GM Otha’s The Moonscar (Inactive)

Game Master Otha

Alie is using her overland flight spell as well.

Marta climbs. She set her Cracked Magenta Prism Ioun Stone to climb the hight before as well as casting a hunter's blessing for Outsider (fire) and Mountains as well as an addition one for Outsider (evil) and desert (wastelands), which, oddly, does not give a bonus to climb.

When they reach the mountain she casts a heroism spell.

Taking 10 for 25

As soon as they reach the base of the volcano Flint swaps out his Swarmbane Clasp for his talisman of Beneficial Winds as a necessary precaution putting the former in his Handy Haversack. The dwarf keeps an eye and ear out for any possible volcanic activity as well as for a possible landslide (Stone Cunning). He casts a couple of protective incantations and then takes out his brand new climbing gear and gets to work.

24 Climb on a take 10.

Agata joins Zaarah and Alie flying up towards the designated spot while the others makes steady work of the climb…

Upon finishing the climbing and flying, you notice you’re a little ways off from the top of the volcano…but also at the top of a crevasse that runs steeply into the mountain. And as the moon nears its apogee, you see a glowing light emanating from east of the crater…and then moments later, you see a similar light glowing blue and swirling, down towards the bottom of the crevasse. As your eyes focus you notice a landing of some sort, and below it what appears to be flowing magma…

"Mmm. Two lights to investigate. Shall we try the one on top?"

Are we on the west side of the crater? I take it we did not climb up the crevasse, but after the climb ended up at the top of the crevasse? Did the light at the top appear right before the one at the bottom and then fade away? Or did neither fade? Is the one on top, by the crater, in sight of the one at the bottom of the crevasse? Trying to get a better picture of things.

"No, let us proceed towards that landing. It must be the gate we are looking for."

Yes, sorry, poor wording on my part Marta…you climbed up to the crevasse…you judge the climb down it would be a tougher: DC 25 - A rough surface, such as a natural rock wall or a brick wall.

Alie nods at Theodoric’s suggestion. ”I agree. The platform is probably the safest place to land,” she says, waiting on the others before landing.

Zaarah starts to move to the platform in the air and eyes the surroundings and the platform for any danger or traps.

perception with detect magic : 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (14) + 26 = 40

In case nothing is dangerous she’ll land.

It doesn’t take Zaarah or Alie long as the fly down to note 5 large objects, humanoid objects, moving on the platform…from the warning you were given from Remus, you easily identify these as fire giants…y’all are not quite halfway down and it doesn’t appear they’ve spotted you yet…

You see a likely landing spot for both fliers and climbers on the east of the platform…providing the fire giants will allow you to land there…

The Somal Gate

"Very well. Once we get close, I think I will down a potion of fly. I dare not get caught stuck to a wall when they start hurling boulders. Might want to do something about resisting heat too, unless one of you spell slingers have a better way."

@GM Otha - How long did it takes us to climb up the volcano from its base and roughly how far are we now from the east of the platform and the Fire Giants?

"I can probably sneak onto the platform first without them noticing and then give them something to worry about while the rest of you get your footing."

"I have some experience with clandestine operations and giants of course."

Flint says modestly.

With Invisibility,great stealth and Gaseous Form it should work.

@Alie - If you could keep Message up and running on the party that would be most appreciated. It is a great quality of life improvement. :)

@Marta - Putting up some sort of protection from fire is smart. My character can handle himself if needed (Protection from Energy) but just does not have the spell slots to spare to spread it around the party. I noticed that Alie has a Page of Spell Knowledge for Resist Energy which I imagine you could share.

Nice catch. If Allie would lend Marta that, she will cast it on herself - otherwise she'd have to use her one and only scroll, or perhaps just activate the resistance(fire) judgment which, though cheaper, is less effective and prevents the use of a better judgment.

Alie will cast Resist energy fire on herself and pass the magic item toMarta so she can make use of it as well.

"Can one of our magic users cloak our approach? and yes, I'll take you up on fire protection if you have enough to go around... that lava looks hot..."

"Can one of our magic users cloak our approach? and yes, I'll take you up on fire protection if you have enough to go around... that lava looks hot..."

Alie will cast for Theodoric as well as the group approaches.

When Marta estimates that they are less than a half hour from the giant's she will cast heightened awareness, extended energy resistance (fire), and (for the heck of it) corruption resistance (evil) on herself and has someone use the wand of ablative barrier on her.

Three hours of hiking/climbing…and about 300 feet down…

Flint politely overlooks Theodric request not wishing to offend the man of many talents, unfortunately stealth is not one of them.

"Please give me a couple of minutes. Let me glide down first, unseen, unheard. I will wait for you on the platform, ready to act and I will only intervene before you all arrive if events really get out of hand."

"It might simply be five run-of-the-mill fire giants but one never knows."

If people are alright with this plan then I will post my character's actions and buffs in my next post. Scouting ahead makes sense as we have the opportunity. :)

"Sure. I'm decent at stealth, but I get caught more often than I like to admit so you are on your own. Don't get caught is my advice. And don't rely on invisibility. And be ready to run. And..."

She snorts, laughing at herself a little.

"I'm sure you know all that. Just be careful."

It would be refreshing to see stealth and scouting used in a PFS game.

Flint nods to Marta.

"Sound advice, especially the last part."

The dwarf prepares himself for the short but potentially dangerous journey to the platform. Flint has also taken the precaution of warding himself against the possible heat (Protection from Energy (Fire) and Endure Elements).

The now invisible mist creeps slowly down to the east side of the platform. Flint will check the length of the platform for anything out of the ordinary (or Invisible) before reverting to his solid (but still invisible form) on the east side of the platform.

37 Stealth on a take 10 (plus any bonuses for being Invisible).
50 Perception on a take 10 (52 for Stone Cunning), he can see also see invisible creatures or objects.

@GM Otha - I have tentatively placed Flint on the east side of the platform as you mentioned that might be a good landing place for both climbers and flyers.

Flint gets to the platform without being noticed. From what he can tell, the fire giants look like your run-of-the mill fire giants…

He’s more amazed with the swirling dervish colors to the west in what must obviously be the portal; he notes the fire giants keep their distance from it…

The Somal Gate

Flint stands patiently, quietly with bow in hand. The monk, good to his word waits for the others to arrive before acting. Flint is curious about the properties of the Somal gate and wonders if he might be able to know more about it.

@GM Otha - Are there any knowledge checks we can make to know more about the gate?

Flint gets to the platform without being noticed. From what he can tell, the fire giants look like your run-of-the mill fire giants…

Flint should do a Kn Local on the giants. Though they seem like typical fire giants, a decent knowledge roll might prove differently. Or maybe I'm just being overly suspicious of that phrase 'look like'.

Knowledge Arcana or Knowledge Planes for a little more info on the portal

Flint thinks about the magical properties of the portal and examines the fire giants for anything out of the usual.

30 K-Planes on a take 10 for the portal.

29 K-Local on a take 10 for the fire giants.

In theory they could be a variant or even have class levels but most probably not. Personally if I was writing the module I would have given them at least one class level in Barbarian. That would be fun. :)

kn arcana with auto aid from her black blade : 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 27 + 2 = 30
kn planes: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (18) + 29 = 47

Flint and Zaarah discern emanations from the gate, sensing the following from it and perhaps the Moonscar it leads to. The gate is strongly chaos-aligned and evil-aligned…

Nonevil or nonchaotic creatures take a –2 circumstance penalty on all Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks in the Moonscar. This penalty stacks with itself for creatures that fall into both categories, resulting in a –4 penalty for creatures with alignments that are neither chaotic nor evil.

From Flint’s recollection, these appear to be standard fire giants, probably guards sent to watch over this portal by their Jarl…he recalls they are immune to fire, vulnerable to cold, and have an affinity for catching and throwing large rocks and boulders…

The Somal Gate

Theodric walks towards the giants, drawing his sword. With every steps he takes he grows, drawing upon the power of the nearby Minderhal's Forge. Infused with the power of the Mindspin Mountains' giants, he announces the party's presence with a booming voice.

"WORTHLESS FIRE TRIBE! SCATTER NOW UNLESS YOU WISH TO DIE A MEANINGLESS DEATH! YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS HERE, AND YOUR USELESSNESS IS ONLY EXCEEDED BY YOUR IGNORANCE! YOU KNOW NOT WHAT DANGER YOU HAVE VOLUNTEERED YOURSELF INTO BY COMING HERE!"

Power of the Giants (CL 2nd)- 1/day: enlarge person (self only) and gain cold resistance 4 and first melee/thrown attack in each round deals an additional 1d6 pts. of cold dmg. (does not stack with a weapon's frost property)

INTIMIDATE, TAKE 10: 10 + 25 = 35 ---> +2 if Alie has cast heroism on the way to the gate

@GM Otha - Do the penalties apply to this combat or only once we enter the Moonscape?

@The Party - How are the rest of you getting down to the landing? The GM mentioned that it is a 300 foot descent. So if you can please come down at the same time so no one misses the first combat. :)

Sure. Marta will be right behind him (20'), putting a shield of faith and shield spell up just prior o the entrance.

Alie will have cast her usual buffs as discussed earlier on the evening before and extended heroism on Teodoric. She will also begin flying down behind the others, approximately 50 or so feet away, in range of her useful spells.

”Yeah, you big mean giants! You’d better watch out for us! We are plenty tough and will wipe all of you out!”

Auto aid on assist Intimidate.

Marta gives them a steely glare with the halo atop her head.

"You had best listen or holy vengeance will rain down on you."

intimidate, heroism, halo: 1d20 + 36 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 36 + 2 + 2 = 50

Everyone has a +2 sacred bonus to initiative from the hunter's blessing if it comes down to that, as well as perception, sense motive, and stealth.

"Cripes, Marta... that gave me chills..."

You make it to the platform without the Fire Giants noticing as they appear to be bored with their trivial guard duty…

Upon hearing Theodric, they appear shaken but stand their ground…upon seeing Marta appear and castigating them, they drop their weapons and flee…at least for the moment…

The Somal Gate

"Nice! Marta I now understand why you're single. But see, there's a purpose to everything in life! so magic scholars, is this thing on? can we jump through or will we just end up in that giant lava hot tub below?"

Moved everyone to the gate

Flint looks at Theodric.

"I see no indication that it will do anything but transport us to our destination. While the Moonscar may not be filled with pits of lava the influence of the Abyss will be felt by all. That is clear."

Flint nods to the others and volunteers to enter it first once everyone is ready.

Flint will wait until any and all preparatory buffs are up on party members or an objection is raised otherwise he will jump in. He might as well take advantage of the fact that he is still invisible. :)

"Huh... ok. You go first!"

"Ready when you are."

"Alright people I am going in. See you shortly on the other side."

Flint enters the gate.

Alie waits for a few seconds, just to make sure that Flint’s corpse isn’t spat back out of the gate. Assuming that doesn’t happen, she closes her eyes and hops in.

As does Marta, simultaneously with Alie.

One by one, or two by two, you each enter the portal and, after a scintillating feeling that lasts several seconds but feels like an eternity…

Beam me up, Scotty!

…you reappear in a warped twisted forest, stifling hot, right before a path/small clearing…

The scent of rot is suffocating in this lush, discolored jungle, and the sounds that permeate the air have a hollow, wet tone. Majestic trees rise from the twisted ground like strange arms, their almost fleshy trunks covered in sinister vining nettles and flowers unlike anything on Golarion. 

The Moonscar Jungle (Slide 4)

If it is less than 110 degress Marta is unaffected by the heat due to a boon. The smell on the other hand...

*gag*

"This place reeks. I shouldn't be surprised though. Anyone have a life bubble spell or something?"

She looks around at the spell casters hopefully and then at the ground, looking for tracks or a trail.

tracking, heroism, inquisitor tracking: 1d20 + 10 + 2 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 10 + 2 + 7 = 37

”Forgive the dumb question, but did we make it? Is this the moon? Can we see Golarion from here,” she asks, looking up at the sky.

Flint nods to Alie. While the dwarf is magically shielded against the heat (Endure Elements and Protection from Energy- Fire) the malign planar influence of the Moonscar is still a shock to his system.

We should be on the moon now so the penalties to all INT, WIS, CHA based checks should now apply.

"This is the right place alright. If the sight of the unusual trees and stench are not enough there is always the corrupting influence of the Abyss here."

"We can travel a bit more to get our bearings and then perhaps settle in for the night to attempt to rest."

Our characters have been travelling all day and it is about 9-10 PM (Dusk +3 hours) at night. As we are on a map we can still potentially have a couple of encounters before bed I imagine. :)

Flint looks over to Marta with a half-smile and he responds in a typically Irorian fashion.

"Should the air turn toxic I can resort to a scroll to shield us but for now consider it another test to overcome."

@GM Otha - I have updated my header information to include the -4 penalty to Wisdom based skills and Will saves. I have also updated my Perception bonus in the slides.

Flint spends a moment to organise his thoughts (change teamwork feat to Coordinated Defence) and he casts a quick spell to help him identify his enemies (Heightened Awareness). The dwarf then tries to quietly move to the edge of the jungle and have a peek at the path.

37 Stealth on a take 10 + Invisible.

44 on a take 10 for Perception (includes the -4 penalty)

Flint has See Invisibility up as well.

Theodric walks down the trail.

Moved token; back me up if I went too far

Flint is adjacent to giant Theordric. Considering the scale of the map (measured in miles) he could easily fit on the path right beside him. I would guess it to be about a half mile (ten minute) walk to get to their current position. In which case he might not be so giant anymore :)

My character's token can be backed up as well if he went too far.