Now that you've established a basic means of communication, you soon realize that it's going to be tedius to proceed with only yes/no communication. This tool is effective when the students have such questions but...
You may attempt to communicate more complex messages via objects present in the rooms the students inhabit. The abacus is a great candidate for this.
Requirements Students are present to witness your attempt to communicate. There are appropriate means of communication, such as items of negligible Bulk to manipulate, powder to write in, or lights to make a pattern.
You try to communicate a simple message to the students from your phase of reality. Attempt a DC 15 Athletics, Diplomacy, Occultism, or Thievery check with the following results.
Critical Success You communicate a phrase of up to 10 words.
Success You clearly communicate one word to the students. Failure The students cannot understand your
communications.
Critical Failure The students misinterpret your message,
gaining incorrect information determined by the GM.
Feel free to give a more complex message a try, while you have the students' attention.
With some rudimentary communication established, the students seem visibly reassured that you, the chaperones are present and looking for a solution to the problem.
Geltra, who has been examining the plaques around the room, exclaims,
“I’m glad you’re here. I can’t make any sense of these plaques! They’ve been separated from their displays, and the labels are very strange. Could you give us a hand, since we all seem to be stuck here?”
She lays the four plaques on the table and steps back.
Geltra seems more upset at the prospect of not finishing her assignment than by the disappearance of the residents of the lodge.
1d20+7 Thievery
to spell out his name. BILLY
Ah! "Billy" That was one of our chaperones. This is so cool! the goblin student lights up.
The party gets on the right track and starts figuring out what some of the plaques might mean, successfully communicating their guesses with the students.
With the party's hint, the students figure out plaque 2 is Spyglass from Skywatch, a mysterious observatory in Brevoy.
Plaque 3: While the Pathfinders don't quite get it, the hints are enough for the students to remember Beaky III, the stuffed owlbear companion of Grand Prince Stavian I. The Pathfinders seem less aware of who this is.
----
With the first part of the assignment completed, but the mystery of how to reunite with the students remaining, the reliable ones decide to split up to explore the lodge, hoping to find other adults, or at least complete their work.
Geltra and Hari head to the kitchen (A3) after peaking into the conference room (A2).
Tels and Vim venture further into the lodge, stopping in the battleground (A4).
Alec heads to the library by himself (A7).
The rest of the students decide to stay put until they are rescued.
You can explore the lodge and help students as you like. What do you do?
Creased old maps, bound collections of reports, and yellowing historical records fill the shelves inside this quiet library. A surprisingly large number of romance novels with titles like Lord Rumplefield’s Bride, Yearnings of Autumn, and Abandoned by the Arclord also crowd the shelves.
One bookshelf on the north wall stands out from the wall, revealing a door marked “Restricted: Sensitive.” A small alarm bell is attached to the wall above the door, but the wire connecting it to the doorway has been disconnected.
In front of the hidden door, Alec Gracekin kneels down, hard at work with a set of thieves’ tools. The young man mutters, “The good stuff must be in here,” as he works.
You all recall the field trip rules that he is technically breaking. It seems that Alec's MO is drastically different when he thinks he isn't being watched!
Can you save Alec from himself, and either remind him of the field trip rules or else otherwise distract him from this task?
Use Communicate from Beyond to try either of these tactics.
Alec sighs and puts his thieve's tools away.
Fiiiiiiine! He stomps back to the common room.
However, it seems his attempt to force the door open triggered some protective measures. Four fey creatures appear amongst the stacks in this library. Humanoid, mange-ridden opossums, with boar-like tusks.
Of course, there has been the issue that other beings in this lodge could neither hear nor see the Pathfinders, but these creatures seem to very much exist on the same phase shift (luckily for Alec!)
They’re looking, right, at you!
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
After Your Turn:
------------------
The bold may go
Eltis
Thevenin
Billy
Yuan Wu
------------------
RED
BLUE
GREEN
PURPLE
------------------
Ghardak
|
You scour your experiences and learning to identify something that might repel your foe. You retrieve an object from your esoterica with the appropriate supernatural qualities, then use your implement to stoke the remnants of its power into a blaze. Select a creature you can see and attempt an Esoteric Lore check against a standard DC for its level, as you retrieve the right object from your esoterica and use your implement to empower it. You gain the following effects until you Exploit Vulnerabilities again
Critical Success You remember the creature's weaknesses, and as you empower your esoterica, you have a flash of insight that grants even more knowledge about the creature. You learn all of the creature's resistances, weaknesses, and immunities, including the amounts of the resistances and weaknesses and any unusual weaknesses or vulnerabilities, such as what spells will pass through a golem's antimagic. You can exploit either the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis (see below). Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Success You recall an important fact about the creature, learning its highest weakness (or one of its highest weaknesses, if it has multiple with the same value) but not its other weaknesses, resistances, or immunities. You can exploit either the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Failure Failing to recall a salient weakness about the creature, you instead attempt to exploit a more personal vulnerability. You can exploit only the creature's personal antithesis. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Critical Failure You couldn't remember the right object to use and become distracted while you rummage through your esoterica. You become flat-footed until the beginning of your next turn.
Thankful that the creatures are on their plane of existence and not the students', Yuan Wu takes a moment to study one of them, figuring out what might work best against it.
Empowering his asp coil, Yuan Wu moves forward and takes a swing.
Yuan learns that these creatures are weak against cold iron weapons.
Yuan Wu approaches one of the fey, winding his asp coil in front of him. Its display is formidable and when his last foot falls it snaps forward, slashing at the grimple's stomach. The grimple clutches it with both hands, as pain sets in.
It's struggling to keep from doubling over. Still alive, but bloodied. The possum-fey creature glares at Yuan Wu.
--------------------
Thevenin gives a very pleasant greeting before thinking on the creatures.
--------------------
Thevenin knows that these are Grimples, loathsome fey gremlins.
Whenever a living creature touches or is touched by a grimple (including via a successful unarmed melee Strike), it must succeed at a DC 15 Reflex save or become infested by gremlin lice. While infested, the targeted creature is distracted by the itching sensation and is stupefied 1, though it can use an Interact action to scratch at the itching lice to suppress the stupefied condition from the lice for 1d4 rounds. The infestation ends after 24 hours or until the creature is submerged in water or exposed to a severe cold environment, whichever comes first.
--------------------
They then throw their leafy hands forward to emit an arc of electricity.
--------------------
With battle speed already having been achieved, both targets are quick to jump and minimize the damage.
--------------------
Eltis' crossbow bolt flies in the general direction of his target, but misses and sticks in a nearby bookshelf!
--------------------
This weapon has two barrels that are each loaded separately. You can fire both barrels of a double barrel weapon in a single Strike to increase the weapon damage die by one step. If the weapon has the fatal trait, this increases the fatal die by one step.
So fatal d8 becomes fatal d10.
6*2 => 12 plus another d10.
--------------------
Billy successfully distracts his target grimple, making his pistol shot an easy hit to its chest. This one looks in as bad of shape as the first one that Yuan Wu savaged!
RED
BLUE -2
GREEN -16
PURPLE -14
The grimples shout something terrible sounding in another language...
--------------------
They all begin projectile vomiting at the party...
--------------------
What had been a normal, pleasant, one-sided murder hobo'ing affair turns to a disgusting, sticky mess with a stench that physically hangs in your nose and mouth. You might have to retch yourself.
PURPLE's vomit splatters across Yuan Wu and Thevenin.
GREEN's vomit splatters across Yuan Wu and Eltis.
RED's vomit splatters across Ghardak.
BLUE's vomit splatters across Billy.
Eltis, Ghardak, and Billy can't entirely handle it.
Now that everyone is thoroughly soaked in puke, the grimples begin to retrieve sizeable rocks from their satchels and hurling them at all of you! It does not help that Yuan Wu is front-and-center for three of these!
Turns for each:
◆ Putrid Vomit
◆ Interact: retrieve rock
◆ Strike: ranged rock
--------------------
Yuan Wu: miss bonk miss
Billy: bonk OUCH!
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1 -> 2
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
After Your Turn:
------------------
The bold may go
Round 1
------------------
Ghardak (sickened 1)
------------------
Round 2
------------------
Eltis (sickened 1)
Thevenin
Billy -8 (sickened 1)
Yuan Wu -5
------------------
RED
BLUE -2
GREEN -16
PURPLE -14
|
Thevenin tastes the vomit with his feet.
"Ew. Watch out. Whenever a living creature touches or is touched by a grimple (including via a successful unarmed melee Strike), you become infested by gremlin lice. It'll make you stupid () for 24 hours or until you take a bath or a chill, although you can scratch at the itching lice to suppress the stupefied condition from the lice ."
"So stay away and zap-zap! STAY AWAY MEANIES!"
(Intimidating Glare, so no language penalty)
vs Green, Blue (Red if Green or Blue is down)
Ghardak feels much better after depositing another puddle of vomit on the floor next to him. He advanced on the grimples and hold position behind his shield.
------------------
Just as his target is about to throw his rock, Yuan Wu takes the opportunity to lash out at it again. This time it drops to the ground and bleeds out.
------------------
Eltis likewise retches to feel better (it works!)
His target succumbs to the divine lance and drops.
------------------
The grimple seems to not be bothered by the leshy's glare.
However, they both then jump in surprise when another electric arc comes their way...
------------------
They avoid the worst of it but are still a little shocked. The books on the shelf between them are a little singed too!
------------------
Billy finishes the parade of retching, also recovering. He's clearly still gathering himself as his aim is way off.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1 -> 2
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
After Your Turn:
------------------
The bold may go
Round 1
------------------
Ghardak
------------------
Round 2
------------------
Eltis
Thevenin
Billy -8
Yuan Wu
------------------
RED -5
BLUE -7
GREEN -30
PURPLE -21
Yuan Wu shifts his focus to the next grimple. It gets visibly nervous as he approaches, but it is soon mercifully released from its anxiety. Thankfully, in this phase shifted reality, the gore passes right through the book shelves.
--------------------
The last, least little grimple lashes out at its nearest foe: Ghardak!
--------------------
Unfortunately for this little fey, it's hard to get a bite of the dwarf around the sizeable shield that's been raised up in front of him.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2 -> 3
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
After Your Turn:
------------------
The bold may go
------------------
Round 2
------------------
Ghardak
------------------
Round 3
------------------
Eltis
Thevenin
Billy -8
Yuan Wu
------------------
RED -27
BLUE -7
GREEN -30
PURPLE -21
Ghardak's beard begins to stand on end, and he soon realizes why. A zappy arc appears overhead and continues to the grimple in front of him. The beard's telegraphing gives it an instance to react.
Eltis' divine lance brings the last grimple to the brink. Its expression now turns to pitiable resign at what everyone in the room knows about its fate.
------------------
The state of the last grimple makes much of Yuan Wu's preparation unnecessary. However, it will spend it's last moments frightened as the asp coil whips through the phase-shifted bookshelf and ends it.
Just as the last fey is defeated, a few objects suddenly enter your phase of reality, accompanied by a loud whooshing sound:
[ul]
[li]a nondescript romance novel[/li]
[li]two potency crystals[/li]
[li]four minor healing potions[/li]
[/ul]
The pages of the romance novel flip back and forth a few times.
--------------------
“Failsafe, bring"
There was more to the message that you didn't get.
--------------------
Then, the book suddenly recedes from this phase of reality . Further communication is impossible for now.