Cult of the Ebon Destroyers?

[jjaamm]

try this again-im preping this and have ?.

Spoiler:

in the mill, the map shows that a5 has a connection to A1 and A3. so why wouldnt the BBEG's gaurds or him hear the fight down below? than rouse the whole place? i cant see how they would miss a fight and than not join. anyone run this yet?

[Matt Goodall]

Silk Mill Tactics:

That's the plan, Ukroza spends a round or two buffing and then he and his honor guard move in and attack the PCs in area A1 or A3 from the rafters. He could even spend a round hasting his minions and lieutenants. If he is threatened/wounded, he retreats while his honor guard hold off the PCs. Any surviving minions down below retreat through the Dyeing room (A2). If Utkroza gets a chance, he could even haste the second group of minions before retreating outside to fight the PCs from the air. Hopefully it will be an action filled running battle against forces both on the ground and in the rafters :-)

Hope that helps.

[jjaamm]

Matt Goodall wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

THANKS alot!! just thought might be throwing too much at them. cant get that tune from matrix2 out of my head now, where neal is beset by all of the same guy. they just keep coming.

[Matt Goodall]

No worries.

Spoiler:

Just remember that the PCs are likely to start with the element of surprise and be fairly well buffed. I also think that the mill workers/honor guard are going to struggle to get much sneak attack action happening, even with their potions of invisibility. Also, Utkroza is probably only going to get to hang around for a round or two, before he retreats.

I'll be interested to know how your group handles it.

[jjaamm/Keldar]

Matt Goodall wrote:

No worries.

** spoiler omitted **

I'll be interested to know how your group handles it.

Me too. it is for PFS an still have to finish godsmouth. we play every other week, so will be while before finish

[chopswil]

Question on Ikrimah's BAB, p. 22.
I know he has transformation cast so BAB should be caster level, +11.
But the Stat Block says +12, where does the other +1 come from?

thanks

[chopswil]

Another question on Ikrimah, p. 22.
The CMB seems to have mods for attack bonuses of +3 added to it.
With Greater Magic Weapon +2 and Haste +1 and Heroism +2 in effect, why was one of the +2 mods not included?

[chopswil]

Another question on Ikrimah, p. 22.
He has cast alter self, but his stat block size is medium. What has he altered to?

[chopswil]

Note on saves for Ikrimah, p. 22.
Note the saves don't reflect the Protection from Good +2. Maybe there should be something noting that like Fort +17, Ref +12, Will +17; +2 vs. good.
The Before Combat section says "(All are included in his statistics.)" but there is no mention of the Protection from Good in the save section.

[chopswil]

Ikrimah, p. 22.
Transformation increases Str by 4, Base Str in SB says 16 and Str says 19 which is not +4.

[Matt Goodall]

Good questions, his stat block wasn't easy. To answer your questions:

Spoiler:

• Transformation gives BAB equal to character level not CL, which is 12.

• The greater magic weapon bonus has not been included as it is a bonus to a specific weapon, not to all his attack rolls. I know he unlikely to use anything but his unarmed strikes, but that's the way it's done. A grapple check wouldn't include the GMW bonus either.

• He casts alter self and alters to another Medium form (which gives a +2 size bonus to Strength).

• The deflection bonus from his ring of protection +2 and the resistance bonus from his cloak of resistance +2 overlap the bonuses from protection from evil. When designing him, I made sure I did this so that I could save words by not having to put in the circumstancal bonuses in the saving throw line.

• I believe that the base stats assume that he has put his Physical Enhancement wizard class ability into Strength, which gives him a +3 enhancement bonus to Strength, this is partially overlapped by the transformation spell.
  

Just pray that your PCs don’t use antimagic field against him. :-)
If you want to really deconstruct his stat block, his starting stats were:

Ikrimah:

Str 13
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 15
Wis: 12
Cha 8

Hope that helps. Let me know how the battle against Ikrimah goes, I'm hoping it will be memorable.

[jjaamm]

Matt Goodall wrote:

Good questions, his stat block wasn't easy. To answer your questions:

** spoiler omitted **
[/spoiler]
Hope that helps.

or a targeted dispell- must say reverse engineering him makes my head hurt. Thanks chopswil for all these good questions.

[Matt Goodall]

jjaamm wrote:

or a targeted dispell- must say reverse engineering him makes my head hurt. Thanks chopswil for all these good questions.

That's why he has a ring of counterspells with dispel magic in it. ;-)

[chopswil]

Matt Goodall wrote:

Good questions, his stat block wasn't easy. To answer your questions:

** spoiler omitted **
[/spoiler]
Hope that helps. Let me know how the battle against Ikrimah goes, I'm hoping it will be memorable.

another question, seems like too many fly ranks since HD is 12

Fly +24 = +17 ranks, +2 Dex, +3 class skill, +2 heroism

[Matt Goodall]

Overland flight :-)

12 ranks, +2 Dex, +3 class skill, +2 heroism, +5 overland flight = Fly +24

prd wrote:

This spell functions like a fly spell, except you can fly at a speed of 40 feet (30 feet if wearing medium or heavy armor, or if carrying a medium or heavy load) with a bonus on Fly skill checks equal to half your caster level.

Trust me, his stat block took quite a while.

[Branding Opportunity]

Another question:

Spoiler:

On p. 17-18 it states that Vetala uses "withering gaze". This ability is not mentioned in the stat block, and is not one of the standard ghost special abilities from p. 144-5 of the Bestiary. Should it be Corrupting Gaze instead, or is the mention of the gaze attack a typo? If so, it seems the ghost can't do anything except animate zombies while possessing a corpse. Many thanks.

[Mark Moreland]

Branding Opportunity wrote:

Another question:

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:

This was a new ability that was cut, though the reference to it in the creature's tactics was missed. As a CR 8 ghost, it only gets two special attacks. One of those is corrupting touch, the other is corpse possession. It should jump from body to body, making no attacks itself unless if has no corpses to move into, in which case it should use corrupting touch. But you are correct, when possessing a body it has only the zombie's slam attack.

[Branding Opportunity]

Mark Moreland wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks, Mark. Although if there's a positive channeling cleric in the party, that's going to be a short combat. BTW, I'm about to start running this as a PFS PbP here on the Paizo boards.

[jjaamm]

Branding Opportunity wrote:

Mark Moreland wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks, Mark. Although if there's a positive channeling cleric in the party, that's going to be a short combat. BTW, I'm about to start running this as a PFS PbP here on the Paizo boards.

Wish that was my concern-player who channels negative and command undead feat. if he thinks to do so, might just pick up a small army.

[Matt Goodall]

Vetala spoiler:

When I was writing this, I was assuming that Corpse Possession wouldn't count as a ghost special attack (because it is a lot weaker than normal Malevolence 'possess a PC' ghost special attack) and so didn't give the ghost any extra HD.

The problem as written, is that the ghost hides in zombies but can't actually do any damage to the PCs while doing so. This makes it a simple fight against zombies and then a simple fight against the ghost.

You'll probably have to play it 'as written' for PFS, but here's what I would do in a home game:

I'd give the vetala the Corrupting Gaze special attack. This gives it something to do while the PCs have to wade through it's zombie minions.

If you are worrying about making it legal, I'd upgrade the vetala from 8 HD to 9 HD. (Ghosts get one special attack per 3 CR so it gains the extra special attack.) It's CR 9 which is fine for the encounter.

Here's an abbreviated list of the changes highlighted in blue if you do want to do the upgrade:

Vetala CR 9
Human variant ghost expert 9 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 144)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11
hp 94 (9d8+54)
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +8
Melee corrupting touch +7 (9d6, Fort DC 19 half)
Special Attacks corrupting gaze (2d10 plus 1d4 Cha damage, Fort DC 19 negates the Charisma damage)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +14)
1/day—animate dead
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness
Skills ((increase))
Corpse Possession (Su)
… The vetala cannot use its corrupting touch while possessing a body, but can use gaze attacks including its corrupting gaze. …

-------

Or just give it 10 extra hp, its corrupting touch does 9d6, and give it Improved Iron Will.

Hope that helps.

[Branding Opportunity]

Matt Goodall wrote:

** spoiler omitted **...

Thanks so much for that, Matt. If I ever run this mod as a home game, I will definitely use your modified stats.

In case you haven't seen (although I'm guessing you probably have), I'm running the mod on the boards here for PFS. If you feel like reading along, you can check us out HERE.

[Matt Goodall]

Thanks Alex, I've found your PbP and have been reading along. It's certainly fun to see how a group of PCs handles an adventure you've written. I really like the little touches you've put into Niswan so far.

[Branding Opportunity]

In case you haven't been keeping up, the PCs in the PFS PbP are about to start the Vetala fight. I'll sadly be running the CR 8 version of the creature, and not the more interesting (and challenging) one you published above.

[Matt Goodall]

I've been following along. Hopefully it won't turn into a grind, although your PCs are smart enough not to walk into the midst of a lot of zombies. Maybe have the Vetala pop out, use its Corrupting Touch then duck back into a zombie. That might make it a bit more interesting.

[that_one_person]

i am currently running this module for some of my friends and they are about to get to the arena and fight zaafria and i have a feeling that they are going to do a one on one fight with her with no magical benefits and i was looking at her stats for her with out magical bonuses and on her temple sword it says her bonus to attack is +14/+19 is that +19 a typo or is it really suppose to be like that

[Matt Goodall]

Gotta love typos :-)

BAB +7
Str +4
temple sword +2
Weapon Focus +1

= +14/+9 without buffs.

Looking back at her stats, she actually doesn't need the Extra Revelation feat, she only has the three revelations gained from her levels (1st, 3rd, 7th). You could give her the Combat Healer revelation if you wanted to make her last a little longer, if you think the PCs will knock her out too quickly.

[raggedyavatar1116]

I'm going to be running this for PFS credit soon and I have some questions. I want to impress the party with the grandeur of Niswan by using the settlement stat block(for instance)and the gm description text to add flavor to their visit, but I can't find those Statues of Condordance any where on the map. Where are they? What can the party learn about Maharajah Khiben-Sald and the Archmage Nex? Are they described in any other paizo books?

[Matt Goodall]

There is some information about Nex and Khiben-Sald in the Inner Sea Guide. The Statues of Concordance are the two statues on opposite sides of the stream leading from the spring in the High-Holy district.

[raggedyavatar1116]

Matt Goodall wrote:

There is some information about Nex and Khiben-Sald in the Inner Sea Guide. The Statues of Concordance are the two statues on opposite sides of the stream leading from the spring in the High-Holy district.

Thanks for replying so promptly, Matt.

I must be blind because I still can't see them. I've traced the stream down from that spring in the High-Holy district and I don't see anything like that, unless your are describing those 2 thick round greyish markings where that road goes west from the spring parallel to the stream and where it joins in a 'Y' with the road that goes SE into the Maury-Rahm Ward at the stream ford (there doesn't look to be a bridge there).
If those are supposed to be the statues, they look the same as some other markings on the map that I thought were small stone cottages at first but then I thought they might be monuments. They are all over the map north of the stream/river that flows into the harbor.

Also, is that spring between the palace and the High-Holy district supposed to be in The Heights district?

Sorry to be such trouble but I like to understand the maps.

It would be nice to have map keys for these cities.

Thanks

[raggedyavatar1116]

chopswil wrote:

Another question on Ikrimah, p. 22.

He has cast alter self, but his stat block size is medium. What has he altered to?

I realize that this post I'm replying to is from 2 years ago, but I decided to flavor it up for my running of it in April so I declared that Ikrimah alters to the form of a Vishkanya. They sound very much like they belong in Jalmeray/Vudra.

[Matt Goodall]

Yep, those roundish things are all statues and monuments (that's how that illustrator does them). Niswan has a lot of monuments!

I’d say the stream going out of the palace is between the High-Holy District and the Grand Chronicler’s Circle. The Heights are more on the side of the hill facing the ocean which is steeper and has better views (and provides fresh ocean breezes in the hot summer), suiting the rich and high-caste people that live there. The eastern side of the hill (between the High-Holy spring and the palace wall) holds housing for upper caste servants at the palace, priests, and Maurya-Rahm who want (or need) to live close to the palace.

I do like your idea of reflavoring Ikrimah's appearance to a Vishkanya, the illustration really makes him look like he has weird bluish skin anyway, giving him a forked tongue as well is going to accentuate his exotic appearance.

[raggedyavatar1116]

Matt Goodall wrote:

Yep, those roundish things are all statues and monuments (that's how that illustrator does them). Niswan has a lot of monuments!

I’d say the stream going out of the palace is between the High-Holy District and the Grand Chronicler’s Circle. The Heights are more on the side of the hill facing the ocean which is steeper and has better views (and provides fresh ocean breezes in the hot summer), suiting the rich and high-caste people that live there. The eastern side of the hill (between the High-Holy spring and the palace wall) holds housing for upper caste servants at the palace, priests, and Maurya-Rahm who want (or need) to live close to the palace.

I do like your idea of reflavoring Ikrimah's appearance to a Vishkanya, the illustration really makes him look like he has weird bluish skin anyway, giving him a forked tongue as well is going to accentuate his exotic appearance.

Thanks, that clarified alot.

I'm running this for PFS and I've come up with a specific hook for PFS characters being there. The Society has traced a lead to the whereabouts of the Scepter of the Arclords (referred to in the scenario Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible) and they will get access to the ancient records that have been previously off-limits if they help Raheem defeat the Cult. Of course, that doesn't mean they will find it, or even a viable clue to its location.

Though, it would be cool to have some more info on the festival. I still might use the festival as written to give the party a chance to show off their skills to the population. I take it this festival isn't the same event as the competition the Houses of Perfection hold every 10 years? What is the Festival of Colors supposed to represent or reaffirm?

That would be a neat theme for a module, but it might be too similar to The Ruby Phoenix Tournament.

Thanks again for your replies.

[Matt Goodall]

Yolarati - the Festival of Colors is an annual religious festival, it's the Vudrani equivalient of the Hindu festival 'Holi'. It celebrates the end of Winter and affirms the new colors of Spring's awakening. The festival lowers the strictness of social norms, including differences in age, gender, status, and caste. Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other's presence on this day. No one expects formal behavior, and as a result, the atmosphere is filled with excitement, fun, and joy. There are elements of playful and childlike behaviour, including practical jokes with bright powders and colored water.

[CWheezy]

How does the duel actually work? I am not sure of the winning conditions or what zaafira wants from the duel.

Any ideas would be a big help!

[raggedyavatar1116]

There seems to be an error on the map in the Temple. Area B3 is supposed to be a two-story area but the map does not indicate that. The boxed text describes "passages lead from either side on both the upper and lower levels, as well as from entranceways at each end of the hall."
Which passages are upper level?
How does one climb up to the balustrated walkway?
Is the walkway 5' wide? (this seems to be the most logical with the rest of the room description taken into account).

Thanks again