[PFS_2_Aerondor] 01-01 The Absalom Initiation (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

I am sure we will be charged room and board...

Sorry, he didn't make the first page of the thread, but here is Lysle's new PC for this adventure.

Chronicle: 1
History: 0
Name: Lysle
AKA: Pell the Peerless
Faction: Horizon Hunters
PFS: 90900-2003
XP: 0
Fame: 0
Gold: 0 (1 gp left over from PC creation)
Downtime Sailing Lore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Spend: N/A

No worries. And on the Good News(tm) front... the scenario dropped for me. So now I just get to read it.

Going to change some equipment. I think I might just go with the longbow on the Ranger versus the shortbow.

Having reported the Quests I played, I am updating my info'. Sorry (((
(putting all together in one post, here:)

Chronicle: #2
History: Quest 1A - The Sandstone Secret (GM Credit)
Name: Eric Collins
AKA: Milady
Faction: Vigilant Seal
PFS: 101218-2001
XP: 1 (Normal Track)
Fame: 1
Gold: 60 sp & 4 cp
Downtime: Milady helps teach the Swords trainees
Warfare Lore, trained (the roll was made in the first post): 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 1 + 2 + 0 = 21 (success)
5x8=40 cp 4 sp

So.. first time for everything.

We have 7 characters. All first level. That makes for
7x2=14 challenge points.

That puts us as playing Low subtier, with a five player adjustment and a level bump.

Two nat' 1's, ha ha!
Getting them out of our system...

I'm contributing!

A question:

(Scrolls are pages 564-565 in the CRB and Cast a Spell is on pages 302-303)

• there is no way to cast a spell from a scroll w/o being a spellcaster, right?
(nothing like UMD from that other game)

• if you have a scroll's spell on your spell list, you can cast it?
So, a level 1 Wizard can use a scroll with a level 10 spell?

To Cast a Spell from a scroll, the spell must appear on your spell list.

• or:

You cast a spell you have prepared or in your repertoire.

and Scrolls says that:

A scroll contains a single spell that you can cast without having to expend a spell slot.

Does that mean you can cast a spell from a scroll only if you could cast it with one of your spell slots?

Probably a question for the rules forums.

Higher level scrolls are so expensive I'm not sure it's a big issue though.

I'd go with the rules forum for this. I'm not familiar enough with the rules yet to want to hazard a guess. My default position would be that to use the scroll you must be able to theoretically cast the spell yourself - but that is a position I'd be happy to reconsider with the right arguments.

Since I've been working and traveling a lot till now, I've not had time to read the CRB in full etc., so am catching up now.

I found Trick Magic Item, which is a Skill Feat. So that answers one question.

re. the scrolls, all the chat on the Forums seems points to being able to cast any spell via scroll so long as it is on your spell list.

I just felt that this was quite powerful (maybe since it is such a change from PFS1).
Thus, by taking Wizard archetype, it seems you can read any scroll that is possibly an Arcane spell.

Just wanted to know if any here had thoughts or arguments...

@GM - Something just came up in the PF2 game I am GMing and I thought I'd share it here.

Aid Another now ("typically") requires a DC 20 check. You CAN critically fail, at which point you impose a penalty on the primary attempt. For example, if you roll a 10 on an Aid help, that's "typically" a Critical Fail and gives a -1 on the primary roll.

There is also this important clause in the Aid rule:

Requirements The ally is willing to accept your aid, and you have prepared to help (see below).

This means that the Primary in any skill check can refuse the aid of another. So players can't just roll to Aid and force the primary to accept the help. At our table, we've decided that no Aid rolls are valid until the Primary designates who can help (Primary can do this in advance).

Thought I'd share.

I hadn't noticed that before. Thanks for the heads up. That sounds like a good protocol to me. If someone wants to go main they can indicate if they will take aid, and if so from who (which could be anyone if they wanted) - it is a nice "too many cooks can spoil the broth" implementation.

Turns out IDing is a little easier than I thought.

Using the applicable Lore usually has an easy or very easy DC (before adjusting for rarity).

Meaning subtracting 2 or 5 from the DC. (or adding 2/5 for uncommon/rate creatures)

But "Lore" skill have to be narrower than other skills. LIke your Lore Herbalism is much narrower than Knowledge Nature. So the applicability of any specific Lore skill should be much less than other Knowledge skills.

Yeap. That is why you get Lore(Oppara) with an easy dC rather that Society with a harder one.

Of course some topics are likely to come up more than others, Pathfinder society and Absalom spring to mind.

Milady is a Goblin.
Does she still have mind for things to spring to?

Sorry guys but today I will be traveling back home, so today and tomorrow I might not be able to post. Feel free to bot me

Safe travels!

Confused on whether the map shows actual positions. Milady is off to the side and Pell is on the stairs. Which way are we going?

My default for Exploration Mode is theater of the mind, but I agree that it is helpful to show actual positions on the map.

Pell's position corrected.

Okay, updated Anjo's position.

Sorry, traveling and on the phone so cannot check/move mini yet, but I had Milady at the left set of double doors...

A skilled engineer may be able to brace the floor to stop it collapsing any further..

I think we should get at least three bids and have a lawyer review the contracts. Make sure we get a lien release before we pay in full.

All seriousness aside, I have to laugh at the scenario expecting adventurers to brace a floor. Is there a box of nails, a hammer, and a set of 2x4's in the room?

Funny.

@GM -on the map it looks like there is an open doorway between Anjo and Pell. Are we able to look through it?

@familiars...

I'm still real new here, but my understanding was that in PFS2 familiars can nomally only communicate empathically. (p218)

Now there are two abilities that can be provided by the master.
One of these has to be flight for your raven. The other could be speech. I see you have "common" listed as a language for it, is that from using the familiar ability to grand speech? So you have selected no master abilities?

My understanding regarding familiars is the same as of @GM. What is more. It writes nothing about how magical are they? Meaning is Lizzy simply a lizard that can speak or is it a magical entity that looks like a lizard. How much does it care for things that I would? ETC.

re. Familiars, the general idea is that Familiars are mystically bonded creatures tied to your magic. Most familiars were originally animals, though the ritual of becoming a familiar makes them something more.
But Alchemists' normally get their Familiar via their Class Feat (although a Gnome alchie could get one via a Racial Feat I think), which specifies: You have used alchemy to create life, a simple creature formed from alchemical materials, reagents, and a bit of your own blood. This alchemical familiar appears to be a small creature of flesh and blood, though it might have some unusual or distinguishing aspects depending on your creative process.

Right. I took Flight and Speech for the familiar.

What makes this confusing to me is that it doesn't have "stats" like a PC (Animal Companions do, but not Familiars that I see). So there's no listing for its Int, for example. If it ever needs to make a skill check though, in almost all cases it's modifier is my level (exceptions being Perception, Acrobatics, and Stealth, where it's level + spellcasting ability modifier).

Speech literally just says, "It understands and speaks a language you know". My interpretation is normal, average speech, but that's me. But the familiar has all of 5 hit points and can be recreated for free after a week, so... I expect familiars to be targets more regularly too.

If it helps, Zan's Arcane Thesis is Improved Familiar Attunement. So familiars is kinda his thing.

FYI, I will be at a local con over the weekend, so my posting will be limited. I will try to get in updates by phone when I can, but any longer posts may have to wait until late night or early mornings.

My understanding is that the familiars are animal companions with some changed characteristics.

Familiars and companions are listed in the same section of the manual after all. I was assuming the raven was a "bird" companion.

This is new to all of us, so we will probably be doing a bit of blundering around together.

Same section, but animal companions are described in different parts. Plus, if you use the stats for animal companions then the raven has a +2 Str mod, which... Didn't make sense. So yes, it is still confusing. But I defer to you GM

Good point. Actually it states explicitly that "it [the familiar] doesn't have or use its own ability modifiers"

So given that I assume it would use your int modifier. And its speech would be somewhat magical and not like I was having it talk at all.

Rules question: Delay has a trigger of "Your turn begins", which makes me think that it's not a free action that can be taken if you've already taken part of your turn (as you no longer have the trigger available to you). Not looking to be a pain here, but I wanted to be clear here for my sake.

Delay is an action that you can take at the start of your turn. That is, you can't take two actions and then delay the third, you are delaying your whole turn.

Also note that you can't take reactions while delaying, making it a little more dangerous than in original pathfinder.

That is how I read Delay also. I think it is pretty clear that it is as so (you cannot have reactions, you postpone negative things...).
There is some text on the page above (p. 469) that says:

A creature can use the Delay basic action to change its place in the order, in which case you can erase it from the list or pull its marker aside until it reenters the initiative order.

I'd say that it is an all or nothing, when your turn starts you Delay your turn for free (and can take your Three actions later) and then move in the init' order.

Whereas Ready is only a 1 action or free action that you trigger via a Reaction, but you do not change your init' order.

(like many other rules, we question them only since they are different from PF1)

At least we got a 15 in Religion... but untrained.
We be smokin'!

Well, Pell has no training in religion.

Also, I played this scenario (or a version of it) with another PC over the weekend.

Is this scenario replayable?

Oh yes very repeatable.

@GM - based on things you've posted, it suddenly occurs to me that this is probably a PF2 version of a haunt. What does the average PC know about such things?

Very little unless they make a religion check :-) In this case a trained religion check.

To the rest of you, they are just "ghosts"

So, that seemed like an odd encounter. I would have expected us to investigate the whole further, but it sounds like we found what we needed?

You did investigate the whole house. Remember the top had collapsed and there was just a dead body in the collapsed floor - which I'm happy to handwave you discovering. Essentially that mission was to find out about the history of the house, and between the book and your other...experiences.. you can probably hazard a guess at what used to go on there.

Just want to give a heads up. I'll be on travel Thursday afternoon to Monday morning. I have NO idea what my internet time will be as I'll be in a different country and way different time zone (GMT +2.) If you're waiting on me, I trust people to bot. I suspect I'll have time in the morning and at night to post though.

As a heads up my power is expected to be turned off for "several days" any time now. I'll try and at least get a post up from the library at some point with a status update but I'll likely be largely out of contact for several days.

News

Posting from a cafe. My power may come back on as early as noon today or as late as 8 days out. Who knows...

I should be able to come check in once or twice a day but please bot me to help keep things moving as appropriate, my apologies for any difficulties.

Yes. PF2 got rid of all the ranged combat feat taxes. I believe this was necessary for spell casters so that their ranged cantrip wouldn't be useless. But they still wanted to nerf archers so they put Volley on to longbows.

Makes a nice difference between the various ranged weapons rather than longbows being for all.