GM Doug — Escaping the Grave [Gameday VIII PFS2] (Inactive)

Game Master Doug Hahn

Sorry. You can roll all these checks yourselves!

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Mandower will examine the sign and then search for treasure religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 The inn is a good place to be right now.

Skorpa heads into the chapel. He sees the body, and goes to investigate it.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Medium Dave examines the body in the inn, but can't get any useful information.

Mandower recognizes the wheel on the sign to be important to the faith of Iomedae. It is an important relic of the town. He also finds a purse containing 10 sp.

Skorpa sees that the body in the chapel has a rather large head; it is that of a goblin.

Investigation Round 1: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

I added skill checks and your clues discovered to slide 1. This might help keep track. I also moved the info on missing pathfinders to slides 2, 3, and 4.

Veyanna follows after Skorpa into the chapel. She pauses at the corpse of the goblin as the ranger looks it over and lets out a small sigh at the sight. "If it's a goblin it could be Potsmasher. Our dossier says they were a lover of fire. This body is very burned." It would hold true to how the little things tended to act as well, going out in a moment of self-immolation.

"You should gather up the body. I will check the Hall for records." Her fellow intellectuals insisted this was where they were stored, so she moved into the rest of the chapel and started scouring the place for anything that looked informative along with being in one piece.

Perception on the Town Hall of the Chapel: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Whoops. I marked the treasure in the chapel as complete, but it was the inn that Mandower searched. I updated the sheet.

Veyanna finds a wayfinder beneath the pew in front of the altar. Sadly there are no crit successes in these checks. :(

Investigation Round 1: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

"Aye, lemme take a look inna Armory. Kin't 'urt ta 'ave more weapons."

Rummage around in the Armory

Jorgran finds no weapons, but there is a damaged cart resting alongside the armory. If you had a horse and could repair the cart, it might be used to carry bodies and relics back to the Pathfinder Society. 10 minutes for a crafting check to repair — another option for exploration.

Investigation Round 1: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

A general store is where I'd head if I needed supplies, I'm going to check there.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

1/2
Dargon, as you rummage around in the store's pantry, you fail to notice some dangerous, yellow-colored mold growing on the back of a shelf. As you move aside some rotten foodstuffs, its spores puff out into your face!

I will need two fort saves vs. poison (The perception check you made was against the trap.)

You also find a bag of rolled oats that are still on a shelf, unspoiled.

While humanoids don't usually eat raw rolled oats, you know that horses do. The rolled oats will allow you to use diplomacy on the horse to Make an Impression on the Horse, or get a large bonus on using Nature to Command an Animal. You can do this along with another investigation activity. Just remember that crit failing Make an Impression or Command an Animal has consequences, so you probably want your highest Diplomacy or Nature person attempting the check. Also, note that the broken carriage has a horse's harness and you have a lot of stuff to carry back. So far, each body is only light bulk.

2/2

Off in the distance to the West, you see the shadowy form of something gargantuan-sized moving. It's still quite far away — several hours — but it seems to be moving in this direction.

Investigation Round 2: bold may act!

Dargon Need two Fort saves vs. Poison
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Dave continues his search of the inn.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Skorpa keeps looking around the chapel.

I'll rummage around.

Mandower will do a religion check on the armor religion: 4 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 + (12) = 16

Fortitude save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Coughing and spluttering Dargon returns to the group with the oats.

"Anyone think this will help them with the horse?"

Veyanna will pocket the wayfinder she found and watch Skorpa wander away from the body to rummage. With a sigh she'll go over to the likely "Potsmasher" and pull out another sack to carefully move their remains into so she can join them with the human body, Clement or Osprey.

Then she'll step outside and see the sign over the inn that no one has bothered to collect. With pursed lips she'll march her way over to the front of the place and pull that down to take with them as well, it seemed a marker of what the town once was. It's then that she'll noticed Dargon stepping out with the oats. "Give them here. I will talk with the horse as well." Or talk at it, really. She doubted it was much for conversation.

Horse Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

With the bag in hand she'll wander away from the town square, using some strips of leather to fashion the bag into something of a feed bag. When she finds where the horse is wandering she'll do her best to relax herself, holding out her little project towards. "Come here then. You are probably hungry in this place. If you come with me I will take you somewhere you can get more."

And as the horse draws closer she can get a good look at its barding, reaching up a hand to stroke it along its neck and side. "We shall be friends. Yes?"

Society on the Horse's barding markings: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Assuming it takes a liking to her she will lead it back towards the armory. "Someone fix this cart and the horse can draw it. Good for carrying things."

She herself will wander into the apothecary to see if there's anything she can rummage up inside.

So gathering the Body of probably Potsmasher, getting the sign, talking to the horse, and spending 10 minutes to rummage at the apothecary.

catching up after Paizo site outage this morning.

Medium Dave inspects the body in the inn but doesn't find any evidence.

Skorpa finds census records and historical documents kept by the Goldenflame town council. These records detail the history of the town’s inhabitants and notable events in the town’s history, including festivals, feasts, and the like. They should absolutely be saved!

Mandower Recognizes the armor's iconography to be a portion of the religious symbol of Iomedae.

Veyanna wisely recognizes the inn's sign as a relic of the town — something that should indeed be saved! After getting the sign down, she also collects the remains and places them into one of the the sacks that you were given to transport remains in.

She easily befriends the horse, who eats hungrily. It neighs contentedly after a few mouthfuls of oats, and now docilely follows the sorcerer around. It seems as if you have made a trusting friend.

Veyanna recognizes the colors on the horse's barding as those of Katapesh. Now that she is closer, she also notes that the horse's saddle bears both an engraving of the horse’s name — Desert Wind — as well as the name Larraz Virtanne.

Dargon is not poisoned.

Investigation Round 2: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

"Ya may wanna fix da cart in 'ere. Be bettah den carryin it 'tall." calls out Jorgran.

Heading over the guardhouse, the man ponders what may be found within.

rummage around guardhouse

Jorgran finds a low-grade cold iron buckler. It seems to have been kicked under a bed and forgotten in the evacuation.

Investigation Round 2: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

fortitude save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Dargon moves to assist in gathering the body

Dargon helps move the body in the inn, determining that the corpse was once a gnome or halfling.

Investigation Round 3: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

As a general note, you ARE being timed on these tasks. So, you may want to move on at a certain point before gathering more clues. It has been 30 minutes since you entered Shimmerford.

Dave moves over to teh Apothecary since he is having no luck at the inn. He rummages around there to see what he can find.

Shall we search for more clues crew or move on?

"We are almost done. Let Medium Dave check the Apothecary. You fix the cart. I believe you are the only one that handy. I shall try and identify the undead we killed. Then we can move on to the college." Veyanna settles down near the Armory, horse in tow, and opens the satchel holding the human body to try again to identify something about it she may have missed before.

Society: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Dave finds valuable scented candles, oils, and dried herbs used for aromatic, medical, or therapeutic purposes — it seems the undead have little use for such items.

Veyanna looks at the body and recalls that this type of fine clothing is very popular among minor nobles in Taldor.

Investigation Round 3: bold may act! adding in Med. Dave's fatigued condition lest I forget.

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Mandower will fix the cart craft: 4 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 + (17) = 21

The handy Mandower fixes the cart! With Desert Wind here to pull the cart, you can now transport a large amount of items away from Goldenflame with ease. great job!

Investigation Round 3: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

“I say we gather what we can in the cart and be gone. This is not a place where I wish to linger.”

Skorpa, you haven't even gotten to the college proper yet. So there is a whole other area to check out! Right now, you are locked into a 10-minute activity while the others work, so you might as well make a check.

Skorpa goes back to the scorch marks inside the chapel and studies them.
​​ I’m unclear on whether the scorch marks are in the chapel or on Potsmasher’s body, but that’s what I want to check out.
​
Arcana (Trained): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

The scorch marks are on the pews and walls. Skorpa ponders the markings, but can't make heads or tails of it.

Investigation Round 3: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Veyanna clicks her tongue. " This is Clement if it's anyone. They are from Taldor." She'll carefully close up the cloth around the dead man's body and see that it's moved to the cart.

"Thank you Mandowar. This will help with all we need to carry back. When the others are ready shall we go to the college?" She gives the dwarf a nod of her head in appreciation. And a bit of admiration for the quick work on the cart.

Moving towards the chapel, Jorgran takes a gander at the Ankh. "Me tinks be time ter move on. Dun see much more wes kin figure out 'ere."

Religion(Untrained): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

religion on Ankh, Trained?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Dargon tries to assist, but cannot quite place it, either.

It's a 10-minute walk to the college.

The college's windows are shattered and the doors hang open; the building looms down at you like an eyeless skull.

At the entrance, two wide staircases lead into the college, and centered above them is a symbol of a sword and sun. Those of you trained in religion know this to by the symbol of Iomedae. Engraved into the graying stone is “Goldenflame College, Est. 4083 ar.”

A pair of sweeping staircases lead to a veranda across the entire front of the college, with entrances to a reception area and the main hall on either side.

Lying face down on the porch is the body; this small corpse’s hand is outstretched to the door of Goldenflame College. The body is clad in dirtied white-and-red robes with gold trim, shredded from the back as though by cruel claws. A small notebook has fallen nearby, its pages stained with dried blood.

I will provide the descriptions for each area, as before. Your characters can have done a quick run-through of the area before deciding your tasks.

Goldenflame College Floor 1

Goldenflame College Floor 2

You are free to stay together floor by floor, or split the party across floors.

I have updated slide 1 with the locations and checks available at this time, as well as provided maps with locations on Slide 2.

Investigation Round 4: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Skorpa takes the entrance to the college in. "This place smells of death. I think we best stick together. Who knows what still lurks here." He walks over to the corpse, and studies the claw marks on the back.

Perception check on the body in the entrance.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Mandower will study the body religion: 4 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 + (18) = 22

Skorpa can't quite figure out the body's race.

Mandower studies the clothing and recalls a temple he visited once… this style of dress is favored by priests and adherents of Iomedae.

Investigation Round 4: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Dave will bend and take the book. Flicking it open he shows it to someone in the party who can probably read better than him.

"If they are Iomedae, they are not one of ours. Someone should move them to the cart and we can worry over who they are later after we are safe." No sense in leaving the body behind, even if it wasn't a pathfinder. Someone might still be missing them.

Seeing nothing else of significance at the entrance she gives the horse a pat as she leaves it with the cart. Then Veyanna steps through one of front doors and into the main hall where she can start examining the room, her eyes narrows slightly as if to help her see in the dimmer light. "This place feels as though it will provide more problems. I feel like it is ready to fall apart."

She pulls out her scroll of healing to have at the ready... just in case.

I'll do the automatic success search of the main hall!

Dargon moves to the office and begins a systematic search

Perception Roll 1: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Perception Roll 2: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Society(Untrained): 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13

"Sticken ta'getha seems reasonable." remarks Jorgran as he glances at the book. "Not much fer em book lernens."

Veyanna moves to the main hall and finds an oil painting that had been knocked off a wall and left behind a smashed statue. It depicts a distinguished, handsome halfling woman whose dressed in pristine white finery and sitting in an office full of fine mahogany furniture and books.

Veyanna deduces that the halfling was most likely a former dean of Goldenflame Academy. This is a relic of the town and should be saved. It weighs one bulk.

----

Dargon moves to the offices. He looks around the knocked-over bookshelves, not finding anything at first.

Then he spots a glint of metal in the caved-in portion of the room. It's another Wayfinder.

----

True to his word, Jorgan can't discern much about this book, which is full of esoteric words and diagrams.

----

Investigation Round 4: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Mandower will do some crafting on the torn cloth craft: 4 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 + (13) = 17

Skorpa shakes his head at his inability to discern anything from the body. He moves to the lounge and begins searching.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

"Hmmm. A dean's portrait. Someone might be able to tell who it is. It's good history to take." She'll spend a few moments awkwardly lifting the bulk and dragging it off to join their slowly growing collection in the cart.

"I will check upstairs for any more pathfinder bodies. I am not so good at searching these messy places." She offers in passing by the rest of the party to start testing the stairs. She'll start in the study area upon finding another body, and after searching the room for anything of significance she'll work on moving the poor, dead fellow downstairs where the group can identify it. Maybe grunting and muttering about the manual labor just a touch.

It would need to reach the cart anyways.

I'll spend the 10 minutes on an auto-success in the study area!

Dave moves on to the classroom, looking around for things.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Mandower identifies the torn cloth as handwraps — specifically, the kind used by champion brawlers or boxers.

----

Skorpa doesn't notice anything amiss in the lounge. Sorry, I think that's 3 low rolls in a row, Skorpa :(

----

Veyanna separates herself from the party, going upstairs.

She rummages around, and finds a book ittled The Acts of Iomedae.

It's a religious tome of the faith and beautifully illustrated with illuminated text.

----

Medium Dave walks into the room — and fails to notice that the floorboards are extremely unstable — they collapse under his feet! Please make me a reflex save, Medium Dave!

Investigation Round 4: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave Reflex save needed, fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21