[PFS1][PbP] Baerlie's AS sessions (private)

Game Master Baerlie

Hi,

this is the thread for the Athenaes Siegel PFS sessions for the time of 'social distancing'...

First scenario will be:
Frostfur Captives (1-5)

Please post with your character you want to use for this session.

br
Beatrice

Hello!

I would like to play as Ayaki!

Hi, I would very much like to play as Dimak!

Hey!

I'd like to join as Amun!

So, let's start :)

"Close the door," Ambrus Valsin murmurs as the team gathers in his office. "Let me start by saying, this mission is not for dissemination among other members of the Society." The chamberlain of the Grand Lodge gives everyone a serious look in turn before continuing.

"This mission is not an investigation, just a simple, straightforward assignment, but that makes it no less important. I need you to book passage to the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and cross over into Irrisen. You’re to head north and rendezvous with another team who have captured some —" Valsin pauses for a heartbeat before continuing. "— persons of interest. We have reason to believe that these individuals have information on the Shadow Lodge cells that are refusing to reconcile with the Society under Grandmaster Torch’s leadership."

Valsin’s expression becomes particularly grim at that point. "If these rogue cells are outright refusing amnesty, then they represent a clear threat to all of us. I need you to take charge of these captives and get them out of Irrisen safely and quietly. Once you’re clear of Irrisen, a larger extraction team will take custody of them and bring them in for questioning. Of course, we will cover the expense of your travel in full, and provide maps to lead you to the meeting point in Irrisen. Because of the nature of the mission and Irrisen itself, you’ll be meeting the other team in the field, away from what passes for civilization up there. The team you’ll be getting the prisoners from will show you the best route out of Irrisen, and the castellan of Trollheim has agreed to grant you passage through his lands. You are responsible for avoiding unexpected trouble between the handoff and Trollheim."

Valsin gestures for the team to depart, but pauses, staring at his fireplace for a moment before adding, "Wait. You need to know this. Your prisoners will be goblins. The Shadow Lodge separatists made extensive use of the sadistic creatures as soldiers and servants, and as much as you may want to throttle them, please remember that we need them alive." Then with a final nod for luck, the venture-captain dismisses the group.

You may ask questions, do some shopping etc. And as usual, the Knowledge checks/information. Use the forum die roller to do the check (see 'How to format your text' below this form, you may read the spoiler if you passed the necessary DC.

@GM Baerlie: Thank you for GMing this scenario!

"Bloody hell! Keeping goblins alive? I've never tried that before!" roared Dimak. "Does at least one of you speak their dumb language? Because I definitely do not!"

Dimak also does not have any local or geographical knowledge. So no dice rolls for skill checks on my side because these knowledge checks cannot be made untrained (as far as I know).

Currently I have no need for shopping. But maybe later. And I will ask questions after the group has found a fourth agent.

Hy. I'd like to join as Tene Beralta.

Fidgeting a coin between his fingers Amun buries his face in his scarf while listening."Goblins you say? Well, this could be interesting after all Amun whispers in low tone.
The Sylph raises his head and speaks in a hushed voice "And to answer your question, my dwarven friend, I do not speak their language. But I assume someone will. Either way we better prepare for a long journey and an even longer return."

Amun does not have the appropriate skills either nor do I need to shop.

Ayaki stood in the room with the others, not keeping to any corners or shadows, but standing right in the middle of the room. At the first words coming from Valsin, he tilted his head a bit to the side and one of his ears flicked, finding interest in the kind of mission they might be getting into. But in the end he smiled and looked at the others, at the dwarf and the sylph.

"Well, this will be interesting. Somehow I fear that the goblins are more of a threat to themselves than than any danger we encounter along the way could ever hope to be..." Despite those bleak words, the kitsune boy chuckled a little bit, one of his fingers stroking over a ring he kept on his left hand. "Well, lucky for us, I don't need to sleep long. Just in case we need to travel over multiple days. And sadly I too don't speak goblin... but hey, how about we shop and see if we can find some Comprehend Languages scrolls?" he asked with a wide, confident smile. But that smile quickly faded and he tilted his head once more. "Reminds me... I have no idea if that spell can be a scroll anyway..." But he just shrugged at his own question. "Wanna go and look for some shop?"

Ayaki does not have the necessary Knowledge skills, so no rolls. Also, thank you for GMing for us! :3

Dimak looks from one comrade to the next and back.

"No one here speaks goblin? What about you, Tene Beraltar?" he asks the wizard who has been awfully quiet so far.

"Anyhow, to be on the safe side, let's go look for some Comprehend Languages scrolls - those always come in handy. Maybe there is even a wand with that spell for sale? You know, I really have a knack for that stuff!" he says with a beaming smile and sparkling eyes.

If there is a Wand of Comprehend Languages available, Dimak will buy one for 2 PP.

Comprehend Languages can be put into a wand and you can buy wands in Absalom :)

Your journey from Absalom to northwest Irrisen is long but mostly uneventful.

The camp you are looking for stands approximately 53 miles north of the Rimeflow River and 6 miles east of the Iceflow River. When you arrive the team are already in the process of breaking down their shelters in preparation to move.

Once you reach the camp an Ulfen woman approaches you.

"Welcome. My name is Ragna Lightfoot, I'm the leader of this team." she says while pointing at her comrades. "I assume you are the group that collects the VIPs. Please follow me, we keep them over there." and she leads you to a small tent. Inside, it's much warmer. You see four goblins sitting in the middle of the tent. Hands and feet are tied. "These four are the ones. Frostfurs, Pathfinders. Pathfinders, Frostfurs." she says briefly.

She heads over to a small table. You can see a map of the area. On the map you see a path marked. "You have to take the goblins to the Blackravens team, in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, here." she explains while pointing at a spot on the map.

"You know that theres's a war between Irrisen and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. An attempt to cross the border would rise unwanted attention. Even getting too close to the border could lead into some conflict. The easiest way to cross the Rimeflow River is Harvest's end. There's a ferry that travels several times a day and usually carries merchants and goods back and forth." she says.

Further, she hands you a small crate. "Take this, it's food for you and your freight. Any questions before you leave?"

The four goblins wear warm furs, but no armor or weapons. The crate contains 4 day's reations for each of you and the goblins. (=32 rations)

I'm sorry for the delay.

Roll for Knowledge local:

Roll for Knowledge Geography:

Questions to GM Baerlie (or anyone having a Rule Book):

1) with "Message", i can place a message in the head of a sentient creature, regardless of us speaking the same language?
2) i guess, the spell "Comprehend Languages" makes me understand Goblin, but not speak it?

Tene Beralta looks at the four Frostfur Goblins and tries to understand whether or not the four captives may be a threat or may attempt an escape. Of course, threatening them would be an option, but, on the other hand, he feels that there would be much time on the road to persuade the Goblins that such an idea would be foolish. How apting.

"Well, then the ferry it is, i guess" he proclaims to their host. "Indeeed, there are some questions i'd beg you to answer, if you don't mind. Do these Goblins have any friends which are likely to free them on our way to the Linnorm Kings Land? Do we have to expect any other remarkable peculiarities during our traveling in these lands? Thank you for your help".

Pathfinder 1 is under the OGL which means that you can find all rules online :)

Comprehend Languages
Message

I'm afraid with the Message spell you still have to speak the same language. it doesn’t transcend language barriers and Comprehend lets you understand the language, but not speak it.

Ragna answers to Tene's questions.

"You are not passing Frostfur territory and nobody knows where we took them after capture. And I don't know if you know this, but Goblins and other kinds of creatures are citizens in Irrisen, officially. You must not give them all of their rations at once, they will just eat everything and complain the rest of the trip. You are going to pass Icetooth territory, another Wintergoblin tribe. We don't know where exactly they are hiding, but keep that in your mind."

When Ragna mentions the Icetooths the four goblins start to shout and spit on the ground. Ragna laughs. "Yes, the two tribes are rivals."

"Nevertheless, you decide how to equip the goblins. If you want to give them armor or weapons. Keep them alive until you reach the Blackravens' lodge."

After shopping, Dimak happily waves his new Wand of Comprehend Languages around.

"Isn't she a beauty?" he asks, beaming like he had found an unguarded dragon's hoard.

But a few seconds later he puts it away. "It's time to travel to Irrisen. Let's go!"

"Ragna, I also have a few questions, if you please:

Does the Rimeflow River represent the border of the two lands near Harvest's end?"
I cannot see the map, therefore the (otherwise certainly dumb) question. ;-)

The next questions are asked at a lower volume so the goblins cannot hear them.

"Do these goblins speak or understand some Common?"

"And presuming we decide to arm them: Is there any equipment available or would we have to lend them some of our own stuff?"

Roll for Knowledge local:

** spoiler omitted **

Roll for Knowledge Geography:
** spoiler omitted **

Just a little rule-explaining... ;-)

Knowledge skills (and some other skills, too) cannot be used untrained.
Either you have at least one rank in it - in that case you need to add your total skill bonus* to your die roll - or not: then you are not granted a roll at all.
Therefore, your die roll cannot be just a single d20.

*consists of your INT-modifier (I assume you have at least +3 as you are a wizard), the number of skill ranks and the +3 as all Knowledge skills are class skill for wizards. So you should at least have +7.

Additionally, you can take 10 on any skill (exception: Use Magic Device) as long as you are not in immediate danger or distracted.
Source: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/
(Please correct me, if I am wrong, Baerlie.)

In general, you might want to bookmark https://www.d20pfsrd.com/. It's a great reference for all kinds of stuff in Pathfinder.

Should you feel the need of some help with your PFS character sheet please feel free to contact me any time. ;-)

rules discussions in the discussion thread, please :) Discussion

"Yes, the Rimeflow River is the border also in Harvest's End, but merchants are using the ferry on daily base. You will create less attention. " Ragna answers. "And the goblins speak Common. It's some goblinish Common, but you will understand them. As we don't have any equipment to spare, please use your own, if you have some and think it's necessary."

Seeing that Dimak bought a wand, he himself didn't spend the gold right now and just moved out to start their little journey. A long but uneventful journey, enough time to ge tused to being around the others he was travelling with. But he didn't play any tricks on them. Not yet... maybe later...

Finding the other's camp went just fine, not at least thanks to the perfect instructions, but as Ayaki saw the four goblins tied up, he couldn't help but gulp down at that sight, his ears laying down flat against his head. Nevertheless, as they were briefly introduced, he gave the frostfur goblins a nod, showing at least some respect towards them.

As Ragna Lightfoot mentioned the goblins as their "freight", Ayaki couldn't help but flinch, looking over to the four bound up creatures with a sight that almost asked them for forgiveness. His mood seemed to improve though as the talk switched to the idea of arming them.
"If we get to the Icetooth territory, I'm definitly giving some of my daggers to them. Makes me feel like a slaver otherwise..." he said, shaking his head slowly, before he looks over to the goblins. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Stabbing some Icetooth goblins." he even asked with a little chuckle.

"Alright... any ideas what to do in towns? Should we just keep them bound up? Or can we untie them without them running away immediately?"

As soon as he hears the word 'slaver', Dimak's face turns sour and he gives Ayaki a very stern look.

"I ain't no bloody slaver, even if we keep these goblins in chains..." he grumbles.

"Thanks for explaining, Ragna! I think we can take it from here."

Dimak then turns to his team.

"Alright, my fellow comrades, it seems we have all the information we need. Let's leave first thing in the morning - after breakfast of course!"

"Well, better be seen as a slaver than wake up with a dagger in my back. But to answer your question Ayaki, I don't know about towns. If we untie them they are bound to run away. If we don't we might get in troubles.
But if we play our cards right we might simply be bringing outlaws to the court. If they goblins are citizens then they have laws, and it just so happens that we are carrying some that broke that." Amun said with a witty grin.

Turning to Dimak with a big smile " We can't leave without a proper breakfast, indeed! What does these rations have to offer...
Amun proceeds to check his backpack and makes sure everything is where it needs to be.

Maybe we can continue to progress to critical points in the story with only 2 people posting. And I think its fine if two or three people post WAY more than others, to progress story, gather information, and so on.

Works for me.

Hey, 3 posters. I'm here too.

Ayaki gritted his teeth a bit before he opened his mouth to talk. "The moment I become a slaver, is the moment I'll free my own slaves." he said, seemingly rather serious about this. In fact, this was probably the first thing ever since they departed for this mission that he was serious about.

"Oh, having a nice last night and a good breakfast before we head out sounds wonderful!" he said with a big smile before he followed after Amun to check the rations offered to them.

I guess we are leaving after breakfast!

It seems so. ;-)

"Please excuse me, I have a camp to pack. I guess there is some food outside. You can have some if you like before you leave. The less we have to pack, the better. Good luck!" Ragna says and leaves you alone.

you may roleplay leaving the camp if you like

You follow the path indicated on Ragna's map. The narrow southern pass winds its way through steep, icy hills, the frigid wind periodically dusting all in its path with a layer of snow. Two ancient stone watchtowers stand on either side of the path between two nearly vertical bluffs rising thirty feet to either side, just as Lightfoot’s map indicated they would. The eighty-foot-wide path narrows to a mere twenty-five feet in width between the two fifty-foot towers. The watchtowers appear abandoned.

please see the map linked below the campaign title

After a short (but in no way small) breakfast, Dimak burps loudly.
"One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast!" he exclaims with a wink.
"Is everyone ready for the journey? Let's move!"

As soon as Dimak sees the watchtowers, he stops and looks at the surroundings.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 (no comment ;-))

"This site seems to be abandoned... I cannot see any traces of recent occupation. Do you guys see anything?"

The instant that the towers are visible Amun pays extreme attention to their surroundings.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Amun squints his eyes and tenses up significantly enough that its visible. "It seems this path is guarded even now! Be on your feet! The walls should be covered in more snow than there is lying on the battlement!" he whispers under his breath, just loud enough to inform everyone but silent enough to keep the words from echoing.

After a few hushed words and quick gestures Amun reinforces his defense with "Mage Armor". He continues to speak in arcane words and his eyes glow with an unusual white light.

I cast "Mage Armor" (+4 AC for an hour) on myself and concentrate on "Detect Magic" (60ft Range) to see if magic is involved in the sourroundings or on the battlements.

After the warning from Amun, Dimak looks closer at the walls.
"I see it now - thanks for the heads-up!" he whispers back.

Dimak draws his longhammer and steps forward. (move two squares to the east)
He seems ready to go into rage at any time.

After a nice breakfast, their journey started. But as they had to travel through snow, Ayaki held tight to his clothings, holding on for any warmth that he could get. Secretly, he was just a little bit glad that he had a layer of fur, but in the end this did little to protect him.

"How much further do we have to go..." he said, complaining about the journey on it's first day already.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

At Amun's warning he looked up and noticed the lesser amount of snow on the battlements, and he turned to Dimak and Amun who were already in their preperations.

"Want to bet it's some bandits who take taxes from anyone passing here?" he asked with a little carefree chuckle. "I can go ahead and scout the place if you want."

For now though he stayed with the others, so far not drawing his weapon or casting any spells.

Keeping the battlements in his field of view Amun stays close to Dimak, moving carefully and ready for action.

No, don't split up, we are only three and who knows how many there are ahead. We have to take care of them too." Amun says, nodding in the direction of the goblins. Better not lose any of them, who knows what the consequences on either side could be.

"Also, I'd suggest you take this seriously. I can not rely on a happy-go-lucky wastrel covering our backs..." the Sylph replied to Ayaki with a stern look and a freezing voice as he tenses up even more.

"Not ever again..." he whispered just a tad too loud to be inaudible.

Happy things move along!

Let's move (the whole group) slowly to the east until it is time for Initiative - shall we? ;-)

Rager lead the way!

"Aww, come on!" he said as he stepped forward to follow after the others, keeping his ears peaked despite his careless behaviour. One of his hands placed itself on the grip of the dagger on his belt.

He then looked back to the goblins they were escorting. "Say, that other goblin tribe... are they in this area usually?"

After going a few steps towards east, Dimak hesitates.
With Tene Beralta gone, he seems to have lost some confidence...

New post in Discussion

Dimak takes the lead.

Dimak moves two squares east and two further squares diagonally south-east, standing now in front (two squares east of Ayaki).

Tene Beralta should be no longer on the map. ;-)

You should be able to move the tokens on the map. If not, please tell me.

When Dimak moves further to the east you suddenly hear voices and movement from within the towers.

"It mights be. They lurk around everywhere, nasty beasts." one of the goblins ansers to Ayaki's question.

Something moves inside the towers and the goblins in your middle begin to hide behind Dimak. "This does not sound good. I hears something about a fire." one of them says. "Fire is good, but not if its hits us." another one comments.

Round 1
#1
-----
Friendly Goblins
-----
#5
-----
Amun
Ayaki
Dimak
-----
#3
#4
#1

Ayaki, can you please put your character stats on your character's profile? I could not find the ini value anywhere so I just took the Dex modifier.

Dimak moves another 10 feet to the west, ready for anything that may attack him.

move action 10 feet to the west
ready standard action: attack if an enemy enters a square in his melee range (10 feet)

readied attack with longhammer: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 152d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1) + 4 = 8

The Smokesoul shoots the goblins a stern look. "And you could not warn us before we entered the area? Thank the winds we noticed them before its too late." he angrily whispers before following Dimak.
After a second he looks back again and waves his hand "You better keep up and stay hidden if you value your lives."

Move action to behind Dimak and reading his mace and a kunai.
Ready Standard Action: Throw Kunai at enemy that is within Dimaks range

Readied ranged attack with Kunai: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17 | 1d4 ⇒ 1

A little smile formed on Ayaki's short snout as he heard the reply from the goblins, confirming his suspicion. "Okay, the fun starts here then." he said and moved up forward, but not directly after Dimak and Amun, but off to the right to get behind a rock there, focusing on his defense while he waited for the enemies to make their first strike. Quite possibly their enemies here were believing that they weren't expected, which could make things easier.

Move action (30 ft) to the indicated place on the map. Standard Action: Total Defense.

You'll have to tell me where you want me to write my stats in. I have filled out my Charsheet on Roll20. https://i.imgur.com/9q1qpOQ.png Or do you want me to write my stats in the place where my backstory goes?

Edit: Added my Ini, AC, and HP

You hear more noise from the watchtowers and you hear some wooden door opening. It seems that four goblins reached the top of the watchtowers, two on each side. One of them is carrying a stick with fire, attempting to light something while the other three aim with shortbows to your direction.
[occ]moving up stairs takes some time ;)[/ooc]

The goblins stare at Amun and one of them hisses "You think that all goblins are friends? How should we know what clan infested these watchtowers? It's not us, for sure! Not every goblin is the same, foolish longlegs." But they do as Amun said and follow silently, trying to take cover behind Amun and Dimak.

Suddenly the door of the northern tower opens and a goblin with blueish skin steps out. He wears some kind of a crown made of bird bones and feathers. The goblin aims with a crossbow and shoots a bolt at Dimak.
Crossbow vs. Dimak: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Crit?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 no
range 80ft
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Immediately when the goblins behind you spot the goblins that just appeared they start to scream and spit. "Icetooths! Kill them all! Burn their skins and put their heads on sticks!"

nothing's close enough to Dimak and the Kunai has a range increment of 10ft (I just checked), so also that's too far for the shaman goblin (or if thrown it does not hit the AC)

Round 2
#1
-----
Friendly Goblins
-----
#5
-----
Amun
Ayaki
Dimak
-----
#3
#4
#1

Round 2:

As the bolt scratches Dimak's left arm (he takes only 2 damage because of DR), his face color turns to a dark red and he looks really pissed off.
He runs (charges) 55 feet to the west, swinging wildly at the goblin with the blueish skin and crossbow.

going into rage, activating Reckless Abandon(RA) and Power Attack(PA)

"GNAAAAAAAHHH!"

rage attack with MW longhammer + RA - PA + charge: 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 9 + 1 - 1 + 2 = 23
damage (+ PA): 2d6 + 7 + 3 ⇒ (5, 4) + 7 + 3 = 19

goblin shaman is down

Glad that the green hides follow simple commands he doesnt't mind the sassy remarks from them.
The second fighting begins, Amun ignores the Goblins behind him. The Smokesoul sheaths his Kunai as he would not get in range in time. He starts gesturing with his hands and speaks soft and breathy words of power in the language of air. He starts casting Magic Missile using (1 of 5) 1st lvl slots

After mere moments, a bolt of pure energy emerges from his fingertips shooting for the crowned goblin a great arc.

Magic Missle Dmg: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

As the enemies sprang into action, and as dwarves charge and magical bolts fly, Ayaki was once again reminded of his very limited range, not even being able to reach half the distance. Nevertheless he moved up, focusing his attention on dodging incoming projectiles and willingly exposing himself from behind the rock to maybe draw some attention away from the dwarf.

Move 30 ft, Total Defense

Dimak decapitates the goblin shaman in front of the tower with one single hit.

The goblin carrying the torch looks surprised shortly before a magic missile explodes in his face. With a bleeding nose and some cracked teeth he quickly he puts the torch against a pile of wood which catches on fire.

The goblins with shortbows start to shoot arrows. Two of them fly towards Dimak another one towards Ayaki after you hear "Gat comtin closar!" from the goblin aiming at Ayaki.

green vs. Dimak: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 miss
black vs. Dimak: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 hits
pink vs. Ayaki: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 4 - 2 = 9 1st increment, miss
Damage Dimak: 1d4 ⇒ 2

When your companions see what happens on the northern tower's roof they shout "He's lighting a bonfire, will be seen far from here!" Stop that before other Icetooths sees!

Round 3
#1 (green, shortbow)
-----
Friendly Goblins
-----
#5 (pink, shortbow)
-----
Amun
Ayaki
Dimak
-----
#3 (orange, torch bearer)
#4 (black, shortbow)

Round 3:

Not even feeling the impact of another projectile (that was just barely scratching his left leg), Dimak shouts: "I'll take care of it!"
He then drops his longhammer outside (there is not much room inside or on top of the tower) and runs through the open door of the northern tower, drawing his greatsword.
Dimak moves up the stairs - if there are no enemies blocking access to it - towards the goblin with the fire stick, trying to get into melee.

- free Action to drop the longhammer
- move action to get inside the northern tower (including a free action to draw the MW greatsword) and start to move up the stairs.
- move action to move further up the stairs and engage both goblins (or at least the orange one) in melee - if possible.

If there are other enemies inside the tower, Dimak will only shout a short warning and ignore afterwards them as long as he can move up the stairs. Otherwise: Dimak SMASH! :-D
@GM Baerlie, please move Dimak accordingly.

PS:
I totally forgot Dimak's +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against humanoid creatures of the orc and goblinoid subtypes. o_O
So his attack should have been: rage attack with MW longhammer + hatred + RA - PA + charge: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 1 - 1 + 2
But it did not matter - this time... ^_^