My players just fought Erylium the quasit to a stalemate and she retreated from the battle to bother them later. They were immensely frustrated by the fight, as was I, because it was going on forever.
What I want to do is give them some kind of reward for putting up with the fight. They didn't defeat her or even get her to 10 hp or below, so I'm not gonna award xp for that. I'm thinking of putting treasure in the two closets to the left and right of the Cathedral of Wrath's entrance, but I'm not sure what to put in. What's a good amount of gp for level 2 adventurers? They got the ranseur from the statue and the +1 longsword from the mutant goblin, but I don't think that's enough.
tl;dr What treasure would be good to add to the Catacombs?
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My players just fought Erylium the quasit to a stalemate and she retreated from the battle to bother them later. They were immensely frustrated by the fight, as was I, because it was going on forever.
What I want to do is give them some kind of reward for putting up with the fight. They didn't defeat her or even get her to 10 hp or below, so I'm not gonna award xp for that. I'm thinking of putting treasure in the two closets to the left and right of the Cathedral of Wrath's entrance, but I'm not sure what to put in. What's a good amount of gp for level 2 adventurers? They got the ranseur from the statue and the +1 longsword from the mutant goblin, but I don't think that's enough.
tl;dr What treasure would be good to add to the Catacombs?
If they are only level 2, that is plenty. Plus there should still be the scrolls and the wine, the book and the wand of shocking grasp elsewhere in the dungeon.
And the Quasit still exists, so they can come back for her, or wait until much later...
@ciretose: Oh yeah, forgot about that stuff. In that case, I'll probably just give them some gold that Erylium had stowed in the two closets.
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Without making any presumptions about the personalities of your players, I'd always be wary about giving out in-game rewards as an apology for out-of-game issues.
The first time I acted as GM, I ran a Dark Heresy adventure, part of which involved searching for an escaped murder suspect. The party split up (with 3/4 of the characters going to bed rather than heading out to search), I failed to deliver an accurate description of the surrounding lands which led to the searcher spending 20 minutes real-world time searching for the suspect around a flat plain where no vegetation was more than angle-high, and by and large the three other players just got bored and frustrated.
When, between sessions, I apologised and said I would like to give them an extra advance and/or a fate point by way of an apology, I nearly had a riot on my hands. They all told me that it was an understandable mistake to make as a first-time GM and that they would much prefer if I just brought some extra snacks next time, or something similar.
An out-of-game apology for an out-of-game mistake.
YMMV. But I always prefer to keep the in-game stuff and out-of-game stuff as separate as possible. Doing otherwise runs the risk of conflating the in-game world with the real world, and I much prefer my real-world relationships with my players to my in-game relationships with their characters.
Without making any presumptions about the personalities of your players, I'd always be wary about giving out in-game rewards as an apology for out-of-game issues.
The first time I acted as GM, I ran a Dark Heresy adventure, part of which involved searching for an escaped murder suspect. The party split up (with 3/4 of the characters going to bed rather than heading out to search), I failed to deliver an accurate description of the surrounding lands which led to the searcher spending 20 minutes real-world time searching for the suspect around a flat plain where no vegetation was more than angle-high, and by and large the three other players just got bored and frustrated.
When, between sessions, I apologised and said I would like to give them an extra advance and/or a fate point by way of an apology, I nearly had a riot on my hands. They all told me that it was an understandable mistake to make as a first-time GM and that they would much prefer if I just brought some extra snacks next time, or something similar.
An out-of-game apology for an out-of-game mistake.
YMMV. But I always prefer to keep the in-game stuff and out-of-game stuff as separate as possible. Doing otherwise runs the risk of conflating the in-game world with the real world, and I much prefer my real-world relationships with my players to my in-game relationships with their characters.
This is true, but this was, in my opinion and there's, bad writing (sorry Paizo). I just didn't want them to get turned off by the adventure and Pathfinder in general because of one bad fight.
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This is true, but this was, in my opinion and there's, bad writing (sorry Paizo). I just didn't want them to get turned off by the adventure and Pathfinder in general because of one bad fight.Without making any presumptions about the personalities of your players, I'd always be wary about giving out in-game rewards as an apology for out-of-game issues.
The first time I acted as GM, I ran a Dark Heresy adventure, part of which involved searching for an escaped murder suspect. The party split up (with 3/4 of the characters going to bed rather than heading out to search), I failed to deliver an accurate description of the surrounding lands which led to the searcher spending 20 minutes real-world time searching for the suspect around a flat plain where no vegetation was more than angle-high, and by and large the three other players just got bored and frustrated.
When, between sessions, I apologised and said I would like to give them an extra advance and/or a fate point by way of an apology, I nearly had a riot on my hands. They all told me that it was an understandable mistake to make as a first-time GM and that they would much prefer if I just brought some extra snacks next time, or something similar.
An out-of-game apology for an out-of-game mistake.
YMMV. But I always prefer to keep the in-game stuff and out-of-game stuff as separate as possible. Doing otherwise runs the risk of conflating the in-game world with the real world, and I much prefer my real-world relationships with my players to my in-game relationships with their characters.
Remember the catacombs are optional. They are more of a hook for later stuff.
That fight is annoying only because she is invisible, but if they were 3rd they could have Glitterdust and it is a cakewalk. And it is very easy to be 3rd at that point in the game and end up walking away with a returning dagger.
...this was, in my opinion and there's, bad writing (sorry Paizo). I just didn't want them to get turned off by the adventure and Pathfinder in general because of one bad fight.
Ah, fair enough. I can see how that would cause trouble. My gaming group is quite used to fights they just cannot win; we try as much as possible to eschew the sorting algortithm of evil. I fully expect my players to walk into Erylium’s chamber, spend a few rounds flailing ineffectively, then get the hell out. If they surprise me and beat her, great. If they don’t, they will probably head back to Sandpoint and try to rally the townspeople to clear out the entire catacombs.
Which is why I fully intend to incapacitate every decent fighting man and woman in Sandpoint during the initial goblin raid--an idea I’ve shamelessly pilfered from Liane Merciel’s campaign.
If your players don't like fights they can't win, take a close look at Malfeshnikor at the end of Thistletop as well. From what I've read he's very tough to beat. Xanesha at the end of The Skinsaw Murders is also a tough ask. The main difference between them and Erylium is that both Malfeshnikor and Xanesha are well and truly capable of causing a TPK; Erylium is pretty much just annoying.
This is true, but this was, in my opinion and there's, bad writing (sorry Paizo). I just didn't want them to get turned off by the adventure and Pathfinder in general because of one bad fight.
Initially I thought it was weird that Erylium is so close to unkillable for a lowbie group, but on review it's actually good that there's an opponent out of their league (who nonetheless can't paste them) early on. Shows that the world does not revolve around level-appropriate challenges for the PCs.
I used her to screw around with my group later (see campaign report re: Erylium letting the skeletons out of the closets to mow the PCs down during the Koruvus fight; she also later tried [and failed] to pickpocket one of the PCs by sawing a hole in his backpack with her dagger, which they caught and stopped short, but nevertheless further gave the party reason to hate the little pest), so she was both a real threat AND a nuisance after their first encounter in the Catacombs.
My PCs can't kill her now but, assuming the game goes on long enough, they'll come back at a high level and stomp her like a mosquito and it will, I'm sure, be briefly but deeply satisfying. Around Book 5 it'll just be a little cherry on top of the sundae o' power, and another link to their early days in Sandpoint.
So I'd just go with that delayed gratification and not try to make up for it with treasure now. The Catacombs are pretty well balanced, IMO; I added monsters but saw no reason to add more treasure to the haul (and my party was too nervous about the ranseur to take it this time, too).