Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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Just wanted to formally create a place for discussion, questions, comments and/or verbal abuse related to PFS #11.
Honestly, I love, love, LOVE what my friend, associate & fellow contributor Steven T. Helt (AKA Ancient_Sensei) has been doing regarding his Scenario. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, well, then ... consider yourself FLATTERIZED, Helt!
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Steven has been a real good sport about the feedback he's received on Dralkard Manor... But he was taking heat for some stuff that he wasn't responsible for as the co-author. I only see one name on this scenario. But based on your post you seem to be hedging for some reason, what nightmares will we find in Osirion? Are you trying to top casting lightning bolt on a 1st level character? Our local group is playing The Third Riddle this week. I will not be on the table because the group has grown to multiple tables. Apparently players love getting the living **** scared out of them.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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Steven has been a real good sport about the feedback he's received on Dralkard Manor... But he was taking heat for some stuff that he wasn't responsible for as the co-author. I only see one name on this scenario. But based on your post you seem to be hedging for some reason, what nightmares will we find in Osirion? Are you trying to top casting lightning bolt on a 1st level character?
Well, this IS the scenario that finally earned me my coveted EVIL merit-badge from Josh Frost:
... and I guess I just want to be here so I can enjoy the screams of raw, unadulterated panic & horror.
NOW: this was my very first published adventure ever, so it's not entirely my work; Mr. Frost was unbelievably patient & supportive during the development of this scenario, and his guiding hand is responsible for many of the cooler moments of the module.
I look forward to hearing from GMs and players regarding the play of this adventure, and much love all to my Paizo peeps!
...and his guiding hand is responsible for many of the cooler moments of the module.
You built the house. I just re-painted a few walls.
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Just (half an hour ago) I finished playing #11 Third Riddle (hey, my VERY first Pathfinder adventure as a PLAYER instead of a GM - more about my player experience in another thread shortly - I'm very excited!)
Third Riddle - Fantastic scenario!
I love the puzzle elements to the three end encounters - it really sets it apart from other scenarios I've played. I like when a scenario has a theme or style that makes it memorable, which this scenario certainly did.
The one thing that made Third Riddle difficult to run was that the three end encounters were complex, difficult to get your head around and explain to players. Warning to GMs, read these through a few times, think about how you're going to draw the scene on your battle mats, think about how you're going to explain terrain features to your players - practice in front of a mirror if you have to! but DEFINITELY playtest these encounters with your home group before stumbling through them with time limitations at a Con.
This was such a playtest (Aracanacon, Melbourne Australia is next weekend). We asked the GM a *lot* of questions about the set-up, the maps, re-read the boxed text (repeatedly) to get our heads around the terrain, what we needed to do, and how we needed to go about it.
What we needed to do wasn't that difficult once we understood how the terrain and other factors worked, but it took a lot of time explaining and repeating these concepts to us.
Something that might help a lot if you're running the water encounter - alongside the standard top-down view, also draw a cross-section sample of the platforms and indicate the current water level, changing it each round, so everyone has a clear visual picture in their mind of what the current terrain conditions are. Player confusion will slow this encounter down, particularly with movement and re-explaining the situation on each player's turn.
I'm not suggesting to dumb it down, these features are what contributed to making this adventure such an enjoyable, memorable experience. But GMs should adequately prepare themselves before running these encounters, and the encounters and maps might need to be explained a little more clearly.
Some other feedback - I think our GM ran the first encounter well. Dramatic chase scene, helped by touches such as wagon bumps, leaps between wagon and horse, etc.
Two clerics in this group made short work of the pyramid encounter. As a playtest, I really should see how these scenarios run without a cleric?
Oh, and as my first adventure as a level one character, I was in constant fear of my life - real or imagined? - that's the nature of puzzles and traps - you never know what will spring out at you next - player paranoia.
Well done guys!
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I am just reading teh Third Riddle in prep for running it at a con (unfortunately I won't get to playtest it).
For the water room - if a characters says Flood and then Drought does the room return to a stable state, or once activated is the pendulum in only a flood or drought mode?
Is there anything (other than the monster) stopping a character swimming under the force barrier, using a grappling hook and robe to scale the pedestal and statue to get the key and then swim back - all without ever activating the pendulum?
Any help is appreciated!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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I am just reading teh Third Riddle in prep for running it at a con (unfortunately I won't get to playtest it).
Very cool! You came to the right place for questions, man!
For the water room - if a characters says Flood and then Drought does the room return to a stable state, or once activated is the pendulum in only a flood or drought mode?
Good question!
As written, the two room conditions are adversarial, and there is no "off" switch once the pendulum is activated. To put it another way, the room swings wildly back and forth between the two extreme states of drought & flood - the "stable" state in which the PCs find the room cannot be re-attained once the pendulum starts swinging.
Now, there MUST be a way to achieve that "middle-ground" off position, because that's how the room is found, but as a GM, I would probably rule that the pendulum doesn't turn off until something like an hour has passed without it being activated.
Another way to do it would be to switch the room to Drought and then leave - the rules on page 13 state that doors are "impossible to open" when the room is flooding, but say nothing about them being locked while the room is in drought. If the PCs leave and come back, the room might have re-set to neutral - it's magic, after all!
I designed the room to switch back and forth dynamically between the two extremes because it felt more Indiana Jones than having it click to a middle position.
Is there anything (other than the monster) stopping a character swimming under the force barrier, using a grappling hook and robe to scale the pedestal and statue to get the key and then swim back - all without ever activating the pendulum?
Nope! The whole riddle of this room is, in all honesty, is that you don't HAVE to activate the magic - or, really, even kill the monster. The wall of force is just there to keep characters from sprinting across the room, grabbing the key & running back, but PCs don't even necessarily have to get in the water: characters can climb on the walls with only a DC: 10 Climb check, and could either run on top of the walkway or jump (sort of Prince of Persia style) from the walled middle platform to-and-from the key platform.
Another little Climb-based dip under the wall of force platform, and you can run back!
Any help is appreciated!
Hope I was helpful, and PLEASE tell us about your experience running this Scenario after it's done!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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Another question - the log sheet does not indicate that Tier 1 - 2 can purchase a +1 Quarterstaff. Was this intentional?
That's a mistake - I apologize!
Without asking Josh Frost about it, I'd assume that you can write it in on the sheet and just sign next to it.
Good catch, sir!
Since +1 items can always be purchased per the guide book, we don't include those types of items on the chronicle sheet.
Also, the Drought/Flood room goes back to its starting state once the PCs solve the room. It's in the development section.
Can't wait to hear how this one goes!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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Since +1 items can always be purchased per the guide book, we don't include those types of items on the chronicle sheet.
Also, the Drought/Flood room goes back to its starting state once the PCs solve the room. It's in the development section.
Can't wait to hear how this one goes!
See, this is why Josh is in charge!
Thank you, Mr. Frost - I'm glad to have you in my corner!
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As written, the two room conditions are adversarial, and there is no "off" switch once the pendulum is activated.
Thanks for the clarification.
but PCs don't even necessarily have to get in the water: characters can climb on the walls with only a DC: 10 Climb check, and could either run on top of the walkway or jump (sort of Prince of Persia style) from the walled middle platform to-and-from the key platform.
Another little Climb-based dip under the wall of force platform, and you can run back!
Can I assume you would have to drain teh room until the water level was at least only 10 feet (level with the previously submerged square walkway) in order to do this?
Since +1 items can always be purchased per the guide book, we don't include those types of items on the chronicle sheet.
Doh! Of course! :)
Also, the Drought/Flood room goes back to its starting state once the PCs solve the room. It's in the development section.
Yeah I caught that I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a way to do it before completing the task.
Thanks to you both!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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Can I assume you would have to drain teh room until the water level was at least only 10 feet (level with the previously submerged square walkway) in order to do this?
Yes - you'd have to do that if you wanted to "walk" on the walkway - but even if it's submerged, tall characters could use the walkway to anchor themselves and sort of wade.
And a sufficiently strong & agile character could still jump the space between walkways, even if the water doesn't drain!
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I just ran this scenario today and my main critique is as goes: all the three set-piece encounters would've made for great video game encounters. (I get the feeling that Clinton Boomer's played the Legend of Zelda series) Unfortunately, on the table-top they made for extremely slow resolution, especially with regards to the water room. The room with the three scorpions was the most fun and simplest to run, but at the same time the deadliest to the PCs. The Test of the Necromancer was a push-over due to the fact that the group had a Cleric in it and since he was a negative energy channeling Cleric he didn't mind the desecrate effect in the room at all.
The Test of the Evoker was by far the most frustrating: it took ages to simply describe the room and illustrate it and once that was done the PCs slaughtered the monster and pretty much breezed through the puzzle (though it took them a while to figure it out).
As said, the Test of the Diviner was by far the most fun to run but at the same time the most taxing to the characters. They burned through most of their resources in that one fight and one character was at the brink of death for a while, but ultimately I feel that the encounter was also the most rewarding of all three.
That's all I have to say about that.
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First off I announce I am one of those "hard to please" people (Hi!). The last four scenarios have been showing a definite decline of quality. The Third Riddle is no excuse. And Ratpick was our DM. He did a good job, especially considering this to be his first scenario to run. Unfortunately he got the most complex one.
Oh, and we played this on Tier 4-5.
We started off with enthusiasm; trekking off to neo-Egyptian environment in a caravan, and marauding horsemen ambushing was right on the spot. Yet I'm not quite sure why they really have to be of the Aspis (?) Consortium. Sure, the Taldans need their faction mission, yet I do think it could have been done otherwise. Having genuine desert bandits is a perfectly good reason, at least better than Chelish rebels.
I was also wondering their extra bad stats. 11 11 11 10 10 10? And they *dare* to attack a caravan? Damn those kindergarteners...
As we arrived to the Ravenous Sphinx, we were kinda expecting for the sphinx to speak and give us a riddle. Well, no riddle, not a big deal. Using our obvious neo-Egyptology lessons as a base (and the obvious trap and a dead body of Safan), we journeyed through the sloped corridor with a sandbag testing out all the traps. Good that we did. We remained unscratched, but the same can't be said of the sandbag we used. Poor ol' sandbag got poked and poisoned.
Main chamber... I initially thought "This scene he (Clinton Boomer) must have gotten from the Cube". Fortunately I was wrong, as the ghost of Daktaklakpak or whatever appeared and uttered some words. Now I was expecting a riddle. No luck.
The three doors were pretty self-explanatory. We chose the test of the Diviner first, though with a false assumption.
See, the tests were Necromancer, Diviner, and Evoker. Judging by the name we had assumed them to represent "Spells, Wits, Fight". We choose 'wits' (Diviner), expecting a riddle, only to encounter the deadliest fight of the scenario. We managed to push through it with two near-deaths. Nevertheless it was the most enjoyable of the encounters, as it was clever and original.
And now the serious decline started. We went to the Necromancer room. Okay, a fountain, stairs, and a shadow.. wait, incorporeals? I was very displeased with the incorporeal, yet hopeful since there seemed to be a mechanism to make it redundant. Fortunately our level 4 Cleric of Asmodeus was an expert at waving his piec-.. rebuking the undead with his unholy symbol. Since we got the shadow and two zombies out of the way, we chose to fast-forward it. From what we had read from the door we knew to carry the blood from the fountain onto the braziers.
And yet again, no riddle.
The last, third door. All i saw on the battlemap was a random assortment of lines crossing each others, and some spheres and a different colored line. It was needlessly complex. With the odd design of the room, the force field, the Heat Metal spell our DM forgot (FORTUNATELY), and a will save to operate the speech thingy ... I, ugh. Good thing we could just shoot the snake to death once it revealed itself to a summoned rat. Heh, we ordered the rat to bring us the key, though the rat got eaten. Once the snake was dead it wasn't about any rolls anymore. Since we could just walk on the submerged walkway and go get the key and return, we proceeded to acquire the Nethys Tablet and ta-dah and blah blah blah.
No riddle. Just overly complex. I guess it's a riddle to the DM. Again, this is a scenario with a good idea behind it, but the execution is so full of different aspects it gets crushed beneath them.
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After some discussion on an IRC channel we started to wonder...
Test of the Evoker can be solved with a single Unseen Servant. No combat, no puzzle, just a quick solution. Doesn't even activate the pendulum.
Also: "When the PCs enter, the guardian is in the water immediately east of the statue. He attacks once the PCs activate the pendulum."
So one could simply just go swim and get it, eh? Our DM didn't rule it out like that, which I think is good. Still, a clear mistake.
Sheer genius.
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Ah, yes, the heat metal effect... well, in my defence I was already shuffling the details of the encounter in my head and trying to keep track of everything else, so I think I can be forgiven for overlooking that effect.
That room was in my opinion an elementary case of Adventure Design: How Not To Do It. I had to read through the encounter and room description several times before I got the hang of it. In my opinion encounter areas should be simple enough to digest in a single reading, otherwise it just becomes an exercise in tedium. Now, the Living Library was good: a room with relatively simple architecture and a puzzle to make that combat easier.
I am not proposing a return to the days of 10 foot square rooms with orcs and pie, but encounter areas should still be easy to digest in a single reading.
Just one question - the Tier 1 reward includes vials of cure serious wounds for 300gp. Is this a typo since cure moderate wounds is 300gp in the PHB and cure serious is actually 750gp?
HAW! YIKES! Yeah, we'll fix that right away. Should read "750 gp."
HAW! YIKES! Yeah, we'll fix that right away. Should read "750 gp."
Other, much more minor, thing I noticed:
The hp listed in the scenario for the Tier 1-2 Large Viper Snake in Act 6 should be only 13 hp, not 33 (page 13).
(Is there a better way to mention this sorta thing to you? It's pretty minor.)
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Well I ran The Third Riddle and it went well (apart from my timing). The players elected to go for Tier 4 - 5 as three players were 3rd Level and thus between tiers and we had 7 players. The fights lasted quite a while and so we only had a bout 10 minutes left of the slot and they hadn't done the flood / fire chamber.
As there is no reward for this chamber, and XP is set I allowed the players to experience it in a cut down mode.
I drew up the room half scale on my tact-tiles and explained the room in about a minute. Luckily everyone understood and saw that they could just duck under the invisible wall and wade across to get the key without starting the pendulum. I played the water snake as just a couple of strikes against the PC whilst wading.
The riddle was resolved in 10 minutes :)
The players all had a good time and experienced the full scenario even if the ending was a little rushed.
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I drew up the room half scale on my tact-tiles and explained the room in about a minute. Luckily everyone understood and saw that they could just duck under the invisible wall and wade across to get the key without starting the pendulum. I played the water snake as just a couple of strikes against the PC whilst wading.
The riddle was resolved in 10 minutes :)
I bolded the relevant parts for a reason. That is no riddle. We understood this the instant we saw the room, but we knew the water would probably have some deadly monster in it. Without the serpent you have no trouble solving it. The pendulum is practically irrelevant.
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The group I had at Owlcon had the Druid summon a squid that squeezed over the wall and took on the snake. They didn't know it was there until the squid and it started fighting. With that as a distraction they had the Barbarian walk the wall and get the key. They had a harder time with the Necromancer room. They couldn't figure out what the chain was connected to, but they started winding the winch anyway. Eventually they found out it was attached to the Shadow. Fun was had by all. I also had a hard time running this scenario in the allotted time. Partially because I had to allow for PC creation for new players.
Just my 2 cp.
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I just ran this one at Winter War, and I have to say that everyone liked the concept of this adventure, and enjoyed the tomb raiding on Osirion feel and all, but as a GM, I had some issues with it.
I'm not sure, after rereading this, that I ran the Evoker's room right at all, but I think part of the problem with this was that the structure of the room descriptions was split up between the opening of the adventure and the actual encounters.
I kept thumbing back and forth between the two to figure out what the room was suppose to look and and how it was suppose to be set up, and I think most of it worked out right, but in the end, it was confusing.
The plus side is that the set up is a lot of fun, the concept was a hit, and the chase scene with the wagons and the riders was fun to run.
On the downside, the room descriptions were confusing, the format of splitting the descriptions between the beginning of the adventures and the actual encounter was confusing for the GM, there was a lack of good RP situations (which admittedly will vary between scenarios), and the riders were not particularly dangerous (since a lot of the time they had to resort to using their bows which are not accurate even against a 1st level character that has had a chance to buy equipment, and they had to loose actions to carefully stow a weapon or lose either their bow or sword when they got closer or farther away from the wagons).
My players enjoyed it, I just felt like I had to do a lot of mental juggling to keep it straight, even though the rooms looked straightforward.
The only other hiccup was that the Chelaxian forgot to take 20 on his search and couldn't find the fairly obvious journal to complete his faction goal, but he even mentioned afterwards that he forgot that he could just take 20 to search the area once the rogue went over it for traps.
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We ran this last night - first I wanna point out an error that was a bit confusing.
The west, north, and east doors in this room all lead
to a different test of the Third Riddle. The west door
is marked in ancient Osiriani as “Bloody Chains of
the Necromancer,” the north door is marked “Shifting
Crucible of the Evoker,” and the east door is marked
“Living Library of the Diviner.”
That isn't how it synchs up on the map, as the Living Library is the north door.
I as a DM didn't like the decision to put the room descriptions at the beginning, they should've been with the actual "Act" description so I didn't have to go back and forth.
Chelish PC didn't get his PA because the book was near the body and he only searched the body (and it was specifically pointed out as two different searches).
The players definitely noted the Zelda-esque aspects of the game, and there were a few gripes about it. I think it was primarily the magically appearing chests when you defeated the enemies/solved the puzzle. The scorpion room was a bit too deadly, and how are three large scorpions supposed to hang out in a 10ft x 10ft bowl? Nevermind three huge scorpions.
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The players definitely noted the Zelda-esque aspects of the game, and there were a few gripes about it. I think it was primarily the magically appearing chests when you defeated the enemies/solved the puzzle. The scorpion room was a bit too deadly, and how are three large scorpions supposed to hang out in a 10ft x 10ft bowl? Nevermind three huge scorpions.
First to answer your question about the scorpions: obviously they're MAGICAL scorpions! ;)
Second of all, I knew there must've been something Legend of Zeldaish about the game beyond the puzzles to solve in order to get through the encounters. I actually hummed some tunes from the series when the chests appeared, the characters opened them and they got their hands on the pieces of the riddle.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Zelda series and I think tabletop games could actually borrow a lot from them. The Test of the Diviner was a good example of such borrowing. The magically appearing chests weren't, as they only made me giggle.
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After action report...
Ran this last Saturday 3pm, read the mod between 1-3am Saturday, woke at 5:30am, remembered 0% by run time. I was effectively running this blind and punch drunk.
Thankfully someone more awake was also there for the other (high level) table.
The riddles were easy enough to get right away, and added to the enjoyment of the session. The third riddle was an interesting item that I hope we get to uncover the mystery of sometime in the future.
Act 1: Sheer awesome concept, but the enemy was weak. Monk jumped ship to save the lead wagon when it got taken out. Captain Andoran and the sorcerer (real life father and son) both fall out of the wagon and horsejack the fallen enemy's steeds, returning to battle as it ends. Ranger managed to drop almost everyone.
I think this encounter would've worked better with less raiders of higher quality, especially if they're supposed to foreshadow a power player in the area.
Act 2: Nice bit of dungeon crawling. Talented rogue found a trap that wasn't even there, packing a random hole with dirt certain it was an arrow trap. Same rogue said not move to rescue our fellow pathfinder, making me think he'd be forced to rot there.
Act 3: Everyone was pleased to suddenly have subtitles, especially the monk (-.-;), otherwise they just moved on.
Acts 4-6 were interesting encounters, but in part due to some map difficulties (and printing in black and white), was difficult to describe and run.
Act 5: The scorpions were easy enough to drop when someone ran behind the lens, and later jammed the hourglass. Monk was very lucky to have the scorpion shift right after he was grappled by the real deal.
Act 6: Almost went without combat. Then some smarty pants decided to start messing with the pendulum. Snake fight went well, even with inflated HP.
Act 4: This ended up being the easiest fight since our ranger has a magic bow and rapid shot. No one used the winch, they just went to mop up the zombies.
Both myself and the other GM running that night had some serious map problems, especially in the water room since in black and while it was just a bunch of lines and squares that didn't make much sense.
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Millerhero, I don't have an answer to your questions. I am not a fan of this scenario. I have realized that on the three or four occassions I have ran this scenario I have always pointed out the wall of force to the players because I drew it on the map that way. I always forget about the Will save since it really doesn't add anything to Act.
The last time I ran PFS#11 I realized that this can be one of the shortest scenarios ever played (& won). The mission is accomplished without solving any of the puzzles. The Venture Captain instructed the PCs to “Hire a caravan and follow Safan’s map south. Find the Ravenous Sphinx, find Pathfinder Safan, and report back to me when you have.”
As soon as the PCs open the outer doors of the monument and discover Safan's body they have completed the mission and can go home with 1 XP and full gold. If the PCs logically go to the Living Library next then all five faction missions can be completed. Really, the Living Library is the only encounter worth playing out. It also takes away from the difficulty of the scenario that there are no time constraints and the PCs can rest between each encounter. Now only the GM understands all these points I have made. No player is going to realized they have succeeded and made cap gold at the start of Act 2 without foreknowledge of the scenario.
I would like to add that I think Clinton Boomer is a great writer and I have enjoyed his material in the Pathfinder APs and elsewhere. I just haven't enjoyed his PFS scenarios very much. If I ever submit a scenario and am good enough to be published, I'm sure I will get roasted by the critics in good karmic fashion.
As soon as the PCs open the outer doors of the monument and discover Safan's body they have completed the mission and can go home with 1 XP and full gold.
While I like the feel of this scenario and I think each room is fun on its own, I agree that we could've done a better job of putting the goal of the scenario at the end rather than near the beginning. This was our 11th scenario and I'm currently developing the 33rd and 34th--I'd like to think we've learned a few things since then.
As for your assertion that they can just finish the first act and then call it a day for full reward and XP, keep in mind this bit of the rules:
In any scenario, so long as a PC played three encounters,they’re awarded their XP for that scenario.
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As soon as the PCs open the outer doors of the monument and discover Safan's body they have completed the mission and can go home with 1 XP and full gold.While I like the feel of this scenario and I think each room is fun on its own, I agree that we could've done a better job of putting the goal of the scenario at the end rather than near the beginning. This was our 11th scenario and I'm currently developing the 33rd and 34th--I'd like to think we've learned a few things since then.
As for your assertion that they can just finish the first act and then call it a day for full reward and XP, keep in mind this bit of the rules:
In any scenario, so long as a PC played three encounters,they’re awarded their XP for that scenario.
I always thought it was rather foolish for the Aspis Consortium agents to ambush the PCs before they entered the Ravenous Sphinx. It would be kind of like Belloq ambushing Indiana Jones before he entered the Latin American ruins and negotiated all the traps to recover the golden idol.
As for the quote from the Guide to PFS Organized Play goes, I don't see that language in Chapter 9: After the Scenario, Step 1: "Experience (XP) is simplified in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. For every scenario your Pathfinder successfully completes, she receives 1 XP." I'm not trying to be a smartass, just that this language has been the rule I've been going by. The Venture Captain assigns the mission, and if the PCs don't bring back the objective they don't get their XP. I always assume that if the PCs rest between scenarios there's a chance that the objective of the mission will be lost (unless it's implied the next encounter happens the following day). Under the OP language quoted,
The intent is to prevent someone who died in the first encounter of a scenario and was raised later without completing any of the rest of the scenario to gain full XP from doing so.
The intent is also that players will want to play the entire scenario--but I can see how circumstances and play styles might occasionally work against that. :-)
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The intent is to prevent someone who died in the first encounter of a scenario and was raised later without completing any of the rest of the scenario to gain full XP from doing so.
The intent is also that players will want to play the entire scenario--but I can see how circumstances and play styles might occasionally work against that. :-)
Fair enough. I regret my smart alec remark about finishing The Third Riddle without solving the puzzles first. Every table I have run has played that scenario through to the end, although it makes it much simpler when they can rest between each scenario. The Soulwrought Echo of the wizard-priest Mektep-Han should stand over the party and tap his foot impatiently to discourage this. I prefered the hectic rush-to-the-finish pace of The Hydra's Fang Incident both as a player and as a GM.
Would it raise your hackles if I were to put Act 1 at the end of the scenario in the future? I know that this would eliminate the wagon chase mechanic, but honestly it never did that much for me or any of my players. I think that the scenario (after all the nice rest the PCs got) would make more sense for the PCs to rush out of the Ravenous Sphinx with the piece of the Third Riddle as the place is falling down around them, only to be ambushed by the mounted Aspis Consortium agents. It would make for a more dramatic ending, although a self-destruct sequence is very theatrical. Please? What if I report my scenarios promptly instead of procrastinating?
In the interest of avoiding setting a precedent, I shall stick my fingers in my ears like so and go LALALALALALAALALALALALALALALAALA and pretend you didn't ask. :-)
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The intent is to prevent someone who died in the first encounter of a scenario and was raised later without completing any of the rest of the scenario to gain full XP from doing so.
The intent is also that players will want to play the entire scenario--but I can see how circumstances and play styles might occasionally work against that. :-)
Fair enough. I regret my smart alec remark about finishing The Third Riddle without solving the puzzles first. Every table I have run has played that scenario through to the end, although it makes it much simpler when they can rest between each scenario. The Soulwrought Echo of the wizard-priest Mektep-Han should stand over the party and tap his foot impatiently to discourage this. I prefered the hectic rush-to-the-finish pace of The Hydra's Fang Incident both as a player and as a GM.
Would it raise your hackles if I were to put Act 1 at the end of the scenario in the future? I know that this would eliminate the wagon chase mechanic, but honestly it never did that much for me or any of my players. I think that the scenario (after all the nice rest the PCs got) would make more sense for the PCs to rush out of the Ravenous Sphinx with the piece of the Third Riddle as the place is falling down around them, only to be ambushed by the mounted Aspis Consortium agents. It would make for a more dramatic ending, although a self-destruct sequence is very theatrical. Please? What if I report my scenarios promptly instead of procrastinating?
^_^ I believe Sir Frost is basically saying " Don't ask, don't tell. "
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Alright, I'm setting up this mod to run online, and I'm a bit confused with the test of the necromancer. The room (like the others), is depicted as a 70 ft square (7 10 ft squares in each direction). The shadow is described as (on page 10) as: "The chain has a lot of slack, and the shadow can range up to 60 feet from the center of the room (covering the entire room)." Was this meant to be diameter? Because the room only goes 35 feet from the center in each direction (or 35*sqrt(2), or 50ft in D&D terms to the corners).
Likewise, moving on: "each full round that a pc spends cranking the winch (No check needed) reduces this distance by 5 feet, hauling the shadow closer to the center of the room. The shadow can be pulled back to the top of the pyramid dais in 8 rounds and kept immobile by weight down the winch with any object that weighs more than 1 pound". Is that 5 ft coming off radius or diameter? 8 rounds time 5 ft per round=40 ft total, which seems too short if it's 60 ft radius, but too long if it's 60 ft diameter.
Can the shadow reach the winch square? The square next to the winch? If the winch is all the way pulled, is the shadow held immobile up in the air/unable to attack? Clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Also, in the north room/test of the diviner, the catwalks appear to be 10 feet away from the walls. Are they designed to give access to higher up scrolls, and if so, should they be closer?
Farabor, I've run this three times so from experience I will tell you that it doesn't matter.
The shadow can reach the winch, otherwise it wouldn't even be a threat. But the shadow is not apparent until it emerges from the pyramid. Most players never understand the connection between the shadow and the winch. They are going to fight the shadow, then kill the zombies, then out of initiative they will figure out the puzzle. A few players figure out the winch, but it reels in the shadow so slowly that they will give up on it after a round or two. Turning a winch is no fun when there's a fight going on.
As for the other room, the Test of the Diviner, the catwalks are as they appear to be. They are not within reach of the walls. I think they are there so fast-moving PCs can climb up and watch their compatriots get slaughtered by large scorpions. They represent a safe harbor for anyone who can climb up quick enough. Remember, climb is at one quarter speed.
A word of advice. Read "Shadow Conjuration" beforehand and create a stat block for the illusionary scorpions before you run this.
I give another vote to the description of the room being with the act - it was often very confusing to flip back and forth.
This has been the case with all season 1 scenarios on--#29 and higher.
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I chose this particular scenario because I was looking for a mod to run which could showcase the new Dwarven Forge set Return of the Ancients - it went over very well!
(Pics here: http://www.dwarvenforge.com/dwarvenforums/viewtopic.php?id=3626
Freakin' awesome. I blew up the maps to 1"=5' scale and yours are still WAY better.
(fixed the link; I think the first address you listed was wrong, but I saw it posted in another forum so I switched the address too)
Wow! Those pictures look great.