Very nice work. May you share your work with me? olys at gmx.de
Thank you
Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
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Of course, I agree that they wouldn't wait in the crypt for the PCs to come kill them one by one. But the module does say that the howling of the shadow mastiffs at the top of the stairs will alert them to the PCs' presence. From there, the clock starts ticking.
I am running them in exactly the opposite order from the way you outlined them. Since the notes explain that they don't work well together, I don't have them attack the party in unison at all. They go one at a time, but the way I see it is a little logic exercise I call:
** spoiler omitted **...
Another question: like this version, and i'm planning to use it myself. But,]
Did we ever get a definite answer about the DC on the Verminous Cannibal Storm? Is Will DC 17 correct?
Did we ever get a definite answer about the DC on the Verminous Cannibal Storm? Is Will DC 17 correct?
Even if I don't remember that Mr Jacobs set a definitive score, I remember something like 10 + 5 (insect plague) + 2 (min Wis bonus) = [Will]17.
Another question: like this version, and i'm planning to use it myself. But,]** spoiler omitted **
Sorry, I've been off the boards for a while. I just saw this.
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Out of curiosity, there is a reference in Delvehaven to a "well-crafted pre-Thrune Chelich Banner". Does anyone know what this banner looks like, or is there a picture of it in one of the Pathfinder supplements? If so, would someone please point me in the right direction, as I know my players are going to ask for it at the next session.
Does dealing with Bisby's skull, which quietens it for 24 hours, mean that the other haunts are inactive for that period as well?
Sozin, I used your pics to create a 1/3 scale model of the Crux. My players are very visual people, and they absolutely loved it. Thank you for the good work.
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Out of curiosity, there is a reference in Delvehaven to a "well-crafted pre-Thrune Chelich Banner". Does anyone know what this banner looks like, or is there a picture of it in one of the Pathfinder supplements? If so, would someone please point me in the right direction, as I know my players are going to ask for it at the next session.
I haven't seen any symbol of pre-Thrune Cheliax. Aroden was big in Westcrown, but I don't know about the rest of the country.
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Sozin, I used your pics to create a 1/3 scale model of the Crux. My players are very visual people, and they absolutely loved it. Thank you for the good work.
glad they were useful. just curious, how did the construction of the scale model go for you? mine failed miserablely ... I'm like a second grader when it comes to building stuff :-(
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Sozin, I used your pics to create a 1/3 scale model of the Crux. My players are very visual people, and they absolutely loved it. Thank you for the good work.glad they were useful. just curious, how did the construction of the scale model go for you? mine failed miserablely ... I'm like a second grader when it comes to building stuff :-(
I found a dodecahedron layout online and scaled your pics to fit. Then I cut it all out and folded the sides and tabs and attached the pics with double-sided tape. Then I put double-sided tape on the inside surfaces where the tabs attach and attempted to stick it together carefully. I believe the "failed miserably" result best describes it.
So I started carefully adding tape on the outside as I re-stuck the inside tape. That actually DID work, and it holds together (and rolls) very well. Unfortunately, it now has visible tape everywhere, but it was quite good enough for the players to see. They really enjoyed passing it around and poking (and shaking, believe it or not) the model.
So.. About Jair.. How does he get to be so proficient with the hand crossbow? Just wondering...
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So.. About Jair.. How does he get to be so proficient with the hand crossbow? Just wondering...
As far as I can tell, he shouldn't be.
Norgorber's favorite weapon is short sword.
Vampire template doesn't give weapon proficiencies.
Clerics don't get hand crossbow.
So either he should have a -4 to his attack or give him a different weapon.
Or make "weapon focus short sword" into "exotic proficiency hand crossbow" and take 1 off of his melee attacks.
So.. About Jair.. How does he get to be so proficient with the hand crossbow? Just wondering...As far as I can tell, he shouldn't be.
Norgorber's favorite weapon is short sword.
Vampire template doesn't give weapon proficiencies.
Clerics don't get hand crossbow.So either he should have a -4 to his attack or give him a different weapon.
Or make "weapon focus short sword" into "exotic proficiency hand crossbow" and take 1 off of his melee attacks.
If my players continue more or less putting bucket-full of hurts to their enemies I think I'll just go with my tweaking of Jair, which is to give him one level as rogue. Shouldn't be too much...
I've only had two deaths sofar. On in the Trial due to one player for 8 rounds failed to roll higher than 6 or something like that and the mandatory (almost) death by triceratops... otherwise they have been not too challenged, so... ;)
Good suggestions though..
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I tweaked all of vamps to be a bit more effective, including the mazeflesh man suggestions above. here's a herolabs .por file.
BTW, applying the quickling to the dolls template was great, but my players quickly figured out that the way to deal with spring attack ambush tactics was to note that they are tiny creatures and prepare actions to attack them as soon as they left an adjacent square. (recall that if you are a tiny creature you have to be in the same square as your target to attack.)
I'm glad I'm not the only one that had players ignore some really strong hints.
They said, "nope" and assumed that the cypher is supposed to be resolved when they find the Loremaster's corpse in Delvehaven.
Before they set off for Delvehaven, I had Ailyn ask them one more time if they wanted to explore the cypher or use the gravecandles again, and they plowed ahead. I don't think I could do much more without Ailyn saying, "I know you didn't care about this cypher, but I figured it out for you, and I really want you to follow up on this lead before you go to Delvehaven."
As it was stands, I thought I was being almost too blunt and railroady by having Ailyn offer a second time.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that had players ignore some really strong hints.
** spoiler omitted **
Because I feared my players would do quite the same thing,...
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Here is the paper model of the chelish crux I used. I assigned each symbol a number 1-12 and randomly rolled what the combination was, ensuring no symbol/number was used twice.
Then I let the players make Knowledge(Planes) checks that would give the players a hint as to what the next part of the combination was. If they made a low check, I just told them one or two symbols that were not the next part of the combination. If they made DC20, I narrowed it to one of 4 possibilities. DC25 narrowed it to 3 possibilities. I used the Book of the Damned Vol. I (the source of the symbols) to throw in a bit of lore pertaining to each symbol as well. I highly recommend this book if you are running CoT, it has some good stuff in it.
My group was able to solve it before the 8 failures caused the combination to reset. It still isn't a perfect solution, because it's a combination lock, and there really isn't any rhyme or reason to the order of the symbols for the players to discover, but I found it to be better and more immersive than a simple series of Knowledge checks or DD checks.
I just printed it on cardstock and taped it together. Hopefully others will get some use out of it as well. Enjoy!
With a six person party (currently fighter, oracle, inquisitor, rogue, sorcerer, and bard), they went into Delvehaven. Unfortunately, they were two short (fighter, bard).
In the aquarium:
If it hadn't been for the hero points and the fact that I was using the fumble deck and the thing got a crit on itself, it would have had the entire party for lunch.
Since they were already two people down, I let them run screaming from Delvehaven, rest up, and dive back in, but they still didn't think to go back to the puzzle and figure out what all of that was about.
We'll see how this progresses.
@Sozin: Thanks for sharing this handout!
I will use this when my player will get to her.
We will start with the module this sunday... I'm very curious what they will say and do about the things the Crux contains...
Unbelievable...
Last monday, my party began to investigate Delvehaven. I was really worried about a specific encounter on the ground floor... But my players proofed me wrong!
Our Ranger used the Minor crown of blasting and did some very nice damage with it. In the following round The ranger landed a couple of hits (with Rapid- & Manyshot, also Undead as second favoured enemy). Then our Rogue used Acrobatics as he tried to flank the dinosaur. "Acrobatics 29..." he said and moved his figure onwards. "Not enough." I said and he stared at me in disbelieve... :oD AoO hit, but did "only" 20+2 damage. then came the sneak attack with the mithril quarterstaff: He hit and did damage somewhere near the 20's. Then our warrior powerattacked the beast, landed two hits, one of them with max damage and the Triceratops broke down. The sorcerer hadn't done anything by now. And I thought, they would have problems with this fight! :oD
They found the armory when we brake due to the late time and the last thing they decided was, that they will search the rest of the ground- and upper floor before they are going down...
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Does anyone else find it odd that after an entire chapter (Chapter 2: Sixfold Trial) and hunting down dead pathfinders to talk with them to find a way into Delvehaven, when the PCs actually arrive at Delvehaven, the doors are unlocked?? To quote from the front entrance of B1: "These doors are unlocked, left slightly ajar long ago by the Thrune Pathfinders as they fled the lodge. They creak loudly with age when opened, but otherwise offer no danger to intruders." What??? Is the only sort of "seal" really just the isolation spheres (which I feel like can be easily avoided with detect magic)?
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And yet when the PCs arrive, it's filled to the brim with monsters. And it's not even a party of monsters, it's supposed to be various groups and factions, somehow converging on the PCs.
This is a great point! I didn't even think about that. I'm just so baffled as to why there was a such a huge effort in getting the Crux and making the point that Delvehaven was sealed, only to find that it's actually not sealed at all.
I'm reworking all of this and it's a bit of a bother. I had the PCs meet Vahnwynne Malkistra twice, during the first and then second scenarios.
I actually like this idea a lot, because it allows some amount of backstory to come across to the PCs. Otherwise, there is such great backstory to the vampires, but obviously, the PCs will never know about any of it, which is a real shame. By having the PCs meet with Vahnwynne pre-vampire, it at least opens a slight window into the crazy vampire backstory.
Unfortunately, because my group is already well into the AP, I can't really change much. I quite like the ideas you have suggested so far though with removing a lot of the monsters form Delvehaven; there's really no reason for them to be there. Good luck to you in reworking a lot of the AP; let me know what you do with the Nessian Spiral--I might incorporate some of your changes when I get there!
Was there any semi-definite answer on what exactly the presumably-inanimate winged wolf boa that Ms. Drovenge favors is? Inquiring GMs wish to know.
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Was there any semi-definite answer on what exactly the presumably-inanimate winged wolf boa that Ms. Drovenge favors is? Inquiring GMs wish to know.
LOL!
I don't know that there was an answer, but if you look in her stat block,
My group is going to have trouble finding the Devildrome a challenge. They have named the cleric their "summoner" and I don't see how I will run this to make it interesting. I'll explain further.
0) My Pcs have done their homework and know what Trax usually does in the arena. They'll leave one or two of their numbers (probably rogue and barbarian) among the public just to check that there are no surprises while the casters (2 wizs) will stay in the cage with the cleric.
1) The cleric is a fake cleric of Asmodeus, in fact a CN cleric of Calistria (negative energy channeler). He is going to dominate a Shadow (via Command Undead) and fake its summon.
2) Either I am missing something entirely or the Lemures don't stand a chance against an incorporeal foe. Mantrithor Trax does not have anything in his stat block that may help the Lemures overcome a single Shadow.
My solution at this point would be that Trax acknowledges his defeat from the first round and starts summoning Lemures INTO the PCs cage from the 2nd round onward, flodding it with Lemures to keep the rest of the party busy, while acid-darting the cleric asap...
Any ideas?
The players had a good idea and I think you're right. The Lemures and Thrax have nothing against a shadow, except his +1 mithral quarterstaff. He could give it to a Lemure :-) I wouldn't start to summon the Lemures in the PCs cage so early with only the two spellcasters in there.
"Summoning" a Shadow Beast in Westcrown might not be a very good idea for their fame points.
The Shadow is a "intelligent undead" and the PCs have to catch it one or two nights before. They have to find one (not easy) and it has to fail a Will save. And than they want it to fight in public in sunlight. Not a good idea from the Shadows point of view. Perhaps a deadly idea. At least some opposed Charisma checks are appropiate.
BTW, they're cheating, is no lawful PC in the group?
The players had a good idea and I think you're right. The Lemures and Thrax have nothing against a shadow, except his +1 mithral quarterstaff. He could give it to a Lemure :-) I wouldn't start to summon the Lemures in the PCs cage so early with only the two spellcasters in there.
"Summoning" a Shadow Beast in Westcrown might not be a very good idea for their fame points.
The Shadow is a "intelligent undead" and the PCs have to catch it one or two nights before. They have to find one (not easy) and it has to fail a Will save. And than they want it to fight in public in sunlight. Not a good idea from the Shadows point of view. Perhaps a deadly idea. At least some opposed Charisma checks are appropiate.
BTW, they're cheating, is no lawful PC in the group?
Thanks! I'm not sure they have considered the implications of having a shadow beast controlled in Westcrown. They'll be having the definite debate on their plan this Monday. I'll give feedback.
Concerning cheating, there is but one lawful character in the group. He voted against that approach but was superseded by the rest (all CN or CG). As they normally heed and pay attention to what he proposes, he decided to let them be for this time...
My party's wizard had prepared command undead. They're talking about riding into town on the back of a shadowy, undead, skeletal, triceratops once they finish with Delvehaven.
Any ideas about how the good people of Westcrown would react?
I'd think that would depend on what people already think of the PCs. If they're generally evil and are winning over the Wiscrani by being badass, I'd give them a bonus Fame point. If, on the other hand, they have until this point been "the good guys" then I wouldn't. I don't think I'd penalize them a Fame point in the latter case though, because that would do nothing to diminish their fame.
In either case, I'd have people acting upset. Screaming would seem to be required, and possibly some terrified trampling as people flee.
This is just off the top of my head. Anyone else have any thoughts?
You could put the ball in their court. Have people react with alarm and fear, maybe with crying children, and give them a chance to spin it. Someone once said that it's the imminent but unrealized threat of failure that's fun in an RPG, so grab the opportunity when it presents itself!
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It would definitely grab the attention of the powers at be and probably put targets on their backs...gotta remember that there were specific deterents put in place where they got that triceratops and that person and his accomplices are NOT going to be happy. Not to mention if they are dumb enough to just ride it right into the Children of Westcrown Hide Out it draws much unwanted attention to what is supposed to be a secret movement.
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My party's wizard had prepared command undead. They're talking about riding into town on the back of a shadowy, undead, skeletal, triceratops once they finish with Delvehaven.
Any ideas about how the good people of Westcrown would react?
One of my players is a wizard who had a scroll of command undead with so once they entered Delvhaven this happend
My party's rogue was trapped in with the swarm, and since she had darkvision she didn't even have a torch to try and fight them. I decided to let her use a potion of gaseous form (from Sian) to escape. Although that did come back to bite the PCs later (literally) when one was stuck inside one of traps and two of the vampires showed up...
As long as someone thinks to cast detect magic they should be fine ;)
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Just a note for some of the people running this.
I did not use it. It was there and went invisible (not being stupid) but never found any good chance or reason to do anything to the PC's. It just hung around them until they killed everything. To be honest, I forgot about it by the end.
My group turned out to be quite resourceful. It consists of 2 5th level wizards (diviner and tansmuter), a 4th level fighter, a 5th level, negative energy channeler cleric and a 4th level alchemist (grenadier).
I had presumed that the encounter with the triceratops could imply TPK but after the first round of mayhem the cleric surprised me with hide from undead... Encounter resolved. Afterwards they went to the armory and decided to bolt the door leading to the stairs. Thus, they've reached the cellar level without completely exploring the basement floor or venturing into the 2nd one. So far, they haven't encountered the soulbound dolls yet.
At the cellar level so far they've passed through the insect room and the ship room. The latter one proved nearly lethal as the tansmuter, the alchemist and the fighter failed their will saves, as did the cleric when he tried to enter and help.
At this point they've run out of resources and prepare to rest. Ive been giving some thoughts to the vampire question and had some preconceived ideas about it. Now that they're about to get some sleep I'm considering the following options:
1) if the go backwards and try to flee Delvehaven to rest someplace safe I'll have Vanwhynne Malkistra wait for them by the door with COTN power already summoned (after all she is the hunter).
2) should they try to rest in Delvehaven I'll have one of them (maybe Jair) try to dominate one of the PCs while on watch, or attack if discovered.
3) Another opton isto forget about the vampires for the first night and have the dolls make their entrance, but sice the vampires are already alerted of the PCS presence I really can't find an excuse for them not showing up.
What do you think?
I think you're absolutely right about the vampires needing to show up. Your contingencies sound good to me, so stick to your plan and let us know how it goes!