[ACO] PF2e - 04-01: Intro - Year of Boundless Wonder (P13) (Inactive)

Game Master UncleFroggy

Please dot (add a post) in here and then delete your post to add yourself to this campaign.

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8) Let's have some fun and tell a great story together! After all, that's what we are here for.

Slipping into the lodge, a robot!

...now sneaking across the grounds, ducking behind curtains and statues as potential onlookers pass by, looking for something...

...now sitting cross-legged upon the ground in the corner of a library with a neatly-stacked pile of books - one on top of the other on top of the other - a tower of knowledge! - reading each one cover to cover turning the pages at an accelerated pace...

...does anyone discover it?...

Your adventure begins in the Vaults of the Grand Lodge in Absalom.

Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen asked Rain in Cloudy Day to assemble a group of Pathfinders in a vault filled with newly acquired treasures.

"Hi all! I'm Rain In Cloudy Day. I'm a new Pathfinder agent here in the Grand Lodge. I'm a special assistant to Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin."

Rain in Cloudy Day has a bright green body and a purple mushroom “cap” atop his head, and he wears a white scarf and brown vest emblazoned with the Glyph of the Open Road. Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen has long dark hair and black nail polish and is wearing a vibrant blue dress. Both greet the group of Pathfinders in a vault filled with newly acquired treasures, which Rain calls the “Vault of Boundless Wonder!”—a phrase he exclaims while excitedly waving his hands.

"Since we're going to be working together today, how about we get to know each other..."

Please introduce your characters

When Rain proclaims the “Vault of Boundless Wonder!", a small goblin goes, "Ooooooooh!" The goblin wipes his nose on his sleeve and says, "Hi! I Scripio!"

He looks at Zarta and points to an item. "What's this?" Then he points to another. "What's this?" Then another. "What's this?" Then another. "What's this?"

Before someone can stop him, you suddenly realize Scripio has a whip in his hand and he whirls it over his head, cracking it loudly. The goblin smiles at the group with a mouth full of teeth. "Whippy Show!"

The Vishkanya looks around intrigued. Coming from Nex he's used to magic and mysteries, but it's always interesting to discover something new.

He introduces himself to Zarta Dralneen, Rain and his companions: Niccce to meet you. My name'sss Riddle of Nowhere. Thisss is an intersssting vault. What'sss the purpose of all these itemsss?

It's a goblin with a leather armor. On his back he has a shortbow. On his belt he has a rapier and a shortsword. Hello my name is Tirx. Pleased to meet you.

A red kobold approached the others eyeing them with suspicion. A goat follows willingly. The kobold snarls uncouthly, " My name is Dex. You will refer to me as Dex the listener and nothing else! Oh and this is Burke my very loyal companion."

He looks at the goat, the goat sits. " Good boy Burke."

"Baa."

A monkey goblin waddles over to the group of Pathfinders gathering around Zarta and Rain on Cloudy Day. He carries a large axe over his shoulder and a shield on the other arm.

"Greetings Scripio! Greetings Tirx! Greetings Riddle!" he chatters pleasantly. "Greetings Dex the Listener and Nothing Else! That is a very long name. Greetings Burke! I'm Ziba Zuzik. You can call me Ziba for short."

"My name is Dex the listener nothing else!!" He grumbles.

"Oh! So sorry," Ziba says with a toothy grin. His long, prehensile tail whips left then right. "Hello, Dex the Listener Nothing Else. Misheard an and."

Hearing a commotion outside, the robot drops the books and goes to examine its source…

…a snake, a kobold, a goat, three goblins… …a talking mushroom…

…with an amaranthyne retinal sensor, it takes a moment to indigo scan each life form, pausing extra long to analyze the head-to-body ratio of the littlest ones…

…tilting it’s own head to one side - a quirk observed as a gestural communication cue by creatures of this age to signify additional consideration - our curious hero decides the party assembled here is not a threat. And proceeds.

”I was named Oculos Cras III; my prime imperative is one of Catalogue. Consider your bioinformatic data Recorded and in Safekeeping. And so completed, I render unto your temporary reasonable deployment. Our greeting is commenced”

Scripio is overjoyed to see so many goblins. He cracks his whip back and forth furiously, beginning to sing a disco song.

"We're gonna make this into a -- Goblintown!"
"Well, I talk about it, talk about it, talk about it, talk about it"
"We're gonna make this into -- Goblintown!"

All of you look like brand new PCs (maybe except for Scripio and Tirx)...

Zarta Dralneen watches the conversation with amusement, but clears her throat to remind Rain of his current mission.

"The Archives get more exciting every day," Rain states then adds, "And who better to manage the excitement than Zarta! Oh, have you all met Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen?" Rain prompts you to introduce yourselves. Zarta smiles and thanks you for coming. Rain and Zarta then lead the group to a table covered in interesting objects.

Rain in Cloudy Day waves exuberantly to indicate the piles of treasure in the vaulted chamber. "Just look at all these magic items! And enchanted weapons! And a skull that always looks at me funny! Big magic books about even bigger magic books! Well, I'm not sure about that last one. I haven't read them. Cataloging all this treasure is bound to be exciting! It sure beats sorting the mail."

Zarta leads the group through the vaults. She runs her fingertips along the table, lifts a strange hourglass, and inspects it with dubious curiosity. "Exciting, yes, and possibly quite dangerous."

Rain frowns. "Well, yes, but… at least we're in the safety of the Lodge? Can't be that bad! You said these items are harmless." He picks up a skull from the table. Its eyes glow with pink fire, and it speaks, "Unhand me, you hideous rotten mushroom! Harmless?! How dare you!" Rain replaces the skull and covers it with a cloth, muffling the voice.
"Well… mostly harmless?"

Zarta fails to stifle a grin. She tilts the hourglass this way and that, shrugs, and sets it back on the table. "Yes, mostly harmless. We believe these items present no major threat to us, and we've secured those we believe to be cursed. The true danger comes from an old enemy of the Pathfinder Society, the night hag Aslynn. She nearly claimed these treasures for herself before they were entrusted to us. We don't know why she needs the items, or which ones are most central to her wicked plans. I'm off to a meeting to discuss the situation with Eliza, Ambrus, and the faction leaders. You'll stay here with Rain and continue cataloging these objects. We need to learn where the items come from and understand what they do. Then we can decide what to do with them. Any questions?"

If Rain was completely unknown to Riddle of Nowhere until now this one had already met Zarta Dralneen before when he passed some trials at the Grand Lodge. He nods.

Ssso we will make an inventory of all the itemsss. I sssuppose we can call sssomeone if we have a question, right?

"That's us! Mostly Harmless!" Scripio says with pride. He turns and salutes Zarta with a mockery of a motion. "Ok, we stay and help mushroom man! We be very helpful!" He nods with sincerity.

”No questions at this time”

Wondering about his own origin and function, our robot hero’s mind begins, for the first time he can remember, to wander, imagining what might a night hag look like, where one might come from, and what might be one’s purpose.

Everything is clear for me.

"Burke has one."

"Baaaaa" (is there any wheat)

Scripio looks up at Burke and nods in agreement as if the goat has made a very good point.

Ziba scratches his head with the tip of his tail upon the goat's question. Then he shrugs.

"I don't need to write anything down, do I?" he asks Zarta.

"You could, if you wish, Ziba. But this is a more mundane set of tasks where you don't really need to write anything down." Zarta answers.

Zarta laughs. "I'm sure Rain can find some wheat for Burke to eat. Just ask him when he finishes your orientation. But if there's nothing else, I have to run before Ambrus Valsin sends someone to find me. I'll check back later."

With that, Zarta hurries out the door and closes it behind her. Rain steps up and hands each of you a list of things to do. "I took the liberty of creating a list for you to do."

Surprise! It's skill check time. I know you are all shocked and amazed that there is a whole section specifically on skill checks and/or socialization. The listed skills are the obvious ones for each location, but creative solutions may be rewarded!

Searching an area of the vault takes about 10 minutes. When you Explore the Vault of Boundless Wonder, attempt a skill check, choosing from the skills indicated in the area you're searching. Other Lore checks might be appropriate at the GM's discretion.

DCs: 15 for non-Lore, 12 for Lore

Please also move your tokens to the area of the Vault you're exploring

As I had already done it in a previous game, I let the new ones talk to the skull.

The Vishkanya goes in the middle of the vault and casts Detect magic on the pile of treasure. Perhaps it could help...

Arcana: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Riddle casts Detect Magic but is immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of magic in the Vault.

The best you can get is a +1 to your skill check. But at your level, you're not going to be able to tell things apart

Riddle attempts to find something in the pile of treasure. Unfortunately, all he can come up with is a magical looking wand that turns out to be a shiny stick...

DC 15 Acrobatics (T) vs Danger (Area 5): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Oculos Cras III completely cleans out the "dangerous" crates and organizes each poison and curse by onset, virulence, kingdom (for poison), and hubris (for curse).

He reports back swiftly to Rain "Area 5 clear"

Area 1

Scripio pulls off the cover that's draped over the skull. "Tada!" He bows to the skull and says, "Hello! What's your name?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The goblin gros to the area 5.

Acrobatics:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

”Things up high are no barrier to Zina!” the monkey goblin announces.

Danger! Ziba Zuzik's Athletics (T): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Dex is eager to look through the treasure. ”I have the second best eyesight after Burke!” boasts the kobold.

Dex the Listener's Nature (T): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 (Dubious Knowledge)

Sorry. Trying to do too much too fast in airport.
Dex intended to sort through the scrolls.
I also failed to see the 2 critical successes in Danger! So if that was complete, change Ziba to the Pile of Treasure.

Scripio bows to the skull and talks to it. The skull says, "Call me Zykyryz! No, it isn't my name, but it's shorter than 'all powerful wizard.' That's right, I can do magic! Just wait. Keep me close, and I'll prove it to you." You also discern that Zykyryz isn't undead. It's more likely that some supernatural aspect of her became trapped in this unusual vessel. Crit Success

Oculos and Tirx race each other up the Precarious shelves too see what's up there. Oculos gets there first and finds a wicked looking knife that turns out to be a dagger of venom. Tirx gets there a minute too late. He finds an evil looking mask that turns out to be a demon mask.

Dex heads over to the shelves and has a look. Finding something shiny in the shelves, he finds a glossy piece of wood. He's about to discard it when he notices the symbol of physicians and realizes that this is a Wand of Heal.

Ziba heads to the pile of treasure. Right beside the shiny stick Riddle found, Ziba finds another shiny stick. However, this time it turns out to be a Wand of Manifold Missiles 1st.

Wow. Never seen so many crits in the first round before!

Rain sighs in satisfaction as he sees his new Pathfinder friends happily working away. "I'm going to step out to the rest room and find us some snacks. Yes, I'll bring Burke some wheat as well" You hear him but are so caught up in your work that you ignore him.

You suddenly hear a scream coming from Rain by the Vault entrance

"They're not real! They can't be real!" The panicked voice of Rain in Cloudy Day precedes his rapid footsteps as he races back into the vault. "I can't… I don't… help! Please, help! They're after me!" Rain collapses just inside the vault, clutching the sides of his head and whimpering in fear. A hideous snarl from just past the entryway causes Rain to go completely still.

The skull suddenly pulses. Zykyryz says, "That sounds about right. Thanks for using your head!" Suddenly Scripio feels more heroic!!

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

**Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
**Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19
Red
GM
Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 18/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20)
GM
Tirx - AC 18 20/20
GM
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/17

"Hey, I like you talky skull!" Scripio races into the room to check on Rain. He moves close to the leshy to see what's wrong.

Stride x3

Seeing the creature the Vishkanya draws his weapon and moves twice to reach Rain to protect them.

Pay attention, Ssscripio! and he points with his fauchard towards the red creature.

Scripio and Riddle head to Rain to help. They both see a shadow monster tinged with Red standing over Rain. The creature pulls out a shadowy spear and charges the pair of Pathfinders.

Riddle, Scripio: 1d2 ⇒ 1

It runs at Riddle and tries to poke him.

Spear vs Riddle AC 19: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 for Piercing: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Unfortunately, it stumbles and almost stabs itself.

Oculos and Tirx hear a growl and another shadow monster appears around the corner. It's also holding a spear and this one tries to poke A, T: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Spear vs Tirx AC 18: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27 for Piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Spear vs Tirx AC 18, MAP: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15 for Piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

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

Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19
Red
Yellow
**Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
**Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 18/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20)
GM
Tirx - AC 18 15/20
GM
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16

Riddle of Nowhere strikes the coming red one (reaction)

Fauchard, reach: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Red rushes at Riddle, but stumbles and falls onto Riddle's blade. It dissolves into shadowstuff.

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

Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19 ** reaction used
Yellow
**Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
**Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 18/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20)
GM
Tirx - AC 18 15/20
GM
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16

"Someone is messing with us!?" Ziba shouts as he scrambles around the treasure pile. "I'll show them what's what!" He pulls out a lancet from a quiver on his back and chucks it at the showform harassing Tirx.

◆ Stride
◆ Interact
◆ Strike: Javelin (E): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Piercing: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Ziba charges forward, pulls out a javelin and shows the Pathfinders his cannon arm. The javelin flies true and strikes Yellow between the shoulders.

Even with the range adjustment of -2 it still hits. Yellow is 51' away (Area 5 is 45' up)

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

Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19 ** reaction used
Yellow (-6; AC <= 25)
**Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 18/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20)
GM
Tirx - AC 18 15/20
GM
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16

Taking a step back, Oculos Cras fires off a double blast, and activating his core, projects a thin invisible force that melds perfectly around his chassis.

◆) Step
◆) Flurry of Blows w/ Eye Beam
◆) Cast Shield (to AC 20)
↺) Shield Block (5 hardness)

Eye Beam (fire, 20-ft; CS persistent fire 1) vs Yellow: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 151d4 ⇒ 3
Eye Beam (fire, 20-ft; CS persistent fire 1) w/ MAP (-5) vs Yellow: 1d20 + 7 - 5 ⇒ (4) + 7 - 5 = 61d4 ⇒ 2

Oculos shoots eye beams at Yellow and hits with his first blow. His other shot doesn't connect.

Ziba hears a growl and another shadow monster runs around the corner and tries to grab him.

Athletics vs DC 17 Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

It then tries to punch his lights out.

Fist vs Ziba AC 18, MAP, Agile: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 for Bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 = 8

Startling Grasp [one-action] The monster Strides up to 10 feet and attempts to Grapple a creature they’re undetected by. If they succeed, the creature is frightened 1, or frightened 2 if the monster critically succeeds at their Athletics check to Grapple.

Wicked Mauler The monster gains a +2 circumstance bonus to damage rolls against frightened creatures.

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

Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19 ** reaction used
Yellow (-9; 6 < AC <= 15)
Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 10/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20; F1)
Blue
**Tirx - AC 18 15/20
GM
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16

The goblin strikes the yellow.

Rapier:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Damage:1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

He strikes again the yellow.

Rapier:1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 7 - 4 = 9

Damage:1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Then he strikes again.

Rapier:1d20 + 7 - 8 ⇒ (4) + 7 - 8 = 3

Damage:1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Tirx pokes Yellow but only hits with his first strike.

Busily perusing the shelves, Dex hears a growl and turns to see a white shadow monster running at him. The monster stops in front of him and swings a fist at Burke, Dex: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Fist vs Burke AC 15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 for Bludgeoning: 1d4 ⇒ 1
Fist vs Burke AC 15, MAP, Agile: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 for Bludgeoning: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Burke easily evades the clumsy punches...

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

-2-
**Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
**Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19 ** reaction used
Yellow (-19; 9 < AC <= 15)
Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 10/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20; F1)
Blue
Tirx - AC 18 15/20
White

-1-
**Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16

Exploit Vulnerability (skull): 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 2 = 24
Success, possible crit if it's a 0 level creature

"Goblin to the rescue!" Scripio screams as he rushes back to help Ziba, his whip cracking furiously overhead. As he gets closer, he finally is able to get a good look at the creatures invading the vault.

◆ Move
◆ Move
◆ Exploit Vulnerability on Blue (acts as a RK check too)

The skull bonus is a +2 to all those rolls or is it just a one-time bonus? If just one-time, Scripio will save it for later.

Furious at the monster daring to attack Burke, Dex charges in!

◆◆ Cast: Electric Arc, Basic Reflex DC 16 vs. Electricity: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 4) = 5
◆ Command an Animal

"Baaaa!"

Burke happily listen's Dex because he is offended the monster tried to attack him. He prances around the monster. He headbutts vigorously.

◆ Stride
◆ Strike: Goat’s Headbutt: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 (flanking)
Bludgeoning: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Scripio charges to the rescue. He tries to find a weakness to Blue but doesn't find one (PA only)

Dex sends lightning at White, which manages to avoid most of the damage. However, it dodges straight into Burke's headbutt which finishes it. Crit

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

Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
**Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19 ** reaction used
Yellow (-19; 9 < AC <= 15)
Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 10/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20; F1)
Blue
Tirx - AC 18 15/20
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16

The Vishkanya triple moves to come behind Scripio.

Yellow closes with Oculos and Tirx and attacks Oculos, Tirx: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Spear vs Tirx AC 18: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28 for Piercing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Tirx drops to the floor...

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

Scripio - AC 18 19/19 (+2 Attack/Perception/Saves/Skill checks)
Riddle of Nowhere - AC 19 19/19 ** reaction used
Tirx - AC 18 0/20 (Dying 2)
Yellow (-19; 9 < AC <= 15)
**Amarynthine Oculos Cras III - AC 19 (20 w/shield) 19/19
**Ziba Zuzik - AC 18 (20 w/shield) 10/18 (Shield - H5; 40/40, BT 20; F1)
Blue
Dex the Listener - AC 16 16/16; Burke AC 15 16/16