Destruc-TOR's page

Welcome! This is only my second full AP and I've enjoyed it immensely, and learnt a great deal in the process. Not sure what advice to give other than this community is a great resource and find another GM if you can to bounce ideas off of in person. It's fun to have a scheming partner and results in more creative ideas.

I have a question about Neferuset. If she casts deeper darkness, how does see the PCs to target them? I feel like I must be missing something... Her darkvision doesn't work in that right?

Yes. They still completed that encounter.

Thanks!

My PCs include a paladin so they've been doing their best to stay within the law and have gone the route of getting permission before entering the libraries. Since they didn't break in at night, should they still get the xp for the library guards and traps and the tophet, since they got past them by following the rules?

It's been a while now, but I think I ran it as preventing access.

I did give the PCs advance warning, though.

Thanks for responding so quickly. I appreciate it.

Does the dimensional lock effect in the Buyan demi-plane prevent the PC's accessing their extra-dimensional storage (i.e. handy haversacks, efficient quivers, etc)?

I've seen lots of debate on the subject in other boards, but nothing definitive and thought I'd ask how other Reign of Winter GMs handled this.

I'm also thinking ahead as to the dimensional lock effect in the final battle.

Thanks! I appreciate the advice.

My players used the evil skinning dagger they got off the triplet alchemists - the one that allows you to create an undead creature - and skinned Vsevelod so his undead version went down into the pit for them. It made for a great storytelling moment when the neutral PCs came up with the solution and the good PCs reluctantly agreed but refused to take part and then forced the mage to give up the knife in case he was tempted to resort to necromancy in the future (he'd been telling all the PCs what a useful object it was when they wanted to get rid of it).

So, my players are in the middle of the final fight with Rasputin (we had to end the session mid-fight, but are continuing in a few days).

One of the players is planning to use anti-magic field against Rasputin, allowing the ranger to deal death via arrows. Even though Rasputin can use his revolver, I don't think it'll do enough damage to the PCs to save him in time. So, this is usually where the stitched soul ability would come in, but since it's supernatural and takes 1d4 rounds to kick in, if it's surpressed by the anti-magic field for four rounds after he dies the first time, will it still kick in once the field is dismissed or the caster moves away from the body, or does it not kick in after those four rounds are over and he's just dead dead?

Just wanted to double-check, for the siege, should we be giving PCs the xp from the monsters they fight AND the final story xp (which is different depending on the number of victory points they earn) or just the latter?

I photocopied the 3 maps in the book and then taped them together like a cylinder. Then flattened it to make a two-sided map. I stuck it to try and match some of passages connected by the teleportation arches and drew in connecting lines where it didn't match up. I then went over it with red pen, making notes for myself as to which creatures were in each room. I have then simply been describing the rooms and corridors as they go and then draw out the room they are in when they fight.

I'm still finding it challenging to prepare for each session though. I've had to prepare as if any room might be on the docket for that session. They've spent more time in the crone than the other two dungeons, but haven't figured out that they have been moving to the other statues yet.

They are still level 8 and had only done a few rooms when they decided to unlock the door to the croning ritual pathway. Thankfully I was able to make the rune warnings sound really ominous and they have high enough knowledges that I could tell them about the existance of croning rituals. They then closed the door and went to a different room...

From what I understand, the interior of the Hut isn't an extra dimensional space, it is instead a large number of demi-planes.

That's right. Each new configuration of the hut is its own demi-plane.

None of that data has changed as of this time and I currently do not forsee it changing.

Thanks, Sara Marie!

I was so excited to get in to my top pick for the whole con... and I called my husband to let him know the good news.

I'm sure there's a way to fix it so those people who didn't get slotted into still open events can be slotted in, without other people being unscheduled from events they got into.

Thanks for letting us know.

I did see my schedule, briefly. Then I hit Reload, and it disappeared. Is the schedule I see at 3:30pm likely to be different than the schedule I saw at 2:30pm?

I would love to know this too.

My players are just a few encounters from finishing the second book. This means they will finally have the dancing hut in their possession. When reading under hut controls in its item description it states, "The hut is controlled by cracking a brown chicken egg into a cracked bowl! Which produces a chick that controls the huts actions with a DC 30 umd check".

This raises a question my fellow dm's here. When a character is finally able to make the dc 30 check. How do you explain or narrate what they do with the chick in the bowl?

I'm assuming the house spirit Zorka when eventually made friendly could advise them of the first step (cracking the egg in the bowl) but no further. This also raises the question how to role play her.

I've had a few ideas for each but I thought bouncing ideas off each other could help everyone!

My players are going to enter the hut soon and I've been wondering the same thing. I did not realise that the egg cracking - rooster hatching was part of what was needed to make it work. I had just assumed it was to prepare for what happened if a curious player cracked the egg. What did you end up doing for your narration?

So, my players are about to enter the hut and I was wondering how others dealt with the interior being an extradimensional space as regards spells like clairvoyance (a PC just got that and if she tries to use it on the hut before they enter I figure it won't work - right?) and items like handy haversack or bag of holding once they're inside the hut? RAW those things won't work, but I wondered if that made things too much of a pain for your PCs?

Well, it turned out to be a moot point... the ranger's gravity-bow powered shot at the top of the round took him out before he had a chance to act again. They also took out the dawn piper at the tree pretty quickly, so here's hoping the water-focused piper who is still alive will prove more of a challenge.

I'm also considering adding the super-scary redcap from the bestiary in the back of the book into the battle with Nazhena. The sorcerer is a fire-damage dealing machine, combined with a winter witch pc and the ranger, I think the ice mephit and ice golem won't last very long and the fight will be a bit of an anti-climax otherwise. I know the redcap is also vulnerable to fire, but he would at least add one more combatant to deal with, and that picture is so great, it seems a shame to never have the PCs face him.

Thanks, that makes me feel better. This is the first time I'm GMing a campaign and whenever I mess up (e.g. oh yeah, Teb Knotten had a feather step potion he was supposed to drink) I worry that I've made the encounter too much of a cake walk and therefore not fun - but you're right, the players are having fun regardless, which is the whole point after all. Besides which, I find the terror of what the NPCs might do, often makes much more of an impression on the players than what they actually did (or didn't) do.

Thanks again for all your posts and help. These boards are invaluable, and I appreciate all your contributions, everyone!

He can't use the Terrible Aura because he lacks a musical instrument. It's in the write-up for the ability.

Wow, thanks for pointing that out - I can't believe I missed that!

My players are in the forest facing the earth dawn piper. We had to end the session mid-battle, and we'll pick up next session with the elf rogue having just used his very high acrobatics roll to vault up onto the rock platform, prone at the foot of the dawn piper. Since the oracle used pilfering hands to take the piper's flute, he can't use his dissonance ability, so I plan to have the piper use his aura of terrible beauty to blind the elf and then try to bullrush him off the edge. However, the elf has the "lightbringer" trait and I'm not sure whether or not this would make him immune to being blinded. The trait is:
Lightbringer: Many elves revere the sun, moon, and stars, but some are literally infused with the radiant power of the heavens. Elves with this racial trait are immune to light-based blindness and dazzle effects, and are treated as one level higher when determining the effects of any light-based spell or effect they cast (including spell-like and supernatural abilities). Elves with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher may use light at will as a spell-like ability. This racial trait replaces the elven immunities and elven magic racial traits.
I feel like since it could be blinding or deafening effect, then the aura is more about power than light, but I don't want to make the player feel like I'm nerfing his cool trait. What do you think?

I'm also wondering whether it wouldn't just be better to take a five foot step back and cast "unadulterated loathing" instead since he's primarily a melee fighter? If I do use the terrible beauty it would also possibly effect the witch PC who is in range...

Any and all input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Does this help?

Yes, thank you so much. That makes sense now - and will not only allow me to explain the map to my players, but also be a great foreshadowing of the strength of community they'll find amongst the Heralds (along with the experience they've just had in the Fish Camps).

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I was drawing the map out last night (in preparation for playing tomorrow), so this response is very timely. Thanks again!

My players are about to enter the howlings but I am slightly confused about the map. I get that the covered alleyways are lower down than the bridges, and that the bridges connect the upper floors, but the map makes it appear as if the bridges go from rooftop to rooftop. Which doesn't make sense - how would you get into your house from the roof? So I must be missing something. Can anyone help me make sense of this? Thanks.

Destruc-TOR wrote:

What I find disappointing, however, is that this latest change was not advertised,

When should they advertise it if not the initial announcement?

But it wasn't in the initial announcement. It was only in the thread calling for volunteers - which went up after that.

wac, I am trying to understand where you are coming from on this, but I am at a loss. To me, you seem to be saying that if Paizo does not provide you with 12 hours of continuous PFS gaming each day, then they are lazy, and depriving you of an enjoyable experience. Really?

I appreciate, that you are trying to understand.

You are right, you are not understanding wac's point. I see it simply as this.

Before: We all had the freedom to choose, for each slot, what we wanted to do (whether this was gaming PFS, or other RPGs or just hanging out or playing card games or any of the other things you mentioned - which are all part of a great con and which I've partaken in over the years)

Now: Every afternoon, for four days, we no longer have the same freedom (that long list of choices from before, has been shortened to no longer include a guaranteed rpg opportunity).

It is possible that I am misinformed, and that the convention afternoon slots will have more choices than they did before. However, based on the current info available, the only RPG choices during those slots will be either organised by attendees themselves (via warhorn or impromptu at the con) or lottery games, and it seems unlikely that these will provide the same number of seats that used to be available in that same slot in the last three years I've attended the convention.

PaizoCon has the prerogative to change things up, and this has surely been happening over the years as it has grown.

What I find disappointing, however, is that this latest change was not advertised, AND it is being presented as increasing my list choices (which the above contradicts).

I, for one, am not looking forward to getting back from lunch every afternooon, and then wandering around the freeplay area, trying to find a table that hasn't already started playing, that is also about to run a PFS scenario that I haven't already played, that sounds like it would be fun, that is in a tier for which I have a character ready to go, and isn't in a holding pattern waiting for the GM who "just left a few minutes ago to round up some more players". I don't think I'm the only person who has social anxiety at the thought of approaching multiple tables hoping that they have a spot for me, let alone for me and my husband. I think it will also be awkward for the people who are already at the table, especially if they're running a non-PFS game and have to either re-explain the new system to everyone who drops in, or turn away all but experienced players. Plus it'll make it tough on the GMs, not knowing how many players they'll have, when the game will actually start, and consequently how much time they'll actually have to run the game.

I much prefer knowing ahead of the con what I'll be playing when, and my anticipation has now been tainted by anxiety.

Maybe give them half experience for the troll now (to nudge them along if they're close to leveling up) and then half later if and when they defeat it on their way back down. Alternatively, you could award the full amount for bypassing the troll and simply have her leave once she ascertains that the tower has been overrun by the PCs. Once she knows she slipped up by letting them inside, she'll know her goose is cooked one way or the other once Nazhena returns. Or, even if Radosek manages to defeat the PCs, she knows she'll face his wrath, too. Either way, once she knows she's in big trouble, she just might abandon her post entirely and flee into the wilderness, never to return. That still amounts to "defeating" her.

My two cents,
--Neil

Thanks, Neil! I really appreciate it. Not only are these great suggestions, but your responding so quickly, especially when this AP has been out for a while, is truly wonderful.

Thank you.

Thanks, everyone for all your help and advice. These posts have been very useful.

My PCs bluffed their way past the guards to get in the Pale Tower and allowed the ice troll to eat one of their sled dogs so they could go inside. They've just dealt with all the guards and are planning to head upstairs in the next session. My question is, should I give them the XP for the troll now, even though they are probably going to have to face it later (on the way out)? I know they get xp for bluffing their way past the guards, I'm just not sure what to do with the troll...

Please help! Thanks.

I would definitely be interested.

wac wrote:

5. dcjester - Sewer Dragons of Absalom (Brought the fun. Fool your way in as a pompous theatre critic? Great! Fallen down a hole, entangled and can't get up for 7 rounds? Still the best day ever! Jackie Chan wall jump into a cloud of smoke to grab a &#*$%? Do it!)

In full agreement on this one. By far the best PFS scenario I ran through all weekend, though the others came close in many regards. If DCJester is there next year, I hope to get in on whatever he is running and I would love to sit in with you and Destruc-TOR again. Y'all helped make it a great time.

I was also really hoping we got to run into the theater manager again at some point, even though my PC would most likely have been six sheets to the wind in order to pull off a follow up like the first one (love that Tankard of Cayden Cailean). ;)

Hopefully all the stars align next year. We definitely want to play with you again, zylphryx, even if only because we owe you about half a wand's worth of 'shield' ;)

DCJester, thanks so much for a fantastic session with moments I will never forget. It was the best possible way we could have ended the con. We will hopefully be at your table again soon!

Will there be a way to buy the upcoming world guide if we weren't one of the savvy people who joined the kickstarter? When is the ETA on the book?

My husband and I were lucky enough to win the lottery game, "Mr Dumont and the Magnificent Time Piece". We had a fantastic time. Anthony Rossi did a great job as GM. It was easily the highlight of the con. I look forward to spending more time in Terah.

So to clarify, if my husband and I are playing together in a Pathfinder Society game, as long as we have one core book between us, we're fine? And if both of our characters have aspects from the Advanced Players, and we have one copy between us, that'll also be fine?

You should have whatever materials on hand that you need to run your respective PCs. If you need to have two copies between you in order to ensure you have references for your PCs' abilities and ensure your GM can reference elements from any non-core sources, you should be fine. This really only applies to Pathfinder Society games, mind you, as open gaming or other scheduled games will have their own rules and expectations of what materials to bring. As for multiple copies of PDFs, I don't have a problem with that as long as they're legally-obtained digital copies and you're only sharing them among yourself, your significant other, and his family.

Is the $85 rate per room per night or per person per night?

Well, as we rebuild the winter council, there will be much recruiting and training of squad members. Thankfully, I’ve just learnt a very useful way to motivate elves ... an attractive Ulfen.

It all started the day after we left Crying Leaf. We had recruited Shells and Blink before windwalking to Jol to investigate the second hole in the sky that Kwava had reported. We were tempted to pay a visit to this poor, misguided elf first as we’d heard disturbing news about the group he’d recruited to Squad Omega (only one elf and she’s only half-elf at that, plus a “pirate catcher” and “public relations officer”!), but we were on a tight schedule.

When in Jol we discovered two very interesting characters. The first was a kobold named Sliss who was remarkable because she claimed to be studying the dragon who she said is behind the hole in the sky. She seemed to worship the dragon and believed it was causing the inclement weather that the locals had been suffering recently. Unfortunately the weather meant we couldn’t get a good look at the hole, but we did not feel the same tugging attraction that we’d experienced with the hole in Riddleport. We could not afford to leave the matter unresolved however and she agreed to travel with us into the sky the following day.

Sliss seemed okay, if a little crazy in her obsession with worshiping the dragon and never questioning its motives. We decided not to mention the time we slayed a dragon, or how tasty they are.

The second character was Taria Katjasdottir, a former council contractor who had done a job with Squad 13. She is skilled with an axe, can cast a few spells, and apparently has the ability to inflame elven lust. Syl, Aubrey and Zara were all instantly infatuated with this human warrior, but I felt it a betrayal to the memory of dear, departed Tügrik to even entertain such thoughts.

Taria’s presence sparked an impromptu contest of power between the three suitors: one complimenting her current axe and offering her the use of a powerful axe of sundering in their possession (much to the chagrin of one of the other suitors, in whose possession it had been until very recently); another casting prestidigitation to impress her; yet another flaunting the former barbarian, now frog, which she’d enchanted in a past battle. Despite their best efforts, no one was more successful at being more charming than the others, but Syl was able to prove his superior litheness and flexibility, implying he could display it more fully in a more comfortable venue.

I feel almost sorry for poor Taria. She has done nothing to bring about this sexual tension and consequent contest for her affections, though she has politely expressed admiration for all three, not showing any preference. This would seem to indicate she will be focussing on the job at hand and not my temporarily insane squad mates. It is also possible she is oblivious of the chaos she is causing. I cannot determine her mind (I will have to ask Quill what he thinks as he is very good at sensing what motivates others) but for now the benefit of her presence is clear - she is inspiring our squad to great heights.

The first night in Jol we stayed at a local inn, only to be disturbed by screams and jelly-like monsters falling from the sky. They were acidic and the little blobs seemed to be merging into larger more dangerous blobs. They were dispatched rather quickly and the town was saved (no thanks to Blink who stayed behind to “keep an eye on the room”). Once again Taria’s presence, and the fact that it was her hometown under attack, may have inspired certain squad members to neutralise the jellies with the utmost efficiency. Their need to impress Taria was intensified by her being rousted from sleep and being clad only in her chainmail shirt (leaving her shapely legs exposed up to mid-thigh).
After peace was once again restored, we all went back to bed.

In the morning we worked out an ingenious plan to take a closer look at the dragon and the “hole”. Syl would have fly cast on him and would hold a rope to which we all would be attached. Aubrey would then cast levitate on the remaining party members and Syl would haul us up. This pleased them both as Syl could show off his superior upper body strength and Aubrey could show off her magic. Unfortunately our departure was slightly delayed as there was much debate over who would get to be in front of and behind Taria in the line as we ascended.

The plan seemed to go well and we were approaching the “hole” when we spotted two giants on the back of two rocs about 100 feet away, heading straight for us. This was the moment when all the motivational force of a toned and beautiful Ulfen warrior paid off.

First, Syl dealt the rocs three critical wounds in the span of 6 seconds, significantly weakening them and comprising their manoeuvrability with strategic shots from his bow. Zara followed with an equally powerful attack, stunning the roc with its ferocity. Aubrey followed this with a cone of sonic damage. As one of the rocs began to plummet, bleeding profusely, Phos disappeared. I assume that he gets up to some really impressive, roguish stunts while we cannot see him, but I cannot be certain. He may have been kicking himself away from the safety of the rope to jump in the path of a roc, grabbing onto its belly and dealing crippling wounds before steering its decent like a skilled rodeo performer, or he could have been eating an apple and watching the spectacle... I have no way of knowing, but I suspect it’s the former (he is from the obviously superior Squad 23 after all). His disappearance was followed Zara trying to shoot at the giant on the remaining roc, but fumbling horribly. Aubrey made sure that Taria got an eyeful, but it was a mistake on her part as the misguided arrow unbelievably veered towards the roc, dealing a critical strike. No longer able to hold the weight of the giant, it started to drop in a barely-controlled glide. Zara was ecstatic. Aubrey, trying to distract Taria from Zara’s awesome performance, drew attention to herself, loudly casting a final spell at the descending roc. This, however, backfired terribly as her supposedly awesome new spell (I think it’s called disintegrate?) fizzled and barely scorched the falling creature.

At this point, the dragon showed up. It was smaller than I expected but about the same level of angry. On spotting it, Syl instantly notched his bow and let fly with another true strike; the dragon began to gush blood. At this point Quil decided to teleport back to the town and warn them of the imminent arrival of the falling rocs and giants, which seems uncharacteristically magnanimous (considering that it was only Jol after all), but I’m hoping that my example of following the path of good is rubbing off on my pragmatic cousin. It may have had more to do with the fact that he isn’t very useful in an aerial battle, or perhaps even he is not immune to Taria’s charms and wanted to save her home city (regardless of what he says about finding human ears weird and unattractive). Zara, not be outdone by Syl, once again loaded her bow and she must have hit an organ or something as the dragon seemed to crumple and it plummeted to its doom, the life visibly draining from its body.

Unfortunately, our new companion Sliss was not pleased with us so swiftly destroying her scaly hero. She breathed a bolt of electricity at our party – lined up along the rope just like the adorable ducks she keeps (in a cage, for their eggs) – but despite the damage Syl was able to grapple her and while so subdued Aubrey turned her into a rat (very suitable when one takes into account Sliss’s disdain for mammals). It was just Aubrey’s luck, however, that Taria was disappointed with this. It turns out she thinks frogs are far more adorable.

It was then that we noticed that the “hole” in the sky was actually the bottom of a floating barge, and we were almost upon it.

PCs:

Celias "Syl" Gorgorathtel'taur (ranger 8/fighter 4)
Elidlara "Aubrey" Seldanica (evoker 12)
Merisiel "Mule" Galanodel (cleric 12)
Phos Adanien (rogue 10)
Seldon "Quill" Galanodel (cloistered cleric 12)
Zara (paladin 12)

We were in the drow headquarters when the "captain" received a sending: Kaerishiel Neirenar and Hadnabral Seldanica unresponsive. Healing team waiting 500 yards back. Building secure?. Asistance required? Vrock demon escaped from ruin and is rampaging. This distracted us from the footprints we'd been following. Aubrey got a weird look on her face (which I later found out was because it turns out that Shell's real name is Hadnabral Seldanica and she is Aubrey's long-lost sister she never knew existed! What a small world) but the rest of us decided to search for the missing teams.
We found a room with a large pool of water, lots of evidence of splashing and a whole bunch of elf corpses. I thought it might be an invisible evil, but it turned out to be water elementals. Aubrey was so freaked out about her sister she almost used an electricity spell, frying us all, but thankfully she snapped out of it and fireballed them instead. The captain's super cool ghost touch cold iron sword made short work of the beasties.
Next we found a pretty fae lady trapped on a lily pad who wanted our help, but it turns out she was an evil, lying aboleth who was trying to trick us to climb in her scummy pool and die. The others saw through her disguise and destroyed her. We then remembered the footprints we'd been following and found a drow hiding behind the door (which Tugrick destroyed so manfully I am tempted to forgive him for destroying period features). In the wall was this amazing portal, part of which was the piece that was hacked out from Magnamar's famous ring. We defeated the drow and before the portal behind him could close Tugrik ran toward it yelling "Adventure!". Syl followed (he is far too smitten with that rugged barbarian) and the rest of us followed.
The other side was absolutely amazing. It was the Armageddon Echo we'd heard so much about - a perfect replica of ancient celwynvian, filled with walking, talking shadows. It felt pretty good to be there, and Aubrey and I immediately realised what an opportunity this presented. We decided we'd stay to speak to the locals and find out all we could about our perfectly preserved heritage. I linked arms with the first guy we met there, and started to pull out some paper to make notes. Unfortunately the ingrates in Squad 5 wanted to return. Though I successfully shrugged of cousin Quil's silly command to flee and his pathetic attempt to tackle me, Tugrik was able to haul me off back through the portal (he was not pleased with the muted tones and a place that seemed to be less adventure and more museum). The portal shut.
I sulked for a bit, but there was work to do. We headed back to the camp. One good thing about the "captain" is she is able to keep her tongue around that useless, empty headed mayor. I don't know how she does it. Turns out that they were able to frighten off the demon (typical, now we''ll have to kill it later, on its terms) and were having a banquet. We convinced the mayor that we would go through the portal the next day and rescue the teams (Aubrey and I are very excited to return and I plan to make lots of sketches). It seems the man we met on the other side was a leader who held no truck with portals and leaving the world behind in the face of imminent disaster (the head librarian told us this).
While we waited for the banquet Quil questioned the bodies of both the drow and the aboleth. Turns out that Nolvennis took the two elven team leaders with him into the demi-plane and he has the key for the echo gate and for the other portal, which goes to the evil drow city of Zirnakaynin. Also, both the drow and the aboleth are hoping to discover how the first world-ending disaster occurred, so they can recreate it. That's so typical of evil folks, fighting over who will be the first to destroy all the good people.
At the banquet we got tons of cool stuff! The stupid mayor thought we wouldn't like it, but once again the Shin'Rakorath came through. We were able to also buy some of the loot the mayor had to offer, so I now have an amazing bag of holding type 4 and a wand of cure serious wounds! Yay! So tomorrow we get to go through the portal again and now I have enough storage space for all the stuff I want to buy or cool stuff we find (we might even find dragon loot in the echo). Tomorrow looks to be a fantastic day.

Celias "Syl" Gorgorathtel'taur (ranger 7/fighter 2)
Elidlara "Aubrey" Seldanica (evoker 8)
Merisiel "Mule" Galanodel (cleric 8)
Seldon "Quill" Galanodel (cloistered cleric 9)
Zara (paladin 9)
Phos Adanien (rogue 6)