GM TOP #10-14: Debt to the Quah (Standard, Foxes) (Inactive)

Game Master Pete H.

With a self deprecating smile, "Apparently even a goddess has limits."

"'School' is a rather grandious term for a summer camp, no?" Itami jabs as he tries to help with the heavy lifting. "Although I suppose that's rather rich coming from a person who had their magic thrust upon them," he admits, touching the bandage over his eye.
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Strength Check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14
There is an Order of the Stick comic that I'm referencing in the first part, but, for the life of me, I cant find it! I'll post it if I do.

The foxes band together, Ikari taking up the most space with big meaty paws straining against the large stone sarcophagus. Onna flirts with Hiiragi while lifting, which distracts at least one of the two as the cleric looses her grip. Toshiko tries to angle her back under it to push with her legs, but her feet don't find any purchase and she slips down to the ground. Lastly, Itami gets a good grip and hefts while taking an admitted jab at the legitimate profession of performer.

Sadly though, even with all their teamwork and chatter, the stone coffin lifts a mere foot before slamming back down into the shallow pit. More work must be done to get it out, but now Ikari has shrunk to normal size so that work will be a lot harder.

Missed by 1! DC 25, dangit so close! So what next? Take the time to muscle it up (I'll allow take 20 with aids, but it'll be a couple minutes of hard effort just to get it out) or keep clearing the sepulcher?

Strength checks strike again!

Side note, always bugged me a little how many things are STR checks when there’s a perfectly good chart that says “a character with STR X can carry Y weight over their head”...

Hiiragi breathes a phewww of relief when they drop it. ”That is heavy! Ikari, did Daikitsu bless you with momentary size as well as your sustained size today?”
In other words, can you Enlarge as a Swift?. ”We can get on opposite sides of it and distribute the weight a little better that way.”

Oh man, I totally agree about strength checks. Just absurdly stupid when there is literally a chart saying what you can do and spells like ant haul that triple carrying capacity to where a lot of players could literally carry the sarcophagus but couldn't actually lift it... And I hate when GM's use str checks to see if someone can hold a rope while lowering an ally down a cliff. Really? You mean I can lift X weight by rule, but now it's up to a totally random dice roll? Also, I would be definitely ruling this differently if it weren't a specific DC written into the scenario.

All that said, if you want to burn some rounds of consumables like you are talking about, I'll give you all the best case scenario for your rolls. Aka, top roll is the primary and all others that beat 10 are aids. Otherwise though, taking 20 is probably the best option, though obviously that takes longer.

I think, moving forward, if I GM a situation where a STR check is needed for something like this, I’ll use the chart FIRST, and then if nobody can meet it by statistics, allow them to roll STR to put a little more effort in.

A lot of STR checks are a bit more esoteric—“Roll to see if you can pry this rusty door open”—but yeahhh. You could argue calling for a STR check to lift a sarcophagus is “rules as written,” but they’re not the ONLY rules on the subject!

........anyway, I’ll probably only suggest the consumable once, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to everyone hauling together at Medium size ;D

STR: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Str: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (17) + 0 = 17

"Sensei, Daikitsu has seen fit to endow me with ample and increasing size."

Ikari takes a breather after his initial exertion, before calling upon the powers of the goddess of the fields and making a two-giant-fox attempt on the sarcophagus.

STR, big: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18 I'm going to conserve rage now. We can certainly do this by all taking 20.

"Summer camp? Well, there were a few pillow fights. By the by, the way you say 'thrust', it leaves little to the imagination as to exactly how your power was passed to you. Given the strength of your magic, it must have taken weeks to sit again." She sidles up next to the sorcerer, "So, did the dark power buy you dinner first? I hope they at least sent you flowers the next morning." Her tone is very innocent, but the wink makes it clear she is teasing the old fox right back.

Strength (again?): 1d20 ⇒ 15

Itami chuckles at the not so subtle implication, but shakes his head. "Perhaps metaphorically. I'm fortunate that my powers have manifested in a way I can control, but this was not the result of the kind of 'thrusting' you've imagined," he explains. "Perhaps after we've wiped our hands clean of this place I'll share the story of my hubris. "
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Strength Check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (14) - 2 = 12 WOO! Who says you need positive strength mods?!

Working together as a perfectly calibrated team, the two large foxes and three regular foxes lift in unison. Carefully they level out and slide the sarcophagus out of the pit, then easily heft it back up onto the platform.

Nicely done! What or where next?

Hiiragi “hoooo”s as they maneuver the sarcophagus into place, slapping her hands together to clear the dust.

She almost immediately swaps over to her foxy form, taking her tail in her hand and using it as a brush to remove some of the sediment that’s taken residence on the big casket.

”Let me know where we’re going next; I’ll be working on this in the meantime,” she calls over her shoulder.

"Is that how miko do it, Sensei?" Ikari raises a furry eyebrow at Hiiragi's use of her tail.

"Now that my magics have expired, there is no need to race about. If we want to return to finish that spirit's work at the entrance, we can do so. Or we can clear out any other unquiet residents first."

”Our tails are not called ‘brushes’ for nothing, Gakusei,” says Hiiragi with a smile. ”Once I’m finished, I’ll just—“

She freezes, tail covered in crypt dust and eyes slowly widening.

”.....oh no. Oh, Daikitsu’s tenth brown tail. I forgot to ask Her for the most important orison for cleaning.”

Sionnarch goes about the team, cleaning them each with a casting of Peatidigitation. "Would the same trick be useful for cleaning the shrine?"

”Yes, actually! Normally I prepare it every day, but with so much going on I had forgotten to do so. I prefer to start with my tail to get a better look at what I am cleaning first... and clean my tail via spell after.”

She smiles at Onna. ”Just one more reason I’m grateful to have you near.”

With a two-fingers salute, "All part of the service ma'am. From hamstringing harpies to tidying temples, I aim to please."

The cleaning (not really as much as one would have though, dust wise) reveals the damage more clearly. The skeleton is broken in several places and the sarcophagus has two large blemishes, one crack in the lid and one corner has been chipped off.

What or where next?

"Um...It took all five of us to lift this thing. How do you think it got knocked over?" Her inquiry is not directed to anyone specifically, but it's more than just a rhetorical question.

My guess is that we plan to clear the entire complex, possibly fixing small things, before attempting to 'Mend" or other time intensive tasks.

Hiiragi ponders the question as she's making mental notes to come back and mend the sarcophagus with the mending stone on their way out.

"Didn't our predecessor mention a--"

She blinks. "Wait. Skeleton. Big pit. Was there a ring in that bag?" she asks, turning back to Toshiko. "He wrote something about stealing a ring from a skeleton."

"Yes, this is where the ring belongs. We should return it. Perhaps place in on the skeleton's finger?"

Ikari scowls at the thought of Lumetkul's wrongdoing.

Now I'm afraid to announce that I too have cleaning magic... Hopefully she won't pronounce feelings for me when I use it when we begin properly tidying up the place... "Seems to be the most logical place, barring any new discoveries," Itami agrees.
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I'm fine with declaring the compound "safe" first, then going back through each room to fix stuff!

Toshiko rifles in the sack for a moment before drawing forth a ring. She leans in, slides in onto the skeletal finger and taking her hand out of the stone coffin. She is careful not to disturb anything else.

It does not pay to disturb the dead, yes?

Toshiko pulls out the ring and inspects the fingers, quickly finding one that clearly had a ring on it at some point and slides it back onto the correct digit. Nothing happens, which is probably a good thing.

Moving onto the next room, the Kitsune group file along in a more normal manner, taking their time and looking things over instead of bursting and squeezing through the sepulcher.

Since no strong indication of where next was given, I get to chose!

Opening the door to the west, everyone sees a long winding hallway. They slowly make their way down it and come upon a doorway to their left. The hall continues around a bend to the right. Where do they go? Ah, but that part of the story has yet to be written.

"If we want to check every room for damage, we should double back to the south where Lumetkul's notes describe a maze. I think the wolf statue that needs replacing belongs in a room to the north. South first?"

"South first," Itami echoes. "Is a maze a maze if we have a map?" he wonders out loud.

I do slightly question the reasoning of the scenario to give you all a blank map of the layout, but such is beyond my control. /shrug

Ikari and Hiiragi look over the doorway after a quick check from Onna determines no visible magic. It seems safe, so the front-fox pulls it open to see a bunch of pillars of stone filling this space. Each is etched with some sort of writing, but the inscriptions are chipped, scorched, or otherwise damaged or obscured. The two priests step forward, wary of dangers but not wary enough. As Ikari steps forward his incredibly long weapon brushes the ceiling and ROCKS FALL DOWN, CRASHING PAINFULLY ONTO HIS HEAD!

Ikari, DC 15 Reflex save to take half of 1d6 ⇒ 5 bludgeoning damage.

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And now that the kitsune are wary of the damaged ceiling, they are welcome to take a couple actions. They could slowly search the room for further weakened spots of stone OR they could run away and maybe try later OR they could recklessly run around the room, hoping to knock all the loose stone down, then try to pick up the pieces.

If you chose to search, each player please give me four perception checks. Onna may use K: Engineering instead of Perception if she wishes as it is slightly better for her.

Ref DC15: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

"Aaagh! Watch out for the ceiling! How did Lumetkul do this? Blasting spells, no doubt."

"Let's take care and find the damage."

I'm for looking carefully - will put rolls in spoiler in case the party decides something else.

Hiiragi coughs and waves the inevitable dust from her face as chunks of ceiling come down.

”Wuooff!” she chokes, shaking her head. ”Are you all right? You’re bleeding a bit on the temple, there.” She applies a bit of saliva to her thumb with a quick lick and uses it to clean Ikari’s scrape before turning her attention back.

”I wonder if we could use that mending egg on the ceiling? Just run it across wherever we go. Even if we avoid making it fall, I’d hate to leave it for the Shoanti to deal with.”

Ikari has it right, once you are able to look at all the debris in the room it all has clear scorch marks as from some large fiery explosion.

The pillars seem to also definitely need some work as well with all the damage done to the inscriptions there. Some puzzlework will also need to be done, picking up the broken off chunks of stone and fitting them back in place.

But that step can wait until the ceiling has been checked/secured and maybe even until after you all search the rest of the place. And yes, the mending egg will likely work to fix any ceiling issues. Though if you just use it on every ceiling section, that will burn a lot more charges. Did I mention it is a somewhat limited resource? I'm not sure if I did, no one ever attempted to ID the magic item. Anyway, up to you all!

You mentioned limited usage, but the specifics on how were a little murky. I wasn’t sure whether it would eat through charges if there was nothing to mend, and was working off the logic of it being a combination finder-fixer for the ceiling based on that!

You are more than welcome to identify the item, which may grant information as to 'how' and 'when' it works. Or you could use trial and error, hoping that it works the way you wish it to. S'all up to y'all!

Toshiko looks around the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Dust from the ceiling swirl around, some lodging in the bard's eye. She tries to wipe it away as she looks around the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Spellcraft (Mending Egg): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"Must have been some powerful magic..." Itami grumbles as he helps to check everything over.
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Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Toshiko and Ikari find a couple spots where the ceiling looks close to crumbling. Onna takes a look at the stone, turning it over in her hands and trying to figure out how the magic works. She succeeds!

Hiiragi, actions?

I’m cackling at the description because I WAS RIGHT!!!

Hiiragi will help peek around at the ceiling!

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Hiiragi presumably nods, "yes, yes, I was completely right. This won't go to my head at all."

Then she looks around for loose rocks. Quickly finding one spot everyone else missed, she happily points it out to Onna and keeps looking. She easily confirms Ikari and Toshiko have discovered two other spots but doesn't notice the fifth and final area of concern until it tumbles down upon her furry head.

Hiiragi Reflex DC 15 for half of 1d6 ⇒ 1 bludgeoning.

Onna rushes over to see if Hiiragi is okay, but fortunately, like all of this group, she has a hard head.

Five charges from the stone should easily fix the broken ceilings. After that, the room is safe, but not repaired. What/Where next?

Current Damage
Ikari -5
Hiiragi -1 Lethal or -1 Nonlethal

"Let us see where this wolf should be replaced. I would not be surprised to encounter more of the 'lightning wolves' that Lumetkul referred to. I will call upon Daikitsu's grace as we approach."

Suggest heading north and looking for the flame pit. Ikari will channel (1d6/2 and ignore fatigue for 1 minute) before we open the next door.

Ikari’s gonna fix whatever damage I get, but let’s see how clumsy I am anyway!

Reflex: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

Hiiragi raises her arms to cover her head after the first stone hits... but no more are coming.

”Oof!!”

When her student channels, she smiles. ”No need on my account, but—ah, right. Ready when you are!”

"As am I," Itmai says. "Not eager to stay in a place where the ceiling is crumbling. Especially knowing what lies above us."
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That's a nifty little item there! Depending on how much it costs, I might splurge on it just to have it :P I do like the visual of hitting something with a rock to fix it XD

The group takes a breath of relief, then presses on towards checking the rest of the facility.

They come to the room at the end of the hall, do a quick check, heal and open into a small supply room full of empty boxes. It does not appear to have any need for repairs.

Moving on, they check out the next door and open it up.

Pottery shards in a variety of vibrant hues litter the room here. The staircase leading to the east leads to a dead end. Doors exit to north and west.

The pottery shards will definitely need fixed, but it will take time.

Keep moving along towards the flame pit room? Ikari is at -3 and the minute of no fatigue has expired.

"Once more, with feeling."

channel: 1d6 ⇒ 3 1 more hp back, and fatigue immunity for 1 min

"Let's go!"

Unless anyone wants to apply any more buffs or cast anything, Ikari channels then opens the door towards the flame pit.

”So much to clean on our way back!” says Hiiragi as they continue.

"So long as that's all it is. I heard that ancient Osirians used to bury the living servants of a pharaoh so they would be there in the afterlife. I don't plan on doing that here!"

Hiiragi makes a face. ”That’s not real.” She turns to look at her companion. ”She’s kidding, right?”

Onna gives Hiiragi a supportive side hug as they walk down the hall. "Oh sweetie, we have to get you out more."

Hiiragi pouts a little, even as Onna pulls her in. ”See, this is why I follow Daikitsu. Nobody gets buried alive, there’s no infernal contracts, you just grow the food and then you eat it.”

"And it's a great system, Ragi! A little light on fun and stuff, but super helpful for keeping people alive."

"You don't think Daikitsu is fun?!" exclaims Ikari in disbelief as he prepares to channel.

"Daikitsu is the funnest goddess of all, right Sensei? I mean what could be more fun than suddenly growing to 11 feet tall and skewering a lazy good-for-nothing bandit? Then smoothing your fur with Daikitsu's touch, you know, in case you splashed blood on yourself, and doing it all over again?!"

"Well. I think it's fun."

Ikari gives a sly wink to Itami and Toshi.