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So in preparing to run this at an upcoming convention, I found a few threads on various specific aspects of this sanctioned module, but no general GM discussion thread. So I'm starting this one, mostly to talk about the specifics of running this in PFS.
First, a few comments and links to previous threads:
1. GM's should note that there's a pricing error on the chronicle sheet. Let your players know to use the Core Rulebook price if they want to buy that item.
2. There is an error in the map, caused by the different elevations. That thread has suggestions for how to handle it, which I'm going with.
3. The map is huge, and rough to draw. You'll definitely want to draw it in advance, unless you're playing without a time limit and your players don't mind all the breaks.
Just to give my own comment on how to handle this, I decided to buy a pack of 100 sheets of 1 inch grid paper, with 8x10 squares per page. I'm drawing and cutting up sections of the dungeon, putting room numbers on the back (with an arrow indicating north, so I know how to lay them down), and plan to throw them down one at a time as the PC's reach each area. The exception is the central cathedral, which I drew on a standard blank flip mat, which will be in the center. This will be slightly annoying (having paper overlapping with the flip mat), but I think it'll work out.
4. The necrophidius is too powerful an enemy for a level 1 adventure. Be careful not to play it too smart, or you'll have a TPK on your hands. Yes, a level 1 module should have CR 3 final challenges, but this creature's special abilities should push it up to CR 4, or maybe even 5. I really hope I don't kill the whole party this way when I run this.
5. A few people have generated their own PFS intros for this adventure, and even some faction missions for those groups that have extra time when playing. I've got my own ideas about this, and started writing my own intro with Sheila Heidmarch sending the Pathfinders to help the church of Pharasma. I'll post what I've written later in this thread.
That's all the old stuff. I'll add my own new questions/comments in additional posts, since this is already a wall of text.
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So now for my new questions and comments.
1. The main mission is to find out why bodies are missing from the ossuary, and stop the culprit, which means killing or capturing the necro-alchemist. In the module, there's a secondary mission of clearing out the entire level of monsters. This leads to one very obvious question:
For PFS, just how much do they have to do to "succeed" and get full credit?
If they take one of the short cuts to get to the final boss early, beat him, and realize they've finished the main mission, do they get full credit while still skipping more than half the module?
In other words, do they just have to do the primary mission to get full credit, or is exploring/clearing the entire level also a required mission? And if clearing the level is required, just how much can they get away with missing? For instance, if they do most of it, but miss one or two rooms behind secret doors, is that enough?
2. How did you deal with all the exits from the ossuary that lead to other parts of Kaer Maga's underground passages, and are outside the scope of the adventure? I'm hard pressed to come up with an "in character" reason for PC's not to want to follow up those leads. Should I just tell them it's outside the scope of this module, or is there a better way to say that without it sounding too metagamey?
That's it for now. As I said, I'll share my own custom intro (based partially on those linked above) when I'm done with it.
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So I checked the Guide to Organized Play (or Guild Guide or whatever it's called these days).
GM must determine the rewards for that character. The minimum possible reward is 0 gp, 1 XP and 1 PP on the medium advancement track or 0 gp 1/2 XP, and 1/2 Prestige Point on the slow advancement track. If a character participates in more than 2/3 of the module, she should receive the full rewards. GMs and active players are encouraged to hasten the return of any characters waiting to be raised from the dead.
Players who do not complete each game session earn 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 less XP and 1 less Prestige Point for each session missed. This also applies to players who join later sessions; they receive 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer XP and Prestige Point for each session missed. In both cases, players earn a minimum of 1/3 gold pieces, 1 XP and 1 Prestige Point.
So it doesn't talk about succeeding at specific goals within the adventure. It just talks about being there the whole time to receive full rewards. And it talks about dead characters getting full reward if they participated in more than 2/3 of the adventure.
So I think that's my answer on the secondary mission for this module. They need to explore more than 2/3 of the place to get full credit.
As for what happens when you fail the main mission in a module, that might be a good new thread to start, removed from the discussion of this particular adventure.
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Here's the intro I came up with. The opening portion with Sheila Heidmarch is my own, but the parts in Kaer Maga borrow heavily from the other threads linked above and the module itself.
“As you probably know, the city of Kaer Maga is located at the top of a cliff in eastern Varisia. The cliff side itself is the site of many enormous statues, remnants of the Thassilonian Empire. The mouth of one of those giant statues, revered as possibly some long forgotten god, is the entrance to the Godsmouth Ossuary. For those who live and die in Kaer Maga, this is the most prestigious, and expensive, place to be buried.”
“Obviously, the ancient nature of that site makes it an exciting prospect for exploration by any archaeologists, our Society included. We’ve long suspected that there might be exciting remnants of ancient Thassilon in those passages below the city, waiting to be discovered. But the site is controlled by the church of Pharasma, who restrict entrance to the ossuary quite strictly. Not even mourners are allowed to enter. Only the priests and those dead they bring to entomb are allowed entrance.”
“I’ve contacted the church of Pharasma in Kaer Maga several times, hoping to gain access, but I’ve always been rebuffed… until now. Just this morning, I received a message from one of their priests, asking for the Society’s help. If I send a team of Pathfinder agents to help them with a problem, they’ll allow that team to explore inside the Godsmouth.”
“So I’m sending you to Kaer Maga. You will meet with a priestess named Valanthe Nerissia in the Godsmouth Cathedral, and follow her instructions precisely. Whatever task they need our help with, you will do. And then you will explore whatever areas of the Godsmouth Ossuary that they allow. If the priests put restrictions on how deep you may explore, don’t disobey their instructions to venture outside those bounds. Maintaining a good relationship with the church is essential. I’m hoping to be invited back for more exploration later.”
“Are there any questions?”
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Once the Pathfinders are done asking questions, Venture-Captain Heidmarch calls for an elderly wizard to enter the room. He barely looks at the Pathfinders while casting the spell to teleport them directly to Kaer Maga, the City of Strangers.
Once there, you make your way through the labyrinth-like multi-storied streets to the southeast section of the city, known to locals as The Bottoms. The gothic majesty of the Godsmouth Cathedral towers above as you make your way down a gravel path to the front doors of the church. To the north, thornless black roses, thought to bring good luck, are planted in a bed in the center of the path, while to the south, rowan trees provide homes to sacred whippoorwills, birds believed to guide departed souls to the Goddess Pharasma’s otherworldly sanctuary known as The Boneyard. The two knockers on the double-door to the Nave are carved into large silver spirals.
A priest wearing dark purple and midnight blue robes answers the door and leads you to a private room inside the cathedral. He asks you to wait while he notifies Cryptmistress Nerissia that you have arrived.
A few minutes pass and the priest returns, accompanied by a somber woman dressed in dark purple and black robes. Her gray hair is streaked with silver and is pulled back into a bun. She looks you over as she approaches and then gives a curt bow to the group. The other priest leaves, closing the door behind him.
“Welcome to Godsmouth Cathedral. I am Cryptmisstress Valanthe Nerissia. Your Venture Captain assured me that you could help us resolve our problem.”
“Over the last month, bodies have gone missing from the lowest level of our Ossuary and we need adventuring sorts such as you to investigate and, if possible, put a stop to the disappearances. Many noble families invest their fortunes to see that their loved ones are kept safely at rest in the catacombs of our Ossuary. It would be an embarrassment, to say the least, if this information was leaked to the public, so your discretion is most appreciated.”
“You’ll be going down into the lowest level of the Ossuary, which hasn’t been used in decades, possibly centuries. Besides investigating the disappearances of the bodies, we’d also like you to clear that level of any monsters or other threats. You are permitted to keep any valuables you find so long as they do not belong to the deceased entombed within. Any Pharasmin relics should be returned to me so that they can be given their proper reverence in our library and temple.”
Before going down to the Ossuary, the priestess gives you the opportunity to journey out into Kaer Maga to buy any additional equipment, and prepare yourselves properly. She once again urges you not to repeat any of what she’s told you.
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When the PCs are ready to begin, Valanthe meets them and leads them down the narrow, twisting cliffside path to the Godsmouth Ossuary. Once they pass through the mouth of the Unnamed King, they are in the ossuary proper, where robed and hooded Pharasmin priests quietly tend to the deceased. Valanthe leads the PCs through luxuriously appointed catacombs packed with bodies and down several stairways before coming to an area that obviously sees little use—most of the burial niches are empty and dusty, the air is musty and close, and silence reigns supreme.
In this disused portion of the crypts, Valanthe stops before a locked door. She explains that this is the only known entrance to the sealed lower portions of the ossuary, and once you enter, the door will be locked behind you. Because of this restriction, you will be unable to leave the ossuary to rest and resupply between encounters. To help you accomplish your task, Valanthe gives each of you a potion of cure light wounds and a vial of holy water.
Valanthe then hands you a hollow mithral tube about 1 foot long—a chime of opening with 5 charges remaining. You may use the chime to get through the Pharasmin seals below, but you should make sure you save at least 1 charge to get through this door again on your way out— the priests will not open the door for you if you don’t have the chime, as they have no way of seeing through the locked door to recognize you or determine whether something has turned you into mindless undead. If you lose the chime or use up its magic, you must find their own way out of the ossuary. With this warning given, Valanthe draws a large iron key from beneath her robes and unlocks the door. The Godsmouth Ossuary awaits.
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Yeah, the tengu tunnel makes sense to leave as is, since it doesn't go anywhere.
But I think there are 4 other ways to get to other parts of Kaer Maga's underground, though, and at least one (the giant pit that the necrophidius comes out of) can't be edited out. And the stairs where the goblin snake came in, which has to be left for that encounter to make sense.