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I just finished reading the scenario and doing some prep, and I have to say it looks like a blast. I'll definitely report back with how the game goes on Saturday.
For anyone prepping, I uploaded all the bestiary baddies in a single file to the GM shared prep folder. Enjoy.
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Thanks for the baddies docs, will definitely help.
My first read through gives me a less then stellar expectations for it. The roleplay elements look fine but lack the details I know my players will want to know (details on the "evidence" is sparse at best) and the guardian seems to be a TPK waiting to happen if you have a less then optimal party make up.
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Thanks for the baddies docs, will definitely help.
My first read through gives me a less then stellar expectations for it. The roleplay elements look fine but lack the details I know my players will want to know (details on the "evidence" is sparse at best) and the guardian seems to be a TPK waiting to happen if you have a less then optimal party make up.
The evidence is given in greater detail in #4-10: The Disappeared, which happens to be the prequel to this scenario.
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For anyone prepping, I uploaded all the bestiary baddies in a single file to the GM shared prep folder. Enjoy.
That was fast! Thanks a lot for getting these ready and sharing them.
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Just a note--the PCs might have already pissed off Elixia, their guide, in Race for the Runecarved Key, so ask players if their characters played that and did the part with the Hellknight (they probably won't remember her name unless prompted). Similarly, now that this one is out, if you run Runecarved Key, you should probably ask if the PCs played Fortress of the Nail (in which case they'd recognize Elixia immediately).
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Thanks for the baddies docs, will definitely help.
My first read through gives me a less then stellar expectations for it. The roleplay elements look fine but lack the details I know my players will want to know (details on the "evidence" is sparse at best
That was my impression as well, I'm really struggling with ways to drag each roleplay scene out into multiple skill checks.
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So Mathwei touched on it earier, but having not played "The Disappeared" yet, I'm sure the players will be asking more about this "evidence". if they ask and one of them has played the other scenario, I'm sure they can fill the rest of the party in. However, if noone has, what should I tell them?
I think it's important enough that just leaving it at that will kinda take you out of the roleplay of this scenario (of which there looks to be plenty).
If the evidence is a spoiler, feel free to put it in a spoiler tag. I will be running the disappeared in about two weeks and before I get to play it.
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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So Mathwei touched on it earier, but having not played "The Disappeared" yet, I'm sure the players will be asking more about this "evidence". if they ask and one of them has played the other scenario, I'm sure they can fill the rest of the party in. However, if noone has, what should I tell them?
I think it's important enough that just leaving it at that will kinda take you out of the roleplay of this scenario (of which there looks to be plenty).
If the evidence is a spoiler, feel free to put it in a spoiler tag. I will be running the disappeared in about two weeks and before I get to play it.
This is from memory, so if anyone else wants to fill in and/or correct, please feel free:
1 - The "evidence" of her betrayal is a series of letters offering Thrune secrets for sale, and detailing various meetings with anti-Thrune insurrectionists. All of them are forgeries, discerned relatively easily by comparing them with personal writings known to be hers (a personal journal, if I recall).
2 - She has an alibi for several of the meetings she supposedly made with the House Thrune enemy. While those meetings were going on she was away from Absalom on business.
That's it. Kinda thin, in my mind. When I ran The Disappeared, I made the alibi-granting trip a last minute trip that was actually scheduled by House Thrune, itself, making the alibi much more air tight and likely to pass inspection. Her framer would not have been as aware of a last minute trip, and if it was official Chelaxian business, then records of that request would exist outside of Zarta's travel log.
I'm planning on writing up a description to the same effect for this scenario. I'm also thinking of detailing deposits made to her account as "payments" from the insurrectionist will have come when she was away, and that a description of the depositor from the banker did not match Zarta, nor does the signature on the deposit slip match her (very recognizable) signature, as she always added a lipstick laden kiss to any deposit slip she filled out.
Those are my ideas. Hope they help.
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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New thing:
Losarkur's kennel in Avernus has five pillars on the map surrounded by pools of molten lava (and they are called out in the box text description of the room). Included in the GM text detailing the room is this:
"Any PC who steps in one of the molten pools takes 2d6 points of fire damage each round until she vacates that square."
The pillars and pools occupy the nexus of four squares, not even taking up a fourth of any of the squares they are "in." So, I don't see how these are a hindrance in the fight, except to stop 5' steps through those corners. I certainly don't see how they could possibly be stepped in. Unless standing in a square which the pool touches counts as stepping in the pool, which ends up making that hall extremely dangerous, as there will be very few squares that are safe to occupy.
Any ideas on how this should be handled?
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Interesting observation. I would probably think that all 4 adjacent squares are subject to the first damage, if they are medium. Maybe small characters can occupy those squares without trouble, or medium characters could choose to "squeeze" in that square in order to not take the fire damage.
At least, that's what makes sense in my head.
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I managed to run this yesterday with adequate results considering the time I had to prepare. Had to run home quick and watch 5 episodes of Game of Thrones afterwards though...
Tyraxor, Half-orc Druid 8
Jo Stiggson, Human Paladin 5
Vasco Cantige, Human Barbarian 2/Fighter 4/Ranger 3
Kummor, Dwarf Rogue 6
First up we realized the faction missions are ... very similar. Only 4 factions have a mission other than "save Zarta Dralneen". Refreshingly different.
After the initial briefing they head off to the fortress as intended, greet the guards and meet Fielf-Maralictor, and proceed to the inner fortress. They begin this diplomatic endeavour, and actually manage to do the whole thing without a single failure.
I had a bit of a problem with the conversations though. The evidence isn't laid out properly, as others have noticed, and everyone is having a hard time coming up with arguments and counter-arguments. I, as the GM, particularly struggled as the paravicar and mistress of blades require 3 consecutive successes, yet I don't feel there's that much to talk about. The need for three rolls seems very forced, as one roll would easily do.
Once they got the lictor's signature, it was off to Caina. There they met Herphis and initiated combat. The scenario actually doesn't say, but I ruled the hell hounds were invisible (thanks to oils of invisibility). Thus they got a surprise round and attacked. This encounter lasted for 1-½ rounds, the Maralictor managed to make one single attack action. Then again the group was overpowering, as you will soon find out.
They searched the place and found all the necessary elements to enter the layer of Hell. Unfortunately they hadn't pushed Heriphis about his intentions to it was up to me after the scenario to explain why there was a portal and what the whole ordeal was. Nevertheless they entered, and initiated combat with Nessian warhound. Now, this creature is very evil, but sucks with its single attack. It didn't last long thanks to Vasco's +1 Agile Elven curved blade, improved critical, and enhanced static damage modifiers. I need to run this again with a balanced group to see if the Nessian Warhound is as deadly as it reads on the paper. Now it just managed to scare the PCs with its 10d6 breath.
What was interesting was that the player felt ashamed and sorry (? The player may correct me if he happens to wander here) for pulling out the big guns and dealing some 80+ damage in one full attack, obliterating the warhound. See his sheet at the spoiler for details. The combat lasted maybe 2-½ rounds. Because the execution was swift, I later decided to describe the slaughter of the bearded devil instead of playing it out. I doubt it would have survived a single round.
They rescue Zarta yadda yadda all is jolly the end.
My test run was hastily prepared, with a group unfit for the subtier, and stumped in length. Based on the play-through I'd rank it a 3-star, although we did have much fun, so I still believe this scenario to be around the 4-5 star ground.
Advice for other GMs:
* Write down possible arguments and theses which the paravicar and mistress of blades can use against the Pathfinders.
* Some might question how Markus Gael knows all that stuff about a portal in the warden's room. Saying he served under the maralictor before his arrest 8 months ago should solve the problem.
Errors:
* Page 6: The map is neat, yet complex. And utterly useless in the scenario. Really, I used it to show where the places were but still, could have saved the ink. I advise others to save their ink too.
* Several NPCs are listed as having Hellknight prestige class, although they don't meet the prerequisites. For example said prestige class requries a BAB of +5, and a Sorcerer 7 nor an Alchemist 6 get that. It is practically a non-issue, but is still an error.
* CRobledo mentioned the lavaspire nonsense. I disregarded them altogether.
* The tactics of the Edavagor are attrocious. Distribute attacks evenly? How stupid must you be?
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* The tactics of the Edavagor are attrocious. Distribute attacks evenly? How stupid must you be?
I'm scheduled to run this at a con next month, and from the sign-ups it looks like it's going to be a high tier table. This strategy might actually save lives, because looking at that beast is giving me some concern.
It has the BAB and save DC's of something CR 16 or higher, the average damage is about right (slightly high) IF you do not use power attack. If you do, then the damage is appropriate for a CR 18 or 19 creature. This thing is going to suffer from the issue of being a single boss, so it might not be as bad as I fear, but WOW, he really does look overpowered for a CR 12. If he gets a full attack round, he's doing 100+, just about guaranteed.
The Nessian Warhound might not be very challenging, but I think the Edavagor will be that and then some...depending on party make up/actions.
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My test run was hastily prepared, with a group unfit for the subtier, and stumped in length.I think this is your #1 culprit. a level 9 and 8 in a 5-6 will demolish a lot of things. Single BBEG fights do suffer a lot from mis-leveled parties.
That I know. I allowed them in mainly because they want to level up their characters for Tier 10 goodness.
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That I know. I allowed them in mainly because they want to level up their characters for Tier 10 goodness.Naw, you ran it at the right ST (APL 6.8). Sometimes you have no control on the signups. Besides, the Edavagor would have probably eaten the level 5-7's alive.
I make it a point to run prep fights against every interesting creature that's presented in these scenarios against the level appropriate pregens from the NPC Codex just to prep since the fights can get involved.
With the 5 times I've run this fight against the NPC pregens the Edavagor is batting about 80% win rate against the party (hits 100% so far if the party doesn't have Seelah or Kyrah).The sheer amount of damage, defenses, high speed and maneuverability makes this the most challenging 5-9 creature I've ever seen. I fear for an un-optimized parties survival against this thing.
Tomorrow is my regular game day and I'm going to try and pull a few of our experienced GM's aside and run a fight demo fight vs. this thing before unleashing it at the convention I'm scheduled to run it for next week. I don't have high hopes against this thing without a few barbarians and a paladin (or two).
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That I know. I allowed them in mainly because they want to level up their characters for Tier 10 goodness.Naw, you ran it at the right ST (APL 6.8). Sometimes you have no control on the signups. Besides, the Edavagor would have probably eaten the level 5-7's alive.I make it a point to run prep fights against every interesting creature that's presented in these scenarios against the level appropriate pregens from the NPC Codex just to prep since the fights can get involved.
With the 5 times I've run this fight against the NPC pregens the Edavagor is batting about 80% win rate against the party (hits 100% so far if the party doesn't have Seelah or Kyrah).
The sheer amount of damage, defenses, high speed and maneuverability makes this the most challenging 5-9 creature I've ever seen. I fear for an un-optimized parties survival against this thing.Tomorrow is my regular game day and I'm going to try and pull a few of our experienced GM's aside and run a fight demo fight vs. this thing before unleashing it at the convention I'm scheduled to run it for next week. I don't have high hopes against this thing without a few barbarians and a paladin (or two).
I ran this tonight at the high subtier, and the party didn't have too much trouble with the edavagor. They managed to kill it right before his breath weapon was about to recharge in the 4th round. The 8th-level paladin doing the tanking had a 37 AC while smiting, and an alchemist throwing sonic bombs managed to whittle away most of its hp without too much trouble.
The roleplaying encounters went by pretty quickly, as I believe 4 or 5 of the 6 players were trained in Diplomacy. I really struggled with finding meaningful ways to make it more interesting than just "here's the evidence".
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I really struggled with finding meaningful ways to make it more interesting than just "here's the evidence".
QFT
I basically had to improvise the whole discussion, coming up with different arguments.
Also it's a tad odd that this super-Lawful organization takes the Pathfinders' word instead of an extensive study on the evidence.
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The roleplaying encounters went by pretty quickly, as I believe 4 or 5 of the 6 players were trained in Diplomacy. I really struggled with finding meaningful ways to make it more interesting than just "here's the evidence".
Unless the table says at the start of the game that they are not "role" players and just want to roll dice, I don't let them make diplomacy checks until they describe what their character is saying. And anyone who wants to aid, had better be contributing to the conversation, not just grabbing a d20 saying, "I assist." Sure they'll probably succeed with good modifiers, but where's the fun in just relegating the game to a bunch of dice rolls? I suppose for some that is okay, but in my experience, the vast majority of players want more than that.
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Also it's a tad odd that this super-Lawful organization takes the Pathfinders' word instead of an extensive study on the evidence.
I don't get the idea that the hellknights studied any evidence. It appears that Dralneen was turned over to them by a recognized representative of the Chelish government as a criminal. They likely accepted that as good enough and locked her up. That, and they are getting paid to keep her. Both seem plenty reason for them to accept that she did what is claimed.
If Pathfinders merely showed up and tried to claim otherwise, I doubt the hellknights would act, but with the evidence, they reconsider. We are playing off their rigid compliance with law.
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and to riff off Bob... they can be duped because they expect everyone else in the Chelish government to also strictly adhere to law, after all that's what the Chelish Empire is all about.
Exactly. That's why I find it odd they take it on facevalue. These pathfinders come in and say "yeah your government locked her up on false pretences". No one in the fortress seems to begin the conversation with a "absurd! That cannot be" -attitude.
...if I am to run the scenario again, I might just add some flavor like that.
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I do not think all hellknights, especially the leadership are blind idealists that are naive enough to think that even the Chelish government cannot make mistakes. Anytime you involve real people in the affairs of law, personal prejudices and errors can impact an otherwise "perfect" set of laws. Of course, it would probably be a different story if the one who laid claims vs. Dralneen was himself a hellknight, but Tancred Desimire does not strike me as such.
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John, I don't think you're going to see someone giving out the boons from the scenarios ... but yes there is a very cool one ... Play and see :)
This was a fun scenario from a player perspective... though a word of caution, I really don't recommend playing up unless you have a well balanced group of almost all tier appropriate ... 5 slightly underpowered with the healer being level 5 was a tricky one at the end.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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John, I don't think you're going to see someone giving out the boons from the scenarios ... but yes there is a very cool one ... Play and see :)
This was a fun scenario from a player perspective... though a word of caution, I really don't recommend playing up unless you have a well balanced group of almost all tier appropriate ... 5 slightly underpowered with the healer being level 5 was a tricky one at the end.
I was actually asking to see if I should run that over another mod. The interesting boons in season are a big part of the fun so far. Mostly as the group considers the moral quandaries and wonders what effects their choices will have down the line.
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That I know. I allowed them in mainly because they want to level up their characters for Tier 10 goodness.Naw, you ran it at the right ST (APL 6.8). Sometimes you have no control on the signups. Besides, the Edavagor would have probably eaten the level 5-7's alive.I make it a point to run prep fights against every interesting creature that's presented in these scenarios against the level appropriate pregens from the NPC Codex just to prep since the fights can get involved.
With the 5 times I've run this fight against the NPC pregens the Edavagor is batting about 80% win rate against the party (hits 100% so far if the party doesn't have Seelah or Kyrah).
The sheer amount of damage, defenses, high speed and maneuverability makes this the most challenging 5-9 creature I've ever seen. I fear for an un-optimized parties survival against this thing.Tomorrow is my regular game day and I'm going to try and pull a few of our experienced GM's aside and run a fight demo fight vs. this thing before unleashing it at the convention I'm scheduled to run it for next week. I don't have high hopes against this thing without a few barbarians and a paladin (or two).
I ran this tonight at the high subtier, and the party didn't have too much trouble with the edavagor. They managed to kill it right before his breath weapon was about to recharge in the 4th round. The 8th-level paladin doing the tanking had a 37 AC while smiting, and an alchemist throwing sonic bombs managed to whittle away most of its hp without too much trouble.
The roleplaying encounters went by pretty quickly, as I believe 4 or 5 of the 6 players were trained in Diplomacy. I really struggled with finding meaningful ways to make it more interesting than just "here's the evidence".
That right there is where my concerns are. Unless you have a smiting paladin to front-line against it my run through always ended with TPK.
If you where to imagine the party you just sent through it without a paladin in the front how do you think it would have gone?|
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I was actually asking to see if I should run that over another mod. The interesting boons in season are a big part of the fun so far. Mostly as the group considers the moral quandaries and wonders what effects their choices will have down the line.John, I don't think you're going to see someone giving out the boons from the scenarios ... but yes there is a very cool one ... Play and see :)
This was a fun scenario from a player perspective... though a word of caution, I really don't recommend playing up unless you have a well balanced group of almost all tier appropriate ... 5 slightly underpowered with the healer being level 5 was a tricky one at the end.
I will say this,,, you probably want to run
Storming the Diamond gate
Blakros Matrimony
The Disappeared
and then
Fortress of the Nail
They are kind of a chain that gives more of the whole story behind the scenes and the boon for Fortress is pretty cool
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I've been thinking about those counter-arguments:
a) "Who would benefit from Zarta's imprisonment?"
b) "If there's evidence against her imprisonment, how did it escape the attention of those responsible?"
c) "Did she have an alibi?"
d) "Why pretend as if she never existed instead of just admitting she was taken prisoner for crimes against the government? Why the secrecy?"
e) "How do we know you haven't made forgeries that look like evidence?"
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I am running this one on wednesday, and have an initial comment...
Spoiler
The encounter in is a nasty one, but could have been way better overall. I mean, its really just 1 big room and a hall - would have been cooler to have about 4-6 rooms plus halls to explore and bring out the fact that the pcs are in a hostile realm.
Also, the optional encounter is really very terribly timed. Would have been better to have like the devil plus 1-2 hell hounds encountered before the BBEG, with maybe a special condition (like using the 2d6 damage lava in some round by round hazard manner).
Just my 2cp.
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I've been thinking about those counter-arguments:
a) "Who would benefit from Zarta's imprisonment?"
b) "If there's evidence against her imprisonment, how did it escape the attention of those responsible?"
c) "Did she have an alibi?"
d) "Why pretend as if she never existed instead of just admitting she was taken prisoner for crimes against the government? Why the secrecy?"
e) "How do we know you haven't made forgeries that look like evidence?"
A. "Who would benefit from Zarta's imprisonment
B. "If there's evidence against her imprisonment, how did it escape the attention of those responsible?"
C. "Did she have an alibi?"
[spoiler=Spoiler]In the scenario after the VC briefing, it states that the society found her personal travel logs which prove that she was away from Absalom at the time when the letters claim she met with her conspirators
D. "Why pretend as if she never existed instead of just admitting she was taken prisoner for crimes against the government? Why the secrecy?"
E. "How do we know you haven't made forgeries that look like evidence?"
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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I ran this today as a “slot zero” for the Genghis Con GMs and thought I would provide a rundown on the game for you all. This will be a long post, so I spoilered a lot of the details to save space.
- Omar bin Zayed – 7th level(?) trapper ranger 2hf, Grand Lodge
- Milo – 8th level Halfling paladin with a riding dog bonded mount, Silver Crusade
- Cailyn – 7th level cleric of Desna, Andoran
- Kayla & Fluffy – 9th level summoner (Fluffy’s a rather large and scary teddy bear), Osirion
- Ratcliffe – 7th level(?) Inuisitor of (not) Iomadae, Cheliax
- Floromolachus – 7th level sorcerer (elemental-fire bloodline), Cheliax
They played high tier, of course.
First, I changed the fluff around a little bit.
I went on to state that a team was sent into the Chelaxian embassy in Absalom to snoop around, and the following evidence brought to light.
- First, the forged letters detailing Zarta’s “meetings” with anti-Thrune parties.
- Second, the personal travel log.
- Third, depository notes indicating payments made during the various “meetings.”
- Of importance is the fact that the travel log’s handwriting and that of the letters do not quite match. Additionally, the travel log indicates that Zarta was called away from Absalom during official business at the last minute right before one of the meetings were to have taken place. With the official seal of Cheliax on those itineraries, the fact that she was not in Absalom at the time of that meeting could not be disputed. As well, the payment she received for the meeting when she was away from Absalom was still deposited while she was away, and the deposit note was noticeably different; it lacked the distinctive lipstick mark that Zarta left on every other deposit note she made (some of which the Society procured from the bank).
- Finally, the Society secured an eyewitness account from the banker who took her deposits indicating that Zarta was “not her usual self” on the day she made that deposit. “Specifically, she didn’t, um, make me…squirm…the way she usually does.”
- The team also came out of the embassy with Zarta’s location: Citadel Vraid.
Much of this, obviously, was enhanced by me. I made these same enhancements when I ran “The Disappeared,” but they didn’t really come up.
I also made sure to mention that Citadel Vraid is infamous for the myriad prisons, oubliettes, and “reformatories” that the Order of the Nail oversees within its walls. The number is high enough that the outside world actually doesn’t have any good estimate of how many prisoners the Citadel houses, much less the number that it executes or “disappears.” Finally, I made sure to prompt a knowledge local check so that the players were aware of the Order of the Nail’s place in Varisian society and history (which can be found on the wiki, and I won’t go into detail about – but it matters, in my mind, for how the players approach the Order).
When the party asked why the evidence did not exonerate her with Cheliax, I had Heidmarch explain that with as powerful an enemy as she had apparently made (Tancred Desimire), and the subsequent speed with which he was able to conduct her trial, the act of being “disappeared” likely completely removed any possibility that the evidence would be reexamined. When they asked why Citadel Vraid would merely accept the prisoner without proper evidence, I prompted them with the mercenary knowledge. This led them into a discussion in which they concluded that Zarta would have been given over by a lawful government with proper paperwork and instructions, and thus would not have been given second thought, assuming proper payment was also made. I merely had to nod and agree with their discussion.
When the group arrived at the Citadel, I met them with the Field Maralictor, but did not have her know the name of The Disappeared; she knew only that the Society was interested in restoring someone to their former station. I otherwise left her role intact, if a tad more severe than she is presented in the scenario.
By this point, I am proud to say, I had recruited one of the party into becoming a Hellknight Signifier. The Chelaxian sorcerer hadn’t considered the idea ever, but now was making inquiries into joining the ranks and what it took to be a Hellknight. Someone pointed out the vanity, and he ran with it. (-:
They also made a side trip to the library. The trapper and the summoner conspired to steal a book; this ended rather quickly.
I forgot to bring the cerberi in until the 2nd round. /-:
The cerberi did do a reasonable amount of damage to the sorcerer, but were otherwise ineffective. If I had remembered to bring them in on the surprise round, I think this fight would have been slightly more tense, though the result would have been the same. The paladin, ranger, and eidolon all had ACs in the high 20s and low 30s, and the inquisitor was no slouch at providing damage that compared favorably with those three. Combined with blessing of fervor and prayer, and the group didn’t break much of a sweat after my first hit.
Another couple rounds later, and the stable and unconscious Maralictor was dumped in a cell to be given over to the Hellknights later, and the party was talking to the remaining prisoners. I moved the location of the picture/gate to the wall behind the desk so the prisoners could see what went on. Once they had the story of the Maralictor’s deceit nailed down, and had released Sascha (but not Marcus), I called a bathroom break. Because of this, the party forgot to buff up before going to hell. (-:<
In hindsight, I shouldn’t have, as my dice completely failed me. I needed to roll a 10 or better to hit most of the “big three” while power attacking, and often missed with four out of five attacks. I never landed more than two out of five. At one point in time I had the paladin’s mount lined up to trip, hopefully removing the smiting paladin from the fight for a round. I rolled a high enough hit that the paladin couldn't make the ride check to avoid it. On the subsequent CMB to trip, I rolled a 1. Ugh.
With the paladin’s smite and the high number of attacks the group was able to put on due to blessing of ferver, the edavagor went down after five rounds. I rolled a “4” on the breath weapon recharge, so it never got that off a second time, as it died on the round it would have been able to use it again. I think, had I hit more often, I would have made the group a lot more nervous (and they already were, when I was handing out hit numbers and damage amounts). No one went down, though, nor were they much threatened due to my lousy dice. One full attack saw me roll a 1, 3, 1, 5 and 8. d-:
The paracountess was rescued by teleporting into the cage and teleporting out, triggering the erinyes contingency. But I didn’t run that fight due to time constraints (we ran a four hour slot, as that is what we’ll do at Genghis Con, and with all the role playing, we were already 10 minutes over).
A fun time was had by all, however, and a new respect was earned for the Hellknights. With the added flavor of withholding Zarta’s name, and the additional evidence I added in, we had plenty of talking points, and the group came away with a very good sense of story, I think. I directed them to this thread as part of their prep for the con, so hopefully they’ll chime in with their own observations, should they have some.
Thanks for the time. I hope you enjoyed (and can make use of) the account.
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A. "Who would benefit from Zarta's imprisonmentSpoiler:
If you play the Blakros Matrimony, you'll find out that Tancred Desimire is mad because he was in love with the daughter and a Chelixian Hellnight won her heart. There is also an underlying need to clear his family name after what is brother Aglorn did by turning to the Aspis (Storming the Diamond Gate.
That's not right, you're getting him confused with
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Drogon, excellent alteration to the original scenario. Keeping Zarta's identity out of the way they seem less knowledgeable about her false imprisonment. Reading your summary it feels like I botched the scenario altogether by running it as written.
And PFC, I listed those counter-arguments so other GMs could use them with the paravicar and mistress of the blades.
Regarding the "Who would benefit from Zarta's imprisonment?"...
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So I had an interesting table of subtier 5-6 yesterday. I had 3 pseudo hellknights already in the party (one samurai armiger, one cleric of smodeus signifier-to-be and one "hellknight lite") so the roleplay in this scenario was quite excellent. During the VC briefing when he said "Some of you may have problems with their practices..." they were all like: "What? Who has any problems with them? Law is good!", etc...
We did have a Paladin in the group, which was mostly ok with the practices at the citadel except for maybe the slaves being forced to transcribe books.
The party had no trouble gathering the two signatures required. The Paladin even flirted a bit with the Mistress of Blades (being LG herself). They were eventually taken to the oubliette.
In there, they pretty much presented the papers of release right away, so the fight got underway. This was pretty easy fight, as the samurai was a sunder specialist, meaning the guy's +1 flaming longsword was destroyed in the first round after a Iiajutsu strike on the sword. Much of which went to the hellknight (Greater Sunder).
We then had to deal with the Sczarni faction mission. We had our Sczarni player, a CG gnome wizard, instigate everyone else to kill his target. They took them out of the cell, he tried to tumble past everyone to escape, but couldn't get past the samurai so he got bonked unconscious. After a near CDG by the gnome's familiar, the Paladin was finally able to convince everyone to put the dude back in his cell to rot. (so after QUITE a few close calls, no alignment shift).
Fight with the nessian next. it moved up and readied to use its breath weapon as soon as 2 enemies were in range. The Ranger had sent in his eagle, who got chomped in the OpAttack. The big melee characters (Sword Saint, Ranger, Paladin) went up toe to toe with him to keep the back line behind the 30 ft mark. He did some good damage, but not enough to bring any party members down. The party remembered that nessians have armor, so after another Iaijutsu strike to the armor (sundered) it's AC was low enough that they finished wiping the floor with him.
Zarta was rescued, and I almost didn't run the Bearded Devil fight. But I had noticed some players had put away their dice, and the rest of the party hadn't healed up after the Nessian, so I decided to run it. Even so, the samurai won initiative and sundered the glaive, and they whittled it down in no time.
At the end, they decided to free the former Pathfinder to use as testimony against the Maralicter, and got out safely.
They did enjoy the story and the exchanges. The fights were not super exciting due to the very high experience level of the players (this group consisted of ALL of GA's current VOs, people that have been playing together since season 0 and 1. So they were all fine with it and had fun. The only thing they didn't like was the Sczarni mission's consequence if they had killed him. Our Sczarni player thought that killing him or leaving him to rot for life were both about as bad, so he didnt see how it warranted alignment change. (see Yiroep's post above for more reasons).
Still though, fun was had by both the players and myself.
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Sczarni Faction Mission: ** spoiler omitted **
My immediately initial reaction was also one of "hmmmm, that kinda violates the basic rules laid out in the GtPFSOP." However, I am glad to see it and hope we see more of it. The idea that the faction mission give a character a free pass to do evil things or break the law with impunity has never set well with me. Anything that makes the player have to consider their actions and make hard decisions based on their personal advancement within the society vs. their morality is good for role-playing. The biggest issue will be for GMs not to spring it on the player as a surprise. If/when they decide their course of action, *you* have an obligation to inform them of the consequences. This is especially so since the base guidelines lead the player to believe they are safe.
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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Sczarni faction mission issues.
I agree that this faction mission is not presented well. The note from Guaril says, "...by any means necessary." That pretty well opens the door to killing him, which is unfortunately at odds with what is written in the scenario and at odds with (admit it) what is morally correct.
The note from Guaril should have been better worded, or some sort of back story given to the player so that he/she would have a frame of reference with which to make the decision.
If I run this again and have a Sczarni at the table I do know how I would approach it, though. I cannot imagine that the Sczarni player wouldn't immediately be asking about Marcus upon getting in the Citadel. I would make sure to respond in such a way that the player was clued in to the fact that he, himself, had been "Disappeared." Once they met him, I would play up Marcus's role as an opportunist and just continue to talk through the entire encounter. I would reference family a lot, and mention how he personally felt that family was more important than the Hellknights, and was therefore willing to trade the secrets. "Have to keep the family happy, you know."
If the decision was made to attempt to kill him instead of leave him in the jail, I would have him call out something to this effect: "Ah-ho! Family is most important to yet another, I see. So important he willfully chooses to commit nefarious murder against an unarmed and broken man." If the player persisted, I would follow up with a gasping and wounded Marcus asking, "Why don't you just leave me to rot, fool? I am under the Spire of the Forgotten and have been disappeared. No one except you will know that I can never get out of here alive." If that didn't make the player realize what he was doing, I think the alignment shift and necessary atonement would be warranted.
Remember: it is up to us to present these things properly to our players so they know what's going on, be it with story or with faction missions.
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As I recall, activating an energy weapon like the +1 flaming longsword that Heriphis has is a standard action. He has quick draw which is good. He can pull the sword in the surprise round and still have a standard attack. However, I assume his first action would be to activate the flaming ability, thus failing to actually attack someone. I was discussing this with someone and they claim activating an energy weapon is considered a word-activated, non-action per the magic item activation rules in the CRB. Thoughts?
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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The Core Book says, "The effect remains until another command is given." It says nothing about sheathing it turning it off. Thus, I think TriOmegaZero is correct.
So, during a surprise round he can smite (swift action), quick draw (free action), activate Onslaught (another free action), 5' step, and attack his target. He can get off a pretty solid amount of damage, under the right circumstances. He can smite again the following round (at the high tier) and thus keep himself in pretty good shape for the remainder of the fight. Especially if you remember to bring his hounds into the battle in time d-:
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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Regarding the "Who would benefit from Zarta's imprisonment?"...
** spoiler omitted **
By the way:
Should that kind of thing get back to Tancred, I can't imagine the results would be good. Seems like Zarta was pretty deliberately targeted.
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I understand that energy weapons can be sheathed with the enhancement still active, so that when you draw it it is ready to go. I may be misremembering however.
I remember something to that effect myselfm, but wasn't sure. This is not the right place to argue how ridiculous that sounds. Seems it would make more sense to just call it a word-activated, non-action, but whatever. If RAW/RAI says I can sheath a flaming sword and draw it still flaming, so be it.
Aside from the nature of that, it seems strange that Heriphis, someone essentially imprisoned at his post for three years, within one of the most heavily guarded fortresses in Varisia, perhaps the Inner Sea, and not expecting anyone, would have his sword active 24-7. Its not like it will help him against a denizen from hell that might use his gate to invade the prime, nor if one of his hounds gets "mouthy." :-)
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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I understand that energy weapons can be sheathed with the enhancement still active, so that when you draw it it is ready to go. I may be misremembering however.I remember something to that effect myselfm, but wasn't sure. This is not the right place to argue how ridiculous that sounds. Seems it would make more sense to just call it a word-activated, non-action, but whatever. If RAW/RAI says I can sheath a flaming sword and draw it still flaming, so be it.
Aside from the nature of that, it seems strange that Heriphis, someone essentially imprisoned at his post for three years, within one of the most heavily guarded fortresses in Varisia, perhaps the Inner Sea, and not expecting anyone, would have his sword active 24-7. Its not like it will help him against a denizen from hell that might use his gate to invade the prime, nor if one of his hounds gets "mouthy." :-)
Yeah, considering how prepared he is to deal with evil outsiders from Hell and with his hounds (oil of bless weapon, handle animal), it would have made more sense to have it be shocking. It's not like he was geared or statted up like he was naively thinking these devils were always going to play nice. Flaming is silly.
Edit: Fixed a mis-statement of his abilities...