OMB's Bonekeep 1 - Nostalgiacon! (Inactive)

Game Master James Martin

Hello Bonekeepers! I will be your BoneDM for this boney play by post!

Welcome to the Ruins of Bonekeep. This is the first of a series of special events designed to test your character to its limits and beyond. The threat of character death is very real in this event, but the potential rewards are greater as a result. You will be able to, as a table, decide to leave the event at any time should it become too deadly for you, except when engaged in combat. If this is not the type of event for you, now is the time to back out.

Please note: In most PFS games I try to be very lenient and not kill the PCs. Bonekeep is different. I will try to kill your character. I will not try to cheat, but I will also use the traps and monsters to their utmost. To do anything less would be a betrayal of the intent of this scenario. If this bothers you, you might want to reconsider entering the Ruins of Bonekeep. Good luck!

Dot

dot---->.

Dot

"I fear not death. If it is glorious so much the better for the cause of the light and justice!"

The crumbling columns made from jagged pieces of bonewhite stone rise out of the hillside like broken teeth. Most believe that this ruined edifice is all that remains of the ruins of Bonekeep, a siege castle just twelve miles from the walls of Absalom, but the intrepid agents of the Pathfinder Society know better.

Two days ago, Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin sent word from the Grand Lodge of a private meeting of he and his best agents. The missive explained little, other than strongly suggesting all recipients come urgently and to speak to no one of their errand. As Valsin entered his office, cramped as it was with eager Pathfinders, he unfurled a map of the area around Absalom and laid it out on his desk, marking the location of all of the ruined siege castles around the metropolis. Built by would-be conquerors and petty tyrants, these ruined castles are a testament to the strength of Absalom, a reminder to the next invader of the fate of those that lay siege to the City at the Center of the World.

“This is the ruin of Bonekeep”, Valsin began, pointing at a newly marked spot on the map. “All too recently we learned of Tancred Desimire’s plan to use these ruins as a base for his nefarious plans. Fortunately, those plans have been ruined, but the greater question remains. Why would he select Bonekeep? The place is a total ruin, with little left standing aside from a few crumbling walls, or at least, that is what we thought. One week ago, I sent a pair of scouts, Wenton and Theodana, to investigate the ruins. Only poor Theodana returned. She says that they found a hidden staircase in the bottom of the ruins, the door to which looked like it had been opened only recently. Venturing
into the darkness, they found some sort of vault deep beneath the ground, left untouched since the keep’s destruction over two centuries ago. That is unfortunately where things went terribly wrong. In just the first chamber, they sprung some sort of trap that took Wenton’s off head. Theodana fled before anything else could happen, returning to me to tell her tale.”

Pausing to look over the assembled Pathfinders, the venture-captain continues. “This is where you come in. The Decemvirate is very concerned about this matter. Siege castles are dangerous places and this one is no different. Built by a necromancer named Volzaras, there could be some terrible things lurking down there, things waiting to get loose. We want you to go to the ruins of Bonekeep, have a look around to determine what sort of threat it poses, and to report back. Anything you find is yours to keep, as long as we get a look at it first. Good luck!”

That was two days ago. It took nearly an hour of scrambling through the ruins to find the staircase leading down into the silent grave. The dungeon waits.

Go ahead and do introductions. I have paged Mun. If he doesn't respond by EOD Tuesday, Noral will be subbing in.

Please note: at a phsyical table of Bonekeep there is an actual clock counting down to limit the play to a set time. As this is Play by Post, measures have been taken to simulate that clock without limiting time. You will not have time enough to explore the entire complex. Choose your paths carefully.

Also, because I figured why not and it's National Oysters Rockefellers day, and on such days we open our hearts to the magic of... oysters... I invited Noral to join us as well. BUT this does mean I get to call you childish names, poopyheads.

Listening to the missive is a purple skinned Tiefling, solidly built with black scales covering his exposed arms and hands. They have a metallic brown sheen that glistens as the light shines on them. His black dreads are pulled back like a ponytail, he stands with his arms crossed pondering his mission. We are to infiltrate this ancient castle that was built by a Necromancer, discover its secrets, deal with whatever threats and report back what we find? Do we know anything of this Volzaras or Tancred Desimere? Is it possible one or both could be inside?

A short smelly simian sits in a corner drinking beer from a battered tankard. At his side is a barrel-shaped backpack - it's quickly apparent that the pack is barrel-shaped because it contains a barrel, with a tap concealed by a cunning flap. The simian turns the tap to refill his flagon.

"<Belch>. Ah, luglurch! The finest invention of civilised folk anywhere!" He wipes the froth from his mouth with the back of his furred hand.

"Now students, the lair of a necromancer is sure to hold many dangers! Bonekeep is like to hold undead and worse. Be prepared!

Anyone for luglurch? <Hic!>"

Valsin nods slowly. "We don't know what, or who is inside. Be prepared for anything."

Greetings friend, I am Vrothum, you seem like my kind of people! Vrothum introduces himself to Poh, grin on his face and extending a hand and an empty vial. I wouldn't mind a swig before we start, if you're offering that is...

"Pig will help," the oversized half-orc sealed in iron plates and carrying one great axe elaborately decorated with a boar's head and another made of cold iron. Sheathed behind his back is also a thickly staved bow that looks like it requires tremendous strength to pull and hold.

He is not the most conversational Pathfinder, but during your trek to the keep, you all get (presumably) affectionate nicknames from the simple half-orc. Any attempts to correct him on your names or to change the name he calls you is met with, "Pig understand," followed by complete failure to correct his behavior.

At the stairs, he says, "Pig go first. Pig see in dark."

The room is definitely more crowded with the bear packed with everyone, but the immaculately dressed elf standing beside the bear gives a look that says the bear goes where he does. The elf is dressed in the latest fashions--though with a minimalist flair--predominately in shades of light blue and silver, that mirror his hair and eyes. You can tell that the fabrics and jewelry are of the very best quality; he seems to spare no expense.

"Well, necromancers leave the dead behind, so that seems likely. Being prepared for anything, though, is our jobs as Pathfinders. Is the Grand Lodge providing any resources for this?"

Spending 2 PP for a wand of Heightened Awareness.

The wizard is tall and goateed. He carries a longsword, and wears a hat in an old Azlanti style.

"Allow me to scout the place."

He spends 10 minutes casting Arcane Eye. Using a reservoir point to boost it to CL9, for 9 minutes duration.

Then he drinks an Elixir of Vision and casts Heroism, Darkvision, See Invisibility, and Arcane Sight, and uses a charge of Heightened Awareness (now at 49; the Perception bonus does not stack with the Elixir, but the Knowledge boost may be helpful).

He sends the Arcane Eye to scout out as much of the place as possible, making sure to check the floors and ceiling (so it moves at 10' per round, 100' per minute).

His Perception check with these effects is a +23. He will Take 10 on Perception checks if allowed.

Knowledge (Arcana) is a +22 with Heroism and Heightened Awareness, and is +13 or +14 for everything else (such as creatures). Using Take 10 if allowed.

"Good. Pig find all traps!" he says, gesturing with the flat of his hand as if smacking his face.

FYI: He will confidently press onward, trusting his might +1 Perception modifier, if not otherwise guided, e.g., like Aroden just now.

I have created a slide page with Aroden's map of the complex. That is both a very apt use of the spell and a way to really buzzkill a scenario.

I'm sorry you think it's a buzzkill. I find it more enjoyable than the 'kick in the door' style. Keep in mind, this is the majority of his contribution - he won't be spamming DC 22 Persistent Glitterdust or what have you.

Aroden attempts to identify the creatures or possible creatures he sees:

Sigh.

Along the way to the keep, Poh drinks several flagons of ale and offers a second tankard to Vrothum.

As the wizard makes his divinations, Poh also makes some preparations.

Mage Armour (with the assistance of Aroden and a wand), Barkskin on himself and all the frontliners (via drunken ki that he replenishes; duration is 70 minutes), and finally right before descending into the entrance room he consumes an anti-plague, an anti-toxin (unless we're using Delay Poison?), and a potion of Heroism.

All those Knowledge skills are actually 4 points higher due to both Heroism and Heightened Awareness. I will ask for 1 more fact if the adjusted total is high enough to get one.

"Caryatid columns ahead of us!" Resistances and special attacks, plus senses if possible.

"West of that, possible undead. One wears a Crown of Swords."

"East of the entrance, three Brilliant Id Oozes around a well." Resistances, plus special attacks if possible.

"Ah, clever, enchantment and evocation together on the trap. Strong magic."

"Some sort of demon rats, with a bunch of dire rats!" SLAs, if a 21 is enough to ID the demons.

"An Alchemical Golem!" Resistances, plus weaknesses/vulnerabilities if possible.

Aroden will drink his Antiplague and Antitoxin and use a charge of Mage Armor (wand at 33).

He will share everything he knows with the group.

Aroden will happily use any wands on anybody, except for Infernal Healing.

I think marching order would be Pig, Aroden, Mun, Poh, Vrothum? If Aroden would prefer to move back after scouting I'd recommend Vrothum or Poh to move behind Pig. Vrothum retrieves an antiplague and antitoxin as well to down before entering their first room. Vrothum nods at Poh, Great work Aroden, you think that information would suffice for the society? He gives a grin to Poh. I'm ready when you are...

"We should choose a route through, after we have dealt with the inishul altercayshun <hic>" Poh advises.

The Revered Master is best in the second rank if possible, from where he can use Bodyguard and In Harm's Way when needed as well as attack with Marid Style strikes.

"Remind Pig before demon rat," Pig says. "Pig drink protection."

I think marching order would be Pig, Aroden, Mun, Poh, Vrothum? If Aroden would prefer to move back after scouting I'd recommend Vrothum or Poh to move behind Pig.

Oh, this scouting is all Arcane Eye, Aroden is doing this from the back in the first place. He is not up front. He'll be doing Inspiring Sword from the back.

"I do not know which is the best route," says Aroden, "but there is a throne-like structure in the last room that I saw, indicating that perhaps that is the leader's position.
There is also a space that I could not examine, as it was closed off by doors.
My inclination is to go clockwise around, ignoring the black ice room and the closed-off rooms for now."

"If we lack a trap expert, I can try to Dispel one of the traps on the chest."

He thinks a moment.
"I can cast Dimension Door, but could only bring along three others at most. If we had a way to get all of us to that last room suddenly, we could possibly catch them unprepared."

Pig, meet Poh, he will point you towards things to smash. He says stop, we stop, smash we smash. I agree with Aroden, clockwise avoid locked rooms for now unless we encounter something that is obviously too risky then we can try locked rooms.

"Pig smash good!" he says as he pulls his boar's head axe from over his shoulder. "Pig go where Monkey say. Destroy what Monkey say. Stop when Monkey say stop."

Khugron watched the others as they waited for the information from the wizard. "Before we go in, here have ponchosss, you might need it. Me not responsible for getting blood and organsss on you in the performance of my dutiesss." said the 6' 10" Nagaji as he gave a few practice swings of his adamantine bec de corbin.

"WILL YOU FIGHT?" he bellowed to the group before entering.

Enlarge person before going in (lasts 4 minutes). Phalanx formation as needed.

"Pig jealous," he says, eyeing Khugron's pole-arm.

Aroden shares the information he knows.

"These statues will resist all weapons, even those of adamantine, and are immune to magic."
Most constructs with 'magic immunity' have a few exceptions, but these are generally pretty specialized things that Aroden wouldn't have prepared. More broadly, SR (No) spells would work, thanks to the terrible nerf to magic immunity between 3.0 and 3.5, but I have intentionally avoided taking Grease and Glitterdust.

"Let us proceed."

The wizard will be in back, sword drawn.

"Aroden, that is truly exceptional work!" Mun exclaims, a bit surprised at the expanse of information he's able to provide.

Mun follows the others' lead and drink down a vial each of antiplague and antitoxin, then offers the same to Selune. He retrieves a few wands, casting mage armor on Selune and heightened awareness on himself. He hands a scroll containing four castings of haste to Aroden. "I think you can handle this best; I still mess up the phrasing of arcane spells sometimes, and wouldn't want to mess this one up if we need it."

With a +19 bonus to Use Magic Device, Mun no longer needs to roll for his off-class wands, but scrolls can still be tricky.

Let me know when you're ready to descend the stairs into the Bonekeep.

"Pig ready! Pig go?" he asks, looking to Poh for confirmation.

Whoever can cast haste can hold Pig's scroll of haste (CL 5) x 2 and the group can choose when to use it at their discretion.

Also, knowing what I know about what those are, this first fight is probably going to result in a sad result for Pig.

"Monkey?" Poh gives Pig a hard stare. "I am the Revered Master Poh! I suppose if you call yourself 'Pig' I can't expect you to remember titles. Jush follow my direcshuns, shtudent!"

Poh applies Barkskin (+3 enhancement bonus to natural armour class) to Pig, Khugron, Vrothum and himself, 70 mins duration.

Poh hands his scroll of Magic Circle vs Evil to Aroden, and scrolls of Remove Paralysis, Freedom of Movement and Lesser Restoration to Mun. Use them as the need arises. He also hands wands of CLW and Remove Curse to Mun.

Ready, GM. Will just update my header spoiler with active effects.

"Pig hear you!" he says, but you know from the past two days' experience that he's probably going to fall back to the simple nicknames immediately. "Pig follow direction!" He does seem to understand the slurred speech fairly well.

If Aroden would like, Vrothum will hold all the scrolls and wands in his haversack, and will stick by him and retrieve them with his tail as needed. You can keep ones you think will be more immediately useful on you if you wish.Ready in back, I think it's safe to say stealth is out the window so be ready to fight whoever we go.

Aroden will hold the scrolls he was given. I believe these are:

Haste x4 (Mun)
Haste x2 (Pig)
Magic Circle vs Evil (Poh)

These will be in his backpack.

"Pig can be sneaky!" Pig asserts louder than one would expect of a sneaky person. "Pig not sure bear can be."

"Lead the way, I can reach over you." Khugron said as he said a battle prayer to Gorum once he grew larger. Squeezing down the passages might be a problem but the increased mass will come in handy.

"Never you mind what Selune can or can't do; we'll hold our own. Don't you worry." While they are still on the stairs, Mun utters a few magical words--that sound strangely arcane--and both he and Selune pop out into a small handful of identical images of each.

Someone put Selune's token on the map, but enlarged to large size; she is a Medium sized bear, so I shrunk her down and put Mun's token besider her.

Sorry, sick kid and snowstorm conspired to delay my posting.

The crumbling stairs lead to a large square chamber, in the center of which stand four stone columns, carved to look like beautiful maidens. Their beauty is marred, however, by the fact that their faces are carved to resemble grinning skulls. Between them, resting in the middle of a rust-colored stain, is a rotting head, the body of which is nowhere to be seen.

"Wizard say statues attack," Pig says as the descend into the chamber. "If statues not attack Pig, Pig break bars. No like head. Pig bet Pathfinder head."

"Then we attack them first." Khugron said as he started to enter a rage. The Nagaji's arms began to enlarge as the bec de corbin sliced across the room in the direction of the far statue.

Far Statue to the SE: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 172d8 + 19 ⇒ (2, 3) + 19 = 24
Rage, Power attack, and Furious Focus.

"Huh. Could've probably just walked past. They didn't attack when we came in, so they're waiting for some condition like we pick up the skull or something."

I'm sure we'd have triggered it anyway :)

Aroden doesn't do anything yet, waiting to see what will happen.
Maybe they won't animate?
Total Defense.

Vrothum readies himself to react after the thunderous crack from Khugron's weapon.

As soon as Pig steps toward the statues, they come to life!

Aroden: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Khugron: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Vrothum: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Poh: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Pig: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Mun: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Selune: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Statues: 1d20 + 1 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 6 = 11

ROUND 1:
Pig, Khugron, Mun, Vrothum, Poh, Aroden
Statues
Selune

Pig, Khugron, Mun, Vrothum, Poh, Aroden are up!

"There! The condition is there'sh a Pig in the room. Now hit them in the head, that always worksh!"

Poh staggers over to Pig's side, swaying like a drunkard thrown out of an inn. He throws a punch at the nearest statue Red.

unarmed strike, advice, heroism: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 11 + 2 + 2 = 25magic damage: 1d8 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 2 = 8

Actions: swift to enter Marid Style, free 5' step, move to activate Advice (inspire courage +2), standard to attack.

If an adjacent ally is attacked, Poh attempts to block the blows. Poh does this against the first 4 such attacks.