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.
Sure. I'll check out the other thread remoh mentioned once I can, and put it there. Most of what I went with you probably won't be able to use because my characters devastated the ever-loving snot out of some of the other factions, and ended up working to incorporate most of them into a single group, so I had to re-create new "villains" (opposing groups) to rush them.
Anyhoo, when I've got time!
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So here's what I'm considering:
1. I'm dropping the entire discovery point dynamic and just adding 2-5 discoveries per zone. I'll use the "discovery" roll to decide how long it takes to decipher.
2. I'm dropping all of the other faction rolls and just scripting them. Most factions will attempt to work with the pc's on the sly or bring them over.
3. I hated the fact that you basically couldn't activate a spear until after you killed all the main bosses in a section, so I'm making it so players can attune to a given active spear and get the bonus citywide.
4. The "do 3 of 4- kill boss A, kill boss B, kill boss C, kill 769 vegepygmies" thing is silly. I'll probably just have the monsters fall back after a reasonable amount of encounters to allow study.
5. I'm adding traps, especially in the ape-men and snake-men areas.
These are actually pretty nifty ideas, although I might recommend modifying your traps according to the style of people: ape-men are noisy and violent, serpent folk are direct and prohibitive (possibly including a good amount of poison), and troglodytes are cruel and painful.
Also, the discoveries-per-zone thing, if I'm reading you correctly, will only yield a total of thirty-five discoveries, which is just over a quarter of what the race indicates should happen (the book's figure is 120). I'd recommend around twenty-five to thirty discoveries per district, but increasing the DC/time to learn stuff by one every other discovery (or something similar, that's just kind of off the cuff) building in a little wiggle room, so they don't have to get everything from all the districts, but they'd have to really work hard.
Anyway, those are a couple ideas.
Some other brief notes I noticed on multiple read-throughs:
a) It seems the boggards seem to live in small yurts in the swamp, from what I can tell. I get this impression because 1) the chief is living in a hut at the top of the ziggurat, 2) they're described as loving the swamp and swampy land (which the buildings don't seem to have), 3) I think I read something else about huts, and 4) it kind of looks like little huts dot the land-part of the district (though these could be the sinkholes)
b) The Trogoldytes, on the other hand, live in the buildings like civilized murderers. This is made clear when their cries erupt from the buildings if the mantises are killed
c) The charau-ka live... um... in huts I guess? I dunno, it's exceptionally unclear. I'm guessing they make their own huts or just lie down wherever they want. I'd have thought they'd live in trees, but that'd put them in the vegepygmy area...
d) ... who live in an equally ambiguous locale. I'm presuming they live in buildings and under trees, mostly.
e) the tribe of the Sacred Serpent, I basically had living communally around the ziggurat*, because I couldn't see anything else.
f) the keches live in a building (I know because that's where you find them)
*(SPELL CHECK IS "T3h LOOZ3", THIS IS THE CORRECT SPELLING - C'MON, A GUY ALREADY STRUGGLES WITH DYSLEXIA ENOUGH WITHOUT YOU CONFUSING THE ISSUE SPELL-CHECK!)
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Some other brief notes I noticed on multiple read-throughs:
a) It seems the boggards seem to live in small yurts in the swamp, from what I can tell. I get this impression because 1) the chief is living in a hut at the top of the ziggurat, 2) they're described as loving the swamp and swampy land (which the buildings don't seem to have), 3) I think I read something else about huts, and 4) it kind of looks like little huts dot the land-part of the district (though these could be the sinkholes)
I am thinking those dots are trees; however, it makes sense they would be living close to the water. Kingmaker #4 has a Boggard Hamlet. They have huts above ground and swappy partial submerged caves below ground. It would make sense form the local geography, that the Boggards here are the similiar.
c) The charau-ka live... um... in huts I guess? I dunno, it's exceptionally unclear. I'm guessing they make their own huts or just lie down wherever they want. I'd have thought they'd live in trees, but that'd put them in the vegepygmy area...
My guess is the Charau-ka occupy the roofs of the buildings. This would allowing them to throw rocks down on intruders. I can see the inside of the buildings filled with trash, debris, etc. This would block access to the roofs, except for those with a climb speed. I can see them jumping from roof top to roof top, instead of using the streets.
I am thinking those dots are trees; however, it makes sense they would be living close to the water. Kingmaker #4 has a Boggard Hamlet. They have huts above ground and swappy partial submerged caves below ground. It would make sense form the local geography, that the Boggards here are the similiar.
The trees thing makes sense, however I wasn't really thinking of it because they look brown. Nonetheless, that's an equally valid interpretation!
My guess is the Charau-ka occupy the roofs of the buildings. This would allowing them to throw rocks down on intruders. I can see the inside of the buildings filled with trash, debris, etc. This would block access to the roofs, except for those with a climb speed. I can see them jumping from roof top to roof top, instead of using the streets.
This would work quite well, actually. Fortutiously enough, I'mma stealin' this (if you don't mind) - and I can, because even though the players already went through the Military District, most of the Charau-ka were on roofs or in the streets due to other reasons, so it works! Huzzah!
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Starting this adventure soon and first, let me thank the folks that have added ideas to this (and other) threads. Fantastic!
Second, had a question on the Defense Ratings of the camps. It says under "attacks" once per day make a random encounter roll for camp attacks. Is this supposed to be the same 10% chance that the PCs have a chance of triggering 4 times per day while exploring?
I was just curious. This seems like quite a low chance for the base camp to take damage, easily outpaced by Supply roll repairs.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Starting this adventure soon and first, let me thank the folks that have added ideas to this (and other) threads. Fantastic!
Second, had a question on the Defense Ratings of the camps. It says under "attacks" once per day make a random encounter roll for camp attacks. Is this supposed to be the same 10% chance that the PCs have a chance of triggering 4 times per day while exploring?
I was just curious. This seems like quite a low chance for the base camp to take damage, easily outpaced by Supply roll repairs.
Remember, the factions can attack each other as well-I had the PCs' rival faction raid their camp periodically. Even a raid where the rival faction loses causes d6 in damage to the PC camp.
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Remember, the factions can attack each other as well-I had the PCs' rival faction raid their camp periodically. Even a raid where the rival faction loses causes d6 in damage to the PC camp.
Fair enough. I was just looking at even with Supply as a camp "dump stat," a free daily supply roll is giving you d6 back about every other day at the worst.
But you're right. I'll have to keep up the other faction raids fast and furious I guess.
And thinking about it, the 10% chance once/day makes sense. Critters would be a lot more hesitant to attack a whole bunch of people in a camp.
Ran several turns of this, giving them all 4 checks at 10% per turn. The PC's allied sargava and pumped defense, and even with a defense 20 they were almost knocked out by rivals attacking them whenever they were in the lead on discovery points. They dumped supply and have a low exploration, and the rival's higher supply (regularly healing back whatever damage they take) and exploration gave them the edge. But with them not knocked out, it ends up a repeditive back and forth stalemate, which starts to drag, so I had them all form a mutual non-aggession pact for the time being. Everyone at the table recognises that the game will inevitably end well before any single faction gets near the point goal. Well before then, one facton will raid half the points of another to put them over the top in one fell swoop. I forsee a mexican standoff in the endgame errupting in a one turn free for all that desides it.
The random encoutners are *usually* no threat, but when they are a threat, they're a big one. Having even just the outside chance of getting hit for 9 points or more turned out to be enough to justify a high defense, considering such would make it possible for a rival to take the camp out entirely in a single turn (and very possible if two gang up, even if they both 'lose'). After giving the PCs a taste of what they numbers mean, I plan on letting things lay until the factions built up points.
Chivane was given Weapon Specialization (sawtooth sabre), she should not get that until Level 5 Red Mantis Assassin, Unless there is a change with the PF RPG conversion.
Actually Chivane couldn't have gone into Red Mantis Assassin at L6. She needs 4 specific feats to go into RMA, and only has 3 at L5 Rogue.
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Quick question on NPCs:
My players have really liked the "mini-quests" from the NPCs on both Smuggler's Shiv and in Saventh-Yhi (have some WoW players that love "running around collection exclamation points"... and yes they loved this in Kingmaker too. lol).
Anyone have ideas for quests from Athyra and Nkechi? They're both still in the expedition and base camp at the city. Was wondering if anyone had used them to try and break up some of the combat grind in City of Seven Spears.
On another note, anyone come up with a good reason why Athyra would stay with the group? The party really needed her Survival skill for the cross country journey, but now that they're at the base camp, I'm having second thoughts. She's described as really distrustful of civilization and I'm thinking she wouldn't feel too comfortable in a large campsite with lots of "civilized" people around. Was thinking maybe another mini-quest to get her to stay (because frankly they enjoy the +1 she gives to the camp as a named NPC) but was fresh out of ideas.
Thanks for any help!!
First of all I wouldn't worry too much about what your players want Athyra to be. If you think she filled her role and that it were out of character for her to stay with them at the camp (in which case I would totally agree) let her go. Let her voice her concerns a few times and see how your players react. If they turn her down by saying "Ah, she's gonna stay anyway, GM knows we want her" let her leave. But maybe your players will offer ways to make her feel more comfortable on their own and you can take it from there.
About Nkechi: In may game he is a very quirky guy and constantly scorns the PCs for being so clumsy and getting hurt all the time. If asked he always hands out relgious wisdom and insights however. Most of the time even without being asked.
He also refuses to waste Gozreh's grace on anything short of a near death experience but when he does use his powers, he seems like a demigod because I always keep him ahead of the APL by two levels. The players love it that way and I think through the interaction with the party he has become one of the most memorable characters I have ever played or played with.
One of my players once tried to get to know Nkechi and to learn from him as a kind of absolution after committing something that the cleric considered sacrilege. It started as a meta-gaming act to get some healing out of Nkechi but over time it grew into a kind of insult-heavy bizarre master/student relationship. If you read through the article on Gozreh in Racing to Ruin you should find enough info to come up with lessons, religious or philosophical questions and probably even a few encounters you could design to test "a novice's faith" if one of your PCs shows the slightest interest in Gozreh.
There is no specific cooldown but most activation rituals are quite elaborate which should take some time.
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So I've got a situation where multiple factions control spears and know how to activate them.
Is there a cool down or something on those bad boys? Otherwise, I'm looking at some sort of spear activation grudge match. Maybe the book mentions a cooldown, but I don't have it with me right now.
My game is the same. I had various factions go to different parts of the city and depending on how many discovery points they had, they learned how to activate the spear in their area. I also made the spears to where they affected the whole city.
This means that some spears are more well liked than others, namely the temple and military spear, with military being the favorite. When multiple factions took over spears it started out like some kind of game, but I went ahead and wrote up motivations for each faction with regard to the spears. For example, if the Red Mantis learns how to turn on their spear (Temple) they will turn it back on in any other spear comes on except the Military spear.
I thought about having the spear activation fall into a rhythm since they effect the whole city, with the Pathfinders activating the Residential (Rest) spear at night, then allowing whoever wants, to activate their spear in the morning after everyone has rested, but I ultimately didn't go with that.
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Can any of you give me any pointers on what to do with the Mantis Blade?
It matches Chivane so well, that I have already bent the flow of events so that she finds it and will use it against the PC's, but what happens when they find it?
There is no price on it, and I cannnot find any reference to the value of artifacts.
It is also LE, so none of the players can weild it without taking a negative level.
How did you guys handle it?
I handled it with use magic device and eventually hand-waved/houseruled a permanent Undetectable Alignment spell (to ignore the constant UMD checks). Much later (due to the particulars of my personal game) I introduced a secondary intelligent artifact - a handle that once belonged to Savith's blade (which was all that was left after Ydersius' blood ate through the sword). The handle was actually a mystical device which claimed two blades and blended with them. So between that and Eurale (spelling?) later on, the weapon became usable as a unique two-bladed artifact.
One final fun thing I added, was when one of the players wanted to collect the beaks from the evil large demon-parrots' (Camulatz?) beaks to blend with the jagged edge of the weapon itself and make the whole thing vorpal (effectively the vorpal didn't "cost" a bonus to add to the weapon, although it cost the normal gold and time for adding the enchantment to an already-plus-five weapon).
Otherwise, it's kind of "too valuable" for any real price.
One thing you could do, however, is give it an in-game "price": the PCs could give it to the Red Mantis... in exchange for...
a) the Red Mantis coming to their side/allying with their faction (if the PCs are allied with the pirates, this will have to be done in secret)
b) the Red Mantis giving all their discoveries
c) the Red Mantis aiding the PCs (effectively giving 1 of 3 of the conquering terms for each district)
d) all of the above!
The blade is so valuable and sacred to the Red Mantis that they may very well take the dead (the blade was the entire reason they came in the first place, as far as I can tell), and, as they are Lawful Evil they would stick with their deal (although the local Red Mantis, of course, could not necessarily speak for the greater cult as a whole, thus no more than a local cease-fire/alliance would be in effect, except on things the local expression would have been authorized to do or say).
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I thought about doing something with the alignemnt so that the rogue could use it, but I didn't know if it was so powerful that it would overshadow the negative level he would get.
Like I said, Chivane has the blade now and the PC's are going to have to take it out of her warm, dead hands. I would think after that, the Mantises would only want to deal in blood and revenge. I had thought about them taking the theft personally and never giving up until the PC's are dead and they have the blade back or the PC's figure out some kind of deal.
There are 5 party members, and I know there is going to be talk of wanting to sell this item especially since the rod of well deserved rest was worth over 60,000gp. No doubt they'll assume the value of this to be in the 6 figures.
Do you know anything table that exists that gives an aproximate value to artifacts?
Nope: their value exists entirely up to the GM and the campaign in question. IF, on the other hand, the rogue successfully assassinates Chivane (aka, stealths, stabs, grabs, and goes) then that, too, could be a form of respected currency.
EDIT: as in, they'd have to respect the style. Especially if done as a sacred rite to the Bloodlord (their god). There's nothing about Red Mantises being immune to a holy sacrifice to their deity, and his allowance that it come to pass would certainly be a sign in the PCs' favor.
Also, if someone who is pronounced "king" by a legally authorized group (like, say, the local tribe of Rainbow Serpent or something). Give the blade to them and the Red Mantis must then twiddle their thumbs until its returned all nice-like.
Otherwise, I'd go with a (totally made-up-by-me) 100k gold price. That's half a Staff of Power. Probably most valuable to the Pirates: they'd love having something over on the Mantis group. Aspis could probably get behind it, too, however. I could see few others willing to take the risks involved in dealing with it.
Alternatively, just price it like the magic item it is and then add 50% to the value to reflect its unique/artifact status.
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My guys nearly got dropped by the spider in the courtyard in the fungus section.
When they got there, the alchemist decided he would wiggle a web to make the spider come out. It did, along with the wisdom damage. The barbarian and fighter ran forward taking some more wisdom damage, then wound up being paralyzed for hours after failing their fort saves.
Then the alchemist decided to burn away the web with a burning hand causing more wisdom damage to everyone. Finally the rogue acrobaticly pulled the paralyzed guys out.
By that time nobody thought to go in the spider hole and look for anything. They were afraid to stay with their two heavy hitters down and wanted to get back to camp.
So, long story short, they compeltely missed the rest rod as they never searched the area.
The witch chick captured Gelick and subjected him to all manner of vegetable torture(not just carrot & cucumber, but squash & egg plant)before the PC's found him.
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Here is something else that came up the other day. In the temple district, the party alchemist became paranoid when he failed his will save from one of the ghosts. That is bad enough, but the party doesn't have a cleric, or any kind of divine spell caster.
I have been letting them use Jask when they go back to camp. I bumped him up to level 6, but I told them that's as far as the old man is going to go. He's ready to go home anyway.
So there is no way for the insanity to be cured or reduced, except through 17 weeks of successful will saves (not likely).
What I did was adopt the Pathfinder Society rules for buying services from the faction either with gold or prestige points as follows:
Atonement 500gp 2pp
Break Enchantment 450gp 2pp
Dispel Magic 150gp 1pp
Greater Dispel Magic 660gp 2pp
Greater Restoration 5,910gp 16pp
Lesser Restoration 60gp 1pp
Make Whole 60gp 1pp
Neutralize Poison 280gp 2pp
Raise Dead 5,450gp 16pp
Regenerate 910gp 3pp
Remove Blind/Deaf 150gp 1pp
Remove Curse 150gp 1pp
Remove Disease 150gp 1pp
Remove Paralysis 50gp 1pp
Restoration 380gp 2pp
Resroration dispel negative lvl 1,380gp 4pp
Resurrection 10,910gp 32pp
True Resurrection 26,530gp 77pp
Have Your Body Recovered by a rescue team 5pp only
We haven't tried it out yet, but it does give the PC's some options instead of repeatedly punishing them for not having a cleric or giving them a free pass with a high level NPC cleric. This way there is at least a way (though pricey) for them to stay normal.
We'll see how this works in the vaults.
Sounds good and entirely reasonable. I've been using the faction guide for the whole game! It's worked pretty well, and using CPA has been a great help, over all.
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Hey all! My party just hit level 9 in CoSS. A 6-man table with experienced players/tacticians, they've been steamrolling most of the combat encounters. Being a ranged-heavy party of archers/casters, they've learned to truly fear only one thing: the jungle mantises. The shrieks of fear generated when mantises buzz low over the ruins to attack is priceless. :)
Anyway, so the group made their way into the Temple District and found out the troglodytes were worshippers of Achaekek. Then they ran into the jungle mantises in the promenade and fell back as the trogs started flooding out, assuming that the mantises were some sort of trained "attack dogs" for the troglodytes...
Which got me thinking: How cool would THAT be?? A few Acolytes of Achaekek flying on mantises or a few mantises hunting ahead of troglodyte patrols? The mantises have +11 FORT saves, so they'd effectively "tap" the stench saves from the trogs (anything but a 1) so that wouldn't be much of an issue.
My question is: what's the best way to do this rules wise? Jungle mantises are obviously vermin with INT - so Handle Animal isn't going to work. Just replace one of the Acolytes' domain powers with "Vermin Empathy (Mantis)" or something like that?
Just curious on thoughts. Thanks!
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The group I'm running has signed on with the Pathfinders and also allied themselves with the Mwangi's against the Colonials. To play things up I've added a liberation theme to the whole SS path and right now Kalabuto is in flames with a large train of refugees following the party's path. (They left arcane marks at regular intervals for folks in the know.)
I want to do some Kingmaker style settlement building in the CoSS (so that the party has a strong reason to check out the threats from the underground) and I was wondering which Kingmaker module would provide the rules (or rules that could be tweaked) to suit this purpose. Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Geo
The kingdom building rules appear in the second module of the path, Rivers Run Red, IIRC.
Several people here on these boards did or intended to do the same so you'll probably find plenty of inspiration around here as well. Man, you gotta love these boards. :)
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My question is: what's the best way to do this rules wise? Jungle mantises are obviously vermin with INT - so Handle Animal isn't going to work. Just replace one of the Acolytes' domain powers with "Vermin Empathy (Mantis)" or something like that?
Just curious on thoughts. Thanks!
Well the Red Mantis Assassin has the Summon Mantis Ability. I don't think it would be a stretch to give them the ability to control a Mantis for rounds equal to their Cleric Level
Nullpunkt,
Thanks for the info. I'll poke around the boards a bit more to see what I can find.
Cheers,
Geo
De nada.
Quick question though it is something I find myself puzzled by way too often and would be happy to get some input by you guys:
Tentagard, the hezrou demon, chickens out once he has been reduced to below 90 HP. This amounts to roughly one third of his HP and I wonder if the PCs should gain an XP award for the battle with him. I usually take the stance that XP are awarded for overcoming an enemy or an obstacle which they would have accomplished in that case but it seems a little too generous to hand out the full 12,800 for what might just be 2 attacks by the group's fighter. Maybe I should divide the total XP by 3? Any ideas?
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I was doing some research for maps of the Ziggurats. I found this map. It is easily adaptable to the seven Ziggurats in Saventh-Yhi.
I also found this thread with another good map of a Ziggurat.
I hope this help others. The Ziggurats are such an Iconic part of Saventh-Yhi. It is a shame there was no map include in the AP.
Great find there Remoh. Will be very handy.
Though your find is much appreciated of course there actually *is* a map of a generic ziggurat printed in the module. I extracted and enlarged the image and use it for the spear encounters. Of course it's a little boring but I told my players about the lack of map support and they understand. Works for us.
Nullpunkt,
I'm thinking he'd take pity on the stupid mortals and offer to let them be his minions because anyone who is dumb enough to let him out of the bottle needs all the protection they can get.
I'd have Tentagard (scotchguard for tents - so strong in works in Hell?) hang out for more than the 90 hit points (to justify the 50% xp) and then bug out explaining that he'll be back to get them one at a time. He's a great opportunity for some fun role-play because he looks like a stupid toad but his Int is 14 and his Cha is 18.
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In our game Tentagard has been an obnoxious thorn in the PCs' side. With his teleport and gaseous form, he's nearly guaranteed to strike where and when HE wants.
After being released from the bottle and fleeing the first time, it mentions he may look at taking over one of the tribes. Well the nearby boggards in their nice swampy farm district were perfect. He showed up at Garluu's doorstep and the boggard chief backed down making Tentagard the new boggard chieftain. That left the demon to wander through the farming district biting the heads off of boggards as it amused him.
The Aspis Consortium was also allied with the boggards, so as soon as they heard of this newcomer, Dargan approached Tentagard. He gave the demon a few native porters to eat in exchange for the demon to teleport into the Pathfinder camp and make havoc for the Consortium's enemies.
The demon waited for the PCs to leave then attacked their camp (they're at the joint Pirate/Pathfinder camp). Fortunately they hadn't dumped the Camp Defense stat, so Tentagard ripping through the tents and eating some pack animals didn't cause any permanent damage (with their good Defense roll vs the demon's CR10).
When the PCs finally got into the farm district and met with Garluu to arrange an alliance, he said he couldn't since he wasn't the chief anymore. But he arranged a "distraction" by having some of his "out of favor" followers hold a big gathering and make some noise to attract the demon. The demon showed up in the middle of the party's "ambush" (having observed them gaseously) but they were well prepared and still defeated him soundly. Unfortunately, they'd forgot to bring a dim anchor and the demon fled again.
With some good knowledge rolls though, I reminded them that the demon had no healing ability and his time in the bottle probably left him with no contacts here. He would be out of the picture 3-4 days while he licked his wounds and had to heal naturally. Garluu was restored to being chief and the alliance with the boggards was secured (they had already killed the Green God and the vrykolakus so driving off Tentagard was their final victory condition securing the district anyway).
So now the party has a ticked off and vengeful demon after them that keeps teleporting into their camp (for a Defense roll) or hitting their weekly supply caravans (denying them the camp Repair roll). They're trying to figure out a solution to the demon problem since the boggards want nothing to do with Tentagard again and the party doesn't want to waste a day sitting in camp and setting up an ambush the demon is sure to spot.
So far for me, Tentagard has been one of the more fun NPCs in the valley to run. :)
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This adventure path feels quite low in treasure and the half submerged treasury looks like a very good place to rectify that problem and put in some underwater style Indiana Jones encounters.
Some trap ideas I'm toying with:
1) A pit trap - not very effective underwater but good for a laugh.
2) A cieling pit trap with reverse gravity - still effective
3) Boulder trap, not too deadly underwater but still difficult to get out of the way of and it can lock someone in underwater.
4) Electicity & cold glyphs - effective
5) Fire Glyphs - just produce some bubbles & steam
Creatures
Electic eels, modelled on shocker lizards (small but in numbers they can really hurt)
Gelatinous Cube (Do they disolve in water?)
Shadows
I know that there a plenty of devious minds on these boards, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Geo
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Those are really good Geo! Nice ones.
I too used the submerged bank as a "mini-dungeon" but didn't think about adding additional traps. That would have been fun.
Instead I just had the PCs slowly and cautiously wind down through the levels. I used it more as a creepy experience as they're underwater and kept finding empty room after empty room and TONS of already-triggered negative energy traps. My players were expecting the worst when they reached the vaults at the bottom... and then found them empty and already ransacked.
That's when the shadows started appearing from the walls, floors and ceiling.
It was a fun, running gunbattle back up through the empty bank with waves of shadows continuously appearing.
I'd say you have a pretty good seletion of traps and critters to fill the bank though. I'd run with what you've got. That looks like a darn good list.
-J
yeah cibet44 i also feel serpent's skull got too much unnecessary negative feedback and had a lot of fun with it (even with annoying players:). i did not feel that book 3 was as "broken" as some have said, and i like the feel of latter volumes (tho haven't run any after vaults of madness (the party died, then broke up (they liked 4th edition so they were difficult sometimes:), playing with my family now, much better).
anyway i've got ideas for how to better integrate the hunter's maze into ilmurean politics so it doesn't seem like an experience builder if anyone wants to hear them. also neil spicer has some ideas that didn't make thru the editorial process somewhere)
overall a great adventure path.
I am wondering how much in game time generally passes before the level 10 "event"?
The reason I ask is that due to many, many PC deaths, the party is lacking in gear. They have taken crafting feats to help get them back up to battle readiness.
I was curious also, as to the speed at which the other factions progress. (unfortunately, due to the many deaths, the PCs arrived 4th)
I read earlier in the thread that it takes a day to research a district, not including encounters and other stuff, so theoretically maybe 15-20 days with encounters and such.
I also read that it takes roughly 30 days to receive an order through the factions.
I guess, in a roundabout way, I am asking if the PCs dedicated 2 weeks or so to crafting, would it essentially ruin the entire expedition, and allow a rival faction to claim the city as their own?
I don't think it would. The other factions have lower-level NPCs doing the research and security for them, so I think they'd be a lot slower at it.
It doesn't actually take 30 days to receive ordered supplies. The number of days is reduced by the Supply check (that is you roll a d20, add the camp's supply score and deduct that number from 30) down to a minimum of 1 week. It's also possible for the players to announce that their PCs' take 2,3, or even 20 days off from exploring additional districts to help explore the ones they already conquered or craft. Also keep in mind that it's not necessary to accrue the 120 discovery points to claim the city only during CoSS! The exploration is explicitly meant to keep going in the background while the PCs face the next module (and even beyond if necessary).
My group has now spent almost a month in Saventh-Yhi and we are very close to the end (everyone is 9th level and there is only one district left to conquer). They have accumulated around 20 Discovery Points by now.
To reply to your actual question: Try to get a feel for what your players want the game to be like. In my group the other factions have hardly any foothold in the city and are merely scrounging for info in the wake of the glorious PCs. I know that my players wouldn't like it if the districts would go from one faction to another time and time again so the other factions aren't as aggressive as they could be.
If on the other hand you think your players would like to herd cats in a turf war that redraws the borders every other day, make it so.
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Just as another personal reference, my PCs are on Day 53 in Saventh Yhi. They just triggered the "level 10" event on Day 51.
As for progress they have accumulated 70 of the 120 Discovery Points.
As for taking 2 weeks off, they certainly could! Remember, the camp gets to make an exploration roll to earn Discovery Points every day... whether the PCs participate or not!
(This is mapping out the ancient city and collecting stuff from the edges of the district... safe stuff the researchers can do before a district is secure.)
The camp could map out all 120 Discovery Points by themselves with NO PC ACTION REQUIRED.
So what are the PCs needed for? They go in and secure the victory conditions to pacify/secure a district (under the "Conquered" entry). Once a district is secure, the researchers can go in and discover Mysteries. Each mystery is ALSO worth a Discovery Point and is worth xp and information.
Also remember once a district is secuce/conquered, the PCs can assist with the exploration for an additional Mystery. This is a chance for 2 discovery points each day.
I believe SS #3 suggests about 3 months to get all 120 Discovery Points. My PCs are just about on track for that timeline.
BUT!
As Nullpunkt correctly said, the exploration of the city can be going on in the background during books #4 and even #5. My group has already started delving into the vaults (book #4) and still have 2 of the city districts unsecure. I'm figuring they're certainly going to still having the camp earning the last of their Discovery Points when they take off for Ilmurea (book #5).
As for the threat of other factions, that depends on how you want to run "securing" a district. I play it more as a "the district is pacified so your researchers can go in." I do NOT play it as "you now OWN this district so no one else can research it." If you play it that way, whoever conquers a district first has a big advantage. And there's nothing wrong with that! Just be forewarned that other factions are going to fall behind fast.
As for my own game, on day 53 the other factions are sitting at:
Aspis Consortium: 64 Discovery Points (the PCs nemesis and keeping just behind the PCs)
Government: 35 Discovery Points (they had a run in with the rakshasa, General Havelar got killed so I made them take a 2-week "time out" while they waited for a new leader. They fell way behind)
Red Mantis: 40 Discovery Points (they spent the first month scouting out areas just looking for the Temple District... their only real goal)
Bottom Line: there's nothing wrong with the PCs taking days off during the exploration to craft. Just have them assign their camp mappers/surveyors to a district to make an Exploration roll for the day while they craft. They just have to be aware they won't be any closer to earning Mysteries while they do that. (And if you play that a "conquered" district is owned and closed off by a conquering faction, they'll need to raid/kick out the conquering faction to ever get into that district.)
Hope that helps some!