Announced! Cover image is a mockup.
Author announced!
Yay!!!
I had not realized the author had been announced on this one so long ago.
I loved Frostfur Captives and Haunting of Hinojai for different reasons, and the same is true for this one.
The Golden Serpent was written recently enough that it came about AFTER I had started to become much more active on the PFS comnmunity boards, As a result I feel it benefits from a much clearer understanding of the community likes and dislikes (as opposed to HoH and Frostfur, which were written as is).
I can't be specific, because we need to preserve spoilers, and of course Mark has the final say on everything and stuff may change. But needless to say, when i was putting it together I was mindful about things people were asking for, what they liked, and what they expressed that they found really frustrating. I couldn't accomodate all the feedback all in one shot, but I certainly bore it in mind. Especially the big stuff. (I.e. some plain ol' fashioned treasure variety is a safe hint, but there is so much more besides that)
I consider this scenario as a definite part of my writing evolution and frankly there's always a chance it might suck despite my hopes and hype- but I hope not! I really tried hard!
As always I hope the community has a lot fun with this, and I look forward to finding out what works and what doesn't.
Barring an emergency I'll be at PaizoCon that weekend and VC's, GMs, and Players can tell me all about it.
Oh, and I can't wait to see the artwork on this one too!
As the great Mr. Wonka, portrayed by the great Gene WIlder once said, "Little surprises around every corner!! But nothing dangerous... yet."
As the great Mr. Wonka, portrayed by the great Gene WIlder once said, "Little surprises around every corner!! But nothing dangerous... yet."
Oh you tease, you. ;-) I can hardly wait!
YAY!
I got cover artwork now. I can hardly wait to see the finished version myself in a few days.
Cool stuff in this one.. Heh heh heh.
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Jim, we had a lot of fun playing this one at PaizoCon. We played up and my 12-year old was very nervous about doing so, but his 5th level fighter proved to be the hero of the final battle. Everyone cheered! Party was a 9th level sorcerer, 7th level bard, 7th level pally, 5th level fighter, 5th level bard and my 5th level battle oracle. If you have any specific areas you'd like to hear about, just PM me or I can put it in spoilers.
Hey Jim, I'm running this on Saturday morning at ConnectiCon in Hartford, CT... I'll give you some feedback on Monday on how it went
You lucky dog! It was scheduled the same time as my summer vacation this year. Been a thin year for cons for me, that's for sure.
Hey Jim, I'm running this on Saturday morning at ConnectiCon in Hartford, CT... I'll give you some feedback on Monday on how it went
Please do! I hope everyone has fun!
Jim, we had a lot of fun playing this one at PaizoCon. We played up and my 12-year old was very nervous about doing so, but his 5th level fighter proved to be the hero of the final battle. Everyone cheered! Party was a 9th level sorcerer, 7th level bard, 7th level pally, 5th level fighter, 5th level bard and my 5th level battle oracle. If you have any specific areas you'd like to hear about, just PM me or I can put it in spoilers.
Sounds like a great game! There's nothing like kids having a good time in the hobby. And that is a pretty good party mix.
I'd love to hear about anything you want to tell me. If there was a problem that needs addressing, feel free to start a thread down in the PFS boards.
Also..
::coughcough: post-a-review ::coughcough::
Ah shucks, I hate pimping for reviews, but we take the good with the bad, so I guess it's alright. That's also a great way to get our attention and let us know what you liked and what you didn't like. They definitely get read and considered.
Reviewed. I gave you high marks, Jim, because I can see the huge potential in this. I think hack 'n slahers will hate it, though. Of course, that's a "plus," in my book. (-:
Thank you Drogon! Much appreciated!
A long time ago the judges of RPG Superstar made a general comment about freelancers that rings true for me. We all have our own styles, even when we're working with the same template or infrastructure.
I gravitate towards story and role-playing. It's easy to say those are the best virtues, but honestly a healthy balance is required. A good adventure is going to have crisp, challenging combat encounters too. Neither is better or worse than the other, but in correct proportion both are necessary ingredients.
But yeah- I made a concerted effort to juice up the treasure, and I'm pleased that its a good problem to have.
Thank you again for the kind review and I hope you and the players continue to have a good time with it.
And I'll be back fairly soon in Season 4, with all the cool changes that Mike and Mark have implemented!
@ Jason S: Thanks for the review!
Sorry it didn't appeal to you. I'll take your feedback into consideration. I confess I'm disappointed as I recall reading your posts specifically, but I don't and won't debate a review. :)
Though, may I suggest it might appeal more after you've had a chance to read it? It might have been challenging for the GM under the circumstances you've described.
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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I ran this today and, as I predicted, pretty thoroughly enjoyed it. The players said they felt challenged, as well, and enjoyed everything. They particularly liked the short sword, and how that ended up in the final encounter.
I think, had I had the chance to play it before running it, or simply been more attentive to abilities, it would have been deadly for a couple of the players. I had one down at one point, and another very nervous, but never quite put finishing pressure on anyone. As well, each of the two melee players had step up, and that feat wrecked a lot of plans.
Overall, it went well. I definitely ran a little long, though, as I thought I would. I'd have even more fun with it in a home game, and may have to figure out how to work it into my Shadow War campaign. Thanks for the good time.
ZomB thank you for your review!
I think you'll find the Season 4 six player assumption makes a huge impact on the difficulty level. I've written a "to be announced" Season 4 scenario, and personally I think it's going to be a lot easier to have a BBEG and still give them cohorts to stave off economy of action problems. That is a lot of the issue that you're I think you're seeing in Season Three.
And some authors use certain techniques to correct for that, but if you get it wrong-well then you trade one issue for another.
Watch for my next scenario! It will have more roleplaying opportunities throughout, and other coolness I can't talk about yet!
Falcore51, thanks for your review!
Interesting. This is the first report that I've had that this is too hard.
Thank you anyway, sorry you didn't have more fun.
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Hey Jim,
We had a great time with this down in Australia. Loads of fun.
I think I have some points of discussions for future GMs to make this as good as it should be.
1. The Taldor Mission was a bit ambiguous. I don't own the Absalom sourcebook, so I have no idea who Alain Always is. I went in on the fly, saying that he was an extravagant and outspoken council member of Absalom and was in the press a lot. A bit of a Lady Gaga of Absalom politics, if you will. I didn't know how to handle the DC25 Bluff controversial statement, it didn't seem obvious to the player. I guess that a Taldor player would go into the restaurant and announce to everyone that they are Always lover, but this doesn't seem likely unless prompted. My player stuck to Gather Info and didn't get very far. Eventually, they were walking past gossipy nobles talking, and let him take a shot at the Knowledge Local check, which he passed, which allowed him to enter a conversation about the tos and fros of Always' Bedchamber. I assume Xaran Hiddock is male, but didn't know for sure with the fantasy names.
2. The Sczarni mission was exciting and flavourful but seemingly harder than everyone elses' mission. Seems like they had to do twice as much work, including a 'one chance or you miss it' mission. Was this one of those cases where it reminds players that they're not meant to succeed all the time?
3. Maelpheta had all this awesome history about how she'd taken over this guild, but with all the Crowsworn wanting the Pathfinders dead, none of it has a chance to come out in the module. It'd be great if you found some lore in the mission about what Maelpheta actually is/her motivations. As it stands, right now the Pathfinders get horrified by the appearance of this Vudran fiend at the end of the mod. Is this meant to be explained to the players with the success of the Shadow Lodge mission?
4. Sendeli Foxglove boon. I really like where this is going, but I'd like to be signposted. As it stands, I don't think this boon does anything, despite the fact that it is a difficult boon to achieve.
I knew my players would be set on achieving their missions rather than being polite to a pretty NPC, so during combat I had Sendeli play the damsel in distress. She fell prone from the fireball and screamed as Amistis loomed with his swords, yet none of the party took the cue and leapt in front of her to protect her. Five foot steps and full attacks were more important.
In any editing that occurs, it'd be great if the boon signposted what scenarios the Foxglove boon can be used towards. As it stands it seems cool, but useless.
5. Shocking floor and Flame Strike traps. I think they are placed in the wrong order for the door in the document? I don't want any level 5s getting scorched by a CR8 trap.
6. As they were fighting intelligent opponents that spoke their language, my party attempted to intimidate/threaten with torture any Crowsworn survivors so they could get the info for their faction missions. Sigh. I would urge all GMs to have the guild members remain tight-lipped, even when there's an actual torture chamber handy around the corner. What's with 'heroes' nowadays?
7. Loved the inclusion of the special familiar and would love to see this method replicated for other strange familiars in different mods.
8. The twins worked well due to the lack of lighting. As the light spell shed light on two, identical, sharp toothed 'children' standing side by side in the dark, one of my players commented: "This is like a Japanese horror movie!" That can only be a good thing! That player later had his knees bitten open. Ouch!
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Just ran this scenario at my local game store. I was thoroughly pleased with the scenario. I have been looking for harder scenarios to run for my players as they are extremely competent (more than one of them has 4+ stars) and the Golden Serpent fit the bill.
I really enjoyed the final boss as she was capable in both melee and from range. She ended up leading the group into the poison gas room and let them set off the trap. I was going to have her fight them in the gas (since she has a hefty Fort save), however she failed a save against Blindness/Deafness. She then used her tools to escape the room while the players continued to suffer the effects of the gas until they finally broke through the door. The rest of the monsters were an adequate enough challenge that it made the adventure seem tough without impossible (a hard line to draw in PFS).
The players really enjoyed the surprise of the familiar as they never saw that coming. They also immediately began pondering how to best utilize the boon given for their characters. Even the 5 star GM had no idea that the boon existed.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoy your products Jim and I will be running The Haunting of Hinojai for them tomorrow.