the enemies have been in the cold for 10 minutes
boss
thug
okay so the thug will swing at the warpries this time and he misses severly.
Round 4, begin
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Unfortunately with two people blocking the best route to close in with last bandit, it doesn't leave anyone with an easy route to assist. Selena passes.
Amelia, you might want to consider conserving some of your spells. Its quite up to you how you want to play your character, but conserving spells for future combats is generally a good idea (its why Selena hasn't actually cast a Cleric spell yet).
That's what I have been wrestling with.. Gm will you allow me to hold action instead?
okay Huni is up.
at huni
Round 4 begin
overkill on the thug. And the boss is still asleep. What would you all like to do now that combat is over?
Loot the bodies, that is a given and you still have 2 more potions of healing left for this scenario, because the boss has one too.
as soon as everyone is ready, go ahead and ask your questions away at him, we can assume you did the thing I said above.
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Sitting the thug in a chair, with his hands tied, Oleander secures a hood over his face so he can't see, then upends a jug of water over him.
She moves about behind him, and taking out a dagger starts to gently shave his throat. "I'd keep still if I were you. I'd hate to nick you. "
After a couple of passes, enough to remove a stripe of beard she then says.
"Now, I'm going to say this only once. I don't like being attacked. I want to know why you and your thugs set on us, what you were looking for and who told you to do it."
She moves around again, and throws another jug of water over his face. "And I want to know now."
enough, enough already as the boss screams in terror I was hired, okay. as he talks loudly and screams in pain.
take me to prison, I'll gladly go instead of ending up dead with the rest of the men that died. I hope for a plea bargain. as he says deperately.
He hands you the notes he had. page 22, handouts 1 and 2
okay now time for faction missions. I'm not sure sure how to go about roleplaying these, but you can still complete them. I will apply them in the storyline when appropriate. Players can do their faction missions and still help each other out with each others faction missions as you are not on a time story deadline. I'm using the names of the old factions, obviously Osirion does not exist anymore, but its replacement does, so that is still your mission. If your replacement faction belongs to two different old ones, you can pick either mission.
bartender, but they won’t find him no matter what they
do (they’ll stumble into him in Act 3). No skill checks needed yet, further details provided in act 3
himself (which is impossible), or find his guards and have
them deliver Zarta Dralneen’s message to Darkwine. Roll a knowledge local or diplomacy check to gather info. I may add bonuses using the diplomacy, if you single out a specific NPC starting at friendly with +1 cha modifier. If you do, I just kind of create an NPC
Osirion faction PCs need to find a rare specimen of a
flower called icegrass as well as procure a rare book from a
merchant who covertly deals in unusual and occult texts.
The first requires a DC 10 Knowledge (nature) check,
and the second requires two checks: a DC 20 Diplomacy
(gather information) or Knowledge (local) check in order
to find the Linnorm Spine, and then a DC 15 Diplomacy or
Intimidate check to encourage the merchant to part with
the rare tome. A bribe of 20 gp or more grants Osirion
faction PCs a +2 circumstance bonus on these checks.
PCs who obtain icegrass or the rare book earn 1 Prestige
Award for each task.
Qadira faction PCs need to establish three new trade
contacts in Trollheim’s markets—doing so requires three
successful DC 10 Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Knowledge
(local) checks (or any combination thereof ). Additionally,
they must pay a bribe of 1 gp (in Tier 1–2) or 20 gp (in Tier
4–5) to each new contact in order to cement the deal, thus
earning 1 Prestige Award.
Finally, Taldor faction PCs must post their notice in
the city market without being seen. This is best done
at night, when most of the city is sleeping or huddled
inside keeping warm, and requires a DC 10 Stealth check.
Failing this check means the PC making the attempt is
captured, whipped for insolence, and then freed a day
later with 2 points of Constitution damage. Success earns
Taldor faction PCs 1 Prestige Award, but a failed attempt
may not be retried.
go ahead an roll your skill checks, bonuses for roleplaying may be given, but I still have to follow pfs rules, so there are limits as to the bonuses I can give. I'll be looking at the rules of the skills and other rules, to see how I can give bonuses.
Act 2: Searching
Trollheim
Searching the city of Trollheim for clues about Hjort,
Runa, and Skagni may be difficult for parties not
composed of either Ulfen characters or PCs with high
Knowledge (local) or Diplomacy skills. Though this act
provides for other, creative ways to find the information
they need, PCs with the above qualifications will have the
easiest time of it. Any Ulfen PC gains a +5 circumstance
bonus on any of the skill checks below, and locals always
begin interactions with Ulfen PCs with an indifferent
attitude (rather than unfriendly, as in conversations or
negotiations with non-Ulfen PCs). Any PC from Irrisen
who makes her origins known, suffers a –10 penalty on
any of the checks below.
Neither Hjort Fastaxe and Runa White is very well
known in Trollheim—Hjort is a villager from the coast,
Runa is from the south, and neither has been in Trollheim
long enough to garner much attention. The PCs have
no problem finding information about Hjort and Runa,
though, because Hjort arranged for them to do so: all
of the information the PCs discover while wandering
Trollheim and asking questions is information planted
by Hjort’s mercenaries, and all of the planted information
leads the PCs to one place—an ambush at the rowdy
Horned Helm tavern.
Trollheim is a large city with high, secure walls and a
sprawling, frozen network of small neighborhoods and
districts, many of which contain their own defenses.
Many of Trollheim’s market districts are unruly, smelly,
industrious, and busy, while residential districts are
generally neater, calmer, cleaner, and more secure from
Irrisen invasion. It’s frowned upon to cause trouble in
residential neighborhoods, and the wide streets therein
are largely crime-free. Skagni’s burned out home is on
the far western outskirts of on such outlying district.
It’s possible the PCs may talk to several different people
during the course of this act. A few key citizens are detailed
below for you to use in facilitating these encounters.
Have the PCs roll a series of either Diplomacy (gather
information) or Knowledge (local) checks (keeping in
mind the bonus for Ulfen PCs and the penalty for PCs from
Irrisen). They need to collect a total of five successful DC
20 checks of either skill (or some combination thereof ) in
order to track down the necessary information about Hjort
Fastaxe and Runa White. In truth, each check simply puts
the PCs closer to drawing the attention of the mercenaries
who are planting the false information. Once the PCs
collect the five successes, the mercenaries complete their
task by making sure the next NPC the PCs encounter has
all the information needed to lure the Pathfinders into
Hjort’s trap (see below). PCs who lack either skill can make
a case for other skills they might use to achieve the same
result—as GM, it’s up to you how to resolve these instances,
but allow each PC to be reasonably creative.
Each Diplomacy or Knowledge (local) or check takes
1d6 hours of walking the frigid city and talking to
various inhabitants. By the time the PCs find the needed
information, several days may have passed. Each of the
five successes gives the PCs a portion of the final clue
that leads them eventually to the Horned Helm. Any of
the citizens detailed below can be encountered to deliver
one portion through a roleplaying encounter. For groups
that are hungry for roleplaying experiences, this series
of encounters can be a great opportunity to explore the
Linnorm city of Trollheim and bring it and its Viking
themes to life. For groups that just want to roll their checks
and be done with it, feel free to keep the social interaction
to a minimum and focus more on the skill checks.
time to talk to npcs you all have 5 npcs to talk to as you are not under a time limit, you can take your time and all talk to them one at a time or party split and talk to them, 2 on 1, 3 on another.
The npcs to talk to for info: Diplomacy and know local checks help here. No penalty for failing local checks and diplomacy checks can be aided. Roleplaying may also help.
1. Arvida Bergthor, female Ulfen saga scholar and serious
alcoholic: Arvida stands at a height of nearly 6-1/2 feet
and is skinny as a spear, and her hair is dirty and tousled.
Down on her luck, Arvida claims to be writing the greatest
saga the Land of the Linnorm Kings has ever known,
though she lost her notes in a drinking game a fortnight
ago. Arvida is constantly drunk, her speech slurred and
her movements clumsy at best.
2. Kadlin Helge, female Ulfen warrior: Kadlin is a hulking,
heavily muscled woman of middling years with slightly
graying hair and an enormous greatsword strapped to
her back. She is serious, stalwart, and mentally tough.
She is not amused by silly behavior and regards those who
practice such behavior as nothing more than children to
be swaddled and pitied. Serious questions asked of Kadlin
are met with serious answers—silly questions are met
with reproachful stares and verbal admonishments.
3. Ludin Swordsmith, male Ulfen retired swordsmith:
Ludin is an old man with a thick, well-trimmed gray
beard and a shiny bald head. His body is covered in
dozens of sheaths and scabbards of various sizes, all
filled with various knives, daggers, and shortswords, and
he moves more like a winter wolf and less like a man of
many years. Ludin is quick to laugh, quick to brag, and quick to display and discuss the fine craftsmanship of his
many blades, all made by him.
4. Rafarta Rannveig, female Ulfen city watch guard:
Rafarta is young and strong and, at odds with her
profession, quite attractive. She does bear a few small
scars on her chin and cheeks, but they seem to only add
to her beauty rather than detract from it. Rafarta knows
how men react to her—and she hates it. She’s always
wanted to serve the people of Trollheim as a protector
and guardian, and though women warriors are treated
the same as male warriors in Linnorm society, Rafarta
still finds it hard to do her job with the leers, stares, and
off-hand remarks about her anatomy that are made daily
in her presence.
5. Thorngrin Brightbeard, male gnome outcast: Thorngrin
is in way over his head. As a poor, uneducated, and often
sick gnome, Thorngrin has wandered pitifully throughout
Avistan looking for a way to restart his life. Though
his health is failing and his presence in Trollheim is
incredibly difficult (drunk Ulfen warriors have many uses
for a down-on-his luck gnome), Thorngrin is still cheerful,
positive, and curious most of the time. The gnome outcast
has been in Trollheim for nearly a year, and though he
dreams of leaving, the harsh weather always seems to
prevent that from happening. As a result, he knows a
great deal about the locals, especially anyone residing or
working in the market.
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Before leaving the captive, Oleander finds out how he was supposed to get in contact with Hjort and Runa in the event that he had pathfinder heads to sell, or a leader to randsom.
Oleander walks the streets, wondering how on earth to find either "Runa White" or "Hjort Fastaxe".
"This is not my speciality.." she confesses.
Still, spotting the gnome on the side of the street, she at once recognises another outsider. "Maybe he knows something. A gnome must surely keep his eyes open in such a hole as this. Reminds me of Bloodcove..but with snow."
Approaching Thorngrin the tall elf gives him a nod. "You look a bit down on your luck friend. But today may be your lucky day. The day your luck once again rises. I'm looking for a couple of folk, 'Runa White' or a 'Hjort Fastaxe'. I don't suppose you have heard of either of them?"
She also asks "Have you seen a one armed Ulfen warrier around the city?"
<= what do you know, favoured enemy helps with knowledge checks!
[ooc]Oh well, if we are going to do it this way, Oleander will try and aid-another with the diplomacy. Aiming for a 10 get give +2
okay so the only one you really have to redo is diplomacy number 4, with all the aids, selena did not fail to the point where things got harder.
selena, with all the knowledge local help bonuses added.
Each time the PCs have a successful encounter, they learn
a new piece of information. Below are the five pieces of
information they can learn—present them to the PCs in
the order in which they are listed.
Hjort Fastaxe came from a coastal village. “I heard
about an Ulfen warrior named Hjort—don’t know his
family name—who came here a while back after his entire
village was slaughtered on the Arcadian coast. People say
his rage toward the Pathfinder Society burns bright, as
they were the ones who slaughtered his people—a people,
I heard, that he was destined to be the jarl of. Those
traditional warriors from the coast are serious brutes—I
wouldn’t want to be one of their targets.”
Someone named Runa White has been seen in the
markets. “A dark-haired Chelish woman, family name
of White, has been seen about the market recently. She’s
hiring mercenaries and low-life thugs for Gorum-knowswhat.
If you’re looking for her to right some wrong, I’d
bring a dozen more of you—she was cornered in one of the
market’s darkest corners by some of Trollheim’s biggest
miscreants, and just when they thought they had gotten
the drop on her, she called to her god and blasted them
with holy fire. She’s tough, that one, and not someone I’d
mess with.”
Hjort Fastaxe and Runa White have been seen together
hiring mercenaries. “Yeah, I know those two. They
approached my friends and me and offered us a ridiculous
sum to work for them. No way was I going to work for a
washed-up Ulfen warrior and a foreign she-devil from
the south. Hjort’s eyes told all the story I needed to know:
he wasn’t doing whatever he was doing for profit—he was
doing it for revenge. That business has only one path, and
it leads straight to Pharasma’s ample bosom. And Runa?
Well, she’s a foreigner, ain’t she?”
Hjort and Runa operate out of a shady tavern in the
market. “Can’t say as I remember the name of the place,
but when they tried to hire my cousin, they told him to
meet them at some hole in the market. You’d best do your
poking around there and stop pestering the peaceful folk
of Trollheim before they decide to yank your entrails out
from your mouth and strangle you with them.”
Hjort and Runa live in rooms at the Horned Helm in
the northern part of the market. “Hjort and Runa, you
say? Yeah, I know ‘em. I drink a beer and punch a guy
in the face every night down at the Horned Helm, and
they’ve been there for weeks—months maybe. I tell ya,
that Hjort can throw a punch, and don’t get Runa started
about religion—she’s likely to talk about it long enough
it starts a fight and the way she ends fights ain’t fair, ain’t
right, and just ain’t normal. Runa is a dark-haired woman
from Cheliax, and Hjort is a large brute with red hair, a
red beard, and a scar across his left cheek.”
The horned helm map needs to be up first, then I can go onto act 3