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This inquiry is for players and GMs alike who have played through/GMed the Serpent's Skull AP.
GMs: please use spoiler tags when necessary.
There are 2 intentions of this post.
1. For others to be able to make an informed decision of whether this AP will be a good fit for your players as well as to see if the AP style works with the GM's storytelling style.
2. For Paizo staff to be able to keep track of what their customers/fans think of the APs and use the information to improve the APs in the future.
I have not played or GMed this AP yet. That being said, I will be starting this one up in the next month for my players. VERY excited about this one!
I'm a GM, and my group is almost at the end of the second adventure, but I have read the entire AP. My thoughts are the following:
1. It's different. Playing in a jungle setting allows for a bunch of creatures that you normally don't see in a "standard" fantasy romp, and will allow fantasy veterans like my players to actually be surprised by new monsters. Apart from the obvious non-standard setting, the PCs can be total cutthroats in this AP, and it will only affect the game marginally. There is very little feeling that the PCs have to be "good guys" and this can be refreshing. (I haven't played all the APs, but my feeling is that most require the PCs to at least work with a lot of good-aligned NPCs). This also works the other way, as the players might feel that being Good is actually a choice (in comparison to for example Council of Thieves, which is tricky to get to work if the PCs aren't in it to help the common people).
2. It's sandboxy, but not Kingmaker-sandboxy. Two out of the five adventures are almost complete sandboxes. The rest is a mix of pure rails or a mix. M group found Kingmaker a bit too free, as there is very little feeling of a "main quest" in Kingmaker (if played "by the book", at least), and there is a large focus on the Kingdom Building. A good comparison to most adventures in the Skull might be "Blood for Blood" in Kingmaker, which really doesn't feature a lot of exploring, but the main plot of the adventure can be tackled in many ways. Although it's not obvious at the start, Serpent's Skull builds up the end game in a pretty neat way, and the end looks to be a total blast.
the bestiaries and the extra articles were all really good. my favorite articles were the ecology of the serpentfolk and gazeteer of ilmurea by clinton boomer, they were some of my favorite reading, also loved the path of juju in city of seven spears and the deathtraps article in vaults of madness.
Im finding it very annoying
neither my character, or myself, are really enjoying it
Havent met an npc i even vaguely like
Having got to Eleder, I think my character is utterly disliking the npcs ,new and old, even more
I feel utter lack of empowerment and am in yes mighty npc i will get on that railroad track once moremode
it feels old fashioned
we are just leaving the city and am hoping it starts to pick up my enjoyment
I'm GM, too and my group is nearing Kalabuto (so about half-way through the second adventure).
What I liked about the first adventure was the remoteness of the island and the need for the characters and players to be creative. And even though Smuggler's Shiv is essentially a sandbox, there was always enough of a thread for the players to stay interested and keep them on the "right" track.
The second adventure starts off rather sandboxy as well but shifts pretty quickly to railroading which is a nice change of pace at that point.
In both adventures there are some really memorable NPCs and some equally enjoyable non- or at least low-combat encounter to be found.
However, especially in the first adventure there is a lot to keep track of on the GM side of the screen. And I mean a LOT. Time of day, the change of weather, the NPCs and their mood-swings, at least one character is almost always suffering from a disease, etc. You get used to most of it and TO-DO lists help, especially the user created stuff flying around these forums, but still.
Also, there are little to no maps for encounter areas. I like to make neat printouts of the encounter areas, even if it's only a less challenging one, but there are none included in the AP, only major encounter areas are printed and even these sometimes in a larger than 5 ft. scale. I know, there is a page count, but it meant more preparation work for me which is not what I buy published adventures for.
All in all my players and me have a blast. If you like jungle exploring in an African flavored setting, dealing with strange cultures and a good mixture of sandbox, railroads, roll- and role-play, Serpent Skull is an excellent choice.
I feel utter lack of empowerment and am in yes mighty npc i will get on that railroad track once moremode
I'd say that's the fault of your GM, no offense intended. The GMs most important job in the beginning stages of the second adventure is to present the different factions to the players in a way that leaves them in a position to choose. I guess it's a major pitfall for a GM to choose a faction for the PCs and then just make the other factions appear "evil", "weak" or whatever to more or less force the outcome.
NPCs in Serpent's Skull are tricky and many. It's hard to flesh out every single one so that they are interesting to the PCs and GMs should think about neglecting some NPCs, maybe even cutting them completely, to concentrate on a handful and really let them shine. In my group I killed off every NPC the PCs didn't show sympathy for in the beginning of the first adventure, but saved the one they liked the least. That left me with three NPCs to juggle, which is managable, and the players and PCs alike meanwhile have strong emotions towards all of them. Better two real characters than five extras.
I have run the first 2 books and embark on City of Seven Spears this Friday.
My favorite? So far it has been the castaway NPCs and their personal quests-it has added a personal flavor to the adventure.
Least favorite: the all-too-common "combat is the solution to everything" approach to the game. I think this is a heavily pulp (/Indiana Jones style "neo-pulp") feel of the adventures could have afforded a lot more in the way of sneaking, problem solving, and desperate chases, but there is precious little to facilitate it. (Thankfully, I have found some solutions to that in this forum.)
Least favorite: the all-too-common "combat is the solution to everything" approach to the game.
Would it be fair to say therefore that this is a very much Hack-And-Slash AP?
Least favorite: the all-too-common "combat is the solution to everything" approach to the game.Would it be fair to say therefore that this is a very much Hack-And-Slash AP?
Not moreso than Kingmaker or Council of Thieves. Those are the two others we have played so I won't compare with other APs, but I don't feel that they are IF "played by the book". For example, the GM can insert a lot of RPing with the Resistance in CoT and Kingdom Management in KM, but the same thing could be done in SS. (We have done this, but since this is my homemade stuff, it isn't fair to use that for any objective comparison.)
I would say that many problems CAN be solved with violence but I would say that there are more, or about the same number of, encounters in this AP that I see as allowing for "peaceful solutions" than in Kingmaker.
Nullpunkt brings up a lot of good points and he's correct about the heaps of work behind the GM screen in the first adventure. This is probably true for the other sandbox adventure too. In fact, I would say that the Skull probably requires more pre-game work for the GM than in CoT or KM (though sandbox, most encounters in Kingmaker are pretty straightforward), but that might be dependent on GM style.
I feel utter lack of empowerment and am in yes mighty npc i will get on that railroad track once moremodeI'd say that's the fault of your GM, no offense intended. The GMs most important job in the beginning stages of the second adventure is to present the different factions to the players in a way that leaves them in a position to choose. I guess it's a major pitfall for a GM to choose a faction for the PCs and then just make the other factions appear "evil", "weak" or whatever to more or less force the outcome.
NPCs in Serpent's Skull are tricky and many.
I think the GM has done quite a good job of juggling wot looks to be a complex mod
We saved every little whinging whiney npc of the islandIts things in the city like
-a pc is captured
-the warehouse is burnt down
-you have to visit this npc
It feel like the mod was written by someone who used to write for WHFRP, in that it seems every npc is designed to be annoying, ignorant, unhelpful
PLUS the fact you have to have a faction, when in fact we have a very nice map, and have survived well enough not to need an expedition or any help
It may be that the GM hasnt introduced some elements very well.
There has been 2-3 sessions out of the 10 or so where we have had no fights at all, so its certainly not hack n slash
I feel utter lack of empowerment and am in yes mighty npc i will get on that railroad track once moremodeI'd say that's the fault of your GM, no offense intended. The GMs most important job in the beginning stages of the second adventure is to present the different factions to the players in a way that leaves them in a position to choose. I guess it's a major pitfall for a GM to choose a faction for the PCs and then just make the other factions appear "evil", "weak" or whatever to more or less force the outcome.
NPCs in Serpent's Skull are tricky and many.
I think the GM has done quite a good job of juggling wot looks to be a complex mod
We saved every little whinging whiney npc of the islandIts things in the city like
-a pc is captured
-the warehouse is burnt down
-you have to visit this npcIt feel like the mod was written by someone who used to write for WHFRP, in that it seems every npc is designed to be annoying, ignorant, unhelpful
PLUS the fact you have to have a faction, when in fact we have a very nice map, and have survived well enough not to need an expedition or any help
It may be that the GM hasnt introduced some elements very well.
There has been 2-3 sessions out of the 10 or so where we have had no fights at all, so its certainly not hack n slash
hate to tell you but sounds like your gm totally whiffed on this one, only one npc made it off the shiv when i ran it (gelik, he died being thrown off whaling co. roof). and no your gm has not introduced elements very well at all.
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I can kind of see where novalord is coming from
I found that unless the PC's have a significant diplomacy expert in the group then by RAW it's difficult to get the NPC's on the island to trust you. I ran it as suggested and my players instantly disliked all the other castaways. I then realised that there was no motivation for the PC's to help the NPC's and so I toned it down.
As written it's easy to play Gelik as annoying, Sasha as an airhead, Ishirou as gruff and grumpy, Aerys as a worthless drunk and the players could easily dismiss Jask as a criminal. A predominantly Neutral or Evil Party could easily leave the other castaways to it which would in turn cause problems for the second and subsequent books.
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I'm currently running a group who are just about to start Thousand Fangs Below. Most of my comments probably deserve a spoiler tag, so:
I have one issue with the player's guide: rangers are highly encouraged to take monstrous humanoid as their first favored enemy -"especially monstrous humanoid." There are very few of these in the first two adventures, and my ranger player was somewhat upset about this. The last two adventures are crawling with MHs, so the advice isn't bad per se, but you may want to recommend animal, human or undead as an initial favored enemy and MH at 5th level.
Smuggler's Shiv is very good. I recommend using a tracking sheet just for the castaways' attitudes, morale, and camp roles. The cannibal camp and lacedon caves can get dicey if your PCs run in willy-nilly. Paralysis especially can rapidly cascade the lacedon fight towards a TPK if care isn't taken.
Racing to Ruin is very very railroady. This is not a bad thing, but without care it can turn into just a string of combats over and over until they get to Tazion. I gave my players the option to avoid any encounter they wanted by losing a day on the travel time. There is also a danger that the group will go right to the ziggurat in Tazion and miss the crystal in the temple. Mine did.
Seven Spears has the danger to turn into a sandbox of endless combat encounters. Make sure to play up the exploration, discovery, and competition with other factions aspects. Again I recommned a "faction sheet" with details about all the factions' camp sites, stats, discovery points, etc.
Vaults of Madness initially frustrated my group because of all the Will saves and paranoia. Their divine caster is an oracle so they didn't have easy access to heal until level 12. I recommend trickling out vault locations slowly so they don't head straight to the final vault right away. I changed one of the contests with the gorilla king to an opposed strength check instead of a flat DC25 (then the fighter made a 25 anyway :P). The single combat test is ridiculously tough; my group's champion yielded after one round. The flesh golem built from apes is awesome; but the fight with M'deggog took 3 hours for my group due to its huge AC, SR, immunities/resistances, and DR. I think they were a little frustrated.
I guess this is less a review and more "things to watch for" but I hope it's helpful.
Thanks for input
dont know how things can whiff if we got ALL the npcs to be friendly AND got them all off alive....for the most part the whole party really disliked the npcs but we reluctantly kept them alive, rescued them, as most of the party were Good
The whiff is that we have to hang around while the factions quibble. what we should have done is left the city as soon as we had sorted the map out, and gone off by ourselves?
Things like food, disease, water, etc become non issues in PF very quickly, so i see no benefit from anyone in the city, and other perishables arent that important if you have 'magic'
It may be im being impatient and not letting things develop
I think the GM has been trying to ensure that the party do everything in the mod. Im running KM at the same time, and in that if the party miss something, then its missed and the game moves on
The 2 top things I didnt like about the AP (after reading them all).
1) The whole Urdefhan angle in books 5 and 6. They didnt fit the flavor of this AP imho. These creatures make me want to go rent Hellraiser though. It killed the end of the AP for me.
2) Book 4. The whole Insanity thing. It has the potential to render your party unusable if enough people fail the save and go insane. Like a tpk without the k. Easy to fix though by dropping/replacing the insanity parts of it.
It could be i not got an angle on the scope of it then....I may direct the GM to this thread
maybe its not the AP for me
I will repeat, how can we be followed/competed if no one else has the map or even knew what we had found!!
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Least favorite: the all-too-common "combat is the solution to everything" approach to the game.Would it be fair to say therefore that this is a very much Hack-And-Slash AP?
That's not exactly what I am saying, no. I may have overstated the case a bit; there are some pretty appreciable non-combat challenges for the group (not spoilering anything here; if you are playing in this game, you shouldn't be reading this thread!): activating the tide stone and otherwise finding your way across the lagoon, finding the prizes for Nkechi.
More what I am getting at is it seems like there were a few moments that shouldn't have been combats but were (like the idols in the Azlanti ziggurat in Tazion) and there was a dearth of classic pulp/Indy style tropes that would have made the game more fun (puzzles, chases). For example, the assault by the faction agents at Kalabuto was a potentially harrowing fight. But just think how much more fun it would have been if they broke in and stole something needed to get to Tazion!
This one's easy: Let's say you manage to keep the maps secret. Once you get off the island, you're still going to need to arrange for everything I already mentioned above.It could be i not got an angle on the scope of it then....I may direct the GM to this thread
maybe its not the AP for me
I will repeat, how can we be followed/competed if no one else has the map or even knew what we had found!!
Your still not getting my point, which could well be my fault
Ill summarise, with due apology for threadnapping
1. we are shipwrecked on an island
2. we find something that tells of terrible secrets, and a great threat to the future
3. we find map to said threat, and tell no one. we even leave false clues behind in case someone else one day finds it, afterall who can we trust when dealing with
4. we are rescued and go to a city
5. we expect some gratitude from the folks we rescued, maybe the odd reward from their friends and loved ones?
in hindsight, and if id had my way, i would have left said city the next day, without suspicion, without anyone knowing about losts cities, serpents or maps.
we are adventurers and resourceful remember that island we just survived for 8 weeks?
we head off into the desert (there is so little jungle looking at the big paizo map....we have lots cartography, linguistics, scholalry background, and geography skill), get to lost city, stop menace, city remains lost for lots good reasons
we know we can survive ,
the cleric can cover all eventuality issues.
The monk and witch have proved how useful they can be in situations where the party has 'nothing'.
Paladins are reknowned for their immunities, and ability to help and cleanse others
ranger and barbarian have kept us feed and safe previously
i dont feel the mod allows us any control over our own destiny. If i want someone to control me i can stay at work and do overtime!!
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lords stuff :(
No module should make you feel completely railroaded. Much of the above issues sound like an inexperienced GM just trying to follow the book. SS is a very complex AP, requiring higher than usual GM prep and flexibility. Presenting the NPCs as interesting and sympathetic in the first adventure is super important, furthermore presenting factions as clearly "good guy" and "bad guy" options is a good idea so the PCs can take an interest. Ultimately if the PCs want to attempt striking out on their own they should be allowed to try. But it's a little like having no interest in exploration or leadership in kingmaker, or not caring about Korvosa in CotCT- it negates an important aspect of the AP and makes it far less interesting and a lot more work for the GM.
lords stuff :(No module should make you feel completely railroaded. Much of the above issues sound like an inexperienced GM just trying to follow the book. SS is a very complex AP, requiring higher than usual GM prep and flexibility. Presenting the NPCs as interesting and sympathetic in the first adventure is super important, furthermore presenting factions as clearly "good guy" and "bad guy" options is a good idea so the PCs can take an interest. Ultimately if the PCs want to attempt striking out on their own they should be allowed to try. But it's a little like having no interest in exploration or leadership in kingmaker, or not caring about Korvosa in CotCT- it negates an important aspect of the AP and makes it far less interesting and a lot more work for the GM.
some good points there
Luckily im running KM and it feels a level lower in complexity than SSI do feel the GM introduced the NPCs both on the Shiv, and in Eleder as 'adverserial' and not sympathitic in the least
Aside from the half orc who runs the Inn,
My PC is chaotic good so has a very short temper with those she sees as fools, in the way, etc BUT she does realise the peril is very bad and needs stopping
I also feel he is trying to make sure every bit of the mods is used
anyway we left it at the gates of eleder, allied to the baron/jask faction, with an expedition/entourage ready to go.....so lets see how it goes from there....im not the only Player/PC who isnt really enjoying it, but some are so i'll try and get more enthused
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You can say "I'm not in charge of my destiny" about any AP. As a GM I always look for the "break points" in an AP, the points that if the players do or do not do something will break the campaign.
One of the break points for Serpent's Skull is "what happens if the players leave the castaways to it" another is "what if the players are the only ones who know about Saveth Yhi and don't mention it to anyone else."
The GM should have answers to this, I know I do.
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The internet-demons ate a post I wrote yesterday on the topics of expeditions, and I will try to repeat it:
(This is all my pitch to my group, and to US it makes sense, but this might not work for everyone)
1. Regarding the other factions following:
- If you have an expedition (se 2, below), it's nearly impossible to get everyone to shut up about the destination. A guard tells his girlfriend (that gossip!), a porter tells his buddy in the bizniz or one of the other factions has a spy. Even if this doesn't work:
- It's pretty easy to follow the PC expedition, since it's 50+ people romping through the jungle. If that doesn't work:
- The other factions ahve access to magic, which can be used. This is slightly Deus-ex'y, but you need the other expeditions to follow. And imagining that a high lvl diviner is working for ONE of them back at international HQ, it's reasonable. The other factions then follow THAT factions, which leaves trails and gossip.
2. Why expedition, not just the PCs?
Assumption: The PCs are in this for either gold or glory. This is the hook for the AP. Not wanting gold or glory in the Skull is like not wanting to join the Resistance in Council of Thieves or run a kingdom in Kingmaker.
-> To maximize glory/gold, the PCs wants to loot the entire city. This will require a bunch of gruntwork (making copies of text, drawings of monuments, boxing stuff for sale abroad). Remember that this is AN ENTIRE CITY full of ancient stuff wort a bunch of gold, not just a dungeon complex.
-> Doing all this work will require a lifetime. Since the PCs want to spend their gold or bask in the glory, then would like to speed up the process.
-> To speed up the process, they get a patron which hires a bunch of grunts to do the gruntwork. This patron gets a cut, but the PCs will still make an incredible amount in a short time.
As for glory, it makes no sense to NOT bring a bunch of clerks to make copies of discoveries, since the PCs will still get "main credit".
In the end, the logic here is the same as for a commercial venture. Asking why the PCs need an expedition when they could do everything themselves is like asking why a factory manager doesn't do all the work himself to save on wage costs.
(It's been a little while - could someone more familiar with the AP clarify whether the PCs are even supposed to be aware of the endgame yet?)
No. The endgame doesn't really show up until adventure 4, and it isn't clear until adventure 6. HOWEVER, in this AP the endgame is foreshadowed really well, so they should have a suspicion that something more might be in the works than pure looting for four adventures.
One of the break points for Serpent's Skull is "what happens if the players leave the castaways to it" another is "what if the players are the only ones who know about Saveth Yhi and don't mention it to anyone else."
The GM should have answers to this, I know I do.
me too
Nothing,
cos thats what the pcs have decided
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If the PCs keep their discovery very very secret, I would allow them to head on off to Saventh-Yhi all by themselves. They would miss a lot of Racing to Ruin
If the PCs keep their discovery very very secret, I would allow them to head on off to Saventh-Yhi all by themselves. They would miss a lot of Racing to Ruin** spoiler omitted ** But that assumes they could make the ridiculously high Linguistics check to decipher the notes unaided. If the PCs use a library to help, or hire a translator, then someone else knows and now the factions are involved. (Old libraries had arcane sorting systems so that you had to get a librarian to help you). Even if they avoid all the factions initially, someone is going to go explore Smuggler's Shiv now that it's safer, and find the info that way. Maybe the PCs have a two week head start or so then. But once everyone gets to Savinth-Yhi, the factions each have a town and the pcs have nada for support.
As far as im aware we made the lingusitcs checks
before we left the Shiv we purposely created false clues etc in case the shiv were explored after we had realised the importance of what we had found
snippage of some posts
One of the break points for Serpent's ...............Would it be helpful if these breakpoints were identified in a sidebar or note during the adventure and suggestions made as to what can be done?
+1 to this sort of thing
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favorite aspects:
a reason to run the following soundtracks - Pirates of the Carribbean, Jurassic Park, and jungle ambience.
least favorite aspects:
daily saving throws for everyone! sometimes multiple
lewt is easy to pillage and secure
thats wot summon monster III is for!!
lewt is easy to pillage and secure
thats wot summon monster III is for!!
SMIII won't give you more than a few rounds of additional help, there is no way summoned creatures can carry your stuff 2000 miles.
As far as im aware we made the lingusitcs checks
I smell fudging... or what did your group do to hit DC 30 in a skill that most likely noone bothered to train?
given that the party had a native, an ex-slave and an anti-slaver character the riot bit annoyed the heck out of me? as did being force to seek out a guide. The spirit scene was 30 minutes of faffing with stats to fight a combat that lasted less than a round!!
The riot is indeed a hard to go through as written if your group is anti-slavery (which probably every at least partially good group is). What I did is play up the fact that Umagro was influenced by a rival faction and now sees traitors everywhere. For my players it was evidence enough of some rival faction's influence that the zealous Zenj
didn't even listen to outspoken anti-slavers or his own "brothers" like Jask. That way I didn't even have to leave any "circumstantial evidence"with them to make the PCs smell the ruse.
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Summon Monster III gives you The Lantern Archon
With a few bags of holding and a secure place you can drop your stuff off.
If you want to get really tricky, you can command your lantern archon to teleport you somewhere and then turn the bag of holding inside out.
I discovered this while playing a summoner in a different campaign. There were slaves to rescue but we didn't want to leave the dungeon as we still had the element of surprise on our side. One use of SM III and a couple of Diplomacy checks later and the slaves were returned to civilization while we buffed up and prepared for the next level of the dungeon.
Summon Monster III gives you The Lantern Archon
With a few bags of holding and a secure place you can drop your stuff off.
.
go to top of the class for the LA
my witch is an impeccable scholar, beyond compare so she made the Linguini check
Summon Monster III gives you The Lantern Archon
With a few bags of holding and a secure place you can drop your stuff off.
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go to top of the class for the LA
my witch is an impeccable scholar, beyond compare so she made the Linguini check
"A few bags of holding"? You leave Eleder at 4th level, stop at Kalabuto around 5th, I don't see how a group manages to acquire "a few" bags of holding by then. And without a faction there is little to no chance you can get a hold of one once you're at the ruins.
Just curious: Linguistics isn't a class skill for the witch which means (most likely) 4 ranks when she reaches Eleder and that she would need at least a 22 Int. If she studied the archives to get a bonus on the check there are plenty of opportunities to spread the word that something is up concerning Saventh-Yhi. So the factions *do* get involved and once one of them is in, your group needs a faction as well.
I still don't see a group of PCs handle the whole thing from research to expedition without outside help at all.
Right!, no one notices the person coming back to the library everyday trying to dig up information about a dead empire.
my parties gnome witch told everyone, especially in the taverns (the tale of escape from the shiv earned her many a free drink in eleder, i don't think she payed for drink the entire time we were in eleder, or kalabuto).
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Summon Monster III gives you The Lantern Archon....With a few bags of holding and a secure place you can drop your stuff off.
Are you aware that the description for summon monster spells states the following?
A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities.
This means a summoned lantern archon wouldn't be able to use its greater teleportation spell-like ability at all...in much the same way summoned demons and devils can't either.
If you want to get really tricky, you can command your lantern archon to teleport you somewhere and then turn the bag of holding inside out.
Um, no again. A lantern archon's spell-like abilities include:
At Will—aid, continual flame, detect evil, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only)
So, even a regular lantern archon couldn't teleport anyone other than itself. It could teleport up to 50 lbs. of objects, but that wouldn't include other living creatures. Even then, summoned creatures can't use teleportation abilities anyway. So, I don't believe this tactic is plausible by RAW.
My two cents,
--Neil
The bag of holding is intended to get you around the "50 lbs of objects" restriction (you jump into the bag yourself), but that doesn't deal with the teleportation problem.
Personally, I wouldn't let that fly, either. But maybe I'm just a cruel, heartless GM? ;->
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That is interesting, and I did not realize that a summoned creature could not use any teleportation abilities, I have no idea how I completely missed that in my read-through of the spell. (I saw the unable to summon other creatures clause, and saw the no interdimensional travel clause).
Well you learn something new every day.
I knew something didn't sound right about using SMIII as a Summon Porter III spell but couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Thanks Neil for clearing that up.
Summon Monster has a too short duration for doing menials tasks, you can't summon a monster to dismantle a monument or make a copy of an inscription (assuming a proper Rosetta Stone-length inscription).
And IMO, this is a moot point. The adventures assume an expedition, and most of the "pressure" in the middle part of the campaign requires enemy factions. The AP makes that clear enough, but I can see how it could have been more explicit.
In the end, not having an expedition in Serpent's Skull is like not having a kingdom in Kingmaker or not joining the Resistance in Council of Thieves. You can make it work, but don't blame the AP if the players feel like there's too little motivation for their PCs. Where the Skull falls short is the fact that unlike the Resistance in CoT or the kingdom in KM is that it really isn't spelled out WHY you need an expedition and it's benefits. I can see how leading an expedition is less appealing than being a king or sticking it to the Man, but that's what this AP is about.
eech, that weakens summon spells
cant recall exactly how we did the linguistics thing but i think the 'helpful halfling' helped though i do recall recently that aid another has a few issues too
have chatted with a few other players and i think we need to embrace what the mod expects to do more.... even though it offends my indie vibe