1.01 Game Kickoff Report

General Summary

Heroes. Why would anyone want to be a Hero? Heroes are forged in fire. Their days are metered in handfuls and their nights are filled with fevered dreams of what they have witnessed in that short life. And yet, heroes always come when needed in Golarion as if the land itself calls them into existence. The land of Golarion has once again called forth Heroes to defend it. Here, now, in Eltran's Folly in the Hardlands of Isger on the continent of Avaistan, land of Lost Omens. Four mere caravan guards, traveling elsewhere for reasons their own, found wage defending Bort's Traveling Mercantile Conclave. Their latest stopover, Eltran's Folly, known in the traveling merchant trade as 'Plaguestone'. Who are these guards you ask? Lune the Lucky, Halfling swifthand. Ever a shiny object has found its way into Lucky's small hands. Veerefel, Gnome spellbinder. An ancestral bloodline of death and power haunts Veer. A tantalizing gift that may cost not but his soul Kalzium, Dwarven greenweaver. Nature holds Kal close like a mother protective embrace. Ylandra, Elven Monastice Martialist. Lan's body is a temple to the asture ideals of perfection. Our Heroes of four this day found themselves embrewed in a foul affair. On arrival to this blight plagued land they were beset by desperate wolves from the woods starved and corroded by acid. The groups defended the caravan handly, helped by Kal's bear companion, 'Dog'. Bort offered to thank them with a hardy meal on arriving at the Feedmill, local gastronomy pub du jour. On arriving, Bort spun a tail of this land's bleak history involving deadly fire and plague. One such monument on that dark tour was a circular millstone moved to the center of town. This 'Plaguestone' was an exchange point 20 years ago during the plague where food would be left for the sick residents in exchange for coin. This drop point was the epicenter of misery that was the Crimson Plague of Etran's Folly two decades past. Upon arriving at Feedmill, the crew was offered a red box by Bort. 'Deliver this to Hallod in the Mill and keep the money as reward for today. I will meet you all for dinner." Simple enough for 10 gold promised, the party found Hallod within the Mill without delay. Hallod, it must be said, was more than he should be. A human of tremendous size and ugliness, his cabled musculature was almost inhuman in its mass upon his body. This foul man offered 8 gold for his box, sparking a hard decision for Veer, self elected leader of the band. 'We will have our 10 from you one way or another' Veer conceded to the man in distraction as he took the box, allowing Lucky opportunity to lift 14 gold from his purse in the process. A fortune in any land! Later that night the group, remaining at the Feedmill to enjoy their spoils, met with Bort and Tamli for dinner. A feast such as this place could offer was had. Food and ale flowed freely. Bort told many tales. Late in the evening he spoke in hushed whispers of a dark tale from the town's past. Twenty years ago during the plague, a renown elven alchemist named Silwyn attempted to cure the townfolk. She was unsuccessful and contracted the pox herself. The townsfolk, rallied by a local priest, blamed her as an outsider for this mality and killed her, leaving her young daughter an orphan. Bort said many of the troubles that haunt this town branch out from that moment at the Plaguestone. The bar crowded to uncomfortable capacity. Someone spilled beer on someone else and a bar fight ignited. The yet unnamed party defused the brawl quickly without any deaths, except one. Bort was dead, face down in his turnip porridge, poisoned. Through skill and luck, the team quickly discovered a lead in Phinick the goblin server, and chased him around town. Finally, once caught, the goblin fingered Hallod as the mastermind. 'He gave me the vial to pour in Bort's food. I didn't know it would kill him, just make him sick.. He said he was cheated something in his delivery!' With Bort dead, Tamli took the dwarf's body to a clearing outside town to perform a service with her teamsters. The party, meanwhile, tracked down Hallod at Dead Willow, a once fine home now collapsed into ruin. Collapsed, but not entirely abandoned as it seemed. Lucky scouted the house and saw only one clear entrance. Ylandra moved in first and was first to discover Hallod had trapped the whole house. A spear launched into the elf, bringing her down to near death. The quick work of Kal saved her life. The party reconsidered their investigation, deciding it could wait a night, and went to Tamil to rest and investigate Bort's records. Bort had a bit to say about his deliveries to Etran's Folly. 22 entries this year alone to one 'H' marked as reagents. The amount of gold exchanged was so large as to prompt Tamli to suspect it was illegal smuggling of some sort. She was otherwise unaware of what the deliveries actually were. The next morning, refreshed and revitalized, the party returned to Dead Willow. Lucky found a window that was rigged to look nailed shut but wasn't. He climbed through and into a narrow channel cleared from the rubble to a small hatch in the floor. Down the party went and into a cellar room. Guard dogs were awaiting them but Kal's affinity for natures animals calmed their aggression without a fight. Beyond this room, the party found a simple living quarters for Hallod and a cave system beyond that. Twenty minutes of walking that cave opened into a larger cavern with a pool of water. While walking along the water's edge, they were waylaid by a giant Lightning Snake. Quick moves by the entire team to find positions of flanking, and opportunities to use their strengths overcame the creature quickly. The team was finally coming together. That is where we ended this chapter of the story. But there will be many more chapters to come. Who really had Bort killed and why? What was he transporting? What is this blight that has settled on the land? We may find answers to come and possibly new Heroes to join the tale.

Rewards Granted

Kill the wolves outside town: 60xp each
Delivering the box to Hallod: 8 gp + 14gp stolen
Quell the brawl: 10xp each
Discover Phninck's part in Bort's death: 30xp each
Connect Hallod to the death: 10xp each
Search Bort's records: 10xp each
Ask Tamli for aid: 5 potions of Minor Healing
Disable the ceiling trap: 30xp Lucky
Make it to the cellar of Dead Willow: 20xp each
Calm the dogs: 40xp Kal
Kill the Lightning Snake: 120xp each

Missions/Quests Completed

Discovered that Hallod gave Phinick the poison to pour on Bort's food

Character(s) interacted with

Allies:

Tamli the Teamster
Delma the tavern ownner of Feedmill
Noala the Ranger/Druid. Friend of Kal

Enemies

Phinick the goblin
Hallod

Notes

We can elect to continue this quest with the larger team on Sunday. I have it all setup in Roll20. It would be a good short quest to complete to level up the team, get some equipment, and some experience before Age of Ashes. I expect it to take another 3-4 sessions. Game Rules Discussion Here are some of the rules that I looked up afterward Wounds & Hero Points Wound condition can be removed only by the following ways.

Someone has spent 10 minutes using Treat Wounds on you
You have been healed to full and rested for 10 Minutes

Therefore, you cannot remove the wound condition during combat in the rules as written. Once you start gathering Wound conditions, your character is on a spiral towards death the longer the combat rages on as you enter into and out of the dying condition. Note that using a Hero Point to prevent dying does not remove the wound condition if you already have it. It does, however, stabilize you to 0 without adding a Wound condition or increasing it if you already have it. I may consider a house rule in the future around using Hero Points to remove wound conditions, but lets play it RAW (rules as written) for now Rounding RAW, you always round down Ties In a check, the Tie always goes to the one who rolled. An attack is a check. Perception DC Your Perception DC is 10 + Wisdom modifier + proficiency bonus (if any) + other bonuses - penalties Rolling in Secret The DM should roll in secret any check that has the 'secret' trait. This is usually used for perception, thievery, knowledge, and deception checks where knowing how well you rolled would alter how you played. Here is a list of checks with the 'Secret' trait

Identify Magic
Recall Knowledge
Impersonate
Identify Alchemy
Lie
Gather Information
Conceal Object
Hide
Sneak
Sense Direction
Seek
Sense Motive

Roll VS DC All checks are conducted as a roll vs DC. There are no contested rolls. The one rolling is always the Player or Creature taking the action that results in the check. Shield Spell A shield spell raises a unbreakable shield for one round (until the start of the caster's next turn) This Shield can never have the broken condition and does not have HP or a Break Threshold. While in place the Shield gives a +1 circumstance bonus to AC. While raised, the caster can use Shield Block as a reaction. It has a Hardness of 5, so 5 points of damage will be deflected from the attack. Once Shield Block is cast, the spell ends and cannot be cast again for 10 minutes. Tripping as a second action after an attack Athletic maneuvers like Trip have the 'Attack' trait. They therefore suffer from the Multi Attack Penalty. So if you want to trip someone after striking them, you have a -4 or -5 to that attempt.

Characters (Players)