GM Nine-Tuiles's Consortium Compact (Inactive)

Game Master VixieMoondew

"Well to be honest, we're a group that's interested in fair trade. You understand, the way Abadar intended. It seems that the previously mentioned Aspis make their coin by purposely failing to honor contracts and leaving trading partners to clean up after their mess. At their own expense no less." Cillian pauses a moment to let that sink in. "It's really only a matter of time before those snakes take advantage of you. Have they paid their bill for this month? We have reason to believe they are coming later. We intend to make certain they don't try to empty the warehouse." He again waits for his words to be absorbed. "Look, the Inner Sea is littered with people and groups who think they will profit from a relationship with the Consortium. Truth is, the only ones getting any advantage from working with the Aspis ARE the Aspis themselves. Everyone else is just a victim waiting to happen."

As far as I can tell, Cillian has not lied or fabricated. He is trying to be honest (as best as the player can recollect).

Fair enough! The module requires I make this a Diplomacy check. That said, I'm allowed to give a few bonuses; take a +4 for having fostered some doubt in the feasibility of a good working relationship through success in an earlier task, and a +2 for good roleplaying/reasoning.

You've already said plenty, so feel free to just make the roll to go along with it!

If anyone else wants to Aid, please don't hesitate to do so.

Diplomacy (Inspiration/Bonuses): 1d20 - 1 + 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5) - 1 + (6) + 4 + 2 = 16

That'll do it ;) Good choice of reroll, by the way!

The woman lowers her sword, and the divine folk in the scale mail sighs.

"Look, we know the Aspis aren't trustworthy," says the swordswoman, "I imagine the bigwigs figured we could scratch our backs together and both come out with a benefit."

She scratches her chin and walks in, unless stopped-- taking care to step around the bear trap, which she's now had plenty of time to take notice of. "No idea if they've paid their bills this month, but we're not fools. Pretty sure they'd ask for that up front, given the reputation. Whatever it is they're shipping, though, given how the past few days have gone I'm half-expecting they'll drop the whole cargo into the sea. Incompetence is a sin no organization will forgive no matter the reputation," she professes.

"The rest of you fine with clearing out?" she asks of her team.

There's an affirmative chorus, and she shrugs.

"We'll be reporting everything to our superiors, mind you."

If no one stops them, they're off... and you have a short time to set up, reconfigure, take positions, etc. before the next group shows up.

Like that GAPING HOLE in our defense that was two giant warehouse doors, lol. Sure, walk right in uncontested.

In some fairness to you, in order to access the rest of the warehouse from there they'd either need to climb stairs or a broken elevator, making them funnel into suboptimal conditions and/or slowing them down while you deal with other threats!

Great job, Cillian! Is there any way to close that gaping hole before the next group shows up? Or do we just want to funnel them in if it gets ugly?

That’s up to you! Side note...

Night has now fallen; while you barely got any light in with the skylights blocked off, now the warehouse has fallen into darkness.

Unless, of course, you’d like to light the lanterns hung around the walls for just this purpose.

It’s quite up to you!

And those stairs are blocked off with crates!
Not that gaping a hole :-p

Butch grasps a potion in her off hand while she waits, but is otherwise willing to see what light their foes bring. Could go bad if they all have darkvision, but otherwise we'll have a light advantage. ::shrug:: If other folk don't want to chance it though, that's fine by me.

Way to go, Cillian! And I'm actually ok with the double doors. If we know where they're coming in, it may be easier to ambush them. That said, is there a way to lock the double doors?

Dominic goes to the double doors to look for a way to bar them or lock them from the inside. He fumbles back to his position behind the crates, and then pulls out a potion to have it at the ready.

Potion of Mage Armor

Dominic doesn't find any padlocks sitting around, but maybe there's a way to be resourceful here.

I have ideas, but I'm the GM and I shouldn't be telling you :P if you want to roll me a Wisdom check, I'll share if you roll high!

Wisdom check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Maybe we could...wait, what is that dog doing? Nevermind. Now, what was I about to say? Ah poop! It was a pretty good idea too.

Bethany points to one of the crates. ”Maybe we can push crates up against the door? Or rip o—I mean remove one of the boards from a crate to bar the door?”

Butch rolls her shoulder impatiently, and gives a curt nod. "Fine. We should still leave them one clear path though. Otherwise there's no reason for them not to still surround us."

Dominic takes one of the crates and breaks the wood down to nail it across the doors.

Craft, Carpentry: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Yulau nods at Bethany. ”I agree. Maybe we could nail a couple boards in place and bar that easy way in....”

Remembering that these are sliding doors, Dominic-- with his impressive carpentry skills-- instead props the board between the handle and the floor, preventing it from rolling open, and does the same on the other side.

At the very least, it should slow down whoever's coming in, and probably make a big noise when (or if) they do!

Seeing the party working at the door using a crate for supplies, Raimei carefully pulls a couple of the nails out of the former crate and drops them into the bottom runs for the door, hopefully to the effect of slowing and/or preventing the door from sliding open.

As everyone returns to their favored positions, feeling somewhat good about the job they've done, you hear a door creak open in the lower level of the warehouse-- right where you've just come from!

And then you hear three heckin puppers BOOF BOOF BOOF.

And then the GM rolls initiative for everybody! Oh golly that's a lot of initiatives--

Round 1
Aspis Cutpurse (Red)
The Pale Butcher
Aspis Monk (Orange)
Bethany
Raimei
Cillian
Yulau
Dominic
Doggo 2 (Blue)
Doggo 3 (Green)
Scout (Blue)
Healer (Green)
Doggo 1 (Red)

There's the dull sound of wood on wood as someone tries to pull open the door you all just blocked!

And Butch seems to react to this quicker than anybody!

The Pale Butcher may act!

Butch chugs her potion, and takes off towards the sound of cracking wood, growing larger and larger with each step!

Butch's footsteps transition to THOOMs as justice grows in the warehouse.

Meanwhile, the man in the well-fitting martial arts clothes' eyes widen as he sees three angry-looking dogs. Deciding he'd rather not be where he is just yet, he tries to climb the boxes beside him!

Climb: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

And boy does he suck at it!

Aspis Cutpurse (Red)
The Pale Butcher
Aspis Monk (Orange)
Bethany
Raimei
Cillian
Yulau
Dominic
Doggo 2 (Blue)
Doggo 3 (Green)
Scout (Blue)
Healer (Green)
Doggo 1 (Red)

Everyone but Butch may act!

Cillian jabs at the pair as they come closer and attempt to climb. "I have two here!"

Glaive vs GREEN (reach/high ground): 1d20 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (10) - 2 + 1 = 9
Damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Not certain who is rolling for the dogs

I'll be handling the doggos, FYI.

Bethany calls upon Apsu’s protection to guard her against the oncoming Aspis. Cast Shield of Faith on herself

Yu moves to get a line of sight on the closest enemy. She then fired a magic missile.

Damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Dominic downs his potion, immediately feeling a protective field of magic around him. He flicks out his scorpion whip and steps out to take stock of the Aspis.

Potion of Mage Armor. Dom's AC becomes 18

The tengu priestess moves to the center of the warehouse, then makes herself pretty gosh darn bright as she casts Light upon herself.

"Awkkk Cawcawcawwwwwwwwww K-shhhh *rumble* K-sssh caw caw!" she intones reverently in Tengu...

Perched atop the boxes, Cillian's glaive swings down in an arc, hitting the healer straight on the head!

Unfortunately, he was holding it upside-down, and the cutting slice that the elven investigator was going for becomes something more of a gentle stroke with the dull back end. The healer looks at Cillian with an expression of pity.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group readies for battle with some quick spellwork, and Yulau feels the familar tone of her wand having locked on to an enemy before she fires a shot at him.

The look of pity is quickly knocked off the healer's face.

And then the dogs attack.

Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Both go after the one who's nursing a bruise from Yulau's missile. While one is unable to get a proper jaw-hold on them, the other manages to yank on their ankle.

They topple to the ground, and are quickly forced to deal with being on their back against a fighting dog.

Cillian is the only one in a good position to see what happens, but it's... messy.

Hearing all the carnage from inside the warehouse, someone on the opposite side tries hard to wrench the door open:

Strength Check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Again, you simply hear the sound of wood on wood. No crunches yet (aside from those coming from the dog run...).

The third doggo, a little slow, zooms into the standing space provided from the fallen cleric and tries to do at least as well as its friends:

Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

This one has some success as well, biting down on the man's hip and tearing a chunk off.

Such good boys!

Well, from your perspective, anyway.

You hear a swear from the outside of the warehouse near the sliding doors, and movement. It sounds like someone's coming around the dock...

Aspis Cutpurse (Red)
The Pale Butcher
Aspis Monk (Orange) (-4)
Bethany
Raimei
Cillian
Yulau
Dominic
Doggo 2 (Blue)
Doggo 3 (Green)
Scout (Blue)
Healer (Green) (Alpo)
Doggo 1 (Red)

The Pale Butcher may act!

Not sure of the exact speed this will allow, so I'll move closer to Blue if kosher.

The Pale Butcher stepped onto the locked elevator platform, and gingerly lowered herself to the floor beneath, squeezing between the walls of crates to form a second line of defense.

Aww, such good puppos!

Butch, I'd say that the floor is 10 feet down. You can just hop down (which would do nonlethal fall damage if you don't make a DC15 Acrobatics check) or you can, as you described, lower yourself gingerly, which I would interpret as "going prone, then carefully swinging yourself over the ledge to shorten the fall." So if you choose the cautious option, you'd end your turn right at the base of the elevator; if not, you'd just subtract 10 feet from your total movement.

I'll end at the base - I'm not in a hurry

Seeing that he is surrounded and outnumbered, the monk takes a moment to center himself before lashing out!

Flurry of Blows: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Flurry of Blows: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

With a yipe, the doggo with the red collar (and red muzzle, at this point) stops tearing into the fallen healer. RIP James.

Aspis Cutpurse (Red)
The Pale Butcher
Aspis Monk (Orange) (-4)
Bethany
Raimei
Cillian
Yulau
Dominic
Doggo 2 (Blue)
Doggo 3 (Green)
Scout (Blue)
Healer (Green) (Alpo)
Doggo 1 (Red) (-3)

The rest of the party (minus Butch) is up!

Dominic rushes to the edge of the platform. He swirls his finger and casts a spell at the Aspis to cloud his mind.

Cast Daze. Will DC 13

Well, I don't want to hit the dogs. Trying to find an opening, the investigator's strike is tentative at best.

Glaive {reach/high ground}: 1d20 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) - 2 + 1 = 7

"Precious? NOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Raimei shouts as she runs over to try and save the doggo that was dropped by the monk.

Unfortunately, it takes a lot of movement to get close. Hang on pupper! Hang on!

Double Move

Yu keeps firing magic missiles at the closest enemy.

Damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Cillian fumbles with his glaive; it looks more like he's trying to delicately moves some equipment around than anything combative! Oh well.

Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Although he can just barely see the top of the monk's bald head where he is, his bare pate acts as a beacon, and Dominic's magic strikes true; the man wobbles on the spot, seeming suddenly punch-drunk.

He seems even moreso after Yulai's wand flicks a fat bolt of arcane force at him, and he looks like a boxer in need of one more smack.

Aspis Monk is at 0HP, and is considered Disabled!

Doggo Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Crunch.

And he goes down.

There's the sound of footsteps on the dock moving away from the nearest door...

...and then the most horrible sound many of you have ever heard screams through the warehouse. It's a piercing wail that does not let up!

You're pretty certain it's coming from that purple shrieker mushroom you all set up earlier.

Aspis Cutpurse (Red)
The Pale Butcher
Aspis Monk (Orange) (Beggin Strips)
Bethany
Raimei
Cillian
Yulau
Dominic
Doggo 2 (Blue)
Doggo 3 (Green)
Scout (Blue)
Healer (Green) (Alpo)
Doggo 1 (Red) (-3)

The puppers happily munching away at the fallen foes, it is now up to the Pathfinders to work out the rest!

Everyone's up!

The elf leaps off the crate up to the upper warehouse and takes up a position near the door, ready to strike.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

"Chirp Awk wrbl wrbl kkkkkk woof woof!" Raimei intones, brandishing her nine-ring broadsword and shaking it a bit to make the rings 'sing' in a gentle soothing non-hangover irritating sort of way.

Channel Energy (Positive) Excluding the two Aspis via Selective Channel: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Raimei should be in a good spot to do this, if she needs to move closer to the puppers whe will do so.

Red Doggo is 30' away from you, so I thiiiiink that works? It works.

Bethany heads off towards the mushroom, watching anxiously for any assailants.

Double move

Unwilling to go anywhere near the hounds, Butch decides to relocate towards the newest breach
Climb check/Pull up: 1d20 ⇒ 9 If that's enough she'll take her 2nd move to get closer. If not, try again I suppose?
Climb check/Pull up: 1d20 ⇒ 3 ::facepalm::

You're smack-dab in the corner (+10 for two surfaces to brace yourself on), not to mention fairly tall at the moment (+1 to STR mod). Plus you have 19 STR before all that, so... I think a 9 translates to a 24? You make it up just fine. Hell, I'm not even sure it slows you down!

-5 ACP cancels out the enlarged Str Mod, but I wasn't counting the other modifiers :-)
Moved on slides

I always forget about ACP!

Yulau and Dominic are up!

Yulau will move under the skylights on the map, giving her an opportunity to see what the mushrooms were shrieking about.

Dominic sprints across the warehouse towards the door where the mushroom is.

Double move