[PFS1] GM Pudding's 6-07 Valley of Veiled Flame (Inactive)

Game Master Tom G

This is a tier 5-9 scenario that takes place is the mountains of Katapesh. It contributes to the storylines of the Silver Crusade and Liberty's Edge factions.

Once everyone has decided on characters, check into the gameplay thread and I'll kick us off!

Tsadoc Sem is a level 7 saurian shaman who looks very much like a triceratops. His pet triceratops (named Tiger) passed and now he has a pet stegosaur named Martin son of Dan son of Tiger. I have not played Tsadoc for 2.5 years so is my preferred choice.

Vornsk many of you have met. She is a level 9 occultist who uses illusion magic to improve her thieving sneaking. Her implements are based on Marvel/Star Wars and she is fun to play so is my preferred choice.

Wiem Weems is level 10 so not an option for this scenario. :)

Enora is a pregen.

Tsadoc Sem is a level 7 saurian shaman who looks very much like a triceratops. His pet triceratops (named Tiger) passed and now he has a pet stegosaur named Martin son of Dan son of Tiger. I have not played Tsadoc for 2.5 years so is my preferred choice. :)

I am going with Tsadoc on account of Liberty's Edge. He has soft healing, and likes to charge when in battle. I will update his profile & post IC tomorrow. :)

Anyone else?

I am not sure. :-(

I have two characters that I’d like to play:
- Andor, a Kitsune Swashbuckler 1 / Investigator 8
- Noke, a Wayang Witch 7

Who would work best?

I don't want to spoil things too much, but if it helps choose then I'd say any character who would enjoy liberty's edge style themes of liberation, uprising, helping the downtrodden etc would enjoy the adventure.

Tsadoc remember to update your profile before we kick off please. I'll start when we've got an intro post from everyone.

I am not sure. :-(

I have two characters that I’d like to play:
odd- Andor, a Kitsune Swashbuckler 1 / Investigator 8
even- Noke, a Wayang Witch 7

Who would work best?

[dice=best?]1d12[/dice?

Hi, I actually decided for another character. :-)

I present my dwarven archer Almaas.

I am here. Sorry all.

Here, I am will have him up to date shortly.

I just saw the tier and level range. Going to have to bow out. Sorry.

No worries Kinshasa, sorry there wasn't something in your level range. Are we still waiting for Hawthwile?

Hawthwile was only a guest that I invited last game and not part of the GM rotation.

Your choice if you want to ask him GM Pudding.

OK That's fine, I'll kick us off today at some point. Make sure that your details are on the slides for character number, initiative and so forth

profession merchant : 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

Assuming Letsuna elects not to join us with a pregen, it looks like your levels are 7+7+7+9 = 30, for an average of 7.5. Since it ends in exactly 0.5 you can choose which way to round, rounding down means you play subtier 5-6 without the four player adjustment, and rounding up would mean you play subtier 8-9 with the four player adjustment.

I wouldn't want to force anyone to play up who didn't want to, so I think that would require a unanimous decision.

I'm okay either way, but would personally prefer to play down because I don't know Enora very well and I don't think I'll be able to maximize her capabilities.

On the other hand, down seems kind of silly seeing as 7/7/7/9 doesn't actually have anyone in low tier, and it would lower the reward for the level 9 for being out of tier.

So ... basically ... I have no strong vote.

I would like to play up.

We could still ask Hawthwile if you want more players?

A pre-gen did not even occur to me. Sure, I'll jump in with a pre-gen. What do we want?

I like Crowe and Shardra. :-)

But: Whatever you want!!

I like Crowe and I like Oloch.

You mean there are pre-gens besides Keira? ;)

I like Enora let's have two Enoras!

I like playing the class to which the chronicle will apply. Except when I am testing a class I am thinking about.

I was kidding about two Enoras (but am not against it. :)

Play what you want to play, I think we have the bases covered.

"Hi Enora! Hi Abram" After listening to Abram's story, Tsadoc says, "Yeah, some people call me Sam, which is weird because my name Sam*."

Stupid auto correct ruined the joke. :( *Should be S E M

There can be two Enoras, but only one Enora Soup!

I will be purchase a wand of feather step with PP.

Tsadoc Sem Luxjed wrote:

"You're from Qadira Almaas? Welcome home!" Tsadoc says excitedly. "Where was your last mission? Please, tell me all about it?"

Almaas looks at Tsadoc with nod and starts telling his tale!

“Well yes, it is great to be home!! And my last mission.. you surely know that the cataclysmic Earthfall shattered the ancient Thassilonian civilization, and like its slumbering runelords who fled the destruction, many ruins lie hidden. The Ironbound Archipelago was once part of Edasseril, kingdom of envy, and word reached the Pathfinder Society that an ancient ruin had emerged on the isle of Flintyreach. My fellow Pathfinders and I gained the local half-orcs’ trust and we braved the resident giants’ wrath to secure this archaeological treasure!! It was a great win for our community!!“

Thank you Almaas. :). Which scenario is this? If it is one I have played, or have learned about already, I will have to collect another story. :)

7-04

:-)

@Letsuna could you pick which character is going to receive credit for this and fill that on the slides please?

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'll attempt to summarise the options for receiving credit:

1) Apply to a character of lower level than the pregen. In this case you save the credit and apply it when the character reaches level 7
2) Apply it to a level 1 character. In this case the gold is reduced to 500GP and the boons are not available until you reach the lowest level of the tier, in this case level 5.

Either way remember that your character is at risk of death if the pregen dies, though the level 7 pregens have plenty of gear you can sell off in that unfortunate event

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'll attempt to summarise the options for receiving credit:

1) Apply to a character of lower level than the pregen. In this case you save the credit and apply it when the character reaches level 7
2) Apply it to a level 1 character. In this case the gold is reduced to 500GP and the boons are not available until you reach the lowest level of the tier, in this case level 5.

This is my understanding, although I will freely admit that my understanding mostly consists of people criticizing me for doing the wrong thing, so "this is my understanding" basically translates to "nobody has yelled at me for doing it this way and/or someone has yelled at me for doing it another way."

That is correct.

So what do you other players think?

Do we storm the castle and hope for a tough fight that eventually ends well or do we go the path of diplomacy and try to make the fight easier?

So what do you other players think?

Do we storm the castle and hope for a tough fight that eventually ends well or do we go the path of diplomacy and try to make the fight easier?

Tsadoc would like to explore more first. Though as a player, storming the castle has a bit of reckless fun to it. >:)

We need to bear witness to the villagers that the Pathfinder Society will not bear it when our own are harmed. That their ruler bears a resemblance to many tyrants who were and still are. Tell them that if we unite and bring pressure to bear, that they would be released from the pressure that they've had to bear. That we understand that they, and their ancestors, built this with their bear hands. That they should bear a grudge that they and their children are not getting the bear necessities. That when we unite and bear down on the oppressor, us pathfinders will bear the brunt of the assault. That together we can bear the fruit of freedom and peace.

--I'm Beary and I approve this message.

I saur what you dino'd there.

The first time I wrote this before I realised that Tsadoc had step up I did 27 damage to Abram, so step up really came in handy here!...

I originally took it to help with charge, figuring it is half of the required 10feet for a charge. I think it has only helped charge once but has stopped half a dozen spells in Twaddle career. :)

Was that damage from a spell? The ifrit could have attacked once Tsadoc stepped up.

No in my first pass 1 stepped away and did the burning hands (and he could ignite both oil patches so it would have been worse for you), then 2 attacked.

As it was 2 had to take over the burning hands duties so the attack never happened.

@Enora, I missed the arcane bond part so thought you'd swapped out your spells. I now see you posted all the details the first time you cast the spell, apologies!

I'll not have time to update this tonight, stand by for blacksmith excitement tomorrow!

Also Tsadoc Tygora made herself ruler after they wished for security. You don't need to storm the castle if you don't want to of course!

Lawful Neutrally speaking, the wish was 'of the people'. Tsadoc will be behind the regime change once the people are also behind it. Knowing the oppression is overwhelmingly felt, he just wants to make sure they are behind the change.

Curaigh is already behind it & wishes to know how well this party would have castle-stormed without gaining the town's support. >:)

I will prep mostly heal spells, but keep 1 spell per level for trekking stuff (resist energy and anything for food & water)

I never posted what these were, but if anyone wants one a buff spell please just ask :)

My default 4th level spell is echolocation. If you want, & GM is OK with it, I can stick to I will leave it in.

Level 4 (1/day) DC 17
cure serious wounds
Level 3 (2/day) DC 16
protection from energy, cure moderate wounds, cure moderate wounds
Level 2 (4/day) DC 15
barkskin, bull's strength, delay poison
Level 1 (5/day) DC 14
cure light wounds x2, goodberry x2, stone shield (+4 AC, +2 reflex, cover 1 round)
Level 0 (4/day) DC 14
create water, detect magic, purify food & stabilize.

If no one else wants it, I will give Martin bark skin & bull strength.

Fire protection makes a lot of sense! :-)

I have a couple of questions about the plan.

The route up to the palace is a couple of miles up a path. The palace overlooks the town so any traffic is easily visible. You could head up the path, duck behind a rock when you're close to the palace, then cast invisibility, but you'd not be able to hide your approach completely without some kind of distraction as your invisiblity wouldn't last long enough to go from the town. I suppose stealth might cover that.

That said, a distraction does present itself. The townsfolk of Crystalcrag are ready to revolt. At your word they could start some or all of the following:

- overthrowing the ifrit guards in Crystalcrag
- sending a force to the palace in which you could hide
- anything else you can think of

If they sent a force to the palace and you used it as a distraction, the oreads would likely have to fight the palace defenders while you snuck in.

Thoughts? Once I have a good understanding of the plan I can tell you how it goes :)

I don't like the idea of using the townsfolk as shields, so I'm voting against #2. But we could consider the direct approach, and just walking up to the gates.

As a hybrid, perhaps the stealthier among us could hide, while the less stealthy could brazenly walk up.

We could also just walk in there and ask politely to see Tygora.

I mean it does not have to end with a fight, maybe she is reasonable and recognizes that the tide is turning and we just drink tea together. ;-)

I can turn into Quetzalcoatlus (Huge pteranodon) and fly around the other side of the keep.

I like the idea of the residents approaching the keep, it is their revolution after all. But I also like the idea of simply asking to see Tygora. Perhaps we can combine the two: we & the residents 'escort' the remaining council members to speak with her.

My vote ranked first to last: Modified Almaas, citizens overthrow, Enora's split stealth, citizens storming.

Works for me!!

Abram does not have an enhancement bonus to his Str. While he can cast it on himself, yours would last a little longer. I leave the choice up to you.

As for the plan, I am impartial.

GM, I assume we all had our weapons drawn, correct?

GM, we are playing high tier with 4 player adjustment, right?

A party of five to seven characters whose APL falls between two subtiers must play the higher tier with the four-character adjustments found throughout the scenario.

Seems like there are very few enemies here. ;-)

Ah crap. I had thought because crowe joining had lowered the apl to the point where you didn't get a choice meant that you went low. I completely missed that 5 players meant high with the adjustment. My apologies.

Well that's the worst mistake I've ever made, and this is my 99th credit! The ifrit brawler fight should have had more ifrits, but everything else up to this point is the same so it's not as bad as it could have been (some DC's should have been higher but you passed even the higher ones).

The alchemist will have given you slightly better loot for helping him, and I'll adjust the throne room encounter as soon as I can. Sorry again

Did anyone claim the potions?
If no, can I recommend Almaas has the fire shield & Abram has the resist energy? (Abram could take the potion when entering the keep.) The healing potions can be spread out among Almaas, Enora, & Crowe (2x).

I have healing spells prepped. I will only need the potion if I can't use it. ;)

Edit: bull's strength is minutes per level. When would you like it cast Abram?