PFS #50 Fortunes's Blight Was I too easy on the players?


GM Discussion

Grand Lodge 2/5

Tonight I ran the lower tier in NYC the party consisted of

Fighter Type 5
Cleric 6 (positive channeler)
Cleric 6 (Negative channeler)
Sorcerer 5

The mod started out well for the players a cake walk really the 2nd combat was a good challenge. The third ended without the enemy even going.

What I did....

Spoiler:
Where things went south was in the Cathedral against the harpies. The fighter decided to climb the tower while the other three went in the front door. The Big bad harpy hit twice and crit once. as soon as he entered the window. Down below the party glittered dusted 2 of the harpies and blinded the 3rd before they went. One of the glittered harpies started to sing and all 3 players failed the save. The fighter hops out the window after making his save vs song upstairs. He climbs down the vines jumping the final 10 feet. I had the big bad harpy fly down take the sword and leave without killing the party. They failed the mission and lost the gold for the encounter

What I should have done....

Spoiler:
I should have had the big bad harpy trigger the rematerialization of the hag spirit and had them fight it out while the party watched. If the ghost defeated the big bad harpy then the other harpies could have joined the party in fighting the ghost again. The mod says that the ghost can materialize after 2d4 days so it is possible.

5/5

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Spoiler:
How does a party of two clerics and a fighter sneak up on the Harpies? If the party is metal clad and not sneaking up to the church, then the harpies should be taking to the air in the surpise round.

In your game, did the blind harpies flight straight up at full speed until they eventually saved vs. the blindness?

With the rest of the party in the church, I would have had the final Harpy fly down after the fighter and take him out. Why would it leave like it did?

w/o a fly spell and/or a ranged character in the party, this should have been a very difficult encounter.

I'm curious if encounter 1 and 2 happened at the same time. They did both times for me, which should have made the encounter very difficult.

I've only run this at high tier so far, and both times I've had PC deaths (a rarity for me).

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

I wish I had a good answer for you, but I've not yet run the adventure in its final form. I knew when I was designing it that there were a number of places where things could get swingy depending on the group and their decisions. Most of the combat encounters are against single opponents, which almost always gives the advantage to the PCs, but there are a few points where a couple of bad saves could end poorly for the group. I like the idea that different groups can have different experiences with this adventure.

Something I want to know is...

Spoiler:
Did the PCs kill or incapacitate Parke Rangston?

Grand Lodge 2/5

Here is how the mod played out

Spoiler:
The players trigger the first encounter in the clearing by attacking the shrine. They were aware of the hag being a hag based on an extremely high sense motive. They were positioned well and took her down with spring attack, summoned creatures and negative channeling.

The second combat was the ghost alone she was tough but not impossible for the party.

***We I played the mod we all failed our sense motive checks and had the first and second encounters merged which is a much tougher fight***

The third encounter with the possessed Pathfinder Venture Captain was over before it started one of the clerics beat him on initiative and cast Protection from Evil the captain failed the save and the possession was suppressed long enough for them to get the sword away and tie him up.

It looks like I will be running this again on Wednesday

5/5

Why the required sense motives? Everyone in the party should know what it is from the moment it begins its ruse.

Grand Lodge 2/5

Kyle Baird wrote:
Why the required sense motives? Everyone in the party should know what it is from the moment it begins its ruse.

When I played it we bought into the bluff.

If you knew how the the 2 encounters get merged?

Why didn't you solve the problem when you discovered it?

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

Possession isn't necessarily evil. Given the background on how the sword was made, it looks more neutral than evil. I wouldn't allow Pro-Evil to stop it.

Silver Crusade 4/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Ohio—Toledo

Holy necro, Batman! It's been 7 years.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

Yeah, but I'm running it tonight, and there's not a newer thread.

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