Again, the rules for chases are incorrect. This time they copied an entire block of text from 5-13 wholesale, including referencing the Incandescent Terrace. At least this time the results of the chase actually make sense. The scaling of the chase is completely terrible as well, having it scale off number of players vs challenge points is never the way to go for scaling. You just had copy the same scaling from 2-10, which is in the same tier as this scenario. Start with 3 points, and increase the DC or chase points required based on the challenge points.
The Hazard after the chase doesn't have a hazard type at all. It is mentioned as a Trap in the reaction, so I went with that, but the hazard type matters for things like Trap Finder, so it really should be included. Also please stop making hazards that do damage to everyone on the initial reaction as well as on their turn.
When the PCs enter Mahja's house to check it out, they somehow don't hear all the fighting outside. It's also assumed that they close the doors for some reason. I don't like how it essentially forces the action of closing the doors on the PCs, and assumes they wouldn't notice the huge fight breaking out just outside those doors.
They also included a 5th rank spell in the boss's 4th rank slots. I replaced it with another Fireball, but a mistake like this is super easy to notice and fix. If you want an NPC to have more spell slots, you can just give them more slots, you don't have to cheat that hard.
Also speaking on cheating, having someone cast from outside combat left a sour taste in the mouths of my players. It's not that the boss got free buffs, it's that it was pitched as an honorable combat, then someone goes and cheats from the stands and the boss says nothing about it.
The addition of a Huge creature on a map that has a 10ft wide hallway was also a huge mistake. There should have just been more Orcs instead of animals.
I'm also severely disappointed that the Red Reaver claws were completely ignored, despite having a significant meaning to Uirch. He claimed the claws after fighting the Reaver and losing his arm, and when we see him next in 2-10 he's proud of them, and even shows how the claws match the scars on his arm. Then they were completely forgotten about just to give him a shield.
The addition of Uirch also getting a crucible mark was kinda predictable, I just hope something interesting happens there, rather than him just helping Mahja out.
Overall it was fine. At least we had a fight against an intelligent enemy who had good spells and tactics for once. We need more bosses like this. However, this boss could totally have just been a Cleric of the "bad guy" who kills Uirch in front of the party, and have literally the exact same spells and abilities. Nothing about Uirch's stat block was special to him, and it would have been more memorable if we were avenging a fallen ally, instead of pity killing him.
The encounters in this scenario need some additional review, especially the final one.
Encounter 1:
Spoiler:
The Pangolins are way too beefy for a level 8 creature, having 160 HP, which when combined with the tar ability makes the combat drag on.
Encounter 3:
Spoiler:
Specifically the haunt, with a High Attack and Damage bonus, along with being able to hit everyone at full MAP, and a +26 Stealth bonus, this level 9 hazard can easily TPK a part without them even being able to act. We were only saved by the grace of poor attack rolls and good skill checks, otherwise we would likely have lost in a very anti-climatic way. It reminds me of the old "rocks fall, everyone dies" meme.
I really hope you do more playtesting for the next scenario in this series, as recently it's either been too easy, or insanely difficult.
Pros: The influence NPCs have nice art and their backgrounds and motivations are well fleshed out.
Cons: The Influence subsystem, combats are too easy, there's no motivation to follow the plot.
The influence subsystem is never fun, especially when there's 5 NPCs across 8 rounds. The only scenario I've experienced where it worked was The Blakros Deception, where there was only one NPC to focus on.
There are too many low level enemies, rather than increasing the power of the boss. This isn't to say we should have a APL+3 boss, but fighting 3 +0 enemies is less interesting than a +1 and two -1s. Incapacitate is a trait for a reason, and having bosses at the same level as the PCs make it too easy for them to finish the boss in a single spell. Please consider increasing the difficulty on bosses to make fights more interesting, like they were back in season 2.
The motivation for the party to snoop in the manor just doesn't exist. When a new friend is injured, the party is expected to sneak into a restricted area... why? There's just no reason! The person who's missing isn't suspicious, and there's nothing to signify that they went into the manor. For all the party knows, they could have left the grounds completely. Also, please stop having us loot innocent people. Stealing from the servants should give infamy, not treasure bundles.
Finally, the title of this scenario makes no sense. We go to an auction and stop a heist, the fact that there are crocodiles has absolutely no bearing on the plot. They could have been literally any other creature and the story would have been exactly the same. If the title mentions a creature, I would expect them to be at least somewhat important to the plot.
I was so looking forward to this scenario, but was disappointed. There's very little variety in the types of undead. This is the level range of some really cool creatures, like Graveknights or Zombie Dragons, and instead we just get a bunch of Wights and a few Sulfur Zombies. There was so much potential here, and it was wasted. I only cast Heal once, and it was at Rank 3. I didn't even cast a Rank 6 spell in the final fight, because I thought there would be an actual boss after.
The final fight, while technically a "Severe" encounter, was super easy due to the constant damage the enemies take, and them only being level 12. I was hoping for at least a level 13 creature as the final fight, along side some lower level creatures. For example, a Skeletal Titan would have made for a fantastic final boss, and is especially fitting for a siege on a town. It would have natural resistance to the wildfires it has to push through, so you would only have to give it the same smokesight ability everything else has.
On the topic of the wildfires, it just doesn't make sense that the one pulling the strings, knowing ahead of time that their minions would need to see through smoke, wouldn't have the foresight to also give them Energy Resistance. It makes them seem a lot less intelligent than they are supposed to be, considering the story.
Overall, I was very disappointed in this one. I hope we get more interesting and challenging creatures in the future high level scenarios, as at this level healers have a bunch more spells available, and death is not as big of a deal as it is at lower levels.
