Creative Director
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Okay, since my email didn't apparently get through (there seems to have been a bit of that recently), why isn't Tito Leati (as of the time of my posting this) worthy of a 'contributor' tag? Doesn't writing an AP module count as a contribution? :shock:
Your email did go through. I didn't answer it (or a few others) because the week before Gen Con's pretty busy. As in: 16 hour days busy combined with a bunch of other stuff that makes James Jacobs cranky.
We have to hand-attach tags to peoples' names (actually, Gary does; we cannot), and Tito hasn't posted here that often. Since his first posts in a while (possibly first posts ever) came in the aforementioned week before Gen Con, and since he hasn't requested the Contributor tag, and since I have a billion other things to do... no tag yet. If I or someone remembers to tell Gary on Monday AND if he's not overwhelmed with pre-Gen Con horror, we'll fix it.
Sometimes there are no conspiracies.
Okay, since my email didn't apparently get through (there seems to have been a bit of that recently), why isn't Tito Leati (as of the time of my posting this) worthy of a 'contributor' tag? Doesn't writing an AP module count as a contribution? :shock:
If I can't get a "master of the awesome handout" tag, I prefer having none.
I noticed something while reading my hardcopy today.
There are just too many high level adventure threads for me to act upon in this module. Don't take that the wrong way. This is great. I'm just hoping you write them up before I have to.
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Creative Director
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Regarding Gray's question...
Kusasfa is not mentioned anywhere beyond the few mentions in the dungeon level of Castle Korvosa, for now. Back in the day of Thassilon, he was a pretty important figure in Sorshen's realm, and we might indeed do something further with him in the future. For now, though, he's just some creepy flavor text in the background.
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I noticed something while reading my hardcopy today.
** spoiler omitted **
Some comments on my side:
Spoiler:Well, "Kusasfa" is actually what happened 95% of the time to real world archaeologists when they broke into the tomb of an ancient nobleman: tomb looted, sarcophagus opened, no corpse, and no original treasure.
There was a big atmosphere-based red herring here in my manuscript (cf. the Titan's House in the Champion's Belt), but it was chopped off by the editors for space reasons, I guess.
My informants say that in the finished product chop-offs and "condensations" are more than expected, although I see the editors' point in most (not all) of them. You can use the "stumps" to develop some stuff on your own and fill up the castle, of course.
What I think was a cool handout was chopped off as well. It involved a paperknife, a button stick and a sundial. Maybe I can recycle the idea in another adventure or I can post a "director's cut" description of it for you handout fans.
My advice for Castle Korvosa, which I'm told is already suggested in a cool sidebar by James in the book: Design another dungeon level under the base of the pyramyd and have the PCs face some high-level challenge over there. Maybe Kusasfa's "tomb" is a false one (again, a typical feature of ancient tombs), and the base of the sarcophagus hides a shaft down to something more interesting.
Wheels are in motion in Operation Tito Tag!
Bah to your wheels! I'll just skip 'em.
Done!
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I'm actually kind of disappointed.
I'll be taking my cue from Mary, the resident dissident of these adventure path boards. Try to take what follows as constructive feedback, which is what the intended tone is supposed to be:
But now I agree with her.
I just read Skeletons of Scarwall and Crown of Fangs back to back. And they are the same type of adventure. In Scarwall, you penetrate a fortress held by forces that defend themselves intelligently and are on the move. You also have a structure that requires killing or neutralizing four things before you get to the BBEG, which leads to the shiny. In Crown of Fangs, you've got to penetrate a fortress held by forces that defend themselves intelligently and are on the move. Again, you've got a laundry list of tasks to accomplish, albeit without the enforced order of Scarwall. Then you go to the Mushfens and you have to penetrate a fortress held by forces that defend themselves intelligently and are on the move.
In short, it's "Take the ruined castle" then we "Take the castle" then we "Take the partially submerged pyramid."
The problem isn't with the set pieces; they're great. They're always great. The problem is with the missed opportunity and the fact that having three similar set pieces in a row may lead to player fatigue.
My big issue is that you missed an opportunity. You set up an adventure path concept that excited me: be revolutionaries that take down a tyrant. The first three adventures set this up wonderfully and it's exciting to think about PCs growing up in this context.
Then most of the revolution occurs off screen! Cressida runs the revolution while you're with the Shoanti and at Scarwall. Sabina frees the ones that resisted Maiden training.
The PCs don't recruit revolutionaries, don't try to stop the forced blood donations at the Church of Asmodeus, don't try to politic the Church of Abadar into a different stance, don't secure food and water resources for the poor and your own units, don't find sources of weapons for the revolution, don't weed out traitors, don't recruit moles in the Queen's retinue, don't figure out ways to avoid physical and magical detection, don't commit acts of terrorism against the unjust powers that be, and don't storm the castle with their rag tag band of fugitives.
Instead, they get a cool sword that bypasses the regeneration capabilities of the Queen. Forget the trinket. Vive la Revolution!
And then there's the aftermath in the "Continuing the campaign" section. There's just one paragraph on what might face the PCs in terms of rebuilding this city. There needs to be much more advice given to DMs on this issue. Virtually hand-waving it leads to a ton of hard work by the DM with little guidance. What will the Church of Asmodeus and Abadar do in the aftermath? What're the food, water and economic situations? Which nations are going to try to take advantage of Korvosa's weakness soon? I would much rather have that info than a paragraph speculating about a sequel: Ileosa's Revenge.
I just wish that you had released Skeletons of Scarwall as a Gamemastery module and kept to the implied theme. Heck, running a revolution is full of Wisdom-based conflicts anyway. It would have fit the Harrow deck just as well.
You guys are so good at what you do. I really hoped that that this adventure path would give your advice on how to run a revolution in a fantasy setting.
Mary, you were right and I was wrong.
I'm actually kind of disappointed.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you've posted here, and I understand your complaint.
I think it might help to improve your enjoyment of the final installment of the AP if you think of it as a Star Wars adventure rather than D&D. In high school, my friends and I played Star Wars (the original d6 version) way more often than D&D, because it was chock full of action and you could do all sorts of rebellious wackiness besides just killing things (although it always seemed to devolve to blasting stormtroopers). A common motif in our adventures, though, was the Covert Insertion, in which we, a rag-tag team of rebel operatives, would be sent on a "milk run" that included infiltrating some sort of imperial building and making it out with the maguffin. In fact, my character had her own suit of biker scout armor that she wore all the time, since it was easier than constantly killing the first stormtrooper you came across for a disguise. I digress ...
My point is that you might want to play the infiltration of Castle Korvosa much more like a covert infiltration than a straight up storm the keep. Make the players feel like they are a vastly overmatched, rag-tag group that is trying to sneak into the Castle, rather than marching in like they own the place. To help with this, I would be sure to make the "rebellion" that Kroft and others have started seem very fledgling and on the verge of failing at any moment. NPCs should encourage the party to come up with a Plan, rather than an attack formation, and so on.
For the Sunken Queen, I would suggest making it a Race Against the Clock. Let the players know Ileosa's plan and that they only have so much time to stop it. Then it becomes a challenge to get through the defenses quickly, rather than the slow, methodical slog that Scarwall Keep could be.
In short, although they have similar set-ups, I think varying the mood and theme of each castle can vastly change their feel and prevent player fatigue.
O
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Creative Director
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I was honestly a little worried about having so many "Huge Castle" scenes back to back, but as written, the adventures that take place in them should be VERY different...
Scarwall is an unknown; it's a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl with lots of exploration and action. The castle's set up to encourage and require extensive exploration, in fact.
Castle Korvosa is the opposite. It should be VERY difficult to keep a low profile here, since so many of the guards have telepathy and can communicate with ease. This is not an "explore the castle" dungeon, since the PCs, through Sabina and Neolandus and Trinia have all the contacts they need to get a FULL description of the castle. You can actually give the PCs the full maps of the castle if you want, since Neolandus knows pretty much everything about the place; his previous job was seneschal of the castle, after all. Anyway, think of this more like Die Hard; the PCs know the layout of the place and can plan their assault with an entry through any one of a number of locations. There's a certain number of goals here; once the PCs meet them and find out where Ileosa is... they don't have to keep exploring Castle Korvosa.
The Sunken Queen's a combo deal. It's not a known layout, but it IS a lot smaller. There are plenty of routes for a high-level party to get into the dungeon, and if they DO take a non-standard route in, they should be rewarded for their sneakiness.
That all said... I do realize that not all adventures do it for everyone. Sorry this one didn't cut it for you, and all I can say is I hope Second Darkness is more to your liking.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you've posted here, and I understand your complaint.I'm actually kind of disappointed.
Hmmm... Arcesilaus, Roguerouge, thanks for the (finally) constructive and extensive feedback.
Just let me read the finished product's PDF, which I've finally put my eyes on and I'll be glad to comment your opinions, if James doesn't mind.
Everyone else, please feel free to add more impressions.
That all said... I do realize that not all adventures do it for everyone. Sorry this one didn't cut it for you, and all I can say is I hope Second Darkness is more to your liking.
Actually, why don't you make a module or two based on Andoran revolutionaries trying to spread a little democracy? (Sort of connected to LB1 & 2...) How many gaming products allow you to do that? I'd be so excited, I'd give 'em out as XMas gifts to all my gamer pals.
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Then most of the revolution occurs off screen! Cressida runs the revolution while you're with the Shoanti and at Scarwall. Sabina frees the ones that resisted...
OK, I read the PDF, and I see your point.
I was lured by the challenge of drawing such a complex and interesting location, and I definitely made a mistake mapping it out completely for PF #12, although I had the intention to make it an useful tool for any DM's campaign.
As a matter of fact, James warned me against making too many encounter areas. And although the editors did a good job (as they usually do), it was unavoidable to lose much text for space reasons.
Checking my original manuscript, however, I found out some deleted stuff that can help you bring the rebellion on screen. Consider them a "variant" from a chainsa... er... trimmed original. :)
KORVOSA REBELLION ON SCREEN
The following variant has been re-developed from material that was left out of the official PF #12 issue. Feel free to pick it up to improve your game. WARNING: The variant has not been edited by the Paizo staff and most likely requires better English, balance and fine tuning on your side.
VARIANT EVENT 1 - THE RISE BESIEGED
Use this event if you want the PCs to fight alongside the rebels in Korvosa. The event is triggered when the PCs meet with the other rebel leaders in the ossuary below the cathedral, and can be resolved either before or after the party’s battle against Trifaccia. As the PC converse with their allies, it turns out that one of the rebel leaders, an affluent and honorable barrister named Tad Cyru, has not joined the meeting as expected. As Keppira D’Bear prepares to use divination magic to find out what happened, a terrified boy, one of Cyru’s trusted servants, enters the ossuary and announces the following:
[Read-aloud text]
“My Lady Bishop, the queen’s soldiers discovered our group and surrounded my master’s house. I was coming back from an errand on my master’s behalf when I heard the voice of an officer named Egrit. He demanded the immediate surrender of the house. He also threatened to kill many helpless prisoners if Tad Cyru did not comply. Please send help!”
The boy is lawful good and is speaking the truth. Keppira knows that Cyru’s group is a small but determined one, and that the barrister is in possession of some interesting holy weapons. Both Neolandus Kalepopolis and Cressidra Kroft think that Egrit’s ultimatum might be a trap to attract a main rebel force in the open before they are ready to fight, and ask the PCs check out what is happening. As a long-time friend of Tad Cyru, Neolandus pleads the PCs to do everything they can to rescue the good barrister.
Cyru’s Mansion stands quite near to Castle Korvosa, on the round marketplace at the end of Field Marshal Avenue. When the PCs arrive on the scene, they see a column of smoke rising from the marketplace. The house, a three-storey stone structure on the corner with Erodred Street, is now surrounded by a platoon of Korvosan Guards, four sergeants and Egrit, an arrogant, loud aristocrat at Ileosa’s service.
[Read-aloud text]
Near the marketplace, Cyru’s Mansion, a three-storey stone house, is surrounded by a platoon of Korvosan Guard led by burly sergeants clad in black leather. A large bonfire has been lit about 50 yards from the house, near the middle of a cleared-out marketplace. A short distance from the bonfire is a 15-feet-tall, makeshift black cage of wood and wicker shaped like a misshapen giant boar. The acrid smell of tar, of which the ominous cage is smeared, hangs heavily in the air. The cage is packed tight with sobbing prisoners, mostly women and children. As one of the platoon sergeants torments with a cattle prod some women and children shut inside the cage, other prisoners are forced to pile firewood and f!~&$*s under it. The officer in charge of the platoon, a tall aristocrat clad in tiger furs, shouts the prisoners to speed up. Inside the mansion, a few desperate men observe the scene in dismay, their heads barely visible behind the barricaded windows.
Egrit and the four sergeants are actually a rakshasa sorcerer and his bodyguards in magical disguise. They could easily storm the mansion and overpower Tad Cyru and his men, but are afraid of the holy weapons of the rebels. They also enjoy playing cat and mouse with their victims. The new seneschal, Togomor, plans to torture and interrogate the rebels, and has ordered Egrit to blackmail Tad Cyru with the lives of his fellow citizens and force him into surrender. The rakshasa commander has given the conspirators an ultimatum to lay down their weapons before the boar cage is set to fire.
The Wicker Boar (EL 17)
Tad Cyru is not a fool. He and his companions know that the prisoners will be executed in any case. He also thinks, however, that giving a good example is the only thing he can do, even if this means a horrible death by the hands of his enemies.
[Read-aloud text]
In an ominous silence broken only by the cracking of flames, the officer clad in tiger furs raises a hand. A sergeant picks up lit a lit torch from the fire and advances toward the wicker boar. Inside the tar-drenched cage, the laments of the prisoners grow into shrieks of terror. A moment after, the main doors of the mansion burst open and a weary-looking man clad in light armor steps out waving a white flag. “Stop!” he cries. “You have won! But please spare the lives of the innocents who live in this house.”
The man is Tad Cyru. Inside the house are his closest companions, family and domestics. The heroes must intervene quickly if they want to save them from the rakshasas.
The soldiers that surround Cyru’s mansion are lawful neutral members of the Korvosan Guard. They are very nervous, and almost as frightened as the prisoners in the wicker cage. They would to anything to stop Egrit’s madness, but fear the grisly consequences of disobedience to the queen. If the party attacks Egrit, the soldiers keep their position around the house to prevent the escape of the rebels, but take no offensive action against the PCs. At any time during the fight, a PC can make an Intimidate check (DC 20, standard action) or a rushed Diplomacy check (DC 15, full-round action) to turn the soldiers against Egrit. If turned against their commander, the soldiers do their best to save the prisoners in the wicker boar (see below). Relieved and bolstered by the party’s intervention, Tad Cyru’s raises an axe and charges the torch-toting sergeant, while his companions begin shooting their crossbows from the mansion’s windows.
Creatures: Egrit and his rakshasa bodyguards are Togomor’s acquaintances who decided to follow the bloatmage in his Korvosan adventure. Sharing an alignment affinity with Ileosa, they have accepted to serve her in exchange of human sacrifices.
EGRIT, RAKSHASA SORCERER CR 13
LE Medium Outsider (Native), 6th-level Sorcerer
Init +2; Senses Listen +13, Spot +11
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+2 deflection, +2 Dexterity, +9 natural)
hp 86 (7d8+21 and 6d4+18)
Fort +10, Ref +0, Will +11
DR 15/good and piercing; SR 27
OFFENSE
Spd 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +11 (1d4+1) and bite +6 (1d6)
Special Attacks detect thoughts, spells
Special Qualities change shape, darkvision 60 ft.
Spells Known (CL 13th, spells per day 6/7/7/7/7/6/4, save DC 14 + spell level)
0-daze, detect magic, ghost sound, light, mage hand, message, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue
1-charm person, mage armor, magic missile, shield, silent image
2-acid arrow, bear’s endurance, invisibility, levitate, mirror image
3-fireball, haste, ray of exhaustion, suggestion
4-confusion, fear, phantasmal killer, shout
5-feeblemind, symbol of pain, waves of fatigue
6-greater dispel magic, flesh to stone
Gear +2 bracers of armor, potion of cure serious wounds (CL 6th), mwk dagger
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 18
Base Atk +10; Grp +11
Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Dodge, Enlarge Spell, Empower Spell
Skills Bluff +17, Concentration +16, Diplomacy +10, Disguise +17 (+19 acting), Intimidate +11, Listen +13, Move Silently +16 (including Garishbaz’s bonus), Perform (oratory) +13, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +14, Spot +11
Languages Common, Infernal, Undercommon
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Detect Thoughts (Su) Egrit can continuously use detect thoughts as the spell (CL 18th, Will DC 16 negates). He can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.
Change Shape (Su) Egrit can assume any humanoid form, or revert to his own, as a standard action. He remains in one form until it chooses to assume a new one. A true seeing reveals the rakshasa’s natural form.
Skills A rakshasa has a +4 racial bonus on Bluff and Disguise check. If reading an opponent’s mind these bonuses increase by a further +4.
Egrit’s familiar is a cat named Garishbaz. The cat infiltrated Tad Cyru’s house to spy upon the anguishing rebels for the scrying pleasure of its master. When the battle against the Rakshasa begins, there is a 50% chance each round that half of the rebel crossbowmen in Cyru’s manor do not shoot because “a hell of a tiger cat” disrupts them.
GARISHBAZ, CAT FAMILIAR CR 4
hp 43 (see Monster Manual XXX, AC 21, with special familiar abilities for a 13th-level master)
Egrit’s bodyguards are rakshasa “grunts”. They wear studded leather armor in their natural form and have the Light Armor Proficiency feat instead of the Combat Casting feat.
RAKSHASA BODYGUARDS (4) CR 10
hp 52 (see Monster Manual XXX, with +1 studded leather armor, AC 25, 15% arcane spell failure)
Tad Cyru’s has no adventuring background, but, as an exceptionally endowed member of Korvosa’s middle class, he is a force to be reckoned with. One of the city’s most prominent barristers, Cyru trained hard to fight in Korvosa’s legal duels and knows how to handle himself in any conflict.
TAD CYRU CR 0
Male Human 17th-level Expert
Init +0; Senses Listen +3, Spot +3
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 +2 leather, +2 +1 small wooden shield)
hp 79 (17d6+17)
Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +11
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +2 holy battleaxe +14/+9/+4 (1d8+2)
Ranged mwk light crossbow with +2 holy bolts +14/+9/+4 (1d8+2)
Gear +2 leather, +1 small wooden shield, +2 holy battleaxe, mwk dagger, mwk light crossbow, 20 +2 holy bolts, potion of cure moderate wounds
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 14
Base Atk +12; Grp +12
Feats Iron Will, Martial Weapon Proficiency (battleaxe), Negotiator, Point Blank Shot, Shield Proficiency, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Skill Focus (Profession)
Skills Bluff +13, Diplomacy +16, Forgery +11, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (history) +12, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge +11 (religion), Knowledge +6 (nature), Perform (oratory) +12, Profession (barrister) +18, Ride +11, Sense Motive +17, Search +12, Swim +5 (+0 in armor)
Languages Common, Celestial, Old Thassilonian
Korvosan Guards (20): male human warriors 4 (standard stats), AC 14 (chain shirt), hp 18, melee short sword +4 (1d6), ranged short bow +4 (1d6).
Rebel Crossbowmen (6): male/female human experts 6 (standard stats), AC 10 (no armor), hp 21, ranged light crossbows with +2 holy bolts +6 (1d8+2).
Tactics: The rakshasa drop their human disguise immediately. Egrit commands his bodyguards to attack the PCs while he provides cover with offensive spells (preferring empowered or enlarged fireball or shout spells). Before joining melee, the lesser rakshasa target the PCs with acid arrow spells. The rakshasa with the torch throws it at the wicker boar to set fire to it in the first round (standard action), then turns to fight Tad Cyru. It takes 7 rounds for the wicker boar to become an enormous torch and kill the hostages inside. A create water spell extinguishes the fire with a successful caster level check (DC 25, +1 per round passed after the fire has started), or gives the hostages one more round in case of failure. A control winds spell can also be used to give the hostages two more rounds. If the Korvosan Guard soldiers turn against the rakshasas, they don’t fight them, but first and foremost rush to delay the flames and free the prisoners (consider them busy for the rest of the battle).
Treasure: If the PCs defeat the rakshasas, the surviving conspirators donate their good weapons to the party. In total, the rebels have stacked 20 +2 holy bolts (minus those used in this encounter), 10 +2 holy sling bullets, a +3 holy shortspear, and Tad Cyru’s +2 holy battleaxe. The barrister will part from the axe only with a successful Diplomacy check (DC 25), for it is a personal legacy of his grandfather, Gabriel Cyru.
Ad Hoc XP: CR X for rescuing Tad Cyru and saving the hostages in the wicker boar.
VARIANT EVENT 2 - THE RECKLESS CROWD
This is another “rebellion” event, which can take place after the party’s success against Trifaccia or after the rescue of Tad Cyru (if you used it). Seeing the PCs triumphant against the forces of tyranny, people rush out from the nearby houses and soon the party is cheered by a crowd of about five hundred men and women. Young people in the crowd wave torches, axes and spears and bid the PCs to lead immediate raid on the castle. Any NPC rebel leader on the scene is in doubt, though, and for a good reason. The PCs might also presume that the occupants of Castle Korvosa are far too dangerous for everyone but high-level heroes, and try to persuade the people to behave in a cautious manner is a good idea. To do that, they need a Diplomacy check (DC 20). If they fail or decline the opportunity, the mob literally picks them up and carries them to Castle Korvosa to demand the queen’s surrender (with potentially disastrous consequences). If they succeed, the common folk accept to stand back as the heroes take care of the big villains for them.
If not stopped by the heroes, the people of Korvosa run up all sides of the Grand Mastaba in total disarray, demanding the garrison to open the gates of the outer wall. The soldiers that man the outer wall at the top of the pyramid are clearly hesitant to shoot their fellow citizens, but the Grey Maidens in the keep fire the siege weapons, killing several people and scattering the mob.
Ad Hoc XP: CR X if the PCs prevent the incautious mob attack on Castle Korvosa and siege machine fire on the crowd.
At this point, you can proceed with "The Gray Mistress" (Sabina and Zarmangarof)
Have fun!
Nice! Also, printed.
Uh, yes. And sorry if used some heavy language (read "firewood and straw", please) and described excessive abuse on the prisoners in the post.
I finally got my copy today, and I have to admit that I had a similar reaction to Roguerouge. And then you post these additional encounters which is really so very, very helpful. Thank you Tito. This makes my job much easier :)
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Nice! Also, printed.Uh, yes. And sorry if used some heavy language (read "firewood and straw", please) and described excessive abuse on the prisoners in the post.
Eh, we survived Carnival of Tears so it shouldn't be a problem. ;)
The additional encounters help. I'll probably work up the rebellion ideas that I posted after I finish the Burnt Offerings/Hook Mountain mashup that I'm working on in the Runelords boards.
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I'm actually kind of disappointed.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you've posted here, and I understand your complaint.
I think it might help to improve your enjoyment of the final installment of the AP if you think of it as a Star Wars adventure rather than D&D. [...]
My point is that you might want to play the infiltration of Castle Korvosa much more like a covert infiltration than a straight up storm the keep. [...]
For the Sunken Queen, I would suggest making it a Race Against the Clock. [...]
In short, although they have similar set-ups, I think varying the mood and theme of each castle can vastly change their feel and prevent player fatigue.
...
Arcesilaus, I delved some more in the finished product and I must say that I find your points more a matter of personal taste and DM's personal choices than actual issues. The thing I understand the most is your love for "sneaky" situations. I love them too, and my favorite character class has always been the thief (NOT the rogue). Given the nature of D&D rules, however, it's difficult to be "sneaky" at high level.
Well, this is what I can suggest:
Now I'm not 100% happy of having made the castle that huge, but one of the reasons I did it is because I considered the idea that a party might just sneak around there for a while before all hell breaks loose.
I actually put a passage from the Gardened Terraces to the Thassilonian Dungeon (originally to Area A1, now I'd say to Area A4g), so that the PCs could search for it, find it and sneak up from below. The info about the passage might come from a Gather Information check or from Blackjack.
The passage was dug at the time of Erodred I by an enemy of the Arabastis, a dwarf wizard who planned to blow up Castle Korvosa with an alchemical mine. The dwarf dug the passage slowly and stealthily with elemental magic, and after breaking in the dungeon and finding a suitable spot, he began smuggling in barrels of magic explosive with teleport object spells.
Unfortunately, the operation demanded a long time, and the dwarf was discovered and killed before the mine was complete. Instead of walling up the passage, the Arabastis kept it as a possible escape route, and carefully concealed its entrance in a sewer tunnel under the Gardened Terraces.
My initial idea was that the tunnel could be traversed only by tiny or gaseous creatures (the dwarf wizard used a potion of gaseous form), but there is no reason why the passage cannot be a little larger and accommodate the PCs without magical means.
I put no devils in the dungeon, assuming that it was seldom visited by the castle occupants after being emptied of the royal treasure. There the PCs would face only undead, which cannot warn their masters with telepathy and fight in relative silence.
On the higher levels, though, the telepathic devils and patrols make very, very difficult for anyone to sneak upon the false Ileosa without starting a major fight.
About your "clock" and player fatigue issue, well, I exhumed again my original manuscript, and I think that some real wilderness adventuring can be a suitable break between "castle 1" and "castle 2". Again, a "variant" left out of the finished product for space reasons. What follows also puts Togomor's map handout to some practical use:
A MORE CHALLENGING JOURNEY IN THE MUSHFENS
This variant puts up a real challenge for the PCs as they search for the Sunken Queen in the Mushfens. Also, there is a crazy idea of Sorshen's monument as a Thassilonian war machine that might well function as a "race against the clock" device. WARNING: the following material has not been edited by the Paizo staff, and most likely requires better English and game balancing on your side.
The Mushfens are a wild and dangerous region, and the precise location of the Sunken Queen is unknown to everyone in Korvosa. The map drawn by Togomor found in the keep’s scriptorium (Area A43), however, puts it in relation to a commonly known coastal landmark, the Green Reef. From Korvosa, the PCs can travel easily to the Green Reef by boat (an uneventful three-day trip) or by teleport. Some wizards of the Acadamae know the location of the Green Reef, and are likely to assist the victorious PCs in Korvosa. Note that Togomor’s map is not a masterpiece of scientific topography, and that using a teleport spell to reach directly the Sunken Queen based on it is nothing more than asking to go “somewhere” in the Mushfens. If Togomor himself has been captured by the PCs, he can be “persuaded” to provide very accurate indications based on his personal experience.
The Green Reef
This odd rocky formation lies on sand bank a few hundred yards from the swampy coast of the Mushfens. It was actually the enormous, copper-plated wreck of a 2,000-feet-long battle barge from the times of Thassilon. Legends have that the battle barge was crewed by the last members of an immense race of giants led by Zochann, an irreducible enemy of the Runelords. Zochann’s barge was sunk off the coast by a tremendous lightning attack that tore open and partially melted the hull. In the following centuries, the formation of the Mushfens brought the coastline much nearer to the, salt-encrusted wreck, which had merged with silt, debris and coral to form an odd-shaped reef impregnated of green copper rust. From the reef the PCs can reach the shore on foot, walking on the foreshore of the sand bank. A Search or Survival check (DC 25) on the shore reveals hundreds of webbed footprints and several shark jawbones hanging from trees. These tracks belong to a group of sahuagin clerics of Sekolah that periodically come to the shore to pay homage to the near-immortal, super-charismatic, and lawful evil Ileosa. With another successful Search or Survival check (DC 30) the party can find the first path mark of the Trail of the Frog, that is, a curious, 18-inches-tall milestone shaped like a squatting, humanoid tree-frog at the foot of a tree. If the PCs pass the night on or near the Green Reef, which is unlikely, there is a chance that they are attacked from the sea by a large group of sahuagin, including some high-level clerics and mutated fighters. This encounter is up to you.
The Nameless Stream
Following the slow stream that runs through the Mushfens in this area might seem a good idea, for it seems to pass quite near to the Sunken Queen on Togomor’s map. Many years after the bloatmage drew the map, however, the muddy stream has almost completely disappeared and is shallow to the point of being not navigable even by raft or canoe. Camping in a safe and reasonably dry place in the vicinity of the stream is impossible, and even its nearest point to the Sunken Queen allows only a very difficult Spot check to see the structure (DC 40).
The Trail of the Frog
The best thing the PCs can do to reach the Sunken Queen is to travel through 20 miles of swampy terrain on the Trail of the Frog. This ancient path is marked by the stone tree-frogs, however, is an ancient ridge road that traverses a chain of low heights, and is the safest route in the treacherous maze of quagmires, bogs and quicksand that are the Mushfens. To progress on the trail (considered as such for overland movement), the party must make a Search (DC 30) or Survival check (DC 25) each mile to find one of the twenty milestones that lead to the Sunken Queen. Each attempted check takes one hour, which is lost in case of failure. The path is reasonably safe, means that the PCs have not significant encounters during the day, but each night they pass in the swamp is potentially dangerous. When the PCs pass a night on the Trail of the Frog, there is a chance that Ileosa detects their presence and launches a magical attack on them. The bizarre shape of the Sunken Queen is due to the fact that the entire structure was once a Thassilonian super-weapon, the gazebolter. The gazebolter consisted in the three hornlike chargers that topped the pyramid and two enormous crystal orbs set into the stone orbits of Sorshen’s giant bas-relief. With this weapon, Runelord Sorshen exercised the godlike ability to strike enemies with lightning within a 15-miles radius around her cenotaph. The gazebolter, sort of a long-range lightning cannon, was also the weapon that sunk Zochann’s barge when the giant raider was about to launch raid on Sorshen’s domain. The gazebolter has been reactivated by Togomor, albeit only with part of its original power (due to the collapse of one of the chargers), and is now under Ileosa’s control thanks to a steel circlet set within the Crown of Fangs, which also works as a magical sensor for the device. Each night, if the PCs have not taken special precautions to hide their presence (such as having not a fire, camouflaging the tents, or camp south of high ground) Ileosa “sights” them automatically with the gazebolter’s magical sensor, otherwise make an opposed check between Ileosa’s Search and the party’s Survival. The queen can make only an attempt per night to see the heroes, and the gazebolter’s sensor does not work during the day. If Ileosa sights the heroes, a small thunderstorm forms between the party’s position and the cenotaph, and the queen attacks them with the gazebolter’s flashing stream. The flashing stream, shot from the Sunken Queen’s eyes at extremely long range, travels in an arc and bounces off the stormy clouds, falling on the party like shower of rather inaccurate lightning bolts (CL 10th). For five rounds, each PC has a 25% non-cumulative chance of being hit for 10d6 points of electricity damage (Reflex halves, DC 20). To avoid a chance of being hit, a PC must get at least 200 feet from her position at the beginning of the attack.
There is also a 25% cumulative chance per night that the PCs have one of the following encounters, which might occur immediately after a gazebolter’s attack (roll 1d3).
1d3 Encounter
1. Undead Giant
2. Boggard Litany
3. Plant Monsters
Needless to say, the list can be expanded to include all kinds of swamp monsters described in the Pathfinder books.
Undead Giant (EL 15)
The PCs feel a tremor in the ground, then they hear the booming sounds of gigantic footsteps approaching their position. In no time, an immense shadow obscures the moon and stars over them. The shadow belongs to a blackened, colossal skeleton clad in a rusty, copper breastplate. Once a member of Zochann’s crew, the giant was mortally wounded by Sorshen’s gazebolter and died shortly afterwards, his immense body sunk in a bog. Millennia after that event, the giant was animated by some Infernal force to serve as a powerful guardian for Ileosa.
ZOCHANN’S FOLLOWER, GIANT SKELETON CR 15
NE Colossal Undead
Init +5; Senses Listen +0, Spot +0
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 3, flat-footed 16 (+4 copper breastplate, +1 Dex, +10 natural, -8 size)
hp 416 (64d12)
Fort +21, Ref +22, Will +34
Immune cold, poison, paralysis, mind-affecting spells
Resistance half damage from piercing and slashing weapons
OFFENSE
Spd 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +32 (2d8+8)
Special Qualities darkvision 60 ft., undead traits
STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +8; Grp +16
Feats Improved Initiative.
Boggard Litany (EL 14)
The heroes see a multitude of blue-green fires lighting up at some distance in the west, and hear the croaking voices of hundreds of boggards chanting a haunting litany. In the jumble of ancient, inhuman words spoken by an ensemble of boggard priest-kings, the PCs can make out only the obsessive repetition of “Mobogo! Mobogo! Mobogo!” (sort of “Big Brother” in Boggardese). A minute later, the water of a muddy, weed-covered pond near the party bubbles and splashes wildly as a lump of four enormous, deformed froglike creatures with two batlike wings and three bulging, luminescent eyes emerges from the depths of the swamp to gobble up the party.
Creatures: The creatures are Mobogo “mobilized” by the local priest-kings to stop the party’s intrusion in the swamp. They fight fanatically to the death.
Mobogos (4): hp 138 each (see Pathfinder #12, p. 88).
Plant Monster Mayhem (EL 15)
The PCs hear loud rustling and gurgling noises, as great heaps of smelly plant matter rise reveal a trio of misshapen, gigantic plant monster with whirling tentacles.
Creatures: The plant monsters are three Huge advanced shambling mounds (24 HD). If the PCs have just been targeted by one of Ileosa’s gazebolter attacks, the shamblers have been energized by stray bolts, and have 48 extra hp and a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves.
ADVANCED SHAMBLERS (3) CR 12
N Huge Plant
Init +0; Senses Listen +14, Spot +8
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 8, flat-footed 23 (+14 natural, -2 size)
hp 228 (24 HD)
Fort +19, Ref +8, Will +8
Immune electricity; Resistance fire 10
OFFENSE
Spd 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee 2 slams +25 (3d6+9)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks improved grab, constrict (3d6+11)
Special Qualities darkvision 60 ft., electricity boost, low-light vision, plant traits
STATISTICS
Str 29, Dex 10, Con 21, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 9
Base Atk +18; Grp +27
Feats Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Hide +3 (+11 in marshy areas), Listen +14, Move Silently +8, Spot +8
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Improved Grab (Ex) Shamblers must hit with both slam attacks to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Constrict (Ex) These advanced shamblers deal 3d6+11 points of damage with a successful grapple check.
Electricity Boost (Ex) Shamblers take no damage from electricity. Instead, any electricity attack used against a shambler temporarily grants it 1d4 points of Constitution. The shambler loses these points at the rate of 1 per hour.
Skills Shamblers have a +4 racial bonus to Hide, Listen, and Move Silently checks. They have a +12 racial bonus to Hide in swampy or forested areas.
Have fun!
Wow.
This is an amazing amount of additional material, Tito, and I really appreciate all the concern and extra effort you have gone to in order to make your adventure as strong as possible for everyone. I should say, though, that I never really had serious problems with what you gave us initially in the adventure. I could see where rougerogue was coming from and the similarity to infiltrating an Imperial outpost sprang to mind, so I thought I would help him out with a different possible presentation for his players. As I was writing the post, it occurred to me that I might enjoy presenting things this way to MY players (as a matter of personal preference, as you say), but I really do think the original format is quite good.
Anyway, thanks for the additional encounters (both in response to my post and elsewhere in this thread), which I will almost certainly use.
O
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Wow. This is an amazing amount of additional material, Tito, and I really appreciate all the concern and extra effort you have gone to in order to make your adventure as strong as possible for everyone.
Well, as I (truthfully) said in my posts, the material was already in my manuscript, and I had only to adapt it to the finished product.
Having it balanced and edited in decent English would be great, if anyone cares that much.
As you can see, the contract includes lots of fancy number strings, and we have a barrister with celestial connections in Korvosa for the PC to consult during the adventure (Huh? A barrister?). Besides being a barrister and not some other professional, Tad Cyru is also my irreverent tackle to the 3rd edition "arch-peasant" concept and a VERY fanciful character (A LG lawyer?! Is it Matt Murdock or what?!).
The contract devil is a nice addition from the editors. And I think the three things could be put together again for some puzzle-based "legal" D&D fun...
After all we DO actually have a "real" fiendish contract that is bothering everyone in the gaming industry in these days. ;)
Well I think is time to pass to the "post-running" impressions. Thanks to everyone here in the forum and to the Paizo editors for making my manuscript playable and actaully improving it in most cases.
Well I think is time to pass to the "post-running" impressions. Thanks to everyone here in the forum and to the Paizo editors for making my manuscript playable and actaully improving it in most cases.
Oh, and that character is very much appreciated too. I'll be adding him to the initial roster of people the PCs interact with in #1 and in pre-story.
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Oh, and that character is very much appreciated too. I'll be adding him to the initial roster of people the PCs interact with in #1 and in pre-story.
So, one more thing based on my last post. Try it if you like Call of Cthulhu and/or are a rules heretic.
If you rescued Tad Cyru, this is a substantially new variant that makes good use of the fiendish contract and of the cool devil designed by the Paizo staff.
USING THE CONTRACT AGAINST ILEOSA
This variant turns he fiendish contract of “Crown of Fangs” into a potential weapon against Ileosa. The following material is based on an idea of the original manuscript and the all-new contract devil designed by the Paizo staff. WARNING: no official editing, bad English, poor game balance, and rules unorthodoxy (yeah).
In “Crown of Fangs” most of Ileosa’s devilish power, and especially the prolonged stay of her fiendish minions in the Material Plane, depends on the contract found in Domina’s Study (Area A90). Breaking the contract can weaken the queen considerably, but how can the players accomplish that? Simply destroying the parchment in Area A90 is useless, for the devil who oversaw the contract, a phistophilus named Bithonag, keeps his own file copy in the Nine Hells.
If the PCs rescued Tad Cyru from the rakshasas (cf. a previous post on this thread), however, they can count on an occult-savy, very special barrister among their allies. Cyru’s grand-grandfather, Gabriel, was an aasimar paladin, who spent most of his life fighting against tyranny and evil. Unable to keep a high adventuring profile in Korvosa, his descendants chose to be barristers. This way, they would be able to take advantage of their government’s “lawfulness” to protect the weak from abuse. Due to his peculiar ancestry, Tad Cyru has many interesting memorabilia in his house, including several holy weapons. Most important, however, is a special book his paladin ancestor used to save and redeem the non-evil people who were desperate enough to sign a contract with a phistophilus. The leather-bound book, written by a plane-hopping, anonymous philosopher, is a non-magical cifrary that can be used to find out the real name of a phistophilus deciphering the file codes of his contracts.
If a character acquires a given infernal contract, she can use the cifrary to read the file codes and find the command word associated to it, the so-called “entitlement proxy”, with an Intelligence (DC 20) or Knowledge (the planes) check (DC 25). The tree results for the file codes in Ileosa’s contract are the following names in Infernal:
9485784,3728:7845,9888495 - “Bithonag” (nominative or vocative of “Bithonag”)
4420,40200:0,88490 - “Dispater” (nominative or vocative)
9485784,3728.7845,9888495 - “Bithonaga” (genitive of “Bithonag”)
Knowing that Dispater is not a contract devil, the vocative of “Bithonag” is the only choice left. Uttering the name at midnight as a command word, a PC holding a contract can order Bithonag, the devil who oversaw the document, to manifest on the Material Plane. The PC can then try to break Ileosa’s pact in a legal way.
If the PC decides to do so, the phistophilus is compelled to remain at her presence until a conflict of wits (the “debate”, see below) is resolved (the devil disappears immediately if attacked in any way). If the PC wins, the contract is broken (and Ileosa loses her fiendish support, see below). If the phistophilus wins, the PC’s soul is taken instead of Ileosa’s (the queen does not lose any benefits and the PC is damned to eternal torment in Hell, cf. phistophilus’s description, p. 86 of PF #12).
The “debate” is a mental battle that consists in three opposed checks chosen by the PC among the following abilities/skills: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive, and Bluff. The PC gets the support of Tad Cyru, who can either add a +6 competence bonus to the PC’s ability checks or swap his Profession (barrister) skill check with any skill roll made by his “client” (after she has rolled).
If the PC wins two out of three opposed checks, Bithonag shrieks in frustration as his copy of the contract his consumed by flames. The devil then disappears in the darkness, while a chorus of Infernal voices screams blasphemies and curses at the heroes (who get the contract devil's full XP value). Ileosa is abandoned by any and all her surviving devil servants (Sermignatto, Mavrokeras, the Yallops, and the erinyes at the Sunken Queen), and loses the benefits of the devil bound template.
If the PC is defeated, Bithonag gates out of the Material Plane with a booming laugh (“MuahaHAHAHA! We will wait for you mortal! HA! HA! HA!”), and the PC’s soul is damned for good as much as Ileosa is unscathed (cf. phistophilus’s description).
If you decide to play this variant, game balance is paramount, but given the exceptional prize for success against Bithonag and the not immediate consequences of the “damned” status (and its possible reversibility with very potent means such as wish or a tailor-made quest), I suggest you to be not that player-friendly with this one.
OK, I go to sleep now (with my contributor tag).
