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

Game Master Doug Hahn

Medium Dave leaps out of the way, just in time!

He sees the faint glimmer of an object in towards the back of the hole, near the pit. You've opened up a new exploration optino: retrieve the metal object from the hole. It will take 10 minutes to climb in and back out again.

Investigation Round 4: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave Fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Dargon moves to the classroom and spends time exploring the hole.

Dargon finds an ornate, ceremonial longsword with a golden, wire-wrapped hilt and a pommel set with large rubies.

Dargon recognizes that the sword’s normal function is to serve as an important ceremonial item in services held by the church of Iomedae. Although its main use is for ceremonies of cultural or religious significance, it can be wielded as a nonmagical, battleready longsword.

Investigation Round 4: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave Fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Botting Jorgan

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Jorgan moves to the offices and examines the body, discovering that its mouth has large, broken-off tusk stumps.

Investigation Round 5: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave Fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Mandower will search the well perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Skorpa moves to the offices to see if there's anything that was missed.
Perception on the other 1/2 of the offices.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Dave will move into the lounge. After his exertions dodging pits he needs a lie down. He looks around.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Veyanna will flip through several pages of the tome she's found before pocketing it. There were a lot of tomes, but that one seemed worth taking along amidst their growing collecting of relics. "It sounds like the half-orc is Bryrigar. If anyone would like, I found another body upstairs that needs to be checked. I will search some of the other rooms."

With little else to say she heads back up the stairs, glancing over her shoulder once before reaching the second floor. She'll move over to some of the dorm rooms and begin to rummage through them for anything of note.

I will search Dorm Rooms A and B for an automatic success!

Mandower finds nothing in the well. It's very clear there's nothing here, in fact. this was a success, even though Mandower rolled low.

----

Skorpa finds an amulet. It's made from polished tektite trapped in a cage of braided wire, hanging from a silken cord.

It's clearly magical in nature, but someone trained in religion will need to spend ten minutes trying to identify it. correct me if I'm wrong, I didn't see any feats in your profiles that let you ID something more swiftly.

----

Dave hears faint, ragged sobs coming from beneath the sofa.

This is something we can resolve after this round of investigation, as the others’ searches are happening concurrently.

----

Veyanna remains separated from the party, searching the dorms upstairs alone. She finds a drawer filled with dusty jewelry. Treasure!

Investigation Round 5: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave Fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Jorgran grunts and moves towards the remaining two dorm rooms. "I's gun check 'em out."

Search Dorm C and D for auto success

Jorgran, alone upstairs with Veyanna, finds a dirty vial of holy water.

Investigation Round 5: bold may act!

Dargon
Jorgan
Medium Dave Fatigued
Skorpa
Mandower
Veyanna

Dargon heads upstairs to check the other body.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Sorry Dargon! The study area doesn't have a body! This was my mistake in creating the slide; I think I copied another section's checks. I'll move you into the Dean's room, since that's the only perception check available on the list available on this floor. Hopefully this didn't cause too much confusion.

There is a statue in here depicting a chariot wheel wreathed in flame. It has religious significance, and you can make a Religion check to identify this. The statue is 10 feet by 10 feet, and would need to be carried by several people in order to be moved. Unfortunately, this means that the trap will trigger as there is no way to get it out of the room otherwise.

Statue marked on map, as well as trap area.

Dargon notices the ceiling looks rather weak, and can hear several creatures scrabbling around above. The ceiling might fall at any minute… or if more of these creatures pile up upon this spot. It sounds like there are many of them.

The sobbing under the sofa stops. It seems as if whoever's hiding in there knows someone's in the room with them.

Dargon also tells you that there's an important-looking statue upstairs, but the ceiling might collapse, and there are creatures in the attic.

Right now, the party is faced with two problems. 1) there is a trap upstairs that will release creatures in the ceiling. 2 there is a creature hiding in the lounge sofa, quietly weeping. You should deal with these situations as a team. Please let me know which you want to deal with first, and — in-character — how your PC approaches the problem!

Dave really wants to find out who is crying behind the sofa.

Nodding at the information, Jorgran considers the situation for a moment. "Tinkin one sobber vs us all wes may able ter swing ter ours side."

"Iffen, it be wit ones o'er ceilin, perhaps get all on ours side."

I suggest we try to make friends with the one behind the sofa first

Couch it is!

The sniffling behind the couch quietly begins again. It seems as if you will need to call them out.

I hear you cryin'. What's wrong?

A couch cushion is pushed up, and you can see a man's tear-streaked eyes peering out at you. The cushion then quickly drops back into place, and you can hear ragged, panicked breathing from within the sofa.

It seems as if this person might need some encouragement to come out.

You can come out. We wont hurt you.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Veyanna returns to the first floor with a small collection of dusty, worn jewelry in hand. She pauses when she doesn't see anyone in the immediate area, eyes scanning about in confusion. Medium Dave's muffled words eventually catch her attention and she moves down the entry hall until she finds him in the lounge.

With a frown she tucks the jewelry away and considers the scene. "Did you find someone, Medium Dave? You have probably scared them. Big Dave may be larger, but you are still big yourself."

She does her best to seem a bit more personable, which isn't a significant difference in her demeanor, and takes several steps into the room. "If you are a pathfinder or a member of the college we have come to recover you. If you are somebody else, then you are lucky because we will take you out of here as well."

"But please do not hide, we do not have long and must collect a very large statue."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

A man crawl s out of the couch. He looks emaciated — possibly starving to death — and he's trembling. It's been so long since I saw people — real people? You're Pathfinders? Oh, thank goodness! I'm Larraz — Larraz Virtanne. I'm a pathfinder, too. Or, was. We were… trapped. In the village. I made my way up here. I'm the last… all alone. Been alone for month, maybe more. The dead come every so often, searching for— he shudders — survivors.

What are you doing here? Do you have food?

"Got me rations." replies the dwarf, tugging a piece of hard tack free to offer out. "You sure yous on'y one? Aye creatures upstairs too...dey not witcha?"

He eats ravenously, talking with his mouth full. Creatures upstairs? Nope. Things crawling in the attic. Don't go there. As to my friends, maybe you have seen them. We fought some undead outside in the village — I got separated. That was a month ago. Maybe you seen them? Gibb Potsmasher, a goblin firestarter. Kailli Thimbleberry, a gnome you won't soon forget. Osprey Pierces the Tide, fighter with charisma. Even lost my horse, poor thing. Desert Wind deserved better. He lets out a ragged sigh. They all did… but maybe some of them escaped. Have you see any of them?

Skorpa enters the room as Larraz describes his companions. "I'm sorry. We found Potsmasher's corpse in the chapel. None of the others. But your horse is waiting outside. Unless the dead have gotten to it," Skorpa says bluntly.

Larraz spends a heavy-hearted moment of silence for Potsmasher. Then his eyes will up with tears of joy at the news about his horse. You found Desert Wind!? If she's been safe alone this long, I'm sure she is fine right now. After another long moment, he wipes away the tears and stands up taller. There's still hope, then. I'm a pathfinder too! Tell me how I can help. What's your mission here?

“We’re here to find any relics and pathfinders—dead or alive—that didn’t make it out of the Gravelands. If you’re strong enough, I hear we have a statute upstairs that needs moving. And if you can fight, it sounds like we’ll have to do that too.”

That's an important relic of the town. I can also help identify any… remains… of my friends, if you have found them. Just let me know.

Laraz can help you. He has some druid spells prepared.

Well if'n we ain't got more to do in the vicinity we should move on, lest anyone else waants a shot at whaat's in the roof
Dargon looks at the ceiling with an eyebrow waggle, and an excited grin.

"The only ones we have found as Potsmashers. And ones that I suspect are not from your team. We will take you to your horse soon." She gives Dargon something of a look for wanting to attract attention and a fight. "That seems a poor choice. It would be better to try and make certain the roof does not fall on us, get the statue, and go. Before a swarm of undead find us and we wind up like those we found."

She considers Larraz for a moment. "I think you should be ready with any magic you have prepared in case things go poorly, but stay back for now with me. We are the more vulnerable ones here compared to the rest. Unless you are good at stopping a roof from collapsing on our heads?"

She looks at the rest of the party. "Or anyone else?"

"If we can get the statue out without dropping the ceiling, that would be good. But I fear the statue is the only thing keeping the roof up at the moment. If anyone has any suggestions, now's the time."

Any ideas on getting the statue out, without setting off the trap? I have no relevant skills.

You look upstairs at the statue in the dean's office. It is not holding up the ceiling, but the space that you can safely walk is only 5 feet wide, while the statue is 10 feet by 10 feet wide. see the slide and marked trap.

The statue weight 16 bulk, and you will need to distribute that weight among you without exceeding your maximum bulk limit. Otherwise, you cannot carry it.

Maybe we should come back for this.

Nodding slowly, the dwarf sighs.

"I 'gree with Mandow. Mayhaps we betta clear rest den grab big statue."

Veyanna gives the two dwarves a rather flat, bland look. "We have cleared the rest. The statue is it. When we go we do not come back, and I doubt anyone will. Too many undead. If none of you strong types wish to deal with the ceiling and the creatures the blunt way, or carrying the statue. Then we abandon it and go."

Which she thought was a poor decision since the statue was the most significant thing they'd found outside of Larraz, but she wasn't going to belabor the point. "We need a decision and to stop standing around waiting for something to find us and eat us."

"Mandower and Jorgran wish to go. I would like the statue. Medium Dave, Dargon and Skorpa. What do you wish to do?"

I can carry the statue, when the time is right.

"Oh, we's needs statue wit us. I's jess worried bout big ting. Kin ya shore up da room to remove betta?"

“Yes we should grab it. What do we know about the floor up there?”
What do we know about the trap?

What do we know about the trap?

There's no way to tell exactly what is in the attic, but Veyanna theorizes that the creatures upstairs are probably very hungry (just like everything else in the region), and will rush towards any potential food source. If you stand under the weakened rafters, these creatures might gather above you, their weight causing the ceiling to collapse on your heads.

Functionally, treat the marked area like a pressure plate. If you step on it or drop something heavy on it, you will set off the trap. Shoring up the ceiling might be an option, given time and supplies.

To determine how much of the statue you can pick up, determine your max bulk limit (10 + your strength modifier), and subtract all the current bulk of your gear and items. The leftover is what you can contribute to carrying the total load. If you can distribute the 16 bulk among yourselves and still move, you can get the statue to the cart.

It sounds like the group wants to try and move the statue. Please let me know how you want to proceed based on what you know.

"I'm sure we're strong enough, but I don't think it's as simple as walking up there and carrying it out. We must figure out a way to keep whatever's in the ceiling from falling onto us. I'm not a carpenter, so I don't know if we have the tools or skills to fortify the ceiling. Any ideas would be welcome."

Ok so from what we can tell there is nothing wrong with the floor itself, just that if we step in certain spots the creatures will gather above us and fall through the ceiling? The white spot marks the trap? It's unclear from the way it's marked, but can we even enter the room without setting it off? Or is it only a problem while we're carrying the statue?

Bulk wise I think there's enough of us martial-types to carry it.

Sure, you can get in without setting off the trap if you're careful, but I do not think it's possible to get the statue out without setting off the trap; you need more than one person to carry the statue, and there is simply not space to have two+ people carry the statue without stepping onto the trap area. In the end and given the time onstraint, may be simpler to just set off the trap on purpose… although I certainly welcome creative ideas!

"I shall try something, since I am not built to carry heavy things." Or for carpentry. She's never bothered to build more than a lean-to while traveling.

Veyanna moves down the hall from the others so she can stand in the doorway of Dorm room A. While she was no carpenter, she knew that attics tended not to have walls where the rooms below did, so she was going to attempt to draw the creatures away from the statue room.

She holds her hands out and chants a few words. There's a flicker of distortion, like a sound wave rippling the air, and then a loud barrage of noise like several people clattering around begins to emanate from the empty dorm. "Maybe this shall draw them away while you move the statue."

She keeps up the little cacophony and even adds to it on her own by pushing something off a nearby table.

I'm using ghost sound, which makes noise up to as loud as four humans shouting to try and lure whatever is up there away from the weaker ceiling.

I like it.

Claws scrabble in the attic, leaving the Dean's office safe… for the moment.

With the cacophony Veyanna is making, you can try to move the statue quietly. Anyone who wants to move it can attempt stealth checks to try and get the statue out without the creatures above hearing. I will give you a bonus on the check because of Veyanna's plan. Functionally, this will work like the checks you made getting here, where someone "leads" to assist everyone else, and if enough of you succeed you can get out safely.

If your character wants to help carry the statue, please: 1) Tell me know how much bulk you are taking on, following the encumbrance rules 2) Put your mini next to the statue where you want to grab it (you can get in position without triggering the trap thanks to Veyanna) 3) roll a stealth check to see how quiet you are getting it out of the room!

I updated slide 1 with your character tokens and a larger view of the entire floor.

Mandower is carrying 2 bulk right now and his bulk limit is 14.
So he can carry 12 bulk of it.

This is a great opportunity to practice the new bulk system! Mandower's adventurer's pack is 2 bulk; the war flail is 2 bulk. So he's carrying 4 bulk (4.3 with the hammers, but we'll round), meaning his limit is 10, unless he puts down the adventurer's pack first. Don't forget to make a stealth roll with your post, too.

Skorpa can carry up to another 6 bulk.

Stealth (Untrained): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

It looks like Skorpa and Mandower can carry the statue, although others are welcome to help carry the load. Realistically, it's probably best to share the burden across more than two people, as any complications might make you drop your portion of the statue and damage it. The more people carrying the statue, the less chance this occurs.

Everyone should participate somehow. If you don't want to help carry the statue, you can help Veyanna. To do so, can make a bluff or perform roll to see how realistic the noises you make are.

What people are doing to bypass this trap:

Dargon: ?
Jorgan: ?
Medium Dave: ?
Skorpa: Carrying 6 bulk, stealth check made.
Mandower: Carrying statue (10 bulk). Needs to make stealth check.
Veyanna: Concentrating on a spell in Dorm A.

stealth: 4 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 + (10) = 14 Barbarian sneak.