[The Ratpack continues to explore Sublevel 2 and collects from the Mite King.]
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened March 23, 2020.]
[SPOILERS! If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will contain a lot of spoilers.]
Player Characters
Marativy – female ratfolk 3rd level Ninja
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 3rd level Summoner (Synthesist)
Roscuro – male ratfolk 3rd level Monk
Zitch Grimreaper – male 3rd level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Winston – male 3rd level Gunslinger
Day 13
Afternoon
Having discovered a room with 6 animated and hostile skeletons, the Ratpack took position just inside the room to keep the skeletons from flanking the entire group. The fight was notable for two things. First, Winston misfired with his musket on his first shot, but luckily it did not explode. He quickly cleared the misfire and proceeded to shoot and shatter skeletons. The other incident was Marativy fumbling and nicking Templeton with her wakizashi. Luckily, it was not coated with spider venom at the time.
After the fight, the ratfolk searched the room and the crates in it. The crates held the remains of 7000 year old foodstuffs and nothing else. The room had one regular door out, to the east [as opposed to the secret door the group had arrived through], and it was investigated for traps. When none were found, it was opened. Beyond was a corridor to another chamber. There were two doors on this corridor, one on the north wall, one on the south wall. Before leaving this room, Marativy and Templeton drank some of the water from the healing basin. Marativy was healed up completely [she took some minor damage from the skeletons], but Templeton’s eidolon was not healed at all. [The eidolon’s hit points count as temporary hit points, which are not healed by standard curative magics. Templeton does have a spell specifically for healing his eidolon, but the number of spells he can cast right now is limited.]
Leaving the storage room, the Ratpack stopped to check the doors along the corridor. Both turned out to be pantries, long abandoned. A search of each turned up nothing of value. The chamber at the end of the corridor turned out to be an abandoned kitchen. Zitch cast Detect Magic and nothing glowed. Out of a sense of thoroughness [and the knowledge that not all treasure is magical] the Ratpack started searching the kitchen, starting with the first fire pit. While the group was inside the fire pit searching, Winston, Templeton, and Marativy heard a great deal of skittering from inside the other fire pit. Winston went to check the other fire pit and while standing in front of it, a large swarm of centipedes flowed out of it and over him, biting him repeatedly!
Zitch quickly stepped out of the first fire pit and cast burning hands on part of the centipede swarm, burning a swath of centipedes but failing to disperse it. The centipedes flowed forward, biting Winston [again], Marativy, and Templeton. Winston backed out of the swarm and shot at it to no effect. Roscuro and Marativy fled out into different parts of the room, putting space between themselves and the swarm. Roscuro also prepared a flask of oil. Templeton ran the length of the kitchen to an unexplored passage north.
Zitch ran to catch up with Templeton at the northern hallway. The centipedes flowed at and over Winston and Roscuro, biting fiercely. Winston pulled a torch out of Roscuro’s handy haversack and moved away from the centipede swarm. Roscuro scrambled up onto a wall oven away from the swarm and them flung the oil at the swarm, coating a swath of it with the oil. Marativy fled the kitchen, to Roscuro’s encouragement, down the corridor the Ratpack had entered through. Templeton grabbed Zitch by the scruff of his neck and fled blindly up the north passage, away from the centipedes.
The centipede swarm flowed up the wall and over the oven and Roscuro, biting Roscuro nearly to unconsciousness [had 2 hit points left]. Winston lit the torch he had and waited for Roscuro to get clear. Roscuro made an acrobatic leap, springing from the wall and landing on his feet mid-way across the kitchen. Winston threw the lit torch at the mass of centipedes, some of which burst into flames…but not enough to stop the swarm. Roscuro finished his diving escape by fleeing down the hallway to the storage room. Marativy continued fleeing that way, making it to the secret passage, while Templeton [carrying Zitch] took a left at an intersection and ended up back in the grotto.
The centipede swarm, still burning, flowed off the wall and over Winston, biting him mercilessly. Winston fled down the corridor to the storeroom. Roscuro slowed just long enough to ready another vial of oil but realized that Winston would never be clear of the swarm long enough to not get hit with the oil and burn to death. Even worse, Winston would not clear the secret door in the storeroom before the centipede swarm arrived and made closing the door pointless. Roscuro had a bad moment where he thought he was going to be forced into closing the secret door right in Winston’s face, trapping Winston with the centipede swarm and a sure and painful death.
Then Roscuro had an inspiration.
Roscuro delayed just long enough for Winston to pass Roscuro and make it to the space in front of the open secret door. Roscuro then charged Winston, bullrushing Winston through the secret door while yelling at Marativy to close the secret door behind him. As Roscuro and Winston tumbled through the secret door, Marativy leapt over them to the secret door and slammed it shut! The close-fit nature of the secret door was tight enough to keep the centipedes out, but they could be heard skittering all over the storage room. [Whew!]
The Ratpack met back up in the grotto. They decided to go to the basin room for some healing. Once there, they all drank from the basin, discovering that it only provided healing once [per day as we later discovered]. Zitch cast a healing hex on Winston, then Cure Serious Wounds on the very bloody Roscuro. [This brought Roscuro above “bloodied” but only just.] Zitch then cast Cure Light Wounds on Winston, which steadied him significantly.
While they rested, the Ratpack discussed their options. The unexplored areas of this level were either covered with webs or centipedes. Templeton and Zitch were pretty much out of spells and the only healing left were some potions. There was also a set of stairs in the barracks that lead down. The group eventually decided to explore the stairs down until they ran into resistance of some sort and then leave.
The Ratpack went back west to the barracks and then south, down the stairs. The stairs descended deep enough that it was clear they led to another sublevel. The stairs ended at a shut door. After checking for traps, the door was opened.
Beyond the door was an octagon-shaped room with a statue of Alaznist in the center. Lounging against the feet of the statue was a puffy and bloated human-sized whitish-yellow maggot with purplish veins pulsating under its fleshy form. Zitch immediately identified it as an abyssal larva with a maggot breath attack and resistant to acid, fire, and cold. None of the ratfolk were feeling up to a fight with it and so the door was immediately closed and Roscuro spiked it shut.
The Ratpack started the long march back up to the Tower Girls. Roscuro suggested they grab the head of one of the sinspawn they had killed and tell the Mite King that the sinspawn had killed Creepylegs, but they had, as requested, “made it pay.” The others liked this idea, so they made a detour to chop the head off one of the sinspawn corpses on sublevel 2 before going back to the Mite King on sublevel 1.
When the ratfolk presented themselves to the Mite King, the Mite King failed to recognize them at all. The Mite King started calling for his guards and threw rocks at Roscuro. Roscuro, tired and wounded, considered this a fatal breach of contract. He deflected the things the Mite King threw at him, walked up to the Mite King, and punched the Mite King dead with a single blow. [I rolled a crit on the attack and then maximum damage.] Roscuro claimed the King’s crown, the other half of the Bracers of Armor, and put it in the loot sack. The rest of the Ratpack did a quick search of the room, claiming a small silver statue of a sphinx.
The group then returned to the Tower Girls’ common room to rest.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[The fight with the centipede swarm was scary for us. We had only one area of effect spell and due to the way the initiative order fell, we were never able to douse the swarm safely with flaming oil but the one time. Also, it was immune or resistant to the attacks of our big hitters and we couldn’t get far enough away from it to avoid getting bit every round. As we were fleeing, I realized Winston was going to be five feet short of the secret door. I pointed this out to the group and asked for suggestions before I caused another player’s character to die. One of the other players suggested I delay in the initiative order to let Winston get into position and then bullrush him. Luckily I rolled well enough so Roscuro was able to push Winston through the door and still make it through himself before Marativy slammed the door shut.]
Ratpack
Session 01
…
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 13
Session 14
Session 15
Session 16
Session 17
Session 18
Session 20
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened March 23, 2020.]
[SPOILERS! If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will contain a lot of spoilers.]
Player Characters
Marativy – female ratfolk 3rd level Ninja
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 3rd level Summoner (Synthesist)
Roscuro – male ratfolk 3rd level Monk
Zitch Grimreaper – male 3rd level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Winston – male 3rd level Gunslinger
Day 13
Afternoon
Having discovered a room with 6 animated and hostile skeletons, the Ratpack took position just inside the room to keep the skeletons from flanking the entire group. The fight was notable for two things. First, Winston misfired with his musket on his first shot, but luckily it did not explode. He quickly cleared the misfire and proceeded to shoot and shatter skeletons. The other incident was Marativy fumbling and nicking Templeton with her wakizashi. Luckily, it was not coated with spider venom at the time.
After the fight, the ratfolk searched the room and the crates in it. The crates held the remains of 7000 year old foodstuffs and nothing else. The room had one regular door out, to the east [as opposed to the secret door the group had arrived through], and it was investigated for traps. When none were found, it was opened. Beyond was a corridor to another chamber. There were two doors on this corridor, one on the north wall, one on the south wall. Before leaving this room, Marativy and Templeton drank some of the water from the healing basin. Marativy was healed up completely [she took some minor damage from the skeletons], but Templeton’s eidolon was not healed at all. [The eidolon’s hit points count as temporary hit points, which are not healed by standard curative magics. Templeton does have a spell specifically for healing his eidolon, but the number of spells he can cast right now is limited.]
Leaving the storage room, the Ratpack stopped to check the doors along the corridor. Both turned out to be pantries, long abandoned. A search of each turned up nothing of value. The chamber at the end of the corridor turned out to be an abandoned kitchen. Zitch cast Detect Magic and nothing glowed. Out of a sense of thoroughness [and the knowledge that not all treasure is magical] the Ratpack started searching the kitchen, starting with the first fire pit. While the group was inside the fire pit searching, Winston, Templeton, and Marativy heard a great deal of skittering from inside the other fire pit. Winston went to check the other fire pit and while standing in front of it, a large swarm of centipedes flowed out of it and over him, biting him repeatedly!
Zitch quickly stepped out of the first fire pit and cast burning hands on part of the centipede swarm, burning a swath of centipedes but failing to disperse it. The centipedes flowed forward, biting Winston [again], Marativy, and Templeton. Winston backed out of the swarm and shot at it to no effect. Roscuro and Marativy fled out into different parts of the room, putting space between themselves and the swarm. Roscuro also prepared a flask of oil. Templeton ran the length of the kitchen to an unexplored passage north.
Zitch ran to catch up with Templeton at the northern hallway. The centipedes flowed at and over Winston and Roscuro, biting fiercely. Winston pulled a torch out of Roscuro’s handy haversack and moved away from the centipede swarm. Roscuro scrambled up onto a wall oven away from the swarm and them flung the oil at the swarm, coating a swath of it with the oil. Marativy fled the kitchen, to Roscuro’s encouragement, down the corridor the Ratpack had entered through. Templeton grabbed Zitch by the scruff of his neck and fled blindly up the north passage, away from the centipedes.
The centipede swarm flowed up the wall and over the oven and Roscuro, biting Roscuro nearly to unconsciousness [had 2 hit points left]. Winston lit the torch he had and waited for Roscuro to get clear. Roscuro made an acrobatic leap, springing from the wall and landing on his feet mid-way across the kitchen. Winston threw the lit torch at the mass of centipedes, some of which burst into flames…but not enough to stop the swarm. Roscuro finished his diving escape by fleeing down the hallway to the storage room. Marativy continued fleeing that way, making it to the secret passage, while Templeton [carrying Zitch] took a left at an intersection and ended up back in the grotto.
The centipede swarm, still burning, flowed off the wall and over Winston, biting him mercilessly. Winston fled down the corridor to the storeroom. Roscuro slowed just long enough to ready another vial of oil but realized that Winston would never be clear of the swarm long enough to not get hit with the oil and burn to death. Even worse, Winston would not clear the secret door in the storeroom before the centipede swarm arrived and made closing the door pointless. Roscuro had a bad moment where he thought he was going to be forced into closing the secret door right in Winston’s face, trapping Winston with the centipede swarm and a sure and painful death.
Then Roscuro had an inspiration.
Roscuro delayed just long enough for Winston to pass Roscuro and make it to the space in front of the open secret door. Roscuro then charged Winston, bullrushing Winston through the secret door while yelling at Marativy to close the secret door behind him. As Roscuro and Winston tumbled through the secret door, Marativy leapt over them to the secret door and slammed it shut! The close-fit nature of the secret door was tight enough to keep the centipedes out, but they could be heard skittering all over the storage room. [Whew!]
The Ratpack met back up in the grotto. They decided to go to the basin room for some healing. Once there, they all drank from the basin, discovering that it only provided healing once [per day as we later discovered]. Zitch cast a healing hex on Winston, then Cure Serious Wounds on the very bloody Roscuro. [This brought Roscuro above “bloodied” but only just.] Zitch then cast Cure Light Wounds on Winston, which steadied him significantly.
While they rested, the Ratpack discussed their options. The unexplored areas of this level were either covered with webs or centipedes. Templeton and Zitch were pretty much out of spells and the only healing left were some potions. There was also a set of stairs in the barracks that lead down. The group eventually decided to explore the stairs down until they ran into resistance of some sort and then leave.
The Ratpack went back west to the barracks and then south, down the stairs. The stairs descended deep enough that it was clear they led to another sublevel. The stairs ended at a shut door. After checking for traps, the door was opened.
Beyond the door was an octagon-shaped room with a statue of Alaznist in the center. Lounging against the feet of the statue was a puffy and bloated human-sized whitish-yellow maggot with purplish veins pulsating under its fleshy form. Zitch immediately identified it as an abyssal larva with a maggot breath attack and resistant to acid, fire, and cold. None of the ratfolk were feeling up to a fight with it and so the door was immediately closed and Roscuro spiked it shut.
The Ratpack started the long march back up to the Tower Girls. Roscuro suggested they grab the head of one of the sinspawn they had killed and tell the Mite King that the sinspawn had killed Creepylegs, but they had, as requested, “made it pay.” The others liked this idea, so they made a detour to chop the head off one of the sinspawn corpses on sublevel 2 before going back to the Mite King on sublevel 1.
When the ratfolk presented themselves to the Mite King, the Mite King failed to recognize them at all. The Mite King started calling for his guards and threw rocks at Roscuro. Roscuro, tired and wounded, considered this a fatal breach of contract. He deflected the things the Mite King threw at him, walked up to the Mite King, and punched the Mite King dead with a single blow. [I rolled a crit on the attack and then maximum damage.] Roscuro claimed the King’s crown, the other half of the Bracers of Armor, and put it in the loot sack. The rest of the Ratpack did a quick search of the room, claiming a small silver statue of a sphinx.
The group then returned to the Tower Girls’ common room to rest.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[The fight with the centipede swarm was scary for us. We had only one area of effect spell and due to the way the initiative order fell, we were never able to douse the swarm safely with flaming oil but the one time. Also, it was immune or resistant to the attacks of our big hitters and we couldn’t get far enough away from it to avoid getting bit every round. As we were fleeing, I realized Winston was going to be five feet short of the secret door. I pointed this out to the group and asked for suggestions before I caused another player’s character to die. One of the other players suggested I delay in the initiative order to let Winston get into position and then bullrush him. Luckily I rolled well enough so Roscuro was able to push Winston through the door and still make it through himself before Marativy slammed the door shut.]
Ratpack
Session 01
…
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 13
Session 14
Session 15
Session 16
Session 17
Session 18
Session 20
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