[ACO] PF2e - 05-18 Equal Exchanges - Tapestry of the Mind (P1) (Inactive)

Game Master UncleFroggy

Starknife .... Desna's favoured weapon. Now let's have a look at these stars. Which one is Cynosure.

astronomy lore: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (20) + 19 = 39

While all the others focus on other things, Leo's attention is drawn to the faint, door-shaped glow.

He looks it over for a several seconds. Then, he gets closer, raising to his toe tips and crouching down to get a better sense of the glow.

Perception: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (13) + 18 = 31

Having made little headway, Leo finally decides to slowly, and carefully touch the area.

Every wall of the house starts to shimmer. A stone doorway appears where the lone glowing patch was, filled with a vast black sea of stars.

"Hey all, I found something.."

Patrick, right now they're just stars with no significant meaning. I'd really hate to waste that crit but there's nothing special about the stars. Remember, you're all in Csilla's memories (or what she remembers of them. They don't necessarily need to make sense! :)

If there are any last minute prep you need to do, I suggest making them now because it's gonna get crazy once you step through the door... :)

Hopper jumps on Wolfie and pulls out his sword "Let's go!"

As ready as I can be!

Wolfie protests violently, not wanting to leave the nice bed he's currently occupying :)

"Best next option... on we go."

Fortiva sounds more calmly resigned than either eager or worried.

How long do we have in the cottage? Do we have a sense of any time pressure, beyond the general need to calm the environment?
Just thinking that since we have ten more minutes of 'no attack', we could do another couple heals.

The vast blackness gives off an ominous feel. Leo takes a slow deep breath, to prepare himself. He rolls his shoulders and says, "I'm ready."

Squash appears to be more or less oblivious to danger.

Searching usually takes 10 minutes, IIRC. You can make the calm-down check when you get through.

The stone door stands behind you, alone in an endless black abyss. Before you, tall granite walls stretch for miles in both directions and into the empty sky. The only break in them is in front of you, a hallway into the unknown. A copper sign is nailed into the stone on the right of the opening, its words seeming to shift between languages. The letters rearrange themselves into Taldane: "The Maze of the Mind is forbidden. No one who enters will live to see the end." Everything is blanketed in an eerie silence.

The labyrinth is composed of five sections. In order to navigate a section of the labyrinth and reach the next one (or the end for the final section), the group needs to earn a number of Navigation Points equal to the number of PCs. These successes can be accumulated over multiple 10-minute exploration activities, but a group cannot move through more than one section in a single 10-minute period. Once they reach the next section, all excess points are lost. The PCs gain points through the exploration activity below.

NAVIGATE THE LABYRINTH

You spend 10 minutes attempting to find the right path forward through this winding labyrinth.

Listed skills per section OR:
Perception to Seek
Scouting Lore to RK
Survival to Sense Direction
Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

WHISPERING WALLS

The stone walls are covered in ivy, deepening the labyrinth’s disorienting secrets. From within the ivy, whispers emerge. The voices sound similar to various individuals lost by those present, but they are not clear enough to discern any meaning. All paths appear the same, their identical nature making navigation especially difficult.

Additional Skills:
Arcana/Occultism to RK
Will Save to resist mental damage

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TRACKER
Round: 1
Location: WHISPERING WALLS

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Arcana/Occultism to RK
* Will Save vs an effect with the mental trait to help understand or resist the entrancing nature that attempts to lead travelers astray.

Successes: 0/6

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Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
**Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

Actually, how about this -- you can do the 'calm the labyrinth check' before you go through the portal

Survival is an option and Wolfie has decent one.

The giant head sniffs the air and begins to look for a way, nose to the ground and meandering through the labirynth, giant wolf with puny goblin moves forwards.

Survival to navigate: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (15) + 18 = 33

Patrick looks for the magic
arcana: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (19) + 20 = 39

Jiki doesn't want the maze to get mad while they're exploring.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28

He also doesn't think it would be helpful to separate from the others.

Will Save: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Sigh... my reroll is more likely than getting critical aid.

Diplomacy, hero Point, Promotional Vestments: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 22 + 1 = 27

Double sigh.

Arcana: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (3) + 23 = 26

As the party travels through the twisted mental maze, the whispering voices unnerve Leo immensely. He cannot seem to concentrate on his learned knowledge.

Squash focuses on the whispers.

Will (mental): 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 18 + 1 = 22

Deception to calm the labyrinth: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28

Perception to Seek: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

Wolfie manages to find his way through and Jiki manages to keep from getting a migraine (Both Successes)

Patrick does a good job finding the magic (Crit)

Squash, Leo and Fortiva aren't as successful.

Jiki and Fortiva are unsuccessful in calming the maze and it makes its presence felt.

Bludgeoning Damage; Basic Will/Reflex: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

My understanding of the text is that going forward you're going to need to choose whether you're going to try to calm the maze or navigate.

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TRACKER
Round: 2
Location: WHISPERING WALLS

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Arcana/Occultism to RK
* Will Save vs an effect with the mental trait to help understand or resist the entrancing nature that attempts to lead travelers astray.

Successes: 4/6

Before Your Turn:
DC 26 Basic Will/Reflex vs 11 Bludgeoning Damage: Everyone

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Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
**Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

will: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36
arcana: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38

Is that an ethereal butterfly on Patrick's shoulder?

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (4) + 22 = 26

If that's all the maze is going to hit us with, I think more healing is a better use of time than trying to manipulate it.

Fortiva lets Patrick lead the way and focuses on any lingering injuries.
Healing for herself: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (2, 2) + 10 = 14
Healing for Squash: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (3, 8) + 10 = 21 In case something happens before his PWS tops him off

Reflex DC 26: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27
Occultism: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

Jiki avoids the worst of the maze's rage but cannot figure out anything more about it.

Will: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34

The pain caused by the maze allows Leo to focus and not be distracted by the whispers. He focuses on the inherent magic of the maze and tries to make sense of it.
Arcana: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (13) + 23 = 36

SQUASH should be close to 100% since 30 minutes has already passed (10 in the cottage, 10 for the 1st navigation attempt, 10 for the second navigation attempt).

Patrick avoids the damage from the maze (Crit) and manages to find the way out as well (Crit).

It might be a trick of the light but there appears to be the outline of a butterfly on Patrick's shoulder.

The labyrinth has somehow transitioned from solid stone to a black void filled with stars. The transition was so subtle that the stone path can’t even be seen any longer. Though it still feels as if there is solid footing, there is nothing but stars and the dark between in all directions. These stars form constellations seeming to point to paths going this way and that.

You can either try to navigate, or calm the maze down; each action takes 10 minutes.

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TRACKER
Location: SURROUNDED BY STARS

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Nature/Religion
* Astronomy Lore

Successes: 0/6

Before Your Turn:
DC 26 Basic Will/Reflex vs 11 Bludgeoning Damage: SQUASH, Hoppper

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Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
**Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

Reflex, DC26: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (9) + 22 = 31

Hopper tries to keep his eyes open to find a path

PErception, eagle-eye: 1d20 + 16 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 16 + 3 = 34

Fortiva should be at 123 after the recent heal. No damage from the reflex save - rogue and all.
If it's been 30 min, yeah, Squash is fine. So unless the maze cracks someone hard, I guess that's it for healing for a bit. :)

Looking down at the starfield, Fortiva thinks about her years growing up underground, following the faintest dots of light or making her way by instinct and gut.

Scouting Lore: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

The memories are old and faded by now, though, and she learned to trust her eyes in the decades since.

Hoppper avoids the worst of the damage and finds a path through the labyrinth. (Success)

Fortiva attempts to navigate by the stars but misremembers what she was taught and goes in the opposite direction. (That's a Crit Fail. Do you want to HP that?)

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TRACKER
Location: SURROUNDED BY STARS

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Nature/Religion
* Astronomy Lore

Successes: 1/6

Before Your Turn:
DC 26 Basic Will/Reflex vs 11 Bludgeoning Damage: SQUASH

------------------
Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
Fortiva

Patrick seems to know his way around
astronomy lore: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (11) + 19 = 30

Squash keeps looking...

Will: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (11) + 18 = 29
Perception: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (14) + 19 = 33

Yeah, let's fix that...
Scouting Lore Hero Point: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33

Jiki continues to negotiate with the maze while the others find the path.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (14) + 22 = 36

Since SQUASH has a PWS, it should heal him back up by the time the next turn rolls around...

Jiki manages to calm the maze down so that it doesn't attack you for another 10 minutes. Fortiva remembers her training and goes in the right direction. Patrick navigates successfully by the stars and finds the path. SQUASH also notices the path leading from your current location to the next location.

------------------
TRACKER
Location: SURROUNDED BY STARS

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Nature/Religion
* Astronomy Lore

Successes: 4/6

Before Your Turn:

------------------
Those with ** may go

SQUASH
Hoppper
Patrick
**Leo
Jiki
Fortiva

Religion: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38

Leo attempts to tap into his magic that he gets from Nethys.

Leo taps into the blessings he gets from Nethys and finds the right path. Crit

The starry void seamlessly transitions to a corridor of obsidian, with narrow paths that wind downward. No single drop is long enough to cause injury, but the paths are still difficult, and somehow the space seems to twist on itself, some paths impossibly leading to their beginning, despite going ever downward.

You can either Navigate or Calm the Maze

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TRACKER
Location: DEEPER INTO THE DEPTHS

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Athletics to Climb
* Acrobatics to Balance or Maneuver in Flight (if you can fly)

Successes: 0/6
------------------
Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
**Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

Athletics: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (20) + 20 = 40

Wolfie casually walks down the steep slope, staying low on its legs and using his tail to balance, he enjoyed staying on that bed way more than this!

Wolfie makes it look easy and casually walks down the slope.

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TRACKER
Location: DEEPER INTO THE DEPTHS

Special Conditions:
* Each PC can either attempt to navigate the labyrinth or attempt to calm the labyrinth (not both)

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
* Athletics to Climb
* Acrobatics to Balance or Maneuver in Flight (if you can fly)

Successes: 2/6
------------------
Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

Leo struggles with the exertion in his full plate but relies on his conditioning trainings to power through.

Athletics: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35

If there is one thing leshys know how to do, it is climb.

Athletics: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (16) + 20 = 36

Patrick keeps a careful eye out
perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (19) + 22 = 41

Definitely more in her element here, Fortiva appears to be in more than one place at a time as she takes advantage of the space folding and twisting to guide her down.

Hush, little mazey, don't you cry...

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (5) + 22 = 27

Your dice all suddenly went hot...

Fortiva also easily navigates the corridor, making it look easy Crit

Patrick carefully picks a path down while SQUASH and Leo easily climb down. Success

Fortunately for Jiki, the 10-minute window resets every time you move to a new area :)

The endless descent evens out, the obsidian walls becoming something akin to limestone. Throughout the paths in these sections, there is cool, clean water a few feet deep. Lush aquatic vegetation grows atop the water, nourished by brightly glowing crystals in the ceiling. Paths wind in and out of the aquatic garden. Throughout, the waters are fed by fountains interspersed where pathways intersect. Signs next to some of the fountains read, "Drink and be refreshed."

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TRACKER
Location: CALMING WATERS

Special Conditions:
* Each PC can either attempt to navigate the labyrinth or attempt to calm the labyrinth (not both)

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
Athletics to Swim
Nature/Lore dealing w/ Aquatic Creatures to RK to identify the flow of water or to aid in navigation[/ooc]

Successes: 0/6
------------------
Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
**Hoppper
**Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

Patrick actually admits this place is very pretty. He even tries the waters.

Wonder if there's a cute aquatic girl here? he murmurs. Then, when he realised he said that out loud, he turns red.

perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

Patrick if you can convince the casino to accept d20s we can get rich you know! :)

Patrick looks carefully and, though it may be a trick of the light, seems to see a curvaceous figure in the water. ;)

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TRACKER
Location: CALMING WATERS

Special Conditions:
* Each PC can either attempt to navigate the labyrinth or attempt to calm the labyrinth (not both)

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
Athletics to Swim
Nature/Lore dealing w/ Aquatic Creatures to RK to identify the flow of water or to aid in navigation

Successes: 2/6
------------------
Those with ** may go

**SQUASH
**Hoppper
Patrick
**Leo
**Jiki
**Fortiva

Naturally, Patrick pauses for a closer look, just in case.

Hopper decides to build a quick a dirty pathway on top of the water

Crafting: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (9) + 20 = 29

Where did he find the planks? No one can tell, and why it is so wobbly? Don't ask, Hopper claims it is completely safe, and he decides to use it first!

Squash starts swimming...

Athletics: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38

Jiki has a drink, then uses Hopper's plank while continuing to whisper sweet nothings to the labyrinth.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (11) + 22 = 33

Hoppper builds a bridge using planks from ... somewhere... Fortunately the bridge is strong enough to bear the weight of Hoppper and Wolfie (Success)

SQUASH jumps in and swims across. Crit

Jiki has a rejuvenating drink and continues to placate the labyrinth. Success.

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TRACKER
Location: CALMING WATERS

Special Conditions:
* Each PC can either attempt to navigate the labyrinth or attempt to calm the labyrinth (not both)

Default Skills:
* Perception to Seek
* Scouting Lore to RK
* Survival to Sense Direction
* Any other skill (make it fit, I'm an easy sell)

Location Skills:
Athletics to Swim
Nature/Lore dealing w/ Aquatic Creatures to RK to identify the flow of water or to aid in navigation

Successes: 5/6
------------------
Those with ** may go

SQUASH
Hoppper
Patrick
**Leo
Jiki
**Fortiva

Nature: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

Leo looks to the water and tries to identify any dangers within.