"Pathfinder Hell's Rebels session 5" Topic
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Mardaddy | 04 Jun 2016 1:19 p.m. PST |
So Rexus, our internally-exiled noble patron, finishes translating and indexing all the documents and paperwork we found quite some time ago (there was a lot of it.) Kintargo was founded a LONG time ago, and everyone knows the city as it sits lays atop the "old city." Rexus shows us three particular pieces that when cross-referenced, hint of a place of interest to the old, long- disbanded Silver Ravens underneath what is now a local curio-museum. The Hookuem Curio-Museum was a prime attraction for many years, but lack of new displays and accusations of fraud had it fell out of favor and it lost it's attraction about a decade or so ago. Rexus tells us that his parents used to be sponsors of the place and long-time good friends with Hookeum for many years afterwards. In fact, one of the few things Rexus was able to save from his own burned out residence is a set of keys and one of them is to the large padlock on the front door. We located the place – sure enough, abandoned. Tall for a single-story place, the single-story built atop a four foot foundation. A go-around and probing revealed no access points beyond the obvious doors. No cellar access or storm shelter. A few boarded up windows really just out of reach. We had our Slayer (and Vendalfek the Faerie Dragon) case the place for a day and a half to gather information, looking for patrol patterns, any visitors, etc. With curfew still going on sunrise-to-sunset, they avoided patrols and did their jobs. We joined our spies the next day, and while there is no unusual traffic around it, they did note a light in the evenings through the cracks of one of the boarded up windows. At another boarded-up window, we were able to make a hole large enough for our Faerie Dragon to go through; Vendalfek was to not attack or play jokes with anyone there, just fly about, get the layout and report back any occupants or anything that looks interesting. It took another day and a half, but Vendalfek returned, hungry and tired. We fed him and returned to our HQ to get his report. Vendalfek munched down a sweet roll and drew a rudimentary map of the layout, noting the few displays that were more or less intact, pointed out a giant spider nest, where a few of what could be zombies were located, and finished with telling us about five guys, all of them doing research or cataloging or something in that far room with the light, and all of them having a prominent stylized pentagram on their robes (Asmodeans.). Vendalfek rested as we developed our plan. One of our rebellion NPC's offered to rig up a trap outside the entrance in case we needed to beat a retreat and affect anyone triggering it who was following us. He's not an adventurer, but apparently an expert trap-maker. We take him up on the offer. Our plan is to make a beeline for the baddies, knowing we will have to go through the zombies to do it, and only after they are dispatched clear out the rest of the floor and try to find access to where we REALLY need to go… what we assume is a basement or cellar or some other underground location. We decide to go out there right at curfew. Our expert sets the trap and heads back to HQ. I use Detect Magic to see if there is an Alarm spell on the door. There is not. I pull out a Longstrider scroll (gives me the same 30ft movement as my allies) and a Magic Stone scroll (enchanting 3x sling stones.) Our party, with Vendalfek as well, avoid the trap, unlock the high quality padlock (which I then pocket that for maybe re-locking the place when we leave, maybe not…) and enter the atrium. The large room branches off in two hallways left and right, and double doors straight ahead, flanked by a couple of large primate skeletons in aggressive poses on either side, a placard underneath their stand stating they are Yeti. A quick Knowledge:Nature check reveals they are actually gorilla skeletons. |
Mardaddy | 04 Jun 2016 1:21 p.m. PST |
Upon closing the door, and making our way to the right per our plan, the skeletons animate and attack. We are able to dispatch them after a few rounds and a few scratches. I slung two of my Magic Stones, one with a critical hit, crushing its primate skull in a powdery cloud. We finish our move to the right into a hallway leading to the room it was reported to us the zombies are in. As a ratfolk, I have darkvision, but the rest of the party is human, and I am no scout, so they light up a torch and we progress. Turning to room with the three zombies, they are shambling towards us, attracted by the light source. I offer to take the torch, freeing up everyone else to combat the three while I avoid, if they are "simple" zombies, they'll be easy enough, if harder, I'll drop the torch and go in with my silvered scimitar. The zombies were dispatched, they were burn victims, dressed in fine garb, noble garb in fact, but now ruined. I searched their bodies, and two of them, a man and woman, have signet rings bearing the same marks as Rexus. These are his parents. We do not have access to anything that might ease their passing or afterlife, no Gentle Repose, nothing. We pocket the rings to eventually return to Rexus. The next room was what passed for a gift shop, with many low cases and counters for displaying and selling souvenirs. There are two doors near the far end, the exit door and the door to the room where our baddies are. I use another Magic Stone Scroll and enchant 3x more stones. We rush out to take partial cover, Vendalfek casts Grease to the left of the door where they would channel their movement around the counter, but somehow the baddies are alerted (Alarm, tripwire, who knows, we did not play this part as smart as we could have.) The Samurai, Slayer, Paladin and I all ready our missile weapons as the door opens and two come out behind the counter with two more behind them. I yell out, "target the guy on the left!" (action economy, better to take one guy completely out then wound multiple guys a little.) It works, we have the drop on them, so he gets hit with four arrows and a sling stone, dead. I intend to Summon Nature's Ally behind them, so for the range of the spell, I need to move up and start casting (the spell takes a full round to go off) I move and take cover behind a low display case and start casting. My Nature's Ally will be behind them next round. Other party members let fly with more missile weapons and the Paladin rushes the door, making an Acrobatic check to leap over one of the display cases. He does not make it to them this round, though. A shimmering red energy manifests in the shape of a heavy mace, floats over and attacks the paladin, while a disembodied voice from somewhere near the exit door says, "the ratfolk is summoning, all attacks on him." We have an invisible opponent already in the room! |
Mardaddy | 04 Jun 2016 1:21 p.m. PST |
The remaining three robed enemies make Acrobatic checks to hop the counter and get to me, two make it, one fails, the two that make it provoke attacks of opportunity from myself and the paladin, I forego mine because I am still casting, but the paladin drops one enemy. The other one fails to strike me with his fists – they are monks! I was going to summon a dire rat behind the group of enemies at the door, but with the flow of battle, the summoning has changed to a viper near the exit door. Vipers can target invisible opponents without penalty using their scent ability. At least it will give us an idea of where he is. The viper strikes and hits the invisible opponent. He fails his save vs poison and takes CON damage. I strike out at the monk with my scimitar, and fumble, accidentally striking the Paladin, "sorry, sorry, I am not used to physical combat.." The Slayer misses the same monk with his arrows and the Samurai moves in and attacks the monk that failed the Acrobatics check and is still behind the counter. The invisible opponent turns visible, channeling negative energy to hit us all, destroying the viper (even though it made its save, it has 3hp.) The channeling kills the monk that the Paladin and I were occupied with. Unfortunately, he also failed his second save against the viper poison coursing through his veins, taking even more CON damage. He will have 6 rounds total he needs to make saves until he passes one to cure himself of the poison, each fail losing Constitution and adding penalties to the next attempt at a save. I sling a Magic Stone at the now visible opponent, striking him, Vendalfek flies over and uses his dragon's breath on him (he fails the save.) Faerie Dragon breath is a euphoria (staggered, sickened and immune to fear.) The Paladin closes with and "smites" him, doing considerable damage while the Samurai dispatches the last monk. The Slayer hits the euphoric enemy with an arrow and in his poisoned, staggered, sickened state, he falls unconscious. On his turn to stabilize, he fails and fails again the poison save. He is too far gone with the damage he has taken and aggregate CON damage to survive. We heal up to a comfortable level. It turns out they were not just doing research, they were also redacting records and changing histories in the various scrolls, books and tomes shrewn about the table and desks. Someone put them here to watch over this place, and put them to work at misguiding others who may read this trove of knowledge in the future, saving the ACTUAL truth for the Church of Asmodeus. A large book was left opened on a page with a prominent annotation next to a passage saying, "The key is the name of Aroden and a gem," and mentions other books not present which we assumed may have to be cross referenced to know exactly what that means. |
Mardaddy | 04 Jun 2016 1:22 p.m. PST |
We decide to clear out the rest of the floor per our plan, backtracking and taking the left hallway into an area of sea/water creature oddities. The place is already ransacked, but two murky aquariums are in the center of the room. We retreat back and I use my sling and a regular stone to shatter the first one. The water drenches everything, flowing all over and the remains of a dead Reefclaw falls out, inert. Upon shattering the second aquarium, three animated skeletal remains of some kind of mer-creature scramble across the floor awkwardly towards us, and are taken out one by one by the Paladin and Samurai. All this activity attracted the attention of eight large spiders in the adjacent room, and they approach through the opening between the two rooms. Vendalfek casts Grease right at the entrance to our room, and I back waaaay out of there, leaving the others to fight. Paladin and Samurai back away and use their bows, the Slayer tosses an Alchemist's Fire into their midst. Almost all the spiders are affected by the Grease, slip and cannot escape the area, one gets to the Slayer, biting him but the Slayer makes his save. The Paladin and Samurai close and toss more Alchemist's Fire into the mix, I return to do the same. The spiders are all killed. The room they came from has its displays centered on giant insects, with a 5ft tall carapace of a spider in one corner. A Knowledge:Nature check reveals this is actually a composite of six different insects with painted wood fakery mixed in. All of the displays here are intact, but purusing them, we find they are ALL fakes, stitched together to make them longer, or combined different animal chitin, or just plane wood and metal made to look like the remains. Travelling down the hallway exiting the insect-area, Vendalfek had described only two more things of note left when he scouted the place; a statue of a very important-looking man in this hallway, and at the end, six lifelike wax statues, all of them damaged in some way, one looking VERY scary and carrying a long razor. We note the statue, it is finely made, and of Aroden. Possibly VERY valuable outside of Cheliax, but not here where Aroden is vilified. And he has a gem for one eye. Close scrutiny of the gem reveals it has a mark on one side, and rotates, with small unknown script carved into a ring around the eye. The Slayer got it first, "Rotate the gem to spell out Adoden's name and that is the key to unlock going downstairs or whatever." But we cannot figure out the script, it is a language we do not know. AND we still have these wax statues. I suggest we toss a few oil flasks into the wax statue room and light them, let that do the trick if they are animated, but I am overruled. The Samurai walks in, approaches the razor-wielding figure and decapitates it. Nothing. Apparently the room is designed to make players nervous but actually has no monsters. One of the figures does have an alabaster eye remaining in its "head," and I pry it out. That clears the level. We go back to the statue. The Slayer uses his Disable Device skill (+9), and with my casting Guidance on him (+1), he rolls a 20 (adjusted roll of 30.) Which is exactly the minimum needed using Disable Device to figure it out if we did not know the language. Spiral stairs descend and we call the session. |
BigNickR | 07 Jun 2016 9:29 a.m. PST |
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