GM Nazard’s Hollow’s Last Hope are Kineticists (Inactive)

Game Master Nazard

I should point out, the skeletons themselves have now fallen apart on the ground. The...whatever...is solely made from rusty metal: the dwarves’ armour, manacles, and cell bars.

Initiative:
Bolkvar: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Kali: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Mathine: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1
Oryn: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Rao: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Thing: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 2 = 4

Everybody but Mathine is up first. The metal thing is about ten feet tall.I couldn't find a good picture to use on the map. The thing doesn't have any weapons (though it's made of some really old rusty ones), but it is roughly humanoid, so it may be able to do some damage with its "arms".

"Let's lure it out into the yard where we have more room to maneuver and we won't get in each other's way."

Oryn starts moving towards the door and looks back to see if anyone is following his lead.

I hope folks don’t mind, but Oryn’s plan is a good one so I’m going to assume you all run with it and advance accordingly.

You beat a strategic retreat. Mathine, zoned out at the sight of the horror, is a little slow, and the armor monster gets one slam at her.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 3) + 6 = 10

The slam is nasty and nearly collapses her lung. She’s able to stagger away after the others. While the creature is fast, it’s size and the small corridors force it to squeeze carefully. Out in the open, however, you’re sure it could outrun any of you.

You arrange yourselves in a semicircle facing the doorway when the creature struggles through.

You’re all up.

With the party spreading out in the courtyard, Oryn notices the severe wounds on Mathine and reaches into his backpack. He retrieves one of the two remaining potions of cure light wounds and hands it to Mathine.

I am not sure if those actions take up my entire turn. If so, then Oryn is done until the next round. If not, he will attack with an air blast and use the two remaining charges in his ring.

Air Blast attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Air Blast damage: 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 6, 3) + 4 = 17

Oryn was close enough to the exit that he's in position early enough to root around for potions. I just skipped several rounds worth of moving since there was really only one place to go. The round we're on is your round for attacks (or drinking potions if Mathine wishes to). Technically, the order is: Mathine, Rao, Bolkvar, Kali, Oryn, THING.

If anything was to be learned from hearing stories told by individuals that have had more than their cups' worth of drink, small pieces of things tended to stick around. Things such as "If it is bigger than you, running is never a bad idea", and "It's always better to not be where the bad things are happening, if you can help it".

Hardly glorious words, but certainly words spoken by someone still living.

In this case, seeing if it would burn was also a viable thought. Otherwise, this was a very bad place to be.
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1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21, Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Rao’s fire bolt slams into the creature, heating the metal and causing it to visibly weaken.

Keeping her shield at the ready, Mathine uncorks the bottle with her teeth and drinks it down before stepping forward to place herself closer to the...whatever it was.

Botting Bolkvar...
Bolkvar flings a set of conjured rocks at the creature, missing miserably.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Botting Kali...
Kali also unleashes a blast of elemental energy.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

The icy ray reacts with the heat from Rao's fire, causing the metal to suddenly become brittle. Oryn's gust of wind slams into the brittle metal, causing cracks to form along its whole mass. It's as if one little bit of force will send the whole thing crashing into pieces...

The creature, unperturbed, reaches for Bolkvar.

Slam: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 6 = 13

Bolkvar, now at 0 hp, is nearly knocked off his feet. He is staggered.

Mathine and everybody is up!

The blow to Bolkvar was particularly disturbing to Oryn. He grabs the last healing potion from his backpack and moves over to Bolkvar.

"Take this healing potion my friend. It is our last one, so we must now all be very careful."

Botting Mathine...

Mathine bravely stands her ground and swings at the abomination.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

The force from her attack finds a wedged crack made by Oryn's air blast that it turn was caused by the alternating heat and frost of Rao's and Kali's efforts. Though the combined damage of your relatively small attacks seems to have been insufficient, the metal construct flies apart, falling inert.

The emerald ring drops to the ground at Bolkvar's feet and stops glowing, though the desire to pick it up becomes too much for him to bear.

Back in the cell ward, though all the iron has left the building, you find a trio of especially large ironbloom mushrooms, and are now sure you have enough materials for the cure.

You rush back to Falcon's Hollow. Though 7 people have died while you were away, Laurel assures you that, if her grandmother's recipe actually works, no more will. She teams up with Lady Cirthana, and the two of them begin to quickly brew the remedy and distribute it. By evening, the sickest of townspeople have begun to recover, and by morning, only a few scattered coughs remain. Though happy the plague has been averted, Laurel still seems perturbed by something, though she puts on a brave face for the time being.

You have successfully completed my (modified) Hollow's Last Hope module and have reached level 2. However, it does seem that interest in the game has mostly waned thin, so I'm guessing there probably isn't interest in continuing this group through with the other modules. Thanks to everybody for participating in this experiment. It seems that while you have an excellent handle on dealing with elemental issues and a host of combat potential, the game assumes you have a broad array of knowledge skills and other abilities, like spellcraft, magic detection, and the like that make a party of only kineticists not particularly viable in a standard campaign.

Thanks for hosting this game. I enjoyed playing a kineticist. Perhaps a well coordinated group of kineticists with different approaches to skill sets: one knowledge based, another spellcraft/magic based, another tools/thievery based would have a better chance. I built my character with dexterity as the primary stat with constitution as its secondary stat. I think my character could perform a lot of the rogue type actions - perhaps not as well, but maybe good enough. Rao's character was charisma focused. The game allowed for using charisma as the primary stat, so it could focus on intimidation and diplomacy. I know healing was a challenge, but both aether and water elements provide healing skills, albeit starting at second level. With proper support magic items to mitigate burn, I think those characters might provide the party with sufficient abilities to offset the lack of divine magic. It is tough to see how a party might evolve when the entire game is run at first level. If you ever decide to run a game with kineticists in the future, I would be interested in playing.

A day away and it reaches this...bah! I would like to say this: you GM’d this well. I like your writing and I think that the experiment was a good one. I think that it would be worthwhile to try a higher level Kineticist module. At lvl1 there isn’t much variation between elements, and at higher levels they diverge by miles

And thank you once more!

Well, the full game would have probably ended around level 8. I have no problem with keeping going, but I'm having to bot far too many people near the end to get any sort of momentum going. Can we do a roll call of seeing who is still here and committed to continuing and who would rather slip away?

Oryn is still here. Love to continue.

Bodies in tree:
2 light crossbows
20 bolts
MW quarterstaff
2 shirt swords
MW shortbow
Hide armour
19gp, 38sp
Signet ring Flaming Hawk

Witch’s Hut:
Necromancy junk (200gp)
Herbalist books (50gp)
Snapleaf(750gp)
Wand of entangle, 25 charges (375gp)
5 potions cure light wounds
Potion of air bubble (CL 3)

Hobgoblin Archer:
Short bow with 41 arrows
Studded leather Armour
2 daggers
2 bear traps
39gp, 78sp
Heavy gold ring with ivy leaves

Monastery:
MW shortsword
Thieves’ tools
50’ silk rope
42gp
Potion of cure light wounds
Torag hymn book (100gp - 300gp to dwarf or collector)
MW Stonemason’s Tools
62gp
Magic ruby (connected to the magic altar in the monastery casts mass cure light wounds plus restores 1 ability point loss)
Silvered light hammer
354gp
MW light crossbow
Potion bull’s strength
Wand of expeditious retreat, 25 charges (375gp)
Plus Oryn’s and Bolkvar’s kineticist rings (Don’t worry, there are more)

Bolkvar sat in the little bar in the little town of Faclon's Hollow, and stared at his ring. Conflicting emotions battled within the heart of the dwarf. He had come all this way to see the workings of his people, to experience the remnants of his past and to understand his powers. On one hand, this had been a tremendous success. By fate for fortune he had fallen in with people similar to him, who had the ability to bend the elements to their will. It was too much of a coincidence to be chance. Moreso, he had this ring. A ring which was now more precious to him than anything he had ever owned before. It was physical proof that he had made the right decision to come, as the powers within it seemed to call to him. He would not have traded it for all of the gold in the mountains.

But on the other hand...what he had found was a monastery to Droskar, the traitor God. And within it were the corpses of loyal follower of Torag. Did his homeland fall because of divine intervention? Did Torag punish the dwarves for turning their back on him and embracing heresy? He did not know, but that line of thinking opened up many unpleasant questions. Questions he did not have an answer to.

With a sight he sat back in his chair. Come what may, he had at least made friends that he could count on. And while Kali was moving on, the rest were still there. So long as the group was still together, he was certain that fate would have something in store for them.

Once the end of the plague has been confirmed, Rao takes some time out to live "according to his standards", as he would put it, while doing his part to talk up the items that they were selling (or giving, in such cases) for a better sale. Depending on the amount of time that they spent there, anyone could find him, though he was usually partaking in one luxury or another. If his newfound renown allowed, getting into the inner ring was one of his goals.

Any trouble that may or may not have occurred as a result of a night out was simply hearsay, as he was certainly a nightly fixture at the card tables, and there were several individuals that would attest to that.

Several individuals did get beautifully written letters from their loves, and might be heard exclaiming it now and again. It would certainly explain why he could now and then be found at a clear table, carefully writing out someone's words... His Celestial was quite the sight to see.

When the party returns to Falcon's Hollow, Oryn goes in search of Kimi. After a time searching, the two of them return to Miss Laurel's shop to recount the activities they encountered.

"... and then there was this snake-like thing that grabbed me and tried to pull me up that enormous tree. It's head was like a dragon and it had arms! I thought I was a goner. With the party's and Gozreh's help, we managed to fight it off. See, look here ..."

Oryn shows Kimi the scar on his right shoulder from the strange creature's bite and continues the party's tale of adventure. a child's version - but that isn't too much different from Oryn's normal mindset :)

Once again Oryn marvels at all the items in Miss Laurel's shop.

"A fine thing you've done Miss Laurel. The folks in Falcon's Hollow are sure lucky to have you around."

With the reunion finished and the sale of the treasure the party acquired during the last week completed, Oryn begins to wonder what the plans are going forward. He returns to the The Goose ‘n Gander to find Bolkvar draining the rest of the beer in his mug. Sitting down next to his friend, he orders a beer for himself.

"I heard Mathine has finished up helping with the identification on the remains we found at that tall tree. Awful glad she was the one helping. I hate having to give someone that kind of news."

Actually, Oryn, I’m going to need you to ignore most of what you just posted. Specifically, everything after “goes in search of Kimi.”

Ok, but if we get the time I will do it later :)

I'll read what happened to catch up, but if I understand it correctly, we are to assume that Marioc was with the group all along.

Okay, here we go again!

While Laurel brews the potions, Oryn continues his tradition of prattling on about your adventures. As he shows her the rings you found, her breath starts at the sight of the heavy gold band with ivy engravings. "Where did you find this?" she asks.

Hearing about the hobgoblin archer, she nods. "Then it is as we feared. My dear friend, Belinda. Her husband is, I guess was, a minor darkwood merchant, one of Kreed's regular distributors. He's been gone a little over a year now. We feared him dead or run off, but seeing this I suppose confirms the former. Belinda frequents the Goose and Gander in the evenings. If I describe her to you, would you find her and return this to her--tell her how her husband likely died?"

Laurel doesn't recognize the flaming hawk signet ring. She's also quite willing to take on the task of caring for the injured fox, if you'd like.

Since Kali was the one who seemed most interested in the care of the fox, I think everyone would be ok with having Laurel assume that responsibility.

The reality of the fate of Belinda's husband washed over Oryn. He has never had to tell anyone that their loved one had passed and the idea scared him. He recalls a conversation he had with his grandfather about his time in the army.

"I had a friend who got lost on a scouting mission. Found him with several arrows in him - face down in a ditch. It was my task to tell his wife when we got back into town. Never an easy thing doing that. Best to use a soft voice, be kind and supportive. Ask if you can do anything for them. They almost always want someone to just sit with them - even if they say they don't want that. Some want to talk, others just focus on other things - things they are used to doing everyday."

Oryn mustered the courage to accept Laurel's request.

"We will take care of that Miss Laurel. Did you know Belinda's husband?:

"It's a small town. Everybody knows everybody, give or take."

Marioc is not one for sad news. He walks with Oryn breathing heavy and stays silent. "Maybe we can talk in riddles, like the sea witches from the stories?", he says trying to be helpful.

Rao's presence was intermittent unless they showed up at the tables where he was idling. Taking advantage of all the pent-up tension from the concerns of the plague, people were often more generous than they normally would be, both with their money and their tongues. A friendly face, voicing some of the same concerns that they had been, a shoulder to commisserate on, a source of comfort, and an ear to just vent into, he was working hard for all that he was (ostensibly) living it up.

Still, there had to be slow days or just off days and this one was such. There was some curiosity about the recipe that Laurel knew, though it was definitely just in passing. When the topic of the late husband was brought up and Oryn accepted, Rao's face was somber. "Conveying news such as that can be difficult. I can help try to do them some justice with the delivery."

”Aye then. Let’s get a move on then. Head over to the drinking hole and bear the bad news.” Before they left, he turned to Laurel. ”Before we go, have any healing potions ye can spare? If we end up going out for vengeance, they’d come in handy. Given how things went last time, I’d rather nay be leaking like an apprentice’s first vase, aye?”

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Upon her return, Mathine goes right away to the inn, hoping to find her mother in the same place and condition as when she'd left for the woods. Of course, running off or getting into trouble would mean she did something, and that's usually the hard part, getting her to do anything at all. Below the frustration, though, there's a genuine undercurrent of worry - leaving her mother in a plague town hadn't been her first choice, it was just the only choice.

Mom ok?

Laurel nods at Bolkvar. ”If this medicine works, you just saved a lot of lives. I’m sure we can hook you up with some healing potions before you head out again.”

You make your way to the Goose and Gander. Looking about, Rao spots Belinda sitting at the same spot at the bar he sat with her a few nights previous before your harrowing adventures. She smiles slyly at him and waggles some fingers playfully.

Also at the inn, Mathine finds her mother pretty much where and as she left her, though she has changed her clothes. She’s also moved their room’s only chair to sit next to the small window looking out on the square.

While the in was not yet quite feeling like home, there was a bit of a relieved sigh when Rao entered the Goose and Gander. The slight smirk on his face was almost suppressed but was instead mediated into a mischievous smirk as he returned Belinda's greeting with a nod of acknowledgement.

"Excuse me, I've got to see a person about a thing," he drawls out of the corner of his mouth to the others and begins to casually make his way towards Belinda. A few seconds are spared with those that greet him, assurances of being present at a game or demurring thanks for work done.

Upon arriving near Belinda, he politely clears his throat to get her attention— the mischievous expression has only faded somewhat— and gives her formal greeting. "Milady. Are you without company at present?"
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I'm guessing because of Bolkvar's Diplomacy check we are counting the information relay successful?

I interpreted Bolkvar’s diplomacy check as trying to persuade Laurel to get them some healing potions, not for telling Belinda about her husband.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

”Oi! Ye finished smooth talking yet? Gettin’ thirsty over here.” Bolkvar asked, rather too loudly.

Marioc sits silently watching the situation unfold. He still isn't sure how to tell the woman the news and hopes to learn such things from the others.

He picks up a mug and concentrates on it. After a moment, it starts filling itself with water. He, then, hands it to Bolkvar as if he has accomplished something incredible.

Belinda smiles back. ”I am presently without company only if you decide not to share the bar with me. You have returned alive from your foray into the wilderness. Rumour around you own was that you and your friends took it into your heads to find a cure for our little plague. Did you succeed or are we all doomed?”

"Oh, I doubt that is a decision that I would ever willingly make," he said with a grin.

Rao slid into the seat next to her and put on a bit of a humble expression, his manner respectful, but very much adopting some mannerisms that one typically sees on the youth, propping his elbow up on the bar and resting his chin on his hand to keep eye contact with her. He did look away to indicate to the bartender that he wanted two glasses and a higher quality of what she was drinking.

"The rumors are reasonably accurate, and the likelihood of lives being lost to the plague in the future should be dwindling drastically." While it certainly was a big deal, grandiose gestures and bravado were hallmarks of the insecure and egotistical. "My compliments to your ears."

The twinkle in his eye and twitch of a corner of his mouth put additional layers into the compliment as well as the extra second or so of a pause—

A pause that started to drag as he finally got a clue as to who she was, and broke composure for a moment, blinking at her in stunned realization.
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Clueless Moves(Diplomacy): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 PERFECT!

Belinda puts her hand to one ear, then looks at her fingers as of expecting blood or something. She stares at him, part amused, part concerned.

Oryn moves over to stand behind Rao.

"I think what my friend is trying to say is that we believe in Miss Laurel's ability to make a cure for the illness that has infected the town. We are confident everyone will recover.

He pauses a bit and a look of sadness appears on his face.

"In our efforts to locate the ingredients Miss Laurel needed to create the remedy, we ran into some creatures that tried to do us harm. One of them was a hobgoblin using bow and arrow with the assistance of some crows. It ran from our first encounter, but we were able to vanish the foe in our second. We discovered that it was carrying this ..."

Tears begin to swell in Oryn's eyes as he shows Belinda the ring.

"I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but I'm afraid your husband most likely ran afoul of this creature during his travels near the Vale."

Oryn nervously runs his fingers through his hair and looks at Belinda.

"If there is anything we can do for you, we are at your service."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Marioc looks at the woman with very sympathetic eyes and says "I'm very sorry."

Aid another diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Having procured a drink Bolkvar made himself scarce, glad that the others were dealing with the inevitable waterworks.

Belinda takes the ring and turns it in her fingers sadly. ”Oh, Allic. I had figured you had run off with a younger woman in the next town when you didn’t come back. To think he was lying dead in the woods all this time.”

SM: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

Marioc freezes at the unexpected reaction. In the most innocent way, he asks "Did you already know?"

Oryn's intervention gave Rao a couple of much needed seconds to gather his dropped composure, as a gaffe such as this was embarrassing. Still, this was not about his mistakes, and he shook it off for now with a look of compassion. His hand on Oryn's shoulder was both support for his message and appreciation for delivering it far better than he likely would have.

Belinda’s look could chill one of Marioc’s ice rays. ”I’ve spent the past year thinking he had run off with some floozy. I’ve always imagined he was dead. I suppose I should forgive him now that I know he didn’t run off on me, and given enough time, I’m sure I will.”

She abruptly gets to her feet. ”If you all will excuse me, I feel like being alone. One of you please enjoy my drink.”

She gives Rao a small smile, glares at Marioc, and glides our the door and into the evening air.

Marioc, not realizing what just happened, grabs himself some ale and sits down, pondering Belinda's words. He knows nothing of the matters of the heart and they all seem a mystery to him. Maybe one day he will understand.

He knows the cool air of evening well. Somehow being on land is strange to him, but the taste of ale is enough to disperse any thoughts about the sea. He decides to drink himself to sleep.

"Well that was unexpected. I would have thought she would have been more upset. Sometimes I just don't understand people."

Sitting down next to Marioc, Oryn adds

"I think Marioc has the right idea - barkeep, bring me an ale please."

Rao remained at the seat at the bar for a while. He had claimed Belinda's drink, though beyond a sip— more out of curiosity for the vintage than thirst– it remained untouched. From afar, it seemed that he was in contemplation.