7-99 Through Maelstrom Rift

I'm assuming that this adventure is the current 5-star exclusive, but can't seem to find any confirmation of this. Is my assumption correct?

If so, I'll be running this quite a few times in the coming months, and would love to see what pitfalls people have hit (or bypassed) as they've run it themselves at recent conventions. All thoughts and comments are welcome.

I'm not a five-star, yet, and am scheduled to run this.

At a convention, right? They make exceptions for conventions.

Two questions after my first read-through:

First:

If you have fewer than six players, consider setting aside Ember or Krakos so that each of the four elements is represented within the group.

Wouldn't that be Ember and Jamila, since Krakos is (as far as I can tell) the only Earth representative?

Second:
The map for Area C has a large circle marked R on it:

R: Crusader (D1 only)

However, I looked through the whole thing and didn't see a "Crusader" in the scenario? (I'm guessing this was just an artifact from using that map in multiple projects, but I want to make sure I didn't miss anything)

Thanks very much in advance - this is fantastic scenario, and is my favorite out of the three specials so far for this year!

Rhyol can represent both earth and fire. And I'd hate to see Jamila not included since she's one big callback to a certain season 0 adventure.

Rhyol can represent both earth and fire. And I'd hate to see Jamila not included since she's one big callback to a certain season 0 adventure.

I concur fully that I'd hate to see no Jamila (two season 0 adventures, by familial (silver) extension). That said, I can't see removing anyone else other than her and Ember to keep it one-from-each, unless maybe Jamila was there representing whichever one isn't there?

Edit: Upon doing my second read-through, I see that Jamila has some connection to "the land" (Material plane, but still), so her representing the interests of the Earth is definitely plausible.

I'm assuming that this adventure is the current 5-star exclusive, but can't seem to find any confirmation of this. Is my assumption correct?

Yes.

Rhyol can represent both earth and fire. And I'd hate to see Jamila not included since she's one big callback to a certain season 0 adventure.

That's the idea. Rhyol has both the earth and fire subtypes, and she's from the border regions between the Plane of Earth and the Plane of Fire, so she's doing double duty in the four player adjust.

Kelly Youngblood wrote:

Rhyol can represent both earth and fire. And I'd hate to see Jamila not included since she's one big callback to a certain season 0 adventure.

That's the idea. Rhyol has both the earth and fire subtypes, and she's from the border regions between the Plane of Earth and the Plane of Fire, so she's doing double duty in the four player adjust.

Very cool - I clearly missed the PC subtypes on my first two passes.

Any thoughts about the map artifact?

Again - thank you! :)

Is it supposed to have dropped? I have not got it yet.

EDIT correction, I have it, but it is sorting to the top of the list for season seven.

Guess I now have a lot of reading to do!

Any thoughts about the map artifact?

Again - thank you! :)

It should say R=Rift Spinner :)

Mike Bramnik wrote:

Any thoughts about the map artifact?

Again - thank you! :)

It should say R=Rift Spinner :)

...ya know, that should have occurred to me on either of my first two passes at the scenario? I'm a dummy. Thank you!

Again - of all three specials this year, this one is my favorite!

Thanks! Glad you like it :) It was fun to write!

I'm assuming that this adventure is the current 5-star exclusive, but can't seem to find any confirmation of this. Is my assumption correct?

If so, I'll be running this quite a few times in the coming months, and would love to see what pitfalls people have hit (or bypassed) as they've run it themselves at recent conventions. All thoughts and comments are welcome.

Drogon, since nobody really addressed this post I wanted to let you know about the req's for 7-99. After Gen Con, 7-99 will be limited to 4-5 Star GM's (VO's are not exempt from this requirement, but get a bonus to their stars) and is restricted to Tier 4+ conventions (cons with at least 26 tables).

Drogon wrote:

I'm assuming that this adventure is the current 5-star exclusive, but can't seem to find any confirmation of this. Is my assumption correct?

If so, I'll be running this quite a few times in the coming months, and would love to see what pitfalls people have hit (or bypassed) as they've run it themselves at recent conventions. All thoughts and comments are welcome.

Drogon, since nobody really addressed this post I wanted to let you know about the req's for 7-99. After Gen Con, 7-99 will be limited to 4-5 Star GM's (VO's are not exempt from this requirement, but get a bonus to their stars) and is restricted to Tier 4+ conventions (cons with at least 26 tables).

Well, that last part is grim. I am a 5-star GM without a 5-star scenario to run this year, nor the ability to grant access to it to my player base. How upsetting...

What would be the point of such a restriction? For a lot of people getting access to a 4 or 5 star GM is enough of a hurdle. Also, some parts of the country do lots of little cons/gamedays instead of big ones; should those dedicated players not have access to the story?

Well, that last part is grim. I am a 5-star GM without a 5-star scenario to run this year, nor the ability to grant access to it to my player base. How upsetting...

Talk to your RVC, directly or through your VC. I have already notified Eric that I intend to run a 15 table event at our local store in order to offer 7-99 and 8-00 to my Phoenix players.

Having to seek permission to run something that is "granted" to me by my 5-star status is a step backward from the "5-star reward" as it used to be. I'm really unhappy about this. Seriously.

Remember that "taking things away is worse than doing things properly" statement I made in another thread? Someone just stepped in it, and it's raised my hackles, I will not lie. Combined with all the talk of altered convention rewards and status, which still has not been addressed, I'm swiftly losing my patience.

Then I apologize for saying yes without also including the fact that it is convention exclusive for the first year of availability. That was my bad for misleading you.

Then I apologize for saying yes without also including the fact that it is convention exclusive for the first year of availability. That was my bad for misleading you.

You don't have anything to apologize for. No one has, yet, as I'm hoping this is a misunderstanding.

If I am being misled, it is by the way the 4- and 5-star adventures have been handled up until now. Up until last year there were only 4-star exclusives. Mostly, those exclusives came out mid-season, and could be run at any time (designated 3-S or 4-S) before being added to the regular rotation the following year. Bonekeep changed that, by making it necessary to be run at a convention. There was a lot of griping about that. "What good is it to be a 4- or 5-star?" and comments of that ilk.

Last year #6-99 was introduced as a true 5-star Exclusive, one that specifically had to be run by 5-star GMs, and was NOT allowed to be run by 4-star VOs. There was an additional 4-star adventure (#6-98) that was set up for those GMs, and for VOs to "extra star" qualify for. By the way, if someone tells me that #7-98 is ALSO a Convention Exclusive, merely for 4-stars, I'm going to completely lose my cool.

Now, after a very long and heated discussion in April about how detrimental the new convention policy was toward local stores, one that was supposed to be re-addressed in May and still has not been touched because everyone is "too busy," I am being told that this adventure is YET ANOTHER convention-only exclusive item. And, I'll be honest, at the rate that "convention exclusive" crap is starting to pile up (counting all the different boons that you can ONLY get through conventions), things are starting to stink already. Then going in and making it more difficult to QUALIFY as a convention? I'm calling b#$!%~++.

But, no, you have nothing to apologize for. Frankly, I'm just feeling a bit disenfranchised. I'm unsure what it is that I've done in recent years by trying to keep my community together. It seems, at this point, to be a rather thankless job that I have done, as I see plenty of other people getting rewarded for the same job I do, with less time put in, but due to the glitz and glamour of being part of a "convention" they get the accolades.

And I've obviously just pissed myself off by typing all this...

I'm going to go to bed and try to cool down. I'll take this up in a different thread, where it belongs, tomorrow.

Talk to your RVC, directly or through your VC. I have already notified Eric that I intend to run a 15 table event at our local store in order to offer 7-99 and 8-00 to my Phoenix players.

That is beyond not feasible in a lot of places.

That is beyond not feasible in a lot of places.

Then bring what is feasible up to your local coordinator and work something out, rather than continue an off-topic discussion in a GM discussion thread.

I see a lot of references that Krakos ma6 want to put a divination sensor here or there, but I don't see any reference to them on his sheets nor any instructions to him in the briefing. Are they a remnant from an earlier edition?

BigNorseWolf wrote:

That is beyond not feasible in a lot of places.

Then bring what is feasible up to your local coordinator and work something out, rather than continue an off-topic discussion in a GM discussion thread.

I get enough problems with the police without talking to myself :)

Mitch Mutrux wrote:

Drogon wrote:

I'm assuming that this adventure is the current 5-star exclusive, but can't seem to find any confirmation of this. Is my assumption correct?

If so, I'll be running this quite a few times in the coming months, and would love to see what pitfalls people have hit (or bypassed) as they've run it themselves at recent conventions. All thoughts and comments are welcome.

Drogon, since nobody really addressed this post I wanted to let you know about the req's for 7-99. After Gen Con, 7-99 will be limited to 4-5 Star GM's (VO's are not exempt from this requirement, but get a bonus to their stars) and is restricted to Tier 4+ conventions (cons with at least 26 tables).

Well, that last part is grim. I am a 5-star GM without a 5-star scenario to run this year, nor the ability to grant access to it to my player base. How upsetting...

7-99 will most likely function like the Bonekeep series originally did. I think 7-99 will be convention only for a limited time, before getting opened up for wider use. I understand it is frustrating, but I think that conventions do need shiny bits to draw in players. We didn't really see anything special for cons this past season, other than the multi-tables, which can be tricky to organize.

I see a lot of references that Krakos ma6 want to put a divination sensor here or there, but I don't see any reference to them on his sheets nor any instructions to him in the briefing. Are they a remnant from an earlier edition?

The sensors are the crystals that he mentions in his "faction letter" to himself.

James Anderson wrote:

I see a lot of references that Krakos ma6 want to put a divination sensor here or there, but I don't see any reference to them on his sheets nor any instructions to him in the briefing. Are they a remnant from an earlier edition?

The sensors are the crystals that he mentions in his "faction letter" to himself.

Got it. Thanks.

Has anyone written up a short summary of the Concordance of Elements, ideally with a nice big logo? I'd like to include it in the background packet with their sheet and goal.

Also, does Ember's secondary success condition seem significantly harsher than the others? Do you think it's appropriate to suggest taking 10? Otherwise there's a significant chance of failure just through blind luck (needing to make 3/4 rolls.)

Has anyone written up a short summary of the Concordance of Elements, ideally with a nice big logo? I'd like to include it in the background packet with their sheet and goal.

Also, does Ember's secondary success condition seem significantly harsher than the others? Do you think it's appropriate to suggest taking 10? Otherwise there's a significant chance of failure just through blind luck (needing to make 3/4 rolls.)

The DCs take into account her repertoire of bardic buffs, such as the +2 from heroism, and the fact that she can retroactively give herself an additional +2d4 to her check with gallant inspiration if she fails it. I'd suggest playing into the character's strengths in this way instead, rather than making her success automatic via take 10.

Has anyone written up a short summary of the Concordance of Elements, ideally with a nice big logo? I'd like to include it in the background packet with their sheet and goal.

This is the first appearance of the Concordance of Elements. As such, this adventure presents what is known—at least so far.

Yeah, I just wanted a slightly cooler looking "welcome to the Concordance, here's out mission statement" handout to make it feel vague like we were playing in "Concordance of Elements Organized Play"
If no GM has created one, I'll try to throw something ugly together.

Linda, a few more quick questions for you:

1 - In Location B, does B2 count as one room or two?

2 - In each of the rooms for Location B, where are the blue crystals? I know it gives their vertical location, but horizontally it doesn't say. My guess would be center of the rooms, but not sure if you wanted something specific?

3 - In Location C, do freed Wysps have any "morale conditions" under which they would use their "living battery" ability?

4 - In Location C, where (geographically) is the ring of electricity? The box text seems to suggest that it is directly above the Thassalonian runes, but again, just wanted to make sure.

Thanks very much again!

Much like I did for Serpent's Ire, I made pregen cheat sheet for each of the pregens in Through Maelstrom Rift. They are designed to make the characters easier to pick up and run. You can find them, as usual, on pfsprep.

Thank you so much James! I was wanting to do this, but just haven't had the time. :)

I want a plushy for Rhyol. She's adorable!

Hey guys, just wanted to make sure that Gen Con GM's make sure to bring copies of the pregens with them. I know it was in the voulnteer email Bob sent out, but it's pretty important so I thought it might bear repeating in the GM thread.

I've been preparing the adventure and one thing that is confusing me is the following in Part A.

I've been preparing the adventure and one thing that is confusing me is the following in Part A.

** spoiler omitted **

So, it appears that the four maps are just the hazards, right?

That the PCs and equipment will be thrown around towards the hazards, randomly (Heck, you could use three dimensions for this). I am thinking that I'll deal with a lot of that with blank flip mats...

If I am reading it correctly.

I.e., the hazards are 100' apart from each other... so, characters will have to move between them, taking some time.

the plane of air appears to have the same moving reference frame and relative velocity problems as space combat simulations do, only moreso because of subjective variable gravity...

Ah I see now...

(BTW - no reason for spoilers, this is a GM thread)

Yeah, I think it will be an interesting encounter, especially since it doesn't have to be a combat one. Heck, I can see the PCs talking the critters into helping!

But, it is not sequential... the hazards are all over the place. However, I wouldn't be too worried about calculating the distances, just say they are all 100' apart, and let it go at that. Makes it easy, and you don't need to do math. Good enough for government work (says the guy that works for a Quasi-State Institution of Higher Learning)

I was thinking about just having a note card by each hazard indicating it's current distance from the "center" or starting location. As things move, I'll just change the numbers. It's going to be very interesting. Probably more RP than math.

I was thinking about just having a note card by each hazard indicating it's current distance from the "center" or starting location. As things move, I'll just change the numbers. It's going to be very interesting. Probably more RP than math.

I made a bunch of cards with 100', 200', 500', and 50' that I plan to scatter around to show distances between things, changing them as needed.

Swiftbrook wrote:

I was thinking about just having a note card by each hazard indicating it's current distance from the "center" or starting location. As things move, I'll just change the numbers. It's going to be very interesting. Probably more RP than math.

I made a bunch of cards with 100', 200', 500', and 50' that I plan to scatter around to show distances between things, changing them as needed.

I rather like this idea - hope you don't mind someone else yoinking it (and giving you full credit, of course)!

James Anderson wrote:

Swiftbrook wrote:

I was thinking about just having a note card by each hazard indicating it's current distance from the "center" or starting location. As things move, I'll just change the numbers. It's going to be very interesting. Probably more RP than math.

I made a bunch of cards with 100', 200', 500', and 50' that I plan to scatter around to show distances between things, changing them as needed.

I rather like this idea - hope you don't mind someone else yoinking it (and giving you full credit, of course)!

By all means!

1 - In Location B, does B2 count as one room or two?

2 - In each of the rooms for Location B, where are the blue crystals? I know it gives their vertical location, but horizontally it doesn't say. My guess would be center of the rooms, but not sure if you wanted something specific?

3 - In Location C, do freed Wysps have any "morale conditions" under which they would use their "living battery" ability?

4 - In Location C, where (geographically) is the ring of electricity? The box text seems to suggest that it is directly above the Thassalonian runes, but again, just wanted to make sure.

Thanks very much again!

Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on these? Thanks in advance!

I was thinking more like creating a larger scale map with 50' squares or something for the Storms and Wreckage portion. A mini-map in that section would be handy.

I don't know if the expectation is to have people making their Wis checks for subjective gravity to shoot 300' and then slow 150' to "race" the Wysps?

Played this last night.
Loved the pregens.
Loved the flavor "we be elementals".
Loved my players and GM.
Hated the session.
Such a dichotomy.

Read the module this morning, especially the part about only needing to use subjective gravity for those without a fly speed.

Maybe that needs to be far more clear because this is miserable to play with characters +1 to subjective flying as their only way to move despite a fly 60 good. The GM didn't understand that I could have just used my fly speed I asked to use.

Now that a bunch of people have run this, I'm curious how everyone handled the debris fields and what worked/didn't?

I ended up using a much bigger scale map with 50' squares, and minis for each of the components. I did mini-maps of each debris field on 1/4" graph index cards, and drew out a full scale map for the one field that ended up with multiple people in it (the storm cloud.) For the most part, people shot by/through the fields grabbing at the components. I think it worked out fairly well, but a little more advice on how to run it would have cleared things up a lot.

I ended up running for a table with people new to Pathfinder (not just PFS!) which was weird. The pregen sheet for Ember was very rough for a new player. If there's any chance of updating the sheet, putting Diplomacy and Sense Motive from Versatile Performance in the skills section, or having a one liner in the abilities section, would have helped a lot. We went through a couple of encounters where Ember couldn't make a Diplomacy check before I look at their sheet and figured out what was going on. Having a brief blurb for Inspire Courage would help a lot too.