[GD13] PF2e - Q01 Sandstone Secret (P3) (Inactive)

Game Master UncleFroggy

"Indeed! We must find and rescue him!" Sybille dances as she tells this, not sure if she is overjoyed with excitement to help another person, as she also lets the orb of light dance around.

Btw, what's the rule for opening spoilers? If someone in the party has passed the check, can everyone open it?

Question for the GM: What are those squares with brown "orbs" on them? (two in the previous room, another two in this room)

They appear to be pillars or something occupying the square. The scenarios use generic maps produced by Paizo so they may not necessarily be there.

Regarding spoilers - you can open them if you have passed the check. Or in the case of Recall Knowledge checks, if one of the party passed the check says that they will share the knowledge by letting you open the spoiler

I'm able to fight at the front, but really prefer back with my longbow. Rescuing is fine, but not my usual style (If someone doesn't know, longbow should have 30ft (6 squares) distance to the target)

Kaya pulls the door open.

This room is a mockery of a traditional burial chamber. The weapon, armor, and shield in the corner of the room were of poor quality even when they were placed here, and they are now rusted beyond any hope of repairing them. Three stone slabs in the center of the room are slightly loose.

You come upon a man busily digging at something in the middle of the room. Upon hearing you enter, he looks up. "About time you got here! Well don't just stand there and help me excavate these slabs! I think there's something beneath them!"

What's the rush? It's not going anywhere. Nhorri muses, halfway between amused and irritated. The least he could do is say 'hello' first. So she decides to prompt him: "Um, hi?"

Smooth, Nhorri. Smooth.

@GM: Thanks.

Trug grunts. Don't like digging in the dirt, did enough of that back in Belkzen... But those slabs are tiny for mighty Trug, he could pull them away easily!

He says bluntly to the man: "Pleased to meet ya, too! Are you the head Pathfinder?" And he adds: "Are you related to Calvin Kline? Coz Trug's a big fan."

The man gets up and dusts himself off. "Yes yes, well met. You must have been told, I am Durvin Kline, head Pathfinder. Calvin is a distant relative. Next time I see him I will give him your regards. Now then, we are cataloging this site since we have just completed excavation. My Wayfinder indicates that this is the nexus of the site. What do yours indicate? We need to validate our findings since the Pathfinder motto is 'Explore, Report, and Corroborate', after all."

He pulls out his Wayfinder and studies it.

"Mm-hmm. This is the nexus all right. Help me remove these slabs and we can get to work." He replaces his Wayfinder in a pouch.

"My wayfinder points north and lights up."

Untrained Crafting: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"I'm not sure what 'nexus' means in this context." Whistle Wit ruffles her feathers, a little embarrassed to admit that. "We haven't taken any time to analyze anything here, since we were looking for you. Could you explain it?"

Wait, did he call himself "head Pathfinder"? The guard describing him that way was one thing, but he was using it like a title...

I'll let someone else take it, on the off chance there's someone who hasn't played or GMed this one before.

DC 15 Crafting: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Sybille finds nothing of note with the head Pathfinder's wayfinder when she take a quick look at it and compares it with hers.

"I know I am kinda new with the Pathfinder Society, but I haven't heard about a head Pathfinder rank. And isn't it "Explore, Report, "Cooperate"? Not "Corroborate", right?" she asks with eyes rolling now.

crafting: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

I look at the wayfinder suspiciously. "That doesn't look like wayfinder. It's probably knockoff, where did you get it?and do you have proof that you really are "the head of patfinder society"?"

Untrained Crafting: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (12) + 0 = 12

Trug wonders if he should ask the guy for an autograph on his groin guard but decides against it. He jealously watches his companions pull out their fancy pocket watches.

But on hearing what the young lady with the many-colored hair says, he hesitates: That's the second time someone got it wrong. Even Trug's thick skull can remember the three words of the motto.

@GM: I don't know if players are allowed to roll secret checks in PbP. Can you roll Sense Motive on this dude for Trug, pls? (Perception +4)

It generally depends on the GM. Some will tell you to roll it behind a spoiler. I generally ask for your modifier and roll it behind a spoiler marked 'GM Dice' above. Still others roll physical dice offline

"I'm not the head of the Pathfinder Society. I'm the head Pathfinder. Small difference. I got my Wayfinder the same way you got yours. Now, are you going to help me with this?"

Even absent-minded Nhorri can tell something fishy is happening in this desert tomb. She casually walks around to make it look like she's going to lift the slab from the other side of him, so he's sort of in the middle of a Pathfinder sandwich. She replies to him brightly: "Don't worry. We'll take care of it. We just want to clear up the confusion first. 'Cause you sound like you've got some bad sunstroke that's addled your brains, but that only happens when you've been out in the sun for a while, not in a dark place like you've been all this time. Are you okay? Can one of us feel your forehead to see if you have a fever?"

"Not me. Do you then have proof that you are the "head patfinder" And there is something extremely wrong with your wayfinder. Something doesn't match, I can feel it." Viladara says with suspicious look on her face. (does anyone know synonyms for suspicious?)

"Yes, yes, Trug will feel your forehead, cousin of Calvin Kline. Strokes are nothing to sneeze at." And Trug positions himself opposite of Nhorri, stretching his big, green hand out.

@Viladara: "skeptical" or "distrustful"? :)

With an exasperated sigh, Durvin ducks under Nhorri's and Trug's hands. He bends down and tugs on the slab. To his surprise, it comes loose. The room you're in suddenly goes dark. When the light come back, you notice four other creatures in the room. They don't appear to be friendly...

They're the same creature. I just ran out of tokens

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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go

**Viladara - AC 20, 39/39; Wodan AC 18 25/25
Pink
Trugagh Skulroc - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/23 (AC 20)
Red
Blue
Whistle Wit - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 13/13; Whisker AC 16 5/5
Nhorri - AC 17, 20/20
Yellow
Kaya Matthews - AC 17, 23/23
Sybille - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 18/18

"... Huh? Where's the guy?" Nhorri looks around, confused for a good reason this time.

"... Huh? Where's the guy?" Nhorri looks around, confused for a good reason this time.

Fixed! :)

"They weren't there before! Protect me!" Durvin orders.

I put the one that looks on the map green as my target, shoot it with my bow and command Wodan to walk 2 squares to left and claw green.
◆ hunt prey green
◆ strike green
◆ command cat

◆ cat stride
◆ cat strike green
bow hit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13 damage: 1d8 + 1d8 ⇒ (6) + (3) = 9

Wodan claw: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24 wodan claw damage: 1d4 + 2 + 1d8 ⇒ (3) + 2 + (5) = 10

Oops. Yellow is supposed to be Green on the Tracker...

Viladara marks Green as prey and shoots it with her bow. The arrow punches straight through it and embeds itself in the opposite wall. Wodan walks up to Green and shreds its wrappings, causing it to collapse and not move.

Durvin Kline lets out a scream and bolts, running past Whistle Wit in a frantic bid to escape. Immediately after, you hear another scream and a loud BOOM! outside.

Pink raises a fist and punches the closest thing to it, which unfortunately is Wodan.

Fist vs Wodan AC 18: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 for Bludgeoning: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 Crit Doubled to 12

It then attempts to grab the cat.

Athletics vs DC 16: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

And it latches on...

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go

Viladara - AC 20, 39/39; Wodan AC 18 13/25 (Grabbed; Immobilized; OG)
Pink
**Trugagh Skulroc - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/23 (AC 20)
Red
Blue
Whistle Wit - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 13/13; Whisker AC 16 5/5
Nhorri - AC 17, 20/20
Kaya Matthews - AC 17, 23/23
Sybille - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 18/18

Trug has darkvision by the way and (possibly) saw what happened when it got dark, if that's significant.

"Thanks for the 'corroboration', chief..." Trug rolls his eyes.

◆◆ Defensive Advance at Pink:
fist: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

◆ Strike at Pink:
fist: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10 bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Trug advances with his shield raised. He punches Pink twice and hits with the first, though the punch almost snapped Pink's neck.

Nothing special -- the room goes dark and the guardians appeared :)

Blue steps forward and punches Trug.

Fist vs Trug AC 20: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 for Bludgeoning: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Red does the same.

Fist vs Trug AC 20: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 for Bludgeoning: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

With the same result...

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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1-2
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go

-2-
**Viladara - AC 20, 39/39; Wodan AC 18 13/25 (Grabbed; Immobilized; OG)
Pink (-12)
Trugagh Skulroc - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/23 (AC 20)
Red
Blue

-1-
**Whistle Wit - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 13/13; Whisker AC 16 5/5
**Nhorri - AC 17, 20/20
**Kaya Matthews - AC 17, 23/23
**Sybille - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 18/18

"Why'd the head Pathfinder guy ditch us when weird stuff happened? That's not very Pathfinder-y." Nhorri comments as she channels her element. Suddenly a cold breeze picks up around her as she flings out her arm toward the red newcomer.

Elemental Blast vs. Red: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Slashing damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Whipping her arms around, she uses her Four Winds impulse, causing the wind around her to lift her, Whistle Wit, Kaya, and Sybille partway off the ground.

Nhorri, Whistle Wit, Kaya, and Sybille can each Stride up to half their speed for free during Nhorri's turn. Because of Nhorri's Impulse Juction, she can do so a second time.

◆ Channel Elements, ◇ Elemental Blast ◆◆ Four Winds ◇ Half Stride, ◇ Half Stride

Whistle Wit opens her wings and lets the mysterious gust of wind carry her along the wall.

"Winds, huh? Sounds like a plan to me!"

Whistle flaps her wings enthusiastically, which wouldn't have much of an effect without magic. Conveniently she's also a witch, and she pushes the air forward with substantial force. The wind also picks up Whisker, and carries him a little closer. At the same time, the closest of the undead creatures can feel the presence of a spiritual bird. Its feathers brush its flesh, and its call carries a warning.

She's not sure if these undead are intelligent enough to care, but fortunately the spell can back up its threat.

◇ Half Stride
◆◆ Cast slashing gust, targeting Red and Blue. Spell attack vs Red: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 for slashing damage: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8, Spell attack vs Blue: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 for slashing damage: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4. On a crit double damage and add 1d4 persistent bleed.
◆ Cast Murmuration on Red, or closest enemy if Red is down. The target is warned not to approach Whisker, and that's the only immediate effect. If it does approach, it must make a Will save or take piercing damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1. It's essentially a basic save, but if it crit fails instead of doubling it also takes sonic damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2 (which is slightly different) and takes a -2 status penalty to any attack or hostile skill action it attempts that turn.
◇ Whisker moves without triggering Reactions when Whistle casts a Hex because he is a Familiar of Nimble Flight.

Nhorri channels the wind and slashes Red with wind, badly damaging it. She then gives her friends extra movement with her element. Whistle Wit finishes off Red and warns Blue to stay away from Whisker.

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1-2
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go

-2-
**Viladara - AC 20, 39/39; Wodan AC 18 13/25 (Grabbed; Immobilized; OG)
Pink (-12)
Trugagh Skulroc - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/23 (AC 20)
Blue (-4)

-1-
Whistle Wit - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 13/13; Whisker AC 16 5/5
Nhorri - AC 17, 20/20
**Kaya Matthews - AC 17, 23/23
**Sybille - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 18/18

Sybille has Oracular Warning that gives her allies +2 to Initiative, and she gets Cursebound 1, that makes her Enfeebled equal to her cursebound value, and she also takes a status penalty to saves and DCs against all forms of forced movement equal to her cursebound value.

Sybille is too slow to act. And the presence of enemies suddenly makes her knees weak. Nevertheless she moves when Nhorri's winds bring her as she pleases to go a short distance. She then unleashes a swirling multitude of colors in front of her, making sure her allies are not affected!

And with right angle, she makes sure that they stay affectec for a bit longer! She then raises a colorful magical shield from the residual colors of her dizzying spell.

◇ Stride (half speed)
◆◆ Dizzying Colors, DC 17 Will save (Critical Success The creature is unaffected. Success The creature is dazzled for 1 round. Failure The creature is stunned 1, blinded for 1 round, and dazzled for 1 minute. Critical Failure The creature is stunned for 1 round and blinded for 1 minute.)
◇ Razzle Dazzle (Extend the duration of the blinded or dazzled condition given to the target by 1 round)
◆ Shield (+1 to AC)

Action 1, get into melee with Blue
Action 2, swing Katana hit: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 dmg: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Action 3, swing Katana hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 dmg: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Hero Point, reroll the first attack hit: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27 to hit deadly d8: 1d8 ⇒ 5
If Blue is dead on my action 2, my 3rd action will be move to flank purple.

Kaya, keep the HP. These things have lousy AC :)

Kaya moves into range with Blue and cuts it in half with two strikes. Sybille causes a psychedelic mass of colors to swirl in front of Pink's face, distracting it.

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go

**Viladara - AC 20, 39/39; Wodan AC 18 13/25 (Grabbed; Immobilized; OG)
Pink (-12; Dazzled, Blind, Stunned 1)
Trugagh Skulroc - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/23 (AC 20)
Whistle Wit - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 13/13; Whisker AC 16 5/5
Nhorri - AC 17, 20/20
Kaya Matthews - AC 17, 23/23
Sybille - AC 16 (17 w/shield), 18/18

1: put purple-ish as target (hunt prey)(1 action
2: strike purple-ish with bow (1 action

hit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19 damage: 1d8 + 1d8 ⇒ (6) + (2) = 8

3: strike purple-ish with bow ( 1 action

hit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26 damage: 1d8 + 1d8 ⇒ (8) + (5) = 13

Viladara's arrows punch through Pink's wrappings like they were made of paper...

COMBAT OVER

AC 12, 15 hp

You can take some time to catch your breath. We're essentially done -- just need to explore the remaining areas

"Okay, uh... Should we find the 'head Pathfinder'? There was a boom out there..."

Nhorri's wants to deal with the guy first, then come back to explore the ruins, but she'll follow the group's lead.

"Yes, probably."

But first, Whistle Wit heals Wodan.

two-action heal: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

"Okay, I think everyone's set? That really wasn't so bad, as these things go!"

"Pathfinder? Or graverobber? What if the guards outside aren't actually guards?"

Trug also pulls away one of the slabs and checks what's underneath.
(if needed: Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13)

We need to find this guy before he is dead. with that he moves to the next room.
He said he was the head Pathfinder, not the head of the society. So in other words, he means he is the leader of his small team of 4 to 6 people. We should ask him where his other 3 men are assuming that he and his men aren't also dead.

The two statues in this room depict a pair of robed skeletons each of which is pointing at the other.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

"He said he was the leader, but he doesn't seem to have a team. Nothing he said adds up."

Nhorri is keeping her Gate open, so she doesn't have to Channel Elements again if something comes up.

Perception DC 14: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

"Oh, hey, those arms rotate. --Kaya, wait!" Nhorri hurries to catch up to the nagaji. "We should stick together. I remember that from training." She seems inordinately proud of remembering something.

We need to find this guy before he is dead. with that he moves to the next room.

He said he was the head Pathfinder, not the head of the society. So in other words, he means he is the leader of his small team of 4 to 6 people. We should ask him where his other 3 men are assuming that he and his men aren't also dead.

"Not everyone's a man, you know." Nhorri catches the one detail that doesn't affect what the team has to do here.

Kaya left, and Nhorri followed. Trug's still investigating the room where we fought. Who's going/staying where?

I'm using Kaya as a 'you are here' marker. I'm assuming you're all following each other... saves time asking who will pull the door open each time you get to one! :)

Any interest in playing another quest after this one? I've got Q17 prepared. I know Whistle Wit's played that one but has anyone else played it? :)

Sybille stays with Nhorri after the fight. "We should stay altogether. It is safer that way." she tells them while bringing her light close to the group rather than sending it far from them.

Sybille has not played that quest yet. After this quest, she is 4 XP short to become level 2.

Trug - apologies, I overlooked your action. I actually goofed on the combat encounter. The slabs were supposed to slide back and the mummies would start prone. Though the way the encounter went was more interesting. But basically, there's nothing under the slabs other than the coffins the mummies lay in.

Yeah, Trug's following the team. Just wanted to see what the guy was looking at under the slabs.

I'm interested in another quest! Haven't played it.

Kaya rotates the arms if the party hasn't already. Alright, where did he go?
For purposes of ease, Kaya waits for the party. He goes into the middle room next, then the really big room last. If he is not in here, when we all exit, he will ask the guard if the man left and that we are looking for him. And yes, I'd like to play quest 17 after this.

"Olly Olly Oxen free!" Nhorri shouts, then remarks good-naturedly: "There! That oughta do it."

I should step back on PbP for a bit, so I'll have to bow out of Q17.

Kaya rotates the skeletons' arms and you hear a loud click. Retracing your steps back to the junction, you notice that where there was a portal is now dark.

Which way? You have 2 rooms to go.

"Did he go through here?" Nhorri points to a closed door.

I vote to uncover the little island of white between Kaya's token and the rest of us.

"Let's look. Trug follows, even if he doesn't like the guy." Blunt as always.

Yes, Kaya goes there, to that middle room.

You appear to have found "Durvin Kline"'s camp.

Most of the objects in this room are mundane pieces of gear, which together form an adventurer’s kit. You find a satchel filled various objects that he has looted from this room. These include an ominous curved dagger with a small onyx gem in its hilt and a mirror decorated with a serpent motif. In total, the contents of the satchel are worth 3 gp.

Other than that, nothing remarkable here -- though "Durvin" appears to be into artifact smuggling...

You head back to the last room. You notice that where an open corridor leading to the outside was located is now sealed with a rather gigantic rock. A closer examination reveals blood spattered all over the rock and the nearby floor. Bits of a cheap compass indicate that you have just found "Durvin Kline".

Heading into the room, you see that the centerpiece of the shrine is a 10-foot-tall statue of the god himself, holding a brazier of lit coals.