Pathfinder One-Shot (probably) – Heist Gone Done Me Wrong

So, our usually Wednesday night group was down a member due to family commitments but an old friend has recently moved back into the area and so we decided to do a Sea of Stars Pathfinder adventure.  As it was a (most likely) one-shot, I just said build a 3rd level character with no restrictions, the characters we ended up with were:

Zekkerin “Zek” Hohlevatergeisterspieler, Badgerkin Barbarian/Cleric, exiled for his fits of rages from his home in the Crimson Lined Valley now seeking a new path as he travels.  (Played by J1.)

Bodkin McStaggart, human Rogue, whose motto is “God Will Provide!”  A robber of robbers and mauler of murders, stealing from criminals to his own benefit.  Armed with the Fist of Justice, a magical gauntlet.  (Played by J2.)

John Smith, half-orc* celestial-bloodline Sorcerer, “the most beautiful half-orc you have ever seen, his snout in perfect proportion to his tusks”.  A self-appointed doer of good deeds and smiter of evil.  (Played by R, my returning friend who has not played D20 for some time.)

So, their initial scenes went (in order):

• You are standing on the deck of a starship, when suddenly the wood cracks and you fall into blackness.
• You are walking down an alley and are passed by two people in robe and you think, “Those look like the sort of robes members of an evil cult would wear.”  *whack*
• You have just finished cleaning a cult out of a small town and you are sitting down on the steps of the local temple feeling good about the last few weeks work when you suddenly remember, “Wait, weren’t there thirteen cultists?”  *whack*

They all wake up laying on the floor of a domed room decorated with softly glowing green crystals with the distant sound of pipes floating through the air.  Except for some bruising, they seem unharmed and all of their equipment is there.  Bodkin and John had worked together before and immediately starting exploring.  Only to run into a swarm of green ants coming down one of the corridors into the room, which they avoiding, except for Bodkin catching an ant which looked at him reproachfully so it let it rejoin its fellows.

Following the path of the ants, they found several squashed at a intersection and turned that way.  The corridor becomes increasing rough, becoming naturalistic and dark.  John ventures ahead, using his darkvision, to find three mantis-like creatures working to expand the corridor.  He talks to them and gets one to take them to the Planner by pretending to be here to work.  The mantis leads them back the way they had come into a large room draped with silk hangings.  The mantis turns and leaves without any further explanation.

They look around a little and discuss taking the silk and slowly a figure resolves through the silk.  It is a talk humanoid in a tarnished silver mask styled like an insect’s head.  He mentions the Pattern and offer to guide them to it, his speech is just getting started when John blasts him with a ray of enfeeblement.  Zek and Bodkin object but do not intervene initially.  The robed man tries to withdraw and gets hit by another ray, falling to the ground.  Bodkin punched him to make sure he stayed down and John then buried his great axe in the unconscious man’s chest.  Bodkin takes an amulet from the body, tries to activated it and it momentarily stunned as his mind tries to comprehend the Pattern.  John takes the helmet and puts it on and finds that when worn, it does not impede the wearer’s perception at all and may heighten them.  Zek finds a set of papyrus “blueprints” and thinks that he has found a way out.

John uses his disguise self and Intimidate to chase off a scorpion-man and then they have to smite a mantis after it comes in while Bodkin is tearing down one of the curtains of silk.   Then in a Dr Who-esque fashion they run through the corridors chased by echoing sounds and shadowy insects.  They come to the way out, which is a rectangular unlike the rest of everything in this strange place which is rounded and find themselves in: the Forest of Shoes!

Bodkin promptly acquires two new pairs of boots before a group of peasant shoe harvesters arrive and take them off to see the Pasha.  He welcomes the venturers and invites them to dinner to tell stories.  After such, he offers them a task. Giant birds have been eating the shoes of from the tree and flying away before the Pasha’s forces could catch them.   The Pasha is sure they have been sent from his rivals in the land of Norval and he wishes the raids stopped and will reward anyone who does such.  John asks if he would be unhappy if things went wrong for the rival land and the Pasha says it is really not his concern.

John then begins planning to steal the tax monies from Norval.  Convincing the others to go along with him.  They travel to the Capital of Norval (also called Norval), set up in a tower inn (to watch for big birds) and begin setting thing up for their heist.   Zek just kept to himself, helping along the edges.  Bodkin tried to get the amulet identified and find someone to work the silk.  John scouted out the citadel.

Final plan ended up being kidnapping a ranking member of the clothmakers guide, have John magically disguised as him approach the Minister of the Exchequer and convince him to show him the security on the vault so that the guide can be assured that their tax monies will be safe from ‘unexpected losses”.   By a combination of bribery and threats, the Exchequer agreed to show the vault the next day.  Bodkin and the disguised John get shown to the portcullis protected vault whereupon they make their move and try and force the Exchequer to open the vault.  Shouting, savaging beatings and an improbably failed set of intimidate checks lead nearly to disaster.  But in the end John and Bodkin hoof it with a strongbox from the Exchequer’s office to where Zek was waiting with a wagon.  The final scene of the adventure was Zek driving at the fastest reasonable speed, with alarm bells ringing behind them in the Citadel, as Bodkin and John open the box to find it full of silver.

* But, you may say, the Sea of Stars does not have any orcs.  You are correct, but when a player says he wants to play a half-orc, I let him play a half-orc.  He probably has giantish blood in him or something.