String together a bunch of the traps from the support article in the 4th book and call it a dungeon? :-) Makes more sense than undead. Savinth was a good guy.
There seriously aren't as many traps as advertised. That's one way to fix it.
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String together a bunch of the traps from the support article in the 4th book and call it a dungeon? :-) Makes more sense than undead. Savinth was a good guy.
There seriously aren't as many traps as advertised. That's one way to fix it.
I am looking to put an extra Side story with it, not just a Bunch of traps in a dungeon.
Was seeing if anyone had some ideas.
Anyone come with any good ideas for Savith’s Crypt or know of any good adventures that would work well with it?
I was considering making a side quest out of it, but decided against it. The antipathy and forbiddance effects should be enough to keep my players out.
I did have a few ideas however. I was going to have the path leading up to the crypt consist of broken stairways meaning the pc's had to climb or fly up to it. I wanted to use the giant tarantula from bestiary 2 so I placed one outside crypt. In the first chamber I had a sliding staircase trap which would dump those who fell into it into a large cave filled with stalactites and water and perhaps a chuul or two. I was planning on placing some lesser stone golems around to guard the crypt (basically a wood golem with it's special abilities replaced by those of a stone golem). I also wanted to use some of the deathtraps from the 4th book. I was planning on placing some kind of legendary weapon in the crypt, but never got around to statting it up. Perhaps a +2 adamantite holy spear or something like that. I never got around to detail a story around it but I was considering having Savith's ghost show up and give the pc's some sort of quest.
Creative Director
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Chances are quite good that in the Serpent's Skull game I'm running, Savith's Crypt will play a big part (not only because Rob McCreary's in my game and I need to change lots of stuff to keep him on his toes!). My plan at this point is to use one of the many megadungeon products I own as the crypt; something like Castle Whiterock or The Upper Works or Maure Castle or Undermountain or Greyhawk or the like... probably a mashup of all of these sites into one.
That's the basic idea behind her crypt, in any event—a giant megadungeon. There's a LITTLE bit more information about her crypt in the "Beyond Serpent's Skull" article at the end of the AP in Pathfinder #42. As for the fact that Savith was a good guy... that doesn't mean her crypt has to be safe for good guys. After all, it was designed to keep out EVERYONE... good or bad alike. Traps and constructs and bound outsiders don't care much about who's trying to invade the place they guard. And then there's all of the natural or supernatural critters that may have wandered into the dungeon from secret tunnels or underground entrances over the years to make the place their home as well. And of course there's the possibility that bad guys are already there; the serpentfolk could well have colonized a few levels of the dungeon as a beachhead for their quest to get cool treasure out of the place as well.
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Chances are quite good that in the Serpent's Skull game I'm running, Savith's Crypt will play a big part (not only because Rob McCreary's in my game and I need to change lots of stuff to keep him on his toes!). My plan at this point is to use one of the many megadungeon products I own as the crypt; something like Castle Whiterock or The Upper Works or Maure Castle or Undermountain or Greyhawk or the like... probably a mashup of all of these sites into one.
That's the basic idea behind her crypt, in any event—a giant megadungeon. There's a LITTLE bit more information about her crypt in the "Beyond Serpent's Skull" article at the end of the AP in Pathfinder #42. As for the fact that Savith was a good guy... that doesn't mean her crypt has to be safe for good guys. After all, it was designed to keep out EVERYONE... good or bad alike. Traps and constructs and bound outsiders don't care much about who's trying to invade the place they guard. And then there's all of the natural or supernatural critters that may have wandered into the dungeon from secret tunnels or underground entrances over the years to make the place their home as well. And of course there's the possibility that bad guys are already there; the serpentfolk could well have colonized a few levels of the dungeon as a beachhead for their quest to get cool treasure out of the place as well.
Not knowing how it ends yet, I am hoping to be able to use it as a continuation of the story to bring the players up to level 20. A Megadungeon with out a story that fits well as a continuation of the AP is just not that appealing to me. Using the MegaDungeon as the setting with a story that works well with the AP, that I can do.
Edit: Also there is the Logistics of it, With a bunch of "Vaults of Madness" and a Full city underneath, is there room for a "Megadungeon"?
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Edit: Also there is the Logistics of it, With a bunch of "Vaults of Madness" and a Full city underneath, is there room for a "Megadungeon"?
In answer to your question:
But when the spears go off in book 6, wouldn't they bore through said megadungeon?
Unless it's built off to the side or the hallways bend intentionally so as to avoid pending boreholes.
Or hey, maybe there's 8 entrances to this megadungeon! That wouldn't be a terrible thing I guess, depending on its theme.
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But when the spears go off in book 6, wouldn't they bore through said megadungeon?
Unless it's built off to the side or the hallways bend intentionally so as to avoid pending boreholes.
Or hey, maybe there's 8 entrances to this megadungeon! That wouldn't be a terrible thing I guess, depending on its theme.
Nope, because the spears bore through the seven ziggurats. Savith's tomb is not located at one of these sites, so the spears mis it entirely.
1) How long does it take for the PCs to explore a given square footage of city?
2) Is it correct that patrols are usually only encountered as wandering monsters? On the chart that's only a 4% chance, meaning 96% of random encoutners in inhabited districts are with things other than the inhabitants (or for every 20 random encoutners only one would be with a patrol)... seems off, especially considering the importance given patrols in the district stats?
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1) How long does it take for the PCs to explore a given square footage of city?
As indicated on page 10 under the section on "Carvings, Murals, and Statues," it takes a day for the PCs to explore a district if they're studying its art and architecture for clues. If they're just exploring it to look for treasure, clear out monsters, or just to map it out... the time it takes varies depending upon their speed, the number of encounters they run into, and where they go in the district. In other words... the time it takes to explore a square foot of Saventh-Yhi is the same as it normally takes in any dungeon/ruin/adventure.
2) Is it correct that patrols are usually only encountered as wandering monsters? On the chart that's only a 4% chance, meaning 96% of random encoutners in inhabited districts are with things other than the inhabitants (or for every 20 random encoutners only one would be with a patrol)... seems off, especially considering the importance given patrols in the district stats?
Patrols are indeed only encountered as wandering monsters. They're not THAT common, when taken into account with all the other things living in the ruins. That said, if the PCs are super blatant about an attack on a district and make a lot of noise, it's logical that they should attract the attention of patrols. The GM should use the patrols as he wishes to respond to the PCs actions, basically.
WOW, thanks for the quick response!
But now I've got a follow-up question: Ok on 2), but for 1) My questions is about the initial reconnasance. Problem with using standard movement rules is the difference in scale from a standard dungeon setting. Each abandoned block could have any number of rooms on any number of floors, virtually all of them unkeyed and empty except for a chance of a random encounter. On the other hand, they are not trying to go directly from a to b, so standard overland movement rules don't quite work either.
The module did a great job of abstracting the camp exploration to determine discovery points, and the previous installment did the same for overland travel from a to b. I was hoping you could indicate a similar mechanic that could determine a given area reconned by the PCs to make it clearer how many minutes/hours it might take to do the initial reconnesance across the spaces between the various substantive encounter areas, considering it's not practical to lay the whole city out as one big dungeon and play it out at the table room by room - but also very important to know, considering the mid day heat, and chance for random encouters, as well as having to run the NPC factions.
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WOW, thanks for the quick response!
But now I've got a follow-up question: Ok on 2), but for 1) My questions is about the initial reconnasance. Problem with using standard movement rules is the difference in scale from a standard dungeon setting. Each abandoned block could have any number of rooms on any number of floors, virtually all of them unkeyed and empty except for a chance of a random encounter. On the other hand, they are not trying to go directly from a to b, so standard overland movement rules don't quite work either.
The module did a great job of abstracting the camp exploration to determine discovery points, and the previous installment did the same for overland travel from a to b. I was hoping you could indicate a similar mechanic that could determine a given area reconned by the PCs to make it clearer how many minutes/hours it might take to do the initial reconnesance across the spaces between the various substantive encounter areas, considering it's not practical to lay the whole city out as one big dungeon and play it out at the table room by room - but also very important to know, considering the mid day heat, and chance for random encouters, as well as having to run the NPC factions.
Honestly... if you're getting that bogged down with time tracking, the best bet is probably to take a step back and take a deep breath and really stop and examine if all the work on figuring out that level of detail is really adding anything to the game.
Here's what I'm planning on doing when my group reaches Saventh-Yhi: I'll put the big poster map of Saventh-Yhi down on the table and give the players a pencil, then ask them to draw out their routes on the map. I'll then measure that distance and then treat the movement through the city as difficult terrain when using Table 7–6 in the core rules to determine speed. Thus, a party moving at a speed of 30 ft. would be able to cover about 150 feet in a minute, or about 1.5 miles an hour. And I'll trace over their pencil line in a red felt-tip pen, pausing whenever they hit a set or wandering encounter.
But frankly, I might just say "It takes 1d4 hours to explore that cluster of buildings." Either way works.
But frankly, I might just say "It takes 1d4 hours to explore that cluster of buildings." Either way works.
This is what I have been doing and so far it has worked like a charm.
Here's what I'm planning on doing when my group reaches Saventh-Yhi: I'll put the big poster map of Saventh-Yhi down on the table and give the players a pencil, then ask them to draw out their routes on the map.
Holy Leaping Lamashtu! James, you speak madness! You're really going to let your players draw on that beautiful map?
That's so decadent!
Here's what I'm planning on doing when my group reaches Saventh-Yhi: I'll put the big poster map of Saventh-Yhi down on the table and give the players a pencil, then ask them to draw out their routes on the map. I'll then measure that distance and then treat the movement through the city as difficult terrain when using Table 7–6 in the core rules to determine speed. Thus, a party moving at a speed of 30 ft. would be able to cover about 150 feet in a minute, or about 1.5 miles an hour. And I'll trace over their pencil in a red felt-tip pen, pausing whenever they hit a set or wandering encounter.
Awesome. That's what I was considering, but what red flagged me was how little time that could take. Saventh-Yhi is not that big a place in absolute terms (I live in Manhattan, Saventh-Yi's width is comparable to my walk to work), and on that kind of scale the PCs can circle the lake in a matter of hours, while the time frame for the discovery point race contemplates 3 months. If there's no game-time time-sink (like having to explore buildings or whatever), they could move through encounter areas much quicker than weeks or months. If they leave the camp's explorers in the dust, that can be ok, it didn't seem the intent is all.
Where exactly they hit a set encounter is a question too. The rules are silent on max encounter distance in ruined city terrain, so I was considering analogizing to light-to-dense forest depending on the district, or plains if they get on a roof with a clear view. That could mean visibility over a thousand feet, which could be a whole district, giving them a broad selection of what's there to see that's worth seeing. That could be OK too, though.
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Creative Director
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Only one thing I dont like. Its only a small nitpick but nonetheless worth a facepalm reaction from me while I read it: what did go on in the mind of the author as he listed the exact amount of copper and silverpieces in a treasure site?
(eg. page 25 "worth....44 pp, 1,281 gp, 2,373 sp, and 5,172 cp") I call this bean counting. Does the author really think that a player counts 2373 sp or 5172 cp? Maybe he tested the module in a round where everybody is a professional accountant? so in short: detaililng this treasure in this detail is nonsense and not necessary at all. The rest of the module is very good so far.
It's a personal preference thing. In my opinion, it breaks the verisimilitude of the world if all treasure stashes have round numbers of coins in them, so I habitually go in and tweak those coin counts in adventures where the author hasn't done so. Whether or not the PCs bother to count out all those coins is up to them.
If you as the GM feel that such a level of detail is unnecessary, that's fine. Make the change in your game. But it's a place where we CAN provide more detail at no additional cost to time or wordcount on our end of things, so we do it.
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Only one thing I dont like. Its only a small nitpick but nonetheless worth a facepalm reaction from me while I read it: what did go on in the mind of the author as he listed the exact amount of copper and silverpieces in a treasure site?
(eg. page 25 "worth....44 pp, 1,281 gp, 2,373 sp, and 5,172 cp") I call this bean counting. Does the author really think that a player counts 2373 sp or 5172 cp? Maybe he tested the module in a round where everybody is a professional accountant? so in short: detaililng this treasure in this detail is nonsense and not necessary at all. The rest of the module is very good so far.
It's a personal preference thing. In my opinion, it breaks the verisimilitude of the world if all treasure stashes have round numbers of coins in them, so I habitually go in and tweak those coin counts in adventures where the author hasn't done so. Whether or not the PCs bother to count out all those coins is up to them.
If you as the GM feel that such a level of detail is unnecessary, that's fine. Make the change in your game. But it's a place where we CAN provide more detail at no additional cost to time or wordcount on our end of things, so we do it.
I like this kind of detail.
My players (and myself when I play) usually keep track of the details, like how many silvers and coppers that they have. Those coins are often given out as tips, payments and bribes - often to street kids or serving staff. It makes the world "real".
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Well each to his own definition of "reality", but for me there is nothing "real" by spending several ingame hours (or longer) to manually count nearly 8000 coins down to a worthless copper piece while the monsters are lurking around you.
It's all a matter of personal preference and how much real-life simulation and attention to detail you want in your game. I prefer to run gritty, realistic games, so I'm obviously a fan of NOT rounding up coin amounts in treasure hoards.
I've actually addressed this in our game. If the PCs find a big pile of loot it's up to them if they want to spent the time to count each and every coin. Unless the PCs are taking a great deal of time to count it all, I usually tell them "you've just looted a bunch of copper and silver with a few gold coins from the chest." Then I tell them how much it weighs (my homebrew rule is 100 coins per pound) and ask who's planning to carry it. I keep track of the exact amounts in my [extensive!] GM notes.
If the PCs don't want to count it all right away (and they usually don't), I wait and tell them the coin amount after they bed down for the night or take the time to count it. This works fine for our group.
I like it - and people should think realistically about realism.
You think merchants spend all their time counting piles of coppers one my one? No, they have weights and use a scale. Counting 5,172cp would take about two mintues. They weigh out 100lbs of copper, then three 1lb measures, with 22cp left over.
The PCs don't need to do bother with that in-game, since they should just be worried about it weighing about 103lbs and having to carry it or fit it in their bag of holding. You can just tell the players the number metagame so they can do their weights, but if you're not being nickle and dime about gear weight either they can round off, so what's the problem?
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Does the Green Crystal for The Radiant Muse's bow add anything special to the bow? Or is it just for show?
Nothing official - she's just a wacky outsider with a wacky crystal bow, 'cause that's how she rolls. No reason it couldn't be something more, however, if you wanted to create a brand new magic item.
No matter how I work it, It seems General Rotilius Havelar has 1 to many feats...
By my math, he has the right number of feats:
Character level: 5Fighter: 4
Ranger: 2
Human: 1
You may have forgotten that Endurance is a bonus 3rd level Ranger feat.
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Question about gods of Saventh-Yhi:
I'm currently writing up all the different bits and pieces of information that the PC's can find as discoveries in their exploration of Saventh-Yhi, and came upon this little conundrum. One of the three activation methods for the spear monolith in the farming district is for a cleric who worships a deity associated with farming/hunting to channel energy. However, as I look at the list of gods given in the book, I see no one there who adequately fits that aspect, and, somehow, I feel Erastil just won't fit in down in the Mwangi Expanse, even 11k+ years ago.
I looked through the additional deities in the PFCS and didn't really see anyone back there that would fit either. Thus, I ask you all who are inevitably more knowledgeable about these things than I . . . Is there such an Azlanti god in canon that would work for this role in Saventh-Yhi?
I thank you in advance for any help in this matter. =)
In a pinch, Gozreh would work. Ask for his blessings for the rain to come on the feilds. And you should have an NPC Cleric loyal to you in your party.
(It's not a perfect fit, I admit.)
(eg. page 25 "worth....44 pp, 1,281 gp, 2,373 sp, and 5,172 cp") I call this bean counting. Does the author really think that a player counts 2373 sp or 5172 cp? Maybe he tested the module in a round where everybody is a professional accountant? so in short: detaililng this treasure in this detail is nonsense and not necessary at all.
My players expect nothing less.
In a pinch, Gozreh would work. Ask for his blessings for the rain to come on the feilds. And you should have an NPC Cleric loyal to you in your party.
(It's not a perfect fit, I admit.)
You're right, I may have to go Gozreh. I wasn't sure about Gozreh, if only because that's a Mwangi deity, and while Saventh-Yhi is in the Mwangi, it's not of the Mwangi. Like the majority of the rest of the deities, I'd have thought the Azlanti would have brought the god south with them when they came. It's possible they could have adopted the southern deity after spending some time there though, so a better option than no god at all, I'd agree.
I was just curious if anyone much more versed in the lore (I'm adapting and learning, but am still fairly new to the world) would have known a god of Azlant that fit this category of 11k+ years ago.
Thanks for the response Mr. Freund! It is greatly appreciated!
Question about gods of Saventh-Yhi:
I'm currently writing up all the different bits and pieces of information that the PC's can find as discoveries in their exploration of Saventh-Yhi, and came upon this little conundrum. One of the three activation methods for the spear monolith in the farming district is for a cleric who worships a deity associated with farming/hunting to channel energy. However, as I look at the list of gods given in the book, I see no one there who adequately fits that aspect, and, somehow, I feel Erastil just won't fit in down in the Mwangi Expanse, even 11k+ years ago.
I looked through the additional deities in the PFCS and didn't really see anyone back there that would fit either. Thus, I ask you all who are inevitably more knowledgeable about these things than I . . . Is there such an Azlanti god in canon that would work for this role in Saventh-Yhi?
I thank you in advance for any help in this matter. =)
curchanus was the azlanti god of travel, beasts and endurance. he was slain by lamashtu to elevate herself to divinity. he might do.
You're right, I may have to go Gozreh. I wasn't sure about Gozreh, if only because that's a Mwangi deity, and while Saventh-Yhi is in the Mwangi, it's not of the Mwangi. Like the majority of the rest of the deities, I'd have thought the Azlanti would have brought the god south with them when they came. It's possible they could have adopted the southern deity after spending some time there though, so a better option than no god at all, I'd agree.
I was just curious if anyone much more versed in the lore (I'm adapting and learning, but am still fairly new to the world) would have known a god of Azlant that fit this category of 11k+ years ago.
Thanks for the response Mr. Freund! It is greatly appreciated!
Actually, Erathis was around back then - he's one of the oldest gods of Golarion. And just because he's seen now as the curmudgeonly father-figure of family values, doesn't mean that's precisely how the Azlanti saw him. Although it's not far off, if you think of him as the protector of the status quo, that peasants are supposed to put in a hard day of work, day after day without complaint, in exchange for the reward of knowing it's a job well done. The protestant-work-ethic of Golarion, so to speak.
Another way to think of it - the highest-ranking Azlanti weren't actually all that big on gods. For the most part, the Runelords wanted their citizens to worship them, not the gods. They certainly allowed lesser folk to have temples (there's an entire district of them in Xin Shalast), but the Runelords themselves thought of it as "the opiate of the masses" rather than something important.
So in this case, Erathis would have been more of a protector of the common folk, popular in rural areas, but little-regarded in large cities. Because Saventh-Yhi was an outpost so far from the center of Azlanti civilization, they'd have recruited settlers and been a bit more lax in their views of proper behavior - no Runelords looking over their shoulders way down there - so temples would be better-regarded, and the fact that clerics of the various gods actually produced results would be valued. A god whose worshippers are more successful at tilling the fields and hunting the local wildlife would be worthy of respect in Saventh-Yhi, even if he would be little-regarded way up north in Xin Shalast.
The 12 doses of opium that the party can loot from one of the bad guys - what would they look like? A liquid, or a solid?
The 12 doses of opium that the party can loot from one of the bad guys - what would they look like? A liquid, or a solid?
Whatever you make them look like.
Yes, but if someone had 12 doses of opium in the real world, what would they look like?
It's a brownish lump, kind of looks like like sh*t.
Has anyone taken the time to make a nice-looking sheet for the PC's camp that I could mooch? I was thinking of something like the Kingdom sheet.
The undead charau-ka are just supposed to use the same stats as undead made from humans, even though they're Small instead of Medium and have various other physical differences. I'm guessing that the reason for using the same stats as those in the Pathfinder Bestiary is just to save word count, so I'd love to recalculate the stats myself. Has anyone published PFRPG templates for creating undead (the way Green Ronin did for 3.5 in the Advanced Bestiary) or am I on my own for this?
So now my dear PCs are closing in on Saventh-Yhi and I started to prepare the arrival of them and their faction (Pathfinder Society) for the next session or maybe the one after that.
I was wondering, have you come across any pitfalls in the beginning stages of this module? What happened that in hindsight you would rather have ruled or handled differently? What was exceptionally fun?
Simply put, anything you could tell me about your first two or three session in CotSS would be immensely appreciated.
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So now my dear PCs are closing in on Saventh-Yhi and I started to prepare the arrival of them and their faction (Pathfinder Society) for the next session or maybe the one after that.
I was wondering, have you come across any pitfalls in the beginning stages of this module? What happened that in hindsight you would rather have ruled or handled differently? What was exceptionally fun?
Simply put, anything you could tell me about your first two or three session in CotSS would be immensely appreciated.
Well, my answer is actually TOO BIG, so double-post, here I come.
Uhf. Hokay, so we're running this adventure now.
Here's some things: MAKE MORE STUFF. Here's a secret: Savinth-Yhi is kind of boring. It is the single most bland, uninteresting, dull, and unsatisfying "ancient wondrous city" in the world. It's dead, and that's even with it's (roughly 1,500*) inhabitants.
To deal with this, I upped the population (to around 3,000 in the local environs, not counting animals** or undead**) by making the "leader" groups not counted in the population census, adding (very) roughly 50% to the various tribes' numbers of non-combatants (where viable: note that vegepygmies don't have "non-combatants" by virtue of their creature type and reproduction cycle and making non-combatant keches*** is just a really bad idea, unless you're feeling vindictive).
Also, DESCRIBE THE PLETHORA OF SINKHOLES AND CAVES. OFTEN. Mention them over, and over, and over again. And then mention them some more. If you don't, when you get to adventure four, and they're all like "BUT I TOTALLY WOULD HAVE EXPLORED IT", you can inform them that you've mentioned "roughly 5,280 sinkholes and 1,760 caves, every time you went outside so, you know, shut it".
*You get around 1,400 if you add up all the noted members of the tribes in each of the district. I threw in an extra hundred or so because of the non-tribe members that aren't counted ranging from the Radiant Muse to Akarundo. Based off the total number of creatures in each district, if you ignore non-combatants (as in pretend they don't exist for numbers-purposes) and divide all the creatures into patrols (minus those that are specifically stationed or unique) and add in the extra creatures (such as Dire Apes for Charau-Ka) you get around 2,000 or so. To get more of a bead on the city, I presupposed that there were a few hundred of each of the critters in the monster manual
**Animals, for this purpose, are anything with an intelligence score less than two. I presumed the completely arbitrary number of roughly 500 (minus their CRx20) of each animal type listed in the random encounters list. Suggestion: add in tons of descriptive detail about completely harmless animals that will not provide any sort of an encounter, but could be taken by a simple survival roll. That adds verisimilitude. For undead, I arbitrarily stated that 200 of each kind (minus the CRx5) exist throughout the city. Using those numbers allows you to get a feel for how tame the city is, because, over time, your groups will be slowly eliminating threats (usually at the end of a sword, but also taming or befriending things). This lets you also get a feel for random encounters and how the flow of the city-exploration goes.
***This is probably true of troglodytes and boggards as well, but my group handled that pretty well.
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(part two)
Make sure you understand what groups work well on which terrain, with which natives, and that the starting camp sites ARE NOT STATIC. Also, make sure you have a fair idea of how many people the PCs are working with.
In the following notes, people noted as "NPC-class" are additional characters with an NPC class, as best suited to your game/as the story is needed. All numbers I provide are arbitrary, and I could provide the reasoning, but it'd be long, complicated, and annoying in this post.
WITH THAT IN MIND:
- the Aspis Consortium will get on best with the boggards
--> they're good at diplomacy (which the boggards respond to, sort of) while their leader speaks Boggard, plus the boggards require no costly tribute, so bonus there for being cheap.
--> the Aspis are fair in any terrain, but Dargon and the leadership will want some place dry, so they are likely to inhabit the buildings near the boggards (who actually live in the swamps not the buildings)
--> I said that there were 143 Aspis on their group, including 33 Aspis Mercenaries, and 108 lesser people (1x 5th level NPC-class, 1x 4th level NPC-class, 2x 3rd level NPC-class, 4x 2nd level NPC-class, and 40x 1st level NPC-class, and a work detail of 44x 1st level commoners, a crew of 8x 2nd level experts, and a squad of 8x 2nd level warriors) - the Pathfinders will get on best with the tribe of the Sacred Serpent
--> they work well enough with native populations, and don't have the inherent racial superiority track that Sargava does.
--> Pathfinders work great in ruins as semi-independant groups of explorers and fighters/mages.
--> I said that there were 67 Pathfinders on their group, including 36 Pathfinder Agents, and 27 lesser people (1x 3rd level NPC-class, 2x 2nd level NPC-class, and 20x 1st level NPC-class, and a a crew of 4x 1st level experts) - the Red Mantis will get on best with the Troglodytes
--> "blood for the blood god!"... also, you know, they both worship Acheakek.
--> Red Mantis are fair in any terrain (and stealthy)
--> I said that there were 85 Red Mantis (although for campaign-specific reasons, only 12 are actually in the city) on their group, including 33 Red Mantis Priests, and 48 other people (1x 3rd level rogue, 2x 2nd level rogue, and 25x 1st level rogue, and a shock-troop squad of 10x 1st level warriors, a death squad of 10x 6th level rogue-assassins) - the Pirates will get on best with... er, well, they won't really, but the tribe of the Sacred Serpent and/or boggards should be okay
--> See, um, they're pirates. Also, they'll hate the Troglodytes and Red Mantis passionately. They might get along okay with the boggards due to terrain.
--> In canon, Pirates are best at bog-style terrain, due to their experience with the Sodden Lands (see the Shackles Pirate Prestige Class), so it's possible that they either cohabit with the boggards (making them allies-of-convenience with the Aspis, but not good friends as both are out for profit) or conflict with the boggards (and probably the Aspis) for their territory.
--> I said that there were 89 Pirates on their group, including 33 Shackles Freebooters, and 23 lesser people (1x 3rd level rogues, 2x 2nd level rogues, and 20x 1st level rogues), and a pirate crew (Kassata's) of 29 (20x "swabbies" [2nd level fighter-rogues], 7x "pirates" [3rd level fighter/rogues], 1x "storm mage" [3rd level bard, cleric, sorcerer, or wizard], and 1x "first mate" [5th level fighter]) - Sargava will get on best with... uh, no one. It's best for everyone if they just kind of stay in the mostly-abandoned economic district.
--> depending on how ruthless Sargava is in your game and how willing to deal with "lesser" species they might work out okay with the Charau-Ka. OR they might end up in a state of open warfare. The latter, especially, makes sense to me, based on what I know of them.
-->Sargavans work well in large, open spaces (the better for tactical military action) and well-guarded multi-walled locales (to make the best of the "turtle" defense style that Rotilius is fond of). This also points to the Charau-Ka area as their ultimate goal, though they might actually go for the government district, too.
--> I said that there were 127 Sargavans on their group, including 33 Sargavan Guards, and 94 lesser people (1x 3rd level NPC-class, 2x 2nd level NPC-class, and 20x 1st level NPC-class, and "Sargavan Command" comprising of a a work detail of 50x 1st level commoners, a crew of 10x 1st level experts, and a squad of 10x 1st level warriors). In our game, they also hired nine Ivory Cross mercenaries as guards (as Aspis Mercenaries, but with all masterwork equipment).
Now, you've been running your game for a while, and so it might not reflect anything from the above, but that's how I worked it. The PCs were just really advanced from the main group in order to "get there first", which is how the rest of the adventure in part two worked.
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Further: add treasure.
Not just monetary-value treasure. Except to collectors. So, for example, they can donate stuff to their organization in order to get prestige awards (like having to donate 10,000 gold-worth of stuff to get anywhere with the Pirates! Agh!), so it's stuff you've described (ancient spear heads, lost tablets, other non-magical, but masterwork and preserved relics like pottery) that the PCs can't really use or dispose of, so the best thing to do is just hand it over to their society for study.
Also, drop in magic items. Especially nearly-pointless (adventure-wise) magic items, like self-cleaning plates and utensils (constant prestidigitation), clothes that are still good after 10,000+ years (constant mending), and things like working (or not) magic-toilets or magical tooth-brushes or whatsoever you can think of to make the place "nifty". Throw in magical baubles ("It's a floating silver ball! It follows you around after you touch it, but not after you touch it again ... that's all it does.") or magical effects (you sing "I'm a little teapot" and it shows up on the wall") that serve little power-purpose, but really make it a fantastic city to explore, see, experiment, and check out.
Also, drop loot. Push. TREASURE. Give the PCs some breaks here and there. Let them find nifty things they can keep and/or use. Mastework stuff is great here. Use their group to "liquidate" their unwanted stuff via long, over-land caravans.
FINALLY (I promise!):
Play the fourth adventure in the midst of the third. The best time to do this is, if/when a battle takes place in the boggard area (farming district), have some people disappear. Have some not come back. Send the PCs to investigate. Instead of a pirate, they find a pathfinder down a sink-hole. Play that part of adventure straight. Alternatively, have the Rakshasa (with his shiny new cape of the montebank you just added) dimension door NORTH, and run into "a random island", attempting to hide in a cave... and voila, the next vault is found. Also, potential new ally for the evil guy.
These are a few ideas of how I introduced the sub-plot of adventure four before adventure four.
Be ready for them to explore/defeat/loot the place quickly.
That's it for now!
If you have a rogue in your party, tailor the Mantis Blade so they can use it.
Evil intelligent magic items are beginning to seriously get on my nerves.
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Lots of stuffGreat Advice. I would love to hear more about how you customized you game to your players and their characters, if you feel up to it.
I agree. There is a seperate Thread devoted to fleshing out the City. The city definately needs alot of GM help to make in an interesting place to explore.