Frankie Feldspar's page

When in doubt insert Chaos

For example an Explosion = Fire everywhere. Dangerous to both PCs and enemies Also can be used to create a "maze" that lets you control movement of both sides, letting you to break things up into small fights

Ok... You get it!

Irritating/waking up a giant monster who comes to investigate the explosion is also a cool idea... Though I'm unsure if it would necessarily make things easier for the past on any way... Its certainly not something they would be planning for.

Yes - I am the GM.
I know how normal encounters are designed and the party is very familiar with typical dungeon crawl mechanics... But I am trying to set up something that has the potential for them to remember for a long time as it breaks the mold.

Sure - they can wait for nightfall, When most of the camp will be sleeping, then watch the pattern of the guards and come up with a plan to sneak down from the cliffs, or come in from an aquatic approach, and interact with as few enemies as possible - and simply stick to the rescue mission and just report back their findings when they are done with their mission. Leave it up to higher ups if they want to send in a larger assualt...

But I would love to sprinkle in a few clues or hints that could lead them to a classic - over the top Action Movie sequence of destruction and mayhem...
I suppose the explosion could start a domino effect...cause some rock slides to take out a number of the huts on the perimeter... Maybe even a guard tower... But I didn't want it to be just a single act that takes out the whole village. I was hoping to have like 5 independent things that could be done to create massive losses.

I'm looking for some ideas on how to turn something that looks like a completely impossible encounter into something manageable for the party.

Background:
I am trying to put together a 6th level game for my group. Idea is playing off of Nex & Geb being in a cold war... and Nexian Military Intelligence learns Geb may be planning to start a proxy war via Mwangi tribes on the Nexian Western Front.

The Party is a Nexian Military Special forces team sent to rescue an undercover troop that was doing some reconnaissance (spying) along a trade route to Kibwe. What they discover is a Vegepygmy village working with some intelligent Gebbite Undead to develop massive Alchemical siege weapons and munitions.

Now - a 5 man team infiltrating a pretty large camp of well trained/highly armed Vegepygmy and Undead Military officers may be theoretically possible.... They might be able to set up the perfect series of stealth rolls with coordinated distractions to get in, save the prisoners and get out.... But I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket ... I would like to also provide a potential Plan B option, were they to make some good perception checks or Profession (soldier) checks....

The most obvious is "chuck a flask of alchemist fire into the stores of Alchemical Munitionns - and create a huge explosion taking out a bunch of enemies all at once...

But that can't be the only move... I'm looking for help coming up with other ideas of things the party might be able to do to quickly take out large numbers of the Vegepygmy tribe as well as the undead, so when they do move in, it's just to clean up the few remaining tribal threats.

I'm using this map, in case it inspires any ideas....

Generally speaking, if there's a specific spell of equal or higher level to remedy something, like Stone to Flesh, Remove Curse, or Restore Senses, I'd be skeptical that Dispel Magic is intended to be able to get rid of it.

That had been my initial cause to be skeptical.

...That being said, Dispel Magic can only target spell effects or unattended magic items, neither of which a stoned creature would qualify as.

Oh!!! So... despite the first line saying "You unravel the magic behind a spell or effect" because the spell block says

only spells and not other magic effects can be targeted... oh wow... ok.

per the rules of duration (CRB pg 304)

Some spells have effects that remain even after the spell’s magic is gone. Any ongoing effect that isn’t part of the spell’s duration entry isn’t considered magical. For instance, a spell that creates a loud sound and has no duration might deafen someone for a time, even permanently. This deafness couldn’t be counteracted because it is not itself magical (though it might be cured by other magic, such as restore senses).

If a spell had "Duration: Permanent" listed in its spell block, then I suppose the effect of the spell could then still be dispelled... but I don't know any spells that have such a listing.

being an ability, though.. and not a spell.. it doesn't have a spell block format. But i did notice, that the Focus Gaze ability of the Medusa's does not actually have a duration itself - it just says that the target has to roll anther Fort Save vs the Medusa's Petrifying Gaze ability, which has a 1 minute duration.
However... if the target fails their save and had already been slowed by a previous Petrifying Gaze, the result is they become Petrified Permanently... which is an effect that remains after the Petrifying Gaze's listed 1 minute duration.... so i THINK... that means the petrification itself is NOT considered magical, and therefore cannot be dispelled.

Dispel Magic can't dispel effects despite the first sentence, as effects are no valid targets.

Considering the number of magical effects in Pathfinder, I think it's safe to keep it that way. Unless you want to see Barbarian's Rage being dispelled.

well.. rage has no trait that would make it magical to begin with...

Dispel Magic says "You unravel the magic behind a spell or effect", and the Medusa's Focused Gaze ability has the |Arcane| trait, making it a magic effect.

But it also says the effect is Permanent. So is there still magic in place for the spell to actually dispel? If someone used "Detect Magic" in a room with a person petrified by a Medusa, will their stone form ping as magical?

And if so... were a druid uses Shape Stone to turn a boulder into a flat slab.... does that slab ping as magical when a nearby person casts Detect Magic? And could someone come by a year later and use dispel magic to turn it back into a boulder?

One other thing i noticed about the Rogue (Kaako Ashfeather)- she has 3 "Primal" Cantrips listed, but she should have 3 Primal and 1 Occult.

She gets Electric Arc as an innate Primal spell from the Storm's Lash Ancestry Feat.
She gets Guidance as an innate Occult spell from her Pendant of the Occult
So it seems that Know Direction comes form the Minor Magic Rogue feat, but she should get a second cantrip with that as well. And since Know Direction is on every spell list - the 2nd cantrip could theoretically come from any spell list too...

That said - I love the flavor of Kaako. And I really look forward to playing her in my upcoming game.

Thanks for the info. I really liked the idea of Tomil pretending to be a Hellknight having been dispatched there to help restore order... but I think I will have him come back with a few cultists also pretending to be Hellknights/Hellknight Signifiers. It would definitely help give Tomil more authority upon his arrival in Kibwe.

Now I wonder if I should have a social encounter with the 'Hellknight' order midway between Xatramba and Kibwe. Maybe a campsite encounter...
Tomil could use a Sending to warn his cultist brethren in Xatramba about the incoming adventurers... and and come up with a plan for when he reaches Kibwe that would serve as a contingency for if the Heroes manage to free Cursebreaker.

I like the idea that the PCs would actually meet him before the final battle, but I need a reason why he wouldn't try to just murder them while the slept... Oh! He could still be in a weakened state due to the recovery period from the reincarnation ritual. Oooh that would be juicy to add into the final Pre-battle BBEG Monologue.

Necro'ing this thread as the VTT playthrough has finished as of yesterday.

I am glad i came back and searched for this thread. I am just prepping the game now, and i see how ridiculously underwhelming the module's written boss encounter was - both form a story and combat perspective.

I like everything you proposed - and chose to go with - but i am a bit concerned about just how powerful you have made the final combat. Did you level the players up to 8 before the final encounter? or were you seriously pitting a level 7 party against a level 10 PC and a Level 10 Carnivorous Crystal?

well - this is my first game with Frankie, so i am assuming that's where the 4 fame and reputation came from

Frankie - make sure to register your character on the Paizo site.

Pretty sure I did that before this game began...

# 2371226-2001 PFS(2ed)
Frankie Feldspar
Vigilant Seal: 4
Fame: 4

Is there anything else i need to do?

Whoah... so... if the Varki were the only ones in front of us.. does that mean THEY were the ones who had been sabotaging things? or was that one of the groups that fell behind the last night? I cannot recall, if we encountered sabotage during the last trial... was it the loose plates on the vaulting poles? or was it an official trying to sabotage everyone other than the Varki for some reason...

given what happened in game - i doubt it would be on Frankie's mind - which is why i am talking about it here instead.

The "Field Medic" background grants Lore:Warfare, but does not grant any lore for healing, medicine, etc... But I would like to think that the "Warfare Lore" Frankie has gained includes information about treating injuries, and I had included in her short Bio, that she worked as a Physician's Aid after leaving the Taggoret Guard. So I think in her downtime, she provides affordable, non-nondenominational healing for villagers, farmers, and townsfolk who have suffered injuries.

Warfare Lore: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Edit: Well... what did you expect? it's not like she's a Cleric or an actual TRAINED doctor... lol

I originally came to this thread in order to complain about missing that DC 15 Medicine check by 1... but after reading all those Discussion posts i had missed since yesterday, I had completely forgotten about it. XD
Only when I clicked back on the game thread to see if any more posts had come in, did i recall my original reason.... so yeah - nobody able to cast guidance, retroactively?

oh well - it looks like Feldspar and Tam Sa Gi are both trained in medicine - Tam Sa Gi even has battle medicine as well - so I suppose she may be able to patch the last Varki up before even need to try a 10 minute long wound treatment.

"Here, I can help them" Frankie says, dropping yet another tool of violence onto the icy ground. Pulling out her Healers tools, she begins to attempt quick patches to each of the two survivors.
battle medicine1 (DC15): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 for 2d8 ⇒ (1, 5) = 6 healing.
battle medicine2 (DC15): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 for 2d8 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5 healing.

Since her second effort, did not seem sufficient to bring the fallen Varki back to consciousness, Frankie spends the next 10 minutes, treating the wounds more carefully
Treat Wounds (DC15): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14 for 2d8 ⇒ (4, 2) = 6 healing.

using last hero point (thanks Barb)
Attack1 Reroll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Edit:.....damn....

Frankie moves towards the cave to gain tactical advantage (flanking), and hoping to distract it from Mordack - who is looking quite frail. "Over here you dumb fur ball!" She shouts as she strikes repeatedly with her glaive.
Attack1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
dmg1: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
dmg2: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

...I'm looking for the rules in Pathfinder 2e that says casting in melee provokes...If, during the process of withdrawing, you move out of a threatened square (other than the one you started in), enemies get attacks of opportunity as normal...

You should note - unlike Pathfinder 1e, creatures do not have the innate ability to make Attacks of Opportunity. They must have the ability or one like it listed in their statblock. Fighters get them, and some creatures have the ability listed - but, for many foes, you are in no danger of castings spells beside them, or leaving a threatened square

Frankie takes advantage of the opportunity and lunges at the bear with her glaive
Attck (Deadly d8, Forceful, Reach): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
potential slashing damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Seeing that Olin is safe, Frankie advances towards the bear, while also drawing her glaive. Seeing the bodies lining the cave, Frankie says "Looks like this one's developed a taste for men - Supposin' we have to put it down."
Frankie strides twice to get behind Tam Sa Gi, in reach of the bear with her glaive

As the bear starts its retreat, Frankie Gives it another strike to send it on it's way.
Attack of Opportunity: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
potential Bludgeoning damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
===============================================
Once the bear has moved far enough that its claws are no longer a threat, Frankie drops her flail and shield (Free) and turns to the fallen body of Olin "Hang in there big guy.. Let me see what I can do about those wounds"
Pulling out her healing tools from her bandolier, she falls back on her field medic training from her time in the Taggoret Guard, and tries to patch Olin up (1).
Battle Medicine/Treat Wounds (DC15): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
potential hp healed: 2d8 ⇒ (4, 7) = 11

Frankie then grabs her shield again (2) and raises it (3) for protection.

Can Frankie drop both her shield and her flail with "Release" free actions? I think I may want to get some reach, and help put some space between the Frankie & the Bear - but before having her drop her current weapon/shield and pull out her Glaive, I wanted to verify the action economy.

Frankie moves (1) up to get between the beast and the fallen body of Olin, Striking (2) at the Giant Short-faced Bear with her flail, before raising her shield (3) and shouting to her fellow Pathfinders, "Pull him out of harm's way!"
Flail Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

On the way back to her group, Frankie notices her leg is still bothering her from the earlier icy dip, and she tries to swiftly fix it with the old Dwarven technique of 'Medical Slapping'

(sorry for the no-post yesterday. The month of stay-at-home is getting to me, and days are kinda drifting together... I thought about the game this morning, and had absolutely no clue how many days had passes since my last post - was relieved to see it as only 1 day without a post.)

The ever-increasingly sour-spirited dwarf gets her sopping we body out of the pond, and grumbles as she makes her way back tot he fire to warm up and change clothes. She can feel pain in her leg from the icy water and rubs at it and applies a heating salve from her medicine kit.

When she see the judges start packing up she gets up form the campfire, and tells the group she'll back in a minute and ready to go, and heads over to the officials.
"I want another crack at it" is all she says - and starts heading back out on the ice, not waiting for a response form the judges.

FRANKIE GETS UP AND PLOWS AHEAD
Acrobatics Reroll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Frankie: Give me an Acrobatics check.

.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
.
while tempting to burn the other Hero Point - I think I'll just sufferthe consequences this time.

Frankie lights a torch, and carries it with her on the way out to the ribbon. Recalling the stuck egg and loose plates, She keeps her eye open to any possible signs of potential sabotage. Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

She uses the torch to Melt through most of the ice, but as she gets close to the ribbon, relies on her Mining Knowledge for how to chip away enough ice to get the ribbon without damaging the rest of the surrounding ice's integrity. Mining Lore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

"Thanks Tammy."
After Feldspar makes his comment, Frankie laughs - but only because she thinks he may be making a joke. In truth, she is simply confused by the comment. But all is forgotten as soon as he pulls a cat out of his pack.
"Nice Trick, Fel - what else can you pull out of there?"

(trail check Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10)

Finding herself at the otherside, standing amid the party members she just... well.. insulted, all she can say is "Sorry.... I don't handle failure very gracefully. Uh... when this is over, drinks are all on me"

When Frankie realizes she actually landed back on the starting shore and not in the river, she is relieved. She shouts to the other side, "Thanks Barb, Tammy" and heads back to try another running start. When she lands back on the near shore a second time, she is disappointed. When Liz makes the leap - it is a thing of devine beauty, from Frankie's perspective. She made it look as effortless as an angel flying in the heavens.
But any joy she felt upon watching Lizzy's grace was soon erased by a sweltering embarassment of her own repeated failure. Her ancestral pride required an excuse to be voiced, and so she shouted in an uncharacteristically accented voice, "Ye long-legged lassies have a leverage advantage. Me stubby legs n' I need to work twice as hard as any o ye skinny b*tches... n' Mordack - well... yer folk are all strangely top-heavy."
As she headed back to to try the leap a third time, Frankie wonders to herself whether she could have handled that situation any better.
Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

welp.... pretty sure Frankie is now drowning.
swell...

...only to find she does not have the momentum to carry the pole all the way through it's arcing motion. She slides down the pole, and is submerged into the frigid river below. After screaming and shouting a string of obscenities so long, that they could have made there way across the river and back on their own, Frankie begins swimming the remaining distance
Swim/Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

HERO POINT
Athletics ReRoll: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

After swapping out poles herself, Frankie quietly says to herself "You said you wanted to have new experiences... ", shrugs and takes off at a respectable Dwarven sprint for the rivers edge - Vaulting pole raised high. As she nears the river she lets the pole's end begin its fall, plunging it forcefully into the river's muck-filled bottom, and leaps with all her might....
Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

"Hey Feldspar!" Frankie calls the wizard over. "Now I've been told I have some mighty powerful thighs, if you catch my drift. But even so I am not certain I'm going to be able to make that leap. You seem like a brainy one... Any chance you got any pointers on how to get this dwarf to reach new heights? Some... Guidance, if you will?"

I did not notice that the other Outpost games I signed up for were both quests... whoops - that was quite a surprise when the GM said "...as you make you final posts..." after a single encounter.

"If it ain't broke, don;t fix it. Am I Right? HAW HAW HAW HAW"
Frankie starts the day with a cliche and another hearty guffaw, before starting off on the first leg of the day, pushing the sleigh.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

whoops. Here's the fixed athletics check
Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Frankie is more patient this trial, and waits until the others have taken a turn, asking for advice from them before she tries herself.
Hearing about the sticky substance on the egg, she asks an official if it is supposed to be like that, or has a previous competitor done something to make the task more challenging.
Regardless of their response, once it is indicated she can proceed with her own climb, f re annie does so.
ATHLETICS: 120 + 7 = 127

And then tries to gather info from the officials
diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

I think that happens regardless of when people work. It probably has a "Murphy's Law"-esque type name for the phenomena.

Hoping to put her blunder at the trial behind her, and prove to her allies her worth, Frankie offers to push the sleigh with whatever gear people want to toss in.
Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

After hearing the Marshal explain the Trial, Frankie eagerly volunteers to give it a try
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
However she has difficulty even locating the bell. As she begins making her way through the caribou...
Stealth: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
...she realizes that in her eagerness - she made a horrible mistake by not first removing her gear and pack prior to attempting the trial. hearing the clanking of her flail against her shield,she realizes she may as well have been banging pans together. ashamed of her incompetence on this trial. she sullenly returns to the group's camp.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

As soon as the rope drops, Frankie starts off at a respectable jogging pace. In an attempt to reassure her teammates that her stubby legs will cause no hindrance to their speed, she says to them, "Let's all be relieved this wasn't a sprint. We dwarves are not exactly natural sprinters! Not very dangerous over short distances, but a cross-country race, that is more our tin of ale!"

Frankie sets off to try and assess the remaining teams the group has not yet laid eyes on. Mostly just saying hello, introducing herself, asking if they team has completed in past years - and if so, if they have any advice for a rookie from the Five Kings Mountains.

Frankie looks at Carmelizia and Mordack - "Two votes for each.. Who wants to cast the tiebreaker vote?"

Visibly disappointed, Frankie says "Oh... yeah. I guess that makes sense. So does that mean nobody wants to go with "The Pronghorns". She looks at the group with eager anticipation, but continues on "You know....because -like us- they're not from around here, but are surprisingly fast"