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My players opened up with flying and fireballs, adding prot. from missiles as a defense.
Enter the magic maxims...fireballs now depleted, but not all maxims eliminated. Melee with the tanks front and center and alchemists fire used to light them up...mmmkay!
They did win by the skin of their teeth and hit points in the single digits...they were popping healing potions like crack junkies!
Summoned elementals helped out considerably against the pale snipers, +1 rifles can't hurt 1st ed. elementals...but the +2 maxims they missed tore them to bits!!!
It was a great ride and one for the history books...thanks again Brandon! That was one heck of a module!!!!!
The introduction of the Automatic Weapon Quality (which I love) brings up a few rules clarification questions for me, and not wanting to spoil anyone's fun by asking this in the general rules question forums, I figured I would post here to fellow GMs for help.
** spoiler omitted **
I added Bold to highlight specific questions above and below:
Range: Just to be sure, that would be it's full range, so all 10 increments, right? For the Madsen Light Machine Gun (range 100') that would mean its burst-line effect goes out to 1000'? Would attacks, for the first 5 range increments be resolved as touch attacks, following the...
I know it's probably pointless, but I just wanted to share my idea I've always had for automatic weapons.
Pretty much a standard action to unload against a single target or multiple. Say the automatic fire damage is like 4d6 at a -2 penalty against a single target, or 2d6 damage at a -2 penalty in a cone. It can be altered by deadly aim, but not vital strike since it's a standard action to unload. If it has the single fire option, it'll just be its original 1d10.
Maybe it's too simple of an approach, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
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Brandon, did you have a real-life Russian Orthodox church in mind for the appearance of Akuvskaya?
I'd like to google for a suitable photo. Russian churches are quite varied, so it'd be nice to see how you envisaged it.
Akuvskaya Monastery is based on this ruined church in Penza Oblast, Russia. I fell in love with it in my research, particularly how the fledgling onion-domed belltowers flanked the larger central dome, which gave perfect resting places for snipers. And it had a transept that, while not necessarily typical for Orthodox churches, gave me the room I needed for an extra couple of encounters. I also took inspiration from the abandoned churches of Ryazan Oblast, which proved to be great specimens to base a composite on, and I stole a little from this ruin, with a great cruciform architecture (though it lacked the onion-domes I wanted), this old beauty which is very similar in style to the Penza church, and this currently-domeless cruciform-style monastery in Voronezh Oblast.
Like their Western counterparts, there is a tremendous variety in form of Orthodox monasteries, convents, and churches spread over Russia. I do wish I'd have included an obvious iconostasis on the map, but they were obviously long-gone from the interiors of my ruined examples. It would be a simple matter to add one. And you can make the pews salvaged prison benches, raw lumber hauled from the trenches, or even disinterred coffins dragged from the cemetery grounds, which would give a great effect when frozen corpses come spilling out when you-know-who does you-know-what. I needed those there to suit my dramatic encounter goals, and ultimately I'm happy with how that encounter worked out despite a use of furniture that might not...
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Brandon, did you have a real-life Russian Orthodox church in mind for the appearance of Akuvskaya?
I'd like to google for a suitable photo. Russian churches are quite varied, so it'd be nice to see how you envisaged it.
I just so happen to have provided the materials you seek in this post back on Page 1.
EDIT: Thanks Zimmerwald!
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Anastasia is today's featured article on Wikipedia!
Does it mentioned any of the historical truths revealed in Rasputin Must Die? Because it *should.* =-)
Huh, did Brandon delete his posts? The entry on Wikipedia is back to what it was, again.
Alas, it seems it got deleted again, as I can't find any reference to Pathfinder in the article.
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Yeah. I'm afraid anything related to roleplaying games or webcomics is liable to be removed as "not relevant" by the Wikipedia Fascists.
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I've been sparring with those fascists for the last few hours. I deleted my posts here in case someone got google happy, since the author defending the inclusion of a link to his own work might sniff disingenuous.
Apparently, the proclaimed standard in an "In Pop Culture" section only applies to non-fictional works according to these guys (who, mind you, have no more say as contributors than you or I), despite the fact that the films listed that they see fit to leave alone *all* deal with Anastasia's conspiracy-theory-laden legend *after* her murder. Of course, as we all know, the only real story of those events in is Rasputin Must Die!
And let's just ignore the fact that Rasputin has an entire "Rasputin in Pop Culture" PAGE with the most miniscule of references to song lyrics of minor musical talents and television commercial appearances, but we shan't dare reference a fictional work on Anastasia's page in which she figures as a significant character. That'd just be downright unencyclopedic!!! ;-)
And yes, this is stupid. And I thought some messageboard posts could get out of hand. This is a whole new level of crazy I've never before experienced: historical figures that have appeared in works of popular fiction can't be referenced in the "In Popular Culture" section. At least according to the two guys that care that have hijacked ownership of this page. Madness.
Which is weird because I've seen the "In Pop Culture" section for historical figures reference fictional works all the time.
For example:
It's totally fine when Tesla's referenced as a vampire in Sanctuary.
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Yeah--that's what I'm sayin'. You get some self-righteous asshat on board that thinks a reference isn't appropriate or to their personal liking or offends their scholastic posturing, and you get in an editing war. And you have to *talk* about it...and *discuss* things...and, well...
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And heaven forbid that your work is a webcomic, because then it can and will be deleted as not relevant. I've been reviewing webcomics for eight years now and I've even seen comics that have print compilations and the like removed "because they lack relevance" - they can even have won awards and the little 4chan wannabes will try to eliminate it. It's gotten to the point that now they do rapid strikes and kill a wikipedia article within 24 hours of marking it for deletion without any dialogue.
Let's face it. Wikipedia is screwed up because of certain busybodies who let power go to their head. Besides, you're probably better off going onto the TV Tropes page (if you dare... mwahahahahaha... *ahem*) and adding it to their page instead. Hell, you might even get more web traffic that way.
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This is a question/request for Brandon.
I know that writers sometimes produce more material than appears in the published module. Did you develop a full stat block for the NPC highlighted on page 36 and, if so, could you please post the information in this thread?
Just in case anything more specific should be spoilered...
While I could make up my own stats, I would much rather have the version developed by the the author, if there is such a version--especially given all the careful research that you did!
Thanks for a great module. And, thank you for considering my request!
Yorick
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Let's face it. Wikipedia is screwed up because of certain busybodies who let power go to their head. Besides, you're probably better off going onto the TV Tropes page (if you dare... mwahahahahaha... *ahem*) and adding it to their page instead. Hell, you might even get more web traffic that way.
YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS....
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Actually, I do believe reference to Rasputin Must Die! already made it to TV Tropes. Someone must have been on top of things. =-)
Yorick--I do have some excised material I'll be sharing on the boards before too long, but a full statblock for that character is not among the material. While she's incredibly important to the plot and resolution, we just didn't feel game mechanics added anything game-worthy to her presentation, and saved the space that'd have taken up on exotic beasties and encounters. My advice would be to level-up the princess NPC statblock from the NPC Codex, which is a pretty good fit even if a level short.
Thanks for responding, Brandon!
And, thanks for mentioning the "NPC Codex," which makes me feel pretty good since I'd been considering that as the best alternative! Now that I know there isn't an official stat block (and certainly I understand about the need to make the best use of the space), I'll definitely use the princess write-up as a starting point as you've suggested.
Yorick
Actually, I do believe reference to Rasputin Must Die! already made it to TV Tropes. Someone must have been on top of things. =-)
Yorick--I do have some excised material I'll be sharing on the boards before too long, but a full statblock for that character is not among the material. While she's incredibly important to the plot and resolution, we just didn't feel game mechanics added anything game-worthy to her presentation, and saved the space that'd have taken up on exotic beasties and encounters. My advice would be to level-up the princess NPC statblock from the NPC Codex, which is a pretty good fit even if a level short.
Right-o, 15 levels of Gunslinger coming right up! ;)
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I just want to start by saying the Rasputin Must Die is my first exposure to firearms in Pathfinder, and that I don't possess Ultimate Combat (yet).
Are there rules anywhere covering what happens if volume of ammunition (say at the top of a guard tower) is engulfed in flame (a fireball for instance)?
And Brandon; this is one of the finest adentures that I've had the joy to read in thirty years of RPGing. Many, many thanks.
I just want to start by saying the Rasputin Must Die is my first exposure to firearms in Pathfinder, and that I don't possess Ultimate Combat (yet).
Are there rules anywhere covering what happens if volume of ammunition (say at the top of a guard tower) is engulfed in flame (a fireball for instance)?
And Brandon; this is one of the finest adentures that I've had the joy to read in thirty years of RPGing. Many, many thanks.
General firearms rules are here.
A single keg of gunpowder will go up in a 20 ft radius explosion for 5d6 damage.
I probably wouldn't have a single fireball be enough to set off an ammo dump - it's there for less than a second and doesn't ignite things.
I would absolutely allow tower detonations if the party seizes a mortar and starts hitting towers with it, though!
Burning Sphere. Heh heh heh.
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My advice would be to level-up the princess NPC statblock from the NPC Codex, which is a pretty good fit even if a level short.
It's not even a level short when it comes to most practical matters. Anastasia has a permanent negative level as a result of being resurrected. She does, however, have some more skill points and a feat to assign. I gave her Toughness because she was apparently fairly difficult to kill, kept her maxed skills maxed, and put the rest of her skill points into extra Perform and Knowledge skills, and Linguistics, to simulate the content of her education. Her stats, as I'd present them, are as follows:
XP 200
Human aristocrat 3
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 8 (3d8-5)
Fort -1, Ref +1, Will -2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +0 (1d3–1) or light mace +0 (1d6–1) or short sword +0 (1d6–1/19–20)
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 13, Con 9, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +2; CMB +0; CMD 11
Feats Dodge, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Toughness
Skills Bluff +1, Diplomacy +6, Knowledge (history, geography, religion) -1, Knowledge (nobility) +0, Linguistics +0, Perform (act, sing, string instruments) +1, Perform (dance) +2, Ride +0, Sense Motive -1
Languages English, French, Russian
SQ amnesia, 1 negative level
Gear noble's outfit, signet ring, 700 gp
That 700 gp is there mostly to fill out the wealth to which she's entitled as a level 3 NPC. GMs who anticipate their players fitting her out with a Nagant M1895 revolver or a Mosin-Nagant 1891 rifle (I'm looking at you, Turin) will want to reduce her cash on hand to 300 gp or 200 gp respectively. GMs who anticipate their players fitting her out with more expensive weapons and armor may want to forego giving her cash on hand at all.
Given the end of The Witch Queen's Revenge, players who install Anastasia on the throne of Irrisen may want to avoid a war with the Linnorm Kingdoms by having her slay a linnorm herself. Here's her stats once healed of her amnesia and negative level, and fitted out with equipment from her own world appropriate for a PC of her level.
XP 800
Human aristocrat 3
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+1 deflection, +1 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 13 (3d8)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +3
Resist fire 20; SR 32
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +1 (1d3–1) or light mace +1 (1d6–1) or short sword +1 (1d6–1/19–20)
Ranged mwk Nagant M1895 Revolver +4 (1d8/x4)
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 13, Con 9, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 12
Feats Dodge, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Toughness
Skills Bluff +8, Diplomacy +13, Knowledge (history, geography, religion) +6, Knowledge (local, nobility) +7, Linguistics +7, Perform (act, sing, string instruments) +8, Perform (dance) +9, Ride +5, Sense Motive +6
Languages English, French, Russian, Skald, Taldane; tongues
SQ queen's wealth
Gear Icecrown of Irrisen, mwk Nagant M1895 revolver, noble's outfit, ring of protection +1, signet ring, 220 gp
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Sorry, disregard the equipment in the last spoiler. I ran out of time to edit it. It should read:
XP 800
Human aristocrat 3
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 13 (3d8)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +4
Resist fire 20; SR 32
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +1 (1d3–1) or light mace +1 (1d6–1) or short sword +1 (1d6–1/19–20)
Ranged mwk Nagant M1895 Revolver +4 (1d8/x4)
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 13, Con 9, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 12
Feats Dodge, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Toughness
Skills Bluff +8, Diplomacy +13, Knowledge (history, geography, religion) +6, Knowledge (local, nobility) +7, Linguistics +7, Perform (act, sing, string instruments) +8, Perform (dance) +9, Ride +1, Sense Motive +6
Languages English, French, Russian, Skald, Taldane; tongues
SQ queen's wealth
Gear +1 scale mail, cloak of resistance +1, Icecrown of Irrisen, mwk Nagant M1895 revolver, noble's outfit, signet ring, 20 gp
Wonderful, Zimmerwald!!! Very, very cool of you, and good spot on the resurrection level-loss.
@ Zimmerwald: thank you for providing the new stat block for Anastasia. I was wondering one thing though, when I read the original list of languages. Would it not have been more appropriate to give her German instead of English?
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As far as I knew when writing the statblock, she was given formal instruction - read, took skill ranks - in English, Russian, and French (Russian was also her first language, and thus didn't need a rank in Linguistics). Further research* has revealed to me that she took German classes as well, though these were suspended during the War because while Britain and France were Russian allies, Germany was the foe that occupied much of the country. Given that, and the fact that English and French were more prominent in her life (French being the second court language since before the inception of the Dual Alliance and English being the language her mother passed down, not German) I think her languages known are still reasonable. If you want to give her German, maybe replace the rank I gave her in Knowledge (geography) with another rank in Linguistics.
*this is why Mister Hodge gets to write adventures instead of schmoes like me; he makes sure his research is thorough before shooting his mouth off on an Internet forum.
I am very glad that i bought this item.
One thing i am not sure about.
Why would the soul of the guy missing the leg want to come back?
Especially if he does what he does later?
Is there an error in Polkovnik Lavrenti's tactics?
"He uses his targeting ability to disarm foes, followed by utility shots
to scoot their weapons out of reach before his nightmare
mount tramples the disarmed opponents"
Utility Shot- Scoot Unattended Object seems to only be effective against Tiny or smaller objects.
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Is there an error in Polkovnik Lavrenti's tactics?
"He uses his targeting ability to disarm foes, followed by utility shots
to scoot their weapons out of reach before his nightmare
mount tramples the disarmed opponents"Utility Shot- Scoot Unattended Object seems to only be effective against Tiny or smaller objects.
"Tiny object" does not mean "weapon meant to be used by tiny-sized characters". That said, what "tiny object" does mean is frustratingly vague. The animated objects Bestiary entry gives a couple examples of tiny objects, including a candelabra and a pair of manacles. It also gives examples of small objects, including chairs and scythes. I think a good rule of thumb for weapons, therefore, would be "a tiny weapon is a weapon that can be wielded comfortably in one hand, while a small weapon is a weapon that must be wielded in two hands". So Lavrenti would be able to follow his listed tactics against a character wielding a longsword, but would have trouble against a character wielding a lance.
Very sound advice.
Thanks.
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I am very glad that i bought this item.
One thing i am not sure about.
Why would the soul of the guy missing the leg want to come back?
Especially if he does what he does later?
Obviously he wants to come back for plot reasons. I'm going to rationalize it this way. Victor Miloslav did not know magic existed, and was thus unfamiliar with magic like Raise Dead. After all that trauma he goes through, he gets the post-death sending "Would you like to return from the dead? The person raising you is of x alignment." [y/n] He was like wtf? and checked y because, well, that's novel, and he didn't much like being dead.
Then he sees what was done with his work, and begins to see his own private hell, as the book describes. After he commits suicide, he will not be coming back.
I'm anticipating my players attempting to use the Dancing Hut or Zilvazaraat to travel back to Golarion to sell the guns they salvage for significant profit.
Any advice on how to handle this?
Tell them no! besides its not like they have activated keys that will take them to Alkenstar.
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on the other hand i have a dwarven gunslinger in our party, so he's going to feel like a kid in a rather large candy store on free candy day!
I'm anticipating my players attempting to use the Dancing Hut or Zilvazaraat to travel back to Golarion to sell the guns they salvage for significant profit.
Any advice on how to handle this?
Assume they could sell the guns for the amounts listed in the appendixes.
Those guns aren't really going to cause a revolution, because Golarion doesn't have the facilities for making more.
I'd allow individual high level gunsmiths to duplicate the things and to make the ammo themselves, but the tech required to make those guns consistently and reliably on a large scale is about 300 years ahead of where Golarian actually is.
Alkenstar can TRY to mass produce the things, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to pull the trigger on one of their attempts.
If the party has recovered Dear Grandmother's prison, or they're on friendly terms with the Coffin Man, they really shouldn't be detouring to try to sell exotic goods anyways - the Coffin Man can warn them about Elvanna's ritual progress, and once they have the doll, Baba Yaga's going to want out now.
The Hut was a very odd intelligence to it, and may simply refuse to go anywhere while it knows its mistress is stuck in that doll.
Zhangar is right, ignore my shabby advice:)
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I haven’t had a chance to dig through all the posts, but does anyone address a few glaring historical inaccuracies in the back story of a few of the characters even if it’s assumed Rasputin lived. Are there ideas of how these errors should be changed to prevent a group of historically knowledgeable players from pissing on the whole adventure.
Inaccuracy #1 it is mentioned in the AP that Anastasia is heir to the throne but that is not correct. A Russian law passed after the death of Catherine the Great decreed that the crown can only be passed through and to male descendents. Which means Anastasia and any of her children would be at least 20 or 30 people down the eligibility list to sit on the throne. The correct heir’s to the throne would be Nicholas II male cousins who survived the revolution and got out of the country. Cyril Romanov who lived until 1938 is next in line. After them it would be his male 2nd cousins, etc. In fact there were at least 20 male Romanov survivors of the revolution who would have been eligible for the throne prior to the Anastasia.
For my historical knowledgeable group I believe I will have Rasputin’s plan is to have Anastasia marry one of these male heirs and then use his influence over her as a stepping stone to get control over her husband.
Inaccuracy #2, It is explained that Rasputin seduced the empress to sire Anastasia. But Anastasia was born in 1901, Rasputin first set foot in St. Petersburg in 1903 and did not meet the royal family until 1905. I think I will correct this historical error by saying he disguised himself as Nicholas and went to the Tsarina bedside in 1899 (a similar story to the movie Excalibur).
I guess these both can be corrected by flipping Alexis and Anastasia as the child of Rasputin but then the option of bringing her back to rule Irrisia would not be in play.
I really have a love for history and always like to keep the historical pieces as close to accurate as possible. And only change things that absolutely need to be changed.
If there have been discussions on these issues please point me in the correct link.
Developer
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We decided to change some things in Rasputin's history to tell the story we wanted to tell, while keeping as many accurate details as possible. After all, this is Earth in Golarion's universe, where magic exists, so it's not really exactly the same as our own Earth. For example, I doubt that Rasputin was really an oracle in our world, or that Anastasia was resurrected after her murder. :)
As for Anastasia being the heir to the throne, that's not really important. It doesn't matter to the plot of the AP whether or not she could theoretically claim the throne of Russia. Rasputin does not care at all about the monarchy - he is much more concerned with claiming his mother's mythic power. And as stated in the adventure, Anastasia is an alternate route to claim that power - note that this is not the power of the throne of the Russian Empire, but the power of Baba Yaga, of whom Anastasia is a legitimate female heir (and can therefore potentially claim the throne of Irrisen, which is far more important to the AP and adventurers from Golarion than the throne of some country on 20th-century Earth).
This ties in to Rasputin meeting Alexandra earlier than he did historically, and fathering Anastasia. We did change history here so that Anastasia would be Rasputin's daughter and therefore Baba Yaga's granddaughter, for the reasons explained above.
If Rasputin (and Anastasia) can be descended from a mythical witch from Slavic folklore, is changing the date when Rasputin first went to St. Petersburg really that big of a deal?
Thanks for explanation. The dates probably won't matter that much and most people would not notice it anyway, it just stood out to me as being out of line with history and I didn't see any reference to it anywhere as to why it was changed.
As for Anastatia I could just leave the heir to the throne idea out and run the rest as written. My players would defiantly know this was incorrect. It does say in the scenario " Anastatia is not only heir to the Russian Empire, but also ...."
Don't you just love it when historians get drawn into the minutia of the story? :) (In a good way. This means you told such a good story that historians are enthralled by it... and then notice the little oddities.)
I'm still wondering how I can include a train in Russia for the PCs to go on so Rasputin's mini-demons can break the bridge ahead of them... ;) (I'm joking there. I already pulled that one on an older group, of whom my one experienced player was a part of.)
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Rob wrapped this up all pretty nicely, but an additions from the author:
1. The heir to the Romanov line would actually be Alexei, not Anastasia. But, as the text shows, that's
And in any case, the throne of importance to this story to which Anastasia is heir is Irrisen's throne, not Russia's. If you guys want to argue about Russia's complicated line of succession at your game table, go right ahead. I'd just keep an eye on Alexei as he licks his lips with a hungry look in his eyes, and if I were GM I'd be rolling Perception checks the minute someone uttered the name "Cyril" or any of Nicholas' male 2nd cousins. How'd their characters know that anyway? Legend lore? =-)
2. I was very aware of Rasputin's first recorded foray into St. Peterburg being 1903. To account for this, my original text stated that he had stopped there briefly in secret before his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and performed a seance which the tsarina attended. As you can imagine, after a long adventure development and editing process, a few key important words to clarify and account for that little historical inconsistency worked their way out of the document. Like the succession issue, I can't possible imagine how this is going to affect the game or the story you're trying to tell.
I think that the adventure has gotten along this far in the public's discerning and hyper-critical eye with so few inaccuracies noted, especially considering the incredibly complicated story that we've woven into a fantasy adventure (some earlier "historical inaccuracy" claims didn't pan out as the critics hoped, particularly regarding some of the weapons included and their use in the war). I think it bodes fantastically well for the job we've done on this one, and I know both myself and Paizo busted our butts to make sure as few of these things sneaked into the final document, because neither myself nor Rob, Adam, or any other Paizo employee wanted to spend our days arguing over historical sticking points or worry about distracting educated readers to the point of frustration. So you found a couple of non-relevant inconsistencies. That's alright. A slip here or there was bound to happen, and I suppose how "glaring" they are is all in the eye of the beholder. Or maybe in the eye of the beholder's intimate grasp of obscure imperial succession law. Hahaha.
But rest assured, the topics are not only relatively obscure to even the most historically-minded, they aren't ultimately relevant to the story the players will be experiencing.
I do have to admit besides the little historical inaccuracies that bugged me this looks like a real fun adventure. We just finished book 2 and should get here in 3 months or so.