Wicht |
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I mentioned it elsewhere, but doesn't hurt to mention it here. The module comes with pregenerated characters made especially for the scenario. Each character has a story tie-in and the module makes note of each one in the appropriate place. The character sheets are ready to be printed and used as is, with each containing a description of special abilities and how they work so that Players can understand their characters and their abilities at a glance (At Origins, I had a couple who had never played PFRPG, including a woman whose last D&D experiences had been 2e, and they were able to pick everything up very fast.) If the pregenerated characters are not used, try to avoid having healers in the group. The absence of ubiquitious healing magic will assist in keeping the modules survival-horror feel.
There are a couple of other GM aids ready to be printed off as well, to assist in keeping track of this or that. What I did was print everything up, laminated it and then I could mark with an eraseable marker on the various tracks.
I also recommend getting some gaming paper and drawing out the map for your players on the 1 inch squares, splitting it up into the three sections of the complex.
I've run the scenario 3 times now and it worked out each time at about 3 and a half hours for me, though if you want it to run longer, you can emphasize the exploration more than the survival.
When I wrote out the scenario, I was aiming for the feel of a three act horror movie, and I think I achieved that. That is, it worked for me each time. If you use it, I would like to hear how it goes for you. :)
Dawn R Fischer Frog God Games |
Dawn R Fischer Frog God Games |
gamer-printer |
Two party members went below 0 hit points after finally encountering the Yuki-onna due to her frost breath attack - bad saves on both members, but luckily weren't killed. Both were healed up, but had scores in the mid teens after healing. Later leaving the eastern quarters to make their assault on the central hall, both of the same characters went below 0 hit points again, mostly fighting mukurokoori zombies. Potions and healing were mostly used up by that time. Although they weren't necessarily tough, because there was so many of them, it was attrition that brought the two into negative hit point scores.
The Paladin (yamabushi) member of the party was the only 'healer' available, yet all of his healing ended up being dedicated to just healing himself. He was the main oni-slayer in the party, but took a beating doing that work.
In the final encounter, a ranger (yojimbo) and the rogue were the primary combatants against the Yuki-onna, they at least got her to stop the ritual of controlling the kami-shard, and defeated her in the end. The paladin negotiating the ice covered ground (he fell down a lot trying to get to the Central Hall) finally got to the ranger and rogue in the last round fighting the Yuki-onna.
In the end, the standing PCs were all in the single digits as far as hit points go. The sorcerer and a ranger were the only unconscious members of the party - nobody killed, but a very rough challenge to win.
While nobody was killed, when both the sorcerer and a ranger went below 0 hit points versus the yuki-onna, one of the standing players, starting bleating "TPK! TPK!". Well it didn't happen, but the adventure put fear in the players, that's for sure.
Wicht |
I thought I would share this review left on RPGNow:
I downloaded this adventure to run for my Legend of the Five Rings game, not Pathfinder. Aside from having to modify the monsters to suit the d10 version of L5R, I found this adventure to be very well written, immediately engaging, and a perfect match for the L5R setting. I really liked the back story in particular - the information is very useful. I also found the Three Act method of running the adventure to be very helpful in raising the tension for my players. I would strongly recommend this adventure for anyone interested in playing d20, Pathfinder, or L5R or another Wuxia-style RPG. Don't delay! Download today!