MYSTERIES UNDER MOONLIGHT PART 2: THE HOWLING DANCE PFS 1st edition (3-7) (Inactive)

Game Master Lance K

@Finnius: Kala would've flanked with you on red, but she gets to share the Outflank feat with Stinky. She wasn't deliberately messing with you.

Oh, I'm not worried about it- I'm not a rogue that needs the flank to get my damage off, I just saw the potential opportunity and forgot that I couldn't 5 ft step.

Wand charges used (left)
Magic Missile 1 (40)
Mage Armor 1 (42)
Enfeeblement 3 (47)

Did we do knowledge checks to find out what kind of weapons we need again vampires?

Them having cold iron/silver has been thinking on it and whether we knew which of those two was relevant.

I'm just going to say you know the common stuff from last session. Stakes, garlic, holy symbols, etc.

Remember Davorge had told you that Theodurus was frantically investigating a vampire outbreak in the city that he believed existed so it makes sense he'd be out here looking for vampires.

I think I would rather address this in discussion. Basically, somebody wants their character to do something that may derail the scenario or at least cause the group to lose out on treasure, boons and or prestige points. This happens, not a big deal. I also don't want to hamper a characters actions but if you're going to make a bold action, I think its fair to accept it may have consequences.

There being a chase seen means that at a miniumum, this would probably take Arbiscar out of the adventure. But would he be able to catch up with the party and participate in later encounters? I'm not sure. I feel like he might miss a pretty big part of the adventure going this route. You could also just not help this NPC in order to keep the party together. After all, your mission is to stop Tulvatha, not rescue random people along the way.

Theodorus is hostile, meaning he will try to escape or slow the party down or interfere with their goals at every opportunity. The DC for improving attitude for a hostile creature is 25+level+Cha modifier. A really great check could make him unfriendly or indifferent at best. Arbiscar already tried that and failed but someone else could take a swing at it. You could also get him to comply with Intimidation checks. That makes him act friendly for 1d6*10 minutes. You can redo this check, but every subsequent check has a +5 increase to the DC. Even at indifferent or friendly due to Intimdation, he's still going to make escape attempts when combat breaks out and he will slow the group down.

Arbiscar could also depart from the scenario at this point so that he can bring Theodorus back to Magnimar. I would write up a chronicle sheet using the guidelines for someone who was unable to complete a full session.

In regards to roleplaying one thing to remember is that there really isn't a police department to bring people too. Every city or region has its own authority, and in Magnimar's case it would be the Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor is the one who hired Theodorus in the first place and since Arbiscar is one of the Pathfinders who rejected the ribbon, he might be more inclined to believe Theodorus. It would be Arbiscar's word against Theodorus, who would that the Pathfinders were a transformed into werewolves and that they abducted him. Arbiscar did say arrest, not abduct; but then again the Pathfinders don't really any authority to arrest people, so truth detecting magic would back up Theodorus's claims. The most likely outcome is that the Lord Mayor will just let Theodorus go, with a stern recommendation to head back home because he has been causing trouble lately. But if Theodorus was particularly convincing, in theory Arbiscar could find himself rotting in a dungeon, waiting for Sheila Heidmarche to negotiate his release.

I don't want to railroad your character by any means, but I also feel like there might be some context missing here. I do think there would be rational, in character reasons for Arbiscar to release Theodurus, such as a desire to keep his promise to Luyvire or complete the mission; but I don't know your character as well as you do. If you're committed to Arbiscar keeping him prisoner or would rather just bring him back, that's something we could do.

Easy good man, it is a real pity the adventure just assumes the party is willing to kill Theodorous, an Abadar faithful after all, but I never was willing to derail the adventure in anyway or create tension with the team, don't overthink my comment please :)

This is fun; I like that the scenario gives us a set of challenges that the wolf form is specifically awesome for.

Yeah, I think that's pretty cool too. The writer really worked the werewolf form into all the encounters. There's some fun encounters coming up, too.

There are 5 wolves in the pack that the party can try to convince. Each can be influenced either with Diplomacy or a unique skill for them. The party can make up to 4 checks per wolf, with aids counting as one of those checks, so it would be advantageous to make skill checks independently. You'll need two successes to win a wolf over.

Windcaller whispers some advice to the party,

"Sharpthorn is the next strongest wolf in the pack. She respects strength more than anything."
Intimidation

"Rainsong is very wise and her love of Ashava is strong."
KnowledgeL Religion

"Loyalstorm is the oldest wolf in our pack. He knows the old traditions."
Kn: Nature

"Quietmoon is shy. He will follow the pack, but he may need some encouragement."
Performance

"Dreamhunter is very cunning. she doesn't care about feelings, but she always has the best plans."
Survival

Mun's Diplomacy outpaces his bonus on any of these other checks by a long shot (+15), so he'll ultimately use Diplomacy for all of his attempts. But since it's only 4 checks per wolf, we can't all attempt checks with each wolf (we'd need 6 checks per wolf for the whole party to try with every wolf). So, I think Mun will fill in where we lack a strength in another check. What are everyone's best bonuses from this list of skills?

Here are Kala's scores:
Intimidation: +0
Knowledge (religion): +1
Knowledge (nature): +4
Performance: +0
Survival: +8

Possible tactics:
Loyalstorm (kn:nature): Have you ever heard of a pack lead by an undead that survived for more than a couple of generations? Are not most of the important traditions in a pack based on being alive? Rites of passage? Mating? Is not the purpose of the hunt to bring sustenance to a pack? For the undead, these things either have no meaning or are warped into something completely different. Riverfang would destroy your traditions and your culture, and when you die, you may rise again to join him in ensuring its destruction.

Dreamhunter (survival): Undead don't need food, so an undead leader won't make finding food a priority for the pack. Same thing with shelter. Pests like ticks and fleas can't feed on undead; he may not even notice leading you into situations that will make you have to deal with little pests like that. Undead create more of their kind by killing and death, so raising pups would not be a priority for him. Your pack will only grow by the addition of more undead. Many, many creatures and peoples seek to destroy the undead, so your pack will be attacked more often. The survival of your pack depends on being lead by a living wolf.

The only of these skills Finnius has in any decent amount is +7 Intimidate, but I'd love to do a wolfly stare down hah.

i have diplomacy at +6 and religion at +6 too....add in a guidance for +1 to rolls all around...love that orison...

My best shots are the knowledge rolls (+7 to both).
Intimidation and performance are at -1, and survival+0

Arbiscar has a +4 Diplomacy too and even better religion.

I say we just engage whatever makes it more compelling in a roleplaying way, what makes more sense for our characters rather than mechanically.

We can cover up the rest afterwards, and if we fail it is not like we will get locked up, we can always resort to combat.

Hi! As my holidays deep in, I will be away from Internet connection for the following few days. Do not expect much from me if anything until next Monday.

Please bot Arbiscar as needed.

So Mun was successful on all his checks, so aiding him is ineffective. (Guess I should've waited to post until after the GM. Oh well.)

It looks like the DCs are 20 for each of them (educated guess). With that assumption:

Kala's almost there with Sharpthorn. Two successful Intimidate aids ought to clinch it.

Rainsong and Quietmoon need someone else to start a new check (and probably receive some aid).

@GM Badblood: Will you allow Kala's aid rolls that were designated to Mun be applied to someone else who rolls Diplomacy?

You can keep the aids if you'd like.

On a side note, I think if I had run this one in a store location it would have run well over time. We are getting close to the end though.

These "influence the NPCs with checks" stuff work really well in person and I have found really poorly in PbP, still been a very fun adventure so far!

Yeah, between these two adventures, there's a ton of skill challenges. I will say, you guys are doing a great job roleplaying them.

The next post is going to be very long and involved, so forgive me if it takes a while to get that out. It's going to be time for your characters to confront their greatest fears!

Oh man, the anticipation! I'm perversely looking forward to that.

I'll try to do it justice!

Hi all. My posting from Sunday-Wednesday of next week may be spotty. Or it may be unaffected. I have no idea, but figured I'd give you a heads up.

You guys made this tough on me. Except for Arbiscar, you all have very abstract and cerebral fears. I think the scenario assumes that people are going to have fears like snakes or clowns. Not complaining, it gave me a chance to be creative.

Oh man! It'd be hilarious and creepy to see a brightly colored clown in this setting. I almost wish that was Kala's fear now. Maybe it can be Stinky's? ;D

Can a chronicle boon that affects "a weapon you wield" be applied to an animal companion's natural attack? Or just the primary PC's own weapons?

I'd probably need to see the full text of the boon to know for sure what I think, but from what you're saying, it sounds like it needs to be a weapon wielded by the player.

"As a free action, you can check the box that precedes this boon to grant one weapon you wield a +1 enhancement bonus (which does not stack with other enhancement bonuses) and the ability to overcome damage reduction and regeneration as per a cold iron, good-aligned weapon for 1 minute."

It sounds like a bit of stretch to me, since it says it affects a weapon you wield. I think the emphasis is on the *you* here. On the other hand, I have no problem with stacking 3 buffs, as long as they all have a duration of minute per level. If you start getting into the double digits though, that might be an issue.

mirror image: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

I'm going to call it because this fight could last weeks if it's played out to the bitter end. Tulvatha has great AC and you guys didn't prepare for his invisibility. And on top of that he is immune to magic. He is also an incredible flier on a map filled with difficult terrain, so of course he's going to use that to his advantage.

On the other hand, all of you have at least electricity resistance 5, so he often isn't even penetrating that. His biggest damage dealer is actually that haunt, but Mun took that down, so he really can't hurt you guys either.

In the long run you guys are going to win. He's used up all the tricks he has and I just don't think he's going to be able to take you down with one electrical attack a round.

Thanks; Mun is in a Gameday game and I've been holding off on introducing him so as to not overlap. Anything that helps us finalize this one is good with me. (I hate to rush, as I love this scenario; it's so flavorful for Mun, and you're doing a great job with the run!)

A glitterdust or faery fire is basic stuff by this level.

If the invisibility is removed I am fairly confident Arbiscar is buffed enough to be able to hit that evil will-o' :)

You know, we were given some glittery stuff from that lady we rescued...

Yeah, these are the worst kinds of fights to GM, when you get an enemy that has incredible defenses but not a lot of offensive power. At this tier, Tulvatha doesn't have DR, but besides the invisibility and the magic immunity, they have a 23 AC. So a tanky foe.

I should have chronicle sheets for you either tonight or sometime tomorrow evening. I'll try to get them out to you as soon as I can.

The chronicle sheets are right here: Chronicle Sheets

thanks man...looks good!

Sorry GM, you forgot to add my Dayjob gold

(21 July discussion post)

Craft Jeweller, msw tools, Artisan trait: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 10 + 2 + 2 = 24

Eredur looks at Mun's work, then at his own. He says nothing, but makes sure Mun's hears everything unsaid.

Arbiscar needs a 10 to hit it then, an 8 when charging (or 7 if not Power Attacking).

Day Job (Heal through Temple Vanity): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 or 17 if taking 10 as I did not roll before.

Thanks a lot for the game Badblood, you are one of the best GM's I have had the honor to play with. The level of emotion, the depth of detail and rich descriptions, the knowledge of the rules and the fair game you do, added to your regular commitment to the game were outstanding 👏 👏 👏

Mun's chronicle has somebody else's PFS number on it. Mun is 192785-1.

dice=Craft (jewelry), traveler's any-tool, day job]1d20+4+4

Mun will also use his shirt reroll on the day job check.

Craft (jewelry), traveler's any-tool, day job: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 4 = 9
Ha!

Well Mun, I guess it was just meant to be.

Ill try to make those those fixes around 12 CST today, but if not I should be able to get to them tonight.

Thank you Arbiscar! I don't want to see players killed off, but I try to play the enemies as well as I can. The writers often put a lot of thought into the encounters, including the maps they use, so I try to honor that.

The real killer fight in this one are the lurkers in [/i]*twilight*[/i]. Lurkers in Light are naturally invisible in bright light but can be seen in the dark. These guys were a variant that were invisible in low light conditions, so any light or dark spell would cancel that out. On top of that they have blindness, which has a permanent duration and they can cast that 3 times per day. Luckily the targets both passed their saves on that one. But players have been tpk'd or have had the whole party get blinded and had to give up the mission after that encounter.

I wouldn't have minded it if someone had gotten blinded, haha. Mun has a faction goal that requires him spending $$ on someone else's healing, and that's surprisingly hard to do. I'm anxious for a scenario to end with a condition that Mun can help remove, haha.

Speaking of faction goals, was Tulvhatha (or the lurkers, I suppose) an outsider with the evil subtype, or undead, with CR 6 or greater? Or a divine spellcaster of an evil deity, same CR reqs?

Thanks all! Really fun scenario and group!

Tulvatha was an aberration with allusions of godly grandeur and the lurkers were fey. Tulvatha didn't have spellcasting abilities. Theodurus's fanaticism drove his alignment towards Lawful Evil, and inquisitors are definitely spell casters; but he worships Abadar, so I don't think you'll be able to count him. Riverfang was a CR 3 undead creature, and even though you didn't kill him, I would say that you definitely defeated him. He lost control of his pack and was exiled; I'd say that qualifies as a defeat.

Yeah, Arbiscar, that last hit you rolled would have been close to taking Tulvatha out. He doesn't have a ton of hit points and no DR.

Alright, I updated the chronicle sheets for Arbiscar, Eredur, and Mun.

My Chronicle looks good. Thanks, GM Badblood! This was a really interesting scenario, well run, and with good role play. Great job, everyone! I'll be happy to play with you again.

If there is anything missing or that needs to be corrected on the chronicles, please let me know soon, as I will be deactivating this thread soon.

Thank you for playing everybody! This was a long one, but I hope to play it or even run it again someday. I'll probably see some of you in other games on Paizo, especially if you also play 2nd edition or Starfinder.

I mostly play PF1, but want to start playing 2ed...made a swashbuckler after the APG came out...haven't even played a session of 2ed yet...or SF for that matter...

Yeah, I really like what they did with the 2nd edition Swashbuckler. I thought the 1st edition version was pretty dull, but I'd definitely play the new version.