PFS Speed Run: Lions of Katapesh (Inactive)

Game Master Blake's Tiger

I hope I don't regret this...

Fran runs after the cat, tumbles through its space and tries to set up a flank.

Tumble Through: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
The probably didn't work

She stabs the cat anyway with her rapier and raises her buckler.

Rapier vs Leopard: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Potential Piercing: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

The dice bot really hates me today...

◆ Stride
◆ Strike
◆ Raise Buckler (AC 21)

The leopard still in her range, Dyner raises a calwed hand and draws a magic circle of ice and range in the air, adding a sprinkling of frost berries from home and fire the Ray of Frost from the rookf of the building she is nestled on.

Ray of Frost: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"Just cool down why don't you Mr. Kitty!"

Kondai will double move up to behind Samna and then disappear, reappearing behind the kitty and punching it in one fell stroke.

<><>Stride Twice
<> Dimensional Assault

attack vs flanked: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
damage if hit: 1d6 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 3 = 12
1d6+4 bludgeoning, 3 force, damage increased from 1 to 3 because of flat footed.

"That's it! Don't let it get away!" Jaxon hustles over to the other side of the camp to help finish off the last cat.

Triple move

Jaxon will use his Nimble Dodge reaction if attacked

Having just escaped being mauled by the leopard, Francine boldly chases after her. However, she seems to still be a bit flustered as she can neither slip past the great cat nor land a blow with her blade.

Dyner fires a ray of frigid energy that just barely misses the great cat.

Kondai runs forward and teleports to the other side of the leopard where he lands a punch that nearly breaks the cat's foreleg.

Jaxon jogs back the other way.

Encounter Mode. Round 2/3. Bold may act.

Environment: Outside the fence it is darkness.

Red Circle (-29 hp)
Dyner
Jaxon
--3--
Francine
Kondai
Samna
Alaric

Samna kicks at the cat.

Flurry, Nonlethal
unarmed strike: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 for bludgeoning: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
unarmed strike: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 8 - 4 = 7 for bludgeoning: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

unarmed strike: 1d20 + 8 - 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 - 8 = 12 for bludgeoning: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

unarmed strike: 1d20 + 8 - 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 - 8 = 2 for bludgeoning: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

If not for Kondai's distraction, the leopard likely would have escaped. Unfortunately for the cat, she is distracted, and Samna knocks her out with her first punch.

Out of Combat

"Good job," Zig congratulates you somberly. "We only lost four goblins. That's half as many as last night."

"They'll probably be back tomorrow night," Muckmuck comments.

What are you going to do with your unconscious goblin-eating leopard?

"Let's cage this beast until morning. We can let it go and follow it to its lair." Samna isn't too soft on the leopard, but it was just being a cat and eating goblins.

Jaxon bends down to examine the unconscious cat. "Dyner, Alaric, any way to tell if this is a normal cat? Or is something directing it?"

Nature +0

Alaric looks a bit bewildered at the cat. "A normal cat as compared to what? It looks like a cat to me. They were probably just hungry and the goblins make for easy prey for food for their pride."

Alaric has noone of telling.

”Easy prey? At the same time? The same night every night? Unlikely!”

Jaxon looks into the leopard's eyes. "Yeah, like I thought. It's a were-leopard. They hunt on the savannahs of Katapesh. I've heard how to hit him in the throat. Maybe it will turn back to its human form during the day and we can get it to talk."

Dyner shakes her beak at the mention of the goblins being easy prey. "These animals wouldn't be going after goblin unless they had a reason. There's fires here, lound noises and trying to scare them off didn't work."
She stares at the leopard for a moment, Nature+6, before commenting, Is this really a were-jaguar? Aren't those rare? And a full pack of them? And a full pack with a taste for goblins? Seems unlikely."

Francine looks on. "Looks like a cat to me. Then again, what do I know about nature and such? All I've ever done was put on a show and poke things with my sword."

”Whatever, We can catch some rest and follow the tracks back to their hideout tomorrow, whatever they are.”

"Agreed. Goblins, would you have a cage or something we can use?"

"We could use some of the fencing to make a cage, I guess," Zig says.

"It'll probably break free and eat us all," Muckmuck grumbles.

You can use one of the enhanced fencing units to have the goblins build a cage.

Do you want to finish your guard shift and go to sleep at daybreak? Sleep now and get up later in the morning? Not sleep and start doing something like trying to follow the leopard at daybreak? Finish your shift, sleep the day, and follow the leopard at night? Follow the leopard as soon as she wakes up? Please clarify your plan. It's kind of open ended at this phase.

"No point in getting injured or lost out in the dark. Let's see if we can pick up the tracks at first light." Alaric suggests.

"Agreed. Let's get 40 winks."

Dyner gives a chirrup at the leopard and judges its response. After a moment she shakes her head. "I just don't see the intellegence of a were-leopard in there. I think he is a basic kitty."

She then looks up and nods at the suggestion of heading out in the morning. "I agree, unless there's risk of the animals attacking us again, I think we should get some sleep."

No one knows if the cats will attack twice in the same night. Zig tells you that they've only struck once each night in the past, but this is the first time they've met significant resistance. In the end, you decide to go to sleep early in order to prepare for the next day.

The goblins hastily disassemble some of the reinforced fencing and build a cage around the unconscious leopard.

In the morning there is a bit of a ruckus outside the tents. Feeling as though it is still too early to wake after chasing leopards around the camp last night, you roll out of bed anyway to see what is going on.

"It was a ghost cat!" shrieks a goblin.

"No! A devil cat!" cries another.

"A witch cat! It could probably read!" laments a third.

The cage the goblins built is empty and the leopard is gone. It only takes a quick survey of the cage to discover that there is a broken plank through which the leopard must have escaped and stole quietly out of the camp.

Kondai rolls his eyes. [b]"Well, let's get some breakfast and then chase that thing down. At least it's trail is fresh.

Jaxon looks at the broken cage. "What did I tell you? Were-leopard. Smart and crafty. But yeah, let's track this bastard back to it's lair."

Samna stretches and gives a deep sigh, "Well, we wanted to follow it's trail anyway."

Scouting Lore: +5 if that helps with anything here.

Fran follows.

No relevant skills to speak of here...

You gather your things and prepare to track the leopard back to her lair, presumably. Or a trap.

Looks like Dyner is your Tracker. Needs Trained in Survival.

Dyner crawls out of her tent and blearily blinks at the panicking goblins, the rest of her group and shakes her beak to go make some coffee instead.

With a steaming mug in hand, she comes back and looks at the broken cage. "Not used to seeing, *sip* cats do that, but I'm still not sold on it being a were-leopard. Anyways, we have fresh tracks. Let's go find it, but first, Breakfast! My grandma always said, 'Don't go track on an empty stoamach! A loud tummy is the worst way to die to a demon!'" She dumps the rest of the cooled coffee into her beak and heads for the campfire.

After she whips up some eggs and flapjacks with some fruit, Dyner gets her equipment together and starts to track down the fleeing kitties.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

As soon as she spots the tracks she gives a chirp of happiness. "See, a full stomach is just the thing for this!"

Dyner leads you into the savannah where the rising sun begins to bake everyone except Alaric. The tengu has sharp eyes and picks up the leopard's trail almost immediately. After two hours of tracking, she leads you near to a cave mouth leading down beneath a hill.

Pausing in case you want to do anything particular, rearrange your marching order, or change your exploration mode before entering the cave.

Fran will pull out a throwing knife and stick to the shadows.

Kondai, as always, is willing to charge in headfirst.

Dyner takes a moment at the mouth of the cave, doing what almost looks like an odd bird dance as she stares at the ground and hops around foot to foot. After a moment she calls everyone over and points to various paw prints in the ground. "If you take a look at these, you can see there's, what I think, is 5 different big cats in here. There's five different sizes, and one of them is extra large. I've had filling dinners on plates smaller than this."

After a moment she scuttles to the back of the group and readies a spell or three. The moment they look to move in Dyner moves to cast Shattering Gem on whoever wants it (or Kondai if no one speaks up)

Kondai barrels forward into the cave mouth and everyone follows. The cave seems dark at first, but then you quickly find the wide tunnel is illuminated by torchlight. Bones of antelope and a few cattle are scattered on the ground here.

As you emerge into a large cave illuminated by torches and two large braziers that sit upon a broad ledge over a deep chasm, a masculine voice thunders, "So the goblins have sent mercenaries to face Keff in his own lair?"

To your right, you can see two leopards guarding another ledge that serves as the only way around the chasm to the higher place. Back in a crevice, you see a wounded leopard licking her wounded foreleg. On that higher ledge stands a lion looking down toward you.

You can parlay if you want. The only creatures you see are the cats. You can reposition behind Kondai and Jaxon, if you like, but attempting to move past where the line Kondai and Jaxon make will start initiative. Or you can just let me know you want to jump right to initiatives.

"Hm, talking cats. Not exactly were-leopards but I think we owe Jaxon an apology. Tell me Mr. Talking lion, sate my curiosity before I kill you . . . why ARE you attacking these Goblins? Two hours out of your way? Doesn't seem to smart."

"Two hours?" the giant lion scoffs. "Your two legs make you slow." It might dawn on some of you that this lion, in addition to talking, appears to know what an hour is. "This is my territory. My people--from the little mouse to the mighty lion and all the birds in the air--depend upon this land for food and water and upon me to keep them safe. The goblins built their camp and began their bridge without my permission. They are invaders who disrupt the peace of my kingdom. Would a human king not do the same when invaded?"

"So if they asked your permission, would you grant it, then?"

"No! Of course not," the lion roars. "They pollute the waters with their waste and disrupt the animals with their noise. Worse, their bridge will bring more man things through my territory to further disrupt and threaten my people. Maybe if they brought me tribute. Ten goblins per week should make up for the decline in antelope. Goblins multiply quickly; that shouldn't be a problem."

"No! Of course not," the lion roars. "They pollute the waters with their waste and disrupt the animals with their noise. Worse, their bridge will bring more man things through my territory to further disrupt and threaten my people. Maybe if they brought me tribute. Ten goblins per week should make up for the decline in antelope. Goblins multiply quickly; that shouldn't be a problem."

"What an idiot. If you hadn't killed them they would have finished their bridge and left by now, taking there . . . . whatever waste with them. Also you could have talked to them and they could have left you preserved foodstuffs when passing through their territory. No one even knows you exist out here you pathetic fool. Instead you attack like a petulant child. You're worse then the technic league, at least they KNOW they are making poor decisions."

I'm assuming we're going to attack this guy, which is why Kondai is not being diplomatic. Also, I am fully aware of the irony of Kondai saying someone else is quick to anger. He, however, is not.

"See. Were-leopards and were-lions."

Jaxon cracks his knuckles. "You know, I respect when a gang is defending its turf. But we ain't no goblins. You're going to find us much harder to swallow."

Jaxon is going let anyone else chime in, but he plans to start this by demoralizing one of the closer cats.

@ Jaxon: Demoralize has a range limit.

During the back and forth, the gem circling Kondai fades back to the plane of earth.

"Man things always underestimate us!" Keff the Lion shouts and finishes with a roar that you can feel in your cores. He leaps down from the highest platform and then to the edge of that platform before speaking a word that none of you understand.

One of the leopards leaps down from their ledge behind a large column and readies himself.

Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.

Environment: Each ledge is 5 ft above the one below it.
Stairs are Difficult Terrain (10 ft move cost per square).

Keff the Lion (shield)
Blue Leopard (-3 hp) (readied)
Francine
Alaric
Red Leopard
Kondai
Samna
Jaxon
Dyner

Alaric grits his teeth "You talk about encroaching on territories when you go well out of your way to get into theirs. Instead of trying to talk to them your first logical choice is instead murder." His eyes flare with hellish fire as he walks forward to try and make the might bandit king cow. Flames spring forth in both of his hands. "End this now or we will have to step in and end it for you."

Intimidation to Coerce: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

Dyner would still have caster her shattering gem on Kondai before moving to to the room.

Continuing with his intimidation Alaric continues to walk through the room as the hellish dust releases from his vision across the cavern. "Do not say we didn't warn you. The truth will always be found."

◆ Stride
◆◆ Incendiary Aura

Fran will delay until Red Leopard gets a bit closer.

I'm probably not close enough to dance to it, am I?

Distracting Performance has not range limitation.

The second leopard stalks down the natural steps along the cave wall and then waits, muscles tense.

Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.

Environment: Each ledge is 5 ft above the one below it.
Stairs are Difficult Terrain (10 ft move cost per square).

Keff the Lion (shield)
Blue Leopard (-3 hp) (readied)
Alaric
Red Leopard
Francine
Kondai
Samna
Jaxon
Dyner

Fran dances for Red, swinging her hips seductively.

Acrobatic Performance: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Assuming she succeeded and got Panache

Fran will duck into the side passage and attempt to blend in with the shadows. (Stealth +8).

◆ Dance
◆ Stride
◆ Hide

Francine dances away into the side tunnel where it is rather dim.

Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.

Environment: Each ledge is 5 ft above the one below it.
Stairs are Difficult Terrain (10 ft move cost per square).

Keff the Lion (shield)
Blue Leopard (-3 hp) (readied)
Alaric
Red Leopard (readied)
Francine (panache)
Kondai
Samna
Jaxon
Dyner

Samna enters shooting star stance and draws closer to the cats, pressing herself against the pillar.

Kondai will stride forward, cast shield, and enter arcane cascade stance