Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 4, Sessions 10-1 and 10-2

UPDATE: This blog entry covers Sessions 10 and 10 and the next blog entry will cover Sessions 10 and 11!  I numbered three sessions in a row "Session 10" and only now realized it.  I'm modifying this blog entry to Session 10-1 and Session 10-2 and next one to be Session 10-3 and Session 11.  Sorry for the confusion!

[Day 6 – Raiding the Giants]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E role-playing game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  These sessions happened April 29 and May 6, 2024, respectively.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 10th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 10th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 10th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 10th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 10th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 10th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 8th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female bugbear 8th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 8th level Rogue

Kaervek – male human Fighter? of unknown level

Day 6, Continued

Late Afternoon

After defeating the redcap scouting party, the Ratpack was ready to ambush another giant/ettin patrol.  Unfortunately, there were no giant patrols out, they all seemed to be keeping to the ruins of the abbey’s village.

After some discussion, the Ratpack decided to raid the village ruins directly, specifically targeting the hill giants as their thrown boulders seriously threatened the group’s spellcasters.

Later

As the Ratpack plus Kaervek approached the southern end of the ruined village and prepared to attack, Hrefna [a bugbear] scented something invisible nearby.  In response to this she activated her Protection invocation [provides an AC bonus to friendlies].  The invisible attackers attacked, exposing themselves as three more redcaps.  The first one attacked and hit Hrefna while the next two both attacked Ariphi but missed.  Other enemy combatants includes 4 hill giants and 4 ettins.

Winston added Flaming to his weapon and targeted the first giant, successfully shooting the giant but failing to set it on fire.  The third redcap attacked Ariphi but only hit once due to Roscuro and Marativy bodyguarding her [use of Bodyguard feat, providing +2 AC each].  Templeton cast Haste on himself, Roscuro, Marativy, Ariphi, Hrefna, and Kaervek and then advanced.  Marativy waited for Roscuro.  Hrefna attacked the first redcap, hitting twice, once critically.  Roscuro unleashed a flurry of blows, hitting the third redcap 4 times, once critically, triggering an attack from Marativy, and hitting the second redcap once.  Marativy hit and killed the third redcap and slashed the second.  The second redcap attacked Marativy back, hitting twice despite Roscuro and Templeton bodyguarding her, causing her to bleed.  Ariphi acrobatically moved behind the second redcap in order to flank it and then struck it, but not quite killing it.  Zitch placed Protective Luck on Roscuro and cackled to maintain it.  The first ettin [remember those guys?] moved and threw a javelin at Zitch, hitting the witch.  The first hill giant threw a boulder at Winston as counter-fire, hitting Winston solidly.  Swamprover cast Volcanic Storm on the second ettin and second hill giant, damaging both and blocking line of sight for the stone throwing giants further north.  The second ettin advanced out of the volcanic storm to stop burning.  A third ettin advanced, attacking Templeton but missing due to Roscuro and Marativy bodyguarding Templeton.  The second hill giant advanced out of the volcanic storm, picking up a boulder to throw later.  The fourth ettin advanced for a better line of sight and threw a javelin at Winston, hitting the gunslinger.  Gridik moved left, spotted a new redcap, warned Winston, and cast Lightning Bolt, hitting the fourth ettin and the first hill giant.  The fourth hill giant threw a boulder, hitting Marativy with it.

Winston shot again at the first hill giant, killing the monster.  Templeton pounced on the first ettin and killed it in a fury of claws and bites.  [The Pounce feat allows a full attack at the end of a charge.]  Hrefna took a five-foot step to the second redcap, hitting it once and killing it.  Roscuro advanced on the third ettin and attacked it with a Sickening Fist attack, minorly damaging the giant, which shrugged of the sickened effect [it made its FORT save, easily].  Marativy focused her ki to form shadow clones and moved behind Roscuro.  Ariphi moved left and attacked the fourth ettin, hitting it mightily but not killing it.  Kaervek also moved to the left to join Ariphi in attacking the fourth ettin, electrifying his sword and striking the ettin down.  Zitch placed Protective Luck on Marativy and cackled to maintain the two castings.  Swamprover cast Lightning Arc, catching the third ettin and the second and fourth hill giants in it.  The second ettin moved to attack Templeton and hit.  The third ettin attacked Roscuro and hit despite Marativy bodyguarding the ratfolk monk.  The second hill giant threw his boulder at Roscuro and Marativy, missing both due to Zitch’s Protective Luck on them.  Gridik yelled out “another redcap here!” and cast Magic Missile at it, highlighting it successfully.  The fourth hill giant threw his boulder at Swamprover, hitting the grippli wizard.  A fourth redcap attacked Kaervek, hitting and suddenly becoming visible.  A fifth redcap attacked Hrefna, hitting and suddenly becoming visible.

End of Session 10-1

Day 6, Continued

[Resumes with the next round of the attack on the village ruins by the Ratpack.]

Winston shot the fifth redcap, hitting but not killing it.  Templeton took a five-foot step to the second ettin and attacked it with all his claws and teeth, hitting four times plus getting in a rend.  Hrefna full attacked the fifth redcap, hitting twice but doing minimal damage [Redcaps have DR10/cold iron.  Roscuro’s fists count as cold iron due to his ki but everyone else has to do large amounts of damage to hurt them.]  Roscuro unleashed a flurry of blows on the third ettin, hitting only twice but setting it up for Marativy, who attacked it three times [with Sneak Attack due to Ratfolk Swarming trait], killing it.  Ariphi moved to flank the fourth redcap with Kaervek and struck it.  Kaervek struck the fourth redcap as well.  Zitch cast Phantasmal Killer on the second giant, which cowered from the horrible vision but did not die [failed the WILL save but made the FORT save], and then climbed into the lucky barrel on Templeton’s back.  Swamprover cast Fireball, hitting the second and fourth hill giants.  The second hill giant ripped a stoney chunk off an adjacent ruined building and threw it at Swamprover, heavily wounding her.  Gridik cast Magic Missile at the fifth recap, killing it.  The fourth hill giant threw a boulder at Templeton, missing Templeton but clipping Zitch in the lucky barrel.  The fourth redcap moved to avoid being flanked and attacked Ariphi while a sixth redcap moved in to flank and attack Ariphi – between the two Ariphi was hit three times.  [My noted don’t indicate who hit her how many times, so I was probably away from the table for a moment.]  Four more ettins approached from the northern end of the ruined village.  Three boulders, thrown by distant giants, came crashing in, one hitting Marativy and Roscuro, one missing Templeton and Zitch, and one hitting Hrefna squarely.

Winston used a Named Bullet on the eighth ettin, killing it.  Templeton moved west to get cover behind a mostly intact building and cast Minor Evolution to increase his Fly speed.  Hrefna moved west and cast Barbed Chains on the fourth and sixth redcaps, hitting both and making the fourth redcap Shaken.  Roscuro focused his ki on defense, moved to the fourth hill giant, and struck it for little damage [low damage roll].  Marativy used her ki to turn [greater] invisible, moved to the fourth hill giant, and sneak attacked it.  The seventh ettin advanced to the fight.  Ariphi, no longer threatened by the fourth and sixth redcaps, retreated south.  Kaervek attacked and killed the fourth redcap.  Swamprover cast Fireball, hitting the seventh ettin and the second and fourth hill giants, killing the fourth hill giant.  Zitch spit Adhesive Spittal at the sixth redcap and cackled.  Three more boulders came crashing into the fight, missing Roscuro, hitting Kaervek, and hitting Gridik.  The sixth ettin advanced on the fight.  The fifth ettin advanced on the fight.  The second hill giant threw a boulder at Swamprover and hit her.  Gridik cast Lightning Bolt on the sixth and seventh ettins and then fled towards Swamprover.  The sixth redcap kipped up and attacked Roscuro, missing with all three attacks.

Winston double-fired on the second hill giant, killing it.  Templeton cast Greater Invisibility on himself.  Hrefna switched to her Healing invocation, moved to Swamprover, and cast Cure Moderate Wounds on the very injured [and much complaining] grippli.  Roscuro launched a flurry of blows on the sixth redcap, hitting five times but failing to kill it.  Marativy stepped to the seventh ettin and struck it with two sneak attacks, killing it.  Ariphi continued to retreat, leaving the battle.  Kaervek moved to Roscuro.  Swamprover waited for Gridik.  Zitch put the Evil Eye on the fifth ettin, cackled, and sat back within the lucky barrel, making him invisible as well.  Three more giant-thrown boulders crashed into the fight, one missing Roscuro, one hitting Kaervek, and one missing Swamprover and Hrefna.  The fifth ettin advanced, unknowingly walking past the building Templeton was hiding behind, allowing Templeton to make multiple attacks of opportunity [four exactly] that heavily damaged it but didn’t kill it.  It staggered forward and swung at Roscuro, missing completely.  The sixth ettin, mistakenly believing Roscuro hurt the other ettin, advanced on the monk and attacked, also missing Roscuro completely.  Gridik cast Spontaneous Immolation on the fifth ettin, killing it.  Swamprover cast Dimension Door, moving herself, Gridik, and Hrefna away from the battle field and towards a previously agreed upon rally point.  The sixth [and last standing] redcap attacked Roscuro, hitting once.

Winston rapid fired at the last redcap, hitting with the first two shots but the third shot misfired and went at Roscuro, who deflected it, giving Winston "a look" across the battlefield.  Templeton stepped over to the sixth ettin and attacked it, killing the monster.  Roscuro attacked the fifth ettin with a Sickening Fist attack, killing it instead.  Marativy moved to Kaervek and announced her presence [being invisible and all].  Kaervek cast Dimension Door, moving himself, Marativy, and Roscuro away from the battle field.  Zitch cast his Healing Hex upon himself.  Three more giant-thrown boulders blindly crashed into the battlefield.

Winston retreated south on foot.  Templeton, still invisible, flew up and away from the fight, ending the combat [although I imagine the hill giants kept throwing boulders “just to be sure” until told to stop].

The various groupings of adventurers made their way to the previously set rally point.  Once there Zitch and Hrefna healed everyone back to full health.  With everyone healed, the Ratpack plus Kaervek returned to their regular camping spot.  Zitch cast Secure Shelter and then Mirror Hideaway.  He then carried the mirror with the hideaway into the secure shelter.  Gridik cast Alarm around the shelter and went inside to rest, followed by the rest of the Ratpack plus Kaervek.  [The Mirror Hideaway was due to Secure shelter having a limit of 8 occupants and there being 10 adventurers.  Two or three entered the hideaway inside the shelter but my notes don’t indicate who – probably Gridik, Hrefna, and Ariphi.]

Once secure, Kaervek said he needed to come clean to the Ratpack.  He dropped an illusion that was on himself, revealing him to actually be Gnaeus, the dhampir the Ratpack had rescued from under the Lady’s Light!  [See Shattered Star Book 2 for details.]

End of Session 10-2

Rat Whispers

[Sorry for the walls of text but that’s what a round of combat looks like with 23 individual combatants doing their things.]

[Timing of posts will continue to vary due to things happening at the Day Job.  A coworker was let go and I'm covering until they have a replacement, so I'm extra busy for a couple or three weeks.  My plan is to aim for Wednesdays at the latest, as time permits.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Book 4: Beyond the Doomsday Door – Links to all Book 4 sessions 

Last Sessions: Book 4, Sessions 8-9

Next Sessions: [Sessions 10-3 and 11 – to be typed]

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 4, Sessions 8 and 9

[Day 5 and Morning Day 6 – Ambushes]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E role-playing game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  These sessions happened April 15 and April 22, 2024, respectively.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 10th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 10th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 10th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 10th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 10th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 10th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 8th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female bugbear 8th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 8th level Rogue

Day 6, Continued

[Get comfortable, Day 6 lasts until Session 10]

Shortly After Noon

With Hrefna now back amongst the living as a bugbear [somewhat ironically, considering the name of this blog], the Ratpack returned to the dangerous game of ambushing patrols of giants.  For this ambush they set up east of the Abbey and the ruins of its’ village.  The patrol being ambushed consisted of 3 hill giants and 4 ettins.

As the patrols walked into the ambush area, Marativy waited [note: Shadow Clones was already active].  Winston activated Mage Bullet and fired at the first giant three times, killing the giant.  Roscuro advanced to a point adjacent to the first ettin and the second giant, easily avoiding three attacks of opportunity against him, and struck the first ettin.  This set up the ettin for Marativy [due to both having Swarm and Outflank feats], who advanced and sneak attacked the ettin twice as hard at Roscuro and causing it to bleed.  Hrefna cast Stunning Barrier on herself, advanced on the first ettin, and targeted the second ettin with Divine Might.  Ariphi moved north to get closer to the patrol and flung a dagger at the first ettin, killing the ettin.  The rearmost ettin advanced on Roscuro to attack, missing the ratfolk monk.  Zitch advanced 20 feet, close enough to place Protective Luck on Roscuro.  Gridik moved to the right to get a better angle and cast Lightning Bolt, hitting the remaining three ettins.  Swamprover cast Lightning Arc on the back two ettins, catching the second ettin in the arc, damaging all three.  The second ettin walked around the last ettin to attack Hrefna, hitting but getting stunned by Hrefna’s Stunning Barrier [the ettin failed its save].  The hindmost giant threw a boulder at Gridik, critically hitting the poor kobold wizard, and then advanced into the melee.  The third ettin threw a javelin at Roscuro, who caught it and threw it back at the ettin, hitting the ettin.  The middle giant attacked Marativy, hitting her once and taking out a shadow clone.

Winston split his fire, shooting and killing the third ettin and then killing the rearmost ettin.  Roscuro performed a flurry of blows against the second giant, hitting the giant four times.  Marativy followed up Roscuro’s attack on the giant, hitting the giant three times and killing it.  Hrefna waited for Ariphi to go.  Ariphi threw a dagger at the second ettin, killing it, and then another dagger at the hindmost giant, critically hitting it.  With the second ettin out of the way, Hrefna now advanced on the hindmost giant and struck it.  Zitch placed Protective Luck on Hrefna and cackled.  Gridik cast Magic Missile at the hindmost [and only remaining] giant, hitting with five missiles.  Swamprover cast Acid Arrow at the giant [my notes do not indicate whether or not she hit].  The hindmost giant attacked Hrefna, hitting with a solid blow.

Winston concentrated three shots into the giant.  Roscuro 5-foot stepped to the giant and released a rather sloppy flurry of attacks, only hitting twice.  Marativy followed Roscuro and hit twice, ending the last giant.

With the fight now over, Hrefna activated her Healing invocation, providing Rapid Healing for the Ratpack for one minute [10 rounds].  After that, only Gridik and Hrefna needed more healing.  Zitch cast Cure Light Wounds on each of them to bring both back to full health.

The group looted the bodies of the patrol, discovering that this patrol had been looting as well.  The group found a variety of art objects, gems, and jewelry that Gridik estimated as worth 3500gp in total.  There was also a sack containing a variety of 10 masterwork weapons.

The Ratpack then piled up the bodies and set them on fire [again, suspecting the enemy had a necromancer amongst them].  They then left the area, circling to the north and doing their best to hide their tracks.

After an hour or so, the Ratpack stumbled across the remains of the attacked caravan spotted by Templeton the previous day.  The Ratpack took the time to search the caravan for hidden compartments as the caravan was otherwise thoroughly looted.  [Perhaps by the patrol recently ambushed?]  There were no hidden compartments, but there was sign that the raiding giants had camped adjacent to the attack site.  Winston scouted around and found signs that the campsite was abandoned rapidly with the giants heading to the east, away from the abbey.  Scouting out a little farther, Winston also found the tracks of some non-giant humanoids, also heading off to the east.

After a quick discussion, the Ratpack followed the tracks east to a nearby forest.  The tracks went into the forest and the Ratpack continued following them.  Just inside the trees they found a dead ettin, slashed by bladed weapons.  A little further on Winston found where the smaller tracks diverged, apparently losing the giant pursuers who continued deeper into the forest.  The Ratpack followed the smaller tracks, which gradually curved back towards the plains surrounding the abbey.

Back in the rolling hills the Ratpack found a low hill with a concealed entrance on the side away from the abbey.  Marativy stealthed up to it and checked to see if it was trapped – it was.  Gridik cast Detect Magic and found there was both an Alarm spell on the door and a Glitterdust trap.  Marativy took some time to disable both traps and signaled the All Clear.

Roscuro walked up and called out at the door, “Knock, knock!”

After a bit, a human opened the door, sword at the ready.  Roscuro explained that the Ratpack was here as a job for the Temple of Desna to liberate Windsong Abbey.  Roscuro further explained that the group had followed the human’s tracks from where he ambushed the giant patrol and were big fans of his work.  The somewhat non-plussed human invited the group in.

End of Session 08

Day 6, Continued

3:30 PM

Behind the door was a dug out area, about the size of a large root cellar.  It held most of the Ratpack and their host.

Their host identified themselves as Kaervek.  He explained he was traveling with Casamir Azmeren, the last priest of Desna in Windsong Abbey, and his daughter, Koriah.  They heard that the abbey was under attack and made their way here with others.  Their caravan was attacked by hill giants and ettins.  Kaervek and Koriah were separated from Casamir during the attack.  Casamir made it into the abbey and was now sealed up inside the lighthouse.  Koriah later attempted to break into the abbey and was petrified by a medusa.

Roscuro interrupted the story to ask Zitch what he knew about medusas.  Zitch related that they had no special defenses nor weaknesses.  They can petrify foes with a visual attack: when you see their eyes you are petrified.  Finally, their snake hair is venomous.

The Ratpack next learned that the person leading the attack on the Abbey was Ardathanatus, an elf who was once a priest of Pharasma at Windsong Abbey.  He went mad 106 years ago and killed many clergy at the abbey before fleeing.  [In hindsight, this may be when he discovered the Shard of Gluttony, it depends upon what the shard’s curse actually is.]

The Ratpack discussed options on how to approach the abbey and gain access to it.  They learned that there was a large stained glass window part way up the cliffside behind the abbey.

[This is when the players learned that the land the abbey was on was tilted and the edge behind the abbey was nearly 100 feet above the surface of the water.  This radically changed our understanding of the layout and was not really apparent from the small map provided with the adventure.]

Zitch cast Arcane Eye to attempt communication with Casamir.  Zitch scouted the lighthouse [the tower in the abbey’s courtyard].  The top floor contained the light, had transparent walls, and Zitch located Casamir there.  Zitch cast Message through the Arcane Eye and asked Casamir four question: Is he barricaded in or locked in?  When we rescue, is he willing to go?  What take with?  If not ready to go, why not?  [Message only lets you speak a maximum of 25 words.]  His response was “Barricaded.  Yes.  My books.  I’m ready to go.”

Having ambushed several giant patrols, Winston, Zitch, and Roscuro exited the root cellar and climbed a nearby hill to spy on the abbey village to see if anything had changed.  The giants and ettins seemed agitated and one giant in metal armor was moving amongst them, apparently trying restore some order.

While discovering this, Winston, Zitch, and Roscuro were ambushed.  Each was attacked and wounded once by invisible attackers that appeared after the attacks: three redcaps!

Winston stepped back 5 feet and shot the third redcap 3 times to little effect [redcaps have DR] and a misfire, which he cleared.  That redcap attacked Roscuro, hitting him once.  Roscuro focused his ki on defense, took a 5-foot step to a better position, and unleashed a flurry of blows on the redcap, hitting four times and bloodying the fae.  [As long as Roscuro has ki in his ki pool, his fists count as magical, silver, and cold iron, the latter allowing Roscuro to bypass the redcap’s DR.]  The first redcap attacked Zitch, hitting once.  Zitch stepped 5 feet to Winston and cast a Major Curse on the first redcap [basically -4 to all rolls for that redcap].  The second redcap attacked Roscuro, missing twice.  Back inside the root cellar, the rest of the party [except Hrefna] heard the sound of gunfire outside.

Winston took another 5-foot step, reloaded his musket with cold iron, and rapid fired at the third redcap, hitting three times and killing it.  Marativy focused her ki on moving and bolted out of the root cellar, closing the distance to where the fight was happening.  Roscuro continued maintaining his ki on defense and threw a flurry of blows at the second redcap to minimal effect.  Swamprover stepped out of the root cellar and cast Magic Missile at the second redcap.  The first redcap advanced on Winston and hit Winston with its scythe.  Ariphi exited the root cellar and threw a dagger at the first redcap for limited damage.  Zitch placed Protective Luck on Winston, stepped 5 feet away from the redcaps, and cackled to maintain the Protective Luck.  The second redcap attacked Roscuro again, missing two times.  Templeton flew out of the root cellar, landing next to Roscuro.  Gridik stepped out of the root cellar and cast Magic Missile at the second redcap, killing it.

Winston stepped back 5 feet from the last redcap and rapid fired at it, hitting three times before reloading.  Marativy moved to flank the last redcap and hit it with critically precise damage, killing it despite its resistance to normal weapons.

Eventually Hrefna arrived and Roscuro asked for her Healing invocation.  Over the next minute, this healed Roscuro and Winston completely.  Zitch placed his Ward on Roscuro, something he realized he should have done earlier.

End of Session 07

Rat Whispers

[I really wish I had written down the exact content of each patrol at the beginning of each combat.  As it is, I have to read through the battle to get the total.  I have the Other GM tell me the number attached to each monster in a group (for example, Giant1, Giant2, etc.) as they go in the initiative order.  In most cases we can see all of our opponents, so no information is given away as a result and it allows everyone, including the Other GM to track and reference the monsters.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Book 4: Beyond the Doomsday Door – Links to all Book 4 sessions 

Last Sessions: Book 4, Sessions 6-7 

Next Sessions: Sessions 10-1 and 10-2

Shattered Star - Book 4: Beyond the Doomsday Door

Landing page for the Session Notes for Book 4 of the Shattered Star adventure path.  The Other GM has modified this book, possibly significantly, so comparisons to the published material may vary.

Sessions 1 to 3 - Book 3 Wrap-up

Sessions 4 and 5 - Getting There and Scouting

Sessions 6 and 7 - Ambushing Giants

Sessions 8 and 9 - Ambushes

Session 10-1 and 10-2 - Raiding the Giants

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 37

[Day 45 – Conclusions]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened June 12, 2023.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 9th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 9th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 9th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 9th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 9th level Summoner (Synthesist)

Marativy – female ratfolk 9th level Ninja

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 7th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Fish – male grodaire, actual name is Hummlgau

Autumn

Day 45 concludes

“Oh!  Hello my friends,” Malaghast greeted the Ratpack from behind the statue of the Dark Rider in the final room of the Black Keep.  Many in the Ratpack were not really motivated to attack Malaghast.  He’d been polite and had helped the group, within the bounds of his compulsions.  Roscuro started asking questions of Malaghast, trying to find a non-combat way around getting the shard.

Malaghast did not have the shard on him, but he allowed that he was standing in front of its hiding place.  Unfortunately, he was bound by magical contract to defend both the shard and the obelisk.  After a fruitless discussion about loopholes and possible work-arounds, the final option seemed to be to break the contract.  Unfortunately, Malaghast did not have a copy of the contract, which made it very difficult for him to work out how to circumvent it.

Roscuro did not believe for a second that the Runelord of Greed nor the Dark Rider did not keep a copy somewhere nearby, so the group asked about places Malaghast was prohibited from going, thinking that would be a likely place to keep a copy of the contract.  The only place Malaghast was prohibited from entering was the vault with the obelisk.  Zitch, Swamprover, and Marativy went to investigate the obelisk more closely now that time was not critical.  They found that the obelisk was covered in Infernal runes, which none of them could read.  They returned and reported this.  Templeton stated he could cast Comprehend Languages to translate it, so he went and did so.  The resulting text was a cypher with no immediate meaning.  Swamprover, Winston, and Hrefna worked together to solve the cypher.  

An Hour Later 

Swamprover, Winston, and Hrefna announced that they had solved the cypher and the runes were, in fact, the contract.  Further, additional scrutiny showed that the contract was magically distinct from the obelisk’s function of anchoring the pocket dimension, so the contract could be physically or magically broken without causing the pocket dimension to collapse.

With this knowledge, Roscuro returned to Malaghast to confirm that they actually had a deal – the Ratpack would nullify the contract and in return Malaghast would turn over the shard.  Malaghast asked how they were going to nullify the contract and Roscuro explained they would chisel off the runes from the obelisk until the contract was unstable and broke.  This clearly concerned Malaghast as he suggested using a magical method of nullifying the magic instead of a physical one that might also break the obelisk and wipe out the pocket dimension.  Roscuro stated he was open to suggestions on how to do so.  Malaghast said he had stored away an item that would help, but it was with other valuable items he was not willing to lose.  Roscuro recognized that Malaghast had some magic items stashed in a hidden spot and did not want to get robbed by telling the Ratpack where they were but one of the items would definitely do the job without accidentally breaking things.

The Ratpack discussed this.  Hrefna did some quick alignment checks on Malaghast, working out the bonesage was both Evil and Lawful.  Roscuro [Lawful Neutral] and Malaghast worked out the specific terms of a deal where Roscuro would go fetch the item [a scroll] with Swamprover [to find the correct scroll] without taking anything else in the hidden bookshelf.  Both agreed to the final terms and Malaghast told them where a scroll of Mage’s Disruption [a 9th level spell that would dispel any magic it targeted] was hidden away along with some other scrolls.

Roscuro and Swamprover went and retrieved the scroll, leaving the rest of the scrolls and some other magic items in the hidden set of bookshelves.  Swamprover took the scroll to the vault and cast Mage’s Disruption from the scroll successfully, nullifying the magical contract.

Back in the statue room, Malaghast opened a secret compartment in the statue and withdrew a tuning fork.  He then stepped away from the statue, stating that there was a second compartment with the shard in it.  He knew the Ratpack had secured several of the shards already and wished to observe their methodology.

Zitch started looking for traps around the statue, finding one, and then on the statue, finding the second compartment, which was also trapped.  Marativy disabled the traps and opened the compartment.  Inside was a small, locked, jewelry box.  Marativy disabled a trap inside the compartment and then told Roscuro it was safe to pick up.  Roscuro examined the box’s opening mechanism for traps and found none, so he opened it.  Inside was the Shard of Gluttony.  

Roscuro pulled out the Ioun Stone the Pathfinder’s had given the group to disable the curse on the shard and inserted it into the open slot on the shard.  Once the stone had merged with the shard, Roscuro picked up the shard, avoiding a gas trap hidden under the shard, and concentrated on the shard to find the location for the next one.

Roscuro received a vision of a coastline with a large, white lighthouse.  The light emanating from the lighthouse was rainbow hued.  There were buildings around the lighthouse, some destroyed, some repaired and in good condition.  Roscuro said nothing about what he saw.

Roscuro stashed the shard and the jewelry box and a belt pouch and announced he was satisfied that Malaghast had met the terms of their deal.  Malaghast went back to his study and started packing up the things he wished to leave with.  The Ratpack identified the Skin Harp hanging on the wall in the statue room and put it into the loot sack for resale later.  They then went over to the library next to Malaghast’s study and started packing it away for resale in Kaer Maga.  While doing so, they located a Manual of Bodily Health [+1] hidden away on one of the shelves.

Once both groups were packed, Roscuro asked if there was an item in the Keep that would allow the group to steer where the menhir would take them.  Malaghast said there was not, only the Caulborn could control the menhirs.  He did allow that the tuning fork he had taken was keyed to the Prime Material Plane and he was willing to transport the Ratpack there, but they would be limited to just their carried possessions.  The 650 pounds of adamantine they had carved off the roof of the vault was too heavy to be moved by the spell.

After some extensive discussion [the adventurers did NOT want to leave behind the adamantium], the Ratpack accepted his offer.  Guaranteed transport to their home plane was better than a roll of the dice with the menhir.  Zitch went and reclaimed his mirror, which dumped the body of the Dark Rider onto the floor as the Mirror Hideaway spell was broken.  He observed that the body was clearly healing again.

Malaghast cast his spell and everyone appeared in a grassy plain.  The sudden sunlight after two days in the Dark Forest’s perpetual twilight was blinding at first, but their eyes quickly adjusted.  Templeton flew Winston up into the air to look around and try to get an idea where they were.  The grassy plain was between two rivers, with a road to the south and a town southeast of their position.  Far to the south was a forest.

Winston worked out that the town was likely Ravenmoor and the forest  the Churlwood, placing them nearly 300 miles west of Kaer Maga, but only a hundred or so miles east of Riddleport.  Roscuro thanked Malaghast for transporting the group back and the bonesage teleported away.

Once certain Malaghast was gone, Roscuro told the Ratpack what he had seen for the location of the next shard.  Several of the adventurers immediately recognized the lighthouse as Windsong Abbey, 150 to 200 miles southwest of their current location.

The Ratpack discussed their options.  They wanted to get back to Kaer Maga to report back to the wizards of the Therassic Spire [and get paid for retrieving the body of the naga, Selasny].  They also wanted to have Gridik and Ariphi raised as soon as possible.  The direct route to Kaer Maga would take them through the Sanos Forest, full of fae, and the Ashwood, full of ghosts and werewolves.  Not inviting.

The group instead decided to walk to Riddleport, get their companions raised, and then see what travel options they had there.  They would also need to decide if they wanted to get the next shard at Windsong Abbey first and then go to Kaer Maga or vice versa, but that discussion could wait.

The Ratpack headed towards the road to their south as it led to Riddleport.  

Late Afternoon

Having arrived at the road, the tired adventurers located a good place to camp.  Zitch cast Secure Shelter so they could safely sleep.  [Also so the group could level up.]

End of Session

End of Book 3

Rat Whispers

[Surprise!  The Other GM and Marativy were able to attend remotely and we wrapped up Book 3 of the adventure path.  We rushed a little so we could wrap things up in a single session and not draw it out.  This frustrated some of the players, particularly Swamprover’s player who wanted to interact with Malaghast more, but we were on a schedule.]

[Now that Book 3 is complete, we are putting that campaign on hold for a while to allow the new parents time to adjust to having a newborn.  Clone GM 1 will run a single adventure for D&D 5E for somewhere between 2 and 4 sessions.  We had a character-building session on June 5, but didn’t have enough of the books so we were continually passing what books we had back and forth, making the process much longer.  That has now been fixed.  All players are supposed to have complete characters by next Monday (June 19) so we can do character background links and start play.  That will be the first session I document for that adventure.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Last Session: Session 36

Book Complete

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 36

[Day 45 – Mopping Up]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened May 29, 2023.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 9th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 9th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 9th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 9th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 9th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 9th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 7th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Fish – male grodaire, actual name is Hummlgau

Autumn

Day 45 continues

Marativy and Roscuro were both holding grudges against the Dark Rider and continued hitting it, even though it was inert.  They were encouraged in this by the obelisk continually trying to heal up the Dark Rider, even though he was dead-dead.  Roscuro picked up the Rider’s hand axe and used that to chop off parts to foil the regeneration.  Marativy claimed the bone flail.  Between hits, Swamprover started removing the Rider’s armor.

Winston and Zitch searched the room the fight took place in.  They each located a secret door, one on the north wall, the other on the south wall.  They both checked for traps, both announcing the secret door they were investigating was trapped.  Marativy swapped out with Hrefna on abusing the body of the Rider so Marativy could disable the traps.  Investigating the south secret door first, she determined the trap triggers a Dismissal spell, sending anyone triggering it back to their home plane [80% of the time, otherwise to a random plane].  Marativy then disabled the trap.  The north door was the same kind of trap and she disabled it as well.  She then returned to periodically slashing the Rider’s body.

With the doors cleared of traps, Templeton opened the south secret door.  Doing so filled the room with a humming sound.  The room was full of biomechanical machinery that seemed to be tied into the obelisk.  Zitch looked it over.  He announced he was not certain if breaking this equipment would break the anchoring effect of the obelisk on the pocket dimension or the regeneration effect the obelisk had on the Rider or both.

Starting to get bored with periodically attacking the body of the Rider, Roscuro kicked it down the stairs and into the next room, to see if the regeneration effect was limited to that room.  The regeneration effect continued, suggesting that as long as the body was in the pocket dimension, it would regenerate.  Swamprover resumed removing the Rider’s armor, now in the eating hall [where the PCs fought and killed the shadow mastiffs a couple sessions back].

Templeton next checked the north secret door and found more biomechanical machinery.  This machinery included the body of the naga Selasny.  The wizards of the Therassic Spire would still pay a bounty for the retrieval of her body.  The Ratpack discussed how much they might need to bring back to claim the bounty.  They decided that all of it was probably the correct answer.  Roscuro pulled out the remaining two body bags of holding.  Gridik and Ariphi were wrapped up and placed in one of the body bags and Selasny was placed into the other.  Swamprover finished stripping the armor off the Rider’s corpse and cast Detect Magic.  The Rider’s armor [plate +2], hand axe [+2] and spine flail [+2 with additional powers when wielded by a dulahand like the Rider] were all magical.  Zitch identified the specific magics and the armor was put in the loot bag.

There was a discussion about what might happen if they plugged the body of the Dark Rider into the machinery.  The Ratpack decided they did not have enough information or even the proper know-how to do it, so they didn’t.  Those members of the Ratpack not involved with doing things to the Rider’s corpse resumed searching the rooms.

Templeton suggested that maybe putting the Rider’s corpse into a bag of holding might stop the regeneration as the interior was its own pocket dimension.  Roscuro was concerned about what would happen if that did not work, not wanting to have to fight the Rider a second time and they could not see the results of placing the corpse in the bag until possibly too late.  Zitch offered a test: he would cast Mirror Hideaway and they could move the body into that and go in and check it, unlike a bag of holding.  This sounded good, so Roscuro told Zitch to do it.

Zitch pulled out a mirror [I believe he carries one specifically for this spell] and set it up.  He then cast the spell.  Marativy and Roscuro moved the body into the now enchanted mirror and observed that the regeneration had stopped.  They decided to leave the body there as the spell would last 9 hours, providing plenty of time to finish searching the keep for the shard and any other loot.

With the Rider’s body stored and no longer regenerating, the Ratpack searched the eating hall.  There was a viewing area with large windows in the southeast corner.  Instead of outside the keep, the windows showed a barren landscape with the ruins of an ancient city and a black sky, despite there being daylight.  The Ratpack theorized that the view was of Eox, where Malaghast the bonesage was from.  It matched the description of the world the bonesage’s were supposed to be from.  Roscuro investigated trying to exit the keep through the windows [thinking maybe the shard was on Eox], but he could not reach past the window frame.  There was the possibility it was just an image and not a passage to another world.  With two other doors to search in the eating hall, Roscuro let it go for later.

The Ratpack opened the door on the south wall.  The room beyond was a large bath set into the floor that took up almost the entire 20- by 30-foot room.  The water in the bath was black and opaque.  Zitch cast Detect Magic and noted there was something in the bath that radiated moderate conjuring magic.  No one wanted to step into water they could not see through, so Hrefna grabbed a chair from the eating room and dipped it into the water to test the depth.  The near end had steps under the water’s surface.  Hrefna went around to the side of the bath and kept testing the depth.  At the end of the steps the water was deeper that the chair was tall with Hrefna holding onto the very top of the chair.

That’s when the monsters attacked!

Four skeletal things with long, whip-like tongues rose out of the water, surprising the Ratpack, and attacked Hrefna.  One hit Hrefna with its tongue and paralyzed her.

Winston immediately rapid-fired his musket, destroying the thing that paralyzed Hrefna.  Roscuro grabbed Hrefna and hauled her out of the bath and back into the eating room with the rest of the Ratpack, moving past Marativy in the doorway.  The creatures waded out of the bath and attacked Marativy, damaging and paralyzing her.  Templeton moved to get a line of sight into the room and cast Black Tentacles, filling the bath with rubbery black tentacles that the creatures avoided with ease [Templeton rolled very low on his grapple check].  Swamprover moved up onto one of the eating tables so she could see over Templeton and lobbed a Fireball into the bath, damaging the three remaining creatures.  Marativy was paralyzed and could do nothing.  Zitch cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Marativy to at least heal the damage the creatures had done to her.  Fish finally showed up and raised the water level in the room to drown the undead things.  It was not at all effective and the Ratpack yelled at him to stop.

Winston rapid-fired again, hitting one of the creatures twice before his musket misfired.  Roscuro grabbed Marativy and pulled her away from the doorway, but she suffered an opportunistic attack from one of the things before he got her to safety.  The creatures then advanced and attacked Roscuro, damaging and paralyzing him.  Templeton advanced and pulled Roscuro out of the way.  Swamprover cast Create Pit, catching one of the creatures in the pit; one jumped forward to escape, the last jumped back into the bath.  Zitch put Protective Luck on Templeton and then cackled to maintain it.  Fish used his waterspout to push the one creature in the room with the Ratpack back into the pit.  Hrefna regained her ability to move, immediately activating her healing aura and casting Barbed Chains on the remaining mobile creature.

Winston rapid-fired on the remaining mobile creature and killed it.  Roscuro was paralyzed but benefitted from the healing aura [Fast Heal 3].  The creatures in the pit climbed out and advanced.  Templeton poured all his attacks into the lagging creature, hitting multiple times.  Swamprover cast Magic Missile at the leading creature and hit.  Zitch placed his ward on Templeton, backed away 5 feet, and cackled.  Fish missed entirely and backed away.  Hrefna attempted an attack and flubbed it.

Winston stepped back 5 feet and shot at the leading creature, critically hitting before misfiring.  Roscuro was still paralyzed but benefitted from the healing aura again.  The lead creature advanced on Winston and slammed him but did not paralyze him.  The lagging creature did the same to Templeton but succeeded in paralyzing the summoner.  Templeton was paralyzed, but made use of the healing aura.  Swamprover defensively cast Arc Lightning on the two creatures who were neatly lined up for her, destroying the lead creature.  Marativy regained her ability to move and poured all of her attacks into the remaining creature, killing it.

After the fight, Zitch was able to identify the creatures as mohrgs, a type of undead that still had their viscera and a long tongue.

Fish was asked to lower the water in the bath while the group waited for those paralyzed to recover.  Zitch located a club down at the bottom of the stairs and to one side.  Roscuro, now mobile again, stepped down and retrieved it.  Hrefna and Winston aided Zitch in identifying the club as a club +1 undead bane of disruption.  Roscuro stepped into the mirror and tested it on the Dark Rider’s corpse.  It messed up the corpse satisfactorily.

There was one final door in the eating hall on the north wall.  The Ratpack assembled in front of the door while Marativy verified there were no traps.  Marativy opened the door.  The room beyond was similar in size to the bath, but contained three things: a statue of the Dark Rider in the center of the room, a harp made from the corpse of a small humanoid hanging on a side wall, and Malaghast, who was standing near the statue.

“Oh!  Hello my friends,” Malaghast greeted the Ratpack.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[As mentioned in my recent status update, this game is now on hold due to the Other GM and Marativy's player being new parents.  There will likely be a Session 37 to finally finish Book 3, but we have no idea when it will happen.  The Other GM is optimistic and thinks he can run it soon, but the rest of us think a month or two might be more realistic based on how much time a newborn requires from their parents.  We’ll see how it plays out.]

[As a result, we’ve started building characters for the 5E one-shot being run by Winton’s player, now designated Clone GM 1 (an inside joke).  Clone GM 1 is running a published 5E adventure from a compilation of adventures and has had trouble answering what the adventure is about as all the published blurbs apparently include spoilers.  Another case of we’ll see how it goes.  The next blog entries will be next week and include a character summary for the 5E game followed by session notes for Session 1.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Last Session: Session 35

Next Session: Session 37

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 35

[Day 45 – Three Deaths]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened May 22, 2023.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 9th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 9th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 9th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 9th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 9th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 9th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 7th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Fish – male grodaire, actual name is Hummlgau

Autumn

Day 45 continues

[This is the session we realized that the CON Drain the wraiths did back on the roof should have had FORT Saves associated with them.  The Other GM was looking at the wraith stat block, which did not mention saves, and not the creature description, which specifically mentioned them.  Interestingly, attacks with poison list their save DC but other attack types, like Drain, do not in the Pathfinder SRD, so he did not believe there was a save until we asked.  Once he found the listing of the saves and their DC, he allowed us to retroactively make the saves.  Everyone but Winston made the saves, adjusted their maximum hit points back to full, and play started.]

Having shot off the apex of the domed ceiling to the back room of the Black Keep, the Ratpack entered the back room.  It was clearly a vault as it was lined with a layer of adamantium, but the only thing it contained was a biomechanical obelisk that appeared to anchor the Dark Forest pocket dimension.

Marativy and Zitch examined the vault door for traps so the Ratpack could exit the vault and face the Dark Rider.  It is well they checked the door as it was trapped.  Marativy disabled the trap and announced the door was ready to be opened.

The Ratpack prepared for the fight by casting several spells.  Zitch cast Remove Fear on himself, Hrefna, and Marativy [those with the lowest WILL saves].  Templeton cast Protection from Evil on Swamprover and Roscuro.  Zitch then took the time to place Protective Luck on the entire group, one at a time, while cackling to maintain them all.  During this time Marativy activated five shadow clones and Winston cast Named Bullet.  Winston then prepared to immediately shoot the Black Rider once the door was open [but not with the Named Bullet].  Hrefna activated her aura [+2 to saves for allies].

Marativy then opened the door.

Several things happened at once.  Winston rapid fired at the Dark Rider, who was across the room from the vault door, hitting several times but not as effectively as he had hoped [the Dark Rider had DR that Winston’s attacks did not bypass].  At the same time, the Dark Rider’s fear aura flowed over the front two ranks of adventurers with fear taking hold in the hearts of Ariphi and Winston [the two who failed their saves].  Finally, the Dark Rider threw a decapitated head [its prepared action], which exploded in the center of the Ratpack, heavily injuring many, notably Ariphi and Gridik.

Winston rapid-fired his musket [a phrase that still feels wrong to type], hitting the Dark Rider twice, before falling back from fear.  Marativy advanced to the Dark Rider’s horse per the plan and hit, but did no damage [the horse had its own DR].  The Dark Rider threw all of its attacks from a whip made of a spinal column at Marativy, missing once and eliminating two of her shadow clones.  Then the horse did a stomp, eliminating another shadow clone.  Roscuro advanced and attempted a Stunning Fist on the horse, which it [just] resisted.  Zitch cackled to maintain Protective Luck on everyone and then cast Remove Fear on Winston and Ariphi, suppressing the fear they were suffering.  Swamprover advanced to a better line of sight and cast Lightning Bolt at the Dark Rider, piercing his spell resistance and hitting him, although he avoided the full brunt of the attack [made his Reflex save].  Hrefna cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Ariphi, who was heavily injured from the explosion.  Ariphi then advanced into the side of room with the Dark Rider and drank her last potion of Cure Moderate Wounds.  Templeton cast Haste on most of the Ratpack [Winston was out of range] and then advanced on the Dark Rider.  Fish attempted to advance on the Dark Rider, entered the fear aura, thought better of it, and retreating to the far back of the vault.  Gridik cast Dragon Breath at the Dark Rider, spewing a line of acid that fizzled against the Riders spell resistance.  Gridik then shuffled into a protected corner as he was near unconsciousness from the previous explosion [down to 4 hit points].  Suddenly the biomechanical pillar in the vault activated, the three devas screaming horrifically and mostly healed the wounds on the Dark Rider.

Winston fired his Named Bullet as a Dead Shot, hitting the Dark Rider.  Marativy put all of her attacks into the Rider’s horse, hitting twice and bloodying the horse [with Roscuro there she could Backstab due to the Swarming trait Ratfolk have, so she did much more damage].  The Dark Rider did not like this at all, drew a hand axe and attacked Marativy six times [!], taking out her last shadow clone and hitting her once each with the axe [20 hit points] and the whip [19 hit points].  The Rider’s horse then stomped her [14 hit points].  Roscuro attacked the horse with a flurry of blows, hitting it 5 times, once critically, which triggered an additional attack from Marativy that also hit.  Zitch attempted Baleful Polymorph on the Dark Rider, but the Rider resisted the effort [made his save].  Swamprover cast Magic Missile at the Dark Rider and hit with all five.  Hrefna healed Marativy [restored 20 hit points] and invoked Divine Might on the Dark Rider [which provided bonuses to her attacking the Dark Rider].  Ariphi advanced on the Dark Rider and attempted a feint that failed.  Templeton attacked the horse with all of his attacks and killed it.  In response the horse exploded doing varying amounts of damage to all in the room.  Back in the vault, Gridik moved over to Zitch and requested some healing [this turned out to be a mistake].  The obelisk howled again and healed some of the Rider’s wounds.

Winston waited.  Marativy took advantage of the pause in attacks and re-invoked her shadow clones, getting six of them this time.  The Dark Rider stood from his fallen horse, reached into his bag, pulled out the head of Selasny the Naga, and flung it into the center of the adventurers where it exploded.  The explosion damaged Hrefna and Templeton, knocked out Marativy and Ariphi, and killed Gridik [who would have been safe if he had stayed in the corner].  Winston fired a startling shot at the Dark Rider, making the Rider flat-footed.  Roscuro stepped to the Rider and unleashed a flurry of angry blows on the Rider, hitting four times.  Zitch stepped to see the Rider and attempted Baleful Polymorph again but failed.  Swamprover moved back to the doorway for cover and cast Magic Missile at the Dark Rider, hitting again with all 5 missiles.  Hrefna cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Marativy, reviving her and then switched her aura to healing [Fast Heal 3 to all allies].  Ariphi healed but remained unconscious.  Templeton stepped over to Roscuro to swarm and attacked the Dark Rider with all his attacks, hitting four times and rending with two of his claws.  Fish continued to cower and the obelisk healed the Rider again.

Awake again, Marativy kipped up, stepped adjacent to Dark Rider where she could swarm with Templeton [he was Large, so two people could swarm with him] and attacked the Dark Rider mightily [a total of 90 points of damage over three hits].  In response, the Dark Rider stepped over to the unconscious Ariphi and cut her head off with his axe before attacking Marativy with the rest of his attacks.  One of his attacks hit the real Marativy and knocked her unconscious again.  Meanwhile Ariphi’s head disappeared and the Rider’s bag suddenly had another head in it.  Winston rapidly fired at the Rider, hitting all three times.  Roscuro threw another flurry of blows, hitting three times, once critically.  Zitch then advanced and cast Lightning Bolt at the Dark Rider, killing the fiend!  Hrefna then cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Marativy, reviving her.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[We skipped a week as a storm blew through earlier in the day on the 15th and blew down some trees, knocking out power to our neighborhood for four hours.  Oddly enough, there was rain again on the day this session happened that made the power blink a couple times during the afternoon, but it never went out for more than a couple seconds, so we played.  May is Monsoon Month for Houston.  June 1 is the beginning of Hurricane Season.  Joy.]

[So the three deaths were Gridik, Ariphi, and the Dark Rider (maybe).  We stopped as soon as the Dark Rider dropped as we were running late and folks had to work the next day.  On one hand I feel the death of Ariphi was gratuitous on the Other GM’s part.  He could easily have decided that the Dark Rider had another head in the bag and not killed Ariphi.  On the other hand, the Rider was Lawful Evil and the Other GM had set the number of heads available before the battle and stuck with that.  It was entirely in character for the Rider to do what he did, but that doesn’t make us hate the Rider any less.  Jerk-face.]

[Marativy’s shadow clones were easily the MVP of this session.  Without them Marativy would have died in the fight, even with the Protective Luck from Zitch.  If she had dropped, either Roscuro or Templeton would have been the focus of the Rider’s attacks and that person likely would have dropped as well before the others took the Rider down.  We still would have won, but more of us would have been dead.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Last Session: Session 34 

Next Session: Session 36

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 34

[Days 45 – Loudest Heist Ever]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened May 8, 2023.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 9th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 9th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 9th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 9th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 9th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 9th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 7th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Fish – male grodaire, actual name is Hummlgau

Autumn

Day 45 continues

[Once the players had assembled but before we started play, a storm blowing through the area knocked out the power in the neighborhood.  We put out some battery-powered lights on the table and discussed our strategy for fighting the Dark Rider while waiting for the power to come back on.  The power returned about 30 minutes later and so we started regular play.]

While catching their breath after fighting the wraiths, Marativy had an idea on fighting the Dark Rider.  The Rider received a great deal of mobility from being on horseback and seemed to generate a great deal of damage, so she proposed that she, Templeton, and Roscuro concentrate their attacks on the horse to eliminate the Rider’s advantage while everyone else attacked the rider directly.  This was a good idea.  After discussing the situation a little, Marativy, Templeton, and Roscuro decided they would concentrate their initial attacks on the horse [for the first three rounds].  If the horse seemed immune to their attacks, they would switch back to attacking the Dark Rider, otherwise they would do their best to kill the horse before switching to the Rider.

With a new appreciation of the need to be quiet while traversing the roof of the keep, the group advanced to the next section.  Roscuro, slightly distracted, put his foot through a weak spot in the roof but caught himself before falling all the way through [rolled a 1 on Stealth check].  Marativy started marking the weak spots in chalk while scouting ahead.

While using the knotted rope to climb up the wall to the next level of the roof, Gridik slipped and fell.  [Yes, Gridik failed a DC 0 Climb check.  He rolled 1.]  Luckily Hrefna was waiting at the bottom of the rope for this and caught the falling kobold.  On her own turn to climb the wall, Hrefna also slipped and fell [also rolled a 1] but was caught by Zitch.

The Ratpack reached the roof of the final chamber in keep, a pointed dome covering a 20x30 foot area.  Roscuro consulted with Winston, the team’s engineer, where to break through: the wall around the top of the chamber or through the domed roof.  Winston looked it over and felt that the tiles roof would be the better option.  The group would remove the ceramic roof tiles and then use the wand of acid arrow and adamantine dagger to cut through, just like they had done in Kaer Maga.

Marativy climbed onto Templeton’s back.  He then flew them to the pinnacle of the roof where they tied a rope to assist climbing onto the domed roof.  Winston and Ariphi climbed up and started prying up the first ceramic time when all the tiles flash heated hot enough to burn them through their armor!  They immediately hopped back down to the previous roof.

Marativy dangled under Templeton and checked the roof, belatedly verifying it was trapped.  She then spent some time disabling the area around where Winston and Ariphi needed to work.  Once that area was cleared of trap triggers, Winston and Ariphi climbed back up onto the domed roof.

After safely removing a number of tiles, They used the wand to start eating away through the substrate.  This is when Winston discovered another problem – under the layer holding the tiles in place was a layer of adamantium!  Spot checking in a couple places confirmed the layer of adamantium covered the entire roof and appeared to include the walls of the chamber underneath as well.

A room lined with adamantium!

The Ratpack discussed options.  Zitch only had one casting of Dimension Door available, so he could teleport himself and 3 others into the chamber below, but then they would be trapped.  Winston then volunteered a terrible idea, but the only one that would work.  His plan was to use his remaining adamantium bullet and his bag of abundant ammunition to shoot a perforated line through the adamantium layer, cutting off part of the peak of the dome to provide access.  He could use his oil of silence to quiet his gun, but not the bullet hitting the adamantium layer.  This would be noisy and all surprise would be lost but it would work and allow the Ratpack to attack on their terms.

With no other viable options, the Ratpack agreed to this.

Winston oiled up his gun and activated the first charge of the bag.  He then started shooting through the roof, each shot ringing the adamantium like a bell.  When the first charge from the bag expired, Winston paused to evaluate his efforts.  Checking how far he had cut, he estimated he would be half way done by the time his bag ran out of charges.

The Ratpack could also hear the sound of an alarm going off down in the keep.

Gridik suggested he could access Abundant Ammunition through his bonded ring, Fulmination, and his casting would last 7 minutes whereas Winton’s charges only lasted a minute.  [Gridik normally keeps the use of his spell focus to pull a spell out of his spellbook as a last minute resort.]  They all agreed that it was necessary and so Gridik accessed and cast Abundant Ammunition on Winston.

Seven Noisy Minutes Later

Winston finally finished perforating the pinnacle of the dome roof.  The Ratpack attempted to move the resulting cone of adamantium but found it was too heavy for them to move [650 pounds of adamantium and another 100 pounds of roofing on top].  Templeton used an evolutionary surge to become large again, which granted him enough strength to lift the cone while a rope was attached and then haul on the rope to air lift the cone off the roof and set it down on the ground adjacent to the keep.

The rest of the Ratpack peered in through the opening.  The chamber below was clearly lined with adamantium.  Instead of treasure or the Dark Rider, the only thing in the room was some form of biomechanical obelisk 30 feet tall.  There was a glowing green gem at the top connected to metal conduits of some sort that spiraled down around the obelisk to the eye sockets of three devas, chained to the base of the obelisk, their faces a mask of agony.  Zitch estimated that this device was responsible for maintaining the pocket dimension they were in.

Roscuro wanted to immediately destroy the thing.  Zitch pointed out that if it stopped functioning, they would have at best minutes to get back to the menhir and activate it before the pocket dimension and everything in it would blink out of existence.  This gave Roscuro pause.

It also suggested that this might be a way to destroy one or more of the shard of the Shattered Star.  This would end their quest but would also mean no one would be able to reassemble the Star, something the Ratpack was already iffy on.

[The players had a short debate here about whether or not they wanted to end the campaign this way.  Several players wanted to keep playing their characters and were not ready to end the campaign based on that.  The Other DM allowed that he had a way to keep the campaign going without stating what that way was.  Ultimately, the group decided to not use this option and keep the campaign going.]

The Ratpack decided that breaking the pocket dimension was too risky for now and they should defeat the Dark Rider and secure the shard instead.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[I had expected to have the conversation about what to do with the shards once we had them eventually, but not until we had all the shards.  So I was thinking the end of Book 5.  The Ratpack has been pursuing the shards for two reasons.  First, locations with the shards tend to also have Thassilonian relics that the group can sell for a significant profit.  Second, we really don’t trust anyone else to do the job nor with all the shards.  The Pathfinder Society put forth the idea that having the Star would be some form of defense against the rising Runelords but that sounds like Boromir arguing that the Ring of Power is a gift to use against Sauron.  I’ve discussed with Templeton’s player maybe we should find a way to permanently hide the shards, like putting them in a lead box and dropping the box into the deepest part of the ocean, preferable far away from any marine civilizations.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Last Session: Session 33

Next Session: Session 35

 

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 33

[Days 45 – Discussions and Roof Wraiths]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened May 1, 2023.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 9th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 9th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 9th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 9th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 9th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 9th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 7th level Wizard (Invoker)

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Fish – male grodaire, actual name is Hummlgau

Autumn

Day 45 continues

Having just barely failed to remove the Wall of Iron blocking their forward progress, Roscuro continued talking with the bonesage, starting with proper introductions.  The bonesage’s name was Malaghast.  Roscuro tried to get the parameters of Malaghast’s orders, hoping to find a loophole.  Malaghast told Roscuro and Swamprover that he is not allowed to let the Ratpack any further into the keep.  Roscuro asked if Malaghast could retrieve the shard the group was looking for instead.  Malaghast stated he was not allowed to do that either.

Malaghast made some statements that Roscuro did not understand.  Zitch activated his earring of telepathy to converse with Roscuro privately and informed Roscuro that Malaghast had stated that he was a simulacrum with conditional programming.  Roscuro asked a series of questions to determine if the original Malaghast had consented to having a simulacrum made and this Malaghast stated he had – or at least that’s what he had been told.

Having reached a dead end in the conversation there, Roscuro stated that he and the lord of this keep had business to settle between them and Roscuro wanted to do so immediately.  Malaghast mentally contacted the Dark Rider to inquire about this as no had asked that before.  After a pause, he relayed that the Dark Rider offered to call off the whole affair with no grudges if the Ratpack left the keep now.  Roscuro asked permission to step outside the room and consult with his traveling companions.  Malaghast assented and Roscuro stepped out of the doorway and back to the previous room.  Swamprover stayed in Malaghast’s study and discussed other topics.

During the time Roscuro and Swamprover were talking with Malaghast, Marativy snuck into an adjacent room to see what was there.  It was a library with a small fae dusting the shelves.  She closed the door and described the being to Zitch, who identified it as a pukwudgie.  He also identified the centaur-like being Marativy had previously discovered as a nucklevee, another kind of fae but much more dangerous, being immune to disease and poison, able to see in the dark, but vulnerable to cold iron like all fae.

Roscuro, joining the rest of the Ratpack, talked the offer over with them and none of them were willing to accept the deal.  They all agreed they were going to have to fight to get past Malaghast.  Winston requested that Gridik cast Named Bullet on one of Winston’s remaining adamantine bullets, keyed specifically to Malaghast.  Gridik saw the value of doing so and cast the spell.

Roscuro returned to Malaghast’s study and announced the group was regretfully declining the Dark Rider’s offer.  Malaghast suggested that if they were not leaving and could go no further forward, perhaps they should visit the observation tower, which had a fine view of the roof and surrounding lands.  Roscuro recognized that Malaghast might be suggesting a different path forward, one he was not responsible for.  Roscuro and Swamprover thanked Malaghast for his time and stated they would take his advice.  They left before any violence started.

The door to the tower was the last door in the ballroom the Ratpack had not explored.  The door was both locked and trapped, which Marativy and Roscuro discovered when they went to open the door and a gout of flame erupted from the door.  Roscuro avoided the flames but Marativy caught the edge of the gout [both made their saves, but only Roscuro has Improved Evasion and was able to avoid all the damage].  Marativy disarmed the trap and picked the lock after receiving some healing.

Beyond the door was a dusty, circular room, the lowest chamber of the tower.  At the far side of the room [south] was a circular stairway rising to the upper floors.  The Ratpack climbed the stairs, finding the second floor much the same.  The third floor was missing its roof and was the roost of the wyverns, containing two large nests [and quite the stench].  A quick search using Detect Magic located a corpse with three magic items on it [identified by Zitch]: a set of shadow leather +1, a wand of mount [caster level 3], and a Phylactery of Channeling.  The shadow leather +1 was removed and cleaned with a prestidigitation spell and then given to Marativy [whose Stealth skill bonus was now truly ridiculous].  The set of leather +1 she had been wearing went to Ariphi, who only had plain leather armor.  [Magic armor resizes itself to fit the wearer, which is how leather +1 went from a size Small ratfolk to a size medium tiefling.]  The wand and phylactery went into the loot bag for later sale.

The view from the wyvern roost was dark and dreary as benefitted the Dark Forest pocket dimension.  The roof of the keep was 10 feet down and rose in giant steps as it went east to the conical dome over the far end.  The Ratpack tied off a rope and knotted it for easy climbing down from the tower to the roof, notably for Gridik who was terrible at climbing [Climb bonus of -1].

Once on the roof, the Ratpack walked across the roof over the ballroom to the next height change.  Marativy nimbly climbed up to the next roof level and tied off another rope.  Roscuro simply jumped the distance while Swamprover made use of her native climb speed.  Gridik started climbing the rope.

At this point, four wraiths seeped up through the ceiling to investigate the noise, catching the Ratpack by surprise.  Winston, Roscuro, Templeton, and Zitch all took some level of Constitution Drain.

After recovering from the surprise, Winston shot the heck out of the wraith that attacked him, the last shot a misfire.  Roscuro parceled out his flurry of blows, taking out the wraith Winston had shot and landing two more blows on a second wraith.  Zitch stepped to Winston and put Protective Luck on Templeton.  Swamprover identified the wraiths as wraths and warned they were immune to non-magical damage.  The three remaining wraiths attacked again, landing another blow on Templeton [draining more Constitution, but see Rat Whispers below].  Hrefna activated a defensive aura [+2 AC for all allies] and saved her action.  Templeton used an evolutionary surge to gain Shadow Form and then stepped to Roscuro.  Marativy [already scouting the next level of roof up] made an acrobatic dive to Roscuro’s position and attacked the wraith number 2 [gaining the bonus to hit of her Outflank feat].  Gridik finished climbing the rope and cast Magic Missile at wraith number 4.  Hrefna used her saved action to immediately follow Gridik up the rope.  Fish water-jetted a wraith to absolutely no effect.

Winston cleared his weapon and immediately misfired again.  Roscuro parceled out another flurry of blows, taking out wraith 2 and hitting wraith 3 three times.  Zitch put Protective Luck on Winston and cackled to maintain the two effects in play.  Swamprover cast Magic Missile at wraith 4 and hit all 5 times.  That wraith moved to attack Swamprover in return and hit [Draining 5 CON in a single hit].  Wraith 3 attacked Roscuro, but thanks to bodyguard actions from Templeton and Marativy, it missed.  Templeton did a full attack on wraith 3, hitting twice with his claws and rending it.  Marativy stepped to Roscuro and also did a full attack [making two critical hits], killing it.  Gridik cast Magic Missile at the remaining wraith and hit it four times.  Hrefna moved to the remaining wraith and attacked it with her magic sword, killing it.

[At this point, most of the characters had lost Constitution from the drains, which equated to lost hit points as their Constitution bonuses were lower.  We attempted to heal it with multiple castings of Lesser Restoration before realizing that Lesser Restoration only heals Stat Damage, not Stat Drain.  That requires Restoration or Greater Restoration.  Remember to see Rat Whispers below.]

Marativy spotted tracks indicating that the naga had traveled this way.  Zitch cast See Invisible looking for foes but instead located a scrying sensor point.  He cast Glitter Dust on it, hoping to blind the viewer [not likely] and outlining the point so everyone knew where it was.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[Two sessions later, Session 35, there was a ret-con on the CON Drain attacks.  It turns out the Drain gets a Fortitude save, but the save is not mentioned in the stat block for the wraith, only in the power description for the monster and the Other GM was only looking at the Stat Block.  When this was pointed out at the beginning of the session, we retro-actively did the saves.  Most made the saves but not Winston.  Poor Winston.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions 

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Last Session: Session 32 

Next Session: Session 34