|
The melee attacks for the "Worshipper" in Act 2 part B should probably have been written like:
Subtier 7-8:
mwk short sword +12/+7 (1d6+4/19–20), mwk short sword +12/+7 (1d6+4/19–20)
Subtier 10-11
+1 short sword +14/+9 (1d6+5/17–20), +1 short sword +14/+9 (1d6+5/17–20)
Sorry for the confusion over TWF in the stat block. Happy stabbing! :)
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
|
Except that's not how we do two identical attacks in our statblocks. Which is why it was changed in development, Kyle. ;-)Hmm.. It looked funny compared to what the spreadsheet spits out. Been staring at too many stat blocks the last few days. Thanks Mark!
Welcome to the club, Caring Kyle. We got your cross-eyed freelancer glasses all ready for you.
The spreadsheet is fun aint it? This is unrelated, but... sometimes it does interesting things based upon the order that you put information into it. A couple days a ago I was putting a creature in it from B1, so I could then add classes to it, and I couldn't get the manufactured weapon and supplemental natural attacks to reconcile.. unless I put certain information in it in a specific order.
It's a good tool though! (don't beat me master!)
|
|
First grats Kyle grreeat scenario. I ran this today was glad I ran this. Unfortunately, my GM karma was against me. Allot of gm nat 1's.
CMB/CMD statblock question should CMB manuever modifiers be in parethesis say in the optional encounter creature from this scenario.? Similar to CMD manuer against a trip?
|
|
(being deliberately vague)
The optional encounter elements are directly from published material which don't include separate listing for maneuvers in which they're trained. As a GM I would prefer them there, however, I'm sure Mark could tell us it's "correct." pfft, whatever that means. ;-)
Glad you liked it!
|
|
Well, I made it through Part 1 today. Pretty brutal, I gotta say.
Was the an expectation to the contrary? ;-) I mean, you are tasked with traveling through a giant chunk of the Darklands ripped out off the earth hundreds of years ago and sent to a personal demiplane..
More importantly, did you enjoy it?
|
|
This was one of the most fun modules I've played. It was a challenge, and gave that glorious tension that *we might not win*. I wish that were in PFS more frequently.
Good GM too, btw.
That tension is incredibly difficult to design given the wide variety of PCs in PFS. I'm glad to hear that for you it worked well! I'm still anxiously awaiting the first time it falls on the dark side of fun.
p.s. Any Chelaxians at the table? Just curious what they think of their faction mission..
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
I think the nastiest part of this was the fight with the Dark Stalkers. Primarily, the fact that one of them was a spellcaster with access to dispel magic. Being able to eliminate the only defense we had against the deeper darkness (an oil of daylight) is just brutal.
Relatedly, given that any time deeper darkness comes up it seems to be at-will and with counter-countermeasures, is there any point in even carrying said oil of daylight? Is there some other, more reliable countermeasure my PCs could be carrying?
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well the oil of daylight does give you at least part of a round to see the field and what's going on. That can be valuable to use save or suck spells or grapple something. The best tactic would be to delay right behind whomever is using the daylight. Remember that as a SLA, they still need to make a concentration check if you're grappling them (or readying to stab them in the face)
Other countermeasures available at those levels would be casting a heightened daylight or any 4th level or higher spell that emits light (fire shield? although it's personal, so no potion/oil)
Lesser globe of invulnerability works well at least for the caster.
Having dispel magic ready to remove the darkness or counter a caster's dispel magic is a great option too for any caster vs. caster fight.
Being a rogue or barbarian helps too since they can't sneak you even though you can't see them.
Summon an earth elemental or another creature that doesn't need sight to help.
Did anyone enjoy picking that wand up off the chronicle sheet?
edit: I also pointed out that the Dark Slayer only has about a 60% chance of getting rid of your daylight depending on the caster's level. (I guess 70% for the oil which is probably CL 5). So there's a decent chance they fail and waste their turn doing so.
double edit: Wait, why am I giving advice making it easier for the players to survive? arggggh!
|
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
Well the oil of daylight does give you at least part of a round to see the field and what's going on. That can be valuable to use save or suck spells or grapple something. The best tactic would be to delay right behind whomever is using the daylight. Remember that as a SLA, they still need to make a concentration check if you're grappling them (or readying to stab them in the face)
Other countermeasures available at those levels would be casting a heightened daylight or any 4th level or higher spell that emits light (fire shield? although it's personal, so no potion/oil)
Lesser globe of invulnerability works well at least for the caster.
Having dispel magic ready to remove the darkness or counter a caster's dispel magic is a great option too for any caster vs. caster fight.
Being a rogue or barbarian helps too since they can't sneak you even though you can't see them.
Summon an earth elemental or another creature that doesn't need sight to help.
Alas, not much of that helps with my fighter. ;) I guess I'll keep having my PCs carry an oil of daylight and hope that occasionally the users of deeper darkness won't also have dispel magic.
Did anyone enjoy picking that wand up off the chronicle sheet?
We enjoyed finding it (and I totally plan to GM this at some point and credit my Eldritch Knight). But alas, we offered it as a bribe to the dragon, which ironically was wasted because we still came up short and had to fight her, but she still flew off with the treasure we'd offered up to that point. :(
double edit: Wait, why am I giving advice making it easier for the players to survive? arggggh!
You just can't say no to this cute lil lizard face. ;)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Did anyone enjoy picking that wand up off the chronicle sheet?We enjoyed finding it (and I totally plan to GM this at some point and credit my Eldritch Knight). But alas, we offered it as a bribe to the dragon, which ironically was wasted because we still came up short and had to fight her, but she still flew off with the treasure we'd offered up to that point. :(
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're GM's mean! I approve!
|
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're GM's mean! I approve!Did anyone enjoy picking that wand up off the chronicle sheet?We enjoyed finding it (and I totally plan to GM this at some point and credit my Eldritch Knight). But alas, we offered it as a bribe to the dragon, which ironically was wasted because we still came up short and had to fight her, but she still flew off with the treasure we'd offered up to that point. :(
Meh, no skin of my back. Couldn't use the item anyway. ;)
And now I know that I absolutely MUST run this scenario at some point!
|
|
Relatedly, given that any time deeper darkness comes up it seems to be at-will and with counter-countermeasures, is there any point in even carrying said oil of daylight? Is there some other, more reliable countermeasure my PCs could be carrying?Yeah, the lesson seems to be "don't bother, because if we want it to be dark, damnit, it will be dark."
What other adventures have deeper darkness and a counter for daylight?
|
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
Alas, not much of that helps with my fighter. ;)Unfortunately at higher levels the fighter often has to rely on casters to get through some of the challenges they face. It's much like the wizard needing the fighter to kill the orc at level 1 because 1d4+1 once ain't cutting it.
Oh! I could carry scrolls of daylight (or dispel magic) to have the caster use! Thanks for the tip, ya old softie! ;)
|
|
I see this run incorrectly all the time unfortunately.
Round 1a: NPC uses at-will Deeper Darkness (room becomes unnaturally dark)
Round 1b: PC casts daylight (room returns to original lighting conditions)
Round 2: NPC uses at-will Deeper Darkness (nothing happens except the area of effect for DD could now have two points of origin)
In this example the result is the normal lighting conditions. Daylight is still going. DD is still going from two locations. Where DD and Daylight overlap, it's normal lighting conditions. The only way a second casting of DD makes the room unnaturally dark again is if they ready to cast/use DD as a counterspell or use dispel magic to target the already on-going daylight.
|
|
The problem is not the at will on the deeper darkness, since don't the darkness and the daylight cancel each other out in the overlapping area and restore the original light conditions?
The problem is the same creature with at will darkness also having dispel. Usually the single countermeasure is enough to get you through the encounter, but when the dispel is in play, you better hope you have a sun domain cleric or something.
Jiggy, you might want to look into Riffle Scrolls which you can use in the dark since you activate it by flipping through a little booklet. I think they are PFS legal too.
|
|
The problem is not the at will on the deeper darkness, since don't the darkness and the daylight cancel each other out in the overlapping area and restore the original light conditions?
The problem is the same creature with at will darkness also having dispel. Usually the single countermeasure is enough to get you through the encounter, but when the dispel is in play, you better hope you have a sun domain cleric or something.
** spoiler omitted **
Jiggy, you might want to look into Riffle Scrolls which you can use in the dark since you activate it by flipping through a little booklet. I think they are PFS legal too.
Excellent post. If you are knowingly going into the Darklands, expect darkness... :D
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
|
Saint Caleth, that's a common error.
Riffle scrolls eliminate the need to speak. They're Silenced scrolls. You still have to see them. They work in an area of silence, but not in an area of deeper darkness.
(They also require the player to bring the sourcebook, or legitimate pages from the pdf, to the table, of course.)
|
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
Saint Caleth, that's a common error.
Riffle scrolls eliminate the need to speak. They're Silenced scrolls. You still have to see them. They work in an area of silence, but not in an area of deeper darkness.
(They also require the player to bring the sourcebook, or legitimate pages from the pdf, to the table, of course.)
You have to be able to see them in order to flip the pages?
|
|
When held between thumb and forefinger and riffled through in a quick manner, the motion of the pages turning activates the magic within, simultaneously completing casting of the spell and erasing the booklet.
... Activating a riffle scroll requires one free hand. A riffle scroll uses the normal casting time for the inscribed spell, even if the user or creator is of a class that has increased casting times when using metamagic effects.
Activating a scroll requires reading the spell from the scroll. The character must be able to see and read the writing on the scroll. Activating a scroll spell requires no material components or focus. (The creator of the scroll provided these when scribing the scroll.)
These rule suggest to me that you do not need to see it. Regular scrolls specify in their activation rules that you need to read it, riffle scrolls require only one free hand, which is further supported by the description of using a riffle scroll by flipping through the booklet.
What is your reasoning that you have to see it beyond the fact that it uses Silence Spell and not Still Spell? I'm not seeing your logic here.
|
|
Saint Caleth, that's a common error.
Riffle scrolls eliminate the need to speak. They're Silenced scrolls. You still have to see them. They work in an area of silence, but not in an area of deeper darkness.
(They also require the player to bring the sourcebook, or legitimate pages from the pdf, to the table, of course.)
Get out of here Chris! I'll be running this for you soon enough. Sheesh!
|
|
Well my thoughts on all the darkness and light.
If a party is facing these effects, a daylight spell even if it lasts a single round it still takes a round out from the enemy. At will power still take a standard action.
Scroll etc while handy have dc to overcome with dispell magic. Unless you are a specific user all hail the Pathfinder Savant class.
Then you have spells that specifically counter each other.
What makes this encounter so fun is there are 2 enemies. So while the PC's may feel that they may be on an uphill battle they really aren't, action economy is still favoring the Pc's.
While daylight is good countering darkness at higher levels players should have at hand a decent list of availabe consumable consumables.
I think when I ran this I had 1 deaper darkness up, from the beginning.
There were 2 dispel magic's cast one took out a deaper darkness another daylight then, then another deaper cast then a daylight that got countered by another deaper darkness.
A lesser globe of invulnerabitly ended up being the spell to trump the encouncter.
Again another side discussion, a dispel magic probably could not target a deeper darkness without an overlapping daylight. Since you would have to target the object or creature. An object out of LoS would be extremely hard to target and dispel, as well as darkness being used specifically to counter a daylight with a range of touch since it is range touch, with zero save.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The last thing I want to add about the daylight/deeper darkness is this:
If your players come up with a creative way or strategy to deal with the deeper darkness, go with it! Don't hose them because RAW and tactics make it possible. There's plenty of other deadliness in this scenario. :)
|
I see this run incorrectly all the time unfortunately.
Round 1a: NPC uses at-will Deeper Darkness (room becomes unnaturally dark)
Round 1b: PC casts daylight (room returns to original lighting conditions)
Round 2: NPC uses at-will Deeper Darkness (nothing happens except the area of effect for DD could now have two points of origin)In this example the result is the normal lighting conditions. Daylight is still going. DD is still going from two locations. Where DD and Daylight overlap, it's normal lighting conditions. The only way a second casting of DD makes the room unnaturally dark again is if they ready to cast/use DD as a counterspell or use dispel magic to target the already on-going daylight.
That's how it SHOULD happen but usually it goes:
Suprise round: Critter casts deeper darkness from hidingRound 1a: PC casts daylight (room returns to original lighting conditions)
Round 1b: NPC uses at-will Deeper Darkness as a counter spell to the expected daylight.
Same amount of time has gone by and PC's are just as hosed on round 2.
I know since this is what killed my very first (and last) Cleric. (well it was the greataxe wielding rogue who did the killing immediately after but same thing).
|
|
That's how it SHOULD happen but usually it goes:
Suprise round: Critter casts deeper darkness from hiding
Round 1a: PC casts daylight (room returns to original lighting conditions)
Round 1b: NPC uses at-will Deeper Darkness as a counter spell to the expected daylight.Same amount of time has gone by and PC's are just as hosed on round 2.
I know since this is what killed my very first (and last) Cleric. (well it was the greataxe wielding rogue who did the killing immediately after but same thing).
Unless that NPC specially readies an action to counterspell (thus not acting in the surprise round), they can't "counter" the daylight spell. The result should be that the second deeper darkness in 1b does nothing.