Hopefully others can use this thread to clarify questions arising in this adventure. If you happen to see another thread, please link post a link in this one to try and keep things tied together.
Chapter 1: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Chapter 2: Racing to Ruin
Chapter 3: The City of Seven Spears
Chapter 4: Vaults of Madness
Chapter 5: The Thousand Fangs Below
Chapter 6: Sanctum of the Serpent God
Would it be too much of a spoiler to ask for the name (and any brief details if you're feeling generous) of Eando Kline's assistant/underling/protegee the PCs are supposed to meet in this adventure? I was thinking of tying her background to that of one of the PCs in my game.
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Would it be too much of a spoiler to ask for the name (and any brief details if you're feeling generous) of Eando Kline's assistant/underling/protegee the PCs are supposed to meet in this adventure? I was thinking of tying her background to that of one of the PCs in my game.
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Would it be too much of a spoiler to ask for the name (and any brief details if you're feeling generous) of Eando Kline's assistant/underling/protegee the PCs are supposed to meet in this adventure? I was thinking of tying her background to that of one of the PCs in my game.** spoiler omitted **
Question, besides his assistant, Did Eando bring an "Expedition" to the the city? Maybe a hand selected group of like minded Pathfinder Exiles?
Creative Director
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Would it be too much of a spoiler to ask for the name (and any brief details if you're feeling generous) of Eando Kline's assistant/underling/protegee the PCs are supposed to meet in this adventure? I was thinking of tying her background to that of one of the PCs in my game.** spoiler omitted **Question, besides his assistant, Did Eando bring an "Expedition" to the the city? Maybe a hand selected group of like minded Pathfinder Exiles?
Yes, he did. That won't become a big part of anything until the last two adventures though.
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Just started reading my PDF for this. Loving it so far. The camp dynamics, the factions, the freedom of exploration, all great.
I think I might have to overlay a hex map with this, those are great in Kingmaker and have been a good help with exploring Smuggler's Shiv. Any suggestions on an appropriate scale per hex? I think I went with 1/2 mile for the Shiv, since that meant that they could cover 1 hex in 1 hour or so. Is this city meant to be mostly difficult terrain, or could they use their normal speed?
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Also, what does it mean that the Red Mantis's ability to send in agents counts as an extra victory condition to conquer? From what I understand, you can 'conquer' a district by fulfilling any of the victory conditions. A lot of these seem to be killing some leader. So now you can conquer a district by...sending the Red Mantis in? How does this work? Can they do this for each district? All the other Faction bonuses I understand, but this one is very confusing. :S
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Also, what does it mean that the Red Mantis's ability to send in agents counts as an extra victory condition to conquer? From what I understand, you can 'conquer' a district by fulfilling any of the victory conditions. A lot of these seem to be killing some leader. So now you can conquer a district by...sending the Red Mantis in? How does this work? Can they do this for each district? All the other Faction bonuses I understand, but this one is very confusing. :S
The Red Mantis can't conquer a district by themselves, but they can *help* conquer it. Each district has a certain number of "victory conditions" that must be accomplished for the district to be considered conquered. For example, you must complete 3 different tasks to conquer the military district. If you send in the Red Mantis first, however, you only have to complete 2 of those tasks to conquer the district, instead of the normal 3.
And yes, you can do this for each district if you are allied with the Red Mantis.
Huh. From Karui's post, I'm getting a weird "capture the flag" vibe. Now I'm really curious to see how the final product pans out.
Ah, if only all subscribers got their PDFs at once...
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Also, what does it mean that the Red Mantis's ability to send in agents counts as an extra victory condition to conquer? From what I understand, you can 'conquer' a district by fulfilling any of the victory conditions. A lot of these seem to be killing some leader. So now you can conquer a district by...sending the Red Mantis in? How does this work? Can they do this for each district? All the other Faction bonuses I understand, but this one is very confusing. :SThe Red Mantis can't conquer a district by themselves, but they can *help* conquer it. Each district has a certain number of "victory conditions" that must be accomplished for the district to be considered conquered. For example, you must complete 3 different tasks to conquer the military district. If you send in the Red Mantis first, however, you only have to complete 2 of those tasks to conquer the district, instead of the normal 3.
And yes, you can do this for each district if you are allied with the Red Mantis.
Ahhhh, for some reason I thought I read that you only needed to do one of those victory conditions. That makes a lot more sense, thanks Rob!
I don't like handing out / using / tracking / etc exact XP totals in my APs (my players feel likewise). I just like the idea of "you're here now, so level up!"
So I'm a little lost as to how to handle this book. "Start at 7, then climax at 10." Roughly how many spears should be completed before an average party hits level 10? I know it varies by group - sometimes heavily. But to give me a ballpark: is this after only half the spears, or all-but-one of them? Or after all the spears are claimed but before they've gone spelunking for the green god and finished all other side quests?
Thanks in advance!
(And the mod looks totally awesome BTW.)
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Creative Director
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I don't like handing out / using / tracking / etc exact XP totals in my APs (my players feel likewise). I just like the idea of "you're here now, so level up!"
So I'm a little lost as to how to handle this book. "Start at 7, then climax at 10." Roughly how many spears should be completed before an average party hits level 10? I know it varies by group - sometimes heavily. But to give me a ballpark: is this after only half the spears, or all-but-one of them? Or after all the spears are claimed but before they've gone spelunking for the green god and finished all other side quests?
Thanks in advance!
(And the mod looks totally awesome BTW.)
Well... if you're already throwing out the XP system in favor of arbitrary XP gains, you (hopefully) already have a good feel for how things should go and when your PCs should level up. And hopefully your players are pretty good at realizing when they're in over their heads and don't stubbornly continue to attack one area that they're not ready for.
My recommendation, though:
Start the PCs at 7th level.
When they manage to activate their first spear and have managed to conquer or ally with one tribe, raise them to 8th level.
When they manage to activate 4 spears and conquer/ally with 3 tribes, raise them to 9th level.
When they're about to face Sozothala, they should be raised to 10th level.
Just guesses, of course. Sandbox-style adventures like "City of Seven Spears" really don't work all that well with arbitrary XP awards, alas.
Thanks for your response James.
I'm still missing one part though: I know that the PCs are supposed to be 10 before they attack Sozothala. However, what I don't know is how much of the mod is supposed to be complete before they do so. Basically I'm asking: is the intention that the PCs supposed to be part-way through the mod and get "interrupted" by Sozothala (leaving work to be done afterwards), or are they supposed to more-or-less finish the mod, then have Sozothala be a capstone at the end?
And I keep misreading it (and saying it in my head) as "Slothzilla" Argh!
Just guesses, of course. Sandbox-style adventures like "City of Seven Spears" really don't work all that well with arbitrary XP awards, alas.
That's an excellent point. One I had not considered.
My players don't like fiddling with experience points either, and prefer to be just told when to level. Me as the GM? It makes no difference to me which method is used.
However..
There's no reason one could not do both!
In this case:
1.) There's no need to volunteer to the players that you're using experience points.
2.) Divide the experience among the party members uniformally, no matter what. That will make the next step easier.
3.) Keep track of the XP gained silently. Notify the players when it's time to level.
Now that doesn't diminish the workload of the GM, but the players shouldn't notice any difference.
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Creative Director
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Thanks for your response James.
I'm still missing one part though: I know that the PCs are supposed to be 10 before they attack Sozothala. However, what I don't know is how much of the mod is supposed to be complete before they do so. Basically I'm asking: is the intention that the PCs supposed to be part-way through the mod and get "interrupted" by Sozothala (leaving work to be done afterwards), or are they supposed to more-or-less finish the mod, then have Sozothala be a capstone at the end?
And I keep misreading it (and saying it in my head) as "Slothzilla" Argh!
Well... that's kind of the thing. They're supposed to complete enough of the adventure to reach 10th level, but that almost CERTAINLY means that they won't have encountered EVERY location or area within Saventh-Yhi. In fact, the assumption is that by the time the next adventure begins that there'll still be parts of Saventh-Yhi that the PCs haven't explored. Just because it's printed in the third adventure doesn't mean that you have to use all that content up before moving on to the fourth, in other words.
The intention is that Sozothala's arrival on the scene SHOULD "interrupt" the exploration and conquering of Saventh-Yhi. Sozothala's appearance is as much the first encounter of the next adventure as it is the last encounter of this one.
So basically, just play "City of Seven Spears" until you get the vibe that the players are just starting to itch for something new to do; that's probably the best point to level them up to 10th level and go from there.
Alternatively... you've done this 7 times so far. You know roughly how many sessions pass between the PCs gaining levels. Just keep that pattern up, and have them level up every time that amount of time passes. And when they level up to 10th level, that's when Sozothala shows up, regardless of what else the PCs have accomplished in the adventure.
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Creative Director
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Out of curiosity how many people are in each of the separate faction groups (I know most of it is covered by the camp site stats but I would be interested in some hard numbers.)
That number is left 100% up to the GM. That said...
I had in my head that each faction expedition had about 50 to 75 people in it, but that's probably too many. The expedition that featured in Werner Herzog's "Aguirre—the Wrath of God" (one of the major inspirations for this adventure) had about 1,000 people at the start (down to 1 at the end). That's probably WAY too many folks for a single expedition; I figured that one square inch on the map is probably enough to give a hundred creatures room to do stuff, which is sort of how I arrived at the populations for the tribes.
Thanks James and Watcher for your responses!
James, FYI - you put out a large-sized poster-map of Saventh-Yhi as a product, I would buy it. With money. Just sayin'
I fail and you win!
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Check it out!Thanks James and Watcher for your responses!
James, FYI - you put out a large-sized poster-map of Saventh-Yhi as a product, I would buy it. With money. Just sayin'
Yeah, I just preordered this. My credit card company is going to love me....
Love the poster maps - a particularly good selection of maps for this AP. Should help the DM a lot.
I'll be getting it.
Is there a PDF available of Saventh Yi without the Encounter Markings?
I have a half dragon who can fly and get a layout, plus the description of the 'pillars of Light' directions leads me to think that the players would have a basic layout of the city districts.
I am using photoshop to edit them out and will print 17x22.
We play saturday, so i cannot wait until january.
thanks,
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Is there a PDF available of Saventh Yi without the Encounter Markings?
I have a half dragon who can fly and get a layout, plus the description of the 'pillars of Light' directions leads me to think that the players would have a basic layout of the city districts.I am using photoshop to edit them out and will print 17x22.
We play saturday, so i cannot wait until january.thanks,
If you use Some PDF on the PDF file, you should get the map without the details.
I got the idea from an Old Thread.
I hope this helps.
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Creative Director
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Stat Block error
Acolytes of Achaekek, p. 46
Melee block shows +1 shortspear but gear only has masterwork shortspear
That's because the acolytes cast magic weapon on their masterwork shortspears before combat begins. We always calculate any of the spells cast in a monster's "Before Combat" tactics into the stat block.
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Creative Director
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Is there a PDF available of Saventh Yi without the Encounter Markings?
I have a half dragon who can fly and get a layout, plus the description of the 'pillars of Light' directions leads me to think that the players would have a basic layout of the city districts.I am using photoshop to edit them out and will print 17x22.
We play saturday, so i cannot wait until january.thanks,
The Serpent's Skull Poster Map Folio will have a map of Saventh-Yhi without tags on it... but that product's still a few months away.
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Is there a PDF available of Saventh Yi without the Encounter Markings?
I have a half dragon who can fly and get a layout, plus the description of the 'pillars of Light' directions leads me to think that the players would have a basic layout of the city districts.I am using photoshop to edit them out and will print 17x22.
We play saturday, so i cannot wait until january.thanks,
In General they layer the "encounter markings" on top of the map.
With PDF reader 8 you are able to copy the photo without those markings, this ability was taken out of Reader 9 and the reason why I never updated to reader 9. You can still download and install 8.
Thought this was funny....
Normally, the troglodyte high priests use the blade to
“judge” hopeful troglodytes who seek to become clerics
of the Mantis God. If a would-be cleric is chaotic evil, the
blade imparts its negative level from its axiomatic power,
revealing the truth that the aspirant would not take to
training for a class that requires, at best, a neutral evil
alignment.
Here's the problem:
The Mantis Blade is lawful evil.
+
If you're not the alignment of the intelligent item you wield, you gain a negative level
=
It having axiomatic is redundant-- all creatures who aren't lawful evil gain a negative level if they wield this item. I guess a lot of the neutral evil would be clerics who sign up for the test get killed too!
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Thought this was funny....
Normally, the troglodyte high priests use the blade to
“judge” hopeful troglodytes who seek to become clerics
of the Mantis God. If a would-be cleric is chaotic evil, the
blade imparts its negative level from its axiomatic power,
revealing the truth that the aspirant would not take to
training for a class that requires, at best, a neutral evil
alignment.Here's the problem:
The Mantis Blade is lawful evil.
+
If you're not the alignment of the intelligent item you wield, you gain a negative level=
It having axiomatic is redundant-- all creatures who aren't lawful evil gain a negative level if they wield this item. I guess a lot of the neutral evil would be clerics who sign up for the test get killed too!
Actually, you only gain a negative level if you're chaotic. So while lawful evil would certainly be best, a neutral evil character could wield the Mantis Blade with no ill effects.
Right in the core book in intelligent item alignment on 533
Actually, you only gain a negative level if you're chaotic. So while lawful evil would certainly be best, a neutral evil character could wield the Mantis Blade with no ill effects.
Any character whose alignment does not correspond to that
of the item (except as noted by the asterisks on the table) gains
one negative level if he or she so much as picks up the item.
If it were neutral evil it'd allow all evil people to wield it or if it were lawful neutral it'd allow all lawful people to wield it. but if you're not lawful evil you can't pick it up without getting that neg level. add on if you're chaotic, you get 2 neg levels. I guess it's a rating system. the most talented future priests are fine while the least talented look like they're about to keel over.
I'll just assume the troglodytes can tell the difference between someone getting 1 neg level and someone getting 2 neg levels
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Stat Block error
Aspis Mercenaries, p. 61
Their AC of 17 includes a +1 shield mod but there is no shield in their gear
Two-Weapon Defense Feat.
Stat Block error
Pathfinder Agents, p. 63
Attack Bonus for shortshort incorrect
Their BAB is only +1 and I see no other mods so it should be +1 instead of +2
BAB +1, mwk shortsword = +2
I'd really double-check error reports before posting them.
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Right in the core book in intelligent item alignment on 533
Actually, you only gain a negative level if you're chaotic. So while lawful evil would certainly be best, a neutral evil character could wield the Mantis Blade with no ill effects.Any character whose alignment does not correspond to that
of the item (except as noted by the asterisks on the table) gains
one negative level if he or she so much as picks up the item.If it were neutral evil it'd allow all evil people to wield it or if it were lawful neutral it'd allow all lawful people to wield it. but if you're not lawful evil you can't pick it up without getting that neg level. add on if you're chaotic, you get 2 neg levels. I guess it's a rating system. the most talented future priests are fine while the least talented look like they're about to keel over.
I'll just assume the troglodytes can tell the difference between someone getting 1 neg level and someone getting 2 neg levels
You're right, I was just looking at the effect of its axiomatic power, which probably stacks with the negative levels from its alignment. So you're really looking at 2 or 3 negative levels, which means there's no trouble telling if an average troglodyte isn't fit for the priesthood, since it kills him! :)
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I'm not seeing how Nareem Daress, p. 15, has a Fort +8.
I get rogue 3 (+1) and ranger 3 (+3) for +4.
When you apply the Ghost template the saves aren't supposed to change and I see nothing else in the Stat Block that would modify the Fort score.
I see channel resistance +4, but I don't see where that says it should apply to all Fort saves.Anybody see how you get to +8?
thanks
Undead get +Cha bonus to Fort saves.
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Undead get +Cha bonus to Fort saves.I'm not seeing how Nareem Daress, p. 15, has a Fort +8.
I get rogue 3 (+1) and ranger 3 (+3) for +4.
When you apply the Ghost template the saves aren't supposed to change and I see nothing else in the Stat Block that would modify the Fort score.
I see channel resistance +4, but I don't see where that says it should apply to all Fort saves.Anybody see how you get to +8?
thanks
So even though for the Ghost template it says "Do not
recalculate the creature’s base attack bonus, saves, or skill
points." you "don't recalc" part applies to the class saves but you use a different ability bonus?
You keep the original save, but you adjust it for the changes that the Undead type brings. The example ghost in Bestiary has Fort save of +7, which is Aristocrat +2 and Cha +5. That's how every template works and has worked since the dawn of the template age.
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Creative Director
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Questions about Yog'oltha's, p. 17, AC mods.
The Besitary aboleth, which has 8HD, and a natural armor bonus of +11.
Yog'oltha is advanced which has +2 to natural armor and the Improved Natural Armor feat (+1) and a amulet of natural armor +1, so why is his natural armor mod only +13?
Advanced HD and the Advanced Simple Template are not the same thing. Yog'oltha does NOT have the Advanced simple template; he just has advanced Hit Dice, and thus does not gain that +2 bonus to his natural armor that the Advanced Simple Template grants.
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Creative Director
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Also Yog'oltha's feats, he's got 14HD so 7 feats but he has 8 listed.
I can't see where the extra feat comes from
This is a legitimate error, but hardly one that will impact game play at all or break encounters. My suggestion is to ignore the fact that he has one too many feats. Either that or just dump his Improved Lightning Reflexes feat entirely.
Advanced HD and the Advanced Simple Template are not the same thing. Yog'oltha does NOT have the Advanced simple template; he just has advanced Hit Dice, and thus does not gain that +2 bonus to his natural armor that the Advanced Simple Template grants.
It's not always obvious, when the statblock just says "advanced aboleth" which unfortunately can mean both.