[Gameday XIV] PFS2e 6-12 - The Burning of Greensteeples (KS)

Game Master phaeton_nz

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Despite sharing a wall with it, the backroom of the Southgate Inn is as quiet as the taproom is raucous and filled with bustling activity. The proprietor, Nincia (or Nan to her friends), pours ale and other requested drinks into their flagons, then sits down at the table.

My understanding is that you all were selected for this mission due to your proximity to Egorian or the speed at which you were able to be sent here. Regardless, these are for you. She places a paper labeled ‘Shopping List’ on the table alongside a pair of sealed envelopes that bear the marks of two of the Society’s high-ranking Pathfinders.

That’s one of Varian’s letters. You’ll need the light of a wayfinder to read its contents. She locks the door to the backroom to make sure that no one is disturbed by either her patrons or prying eyes.

Peter uses the light of his wayfinder to read the messages.

"Mind if I join in?" Erevan finds a seat next to Peter and takes out his wayfinder as well. It takes a moment for him to rummage through his backpack to get his wayfinder, bottles clanking all the time. Once he gets a hold of the wayfinder, he reads Varian's letters.

A carriage which looks more suited to a trip to the Ivy District than navigating the foothills pulls up to the meeting-hall door. The teamster hops down and opens the side door, revealing a bipedal clockwork creature with a crossbow attached to one limb and a long blade on another. It looks like the latest gnome experiment got away, except it seems too functional for that. It steps into the building and approaches the other Pathfinders, then hisses to a stop. A panel in the front slides open, revealing a rainbow-colored stuffed bear with buttons for eyes and grease on the paws. The toy hops out and says in meticulous, Hallit-accented Common, "Good afternoon, everyone. Miss Sorbet is here."

(Somewhat like this.)

The poppet looks over the messages. "Well, I do enjoy a good shopping trip. Though I daresay we are likely to overpay for these items."

A good shopping trip, yeah so do I.

Nincia also warns you that dottari and Hellknight presence in the city are both heightened, making even trivial journeys in and out of Egorian much more dangerous. She also gives you a coded letter from Varian that she says should be delivered to Benedet in Greensteeples.

To help you get into the city, Nan provides a hand-drawn map that shows them how to enter Egorian through a nearby sewer drainage pipe and make it to a condemned townhouse two blocks from Greensteeples; a recently installed trap door beneath the townhouse can allow them entry. Unfortunately, most of the usual routes to Greensteeples through the sewers have been blocked off over the last few years by dottari patrols and city engineers.

Please roll for Cheliax Lore, Pathfinder Society Lore or Society to Recall Knowledge insde spoilers if possible. Anyone with the Friend of Greensteeples background gain a +2 circumstance bonus to this Recall Knowledge check.

"Is the Pathfinder Society going to reimburse for new shoes after walking through the sewers? These are suede."

"Do you normally wear you best shoes for a mission? I prefer to keep mine for the ballroom and wear iron for anything at least as dirty as cobbles."

"I think the real question is why anyone wouldn't wear their best shoes, all the time? Look good, feel good, amirite?"

Untrained, so I'll bring back crit fail false info. Zac lets the experts handle this.

Everyone has Pathfinder Society Lore trained

"The more I spend on cleaning, the less I can on entertaining.

"By the way, Count Jeggare is quite the influential noble in Cheliax, in addition to being a venture-captain. His halfling staff are instumental in hiding or healing Pathfinders in need."

"I know nothing!"

"But my shoes are dapper, though."

Had to check if I made the Lore changes to my character.

Once you arrive at Greensteeples ...

Dwarfed by the ostentatious black and red buildings that surround it, Greensteeples stands out as a small, ivy-covered manor of an architectural style that seems to predate its neighbors and outclass them in the subtleties of classic design. By comparison, the larger structures surrounding the manor telegraph their designers’ need to display their loyalty to the forces that aligned themselves with Cheliax’s ruling house. Nothing about the more unassuming building speaks to its role as Cheliax’s only active Pathfinder Lodge.

The streets outside Greensteeples are swarming with Hellknights and dottari who have locked down the historic residence and busy themselves with destroying generations of Jeggare heirlooms. All the while, they pile books and furniture from within the manor house into the courtyard to burn. Through every broken window, more Hellknights can be seen pillaging or vandalizing the treasures within.

A fire already consumes the haylofts in the stables next to the manor, causing an orange glow to peek above the courtyard walls as if to warn of the manor’s inevitable fate.

Obviously, going to the front door is not an option. You need to gain Infiltration Points. Anyone with the Friend of Greensteeples background gains a +2 circumstance bonus to their checks during this infiltration.

Due to the risk of discovery and fear for those still inside Greensteeples, the Pathfinders (as a party) only have time to attempt one of the following Preparation Activities from GM Core (page 199):

• Forge Documents (very hard) Similar to the ones they used to enter Egorian, these documents label them as investigators from the magistrates of House Thrune.

• Gossip (standard) Reaching out to Nan’s merchant network to learn patrol movements and secret ways into the manor.

• Scout Location (hard) Dottari are everywhere, and more and more Hellknights have been joining them throughout Sorrowside, making it doubly difficult to keep a good eye on the Manor and the governmental bodies going in and out.

"I hear that ..."

Gossip (Diplomacy): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22

I also heard diplomacy gossip: 1d20 ⇒ 13 I assume we all have to do the same one. I don't have deception either.

Gossip (Diplomacy): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

"Aren't there secret ways to get to the manor? If what the merchants are telling are true then we can try searching for those."

Daytime Prep: Erevan prepares 8 lesser elixirs of life (3d6+6 healing, +1 item bonus to saves vs poison and diseases for 10 minutes, +4 temp HP for 1 minute) and gives each party member a vial.

Miss Sorbet will stick close to Peter and try to pick up anything he misses.

Diplomacy, Aid Another: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

A giant metal suit is not particularly helpful for eavesdropping, however.

Peter manages to get some useful information.

The first obstacle is the roaming patrols. To overcome you need to roll a standard Stealth or hard Deception or Intimidation. Two successes is required.

Dottari patrols roam the streets and hallways around the manor, looking for anyone they can harass or incarcerate.

This encounter uses the Infiltration subsystem from GM Core (page 196), and any PC with the Friend of Greensteeples background gains a +2 circumstance bonus to their checks during this

I assume we all have to do the same one.

My apologies for not checking with the table before making the roll - I thought it was one roll per PC, and because Diplomacy was the easiest roll plus Peter had high Diplomacy, I just went ahead and rolled. I should have waited, even if I thought it was likely Peter would be rolling.

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Peter uses his powers of Deception to reroute the patrols. I assume this one is one roll per PC? If we have to coordinate, Peter has good Deception plus a ventriloquist's ring, which he can use to make noises as diversions.

Deception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

at Peter you did good stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 as he sneaks around.

I am a perfectly innocent robotic poppet. No need to think too hard about me.

Deception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

If that reduces our successes, I will use a hero point to reroll.

The DCs are on the slides.

Zac succeeds. Peter and Miss Sorbet fail. Hero Pointing?

Peter will spend a Hero Point.

Peter seems like he's failing, at first. But he's just drawing the patrols to him so he can mislead them even further!

Deception, Hero Point Reroll: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26

Peter turns a failure into a success and passes the obstacle. The next obstacle is the sewer system. The way into certain areas of Greensteeples interacts with the maze of sewers beneath Sorrowside. Through magic and feats of engineering, those paths are constantly changing to accommodate Varian’s needs. A loud buzzing sound can be heard from some of the tunnels that lead between the walls of Greensteeples, as if caused by hundreds of bees.

Miss Sorbet and anyone else that hasn't rolled can roll to overcome this one.

One individual needs to succeed here with standard Architecture Lore, Engineering Lore, or Egorian Lore; hard Survival or Thievery

Peter has Survival +10, but Erevan has Thievery +11. If we can all make an attempt, Peter will roll, otherwise, he'll defer to Erevan.

Not going to be any use on this one. Equal chance of giving +1 or -1 if I aid.

Peter and Zac have already rolled this round

Erevan attempts to guide the group through the sewer system.

Thievery: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14 Will try to Hero point reroll that one.

Thievery: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20 Oof!

Unfortunately that is not a success. Anyone else that hasn't rolled yet? Or you can spend an Edge Point to turn that failure into a success. You do have one Edge Point from the earlier gossip success during preparation. This failure adds 1 to the number of Awareness Points the opposition have (currently 1)

Zac will try his hand at thievery thievery: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Peter's roll for Obstacle 2 is spoilered, above, if a roll is accepted. I think it's a failure.

Alrighty then. Will use an Edge Point if every one is OK with it.

Uh, I am not particularly OK with it.

Awareness Points aren't that bad, and it sounds like we're only getting one of them, which isn't bad at all. We should save the Edge Point for a more significant roll. It's better than a Hero Point, which only gives a reroll.

If Zac and Peter are allowed to roll for Obstacle 2, then either of them could use a Hero Point.

But, fundamentally, I really wish there were some clarity on how many PCs are in this campaign. I don't really want to spend all my individual Hero Points or our group Edge Points because we need N/2 Successes and 2 PCs aren't rolling so the remainder of us need everyone to Succeed every roll.

Agreed. Let's figure out what our real party size/CP are before deciding.

Sorry, I didn't get a message that we were starting.

Thievery: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Folmyr, flits up to it, and tries their luck with it.

Looks like we've lost Auric so we're down to 22 CP and five PCs. The header has been adjusted accordingly.

Folmyr succeeds so there is no need to spend that Edge Point after all.

The basement of Greensteeples connects several secret tunnels to different parts of the house. Unfortunately, the room where they converge hides a deep, deadly spiked pit trap that takes up nearly the entire floor.

Everyone can roll a hard Perception or Thievery. Two successes required before a crit failure.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

Erevan quickly brews an Eagle Eye elixir to heighten his senses during the search.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 2 = 13 Uh oh. How many HPs do we start with?

Thievery: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Zac will help steal thievery: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

I believe there are at least six glyphs around this table so everyone should start with two Hero Points each

Success, Crit fail, Fail, Success. Is that crit fail going to be Hero Pointed? or cancelled with the Edge Point?

Will use HP to reroll that crit fail.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 10 + 2 = 26

That turns the crit fail into a success. The obstacle is overcome.

An illusory image of Varian’s elderly ustalavic wolfhound acts as a magical alarm in the hallway near a sally port.

Need two individual successes and no crit failures. Very hard Arcana or hard Pathfinder Society Lore. Any PC who has played in Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-04: The Devil-Wrought Disappearance automatically overcomes this obstacle.

PFS Lore: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Should be a regular Fail, but if that's a CF, I'll reroll.