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Hmm. Not a lot on the top of my head. I'm pretty sure there are threads detailing troublesome combats here on the forums. Aushanna in Chapter 4 and Tongueater in Chapter 3 are ones to watch out for. Running Chapter 2 will help prepare them for Tongueater.
Not sure how 20 point buy stacks up, but if I recall it is about standard, so an experienced 3.5 group should handle things pretty well. Your rogue will have plenty of work for him in Jzadirune, and the residents are great hit and run monsters to torment the fighter with. It'll make it that much more satisfying when they get cornered and slaughtered. :)
Hi All,
I've bought and been reading the SCAP hardcover and I'll be starting the adventure in about a month. So far I've been working on converting to PF and becoming comfortable with the NPCs and reoccurring areas. As my players are eager to create their new characters I decided to use the PF Society rules for character creation. I'll be running with 4-5 players and I was wondering if the 20 point buy in will be too powerful/weak/right on for the AP with 5 players.
The players are all experienced players and it seems like a well built group (wizard, rogue, cleric, fighter, inquisitor). Any suggestions for how to start? Character creation? etc.
Also - any advice on fights to tweak to make them more fitting for the group?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Ulf.
SCAP can be a bit of a meat grinder. if your players aren't particularly durable you may wish to consider a 20-25 point buy. Of course each group's style is different, so you'll have to rely on your own judgement and experience with your own group to make that kind of call.
As far as fights go, make sure to read the chapters in advance and familiarize yourself with the maps as well. the sneaky guys (not using name for spoiler) in jazidrune can abuse hit and run tactics. I also heartily suggest some of the fan created addons and tweaks, particularly delvesdeep's costume ball
Thanks for the quick responses :)
I did the math and 20 points in PF works out to 27 in 3.5, so it should be ok. As for chapter 1 I think I've got a good grasp on the quest and fights, as I've read it through 3-4 times now. But one thing I've noticed is a lot of the fights only seem to have 1-2 creatures with 6-10 hp. That's 1 hit and the fights over, this seems a little weak to me. I know some of the encounters are meant to be stealth and hit and run, I guess it's meant to be an endurance push through?
Any advice on how to handle all these fights so that I don't make it too tough on the party (I was thinking of adding 1-2 guys to most fights, or adding a few HP to some of the mobs).
Cheers,
Ulf.
the mobs in the first chapter do drop quickly, but they tend to ambush so attack first, do a bit o damage, then die or escape. also, the party is running a rescue mission. missing kids/slaves being carted away, so they are 'supposed' to run the gauntlet with little or no rest until the rescue is completed.
when i ran it, my PC's were almost tapped dry when they got to the Malachite main hall, and i used fario and fellian as unexpected allies to give em a bit more oompf for the last fight. (also was able to get them initially familiar with the duo for later use). once the children were rescued, they continued to explore the place in other trips between rests. i think it took 3 or 4 different ventures to clear the place and find everything for my group. the curse is also something to play up.
My last (at this moment) suggestion would be to make sure to use the NPC's presented to help flesh out the city and make it more vibrant. the campaign revolves around Cauldron. Jenya is a perfect motivator, and the others do great. even the Stormblades, if you use them right, can galvanise a group due to sheer rivalry. in my group the PC rogue went super-rival on Cora, and the dynamic was great.
Life's Bazaar is a GOLDEN opportunity to really get them tied to the city. There are twelve NPCs to be rescued in the slave market, and they can give the party contacts among most areas of the city. Use them.
Posting after TOZ because i just 'have' to get the last word. for some reason. really. ok not really.
Thanks again to all those who posted.
I think I'm going to stick with the 20 point buy in (would covert to 27 in 3.5). The fights for the most part look pretty decent after thinking of tactics, so we'll see how it goes :) Plus I still have 3-4 weeks of prep-time while we finish the current AP, so the group will have a rough time when we finally do start.
Looks like:
Rogue - Utility Build
"Healer Type" (I'm assuming Cleric or Oracle)
Wizard - Abjurer with a lot of Conjuration (Evocation as opposition school)
Inquisitor
Undecided - Thinking Fighter, Monk, or Tank Cleric.So they should do alright for the most part :)
Cheers,
Ulf.
meat shields are helpful, really helpful.
I've not had anything useful to say, so have stayed quiet. However, I've got an eye on this thread as I'm also running through SCAP, started not so long ago. We're playing it set on Athas/in Darksun, so I've been doing a lot of conversion work (you should be able to find the thread if you're interested).
One thing that really helped with our group, RE: character creation, was giving the characters all personal reasons to go there. Also, we made Knowledge (local) a class skill for everyone - a good incentive to get to know the locals and being able to say "Make a check" whenever the players get stuck is a DM-godsend.
Good luck with the first session and let us know how it goes!
Peace,
tfad
I would strongly recommend a rogue, way too many traps that hurt. i dont even know how we would have made it this far (lvl 18) without our partys ranger rogue (only 3 levels) I think the inquisitor character should take a level or two of rogue, would be a good fit. use magic device is a very handy skill for this campaign as is jump. (falling i the lava tends to kill pc's)
I would strongly recommend a rogue, way too many traps that hurt. i dont even know how we would have made it this far (lvl 18) without our partys ranger rogue (only 3 levels) I think the inquisitor character should take a level or two of rogue, would be a good fit. use magic device is a very handy skill for this campaign as is jump. (falling i the lava tends to kill pc's)I managed to hint that a rogue was a smarter idea and he's gone back to that, so we should be good. 3 out of 5 of my characters gave me a detailed background and provided me with requested information before the AP starts (starts tomorrow) so I'm rewarding them with some pre-campaign knowledge and some extra points to buy stats with (1d3 - giving them 21-23 stat points instead of 20). The two that didn't provide me with any information don't know about the extra stats, but I told everyone I was preparing write-ups to work their back-stories into the story. so we have:
Half-elf Rogue (wyrmblood trait)
Human Wizard (touched in the head)
Dwarf Inquisitor (noble - related to the only dwarf noble in town)Two unknowns are:
Monk (not sure anything else).
and 5th is still unknown.I've written stories to work their backgrounds in so that the rogue and wizard have met each other and the inquisitor will just be getting to town as Event 1 starts. The monk I'm not sure yet, and the 5th will join the campaign as quickly as he gave me his details (I'm still waiting, so I guess he doesn't mind waiting).
Will give a more detail on Thursday after our first meeting and see how things go (we play weekly).
Cheers,
Ulf.
I'll be curious how the inquisitor works out, i plan on playing one in Age of Worms, once we finish the final section of shackeld city
The player playing the inquisitor is a great min/maxer, so I should be able to give some decent insight. However he is also addicted to multi-classing and has taken a level in barbarian to start off his character (works with back-story). And he'll probably take a few more levels of it later.
I'm really hoping he falls victim to the -1 HP rage ends death syndrome (he's fun to try and kill cause his characters are usually untouchable) :)
Cheers,
Ulf.
I am really torn on how to build my inquisitor. I was thinking levels of rogue, stack sneak attack with bane and add in precise strike teamwork feat. My biggest issue is what do i go with for weapons and should i do ranged or melee and if melee 2h or 2w
Forget the rogue levels, Cleric levels are better. There's no synergy in mixing those two classes. And you don't wont to delay getting all those tasty cleric spells.
Grab a two-handed weapon. Cheaper and gives you a better damage output with Power Attack.
Forget the rogue levels, Cleric levels are better. There's no synergy in mixing those two classes. And you don't wont to delay getting all those tasty cleric spells.
Grab a two-handed weapon. Cheaper and gives you a better damage output with Power Attack.
Interesting idea. I was thinking 1/2 orc and they get falchion anyway.
Dual-wielding isn't really worth it unless you have a way do extra damage with attacks (such as large Sneak Attack or in campaigns that are heavily focused on certain types of enemies (like Savage Tide or Age of Worms), and Holy X Bane Weapons deal +4d6 dmg regularely, which Shackled City is not). Falchion is good, but how do you get proficiency with it?
Dual-wielding isn't really worth it unless you have a way do extra damage with attacks (such as large Sneak Attack or in campaigns that are heavily focused on certain types of enemies (like Savage Tide or Age of Worms), and Holy X Bane Weapons deal +4d6 dmg regularely, which Shackled City is not). Falchion is good, but how do you get proficiency with it?
I believe 1/2 orc is automatically proficient with falchions.
He isn't.
He isn't.
Pathfinder RPG (which is what the original poster is using) half-orcs are proficient with greataxes and falchions.
Ohhh, my bad, then. I'm 3.5, born and bred. :D
Ohhh, my bad, then. I'm 3.5, born and bred. :D
I'M STILL ADJUSTING FROM 2.5
i miss THACO.
Kind of
Not really at all