GM TOP #0-16: To Scale the Dragon (Core) (Inactive)

Game Master Pete H.

The Reverend checks to see if they might unbury themselves. Not that he would stop them, but it would be good to know.

Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Bella steps forward and casts detect magic on the mounds. She searches for any lingering magical auras.

"Maybe this was part of a group that passed through here and the poor souls didn't survive the journey through the cold. I hope I don't find any necromantic auras or negative energies."

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

"Oh no, that looks like an ugly death!" Miriel says, shocked. She runs to the graves, and looks at them, head bowed.

She sits down on her knees, draws a long breath to calm herself down, then recites a prayer from Shelyn's rituals: "Eternal Rose, look at the lives taken early, the love unexperienced, the art never done..."

Khellek sighs. While he understands gods, in theory. And he does see why people might be attached to them. But the need for so many people to bring them into every aspect of their daily lives continues to surprise him.

"Ms Magol, I am sure their own gods have them well in hand now. And if not then Pharasma will be sure to guide their souls to their final destination. Speaking of destinations, we do have one of our own..."

The long string of words sends the old man off into another wheezing fit, cutting short what many of his former "students" could see was likely to be a long lecture, likely on the various 'final destinations' various souls end up in. In this case, with an emphasis on the cold and frozen ones.

The body sized piles seem less to be ‘burials’ and more to be ‘covering up the bodies’. There are no grave markers or other indicators of it being a proper burial.

With that in mind, the pathfinders investigate the bodies a bit. Two of the piles hide the bodies of hideous beastmen, white-furred simians native to the peaks (taer). The third holds a human, perhaps of Chelish descent, killed by a gaping bite wound between his neck and shoulder.

No magic emanates from any of the bodies.

"Well, we did hear about beastmen. Presumably these are examples of them." coughs the old man, as he takes a drink to sooth his throat.

"I don't recall the men at the post we stayed in mentioning the Chelish person, presumably they would have.."

"May they all rest in peace. Let's hurry on our journey."

Nothing else? Just making sure.

"I...", Miriel gets her thoughts disrupted by Khellek. "You have well-formed argument there. If the gods required certain processes for afterlife, it would be excessive for those deceased without adequate means." She thinks a moment while getting up again. "I suppose it is more about how the remaining treat the memories. Showing compassion to those passed."

"Performing all the rituals would delight me, but the importance and challenges of our assignment define the precedence differently. Onward."

Miriel is pretty useless in determining what happened or if there is something else around, and is content to continue.

Even though in a hurry, the group does a quick check through pockets and finds a small bronze coin held tight in the Chelaxian’s grip. They don’t disturb it, but do recognize it as an Aspis Membership coin.

Back to the sleds then. And now they know someone is ahead of them.

Same speed? Same order?

"Ugh. The Aspis Consortium." she says in a disdainful tone.

"We need to catch up and pass them before they beat us there."

I suggest maybe try going 10 mph?

Khellek looks most uncertain when Bella suggests speeding up. "If there is anything tricky... I'm really at the edge of my ability here. Riding a dog sled... while it will make an interesting note in my chronicle, will NOT go down as an experience to be repeated."

His face however agrees with Bella when she notes the Aspis coin. "It may pay to take it with us. Perhaps we can pretend to be Aspis agents ourselves if the situation warrants it. Distasteful as pretending to be associated with that particular group may be."

From his elongated sentences it would appear either the old scholar is starting to acclimatize to the thin air, or is hoping to put off getting back onto the sled

"Is the additional challenge from increased velocity worth the potentiality of accidents? Alternate routes from the mountains aren't available, we can interrupt their descent", Miriel offers her opinion from the front sled.

I would continue in same order at same speed.

"It appears the Aspis may be after the bones as well. We need to get to Amao’s cairn before they do." she says with a look of worry.

After a moment of thought,
"Well, If we go at the same pace we've been going, hopefully we can catch them as they exit the cairn."

Okay, if we had handle animal I'd say let's go faster. Unfortunately, that's not the case though. Slow and steady it is, I guess.

"I assume they might have to go down exactly the way they went up," Ezren says calmly. "If they manage to reach the cairn at all." He sits back in the driver's seat, making himself as comfortable as he can. "Let's consider ourselves fortunate that they are clearing the path for us, though quite unwillingly so. It may slow them down, and give us the advantage."

The group resumes sled dogging it up the mountain to Khellek’s dismay. Fortunately though, keeping a safer pace makes it easy to avoid slipping off the high path and they move on to the next section.

6) The Wings: The pass drops into a small valley between two small hills. The path becomes extremely narrow and turn maneuvers are near impossible.

That’s it, nothing really here. Maybe it’ll be a problem coming down though?

7) The Eye: Near the top of the pass, the angle of the slope increases. It bisects a small glen near the base of a steep butte on the mountainside. Atop the butte, a wide ledge climbs slowly back up the mountain. The pass continues until it reaches a high ridge atop a staggeringly sheer scarp that spills down into the lowlands. The breathtaking view provides a panorama of most of the lower peaks.

Perception Checks please!

Snow, whether from above or thrown up by the dogs and sleds in front, cakes Khelleks spectacles. And his face. And his thick furs. That the old man manages to move is a surprise. That he can follow the sled in front, remarkable.

per: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (11) - 2 = 9

Ezren lets out a whistle as he takes in the view. "If the circumstances weren't so dire, I'd say it's one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever taken in my life."

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Ezren lets out a whistle as he takes in the view. "If the circumstances weren't so dire, I'd say it's one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever taken in my life."

"It's quite breathtaking, isn't it?" Bella says with a slight chuckle, wondering if anyone got her little joke.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Miriel enjoys the scenery and the connection she has with her sledge dogs. She smiles at Bella, for once getting a joke. "You are in many ways correct, my friend!" she answers Bella.

Too fatigued to comment, the scholar just scowls at Belladonna.

The beautiful vista is quite a thing to behold. Even so much so that only one of the party members even realizes danger is rushing towards them.

Miriel glances to her right, up the slope and sees the telltale signs of shifting snow which indicates an...

...AVALANCHE!!!

The avalanche is 100 ft wide, 2500 ft up the slope and moving at 500 ft a round (so, 5 rounds or 30 seconds until it hits).

Doing a quick bit of math in his head, Khellek and Ezren quickly advise that the avalanche is almost perfectly headed towards where the dogsleds will be in thirty seconds. This very suspicious fact that it is perfectly aimed at the group is quite quickly overwhelmed by the fact that avalanches can be incredibly deadly.

Khellek also knows more.

An avalanche consists of two distinct areas: the bury zone (in the direct path of the falling debris) and the slide zone (the area the debris spreads out to encompass). Characters in the bury zone always take at least some damage from the avalanche and are buried; characters in the slide zone might be able to get out of the way and avoid being buried. Being buried leads to its own set of problems, of course.

Mechanically, you have five rounds to act. If you take no actions, in five rounds, all three sleds will be hit by the bury zone. The easiest solution to save the sleds and dogs is a full stop made in the first two or three rounds (depending on sled position), but that is also a hard DC to hit. Simply speeding up or slowing down may be easier to do and may also remove the sled from danger if enough speed is added or enough braking done. Also logically, the front sled has a better chance of outpacing the avalanche by speeding up. And the rear sled has a better chance of slowing down to avoid it. The middle sled has an equal chance either way, but harder regardless. Also, no take 10's here due to the danger. Other actions or spells or abilities may very well affect the outcome, so it isn't just about Handle Animal checks.

"Initiative"
Round 1
Khellek
Miriel
Bella
Ezren
Red Reverend
Avalanche

I have no idea if Bella's sled is first, second, or last.

In a panic, Bella whips the reins and tries to get the dogs running faster...
"MUSH, DOGGOS!!! MUSH, MUSH!!!"
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
2 move actions to try to speed up sled. Not with those rolls, lol.

Miriel first, Bella second, Khellek third.

Figures that the one spell that may have helpes is the one I swapped out for lesser restoration...

The Reverend ponders tackling a dog to stop it... or just bailing out.

Is a break/full stop a move action (so we can try two) or a standard action (so just one, but we can also do a move action), or a full round action?

Is a break/full stop a move action (so we can try two) or a standard action (so just one, but we can also do a move action), or a full round action?

Full Stop is a full round action. A brake or a mush is a move action. Dog sled rules are on the slides. Jumping out would be the same consequence as falling off or being thrown off.

Khellek starts off trying to slow down his sled, while calling out to Bella "You can do this!"

slow down DC12: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

And starts an inspire competence on Bella for +3 to her handle animal checks.

"Oh no! I could jump... but the poor dogs! Maybe we can make it?" Miriel cries in shock.

"Mush, my beautiful unfortunate friends!" she commands her dogs. "What can I do? What do I have? Weapons, wands? I have some fire, that might scare them, but so cruel!" she goes through her options. "Mush, for your life! she commands again.

Two times speed up.

Handle animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Handle animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Miriel doesn't have much skills, but Knowledge: Nature +10 might be useful here, avalanche is kind of between Geography(terrain) and Nature(weather). Or could the dogs be scared with fire to panic speed? Nature might help to know how?

The Reverend decides to help his driver.

Handle Animal, Aid Another: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Khellek starts off trying to slow down his sled, while calling out to Bella "You can do this!"

[dice=slow down DC12]1d20+2

And starts an inspire competence on Bella for +3 to her handle animal checks.

Correct me if I'm wrong; I thought Ezren was driving?

Khellek the historian wrote:

Khellek starts off trying to slow down his sled, while calling out to Bella "You can do this!"

[dice=slow down DC12]1d20+2

And starts an inspire competence on Bella for +3 to her handle animal checks.

Correct me if I'm wrong; I thought Ezren was driving?

Glancing back, it does appear that Ezren took over driving. Let me know what y’all think. If agreed, we can retcon Khellek’s action to be an Aid and an Insp Comp, or something else.

Regarding knowledge checks, I have basically given all the info the book has about avalanches. Khellek’s modifiers are nasty high.

Happy for Ezren to drive. In which case Khellek will use the inspire confidence in him instead. Khellek can be a bit lazy at times when it comes to physical activities.

Miriel fails to adjust her speed and continues heading towards the middle of the avalanche.

Red Reverend attempts to help Bella, but his whistle is ignored by the dogs. Belladonna’s commands are similarly ignored.

Khellek uses his almost magical inspiration and then also aids his driver’s next attempt.

Ezren, +5 on your first Handle Animal check. +3 on your second (if you end up making 2 checks this round).

Ezren is up!

Ezren orders the dogs to slow down.

Some experience handling his father's dogs seem to come back in an instant. His grip on the reins is firm, and his tone commanding.

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"Oh well done. Keep it up, I'll be sure to mention this in the chronicles!" gushes Khellek.

"It's so nice when people actually follow your advice. The younger generation... speaking of which.." he casts his gaze forward toward the other sleds barreling toward the avalanche.

And Khellek's modifiers are nastily high partially because... he has taken skill focus for all his feats in various knowledge skills. I did mention he wasn't very helpful in combat though, right?

Ezren executes excellent erudition related to his handling of the dog commands. The sled slows down, almost to a stop but still barely moving (one more successful brake command will stop Ezren’s sled).

The avalanche thunders down the slope, still quite a risk for the lead two sleds and maybe still threatening a dusting for the rear sled.

Round Two: all are up!

The Reverend does his best to help once more.

Handle Animal, Aid Another: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

The dogs seem to understand the word "lunchmeat". It is probably not clear to them what the Reverend means, though.

Still panicking, Bella whips the reins and tries to get the dogs running faster hopefully to outrun the avalanche...
"C'MON, DOGS!!! MUSH, MUSH!!!"
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
2 move actions to try to speed up sled.

Khellek continues to encourage Ezren. Free action to continue to inspire competence as well as trying to lean back a bit to help the brakes cut into the icy ground.

handle animal(assist): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
handle animal(assist): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

I think that means +3 to first check and +5 to second.

Ezren attempts to halt the sled, but the reins inadvertently slip right out of his sweaty grip.

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

With lightning reflexes that he would have thought well past his age, he sharply leans forward and catches then before they can fall away from this grasp.

Ezren gives the reins a hard tug, and with a cry of "Easy, boys! Brake!", the old wizard is able to get the sled to a full stop. "This was not easy," he admits, dabbing his forehead with one of his long sleeves. He glances up to see the two sleds up ahead still speeding towards the avalanche. "They don't seem to be doing so hot over there."

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

"Come on Miriel, you can do this, they taught you how" Miriel tries to assure herself. "I'll give you extra meat tonight! Mush!" she commands the dogs.

Handle animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

She notices better success of her command. "Oh, you can smell it already, the meat! Mush!"

Handle animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Miriel is alone in the sled, does the lesser weight help anything?

What are we waiting for?

I think our GM might be busy IRL?

Yeah, not waiting on anything. I got busy and then forgot to update. Thanks for the bumps. The slightly lesser weight does not aid these checks.

Ezren, with some good help from Khellek, manages to literally reign in the dogs and pull their sled to a stop.

Miriel and Belladonna chose the other option, trying to outrace the rushing storm of snow falling down the mountain. They have a little success, mainly because the dogs seem fairly concerned about their own lives.

Ezren and Khellek are safe, stopping before the edge of the avalanche. Miriel and Bella and Red Reverend need two more successes in the next two rounds (so 2 successes out of 4 checks) to get out of the worst part. Go ahead and do two rounds of rolls. Inspire Competence won't work now due to the range, but RR can still try to aid his driver.

Handle Animal, Aid Another: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Handle Animal, Aid Another: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Handle Animal, Aid Another: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Handle Animal, Aid Another: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

"Well done Ezren. I guess we showed those youngsters how it is done!"

The old scholar then glances forward, a look of concern on his face as he realises his students are not out of danger yet.

"Oh dear. MUSH, MUSH, MUSH, MUSH...!!!"
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7