GM TOP Skulk of Foxes (Troubles in Otari, PFS2) (Inactive)

Game Master Pete H.

Jadren starts heading to the left and then stops short when he spies the clockwork parrot. "But, but... it lives? I mean, not lives if you know what I mean, but I thought it was dead! I mean, not dead or at least not anymore dead than it was already, which I guess it couldn't have been if it was never alive to begin with, but still I smashed it! Didn't I?"

Sorry for the long posting delay - should be more reliable now, I hope, though the end of the semester can always be a little nuts.

Jadren moves into the weapon room but stops suddenly, confused. The parrot just stares forward... or did it just move? is it looking at him now? Does it know what he did?

There seems to be a plaque at the end of the chamber.

Jadren stares at the parrot, unblinking. Iomedae is testing me. She knows that I know that - by her power - I have already slain the parrot. Perhaps she is asking me to deepen my understanding of the mysteries of the undead, the better to (re)slay them with. Aye, that must be it. I must advance into the test. Fear not the parrot. Fear not the parrot!

Never breaking his staring match with the undead avian construct horror, Jadren advances into the room until he can pause to read the plaque aloud to his comrades. "Honor the weapons, eh? Well, what have we here? I will look around as long as someone will keep an eye on the feathered monster." Jadren turns to examining the contents of the room to see if any of the weapons are particularly noteworthy.

Dev follows behind the warrior. "That is strange. I mean, we all watched to tear the head off the last one. Whattya think El, can clockwork parrot familiars become undead and hunt down their killers? Boy oh boy Jadren, I am glad I'm not in your boots." He surreptitiously takes a coin from his purse and begins to rhythmically ticking it against his scabbard.

Thievery/Stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

His eyes dart about about, a look of confused concern passing across his face. "Anyone else hear the ticking? Sounds like a loose gear turning out of synch. Creepy right?"

Ellen frowns and taps her chin.

"I suppose that is... CAWS for concern," she says, doing her best to keep a straight face.

Elsir pokes his head inside, watching the display of his teammates and wondering where the ticking sound is coming from.

But after a few moments of nothing exploding he moves in and looks over the weapons, "Oh, a few of these are magical. I think I might take... ah who am I kidding, magic is stronger than any weapon. You all can pick what you want."

From GM: Elsir identifies three of the weapons as being magical. A +1 longsword, +1 rapier and a +1 spear.

Ellen makes a face and looks down at her fists.

"Uh."

Elsir rolls his eyes, "YES ELLEN. We know you can PUN-ch. We get it. Jeeze."

Ellen shrugs. "I'm just saying-- might not be a bad idea for you to nab the spear. It looks pretty thrustworthy."

Jadren starts with alarm when he hears the ticking of Dev's coin. "We had best hurry - I think this fiendish parrot may be getting ready to do something. Gods, how long shall it torment me, what penance must I perform? Parrot, forgive me!" Then he hurriedly grabs the magical spear.

Jadren already has a +1 striking longsword so he'll take the spear, which can be thrown, unless someone else wants it. Based on the plaque, we should probably take all three of these weapons, just in case they are needed.

The sorcerer grabs the longsword and shoves it into his pack, "Aight, let's move on."

To the right

The cavern corridor opens into a naturally domal chamber. Four stone pedestals stand before you, arrayed in a semicircle around a small altar. Atop the altar are four stone sculptures. One depicts the sun. Another has been carved to look like a crescent moon. The third is a tablet that has a small constellation of stars carved into it. The fourth resembles a comet racing through the sky.

The pedestals are identical save for the fact that each has a shining coin set into its face, starting on the left with copper, followed by silver, gold, and finally platinum.

There is some writing carved into the top of the central altar. It is on page 4 of the slides.

Ellen raises an eyebrow.

"I think I know the answer," she says, "but I'd hate to deprive the rest of you."

She holds out the assembled map. "Don't forget this, though. ...It's a little redundant, in this case."

Ellen definitely lets other people put a gold coin on the sun sculpture, a copper coin on the constellation, a silver coin on the moon sculpture, and finally, a platinum before the comet.

Meanwhile, she dedicates herself to slapping Elsir's wrists if ..."when" he tries to nab the coins.

Elsir rolls his eyes as Ellen watches him super closely, "I'm not the thief here, I'm a scam artist. There is a distinct difference. Maybe watch my ex bud there if you are worried about the coins."

Ellen easily solves the math problem. Apparently thinking up jokes and puns is an analytical task that carries over to other fields.

Dev pretends he wasn't trying to pry up the platinum piece from the pedestal. Elsir stands back and snarks, poorly. Jadren stands ready at the door.

Magically, all four sculptures glow with a radiance matching their pillar before floating up toward the ceiling to create a vibrant illusion of the sky: the sun setting on the ocean with the stars and moon rising before a flash that resolves with a commet streaking overhead. Once this illusion dissipates, the door opens to the northwest.

Jadren cautiously steps into the next room.
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The rolling ocean has been painted on the walls of this chamber in faded blues and pale white. Opposite the entrance is a raised platform, with an enormous stone throne set against the far wall. An equally large skeleton sits on the throne, clad in the raiment of a pirate—complete with a patch over one of its empty eye sockets. The voice of your former captain calls out from the darkness. “My old friends. You have come so far, and the end is just over the horizon. I hope you will face this final test together and learn, as I have, that you can only step into the future by overcoming your past.”

As the voice fades, the giant skeleton suddenly stirs, standing up and drawing a massive scimitar gaff hook. With a nightmarish clatter, it stumbles forward to attack!

I'll give everyone a single stride from their current positions to reflect actions taken to position yourselves into the next room. After that, I'll roll initiative and we can throw down with a giant skeleton!

"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait," says Ellen, holding up a hand both to the skeleton and to her former crewmates.

"The map says we're supposed to leave the weapons. I think. Do we wanna run back real quick and drop them back off? They don't seem super useful to us anyway since we're so well-equipped, but if I say that too loud it runs the risk of dishonoring them."

Jadren strides forward, longsword and shield drawn, ready to go toe to toe with this foul undead mockery of their departed captain. "By Iomedae's sacred britches, the undead parrot was merely a portent of the horror to come!"

Prince Ellen, good catch. It does indeed appear that per the map we were supposed to leave the blade and the spear behind. Going by what the other plaque said, I'm guessing maybe that means were supposed to only take the rapier (which I think is the one weapon we didn't take)? Oops. Not sure what we can do about it now...

Dev and Elsir move up to get a view of what is happening. They maybe regret their decision after seeing the large skeleton rising from the throne.

Initiative
Ellen: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 10 + 1 = 27
Dev: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 13 + 1 = 26
Jadren: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 1 = 25
Bartender: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 1 = 11
Enemy 1: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (8) + 18 = 26

Prince Ellen just barely gets a warning out in time to... be able to act herself. Apparently her allies didn't hear her. Or maybe they are selectively ignoring her now?

Round 1: I've got a BONE to pick with you!"
Ellen
SKELETON
Dev
Jadren
Bartender/Elsir

Bold may act!

Ellen, predictably, charges forward! They'll figure out the whole "weapon" business after, she supposes.

"Hey, did you know that the Iblydosians have big arenas where skeletons fight each other to grow more powerful? That's right--"

She feels her limbs brimming with positive energy, and lashes out!

Ki Strike 1: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31
Ki Strike + Positive Energy: 2d6 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (2, 5) + 3 + (4) = 14
Ki Strike 2: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26
Ki Strike + Positive Energy: 2d6 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (4, 5) + 3 + (3) = 15

Ellen moves up and takes a couple good punches at the skeleton. Her fancy spirit energy glows around her fists as she connects with both. It does about as much damage as she expects (no Reistances or Vulnerabilities to either type of damage).

It takes a hand off the big old gaff and claws at her quickly with a flurry of strikes.

Focused Assault Claw 1 at Ellen: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (19) + 19 = 38 for Crit Slashing: 4d10 + 20 ⇒ (9, 6, 1, 10) + 20 = 46
Focused Assault Claw 2 (no map) at Ellen: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (13) + 19 = 32 for slashing: 2d10 + 10 ⇒ (9, 5) + 10 = 24

The Prince collapses like a sack of wet potatoes. And with the monk out of the picture, the skeleton moves into the middle of the room!

Rounds 1 & 2: I've got a BONE to pick with you!
Ellen (-60 HP, Prone, Unconscious & Dying 1)
SKELETON (-29 HP)
Dev
Jadren
Bartender/Elsir

Bold may act!

"Aw crap! EL!" Dev looks at the others, "I don't suppose either of you have some kind of giant skeleton destroying weapon?"

Not eager to be the next to fall, Dev draws his blade and slides in the room staying close to the wall.

I may try to leap onto the platform depending on how feasible it seems. I have one action left.

Hmm, my first thought was to try to lay on hands on Ellen, but now that I see the positioning that doesn't seem like a great idea. Does anyone else have any healing besides me?

Jadren cries out in alarm, seeing his friend fall. "You shall pay for that, foul bundle of bones! Have at thee!"

Guarded Step, Strike, Raise Shield

+1 Striking Longsword: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29 weapon specialization: on a crit, target is flat-footed until the start of my next turn.
S dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (5, 1) + 4 = 10 Or double that if that was a crit, which I doubt but fingers crossed.

Possible reactions: Jadren will use whichever is triggered first: Shield Block or Attack of Opportunity.

With his shield raised, Jadren's AC is 25.

Elsir moves into the room, "Listen, I'm sorry about Ellen falling there. Even terrible puns don't deserve death so I hope you can save her. I can't do any healing, but what I can do is make Jadren more useful. I know we don't see eye to eye on anything, but a fight is a fight. So Jadren, here you go."

He casts a spell and the holy warrior feels his muscles quicken!

Move and Haste cast on Jadren. Essentially Jadren gets an extra more OR attack action each round. MAP still applies of course.

Dev darts into the room, skirting around the skeleton to try to get to Ellen.

Jadren moves up to challenge the fiend, striking it once with his sharp blade. The weapon chips some bone off but doesn't seem very effective (Resistance to Slashing).

Elsir summons up some magical boosting to the warrior, quickening his mind.

The skeleton oddly enough steps back and spreads its attacks around. One at Jadren and one at Dev.

Claw 1 at Jadren: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (16) + 19 = 35 for Crit Slashing: 4d8 + 20 ⇒ (5, 5, 1, 7) + 20 = 38
Claw 2 at Dev - Agile MAP: 1d20 + 19 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 19 - 4 = 27 for Slashing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (4, 5) + 10 = 19

Jadren blocks the mighty blow with his shield, though it almost breaks in the process. Dev takes a glancing blow, which still really hurts.

Round 2: I've got a BONE to pick with you!
Ellen (-60 HP, Prone, Unconscious & Dying 1, DC 11 Flat Check Needed though you'll probably get healed this round regardless)
SKELETON (-34 HP)
Dev (-19 HP)
Jadren (-30 HP, Shield -30 HP, Hasted 10 rds)
Bartender/Elsir

Bold may act! I believe Jadren actually gets to choose if he wants to try to block the crit with his shield after the damage roll. If he just wants to soak the whole crit and save his shield from from all that damage, I'll allow it.

Flat: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Ellen goes still, aside from her breathing, and her bleeding slows!

Hooray!

Ellen does the opposite of that and starts to convulse! Oh no!

I finally remembered again that I'm supposed to give out Hero Points at a decent rate. Thus since this is the last fight everyone (except Elsir) gets a free Hero Point. That puts ALL OF YOU at 2 Hero Points. They can be used to reroll anything OR stave off death. The way things are going, I'd suggest you save at least one for the death staving off, but please use these if you need them.

Ellen starts gagging on her own tongue. Apparently even it wants her dead.

Rounds 2 & 3: I've got a BONE to pick with you!
Ellen (-60 HP, Prone, Unconscious & Dying 3. But if Healed you go to Wounded 1 and can act fully)
SKELETON (-34 HP)
Dev (-19 HP)
Jadren (-30 HP, Shield -30 HP, Hasted 10 rds)
Bartender/Elsir

Bold may act! I believe Jadren actually gets to choose if he wants to try to block the crit with his shield after the damage roll. If he just wants to soak the whole crit and save his shield from from all that damage, I'll allow it.

Did the skeleton take a guarded step, or simply move? If the former, that would have provoked an AoO from Jadren (which would also have meant that he no longer had his reaction available to Shield Block)

Seeing Prince Ellen at death's door, Jadren rushes past the skeleton to her aid. (Hoping it doesn't have the ability to take AoO's! So far in PF 2e, everytime I've gambled on that, I've lost - fingers crossed this time...)

So, a couple of rules questions: 1) is there increased movement cost to moving up the stairs? 2) If I instead went "around" and tried to jump up to the platform, what sort of check would that be and would I have to use a separate action for it? It looks to me like, even with no added movement cost to climb the stairs, it is still 25' for Jadren to reach Ellen, and his movement is only 20, so he will need to use two actions regardless.

Once Jadren reaches Ellen's side, he quickly lays his hands upon her. "By the power of Iomedae, arise! This is not punny at all!"

Spend 1 focus point and 1 action to lay on hands, heightened to 3rd level, to heal Ellen 18 hp; she also gains +2 status to AC for 1 round

Finally, Jadren turns back to the monstrous skeleton and stabs at it again with his sword. 4th action from haste

+1 Striking Longsword: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36 weapon specialization: on a crit, target is flat-footed until the start of my next turn.
P dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (1, 6) + 4 = 11 x2 for crit Since he has seen that it is Resistant to Slashing dmg he tries piercing, using the longsword's versatile trait

Yes, it stepped. The stairs also allow normal movement. Going up the side of the platform is treated as difficult terrain (costs 10 ft of move to traverse).

Ellen and Dev are up. Skeleton is FF to all. Piercing damage is also resisted.

Ellen's eyes snap open and she pops onto her feet!

"Let's... it's time t... I'm too out of it for a good pun! Let's just smash it!"

Flurry of Foxfire: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

Flurry of Foxfire: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 3) = 6

She spins, first one way, then twirling the next; two bullets of vulpine flame leap from her tail toward the skeleton!

Keeping my distance and taking a Step here; no point rushing in after having to stand from prone and only getting one attack off when I could make him waste one of his actions getting to me if he wants to finish me off.

Seeing no advantage to trying anything fancy Elsir just unleashes three bolts of magical energy that slam into the skeleton.

Magic Missile 3 action: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (3, 2, 2) + 3 = 10

Jadren pulls the punner back from the brink of death and then strikes the skeleton hard, rattling its bones.

Elsir sends magical force at it to chip off more bone fragments.

Ellen flings a small magical ball of fire at the creature. It appears to be dead on, but then just goes right through the ribcage, missing everything. Darn skeletons and them not having skin! Her annoyance throws off the next flick completely.

Both foxfires missed, even vs. FF. I just took some liberties on the description.

Rounds 2 & 3: I've got a BONE to pick with you!
Ellen (-42 HP, Wounded 1)
SKELETON (-61 HP)
Dev (-19 HP)
Jadren (-30 HP, Shield -30 HP, Hasted rds)
Bartender/Elsir

Bold may act!

Seeing Ellen wake up puts the rogue a bit more at ease. Dev tumbles forward, attempting to use his hilt as much as anything else to bring the undead warrior down.

+1 striking rapier: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
Piercing Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6
CRIT?: 1d8 ⇒ 8
If FF provides Sneak Attack dice: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 6) + 4 = 14

+1 striking rapier: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
HERO POINT REROLL!!: 1d20 + 14 - 5 ⇒ (19) + 14 - 5 = 28
Piercing Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6
CRIT?: 1d8 ⇒ 8
If FF provides Sneak Attack dice: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 1) + 4 = 11

Dev manages to spear the skeleton twice with his sword, finding weak points with both.

No crits but SA applied on both strikes. However, your base damage is 2d6+4 and your sneak attack adds 2d6. So I'll reroll the sneak attack damage and let you keep the 2d6+4 rolls from above. IF you crit, stuff gets even wonkier. On a crit, you would double the 2d6+4 roll and then add an extra 1d8 because the weapon is deadly. Your sneak attack would also get doubled as well, I believe. Rogue Crits can be super insane.

SA damage for DEV: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 4, 2) = 12

The skeleton doesn't seem to care though, simply continueing to spread around the pain. A slash at Jadren and then one at Dev before it steps to get all three of you in range for the next round of DOOM.

Claw vs. Jadren: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (11) + 19 = 30 for Slashing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (2, 2) + 10 = 14
Claw vs. Dev - Agile MAP: 1d20 + 19 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 19 - 4 = 28 for Slashing: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (6, 8) + 10 = 24

Rounds 3 & 4: I've got a BONE to pick with you!
Ellen (-42 HP, Wounded 1)
SKELETON (-88 HP)
Dev (-43 HP)
Jadren (-44 HP (unless shield blocks), Shield -30 HP, Hasted 9 rds)
Bartender/Elsir

Bold may act!

Ellen grins as the skellyman lumbers closer; she won't even need to go out of her way to hit it!

Flurry of Blows: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 6) + 3 = 15

Flurry of Blows: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 3) + 3 = 7

She pops open a flask at her hip and chugs!

Healing Potion Lesser: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (6, 6) + 5 = 17

Dev also stabs at the guardian before swallowing down a life-affirming elixir.

Blade of Furry 1!: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20
Hero Point# 2!: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 3) + 4 = 10

Lesser Healing: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (5, 2) + 5 = 12

Elsir yells at the creature while sending more magic at it, "DIE YOU OVERSIZED TOOTHPICK!"

3 action Magic Missile: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1, 3) + 3 = 9

"Toothp...? Oh, I get it, like a bone to pick! Good one, Elsir!"

Since Jadren didn't have his shield raised last round, I think the only reaction he could have used is Reactive Shield, which would have raised his AC to 25, but that wouldn't have actually changed anything. I don't believe that Jadren can actually use his shield to absorb some of the damage in this situation (though I may be mistaken about this) so unless I'm wrong I'll just assume he takes the full hit

Jadren hacks at the monstrosity again - "By the power of Iomedae, die! Again, I mean."

+1 Striking Longsword: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23 weapon specialization: on a crit, target is flat-footed until the start of my next turn.
S dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (3, 6) + 4 = 13

+1 Striking Longsword: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19 weapon specialization: on a crit, target is flat-footed until the start of my next turn.
S dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (5, 6) + 4 = 15

With his sword failing him, Jadren tries to heal some of his wounds.
Battle Medicine, DC 15: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26 Critical success!
Healing: 4d8 ⇒ (7, 6, 2, 7) = 22

Finally, with a grim look around him, Jadren lifts his shield aloft. Raise shield

Four actions total, including bonus action from being hasted

Care to use any of those Hero Points on those attack rolls before the results are known? Just a reminder they are there.

Sure, good idea. Will spend 1 hero point on the first attack roll

1st attack: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31

I'm hoping to hold onto mine for Not Dying. It may be that I'm emotionally scarred, but last time I played there were more times the Hero Points should have been used to stay alive than to reroll hits.

I totally agree keeping them in the back pocket for emergencies. However, I figure we are close to ending this thing, which would save an additional round of combat. My old gaming group was predicted on "the best defense is a strong offense." We didn't even run a cleric. Granted, this was back in the 3.5 days, but still, old habits and all.

Saving 1 is not a bad idea. Saving any more than that makes very little sense to me. I've played enough pfs2 to know that it definitely trends much more towards 'you NEED to kill the enemy before they kill you so don't hold anything back' types of combats. Though I will say that very few GM's I've played for remember to award hero points so that one you start with looks pretty precious.

_____________________

A few issues to get to, but we are really close to the end of this so I'll let you all chose which option you want. You are welcome to look at both scenarios before deciding.

Anyway, choose wisely!

How could I possibly choose!?!?

Sounds like Option 2 we are doing a little more damage (22ish after DR. I vote Option 2. Plus, I come out looking way better in combat.

Haha, tough choice!

Also, good catch about Jadren not having a free hand - makes me realize that sword and board is a very limited play style in some ways, though I suppose you could build around a buckler if you wanted to.

But it's also a free to drop a weapon and a move to pick it up. So at most you loose an action once or twice in a combat (and rarely provoke an AoO doing it). I also didn't even think about it but does lay on hands require a hand or can you tap with your foot or something?

I'll get the resolution to the fight up in a bit.

The skeleton collapses in a pile of dust and bones and a now familiar grinding sound is heard from the south side of the room. A doorway opens up into the darkness and it appears stairs lead downward.

A loud *CAW* is heard from the weapon room and shortly the clockwork parrot flies through the doorway. It swoops over Jadren menacingly and then disappears down the stairs cawing, "Captain's Treasure, Captain's Treasure..." over and over as it descends.

"I guess it's time to see if the old man was serious or simply cruel."