Phantom Fungus

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This is one of my favorite modules of all time.

I was just getting back into running RPGs and I was getting into gaming podcasts for the first time.

I heard Brandon interviewed on Chronicles: The Pathfinder Podcast and I decided to make this the first module I ran using Roll20.

My players loved it - especially the lighthouse encounter and the finale.


Darksyde wrote:
So I am getting ready for my crew to head on in to book six and reviewing what allies they may have to help them for later and prepping for the last part of the book when something occurred to me. In theory, they can ally with the Urdefhans but when the spears drop they will wipe out several important places to Izon, not least of which is his palace all the while making it impossible for them to re-locate. I don't see much helping going on after that, or at best after it looks like the snakes have been beat'n. I for see a lot of casualties inflected by them. What was your guys take on this? I'm considering just had waving my party went back and offed them (they haven't actually done the deal yet so may go back to finish them off any hoo).

My party was all about the alliance with the urdefhan once they convinced themselves it was in service of the greater good. They planned to put them in the front line if possible, and finish them off after the serpentfolk. They think the dissected urdefhan in Khavith's study was Belkor and they're almost to the room with the secret door leading to the dungeon with Eando in Book 5. I don't see them finding the real Belkor and I really don't see them providing Izon with "100 slaves" - the additional condition introduced in Book 6. I think they might see smashing Izon's palace with one of the 7 spears as an added bonus and worth the loss of 1 Achievement Point.


I can only count 3 people in Eando's party: Juliver, Selennia, and Eando himself. Juliver is level 8 and Kline is level 12. It seems very bold or foolish that they thought they could infiltrate Thousand Fangs and kill Belkor.


Did you treat the Vemerak's earthquake effect 1.) as if in a Cave, Cavern, or Tunnel OR 2.) as if on Open Ground - per the Earthquake spell description - when in the canyons in Ilmurea?


Hi Dela! I don't suppose you made maps for the un-mapped locations in Ilmurea?


I am looking for some advice or stories from people whose PCs ended up taking on the Gorilla King and his army. My PCs are fairly aggressive and are especially so against Anghazani and other such ape-creatures (basically treating them as the goblinoids of the jungle). Moreover, one of them is a Mwangi witch whose village was destroyed by Ruthazek's minions.

Did anyone have sessions where the PCs refused or failed the tests and did battle with the Gorilla King and his minions? How did it play out? Anything you would have done differently?


Nefreet wrote:
Relevant blog on poisons.

Thanks Nefreet, this is really helpful for poisons! What about other on going effects (that are not poison) and what about effects that result as part of an AoO (especially if they only last 1 round)?


When an attack also has an ongoing effect (poison, bleeding, distraction, etc) does the ongoing effect occur on the attacker's turn or on the effected individual's turn?

Ex. 1: A creature attacks a PC and poisons them. The PC fails the save and takes the effect. The PCs turn is next. Does the PC receive another chance to save and be poisoned or (even though it technically hasn't been a round since they were poisoned)?


I have a related question. Can a creature use the Grab Extraordinary Ability as part of an attack of opportunity?


I have had 3 players contract/become afflicted by paranoia thus far. All have adhered to the basic guidelines in the description from the Vaults of Madness which I have copy-pasted sent them, but some have taken it farther than others.

Beyond the basics of not accepting aid without attempting a Will save, one player roleplays his character no differently. He usually simply refuses the aid, saying he doesn't need it. However, other players have taken actions which have been extremely unhelpful to the party and themselves.

One player had his PC flee combat into an unexplored room because he believed the party was going to cut him out of treasure which might be there.

Another players had his PC accept potions meant to help him, but used sleight of hand to try and fake taking them and pocket them. He also always assumed that the actions of the party might be meant to harm him in some way and acted accordingly.

How do you and your players handle paranoia (other than just the mechanics)?


Name: Tsarnok
Race: Half-Orc
Classes/Levels: Ranger (Skirmisher) 10
Adventure: The Vaults of Madness
Location: The Vault of Silence
Catalyst: The Horror, the Horror

The Gory Details:
After ending the previous session with two party members energy drained from Spectres, the PCs picked up right where they left off and pushed forward into the Vault of Silence. With two players infected by Midnight Spores and the Room of Darts and Blades doing its thing, several party members were overwhelmed by the nausea of the Rawbones. To make matters worst, the Fighter set off the Symbol of Weakness Trap. Fleeing from the Vault pursued by the Rawbones and Gbala, the nauseated PCs left the Wizard and the Ranger Tsarnok to handle the situation. While the Wizard was able to use Command Undead on Gbala, but continually failed Charisma checks to make the vampire act against his nature. Firing arrow after arrow at the undead, the Ranger Tsarnok was overtaken by the Rawbones and their grabbing/grappling entrails and became unconscious. Running low on spells and with the rest of the party nauseated and weakened, the Wizard closed the outer door to the Vault and cast Hold Portal on it and the PCs fled. The next time they saw Tsarnok the Ranger he was floating, dead and skinless, in Gbala's blood bath.

Name: Lart
Race: Halfling
Classes/Levels: Alchemist (Mindchemist) 10
Adventure: The Vaults of Madness
Location: The Vault of Silence
Catalyst: The Horror, the Horror

The Gory Details:
Determined to avenge their comrade (see above) and reclaim their dignity, the party once again entered the Vault of Silence. With all PCs invisible except for the Fighter, the party explored the Vault. Eventually, with all of the PCs "in place," Lart the Alchemist gave the signal for the battle to begin. Unfortunately, the not invisible (read: visible) Fighter (paranoid from Midnight Sports and distrustful of Lart the Alchemist due to faction rivalry) interpreted the signal as an attempt to give away he location, fled from the Vault and began to fortify the door against exit. His other two companions battling desperately with Rawbones and Dire Tiger Fast Zombies, Lart saved the day by wading into the fray and using the Detonate spell.


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Gark the Goblin wrote:

I am starting a roll20 game with some friends this weekend. The roster is

  • Athelstan Twice-Dropped, LN male dwarf bard from Five Kings Mountains, sent to Sargava to negotiate a merger between his uncle's mining company and one of the operations in the Bandu Hills...
  • This is cool - I also have a player who created Dwarf with parents who had owned a mine in the Bandu Hills who was abducted by slavers as a child.

    George Erickson wrote:
    I am in week three of running SS, and the players are enjoying it. I hit a snag in the jungle though; I had rolled a random of 4 Cannibals. Distance to perceive is horrible, than come all the A.o.O. for movement, since neither side can 5 foot...

    I did not have this issue with the cannibals, because they only came up on the random encounter rolls when the PCs where on the trail or on the beach. I wish I had done more with foliage and difficult terrain in the jungle, but TBH the PCs traveled almost exclusively by beach or by trail in order to move faster.

    That being said, we did find the cannibals to be pushovers. They only presented a challenge when the PCs opted to full-out assault the camp.


    The Chort wrote:

    Oh, another more immediate band-aid to your problem would be to punish not showing up in small way:

    Rather than permanently falling behind, (Less loot/exp) just create some sort of "worn out" template for players who didn't come last time.

    Like, all casters show up with half of their spells (rounded down) expended at each level. I.e.

    6 1st level spells - expend 3
    5 2nd level spells - expend 2
    4 3rd level spells - expend 2
    3 4th level spells - expend 1

    And then apply the same to limited uses per day abilities or whatever. Maybe if you're especially deep in a dungeon, round up instead of round down.

    I'm not sure I'd bother with fatigue or HP loss or whatever, especially if there's a Cleric whose spells and channeling have been reduced by this "worn out" template.

    This is what I am leaning toward - I'm floating the idea with my players right now. I think I would go with 1/2 HP, because we don't have a Cleric. Healing is usually through potions and wands, with the Witch, Alchemist, and Paladin filling if present and as needed.


    I am currently running an Adventure Path and I have 8 players. We play 1-2 times a month. Because of life, etc. we usually have 4-5 players at a game. However, these are usually not the same players each time. This means that often times we will start a session with 1-2 of the folks present from last game with ongoing negative effects and reduced hit points and expendable resources and 2-3 who didn't attend the last game freshly rested with full HP and resources. This tends to throw off the challenge pacing and resource management element of the game. I'm looking for a way to handle this because right now it feels like people are punished for showing up consistently and it makes encounters 50% less challenging than I feel they would be (but only for the people who didn't show last time).


    Sloanzilla wrote:

    any problem with making the molochs CN instead of CE? I want to give the poor paladin someone he doesn't utterly hate.

    As written, they (the non mind controlled ones) don't even seem that evil.

    Curious to hear GMs' experiences running this chapter with Lawful Good characters - particularly Paladins - given the need to work with evil NPCs and monsters, especially the Urdefahns.


    The Dragon wrote:

    Do you want advice on how a high-level character would try to make someone die in a way that they believe is will let them get away with it in the face of other high-level characters, or do you want a mystery that the pcs will be able to solve with some difficulty?

    The problem with mysteries in pf are that they rely on the players lacking information, that they will eventually recieve. Much of divination concerns itself with the gathering of said information, so divination can really ruin (some of the pesky players have the gall to say 'solve')a good mystery.

    Divination spells can usually give you facts you do not know, but know 'of'.

    If they know the guy was killed, they'll know there was a killer. This should not be the guy responsible.

    Anonymously hiring an assassin is a posibility. They can talk if captured, though. A better plan would be to dominate an assassin while he isn't looking, and direct him to make the murder happen.

    Even better, anonymously hire someone to dominate the assassin in such a way that the assassin never saw or heard who did him in, and then kill the guy you hired and disintegrate his corpse once the deed is done. Now we're looking at a plan that should stand up to at least casual divination. Depending on how your players think, attempt to frame someone else as well. Personally, I'd avoid this tactic, as it might tip the players off that this guy likes making it look like someone else done it. Political gain by framing may be worth the risk, though.
    Making the murder look like an accident is cool as well, but may be hard to pull off, unless done well enough that no-one speculates that a murder happened in the first place.

    Yes. I want a mystery that PCs will be able to solve with some difficulty, but I'd also like to know what tricks an assassin would use to cover their tracks at 10th level. I think I am going to steal this from you.

    I'm going with. The guy responsible anonymously hires someone to dominate the assassin. This should help with the mystery stuff.

    Soliciting some additonal advice:

    1.) How would a level 10ish assassin get into and out of a fortress undetected and assassinate some inside a small room with no windows guarded at the door?

    2.) What spells would work best to dominate said assassin and wipe their memory?


    I want to run a "Who Done it Scenario," where the PCs investigate the assassination of an authority figure. PCs are 10th level. Looking for advice on how to challenge the PCs. What tricks, both mechanical and not, would an assassin use to cover her/his tracks?


    trellian wrote:
    Did anyone try to move the Argental Font? I mean, if you have to go back into a spore infested vault every time someone needs healing, more might become insane. And, technically, shouldn't someone who just was healed, have to save against insanity on the way out as well?

    I know this is going to happen in my campaign... One of the PCs is Cavalier who turned Paladin. I decided that Iomedae (whom he sort of worshiped as a Cavalier) is a reincarnation of Acavna (after he found a shrine to her in the Anghazani Fortress [now their base] and cleaned it up). He's on a mission to help restore her lost memories and they learned more about her and the font from exploring her temple in the Temple District. Now, thanks to Urschlar's Lab Journal they know the font is in one of the vaults and the Paladin is dead set on moving it back to her temple.


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    We just started VoM last week.

    One 4.5 hour session took us through The First Vault. My players said they really enjoyed it. I think after the exploration and set pieces punctuated by role playing and faction intrigue, the players were ready for a good 'ole mini-dungeon.

    Some changes I'm making to VoM:

    1.) No Endo Kline or Juliver. Juliver is replaced by a new PC that joined a few sessions ago. He's an Azlanti Wizard who was born after the founding of the city and placed in a temporal stasis in Ilmurea as back-up before the city fell. Endo is now another Azlanti (assumed to still be in stasis in Ilmurea) known to the PC as "the Engineer."

    2.) I had General Havelar assassinated while the player's were in the First Vault. Looking forward to the "who done it?" element and the power vacuum it will create in the PCs faction (Sargavan Government).

    3.) The PCs teleport to Senghor to buy goods so I drop rumors for them every time they go. So far its been rumors of the Maka-Yika and how they are being driven out of the Kaava Lands. Next it will be about how Usaro is closed and thought to be mobilizing for battle/expedition.

    I think I will keep the Apsis Consortium attack on the PCs base, but replace Ivo Haigan with an NPC named Dyshkun who one of my PCs wrote into his back story as an Apsis merchant who enslaved him and his mother.

    I never pulled the trigger on the Aboleth or the Green Hag and the PCs didn't venture to close to their abodes. I am looking for a way to integrate them into VoM to break up the grind of the vaults.


    justaworm wrote:
    Changing the method of destroying the blade to something achievable within the context of the AP is probably the best way to proceed.

    This is what is happening in my campaign...

    spoiler:
    The players were wary of the Mantis Blade from the start. Right now it is stowed in a player's handy haversack. This player is a Magus with an intelligent sword who is hellbent on destroying other intelligent weapons. I changed the description of the Mantis Blade so that it reads "nine rightful leaders," so the leaders of the other factions, Ossond, the Radiant Muse, and the mayors/leaders of towns they teleport to for supplies are fair game.


    tinatootlebug wrote:

    We are just getting ready to start module 2 (RtR) tonight after almost 2 months "off" because of crazy holiday schedules and what not. Reading some of these posts are really helping me decide which way to handle things from the get go. I really messed up in the first module in not reading it in it's entirety before getting started. I don't want to repeat my mistakes. I am a new GM (Smuggler's Shiv was my first real crack at this) and I'm pleased my party wants to continue. I learned a lot in the first module.

    If anyone has suggestions for GM's just getting ready to start RtR, I would greatly appreciate them.

    I talk about about some of my changes in previous posts, but I'll summarize them here:

    1. I allowed my players to choose their own route to Tazion. I gave them a map of the Mwangi Expanse with Tazion marked on it and let them use Knowledge checks to gather info about the region and they drew their own route. I had to drop some encounters, rearrange others, and add new ones. It was more work but ultimately it increased player ownership of the Race and was well worth it.

    2. I removed Issilar and replaced him with a High Girallon. Tazion became just a lost Azlanti city inhabited by Anghazani who didn't know what they had found. I'm not sure this made a difference and I think it wasn't necessary and removed the only Serpentfolk element from a book in an AP called Serpent's Skull.

    3. I used the modified ziggurat from this thread.

    http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ms15?Dwtempests-Ziggurat#1

    It made for a much more epic ending and I highly recommend using it.


    I put some information about

    Spoiler:
    the Argental Font in a temple to Acavna in the Temple District, including the fact that it was located there. Its absence and the tablet with Urschlar (see above) stating he moved the Font has really got them wondering about these vaults.

    in order to set up Book 4.

    Also,

    Spoiler:
    my PCs teleport to Senghor to buy magic items, and I have been dropping rumors on them when they are there - news about the Kaava Bush Devil and his bandits and talk of Usaro mobilizing for some unknown purpose

    in order to make Book 4 seem like a natural progression.


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    I have a player who's character died. The player has already posited to me that Saventh-Yhi was some kind of seal keeping Ydersius from coming back. He asked me if he could create an Azlanti wizard for his new character, awakened from a temporal stasis with missing memories. I am going to replace Juliver with him (the timing is perfect - they just hit level 10). He's got missing memories, but know they need to find the rest of the temporal stasis Azlanti from Ilmurea and check on the garrison there (that'll be a big surprise). I am changing Eando to one of these temporal stasis Azlanti, known as "the Engineer." Helps to explain how he knows about the Spears as a weapon/invasion route.


    I have been yanking maps from other Paizo modules. I used the keep from The Demon Within for Sozothala's Fortress.


    I am pouring over the module and looking for the main entrance to the keep proper and I can't find it. I know there is a hatch in the roof and the door on the ground floor leads to the dungeon, but where is the main entrance?


    Did anyone's group get to 120 Discovery Points? We've been in Saventh-Yhi for 15 days in game and only have 17 points.


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    Double posting, because it's time for me to eat some humble pie with a side of crow...

    City of Seven Spears, p. 52 wrote:
    The ancient Azlanti originally created the portal to Ilmurea as a route through which they could send periodic scouting missions down into the ruins below to ensure that the serpentfolk had not returned to rebuild.


    captain yesterday wrote:
    as my dad used to tell me "if there's a plot hole fill it with s!+#, no one will wanna look to closely that way"

    And s!+# it would be. It makes no sense to build such a portal when:

    1.) you

    City of Seven Spears, p. 11 wrote:
    knew that at some point in the future the serpentfolk could well gain the upper hand in the region once again, and thus ... built Saventh-Yhi’s seven spears as a weapon—with the proper rituals and magical triggers, these seven spears can drill down through the earth, boring through the 2,000 feet of solid stone between Saventh-Yhi and Ilmurea to strike at seven key sites in the city below and to leave in their passing seven pits lined with corkscrew ledges down which invading armies could be led.

    AND

    2.) you could also teleport people from Ilmurea to Saventh-Yhi and back as Vyr-Azul does with his Serpentfolk Seekers in Vaults of Madness (p. 36).

    I might buy the argument that Urschlar built the portal as a final escape route should the Vaults not prove sufficient protection from whatever doom was coming to Saventh-Yhi. However, it would make more sense for him to place the Argental Font in the First Vault and hide there himself along with his closest allies (instead of in the Impenetrable Redoubt of Kalid Shah). But then again he was insane so maybe that's the best answer...


    captain yesterday wrote:
    i think the vaults were there before him, he just co-opted them for his own nedds, i don't have the books anymore so i can't say with absolute certainty, but thats how i remember it at least:)

    I just looked this up:

    Vaults of Madness, p.7 wrote:
    The city heeded Urschlar’s warnings and gave him free reign in the preparations for the city’s survival. First he ordered the excavation of deep vaults beneath the city’s seven districts, where the populace and their most valued possessions could be safely sequestered when disaster came.)


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    Alcibyades wrote:

    I think Juliver's role is important because she lets the characters know about Illumeria and she's also involved with the only serpentfolk enemy in books 3&4.

    I'm thinking I'll make her be an ancient Azlant vampire who was placed in stasis (similar to the Cyclops), but who has been found and dominated by the serpent folk necromancer in book 3. That way she can tell characters that the serpent folk are up to something underground without necessarily upstaging the PCs. I figured you could play off her ancestral dislike of Serpentfolk to get to her to cooperate, somewhat, with the PCs.

    I'm not sure about how to motivate the characters in book 5 if you take out the search for Eandro Kline.

    I think this is probably your best course of action. Replace Eando and company with folks who didn't DISCOVER Ilmurea, but who HAVE BEEN THERE ALL ALONG (Morlocks? Low-level Azlanti awakened from a temporal stasis?).


    captain yesterday wrote:
    they had an active garrison down there and were keeping the Serpentfolk from coming back looking for the head

    So did the portal exist before Urschlar built the vault and he just decided to connect one of his vaults to it?


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    I am having trouble with one specific element of Vaults of Madness. Can someone explain to me why Urschlar built a vault containing a portal to Ilmurea and left it active?


    Shimnimnim wrote:
    And I figure the best way to handle it is to remove Endo Kline's subplot entirely.

    I'm really of the same opinion, although my players didn't mind Nareem Dess because in their minds he "didn't really make it all the way into the city."

    I've been thinking about this more and for two reasons -

    1.) We're about to finish Book 3 so if I want to make a change, I need to make one soon AND

    2.) My players are in the Sargavan Faction and thus far have had several negative interactions with the Pathfinders and I don't know that "helping" a Pathfinder - either Juliver or Kline - is enough to motivate them to get far enough to learn the important information.

    I am trying to find a way to figure this out... You could get rid of Juliver and Sozolotha and have the final battle of Book 3 be with Serpentfolk Seekers sent by Vyr-Azul to investigate the goings on in Saventh-Yhi. Maybe they broke the crystals to seal the way behind them, because they have a scroll of teleport in order to get back?

    There's one big problem I have with this. Fighting serpentfolk doesn't make my characters suspicious anymore. Not after Yarzoth, Issilar, and the Degenerate Serpentfolk. So, the Seekers would have to have something on them to tip the players off that they came from below and that something big is happening down there. (Also, entering through the vault would make the Seekers insane, no?). Still working on fleshing this idea out. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas/suggestions.


    My group is finishing up Book 3 of this AP and having read through all 6 books I still think Souls for Smuggler's Shiv is the best of the lot (and definitely one of the best Pathfinder modules overall).

    I have some suggestions:

    1.) If you have access to Heart of the Jungle and Sargava: The Lost Colony you could raid those resources for more challenging jungle hazards (natural disasters/diseases).

    2.) If you want to up the ante on the monsters and you access to the later APs I would definitely check out the "Bestiaries" for more powerful foes that fit the theme (especially Books 2 and 3).

    Good luck and I look forward to hearing how it goes!


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    If you're going to be running Book 3 soon and want to foreshadow Book 4, you can definitely use people's advice about mentioning sinkholes and cenotes everywhere.

    ADDITIONALLY, I am dropping the quote from Urschlar Vohkavi which appears in Book 4 (p.6) into location L5: Pharasma's Throne in Book 3 (p. 50-51).

    VoM p.6 wrote:

    I have seen the doom that comes to Saventh-Yhi, but the Council remains unconvinced. Fools, all of them, jealous of my work! Fortunately, the midnight spores I introduced into the reservoir are having the desired effect on the populace, and more and more people are attending my sermons and heeding my words, fearing the future that is to come. The seven vaults are almost ready—I have seeded them with even greater concentrations of the spores and moved the Argental Font into one of them for safekeeping, but I know the Council is trying to interfere with my work. If Saventh-Yhi falls, it will be their fault, not mine!

    —Excerpt from the journal of Urschlar Vohkavi, high priest of Pharasma

    I also use the Fast XP Track for CoSS because I want to bring in Book 4 ASAP. The PCs have conquered the Military, Government, Residential, and Mercantile District (in that order) and are 4,200XP away from level 10. This means they should have 5/7ths of the city explored before "Slothzilla" ;) shows up.

    Anybody else do any foreshadowing of Book 4 in Book 3?


    Cussune wrote:
    Does each district have its own stat block? I don't have the books with me.

    Yes, each district has a stat block and they vary in XP 9,600 to 6,400 each.

    Similarly, the "Using the Faction Guide" section seems to confirm that its about preventing an XP hack by losing and regaining districts vs only giving XP for 1 district.

    CoSS, p. 55 wrote:

    Allying with a district’s dominant tribe: 1 PA (this award can only be gained once)

    Conquering a district: 1 PA (this award can only be gained once)


    Cussune wrote:

    I would say upon their first success, they get the XP, but not subsequent situations if they lost then regained areas...

    ...Presumably the XP is part of the AP's calculations for building PCs in time with the adventure's developments...

    So they get that XP the first time they conquer EACH district, not just for the FIRST district conquered?


    Sorry to double-post, but my initial entry was too old to edit.

    I found this in Coss:

    CoSS Pg. 19 (emphasis mine) wrote:
    THE FIRST TIME that the PCs conquer or ally with a district, they earn the XP listed at the top of the stat block.

    Does this mean they only get XP for the first district they conquer or does is it operating under the premise that PCs can lose and regain control of district (but only get XP for the initial conquest or alliance)?


    In the stat blocks for each of the districts it lists an XP value, ex. Military District XP 6,400.

    Is this XP awarded for conquering districts?


    Did any one go to the trouble of leveling up the NPCs for City of Seven Spears? If so, would you be willing to share the work you did?


    I know that CoSS assumes the players spend up to 4 months to accumulate 120 Discovery points (30 points per month), but I am also noticing that the PCs can move around at a fairly rapid pace. Ex. walking from the Spear of Righteous Anger to the Spear of Spear of rest in under 1 hour. These seem hard to reconcile, no?


    My group is level 8 (soon to be 9) and we are making our way through Serpent's Skull and CoSS (book 3). I have never taken a Pathfinder campaign beyond level 8 and I am already finding it challenging. Some problems I could use advice with:

    1.) Some encounters seem like cake-walks and others seem too challenging.

    2.) I find it difficult to use higher-level monsters and NPCs effectively because I am not as well-versed in all of the myriad abilities, etc. they have and the stat blocks are getting bigger and bigger.

    3.) Some of the players seem to universally outshine the others; specifically the Magus, the Alchemist, and the Cavalier are kicking butt while the Ranger and the Fighter seem to be ho-hum.

    Any advice people could provide would be much appreciated.


    Darksyde wrote:
    So how are things going for you other new SS path runners out there?

    Hey Darksyde -

    I know "not too long ago" is subjective, but I started running this AP a little over a year ago. Been running it on roll20 as a way to unite my scattered group (we grew up gaming and are now adults all across the country). We've run about 20 sessions and play every two weeks at best during a good stretch. We're 3 sessions in to module 3 CoSS. Things are going great. Part 3 really is as much work as people make it out to be, but my players seem to be having a great time and haven't lodged the kinds of complaints people seem to have had about modules 2 and 3. We're playing Sunday and really looking forward to it.

    I know there were some folks posting in the past year who were about 1/2 to 2/3 of a module ahead of my group and I. Love to hear from them, too...


    Maplewood wrote:
    Personnaly, I plan to swap the Serpentfolk tribe with Lizardfolk which also do not have darkvision so the island would be light up at night.

    It's weird because quite a few people have complained that there aren't enough sertpentfolk early on (before Books 5 and 6?). However, I also find myself eliminating serpentfolk from the story.

    For example, I have removed Issilar from Tazion. Instead the charau-ku are agents of the gorilla king who have taken over the city. They don't know what they've found but they are close to activating the pillars.

    I can buy Sozothala and his undead serpentfolk being hidden from the Azlanti.

    Thus far, the only Serpentfolk my character have met was Yarzoth. Here's what Yarzoth knew:

    Souls for Smuggler's Shiv wrote:

    Some time ago, while exploring the dungeons below the ruined serpentfolk fortress of Viperwall in Varisia,

    Yarzoth discovered something shocking. According to her discovery, an ancient serpentfolk temple hidden on Smuggler’s Shiv contains a clue to the location of a legendary city named Saventh-Yhi—the same city in which her deity was defeated eons ago. Eager to learn more and perhaps discover the legendary ruined city (and maybe even relics left behind by her god’s ancient decapitation)...

    Then, I wonder to myself about the serpentfolk in Saventh-Yhi:

    City of Seven Spears wrote:
    This district has been the lair of a tribe of degenerate serpentfolk for centuries. Although descended (if one goes back far enough) from the denizens of Ilmurea far below, these serpentfolk have no idea that below Saventh-Yhi lies a second city—a city tied to their own legacies.

    This is too bad and I may actually keep Issilar in Saventh-Yhi and have him somehow have discovered Ilmurea and be plotting to get back in there. Not sure yet. My major concern - and tell me how you've figured this out - is how these degenerates got into Saventh-Yhi.

    The last major serpentfolk connection is Vyr-Azul. He reads like Yarzoth 2.0:

    The Thousand Fangs Below wrote:
    In far-off Sverenagati, a serpentfolk priest of Ydersius named Vyr- Azul learned of the existence of Ilmurea, and realized that his god’s severed head might very well still remain in the forgotten city. Vyr-Azul gathered an army of serpentfolk and journeyed through the Darklands to Ilmurea.

    Granted we get all the gritty details of how Vyr-Azul came by this information and how the process from his orginal spiritual revival to arrival in Ilmurea took years. I really would like to build in some connections between Vyr-Azul and Yarzoth - maybe when he first started to believe Ydersius survived in some form and sent her to Viperwall to look for old lore. Maybe she was his mate or his daughter?

    In the long run, I really want this campaign to have more coherence. Book 1 really puts in a hook - the serpentfolk are coming back and they are looking for Saventh-Yhi. This doesn't really have any consequences until Book 5. In between, PCs look for an ancient city to loot and fight other factions and the inhabitants. How have you all kept the serpentfolk relevant from Book 1 to Book 5?


    Cevah wrote:
    long-staff sixpenny striker wrote:

    Wondering what is the cheapest/easiest/low level way to see through fog.

    Only thing I've found so far is Fogcutting Lenses.

    Any other ideas?

    How about a Goz Mask? Same price, head slot rather than face, with additional benefits and no penalties.

    ** spoiler omitted **
    ** spoiler omitted **...

    I already have a pretty nifty mask taking up my head slot, so it either a level of waves or spend 8k for glasses.


    Lerkz wrote:
    Then that makes things a little more difficult. The best excuse I could come up for this is that you like water . The reason/purpose of a necromancer loving water would be a spell that evaporates moisture from the body of each subject living creature, causing flesh to wither and crack and crumble to dust. Also known as Horrid Wilting Just re-flavor waves as water in general, I think this should be enough to convince your DM. Also would like to point out the fact that the spell is of the necromancy school.

    Hmmm... so pick up 1 level of Oracle?


    Lerkz wrote:
    Waves Oracle at first level you can take the Water Sight (Su) revelation.

    Thanks for the quick reply, Lerkz! What if you happen to be a land-bound level 7 necromancer?


    Wondering what is the cheapest/easiest/low level way to see through fog.

    Only thing I've found so far is Fogcutting Lenses.

    Any other ideas?


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    Hey Maplewood, et al -

    I've really enjoyed reading this thread and I've stolen a lot of ideas from you and others on how to mod this adventure. I have decided to make a lot of changes to the "the Race Begins" portion of the adventure. My players chose a northern route (see this thread for the exact details). I have changed up the order of the encounters to reflect this alternate route.

    1. The cockfight - PCs totally passed this by

    2. Village under siege - after wrestling the Ijo following the stormbird encounter, I had the PCs made honorary members of the tribe. Then, I made the village plagued chemosits an Ijo village to set the hook. The PCs decided to hide in and around the village, rather than hide in a hut. They used one of PCs and a Sargavan guardsmen as bait.

    3. Ankheg attack - will be run as normal. Just a classic wilderness encounter reminiscent of 1st edition.

    4. Vultures - this is actually going to be a combo with the dinosaur/botfly encounter others developed. The PCs will notice the vultures, then hear the sound of a dying dinosaur (two of them have an affinity for dinosaurs). When they approach the dinosaur the Geiers will swoop down to contest for their meal. The fight agitates the botflies which burst from the dinosaur body and chaos ensues.

    5. Factional Strife: Horse Thieves - a big part of the PCs advantage in the race is their route and mode of travel. They are riding on horses, riding dogs, and a megaloceros. One of the PCs has a side deal with Pathfinder society wherein he carries a wayfinder with a homing device/tracker in it (in return for possible membership and 750gp signing bonus). The rival faction agents will attempt to sneak into the PCs' camp at night after drinking their potions of invisibility, cut the tethers and hitches for the horses, mount four of them and ride off, and throw thunderstones to spook the remaining horses to bolt in all directions.

    6. The PCs are planning to use a swan boat feather token to travel down the Dzimi River. They will encounter a flash flood from Heart of the Jungle. Afterwords, the river will be full of debris and some of it will actually be Fell Flotsam from River into Darkness.

    7. Lake of Vanished Armies - now takes place at the confluence of the Dzimi and Little Vanji Rivers offshore from the remains of Darkreach.

    8. Bodies on the River - since they will be in plains and not jungle, I am changing the Dire Ape to a Dire Boar (re-skinned as Dire Warthog) and the attack will have to take place on a cloudy day after sunset.

    9. Fzumi Saltmines - are now at the headwaters of the Little Vanji and formerly owned by the family of one of the PCs. He was kidnapped by slavers as a child and has been looking for his parents ever since then. He learned of the location of their mine by making a side deal with the Red Mantis who dug up a copy of the mine's charter for them. The Blue Warrior is now the PC's father.

    10. Amghawe's Tomb - This has been moved from a jungle clearing to the foothills of the Bandu. It will play out a bit like "Fog on the Barrow Downs." Walking among numerous burial mounds, monoliths, and henges in a dense fog, they comes around the side of a mound to find the fast troll zombie just standing there. Eventually Jigeke attacks while flying through the foggy air.

    11. Spirit Dancers - this will occur right as the players cross the Ocota.

    12. Eloko Bell - encounter before Tazion, in the southern reaches of the expanse.

    I rolled an additional random encounter of 2d6 gnolls, but I am thinking of disregarding it.

    Anyway, I'm really looking for critical feedback or possible trip-ups of pitfalls to watch out for. Your help is greatly appreciated!


    We chose the Government (although some of the players made secret side deals with the Red Mantis and Pathfinder Society.

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