GM Nowruz's #6–10 'The Wounded Wisp' (Tier 1-2) - 20180501 (Inactive)

Game Master noral

"I've got rope, a grappling hook (probably useless here), and my brand new long spear. I wouldn't know how to make the bridge stronger, but maybe we can use the rope to give us something to hold onto. I think I'm the lightest, I could cross with the rope and fasten it on the other side. Maybe I can use the spear for balance or support?"

"If Iskur is fine with it, we could tie the rope to him. Then one of us could hold it while he crosses to test the weight support. Though, with him over there he could just grab the bottle and bring it back over."

So how do you walk over and who does that?

I forgot about the gnome. That is probably a better choice.

Bressa will be ready to rush ovrr if something on the other side threatens him.

"I agree with Roustan, though I suggest that we tie one end of the rope to the stairs just in case whoever is holding it loses their grip. It'd be embarrassing to lose someone on a mission to retrieve a bottle, after all."

Simeon looks around a bit for Iskur. "I'm not sure if the gnome made it. If he's not here, Bressa is probably the next lightest."

Having just sat down, Quinn realizes suddenly everyone is moving into the basement. He's trails along and hears the last bit of the bartender's speech. I hope this bottle is a fine vintage indeed, he thinks to himself. Nonetheless, he gets in position to help the others with the plan.

Iskur moves very slowly and he really makes it to the other side unharmed.

"Ok, Iskur we are looking for this bottle." Roustan reads from the sheet of paper handed to him.

she hands you a piece of paper with the name of a vineyard and a certain vintage (from a year preceding the creation of the Society)

Iskur goes to the wine cellar but the moment the magnitude of the room is revealed it is clear that a team is necessary to find the bottle in this completely unorganized archaic wine cellar.

With his hands on his hips, Roustan ponders a plan. "How about with the rope tied to the stairs we take turns with tying the rope around ourselves and slowly going over the plank individually?"

Quinn nods. "A sensible plan." Tying the rope around himself, Quinn moves very, very slowly across the plank.

Quinn reaches the other side without any issues and the others follow his example so that you are now all on the other side.

You walk into the cellar (A12). This chamber is where the Wounded Wisp keeps its supply of specialty wines and ales for important occasions.

You start searching for the wine bottle and it feels like searching for a needle in a hay stack.

"I suppose we should each pick a section to search."

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Warren follows closely behind the group, walking cautiously across as he does. Once in the cellar, Warren checks the wine racks closely, inspecting each for the one they were sent to retrieve

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Finally he finds that particular bottle from a very old vintage but it is stuck in the wine rack. Warren pulls again and gets it out only to see that behind the bottle a strange lever is hidden

"Hey guys looks like I found the bottle, but some lever was hidden behind, not sure what it does.. should I pull it?" Warren asks non-chantly to the group

Roustan was glad to not have that extra sweetroll this morning after making it across the plank. He walks a different direction to look for the bottle.

perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Roustan joins Warren to take a look at the lever. "Now the game of trying to guess if VC Dreng really wanted this bottle of wine or was it a bread crumb to something else? Doesn't seem like anyone else comes down here, so as long as we don't knock down all these wine racks after pulling the lever. Lets have at it."

"Good eyes, Warren! A lever? Hmm..... And I bet that girl doesn't have a fear of heights either. Given that this man appears to know way too much about things no one else does, I'll bet our 'mission to retrieve a parcel' was just a 'coded message' that we are just beginning to understand. I've got two guesses so far. Either that lever reveals a hidden compartment with the real item we are supposed to retrieve or it will open a door to a passage that leads someplace he needs a team of pathfinders to go. That is both impressive and worrisome. We have no idea what to expect and hence cannot prepare.... unless that does not matter... how smart is this guy?" She finishes with her hands on her hips and a very displeased look on her face.

"Pull it. Let's get this over with."

----
Edit
Wow, did it really take me 26 minutes to type that? Didn't see Roustan's post until after I posted mine. LOL!

Warren nods to Bressa and Roustan, and pockets the vintage bottle in his pack."Sounds good to me, let's see what's behind door number one!" Warren pulls the hidden lever with ungovernable excitement

Iškur shifts his balance slightly -- "Here's hoping we don't bring the whole thing down!" His flush of excitement belies his warning; he'd feared he might be spending the evening as a delivery boy.

When you use the lever the complete wine rack slides back. The sound is almost not to hear but the dust that comes down shows that this secret door has not been opened for ages.

You look into a short stone tunnel that leads into a hidden room (A13) that is illuminated.

You enter the tunnel just a little to see what lies ahead and check for traps but cannot find any.

A sturdy silver chain jutting from the ceiling ends in a glowing orb that radiates yellow light across the rectangular room. A simple desk of polished wood, stacked with documents and scattered notes, shelters a pair of wooden chests against the south wall. A series of cracks along the eastern and western walls form makeshift entrances into exposed caverns.

The only light source in this room is a plain rock that bears a continual flame spell and hangs from a chain. The illumination is enough to brighten the room but leaves the connecting tunnels dark.

Can you please place your icons on the map and position yourself in area 12 or 13 wherever you want. Thanks

"Lets try looking to see if there are any notes that might hint what we are suppose to do now."

perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

After looking around, Roustan asks, "Does anyone have a light spell for use in these tunnels or should I light a torch?"

There is enough magical light in this room to see everything.

You look at the desk and see that it contains various notes and leads. A first glimpse shows that these were obviously penned by Selmius Foster with later annotations by a certain Adolphus.

Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (17) + 7 + (3) = 27

"Fascinating! These notes were penned by some of the earliest Pathfinders in the Chronicles, and must be of great historical value to the Society. We should return them to the Lodge. Dreng must have suspected something. Despite his eccentricity, I'm starting to warm to the man. Hm, I wonder where these tunnels lead?

You start to look at the documents in more detail.

The papers chronicle the personal exploits of Selmius Foster, a famous Pathfinder whose name some of you recognize from their training as Pathfinder agents.

Most of Foster’s more infamous adventures appear here in varying amounts of detail, but it is evident there is another investigation he had been pursuing before he died: the lost records of a Society agent named Eylysia.

You Give find two very interesting documents, which detail Selmius’s thoughts on the matter, and an appended note from Adolphus.

See Handout #1 and #2 in the slides.

Together, these reference three major leads Foster had found. But it seems as if they never had time to investigate properly as the thoroughly compiled notes just stop at some point.

Warren combs through the various notes strewn throughout the desk, noting the direction of the tunnels Warren retrieves his Sunrod from his pack, activating the rod and illuminating the area before him
"Well only one way to find out where they lead, lets do this!"
Warren replies, ready to descend into the tunnels

"I too am curious about these tunnels. But should they lead to nothing of immediate interest, we should follow up on the leads in these notes. If we find the mausoleum of Arkath or Fimbrik's house, valuable clues may lead us to the veritable treasure trove of Eylysia's hidden knowledge!"

You are discussing and standing in the silent room that looks like it was not touched for ages.

Warren and Quinn start to peer into the tunnels when you all suddenly hear hundreds of high-pitched squeaks fill the air as a mass of small, carnivorous bats surges forth, all of them hungry for blood.

Roustan, Simeon, and Warren are utterly surprised when the swarm of bats enters the room through various tunnels and is all around them. Quinn, Bressa and Iskur on the other hand heard the screams a little earlier and are ready to react.

Kn(Nature)

Round 0 - Surprise round
1. Roustan, Simeon, and Warren: You are up!
2. Swarm:

Round 1
1. All PCs:
2. Swarm:

#Swarm: Full HP

Bressa:
Iskur:
Quinn:
Roustan:
Simeon:
Warren:

Warren casts Acid Splash against Swarm

Warren gasps as the swarm attacks, taking him by surprise he collects his wits before deciding on how to best deal with the new threat

"Im really unprepared today, no acid flasks, scrolls, NOTHING, oh well. Winging it is more my stlye anyway." Warren curses himself again

Acid Splash, Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

Roustan will 5ft step north and shouts, "There won't be leaving that bartender a tip!"

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the bats, and lacking anything useful for attacking a swarm, Simeon holds his quarterstaff before him as a weapon and braces himself in case the swarm moves any closer.

[If he can take an action despite being surprised, he'll take a Total Defense action.]

I think there was a transcription error--the ones who made the Perception check should be acting in the surprise round, right?

Looking I think your correct, I retract my action

back into the swarm :(

Very sorry!! ;-)

Round 0 - Surprise round
1. Quinn, Bressa and Iskur: You are up!
2. Swarm:

Round 1
1. All PCs:
2. Swarm:

Drawing a flask of alchemist's fire from his belt pouch, Quinn hesitates for a moment before deciding that whatever harm his allies might take from being inadvertently splashed would be dwarfed by allowing the swarm of bats to continue unimpeded!

Seeing Quinn raise a flask from his belt, Iškur winces; this is going to sting. He chides himself for failing to bring at least a torch, and prepares to channel healing energy to his new allies, deferring action for now.

here's my reflex save if/when needed

reflex: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Bressa does the same, pulling out a flask of alchemist fire. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Same here, reflex save

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Warren cartwheels out of the way, laughing as he tumbles out of range of the flask

Reflex Save: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Iškur flinches ineffectually, distracted by Warren's antics.

The swarm of carnivorous bats suddenly fills the room and makes breathing difficult. Warren and Roustan are filled with terror as the swarm engulfs them and the young Pathfinder's bodies start to bleed.

Warren and Roustan both make their DC 11 Fort save and are not nauseated because of the swarm's distraction - but you are bleeding with 1 HP on each turn of the swarm & receive swarm damage now: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Round 1
1. All PCs -> GO
2. Swarm:

#Swarm: Full HP

Bressa:
Iskur:
Quinn:
Roustan: 10/12 HP
Simeon:
Warren: 7/9 HP

Quinn hurls the flask into the swarm of bats!

I'm aiming for the part of the swarm in the square in between Warren and Bressa--that way the splash only hits three of us (Warren, Bressa, and Rousan) instead of five of us.

Ranged Attack Roll: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Direct Hit Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4 Hopefully, the swarm will take 50% more

5ft adjust, Cast Acid Splash

Dodging the flask, Warrens laughter quickly turns into abject screams of terror as the swarm assaults him "By the gods, throw ALL of your fire flasks DIRECTLY at me if need be! Please just get these damnable bats away!" Warren retreats, backing into the corner. He motions with his hands, drawing forth a large globe of acid with a cantrip and hurling it at the swarm

Acid Splash, Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

Roustan 5ft's it north, draws an acid flask and will throw in space in front of Warren after he moves out! "Hot potato about to come your way Warren!"

flask toss in bottom right swarm square

toss: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

yay, first crit! do I just reroll everything like normal for the double-check?

crit?: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
damage?: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Bressa tosses the flask at the square beside her.
alchemist fire: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
fire: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Simeon clutches his quarterstaff and holds it in front of him, hoping to ward off any bats if they move closer to him. [He takes a Total Defense action.]

Quinn, splash weapons damage swarms normally but area attacks do 50% more damage. Warren, single target spells do not hurt swarms at all so you realize that your attack was in vain. Simeon, a swarm makes no attack roll but only damages so total defense has no defensive effect.

Quinn and Roustan both hit the swarm with their splash weapons and see many small bats falling to the floor. But the main body is still active. Warren spell hits one bat but has no effect on the swarm. Bressa unfortunately misses and her flask hits the floor.

Iskur, first of all you can still take your action in round 1. Warren and Roustan, you take 1 bleed damage on the swarm's turn in round 1.

The swarm of carnivorous bats moves again to Roustan but now also targets Iskur. They are tiny but start tearing into your flesh.

Roustan Fort save, poison: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Iskur, you made a reflex save of 7 without modifiers which I use as your Fort save + 3 = 10 vs. the swarm distraction effect but that is not a success so you are nauseated for your action in round 2.

Roustan and Iskur, you are bleeding with 1 HP on each turn of the swarm & receive swarm damage now: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Round 1
1. Iskur -> GO

Round 2
1. All PCs -> GO
2. Swarm:

#Swarm: -5 HP

Bressa:
Iskur: 6/9 HP
Quinn:
Roustan: 6/12 HP
Simeon:
Warren: 6/9 HP

Roustan withdraws to a different corner while flailing and screaming, "Get them off, get them off!"

Roustan withdraws to a different corner while flailing and screaming, "Get them off, get them off!"

Do you take out a splash weapon? Or do you take another standard action?

withdraw says you can double move, but think it's the only think I can do that round. found it: Withdrawing from melee combat is a full-round action.