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Nitpick: Subtier 3-4: Alistair, Halberds aren't reach weapons... I thought they were too until one of my players or a forum poster pointed it out to me.
I had the same thing happen: a player at my table corrected me. After that I just assumed that he uses the brace ability to set against a charge or something like that.
Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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Just a couple of questions:
The Proper Wedding Attire sidebar says they get penalties if they're in medium or heavy armor, while the Boat Ride says "The two boats have several guards who check over equipment, ensuring that weapons are properly peace-bonded and that no armor above light armor is brought unless the PC has an appropriate title."
In my original draft, I was a very mean person and said that unless PCs had a title, they flat out could not bring armor above light. Mark changed it to be a penalty during development, as I assume he likes letting PCs live more than I do ;)
I would ignore the line regarding the boat, and stick with the sidebar text as the assumption. Unless, Mark cares to correct me.
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Contributor
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Hi there. As mentioned above, this scenario will be my first Pathfinder GMing experience so I hope you'll all forgive me if I ask questions with obvious answers.
Here's my reasoning. They're not simply Giant Centipedes, they're fiendish giant centipedes summoned into existence via shadow conjuration.
Looking at the fiendish template first (pp. 294-295 of the Bestiary), I see that "the creature's CR increases by +1 only if the base creature has 5 or more HD." Giant Centipedes have a CR of 1/2, so there's no increase.
Fiendish creatures gain dark vision 60 ft., which Giant Centipedes already possess. They gain DR and energy resistances as noted on the table labelled "Fiendish Creature Defenses" at p. 295, but the table starts with CRs of 1-4, so the Giant Centipede doesn't qualify for such gains. They gain SR equal to their "new CR +5," but as we've seen they don't have a new CR. Finally, they gain the smite good special attack 1/day. However, the smite good attack adds the creature's CHA bonus to attack rolls and a damage bonus equal to HD against good foes. I suppose I could see the damage bonus existing at 1 point, but the Giant Centipede has a Charisma of 2, so the to hit "bonus" is -4, raising the questions of why and whether even a creature with animal intelligence would ever use the ability.
Now I turn to the shadow conjuration spell at p. 340 of the Core Rulebook. Here I find that creatures summoned by the spell (or spell-like ability in this case) have various weaknesses and vulnerabilities that I won't detail at length, except to note that they can be disbelieved or recognized as a shadow creature (bringing those weaknesses/penalties into play) and that "[a] shadow creature has one-fifth the hit points of a normal creature of its kind (regardless of whether it's recognized as a shadowy)." Giant Centipedes have 5 hit points, taking Arastrax's summoned versions down to 1 HP, yes?
Sorry for the lengthiness and, I suppose, pedantry--I just want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.
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Contributor
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Still doing prep work, I find I have another question.
As near as I can figure from reading the rules for shadow conjuration at p. 340 of the Core Rulebook, each of the (up to three) summoned dretches should have access to its own spell-like abilities--"It deals normal damage and has all normal abilities and weaknesses."
One of those abilities, according to the dretch entry at p. 60 of the Bestiary, is "summon (level 1, 1 dretch 35%).
My question is this. If the shadow conjured dretches take advantage of that ability, are the (possibly) summoned dretches themselves "shadow" versions, with the attendant penalties and characteristics outlined in the shadow conjuration spell, or are they full-on Bestiary dretches?
Furthermore, if the shadow dretches have been successfully disbelieved, how does the fact that "all special abilities that do not deal lethal damage are only 20% likely to work" impact any attempts at summoning?
Printing out a dozen NPC portraits and overthinking the hell out of this,
Christopher
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Summoning: A summoning spell instantly brings a
creature or object to a place you designate. When the spell
ends or is dispelled, a summoned creature is instantly
sent back to where it came from, but a summoned object
is not sent back unless the spell description specif ically
indicates this. A summoned creature also goes away if it
is killed or if its hit points drop to 0 or lower, but it is not
really dead. It takes 24 hours for the creature to reform,
during which time it can’t be summoned again.
When the spell that summoned a creature ends and
the creature disappears, all the spells it has cast expire.
A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning
abilities it may have.
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Contributor
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Summoning: A summoning spell instantly brings a
creature or object to a place you designate. When the spell
ends or is dispelled, a summoned creature is instantly
sent back to where it came from, but a summoned object
is not sent back unless the spell description specif ically
indicates this. A summoned creature also goes away if it
is killed or if its hit points drop to 0 or lower, but it is not
really dead. It takes 24 hours for the creature to reform,
during which time it can’t be summoned again.
When the spell that summoned a creature ends and
the creature disappears, all the spells it has cast expire.
A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning
abilities it may have.
Actually, to further expose my own ignorance, what is the "CRB"? I ask because I note some differences in the language of what you've quoted and what I find under the "summon" entry in the Bestiary at p. 304, which says:
Summon (Sp) A creature with the summon ability can summon other specific creatures of its kind much as though casting a summon monster spell, but it usually has only a limited chance of success (as specified in the creature’s entry). Roll d%: On a failure, no creature answers the summons. Summoned creatures automatically return whence they came after 1 hour. A creature summoned in this way cannot use any spells or spell-like abilities that require material components costing more than 1 gp unless those components are supplied, nor can it use its own summon ability for 1 hour. An appropriate spell level is given for each summoning ability for purposes of Will saves, caster level checks, and concentration checks. No experience points are awarded for defeating summoned monsters.
Now, to be sure, the ultimate effect is the same--if they can't use their own summoning ability for an hour and are likewise returned to "whence they came" in an hour then it's a wash. But then I suppose there might be some ability, spell, or effect that could lengthen their time of stay on the characters' plane, which would bring that iteration effect I mentioned upthread into play.
None of which is likely to effect this particular encounter in this particular scenario, mind, so please feel free to cheerfully ignore this post. (Though the various impacts of shadow conjuration, notably the reduction in hit points, of course might come into play.)
Edit to add: Wait, CRB, I get it. Core Rulebook.
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I ended up running the scenario tonight; for the most part, people enjoyed the RPing portions of the encounter. They ended up taking their Chelish companion's boat and arrived early, meeting the guests at the dock and starting to talk people up.
No one had Knowledge(Nobility), making it hard to gauge what they should do in the various high class social situations they were in, but adapted all right. I offered to let them make a few knowledge (local) checks to identify people as they got off the boat, to learn a little more flavor.
However, this was a party of almost all bruisers and support; our party's rogue was more focused on combat utility. Making the influence checks was difficult, and somewhat frustrating for those members of the party.
The combat with Olaf went about as expected; PCs taking damage and then downing the NPCs.
The combat with the Shadow felt somewhat hopeless for the PCs. After deeper darkness went up, they had no way of dealing with it at the 3-4 tier. Fortunately, they downed the possessed Alistair (which I had the PCs make friends with earlier, as they waited on the docks) in three rounds, so he disappeared rather quick at the end. If there wasn't that part of the mission, he would have eviscerated them. However, him just "teleporting away" at the end felt to the players they were given an unwinnable fight, which was a letdown.
All in all, I think more of this kind of mission would help make characters have a reason to not dump charisma every time. The influence mechanic was a nice change from a straight "diplomacy and win." I wouldn't mind seeing it come back in future games (especially if people get familiar with it!)
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Contributor
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Penumbral Accords from second season has a bit of information on them.
Thank you, Eric.
Now I find I have questions about gold.
My first question is this: why do the Subtier 3-4 players receive more gold than the Subtier 6-7 players in the final encounter (281 gp for 3-4, 233 gp for 6-7)?
Since I imagine there's some kind of inside baseball scenario gp limit or other design reason for that, I'm asking that one mainly out of curiosity. Of much more import, I think, is my second question.
How do the amounts and items in the "Treasure" sections of the two combat encounters interact with the "Rewards" sections? I haven't added up the value of the gear that Olaf and his raiders carry to determine what that number would be, but I do note that the "Treasure" section in "The Shadow Attack Encounter" concludes: "In Subtier 3-4, the PCs are granted 1,300 gp, while in Subtier 6-7, their reward is 450 gp."
This is a real headscratcher for me. Is that money (and the value of the equipment of jewelry earned for completing the encounter with Olaf) in addition to the "Rewards" money? Instead of it? Something else altogether?
Cheers,
Christopher
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Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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Penumbral Accords from second season has a bit of information on them.Thank you, Eric.
Now I find I have questions about gold.
** spoiler omitted **
Cheers,
Christopher
I can speak to the first question... there is a 'firm' cap that scenarios try to adhere to. This cap is to try and prevent a given scenario from offering more gold rewards than others. It shifts in some scenarios, but never by more than a few hundred gold at the max.
The equipment above is mainly because Olaf's weapons are worth so much, while the final encounter doesn't offer anything of particular note gear-wise.
I'll leave Mark to hop in and handle the treasure explanation, as he's better suited than I to explain that.
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Contributor
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I can speak to the first question...
Thanks, Thurston, and thanks for "The Blakros Matrimony!" I had fun and the players reported they did as well.
As for specifics...
The fight with the Ulfen guys went south for Olaf and company fast after the magus landed a color spray on the raiders that essentially took them out of it. Olaf's rage and scripted fanaticism kept him from being very effective on his own against a party of five (playing at 3-4).
The battle with the shadow demon didn't go as well for them. Alistair lasted just three rounds and with the summoned dretches having so few hit points as as shadow conjurations they weren't much of a threat--they went down almost as soon as they appeared. The shadow demon, though, wow, they couldn't lay a glove on him, and I think he would have/could have taken them out if he's stuck around longer than three rounds.
Everybody hit their faction mission (1 Lantern Lodge, pregen Grand Lodge, 1 Chelaxian and 2 Shadow Lodge, and boy was that last an interesting series of conversations among PCs and NPCs) except the Chelaxian, who blew his bluff roll against the matriarch, alas.
I made little standups with foam core board showing the faces and names of fully a dozen named NPCs (using printed out art from my .pdf copies of the scenario, the Field Guide, and the NPC Guide for a uniformity of look) and made a quick reference chart with personalities, biographical information, and distinctive accents/voice mannerisms. There's no way we would have kept track of all of the people present without that, I don't think, at least I couldn't have.
All in all, a great first time experience as a Pathfinder and Society GM.
Thanks!
Christopher
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Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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I can speak to the first question...
Thanks, Thurston, and thanks for "The Blakros Matrimony!" I had fun and the players reported they did as well.
As for specifics...
** spoiler omitted **
All in all, a great first time experience as a...
GREAT to hear! I'm glad that your 'tricks' worked out for you. It's a weird one to run compared to other scenarios, but I'm actually thinking it would be nice for novice GMs, as the combat requirement / rules knowledge is not excessive.
<semi-shameless plug>
Anyways, there's been a lot of people posting that they want to see more scenarios like this. I would honestly suggest that you put up a review, and include that in the description. It is the best way to get your voice noticed by Mike+Mark and the rest of the development team!
</semi-shameless plug>
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My review is pretty simple.
This adventure, has been what I have been waiting for in Society Play for a very long time. Now granted, there are going to be some who are going to moan and groan at all the RP, but that's too bad.
I will say, that if you have RP challenged people, either socially as a player or stats wise cause they are taking penalties, try and utilize things that they are good at. I had a group when I was ran it, that had no CHA cause they dump stat, but they did have INT, so I was able to tell them a little more about the people they were talking to. I also used Sense Motive to have them hear "rumors", which players then used to help NPC's.
There is more than one way to make it work, but it is important that they DO SOMETHING. Sitting there and passing cause they have bad "people" skills, is not an excuse!
What I specifically liked, was that the BBEG's were scary, but if the players, ran away, they weren't going to be punished for it so long as they RPed and weren't there for just the wine and "attendants" as I call them.
Great job Master Thurston, I would like some more adventures like this if you please.
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Contributor
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I would honestly suggest that you put up a review...
Done. To repeat it here, this is the text of my five star review titled "This is what it's all about..."
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Outstanding!
This scenario puts the focus squarely on roleplaying, with over a dozen named NPCs making appearances and its success conditions being met through social interaction, clever use of skills, and straight-up creativity on the part of the players.
Now, not every player is a consummate actor, and the designers clearly understood that, providing a skills-based mechanic for how to win friends and influence people. The group I GMed for had a lot more fun with the roleplaying than the rolling, though.
The scenario also provides screen time for some of the campaign's best-known NPCs, including, of course, members of the Blakros family and some of the faction heads. New characters who seem likely to come into play in the future are also introduced, all with distinct personalities and motivations.
Don't worry if you have a table populated by combat "builds." The players just need to be thoughtful and pay attention. Our gunslinger remembered that Sleight of Hand can be used as a Perform check, and our barbarian listened carefully to what others discovered about a guard captain and did a great job approaching her "warrior to warrior" and so actually used Diplomacy instead of Intimidate (earning himself a bonus in the process).
This was my first experience GMing a Society scenario, and in fact, my first experience GMing the Pathfinder system, but I found it welcoming and rewarding despite by newness. A fine, fine scenario.
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Developer
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This is a real headscratcher for me. Is that money (and the value of the equipment of jewelry earned for completing the encounter with Olaf) in addition to the "Rewards" money? Instead of it? Something else altogether?
Gold, jewelry, gems, trade goods, and art objects are calculated at full value and divided six ways. All character gear (weapons, armor, magic items, scrolls, potions, wands, alchemical items, etc.) are assessed at half list price and divided by 6. This means anything in a statblock or a treasure section has been accounted for in the encounter's (and the scenario's) rewards. When a sum of gold is listed in the treasure or development section of an encounter, that's already incorporated into the rewards section, which is the only number you really need to look at when determining how much gold each PC receives if they skip or fail an encounter. Mentions of treasure in other places is bookkeeping and explanation of where all the money comes from.
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Contributor
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Gold, jewelry, gems, trade goods, and art objects are calculated at full value and divided six ways. All character gear (weapons, armor, magic items, scrolls, potions, wands, alchemical items, etc.) are assessed at half list price and divided by 6. This means anything in a statblock or a treasure section has been accounted for in the encounter's (and the scenario's) rewards. When a sum of gold is listed in the treasure or development section of an encounter, that's already incorporated into the rewards section, which is the only number you really need to look at when determining how much gold each PC receives if they skip or fail an encounter. Mentions of treasure in other places is bookkeeping and explanation of where all the money comes from.
Ah, I understand. Thanks so much!
Cheers,
Christopher
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Just a couple of questions:
The Proper Wedding Attire sidebar says they get penalties if they're in medium or heavy armor, while the Boat Ride says "The two boats have several guards who check over equipment, ensuring that weapons are properly peace-bonded and that no armor above light armor is brought unless the PC has an appropriate title."So, is the only way for them to have medium/heavy armor is if they have their own boat or will the guards still allow them to have their heavier armor?
Nitpick: Subtier 3-4: Alistair, Halberds aren't reach weapons... I thought they were too until one of my players or a forum poster pointed it out to me.
Many Vanities give titles..... maybe it gives the vanity some use? (haven't read the scenario yet)
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Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Well, my Paladin of Abadar showed up in Ceremonial Armor, which the GM said made sense as the Church of Abadar was hosting the event.
This. This is why we need to trust GMs more. A perfect example of such a situational item that never would have made it into print, but should be included in the scenario.
Hope you had fun with the scenario, and tell your GM that decision is GREAT!
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Well, my Paladin of Abadar showed up in Ceremonial Armor, which the GM said made sense as the Church of Abadar was hosting the event.This. This is why we need to trust GMs more. A perfect example of such a situational item that never would have made it into print, but should be included in the scenario.
Hope you had fun with the scenario, and tell your GM that decision is GREAT!
I did have a blast. Int 5 at a formal wedding? WOOT!
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I'm reading this to prep for Winter Fantasy, and I'm finding it a little confusing. For instance, when the elaborately far-fetched kidnapping plot takes place, why is the groom's first instinct to talk to the PC's? Supposedly it's because the mother of the bride is watching him like a hawk? Wouldn't she be interested in the fact that the BRIDE IS MISSING? Why isn't the fact that the BRIDE IS MISSING causing more of a commotion? How does a bride manage to disappear from her own wedding reception without anybody noticing or caring?
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Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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I'm reading this to prep for Winter Fantasy, and I'm finding it a little confusing. For instance, when the elaborately far-fetched kidnapping plot takes place, why is the groom's first instinct to talk to the PC's? Supposedly it's because the mother of the bride is watching him like a hawk? Wouldn't she be interested in the fact that the BRIDE IS MISSING? Why isn't the fact that the BRIDE IS MISSING causing more of a commotion? How does a bride manage to disappear from her own wedding reception without anybody noticing or caring?
The wedding is a well-populated affair, and lasts more than a single day. There are bound to be some moments where the bride & groom are out of the public eye (though rare). There's a lot going on, and pretty much all the guests are more interested in their own political gains than actually caring about where Michellia is.
It's somewhat of a conceit, but I wanted to ensure there were some things for the PCs to do in the scenario beyond just the social role-playing. Heck, the follow-up kidnapping scene can still be resolved through RP if the PCs decide to let the switch happen.
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Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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I'm reading this to prep for Winter Fantasy, and I'm finding it a little confusing. For instance, when the elaborately far-fetched kidnapping plot takes place, why is the groom's first instinct to talk to the PC's? Supposedly it's because the mother of the bride is watching him like a hawk? Wouldn't she be interested in the fact that the BRIDE IS MISSING? Why isn't the fact that the BRIDE IS MISSING causing more of a commotion? How does a bride manage to disappear from her own wedding reception without anybody noticing or caring?
Oh come on! Brides need to use the bathroom too! ;) I'd assume that Michellia gave her some excuse before she left and as the Hostess and Mother-of-the-Bride, she's probably awfully busy making sure everything is going smoothly, like most controlling Mother-of-the-Brides.
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I'm also not sure how the Shadow Lodge is going to convince the rest of their party members to go along with their faction mission. "No really, let's let this elaborate twin-swap plan carry out, and just let the crazy Ulfen guy carry off the bride. It's for the better good, I'm sure of it." Ah well.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Got to play this at Glav's table (scroll up for a description of that) -- and while the rewards didn't pan out for our group in a couple ways, everybody still shared a good time RPing and playing the game for the game's sake.
Spoilers below.
The best moment had to be when our Chelish ranger/human slaver interrupted during the wedding proceedings - basically pitching his philosophies on "freedom" in response to the Abadaran cleric that was orating. It caused everyone in the room to shoot him daggers with their eyes, and the bride to be to very frustratingly ask him to sit back down and kindly shut his mouth.
So afterwards, on the beach when we came across her twin sister trying to pass herself off as Michella. We were almost about to let her get away with it, until the same ranger called out: "how was your wedding? Did you like my speech?" When she smiled and said yes, she loved it, we knew something was up :P
Overall, we were lacking in the social skills department, but Glav dolled out circumstance bonuses like candy at Halloween whenever we started thinking creatively -- we just couldn't roll higher than a 10 (at least I couldn't). I think my only success was when I won over the guard captain (or influenced her at least) by besting her in some feats of strength -- and only because I had a positive modifier to that stat.
Ultimately, I think that like any game, a lot of this scenario's success hinges on the GM. The Blakros Matrimony is not something to run cold, and it requires a lot of flexibility on the GMs part. And as a player, I think that the combination of good story and great GMing is what caused my playthrough to be a success, even with our bombed faction missions.
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Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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The Scenario mentions that all weapons are peace-bonded. How does that work mechanically? When the fight starts is there a Str check to draw your weapon? Are two-handed weapons even allowed at the reception at all? I would really like an explanation on how to handle the whole peace-bonded thing.
The full rules for peace-bonded weapons appear on the sidebar on page 11. Basically, they require a full-round action to draw, representing the PCs time to remove the bonds on the weapon.
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Just finished running this for my home group. Oh my!
First: They rocked the RP section and ended up with everyone influenced. Score one for the bard with an awesome Diplomacy and a monk with a ridiculous sense motive. Nothing escaped those two.
First combat was challenging for the group but they got through it. The biggest problem was a lack of armor due to their choice to RP it up in tuxes, top hats, and bow ties (the whole party). The second combat was a real challenge, demons were dealt with easily but the boss was a real problem for them. I had a lot of fun using telekenesis to hit the barbarian with dead demon corpses, spears, tables, guests, etc. The addition of shadow conj and evo lead to a lot of saves vs pits and fireballs. In the end I had them all down to very few hp and choose to fear them all instead of TPK it at the last moment. I thank you Thurston for giving GMs a way to win the encounter but still let PCs live and finish XP intact.
In the end...one great scenario that I wouldn't mind running multiple times.
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Venture-Agent, Colorado—Colorado Springs
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I just ran this yesterday, and it was a blast! Unfortunately only one character managed to succeed at the mission of gaining influence over 3 people. From what I understand it, that's held individually, so those who only gained influence over 1 or 2 still get the boons but not the prestige point.
I do have an issue with the scenario's influence checks though. I don't think there are enough chances. From my count, if the group takes the second boat for the extra influence check, and never attempts to gain influence over Tancred (who is effectively never there to gain influence over), they only have a total of 6 checks. Half the people present require a total of 3 successful checks meaning if you so much as attempt to influence on of them, you automatically fail the scenario. Doesn't seem right.
My solution was to allow a few additional checks between and after the two fights, which still resulted in only one player receiving their prestige point due to too many failed attempts over all.
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Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Don't forget that for every 5 points above the DC, you get another influence point. Our bard was consistently hitting the +5 mark on his checks. They left Hamaria and Tancred, and then didn't get a chance to influence them. And also that the PCs can split up.
Once an NPC has been successfully
influenced a number of times equal to the number listed
under Successes Needed, she is considered friendly
toward the party.
...
Each guest has a listed DC that the PCs must beat to
gain an Influence Point. Once the party has accrued the
listed number of Influence Points for an NPC, they have
gained influence over that NPC.
So as long as a total of three people are influenced the requisite number of times/points, the entire party gets the credit. The mission was for the group to gain influence, so even if just one person was doing the influencing, the group still succeeded at their mission. Even if three different people influence one person three separate times, he'd still count as influenced towards the party.
If a group's mission is to kill a BBEG, and only one player ever hits him, do you only give PP to that player? No, because it doesn't matter who dealt the killing blow, as long as he's dead the group succeeded. Same thing here.
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Venture-Agent, Colorado—Colorado Springs
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Don't forget that for every 5 points above the DC, you get another influence point. Our bard was consistently hitting the +5 mark on his checks. They left Hamaria and Tancred, and then didn't get a chance to influence them. And also that the PCs can split up.
Once an NPC has been successfully
influenced a number of times equal to the number listed
under Successes Needed, she is considered friendly
toward the party.
...
Each guest has a listed DC that the PCs must beat to
gain an Influence Point. Once the party has accrued the
listed number of Influence Points for an NPC, they have
gained influence over that NPC.So as long as a total of three people are influenced the requisite number of times/points, the entire party gets the credit. The mission was for the group to gain influence, so even if just one person was doing the influencing, the group still succeeded at their mission. Even if three different people influence one person three separate times, he'd still count as influenced towards the party.
If a group's mission is to kill a BBEG, and only one player ever hits him, do you only give PP to that player? No, because it doesn't matter who dealt the killing blow, as long as he's dead the group succeeded. Same thing here.
Based on the wording of the success conditions that's now how I interpreted it. I'll have to double check but didn't someone above say the boons at the end are also awarded on an individual basis? Is that still true, or would I award the boons to everyone even if only one player participated in gaining influence over a particular NPC?
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I've played this at an Organised Play in my local area, we had an excellent GM, imitating every NPC's voice and behaviour individually. If you've been playing pen&paper/PFS for a few months, and want to improve your Golarion Lore or roleplaying skills, then this is an excellent scenario.
My friend and I helped each other's influence points by aid-another, and then completed our mission during ceremony. My friend had +8 diplo, to the contrary I had -1, but still when Alexander stood up and opposed the marriage, I made a good, brief speech to support him and hide his mistake, and rolled 20; success!
Also both my friend and I have the Andoran title "Eagle Knight", it made the things very easy for us. :) The rest of party didn't have anything such.
Also I'm going to play this scenario as GM this weekend, and it will be my second GMing experience. We'll see, I'll work on this hard, this is a wonderful scenario and I want my friends to enjoy this. I hope I won't ruin.
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I have a short question;
can a PC who usually wears heavy/medium armour, wear a ceremonial one on his regular h/m armour?
Or he has to take off his armour (and maybe leave it in his guest bedroom)?
Our GM had us wear ceremonial armor without diplomatic penalties. I'm pretty sure if they had the space, they would add that into the scenario. Good luck, have fun, and worship Abadar, God of Shiny Armor!
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I just ran this yesterday, and it was a blast! Unfortunately only one character managed to succeed at the mission of gaining influence over 3 people. From what I understand it, that's held individually, so those who only gained influence over 1 or 2 still get the boons but not the prestige point.
I do have an issue with the scenario's influence checks though. I don't think there are enough chances. From my count, if the group takes the second boat for the extra influence check, and never attempts to gain influence over Tancred (who is effectively never there to gain influence over), they only have a total of 6 checks. Half the people present require a total of 3 successful checks meaning if you so much as attempt to influence on of them, you automatically fail the scenario. Doesn't seem right.
My solution was to allow a few additional checks between and after the two fights, which still resulted in only one player receiving their prestige point due to too many failed attempts over all.
I really liked this approach. For 3 seasons, players have learned to dump abilities, make killing machine relic hunters, and worry about damage per round, making the 2 pp a given for every game. I really really want this new feel to work. Dumped your INT for a high strength? Good luck with achieving you faction mission. I really want less hack and slash and more problem solving /rp such as what this module presented - a dream come true for me as a gm.
Also, the fact that there were only 5-6 chances to get the influence is the charm of the influence challenge. It should not be a 'gimme' in my opinion. Also, in oder for the whole interactive meta plot to develop, i as a player or gm want to see some people get prestige or not get it - its more epic overall than just critting for 40+ damage to me.
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Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
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I was planning on running this next week, but I would practically be running it cold ... I'm not taking chances.
This is not a scenario you want to run cold. Heck, I'd even avoid running it room temperature. You wanna heat this sucker up and add some spices before you jump right into it. :)
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Best for party to split in half to cover more ground (hopefully more than 3 in party). Also party gets an extra +1 bonus for every 5 over # needed. I believe Hamaria is only available during 3 checks and you need a 20 and 3 successes for her. Bedard leaves scenario early therefore only 3 possible tries for him too.
Then again as others pointed out, people need to build their characters with a little skill.
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I was planning on running this next week, but I would practically be running it cold ... I'm not taking chances.This is not a scenario you want to run cold. Heck, I'd even avoid running it room temperature. You wanna heat this sucker up and add some spices before you jump right into it. :)
Totally agree. I ran it after 3 read throughs and I still felt like the first half was stale. It takes some good GMing to make the influence section great. Without that, the influence section is just a bunch of repeated skill checks.
I would also be careful with the combats. They have the potential to be vicious against an unprepared party. I was tempted to make all the barbarians fly and pepper the party with arrows but the party I ran for was way under prepared (no fly potions, only one had a ranged weapon). The last combat also has some serious potential for a knowledgeable GM. Telekinesis, greater teleport, and fear at will plus a scattering of conjuration and evocation give you a lot of options. I would spend some time looking over what spells you may want to mimic with the shadow spells.
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So let me see if I have this right. Say we have influence chance #1. 5 pcs. 3 of them work together, 2 go solo. The 3 man team gets 1 failed aid attempt, the other succeeds, and the main pc succeeds the dc on the nose. Who gets the credit? Also it looks like influence must be gained from 3 parties for each pc to get a non faction pp....In your scenario, all 3 of the 3-person team would get an Influence Point, even the one who failed to aid another.
And yes, each PC should have gained enough influence with 3 different NPCs by the scenario's conclusion to surpass those NPCs' respective Successes Needed threshhold. A PC who has a bunch of Influence Points spread out over several NPCs but hasn't reached the target number with any of them does not earn a Prestige Point for the primary mission.
Could you give some design perspective on why this is?
...making a good impression on the Blakroses and their guests is key to your mission. You’ll need to mingle, and get on the good sides of as many people as you can. I can’t stress this point enough: This is a social gathering, and the Society could really use the extra clout with all our current efforts being so far abroad. I don’t care if you save the wedding from a dragon, find out the bride is a doppelganger, or discover some grand plot to take over the Inner Sea—I only care that you leave this wedding having made people happy and improving our standing among the attendees! Are we understood?”"
"The Pathfinder Society’s primary goal for this scenario is to gain influence with the guests and Blakros family members in attendance at the wedding."
(emphasis mine)
It should be the goal of the *group* to influence 3 people for the mission success prestige point, not an individual goal/metric, especially given the context of the scenario.
To put it in different terms:
Ambrus: "On behalf of the entire Pathfinder Society, go kill this coven of evil witches!"(Party departs, succeeds & returns.)
Party: "We killed them, Ambrus!"
Ambrus: "Excellent, as a group you completed the mission and the whole Society benefits..."
Party: "Huzzah!"
Ambrus: "...but if you individually did not successfully hit 3 different witches 3 times each, then you personally failed the mission."
Party: "Whhhhhaaaa--"
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I was planning on running this next week, but I would practically be running it cold ... I'm not taking chances.This is not a scenario you want to run cold. Heck, I'd even avoid running it room temperature. You wanna heat this sucker up and add some spices before you jump right into it. :)
I have maybe on afternoon to prep, so I'd be running it semi-cold. I'll opt to play simpler scenarios instead, which involve less social interactions and improvisation skills.
Even though improvisation is my best skill. Preparation, however, is something I lack.
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Anyways, there's been a lot of people posting that they want to see more scenarios like this. I would honestly suggest that you put up a review, and include that in the description. It is the best way to get your voice noticed by Mike+Mark and the rest of the development team!
</semi-shameless plug>
Done. Another 5 star review. 5 reviews, 25 stars so far. Not sure if that is a record but it does mean that you can take some well deserved bows.