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BEWARE OF RUSTEZE OOZES

Session 1 of OoA last night, party consists of a Ratfolk Alchemist, Dwarf Fighter, Catfolk Gunslinger (Spellshot) and Automaton Gunslinger (Sniper).

The party managed to break into the bank no major issues, destroyed the clockwork handlers, broke into the vault and escaped with shieldmarshals on their heels.
Made it to the junkyard, entreated with the goblins, agreed to help them with their gnoll problems.
Scattered the swarm, used the crane to drain the water, and move the crate.

As they moved east, they were surprised by the Rust Ooze, fight goes on, and the Catfolk Gunslinger gets hit by a Critical hit from the ooze that does 18 bludgeoning, his max HP is 18 and was 2 hp down. Goes down to dying 2, unconscious. Also his gun is corroded for 8 acid damage.
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
(Avg 17 damage on a crit.)

The rest of the party manage to stay away from the ooze thanks to its slower land speed and pepper it with shots (I didn't count the metal resistance to their gunshots, cause they had almost no way of damaging it anyway, only sling bullets and fists would've gone through).
The rest of the party didn't want to get too close to their fallen companion and hence the ooze, back luck rolls on Recovery checks led to that PC ultimately dying.

By CR it's not a hard encounter, but resistance 5 to metal is tough to overcome, it'll soak a ton of damage and hit relatively hard.
Stay safe out there in the means streets of Alkenstar.

RECALL KNOWLEDGE SKILLS

I went through the three books and looked at the enemies they might face, to see which Knowledge skills might be more useful for identifying foes.
Here's the ranking for OoA.
(I might have missed a few things but it should give you a rough estimate, also keep in mind some creatures can be identified with more than one skill, so Constructs will show up on both Arcana and Crafting.)

In order of frequency:
1. Arcana
2. Society
3. Crafting
4. Nature
5. Religion
6. Occultism

Cheers!

RECALL KNOWLEDGE SKILLS

I went through the three books and looked at the enemies they might face, to see which Knowledge skills might be more useful for identifying foes.
Here's the ranking.
(I might have missed a few things but it should give you a rough estimate, also keep in mind some creatures can be identified with more than one skill, so Beasts will show up on both Arcana and Nature.)

In order of frequency:
1. Nature
2. Society
3. Religion
4. Arcana
5. Crafting
6. Occultism

Also, FYI on languages
Hallit is the most common language spoken by opponents by far, next Taldane, Draconic, Sylvan, Abyssal, Necril, Jotun and Celestial with a sprinkling of a few others.

In the book, it says that the players can spend 2 days worth of reconnoiter near the Grandparents to scout for Ardissa's camp, with each roll of Survival/Perception taking one day.

I find this very confusing. Do they either:

- reconnoiter and roll once each 2 days, or;
- reconnoiter for 2 days but roll each day?

This is the text from the book, p. 38

Spotting the Trophy Hunter: When the Broken
Tusks enter this hex, the following sets up camp
before reaching the pass, giving the characters time
to Reconnoiter the hex to make sure it’s safe before
moving on. Because this hex is primarily hilly terrain,
it takes the characters 2 hexploration activities (thus,
2 days) to Reconnoiter the hex. To spot Ardissa
before she can ambush the following, one character
in the party must attempt a DC 16 Survival or DC 20
Perception check each day the party Reconnoiters.

The first one is by the Reconnoiter activity RAW.

So they first Travel into the Grandparents hex (2 days hexploration), and since it's a landmark in their journey they have to Reconnoiter for another two days minimum. Then they roll Survival or DC. You can let them know they haven't found anything of note, they can continue to Reconn (reroll for each day) or you just spring Ardissa's trap on the following like the book suggests when they begin to move out (Travel into another hex).
The in-world explanation is the following stops to pay respects to their ancestors, especially the nearly departed one.

From the same page:
If the party likes, they can continue to Reconnoiter
at this hex beyond the minimum 2 days required,
rolling a new Survival or Perception check each
additional day . If they discover Ardissa’s camp, allow
them to resolve the encounter then and there before
the rest of the following gets involved.
Development: If the party fails to locate Ardissa
before the Broken Tusks Travel out of this hex, the
trophy hunter successfully ambushes the entire
following with a fireball spell. As the characters rush
to the pass to confront their surprise attacker, she casts
three magic missile spells at the following’s herd of
mammoths. By the time the characters reach the pass
(area D1) and get her attention, Ardissa has already
killed 1 mammoth and 1d4 random followers. Subtract
the mammoth and followers from the following and
deduct these spells from Ardissa’s available spells to
cast in the combat encounter.

Hope this helps.
Also, hope they don't get into a running encounter with the cockatrice.

I wrote some journal entries for Ardissa's Journal in Chapter 2, to flesh out her backstory. Took actual hunting tips from online sites, and wrote her journal entries myself. Hope it's helpful for anyone else.
(It took the PCs 22 days to reach the Grandparents, you can adjust the dates for your group)
----------------------------------
This journal is written in Taldane, in a very neat and disciplined hand.

(...)

It’s never too early to start learning the country that you’re going to hunt in.
When the time comes—get there early, stay late, and always keep a weather eye on the horizon.

You can’t control the weather. An early cool snap or rainy spell can turn this into a painfully slow hunt. 

Nothing will sharpen your skills quite like small-game hunting. Get after squirrels with your light crossbow, or prairie dogs or jackrabbits or rats at the city dump.

Invest on some high quality spyglass, whether you’re sitting in a ground blind or glassing from a pickup, the extra magnification is nice for deciphering just how big a goat’s curls and cutters are from a thousand yards away.

Also, read terrain like a book, starting at the top, "reading" lines slowly left to right. When you finish one line, move down to the next, reading terrain slowly left to right again. You'll see more game and gain more enjoyment while hunting by using optics effectively.

When set up efficiently, ground blinds can be a massive advantage for your hunt. Ground blinds are practical for bows, and crossbows, giving you a top choice in your weapon style. Therefore, no matter what equipment you use for hunting, following our ground blind hunting tips will increase your chances of yielding the best results.

Remember the 6P’s (Perfect Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance).

Since most animals we hunt are sharp in sight and smell, you should take the time to camouflage yourself. Don’t just set up along the tree line or at the top of a ridge. This can lead to a poor session, as you’ll be easily spotted. There are several ways through which you can cover and hide your blind according to your surroundings. Blending into your environment with branches, cattails, or other natural vegetation is one of the most underrated strategies when hiding your hunting tent.

Keeping your feet in good shape is pivotal to successful big game hunting. Many expensive mountain mule deer or elk hunts are ruined by blisters or otherwise sore feet.

Spot-and-stalk ploys are typically the name of the game while hunting big game. Once game is located with your spyglass, learning to move quietly can be quite important to closing the last yards required for a killing shot -- especially with archery gear. Stalking like a cat requires practice, but a few beginning tips help you remain quiet. Plan your route well ahead while moving, avoiding patches of ground that make it impossible to step quietly. Avoid clothing materials that create noise of their own; fleece, wool and similar materials prove best. Stalking "slippers" or overboots are also a wise choice. Be patient, plan well, and use these tips and you, too, can stalk close to game.

To regularly succeed on big game, make the best of limited opportunities and work to increase your maximum effective range. This doesn't mean recklessly attempting long shots without practice, but investing in practice that makes longer shots second nature. Archers should strive to improve equipment tuning and shooting form. How far you're qualified to shoot at game is then entirely up to you, but stretching your effective range by even 10 or 100 yards opens a world of additional success opportunities.

The wild can be highly unforgiving. Rough terrain can run you down and leave you far from camp after dark. Weather can change radically and unpredictably in a matter of hours. Be prepared for a worst-case scenario by always carrying essential survival gear in your hunting daypack. Think in terms of staying warm and dry should you be forced to spend the night out. And always carry a means of starting a fire under any condition. Prepare for the worst and come home alive.
(...)

The first part of this journal has a bunch of notes, presumably gathered from different sources on big game hunting, including plans for blinds, basic guides for tracking, best places to strike animals for a quick, clean kill.

These notes are enough for you to learn how to become a game hunter (You get access to the game hunter archetype)

Some of the latest notes read:

(...)

  Oathday Pharast 31st 4722:

We tracked and hunted a whooly mammoth, a nice specimen, it however was too weak to resist my beloved Furybeak and Stonebill's bite, It did manage to trample my dear Furybeak, who we had to leave under the petrified creature's foot. What a waste!

  Starday Gozran 2nd 4722:

We moved east towards the Tusk Mountains, found the area the locals call the Grandparents, to me they just look like any other mountain peaks, but I guess these superstitious people see things were there are none. The area is useful though, there are plains to the north and southwest, hills to the south and it's flanked by mountains to the east and west. There's a cave to the northeast that looks very promising. We have already seen tracks of mammoths and other large animals in the region.

Toilday Gozran 5th 4722:

We found the cave, a limestone rocky entrance that resembles the mouth of a mountain lion. We tried to set up camp there, but these dwarves were spooked and refused to stay there, they said they kept hearing strange sounds from the deep, and movement on the wall paintings.

I must confess I might have heard those sounds, and seen the strange movements, not that I would let them know it. These dwarves are hardy and strong, but I might need to look for more brave employees when I get back south.

  Oathday Gozran 7th 4722:

We went back down to the southwest and found a wonderful place, this will make a marvelous hunting blind, it's even camouflaged from below by bushes. From here I can see many miles to the west and north. I'll see any herd of mammoths approaching from quite a distance.

There's also a strange looking stone embedded into the ground. It's about 4 feet tall, looks like a narrow pyramid that fell from the sky and got stuck in the ground.

Fireday Gozran 8th 4722:

I believe the stone we have found is one of the so-called apakus, that are found in these lands. It seems to focus the power of ley lines...

My limited research has determined that this apaku dramatically extends the range of evocation magics. This location has proved even better than I initially thought. With the power of this apaku, I shall be able to drop fireballs far down into the hills, and shoot magic missiles for many feet at a time.

  Starday Gozran 9th 4722:

We have spotted a small herd of mammoths and other creatures approaching, what a fortuitous find. We also managed to petrify and capture a female dire wolf, thankfully it's only temporarily turned to stone this time.

  Sunday Gozran 10th 4722:

The herd seems to be lead by some of the famous Mammoth Lords, they have camped not far away from our hunting spot. I'm pretty sure they can be caught in the range of a fireball, I'm so close to getting my mammoth, I can feel it. Just gotta be patient.

The second half details Ardissa's current expedition into the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. In her latests entries, she describes the terrain surrounding the Grandparents, she visited Red Cat Cave, but she and her employees found it too unnerving to stay there. She found this hunting spot and the apaku stone recently. According to her, evocation magic is enhanced by this particular apaku.

I had a realization while playing our first session of the AP.
The core theme of the AP is family (Spoken in Vin Diesel's voice)

Pakano in my campaign came out as such a loser. The PCs started bullying him from moment one.
He was last in initiative (despite giving him a +2 circumstance bonus), missed his first and only attack against the moose, he critically failed the Reflex save when being trampled, I had him faint from fear at the charging moose and miraculously be unharmed.
He lost the challenge for the spear and ended up ass-first in the muddy bank of the Gornok river.

But, during one of the PCs interactions, one of my players said something that resonated with me, our Flame Elemental Sorceress, who beat him for the spear:

"Um, about Pakano... maybe don't parade that fight around too much? He's... still a child." Adhain taps her head with a finger. "Up here. Too much to prove to too few people. (...)"

So, I have decided to give him a redemption arc.

Instead of him intentionally ...

He's later humiliated by his fellow scouts, during the Moose Hunt and the wrestling challenge for the spear.
Then, during the Night of the Green Moon, he is given the title of Pakano "Fire in the Eye" and his Glyptodon Broken Tusk amulet. Despite this honor, he was expecting to be named the successor for Falcon House. He's been humiliated and denied yet again, this time in front of the whole following.

So, of course he flees the following that very night. While crying, he gathers his stuff, including his grandmother's shield and goes to those who might consider him family. There he meets Ivarsa, who takes him in and shows him the tiniest bit of affection, so he's immediately drawn to her. His hate for the scouts, those who robbed him of his inheritance and title (at least in his dual colored eyes) fuels him, he wants to see them humiliated and then hurt.