[PF2 / GMGlyn] B.Box - Menace in Otari (Inactive)

Game Master GHembree

This is the Discussion Forum for Beginner’s Box, Menace Under Otari. The scenario will be run in Adventure Mode generally following Pathfinder Society rules.

Note under Adventure Mode Custom characters are used instead of Pathfinder legal characters. Players can freely choose Uncommon ancestries, backgrounds, classes, and heritages without needing a PFS boon. No 3rd-party content. Characters will start at 1st level and 15gp.

You have a few days to create and post the characters that you would like to use in this game. We will start once the characters are ready and approved. Would like to have the characters ready to go by July 10th.

If you need help or have questions ask away.

If you don't already have one, please create an alise for your new character and use that to post here and in the gameplay section.

You can use one of the following character templates placed in the Alise profile or link to PDF or other character sheets.

character template 1 or character template 2

This is OSW’s character Tain. Let me know if there are any problems GMGlyn. Apart from not having a background that is. Is there a Player’s Guide oR similar for this adventure? Failing that I’ll scour the Pathfinder Wiki for info on Otari…

Celosia is a brand new leshy, only a few weeks old. She is full of energy drawn from a multitude of sources.

I will add Celosia's stats and stuff tonight I hope. She's a legal PFS character, but I can change things if there are more appropriate skills or backgrounds.

This is OSW’s character Tain. Let me know if there are any problems GMGlyn. Apart from not having a background that is. Is there a Player’s Guide oR similar for this adventure? Failing that I’ll scour the Pathfinder Wiki for info on Otari…

Tain looks good from a quick glance!

The Beginning Box includes the "Heros Handbook" which serves as part Player's guide and a reduced set of character creation rules as an introduction to Pathfinder 2E. The background options given are Acolyte, Farmhand, Scholar, Criminal, Gambler, Warrior, and Deckhand most of which are in the core rule book. Recently Paizo changes the requirement for running the Beginner box as a sanctioned PFS adventure from having to use the Heros Handbook or pregen characters to include the rules outside the Beginner Box. I'm allowing any common or uncommon backgrounds so Tain's bounty hunter is just fine.

(Edit) You're welcome to look at the Abomination Vaults Player's Guide, it starts in the same location Otari.

Celosia is a brand new leshy, only a few weeks old. She is full of energy drawn from a multitude of sources.

I will add Celosia's stats and stuff tonight I hope. She's a legal PFS character, but I can change things if there are more appropriate skills or backgrounds.

Yes, you may.

Here is WalkerOhmsford's character, Mikhail. I'm still filling in his profile for stats and stuff.

@GM, Can you delete the Celosia Snapdragon alias? The Celosia Persephone one is correct.

@GM, Can you delete the Celosia Snapdragon alias? The Celosia Persephone one is correct.

Done

Sorry coming in late, the last 2 days I had 4 classes to watch at the same time at work,

Can we use one of the PreGens?

Can we use one of the PreGens?

Yes, you may use any level one PFS2 pregens or one of four Beginner box pregens.

Link to PFS2 formated Pregens

I am going to make a witch.

Here she is.

Check-in status - character checked

Ira Kroll - ?
John Woodford - Perrik (Halfling Cleric)
Atabadies - Ultima, La Cuardendera del Ranic (Human Witch)
Meranthi - Celosia Persephone Snapdragon (Leshy ifrit Sorcerer)
Oceanshieldwolf - Tain Hekkanen (Human Fighter)
WalkerOhmsford - Mikhail Duskborn (human Cleric)

Check-in status - character checked

Ira Kroll - ?
John Woodford - Perrik (Halfling Cleric)
Atabadies - Ultima, La Cuardendera del Ranic (Human Witch)
Meranthi - Celosia Persephone Snapdragon (Leshy ifrit Sorcerer)
Oceanshieldwolf - Tain Hekkanen (Human Fighter)
WalkerOhmsford - Mikhail Duskborn (human Cleric)

Since Jason is playing a witch with healing instead of a barbarian (and since our catfolk monk hasn't yet checked in), do you want me to change over to a front-line melee character?

Since Jason is playing a witch with healing instead of a barbarian (and since our catfolk monk hasn't yet checked in), do you want me to change over to a front-line melee character?

I sent a PM Pinged to Ira Kroll they are still expected. Also, Mikhail is a warpriest with almost as good Armor and hit points as Tain the fighter.

My advice is always to play the character you want don't worry about filling expected roles. If you want to play a different character you may.

This is a character based off Ultima from Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me Ultima, especially since there is now a cuarandera background available.

Full character stats to follow...

Tain double check your AC. I think you are forgetting to add your proficiency bonus.

Good catch

Tain double check your AC. I think you are forgetting to add your proficiency bonus.

Thanks Mikhail, though now am second guessing myself.

Should it be 18 / 20 w/shield?

10 + 3 for armor + 2 for Dex + 3 for Trained proficiency (+2) plus level (1) = 18.

Correct.

Goxomas is okay with being within friendly-fire area affects that require a Reflex save

ok

...

If glyphs matter, I have 2. ...

Does anyone else have GM glyphs?

Who would you like to gift the hero points to?

Hero Point Status
Celosia Hero Pt 1/3
Goxomas Hero Pt 1/3
Mikhail Hero Pt 1/3
Perrik Hero Pt 1/3
Tain Hero Pt 1/3
Ultima Hero Pt 1/3

I have 2 glyphs.

Ultima is an older lady, she is no harridan. :)

What is a glyph? Is this a PFS thing?

What is a glyph? Is this a PFS thing?

Yes; it's an indication of how many PFS2e games someone has GM'ed. See HERE.

I have added Hero points and glyphs to the 4th slide on the map deck. Please disperse any glyphs you have to others.

Tain Hekkanen wrote:

What is a glyph? Is this a PFS thing?

Yes; it's an indication of how many PFS2e games someone has GM'ed. See HERE.

Thx for the heads up Perrik.

Ultima would you add a header to your character's profile. It helps out.

I would give mine to folks who are newest to playing. :D

I would give mine to folks who are newest to playing. :D

I'd say the honor goes to Perrik and Tain for working on their PF2 skill.

Hero Point Status
Celosia Hero Pt 1/3
Goxomas Hero Pt 1/3
Mikhail Hero Pt 1/3
Perrik Hero Pt 2/3
Tain Hero Pt 2/3
Ultima Hero Pt 1/3

Ultima I believe you have two to give out as well?

I do have 2 of them. I can give to Mikhail and to leshy.

Ultima would you add a header to your character's profile. It helps out.

What goes where?

If you look at my profile you can see what fields I filled with which information. In “Gender” I put Male Human FIghter 1 etc…

Below is an example of what to add where in the Headers: Tain's header is a good example of what is needed.

PAIZO FORUM PbP HEADERS

In order to generate the correct order, paste the information in the indicated fields in your character’s profile:

[Gender:] alignment (gender if desired) ancestry (heritage) class level |

[Race:] HP #/# | AC # | F +# R +# W +# | Perc +# | Stealth +# |

[Classes/Levels:] speed | Hero 1/3 | focus #/# | spells 1 #/# 2 #/# etc | Active Conditions: ---

No. Goxomas is the lushy. Celosia is the leshy.

<<grin>>

I will do that tomorrow. LOOONG day of work. Only a week and a half left until I start my next job.

From the Game thread:

Tain Hekkanen wrote:

[dice=Athletics]1d20 + 6 - 2 [-2 from armor]

Tain, with your STR I don't think you take a penalty to your Athletics check. Remember that you ignore the penalty if your STR matches or exceeds the armor's threshold; in this case, it's 14, and you have a 16 STR.

Yes, that is correct. Also, the movement penalty is reduced by 5.

Aromor Strength rule

Ah. You mean I don’t roll?

Correct. Recall that the first section quoted is addressed to the GM, while the second is addressed to the player (emphasis mine). (And incidentally, I remember this now because I screwed it up in an early 2nd edition game.)

With a successful Perception check while Searching, a character notices the presence or absence of something unusual in the area, but it doesn’t provide a comprehensive catalog of everything there. Instead, it gives a jumping-off point for closer inspection or an encounter. For instance, if an area has both a DC 30 secret door and a DC 25 trap, and a Searching character got a 28 on their Perception check, you would tell the player that their character noticed a trap in the area, and you’d give a rough idea of the trap’s location and nature. The party needs to examine the area more to learn specifics about the trap, and someone would need to Search again to get another chance to find the secret door.

If an area contains many objects or something that will take a while to search (such as a cabinet full of papers), Searching would reveal the cabinet, but the PCs would have to examine it more thoroughly to check the papers. This usually requires the party to stop for a complete search.

You roll a secret Perception check for a Searching character to detect any secrets they pass that’s in a place that stands out (such as near a door or a turn in a corridor), but not one that’s in a more inconspicuous place (like a random point in a long hallway) unless they are searching particularly slowly and meticulously.

You Seek meticulously for hidden doors, concealed hazards, and so on. You can usually make an educated guess as to which locations are best to check and move at half speed, but if you want to be thorough and guarantee you checked everything, you need to travel at a Speed of no more than 300 feet per minute, or 150 feet per minute to ensure you check everything before you walk into it. You can always move more slowly while Searching to cover the area more thoroughly, and the Expeditious Search feat increases these maximum Speeds. If you come across a secret door, item, or hazard while Searching, the GM will attempt a free secret check to Seek to see if you notice the hidden object or hazard. In locations with many objects to search, you have to stop and spend significantly longer to search thoroughly.

No point in more than one person Scouting. But Celosia will stick with Searching.

Am going to go and re-read the section on Exploration Mode in the CRB. The intersection of Searching, Scouting and Seeking is highly confusing to me right now.

I think everything is there.

So from perusing the Exploration Mode rules on pp 479-480 I understand that for me, I’ll be mostly using Defend, Investigate, Scout or Search.

Search uses the Encounter Mode action, Seek, which is found on p 471.

I’m still not seeing a whole lot of intelligible difference between Investigate and Search apart from the former uses Recall Knowledge (a Skill Action, p. 239 that seems awfully prone to handwavium) to “discover clues” and the latter uses Seek, q.v. to find “hidden doors and concealed hazards” etc. I’m not seeing a whole lot of granular difference between finding clues and finding hidden/concealed stuff.

Scout and Defend seem like precursors to Encounter Mode based on the benefits given once the Mode starts.

My main takeaway is that on p.479 it says:

The GM finds the best exploration activity to match your description

and yet it seems de rigueur for players to pick and state which activity they think their characters are doing. Is this correct/common practice?

The other weird thing is the line right before the listed activities:

These are the most common exploration activities.

Are there more listed elsewhere? In the GMG?

It is common for GMs to ask what the default exploration activity of the PC is.

Exploration mode is a more relaxed form of the game where we are not controlling every turn and action of the character.

For example, each person in the group has their default activity, but for a moment everyone performed a seek in the web cave because that was the action being described.

For a more complete list but not exhaustive of exploration actions look here Link

I haven't figured out what Investigation does, but Search is "find the hazard" as you travel, so you don't do the "I search this 5' square" as you go along.

I usually ask what someone is doing, and match, if they don't give me a specific action.