Search Posts
Names: Alfonso Filare, Erwick Edenstone
Furkas Xoud prepared the deadly technology guide spell irradiate twice, and in his third and final confrontation with the party, he lasted long enough to cast both and deal a total of 11 Con drain to several PCs. That was enough to kill poor Erwick the halfling bard even though he’d avoided taking any hp damage in the fight. Alfonso the varisian magus would have survived if he hadn’t been injured by fire and lightning in the preceding rounds.
This was my first TPK as GM, and much to my relief the players all seemed like they were still having fun.
This party did quite well all the way up to meeting Hellion's aggregate robot chassis. A few tactical missteps and unlucky rolls later, Hellion ordered his scrapyard robots to stand idle and watch while he finished destroying the brave, grappled, and confused adventurers with his claws and plasma beam. Hellion hung their bodies on display in the arena, and the players opted to start new characters instead of a daring NPC mission to steal their bodies and get them raised. We’re starting book 3, The Choking Tower, with a new party in Iadenveigh as the town council convenes an open meeting to discuss some mysterious and troubling recent events.
There was at one point a snapleaf hidden under the pillows in the bed. It's not there now (possibly Muhlia used it as part of her getaway), so I don't recommend giving the chief one no matter how long the PCs delay!
You got me there. I've been treating bouda's eye as if it was extended by cackle. I like the idea of a gnoll witch cackling so much that I didn't think about whether it counted as evil eye for cackle.
Love it! I sometimes wish I could go back through my existing chronicles and see a quick summary of the missions. Even if this kind of letter doesn't become an official part of more scenarios, it's definitely something I'd like to see more of. And one more thing...: Ambrus and Darchana were insistent on secrecy surrounding this mission which resulted in giving them the keys to a well-placed spy network, but of course that level of secrecy is only normal for the society. And of course they only mean to put a stop to Muhlia's plans. There's no way they'd simply turn around and use the mirror, map, notes, and blood samples for their own political gain!
If the PCs use violence to capture Asvika, but then heal and release her later, should I still check box D when reporting? Is it meant to indicate whether she survives, whether she runs away with some of the treasure, or whether the PCs successfully avoided a fight by using social skills?
Sequel or prequel to Slave Ships of Absalom? And what happened to my new favorite author, Mark Garringer? ;-) This one follows the events of Slave Ships of Absalom. And I can tell you that Mark has probably not been captured by vengeful slave-trading pirates and is most likely not being held in a secret location on Stonespine island.
I ran this last night! The party included a bright red Tiefling with prominent horns and a Vishkanya, whose features might be taken as celestial or fiendish to an uninformed observer such as one of Dawnton's farmers. They didn't want to go in disguise even though they knew Dawnton was insular and fearful of demons, and a couple of bad diplomacy rolls early on led to them hearing false rumors and asking around about demon worship. Their town sentiment track advanced at an impressive pace, culminating in the use of color spray and sleep poison against the pugilistic pig farmers. Nevertheless, the party managed to gather their evidence and befriend Sheriff Luin before things got out of hand. They easily turned Dalton's ambush against him and presented their evidence eloquently to Ekira and Tobias. At this point Tovril, who had been following Ekira, got frustrated at the diminishing chance of violence and revealed himself. Giggling manically, he channelled negative energy over the crowd. The PCs convinced him to depart with some cold iron arrows, but didn't have a good way to keep him from fleeing. The PCs convinced Ekira to free the prisoners and even to reconsider her hatred of the Pathfinder Society, but the townfolk still wanted them all gone as soon as possible. In the end, I have to say I am enjoying the way so many of these Season 5 scenarios deal with the effects of the crusaders' struggle to hold a line against an infinite army of demons in a war they expect will never end. We have NPCs who are meant to be heroes, but have suffered psychological trauma that affects their decision-making. Understanding that and figuring out how to work with them makes for an interesting adventure by itself. And for the unofficial record, one PC got a haircut at Orug's.
Last night, one of my players used Transfer Magic to save another PC from a suffocation spell! I had looked at this ability before, but I hadn't considered using it to purposefully transfer and end harmful spell effects. By my reading, I think this would also work on a curse or polymorph ongoing effect.
The balcony:
1. Hmm. I think I wrote the trap stats before making both of them oozes in the high subtier. I don't think it takes anything away from the encounter to use the ooze's lower attack bonus for the trap.
2. The way I run it, the trap triggers when someone steps through the doorway. The idea was to give the party a better chance to spot it and try to disable it, and maybe make the knowledge check to identify it before the oozes blob out on them.
Personally, I would dance around that particular question by saying that the Freemen don't know where they Gaels were staying. That lack of trust would add to the Freemen's frustration because they normally expect allies to aid in keeping the Bottoms district safe and secure. In the likely rare case that the PCs really mess up their relationship with the Freemen, I'd just say that Imelda sent a runner to the Price of Freedom asking for backup to guard the shop, and that knowledge hadn't reached the council yet. Good mysteries are hard to write!
Thursday, August 14
Friday, August 15
Saturday, August 16
Sunday, August 17
Last year was my first trip to Gen Con and I had a great time. This year's going to be amazing now that I sort of know what I'm doing!
That was a great party, and I wish my Investigator had been able to take more advantage of Rig's rage song. As it was, I was afraid of the AC penalty, chance of becoming fatigued, and losing the option to use stealth with that lovely blend extract, the coolest thing my character could do besides land a lucky critical hit with a throwing axe.
I played a 1st level Investigator in a Pathfinder Society scenario last night. I went with an Elf as much for the sleep immunity, low-light vision, and perception bonus as for the useful ability scores. I found my extract of blend(elf only) most useful, since it let me sneak around at the beginning of a fight and get into a good tactical position. I drank my elixirs, and burned my inspiration on attack rolls that didn't do much damage. Once I’d used up my daily abilities, I was still able to do some stealthy scouting, and amusingly most of my damage for the night due to a lucky critical hit with a throwing axe. Generally speaking, it feels like the investigator is expected to have all the knowledge skills, social skills, and rogue skills. Even with a highly intelligent human, you just can’t pick up every skill in one level. I ended up jealous of the Skald’s bardic knowledge, but I’m sure the investigator would have compared much better at second level when I could afford to become trained in every knowledge skill. I’m still convinced the investigator needs an ability it can use in a fight at low levels. Not necessarily bombs or sneak attack, but having neither made me feel significantly less capable than either an alchemist or a rogue.
Thanks for pointing that out! I'd forgotten that alchemists were allowed to craft their own alchemical items in organized play. I expect to use a good number of alchemical items, so crafting them should offset the tool costs after a few missions.
I've been working on a first level investigator for a Pathfinder Society game, and I can't figure out how to contribute when we have to fight something. As a reference point, one of my most successful pathfinder field agents is a bard with no strength or dexterity bonus. I see there's been plenty of discussion already about the investigator's lack of offensive capability at low levels, but due to the investigator's heavy reliance on tools, it's difficult to compensate with equipment. Proficiency at my role cracking traps and locks requires thieves' tools (30 gp), and brewing my extracts requires an alchemist's crafting kit (25 gp), so over a third of the character's starting wealth is devoted to tools of the trade that don't provide anything beyond proficient use of my class features. That's money my comparably skillful bard spent on alchemist's fire, holy water, and alkali flasks. The ability to identify a monster is great, but my bard can do that and inspire courage and cast spells on other creatures. Of course, this is all just speculation until I put it to the test. The game is scheduled for tonight, so I'll post a real playtest report as soon as I
Hey Mimo! I remember you! I was playing Bram the Ranger at that table. I can see how he'd be mistaken for a barbarian, with his hatred of evil outsiders, light armor, two-handed weapon, and buckets of hit points. Re: Your Spoiler:
I felt the same disappointment that we couldn't spare the humans who started stabbing us. If I recall right, the GM explained they were long-term demon cultists who had infiltrated the crusaders army as mercenaries. I have my suspicions that their presence is an important part of the season's story (as in, mortal demon cultists instigated the attack as part of another plan.) Still, it would have been a great heroic moment for you to snap them out of mental domination with a countersong. As for the final act, I would personally have preferred my character die fighting something new than easily survive an encounter with Bestiary 1 monsters, but I didn't want to pressure anybody else into attacking a mythic foe.
The audio was so bad where we were sitting that at first I thought they left the mic on accidentally and it was picking up a laptop fan or something. All put together it was a fun experience. I've GMed Race for the Runecarved Key, Blood under Absalom, and Year of the Shadow Lodge at two of our local game stores, and I'm looking forward to running Siege of the Diamond City.
Sorry to hear you didn't have fun nosig. I'd rather not speculate about how your GM ran it, but I've always considered the lighting rules to be a tricky area and I like to reread them before I run an encounter like that one. Inexora, as a drow noble, gains deeper darkness as a spell-like ability. As you pointed out, used by itself, deeper darkness would leave her and her demons as blind as the PCs. She would be more likely to use deeper darkness on herself if she wound up inside the area of a PC's daylight effect, returning the intersection of the spell effects to normal darkness and retaining use of her darkvision. It may seem like she still has a big advantage in that situation, but even a 50% miss chance isn't going to keep her alive for long within 60 feet of a typical party of Pathfinders.
Were you doing the math as if buying the wand from a ranger? The Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play says "All potions, scrolls, wands, and other consumables are made by clerics, druids, or wizards..." unless the spell isn't on the cleric, druid or wizard spell list. (p 25, under "Potions, Scrolls, and Wands") If the wand of resist energy was crafted by a cleric, the cost should be 4,500 gp (2nd level spell * CL 3rd * 750), 1/5 of which is 900 gp.
Jeff, you blew my mind. Thanks for sharing, and congrats on the GM star!
Thanks for the detailed report Sammy T! The player who blinded Inexora deserves a pat on the back for turning the tables like that. Jeff, I don't know if it's officially correct, but when I advance a monster that has built-in poison, I raise the DC. The universal monster rules say a poison DC is usually modified by hit dice and constitution, so I think raising it by 2 in an advanced creature is the right thing to do. Ninjaxenomorph, I've been in the same situation more times than I'd like to admit. Minutes or hours after I declare an NPC dead, I suddenly remember why they shouldn't be. I try not to worry about it, because there's always more NPCs where they came from. CRobeldo, that's an interesting point about the AC penalty. In the Fiendish template, the bestiary only specifies the attack/damage modification. However, if we assume the fiendish template smite good does everything that an antipaladin's smite good does, the specific wording from the APG is "In addition, while smite good is in effect, the antipaladin gains a deflection bonus equal to his Charisma modifier (if any) to his AC against attacks made by the target of the smite." Personally, I wouldn't give a fiendish creature an AC penalty or bonus. Shax's realm, Charnelhome, is surrounded by carnivorous plants, and my reasoning is that his followers would have access to some of these plant species. It makes sense to me that a demonic plant would go into a frenzy and attack good creatures recklessly; their main problem is having such low Intelligence that they don't choose their own smite targets very well.
I believe I said something out loud when I saw this one while voting. To make a long story short, once upon a time I played a bard who carried a stash of tree tokens so he'd always have something to hide behind. While the tree token generation is not the most impressive power of this item, I've learned not to underestimate the tactical value of an unexpected oak.
Hmm, gluttony, all good points. I don't want anyone in my party to feel like they can't contribute to the big battle because they're locked down by the wind. Maybe I can conveniently leave them some specialized climbing gear or figure out how to place the crystals so that each character has one they're uniquely suited to targeting... This deserves some more thought.
Obviously this is full of spoilers. We are probably two weeks of real world time away from the Storm Tower, but I've been thinking along the same lines as you with regard to #5. Making the machinery and crystals take a larger role in the battle sounds like a lot of fun. I don't think my players will have a problem reaching or damaging the crystals as written, but they will probably need some encouragement to continue targeting the crystals after the first one they break explodes and hurts them. I think my best bet if that happens is to play Katiyana as clearly upset rather than laughing at their misfortune. Anyway, if they focus on attacking Katiyana, hitting her is not going to be easy given the terrain and weather are strongly in her favor, so I'm not actually planning to power her up from the way she's written. #1, The hazard description suggests a DC 10 Swim check for swimming in the lake. I'd make climbing out something similar; trivial unless you're wrestling a polar bear at the same time. Coincidentally, I'm planning on having some large chunks of ice floating in the lake of black slush, and instead of Chardas, a Ja Noi Oni with a few levels of the Fell Rider hobgoblin cavalier archetype, a "construct limb" iron cobra, and a polar bear mount is going to challenge the PCs as they cross the bridge. Hopefully the battle will range out onto the floating ice, with lots of leaping around to avoid falling in. #2 I would treat it as a targeted dispel targeting the creature as they enter the area-- so it wouldn't have any effect on their items, but would have a decent chance of blowing away one active buff from each character. #3 My party is going to be 8th level by the time they get there, so I'm not planning on pulling any punches with regard to 100 ft. falls. I did notice just now that if they operate the controls right, they get the benefit of a tiny hut spell with the platform. This means they can see the remorhaz, but although the remorhaz can pinpoint their squares with tremorsense, it still suffers a 50% miss chance due to total concealment until the tiny hut disappears. I'm assuming this happens at the same time as the platform disappears. #4 I haven't decided what sort of curse to use there, but maybe inflicting a curse version of the Howl of the North insanity from the Crown of the World appendix would be fun.
One thing I did at the beginning of this book that I think is starting to pay off is to have Ameiko commission a Night Monarch Vardo, which was finished by the time the PCs left Kalsgard. She named it "The Kaijitsu Phoenix," and the interior contains a large common room on the first floor and two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. I modeled the interior off of a mix between Howl's Moving Castle and Serenity. When Ameiko was showing it off, one of the PCs commented on the lumpy couch and mismatched chairs. Ameiko confessed the Vardo itself was so expensive she'd had to fill it with secondhand furniture. I have two main reasons for adding the Vardo in an adventure that involves a lot of travel and climate hazards. One, to give the PCs a table to sit around and talk when it was snowing too hard to travel. I'm hoping to get at least a couple more of these "family building" scenes out of it. Two, I think the addition of a reliable "safe place" by contrast enhances the players feeling of danger and isolation from the environment outside-- especially when the safe place is eventually violated.
My group had two PC deaths in Ravenscraeg, and both were brought back to life quickly. Character Vivrilise Andosana, elven foresight diviner wizard
Details:
Oddly enough it was not during their second fight with Buttersnips in Goti's poison lab. She had been trailing them since Brinewall and improved with 3 levels of poisoner rogue and the feats swift poison, underfoot and disorienting maneuver. That was one mean quickling and this time they made sure she was dead! Viv survived that fight, even with Buttersnips picking her out as the one she most wanted as taxidermy, only to fall to Omoyani's poison in the basement. She was resurrected almost immediately by the Amatatsu seal. I wouldn't feel too bad about falling to black lotus extract; apparently even Conan was afraid of the stuff.
Character Kaito Kaijitsu, human samurai
Details: Kaito was wielding Suishen and dueling Kimandatsu in the air while the other characters used ranged attacks. Kimandatsu taunted "I'll crack your head!" The samurai countered with "My head's too pretty to crack." Kimandatsu scored a critical hit with her tetsubo and the pretty head was cracked, It was a short-lived triumph, because she fell herself before the round was over. But dying can be fun when you're a hero! While he was briefly dead, the Samurai, who is one of Lonjiku's kids from Magnimar, had a conversation with the more permanently dead NPC Tsuto Kaijitsu in which he was reminded that if anything "happened" to Ameiko, he would inherit an empire. In order to avoid the "drag his body back to town" problem, I had Shalelu arrive with near perfect timing and a vegetable smoothie in a hollow gourd that was actually a potion of temporary resurrection. Once he got back to Kalsgard, the Samurai had to live through an amusing thematic casting of raise dead at the temple of Torag that involved lying on a giant anvil and having a costly diamond pounded into his chest with a hammer made of spiritual energy.
I wasn’t sure what to do with The Hungry Storm until I read Under Frozen Stars. My modified back story for The Hungry Storm:
In primordial Golarion, as the elder ones retreated to their last city at the north pole, they created there an intelligent computer called SITHHUD to help control the climate via a network of weather-altering machines. SITHHUD continued to operate long after the elder ones abandoned their nameless spires, and as more humans ventured into the frozen north, the legend grew of intelligent “hungry storms,” or morozkos, descending from the high ice to wreck settlements. Eventually in the age of enthronement, a small team of expert hunters led by the Erutaki hero Ihalik managed to reach SITHHUD and damage it, limiting its control over the morozkos. Legend, of course, named SITHHUD a demon rather than a machine. The Five Storms Oni knew of these legends, and when they learned the Amatatsu family had fled across the crown of the world, they dispatched one of their Ja Noi generals from Kaoling to see if he could return the lord of the hungry storms to power. When he arrived at the storm tower, the Oni didn’t know where to start repairing the alien technology, but he succeeded in releasing a portion of SITHHUD’s power source-- a half-fiend sylph imprisoned there, sleeping away the long millennia in a crystal tube. Once free, Katiyana laughed gleefully at the Oni’s offer to aid her, and rather than turn against SITHHUD, she styled herself as its high priestess. Katiyana immediately set about salvaging the technology of the elder ones and distributing it to the various monsters inhabiting the crown. Those monsters in turn would drive the Erutaki out of their settlements, clearing the way for Katiyana to replace the long-destroyed weather stations and restore SITHHUD to his former glory. The Oni lingers near the storm tower, hunting the beasts there for amusement and awaiting the chance to face an Amatatsu in battle. Even in my games the legends of Golarion don’t speak of alien computers, and some of my PCs had good enough knowledge of religion to know of Sithhud as a fallen demon lord specializing in cold and undead. I drew a transistor to show them what the “three-clawed symbol of Sithhud” looks like. My party was also exposed to the legend of the White Peacock Crown of Waj Khor while competing in a “Saga Slam” with some local Skalds in Kalsgard, and I plan to remind them about it if necessary when they get closer to the nameless spires.
Essentially they will be fighting alien robot monsters most of the way to Hongal, and more importantly they can lay the blame for their troubles squarely on the Five Storms Oni. As an example, this week my players had to fight something I called “The Linnorm Apparatus.” It was a construct made to look like an ice linnorm and piloted by two kobold adepts in the head segment, with five warriors behind them in line, sitting on little bicycle seats and pedaling furiously. It coughed out a 60 foot cone field of caltrops in place of a breath weapon, and then shot electrolasers from its eyes as part of its full attacks.
First of all, I am not at all disappointed with a top 8 finish. I'm not a very experienced GM, and I didn't enter this contest with any expectations. I did have to laugh at the suggestion that I'm "out of ideas" -- not every idea is going to be a hit, and regardless of how many we have, we only get to turn in one each round. I was aware of a lot of the problems discussed here when I submitted this entry, and I don't think it will surprise anyone to hear this whole thing was written and drawn on Thursday and I had to turn it in and go to work Friday morning without my usual editing and revision. Can I do better? Of course. I think anyone would say the same, given the twists and time constraints that are integral to this contest. If I have one regret, it's that I upset Sean, Neil, and Vic in one stroke by using goblins with class levels from Burnt Offerings. It wasn't my intent to push the boundaries of the rules, and I didn't realize it could be a problem until I'd already turned it in. If we do work together in the future, I hope you'll find me flexible and responsive when it comes to understanding requirements and making changes. Finally, congratulations top 4! You've earned it!
This seems like a great opportunity to thank everyone who commented and voted. I stayed quiet during this round, but I'd like everyone who took the time to stop and give me feedback know I appreciate it and I have been reading every comment. On the matter of literary inspiration: I would recommend reading The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, even if you don't consider yourself a Lovecraft fan. I think it's one of his most accessible stories. I haven't read a Conan novel yet, but it sounds like People of the Black Circle would be a good place to start.
Wow, reading some of these backgrounds makes me feel like a real newbie! Here goes my RPG superstar origin story: My wife and I had played some Neverwinter Nights online in college, but after a brief brush with World of Warcraft, we went through an RPG dry spell. In the fall of 2009, I was complaining about how I missed gaming and she suggested I check meetup for RPG events. I found a local game store hosting two events on the same night-- LFR and Pathfinder Society. I did a little research online and then joined the Pathfinders. As it turned out, it was only the second or third time that PFS had been run at that location, and I got into GMing fairly quickly as attendance went up. It wasn’t long before my wife and I got invited to play in a home game using Rise of the Runelords, and since we finished that adventure path I’ve just started to GM Jade Regent. I’d followed the RPG superstar competition for the last couple of years, but never thought I had enough time to enter. Early in January, I got an email from a friend encouraging me to submit an item this year. I have less time than ever these days, but I decided to enter anyway. When I’m not saving the world from evil wizards (or creating them), I live in Apex, NC, work as a software developer at RIM, play with my 1 year old daughter, and occasionally pick out a few notes on a guitar or ukulele.
Here's one of the items I decided not to submit: Scarf of Sure Footing
It seemed like a fun idea, but I couldn't figure out how to get past the whole "it does its best not to murder you" issue.
I like to play and GM about equally, but I can usually only fit one gaming night into my schedule each week. A good run of home games has meant I'm still chasing my second star as a Pathfinder Society GM. I'm definitely feeling some anxiety over having so many people looking at my writing, but it's also encouraging to think that somewhere out there, someone is probably going to adapt my ideas for their home game. I know I already have plans for some of this year's wondrous items, and I'm especially looking forward to seeing what pops out of the monster round.
Thank you all for your feedback. I'm excited to have made the top 32, and I'm looking forward to even tougher criticism in round 2! To address a few specific comments:
I was a bit tough on this one... Be as tough as you can! I'm always working to improve my design skills, and I appreciate any critique you, the other judges, and everybody who takes the time to read this can give me. P.S. I like the haunting glass too. I do fear that your flute makes dealing with haunts a bit too safe... I thought about this too, but worried that if I limited it to uses or rounds per day, it would encourage a party to leave a haunted location and come back later, which I felt would do more to break the creepy haunted house mood than just letting the flute work all day. Seeing how few haunts are fooled by hide from undead, I wanted a way to investigate a known haunted location that was a little more elegant than creeping around with a readied action to channel positive energy. The flute will allow players to bypass some haunts completely, but for persistent haunts, it will only give them a free surprise round. In addition, where there are haunts, there are usually other hazards... and some of them may react in amusing ways to intruders announcing themselves with musical instruments. ... maybe you just should have dropped the living and just said 'to any creature'?and haunts can’t detect the illusions, and the living can… what about other undead? I took out the word "living" and put it back in my draft twice. Thanks for commenting on that, especially since it sounds like I made the wrong choice! My intent was that the flute would trick haunts, but not true ghosts or other undead creatures.
Eando Kline makes an excellent Sandru. I'm planning on using Reaper's "Gossamer Air Sorceress" for Koya because I had already painted one that was close enough. http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/sorceress/latest/02562#detail/02562_w_ 1 I'm interested to see what you end up using for Koya, and for Miyako later on.
I didn't realize you were feeling so limited by our very own hand of Desna. The rest of us wouldn't just sit there and let one of you beat the other up, but I doubt it'll ever get to that level. After all, he did just cure your wizard of a bad case of mummy rot, and as far as we know your wizard is the only member of the party with a reliable way to plane shift us out of... the place we're in. Despite what you may have heard, Chels and Varisians can work together! It's likely we can do something about your Imp as well, if you'd like to use it more. Show the Paladin the clause in the Imp's contract that releases it from your service if it's killed, and remind him that it isn't out causing trouble as long as it's working for you. This strategy may work for more impressive bound devils as well. Also I'm not sure if you or the Paladin's player noticed, but you're not the only one with some secrets a Paladin wouldn't like. Nobody made a big deal out of it, but last session another party member was unexpectedly injured by a stray splash of holy water with no explanation given. And in case you forgot, the other guy is a contract killer in his free time. Even my character has a few dirty tricks up his sleeve for a rainy day.
7 Kuthona 4707 AR I cried last night, though I’m not sure if even Shayliss saw me. I’ve seen good friends killed in the last months, but this was something different. The day began with a monstrous surge in the skull river that flooded half the town. As we raced back to help, we saw Tabitha, a little girl who had been running errands for us in town, crushed to death in the coils of a giant river snake. It was heartbreaking, but we barely had time to get her schoolmates up onto the roof of a nearby house before we were attacked by a local legend-- Black Maga, the monster long rumored to dwell out of sight in the Storval Deep. We managed to keep it away from the frightened townfolk until the current carried it on into Claybottom lake. Until we can find some way to defeat it, I don’t expect there to be much fishing in the lake. It grabbed onto Eli, and he might not have escaped if he hadn’t cleverly activated his boat token and let the boat take his place in the monster’s grasp. I hope I can do some research and find a weakness we can exploit before we have to face it again. Once the immediate danger had passed, I announced to the town that anyone whose home had been damaged was welcome to take what they could carry and travel with us to fort Rannick. Quite a few more people volunteered than I expected, from looking at the extent of the flooding, and we worked our way up the muddy trail to the fort and spent the night there. Eli, Thana, Pocco, Nizari and I are leaving in the morning for Skull crossing to see what’s happened to the dam.
5 Kuthona 4707 AR The dance was a wild success, but this morning Tatchey* informed me that I’ve been having strange dreams after each of these Starday dances. Try as I might, I can’t remember them. Tatchey can’t recall the details either, only a disturbing sense of urgency. *Tatchey is my psicrystal; it’s a common name for good luck charms. Tatchey means “true” in Varisian, and oddly enough, it’s also how the Thassilonian rune for truth is pronounced.
4 Kuthona, 4707 AR On my morning walk though the town several people stopped to mention how they were looking forward to tonight’s dance. I didn’t stop to talk at length with any of them, since I’d heard there were some new arrivals overnight looking for me and I thought to catch them in their temporary lodgings at the church. It was hardly the ninth hour yet, but I was greeted as I approached by the unmistakable sound of fiddle and drum. As I dashed inside, they were joined by a hurdy-gurdy. Few things at that moment could have made me happier-- I think my shamisen playing may be a little avant-garde for the villagers, and magically summoned instruments never ring quite as true. Most importantly, more musicians to take the stage means more turns about the floor with Shayliss for me. Discussions with mayor Shreed are going well; though expanding the town’s industry would involve either a monster fishing expedition to make safe Claybottom lake, or careful negotiations with the fey that inhabit the Shimmerglens over logging. I expect Eli, Pocco and Nizari would enjoy a good monster hunt, and a gar the size the local fishers talk about would make a fearsome trophy. On the other side of things, Shreed has offered up his own expertise with divine magic to help rebuilding of fort Rannick and I believe I’ll take him up on it. I’ve heard certain clerics can shape stone like putty, and if it’s within his ability he could do with a day’s work repairs that might take a company of masons all month. Under Eli’s expert guidance, of course. Shayliss has meanwhile explored the rest of the fort and uncovered a few secret nooks and crannies. I was afraid she’d be bored here, but she’s spent many an evening watching Thana knit. Speaking of, I wonder how long she intends to make that scarf of hers-- it nearly drags on the ground already. Jakardros and Shalelu left in the night, almost as soon as the messy business with Kaven the Traitor was concluded. Again, as with Tsuto, I can’t shake my misgivings about how it all turned out. There are forces in the world that can influence thinking, and Lamia are believed to command no small power of enchantment. Unfortunately I didn’t have the magic or the time to find out the truth in either case. It gives me the creeps to think that I or one of my friends may be vulnerable to the same type of evil influence. On happier matters, resupplying the fort is going well. The town’s bowyer is busy setting up a dozen good longbows, and Vale and Annaleigh have agreed to stay and assume command of the fort on a day-to-day basis. I have an idea which may put down one of the ogres’ main advantages. It involves dangling lanterns from long poles as if fishing from the fort’s walls, but I may need some help to work out the engineering. We had a setback in our supply shipments when the river was briefly diverted, but Eli tells me he put it back on track after defeating some sort of devil that had magically blocked up the riverbed. A cadre of merchants arrived with uncannily good timing, and I suspect they may have been behind the river trouble-- it’s just the Chelish way to consort peacefully while you’re wary and then strike like an asp as soon as you drop your guard.
1 Kuthona, 4707 AR The things I’ve seen this year have taught me all I need to know about adventure. I can’t deny the good we’ve done in stamping out this cult, but I can’t help wishing I hadn’t drawn Shayliss into all the violence. When the weather improves, I’m going to take her back to Sandpoint for a little while. She’s asked me to take her to Korvosa first, and it’s tempting, but we have unfinished business in Sandpoint. I have a few donations to make to the academy, and with a little luck I can get the Pathfinder Society to finance an excavation in the ruins underneath the cliffs that could really put Sandpoint “on the map,” so to speak. I expect that Ven and Solsta won’t be happy to see me, but I’m sure we can come to an understanding. Before we can go anywhere, of course, we should see to Turtleback Ferry. They’ve lost so many of their men and the gambling barge that was bringing tourists all the way from Magnimar-- the town needs some industry besides fishing, or it’s likely to wither and die, and the fort won’t be garrisoned. On top of it all, the weather is absolutely terrible. This has been the wettest fall anyone can remember, and thanks to the constant rains I’ve attained a local celebrity for being able to magically dry and warm the locals’ sodden garments. For their own reasons, this seems to impress them more than our defeat of the ogres.
Yeah, this isn't just frowned on, it's outright forbidden Then I suppose my suggestions are not very helpful to you. Consider them cheerfully offered for their potential use to others who are considering using this scenario as an episode in something besides official organized play.
In the final battle, Vondrella is both easily surprised and obviously the main target. I had a party of level 1 PCs take her down using magic missiles before she got a chance to act. Maybe this is frowned on in organized play, but I always customize pathfinder society scenarios for my group. I usually limit my customization to giving the NPCs names, personalities and more interesting tactics, but I know my players like a good fight and the "boss" of each scenario usually needs some extra love. I have what I think is a very thematic idea to make the final battle more dramatic. I'm hoping I'll get to use this next time I run the pallid plague. First off, I'm going to place the feast table in a more thematic location-- on top of "an ancient barrow mound" with a decent view of the surrounding area. Besides being a favorable spot for her deity, this will give Vondrella a little better chance of spotting approaching PCs. The feast table is crawling with flies, and on Vondrella's first turn, they rise up from the table and swarm around her. I'll have to decide exactly what benefit this confers based on the party I get, but I imagine a fly swarm would cause some penalty to attacks made while adjacent and require concentration checks for casting spells while adjacent to her. If I get to run at a higher tier, I plan on allowing the fly swarm to move away and deliver her contagion spell like a familiar.
I'm currently playing in MillerHero's Rise of the Runelords campaign, and I've been keeping a journal from my character's point of view. I've been told it's funny, so without further ado I present for your consideration the living google document:
I already know more than I'd like to about the rest of the adventure path, thanks to my obsession with the "random page" link on the pathfinder wiki-- If you don't mind, please avoid posting spoilers in this thread for things I haven't encountered yet! |
