Kludde's page

Ah, when i say ‘boards’, i mean the paizo boards where i play most of my games. Sorry if that was unclear. I have been a player in the games i referred to.

This is question I have asked other GMs especially good ones.

Do you learn more on how to be a good GM from good GM's or Bad ones?

They always told me bad ones.

Oooh, you're in a good place then, because I'm a REALLY bad GM :-P

My own experience is a bit different. There are a couple of GMs on the boards that I really look up in the way they run their games. Mostly because they have a style that I really like, which truly brings the story to life. Whenever I play in their games, I feel challenged to create better posts as a player. Their games have really made me think about how I can improve my own games, and how to create player engagement.

Did you have any experiences where another GM (regardless of whether they were good or bad) made you reflect on your own style?

One of the things I like to keep in mind is that the audience, settings and expectation of people may vary a lot. I like to compare it to what happens when I play board games with different groups of people. I used to play a lot of Risk with my friends, and we had an unspoken understanding of what we wanted to do there: everybody played for the win, according to the rules, with a lot of negiotiating going on, and absolutely no softballing. The dynamic changes when you mix up the group: with inexperienced players you'd want to tone down the take-no-prisoners style a bit, and if you find certain players don't enjoy competitiveness or losing, you'd play a different game altogether (I've enjoyed cooperative boardgames a lot, lately).

As soon as you sit down to play a(ny) game, you enter into a social contract - everybody at the table is ultimately there to enjoy themselves, but what that means may be different for everybody. The contract requires everyone to compromise a bit to find a middle ground, and that may be easier to find the more familiar you are with eachother, and the smaller the group is. Barry's example is a really nice showing of a group of people that started a bit further away from eachother, with different interests and priorities, but with people definitely showing the willingness to compromise.

For Society play, the group is really big: instead of a group of (about) seven players, we now have a campaign with thousands of players all over the world, and we want to be able to freely change up characters between sessions. Ultimately the rules are set from above as a kind of ruleset you can subscribe, which works for a lot of people.

By design, Society play works quite differently from a more free-form campaign, an I'm sure my 16-old-year self would have frowned on the way I run campaigns now (but then again, those 16-yo campaigns never went anywhere, and my homebrew stories were bad). He probably would have understood that this is a cool way to play with a lot of different people around the world, quite consistently, and with interesting stories. You sacrifice some flexibility, but you get a lot in return!

Even in the constraints of Society, there's a lot of variation in play style and people's preferences. Some people prefer very gritty scenarios, others the bubblier ones, I see people that really go for developing their characters, people that want to banter with other characters a lot, people that are less comfortable in writing out dialogue and prefer to describe what their characters say rather than putting it down literally, people that really go for the mechanics, optimizing their character along the way, and people that just build whatever character fits their flavor. I can accept all of those, as long as you're contributing to the fun of the group and keeping with the social contract.

I'm seeing a lot of different view of what our job as a GM is. I'm seeing some every different views, and also a lot of requirements for the GM.

Maybe some questions to keep the discussion going:

- Is there anything that was said here you strongly agree with? Anything you want to add upon? How are other people's opinions different from your own?

(In case you disagree with someone, please remain respectful, of course)

- What are some of the best examples of a GM doing their job that you have seen? Why did you think this was good?

- I saw an interesting statement from another participant: 'The GM is first and foremost another player at the table'. What do you think about that?

I would encourage you to keep talking with each other about what has been said so far, see if we can get to some more interesting views.

Mentors: Do you have any views to add to this discussion?

Here's the correct link:

Vote here!

While you ponder that one, let's review the first assignment.

"Wait, what first assignment? All we've done is introduce ourselves!"

Exactly! I have to be honest here, and admit that I've never done this in a PbP game! I'm spending months on end with the same people in a social game, and yet I don't do an introduction round. Isn't that a bit strange?

Introductions are an important part of any social interaction, and gaming is no different. Introducing yourself, and encouraging the players at your table is a crucial part of startup. More than making sure everyone has dice. More than getting the signup sheet filled in as people sit down. More than just about anything. You want the players to be comfortable with each other and you, as it will set the tone for party cohesion.

This is important at a Face to Face (F2F) table, but maybe even more so for PBP, where you are with this group for weeks, months, or even years (for APs and long modules) on end, but have minimal interactions beyond a post or two each day.

So make sure you get those introductions done early!

For our next assignment, I want you to answer a very simple question:

What, in your opinion, is the job of a GM?

I'll just take the Virtual Whiteboard to make notes.

You can answer here in the thread (I'll take notes), or you can put down ideas yourself on the whiteboard. Myself and the mentors will stay silent for a bit while you discuss.

Well, it great to see such a wide range of experiences! Did we miss anyone's introduction? If you need more time, or just don't know what to say, please give me a little sign (or a DM if you're the private type).

Also, thanks for not mentioning THAC0. That term is forbidden around here.

I see a lot of people already have a GM alias set up. This is something a lot of people do, and it helps organise some item (I see some of your have the '◆◇↺' action indicators in their strapline, for example). This is a good moment to decide if you want a dedicated alias, and if you do, go set it up!

Get well soon, Redelia! Thanks fellow mentors for the introductions!

Since Redelia has asked me to keep things moving, let's get to the active part:

First assignment

Can you all please introduce yourselves? This is the first official assignment, but also a roll-call of all of our participants.

Please describe something about yourself, your role-playing games experience, and why you have joined GM school or what you hope to get out of it.

I'm so exicited I was just wondering about this checked my email and got the link. I hope to learn so good things for running pfs

Welcome! Glad to hear you're excited!

For your online safety, you might want to be aware that the forum is available publicly, so you might want to consider changing your avatar name to something less likely to attract spam. You can do that by going to 'My Account', and then changing your Avatar name. You'll have to do it before you make ten posts, though, afterwards it's permanent.

Hi everybody! I'll be the mentor for Starfinder Games.

I've been playing RPGs since high school, where I played Second Edition AD&D with a tight group of friends, hosting our own mini-conventions in an abandoned office building (that we almost burned down, but that's a story for another day). I rolled into Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society slightly more than ten years ago, and have been playing (with a few minor exceptions) almost exclusively in play-by-post format. When Starfinder came out, I gave it a shot, and ever since 'Star Sugar Heart Love', I got hooked.

I have had some great memorable games on the Paizo boards. I'm currently having a great time with Season 6. I'm running a more-or-less fixed group through all scenarios in that season, and it's great to see their characters develop along the way. I've newly been appointed Venture Agent for the Castamir station, which is the central recruitment thread for Starfinder Society games on the Paizo board. Among other things, I try to maintain weekly announcement posts there to make it easier for players and GMs to find a seat.

In real life, I'm a physicist working in finance, with great interest in music from all over the world, (which you might see reflected in my games).

Fun fact: I have played exactly ONE Pathfinder 2e session in my life, and the game master is here, as one of our students! Waves!

Despite the Starfinder's attempts at intervention, the bickering continues, for waaay too long.

Vaalaris eventually explains, “Basically, Drift lanes connect two or more places in the universe through a stable path that is faster and safer for travel than navigating the Drift alone.”

Hyyxzen adds, “When we’ve got these things all mapped, it’s gonna be towls amazing. You can help us by crossing from one side of the lane to the other, so you can measure how wide it is.”

Ferra then adds in “A fascinating area of study concerns exactly how the lanes work, and I believe the answer depends primarily on whether you are thinking from the inside out or outside in, so to speak. For those within them, Drift lanes chart a path that shifts through the planes, taking mere days each time.”

Vaalaris interrupts to add, “Like a dance across the fabric of the universe, always to the same beat.” Ferra, annoyed by the interruption, clears her throat and continues, “In fact, we do not know if it is the ‘same beat,’ as we have not measured the planar energy within a Drift lane. Yet.”

Here you can also help us. I have constructed a device that can measure planar energies, you just need to take it into the lane.

Hyyxzen picks up from there.

“Now, getting into a Drift lane is one of the sliffering easiest things to do. At least we think so. You just gotta be within the gravity well of a world, chart your course to a Drift lane, and fly your way in.”

Vaalaris adds, “From the musings others have drafted concerning other Drift lanes, I surmise the interior to be—” he clears his throat and begins reading from a handheld device, “—a tunnel cutting through the drift, its shifts too quick to trace, its walls a hazy shimmer in the endless dark of space. O, safe and steady forward path for those in your embrace… and well, that’s all I’ve got so far. Without a picture of what a Drift lane looks like from the inside, I’m having the hardest time finishing my ode.”

Vaalaris further explains: "while the Drift lane may cut across the Drift and change position frequently, for those inside of one, it will generally be a smooth ride. Each lane has a barrier that is solid enough to prevent ships leaving the Drift lane accidentally, but will not prevent a vessel from pushing through the side into the rest of the Drift if it does so purposefully. This barrier has also prevented me from getting a picture so far. I would have untold gratitude if you would help me obtain one.

----

The trio provide the coordinates to the drift lane, which is just a short flight away. After a sixty-second countdown to engage the drift engines, a tunnel opens ahead, its walls hazy and translucent but thick enough to seem almost solid, clearly marking the transition between the Drift lane and the area outside. The Drift lane stretches forward, curving slightly in the distance, leading to the unknown like a passageway of purple clouds. See handouts

Once inside drift lane, you can perform the following checks:
- Physical Science: crossing from one side of the lane to the other to measure how wide it is
- Mysticism: activate Ferra's device to measure planar energies
- Computers: realign their systems for photography while in the Drift lane

This is a message from AbadarCorp Entertainment. To celebrate the start of Season 6, we will be running a special series of two games, for which spots are still available. All AbadarCorp Entertainment games come with free photocards. Those interested can sign up in the official designated space. Please continue to show our trainees lots of love.

I'll be running the first two scenarios of Season 6, and I have two spot left for 6-01, three for 6-02. I am to start as soon as I have a table ready to go.

As Vayu prances around to the room with the doors, Ketill, from the surveillance room, clearly sees him show up in real-time. By the time Vayu is back, the image of course has long disappeared.

A trio of Inevitable Caulborn in the room make some clicking sounds.

Overall, the Inevitable presence isn't that big - The Caulborn are unlikely to fight, and neither are the handful of arbiters. There's two quite sturdy Kolyaruts patrolling the halls, as well as the three Zelekhuts that greeted you on your entrance.

On the protean side, the number of creatures left is very limited, due to the 'survival discouragement' that the adventurers applied. In fact, you've only seen that one protean hiding among the floating islands.

What do you want to do with that last door that gives entry into the next level?

The cog disappears into the mist, then bounces back as if having hit a hard wall.

It's a surveillance monitor

While Ketill backtracks to a room the party visited before - with a somewhat non-plussed Inevitable standing guard, Swayaah find a little alcove in the area with the floating islands. The small alcove is shaped as if it were formed from natural stone, yet every surface appears to be formed from maroon velvet. The walls are warm to the touch and gently pulse, like a heartbeat.

Inside the alcove, a collection of rather random items lie strewn about: A folding boat, marvelous pigments, a hand of glory and belt of giant's strength (those kind of slightly-larger-than-usual-but-not-quite-ettin-giants (+2)). There's some household items, including several neglected potted plants. Also in the heap is a large key, which seems to match the metal of the double door in the middle of the level.

For the sake of speeding things up a bit, I'll also reveal the three rooms you haven't visited so far, since they're in friendly territory anyway

O2
The walls of this stone room are covered with shelves holding a wide variety of wires, crystals, cogs, and what look like severed wings or limbs made of clockwork. Tall stacks of similar items— arranged neatly by color, size, and less obvious criteria—clutter the floor, though a clear path runs between the two doors.

O3
The gold wires set in the floor of this large room extend from the southern door to two humming apparatuses. The one in the northeastern corner is a cluster of silver and black cylinders of varying heights and sizes, the smallest standing six feet high. All are composed of stacks of thin, horizontal metal plates that arc electrical sparks. The other machine, embedded in the northern wall, is a squared-off archway made of metal and exposed wires. Inside the arch, the wall is replaced by a flat plane of golden light

O4
This room is bare, save for a wide section of the northern wall that seems misty and transparent. It shows hazy image of a much larger room dominated by the glowing pillar of the Emerald Spire, which extends from the ceiling through huge metal doors in the floor.

Ketill inspects the shrine-like place next to the whirlpool and realizes it is a powerful chaotic focus of some sort, mean to disrupt planar connections. Setups like this would shut down any nearby conduits to lawful planes. Chaotic ones would be unaffected, such as the massive whirlpool right behind. Strangely enough, the whirlpool, though undisputably a portal to the chaotic planes, seems to be inactive. Which is a good thing, the place is crawling enough with proteans as it is.

Spider climb allows you to traverse the walls. There are no ceilings or floor to speak of, only floating islands.

The proteans above remain indifferent to the presence of the adventurers.

I'm going to assume you use a combination of air walk/spider climb to move in

The deep end of the cavern has lost most of its floor and ceiling to endless pink sky, and a multicolored whirlpool floats in the air at the chamber’s center, pulsing with light. To the west, a bleached, serpentine skull several feet in diameter sits in an alcove above a narrow ledge; two red tulips are growing up through its vacant eyeholes. Tiny glass bottles full of liquid and stacks of small stones ring the skull.

Looks like I never revealed the map, so I did so now.

There a niche at the far end, that is now out of sight, and set of door on the opposite leads back to an area you visited earlier. It should be possible to cross the room by hopping from island to island

Kellan is smart enough to decipher the meaning of what the proteans are trying to say. They're quite coherent for being of pure chaos, and she suspects there is nothing more convoluted behind the rather simple reasoning of the lead protean.

The proteans seems oddly uninterested in moving towards hostilities, so the party is free to move around.

The protean hiding among the island keeps making his point.

Beautiful it below! Old below it! Sleeping! Must become awake sleeper! Creator it! Builder it! Changer it!

Want closed law-close! Want open chaos-open! Presence reason us!

Leave want you not-open? Leave want empty-hand you? Open must fight law-close you. Open can help chaos-open you.

Want open door? Fight law-close. Fight want? Fight chaos-open. Not fight want? Not fight chaos-open.

If - for some unimaginable reason - the speech of the protean doesn't make sense, feel free to make a linguistics check.

Want open to-friend chaos-open. Not fight chaos-open. Receive not pain chaos-open. Receive pain law-close. Receive pain one-pain only.

Kellan zips across the room, while Ketill point out the usefulness of having floors and ceilings. As Swayaah opens the next set of doors, that usefulness becomes apparent by the distinct lack of floors and ceiling in the next room.

The high walls of the meandering cavern look natural, yet the floor and ceiling disappear entirely. Above and below, this room gives way to a vast sky of swirling pink and orange clouds stretching to infinity. Scattered islands of flat stone float unsupported among the clouds, level with the room’s two doorways.

Beautiful below! a voice from among the clouds becomes, and adds with an echoing voice: Must become sleeper awake! Open below door! Helping you us! Helping us you!

Fighting you law-close! Helping you chaos-open!

Upon some closer inspection, two more of the weird creatures, just like the leader in the previous room, are hidden among the islands.

The room is a weird place - the green veils seem to connect opposite walls of the room, making this effectively one big infinitely long room. It's a good thing Vayu's shots didn't miss...

The chaotic wave washes over the adventurers, and while none of the speaking members are affected, Ilvan seems a bit dumber-as-a-bricker after the wave passes.

Weird Waves, Ilvan: 1d20 ⇒ 4 2 int damage

Swayaah's claws make a screaching sound, like chalk on a blackboard when she hits. The leader is about to comment once again on the benefits of collaboration, as Kellan puts a quick super-critical vampiric stop to the spewing of nonsence, leaving the large, formless creature dead on the floor.

Ilya, on her own right, proceeds to beat the confusingly playful creature next to her into a playful pulp, while Vayu fires away at the last moving protean, leaving only a gruesome and hideous statue in the middle of the room.

Technically not dead, but I don't see how it will survive a bomb from Ketill

Combat over

Vayu empties his barrels at the leader, making soft 'plop-plop' sounds over the loud blasts of guns firing.

The leader unleashes a wave of pure chaos, an outward expanding ring of pure randomness that sweeps the room. One of the naunets is turned to stone!

I need a DC 20 Fort save from everybody to avoid the bad stuff.

Fort: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21
Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31
Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Effect: 1d20 ⇒ 5
Effect: 1d20 ⇒ 18

The two non-petrified naunet harass the adventurers

Vs Swayaa
Bite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19
Tail: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Tentacle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16
Tentacle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 251d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

I need a DC 19 will save from Swayaah or be confused

Vs Kellan
Bite: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 281d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Tail: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Tentacle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Tentacle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 311d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

I need a DC 19 will save from Kellan or be confused

The leader does not make any further hostile moves (beyond that chaotic wave), but speaks

No-fight you them. Here them portal. Beautiful below! Fighting close Inevitable open us. Win us join us you!

All this eloquent speech happens while the creature is blazing.

Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

---
Ketill
Zen'yr
Kellan
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
---
Leader (83, on fire, -2 wis)
Creature -Red (38)
Creature -Blue(80)
Creature -Yellow (petrified)
---
---

The proteans seem to be slowly warming up to the fact they are under attack, and swipe tentatively at Swayaah and Ilya when they close in.

Attack of Opportunity, Swayaah: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Attack of Opportunity, Ilya: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13
Combat reflexes

As Ilvan sniffs at Ketill, Swayaah fills the air with the scent of lavender, as she opens up the greenish hide of the Naunet.

Ilya comes in kicking, hitting the her opponent to the sound of gongs, three times.

Can I have an action for Vayu?

---Surprise round---
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
Ketill
Zen'yr (Invisible)
Kellan
---
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
---
Leader (36, on fire)
Creature -Red (38)
Creature -Blue(80)
Creature -Yellow
---
Ketill
Zen'yr
Kellan
---

The inevitables that escorted you seemed to be very concerned about Protean presence on this level, and sure enough these oddly shaped, almost amorphous creatures sure fit the bill, and that is before taking their limited attention span into account. The larger creatures form is has the lower body of a snake, a humanoid torso, and a bird-like head and claws, while the other three have reptilian faces, but their tentacles contain snapping maws.

Swayaah knows that reality only has a limited grasp on these creatures. They're not bound by any particular form - polymorphing them doesn't work, and have complete freedom of movement, and immunity to acid (which makes sense, given their mental state). They're also highly resistant to the laws of physics, including electric and acoustic effects.

Kellan simply stabs at the nearest creature, which makes a chiming sound when the blade hits.

CL: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Ketill recognises the middle creature as a Imentesh, and the other three as Naunets. They're all beings of pure chaos, and in the Naunets this manifests as being able to make confusion-causing attacks, whereas the Imentesh can unleash waves of pure chaos, exposing those close by to random effects.

He also knows they take fire very seriously, and prefer to hurt by it. Strange creatures. Ketill's bomb burns the Proteans severely.

Reflex: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Where did Zen'yr go? She nowhere to be seen.

---Surprise round---
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
Ketill
Zen'yr (Invisible)
Kellan
---
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
---
Leader (36, on fire)
Creature (11)
Creature (17)
Creature
---
Ketill
Zen'yr
Kellan
---

The party moves up to the far door, ignoring the glowing runes, and stealthily make their entry.

This chamber is large and oddly shaped, with numerous alcoves and protrusions. Instead of stone, many of its walls appear to be curtains of shifting green mist that whirl and twist but always maintain a flat, vertical plane. Through the mist, another room is dimly visible.

The place is a cackling chaos of creatures. One larger creature - the one that retreated from the halls of door, is in the middle, trying to command the other three, who seems more interested in the shimmering walls.

--Surprise round---
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
Ketill
Zen'yr
Kellan
---
Vayu
Ilya
Swayaah
---
Leader
Creature
Creature
Creature
---
Ketill
Zen'yr
Kellan
---

Though a magical swirl seems to emanate from the red rune as Swaayah passes, the tiefling is unaffected by them. As she reaches the far set of doors, she clearly hear the presence of several cakcling creatures on the other side, that seem to be rapidly moving about, maybe even teleporting around.

The two glowing runes are quite obviously magical, and radiate an intensely strong aura of transmutation magic. From beyond the doors on the far side of the room, a true cacophony of sounds can be heard.

Okay, let's have a final set of day job rolls, then!

Shall I end the level here, then?

Swayaah presses on, following the protean through the door it left through. When she passes, she only finds another set of doors - and no trace of the protean. Beyond it, and oddly shaped room.

This room is shaped like two towering cylinders fused together, with the southeastern wall partially caved in. Etched into the floor in the center of each cylinder is a glowing rune. The northern rune glows green and the southern rune glows red.

The party takes no further action, allowing the protean to flee. This, in turn, causes the one inevitable present to eye the party with suspicion, although it does not speak.

No combat

The door in the floor are clearly the doors that the inevitables spoke of, the ones that are not to be opened (they are - quite obviously - also the door that would lead to the level below).

The stone wall is solid, tough it wouldn't stand up against the combined might of a Jelani. Smashing the wall would somewhat spoil the element of surprise, though.

Let me use the viewing room to your advantage, then

From the viewing room, the adventurers can see the presence of creatures in the current vault. In one room (P8), a large cavern full of crystals can be observed, some of which seem to be of the carnivorous kind.

In another cave (P5), a group of basidironds lurks around. There is a last cave, hidden behind a stone wall (P6), beyond which the viewing room cannot see.

Negative, no such liability was ever assumed. the Inevitable responds, then turns to Kellan correction: Proteans. While the demons you mention and the protean threat share lawless behaviour, the former tend to prioritize incongruency with societal norms, without regard for lawlessness of such. The latter tend to prioritize entropy and an agenda - insofar as organisation exists - of reduction of the rule of law. You will find the presence of the latter exceeds the presence of the former by several orders of magnitude.

Swayaah checks out the door to the side, which leads to a large chamber. This huge chamber was once square, yet the northern half has bubbled and run as if melted.

Above, the ceiling arches up in a dome braced by grand arms of stone carved to resemble the ribs of some great beast. From the dome’s zenith, the perfect green glass column of the Emerald Spire spears downward. Where the Spire meets the floor, it is clasped by two wide, horizontal brass doors set flush with the stone. The Spire pierces these doors along their seam, where the bronze conforms perfectly to its smooth cylinder. Runes and hieroglyphics—some crude, some incredibly intricate—cover the doors.

The runes on the doors seems to write a single word in over a hundred different languages. The dwarven, elven, orcish, azlanti, aklo, taldan, tien, gnomish and polyglot version all translate to the same word: 'WARNING'.

There's a single Kolyarut Inevitable guarding the door as Swayaah enters. Recognising the party for allies, it swiftly turns on the protean that has just entered the chambre, which realizes its outnumbered and tries to flee.

You can all get an attack of in the surprise round

Kellan
Ketill
Swayaah
Ilya
Zen'yr
Vayu

One of the inevitables joins the party and nods the passage if safe.

Golden wires lead in a shimmering ribbon from the eastern door to the northern one.

This corridor is a power conduit the inevitable explains, you will learn more after the next door

The air reverberates with a low hum. After the next door, the wires in the floor of split at the southern doors and lead to four cylindrical, white ceramic podiums in the corners of the room. From each podium rises a large, segmented ceramic arm that ends in a multi-fingered claw and an array of lenses.

This room, the inevitable says, [b]acts as a recovery room. We bring our wounded here to heal.

Swayaah immediately senses that the robotic arms, while generally helpful to inevitables, are also programmed to be hostile against biological creatures.

In other words, they're trapped.

The map appears to depict an immense cave system. When Jelani flips the lever it immediately becomes apparent what of: a single room lights up as a 'you are here' marker, leading the party to conclude that the emerald spire is only one of many underground vaults, nearly all of them at unexplored locations.

The three stones can be manipulated as cursors, allowing the highlighted room to shift in a remote examination of contents. Many of the rooms appear to contain locked creatures, in statis, but very much alive.

Just tell me where to go

The eastern wall of this chamber bears a complex carving of a map of an immense cave system. Opposite this map stands a peculiar machine made of stone and metal and crystal, the top a large inverted funnel made of what appears to be green crystalline spider webbing. To the south, three spheres of stone are embedded in one wall, while opposite them two green levers lie in the down position.

A giant green statue is carved in the form of the Vault keeper that was just defeated.

"Can you inform us of the nature of the 'Protean threat'?"

Proteans are orderless being, who exist for the sole purpose of entropy. Their presence here is a threat, since they seek to open the sealed door. The sealed door must remain closed at all costs. Therefore, the protean presence is a threat.

Your access to this level is currently restricted. The proteans reside on this level. Therefore, it is not feasible for you to provide aid against the protean threat. Access restrictions to this level can be restricted, provided you agree to the following terms and conditions. Please listen to all terms and conditions, and respond with either 'agree' or 'decline'

Terms and conditions: All access services shall be applied as-is, and recipients remain fully liable for loss of health, mobility, mental acuity, physical attractiveness, or liver function. The following activities are forbidden: lying, stealing, lechery, murder, defecation outside of designated area, usury, loitering, explicit language and loud music. Violence is permitted in self-defence, using the following forms of force: nonlethal, subtle, weak, mild, strong, lethal, overwhelming, electromagnetic, and brute.

At no point shall an attempt be made to open any doors that have been sealed for the purpose of remaining shut. The agreeees (sic) receive the right to have one (1) member of the inevitable race (tm) provide company for purposes of legitimization and disambiguation, in any and all areas under uncontested control the inevitable (tm) presence on this level.

Please agree or decline these terms.

The whole room seems to be dedicated to whoever is depicted in that statue

Several explosions fill the air when Fellgrim lobs his bombs, and as soon as Jelani hammer hits, the creature shatters into millions of pieces.

Combat over

A shockwave emanates from the slain vault keeper, knocking Jelani, Fellgrim, Bruce, Thistle and Caranthir straight over. Tremors fill the undergound cavern as a pulse of bright energy snakes its way through the under ground area, into the roots of the spire, and move further up. When the bright light dissipates, the green crystal is all the duller for it, as if a permanent presence has left it...

One of the two centaur-like constructs looks to address his superior I suggest caution, this could be a ruse.

The other addresses the Pathfinders directly: Access to this area is denied pending the elimination of the Protean threat. Our duty is to enforce order in these halls, protect the sealed gate and remove the protean presence. We are authorized to use the following forms of force: nonlethal, subtle, weak, mild, strong, lethal, overwhelming, electromagnetic, and brute. We will not be held liable for devaluations of possessions or cessation of biological functions.

Fellgrim lobs his projectiles, which explode in a formation of fire. Jelani steps through the roaring flames and makes clear he has beef with the vault keeper. He deals a ringing blow.

Caranthir fills the air with arrow, and several of them chip shards of the Vault keeper's body.

Severely wounded, the vault keeper strikes back against Jelani

Claw: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (9) + 24 = 332d4 + 6 ⇒ (1, 1) + 6 = 8
Claw: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (10) + 24 = 342d4 + 6 ⇒ (4, 3) + 6 = 13
Claw: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (6) + 24 = 302d4 + 6 ⇒ (2, 2) + 6 = 10
Claw: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (4) + 24 = 282d4 + 6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 6 = 13
I need four DC 25 fort saves, 1 Dex drain for every fail

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Bruce
Thistle
Fellgrim
Caranthir
Jelani
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Vault Keeper (185)
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---

All ready?
----

Ketill chooses to receive the gift of the demon lord, and his nightmares of whispering voices are replaced by something else... a dream of falling deeper and deeper along a endless pillar of green, until he comes at a base. A creature dwells there, tending to a small nucleus of crystal as if it was a precious child. Time rushes forward and the crystals grows, until it covers all of the surface of Golarion...

----

As the group descends further down, a faint buzzing gradually becomes louder, until the staircase ends, and the sound has swollen to a solid crackling.

The corridor past the stairs is ringed in glowing, shattered red glass set into the walls. Beyond lies a wide, rectangular chamber studded with ten-foot-high black cylinders rising out of the floor. Each is joined to a smaller pole by a plate of transparent crystal inset with silver wires. The floor is inlaid with a bewildering array of geometric shapes and gold wires in straight lines and precise angles.

Two centaur-like, mechanical creature are here, looking somewhat on edge. As soon as they spot the party, they shout HALT! Who goes there?

The half seems quite literal, this level starts off with a Will save

A small shrine sits in the northwest corner of this room. A set of tiered steps leads down to the room itself. A table stands in the middle of the room, and two green pedestals rise in alcoves to the west and east. To the south looms a towering statue of a skeletal dragon made of stone and crystal.

The vault keeper is here, and hisses You are back! No matter, your struggle is pointless. Soon I will complete my vaultseed, and fashion a world in crystal for my own. You and your kind, you will be mere lifestock in my realm!

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Fellgrim
Caranthir
Jelani
---
Vault Keeper
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Bruce
Thistle
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Nope, I think I have a bug in my program. That should be 1.5, but I think it doesn't play nicely with non-integer numbers. Hmpf

Pfui! Chronicles are here. Sorry for the long delay. Please check them well, see if there is anything I missed.