GM Enchanter's 1-06 Lost on the Spirit Road (Inactive)

Game Master Enchanter Tim

"A man with the head and tail of a fox," Qigiq explains.

This would be terrible of a PC if that ancestry was forced to make a RK check. :X I can buy Qigiq never having met one or had reason to have one described to him. And I definitely buy Qigiq having no idea what the fur-bugs are.

Psst...Recall Knowledge is an untrained check. (But this also doesn't depend on you knowing what any of it is.)

Higher high tier DCs with only a +3 at best is... asking for misinformation.

Stersk gives a nod a the description, not really able to imagine what that would look like after decades of not seeing anything. "Huh, sounds interesting... Well we going to get moving or should I start getting a burial site for myself ready?"

Arcana: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 6 + 2 = 24

Alaric listens to the explanation as he keeps looking over his shoulder, hoping never to get possessed. "Hey, doesn't that sound a bit like..."

Kondai folds his arms and leans against a tree, not really paying attention to the conversation.

Did someone medicine is from our last combat?”

No one performed Medicine after the fight.

We hurried on, but in all the wandering, I'm pretty sure I'd have enough time to medicine up those few remaining wounds.

That's true. You would have had plent of time to heal up.

"Oh please, what you are describing as a Poracha. Native to these parts. Even I know that and I'm from Numeria. Old men argue if they are technically 'kami' or not, but the old fools can't make up their mind. The big thing is that they can duplicate my shadow step, meaning they can teleport short distances."

You continue on, following the trail of the caravan. Within the next hour, you see more obvious signs of its passage. Deep ruts in the ground, broken branches from several trees and then some discarded debris. You look up and another ghostly outline is visible by the trees. It floats slowly towards you, again reaching outward.

Samna will note their good fortune. "It seems the caravan is still traveling. That's a good sign. I thought we might be recovering their remains."

After seeing the harmless nature of the first such spirit, she'll reach out to this one.

"JUST SPEAK ALREADY!" Kondai bellows. "Does anyone know what the floating thing, this . . . kami is trying to tell us?"

"I think they're trying to help us find our lost Pathfinders," Qigiq guesses.

"Should we follow them then?" Alaric asks unsure if they can trust the strange source.

"Let's just follow it, then," Fran gripes, echoing Kondai's sentiment.

The kami reaches out for Samna, and she feels a warm, soothing sensation.

She suddenly sees a memory from the kami of the fox-headed creature escaping from the attack. She follows him to a clearing in the woods where he opens the sack and pulls out various items from the caravan. The fox-creature laughs and does a bit of a dance before finally unwrapping the scarf and examining it. He grins widely and seems supremely satisfied with himself.

Samna loses the memory, as the kami seems distracted by something else and then moves away from the group.

Samna, for each encoutner you can reroll a saving throw once, but for the rest of the scenario, you also have a -2 to Perception checks.

With the memories the kami provided, you are able to pursue the caravan a bit faster, and you make your way through the forests as snow begins to fall. Rounding a bend, you finally see the three wagons ahead of you on the path. They appear to be stuck for the moment.

From the top of the caravan, a short, heavyset Tian man spots you. From the descriptions Amara Li provided, this is Lin Po. "Stay back, thieves!" he yells. He is armed with a crossbow and points it at you.

"Careful with that thing, Lin Po! You know that such a motely group as we are could only be Pathfinders." Just in case, Samna fishes out her wayfinder and flashes it at the caravaneer.

"We've been looking all over for you! You were expected by Amara Li ages ago. What happened?"

Lin Po relaxes. "Oh thank the gods! What the hell took her so long to send you?!" He lowers the crossbow and begins to climb down. "Lan! It's Pathfinders! We're saved!"

An athletic woman stands up where she was hiding in one of the carts. She also carries a crossbow and a shortsword. "Saved? Nothing has changed, Po. Maybe they can help, but the thief still has the relic!" She grunts and sighs. "But it is good to see friendly faces."

An older woman comes forward. "Oh, thank heavens. I'm Fal Mei, one of the caravan drivers. We've been chasing this thief for ages now. The wagon is stuck for the moment, but we can handle that. I just want to get back on the path home." She looks accusingly at Lin Po and Ti Lan. "If you promise to help us get home, I'll give you one of the things I picked up down south. A healing wand maybe? Or magical axe! Or even this staff of fire! Please!"

"Damned Murderhobo, put that thing down." Alaric raises his shield. "We were sent to come and make sure you guys were alright."

Lin Po laughs. "Murderhobo? Make sure you look at yourself in the mirror. Anyways, we've been attacked by a thief once, why wouldn't I think we would again? There are all sorts of things and people in these woods."

He turns to Fal Mei. "The kami were helping us track the thief. I know it! We're on his trail." He looks back at you. "It's true, the kami want us to restore the relic. We've actually caught glimpses of the thief, he can't be far off."

"Well, we ought to be able to track him easily enough. What does he look like?"

I'll make the thief my Hunted Prey.

"Wait, what thief and what relic? We were told the relics were all but useless, museum stuff only, not much use to anyone, and not much money either."

Lan pushes her way to the front. "Useless? The relics might not be powerful, but they are not useless." She shakes her head. "After we secured the relic, a green scarf, we began to realize it held a kami trapped within. When we entered the forest, the kami's influence grew. That's because it's a spirit from this very forest area. I learned that it has a warded grove close by. We decided to take this path to return it to the grove, but then we were attacked and the thief stole the scarf."

Lin Po chimes in. "The thief was a kitsune, a creature who looks similar to a fox. With the relic stolen, we've been trying to gain the help of the other local kami to track the thief. I think they also helped lead you to us. But I sense something else going on with the forest spirits too."

Ti Lan nods. "The thief is close, but we're exhausted. The long travel, plus the attack..." She glances back to Fal Mei. "We've been pushing the caravan too hard, trying to catch up to the thief and recover the relic. They can't take much more."

Mei grumbles. "Which is why we're not going any further! If you lot will promise to find the thief, then we can shelter here and work on the wagon. I told you, I will give you one of the magic items I bought in the south! We can't keep after that thief!"

"Can you show us the last place where you spotted the kitsune? We can follow the trail from there. Do you have any idea what the kitsune may want with that scarf?"

"Amara Li! I KNEW it! I KNEW IT!" Kondai begins fuming under his breath. [i"]What if the kami don't like what's in the shipment?"[/i] He switches to a bad impression of Amara Li "Oh no, they are Taldan relics, there's no way they are related to the Kami!" He switches back to his normal tone of voice. "Bunch of horse . . . . excrement."

Ignoring the gruff Numerian, Qigiq says to Lin Po and Ti Lan, "Our primary goal was to find you and is to bring you out safely. Are you certain that you will be safe if we leave to track down these relics?"

As Lin Po begins to answer, Samna and Alaric hear sounds in the forest. They quickly turn and spot three of the porachas that Kondai described. They are stalking closer to the caravan preparing to attack!

Qigiq Flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Round 1
Samna
Alaric
Stersk
Fran
Kondai
Blue (cover)
Green (cover)
Red (cover)
Qigiq
Lin Po/Ti Lan

**Battle map**

Porachas are hidden to Qigiq, as well as to Lin Po and Ti Lan. The rest of the group sees them. Tree squares are not difficult terrain, but they do provide standard cover when you're in them.

Alaric raises his shield. "They are all around us. How many are there?" He looks around and spots three of the spirits closing in around them. "Don't suppose these are the good spirits?"

◆ Raise Shield
◆◆ Incendiary Aura

Alaric sees the eight-legged blue-gray furred felines stalking towards the caravan and raises his fiery aura.

Sorry. I didn't describe them. These are not spirits.

Samna draws a bead on the green feline and hisses at it in an extremely threatening manner as she enchants her starknife.

Hunt Prey (Green)
Recall Knowledge: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 2 = 17

Demoralize (Intimidating Glare): 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 2 = 18

Cast gravity weapon.

Round 1
Samna
Alaric
Stersk
Fran
Kondai
Blue (cover)
Green (cover)
Red (cover)
Qigiq
Lin Po/Ti Lan

**Battle map**

Trees provide cover.

"Oh great, here come more fools ready to die."
<>Cast Shield
<>Enter Arcane Cascade
<>Stride towards blue

Fran dances for green.

Acrobatic Performance: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Failing to impress, she draws her rapier and raises her buckler.

◆ Dance
◆ Interact
◆ Raise Buckler (+2 AC)

Botting Stersk

The green feline hisses at Samna, but shrinks away from her.

Stersk draws his weapons and blasts the poracha through the trees, but the shot goes wide. The dwarf reloads and steps into the trees to gain some cover.

Stersk attack Red: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Realizing they have been seen, the poracha's dart in to attack their prey. The blue-furred one leaps out of the trees at Kondai while the red-furred one goes after Qigiq. Kondai take a bite on his arm, but manages to fend off the sharp claws, while Qigiq easily avoids the same. The green-furred one warily avoids Samna's intense gaze and rushes Fran. She is able to dodge its bite, but she get caught by a sharp claw to the leg.

From above you, crossbow bolts fire out at the felines, hitting the green-furred one attacking Fran. Lin Po and Ti Lan shout encouragement as they reload.

Blue attack vs Kondai: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (2, 3) + 5 = 10

Blue attack vs Kondai: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 11 - 4 = 17
Damage: 2d4 + 5 ⇒ (4, 3) + 5 = 12

Red attack vs Qigiq: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (2, 6) + 5 = 13

Red attack vs Qigiq: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 11 - 4 = 8
Damage: 2d4 + 5 ⇒ (1, 3) + 5 = 9

Green attack vs Fran (frightened 1): 1d20 + 11 - 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 - 1 = 12
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (2, 2) + 5 = 9

Green attack vs Fran (frightened 1): 1d20 + 11 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 11 - 4 - 1 = 23
Damage: 2d4 + 5 ⇒ (1, 4) + 5 = 10

Lin Po & Ti Lan vs Green: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Round 2
Samna
Alaric (shield)
Stersk
Fran (shield) -10
Kondai (shield, AC) -10
Blue
Green (cover, prey) -7
Red (cover)
Qigiq
Lin Po & Ti Lan

**Battle map**

Trees provide cover. Let me know if you can/want to shield block those hits.

"SPIRIT. . . BREAKING CANON!"

<><>Spellstrike with gouging claw

attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Sigh, a nat 1. This just isn't my game.

hero point reroll: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

damage if hit: 1d6 + 4 + 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 4 + (2, 4) + 3 + 1 = 17

Kondai kicks the enemy up in the air, almost missing them, but he manages to save it. Then he appears above the enemy as they are being forced up, and does an atomic elbow drop on them.

<>Cast Shield

Alaric walks up to the native feline and ignites a quick burst of fire around its body. "Scae them a bit and they may run off."

Produce Flame (Green): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
Damage: 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (2, 3) + 4 = 9

◆ Stride
◆◆ Produce Flame

Qigiq falls back so that he can see more of the battle. "Light of the heavens, thunders to the earth," he chants and conjures a arc of electricity that jumps between two of the octapedal felines.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Cast (S/V): Electric Arc (basic Reflex DC 17): 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8

"Yeowch! You'll pay for that!" Fran yelps as she's struck. Not even bothering to dance, she simply tries tumbling through Green's space.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

If it succeeds, she gets panache. Green is also FF (Tumble Behind)

Fran lunges with her rapier at the creature.

Rapier vs Green, FF: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
Piercing, Precision: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

She then raises her buckler in defense.

◆ Tumble Through
◆ Stabify
◆ Raise Buckler (+2 AC)

I forgot that you all have 2 weakness to natural attacks. Adding 2 damage to both Kondai and Fran.

Kondai drops an atomic elbow on the feline and in its slightly dazed state, it can't avoid Qigiq's electricity. The reddish creature is able to though as the lightning weaves around the trees and gives it a moment to react. Alaric's flame is dodged by the lithe feline, but Fran takes advantage of its reaction to slip behind it and stab it.

Round 2
Samna (cover)
Alaric (cover)
Stersk
Fran (shield, cover) -12
Kondai (shield, AC) -12
Blue -25
Green (cover, prey) -11
Red (cover) -4
Qigiq
Lin Po & Ti Lan

**Battle map**

I discovered that cover provides the same type of bonus that a shield does. So if you are in a tree space, it's redundant to raise a shield, unless you have shield block or something else tied to it. Fran, if you want your third action back, you can have it.

Samna circles behind green and attacks.
starknife: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18 for piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
starknife: 1d20 + 9 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 9 - 4 = 19 for piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Botting Stersk

Samna flanks one of the creatures, but tree branches hamper her swings. Stersk blasts the one near him, grazing it, but the blind dwarf misses with his cane.

Stersk Pistol vs Red: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Stersk Cane vs Red (flatfooted): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

In a blurring lurch, the red-furred poracha suddenly teleports and re-appears on the other side of Kondai. It lunges at him with his jaws, but evidently that was a feint as it nearly disembowls him with a claw strike when he reacts.

The green-furred one lashes out at Fran, but then blurs and leaps away from being surrounded. It reappears near Qigiq and rips at his leg. The blueish one is quite hurt and it bites at Kondai before leaping away from to find easier prey. The bite nearly closes on him, but his magical shield deflect it at the last second. It leaps away and lands on the other side of Qigiq, where it slashes at him, drawing more blood.

From atop the caravan, crossbow bolts continue to fly. One manages to strike the red-furred poracha.

Round 3
Samna (cover)
Alaric (cover)
Stersk
Fran (cover) -12
Kondai (shield, AC) -36
Blue (cover) -25
Green (prey) -11
Red -9
Qigiq -21
Lin Po & Ti Lan

**Battle map**

Perception Stersk: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Stersk yells at the others. "Hey, that one really was scared of my gun blast! Like more scared than usual! I don't think they like loud noises!"

Fran strides to get an open shot on Red. She drops her rapier, pulls a Throwing Knife out of her belt and hurls it at Red.

Throwing Knife vs Red: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Piercing Damage, Precision: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Fran has Flying Blade, which allows her to use panache-moves with thrown weapons w/in the first range increment; assuming a 17 even hits

Alaric moves to get the majority of the felines into his dusty cloud and tosses more flames at the wounded one. "They keep disappearing!"

Produce Flame (Green): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
Hero Point: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Damage: 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 4 = 8

◆ Stride
◆◆ Produce Flame

@GM according to your numbers, I was at -12, and took 22 damage from a crit, which should leave me at -34, not -36, or did I miss something?

Kondai, badly hurt, will shout in rage, wind back a punch, and disappear, only to reappear flanking Red with Red

<>Dimensional Assault also recharges spellstrike
attack with dimensional assault vs. Flat Footed: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
damage if hit: 1d6 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 3 = 10

<>attack again vs. flat footed: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 10 - 4 = 19
damage if hit: 1d6 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 3 = 13

<>Cast Shield

"You won't get away from me that easily!"

Samna darts between the carts and throws her starknife at green.

starknife: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 for piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
starknife: 1d20 + 9 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 9 - 4 = 18 for piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Kondai, the whole party has weakness 2 vs natural attacks, so these claws and bites do two extra damage.

The red-furred poracha dodges Fran's knife only to suddenly be surrounded by Kondai and Alaric. Despite its own ability to teleport, it is startled by Kondai's appearance and his second attack slams it in the head. Meanwhile, Alaric blasts one with fire, starting it burning. Samna hurls her starknife at the same one and slices it.

Round 4
Samna
Alaric
Stersk
Fran -12
Kondai (shield, AC) -36
Blue (cover) -25
Green (2d4 persistent, prey) -24
Red -22
Qigiq -21
Lin Po & Ti Lan

**Battle map**

Qigiq grunts in pain with the first clawing and gasps with the second. He hurries away from the pair and then prays. "Celestial guides, restore the body." After drawing a sign in the air with his spear, life energy flows into Kondai.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Cast (S/V): heal @ Kondai
Healing: 2d10 + 16 ⇒ (8, 5) + 16 = 29

Botting Stersk

Stersk reloads his pistol and shuffles forward before pointing it at the nearest creature. He blasts it and hits one of its eight legs.

Stersk Pistol vs Green: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

The green-furred poracha, hit by Stersk's extremely loud gunfire, suddenly scampers away and then seemingly runs straight into a tree where it vanishes.

The blue one leaps at Alaric, biting and clawing as it suddenly realizes that this prey is fighting back. However, it can't seem to find any gaps in his armor. The red-furred one scampers away from Kondai and seems like it's going to run, until it circle back on Fran and savages her with a bite that rips through her armor and drops her. Seeing its prey go down, the poracha scampers back, watching and waiting.

Lin Po and Ti Lan continue to fire crossbows, hitting the Blue one.

Round 4
Samna
Alaric
Stersk
Fran dying 2
Kondai (shield, AC) -7
Blue -28
Green (2d4 persistent, prey) -28
Red -22
Qigiq -21
Lin Po & Ti Lan

**Battle map**