Shifty PFS Group Bravo (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

Reassured by the cocky dwarf; the half elf followed the others into the warehouse. He took the gnome's warnings to heart and started searching the place for the crate marked with the three crows.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Raoul, ego still stinging a bit, follows the dwarf into the warehouse, but heads towards the coffins along the wall. GM, place my token on D2 please. He draws his rapier and whispers to his companions, "I know what I said before, but better safe than sorry."

Though aware of the gnome's advice to focus only on finding the crate with the three crows, Raoul cannot help but scan the room for any other items that might be worthwile.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Florentine looks at the brave gull, wondering if it got fed regularly by humans to attempt such a close encounter. He knew enough not to encourage the bird with any scraps from his pack; likely they would all swarm him looking for more. He did not mind the company though.
Wild Empathy: 1d20 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 - 1 = 2
"Hey there buddy, do you know the secrets of this warehouse? I bet you see a great deal of the goings on around these docks. If you could speak you could tell me where the thieves are right now," he whispers to the gull. Looking back at the warehouse waiting to hear if they found the crate or if it had gone missing he half-smiles, "It might seem like we are the thieves huh. Don't worry, we're just retrieving some belongings for an acquaintance." He wasn't sure there was anything worth stealing in there. Beer and nails wasn't that hard to come by almost anywhere. He looks at the gull again, "You got a family nearby? Hidden on a roof somewhere safe and warm I bet. You know I would give almost anything to be able to fly like you."

Grogson stifles a laugh at the suddenly cautious half-elf. Moving forward with measured steps, the dwarf keeps an eye out for trouble letting the others search for the prize.

Aran follows in, holding the sword up slightly to try and get as much light from it as he can, watching and looking for the three crows.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Perception1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

The gnome enters and wanders around as well, following his own advice. His little teal balls of light go zipping around to shed their glow on box after box as he turns to examine them, moving on whenever he fails to spot the insignia he's looking for.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Darkness fills the warehouse, the ambient light from outside blocked by a filthy, oily film on the structure’s few windows. Darting illumination comes from light reflecting off the water through a splintered hole in the floor Perched in the middle of the hole, teetering on split planks, sits a large crate which Pozuket notes is stamped with three crows arranged in a triangle, handholds cut into the stout wooden crate ring the rim. Initial investigations of the worrying coffins revealed them to be in an unused and unoccupied state, Raoul not needing to spit any denizens with his blade.

Throughout the warehouse, crates, boxes, and barrels lean against each other in vaguely sorted stacks. A lingering smell indicates some of the contents are certainly spoiled. A crane, used for loading and unloading boats, clings to a rail running the length of the warehouse, hanging 5 feet below the high ceiling, and can slide out to extend past the loading doors along the west wall.

Meanwhile, in the small vessel below, the thieving Seagull grows slightly suspicious of the smooth talking fish burglars motives...

Internals.

GM, place my token on D2 please. He draws his rapier and whispers to his companions,

Noted.

As the place seemed relatively safe and free of occupants at this point, I have presumed you would have participated in a borader search, however if your intent was to maintain a sentry post at that position I can move you back! :)

"Well boys, whaddaya say we use that hoist and drop the crate in the dingy? Pretty sure I can get a good grasp of it."

Take 10 for 14 on Knowledge:engineering to operate the crane.

Pozuket eyes the crate on it's precarious perch. "Why is it always the hard-to-get-to one? If this were a tale, you can be certain that the patrol would coincidentally be passing by just as the intrepid heroes got themselves into the most nefarious-seeming position, with a vast misunderstanding resulting."

As the dwarf speaks up, the apprehensive look is replaced by an eager one. "That sounds like a good plan to me! Can I ride it down?"

Hearing Pozuket's words, he watches the door like a hawk, seeing as the dwarf has a good grasp on what is needed to be done, he thinks a patrol passing by would be just his luck.

Grogson looks at the crane closely, and establishes that he could probably get it to work, but would require someone strong to hold the crate in place if they wanted to control it safely, after all, if it went down heavily who knows how hard it might hit the oat below.

Just as he is about to get to work, the warhouse becomes abuzz with activity as you are joined by a few tennants unhappy at the party poking about near the hole. This consists of three oversized rats, bigger than alley cats, coming right after some fresh food... you.

Rat attack!.

Initiative:

Order:

Raoul
Aranan
Grog
Jivokun
Pozuket
RATS!

Why am I before the rats? They got an 8 and I got a 5.

Nice catch, however as I have already called it, you are now ahead of the rats... I don't want to false advertise! :p

I figure i'm still talking to the gull.
Perception to hear what's going on inside: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

In the rowboat, Florentine and the Seagull are undisturbed. Their standoff continues.

Raoul follows the rest of the party in a search of the warehouse, when the rats appear. All right, not as simple as I thought. He steps through the debris and boxes so that he is adjacent to the closest one. Please place Raoul in H9. And slashes at the rat with his rapier and quips, "Pozuket, here's your patrol. Although I'd wager these fellas aren't as dirty as the city guard."

Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Sneak Attack Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Until the rats (or any enemy) act in the first round they are considered flatfooted and a rogue gets sneak damage anytime their foe is denied their Dex bonus. So sneak away friend!

and dont mind me swtiching up Jivokun's avatar. Still working out an identity for him ^_^.

Of course, it would help if I could roll higher than a 3 on an attack roll. I must have done something to upset the dice gods.

"Not the guard patrol we were expecting, but this will do," Aran says as he steps up to the second rat, moving to J10. Using a swift action to activate arcane strike, giving the aldori dueling sword a +1 to damage.

Attack the rat at J11, gaining +1 AC for being adjacent to only 1 enemy via Expert Duelist Trait.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 91d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"Rats. It had to be rats." Grogson moves to Aranan's side and engages the same rat.

Waraxe 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 Dmg 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

...now we get to the good stuff...

Jivokun flexes his wrist and the dagger hidden there snaps into his grasp as he moves closer to the rats.

Swift action to draw dagger from wrist sheath. Move to K.9

He flips the dagger over and sends it flying towards the closest rat.

Ranged attack vs Rat @ K.11: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Damage: 1d4 + 2 + 1d8 ⇒ (2) + 2 + (3) = 7

Upon spying the rats, almost as large as he is, Pozuket unslings a small crossbow and gestures with it as he exclaims "Rats! The eternal foe of a Pathfinder. If they're not chewing up irreplaceable texts, they're chewing up irreplaceable people. Slay them quickly, my friends!"

With his exhortations echoing in their ears, his companions are encouraged to new efforts against the enemy. (Everyone gets a +1 morale bonus to attack, damage, and saves against charm and fear, 13 rounds remaining today.)

Raoul jumps up onto the boxes in front of him swiping at the rat beyond,

Aranan slides into position, but finds the surface near the hole a little slippery and his due caution causes a slight delay in his thrust, which the rat avoids.

Grogson, likewise was a little cautious about his swings, being the first time up front with Aranan and the pair have not yet found their battle rhythm, so too his swing is overly controlled, failing to find purchase.

Jivokun sees the rat not yet engaged and with no ally in the way and hurls a blade towards it, the rat seeing something shiny looks at it way to long, the blade hitting it neatly and with a rather satisfying thud. The rat now lies very still.

Pozukets blessing hits the party, inspiring them onwards.

Rat attacks Raoul, and hits with nasty sharp teeth...
Attack 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
Damage 1d4 ⇒ 4 and make a DC 11 Fort save.

Rat attacks Aranan, its bite failing on his armour.
Attack 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

****

In the boat below, Florentine can now hear some sort of commotion upstairs over the sound of the gentle waves.

MAP!.

Grogson brings blade to bear again and renews his assault.

Waraxe 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18 DMG 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Florentine stands up and looks towards the warehouse. Are they ok?

"What's going on?" he yells.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Though the bite from the rat stings, Raoul is able to shake off any ill effects. Wanting to press the assault, he takes another swing at his foe - hoping he can swing true.

Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Aranan did not care for filthy vermin trying to harm him, once again, he activates his special magic and strikes at the rodent.

Swift: Arcane Strike, Standard: Attack

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 151d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Another knife flashed in Jivo's hand as he he made a quick sidestep and then hurled his blade at the rat that was busy taking a bite out of Raoul.

5' step to J.9. Move action - draw dagger.

Ranged Attack vs H.10: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

"Just fine, lad. Only some dog sized rats.", Grogson shouts back to the sailor.

Fort Save 1d20+2

Though the bite from the rat stings, Raoul is able to shake off any ill effects. Wanting to press the assault, he takes another swing at his foe - hoping he can swing true.

Rapier 1d20+4
Damage 1d6+2

The dice gods really do hate you. You forgot my +1, but it probably wouldn't have mattered. Jivokun, I think you forgot it too.

To everyone: I suggest when you have a situational bonus, rolling dice like 1d20+4+1, to indicate the bonus separately. See my rolls for an example of how it looks.

Pozuket sidles to the left (J6) as he draws a bolt and loads his crossbow, sights on the rat just past Aranan, and fires.

Crossbow: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 2 + 1 = 23 Threat Confirm: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 2 + 1 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 If the 15 confirms, x2 -> 18

As his bolt easily zips past the human to find the rat's eye, the gnome mutters: "Take that, you vile vermin."

Maintaining the bardsong: 12 rounds remaining

Pozuket, I don't know what I did to upset those fickle dice gods. There's no cleansing ritual for virtual dice that I know of. Also, don't you need to roll to confirm the crit? Then you roll a second damage roll. I'm not sure if it matters too much, I think the 9 damage on its own is enough to put down the rat.

Pozuket, I don't know what I did to upset those fickle dice gods. There's no cleansing ritual for virtual dice that I know of. Also, don't you need to roll to confirm the crit? Then you roll a second damage roll. I'm not sure if it matters too much, I think the 9 damage on its own is enough to put down the rat.

You're entirely right. I know that, I just forgot in the change to the PbP format. Thanks - I'll go edit in another roll.

Raoul continues stabbing away, but the poor purchase given by the boxes is giving his footing real problems, leading to missed swipes...

Grogson, on the other hand, has sorted out his timing issues and brings the axe to bear with devastating results on the large rodent to his front.

Aranan lands his hit as Jivokun and Pozuket strike with a flurry of deadly precision, leading to a large mess where the rat one stood.

Combat over

"Ok, don't get bitten, rats can carry some nasty diseases."

He had no intentions of becoming rat food. Hopefully the dwarf was just exaggerating on their size.

Pulling a dark piece of cloth from his pocket, Aran polishes and cleans his blade, removing what bits of rat were left upon it, then he holds the blade up to look about once more, ensuring there are no other rats to deal with.

"Well, hopefully that will be all of that. Now, does anyone think they can get this crane to work or shall we try and open the crate here? After all, we are not here for the entire crate," he says as he looks to his compatriots, keeping an eye out for any particularly bad wounds.

Florentine's avian visitor maintains its silent vigil.

Pozuket goes over to examine the dead rats, and potentially reclaim his crossbow bolt. 51+ to save it: 1d100 ⇒ 24. Seeing that it's broken, he reclaims the pieces. "Don't want to leave traces here. Not that it is likely that anyone will ever care, but it never hurts to exercise caution."

Pozuket avoids the hole and collects the pieces of his shattered bolt. He notes the terrible condition of the wood surrounding the hole itself, however...

Raoul, though still smarting from the rat bite, takes a careful look around the gaping hole in the floor. "Grogson, you said you can operate that crane? I think that's a good plan, either lower it into that boat that Flo's operatin' or try to lower it on the floor in here. I've got rope if we need it."

"That is a simple enough machine, Raoul. Wouldn't be much of a dwarf ifin' couldn't,now would I? Hahahaha. Let's get to work." Looking over the crate for potential rot and d-rings, Grogson begins prepping for the move.

How safe does it look to work around the crate and hole?

Around the hole looks to be in pretty bad repair, and the crane doesn't look real flash either. You think your best bet would be to either get someone to ride the crate into the boat, affixed to their own rope for safety and using their strength to muscle the thing down, or just crash the floor and let the whole lot fall into the boat below... if only you knew how heavy the crate was...

After retrieveing his blades and cleaning them on one the many burlap sacks laying around; Jivokun reset the one dagger back into his wrist sheath before examining the crate situation along with the others.

It just couldnt have been simple could it?

Is it just a smooth, square box? Or are there handholds or rope handles of any sort?

...Perched in the middle of the hole, teetering on split planks, sits a large crate which Pozuket notes is stamped with three crows arranged in a triangle, handholds cut into the stout wooden crate ring the rim...

So yep, there's handholds, and with some jiggery-pokery you could probably have a 'human crane' set up with someone tied off and guiding it down.

D'oh! Thanks...

Maybe we can try to slide it back to a more solid section of flooring...and if it happens to not make it we can have Mr. Florentine retrieve it from the drink. He'll need a hand in that dingy.

"Well, I'm pretty nimble. I could try to sneak out and tie the rope around the box, so that we can safely lower it down onto the boat. Either that or I say we tie a rope around Grogson here - he looks to be the most stout - and have him hold on to the box as we lower both him and the box down to the boat. Either way, I suppose we should move quickly."

"I have extra rope and a block and tackle. I think we should be able to pully it down. I will act as the anchor and between me and the pullies we should be fine." Grogson begins to unpack his winching gear as the others look to tie the crate off.

Strength Test if needed +2 for tackle 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Raoul grabs the end of of the rope. I'll tie up the box for ya', Groggy."

He steps lightly over the crumbling planks to the box, taking care to keep his balance.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Raoul then ties the rope around the box securely, using a knot he learned from his time at sea. He then makes his way back to solid ground and away from the crumbling planks that are somehow holding up the box.

Acrobatics to return: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Wow, I managed some decent rolls. :)

"Good job,elf. Glad yer kind are so light on their feet, heheheheh."