GM Zero/GL's Giantslayer! (Inactive)

Game Master GM_Grandlounge

Ulretha looks at the camp and there is a clear smile on his face. Far from being daunted by the prospect, he seems pleased by the challenge it's going to represent.

Yet, some foreknowledge will be useful so he waits for the others to prepare to scout. He simply sits on a large rock and alternately examines his new hand and his enlarged sword with satisfaction.

The old lady definitely makes Lidia and Thyste INVISIBLE before they leave.

"It only is active for 9 minutes but that might be enough to get in undetected. How you get out then ... you young one will need to be resourceful! Now go!" she says after casting the spell.

"We're just going around the outside of the..." is about all Lidia gets out before she vanishes from sight. She gives a little squeak of alarm as she fades from view.

"I don't like this." her disembodied voice says plaintively.

"Don't worry, you've never looked better!" Ulretha declares then guffaws at his own joke.

Ben just groans at the joke.

"Off with you then. You may not like it but it could save your life."

"I can't even tell where my feet are." Lidia complains. But eventually her complaints are no longer heard, meaning she must have left the group.

GM, gonna make a search around the camp, looking to try and establish how many giants we're dealing with, how many guards they have and where they are posted, important looking or vulnerable areas of the camp, any obvious leader types, and anything else unusual or worth noting. What sorts of rolls would you like, if any?

"Just follow the smell!" Ulretha says, apparently on a roll and completely disregarding the fact that he smells as bad as any of them.

"I can't even tell where my feet are." Lidia complains. But eventually her complaints are no longer heard, meaning she must have left the group.

GM, gonna make a search around the camp, looking to try and establish how many giants we're dealing with, how many guards they have and where they are posted, important looking or vulnerable areas of the camp, any obvious leader types, and anything else unusual or worth noting. What sorts of rolls would you like, if any?

Yes, let RP some checks!

First, I need a check to survey the area. You have to cover a lot of area in 9 min so tell me how you want to do it and roll an appropriate check (athletics or fort for speed, climb to get better vantage points etc.). You describe the method and pick the check.

Obviously, I will need perception checks, obvious stuff will be free, but let's say three for the details.

Many areas are busy, crowded and snow-covered give two two stealth checks with invisibility and one check of your choosing to deal with any nonvisible evidence (survival to cover tracks, acrobatics to make jumps to break up tracks, deception to walk in others' footsteps etc.). The last check is your choice.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 15 - 1 = 18
Perception: 1d20 + 18 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 18 + 4 + 2 = 37
Perception: 1d20 + 18 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 18 + 4 + 2 = 29
Perception: 1d20 + 18 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 18 + 4 + 2 = 28
Stealth (Invisible): 1d20 + 20 - 1 + 20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 20 - 1 + 20 + 4 = 59
Stealth (Invisible): 1d20 + 20 - 1 + 20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 20 - 1 + 20 + 4 = 60
Survival: 1d20 + 17 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 17 + 4 + 2 = 27
Fatigued; Favored Terrain- Hills and Mountains +4, Favored Enemy- Giants: +2; Woodland Stride to move more quickly through any underbrush, briars, etc.

Lidia heads off on her circumnavigation of the giants' camp. She immediately notices the impressions her invisible feet are making in the snow, a disconcerting feeling for her to say the least. To avoid this, she makes attempts where possible to jump nimbly to areas with rock underneath and the least possible snow, and where she can't avoid it, she keeps to her toes to at least make the tracks less obvious as to their origin. Nonetheless she moves as quickly as she can, knowing her time is limited.

Periodically she stops when she has a good vantage point and turns to examine the camp, trying to quickly make mental notes about where things are and how many giants are present. She has no weapon out, and moves without her pack -- though in the back of her mind she frets about finding her invisible pack again. (It would reappear when she did, right?) And all the while, she fights to keep from panting in the cold thin air, and has to stop once to catch her breath and fight off a spell of dizziness.

I have provided you with a labelled map. The greens are watch towers. The caves are all non-descript, but there are large nests outside of Q. T seems like a special place for the giant, but extended observation would be needed for more details. There are many large bits of religious iconography, including a wickerman that the team works together to identify. There are many slaves that are mostly concentrated in the mammoth pens and the farms.

"Sounds like a busy place. Are there any trolls there, or orcs, or are there just giants and drakes?"

Ulretha sits on his rock, stroking Gorum's Thorn with Nargrym's Steel hand almost the way someone might pet a cat sitting in their lap.

"Sounds like the brewery is relatively exposed. We should begin by sabotaging it. If the army is getting a steady supply of beer, they'll start turning on each other once it's gone."

At first Ben almost laughs at the suggestion, but on further consideration he realizes that most giants are contentious and looking for an excuse to fight.

"Hmmm. That and other sabotage efforts, like moving valuables from one giants sleeping area to another's, might cause the chaos you are looking for. I also think a mammoth stampede would cause a lot of problems for them."

Is ben able to identify any megafauna or dinosaurs he could turn into arond here. Obviously mammoths would be ideal if it wasn't for the fact that they are too large. But perhaps a Smilodon/dire-tiger or dire-bear? Not sure if they qualify as a legal shape.

"I like the idea of sabotage. If we demoralize them and sow enough chaos, we might get an opening. Maybe we could try poisoning the beer somehow? Or we could start a few fires. Free some of the slaves maybe and let them try and escape. And I like the idea of a mammoth stampede."

"I think whatever we decide, we should try and avoid the southwest corner of the camp, where most of the giant recruits have their tents. And I'd like a better look at whatever was in the northwest corner -- it seemed like some sort of vault or mine or something going into the cliff face and it seemed important."

"The key to making this work is that nothing should point back to us. It should all seem like just bad luck or incompetence by their own people. And that means we can't kill anyone, at least not in a way that'll put them on alert. We want them confused and frustrated."

Ben nods and gives a knowing look at Ulretha.

"But don't worry. I'm sure the time will come for some good old fashioned head bashing... Now, where do we start? In a day I can memorize tunneling spells which seem well suited for infiltration, but they do not last long enough. I could also turn into a cloud and scout around, but my ability to do mischief is somewhat limited. You know, I may not be the best choice for this type of mission."

"I suspect we're going to be here for a few days. We should find a good place to hide and set up a camp for ourselves. The giants may very well send out patrols to search the area around their compound. Once we have a safe spot, we can make some specific plans for our sabotage campaign."

"And to be honest, I wouldn't mind a rest. I'm worn out from this climb."

Azardra nods.

“Yes, yes! Resting is exactly what I need! But we cannot rest long because we need to take action at some point in time! But for now I’m going to sleep…. “ she says and starts taking off her full plate to reveal her old and broken body.

"What?" Ulretha says as he becomes the focus of the conversation.

"You've never heard of anyone having the bad luck of being so incompetent that they fell on an oversized greatsword so many times that they died?"

He'll help find a good spot to camp then settle in for the night.

Survival: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

"You've never heard of anyone having the bad luck of being so incompetent that they fell on an oversized greatsword so many times that they died?"

"Nope. And I lived with orcs for 5 years."

"Sounds like a busy place. Are there any trolls there, or orcs, or are there just giants and drakes?"

There is all manner of giants, including trolls but no orcs.

At first Ben almost laughs at the suggestion, but on further consideration he realizes that most giants are contentious and looking for an excuse to fight.

"Hmmm. That and other sabotage efforts, like moving valuables from one giants sleeping area to another's, might cause the chaos you are looking for. I also think a mammoth stampede would cause a lot of problems for them."

Is ben able to identify any megafauna or dinosaurs he could turn into arond here. Obviously mammoths would be ideal if it wasn't for the fact that they are too large. But perhaps a Smilodon/dire-tiger or dire-bear? Not sure if they qualify as a legal shape.

Due to the cold most dinosaurs would be out of place but sabre tooth tiger, cave lion (loin stats), Brontotherium, Baluchitherium, Elasmotherium, Giant Elk would all work

"What?" Ulretha says as he becomes the focus of the conversation.

"You've never heard of anyone having the bad luck of being so incompetent that they fell on an oversized greatsword so many times that they died?"

He'll help find a good spot to camp then settle in for the night.

[dice=Survival]1d20 + 15

Ulretha is able to find a good spot to camp. You are well sheltered from the cold there are very few lines of sight to any of the giant trails you have detected, and you can, from the right position, see where new scouting parties come to and go.

Cold: An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must make a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage.

Creatures labor to breathe in the thin air at this altitude. Characters must succeed on a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check (DC 18 currently) or be fatigued. The fatigue ends when the character descends to an altitude with more air. Acclimated characters do not have to attempt the Fortitude save.

"In any case, I plan to wait until tomorrow before I do anything."

Ulretha nods.

"Tomorrow is fine. They're not going anywhere, yet."

Lidia drops her pack heavily and climbs into her bedroll. "Wake me for the morning watch." she says wearily. Within minutes she is asleep.

Does Blix have any spell that can help her fatigued condition?

Lidia drops her pack heavily and climbs into her bedroll. "Wake me for the morning watch." she says wearily. Within minutes she is asleep.

Does Blix have any spell that can help her fatigued condition?

"I will pray on it." After a while, he comes back and says, [b]"Yes, I have the options. I can cast endure elements on each of you each day. Then you will be fine for 24 hours. But that is a lot of spells. I can cast one or two communal versions of the same spell that will split the time between you. It leaves me with more healing, but you are more like to find yourself fatigued after a long day. Finally, I can give you 20 hours of a life bubble shared between you. This will give you protection against all gasses and other similar hazards while also removing your fatigue but is the shortest duration."

I have you all ask for these things because, as a player would rather come up with solutions, even if that means asking the right NPC. It is a little too easy for me, with a cleric and the AP, to solve problems for you. But don't hesitate to ask Blix for options or even ask for specific things.

Endure elements doesn’t provide any protection from fire or cold damage, nor does it protect against other environmental hazards such as smoke, lack of air, and so forth. Since the issue here is the altitude and lack of air, it would not help. I looked it up when all this began.

I was thinking of a Lesser Restoration spell to dispel the current fatigue. I'm pretty sure I can make the Fort Save most of the time going forward.

The AP specifically says endure elements works.

Well, dang. Can't argue with that. Looks like Ben will be memorizing a bunch of them then. Does it mention, by any chance, how long it takes to get used to the altitude?

Ben has a revelation and memorizes 2 endure elements (one of which is double cast using a pearl of power) and 1 communal endure elements (which he uses a rod of extend on to double the duration).

That provides protection for 5: Ben, Little Buddy, Ulretha, Azarda, and Thyste

His castings for the day include 5 (effective) endure elements, 1 longstrider, and 1 hunter's blessing monstrous humanoids/cold.

Using cloud shape he is able to poke around inside the camp in the form of a cloud for 100 minutes. He will be sneaky about it and stick with the winds direction as much as possible, then circle back around for another sweep, rinse and repeat.

Three months to adapt.

Ben are you looking for anything, in particular, are you focusing on any areas? Lay out the strategy and give me three perception rolls.

1st sweep, he is hugging the north cliff. So that would be O, N, L, P, Q, R, S, T (or the reverse order if the wind is going the other direction)

perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29
perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23
perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

When Lidia is awakened for her watch, she rises from her blanket and bedroll and immediately experiences a wave of dizziness and nausea. She goes back down on one knee and pulls out her water skin for a tentative drink to sooth her dry mouth and queasy belly. After a couple minutes, she rises slowly and takes her station. Her cat appears, slinking out of the dark where she’d been hunting, and immediately moves to the warm spot on Lidia’s abandoned bedroll, and curls up to sleep. Still feeling weary and sick, she wraps her blanket around her torso and stares out stoically into the night, waiting for the dawn.

As the sky slowly lightens, she spots the near translucent form of Blix hovering nearby. She rises stiffly and moves to him quietly.

”Father Blix, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since we climbed up past the tree line, I just feel cold and tired and sick. I’m really hungry, but I also feel like throwing up. And I’m thirsty all the time. I spend a lot of time up in the hills back home where I hunt, and sometimes I feel a little like this, but usually it goes away after a day or so. For some reason I can’t shake it this time though… maybe it’s because we’re higher than I usually go. Is there anything you can do to help me feel better? The group is going to be counting on me. I need to be at my best.”

”Father Blix, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since we climbed up past the tree line, I just feel cold and tired and sick. I’m really hungry, but I also feel like throwing up. And I’m thirsty all the time. I spend a lot of time up in the hills back home where I hunt, and sometimes I feel a little like this, but usually it goes away after a day or so. For some reason I can’t shake it this time though… maybe it’s because we’re higher than I usually go. Is there anything you can do to help me feel better? The group is going to be counting on me. I need to be at my best.”

"Hmmmm now that I have had the time to pray for new blessings let me make sure you are all healthy for all the fights ahead. Lidia, after I cast this spell it will suddenly be like you are back where the air is thicker. You will get one hell of a head rush. Try to stay still and count to ten. By then you should feel much better."

Blix goes around the group and casts endure element on each of you. Ben feel free to prep other spells.

L) LONGHOUSE
A wooden longhouse, as large as a human palace, stands in a snowy clearing here. The building is windowless, but has three sets of double doors along its southern face. A plume of smoke rises from a stone chimney on the building’s eastern end.
This longhouse is a feasthall, residence and organizational centre. It is unguarded but highly trafficked.

M) LONGHOUSE
A large wooden structure with a peaked roof and two sets of massive barn doors set at either end sits in the shadow of a nearby watchtower. A pair of gigantic ram’s horns is mounted above the eastern doors, while gigantic crossed lances are set above the western doors. The residents here are centaurlike creatures with frost giant torsos atop the bodies of massive eight-legged stallions

N) LAVE PEN
Long rows of small wooden shacks huddle together in this fencedin yard. They are unpainted, crude structures, unfit for long-term human survival in the cold environment. A few communal fire pits are scattered among the sheds. The fallen snow is mixed with dirt and frozen mud, trampled down by the milling of countless feet, both large and small.

O) SHRINE OF THREMYR
A set of ancient stone stairs carved from the mountain climbs to a hexagonal stone dais covered in rime, with chiseled runes barely visible underneath. An ice sculpture depicting a giant, bearded figure stands atop the dais. The sculpture’s features are angular and chiseled, with an inhuman, almost elemental, quality about them. Jagged shards of ice form the figure’s beard and hair. The air in the immediate vicinity is even colder than elsewhere on the mountain plateau.

p) TEMPLE OF URGATHOA
This colossal stone edifice appears to be sculpted from the living rock. Stairs ascend between massive columns, each carved in the form of a frost giant from a previous age, to a portico where three sets of double doors are set in the southern face of the structure. Additional columns flank the east and west sides
This building seem firmly secured.

Q) CAVES
Four large cave entrances gape here, set high upon a cliff ledge that overlooks the village. Their shadowed depths lead directly into the side of the mountain.
The ledge outside the caves is approximately 20 feet wide and covered with ice. The large bones in this are suggest the den of a predator.

R) NEST
R. DRAGON NEST This watchtower is of identical construction to the other watchtowers in Skirgaard (see area A), but it is currently uninhabited. The roof of the hut atop the tower has been removed, and no skyrocket is present. Bones litter the ground around the tower, and large gouges mar much of the woodwork, as if from large claws.
You have notice sky rockets in the guard towers (essentially signal fireworks)

S) THE WICKERMAN
A towering humanoid colossus crafted of constantly burning wicker and wood stands before the carved doors of the giant tomb overlooking Skirgaard.

T) The tomb
Northwest of the village, a wide set of carved stone steps ascends to massive stone double doors set into the mountain itself. Two platforms to either side of the doors hold statues depicting a fierce and proud frost giant woman. Runic writing decorates the carved stonework above the doors
The tomb is finished stone, and displays a quality of workmanship far superior to what living giants typically build for themselves. The architecture is built for creatures approximately 16 feet tall. The entrance is blocked by stone doors

At A 30' movement rate that puts his move speed at 10'/second. Nice for the math.

TCrossing the town looks to be about 2000' of movement, so 200 seconds of movement, rounded up to 4 minutes for occasional pauses to check things out.

With 100 minutes of cloudy goodness, he should be able to get info on all the locations in the town before it runs out AND have time left over to check out any location that looks particularly interesting.

Ulretha's ears perk up (literally) at news of temples.

"If we shatter their false faith, it will destroy their morale," he points out.

"Especially if they have no beer to console themselves.

"The question is, how do we get in and out of the camp without having to fight everyone."

Azardra yawns.

“Well, this does not seem too difficult. A little bit of invisibility and we’re everywhere. We can also fly above and just drop where you kids want us to be!“ she says and moves slowly in her heavy armor.

"The question is, how do we get in and out of the camp without having to fight everyone."

"Hopefully, with enough sabotage and chaos, the giants will grow restless and start to leave, just like at the Cathedral. Then we can move about in there more freely. Personally, I think we go to poison the beer, then organize a slave revolt -- or at least a mass escape attempt. While that's going on, we can set fire to some of their barracks and storehouses, and the giants will just assume the slaves did it."

"I've heard the name Urgathoa, but I don't know anything about the cult. I've never even heard of the other one. Thremyr, you said? Is that some sort of god of giants?"

"Excellent idea. But if we are to do this we will need ingredients. Lidia, you know your way around the wild, you have any ideas for a poison we can find ingredients for up here?"

survival: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34

Ben racks his brains for some ideas.

Assuming that roll provides a possibility, do you want to hunt down a 'real' poison from the pathfinder's reference material or just make one up? Can we create poisons using survival or is that only for harvesting poisons from creatures that are already poisonous. Do we need craft alchemy rolls?

Hmmm. Mushrooms would be easiest, but I'm not sure how many we'd find up here. There are some barks and lichens that might work. I'd know them if I saw them."

"I can go have a look around."

Knowledge Nature (to know poisonous flora): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21
Survival (to find poisonous flora): 1d20 + 17 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 17 + 4 = 34

"I can also set up some traps around our camp and elsewhere if we can lure the giants into them," Ulretha says his player remembering he has ranks in Craft Traps.

He goes out with Lidia to find some poison.

Survival (Aid): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (8) + 15 = 23

Thyste awakens from a dead sleep; she's been snoozing even more often than usual since they started climbing the mountain, and flicks some of yesterday's rations off of her pointed teeth in irritation.

"Somebody say 'poison'?" she mumbles, clutching her head. "That's one of my skills. How bad a day do we want them to have?"

Ben starts ticking off thoughts after pausing to consider the ramifications of Thyste + poison.

"Deadly. Though giants and trolls are pretty tough customers. It will not be easy to concoct something that will lay them low. And once we start doing this we are going to need a really good hiding place because they WILL come looking for us. And the first time we do this the easiest it will be so let's do as much mischief as possible that first time."

"Right, so, here's the tricky part about that," offers Thyste. "Giants are big. And hardy, too. If you want to kill one with poison, you need a lot. If you want to kill a bunch with poison, you need a ton. And if you want it to be undetectable..."

She strokes her chin a bit, contemplative.

"Giants aren't the most perceptive or discerning, when it comes to food. And we're talking beer, here, and I doubt giants are going for low-proof for their booze, even if the beer is usually the gentlest thing you can drink. Not to mention the altitude--as Lidia can attest, being up this high screws with your blood. As I can attest, drinking anything potent this high up is rough on the body."

"I doubt the giants are clever enough to know that. If we up the potency, it'll also be harder for them to detect anything we slip into it--but ideally something that doesn't taste too left-field, or they'll probably suspect the batch has gone too far off to be drinkable before they've drank a bunch of it."

"Relatedly, we'll want something with a long onset time, so..."

"I've got it."

GM, what do you need for Thyste to craft either Red Bedlam or Swampseer Poison?

"I think we want to keep this a little more subtle. Remember, we don't want to create undue suspicion or they'll just double their patrols and their guards and look for spies. I'd say bad stomach flu, but not cholera. We want them incapacitated and unhappy. And we want them to maybe take a while to figure out what's making them sick. At least that's my thought."

"Another thing -- if they have clerics up there, they might be able to detect poisons in their food or drinks. So it would be best for them not to realize that poison is at work. I'd rather have 100 guys feeling sick than 3 or 4 guys dead and the rest all the more vigilant."

Thyste scritches her chin a bit. "Hadn't considered clerics. Had considered subtlety, though--the poisons I've got in mind make people... fighty. Makes their heads foggy. Basically stuff that would happen when people drink too much anyway, but more. Giants getting drunk and fighting each other seems..."

She ponders a bit.

"Is it speciesist to say they seem prone to that kind of thing? ...Either way."

"Not at all. That lot over there is a rarity. They are typically to 'fighty' as you say to cooperate. I like that idea. Something to make them cantankerous and irritable sounds like just the thing."

Lidia nods agreement.