[PFS2] 1-18 Lodge of the Living God (GM Watery Soup) (Inactive)

Game Master Watery Soup

Should I chat with the locals today or should I help with repairs? Just let me know what you need me to do. Franzine asks her companions feeling somewhat useless.

I do hope we can build some extra defenses. Ballistae would be nice to have on the parapets.

Azu waits around for someone to assign him to his next task.

It was hard work, the kind that leaves muscles aching the next day but lets you sleep well, clearing the foliage away from the road going up to the keep. They replaced cobblestones, evened out the road where it wa collapsing. repaired potholes. cut down a few trees. His crew and Franzines had made a day of it. He found himself singing his favorite dwarven work song

Yu get up in the morning from pit boss's shoutin
followin da boys out of the city
There's da boss's whistle pushin'and a shovin'
And the work is not so pretty
And if yur group's on time, yu can get to work by nine
And start your slaving job to get your pay
If yu ever get annoyed, you remember that yus employed
I be lovin hard work all day
And I be takin care of business (every day)
Takin care of business (in every way)
I be takin care of business (in da mine)
Takin care of business and working overtime, work out
If it were easy as fishin' you could be a musician
If you could make sounds loud or mellow
Get a well made axe, and get off yur backs
If yu get in with the right bunch of fellows
People see you havin fun just a workin in the sun
Tell them that yu like it dis way
It's da work that we enjoy, and we be surely employed
We be lovin to work hard all da day
And we be takin care of business (every day)
Takin care of business (in every way)
We be takin care of business (in da mine)
Takin care of business and working overtime
Mercy
Whoo
All right
Take good care of my business
When I'm away, every day
Whoo

Day 2:

Dorian + 3 hired: Clearing the Courtyard

Crunch + 3 hired: Rebuilding the Stairs

Trig: Which stairs are you working on - the rebuilding (going up, requires carpenter), or excavating (going down, no carpenter required)? Will you hire villagers?

Franzine: Just want to point out that improving the attitudes of the villagers is almost as important as rebuilding the fort.

Azu: Rebuilding the fort is a significant part of this scenario - unless someone is eager to tell you what to do, I'm going to insist that you choose something yourself.

Franzine and Azu: You can always work on the tasks that don't require training - right now, there's clearing the courtyard, clearing the barracks, and excavating the stairs below the Great Hall. You can also work on those tasks without a team, which will save money. The two of you working on the barracks, for instance, will simply take the next 4 days (2 PCs x 4 days = 8 person-days).

---

If it will help grease the wheels here, I can also post the Crafting check DCs to show they aren't scary. If you hire a carpenter/stonemason, it's like hiring a hireling - you roll as if you were Trained in Crafting, so you'll get a +3 bonus.

Remember that you still progress at half speed even if you fail. Only a crit fail yields no progress.

Hey, Azu. They'll need plenty of space in the courtyard to unload supplies and load trash to be hauled off here in the courtyard. Maybe we should work on clearing this out now that the approach road is done. After that, I'll chat with the locals to see how they're doing and maybe learn a bit about them.

"Crunch + 3 hired: Rebuilding the Stairs"
Nope. Main Gate.
Trig, the carpenter, and two hires should focus on the stairs going up.
Happy to have Franzine chatting up the locals. Will find a couple days to do so as well, at some point.

I'll begin the stairs going up, with three hires(one of which a carpenter)

DoriN begins cleaning the courtyard with his crew (+4, -3 gp).

Crunch works on the Main Gate with his crew.
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 It's tougher than he anticipates (+2, -3 gp).

Trig works on the stairs with her crew. Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 Things proceed on schedule. (+4, -3 gp)

Franzine and Azu help clean the courtyard (+2).

Day 3

Gold: 126 gp
Days: 28

seeing the Courtyard all but finished after a hard days work again he tells the same three hes been working with- Petrus, Bessema Lingler,and Rakka to meet back here the followign day and they will begin cleaning the barracks in preparation of repairing it.

He tells Franzine and Azu to wrap up clearing the courtyard the following day

Day 3-Dorian: hiring 3, working on cleaning the barracks. Hiring: Petrus, Bessema Lingler, Rakka (Unskilled Laborers) cost 3 Gold for 1 day.

the next day the begin removing rubble and trash and fallen parts of the roof from the interio of the barracks, piling the materials outside of the walls. It would be another day of hard labor for Dorians work crew.

Trig's crew (of three hired) continues their work on rebuilding the stairs.

Day 4

Dorian + 3: cleans barracks (+4)
Crunch + 3: continues Main Gate
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12 (+2)
Trig + 3: continues Stairs
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17 (+4)
Franzine and Azu: courtyard (+2)

Gold remaining: 117 gp
Days remaining: 27

---

As Trig nears completion of the stairs, she can see most of the roof’s merlons have degraded, and there are numerous post holes dug into its pavement stones that once supported a wooden cover to protect the keep from enemy missile fire. This cover can be rebuilt.

These two tasks have been added to the flowchart - the stairs must be completed first, and then the roof can be cleaned, and then rebuilt.

Franzine dumps an armload of rubble into an old cart used as a trash bin then wipes the sweat from her forehead.
Whew! This sure is hard work, Azu. Dorian hopes we have this finished soon. I do too.
Taking a break, she sits on a felled tree trunk that will soon be chopped and cut for support beams.
I hope we get that well working soon. Fresh cool water from the well will be a lot better than that nasty river water. I bet there's a dead goblin upstream that's making the water taste foul. She smirks, trying to get a response from Azu.

...
Anyway, She digs her toe into the dirt as she tries to continue to spark a conversation.
I don't trust some of these Razmirans we hired. We need to keep our eyes open for any trouble. Hopefully, I can chat with them and make our relations more comfortable.

another day of Labor. His crew is working like a well oiled machine now, knowing each others strengths and weakness'. They continue cleaning the barracks

Day 4-Dorian: hiring 3, working on cleaning the barracks. Hiring: Petrus, Bessema Lingler, Rakka (Unskilled Laborers) cost 3 Gold for 1 day.

Come on fellas! I think that if we work really hard, then we can finish rebuilding the stairs today! and then we can like go up and down them! or if we make a banister we can slide down it! UH! can we install a slide when we're making the stairs? that would be super fun!

By now Trig's crew is rather happy that this would be the last day on this task, as she has not stopped talking.

hiring three to finish building the stairs

Day 5

Dorian +3 : Clean Barracks (+4)
Trig +3 : Rebuild Stairs
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 (+2)
Crunch +3 : Main Gate
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 (+6)
Franzine (pending)
Azu (pending)

Gold: 108 gp

Dorian, Trig, Crunch: Go ahead and post what you want to do on Day 6.

Anybody need me to help anywhere?

Trig and the carpenter is just gonna finish rebuilding the stairs by themselves.
Hiring 1

Franzine, maybe start ecavating the stairs?

Awaking the next Day, Dorian looks over the fortress to see things coming along nicely and goes into the village to hire the same crew as before. This time he takes his crews to the staircase down and they begin to work on clearing it. The Society would need supplies and the basement would be needed.

Day 5-Dorian: hiring 3, working on excavating the stairs. Hiring: Petrus, Bessema Lingler, Rakka (Unskilled Laborers) cost 3 Gold for 1 day.

Feeling good about making up for the lost time the first game, Crunch rehires the same trio for another day of work on the gate.
If it goes well, they will divert over to the outer wall at lunch.

Feeling good about making up for the lost time the first game, Crunch rehires the same trio for another day of work on the gate.

If it goes well, they will divert over to the outer wall at lunch.

Unfortunately, the check is made at the end of the day, so you'll need to "waste" a little bit here.

maybe we should consider saving money by doing the white tasks ourselves, without help? and not hire three people when you only need to hire two?

Hiring two may cause problems with the math. Fail = half progress, so a team of 3 would only get 1 person-day credit with Pathfinder math, and Crit Success = 1.5x progress, which is 4 person-days. Hiring 1 is fine, but in the case of the main gate, a carpenter AND a stonemason are required so at least two need to be hired.

I can fill in for a third worker, if needed.

Azu decides the watchtower is probably the most important task on the list. He will begin working on it, hiring as necessary. After the tower is built, he suggests recruiting someone to stand lookout, or volunteering himself.

Welcome input into the most efficient way to build the tower.

Unfortunately, the check is made at the end of the day, so you'll need to "waste" a little bit here.

How unrealistic of our completely abstract system. ;)

Hiring two may cause problems with the math. Fail = half progress, so a team of 3 would only get 1 person-day credit with Pathfinder math, and Crit Success = 1.5x progress, which is 4 person-days. Hiring 1 is fine, but in the case of the main gate, a carpenter AND a stonemason are required so at least two need to be hired.

Yeah, that was my thought in hiring the trio again, carryover notwithstanding.

Trig Day 6 (+1): Rebuild Stairs
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 (+2, Stairs completed)

Dorian Day 6 (+3): Excavate Stairs (+4)

Dorian and his crew report that there's a dungeon under the Great Hall. Added to the flowchart, 8 person-days to clean it. There's some strange writing on the wall, but the dungeon will need to be cleaned before it can be deciphered. Added to the flowchart as an unknown.

Crunch Day 6 (+3): Rebuild Main Gate
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 (+2, Main Gate completed)

Franzine, Azu, Day 5 (+2): Watchtower
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 (+4)

Franzine, Azu, Day 6 (+2): Watchtower
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 (+4, Watchtower demolished)

With a cheer, the rickety watchtower comes crashing to the ground. A careful inspection of the wreckage reveals a crushed family of blood midges (that would have attacked anyone who tried to climb up).

Day 7

Gold remaining: 97 gp
Days remaining: 24

Ha. I thought we were building the watchtower.

Azu feels somewhat vindicated about his choice when the midges are discovered. "I think we should patch the outer wall. It will afford us some security."

Unless someone makes a strong case for doing something else, Azu will get to work on the wall.

Franzine is a bit taken aback when the discovery of the dungeon is mentioned.

I'm actually not surprised there's a dundeon below. After clearing it out and deciphering the writing, we may have some new insight on the original occupants of this keep.
She thinks for a few moments, then continues.
There could be undead occupants -or worse- down there. I'll lead a team of workers to clear it out and watch for any trouble. I'll try to report daily to Crunch and the rest of you. Your guidance or assistance may be needed if any surprises do come up.

Franzine hires a crew of 3 to clear out the dungeon.

"I agree, Azu. Work with Junissa - they know their stuff. Maybe hire two others from town?"
Gives you a stonemason, since it's a blue task.

Crunch will continue to work with Wilfred Mayar, but today it's just the two of them that tackle the new barracks.

"Sound like plan, Franzine. I will listen for any surprises." Crunch grins up at her.

Anyone want to join Crunch, hiring at least Braderock (carpenter)?

Trig will start cleaning the roof by herself.

Botting Dorian.

Dorian (+3) will keep working on excavating the stairs. (+4)
Franzine (+3) works on excavating the stairs as well. (+4) This completes the excavation.
Trig starts cleaning the roof. (+1)
Crunch (+1) works on the barracks.
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 (+1)
Azu (+1) works on the walls.
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 (crit, +3)

---

Day 8
Gold remaining: 89 gp
Days remaining: 23

For the sake of expediency, I'm going to keep everyone working on the same thing.

Trig continues cleaning the roof. (+1)
Crunch (+1) works on the barracks.
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Azu (+1) works on the walls.
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Dorian and Franzine (+6) excavate the dungeon.

When the area is clear, they find a ceremonial stone table cut out of the bedrock that is eight feet long and four feet wide. The stone table is a powerful magic that radiates with necromantic magic. Its top is unadorned, but all of its sides have carvings of writhing humanoid figures and prayers to a woman who is a skeleton from the waist down. Similar writing can be found on every wall of the shrine. All the carvings have been terribly defaced with tools, and it will take 6 person-days of work to decipher the writings.

Task: Decipher Writings (Religion check) added.

It also becomes clear that this shrine needs to be cleansed. You will need 40 gp (!) of raw materials, plus a Religion check. Since Sylvina is already friendly, it is no secret that she is trained in Religion (in case nobody in the group is).

Task: Cleanse the Shrine (Religion check) added.

As a metagame note, this is now the complete task list.

Day 9
Gold remaining: 81 gp
Days remaining: 22

I imagine that you guys will want to talk about this development. Just as a recap, you definitely need to hire people for the blue and yellow tasks; you can get by with in-group efforts on all the others.
You'll need to reserve 40 gp for raw materials for the shrine.

Well, if you stopped rolling Terrible for Crunch Every Day, we'd be a lot further along. I mean, yikes. ;)

You can roll terrible for Crunch if you want. :) I'm not sure how I ended up rolling, I think the first person to need a check didn't roll and I didn't want to spend a day waiting for a roll so i did it, and then nobody posted checks.

See Discussion.

Over a simple breakfast of local bacon, eggs, and berries, Franzine addresses her companions.
We could learn much about our Urgathoan enemies if the unholy shrine is deciphered. I was considering having the shrine destroyed, however, if we consecrate it, it could be turned into a shrine or chapel for all benevolent faiths. We could have artisans decorate it with multifarious designs where any are welcome to worship. Our Razmiran "friends" may not approve, of course, so this may have to be a clandestine operation. Or, wait until this lodge is fully established and complete it when there are more Pathfinders here.

Franzine will spend as much time that she needs to decipher the writing.

Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

I think consecrating the shrine is a good idea! it can be super scary to sleep close to a not consecrated shrine. especially if it's to Urangatoan! And then we can make it really pretty and super useful! we can even include Razmir at the shrine! imagine how good that would make the Razmirans feel, when they realise that we accept Razmir and respect their religion! 40 gold is kinda expensive though? what materials are required? maybe we can scavenge some ourselves to make it less expensive?

Trig will continue cleaning the roof either until it's done or untill she's needed elsewhere.

Fast forwarding.

Day 9

Franzine (+3): Decipher
(14)+5=19 (4/6)
Trig: Clean Roof (3/8)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Outer wall
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 (7/18)
77 gp

Day 10

Franzine (+3): Decipher
Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 (6/6)
Trig: Clean Roof (4/8)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Outer wall
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 (11/18)
73 gp

Day 11

Franzine (+3): Consecrate
Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 (4/6)
Trig: Clean Roof (5/8)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Outer wall
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 (13/18)
29 gp

Day 12

Franzine (+3): Consecrate
Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 (6/6)
Trig: Clean Roof (6/8)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Outer wall
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 (15/18)
25 gp

Day 13

Franzine, Trig: Clean Roof (8/8)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Outer wall
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 (17/18)
24 gp

Day 14

Franzine, Trig (+2): Build Roof
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 (6/12)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Outer wall
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 (18/18)
21 gp

Day 15

Franzine, Trig (+2): Build Roof
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 (10/12)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Well
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 (2/6)
18 gp

Day 16

Franzine, Trig (+2): Build Roof
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 (12/12)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Well
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 (4/6)
15 gp

Day 17

Franzine, Trig (+2): Build Barracks
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 (6/12)
Azu, Dorian, Crunch (+1): Well
Crafting: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 (6/6)
12 gp

Amongst the stones of the well is a “time capsule” that was buried here by the couple who built Fort Agate. It contains mostly love letters between the couple that detail their amorous excursions, along with a map of their caches of gold they left behind in Ustalav. It is worth 25 gp and represents 2 Treasure Bundles.

If anyone would like to switch to Diplomacy, post 3 names and 3 Diplomacy checks. Please associate a name with a check - each NPC has a different DC. You are welcome to roleplay the interaction, but not required to.

Braderock the carpenter
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Priest Lumley
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Junissa the stonemason
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

(( those people Crunch worked with the most ))

Wilfred
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Mikkel
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Junissa
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

During a day when there is inclement weather and things are slowed down at the fort for a few hours, Crunch makes a point of asking the Mayar brothers about life in town and what aspirations they might have.
They try to include the stonemason in these conversations as well, having been trained by the Alliance in ways of making and strengthening bonds with 'new friends'.

Day 18

Dorian, Azu, Trig (+1): Battlements
I'm going to use Crunch's rolls from the Discussion thread so they're not wasted. He's diploming. (+6)

Franzine:
Braderock - success
Lumley - success
Junissa - crit fail

Crunch:
Wilfred - success
Mikkel - fail
Junissa - fail

Mikkel is shy and doesn't really want to say anything, about his aspirations or anything else, really.

Wilfred is more open. He mentions that he was an aspiring cooper - he even apprenticed with Braderock at the cooperage. "Things ... didn't end well," he admits, and Crunch has the good sense not to pry, at least not immediately.

Junissa is not shy, but she's not friendly, either. She clearly resents being here in what she refers to as a "backwater" town.

---

There are 5 individuals that are friendly - Aasif, Braderock, Matthild, Lotte, and Sylvina - who are friendly. Over the course of the past few weeks, they have all assured you that they can keep their mouths shut and not gossip to Priest Lumley during morning Confession every morning.

Azu notes that Aasif and Matthild are dirty liars. Actually, he knows Aasif is a dirty liar because Aasif accidentally blurted out how he was reporting everything the Pathfinders were doing to Lumley.

Braderock, Lotte, and Sylvina seem truthful, though.

You needn't try to influence Aasif and Matthild any more - they're friendly, but they will inform, so they're not candidates for a Pathfinder Token. If you improve Braderock, Lotte, or Sylvina to Helpful, I'll make them roll Deception again with a penalty.

Franzine spends her spare time between projects or during meals to chat with three of the Razmiran townsfolk. She discusses the benefits of being a member of the Pathfinder Society, debates various aspects of different regious views, and just tries to be good company to any who will listen and share a good conversation with her.

Braderock
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Lotte
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Sylvina
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Really? How mediocre.

I guess all the Razmirans are bored with Franzine by now.

Franzine is trying hard to make friends when a ship appears in the distant horizon. A certain energy fills the air as Narsen's colors are seen flying high on the mast.

A frantic and disheveled Narsen jumps into the water and wades ashore even before the gang plank is lowered.

“Pathfinders! I am so glad to have found you! How are your renovations going? Well, I hope? What am I saying, I have no time for this!”

The priest lets out a small shriek of nervousness and pulls back the hood of his robe to scratch at his unkempt greying brown hair. He then smooths his hair before taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry for my outburst, but I have bad news. You see, our scouts along the Glass River caught sight of a small company of skeletons and zombies who seem to be marching toward Fort Agate, slaughtering everything in their path! They are no more than a day away!”

“I know you were only sent to complete the fort, but our armed forces are deployed far to the East and won’t be able to reposition in
time. Fort Agate is the most defensible position in the area. The villagers don't stand a chance if they fought them in the village. Can you take us in, so that we can make a stand together? If you do this, I promise you, Razmiran will be in the Society’s debt."

Azu tries to sense any deception from the priest Secret Perception roll?, "What have you got to offer us to help fight them in the here and now?"

Azu confers with the other Pathfinders, "It seems we should require that the skilled townsfolk finish the battlements and repair as part of their protection.".

Franzine valiantly steps forward to address the Razmiran.
By all means, Narsen, you and your people may take refuge in the keep. Point us in the direction of this company of foul undead. Dorian, Crunch, Azu, Trig, and myself will destroy them before they get within a few miles of this keep.

Franzine turns to her companions militantly raising her sword over her head.
Let's get our gear and make haste, Pathfinders! We have undead to send back to hell!

Azu turns to Fanzine, If the undead are headed this way, then we are better served to prepare and fight them here. However, we should attempt to scout them and determine their numbers and what manner of undead they are."

Narsen lying will be his (secret) Deception roll vs your Perception DCs.

Azu (and everyone else) thinks Narsen is telling the truth.

However, we should attempt to scout them and determine their numbers and what manner of undead they are."

Narsen jumps in.

"Reports are that there are 50 or more. If you try to fight them in the open, you'll get overrun for sure. But if we fight them together at Fort Agate, you have a day before they arrive. You could build some traps for them, couldn’t you? They seem to just be unintelligent undead.”

You can continue asking questions, but here are the ways you can build traps:

CREATE DEADFALLS
This activity creates a series of deadfalls using rocks or trees to crush large numbers of undead that trigger them. This activity requires a successful DC 15 Crafting Check.

CREATE PIT TRAPS
This activity creates and hides pit traps to detain the undead. This activity requires a successful DC 15 Crafting check.

CRAFT SNARES
This activity creates and hides a large number of snares in one area to entangle the undead and allow them to be easily dispatched. This requires a successful DC 15 Crafting check.

TRAIN THE VILLAGERS
Requirements You’re trained in simple weapons and light armor.
This activity trains 8 noncombatants of Prophet’s Rest in the basic use of weapons, shields, and armor. Although it won’t make them proficient fighters, it’s better than nothing. This activity requires a successful DC 12 Diplomacy check.

Basically, each of you can pick whether to attempt a Crafting (you can enlist a trapmaker if you're untrained) or Diplomacy check.

See Slide 3 for a layout of the fort. Note north is to the left.
The main path winds along the western wall and up to the main gate (yellow rectangle). The ramparts connect the three towers, and are 30' above the ground - so you can stand on the ramparts directly above the main gate if you wish.

Azu will enlist the help of the hardcore spy Mathild to build some deadfalls.

Make a stand here and fight. Franzine says with a touch of disappointment.
Strength in numbers, after all. It may be better to stay here and protect the fort and the townsfolk that cannot take up arms. With my knowledge and training in warfare, I will train a few brave townsfolk who are willing to fight alongside us. I'm sure they have at least some basic weapons and armor. I will also gather any pitchforks and other farming tools necessary for their use as weapons.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

I expected that.

Hero point reroll.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Annnnd, I knew that was gonna happen.

Franzine does not like Razmiran.

Azu, go ahead and make the roll. Matthild will make your roll Trained if you're not trained.