My players' encounter with Xanesha!


Rise of the Runelords

Paizo Employee CEO

I have been dreading my party's encounter with Xanesha for about a month now. I diligently read every thread I could find about other DM's handling of this tough encounter. I prepared to sub in Lucrecia from Hook Mountain Horror. But, of course, I didn't consider the party my strategy came up with. So here it is. I hope it helps out some other DMs in the future.

So I have six characters in my party, all level 6. Barbarian, Rogue, Cleric, Sorcerer, Ranger, Druid, all made with the Pathfinder Beta rules. I run a pretty magic light campaign, so nothing better than a +1 sword or +1 armor.

Spoiler:
The party finished off Ironbriar in the sawmill and found the ravens. A speak with animals from the Druid later, and they found out the ravens knew where Xanesha lived. So the Druid turns into a raven and flies with the other ravens to the clocktower. The party also knew that Xanesha was powerful and a magic-user. But they had no idea about the lamia matriarch aspect until they saw her revert to her true form in the encounter. So they didn't have TOO much info ahead of time.

So here was their plan, they had the mask from Aldern which allows them to disguise themselves to look like someone that they are looking at. The rogue disguises herself like Ironbriar and they all put on the robes that they found in the sawmill. They head to the sawmill and step inside. The Scarecrow eventually comes out when he sees Ironbriar. He is confused by why they are at the clocktower (I made the assumption that Ironbriar didn't normally come to the clocktower because of the whole messenger raven system). Our Rogue pulls off a thiry-something bluff and assures him that it was an emergency and that they needed to see Xanesha. At this point, one of the Faceless Stalkers arrives looking like a human manservant. After another great bluff roll, the Faceless Stalker heads up to talk to Xanesha. She has him bring Ironbriar and his cultists up to her nest on the top of the tower. The other Faceless Stalker joins them on the way up.

Once they get up there, the rogue plys her story one more time, this time not getting a great bluff. Xanesha catches the failed bluff and thinks that Ironbriar may be up to something. Before she can act though, the players attack! Because of the suddenness, I give them a surprise round. The rogue rushes Xanesha and even gets a higher init roll. Her two rounds of attacks take away half of Xanesha's hps. Other characters chip away at her because of her flat-footed, non-buffed AC. Xanesha and the Faceless Stalkers get to act and Xanesha almost puts the rogue out of commission in one round. After another round of pummeling the characters, she opts to flee with 27 hp left.

Xanesha takes off into the night (she had cast fly earlier to make a dramatic appearance before Ironbriar...have to keep the underlings impressed you know), bleeding3/round (due to one of the rogue's special abilities). She knows that she needs to get to someplace safely. After three moves of flight, she D-doors into a nearby hovel, heals herself, waits for the Glitterdust to dissipate, casts invisibility, and then sneaks off to be encountered later at Barl's cave in the Hook Mountain area next adventure.

The characters came after her riding summoned hippogriffs, but alas, it took them too long and they didn't see Xanesha D-door, so it was fruitless.

So Xanesha barely escapes because of the PC's bold plan. It was a neat fight and surprising her made her less deadly because of the lack of the buffs.

So there you have it! Beware those crafty players! :)

-Lisa


Amazing! My players will encounter Xanesha next weekend - I hope it goes half as well as your's did, Lisa.

Sczarni

Lisa Stevens wrote:
But, of course, I didn't consider the party my strategy came up with.

Your strategy came up with a party?

seriously, though, that sounds like an awesome encounter

Paizo Employee CEO

The thing that strikes me about our group is how absolutely smart they are. They almost always take things in ways I never intend. It takes a fair bit of prep work, thinking about the encounter ahead of time, and being able to wing it on the fly to keep up with them. But it is THESE types of game sessions that make it all worth while to DM. :) When they couldn't find Xanesha, the looks on their faces was priceless. Vic even accused me of cheating!

-Lisa

Sovereign Court

That went nicely! It bodes well for the rest of the campaign that the group did so well in that deadly encounter. :)

Have you already decided how you're going to get the group to go to Fort Rannick? Will it be Lord-Mayor Grobaras who asks them as in the adventure?

Paizo Employee CEO

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Moonbeam wrote:

That went nicely! It bodes well for the rest of the campaign that the group did so well in that deadly encounter. :)

Have you already decided how you're going to get the group to go to Fort Rannick? Will it be Lord-Mayor Grobaras who asks them as in the adventure?

Actually...

Spoiler:
they will find a letter from Lucrecia to Xanesha that goes like this:

My dearest Xanesha!

I am so proud of what you are doing in Magnimar, with your band of murders winging souls to our Lord, fueling his awakening! Soon enough, Magnimar will be a much nicer place, with all of its greed sucked dry.

My plans proceed up here in Turtleback Ferry. You wouldn’t think that greed could take a foothold in such a desolate area, but when you provide people with just a bit of hope for a better life, it is amazing how their greed rises to the top.

The only obstacle to my plans is Fort Rannick, but that will be taken care of shortly. Then nothing will stand in the way of our Lord coming back to life!

Soon, we shall be reunited and our Lord will begin his most glorious reign over all of Golarion!

Lucrecia

I figure that will be enough to get them moving. That and a little revenge. :)

-Lisa


Lisa Stevens wrote:
Moonbeam wrote:

That went nicely! It bodes well for the rest of the campaign that the group did so well in that deadly encounter. :)

Have you already decided how you're going to get the group to go to Fort Rannick? Will it be Lord-Mayor Grobaras who asks them as in the adventure?

Actually...

** spoiler omitted **

I figure that will be enough to get them moving. That and a little revenge. :)

-Lisa

This is a great letter and I may steal it...but do you think it reveals too much of the big picture at this point in the story?

Liberty's Edge

klofft wrote:
Lisa Stevens wrote:

Actually...

** spoiler omitted **

I figure that will be enough to get them moving. That and a little revenge. :)

This is a great letter and I may steal it...but do you think it reveals too much of the big picture at this point in the story?

In my campaign, I will probably use such a letter, but later, maybe at the end of HMM or even FotSG. during a side adventure featuring a third lamia matriarch (as discussed somewhere else on these boards). If the party is still stuck in left field at that point, this should help.

Paizo Employee CEO

klofft wrote:
This is a great letter and I may steal it...but do you think it reveals too much of the big picture at this point in the story?

Not really.

Spoiler:

All you really know from the letter is that somebody named Lucrecia is doing something similar to what has been done in Sandpoint and Magnimar at a place called Turtleback Ferry. There is a Fort Rannick there which is causing her trouble, but she is "dealing with it." She talks about her "Lord" and that they are harvesting greedy souls for him so he awakens. No idea who this "Lord" is or why he needs greedy souls. No mention of ogres. Or giants. Or anything else. Just enough tidbits to send them on their way to explore Turtleback Ferry. If they talk to the authorities in Magnimar about this, they find out that there hasn't been any communication for a while with Fort Rannick and the Lord Mayor can ask them to check it out as written in the module. But if not, then they figure it out themselves. Either way, I get the players to Turtleback Ferry and the next layer of the onion is revealed!

:)

-Lisa


6 PC's made with pathfinder beta?

Have you increased the power level of the encounters generally or are you running it with the foes as written?


Lisa Stevens wrote:
klofft wrote:
This is a great letter and I may steal it...but do you think it reveals too much of the big picture at this point in the story?

Not really.

** spoiler omitted **

-Lisa

Spoiler:
Ah, how appropriate a description, given that both onions and the handiwork of Nicholas Logue are encounters that can rapidly reduce those involved to tears....
:)
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

klofft wrote:
This is a great letter and I may steal it...but do you think it reveals too much of the big picture at this point in the story?

Unlikely. If anything, one of the complaints I have (admittedly a minor one) with the Adventure Path is that the early adventures need a bit more tie-in with the main plot.

Paizo Employee CEO

Werecorpse wrote:

6 PC's made with pathfinder beta?

Have you increased the power level of the encounters generally or are you running it with the foes as written?

For the most part, I am running them at one level lower than the expected level range. For instance, they are sixth level right now and I am going to keep them there until sometime after the Grauls. They will probably go to 7th level when they go against Fort Rannick.

One thing I am doing with my campaign is getting rid of XPs entirely. I level my players when the time is ripe for it and the story calls for it. This gives me a much better control over the power level of the characters and such.

-Lisa

Silver Crusade

Lisa Stevens wrote:
Werecorpse wrote:

6 PC's made with pathfinder beta?

Have you increased the power level of the encounters generally or are you running it with the foes as written?

For the most part, I am running them at one level lower than the expected level range. For instance, they are sixth level right now and I am going to keep them there until sometime after the Grauls. They will probably go to 7th level when they go against Fort Rannick.

One thing I am doing with my campaign is getting rid of XPs entirely. I level my players when the time is ripe for it and the story calls for it. This gives me a much better control over the power level of the characters and such.

-Lisa

The group I'm running the game for just hit Xanesha this weekend. They were sixth level Pathfinder Beta characters (1 Druid, 1 Monk, 1 Fighter, 1 Wizard (conj.), 1 Cleric). I ran the Shadow Clock as written with no alteration figuring it would be tough, but surmountable with the revised Beta classes. Were it not for a timely Dispel Magic from the cleric which dropped ALL of Xanesha's buffs (seriously, lowest die roll was 18!), I believe I was looking at a TPK! With her mobility reduced, defenses down, and damage beginning to pile up, Xanesha fled.

Since XP is no longer needed to make items, I've moved to leveling the characters when appropriate as well. It's made things much easier for both of myself and the players. I was planning to move them to level seven after they wrap up a few items in Magnimar (maybe a short side adventure) before starting Hook Mountain. Since the Grauls have so many character levels, I was planning on converting them to Beta to keep their challenge level appropriate.

By the way, thanks for the letter. I shamelessly stole it. My players jumped on it immediately. "So ths [Turtleback Ferry] is where we need to go next to track down this conspiracy!"


Lord Fyre wrote:
klofft wrote:
This is a great letter and I may steal it...but do you think it reveals too much of the big picture at this point in the story?
Unlikely. If anything, one of the complaints I have (admittedly a minor one) with the Adventure Path is that the early adventures need a bit more tie-in with the main plot.

I noticed this, too...what I decided was to encourage the PCs to do research from the very beginning. I gave them a guide to Sandpoint handout, divided into categories like Taverns, Goods...including a category for Information, so the sage, seer, bookstore, library, etc. are listed.

Spoiler:
I plan to encourage them to research things they might be intrigued about, like the Old Light and the giant head under Thistletop. They won't learn much, but they might get thinking about a connection to fallen Thassilon. That plus the reoccurence of the Sihedron will probably be enough for the first three adventures.

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