"Pathfinder “Shattered Star” (session 1 & 2) " Topic

For those somewhat familiar with Pathfinder, it starts in the city-state of Maginimar (Varisia), some time after the events of, "Rise of the Runelords," and, "The Crimson Throne." "Shattered Star" is a published adventure path by Paizo taking PC's from 1st through 15th level in an ever-increasingly difficult series of adventures and missions with a common thread and theme. It can be somewhat linear, but a competent DM can adapt off-shoots as he wants to mix things up.

The PC party is… A half-elf Bonded Witch, a human Gunslinger and an elf Ninja. Joining the party for the third session this Saturday and continuing on, will be two Fighters (details unsure just yet.)

The first session, the witch, gunslinger and ninja were tasked by the PF lodge to locate a missing informant, a Sczarni crime syndicate member of the "Tower Girls" that wants to leave her gang and change her ways and claimed to have a Thesalionian artifact that the PF Lodge may be interested in. While seeking her out via the clues provided, the PC party discovers complications… there are a few local mysteries, intrigue and rivalries that while important, are hampering the task at-hand… kidnappings in the slums attributed to "shadow-people," Sczarni in-fighting, etc.

Through some deft roleplay, a few false leads, dead-ends, a stolen City Watch report and squashing an ambush; they eventually connected enough dots to lead them to the missing informant, who was holed up in an abandoned warehouse with some minions. While staking out the place to gain insight and establish their tactics, the PC's are set upon by a Tower Girl and her thug assistants also staking out their former member.

Tower Girl and thugs dispatched. The assault begins on the warehouse; sewer goblins, stirges, a goblin snake, traps all foil their initial attempts, they regroup in the warehouse, eventually dispatch the goblins and stirges, and come across the wayward Tower Girl; she seems extremely manic and arrogant, inviting the PC's to join her army as she takes over the city. When they refuse, she dominates the gunslinger and driving the ninja away with moving walls of fire, sets the last of the goblins at the wounded witch.

Doom and Gloom!

TPK? Quite possibly…

Coming down from the decrepit attic to the gunslingers ground floor level, she tries to coup de grace him and fails – he snaps out of the charm and through some grappling knocks her out. The witch barely dispatches the remaining goblins with the help of the ninja.

The PC's strip down to bare clothes their prisoner, a strange metal shard she had radiates massive magic levels, but unsure exactly what it may be. They tie her up and start to drag her back to the Pathfinder Lodge. As they are making their way, the witch (in possession of the shard) starts getting the feeling that she should be in charge of the group – that she is smarter, wiser then… heck, than ANYONE in this blasted town, maybe even all Varisia. A plan to usurp the Lord Mayor and take over Magnimar starts formulating in her mind…

She made the check to recognize the possessive curse for what it is, and they made it to the Lodge with no further issues. The Head of the Lodge took the shard and did some research, the knocked out Tower Girl came to and ranted on, "How DARE you touch me, I am destined to RULE this land!"

Explanations were forthcoming… The shard is a Thessalonian artifact, focused on one of the seven themes that the ancient Runelords of Thessalonia used to gain influence and power. The themes were the seven sins. This shard was the Shard of Pride, and had an associated curse of "pride" that overwhelmed it wielder to the point of extreme arrogance and self-importance. The curse could only be subsided by the addition of a particular Ioun Stone to the shard, which they did. The shard is one of seven that are assumed missing; once part of a great artifact but broken apart when the various Runelords rose together to counter one of their own, Xin, who desired single rulership (his own) over all. Holding the shard (with the Ioun Stone in place) and concentrating reveals the location of the next shard in the sequence. It is far underground and under the waters of the one of bridge pilings of the Irespan.

Turns out the curse of pride lasts another 24hrs then tapers off when the shard is no longer in possession, so Natalya Vankaskerkin (the informant) reverted back to normal after a day, feeling very guilty and depressed over the mess she has made of her life thus far. She tells all she found the shard in the upper area of one of the pilings of the Irespan and when told about the next shard, she is willing to guide the PC's into the piling so they can find the next shard….

BUT – her old gang, the Tower Girls, have their HQ in that same piling, and they are not to happy about her disappearing, not to keen on the death of one of their own near her old warehouse, and know she has some allies…

And thus will start Saturday's session!

About this part, "…driving the ninja away with moving walls of fire…"

Actually became a point of contention during the game. I did not actually describe the fire using the words "wall of fire" I said and repeated, "a sheet of flame from one wall to the next, moving, advancing, creeping towards the ninja, the heat blows, flames flicker and crackle and the smell of ash pervades the area."

The witch player piped in with, "Walls of fire cannot move, it's in the rules." The witch PC was not even in the area, but the player kept arguing the point, looking up the spell to try to PROVE that I am wrong, that I'm breaking the rules, it's not right, etc. He saw me as stacking the deck at a point where the ninja getting "in there" would have turned the tide w/o the remaining PC's being in any subsequent peril.

After it was all over, I explained to the player that it was not a "Wall of Fire" it was a "Major Image" an illusion with sensory components granted by the shard 3x per day (when the curse is in effect, otherwise 1x per day.)

The ninja could have made his ST to know it was an illusion, he did not, so I did not deny anyone moving "in there."

We've been trying to get him off the rules-lawyering, which is why I was patient with him instead of shutting him down at the moment or getting short with him. If I am describing things not in the rules, it might be that there is something else going on, it may not be what they are assuming is going on; which should be considered a, "hint," not cheating.