PbP GameDay 2: PFS The Night March of Kalkamedes (1-5) (Inactive)

Game Master Hawkwen Agricola

He has 48hp and you have healed 21hp of his nonlethal damage.

"Oh, well if someone who didn't own me lent me to you, pfft. I'll help because he is a good man, and he was good to me. I was supposed to be a sword for heroes, not be locked away to rust, and he appreciated me even though I am broken. A failed paladin and a broken blade we might be, but we've done a lot of good together. I can lend my enchantment to other weapons, and cast a spell of guidance upon the one who bears me. But I don't know anything more about what is happening to Kalkamedes, seems like we are going to need to follow him and see where he takes us," Gamin says somewhat sourly.

"Well good! I have only just met these people but for the large part Pathfinders are good folks so.. And it seems your master needs quite a bit more healing so let me get to it.."

Heal Wand Go!: 4d8 + 4 ⇒ (2, 3, 8, 5) + 4 = 22 That puts him to 43.. Should be good enough..

"Mmm, well good of you," the sword replies sounding a touch friendlier.

An hour later Kalkemedes path takes him towards a thick copse of thorns. It should be possible to circumvent it with a few minutes travel to either side, but Kalkamedes is heading relentlessly for the thorns.

Perception Riken: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Perception Sidney: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Perception Wizzy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Perception Rogar: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Perception Lady Noh: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

"Mmm, well good of you," the sword replies sounding a touch friendlier.

"Gamin, you said that you were intended for a hero," Lady Noh says. "Do you remember when you were forged?"

Who has the rope, Rogar or Sidney?

"Give him some gentle pressure on that rope and lets see if we can get around this stuff."

Riken moves in closer to Kalkemedes to help gently steer him.

"Will he resist gentle pushes, or does he flow with them?" she asks.

"Sidney, I will have to wait for a more urgent time to cast the spell you ask for. We may be traveling for a long time, and my spells will lose their effect after several hours." she explains to the aasimar.

"We're about to find out if he resists" Riken grumbles.

Sidney nods;
"I trust your judgement. My scroll only last one hour but you spell lasts much longer."

He talks to the sword.
"You are an amazing find. Swords that talk should be Pathfinders themselves. Some can be smarter that people."

Diplomacy to influence sword: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Rogar sits on a boulder while the others talk with the sword and looks st them right hand on his chin and a bored expression on his face:"Wonderful... first we have to run around a forest led by what could possibly be a demented old man. His sword is exactly what I should retrieve for lady Morilla BUT these other two seems to be taldans too and are already trying to ascertain its origin so... I guess what what's left for me to do is to keep an eye on the old madman and hope for the better... To think that I could have spent valuable time in the Blushing Mermaid instead of being blocked here...".
Rogar keeps following the converstaion sighing from time to time until Kalkemedes tries to enter the thorn bush. As that happens the taldan jumps on his feet and takes the rope hoping to prevent the man from endangering himself further.

Kalkamedes constantly tries to head back onto his original path and its clear its going to require either picking him up or dragging him to get him to follow a more sensible course.

Gamin is silent for a moment after Lady Nōh's question but finally replies sounding wistful, "Some two hundred years ago in Riddleport, The Gatesmiths forged me to be a blade of legend. They were going to call me The Gaminucron... But I was flawed, so I am only Gamin the Misforged."

Trying to stop the old man from harming himself Rogar speaks up:"People... I'm trying to keep Kalkemedes here from jumping facefirst into that nice thorn bush... so unless you clear the way for me I guess I have better to lift him up and make him get a little detour... I hope no one minds..."

Do I need some kind of check?

@Sidney Moncrief, sorry missed your last post before.

At Sidney's words Gamin laughs, "Ah, a discerning individual I see. But I would fare poorly on my own I am a sword, I want to help someone become a hero, not be one myself - I lack the opposable thumbs for it. Its a poor Pathfinder that is thwarted by having to move and doors..." His tone is friendlier and he is clearly pleased by the remark.

With a number of people acting together its no problem to carry the relatively frail Kalkemedes around the patch of thorns and continue onwards.

After another hour Kalkamedes abruptly turns to the west and continues his relentless march. Shortly after this turn you see a boggy pool of water before you directly in the sleep walker's path, in the darkness you cannot make out the edges to either side, it looks to be some eighty feet across and seems shallow - at the edges at least.

"What now??? Does he want to pass through that pond?" Once again Rogar prepares to tackle the old pathfinder at the first sign of him putting himself in danger.
"Do we know if he can swim in his current state? Better to lift him up again than having him drown on our watch I'd say..." asks the taldan a bit of exhausted concern creeping into his tone

Sidney sees the dangers and looks concerned too....
he speaks to the sword, somehow finding it not at all strange
"Gamin, if we put you in Kalkamedes' hands, would you be able to keep him from harm? I assumed your arrangement was more of a partnership than I have here with my club that never says a word?"

"Rogar," she suggests. "Carrying Kalkamedes on your shoulders could work well, while those of us who cannot swim hurry across by going around the bog."

Very interesting idea Sidney, though I don't think your character would know that intelligent weapons can take over without a roll. I do not think the scenario writer considered the possibility. Or maybe he did and that's why Gamin's ego score is 2.

"I suppose I could try, it is for his own good, I suppose I give it a go. No, no good, he's always been strong willed."

Kalkamedes Will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

"We have that swimming elixir. I can try to speak with some of the wildlife and ask for the best path through the bog. Or around the bog if we'd prefer.

"Asking the wildlife of the bog's hazards is a good thing to do. You will have to hurry. Rogar can drink the elixir to help him carry Kalkamedes across. Sidney, are you going to go in with Rogar?" she asks.

If Sidney does wade in, Lady Noh will put a five-hour mage armor on him.

Rogar grins, amused at Lady Noh words:"Ah... You'll have to excuse me lady mut I strongly doubt it would be wise for me to enter that pond with my armor on... armor and water, you know... they don't mix well at all... No, better to do what we did before and circle this bog"

Sidney wades in. He grabs his spear expecting trouble.

Just to be clear Rogar lifts the old man and tries to circle the bog. Let me know if he needs to roll any kind of check

Seeing Sidney begin to wade in but Lady Noh go around, Riken voices his concern. "Wait, wait wait! Either we all go through or we all go around. Either way we stick together. "

With a quick glance and Rogar taking his armor off and Sidney already venturing in Riken sighs. "And I dare say it looks like we're going through."

"Lady Noh, if you need assistance, I will be happy to help you across."

"But before we do anything, lets see if we can find the safest way across." With that Riken takes a moment to carefully study the bog for the safest place to cross as well as looking for any evidence of predators.

Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

If he can't reasonably find a safe place to cross or if he sees predators in the bog he'll suggest going around instead.

"As I said, I can speak with the animals if you want to be confident. But that usually takes a little bit of time to charm the creatures before they'll give me any useful information. And I don't think we have that kind of time" Riken explains gesturing toward Kalkamedes

Riken determines that the center of the mire must be quite deep, presumably over six feet or so from the plant life. He sees no signs of dangerous predators, and indeed such a water system probably cannot sustain anything large for long.

Sidney wads in and after thirty feet of easy wading begins to find the water level rapidly increasing until it is obvious he will need to swim or breath water.

Rogar did not take his armor off.He wamts to circle the pond by walking

Sidney exits the bog before he would have to swim. He is not a creature of water.

"No evil creatures seen in the water yet."

The group skirt the edges of the water walking for some five minutes before they are able to return to Kalkamedes's path.

Eventually there way winds westward into a steep mountain pass that climbs several hundred feet. The surface levels out only to terminate fifty feet ahead with a precipitous drop into a thirty feet wide canyon. There is no obvious path around the canyon other than to climb its sheer sides.

Rogar looks apprehensively at Kalkamedes then at the canyon:"Please, secure him. We don't want him jumping down those cliffs because he suddenly feels he can fly..."

Hmm.. My campaign tab did not update..

"Why does it always have to be climbing.. Im horrible at climbing.. Im going to have a magic broom some day.."

I swear, jump is a very underrated spell.

"I wonder if Kalkamedes will climb down on his own. The force which possesses him gains nothing if he falls."

Sidney nods. "Gamin, maybe you can keep him safe?"

"I cannot, none of my abilities would be of any use," Gamin replies. Kalkamedes is clearly not aware of the drop and simply tries to continue walking forward, though the group restrain his easily enough.

Only Floggentop can make out the bottom of the canyon some hundred feet below.

Lowering a rope will make the climb a lot easier, a noted rope even easier. Its a 100ft drop.

I'll point out that three of you have 50ft lengths of rope - one already knotted, Rogar, Wizzy, and Sidney each ahve rope. Sidney also has a grappling hook, pitons, and a hammer. Floggentop has a scroll of expeditious retreat, but is personal only, which adds +12 to a jump check - you are under no immediate threat, I don't think the fall counts - so taking 10 is an option.

Sidney pulls out his kit with the rope and pitons with the hammer. The grappling hook is already attached.

"We seem to be equipped for a climb."

Not the best of throws, he hands the rope with hook to Riken. He believed rangers knew ropes for some reason.

Taking a 10 will give Wizzy a 12 Climb.. Well enough for a knotted rope with adjacent wall..

"Right, well it helps to be prepared right? Comon lets knot these other ropes and get em tied together.."

Taking care you are able to connect the three ropes into one knotted rope sufficient to get you down to the bottom of the canyon. Everyone should be able to make the descent easily enough, except Paka, but Kalkamedes must be lowered down and you will need a way to retrieve the rope.

So issues are getting Paka across, getting Kalkamedes down and getting the rope up the other side. The climb DC without rope is 22.

With Heroism and Gamin providing Guidance it will give someone +3 to climb.. Can anyone hit a 22 climb check by taking 10 with those buffs? Remember armor can come off as well..

Riken should be able to take 10 for 22 with heroism if he removes his armor. Note you do not need to roll to lower or pull something up it you just need to be able to lift it.

Riken stands at the edge of the cliff scratching the big cat's head, lost in thought. "Yes, that might work" he mumbles to himself.

"Its only 30ft across and we have plenty of rope. We throw one rope across and get it attached securely at both ends. One of us, probably Rogar or I goes across with one of the other ropes tied to us at one end and someone back here holding the other end. With the 3rd rope we form a sling." Riken smiles broadly at his cleverness. "No climbing! Just pull the sling back and forth to get everyone and their gear across."

If you need me to, I can try to sketch it out.

"We just have to keep him from going over the edge while we prep"

Riken's brow furrows. "Unless you think he's trying to get down not across"

"Um im not a big fan of heights.. With magical help and taking your armor off you can probably scale the cliff without a rope, so you go last and drop the rope down, then climb down yourself.. Then once across scale the other side with the rope around your waist and secure it for us to climb.. Sound good?" Wizzy will hand Riken Gamin so he can aid him in this.. "Gamin would you be so kind as to help Riken climb?" If everyone agree's Wizzy will cast Heroism on Riken to allow the feat..

I believe I understand Riken something like THIS? yes that could work, but please describe your first crossing and how you achieve it, etc.

Yep that's pretty much the idea. I'll wait for everyone to chime in to see if/how we actually play it out.

I think that kind of contraption requires a know. eng check at least. Does anyone have it?

I'm a bard so yes i have that knowledge, but i'm confused as to why we're building such an elaborate crossing device for something we can just climb and do.. We can always make a hoist to lower the companion first and then do the same to get it back up the other side.. If yall truly want to do this though i suppose im game..

Rogar nods:"I can do that, I'll need to get out of my armor first but then it should be just a matter of climbing down and then climbing up. As long as our ward here doesn't decide to jump. Keep an eye on him please, I'd hate to have to climb down just to recover the body..."

Rogar gets out of his armor and then attempts to use the knotted rope to climb down the canyon. How many climb checks? Rogar takes 10 to climb down ofc so he gets 18 to climb down with the rope. To answer Floggentop's question: because not everyone can cross easily and some cannot do it at all (pet and Kalkmedes)

A normal lifting hoist should cover them..

Lady Noh is happy with the climb-down-then-climb-up method, but has no objection to a contraption.

Sidney nods as Riken describes the contraption.
"Yes, a clever idea Riken."

Sidney has learned anything he can't understand is typically clever and saying so can impress others.

I do not think it is really that complex its essentially string one line across uses another line to connect stuff to it and another to pull the stuff across. I'll go with that method since it saves you a spell - plus Riken is a 5th level Ranger I think it pretty reasonable he has seen such things.

It takes the group some considerable time to erect their setup, and more to harness a reluctant Paka and the uncooperative Kalkamedes, but eventually everyone is across. They have to leave one rope behind unable to detach it from the far side, but since they are likely to be crossing back this way that seems no great hardship.

As they continue great bands of stars sweep across the cloudless night sky, illuminating a series of game trails that chase through the mountain shrubs and berry bushes.

Paka moving out ahead of the group growls a low warning and Wizzy can just make out three large black shapes up ahead which he eventually realizes are a large bear with two substantially smaller cubs - though they are still larger than the gnome. The bears are about 30ft. ahead of Pasha and sixty feet ahead of the group. They are off to the side of the trail, but must be passed in order to follow Kalkamedes path...

Whipsering.. "We have some trouble ahead.. A couple of bears and their cubs are in the path Kalkamedes is heading.. I have no doubt they'll see us as a threat to their cubs.. Ideas?"

To be clear it is one bear and two bear clubs, though the cubs themselves are medium sized.