[PFS] GM 7thGate's The Wounded Wisp

Game Master 7thGate

"Dancing Desna! Who's there?" Jan's head bobs like a turkey's as Jan peers wide eyed and wildly across the hall. Jan shuffles hurriedly out of the alcove and turns toward the exit, shrugging both arms out of the cloak and holding the spear ready, but not pointed at the strangers.

Nixim exits the secret tunnel with a gleam in his eye.

"Of course, they are sent to stop me!" he says as he prepares to cast a spell against any that come near him.

Cast cause fear against the first to come into range (DC 15 Will)

L.B.'s paranoid mind doesn't have room for 'diplomatic' tactics when someone is holding a knife. L.B. darts to one of the other pillars, raising his crossbow up to eye level and taking a shot at the armed visitor.

Deadly Attack on the halfling: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Confirm: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

L.B. begins smiling under his heavy wrappings, and begins whispering again to the bow as he begins fumbling for the crank.

NICE SHOT!

*WHAM*

L.B.'s crossbow bolt takes the halfling in the neck, causing it to fall back to the ground.

The human cries out, moving behind a pillar and releasing a powerful burst of healing energy. The crossbow bolt forces itself out of the halfling's neck, and he coughs weakly on the ground.

Healing: 1d6 ⇒ 4

The elf pulls out a scroll and casts a spell on himself, moving behind the furthest pillar for cover.

A second small, black clad halfling wielding a rapier runs out from behind the lower pillar where he was skulking to join his downed companion, pulling a bottle from his belt as he moves.

I was slightly mistaken earlier in my description; both of the halflings have small Rapiers, not daggers. Although from the perspective of a human, they might not be all that different...

Initiative:
Giovanni
Halfling (-9)
Jan
L.B.
Nixim
Halfling
Elf
Human
Vinny
Pollock

Vinny, Pollock and Giovanni are up!

Giovanni runs up past the pillar and stabs the previously injured halfling.

rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 171d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Vinny strides past Pollock and Jan into the room and pulls out a bomb as she watches the crossbow bolt pop out of the halfling. "Hm. Well that's unfortunate...Maybe I can do something about that healer..." She moves around the side of the room to get into a better position to bomb the human later.

The halfling tries to roll out of the way. Giovanni feels some force try to deflect his rapier out of the way as he strikes, but the halfling has some difficulty dodging due to his position on the floor and is skewered through the stomach. He lets out a groan and a feeble cough before falling limp, twitching slightly as his hands involuntarily clutch at his stabbed gut.

Pollock is up!

Pollock hears fighting, and L.B. muttering in his strange way. A red mist descends in front of Pollock’s eyes, and he dashes 3 spaces up and four spaces to the right, using one diagonal move up behind a pillar. He sees Vinny reaching for an explosive flask and thinks, I sure don’t want to be on the receiving end of that...

Pollock readies his net, and prepares to duck around the pillar.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Jan sees the scroll and the spell. "Mage armor! Nothing nefarious!" Jan's shouted information is not of immediate use as both sides vie over the death of the halfling.

I'm assuming with the halfling down, that it will be L.B., Nixim, and Jan up next, so I'll go again...?

L.B. hurriedly cranks the crossbow as he narrows his eyes at the human.
"No one escapes Elby," the weird little wayang mutters as he narrows his eyes at the human, sidestepping around the pillar.

Move to reload, move to Studied Target the human, 5-ft step.

Right, good point!

Stabilize: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (8) - 3 = 5

Initiative:
Giovanni
Halfling (-13) [Unconscious]
Jan
L.B.
Nixim
Halfling
Elf
Human
Vinny
Pollock

Nixim and Jan are up!

Nixim rushes forward and points toward the unwounded halfling foe. He opens a small conduit into the vast, emptiness of space where there is only cold nothingness and directs it into the enemy's heart.

Cause fear, DC 15 Will

Will Save: 1d20 ⇒ 12
Duration: 1d4 ⇒ 1

The halfling begins to scream, running away from the terrifying gnome.

Frightened for 1 round

Jan walks toward the human, voice rising gradually to a yell, talking, and gradually. "We don't know who they are. Who are they? Who are you? Why are we fighting these people? I'm a cleric not a fighter!" It is unclear what relevance Jan's final, screamed, exclamation has to the rest of the utterances, but it is full of pathos if anyone wants to hear it.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Jan suspects this is another group of pathfinders, sent as backup and wants to stop the fighting long enough to find out

"You were not supposed to be here! Your presence corrupts the prophecies of the book of 1000 whispers, and will not be tolerated!"

The elf casts out a hand, shooting a magical bolt of energy at Giovanni, striking him in the chest.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

The human gives a blood-curdling cry and circles around Giovanni, taking a wild swipe with a mace that doesn't even come close to connecting.

Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1

The halfling flees at top speed, screaming in terror, while the other halfling's blood begins to pool on the ground.

Stabilize: 1d20 - 4 ⇒ (11) - 4 = 7

[larger]Round 1/Begin Round 2[/larger]
Initiative:
Giovanni (-2)
Halfling (-14) [Unconscious]
Jan
L.B.
Nixim
Halfling
Elf
Human
Vinny
Pollock

Everyone is up!

Giovanni takes a punch to the chest with the magic missile. He weaves between his foes and flourishes with his rapier to distract the human in front of him.

5ft step and Feint as a move action, stab with standard

bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

The DC of this check is equal to 10 + your opponent’s base attack bonus + your opponent’s Wisdom modifier. If your opponent is trained in Sense Motive, the DC is instead equal to 10 + your opponent’s Sense Motive bonus, if higher. Target loses dex bonus

rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 231d6 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (4) = 7 sneak attack damage if the feint lands.
rapier confirm: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 157 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ 7 + (4) + 1 = 12

Nixim runs to the next pillar and prepares to cast the same spell on any enemy that comes within range.

If any enemy comes within 25' of me, I'll cast cause fear again (DC 15 Will

L.B. grins as the human comes to him. He quickly fires off a shot.

Attack, w/ Deadly Attack and Studied Target, -4 for melee: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 1 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 1 - 1 - 4 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

L.B. begins reloading the crossbow and positioning for better lines of sight.

L.B.'s crossbow bolt takes the human in the chest just as Giovanni rams his rapier through the man's throat. He falls to the ground, silent and still.

Round 1/ Beginning Round 2
Initiative:
Giovanni (-2)
Halfling (-14) [Unconscious]
Jan
L.B.
Nixim
Halfling
Elf
Human (-19) [Unconscious]
Vinny
Pollock

Jan, Vinny and Pollock are up!

Vinny moves closer to the elf who attacked Giovanni. "No no no, no throwing magic missiles at my friends!" She winds up and throws her bomb right at him.

Bomb, attack Elf: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Miss Direction: 1d8 ⇒ 1
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Jan begins moving toward the elf but notices Vinny poised to throw a bomb and ducks and swerves toward the halfling stabbing wildly.
spear, attack halfling: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
damage, however unlikely: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

As Pollock looks around the pillar, he sees his friends engaged in two groups of enemies, and he hears icky stabbing noises and screams of fear. No one seems to notice him, so he comes up with a clever ruse. Pollock thinks about what he knows about Pathfinder groups, and starts shouting, trying to sound like a few more Pathfinders than the opposing group was reckoning on. He cups his hands and changes his voice comedically, trying to sound like a handful of different races and genders, and clatters his equipment to mimic a well-equipped party on the move.

”Is that fighting up there?” - “Why yes, old chap, I bally well presume so!” - “Let’s give ‘em a hand, boys!” -this last in a ridiculous falsetto.

Bluff: 1d20 ⇒ 12
Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Seeing his second companion go down, and realizing he is outnumber six--no, make that eight to one, the elf makes a mad dash for the door, pushing past Jan in his hurry to escape. The halfling, magical terror fading but real terror beginning to set in, decides to follow suit and keeps running as fast as his small feet will carry him.

Unless you want to continue trying to chase them down, combat is over! Jan, if you do want to try and stab one of them when they run by you, you can take your attack of opportunity against one of them. Or you can let them flee.

Vinny wants to know if she burninated that guy, even if it doesn't really matter to the course of the game. ;)

L.B. continues to load the crossbow as the two flee. He watches them appraisingly. "Book of 1000 Whispers?" the wayang asks inquisitively. "Did any of you hear that?"

Oh right!

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

The elf mananged to duck as the bomb sailed over his head, and shield his face from the resulting explosion with his cloak, taking only minor burns to his hands and arm before fleeing.

Well done, everyone. Killers the lot of you. Nixim, your reputation precedes you, they ran at the sight of you. I did hear that, LB. Let's keep that in mind.

Jan's fury is kindled and a spear lashes out at the passing elf. The spear head presumably wooshes past the elf's back in a wide arc, nearly striking the wall as Jan gives chase at full speed. "After them!" Jan's exhortation echoes in the wake of the pursuit.
bludgeon elf with spear: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Should we be trying to capture one? Can the injured halfling be healed?

"Rats!" Vinny shouts as her bomb does not much. "Yeah, go on and run you jerks!" she calls after them.

Nixim smiles broadly as Giavanni compliments him and his reputation.

"Finally! They are starting to see!" he says. "You will go far in this life, my good rogue. Perhaps when this mission is complete we can discuss this in further detail. But for now, we should report back...they will certainly have great rewards for me...for us," the gnome says.

L.B. narrows his eyes at the gnome. "Yes... US," the wayang says darkly.

Jan stabs at the fleeing elf, who ducks under the jab and runs out the door and into the street.

Yes, if you're fast you can heal the halfling if you would like to interrogate him. The human has bled out from Giovanni's stab, however.

Jan, since it looks like everyone else is currently staying, if you want to not move outside and let combat end that's fine. If you want, you can instead chase them out into the street and get one more attack off before they will split and escape down side alleys; they're faster than you due to your armor, so will get away after this round.

Either way, nice fight everyone!

Giovanni taps the halfling with a wand of cure light and extends his rapier to the halfling's throat when he wakes up.

clw: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

What were you supposed to do here? What did we interrupt?

intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Jan jogs back, panting. "They got away..."

Vinny moves over next to Giovanni as he threatens the halfling. "If you don't tell him what you were up to, you'll have to tell me. And I've got a whole bag of alchemical fun here," she taps her backpack, "that I expect you'd rather not discover." She puts on her best mad-alchemist-crazy-face.

Intimidate, Aid Another DC 10: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

Jan adopts a blandly friendly countenance and says "If this prophecy is important we might be able to help preserve it."
diplomacy, aid another: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Can I roll to aid another using a different skill? Should I roll intimidate if Jan is trying to be the "good cop"?

Generally, you need to roll to aid with the same skill. Diplomacy can definitely be attempted on its own in addition, however. You're good with that intimidate check given the situation though!

The halfling's eyes flutter open as Giovanni heals his wounds enough to forestall death. "Urgh....ok, ok!" He eyes Giovanni's threatening face, along with the nearby corpse of his human companion. His face pales even further than from the blood loss. "We weren't supposed to find anyone here, but I guess I'm not surprised. The book of 1000 whispers is filled with prophecies made by Aroden and his clergy. They were supposed to come true, but ever since Aroden died, nothing's turned out right. Some of the brains--" he nods towards the dead body. "--seem to think if we make the prophecies come true, it will put things right. I was hired on to scout for this job. Prophecy was supposed to be about some sort of treasure or something that could be recovered while the curators were out watching Sir whats-his-face meet a glorious demise at the cathedral. They were a little fuzzy on the details, but he seemed pretty sure you weren't supposed to be here."

The halfling coughs up a little blood and fingers the partially healed hole in his chest with a wince. "Thanks for not letting me die, by the way. Whatcha going to do with me now?"

Jan looks to Vinny and Giovanni. "Bring him back to the lodge? We need to get the "wine" back there anyway" Jan looks significantly at the halfling, eyebrows, twitching unsubtly and pats a backpack while saying "wine", making clear to all that the coded documents are the errand.

L.B. glowers at the halfling, stroking the crossbow's stock as he does so. "Elby don't like loose ends. Do we trust his story? Give him a knife back and the opportunity to fight his way out? Be more thorough ourselves this time?" He hefts the crossbow a little. "Easy way to make sure there's no tail."

Studied target on the halfling, then Intimidate.

Intimidate: 1d20 ⇒ 18

The lodge. They'll deal with a wretch that sought to murder a pathfinder. We can return the wine as well, as you say Jan.

Giovanni turns to the halfling. You won't be a problem then, yes? Follow us and behave.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 to contrast to LB's intimidate

"Yeah, you can come along with us and meet our friends back at the lodge. And if you do try to run, we'll let LB have a shot at you." She winks at the Wayang.

"A shot," Elby says snidely. "Elby so fast I shoot him dead then shoot him again before his body hits the ground." The wayang glowers at Vinny.

"I...ok." The halfling gives a terrified look at the wayang. "I'm not going to give you any trouble. Take me back to your lodge, I'll come quietly and tell whatever you want to know."

While traveling to the lodge with the prisoner in tow, the group runs across the dispersing crowd from Sir Reinhart's attempt to become a divinity. He was rather unsuccessful, failing to vault the chasm surrounding the starstone citadel on his horse and falling to his doom.

Upon arriving at the Grand Lodge, the halfling is taken into custody and Dreng ushers you into his office to review your findings. "Excellent work, excellent! You are all to be congratulated. This find could prove to be extraordinary indeed. We've brushed up against the Harbingers of Fate before. They tend to be a touch fanatical at times, unfortunately, but it sounds like you handled them well"

"We'll get these records to the archives and let you know what they contain after we have had a chance to decode them, along with your pay for the mission. Until then, consider this a resounding success, kick back and celebrate your good fortune! Might I suggest a drink at the Wisp?"

A few days later, each of you receive a letter containing information related to the find. See the handout slides for details.

Great Job Everyone! That is the end of the Wounded Wisp! I hope you all had a good time.

You all completed the Primary Success condition of the adventure, by retrieving Eylysia's records successfully. Since you succeeded at the primary success condition and also completed three of the following five objectives, you succeed at your secondary mission and impress Drandle Dreng: befriend at least two of the four named allies in the Wounded Wisp tavern; defeat the creatures in Wounded Wisp's Basement without the direct intervention of any NPCs; retrieve the Pathfinder’s coin from the mausoleum without using violence; avoid killing the cleric guardian or any guards in the mausolem; and avoid inflicting significant property damage to Arcanamirium property (such as by breaking Fimbrik’s windows or breaking down his door). Fulfilling at least three of these goals earns the you 1 additional Prestige Point, and you did all 5, so you will all earn 2 Prestige.

I'm going to be somewhat busy this weekend, but I will look at getting the chronicle sheets written up sometime soon, and will post them in the discussion thread.

Dotting to hide thread.