Trial of the Beast saw a lot more changes than Haunting of Harrowstone. I will list them chronologically.
1. Largo and Finch returned after their botched zombie assault on Ravengro. Supported by 3 Ghouls and 1 Ghast they ambushed the PC's during the night. The group's Unbreakable Fighter was killed during the raid, because the player wanted to switch characters. I went a little bit over the top with Largo and Finch. An enlarged fighter using Improved Critical (Greataxe) in combination with the crowd control support of his undead minions while the alchemist kept tossing his bombs into campsite was simply too much at level 4.
2. The Crooked Kin were replaced by a more normal trading caravan, who came to the PC's aid during the aforementioned raid. The names of the people and their personalities stayed the same (as well as the extremely well desigend encounter with the Phase Spider), I only removed the freakshow aspects, because I consider Ustalav outlandish enough.
3. The next noteworthy changes were added in Morast. I put a greater emphasize on the almost unnatural longevity of the townsfolk. Especially the spitting and cursing Lazne aroused the suspicion of my players. This only changed after they found Vorkstags stash at the graveyard. I also added a red herring regarding a very unfriendly gentleman from cheliax who visited Morast right before the murder series began. The combat encounter with the Manticore was replaced with two breeding Wyverns. This proved to be a surprisingly dangerous fight, but the Paladin (as usual) ended it with a critical hit from his +2 Halberd.
4. The trial itself was easily the best part of the AP so far. We roleplayed everything and used the diplomacy checks to determine how the speeches were received by the judges and the crowd. But this only worked because the Paladin (btw: Book 2 was the book where he really shined) had a very good Diplomacy skill modifier and also put alot of energy into playing it out. This entire section can easily fall apart, if the players and/or their characters don't have the required social skills. If that's the case, Gustav Kaple should become a more competent barrister and the players should be relegated to a pure investigator role with only short testimonies before the court.
5. Nothing had to be changed in Hergstag. But the fight with Brother Swarm works best when he's encountered in his underground lair, where he can block the entrance tunnel, so that the players can't gang up on him too easily.
6. Now to a change I shouldn't have made. Thinking "What difference can 1 HD make?" I added 1 HD to the Ghasts at Sanctuary. This almost resulted in a TPK and we had our first involuntary character loss. Our Ranger got flanked by two Ghasts, was stunned and ripped apart (even without using the coup-de-grace-rules). I strongly advice against further buffing any Ghasts and Ghouls. Their high number of natural attacks in combination with their paralytic abilites can easily overwhelm even hardened adventurers.
7. The battle with Vorkstag and Grine worked out very well, but I made several changes:
The Mongrelmen were unwilling servants of the alchemists and can be reasoned with (a Knowledge (Arcana) role revealed that they are normally peaceful creatures that avoid confrontation) and the Magus intimidated them into surrendering.
The Juju Zombies had one additional member and their leader and had the Advanced template. They subdued Kendra when the rest of the group was busy fighting Vorkstag and Grine and pulled her away. So the party was split when the Samurai and the Inquisitor chased them to the corpse pool where they went into hiding underwater.
Vorkstag had several changes. He wore a chain shirt and drank a potion of Barkskin (CL 4) before the fight. As a weapon he used a Corrosive + 1 Morningstar. Improved Initiative was replaced by Power Attack. With this greatly enhanced AC he was a very strong combatant and put 4 PCs into the negatives before being put down by the last woman standing.
Grine was completely reworked to be more challenging. He harrassed the group while Vorkstag was preparing for battle. He did a good job but he ran out of luck when the Magus bullrushed him from the planks into one of the acid vats. He didn't die yet, but when he tried to climb out Vorkstag rolled a natural 1 with his next bomb (aimed at the magus) and it hit the homicidal dark creeper and the vat. The following explosion killed "poor" Grine.
Grine:
GRINE
CR 6
XP 2,400
Male dark creeper rogue 4
CE Small humanoid (dark folk, dark folk)
Init +10; Senses see in darkness, Perception +13
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 17, flat-footed 21 (+2 armor, +6 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 88 (7d8+32)
Fort +6, Ref +13, Will +3, +1 Reflex to avoid traps
Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +1, uncanny dodge ;
Weaknesses Light Blindness,
OFFENSE
Speed 9 m
Melee masterwork sword (short/small) +13 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged masterwork crossbow (heavy/small) +13 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks Death Throes (DC 15), Sneak Attack 2d6,
Spell-Like Abilities: darkness ( at will) detect magic ( at will)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 22, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +5; CMB +9 (+11 grapple); CMD 21
Feats Armor Proficiency, Light, Improved Initiative, Quick Draw, Skill Focus (Sleight of Hand), Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11, Appraise +0, Bluff +2, Climb +12, Craft (Alchemy) +9, Craft (Untrained) +0, Diplomacy -2, Disguise -2, Escape Artist +6, Fly +8, Heal +1, Intimidate +5, Linguistics(Common) +4, Perception +13, Perception (Trapfinding) +15, Perform (Untrained) -2, Ride +6, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +15, Stealth +22, Survival +1, Swim +4, Use Magic Device +5
Languages Common, Dark Folk
SQ fast stealth, poison use (Black Smear--injury; save Fort DC 15; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Str; cure 1 save.), rag armor, see in darkness, swift poison, trapfinding, weapon and armor proficiency, potion of spider climb, potion of barksin (CL 4)
Gear masterwork sword (short/small); crossbow bolts (10); black smear (x3); rag armor; Masterwork Crossbow (Heavy/Small) ;
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Death Throes (Su) When a dark creeper is slain, its body combusts in a flash of bright white light, leaving its gear in a heap on the ground. Creatures within a 10-foot burst may be blinded for 1d6 rounds.
Evasion (Ex) You can avoid damage from many area-effect attacks.
Fast Stealth (Ex) This ability allows you to move at full speed using Stealth without penalty.
Light Blindness (Ex) You are blinded for 1 round if exposed to bright light, such as sunlight or the daylight spell.
Poison Use (Ex) Dark Folk are skilled in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves.
Rag Armor (Ex) A dark creeper's multiple layers of filthy rags function as leather armor when worn by one of their kind.
See in Darkness (Su) Dark Folk can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by deeper darkness.
Sneak Attack (Ex) If you can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from your attack, you can strike a vital spot for extra damage. [2d6]
Trapfinding (Ex) You add +2 to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks. You can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magical traps.
Trap Sense (Ex) You gain a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) You can react to danger before your senses would normally allow you to do so.
TEMPORARY BONUSES
Temporary Bonuses Applied Barkskin, Spider Climb
8. The mob at the court house dissolved quickly after the Paladin talked them out of violence (another failed plot of Largo and Finch).
9. The Trolls at the gate were mostly unchanged. I increased their number by two and Grork had an Amulet of Natural Protection +2 "implanted" into his chest for some additional durability.
10. The first asthmatic Golem Hound was great, but repeating such a niche monster so fast didn't seem like a good idea. I replaced it with a Golden Guardian, who used the same Bull Rush tactics. Positioning was key in the outdoor fights at Caromarc as my players quickly learned during that fight.
11. Important note: Our Bard was completely focussed on providing emergency Feather Falls during the further exploration of Schloss Caromarc, after the first person was bullrushed from the bridge. Plan ahead if your group doesn't have the spell available and hand out proper magic items/scrolls/potions. Otherwise you're risking a TPK.
12. The Huge Air Elemental is a potential TPK. I made several changes to keep it manageable: The Elemental can only lift and hold 1 person at a time into the air. And it takes him 2 rounds to lift somebody up and let him or her fall into the water. He's still a dangerous opponent this way, but not an almost certain death sentence anymore.
13. After their fights with the Golden Guardian and the Air Elemental everybody was paranoid about yet another bridge in that damn castle. So they send one scout ahead, who promptly ran back to the workshop when the Erinyes materialized. They lured her into the workshop and the Smite Evil-guy went to work. It was still hard, but the players adjusted their tactics to the unique circumstances of Caromarc and prevailed. If they're still surprised by a nasty monster on one of the bridges at that point, they deserve more than one character death.
14. The Mimic and the Mummy were replaced with one Mummy Magus 3. This foe was fought by one of the former owners of our Magus' sentient scimitar in Osirion millenia ago. The sword sensed this threat and warned the Magus ahead. So the group was prepared when they met and destroyed Suthek's Servant. (Caromarc was deeply saddened when he heard about its destruction. He liked to hold conversitions in ancient osirianni with this undead monstrosity during his lonely nights and grew attached to it, although he knew its inherent evilness)
Suthek's Servant:
SUTHEK'S SERVANT
CR 8
Male Mummy undead 8 / magus 3
LE medium undead
Init +3; Senses Darkvision (18 m), Perception +15,
Aura Despair (30 ft., paralyzed for 1d4 rounds, Will DC 19 negates),
Languages Ancient Osirianni
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19
hp 143 (11HD)DR 5/-
Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +13
Immunities Ability Drain, Death Effects, Death from Massive Damage, Disease, Energy Drain, Exhaustion, Fatigue, Mind-Affecting Effects, Nonlethal Damage, Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Stunning,
Weaknesses Vulnerability to Fire,
Speed 6 m (4 squares)
Melee slam +16 (1d8+13)
Face 1.5 m Reach 1.5 m
Base Atk +8; CMB +16; CMD 25
Special Actions Despair (30 ft., paralyzed for 1d4 rounds, Will DC 19 negates), Mummy Rot, Pool Strike, Spell Combat, Spellstrike
Prepared Spells Prepared Spells:
Magus (CL 3): 0th - acid splash , detect magic , open/close (DC 11) , read magic (DC ) 1st - burning hands (DC 12) , color spray (DC 12) , corrosive touch (2)
(CL ):
Magus: Spells per Day: (4/4/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/ DC:12+spell level), Spells Known: 0th - Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Flare, Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Open/Close, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost, Read Magic, Spark 1st - Burning Hands, Color Spray, Corrosive Touch, Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp
Abilities Str 26, Dex 8, Con *, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 20
Special Qualities Arcane Accuracy, Arcane Pool (2/day), Armor Proficiency, Cantrips, Darkvision, Vulnerability to Fire,
Feats Arcane Strike, Armor Proficiency, Light, Combat Casting, Extra Arcana, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Martial Weapon Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics -1, Acrobatics (Jump) -5, Appraise +1, Bluff +5, Climb +8, Craft (Untrained) +1, Diplomacy +5, Disguise +5, Escape Artist -1, Fly -1, Heal +4, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (Arcana) +15, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (Geography) +2, Knowledge (History) +3, Knowledge (Religion) +13, Perception +15, Perform (Untrained) +5, Ride -1, Sense Motive +4, Stealth -1, Survival +4, Swim +8,
Possessions ring of arcane mastery; magus spellbook;
Magus Spellbook
Arcane Accuracy (Su) You can expend 1 point from your arcane pool as a swift action to grant yourself a +1 insight bonus on all attack rolls until the end of your turn.
Arcane Pool (Su) You have a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that you draw upon to fuel your powers and enhance your weapon. This arcane pool has 2 points. The pool refreshes once per day when you prepare your spells. You can expend 1 point from your arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon you are holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack with themselves.
Despair (Su) All creatures within a 30-foot radius that see you must make a DC 19 Will save or be paralyzed by fear for 1d4 rounds.
Mummy Rot (Su) Curse and disease, make fortitude save (DC 19) every day or loose 1d6 consitition and charisma. Make succesful remove curse (DC 0) and magical heal (DC 20)
Pool Strike (Su) You can expend 1 point from your arcane pool as a standard action to charge your free hand with energy. You can make a melee touch attack with that hand as a free action as part of activating this ability. If the touch attack hits, it releases the charge and deals 2d6 points of energy damage (acid, cold, electricity, or fire, chosen when he spends the arcane pool point to activate this ability). You can use this ability with the spellstrike class feature. If you miss with this attack, you can hold the charge for up to 1 minute before it dissipates.
15. The next change was too harsh. I added two Electrified Flesh Golems to support the Guardian of the Tower. This was too much for the frontliners and the Samurai died after the Guardian ripped him into pieces. One additional Golem should be enough.
16. I expected the Aberrant Promethean to be another potential party killer and I didn't change anything. My players proved me wrong as everybody made his or her saving throws. Without his debuffs and disables working he was no match for their combined efforts. They didn't even need the help of the Beast. But I still won't advocate for buffing the Promethean. If the players fail their Saving Throws even higher level characters can easily fall prey to him. And after this deathtrap dungeon with all its dangers they probably need a moment of uncontested success. And this came for my group with beating up that abomination in 3 rounds.
I ran this Module mostly as written. There were only four important changes I made.
1. The Skeletons in Harrowstone were already burning when the fights began. Therefore they didn't explode right after they were reduced to zero hp, but 2 rounds later. So the PC had enough time to evacuate the danger zone, after they realised what will happen soon (The bones started to glow white and kept smoldering).
2. I increased the number of Stirges on the upper floor to 15. Everybody was drained to the lower single digits when the fighting was over. This could have easily ended in a TPK. So I don't know if it's a good advice to run this encounter as I did.
3. Two players missed two sessions early on. So they were only level 1 when the other PCs were already level 3. To compensate Ravengro was attacked by a huge zombie horde (an entire orc tribe which was poisoned by the Whispering Way after they disturbed Vrood and his goons). I expected a large and long siege with lots of dead Ravengro citizens, but I underestimated the power of Channel Positive Energy. The group put the Sarenrae Cleric (Kendra was still grieving about the return of her zombified father during the last night and didn't help in this encounter) in their middle and lured the zombies away from the village. When they had the attention of more than half of the horde they let themselves become surrounded and the channel massacre began. 4 Rounds later 60 zombies were destroyed and Ravengro had some new heroes.
4. I added two Whispering Way hitman to the AP, who were sent to Ravengro to clean up the Vrood's mess: Largo (Fighter 4) and Finch (Alchemist 4). The group was warned that they were approaching Ravengro. But they couldn't prove their bad intentions. So the Paladin only chased them away instead of fighting them. They repaid this kindness by unleashing the zombie horde from point 3. After that they stayed into hiding until book 2 when they saw their undead minions being defeated so easily.
I want to share my challenge adjustments to the Carrion Crown AP with you as most AP modules tend to become too easy for experienced players after the first 1 or 2 books. Although we have been new to PF when we started, my group consists of genre savvy RPG veterans. Once they had a firm grip on the rules, I had to increase the AP's challenge drastically. My early adjustments were wonky sometimes and several PCs died. But as we progressed through the AP it got much better. So I will present you the encounters as I would run them today. I will also highlight the parts where a challenge reduction is appropriate to avoid too much frustration (I look at you, Air Elemental and Vrood!). At the moment we are in the middle of book 4 (just about to go through the portal in Undiomede House), so this list is not complete yet as I adjust the encounter difficulty from session to session.
On average there a 6 players present. Everybody uses a 20 points buy build. The average character wealth roughly correlates to the WBL-table and we use the medium experience progression track. The PCs are between level 8 and 10 at the moment. Nobody uses dump stats below 8, but every character is as effective as possible without compromising the basic concept. Summoners and Gunslingers are banned. The Advanced Classes from the recent playtest are banned as well, as we came to the conclusion that they are a bit too unbalanced right now. The coup-de-grace rules are ignored. Helpless itself is bad enough as a condition. Crafting was forbidden during the first 2 books, but this ban has been lifted now. Kendra accompanies the group as a NPC and is a Cleric of Pharasma (always 2 levels below the hightest group member), who focusses on channeling and healing.
General Adjustments:
Due to the larger group size every opponent has maximum HP and the number of mooks is increased by 50%. Since book 3 I try to avoid save or die-spells as much as possible, because we realised that their binary nature makes them unfun for everybody.
Read on, but be warned: The following posts will contain massive spoilers.
Party composition in detail:
Logen Kennett, male LG Angelkin Paladin of Iomedae 9
Greatswordswinging, evil-smiting bastion of good and the group's chief diplomat, who succeeded at every dice roll during the trial. He has not much to offer outside of talking and smiting evil-doers, but he does a damn fine job at both.
Davor Lorrimor, male NG Half-Orc Bladebound Magus 9
Davor was adopted by Professor Lorrimor at a young age when the Professor and his assistant Dr. Arnisant failed to save the toddlers mother from a vicious shapechanging monster. I expected him to be a walking nuclear weapon with the durability of a paper sheet, but the player distributes his resources evenly between offensive and defensive spells and he became the group tank and knowledge expert.
Fala, female CG Human Arcane Bloodline Sorcerer 9
Fala started as a wild Kellid Barbarian but the player wasn't happy with her pure combat focus. So we reworked her as a Savage Skald Bard for Books 2 and 3. This was much better but she realised that she wanted to play a full caster, so Fala was reworked again (hopefully for the last time) as a Sorcerer towards the end of Book 3.
Khair, male NG Human Cleric of Sarenrae 10
Khair began the AP as a pure Heal/Buff/Channel Cleric, but the player became frustrated with his passive role. So he was reworked as a Warpriest during the Advanced Classes playtest. After 1.5 books we came to the conclusion that this class is ridiculously overpowered (e.g. the fight at the temple of Dagon where he singlehandedly fought four cleric of dagon 4/fighter 4 and a cleric of dagon 11 at once.) So Khair was downgraded to a regular Battle Cleric for our next session.
Gavin, male NG Human Unbreakable Fighter 4
=> Leto, male LG Nagaji Sword Saint Samurai 7
=> Hank, male N Human Beastmaster Ranger 9
=> ?
Welcome to the bad luck part of our group. The player has lost three characters due to bad luck so far (described in length in the obituaries thread). He almost quit playing PF because of that. But we talked about the problems that lead to his character deaths and came to a solution. He will hopefully rejoin the group next session with a new character.
Bran, male NG Dwarf Ranger 5,
=> William, male NG Human Urban Barbarian 8
=> Lugos, male NG Human Oracle of Life 9
Another player who already lost two characters. In his case it was a combination of bad luck and poor tactical decisions. After joining the party with his new oracle at the stairs of the moon he had to take break because of a serious problem in his real life, but he will rejoin our sessions soon.
My experience is that it's actually pretty easy to challenge selfproclaimed Über-Optimizers. Just drain their ressources. Such players tend to think in terms of 1-3-encounter-days and go full nova knowing that they won't suffer repercussions because it was their 3rd encounter tonight and a 4th won't happen. But if they face many encounters and waves of encounters per resting period their one trick pony tactics fall apart quickly (especially for casters). Actually building an optimized and seemingly OP character in PF almost laughably easy in my opinion. The real challenge is proper ressource management, if the GM knows what he is doing.
Last week I started a very similar thread regarding good Magus items. And now I'm at a loss again. Our Bard (Savage Skald 6) has a pretty boring Itemization: Keen Longsword +1, Heavy Shield +1, Chain Shirt +1 and a Plague Rat Belt. But outside the BIG 6 and replacing the Heavy Shield with a Light Shield I have no idea what to give her in terms of loot and rewards in the future. So I'd really appreciate some advice.
I know that. But is Arcane Strike a case of "While in bloodrage, a bloodrager cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration."? Infusing a weapon with eldritch powers needs a lot of concentration, at least from my uneducated perspective. Is there a definitive answer regarding this question?
Yay to better weapons, armors and clarifications! Nay to the concept of Raging Song. Come on, it's not a buff when two thirds of an average group don't want it. Remove that restriction or make it less harsh (and make the buff weaker in return). Or turn it into something like Inspire Courage (albeit weaker). I really, really like the concept. But this single trait makes the class fully unappealing for me.
No, your father is wrong. Totally wrong. If a NPC is so frightened that he fears for his life, no character stats (without a dice role of any kind) may change that. If you decide that this decision may be changed by proper roleplay and/or a diplomacy check let him role a check. But simply demanding that he deserves something because his stats are high enough is a bad play style.
Seems like the Troll Horde just got Flamestriked by the Holy Order of reasonable Discussion.
So here are my 2 cp: Balance issues (perceived or real) are mostly disguised player issues. It does not matter if they play mechanically stronger or weaker classes, good players will always find ways to contribute in or out of combat. In my experience the bad/weak players are the problem. If something goes wrong it's the fault of their stupid, underpowered class. And if somebody is doing something better than them they're pissed as well because the other plays something obviously overpowered. Just play with the "right" people and balance becomes a non-issue as long as the DM doesn't turn the campaign into a Monty Haul.
Hobgoblins - in all the modules and APs I have read so far they were not even mentioned. Orcs: sure, tieflings: sure, goblins: it`s no real paizo product if those miscreants don`t show up at least once. But hobgoblins seem to be a rare breed on golarion. Maybe they`re too scary when played right. Tough, smart, numerous and most importantly well organized.
...I think I just figured it out, actually. I'm generally the PC that jokes about starting riots and leading the party off on unplanned tangents and whatnot. Plot disruption in the name of fun is my middle name...as a player. He's definitely just screwing with me...
It's not so cool anymore when you are on the receiving end of such behaviour isn't it?
