All I can really suggest for a paper copy is the boring stuff like page references in the adventure by level summary and a big index but I can imagine that would be a mammoth task, bordering on impossible for a book this size. Personally I'm happy to see creative energies going into making a setting that comes to life off the page as well as RC does. The hard copy and pdf works well for me - I still prefer reading a hard copy but with the electronic version as a backup I can search to hunt down other references.
.... oh and the only party member bitten so far was the hippogriff animal companion. That's really got us scratching our heads trying to visualise the potential outcome :)
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Aaaaaand we're back!
With a horde of freshly animated zombies in tow, the PCs headed to the west side of Kakeou to deal with the cult of Dajobas. They arrived on the beach to find a number of Tulita chanting and praying before a series of ritual bonfires, as two rune-painted warriors cut the throat of a stag and threw its carcass onto the largest of the bonfires. A puff of smoke and a conflagration erupted from the burning carcass, and an evil visage peered forth from the flames: a smoke wendigo! (Oh, and those two natives in warpaint were also weresharks--Tulita warriors with the fel lycanthrope template added on top. So that was fun.)
For the smoke wendigo, I dialed back the baseline wendigo from CR 17 to CR 10 by reducing its hit dice, then added the smoke creature template from the Advanced Bestiary, removing its cold-based abilities and resistances as appropriate for a fire-based creature--making it effectively CR 11. Yes, this was a VERY tough fight for a party of 7th level PCs, but they did ultimately survive it... but more on that in a minute.
SMOKE WENDIGO CR 11
XP 12,800
CE Large outsider (air, fire, native)
Init +13; Senses blindsight 60', cloud sight, darkvision 60', low-light vision; Perception +18
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 18, flat-footed 17 (+9 Dex, +6 natural, -1 size)
hp 121 (9d10+72)
Fort +15, Ref +18, Will +9
Defensive Abilities regeneration 5 (cold), smoky form (see below); DR 5/cold iron and magic; Immune cloud-, gas-, and fog-based attacks and spells, fear, fire, inhaled poisons; SR 22
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
OFFENSE
Speed fly 120 ft. (perfect)
Melee bite +17 (1d8+9 plus 1d6 fire and grab), 2 claws +17 (1d6+9 plus 1d6 fire)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon, dream haunting, howl, rend (2 claws, 1d4+13 plus 1d6 fire plus 1d4 Cha damage), wendigo psychosis
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th, concentration +20)
At will–wind walk (DC 22)
1/day–control weather (as druid), nightmare (DC 21)
STATISTICS
Str 28, Dex 29, Con 26, Int 26, Wis 20, Cha 22
Base Atk +9; CMB +19 (+23 grapple); CMD 38
Feats Ability Focus (howl), Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Persuasive
Skills Acrobatics +20, Bluff +19, Fly +28, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (arcana, geography, nature, religion) +18, Knowledge (planes) +20, Perception +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +20, Stealth +18 (+23 in areas of clouds, fog, or smoke), Survival +18; Racial Modifiers +5 Stealth in areas of clouds, fog, or smoke
Languages Aklo, Auran, Common, Ignan, Tulita; telepathy 1 mile
SQ air mastery, no breath, smoke travel
ECOLOGY
Environment any warm, plane of air/fire
Organization solitary
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Air Mastery (Ex) Any airborne creature takes a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls against a smoke wendigo.
Breath Weapon (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, a smoke wendigo can breathe a cloud of superheated smoke and cinders. This cloud fills a 20-foot cube adjacent to or surrounding the smoke wendigo, as desired. Every creature within the cloud takes 2d6 points of fire damage each round (no save). Furthermore, any breathing creature within the cloud must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 22) each round or take 1d4 points of Constitution damage. A creature within the smoke can hold its breath on its initiative to avoid taking the Constitution damage in later rounds. The smoke grants concealment as though it were a fog cloud spell. The smoke remains in place for 5 rounds despite prevailing winds; thereafter the cloud becomes normal smoke and disperses normally. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Cloud Sight (Ex) A smoke wendigo can see through clouds, gases, fogs, mists, and smoke as though they didn’t inhibit vision. Creatures and objects do not gain concealment from a smoke wendigo due to such conditions.
Dream Haunting (Su) When a smoke wendigo uses its nightmare spell-like ability, the victim is also exposed to wendigo psychosis.
Howl (Ex) Three times per day as a standard action, a smoke wendigo can emit a forlorn howl that can be heard up to a mile away. Any who hear the howl must make a DC 20 Will save to avoid becoming shaken for an hour. Creatures within 120 feet become panicked for 1d4+4 rounds, and those within 30 feet cower with fear for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Smoke Travel (Su) At will as a move action, a smoke wendigo can use dimension door (CL 9th) to move from any area filled with smoke to any other smoke-filled area within range.
Smoky Form (Ex) The smoke that constantly wreathes a smoke wendigo’s semisolid body always makes it hard to determine its exact location. Attacks against a smoke wendigo suffer a 20% miss chance, though true seeing allows the caster to ignore that miss chance. This ability does not grant the smoke wendigo concealment. The effects of blur or displacement do not stack with this effect; only the best miss chance applies.
Wendigo Psychosis (Su) Curse—Nightmare or wind walk; save Will DC 20; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Wis drain (minimum Wis 1); cure 3 consecutive saves. When a victim’s Wisdom reaches 1, he seeks an individual of his race to kill and devour. After completing this act, the afflicted individual takes off at a run, and, in 1d4 rounds, sprints up into the sky at such a speed that his feet burn away into jagged stumps. The transformation into a smoke wendigo takes 2d6 minutes as the victim wind walks across the sky. Once the transformation is complete, the victim is effectively dead, replaced by a new smoke wendigo. True resurrection, miracle, or wish can restore such a victim to life, yet doing so does not harm the new smoke wendigo. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Wind Walk (Sp) If a smoke wendigo pins a grappled foe, it can attempt to wind walk with the target by using its spell-like ability—it automatically succeeds on all concentration checks made to use wind walk. If the victim fails to resist the spell, the smoke wendigo hurtles into the sky with him. Each round, a victim can make a new DC 22 Will save to turn solid again, but at this point he falls if he cannot fly. Eventually, the smoke wendigo strands the victim in some rural area, usually miles from where it began. A creature that wind walks with a smoke wendigo is exposed to wendigo psychosis. The save DC is Charisma-based.
This was a LONG, LOOOOOOOONG fight. Every PC came close to death multiple times. (The necromancer's zombie mob only suffered two casualties, though; the wendigo more or less ignored them since they couldn't penetrate its DR.) But when the dust settled, the wendigo was toast and the PCs stood triumphant.
From the waves off the island shore came a series of translucent spirits in the form of the Tulita animal totems: Whale, Turtle, and Dolphin. Further offshore, a spout of lava erupted from the water, cooling into a mountainous throne of igneous rock atop which sat the goddess Pele in all her fire-bikini'd glory. And from the mists created by the cooling magma slipped a small boat ferried by a skeletal form in black robes (the necromancer's deity, Charon), and ridden by a halfling in a red vest and matching plumed hat (Xarn, my campaign's version of Quell).
The Tulita totem spirits thanked the PCs for destroying the smoke wendigo, and warned that two great evils plotted to befoul the Razor Coast: one, Dajobas the Devourer, whose minions are even now plotting to overrun Port Shaw; and the other, a mysterious entity far beneath the dark waves which not even their divine eyes can see clearly. They charged Ho Kan with purging the Razor of Dajobas' influence, naming him Ho Kan Ali'i and magically refurbishing the jawbone of Kaho Ali'i, with the newly-scrimshawed addition of an image of Ho Kan bearing a parrot on his shoulder.
Xarn wordlessly hopped off the boat, walked over to Marlin, and touched his feathered hat to the tip of his sword, then got back on Charon's boat.
Charon nodded to Archibald, and telepathically commanded him to send forth a river teeming with souls unto Styx--wereshark or Dragoon, native or plantation owner, it makes no difference to Charon.
Finally, Pele stared long and hard at the parrot-druid, then said, "The bird takes what it likes. What it doesn't like, it sets aflame. I like the bird."
And that's how my Razor Coast PCs got their first mythic tier. =]
(We did a brief sidetrek last night as a follow-up to this session; the necromancer's player was gone, so I added the savage template from Mythic Adventures to some bone-armored karikanti savages in a nearby cave for the other three PCs to test their mettle against. Mythic is proving to be a lot of fun for us, since we're all Pathfinder veterans who need something new to mix things up a bit--but of course, now that means I need to add mythic tiers to all the major villains like Jalamar and Bonedeuce! Heheheheheh...)
I am looking for a little advice on the Kiss. My players are going after the shark plots and getting on good terms with Bonedeuce. We also have a native Tulita in the party so getting detailed info out of Miliauka after saving him from Darenar.
1 they have asked Mili exactly when is the Night of the Shark
2 they have suggested to Bonedeuce that he gets Zalen to check out Darenar under some TBD pretext (what will the Kiss detect as - disease, curse, both or neither?)
They are looking at some sort of isolation unit 'solution' to the issue of potential un-cureables. They are still only 5th level and working hard to avoid fights so I'm thinking I need to get them out of town for a bit (Dolentla Island perhaps) to slow progress along that path a little.
On a more general topic they were interested in which totem (turtle/dolphin/whale) Miliauka follows - any thoughts?
Contributor
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Good questions.
Milliauka doesn't know what the "Night of the Shark" is exactly, only that something ugly and Dajobas-related is heading for Port Shaw.
Bonedeuce is likely patronizing about Darenar. Bonedeuce has a hard time believing anything is as bad as his boss, so its difficult for him to take things seriously. He probably ends up saying, "Alright, alright, I'll look into it..." in a "you guys are so adorable..." way. That's how I'd play it.
On the other hand, Zalen may or may not take them seriously. He's very Harthagoa focused _but_ evil is evil. Boneduece would likely encourage the party to make nice with Zalen, because Bonedeuce would love to engineer Zalen's death and any info he can gather through the PCs? Gravy. Using the PCs as his unwitting dupes is just the sort of plotting that would appeal to a Kraken follower.
An isolation solution for Kiss victims is a great idea! I wouldn't block or slow it, myself. I'd just arrange for how it goes horribly wrong at some point, and the Kiss victims all escape at once; for example, when they transform on the Night of the Shark! Betrayal, underestimation of the enemy, an simple error? Why, I can see all sorts of ways that putting all the Weresharks in one bucket might work out at first but then go horribly (wonderfully!) wrong. I love that, actually.
Milliauka's Totem is not defined. I suggest matching it to whichever Totem your player follows so the two develop a bond. If you want Milliauka's Totem to be the chicken and not the egg (or vis versa), then Turtle feels right to me. After that, Whale. Bethany already has a Dolphin companion and Milliauka feels less light-hearted than Dolphin, so I'd pick that last. But that's just me.
Hope that helped!
Many thanks for your continuing support on this thread Lou. I'll post how things work out.
So just to get things straight in my head...
'The Night of the Shark' is actually a ritual that includes a full moon, but also some other non-specific components? Hence the Kiss is much closer to a curse rather than the more typical lycanthropy as you explained previously.
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Contributor
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Any time, my friend.
You got it pretty much spot on. More specifically...
The survivors, if any, wind up calling it that.
Very nice on the smoke wendigo, might have to use it sometime:) Our group started Sinful Whisper last game. They were rather uncommitted on the first encounter until they had to attack unarmed slaves. At that point they backed the slaves and attacked the crew. Made the setup a little weird as it is based on what side they take, but it worked out. The pirate Mercedeh lost a leg on a permanent injury and now has a peg leg. It was that or death so I chose a permanent injury on this one as she made her fort save. She is complaining about it, but making do.
Quick summary of events last night. The party jumped at the Dolentla island hook in preference to drug dealers or sewer dwellers - looks like they fancy heroic, yet they seem ambivalent to mentions of the Waveriders and distrust Zalen. Might have to try Bethany on them next.
Anyhow they set sail with Jacinth at the helm and rapidly and encountered the Iron Bastion. Jacinth ordering the Tulita party member to help the good mate secure his property made an impression! Eventually they agreed to go talk with the captain. Manufacturing a brief moment with the mate outside the cabin they incapacitated the captain then rushed the mate back in and announced he had collapsed with highly contageous 'Red Spot' hence his strange behaviour (bluff 30+). The crew sought sanctuary on the party ship abandoning the natives to their terrible fate ;)
I may have misjudged things after that, using the stow-away encounter next. A bit too much deja vu after the Harok McFarrow line. I used the lacedons on the way to that too so the shipwrecked survivors may be overkill. Plenty of variation once they reach the island so that should balance out soon.
I like the idea of the flintlock although it will cost her a feat as she is a rogue and does not have martial weapon proficiency. I have already given her the cost of a regeneration scroll from the Wizard as I prefigured it for Old Craw if they decided to aid him. So far they have not. In fact, they have done little to redeem any of the Waveriders either.
The party continued their voyage on the fishing sloop to Dolentia Island in Sinful Whisper. They encountered a castaway that turned out to be a wereshark and dispatched him. Rains the rest of the afternoon kept the crew busy. Overnight on third watch the half Tulita encountered a Devilfish and was pulled into the briny deep. It covered it's escape with devil blood and she missed her fort save becoming nauseated for 4 rounds. Mercedeh dived in and attempted rescue, but could not see to locate her. After three rounds the devilfish was away with it's prey so Mercedeh went back to the ship for aid. By the time they were able to turn the ship around there was no locating her. Diane brought in a new character using one of the Tulita slaves that they had rescued.
On the following day the three remaining crew and Jacinth came upon a make shift raft and were attacked by three sea hags. (Diane was still making her new character.) Mercedeh, the witch and the cleric/crusader managed to dispatch them with a few key bow shots from Jacinth. The rest of the day was spent with a little crew training as two of them had no experience on a ship.
Upon arriving at the island it is decided that they would take the northern approach to shore. Once they reached with 500' of the island a whale was sighted on the aft coming at fast speed. Jacinth attempted to evade, but the whale managed to capsize the fishing vessel. They swam ashore with some using driftwood to aid them but encountered some strange humanoids on shore. They attacked just before the party reached the shore. The witch went down and so did Mercedah, but the new Tulita warrior, the cav/cler and Jacinth managed to dispatch the beasts, Hawanis being in name. The cleric revived witch and Mercedah and they pulled themselves ashore.
At that point we broke for the day. The group seems to be back on a better track although short a couple of players.
Looks like we're almost parallel Brvheart.
Doing my prep for arriving on the island and wanted to check the whale - am I correct in saying a ship is normally a colossal object? If so is the whale incapable of ramming them? (DC25 CMB +24 but -20 for two sizes smaller)
We looked that over as she bought the medium fishing trawler. We estimated that the ship was only gargantuan giving it a -10 on the CMB. Jacinth rolled a 15 on her profession sailor making it a 22. What really annoyed Mercedeh is her profession sailor is a +17 and she likely would have made the check. She definitely let 'Miss Priss' know about it!
Well, I had my first session of my combined Skull & Shackles/Freeport/Razor Coast campaign a couple of weeks ago, and have now begun a Campaign journal here on the boards. We didn't get to anything on the Razor yet, but I'm hoping to introduce them to the Sea Bear tonight! :)
If anyone s interested in reading the journal entries, you can find it HERE.
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Our mythic Razor Coast adventures continue on Kakeou, then on to Beacon Island!
After slaying the vicious Karikanti natives hiding in the sea caves of Kakeou, the heroes returned to the Tulita village to find that a large tribe of jungle kobolds had attacked the village in their absence, and the chieftain was in an advanced stage of poisoning. The chieftain's Dragoon-sympathizing advisor, Eko Po, was nowhere to be found, and the Tulita warriors said that he had fled with a small group of Dajobas cultists to a waiting vessel and headed northeast on the open sea. One cultist was captured, and after some interrogation (aided by Archibald's zombie thralls), they learned that Eko Po was traveling to Beacon Island to rendezvous with the cult leader and inform him that the jawbone of Kaho Ali'i had been found. Archibald thanked the cultist for his cooperation--and then promptly fed the wretch to his zombies.
Xander Brim, who fended off the kobolds with his magic, handed the PCs a bill for his services to date, which nearly caused them to murder him where he stood. When they explained that there was no way they could pay him, he made them a counteroffer: since they were headed to Beacon Island anyway, they could retrieve a legendary medusa-forged sword stuck in the great statue of the sea serpent off the island's east bank as repayment for his aid. They begrudgingly accepted the task.
After curing the chieftain of his affliction and learning that Eko Po had been poisoning the chieftain's food, the PCs convinced the Tulita elders of Kakeou to begin mobilizing warriors northward along the coast toward Port Shaw to defend the city from Dajobas' minions. Then, it was off to Beacon Island, where they met the pseudodragon Tao, faced mythic wyverns in the abandoned lighthouse, deftly dispatched the mohrg and his zombie minions in the dwelling below, and then dove underwater to explore the statue garden.
Using a soften earth and stone spell, they managed to withdraw the legendary katana Masamune from the sea serpent's gullet, but in doing so they freed the beast from the curse that the medusa's blade had inflicted, and the beast came to life and attacked them in its fury. This combat killed two PCs, Ho Kan Ali'i and Marlin Martigan, so they had Xander Brim teleport Ho Kan's body to the Pearl Eye Atolls for a raise dead, while the parrot druid reincarnated Marlin as a half-elf. Reinvigorated, they continued their search for the entrance to the Dajobas cultists' hideout, also discovering the wreckage of the Razor's Edge and encountering Jacob Razor's ghost for the first time. The pirate captain scared them off, but not before they found the ivory-handled masterwork dagger embedded in his corpse (which they mistakenly believed belonged to Garr Bloodbane).
Their trek through the sea caves beneath Beacon Island was a tough slog: the first batch of weresharks were easy enough for them to dispatch (although the mythic kapoacinth were considerably more formidable), but the eel pool nearly knocked Archibald unconscious, the large cavern of weresharks and the disguised Jalamar wore through a lot of their resources, and the wereshark monk Saegen got the drop on the parrot druid when he flew into his loft seeking treasure. They defeated, bound, and stabilized Saegen, and rescued the prisoners in the cages (among them Eko Po, who explained that he was a triple agent working on behalf of Barrison Hargrove in opposition to both the Tulita and the Dajobas cultists).
The parrot druid scouted ahead through the tunnel of shark's teeth into Jalamar's ritual chamber, but noped the heck out of there when he saw the sharks in the water (he was fearful that those sharks were divine agents of Dajobas who could use flame strike like the great black shark in the sacrificial chamber, which of course was actually Jalamar himself). He used his high Knowledge (geography) skill to note the location of the ritual chamber, and later softened the earth above it repeatedly to cause a cave-in and destroy the shrine to Dajobas. Of course, the Dalang was long gone by then...
In preparation for their return to Port Shaw, they've released four of the petrified adventurers in the medusa's statue garden (Gedavin, Baris, Valana, and Cather) to serve as sidekicks, and stopped by the Pearl Eye Atolls to resupply their ship and their personal magic items. They also cured Saegen of his lycanthropy, much to Tao's delight, and Eko Po convinced them to spare his life in exchange for securing aid from the Dragoons against the weresharks. The traitorous Tulita advisor holds no hope that Hargrove will listen to his warnings of the impending wereshark attacks, but he has Gregory Bonedeuce's ear as well, and might be able to convince his men to act. He doesn't want to see Jalamar upset the political balance of Port Shaw, and has kept his knowledge of who holds the jawbone of Kaho Ali'i a secret from the evil priest. (He also clued them in to the fact that the dagger they found in the wreckage of the Razor's Edge was NOT Garr Bloodbane's, as Eko Po had a nearly identical knife in his possession--which, he explained, was a gift from Commandant Bonedeuce himself.)
Oh, and of course the necromancer has some new pals--he lost a few zombies during their trek across Beacon island, but now he's got three skeletal wyverns instead!
This week, we begin the Night of the Shark! =D
Unfortunately my Razor Coast game is suffering from lack of enthusiasm. I am now down to three players. Without fresh players I may have to shut it down for now.
More like two sessions for that chunk.
Night of the Shark was a little lackluster in comparison, unfortunately (and partly my fault). I'll do a full writeup later.
Unfortunately my Razor Coast game is suffering from lack of enthusiasm.
Any particular reason for this? (Don't feel like you need to answer.) I only ask because I'm looking for potential pitfalls should I ever run this (I was considering jamming this thing into my next campaign - Skull & Shackles - based on our slow XP house rules).
For example, I read a scathing review of Razor Coast that pointed out a host of problems with how the Tulita were portrayed in the book... and yeah... the review was absolutely right. I'd have to make wholesale changes to the Tulita - and adventure - for it to work with my group and I. (As written, that's an enthusiasm killer right there.)
I'm looking for other pitfalls.
I don't have an issue with how the Tulita are portrayed in the book. Nicolas Logue shows the historical racism of how these people were treated, especially by the British. My PBP game is thriving with several Tulita characters and they are doing well. Not sure where you found a scathing review of RC as most consider it outstanding, but I guess it is not for everyone.
The issues with this game are more to do with this particular game, problems with turnover and a lot of the players getting frustrated with trying to go into the sewers and getting chewed on each time they went. We managed to have four players yesterday and the game went ok, could have been better but is progressing. They are on Dolentia in the Heart of the Razor and have just recovered the passengers they were sent for, but do not have a ship to return on at present as the whale capsized it. They are about ready to go into D5 and deal with the real threat on the island.
Anyone using Obsidian Portal for their game?
Not sure where you found a scathing review of RC as most consider it outstanding, but I guess it is not for everyone.
Right here on Paizo, actually. (In the product section.)
Ah, I found the review and read it even if I don't agree with it. As I said, to each his own. Most reviews of it are 4 and 5 stars everywhere. The maps are a lot better in the revised pdf and are very clear. As for the AP being a bit hard to follow, it is a very intricate plot web that will take yes a LOT of reading and studying. It is not a simple AP. This is something I find as a plus myself. But here is the link:
Go to Razor coast.
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So, about our wrap-up for Night of the Shark. This session, unfortunately, highlighted some of the biggest weaknesses of both the Razor Coast AP and myself as a GM. I'll start by owning up to my own follies.
I was approaching burnout last week. Juggling multiple freelance and in-house projects on top of my overtime-laden work week and running two games in a single week was a bad idea, and had I known then what I know now, I would have postponed my RC conclusion session for another week. But I was overconfident, and frankly a bit eager to just get it over with (with Night of the Shark behind us, the other GM in our group picks up with his Shadowrun campaign, giving me a much-needed extended break).
I also underestimated the difficulties inherent in effectively running Jalamar in combat and the level of preparedness with which my PCs entered Night of the Shark. The direction our story had taken made it abundantly clear that Port Shaw was about to be overrun by weresharks, even if the fact that most of them were infected citizens wasn't quite as telegraphed. On top of that, I just don't play many clerics in RPGs.
That said, there are some issues with the adventure as written that didn't help. For one thing, Jalamar's stat block isn't reflective of the buffs he commonly casts on himself prior to battle. It's easier for me as a GM to subtract buffs as they expire or are dispelled than to add them (especially when my own knowledge of divine spells isn't as up to snuff as my understanding of arcane ones). This is why barbarian stat blocks--and often other casters--presented in published material already have their rages and other abilities baked in from the start. I really wish Jalamar had been treated in this way.
Additionally, by 9th level, most parties have access to some pretty useful spells, like air walk and fly (or flying mounts, in the case of our group's necromancer). Guys with swim speed vs. guys with fly speed is a no-contest match in most cases: The fliers win. Never mind the extreme level of buffs the PCs had coordinated among themselves.
With all that said, here's how it all played out:
Upon arriving in Port Shaw with only two hours until moonrise, the PCs and Eko Po headed toward Jade District to find a Dragoon captain to report the coming assault by Jalamar's forces. This fed right into the encounter with the dragoon weresharks led by Captain Darenar, and I had it take place in a secret room under Fort Stormshield. This was an extraordinarily deadly fight: the PCs were cut off from their NPC allies and hemmed into tight quarters with a bunch of formidable lycanthropes (made even tougher by my addition of the savage mythic template to their baseline stats). This battle nearly killed Ho Kan Ali'i (he was saved only by the druid's mythic healing abilities and would've been chum in a non-mythic game) and badly wounded the other PCs. The druid really shone in this combat, starting off in bat form, then shapechanging into a huge snake when he was grappled and viciously attacked by Darenar. Eko Po also didn't survive this encounter. It lasted about 90 minutes of game time.
After this battle, the PCs regrouped and healed as their allies broke into the secret meeting chamber, telling them there was a sticky situation on hand. Upstairs in Fort Stormshield, Xander Brim and Aeron Chambers faced off in a stalemate, encapsulated in each other's resilient spheres (yes, by RAW neither of them can cast this--I dunno, maybe they had scrolls, but it worked for my story at the time, so go rules-lawyer somewhere else). Chambers had arrived after the other NPCs disposed of the weresharks that stayed upstairs to finish them off and was unaware that his men had been turned. The PCs convinced Chambers that the wereshark threat was real by subjecting a dying lycanthrope to silver exposure. Chambers and Brim reluctantly agreed to team up temporarily and seek out other Dragoon patrols that had been infected by the Kiss of Dajobas, taking the NPCs from the statue garden with them as backup.
Archibald, meanwhile, headed back toward the docks to retrieve the flying mounts he had created for the PCs, overhearing (but not stopping) the torture and murder of the Tulita in the warehouse and catching Jalamar's setup of the pyre barge and demand for the jawbone of Kaho Ali'i. The necromancer gathered his flight of undead and brought them back to the fort to pick up the other PCs (dodging gunfire from weresharks as he flew), and they returned to the harbor to face Jalamar shortly thereafter.
The docks were in chaos: Tulita warships from Kakeou had begun to advance into the harbor and take on roving bands of weresharks in the water and on the shore, but it was clear that the two forces were a near match. Something had to be done to tip the scales one way or another.
So, the PCs did what epic good guys usually do: They made a dramatic entrance, flying their mounts right over the water where the sharks swam and jumping off, then floating down to the surface of the harbor using air walk. (Archibald stayed mounted upon his flying undead half-dragon t-rex head, however, so that he could look all scary and badass and belch fire at things.) Ho Kan, wearing the jawbone of Kaho Ali'i around his neck on a strip of leather, landed right in front of the shark-formed Jalamar and yelled a challenge to the Dalang. Jalamar demanded the jawbone yet again, and Ho Kan refused. The fight was on.
Compared to the infected Dragoons, Jalamar and Anstyn were pushovers (though they did at least manage to drop some decent damage in melee before being defeated). The PCs were VERY well prepared for this fight, with everyone capable of flying and the monk buffed up by the druid to deliver 6d6+ damage per unarmed strike (Animal Aspect: Gorilla + Strong Jaw, guuuuuh). Jalamar did his best to thwart them, with divine power and dispel good pre-cast along with a few other select buffs. A good plan overall... except that the monk could steal a spell effect, and promptly did so to take Jalamar's divine power, and the dispel good wouldn't negate any of the druid's spells since he isn't technically good-aligned. Jalamar couldn't even move away or cast defensively to light off the pyre with a flame strike because the fighter, Marlin Martigan, had optimized himself so well for getting in exception-based opportunity attacks and striking at moving enemies (he's a combat patrol build with a mythic tier of guardian, so this stuff is his bread and butter).
Five rounds later, Jalamar and Anstyn were dead and the remaining weresharks were routed by the demise of their leader. Archibald Avernus cut off the Dalang's head and paraded it across Port Shaw on his horrific mount, shouting messages of woe unto any wereshark he saw inside the city (later, some Port Shaw citizens swore that a resurrected Tarath-Vreen came to the city's aid during the battle!). The cooperation between the Tulita natives and the colonials in Port Shaw during the battle gave Ho Kan considerable political clout to call for more rights to be granted to Tulita citizens in Port Shaw, and Marlin Martigan received an honorary Dragoon captaincy from Aeron Chambers for his valor in combat (he has decided to spend his offscreen time in between story arcs training Tulita warriors to fight using colonial armor and weapons, and instructing colonials on the elegance of Tulita battle tactics). The druid has decided to spy on Barrison Hargrove in preparation for when the evil plantation master will certainly try to thwart the gains the Tulita have made in Port Shaw (and also ruin some of his crops with ill-timed call lightning storm spells). Archibald, for his part, has decided to start a municipal memorial garden dedicated to his master, Charon, and those who fell during the Night of the Shark. (The fact that this memorial garden just happens to sit right on top of where Tarath-Vreen's laboratory is located is ENTIRELY coincidental... or so he assures me.)
I think that for GMs, it's always unsatisfying to us when, whether by luck or via good tactics, a climactic encounter ends swiftly and (seemingly) a bit too easily for the players. But my players assured me that this didn't bother them. They got to feel like heroes monkey-stomping the big bads (one player actually told me that in his opinion, the rest of the campaign was way too difficult, so this was a nice change of pace), and they got to roleplay a closure to the series of events that brought them this far.
So, now I have a few months off to concentrate on my writing... but who am I kidding, I'm already planning the next story arc of Razor Coast. When we come back to play through Ring of the Kraken, there will also be an expedition to find Tarath-Vreen's laboratory and a grand hunt for Garr Bloodbane's treasure; remnants of the cult of Dajobas will still haunt the Razor Sea; old enemies will arise as new perversions against the will of the gods; and many, many more grand adventures will doubtless be had on the high seas.
When that time does comes, I'll be back in this thread to post all about it. Thanks for reading!
Powerword Unzip, that sounded great! To all of you guys who write up post-game summaries, thanks!! I really enjoy reading the write ups and it's grist for the GMing mill. Keep'em coming.
Interesting, did you give Jalamar mythic powers also? Yeah, I find when I don't play a class much it tends to be a lot weaker when I play it as a dm. I like to put more terrifying flying creatures than the party to keep them on the ground! Demons, dragons, wyverns, etc. Having Brim and Chambers work together I am sure was a great benefit to the party. Thus far I would have a hard time seeing them do that and would have them do their face off.
I gave Jalamar two mythic tiers of champion, with one power used to enhance his swim speed and another to enhance his melee attacks. His expenditure of mythic power during the fight was mostly used to up his attack rolls against the monk and the fighter, who each had ACs in the low- to mid-30s.
I think Chambers would cooperate with the PCs (and/or Brim) on a short-term basis only to defend the city and then immediately turn on them, given his associations and his agenda. My plan at present is to do a Vader/Obi Wan clash between the two of them at the beginning of the next story arc; having a high-level wizard on their side was a bit too much of an advantage to the PCs in this section of RC (even if they did have to pay him for his work), so I want Brim out of the equation when we play through Ring of the Kraken.
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It still sounds like a great Night of the Shark!
I've been reading everyone's play reports, good comments, and criticisms for the purpose of improving this approach to AP Design.
Keeping in mind that nothing will please all people -- for example, if you dislike the clash between colonizing powers and indigenous peoples, howsoever you incline on the question, then Razor Coast will probably turn you off -- still I'd like to improve.
After all, this "build your own AP" and "organizing by story option" etc. was the first time out of the gate, I needed to retrofit a bit to fit Nick's in-place conceptions, and, like I said, as a designer and writer I'm always looking to improve.
Here are a few things I'm noodling. Open for comment and contribution to any who care...
1. I think it was suggested elsewhere that reference sheets, summarizing all the story options onto one page per level, and marked with page numbers would greatly benefit GMs.
2. PCs interacting with high level NPCs, always proves tricky. I think, if I had this to do over, I wouldn't write high level NPCs in a way that has them _working_ for the party. From an RP perspective its tough to make these interactions feel natural and not like a video game. "Why doesn't Uber Knight so-and-so travel with the adventurers? Why because he's only ever in this room. He lives there. Poops there. Eats there."
On the other hand, having Brim with the PCs just lends itself to abuse.
Nick is a master of making NPC interactions organic and real. In his campaigns a great, climactic payoff happens when a PC changes the shape of an NPCs life and that change benefits the PC at a crucial moment. RC includes an attempt to create a RP heuristic that captures these amazing moments from Nick's games. By and large, I think we help GMs pull it off.
Given a do-over, I think I might retool Brim so that he's _already_ lost all his spells but one or two. Then the PCs befriending him and gaining levels can be the act of Brim regaining his powers. I'd put "regaining spells" by tagging along with the PCs and being a whiny, bitter, know-it-all would be my preferred take. The reward for putting up with him would be access to his high knowledge rolls - for which he'd charge. Or something like that.
3. The requirement to replicate the story option information at various levels of advancement, bothers me. If nothing else it's prohibitive from a print perspective. I think I have a solution for this, but I'll discuss it below.
4. I think its a fair criticism that RC's way of embedding the setting information with the adventure options is challenging and demands an experienced GM.
Either page number references and/or significantly increased bookmarking -- to the index level -- is needed...OR a reorg of how the info gets presented altogether. I'm inclining in that direction...
5. So I was thinking this for a four-part reorg to take this to the next level of design. After an introduction that covers all the basics, introduces the plot overviews, the major NPCs, shows the story funnels, etc., and generally grounds the GM...
a. Separate the setting information from the adventure options such that a GM who reads the setting info learns everything they need to understand the adventure options. Arrange the setting info geographically (Port Shaw, Near Port Shaw, Under Port Shaw, Out at Sea)...
b. In the next part of the book, arrange the adventure options by level range. All the 6th level adventure options, but color coded or otherwise bookmarked/referenced for where they take place.
c. Organize the bulk of the hooks for each adventure option, by NPC and level. If the party is 6th level and talking to Old Craw, the following hooks, rumors and whispers can be learned. Turn these into NPC reference sheets (the Old Craw sheet, the Bonedeuce sheet), the GM can pull out and keep handy as a guide to playing the NPC -- and any given level of the adventure -- to drive the story at the same time. A sort of cheat sheet for playing the NPC depending on what level the party is currently. One for each major NPC and a few blanks for NPCs the GM creates.
d. Create reference sheets at the back of the book for where and what level which adventure options are avaialbe. Ie, make it as easy for the GM to look up on a single sheet, with page numbers, "If my players are 6th level, what are my adventure options?" as it is to ask "My players are on the high seas, near darkol island and are 8th level, what adventure options are nearby?"
I think this would prevent having to repeat all the adventure option information and instead simply create convenient, lookup tables/reference sheets at the back of the book (perforated), bookmarked and with page numbers, so GMs select adventure options by
i) party level
ii) location
iii) NPC
as best suited them.
Any other thoughts or suggestions? Have I gone mad (again) or does the above sound like an improvement building on the current approach?
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This sounds like you really have processed the feedback and have made some excellent information organisation decisions.
I'm a mere player in brvheart's PbP, and if anything I'd like the Yohunga revised - I've already posed a bunch of questions that have been answered in this thread, but I have a bunch more - mostly related to the tikiman. I'll try to collate them all over the next few days.
Some comments below:
1) I think the reference sheets are a good idea and still can be done for this product. They would be very helpful for us GMs.
2) Yeah, I was kind of taken a little a back when I read of how much other parties used Brim. Neither of my parties thus far has hired him at all. The PBP party doesn't even know who he is and the FTF party just hasn't taken that much of an interest in the NPCs thus far. Granted they are still 5th and 6th level but both games have been going for quite awhile now. Part of this may be DMing style.
3) This does make it a lot less sandboxy. To be honest both games have stagnated to a certain extent and are progressing very slowly. Part of that is from player turnover but it is partly from the design. The flow doesn't seem to be there at least at the beginning levels.
4&5) These kind of go together. Yes, it does create a lot of page flipping with the manner in which things are organized especially when dealing with a specific NPC. One can do searches on the pdf, but that doesn't help when trying to run from the book at the table. I think your ideas on reorganization are good ones.
Right now I am looking for a way to revitalized my campaigns so they don't fall apart under their own weight. I think this is a great product, but somehow I am not getting it done for them? I am trying to get them go out and get the information, follow up on leads and not lead them around by the nose. Maybe I have to give more direction?
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I found that I dump every single whisper that I can on the PCs at every opportunity. Then I hit them with all the vignettes in the first two sessions. Anytime a session dragged, I popped in a short encounter.
But I kept reiterating what they'd learned in terms of whispers and rumors at the start of each session. Dangling the bait.
I then hit them with the Inciting Incident that seemed related to whatever they discussed the most, but it was an after thought. They'd already picked what interested them and were off investigating.
Then I dropped Eddie on them and it's just rolling along...
They also decided to help Ravenkith's ghost...
Did that the first several sessions. Problem is we are now about around session 14 or 15 and all but one are still level 5 with only one original character who is level six. Several have died and others have left the game.
I like the idea of more clearly segregating setting and adventure information. I've found it a little difficult to get into Razor Coast - wherever I start, it feels like I'm missing some background information.
Ignoring economic considerations, I'd quite like to have the setting stuff in one book and the adventure stuff in another. I think it would reduce page-flipping and mean I could have the setting book open to wherever the players are in case of sudden questions whilst using the adventure book more.
Steve, there's a gazetteer in one of the appendices. Maybe give that a read first to ground you, if you haven't already? Just looking to be helpful.
Yeah, no worries. I didn't mean to suggest its impossible, more a bit higgledy piggledy. (The appendix being a good starting point is one example of "oddness" in the organisation, I think).
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As I said I still haven't introduced Drango to my F2F group as it felt too crowded to hit them with everything even in the 2 long initial sessions I've run. Brim suffers from having the notion of hiring him, but limited information on the cost of doing so and I think it will work better if I get him helping if the party help him so I can direct them to plots that he's uncovered in his vigilante actions. That way he gives another way of directing the party towards plots and they have a better relationship to him. In Brvheart's PBP game I'm not certain we've gone anywhere near to where we might meet him, though we might have used him to help with our current recruitment issue :)
I would say the PBP game has only stagnated as we know we have one definite option to do, but we want to be at the next level to do so and we're on the cusp of that. A few more rumours for us to follow and I think we're fine. One of the benefits I suppose of being a player who knows where we're going, but trying to keep the knowledge confined to in game only.
As one of the people who suggested the need for indexing I think that would help immeasurably as it's pretty much what I've had to do and thank goodness for search function on the pdf. But I did that as prep work for my F2f group because I know how they can wander off on tangents. The NPC sheet I did of pictures of the cast also has helped as a reminder sheet. It means they connect dots together that they may not always get. I've run wide ranging mystery games for them before and it would have worked much better with the NPC sheet as I'm the one in our group who focuses on that.
Page numbers for adventure options at each level should reduce the need to repeat information on the lists, but also at the end of adventure options (if there isn't an index showing some of the connections) then include an idea where this might lead as some connections may not always be obvious.
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The reference sheets are a really good idea. A comprehensive index would be much, much better, though. There were times running this when I'd've killed for an index, especially when I had to conjure up a scene on the fly because the PCs took a turn I wasn't expecting and I couldn't find some crucial supporting information that I knew was right there in the book.
NPC interactions are hard to pull off in the volume that Razor Coast suggests. Of course, the assumption is that although many NPCs are presented in the text, the PCs will probably only have one or two accompanying them at any given time (or that they are seriously invested in). I do think that the presence of too many NPCs can be a potential liability, if only because players are generally more interested in their own characters than GM-run ones. I agree that Brim's power level should be dumbed down to reduce potential abuse (and honestly, I'd kinda like to see Brim and Chambers retooled to be a bit closer together in power level, but that's probably a bigger change than you want to make at this point in your publication cycle). The approach you suggest is a really good one, though.
Page references for the adventure options would have also helped out greatly. Yes, you can achieve this by reading through and adding sticky notes/tabs, but if you're like me, you cringe at the idea of marring such a beautiful book with potentially-damaging adhesives.
Sorting stuff by NPC, or even by story hook (Individiualists, Tulita, etc.) would also make finding those story elements way, way easier, and I very much like that idea.
And on another note, Lou, don't let the criticism drag you down--this really is a phenomenal product that is great for seasoned GMs, despite its lumps and rough spots. I'd not have run it for this long--and wouldn't be planning to go back to it later--if I didn't thoroughly enjoy the concept! You did a heck of a job cleaning this thing up. I will be sure that the next story arc of my Razor Coast game has undead cannibal pygmies in it just for you (an oversight in the first leg of the campaign that greatly saddened me)!
Well second session down, and I had them encounter the Seabear! It can be read in my campaign journal HERE.
Some great possession and paranoia stuff, but I let that lull when the totem didn't get destroyed, but broken off and flipped over the side(!)
I wasn't expecting that, and so made a ruling that a short respite in the hauntings would occur since the source of the evil was a) still whole and in existence and b) no longer attached to the ship. With the ship sinking it finished the job.
One player got paralyzed with the ghouls, but the fights were quite quick (as they often are at first level). The creepy factor worked well, and at least one of my players questioned whether this was appropriate for first level characters due to the damage they were taking. I refrained from laughing at that as they were not in really serious danger except for the first fight which had them split into three groups and spread out all over the ship in two battles. That was the party's fault, not the adventure. I think it was a very challenging adventure without being too deadly. Really good stuff!
Oh, one thing that I am considering doing as a result of the evnts of last session:
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@Power Word Unzip - thanks, man! many good suggestions, and I appreciate the feedback. I'm trying to decide what project(s) to line up (on my own this time) next. Both the feedback and the pep talk are appreciated.
@Feros - glad to hear you had a great time!