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I read this scenario having decided to run it in the near future. Couple of things that have slipped through the editing caught my eye during the first, cursory read.
1) This is mostly a heads-up. The NPC who is captured by the boss is referred to as both Hamade Sora and Ryoto Ryu. At least it seemed to me that both names refer to the same person. It really doesn't matter which one the name actually is, but I think Hamade Sora would be better to avoid any confusion with the name of the boss, Lord Rybos.
2) On page 15, when describing area A11 there is a sentence that ends abruptly in the middle. "The improvised pool is murky enough to provide
concealment against any attacks that travel through 20 feet or more of water, and a PC must succeed at a DC". I guess I just have to skip whatever the DC would have been for unless the scenario writer clarifies things before I run it, though I'm intrigued about what it would have been.
Venture-Captain, Arizona—Queen Creek
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Another issue is on page 16. "The improvised pool is murky enough to provide concealment against any attacks that travel through 20 feet or more of water, and a PC must succeed at a DC
In addition to supporting the ceiling, the pillars"
What is the DC, and what is it for?
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
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I was looking forward to this one ahead of time with a couple of interesting encounters. However, once we hit the table, I found ever single combat went the same way. I found that pretty frustrating.
A hyper-optimized sorcerer threw confusion to open up pretty much every battle, and nothing in the mod could resist without rolling a 20. The BBEG did role a 20, until another PC oracle forced a reroll, so he went down to confusion too. (They didn't fight the monk, and we didn't have time for the optional encounter, which had the two highest will saves, although only the monk could save on better than a 20.)
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On page 16, the scenario reads as follows:
The paragraph ends abruptly in the middle of a description of a skill check. Does anyone know what the intended wording was?The improvised pool is murky enough to provide
concealment against any attacks that travel through 20
feet or more of water, and a PC must succeed at a DCIn addition to supporting the ceiling, the pillars...
Just got home from running this tonight at our FLGS. With no guidance on the matter to be found, I simply had to ignore it and treat it as per the normal combat rules in the CRB for attacks from above-water to under-water, and the ambient light conditions.
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Very nice. I knew I didn't have anything perfect, so I went for more of an overall effect with mine :P
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gugtwxjxh9b6ot5/20150216_213524.jpg?dl=0
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TetsujinOni, thank you for letting me use that exquisite mini this past weekend.
A couple thoughts from the four-player high-tier version:
-The idea of a barbarian/witch is really intriguing, but I really couldn't find much of a use for them. The boggards packed more of a punch than I expected, but the Servants didn't seem to have enough melee or spellcasting power to do much of substance.
-At least for my table, the 4-player adjustment for the treasury fight was probably a bad fit. The DR ended up being a bigger problem for them than the elementals' damage output, so increasing the total HP in the counter probably made things worse.
I'm running this again next weekend, though most likely at the low tier. Anyone have any suggestions for how to use the Servants well?
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Subtier 7–8: Lord Rybos has expended his spells for the day, is not under the effect of his mage armor spell, and has already used his arcane bond. Remove the Servant of the Deep from the encounter.
By that last sentence, does it mean to remove one of them (there are three to begin with) or to remove all of them?
It makes it sound like you're supposed to remove all of them (as if Servant is somehow plural with these guys) but then who is "standing upon the wide bookcase to the north, preparing a chemically numbed yet full conscious Hamade Sora as a sacrifice."
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Thats what makes it deadly and challenging.
Exactly.. he's able to strike the entire room from cover of water so unless the PCs want to jump into the water with him, you're free to give him his bonuses to AC and Reflex saves. Even if you choose to omit that, you can have him use his ink ability for free concealment.
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Very nice. I knew I didn't have anything perfect, so I went for more of an overall effect with mine :P
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gugtwxjxh9b6ot5/20150216_213524.jpg?dl=0
I may need to break open my box of that when I get the chance. I especially like the use of combat tiers.
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I am surprised that no one has commented on the Way of the Kirin's spying on the PCs. In the age of PRISM and other unwelcome government surveillance programs, we now have parallels in the game.
“We are an order of likeminded individuals who aim to embody the virtues of the noble kirin. We seek wealth only so that all may benefit, act in the defense of those who have no defense, take only that which we need to combat injustice, hold our agents to the highest standards at all times, and act covertly so that we don’t endanger others’ sense of autonomy and self-determination.”
"For centuries, Imperial Lung Wa dominated a huge stretch of Tian Xia, governing by means of an extensive system of aristocrats and administrators that grew increasingly corrupt over time. Partly as a response to this corruption, a mercantile consortium known as the Way of the Kirin formed and dedicated itself to social justice and the empowerment of the lower classes, acting as advocates for the over-taxed, nurturing economic development, and gradually establishing bases in nearly every corner of the continent.
The empire’s collapse in 7106 IC (4606 AR) shattered the Way of the Kirin, whose enemies struck quickly and relentlessly, seeking the order’s rich treasuries and revenge for past wrongs."
Anyone else see a contradiction? Of course, many will contend the Society is no better...
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I am surprised that no one has commented on the Way of the Kirin's spying on the PCs. In the age of PRISM and other unwelcome government surveillance programs, we now have parallels in the game.
“We are an order of likeminded individuals who aim to embody the virtues of the noble kirin. We seek wealth only so that all may benefit, act in the defense of those who have no defense, take only that which we need to combat injustice, hold our agents to the highest standards at all times, and act covertly so that we don’t endanger others’ sense of autonomy and self-determination.”"For centuries, Imperial Lung Wa dominated a huge stretch of Tian Xia, governing by means of an extensive system of aristocrats and administrators that grew increasingly corrupt over time. Partly as a response to this corruption, a mercantile consortium known as the Way of the Kirin formed and dedicated itself to social justice and the empowerment of the lower classes, acting as advocates for the over-taxed, nurturing economic development, and gradually establishing bases in nearly every corner of the continent.
The empire’s collapse in 7106 IC (4606 AR) shattered the Way of the Kirin, whose enemies struck quickly and relentlessly, seeking the order’s rich treasuries and revenge for past wrongs."
Anyone else see a contradiction? Of course, many will contend the Society is no better...
Strange, the only mention of any of this in the run I recently played was the "tsk, tsk" at the end about us having recovered the slagged gold. No mention of it being to help people or anything like that.
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The contradiction is between the Way of the Kirin's stated position on high moral standards and their actions. Spying on their allies, amassing wealth and artifacts--while talking of high standards and taking only what they need. I wouldn't have an issue with the Way if they didn't rub their ethical code in the agents' faces. Just admit that you don't trust the Society but can't get the job done yourself. Get consent to scry or send an observer instead of going behind the PCs' backs. Be up front about it. I don't think the author put the Way under a positive light in this scenario. They behaved more like the Dark Archive.
As far as the parallel, I was thinking about the spying on your allies. If you don't trust your allies, wouldn't it be more prudent to let them know you'll be watching rather than allow them to believe whatever happens in Wanshou stays in Wanshou?
Now, the rub is the players probably never picked up on any of this contrast--or they didn't care to call the kettle 'black'. That's why I posted this without spoilers in the GM Discussion thread. The adventure background rarely comes to light in the course of the game. But I was curious if other GMs shared my skepticism.
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Just got home from running this tonight at our FLGS. With no guidance on the matter to be found, I simply had to ignore it and treat it as per the normal combat rules in the CRB for attacks from above-water to under-water, and the ambient light conditions.On page 16, the scenario reads as follows:
The paragraph ends abruptly in the middle of a description of a skill check. Does anyone know what the intended wording was?The improvised pool is murky enough to provide
concealment against any attacks that travel through 20
feet or more of water, and a PC must succeed at a DCIn addition to supporting the ceiling, the pillars...
Having read the particular section, I believe it is the Perception DC to notice Lord Rybos. In Subtier 7-8, that would be 10 plus his +7 Stealth bonus and the +10 Stealth bonus for improved cover for DC 27.
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Would this be the best place for play experience/concern for this scenario? It is late, I am irritated, and I'm not sure this warrant a thread for my whining.
I came out of this scenario down one prestige and some money, and that is not too back considering everything. That isn't a problem really since we didn't recover the seal from King. But it drives me crazy to find out that we would have gotten the prestige if with killed the monk, looted his corpse, and walked back to the Way of the Kirin with it.
I didn't force the party into any decision, but I did spend some effort to remind them we don't need to punch our way through everything that doesn't give us everything we want, especially for doing work for a group that professes justice as one of their goals.
This was my first encounter with the Way of the Kirin and it was effectively "We seek justice, unless you have something we want."
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When you GMed this, did anyone give Lord Rybos a -10 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren't underwater?
Running this in a couple hours and my VC thinks I should, but that terribly gimps the final encounter =\.
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Oh, well. The pouncing Lion Shaman Monk under the effects of Freedom of Movement turned Rybos into Calamari. And that was after getting hit for 4 negative levels.
But the most unexpected tactic was the party Sorcerer casting Raiment of Command to take on the appearance of a Servant of the Deep.
That really threw King for a loop.