Using Deliverance to move to Pinnacle Atoll on Rivani's turn
The hour is of Bastet.
SOT- no weapons or armor in hand. Constitution 7:1d8 ⇒ 1 Alchemical Gas remains. Cast Augury at the Atoll for Monsters. 1-8, Deliverance:3d9 ⇒ (4, 2, 6) = 12 Vanth (4), Falto (2) and Blessing of the Elements (6). Place Vanth at the bottom of the location deck. Arcane 8 recharge:1d12 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14 recharge Augury.
Top Card 1-3,5-8, Deliverance:1d8 ⇒ 7
Tup leaps over some quicksand Acrobatics 9:3d8 + 1 ⇒ (2, 2, 6) + 1 = 11Henchman?:1d12 ⇒ 2 Discard Blessing of the Boss and Monkey for 2 additional dice. Discarding Blessing of the Gobs 1 to explore
Tup spots a Scurvy Zombie but ducks around a rock formation.2nd card 1-3,5-7, Deliverance:1d7 ⇒ 1Recharge Blessing of the Gobs 2 to evadeHenchman?:1d12 ⇒ 2
Remaining cards Atoll that are shuffled- Card 1- Scurvy Zombie, Card 2- Falto, Card 3- ?, Card 4 Vanth, Card 5- ?, Card 6- Blessing of the Elements, and Deliverance.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Alchemist's Fire, Fiery Glare, Cauterize, Immolate, Bone Lamellar, Potion of Vision,
Favored Card: Spell
Hand Size 6
Proficient with: None
Powers:
For you combat check, you may banish a card to use your arcane skill + 1d8 + 1 and add the Attack, Fire and Magic traits. You count as playing a spell.
When another character at your location attempts a check, you may recharge a card to add 4 and the Fire trait. Each character at you location other than you is dealt 1d4-1 Fire Damage.
When you banish a spell from your hand not for its power, draw a spell from the box.
Agna moves to the Precinct of the Left Eyes. She approaches the Toxic Geyser, she says a quick prayer and looks for a way bypass it. Survival 7 check:2d8 + 3 ⇒ (3, 8) + 3 = 14 (Discarding Blessing of the Gods then using promotional re-roll on the second die that was an 8) Survival 7 check with re-roll:1d8 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
Check to defeat Toxic Geyser was 7 or greater, random monster shuffled into location. End of turn examine- Scarab Swarm, trigger encounter
Agna peeks past the geyser to see a Scarab Swarm move to attack her. Agna starts to swing her longsword into the scarabs but loses her dagger in the fight. (Poison 1 damage- discard dagger)
Combat 8 check:1d10 + 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + (6) + 2 = 12 (reveal Longsword.
She notices a wall with strange writing. Agna attempts to decipher the writing. Charisma6check:1d8 ⇒ 1
Unsure of the writing she waits for the rest of the group.
Curse of Poisoning:1d5 ⇒ 2 (Crocodile Skin Madu recharge)
Agna wrote:
Hand: Blessing of the Gods 2, Crocodile Skin Madu , Fox, Longsword, Blessing of the Gods 4,
Displayed: Curse of Poisoning,
Deck: 7 Discard: 4 Buried: 0
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: used. Playmat: available. Both Blessing of the Gods can be used.
Sideboard cards:
Favored Card: Ally
Hand Size 5
Proficient with: Light Armor, Weapons
Powers:
When you play an ally that has the Animal trait, you may recharge it instead of discarding it.
You may recharge a card that has the Offhand trait to add 1d6 ([ ] +1) and that weapon's traits to your combat check
At the end of you turn, you may examine the top ([ ] or bottom) card of your location.
Favored Card: Spell
Hand Size 6
Proficient with: None
Powers:
For you combat check, you may banish a card to use your acrcane skill + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire and Magic traits. You count as playing a spell.
When another character at your location attemps a check, you may recharge a card to add 4 and the Fire trait. Each character at you location other than you is dealt 1d4-1 Fire Damage.
Tup casts Remove Curse on Uliah. (recharge Remove Curse)
Tup spots a Telekinesis Trap and is able to disarm it. Arcane12check:2d12 + 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 2 = 11 (discard Blessing of the Gobs 1. Using +1 Die Bump to make it a 12 to succeed)
Tup continues on through the siege. (bury Torch to explore)
He smells some Burning Tar but gets too close. Arcobatics6check:1d8 + 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + (1) + 2 = 5 (reveal Reformarium Servant and discard Bloodscent) Damage:1d4 ⇒ 3 (Bury Reformarium Servant and Immolate)
Tup wrote:
Hand: Deliverance, Doghide Armor, Alchemist's Fire, Blessing of the Gobs 2, Burning Snot, Fiery Glare,
Favored Card: Spell
Hand Size 6
Proficient with: None
Powers:
For you combat check, you may banish a card to use your acrcane skill + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire and Magic traits. You count as playing a spell.
When another character at your location attemps a check, you may recharge a card to add 4 and the Fire trait. Each character at you location other than you is dealt 1d4-1 Fire Damage.
Tup is startled as his servant pushes him. He starts to yell at her but notices the wall falling on where they walking. Acrobatics6check:1d8 + 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + (1) + 2 = 4 (reveal Reformarium Servant and discarding Frilled Lizard)
Acrobatics6check with 1d8 re-roll:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 (promotional shirt re-roll)
As they round the corner, Tup starts to gasp as we walks into a poison cloud (discarding Blessing of the Gobs 1)
He then notices Sand Scorpion preparing a bomb. Tup says a quick prayer to Lamashtu and pulls out a flask as a focus to unleash a fire blast at the half elf. combat12check:2d12 + 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (12, 4) + (2) + 2 = 20 (burying Potion of Fortitude and discarding Blessing of Lamashtu)
While watching the flames engulf the half elf, Tup pulls out his scroll of Cure and casts it on himself. cure:1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3random cards:3d5 ⇒ (2, 1, 4) = 7 (Bury Cure and recharge Blessing of Gobs 2, Torch, Blessing of Gobs 1)
Tup wrote:
Hand: Reformarium Servant, Immolate, Bloodscent, Remove Curse, Torch, Blessing of the Gobs 1,
Displayed: Deck: 6 Discard: 2 Buried: 1
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: used. Playmat: available. Blessing of Gobs is available.
Sideboard cards:
Favored Card: Spell
Hand Size 6
Proficient with: None
Powers:
For you combat check, you may banish a card to use your arcane skill + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire and Magic traits. You count as playing a spell.
When another character at your location attemps a check, you may recharge a card to add 4 and the Fire trait. Each character at you location other than you is dealt 1d4-1 Fire Damage.
As Tup approaches the thieves he drinks his Potion of Vision for better clarity and observes a Dart Trap. (Banish Potion of Vision to automatically succeed at Perception 10 check).
Tup does a quick prayer and continues on. (discarding Blessing of the Gobs to explore)
He locates an Evil Eye blocking the way. His Reformarium Servant assists in removing the trap. Diplomacy10check:1d12 + 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (8) + (2) + 2 = 12 (reveal Reformarium Servant and discarding Torch)
Tup wipes his brow as he takes a quick break.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Reformarium Servant, Cure, Blessing of Lamashtu, Frilled Lizard, Potion of Fortitude, Blessing of the Gobs 1,
Displayed: Deck: 8 Discard: 2 Buried: 0
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: Available. Playmat: available. Blessing of Gobs and Blessing of Lamashtu are available.
Sideboard cards:
Favored Card: Spell
Hand Size 6
Proficient with: None
Powers:
For you combat check, you may banish a card to use your acrcane skill + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire and Magic traits. You count as playing a spell.
When another character at your location attemps a check, you may recharge a card to add 4 and the Fire trait. Each character at you location other than you is dealt 1d4-1 Fire Damage.
Tup heads to the traders and swaps his charm animal scroll for a remove curse scroll.
He then runs to Warehouse 3.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Reformarium Servant, Cure, Blessing of Lamashtu, Blessing of the Gobs 2, Potion of Vision, Torch,
Displayed: Deck: 11 Discard: 0 Buried: 0
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: Available. Playmat: available. I'm good for 2 recharges. Blessing of Gobs and Blessing of Lamashtu are available.
Sideboard cards:
Favored Card: Spell
Hand Size 6
Proficient with: None
Powers:
For you combat check, you may banish a card to use your acrcane skill + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire and Magic traits. You count as playing a spell.
When another character at your location attemps a check, you may recharge a card to add 4 and the Fire trait. Each character at you location other than you is dealt 1d4-1 Fire Damage.
<Power 3>
<Power 4>
<Power 5>
Tup goes to close the Precinct.
Charisma6check:1d12 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12 Intelligence6check:2d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (4, 5) + (3) = 12(reveal Reformarium Servant and discard Potion of Fortitude, Burying Blessing of The Gobs 2 and acquiring Blessing of the Elements)
Tup assists Radovan getting through the Scorched Ruins (recharge Potion of Vision and Bloodscent)
Tup then moves over to the Mausoleum. He spots a Crowbar near the entrance but is too tired to pick it up. Strength3check:1d4 ⇒ 1
Tup continues to search the Mausoleum. (discarding Blessing of the Gobs)
He moves into a tiled room and gets smacked in the face by a flying tile. Dexterity8check:2d8 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6(discarding Blessing of Lamashtu) 1d4 damage:1d4 ⇒ 2 (discard Fiery Glare)
Scourge of Poisoning Random Card:1d6 ⇒ 1 (Torch recharged)
Tup wrote:
Hand: Alchemist's Fire, Deliverance, Potion of Fortitude, Cure, Doghide Armor
Displayed: Scourge of Poisoning, Elemental Treaty
Deck: 9 Discard: 3 Buried: 0
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: Available. Playmat: available. I'm good for 4 recharges.
Tup casts Remove Curse on Talitha. (recharge Remove Curse)
He then proceeds to explore the Scorched Ruins and locates a scroll of Elemental Treaty. Arcane4check:1d12 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Tups casts the spell on the Scorched Ruins.
Scourge of Poisoning:1d6 ⇒ 4 Immolate is recharged.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Lamashtu, Bloodscent, Potion of Vision, Blessing of the Gobs 1, Fiery Glare
Displayed: Scourge of Poisoning, Elemental Treaty,
Deck: 12 Discard: 0 Buried: 0
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: Available. Playmat: available. I'm good for 2 recharges. Bessing of Lamashtu and Blessing of the Gobs 1 are available.
Tup sends Deliverance to assist Radovan (recharge Deliverance)
Then he runs over to the catacombs to see if they have cornered the lady.
Once there he notices a metal ring laying on the floor. He picks it up and gives it a throw. Dexterity6check:1d8 ⇒ 8
Tup places the Chakram in his pack. He then sends out his Reformarium Servant to search around. (discarding Reformarium Servant to explore)
She brings back a scimitar. Strength7check:2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8 (extra 1d4 for Reformarium Servants bonus)
Tup decides he should wait for others in the group to arrive before continuing on.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Lamashtu, Chakram, Scimitar, Remove Curse, Cure, Blessing of the Ancients
Deck: 9 Discard: 2 Buried: 1
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: used. Playmat: available. I'm good of 2 recharges if no one wants the charkram or scimitar. Blessing of the Ancients or Blessing of Lamashtu are available for use.
Tup helps Radovan burn everything. (Recharging Doghide Armor and Potion of Fortitude)
He then heads over to the Ruined Temple.
He notices more words about Thoth and turns away. Divine6check:1d4 ⇒ 4
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Lamashtu, Deliverance, Reformarium Servant, Remove Curse, Cure, Blessing of the Ancients
Deck: 8 Discard: 1 Buried: 1
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: used. Playmat: available. I'm good of 2 recharges. Blessing of the Ancients or Blessing of Lamashtu are available for use. Need one to close Ruined Temple.
Tup continues his search for the lady and heads over to the Mausoleum.
He eyes a Blessing to the Ancients at the entrance and memorizes it. Divine3check:1d4 ⇒ 3.
He then does a quick prayer to the Gobs before continuing on. (discarding Blessing to the Gobs)
Tup notices an Embalmer and discusses what he saw at the parlor. Diplomacy5check:1d12 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
The Embalmer walks with Tup for a bit before continue his work. (discarding Embalmer to explore)
Tup finds a group of people praying to Thoth but is unable to talk them into blessing him. Divine6check:1d4 ⇒ 4
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Lamashtu, Doghide Armor, Potion of Fortitude, Remove Curse, Cure, Blessing of the Ancients Deck: 8 Discard: 1 Buried: 1 Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: used. Playmat: available. I'm good of 2 recharges. Blessing of the Ancients and Blessing of Lamashtu are available for use.
Looking for the lady in the foppish hat, Tup sets out looking around in an old embalming parlor.
Upon entering he spots a parchment. Tup puts his torch closer to examine the parchment catching the paper on fire. He realizes it was a scroll of fireblade as it burns to ash. Wisdom6check:1d4 ⇒ 2
Tup throws away his torch and continues searching (bury Torch to explore)
Tup notices movement up ahead but realizes its a Graven Guardian of Nethys Combat13check:1d12 + 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + (2, 1) + 2 = 7 (using Immolate)
Tup feels the spell not working and puts pushes harder on the fire. Combat13check using Accessory Perk rerolling 1d12:1d12 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 Recharge7check:1d12 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12 (recharge Immolate)
As the construct topples, a Natron Zombie rushes Tup. Tups pulls out his Potion of Vision as a catalyst to fling a fire bolt at the zombie. Tup breaths in the smell of torched zombie.Combat13check:1d12 + 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (12) + (4) + 2 = 18 (banish Potion of Vision for spell power, nothing in discard to bury for defeating zombie without electricity)
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Lamashtu, Doghide Armor, Potion of Fortitude, Remove Curse, Cure, Blessing of the Gobs 2
Deck: 8 Discard: 0 Buried: 1
Notes: T-Shirt Re-roll: used. Playmat: available. I'm good of 2 recharges. Blessing of the Gobs and Blessing of Lamashtu are available for use.
Tup quickens his pace as he continues searching the Ruined Temple. He plows into a Mining Construct blocking an altar. Tup throws out a gout of fire at the Mining Construct. Combat10check:1d12 + 2 + 2d4 ⇒ (12) + 2 + (3, 3) = 20 (bury Immolate)
Tup says a quick prayer to Lamashtu at the altar. (bury Blessing of Lamashtu).
Tup recalls a prayer to Nethys as he leaves the Ruined Temple. (Drawing random blessing upon closing. Discarding Deliverance and Potion of Fortitude)
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Nethys, Potion of Vision, Anubis Staff, Cure, Reformarium Servant, Viper StrikeNotes: Blessing of Nethys is available
Tup continues exploring the Ruined Temple. He eyes a parchment and quickly glances at the words. Arcane4check:1d12 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 Tup picks up the scroll of Viper Strike.
Tup takes some time going through his pack and dumps a few things on the ground. (discarding Doghide Armor, Bloodscent)
Tup wrote:
Hand: Immolate, Potion of Fortitude, Anubis Staff, Deliverance, Blessing of Lamashtu, Viper StrikeNotes: I'm good for 2 recharges if needed. Blessing of Lamashtu is available if we need to temp close Ruined Temple
Tup hears Radovan calls for assistance and sends him thoughts of fire. (discard Blessing of the Elements)
Tup then starts to thing about burning gnolls. Charisma6check:1d12 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13 and remembers a Blessing of the Elements.
He then continues searching the temple. (discarding Blessing of the Elements)
He spots a prayer requesting a Blessing of Wadjet written on the wall. He turns not wanting to the writing to steal words from his head. Intelligence7:1d6 ⇒ 1
Tup wrote:
Hand: Immolate, Giant Slug, Anubis Staff, Bloodscent, Blessing of Lamashtu, Doghide ArmorNotes: I'm good for 2 recharges if needed. Blessing of Lamashtu is available.
Tup continues to explore the quarry and spots an Explorer's Staff. Tup attempts to pick it up but it slips from his fingers. Strength2check:1d4 ⇒ 1
Tup kicks the staff away almost hitting a giant slug. Tup casts Charm Animal on the slug. (bury Charm Animal)
Tup then places his turtle on the ground and follows it. (discarding Turtle to explore)
Tup then eyes another staff, this one with a wolfhead on the top. Arcane6check:1d12 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12 Recognizing it as an Anubis Staff, he grabs it.
Tup gives a quick praise to the Gobs for his good luck and presses on. (discard Blessing of the Gobs 1)
Tup then notices a Baited Jewel Box. He searches the box but is unable to determine how to open it.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Immolate, Giant Slug, Anubis Staff, Bloodscent, Blessing of Lamashtu, Blessing of Elements Notes: I'm good for 1 recharge if needed. Both blessings are up for use.
Tup starts poking around the Quarry when a Bonecrusher Hyenamaster sends a hyena at him.
Tup using the fire from his torch shots out a blast of fire at the rampaging creature. The hyena catches on fire Arcane9check:1d12 + 1d8 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (12) + (7) + 2 - 1 = 20 (bury Torch for Card Power) Tup presses a finger to his nose and sends out a bolt of burning snot towards the gnoll. The smell of burning flesh and fur fills the Quarry as the snot slams into the Hyenamaster. Arcane9check:1d12 + 1d6 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (11) + (4) + 2 - 1 = 16 (using Burning Snot
arcane7check:1d12 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10 (recharge Burning Snot)
Pleased with himself, Tup takes some time to take in the sight of burning dogs.
Tup wrote:
Hand: Blessing of Gobs 1, Turtle, Charm Animal, Bloodscent, Blessing of Lamashtu, Blessing of ElementsDeck: 8 Discard: 1 Buried: 0 Notes: I'm good for 2 recharges if needed. All three blessings are up for use.
The feedback I've read here is fair. The beginning is excellent, the middle is monotonous, and the dungeon crawl at the end is an OK capstone to the adventure. Fortunately as a DM, I read these reviews and tweak the modules accordingly...which is probably why you are reading this, too.
To make it fun, you have to break up the monotony of the sandbox. I created a few of my own ships with their own captains. I added a few twists here and there: a Nidalese military vessel, an Aspis Consortium vendetta, and a trip to Mediogalti Island, to name a few things to make the adventure stand out. It worked, but it required a bit of work on the part of the DM. It also helped to generate some random crew members and give them random personality traits, too...the players were really into making their ship and crew memorable, not just a bunch of lackluster followers.
Something I didn't anticipate, though, is that the power level of the encounters at the end are a bit unbalanced. If run as written, the canopy creeper would have easily been a TPK, the group after group of sahuagin would not have budged even a dent in party resources, and the final encounter would have been a pushover. It's almost a clone of the dungeon in the first module.
If I had it to do over, I would have added a few gimmicks to the bland groups of sahuagin, and also made sure to check and recheck the powers of the boss monsters.
I ran a group of mid-level gamers through this module. I find the feedback of other gamers to be incredibly useful and mostly agree with the other comments. A few things I didn't see, but made running the module difficult:
1) The information is way too scattered. If you need a specific NPC's stats, you'll thumb through about 16 times in order to find it. Same with the rules for Plunder, Infamy, Ship to Ship combat, etc. It seems to be an Achilles' heel of the AP overall. Now that it's out of print, my suggestion to Paizo, if they ever decide to compile it as a hardback in the same vein as earlier APs, is that they consolidate the heck out of it. Lump all the NPCs together in one section. Put all the new rules together. Etc.
2) Where it drags on--day by day as pirates--can be a drudge. You'll have to work with your players, and do a bit of homework as a GM to make it interesting.
3) For a group playing a "non evil pirates" campaign, be prepared to swap out some encounters. This is a bigger challenge in Module 2, where people can be sold into slavery, but still worth mentioning here.
4) Make sure your players have enough resources to survive swarm encounters before they get on the island! I had to cheat a little bit by stuffing a few flasks of alchemist fire and acid in some of the treasure on the island. Otherwise it would have been a TPK after 1-2 botfly encounters.
5) The final encounter is a weird setup that you will have to adjust. Plugg and Scourge give the PCs a short amount of time to get supplies, but at the same time there's no way to run through all the encounters in that time. Maybe make it one of the reasons they are mad at the PCs?
6) The ghouls deserve a story! I made the underwater encounter a bit more interesting and added some plunder for recovering the wreck, otherwise there's absolutely nothing there for anyone.
My DM ran this module in between Kingmaker module 5 and 6. My worry going into it was that the encounters would either be, for our level, too challenging (TPK) or not challenging enough. Instead, this module was one successful "gotcha" after another, in which every member of the party was forced to think how we get out of each situation. No spoilers here, but we had to deal with domination, blindness, petrification, and, of course, mortality. The best part is that I can see this going a completely different direction if we had made different choices.
Short disclaimer: I have not run this module. That being said, the bonus material alone is fantastic. One new NPC for each previous adventure path, plus some killer critters in the bestiary. Flipping through the module section, I see lots of interesting encounters that would be very challenging, indeed, to a party of 10+ level adventurers.
A very good read if you are at all interested in: Pharasma, heretics, investigators, demons / devils, the Boneyard, Axis, Thuvia, the sun orchid elixir, or Rahadoum.
First, thanks very much to Paizo for crowdsourcing the playtest of this material.
There are an overwhelming amount of options. Each of the new classes looks fun and interesting, and nothing I would want to sit on a shelf and never look at again. I think I'd want to play every class! Perhaps the names don't always fit the classes, but what seems lacking in flavor really gets going when you introduce the archetypes. I appreciate that the archetypes are multi-cultural as well.
The downside is, not all these classes are going to fit in well with a typical campaign. Mesmerist, for example, looks fantastic as a supporting character, but would not be survivable at all in a hack and slash style dungeon crawl. There's nothing broken overall that I can find, but there are a few things that border on ridiculous. Chakras, for example, as written don't make sense to have a character take extra feats just to make two saving throws every round, all for a set of wimpy powers.
I don't read spoilers, which is a good thing. My DM ran this module and I was blissfully happy that I had no idea what was in store.
The good? Some of the traps were cliffhangers that kept our group on the edge of our seats. I was particularly happy for quick thinking--my cleric cast silence on one of the front line combat characters in combat with the lich. It was still a rough module, but could have been a TPK several times over.
The bad? The module didn't have enough to do with the plot. We still have many unanswered questions about how any of it ties in. Ah well.
Iron Gods is a very inspired Adventure Path. Admittedly, sci fi setting isn't for everybody. But if you are considering running a sci fi world, everything about this first module is bursting with new, creative energy.
To be fair, there were a great many things that were fixed in playtesting--and, I agree, there are probably an equal number of things left broken.
Still, my biggest issue with the book is not the balance (overall I think they did a fairly decent job), but the overall "flavor", or lack thereof, in the hybrid classes in the first place. Arcanist--why bother combining sorcerer and wizard, if it isn't saving the hassle of any rules? Investigator--great name / concept, terrible implementation--why combine alchemist with anything? But it does have its wins--I think brawler, skald, shaman, warpriest, even bloodrager--all have enough to stand well on their own.
And let's not forget all the other interesting stuff in the book. Some very useful spells and feats, for example, that have been orphaned and don't have anywhere else to go. Definitely worth getting the book for some of that material, at least.
As a DM, I'm always on the lookout for new things to make the social element a bit more interesting. These cards add a new mechanic slightly aligned with the "skill challenge" concept that D&D Fifth Edition brought to the game, only different in that there are four "suits": Bluff, Sense Motive, Diplomacy, and Intimidate. The mechanic plays out on a 3x3, 4x4, or 5x5 grid, depending on how "challenging" you want the encounter to be.
If done randomly, as suggested, the cards play out in interesting ways, sometimes ways that don't particularly make sense to the encounter at hand. Obviously you would want to limit their use, or exercise some latitude (draw a new card if you don't think it works), and allow the players some of their own interpretations.
Nevertheless, these do the trick if you are the kind of DM who wants random social challenges to be their own part of the game. I would make the following recommendations:
Let the players pick which skills (suits) they want to use in the encounter, then shuffle those cards.
Limit the grid to 3x3. The more cards that are involved, the more players' attention can wander. A 4x4 grid is "more challenging" but ultimately "less fun." If you want to make the encounter more challenging, just change the DCs on the cards or add a handicap.
Let the players make the narrative fit the cards.
Let the players "pass" if they feel their character can't contribute, or doesn't meet the skills on the cards.
Forget the "social initiative" mechanic completely. Just go around the table clockwise or counter-clockwise.
Most importantly, as a DM, don't use them for every social encounter (maybe once or twice per 3-4 hour game session). They are particularly useful if you don't have a specific investment in the outcome of a social encounter, but want to give the players a chance to pass or fail based on their social interactions, playing to their individual strengths and weaknesses.
I would give it 5 starts, except that I have the caveats listed above. Nevertheless, fun to use, but not for every game or social encounter.
