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BadLuckGamer released Remaster vids on Hexes, Druids, and Cantrips.

Physically printing out the previous and the new character sheet reveals interesting differences to the first page. Had to wait a bit so it wasn't a kneejerk reaction. It's weird that it feels like the new one has less space than the old, even though the two sheets are so similar. A lot has to do with font size, specific usage of bold lettering, a larger margin on top, and the huge block of space for "Skill Notes". Arguably, the Skill Notes block feels like the only true misstep since, what's supposed to go there? Removing it allows for expanding the Strikes and would alleviate some of the problems people have mentioned. Other than that, the two Page 1s are equal, if not the new one pulling ahead.

Note: This observation was made with printing in black & white. If printed in color, the new Page 1 probably pulls way ahead.

https://downloads.paizo.com/RemasterPlayerCoreCharacterSheet.pdf
Here's where they posted the sheet.

For me, I'm looking at it and seeing there's not a page for formulae so an Alchemist is still stuck just tossing them onto the spells page. I also agree that the lack of boxes on that page will likely lead to eye strain/walls of text.

As someone else who is arachnophobic but understands that some spider concepts are cool, pulling this out from the OP:

3. Stop making the art so hard to avoid. Put it on splash pages, or block it off more carefully.

An interesting example is Beginner Box vs Troubles in Otari. In BB's GM Guide, there's big splashes of spiders but they are fairly easy to cover up. In TiO, I did the personal diligence of asking if there were any and got the page number but with the art and text being interwoven, the page is effectively unusable. Making changes to new material will obviously be a way off but formatting is something to consider in the future.

Like most people, I'd suggest the Beginner Box. The only thing I'd say is that it has only four sample characters but that's not an issue if your players are building their own characters. The materials in the box are useful even if you don't run the adventure.

I'm curious if anyone found miniatures the work well for the Alchemical Drudges? The Behemoth? Or the Amalgam? Lots of strange, unique creatures in this one.

WizKids Bone Golem and other similar undead or aberrations can work for some of the large based minis while Flesh Golem can work for medium and small alchemical creations.

Planning on running this as a new GM to the system. I heard this adventure was deadly and... Wow, people were not kidding. I do have some questions though:

-I plan on starting at level 2 with milestone leveling. How much of a difference will this make for the adventure? Is there anything I need to be wary of adjusting?

-The adventure mentions that the store has no alchemical reagents and that it's been awhile since anyone used them. Since it's pretty heavily implied that the town doesn't like alchemists what is a good way to allow anyone who needs alchemical materials for their class to obtain them? I know there's some as loot, but that still means that characters who need said materials are at a disadvantage going into the adventure.

-Is there character art for Phinick? I am scouring the pdf but I don't see any.

-Either starting at level 2 or using the Weak monster template is often recommended. It shouldn't break anything and the module is well structured for milestoe leveling.

On the Gerhard discussion, the group I was in thought he was a humorously designed character but never thought he was a "joke". We thought he was satire of "jungle stories" and colonial attitudes at most, considering that Harriet the lion's prior owner thought lions lived in the jungle and Akosa had previously been kidnapped into slavery. A pompous hunter felt fully in genre. On the twin thing, I think the default should be him simply being upfront about having a twin so it doesn't feel like a GM ignoring a player victory if he dies. Our GM was running two groups so here's two more ways the twin situation can be dealt with:

-The other group fought him, left him alive, and threatened him to not come back. His twin was used as the good twin to Gerhard's bad. After some mistaken identity, he explained that he's on a mission to discredit Gerhard's inaccurate reports. When Gerhard showed up at the temple, it led to another fight and his brother dealt with the aftermath.

-In the group I was in, the GM made a key change to Gerhard based on the players. With one character being a doctor who worked with the poor and another being a graduate of the Magaambya, the GM altered Gerhard to also be a distant professor and at least some of people he brought with him being his students. While everyone hated his callous reasoning (he saw the petrified students as acceptable targets in the pursuit of knowledge since he obviously couldn't lift statues into his boat), we managed to talk him down without a fight and assist the students after the 24 hours of the petrification ended. We managed to get the Ekujae to sideline him a bit as we further explored and fought the Cinderclaw. With the way we handled him, the GM not to use his twin at all when we went to the temple.

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Also, I'm another voice in being disappointed that the map of Akrivel doesn't have details. I know the party is kept on a short leash but it would be useful for return trips after you succeed or perhaps for GMs that more thoroughly homebrew the start of the chapter.

Had fun GMing Threshold of Knowledge. Feels like a good level 1 adventure that can genuinely make the players feel heroic.

Ade wrote:

Is it just me, but does the pregen Ufi lack a class feat from Natural Ambition? They gain the Deadly Simplicity from the Warpriest doctrine, but Natural Ambition gives nothing.

Oops, that's my mistake. I didn't update his ancestry feat when switching him from a cloistered cleric to a warpriest during development. I would swap out Natural Ambition with General Training to give him Fleet.

Ufi has a couple of other issues. He's missing the skill granted by his deity (Craft). Also, It seems his Speed is wrong since he has the strength to not take the penalty.

Otherwise, the adventure is great and I need to eventually write a review.

A question of my own: What is the estimated playing time for this module?

My group has extensive practice with PF1 but no PF2 experience except for very limited participation in the playtest. If I hand them the pregens at the start of the session and proceed from there, how likely is it that we will be done within a hard time limit of 4 hours?

I'd say you'd be right on the edge of four hours. At my local store, the adventure was run twice. I have minor GM experience but had somewhat experienced players and it took about four hours. The store owner is a much more experienced GM but had new players and it ran more than five hours. Half of the combats can be avoided by gameplay (stealth, diplomacy, etc) and doing so will speed up the game. If you get halfway through and it looks like time may be against you:

One minor error I noticed in one of the pregens for Threshold of Knowledge:

Can I ask what the PF2 pregens are?

If you mean in Threshold of Knowledge:

"Parts Unknown".

Is someone at Paizo a wrestling fan?

It might be best to adjust the font (color? bold?) on Goka and Bonmu so they stand out as cities as opposed to countries.

Ah, thank you.

So I've been reading this thread (and yes, I see the other recent alchemist thread) and have various thoughts on some of the things here. For one, I'e enjoyed my alchemist. I've seen some problems with the class in play but the forum seems to amplify those massively. I do wonder how much of the difference is in style of play. There's this common refrain that alchemists should only give the things they craft to other players when I've been aiming to be flexible with Quick Alchemy. Now, there is the possibility that the fact that I'm playing a Chirurgeon and thus not expecting to be the primary damage dealer may be skewing things. Of play so far, some concerns have been:
-Being able to do Medicine rolls with Crafting is nice and all since my alchemist is literally a doctor with the Field Medic background. But technically, it causes a bit of squeeze in stats since you have to level up both to be able to get the various proficiency bonuses and feat upgrades. Something else that I have't seen mentioned is that rules as written, it also causes a squeeze to your cash since you still have to purchase Healer's Tools in addition to your alchemical gear. The group I'm in started shortly after 2e was released and I remember having very little leftover coin starting out. The GM did allow me to recoup the gold when the first errata split the Alchemical Lab into it's own thing and adjusted prices.
-Another low level errata problem was with Elixir of Life. Pre-errata, the Chirurgeon could take the Lesser Elixir of Life but it got changed to only Minor Elixir of Life due to levels. That was the one truly major feelsbad of playing an Alchemist since we played through The Fall of Plaguestone and it causes me to cast doubt on our ability to survive considering the adventure's difficulty. Considering the gap in healing numbers between levels 1 and 5, I'd certainly like to see the Chirurgeon with some sort of bonus to applying heals based on your INT. Both for making the gap more bearable and for making the Alchemist better at using their own kit.
-The suggestion that things made with Quick Alchemy should last until the end of your next turn instead of the just the start of your next turn (and thus negating the need for Enduring Alchemy) really feels needed. Action economy is a bit of a crunch and it would make Quick Bomber feel less needed. I didn't realize it was a beginner trap since I didn't take it at level 2 (and also, not a Bomber).

I have a physical book (The Fall of Plaguestone) and a lot of the NPCs have portraits scattered throughout the book. Do the PDFs have any of those split out into separate JPGs/PNGs? Are there maps without the locations listed? Alternately, is there an easy way to extract them out for making player materials?

Another option is to have the Viridian Vapor partially fail so it's less instant death and more prolonged suffering. It would allow players a chance at making an antidote or evacuating those unaffected but trapped. Alternately, just make the drudge slow. Horses are sideplot after all so maybe lean into the chase/nick of time aspect despite the drudge having a headstart.

I think stalking the the party and maybe attacking when they confront Phinick makes sense. Narratively, he's not scared of the party (they didn't manage to reach him when they entered his house) but he wouldn't want his role in the poisoning exposed. Mechanically, it allows you to keep Hallod "in play" for the players to rematch. Sending him to Vilree or the orcs theoretically means they should be ready for the players and that difficulty boost may not be wanted if the players are struggling right now.

100) Honeyed Bite Turnips: This dish was developed following the detoxification of the land around Etran's Folly and the subsequent revitalization of the town. Though the recipe follows traditions of other similar dishes, such as candied yams, the titular "bite" is from a localized pepper that recently began growing in the area.