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I really enjoyed prepping and running this encounter. It was a challenge for me since I'm a new GM (The Confirmation was my 3rd adventure running in Society and 4th overall) made both harder and easier by my table composition. I had my Venture Captain, his Lieutenant, and three other veteran players/GMs. I rolled for encounters days ahead of time to read up on unfamiliar rules, but I think after running it a couple of times I'd rather have the players roll for those choices.
My seasoned veterans rolled through the battle encounters easily, but enjoyed the puzzle of the cave drawings and the interaction with Uori. They did choose to run into the cave and I'm pretty sure had they not I would have dropped one of them. This adventure could easily be very harsh to brand new players if the GM doesn't recognize that this should be a learning scenario for newbies.
I did throw in some fun props and visuals. I seeped computer paper in warm tea water to color it and create parchment paper to hand out instead of the provided half sheet pictures. I also made actual pictures to represent the cave drawings. On one side was a vague picture with colors and shapes and if they made their skill check I flipped it over to reveal a stick figure picture of the Aspect of Aroden. The actual image helped to clue them in on what to do since I kept tight lipped about explaining the ritual mechanics.
Overall a good scenario with lots of potential for replay and creativity.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32
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I really enjoyed prepping and running this encounter. It was a challenge for me since I'm a new GM (The Confirmation was my 3rd adventure running in Society and 4th overall) made both harder and easier by my table composition. I had my Venture Captain, his Lieutenant, and three other veteran players/GMs. I rolled for encounters days ahead of time to read up on unfamiliar rules, but I think after running it a couple of times I'd rather have the players roll for those choices.
My seasoned veterans rolled through the battle encounters easily, but enjoyed the puzzle of the cave drawings and the interaction with Uori. They did choose to run into the cave and I'm pretty sure had they not I would have dropped one of them. This adventure could easily be very harsh to brand new players if the GM doesn't recognize that this should be a learning scenario for newbies.
I did throw in some fun props and visuals. I seeped computer paper in warm tea water to color it and create parchment paper to hand out instead of the provided half sheet pictures. I also made actual pictures to represent the cave drawings. On one side was a vague picture with colors and shapes and if they made their skill check I flipped it over to reveal a stick figure picture of the Aspect of Aroden. The actual image helped to clue them in on what to do since I kept tight lipped about explaining the ritual mechanics.
Overall a good scenario with lots of potential for replay and creativity.
And I have to say, as a player at your table, you did a FANTASTIC job. You really have a bright future ahead of you as a GM.
Also, Kyle, excellent scenario. I won't lie, I was nervous when I heard you were writing the new intro scenario, but I think that it strikes a perfect difficulty balance and punishes players for bad decisions (like fighting the minotaur early.)
Having glanced over the scenario a bit, I did have some questions.
First, would it be possible to get some details regarding the Gillmen's religion? As part of our mission is to find out more about them, I asked about the deity that he worshiped and was disappointed to find that there isn't much info in the scenario.
Second, in regards to Janira and the horses, would Janira recommend that a Cavalier, Samurai or Paladin on a horse leave it behind for fear of angering the Centaurs? Would they have a negative reaction to other mounts or just horses?
Also, in regards to the questions of what Janira should recommend that the PCs buy, I would recommend that she explain that some creatures are easier to damage with certain types of damage than others, and recommend trying multiple damage types until one hits if they're having trouble killing something.
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First, would it be possible to get some details regarding the Gillmen's religion?...
I would like this also. I did come up with some interesting off the cuff details based on connections I noticed with Aroden, but I can't say that it was an official answer by any means.
In addition, why only on full moons? What is the purpose of the pilgrimage also? There's a lot of details that I'm sure wouldn't fit into a 25 page scenario that I am extremely curious of.
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1) The reasoning behind the Gillmen's trips to the caves changed slightly in development. I could look at doing an extra side bar for the GM shared prep folder going into deeper detail.
2) This is covered in the scenario in the Q&A section (Why traveling by foot?). I had a Cavalier and recommended that he could bring his horse, but shouldn't ride it when going through the centaur controlled forests.
3) This is something I'm hoping the community can develop (perhaps in another thread). A solid list of <50 gp supplies the PCs should consider purchasing if they haven't already. In addition to this a list of "topics" to discuss. Dealing with poison, disease, damage reduction, mindless creatures, flying creatures, etc.
Thanks for the feedback!
Developer
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In brief response on the gillman-Aroden connection, the gillmen have little love for Aroden. Sure, he was the Last Azlanti, but the gillmen represent a different lineage that survived underwater. What's more, Aroden decided to support humanity on land and not the "true" Azlanti beneath the waves.
As a result, most gillmen are ambivalent about Aroden, and perhaps some might even label him a sell-out. I recall Uori watches any of the PCs' rituals with mild amusement.
We know that the gillmen worship in Azlanti ruins in Escadar, where there are depictions of ancient Azlanti gods—some of them inhuman. Not all of these gods survived the empire's destruction, so Uori's particular religious practices might represent a cult of the fallen or a less anthropomorphized reverence of the sea. Making the pilgrimage to the cave overland may represent a trial and suffering, much like that which the gillmen experienced during Earthfall.
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Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
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1) The reasoning behind the Gillmen's trips to the caves changed slightly in development. I could look at doing an extra side bar for the GM shared prep folder going into deeper detail.
I bet they couldn't find their shoes or nothing. Or maybe it was a fire.
3) This is something I'm hoping the community can develop (perhaps in another thread). A solid list of <50 gp supplies the PCs should consider purchasing if they haven't already. In addition to this a list of "topics" to discuss. Dealing with poison, disease, damage reduction, mindless creatures, flying creatures, etc.
Thanks for the feedback!
Ain't nobody got time for that.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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I figured that given the erosion pattern on the carvings matched that of ocean waves that some "essence" of the ocean had followed the cavern as Aroden raised it from the sea, and the shaman was tuning into that.Another good point.
Alternately, the gillman's worship is slowly eroding the last vestiges of Aroden's power from this, one of his last remaining anchors, and when it is all gone, he will never be able to return to the world. (The PC's by selfishly expending the power on their pitiful needs are only hastening the process, the fools! Hence the gillman's amusement.)
:)
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Is the river supposed to be there on A2? The encounter falls in the river and drowns on a 6 or less if crossing the log. There may be a 5' crossing point, but most are 10' or 15' diagonals, so the encounter may drown on as little as a 4 or as much as a 14. Somewhat anti-climactic.
If they attack during A2 the enemy starts on their side of the river.
Secondary success conditions really should include some effort at each of Explore- every square inch, Report-even point form notes of things important to the character (or their appropriate Master(Scrolls/Blades/Spells)), Cooperate -at least one aid other, flank or some other team action benefiting another character or Janira.
It does, go read it again.
BTW Janira's cloak (not shown) is coloured an ill-advised shade of red.
How do you think she kept encounter A2 busy that long. She should have levels in Perform (Toreador)
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Ain't nobody got time for that.3) This is something I'm hoping the community can develop (perhaps in another thread). A solid list of <50 gp supplies the PCs should consider purchasing if they haven't already. In addition to this a list of "topics" to discuss. Dealing with poison, disease, damage reduction, mindless creatures, flying creatures, etc.
Thanks for the feedback!
Or, you could check earlier in the thread for a couple of entries of lists that meet much of what you are asking for.
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Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
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Or, you could check earlier in the thread for a couple of entries of lists that meet much of what you are asking for.Ain't nobody got time for that.3) This is something I'm hoping the community can develop (perhaps in another thread). A solid list of <50 gp supplies the PCs should consider purchasing if they haven't already. In addition to this a list of "topics" to discuss. Dealing with poison, disease, damage reduction, mindless creatures, flying creatures, etc.
Thanks for the feedback!
It was humor directed towards an internet meme.
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it's entirely possible I've missed something, but I've read through this three times (and run it once in addition), and I'm at a loss on the difference in treasure from B4 and B5. fortunately, my group went to B4 first and got the loot, then missed the perception check to find the tunnel. they made their way back through B5 with little difficulty, skipped B6 due to time and got to C for the boss.
had they gone to B5 first and heard the battle, it's entirely possible they'd miss out on the loot from B4. and that could make a huge difference for a party with zero XP.
further complicating matters was they missed all of the boons from B3, despite repeated attempts to remind them there were rituals. they were happy enough to just interpret the images (3 of 4) and move on. perhaps I should have been less subtle? I had tried to talk up the sacredness of the reliefs and how they seemed to be tied to some sort of rituals. no one had knowledge religion, so I couldn't even fudge the "hey, you remember from cleric school something about..." trick.
hoping someone can clear these up for me, I'm looking forward to running this again (and again!), and want to make it as fun as I can.
also - what's the deal with discontinuing the darklands map right before releasing a replayable that relies on it heavily? that's just cold...
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In reverse:
The darklands map wasn't discontinued when I wrote it. That makes me sad if it is indeed discontinued.
I've run it twice and had trouble getting the players to interact with the city (I'll come up with a few ideas when I'm not rushing out the door).
If the party only goes to *either* B4 or B5 or if they go to both, it doesn't affect the amount of gold they get at the end of the scenario. The advantage is that if they go to B4, they find a couple of helpful items they can use during the adventure.
If you feel the party *needs* those items, you can always use Uori to direct them in that direction first. (heard noises, stories, seen tracks, etc)
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well, I'm loving the scenario. all of season five has been great, actually. I really enjoy the choose your own adventure vibe, makes running scenarios multiple times more interesting.
but this one is just awesome. there must be dozens of different combinations players could encounter. and I really enjoy that they're intended to act like decent people, and not necessarily the pathfinders we typically see. anything that can focus more on roleplay and *not* indiscriminate and wholesale murder is great in my book!
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But as long as the PCs work together, explore most of the caves and (somewhat) accurately report what's inside them they can 'murderhobo' the whole thing if they want.
I think I should have put a bluff DC in there for the PCs to lie or make up the reason for the Gillmen entering the caves. :-)
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the party I ran through this, finally realized Uori was deaf. They did alot to be friendly and diplomatic. The character who grabbed the cloak in the open pit gave it to Uori immediately when Uori started eyeing him. He became friendly to party right away and helped out with the rituals slightly.
Otherwise, yes I could see it being an easy thing for the party to skip.
Great to have a scenario to get players back to basics and what the pfs is all about.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Both tables I've run of this have had two different wolfscarred oracles that each covered up their hideous wolf-muzzle with a cloak. Then, because of their high CHA, both characters were the speakers of their groups.
Because of this, it was great fun to roleplay Uori as he kept ignoring their diplomacy attempts and only addressed others in the group. He'd just repeat his initial question: "What are you doing here disturbing my ritual?"
It took each of them a good couple of minutes to realize that he was deaf. There was much laughing afterwards.
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The group I ran for last night had a lot of fun with this scenario. We had:
Human Arcanist 1
Kitsune Rogue 1
Valeros 1
Druid 1
Barbarian 1
They REALLY struggled with the Mosquito swarm... unfortunately, the Arcanist rolled poorly on his Burning Hands. This one is really tough for 1st level characters. They pretty much burned through all of their consumables, and all but one of the arcanist's spells. Janira had to heal herself, and the arcanist (who caught Malaria - where is the description of this?)
The barbarian had a folding ladder, so the pit was no big deal. The arcanist was able to easily translate the murals, and with his high roll, I did suggest they might be rituals.
The approached Uori, with the rogue sneaking up on him. When he didn't react, she tried to talk to him. When he still didn't react, she went up and touched him, and he then turned and looked at her. They quickly caught on that he was eying the Cloak (and they then immediately gave to him, after noticing it matched his).
After a good amount of talking to Uori (who explained that to "listen to the waters, one must be free of the distractions of the sounds around oneself", which was supposed to explain why he was deaf. The rogue tried "listening", even kneeling in the water, but could hear nothing but what one would expect. They talked with him a while, which caused the barbarian (who just wanted to break stuff) to grab the arcanist, and start walking towards one of the tunnels.
At this time the rogue had tried taking the small coins (without placing a new one - to try the Trade parable), and then wrapped her very long scarf around the model city. Tailor complete (I ruled that the arcanist and barbarian were out of range for it, thanks to the impatient northlander). She (the rogue) then placed a coin on the model *Trader* (Oh, yeah! Trade is two ways!). The arcanist furrowed the ground with his fingers (Farmer!), and as the rogue was taking her notes, Valeros grabbed the parchment, crumpled it, and threw it on the model (I let that work for Scholar, after reading her notes on it, which were pretty good).
They then went and encountered the Mites w/ Centipede (evidently one should not piss off a barbarian. He murderated 'em). Then, the slime mold, and finally made it out to the minotaur.
That damned bull-headed one made a Powerful Charge at Janira, dropping her. The PCs closed in, and the druid got dropped with an axe attack, while the rogue got missed (they jumped the river). Eventually, they got position, killed the beast while Janira had 1hp left until death. She was saved just in time with a healing potion.
They did mop up the rest of cave, after healing up, and they gave the cloak back (after borrowing it again, with collateral, and a promise to return).
We ran a little longer than expected (a little over 4 hours), but it was a LOT of fun!
Thanks, Kyle.
And damn you for using 6 maps!!!??! WTF?
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Actually wasn't too bad. Those tunnels were a map pack? Missed that (and of course, the only one I actually own was the Darklands, which is a great help to own!).
All in all, a great scenario. Will be writing a review... The only thing was, how do I feast on the tears of the players if their character don't die? ;)
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...and the arcanist (who caught Malaria - where is the description of this?)The information for malaria is on the same page as the mosquito swarm in the Bestiary 2. It is included as part of the giant mosquito entry, which immediately precedes the swarm's statistics.
Thank you,John. I see it noe. Wasn't looking t at the other column... Had my blinders on!
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Accidental way of keeping the party on the carvings... I forgot to draw exits on the map.
Poor Uori trying to read lips on the Nagaji bard...
Played it this past Saturday, we ran over, so didn't do some of the stuff due to time.
But, in regards to the above Nagaji Bard, our party included a Tengu Rogue.
How do you read the lips of something without any lips, or expressive mouth? Beak, I tell you, BEAK! It was amusing. Then again, we had a bit of an oddball party, since I was playing my Ifrit Sorcerer...
So, besides Magic Missile, are there any first level arcane spells that are attacks with a range greater than "close"?
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Is there a typo in the statblock of the minotaur at the end?
He starts off with a greataxe and his combat gear lists a broken greataxe (and 3 javelins, but they don't matter right now). As I understand the blocks, every weapon used by a monster or character is supposed to show up in the combat gear section.
His weapon is listed as a battle axe and uses the damage dice of a battleaxe (2d6) instead of a greataxe (3d6).
So...what was the plan here? I have no problem reskinning his battleaxe into a greataxe but using the battleaxe stats as written, but I'm pretty sure that's not what was intended here.
(Otherwise great module - I'm looking forward to using this as my first PFS module to GM!)
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Is there a typo in the statblock of the minotaur at the end?
He starts off with a greataxe and his combat gear lists a broken greataxe (and 3 javelins, but they don't matter right now). As I understand the blocks, every weapon used by a monster or character is supposed to show up in the combat gear section.
His weapon is listed as a battle axe and uses the damage dice of a battleaxe (2d6) instead of a greataxe (3d6).
So...what was the plan here? I have no problem reskinning his battleaxe into a greataxe but using the battleaxe stats as written, but I'm pretty sure that's not what was intended here.(Otherwise great module - I'm looking forward to using this as my first PFS module to GM!)
No, if they choose to fight the minotaur before exploring the cave it is a full statblock minotaur. Otherwise it looses some stuff during the chase and fight with Janira. She greases the greataxe so it is gone and shatters the battleaxe so it is broken. The statblock at the end is correct if they fight it after exploring. If they fight it before use the normal minotaur statblock.
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Because a minotaur cannot pick a greataxe back up again, right? ;)
Yeah, I know, he probably did not want to slow down, I get that. I also fully understood to use the normal statblock when fighting him as soon as he shows up and to use the statblock in the back when fighting him after he chased the halfling (her name slipped my mind).
But what I mean still stands: Either the entry in "combat gear" is wrong (because it lists a "broken greataxe") or the name + dice of the weapon used are wrong (because he wields a broken battle axe).
I suspect the "combat gear" entry is the wrong one, though.
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Because a minotaur cannot pick a greataxe back up again, right? ;)
Yeah, I know, he probably did not want to slow down, I get that. I also fully understood to use the normal statblock when fighting him as soon as he shows up and to use the statblock in the back when fighting him after he chased the halfling (her name slipped my mind).But what I mean still stands: Either the entry in "combat gear" is wrong (because it lists a "broken greataxe") or the name + dice of the weapon used are wrong (because he wields a broken battle axe).
I suspect the "combat gear" entry is the wrong one, though.
was discussed earlier. explanation was.... has greataxe if party wants to tangle with it at full str. has broken battleaxe at end if party listened and thus get weaker version. Janira used her scroll of shatter (successfully) to break the battleaxe. broken wpn adj. incl. in his stat block.
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I've run this twice so far. The first time they walked over the minotaur at the end with one zen archer and a bow ranger. The minotaur whiffed on his attack against Janira and didn't even turn to the PCs before being dropped.
In the second, the minotaur killed Janira in one hit and then the party pelted it when it tried to cross the river and failed its strength check twice. At least he dropped (not killed) one PC before fleeing and dying the next round.
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Because a minotaur cannot pick a greataxe back up again, right? ;)Not if it's greased and his target is getting away.
As I said, I get that he does not want to slow down. It wasn't really a serious remark, I get that it's really easy to handwave where his greataxe went and where his battleaxe came from. Emergency weapon and all that. ;)
I'm just saying this: Usually a statblock lists every available weapon in the "combat gear" section. The minotaur uses a broken battleaxe, but his combat gear lists a broken greataxe. So while I expect this to be nothing more of an oversight, I just wanted to point out "Guys there might be a mistake you should look into cause it might confuse people" - and by people I mean especially me. ;)
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This was the first real scenario for my son. He went through Kid's Track a few weeks ago and had been wanting to play something real. I had prepped it myself to run a second table at our FLGS, but due to a number of people calling out sick, we ended with only one table, so I got to play. This being his first time playing (and being 9 years old), I was helping to give him some general "good advice" tips (which I knew might come up during this encounter).
Things like:
Sometimes the best strategy is to retreat
Not everyone you encounter is an enemy
Even before prepping for this though, I ensured that his character had a number of "contingency" items. Things that I usually have loaded up on strength characters (he's going to be a dual wielding jotungripper). Alchemist fires, collapsible planks, rope + pitons + grappling hook. I was hoping that the GM would allow him to use the 10' planks for the 10' pit, but he said it was just a little too long of a gap to cover.
I did indeed like that this scenario touches on some of the fundamentals that many people forget or don't use. And I hope that the "random encounter table" takes off and gets used a few more times in various scenarios.
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But what I mean still stands: Either the entry in "combat gear" is wrong (because it lists a "broken greataxe") or the name + dice of the weapon used are wrong (because he wields a broken battle axe).
I suspect the "combat gear" entry is the wrong one, though.
This is an editing error as his greataxe was reduced to a battle axe at the end of the scenario during development.
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Played once. No actions for the Minotaur.
Bard: necklace of fireballs (5d6).
Halfling Cavalier: charge-lance-critical (x4 damage).The end.
The most important question: Did everyone have fun?
It's great that the bard's player held back so the 1st level characters had a chance to participate.
Did the GM read about the difficult terrain between the cave opening and the stream? Kinda hard to charge through that.
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Outside, before the caves.
Edit: Doug, everyone had a great time. Every character except one really had a moment in the spotlight. The one character that was underwhelming was played by a guy who is a really good sport about the game. He was playing a dwarf druid who rolled lowest for every single initiative check. When we fought some oozes, he was after all the PCs, but before the ooze. So we all delayed until after his character, just to give him a chance to get his axe off his shoulder. (Well, the bard did go first, and used a song to inspire courage in the dwarf). But yes, everyone had fun.
Edit2: my own spotlight was when my half-orc paladin of Apsu was able to use Diplomacy (in Draconic, mind you) to negotiate passage with a group of kobolds.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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The cheapest necklace of fireballs to include a 5d6 bead costs 1,650gp.
If you're level 2.0, that's ALL your money at best. If you're 2.1, you've got something like 400gp for other gear. Even at 2.2, you've spent well over half your cash on a single consumable.
And I assume he had a chronicle sheet opening up access to that item?
Something like that would have me checking sheets, methinks.
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The cheapest necklace of fireballs to include a 5d6 bead costs 1,650gp.
If you're level 2.0, that's ALL your money at best. If you're 2.1, you've got something like 400gp for other gear. Even at 2.2, you've spent well over half your cash on a single consumable.
And I assume he had a chronicle sheet opening up access to that item?
Something like that would have me checking sheets, methinks.
I wasn't GMing, but I think it was on the up and up. He was level 2.2.
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Played once. No actions for the Minotaur.
Bard: necklace of fireballs (5d6).
Halfling Cavalier: charge-lance-critical (x4 damage).The end.
When I played, the fighter charged it, then the cavalier charged it with a lance for x2, then I charged it with a crit for x2. All before it could go. KO!
We had so much trouble hitting the darned advanced skeletons though. Bad rolls, and terrible rolls for the channeling Sun Domain cleric (lots of 1 and 2 on 1d6, enemies saved every time).