Developer
|
I'm glad to hear that the Pathfinder journals were well-received. I included those just to give a reminder that in-game, the Pathfinders should always be recording what they find. Of course, we play the game not to keep meticulous records, so I made sure that getting credit for doing the journal was fairly forgiving. In the same way, archaeological excavation is more digging than discovery, but I can't imagine simulating an excavation in PFS beyond the occasional, brief skill-based encounter.
I imagine that after a few replays, players will really start to have fun with these--recording some wacky obervations, attempting to sketch cave features with her non-dominant hand, or making maps labeled only by emoticons. Even taken more seriously, deciding how one's character write and what he or she chooses to write down could be another neat tool in fleshing out the character's personality.
That's a great set of grade, by the way.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Excavations can be dangerous, especially if you dig too deep, and too greedily. Or without regard to the natives, just look at what happened on Azlant Ridge.
I ran this on Sunday, and it was kinda fun seeing it defy most of the player expectations. When Janira said she was coming with the initiates, I heard a lot of "GREAT, a useless NPC to protect" and "Hey, an NPC, guess we're going to be betrayed!" One player then spent most of the mission using his journal page to doodle himself visiting horrible fates upon "the uppity slip." By the end, he was doodling saving her and the rest of them were running to save her. Once she looked over all the notes, she chided him on being "a grumpyguts who might need remedial classes in the Cooperate tenet of the society."
All in all, great adventure. I really like that it takes into account that the PCs won't always follow the script, and gives consequences for that while rewarding players who DO actually follow their orders.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I ran this on Sunday, and it was kinda fun seeing it defy most of the player expectations. When Janira said she was coming with the initiates, I heard a lot of "GREAT, a useless NPC to protect" and "Hey, an NPC, guess we're going to be betrayed!" One player then spent most of the mission using his journal page to doodle himself visiting horrible fates upon "the uppity slip." By the end, he was doodling saving her and the rest of them were running to save her. Once she looked over all the notes, she chided him on being "a grumpyguts who might need remedial classes in the Cooperate tenet of the society."
I read this and all I could think of is "It looks like a ball of poo with knives sticking out of it."
"It's a porcupine!"
|
I imagine that after a few replays, players will really start to have fun with these--recording some wacky obervations, attempting to sketch cave features with her non-dominant hand, or making maps labeled only by emoticons. Even taken more seriously, deciding how one's character write and what he or she chooses to write down could be another neat tool in fleshing out the character's personality.That's a great set of grade, by the way.
That's really funny, John, that you would say that. In the game that I played this in, one of the players was playing a barbarian of questionable intellect. She did her journalling by drawing pictures of the various things we encountered. This did get a raised eyebrow from Kreighton Shaine. :D
On the other hand, Faustus, my inquisitor of Asmodeus took meticulous notes (in as small of handwriting as I could handle). Different characters, different styles.
I did think that this handout was a great play aid. Now that it has been mentioned, I am considering using something similar in scenarios that are more about investigate and report back findings. Seems much more formal that way.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm glad to hear that the Pathfinder journals were well-received. I included those just to give a reminder that in-game, the Pathfinders should always be recording what they find.
This is interesting actually.
Ultima 4 is all about teaching the player about each of the 8 virtues, where the player has to keep performing acts of virtue over and over again in the game, and in the background, the game's mechanics keep track of how well you do, with the player occasionally having to check in to see if they've basically gotten as far as they can get. Reaching the top of those "skills" is pretty much the goal of the entire game, and it really gets ingrained in you.
With subsequent Ultima games, they no longer had these mechanics in place, though you were playing the same character who was still expected to follow those virtues. Basically it had become so ingrained earlier on that they didn't (really) need to check for it anymore (to an extent).
Same principle.
|
Developer
|
I never played Ultima IV, as I started on Ultima V. That said, I can see what you mean.
Ah, my formative years of trying to learn how to spell "scepter."
|
Developer
|
Question about the minotaur map they'd need to use in A2.
The text says the minotaur should be 60ft south of where it's shown - that's way off the map. Is that intentional?
That was certainly the proper direction based on an earlier compass rose. The starting location should be 60 feet closer to the PCs, who should be in the clearing near the cave entrance. I believe this adjustment should put the minotaur near the edge of that clearing.
|
|
60 ft north puts the minotaur closer to the cave, and about 10 feet into the underbrush. (So still no first round charge.)
Which is problematic, because it makes running into the cave the same thing as running right at the minotaur.
If you put him 60 feet off to the right you give the party the chance to run into the cave if they want.
|
Developer
|
60 ft north puts the minotaur closer to the cave, and about 10 feet into the underbrush. (So still no first round charge.)
Which is problematic, because it makes running into the cave the same thing as running right at the minotaur.
If you put him 60 feet off to the right you give the party the chance to run into the cave if they want.
Nonetheless, the intention is that the map only gets pulled out if the PCs are intent on fighting the minotaur then and there; otherwise, the exact placement and matters of initiative are hand-waived as Janira lures the minotaur away.
If memory serves, this is, in effect, what the scenario says for that encounter. I do not have the scenario in front of me at this time.
|
|
Ultima IV is still worth playing today. I fire it up every now and then on a rainy day weekend and take a trip down nostalgia lane.
I just ran this Sunday for a zero-day session and it ran great for a level 1 session with experienced players. As everyone present would potentially be a GM, we discussed it afterwards and folks loved the addition of the random encounter tables to give the scenario a lot of replay value.
We had some fun roleplay when folks saw that Janira's wayfinder had "J.L." etched on it instead of J.G. (for "Gavix"), so I ended up improvising that she got married shortly after her Confirmation and her husband was waiting forever for her to finish "Pathfinder School" so they could tie the knot. Her picture makes her look vaguely human despite being a halfling, so I decided upon an inter-racial marriage in this case where her husband was a full human. Of course I went with her maiden name being Longburrow. :)
The party got the mosquito swarm which would've been deadly had there not been a wizard with an improved CL burning hands to "burn" on it.
I encouraged folks to make up the symbols they believed they would find in the caves on their notes, and ended up with drawings of dolphins, sea shells, starfish. At the end, Janira (me) went through their notes and commented on them with "oohs" and "ahs".
GMing "The Thief" was a bit difficult. It requires a player to steal something and nobody else to say anything for a minute. Because an earlier player successfully completed a ritual and I described them experiencing a "tingling feeling", when the PC grabbed a shiny stone and I suggested "you don't feel tingly or anything", I then followed up quickly by asking if anyone commented on it, and luckily one of my PCs said "Hey! you must've done it wrong! grab a shinier stone!". I can see this being a hard one to GM if someone doesn't take the bait here if a GM invites this, depending on the table's balance between being in character and out of character.
I rolled up the mites for the encounter at the underwater river. I hate throwing mites at the players and not making this a diplomacy situation. I opted to use the text I believe was meant for the kobolds and had these mites with some oppressive overlord telling them to secure the area for a future base and start hostile instead of indifferent. They cried "Unleash Legs!" and went to war, but as with most combats with seasoned PCs, the mites didn't last long.
I'll post a review sometime this week... I promise!
|
Greetings all,
I'm getting ready to run this tonight and I've been convinced to print up the player handouts. Everyone is coming back with great stories, so I'm tempted to scan these in after the session so I can come back with a full report. (I think I'm going to "Borrow" the grading idea as well that someone put on here.)
|
Venture-Agent, Georgia—Atlanta
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Is it me or is a snake swarm not really equivalent to a mosquito swarm given that they are both CR2? The snakes have 2 more hp and better init, but the skeeters have a fly speed of 40 (compared to the snakes 20ft crawl), Immunity to weapon damage, Bleed and disease.
It's why you have Janira tell them about Alchemist Fire and Vermin repellent
|
Venture-Agent, Georgia—Atlanta
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Most players should have close to 100gp left over after buying their initial gear (assuming they dont go all out and buy a greatsword and a chainshirt as that is 100% of their gold).
Basic things I would recommend
Club (free does blugeoning damage) (0gp)
Dagger (Light Piercing/slashing weapon) (2gp)
Sling (Ranged weapon) (0gp)
Sling bullets (ammo 20) (2sp)
Rope
Grapple
Bedroll
Rations
Light source
Waterskin
acid or alchemist fire
source of healingEveryone is proficient with all of the above and it forms a basic set of gear that you can use vs most types of opponents. They can then include their main weapon, armor, shield
My two cents, as Caderyn did his while I was typing
Pathfinder's Kit - 12gp - everyone should consider it as a base. Includes a dagger!
Weapons - you always need different options with different damage types.
---------------------------------
Sling + Rocks = Free ranged option for anyone
Club/Quarterstaff = Free Bludgeoning Weapon
Short Spear = 1gp Piercing weapon
Dagger = 2gp Piercing/slashing weapon
*************
Consumables
---------------------------------
Acid = 10gp
Alchemist Fire = 20gp that keeps on burning
Alkali Flask = 15gp - good against oozes
Holy Water = 25gp against undead
Healer's Kit - 50gp - 10 charges
Thunderstone = 30gp - good against casters
Vermin Repellent = 5gp keep away
*************
Other Gear
---------------------------------
Bandoleer - 5sp - 8 objects easy to retrieve
Crowbar - 2gp - easier to open doors and can be a bludgeoning weapon
Gappling arrow/bolt/hook - 1gp - self explanatory
Hemp/Silk Rope - 1/10gp - 50ft of rope
Spring Loaded Wrist Sheath - 5gp - get an item as a swift action
Hot/Cold weather Outfit - 8gp - +5 bonus to hot/cold fort saves
|
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
|
GM'd this last night, review coming up Kyle.
Short version: scenario was well received as a replacement to the First Steps arc. Players expressed that it felt a lot more like a good introduction to PFS, rather than a scavenger hunt for various random people. They also liked the feeling of an "unwinnable" fight as well as the addition of a useful NPC. 5/5.
|
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
|
It has become a running joke in our area, that when you run into an NPC, no matter how capable and motivated they maybe to help you, they never come along and help with the mission.
It has reached the point where some of us try to convince them to come anyway, even though we know they wont, just to see what excuse they come up with.
|
|
There were some weird things going on with the stat block generator at the time of turnover, especially with BAB and skill ranks. Thanks for catching this!I just noticed something with Uori.
** spoiler omitted **
When it says he's an Old gillman, did you intend for him to have aging effects? I would think not since he is a 15-point buy without aging, but is a 16-point buy with.
|
|
Most players should have close to 100gp left over after buying their initial gear (assuming they dont go all out and buy a greatsword and a chainshirt as that is 100% of their gold).
Basic things I would recommend
Club (free does blugeoning damage) (0gp)
Dagger (Light Piercing/slashing weapon) (2gp)
Sling (Ranged weapon) (0gp)
Sling bullets (ammo 20) (2sp)
Rope
Grapple
Bedroll
Rations
Light source
Waterskin
acid or alchemist fire
source of healingEveryone is proficient with all of the above and it forms a basic set of gear that you can use vs most types of opponents. They can then include their main weapon, armor, shield
My two cents, as Caderyn did his while I was typing
** spoiler omitted **
Ferret, your list is good, but it does have a few AA items on it. It couldn't be considered a standard list for new players and the many who have never purchased that source (though everyone has a spring-loaded wrist sheath in my experience).
|
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My review is up, Kyle. It's like having your ice cream, and then not eating it because Todd did!
|
|
When it says he's an Old gillman, did you intend for him to have aging effects? I would think not since he is a 15-point buy without aging, but is a 16-point buy with.He does indeed have aging effects. Without it in front of me, I can't confirm exact numbers though.
Str 7 (9 base - 2 age)
Dex 11 (13 base - 2 age)
Con 12 (12 base - 2 age + 2 race)
Int 10 (9 base + 1 age)
Wis 12 (13 base + 1 age - 2 race)
Cha 20 (16 base + 1 age + 2 race + 1 level)
So that's -1+3+2-1+3+10=16
|
|
My review is up, Kyle. It's like having your ice cream, and then not eating it because Todd did!
Dammit, Todd! STOP STEALING MY ICE CREAM!
|
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
|
Dammit, Todd! STOP STEALING MY ICE CREAM!My review is up, Kyle. It's like having your ice cream, and then not eating it because Todd did!
Haha, don't worry Kyle! You can always call the police over - right?
|
|
As promised, here's how my table handled last night. First off, it was all 1st level characters, only one with 1 xp under her belt, everyone else was 0 xp PCs.
1 Monk (Spike)
1 Rouge (Jaxter)
1 Ranger (Sterling)
1 Fighter (Nanaya)
What I did to determine what they would be fighting, before we started, I had people go around the table and roll a D6 and I noted what they rolled for each encounter. I feel like doing this in advance helped keep things moving and made the whole scenario flow really well.
Everything started off smoothly. They enjoyed the opening bit of getting a chance to introduce themselves. Since the people I am playing with are fairly seasoned players (except Nanaya), I didn't have to inspect their sheets, but they all took advantage of the chance to buy some last minute equipment.
For the sake of letting you guys know, during the bar scene, even players not that new to the PFS scene didn't trust Janira right off the bat either. Nanaya was VERY distrustful of her, but I was doing my best to make sure she was helpful and eventually the PCs started to trust her.
With only 4 people, I understand needing to tone it down a bit, but the PCs probably could of handled the hippogriffs without the 4 person modifications.
I finally had to emphasize that they need to make a decision as soon as possible, and they finally chose the cave, but it was really interesting watching the PCs debate mentally whether to help or to run.
How I ended up determining what images they saw, I had each person roll a D12 and if there was a repeat, I just had that person reroll. This way each person was looking at one scribble on the wall, giving each a chance to shine.
The images in my cave were the Hunter, Merchant, Shepherd and Thief. Hunter was simple, as was the Merchant. The shepherd was hilarious because it took Jaxter, Spike and Sterling all standing around the city, yelling at these frogs to finally scare one off. (They all rolled between 1 and 5 the first time.)
Finally, when it came to the thief, Nanaya went over and picked up a gem (one of my dice) and I asked the table, "What are you doing?" As I was opening my phone to start a minute timer, Sterling blurts out "She's stealing a gem!" *facepalm*, but someone else picked up a gem and they were successful on all four images.
When they interacted with Uori, things went very smoothly. Spike gave up the cloak, which gave him the extra bonus he needed to succeed. They asked why the gillmen chose this place as a pilgrimage location, I came up with on the fly that the clerics and oracles of their city decide to make a pilgrimage on the full moon to pay respects to the long dead god Aroden, since both the gillmen and Aroden were linked to the Azlanti. I explained that it was mostly to pay tribute and to care take for the caves and the carved city.
My biggest problem with the B4 and B5 combination is that if the PCs go to this room and they hear Jarina, they're going to follow the sound of combat and ignore the other room. If they're short on the secondary conditions (which my players were not), I'd make sure to give them the option to head back in and check out the last cave after the final fight.
The PCs all surrounded the minotaur and he got a good hit in on Sterling, dropping him to 1 HP, so he had to take a step back to make sure he didn't drop. Nanaya got a critical hit with the magical blade and the rouge ended up finishing off the minotaur with a few well placed shots to the kidneys.
Overall, this was a great scenario. I know everyone was comparing this to First Steps, but I haven't had a chance to play or run through that scenario, but this is a great level 1 scenario, with lots of flavor and crunch. All the PCs really enjoyed the fact that they got the engraved Wayfinder and I have a feeling that there's going to be some good RP with them in the near future.
As for notes, everyone took really good notes. Jaxter ended up using 5 or 6 note cards for his notes and Spike used two sheets of the Player Handout papers to draw out the adventure. (he's not the smartest of all monks...) As I said before, I went ahead and scanned them and I've put the links in this post if anyone wants to see what he drew. (I did steal the grades from someone and gave him the "See Me!" grade at the bottom, but I'm sure Kreighton Shaine would of loved the drawings enough to give him an A++)
Major Props Kyle. I feel like this scenario really explains the tenants of the Pathfinder Society and I think this will help increase RP with the PFS scenarios across the board. (And I'll make sure to write up a stellar review also.)
|
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
|
I ran the first part of TDWK tonight with a group, half of whom had just gone through The Confirmation. I handed out Pathfinder Journal sheets. Everyone took notes. At the end of the night, I told them that next week, when I run part 2, they can have the notes they took this week back, in addition to the briefing.
It really brought home the whole "we should be paying attention and writing this stuff down, it might save someones life later (possibly mine)"
|
|
Finished my pbp run of this today. I made some minor mistakes but overall it was fun. If anybody has any questions regarding the pbp I'm happy to answer.
Rob was a great GM for my first PFS scenario, and had a blast with it. Wouldn't mind doing it again!
Although seriously, those whippersnappers in my party... So rash.
And really, 22 posts is what TOZ does while eating breakfast
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
Brief note I'll elaborate more later. Despite Murphy out to ruin my day, I think everyone enjoyed it.
Minotaur madness. The party was divided between run and stay and fight. Most of the party wanted to run. When I said whomever wants to run, raise your hand, 4 of my seven players raised their hands. When I pointed this out, the other three developed common sense.
As it was the final minotaur dropped two party members, and a dog to negatives before they dropped him. I'm pretty sure I'd have killed quite a few if they'd charged the healthy minotaur..
I stole the idea of 'grading' the notes from the boards. The one guy who didn't take notes, I wrote "Please take ranks in lingustics when you level up. Kreighton Shaine" :-)
I also moved around the table, letting the players dice for random encounters. IT kept things lively, and meant that no one could blame me when they rolled the hard stuff.