GM Henry's First Steps Part III PbP [Completed] (Inactive)

Game Master Signore di Fortuna

Griffo nods to Urdel and follows Kurth, looking a little nervous as the forest closes in around him.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Kargen chuckles as they wave goodbye to the centaurs. "You think we're really going to find it, Kurth?" He hands out the berries to the Pathfinders. 2 to each.

"I don't know. But if it really exists, I prefer if we find it before it finds us."

Garen keeps the longspear in his hands, using it almost as a walking stick, and keeps his eyes peeled for any sign of the beast or any other tracks.
Perception:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Nice rolls Garen!

Griffo's voice pipes up from where he rides at the back of the group,
" It's sounds almost like the beast was hunting the centaurs. I think there's a good chance it will find us if we don't find it first. Let me know if you find any sign of the creature, I may be able to work out what we're up against with enough clues. "

Wurt's Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

The sound of running water echoes ahead, and several muted beams of light pierce the thick forest canopy. Soon the dense forest opens, revealing a river that blocks the way forward. A large felled tree trunk offers a way over the swift moving river. With the exception of the rushing sound of the water, an eerie silence pervades the area, as does the fresh smell of death.

The half-eaten carcass of a large deer stains the forest’s foliage near a fast moving river. Kurth, Garen and Griffo see that several rake marks scar the carcass, suggesting a powerful feline felled this animal. In addition, Garen finds fresh paw indentations in the forest’s dirt floor leading to a large oak tree trunk that bridges the gap over the river.

MAP

Characters are in blue, corpse is in grey. Whenever enemies appear, they'll be in red.

Kargen's attitude shifts dramatically when they see the corpse in front of them. "Ok, perhaps I was wrong." He readies his bow.

"It's only half-eaten, which means the beast is probably still around here."

" Who else is starting to worry that the centaurs told us to follow a game trail? " Griffo chuckles nervously. " How long do you think this deers been dead? "

"Don't worry Griffo. As long as we are the hunters and not the hunted, everything is okay. Garen, can you follow the tracks that you found?"

Kurth readies to attack the feline monster if it jumps out of the shrubbery.

Kargen moves to the riverbank by the fallen tree. He tries to see if there are any indications the beast actually crossed.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Griffo scans both sides of trail " Yeah, but that's what I'm worried about. "

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

" How do we know it's not circling back right now? " he asks his voice nervous but quiet. As he looks up into the trees.

"Relax. Just stay alert and don't let it pounce while I'm distracted examining the tracks. We'll find it. It's too bad we didn't bring any hounds..."

Garen follows the track as best he can. He will cross the river and follow the track on the other side if he believes the animal did that.
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Kurth follows Garen around, his sword ready to attack.

You see no signs of the beast once you approach the fallen tree nor any other tracks on this side of the river. It will take some balance to cross the river (DC 10 Acrobatics check, but you may take 10 since there is no threat).

"Go ahead and cross. I'll cross once you've determined if it's safe," Rees says.

Garen uses his longspear to check the depth of the water. If it is deeper than he can tell with that, he tries to estimate the depth. "No sense taking any chances. Anybody have a rope? We can tie each person to a line, and then if they fall in we can easily pull them out instead of risking getting drowned."

Garen finds the river is only five feet deep but it is swiftly moving.

" Still plenty to drown in, especially for me. " Griffo says dismounting from his riding dog and ties the rope around his waist. " I'll go last, apart from Rees, and lead Wurt here across. "

Do I have to make any special rolls to get Wurt across? He has +6 in acrobatics. Handle animal?
1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

Griffo approaches the log carefully, leading his mount. He edges slowly across taking his time, stumbling slightly he has no shame in sitting on the log and shimmying his way across.

No, you can all take 10 to get across the tree. It's one of the dumb parts of this session. "Oh, no! There's a fast moving river and a tree you must balance on! But you can automatically balance on it anyway!" I have no idea why it's in there...

Edit: Probably to illustrate some sense of time. *shrug*

Except armor check penalties apply to acrobatics rolls, so taking 10 results in a 9 for my character, which is a failure. so there is some risk involved, unless we take off our armor first, which makes getting ambushed on the other side far more dangerous. Hence my paranoia with the rope.

Ah, that's true. However, an obstacle meant to abuse a character's armor check penalty still rates as "dumb" in my book.

Ah the bonus of being a wizard.

Seeing the heavily armoured Garen hesitate at the log Griffo rifles through his scroll pouch. " I've got a scroll here that could make one of you bigger and stronger, maybe then you could just wade across easily and help everyone else across the log. At least your head would be well above the water. "

Enlarge person... Not really sure if it would help, your Str would be higher so better swim checks? Just a suggestion.

"Two of you hold the rope and let me go across first. If I fall in, pull me out." Garen ties a bowline around himself with one end of the rope and goes across.

Acrobatics1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19

After he makes it across, Garen calls out to everyone else to use the other end of the rope on them, and Garen can pull them out of the water onto the opposite bank if need be.

Never thought I'd use boy scout lifesaving techniques to clear an obstacle in a role-playing game.

Garen and Griffo (along with Wurt) cross the river with little difficulty.

Acrobatics, take 10: 10 + 1 = 11 plus any modifier for rope

Kargen quickly makes his way across the fallen tree and takes up a position on the other side to watch for any threats while the others cross. He also tries to look for any continuation of tracks from the beast.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Garen tries to pick up the track on the other side.

Survival1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Kurth ties the end of the rope around his waist. Then he tries to lead his mule across the river.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 1 - 3 ⇒ (4) + 1 - 3 = 2
His mule will take 10 on the roll.

But apparently he pays too much attention to where the mule is going and thus forgets to mind his own steps.

Kurth, make a swim or strength check, whichever you think will end up higher.

Adrenaline shoots through Kurth's body as he slips and falls.
entering rage (1/12 rounds used)
Swim: 1d20 + 11 - 3 ⇒ (12) + 11 - 3 = 20

A very angry Kurth drags himself to the other side of the river.

Does the mule need help?

Nope, mule has a positive dex modifier.

That's everyone right? Oh except Rees.

Kargen glances back to the wet and angry Kurth. "What, you decided to have a bath?" He smiles. "Not really the time, Kurth."

He waves over to Nester. "Ok, Mr. Rees. It's safe. Just grab onto the rope and make your way across."

"Very ... funny ... Kargen"

Kurth steps out of the water and collapses on the bank. There he rolls on his back and lets the sun dry his clothes.

Fatigued for two rounds - this would be a bad time for the cat to attack.

After taking a look around, the group finds no evidence of the beast. Rees carefully crosses the river and rejoins the group.

"Shall we camp here or move on?" Rees asks. "It looks like we still have a little daylight left."

"We should move on. If the beast comes here to eat, then this is not a good place for us to sleep."

"Agreed. Let's keep moving for now. Keep your eyes out for any other signs of this beast."

Garen takes up a rearguard position, watching carefully for any sign of the animal as the party continues its journey.

You continue on until the sun begins to dip below the horizon. After a full day, you find a decent spot in the forest to camp.

Setting up any watches?

As Griffo goes about setting up his tent he offers to take the first watch, " With the beast still about we should definitely take watches. Me and Wurt will take the first one if you like? "

Perception checks for my watch
Griffo: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Wurt: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17 (scent)

Kargen will take the midwatch.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

And Garen will take the next one.

Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

As the night goes on, there is little else but silence. You eat and then fall asleep relatively quickly. Griffo and Kargen see nothing during their watches. In the early hours, Garen takes his watch. Suddenly, he hears a sound behind him. Looking behind him, he sees a pair of violet eyes looming above Kurth's sleeping figure.

MAP

Initiative:
?:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Garen:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Kargen:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Griffo:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Kurth:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Round 1: ?, Griffo (asleep), Garen, Kargen (asleep), Kurth (asleep)

The creature tears into Kurth with claws and teeth.

Claw 1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19; Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2
Claw 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6; miss
Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11; miss

Your action, Garen.

"THE BEAST IS UPON US!!!" Garen yells to try to wake everyone else up. He then takes a five-foot step towards the beast and strikes with his masterwork longspear over Kurth's sleeping form.

Assuming he is medium or smaller, I am using power attack with Pushing Assault to drive him further away from Kurth. The feat is listed here: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/pushing-assault-combat

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Damage (if it matters): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

If the beast is too big for Pushing Assault then I add 3 to my damage instead.

The beast is pushed back by Garen's attack. Everyone awakens to his shouts, except Kurth, who probably woke up due to the beast's attack upon him.

Round 2: ?, Griffo, Garen, Kargen, Kurth

The beast pulls the skin back from its face and lets out a loud screech.

Make a Will Save, Garen.

Griffo shakes himself awake standing and taking a step back. He conjures an acid dart that speeds towards the beast.

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 -4 for shooting into melee?
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Kargen wakes with a start and rolls away from his bed roll. He grabs his bowstave, but it's unstrung. Cursing, he grabs his spear and hurls it at the beast, but the throw sails far to the left. Then he proceeds to string his bow.

Spear: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Will Save1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
I am assuming this is a fear effect. If it isn't, reduce my save by 2. If it is an enchantment, I get +2, not +3.

It is a fear effect. Go ahead and take your actions, Garen.

Garen takes a diagonal five foot step to stand next to Kurth and strikes with his longspear.

Power Attack to push it back again:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Critical confirmation roll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
If the crit is confirmed then the creature should be pushed back ten feet.
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Griffo's spell and Garen's next attack put an end to the vicious beast. Soon, Urdel appears in the clearing.

"Thank you, Pathfinders, for putting an end to the beast. If you'll allow us to take the beast's corpse, we shall give you some valuable fur pelts."