GM Chadius [PbP Gameday] PFS2 1-01: The Absalom Initiation (Inactive)

Game Master chadius

Round 1
Fleshy (5 damage, Grabbing Hangust)
Aleksandyr
Paulie
Hangust (21 damage, Grabbed)
Dreadfang
Rosette (Can also take round 1 actions)
Olexbu

The entire floor has difficult terrain. You can make a DC 15 Acrobatics check to move along the sides of the ship at full speed.

”YAAAAAA!”, cries Dreadfang, as he closes the gap with the creature. He lashes out with his claws, trying to tear it apart.

Stride, Tiger Stance, Flurry of Blows
Claw 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5S
Claw 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8S

Aleksandr whispers a prayer to Naderi, an feeling of calm washes over Hangust.

◈◈ - Soothe Healing: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 +2 to save vs emotion effects for 1 minute

He then pulls out his crossbow.

◈ - Ineract

Hangust recalls his early days, before he was a Pathfinder. When he had to deal with physical chains around his peers, his friends, and even himself. He swore to never let anyone bind or hold him again. And this thing definitely wasn't going to keep him down. He easily wriggles free from the creature's grasp. Aleksandyr takes the opportunity to heal some of the bruises. Hangust is no longer grabbed, nor is the creature grabbing. 14 damage on Hangust.

Dreadfang hisses and tries to claw at the creature but it simply ignores his blows. Missed both times.

Hangust narrowly avoiding being grabbed by the creature snarls and attempts to hit back, taking advantage of his ally being nearby. He feels his wounds heal as he swings from Aleksandr's spell.

Flanking Rage: Attack 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 141d12 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
Flanking Rage: Attack 2: 1d20 + 6 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 6 - 5 = 91d12 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Did I get anything with Recall Knowledge?

Olexbu calls forth a trio of force darts to run the strange creature through with.

3-Action Magic Missile: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 4, 3) + 3 = 14

Olexbu thinks hard, but he isn't able to recall anything about this creature. His Arcana knowledge fails him.

Oh well, sometimes brute force works better. He sends three orbs of arcane force into the creature. Hangust would love to help, but his aim is off.

Paulie and Rosette to finish the round. Rosette can take her Round 1 actions.

Unwilling to lose her footing near the unnatural creature, Rosette moves closer with great care and extends her hand and fires an icy blue ray at the thing.

Ray of Frost spell attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 Cold Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Still not sure of my 2E battle actions. Can she draw her weapon too?

You get 3 actions per round. Ray of Frost requires 2 actions, drawing a weapon is 1.

You still have another round worth of actions you can take.

You get 3 actions per round. Ray of Frost requires 2 actions, drawing a weapon is 1.

You still have another round worth of actions you can take.

Movement is also an action

If she had to move down the stairs and then back, she probably used two actions worth of movement. I assumed on my first round that I had to move down the stairs until I got to the square southwest of Hangust, then move back from there.

"Dangit, how does Uncle Vinnie do it again?"
Strike thrice more with flanking.
Attack 1 nonlethal: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
damage if hit: 1d4 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + (4) + 4 = 10
Attack 2 nonlethal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
damage if hit: 1d4 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + (2) + 4 = 7
Attack 3 nonlethal: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4
damage if hit: 1d4 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + (3) + 4 = 9

Paulie channels Uncle Paulie's spirit and hits the thing twice, aiming to capture but not kill it. Olexbu and Rosette offer magical assistance and further batter the creature.

But it still stands, and recovers some of its health. It lashes out and crushes Paulie with its giant fist before grabbing him. A tentacle swings around and knocks Hangust off his feet, leaving him dying. 11 Damage to Paulie and he is Grabbed. 11 Damage to Hangust, leaving him in Dying 1.

Round 3
Fleshy (33 damage, Grabbing Paulie)
Aleksandyr
Paulie (11 Damage, Grabbed)
Hangust (Dying 1, Need Recovery Check)
Dreadfang
Rosette
Olexbu

The entire floor has difficult terrain. You can make a DC 15 Acrobatics check to move along the sides of the ship at full speed.

Aleksandyr uses his magi to heal Paulie and then loads his crossbow.

◈◈ - Soothe Healing: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
◈ - Ineract

Olexbu could try to stabilize Hangust, but doesn't trust himself to do so in combat. He settles for ending the fight quickly so someone more skilled can do it.

Drain Familiar, then recast.

3-Action Magic Missile: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (3, 1, 3) + 3 = 10

Hangust hits the deck, his shrill roar cut short by a powerful blow from the tentacle.

Recovery Check DC 11: 1d20 ⇒ 18
Where was this roll while I was attacking!?

Dreadfang lets out a high-pitched growl. He spreads his arms and wings, roaring at the top of his tiny lungs, before clawing at the creature again.

Tiger Stance, Feint, Flurry of Blows
Deception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Attack 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8S
Attack 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6S

Another blast of energy from Olexbu hits the creature, and its roars start to waver, but it fights on. A little bit more and it may topple over...

43 Damage. Just a little bit more!

Oh, I guess Round 2 got mislabeled Round 1 again? Ok, so round 1 was move and cast ray of frost, round 2 is draw weapon and cast ray of frost and round 3 is cast ray of frost yet again! XD

R1 Ray of Frost spell attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 Cold Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

R3 Ray of Frost spell attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24 Cold Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Rosette misses the first blast, but the second one hits. It stumbles forward, dropping Paulie and collapses.

Combat over. Hangust is Unconscious but stable.

Now that the battle is over, you can take a look around the cargo hold. Many crates have an odd symbol- perhaps a traveler's mark?

Taking a look around the hold, you see more smashed crates and smashed furniture. The creature must have gone out of control and destroyed everything in sight.

Paulie was healed by Aleksandyr

Aleksandyr takes out the borrowed scrolls and starts to heal Hangust.

Soothe: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Soothe: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

"I see some remarkably preserved papers among the wreck. We should have a look."

Olexbu sets his halberd down, business end on top of the creature's chest. But it's probably well and safely down.

Society: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

"These crates contain things for this...fleshforge's maintenance. I don't know if we could have had time to use them. Pity that it didn't give us the chance."

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Society: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

”Raw materials?”, muses Dreadfang, as he peeks at the manifest. He sniffs, then makes a sour expression.

Hangust just lays silently on the deck.

"Thanks for all the healing Aleksandr." He says groggily. "Do we have anything else we need to do?" He sits up and looks at the revealed raw materials with disgust.

Satisfied the creature isn't moving, you move on to check the crew bunks.

In stark contrast to the rest of the ship, this cabin has been somewhat cleared of algae and cleaned. Six simple beds, complete with fresh linens, are crammed into the space. A few small footlockers are shoved under some of the beds.

One of the rags is covered in salt, but you notice the shine of a talisman inside. There are two, in fact.

You look on to the map room.

This cabin’s floor has been cleared of the algae present everywhere else on the ship, and a simple table has been set up in the center of the room, with a few chairs pulled up around it. The aft wall bears a large carving of a coat of arms, visible even despite the wear of the elements. An antique lantern hangs above the carving, casting a faint light over papers strewn over the table.

There's nothing else of interest here, so I'll move us along.

With your investigation complete, you decide to return to the Grand Lodge. The moon shines upon the docks and streets on your way back.

Time for the afterparty. Many of the Pathfinder guests are either asleep or getting drunk elsewhere. The grand dinner tables are swapped for a much smaller, cozier bar. The faction leaders remain, speaking to other leaders and teammates.

Eando Kline speaks to a well-groomed Qadiran man. "...All four plead guilty, and I negotiated a shorter time in prison for their cooperation. I appreciated their honestly, they were in way over their heads."

Kline stops his story short as you approach. "One moment, Aaqir. Welcome back, Pathfinders. Were you able to locate the smuggler's cargo? What was it? And what happened to it?"

”It was monster parts! For a monster!”, Dreadfang proclaims. ”A wizard built it, and we fought it, and we won! No ghosts, though”

He ponders for a moment. ”Unless...the monster becomes a ghost?” He briefly looks worried, then waves it off. ”Bah! Even a monster ghost wouldn’t defeat us!”

A little bruised and beaten up, Paulie volunteers. "Some kind of flesh . . . monster . . . thing. Real grabby. Didn't give us much of a chance to negotiate, just attacked."

"It was from Nex. Their practices are obviously quite different, so we don't even know what it was," Olexbu says with some distaste. "But even if it wasn't supposed to attack, that's what ended up happening."

Hangust rubs his head remembering the tentacle that took him out.

"It was pretty strong too, and it tried to grab me!" He shivers at the thought. "I bet I could do better if I had to fight it again though!"

"I know you will, Hangust. Experience builds character. I've seen elder warriors take hits that would have ruined a young upstart. The key is to understand how to, as they say, roll with the punches."

"It sounds like this creature was a menace and had to be destroyed. Thank you for risking yourself yet again. I will deal with these smugglers myself. After the celebration, of course." He smiles just as you all hear footsteps racing down the hall. "I bet that's Janira right now. She has a knack of showing up at the right time."

Janira Gavix races down the hall, her blond hair flying in her excitement. “I just heard you made it back—congratulations! It sounds like everything went, well, about as well as anyone could expect. Come with me, I have something for each of you.”

The halfling woman leads the way into a small office and distributes finely crafted wooden boxes. Within each, a gleaming compass lid emblazoned with the Glyph of the Open Road and an engraved name lies upon a cushion of silk. “I’m not sure if you’ve picked up your own wayfinders yet, but when you do, you should have ones that prove that you belong. Now it’s official,” she beams. “Welcome to the Pathfinder Society!”

Thank you all for playing. While I prepare the character sheets, what will your PCs do afterward?

Paulie is probably going to appologize a lot for how he acted when drunk, and go back to the training yard to try and master his uncle's drunken fist kung-fu stumbling stance kung fu. Also bartend

Dreadfang will tell anyone who will listen about the amazing feast, with his role in the adventures getting more prominent with each retelling.

Olexbu returns to his area of the quarters, mostly populated with a small number of other hobgoblins. He doesn't have a lot to say, but he briefs his instructors when asked. He mentions his teammates as good people who are sufficiently at ease around his kind.