itaitai's page

Hello everyone

I would like to put something up for discussion and maybe get a Paizo representative tell me his point of view on the matter.

First, i'll say that me and my group play APs exclusively and we love them. We use foundry VTT and the quality and ease of play are amazing.

However, i have noticed in the last APs i read (haven't read all of them) that they are packed with the subsystems (chases, victory points etc.)

In the first Myth Speaker adventure, there are 5 chases, a few victory points games and more. The book is absolutely packed with them.
It got me wondering if this is maybe too much and if the general player base actually enjoy them.

From out experience, every time we enter one of these subsystems, the immersion that was built in the game tends to break. We are being taken out of the fantasy world and brought into an arcade where you score points.
They also became more convoluted over time. Instead of the GM being in the game, he is tasked with keeping track of points and stuff like this:

"Failure You barely control the boat. The fisher takes a –1
penalty to their next check to Gather Fish during this run.
Increase the DC of subsequent checks to Sail by 1 for the
rest of this run."

I know you can change everything in the game to suit your needs, but if i already paid for something, i would like to make the most use out of it.
And because so much of the book real-estate is used for these subsystems i feel like i'm left with much less story, world, NPCs and fun encounter and exploration in the book.

I might be a minority here, but i am really curious if most players that use APs enjoy these so much that so many are needed in a single adventure.

** SPOILERS AHEAD**

Was wondering if anyone could explain to me how Heh Shan Bao what happened to Heh Shan Bao throughout the story.

I understood that after the failed ritual he got trapped in him own mindscape, but i don't really understand if he is possessed by Kugaptee or has his own free will.
Also he disappears after speaking with the PCs, where does he go?
How did he become a yohoi and how did the corrupted Willowshore came to be?

It might all be written in the book, but i was really confused about the his transitions throughout the adventure.

My players will soon step into Karahai to relight the lantern and i'm wondering how other GMs ran this part.

How did your players get in and move about the fortress without being seen? It is said that during the day there are merchants in the periphery path while during the night most of the NPCs are asleep, making the player to possibly miss every interesting encounter.

About the terror points. How would the players know to haunt and scare the the fortress NPCs without me outright telling them they can do it?
The book gives an example of setting up a grisly scene with a body, but why would they do it on their own volition?
It feels weird guiding them into doing stuff their character wouldn't naturally do on their own.

Also, it is said that the fortress is shielded against incorporeal creatures.
They can't pass through walls and require 3 actions to pass through doors.
However, i didn't see anywhere that implies the players are incorporeal and can pass through objects. Did i maybe miss it?

Hey!

I was reading the 3rd adventure and i could use some help clearing up something regarding the governer's mindscape.

It mentions that it's his own mindscape with it's own townfolf. Kinda like a weird replica of our mindscape.
It is said the people there don't recognize us, but if the PCs are also residents of Willowshore, shouldn't they also be represented there? so when the PCs enter, they see a clone of themselves?

Is there a logical in-game explanation to give my players (that will surely be intrigued by it)?

Hey all, i just started reading book 1 and excited to start playing, but i'm kind of confused about the whole reset when it comes to the PCs.

So from what i understand for 114 years, the resets went smoothly.
Now, at the 115th time, due to the disruption of Mago Kai and the death of Ugly Cute
the influence of Kugaptee grew and found its way into the mindscape by manifesting monsters at the final days of summer during the festival.

In every previous reset, the PCs, being the abductees, wake up at the normal clearing and life goes on as normal before the next reset.
Every other villagers also resets at that time to continue the new cycle.
What i don't understand is how come this time the PCs wake up in a different clearing after being abducted the day before, but every other villager resets as normal?
I understand the monsters, not being part of the reset cycle, do not reset and continue to rampage after the reset, But the PCs should still reset to the clearing they were at before the first reset.
After all, they were abducted in the day before the reset, so even if they were taken to a different clearing, shouldn't they reset at the usual clearing like every other cycle?

I am currently running Age of Ashes as a GM and both me and my players are having a blast going through it.
As usual, the art is amazing.The NPCs/monsters are really high quality and i really enjoy incorporating them into our session by showing my players what they are up against.

That being said, I was wondering if you considered adding a PDF dedicated only for the art shown in the book? just like the interactive maps.
I don't know how many people use the pictures from the books to show their to their players, but i feel like its a shame not to show them in their original state, without background, name tags or having been cropped.

Hope you will consider this.
Thanks!