Congrats on your big move, GM! Sounds like you're going to have a lot of real life adventures soon. Good luck out there!
It was fun playing under your GM purview. I'll just assume Cirri's Coursairs easily won the tournament and beat up whatever demigod was behind these shenanigans.
While everyone has chatted up the ysoki, Cirri tries to be sneaky. "Right, right. You should make sure you pay attention while having a debate." She pulls out one of his possessions, dangling it in front of his face. "We're craftier than you give us credit for!" She returns the item with a grin on her face.
"Alright, time for a cliff climb!" Cirri hoots and looks northwest.
Drockhar has an interesting conversation. "I mean, we'll have plenty of time to just fight once we're in the arena. Plus it's really hard to explore this island. Look how big those spiders are! I'd be in a cocoon by now. Assuming the officials would let me on the island, Ingdani would probably eject me just for looking at it."
She pauses in naive confusion. "Wait, why would anyone cheat like that? And ruin a healthy mountain climb? That's what the rules are for."
"But yeah, we should prepare anyway. I'm certain there will be some final test or something or other."
Survey Wildlife:
Cirri will take a look at the lake to identify outstanding fauna and flora.
"I... think I'm good." Cirri checks her gear. "But if anyone else wants to go shopping I'll gladly join you."
Once purchases are complete, Cirri ponders the next location. "We could go Southeast to finish the coast, or we could go Northwest and scale the cliffs. Both sound fun to me, but we'll have to double back no matter what."
"Does anyone have a preference?"
Just giving other PCs a chance, since I've been leading the last few.
We have 6 feathers and an island to explore. I wouldn't mind securing the feathers before day 3, if possible. This was a 2 feather challenge and Drockhar was almost burned alive. I'd hate to have to rush during day 3 and fight too much or fight a really tough battle because we wagered too many feathers.
Well, we'll see what happens when we bump into another team.
"Well, they were nice. After they stopped punching Drockhar, of course."
Cirri stands up and takes a look around the island. "Is that a lake? Oo! Let's go inward. Maybe towards... I'm gonna call it D3." She marks another spot on her hand-drawn map.
I say we go East (down) to D3.
Survey Wildlife:
Once they arrive in D3, Cirri will take 10 minutes to study the wildlife in the area using >Survey Wildlife<.
Besides talking to her new potential friends about the tides and casting some all day enhancements, Cirri has nothing else to to do.
Status:
Spell Slots @ 6th (☑□□), 5th (☑☑□), 4th (□□□), 3rd (□☑□), 2nd (□□□), 1st (□□□) @ DC 31| Staff of Healing ☑☑☑□□□
Buffs: >Vital Beacon< (Heightened to 5th), >Longstrider< (Heightened to 2nd)
Cirri should be at full HP after Drockhar's after battle healing.
This was our first fight against another team, and I think we did well despite not knowing our tactics. Drockhar's going to frontline, Zurrus will buff or interrupt and Max will pew pew arrows. I kind of do everything, but would love to shift form and get into melee.
If the GM wasn't blessed with those rolls I think we would have mostly been OK.
Cirri yelps as one of the sisters falls. She begins scrambling for her healing magic, but she breathes a sigh of static when she sees it's not needed.
Realizing she doesn't have much time, Cirri dives into the sea and takes a short swim. How do Bronze dragons glide through water like this? They are barely buoyant.
Cirri's draconic feet return to avian talons as she climbs onto the island and coughs. "I wish I could always breathe water..."
Cirri bows to Rijana and Manyala. "Hey, uh, that was really cool, with the water and the flames. I was worried I would be boiled alive."
"So... fight's over, right? Great! Now we talk about the tides."
Nature***:1d20 + 23 ⇒ (18) + 23 = 41
Cirri squats and begins rambling about the moon, the water and the waves.
As she finishes talking to her new potential friends, Cirri will cast
>Vital Beacon< (5th level) and use her wand of >Longstrider< (2nd level) on herself. She should be more prepared next time!
"Isn't it cool? Bronze dragons are natural swimmers. Some pirates speak of tales where a bronze finned shark wrecks their hull, and navies say they witness a bronze dolphin scaring off predators, but of course- ow!"
Cirri ruffles back and wants to rub her snout. "Right. We're fighting. Sorry! Why am I apologizing?"
"Oh, that is so cool! I mean, I can swim underwater like I can walk and hold my breath for so long, but you're like... one with the ocean. I have so many questions to ask-"
Max grunts as his arrows fly into the mist.
"Oh, right, we're dueling. Sorry. Maybe I can ask afterwards!"
She turns to Drockhar. "Should we keep hanging back? The mist should fade away real soon."
Cirri takes cover behind a tree and raises her shield.
First the flames, and now the waves. Kind of fun to compete with a water user.
Oh right, the crushing.
Reflex Save with Evasion:1d20 + 23 ⇒ (15) + 23 = 38 Evasion turns the success into a critical success
Cirri leaps into the wave on her left side and swims right through it, emerging through the other side wet and amazed. "Wow... cool! How did you channel the waves from this far away?" She hoots.
"Wow, it's beautiful..." Cirri feels the tide tug upon Rijana's will, and Manyala's flames rise, coalesce and shoot like a pebble.
At me!
Cirri kicks backward just as the flames rush past her.
"Wait, we're going to wait for them? Uh, I think they're just fine from back there. But, we can try it your way. She's not the only person who can control the seas!"
"Volcanoes of the deep, burst forth!" Cirri sweats as she stomps the ground.
The ground swells beneath the women as a >Geyser< bursts forth!
"Oh man! You can create flames and everything, cool!" Cirri claps, clearly impressed. "Oh, we have to fight now..." Cirri frowns for a moment before regaining her composure. "Well, good luck to you all!"
Cirri goes for a swim. It's nice. Reminds her of home, for just a moment.
>Natural Swimmer< gives Cirri a Swim speed of 15 feet, so she'll swim along the surface to the island.
Cirri stretches her wings and lets the water drip out. "Okay. Okay. This is where we start, the fight, right?" Her shoulders slump. "Okay, fine. Let's hurry this up, we barely saw the island."
"Seas of Change, bless Drockhar with the low tide and high tide!" She draws a shield while Drockhar feels the world move a little slower.
◆◆ Cirri casts >Haste< on Drockhar. ◆ Cirri draws her Shield.
Time for the least exciting part.
Initiative:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 20 = 33
Cirri seems bewildered. "Tree feathers? Well, feathered creatures may drop a feather near their nest, which is often in trees. But Phoenixes are much too large for these trees. Maybe a mountain?" She hops with glee. "Oh, maybe we'll see a Phoenix nest when we climb the summit!"
"Oh, I bet the view must be wonderful!" Cirri's wings twitch excitedly. "Maybe one day I'll be able to fly from the peak to the base." She hops around a few times before containing her excitement.
"Maybe we can head towards the forest, though. Northeast?" She points to the section marked F12 on her rough sketch of the island. "We can cover more ground that way- maybe we'll meet another team!"
"These indicate the mantises are big. They can do this thing where they leap and strike you while moving. And if they hit, they grab you. Very powerful leg control." Cirri rubs her own leg instinctively.
You can read the spoiler in the >GM's post< for specifics.
"I... might be able to ask them to leave us alone. Then again, bugs are pretty simple minded."
Druids have Wild Empathy. I can use my +15 Diplomacy to Make an Impression on most wild animals, but I have no idea if they will work on insects.
"Wait, give me a minute." Cirri squats, closes her eyes, and breathes slowly.
Cirri will >Survey Wildlife< to determine what creatures are in the area.
Survival +18 to observe animal signs/tracks/scat. Then she can make Nature +22 checks to identify animals in the area. She's a Master in Nature so she suffers no penalty.
Survival:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36
"Okay, if we're going east, we should look out for these flora and fauna."
Cirri snores quietly, wrapping her wings like a coat as she sleeps. "Wha?" she hoots awake from her second nap. "What are we- what's going on? Oh! Front of the Temple?" Swayaah stretches her wings, grabs her staff, puts on her armor and catches up to the team.
Cirri will gladly wear the necklace if no one else wants to.
The necklace is beautiful. Even if they never found the extra feathers in that sandstorm. She was certain they would claim the extra feathers they needed.
"Oh! Thank you for all of your help. I hope the necklace looks good. These phoenix feathers are beautiful. I'm kind of jealous. Assuming the phoenix gave their feathers with consent." Cirri kind of runs on while the officials politely ignore her.
"Rules of engagement... got it..." CIrri reads the rules.
Cirri, an avid archeologist, anthropologist and bird watcher, travels around Golarion recording and observing the various flora and fauna. She also explores old ruins to record their history, using their spare treasures to fund her journeys.
The Ruby Phoenix Tournament represents an opportunity to speak to the interplanar sorceress Hao Jin directly. The winner even gets to explore her vault of treasures she's collected throughout the ages. This is too good an opportunity to pass up. So much interplanar knowledge, and all she has to do is win this tournament obsessed with fighting or whatever.
Cirri hightailed it here, paid the entry fee for herself and a team she found along the way. Cirri's not too picky as long as they aren't evil at heart. So she's the sponsor of the team, and the teammates named the team after her.
Cirri's Corsairs are here to win, but step one was to clean up a creepy ghost filled temple. That's mostly completed, so she finally has a chance to relax.
----
Possible hooks:
- You're one of the initial teammates Cirri recruited before the journey
- We were one person short of a legal sized team and you were a free agent, so we hired you and Cirri paid for your entry
- We found you at the temple and decided another teammate would help us clear it out.
This is my first time with a high level character in Pathfinder 2nd ed. It's been a lot of fun so far. The DCs are higher than I expected (often we needed a roll of 14-17 to succeed) but we do have Juggernaut/Evasion/Resolve so Success becomes a Critical Success. I guess I'm saying it's nice to feel powerful and the risks feel even more risky. Healing seems difficult to keep up with. But this is more of a discussion of PF2's difficulty rather than your style.
I do like how you're going to house rule knowledge checks. When we know what to exploit the fight gets a lot easier and more exciting. Like when we started tripping the statues and they had to waste actions standing up. Looks like they were quickened, so I'm guessing the elemental bombs caused them to go berserk.
I'm always thankful for your patience and keeping us on track when we make mistakes or miss rulings (like the Uncommon shield I've been using all this time without noticing its rarity.) If there's any confusion over a ruling, feel free to declare something. I'm a fan of telling a story over getting the rules exactly correct, and often the ruling is quite minor.
The Player Expectations are nice because everyone knows the ground rules before starting.
I do like how you give the enemies some personality, even if they are simple statues or stinky stag beasts. Helps add some personality to this dungeon crawl. I can only kick down the door so many times before I get bored. Imagining the stone statue master give a "come and get some" gesture made me giggle.
I'm having a lot of fun and I can't wait for our next adventure.
