Pathfinder Module: Tears at Bitter Manor (PFRPG)

release is now in March??
ughhh

I'm looking forward to this one. I'm wondering if I could drop it into Carrion Crown...

Probably not since it takes the characters to 8th or 9th level.

-Aaron

The adventure will certainly require the party to be every bit of 7th or 8th level for those last few encounters, but then you can always make it fit into another campaign if you need to. I was thinking Carrion Crown because it's a haunted house (sort of), or Kingmaker since the retired adventurers could request help during a long sandbox time period.

I hope you all enjoy it when it comes out!

Hi, I was wondering how this module might fit as a follow-up to The Dragon's Demand.

That one of course gets the PC's to 6th level (or 7th if they try REALLY hard).

Both are set in Taldor, though quite far apart. I'm sure I could make some kind of story hook.

Steven, if you're still out there, would this idea have any merit?

And what level ranges can we expect for future modules released in 2014? I'm considering a subscription if it meshes well.

I have skimmed Dragon's Demand (and I really really liked it), but I haven't read it in depth enough to try to hybridize the plots. However, if you'll just give me a day or two, I'll post what I'd do in my game to bridge the two. I can also come up with a couple of beefy bits to add to some of the encounters since the PCs would be starting a bit higher in level.

I think if PCs can complete The Dragon's Demand and Bitter Manor back to back, they can pretty much get the keys to Taldor. Good on them!

Thanks! That sounds great! Among my concerns were two tricky items: 1) gear: The heroes in DD get soem pretty specific gear near the end to help them in the final combat. Mayeb they sell this off and start over with average wealth-by-level before tackling Bitter Manor? Maybe the heroes retire briefly, or soemthing like that.

2) Party composition: My current groups are running pretty vanilla parties in that they are covering the "classic" roles without specializing in fighting certain creature types, etc. Would this present any added difficulty?

Thanks again!

The premise of this module sounds like a Scooby-Doo episode, lol.

I don't think a little extra gear is gonna hurt the encounters much. Some of them are pretty tough. Like lots of good adventures, there's some specific gear in Bitter Manor that will help with the most chalenging encounters if the PCs avail themselves of it. If some encounters seem soft because of what your players come into the game with, consider not giving them as much experience for quest items and beefing up encounters that seem fun but too easy.

I'll be honest, a good adventure usually has soft encounters, challenging encounters, and really tough encounters, and I can't think of too many "soft encounters" from the top of my head.

I think adventures have to be designed with both mixed parties, unusual classes, and the common mix of classes in mind. I tried consciously to do just that.

Xorial, it might seem that the party will unmask the villain at the end and he'll be carted of to jail, but I think this story is littered with corpses.

Hope everyone digs it!

Anyone have this yet and if they do which Iconics are in it?

Xorial, it might seem that the party will unmask the villain at the end and he'll be carted of to jail, but I think this story is littered with corpses.

So... The Venture Bros. parody version of Scooby Doo? Where Fred's a homicidal kidnapper modeled off of Ted Bundy, Daphne's Patty Hearst, Velma's been turned into Valerie Solanas, and Shaggy's the Son of Sam(with Scooby being Harvey and only able to be heard by Shaggy)...

Schoolgirls! Painted lips! Zey must be punished! Ze hair must be punished, Sonny! You are ze hand chosen by ze Master! Yours is ze veil of blood! Yours is ze sword of Michael!

I confess...I have never seen Venture Brothers. My friend Nick Logue is a fan but I never caught it. I think it'son Netflix, though.

If your party breaks down and starts serial killing, I think you can blame video games and parents, but not....Her.

How many new monsters are in it. Thanks

I was asked to create new monsters and select several from the 2013 Superstar monster round. I think I can say there are easily half a dozen, but I'll withhold more specific comment until it looks like more people have a copy in hand.

Or the 26th when the .pdf is available.

I confess...I have never seen Venture Brothers. My friend Nick Logue is a fan but I never caught it. I think it'son Netflix, though.

If your party breaks down and starts serial killing, I think you can blame video games and parents, but not....Her.

The first season is on Netflix, yea. It's a good one, but season 2 and season 3(which has the Scooby-Doo parody) are really great.

Anyway, enough about that. I want my copy so I can see the embalming bear!

The finished version of the adventure has....surprises. Order yours today!

REALLY looking forward to this.

Is this going to also get the PFS Chronicle treatment?

RIGZARRETH p. 32

DULVAN p. 37

I know you can't tell much from a "Blurb" but I just finished reading the last Pathfinder Tale "Dagger of Trust" and the plot of Bitter Manor seems very familiar in light of the book. Is this on purpose or just a coincidence based on my not having enough info about what Bitter Manor is really about?

bunch of monsters and magic items from superstar 2013 are included

nice touch!!!

I don't know anything about Dagger of Trust. Bitter Manor is,described in more detail in the final round of 2013's Superstar contest. But there are changes, so don't assume everything there is exactly the same as the adventure.

Thanks Steven, obviously not a purposeful crossover then. I look forward to seeing the module as it sounds great.

bunch of monsters and magic items from superstar 2013 are included

nice touch!!!

Which one? I'm curious because I was asked if my item could be used in the module.

Which one was yours, brah?

And, Chopswil:

Which one was yours, brah?

And, Chopswil:

** spoiler omitted **

The elixir of last will.

Steven T. Helt wrote:

Which one was yours, brah?

And, Chopswil:

** spoiler omitted **

The elixir of last will.

that one was included

Shweeeet!

Thanks!

Did Cobra-hood cloak or Thoughtstealer ooze get in?

I did just download my pdf and while I haven't been reading much (nor will I until I get a few hours of sleep, so please don't ask me for spoilers) in a passing glance this appears to be the first of the new adventures without extensive dungeons. I will take that as a sign that more diversity (not only in regions but in content) is coming :-)

Edit: What I did see in both art and cartography looks gorgeous btw.

Thanks for using my item! Got my name in a Pathfinder book! Woot!

You deserve it Christopher! I really liked it!

I am so pleased with the art and cartography. Yerril and the art over the first chapter creeped me right out!

Well, I just subscribed to the AP's for Mummy's Mask, and with the Pathfinder Advantage in place I grabbed this too. I should have it in my hands within the week!

Blob of glue ripped both the map and the back page of the module.
Hopefully next release will fix this

So far it seems interesting. The leveling speed worries me, since our players really enjoy time between leveling, playing at one level long times. Sure, there are ton of adventures in addition, but most of them are so secondary in comparison to the main plot

I liked Dragons Demand, and Tears at Bitter Manor has some very great scenes and VERY strong scenes and themes going on, but I really liked the one level at time-modules. You could hack adventure trough in a night and be done with it, but this eats time little too much to be casual adventure.

That is good feedback, Rosgakori. I think my solution would be to brainstorm several more cases of betrayal or heartbreak. Cassomir is certainly large enough to keep the PCs busy for a while. Plus, the other things going on in Cassomir are compelling. Or you could combine them, like, a single mother wasting away because her young son was abducted by derro and taken below the city for Nefarious Purposes.

A few more of these sprinkled into the city or in Hope's Hollow will slow down the leveling pace. The encounters and stories solidify the theme and extend play, and you remove some side quest experience to keep the level adjustment on a pace your table enjoys.

But, don't let them get to the house without a strong head start on level 8. :)

I noticed the stat block for Rigzarreth on page 32 lists her as being ME. I'm guessing that should be NE.

I noticed the stat block for Rigzarreth on page 32 lists her as being ME. I'm guessing that should be NE.

No, she is YOU.

Chris Ballard wrote:

I noticed the stat block for Rigzarreth on page 32 lists her as being ME. I'm guessing that should be NE.

No, she is YOU.

Well, I wasn't going to advertise it.

Is this going to also get the PFS Chronicle treatment?

In time it will. With convention season approaching, my primary responsibility is getting everything prepared for the end of Season 5 and the start of Season 6. As my schedule permits, I will work on sanctioning and the accompanying Chronicle sheets.

I read through this module a few nights ago, and it looks like it would sanction rather nicely.

I noticed that Hope's Hollow siblings (Regine and Cris) are missing some feats. They are both fighter 3/rogue 2, so they should have a total of 6 feats (1 human, 2 fighter, 3 for 5th level), but they have 5 feats, one being Weapon Finesse, which is granded by their rogue talent Finesse Rogue.

So they are both missing 2 feats (?).
Or these npcs follow some rule im unaware of?

Their talents are:
Alertness, Dazzling Display, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (rapier), Weapon Finesse (granted by a rogue talent).

I'm really not a fan of the Delgeth...

The Delgeth is the only Pronghorn monster in Mythology, and now it is turned into a neutral (the Delgeth from NA mythology is extremely evil) nature hugging Elk...

This delgeth doesn't only cut creatures like the Sianach and Paiyuk (two real Elk monsters from mythology) from the paizonizer-monster list but also destroys the only chance on a cool Pronghorn monster :-(

I know JJ say its unlikely the monster gets changed when converted into the Bestiary 5 or later, but I still hope it will be changed, maybe this creature can be renamed into Paiyuk.

Appart from that, I really love the story and the book!

@Evil Queen
Hey, i didnt know that a Delgeth was evil, that actually matches my plans for the encounter. I was planning to ignore the "neutral and peaceful" aspect of the creature and make him really aggressive, as if he evil in the forest had affected him and he went over protective, trying to expell the demons with fire.

But now that you tell me it's an evil creature, that makes things a lot easier to me. I went ahead and read some texts about them, and they seemed more like a giant cat mixed with an elk, really aggressive and a carnivore aswell.

@Evil Queen

Hey, i didnt know that a Delgeth was evil, that actually matches my plans for the encounter. I was planning to ignore the "neutral and peaceful" aspect of the creature and make him really aggressive, as if he evil in the forest had affected him and he went over protective, trying to expell the demons with fire.

But now that you tell me it's an evil creature, that makes things a lot easier to me. I went ahead and read some texts about them, and they seemed more like a giant cat mixed with an elk, really aggressive and a carnivore aswell.

Well in most pictures and storylines I see about the creatures they mention it as Carnivorous Antilope of North America, and there is only one type of antelope in NOrth America, the Pronghorn.

+ the awesome picture you find on google pictures of the delgeth being some type of flaming pronghorn/bicorne.

I love the abilities of the Delgeth from this book, don't get me wrong, but I hate it being an Elk and being neutral and nature hugging, while the real deal was a nature destroying creature and one of the terrible demons from Native America, it belonged to the demons, Yeitso, Tsenahale and the twin totem demon with a difficult name.

I love the idea of making the Delgeth a demon-corrupted creature, much like the Baregara, Bebilith and other demon-like horrors that aren't demons YET.

Quick necro question for Steven Helt: What deity would you ascribe to Luersa? Seeing as antipaladins need a patron deity in Pathfinder and in keeping with the context of the adventure, she'd likely worship one of the archdaemons or possibly some NE deity.

Thanks for the question, Ashram!

My understanding is that antipaladins don't need a specific deity, same as other divine classes might venerate a concern or set or domains. Certainly, Luersa betrayed her deity and stopped believing in anything but evil and the destruction of her rival faith.

If you feel you really want to nominate a deity for her to sell herself out to, use any evil deity you think would deal with the daemons, but I'd say the Horsemen Famine. Not only is that my persona on my writing team, but Anobaith clearly deals in people who are fixated on a need—a form of spiritual starvation.

Hope that helps!

Maybe I am missing something, but are there flip mats or map packs that go along with the module without the labels in them?

It's hard for my group not to metagame with a big dotted T square labeled for traps and that sort of thing etc... I have the ground floor map without labels, but what about all the other maps?

The Supplements for this Adventure box on page 5 states in part:

However, the monster on page 23 is called out from that book but doesn't have a stat block.

I downloaded the pdf for this and it seems I'm missing a map. Is there supposed to be a map of Hope's Hollow, since there are actual encounter areas H (Sorrow from Beyond) and I (Mother's Care Home for Invalids)? I do have the tactical map for the Invalid home.