If the players miss the final battle, does Vanthus still trigger the Shadow Pearl?
Because looking at the VP maths the PC's can still snatch a victory without even being at the final battle, so long as the pearl isn't triggered. From the description of his tactics it seems to be a something he does out of spite when losing the fight, if the PC's aren't there to threaten him does he still activate the pearl before leaving?
Creative Director
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If the PCs miss the battle, they also might miss fighting Vanthus, which would be unfortunate since the fight with him triggers a major plot development later in the campaign. So if the PCs miss the fight, I'd try to enginner it so that they show up back at Farshore just in time to see the pirates pushed back by the colony and all the reinforcements and adjustments the PCs have added, only to have Vanthus attack them there. At which point his triggering of the shadow pearl runs more or less as scripted.
The PCs shouldn't WANT to miss this fight though; they certainly shouldn't know that they've accumulated enough victory points to win even if they miss it.
If the PCs were in danger of missing the final battle, as long as they were doing their best to get back to Farshore in time, I'd suggest fudging the times a little so that they show up in the middle, perhaps just in time to fight the vrocks.