PFS PbP Game Day: #4-11 The Disappeared (Inactive)

Game Master Deane Beman

Working together you are able to time the movement patterns of the servants which allows you passage through the corridor. That said, it still takes time as servants rush about you carrying trays of food, and glasses.

With a click the door ahead of you opens. Within is a luxurious sitting room, but the furniture is completely covered with sheets and tarps. Buckets of paint sit on the floor, and the erotic murals on the wall are in the process of being painted over with an institutional, neutral taupe. An enormously tall gilt frame leans against the wall. A door to the southwest door is propped open with by a bucket filled with a clear liquid, and displays the half-dissolved inscription "Where Love Comes to Die". You all quickly slip in and close the door behind you.

Beyond the southwest door is an extravagant bedchamber, dominated by a massive four poster bed that takes up half the room. Red-varnished wardrobes and vanities compliment the black silk sheets on the bed, which appears to be in the process of being dismantled. The walls of the room have been stripped of the portraits that once hung there, faint outlines of the art pieces being all that remain. The exception to this is the eastern wall, which is occupied by an elaborate wood carving depicting but a single nymph in a seductive pose, garbed in nothing but a necklace bearing an amulet shaped like the Asmodean star.

Both Guilford and Roland notice that the Asmodean star hanging from the nymph’s neck hides a catch that opens a secret door. The process of opening the door summons two devils that Zarta has bound to guard her secret domain.

Round 1
Tromas
Guilford
Roland
Imp 2
Nareth
Imp 1

What does the map look like?

Link to the map is under my name. You are in room A15.

Was hoping for a more detailed battle map.

Roland hushes up to the closest imp in a fury. He draws his weapon while moving, so he come swinging it with full force at the poor creature:
PA Greatsword: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25! Damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (3, 5) + 12 = 20

Wow! DR won't save the imp there!

Guilford follows a bit behind Roland, and watches him cleave an imp. He retrieves a wand from his coat, and activates it to send a bolt of force into the second imp, unless the first one managed to survive.

Magic Missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Wand of Magic Missile: 49/50

Nareth watches the mess Rolad makes, then turns to the other imp. "Now you don't want that. Why don't you surrender before it's my turn." Nareth slowly draws his spiked chain, letting the metal rattle over his armor.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Was hoping for a more detailed battle map.

Sorry...really didn't think it was necessary. I'll put one up later.

I mean its fine, I just didn't want to step on toes if I said "I attack" and you said "you can't reach them" or something.

Roland nearly cleaves the first imp into two separate pieces; its mouth is agape as Guilford sends a magic missile down its throat to finish the job. Tromos is up…

Zarta's Chambers

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

"Why did it have to be... these things?" the alchemist laments. He recalls his first encounter with a minor devil--shortly after his first encounter with the paracountess--and how the imp shrugged off the blast from his bombs. Though he is not sure if these creatures are the same manner of outsider, he decides he won't take any chances.

Tromos steps closer to the remaining enemy, draws his longbow, and knocks and fires an arrow at the creature.

Longbow: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 5 - 4 = 9
Damage: 1d8 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

Flustered by the sudden attack, Tromos can't recall any useful information about these creatures. His arrow flies wide of the remaining standing creature, who seems somewhat shaken by Nareth's threat.

Round 1 update
Tromas
Guilford
Roland
Nareth <<
Imp 1

"Then you choose death." Nareth whips the chain forward, wrapping it around the creature and pulling it tight.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 2d4 + 3 ⇒ (3, 3) + 3 = 9

The barbs from the spiked chain bite into the imps flesh...not drawing as much blood as Nareth had hoped for but doing no small amount of damage nonetheless. Reeling from the pain the imp lashes out at Roland.

Sting: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17, Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Round 2 (Zarta's Chambers)

The party may act in any order before the imp acts again.

Guilford points his wand at the second imp and sends a bolt of force into it.

Magic Missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Wand of MM 48/50.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
The barbarian sucked the air in right after the barbs pierced his skin, appearing to prepare a booming roar, but something reminds him of where he was, and he simply holds his breath and attacks the creature fiercely, this time really trying to part the thing in two:
Same: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20! Damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (5, 2) + 12 = 19

I remember know why I've stopped playing barbarians...

For the second time in several seconds Roland does significant damage to a tiny demon. The imp sputters and holds on to what passes for a life as he bravely stares down the party. "You...may not...pass."

Nareth arcs an eyebrow at the demon. "Quite a bit of loyalty for an evil demon."

GM, did you account for my magic missile? It doesn't make much difference, but with that bucketload of damage from Roland we may not need much.

Yeah...we'll call it good here.

The power of Roland's blow and the impact of Guilford's bolt have the imp gasping for its last breath before it slumps down next to its summoned companion.

On Zarta's desk you find what appears to be a letter gushing about a particular actor as well as a sheet of paper listing a series of numbers and names.

Player Handouts

Roland reads the note, and although something is amiss here, he can't figure what, thus he handles it to whoever wants to see it, while he thinks for a bit.
"There is something odd here. The capital letters, I would say."
Linguistics check to understand what that is: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

The note does appear to contain some sort of code...and there is a vent in the room.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

"It looks like some sort of cipher. Let me see here... Roland! Fellows! It appears that it is a letter-substitution code. This smaller sentence at the bottom appears to be the key. Let's see... It looks like this first sheet is a list of names, but the cipher is incomplete. Here is what I get for the first four names:"

NORAVIA A_ _ US
IMPERIA RA_IAN
PATRONICUS DRENDANE
TANCRED DESIMIRE

"Please check over my work, does it appear to be correct?"

I am completely lost as to what did you just do. Seriously.

It's all good. I've GM'ed this before, but when I did the players and I all struggled with this part. I figured with a good Linguistics check I'd be OK to figure it out in-character.

The sentence at the bottom of the second handout looks like words of jumbled letters. You match it up with the first normal sentence, i.e. VGIW = WHAT, and so on. So then you get V = W, G = H, etc. You then use that code to "translate" the letters on Handout #1. Not all the letters a decoded, though. Let me know if that makes any sense.

My group had a hard time with it as well when I played it; but we did a ton of role playing so the GM took pity on us! We didn't have enough elixirs/scrolls of disguise for everyone and no one bothered to think that the fully armored aasimar paladin might stick out at this particular social function! It made for some fairly interesting interactions!

Guilford relishes in the looks of awe as he expertly figures out the cipher. With a shrug Roland pulls the the vent and gives it a hard tug. It comes away easily enough, and he sets the vent down on the floor before climbing inside.

After crawling forward for 15 feet, Roland stops as he reaches a "T" intersection. On the wall to the right, he sees a small, ancient banner. To the left is the head of a lion, a picture cut out from a larger mural. Roland leads the group left and follows the narrow passageway to another intersection. The right side of the fork is adorned with the scales of justice, while the left fork is plain wood. Following the scales, the next junction has a crown on the wall of the right branch of the fork and a depiction of a spear thrust up through the floor of the wall of the left fork. Following the crown, the group comes to a dead end with a vent in it. The middle third of a centaur wielding a bow adorns a wall of the tunnel, its arrow pointing toward the vent. Roland pushes the vent in toward the room, grasping it so it doesn't crash into the ground. He gingerly leaps into the room and everyone else follows.

The walls of this large, square room glow a light blue, and the air is unnaturally cool and dry. Shelves line the wall and stand in ranks in the center of the room, along with a table surrounded with chairs, and a desk and chair by the only door. An easel displays a map that notes what subject each of the many filing cabinets in the room pertains to: Map of the Records Archive

Each filing cabinet takes 3 minutes to search and will require a Perception check. You are looking for Zarta's prisoner receipt as well as the evidence that was used to indict her.

Roland will begin searching the middle one, "Internal Security Evidence".
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Nareth signals for the others to search the room, then he goes and stands by the door, opening it just a crack so he can see anybody coming.

Guilford takes a look at the shelf labeled "Internal Security - Receipts"

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

As the rest of the group searches and Nareth watches the door one of the chairs comes to life!

Round 1
Guilford
Roland
Tromas
Nareth
Chair

Nareth mutters under his breath, charging the chair with greatsword in hand.

Charge Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 2 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 5) + 3 = 14

Guilford moves over next to Roland and says:

"I'm going to cast a spell that will make you larger. It should allow you to deliver more powerful blows, but it will take a few seconds."

He rests his hand on Roland's shoulder and casts enlarge person.

Knowledge (arcana) to ID: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Tromos draws a chambered flask from one of his many pockets and lobs it toward the aggressive chattel.

Targeting an empty square or corner (AC 5 or so, less than his attack modifier) such that the splash damage will hit the chair but not any allies. Splashes for 5 fire damage.

Bomb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

While the delicious spell hadn't made any effect, Roland approaches the chair while drawing his Greatsword from its scabbard. He greets his teeth in the battle mode and delivers a swing without any pity of the poor chair: Rage on.
PA Great: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13! Damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (2, 6) + 12 = 20

Roland, Nareth and Tromas work together to deal significant damage to the animated chair, which lashes back at Nareth.

1: Roland - 2: Nareth: 1d2 ⇒ 2
Attack vs Nareth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19, Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Round 2
Guilford
Roland
Tromas
Nareth
Chair

That's what I call a tough chair!

The hulk-sized Roland gives another swing at the thing, but this time it comes in LARGE SIZE!
PA Large Greatsword: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16! Damage: 3d6 + 13 ⇒ (5, 6, 6) + 13 = 30 That's the way, hu-hun hu-hun, I like it! Thanks Guilford.

An impressive AC of 12 right now.

No problem Roland! I like it when I get a chance to use that one.

Guilford grabs his wand a sends a magic missile towards the chair.

MM damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Wand of MM 47/50

Anything from the Know (arcana) check on the chair?

"The things this creature must have seen," Tromos muses, reluctant to consider what manner tableaux to which any creature residing in the Chelish ambassador's bedchamber might have borne witness. "The sooner, the better, that we put it out of its misery."

Huck another bomb as before if Roland didn't end it already, rolling because he could still fumble on a 1.

Bomb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Well then. This may be bad news for Nareth. Without an actual map it's hard to tell, so I'll leave it to Beman to adjudicate the miss distance and direction.

An enlarged Roland delivers a blow to the animated chair that smashes it into dozens of unrecognizable pieces. Returning to the cabinets both Roland and Guilford find the files that they need to exonerate Zarta.

Define "exonerate"... We came here actually looking for signs about what happened to Zarta, didn't we?

Don't read too deeply into that...I probably chose my words poorly with my quick ad-lib. You've found what you're looking for.

^_^

"Now we head back? Or is Zarta somewhere around?"

Nareth glances out the door once more before turning back. "Yes, head back the way we came."

The Pathfinders crawl as quickly as they can back through the vents and then retrace their steps, arriving back at the waiting room without trouble. Suddenly the voice of Amara Li can be heard inside your head. "I do hope you're back...here he comes."

With that the door swings open and a Cheliaxan noble addresses you. "Sorry to keep you Pathfinders waiting....how may I help you?"

Guilford rises to greet the man.

"Sir, we have brought some important intelligence to you from Ambrus Valsin at the Grand Lodge of the Pathfinder Society. We were told it is quite sensitive, and was for your eyes only."

Guilford will hand the packet to the ambassador, or motion for whoever's got it to do the same.

The ambassador eyes Guilford suspiciously before accepting the packet. His eyebrows rise and lower as he scans each one. "Very interesting. Very interesting indeed. Please assure Ambrus Valsin that we will look into this matter very carefully. Now if you'll excuse me I must attend to my guests." With a flourish he leaves the room just as quickly as he entered, and no sooner does the door close before you are politely yet firmly escorted from the embassy; with Roland and Nareth being afforded slightly more respect than the others.

The end...

And that's a wrap...thanks very much for playing. I'll have Chronicle Sheets up on the Campaign Info tab within a day or so and will report the event to the PFS PbP Game Day staff this afternoon.

Wow, that was...short lol. Well it was fun everybody.

Easy enough! It was kinda confusing in the beginning, but we had fun! And what a tough chair man!