Director of Brand Strategy
|
I have one question that is spoiler-related about the actual layout of the dungeon: how are the PCs supposed to
** spoiler omitted **
It's Pettilicious. No, we use that one for Daigle... Hm... Pettastic? Pett-it-forth? Pettendous? Pett is better than petting?
Pett-tacular?
so what is the new monster?
I've finally gotten the chance to read through this and I'm a little disappointed.
It doesn't really seem like being on the moon adds anything to the module.
What would be different if the Blighted Orchard was somewhere remote on Golarion? Some of the backstory would have to change, but the actual adventure content could easily be the same.
It's still a good adventure, I'd just hoped the "Distant Worlds" part would be emphasized more.
I see your point; my feeling is that due to the nature of the beast, i.e. the modules being rather small, that providing a rich chunk of background material to EMPHASIZE the "Distant Worldly" nature of the place isn't possible.
My model for something like this would've been the 1e module S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.
There was a big wilderness tramp, with a large dungeon, and an extra book with just a gob of new monsters and new spells and a few magic items;........that feels more like what Paizo does with the AP's than the modules currently; it's almost too bad they couldn't put out a "super mega module" every once in a while. Something like that might actually enable the "Distant Worlds" part to actually be emphasized more.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As it is, though, I'm really brainstorming a lot of stuff from this module, linked to the encounters that allready are there; I kinda feel like I could slap together my own private S4 for the Moonscar off of what I'm coming up with.
(after throwing some Larry Niven and Edgar Rice Burroughs in there).....
|
...it's almost too bad they couldn't put out a "super mega module" every once in a while.
Paizo mentioned during GenCon that they're considering experimenting a bit with the length of the modules they produce for the Pathfinder Modules line. Not to say that we'll start seeing super mega modules any time soon, but it is an indication that we might see a higher page count for some modules (and possibly a smaller page count for others).
What are the new monsters in this book?
|
Played this yesterday with our 16th level PFS characters. Some interesting bits to it, the low gravity on the moon made for some interesting jumping situations!
The challenging fight was with the three glabrezu's, while getting betrayed by some guy we rescued at the same time...reverse gravity kept our fighters from being very effective for a couple rounds, while power word stuns, at-will unholy blights, and even some melee attacks really trashed our casters and our rogue...the rogue had to be limited wished back to life twice in the fight (as breath of life) and our boom wizard was stunned 3 rounds...but they got out of there after that and the fighters were able to take care of business eventually...that was a challenging fight.
So, now we only have one more mod to play and our first PFS characters will be maxed out...
Played this yesterday with our 16th level PFS characters. Some interesting bits to it, the low gravity on the moon made for some interesting jumping situations!
** spoiler omitted **
So, now we only have one more mod to play and our first PFS characters will be maxed out...
That chain lightning shouldn't have affected her at all - demons are immune to electricity. On the other hand, losing her mount like that might have caused her problems (but not of the falling damage kind as she can fly).
** spoiler omitted **
Been reading this for GMing soon. Honestly, it's there anything in Pathfinder that can counter your delta-strike tactic, Chernobyl? I would like to be prepared for it by knowing what my options are, if possible.
-Matt
|
|
not specific to this mod, but in general you need to prevent them from getting next to you and getting in the full attack. At this level fighters are balls out damage monsters and if they can't remove half the BBG hit points in a full attack then they're built wrong.
Not much can stand up to it for sure. A contingency spell might do it, tied to a D-Door to D-Door say 20' away - further if you know they have reach or enlarge themselves, etc. requires caster level 12 at least, to tie a 4th level spell to the contingency. Its expensive as well since the material component is 1500gp for the contingency Focus.
Keep PCs at distance. know the illumination/perception rules well. Most PCs have light or ioun torches, and may have mass darkvision at this level, but if the big room is dark then the torches are like spotlights saying 'come get me!'
If the BBG has prep there's Dimensional Anchor as well, but is a short term buff. Beyond that, reduce the chances of hitting. Blink, Blur, Unhallow, etc. Prep and know your spells to put up a challenge. Its hard to justify rewriting enemies in a PFS setting, but I do it in AP's extensively - ask my Jade Regent group! :)
OK, so it sounds like there really isn't anything that a non-arcanist can do about the high-init Dim Door round one delta strike? There's no PF version of Anticipate Teleportation or a feat which would grant at least an AO if something teleports in next to the monster? What about immediate-action teleports?
EDIT: Teleport Tactician, nice, but fighter-only and on the back of a big chain.
The distance/miss chance game can be played, of course, that stuff I already have tools for. It's the delta strike that I don't know of tools for and am wondering about.
-Matt
OK, so it sounds like there really isn't anything that a non-arcanist can do about the high-init Dim Door round one delta strike? There's no PF version of Anticipate Teleportation or a feat which would grant at least an AO if something teleports in next to the monster? What about immediate-action teleports?
EDIT: Teleport Tactician, nice, but fighter-only and on the back of a big chain.
The distance/miss chance game can be played, of course, that stuff I already have tools for. It's the delta strike that I don't know of tools for and am wondering about.
-Matt
All the things I can think of involve spells; that whole Dimensional Savant tree of feats they added is a nightmare to counter as a GM; it's hard to justify not having every single high-CR creature angling to get that full tree.
Only other thing I can find that isn't a custom magic item is the void pennant, which has to be activated; i.e. it isn't on all the time.
Well, there is one other thing - a construct with a readied action. I would rule that an actual creature couldn't hold a readied action forever (though technically, by the rules, they could hold it until they passed out from thirst or starvation, since there's also no RAW fatigue rules for lack of sleep), but a construct - that's a whole different matter. That animated statue could spend 100 years waiting for something teleport in next to it and would be just as ready after 100 years as it was in the first minute.
I'll also note that in Chernobyl's case specifically, while technically their characters may be playing at CR, experience and optimization and tactics count for a lot too and can bump their effective party level a lot. So if I were running a game for their party, odds are pretty good none of the encounters would be run as-is, from the sound of it.
Also note that wandering monsters are great for burning resources. The 15-minute adventuring day is a very problematic beast :)
|
|
yeah, we've been playing these characters together exclusively since Paizocon 2010 or 2009 I think, we were the only group playing the 10-11 tier of Year of the Shadow Lodge at that paizocon.
A couple mods later we did Eyes of the Ten, and then we were pretty much locked in to playing together since nobody else around was that high a level. Now they're 18th and ready to retire after playing Runelords part 6, we're trying to line up a GM locally.
Tactics count for a lot. We have a master trapsmith (our healer!), a boom wizard, a boom arcane archer, a crit monkey fighter, and my damage monkey fighter.
OK, guys, I think I've found the answer.
-Matt
Interesting. I wonder why it wasn't in the d20pfsrd database?
(edit) Oh, I remember - I wasn't looking in the spell DB, I was looking in the Feats DB.
However, I'm glad to see they've given teleport trap a Will save (unlike anticipate teleportation. Man that was annoying; I am so tired of spells which there's no way to overcome (like euphoric tranquility ... dropped that on my party once and the players were pissed).
I plan on running this tomorrow. I know the fighter is going to cut through a lot of these creatures quickly. I believe I will bump up the General in stats and weapon bonuses to make him more of a challenge. I will see how it goes!
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
|
So my group has talked me into running the Moonscar for them in two weeks. I am looking for expansions for the module -- like details on the Void Boys (and what might be going on there), if the fire giants, or the troglodytes. Basically anything that isn't detailed in the module.
Has anyone done anything they would like to share? Or point me in the right direction?