Ragnar Ostogson's page

Thank you, GM Nowruz. Good game. I wonder what would have happened if we had reached the ettin before he killed Kiliuk’s mother

"That... that would be a wonder." He looks to the others. "Ready to go?"

Ragnar swallows. His mouth has gone dry. I never got to see a linnorm back home. He clears his throat and speaks. "Your Dragon-ness. Here's your amulet." He holds it up for Aurellliax. "We're Pathfinders. Venture-Captain Dreng sent us. There was a plot against you. The tiefling can tell you more. He should be around here somewhere. We tied him up."

Still gripping his sword, Ragnar looks down at the woman's corpse where the ettin dropped her. He turns and puts his hand on the half-orc's shoulder. "Kiliuk... do you want help bringing her back to the town?"

Meraina casts detect magic and inspects the amulet, the ring and the relics. She will attempt to identify any magic items. How many times should she roll spellcraft?

Should I have rolled the 2d4 rounds that the tanglefoot bag is going to last? I feel like we shouldn't have that information anyway.

Meraina casts magic missile at the ettin again and moves 20' closer.
magic missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Ragnar is about to draw an arrow when Kiliuk runs by him. He curses again. "Straight in? Alright." He drops his bow and charges after Kiliuk.

Charging power attack against the ettin, -2AC
greatsword: 1d20 + 5 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 2 - 1 = 13
damage: 2d6 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 5) + 6 + 3 = 19

I moved Kiliuk to the spot at which I think he would have to end his charge. Also, I think power attack is +2 damage. So he would have 3 (rolled) + 4 (strength) + 2 (power attack) = 9 damage on his attack.

Seeing the giant, Ragnar feels the adrenaline hit. He doesn't hesitate. Swearing profusely under his breath, he dashes forward and throws the tanglefoot bag at the giant.

What's the expectation around swearing on the Paizo forums? PG-13?

Ranged touch attack vs flat-footed with 1 range increment penalty
tanglefoot: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 3 - 2 = 14

He drops his torch and quickly draws his longbow. "I hope that will hold him!" he calls out. "Has anyone even seen anything like this?"

Knowledge check for Meraina to identify the giant. I believe giants should be knowledge (local) and she's trained.
knowledge(local): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Meraina casts magic missile at the giant, draws a tanglefoot bag and 5 foot steps against the wall.
magic missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

I moved the pawns over. Petro, shall we take the time to explore thoroughly or try to find the giant directly?

Oops. I missed that Petro is already botting Kiliuk.

OK. I got the links that you re-posted for the pre-gens. Thank you, Nowruz. I've moved Kiliuk's pawn onto the cave map. I can bot Kiliuk too if you want, Petro. Nowruz, tell me about botting though. I make mechanical decisions and you throw in any amount of flavour and dialogue that comes up? Is that correct?

Ok. I've never botted a character before. Is there somewhere that I can see her stat block? Or can you at least tell me what spells and how many spell slots she has, GM Nowruz?

Ragnar frowns. "Slept in this morning?" He quickly fills Meraina in on what they've found. He hands her a healing potion, a tanglefoot bag and a thunderstone which will mean that everyone has at least one of each. Then he steps into the mouth of the cave.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

He blinks in the torch light, squinting toward the darkness, and sniffs the air. Well that stinks. Oh! "The girl mentioned that the beast has a terrible smell." Using his dagger, Ragnar cuts two strips of cloth from the bottom of his cloak. He offers one to Meraina before tying the other over his nose and mouth.

Meraina raises an eyebrow before flipping her hair to one side and doing the same.

I assume I should be making skill checks for Meraina. Please add the appropriate perception bonus to this roll.

perception(Meraina): 1d20 ⇒ 5

What do people think about taking the time to explore? Richelle said that Korgren has been in the cave for a long time already. Given that, perhaps the extra time to explore won't make much difference with whatever she's doing? Honestly, I could go either way. We've been told that she's "preparing" the giant, whatever that means.

I think the sorcerer is a good choice. Do you want to bot, Petro? Or I can.

I was going to suggest that I scout ahead with the elixir of stealth... but I forgot about the darkenss.

Ragnar takes a minute to light a torch with his flint and steel. He grabs one of the tanglefoot bags in his other hand and walks to the front of the group at the mouth of the cave. He looks at Kiliuk. "So... your mother is in there. Is that going to be a problem? Do you think you can talk her down?"

I'll pass one of the thunderstones and one of the tanglefoot bags to the sorcerer. One each seems good?

I forgot to mention something: GM Nowruz previously suggested that since this is a 4 player module, we could bring in one of the pre-gens as a bot. Should we do that now before we get wrecked by Korgren and the giant?

I'll take a potion of CLW, a longbow, 20 arrows and... all 10 masterwork arrows? I'm assuming Kiliuk wants to keep using the heavy crossbow at range. I'll happily hand over 5 masterwork arrows if you want to grab a longbow instead. I could also make use of the elixir of hiding to scout, but I'll bring that up in character after we talk to the kids a bit more. If I'm reading the loot correctly, there are 4 tanglefoot bags and 4 thunderstones. We should each take 1 of each and someone grab the extras. If Korgren (the mother) is a caster, a thunderstone could hamper her casting. I'm not sure if a 20& failure chance on casting while deaf is worth a standard action to throw it, but we'll see.

Ragnar replies quietly to Petro. "I don't know. The tiefling wrote about a monster in his journal. And she's giving details down to the smell of the beast. There's probably something to it."

He turns back to Richelle and looks at her intently. She just wants a way out. He sighs. "Ok, listen." He looks at Tolwin. "Are you listening? We're Pathfinders. Members of the Pathfinder Society. We travelled here from Absalom. We came here to check on you two. Well, that's one reason anyway." He pauses for a moment. "Ok, your parents. They were Pathfinders too. After they died--when you were young--our boss saw you placed here with Mayor Qarl." He scratches his chin. "Look, it's a big world. People don't like you here? Go somewhere else. You're not children." He points at the unconscious tiefling. "Just don't think that you have to fall in with a cult or with criminals. Be smart about it."

Huh. So it turns out that Ragnar is going to do that. Making the sense motive check changed my mind.

To be clear, did the tiefling survive? Is he conscious?

As Richelle speaks, Ragnar rifles through the tiefling's pockets and any pouches or bags that he has. He's looking for anything useful or informative. He's also listening to Richelle and glancing up at her.

Is she actually willing to wait or will she try to flee if we go into the cave?
sense motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

When she asks who they are, Ragnar stops and looks at Richelle, shaking his head. "Nope. We're asking the questions. Why'd you do all this? Attack those kids, steal the amulet and fall in with this demon worshiper? " He points with his thumb toward the tiefling. "I get that there's a plan. Attack the town or whatever. Why did you join it?"

It occurs to me that we might conceivably win some goodwill from these two by explaining that we're Pathfinders and so were their parents. And that someone cares enough about them to send us all this way to check on them (which is a bit of a lie but not too far from the truth). But Ragnar sure as heck isn't going to do that.

Ragnar sighs in relief as Petro channels. He nods to him. "Thanks." He disarms Tolwin, Richelle and the Tiefling before collecting and stowing his own dropped weapons. He's listening for Tolwin's response to Petro's questions.

Hey, Petro moved to flank Richelle on the map, but she's already unconscious. Maybe he's actually next to the tiefling? I'm going to assume I don't get a flanking bonus, but please adjust my attack roll if I do.

Ragnar roars as the tiefling stabs him. He continues to circle and then swings his greatsword down toward the tiefling.

A 5 foot step to continue circling the tiefling and then an attack.
greatsword: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 3) + 6 = 10

critical confirmation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
critical damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 2) + 6 = 14

As he recovers from his attack, the end of his sword drags through the gravel on the ground before he manages to lift it again. His face is locked in a grimace of pain and some blood has seeped out around his wounds.

[ooc]I forgot that Ragnar's favoured enemy is human. Richelle would have taken +2 nonlethal damage on the previous attack for a total of 10.[/occ]

Ragnar grunts as the bolt flies into him. "You bloody BASTARD!" he curses at the Tiefling. But he turns back to the human and swings again at her.

sap: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 2 = 27
nonlethal damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 = 12

critical confirmation: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 5 + 2 = 26
nonlethal damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 2 = 9

After attacking Richelle, Ragnar drops sap. He rips greatsword from his scabbard and steps to the right, starting to circle the new foe.

Ragnar is pressed up against the rock. He looks over as Kiliuk runs up next to him. ”You go left, I’ll go right? Let’s end this.” Without waiting for an answer, he dashes off directly at one of the archers and swings his sap.

Charging at the blue archer and attacking for nonlethal damage
sap: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 2 = 23
damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
I can’t seem to move my token using my phone. I'll get it later today.

Ragnar surveys the scene. He's right. Stupid kids. Damn it. He takes off running toward the rock between the two archers.

"Drawing them out," he says as he passes Petro and Kiliuk.

As he skids to a stop at the rock, Ragnar lets his sling fall to the dirt and grabs the sap from his belt.

As a full-round action, I'm taking the run action to move up to 4 x my speed in a straight line. I'm in medium armour, so that's 16 squares max. By my count, I move 15 squares. I lose the dex bonus to AC, so it's 15 until my next turn. After the move, I drop the sling as a free action and quick draw the sap as a free action.

I moved up 20’ to be adjacent to Kiliuk.

Almost crouching and ready to dodge, Ragnar approaches Kiliuk. He glances at the half-orc's imposing crossbow. "If you're going to shoot them, try not to kill them. I get the feeling that wouldn't go over well with the mayor."

I'm also using total defense.

I had trouble logging in. Clearing cookies fixed it.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

nope!

Unfortunately Slitherscales' profile is a bit lean. There's no feat, spells, equipment or skills. That's not a lot to go on.

"A potion of healing? That's useful." Ragnar takes the potion from Kiliuk and pockets it.

I'm grateful even if Ragnar isn't. He's kind of a jerk sometimes.

Ragnar flips open the journal again, reviewing the entry and then glancing at the drawing in the dirt. "Two-headed, and with an amulet that protects the beast from dragons. Well, hopefully it won't provide any protection from us." He closes the journal and puts it in his backpack. Then he takes out and loads a sling.

"Let's check out the cave. They might have already gone, but I think we need to have a look."

As Petro inspects the scroll and the potions, Ragnar unsheathes one of the daggers. He grunts, sheathes it again and attaches it to his belt. Then he gestures to Petro to hand him the potions.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

With a shrug, he passes the bottles over to Kiliuk. "Take a look," he says before walking outside toward the campsite.

intelligence: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Ragnar shields his eyes with a hand, surveying his surroundings before approaching the hut.

survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

"Maybe." Ragnar points to footprints on the ground just outside the hut. "Someone's been here in the last day. There's only one bedroll though."

Ragnar enters the hut and searches it, tapping on floorboards as well as looking up in the rafters.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

No worries. Life happens. See you another time.

Map is up.

"Scared kids. Okay. I can work with that."

Ragnar starts creeping quietly around the left side of the hut, seeking a window or other opening to look in through. He hasn't drawn a weapon.

stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

I'm not seeing the map in that google doc. Am I missing something?

As the party walks toward Dendra's Slope, Ragnar addresses his fellows. "This attack makes no sense. Not if Richelle and Tolwin plan to stay in Highdelve. They didn't try to hide who they are. They stole the amulet sure, but they had to know they would be found out. This wasn't something they could get away with cleanly unless they hid their faces or killed those other two."

He pauses and looks at the brightblooms in the wagon.

knowledge(nature): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

"Actually, they might have been recognized even with covered faces. And they weren't trying to kill them." Ragnar steps back from the cart, looking carefully at the ground around it.

Looking for tracks and including a favoured enemy bonus vs humans
survival: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 = 9

"So what's their deal? Running away? Just too stupid to think it through?"

Ragnar nods to Yarla. "Aye, I'll take you up on that. Arrows and a sap."

I'm ready to go. I'm glad she had those items. Until she offered, I was trying to figure out if I could fit in a trip to a shop before we left.

edit: oops. A sap only. I don't yet have a bow

Ragnar raises an eyebrow and considers the mayor. After Petro has finished with his question, he turns to Kameer and Kara.

"If we're going to catch the two who did this, it would be helpful if we had a bit more information. Did you see anyone else with them or in that area?"

diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Well. Looks like they'll be running me out of town. :p

Sighing inwardly, Ragnar steps forward. "We can help." He gestures to the rest of the group. "Drandle Dreng sent us. To check in on those misbehaving kids, among other things. Can we talk in private somewhere? Maybe with them too?" He nods toward Kameer and Kara.

"You think Richelle and Tolwin are the reason the Bloomgivers are late? I guess they wanted the job badly enough to cheat at the election. Ragnar reads the leaflet that Pedro found. "Apprenticed to Carth Garenth and Yarla Bowhammer... I wonder if that dwarf woman is Yarla." Ragnar looks toward the sack race, and then toward the puppet show. "And maybe the man that the mayor spoke to could be Carth? We could talk to them. Try to find the kids that way."

Ragnar sighs. "Or we could head to Dendra’s Slope. Check in on those other two who are running late. Kara and Kameer, was it? What do you think?"

Hey, Gothic_Artificer. Here's a somewhat rambling and scattered recap:

The Venture-Captain sent us to Highdelve in western Brevoy. Apparently there's a plot by a demon-worshiping cult against Aurelliax, the gold dragon protector of Highdelve. Kiliuk's mother is somehow involved with the cult. Apparently she came here to craft a ring that's important to the cult. Also, there was a shipment of Thassilonian artifacts stolen between here and Port Ice. Maybe they were stole by the cult?

The Venture-Captain also asked us to check in on two teenagers in Highdelve: Richelle and Tolwin. They're the children of deceased Pathfinders who were placed in the care of the mayor years ago. VC Dreng got word that they've been acting out. He wants us to investigate. It's personal for VC Dreng somehow, but he didn't elaborate.

We arrived last night. We have a shared room at an inn. This morning, there's a festival called the Brightbloom Jubilee. As part of it, there's an election beforehand to select the Bloomgivers. They're two young people who go up a hill somewhere a few hours from town and collect flowers for the festival. They get an amulet of some sort from the gold dragon to protect them while they're out doing it. Apparently the Richelle and Tolwin rigged the election to become the Bloomgivers. They were found out and barred from attending the festival. However, we've just found out that the Bloomgivers who were selected instead of them are late in returning.

Ragnar watches Kiliuk walk after the mayor, and then turns to Petro. "What's up?"

You share the contents of the spoilers above?

Ragnar looks back at the plaque for a moment. A gilded lady. Huh. Gold only skin deep.

In a low voice, Ragnar speaks to Kiliuk (and Petro, if he joins us). "They were talking about the kids that Dreng asked us to look in on: Richelle and Tolwin. Apparently, those two rigged the election to become the Bloomgivers themselves. Or so she says" he says nodding toward the white-haired woman.

He approaches the woman. "G'day, ma'am. My name is Ragnar. We're new here, and enjoying your festival. I heard you mention Bloomgivers. They're part of all this too, right?" He gestures toward the various tents. "Bringing flowers or something? Should we expect to see them soon?"

Gathering information perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

As he reads the plaque, Ragnar cocks his head and listens to the exchange. perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Still chewing the last bite, Ragnar wipes his oily fingers on his pants. "Vats..." He chews and swallows. "That's good. Might have to come back later," he says, eyeing the crowd around the vendor.

As he walks toward the youths playing on the boxes, Ragnar circles around the statue of the dragon. "They're a fortunate lot to have a dragon watching over your town." He pauses to take in the craftwork.

"Sounds good to me," Ragnar says. "Hey, mate. Which one's your favourite?" he asks the vendor.

"I'll call that a complement. Not that many, really. Sometimes back in the Thanelands, raiders would come over from Irrisen. If we got word of them before they arrived, the town guard would gather up whoever was willing and we'd chase them off. They aren't usually up for much of a fight. Steal what they can and run away back home.

He picks up a fresh mug and takes a long drink. And woe to you if they catch you unaware.

He sets the mug down again and runs this fingers through his beard. "I was coming back from a day out logging. With my Ma. We saw smoke rising from the direction of a neighbor's cabin. Too much smoke. Went to have a look." He takes another drink. "Before we got there, we heard voices. A couple of strangers leading Lofti's horse and headed east. Toward Irrisen. One of them was wounded." He shrugs. "We saw them, they didn't see us. Got Lofti's horse back, though it didn't do him any good. But I guess his daughter must be glad for that much at least."

Ragnar addresses the waiter, "Hey, what's with the crowd? The innkeep said something about a festival?"

Ragnar nods to Petro. "The room's fine. This's my first time out. A fortress, eh? Who needed clearing out?"

Ragnar enjoys his meal, but he's quite interested in finding out more from Kiliuk about his mother. When did he last see her? What does he know about her skills and abilities? Also, where is Kiliuk from?

If asked, Ragnar will talk about growing up in Losthome, a logging town in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. He doesn't speak highly of the place. He worked with his parents as a logger for a few years, but he's happy to be away from there and seeing more of the world.

Ragnar smirks and mutters to himself, "Babysitting. Got it."

He clears is throat and speaks up.

"Can you tell us anything about this Kostochty? Or their cult?"

A tall, lean young man leans back in his chair. He wears the cloths of a woodsman: leather and cloth, greens and browns, stained and patched. He drinks from his cup, wipes at his thick, reddish beard with the back of his hand, and regards Dreng. When he speaks, you hear an Ulfen accent.

"To Highdelve, aye. We'll get it done."

Ragnar sets down his cup and listens as the Venture-Captain describes Highdelve.

knowledge(geography): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

"Never heard of Aurelliax. But Brevoy... They're not exactly unified. Now you're saying Highdelve is only mostly independent. Do they have a horse in that race? With the factions in Brevoy, I mean. Are they allied to these Garess folks or opposed or what? As best you know."

Also, what season is it currently?