Hmm's PF2 #1-07 Flooded King's Court and Other Tales (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

Yes, Loola, it is a hat of disguise! Just like Uncle Cosmo used to wear. As you are cavorting with your new hat, and contemplating the jade cat and the letter from the chest, you hear a sarcastic, "Well, well, well... Look at what the old folks and their cute little acting troupe found!" It's the female leader of the sell swords, with the rest of her mercenaries behind her. Dog stands to one side, clutching his red stone in his hands, and looking down at the ground, embarrassed. She strolls out. "And look. You've already found some treasure. How very resourceful of you. Unfortunately, I hear these caves are unsafe. I was worried that the old folks might get hurt."

SLIDE ONE

"Sounds kinda like a threat if ya ask me Lady." He leaves it at that for now, knowing his grumpy side is about to come out and that never helps do anything cept start a fight.

Buncha lilly livered weed whackers the lot of 'em. Least that orc's got enough sense, hopefully, to stay outta things.

Scratch doesn't have what we all would call the 'social skills'. I'll let someone with a bit more CHA do the talking, whichever way seems appropriate.

Do they have weapons drawn? And can I use hunt prey and sense motive on the leader? Is she trying to start a fight or just scare us off... +7 perception expert.

Today I learned, thanks to Iqu, that you roll 2d8 after a successful medicine check to see how many hp you regain. :)
Healing Sandstone: 2d8 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9

Sandstone also is not very CHA. Keepin' my mouth shut. I don't want to be hasty but I can offer Intimidation +3 if we think things start going that direction.

Sandstone straightens from peering at the jade cat, surprised that the mercenaries have appeared. "I'm not that old!" he protests.

He looks at Dog, a question written on his face.

"Friends! Me happy see you." Loola smiles at the group of mercenaries.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

"Don't you think it's a shame, Scratch, when toddlers start wandering around and get all banged up?" Grams says jovially to her fellow dwarf. "They just don't have the experience to know any better, but fortunately, there are people to protect them from themselves."

She gives a sudden start.

"Oh, I didn't see you there," she says with saccharine in her voice to the mercenaries. "Did you get lost?"

Letting Loola take the lead for actual Diplomacy. She's sweeter than me.

Iqu turns to the strangers and raises an eyebrow. "Do you show such disrespect to your parents and grandparents? Your mentors and leaders?"

She seems genuinely curious.

Ooo, CHA is me! (Sorry for the delay, all! I also forgot about adding my successful healing from before.)

Healing from before: 2d8 ⇒ (1, 8) = 9

Tess strides forward, hand on her rapier as she addresses their "friends." "I'm surprised to see you lot down here. I just assumed you could handle hard work and danger as well as you could act." Her eyes shift to Dog, who seems uncomfortable. Is he afraid of being underground? "I think you'll be more comfortable waiting in the theater and leaving this to the professionals."

Intimidation: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Although they all have weapons, none of them have drawn them yet. Scratch feels like he can see right through the leader.

At Sandstone's questioning look, Dog's eyes widen, and then he stares mournfully down at the red stone in his hand. He still hasn't said anything, but his body language is like a bit like a trapped animal.

The leader seems surprised by Loola's friendliness. Nice crit success there.

"What? No. I'm not here to make friends, I am here to... to scare the crap out of you." Still, it looks like Loola has taken much of the wind out of the leader's sails. "Look, it's nothing personal. But we were sent here to do a job, and we can't go back empty-handed. Olansa Terimor hired us to map these dungeons. She won't take kindly to us not doing the job. If we come back with no map, and word spreads that we were beaten by a bunch of senior citizens and a goblin, we'll have no rep in this town at all."

Then she looks admiringly at Tess and Iqu. "Though I have to say, it's nice to see more gutsy women down here. Under other circumstances, I'd hire you."

Loola splashes back through the water to to the group of mercenaries, "We draw map for you!" she promises. "Bloo love draw map!"

The goblin takes a damp piece of chalk out of a pocket and starts scribbling on a wall.

Survival, untrained: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10. Not bad, but someone else should jump in and offer to actually draw a map.

"We here." Loola points to a curvy box-shape that she has drawn, with some wavy water-lines and a bunch of stick figures, one of which is labeled "Iqu" and looks like it might have bunny ears. "Green dog-dragons here," she points to another location with stick-figure drawings of two crocodiles with X's for eyes, though there is not much to the map between the two locations that resembles the actual layout of the sewers.

Anyone want to volunteer to mock up a child's drawing of this map?

@Tess: do you know who that boss (Olansa Terimor) is?

I'm not sure! Could I roll Lore (Absalom or Legal) to see if I've heard of her?

Also, I won't be much use with a map, but I could use diplomacy to encourage her to give us some space and promise her we wouldn't spread nasty rumors about her crew...?

Society +4 vs Olansa. Also have Scouting +4 if that helps with making a map.

"Now now, let's all take a seat and work this out. No need fer name callin' or insults. We got a job to do and you got hired fer the same. How 'bout we do ours then when were done you can make a map after, I'll even help with some tips I learned in the last couple hundred years..." He raises his bushy gray brows.

Just in case...

Tess isn't fully won over by the leader's compliment, but nods at Scratch's statement. "Seems like we don't have to be at odds, here. Does that suggestion work for you?"

(Not sure if I can aid or roll Diplomacy since I just used Intimidate above, but dropping it here just in case.)

Sandstone casts a critical eye over Loola's map. "Not bad," he says, "but maybe ... a little more detail ..." He sketches on the wall with Loola's chalk.

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

He stands back from the wall and turns to the group of mercenaries. "Of course, now, it's just two rooms. Later, better."

"No reason to tear each other down," Iqu adds. "These sewer tunnels are big enough for all of us."

She lends Loola and Sandstone a hand with their map-in-progress.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

"It's a start, but there's plenty more to see."

Grams nods at the youngsters' wisdom.

"Yes, our job here is different, so hopefully we can reach some sort of accommodation," she agrees.

She wonders if the others have heard of this Olansa, since it sounds like there could be a conflict with the goblins depending on what the person wants the sewer map for. That doesn't seem like something they want to encourage.

"Why does Olansa want a map?" she asks, keeping any suspicion or hostility out of her words. "Isn't this the goblins' territory?"

Dog looks down at his pebble and comes to decision. "Um, I trust these people. Sandstone went out of his way to make his acting look bad to help us save face." Then Dog comes forward, pointing out Iqu's map. "That's high quality cartography! We could get our map, without getting out legs bitten off by crocodiles."

The leader's eyes narrow. "Who said you can talk, Dog?"

Then Dog pulls off his scarf and looks down at her with crossed arms. "I did."

The two stare at each other, when one of the other guys says, "Hey, not having to wade through this muck sounds good to me." There are other murmurs of agreement.

"FINE!" the leader says, backing down. She looks at Iqu. "We'll meet you at the Watery Tart when you're done!" The sellswords nod at you, and prepare to leave.

Both Scratch and Tess know that Olansa Terimor is an influential council member, property dealer, and an open worshipper of Norgorber, god of murder and secrets. Unlike in many cities, following this faith is not political suicide in Absalom, but her interest in the Puddles is unclear.

Loola waves at the departing sellswords with a smile, then looks up at Tess and whispers, "Who she call 'watery tart'?"

I assume that is the name of a tavern in Absalom. Is that a canonical location? Either way, thumbs up on the name.

Given the nature of their employer, I'm game to meet up with them later and give them a less than fully accurate map of the sewers.

It's the GM's sly reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But if there is pie shop in the Puddles district, that is absolutely what it should be called!

Your party helps escort the group out, where you discover the Sump Pump Room, and later, a boat dock.

In the Sump Pump room, tall stone cylinders stand in a line in the center of this chamber. Broken pipes protrude from the ceiling above the cylinders, rusted and covered in green algae. Every few moments, one of the cylinders makes a feeble grinding sound and a dribble of water flows down from the top of the cylinder and drips to the floor.

Crashing water and the occasional bit of flotsam from the sewers flows into this large, broad pool that fills the entire cavern and extends to the northwest. A small cove stretches to the southeast where a barnacle‑covered boat is moored. The craft is mostly filled with water, and the rope securing it to the shore is saturated and beginning to rot. Once used to navigate the sewers by some now‑forgotten criminal, the boat is serviceable if the water in it is dumped out, and can provide a way move to the next part of the dungeon, although there are no oars.

After the mercs leave Scratch passes on what little he knows of their employer "That Olansa prolly ain't the nicest cat in the herd, certainly higher up than the likes of us. Might wanna keep that map vague fer the sake of the goblins upstairs." He leaves it at that, readying to continue exploration with crossbow in hand.

"You leadin' Grams? Yer dressed fer it!" He flicks a yellowed nail off her chain mail and smiles. "Keep yer eyes peeled up there, don't step in any sink holes er honey pots!"

Default perception mode on.

Edit: Guess I should have refreshed before posting! Adding in a reply to the GM's last post.

Thievery DC15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Survival DC15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

He looks at the broken pipes and nods "Ain't no fixing them. Broke as a joke since the big earthquake of '78 or some such. Too much water these days anywho." He pulls out a bit of jerky to chew on as he cocks his head slightly, trying to decide what to make of the SS Barnacle.

"Anyone got any oars? Me neither."

It's the GM's sly reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But if there is pie shop in the Puddles district, that is absolutely what it should be called!

Some taverns serve pastries...

"Me have crown," Loola offers cheerfully, "but no have oars."

I skewer a crocodile tail with a javelin and now it's an oar!! Nope, that's way too gruesome.

Survival DC15: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

"Look how bad that rope is." Sandstone prods the rope experimentally. "It must be as old as me, nearly. Nobody could have touched it in years. Decades."

Fortunately, the distance is small enough that you think if some of you pushed the boat to give yourselves a running start, you could sail to the other side without the oars.

Athletics checks, please?

Iqu gets everyone to pile into the boat, then grabs onto it. She takes a bit of a running start, pushes the boat, and hops into it, sending it gliding down the mini canal.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Success!

Your boat glides in the darkness for quite some time, with only Tess's torch to light the way, casting reflected light that ripples on the dark water as you float by. Eventually, you and the boat hit a cold and dank beach with a slight thunk. The water is chilly as you disembark.

The rocky beach covered in bits of assorted refuse meets the water to the southeast. To the northwest, what once must have been a natural cavern wall partially collapsed some time ago by the settling ground on the water side, revealing an area beyond of worked stone. The chamber within is large and constructed of a pale green stone. Multiple rounded passages worm their way to the northeast and southwest, while a grand staircase rises to the northwest.

retroactive Thievery: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Tess eyes the water nervously as they cross, breathing a sigh of relief when nothing rises from the darkness to overturn their small craft. Holding up her torch as her boots crunch on the rocks, her eyes are drawn by the faded grandeur of the staircase before she remembers to eye the side passages for any signs of life or recent movement.

Lore (Absalom): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Perception, if applicable: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Edited to add observations from Lore success! "This wall only collapsed within the past few weeks," Tess notes in surprise. "But the erosion process must have begun after the earthquake a few decades back. I wonder what has been disturbed since the wall finally succumbed..."

I dunno about y'all, but I'm getting big Moria + Phantom of the Opera vibes right now. :D

Survival DC 15: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Sandstone casts a practiced eye across the rocky beach looking for tracks, finding absolutely nothing. "The stones are quiet. Nobody has stepped here for a long time."

He peers at the pale green rocks, delighted by the color so different from his native red. A thought strikes him and he holds one of the rocks next to his skin. "Not quite!" he laughs.

"Me scout!" Loola offers, scurrying ahead of the others slightly.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

@GM: I am going to put her on the map, feel free to move her to where she can see ahead of everyone else.

Loola, you hear a wrenching and a breaking sound, and heavy footfalls and groans up ahead! You hear, "Braiiiiiiiiiins," and see something big and meaty wielding one of its own ripped up arms as a weapon!

THUMP. THUMP. CRAAAASSSSSHHH!

Count out your actions! If you have Religion, you may try to identify these things as one of your actions.

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 1
Active conditions:

Grams
Loola

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Red Braiiiiins
Blue Braiiiins

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Iqu
Scratch
Tess
Sandstone

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SLIDE ONE

"EEP!" Loola finds herself somewhere she very much does not want to be, and quickly retreats to behind her friends.

I think she needs to Stride twice. (◈◈)

She then waves her hand in an arcane evocation, "පලිහ", and small dragon scales appear to cover her entire body when she does so.

◈ shield
(Shield triggers her draconic bloodline power, causing the scales to grow on her body for 1 round. Combined, the two effects grant her +2 to AC, and she can use ⤾ Shield Block)

Again, sorry for my lack of participation, everyone. My wife's been home and that's taking more time than I expected. She headed back to her apartment today, though, so should be more present!

"Stay back, everyone!" Grams calls out, moving forward with shield raised to block the way and protect the others. She peers easily through the gloom, trying to figure out what exactly is coming for them.

Action 1: ◈ Stride
Action 2: Recall Knowledge
Action 3: ◈ Raise Shield (+2 AC)

Religion (trained): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Grams recalls that these creatures are Zombie brutes. Incredibly slow, but also fairly hard-hitting. They are vulnerable to positive energy and slashing weapons.

THUMP! THUMP!

The zombie brutes plod forward...

Action 1: ◈ Stride
Action 2: ◈ Stride

...and because they are SLOW, they are complete at 2 actions!

The red Zombie Brute complains to the blue Zombie Brute: "Braiiiiiiiiins."

Which means, 'Our turn very boring.'

The blue Zombie Brute nods in agreement. "Braiiiiiins."

Which means, 'It's a good thing our native vocabulary can handle so much meaning in a single word.'

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 1 / 2
Active conditions:

Grams
Loola

================================

Red Braiiiiins
Blue Braiiiins

================================

Iqu
Scratch
Tess
Sandstone

================================

SLIDE ONE -- Everyone is up!

Loola runs over to hide behind Grams, then casts another spell, "විදුලි චාපය." A bright arc of electricity flashes between the two zombies.

◈ Stride
◈◈ electric arc
electric arc damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5. Reflex DC 17

"Take that you mean-man monsters!" she shouts at the approaching undead.

Those are pretty gross zombies.

Iqu hurries up to the blue-ish zombie and swings her greatclub at the its hip.

Power Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
B Damage: 1d10 + 4 + 1d10 ⇒ (2) + 4 + (4) = 10

LOL, GM!

Grams closes in, hacking into the creature with her battleaxe!

"They're zombies!" she calls out. "Cut them if you can, or use positive energy!"

Action 1: ◈ Raise Shield (+2 AC)
Action 2: ◈ Stride
Action 3: ◈ Strike

Battleaxe Strike: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Scratch climbs into the boat and accepts the ride across the underground pond. "Not the first time I've ridden on a lake under ground. They ain't that uncommon if you spend much time down below." He smiles as the boat glides along, leaning ahead as it grounds to a stop.

"Best we be careful, dunno what's been released down here..." His voice trails off as he sees the now collapsed walls and Blue running off to explore. "Kids... no sense in their skulls at that age." He draws out his crossbow and heads inside.

----

"See! Released dead spawn!" He tries to help identify the zombie, gets a good look at red then fires his crossbow at it.

Recall Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Crossbow (P), Precision: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Damage: 1d10 + 2 + 1d8 ⇒ (3) + 2 + (5) = 10

Tess draws her rapier and darts forward, moving into position behind one of the brutes to flank with Grams. "I'm afraid our brains aren't up for grabs, chaps!" she shouts, slashing at the zombie with her rapier.

Actions 1&2: ◈◈ Stride
Action 3: ◈ Strike

Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Slashing damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Sneak attack (flanking) damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Sorry everyone! Was afk all day today hosting a virtual pride party. Eek, zombies!

Red Brute Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Blue Brute Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Aren't you glad those weren't attack rolls? Sheesh.

"Braiiiins?" The brutes look at one another confused, trying to figure out where the sparky bits came from.

Even though the zombies are big and slow, Iqu's attack just barely misses as their stench up close throws her off.

Meanwhile, Grams slices through Blue like it was well-rotted liverwurst with a crit success! (If she had also been next to Red, she would have been able to sweep into it.)

Additional Crit Damage, Grams: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Because it is slashing, the thirteen damage becomes 19, slowly beginning to whittle the Brute down!

Alas, both Scratch's crossbow and Tess's rapier miss, even with Tess's flanking bonus!

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 2
Active conditions:

Grams
Loola

================================

Red Braiiiiins (-2)
Blue Braiiiins (-21)

================================

Iqu
Scratch
Tess
Sandstone

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Sandstone Bot

The half orc moves for a clear shot then conjures in a ball of flame, tossing it at the surrounded blue zombie. "I feel funny... but an orc's gotta do what an orc's gotta do."

Spell Attack (arcane) Produce Flame: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Fire Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

The spell misses, and it is the turn of the Zombie Brutes!

Red strides forward to bash Sandstone!

Red Arm Club: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Red Bludgeoning Damage: 1d12 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Red misses, utterly! "Braiiiiins!"
Translation: "Why won't they stand still?"'

Blue attempts to attack Grams, as she was the source of most of his damage.

"Braiiiiiiins."
Translation: Dibs on the dwarf!

Blue Arm Club: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
Blue Bludgeoning Damage: 1d12 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Blue Arm Club: 1d20 + 11 - 5 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 5 = 17
Blue Bludgeoning Damage: 1d12 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Blue misses, too!

Red's Actions

Action 1: ◈ Stride
Action 2: ◈ Strike

Blue's Actions

Action 1: ◈ Strike
Action 2: ◈ Strike

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 2 / 3
Active conditions:

Grams
Loola

================================

Red Braiiiiins (-2)
Blue Braiiiins (-21)

================================

Iqu
Scratch
Tess
Sandstone

================================

Thanks for the bot assist and sorry for the delay!

Sandstone focuses and grows vicious claws. He takes a big slash at Red.

claw attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
claw damage (slashing): 1d6 ⇒ 3

"Overeager," he critiques himself. He takes a deep breath and stills his mind for whatever comes next.

◈ Stride
◈ wild morph
◈ Attack

Iqu adjusts her grip, redirects her club and tries to whack the zombie in the other leg.

Power Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
B Damage: 1d10 + 4 + 1d10 ⇒ (6) + 4 + (8) = 18
If that happens to be a critical hit, that's doubled to 36 damage.

Power Attack (2A). If the zombie dies, she'll use her third action to Stride into an empty space adjacent to the red zombie.

Loola's hands move in a large arc and she intones in draconic, "මැජික් මිසයිලය." Three magical bolts of arcane force fly from her hand into the face of the zombie battling Sandstone. (Red Braiiiins.)

"Me help you, Sandstone!" she shouts, cheerfully.

◈◈◈ magic missile
magic missile damage: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4, 2) + 3 = 10

"Focus, Montgomery!" Tess chides herself, and slashes at the zombie, hoping to hamstring it this time.

◈◈◈ Strike x3

Strike 1
Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Slashing damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Flanking sneak attack damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Strike 2
Rapier: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12

Strike 3
Rapier: 1d20 - 6 ⇒ (17) - 6 = 11

Sandstone grows claws and attacks, but the stench throws him off.

Iqu crits Blue with a Power attack!

Normally, I don't double damage, as rolling it a second time makes sure that a lousy damage roll does not get compounded, and a great one does not go out of whack. Rolling a second time balances things out. On the other hand...

Iqu's Crit Damage: 1d10 + 4 + 1d10 ⇒ (5) + 4 + (9) = 18

I got the exact same amount that you did, so yeah. We doubled it!

Loola magic missiles Red to help out Sandstone!

Red looks surprised. "Braiiiiins?"

Tess hits with her first attack because she is flanking, and get's a point of sneak attack. Although the rapier is piercing rather than slashing, she still helps whittle the creature down! Her other two attacks alas miss!

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Round 2 / 3
Active conditions:

Grams
Loola

================================

Red Braiiiiins (-12)
Blue Braiiiins (-62)

================================

Iqu
Scratch
Tess
Sandstone

================================

Blue Braiiiins (-62)

(☉_☉)

Seeing the group waiting on the two elder Dwarves gets Scratch a bit defensive "We're just plotting our next moves carefully, we ain't dozed off if that's what yer thinkin'!"

He loads a bolt, cranks on the winch, aims and fires on the heavily wounded giant. Looking at his options he decides to just reload instead of moving just yet. Crank crank crank!

Crossbow vs Blue: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Damage (P), Precision: 1d10 + 2 + 1d8 ⇒ (2) + 2 + (3) = 7

Man, sure would like to get a decent damage roll for once!

Grams grunts as the closer zombie batters her, but then grins as her armor holds, protecting her from anything worse than some bruises.

"My turn," she says happily, scything her axe through the creature's rotting flesh.

Action 1: ◈ Strike
Action 2: ◈ Step/Raise Shield
Action 3: ◈ Strike

Battleaxe Strike: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Battleaxe Strike (iterative, sweep): 1d20 + 8 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 8 + 1 - 5 = 19
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Moves depend a bit on the effect of that first Strike. If it kills Blue, I'll Step to the north and do the second attack against Red. If it doesn't kill Blue, instead of a Step, I'll Raise my Shield; that means the second Strike would not get the additional +1 (and thus be 18 to hit), since it's against the same target.