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Like a well oiled team Lupe rides his mount into the open, closing the gap between them and the surprised gremlin in a flash and dealing a glancing blow. The gremlin is wounded but not down. Katsumi maneuvers to cut the thing off from any chance of retreat.

Gremlin: -3 HP

You will have had something between you and the pugwampi so as to be hidden, so I don't think you can charge it. But you could run or double move to a better position in order to surround it.

Unfortunately, the gremlin does not look like it is interested in getting close to the actors/traps and seems content to shoot arrows from about 60' away [from Casper] in the general direction of the monastery.

So, the damage these gremlins do is 1d3-4 with their bow. Won't that always end up being 1 point of non-lethal?

Everyone that wants to have successfully hidden themselves. Noise is no problem as the two budding vaudville performers make enough noise to drown out a mounted knight charge. Sure enough a gleeful gremlin shows up

stealth: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Though it is HIGHLY unlikely anyone sees it coming.

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Accompanied by a gleeful shout, an arrow appears like magic from thin air...

1-lady 2-casper: 1d2 ⇒ 2
to hit AC 13: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
damage: 1d3 - 4 ⇒ (3) - 4 = -1

and embeds itself in Casper for 1 point of nonlethal damage. the gremlin approached from the direction of the monastery and, I assume, you were all hiding somewhere not along the likely path of approach.

OMG! If I was a gremlin, I sure as heck would come running! Let's see how well hidden the rest are, but just because that was just too dang melodramatic, I just have to send a gremlin.

Here's roll to beat to hide.
perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

So, you have a bear trap, some makeshift caltrops, ...
boulder near by: 1d100 ⇒ 42
... but no boulder near by. Casper lays himself out hear the trap and starts moaning like he is injured and pathetic, hoping the gremlins come from the other side because those 'caltrops' look nasty and moving to the other side might be a bit painful. The rest of you scramble for hiding places, though unless you place yourself at some distance, is going to be difficult. Casper, make me a bluff or perform acting roll and the rest of you make me some stealth rolls.

DC 20 with a +1 to your roll for every 5' away from the trap you hide.

Finally, Casper, I'd like you to describe the scene you are making.

No need for a map on this one, we'll do it theater of the mind as you will either KO the thing or it will run for its life off whatever map we set up anyway.

I've seen a lot of discussion and suggestions but the only one to actually do anything was Lupe, who is digging a random hole in a random location with the intent to bury his trap.

That's cool. I love a character with flaws.

It has hills, but they are gently sloped, but no sharp edges anywhere. You haven't seen anything come or go during the perimeter sweep though they are small and hard to see and your field of vision would have been limited during the sweep. The brush is enough to block long range line of sight unless you are on a rise, but not heavy enough to provide much of a block from, say, 50' unless you are good at hiding.

On the other hand, you think you could make it to the monastery without being seen if you make a mad dash and nobody is on lookout. It doesn't LOOK like there is anything watching, but the gremlins are pretty dang good at hiding. With all the fallen walls and things there are plenty of places that might make a good ambush point.

A bear trap? What the heck is Lupe doing with a bear trap? That's 10 pounds of lethal madness! There has to be a story behind that and if there isn't, do please make one up!

Oddly, the pandemic has barely touched my life. I'm a software engineer working for a massive health care org. I already was set up to work 3/5 days from home so the social distancing regs were a very small step for me. And, of course, my job is secure under the circumstances.

I really, really, feel for all the poor folks who's employment were terminated and who's businesses are being destroyed. And for the young people that aren't content like me to cuddle with my wife 12/7 (I gotta work and game, just gotta. 12/24 hours is pretty good, huh?).

Me either. I enjoy the banter and it gives me time to reread the encounters.

So, I would agree that burning the place to the ground would not achieve your actual objective, which is to secure the place as a defendable camp. So the question is whether you scout around first or head in now.

Note: I am listening to your wonderful discussion. Just wanted you to know I am not ignoring you all.

The sweep does not turn up much except a heck of a lot of those pugwampi tracks. You have a very strong suspicion that they lair here. But nothing else stands out. Are you making any attempt to remain hidden while you scout?

A closer look reveals that the 'company of creatures' is just scrub brush.

You all leave early in the morning, though it turns out the monastery is only a mile from where you currently camp so you have plenty of daylight to work with. You top a rise and see the monastery below you to the east, It's western walls have two huge fallen sections with a patchy carpet of weeds and lumps of brush that resemble a company of invading green and brown creatures. The exposed nave beyond is a huge hallway littered with collapsed masonry. Most of the roof above the long promenade is gone, but several jagged pillars remain.

*bump*

@Lupe
The priest responds by saying, "A monastery, hmmm. I vaguely recall one being in this area and some tragedy befalling it, but I can't for the life of me remember what happened. If you are really interested, I can run you through some intelligence tests. They do require some reading, normally, but I suppose I could administer them verbally. How about right after lunch?"

Daski considers briefly, and posits "It is possible, of course. I do not know the location of every tribe and most of my work was done elsewhere. But I could certainly see gnolls setting up shop in some ruins. If there are gnolls there I would expect to see construction or the repair of the walls. They are very military minded and would make decent defenses a priority."

@Katsumi
Almah nods approvingly at Katsumi.

"I think that is a good attitude. You never know when the good graces of a major deity will come in handy. When do you think your team will be ready to go, and is there anything you need from us in advance?"

Snapping her fingers, she adds, "Father Zastoran has a virtual storehouse of potions, though prying them out of his hands is not an easy task. Still, you might want to spend some of that money on some of them."

Almah looks at Garavel and Garavel looks at Almah.

"Well, we did not even know that it existed before we got here. It was spotted by Trevvis and his crew on a scouting expedition and it lies about half way between here and Kelmarane and, from what they told me, is a bit beat up and there is no evidence of inhabitation. Though, I think we can all agree, there is probably something in there. Anything with a roof and walls will attract attention. I do have a crude map of the area and you can asks Travvis if there are any specific questions you have."

See link to Geographical Maps to view the crude map of the area. There is also Father Zastoran. He seems a knowledgeable fellow and may or may not know something about the monastery, though if one of you can pop the spoiler you will have anything that he could offer. He's also a potential source of resources if you know what to ask for.

"Brother sorry about your sword. My fixing magic won't do much but maybe Father could help his magic is like mine but he is better at it."

Lupe has it right. The priest can fix the sword. The cost? RP. Though since you are in a RP game, maybe 'cost' is the wrong term.

That's what I wondered when I read that. What exactly is the 200 gp for? What terms were given when you were originally hired? In my mind, there should be a stipend involved, not a lump sum. Let's just assume you were promised a generous award when you signed up, if you proved helpful, and now that you have been helpful you have received a reward. I know it's weird, but it seems like you are to be given money as it suits her when she feels you are deserving of it. I'm going to blame it on the culture there because I sure as heck would not signed up for a job without more than a vague promise.

"Your services are to be paid for on an ad hoc basis. If I find you have proven useful, I will pay you. And, as you can see, I can be quite generous. I have something I want you to do. Consider this as payment to accomplish the task. There is an abandoned monastery to Sarenrae near Kelmarane. I'd like you to secure it and make sure it is safe for us to set up camp there."

Absolutely, they allow you to examine the limp form to your heart's content.

Water shortage? Lupe can cast Create Water at will! And a quick Prestidigitation does better, anyway :P

I had it in my mind that there was one water barrel and it was broken. But when I think about it they probably have more than one and, if not, the cleric can probably do something about the broken one. It'd odd. They wrote the scenario like if the water barrel is smashed in order to put out the fire there would be a water shortage, but there are a number of ways to deal with that using spells the party would have access to, so... Odd.

The party sets to removing scents and restoring the water. When the broken barrel is mentioned, Father Zastoran announces that he has just the spell to fix it, but that it will have to wait until morning. Also, upon noticing your wounds, he casts a few cure spells over the most injured (up to 3 CLW and 2 cure moderate wounds). (No need to roll. You will be fully healed by the time you need your HPs)

Almah and Garavel study the Pugwampi for a few minutes, but before long Almah tells her major domo to 'dispose of the thing', not willing to allow a creature of bad luck to remain. Dashki, takes the corpse but instead of burying it, attaches it like some kind of trophy by a noose to the end of a staff outside his tent.

Almah calls you all into her tent in the morning.

"It seems that you are a resourceful group and we will be needing resourceful help. I'm willing to offer you 200 gp to stick around and help. "

@Casper
Give me a bluff roll to see if Dashki buys it.

Everyone hears your approach from far away (or should I say, the goat's approach). The first to greet you are the husband and wife team that simultaneously yell 'Burly' and 'Rombard' at the same time and quickly collect their beloved pet.

Did I mention how stinky a male goat is? Even out of season they tend to reek. They like to pee on themselves because the does like it that way. And didn't you say you were carrying the goat? And with the water shortage, there will be no baths. Have fun RPing that.

The next to greet you are Almah, closely followed by Garavel. She is about to congratulate you all when she sees the gremlin, but then she get's a whiff of you. Coming up short rather abruptly, she backs off a bit.

"Wow! thank you for your sacrifice!."

Garavel chuckles a bit at her osmophobia and moves forward to take the gremlin.

Garavel: "You captured it alive! Well done."
Almah: "Indeed. Well done! Looks like you picked well, Garavel. Very resourceful. I have a good feeling about you. You are going to be very handy to have around, I'm sure."
Garavel: "Do you think there are more of these things?"
Almah: "Almost definitely. I think we will need to find a less exposed place to camp."

Katsumi, are you collecting your weapon pieces? You will need a casting of make whole to fix it. It is a second level spell which none of you can cast at the moment, but you may be able to find someone who can.

The group comes up with a few good ideas and by using the tent and some hack and slash technique, you are all able to return to camp without any further injury, and with a fairly intact specimen in tow. It does take you 1-2 hours to accomplish however, and by the time you get back you are exhausted (technically, in pathfinder terms, you are fatigued). Well those of you that hacked and slashed and/or wrestled with the tent, goat, and cacti. Casper, of course, is fresh as a daisy. On the other hand, Dashki has not been very good company and, well, the look on his face has been quite smug. And all those murmurs about how he was right. And how they should have trusted him, being an expert and all. And how lucky they were to have him there (even though he did nothing to help). I suspect that Casper by now is not only bored, but quite irritated. And Casper is not the friendliest of fellows even in a good mood from what I can tell.

Post to come later tonight on your reception back at camp.

You know singing ain't gonna work? Have you considered that goats might just not like your singing, GM? ;)

Brutal. Just Brutal!

Goats do, on the other hand, have quite the passion for food. Lupe is able to get the goat to calm down and slurp up the candy offered to it. And come looking for more.

One last challenge here. You have a severely wounded goat and a forest of Cactus to return through. Not to mention your own conditions. Not a good combination.

An interesting approach but as a former owner of goats I know singing ain't gonna work.

disbudding roll: 1d100 ⇒ 84

Lady Vulpina muses while Sarona approaches. The goat is pretty frantic and is rushing all over the place. How close does Sarona get? It has some gnarly looking horns.

Meanwhile Casper hears the sounds of combat come to a cease and furious screeching making it say through the cactus forest away from everyone.

Indeed, the squealing and maniacal being dashes into the cactus, unhindered by the very thorns that left to rest of you chewed up. On the bright side, it showed no signs of slowing down and one could assume that it will not be returning for its supper. Which leaves the wild eyed goat to deal with. You know, the one tied up nest to a nasty looking plunge into thorny oblivion. What do you do?

Try to untie it? Cut the rope? Shoot it and have dinner?

Pretty sure that second one makes a miss, but I'll roll damage anyway.[dice=Damage]1d6

Well, it would have except that it is currently suffering from an ill omen and has an AC of 11 as a result. Thus, as another result, her Wakizashi does 3 more damage - not quite enough to drop it unless the weapon is cold iron. HP are at 1/6. If Rahella can do 1 point of damage (after DR) it will collapse when it heads for the forest. Otherwise it escapes!

You would have understood some banter, but nothing mission critical.

to answer the question in gameplay, one of the creatures will be unavoidably gone unless you down it when it flees. The other will be captured by Lupe.

The gremlin starts looking about for the angry gnolls, a worried look on it's face, looking at the cactus speculatively.

will ST: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22; This time the gremlin resists the ill omen.

Combat card, bold may act.

Lady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - outside of forest, has extra turn
Sarona (4/7)
Katsumi (10/13), weapon destroyed
Gremlin 1 (-6/6)
Gremlin 2 (5/6, -2 AC ill omen 6 rounds, intimidated for one round)

And sure enough the cowardly thing heads for the safety of the cacti. Allowing everyone currently in melee with it to get one AoO before it slides (double move) to safety deep withing the cacti forest.

Rmemember the extra roll for the unluck aura!

I mistakenly thought these things would speak Aklo. They do not. They spoke gnoll where I previously said Aklo.

Casper is going to attempt to intimidate by imitating gnoll growls

Intimidate roll: 15

Two rolls please. And remember that I do intimidation a little differently and will use the better of opposing rolls

DC to beat: better of 12 or opposing bluff roll: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Looks like the DC to beat is 13.

You still have one to deal with. You should be able to make sure the one you downed survives by stabilizing it next round. And bringing back one will be sufficient, even if dead.

Nice, Always a good idea to carry around a backup weapon. He takes a hit. Not much damage, but then again he doesn't have all that much and he can't do the shatter again.

When Katsumi pulls out a backup weapon and smacks him he lets out such a wail of anguish and rage that you would have thought he was dying. Heck, a couple of those cactus quills would do as much damage as the thing took! Wimp.

Katsumi ignores the creature's taunts, moving in to flank the remaining creature and once more attacking. He ignores his weapon's condition; Lupe would be able to fix it for him as he had before.

The weapon is destroyed, not just broken. Unless you can find a ruling that contradicts that. I found this thread which I found quite helpful. Basically, your weapon is now a bunch of pieces scattered across the ground.

Lupe and wolf bull their way into the cactus, accepting the damage but catching up to the fleeing 'rodent' and putting an end to it.

@Casper
If it were not in melee, you could distract it, but I just don't think it's going to be all that worried about a sound when it has very real threats to deal with right in front of it. You could, however, intimidate it if you do some RP and make two good rolls.

Combat card, bold may act.

Lady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - outside of forest, has extra turn
Sarona (4/7)
Katsumi (10/13), weapon destroyed
Gremlin 1 (-6/6)
Gremlin 2 (6/6, -2 AC ill omen 6 rounds)

@Lupe
Yea, the fight is definitely one sided and I even added an extra gremlin to the mix. So a miss or two just allows the other players to have a crack at 'em.

Rahella's acid leaves a dent in the rock, but it is going to take a very long time to reduce it to a state where there is nothing to hide behind. The rock was big enough to hide two cat sized creatures and rocks are generally pretty tough. It does seem to startle them though. Not to mention all that nasty attention they are getting from the clod hoppers.

The injured Gremlin high-tails it for the cactus forest (withdraw action), to the derision of the other gremlin. Or so you think. Anyone speak Aklo? The creature slides right through the spiny plants without taking any injury. Whatever protected it from the firearm is also protecting it from the cactus. The uninjured gremlin takes offense with Katsumi's weapon, the only one that did anything, and steps back and casts a DC 10 shatter spell on it.

"Pathetic clumsies. You got lucky. How did you get lucky? I hate good luck."

@Katsumi
Remember to roll two saves and take the lesser.

@Casper
If you can think of anything you can do to contribute from the other side of the forest, you can interject prior to the Gremlin's actions.

Combat card, bold may act.

Lady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - outside of forest, has extra turn
Sarona (4/7)
Katsumi (10/13), needs to make save vs. shatter
Gremlin 1 (1/6)
Gremlin 2 (6/6, -2 AC ill omen 6 rounds)

I don't understand what 'hot/entering forest' means to decide my action. Can you explain a bit more?

should say 'not entering forest'. i.e. you are waiting outside with Dashki.

Lady Vulpina (assuming the rerolls still cause hits) manages to scatter fire the two of them but the tiny shot just bounces off of them leaving them without a scratch. Lupe and his wolf try too, but the unluck aura proves too much for him (Had you not been going for non-lethal you think you might have hit. Balance was all wrong!). Katsumi does better and knocks one pretty bad. It reels backward but is still up! Whatever caused Lady Vulpina's shot to bounce has no effect on his cold iron weapon!

will ST: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14, and the (injured pugwampi high: 1d100 ⇒ 45) uninjured gremlin is feeling a bit of unluck too.

Combat card, bold may act. PCs in a block act in a first post first act fashion unless the PC states explicitly in their post that she is waiting.

Lady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - hot entering 'forest'
Sarona (4/7)
Katsumi (10/13)
Gremlin 1 (1/6)
Gremlin 2 (6/6, -2 AC ill omen 7 rounds)

Remember the unluck aura! Make those rerolls please.

Nope. See this post. Sebecloki has the map set so he is the official keeper of the maps.

"I believe we can all be thankful they do not have pistols," chuckles Vulpina.

"They shriek with anger at that, though they don't even know what the heck you are talking about - it is obviously an insult."

Combat card, bold may act. PCs in a block act in a first post first act fashion unless the PC states explicitly in their post that she is waiting.

Lady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - hot entering 'forest'
Sarona (4/7)
Katsumi (10/13)
Gremlins

The creatures figure out that they have been spotted and shriek with fury.

"Stupid clod hoppers come to spoil our fun."

"Maybe not, maybe we can have even MORE fun!"

From behind their rock (partial concealment), the two launch arrows at the sniffing wolf, taking him for the most dangerous opponent as it can sniff them out.

to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
damage: 1d3 - 4 ⇒ (2) - 4 = -2

to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
damage: 1d3 - 4 ⇒ (1) - 4 = -3

The two gremlins send pair of arrows, if you can call them that since they are so tiny. In fact, it's a lot like getting stuck with more cactus quills. But they are not all that accurate and the wolf takes no damage.

Now that the group has made it to the fringe of the forest, they can see that they have emerged onto a thin strip of open land at the edge of a 15-foot-wide ravine. A causal glance down the edge reveals a huge multi-armed, wickedly barbed cactus dominating the ground 10' below the ledge, almost directly below where the pitiful goat has been lazily tied up. He's covered with quills and looks like he won't be able to take much more damage. In fact, a return trip through the forest would probably do him in. He's also in quite a state. Rescuing him will be a dangerous and tricky proposition the way he is dashing about. of course, since you are currently being shot at, I have a feeling that is not on your radar yet.

To recognize more about this creature give me a DC 15 knowledge nature roll. Do not pick what you would like to know, I will choose based on your character and what I think the character would know. Frankly I think it is silly that the PCs should choose what type of info they get and it is more fun this way.

Dashki is not much help as he is waiting outside with Casper and, no, no magical auras to be found.

ady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - hot entering 'forest' .
Sarona (4/7)
Katsumi (10/13)

Part way through the cacti, Lupe and the wolf both notice a pair of the Pugwampi emerge from behind a rock having a scuffle. The briefly pop out from behind the rock before they stop and dart back behind the rock.

Caught me mid editing. Added katsumi.

Lady Vulpina (10/11 HP)
Lupe (8/11), wolf (11/14)
Rahella (6/6) (1/4 Temp HP)
Casper (11/11) - has not entered 'forest' yet.
Sarona (7/7) - has not entered 'forest' yet.
Katsumi (13/13) - has not entered 'forest' yet.

Please confirm HP!

A little explanation on the encounter.

The trail leads into a cacti forest that rings the goat who is tethered next to a cliff that provides a second barrier. and before you think you can go around and climb the cliff, there are cacti there too. In fact there is a particularly nasty big one right under where the goat is.

The reason you can't just wait it out or burn it out is two fold:
1) You want to capture the gremlin as proof.
2) You want to save the goat.

If you wait, the goat will probably be tortured and killed as you listen near by, and the gremlin(s) will probably just slip away. Tiny and stealthy make for a REAL hard perception roll.

If you torch the forest, providing the cacti will even burn, you will kill the goat. And the gremlin(s) will slip away.

Need to pause here to find out if Casper and Sarona are following or remaining outside the forest before resolving any perception rolls.

I don't remember you saying you activated that. Found it!

Three TOTAL rounds. Those of you that already made one set of rules do not need to make 3 more. Lupe, you need to roll twice for perception for each attempt and take the lower. Lupe, you need to roll twice for perception for each attempt and take the lower. You already rolled for round 1 so you need 2 rolls for each of rounds 2-3. We will just ignore your 4th round rolls.

Lupe, Rahella, and the goat make it through having collided with just about every cacti they can (total 3 damage each, it was a DC 15 acrobatics check and though there were some good rolls in there they were always paired with somethign under 15 :( )

@Rahella
Remind me - Where are the temp HP coming from?