Shades of [ULTRA PLUS] Ice [CORE]

Game Master Will Huston

The Brute is prepared to pay or do whatever Corba negotiates.

At the Gate of the Silver Gale, a group of guards carefully inspects any and all passers-through before letting them pass. A sergeant in spiked scale oversees a pair of identical twins.

"Alright, next, present yourselves for inspection. You lot all together? What business brings you to Whitethrone? And from where do you come?" One of the twins asks. The guards all seem to be wary of the well-armored adventurers.

Corba steps forward, smiling.

"A good day to you! My name is Corba Nana, and we are heroes for hire! ...well, they are, my talents are a bit different: I am the one who does all the negotiations and bookkeeping for them. So far they are satisfied with my work, so they go where I tell them to go, and in this case our destination is Whitethrone. Here we will receive further instructions, at least that's what I've been told. Can you recommend a good but not too expensive inn where we can get rooms, a tasty stew, good beer and mulled wine?"
Corba pauses for a second, then grabs her pouch and continues, with a lowered voice.
"And of course we are willing to pay all tolls and entrance fees."

How friendly/unfriendly are the guards?
using Perform: Oratory for Sense Motive, skill focus: 1d20 + 12 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 12 + 3 = 17 (is the +1 from the Fashionable trait also applicable?)

Bluff, Fashionable trait: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 1 = 16
using Perform: Oratory for Diplomacy to improve the guards' attitude, skill focus: 1d20 + 12 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 12 + 3 = 24 (is the +1 from the Fashionable trait also applicable?)

I could use some aids...

Leon grunts, ”Yah, boss gud ah findin jawbs.”

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (19) - 2 = 17

A noncommittal, grunted "Yes, we're all together. Here to find some work," is Bobbie's idea of a lively and charming first impression.

Aid Another (Diplomacy): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Diplo Aid: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12 "We seek employment opportunity, not troubles..."

Corba realizes that the guards are actively hostile, especially to the idea of heroes. Heroes tend to rile up the population, and that makes more work for them.

They also don't seem to wanting to take bribes from someone they just met. I'll let you retcon the offer. You'll need to bump them up to a better tier of engagement before they'll consider a bribe and looking the other way.

"We've got no need for heroes here. Ice Trolls are under control, and the winterwolves union has decided to continue negotiation rather than going on strike."

"Maybe this lot here's trying to find work as strikebreakers," says one of the twins.

"Maybe this lot's trying to rabble rouse," grouses the other twin on the right.

After the gnome's little introduction, they maybe are just unfriendly to the group.

To improve attitude from hostile to indifferent it's a DC 25 + target CHA mod + 5, so 30+, and we have a 28 right now after 2 aids. We could use more aid here guys.

Cayden? Corgrim? We could use your aid here.

Cayden does his best to look non-threatening...

Diplomacy(Aid): 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0.

...and fails spectacularly.

About what I expected!

Diplo aid: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Unfortunaty, Corgrim is tongue stuck and doesn't know what to say

The halfling(!) doesn’t stop smiling. She raises her empty hands in a calming gesture.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Did I say heroes? My bad. You see, that's just a little word the weak people in the deep south like to hear. Competent, battle-hardened guards like you, on the other hand, see right through that little word. Yeah, we are just mercenaries. One pays us and we go wherever and do whatever one needs, plain and simple. Within reason of course - we won't break any local laws."

using Perform: Oratory for Diplomacy to improve the guards' attitude, skill focus: 1d20 + 12 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 3 = 35 Phew! Lucky! Praise Shelyn! :-D
(+1 from the Fashionable trait, if applicable)

If that is good enough to improve their attitude to indifferent or better:

Corba pauses for a second, then grabs her pouch and continues, with a lowered voice.
"And of course we are willing to pay all tolls and entrance fees."

Bobbie does her best to appear neutral and agreeable - which is surprisingly similar to standing there silently, with a frown on her face.

"Oh, not break any laws, eh? You really think you could do that wearing those shoes." says the Sargent.

"Oh, dear, those are a lot of buckles on those shoes," says one of the twins, pointing at Bobbie's boots and then to Cayden's.

"Gonna have to pay quite a bit in the shoe-buckle tax, if you don't want to be breaking any of our laws, yeah," says the other. "All of you got buckles, by gum."

They will discretely take the aforementioned bribes that the party knew about earlier.

Corba nods. "Well, if it's the law, of course we have to obey it. Thank you for letting us know! Here's the shoe-buckle tax."

I also marked 50g off my character sheet.

The halfling then politely asks again for directions to a good but not too expensive inn before entering the city.

Leon hands over his buckle tax, ”Hey, das one o dem taxes we charg on da dacks too!”

Bobbie's face changes colour - and for a split second, it seems like she is going to blow everyone's cover and punch someone in the face.

Thankfully, she seems to catch herself at the last second, and hands over the bribe wordlessly. 50 gp

Corgrim pays the price of the "tax" without a word.

Shannon sighs and pays.

Huh, okay, I was wondering if I missed something, and finally had a time to deep dive. This scenario says that if you completed the first part, 2-15, then you have a map of the city and a location of the Shadow Lodge. I reread 2-15 and it makes no mention of the map. So, you guys have a map of the city and location. An abandoned brewery called "Auntie Marny's Bitter Brewery"

The city with its septagonal walls on the perimeter is vast, and patrolled. Now that the Pathfinders are inside the walls, they have to get to this bitter brewery, but heavily armored outsiders might attract attention.

I need everyone to make a stealth check. You can take 10 if you'd like. Its a very make-able stealth check, but I will be taking the lowest roll.

take 10 for 20 Stealth

Not wanting to pay more taxes, Corgrim fades in the shadows

Last thing your hear is

Glad no one carries a buckler, these rapacious guards would have make us pay or it a pretty sum..

Guy in full plate says... this is going to end badly :-/

Stealth: 1d20 - 4 ⇒ (19) - 4 = 15.

Much to even his own surprise, Cayden somehow manages to move with almost cat-like grace for a man in full plate!

Stealth - ACP: 1d20 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 1 - 2 = 7
Stealth - ACP reroll: 1d20 + 1 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 1 - 2 + 2 = 16

Leon requires a little bit of divine intervention before he feels comfortable sneaking around.

The fun time when paladin has positive Stealth mod taking 10: 10 + 3 = 13

Corba also takes 10 for 20 Stealth.

The bard follows the rogue.

"Well, Corgrim, I do carry a buckler, but maybe the guards took pity on me..."

The rogue answers to Corba

Don't worry, I won't rat on my favorite bard.Ever.

Bobbie is used enough to her armor to avoid making too much of a noise.

Bobbie takes 10, for a total of 11

+1 Scale mail: -3 penalty; +1 Shield (heavy steel) -1 Penalty

+1 Armor Training; +1 Armor Expert (Trait); +3 Dex bonus

The Pathfinders are able to make it through the city without drawing the attention of more guards. Amazing.

A large, dilapidated building sits crammed between equally dilapidated warehouses and flophouses. Its doors are chained shut, its windows are filled with broken glass and boarded from the inside, and its facade is faded, crumbling, and encrusted with icicles. Faded, hard-to-read letters are painted 10 feet tall across the top of the ruined structure—they read: Auntie Marny’s Bitter Brev, with the last letter looking more and more chipped away; perhaps there was more to it at some point..

There's a front door, but also a large bay door in the back.

Front or back door? Are we waited for?

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Corgrim listens at the door, trying to figure out if there's someone inside

"Hardly anyone expects the Society.

"Mind peeking inside?"

Corba checks the door for traps. And afterwards, she checks if it's locked.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Leon sets the big trunk down with a heavy grunt. He stretches his back and you hear audible pops as his joints decompress.

”Aight, dis luks gloomeh. Wanna me busta da doah dawn?”

The paladin usually goes for the front, but don't mind going backdoor

Front or back door? Are we waited for?

Corgrim listens at the door, trying to figure out if there's someone inside

Assuming you're listening at the front door Corgrim doesn't hear anything moving inside.

The paladin usually goes for the front, but don't mind going backdoor

When Shannon casually mentiones her preferences, perceptive party members can see..

Now back to the game...
@GM: Is the door trapped or locked? Corba had a Perception result of 25...

Bobbie is completely oblivious to whatever dark thoughts obscure Corba's mind. "Backdoor is fine," she nods. Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Leon stares at Shannon with a dull look. Then his eyes go wide and he starts coughing, choking on his own spit.

He regains his composure and grunts, ”Whatevah doah ok.”

Corgrim catches Corba's grin and, being a Calitrian, understand it fully. He winks at the bardess, whispers

It's always the quiet ones...

and tries to open the front door.

If it doesnt open, he will work on the lock

Leon, could you put yourself right behind me so I'm not seen by the bystanders on the street, please?

Disable Device if needed, Msw tools: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 10 + 2 = 28

Leon does so.

Alright, my apologies. My semester from hell has ended. I have a blessed month off and my next semester should be a LOT easier so I can hopefully kick this into overdrive.

A mass of broken tables, chairs, and barstools clutter the center of this dusty room, and a crumbling bar still stands in front of a broken mirror on the north wall. Three small alcoves in the southwest corner once served as semiprivate bar booths but now host only rubble. The door to a storage room in the northwest corner hangs loose on its hinges, the smell of rotting refuse wafting from within. Shadows dominate the room, as the windows are boarded up. The floor boards creak, and there's sound of something clicking against the wood. Looking around, there doesn't seem to be anything moving in here, perhaps further into the building.

we're on slide 8 on the maps now

Leon glances in over Corgrim’s head.

Perc: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

”Nobuddeh home, is daahk.”

He pulls out his wayfinder, hanging it outside his shirt and says, ”Laaght.”

It starts glowing.

He waits for his perceptive allies though to take a look. And probably for Bobbie to go first.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Thanks for the light, Leon. It will help.

And makes YOU the target. But I guess you can take it.

Bobbie rolls her eyes - and indeed goes first. "Men."

She takes a few steps forward then pauses. "Heiress. It's hard to see in there." Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

"Wait! Over there, in the debris... there's a carcass of a dead large hound. Something - or somebody - bit it multiple times, I guess that's why it's dead. I suggest we draw our weapons and be very careful when we go further."

Bobbie obeys the expert. She draws her sword and raises her shield.

Leon keeps carrying the big chest, but eyes the room, ready to kick like the mule he is!

"Gud aye, Kurba."

He keeps close to the bard, in his usual bodyguard position.

would anyone like to move into the room or move to the next room?

Corgrim takes his sword and moves as silently as possible inside the room

stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

Bobbie leads the way into the next room - though she's nowhere as discreet as Corgrim.

Stealth: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Corba follows her own advice: She draws her longsword and readies her buckler. The halfling then makes a few nearly silent steps to follow Corgrim, but stops next to the wall, right before the corner.

Stealth - ACP: 1d20 + 10 - 0 ⇒ (9) + 10 - 0 = 19