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There are rules and then common sense. Fly overcomes these obstacles. As Gm I would just be punishing my players for their ingenuity which is bad i want them to think not rules/metagame.I don't see why flight wouldn't trump every section of the chaseThose are the rules for chases, per the GMG.
Regardless I still like this a lot Cody
Congratulations Cody,
Adding the chase rules was a nice touch and needed probably for this villain. But they are not the encounter, I went back several times to the map hoping to find where loose shingles and abandoned apartment were. That said other than the buckets, which are a nice touch, the location barely mattered. I think making faulty items was a perfect tie for the dieity of accidents. Nice job and good luck!
Now that the voting has closed allow me to respond. Most of this is towards Neil but it answers a lot.
My description went through several re-writes, and I think it was during the last one that I let slip the passive voice. It is something I usually work very hard to eliminate. I know how harshly critiqued it is in game writing. I feel this was one of my larger mistakes in the round.
Based on his description I was not 100% sure if Tarvin was the leader of this cult, or merely a pawn. I felt he could go either way. That is why I left it to the cult, rather than him specifically. Tarvin was a tricky figure to work with considering his wonky CR and vague story.
Including a final paragraph describing ceiling heights, wall compositions and the like is something I will take note of for the future. When I was looking at previous entries they didn't stick out too much to me, but now that I think about it I remember reading lots of these in actual adventures.
I chose dark folk to work this facility because of they are a strange species that has a fair presence within Westcrown. Also their natural abilities could be used for an interesting encounter without them seeming too out of place.
The Knowledge check was meant to be made on the run, or perhaps before entering the building. This was not a gather information attempt, but rather "Oh that's a big building, I wonder what I know about it."
I thought it was fairly clear from the encounter description where it took place within the building, but I can see the wisdom of including a [Finish Line] or labeled outside the entrance.
I considered removing the chase scene, and using the CR of the traps to up the bad guys inside, however I really wanted to showcase those rules and Tarvin seemed like a perfect candidate to work with. I loved the idea of have these traps to whittle away the party with. Some have commented that the traps seem to low CR to really be effective, and in normal circumstance this would be the case. Since this is a chase, there is almost no chance of them being spotted or disarmed. The action simply moves too fast for that to happen, unless a rogue has quick disarm and trap spotter. This means that those trap are very likely to go off and effect the party.
Others have mentioned flying and fast movement as breaking the chase. I can only respond that the current chase rules take these into account by granting bonuses to overcoming the obstacles. Any argument with this is an argument with the rules. I think many parties would find it rather difficult to actually stop Tarvin along the chase. Having a single character catch up with him is not enough to end the scene, and most of the characters who will be able to skip ahead several sections are going to have difficulty immobilizing a target single-handedly. An owl familiar may be getting a +16 bonus to navigating the chase, but all it can do is observe the quarry, and it still has to keep up or lose the target. If he was caught, I don't know what party wouldn't figure out a way to have him reveal the foundry's location. Should a party manage this, they earned it! There are countless locations in Adventure Paths which can go hay wire if the PCs do something unexpected.
Some have said the chase would be better within the foundry. That is something I could see, except it would really tone down the entire location. I wanted to present a location which could contain several encounters and the possibility of adventure. I don't think chasing Tarvin through the facility ala Scooby Doo would have been that entertaining.
I feel that people may be a bit critical of the CR within the mold room. A CR +1 encounter should consume ~20% of a parties resources. This isn't the giant final encounter were it comes down to the wire, but rather the first in a battle of attrition. Any lightly armored party member is already going to be beat up a little from the traps on the chase, spells will have been used to even make it through, and patch up wounds. Then in the foundry itself you've got magical darkness dropping everywhere and rather dangerous bucket swinging around, especially in the CR 12 version. There you have to take into account not one invisible creature, but two, and even more powerful tricks from the dark stalkers. Even if this fight only takes three rounds it will have required considerable resources. These are not just 10 goblins you can kill without thinking about.
I ran a couple play tests using appropriate level Iconics and they got their noses bloodied. I would love to hear from anyone who has tried this encounter with Pathfinder Society legal characters.
As a bit of a bonus, here is the progression chart for the chase. The rules for Chases can be found here if you don't have the GMG.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I used Inkscape for my map. Everything was created from scratch based on existing map items. I pulled heavily from the GMG Map Key to populate the building. Figured I couldn't go wrong using the same symbols they published in a section about making maps.
Crossing my fingers for you, Cody. You rock. ;)
...I considered removing the chase scene, and using the CR of the traps to up the bad guys inside, however I really wanted to showcase those rules and Tarvin seemed like a perfect candidate to work with. I loved the idea of have these traps to whittle away the party with. Some have commented that the traps seem to low CR to really be effective, and in normal circumstance this would be the case. Since this is a chase, there is almost no chance of them being spotted or disarmed. The action simply moves too fast for that to happen, unless a rogue has quick disarm and trap spotter. This means that those trap are very likely to go off and the party...
Dear Mr. Superstar (probable) Top 4,
My fellow succubus likely has her head too much in the clouds to pick up this sort of thing, which means it's up to me to poke you to pay attention to the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'. I believe you meant 'go off and affect the party'. Consistent muddling stuff like this may lead to snarky judges and/or voters throwing things at their computer monitors.Hoping that you have found this post Helpful.
Yours,
Ask A Succubus.
I got it right in my submission ;)
Congratulations Cody.
I got where you were going with the chase and the Foundry and am quite sure from the votes, I wasn't the only one. ;)
Hey Cody,
Just wanted to give my thoughts and advice for the final round. Looking back at your entries, I think that they have been really solidly innovative, and I’ve liked them for that. If you can do that in your adventure that would be cool, but remember game design and adventure design are different beasts. I notice that you may have overreached (too much idea to be done in the word count) in both the villain round and the encounter round. Don’t do this in the final round, it will kill you. This goes for everyone in the top four in this year (or any year), the adventure MUST fit in 32 pages - 20,000 words MAXIMUM.
Your writing is pretty good, that is my eye doesn’t stop when I’m reading it, it flows nicely and you are certainly able to paint a scene well. As Neil has said, get rid of the passive voice, it actually saves you words in the long run. Turn on the passive voice checker of MS Word and see what it underlines. Past tense passive voice is tricky to get rid of. Passive voice is a hassle for all of us, but it is worth killing.
My last advice is to keep on exploring those elements that you find interesting and present them with a clear and focused execution to bring things together for the reader.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka JoelF847
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Turn on the passive voice checker of MS Word and see what it underlines.
Matt, this is amazing! I didn't know that setting existed in Word. What a time saver and helpful aid to changing a passive voice habit, to see it underline as you type it. Thanks for the tip.
Like spellcheck, its not perfect, but it does draw your attention to them. If only it would actually fix it for you as well. :-)
Haddon goes for the bucket controls, but there are no details about them. Does using them require a skill check? Assuming their use to be a full round action, what manner of actions does the bucket take, a move and a standard (to dump)? How fast does the bucket move? What damage does it do? Does it only target the square below it, or is there splash? When does the bucket need to refill? Does Haddon have any manner of cover or concealment when at the controls?Um, check the hazards section. All of that information is in there. Also, I cannot think of a single Paizo campaign where enemy locations have been called out on the map.
My bad, I guess I glossed over this, sorry for being a dink.