GM TOP #3-03: The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet (Core) (Inactive)

Game Master Pete H.

Kyra sits and nods appreciatively when offered tea. "Why thank you, Milady. Your hospitality is to be commended."

Enjoying the tea, she listens to Khellek's queries and Talevia's summary, waiting for Po's answer and observing his eyes as he explains the rules of the visit. She also occasionally glances at his wife, to see if any of his comments trigger some kind of reaction.

@GM: Kyra has a +4 bonus on Sense Motive; feel free to roll it in secret with real dice on your end... I find that knowing the result of my roll lessens my roleplay experience at times. I want to keep the current scene going and react in-character accordingly. Thanks!

Po gives a smile with a twinkle in his eyes, "I'll let you all try to figure out which I am most proud of, but yes, your well-armored lady fighter there has it about right. Any other questions?"

Ahmande sits down and wafts some of the tea's aroma. After his host has a drink, he too begins drinking it. He enjoys the luxury, and listens to all the questions.

"I think we'll definitely try to be more respectful of the Kalistocrat's home than these others have. I also suspect that there's not really much more you can tell us. I suppose we should probably get at it?"

Doodle signed. She was ready to get at the mission now, if the others were.

Neither Po nor the lady had tea. There were only six cups on the tray, one poured for each of you, if accepted.

Even Khellek isn't sure if Po and his wife not taking tea is a cultural thing, a staff vs. guest thing, a 'already had tea' thing or if there is something suspicious going on.

"So Po." asks Khellek. "Are we able to return here for rest and, recovery... should any of your ... preparations... prove a little more effective than we are hoping?"

"Also..." he adds. "Can you confirm, that should we locate the tome itself, you and your wife won't be taking any final steps to prevent our leaving with it?"

Zano enjoys the tea thanks.

The caretaker shrugs, "Rest wherever you like. There is no official 'safe' place though. At least not one that I create. That said, neither I nor my wife will interfere with your group beyond this point."

His wife picks up the tea tray and exits to the west, "Do not worry, she will stay out of your way." He trots across the room and opens the east door, "I will return to my post out front in case other fortune seekers show up, so as to offer them the same treatment you have received."

He steps through the door and is about to close it, "Fear not; your allies will wake in but half an hour. My master asks me to tell you that he looks forward to reading about their heroic nap in the next edition of the Pathfinder Chronicles."

With that, he quickly shuts the door behind him.

As the door latches, Zano, Doodle, Kyra and Talevia hear it click very softly. Very very softly indeed. Why the pillows in here are so comfortable. You think they would be a very good place for a na...

Ahmande and Khellik are astounded as four of their allies almost immediately fall into a deep sleep.

What do you do?

Khellek sighs and stares daggers at the tea pot.

He then stomps over to Zano first and yells "No SLEEPING IN CLASS!" is an authorative tone, he then moves from dozing student to dozing student in a well practiced ritual, repeating the phrase as he goes.

"That normally works."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Rule #1, don't drink or eat anything your host doesn't drink or eat. Especially when you know they're a foe! Ahmande joins Khellek in trying to rouse the other Pathfinders from their unfortunate and ill-timed rest.

The 'students' pay the historian no heed. Jerks.

Even being shook, they don't wake from their slumber.

Mechanically, this really only costs the group if everyone drank the tea and passed out. Beyond that, it is just an inconvenience. I'm good with speeding up the thirty minutes until everyone wakes up. I just wanted to give a chance for an immediate reaction, if anyone awake wished to take it.

I'm still holding on to the hope that one day, just one day, the module will instead say, 'This tea/wine/drink was in fact splendid, and your host most gracious.' :) I'm still surprised authors still try to sneak ingested poison / drugs into their modules. In an AP I'm running right now, there is one such 'drink offering' which is in fact laced with poison, and I'm finding that this only makes the players extra jumpy and impossible to trust anyone and remain in some kind of 'good' alignment... no, it creates paranoid monsters that will at times 'pre-emptively' try to remove threats, including good NPCs. It's almost becoming a running joke at this point, as we can't remember the last time an adventure offered food or drink without trying to harm the PCs. [/rant]

An incredibly accurate statement! I did just play a scenario where there was a mechanic related to showing off how well you ate and drank to a gluttonous host, or something like that. I think you got a bonus on a diplo check if you tore into the meal, but also had fort saves if you ate too much. At least it wasn't poison though.

Fort saves for... eating too much?!? what is this, real-life North American Sunday buffet? :P

Doodle fell fast asleep. It could have been she got tired of Professor Khellek’s lecture…..or maybe it was the poison!

Khellek sighs at the dozing students, and then takes out Bessie, loads her and puts her down on the table. "Just in case of bears... or other intruders." he mentions.

Then, reaching into his satchel, he takes out a book to use the time usefully. "[b]Ahh, contemporary Keshalite architecture"

Khellek takes a break to continue his studies. Ahmande (Rogue Version) inspects the room for traps or dangers, once sure that no one is going to immediately attack them.

About 25 minutes pass, or so it feels. The party members start to stir and wake up randomly.

Neither door exiting the room appears to be locked or trapped.

Zano checks his belongins to make sure they are all there.

Talevia stirred, opening her eyes and muttering something under her breath. "Wha...what happened?" she asked groggily, sitting upright and checking her pockets. "It was the Tea, wasn't it?"

Khellek nods. "I rather think so. Just as well some of us abstained. I hate to think what he would have done to us if everyone fell asleep."

He slowly gets to his feet, taking the jug of tea from the table.

"Though who knows, maybe this might come in handy later on..."

Is there any food on the table. In particular anything that might be of interest to dogs?

Doodle blushes as she wakes up. ”Guess I shouldn’t have fallen for that old gag, should I,” she says as she gets to her feet, ready se hat else awaited the group.

Eventually rousing, the pathfinders recognize that nothing seems to be missing from their gear.

They open the door to the west to find a nicely appointed grand dining hall. The ceiling of this grand hall soars twenty feet overhead. An enormous, fifty-foot-long banquet table surrounded by twenty-eight beautifully carved, high-backed chairs dominates the room. Eight full suits of ornate plate armor line the east and west walls, each holding an elaborate if unwieldy halberd. Intricately grilled windows high up on the north and south walls allow ambient light from outside to permeate the large chamber. Two enormous oil paintings in fanciful gilded frames flank the double doors on the west wall, their subjects presiding regally over the hall. On the right is an obese man in voluminous white robes and gloves, with a long black beard of oiled ringlets, and the fingers of both hands bedecked with gems—the quintessential portrait of a Druman Kalistocrat. The portrait on the left depicts a beautiful olive-skinned woman with large dark eyes and raven hair, also clad in white robes and gloves; her hair is held in place by a jeweled circlet, and a veil of coins covers her lower face.

Seated in every fourth chair (seven beings in total) is a most unusual diner. A bipedal form clad in expensive black formal wear, with a grotesque, fish-like head, though otherwise seems human enough. Khellek easily recognizes the heads to be locathah (fish headed humanoids) but also correctly susses out they are actually flesh golems with that type of head.

"Well... we certainly don't want a fight with those diners.." sighs Khelelk.

"They are more or less immune to magic. And avoid lightning at all costs- it actually heals them." he recites from An Introduction to Golems "It was quite the find actually. The original from Nex, - the nation not the archmage." he adds, getting a little distracted.

"If it does come to a fight, then magical fire or cold may slow them, but we really don't want to be fighting them. They will have specific orders. We probably want to guess what those might be and try to work around them."

Zanu stares at the armor Well everyone, I hope these aren't animated armors.

"I don't like this one bit..." says Kyra, wondering what to do, and beginning to regret this assignment, which was clearly a retaliation against the Society by a man of impossible wealth. Hoping the traps were not lethal and just meant to inflate that rich man's ego, she casts detect magic and scans the room from the hallway outside.

"Good thinking Kyra." notes the elderly scholar.

"One does wonder what their exact orders are, and if someone could sneak past them..."

He looks back at the previous room. "Or perhaps if one was dressed as a servant, one might be able to 'participate'." he muses.

"Or perhaps we should examine our host, and what he is trying to say with these challenges. The first seems to be - trust nobody. This one is also dining related. Though what the message about their unusual heads is..." he shrugs.

Are there any "tea" things left? Did I manage to pick up a pot with the laced tea? I'm wondering if we could serve it to the golems as a pretence for moving through the room.

Yeah, the tea set remains. There are cookies/biscuits as well. I’m busy as usual this weekend, but go ahead and work up a plan and we’ll see what happens!.

"Why don't we try acting as servants in this show? Presumably Mr Po got past them somehow if he really did set other traps up in the manner." suggests the scholar. Maybe the tea also works on them... although I do consider that unlikely.[/b]"

He looks around his companions. "My suggestion is to keep your weapons sheathed. Unless they are made of adamantine, they are unlikely to hurt the golems, and may.. hurt our efforts."

”Lets give it a try then. We aren’t supposed to mess up anything in here, if you all remember…”

Oh, more food, we survived the tea, so it wasn't poisonous, it was just sleep aid or something. We can eat the cookies as well.

Talevia, having checked over her own equipment and gear, followed the others to peer through the next door.

"This is a very odd scene. Why are those constructs there, seated around a table? This room would not make for a very good combat space, should things come to that."

She glanced around the room once more. "Which door do we head towards?"

"Well, the main ones are on the other side. I suggest we try for one of the close doors, then we at least have a quick means to exit the room if things do not go well." suggests the scholar.

@GM: Kyra is detecting magic for 3+ rounds.

Kyra detects Magic on all seven Flesh Golems. She does not know anything further than that (need Trained Arcana).

Khellek enacts his plan, taking the tray of tea and putting on his best 'servant' pose. He swats Zano's hand as the sorceress reaches for another cookie.

Finally composed, Khellek (Or a Designated Alternate who volunteers to go instead) steps into the room and tries not to flinch.

The Creatures all scramble to their feet with an unearthly gurgling sound and turn, raising their arms to attack!

Initiative
Ahmande: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Khellek: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
Kyra: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Doodle: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
Talevia: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Zano: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Enemy Golems: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (8) - 1 = 7

Round 1: Fish Head Soup!
Buffs: NA
Talevia
Zano
Ahmande
Khellek
Doodle
Kyra
GOLEMS

Bold May Act. Technically speaking, they haven't attacked yet. But they certainly look like they might. I'll allow a Sense Motive Check as a Move Action once per PC, but the DC will be HIGH. These things do not have normal body language. I'm also assuming no one is armed right now per the plan.

Technically speaking, I'm willing to retcon and go back to pre-initiative IF there is a good enough reason to do it. Otherwise, I figure there wasn't enough reason to keep delaying and a plan was on the table. Let me know!

Kyra detects Magic on all seven Flesh Golems. She does not know anything further than that (need Trained Arcana).

More interested in number/location/strength of auras; Kyra's probably not great at ID-ing magic... also, a bit of metagaming here, but I don't think this is supposed to be a fight (7 golems? don't think so!) - I'm playing Kyra, so not much I can do other than patching people up, but the stealthy types in our party could probably walk under the table without raising any suspicion... ;) (and this on a Monday morning while our heads haven't been properly caffeinated yet... ;) ) so... yeah... if the GM is willing to retcon this crazy plan, I'd take him up on the offer (if I was a stealthy type, that is... ;) )

Seven Auras, one on each of the golems. Red, Blue and Orange are strong. The other four are moderate.

Zano will cast Haste on the party Haste +1 to a lot of things, don't forget them

Kyra points out the three golems with strong magic auras...

Horrified, Khelelk tries to work out where his plan went wrong...

sense motive: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

He then quickly backs out of the room, trying to get away from a physical confrontation.

Doodle takes a deep breath as she thinks about the situation. ”These things are dressed and placed in a certain arrangement. We aren’t supposed to mess anything up, so I think this is a test,” Doodle says out loud as she moves forward in front of the others, to engage the golems, keeping her weapon sheathed. ”I don’t think we are supposed to fight you, golems,” she says with a grin, shutting her eyes to avoid the pummeling she faces.

If seven golems all hit me, it’s been fun adventuring with you all for what it was. I’m taking a risk here.

I... don't think you should take that risk. I doubt scenarios have golems with this kind of AI built into them...

I'll reward Doodle's boldness here before someone messes it up. Please attempt to dial back the metagaming. A little is fine as your characters would know some things about how tough these things are, but just try to keep things IC as much as possible.

The historian freaks out and retreats, he has no clue why his plan failed.

Doodle then steps into the room, risking herself on a moderately strong hunch that a series of tests wouldn't begin with instantaneous slaughter.

Some of her concerns are allayed as four of the creations wink out of existence, now obviously illusions. But the other three, they lumber around the table and surround her, murgling another challenge and cocking their limbs back, ready to strike.

Round 2: Fish Head Soup!
Buffs: Haste 6 rds remain
Talevia
Zano
Ahmande
Khellek
Doodle
Kyra
GOLEMS

Bold May Act.

"Khellek! Doodle! Get out of the room!" Talevia shouts as she readies her bow. "They might be triggered on your movement within the room."

As much as she disliked the idea of risking Doodles safety, or anyones safety, she really didn't want to fight these things if it could be avoided.

Doodle didn’t expect some of the golems to disappear. But she was glad a few of the threats had vanished at least. She decided that discretion might be the better part of valor, at least for the time being and she decided to withdraw with the rest of her squad. If someone would move me back on the map, please.

Kyra takes a step back and pulls out a scroll, reading it and pronouncing the last syllables of a spell that will hopefully help her understand some of the golems' murgling.

Casting comprehend languages

Khellek, out of immediate danger, remembers himself.

"Golems my friends are mindless. So as I often say, our minds are our own best weapons against them.."

Inspire courage. +2/+2 to hit /damage/saves vs fear/charm

"Student Doodle I am hoping you have not been struck blind by some horrible trap, but do you realize you are surrounded by three magical constructs that look intent on your harm..."

It's not cleaning up the mess, its the hours of wasted time filling in the paper work that I'm not looking forward to

Doodle feels it wise to step back into the room and re-evaluate. She safely makes it. Though to be fair, she hasn't even had to dodge anything yet.

Talavia pulls her bow and nocks an arrow.

Khellek inpires everyone to feats of combat wonder and amazement.

Kyra pulls a scroll and activates it, suddenly the comprehension of all spoken and written word floods her mind. It's a bit dizzying actually.

Round 2: Fish Head Soup!
Buffs: Haste 6 rds remain, IC is up!
Talevia
Zano
Ahmande
Khellek
Doodle
Kyra
GOLEMS

Bold May Act.

I measured out the fireball, looks I like I can get all three, hopefully it does something.
Zano lobs a fireball getting all the golems dmg: 7d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3) = 21 reflex for half.

”We aren’t supposed to damage this place, remember,” Doodle calls out to the sorcerer, shaking her head as the fireball destroys the room.