Cult of the Ebon Destroyer


GM Discussion

2/5

Alright, I am going to run this scenario for my group. They want to play when they reach level 7. I have played it, and it was tough, so, shall I delay them, or as they want a 'challenge' play, and see how it goes?

The group: dwarf cleric 7
halfling monk 1 / lion shaman 6
bard 7
rogue 7 (sap adept)
ninja 7

Grand Lodge 5/5 Regional Venture-Coordinator, Baltic

PeteZero wrote:
shall I delay them

Yeah, remember we all played 8th level characters, and there were 6 of us, and some very expirienced players.

So I'd wait until most of them are level 8 or even (some of them) level 9!

Dark Archive 3/5 **

I'd also heavily encourage them to consider recruiting a tank of some sort, or otherwise wait until they are well into level 8.

The Exchange 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Warn them it's a bad idea. Have them read the reviews of the module. If they still want to play, teach them a lesson in humility.

*

PeteZero wrote:
Alright, I am going to run this scenario for my group. They want to play when they reach level 7.

Why, specifically, do they want it at level 7? Perhaps run Realm of the Fellnight Queen, or another Pathfinder module, in order to get them to 8 first.

The Exchange 5/5

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I would not let them play this when they are all only level 7. Or at least, warn them that it'll be a very very bad idea. When I GMed this there were two situations that were tough moments:

Spoiler:
At the warehouse / weaving place in the city they effectively pulled the entire place at once. It took the entire complex about 3 rounds to congregate on the PCs, but once they had they almost had a TPK. The only thing saving them were some VERY unlucky GM rolls (I do open rolling, so they knew they were damn lucky) and some very very clever tactical decisions by a controller type evoker.

Secondly we never were able to finish the last part because of a time limitation... but they sounded the alarm at the final area. I knew that they were completely and woefully unprepared for fighting the Wizard... and then fighting the complex all at once. I frankly told them that they could take their 2/3 module credit now, or we could play this out the next game day and there is a good chance of a TPK... giving them 2/3 credit.

That last Act is quite rough.

2/5

Not only an experienced group, highly minmaxed. I learned a lot from your druid. I till remember Ursus, grappling the one in the first combat, which ended up a cakewalk. I gave them a warning, so wait and see, now it's their choice, if they want to die. They are experienced, the thief is highly minmaxed - sap master, the druid - soso, halfling lion shaman, the rest well built. I gave them the option, so, if they want to play at lvl7....

Auke Teeninga wrote:
PeteZero wrote:
shall I delay them

Yeah, remember we all played 8th level characters, and there were 6 of us, and some very expirienced players.

So I'd wait until most of them are level 8 or even (some of them) level 9!

Silver Crusade 5/5

We had a minmaxed group...3 level 7 and two level 8. All of us very experienced. The only one who didn't die was the oracle, Doug Doug I think died 3 times?

They sacrificed my Paladin to the dark gods to bargain an out of the final complex. Not sure if that's story as written but it worked.

Dark Archive

Played this one a few months back under the old module rules. Having built a party of 4 optimized 8th level characters we found the module very difficult. Only a few parts were TRULY dangerous, but the stats in the module were so perfectly balanced against our party that some of the combats

Spoiler:
especially against the Rahksasha
took forever and a day to get through. We found the last act particularly challenging but we all survived without deaths. Because of the painfully balanced enemies this module took us FOUR, five hour sessions to complete.

Don't go there with 4, 7th level characters. Just don't do it, or they will be sorry. LOL

Shadow Lodge 4/5 *** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant

Aaron Hale wrote:
Don't go there with 4, 7th level characters. Just don't do it, or they will be sorry. LOL

And this is why Flickembicus' last chronicle is wrong! Learn to count Aaron... ;) (5 7th lvls in the OP)

Spoiler:
I'm in Aaron's group, the silk mill with the birdman was another of the REALLY long fights... We were just too evenly matched.

Yeah, even with 5, I still wouldn't play in it with a 7th lvl char...

5/5

Kyle Pratt wrote:
That last Act is quite rough.

This.

Sovereign Court 5/5 **

My ears are burning.

But in all seriousness, a group of optimized characters should be able to get through the mod with minimal casualties at level 7. We struggled a bit when he played at 8 but we were average-under par.

Silver Crusade 5/5

Ursus the Breaker wrote:

My ears are burning.

But in all seriousness, a group of optimized characters should be able to get through the mod with minimal casualties at level 7. We struggled a bit when he played at 8 but we were average-under par.

If you say so...

3/5

Ursus the Breaker wrote:

My ears are burning.

But in all seriousness, a group of optimized characters should be able to get through the mod with minimal casualties at level 7. We struggled a bit when he played at 8 but we were average-under par.

I'm not sure which mod you guys are playing, but when I ran Cult for a group of 6 optimized 8th level characters, I killed two PCs outright, and I would have TPK'd the party 4 times over, even if their characters came back from the dead at full health immediately after dying.

The module will kill multiple PCs if run with the brutal efficiency that it should be, given the stats of the enemies involved.

Be warned.

Rubia

Silver Crusade 5/5

Rubia wrote:
Ursus the Breaker wrote:

My ears are burning.

But in all seriousness, a group of optimized characters should be able to get through the mod with minimal casualties at level 7. We struggled a bit when he played at 8 but we were average-under par.

I'm not sure which mod you guys are playing, but when I ran Cult for a group of 6 optimized 8th level characters, I killed two PCs outright, and I would have TPK'd the party 4 times over, even if their characters came back from the dead at full health immediately after dying.

The module will kill multiple PCs if run with the brutal efficiency that it should be, given the stats of the enemies involved.

Be warned.

Rubia

That sounds more familiar...

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Eric Clingenpeel wrote:
And this is why Flickembicus' last chronicle is wrong!

Someone reads too much Dresden Files

Sovereign Court 5/5 **

Well I wouldn't accuse Alex of softballing but I suppose it's possible. Maybe our unoptimzed characters were optimized just enough in the right direction.

Check it out for yourself.

BrOp's "Cult of the Ebon Destroyers" (PFS)

Shadow Lodge 4/5 *** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant

Dragnmoon wrote:
Eric Clingenpeel wrote:
And this is why Flickembicus' last chronicle is wrong!
Someone reads too much Dresden Files

Yeah, but come on, isn't it a great name for a gnome fire elementalist? :D

The Exchange 5/5

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Ursus, I didn't read the entire thing... but from what I did, it does look like he went a little easy on you guys :)

Also from what I could tell, you guys weren't that unoptimized...

Sovereign Court 5/5 **

I don't know. I'd call lumping all the encounters in the silk mill and the final two encounters together pretty anti-softballing. Care to give an example?

We didnt have any of the traditional showstoppers. No unhittably high ACs, no real healers, and no 'you die now' full attackers. Our wizard was pretty optimized for save-or-lose but other than that we were pretty average.

2/5

The mill was sick, but reading over the adventure - it makes sense (willl see how I handle it). And the last parts are bad too.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber
Kyle Pratt wrote:

Ursus, I didn't read the entire thing... but from what I did, it does look like he went a little easy on you guys :)

Also from what I could tell, you guys weren't that unoptimized...

The group I ran this with (the one mentioned above) was a group of 6 PCs, a few somewhat optimized, and some not. There was one near death, and a couple of close calls.

I don't think I softballed the PCs (although this is a very subjective term, and can mean different things to different people), but neither did I gang up on them all that much.

There are quite a few encounters where you have the entire party against a single target. These combats are the hardest to balance, because you have no wiggle room. They tend to either be near-TPKs or nearly walk-throughs. The more targets you give the PCs, the more you can fine-tune the encounters.

The Exchange 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Ireland—Belfast

Hmm

It is tough in places. Doable with the right 7th level party, murder with the wrong 8th level one. We coped OK when the guy playing the cleric was there but struggled in the session (finale) he could not make it. If I were to play it again I would vote for caution and a balance party of 8th level.

W

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