A Pathfinder Society Quest designed for level 5 characters written by Nathan King.
Long ago, the daemonic harbinger Anogetz nearly conquered Southern Fangwood with an army of mad beasts, but a miracle from the hunter god Erastil staved off disaster. Thieves made off with the holy relic keeping the daemoic energies sealed, and now it's up to the PCs to return the relic before the evil force awakens and marches once more.
Fane of Fangs utilizes content from Pathfinder Unchained and includes 4 pregenerated level 5 Unchained characters.
This Pathfinder Society Quest is designed for play in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, but can easily be adapted for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
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Fane of Fangs is a bit of an odd-duck Pathfinder Society Quest (short adventures designed to be completed in one hour). It was released several years ago to help sell people on the alternative classes in the Pathfinder Unchained book, so it requires players to run one of four different Level 5 pre-gens: the "Unchained" versions of the rogue, barbarian, summoner, and monk. In terms of adventure-quality, I thought it was about average, with an original plot and a deeper backstory than one would expect from a Quest. It's also on the longer side, and one hour might be too optimistic for completion. The Chronicle sheet has some interesting boons, so Fane of Fangs wouldn't be a bad way to try something a little different.
SPOILERS!:
The adventure takes place in Nirmathas at a hidden temple to Erastil. It starts in media res, with the PCs having recovered a sacred relic stolen from the temple and arriving to return it. But the relic is no mere Macguffin; instead, it's integral to the story. The spear of the hunt master (a giant arrow large enough to be carried in two hands) is a legendary artifact said to have been fired by Erastil himself to stop the daemonic harbinger Anogetz from wreaking havoc throughout the land. Ever since, the spear has been a key part of an annual ritual in the temple to keep Anogetz from returning. Unbeknownst to the PCs, however, the "priests of Erastil" they're about to give the spear too are actually shape-changing faceless stalkers devoted to Anogetz!
The first part of the Quest gives PCs an opportunity to notice several clues that something isn't quite right in the temple, and each clue noticed provides a bonus on their Perception checks to pierce the Disguise checks of the faceless stalkers. I think the idea here was fine, but no advice is given on when or how often the Perception checks should be rolled, and too much rolling behind the screen is sure to alert players that something's afoot. Moreso, when one of the "priests" touches the spear of the huntmaster it instantly burns him, forcing him to drop it and reveal his disguise. In the game I ran, this happened very quickly because, naturally, the faceless stalker is going to ask for it and doesn't know what will happen. This means there's really no opportunity for clues to mount, and whether they do or not, the result is the same: a battle against the two faceless stalkers in the courtyard of the temple.
Unlike most Quests, which are just one RP encounter and one combat, Fane of Fangs actually has a lot more. Several rooms in the temple can be explored, the bodies of the real priests can be found, and a key to the cathedral where the ceremony is to be performed can be discovered. The material here is good, but it will likely take more than just an hour.
When the PCs enter the cathedral to try to complete the ceremony, things have progressed far enough that Anogetz is able to slip a "Ceustodaemon" through the portal to try to stop them! The thing is reasonably tough (with high DR and loads of immunities and resistances), and the battle was pretty exciting. (There are ways written into the Quest for PCs to bypass the daemon's DR, and that made the combat more manageable but not too easy.)
After a brief narrative conclusion, that's the end of the scenario. The PCs get to "keep" the spear through an opportunity to buy one of two special "legacy" weapons from the Pathfinder Unchained book (in essence, magical weapons that grow in power as the character does).
In many ways Fane of Fangs is just a curiosity, but it's reasonably well-written and has some good combats. If you are a GM or player curious to see how the Unchained version of classes are different, it's a good opportunity to take them on a test drive.
It's an 1-hour-long story, but we'll written. I love the clumsy disguised-priests, the skill DC is a little high in fact, a good decision for GM to do some roleplays to make them weird and stupid...maybe clever?
Only two combats with average difficulty, and the BBEG fight is in a really daemonic atmosphere.
The only downside is the minions in last fight are too weak, and the tactic can't make really threats at all...
I'm sad and surprised there's no review for this yet, especially as it's a free product. Given the fact it roughly takes an hour to play, I'd imagine that it has been played a few times before. But fear not, I shall fix this.
The premise of this quest is straightforward: bring back an artefact and explore a location. Yet nothing is ever easy for a pathfinder. There's always something more to it and obviously that's the case here as well.
Now, given the fact that it's a quest, the investigation part has to be done quickly. In a mere 10 minutes you can find a total of 4 different clues that something is not what it seems to be. Even with one clue the player (and not the PC) will feel something is wrong and look for more evidence. Should the PC's not piece it together quick enough, there's a chance they'll be surprised by what's about to happen, though the players will probably already see it coming.
But there is more! If you try this now, you will not only have an investigation on your hands, but also a puzzle or two, a scary final fight and a whole bunch of creepy atmosphere along the way. Personally I'm a bit confused as to the point of two of the creatures in the final fight, especially when it comes to their tactics. Thematically it's great, but it's so unlikely to succeed, that's it honestly feels better as a comic element to it all. Which, I may add, is enjoyable as well.
But wait, that's not all! This product also comes with four level five pregens. You actually get an unchained rogue, unchained monk, unchained barbarian and unchained summoner to have fun with. Unless I'm mistaken, you finally get to play a pregen summoner is a Pathfinder Society session. It's a great way to get used to this class as otherwise you wouldn't be able to.
In the end, I'd say that the writer tried too much to fit the investigation portion in 10 minutes. It's a bit rushed. Had it been a bit more spread out, it would have made the rest of the temple a slightly more interesting location. However, it's a quest and thus time is an issue and has to be taken into account. In roughly an hour, you get to do partake in multiple fights, do some exploration, investigation and minor puzzle-solving while also having new pregens at your disposal. Let's be honest, doesn't that sound fun?
Because this is not part of a larger quest series, it does not grant Prestige Points, XP, or gp. It does, however, grant some fun boons and equipment access for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign.
Do we need to use the playtest characters or can we bring our own level 5 characters?
Do we get dayjob rolls?
Can we complete faction journal objectives in this quest?
This is an adventure for the playtest characters, though the rewards go to a standard Pathfinder Society character.
Faction Journal Cards only allow one to check a box during an adventure that grants at least 1 XP (0.5 for the Slow advancement option). I believe that is the case for Day Jobs as well. As a result, neither applies to Fane of Fangs.
The statblock for Sajan in this one shows his hit dice as d8s, and the total HP don't seem right for a d10. By my calculations he should have 54 HP not 46 (10+2 for 1st level, 6+2 for each after that for 32, then 5 more from toughness and 5 more for taking HP from the FCB).
Am I missing something, or is there some specific reason that Fane of Fangs isn't in the reporting database yet? I'd really like to get it reported and clear that sign-in sheet off my list of 'things to not forget'....
Am I missing something, or is there some specific reason that Fane of Fangs isn't in the reporting database yet? I'd really like to get it reported and clear that sign-in sheet off my list of 'things to not forget'....
As it doesn't grant experience or prestige, there's nothing to report.
I kinda don't think so, beyond usual two times (Core/non-Core).
I'm still wondering about being able to report it.
It carries a chronicle sheet, with a really unusual equipment unlock, AND came with a sign-in sheet. That seems to imply that it should be reported. But it still isn't in the system to report....
There's no need to report it, as there's no xp/prestige involved. (EDIT: Just realised I'd already replied about this a few weeks ago and we're talking in circles...)
I believe it is replayable; in the absence of anything specific, the general rule applies:
Quote:
Pathfinder Society Quests
Pathfinder Society Quests are short adventures consisting of one or two encounters and are designed for use in Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign. Legal Pathfinder Society PCs may receive a Chronicle sheet for completing a Quest as many times as they complete it, and GMs may likewise apply a Chronicle sheet to any of their level-appropriate characters when running a Quest session.
Is there a quest to GET the arrow? This starts off with "a week ago y'all got the arrow"..
There is not such an adventure—at least not yet. Due to the constraints of keeping this playable in about an hour, it needed to start in medias res. I rather enjoy the background for this adventure, so perhaps one day we'll have an opportunity to explore that preliminary quest.
With Silverhex, Phantom Phenomena, and Honor's Echo out. The standard for 1 Quest seems to be 1 xp, 1 pp, 100 gold. Has there been any talk about moving Fane of Fangs in that direction? Doing the game scheduling for a store, I'm cautious about putting this in rotation due to it's boon only reward.
Apologies for necromancing this thread, but there are only 4 pregens. Much like you're "supposed to" with the We Be Goblins, do you just hand out a second version of the character? So instead of Amiri it's Amara the barbarian?
The statblock for Sajan in this one shows his hit dice as d8s, and the total HP don't seem right for a d10. By my calculations he should have 54 HP not 46 (10+2 for 1st level, 6+2 for each after that for 32, then 5 more from toughness and 5 more for taking HP from the FCB).
I noticed the d8/d10 discrepancy as well. The original isn't right either. He should have had 48, not 46.
Apologies for necromancing this thread, but there are only 4 pregens. Much like you're "supposed to" with the We Be Goblins, do you just hand out a second version of the character? So instead of Amiri it's Amara the barbarian?
The statblock for Sajan in this one shows his hit dice as d8s, and the total HP don't seem right for a d10. By my calculations he should have 54 HP not 46 (10+2 for 1st level, 6+2 for each after that for 32, then 5 more from toughness and 5 more for taking HP from the FCB).
I noticed the d8/d10 discrepancy as well. The original isn't right either. He should have had 48, not 46.
I would make that correction to his hit points. Likely I built the basic stats for this version of Sajan in another program that didn't yet have Pathfinder Unchained rules and missed updating his hit points. Nudging it upward in the player's favor will hopefully make for a more enjoyable experience overall.
Is this quest still legal for PFS play? Would it give any xp or prestige these days? It looks like a fun little quest that I missed with the initial publication...Looking for something quick to run at a mini-con.
John Compton wrote:
kevin_video wrote:
Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:
The statblock for Sajan in this one shows his hit dice as d8s, and the total HP don't seem right for a d10. By my calculations he should have 54 HP not 46 (10+2 for 1st level, 6+2 for each after that for 32, then 5 more from toughness and 5 more for taking HP from the FCB).
I noticed the d8/d10 discrepancy as well. The original isn't right either. He should have had 48, not 46.
I would make that correction to his hit points. Likely I built the basic stats for this version of Sajan in another program that didn't yet have Pathfinder Unchained rules and missed updating his hit points. Nudging it upward in the player's favor will hopefully make for a more enjoyable experience overall.
Just ran this for a few coworkers Wednesday, pretty great taste for new players. Kept it a bit simpler and didn’t play to the hilt. Amiri didn’t even rage! Thanks to some good rolls and smart play we were done in 1.5 hours.