[PFS] PbP Gameday 5 - Scenario 7-00: The Sky Key Solution subtier 1-2 (Inactive)

Game Master Scott Young

Um. I can't help but note that Kageko isn't mentioned in the initiative order.

Cut'n'paste error, sorry! Initiative order: Blue, Marika, Kageko, Brown, Sees-Far-Ahead, Red, Green, Osten, Uthread.

Round 2 (continued)

Osten disintegrates the skeleton with his mighty axe, sending a shower of bone fragments in a wide arc across the town square.

Uthread hits the skeleton in the sternum with his arrow, dropping it into a pile of bones as well.

End of Round 2!

Marika, Kageko, are up!

Kageko quickly advances on "her" skeleton, saying something in conversational Tien as she strikes.

Katana: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Marika tries to punch the skeleon as Kageko stabs it, with her body still holding the charge.

Touch Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16+3 if it counts as wearing metal armor.
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

The green dome overhead ripples and flexes, visibly weakened but still present. The same woman’s voice from earlier booms from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“This… this isn’t what I wanted. I wanted a world with purpose again—with certainty. But I suppose there is no greater way to die than in the same fiery cataclysm that marked Aroden’s first step toward divinity. Join me in martyrdom, Pathfinders, and try to die with some dignity.”

Tables, we no longer need any anchors successes! All that's left is to retake the vault!

Can we please get on with it?

With four days left, I am not certain how much more we will get done. I would not mind the interruption if I knew there was not a deadline hanging overhead.

Okay guys, I apologize for the delay, but now that there's no more Anchor encounters needed, I'm going t[ooc]Okay guys, I apologize for the delay, but now that there's no more Anchor encounters needed, I'm going to push you guys along so that you guys can at least attempt a vault encounter and contribute to the second half. I want you to have some success in the end here.

A few stray arrows fly from various directions, dropping any remaining skeletons. Actually, the first few arrows that come in fly straight through the skeleton, but then whichever archer is wildly missing with arrows starts wildly missing with blunt arrows and the skeleton drops.

Your copy of Kreighton Shane calls out "The dome has been weakened. Quick - to the vault!" But despite him running, feel free to use healing wands/spells and buff before heading into the vault.

It's clear that the vault excavation was done with the help of magic. Perfect cubes have been lifted from the ground, creating a very long vertical shaft that pathfinders are going down with rope or feather fall. Once you've completed your 200 feet of knotted rope climbing (You can climb a knotted rope that's adjacent to a corner on a take 10, right?), the excavation hits the stairs of the vault. Another 100 feet of climbing stairs, and you find yourself in the Sky Key Vault!

Veins of strange metal line the walls of this massive chamber. Enormous bronze devices connected to the walls by massive cables spark and spew steam, almost obscuring the large vault door at the far end of the room. The door is labeled with a single word in a plethora of languages: danger. Stagnant water collects at the bottom of a ten-foot wide pool in the middle of the room. A gasping, bleeding elf who looks like an aged version of Kreighton Shane lies across the room.

When you approach the dying Kreighton Shane, he turns over and faces you. “Good show, Pathfinders,” the injured form of Kreighton Shaine manages between blood-soaked coughs. “But Lady Arodeth is a true savant and driven to fanatical extremes. The same energies that infected her casters above have also seized her soul, and I fear she has already killed several of your fellow chroniclers. Or will have killed them. Blast, but this is confusing.”

Shaine props himself up to continue speaking. “However noble her goals may have been, if Lady Arodeth forces us to remain in this time, we will all die. If the Sky Key is still functional, you must reactivate it before the Starstone arrives.”

The machines in this chamber begin to spark and smoke, and female bodies take shape from the green miasma.

Shaine continues, “She has learned to create temporal copies of, as I have. She can produce an army, left unchecked. Some teams will need to hold the line here, in this chamber, so that anyone confronting the true Lady Arodeth in the room beyond isn’t overwhelmed by these simulacra. You know your team’s capabilities better than I, but I promise you Lady Arodeth will be not yield easily.”

With that, the chorus of murky green figures announce, “I would have brought destiny back to this world.”

Okay, here's the deal. You have three options. The first is that you could go in and fight the real Lady Arodeth. She is a level 13 Staff Magus, even at subtier 1-2. I don't recommend it.

The second is that you can try to go in and talk her down. This certainly isn't easy, and if you fail you'll probably need to run before she kills you all. But it's not impossible, and if you'd like to try to roleplay her down then that's a legit choice.

The third is that you can try to hold the line against her simulacra. This would be a combat, but against a vastly more tier-appropriate combat.

I'll be updating the map with the vault map momentarily. If you want to try to talk Lady Arodeth down, then move yourselves into the top room. If you want to hold the line against the simulacra, then stay in the bottom room. You will have 1d4 ⇒ 1 rounds to reposition yourself/do anything else.

I'll be off and on tonight, I'm pretty much glued to my computer the next few days, so I'm hoping to be pretty responsive. If you want to contact me immediately, you're best shot is to try to direct message me on the PFS Discord server PFSChat.com.o push you guys along so that

Also I only see 5 PC tokens on the map. Is that right?

Yes, only five of us at this table

"My blade still aches for blood. I choose to stay here and hold line. We should not let anything past us, in either direction."

Marika thinks. "The problem is that we're so short on time..." She swallows. "I think we're going to have to at least try talking her down, even if she's obviously as insane as the rest of them."

"If you wish to do so, I will do everything I can to keep you safe. I would think you are taking the sneaky girl with you. May honor find you both, wizard."

I think we all know that I would be useless in a negotiation, and I seriously doubt I can intimidate her.

casting Shield and Infernal Healing.

Kageko looks unimpressed at Arodeth's statements. "Is that a prophecy, or just the delusion you cling to in an attempt to deny that you've murdered countless innocents for a cause that was futile from the start?" she replies scathingly, glaring at one of the simulacra picked at more or less random. "Was this something your beloved God Of Prophets foresaw? Because if so, I can't help but question his judgement, his benevolence, or both."

She closes her eyes briefly, then draws a deep breath. Clearly, this has been coming for a while.

"But even that aside, after careful thought I've concluded that I find your entire belief structure repulsive in the extreme. Prophecy was ever meant to guide mortalkind. To clarify our decision making process and help us make informed choices. What you are proposing is a rigid preordainment where none of our choices will ever matter again, because all will happen as foretold no matter what we do."

She draws her sword and points it at the simulacra in a more dramatic flourish than is usual for her. "I decline. I'll chart my own path, make my own choices and suffer the consequences. To the Hells with your dead god, and to the Hells with you. Now either stand aside and permit us to depart this disaster you've created, or stand in our way and suffer just punishment for all the Pathfinders you've murdered getting here!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Marika nods to Kageko. "What have you really managed to accomplish all these years?" She asks, completely serious. "Think about it! How many prophecies exist? How many of the ones made during Aroden's time are actually likely to have survived? Most of them were thrown off just by what's going on around us right now, and I bet most of the rest required you to really look at them sideways just to see some way they might have happened!"

She takes another breath. "Lady Arodeth, how many people were hurt just because you wanted to mess with their lives for what amounted to nothing? No, don't you dare claim you were trying to do something. In the end, time after time nothing actually happened, so you did nothing but hurt people whatever you claim you were trying to do. How many people? And at what point does it become wrong, no matter how noble the aim?"

"The world changes. It moves on. The Sky Key may not even be able to change the past, it may just let us experience it. There are so many 'maybes' about this, and in the end you ordered twenty good men and women killed because of those 'maybes.' Why?"

Diplomacy Aid Another: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
GM Star Reroll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
....I'll take the other one if I can: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

We only took one of Shane's CL10 spells. Can we still take advantage of the second one before moving into the vault? If so, we should look at Haste, Bear's Endurance, or Enlarge Person. Anyone "holding the line" would benefit from the Enlarge, and someone with fewer hit points than me should take the Endurance. Haste maybe the most effective if only three are staying back.

Are we splitting up?

A million thoughts run through the head of the lady in furs, each a reason why a course of action is a poor idea.

Fight and we die. Run and we die to a meteor. Talk and the copies overrun us. Fight the copies and we may not reach the Sky Key. Have to move. There are no moves.

As she is prone to do, the lady in furs grabs the side of her head, paralyzed by options, sobbing slightly.

"I just want to go home," she whispers raspily.

I'm invoking the "I've GM'd this, so I'll follow the group's decision" approach.

Uthraed moves up with his female companions but hangs back with his bow in one hand and arrow in the other ready to fight or run if the negotiations should go south.

I hope they don't anger Lady Arodeth to the point that she attacks us, I would hate to see what she could do.

"Be reasonable my lady these senseless deaths are hardly worth it."

Diplomacy Aid Another: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

All right, onto Diplomacy.

You move into the back room, where you find heavy walls and strange panels which surround the strange orrery in its center. Raised on a small dais, and separated from the rest of the room by a wide trench, the device oozes a thick, emerald light. The air smells of ozone, like standing amid a roaring thunderstorm.

In the back stands an older woman, both hands on a quarterstaff, crackling with magical energy from head to toe.

As you rush in and yell your arguments, Lady Arodeth seems to get angrier. She turns to Kageko. "How dare you lecture me about the innocents dying! How many people have died in the Eye of Abendego? How many people have died in the Worldwound? How many people has Cheliax killed in their oppresive new government born out of a loss of divine mandate? Aroden's death was one of the worst things to happen to this world so excuse me for having a plan to reverse this and bring a force of good back in the world. Certainly the entire world is worth the lives of a couple people who can't grow up and learn adult responsibilities.

"And besides, if you think the point of the Harbingers was to force everyone to live their life in acccordance to prophecy forever, you're stupid."

Lady Arodeth hears Marika's addendum, and turns to face her. "Typical Pathfinders. You don't understand it, so it's obviously something you know and understand completely. Obviously because there were no visible effects, it means it was a terrible idea in the first place. Never mind that the Book of 1,000 Whispers has been right, and in fact was 100% accurate before Aroden's death. Never mind the fact that Aroden's death was a cosmic mistake, and when a mistake is made you don't just sit on your hands and go 'oh well!', you act like an adult and fix it. That's what my father spent his life doing and what I dedicated my life to doing. And just because we haven't had the results we wanted doesn't mean that what we did was wrong!

"Besides, if the Sky Key can't actually go into the past, then why are you worried about dying?"

"You haven't changing anything besides the number of people dying this day," the lady in furs blurts out, seething. "You haven't saved anything or anyone, and now your friends and our friends get added to the losses on that day. This day, I guess," she adds.

Diplomacy?: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14

Lady Arodeth hears Marika's addendum, and turns to face her. "Typical Pathfinders. You don't understand it, so it's obviously something you know and understand completely. Obviously because there were no visible effects, it means it was a terrible idea in the first place. Never mind that the Book of 1,000 Whispers has been right, and in fact was 100% accurate before Aroden's death. Never mind the fact that Aroden's death was a cosmic mistake, and when a mistake is made you don't just sit on your hands and go 'oh well!', you act like an adult and fix it. That's what my father spent his life doing and what I dedicated my life to doing. And just because we haven't had the results we doesn't mean that what we did was wrong!"

"B#+~+!!&!" Marika snaps. "You've had how many years of this? You're not pointing to a single thing that would actually convince anyone you've managed a damn thing beyond getting everyone around you killed. Name one thing that's actually worked in your entire life's effort. Better yet, name a lot because you're making some really big claims and not backing them up."

I'm going with a Bluff, although I'll take a circumstance penalty on the logic that it's more pointing out the obvious bluffing techniques she's using on us in her response than actually trying to bluff her. "Just because you don't see the effects doesn't mean they aren't real" is classic conman stuff.)

Bluff: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22 Minus whatever penalty deemed appropriate

"Look Magus, I know these are uncertain times, but this desperate act is not what your Patron would want. These deaths serve to dishonor him. He would not want to return with so much blood on his hands, not matter the reason."

sense motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

"So Magus, what say you?

To speed this up, should we have a single post with multiple attempts, or just wait to see if we broke through to her?

I'd say give everyone a chance on this round before making a second attempt.

[b]"You say that the book Book of 1,000 Whispers was correct, but you said yourself that was before Aroden's death. It bears very little weight now."[b]

Profession (Librarian): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Kageko glares. "You are correct. We are Pathfinders. And when we find something we do not understand, we seek to understand it. To learn what happened and how. And we chronicle it, in the hopes that those who read and learn from it will use that knowledge to make the world just that bit better, one day at a time. We don't arrange for the murder of two dozen researchers in an idiot's scheme to undo something we desperately want to not have happened."

"When a mistake is made, we do not say 'oh well' and move on. We acknowledge our error, accept that there will be consequences, and do our best to ensure there is as little harm as possible both to others and to ourselves. This farce is more akin to realizing you've spilled the wine you were told you weren't old enough to drink yet on Grandmother's favourite chair, and eventually burning down the entire mansion in your attempts at rectifying it to avoid punishment."

She takes a deep breath as she holds her blade at the ready. "Again, I bid you. Permit us to leave unimpeded, and we'll permit you to stay and reap the consequences of your actions. Or stand in our way, and we'll be happy to be the consequences."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Lady Arodeth turns to face Sees-Far-Ahead after her seething response. "But this was supposed to be useful. It was all preordained...". Her voice trails off. Average Success

She then turns to Marika. "But, none of it was my fault... It was all supposed to work. We tried to do everything. We set up everything. And stupid things kept getting in the way. A servant slipped on the waxed step on a set of stairs, alerting the Paracountess before she came down. An ambassador got sick and couldn't deliver the words which would accidently complete a ritual. How was I supposed to know that crows refused to fly over Ostenso?" She starts crying. Hard Success.

Osten and Uthraed try to convince her, but she either does not hear them or does not wish to respond.

After Kageko's response, Lady Arodeth looks up, tears streaming down her face. "No, I guess you're right. This was all just stupid. Why could I do anything that would work? Not when the entire f$+*ing universe is against me. I try to save the world from fate, but I guess fate got the last laugh.

“I have earned this fate. As I said before, I can think of no finer way to die than in the fiery cataclysm that spurs on Lord Aroden’s journey to divinity. It will never be enough to make up for the blood we have shed here, Pathfinders, but know that I truly regret what I have done here today.”

And that's a Vault success! I'd start another vault encounter, but I honestly doubt we're completing another encounter. So for now, celebrate!

As Pathfinders defeat the furious simulacra, they disperse into foul mist that screams in anger before fading away entirely. Nearby, the true Lady Arodeth seems shaken by the destruction of her miasmic doppelgangers, and their deaths seem to sap her of her zealous rage.

Table GMs, this is Code Green. Code Green is in effect.

The asteroid looms impossibly large overhead, and the air grows stiflingly hot as the world itself begins to rumble. High overhead, the dome of green energy shudders, twists, and finally shatters, and Pathfinders’ bodies begin melting into flowing particles as the world slips away.

Just as quickly, you stumble as Bloodwatered Meadow coalesces beneath your feet, as it does for countless other Society agents. The wildflowers bob lazily in the wind, and nothing but a few still bodies stand as testament to the bloodshed and struggle of the past five hours. Kreighton Shaine, looking several years older, staggers to his feet and gives a nervous chuckle before climbing up a small knoll and waving his arms for the crowd’s attention.

“What we have all witnessed here today has been a remarkably journey that included sights no living soul on Golarion has witnessed. The Sky Key has allowed us to walk among the serpentfolk and Azlanti, gazing upon several of the greatest events to shape Golarion and the region that would one day become the Inner Sea. Let the catastrophe that we witnessed and narrowly escaped humble us and teach us so that we might find value in preserving the messages and wisdom those lost people may have left behind for us to discover. I think we all have some responsibility to remember those who passed so that our modern world can exist.

“We survived, Pathfinders. I am proud of your Unrivaled Accomplishment!”

-----

Congrats everyone. The stakes haven't been higher for a PbP Special, but everyone rose to the occasion. I've been watching the successes come in on the Google form and it's been exciting watching you inch closer and closer to the goal! There have certainly been some super tables out there, but it's fairly clear that everyone has been working hard and contributing to the group success. I'm super proud of you guys.

At this point, you have a chance to perform Downtime activity and roll for boons. Because the house earned an Unrivaled Accomplishment, everyone gets their Secondary Success Condition.

I'd like to send a big thank you to all of the players for participating in this event, and a big thank you to all the GMs who ran this. Running and playing in the Play-by-Post specials are a lot of work in a short time, and you rose to the challenge.

If you have any feedback about how this was run at all, please either email me at jmcteague@pathfindersocietyonline.com, or email Jesse at jesse@pathfindersocietyonline.com

Hey guys! My guess is that I'll be filling out chronicle sheets for you unless Lamplighter comes back in and says that he'll be doing it. In order to fill out your chronicle sheets, I'll need:

Player Name
Character Name
PFS#
Faction
Normal/Slow
Downtime Activity
Previous totals for XP, Prestige, Fame, and Gold

@ GM Mars, thank you for hosting such a huge event, and for stepping in to help Scott out. I appreciate the extra effort it took to include our table.

Tim Petrocchi
Osten Grimhelm
PFS#: 151777-4
Faction: Grand Lodge
Normal
Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9 <--Hunting Lodge Vanity

5 XP / 8 Fame / 2 PP I don't have access to the gold right now

boon: 1d20 ⇒ 19

Player name: Shadur
Character name: Kageko
PFS #17198 - 1
Faction: Grand Lodge
Downtime: Perform (Dance): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
XP/Fame/PP: ... Damn, completely lost track. This is my third adventure, though. Will look things up tomorrow.

I agree thank you very much for running the event and taking on the added responsibility of our table.

Zeke Walsh
Uthraed of Galt
PFS#: 209837-1
Faction: Grand Lodge
Normal
Profession Librarian: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
2XP/0 Fame?/ 2PP /765gp

boon: 1d20 ⇒ 2

Hey guys! My guess is that I'll be filling out chronicle sheets for you unless Lamplighter comes back in and says that he'll be doing it. In order to fill out your chronicle sheets, I'll need:

Player Name: Chris Kenney

Found the money

Gold: 1348

Player Name: Jeff H.
Character Name: Sees-Far-Ahead
PFS#: 29696-19
Faction: Grand Lodge
Normal
Downtime Activity: Finalize a Report, DC 15: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8; ReRoll!: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 4 = 13; Not today, I suppose.
Previous totals:

XP: 3
Prestige: 2
Fame: 4
Gold: 1548

And again, thanks for helping us out!

Right, found the rest:

Player name: Rens Houben
Character name: Kageko
PFS #17198 - 1
Faction: Grand Lodge
XP: 2
Prestige: 4
Fame: 4
Gold: 992

All right - your chronicle sheets are available here. At least, they should be - lemme know if you can't access them or there's an error. You'll be better off PMing me so that I see it.

Boon rolls
Osten - rolled a 19
Kageko - 1d20 ⇒ 11
Uthraed - rolled a 2
Marika - 1d20 ⇒ 13
Sees-Far-Ahead - 1d20 ⇒ 18
No boons at this table. :(