Put it next to the river at some point and describe it as dark and gloomy and that strange noise can be heard from there.
Sons of Carrion can build a dam or something like that and make an ambush there. Or give them a boat/ship of their own and attack them like that.
Question: In "The Katapesh Marketplace" section of this book, there are specific numbered locations referenced for the market (p.56).
Were these supposed to be on the city map (p.20)? Or are the locations noted somewhere else?
Where does the +2 shield bonus to Father Jackal's AC come from?
My guess was that someone at some point was thinking he'd have a shield. Although he doesn't have a shield in his pik, he is armed with a battleaxe so he has a free hand.
Alternatively just give him an ad hoc +2 bonus for fighting one-handed and say it's some kind of fighting style.
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I just started running The Jackal's Price and I’ve worked out travel times and distances between Kelmarane and Katapesh using combined info from Dark Markets and the Inner Sea Poster Map Folio. Thought other GMs might find it useful.
Base Caravan Speed
This is a recap of basic overland travel info from Table 7–6 in the Core Rulebook. A caravan’s speed is determined by its slowest member. The base travel distance per day is then modified by the terrain type; the journey legs detailed below incorporate the modified distance totals.
Speed 20: 16 miles per day. A dwarf, halfling, or encumbered human traveling on foot. A mounted caravan might be traveling at this speed if they’re relying on Survival checks to bolster their supplies, but otherwise it’s pretty unlikely.
Speed 30: 24 miles per day. A human traveling on foot.
Speed 40: 32 miles per day. An encumbered camel, horse, or dire hyena. The adventure assumes the party is riding on camels, and the caravan guards’ camels at least are definitely carrying medium loads, so this is the party’s expected speed.
Speed 50: 40 miles per day. An unencumbered camel, horse, or dire hyena. For my own campaign, I’m assuming that until the Sons of Carrion’s numbers are whittled down by flubbed ambushes, the elements, and infighting, they are traveling on dire hyena mounts and living off the land, abandoning or even eating anyone too wounded or exhausted to keep up. This additional speed allows them to outpace the PCs’ caravan and set up their attacks.
A “day” of travel is 8 hours, though in my take on the AP that actually means 4 hours of travel in the early- to mid- morning, taking a break of up to 4 hours in the heat of midday, and then putting in another 4 hours of travel starting in mid-afternoon and ending in the early evening. This gives the caravan the Survival bonus for remaining stationary during the hottest period of daytime.
Journey Legs
Kelmarane to Bronze Hook is the only leg that follows a road; all the others are trackless terrain (though most follow the Obelisk Trail). With the exception of the hills near Kelmarane and a possible diversion to the sandy desert of the southeast, the terrain is generally all plains.
Kelmarane to Bronze Hook
Distance & Terrain: 26 miles (hills, with road)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 12 hours (1-1/2 days); Speed 30: 11-1/2 hours (1 day, 3-1/2 hours); Speed 40: 9 hours (possible in 1 day with a short forced march); Speed 50: 5-1/2 hours
Kelmarane to Sabkha
Distance & Terrain: 125 miles (26 miles of hills followed by plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 26 hours (3 days, 2 hours) to cross foothills, then 66 hours (8 days, 2 hours) to cross plains (11-1/2 days total); Speed 30: about 17 hours (2 days plus 1-2 hours) to cross foothills, then 44 hours (5-1/2 days) to cross plains (nearly 8 days total); Speed 40: 13 hours (1 day, 5 hours) to cross foothills, then 33 hours (4 days, 1 hour) to cross plains (nearly 6 days total); Speed 50: about 10-1/2 hours (1 day, 2-1/2 hours) to cross foothills, then 26-1/2 hours (3 days, 2-1/2 hours) to cross plains (4 days, 5 hours total)
Kelmarane to Sleeping Dove
Distance & Terrain: 52 miles (30 miles of hills followed by plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 30 hours (3 days, 6 hours) to cross foothills, then about 15 hours (1 day, 7 hours) to cross plains (5 days, 5 hours total); Speed 30: 20 hours (2-1/2 days) to cross foothills, then nearly 15 hours (1 day, 7 hours) to cross plains (4 days, 2 hours total); Speed 40: 15 hours (1 day, 7 hours) to cross foothills, then just over 7 hours (1 day) to cross plains (nearly 3 days total); Speed 50: 12 hours (1-1/2 days) to cross foothills, then nearly 6 hours to cross plains (2 days, 2 hours total)
Bronze Hook to Sleeping Dove
Distance & Terrain: 30 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 20 hours (2-1/2 days); Speed 30: about 13 hours (1-1/2 days); Speed 40: 10 hours (1 day, 2 hours); Speed 50: 8 hours (1 day)
Sleeping Dove to Floater's Pond
Distance & Terrain: 60 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 40 hours (5 days); Speed 30: about 27 hours (3 days, 3 hours); Speed 40: 20 hours (2-1/2 days); Speed 50: 16 hours (2 days)
Sleeping Dove to Sabkha
Distance & Terrain: 90 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 60 hours (7-1/2 days); Speed 30: 40 hours (5 days); Speed 40: 30 hours (3 days, 6 hours); Speed 50: 24 hours (3 days)
Floater's Pond to Sabkha
Distance & Terrain: 42 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 28 hours (3-1/2 days); Speed 30: about 19 hours (2 days, 3 hours); Speed 40: 14 hours (1 day, 6 hours); Speed 50: about 11 hours (1 day, 3 hours)
Floater's Pond to Selkelas
Distance & Terrain: 65 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: about 43 hours (5-1/2 days); Speed 30: about 29 hours (3 days, 5 hours); Speed 40: about 22 hours (2 days, 6 hours); Speed 50: about 17 hours (2 days)
Sabkha to Katapesh
Distance & Terrain: 90 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 60 hours (7-1/2 days); Speed 30: 40 hours (5 days); Speed 40: 30 hours (3 days, 6 hours); Speed 50: 24 hours (3 days)
Selkelas to Palace Mortales
Distance & Terrain: 78 miles (sandy desert)
Travel Time
Speed 20: 78 hours (9 days, 2 hours); Speed 30: 52 hours (6-1/2 days); Speed 40: about 40 hours (5 days); Speed 50: 21 hours (2 days, 5 hours)
Palace Mortales to Katapesh
Distance & Terrain: 80 miles (plains)
Travel Time
Speed 20: about 53 hours (6 days, 6 hours); Speed 30: about 36 hours (4-1/2 days); Speed 40: about 27 hours (3 days, 3 hours); Speed 50: about 21 hours (2 days, 5 hours)
Side Note: Why take the long detour to Selkelas? In my game, the Sons of Carrion are going to attempt their flubbed ambush at Floater’s Pond, by which time the PCs will be fully aware that they’re being hunted, and should probably know by whom. From Floater’s Pond, it’s still more than 5 days’ ride to the safety of Katapesh, but less than 3 days to Selkelas, which marks (among other things) the edges of the Duenas tribe’s territory. (In my campaign, the Duenas tribe’s desert is also the homeland of one of the PCs’ badawi tribesmen.) Garavel’s going to recommend cutting south for the desert. With luck, they’ll encounter the PC’s kinfolk, who can help them out, but failing that, it’ll force the Sons of Carrion to either break off their pursuit or to extend it into the lands of a rival tribe, hopefully pitting one pack of gnolls against the other. While hopefully ditching the Sons of Carrion in the desert, the PCs will also hear about the Deep Well of Paradise, which might serve as a last-ditch effort to run somewhere the obsessive Sons of Carrion won’t go.
About to start chapter 3 so those breakdowns will be very helpful to me John thanks.
Has anyone actually run Well of Eternal Thirst? Looking at this now to play at the start of chapter 3 to get my group to level 7.
I'm having trouble with several elements of it. Firstly it says its for 4 8th level characters but the highest EL is 8. I think my 6 level 6s would walk through it as printed to be honest. 7 lacedons, even hiding in the water, are going to be a two round speed bump.
This is without the lammasu coming along (which would need some great diplomatic efforts to be sure but not outside the range of possibility).
Secondly, the vampires are a whole bunch less scary when the party are free to choose the battle terms. Unless they grossly stuff up the diplomacy the lammasu will at least tell the group what they are. So out comes the silver and the stakes. Theres no way to force a fight at night. The oasis isn't big and the group can just retreat before nightfall. And again 4 CR 4 29hp AC15! enemies are a full attack from the fighters with plenty of change left over.
I'm thinking of throwing a shround of twilight over the whole thing just so something can happen other than the group finding the vampires in their coffins.
Third, the skeleton ettin appearing right before an encounter with a real one seems very odd. Clearly the design of the main and set are done differently but c'mon!
This doesn't even get to the obvious muck ups like the lammasu pre-casting greater invisibility and then having a physical description in the boxed text immediately after although I have to say I do like the greater invisibility it increases the chance the party might get into an interesting battle. The idea they might find they chopped the head off the lawful good celestial guardian makes me feel happy inside.
Before I amp up the power level (I'm thinking vampires, advanced templates galore, environmental effects) any tips from people who've played it?
I'm midway through Hell of Eternal Thirst right now with a party at the tail end of 7th level. Zayifid escaped them at the end of HotB and has been dogging them since. Because of that, the PCs keep counter-invisibility magic primed, and because of that, beating the Lion of Five Heavens in "honorable combat" to prove their worth went pretty well (costing the lammasu his chance to buff up). They then entered the oasis, completely steamrolled the lacedons and the ettin, and then marched into the temple with a protection from evil spell up.
Two rounds later, the party cleric was nearly dead with four negative levels. Suddenly realizing the the lammasu might not have been blowing hot air with all his preaching about how deadly the oasis is, the party bugged out completely, camping for the night miles and miles away.
When we left off, the PCs had recovered and were now back at the oasis, prepped specifically for their undead foes. I imagine the PCs will do well this time, but boy, that opening encounter with a tactical spectre sure slapped them serious. :)
As a note, my "why not rent a boat" dilemma from earlier basically resolved itself. First, in my campaign, the PCs chose to wait until just after the autumn rainy season to make the big trek to Katapesh, and we'd already well established that the Pale River was a swollen whitewater for much of the month of Lamashan, when they'd be traveling--making it highly dangerous to navigate. In addition, I rolled a nat-twenny for the party ranger's Knowledge (geography) check, and so gave them a map of Katapesh with lots of the little sites from Dark Markets labeled. The PC cleric of Sarenrae wanted to visit Sleeping Dove, and later another PC wanted to go sightseeing at the Observatory. So despite my fretting, "What if we take a boat?" ended up just being a passing fancy on the lips of one player -- they gave themselves reasons to take the overland path.
I may have primed the pump a bit by offering to use a modified version of Jade Regent's caravan rules. This may have put them in the mindset of assembling a camel train, even though we ultimately chose not to use those rules after all.
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I was thinking of starting a new thread called "Things to Do in Katapesh When You're (Not Yet) Dead" but figured it would just be confusing. Anyway, this was a good place for this post since I ran this encounter as one of many filler episodes while the party was waiting for Rayhan to figure out the scroll.
There was an item seeded in Dark Markets, regarding the magic carpet known as Cloud Cutter. The section says that finding/rescuing/purchasing/stealing the carpet will incur the wrath of "a gnoll assassin simply known as Spider." I had Spider find out behind the scenes who had recovered his carpet, and then Spider showed up with his followers at the gate of Rayhan's villa on the outskirts of Katapesh.
Spider was treated as an elite NPC having a higher level wealth. Then I mistakenly gave elite NPC wealth to the cohort. So Spider has the (combined) wealth of a PC a few levels lower than himself. I thought this kind of worked out, though, since with the other Katapesh encounters I'd been running, there wasn't a lot of loot for several game sessions that were set in Katapesh.
Stats include Barkskin, Power Attack, Arcane Strike and Inspire Courage. All but Barkskin can be invoked in the first round without preparation. Since he's showing up looking for a fight, he'll have taken the Barkskin potion before the confrontation. His blade will also be poisoned with the huge scorpion venom.
The party managed to get Spider to agree to single combat (which of course, his followers had no intention of honoring) with one of the PCs. It went a couple rounds before Spider got hurt, and then all hell broke loose with his entourage. It was a pretty good fight, really. But my players are moderately optimized. You might have to tune it to your own group. Still, here's what I had:
Spider, Gnoll Assassin CR 10
XP 9,600
Male gnoll assassin 5/bard (arcane duelist) 6 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 80, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 155)
NE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +9
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 92 (13d8+26)
Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +6; +2 vs. poison, +2 morale bonus vs. charm and fear
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 dagger +10/+5 (1d4+13/19-20) or
. . +1 keen falcata (used 2-handed) +11/+6 (1d8+17/17-20/×3) + poison or
.. +1 keen falcata +11/+6 (1d8+13/17-20/×3) + poison
Special Attacks bardic performance 16 rounds/day (bladethirst, distraction, fascinate [DC 15], inspire competence +2, inspire courage +2, rallying cry), death attack (DC 16), sneak attack +3d6, true death (DC 20)
Bard (Arcane Duelist) Spells Known (CL 6th; concentration +8)
. . 2nd (4/day)—blur, invisibility, minor image (DC 14), mirror image
. . 1st (5/day)—comprehend languages, forced quiet[UM] (DC 13), silent image (DC 13), vanish[APG] (DC 13)
. . 0 (at will)—daze (DC 12), detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic, spark[APG] (DC 12)
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +8; CMB +9; CMD 22
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Disruptive, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (falcata), Leadership, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (falcata)
Skills Appraise +5, Bluff +6, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +6, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5, Knowledge (local) +9, Knowledge (planes) +6, Linguistics +8, Perception +9, Perform (act) +18, Perform (dance) +18, Sense Motive +3, Sleight of Hand +11 (+16 to hide weapons on body), Stealth +17, Survival +4, Use Magic Device +6
Languages Aklo, Auran, Gnoll, Infernal, Kelish, Osiriani
SQ arcane bond - weapon, hidden weapons, poison use
Combat Gear potion of barkskin +3, poison, huge scorpion venom (4); Other Gear +2 mithral chain shirt, +1 dagger, +1 keen falcata
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Bond - Weapon (1/day) At 5th level, an arcane duelist gains the arcane bond ability as a wizard, using a weapon as his bonded item, allowing him to cast any one additional spell that he knows once per day. He may not choose a familiar or other type of bonded item. He may
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bardic Performance (standard action, 16 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Death Attack (DC 16) (Ex) You can kill or paralyze for 1d6+5 rds with a prepared sneak attack.
Disruptive +4 DC to cast defensively for those you threaten.
Hidden Weapons +5 (Ex) You gain +5 to Sleight of Hand checks made to hide weapons on your person.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Lv >=9) (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 9+.
Leadership (Base Score 15) You attract loyal companions and devoted followers.
Poison Use You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Sneak Attack +3d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
True Death (DC 20) (Su) Casting Raise Dead on a victim of your death attack requires a successful DC 20 caster level check.
Vital Strike Standard action: x2 weapon damage dice.
His base leadership score is listed as 15, so unless you adjust it, he's got 20 first level followers, 2 second level and a third level follower. You could adjust that either way depending on the needs of your game. And no matter how many followers he has, they don't all have to show up.
Here is the cohort I gave him.
Cohort:
Sketthii, Gnoll Brute, Spider's Cohort CR 10
XP 9,600
Female gnoll fighter 9 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 155)
NE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 101 (11 HD; 2d8+9d10+42)
Fort +11, Ref +4, Will +5 (+2 vs. fear); +3 resistance bonus vs. poison
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 adamantine glaive +18/+13 (1d10+23/19-20/×3) or
. . mwk scimitar +14/+9 (1d6+12/18-20)
Ranged +1 darkwood composite longbow +14/+9 (1d8+2/×3)
Special Attacks weapon trainings (pole arms +2, bows +1)
--------------------
Statistics
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Str 22, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 8
Base Atk +10; CMB +13; CMD 27
Feats Greater Weapon Focus (glaive), Improved Critical (glaive), Improved Natural Armor, Iron Will, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Step Up, Toughness, Weapon Focus (glaive), Weapon Focus (longbow), Weapon Specialization (glaive)
Skills Climb +10, Handle Animal +4, Intimidate +5, Ride +4, Stealth +1, Survival +4, Swim +9
Languages Gnoll
SQ armor training 2
Other Gear +1 poison resistant dragonhide breastplate, +1 adamantine glaive, +1 darkwood composite longbow, mwk scimitar
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Special Abilities
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Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Step Up When a foe makes a 5 ft step away from you, you can move 5 ft to follow them.
Weapon Training (Bows) +1 (Ex) +1 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Bows
Weapon Training (Pole Arms) +2 (Ex) +2 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Pole Arms
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My PCs have (correctly) determined that the Scroll of Kakishon is too important an item to simply sell so the idea of throwing a party for potential buyers feels a bit silly. They've also been very thorough about hiding the existence of the scroll — the only way I was able to get the information out at all was they had Amwyr Yuseifah with them while mopping up the House of the Beast and I argued they had not been completely mum about it around him, so when they let him loose in Kelmarane Radi Hamdi was able to pick up the scent from him. They've been a bit frustrated that even this little slip-up has occurred so the idea of multiple buyers having learned both of the scroll's existence and the party's possession of it feels like I'm just flat out ignoring their hard work to keep their secret. Rayhan was set up as an old teacher of the party's wizard from Wizard U (go owlbears!) so I'm thinking of reskinning the party as an alumni meeting of sorts that Rayhan has been putting off and is now obligated to hold while the PCs are there. From there a little wine should provide enough of an excuse for someone to get loose lips and Father Jackal can find the scroll from there. My PCs have put in a lot of work to keep the scroll hidden so I don't want to just say the info is out in the open but most of this book hinges on the idea that knowledge of the scroll has gotten out which I've found a bit frustrating. Also maybe it speaks to the character of my party (or the ones the writers play with) that selling the scroll to the highest bidder is presumed to be the players' intention upon reaching Katapesh when in my opinion any party worth their salt knows this thing is too powerful and potentially dangerous to simply cash out on.