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Yeah, I played at Deussu's table. In all fairness, it must be stated that though the stone guardian really is pretty tough, we also had an utterly miserable luck with the dice, averaging two critical misses per round as a party. And this was after we'd lost Valeros and were down to a dwarf monk and Rhykevance the fighter/wizard for our melee hitters. Not an optimum situation. While we lasted about as long as a pair of better tanks would have, our damage output wasn't high enough.
Anyway, I had great fun. We made it out by the skin of our teeth and got to think outside the box for some of the solutions.
Poor Valeros, though. We'll have to get a Valeros kill-count chart for the shop wall, now.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32
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One thing that I really have noticed is that the final encounter at either tier level seems to be heavily dependent upon party tactics. If your party uses poor tactics, it will be SIGNIFICANTLY harder than if it were more effective. Specifically:
I also can't see doing this mission with just 4 characters.
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I also can't see doing this mission with just 4 characters.
The party I played it with had 4 characters, 2 druids (caster and melee) and 2 alchemists (bomber and melee) and did perfectly fine in it. I think 2 of the characters were 3 and we did the 4-5 subtier with no deaths. It's certainly doable. It was an entire party of highly experienced players, though.
It seems people have more problems with the 1-2 subtier, though.
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The point is that you're cheating :/That's a pretty strong accusation. IF he can keep player knowlege seperate from character knowlege, it's fine.
Or is anyone 'cheating' if they've read a scenario prior to playing in it?
Yeah, I agree. I frequently act as backup DM so I end playing mods I've prepped to DM, and play mods after I've DMed them. It's not hard to seperate the knowledge. Of course, I prefer to play and then prep, but that doesn't always happen, especially with the new mods.
It's especially easy if you play a character with very little common sense.
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This has been said again and again.
If you want to cheat, it's already way too easy. People could have looked on here without posting. Or gotten the scenario. Or asked people about it. Or practically anything.
He said he has already prepped it. There was a scenario I prepped but didn't run as well, so I pretty much know the first half of the scenario. It happens.
If you cheat intentionally, however, you're ruining your own fun as well as potentially others if they find out. Also, you will be attacked by goblins in your sleep.
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Did you draw the symbol on the floor? I've ran this twice, and both parties were sure that the symbol was trapped.We did too. We looked at the symbol and it all seemed fine. Until we found the art objects, errr...party members.
As the party scout who got stoned for Furious Kender's Game, I can attest I got burned by the trap simply because I was of the mind set of "hey, it's a level 1 adventure" and didn't have my paranoia set on overdrive like I usually do.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16
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As the party scout who got stoned for Furious Kender's Game, I can attest I got burned by the trap simply because I was of the mind set of "hey, it's a level 1 adventure" and didn't have my paranoia set on overdrive like I usually do.
The first time that I ran that one, I warned the party that they had better bring their "A game" if they wanted to survive.
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I will be running this scenario in the future and I have a question regarding wording in the senario. In room E7 of the Safehouse, the players can find a crate containing
In room E8, the creature follows the following behavior
So my question is if the item in the first spoiler counts as the item mentioned in the second spoiler for the sake of preventing activation or if it is "less than" a full version of the item required.
Thanks in advance, I am really looking forward to running this scenario as I like the combination of roleplay elements at the beginning as well as challenging combat later on.
WJ
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32
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Wow, that's a good catch. I've ran this scenario a couple of times, and I never thought about it. I would think that carrying it in the backpack wouldn't be bearing, but wearing it would be, as would carrying it in the open. I would also remember that this would not prevent the guardian from attacking anybody who damages the safehouse.
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@Will - I had a feeling that even if the icons were holy symbols, they may not count as such in the hands of an unbeliever... the fact that they are described a "no mere toys" doesn't really jive with your description of their being "dolls". I think in the hands of the faithful, these icons could be holy symbols. As Netopalis pointed out, it doesn't over-rule the "damaging the safehouse" rule... so odds are the PCs will still get into trouble.
Just trying to run the scenario as the writer intended here. :-)
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Funny tangental story.
Between that and the conversation Wednesday about having 30 holy symbols and going through them like Benny in The Mummy, I chuckled at the doll idea.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16
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I would allow the icons to serve as "unholy symbols of Lissala", but the characters would have to display them openly. The statue doesn't have any particular ability to see what is carried within a pack or pouch.
Treating them that way suggests a reason for the box of icons to have been left there: They're meant to allow newer recruits to the cult (who may not have been "marked" yet) to pass the guardian.
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If the Basilisk has transformed someone previously, does that make them one with the floor? In other words, would the monks have to chip the statues loose to "clear" trap? Is there a chance that some insects would be caught in the gaze attack? I am thinking of ways to describe/warn low level players of the danger.
I really like the early post that described how the players "closed their eyes" and ran past. That is an brilliant solution to the encounter. I think "Smoke Goggles" would also save the party?
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32
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Smoked goggles gives you a circumstance bonus to Fort to make the save. The save is relatively trivial with them on.
I don't think that a transformed creature would merge with the floor, and gaze attacks wouldn't hit insects because most insects would not be present when the wall drops. That being said, see my post in your other thread for a few other mitigating circumstances.
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I'm running this tomorrow and have come across a question that doesn't seem to have been raised in this thread. It's regarding the fake "religious icon" that Shorafa Pamodae attempts to palm off on the PCs, a masterwork dagger enchanted with magic aura.
It seems to me that enterprising PCs might want to cast detect magic or use other detect spells on the dagger. The text of the scenario, though, doesn't say what kind of magic item or what spell the caster specified when they enchanted the dagger for Shorafa. Nor does it say when the dagger was enchanted or how long the magic aura will last.
Has this come up for anyone? What result would you suggest I give if a PC casts detect magic on the dagger?
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Well, according to the Magic Aura spell, if they make a save, they should see it as an illusion spell. Otherwise tell them they pick up an aura of Evocation or somethingIt seems to me that enterprising PCs might want to cast detect magic or use other detect spells on the dagger. The text of the scenario, though, doesn't say what kind of magic item or what spell the caster specified when they enchanted the dagger for Shorafa. Nor does it say when the dagger was enchanted or how long the magic aura will last.
Has this come up for anyone? What result would you suggest I give if a PC casts detect magic on the dagger?
Yeah, it's the "or something" that's getting me. What kind of aura (and what strength) would a minor holy relic of Calistria be likely to have?
And your point about the saving throw brings up another question. The spell description reads: "If the object bearing magic aura has identify cast on it or is similarly examined, the examiner recognizes that the aura is false and detects the object’s actual qualities if he succeeds on a Will save."
What does "similarly examined" mean? And what's the DC of that Will save?
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I've removed a post and some responses to it.
they serve an important role in the campaign, as they allow GMs to collaborate to improve the play experiences of all participants in the campaign, learning from one another's mistakes, innovations, and suggestions.
For what it is worth, I am on the schedule to run this in 2 weeks, and I have found this thread extremely useful! Kudo's to Ron, I think this is going to be a tough adventure to GM, without slaying PC's left and right. I have read it through once, I plan to read it through several more times, but perusing this thread has pointed out some details I may have missed. I really appreciate the divergent opinions on methods of running this module, and the comments from folks who have played through it!
Players usually surprise me though...........(Big cheesy grin!) LOL
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ICON
Noun
1. A painting of Christ or another holy figure, used as an aid to devotion in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches.
2. A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something: "icon of manhood".
It might not be the exact "sihedron" worn by the denizens of the safe house, but pilgrims would probably adopt such symbols to show their devotion.
I think I would rule that PC's wearing/displaying these dolls would qualify as an unholy symbol. If a PC is clever enough to think of it, I would give them credit for their ingenuity.
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Wow, this can be a tough one, eh? Just ran a party of five through the lower tier. They wound up leaving the construct to rampage through the streets of Riddleport after being unable to do much about it. Two attacks at +10, 1d8+5 damage! Harsh!
But on the other hand, everybody seemed to have a good time. They were very careful and very intent on avoiding combat (they took their instructions not to kill anybody in the hidden temple complex very seriously, to the point of avoiding the tieflings altogether, which they managed since there were no Cheliax faction members).
The preparation wasn't very onerous at all, beyond forcing me to go ahead and and make my long delayed attempt at mastering the grapple rules (those reefclaws turned out to be tenacious little critters). Oh, and also learning the gaze rules, though as things turned out it was actually the construct who eventually killed the young basilisk as the PCs huddled in the meditation chamber.
It was pretty epic. Two near-deaths among the PCs and they didn't even make it to Grelph, eventually remembering that the only reason they were bothering to "drop off" the three religious relics (well two relics and one supposed relic) was because they were directed to by the Aspis Consortium. Their orders from the Pathfinder Society were just to mess some stuff up and pin the blame on the Aspis folks, and that, they managed, if barely. Good times.
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Ran 4-7 this weekend and it went a lot better than I thought, perhaps, in part, because I screwed up the last encounter and gave the upper tier group the lower tier mob in error.
The boss fight, as I mentioned, was anti-climactic because I screwed up and gave them the Stone Golem instead of the Ebon Acolytus.
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Hi all, I'm thinking of running Severing Ties as an introduction to PFS game for some players that are new to Pathfinder.
However, I am a little concern after reading some ways into the scenario.
Any advice on how to give these new players that this scenario is NOT the norm for the Pathfinder Society?
I don't want them to think PFS is all cloak and daggers.
* Alternatively, if someone can point me to another scenario (non-first steps) that is great for new players, I would much appreciate it.
