Pathfinder
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Pathfinder – Carrion My Wayward Son Post-Mortem
Hi everyone!
Good session, even though we didn’t get through as much as I like. Limiting the game to 5 hours was a good idea, I felt a lot less exhausted.
Here’s what happened in the story:
While staying at the Highside Stacks, the party received letters from Dreng and Kormiggon Sussworth describing the mission from the Pathfinder Guild: spearhead a relief effort with the Church of Pharasma and re-establish communication with Mayor Heggiry, the main Pathfinder contact in Carrion Hill. The party made their way to the Church and accepted the quest.
The next morning, a wagon train of three wagons and horses was brought to the northeast gate of Kaer Maga. Driving the wagons was Brother Gallo, an animal trainer, embalmer, and midwife of the Pharasman Church. In addition, a mute woman veiled in black–incidentally, the one who bankrolled the wagon train–requested passage on the relief effort. Secretly, she passed a message to Valeria indicating that she was actually Esme Varisi, the intelligent undead from the Godsmouth Ossuary. A map and shipping manifest were provided for the group, along with instructions to meet an Urgir escort at a toll bridge in the Hold of Belkzen.
For the first few days out of Kaer Maga, the trip was uneventful. At sunset on the third day however, the party found the wreckage of a wagon along with the corpse of a Pharasman priest, along with smoke billowing over the cliff. Gunnar and Elorin scouted ahead and found that the smoke was coming from a camp of 3 Ogrekin and a warg. Unfortunately, the warg detected the two, and a battle broke out.
Gunnar was savaged by the warg, but the danger from the ogrekin was lessened by Shania’s Slumber Hex and Valeria’s Hold Person spell. Elorin managed to deliver a coup de grace one ogrekin, and the rest of the attacking group were dispatched without a problem. In the ogrekin camp, the group managed to find a valuable artifact: an illuminated manuscript of the Bones Land in a Spiral, the holy book of the Church of Pharasma. Brother Gallo identified it as an artifact in the Church at Carrion Hill. Grifflebore, along with Gallo, buried the body of the priest and performed final rites.
The party made its way to the toll bridge, where Elorin used the orders he was given by the Pathfinder Guild to secure passage across the Hold from the escort, Captain Urghosh of the Empty Hand. With the escort of 11 Orc archers, the party made its way to the ferry past Gallowspire without any trouble, and from there the group traveled to outside the Carrion Hill walls. The party noticed that the sky was unusually dark.
Outside the walls, the group was met by a Crow, one of the remaining guardsmen of Carrion Hill. The Crow, shocked that Pathfinders had actually arrived, gave them directions to Mayor Heggiry’s manor. The wagon train rolled down the deserted and ruined main street towards the manor, but just as the group was about to reach the manor, four Juju zombies attacked!
Grifflebore attempted to annihilate one of the zombies with a Radiant Charge, but it dodged out of the way at the last second, leaving a sizable hole in the side of an abandoned building. During the battle, a wall of smoke advanced from the south along with an ominous bell tolling. Despite the danger and resilience of the semi-intelligent zombies, the group was able to defeat them thanks mainly to the powerful energy of Sarenrae channeled by Valeria.
As the last of the zombies was blasted by positive energy, the bell tolled twice more, and the wall of smoke coalesced into a wraith named Tol’Thun the Twice-Living, Thrice-Damned! Gunnar ran towards the manor, and an Abbess of Sarenrae blessed his weapon to attack the incorporeal monster. As the wraith flew around the battlefield draining the party members’ strength, Shania cleverly cast Burning Gaze on her raven familiar and executed a tandem spell attack.
After a long battle, the party emerged victorious and rolled on towards the manor. There, they found that the remaining refugees of the town have all gathered here after a long internal siege by evil forces. The party met Mayor Heggiry and Abbess Almestra, one of the few remaining practicing clerics in Carrion Hill. Tarrig, a cobbler in town, was pressed to present his eyewitness account of the massive abomination that started the horror.
He wasn’t able to provide many details beside the symbol (a gate) the monster painted with the guardsman’s carcass, the man that was eaten by the creature (a person known as Old Man Marshan), and the creature’s apparent large-size and invisibility. Mayor Heggiry answered the party’s questions, and beseeched them to investigate the building that Tarrig mentioned in his account. He offered the remaining portion of the city’s treasury, 1000 gold pieces, and 500 gold pieces from his personal fortune on top of the reward from the Pathfinder Guild.
The party agreed, and the Mayor gave them an assortment of invisibility-nullifying and recovery items.
Here’s the important loot from the module:
– scrolls from the relief effort
– an illuminated manuscript of The Bones Land in a Spiral
– 4 masterwork short swords
Along with items from the Mayor:
– 2 potions of Lesser Restoration (a red potion that tastes like watered-down cherry juice)
– a scroll of Lesser Invisibility (a scroll with the inscription OOBAKEEP)
– 2 potions of Cure Moderate Wounds (a yellow potion that tastes strongly of lemon)
– a scroll of Invisibility Purge (a scroll with the inscription EGNIBSIVNI)
– a dose of Dust of Appearance (a bag of purple dust)
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Pathfinder – Carrion My Wayward Son (12/28/13)
Hi everyone,
I wanted to post a few things before the game on Saturday.
1)
It’s been a few weeks since the group explored the Temple and freed Kormiggon. Due to your service for both the Pathfinder Society, the Church of Pharasma, and the Duskwardens decided to upgrade your accommodations. Your characters are currently staying at the Goldenwood Boughs, a luxurious hotel located in the Highside Stacks, the well-to-do district of Kaer Maga.
Two letters have been delivered to you care of the Pathfinder Society of Absalom. One is from Kormiggon, the swordsman you released from the slavery of the Shadow Lodge. The other is from Venture-Captain Dreng, the leader of the Absalom Pathfinder Guild.
Here is the letter from Kormiggon (read this one first).
To accept, you’ll need to talk to the Church of Pharasma and specifically the leader of the church: High Priestess of Death Delana Karaheis.
2)
Unfortunately, I may not get challenges made in time for the game. There’s a lot of other stuff added though!
See you guys later!
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Pathfinder Retrospective (2/9/13) – Mister Drow, That’s My Name, That Name Again Is Mister Drow
Yikes, has it been 4 months?
This update is long overdue, but this’ll be fairly short, since most of the session was taken up with combat.
Session Summary:
In the previous module part, the party managed to slay Wymund Pratt, a lower level Shadow Lodge operative who was being controlled by someone in town, and his retinue. After waiting some time in the Starry Night Inn, the group was summoned by the Duskwardens, Besel Ardoc, and Dakar of the Commerce League in a rare alliance.
They give the party a key piece of secret information: the leader of the Shadow Lodge of Kaer Maga is a man named Kormiggon Sussworth, a former Pathfinder renowned as the “Wolfslayer.” In addition, Captain Alphonse reveals that the Duskwardens received an anonymous note requesting a meeting at the Meatmarket to reveal more Shadow Lodge-related information.
Ardoc, Alphonse, and Dakar give the party the quest to stop the Shadow Lodge once and for all for the reward of 2000 gold pieces. However, Dakar’s operative gives the party another choice: bring Dakar Sussworth’s head and get 4000 gold pieces instead.
With only the note in hand, the party goes to the Meatmarket. After a while eating pillbugs and sugar skulls, someone recognizes Gunnar, and a group of Shadow Lodge operatives–led by a gnome named Mickey Ticklefeet–attack. The party manages to slay the group with the time-honored method of “hitting them extremely hard.” One of the operatives has a key with a strange insignia, so the group travels to the Duskwarden barracks to discern its meaning.
There, the Duskwardens explain that the key is for an abandoned prison called The Temple. Also, the short-handed Duskwardens request the group’s help with a Duskwarden operative that has gone missing while investigating a cult in town. Between the two quests, the party decides to investigate the cult first.
Using the last notes of the Duskwarden as a guide, the group is guided to an old court house within the walls of Kaer Maga where a group of drow calling themselves the Cult of the Skinsaw have taken refuge. The cult apparently abducts people from out of Kaer Maga’s alleys and “judges” them in a show trial before they are executed by an entity called “The Bailiff.”
The group manages to fight their way through the courthouse, and defeat the inquisitor behind the cult and her anti-paladin cohort, saving the town of Kaer Maga from one of the two threats and nabbing a sweet shortsword in the process.
Extra Character Sheets:
Lahng, Eyeland, Ayeziti – level 1 drow fighters, “Peace Officers” of the court
Jynn, Tahnic – level 2 drow rogues, “Warrant Servers” of the court
(DNDsheets lost my character sheet for Adkov, the level 3 priest/”Docket Keeper”)
Adjudicator Izeret – level 5 drow Vengeance Inquisitor
Volruska the Spider Knight – level 5 drow Anti-Paladin
Significant Loot:
Masterwork Short Sword of Allying (a short sword with a 3-man phalanx engraved on the blade)
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Pathfinder Retroscopic: Finding Your Way in 1960s Varisia
The Party:
Alora, Sorceress Supreme
Darzzo, Blowhard Bard
Tian-Xie, Nearsighted Ninja
Sumack, Disrespectful Druid
Kali, Gritty Gunslinger
Krox, Killer Krox
The Story:
The party had taken a few days off to rest and relax in the slowly settling capital of Varisia, Korvosa. The riots were dying down, trade had picked up once more, and the party hadn’t heard so much as a peep from Field Marshall Cressida Kroft. The only foreboding sign was a rumor, one the party members had heard passing among the notoriously volatile Korvosan population. Speaking to the barkeep of the Three Rings Tavern confirmed their suspicions that something was indeed amiss. The tale on everyone’s lips was that the late King had been poisoned. This rumor, coming so soon after the riots from the King’s death had subsided, was creating quite a stir.
Unfortunately, our motley crew was not in any shape to address this swelling unrest on their own. Many – but not all – of the party were beginning to show signs of morbid obesity and complacency as they stared for hours on end at their entertainment tablets. Newly introduced to the city, these lightweight sheets of obsidian had been enchanted with powerful illusion magic, causing a mild form of hypnosis in whoever stares into them for more than a few moments. If Kroft hadn’t appeared when she did, I can only imagine the horrifying depths of complacency the party may have fallen to.
Let us not dwell on what was not, but what was! Cressida approached the party and revealed the name of the suspected murderer: Trinia Sabor, a young painter, who had been commissioned to paint the King only a few weeks before he died. Kroft herself seemed unsure about the timing of this evidence coming to light, however, and warned the party to be on their guard, and see to it that Trinia was brought in quickly and, above all, quietly, to avoid lighting the powder keg that was Korvosa.
The party set out, braving streets lined with people, a churning ocean of humanity only barely contained by the buildings lining the streets. On their way the group faced a surprise ambush by one of the otyughs held in the Korvosan sewers, enraged by the constant commotion of the streets above. The party handily defeated this foe, and continued their way down side-streets and back alleys until they entered The Shingles, a ramshackle section of Korvosa notorious for its poverty-stricken denizens and towering tenements. The group entered Trinia’s building, sweet talking a few of its inhabitants (and greasing a few palms) until they made their way to Trinia’s apartment. Upon entering, they found her sleeping in bed.
But she wasn’t! SURPRISE! Oh ho ho! That was merely an illusion; some members of the party had attempted to communicate to Trinia when they discovered her door was blocked, which gave the young woman more than enough time to escape out the window and onto the real highways and byways of The Shingles: the rooftops. Thus followed a mighty, merry chase. Various members of the party leapt wide (or narrow) gaps, scaled walls, brushed off chokers, and avoided/reasoned with vicious hounds. Half of the party fell at one point or another, introducing themselves suddenly to the crowds below. Alora was particularly guilty of this, failing to climb back to the rooftops SEVERAL times, with the aid of Krox and his mighty Teflon shield. He eventually decided she was a lost cause, and made his way through the crowds, attempting to keep track of Trinia on foot.
At what was quite honestly the last second, Tian Xie managed to catch up with Trinia and wrestle her to the ground. The girl immediately began sobbing and asking to be released, swearing that she had no idea why these rumors were being spread and that she had nothing to do with the death of the King. When the rest of the party finally caught up, they discussed turning Trinia over to the guards, letting her go, or hiding her someplace. They discussed, and they argued, and they debated, and they took so long that a squadron of Sable Company griffin riders saw them and came to collect Trinia.
Back at Citadel Volshyenek, Field Marshall Kroft commended the group for their success and handed them their rewards. There was no time to bask in the glow of a choice well made (for them, by guards) as Kroft was currently dealing with another matter, a matter which demanded the attention of a certain group of capable warriors and, well, I don’t want to yeah it was the party. Gaekhen, a Shoanti from the north, had recently been killed in Korvosa. In an attempt to retain the strangled peace between the barbarians and Korvosa, his grandfather, Thousand Bones, had come to the city to claim his body. Talk about a bad time to visit the city! His body, however, had been sold to a necromancer named Rolth, and if that sounds awesome because necromancers are awesome, well I’m right there with you. Thousand Bones didn’t think it was awesome, though, and vowed that if his grandson’s body wasn’t found and delivered soon, the Shoanti would send their own soldiers in to retrieve it – and carve their way through Korvosa in the process.
Armed with knowledge of the situation, a degree of wit and even, I dare say, a taste for adventure, our heroes made their way to where the body sale went down, and found an entrance to a subterranean structure inhabited by derro. Traps, goons, and necrophidiuses – necrophidii? – abounded, but our stalwart bastions of righteousness continued onward. Until it got too late IRL, and we had to call it.
Tune in next time for the exciting conclusion of CURSE OF THE CRIMSON THRONE PART ONE – EDGE OF ANARCHY
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Pathfinder: City of Perfect Strangers Part 2 – Assault on Castle Hoobastank Post-Mortem
Hey everyone,
Hope everyone had a good time rollin’ bones in City of Perfect Strangers. I had a good time running it and City of Strangers 2 looks better I think. I’m not too enthusiastic as to how the module ends though, so I’m going to punch it up a bit. Before I go into the plot summary, here’s some of the prep materials and other extra stuff. The next Pathfinder game will probably be February 9th.
Also, update your DNDSheets pretty quickly if you can, because I sometimes use the new skills/spells you get to write the challenges.
First, here’s the loot list:
– several potions of Cure Light Wounds
– scroll of Sleep (2) (scroll with the inscription TGHIN TGHIN)
– scroll of Mage Armor
– Ring of Protection +1 (a gold ring embedded with a single emerald)
– potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2) (a bubbly yellow potion that tastes like lemon)
– scroll of Dimensional Door (scroll with the inscription DOA DOA)
– scroll of Silence (scroll with the inscription TEIUQ)
– Cloak of Resistance +1
– +1 chain shirt
– Cloak of the Hedge Wizard (Enchantment) (a green cloak made of gossamer)
– Robe of Infinite Twine (a coarse robe made of burlap-looking material)
– scroll of Searing Light (a scroll with the inscription ERIALOS)
– Aegis of Recovery (a small spherical pendant made of rose quartz)
– Ioun Torch (a small obsidian octahedron)Two things about this list:
1) I actually kind of forgot how many CLW potions there were total. Since there are so many and it might be a little broken for everyone to have a lot of them, you can sell them back for full price, rather than for the normal half price.
2) The only thing that’s been claimed so far is the chain shirt (which was going to Bob’s cleric) so feel free to claim stuff on Facebook or whatever. The shirt was listed as ‘+1 chain shirt’ in the equipment list for Wymund, so I’m not sure if that means it’s magic (i.e. armor check penalty goes down by 1 and AC goes up by 1), or just masterwork (armor check penalty goes down by 1 only).
Second, here are the challenges:
I had a few that I made on the fly to replace some of the ones that were impossible to get in this session. I think I’ll probably stick with this setup in future modules (5 for each of you, 15 for the party).
Third, here are the custom character sheets I made for Fulgach and Bessie:
Fulgach the Disturber of Bones, level 5 Cleric of Urgathoa
Bessie the Animated Auroch Skeleton, minion of Fulgach
Finally, here’s the encounter/plot summary:
The party left off investigating the whereabouts of a famous Kaer Magan golem maker named Besel Ardoc. Besel is the head of the prestigious Ardoc family, and he seemed to be connected to the goons that were guarding the murdered Collgardie’s house. Through investigating and talking to various citizens of Kaer Maga, they found out that he liked to drink, he never travelled without six iron golems surrounding him at all times, he liked to drink in the Downmarket, he drank at a pub called the Augur’s Entrails, and he talks to the proprietor right after the pub opened.
As the party tried to stealthily tail Ardoc, they soon realized that this was unnecessary. A clearly confused and inebriated (and well-guarded) Besel Ardoc introduced himself to the group and had a conversation involving Collgardie and the mysterious Shadow Lodge that was seemingly behind Collgardie’s murder. The party learned that he was hired as a middleman by someone named Dakar of the Commerce League to guard Collgardie’s house in case some of the murderers came back. Ardoc then subcontracted out the guarding to a group of hired goons. When the party asked where they could talk to Dakar, all they got was a laugh and a promise that Ardoc would contact a friend of a friend of a friend etc. to arrange a meeting.
Going back to the Starry Night Inn, the party was greeted by five burly thugs and a short man named Upton who introduced himself as an ambassador or emissary of sorts to Dakar. Dakar is a very secretive man, he explained, so certain measures were needed to ensure his privacy if the party actually wanted to talk to him. To that end, he had the party wear a set of bags enchanted with a Silence spell, and made them endure a long wagon ride to Dakar’s private residence.
Once there, Dakar quickly asked the party what they wanted. When they replied they wanted information about the Shadow Lodge, Dakar replied that he knew where one of the (supposed?) leaders was hiding, but that he’d require a favor later despite the fact the party seemed to be helping him out. He explained that one of the leaders, a man named Wymund Pratt, was hiding in the abandoned and condemned Naderi Theater. Armed with this new information, the thugs put the bags back on the party members’ heads and took them back to the Inn.
The next morning, the group snuck into the alley leading to the theater, and got ambushed by a group of armed and angry goblins and a human sorceress named Vadoma. Shania put Vadoma to sleep with a hex, and the rest of the party started to fight the goblins. Eventually, after a pitched battle that involved such highlights as Gunnar atomizing a goblin with an arrow and Grifflebore slamming another goblin on the head so hard the goblin shrunk two inches in height, the party won. They captured Vadoma alive, and brought her back to the Duskwardens for interrogation. Then, they headed back to the alley.
After having Valeria (fresh off completing a quest to find dangerous goblin artifacts) patch up the group, Gunnar and Elorin made their way down a junk-filled, deserted, trap-laden alleyway aptly called Trap Alley. Elorin took a glaive trap to the face, but then managed to disable an arrow trap and a swinging axe trap with relative ease with his new thieves’ loupe. Gunnar and Elorin soon made their way to the front of the entrance to the theater, but they found that the way was blocked by a robed man named Fulgach, his two goblin cohorts, and his powerful minion: the animated skeleton of a full-grown auroch bull.
The party soon found themselves in another heated battle. The goblins, clearly afraid of Fulgach, beat a hasty retreat. Fulgach busted out with a powerful Visions of Hell spell that the party managed to shake off. Elorin charged at Fulgach with both swords drawn, Grifflebore attacked the skeleton, and Gunnar tried to pepper Fulgach with the arrows he gained from the amateur halfling fletcher he helped. With one mighty swing, Grifflebore managed to obliterate the skeleton, causing the already powerful Fulgach to channel the dark energy of Urgathoa to blast the party. Valeria and Shania were able to provide healing and divine guidance, though, and the party managed to survive.
They unlocked the front door of the theater with a key dropped by Fulgach, but they soon found that they were expected. A scroll of Alarm alerted Wymund to their presence, giving him enough time to summon three powerful wolves to help him take down the group. Wymund taunted them a bit, and then started to cast spells of his own. The large space of the dilapidated theater made the initial combat phase difficult, as Wymund’s spells (like Glitterdust) had a large range and the party was almost a hundred feet away. The wolves also stymied a frontal attack; Elorin tried to attack Wymund head-on and was ravaged and knocked unconscious almost immediately from a sustained assault by the wolves.
Eventually, the group closed the distance, and even though Wymund tried desperately to survive by using an Invisibility spell and a sneak attack, the group knocked him out. Unfortunately, as Wymund blacked out he hit his head hard on one of the seats in the theater, killing him and preventing the party from launching a full-scale interrogation. The party did managed to find a sheet with a number of cities and code names listed on it, along with a collection of magical items Wymund was buying to start his assault on the genuine Pathfinder guild.
The party now finds itself back where they started, the Starry Night Inn, awaiting news from Besel, the Duskwardens, and the Commerce League. There are also rumors that there’s a new threat in Kaer Maga that the Duskwardens are keen to see eradicated.
So, that’s it for right now. Be sure to leave more feedback about this session if you can and update your sheets with all your new skills and stuff.
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Pathfinder: City of Perfect Strangers Part 2 – Assault on Castle Hoobastank (1/5/13)
Well, well, well, it looks like we’re finally going to get a chance to finish up the first section ofCity of Strangers. Not much I needed to reiterate, except I did want to do something I forgot to do earlier: post the character sheets of the monsters from the sidequests.
Enoch (Shania) – Undead Guards
Eric (Grifflebore) – Tallow Boy Bernard
Jack (Gunnar) – Galgus the Mutant Rat
See you this weekend!
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Pathfinder City of Perfect Strangers Part 1 Post-Mortem: Crushin’ Lads and Rats
YO NERDS,
This post is literally 2 months overdue, but since my condo
I hope to all the gods in the heavenswill hopefully be ready in a few weeks, I think it’s about time to summarize the events that have transpired.Overall, this post is going to be pretty brief, since the module’s kind of gear-deficient starting out.
Firstly, here were the big complaints I got:
– The personal quests, while kind of cool, dragged on for non-participants.
– People kind of just assumed stuff during battle and didn’t coordinate, e.g. if someone wants flanking damage, they didn’t coordinate with another to assume position.
The personal quests were kind of a lark to get people seeing more of Kaer Maga and a bit of a test for me to see if I could weave some of the City of Strangers supplement and make new NPCs. They did kind of drag on for non-participants though, so what I’m thinking about doing for the start of the second module (not for the rest of the first part which we’re still on) is actually do a group-wide side quest, like investigating a bounty or a mini-dungeon. I think that’ll give me and you guys a chance to encounter classes we generally don’t go up against or play as.
For the second thing, I’d just say that if you want to do something like flank it’ll be great if you worked in-character and said something like, “HEY SO-AND-SO GET BEHIND THIS LICH AND WE’LL GET THE DROP ON EM'” or something. If you want something in battle, speak up is what I’m saying.
Second, here is the brief summary of the events:
The party had been staying at the Starry Night Inn in Kaer Maga with the Church of Pharasma footing the bill. They receive an invitation from a merchant named Tom Morrow the 3rd (grandson of the clownish zombie Svilennius controlled) asking for help with a minor caravan escort job. In addition, the note had a handwritten sentence from a Captain of the Duskwardens telling the group that they should take the job.
The job was fairly straightforward on the face of things–help the Duskwardens who were undermanned by the turf war in the Oriat district escort the caravan up the Halflight Path–but then the Captain reveals that they need the party for something else. Apparently, a group of people colloquially referred to as the “Shadow Lodge” has been impersonating Pathfinders and buying up a raft of magical items in Kaer Maga and elsewhere. The Duskwardens (among possibly other factions in the city) feel that if these psuedo-Pathfinders get too strong, then it may bring the wrath of real Pathfinders, if not the incensed armies of places like Korvosa, down upon Kaer Maga.
They task the party with going to a merchant named Collgardie’s house, as he was the one who first found out about these fake Pathfinders. On the way back up the Path though, a sophisticated cave-in trap blocks the party in a cavern with a set of goblins and a goblin shaman. The party emerges victorious, and notices that A) the trap is way too clever for goblins, and B) the goblins themselves were carrying potions marked with a strange symbol.
The party makes their way back to town, and after taking care of some side business, decide to visit Collgardie’s house. They find, however, that Collgardie’s been murdered, and a group of goons attack using strange weapons like stingchucks (skulls filled with vermin). After felling a few of the goons, one goon exclaims that the party was the one that murdered Collgardie and after some back and forth banter everyone stands down.
Clearly confused, the goons explain that they were there on the orders of a Besel Ardoc of the Ardoc family, an economically powerful golem merchant in the city who was a personal friend of Collgardie’s. The goons then go on to say that the party should seek out Ardoc.
As they explore the city and talk to the locals, the party finds out a few pieces of information about Ardoc, namely, he likes to drink and he travels with a contingent of powerful iron golems, but this isn’t enough information yet.
Third, the side missions:
– (Eric) Grifflebore Stuzen was contacted by a paladin of the Church of Iomedae in Korvosa to help maintain the secret information lines that the Church uses to keep tabs on things in Kaer Maga. This involved going to the Strapping Lad Social Club and delivering a coded message to a “Miss” Flowers, informing “her” that one of “her” boys revealed crucial information.
When the spy (named Bernard) was cornered by the blonde pig-tailed, pink sundress-wearing clay golem bouncer named Bubbles, the spy escaped via the rooftops. He confronts Grifflebore in an alley and attacks, but gets brutally beat down by Grifflebore’s paladin training and hammer.
The Church of Iomedae receives word about Grifflebore’s actions, and awards him a badge that can help with negotiation (or intimidation).
– (Enoch) Shania Casa was given a letter by an antiquarian in Kaer Maga who needed help identifying a magical stone that was purported to be related to the Pillars of Dream, a mysterious landmark in Kaer Maga that causes people to fall asleep. When Shania fell asleep between the Pillars, she dreamed that she was below Kaer Maga’s surface in a sadistic prison that straps people to chairs and causes them to have visions of horrible things. The object given by the antiquarian was revealed to be part of one of those chairs, knocked loose from the attacking forces of a creature known only as Anamnesis.
As the horrific shambling corpses of the prison helped Shania get free, several undead guards attempted to block the way out of the prison. Shania summoned a pony (!) and rode past them to get free.
Waking up back above ground, Shania goes back to the antiquarian and reveals the true nature of the item. The antiquarian was clearly shaken, but awards Shania a wand of Burning Hands and a tuning fork used for identifying magical items.
– (Jack) Gunnar was contacted by an excitable halfling archer (and amateur fletcher) named Adelard from the Warren district that saw him buy his composite longbow. Adelard needed some help fighting some sort of rat lurking in the sewers that had been vexing the halflings of the district for a while.
Gunnar accepts, and makes his way to a culvert where the rat had been sighted. He easily defeats a dire rat that had been lurking there, but Adelard surprises him by saying that the rat he killed has ‘only one head.’ A two-headed mutant rat bursts through the culvert wall and attacks. Eschewing his bow, Gunnar brings out his lucerne hammer to face the hideous creature. Drawing upon some hidden well of strength, Gunnar fatally smashes the huge rat into the wall, killing it instantly.
Gunnar goes back to Adelard, who is clearly pleased and impressed that the problem’s been dealt with. Adelard then rewards Gunnar with a quiver full of arrows he had been working on.
– (Steven) Elorin is contacted by the tengu rogues, whom the party had encountered in the Godsmouth Ossuary, who are asking for help retrieving a ledger held by Collgardie. The tengu wanted to give up adventuring after their disastrous time in the Ossuary, so they decided to open a shop. They believed that having Collgardie’s ledger would help them negotiate for better wholesale prices, so they tasked Elorin (who they correct guess to be a thief) with stealing it.
While in Collgardie’s house, Elorin comes upon a strange chest that looks to be the hiding place of the ledger, and finds out that the chest is in fact a Four-Trick-Trap Chest, a chest designed to administer deadly poison to those not intelligent enough to complete its questions. Elorin manages to pass enough of the tests to get the ledger and bring it to the Drinking Crow, a tengu bar.
The tengu are so pleased that they give Elorin a bag of junk they cobbled together, which includeda valuable loupe that hones trapfinding.
– (Bob) Someone from the Church of Sarenrae contacts Valeria to help search for several obsidian artifacts that have been favored by goblins in Kaer Maga. The artifacts seem to be idols relating to the four goblin Hero-Gods, and they seem to grant extra power to the goblins’ foul abilities.
The first artifact seemed to be in the possession of the shaman that ambushed the party in the Halflight Path. Valeria bartered for the second with a creepy old woman in the Ankar-Te district. A pathetic juggling goblin possessed the third artifact and sold it for a pittance to Valeria.
Rumor has it that the fourth was sold to a group of armor-clad goblins not longago.
Fourth, ok so maybe this post isn’t too brief but whatever here’s the loot:
– a raft of Cure Light Wounds potions– a box of fine cigars (unappraised)
– a bottle of Cramshire’s Special Reserve Vintage wine (unappraised)
Recently, denizens of Kaer Maga’s underworld have been made aware of a certain purportedly “Ultimate” guide to equipment, and have started to outfit themselves and their stashes accordingly.
Finally, challenges:
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Pathfinder – City of Perfect Strangers Part 1 (8/18/12)
(PSA: Update your DND Sheets please)
Hopefully you all had fun during our
last-minute attempt to cover my screw-upimpromptu Arkham Horror/Magic: the Gathering draft tournament. Now that that’s out of the way, time to get back to the next Chesapeake Pathfinder game. We’re going to be doing the first of a modified game of the City of
Strangers module, and I say modified mostly because this module is super-vague on a bunch of things, so I have to add in stuff and tweak the story a bit.This module’s less about a dungeon crawl than encounters and a little investigation FYI.
Setup:
The Church of Pharasma, clearly grateful for the services you rendered, has paid the lodging costs for you all to stay in a large suite located in a relatively nicer inn in Kaer Maga called the Starry Night, located at the junction of the Widdershins (the quiet neighborhood of Kaer Maga) and the Hospice (a red light/merchant district). Representatives of the church promise that they may know others who have tasks that require the group’s unique set of skills.
Though a week passes by without incident (or injury) to any of you, there seems something… off about the town. Maybe it’s the increase in hurried glances among Kaer Maga’s strange populace or a general rise in irritation amongst the townsfolk, but it feels like something big is happening under the surface.
In the midst of all this, the innkeeper your group receives a letter on gold-embossed paper while at the inn:
On the back of the envelope is a small drawing of an arch and a bit of handwriting that reads: Accept this job. We need to talk. – Cpt. R. D. Alfonse.In addition to this note, the innkeeper mentions he’s received something addressed to each one of you.
Several reminders:
– Decide on Facebook what to sell from the last time and buy items. It should be pretty easy to see what stuff you guys probably will never use (the masterwork ranseur for instance). On that note:
– You can sell scrolls and potions for the half the cost of the highest class/level combination for the base spell. I have an example of this on Facebook.
– Because Tier 1 City of Strangers (for level 1-2s) has less power behind it than a set of Styrofoam brass knuckles, you guys are going to play on Tier 2 (level 3-4s). I still might do some tweaking and I’m definitely adding in one party encounter that I hope will be at least a little challenging. Stock up on scrolls and potions and tools because I do think some of these encounters are harder.Additions to this module:
– New challenges
– Secret missions for everyone with special rewards
– NPCs/locations using the City of Strangers supplement as a guideline
– Some different encounters
Time Limit: We’ll set this to 5 hours and see how everyone does and if you want to keep going we can go longer.
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Pathfinder – Legend of the Red Dragon (6/9/2012)
Last time, on Pathfinder:
Gaedran Lamm, remember him? He wronged each of you in some way, so when you received a letter from a woman named Zellara asking to meet about what to do with him, you were introduced to each other. You tracked him down in his hideout, killed him, and learned that Zellara was dead and what you had been speaking to was, in fact, her spirit tied to her Harrow card deck. You also found a locket which belonged, surprisingly enough, to Queen Ileosa of Korvosa. You returned it and received the Queen’s thanks (and a sizeable amount of gold), and were asked if you would aid Field Marshal Cressida Kroft in Citadel Volshyenek. The task: stabilise the city, which was going through a… transitional period after the very recent death of the King.
This you did, and were thus given a job: fetch rogue guard Verik Vancaskerkin from the All the World’s Meat butcher shop, where he’s set up with some other deserters. Along the way your party tangled with some imps, saved a noble from being lynched by a mob, and were pawed at by a grimy doomsayer. You slaughtered an errant guard or two and captured Verik, then brought him back to face the King’s (or I guess now, Queen’s) Justice. Retiring that evening you discovered a drunken guard sergeant named Grau, and dragged him back to the Citadel, to the thanks of Cressida.
The whole ordeal ended with Cressida thanking you for your service, with a promise that she’d let you know when she had another job for you; thankfully the rioting has died down somewhat, and a strained, uneasy peace has fallen upon the streets of the city. In the meantime, she gave you a lead on a friend of hers who had a problem down near Riddleport. Four of you followed up on this, while two stayed behind in Korvosa. This ended up being a case of a missing brother-in-law, a tax collector who had last been seen in the podunk village of Ravenmoor.
We all remember what happened there. There was some … unpleasantness involving a cult and some nightmare shit and a handful of wheat. So… yeah.
You have now returned to Korvosa. After two days of rest (and spending your newly-found wealth; oh yes, lots of spending), the innkeeper stops you on your way out and presents you with a message, sealed with the royal seal of Korvosa. Opening it, you scan the contents: Field Marshal Kroft welcomes you back to Korvosa, and commends you on your excellent performance while simultaneously lamenting the tax-collectors fate. She then requests your presence that afternoon, telling you there is an urgent matter which requires your attention.
So begins another eventful day in Korvosa…
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The conclusion of the Cult (Nirmathas Campaign)
In case you forgot how the game even started, read the previous post.
Event Information:
READ THIS FIRST! I wrote up what happened in the last two games below but before you start, it is extremely important that you read this part of the post.
Game start time: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Dinner Break: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Game end time: 9:30 PMPlease note that I will begin wrapping up the adventure at 9:00 PM. I recommend everybody to show up before 2 PM as that is the only time I will allow everybody to shop. After 2PM comes around, I will be closing all the shops and you will not be able to buy anything at all afterwards. I recommend that everybody reads what their characters are capable of. If you have the time, try to read what your class does and re-familiarize with the rules.
The Story so far:
After the meeting with Reginar, the adventurers finally decided to take action and investigate the temple in order to find hard evidence of the cult’s criminal activities. They started this plan after midnight. From there, they explored the basement and parts of the first floor. They ran into some resistances along the way but it was nothing that they couldn’t handle. From a hungry Krant stealing food to a trap door that led them to a poisonous snake, there was nothing that could stand in their way. Eventually, they arrived to the stairs that would lead them up to the second floor. Unfortunately, by climbing up the steps, the cultists guarding the stairs activated an audible alarm that alerted the entire temple. Fortunately for the adventurers, the cultists were afraid of climbing upstairs due to the fact that only high ranking officials were allowed. Unfortunately, the party was separated into two groups with two members being stuck on the first floor and the rest of the party stuck on the second floor.Kala had enough inaction and decided to take things into her own hands. She proceeded to jump down from the second floor, surprising the group below and the party members above. The battle was fierce and would have been swift if it weren’t for the sudden arrival of Egarthis and his hell hounds. It was a very close battle as two party members fell unconscious in the brawl. Kala was almost gone for good but, thanks to her strong will and the adventurers, she managed to survive. As soon as Egarthis fell in battle, the party made a hasty retreat upstairs to Iramine’s quarters and grabbed all the evidence and loot. While they were in her room, they found a strange note that read:
Now that I have the completed amulet, I shall return to the City of Golden Death to finish what was started all those years ago. At the time, I thought Kassen was a fool for insisting that we abandon such wealth but now I must thank him. The treasure shall enrich the Living God, so that he will never die. Such is the price of immortality. Now I must return to the Isle of Terror and I cannot say that my journey will be without terrible danger. May Razmir protect me.
They escaped the temple by using the secret underground passageway. From there, they met up with Razmir at the Forest Bounty. As soon as they delivered evidence of the temple’s foul deeds to Reginar, he immediately stormed off to speak with his contacts. Within hours, Forest Marshal Gavrik has the Razmir faith outlawed in all of Tamran as a garrison of rangers moves in on the temple to arrest the remaining cultists. Later in that evening, the garrison pulls down the entire building and put it to the torch. With the Razmir threat eliminated from Tamran, Reginar meets up with the party moments later and congratulates everybody on a job well done. While Reginar’s job is over, he hopes the adventurers will plan on chasing after the leader of the cult so that they can put an end to this menace once and for all as Tamran and Nirmathas will never be the same unless this threat is dealt with.
Important Characters:
Ekat Kassen – Famous crusader and fortune seeker. The founder of the town of Kassen. Used to be allied with Asar and Iramine until they split off after acquiring a great deal of treasure from an ancient treasure vault. He used to have an amulet that matched with three other amulet pieces that would open the vault. Died after Asar mortally wounded him in battle.Asar Vergas – An old companion of Ekat who went his separate ways after splitting the treasure acquired from the ancient treasure vault. Was killed by Ekat after Asar tried to raid the town of Kassen but not before mortally wounding Ekat. Used to have the 2nd amulet piece that opened the way to the treasure vault.
Iramine – The elven maiden who used to be companions with Asar Vergas and Ekat Kassen before they split up. She is now the leader of the Razmir cult in Tamran. She has sailed away from Tamran in search of the City of Death in order to reclaim her treasure in the name of the Living God.
Cygar Anravis – Mysterious member of the Pathfinder society who tries to find adventurers worthy enough to join his cause. He sends the party off to Tamran.
Captain Welren – Captain of the Black Mist. Loves fishes.
Reginar Lacklan – The pathfinder associate who resides in Tamran. Gives the group vital information regarding the cult of Razmir and gives them a quest to find any incriminating evidence against the cult.
The Cult of Razmir – The faithful who worships the living god, Razmir. They aim to corrupt the people and the government of Tamran and to increase the power of Razmir. As of right now, the cult has been disbanded in Tamran.
Egarthis – The current leader of the temple and the first high ranking leader the party members meet. Responsible for overseeing the ceremonies. The party kills him in an epic final battle at the temple.
Krant – A brutish priest who is second in command. He is responsible for overseeing the group and making sure they complete their tasks effectively. He also enjoys a little bloodsport as he forces the group to fight amongst each other. Status: Owned and dead.
Evlar – A homeless acolyte who joins the cult at the same time the party does. His father beats him. The party ends up killing him when he took party in the final battle at the temple.
Krox – transcended time and space in order to have lunch with Judgement Dave in Norrath.
