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So, I had what I am hoping is a brilliant plan for the delivery of the faction missions. A few days out from Magnimar (the right before the EVENT), Osprey is tasked to send the missions to some of the Pathfinders.
Another idea, I just had, was that each of the faction heads uses a Sending to give the missions. There will need to be a little 'hand-waving' to make this work with the 25 word limit, but then again, you could argue that 25 words in English do not necessarily equate to 25 words in Taldane, Varisian, Elvish, whatever. But, that only really holds true if it is a plot device ;)
Basically, my idea is to give the players their faction missions at the last moment... so that they have to deal with them at the same time as as they are dealing with the murder investigation. I believe that this is the intent of the missions.
Also, I will have Sheila Heidmarch stress that they are to follow Captain Veane's orders, as his word is law on his ship. Additionally, she will stress that they are to do nothing to antagonize Sephriel (or any of the Mordant Spire elves he may be traveling with).
Mostly, the above, to help prevent the players from derailing the scenario before it starts!
Also, I will allow them to make some small purchases in Magnimar, such as potions of Touch of the Sea, Elixers of Swimming, Potions of Waterbreathing, Swan Boats (that's for you, Taco!), or the like. But, they will need to make it quick. I'd also have Heidmarch suggest to anyone wearing heavy armor (or even most medium armor) that they might want to get something less... heavy. Of course, I could always separate a character from their armor with the Rust Monsters, but that might be considered mean. :P
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Basically, my idea is to give the players their faction missions at the last moment... so that they have to deal with them at the same time as as they are dealing with the murder investigation. I believe that this is the intent of the missions.
Also, I will have Sheila Heidmarch stress that they are to follow Captain Veane's orders, as his word is law on his ship. Additionally, she will stress that they are to do nothing to antagonize Sephriel (or any of the Mordant Spire elves he may be traveling with).
Mostly, the above, to help prevent the players from derailing the scenario before it starts!
This was the first PFS scenario I ran a few months ago... and I have to say these are great ideas based on what my PCs did. :) I had people rushing to try to get their faction missions done before they even got on the boat!
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Preping this for Thursday. In the (unlikely) event we get to the storm, I think I will have the captain tell them that they are needed on deck while the crew batton down the hatches below in case the merfolk take advantage of the storm to sneak on board and cripple the ship, drowning them all.
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Preping this for Thursday. In the (unlikely) event we get to the storm, I think I will have the captain tell them that they are needed on deck while the crew batton down the hatches below in case the merfolk take advantage of the storm to sneak on board and cripple the ship, drowning them all.
It would make more sense to have it the other way around, after all the PCs know how to fight and the crew actually knows how to run a ship (and how not to die in a storm).
Actually the entire event doesn't make much sense (the crew should be fine in a storm by themselves). In reality, someone who doesn't know anything about sailing will do more damage trying to "help" than they will actually help.
The encounter is also cliché (experienced players will have seen it a million times before), it's a time waster in a scenario that's too long, and its not even a fun encounter.
Maybe you can tell I'm not a fan and that when we started to go overtime (7 hours), I cut it.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Preping this for Thursday. In the (unlikely) event we get to the storm, I think I will have the captain tell them that they are needed on deck while the crew batton down the hatches below in case the merfolk take advantage of the storm to sneak on board and cripple the ship, drowning them all.It would make more sense to have it the other way around, after all the PCs know how to fight and the crew actually knows how to run a ship (and how not to die in a storm).
Actually the entire event doesn't make much sense (the crew should be fine in a storm by themselves). In reality, someone who doesn't know anything about sailing will do more damage trying to "help" than they will actually help.
The encounter is also cliché (experienced players will have seen it a million times before), it's a time waster in a scenario that's too long, and its not even a fun encounter.
Maybe you can tell I'm not a fan and that when we started to go overtime (7 hours), I cut it.
From what I can recall of my Horatio Hornblower, and from what the other poster who was a sailor was saying, the proper response to a storm (assuming you are not off a lee shore or fighting a naval battle, which admittedly HH usually was) is "Reef the sails, get below, batten down the hatches, and after the storm passes try to figure out where the heck you are."
Which is what the sailors are doing. Having the people who know how to fight (The PCs) below decks while the merfolk are up on deck cutting lines is going to result in a dead in the water vessel. The PCs are not on the deck to sail the ship. There are absolutely no profession sailor checks, and nothing they do affects the ship (Except putting out fires, which is frankly silly.) It makes more sense that they are there to prevent another merfolk attack.
Besides, if everyone sits out the storm, the ambush at the end really does make no sense. On the other hand, if the conspirators think the PCs have possibly just fought off a second merfolk attack, and at very least rode out the storm above while the conspirators sat it out in comfort below, it makes a lot more sense for them to think they can kill the PCs while they are distracted.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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The encounter is also cliché (experienced players will have seen it a million times before), it's a time waster in a scenario that's too long, and its not even a fun encounter.
Also, I have been gaming for 33 years, GMing for 26. I don't think I have ever run a "survive the storm" encounter. I suppose if your players were fond of navel campaigns, it would make sense. But usually the people involved would be trained sailors in a navel campaign. Not complete novices.
I think you are overstating the jadedness of your players.
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I think you are overstating the jadedness of your players.
I actually asked them after the session and they all said exactly what I quoted you. And they were glad it was cut. These are friends and not strangers, so they were up front with me. So yeah I know my players and I don't think it's jaded to want your games to make sense.
Regarding the ship being under attack during the storm, I think it would be nearly impossible to throw a grappling hook onto a ship that is thrashing around like a bucking bronco, so the chance of more elves *finding* the ship and actually getting onto it during a storm seems... unlikely.
And I think the crew would be a lot better in taking down the rigging *properly* (and not doing damage) compared to someone with zero training. From my limited sailing experience, it's not that easy, especially a ship of that size.
And really the last encounter could really happen anywhere with a little imagination. There's probably better places to do it instead of in front of the entire crew.
It's your game so do what you think is best. I would have left it in if my session hadn't already run 7 hours, it was only afterwards that I realized it would have taken away from the game.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Except the sails are already furled, and the PCs aren't asked to furl them. And no one else is on deck according to the scenario. At least that is how I read it. The captain is described running below deck, and the crew are described rushing from cabin to cabin, and the first mate "emerges from below deck" after the storm.
(It is also entirely possible that the captain is a complete _____ and figures that if some or all of the pathfinders are washed overboard, he can blame the murder on them with out anyone asking awkward questions... But in that case I would expect the players to get a sense motive check...)
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Except the sails are already furled, and the PCs aren't asked to furl them. And no one else is on deck according to the scenario. At least that is how I read it. The captain is described running below deck, and the crew are described rushing from cabin to cabin, and the first mate "emerges from below deck" after the storm.
Honestly, the final two encounters are completely nonsensical and need to be run very cinematically to proceed at all as written.
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I have run this scenario a few times and never had time for the storm. One table didn't even have time for the rust monster encounter. They literally cheered. It was the 8am slot at a con.
The captain is a bit of a tosspot and that's ok. The real star of the show is Azuretta. Also, be prepared to have your players immediately suspect Killik is the killer since he has "kill" right in his name. Additionally, depending on your region, there's a significant chance that he is the killer. We have very few Exchange folk in the MN lodge.
Venture-Lieutenant, Kentucky—Louisville
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So when I ran this, the party took their jobs very seriously. The stationed a rotation of guards outside the door.
That guard did not move when the attack started. Even going so far as knocking on the door, alerting Sephriel to the threat.
After a couple rounds of roleplaying Sephriel sleeping through all the commotion, I finally had Sephriel open the door, and be all "An attack! Let's go give them a what for!' With the plan to let one of the elf separatists knife him in the back, or some such. However, there was a bottle neck at the stair cases leading down below, and none of the separatists were able to acrobatics their way to Sephriel before they were all killed.
So, I had a living Sephriel, and a party on very high alert. Knowing there was going to be no way they would leave Sephriel alone for long enough for another attempt, I decided to not derail the investigation, but leaving a clue on the body of the separatists.
How did they know exactly where and when to attack? I had the murderer give the navigation plan to the separatists. Azuretta was my killer, and I allowed them to find an important clue with a dc 25 linguistsics check (The party nat 20'd it of course). They figured out the elven was written by someone who did not speak elven as a completely native speaker. Working in Azuretta's background of being raised by humans.
With this I was able to make the investigation work. And Sephriel just kinda hung out, bemused and seemingly 'clueless'. With descriptions of him reading while drinking the elvish azlant equivalent of margaritas on the deck, not a care in the world.
The party was pretty surprised that he was supposed to die, and when Sephriel got back to Azlant, told them "Thank you for your hard work and diligence. I am glad to see the Path Finder Society sends capable agents. It saved me the cost of a clone."
The important thing is everyone still had fun. I played it as written, and I do think it would have made more sense (and been more fun), if the party had just arrived to the ship, because the last group had all come down sick.
Otherwise, it was a very fun adventure, and I would love to run it again sometime. Maybe not with such an experienced and cynical group of players who sign up for an adventure titled "Murder", telegraphing what is to happen after the mission briefing.