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Session sixty eight was on Saturday and lasted five hours. --------------------------------- The Triad wizards use power word blind to dazzle both Rocco and Vigil, and are frustrated that the spells didn’t have a greater effect on them. The boss uses his shortbow, firing poison-tipped arrows at both Virgil and Rocco, but the stout heroes shrug off the effects of the poison and continue fighting. Thade summons a fire mephit in the archive, setting alight much of the paper in the room. This forces the Triad members to maneuver to safety, with one wizard stepping up to Virgil to cover the retreat of his companions. Facing the heroes alone he does not last long, but it is enough for the others to escape through a door in the rear of the room. As the room is now filling with fire and smoke from the burning papers, the party closes the door and Thade seals it with a ravenous portal spell in case these Triad members try to emerge behind them. Continuing down the corridor the party encounters a set of iron bars blocking their progress forward, while a side passage continues deeper into the complex to their left. Mym has Pavel leave his usual spot in a tattoo on her arm and he slips between the bars. Beyond them is a massive set of stone double doors, securely locked. Rocco gives Pavel the skeleton key and Pavel uses it to unlock the door before proceeding inside. Piles of gold coins litter the floor beyond the door, and as Pavel scouts the area, the doors behind him suddenly slam shut, sealing him inside. Immediately a caustic vapor emerges from minute holes in the ceiling and floor, searing the inside of Pavel’s lungs. Feeling Pavel’s pain and distress, Mym recalls Pavel back to her tattoo as the party is determined to return to this chamber to collect the treasure it holds. Thade creeps down the hall to another door. Opening it quietly, he sees two more Triad guards, with a spiritbound aluum standing watch as the guards rifle through more boxes. Thade quietly closes the door and reports back to the companions about what he has found. The party devises a plan to deal with this latest threat. Rocco, Virigl and Mym will retreat back down the hallway and around a corner. Thade will open the door and, disguised as a Triad guard himself, will shout that help is needed and run back towards his companions. WIth the ambush set, Thade does exactly this and it works! The guards run up the hallway after Thade, with the aluum coming also. Unfortunately for Thade, the aluum is faster than the guards and rounds the corner first, immediately struck by an arrow fired by Rocco. The guards realize what is up, and attack the party. With Rocco, Virgil and Mym drawing the guards’ attention, Thade turns invisible and teleports to the other side of the steel bars, just behind the guard wearing the aluum charm. He then steals the charm and uses it to command the aluum to kill the Triad members, which it promptly does. The rest of the party quickly drops their magical Triad disguises, lest this construct kill them as well. Betting that the aluum is immune to the caustic vapor that Pavel discovered, Thade orders the aluum to break into the chamber with the gold coins, collect all of the coins, and bring them out into the hallway. Unfortunately for the party it is soon discovered that the tens of thousands of coins are not actually gold, but merely ceramic coins covered in a thin gold filigree. While there is some value to the entire lot of them, the party decides it is not worth their time currently to collect the coins as it would take far too long, and they have more Triad members to kill. In the room recently vacated by the guards, Virgil spots a hidden door. Exploring beyond it, Rocco finds another hidden door, this time filled with what appears to be actual valuables - coins of every shape and size, gemstones, a crystal flamingo and many more such treasures hidden away in a small hidden chamber, ready to be collected. --------------------------------- It was very clever of Thade to steal the charm and take over the aluum. Ordinarily one must invest the charm before using it, but I figured it was way too cool a moment to let that get in the way of the action. So the party now has an aluum with them to help out in fights, at least until it is destroyed. We shall see how this develops as the party progressed further into the Red Pyramid. As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
Session sixty seven was last month and lasted five hours. --------------------------------- Downstairs the party finds a large chamber inset with a bronze floor. Thade sees that the floor is magical, and is able to determine that should blood touch the floor something nasty will be conjured. He is able to temporarily disable the floor with his magic, and as he does so several Triad members appear on the other side of the chamber. They put up a futile defense, and once one of them dies the other turns to run for help, but Rocco is able to bring him down with several arrows before the alarm can be raised. Heading down the passage the guard was headed to, Rocco rounds a corner and hears a wail echo throughout the complex. He has set off an alarm and ended up paralyzed, along with Virgil. Roused by the noise, guards spill out of rooms ahead of and behind the party, catching them in a pincer attack. Thade and Mym find themselves fighting the guards on their own for a bit, but eventually Rocco and Virgil shrug off the effects of the paralysis and join the fray. Rocco pins many guards to the ground with precision arrow shots but still he finds himself pressured and flanked, taking a lot of hits. Thade uses chain lightning to great effect, electrocuting several of the guards. Virgil defends his allies, stepping in with his shield raised high as his trident jabs out at the foes. Mym finally puts an end to the fight with wail of the banshee, leaving the guards wrecked in the hallway. Two guards attempt to flee back upstairs but Thade chases them down and ends their lives. Aware that every Triad member in the complex is now aware of their presence, the party decides to retire to the guard barracks to give Mym some time to patch up their wounds. Feeling more confident in themselves afterwards, the party uses their hats of disguise to appear like Triad guards and continues deeper into the pyramid, seeking the vile Uri Zandivar Thade and Rocco lead the way, sneaking as best they can, while Virgil and Mym hang back to see what comes next. Rocco cracks open a door and sees a Triad boss and two wizards rifling through papers. The boss sees Rocco in the doorway and is not fooled by the disguise, as they are expecting trouble after the alarm was triggered. The boss orders his minions to kill the intruders and draws his shortbow. --------------------------------- I made an error during this session, as I allowed Thade to use dispelling spellstrike to disable the magical floor. I looked up the rules aftert he session and realized he would have needed to cast dispel magic on the floor to disable it. Oh well, you learn and adapt. As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
Great photos, as always! Nice to see Joe getting some play time with the Order.
I read overland to simply mean "not using the aiudara."
Greatest? That's a stretch. Influential, certainly. RIP to him either way.
My party befriended Deadmouth and were led to King Harral by him, so that wasn't a problem in my game, but if my party were to skip out on meeting King Harral then they would miss out on meeting King Harral and all that that entails. They skip plenty of content, NPCs, items, etc. and haven't been too much the worse for it, though I would say missing King Harral would be a bigger deal than anything else they have skipped before. Maybe just don't give them the map?
Session sixty six was on Saturday and lasted five hours. --------------------------------- The party decides to assault the pyramid the following morning, but first they have some things to accomplish. Thade shops around and is able to find someone to sell him the ritual heroes’ feast. Mym plans to cast this in the morning to give the party an edge before the raid begins. Virgil connects once again with Bishop from the Steel Falcons and they make arrangements for Bishop’s team to watch the docks district to see if the Triad moves their prisoner to a ship. Rocco prepares for the raid by drinking at the Tickled Pickle’s bar with Tharg. Having been informed of a basement in the pyramid from both Exavisu and Ytrim, the party believes their objective lies below the building. To this end, the following morning Rocco speaks with Eketra Sheerpeak of the Guild of Streetsweepers and Dung Carts to ask if there is perhaps a service entrance under the pyramid. She informs him that she isn’t aware of any such entrance, nor of a basement. Rocco scouts the nearby river to see if perhaps there is a sewer outlet from the pyramid but he finds no such entry. It looks like the party is going to have to use the main entrance. Virgil once again contacts Bishop, who reports no activity on the ships the Triad is known to use. They lie at anchor in the bay, no doubt to prevent anyone from boarding them before the Triad is ready to set sail. Bishop suspects that the Triad uses teleportation magic to board the ships, and doesn’t expect to see much activity before the ships depart. Virgil gives Bishop a magic device so that they can communicate remotely, and the plan is that Bishop’s team will cause a distraction near the pyramid when the party is ready to exfiltrate, much like they successfully did at Bhetshamtal Estate. Mym successfully cats her spell, with help from Virgil, and the party gains a magical boost for the raid. Heading out of the Pickle they make their way to the pyramid, each of them disguised with their hats of disguise. Rocco waits for some foot traffic on the street outside to pass by before he sneakily joins them, then separates from the group as they pass the entrance and he slips inside undetected. Inside the Red Pyramid Rocco sees a number of clean hallways, with a young human man in the middle, examining frescoes on the walls as he takes notes in a book. Not seeing any immediate danger, the rest of the party enters and is noticed by the young man. He puts on a smile, extends a hand and walks towards them. “Greetings! You must be here for the tour, yes? I am Dwazo, pleased to meet you!” The party realizes that the info they gained from Bishop and the Triad selling tours of the Pyramid is true, and they take advantage of this opportunity to be guided around the first floor. Dwazo shows them from room to room, telling them the history of the pyramid and its former contents. As they go from room to room, the party learn a bit about Dwazo, and determine that he is not a member of the Triad, but simply a poor employee tasked with performing this thankless job for tourists. Anxious to get him to leave lest he interfere with their plans or get hurt, the party is able to convince him to quit his job when they pay him 436 gold pieces, which is the amount he has left to pay for his student loans. Dwazo is ecstatic that he no longer has to work his dead-end job, thanks the party profusely, and leaves the pyramid. Alone at last, the party examines a statue of a frog in the pyramid’s Promenade of Statues, following up with the hint given to Vrigil by Ytrim. Rocco discovers a hidden level, and when he activates it the wall behind the statue slides aside noiselessly while the frog slides back into a new room on a hidden track. Certain they have found a hidden passage into the lower chambers, the party behind to descend. As they are about to do so, they are ambushed by four crucidaemons that have been hiding nearby invisibly. Though they are surprised at first, the party recovers quickly and is able to fight the daemons rather easily, not falling pretty to the daemons’ attempts to use powerful magic to affect their minds. Thade, Virgil and Rocco are left bleeding from the daemons’ chained daggers, but Mym is able to staunch the wounds and soon enough the party is able to proceed on their way down into the depths of the Red Pyramid, in pursuit of the leadership of the Scarlet Triad and their captive Tsandarkon. --------------------------------- We didn't play two weeks agao as I had COVID (for the first time). But things are back on track now and I expect the party should finish with book five after two or three more sessions at most. Hopefully we can finish up the campaign by the end of the year. It has been a long game (it will exceed five years since we started by the time we finish), but I am determined to see it through to the end. As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
I use Syrinscape in every session. I'm glad to see more Syrinscape content for Pathfinder APs.
Woo! Novels are back, baby!
It's also how the PDF is, so not likely to be a misprint.
Session sixty five was yesterday and lasted four hours. --------------------------------- With the threat at Ibis square neutralized, a number of citizens approach to assess the damage. Some start to recover what they can from their destroyed market stalls, others debate on what caused this mess. An elderly woman asks Virgil if he will deal with the Pactmasters, who have now lost control of their aluums multiple times. Virgil assures her that he will find those responsible for this event and deliver justice. Others in the crowd come to the defense of the Pactmasters, and suggest that there are other, nefarious forces at play in Katapesh lately. Deciding that the rampage was meant to also destroy the guildhall of the League of Peshmongers located close by, the party heads over there to speak with the guildmaster. They are ushered into the office of Treman “Spikeface” Ulkulratu where they meet the stern dwarven guildmaster, whose lips are stained red by years of smoking wyrm pesh. Thade informs Spikeface that the Unseen hand is behind the recent attack and that it was also meant to destroy his guild. They tell their story of how they came to encounter Whahar, and show the letter from him to Spikeface. Spikeface is inclined to believe the party, and informs them that his guild wizards will work their magic on the letter, to determine if what they say is the truth. If what they say is indeed true, Spikeface promises to agree to the party’s request to vote against the Scarlet Triad in the upcoming Council of Guilds. Deciding that the best way to get the Imperial Union of Breeders on their side is to capture the elusive camel known as Duneshadow, Thade teleports the party to the foothills of the Brazen Peaks, located almost a hundred miles from Katapesh. Rocco manages to find traces of the camel in the barren desert, and the following day it is spotted atop a faraway dune. The camel is the most beautiful animal the party has ever seen, with fierce blue eyes and streaks of blue hair running down the sides of its umber body. The party manages to approach carefully, without spooking the animal, and are able to get within a dozen paces as it watches them calmly. Mym uses her magic to conjure a well from which the camel can quench its thirst, and Virgil places a bridle over the camel’s head. No sooner does Virgil do this than a shadow passes over the party as a gargantuan bird-like creature flies between them and the sun. Looking much like a majestic peacock with a fifty foot wingspan, it alights on a nearby boulder and addresses them in the Celestial tongue: “Who are you who dare to steal this living art from the canvas that is Katapesh?” Thade recognizes this creature as a simurgh, an extremely powerful creature with the reputation of being a celestial vigilante. With Mym translating the Celestial tongue for him, Thade speaks to the creature, who introduces itself as Prihayn Ti Huet. Thade informs Prihayn that they mean neither harm nor disrespect, and are acting on behalf of the Imperial Union of Breeders in Katapesh. Thade is wise enough to recognize that Prihayn is either a servant of or at least sympathetic to Shelyn, the goddess of art. Thade pulls a holy symbol of Shelyn from under his shirt as he speaks to Prihayn of the party’s pure intentions. With assurances that Duneshadow will not be harmed, Prihayn agrees that the party can take the camel to Katapesh, but that only art can pay for art. Mym offers to tattoo a bewitching bloom on Prihayn’s leg, in the form of a bellflower. Prihayn agrees, and Mym creates a lovely work of art with her magical skill, incorporating the iconography of Shelyn into the tattoo’s pattern. Satisfied with his new tattoo art, Prihayn reminds the party that should the camel come to harm, there will be a reckoning, and takes off into the sky with a powerful thrust of his wings, creating a mini dust storm in his wake. Satisfied that they have what they need to sway the Imperial Union of Breeders to their side, the party returns to Katapesh via Thade’s teleportation magic. Entering the city with the magnificent camel on a leash, the party is stared at by everyone they come across, many people stopping and whispering to each other as they pass. When they arrive at the guildhall of the Imperial Union of Breeders, they are greeted at the gate by guildmaster Aldane Zulran, who had already received word that the prize he has so long sought is making its way to him. Delivery of the camel to Aldane immediately grants the party his gratitude, and he agrees to cast his vote against the Scarlet Triad at the upcoming council meeting. Aldane also gives the party a set of magical horseshoes and a satchel of gold. When Thade warns Aldane of what will happen should any misfortune fall upon Duneshadow, Aldane assures Thade that the camel will be treated with the utmost of respect, as such a magnificent creature is due nothing less in his eyes. With yet another guild on their side, the party focuses on the last two. Virgil has a custom necklace made in the colors of House Barcado. Though he spends a pretty penny on it, his influence with the Jeweler’s Guide gets him a necklace of immense beauty. Virgil then meets with Ytrim Azas, guildmistress of the Aspis Consortium. Offering the necklace to her as a gift, as well as a lie about where the consortium can locate the raw materials needed to construct more durable ships, the two strike a deal. Ytrim agrees to vote against the Triad if Virgil can promise to bring Uri Zandivar to her alive. Virgil readily agrees to this and the two part ways. The following day is the Council of Guilds, and the council hall is abuzz with activity. Many people await in the antechamber, gossiping and partaking of hors d'oeuvres while waiting for the council to officially begin. All of the guild leaders are present, and each has a lieutenant with them. Also among the crowd are a number of Zephyr Guards, as well as some civilians that the party do not recognize. Thade is greeted by Spikeface, who informs him that he was correct about Whahar, and Spikeface informs Thade that he will see to Whahar’s fate himself. Thade objects, as he wants to be the one to mete out Whahar’s justice, and the two make a wager of 100 gold crowns that each of them will be the one to get to Whahar first. Virgil is approached by Ytrim, who discretely tells him “Should you find yourself in the Scarlet Triad’s headquarters later on, keep an eye out for the frog - he’s the one who knows how to get downstairs.” She then slips away into the crowd, leaving Virgil to ponder the message. A message is delivered to Mym, written in Whahar’s hand, informing her that Ghost is most intrigued by the meeting in Ibis square, and will continue watching the party’s actions with interest. Soon enough the council begins, with Pactbroker Hashim ibn Sayyid calling the meeting to order. Time is spent on old business, run of the mill guild business that is of little interest to the party. But after an hour of mundane activity, the Pactbroker raps his gavel on the soundblock and the room falls silent. He calls for any new business, and at this the guildmasters all look to the party as one. Thade steps up to the lectern and addresses the assembled guildmasters, accusing the Scarlet Triad of various crimes and moral failures, holding in one hand the ledger he retrieved from the vault under Bhetshamtal Estate. Uri Zandivar stands up to denounce these accusations, and both he and his lieutenant Jelek Jaziman speak against the party, denying the accusations as spurious and coming from foreign troublemakers. They attempt to besmirch the reputation of the party, but several of the guildmasters speak up on their behalf. Before things devolve into utter chaos, once again the Pactbroker raps his gavel, bringing the room to silence. He declares that a vote shall be called on the matter of the Triad’s continued membership in the council of guilds. The vote is taken and thirteen of the fifteen guilds vote to revoke the Triad’s membership, much to the party’s elation. Uri once again speaks, saying that he is not surprised that the morally hypocritical guilds would betray him and vote thus, and that he and his organization will travel to another city to find more enlightened and welcoming allies. He also reveals that the Triad is currently “hosting” a Pactmaster as a guest, whose safety shall mirror the Triad’s own. A door in the rear of the chamber opens, and a Pactmaster enters to speak. He informs all present that the Triad is to be given three days to vacate the city, during which time they are to be left alone, lest any harm come to the Pactmaster in their custody. Satisfied that he has won, Uri and Jelek leave the room to tend to their own affairs. Once the room is cleared out, the Pactbroker leads the party into a back room, where two Pactmasters await. They introduce themselves as Angruul and Morvithus, and inform the party that they are aware of their exploits in Katapesh. They beseech the party to rescue their colleague being held by the Triad, whom they identify as Tsandarkon. Tsandarkon went missing earlier that morning, and while the Pactmasters suspected the Triad, they had no proof until Uri spooky just now. The Pactmasters inform the party that the three day window announced earlier can, and should be, ignored, as that was politics. Should the party free their comrade, the city will reward them greatly. --------------------------------- The party almost made a sweep of getting all of the guild on their side, only just missing out on the Guild of Fleshmongers. Thade had a chance to sway them at the last moment during the council, but as the guild had 3 points left he needed to get a critical success on his diplomacy check, but he only got a success. So close, and yet so far. This was a great session, and all of the players pulled their weight in various ways. The party will level up before the next session, and then decide on how they're going to finally tackle the Triad once and for all. As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
I agree that the Your First Adventure portion of the player's guide is pretty cool.
I haven't looked yet, and might miss any when I do, so are there any significant changes to either map from the one in Sandpoint, Light Of The Lost Coast? The maps of Sandpoints are identical near as I can tell.
I ran them as-is without issue.
Oh nice, if I am early in the queue my shipment may arrive in time for my marathon this month.
Session sixty four was yesterday and lasted five hours. --------------------------------- The party agrees to act as couriers for the package, even though Virgil suspects that Whahar is representing the Unseen Hand, a clandestine organization known to commit bribery, blackmail, and minor acts of terrorism. The Unseen Hand is said to be run by a mysterious figure known only as Ghost. No one seems to know this person’s real name or what they look like. The party figures that they can accept the package from the Seer, and if it looks dangerous, they can go back on their word and deal with those consequences. Knowing they are likely dealing with very dangerous people, the party agrees to the task. Leaving the Red Dhabba, the party heads into the Nightstalls to find the tower of the Seer. The Seer’s storefront is unlike most others in the Nightstalls, for it is a three story tower of stone. Letting themselves inside, the party finds a dark shop filled with spell components of every kind inside delicate glass cases. Standing behind a large ledger in a figure in a deep red robe, its hands covered with thick leather gloves and its face hidden in the shadows of a deep cowl. “Greetings” says a voice from the robe, “I have been expecting you.” The party greets the Seer and tells them they are here to pick up a package for Whahar. The Seers tells them that the deal is unfortunately off, and he cannot give it to them. When asked why, the Seer tells them that the contents of the package pose a threat to his business and his livelihood. When the party displays their acumen with the magical arts (except for Rocco, of course), the Seer relents and gives them the package, telling them that he expects payment through the usual channels. The party accepts the package, a small thickly-made box secured with a heavy brass lock, putting it into Rocco’s bag of holding. As they are exiting the store, Thade gets an uncanny feeling about the Seer, and it clicks for them that the Seer is undead, and likely a lich. Glad to be out of his presence, the party heads out of the neighborhood to deliver the package. Taking an indirect route up to the inner city in case they are being followed, the party is stopped by the Zephyr Guard as they make their way through Jackal Gate. The sergeant in command activates a nearby spiritbound aluum, and after it scans the party and finds nothing, he lets the party proceed on their way. When asked why they were stopped, the sergeant informs the party that there are some criminal sorts about, and they are looking for fugitives. Rocco suspects that the guards were looking for their package, and it being in his bag of holding prevented its discovery. At the Marble Sphinx, an enormous 120 foot tall sandstone statue, the party decides to open the box before leaving it at the Sphinx. Thade casts magnificent mansion and enters with Rocco while Mym and Virgil keep watch outside. Rocco uses his skeleton key to open the lock and Thade uses one of the mansion’s servants to open the box. When nothing explodes nor comes out of the box, it is discovered that inside are three sapphires with a mild enchantment about them. Thade deduces that these are fake control gems for the spiritbound aluums operated by the Zephyr Guard. Deciding that the contacts are harmless, if illegal, they close up the box and leave the mansion, depositing the package at the badge of the Sphinx. Their task complete, they head back to the Tickled Pickle to rest, as it is now nearing dawn. At noon the following day Rocco heads back to the Red Dhabba to see if he can find Whahar, while the rest of the party continues their efforts to undermine the Scarlet Triad. In the tavern Rocco doesn’t find Whahar, but there is an envelope left for him at the bar. Inside is a gift of two grinning pugwampis, as well as a letter from Whahar. The letter congratulates the party for accomplishing the task given to them and informs them that Ghost has agreed to meet with them at the ibis fountain near the Guild of Peshmongers building, one hour before sunset. Rocco makes his way back to the Pickle and informs the party of his news, and they all set out to meet with Ghost. At the plaza the party finds a few citizens buying pesh and other drugs, but there is no sign of Whahar or anyone they think might be Ghost. After a few minutes of waiting around, a pair of Zephyr Guards with aluums following enter the plaza. One of the guards has a charcoal drawing and is showing it to passersby, seemingly asking them about it. Mym sends Pavel to climb atop one of the stalls and spy on the guards. Pavel discovers that the parchment shows the face of the dark-haired Garundi woman that was the disguise of the lamia matriarch that ambushed them in the salt warehouse. One of the citizens, upon seeing the drawing, points towards the fountain where a woman is filling a jug of water. As the guards advance towards her, the woman leaves her jug and tries to slip away into the stalls. Attempting to stop this escape, the guards pull out their aluum control amulets and command the constructs to capture the woman, but instead the aluum take hold of the guards and tear them limb from limb. Several party members notice that two humans in dark clothing have their own amulets and seem to have ordered the constructs to slay the guard. The aluum then turn their attention to the plaza, rampaging through it and attacking everything in reach as the two humans who set them loose flee from the area. Leaping into action the party attacks the constructs, hoping to save the citizens and businesses in the area from further destruction. Realizing that their magic is almost certainly going to be useless against these mindless machines, the party attacks with hammers, trident and sword to bring them down. Realizing their metal parts are resistant to his attacks, Virgil concentrates on tripping the automatons as Rocco smashes them effectively with his adamantine warhammer. Mym manages to slow them down with heal spells that also revitalize her friends. Though the fists and obliteration beams fired out of the eyes of the aluum are devastating, Mym’s magic is up to the task of countering the damage dealt. Soon enough Virgil, Rocco and Thade bring the constructs down, their bodies falling apart in the ruins of the plaza. Knowing that the sapphires in their chests trap the souls of those slain by the aluum, Thade makes an effort to smash the gems into dust, freeing the souls of the occupants to speed on their way to the Boneyard. --------------------------------- This will be the last session for a month as our yearly RPG marathon is coming up. While nothing is yet set in stone for what we are going to play, it looks like I will finally be running Starfinder for the group, the first time I have done so despite owning every hardcover for the system and many of the adventures. As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
Session sixty three was two weeks ago and lasted five hours. --------------------------------- Bshez throws her javelin at Thade, striking him squarely in the chest. She then drinks a potion of flying and flies up to Rocco atop the pillar. The Blood Blades then charge into the fray and begin punching everyone in range with their many fists. Rocco does a backflip off the pillar, landing squarely on his feet, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. Thade hits Bshez with a polar ray that devastates her. Mym mounts her broom and flies above the melee, using her magic to support her allies. Virgil wades in with his shield held high, deflecting blows from the calikangs and dealing out his own in turn. He then leaps atop a pillar by using two calikangs to propel himself upwards and strikes down at them from above. One of the calikangs is instantly slain as Thade’s beheading buzzsaw takes off its head. He then spellstrikes Bshez with phantasmal killer, taking her out of the fight. With his last ounce of magical energy he takes a second calikang down before collapsing himself. With Bzhez and two of the Blood Blades out of the fight, it is a simple matter for the rest of the party to defeat their remaining opponents. With the fight over, the crowd erupts into cheers. The dead are removed from the arena and Bshez declares the party the victors. She then removes her armor in shame and leaves the arena, and Katapesh, forever, her head hung low in shame. In the bowels of the arenas the other gladiators cheer for the party, happy to be rid of Bshez as she was a tyrant of a guildmistress. When offered the role of heading up the guild, the party refuses, and the gladiators choose Amrah al-Jifin to lead them. Amrah vows to support the party in their determination to have the Triad’s charter revoked in the upcoming council of guilds. As the party continues influencing Katapesh’s various guilds, Mym encounters a dwarf named Whahar in the lobby of the League of Peshmongers. He introduces himself as Whahar, and urges her to meet him at a tavern called the Red Dhabba down by the docks that same evening. When Mym and the party arrive that evening, Whahar tells them that he works for someone whom he is not willing to name, that can sway the Peshmongers to their cause if they do a job for his employer. Whahar plies the party with their favorite alcoholic drinks, and tells them that all they have to do is pick up a package from the Seer in the Nightstalls and deliver it to the Marble Sphinx within twenty four hours. The party has many questions for Whahar, and does not seem to entirely trust his intentions. --------------------------------- As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
There's a customer service portal? You learn something new every day.
A sad day. He was a funny guy, and played a great version of himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Session sixty two was last month and lasted four hours. --------------------------------- The party takes Exavisu to the Jeweler’s Guild building, where she thanks them for freeing her and her fellow gnomes. She rewards the party and vows to do everything she can to have the guild charter for the Scarlet Triad revoked. When asked about what she was doing while in captivity, she tells them that she was locked in a magical forge, working to reconstruct a magical golden sphere, though she does not know its purpose. The party realizes that this could be an orb of gold dragonkind, an artifact that can be used to dominate gold dragons. Rocco recalls that he saw a shard of such an orb embedded in the chest of the red dragon Kyrion, whom he helped rescue from the cult in the Mwangi Expanse. The party decides they must prevent the Triad from using such a terrible weapon, as the destruction that can be wrought with such an artifact is immense. Back at the Tickled Pickle, the party rests and recuperates. While cleaning the perfume bottle she liberated from the vault below Bhetshamtal Estate, Thade accidentally summons from it a djinni named Palqari. When he is informed that there is a single wish remaining, Thade decides to use it to free Palqari from the bottle forever. The djinni thanks Thade for the kindness, and informs him that he will not forget the kindness. Perusing the ledger also removed from the estate’s vault, the party discovers that the Triad has been double dealing with many of the other guilds in Katapesh, and they quickly realize this proof will help them turn even more guilds against the Triad. Virgil takes the ledger to the Temple of Measured Weights, the largest church of Abadar in the city. There he shows the Garundi priest Aakif Ashad the ledger, and how the Triad is double dealing with the church of Abadar as well. Aakif thanks Virgil for the information, and informs him that the church will no longer be lending money to the Triad, though they cannot take direct action against the guild while their charter remains. Rocco spends a day talking to anyone who will listen, openly challenging Bshez “Sand Claws” Shak to a fight in the arena for control of the Gladiator’s Guild. When word gets back to her of Rocco’s arrogance, she finds him in a market and publicly accepts his challenge. They will fight in the arena at noon the next Toilday. When the day arrives, the party finds themselves facing off against Bshez and the four calikangs known as the Blood Blades. When Rocco refuses to come down from the pillar atop which he stands, Bshez calls him out as a coward, and urges the Blood Blades to slay all of the challengers. The crowd cheers for the hometown favorite as the fight for control of the guild begins! --------------------------------- We had a break of six weeks between sessions before this game, due to the holidays and several life challenges among the group, so it took me some time to write up my session notes. We have had one more session since this one that I still need to type up, so that will be posted as soon as I can get around to it. As usual, my notes can be found here, along with photos.
I love the recap. Amazing photos as always! My group will be doing our third annual weeklong RPG marathon next month. Your reports here are what inspired me to organize it for our group. Thanks for the inspiration!
Does this mean reprints of existing sets or are you going to start releasing new pawn sets again? New sets for sure. The Monster Core set has already been announced.
Falrok could have killed some folks on his own. Or his mimions could have done so, and periodically bring him tribute.
I don't know if I am happy about this being part of the subscription. I'll have to think about if I want to continue with a sub to this line.
Pawns are back, baby! Woo!
Are the guards, giants and Jaggaki all dead? If so then Laslunn, the interlocutor and snipers should be a not too difficult fight as the party will be well rested. Per the AP, Laslunn flees the quarry if brought to 30 HP, so her staying at the quarry after its location is known and her guards being dead just doesn't make much sense to me. If you really want the epic quarry fight you might want to consider reintroducing Vaklish to support Laslunn.
I just started So You Want To Be A Gamemaster by Justin Alexander after it was recommended by Professor Dungeon Master. It's pretty good so far, and even though I have been a GM for more than thirty years, I am still finding some good tips in there. I would recommend it to any GM, but especially to new or aspiring GMs.
I definitely wouldn't keep everything in the quarry as-is, as that sends a message that their foes just wait around for the PCs to do their thing. In my game the party left the quarry after fighting Vaklish (a very tough fight for them as Vaklish dominated the party wizard twice), so I had Laslunn send Aadrushian to follow the party. Fortunately for them they hid their tracks and camp well so Aadrushian couldn't find them in the night, and was forced to ambush them on the road back to the quarry the next day. I would have Laslunn and Barushak head to Kovlar to reinforce Ilssrah. The slaves are either drowned or brought along (I would have them be dead as a consequence of the party failing to kill Barushak twice). Maybe the champion was brought along to Kovlar as well? If the player isn't interested in the champion anymore (I assume they're playing the new PC) maybe have the champion be turned to worshipping Droskar. If the player would want the champion back as a PC, maybe this is temporary, like what happened to Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom. Maybe the summoner's replacement PC is from Kovlar and that's where they join the group? Of course with Laslunn gone the party doesn't have a key to Jewelgate, so that's something to consider. Maybe everyone travels overland (underland?) and the party tries to catch Laslunn before they get to Kovlar.
Every time someone mistypes it as Treerazor I can't help but see in my mind's eye Treerazer shaving an ent.
The normal kinds of items (alchemical, armor, shields, weapons, other) you see in APs, plus three pages of new feats, which may be a kind of spoiler so I won't mention more.
Will the battle cards be remastered as well?
Yeah, Society scenarios have been hit and miss for me lately. Just shoot an email to customer service and they'll take care of it for you.
It's ambiguous, and we should expect table variance as it can be read either way. I run my game such that if I roll a one I can have my creature use the ability again the following round should the situation call for it, because I find value in the players not knowing for sure whether or not the creature has a round in which it cannot be used. I like that ambiguity at my table as it cuts down on metagaming a bit. While this doesn't necessarily apply to dragons, there are abilities with cooldowns that are reactions, so this should also be considered when deciding how to rule this at your table.
Each dragon pillar should have one attack, which varies depending on its color. Also, the stat block explicity states it gets one action. So only one target each round. I think your GM is reading the stat block incorrectly. relevant stat block info:
Routine (1 action) On its initiative, the dragon pillar fires an eye beam at the closest target within [number] feet If your GM is unpersuaded, ask him to compare the dragon pillar statblock to the hazard statblock located on page 61. The hazard on page 61 gets two actions, with each attack being one action, and this is also explicitly stated.
I figured it out, but this seems to test something a player would know, not a character.
I am guessing a centaur's speed won't be too much higher than bipedal ancestries by default, but there will be some ancestral feats that will allow them to really get moving.
The product code is PZO7252, so probably.
I have now begun Tenderfeet and Ladyfingers: A Compendium of Body Language also by Susan Kelz Sperling. This is basically a second book in one hardcover with the previous book I mentioned, and I hadn't realized this before I reached the halfway point. It's pretty good so far if you're into this kinda thing, which I realize is probably a pretty niche interest.
The tarrasque is no longer immune to disintegrate. Are we sure about this? The tarrasque's remastered stablock (which we do not have, as far as I know) could indicate otherwise.
I would not expect a PC in my game to follow any particular ideology other than one the player wants it to have. PCs are exceptional people and should not be expected to follow general trends for their ancestry or homeland.
Barushak escaped the tower to join Laslunn in my game. This made the fight against Laslunn very difficult, and my party barely scraped out a win when Laslunn critically failed against a disintegrate spell. It didn't help that at the start of the fight the party ranger jumped down into the quarry to help the captives that were going to drown. So it was four PCs versus Laslunn, the interlocutor and a Barushak who had prepared for them to come after him. The party ended up collecting Laslunn's ashes after the fight and had them turned into a custom urn of ashes by Lady Mialari as a reward.
I'm reading Poplollies & Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words by Susan Kelz Sperling. My wife gifted this to me for Christmas so I just started it, but it is right up my alley as I love reading about language.
The Rune Giant mini is gargantuan. Paizo store page here.
Yes, indeed. Stopping this book before reaching the end would be a mistake. And do try to forget that horrible Will Smith movie exists.
It would be great if I could load interactive maps into the graphics editor and delete the label, grid, and secret door layers, but I haven't been able to thus far. Yeah, because of this the interactive maps files are basically useless to me. I edit the extracted images to have secret doors and the fog of war as separate layers that I enable visiblity on as the party detects them (for secret doors) or erase as the party moves about the map (for the fog of war). If Paizo produced and sold ready-made maps like this they'd make a killing. 0one Games already does this (quite well, too!), but the maps are of course original and not tied to existing adventures.
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