Maiden, Mother, Crone (GM Reference)


Reign of Winter

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Does anyone know a rules variant that might explain how vsevolod summoned his ally?

I am using some of the suggestions above to come up with what his aim might be. I like that artrosa is a seal. And I figure that destroying the ring should effectively remove the sealing properties.

However to achieve this I figure he would need to be able to somehow summon :
- the unique warhammer
- potentially more allies

So what is the explanation for how the ritual he completes prior to pc arrival actually works?


its there because Kostchtchie wants Artrosa:) aka Demon Lord fiat:)


What about Jadrenka.
Is it mentioned why she is not fighting vsevolod (or why she doesn't join the pcs to do so)

She doesn't seem like much of a warden. All she does is appear in random rooms disguising the creatures in them from the pcs and maybe giving out some keys. Seems odd behaviour

There isn't even mention (that I recall) of many bodies of defeated invaders that she herself has stopped. So what does she actually do ?


thats for the suits in washington to figure out:)


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My apologies to Tim Hitchcock.

So my group used a one-shot plot narrative device from my campaign to convince GurraGurra to join them in hunting down the giants she let in. They journey around and the group is noticing names like the pig Bekkin, and the fiery ghost Silyzil ("The pig's name is 'bacon' and the fire lady is 'sizzle'"). We've got the misogyny demons and the man-hating demoness Mestama cult followers.

They get to the giant and the hag Grishelmuk disguised as a naked pregnant woman. The magus unloads on the giant and within two rounds he is toast without Grishelmuk breaking character yet. She pretends to be a servant of Artrosa who fled her village when they were attacked by invaders and has worked here the months since. The party believes that time in Artrosa is messed up so she has been here for a couple hundred years since the last New Iobaria and only believes it is a few months. They ask her name and I have her come up with one that GurraGurra won't recognize as a hag. So Grishelmuk becomes Gr . . . ettle. Her name is Grettle.

They then ask who the father of her child is, worried it is either the giant or some demonic figure that put evil in her womb. So I say the father was from her village, his name . . . Hansel.

"That's it! Who wrote this module?"


That. Is. Awesome!!


At first I wasn't really into the idea of centaurs and Vsevolod as the big bad of this adventure, I wanted Kotschie's champion and minions to be frost giants, period.

But the centaurs have grown on me. It continues the Narnia feel that Irrisen had going on which is a great thematic connection to the prior module.

There is enough room in Vurnirin to breathe and get some lore on Iobaria and Vsevolod, and make up some centaur culture stuff and history and have it brought into the game. I like having humans as the lost culture and nomadic centaurs as the current dominant residents with giants as barbaric problems in the savage north mountains.

The steppes nomad tribe vibe as described turns into an American Indian nomad vibe easily that worked well for my game and group and ties into the theme of time and space travelling that has run through Baba Yaga's fey influence in the AP.


Is there any notation for light conditions in chambers in the Crone dungeon? It says the passages all have permanent darkness. I would extrapolate that to say that all the rooms are completely dark unless otherwise noted, but some residents (like the Nymph's Bastards) don't have darkvision.

If no answer, I'll probably just make the room (E4) have that old adventuring standby, glowy fungus. It's an important alchemical ingredient, don't you know.


just don't do as the Derro did and lick it off the wall, that didn't go so well for them;)
good question, i'll look and get back (if no one else does first:)


flamethrower49 wrote:

Is there any notation for light conditions in chambers in the Crone dungeon? It says the passages all have permanent darkness. I would extrapolate that to say that all the rooms are completely dark unless otherwise noted, but some residents (like the Nymph's Bastards) don't have darkvision.

If no answer, I'll probably just make the room (E4) have that old adventuring standby, glowy fungus. It's an important alchemical ingredient, don't you know.

There are specifications for the passages in each of the three dungeons (light pebbles, unlit, then darkness) but not for the chambers. Some have specific lighting descriptions like candles or continual flame in skulls, but most have no descriptions. Fungus or even glow sticks is a good idea for the alchemist triplets chamber.


There's a slight disconnect going on in the Crone, since the contents of the rooms don't reflect the constant darkness effect. For example, see Jadrenka's candles in E7. (I made the candles everburning, so that they actually worked).

I dealt with "how do the alchemists see?" by just handwaving it =P

Oh, amusing bit with the asura in the Mother - note that she has +27 acrobatics when jumping (+39 if hasted), always on spider climb, a move speed of 50 ft (or 80 ft with haste) and she is fighting in a room full of petrified trees.

I had some fun with goofy terrain advantage hijinks.


Can someone remind me if a light spell works in a chamber under the effects of a darkness spell?

If not how do players without darkvision see?


Lanathar wrote:

Can someone remind me if a light spell works in a chamber under the effects of a darkness spell?

If not how do players without darkvision see?

Remember, unless otherwise stated it is only the passages, not the chambers in the Crone that are under a permanent Darkness spell.

Quote:

Darkness

School evocation [darkness]; Level bard 2, cleric 2, sorcerer/wizard 2

Casting Time 1 standard action

Components V, M/DF (bat fur and a piece of coal)

Range touch

Target object touched

Duration 1 min./level (D)

Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

This spell causes an object to radiate darkness out to a 20-foot radius. This darkness causes the illumination level in the area to drop one step, from bright light to normal light, from normal light to dim light, or from dim light to darkness. This spell has no effect in an area that is already dark. Creatures with light vulnerability or sensitivity take no penalties in normal light. All creatures gain concealment (20% miss chance) in dim light. All creatures gain total concealment (50% miss chance) in darkness. Creatures with darkvision can see in an area of dim light or darkness without penalty. Nonmagical sources of light, such as torches and lanterns, do not increase the light level in an area of darkness. Magical light sources only increase the light level in an area if they are of a higher spell level than darkness.

If darkness is cast on a small object that is then placed inside or under a lightproof covering, the spell's effect is blocked until the covering is removed.

This spell does not stack with itself. Darkness can be used to counter or dispel any light spell of equal or lower spell level.

You need a 3rd level light spell to increase the illumination in a darkness area. Otherwise you go through generally in complete darkness through the crone passageways between chambers.


Just reading C10 of the Maiden dungeon and trying to theory craft a fun way for the PC'S to use the "enter image" ritual between the stone menhirs.

I was debating somehow dropping a clue to the PC's (if they discover and find out how to use the device) that it would be valuable to watch over the entrance to Artrosa as a means of warning them to approaching dangers. The other effect of "enter image" states the object has limited movement, perhaps giving a cool cinematic way to scare off or bluff approaching forces that Artrosa is indeed under control of the Warden. Hopefully this may convince the PC's to use this chamber as a rest chamber giving it more of a dungeon crawl, vs a gauntlet of endless encounters. Although, this would not obviously help them against forces already within Artrosa.

If anyone has any cool ideas or anything lemme know! thanks!


Regarding my earlier musings on why jadrenka isnot attacking vsevolod and company, I assume that she is waiting for one side (invaders or pcs) to despatch the other and then move to eliminate the weakened survivors.
This is because she seems to be alone in terms of allies (and nothing is mentioned about any of the denizens joining her).
In fact it is surprising she managed to beat the coven prior to the pc arrival.

Regarding caigreal. I assume that her daughter does not gain bonuses to detect through her bluff or disguise unless she slips up when speaking.
Or does jadrenka know about her mother's disguise due to scrying throughout the dungeon.
I'm not clear olon what would happen if they encounter each other.

Also who do people think is second in line after caigreal as warden. So should she die and then jadrenka what would happen? Is there no warden as none has been groomed / selected by Baba yaga? Or do we assume it goes to the night hag...


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So, I completely rebuilt Vsevolod for him to better challenge my party of five mythic heroes (plus Greta, who is not mythic but was granted alternate form by the Mantle and is staying at level with the party).

He still had the svathurim, and I also gave him two advanced andrazkus, but I want him to be the star of the fight. And so I made him a L10 warpriest with 4 hierophant levels.

This is his statblock (probably some errors). My "boss" template is simple advanced with double max HP and another +5 to all saves, usually with me deciding an arbitrary ability once the fight starts (giving +2 CR overall).

Vsevolod, Herald of Kostchtchie:

Vsevolod, Herald of Kostchtchie CR 15 /MR 4 XP 51,200
Male centaur (Tsolniva) warpriest of Kostchtchie 10 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 42)/heirophant 4
BOSS CE Large monstrous humanoid
Init +13; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12

DEFENSE
AC 30, touch 18, flat-footed 27 (+9 armor, +6 deflection, +3 Dex, +3 natural, –1 size)
hp 464 (14 HD; 4d10+10d8+96+16)
Fort +19, Ref +19, Will +26
Special Defenses hard to kill, sacred armor +2 (10 minutes/day) (light fortification)

OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee frost-thunder hammer +20/+15/+10 (2d6+11/19-20/×3), 2 hooves +12 (1d6+2)
Ranged spear +13 (1d8+4/×3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks blessings 8/day, fervor (3d6, 10/day) channel negative energy (DC 21, 3d6), inspired spell (any spell, +2 caster level), sacred weapon +2 (10 rounds/day), major blessings, minor blessings, mythic surge (11/day, 1d8), crushing blow

Mortal Herald Spell-like powers (CL 14th, concentration +21,)
at-will (costs 1 mythic power) - magic weapon, spiritual weapon, magic vestment, divine power, flame strike (DC 22), blade barrier (DC 23)

Warpriest Spells Prepared (CL 10th; concentration +19 + combat casting)
4th - (3) freedom of movement, unholy blight (DC 23), Divine PowerM
3rd - (5) blindness/deafness (DC 22), dispel magicM, invisibility purge, prayer, cure serious wounds
2nd - (7) aid, bull’s strength (2), dread boltUM (DC 21), effortless armorUC, hold personM (DC 21) (2)
1st - (8) deathwatch, doomM (DC 20), entropic shield, murderous commandUM(DC 20), ray of sickeningUM (DC 20), shield of faithM (2)
0 (at will) — bleed (DC 19), create water, detect magic, guidance, resistance
Blessings: Strength, War

TACTICS
Before Combat Before combat, he casts freedom of movement, effortless armor, bull's strength and mythic shield of faith. He activates sacred armor for +1 AC & light fortification. He casts aid and bull's strength on the svathurim.
During Combat Vsevolod tries to avoid melee combat, keeping his distance and casting ranged offensive spells like blindness/deafness and unholy blight while his svathurim ally engages foes. Once engaged in melee, Vsevolod casts divine power and switches tactics, slamming his magic warhammer on the ground and attempting to encase an opponent in ice before charging into the fray.
Morale Vsevolod can’t comprehend defeat. He fights to the death, hoping to take as many foes as he can with him to the grave.

STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 28, Cha 20
Base Atk +11; CMB +18 (+22 overrun) ; CMD 36 (38 vs. overrun, 40 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Casting, Improved Channel, Improved Critical (warhammer), Improved Initiative, Toughness, Weapon Focus (warhammer)B, Multi-attackB, Improved OverrunB, Greater Overrun,B Extend Spell, Mythic Spell Lore, Mythic Paragon
Skills Intimidate +16, Knowledge (planes) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Linguistics +5, Perception +12, Spellcraft +7, Survival +12
Languages Abyssal, Elven, Giant, Iobarian, Sylvan
SQ amazing initiative, aura, legendary weapon (frost-thunder hammer - powerful, unyielding, returning), mortal herald (war), recuperation, sustained by faith, undersized weapons
Combat Gear potions of cure serious wounds (2); Other Gear breastplate +2, cloak of resistance +2, frost-thunder hammer (+2 warhammer; see page 61), dagger, spear, belt of mighty constitution +2, periapt of health, key to the chest in area E9, spell component pouch, wooden unholy symbol of Kostchtchie

Blessings:
Strength Surge (minor): At 1st level, as a swift action you gain an enhancement bonus equal to half your warpriest level (minimum +1) to melee attacks, combat maneuver checks that rely on Strength, Strength-based skills, and Strength checks for 1 round.
Strength of Will (major): At 10th level, as a swift action you can ignore the movement penalties from wearing medium or heavy armor (or carrying a medium or heavy load) for 1 minute. During this time, you may add your Strength bonus on your saving throws against effects that would paralyze or slow you
War Mind (minor): At 1st level, as a standard action you can touch an ally to grant it a tactical advantage for 1 minute. Each round at the start of its turn, it can select one of the following bonuses: +10 feet to base land speed, +1 dodge bonus to AC, +1 insight bonus on attack rolls, or a +1 luck bonus on saving throws.
Battle Lust (major): At 10th level, as a standard action you can touch an ally to grant it a thirst for battle. All of the ally’s melee attacks are treated as if they had the vicious special weapon property, but the extra damage dealt to the ally from that property is nonlethal. In addition, the ally receives a +4 insight bonus on attack rolls made to confirm critical hits. These benefits last for 1 minute.

Mortal Herald (Sp): Vsevolod is a mortal herald of Kostchtchie, and can use the domain spells from the War domain as spell-like powers cast at 14th level. Once per day, he can also commune with Kostchtchie, and can do the entire commune a free action if he spends a use of power.

Crushing Blow (Su) Once per round, Vsevolod may take a standard action (or spend a use of mythic power while full-attacking) to designate any attack with his warhammer to be a crushing blow. He must designate this attack before making the attack roll. If he hits, the blow ignores the target’s hardness and damage reduction, and allows him to make a free trip attempt against the target. This trip attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity, can target a foe of any size, and has no chance of causing Vsevolod to fall prone if he fails. A creature struck by a crushing blow must attempt a DC 21 Fortitude save; success means the creature is staggered for 1 round, and failure means it is stunned for 1 round and staggered for 1d6 rounds afterward. The save DC is Strength-based.

MYTHIC SPELLS
DIVINE POWER
The luck bonus provided by this spell is increased by +1 (+4 total) to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, Strength checks, and Strength-based skill checks, and the temporary hit points you gain are increased to twice your caster level (+20 temp).
Augmented (4th): If you expend two uses of mythic power, the luck bonus provided by this spell is increased by an additional +1 (+5 total) for every 3 mythic tiers beyond 1st, and you gain temporary hit points equal to twice your mythic tier plus twice your caster level. (32 temp)

HOLD PERSON
When a creature paralyzed by this spell succeeds at a subsequent saving throw to end the
paralysis, it becomes slowed (as the slow spell). A second successful save ends the slow effect.
Augmented (3rd): If you expend two uses of mythic power, you can paralyze one additional target for every 3 mythic tiers.

DISPEL MAGIC
When used as a targeted dispel, this spell can end two spells affecting the target instead of just one. If the targeted dispel successfully dispels at least one spell, you heal 1d4 points of damage for every spell level of the dispelled spell. If you dispel two spells, this healing applies only to the highest-level spell dispelled. If you use this spell to counterspell, roll your dispel check twice and take the higher result.

SHIELD OF FAITH
Add half your tier to the spell's deflection bonus. (+6 total!)

DOOM
This spell becomes a curse effect and cannot be dispelled. As long as the doom continues, the target must attempt a saving throw against any effect that grants a morale bonus, even if that effect is harmless. This does not apply to effects that do not allow a save.

PRAYER
The spell's luck bonus increases to +2, and the penalty for enemies changes to –2. When you cast the spell, your affected allies heal an amount of hit point damage equal to double your tier, and affected enemies take an amount of damage equal to double your tier.

Crushing blow was a custom path ability I gave him, patterned off of Kostchtchie's.

He performed pretty well. Fully reved up, he did something like +26 (2d6+29) with his hammer while power-attacking. I'll be posting in the obituary thread shortly after this goes up; I wanted to be able to link to this post.

Other things I had going on in the fight --
1) The witch had been told by Nostafa that she could conceivable harness the Pit, if she went in after having done the Croning Ritual.

The witch did so and dived for the Pit at the start of the fight, burning mythic power to fly there in one round.

I told her to make a caster level check, and then I advised her that as a witch who'd undergone the Croning Ritual and was already imbued with Baba Yaga's power, she could tap into the Eon Pit - a nexus of power from which Baba Yaga could harness to perform miracles.

Which granted her unlimited mythic power while in the Pit. Her eyes kind of lit up at that.

2) Vsevolod started getting reinforcements on his turn each round, initially in the form of 1d3 advanced andrazkus, place where I saw fit. The black powder inquisitor got MAULED by the first wave, even though they needed a 15+ to hit him.

3) Once the witch reached the pit, Jadrenka teleported into the Pit with her, hexed Vsevolod's AC, and dropped a gold nugget down into the Pit, next to a glimmering blue scale. The witch got the hint, chucked a hex at Vsevolod, and dived down to gather the two keys.

The blastwave of energy from the two keys being brought together by a mantle-bearer and activated elevated the entire party to tier 3 on the spot.

4) As Vsevolod approached death, he called upon his foul lord for greater aid; the party suddenly experienced a jarring shift of tableau, as they know stood on an endless icy plain. They could see writhing forms embedded in the ice below them, and an endless horde of demons, over which loomed a great deformed giant, around them. Only the presence of the Eon Pit showed that they were still in Artrosia, and that the Deathless Frost had not broken through - yet.

While the entire party passed the will save against the vision of hell effect, Vsevolod's reinforcements got upgraded from the andrazku to a fiendish frost giant per round. Fortunately for the party, they vanquished Vsevolod shortly thereafter.

5) The party's last view of Kostchtchie was the demon lord grasping Vsevolod's spirit and beginning to warp said spirit as it was reassembled.

Next week will pick up with our heroes having to stop an attempt to subdue the Hut and possible deal with their changeling oracle's parents, before launching themselves off to Triaxus.


My party's about four sessions and 3 days into Artrosa now, and still don't have a very clear idea of what they're looking for - they seem to think they're after the book to free Ratibor. They've explored half of the Maiden and half of the Crone, masterfully avoiding all of Jadrenka's rooms and just about anything that could be termed as plot relevant. I need ideas for how better to make the temples interact with them.

Caigreal:
They met Caigreal, who wove her sob story about being cursed and stuck here because of the cruel warden, who goes about in fair guise and tries to be friendly. Due to the short time limit on alter self, however, I decided it was not feasible for her to follow the party around. The party cleric volunteered to try to remove the "curse", which she agreed to. It was apparently successful - she said she felt different, and left the way the party had come. (She also stayed long enough to watch the party loot - and mistreat - her precious scalp collection. Oh, the rage.)

The Ratter:
I had the Foresight-specialist wizard wake with a flash of something ominous watching their rope trick in the night. The fighter used Survival to detect signs of something extremely large scraping by the walls. I conjectured that it got on with the regular dungeon denizens because they were either too unsatisfying (Mihstu, shadows) or very accomodating and willing to feed it or avoid it (Ungrist, forlarren, hags). They've decided to avoid where it came from, for now. Jadrenka will also warn them about it, if they meet her on friendly terms. I'm giving it treasure, though, so that should be fun.

I expect they'll be bedding down in the bowels of the Crone after the conclusion of the current nasty fight with the shadows. I've had Jadrenka scry on them. (The wizard goes around with detect scrying, so it has to be noted instead of pleasantly assumed.) I'm getting ready to have the coven scry on them next - maybe both at once, that ought to be amusing.

Jadrenka:
Next time the PCs solve a puzzle or break something, she will move to greet them. (I liked the idea somebody posted about having her show up if the PCs try to break down the doors - except they haven't broken down any doors!) She will ask them what they are doing, what they know about the frost giants and demons, and with any luck, inform them of their actual goal in a roundabout manner. Unless she meets them in Marislova's room; then it's possible all bets are off.

Coven Shenanigans:
Oh my, I have such fun with covens. Not even counting the combat spells, this coven has access to: animate dead and create undead (Ghast Forlarren Alchemists, anyone?); clairvoyance, just like Jadrenka; mind blank, to foil detect scrying; dream, for messages of "distress"; mirage arcana and veil, because the PC's don't need to know what's around them; and nightmare, because screw you, arcanists.

Sorry for the length, and thank you for reading if you did. Any thoughts about making the dungeon more interactive?


Part of my group played through a session in the dungeons. They have reached the temple of mestama

One PC was not able to make it to that session but may be back for the next one.

Does anyone have any ideas of how I approach this?
Because it is not like the dungeon is linear where I can assume he can easily find his way to them. One different turning and his character would theoretically be in a completely different area.

I could have Jadrenka appear and give directions. But I'm not sure that really makes sense.


Lanathar wrote:

Part of my group played through a session in the dungeons. They have reached the temple of mestama

One PC was not able to make it to that session but may be back for the next one.

Does anyone have any ideas of how I approach this?
Because it is not like the dungeon is linear where I can assume he can easily find his way to them. One different turning and his character would theoretically be in a completely different area.

I could have Jadrenka appear and give directions. But I'm not sure that really makes sense.

Its Baba Yaga's fey dungeon. He wanders down one dark corridor and arrives in the temple with that corridor to the bottom right without having actually wandered lineally. If he backtracks he doesn't remember any of it. They ask him what happened as they follow his path and his response should be "I don't know, the corridors are weird. I don't remember any of this being here, try to stick together guys ow we might be separated forever.

By the way, seeing the two cauldrons iron and bronze and that there were two weapons, my group latched onto the dualistic sybmolism in the witch temple and asked if the spear and scimitar were also iron and bronze. ". . . uh, yes. Yes they are." They then tried touching them to the cauldrons in different combinations as a video game puzzle. I wish I had thought quicker on my feat and had it summon a succubus or night hag instead of just saying they are ritual tools that could be used to set up rituals here but don't do anything specific from just comboing in the temple randomly.

The witchfire is nasty. Nasty. Huge damage blaster with incorporeal undead defenses.


The bebilith and puckwudgie turned out to be super nasty for my group as well.

The rogue wizard has a 4 con currently from bebilith rot and the inquisitor/fighter lost con and got stripped to her skivvies from her 30+ AC in facing the bebilith. The barbarian/sorcerer laughed scornfully when the bebilith hit him as well with both pincers and removed only his cold weather furs.

The barbarian/sorcerer got sneak attack poison tagged by Ungrist multiple times later though, enough to face double doses of the nasty poison despite his invulnerable rager DR protecting him from all the shots without the sneak attacks. He is down lots of 8 or so con as well now.

Only the magus and bard are at full stats currently.


It seems to me that stats take an absolute hammering in this dungeon.
And this could be a real problem for groups without a cleric (i.e. any group o have ever run or played in)

Just got to hope they discover the cauldron of magic stew.


Of course they do! As I put it to my players, it's almost like weakness and decay are a bit of a theme here. The cleric is getting a little fed up with having to prepare restoration all the time. I like to think he's mad at the other characters for not holding on to their ability scores.


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HELP WANTED

New guardians needed for a large dungeon complex.
Groups or individuals may apply, minimum EL 6 required.
Permanent status effect and ability damage a plus.
Themes of three highly recommended.
Salary is what you earn. Excellent benefits, including tutelage in witchcraft, age, feminine mystique, and the secrets of the universe by the Queen of Witches herself*.
Unlife Insurance through NotLife.
Iobarian citizenship not required.

*Or a reasonable facsimile.
Artrosa is not an equal opportunity employer. Women much preferred.
No maternity leave.

Grand Lodge

My party encountered Ratibor last night. After making him friendly, he explained his curse put on him by Baba Yaga etc, etc... Anyway, when the PCs were gathering their supplies to leave the hut, I had ratibor mention that he saw Frost Giants milling about outside. The PC barbarian decided to open the door, go out to take a look while the rest of the party stayed inside. As soon as he went out that's when I had the first giant charge and attack. Critical hit. The barbarian, on his turn, withdraws back into the hut. Then Ratibor's curse kicks in. Initiative is rolled. Since the barbarian was the only one to come back in through the front door, Ratibor only attacks him. The party is doing mostly subdual damage & some lethal to Ratibor. Well, after a tough fight, they knocked Ratibor unconscious. Then they looted his gear.

So... Even though Ratibor befriended the party does he attack any of them when they come in through the front door? Did I totally misinterpret his actions? He is cursed.


He is required to do so. You did the right thing.

Grand Lodge

Tangent101 wrote:
He is required to do so. You did the right thing.

Ok. Thanks. So, they're going to have to fight him again when they return from Artrosa.


roll4initiative wrote:
Tangent101 wrote:
He is required to do so. You did the right thing.
Ok. Thanks. So, they're going to have to fight him again when they return from Artrosa.

unless they find the cookbook with the recipe to remove his curse:)


Yeah, as best I can tell he doesn't go hostile if they can present the cookbook.

And yeah, my party had their bard step out, see the giant, and step back into the Hut. Ratibor, who'd be talking peaceably with the party until then (the oracle had even cooked him breakfast) flipped out and demanded the bard get back out.

When the bard went "whatever" Ratibor activated his Boots of the Winter Jarl (which are a pretty sweet item) and attacked him.

The party took him down with some subdual damage (they'd learned about the compulsion he was under) and took his gear (the ranger got his boots, Greta got everything else), but eventually removed his curse, gave him some +1 gear, and sent him on his way.


Although the thematics are right for the supernatural darkness of the Crone, I don't really like the mechanics of shadows as a monster.

Any suggestions for what to swap them out for if my group enters E1 instead of the six shadows (CR 3) and the greater shadow (CR 8)?


oh! i hate shadows! i'll help
are you looking for one monster? 2? do you want it to add up to CR 10? higher? you want a shadow/aging type encounter i assume, what bestiaries are ok (i got all 5)

on a slightly unrelated nolte, i love the storm hag from book 6 but not sure where to put her


first idea, if you have The Asylum Stone they have the Polevik, a CR5 underground fungal growing piece of work fey, i would give it advanced template maybe a level or two of alchemist, stick a few of those in there:)

maybe have one 3rd level alchemist or barbarian (with weird fungus rage powers if any) then 3 regular ones

second idea 3 Sangoi from the M,M,C, bestiary


captain yesterday wrote:

oh! i hate shadows! i'll help

are you looking for one monster? 2? do you want it to add up to CR 10? higher? you want a shadow/aging type encounter i assume, what bestiaries are ok (i got all 5)

on a slightly unrelated nolte, i love the storm hag from book 6 but not sure where to put her

Preferably something shadow/darkness themed, or withcraft/age/cold/winter themed to match the Crone thematics.

Roughly the same group challenge, preferably not one lone monster. So a CR 8 and multiple CR 3s could work and I wouldn't have to figure out any math to make it a similar challenge.

I have Bestiary I-IV, access to d20pfsrd, a bunch of 3rd party pathfinder monster books (Book of Beasts Legendary Foes, Book of Beasts Monsters of the Shadow Plane, Book of Monster Templates, Cerulean Seas Beasts of the Boundless Blue, Creepy Creatures Bestiary of the Bizaare, Fey Folio Clans of the Fey, Midgard Bestiary, Lots of the Monster Menageries, Forgotten Foes, Tome of Monsters) and a metric ton of 3e/d20 monster I'm happy to use in my pathfinder game (MM I-V, FF, Tome of Horrors 1-3, Creature Collections I-III, Denizens of Avadnu, Monsternomicon I-II, Into the Black, Monster Geographica series, Liber Bestarius, d20 Modern Menace Manual, Conan Hyborian Bestiary, Book of Fiends, Advanced Bestiary, Book of Templates Deluxe, Creatures of Rokugan, Creatures of Freeport, Monsters of the Id, Monsters of the Mind, FFG's lore series, and many others).

Traps could work too, such as from Traps and Treachery I or II or the Lethal Legacies book.

Thanks,


captain yesterday wrote:
on a slightly unrelated nolte, i love the storm hag from book 6 but not sure where to put her

I've been looking for a good way to boost Grishelmuk, the weak link in the coven. Not only is a green hag easy to kill by now, she doesn't have any offensive power against my PCs. (Maybe against the wizard, but she'd never make it over there without a lot of help.) I've considered advanced, mythic agile, or both so far. Making her a storm hag could be fun.

Those are some nasty coven abilities. Not sure if I should stop cackling in glee and choose something easier, or give my players hero points and say f it. Did I mention I love running hags?


oh good one! yes!

back to Voadam, do you have The Varnhold Vanishing?
they have a

:
CR8 spriggan fighter
that coupled with 6 regular CR3 spriggans should do the trick, if you don't have it i could probably post it here later (i don't think that breaks any rules?)

but that might be what you're looking for:) i will continue thinking on it tho:)
turns out CR8 and CR3 for shadow type creatures is kind of a niche market:)


E1 came up Friday.

I went with DC 20 pit traps sliding down to an underground deeper darkness pit where I had a CR 8 onyx ooze from _Book of Beasts Monsters of the Shadow Plane_ by Jon Brazer Enterprises. Black with bonuses to hide in darkness, affiliations to cold and shadow with rudimentary intelligence.

Listing my pathfinder bestiaries led me to reviewing the shadow plane one. I was also considering the CR 8 undead centaur entry they have for part of Vsevolod's raiding party having hit a bad end in Artrosa and turned into one of its guardians.

The barbarian got caught in the pit, the magus made his save by one and the others looked on from the back ranks.

The barbarian got grappled and mauled for a while until the magus came down with his daylight and the barbarian escaped with the wizard rogue's animated rope, taking an AoO but luckily not being succesfully grabbed again on the cusp of escape. When the ooze pursued they wailed on it to death as a party with full attack action economy.

An OK encounter.

The rogue wizard then went down in the pit to look for dissolved victims that might have gem loot that survived the ooze's cold acid. I put in a pool of acid that did not detect as magic so he got a resist energy and searched around for gems. I gave him three lumpy things that felt like gems which he sleight of handed into his sleeve and the daylight holding magus who stayed at the top of the pit did not see with his perception roll.

The rogue got two 100 gp gems and a cyst/egg(?) which is now hidden against his arm. He plans to keep one gem and share the other with the barbarian dragon disciple who cast the resist acid on him.

Any suggestions on the cyst/egg?


Here's an idea. Why not just swap out the Strength Damage for Hit Point Drain? Thus you have an interesting situation where the players lose hit points... and can't heal them back without a Restoration spell! The players will remain alive longer against the Shadows but otherwise still be threatened... and it's perhaps even more disturbing for players to suffer hit point damage that cannot be healed through Cure spells than to lose strength.


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Tangent, thanks for the suggestion but I already swapped out the encounter. And hp drain while two PCs are already under the con damage of the bebilith rot would probably kill them in the next encounter.

So I was surprised not to see any names for the triplets.

The magus in my group on seeing them pointed his sword and said "I swear if you start talking in rhymes I will kill you. Dead. Dead!"

So I named them Alicore, Balicore, and Calicore.

It was great, the magus at one point pulled out his last big gun save or die spell - Blindness and it worked. Balicore shouted out "I'm blind!" and Allicore said "Mummy's here?" Balicore then pulled out the specifically mentioned remove blindness potion and squeezed drops of it into his eyes.

The inquisitor got a poison blow dart ping off her plate armor in the flat footed round then later got her 33 or so AC hit with a 40 something attack to her surprise. "True strike!" She got 1 str drain and 2 str damage on top of her Bebilith rot.

The barbarian bought it here after great shenanigans with a tree token that crashed the cage jungle gym but placed the barbarian up high in the tree with Allicore and Ballicore and then triple teamed by Calicore. Triple-teaming sneak attacks with two claws each worked well against the unarmored invulnerable rager and he dropped from the reverse action economy.


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i am honestly going with Larry, his brother Darryl and his other brother Darryl:)


I did like the third encounter with the fey family being in the third dungeon and consisting of triplets with three arms.


best use of a vivisectionist alchemist in an AP by far! i cant wait til its my turn with this adventure:)

my paln with introducing Vsevold is to have him in the beginning with the frost giants, when the party comes out he makes a big speech about looting Artrosa then sicks the giants on them, my party are talkers so not seeing them attacking Vsevold before he storms off. is there any other issues you can think of coming up if i run it that way? my party are kids and my wife so not the most tactical minded or to notice plot holes if that helps


captain yesterday wrote:

best use of a vivisectionist alchemist in an AP by far! i cant wait til its my turn with this adventure:)

my paln with introducing Vsevold is to have him in the beginning with the frost giants, when the party comes out he makes a big speech about looting Artrosa then sicks the giants on them, my party are talkers so not seeing them attacking Vsevold before he storms off. is there any other issues you can think of coming up if i run it that way? my party are kids and my wife so not the most tactical minded or to notice plot holes if that helps

Great idea! That should work well.

I had his back story come out in the centaur trading city. I added an element of him using his sister's blood when summoning Andrazku so they are effective at spooking centaurs and centaur women. This explains why the centaurs don't demolish the demons before they hit the party and allowed a centaur stampeded as the opening to that particular encounter which went well.

I add my voice to the list suggesting having evidence of Irriseni war parties in the area. It is easy to have a portal here somewhere spewing out Winter and some witches and trolls or wolves show up or the slaughtered remains of such a party. The cold riders can easily be Irriseni instead of a random encounter.

Allow downtime in the centaur city, enough for crafting and some barter trade and info gathering.

Decide how you want your centaur culture, I went with American Indian themed instead of Mongolic and it worked well.

Figure out what you want Caigreal and Jadrenka to do in the dungeon, most everything else in there can be where they are no problem, but those two are the dynamic force leaders contesting with each other who should be moving around with goals. I'm still not entirely sure how I want that to play out.

For instance one possibility is that Caigreal imprisons Jadrenka but Jadrenka can send out some projected images. This somewhat justifies Jadrenka's imprisonment of Marislova for her own protection.

The teleporting arches make for a bit of a confusing dungeon, be aware they can go from dungeon to dungeon very quickly.

The dungeon is very open ended, it is tougher to judge the level up points if you don't track xp.


yeah not sure how to work the Caigreal Jadrenka Marislova paradigm myself (i was planning on winging it:)

my wife and kids have put together an interesting party:) we have a Hellknight signifier dropout/failed winter witch (chelaxian hexcrafter magus) a dwarven Oracle searching the stars for his mysterious love interest (dwarven stargazer oracle) and sibling former tanglebriar scouts turned vigilante witch hunters (a female elven archer ranger and male elven alchemist)
so far they're being incredibly diplomatic for topping out at starting charisma avg of 11 with oracle highest at 14) they even let radosek live and go thru winter portal back to taldor before shutting it down (my daughter has soft spot for goats and couldnt stomach fighting one, so after radosek was beat up pretty bad he was open to suggestions:)


Does anybody else really want to place a Gold Dragon somewhere in Artrosa? The clues the PCs got from inside the hut strongly suggest it. Not to mention this campaign is a bit of a dragonhunt.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

So, hypothetically, if a party re-enters the hut and is attacked by Ratibor, but opts to knock him out rather than kill him, how should he react to them when he comes round?


Ready to kill them, but allow a Diplomacy check to note that they previously came from within the Hut and that he tried to defend the Hut. If they are forced to kill him, then he won't be able to protect the Hut from people who never had come into the Hut before.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

OK folks, my players should be climbing the mesa in the next session or so, and I have a rules question. Are there actually any rules out there for how long you can continually climb before having to make CON checks? Half a mile is quite a rock-face...

Grand Lodge

Anyone got an opinion on rebuilding Vsevolod as a Warpriest? Just got my hands on the ACG and my party is almost to him.

Seems like for the most part he'd lose a a few spells (including 4th level casting entirely), and 1d6 less on Channel Energy.

He'd gain two or three feats depending on whether you replace the now redundant Weapon Focus (Warhammer), the ability to enhance his warhammer as a swift action like a Magus, the ability to spend Fervor to cast spells on himself as a swift action, and (depending on if you think Undersized Weapons applies to the Warpriest's Sacred Weapon damage or not) his warhammer would be hitting for 2d6 base damage instead of 1d8.

This obviously makes him way more effective in straight up combat at the cost of some spellcasting.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I'm wondering, what exactly is Vsevolod doing there at the Eon Pit? And how long does it take him? If the PCs rest in the dungeons, does it make sense for him to still be there after days?


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I rebuilt Vsevolod as a warpriest for my game and gave him a couple more levels so he'd keep his 4th level spells. (I also made him mythic, but that's a another thing.)

Vsevolod's oversized warhammer should be hitting for 2d6 anyways; the 1d8 is a statblock error.

But yeah, the warpriest stuff worked pretty well. The party was NOT happy when they knocked out some of his buffs and he started getting them back while continuing to attack.

As for what he's doing - I had him performing a ritual to try to subvert the Eon Pit and Artrosia's power - if not stopped, he'll make a second Worldwound and let Kotshtchie's abyssal armies march forth to conquer Iobaria.

He'll be there as long as it takes, because it's what he's there for.


Zaister wrote:
I'm wondering, what exactly is Vsevolod doing there at the Eon Pit? And how long does it take him? If the PCs rest in the dungeons, does it make sense for him to still be there after days?

Its never specified.

Working on an extended ritual related to Kotschie is the way to go with it being in character for him and providing a reason for him to be there for an extended period of time.

To manifest an avatar/aspect of Kotschie?

To break Artrosia?

To use the Crone to birth a mini Worldwound of strong male demons that breaks the crone in the process?

To use death sacrifices of winter apected beings (frost giants) to plunder some of Baba Yaga's secret knowledge for Kotschie?

Something to do with the Torc of Kotschie to link it into the Witchwar Legacy module if you want to use that as an after AP capstone?

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