Heya, The scenario looks cool. A few questions though: 1- In the chase, how exactly do the leaves in de parade act as Heroism scrolls? Is Heroism immediately cast on everyone who succeeds, or does everyone who succeeds get a scroll of heroism to be used at a later stage? 2- How long does it take PC's to get from scene to scene during the chase?
Hej all, I loved running this scenario this afternoon! A few rules related questions that came up during the combat with the Tendriculoses: Do monsters get their Resistance to Piercing & Slashing damage against a target that has been swallowed? I ruled that they did since I couldn't find they didn't. That felt really dirty though, hence the question :/ Can a PC escape though the same hole that a previous PC used to rupture out of the creature? I ruled no because I couldn't find that they could, although that didn't feel very satisfying either. How does a Thaumaturge's Exploit Weakness interact with the Rupture threshold when he has been swallowed whole? The Thaumaturge used the Fire weakness of the creature to boost the damage of his Slashing attack. I ended up ruling that it would work to help burst out of the creature. It seemed fair to do so since it was part of the same damage instance. Does Swallow Whole have the Attack trait? It has "(Attack)" mentioned at the start of the description, so I assume I did that right? Finally: My compliments on setting up the high tier BBEG ! It was awesome to run a BBEG who could survive a severe beating from the party while at the same time casting spells like there was no tomorrow (which there wasn't, of course). Felt amazing!
Alright, here's my post-mortem: All in all I enjoyed running this, and my players had fun. Experience:
Confusion on my side:
General feedback:
Hi all,
Encounter D:
Quote: To disable the signal, the crystals can simply be smashed Quote: Disabling the signal without damaging it requires a successful DC 18 Crafting, Thievery or Perception check (DC 20 for levels 5–6) to remove the correct wires without damaging them and to make the panel go dormant without burning through the remaining wires Quote: The PCs achieve Zarta’s mission for this location if they either successfully study or disable the signal I'm assuming the first entry should say "destroy" instead of "disable", and only the latter helps to fulfill Zarta's mission, right? Edit: Same question applies for encounters E and F, I see.
I had the same response from my party yesterday (4 lvl1 characters): They immediately wanted to split up. In the end they saw Alec move towards the library on his own and decided to pursue him as a group, because they sensed what was going to happen. After the encounter with the gremlins, they decided to stick together. Weall thought the gremlins that gave lice were a very nice touch for a school trip. I loved the titles of the romance novels in the library :D Kudos, this one was a breeze to run!
I ran this on the low tier with 15 CP this weekend: The adjustment for the Ambush encounter seemed to skip a "14-15 CP" adjustment. I ended up using the 16-18 CP adjustment, which still made for an easy encounter (The leaded skeletons are sooo slow!). It's only now that I look at it again that I see that the sidebar seems to have two "12-13 CP" entries with a different description. Compliments on the scenario though: Easy prep, easy running, everything was where I expected it to be, lots of fun!
Hi all, It looks like a fun scenario, but what's the idea of the final encounter in the high tier? Tactics: Use the same as subtier 5-6. You get a lot of fun 5th and 6th level spells that are not supposed to be used, and the wall of 3 skeletons with 42 HP each is not going to stop anyone with a +5 to hit. Both the attack and the defense of the enemies (both the seriously weakened gnome and the skeletons) is way below what should be expected at knoll 8-9. Am I missing something, or is this a case of editing gone wrong, in which case, how to proceed?
Exactly: Since the DC between the two options varies, imo cross-skill assists lead to weird situations, as Lau described above.
As for how to deal with the rolling: It's as Lau described above. I give them max 1 minute to decide the approach (ending with a "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Choose!), and have them all roll at once. You want to keep up the speed in a chase scene, which should in turn keep the players more towards the edge of their seats.
One thing that usually comes up that has not been covered by chase rules so far since the introduction of Group Chases in Season 6, is the question if companions, familiars, etc can make their own check to help the party. I usually let them assist their 'owner', which allows every PC with a companion to have a better result, without having to face trivialisation of the Chase DC's due to the sheer number of rolls.
Same happened to me, and it's not necessarily a bad thing: You don't have to 'punish' players for being prepared :).
Giving the party time to go to a library and investigate what they can find about the creature goes a bit far, since there is a time constraint to the scenario.
Depending on how you read the entry in the text, the "effects" of the haunt trigger at initiative 10, so they should not be able to get out before running before that. But I get your point.
Bret Indrelee wrote:
The haunt should be attacking everyone, since everyone is supposed to be within the extra-dimensional mist. Don't forget to mention the special mechanics from the sidebar to the first player that's up :).
Lau Bannenberg wrote:
I absolutely agree on the principle: In the low tier, both Lurkers should have a different initiative count. In the high tier, I'd suggest at least pairing them up (2 groups of 2 for 4- players, 3 groups of 2 for 5+ players) Sadly in my case, they were split into 2 initiative groups that came immediately one after the other due to an almost similar roll without any players in between :(. Also, mind that technically the tactics dictate casting Blindness during the first round, then engage into melee.
Ran this yesterday at the 4-player high tier.
First off, there was some confusion about the Blessing of Ashava: Is it a Curse effect?
The first encounter felt a bit weak, but I assume this was intentional to have the players test out their newfound strengths.
The chase was extremely well received:
The wolves encounter felt a bit strange on the mechanical side:
The Mists section was interesting, and I had to think on how to present this.
The boss fight was awesome.
All in all, the scenario was top notch, even with the few remarks above.
Me too, I'm impressed by the setup, so far... though I find it's a shame to have a swamp without the swamp flip-mat ;) I'm impressed by the DC's in the chase scene. I understand players get a big speed boost from the Wolf form, but still, I recently encountered DC's like this in a 10-11 subtier. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of higher DC's in "group" chase scenes, as they always appear to easy.
As to the "convince the wolves" part... I'm not entirely convinced that allowing Diplomacy at the same DC as the alternate skill is a good move... For the final encounter: What are the Mist squares that are being referred to?
andreww wrote: Sure it hits hard if you choose to stand and trade full attacks with it but its maneuverability is awful as are its saves, even with the second save thing. I beg to differ slightly about the damage: The Greater Vital Strike and Power Attack make it an attack for 12d6+21 (33 to 93 dmg, avg. 53 dmg) with a 19-20 threat range. But in general I agree: The monster gets way too weak with all the rituals.
I played at Kwinten's table last night, and agree the Reaver had us pretty scared until we faced it.
On now reading the monster entry and tactics: Yikes!
I can only agree with the complaint about everything being called a feat. I would have preferred something like Ancestry Attributes, Background Features and Class Abilities or something, to easily reference the kind of ability, without it becoming too general, as is now the case. Intelligence gives you additional Trained skills. No way that's weak... But you have to like skills for that, and accept the shift in game balance.
I'm sorry, but comparing the balance of a new edition by basing it on the previous edition makes no sense. This is a totally different game: Play it and judge based on those experiences, rather than on fear of losing power.
All in all, I enjoyed the scenario: Unusual environment, interesting enemies, and a final encounter that had an answer to a lot of player tactics. In response to Quentin and Lau:
Page 5, Intro wrote: I would ask that find her and bring her back with you—if she is willing.” This I presented as such: If she is willing. It was when players were starting to suggest using violence to bring her along that I had Sorrina say "No. If violence is necessary to bring her along, then leave her be."Maybe that's the part that stuck with the players, which would be unfortunate. Page 19, Conclusion wrote: She’s considering staying with Sundered Stone, working with Pamari (assuming the ifrit survived) to transform it into a legitimate mercenary group, perhaps with Reyshal’s aid. She is also pondering disbanding the group and going her own way. If she leaves, she could either go out to research on her own or rejoin the Pathfinder Society. Whatever decision she comes to, she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to the bandits, since, in her view, many of them were just trying to survive in the war-ravaged area. The PCs can attempt a DC 18 Diplomacy check (DC 22 in Subtier 6–7) to convince Grave Treader to rejoin the Pathfinder Society. Otherwise, she decides to stick around and reform Sundered Stone. Regardless of her decision, Grave Treader thanks the PCs for their input and promises to meet with Sorrina Westyr to talk things out. The interpretation of the conclusion I went along for, was as follows: If the party wants her to come along to the Grand Lodge, then they get the check. The party preferred her to stay behind, so they didn't get a check to convince her.I agree though I find it strange that the one choice, which is clearly a very good choice for the Society as well (I mean you have to check a box if she stays behind?), is punished.
At APL 9.8 I hit the Earthquake as the first random event. I forgot the round of "no action" for players. Then the lvl 11 druid demolished the juggernaut with the first 3 of his 5 attacks. Remark: The hint that you're going to fight a juggernaut is given. Squishy/ ranged characters can just stand on the bridge instead of going down. There's no way the construct is going to be there for at least the first 3 rounds. Also I chose for a relatively straight trample-line, which limits the amount of targets hit at once. Still a Question: Can the gargantuan construct end its movement on an opponent? As far as I know, it can't, which marginally limits its trample paths, as the area isn't that large, compared to its size. Still, I have compliments for the writer from the party I ran for, for the flavour of the scenario.
The key question, I suppose, is "When does the AoO against Overrun occur?" Barring Reach, the AoO for an Overrun attempt happens the moment you attempt to enter someone's square. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense for you to stop right before them as soon as the attempt fails. If the target has reach (or if you move through someone else's threatened area), you are provoking for a different "offense". The major difference between Trample and Overrun is that the former has an automatic success on the Overrun attempt. All the rest appears to be a rider effect.
Thurston Hillman wrote:
Thank you for the clarification. That is a lot less rough, and about what I was expecting. Still brutal if one players fails his save at that point, as freeing him still requires 10 rounds per attempt. But it is indeed high tier. It is mentioned the juggernaut is not impeded by the Earthquake effect. I suppose that's in regard to the "cannot do anything for one round" part of the Earthquake?
Now that I look at this closer because my table is steering towards high tier, how is the Earthquake supposed to work? Since it's a cave, they can attempt a Reflex save for half damage, but they are pinned by rubble anyway (as worded by the spell), despite the mention of "potential" in the hazard description. I don't have much experience with this high level spells: How does that work exactly? The spell states the duration is 1 round, but there is a clause for taking damage from being crushed every minute.
Using the Cave-in rules seems harsh as well, since that gives you a DC25 strength check to get out every minute (in an erupting volcano with 40% chance of progressing lava every round + an unaffected trampling Juggernaut waltzing over the party, for 10 rounds). Also: What does the Caster level 20 for the spell have to do with anything? I see no relevant level-dependant variables except Range. Is this for the unlikely case of a Counterspell?
andreww wrote: The end encounter looks like it will either by very deadly or very easy. Using pretty much the same stats for the opponent looks like a terrible idea I can see a number of low tier groups being very surprised by this. I don't see it lasting long against high tier anything. Either way it doesn't look too hard to avoid this encounter given the opposition is mindless. The boys is nearly the same, but the environment greys much harder: The high tier has 40% chance to have an Earthquake cast, which is reasonably rough when your caster gets buried in an erupting volcano. Also is still a crapload of damage possibly coming at everyone at the same time. Quote:
Ward Asunder want that long either. The encounters can be bypassed, but some DC are still rough at 35. But I agree that many of the checks seem trivial.
Quote:
There are more scenarios where this is the case, even at this tier. Sometimes tactics are to raise dead PC's as undead out of spite. So this is not uncommon.
It's a pretty dangerous encounter, even for a strong party. The problem your party is facing, is that they are scattered all over the place, meaning whatever frontliners can't protect the squishies. You could try and hint at it by having the ghuls herd the PC's towards one of the corners/rooms and by having the statue not leave the area where it comes from.
DesolateHarmony wrote: Much like Nefreet, I haven't gotten around to training away my Investigator's Technologist feat. I am scheduled to play tonight. Yes, glad I didn't trade it away on my Savage Technologist either. *Warms up the Railgun*Starts the chainsaw *Checks if the e-picks are charged Looking forward to playing it on Sunday.
Justin Turner wrote: Seems like this would have a significant impact on the difficulty of the encounter. That is the difficult part of the scenario, since the Xacarba has Combat Reflexes. If the party didn't get the hint "Abjuration = usually beneficial" and drank from the fountain, this is most likely a difficult encounter. This is the case especially with the 4-player adjustment, since the action economy is extremely in favor of the Xacarba. When I ran it, I had two (of the 4) players run back to the fountain during the combat and fill waterskins with it to feed it to the others (while one player was uncouncious and the other one suffered the redirected Oppressive Boredom cast by one of the players, as well as the 3 attacks/round from the Xacarba.
GM Lamplighter wrote: 2. I'd just provide the school, given the power of the object. Given the nature on the final encounter, the fountain is key to the survival of the players. Abjuration is either a protection (generally), but also planes-related stuff and traps. Also as mentioned: There is no DC to identify the aura of the fountain.Quote: 3. Time is measured in game time, but estimated based on activities. I think I'll use mostly-real time, but modified for any time-consuming things the PCs do like Take 20's and so on. That was also my conclusion, but that was speculating. Quote: 6. Probably won't matter - most PCs will have much higher mods than the NPCs in any case. So what to do? Automatic success then? Quote: 7. Compulsion (suggestion) trumps regular enchantment (charm person/monster). How about charm vs. charm? The Xacarba has a charm monster ability he has been using on the archeologists. Charm Person could technically work to overrule the enchantment, but how? On a sidenote: Suggestion is also available to players in this tier. How does it work when a player attempts to use Suggestion on a PC that is victim of a Suggestion by the Xacarba? Quote: 9. Putting discs in the slot do not provoke from the monster because the PC has improved cover from the wall. It seems like it should from other PCs if they're trying to stop the person. Given that the Xacarba and the golem switch places before the combat starts (Confrontation box text), there is no cover at all and the thing has a reach of 15ft.
Below, my remarks. 1- Chronicle Sheet: Out of Subtier gold is incorrect. It states 748/1496 instead of the 1122/2244 (half of the sum of low tier + high tier) or the 2245 from the accumulated gold from encounters. 2- I did not see a DC to identify the magical aura (Abjuration) or effects (Spellcraft) of the fountain. How would PCs identify this? There is not mention of a caster level either. 3- PC's have 1d20+60min before the door breaks. How is this time measured? 4- What happens if the PCs decide to wait for the next day before leaving the Azlant Ridge encampment? Just delay everything that unfolds in Starwatcher Tor? 5- What mechanics to use if the PCs want to use the Ivory Sphere's dust on Juliet Dias or one of the other archeologists? 6- What stats to use for Perception, Sense Motive, Will, etc. for Juliet and the other archeologists (exc. Arletta), when players attempt to use Bluff, Sleight of Hand, etc? 7- How does it work when a player attempts to use Suggestion on one of the archeologists? Is that a Caster Level check to overcome the Caster level ofnthe Xacarba ? 8- The Xacarba's Suggestion ability has the potential to create PvP due to conflicting interests concerning the tablets. How to handle conflicting interests within the party? With a DC23 Will save when looking into the crack, this is bound to happen. 9- Does placing the tablets in the slots in C11 provoke Attacks of Opportunity? I do not notice it does not. 10- In the Confrontation, how long does the stalemate between the Xacarba and the monolith last?
11- If the party manages to obscure themselves from sight (ex. Via Obscuring mist), can the Xacarba use Scent and Perception to pinpoint and attack blindly? Since this requires a Move Action, how is this handled, as the main body is focused on the monolith?
Since it's not mentioned as such, no. The exploit acts as if it were on the spell list. Quote: At 1st level, a white mage can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir to use one of her spell slots to cast a cure spell (any spell with "cure" in its name) from the cleric spell list as if it were on her spell list and prepared.
Dave Baker wrote:
I think this might be one of the more sane explanations about how and why this works.
I ran this a few weeks ago, among others for Lau/Ascalaphus. First of all, let me say that I enjoyed the background of the various NPC's, and the flavor they were trying to bring, as well as the Kalistrade way of dealing with the rental of a whole city.
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I used the following handouts:
* A handout with each mechanic summarized in a sentence (Recognize, Discovery, Influence).
* A handout for each party:
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All in all, the idea of the skill challenge is interesting, but really a lot for a GM to handle, between:
I have a question concerning the "selling out to Myrosype" part:
I'd start by warning that desacrating a corpse could be considered an evil act. Secondly, I'd remind Silver Crusade players about what their faction is all about, and what its goal is during season 6 before the scenario starts.
Many solutions for that. Remember that this is a 5-9 adventure, and making use of terrain should be normal tactics by now:
My players had the monk and conjurer wizard (suddenly remembering Kyra had one of his MM rods) defeat them, while the paladin was cowering in a corner of the circular room (and laughing his a** off IRL).
Anyway: My players had a blast when I ran it a few months ago.
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