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Bit of an issue with inconsistent backstory. Keygan Ghelve speaks Common, Dwarven, and Gnome. How did the skulks make him craft a master key when they can't speak Common? Yuathyb the dark stalker speaks Gnome but it specifically states the skulks made him (Keygan) craft it and also Keygan never met their leader, even if they had one (as he doesn't know about Yuathyb). Incidentally, that won't cut much ice when I run it, one player is up for playing a puritannical LN Ftr/Clr[St Cuthbert), he'll probably hang him for treason (people have died due to his inaction). Also, the skulk that is guarding the shop can overhear all it wants, it can't speak Common!
Also, Ghelve specifically knows that they share a common language that he doesn't understand (Undercommon) so making him speak their shared language for the sake of brevity is unrealistic (strange phrase for a fanatsy game).
The gist is that the dark creepers and skulks cannot talk to Keygan, and vice versa, and he has never mey Yuathyb. Not good as the whole story arc is based on the premise that they can communicate and that the skulk can eavesdrop on Keygan.
As a solution, that is partly satisfying, I have made the skulk in the shop a slightly smarter member of it's species (Int 12) but slightly dafter (Wis 7), and have had it put 5 cross class ranks in Sense Motive, which with Wis 7 means it has +0 to it's check (as opposed to -1). It's extra language is Common (or a heavily basatrdised version as per FF 154). They can all be like this if it helps, for those that envisage swapping guard duty in a rota.
If anyone has a more elegant solution I'm all ears,
or eyes as this is the internet :)
Now to ponder what to do about the unpolymorphable (in 3.5) Xukasus (I'm going with just a dirty ogre), and the fact that various CRs have shifted as per the 3.5 update booklet and knocked ELs (and thus treasure balance), all out of wack.
Paizo really should release an official eratta PDF from 3.0 to 3.5 for the first two parts of the Adventure Path (the naughty little gnomes). Saying that I have already done it, I will post on the web somewhere when I start running, or mail me if you can't wait (and modify to your hearts content).
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its one of those things called plot holes. in my campagin i merely had keygan taking a bribe from the slavers. the thing with his familiar being held hostage was a little too conviement for my group to believe. Beside how do you not know about the entrance to the city of your ancestors was in your basement????
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He did, he visited it a few times (it's in his bio). My issue is that it's a fairly fundamental premise to the whole adventure and it's blatantly wrong. I am just curious as to why this never came up in play testing I guess :) A viable suugestion from Paizo, or better still, advice from Christopher Perkins would be nice. My perfectionsim is making me come across as all Sarcem Delasharn :)
Creative Director
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Making Ghelve's "shop skulk" contact smarter than most skulks is a good solution for the language problem.
As for the 3.0 to 3.5 changes... although both "Life's Bazaar" and "Flood Season" were written for the 3.5 rules (and "Life's Bazaar" was in fact the first adventure to unveil many of the rules), both adventures were written before the final, final 3.5 rules were set in stone so there are some unfortunate problems there.
As we've mentioned elsewhere, we'd love to publish the Shackled City Adventure Path as a stand-alone product; if and when we do, we'll update everything to the 3.5 rules (and clean up any plot holes) at that point. Until then, I'm afraid that hunting down 3.0 artifacts in those first two adventures is something we don't have time to do.
Of course... that said, the bug has been planted in my skull, and I can feel the urge to go through and seek out those 3.0 artifacts and eradicate them from "Life's Bazaar" and "Flood Season" myself. If and when I do (no guarentees it'll be any time soon...) I'll have them posted somewhere here as a web enhancement.
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Oops. I appear to have given James a bug. Seems that, like me, these little things gnaw away at ones mind and they just won't go away :) A packages release will sort that, though I doubt it will be out before January :( Oh well, at least my polyglot but less sensible skulk solution has been given a bit of acceptance as viable. Chris's stance would still be nice to know.
If ever there is an issue with a NPC not knowing a language - who else will know excepting you, the DM?
Take a -1 to one of the NPC's skills and voila, Speak Language:(Insert Language here) is now known...good luck in the future ;)
I did play up the fact that nobody in the party new Undercommon or that Y didn't know Common either. I was amazed at what giving a PC a piece of blank parchment(ground with ashes scattered on it) and writing implement(poker from the smithy) ended up doing RP-wise. Probably the best session in months, at the time!
I'm new to the boards, but would like to say that I would have a big interest in the Shackled City AP as a stand alone product. I've been participating in the adventure as a PC over the net, and am planning on running a version of it myself in the future, but I don't have much of the material, and its been a pain to try to track down back issues of Dungeon. I'd order them directly, but since I'll be moving from Europe to the States very soon, I don't have an adress to have them sent to.