CORE CAMPAIGN (Inactive)

Game Master JASON RODARTE

Dot here.

.

I'm in.

A gnome with bright red hair and a beard peaks his head in

"Greetings all..I heard this is the meeting for new Pathfinders"

Is that everyone?

The invitation delivered last night was remarkably simple, especially given the importance of the occasion: "Start where it all began. Meet us at the Pig's Paunch one hour before dawn."

The Pig's Paunch is a run-down building with a faded sign of a large pig standing on its hind legs, arms folded over its corpulent belly. Inside, the air is thick with the scent of human sweat, stale tobacco, and leftover food. In the center of the room, surrounded by inebriates sleeping off their revelries, a familiar elven man stands high upon a large, round table.

"Welcome! Welcome, my students! Please, have a seat." With that, Kreighton Shaine, the Pathfinder Society's Master of Scrolls, nimbly drops down to sit cross-legged on the table before looking about the tavern with a sense of reverent wonder. "Can you believe it? It all started here years ago--well, over four hundred of them, at least. Under this very roof the Pathfinder Society was born.

"But today! Today you will begin your Confirmation! Master Farabellus and I both agree you each have shown your worth and dedication to the Society, so there's no better time to see if you can handle becoming field operatives. Allow me to introduce you to Janira Gavix," he says as he motions for an excitable-looking halfling woman to approach. She wears a large backpack and carries all manner of tools, pouches, and scroll cases around her waist. Shaine continues, saying, "Janira here will be going with you on your Confirmation. She was one of my brightest pupils and will no doubt be an invaluable resource on your journey, for she discovered the caves you are about to explore during your own Confirmation."

Janira speaks up in a cheerful and enthusiastic voice. "Greetings, aspiring Pathfinders! Six months ago, while I was mapping cave entrances in the foothills of the Kortos Mountains, I witnessed a lone gillman entering a concealed cave. I thought little of it at the time, but I saw another one enter the cave mouth a month later as my Confirmation stretched on. A few days later, after I completed my assigned task, I entered the cave system, but was unable to find the gillmen."

Master Shaine hops to his feet. "Initiates, for your Confirmation, you will travel to these caves to explore and document its many passages. Additionally, and most importantly, you are to learn what the gillmen are up to in there. Oh, and you need to come back alive as well." With these parting words, the Master of Scrolls hops off the table and strolls out of the building, humming to himself.

.dotting.

A tall Tian man walks over to Janira and gives a polite bow before extending his hands for a handshake. "Greetings, Janira. I'm honored to have you join us in our Confirmation. My name is Mao Asaka, from the Bachuan District of Tian Xa. Though our district forbids religion, I have been influenced by followers of Irori to practice the principles of their deity. You have our fists, fellow Pathfinder."

A well dressed half-orc follows Mao Asaka and also introduces himself.

"Hi! I'm Uldar, currently residing in Absolom. Looking forward to this mission! You've got my axe!" He says with a smile while presenting his lute.

"Travail, here as well." says a Varisian, armed in leather and carrying a fine short bow.

Seebonickk turns to the party. "Greetings all..Seebonickk here..a fisherman from the Isle of Kortos..I'm excited for the mission is anyone else?" then to the Master of Spells. "Master Shaine what can we expect in the caves?"

The bard looks up with a quizzical look as the half orc tried to give her his lute.

The bard looks up with a quizzical look as the half orc tried to give her his lute.

Reading the halfling’s quizzed facial expression, Uldar tries to explain himself.

”I was jokingly calling my lute an axe... I guess it got lost in translation, but this would kill complete crowds in Urgir!”.

”Figuatively ‘killing’, not actually inflicting physical harm, but making the crowd burst out in laughter!” he adds, realizing the comment could also be misunderstood.

Does Travail know anything about gillmen?

Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Guess not, LOL

Cloudia looks a little nervous. Fresh out of training with her head in the clouds, she is a bit intimidated by the thought of going out on an actual mission.

"Is this a long mission? Will we be travelling to a dangerous place like the world wound?"

Her voice has a slight quaver to it. She looks equal parts scared out of her wits and intrigued. She has nothing with her that would be considered suitable for an adventure, still wearing normal city attire and carrying absolutely no weapons or supplies.

Uldar tries to remember useful information regarding Gillmen, the Korthos Mountains, and other things mentioned by Kreighton Shaine.

Knowlegde Local: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Knowlegde Bardic: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

I would take it that comedy is not your speciality Uldar. replies the Halfling.

Oh no, nothing like the World Wound. I think that most of us would be cut to pieces in a matter of seconds if we would try to brave that land. she replie to Cloudia's query.

I would take it that comedy is not your speciality Uldar. replies the Halfling.

"It is true I haven't specialized in comedy, but I'm not the only one to blame if the joke went over your head. Pun intended!" Uldar responds to the halfling with a smile.

"Buns...did someone mention buns? I'm kinda hungry." The gnome smiles.

She ignores the half orc and looks around to see if everyone has arrived.

"Is this a long mission? Will we be travelling to a dangerous place like the world wound?"

"As I understand it we won't even leave the island of Kortos, where we're currenly are already. We are going to the place Janira stakes out for days on her own. As there is strengh in numbers, I think we'll be safer with the 6 to 8 of us than she was on her own."

Uldar takes out a notepad and starts writing things down:

"Ok, so we have:

• Janira, one of Kreighton Shaine's brightest pupils and our confirmation taker
  
• Mao Asaka, follower of Irori
  
• Uldar Uldeth, cosmopolitan
  
• Travail, Varisian
  
• Seebonickk, Fisherman
  
• Cloudia, the intrigued
  

If there's noone else I suggest we go!"

The gnome holds up his backpack. "I'm ready!"

"I guess I'm ready. How far away is the site? Will we need to buy food or camels or anything? I've never traveled anywhere outside of Absalom before."

We might need to get food BUT I would recommend not riding any animals in, especially horses. The centaurs who frequent the area are not known for their liking people who ride horses. We might also run into other animals, magical beasts, vermins. So if you need to get anything, now is probably the best way to go and get what you need. Chance favors the prepared mind. the halfling replie.s

A large, broad half-elf enters the Pig's Paunch at a jog, looking about the place with a look of half-bemusement, half-panic. Seeing a knot of diverse characters with heavy packs and gear, he sidles over, a look of visible relief crossing his face as he picks out Kreighton.

"Aurus Goldson, yer heavy for this trip," he says as he goes around with an amiable handshake for everyone. "Real sorry 'bout showin' up late, last assignment was up in the River Kingdoms and I guess I don't rank high enough for pigeon forwardin' like I keep asking about, so went from the docks to the lodge and then had to run here. Anything a big ol' mook like myself should be thinkin' of askin'?"

Coudia hesitantly and timidly puts out her hand to be shaken, and is a bit rattled by the vigorousness of the greeting.

[b]"It's nice to meet you Aurus. You travel much?"[b] she asks with wide bright eyes.

vermins.

"I'm buying two Vermin Repellant! And also two portions of Alchemical Grease. And two Flasks of Acid"

A large, broad half-elf enters the Pig's Paunch at a jog, looking about the place with a look of half-bemusement, half-panic. Seeing a knot of diverse characters with heavy packs and gear, he sidles over, a look of visible relief crossing his face as he picks out Kreighton.

"Aurus Goldson, yer heavy for this trip," he says as he goes around with an amiable handshake for everyone. "Real sorry 'bout showin' up late, last assignment was up in the River Kingdoms and I guess I don't rank high enough for pigeon forwardin' like I keep asking about, so went from the docks to the lodge and then had to run here. Anything a big ol' mook like myself should be thinkin' of askin'?"

Wow, it looks like you haven't had time to heal up it seems! Uldar remarks as he sees several not fully healed wounds on Aurus' body.

"It's nice to meet you Aurus. You travel much?" she asks with wide bright eyes.

"Only when I'm asked," he says, "But the Society's been asking for me more an' more - guess I'm a hot commodity," throwing in a cheeky wink.

Wow, it looks like you haven't had time to heal up it seems! Uldar remarks as he sees several not fully healed wounds on Aurus' body.

Aurus looks at the wounds, shrugging in a resigned sort of way. "Right, keep forgettin' about those - Razmirans get real tetchy when you point out that their god's not as godly as some of the others. Nothin' that a good rest and a hot bath won't fix." He looks at everyone's bags already packed and deflates visibly. "...but I'm guessing there's no time for that bath," he says despondently.

Whooops, forgot to clean up his stat line. Also, using my purchasing power from the last 2 sessions to get Aurus a mwk composite longbow (+3 str), 20 arrows, and a mwk greatsword, selling my original greatsword. Leaves me with 44g.

"Welcome Aurus" says the gnome smiling.

"If everyone has done their shopping I suggest we go!"

"Well, I have no food and no camping gear. I'll need to pick some up I guess. Janira, how much food should I bring? Anyone have a big tent or do I need to buy one?"

The halfling says Now that we are all here, what skills does everyone have. It is important for people in a group to know so that they you can best learn to cooperate.

We shouldnt be gone for more than a 4 days.

Well, I'm a good liar, but I don't want to say that.

"I can't do much. I can play the flute, does that count? My trainers say I have potential though," she answers meekly.

Go ahead and place your comments. She will be adding more info

“Now, on to the details of the mission at hand,” Janira says with an eager grin. “After reviewing my mission reports personally, Master Shaine believes it is no coincidence that each time they entered the caves it was during a full moon, so it is also no coincidence that you have been called here now, just a day before the moon is full again. We both believe that tomorrow night is our best chance to find out why these caves are important and what exactly the gillmen are doing in there.

“The caves we’ll be travelling to lie under the base of the Kortos Mounts. We’ll need to spend every minute of daylight possible to reach the caves by foot, crossing over the Cairnlands, taking the paths to Diobel, and finally making our way through the wilderness. With any luck we won’t run into any of the local inhabitants. Once in the caves, we’ll need to work together to explore and determine whether any gillman are present or have been recently. Keep an eye out for any other clues that might hint at the caves’ significance, too.”

Finishing up her explanation Janira stands up, settles her tab and leads you to the door.

The first part of your journey takes you through Absolom itself and Janira takes great joy in pointing out landmarks and other things of note as the group travels along. Just after noon you leave the city and begin to travel through the countryside. The first day and night pass uneventfully with Janira regaling you with tales of the glory of the Pathfinder Society.

Over breakfast Janira talks about the day ahead. ”The area we’re heading to is controlled by a large centaur tribe. If we cross paths with any of them, they’ll see the horses as an affront and might become dangerously unfriendly. Our mission is to explore the caves and investigate the gillmen activity, not fight the local populace.”

"I can cast a few spells, but mostly for comic relief. I try inspire people to boost their abilities. I can hold a weapon, but don't count on it I will deal significant damage with it."

Comic relief is supposed to be funny,, the halfling mutters beneath her breath,.

"I'm a 'walk-up-and-hit-a-guy' kinda guy," says Aurus, absentmindedly stretching his arms as he talks. "Best against evil things - demons, devils, the bad sort of dragons - cuz I got Apsu in my corner." He gives a confident grin. "Took down a river dragon last time. You know the River Kingdoms have dragons just living in their rivers?"

Cloudia sticks close to Janira, or Aurus if Janira is not available. She was not at all encouraged by that talk about dragons.

"I'm quick with a bow," says Travail shyly. "And, well, I learned a few things about breaking into places I wasn't supposed to be, when I was younger and reckless."

"I'm always happy to scout ahead, if it seems helpful. Although since these woods rightfully belong to the centaurs we ought to simply pay them their respects if we see any. I hear they like music, perhaps Uldar's lute will come in handy."

"I would like to make a few purchases before we head off," Mao says. Hoping that the so called vermins are afraid of fire and acids.

"As for my tactics, my Lazy Serpent techniques work best when I am up face to face against my enemy."

Purchasing 2 flasks each of alchemist fire and acid

Seebonickk turns to Mao "Good idea!"

One alchemist fire updating PC sheet too

Everyone ready?

Janira takes a brief moment to go over the plan before you all set out.

“Now, on to the details of the mission at hand,” Janira says with an eager grin. “After reviewing my mission reports personally, Master Shaine believes it is no coincidence that each time they entered the caves it was during a full moon, so it is also no coincidence that you have been called here now, just a day before the moon is full again. We both believe that tomorrow night is our best chance to find out why these caves are important and what exactly the gillmen are doing in there.

“The caves we’ll be travelling to lie under the base of the Kortos Mounts. We’ll need to spend every minute of daylight possible to reach the caves by foot, crossing over the Cairnlands, taking the paths to Diobel, and finally making our way through the wilderness. With any luck we won’t run into any of the local inhabitants. Once in the caves, we’ll need to work together to explore and determine whether any gillman are present or have been recently. Keep an eye out for any other clues that might hint at the caves’ significance, too.” [/b]

Finishing up her explanation Janira stands up, settles her tab and leads you to the door.

The first part of your journey takes you through Absolom itself and Janira takes great joy in pointing out landmarks and other things of note as the group travels along. Just after noon you leave the city and begin to travel through the countryside. The first day and night pass uneventfully with Janira regaling you with tales of the glory of the Pathfinder Society.

Over breakfast Janira talks about the day ahead. ”The area we’re heading to is controlled by a large centaur tribe. If we cross paths with any of them, they’ll see the horses as an affront and might become dangerously unfriendly. Our mission is to explore the caves and investigate the gillmen activity, not fight the local populace.”

As mid-afternoon passes and the party progresses deeper into the forest, the trees towering overhead begin to shield most of what remains of the day’s sun and the vegetation beneath grows denser. Janira pauses a moment and pulls out an intricate silver compass emblazoned with the Pathfinder Society logo: the Glyph of the Open Road. “I received this wayfinder when I successfully completed my Confirmation. Should we be successful on our journey, you will get your own as well.”

She flips open the device and holds it in front of her; the initials J. L. are engraved into the inside of the device’s lid. After studying the compass inside for a moment, she remarks, “We’re on the right path. We need to keep heading northwest past those large rocks up ahead.”

But before you can start moving again, a large tree falls to the forest floor, startling all sorts of creatures. In their fear, some start to attack your party.

the initials J. L. are engraved into the inside of the device’s lid.

"J.L... Whose initials are those?"

Rolling her eyes Mine she responds to the half orc.

Rolling her eyes Mine she responds to the half orc.

"Kreighton Shaine introduced you as Janira Gavix, hence my misunderstanding."

Aurus draws his sword in response to the tree falling. "Ladies, behind me if you're so inclined," he says, and then pauses as he catches sight of Uldar's lute. "And uh... any non-ladies too, if they're so inclined. Just keeping everyone safe."

Thank you for the bot, we were fighting our own robot battles at work today so I'm just checking in.

BTW: This is a year 6 scenario with quite a lot of encounters, some easy, some hard. This first encounter is not one of the easy ones, so don't hold back. There have been quite a few of TPKs in this room.

It is kind of mean.

Our problem is that Aurus is the only heavy hitter in the group. Lukian and Cloudia ping away for little damage, and Mao doesn't have the firepower to get past much DR. That makes us vulnerable.

Our problem is that Aurus is the only heavy hitter in the group. Lukian and Cloudia ping away for little damage, and Mao doesn't have the firepower to get past much DR. That makes us vulnerable.

Lukian and Cloudia choose to ping away for little damage, only using wandcharges and 0 level spells.

Heck, all I got is wand charges, 0 level spells, and a lousy 6 level 1 spells. At an average of 3-4 combats per chronicle that means 1 or 2 level 1 spells per encounter. Which are not much more effective than the MM or bless from the wand. I cast one grease and will probably cast a second next round, but I don't think the color spray would work on robots and the summon monster spell, with all that DR, would be just plain worthless time spent. meh.

My magic missiles are a bit stronger than my wand magic mussiles.

I've reserved a table for this party for the Outpost II PbP convention (March). I haven't decided on a scenario though.

ooooooo! Exciting!

cool

:)

We could join the multi-table "The Solstice Scar, Version D"?

Yeah, that sounds good! If our team is ready to get the stuffing beat out of us in another special, lol.

Also, I feel like Aurus has taken a tone shift to becoming the team's slightly wayward uncle, and I'm honestly ok with that.

I have a level 7 core character that has played A-C. I'd rather not break the streak.

I am okay with what you want to run.

I have a level 7 core character that has played A-C. I'd rather not break the streak.

I meant level 6 if it matters.

Cloudia wrote:

I have a level 7 core character that has played A-C. I'd rather not break the streak.

I meant level 6 if it matters.

There is a tier 5-6 core table with free spaces if you're interested.

I could use a boon I've got (Glutton for Punishment) so you can (re)play the scenario with Cloudia without breaking the streak. (Although I could completely understand that might be a bit too boring for you.)

I would be happy to do that but I don't think I can run Silgil and Cloudia at the in the same session.

I did sign Silgil up for the core slot mentioned.

Hey Gang, can I come in?

::Hmm waves at Auke and everyone else::

I've been talking with Dennis (the 8-99D overseer) about the possibility of adding another table to the Solstice Scar special.

Here are his comments:

It would be an issue to add just one more table. Most of the success milestones are 1/3 or 2/3 the number of tables, rounded up.

If we were adding 2 or 3 tables that'd be fine, but 1 significantly adds to the challenge for everyone else.

However, we're also watching signups elsewhere and the waiting list.

If we get enough wait list to add more tables then theirs can be one of them.

If we were getting up to 23 or 24 it would work fine.
Or if we end up collapsing two tables theirs could be a fill-in
Like right now we have two 7-8 tables that each have 2 players. It's not impossible we end up collapsing them into one table, which would then open up adding another and still being at 21.

At any rate, I'm going to have Dennis check in with you later if he thinks it can be a go. If this doesn't work, maybe you guys can set up a scenario backup plan?

If your group wants to participate in a future special, it would be great if you let us know when we're recruiting. We do allow long established groups (like Red Arm) sign up as a team if we have advanced notice that they want to do so!

Yours,
Hmm

Hmm, you have been busy these past few days.

I was at a conference on Monday and Tuesday and then told at lunch on Wednesday that I needed to move my classroom by yesterday.

As an FYI, we have an engineer out with the flu and a Friday deadline for a giant client, so I'll be hard-pressed to post the next couple of days. Feel free to bot me if needed!

I love the name of your shirren,Manteca.

Thanks! I stole it from an old jazz song - gotta put that music education degree to use somehow :)

Manteca is Spanish for lard.

how close are we to being done with this for Outpost purposes?

how close are we to being done with this for Outpost purposes?

There's one more encounter after this one, so we should be good if everyone posts once or twice a day. I'll probably need to bot sooner (like max 12 hours).

Ok.

GM, do you happen top have the chronicle where we could make a character at 2nd level? I think it was from the last special we ran.

GM, do you happen top have the chronicle where we could make a character at 2nd level? I think it was from the last special we ran.

Indeed, Assault on Absalom, Liberty's Edge boon. It should still be in the dropbox folder.

where do we find that?

where do we find that?

You could just look through this thread until you find a link, I think I've posted it like 6 times (now 7).

Thank you. I ended up favoriting it on my computer.

Hi,

I've got permission to run Solstice Scar D for you all during Outpost II (even to have Silgil and Cloudia play during the same session by using my Glutton for Punishment boon), but looking at the signup sheet I see Miteke(Cloudia) is signed up for 7 games, Terevalis(Lukian) for 8 games and Marjim(Mao) for 4 games.

I'm in 3 games myself and I know that is going to be an enormous drain on my spare time and the only reason for doing so many at the same time is that all three scenarios I'm playing are being run by their respective authors.

I want to run a game for you all, but can everyone give the proper time and attention to all the games they're in?

Sometimes it's just reading all the posts carefully that can be the difference between a swift, enjoyable and successful combat and a (character) life-threatening situation. (For instance the current combat against the oozes. One of them is almost dead due to the acid that stops the regeneration for a round, but the other one has regenerated quite a lot!).

In my own experience carefully reading new posts, rereading previous posts (what attacks worked, what didn't), checking for updates and writing your own responses is about 30 minutes a day for a single game and about 45 for a special, so it is a significant timesink.

If you are confident that you can give each game 99%, I have no objections, but if you have some doubt, it might be better to opt out of one or more games.

I should be fine.

Also: Shall we open up the table so other people can fill the two remaining spots? (might improve survivability and increase fun? :-) )

I dont have a problem with that.

Yeah! See who else is interested - maybe pick up some other long-term players :)

Also, lost the post somehow? But I am also in. Been super-busy at work so can't rely on dashing off posts during the day, but rearranging and changing some lifestyle choices so that I'm dedicating posting time in the mornings. Looking forward to Solstice Scar!

Glutton for Punishment, huh?

I'll be able to manage, particularly since this is the 5th time through the scenario for me!

You might want to start up a new thread for this so as not to confuse the new players - and make sure they know that you will be using roll20 for maps.

That is a good idea.

Yeah. I'll back out of two other PF games. I'll be playing our game and a SF game.

I haven't really been too impressed with SF. I am looking at the Card Game.

Hi there! I'll be bringing Ny'a to this upcoming session of Solstice Scar. Thanks for opening the table!

Another gnome!

Weclome, welcome!

Another paladin! Extra welcomes!

A gnomish paladin, hooray.

Aurus, I just leveled Talondreal, my half elf 4th level paladin/1st level gold dragon sorcerer into dragon disciple, if you want to take a look at him on my profile.

Hi there! I'll be bringing Ny'a to this upcoming session of Solstice Scar. Thanks for opening the table!

Welcome indeed!

This group has been running quite some time and the main secret is that everyone posts very regularly. This becomes even more important during specials.

I use Roll20 as my mapping tool, so if you PM me your email I'll send you an invite to the game.

Spring Break begins today!

I think that you will find that we are a pretty good group. We have been together for almost 2 years or so if I remember correctly. Do you have any higher level CORE characters that might come on future adventures with us?