ULTRA PLUS Catastrophe's Spark (Inactive)

Game Master Will Huston

Balancing creatures for combats has long been a problem. Their monstrous abilities just often aren't accounted for. To be honest I was shocked it didn't have the weak template in this tier, knowing the creature but not the adventure. Crazy part for me is the +10 Attack, that's creatures expected damage on a full attack versus level 1 characters (assuming 17 to 18 AC) is almost 18, on average it downs a decently armored adventurer on a full attack at this level.

And you're right I completely forgot it isn't technically a treat wound check just subs in at the same DC and calls out it doesn't clear wounded

Telua gets a berry out of her pocket. "I will head out and grab a handful of these in a minute, but you should have this now " and she gives him a Goodberry: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Then she goes to make sure she's stocked up on berries.

is that goodberry for Locke or for Ken, Telua?

Kenashgret and Telua, as they take a moment to refocus and prepare themselves, find, miraculously, an unopened, intact bottle of wine, that should be worth something to the Society. Both Telua and Locke know that the filament glands of a cave fisher can be harvested and sold for a profit.

I will need a DC 15 Crafting or Survival check to harvest the gland. Failure will result in loss of the gland, so only 1 person can attempt.

Nyx tries to collect the filament glands.
Crafting: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"Nicely done! Says Ken as he watches Nyx expertly dissasemble the creature.

I guess I will assume it is for Ken.
Kenashgret (15/15 HP, AC 16, □ Hero Point, wounded 1)
Telua (17/17 HP, AC 17, □ Hero Point)
Locke (12/16 HP, AC 18, □□ Hero Points, Wounded 1)
Nyx (14/14 HP, AC 18, □ Hero Point)

Are you ready to move on or is there anything else you'd like to do?

Ken would prefer to take a 10 minute rest so that he's able to shake off the effects of having gone unconscious for a second during the fight.

"Give me a couple of minutes to catch my breath guys, I'm still feeling a bit drowsy"

Nyx looks at Telua "You have any more of those berries? Looks like Locke needs them too."

"Take all the time you need." says Nyx as he squats on the ground and takes some food out from his rations. He nibbles a bit to pass the time.

I'm not sure if this work tbh, but I think as long as Ken is resting I can use the time to treat wounds and clear my condition, I'm immune to Battle Medicine for the hour, but I don't think I'm immune to treat wounds, if it doesn't work that's fine I'm okay pushing forward with the wounded condition if need be

With the look of someone who has treated themselvs for a number of burns, cuts, scrapes Locke sits down and begins checking himself over.
Treat Wounds: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
But just can't seem to localize any of the outstanding injuries.

Guess it doesn't matter either way, if there is another berry Locke would happily take it, if not I'm okay with the risk

"Give me enough time and I can heal you up as good as new." she smiles

If you're restored to full hit points and wait 10 minutes of rest, you lose the wounded condition, even without Treat Wounds. And yes Battle Medicine and Treat Wounds are on different countdowns. So if you spend 20 minutes (10 minutes for Telua to refocus, and 10 minutes for Locke to rest, everyone should be back to full.)

As the group of Pathfinders rest, they notice something in the southeast of the room. There is what once was a secret door. Years, centuries, of neglect and dust now make its presence obvious. The door is heavy, much heavier than a door you'd see in Absalom. It might even take a few tries with your shoulder to get it to open. Its clear that it wasn't built with humans in mind.

The corridor leads on for several hundred feet before it splits into a T intersection. The rough-hewn stones become smoothly polished. Lining the wall are statues of life-sized cyclops in robes with fire motifs. Each holds a bowl aloft in their hands above their heads.

Left or right?

can't see anything on the map?

I'm not really sure how much the map would influence your decision, but look on page 5

I'd say always left hand rule =)

Left is fine by me.

I'm not really sure how much the map would influence your decision, but look on page 5

I see what you mean :)

left is good

One wall of this room is completely covered by a 30-foot tall bookcase, with a sturdy ladder on a rail providing access to the higher shelves. Both the ladder and the books are obviously sized for large creatures. On the other side are what appear to be reading desks and chairs, though they are hidden under draped sheets gray with dust. Central in the room, near the entrance, stands an irregular block of a warm yellow material, a creature of some kind visible within. The creature appears to be a squat, wide-shouldered dog. A stone finger floats in the yellow material.

Please move yourselves on the map to what you're investigating.

Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Society: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Locke will walk up to the desks giving the creature a wide berth.

Nature: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

"These books seem to be too well preserved for the time period"

Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Telua moves in and looks around.

"That's a Trollhound. They regenerate prodigiously."

"We need fire or acid to put it down if it gets out."

Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

"Can't make much sense on anything besides the magical preservation effects on everything." comments Ken.

"Fire you say? I'll keep that in mind" he responds to Telua.

"Koloran existed way too long ago for leather, paper, or ink to still be okay at this point in time. The books and the writing utensils on the desk must be maintained via magic or alchemy."

Telua also knows that its collar might be worth something, and that encasement could disrupted with application of arcane or primal magic, or with direct force. IE, an Arcana or Nature check, or an Athletics check, though that might take a lot longer That is if the group wanted to get into the encasement.

Kenashgret can't make a complete translation of the books on the shelf, due to the loss of some proper nouns, but he can tell the books are about magical research, alchemical treatises, and oddly enough, some are about gardening.

You can try to disrupt the encasement, or you can move on. Will you do anything with the books?

Locke would be more than happy to further investigate the books and/or the encasement if others are interested. "Does that translation guide we were given help at all with the books Ken?"

"Well, it seems that some things are lost in the translation, with technicalities and some nouns I don't seem to recognize," responds the gnome.

"What should we do with this creature? As far as I know we're supposed to just investigate... and I get the feeling that if we disrupt this encasement it won't be happy at all"

"That collar looks valuable."

"I'd say leave it alone, but someone could unleash it upon us later if we don't take care of it now. I'm assuming that thing may become active somehow."

Navo removes his backpack and takes out a pair of torches plus his flint & steel set. He lights one of the torches and pockets the flint set.

"I'd say we can try and let the creature out, but only if people are confident we have enough fire/acid to put it down. Otherwise probably better left alone. I've got a singular acid flask"

"I could have the correct spells tomorrow, but I can't do anything like that today."

That is a reasonable plan of action on Telua's part. There's no reason to think at this moment that you're under a time crunch. You can come back to this later, and also, you can go and buy more acid flasks and or alchemists from the camp's quarter-master.

"I don't mind back coming back better prepared?"

"Alright then let's keep looking for these "Pathfinders", no?"

Locke gets ready to keep exploring further in.

Leading the group on, Locke finds another T-shaped intersection, with a hallway leading further in and slightly down to the party's left, and the hallway in front continues for awhile before it turns to the right. Ken's expert navigation and survival skills would tell you that the turn to the right probably connects to the turn you didn't take earlier.

"Shall we try the right side this time?" Asks Ken, waiting for confirmation before moving forward.

"Why not? Variety is the spice of life, right?" The miniature green man floats/flies around Telua.

"Fly down to the corner, peek around the side and we'll see what's there."

Telua uses Share Senses with Tapio to scout.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, let's do it."

"I'm all for it."

Nyx's exploration activity is Avoid Notice

So sorry for not posting yesterday, I was trying to decipher all the changes with the remaster. Luckily, I believe this game is grandmastered in so we don't need to change anything yet.

This room is clearly built for larger creatures than the assembled Pathfinders. The stone benches and cabinets rise above what Kenashgret can see. The benches are covered in beakers, alembics, and other glasswork used for experiments. The cabinets contain all manner of pots and flasks full of powders and liquids. While full, and clearly disused, the items look ordered. An acrid smell permeates the air.

Both Telua and Kenashgret realize that one of the cabinents has had its supports eaten away by the various chemicals and it is dangerously unstable and could collapse if interacted with in a careless matter. Telua realizes that one of potions on the benches has turned with age, and gas is building up inside it, which means it too could become dangerous if handled improperly.

Each obstacle will be a Thievery check. And I forgot, I should give a hero point, so Nyx, you have a 2nd for sacrificing a turn to get Locke a potion. Also, Locke, spending enough time at full HP removes the wounded condition, so you are not wounded 1.

Thank you

I'm guessing Nyx also has Thievery, but not sure

Locke will happily give someone else a chance to investigate things as the last time got him in a bit of trouble, but will try and take care of the turned potion.

"You all may want to back away a bit, just in case"

Thievery: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Carefully, carefully, Locke grabs a stone bowl from the shelf, and carefully places it over the bottle without jostling it. Then, placing something heavy on top of the bowl, Locke then pushes the bowl. The party can hear a muffled explosion under the bowl.

Successfully disabled the bottle. The Cabinet is still looking precarious.

Nyx works on the cabinets. He uses both his nimble fingers and knowledge of how to build things to add supports and attach it to the bottom of the cabinets without causing an accident.

Thievery: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Crafting: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Nyx carefully builds up the supports such that the cabinent no longer looks like its about to fall on top of anyone who interacts with it. Being able to search the cabinet, Telua finds both a flask of acid and a ampoule of alchemist's fire.

The beakers, flasks, alembics and other glassworks are filled with now mostly useless alchemical substances, having lost their potency a long time ago.

Ken spots a glass beaker, inside which lays a flint finger, like from a statue's hand. On the side of the flint finger, in Cyclops, reads the following.

"OUR EGO DEFERRED, THIS GIFT OF HEARTWOOD BLESSED"

"We're making really good progress here. Any thoughts on what this means?"

Locke comes over after disabling the body to check out Nyx's work and the contents of the shelves. "Well built up there Nyx"

Nature: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Crafting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

"Hmm, someone has done a good bit of cooking, yes indeed." Locke would happily pocket the ingredients and share the extra Alchemist fire if anyone would like it

”Hello!?”

A halfling-sized scarecrow, dressed in worn, mismatched leathers, runs into the room behind you. He has a Jack o’ lantern for a head. A pursuing crow lands on his shoulder; at second glance, it appears to be made of blackened wicker.

He removes the top of his head, and tips it like a hat. ”Blackfeather Jack, at your service!”, he says. ”Sorry I’m late, but Venture-Captain Kline filled me in”

He points back the way he came. ”What’s that dog-thing in the yellow stuff?”

The tiny Green Man, Tapio, flies around Jack.

"It's a Trollhound. We might deal with it tomorrow. I'm Telua. The leafy one circling you is Tapio."

”Ah, lovely”, Jack replies.

He points at the crow on his shoulder, who seems to be eyeing Tapio suspiciously. ”This is Smoke”, he adds.