[Outpost VII] DM Carbide's PFS2e 5-04: Equal Exchanges - Necessary Introductions

Game Master John Woodford

Hey, we're taking initiative! You should be proud!

Nikma remarks to Mrs. Crinkle, though just after it strikes him as odd that he wants her to be proud of him.

Hmm, better to not dwell on that...

Unfortunately for Mrs. Crinkle, the bats are just out of reach.

Deerslicer to go, and Mrs. Crinkle can change her actions.

Can she Interact to draw her shield instead of Striking? AC would not change, since she can't use Raise Shield as a reaction.

Sure.

Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Eldryon-acted
Hoarding bats-acted
Mrs. Crinkle-acted
Desmond-acted
Zac-acted
Deerslicer
Nikma-acted

Mrs. Crinkle prepares to defend as best she can against the flying monsters.

Deerslicer to go!

My shot was at green, so the only thing that changes is I didn't have to stride. So I will shoot and reload. Will fix my token location when I get on my computer in a bit.

Thanks for the reminder; I missed that.

Deerslicer hits one of the bats, but it's still up.

Round 2:

Initiative order
Eldryon-
Hoarding bats-
Mrs. Crinkle-
Desmond-
Zac-
Deerslicer
Nikma-

Eldryon can act!

Hoarding bats: AC 16 HP taken - Magenta: 16 Black: 0 Green: 9

Deerslicer drops his rifle, and grabs his hunter's bow. "Forget that loud thing ... Me do this the ol' fashin way!"

◇ Drop piercing wind
◆ Interact: Draw bow
◆ Strike
Hunter's bow attack vs. green: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Hunter's bow damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

◆ Strike
Hunter's bow attack 2, multiattack, vs. green: 1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (3) + 10 - 5 = 8
Hunter's bow damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

3 swings on purple
First actionhit: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18 dmg: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Second action and attackhit: 1d20 + 12 - 5 ⇒ (9) + 12 - 5 = 16 dmg: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
3rd action and attackhit: 1d20 + 12 - 10 ⇒ (4) + 12 - 10 = 6 dmg: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 all slashing dmg.
If any of my swings kills the purple bat, change one of my actions to move south to green.

Deerslicer and Zac, you're getting ahead of yourselves. Eldryon is up, then the bats, then you.

Eldryon tries to find the weakness in black's defense.

Devise A stratagem against black: 1d20 ⇒ 11 +Free RK Nature +5 agains the bat

Seeing some, she drops her weapon, draws her bow and shoots at it!

Shortbow vs Black: 11 + 8 = 19
Damages, P (& Strategic Strike): 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + (6) = 7

◆ Devise a stratagem against black bat
◇ Free Recall Knowledge +5 Nature
◇ Drops Weapon
◆ Interact: Draw bow
◆ Ranged Strike

What question do you want to ask, Eldryon?

Attacks?

Eldryon realizes that these are hoarding bats, who (as their name suggests) gather attractive (to them) items. They can slash with their fangs and pierce with their wings (don't think about that too hard), and can also snatch up items and throw them at their enemies.

Round 2 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Eldryon-acted
Hoarding bats-acted
Mrs. Crinkle-
Desmond-
Zac-acted
Deerslicer-acted
Nikma-

The elf's arrow hits the darker bat. The magenta bat closes with Zac and attacks, but is unable to hit the agile fighter. However, the other two drop onto Eldryon and lay into her; one misses completely, but the other hits twice for 4 HP slashing and 6 HP piercing.

Then Zac hits the magenta bat, killing it with his first blow (which is a good thing, as the other two attacks would have missed). Deerslicer puts an arrow into the green bat.

Purepurin sprints to the pillar in the center of the room and whispers something to it before pointing at the ceiling. "That deactivated the falling boulder trap! Probably would've driven your medic into the floor like a big old green nail!"

Mrs. Crinkle, Desmond, and Nikma to go!

Hoarding bats: AC 16 HP taken - Magenta: dead Black: 7 Green: 12

Nikma moves in to strike down one of the remaining bats.

◆ Stride 20ft
◆ Hunt prey GREEN
◇ Recall Knowledge (free from Monster Hunter), Nature +5

◆ Strike GREEN: +1 bastard sword attack, slashing damage (two-hand, magical): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 191d12 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Desmond instinctively ducks, looking at the ceiling. "Uh, that would have been bad. Thanks!" The field medic sprints around the others, coming up to help Eldryon with her wounds.

Battle Medicine on Eldryon (DC15): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26
Healing: 4d8 ⇒ (6, 7, 6, 8) = 27

◆ Move
◆ Move
◆ Battle medicine on Eldryon

Round 2 (ongoing):

Nikma cuts down the green bat. What's your question?

Desmond patches up Eldryon.

Mrs. Crinkle?

Can you indicate which bats are out of melee range? Ground-bound barbarian wants to know. Thanks!

Mrs. Crinkle snaps at the bat with a pink necklace, trying to toss it to the ground for easier shredding.

Bite to Trip vs. Pink: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Bite, MAP: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Piercing damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Finally, she raises her shield to deflect the inevitable incoming blows.

◆ Strike, ◆ Strike, ◆ Raise Shield (AC 20)

---------------

If Pink is out of reach, she will Stride to a bat that *is* in reach and attack twice, using the above rolls.

If no bat is in reach, she'll call out: "Who needs a boost to hit 'em?" Then she'll Stride to whoever accepts and lift them up, holding them high for the rest of her turn. If no one accepts being held aloft by a slathering wolf, she'll throw a tantrum for her actions. (It's anathema to use weapons while raging.)

I was unable to update the map when I posted, but have done so now. Magenta and Green are both down, and Black is in reach.

Mrs. Crinkle steps up and grabs the remaining bat, hurling it to the ground before biting it. Her powerful bite isn't quite enough to put paid to the creature, though.

Round 3:

Eldryon is up!

Nikma cuts down the green bat. What's your question?

Special weaknesses?

Devise A stratagem against black: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Eldryon tries to find another weakness on black but fails to find any.

She decides to uses her arcane power to destroy the bats vs Black & Green

Electric Arc (basis reflex save DC18): 2d4 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Eldryon, green is already down.

Nikma doesn't remember them having any particular weaknesses.

More to come.

Eldryon's spell catches the bat by surprise, doing it full damage and killing it.

Out of combat!

Purepurin grins. “We got rid of all those pests and the boss won’t even know! Normally the ratcatcher’s fulus let him get to them before they can sneak in, but someone moved them during cleanup after the boss ate the last intruders and forgot to put them back. And it wasn’t me, you have no evidence of that.”

She clears her throat. “So, how about we talk rewards and get you out of here before the boss shows up? She’s not a fan of uninvited guests; I’ve got some nice frying pans, or this composer staff if you want—we can whip up some cooperative waffles with some whipped cream and strawberries...” She pauses, finally realizing something is amiss. “Wait a minute. How did you even get in this far? Why’d you come all the way down here if you’re just here to adventure?”

"We here to ... um... explore ... and report ... an' ... some'tin. We Pathfinders!"

Actually we are here to speak with "the boss". It is our understanding that you arrange the meetings, and should have heard from Venture-Captain Yi Da Som and The Waterfall ahead of our arrival. I take it... you did not? He looks at Purepurin expectantly.

"Hoo-ee! That was fun! Heehee!" Mrs. Crinkle exclaims as she returns to her normal size and begins scooping up the stretched-out knit dress to tie it back onto herself. "How about we clear this up, dearie, so you can tell your boss you knew about this all along, eh? We've even brought a gift for the venerable Valashinaz--see?" Mrs. Crinkle produces the stack of books from Waterfall. "Waterfall wanted to present the gift herself, but she can't get here until the actual meeting time in a couple of hours. So so sent us instead. And here we are! Heehee!"

Desmond tries to help Mrs. Crinkle gather up the excess material without seeing what's under it. "Uh, yes. We were supposed to meet you at the entrance, but got worried when you didn't show."

“Oh!” Purepurin grimaces, accepting the silken bundle and setting it down after a quick peek at its contents. “Oh, the meeting. I mean yes, the meeting! The meeting in a little over an hour, which the boss definitely knows about, and I didn’t forget to inform her of while taking care of rats... and she’s certainly not out investigating an artifact...”

The kobold looks up, embarrassed and determined. “Okay, so the boss might be out right now. But don’t worry, her schedule is very flexible, and I can summon her back, easy! All I need is a jug of fond remembrance, a ghost courier fulu, and a hippogriff in a jar. You all get the fulu and the jar, they’re back in the vaults you came from.” She scrambles down a pile of gold, sending coins flying into the air. “Quick, let’s get to it!” Something suddenly occurs to her, and on her way out she replies to Deerslicer: "Those were hermit rats! They prefer to live in jars, or other things like that."

This next bit is a chase, so it'll be easy to bot Nikma through it while the player is gone. Stepping ooc for a moment, some of the obstacles may seem a little...something. Work with me, here. Each PC doesn't have to overcome each obstacle; this is a party effort, and when enough of you have succeeded you'll get past the obstacle and move to the next one (or the end). Note that critical failures are a setback to the communal effort, so if you don't have the right skill it's probably best to let the rest of the party take that one. Alternative skills may work, and use of consumable resources (i.e., not cantrips) will also help.

As the party heads back the way they came, they first encounter a mob of kobold attendants who've gathered from the deeper parts of the lair to clean up after the vermin, and they're blocking the passage.

Higher-difficulty Diplomacy or Intimidation to redirect them; lower-difficulty Acrobatics or Athletics to get by through agility or brute force. First round, let's have some checks!

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Desmond tries to weave his way through the kobolds.

Adding a list of party members with success tallies:

Round 1:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-Success!
Eldryon-
Mrs. Crinkle-
Nikma-
Zac-

Someone, please roll for Nikma--he's got +7 in both Acrobatics and Athletics.

==== BOTTING NIKMA ===

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Nikma easily follows Desmond in the kobold's crowd.

Acrobactis: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Eldryon follows.

Forgot that Eldryon has +7 to acrobatics (rather than +6) so her roll is 26.
Also, she will get the Jar as the target of her Investigation.

[b]Round 1:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-Success!
Eldryon-Success!
Mrs. Crinkle-
Nikma-Success!
Zac-

Nikma and Eldryon vault over the mob!

Deerslicer, Mrs. Crinkle, and Zac can go.

Athletics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Round 1:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-Success!
Eldryon-Success!
Mrs. Crinkle-
Nikma-Success!
Zac-Critical success!

Zac gently (or not so gently) shoves several of the kobolds out of the way, clearing a wide path!

Deerslicer and Mrs. Crinkle to go!

Mrs. Crinkle sees half the party flit like flying leaves through the crowd, while Zac simply shoves his way through. "Oh, let's have some fun. Heehee!" She wades into the group of kobolds, lifts up the one in front of her, steps into the vacated space, and spins around to set them down where she had stood a moment before. Before releasing the stunned kobold, she gives their snout a little peck of a kiss. "Lovely to see you, dearie! Ta-ta! Heehee!" And she spins around to repeat the process.

Athletics to lift a very surprised kobold: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Hero Point Reroll: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

It goes a lot faster once the rest of them flee from her, shouting something about gross kisses from a weird human geezer.

Mrs. Crinkle clears the rest out of the way as they flee in horror (or something). (Although one of them gives the barbarian a little wave and a toothy smile.) Moving on, the next obstacle is a swarm of vermin--not dangerous, just an impediment.

For this one, a less-difficult Performance check will calm them, while a more-difficult Athletics check will let you push through.

Round 2:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-
Eldryon-
Mrs. Crinkle-
Nikma-Success!
Zac-

Botting Nikma:

Athletics check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

The ranger clears a path.

Everyone else can act!

"Don't ask me to kiss these ones! My heart belongs to that cutie back there. Heehee!" Mrs. Crinkle isn't much of a performer, but she's willing to wade through just about anything, including vermin.

Athletics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Round 2:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-
Eldryon-
Mrs. Crinkle-Success!
Nikma-Success!
Zac-

Mrs. Crinkle pushes her way through in a delicate and ladylike manner (for some values of delicate and ladylike).

Deerslicer, Desmond, Eldryon, and Zac to go!

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Desmond tries to help Mrs. Crinkle shove aside the vermin with those heavy boots of his.

Round 2:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-Success!
Eldryon-
Mrs. Crinkle-Success!
Nikma-Success!
Zac-

Desmond barely manages to push through in the wake of the other two.

Deerslicer, Eldryon, and Zac to go!

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Eldryon follows her comrades, pushing away the vermin

Not on my dress!.

Round 2:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-Success!
Eldryon-Success!
Mrs. Crinkle-Success!
Nikma-Success!
Zac-

Eldryon also gets through the swarm.

Zac tries to get further athletics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Round 2:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-Success!
Eldryon-Success!
Mrs. Crinkle-Success!
Nikma-Success!
Zac-Success!

Botting Deerslicer, in the interests of moving things along:

Deerslicer Athletics check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

Deerslicer and Zac finish out the hexafecta, barrelling through the swarm.

No sooner has the party gotten past the vermin that they encounter a panicked kobold, who approaches with a bulky treasure chest containing a large number of baby rats. The kobold demands help with reuniting them with their parents as the babies mewl helplessly.

Survival or Nature checks to identify the rats' parents.

Round 3:
Deerslicer-
Desmond-
Eldryon-
Mrs. Crinkle-
Nikma-Success!
Zac-

Botting Nikma:

Nikma Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Everyone else can act!

Back! Thanks for rolling well for me :D

Nature: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

The medic doesn't know much about rats...

Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Nature (HP reroll if needed): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Eldryon tries to discerns the patterns in the rat's pup to find their parents.

athletics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Not trained in either skill, so I won't roll on this one.

Mrs. Crinkle watches Zac lift the chest out of the kobold's hands and walk around with it like it's nothing. "Good thinking, dearie! Calling all rats! Come claim your babies! -- What a smart kid, taking the little ones around so all the other rats can see 'em. Of course, weren't we just trying to kill 'em off, and now we're on baby patrol? Oh, the irony! Heehee!"