What is Hell's Rebels? Novel?
Just finished rereading PotFS as I prep for the game. I was thinking of having Zernebeth actually drop in over the commset to give advice and reveal caches. Video game style, similar to Atlas in biotshock 1. Maybe pilfer some quotes even. Anyone have ideas on this type of stuff? I'll probably play it by ear and make it up as I go along but I do like to have something up my sleeve prepared as well.
Separate question - Casandalee can only control CR8 robots or less but there are none to be found in the last two modules. Was this on purpose?
Hell's Rebels is the Adventure Path currently in circulation, it's about a city named Kintargo rebelling against the empire of Cheliax.
Pretty sweet it is (so far)
I would ignore the robot limitation for her honestly, otherwise she just kind of gets forgotten.
Quick note about the Shade, as I'm preparing the first session of the Palace of Fallen Stars:
Her defensive ability "nanite infused" gives her +6 natural armor, but in her stat block it says +4 natural armor. I think I'll just bump it up to 6 armor, which would bring her to 30 AC in total.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I would ignore the robot limitation for her honestly, otherwise she just kind of gets forgotten.
I ended up doing this. The characters ingratiated themselves with the King, the cleric of Thor said could he approach the throne to bless the Black Sovereign, the black Sovereign not thinking particularly straight (was going through withdraw from the drug induced stupor and I assumed was an Aesir man) said yes. Cleric casts heal curing him, throne room is thrown into chaos. During the fight Ghartone turns up with two battleguards who cover the entire combat area in rockets and grenades. My party is on the ropes. They pull out Casandalee who takes over one of the battleguards and then punches out the other battleguard in a Real Steel moment. Casandalee now has a robot body :)
Excellent!
That sounds epic :-)
Two questions:
The entry for Zernbeth mentions a journal that Ozmyn has that will be useful against Unity and says the witch has it. However nothing in her entry discusses the journal. Ozmyn's entry mentions a journal with some info but it doesn't sound like the one Zernbeth mentions. Where is this journal and what is the relevant silver mount info?
Next, my characters pretty much killed hellbroth the same day/night they visited the night market, ignored the call from Zernbeth looking for Shade then immediately confronted Kevoth-kull at notriety 1 no less. Zernbeth never got a chance to talk to them let alone make an alliance. I suspect they will eventually blunder into her as they now assault the TL compound. Any advice on what to do with her? How would she react as everything is happening very quickly. Happy for advice!
Next, my characters pretty much killed hellbroth the same day/night they visited the night market, ignored the call from Zernbeth looking for Shade then immediately confronted Kevoth-kull at notriety 1 no less. Zernbeth never got a chance to talk to them let alone make an alliance. I suspect they will eventually blunder into her as they now assault the TL compound. Any advice on what to do with her? How would she react as everything is happening very quickly. Happy for advice!
In my opinion, there are two options:
- She tries to use the confusion and the chaos your PCs have been causing to plan an improvised ambush against Ozmyn, with the help of Shade (if she survived). This seems to me the less likely version, as she doesn't seem to be that impulsive, but maybe she thinks this is a rare occasion and may prompt her to action.
- She tries to "guide" the PCs through the compound by opening doors, leaving helpful information and maybe some equipment and taking out an occasional patrol, before the they face the PCs. She should leave little hints, that if they finally meet up it is clear that she was helping out, because she has to be worried that the PCs won't be to charmed about her being a TL captain. This seems to me more likely, as she is a scheming person.
May I ask how the confrontation with Kevoth-Kul went, because my PCs are very likely to face him tomorrow.
I like the second plan as I feel she would do something not to be on the wrong side of the PCs. Regarding Conan confrontation I do a brief outline a few posts back. Let me know if you need more detail. Here is the log as well (from a characters POV so it's brief): https://itsmygamemyrules.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/from-the-diary-of-broktho r-the-fighter-iron-gods-session-29/
Played tonight and your suggestion worked well Gratz.
When they penetrated the basement of the Technic League I had a "mysterious benefactor" open doors for them, a female voice over the intercom ordering battleguards to leave the area the party was about to enter making the fight easier and finally sending a spherical ice-blue drone to guide them to a cache of treasure including a data-slate showing a map of the compound which had a blue swan symbol above her room. They eventually made it to the room and were undecided about making the alliance with her. Half the party thought it would be a good idea, half didn't. See what happens next session but I suspect the "better the Devil you know" PCs will win out.
Ended up stating up all the captains because I thought my players were going to frontal assault the base at one point. I know there is a generic stat block there but I thought I'd make a little extra effort and customise each one. 5e rules, but you can convert to PF easy enough.
Ended up stating up all the captains because I thought my players were going to frontal assault the base at one point. I know there is a generic stat block there but I thought I'd make a little extra effort and customise each one. 5e rules, but you can convert to PF easy enough.
Thanks for posting, was quite helpful!
I have another question/problem:
My group just finished Ozmyn off and there is de facto no Leadership, as they also have gotten rid of Kevoth-Kul and the city is rioting right now. So what happens next? Will the population (and later on the other Barbarian tribes) accept Kul-Inkit as their new Leader? How will the city and Numeria as a whole react, if my PCs decide to disband the Technic League (one of many possibilities as they might chose to take the lead over themselves or to Zernebeth (whom they don't trust as of yet)). I would appreciate some ideas and suggestions on the general reaction of the population and the change in political scenery.
There are a couple of big mistakes in the Surgeon Robot bestiary entry of this book.
1. Construct size bonus HP are +80 (Colossal) instead of +20 (Medium). The HP should be 194 rather than the mistaken 254 which put it ahead of the Juggernaut and Annihilator robots.
2. All seven natural attacks are listed at +25, implying they are all primary attacks. My guess is claws are primary, but the scalpels and syringe should be secondary attacks at +20. Since they have +3d6 sneak attack this is kind of a big deal. Maybe Vital Strike should be swapped out for Multiattack to mitigate this.
|
I have another question/problem:
My group just finished Ozmyn off and there is de facto no Leadership, as they also have gotten rid of Kevoth-Kul and the city is rioting right now. So what happens next? Will the population (and later on the other Barbarian tribes) accept Kul-Inkit as their new Leader? How will the city and Numeria as a whole react, if my PCs decide to disband the Technic League (one of many possibilities as they might chose to take the lead over themselves or to Zernebeth (whom they don't trust as of yet)). I would appreciate some ideas and suggestions on the general reaction of the population and the change in political scenery.
If Kevoth-Kul is dead and none of the PCs have made a claim to the throne, then Kul-Inkit would step in most likely to take her husband's place. It was her plan from the beginning, I believe.
If none of the PCs want to take control of the Technic League, then Zernebeth has wanted control of the League again after loosing it twice now. She is a canny person and will likely understand that the PCs may have some demands of her new regime, and will hopefully accommodate at least to their faces. She wants to study the Silver Mount more than anything, and the League's continued existence will help her do that.
It also may be good for Zenerbeth to bring up that the Technic League was really all that was keeping technology from the Silver Mount from leaving the country and spilling into a population that perhaps isn't prepared for it. She could sell herself as someone who would be more than happy to make sure that Golarion only finds this technology at a slow pace.
If Kevoth-Kul is dead and none of the PCs have made a claim to the throne, then Kul-Inkit would step in most likely to take her husband's place. It was her plan from the beginning, I believe.
Well, Kul-Inkit took over which wasn't my problem. My quesion was rather aimed at how the rest of Numeria would react to a change of leadership, especially what have the barbarian tribes have to say to this development.
If none of the PCs want to take control of the Technic League, then Zernebeth has wanted control of the League again after loosing it twice now. She is a canny person and will likely understand that the PCs may have some demands of her new regime, and will hopefully accommodate at least to their faces. She wants to study the Silver Mount more than anything, and the League's continued existence will help her do that.
I'm confused... Zernebeth was already twice the leader of the Technic League?
At this point the Technic League is as good as gone in my campaign, as most of the captains are dead or have fled Numeria.For now the PCs have handed the reigns over to Zernebeth of what's left of the Technic League, but only temporarily. If she cooperates and gives the PCs enough information about the Silver Mount, then the PCs will consider giving Zernebeth a leading role in their new restructured "Technic League".
It also may be good for Zenerbeth to bring up that the Technic League was really all that was keeping technology from the Silver Mount from leaving the country and spilling into a population that perhaps isn't prepared for it. She could sell herself as someone who would be more than happy to make sure that Golarion only finds this technology at a slow pace.
Well Kul-Inkit made it perfectly clear, that mass-producing or spreading technology wouldn't be tolerated, as the tribes and her people have had to many tragic and devastating incidents with technology and convincing them to stop fighting technology would be a slow process of education and diplomacy.
|
Kevoth-Kul has been in power for quite a long time now. Note that in his statblock it says that he's become immortal due to a lucky roll on the Numerian fluids table. In the Land of Fallen Stars book it's also mentioned that he's somewhat estranged from the newer generation of Kellids, having spent so much time in his capital instead of on the plains. If he perishes, there'll both be something of a vacuum, and not. On the local level he won't be missed much, but as a stabilizing factor in Numeria, definitely. All the tribes will start angling to see if they can shift the balance of power in their favor now.
Zernebeth has indeed already been "capo di tutti capo" of the League twice before: during the novel Rain of Stars she's just become leader, invites the protagonist, is dethroned, and with his help, takes the throne again. By the time of the AP she's been dethroned again. I can recommend the novel, it does deepen her story a bit. She's not a nice person but she's not gratuitously evil either.
|
|
The novel Reign of Stars is definitely a great read for Iron Gods players!
Kul-Inkit would probably have more plans about uniting the tribes of Numeria than the complacent and drugged Kevoth-Kul did. She would probably be a powerful force, uniting the tribes of Numeria. The PCs might even start to get worried that she has plans of dominating more than Numeria if you want the campaign to take that kind of twist. I always saw Kul-Inkit as an ambitious type of person. I doubt she'd stop once she got the Numerian tribes together.
If the League has truly been decimated and Zenerbeth is not left to try and at least pick up pieces, then I imagine that technology will probably start leaking out of Numeria with people like the Pathfinder Society mounting expeditions and the Aspis Consortium running smuggling operations. If the League isn't there to stop them and others, I doubt that the barbarians of Numeria would have the aptitude for that much subterfuge and investigation. I see them as being much easier to steal from than the Technic League, and then tech starts falling into the hands of those who can't truly understand it, and before you know it there are inevitables walking Golarion trying to control the spread of the tech.
The novel Reign of Stars is definitely a great read for Iron Gods players!
Well my group isn't far from finishing of the AP, so damn i completely missed that...
Kul-Inkit would probably have more plans about uniting the tribes of Numeria than the complacent and drugged Kevoth-Kul did. She would probably be a powerful force, uniting the tribes of Numeria. The PCs might even start to get worried that she has plans of dominating more than Numeria if you want the campaign to take that kind of twist. I always saw Kul-Inkit as an ambitious type of person. I doubt she'd stop once she got the Numerian tribes together.
Yeah, I went on with her calling in a Council of the heads of the barbariantribes and that's enough at the moment. She will try to make some allies among the heads, which should ge good enough to keep the country stable. That should give the PCs enough time to explore the Silver Mount, before leadership of the country becomes a concern for them.
If the League has truly been decimated and Zenerbeth is not left to try and at least pick up pieces, then I imagine that technology will probably start leaking out of Numeria with people like the Pathfinder Society mounting expeditions and the Aspis Consortium running smuggling operations. If the League isn't there to stop them and others, I doubt that the barbarians of Numeria would have the aptitude for that much subterfuge and investigation. I see them as being much easier to steal from than the Technic League, and then tech starts falling into the hands of those who can't truly understand it, and before you know it there are inevitables walking Golarion trying to control the spread of the tech.
Zernebeth plays the long game here. She knows the Technic League as she knows it, is as good as dead, so she is positioning herself to get in good graces with Kul-Inkit and the PCs, as they will porbably decide how to procede, hoping to stay involved.
Kul-Inkit and Zernebeth will advice the PCs that uncontroled spreading of Technology would be dangerous for the people of Numeria and later on Golarion, as they have no handle on how to use it.
I think Kul-Inkit has been long enough around tehcnology to not fear it anymore, but rather use it strengthen her power.
I am getting ready to start the Palace of Fallen Stars in a couple of sessions. The initial portion of the adventure seems straight forward enough, but I am having difficulty in envisioning the unfolding of the palace portion of the adventure. The palace is quite palacial and I am looking for advice on how to run the exploration of it. A room by room "and then where do you go" seems overly tedious. So...any tips on making the finding of all the interesting tidbits interesting?
As I am now playing this adventure, I found something that rubs me the wrong way. In part 2, the palace itself has two kinds of palace guards, normal ones that are 8th level human barbarians, and lieutenants who are listed as "advanced palace guards", refering back to the first group's statblock, meaning 8th level human barbarians with the advanced creature simple template.
To me it feels just wrong applying the advanced creature simple template to a character, or rather to a 0HD race. I know there is nothing in the rules preventing that, but somehow I feel that this template isn't really appropriate for these kind of races.
If you think about it, a normal human has one +2 bonus to a single ability score. Golarion has the Azlanti ethnicity which are a racially superior breed of human—the existence of which you may find objectionable, or not, if you are Nietzsche (or Mengkare)—and get +2 to all six ability scores. However these palace guard lieutenants seem to be of an even more superior human breed, namely the "advanced human", that gets a +6 to one ability score and +4 to all five others. And yet, those highly exceptional specimens have noting better to do with their evolved existence than work as palace guards.
It just feels wrong, don't you think?
I know that this decision was probably made for space reasons, because this stat block only needs 4 lines while a higher level barbarian as an alternative would mandate a statblock that would fill two thirds of a column. But still, it's just weird.
A 13th-level bladebound magus, Elric, in my campaign decided to infiltrate the Technic League. I envision the Technic League as dividing their low-ranked members under their captains, so Elric now serves under Captain Akradenn. All the module says about Akradenn is, "Akradenn: Male Shoanti wizard; has a quick temper; focuses on technological melee weaponry and armor." I decided to stat out Elric's new boss entirely.
Captain Akradenn Sklar CR 9
XP 6,400
Human wizard evoker 5/fighter 1/technomancer 4 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide 14)
CE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 12 (15 vs rays), flat-footed 22 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +1 Dex, +3 shield)
hp 77 (8d6 + 2d10 + 20 from Con + 10 from Toughness + 5 from FCB)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +9 (+10 against fear from Shoanti tattoo)
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee stun baton +8 (1d8 elec + 1d6+3 bludg nonlethal touch/×2) (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide 27)
Ranged +1 stun gun +7 (1d8+1 nonlethal)
Special Attacks intense spells +2, force missile (1d4+2 force, 7/day)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +12)
4th—dimension door, locate creature, resilient sphere (DC 18)
3rd—discharge[TG], dispel magic, fly, lightning bolt (DC 17), locate object
2nd—bull's strength, mirror image, resist energy, scorching ray
1st—hydralic push (DC 15), magic missile, shocking grasp (2), unseen servant
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, message, technomancy[TG]
TACTICS
During Combat At the beginning of combat, Akradeen activates his hard light klar and casts Bull's Strength. These spells are already reflected in this stat block. If he has been attacked by an energy weapon already, he casts Resist Energy instead and tries to follow up with Bull's Strength later. He uses his Arcane Armor Mastery as a swift action to avoid arcane spell failure.
Akradeen is one of the few Technic League captains who prefers melee to ranged attacks. If he has time to draw his stun baton, he attacks with that; otherwise, he attacks with his hard light klar.
Morale Akradenn escapes via Fly or Dimension Door when reduced to 20 hp or less.
STATISTICS
Str 12 (16 with Bull's Strength), Dex 12, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 9
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 19
Feats Arcane Armor Training, Arcane Armor Mastery, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Technological Arms and Armor, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (firearms), Improved Shield Bash, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus(Knowledge [engineering]), Technologist, Toughness
Traits Shoanti Tattoo
Skills Craft (mechanical) +15 (+19 with technology), Disable Device +15 (+19 with technology), Fly +10, Intimidate +13,
Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (engineering) +23 (+27 with technology), Knowledge (geography) +17, Linguistics +8 (+12 with technology), Perception +12, Spellcraft +17
Languages Androffan, Aklo, Common, Draconic, Hallit, Infernal, Orc
SQ arcane battery, arcane bond (ring of protection +1), efficient construction, recondition (brown nanite hypogun, commset), recycle technology, study technology, technic spell mastery (discharge), technical expertise
Combat Gear scroll of discharge[TG], scroll of lightning bolt (CL 9th), scrolls of technomancyTG (4), hemochem[TG] (grade III, 2 doses), soft grenades[TG] (2), torpinalTG (3 doses);
Other Gear stun baton[TG], +1 stun gun[TG], mwk dagger, ring of protection +1, batteries[TG] (4), green access card[TG], reconditioned brown nanite hypogun[TG], reconditioned commset[TG], Technic League badge worth 50 gp
BACKGROUND
Akradenn was a disappointment to his parents in the Shoanti Sklar Quah of the Cinderlands of Varisia. He lacked the strength to throw power into his attacks and lacked the dexterity for precise archery. They apprenticed him to a tribal blacksmith in the hope that hammering at the forge would strengthen his arms. Before he finished his apprenticeship, he was inspired with the dream of forging magic weapons for his clan. He ran away to the ancient city of Kaer Maga and apprenticed himself to a wizard. Years later, he forged himself magic weapons and armor and trained in their use. A master wizard and a capable fighter, he returned home to take his earned place. Sadly, his city-learned elitism clashed with his clan's tribalism. He no longer fit in the Shoanti. Embittered, Akradenn left for Numeria, to follow another dream, for he had been fascinated by Numerian technology collected in oddity-prone Kaer Maga. The Technic League trained him out of his provincial ways and into technology and engineering, but he never adopted his fellow leaguers' keen interest in technological firearms. An enhanced weapon wielded by a strong arm was still his way, but that weapon was now a stun baton.
ATTITUDE
Akradenn still hurts from the rejection by his parents and his tribe, though admitting it would be a sign of weakness. He lashes out at his underlings at percieved insults to his abilities, striking them for nonlethal damage with his klar. Since the hard-light klar takes a move action to activate, most underlings have a short warning in which to abjectly apologize. For moments of serenity, Akradeen avoids people and concentrates on making weapons and armor. He also likes to lead elite Technic League patrols (Palace of Fallen Stars 83) through the city, where he can bully ordinary townsfolk into showing him fawning respect. He has reduced his Shoanti bloodthirst for the sake of profit, because an unconscious disrespectful citizen can be fined or sold as a slave.
Hard Light Klar with +2 shield enhancement
Price 14,400 gp; Type shield; Weight 1 lb.; +3 shield bonus, Max Dex —; Penalty 0; Spell Failure 5%; Speed (30 ft.) —; Speed (20 ft.) —; Capacity 20; Usage 1 charge/minute
This device was a hard light shield that glitched into a small cone shape. Technic League captain Akradenn kept the glitch, realigned it to function as a Shoanti klar, and enchanted it to give an additional +2 enhancement to its shield bonus. The material part of the klar is a glove with a bulky cuff covered in blinking blue lights and pulsing holographic emitters. When activated around an empty hand, it projects a reflective conical holographic barrier that functions as both shield and weapon. The shield bonus counts as a force effect and applies to the wielder's touch AC against beam and ray attacks (but not other touch attacks). The hard light klar can be used to deliver shield bash attacks like a heavy spiked shield, 1d6 piercing damage. When turned off, a hard light klar provides no AC bonus and imposes no spell failure chance. Activating or deactivating a hard light klar is a move action. This item occupies the wearer's glove slot.
My party is close to entering this chapter and I need some advice on how to run this city-based adventure. One thing that I have never enjoyed as DM is running city-based adventures. I find them incredibly boring and too challenging at the same time. It always turns into a massive shopping trip or a reason for the party to never, under any circumstances, get on with the adventure.
Any advice?
My party is close to entering this chapter and I need some advice on how to run this city-based adventure. One thing that I have never enjoyed as DM is running city-based adventures. I find them incredibly boring and too challenging at the same time. It always turns into a massive shopping trip or a reason for the party to never, under any circumstances, get on with the adventure.
Any advice?
Play up the poverty of the population by limiting what can be bought. All the real wealth is in the hands of the Technic League.
Counterwise, if the PCs start flashing too much cash, you can have the Technic League will become very interested in them.
That's a good idea. I'm going to have to figure out how to put a time limit on things so that they don't spend all day role playing every second of every day. 99.99% of what they want to role play not only doesn't move the story forward, as GM I find it incredibly boring. I love role playing. I don't love when it goes nowhere.
That's a good idea. I'm going to have to figure out how to put a time limit on things so that they don't spend all day role playing every second of every day. 99.99% of what they want to role play not only doesn't move the story forward, as GM I find it incredibly boring. I love role playing. I don't love when it goes nowhere.
Actually, since they like to "role-play" so much, write up some short encounters that show the Technic League's evil treatment of the people of Starfall on a lower and more personal level. They shouldn't even be especially challenging, as much as motivating.
That's a good idea. I'm going to have to figure out how to put a time limit on things so that they don't spend all day role playing every second of every day. 99.99% of what they want to role play not only doesn't move the story forward, as GM I find it incredibly boring. I love role playing. I don't love when it goes nowhere.
What activities do your players roleplay that 99.99% stalls the story? Sightseeing? Trying to cheat shopkeepers? Barroom brawls? The dwarf gunslinger in my game found a dwarven taphouse and spent the evening drinking dwarven ale, singing dwarven songs, and making contacts. That third part moved the story forward.
The key to a strong plot in a city adventure is to get the players involved with the city, through love or through hate. For example, in Pathfinder Adventure Path #1, Burnt Offerings, the players' introduction to the town of Sandpoint is the cheerful Swallowtail Festival, inspiring them to defend the town against goblin raiders. In Pathfinder Adventure Path #50, Night of Frozen Shadows, the secret Frozen Shadows ninjas in the city of Kalsgard are trying to stop the PCs' expedition over the northern ice cap, giving the party an enemy to hate.
Starfall has little to love about it, and two groups to hate, the corrupt palace guards and the oppressive Technic League. The Technic League is mentioned early in Fires of Creation to stoke up fear of them, but then they are sidelined, forgoing opportunities to turn fear into opposition.
I added a few encounters with small Technic League teams to try to portray them as people who need to be defeated once the party had sufficient power. A nominally Neutral fighter PC took that farther than I intended about a surrendered Technic League prisoner, "Kill him! He works for the Technic League so he deserves death!" Yet when that fighter reached Starfall, he tried to say out of sight of the Technic League and went shopping instead. Thus, hate for the Technic League is a weak motive. They are too scary.
Love was more effective. The party's compassionate skald disguised herself as a cleric and went to help the poor. I hoped to set up her protecting the poor from the corrupt palace guards, but the player missed several sessions due to surgery, so that was delayed. Thus, I had to motive the cold-hearted fighter, the brooding magus, or the tech-obsessed gunslinger. That was tough, so I asked for advice: Inconspicuous PCs Unmotivated in Palace of Fallen Stars.
One trick I pulled that would be easy to copy is that I made Mockery a colorful costumed vigilante who caught the party's attention. Two palace guards harassed a sausage vendor by stealing his cart and riding that cart downhill on the Street of Lights until it crashed. The vendor chased them and lamented that they had destroyed his livelihood. The guards were not taking any backtalk, so they beat up the vendor. While the single party member who observed this was paralyzed in indecision, Mockery leapt down from the rooftops, and made fun of the guards by mimicking how silly they had looked and sounded while riding the cart. The guards tried to jump Mockery and failed, while the party member helped the vendor escape unnoticed. Mockery in his other identity as Dral-Mok tried to recruit the party member later.
Dral-Mok/Mockery CR 11
12,800 XP
Human ranger 7/vigilante 5
CN Medium humanoid
Init +4; Senses Perception +10
Defense and Offense below are for gear as Mockery.
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 96 (7d10+5d8+31)
Fort +9, Ref +14, Will +8
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 battleaxe +11/+6 (1d8+2/×3)
Ranged +1 merciful composite (str 1) longbow +15/+10 (1d8+1d6+2 nonlethal/19-20/×3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (giants +4, constructs +2), hidden strike 3d8
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +6)
1st—animal messenger, resist energy
2nd-chameleon stride (sometimes cure light wounds)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +10/+5; CMB +11; CMD 25
Feats Deadly Aim, Dodge, Endurance, Improved Precise Shot*, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot*, Weapon Focus (composite longbow), Improved Critical (composite longbow), Enforcer
*from Ranger combat style Archery
Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +12, Diplomacy +4, Intimidate +15, Heal +11, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (nature) +9, Linguistics +1, Perception +11, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +19, Survival +10
Languages Common, Hallit, Halfling
SQ favored terrain (cold +2), hunter’s bond (companions), track +3, wild empathy +5, woodland stride, dual identity(Dral-Mok/Mockery), seamless guise, vigilante specialization stalker, unshakable, startling appearance, social talents (renown, great renown, mockingbird), vigilante talent (shadow's sight, sure-footed)
Gear +1 leather armor; +1 merciful composite (str 1) longbow with 20 arrows; +1 battleaxe; potions of cure moderate wounds [2]; acid [4]; tanglefoot bag [4]; smokestick [2]; cloak of resistance +1; cold weather survival gear; grappling hook;
Ranger levels based on http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npc-5/blackraven-scout
I have a couple more questions.
1. The Random Encounters table goes beyond 100 and it says "Throughout the adventure, the PCs have chances to increase or decrease the danger level through the actions they take during the adventure. Apply the appropriate modifiers when rolling on the random encounter table."
Where does it say to actually do this and by how much?
2. So Starfall has an issue with openly using technology. How would you handle things like cyberlimbs? It's not like they can just remove them.
1. The Random Encounters table goes beyond 100 and it says "Throughout the adventure, the PCs have chances to increase or decrease the danger level through the actions they take during the adventure. Apply the appropriate modifiers when rolling on the random encounter table."
Where does it say to actually do this and by how much?
I believe that the party's Notoriety, covered on page 9, is added to the random encounter roll, but I cannot find anywhere in the module itself that says that.
I have other issues with that Random Encounters table, because if it applied to the ordinary residents of the city, it would kill most of them. How do the monsters distinguish between adventurers and residents on the city streets? So, I used the Random Encounters table for random encounters in the wilderness outside Starfall and for possible non-random encounters inside Starfall. Notoriety makes no sense in the wilderness, so I set the danger level to 0 on the roads and farms and to 17 on the mountainside of Silver Mount, except that barbarian gargoyles, the lowest roll, do live on Silver Mount. I fudge random encounters based on plausibility.
2. So Starfall has an issue with openly using technology. How would you handle things like cyberlimbs? It's not like they can just remove them.
The "Arrival in Starfall" section, also on page 9, mentions carrier's badges that let people legally carry technology. I presume that those badges can be purchased. Purchasing one legally would involve answering questions about the origin of the cyberlimbs, so prepare a good bluff or a good bribe if it is a secret. That section also gives the DC for forging a carrier's badge illegally.
I was thinking the same thing about Notoriety. I won't be using it because I would rather just move the adventure along at the pace that I feel is best instead of having to codify everything.
I was looking at the Arrival in Starfall and I wish that they covered cybergear a bit. I only have the barbarian to worry about who managed to get himself the mouthpiece of the Dominion. I know that he has no intention on giving it up. It's also not cybergear, and it's organic so maybe I don't have to worry about it.
I have other issues with that Random Encounters table, because if it applied to the ordinary residents of the city, it would kill most of them. How do the monsters distinguish between adventurers and residents on the city streets?
Who says they do? A random "encounter" doesn't have to include an interaction. I randomly encounter police on the roads all of the time, but since I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary and they aren't looking for me I see them, they see me, and no one reacts. You can use encounters to build tension and atmosphere, not just for random XP and loot.
That said, lots of those Starwall encounters are pretty nuts and hard to justify for why they'd be wandering around the city and under what sort of behavioral constraints. 1d8 auromvoraxes? Well, maybe if you add some guards taking them on patrol. 1d8 sacristan kytons? Yikes. Uh, they're being moved via coach from one Technic League safehouse to another as part of their alliance?
Most random encounter tables work best as idea generators than a strict script to follow. This one may just require a bit more fine tuning and adaptation than usual.
Who says they do? A random "encounter" doesn't have to include an interaction. I randomly encounter police on the roads all of the time, but since I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary and they aren't looking for me I see them, they see me, and no one reacts. You can use encounters to build tension and atmosphere, not just for random XP and loot.
I have other issues with that Random Encounters table, because if it applied to the ordinary residents of the city, it would kill most of them. How do the monsters distinguish between adventurers and residents on the city streets?
The module says they do.
DEADLY BEASTS AND METAL MENACES
The random encounter table presented here features
a number of typical threats the PCs could encounter
while adventuring in Starfall....
1d4 nosferatu, the result for rolling 23 to 25, and 1d8 double axe furies, the result for rolling 86 to 89, are definitely a threat to ordinary townsfolk. Half the entries would walk past ordinary people with barely a glance, but the other half are deadly. I created a planned encounter for my party where they rescued a boy tormented by 3 bogeymen, the 2nd entry on the Random Encounters table. The bogeymen would have transformed the boy into another bogeyman given enough time.
Encounters to give flavor to the city would be nice: a sausage vendor, an ash giant carrying a heavy crate for a merchant, a water seller, a garbage burner, a dastardly wizard apprentice hoping to join the Technic League, a halfling pickpocket, etc. Some of those ideas came from the article about Starfall, but they were not set up as encounters. However, the Random Encounters table gives encounters with CR 12 or higher. They are things that anyone would view as a threat, even when the danger can be avoided by acting innocent.
I am pretty sure since the Random Encounters table is in the Bestiary article rather than the Starfall article, it was intended for random XP and loot.
I made good use of the Random Encounters table in Lords of Rust to emphasize that Scrapwall is dangerous to its own residents. But I did not want to give that same impression inside Starfall. I did want to give a sense of danger outside the city walls, and rolled up The Sinister Scientist and a pack of auromvoraxes.
The Sinister Scientist roll was amusing. One newbie player has the false belief that the setting of the game favors him, that he ought to have dangerous encounters when he wants them and none when he doesn't. Random encounter rolls are my attempt to persuade him otherwise. His 12th-level fighter, who was untrained in Diplomacy or Stealth and accompanied only by his wizard cohort, decided to check on clues that The Dweller in Dark Places, the escaped final boss from Valley of the Brain Collectors, was hiding at a nearby farm. I rolled 100 on the random encounter, and he encountered the Sinister Scientist. The scientist hit the wizard with Confusion, and the fighter had to hold out against the foe himself until the wizard recovered to teleport them to safety. The Sinister Scientist did confirm the clues, "I heard a rhu-chalik call to the stars near here, and came to investigate what challenged my supremecy."
That was the second time such an encounter occurred to that player. Midway through Lords of Rust his fighter, accompanied by only an NPC support party member, ran an errand from their safe shelter with Dinvaya to purchase items from the Steel Hawks. I rolled 100 on the random encounter, and he encountered Kulgara and an entourage of orc warriors. His fighter tried bluffing that he was drunk, so that he did not have to deal with her, not realizing that Kulgara would kill an irritating drunk without a qualm. And he had no skill ranks in Bluff. The NPC, who was a bluff expert, distracted Kulgara with flattery and was recruited as a servant to the Lords of Rust. The party was irritated that the fighter had lost their NPC.
Some comments on the Technic League headquarters:
How are you supposed to get into D15? It has no doors.... I think I will make the west wall glassy and argue that D15 is so dangerous, you use dimension door if you absolutely have to get in.
What good is the watchpost at D7? It has very poor lines of sight as the E complex is 2 stories tall and D7 is only 10' up.
The strategy adopted by the Scuttledowns in F6 is really poor. It reminds me of the TSA agent I heard about who was guarding an exit-only passageway into the secure concourse, and saw someone enter through it. So he left his post and followed the intruder, finally losing him half a concourse later. As a result they had to evacuate the entire airport. (Hint: this is not what you are supposed to do.) These idiots should AT LEAST raise an alarm before running off; better, they should raise the alarm, then watch the PCs until a good opportunity arises to join an existing fight. (They will still be useless, because they're super weak for their level. But at least they'll have tried.)
The fact that a keycard of color X will open any door X or easier makes them bad for Technic League captains who are, we're told, not best friends with each other. They should have regular locks with personal keys, perhaps on top of the card locks. Or perhaps the reason the captains mostly aren't present is that they have their own digs elsewhere in the city and seldom come here.
Some comments on the Technic League headquarters:
How are you supposed to get into D15? It has no doors.... I think I will make the west wall glassy and argue that D15 is so dangerous, you use dimension door if you absolutely have to get in.
What good is the watchpost at D7? It has very poor lines of sight as the E complex is 2 stories tall and D7 is only 10' up.
I myself had wondered about D15, Blast Furnaces. I decided that it was entered at the 2nd floor from the wall and then the visitor took the stairs to the ground floor. For a backstory, I said that the ground-floor doors had been welded shut years ago for a top secret project and never reopened.
The watchpost at D7 guards the Signal Boosters at D8. Signal Boosters are expensive. D8 probably also contains the Technic League's secret communication codebooks.
The party in my game has not entered section F yet, because they entered the Divinity instead, so I have not figured out anything about F6.
I ended up assigning people's names to access cards and claiming that they were electronic ID cards for crew of the Divinity fleet. Changing the name requires a lock coder (Technology Guide page 49) of the card's level or higher, so most adventurers carry a card that does not match their name. A lock could be keyed by a lock coder to a specific name or set of names. The Technic League probably owns an orange-level lock coder hidden somewhere.
Here's a small change I'm making for my game, and maybe other people might find it useful. This is in regard to first meeting Mockery.
I'm having Mockery initially contact the NPCs by delivering them a mysterious note that has an address and a symbol of his rebellion, an inverted Technic League symbol turned into a gear with a laughing face. The safehouse marked on the map in this AP is the location they're directed to, but they don't meet him there. Instead, in the basement of the house is an entrance to a labyrinthine tunnel system beneath the northern portion of the Killbox neighborhood in Starfall.
In these tunnels they are going to be led by those same laughing gear symbols to keep from getting lost. Each one is a magic mouth spell that has been given instructions to laugh to catch their attention upon sight of people fitting the PC's description, each symbol shows them which tunnel to take and then vanishes. One of the gears is going to give them a password.
The symbols, if they follow them correctly, will eventually lead them to the Runoff speakeasy/tavern that was recently published in the new Inner Sea Taverns book. The Runoff specifically is a rebel establishment deep underneath the Scraphole junkyard that's meant to help people escape from Starfall if they're slaves or defecting Technic League agents. I thought it would make sense for Mockery, as the leader of the resistance to be in cahoots with the owner of this tavern, who would likely be sympathetic toward his cause.
The PCS will meet mockery in this really cool secret tavern in a private area. So not only will they possibly make ties with his group, but this will also direct them to a good place to hide/rest in case the heat in Starfall gets turned up from their activities. Plus it has a lot of fun features like drinks and food mixed with Numerian fluids, and robot bartenders, etc.
I hope my players like it!
I have several ideas to discuss. My party -was- infiltrating the Technic League Headquarters after curing the Black Sovereign of his addiction. While the barbarians are securing the city, they've put up a cordon of angry troops around the League Headquarters, causing most of the League defenses to look outwards.
Into all of this enters Zernabeth, who has been secretly communicating with the PC's all along, urging them to overthrow Ozymyn Zaidow. Now they've thrown a curve ball. They refuse to let her lead the League. They've offered to intercede with the Black Sovereign if she remains a Captain, but have threatened to kill her if she doesn't accept those terms. She didn't accept those terms.
At the same time, the PC's have opened the main gate to the League Headquarters (Area A1) and disengaged the cannons. So the barbarians will soon be pouring into the compound. The PC's plan to find and execute Ozmyn Zaidow.
So I'm wondering - what does Zernabeth do? I'm thinking of having her Scry-and-Die the PCs as soon as they've weakened Zaidow. Or would she make a temporary alliance with Zaidow and fight alongside him? A forewarned Zaidow could be much more dangerous.
FINALLY, the PC's are certain there must be a tunnel into Silver Mount from within the League Headquarters. Actually, that makes a lot of sense to me, too. Why isn't there one? And can anyone foresee a problem with me declaring one to exist?
FINALLY, the PC's are certain there must be a tunnel into Silver Mount from within the League Headquarters. Actually, that makes a lot of sense to me, too. Why isn't there one?
1. It's too far away.
2. There's no way to puncture Silver Mount's skin with their available technology, so they couldn't just dig their own access, they're limited to existing breaks from crash damage.
3. Why would they bother?
They’d bother to more easily control access to the entrance.
Asked another way, what other reason is there for the PCs to visit the second sub-basement?
My PCs left Starfall early so they never invaded Technic League headquarters, but I can still throw my two cents in.
The safest scheme for Zernebeth to gain control of the Technic League is simply to bid her time. The party will leave and then she can break her promise and take control. In the meanwhile, she might direct the party toward other Technic League captains who might take control before she could. "Captain Akradenn is a Shoanti, you can tell by the way he savagely beats up common people in the streets. Gryne Rasil is a surgeon. No, vivisectionist is more accurate, and I don't mean vivisectionist alchemist. Her surgeries are inspired by her kyton mentors. Ghartone is Ozmyn's second in command, so I would expect him to rally the Technic League against you if you give him a chance."
As for a tunnel to Silver Mount, Xenocrat's explanation of the difficulty is valid. But the Technic League could have overcome those difficulties by a century of assigning 7th- and 8th-level Technic League lieutenants to cast Stone Shape to make the tunnel. Or use some tireless gearmen with adamantine picks. The 6th module has an annoying gap at the beginning: though page 8 is headed, "Part I: Scaling Silver Mount," it spends only one paragraph describing the ascent that leaves most of the work to the GM.
Reaching the Entrance
This adventure assumes the PCs have no encounters of note while they approach the entrance—both Casandalee and the notes in Zaidow’s journal pinpoint the fissure’s location as being near the mountain’s peak at an elevation of just under 1,100 feet. No real trail exists up the mountainside, and Technic League agents typically use flight or teleportation to reach the fissure. If the PCs are forced to climb, feel free to confront them with a few DC 15 Climb checks to avoid falls of 30 to 70 feet or with fights against things like spine dragons or aurumvorax packs.
A tunnel to the fissure will avoid these encounters if you think your players will find them boring or distracting.
The safest scheme for Zernebeth to gain control of the Technic League is simply to bid her time. The party will leave and then she can break her promise and take control.
And what is the likelihood that when the PCs (now advanced with the levels are resources gained from the Divinity will simply come out and break her (for breaking her promise)?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The safest scheme for Zernebeth to gain control of the Technic League is simply to bid her time. The party will leave and then she can break her promise and take control.And what is the likelihood that when the PCs (now advanced with the levels are resources gained from the Divinity will simply come out and break her (for breaking her promise)?
I was thinking she could wait until the party had entirely left the area, such as leaving for Crowhollow, a followup adventure at the end of the 6th module. But it would be more fun for the party to catch her breaking her promise.
Given that Zernebeth has Bluff +14, she could rename the Technic League to the Defense Society and claim that she and some other technomancers had to band together in protection from the chaos in Starfall and then they took over the Technic League headquarters, and her organization that looks identical to the Technic League is totally not the Technic League. Someone in the party probably has the Sense Motive to not be fooled by the bluff, but I consider it plausible that Zernebeth believed she could bluff her way out of her broken promise. And she booby-traps the room where she explains this to the party, in case the bluff fails.
Given that Zernebeth has Bluff +14, she could rename the Technic League to the Defense Society and claim that she and some other technomancers had to band together in protection from the chaos in Starfall and then they took over the Technic League headquarters, and her organization that looks identical to the Technic League is totally not the Technic League. Someone in the party probably has the Sense Motive to not be fooled by the bluff, but I consider it plausible that Zernebeth believed she could bluff her way out of her broken promise. And she booby-traps the room where she explains this to the party, in case the bluff fails.
Why do I suspect that she may be grossly underestimating the PCs?
Rather than go up my party went down. We left off in the middle of an all-out brawl between the party and Krimox the Thrice-Flensed. I'm thinking about what Ozmyn Zaidow should be doing.
He's got a barbarian army storming his complex, so he's got more to deal with than just the PC's. I'm thinking that Zernabeth will probably lay low and see how all this violence sorts out. But I think Zaidow might order a few of his captains to reinforce Krimox while he... does what?
The wise move might be to retreat to Silver Mount where he might jump the PCs in a moment of weakness? Leaving me to use Krimox as the End Boss of this book?
Whaddya think?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Rather than go up my party went down. We left off in the middle of an all-out brawl between the party and Krimox the Thrice-Flensed. I'm thinking about what Ozmyn Zaidow should be doing.
He's got a barbarian army storming his complex, so he's got more to deal with than just the PC's. I'm thinking that Zernabeth will probably lay low and see how all this violence sorts out. But I think Zaidow might order a few of his captains to reinforce Krimox while he... does what?
The wise move might be to retreat to Silver Mount where he might jump the PCs in a moment of weakness? Leaving me to use Krimox as the End Boss of this book?
Whaddya think?
Ozymn might be willing to make a cowardly attack before escaping. If he hides somewhere where he will hear the party begin a fight, he can cast Greater Invisibility and join in the fight with ranged attacks: shoot and move, shoot and move. He teleports away on the last round of the invisibility.
While the invisibility is defensive, it is also a disguise. If no-one can see through the invisibility, he can pretend to be someone else if the party encounters him in Silver Mount. He has Bluff +17. He would keep his null blade hidden while inivisible in Technic League headquarters, because otherwise the blade might be recognized in Silver Mount.
Hope this thread is still active.
One of my players' PC is a druid who pretty much gets along (or tries to) with all kinds of flora and fauna and is especially curious about alien plants and animals.
I was thinking of letting her cultivate Milstamm's seed, since she probably wouldn't pass the chance to grow herself an alien alraune (and it could make a good bargaining chip when they eventually encounter her), but reading ahead into the Divinity Drive I got into a few snags.
First of all, of course, there's the question of whether or not it's possible to grow a baby alraune from the seedpod, or if Milstamm would have to grow it some more for it to become able to survive. Given that she will happily spare the PCs and work against Deacon Hope, it's obvious the seedpod has some value to her, either because she can't produce offspring without it or because it's her child. I would think it's the latter since she could produce another eventually so it wouldn't be that big of a material loss, but having it taken away by the Technic League must have had some impact on her.
Then there's the matter of alignment. The AP doesn't say much about how Castrovelian alraune are different, but I assume they still require flesh as nutrition (and Milstamm has so far sustained herself on leftovers from the kytons' experiment). Would a newborn alraune be able to be groomed into not hunting humans?
Lastly, what would the stats of a newly sprouted alraune be? Adding three Young templates could work but would give her 25 Dexterity, otherwise I was thinking about using the stats of a Lotus Leshy with adjusted ability scores...
Oh I have a bad feeling that I will imprison my player characters today, when we continue the AP. Last session they finished VotBC and had a nice amount of money for shopping, and loaded up some nice tech stuff. And now they come to a city, where showing tech is strictly prohibited.
I told them, because their characters should know this, looking forward to see how they handle this. Maybe they see the tech league in starfall as some small combat encounters, like when anyone wants to take their tech items, they will simply fight their way out of it. I think I will strengthen the image of the tech league in starfall by letting a small scene happen, where a few gearsmen brutally arrest a group of npcs, who failed to keep the deadline of selling their stuff to a league official. I fear my players won't get the message, try to help that poor npc and then get overwhelmed and arrested.. :D
Well.. turned out they did not intervene, even after one more scene, where tech league henchmen arrested a guy because they had suspicion, that he carried technology (he clearly did not). So my party did not get arrested. But after the session I realised, two of them are aligned good. Hmm.. Should not do anything to the "lawful" axis, the rightful regime punched through their laws.. but the good axis of that two characters might get a little bump.
But a question: They just visited the palace, staying in the visitor area, but entered the garden and got attacked by that alien vine. They killed it, of course. But how would the palace guards react? Or Kevoth-Kul, who imported and cultivated that plant from a far away land (maybe that was quite expensive..)
I play with the thought, that Kul would be very upset (-> Area C14)
Oh I have a bad feeling that I will imprison my player characters today, when we continue the AP. Last session they finished VotBC and had a nice amount of money for shopping, and loaded up some nice tech stuff. And now they come to a city, where showing tech is strictly prohibited.
I told them, because their characters should know this, looking forward to see how they handle this. Maybe they see the tech league in starfall as some small combat encounters, like when anyone wants to take their tech items, they will simply fight their way out of it. ...
Ha, I had the opposite problem. My players left their characters' technology behind and pretended to be low-level citizens and therefore totally slipped past the Technic League's notice (Inconspicuous PCs Unmotivated in Palace of Fallen Stars). But the experience made me focus on a bunch of things about ordinary citizens in Starfall.
For example, it is possible to legally carry technology into Starfall. Page 9 of Palace of Fallen Stars says, "The gearsmen inform anyone who carries technology that she has a grace period of 1 hour to make her way to a market and sell her gear to an accredited agent of the Technic League, but they don’t escort the PCs there unless they have cause to suspect the PCs don’t intend to sell their gear." I decided that part of selling the technology is telling the accredited agent where the seller obtained the technology. It would be an average bluff check to lie about it, since the agent would not have much of a clue about the truth.
I myself let my PCs walk into trouble and throw the most realistic consequence at them. I can count on them to come up with a clever plan to escape. The advantage of realism is that the enemy has realistic blind spots, too, often the ones required for the clever plan if it makes a good story.
Well.. turned out they did not intervene, even after one more scene, where tech league henchmen arrested a guy because they had suspicion, that he carried technology (he clearly did not). So my party did not get arrested. But after the session I realised, two of them are aligned good. Hmm.. Should not do anything to the "lawful" axis, the rightful regime punched through their laws.. but the good axis of that two characters might get a little bump.
Being of Good alignment, or even genuinely good of heart, does not mean jumping in to save strangers all the time. Sometimes the good person has to lie low for a mission. Sometimes the stranger deserves to be arrested. Sometimes being arrested puts a suspect in front of an honest court of law--not likely in Starfall, but the player might not have made that connection. Sadly, this stranger will end up in Ozmyn Zaidow's slave pens and sent to Silver Mount.
But a question: They just visited the palace, staying in the visitor area, but entered the garden and got attacked by that alien vine. They killed it, of course. But how would the palace guards react? Or Kevoth-Kul, who imported and cultivated that plant from a far away land (maybe that was quite expensive..)
I play with the thought, that Kul would be very upset (-> Area C14)
Was that the CR 14 Advanced Viper Vine in C18, The Garden? It wasn't alien, just foreign. I recommend that the palace guards talk to the party, and suggest in strong language that they replace it with a suitable gift to Kevoth-Kul. One mentions a Gammenore (page 84) a few miles outside Starfall that would be a good gift if captured alive.