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

Game Master UncleFroggy

"My. I didn't know they serve lunch here," Nyak Nyak says. She turns and stares at the blue rat before sending a toy jug at the yellow rat.

◆ Evil Eye on blue rat (Will DC 18 save)
◆◆ Tel Projectile on yellow bldg: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 bldg: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Hero point: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Rayleigh recognizes the perfect setup and moves to strike. She moves perpendicular to the mice and sends a line of darkness at them. Unfortunately, her spell doesn't do much except singe Red and White. Blue, however, catches the ray broadside and a small bleeding wound appears. Rayleigh recalls something about paying attention in class...

Nyak Nyak glares at Blue and scares the wits out of it. She then hurls a jug at Yellow, reducing it to paste. Elias morphs into a different creature and bites Blue almost in half.

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

-2-
**Achurius - AC 15, 28/28
Blue (-13; 1 persistent bleed; Frightened 2)
Red (-1)
White (-1)

-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 (Rage - temp hp: 2/2, AC 17/19; AC 19)
Nyak Nyak - AC 16, 26/26

Achurius sustains the forbidding ward and follows up with a DC 18 Daze spell for 4 damage on the white footed rat since it seems to be the most vicious of the lot.

*sustain a spell
**cast daze

”Ugh, you little…!”, Kosh grunts as the mouse before him strikes home.

”Finders, tear ‘em a new one!”

He draws his sword, and attacks the one who bit him.

Cast inspire courage, lingering composition (+1 to attacks, damage, fear saves), Interact, Strike vs White

Performance for lingering composition: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

White appears to have a headache before it shrugs it off. Kosh draws his sword and swings at White but doesn't hit.

Chuckles isn't dead. He flew out of the room when combat started

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

-2-
Achurius - AC 15, 28/28
Blue (-13; 1 persistent bleed; Frightened 2)
Red (-1)
White (-3)

-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 (Rage - temp hp: 2/2, AC 17/19; AC 19)
Nyak Nyak - AC 16, 26/26

Chakson tries to flick a few switches on his armor.

◆ Overdrive
Crafting (DC 15): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Critical Success: Attacks deal +4 damage for 1 minute.

With a surge of electrical power, his armor comes to life as he zips though the room.

◆ Stride

He then strikes with his blade against the middle beast

◆ Strike white

Attack (flanking): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17slashing: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 4 = 12

"Nyaknyaknyak," Nyak Nyak says, as the rat is reduced to pulp.

Nyak Nyak cackles as her attack pulps Yellow. Chakson fiddles with his armor and flanks White. Bringing his blade down in a slash, he cuts White clean in half.

Blue attempts to bite Elias, Kosh: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Bite vs Kosh AC 16: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 6 - 2 = 23 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Bite vs Kosh AC 16, MAP: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Bite vs Kosh AC 16, MAP 2+: 1d20 - 4 ⇒ (2) - 4 = -2 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

A gout of blood suddenly spurts out of Blue's mouth and it keels over, dead.

Red again attempts to bite Kosh.

Bite vs Kosh AC 17: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Bite vs Kosh AC 17, MAP: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Bite vs Kosh AC 17, MAP 2+: 1d20 - 4 ⇒ (8) - 4 = 4 for Piercing: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

But doesn't find its mark.

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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2-3
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before your Turn:
------------------
Those with ** may go

-3-
**Achurius - AC 15, 28/28
Red (-1)

-2-
**Kosh Bracken - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 7/18 (+1 AC vs Red)
**Rayleigh S. Catherine - AC 15, 14/14
**Chakson - AC 18, 15/15
**Elias - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 17/21 (Rage - temp hp: 2/2, AC 17/19; AC 19)
**Nyak Nyak - AC 16, 26/26

Chak takes a couple of swipes before retreating.

◆ Strike
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26slashing: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 4 = 8deadly: 1d12 ⇒ 8

◆ Strike
Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 5 ⇒ (11) + 6 - 5 = 12slashing: 1d8 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 4 = 13

◆ Stride

Chak moves in and slices Red in half.

COMBAT OVER

Sweeper sticks her head back into the room, Chuckles perched on her shoulder. "Is it safe to come back in?" she asks hesitantly.

Despite his wounds, Kosh manages to crack a grin. ” ‘At’s how we do it!”, he declares, before pulling out a healing kit.

Treat Wounds: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Healing: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9

AChurius pulls a bit of gauss out of his spell component kit and makes a gesture and viola!

Heal: 1d10 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Meh

Kosh is healed. Mostly.

Nyak Nyak starts cutting off the rat tails. "This will make a nice stew..."

"Yes, it's all right now," Ray says, a little sheepishly. She looks a bit embarrassed at how that fight turned out, but she lowers her guard as she glances at Sweeper. "Who do we have to convince next?"

AChurius pulls a bit of gauss out of his spell component kit and makes a gesture and viola!

[dice=Heal]1d10+8

Meh

Kosh is healed. Mostly.

Kosh gives him a nod. ”Close enough”

"Yeah. Just rats. Not too scary."

As Elias returns to his usual form, he drinks his healing potion in case they encounter something else dangerous. It's not quite as effective as he'd hoped in healing his bite wound, but it wasn't too bad anyway.

minor healing potion: 1d8 ⇒ 1

As Nyak Nyak starts cutting off tails, Chuckles swoops in and grabs half a rat. He flies back and settles on Rayleigh's shoulder, and begins eating it.

"Chuckles!" Sweeper cries in horror, "I told you not to do that!"

Regaining her composure, Sweeper continues, "Well, there's Chef Basil. She's quite nice but don't annoy her. This way, I'll lead you to her."

The clatter of pots and pans echoes around the room as the bustle of a one-person kitchen rings out. The sting of fresh onions assaults the nose. A wooden toy poppet in a white chef's hat and apron busies herself with preparing a large meal. The refuse bin in the corner overflows with the remains of past meals that were never served.

The poppet doing the cooking is Chef Basil. She appears to be single-mindedly focused on her craft. You also notice a pink penguin poppet moving ingredients at Chef Basil's directions. Occassionally the penguin drops something and incurs the chef's wrath.

"Cupcake, only drop the mushrooms into the sauce when it boils... sighs I guess that will have to do."

She finally notices you. "Oh! Have you been just standing there? Would you like something to eat? This is a never-ending job. I must cook, no matter what. It's my only purpose in life."

"Yes, always! I haven't eaten anything since, um, the last time I ate something."

Elias looks around the kitchen, and notes the discarded food. "Why do you have to cook so much?"

"It's my job. That's all I do. It's unimportant where the food goes. As long as I do my job"

To secure Chef Basil's cooperation:
DC 11 Cooking Lore or DC 13 Crafting impresses Basil with your understanding of her cooking
DC 15 Society/Nature can convince Basil that many more fantastic ingredients are available outside the dollhouse.
DC 17 Deception to Lie can convince her that the ingredients magically provided by the house simply are too bland for her skill.
Other skills (DC 15) or Relevant Lore (DC 13) ok as long as they fit

Achurius is nothing if not polite and accepts the invitations, enjoying a delicious meal.

"My, you have a talent. Would it give you joy to be able to cook for those who enjoy it once again? Does the fact that we are eating your food serve a purpose too?"

Kosh peers carefully at the food, making sure it isn’t wood or something, before digging in. ” ‘At hit da spot!”, he declares, punctuating it with a belch. ”Tanks!”

"I'm always hungry..." Chakson tastes the meal Crafting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

"There are other fantastic ingredients outside! Cinammon, swamp moss, gnome legs..." Nyak Nyak says.

Crafting: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

"That's a type of mushroom. Really..." Nyak Nyak giggles.

"Thish is AMAZING!" Elias almost chokes. "But you shouldn't hafta stay and keep doing the same thing just 'cuz you always have. Buuuut if you wanna keep cooking, wouldn't you have better opportunities outside? More ingredients, better ingredients, other cooks to help teach you new stuff, recipe books--and more people to 'preciate it!"

Diplomacy?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Or Nature at +3.

Ray manages to suppress a gag at the bird now happily tearing into a dead rat on her shoulder, and gratefully accepts the food. She polishes it off and takes care not to speak with her mouth full before putting aside her plate.

Society: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Unfortunately, there's a fishbone stuck in her throat (at least that's what she says it is and not, you know, the rat entrails close to her face) and she gags again, failing to speak. Whoops.

Achurius gets excited when Elia mentions ingredients, and figuratively bursts from the wealth of knowledge he has on the subject.

"Indeed. There is such a wealth of ingredients out there. Plants with medicinal properties, plants with special nutritional properties, varieties of the same fruit that offers distinct traits. It would be a shame if you were never able to experiment."

kn nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

And then he start listing them and their properties until your eyes cross. Achurius does have a pedantic side to him. I'm betting the cook is reveling in it though.

Chef Basil's eyes go wide as Achurius, Nyak Nyak and Elias all describe the delights of the outside world. She does, however, appear offended at Ray's queasy look.

3 CP from Chef Basil. Well done!

Sweeper looks impressed as you manage to sway Chef Basil into helping. "That's it for this floor. We can go upstairs now." Sweeper leads you to a flight of stairs. A single set of footprints mars the dust that covers the stairs, which matches Sweeper's feet exactly. "I'm the only one using the stairs. Everyone else stays right where they are..."

A set of cells line the northern wall, iron bars enclosing them from the long hallway. None of them appear locked as the bars hang open. The wooden beds lack straw or any type of sleeping mat and would be terrible places to sleep. A complete suit of full plate tin armor with a wind-up key in their back stands guard in the hall.

"That there's Full Plate. They are a guard, just like Tartan. But unlike Tartan, they feel totally hopeless because they don't have a purpose now. He might be the hardest to convince."

Kosh looks over the suit of armor, then looks at Sweeper. ”Um…can he talk, or do we gotta wind ‘im up first?”

I just hope he doesn't decide that WE can be his new purpose and stuff us in those cells.

Sweeper looks back at Kosh. "He can talk, but it will take a bit to convince him. He's the one I was most worried about."

She steps forward and looks at Full Plate, sympathetic. "Hello, sweetheart," she says. "How is your shift? Prisoners behave themselves?""

Elias is confused. Sweeper's description makes it sound like Full Plate will be the easiest to convince. Oh well!

"Hiii! We heard you're bored because there aren't any prisoners to guard any more, but you don't have to worry. We're working on getting out of here. Then you can get a new guard job! Or maybe you can try something completely new and different. Would you like to do that?"

Rayleigh and Elias both attempt to strike up a conversation with Full Plate. The guard sighs and responds with a despondent voice. "What's the point? There's nothing left to guard. We're just wasting away here."

He does look a bit hopeful, however, when Elias mentions that the party is working on getting out of there.

Best way I can describe the hopeless/despondent voice -- think Eeyore...

To secure Full-Plate's cooperation:
DC 14 Intimidate or DC 12 Martial Lore to RK to act in the manner of a drill sergeant and remind Full-Plate of their purpose.
DC 14 Any Lore to give Full-Plate examples of all the other purposes that might await them outside.
DC 16 Athletics to Grapple, Shove, or Trip can display martial prowess and demonstrate to Full-Plate that you can deal with The Warden.
DC 18 Diplomacy to Make an Impression will cheer them up with friendly banter.
Other skills: DC 16 if you can make it fit
Particularly creative solutions may get a bonus

"I know, sweetheart, I know." She sighs, before lighting up and flashing a bright smile at Full Plate.

Academia Lore: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

"I think what you need is a change of scenery, hm? Or a change in routine. During my time in the academy, I rather liked the routine, even if it wasn't for me in the end. It helped me figure out all sorts of new interests, too - it's why I took up magic! Perhaps that'd help you?"

Full Plate looks a bit hopeful, though the hope fades fast as he dwells on his hopeless situation. Still, Rayleigh managed to inject some hope into them.

Meanwhile, Chuckles gulps the rat down and calls out, startling everyone but Sweeper...

”Stow dat attitude, solja!”, Kosh snaps. ”Yer a lean, mean, fightin’ machine, an’ ya just got new marchin’ ordahs! Now getcher gear togevah, an’ be ready to move out in five! Oo-rah!”

Intimidation: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Kosh pulls out his crossbow, loads it, and gives Full Plate a nod.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"I think you should turn your hand towards magic. I can tell you personally, that magic is the way to go! Just think of all the creative uses, even in boring guard duty, you could find for magic. What fun you could have!"

Achurius tries to interest him in magic and it fails abysmally.

"Your purpose is to be brave because one day you'll save the day! Heads up soldier! And you should polish yourself up!" Nyak Nyak says.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

"You could join the Pathfinder Society, maybe! Let me show you what I can do--and some of 'em are way stronger'n me."

Elias is prepared to wrestle with Full Plate. Even if they're not really the cuddliest dolly.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Hero Point: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

"Ow, ow! You're really pointy."

Warfare Lore: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

"You have not been relieved from duty. Stand your post and keep your chin up!"

Kosh and Chakson both bark at Full Plate like a drill sergeant. Full Plate snaps to attention, and barks back, all traces of his hopelessness gone. "SIR, YES SIR! I WILL COMPLY SIR!"

Elias, keep your hero point.

Across the hall from the cells, you enter a large room. This room may have been a lecture hall at some point but is now obviously a storeroom. Stacks of materials that could be used to repair dolls and toys are littered about along with other miscellaneous items.

Sweeper gazes thoughtfully, as if remembering something. "Oh yes, this used to be a lecture hall of sorts. Seamless, who we'll meet later, used to give presentations to the prisoners here. I remember that Seamless even tried holding some sort of tournament where the inmates would form groups and debate about things." Sweeper sighs. "Those were the days... Oh I'm sorry! My mind wandered for a bit..."

I'm using Sweeper as a location marker

"Nice set up. I would not mind giving a lecture here myself. Let's see what source materials you have here."

Ever curious, Achurius joins sweeper and looks for and examines any magic using the detect magic and read aura spells. He is also looking for books/notes on interesting topics.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

"Such a big room for just keeping--oh hey, these are weird. These aren't for fixing dollies. Can we use these?"

Elias points out the talismans to anyone who didn't notice them.

"Oh.. pretty.. I wonder what they're for..."

"Oh.. pretty.. I wonder what they're for..."

Achurius spends the time trying to identify the items.

religion to identify Owlbear Claw: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
religion to identify Wolf Fang: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Sweeper then leads you to the room in the center. While the usual peeling paint and musty smell of the dollhouse is still present in this room, it is more meticulously cared for. Cabinets with stacks of neatly filed papers line the walls. In the center sits a spartan desk currently occupied by a cloth poppet dressed in simple, yet well groomed, merchants' clothes.

"Ah Sweeper!" he says formally, standing, "I am Seamless. I administer this facility. How may I help you today?"

Achurius tend to appreciate the direct approach when possible.

"We were investigating this facility as it has lain dormant for an extended period of time and got drawn in accidentally. Now we need to figure out how to get out and hopefully free the rest of you as well."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

"Free us? Are we in need of freeing? Has Sweeper been trying to convince you that we are prisoners here? This facility is the best run facility. The Warden is a good person. We have no complaints."

Sweeper looks a bit rattled at Seamless' reprimand.

To secure Seamless' cooperation:
DC 14 Legal Lore to convince Seamless that he has a duty to fix the neglect the dollhouse has suffered, which must be done from outside.
DC 16 Arcana/Occultism to convince him that the magics of the dollhouse are breaking down.
DC 18 Medicine/Survival to persuade him that the deteriorating dollhouse is unsafe for long-term habitation.
Other skills (DC 18) or Relevant Lore (DC 13) ok as long as they fit
Particularly creative solutions may get a bonus

"Lass.. the magic from this place is fading. Soon you'll just be a doll gathering dust," Nyak Nyak says. The toad on her croaks to punctuate her sentence.

Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27