[Continuing of Day 33. Fighting the shaman.]
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened February 8, 2021.]
[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 5th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Roscuro – male ratfolk 5th level Monk
Swamprover – female grippli 4th level Wizard
Marativy – female ratfolk 5th level Ninja
Via Roll20
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 5th level Summoner (Synthesist)
Winston – male ratfolk 5th level Gunslinger
NPCs
Auto – a clockwork servant fixated on Winston [whom we totally forgot about until Session 6]
Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 1st level Wizard (Invoker)
Mel Sharples – male halfling Cook (Expert of unknown level)
Alice Hyatt – female halfling Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)
Flo’ Castleberry – female gnome Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)
Autumn
Day 33, Expedition Day 3, Continued
[The troglodyte guard we made friends with was named Sulgesh. The shaman who seems to have taken over the tribe is named Uggillo. The Other GM gave us these names before the session started. He couldn’t locate them when we first started talking with Sulgesh and rather than slow the game while he looked for it, we just assumed it had been given and kept going with the role play.]
Roscuro and Zitch pulled Sulgesh aside to speak with him quietly. The Ratpack was planning to go after the shaman, but they wanted to verify that doing so would not cause hostilities to resume between the ratfolk and the troglodytes. Speaking in roundabout ways, Sulgesh agreed that he supported this, stating, “it would be best if there were not two factions in the tribe.”
Assured that killing the shaman would strengthen relations with rest of the troglodyte tribe, the Ratpack went in pursuit. Taking the northern of the two east passages from the giant pit trap room, the Ratpack followed a tunnel the curved north and then west, ending in a large, long cavern lit by torches. The shaman was standing on a bloody altar at the far end of the cavern. In the chamber were 5 other troglodytes and a giant albino crocodile!
Marativy was scouting ahead of the group and hugging the left wall so none of the troglodytes saw her. Roscuro was next around the bend and when he came into view, the shaman called out a threat in Common, ending with, “Prepare to be sacrificed!” Roscuro’s response was an insulting, “Drama much?” For the entirety of the ensuing fight, the shaman concentrated all his attacks on Roscuro.
Winston got early shots on the crocodile, heavily wounding it so Templeton was able to quickly kill it. The shaman, boosted by Shield of Faith, Bears Strength, Weapon of Awe, and Mage Armor poured all of his anger and hate into attacks on Roscuro, heavily wounding Roscuro several times. Zitch was just able to stay ahead of the damage Roscuro was taking with his healing magic. Roscuro and Templeton stood shoulder to shoulder, fighting the shaman and the supporting troglodytes, bodyguarding each other as necessary to ward off attacks [each has the Bodyguard feat and can provide a +2 to adjacent allies AC]. The tide of battle turned as Zitch gradually put Protective Luck on all of the Ratpack [in 5E terms, it forces attackers to roll with disadvantage]. After Roscuro and the shaman traded blows, Gridik got the killing blow on the shaman with a Force Bolt [followed up with a short victory dance - the librarian is starting to get into the spirit of "adventures"]. The remaining troglodytes fell quickly after that to attacks from the rest of the group, Winston killing the last one.
[There was more to the fight, but my notes are fairly basic here and I didn't get the timing of everything in order. Marativy fumbled her sword twice but was able to hold off and kill two of the troglodytes despite this. Swamprover ran forward to confront some of the troglodytes on the other flank and nearly got separated and killed by them until Winston and Templeton moved to assist her. It was a close fight with Roscuro was down to 2 hit points at one point. He lived due to Zitch’s healing protective luck and Templeton’s bodyguarding him, which caused the shaman several times during the fight.]
Once the fight was over, Gridik and Swamprover cast Detect Magic, first to determine what magics the shaman had cast upon himself [which is how we knew] and then to see if there were any magic items amongst his gear. The shaman’s heavy mace was magical [+1] and he had a scroll of Cure Moderate Wounds. We removed those and his holy symbol. Marativy investigated the altar and the area behind it. She found a poison dart trap on the altar and disarmed it, taking the poisoned dart. In the area behind the altar she notices a loose stone, under which were 12 pearls [evaluated as worth 100gp each], several pouches of coins [total of 2400sp, 123gp, and 91pp], a jade holy symbol of the shaman’s faith, some bolos, and a monocle [later determined to be a Lens of Detection].
There was a discussion about whether or not this treasure was the shaman’s or the tribe’s and should the group turn it over to Sulgesh. Roscuro was firmly of the opinion that the coins and pearls were valid loot for the Ratpack to keep, but he was willing to discuss the other items. [Roscuro, as defacto quartermaster for the expedition was conscious that the expedition had not secured anything to recoup expenditures and/or fund the next expedition.] Ultimately, the group settled on turning over the magic heavy mace, the scroll, the two holy symbols, and the bolos to Sulgesh. Roscuro had the shaman’s head removed to take back to Sulgesh. [I failed to note who actually cut the head off, but I think it was Winston.]
After the Ratpack cleaned up and healed up from the combat, they returned to the central caves of the troglodytes. There they approached Sulgesh and delivered the shaman’s head and the agreed upon items. Sulgesh took the heavy mace and the head but declined the other items as they were tied to the worship of Uggillo’s god and it would be better for the tribe to find a new patron deity.
Sulgesh also explained that the recovering troglodytes were also the tribe’s hunters and the tribe needed food. The Ratpack volunteered to go hunt down food for the troglodytes and spend a couple hours catching enough game for the troglodytes for a couple days. Winston also to time after the hunt to skin the albino crocodile.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[This was a short write-up because the battle with the shaman took a good deal of time to play out, but it was a significant session for the PCs. They now have access to an entrance to whatever dungeon is under the Lady’s Light, the primary purpose of this expedition.]
[Gridik leveled this session, so now he is a 2nd level Wizard (Evoker).]
Ratpack
Book 1:
…
Book 2:
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