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

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 4, Sessions 6 and 7

[Day 5 and Morning Day 6 – Ambushing Giants]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E role-playing game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  These sessions happened March 25 and April 8, 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 changeling 8th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 8th level Rogue

Day 5

Morning

Not liking the odds of a direct attack on the conquered Windsong Abbey, the Ratpack decided to ambush giant patrols to reduce their numbers.  After a little scouting, the Ratpack located an area surrounded by the rolling hills that the giants seemed to patrol through south of the abbey and set up an ambush.  The spell casters were hidden atop one hill while the melee specialists hid in some tall grass along the trail the giants seemed to follow.  Winston cast Named Bullet on his first bullet, naming “Giants” as the target.

A patrol of 5 ettins and 2 hill giants followed the rough trail into the ambush site, unaware of the Ratpack.  Marativy used her ki to activate Shadow Clones.  Gridik cast Lightning Bolt, hitting 2 ettins and one of the hill giants.  Templeton cast Haste on the spellcasters [in hindsight, we realized this was unnecessary].  Zitch cast Poison Touch on Templeton, making Templeton’s claws poisonous.  Winston fired his Named Bullet, targeting the hill giant leader and killing the giant with one shot.  Swamprover cast Fire Ball, catching four of the patrol in the area of effect [my notes are not specific as to what mix of ettins and giants were caught – sorry.]

After the round of surprise attacks, the fight started in earnest.  Winston performed a Dead Shot on one of the ettins, hitting three times.  Templeton held to allow the giants to get a little closer.  Hrefna activated a Protection invocation [increasing PC armor classes by +2 when within 30 feet of Hrefna] and then an Archon Aura [enemies within 20 feet must make a WILL save or have -2 to attack rolls, saving throws, and armor class].  Zitch cast Dimension Door to get closer to the melee team.  Templeton cast Haste on Marativy, Roscuro, and Ariphi.  Gridik cast Lightning Bolt again, catching the same two ettins and hill giant, killing them.  Swamprover cast Lightning Arc on two ettins in the back of the patrol, damaging them.  Marativy advanced on the lead ettin, successfully making a sneak attack, poisoning the ettin and causing it to bleed.  One of the ettins in the back advanced on Marativy and swung, eliminating a shadow clone.  The lead ettin retaliated on Marativy, attacking three times and eliminating another shadow clone but contacting Marativy twice.  Roscuro advanced to the lead ettin and struck it with a fist, killing it.  The remaining ettin turned and fled.

Not wanting any reports on the Ratpack’s strength to get back, Winston shot the fleeing ettin with a Head Shot and Dead Eye.  Hrefna charged the ettin still in combat, hitting it.  Zitch advanced and cast Snowball, which was enough to kill the ettin.  Templeton cast Evolution [I think], modifying his eidolon for speed and set off after the fleeing ettin.  Gridik and Swamprover, having no targets, held their actions.  Marativy and Roscuro set off in pursuit of the fleeing ettin.  That worthy, seeing he was pursued, tried to run faster.

Winston took a Steady Aim, cast Imbue Arrow on his next shot, and shot the fleeing ettin with a Color Spray bullet, killing the ettin.

The fight being over, Templeton gathered up the body of the ettin that fled and dragged it back to the ambush site.  Those who were pursuing the now dead ettin also returned.  Zitch started checking the bodies of the giants and ettins, each giant had a club and crude leather armor.  The ettins each had metal armor, dual flails, and several javelins.  The giant leader’s weapon was a masterwork size Large great club and he had a bag made of green dragon hide that contained 4 giant-sized torches.  Dumping the torches, the Ratpack took the dragonhide bag.

At this point the Ratpack heard the sounds of horn, possibly of alarm, from the north and northeast of their position.

End of Session 06

Day 5, Continued

Approximately 10:00 AM

Templeton, with Marativy and Roscuro riding on his back, went to see what the sounding horns were about.  He flew up to about 400 feet of altitude and then flew a sweeping arc around to approach from the east.

The trio spotted two groups of giants and ettins doing things.  One group [northeast of the Ratpack’s ambush site] seemed to be returning to the abbey after raiding a local village.  A second group [north of the Ratpack’s location], comprised mostly of giants, was looting a caravan they had just attacked and eating the people in the caravan as snacks.  The trio then headed back to the rest of the Ratpack, first flying west before swinging south.  [We were concerned about the giants catching on to our presence too quickly.]

Back with the rest of the Ratpack, the trio reported what they had seen.  Too late to save either the villagers or the caravan, the Ratpack decided to go after the village raiders for a bit of avenging.

The Ratpack moved out.  An hour or so later the Ratpack lay in wait on the giant’s expected path back from the village raid.  The giants were loud and boisterous after the raid, so tracking their position was not difficult.  Just as the 4 hill giants and 6 ettins were entering the ambush, Templeton cast Haste on the Ratpack.

Swamprover started the ambush by casting Fireball, landing it on the back 6 targets.  Marativy used her ki to activate 6 Shadow Clones.  Roscuro used his light crossbow to plink the lead ettin [hoping to encourage the ettin to charge him].  Gridik cast Abundant Ammo on Roscuro’s crossbow bolts [in case the ettin didn’t charge].

Marativy charged forward, sneak attacking the lead ettin [she has the feat allowing her to move normally while using Stealth] and causing him to bleed.  The ettin bled and then attacked back, taking out two of Marativy’s shadow clones.  Winston shot one of the ettins, hitting three times, once critically, and dropped the ettin.  One of the ettins in the back advanced before throwing a javelin at Marativy, eliminating another shadow clone.  Zitch took a 5-foot step, put Protective Luck on Roscuro, and cackled [which extends the duration of the Protective Luck].  Templeton pounced on and killed the second ettin while also slashing the lead ettin.  Roscuro focused his ki for a burst of movement, closing with the lead ettin before throwing a punch and killing the ettin.  One of the giants in the back threw a stone at Winston and Swamprover, hitting both.  Swamprover cast Lightning Arc, catching two of the ettins and two of the giants.  Hrefna waited.  Gridik cast Magic Missile [although I did not note the target].  Ariphi advanced and performed a ranged sneak attack with her dagger on the lead giant for significant damage.  The hindmost ettin advanced and threw a javelin at Roscuro, which missed.  A different ettin advanced on Templeton and swung at him but missed.  Hrefna, now that one of the ettins was close enough, charged the ettin that just missed Templeton and “did the thing” to kill the giant.  [“The thing” is a combination of class feature and feats that allows Hrefna to channel a lot of damage into one big attack at the cost of all her current channel energy uses.  It is super effective but only once per day.]  One of the giants threw a boulder at Templeton and Hrefna, catching Hrefna despite Templeton attempting to Bodyguard Hrefna.  The lead giant advanced on Marativy and Roscuro, attacking both but only hitting Marativy.  The remaining giant moved to some higher ground and threw a boulder at Swamprover and Winston, hitting both.

Marativy held, waiting on Roscuro.  Winston took a 5-foot step away from Swamprover and shot and hit three times the giant on the hill.  One of the ettins advanced on Hrefna and hit her.  Zitch advanced 40 feet and cackled.  Templeton [did something but my notes did not capture what].  Roscuro made a 5-foot step to the lead giant, where Roscuro performed a flurry of blows, hitting 5 time, twice critically, and killed the giant, rather messily.  Marativy turned [greater] invisible, switched target to the last ettin, advanced on it, and struck from surprise.  The hindmost giant advanced and attacked Hrefna, hitting her critically and dropping her to the ground.  Swamprover cast Magic Missile at the giant on the hill and killed it.  Gridik cast Magic Missile at the giant that had just killed Hrefna.  Ariphi threw down a smoke stick and used the cover to retrieve Hrefna’s body.  The last ettin moved to put some distance between him and Marativy, provoking an attack of opportunity from Marativy, allowing her to kill it.  The giant who threw a boulder at Templeton attempted to attack the invisible Marativy and failed to connect.

Winston shot and killed the hindmost giant with three hits, one of which was critical.  Zitch put a Retribution Hex on the remaining giant.  Roscuro advanced on the remaining giant and punched it.  Templeton then pounced on the giant and killed it under a multitude of attacks.

With the fight over, Roscuro asked Zitch if he could bring back Hrefna.  Zitch stated he could not do it this day, but could the following morning.  Roscuro accepted this and pulled out the Body Bag of Holding, carefully placing Hrefna’s body in it.

Zitch started healing the wounded, bringing Winston, Swamprover, and Marativy all back to full health.

Having stored Hrefna’s body, Roscuro them went and searched the bodies of the dead giants and ettins.  They had little loot on them.  Amongst their weapons [4 great clubs and 12 large flails] Roscuro found a Stone of Alarm, and exotic riding saddle [non-magical], a damaged wizard’s spell book [given to Gridik], and a map to a cache of loot up on the Storval Plateau.

The giant and ettin bodies were piled up and burned [as there seemed to be evidence the enemy forces had a necromancer].  The Ratpack left the pyre behind, returning to their campsite.

Watches were posted that night, but there were no encounters.

Day 6

Morning

Zitch cast Reincarnation on Hrefna.  The slender changeling returned as a burly bugbear [with two negative levels].  Zitch cast Restoration on Hrefna to reduce the effects of the Reincarnation [removed one negative level, can be cast again on Day 13 to remove the second negative level].

End of Session 07

Rat Whispers

[The reincarnation renewed a conversation amongst the players as to who would be OK with Reincarnation and who required Raise Dead at the minimum.  Zitch’s player made notes so he knows what to do for each character in case it becomes necessary.]

[Sorry this was late.  I now write these up only on my personal laptop as work locked down the USB ports on company laptops last year.  I kept the files on a thumb drive and used whichever laptop was handy when I had time to write and now I actually need to switch laptops.  The downside is my home office is optimized for my work laptop (dual monitors and full-sized keyboard and mouse connected through a docking station.  My personal laptop is old enough that it doesn’t have a USB Type-C port to make use of the docking station, so I’m stuck planting it on my limited desk space.  On top of that, my personal life has been busy enough getting taxes done that I couldn’t go out to a local coffee shop with wi-fi and write there.  First World problems, I know.]

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 4-5 

Next Sessions: Sessions 8 and 9

Real World Busy

Sorry for the delay in the next post but the real world has contrived to keep me busy enough I haven't been able to type it up.  I should post it this week but I cannot be more specific than that as things are still keeping me busy.

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 4, Sessions 4 to 5

[Day 1 through Day 4 – Getting There and Scouting]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E role-playing game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  These sessions happened March 11 and March 18, 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 changeling 8th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 8th level Rogue

Day 1

Morning

Riddleport

Over breakfast, the group discussed what questions Hrefna should ask with her Commune spell and came up with a list that felt reasonable.  [I don’t have the questions asked nor responses, but Hrefna’s player does and maybe will bot them in the comments.  Hint, hint!]  There was also discussion about how to get to Windsong Abbey.  Zitch, Swamprover, and Templeton now had access to Teleportation and it was decided to try teleporting to Sandpoint and then taking a carriage from there.  As none of the group had been to Windsong Abbey before, this mitigated a lot of dangers with teleporting to a new location.

After breakfast, Gridik and Swamprover tracked down and bought 1000gp each of scroll scribing supplies and packed those to take on the expedition.

The group retreated to their room at the inn and there Zitch cast Guiding Star, which would make it safe[er] for him to teleport back to the room as he could not teleport everyone at once.  He then cast Teleport, teleporting himself, Swamprover, Winston, and Marativy.  They arrived safely in the vicinity of Sandpoint.

Zitch then teleported Swamprover and himself back to the room in the inn.  There, Zitch teleported himself, Hrefna, Ariphi, and Templeton.  They arrived safely where Winston and Marativy were waiting.

Next Swamprover cast Teleport, teleporting herself, Roscuro, and Gridik.  A mishap happened, lightly injuring the group and dropping them near Galduria, 150 miles east-northeast of Windsong Abbey.  This exposed another issue where the separated team had no way to communicate directly with the others.

Swamprover tried again and this time successfully teleported the group to Sandpoint.

Out of teleportation spells, the group settled in to Sandpoint until the next morning.  Swamprover took the time to scribe Dimension Door for Gridik [using 350gp of scribing supplies] while Gridik scribed Detect Scrying for Swamprover [using the same amount of supplies].  They then swapped scroll.  Gridik copied over Dimension Door into his second spellbook [Storm and Stress] while Swamprover fed the scroll of Detect Scrying to her familiar, Snek, who acted as her spellbook.

Day 2

Sandpoint

In the morning, Zitch cast Conjure Carriage twice, which provided the capacity to move the entire group of 9 adventurers [as long as either Marativy or Roscuro rode on the roof].  The trip was 40 miles long [and most of the day] and along the way the adventurers saw a herd of rhinoceri.  [Random encounter tables have weird entries for this area.]

The weather was windy when the spells ended and the group searched for a campsite outside.  Zitch cast Secure Shelter in the selected location and watches were set.

• 1st Watch: Winston, Swamprover, Hrefna
• 2nd Watch: Marativy, Roscuro, Ariphi
• 3rd Watch: Templeton, Zitch, Gridik

Day 3

Nearing Windsong Abbey

The day dawned cloudy.  The group marched until Noon, getting closer to the Abbey but not yet in sight of it.  While looking for a place to stop and eat lunch, they found the wreckage of a caravan of carts.

Being suspicious, the group first observed for any signs this was an ambush.  Once satisfied it wasn’t one, Roscuro and Marativy moved in to investigate the carts.  They found corpses, dead for a couple of weeks at least.  The caravan appeared to fleeing the area of the Abbey, heading south.  Under one of the carts they located a secret compartment.  Marativy verified it was not trapped and unlocked it.  Inside was a small wooden box that contained a cloth bag of gemstones [totaling 8000gp in value] and a sealed envelope.  The seal suggested a Korvosan family.

Marativy and Roscuro returned to the rest of the group and reported what they found.  The adventurers did not want to camp near the attack site, so scouted out another area nearby and settled down for a lunch of trail rations.

While the group was stopped, Hrefna investigated the sealed envelope.  She discovered it was trapped with Explosive Runes!  Hrefna handed the envelope over to Marativy to de-trap.  Once Marativy had rendered the envelope safe, Hrefna opened the envelope and examined the letter therein.  It was in Taldan [which turns out to be the Common Tongue in this area] and indicated the gems were a dowry for a wedding [clearly one that will never happen].

After Lunch

The adventurers continued their hike towards Windsong Abbey, getting within a 30-minute walk before they can see the Abbey on raised land adjacent to the Varisian Gulf, across an area of rolling hills.  [We did not catch the “raised land” part of the description and the only external map of the Abbey does not include anything that suggests it is backed by a significant cliff.  More in Rat Whispers, below.]

Winston, Roscuro, and Zitch moved closer to the Abbey to visually scout the environs while everyone else located a place to camp.  Winston used his spyglass to get a better view with Roscuro taking notes and asking him to look at specific locations.  Zitch cast Arcane Eye to get a closer look without having to physically approach the site.

Roscuro could see all the buildings outside the Abbey’s walls were rubble.  Groups of giants could be seen scattered amongst the building, apparently on guard with handy piles of rocks to throw nearby.

Winston got a better view with his spyglass and was able to identify each group as 3 hill giants with 4 ettins mixed in.  Three of these mixed groups could be seen patrolling the area.  The Abbey’s wall was mostly intact but it was apparent the giants and ettins could step over the wall with little trouble.  The buildings inside the wall were in better shape, but damage could be seen.

While he could not get a good view, to Winston’s eye it appeared some of the graves in the large graveyard adjacent to the Abbey had been disturbed.  Winston could also see that of the two docks beside the Abbey, one was destroyed and the other heavily damaged.

Zitch placed his Arcane Eye near a collapsed portion of the southeastern corner of the Abbey itself.  There, hovering in that gap, Zitch saw two qlippoths!  He quickly identified them as nyogoths and relayed what he knew about them to Roscuro, who wrote that information down.  [Zitch seems to know a LOT about other planar beings, particularly the unpleasant ones.  Roscuro has chosen to not ask about that as good intel is good intel.]

Zitch moved his Arcane Eye past the nyogoths and examined the lighthouse tower in the center of the courtyard.  It was 150 feet tall, made of white marble, and unsullied as far as Zitch could tell.  The courtyard was paved with cobblestone and had a single drain grate for water removal.  In a balcony where they could observe most of the courtyard were four redcaps [an unpleasant kind of fae] with crossbows in hand.  They seemed to be alert.  The main gates of the Abbey had clearly been bashed in during the attack and hung loosely open.

Zitch next investigated the dining hall area, accessed by a set of smashed-in doors below the redcap balcony.  Inside were four ettins, one of which was wearing armor and seemed to be their leader.  Up a set of stairs Zitch found a large open room with what appeared to be an undead bugbear sitting in a chair in the exact center of the room.  At this point the Arcane Eye spell duration expired.

End of Session 04

Day 3, Continued

Windsong Abbey

Winston, Roscuro, and Zitch slid back behind the hill crest they had been spying from to discuss what they now knew.  They decided that they needed more information, both from a casting of Commune by Hrefna and more spying by Zitch with Arcane Eye.  Unfortunately, Zitch was out of castings of Arcane Eye for the day, so the trio returned back to the rest of the group.

The rest of the group had located a good campsite surrounded by the rolling hills of the area that would let them set up camp without being directly viewable from anyone in the Abbey.  Zitch cast Secure Shelter while Roscuro shared the information gathered so far and plans for the next day.  Hrefna cast Commune and got answers [which my notes do not contain, although I know Hrefna’s player has them – again: hint, hint].

Second Watch, that night

Marativy, Roscuro, and Ariphi observed a flight of wyverns flying over the area, apparently hunting.  Not wanting to get into a fight and tip off anyone in the Abbey the adventurers were here, Roscuro asked Marativy to use the Major Image power of the shard she carried to hide the campsite.  She did so very successfully and the wyverns eventually passed on.

Day 4

Gridik cast Nondetection on Zitch and Winston, to hide Zitch from anyone who might notice his Arcane Eye and attempt to spy back and on Winston who had concerns Leroux might be actively looking for him.  [I seem to recall this was a result of one of the Commune questions, but I’m not 100% on that and my notes don’t say.  Past me really needed to take better notes.]

Marativy, Winston, Roscuro, and Zitch made their way back to their scouting location.  Zitch cast Arcane Eye.  Zitch scouted around the outside of the Abbey structure, which took a second casting to complete due to the time limitations.  This provided a rough map of the Abbey and the sate of its structures.  Once his circumnavigation of the Abbey was complete, he sent his sensor down the drain grate in the courtyard and located a series of underground rooms [which his player mapped, but I did not].

The adventurers discussed the new information and decided it would be worthwhile to use a third casting of Arcane Eye to scout the interiors of the structure.  Doing this Zitch discovered that the “guest house” part of the structure was a burnt out husk, three stories tall.  In the kitchen area adjacent to the dining hall, Zitch found a large quantity of viscera, probably of human origin, and what might have been a very large haggis made not of sheep, but people.

Zitch attempted to cast Detect Magic through the Arcane Eye [one of a small number of spells allowed to be cast through the Eye, all of which have a chance of failure].  The casting was successful and the “haggis” detected as magical...before it detonated, spawning another nyogoth!  The nyogoth detected the Arcane Eye’s sensor and cast Dispel Magic on it, ending the spell and any scouting for the day.

Back at Camp

Gridik scribed a scroll of Fly for Swamprover while she scribed a scroll of Lesser Globe of Invulnerability.  They then swapped scrolls and added them to their respective spellbooks.

End of Session 05

Rat Whispers

[One of the things this book of the Adventure Path needed was a map of the area around the Abbey so players could plan their attack.  The only exterior map was a small thumbnail that provided a small reference for the GM.  That thumbnail completely failed to convey that the Abbey was on raised ground with a steep cliff behind it.  So when we later learn there is a window 30 feet down the cliff side that was obscured by a stone lip from the water below, we were very confused.  The thumbnail looks like there is maybe 5-10 feet down to the water behind the completely level area the Abbey and village occupy.]

[As far as I can tell, the PCs are expected to assault the Abbey directly and storm their way in or maybe smash the cliff-side window.  Both of these options are dumb: the frontal assault is against too many giants and likely to end in a TPK and the window leads to who-knows-what, which is also likely to end with a TPK.  I’ll have more to say about the writing of this book as we get further in.]

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 1-3 

Next Sessions: Book 4, Sessions 6 and 7

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 4, Sessions 1 to 3

[Day 105 – Book 3 Wrap-up]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E role-playing game. Game sessions happen once a week. These sessions happened February 19, February 26, and March 4, 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 10^th level Ninja

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

Roscuro – male ratfolk 10^th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 10^th level Wizard

Winston – male ratfolk 10^th level Gunslinger

Via Roll20

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

NPCs

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

Hrefna – female changeling 8^th level Omdura

Ariphi – female tiefling 8^th level Rogue

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)

Winter

Day ???

Morning

Somewhere on a road to Riddleport with several dead companions (Gridik and Ariphi) and a need for coin, the Ratpack hunkered down and went over the loot in their possession and discussed next steps.

The consensus was to split the group, with Templeton optimizing his eidolon for flying speed and taking Gridik and Ariphi back to Kaer Maga to be raised by the wizards of the Therassic Spire, who clearly owed the group, plus to grab one of the constructs from the Ardoc family and take back to Morgamer Pugg in Magnimar. Riding along will be Zitch and Winston [Team: Speed-run]. The trio would take the loot the party wanted to sell as Kaer Maga would be the best place to sell most of it. The remainder of the group (Marativy, Roscuro, Swamprover, and Hrefna [Team: Slow-walk] would walk west to Riddleport and wait there.

11:00 PM

Templeton and his team arrived at Kaer Maga, Templeton exhausted from the effort. Templeton flew them into the city itself, landing near The Grange. Zitch cast Lesser Restoration to remove Templeton’s exhaustion. The trio entered The Grange and asked for rooms. There they found out 2 months had passed since the Ratpack entered the Dark Forest [back in Book 3].

[This makes it Day 105 in the Book 3 count of days.]

The trio got a room to sleep in. Before sleeping, they tracked down Mel, Alice, and Flo’, discovering that the three had opened a small diner in town and preferred to remain in the city. Templeton, Zitch, and Winston wished them the best.

[The rest of this session and most of Session 2 will follow Team: Speed-run to establish how much time the other team has at their disposal.]

Day 106

The trio had breakfast at The Grange and made preparations for the day. Templeton configured his eidolon into what he called its combat/diplomacy form [my notes don’t say what this entails].

The trio then went to the Therassic Spire and met with Elaneiros, the head wizard there. Templeton reported what had happened in the Dark Forest [Book 3, Sessions 26-37]. Elaneiros then paid the trio for the work done and the information given, plus the bounty for retrieving the head of Selasny, the last of Elaneiros’ agents to be retrieved from the Dark Forest.

After that, Templeton displayed the loot items the group had retrieved and offered them to Elaneiros for purchase or first refusal [per the team's contract]. Both tried hard to fail in the negotiations [they both rolled a 1 on their Diplomacy check], but Templeton failed the least and Elaneiros paid 32,000 gp for the items he bought, 10,000gp of it in two, 5000gp diamonds [which were necessary to raise Gridik and Ariphi].

Winston borrowed Ariphi’s cloak of disguise in case Leroux was still hunting for him. The trio then went over to the Tarheel Promenade and found Gadka’s Magical Oddities, where they sold two more items for 16,000gp. In the Promenade they located a Bloat Mage and sold the [magical] Jar of Leaches to the mage for 4950gp. They walked over to Ankar-Te and located the Temple to the Child Goddess to sell the Skinharp to for 14,750gp.

Finally they went the Temple of Pharasma in Oriat to get Gridik and Ariphi raised. When asked if the trio were supplying the material components for 2 castings of Raise Dead, Templeton offered the use of his ring of blood money. The priest politely declined. Templeton then offered up the two diamonds and Gridik and Ariphi were raised by the temple [both received 2 Negative Levels as a result]. Templeton also sold the temple a phylactery of positive channeling for 10,750gp for a net gain of 750gp at the temple.

End of Session 01

Day 107

In the morning, Zitch cast Restoration on Gridik and Ariphi [removing 1 negative level from each]. Once that was done, the 5 adventurers planned their construct heist. The plan was to grab one of the small spybot constructs, have Zitch cast Force Quiet on the construct, and then Gridik cast Invisibility Sphere on the group. Templeton would then fly the group out of Kaer Maga at maximum speed to avoid pursuit.

An hour later

The adventurers walked through The Warrens to access Bis district. There was a heavy security construct presence at the border between the two districts. Winston asked a passerby what was going on. He was told that the heavy security was due to an attack on the Ardoc family compound two months ago followed by ongoing hostilities from the trolls of the Augur Temple [see Book 3 for details].

The adventurers worked their way through Bis, looking for a spy construct that was all alone. The best they could find was one construct only being observed by a single companion construct. Checking out the area around this (mostly) solo construct, they located an unobserved spot 60 feet from their target. They waited there (all but Templeton inside Templeton’s lucky barrel, attached to his back) for a lull in the crowds in the street and then launched their ambush.

Winston cast Mudball on the target construct, blinding it. Zitch cast Force Quiet to silence their target, then the group checked if the target’s observer had noticed. 

It had.

The guard construct launched a net at the adventurers but missed entirely. Gridik cast Nondetection at the target, so it could not be tracked but the spell failed to take. Templeton flew at the target at such speed that Gridik lost his footing and was tumped back into the depths of the lucky barrel. Templeton grabbed the construct, stuffing it in his bag of holding. He then flew towards The Barrens to escape from the city. By the time Gridik regained his feet and cast Invisibility Sphere, the group was over The Barrens.  [There might have been a flying battle here, but my notes don't say and my memory is hazy.]  Outside the city, Templeton flew south, following the river to where the Runtash River joined it, hoping to set a false trail towards Korvosa. At the confluence of rivers Templeton turned west and flew towards Magnimar.

Evening

Templeton reached the town of Wartle on the Yondabakari River. There Zitch cast Lesser Restoration to remove Templeton’s exhaustion. They contemplated flying on to Magnimar, but realized they would arrive late at night and the city’s security might ask them questions they did not want to answer. The found the inn in Wartle and rested for the night.

[We did some activity with the other team, but overspent on time and had to do a ret-con next session, so I’m skipping it here.]

End of Session 02

Day 108

In the morning, Gridik successfully cast Nondetection on the captured construct and returned it to the bag of holding. After breakfast, the group of 5 adventurers flew on to Magnimar, arriving early in the afternoon.

Their first stop was to Morgamer Pugg’s shop to drop off the requested construct. Morgamer was down in the basement again, behind a door with Silence cast upon it to block out the sounds from the basement workshop. He was spooked at first by the adventurers until they reminded him he had hired them to grab an Ardoc construct. They turned over the construct and were given the promised bag of coins. They politely left as Morgamer started examining the construct.

Their next stop was to see Frederick at his shop. There they offered Frederick an ornate box recovered from the Thassilonian workshop under Kaer Maga. While Frederick evaluated the box, the adventurers borrowed a side room to discretely count the coin Morgamer had paid them. It turned out to be 6000gp, which seemed reasonable. Once he’d evaluated the box, Frederick purchased it from the group for 2750gp.

After some pleasantries, the group left Frederick’s shop and went over to the Pathfinder Society Lodge. They discovered the hydra heads they had turned over to the Society the last time they were here mounted with a ferocious snarl on each head. They requested to meet with Sheila, the Lodge Captain.

In her office, they gave a report of their expedition to Kaer Maga and the Dark Forest. They announced that the group had secured the Shard of Gluttony (currently with Roscuro on his way to Riddleport) and that the next shard’s location was Windsong Abbey. Shelia told them that her research suggested the next shard would be the Shard of Envy and she handed over a dusty rose prism Ioun Stone as the counter for that shard’s curse. She also relayed that Windsong Abbey was reportedly under attack. A witness, a Varisian peddler named Pilla Linuveshi, was currently in Sandpoint and the group should stop by there to get first-hand information. Additionally, the Temple of Desna had posted a bounty for the liberation of Windsong Abbey from the forces there. She also offered to send a message to Roscuro to update him. Templeton agreed to the message and said the group would investigate the attack and lift it if they could.

It was too late to fly out to Sandpoint and get there before the sun set, so the group took care of some business in Magnimar. Gridik went to the Temple of Desna to ask about the bounty and if they could provide any maps of the Abbey. He learned the bounty would be paid in the form of divine spell castings or items. He made note of this. Unfortunately, the only map available [or that they were willing to sell a kobold] was a general map of the area around the abbey.

Zitch tracked down a scroll of Teleportation and relayed this to Gridik, who purchased the inks necessary to copy the spell into his spell book, despite not being able to cast it yet. [This would be important later.]  He spent the night doing so.

Day 109

Templeton flew Zitch, Winston, Gridik, and Ariphi east-northeast from Magnimar to Sandpoint. At the only inn in Sandpoint, in the common room, they found Pilla telling her story to anyone who would buy her a drink. [The adventurers learned she was continuously telling the story, starting over when interrupted or once she reached the end, but my notes don’t say how they learned this.]

When Pilla started again, the adventurers listened in and learned:

• The abbey is partially collapsed.
• The lighthouse is one of the buildings still intact.
• She found a small cap on the ground, red with blood.
• A hill giant threw a boulder at her at that point and she fled for her life.
• She saw many hill giants when she fled.

Having learned all they could from Pilla, the adventurers left Sandpoint and flew towards Riddleport.

Early Afternoon

Marativy, Roscuro, Swamprover, and Hrefna arrived at Riddleport after walking for 4 days with minimal supplies. Despite this, they took the time to find a good inn, the Rusty Anchor. There they rented two luxury rooms for a week. The luxury rooms came with hot baths and hot breakfasts, of which the hot baths rated most urgent for the weary travelers. They had meals delivered while they bathed and were mostly restored by the time Templeton, Zitch, Winston, Gridik, and Ariphi arrived in town early that evening. Zitch used his earrings of telepathy to locate the other group and they shared information and food.

Day 110

In the morning, the treasure was tallied and shares were paid out. A full share equaled 9670gp [paid to Marativy, Zitch, Roscuro, Winston, Swamprover, and Templeton], and a half share worth 4835gp [paid to Gridik, Hrefna, and Ariphi], with Party Fund getting a full share and the remainder of 5gp.

The group decided that Riddleport was a good place to resupply and do some crafting. Gridik was able to track down and purchase a scroll of Fireball [finally!] and a scroll of Mad Monkey. He also crafted a pair of magic boots for Winston that double the wearer's movement. Roscuro contributed 3000gp to the purchase of a Selective Metamagic Rod for Swamprover [so there would never again be a “friendly fire” issue]. Additionally, enough time passed by that Gridik and Ariphi were able to have Restoration cast upon themselves again, removing their last negative levels.

End of Session 03

Rat Whispers

[This wrapped up all the between books things that were properly the end of Book 3. It had been eight months since we finished Book 3 and this allowed us to remember what our characters could do. We, except for those on Team: Slow-walk. We just waited for the other team to finish their thing.]

[Next session will properly be Day 1 of the counting of Book 4. At the time I’m typing this, our next session will be Session 37 on Day 12. That’s not a typo: Day Twelve! This book has multiple action-packed days that take several sessions per day to play through. Be warned.]

[One final thing.  For this Book, the Other GM decided he wanted to try milestone leveling and not Experience Points.  In hindsight, I'm not certain this worked out well.  I think we need to do a post-mortem once the Book is complete and discuss it.]

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 Session: Book 3, Session 37 

Next Sessions: Book 4, Sessions 4 and 5

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