Love the exotic feel of this adventure path!
Any advice or recommendations from those who have played it and/or GM'd it for those who have yet to run Serpent's Skull?
Also, Magic Skull Games has also released a Pathfinder compatible PDF book called the Grimoire Viperian which has serpent themed elements which complement this adventure path nicely, whether you want to tweak or add side-treks and subplots as the GM or play a serpent-themed character.
put some thought and effort into city of seven spears and vaults of madness, use the dungeon death traps in vaults of madness early and often, let your pcs go off the tracks in racing to ruins, ask neil spicer real nice about ways to make the hunter's maze in part 6 a more integral part of story. otherwise just have fun and don't be afraid to get weird with it.
also don't overwhelm your party with diseases in part one (easy to do but drags down morale), get "Heart of the Jungle" and "sargava, the lost colony" they are worth it and add to the experience (especially with the top notch random encounter tables in back of heart of the jungle.
Currently in part two, but I cannot stress enough not to bog down the game with diseases in part one. Play up the race in Racing to Ruin, keep it close, and don't be afraid to have the other factions bump into the party here and there. Know your party, play to their wants, insert another generic DM advice, and of course have fun.
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Pre-roll random encounters, and then try to make them interesting and seem like real encounters, and not just fluff. There are enough random encounters in this adventure path to warrant this, and you can use them to emphasize certain campaign elements, or even to somehow tie in PC backstories.
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Here's some tips/pointers on what I've been doing.
So far I'm having a great time running it and my PCs are loving it.
We're at the end of Book 4 so that's as far as I've gone.
Spoilered for length and spoilers (obviously)
Book 1
0. Before the adventure, while doing character introductions or something, ask the PCs which animal best describes them. This lets you set up the Dream Quest in Book 2 a little earlier.
1. As others have said, use the diseases carefully. Consider having a timeline built out ahead of time and rolling for which player catches a disease when. This saves you from rolling the 5-15% chance for EVERY player at the table. You know that on Day 6, Nimblefingers has to save against Filth Fever (or whatever).
2. Make the other castaways likeable. Even if they like to hate them, they’re going to be almost the only NPC interaction for the whole first book. Plus if the PCs like the other castaways, it makes pulling them into Book 2 much, much easier.
3. A number of people have pointed out the value of keeping Yarzoth alive as the BBEG of the path. If she’s killed, try to ensure that her body is in some state to be Raised/Resurrected by Agents of the Coil so she can show up later.
Book 2
4. Consider having Nkechi (and later Athyra) travel with the main expedition and NOT with the PCs as trailblazers. If you have a capable table already (or a large one) having additional NPCs travel with the party really isn’t a requirement and can slow things down/take attention away from the PCs.
5. For the spirit quest, have cards done out beforehand for the PCs in their animal totem form. Moves, attack forms, etc. Consider adding a “mini-quest” that the PCs can do in their animal forms if they appear to like this. Ruins on the Dream Plane that they have to get through before reaching the Dream Serpent.
6. ROLL RANDOM ENCOUNTERS OUT FOR THE JOURNEY BEFOREHAND. I can’t stress this enough and others have said it. That timeline you started on the island to track diseases? Keep using it to track the party's journey and encounters. (I just printed out one of the several available Calendars of Golarion and wrote notes on the days. Worked fine.)
7. Consider having the PC’s expedition start in the middle of the pack. Track where the other expeditions are and have them run into other trailblazers/expeditions. Make it feel more like a race.
8. Building off 7 above, consider adding in other encounters where the PCs can make up time or slow down the other expeditions to reach Tazion first. I did this and my PCs LOVED it. Said it was the high point of Book 2 and really kept the pressure on and made it feel like a race.
9. If you’re using Yarzoth as the BBEG, have Isillar’s notes mention how she came through Tazion on her way to Saventh-Yhi (and possibly how she was raised by the Coil). This lets the PCs be engaged in a race for Saventh-Yhi and a chase for their old nemesis (and also keeps the danger/mystery of the serpentfolk in the adventure)
Book 3
10. Consider adjusting the discovery point system. Instead of requiring 120 points to claim the city, consider 15 pts in each district. This will force the party to scout around and move their camp.
11. STRONGLY consider allying other factions with residents of the districts. This will make the race to claim the city a bit more tied into the city itself. A number of people have talked about some GREAT ideas for this on the boards here so I won’t go into it too much.
12. The timeline? Yup, keep running with it. Use it to track daily encounters for the camps (so you know what camps have to make defense rolls when) and to track discovery points for the various camps. This saves SO much time at the table. Also lets you know what camp is exploring what district so the PCs have a chance to run into/stop them if they want.
13. Consider having them find signs of Yarzoth’s interaction with the natives of the city. Being praised as an arriving savior by the degenerate serpentfolk, spotted sneaking towards the First Vault by the Tribe of the Radiant Serpent, etc. The serpentfolk are supposed to be THE bad guys of this AP and its important that you keep throwing little tidbits that they’re up to something big… even if the PCs don’t know WHAT yet.
Book 4
14. Be ready to run this book during the end of Book 3. If the PCs stumble on a Vault during their exploration of the city, let them find it! Just maybe give them a heads up that they MIGHT not be tough enough to explore it yet. This makes finding the mural/locations of the vaults more interesting if they’ve stumbled on one or two already.
15. Don’t be afraid to start this book while the camps are still racing to finish their discovery points and claim the city. Makes it more interesting if the PCs are exploring the vaults and their camps still have something to do (mapping out and cataloging the ruins).
16. Strongly encourage your PCs to build up Prestige Awards with factions here. There’re a lot of insanity checks and having Restorations available from a faction for 2 CPA was a HUGE help for my PCs.
17. Consider having the Gorilla King show up as an additional faction at the end of Book 3/beginning of Book 4. He sets up a huge (three times the size) camp and begins trying to beat the PCs at their own game by racing through the city collecting discovery points. Make him into a real menace that the PCs fear, watching over the ruined city. Only when the PCs are on the verge of claiming the city will he agree to meet with them and launch into the King events. The Gorilla King is one of *the* premiere characters in the Mwangi and should be played up as such. His approach, arrival and (possibly) encampment should be played up to instill sheer terror.
18. Playing off 17 above, consider not letting the PCs fight the Gorilla King. Someone else brought up the GREAT idea (that I used and it went beautiful) that the King sends his eldest son to fight the PCs to the death at the feast. His son has aspirations for the throne and the King uses this as an excuse to get him out of the way. This lets you play up the King as conniving and smart and lets you keep him “above the fray” and maintain him as a semi-legendary figure in the Mwangi.
Hope some of that helped or gave you some ideas!
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Just to add to Gorbacz, if you play Seven Spears as a static hackfest, he's absolutely correct. It's very weak.
Instead, focus on the fact you have five factions and six dominant tribes. Think about who's allying with who and who's exploring where.
If the Pathfinders set up camp next to the Military district, is Olujimi just going to watch them? Is he going to send envoys up there to demand his tribute for an alliance? Is he going to send a chaou-ki warband up there to try and drive them out? Is the Consortium going to approach the charou-ki and try to buy them off and get them to attack the Pathfinders while maybe supplying them masterwork weapons?
Each day you have a lot of choices. Think of it more as various powers striving for control of the city instead of just a hackfest.
Bottom line: avoid City of Seven Spears feeling static. Be dynamic. Really flex your creative muscles and think about what each side is going to do and give the PCs a rundown on what they've seen happening around the rest of the city each day. Then let them decide where they want to focus their efforts on. Really have fun with it!
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Gah! Forgot one more change I made...
Change things up to make sure the PCs know they're the first ones to find the lost city.
- Move the ghost at area C to outside the valley. Have his diary ranting about how he knows how close he is to the lost city.
- Change the bodies found in Vaults D and F to serpentfolk bodies or locals tribesmen (trogs, boggards, etc).
- Stress that Juliver and Cline came into Ilmurea through the Darklands. They did NOT find Saventh-Yhi.
You don't want the PCs to feel even kinda cheated out of being the first ones to the lost city.
These are all awesome ideas, and I'm definitely stoked for this AP now. Keep 'em coming!!
Dotting. Some great ideas here.
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So far I've made two changes to the plot to make things flow a bit better:
1. I made Yarzoth be affiliated with the Serpentfolk that the players have to deal with in books 5 and 6. She used a spell to send the location of the city to them, and they arrived there ahead of the players. Doing this gives the campaign more of a heroic feel because you're trying to get to the city for a greater reason than just discovering and plundering it.
2. Eiando Kline's pathfinder group did NOT discover the city before the players. I wanted the players to feel like they were the ones who were there first. Eiando arrived with the Pathfinder expedition, found a portal to the underground city, and then was captured. This works best if the players are allied with the Pathfinder faction however.
I think I got both of these ideas from somewhere on this board...
2. Eiando Kline's pathfinder group did NOT discover the city before the players. I wanted the players to feel like they were the ones who were there first. Eiando arrived with the Pathfinder expedition, found a portal to the underground city, and then was captured. This works best if the players are allied with the Pathfinder faction however.
Eando actually travelled to Ilmurea through the Darklands, and thus wouldn't know about Saventh-Yhi. Changing his story and having him travel with the Pathfinder faction, if the PCs ally with that faction, might be a neat idea, though. They'd have more of a vested interest in rescuing him if everyone was buddy-buddy.
I would consider grabbing Crucible of Chaos and trying to work in some elements of that into CoSS. Wolfgang Baur knows how to craft a lost city that makes you shiver.
What's Crucible of Chaos? I'll have to check it out.
I would consider grabbing Crucible of Chaos and trying to work in some elements of that into CoSS. Wolfgang Baur knows how to craft a lost city that makes you shiver.What's Crucible of Chaos? I'll have to check it out.
I believe its an early pathfinder module from their 3.5 days, tho if i'm wrong please correct me.
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Yup, it's a 3.5 module from Paizo, written by Wolf Baur. The PCs explore a lost city full of wonders and horrors. Brilliant stuff, and conveniently available for just 3 $ on sale,pick it up here!
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One more change I accidently made/stumbled on and it worked well.
Concerning the motivation from Book 4 into Book 5...
If you're using Yarzoth as the BBEG, then the PCs have been tailing her from Tazion and through Saventh-Yhi. They're probably still a little miffed at her crashing their ship on Smuggler's Shiv, so there's that too.
But what if you don't want to use Yarzoth? Or can't? Maybe she was killed and the party burnt her and scattered the ashes!
Then you're left with:
1. Explore Ilmurea because it's cool
2. Head there because the serpentfolk might be up to no good (based on what Juliver tells them)
or 3. Go there to rescue Eando Cline
If the party's tight with the Pathfinders, then #3 might work. But what if they don't care about him? Well the Serpentfolk Seekers might be a good answer to provide additional motivation. Located outside the Silent Vault and (conveniently) encountered as a random encounter, the Seekers are looking for Juliver. They need to know if she's telling people that the serpentfolk are trying to reconnect Ydersius's head to his body and awaken their god. She knows very little, but the serpentfolk don't know that.
There's a few ways you can use them to motivate the PCs to head to Ilmurea.
1. With their Alter Self and Dominate, they're perfect for sneaking into camp and snagging whatever NPC you think the PCs feel closest too. Probably someone that would have trouble with the DC20 Dominate save. They then use their telepathy to communicate with the PCs (preferably from hiding) to arrange an exchange: the NPC for Juliver.
2. During the course of encountering them, one (or more in my case) of the PCs might fail their save against the Dominate. The serpentfolk strike from hiding (using their Major Image and Ventriloquism to break up the party), Dominate and run off into the ruins with their prisoner. Then they do the same prisoner exchange above to trade the PC for Juliver.
NOTE: for these to work, one (or more) of the Seekers will need a Teleport scroll to return to Ilmurea. (why they don't have this anyway I'm a little confused on. It's not a tough check for them to make using a scroll of that level)
Alternately, if the PCs aren't that tight with Juliver, maybe the Seekers decide to return to Ilmurea with the NPC that the PCs ARE attached to. They decide to find out how much Juliver has already told the others. In my case, one of my players had formed a pretty tight relationship with Juliver. This really motivated him to get moving on opening the portal to get to Ilmurea and rescue her and Eando Cline.
Just a thought if the PCs need a little more motivation to head down to Ilmurea after exploring/claiming the city.
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Totally inspired by Jenner's idea concerning the dynamic nature of Saventh Yhi.
Well....
This idea struck me like a lightning bolt and I wanted to share it with you all. Unfortunately, it requires you to be familiar with the mechanics of Game of Thrones the boardgame.
The order token mechanic would be perfect in SY using paizo's map as a "board". Creating your own tokens for players (representing the various "orders" to lay down on the board).
Having this create a dynamic battlefield (including the political front) would make that city come ALIVE!! I'll be play testing this in the not-so-distant future. I'll let you know how it goes y'all.