#35 Submission Rejection


Society Scenario Submissions

The Exchange

I attended PaizoCon this last weekend. On Sunday, I had a seminar about adventure submissions for the Pathfinder Society with Joshua Frost, and I learned quite a lot. My submission was rejected of course and for good reason. So I've edited a little and will post the draft I should have submitted, that way I'm not wasting your time and not embarrassing myself with that work any further. I'm open to your feedback as long as it's constructive. SO please, let me have it.

Spoiler:

Introduction
Blakros Museum, once a famed museum in Absalom, now lies in ruin. After that fated day with the cursed idols of Mwangi, the place has been abandoned and forgotten to time.
The council of nobles have come to the decision that the museum should be restored to its former glory, despite the reputation the building has kept since the incident.
Now something lies deep within its recesses and has plans of its own. The curse has not disappeared completely. It has manifested itself into something more vile and cunning. It works its foul magics and calls in followers that share its same goals: to help gain control of the museum and eventually a foothold in the everyday workings of the city.
Workers from the site have begun to disappear and rumours have begun to spread. One of the more popular ones sounds almost like a dream: a shadowy creature calls out from the darkness to each of the workers.
The Pathfinder Society has been called in to investigate these strange happenings to keep the museums reopening on schedule.

Adventure
The PC's enter the museum and are greeted by the laborers foreman. He tells them about how the work is still going strong and they will still finish according to the schedule, despite the set backs. The foreman looks nervous as if he isn't telling the PC's something. A Sense Motive check (DC 15) will uncover that the foreman is under the effects of an enchantment. While the PC's are talking, the laborers will gather around and set up for an attack.
Encounter 1: The enchanted work crew
Monsters: 5 Dominated commoners and 3 Dominated nobles
Scaling the encounter: Tier 3-5, Add one Commoner and one adept. Tier 6-7, Add Two commoners, one aristocrat, and one adept.

After the encounter, the PC's may search through the workers belongings which will uncover a key and many daggers with strange symbols carved into the blades. The key will be used to unlock the first subterranean level of the museum. Moving down the stairs, they find narrow corridors and lots of debris. It looks like the workers still have a good amount of work to do, but the dust that covers the floor has been disturbed in a few places by something with clawed feet. The players pick up the faint smell of something foul. There are several door ahead on each side of the hallway. When the PC's move forward, the door will open and the Troglodytes will step out.
Encounter 2: Troglodytes!
Monsters: 2 Troglodytes
Scaling the Encounter: Tier 3-5, Add 2 Troglodytes. Tier 6-7, Add 4 more Troglodytes

These rooms are storage areas for displays that used to be featured in the Museum above. Nothing of worth can be recovered because of the stench of the troglodytes permeates them. At the end of the corridor, a set of wooden doors blocks access to the next room. The door is locked but untrapped. Once the Pc's have opened these doors(Strength Check DC 15 or Disable Device DC 20), they find a large room, that once served as a private showing area for the Museum, now is vacant of art and artifacts. The place isn't devoid of life though for several humanoids stand about guarding the hole in the back of the room. A single rope ladder seems to be the only way down it.
Encounter 3: Welcoming Party
Monsters: 2 Clerics, 4 Warriors.
Scaling the Encounter: Tier 3-5, Add 2 Warriors. Tier 6-7, As the previous tier, but bump the clerics up one level.

A voice calls out from below when all these humanoids are dispatched: "Come no further or your fate will be sealed."
Climbing down the ladder is easy enough but the passages down here are dark. Picking the right path will be important here because getting lost will result in fighting a native monster in the area. Tracking the paths will help guide the PC's to where they need to go next.
Encounter 4: Optional: Lost Party
Monster: Phantom Fungus

The party come across a burial chamber down in the depths. The voice speaks once more, much closer than before: "I see that you are a persistent but not very wise."
Many ancient works of art adorn the walls and tell the story of an evil being that once inspired terror into the hearts of men. The door leading in stands open. If the PC's enter the room and fail a perception check to spot the Choker, they will be ambushed.
Encounter 5: Lurkers
Monsters: 1 Choker
Scaling the Encounter: Tier 3-5, Add 1 Choker. Tier 6-7, Add 3 Chokers.

Finally the PC's encounter the source of the voice. Entering the next chamber, they discover a goblin with strange eyes. It grins at their prescience. "I shall not let you ruin my plans." It's shape contorts and it transforms into a hybrid of a wolf and it's original self.
Encounter 6: Final Encounter: Barghest (Maybe Mist Tainted)
Scaling the encounter: Tier 1-2, Halve the HD of the creature. Tier 6-7, Use Greater Barghest instead.

Conclusion
If the party is able to stop the evil creature, the museum will finally be clean of the evil taint brought upon it by those idols from mwangi and the museum can open on schedule.
If the PC's fail, the museum will not open and the prescience will remain dormant until the nobles attempt to open the museum again.

Sovereign Court

The premise is intriguing enough, yet I can imagine using a previously used location as a problem. What if you start off be first playing this and then #5 Mists of Mwangi?

Encounter #1 seems reasonable. I'd have to point out the characters should be able to prevent the combat with, say, Protection From Evil or Dispel Magic or whatever. Once the foreman is free of the bonds, some information would be nice. An alternative way to solve an encounter without any rewards feels too much like "shafting".

The troglodytes seem very random. They don't really make anything to the plot, they just are there.

Without exact stat blocks of the welcoming party, I can't say if it's too tough or too easy. Despite that, the welcoming party seems very random in the given context. How could the barghest get a hold of these humanoids? Are they dominated as well, or just incredibly stupid mercenaries?

Phantom Fungus is a funny monster. I encourage using it creatively.

4 Chokers won't be a challenge on the highest tier, that I know for a fact. Instead try advancing them.

I give credit for the use of Barghest in this. Truly a nice twist.

To be honest I'm very concerned the encounters would be way too easy on higher tiers. A handful of commoners and adepts are a laughable encounter, albeit the fact they should be put down with nonlethal force.

The Exchange

Well the previous location thing was part of the adventure. You are to revisit the museum to explore the new basement area. But it doesn't say that the players should know about this basement so that's how I came up with this.

I didn't think of that in the first encounter actually. Good catch there. I'll add in something about how they heard this voice while they were exploring the storage area during the reopening process if the PC's dispel the enchantment. I would also advance the characters because advancing does look to be the better solution.

The Troglodytes actually were random in the fact that they were a substitution for some skeletons I had placed there. I was thinking that they would have come up from the dungeon level of the Barghest but I noticed I hadn't mentioned anything. Do you have a better suggestion?

The "welcoming party" is actually not dominated but contacted by one of the enchanted villagers so I'll add that in. As for the Stat blocks, I left it open until I get to another draft but it would be challenging but not overwhelming for the party to face them. Probably an element of the room or something will help the PC's.

Advancing the chokers would be a better idea so I'll add that in as well. I think I was going for 6 chokers at that level but they would still be rather useless and easy.

Grand Lodge

From the games I have played so far I think they tend to like adventures where the monsters are themed. For the most part I don't get a "theme feel." I just might be missing it.

Also in the room where the Trog stench makes everything worthless, wouldn't Prestidigitation clean that stench right up and then everything be valuable again?

Theme-wise, if you are wanting the BBEG to be a Barghest, I am thinking use wolfs, goblins, worgs, dire wolves, and some LE outsider as a side show, such as an imp or a planetouched tiefling.

I am not a big fan of adding more critters to up the difficulty because I think that rarely works. I do prefer adding class levels, templates or advancing the HD and powers instead. I am a HUGE fan of templates myself. Even some really odd combinations can be really cool if done right.

The Exchange

I think you are forgetting that a big part of the Barghest is the ability to charm monster. So a theme may be those that are charmed and a few outsiders since this is taking place within a city. But I do agree that the Trogs were out of place, they were a substitution for some skeletons I'd placed there that didn't fit either. So do you think I should put a few Charmed people there? Or how about a few outsiders?
As for numbers, there is a cut off point and maybe I'm not really looking for it. So I'll go back through and look it over to see where that is but I'll generally keep those encounters as is.
Thanks for pointing out the prestidigitation thing. I didn't know the spell could do that. I'll just have the pictures in need of repair or something that makes them worthless.

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