PFS #34: Encounter at the Drowning Stones [SPOILERS]

[Kyle Baird]

I'm running this on Friday and will be able to give a full report then, but for now:

Where's the War Razor from? I'd like to be able to describe it a bit better than a 1-handed, 1d4 weapon...

edit: Campaign Setting. I guess I was under the impression that the equipment in PFS Scenarios would all be in the PFRPG. What happens if a player wants to buy the +2 War Razor off the Chronicle? Where do they find out its full stats?

[Mark Moreland]

Kyle Baird wrote:

I'm running this on Friday and will be able to give a full report then, but for now:

Where's the War Razor from? I'd like to be able to describe it a bit better than a 1-handed, 1d4 weapon...

RotR Player's Guide, Campaign Setting

[Kyle Baird]

Thinking a bit further... (it hurts!)

Would a player wanting to purchase the War Razor off the chronicle sheet need to own the Campaign Setting and bring it with them every session?

[Mark Moreland]

Kyle Baird wrote:

Thinking a bit further... (it hurts!)

Would a player wanting to purchase the War Razor off the chronicle sheet need to own the Campaign Setting and bring it with them every session?

They could get the RotR Player's Guide for free and print that out.

[Kyle Baird]

I'm confused.

MAJOR SCENARIO RUINING SPOILERS!

Spoiler:

This scenario introduces a very powerful magic item, Sifkesh’s Bane, that states:

"Any cleric or succubus of Sifkesh can ask someone bearing one of these stones to inflict bodily harm on himself (as the spell dominate person, but removing the restriction of self-destructive behavior)..."

So when can GMs use it? Here are the two opportunities where it COULD come into play:

ACT 3

Except it states: "Under no circumstances will the succubus and her skum minions attack a PC carrying the stone..."

ACT 5

Except it states: "If one of the PCs still carries the stone found at the riverside, Mogla-Tor points his trident at that PC and says, 'You will make a good sacrifice for the stones! You live for now—the rest of you die.'"

So both the succubus and cleric of Sifkesh don't try to kill the PC carrying the stone.

How do we get to this point then, in the conclusion?

"By this point, the PCs should be aware of the negative effects of carrying the stone and will likely not want to take them with them."

[Joshua J. Frost]

Hmm.

Spoiler:

The intent was that Mogla-Tor would use it against a PC if the tide of battle was turning against him. That could've been made clearer. They want to sacrifice the PC bearing the stone just as they did the Pathfinder spy, which is why they hope to leave that PC alive. But if Mogla-Tor and his minions are getting whooped, he'll certainly use Sifkesh's Bane against the PC (or any PC) carrying one.

[Crow81]

spoiler:

Is placing the stone into a handy haversack a viable solution to the Qadirian Special Mission??

[Kyle Baird]

Crow81 wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

I would say yes, since only a few feet away (dragging) is mentioned. A different dimension is certainly far enough, as long as it's done w/in the first hour.

[Joshua J. Frost]

Spoiler:

Yup. Placing it into any extra-dimensional space, assuming he didn't hold it or have it in his pocket or something for an hour before hand, is a viable solution. And a clever one.

[Doug Doug]

Out of curiousity, is Osprey one of Tim Hitchcock's PCs from an earlier campaign? I noticed Osprey has shown up in 3 of the 4 PFS scenarios that Tim has written and I wonder if there's any connection.

[Joshua J. Frost]

Osprey is also in Seekers of Secrets. :-)

As far as I know, Osprey is just his pet NPC he uses in the scenarios. And since Tim writes some of the best scenarios I get the pleasure to develop, I pretty much let him do what he wants. :-)

[Jeffrey Stop]

I have a question regarding the final combat.

Final Combat Spoiler:

In Act 5 at tier 10-11, the skum fighters are identical to the skum fighters in Act 3 -- aside from the fact that they apparently only have 60 hp. In Act 3, they're CR 8 creatures and in Act 5, they're CR 5 creatures. Is this all correct?

[Arnim Thayer]

While making my cheat sheets this evening, I noticed that the AC for the Heresies of Sifkesh for Tier 10-11 (Act 3) is figured wrong, their Dex bonus should be +3, making the final AC 19, not AC 13.

[Arnim Thayer]

Getting ready to run this and I have an issue with an encounter.

Hidey Stuff:

The Succubus is disguised as a mermaid. How do I present this without it seeming obviously wrong? I mean, seriously, a mermaid in the jungle?! Would it be wrong to use a naga of good alignment instead My fear is that the mermaid disguise seems REAL obvious and suspicious, considering the location.

How has anyone else run this?

[Kyle Baird]

Arnim Thayer wrote:

Getting ready to run this and I have an issue with an encounter.

** spoiler omitted **

How has anyone else run this?

I've run it a couple of times as is. Check out that bluff check of hers... Of course the players are suspicious, what good adventurer wouldn't be?

I usually try to bluff the PCs into believing that she's there to help them cleanse the drowning stones. Essentially she's a warden of the forest, or whatever.

Act it up like she's suspicious of them, that's about the only way to trick the players into believing she might be for real. Roll your bluff check ahead of time (or take 10...) and let the players roll their sense motive out in the open. Odds are they aren't going to hit that DC.

Bit of history, I bluffed DougDoug's high level cleric to come up to take the bag from me. His character opened the bag and was like WTF? Combat ensued. ;-)

If she's got her minions there, she can also act like she's being hunted by them...

Have fun, I love that mod.

[TriOmegaZero]

Had a pretty good time with a bunch of rogues in this one. Poor skum didn't last very long under a flurry of sneak attacks, and the 'mermaid' almost got away before my halfling punched his cold iron dagger into her throat.

[weavminas]

So in the final battle Mogla-Tor, has cast Spell Immunity (Dispel Magic, and Fireball) on himself.

Spell Immnuity:

The warded creature is immune to the effects of one specified spell for every four levels you have. The spells must be of 4th level or lower. The warded creature effectively has unbeatable spell resistance regarding the specified spell or spells. Naturally, that immunity doesn't protect a creature from spells for which spell resistance doesn't apply. Spell immunity protects against spells, spell-like effects of magic items, and innate spell-like abilities of creatures. It does not protect against supernatural or extraordinary abilities, such as breath weapons or gaze attacks.

And Dispel Magic doesn't allow for Spell Resistance.

How has everyone run this? Was there an errata to Spell immunity after the scenario was printed?

[redward]

Running this tonight and I have a few questions.

First, either my reading comprehension is terrible or the map presented for the entrance to the temple in no way matches the description.

Second, I'm not sure what to do with Lichten during and after the encounter with the Razor. He is supposed to lead them there, but there's no mention of him for the rest of the scenario.

The summary at the beginning says he's intentionally bringing them to the Razor, but in the body of the scenario it says "he’s currently in the midst of maddening hallucinations" and "he can’t remember why he’s in the pit or how he survived." Those seem contradictory. Would he run off in fear once they encounter the Razor? Would he help her fight the PCs? Or is he meant to follow them down into the temple?

[downerbeautiful]

Here's how I handled the issues:

redward wrote:

First, either my reading comprehension is terrible or the map presented for the entrance to the temple in no way matches the description.

There was enough room for the party to stand around the opening to the temple.

The chute went straight down 60'. If someone was in control of his movement, there was enough space for a landing between the cave and the small landing. The next 200' were also, effectively, a straight drop.

The water in the temple was shallow enough to not be hindering terrain. The stairs led 10' up. Hope someone doesn't fall 200' because the water isn't deep enough to pad the fall.

redward wrote:

Second, I'm not sure what to do with Lichten during and after the encounter with the Razor. He is supposed to lead them there, but there's no mention of him for the rest of the scenario.

I had him cower during the encounter with Razor and make more crazy statements. In the gorge, he had even more hallucinations but remained outside of the temple proper because there was no way for him to go down inside without snapping his neck. The party raised Wyrn and returned to the waystation. Wyrn and Osprey identified the still-mad Lichten. He did his job at dropping hints, creating red herrings, causing a moral dilemma with the party, and generally annoying them so since they gave him a modicum of respect, he remained insane but docile.

[redward]

Rachel Hill wrote:

Here's how I handled the issues:

redward wrote:

First, either my reading comprehension is terrible or the map presented for the entrance to the temple in no way matches the description.

There was enough room for the party to stand around the opening to the temple.

The chute went straight down 60'. If someone was in control of his movement, there was enough space for a landing between the cave and the small landing. The next 200' were also, effectively, a straight drop.

The water in the temple was shallow enough to not be hindering terrain. The stairs led 10' up. Hope someone doesn't fall 200' because the water isn't deep enough to pad the fall.

redward wrote:

Second, I'm not sure what to do with Lichten during and after the encounter with the Razor. He is supposed to lead them there, but there's no mention of him for the rest of the scenario.

I had him cower during the encounter with Razor and make more crazy statements. In the gorge, he had even more hallucinations but remained outside of the temple proper because there was no way for him to go down inside without snapping his neck. The party raised Wyrn and returned to the waystation. Wyrn and Osprey identified the still-mad Lichten. He did his job at dropping hints, creating red herrings, causing a moral dilemma with the party, and generally annoying them so since they gave him a modicum of respect, he remained insane but docile.

Thanks very much!

[CanisDirus]

Surprised that I couldn't find this anywhere, but...

Chronicle Sheet Items:

Three of the items on this chronicle sheet are listed as non-standard slot items - does that hold water still?

If so, does the headdress count for the headband slot or head slot?

Thanks!

[Quentin Coldwater]

Ran this last week. I just presumed they're reflavours and still go in the regular slots.

Items:

For instance, the crocodile skull headdress still goes on the neckslot, as it's an amulet. But now that I'm talking about it, I do see your point of them being in the head slot (headdress) and the wrist slot (bracelets). Would like to see someone else's interpretation.

[CanisDirus]

After having talked this over with a few VOs I trust on rules calls, the RAW appears to let them stand as non-standard item slots (with the one item previously mentioned as a head slot), since they *are* specifically marked as such on the chronicle sheet!

Looks like a nice surprise will be in order for some of my players in a few days when I run this!

[Muser]

If I'm reading the map right, the bottom of the massive shaft, meaning the final boss area, has about 10 feet of water at its deepest part with varying depths( seems from to be about 2 to 7 feet) around that nadir. this means that the skum fighters get to use their swim speed, aquatic combat rules apply and there's a chance that it's not over in two rounds.

Sometimes it's good the be the king. I mean GM.

[Michael Haneline]

Mike Bramnik wrote:

After having talked this over with a few VOs I trust on rules calls, the RAW appears to let them stand as non-standard item slots (with the one item previously mentioned as a head slot), since they *are* specifically marked as such on the chronicle sheet!

Can these items be upgraded as the "normal" items? i.e. can "amulet of natural armor +1 (crocodile skull headdress)" be later upgraded to "amulet of natural armor +2 (crocodile skull headdress)" for 6000 gp as if it were a standard amulet of natural armor?