The blonde elf finds Gella doing calisthenics in the quad outside the dormitories for newer agents. Valsin, old muttonchops? He wants to see me? she says, towelling herself off. Well then, it must be something new, I've been itching for a chance at a new mission for ages. Hope its something exciting, not more dull and dry research, its so boring. She takes a long swig from a bottle on the bench next to her, it doesnt look like it contains water. Giving a loud belch she collects her stuff, straps on her armour and heads in for breakfast before meeting Valsin later that day.
She arrives at the office a little after noon. A short, powerfully built human woman with dark red hair clad in heavy looking plate armour. She appears to have arrived expecting trouble and is carrying an unfeasible number of weapons. A tankard hangs from her belt.
She peers over at the table and initially appears excited, A lich you say, destroyed I hope but maybe some of its undead minions were overlooked. The chance for some real action? As the talk turns to murals, rubbings and cataloguing of artefacts her face falls. Oh, more research, sure, yeah, that'll be fun. It's totally why I joined up...and not because I got drunk one night and joined on a dare
In her current form Vehanezhad is weak to sonic damage, however...
The dragons relent to Sigourneys request but growls, Take care little one, if you betray me I will consume you first or perhaps I shall simply infect you and watch you slowly and painfully transform into eternal crystal...
Sigourney unleashes her cleansing blast of purifying magic. The dragon growls and shudders, her back arches and she unleashes a massive cone of crystalline shards which imbed themselves into the ceiling of the cave. Staggering back from you her crystalline form begins to buckle and crack. A massive claw rakes huge gouges in the cave wall and her wings wrap around her. With a crackling, discordant, noise the crystals of her body shatter and fall away, creating a cloud of crystalline dust that obscures your vision for a few seconds.
Emerging from the cloud comes a massive draconic head, the scales a dark blue, fading to aquamarine down her neck. The body is significantly more substantial than the previous crystal form. Vehanezhad is, in truth, a blue dragon of the most ancient kind.
Her head stretches out to Sigourney and her huge nostrils take a long breath, the strength of it pulling at her clothes and hair.
Well done mortal, I shall remember this favour you have done for me...
All of you are aware that the Linnorm Kingdoms are in the far north, they are cold, often barbaric, lands where rulership is gained by defeating one of the legendary Linnorms. The region is harsh and unforgiving and often in conflict with the neighbouring kingdom of Irrisen.
Vatum leans forward. Your target is a rather notorious priest of Gorum, General Ordulf Bladecaller. The General is an Ulfen man, born in a now destroyed fishing village along the shores of Glacier Lake in Irrisen. He escaped from the winter witches of Irrisen as a young man and fled west, eventually seeking shelter in the neighboring Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Rumours are that he personally wrestled one of the chicken-legged animated huts that guards the borders of Irrisen to the ground which swiftly won him acclaim and respect in the eastern regions of the Linnorm Kingdoms.
Ordulf earned the byname “Bladecaller” for his intimidating nature. He had a noteworthy tendency to win conflicts through insults alone even before drawing a blade—his words, many say, cut as deep as any sword or axe.
Today, Ordulf’s standing in the church of Gorum is obscure. Some rumors say that he is one of the god’s favorites and been blessed so that he cannot be killed, while others insist that he’s turned to other sinister powers to ensure his longevity and that his faith in Gorum is a sham. Of note, all those who confronted Ordulf on matters of his faith were swiftly slain by the warlord. Ordulf wields a frost greatsword and a wounding battleaxe capable of fighting on its own at his side in battle.
Ordulf single-handedly slaughtered a clan of adlets who had taken residence in an ancient dwarven fortress in the foothills of the Stormspear Mountains. Now renamed Crownhold, this fortress is his seat of power. The closest settlement to Crownhold is a remote trading post called Glacier’s Rest. Recent rumors say that Ordulf is preparing his forces to wage war against Trollheim, the capital of the kingdom of Hagreach in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, rather than following local tradition and killing a linnorm to become a king. Many in Hagreach and kingdoms beyond see this as an affront to tradition, but Ordulf’s reputation is such that none dare oppose him—least of all King Freyr Darkwine, who arrogantly considers Ordulf to be a “mountain-squatting troll” and not worth his time to even consider a threat.
The call for Ordulf’s assassination reached the Red Mantis via many whispers. While none in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings would dare claim responsibility for setting these events in motion, the assassination of General Ordulf Bladecaller, a man who would abuse his position of power to usurp the rightful traditions of rule, is now a matter for us. You are to return to Ilizmagorti once the deed is done with his personal religious symbol in hand as offering of respect to Achaekek.
I have made arrangements for you to join a caravan heading to Glacier's Rest which leaves in two weeks which should give you plenty of time to get there and provide you with a useful cover for being in the area. Do you have any questions?
Anyone who wants can give me a Society check to recall knowledge or Diplomacy check to gather information to see what you know about Glacier's Rest
Several reviews of this scenario appear to have vanished with no explanation of why, including my own. I was critical, as the scenario has many faults, but there was certainly nothing in there which breached any community guidelines.
I am looking to recruit four players for the recent module, Prey for Death. Recruitment will stay open for two weeks unless I get sufficient applications I want to take before then. The Module has four parts, runs from levels 14 to 18 and is likely to take six or more months to complete, at a minimum. It is perhaps a bit longer than a regular AP segment.
My general expectations for players are as follows:
1. Post once daily, with weekends as an exception.
2. Commit to the game and post in a way that pushes things forward and engages with the game.
3. If you cannot post for some reason let us know and keep us updated.
I plan to use either Roll20 or Foundry for maps and handouts. They will not be used for any player dice rolling, just to give an easy place to host player facing material.
Note, this module has some special considerations as you are playing the bad guys. The module provides the following advice on these issues:
Playing Evil Characters
The Red Mantis assassins are killers for hire who worship a cruel deity and rule over the city of Ilizmagorti. This adventure assumes that the PCs are part of this society, and as long as all of the players agree to this core assumption, the fewer personality clashes they’ll have with this adventure’s story. The core events that play out in Prey for Death don’t require the PCs to assassinate anyone that isn’t already of a villainous nature, and the plot doesn’t require them to pursue particularly vile or cruel activities in order to achieve their goals and survive.
Still, you should work with your players to make sure they understand the kind of story they’re getting into. While Prey for Death is written with the assumption that the PCs are working for the Red Mantis assassins, and thus are likely to be evil in temperament, this should not be taken as an excuse by players to make the game uncomfortable for anyone—be they fellow players, the GM, or observers of your game. Before you run Prey for Death, have a talk with your players to make sure they’re
comfortable with the idea of playing evil characters—or at the very least, characters who won’t have an issue allying with evil organizations.
A Shared Goal: This adventure assumes that the PCs are on the same side, and presents them with challenges that assume they work together. Inter-party strife is a sure fire way to bring about the early end of a game session, and care has been taken in this adventure to avoid tropes where the PCs are expected to keep secrets from each other, work at odds from one another, or otherwise set up situations where working together isn’t the best option. Part of this requires that the PCs themselves build characters that not only work well together, but are, as a group, comfortable with tasks involving assassinations and other activities typically reserved for the villains in a campaign.
Safety Tools: Evil PCs often do evil things, and it’s important to consider your and your players’ comfort level performing in-game crimes. Chat with your players about what to expect, where their boundaries are, and whether to include safety tools like those described on pages 6–8 of Pathfinder GM Core. This adventure features violence against combatants, but the PCs might also decide to endanger noncombatants, interrogate captives with the use of fear or threat, destroy property, or just generally terrorize onlookers. Remind the PCs that while Achaekek encourages the use of fear as a tool and condones the act of assassination, his faith (and thus the precepts of the Red Mantis assassins) don’t encourage acts of wanton sadism, and neither does this adventure.
This module starts at level 14 and, as such, is not appropriate for people new to 2E. I am not looking for character builds at this point. Instead, please answer the following questions if you are interested in playing:
1. How familiar are you with the 2E ruleset?
In relation to your character please let me have the following information:
1. Where is your character from?
2. What class and archetype(s) are you intending to take?
3. Tell me a bit about your characters background in no more than a paragraph.
4. Why did your character join the Red Mantis assassins?
5. Describe a previous mission you have completed for the Mantis God. This doesn't have to be an assassination, the Red Mantis often do various favours for other individuals or organisations as well as sending their agents off to hunt down secrets, information, treasure etc.
6. What skills and qualities does your character bring to the team and its assassination mission?
Lastly, note that I will be quite severely limiting the available sources for use in this game in order to reduce the potential complication. You will be limited to remastered materials, so Player Core 1, Player Core 2, GM Core, Rage of Elements, Howl of the Wild and the Module materials for the Red Mantis. We will be using free archetype, but again with quite a few restrictions.
In terms of characters this module stresses the use of stealth, deception, disguise, infiltration, subtlety and general sneakiness.
As the various heroes gather in the vast chamber, waiting to see who will be called, a quiet ahem echoes around the room. It is a small, insistent noise filled with an unutterable sense of menace. A space slowly forms around a tiny figure standing in the centre of the room. On first appearance it is a mouse, however that is rather undercut by the tiny golden horns and the fact that it is hovering 4' off the floor on tiny little wings which flutter on its hind legs. A tiny, intricate looking weapon hangs on its belt and it wears a preposterous hat with a peacock feather sprouting from the top.
I understand that you have a problem with a Cat! The last word is spat out with utter loathing. Such things will not be tolerated. Let me at him, I shall pierce his foul hide a hundred times in the blink of an eye!
Those knowledgeable in the workings of the upper planes might recognise this pint size terror as Reepacheep, Guardian of the Gates of Heaven, Commander of the Fourth Host of Mount Celestia and General of the 3rd Abyssal Crusade. It is said that whole armies of demons have quit the field of battle at the mere suggestion of his approach!
I should have a stat block up for Reepacheep in the next day or two. He is a tiny native outsider Paladin 30|Rogue 30 with very high Intimidate and Stealth options. I was looking at the Incredible Parry Mythic ability. Any chance we could change that to work like Swashbuckler Parry rather than the terrible Duelist Parry ability?
These are Leng Spiders, terrifying aberrations from the nightmare dimension. One of the things they are best known for is the fact that they possess a hideously dangerous venom. Those who are exposed to it become drained initially and then become confused.
The two spiders happily accept a drink from Billy. Our names...would be...unpronounceable...with your mouth...parts. We like you...Billy...this drink...is unusual...to us. Perhaps you...can make more of it. We should...take you with us...so you can make drinks...and sing for us. Would you like...that...Billy. We could...show....you such sights. Lakes of unending pai...pleasure. Dreamers trapped...in glorious nigh...scenes of...ecstasy. We would...not eat you. I am...a vegetarian. While my companion here...is vegan. We simply wish...to show you...the wonders of Leng. Put aide...your weapons...and come with us...
Billy feels like he has certainly made some sort of impression on them.
Many thanks to those of you who have expressed an interest.
I am going to take Thaumascourge. I will bring you into the game once the group complete the current section. You will come in at level 13 so please update.
I think you have used the stat block output from Pathbuilder which isnt particularly clear. Could you reorganise it like some of the others to show feats by type, skills with proficiency level and known spells please. I dont need everything hyperlinked, just make the information a bit clearer.
I am also not sure but you may be wearing two different hat slot items (Hat of the Magi, Crown of Witchcraft).
Male Half Elf Kineticist 6 | Init +10 | HP: 80|80 | AC: 25|27 | F:+14, R:+11 [+2 Bulwark], W:+12 | Per +10 [E] | Exploration Search | HP 0
Action markers:
◆ Single action ◆◆ Two actions ◆◆◆ Three actions ◇ Free action ⟳ Reaction
Corvus remains in the background, trying not to draw any attention to himself. He knows he is no diplomat. He sighs and drops his head into his hands as Kimi shuffles into the tent in traditional hobgoblin garb. She is carrying a tray of tea and has somehow managed to find a supply of enticing looking biscuits.
She busies herself around the outer edges of the room, delivering tea and making polite conversation with various junior hobgoblins, telling them of her brothers exploits and the activities of the society.
Hi all, I am looking to recruit one additional player to this game. So far we are about half way through Book 1 with a plan to run all three books. We have 1 player currently struggling to post for various reasons. I am looking to add a 5th so that we can progress but with an expectation that our currently missing player will rejoin down the line.
We have the following characters:
Slick, Human Fighter 12
Dramiil, Human Psychic 12
Billy, Halfling Bard 12
Nubnonk, Goblin Thaumaturge 12
Nubnonk is currently out of action.
Please see the original post for character creation guidelines. Note that gear will be:
Note, we use Roll20 for maps and a Discord server for quicker announcements. I will make a decision on characters by this Sunday with a plan to move forward on Monday next week.
The most off-putting thing for me as a GM that doesn't involve player issues is the sheer volume of material (new classes, new ancestries, new mechanics, new/expanded lore) to try and keep up with. I buy the material but I largely don't even try to read through it all until I encounter a situation (whether as a player or as a GM) where I need to know something about it or a particular thing piques my interest.
I think that's a good approach, TBH; there's no need to preemptively 'keep up' with all of the new options to be able to GM well. Learning it on the fly, together with your table, is fine. Learning from your players and trusting them to help figure out how something is supposed to work is a good thing, IMO. I think a culture of 'the GM has to be the absolute rules authority' is a bad thing, and ultimately harmful to org play.
The other thing to bear in mind is that if a player is doing something you are not familiar with the onus is on them to explain what it is, where it is from and how it works. You aren't expected to know everything.
I am playing on Chris's table. Rather disappointed that my Bards Art Lore has literally never come up and that I would have been far better off as an Inventor!
Some mechanical issues which cropped up during the test and also while running the PFS repeatable for a group of playtest characters only.
As has been noted by others elsewhere Channeler is so far above and beyond Sage it is barely really a choice. The ability to swop freely between powerful Vessel spells dwarfs anything Sage gets.
Sustaining Dance is very good but I hope it also comes with more clarity/simplification of the leap rules especially when it comes to vertical distance.
Embodiment of Battle creates weird situations where you may well be wielding a weapon you arent proficient with. It would be nice if spirits perhaps gave you an always on ability which could be proficiency with one weapon/a category.
Whose Cry is Thunder, when you critically succeed can the extra damage be to the main target or not?
Scar of the Survivor is another one that almost feels like a no choice ability, especially in PFS where you have no idea if anyone in your group will have any healing.
Noble Branch - how much damage does the 1 action transcend do, is it damage equal to the number of dice your strike does or a roll of those dice. Does it include extra dice you might roll due to rune son your weapon?
Victor's Wreath - the transcend simply doesnt function in various situations. it allows an ally to make a save against an ongoing effect or negative condition, even if it didnt allow one. What is the DC of the save, what save is used if one didn't apply initially, Many enemies apply various conditions, mostly types of persistent damage, without allowing a save. I imagine the DC will be based on the creatures level if it doesnt come from an ability with a DC (such as, say, a bleed0 but which save type applies? It gets more fiddly when items are involved. If a level 12 enemy fighter crits me with a flaming sword is the DC based on his level or the level of the rune? Basically, this ability needs a lot more explanation. Its very cool, it just doesnt work in various situations as written. It also means that your party no longer needs to worry about curses or diseases ever again.
Hurl at the Horizon - can you add the returning rune to an otherwise ineligible melee weapon if you have this ability. It would not be useable while your Immanence was elsewhere but if you can't this is pretty useless for non thrown melee weapons.
Sissarak, the group know these are wights. They can see the three archers but are not aware of the two Stalkers pretending to be dead bodies amongst those on the bridge. Sissarak decides to be brave (or foolish). I give her a hero point. She shifts her Immanence to her weapon. She expends a charge from her Tacticians Helmet (it charged up in encounter 1) and strides twice with one action (her current speed is 40). She strides another time getting into range of Orange and strikes, hitting for 22.
Coryn is too far away, the enemy are in his third range increment. He shifts his Immanence to his weapon as a free action, moves forward, and shoots orange seeking to blind him! He crits for 36, sets Orange on fire, does 13 electricity to blue but Orange makes the fort save.
Purple + Pink both delay, hoping someone will come closer.
Ingvarr is also very far away. He moves forward and drops a level 5 fireball on all three archers and Sissarak. It deals 35 damage Sissarak saves, Orange critically fails, blue and red fail. Orange crumbles into ash and Sissarak is too far away for her spiteful reaction.
Purple + Pink come out of delay
Purple moves in on Ingvarr. He hasnt used his Battle spell and so doesnt have opportunity attack. He feints him and then stabs him for 15. He makes the fortitude save.
Pink double moves to flank Ingvar and strikes, hitting for 15. He makes the fortitude save.
Blue has taken substantial damage. They are using longbows and Sissarak is within their volley range. It moves back and shoots twice at her, critting for 23 and hitting for 20. She makes both saves.
Helga enters her Channelling dance and launches a 4th level fireball at the two archers. Red critically passes, blue passes. It deals 31 damage.
Red is out of volley range so shoots Sissarak three times! He hits twice for 26 damage. She makes both fortitude saves.
Purple, 17 damage, 7 temp HP
Pink, 17 damage
Blue, 72 damage
Red, 52 damage, 8 temp HP
Orange, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 2
Sissarak closes in on red, Blue is too far away for her to reach. She strikes, hitting for 26 damage and then crits for 42 but he avoids being driven into the ground.
Coryn moves to provide Ingvarr with a flank and shoots twice at red, hitting twice for 32 and killing red, who gets his reaction to attack Sissarak. He crits for 34 damage. Sissarak saves against the drain but is looking pretty beat up.
Ingvarr finds himself flanked but he also has a flanking partner. He activates his battle spell and strikes the flanked purple twice. He hits with both for 37.
Purple strikes at Ingvarr three times, He hits twice for 35 damage.
Pink does the same, hitting twice for 34 damage.
Blue moves to get a clear shot at Sissarak and strikes twice. He misses both times.
Helga moves forward and casts level 3 2 action heal on Ingvarr, healing him for 40.
Purple, 47 damage
Pink, 17 damage
Blue, 72 damage
Red, Dead
Orange, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 3
Sissarak hopes the rest of his group can help take out Blue. She advances and strikes twice. The first attack cris for 48 at which point I notice that Bones of the Earth offers no save against the immobilise. The second attack hits for 16 which finishes off blue. Its spite reaction misses.
Coryn shoots purple three times at point blank range. He hits three times for 53.
Ingvarr strikes purple, killing him and provoking his reaction. Purple crits him for 40. He sustains his battle spell, stepping away and then strikes at pink but mises.
Pink has no allies left. He steps in Ingvarr, tries and fails to feint him and misses him wit his dagger.
Helga moves forward and hurls needle darts at pink but misses.
Purple, Dead
Pink, 17 damage
Blue, Dead
Red, Dead
Orange, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 4
Sissarak shifts her Immanence to her body, activates it to heal for 23 [shifting it back to her weapon and allowing her to stride half her speed] and then moves again. She is still well away from the action.
Coryn shoots a binding arrow at Pink, missing with a 3, which shifts his immanence into his body. He activates his Scar, healing nothing himself but giving Ingvarr 22 HP and shifting his Immanence back to him weapon.
Ingvarr sustains his spell, stepping away and striking, missing with a 1. He strikes again, missing with a 6!
Pink sees he may have a chance. He steps in on Ongvarr again, feints, and strikes. Both succeed, he crits for a paltry 20 and Ingvarr makes the save.
Helga moves to provide a flank and disrupts undead. He passes taking 13 damage.
Purple, Dead
Pink, 30 damage
Blue, Dead
Red, Dead
Orange, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 5
The encounter is largely over so the group wants to avoid using up any resources.
Sissarak strides twice and strikes, hitting for 16.
Coryn shoots another binding arrow, he hasn't had any luck with this so far. He misses. He switches to Scar, activates it healing Sissarak for 22 and shifts back to Weapon.
Ingvarr sustains, stepping away and strikes twice, hitting once for 18.
Pink has somehow still survived. He continues to try and kill Ingvarr. He fails to feint and his blow misses.
Helga casts earths bile but Pink passes, taking 15 damage. She disrupts undead and it fails taking 20.
Our heroes reach Freedom Town with the army and meet some more NPCs. They immediately set to trying to prepare the town for the coming invasion. I have each of them use their highest skill bonus but spread them around to try and get as much coverage as possible.
Helga heads to deal with the Wards (Religion)
Ingvarr moves to help with Evacuation (Intimidation)
Coryn helps to set up Traps (Stealth)
Sissarak helps with Scouting (Athletics)
The DC is 26, +2 per success obtained, to a maximum of 3. All four succeed on their first check and decide to stay where they are. Sissarak crits her second check and the rest all pass. Scouting is now complete. The PCs get a +1 status bonus on their initiative checks for the rest of the adventure, can ignore non magical difficult terrain, get a +5 circumstance bonus to their speed and enemies will start with 17 less HP.
At this point the alarm goes up and the group must rush off to help defend the town. Again I do not allow them exploration unless they can do so at full speed.
I like the look of the new playtest characters so wanted to see if we could make a viable party using just them. I am running a group of four through a recent high level PFS scenario, In Glorious Battle. Beware, there will be spoilers. I am also running a PFS repeatable online for just playtest characters and will report on that separately.
For this test we have four level 10 characters. Both Animists are Chaneller's as the ability to swop between powerful Vessel spells is simply too good and Sage gets very little in comparison. One is built mostly as support, blasting and spellcasting main, the other is melee but still with full spellcasting. The two Exemplars are ranged and melee. Both have the rogue dedication as Exemplar skills are awful and both have an Int of 8.
Introduction:
Our heroes receive their call and make their way to Belkzen through the Maze of the Open Road. They meet Mahja Firehair and the other NPC’s and get filled in on the situation. They crush the initial Recall Knowledge checks, learning much about Wights, Sulphur Zombies and Freedom Town.
Encounter A:
Our heroes join the army and start the march to Freedom Town. The group takes point. The army is travelling at full speed which prevents most exploration activities. Sissarak and Coryn both have Swift Sneak so get to Avoid Notice.
The group trigger the undead ambush!
Initiative
39 Ingvarr
34 Coryn
31 Helga
30 Red Zombie
25 Sissarak
23 Skull Swarm
17 Blue Zombie
16 Orange Zombie
15 Green Zombie
Sissarak and Coryn both start with their Immanence invested in their body Ikons for +1 fortitude saves.
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 1
Ingvarr The enemies are all a considerable distance away. Ingvarr starts with invoking the Embodiment of Battle, giving him a substantial attack and damage bonus as well as opportunity attack and follows up with shield and moves forward.
Coryn At the start of the turn Coryn shifts his immanence into his bow. He takes two actions to shoot the nearest zombie with binding serpents but misses with a 3 (its in the second range increment as well). His Immanence forcibly shifts and he moves it to his Victors Wreath and shoots again, also missing. An inauspicious start!
Helga moves forward and launches some Needle Darts at a zombie, dealing 22 damage
Red Zombie shambles straight at Ingvarr, provoking, taking 21 damage for its trouble
Sissarak s#$*s her Immanence to her weapon as she rolls initiative. Interestingly it seems this would prevent other rolling initiative free actions like Battle Cry. She advances on the zombie and hits twice for 55 damage.
Skull Swarm is too far away to do much. If uses its entire turn flying forward, which provokes from Sissarak who deals 12 damage. The whole group however is now in its aura.
Blue Zombie moves twice
Orange Zombie moves twice
Green Zombie moves twice
Combat status
Ingvarr, EoB [SU], Shield
Coryn
Helga
Sissarak
Skull Swarm, 12 damage
Blue Zombie
Orange Zombie
Green Zombie
Red Zombie, 98 damage
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 2
Ingvarr Fails against the confusing aura but gets a pass due to incapacitation. He has a swarm on top of him and two zombies in his face. He uses sustaining dance to step away and maintain his battle spell and then grudge strikes the injured red zombie, hitting for 27 damage
Coryn saves against the aura, getting a crit due to resolve. He shifts his immanence back to his bow and again tries to pin down Red with binding serpents. He hits for 19, leaving it on 1HP and it saves and so is not immobilised. He shifts to his Wreath and fires again, missing.
Helga saves against the aura. She enters her Channelling Stance and then disrupts red. He dies and then explodes, hitting everyone except Coryn. It deals 12 B and 10 F. Blue and Green save, taking 6, orange crit passes for nothing. The swarm passes, taking 11 due to its weakness. Helga fails, Ingvarr passes, Sissarak crit passes.
Sissarak fails the swarm save but passes due to incapacitation. She moves away and strikes the swarm twice for 27 damage total. It is highly resistant.
Skull Swarm moves to get the group into a 30’ cone. This provokes from Ingvarr and Sissarak, who both swing on it. Ingvarr misses but Sissarak hits for another 14. It then screams, hitting the entire group. Everyone saves, this group has strong will saves.
Blue Zombie moves up to Ingvarr and hits for 19 damage and sets him on fire. He saves against the smoke.
Orange Zombie advances on Helga and hits her for 14 damage and sets her on fire. She saves against the smoke.
Skull Swarm, 64 damage
Blue Zombie, 6 damage
Orange Zombie
Green Zombie, 6 damage
Red Zombie, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 3
Ingvarr is next to a pair of zombies and the swarm. He swings at the swarm with a grudge strike and then leaps away, sustaining his battle spell at the same time, meaning the zombies will only get one attack if they come after him. Unfortunately it resists most of his damage and he only manages 6 vitality damage. He burns for 3 and then goes out.
Coryn No-one is in range to benefit from his wreath save ability so he s*@%s back to his weapon and again tries to immobilise a zombie, this time hitting blue. He crits for 41 damage and 10 electricity to green but it makes the save, these zombies are nimble! His immanence shifts back to his wreath.
Helga unleashes a 5th level, 3 action heal. She heals everyone for 27 damage due to her stance and damages all of the enemy for 22 vitality. The swarm fails, blue and orange pass, green crit passes. The area damage weakness means the swarm is destroyed. She then burns for 2 and is still on fire.
Sissarak sees an opportunity and moves around the zombies. She Wounds the Earth, hitting all three of them for 9 damage and knocking blue and green prone! Her Ikon shifts to her Wreath.
Blue Zombie stands up and advances on Ingvarr, provoking, who crits it for 24
Orange Zombie hits Helga once for 14
Green Zombie stands and advances on Sissarak, also provoking, who also crits for 33
Skull Swarm, Dead
Blue Zombie, 96 damage
Orange Zombie 25 damage
Green Zombie, 58 damage
Red Zombie, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 4
Ingvarr has a zombie in his face. He leaps away, again sustaining his battle spell and grudge strikes it, hitting for 30 damage on blue.
Coryn again shifts his Immanence to his weapon and tries to pin down blue with magic snake arrows as it looks badly damaged. He hits for 15 and immobilises it! His immanence shifts again to his Wreath.
Helga uses Disrupt Undead on Green who saves, taking 19 damage. She then backs off behind Ingvarr.
Sissarak shifts her Immanence back to her weapon, strikes Green (missing with a 1) and then moves away.
Blue Zombie Escapes with a 20 and moves to engage Coryn.
Orange Zombie moves on Ingvarr provoking from Ingvarr and Sissarak, Ingvarr hits for 16. Its attack goes well wide.
Green Zombie advances on Sissarak, critting but for a mere 18 damage.
Skull Swarm, Dead
Blue Zombie, 141 damage
Orange Zombie 41 damage
Green Zombie, 77 damage
Red Zombie, Dead
Spoiler:
Turn Order Round 5
Ingvarr Decides to start making two attacks rather than grudge striking. He crits orange for 52 damage, hits for 30 and then leaps away, sustaining his battle spell.
Coryn has blue zombie in his face. He uses One Moment to Glory, giving Helga a new save against the ongoing fire damage. It is unclear what the DC would be or even which save would apply, I assume a DC based on the zombies level and that it is reflex. She passes and goes out! He then shoots blue, critting, killing it and causing it to explode. It does 18B and 11 Fire. Sissarak saves, taking 14 damage, the rest of the party crit passes. Orange and Green pass taking 9. At this point I totally remember that the swarm should have also exploded but I am not going to try and retcon things at this point, He takes a second shot at green, hitting for 13.
Helga doesnt see much value in expending resources at this stage so she disrupts Orange, who fails, taking 29 damage and also explodes! He deals 6B and 6 Fire. Sissarak fails, Helga and Ingvarr pass, Coryn crit passes. Green passes.
Sissarak strikes at Green twice and then plans to move, forcing it to provoke assuming ti survives. It doest and it promptly explodes. I dont bother resolving it as it cannot possibly kill anyone and there is no healing time pressure.
The group restore themselves to full health in no time. Both Exemplars can heal themselves for 5d8HP every turn and both Animists can use the Garden vessel spell if they need to.
Our heroes burst into the Palace Courtyard to be confronted by the Guard who have managed to assemble in the short time available. They are lead by Roach, an ancient Boggard spellcaster and Lich who has served Zhannagar for centuries. It is he who built the terracotta armies which protect the Palace!
Unfortunately for them the party beats the lot of them in initiative.
Initiative
Shu-Zen
Massmamoto
Kyoku
Genzin
Roach
Red Troop
Blue Troop
Round 1
Shu-Zhen, as is her wont, Shu Zen leads off by dropping a mountain on the enemy! It deals 49B damage, Roach saves (24) but Blue critically fails (118) and Red fails (69). She then sends a bast of fire at Blue, critting for 24 fire and reducing its troop size!
◆◆◆ Shattered Mountain Weeps
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Massamoto lathers on the pain, filling the area with metal spikes hitting all of the enemies! It deals 49P damage. Roach passes (24) but both troops critically fail (118 each, immobilised and off guard). Red is past its first threshold, blue is past its second! He isn't in range for any of his blasts so his Kinetic Pinnacle action is wasted, except for reconnecting his Gate.
◆◆◆ Hell of 1M Needles
◆ Channel Elements
Kyoku adds to the chaos with a terrifying thunderclap! It deals 41 damage, hitting all enemies. This time Roach fails (41 and deafened for a round), as do both of the troops (61 to both). She then tries to electrocute the red troop but misses with a 1.
◆◆◆ Storm Spiral
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Genzin continues the punishment by filling the area with flames! It deals 70 damage. Roach critically fails (140) as does Red Troop (160), Blue just fails (70). Both troops scatter in confusion and disarray! Technically All Shall End in Flames has the death trait and as such undead and constructs should be immune to the whole thing but that makes no sense whatsoever. I treat them as only being immune to the actual destruction ability, not that it matters here. He cannot reach Roach with a blast so instead enters his Stance.
◆◆◆ Shattered Mountain Weeps
◆ Channel Elements and Thermal Nimbus Stance
Roach is concerned, he is badly injured and his troops have been destroyed. He staggers out of the area of falling rocks, bringing Massamoto into the range of his aura but he holds himself together (Pass, Frightened 1). He then draws on his spell tome and unleashes nightmarish terrors at the group with a Weird spell dealing 64 mental damage. Genzin fails, Kyoku critically fails, Massmamoto and Shu-Zen save. Fortunately Kyoku critically passes her fortitude save with the help of Greater Juggernaut. She still takes double damage as the damage is coming from the will save. She is also frightened 2 but not fleeing at least.
Shu-Zhen Deciding that the lich is dangerous she flies forward (she saves against the aura, becoming frightened 1 which doesn't affect anything and then goes to 0 at the end of her turn), turns herself into a cloud of burning ash and rushes through him before reforming and striking him from behind. She deals 47 fire damage and Roach fails the save. She then stabs him with a wooden stake for 28 vitality damage.
◆ Move
◆◆ Ash Strider
◆ Channel Elements and melee Wood Blast
Massamoto conjures up a ballista and shoots it at the Lich! It hits for another 38 damage and gives him some temp HP just in case. He still isnt in range for a free blast, he may want to retrain into a stance, maybe Orchards Endurance. He still channels to re-establish his aura connection.
◆◆◆ Elemental Artillery
◆ Channel Elements
Kyoku conjures up the force of the winds and propels her allies towards the Lich. She fails against the aura but is already frightened 2. She launches a bolt of lightning at him which misses and conjures her fish guardians!
◆◆ Four Winds
◇ Weapon Infusion (Thrown)
◆ Ranged air blast
◆ Channel Elements and Sea Guardians Stance
Genzin moves to flank the Lich and strikes him twice for 34 damage each time which finishes him off!
◆ Move
◆◆ Melee Earth Blast
◆ Channel Elements and Melee Earth Blast
Well, that was short and sweet. Again I give the group one 10 minute break to heal up. Massamaoto uses Treat Wounds on everyone for 38HP along with Fresh Produce and Dash of Herbs for another 129 getting everyone up to full. Shu Zen takes the time to identify Roach's magic items, the Wand of Wall of Force would have been nice if it wasn't a 3 action spell and therefore un Trickable.
Our Heroes must now find their way into the Winter Palace through the massive sealed Gate and the magical barrier. The is a skill challenge, the group needs to get in quickly or they will face overwhelming opposition as the Palace Guard musters for battle.
Each PC gets to make a single check to see how well they remove the various obstacles to entry. The number of successes determine how difficult the opposition is they face in the Palace Courtyard. The following skills are available:
Hard (DC45): Athletics (to force the Gates), [Arcana, Religion, Occultism] (to undermine the magical defences), Crafting (to understand the mechanisms involved)
Moderate (DC42): Thievery (to disable the wards), Nature (to undermine the magical defences, a lower DC as Zhannagar is a Primal entity)
Effects: Critical Success: 2 Bypass Points
Success: 1 Bypass Point
Failure: No effect
Critical Failure: -1 Bypass Point
To avoid any risk of metagaming the choices each PC will use their highest skill, regardless of the difficulty.
Genzin starts us off by trying to force the gates open with his mighty thews! The gates begin to creak against the force he can bring to bear (Nat 20 on Athletics, crit success, 2 points. He would have been better off using his Legendary Nature but his Athletics is 1 point higher)
Kyoku As Genzin works with force, Kyoku brings her infiltration skills to bear, weakening the hinges and disrupting the magic protecting the Gate (46 on Thievery, Success).
Massamoto is well versed in the magical arts and calls on his Legendary Religion to weaken the magical barriers protecting the Gate (45, a Success)
Shu-Zen is the most mystical member of the group and further weakens the Gate with her knowledge of magic (She is using Arcana but with the Nature DC due to Unified Theory, she gets 35, a nat 1! She spends her Hero Point, and gets a second Nat 1!)
The group ends with 3 successes, respectable, but it means the Palace Guard have had enough time to assemble a reasonable force to oppose the intruders!
The Kineticist has been out for a little while now and has had a generally positive reception. I think it is an excellent class and can be built in many different ways. As such I decided to give it a spin to see how an all Kineticist party might work out at high level. I set the level to 20 and set up an adventure for them, trying to make it similar to what you might find in the last Chapter of Part 6 of an AP. As such it will involve a mix of Combat, Exploration and Investigation challenges. This means you cannot build solely for combat and hopefully makes each character a bit more realistic. I wanted to test a range of Gate combinations so three of the PCs are dual Gate and one has taken all six. I wanted to see how the Kineticist class works so I have generally avoided using archetypes.
Our adventure is set in the Tian Xia nation of Wanshou. Our heroes have come together to liberate the people from the monstrous rule of Zhannagar, the Lord of Storms and Bogs. Our heroes have begun an assault on his Winter Palace to finally bring down the tyrant. The palace is a massive, sprawling edifice set amongst the swamps and marshes of a large island off the coast. Obviously it is warded against attempts to simply teleport inside and much of it is underground so our heroes must force a way in through the front gate.
Our four heroes are:
Genzin, Lord of Fire - a Jinin Half Elf who has mastered the powers of Earth and Fire. He often engages foes in close combat, bringing powerful explosions and emitting a dangerous aura. Out of combat he is quite literally terrifying as well as being the groups lead on all matters dealing with Nature and lifting heavy objects.
Kyoku, Lady of Storms - a former slave of the many Boggard tribes which now rules over Wanshou, Kyoku came into her power during one of the many magical storms unleashed across the area by Zhannagar. She embodies air and water and provides a variety of movement and control options for the group as well as being their primary scout, trap finder and disabler. .
General Massamoto - the oldest member of the group, Massamoto was a human general in the armies of Zhannagar. Forced to serve under threat of the death of everyone he loved, the rest of the group freed his family and allowed him to turn on the Tyrant. Embodying wood and metal, he provides a mix of control, healing, and battlefield manipulation. Outside of combat he is the group's primary medic as well as being immensely knowledgeable about the local terrain.
Shu Zhen of the Many Gates - Shu Zhen is the youngest member of the group, and grew up in a hidden monastery where she was trained in all of the ancient mystical arts. Legend has it that she is destined to defeat Zhannagar but in this Age of Lost Omens prophecy is an unreliable thing. She has a range of support, control and attacking powers and is the groups primary knowledge character.
The groups standard exploration activities are:
Genzin: Search
Kyoku: Search and Avoid Notice (Legendary Stealth)
Massamoto: Defend
Shu-Zhen: Search
All of them have Incredible Initiative so no-one needs to Scout.
ENCOUNTER 1: THE PALACE GATES
Our heroes have snuck onto the island and are approaching the Palace. They can all fly (Kyoku and Shu-Zhen both have Cyclonic Ascent), Genzin has Burning Jet if he needs to and Massamoto has Soaring Wings. I could have skipped the last two but I generally like my high level PCs to have their own independent means of flight.
For this encounter however Genzin, Kyoku and Shu-Zhen are following the Expert to Avoid Notice behind Kyoku to avoid alerting the enemy. The guards are fairly lax, who would come to this depressing place? As such the group can get fairly close before making their assault.
The gate is set into a thick, high wall. The wall is 30’ high, two 40’ tall towers flank the gate. It has a significant force guarding it. Four grippli border guards keep watch from the top of the two watch towers and a corrupted star archon commander hovers over the central gate. Behind the wall, screened from the PCs view at the start, waits an enormous clockwork dragon. This is a 120xp severe encounter.
Opposition:
4 Border Guards [Level 18 - reskinned Elite Scarlet Triad Bosses]
1 Corrupted Star Archon [Level 19 - as regular Star Archon just swopping evil for good and removing Retributive Strike]
1 Clockwork Dragon [Level 16]
Our group attack from stealth, bursting out of the trees close to the wall!
Initiative Round 1
Kyoku
Archon
Orange
Blue
Red
Genzin
Dragon
Green
Shu-Zhen
Massamoto
Kyoku strikes first. She creates a massive hurricane on the top of one of the watchtowers hitting red and green. Red is torn into the air and then dropped over the edge of the battlements (crit fail for 36B plus 50 falling damage and prone]. Green manages to hold himself together (pass for 9B). She then channels the elements, activating her Sea Glass Guardians. All of our heroes have Kinetic Pinnacle as the group has no reliable means of getting level 7 Haste.
◆◆◆ Rising Hurricane
◆ Channel Elements - Sea Glass Guardians
Archon Seeing the palace under attack (and recognising the group - they are obviously very famous at this point), he wastes no time in unleashing his most potent abilities. Flying forward he hits the entire group with a massive Sunburst! Its rare to get to use such abilities given the massive radius but the area in front of the Gate is wide open. Shu-Zhen instantly recognises the spell (she has Recognise and Quick Recognition) and warns her allies. Genzin fails but is immune to fire and so ignores it. Kyoku critically fails. While she is immune to fire she isnt immune to becoming permanently blind and so uses her hero point. She passes and avoids that fate. Massamato fails taking 53 damage and Shu Zhen saves taking nothing due to Evasion.
Orange can feint targets within 30’ but the group are well beyond that. He simply unleashes three attacks at Kyku but all of them miss. I should probably have switched their short bows for long bows.
Blue is in much the same position as Orange. He moves closer on top of the Watchtower and shoots twice. His aim is better and both connect for 40 damage.
Red is on the ground. He hops to his feet, darts forward, tries to feint Kyoku and shoot her! His feint fails and his arrow goes wide.
Genzin unleashes a hellish firestorm onto the two towers which catches all three Guards still up there. It deals 67 fire damage. Orange fails (67), blue passes (33) and green critically fails (134). He then channels elements and earth blasts red, critting him for 44 B.
◆◆◆ All Shall End in Flames
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Dragon With a roar the dragon takes to wing, flying over the wall and landing in front of the group. It opens its massive jaws and engulfs them all in flaming oil. Again, Genzin and Kyoku are immune. The others both pass, taking nothing due to evasion.
Green launches three attacks at Kyoku. Only one connects for 23 damage.
Shu-Zhen drops a mass of rocks on the dragon, archon and red for 58B damage. The archon evades the entire effect but red critically fails (116) as does the dragon (101). She then throws a rock at red, missing with a 1.
◆◆◆ Shattered Mountain Weeps
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Massamoto decides to layer on the pain. He fills a large section of the battlefield with razor sharp metal, hitting red and the archon. It deals 61 P damage. The archon saves (30) but red fails (61P and Immobilised). He then throws a bolt of electricity at the dragon, figuring that if its made of metal it might be vulnerable. He crits it for 40 damage.
Kyoku unleashes another hurricane at the two distant guards still on the Watchtower. It deals 18B, Orange critically fails (36B +50 falling), Blue fails (18B +50 falling). She then re-establishes her fishy companions.
◆◆◆ Rising Hurricane
◆ Channel Elements and Sea Glass Guardians
Archon flies out of the hail of rocks and metal (he takes no damage, he is just at the edge). He unleashes a prismatic spray, hitting all four.
Genzin is hit by Green [Poison] and critically fails. He hero points into a critical success.
Kyoku is hit by Red [Fire] and ignores it as she is immune.
Massmaoto is hit by Yellow [Electricity] and also ignores it as he is Immune.
Shu-Zen is hit by Blue [Petrify] and Violet [Slow]. She critically passes the Petrification and passes the Slow.
Overall not a great turn for him.
Orange stands up, moves, and takes a shot at Kyoku, hitting for 26.
Blue does the same, hitting for 20
Red escapes from the needles, moves, tries to feint Kyoku (crit pass) and shoots but misses.
Genzin is faced with fairly spread out enemies. However, All Shall End in Flames is a massive burst and he catches the Dragon, Orange and Blue in it for 64 damage. The dragon fails (74 as he is in Genzins aura), Orange and Blue pass (32). He then launches a rock at Red, missing with a 1.
◆◆◆ All Shall End in Flames
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Dragon As the group has yet to move the dragon has them in a perfect formation for its tail spike. It flies around the group and tries to spear Massmaoto, Shu Zen and Genzin. It crits with a natural 20 for 82 damage! Genzin reacts, leaping away and doing the dragon fire damage (27)
Green Seeing that Massmaoto is injured, takes three shots at him but his aim is terrible.
Shu-Zhen Drops another mountain, this time on orange and blue for 69 damage. Orange critically fails (138) but blue saves (34) and then electrocutes the dragon, hitting for 32 damage and destroying it. It begins to tick ominously.
◆◆◆ Shattered Mountain Weeps
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Massamoto drops another Hell onto orange and blue for 58P. Orange passes but is overcome, blue fails and is immobilised (58). He then channels and blasts the archon as the only thing in range, critting for 52 electricity.
◆◆◆ Hell of 1M Needles
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Kyoku moves up to red, transforms herself into a bolt of lightning which crackles through him and the archon for 43 damage. Red passes (21) but the archon fails (43). She then sends a blast of cold at red, hitting for 19.
◆ Move
◆◆ Lightning Dash
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Archon Decides to stop messing about with spells and unleashes their multi starknife attack. The first strike hits Kyoku for 27 (she is immune to the fire) but then he misses. He then closes on Kyoku.
Blue Staggers out of the metal spikes (taking 14 damage) and then slowly out of the falling rocks. He manages to feint Massamoto and shoots, critting for 65!
Red Seeing an opportunity moves and feints Massamoto, shoots him for 33 and then misses.
Genzin is out of his Gate having used an overpower reaction. At the start of his turn he aligns himself automatically with Final Gate and blasts red, killing him. He launches another conflagration of flame at green and blue for 68 damage. Blue fails (68), Green crit fails (136). Ouch He channels again with his quickened action and blasts blue for another 20!
◇ Final Gate Channel Elements and Blast
◆◆◆ All Shall End in Flames
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Dragon At this point the ominously ticking dragon explodes! It hits everyone except green. All of the group save, taking no damage! The archon and blue save but take 33.
Green is badly injured but sees a chance to take down Massamoto and so unleashes on him. He hits once for 17.
Shu-Zhen Conjures a timber sentinel next to herself and Massamoto and then blasts twice. First she forms her blast into a bow which crits for 48, killing him. Her second blast flies over the head of the archon.
◆◆ Timber Sentinel
◇ Weapon Infusion
◆ Blast
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Massamoto is badly injured but most of the enemy are down. Green remains stubbornly alive so he conjures a mighty ballista to shoot him, hitting for 59 damage which kills him and gaining some temp HP in the process. He only has 30’ range blasts and no stance so he simply realigns his gate.
Archon, 235/400. Resist 15 fire, weakness 15 good
Red, Dead
Blue, Dead
Green, Dead
Orange, Dead
Dragon, Dead
Initiative Round 4
Kyoku with only the archon left to contend with Kyoku hits him with a melee blast for 17 acid, transforms herself into a bolt of lightning and shoots through him for another 47 electricity (he fails) and then channels and sends a ranged air blast for 18 cold.
◆ Melee Blast
◆◆ Lightning Dash
◆ Channel Elements and Blast
Archon Seeing the writing on the wall the Archon flees (it escapes given its 75’ flight speed and at will dimension door)
I give the group one 10 minute rest to recover. If they take longer it is clear that the palace will become aware of the attack and that will make it much harder to get in.
Massamoto is a Legendary Medic with ward medic and assurance. He auto passes the DC30 and heals everyone for 36 damage. He dashes some herbs on a quick restorative meal of fresh produce, giving everyone 119 back. This gets everyone back to full except for him so Kyoku hits him with an Oceans Balm for another 51. They live with Massamoto having a little damage on him and press on to try and break into the Winter Palace.
Q: unhallow is instantaneous duration and thus cannot be dispelled. What about the carrier effect which is set at a duration of one year? If dispellable it may be an option for Yanndu's next move... thank you!
Instantaneous is a really weird duration to give to an Unhallow given the year long effect only seems to apply to the linked spell and not the other two effects. You can totally dispel the linked spell.
I am not sure you actually entered into the area but as the group will be able to identify an Unhallow effect you know it has a 40' radius around the altar. It clearly has a linked Invisibility Purge spell if it wasn't obvious.
As discussed, you are actually still invisible providing you dont get too close to the altar. You can still spring load a wand out. Let me know which wand.
Green stomps over to the pit and swings down with his axe. A brief scream ensues which cuts off into a gurgling shudder and then silence.
Combat Status:
Round 2 Turn Order
Quenly
Korin
Quidditch
----------------------------------------------------
Labyrinth Minotaur
----------------------------------------------------
Eadie
----------------------------------------------------
Blue
----------------------------------------------------
Lichaam
----------------------------------------------------
Red
Orange
----------------------------------------------------
Yannddu
----------------------------------------------------
Green
Just a bit of advance warning. Next week I am attending Paizocon Europe between Thursday and Sunday and I will be travelling home Monday and sorting our related admin, washing etc when I get back. I wont have much time or ability to post until Tuesday 15th August.
My apologies if my previous tone was off; that wasn't my intention. Sometimes text can come across differently than intended. I will continue to improve my choice of words as English is not my native language.
I believe most if not all of us have many experience behind the GM screen, and it's a fact that GMs, being human please correct me if you're actually three kobolds in a trench coat, are not infallable. There're just so many rules and details in Pathfinder that we can only try our best to remember most of them. However it's also one of the reason I enjoy Pathfinder more than the recent edition of D&D that there're enough rules that the GM and the players have a solid foundation that we can always refer to; and when one side forget something, the others can provide the rule and work together to find the right answers. I really appreciate your willingness to listen to us players and make adjustments when needed. It shows how much you care about the game's integrity and our enjoyment.
Thanks for this, I couldnt agree with the bolded part more. I am more than happy to deal with rules issues. If you think I have made an error please just say so. If you can point to a FAQ or dev comment that is even more helpful, especially as the 1E FAQ stuff seems to become harder and harder to find on here.
Grasp of the Deep doesnt make much sense. Shouldnt the failure entry says full damage? Is the damage in the failure entry in addition to the 6d6 or just a reference to it?
Looking through it now. Its a bit disappointing that Kineticist doesnt get expert proficiency until 7th, making them quite a bit less accurate than other damage dealers. At least they get to Legendary, but it is very late in the day.
Looking through going to post any questions here.
Tremor deals 1d8 damage but scales with d10's. That seems...unusual. Is it intentional?
It actually makes them significantly more vulnerable to magic now as all the debuffs will work on them. That is major.
I dont imagine the majority of construct immunities are going away so it really wont. Golems are also generally mindless which takes out a whole other bunch.
Tar-baphon as a lich has practically forever to put his plans into motion so he could just go dormant long enough to fit a war in. Or does the lore indicate he is particularly active at the moment?
He ended 1e by breaking out of his prison, destroying the nation of Lastwall, and laying siege to Absalom. He’s actively picking fights with Belkzen and threatens pretty much all of Avistab.
On top of that, while Tar-Baphon is a lich, and could therefore wait hundreds of years for his plans to bloom, Tar-Baphon is also Tar-Baphon, and Tar-Baphon is famously petty, peevish, and overconfident to the point that it's meme-worthy.
I've seen him compared to Skeletor. It's not untrue.
This made me chuckle with how true it is. It never really occurred to me before. Who does that make Evil-Lyn? Abrogail Thrune?
OK, I have now finished prepping this and have a few questions/comments.
Here there be spoilers:
The defence points system seems to be fairly underdeveloped. It requires quite a bit of tracking with a binary result, you either have none and get a debuff or you dont and you are fine. I would really have liked to see these set the scale of the final encounter, which is also entirely binary. You get to battle round 8 or you finish sooner. A more varied impact would have, I think, created a more interesting set up.
On the defence points, it is not wholly clear how many you lose. Do the increased defence point reductions from not resolving events 1 or 2 stack? I think they do give the wording.
Several of the new cards have effects which rely on the users Class DC. A number of them are in the hands of enemies and at least one has tactics which specifically say they should use it. What do we use for an NPCs class DC? Is it just a level appropriate one, their spell DC (if they have one), some other number with a rarity adjustment?
Looking at the stat blocks I have a few questions:
The damage on Fate's Prophet hand crossbow seems very low. This may be because she is using a poison but its a very low level one and unlikely to bother level 14 PCs much.
The Shadow Prince lacks a spell attack modifier despite knowing Telekinetic Projectile. This is a fairly common error for various monsters across the Bestiaries.
Tremia's hand attack has paralysing touch but his stat block doesnt list it. Its a standard lich ability so it looks like it might just have been missed off the stat block.
Vehanezhad lacks a spell attack modifier. She is using level 9 illusory creature so really needs one. Again, this is a carry over from the Bestiary which fails to give blue dragons a spell attack mod for their innate spells.
TickTock lacks a spell attack modifier which he needs for his Chilling Darkness as does the Ephialtes.
Finally, one issue with the maps.
The scenario says that the Dens walls are colour coded to show height and whether or not they are difficult terrain. The maps in the module and in the map pack are not colour coded.
That seems to be most of the issues that cropped up as I prepped this. They are largely fairly minor and dont detract overall from how good this adventure looks.
Looking at the module it seems that once a card is epitomised you are stuck with it. However, from what I can see so far only a small number have to be epitomised at a point of interest so I suspect that you will be able to epitomise all of them that require a point of interest. If that turns out not to be true I will let you swop them out.
Illusionists. They can create permanent illusory objects or scenes and turn items permanently invisible, all of which refresh daily.
I love level 8 Illusory Scene. If I play a caster who can get it they do. From that point on they become an absolute public nuisance, spreading graffiti wherever they go. In Age of Ashes he left a variety of very rude images of the Scarlet Triad getting kicked out of Katapesh.
I am prepping this at the moment and am liking it a lot. There is a mass of content here with a wide range of stuff for all sorts of different playstyles. I will leave a full review once I am done.
There are some editing errors in stat blocks here and there which are fairly minor but there does appear either to be a section missing or something was taken out but not fully.
At the start of Part 3 it talks about there being 3 events during the section, starting with when they enter the area These are then never mentioned again. Is something missing or were they taken out and this little segment didn't get cut (Page 51, para 4).
They are in the epic document you linked originally. The Plague Mask for example gives the graveknight template but lots of others are available. generally in the feet, belt or head slot.
Dirge of Doom is decent but frightened is generally a very easy conditions for lots of classes to place with little impact on their overall effectiveness that I find Inspire Courage more generally useful. Party wide status bonuses are virtually non existent.
