Pathfinder Module: Dawn of the Scarlet Sun (PFRPG)

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GameMastery Module D0: Hollow's Last Hope (OGL)
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An adventure for six 5th-level characters.

The coastal city of Magnimar is no stranger to crime, yet recently, a series of murders has sent a chill through the early morning streets. Someone—or something—is stalking and killing worshipers of Sarenrae, the goddess of the sun. The city guard is prepared to ambush the murderer, but they need help—help of the kind that adventurers are so good at providing. What is the sinister truth behind these violent acts?

Dawn of the Scarlet Sun is a Pathfinder RPG adventure for six 5th-level characters—such as the six iconic heroes provided. In addition, this adventure can be integrated into the Shattered Star Pathfinder Adventure Path, and uses the villains featured in the Pathfinder Battles Champions of Evil Encounter Pack.

Written by James Jacobs.

This special 16-page Pathfinder Module was initially made available for Free RPG Day on June 16, 2012.

Note: Due to the special nature of this product, it is NOT part of the Pathfinder Modules Subscription.

Dawn of the Scarlet Sun is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The Chronicle Sheet for this module is a free download (123 KB zip/PDF). Pregenerated characters are available here (1.9 MB zip/PDF).

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

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Not Easy, but Very Exciting!

4/5

NO SPOILERS

Dawn of the Scarlet Sun is a 16-page adventure released for Free RPG Day in 2012. Designed for six Level Five PCs, the adventure is really just eight pages, with one page for credits and six pages for pre-generated characters (the Iconics). The scenario is intended for use with the Pathfinder Battles: Champions of Evils Encounter Pack, a set of miniatures that includes all the enemies in the adventure. The adventure is also pitched as a suitable optional side-quest in the Shattered Star Adventure Path. The full-colour artwork is fantastic--Paizo doesn't skimp in designing even its free products.

Dawn of the Scarlet Sun has a reputation as including at least one nasty encounter that could be labelled as "a worthy challenge" or "a TPK-generator" depending on your point of view. I ran it via play-by-post and I can confirm its difficulty. It does have a strong story, some compelling antagonists, and plenty of action. I'd recommend it for groups that have gotten cocky or for players who don't mind more risk than they're used to.

SPOILERS!:

The scenario takes place in Magnimar. A compelling background story explains that a succubus named Avalexi has come to the city, discovered an abandoned shrine to Sarenrae, and has decided to re-consecrate it as a shrine to Shax, the demon lord of murder. To that end, Avalexi has mentally dominated a priest of Sarenrae named Zadendi, allied with a half-fiend gargoyle nicknamed the Scarlet Son, and undertaken a grisly murder spree. It's a pretty exciting and compelling backstory.

The PCs come on to the scene after several murder victims have been found in Magnimar's Underbridge District. The victims, all worshippers of Sarenrae, have had their hearts removed. The City Watch, represented by a guard named Kasadei, recruits the PCs to help plan an ambush for the killer. Before doing so, the PCs can do some information gathering to talk to witnesses and a learn a little bit about what they might be facing. That's pretty much the only role-playing with NPCs they'll get in the scenario.

The way the ambush is set-up is elegantly concise. Whatever the PCs choose--disguising someone as a worshipper of Sarenrae to act as bait, stealthily trailing a real worshipper, intently patrolling Underbridge, etc.--they're asked to make relevant skill checks. Each success raises the % chance that the killers fall for the ambush, but if enough nights pass without being caught, the killers complete their work and the scenario ends abruptly. It's not a likely result, but I like how the scenario doesn't guarantee success or sugar-coat failure.

Assuming the PCs are on hand when the killers strike, they learn why the murderers have been so difficult to catch and why there are so few witnesses. The Scarlet Son flies low over the rooftops and drops Zadendi nearby. She casts silence and then sneaks up on her victim from behind, killing them before they even realise she's there. It's an exciting encounter, as both foes are real threats, but with the tables turned there's a good chance they'll flee--and the PCs can then chase them back to their hideout.

The shrine has two main encounters, plus battles against the escaped killers if they're present. The first encounter is against a trio of wights. Wights are one of those monsters that are far more dangerous than their CR might indicate, and can definitely weaken the party before the big ending encounter. Speaking of which, I really like how it's set up. The succubus (likely having warning of the approach of intruders) locks herself in a cell and disguises herself as priest of Sarenrae who is about to be sacrificed. It's a solid plan, and my group at least fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The disguise allows Avalexi time to study one of the PCs to use her death attack (to paralyze) before teleporting nearby, summoning a demon, and then returning to fight fully prepared. The difficulty of this encounter shouldn't be underestimated. When I ran it, it lasted fifteen rounds! One PC was killed, others were knocked out, and it came within a hair's breadth of a TPK. It was one of the most epic, cinematic battles I can remember running though.

In sum, Dawn of the Scarlet Sun has memorable antagonists, a solid plot, and an exhilarating climax. However, despite its connection to "Free RPG Day", it's not the sort of adventure to run for a casual pick-up group of new players to try out the game. I imagine the six Iconics would get slaughtered pretty quickly. It's a scenario to either adjust and play with higher level PCs or as a legitimate exercise in "hard mode" for more experienced Pathfinder players.


3/5

Strictly follow the tactics of the monster in the last encounter.


3/5


No class levels, please!

4/5

As mentioned below, the last encounter is quite horrific. Avalexi has some quite sick magic, very high AC, SR and hp. Near to impossible to kill.

So what i did., was to make her a perfectly normal succubus, without any class levels. Then she is a CR 7, and that worked fine for me.

But it is a great module. The plotline is simple, yet challenging. The whole idea works really great. And most of the encounters worked great for my team.


The Scarlet Colour is PC Blood

4/5

Surprised at the low reviews I have had a look through. It is a well written very short adventure. It is easily thrown into any game or fantasy campaign and while it is set in Magnimar, you could port it over to somewhere else quite easily. I am thinking of using it in the near future.

This though, isn't really for level 6s. If you have a very strong full party of six members, you can take the end boss, but level 7s would be better. It all depends how challenging you want it to be, and do you want to risk a TPK? I support a tough fight once in a while, but as its a short adventure the players may feel suddenly overwhelmed at the end (as their characters die). Still Magnimar has been a tough setting before.

Art wise I don't like Avalexi - the legs are terrible, but Kasadei looks great with a strong bearing.

So it is a very challenging short adventure, and far better than 1 or 2 stars out of 5. Some don't like a hard challenge or to lose, but as it is free and dangerous, I recommend it.


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BurntCornMuffin wrote:

My party of iconics was TPK'd, If you must run this with the pregens, do not use the rogue, ranger or fighter. Between them they did a total of 10 hp damage on the Scarlet Son, the Succubus and her demon, as they just could not overcome the DR.

Fun story, but this thing is a meat grinder.

The rogue has a cold iron dagger. The paladin has 10 cold iron arrows she can give to the ranger. The cleric can cast align weapon on the fighter's sword and can herself use spiritual weapon.

DR should not be a problem.


Ansel Krulwich wrote:
BurntCornMuffin wrote:

My party of iconics was TPK'd, If you must run this with the pregens, do not use the rogue, ranger or fighter. Between them they did a total of 10 hp damage on the Scarlet Son, the Succubus and her demon, as they just could not overcome the DR.

Fun story, but this thing is a meat grinder.

The rogue has a cold iron dagger. The paladin has 10 cold iron arrows she can give to the ranger. The cleric can cast align weapon on the fighter's sword and can herself use spiritual weapon.

DR should not be a problem.

I agree. The Paladin also has Bless Weapon he can cast on someone's weapon (since his smite is already overcoming the DR).


It should also be noted the Paladin can opt for a Cold Iron +1 longsword in addition to bless weapon. If anything they should trade and then the Paladin bless the fighter's sword.

The Ranger's tanglefoot bag option will half of the time ground the Scarlet Son with a little better then a 50% chance of success.

Everyone except the Wizard have +1 weapons so they ignore the Scarlet Sons DR. The Fighter, Rogue and Ranger (as previously mentioned) can have the Cleric or Paladin cast Bless Weapon to deal with the Succubi.

I'm confused by the amount of difficulty your group had...

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.

The PC's don't know what's coming, so they don't know what would be the best mods to get. Once they do know, they MIGHT not know what overcomes the DR.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Why would is the Free RPG Day module a 5th level adventure is beyond me. If you want to introduce people to PF, you really should begin with a level 1 adventure.


Chris Ballard wrote:
The PC's don't know what's coming, so they don't know what would be the best mods to get. Once they do know, they MIGHT not know what overcomes the DR.

The equipment I mentioned above is their standard combat equipment. Even if the players don't know, their Knowledge checks should help or failing that, after stabbing with their normal weapons the GM should prompt the player with something like, "You notice your attack had little effect as your blade skips across her silky skin like a dull knife against a tomato. Perhaps there is some other weapon you have that could be more effective?"

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Gorbacz wrote:
Why would is the Free RPG Day module a 5th level adventure is beyond me. If you want to introduce people to PF, you really should begin with a level 1 adventure.

Because we wanted to tie the adventure in to the Champions of Evil minis encounter pack. And some of those monsters don't do well at all as a 1st level adventure.

We chose 5th level because that's as low as I really felt we could go while still featuring a CR 8 monster with the assumption that there'd be 6 PCs in the adventure (we assumed 6 PCs because of anecdotal evidence/feedback from how many players played in We Be Goblins last year, and because you can fit more folks at a 6 person table than a 4 person table, and so on).

And while this is indeed one way for us to introduce people to Pathfinder... it's not the ONLY purpose Free RPG day serves for us, since the bulk of those who go to Free RPG day are probably NOT people who have never heard of RPGs or are trying to get into them for the first time. A product that appeals to established gamers is as important as an intro product—perhaps MORE important—for Free RPG day.

Whether or not making a super-short adventure to serve so many different masters worked or not... time will tell, I guess.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

It would need to be an entirely different bent if we are creating an event for new players around the world. That is what the Beginner’s Box is for.

Sovereign Court

Interesting to see a pile of negative reviews from day one of release. JJ is usually such a fine writer, it will be interesting to see if the reviews stay low (and if I agree) once this module is more widely available.


GeraintElberion wrote:
Interesting to see a pile of negative reviews from day one of release. JJ is usually such a fine writer, it will be interesting to see if the reviews stay low (and if I agree) once this module is more widely available.

I'll be interested too. It's sounding like there was a certain gap in expectations though. People seem to have assumed it was a "module for new players" and that it was therefore going to be on the easy side of things (or at least not exceptionally difficult). Perhaps if it was approached with a different mindset the experience wouldnt be so jarring.

.
I certainly can't remember a JJ adventure that has been less than terrific.

Liberty's Edge

Ran it for 2 new players and 1 experienced.They used the pregens, so 4 of them minus the fighter and ranger. Knew this wouldnt work out well but played, just because. It went okay till the end. They knew about the shrine before the ambush and went there, but didnt look out back. Ambush and chase seen was okay. Scarlet Son died easily and the 3 went down pretty fast with some good roles.
Than we get to the next encounter and the wizard throws a fireball that catches cleric, pally and bad guys.

Spoiler:
It was my call that since the prisoner could be seen and they were expecting a pile of ash and didnt see one that the BBEG would now join the fray by dominating the wizard. I played the BBEG as wanting prisoners and not wanting to kill them all. So fight some more and than DC 23 suggestion took them all out with "I suggest you go into the cell and stay there" 2 in each and doors locked, results in BBEG win. (this was 5 hours later)


We snagged the module last night (a happy chance that there were still some left in the early evening!) and ran through it later that night. While a tough fight, the adventurers won the day and most importantly, everyone had a good time.

Sovereign Court

Sounds like a lot of problems from trying to keep a succubus encounter low-level. Problem caused by desire to use Champions of Evil for maximum synthesis?

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I actually like this Module, there is enough there in 9 pages to get a nice short story in.

The issue comes is if the group decides not to take upon themselves to do a little investigation of the murders.

If they skip the investigation they will miss the cues on what they will be facing and will not be ready for it.

Investigation:
During the investigation they are told about a "Demon" crawling around on roofs or flying in the skies late at night, someone even saw enough of this "Demon" that would allow the GM to describe the gargoyles fiendish features (Red skin, Horns, wings). This allowed my players to prep for the end battle, even though they had no clue about Avalexi.

Pregens:
The pregens, though not all, are equipped well enough to deal with Avalexi's DR and other abilities. Ezren has Kyra both have Dispel magic to remove the Dominate person. Kyra's align weapon is invaluable for Harsk, Vaelros or Merisiel and was our groups MVP just because of that one spell. Her protection from evil is also another method that can be used to help get rid of a dominate person. Seelah of course due to her Smite Evil needs little help from the other players and her bless weapon is just as useful as Kyra's align weapon. Merisiel can use her cold iron dagger for her sneak attacks. One other thing Kyra could lend her bow and Cold Iron arrows to Harsk.

Those who will have problems are groups that try to play with less then 6 players or/and groups that decide not to do their own investigation.

I think my biggest problem with the scenario was there was way too many stat block errors in it, though that might be more noticeable due to how short it is.

Contributor

Chris Ballard wrote:
The PC's don't know what's coming, so they don't know what would be the best mods to get. Once they do know, they MIGHT not know what overcomes the DR.

Yeah, this--+1 I had casual Pathfinder players and some 4e folks at the table. A lot of options just didn't enter their heads. In the long run, just scoring a hit on the villains was difficult enough, let alone overcoming any DR. They also failed lots of saving throws.


Yea...honestly, "using all your options" is not a thing casual players do. Not even ones with a moderate level of system mastery do this, unfortunately.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I played in this. Mixed group: 2 Pre-gens and 3 PFS legal characters (Alchemist, Ranger, Sorcerer - Pregens: Cleric, Rogue).

We had a rough time of it, and that Succubus escaped but overall it wasn't [i]impossible[/b] merely very hard so in that respect very enjoyable :)

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
Weizegger wrote:
The Ranger's tanglefoot bag option will half of the time ground the Scarlet Son with a little better then a 50% chance of success.

But at the time the player has to decide what option to take, they have absolutely no idea what they are going to face. The mission briefing doesn't come until after all the characters are assembled.

Regular characters fare better - they'll probably have enough cash in hand to be able to pick up a few handy odds-and-ends after they've learned a little more about what they might be facing. But the pregens don't have enough money - their only significant choices are which of the listed customisations the player decides to take.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:

And while this is indeed one way for us to introduce people to Pathfinder... it's not the ONLY purpose Free RPG day serves for us, since the bulk of those who go to Free RPG day are probably NOT people who have never heard of RPGs or are trying to get into them for the first time. A product that appeals to established gamers is as important as an intro product—perhaps MORE important—for Free RPG day.

Whether or not making a super-short adventure to serve so many different masters worked or not... time will tell, I guess.

Well, as a GM who had signed up to run this on Free RPG Day, I'd appreciate just a little more guidance from Paizo. Am I supposed to be running this as an introductory module for new-to-RPG players, a taster of Pathfinder for experienced gamers, a PFS-sanctioned module for a typical game-day or convention table, or an "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again" scenario for Lair Assault or other System Mastery afficionados?


Dragnmoon wrote:
Those who will have problems are groups that try to play with less then 6 players or/and groups that decide not to do their own investigation.

Our group did do a fair bit of investigation and got the

Spoiler:
site of the temple information. We didn't get the knowledge of a demon on our gather information so we weren't able to prep for it. None of us had the appropriate knowledges to face a demon so we didn't have the appropriate gear
Dragnmoon wrote:
I think my biggest problem with the scenario was there was way too many stat block errors in it

Out of interest can you detail what the errors were? We TPK'd which is alright. I've yet to die in PFS before so I'm more than happy. But I'm curious as to how much contributed to the TPK.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
John Lynch 106 wrote:
Dragnmoon wrote:
Those who will have problems are groups that try to play with less then 6 players or/and groups that decide not to do their own investigation.

Our group did do a fair bit of investigation and got the ** spoiler omitted **

Dragnmoon wrote:
I think my biggest problem with the scenario was there was way too many stat block errors in it
Out of interest can you detail what the errors were? We TPK'd which is alright. I've yet to die in PFS before so I'm more than happy. But I'm curious as to how much contributed to the TPK.

It was only a Diplomacy (Gather Information) DC 20 check to get the first bit of info about a "Demon" flying about, that should be easy for level 5s. The more detailed bit of information was a DC 30, defiantly possible but harder. None of the 6 of you had Knowledge (Planes)? Odd group, it is a common skill for someone to have in a PFS game.

Actually most of the errors, if they were not there would have made it more difficult, so they did not contribute.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
Dragnmoon wrote:
It was only a Diplomacy (Gather Information) DC 20 check to get the first bit of info about a "Demon" flying about, that should be easy for level 5s. The more detailed bit of information was a DC 30, defiantly possible but harder. None of the 6 of you had Knowledge (Planes)? Odd group, it is a common skill for someone to have in a PFS game.

Only one of the six pregens has this "common" skill. And even then a DC 30 check needs a roll of 17 or better.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
JohnF wrote:
Only one of the six pregens has this "common" skill. And even then a DC 30 check needs a roll of 17 or better.

You misread my post...

The common Skill I was speaking of was Knowledge (planes) which the above poster said they did not have, which I was surprised about.

Though Diplomacy is a common skill as well, and the first target is 20, 30 was just more detail, and I admitted that would be more difficult to get, 20 is more then enough to get the first clue about "Demons".

On the Pregens

On Knowledge (Planes) Ezren can take 10 to figure out demons DR are mostly Good and Cold Iron.

And on the Diplomacy, Seelah could have taken 10 to to get the Hint.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
Dragnmoon wrote:
The common Skill I was speaking of was Knowledge (planes) which the above poster said they did not have, which I was surprised about.

Ah. Still, as I pointed out, there's only one pregen who has this skill.

But I agree with your major premise - that investigation beforehand can be key in how well a party will do in the final encounter.


Yep and that is Ezren. Our DM discourage me to take him and instead I took Valeros. I am not sure it was a good choice. Specially during the last encounter when my fighter become dominated and try to kill the other players and our paladin was suggested to go to find the guard...

A rogue, a sorcerer and a cleric against the succub and the fighter... oh and of course the iconic was the cleric, the paladin and the fighter, so the rogue has no cold iron dagger.

Liberty's Edge

Abciximab wrote:

The end boss for us was a long drawn out fight that they survived only because they had 2 healers keeping the heavy hitters on their feet and used good combat (flanking & Buffing) tactics. I think the level of experience at the table helped a lot.

In the end fight how did you get around ...

Spoiler:
the dc 23/24 Will saves on Dominate and Suggestion? I hear more than 1 party has gone splat that way.

Our fighter was Dominated to fight the party, Our Pally (me) was Suggested to go get the guards, Our Rogue was Charmed to "Save me from the bad Wizard - he keeps attacking me!". Our Wiz did pretty well putting fear into our fighter but after that we were pretty much out of options"

The DC to dispel the Dominate was too high for our Wiz. As a consequence it was a little like a save or die fight.
And the teleport!!!

Be glad to hear how some others went

All in all it was a great time and we all had fun having our butts handed to us. Good game

Sovereign Court

Interesting that this is for 6 level 5 or 4 level 6 players.

On reading, probably better to be a group of 6.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

1 person marked this as a favorite.

<cynic> If this is an example of the level of 'Six member party' adventures in season 4, I'll be completing my collection of Season 3 and 2, thank you very much. </cynic>

Spoiler:
One thing both groups did (the one I ran and the one I played in) was get the knowlege check of the shrine and bypass the ambush idea and go straight in. This led to 4 encounters, no rest times, in a row. Again, the iconics would have hurt here, since a) We don't have Ezren's spellbook and b) Kyra isn't really set up to swap out spells either. Regular PFS characters who did the ambush (and caught the bad guy) could have gone. "Oh crap, time to swap the spells."

As is, Ezren is fairly useless against the BBEG, he has fire spells, spells subject to SR, and she has high saves. Even Kyra, who I think is the *best* prepared to take on the succubus suffers from a) crappy touch AC and b) SR and saves. I played her and the biggest contribution I did was soaking damage from the dominated rogue and doing channels and heals to keep Seelah running.

The plot is good, but the last encounter, it's not a game it's just a rout.

The Exchange

Playing this with a 5th cavalier, my 5th paladin, a 5th rogue, kyra and a 5th monk we got through pretty unscathed.

We spent 3 hours before we even started the mod (our poor GM [VC for Sydney] was thinking on his feet as we went all around Magnimar hunting information on cults) researching

Spoiler:
Shax
unsuccessfully), attempting to talk to the locals (unsuccessfully) and paying some guards 950 gold pieces to do their job (much laughter was had at the table)

We obliterated encounter 1 in the streets.

That made the trio the second encounter and our cav failed one save.

For the final encounter:

I stupidly gave my masterwork short sword to the poor cowering captive who I tried to give some confidence to through my paladin aura of courage. This lead to a death attack on kyra while we waited for the 'others' to come.

The battle didn't last particularly long after that. She failed to get her babau summon off. Came back tried to hurt us but instead got 'Paladin'd' by a katana crit for lots of damage. Then she took off, being the only one with a ranged weapon, I peppered her with arrows until she fled, much to the ire of a paladin of Iomedae.

All in all, I had an absolute blast playing the mod and running it.

Running the mod for a ranger 2/alchemist 4, sorcerer 4, ranger 4, kyra and merisiel:

Investigations went really well. I gave them some extra info from the background because they consulted with some dividers and paid through the teeth for it.

Spoiler:

I told the party about the summoning of a large number of demons in the form of an au should the ritual be completed in an obscure divining way

They then set up for the first encounter, the ranger got full attacked by the nasty thing for standing on a roof and dropped. Other than that the ranger/alchemist brutalized the encounter even with DR.

The trio got off their nasty present once before being wiped.

The final encounter:

Here the babau came into play and lasted longer than the Succubus. The death attack went off but was saved against and from there it didn't go well. Pure damage overwhelmed the Succubus and the babau didnt quite get his five rounds.

With built PCs my experience is probably blurred but I would definitely run and play it again.

Grand Lodge

JohnF wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

And while this is indeed one way for us to introduce people to Pathfinder... it's not the ONLY purpose Free RPG day serves for us, since the bulk of those who go to Free RPG day are probably NOT people who have never heard of RPGs or are trying to get into them for the first time. A product that appeals to established gamers is as important as an intro product—perhaps MORE important—for Free RPG day.

Whether or not making a super-short adventure to serve so many different masters worked or not... time will tell, I guess.

Well, as a GM who had signed up to run this on Free RPG Day, I'd appreciate just a little more guidance from Paizo. Am I supposed to be running this as an introductory module for new-to-RPG players, a taster of Pathfinder for experienced gamers, a PFS-sanctioned module for a typical game-day or convention table, or an "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again" scenario for Lair Assault or other System Mastery afficionados?

What guidance did you need? Its a module for 5th level characters.

Grand Lodge

I see a lot of people posting blatantly incorrect rules interpretations on this module. I admit this module took a lot of work on my part to run. Many of the powers and abilities of the NPCs and PCs were things I had not had to deal with before.

But you know what I did? I spent the week leading up to the adventure studying the module, asking questions of my fellow GMs and my VC and creating copious notes on possible outcomes. I wanted to make this special event, well special.

And after that I still messed at least one thing up the first time I ran it. The second time I ran it went more smoothly.

Is there something to be said for having an easy straightforward module like We Be Goblins for Free RPG day? Sure, its certainly easier to run.

Is there also something to be said for a complicated and dangerous module that ends in a balls to the wall knock down drag out fight where the entire party can hear the shuffling step of the Grim Reaper? Hell yes there is, and that word is AWESOME.

Great story, great suspense, dangerous enemies and a BBEG that my players will never forget.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

sveden,

You should write a review.

Grand Lodge

Elorebaen wrote:

sveden,

You should write a review.

One step ahead of you. ;)

Liberty's Edge

Mike D. wrote:
We just finished the module 2 hours ago all six of us played the pregens and it was a TPK. I don't mind difficult games but I like to feel like I have a chance in a fight. The pregens are totally outclassed in the end fight. I felt like I was in a sealed cylinder slowly filling with water knowing there was nothing I could do about it.

After some more thought on the subject I realize the problems our group had was too many inexperience players at their class.

specific character issues and encounters:
Our mage cast his dispel magic at the evil cleric during the street fight and his fire ball on the escaping gargoyle, while it killed the cleric he was carrying away and cause the gargoyle to drop the body we could have used that fire ball on the wights later on. Also Our cleric player had never played a cleric before so was totally unfamiliar with the spells so he never cast align weapon. Our rogue player didn't realize she had a cold iron dagger and could be sneak attacking for full damage. Another thing that hurt was the babau demon that she summoned.

So I feel if we had a more experienced table we might have had a good shot at this module. It's a bad idea to run this as an introductory module to experience pathfinder, but as a society adventure the fact it's a 4-7 should tell you something. The pregens require very efficient management but smart EXPERIENCED players should be able to have a better than average chance of succeeding with 1 or 2 deaths.


Strictly from a player's perspective I enjoyed the module; I thought it was entertaining and well written...and certainly challenging.

The weak links were the pregenerated characters. While I don't necessarily expect them to be a stacked deck against the encounter, it would be nice if each character had something useful and dynamic to do both in and out of combat.

Contributor

The print version of this module is now available for order.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
sveden wrote:
But you know what I did? I admit this module took a lot of work on my part to run. Many of the powers and abilities of the NPCs and PCs were things I had not had to deal with before. I spent the week leading up to the adventure studying the module, asking questions of my fellow GMs and my VC and creating copious notes on possible outcomes. I wanted to make this special event, well special.

You say that as if it's something unusual. I do that for anything I'm going to be running for the first time, not just for 'special' events.

It's precisely because I did that, and analysed the contributions that the pregens can make to the final encounter, that I was concerned. If the party don't do their homework, and just walk into the situation without adequate preparation, they aren't going to enjoy it. But even with good research (and a sound tactical battle plan), there are too many chances for failure. Is the party under-strength, and missing one of the more valuable pregens? Not good. Did the players pick the wrong optional enhancements to their pregens? That will make things trickier. But these are decisions that have to be taken blind, without any knowledge of just what the party should be preparing for.

With a well-rounded group of characters run by experienced players familiar with the Pathfinder rulebooks, and a well-thought-out plan, this could be an excellent experience. But if a GM has to spend significant time researching the powers and abilities of the PCs, it's a bit much to expect that a walk-up player will be able to replicate that effort in a few minutes.

As several other posts on this thread can attest, my concerns appear to have been justified.

Grand Lodge

JohnF wrote:
You say that as if it's something unusual. I do that for anything I'm going to be running for the first time, not just for 'special' events.

I wasn't speaking directly to you when I wrote my second post on this page. So please don't think I am accusing you specifically of not taking the time to prepare.

The post before, however, I was speaking directly to you. Do you have an answer to my direct question? Also why did you put quotes around special?

JohnF wrote:

With a well-rounded group of characters run by experienced players familiar with the Pathfinder rulebooks, and a well-thought-out plan, this could be an excellent experience. But if a GM has to spend significant time researching the powers and abilities of the PCs, it's a bit much to expect that a walk-up player will be able to replicate that effort in a few minutes.

As several other posts on this thread can attest, my concerns appear to have been justified.

That is your opinion. To imply that only one or two of the pregens is useful in this module is incorrect.

Most, if not all, of the Pregens have ways to exploit the chinks in this modules' armor. Its up to the players to utilize them.

Do I think that a group of entirely new to pen and paper RPGs players will struggle with this module? Yes.

Dark Archive

There are some issues with Avalexi

Spoiler:

1) She ought to have uncanny dodge as a 2nd level assassin. It's not listed.
2) A baseline succubus does 1d6 damage with its claws. Why are hers 1d4?
3) Her flame blade has an expansive threat range. I believe that a flameblade is a standard "only on a 20" range. How could it get to 18-20?
4) (semi-related to 3) She has Improved Critical shortbow, Point Blank Shot, and Precise Shot. However, she isn't armed with a bow, so these 3 feats are wasted.

5) skill points
Skill Points Unused : 33
Skills Ranks: 86 = 14 class skills +72 race skills
Total Ranks Used 55

* = outsider themed class skill
Bluff +22 = +2 ranks, +9 Cha, +3 class skill +8 racial mod
Disguise +19 = +7 ranks, +9 Cha, +3 class skill
Fly +18 = +10 ranks, +5 Dex, +3 class skill +0 Medium +0 average
Knowledge (local) +8 = +2 ranks, +3 Int, +3 class skill*
Knowledge (nobility) +8 = +2 ranks, +3 Int, +3 class skill*
Knowledge (religion) +13 = +7 ranks, +3 Int, +3 class skill*
Perception +15 = +2 ranks, +2 Wis, +3 class skill +8 racial mod
Sense Motive +11 = +6 ranks, +2 Wis, +3 class skill
Stealth +18 = +10 ranks, +5 Dex, +3 class skill +0 Medium
Use Magic Device +19 = +7 ranks, +9 Cha, +3 class skill

Grand Lodge

chopswil wrote:

There are some issues with Avalexi

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:
Flame Blade replicates a scimitar, so it has the same crit range as a Scimitar.
Sovereign Court

Had a go at putting Avalexi together in herolab

Avalexi:

OUCH CR 8
Female Demon, Succubus Assassin 2
CE Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Demon, Evil, Extraplanar)
Init +5; Senses Darkvision (60 feet); Perception +21
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 26, touch 15, flat-footed 21. . (+4 armor, +5 Dex, +7 natural)
hp 133 (8d10+2d8+80)
Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +11
Defensive Abilities Uncanny Dodge; DR 10/good or cold iron; Immune electricity, fire, poison; Resist +1 Save Bonus against Poison, acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 18
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft., Flight (50 feet, Average)
Melee Claw x2 (Demon, Succubus) +14 x2 (1d6+2/20/x2) and
. . Unarmed Strike +14/+9 (1d3+2/20/x2)
Special Attacks Death Attack (DC 15), Sneak Attack +1d6
Spell-Like Abilities Charm Monster (At will), Detect Good (Constant), Detect Thoughts (At will), Dominate Person (1/day), Ethereal Jaunt (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), Suggestion (At will), Summon (level 3, 1 babau 50%) (1/day), Teleport, Greater (self plus 50 lbs. of objects on, Tongues (Constant), Vampiric Touch (At will)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 15, Dex 21, Con 24, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 29
Base Atk +9; CMB +14; CMD 26
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Assassin Weapon Proficiencies, Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round), Iron Will, Toughness +10, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +29, Diplomacy +21, Disguise +20, Escape Artist +16, Fly +18, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (Local) +14, Perception +21, Sense Motive +13, Stealth +16, Use Magic Device +14
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic; Telepathy (100 feet)
SQ Change Shape (Small/Medium humanoid; alter self) (Su), Energy Drain (DC 24) (Su), Poison Use, Profane Gift (Su), Ring of Counterspells
Combat Gear +1 Glamered Studded Leather; Other Gear Ring of Counterspells, Wand of Flame Blade
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
+1 Save Bonus against Poison +1 bonus to saves vs Poison.
Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Change Shape (Small/Medium humanoid; alter self) (Su) You can change your form.
Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round) You may make up to 6 attacks of opportunity per round, and may make them while flat-footed.
Damage Reduction (10/cold iron or good) You have Damage Reduction against all except Good or Cold Iron attacks.
Damage Resistance, Acid (10) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Acid attacks.
Damage Resistance, Cold (10) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Cold attacks.
Damage Resistance, Fire (10) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Fire attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Death Attack (DC 15) (Ex) You can kill or render a target helpless for 1d6+2 rounds with a prepared sneak attack.
Energy Drain (DC 24) (Su) A succubus drains energy from a mortal she lures into an act of passion, such as a kiss. An unwilling victim must be grappled before the succubus can use this ability. The succubus's kiss bestows one negative level. The kiss also has the effect of a
Flight (50 feet, Average) You can fly!
Immunity to Electricity You are immune to electricity damage.
Immunity to Fire You are immune to fire damage.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.
Poison Use You don't accidentally poison yourself with blades.
Profane Gift (Su) Once per day as a full-round action, a succubus may grant a profane gift to a willing humanoid creature by touching it for 1 full round. The target gains a +2 profane bonus to an ability score of his choice. A single creature may have no more than on
Ring of Counterspells This ring might seem to be a ring of spell storing upon first examination. However, while it allows a single spell of 1st through 6th level to be cast into it, that spell cannot be cast out of the ring again. Instead, should that spell ever be cast upon the wearer, the spell is immediately countered, as a counterspell action, requiring no action (or even knowledge) on the wearer's part. Once so used, the spell cast within the ring is gone. A new spell (or the same one as before) may be placed in it again.

Moderate evocation; CL 11th; Forge Ring, imbue with spell ability; Price 4,000 gp.
Sneak Attack +1d6 +1d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Spell Resistance (18) You have Spell Resistance.
Telepathy (100 feet) (Su) Communicate telepathically if the target has a language.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
sveden wrote:
JohnF wrote:
You say that as if it's something unusual. I do that for anything I'm going to be running for the first time, not just for 'special' events.

I wasn't speaking directly to you when I wrote my second post on this page. So please don't think I am accusing you specifically of not taking the time to prepare.

The post before, however, I was speaking directly to you. Do you have an answer to my direct question? Also why did you put quotes around special?

The answer to your direct question was already present it the post of mine to which you replied (and which you quoted in your post).

I put quotes around special because I didn't see this as in any way different from any other module/scenario, except for the expected player make-up at the table.

sveden wrote:
JohnF wrote:

With a well-rounded group of characters run by experienced players familiar with the Pathfinder rulebooks, and a well-thought-out plan, this could be an excellent experience. But if a GM has to spend significant time researching the powers and abilities of the PCs, it's a bit much to expect that a walk-up player will be able to replicate that effort in a few minutes.

As several other posts on this thread can attest, my concerns appear to have been justified.

That is your opinion. To imply that only one or two of the pregens is useful in this module is incorrect.

Most, if not all, of the Pregens have ways to exploit the chinks in this modules' armor. Its up to the players to utilize them.

I have not implied only one or two of the pregens is useful. I have stated (and posted analysis of the characters to back up the statement) that most of the pregens are borderline ineffective in simple combat (so the players need to come up with some other strategy), and that some of the most useful options available to the pregens are dependent on players having made the right choice of optional equipment.

Even with good tactical choices, the party need good luck on the dice; for some of the choices they need the BBEG to fail a saving throw that isn't all that likely. Meanwhile there are several options available to the BBEG that are far more likely to succeed.

sveden wrote:
Do I think that a group of entirely new to pen and paper RPGs players will struggle with this module? Yes.

Players familiar with tabletop RPGs, though not with the innermost details of Pathfinder, are quite likely to have a hard time finding the right exploits too. I think this is a significant problem for a module that is more likely than most to end up at just such a table.


To be fair, Free RPG Day modules do walk a fine line between being both beginner friendly as well as interesting for experienced players. I applaud Paizo for giving us a 5th level adventure as opposed to what would have amounted to a redux of Master of the Fallen Fortress.

Potential minor errors notwithstanding this was a well written adventure that was saddled with pregens that could have been better than what they were. Some were passable enough...but others were just plain awful.

Spoiler:
A wizard whose offensive spells are useless or near useless against the final boss?


chopswil wrote:

There are some issues with Avalexi

** spoiler omitted **

Regarding Avalexi:

Spoiler:
In Avalexi's entry under During Combat it states that her "first act in combat after her death attack attempt is to retreat to her sell to retrieve her bow and arrows." Rather easy to overlook as no where else is the shortbow or arrows listed.

Dark Archive

Cavian wrote:
chopswil wrote:

There are some issues with Avalexi

** spoiler omitted **

Regarding Avalexi:

** spoiler omitted **

True, but then it should have been listed as part of the gear.

And with no entries in the melee section and the non-existent Ranged section...not very helpful


I put a lot of work into this in advance, since I wasn't sure whether I'd have brand new players or not. I spelled out virtually every ability I thought would come into play with a line or two, trusting that I could fill in the rest. I was very lenient on my rulings, trusting that I could sort out corner case scenarios. The party still needed to be lucky to survive:

Spoiler:
Kyra successfully commanded the Scarlet Sun to drop the evil cleric. As per her tactics, Avalexi melee'd the party, only trying to Dominate the Paladin. The paladin made that save and managed to crit on a smite. The roll to summon the Babau failed. The party dispelled then disarmed the wand of Flame Blade. They managed to save the fireball for the wights.

All in all we had fun- but it's easy to see how this adventure could fall apart quickly without a lot of GM prep and an open mind to letting the party win.

Grand Lodge

Jonf, OK.

I can see our two realities are incompatible on this subject.


Possibly veering off-topic...

I am toying with the idea to run this module as a drop-in between Edge of Anarchy and Seven Days to the Grave (CoCT AP).

Problem is, the status of Sarenrite worship in Korvosa is a tad... different to where the adventure is supposed to take place.

Does anyone have good advice how to patch things up?

Liberty's Edge

From what I read the differences in party survival come (in part) from DM approach to the final event.

Spoiler:
Our Avalexi went; Death attack - teleported away - failed her summon - then from a distance went to town on the Dominate/Suggestion/Charm, and with her DCs of 22-24 we were less than likely to save, effectively removing characters from the game. Her at will's are totally amazing as well. Sure she's legal but ....

Given how our encounter went I marvel that parties actually got a chance to go toe to toe with her.

A very fun adventure though and a great time to be had.

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I just read through this and it sounds interesting, I'm excited to try it out.

The one thing I'm not keen on so far is the propaganda. It feels like the whole purpose of putting the module out was to sell minis. I really hope the mini-pictures gimmick isn't going to find its way into other published products (even if they have a set--please don't taint the new Rise of the Runelords with this!). Really not a fan of the tacky sales attempt.

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