spectrevk's page

If I start my subscription now, is there any way to get both the Player and GM Core books?

That sounds fair - so he'd have a +26 to the roll, rather than a DC of 26. That's also a good middle ground between the two options for +24 or +30.

I'm wondering about one of Zaxo's spells - his 1/day Gravitational Singularity. The book lists it with a DC of 26, but this makes no sense, as the spell has no saving throw. Instead, the singularity makes a combat maneuver with a bonus of 4 + caster level + key ability modifier. This is confusing because we don't know what Zaxo's key ability modifier is.

It's a Mystic spell, so if we assume it's Wisdom, his bonus is +24.

His highest bonus is his Intelligence at +10, so if we use that it's a +30.

Any idea which is correct?

If a creature has a miss chance for more than one reason, do you roll for each?

For example a Gray (20% miss due to Phase) who is invisible (50% due to total concealment) and also has cast Displacement (50% miss chance). Would you need to roll 3 miss chances, or just one at the highest miss chance?
oh, and what if there was a smoke grenade (concealment, 20% chance)?

In previous editions there was a sense that your level really mattered. If you were a 1st-level character, you were little better than a peasant. If you were 5th-level, you were probably a local hero. By the time you were 10th-level you probably had enough accomplishments to be known across the land. By the time you got to 15th- or 20th-level, you had saved the world (likely more than once) and were trekking across other realities the likes of which are seldom seen by mortal men.

Likewise, the NPCs around you were largely low level unless they were intended as foes or interacted with your heroic journey in some meaningful fashion. A 1st-level enemy was a roadside brigand while a 5th-level threat might be a hill giant or troll. A 10th-level threat was a powerful demon. A 15th-level threat was generally a dragon or a powerful divine servant of a deity. At 20th-level, you're likely fighting the avatar of a demigod or demon lord. As you became a bigger hero you faced beggar threats. Yesterday it was a wizard. Today it's a lich. Tomorrow a demilich AND its fanatical cultist cabal.

But much of that seems lost to me in 2nd Edition, and I'm curious to know if other people have had a similar sense.

This really hit me after I recently hosted a published adventurer in which STARVING THIEVES were listed as a plausible threat for 10th-level heroes. It kind of begs the question: If starving people are that tough, then who needs the heroes? What exactly makes them heroes when, in another published encounter, even NPC children can stand up to them (at least well enough to survive multiple fireball spells)?

Are the days where high level heroes and foes were the rare exception long gone? Is every barber, chef, and midwife now capable of challenging the PCs at all levels just because Paizo wills it?

Discuss.

Totally not a Rick Roll

This seems like more of a writing problem (why make them starving thieves, rather than a legendary band of brigands?) than a mechanical one. The problem isn't 2nd edition, this is a complaint for the writer of the adventure.

I just got an email that the new printing of the Advanced Player's Guide had been updated on PDF, but when I try to download it from my library on the site I only get a 151 byte zip file, containing an invalid PDF.

Thanks, that's a good point.

One of my players is a Skittermander who took the "Guardian" alternate trait, which states:

Most skittermanders are self-sacrificing, and some put themselves directly in harm’s way to protect others. These skittermanders can enter or occupy the space of a single Small, Medium, or Large creature without imposing the normal penalties on either themselves or the creature sharing their space. They take a –2 penalty to AC while sharing their space but provide the creature whose space they share with a +1 shield bonus to AC against ranged attacks.

This replaces grappler.

However, he's also a soldier, and recently began wearing Powered Armor, which means he's no longer Small, he's now Medium. Was the rule intent here that their ability to occupy the same space as a small, medium, or large creature without penalty was due to their size, or something else? I've been allowing it thus far as I don't think it's game breaking, but I'm curious what the "official" ruling is.

It’s an entirely optional encounter - they went down there assuming there was treasure, and +3 is pretty average for any dungeon boss. +4 is “extreme”.

So, it turns out I may have been worried about nothing: there's a chance they won't survive to return to the city. The dungeon they're in is a small one, and I even let them get a full night's rest before going on to the boss, but he (a Sepid Div, CR 14 vs 4 11th level PCs, should have been a reasonable challenge) critted the living hell out of them. Only the Wizard is still up, and he's in an awful lot of trouble.

And to think, I drew up a rival party for them to meet back in the City for nothing:

- An adorable cactus Leshy monk
- A secretly evil Wizard from Mzali who rallied these heroes as part of a propaganda campaign
- A disguised Dullahan who acts as the group's front line, and the Wizard's personal bodyguard
- A marooned pirate captain who washed ashore in the city after a wreck
- A Dhampir Cleric of Abadar from Ustalav
- An Assassin that I didn't come up with an interesting hook for yet.

Basically, the idea is that six heroes saved the city, half of them are evil and doing it for bad reasons, the other half is unaware that they're adventuring with villains. It would have been a fun time, either with the PCs trying to convince the neutral/good members of the group that they're on the wrong side, or starting a big fight (or both). We'll have to see if I can find a plausible way for them to survive this Div.

One thought, if you don't want to to collapse *utterly*, is to figure that, hey, They're not going to be the only adventurer party in all of Vidrian, and other groups might also occasionally fix things.

Yes, this is one of the things I was thinking of. I don't like the players to feel like they're the only important people in the world; on the other hand, I *do* want them to feel like their choices are important, and if they abandon a problem, it's not going to wait for them to come back before it progresses. I was thinking that another group of adventurers might swoop in and save the day while they're dungeon crawling, and they return to find that group enjoying the accolades that could have been their's.

Of course, they left on the eve of a large riot, so I imagine things will still be something of a mess when they return, unless they take several days to get back.

Another idea is splitting the difference, and having a group of heroes from Mzali save Anthusis, bringing Vidrian closer to being under the influence of Walkena and Mzali. The PCs wouldn't be able to just oppose them directly, because the Mzali interlopers are the *heroes*.

Is Mzali's death cult well known, though? Walkena is described as having a good public image in general, though the country is known for being opposed to outsiders, an having terrible punishments for any legal infractions. I sort of pictured him as the smiling dictator type, rather than a Frieza type of tyrant that everyone hates.

The group has met a Bright Lion (though I doubt they remember), an older refugee living in Anthusis. This was during their first trip to the region, when they were investigating a string of murders that they tied back to a Mzali-backed cult.

The way I figure it, the PCs spreading those (true) rumors was the perfect opportunity for the remnants of that cult to get what they wanted: destabilization of the Vidrian government and more people open to their ideology. Draw in new people with anti-outsider rhetoric, and maybe they won't mind the necromancy so much. I don't think the Bright Lions have much of a presence outside of Mzali (where they're fighting as an underground group against Walkena), so while I'd love to see the PC's reach out to them, I don't think they could plausibly save the PCs here.

So, I run kind of an open-ended style of home game, where I come up with some loose plot ideas/encounters, and then fill out the ones that my players go for. In this way, the group has bounced between Vidrian (where they learned of some political machinations by Mzali to weaken the area and drum up anti-foreigner sentiment, and pushed back an undead attack, then got themselves in political trouble for mistreatment of a prisoner), to Absalom (where they dealt with a minor noble air genie who was holding Absalom's shipping for ransom by forcing air elementals to stop winds around the island), and back to Vidrian. In between, they've dealt with a classic murder mystery (old woman dies, which one of her potential heirs did it? Where's the revised will?), rescuing a Chelaxian noble kid before his Paladin-in-training girlfriend could get herself into a world of trouble doing so herself, and they also met a sea dragon who now considers them his vassals, though they haven't checked in in a while.

So anyway, when they got back to Vidrian, Anthusis was in an economic downturn. Tons of unemployment, low wages, little food...they investigated, and discovered that an Alchemist with an awful lot of funding/backing was using alchemical golems to poison the farmland of Vidrian to cause a famine. As a side effect of this, evil Fey were being drawn to the area and causing additional chaos, and poverty was driving many people to banditry. They spent some time chasing this Alchemist around, destroying his golems, and a small mobile lab he had on a riverboat, but the Wizard's reliance on Scrying, even after the alchemist saved well enough to know he was being watched bit them after he set up an ambush for them in an Anthusis warehouse, collapsing it onto them. This is probably too much detail.

Long story short, they eventually tracked down his benefactor, an Aspis (though they haven't confirmed this) agent who is intentionally tanking the local economy to make it easier for them to take over. They responded by taking a week of downtime to spread rumors that she and her shell companies (they only knew of one) were responsible for the famine. A week later, they found the burn-out shell of a merchant wagon belonging to one of her companies, and a lot of anti-outsider propaganda (recall, they never fully rooted out the Mzali agitators the first time they were in Vidrian).

Now, one of the story threads they left behind from last year was a locked door in a temple that was marked "do not open, a great evil has been sealed here". They decided (at the Wizard's urging) to basically bail on the town (reasoning that they could only make it worse) and go explore that temple instead.

How badly screwed could Vidrian be when they return? Full Mzali-friendly coup in effect? Open uprising in the streets? Pogroms against foreigners? I'm open to ideas.

The problem is that the section on wearing tools in the updated rule book doesn’t include the part about using it two handed

Thank you for all of your input on this; I still think that if they intend for this to be how it works, they need to put it in the book itself (by updating the kits to be one-handed, or at least clarify that they can be used that way), rather than expecting people to check the FAQ.

In the FAQ, it says:

Update: We will be updating the tools revamp to indicate that worn healer's tools (along with other tool kits) take only one hand to use, as you don't have to hold the whole kit in your other hand, just pull out the things you need. What this means for Battle Medicine is that you only need one free hand to perform it with worn healer's tools, you don't need both hands.

However, even in the newly updated PDF, Healer's Tools are still listed as requiring 2 hands to use. Now, personally, I prefer this, as I can't really imagine bandaging or treating someone's wounds with only one hand. Try putting a band-aid on with only one hand. Now imagine having to use a bandage that wasn't made with the benefits of modern technology.

What is the actual intent here? Is it intended that a barbarian can spend one action attacking, his sending bandaging himself, and then go right back to attacking? Should he not have to put down the greataxe?

question: if this is the new Oracle iconic, what happened to Alahazra?

They were in a temple of Gozreh, which I decided would be made of green/living wood, so the fire didn't catch, but there was (fixable) damage to the walls.

Alright. In the moment I ruled that the bag(s) of holding were undamaged, but clothing and anything glass that wasn't in a magical bag would be destroyed, which seems fair and cinematic to me.

Recently, my group's druid decided to deal with a pair of Invisible Stalkers by casting Fireball in the party's own bedroom. The Stalkers survived, but I'm concerned about the party's stuff, and I can't find any proper 2E rules for how magical item saving throws work. A Bag of Holding is described as being made of Cloth, and according to the Core rulebook that means it has a Hardness of 1 and 4 HP, so a 16 damage fireball would have incinerated it, along with everything inside, but that doesn't seem right to me. On the other hand, simply stating that the bag of holding is immune to damage doesn't make sense either. Nobody was holding the bag during combat; as they were attacked after bedding down for the night. Any help?

Well, it allows him to add properties like Wounding to his attacks without buying handwraps, I suppose.

I recently ran my group through a hastily converted version of Plunder & Peril. As a result, the group's goblin monk now has Captain Redclaw's Clockwork Arm attached to him in place of his right arm. However, since it's not a weapon, but rather a fairly unique magical item, I'm at a bit of a loss on how to rule it with regards to his unarmed combat abilities. Is it a simple weapon that he's proficient with? An enhancement to his unarmed attacks? When he goes into Wolf stance, does it do his Wolf Jaw damage, or the usual claw damage? If his claw has the Wounding property, does that also apply to wolf jaw attacks?

The text for the item says:

Clockwork Arm
Price: 6,400GP
Slot: None
CL: 13th
Aura: Strong conjuration and transmutation

The claw can be attached in place of the missing arm of any medium humanoid to function as a replacement arm. This requires an hour-long installation surgery that must be performed by a character with 8 ranks in both Craft(clockwork) and Heal. The recipient myst succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude save for the arm to properly attach, and takes 2 points of Constitution damage from the surgery in any case. If the arm is properly attached, the recipient can lift up to 1-1/2 his maximum load over his head, and gains a claw attack as a secondary attack that deals 1d6 points of damage (if nothing is held in that arm).

Lucky break! I found the card in an old drawer. For future reference, if anyone else makes the same mistake:

Critical Fumbles
Players and GMs can use three methods to determine if an attack is a critical fumble, all triggering only if an attack roll is a natural 1 and the total attack roll does not meet or exceed the target's AC. Because a critical fumble can be deadly, we recommend using the first option.

• An attack roll that comes up a natural 1 on the die and misses the target's AC is a critical fumble if the attacker is not proficient with the weapon, or is blinded, confused, or affected by a condition that applies a penalty to the attack rolls.

• An attack roll that comes up a natural 1 on the die and misses the target's AC is a critical fumble if the attacker takes any penalties on the attack roll.

• An attack roll that comes up a natural 1 on the die and misses the target's AC is a critical fumble.
  

Using the Critical Fumble Deck
Whenever a character's attack roll is a critical fumble, the player or GM controlling the character draws one card from the deck and follows the result appropriate to the attacks type (energy, kinetic, or spell). If the Extreme Blow! effect matches the damage type (acid, bludgeoning, cold, electricity, fire, piercing, slashing, or sonic), attack type (melee or ranged), or weapon category (grenades), that effect must be used instead.

Additional Rules

• A critical fumble misses the target unless noted otherwise.

• If a critical fumble says you take weapon damage, this is the base damage for the attack (even if it is an attack made without a weapon), and does not include bonuses for Weapon Specialization, ability modifiers, class features, or similar modifiers.

• Required ability checks have a DC of 10 + 1/2 the attack's level (item level for weapon attacks, or, if the attack wasn't made with a weapon, the attacker's level or CR); skill checks have a DC of 15 + 1/2 the level of the attack.

• Any effect that requires an Engineering check to fix a weapon uses Mysticism if the weapon is a magic item, or Medicine if the attack was made without a weapon.

• Effects that scale by level use a weapons item level, a spell's caster level, or a character's level or CR for all other effects. Round fractions up.

• An effect based on a spell uses the attacker's character level or CR for any calculation not defined on the card.

• The save DC for an effect triggered by a PC is equal to 10 + 1/2 the level of the attack (see above) + the PC's key ability score. For an NPC, the save DC is based on the ability DC of the appropriate array and CR (Alien Archive 129-131).

• An effect that uses the name of an existing critical hit effect (Starfinder Core Rulebook 182) follows the rules for that critical hit effect.

• An effect that lasts "until healed" ends once the recipient receives healing equal to the damage dealt by the attack.

• If a critical fumble says to reroll the attack, use the same attack bonus as the fumbled attack, and deal full damage if the new attack hits the target.
  

I bought the Starfinder crit fail deck a while ago, but I've lost the card that explains the instructions, and I can't find a PDF of the instructions on the site anywhere. Help?

Thanks for playing with me these past months. Sorry we couldn't make it to the end.

It's been a while since we've heard from either Horvan or Henyan. I think we may be at the end sooner than we thought, guys.

Is Horvan still with us?

So, we've been slowly losing players over the course of this game, and I think it's time to acknowledge that we're not likely to complete the AP at this pace. We are, however, close to the end of book 1, which could provide a nice ending for our heroes.

Or, if everyone would prefer, we can end things as they are now. What do you all think?

The double doors are wide enough to bring in a horse, and the central room that you are in is likewise large enough to accomodate the horse, but the internal doors do not seem like they would allow the horse to fit.

There are a series of doors leading out of this larger room as well. By popular demand, I've tried to crop down an image of the map that doesn't reveal too much: https://imgur.com/joMZ2PM

Examining the markings on the floor, Raggnor believes that they must be some type of magical circle, but he isn't sure what they do or how to activate them. You can make a Use Magic Device check to see what you can figure out.

I really like the idea of the cache augmentation, which seems more oriented towards shooty technomancer, so I'll try bumping up the DEX. What feats would you recommend aiming for that require STR or WIS?

I'm building this for an Attack of the Swarm game coming up soon, and I'm using the alternate Half-Orc traits from the Character Operations Manual. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Half-Orc Technomancer
Background: Guard (+1 DEX)

STR 10
DEX 15
CON 10
INT 18
WIS 12
CHA 08

Self-Sufficient: Half-orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Survival skill checks.

Darkvision: Half-orcs can see up to 60 feet in the dark.
Professional Focus: Especially on Apostae, half-orcs are educated by the drow to be an expert in a particular vocation, filling that role throughout their lives. Such half-orcs gain Profession as a class skill. In addition, these half-orcs gain 1 additional skill rank per level, but this rank must be invested in the Profession skill.
This replaces intimidating.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, a half-orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The half-orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

EAC: 13 KAC: 14
HP: 11 Stamina: 5
Fort: 0 Ref: 2 Will: 3

ATTACKS
Azimuth Laser Rifle +2 (1d8F)
Energy Ray +2 (1d3A/C/F)
Tactical Baton +2 (1d4B)

SKILLS
Computers (Int) +8
Engineering (Int) +8
Life Science (Int) +8
Mysticism (Wis) +5
Perception (Wis) +5
Physical Science (Int) +8
Piloting (Dex) +6
Profession: Research Assistant (Int) +8
Sleight of Hand (Dex) +6

FEATS/PROFICIENCIES
Light Armor
Basic Melee
Small Arms
Longarms Proficiency (feat)

SPELLS
0: Detect Magic, Mending, Dancing Lights, Energy Ray
1 (3/day): Remote Operation, Supercharge Weapon

GEAR
Azimuth Laser Rifle 425
Second Skin 250
Tactical Baton
235 credits

CACHE AUGMENTATION: Technopathy Node (Armory p.93)
Your studies of the fundamental forces of the galaxy have enabled you to enhance one of your body’s systems to benefit from the energy of stored spells. You might have been bestowed this augmentation by an order of technomancers, implanted the augmentation into yourself as part of your research, or witnessed part of your body undergo a technomantic apotheosis that left you with the ability to cast spells. Your cache augmentation takes the form of any cybernetic augmentation or magitech augmentation (Starfinder Armory 90) of your choice with an item level of 1. Each time you gain a level, the item level of your augmentation increases by 1, and you can replace it with a different augmentation with an item level equal to your technomancer level or lower. This augmentation counts toward the total number of augmentations you can have implanted into each of your body’s systems as normal.
At 6th level, each time you regain your spells, choose one of the following: attack rolls, Computers and Engineering checks, Fortitude saves, or Reflex saves. You gain a +1 enhancement bonus to rolls of your chosen type. This enhancement bonus increases to +2 at 12th level and +3 at 18th level.
At 12th level, each time you regain your spells, choose a second option from the 6th-level list. You gain a +1 enhancement bonus to rolls of this type. This enhancement bonus increases to +2 at 18th level.
At 18th level, each time you regain your spells, choose a third option from the 6th-level list. You gain a +1 enhancement bonus to rolls of this type.
These enhancement bonuses count as part of the effects of your cache augmentation, and if your augmentation is removed or its effects suppressed (such as by the reject augmentation spell; Starfinder Armory 149) you also lose these bonuses.
This replaces spell cache and cache capacitor.

Steamy air fills this inner gallery, emanating in lazy wisps from a bubbling pool recessed into the floor of a raised dais surrounded by six pillars of ice. Four foggy mirrors hang from the walls near ice sculptures of helmeted pike-wielding warriors.

Beyond the mirrors, on opposide sides of this wide room, you see odd looking markings on the floor:

A glassy pattern of striated, crystalline ice covers the tiled floor in this open alcove, illuminated by a soft, blue light.

Henyan finds nothing unusual about the doors, and they are not presently locked.

The guard backs away and flees from the tower, leaving his cold-iron longsword behind. For the time being, you are alone in the courtyard. Some of the kennels appear to be empty, and the ice chutes lead up to a balcony that surrounds the courtyard. Climbing the chutes might be difficult, but it is certainly possible. Otherwise, there are two big doors that lead into the tower, with sharp icicles hanging above them.

AoO: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 211d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Donovan crosses swords with the last remaining guard, taking a moderately serious cut to his arm while disarming the man seconds before Raggnor tackles him to the ground. The man looks up at the group, his face a picture of disbelief.

"What do you hope to accomplish here? Radosek will kill you if you even manage to make it that far, and there is nowhere in Irrisen you can hide from the power of the Winter Witches!"

Raggnor's charge drops the first guard, followed by Horvan taking down a second with a brutal swing of his longsword, decapitating the man. The last guard, who moved forward towards Donovan and Henyan, blocks the dwarf's spear but falls victim to Donovan's flail, which strikes him in the flank. Gritting his teeth, the guard attacks Donovan in return:

Cold-Iron Longsword: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 121d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

I don't have a setup for maps; you are in the same courtyard as before, which is fairly large with room to move around. There are three guards.

Yeesh, bad rolls all around...guess we're doing this

"You lot have done enough 'business' today. This is where you die." says the lead guard. His face is grim.

Donovan's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Henyan's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Raggnor's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Horvan's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Guards' Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

ROUND ONE ORDER

Henyan
Donovan
Raggnor
Horvan
Guards

It seems like a pointless "class feature" to gain martial weapon training as a Warpriest, given that:

1. Most deities have simple weapons as their favored weapons.
2. Warpriests only get improved proficiency in their deity's favored weapon

Between higher proficiency and Deadly Simplicity, a Warpriest of a deity with a simple favored weapon is likely better off using the favored weapon. And Warpriests of a deity with a martial or even Exotic favored weapon are already proficient with that weapon at level 1. So what's the point of wasting a Doctrine ability on martial weapon training?

Working quickly, you manage to keep the troll down long enough to set it on fire, but not quickly enough to avoid the soldiers returning from your distraction. They draw their weapons and step forward.

"Halt! What are you doing here?!"

Before the troll can swing again, Donovan's flail brings her down and she falls to the ground with a crash....then, almost as suddenly, she groggily opens her eyes, angrily swinging from the ground at Donovan:

Bordegga's axe, while prone: 1d20 + 7 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 7 - 2 - 4 = 122d4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2) + 4 = 7

Henyan recognizes this as an Ice Troll. Their regeneration can only be stopped by acid and fire. The combined attacks of Donovan, Henyan, and Raggnor are already causing terrible wounds to the creature, but without acid or fire those wounds will slowly regenerate.

we're just missing Donovan's round two attack; Horvan has already acted in round two, then it's back to the troll, then Henyan and Raggnor

Donovan's flail smashes against the troll with a mighty thwack. She shakes her head casually and you can see the purple bruise on her flesh slowly begin to fade. Turning to Horvan, she winks and replies "I'll stand down when my belly is full."

Bordegga smiles and raises her axe and swings for Donovan's head:

Bordegga's Axe: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 7 - 2 = 162d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 4) + 4 = 11

Her swing is weak, however, and Donovan easily moves to the side, ready to press the attack!

"Bordegga isn't afraid of a meal that fights back!" the troll says, licking her lips. Despite her bravado, however, she approaches you a bit more cautiously, particularly Donovan.

Donovan was successful in Demoralizing the troll for the first two rounds of combat

Donovan's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Henyan's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Raggnor's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Horvan's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Bordegga's Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Initiative Order:

Donovan
Horvan
Bordegga
Henyan
Raggnor

A loud, deep yawn reverberates through the courtyard, as something stirs near the squat shacks along the inner wall. A female ice troll slowly stands up to her full height and looks around the courtyard.

"You don't look like guards..." she says, licking her lips hungrily. "That means you're edible."

I will assume that everyone has taken 20 on Stealth

The guards step away from the gate to investigate the noise, looking around warily as they do so.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

None of them notice you as they pass by, giving you a chance to sneak past them into the courtyard:

A massive ice sculpture of a dragon dominates this open courtyard, standing with raised wings upon a dais of solid ice. Seven squat shacks sit along the inner wall, with several dogsleds stored outside. Between them, four ice chutes descend from the battlements of the outer wall. To the west, large double doors studded with icicles lead inside the Pale Tower itself, just beneath an overhang of sharp icicles dangling from above.

The guards are in front of the gate; you will need to either fool them or defeat them to enter. To get within 60 feet of them for detect evil without being seen will require a stealth check.

Raggnor is able to spot three guards at the gate well before the guards would be able to see your group in the distance. They are armed with swords and crossbows.

Raggnor and Horvan manage to bring down the Witchcrow, despite the aura of bad luck currently affecting the latter. Nadya looks embarrassed, having missed with every shot that she fired. She quietly waits for you to retrieve your 'key' from the bird, and leads you down the path to the Pale Tower. Before too long, you reach your destination:

Sharp winds whistle across this stark white plain, stinging the eyes along with the near-blinding rays of the reflected sun. A great eruption of frozen ice rises in the distance—an imposing pale tower crowned with icicles spearing into the sky. Seemingly born of the land itself, an unbroken circular wall of ice guards the tower’s base, with no means of entrance visible. High above, a large gash opens in the tower’s bowl-like crown, ringed in icy spikes and split by a massive plane of ice resembling an inverted crescent moon.

A path of trampled snow leads to the front gate of the wall surround the base of the tower.

Loa Kok doesn't notice any additional crows; Horvan manages to sink another arrow into the Greater Witchcrow, dealing 6 points of damage, but it remains dangerous.

ROUND 3

The crow turns its attention to Horvan, staring at him with deep, dark eyes that seem almost supernaturally unsettling.

Horvan's Will save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

For the next round, Horvan is affected by Misfortune: any time he makes an ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, he must roll twice and take the lower result.

Nadya nocks a third arrow and attempts to hit the bird:

Composite Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 91d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2