going to use that Infernal Healing spell.

May we assume the archon translates the giant's response?

The Archon will have to do that, I leave that up to Vailis.

The archon turns to the group not very enthusiastic for acting as a translator instead of an evil smiting force. Although he speaks in Celestial, his words seem to strangely be understandable for anyone hearing them "The giant will say nothing. She just wants to die"

When the screams are heard again the archon eyes budge "I sense some suffering. We should act and smite the evilness" he stands in two legs and draws his sword. Then turns to Vailis like asking what are you waiting for.

"Tsk!" says Vailis "That will be more difficult than it seemed, and there is someone suffering there to the north. I am all for go and check. We can always come back to make the Giant talk and find out what is going on"

Heccan sneers "Bah! We are wasting our time. We waste our mercy here, perhaps the next lost soul we find will be more appreciative." The sorcerer readies himself to search out the source of the screams.

"Oh, those screams are real?! I thought they were just in my head. So similar to the ones in the blackness, when I was falling."

Mel taps himself with his wand of shield and joins the party as we rush to find someone wanting our mercy. Rapier and wand of immolation in hand.

On a whim, V goes through with his healing trick on the giantess anyway before continuing. Maybe she'll turn around, maybe she won't.

Vanzetti begins to heal some of the giant's wounds, but her attitude appears unchanged towards the group.

Making your way towards the screams to the north you see the facade of a two-storied cave structure that rises fully fifty feet above the base of the landing. Three openings provide access to the ground level, but the center one is by far the largest. Black smoke pours from the center opening. The inside of the building is so dark and smoky it’s difficult to see much besides the dancing flames of a large cooking fire within.

As you near, the archon hears a voice in Giant say, "Where is your king? We had a deal... aaargh!" Hearty laughter follows afterwards.

If you want to approach quietly to perhaps overhear more, roll Stealth. If you aren't confident about that, you can also choose to stop moving towards the voices.

"Another giant being tortured? It seems the real enemy here is pretty tough." Mel whispers to himself after hearing the archon's words. You can see that impulsive glint in his eyes, but he somehow resists long enough to look a question at the rest of the party.

"Archon, you are the only one who understands. Can you sneak closer to overhear what is going on?" asks Vailis.

"Archon, this, archon that... you are very pushy. But of course, I am obliged to you and to cleanse the evilness in this place" the hound archon casts message to open a communication link with the group and then approaches trying to be as silent as possible and checks what is going on through the main doors.
Stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33
Perception (darkvision, scent, detect evil): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Heccan, ready to tap into his power to aid the scout, once again checks his arcane might. Those beasts are very useful. I must make note of that.

While the others stand back, the Hound Archon continues to eavesdrop on the conversation. At times, more sounds of hearty laughter and deeper, louder voices shouting over one another drown out the pleading voice. The voice alternates between begging for mercy and demanding to speak with the king or 'the Kellid witch.' Eventually the smaller voice also reveals his ties to the Aspis Consortium and that there was some kind of deal between the Consortium and 'King Formoch.' Shortly after that revelation, the laughter increases and then a loud argument breaks out, three voices trying to out-shout each other, bellowing "Me!", "Mine!", "Gimme!"