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Organized Play Member. 17 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 6 Organized Play characters.


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Reporting Unfinished Scenarios
Dark Archive 1/5

How do you report a scenario that was not finished? For example, a group that completely wiped in the first encounter. Two of the characters are dead and not able to raise, one died but was able to raise.

  • Will each of these players be able to play this scenario again because they didn't complete even a single encounter?
  • If so, and I report the game online, won't the system be upset when someone tries to give them credit for the scenario again later?
  • Do I get full GM credit?
  • Because one of the characters was raised, am I right in thinking I would not tick the "character died" checkbox on the reporting screen?

Any assistance appreciated. Thankfully this rarely happens!
PFS #2-02 Before the Dawn, Part II
Dark Archive 1/5

Apologies if this has been asked before, I did a search and wasn't able to find specifically this being mentioned. Please point to a post that has addressed it if it exists.

Spoiler:

In the first encounter, at tier 1-2, the Aspis Consortium mercenaries and the captain are riding mounts not trained in combat. The core rulebook says that controlling a mount that is not combat trained requires a DC 20 ride check. The scenario, although pointing to that rule, uses the term "melee combat". I have seen more than one GM run this as being only when the mounts are within 5 feet of an opponent wielding a melee weapon is the check made. This seems to make the encounter incredibly difficult, almost always resulting in at least one death, especially when they are fighting 8+ mercenaries along with the charging captain.

Having said that, assuming the captain must make a ride check every round as long as he is in battle, which uses a movement action, can he still charge? I have had debates before over whether you are using the mount's actions or the character's actions when you charge.

Also, does anyone add difficult terrain to this encounter? This was almost suicide for one party (one character did die), and I felt the GM was a little liberal in the captain being able to charge from one side of the map to the other every round, using ride-by attack, without any form of hindrance. This may have only been an issue with the lack of ride checks though.

tl;dr - dot points!

  • SCENARIO refers to controlling untrained mounts in combat, referring specifically to the core rulebook section on the Ride skill. However, while summarising the rule, uses the term "enter melee combat".

  • The CORE RULEBOOK, specifically referenced by the scenario, uses the term "while in battle". Further, the Mounted Combat section of the rulebook is quite explicit about untrained mounts being frightened in combat and requiring a DC 20 Ride check.

  • I would suggest that the intention for this encounter is for every opponent, mercenaries and captain alike, to make the ride check every round of combat as appears to be the case RAW in the core rulebook, and not just while a mount is within 5 feet of a melee combatant.

  • If the above suggestion is indeed the case, can the captain still charge as in his tactics? He uses a movement action and charge is full-round. It seems to me, according to the Mounted Combat rule of the core rulebook, the mount makes the charge and the captain is just using a standard action at the end of it to make an attack. Therefore, he could control his mount with a movement action and still charge as per tactics.

  • Should this map have difficult terrain? Or, as someone just pointed out to me, are those TREES dotting the landscape and therefore completely impassable? The last GM I saw run this ignored the trees (which I thought might have been bushes causing difficult terrain) and just charged right over them.
Replaying Crypt of the Everflame
Dark Archive 1/5

With the PFS changes in 4.1 I understand that tier 1-2 sanctioned modules can be replayed. If I'm not mistaken that means that Crypt of the Everflame can be replayed. The rules state that you can play it through one time on a level 2 character, but all other times must be a level 1 character. How would this affect Crypt of the Everflame? The CotE chronicle sheet allows you to apply it to any character up to level 11. If you are able to replay it (which may not be the case - maybe it's counted as a tier 1-11 module because of the nature of the chronicle sheet), can you only apply subsequent credits to a level 1 character? For example, my players play it through one time and apply them to characters of level 5 or 6 or whatever they have, but after that they can only apply it to level 1 characters?

Any guidance appreciated!
How do you handle players surrendering? (First Steps 1 Spoilers)
Dark Archive 1/5

I have an IRC channel where we play PFS a few times a week. Every now and then the players can get into a serious mess - sometimes because they're outgunned, sometimes because there are newer players who make really silly tactical mistakes (like running away from an encounter by running further into an area, and into the next encounter).

The other day a game was being run where the players had found themselves in a fairly improbable encounter (by making the abovementioned tactical error), and they could have potentially surrendered.

First Steps 1:
Similarly, while running First Steps 1 earlier this week, my players were completely rolled in the final encounter. By the third or fourth round every one of them was below 0hp. My logic was that, not wanting to be murderers as well as thieves this early in their career, the NPC opponent cleric stabilized the group and then, I guess, robbed them.

I don't know if a GM can really strip characters of their equipment/gold like that, though, so I ruled that they lost the artifact from the last task.

If your characters surrender or fall to a TPU (Total Party Unconsciousness) and there is no logical reason to believe the NPC opponents would summarily execute them, how would you handle it? Do they lose any of their equipment? Is it scenario over? Do they still get XP, or is it dependent on a success condition/total number of encounters played?
Stealth and Diversions
Dark Archive

Playing a scenario today and our rogue stealths to the other side of a room so he is behind some guards. He then throws a pebble to the side of the room he just came from to cause a noise down the corridor in the hopes of distracting one or both of the guards to go investigate.

The DM ruled that throwing the pebble (not /at/ anyone, just down a corridor) counted as an attack action which gave him a -20 to his stealth check and caused both guards to immediately look directly at him.

Obviously I disagree. Can anyone explain this interpretation to me in a way that makes sense?