[ACO] PF2e Q16 - The Winter Queen's Dollhouse (Inactive)

Game Master UncleFroggy

Please dot (add a post) in here and then delete your post to add yourself to this campaign.

1) I am based in Southeast Asia (UTC +8) so my posting hours may be unusual (especially for those in North America). I usually update at least one or twice per day. Just to keep the game moving, please post at least once every day and at least once during the weekend.

2) Please label all three of your actions. Even if you think what you are doing is obvious.

3) If I am unavailable for longer than 24 hours, I will let you know in the Discussion Tab. Out of respect for your fellow players and myself, I ask that you do the same. Real life happens, and real life will always take priority over the game, but out of fairness for your fellow players, please let us know if you will be unavailable for an extended period of time.

4) Please note that on the following days, my posting can get unpredictable:
Tuesday/Thursdays - all day, as they are the 2 busiest days of my work week

4) Please complete the Macros and the Slides linked at the top of the page.

5) Questions, concerns? Feel free to share them in the Discussion tab.

6) Let's have some fun and tell a great story together! After all, that's what we are here for.

done

Your adventure begins in the Vaults of the Grand Lodge, having been sent there by Eando Kline after a less than informative briefing.

A massive dollhouse, nearly eight feet tall, stands on top of a short but ornately carved table. The legs and base of the table have crows, dogs, cats, and other similar symbols carved into every available surface. The dollhouse itself appears to be an extravagant representation of a house in the land of endless winter. Fake snow covers its roof, and sculpted icicles hang down, glistening.

Despite its formerly rich appearance, it is clear the dollhouse has seen better days. The fake snow and ice have yellowed with age. The paint, once bright blue and white, is dull and peeling. The wooden base has darkened with time, except in a few places where it has chipped and revealed fresh wood.

The most obvious feature, though, is the missing wall. Typical of a dollhouse, it would allow access to the interior of the house for play or observation. While the rooms and several dolls can be seen inside, it looks hazy and somehow off, as if something is interfering with the transition from inside to out.

As you stand in front of the dollhouse, you take some time to get to know your companions.

Please introduce yourselves here

The first thing that comes into view is the silhouette of someone in a large sunhat. The woman, tall and hook-nosed and twirling strands of her long, thick blue hair around her finger, mills around the dollhouse. The clack-clack of her tapping her heels against the varnished floors resounds through the vault as she idles. She seems to have been the first one there, pacing around the dollhouse and admiring the detailing.

When she notices she has company, she turns with a flourish and a bow, flashing a bright, cheery smile. "Oh, you all must be my fellow Pathfinders! Wonderful, wonderful! I look forward to working with you." Her eyes glitter. "Rayleigh Catherine, at your service. It's a pleasure."

A rough-looking half-orc enters the room. He wears worn leathers, and has a sword at his left hip. A hunting horn hangs at his right. He carries himself like a soldier, eyes ever alert for potential danger.

”Kosh Bracken”, he says, by way of introduction. ”Dint fink I’d be playin’ wif toys for dis job, but as long as it pays…” He shrugs.

A goblin woman in purplish-black robes with a toad on top of her head nods to you all. She smells of forest herbs and fishy things. Her eyes are white but she seems to have no trouble seeing you.

"Greetings. I'm Nyak Nyak. Used to dwell in a swamp and decided to come out of hiding to earn some funds and see what things are like in the world. What a pretty dollhouse! Wonder what this is about..." Nyak Nyak cackles.

"Achurius, disciple of Nethys."

Achurius is a middle aged elf, though, as with most elves, that is not immediately apparent. He is dressed in worn and comfortable clothes and the only weapon you can see is staff with the emblem of Nethys on the head of it. Though calling it a weapon would be in name only as its unscratched and decorative appearance puts the lie to that categorization.

"So what magics do you practice?" The question is announced to the air as if inviting anyone and everyone to answer.

"It's so pretty! Are there dollies? Last time I did a Pathfinder mission there was a dolly, too. But she was on our team. Oh, I'm called Elias."

The young man is enthusiastic, friendly, and doesn't sit still. Even when he isn't moving around, he bounces in place. He doesn't seem to be anything other than human, but there's something just a bit different about him, whether it's the shape of his prominent ears or the golden color of his hair that isn't quite a typical blond.

He looks strong and carries a shield, but his only weapons are a longbow and a dagger that don't seem to have seen any use.

Late to the party is a tengu in impossibly sleek armor with electrical current running through it. He carries an impossibly long blade with him.

"I am the Chakson. First graduate of Mister Chak's School of Swordsmanship and Calligraphy. I apologize for my tardiness. Alas I did not graduate from the school of swordsmanship, calligraphy and orienteering."

Now that everyone's here, what's next? Anyone want to examine the dollhouse?

”Chakson, huh?”, Kosh asks the tengu. ”Is he yer dad?”

He walks slowly around the dollhouse, peering at it from different angles.

Is it just the open wall that’s hazy? Looking in through a window, is the view clear?

Nyak Nyak inspects the dollhouse.
"I suppose there must be something odd about this..."
She casts detect magic. her toad croaks occasionally.

Shrugging at the lack of interest in his question, Achurius assumes the others must be non-casters until the goblin casts a spell. Nodding approvingly, he also casts a detect magic and begins his own examination without touching the house (yet).

Rayleigh casts a Detect Magic as well, although she looks more interested in the detail and craftsmanship of the dollhouse, letting out a low whistle as she waits for the returns on her spell. She doesn't know whether it's a good idea to touch it, but she motions as if she's tracing the surface of one of the animal carvings, transfixed. In response to Achurius, "Honestly, a lot of my magic is there for performance's sake. I know my way around, though, and even if it's showy it's perfectly serviceable.."

The Chakson. The first of his kind. An honorific. Mister Chak has no children.

"Honestly, a lot of my magic is there for performance's sake. I know my way around, though, and even if it's showy it's perfectly serviceable.."

"Nothing wrong with that. Magic should be used for everything, as versatile as it is. I'd love to see it used in every farmhouse across the continent. And no reason it shouldn't, in one form or another."

The Chakson. The first of his kind. An honorific. Mister Chak has no children.

”Huh”, Kosh replies. ”So yer not named after ‘im?”

Chakson turns his attention to the doll house. He admires its craftsmanship while thinking about how to fix its flaws...

Kosh, yes. Looking through the windows, you can see various rooms with dolls inside in various rooms and poses

As you examine the dollhouse, there is a sudden flash and you all black out for a moment.

When you regain your senses, you realize that you're now inside the foyer of the dollhouse!

A tumbleweed trundles along the vast hall. A second look reveals this is not a tumbleweed but an oversized dust ball. This grand foyer is not as majestic as it once was. Large flakes of bright paint peel off the walls. Dust covers wooden carvings and ornaments that are all just slightly too large for the cabinets they sit on. A dry staleness fills the air. The most notable feature is the lack of an eastern wall. Beyond it, the Pathfinder Society Vaults are visible, albeit appearing much larger than they were a few seconds ago.

Eerie sounds can be heard, raucous calls that almost sound like a troops of monkeys going wild. Amid the racket, a stuffed sloth holding a broom smiles warmly as she approaches. "Hello, visitors. Guests. Friends. It's been so long since we've seen anyone else. My fellow workers have become hopeless over our lack of purpose, but not me. I knew someone would come eventually. You can help renew our reasons for being here."

You hear another maniacal call and a blue winged bird alights on the sloth's shoulders. "This is Chuckles. Don't worry about his calls, they're frightening at first but you get used to them."

A frown flashes across her face for the briefest second before she softens, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm. "Or maybe you could even help us finally leave this place! The Warden wouldn't listen to me, but maybe she'll listen to you. Or better yet, you can help gather everyone, and show them there's a world outside. We'll need to enlist as many as possible to our cause to even have a chance of gaining an audience with The Warden, but I think it might work. That is, if you're willing to help." Her button eyes stare longingly at the open wall. "Forgive me. I am Sweeper, a janitor of sorts around here, not of much importance, but I know everyone and everything. Pleased to meet you."

In order to convince the poppets of the dollhouse to work together, the players will need to convince each poppet to go along with their plan. To do so, they need to collect as many Cooperation Points as possible by interacting with individual poppets and eventually rolling skill checks to convince them. You may each get a maximum of 3 Cooperation Points (CP) per NPC. This means that the NPC has fully sided with you.

Map is posted. Please indicate your exploration plan for this floor.

Achurius looks around wildly for a moment, approaches the missing wall, and tries to leave the dollhouse before doing anything else.

”Wot the…!”, Kosh shouts at the sudden change. He sees Achurius head for the open wall, and tries to get out through a window.

I assume these are first reactions to the transfer, before Sweeper comes along

"Well... this is unexpected..." Nyak Nyak says.

"So where are the other poppets?" she asks. The toad lets out a displeased croak.

"I figured out what the magic does," says Elias, coughing, "I don't like it."

After listening to Sweeper, he scratches behind an ear. "If you're a janitor, why's it so dusty? Um, I mean: What is the purpose? We were trying to figure it out. This house is old and forgotten, and we just knew it was magic. We didn't know anybody was here."

Kosh and Achurius try to leave but realize they can't. Some force is preventing you from getting to the outside.

"This house used to be a prison. One day we woke up and realized all the prisoners were gone. There are others like around the house. I can take you to them if you like." Sweeper answers, reaching over to scratch at Chuckles.

Rayleigh looks alarmed at first, but quickly shifts gears, flashing a dazzling smile at Sweeper. There's a particular fondness in her eyes as she looks at Chuckles, too. Seems she likes the bird. "Of course we'll help you! Er... I will. I don't know about these lot." But she's already looking expectantly at her fellow Pathfinders.

"Would you, really? We, or at least, I, would like a chance to see the outside world." Seeing Rayleigh gaze at Chuckles, Sweeper gestures towards her and Chuckles obediently flies to Rayleigh and settles on her shoulder.

"Certainly. There is always a way to fix something."

Kosh scowls at Rayleigh. ”Oi! Don’t sell us short!”, he snaps. ”Course we’ll work it out!”

"Sorry, sweetheart, just a joke!" She meets Kosh's scowl with a sheepish grin, petting the kookaburra on her shoulder as she does, scratching its belly before turning to the rest of the group. "Ohh, sweet bird.. Well, what about the rest of you? You'll help, won't you? We can't in good conscience leave these poor people.. Besides, how else are we to get out?"

With a sour look on his face, Achurius mutters, "Agreed. It's not like we have much of a choice. Lead on Sweeper."

"Yeah! Save the dollies! It's in the rules. We gotta corroborate.

"So, um, the Warden let all the prisoners out but keeps the staff in? She doesn't sound very good at her job."

Sweeper's face brightens as you announce that you will help her. She leads you south to a large sitting room.

The wooden chairs and sofas that line this room are all slightly bigger than they should be. A heavy layer of dust coats everything except for a well-worn circle around the perimeter. A figure appearing to be a stylized wooden Ulfen warrior with a large wind-up key in his back paces through this circle.

Sweeper leans in and says softly "That's Tartan. He's a former guard. He paces the room out of boredom since the prisoners left"

To secure Tartan's cooperation you can either Entertain him or Convince him that life outside is better.

To entertain Tartan: DC 13 Performance to Perform, DC 15 Acrobatics to Tumble Through, DC 15 Athletics to Leap
To convince him of a better life outside: DC 17 Diplomacy to Make an Impression
Other skills (DC 15) or Relevant Lore (DC 13) ok as long as they fit

Nyak Nyak hums a tune, with the toad on her head accompanying along.

"Let me tell you about the giant swamp toadhemoth..." she says.

Performance with Accompanist: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 1 = 26

Tartan whirls around at Nyak Nyak's voice. He relaxes a bit when he sees it's only Sweeper. "Hello Sweeper. Who are these folk?"

Tartan sighs. He's friendly, but appears totally bored.

He listens attentively at Nyak Nyak's tale, and his eyes brighten.

"What an amazing tale! I've been looking forward to some excitement lately. I dunno, though, but do you think Sweeper's plan to convince the warden is too ambitious?"

Two Cooperation Points. You can get 1 more from Tartan

Chakson tries to adjust the impulse control on his armor and perform a daring leap... Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

But it pretty much pushes him over and then drags him along the ground.

"Aw, c'mon Chakson! We can do better than that!"

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

"Um. See, that was better. I didn't fall over."

lore: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

"Definitely. There is so much to experience on the outside including others like yourselves, but also talking plants, caravan guards that wander the earth, and much more."

[dice=lore]1d20+6

"Definitely. There is so much to experience on the outside including others like yourselves, but also talking plants, caravan guards that wander the earth, and much more."

What kind of lore are you using?

Chakson attempts to make a daring leap but ends up falling on his face and being dragged along. Tartan looks disappointed at the attempt. Elias tries to redeem Chakson but doesn't do much better. "Sigh... I don't know if this is such a good idea, Sweeper."

He is about to turn and continue pacing the room.

2 CP's left. The Natural 1 from Chakson is a crit fail

”Not so fast, soljah!”, Kosh barks. ”Is dis how ya wanna spend da resta yer life, guardin’ prisoners that ain’t here!? Come on, I’ll take ya to a tavern! Now ’at’s fun! Dis one time, we had ta meet a pirate queen in a tavern…”

He relates the tale of the Port Peril Pub Crawl

Performance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Hero Point

Performance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

She steps towards Tartan with a bright smile. "I can't imagine guarding prisoners must have been very eventful. What about a light show, darling?" Light pours from her hands as she casts.

Performance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

awful. HP

Performance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Achurius wrote:

Lore = 16

"Definitely. There is so much to experience on the outside including others like yourselves, but also talking plants, caravan guards that wander the earth, and much more."

What kind of lore are you using?

Sorry, I meant to correct htat. Forgot to correct the tag when I realized I really didn't have a suitable lore skill, but now that I think about it, he will use warfare lore and encourage the man.

"With your experience in weapons and such, there are numerous occupations far more interesting than pacing a room. Even some wars if you are interested."

Kosh, Rayleigh: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Rayleigh, keep your hero point

As Tartan begins to turn away, Kosh and Achurius both regale him with stories of the outside world. Achurius tells him about some stories of warfare and weaponry. Kosh tells him about a bar fight to end all bar fights.

Tartan's face brightens as he hears of your tales. "Hmm. Maybe there IS life outside. With your tales, I would very much want to see it!"

Where next, Pathfinders? Or do you want to just go counterclockwise?

Where next, Pathfinders? Or do you want to just go counterclockwise?

As good a direction as any

Sweeper leads you to a large room. "This used to be a break room of sorts to give prisoners some time outside of their cells..." Sweeper's voice trails off as she opens the door. "WHAT ARE THOSE AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?!" she squeaks in fright, before bolting. Chuckles also takes off and flies out of the room.

You follow her in and find four mice the size of wolves in the room. They appear confused and frightened and immediately attack you on sight.

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before your Turn:
------------------
Those with ** may go

**Achurius - AC 15, 28/28
Blue
Yellow
Red
White
Kosh Bracken - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 18/18
Rayleigh S. Catherine - AC 15, 14/14
Chakson - AC 18, 15/15
Elias - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 21/21
Nyak Nyak - AC 16, 26/26

"No, Chuckles!" She sounds heartbroken, watching the bird leave. Still, she stares down the mice and prepares for a fight.

Achurius reacts instantly and casts a Forbidding Ward spell to protect Koah from the rat with the bloodied snout (red) and tries to shoo yellow off, making loud, very scary noises.

demoralize: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

**cast spell
*demoralize

Don't think there is a save for that spell, but if there is the DC is 18

Forbidden Ward just gives the recipient an AC boost.

Achurius makes some scary noises and succeeds in terrifying the yellow rat.

Red charges Kosh and attempts to bite him.

Bite vs Kosh AC 17: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Bite vs Kosh AC 17: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

White rushes at the front of the party and tries to bite Elias, Kosh: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Bite vs Kosh AC 16: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Bite vs Kosh AC 16: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 Doubled to 6

Blue charges Elias.

Bite vs Elias AC 18: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Bite vs Elias AC 18: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Finally Yellow attacks Chakson, Elias: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Bite vs Elias AC 18, Frightened: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 - 2 = 14 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Bite vs Elias AC 18, MAP, Frightened: 1d20 - 1 - 2 ⇒ (17) - 1 - 2 = 14 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

But Yellow's mental state causes it to miss.

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1-2
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before your Turn:
------------------
Those with ** may go

-2-
**Achurius - AC 15, 28/28
Blue
Yellow (Frightened 1)
Red
White

-1-
**Kosh Bracken - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 12/18 (+1 AC vs Red)
**Rayleigh S. Catherine - AC 15, 14/14
**Chakson - AC 18, 15/15
**Elias - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 17/21
**Nyak Nyak - AC 16, 26/26

She (◆) darts towards the southernmost wall of the room, positioning herself so that most of the mice are lined up in front of her, and then (◆◆) casts Grim Tendrils.

spell damage: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

DC's 16. RIP Chuckles hope we see you again

"Aw, what cute little--hey! That HURT!"

The last word comes out more like a snarl, as Elias's visage changes. He becomes a lot more bestial, hair spreading over his face and hands. His head shifts to something canine as his teeth and nails grow larger and sharper.

Snapping his jaws, he bites back at the mouse that bit him.

* Rage. This reduces his base AC to 17; there's a reason I made a separate profile here!
* Strike Blue Wolf Jaws: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20 for piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
* Raise Shield