The Witch Queen's Revenge (GM Reference)


Reign of Winter

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Also, she allows the PCs to keep most of their pre-existing boons (stat increases and the like). Because she's just that nice. *snickers*


Just gotta ask about one encounter... how do you go around killing dybbuk? I mean it can as standard action possess party member if they fail will saves and keep fighting with that flesh suit until it dies so it can just possess someone else, further more it can also possess items of large or smaller size if living bodies are scarce. As far as I can tell there are not really anyways of hurting the dybbuk itself when its possessing something.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

So, there's some conflicting information about the ultimate fate of Baba Yaga's daughters...

Spoiler:
In Part Four of the adventure, various places state that Baba Yaga uses her daughters in order to maintain her long lifespan, implying that if she didn't magically cannibalize them, she would grow old(er) and die (or, at least, become undead, since her death was separated from her. Vigliv more or less says this directly at the beginning of this section, and the text references it a few other times).

Spoiler:
Meanwhile, in the Baba Yaga section of the book, it says that she achieved the secret of immortality long before that whole silly Irrisen experiment, and implies that Baba Yaga doesn't need her daughters' energy in order to stay alive at all. This section isn't actually all that clear about what she uses it for.

I'm guessing that this is just something that got changed between when the adventure was written and when it got published, but maybe someone saw something I missed or can clarify it, or offer their own theories or answers that might be cool as to why Honored Grandmother does...what she does.

Spoiler:
Personally, my guess is that the Baba Yaga section is right, and that it's not related to her survival. Rather, she just uses the extra energy when she's in a bind. Maybe she extracts however many extra uses of mythic power from each daughter, which she taps into whenever she needs more than her normal daily allotment.


How about this idea?

Spoiler:
Baba Yaga uses some of her own life essence to create her daughter (ie, she doesn't bother having sex with someone and give birth, her daughters are magical constructs created of metaphorical whole cloth). After her daughter has "matured" over 100 years, she then harvests that daughter and her first-born. While she doesn't need to do this, she is weakened if she doesn't (in fact, she creates a replacement for the soon-to-be-former queen before retiring Irrisen's queen, and harvesting the life essence of the former queen and her firstborn children).

This theory has more merit when you consider this: we don't see any sign Elvanna has a daughter ready to replace Elvanna. In fact, it's strongly hinted that Anastasia will become the next Queen of Irrisen to replace Elvanna under most scenarios. Thus she was sidetracked and captured by Rasputin and Elvanna before she could create Elvanna's replacement.


I think she's neutral evil and does it cause she can, and the last thing you need is 14 pissed off 20th level evil witches coming after you after you remove them from power, best to suck them dry and leave their undead husks locked up until you need them.


I think her morality is beyond ours. She isn't evil for kicks and giggles. She does what she does. And other people label it as evil because they find her actions detestable.

But think of the Doctor. He may be a "good man" by some interpretation of the term, but he's done things he's not proud of. He's manipulated events where foes would kill themselves afterward. He's left people to die. He's prevented people from throwing their lives away when that is what those people wanted to do.

Is the Doctor "good"? It depends on who you ask.

The myths of Baba Yaga are varied, but much of her "evil" aspect arose with the spread of Christianity and the need to vilify god-like entities and stories. Baba Yaga was a strong and powerful woman who would not bow to any man and would aid others on her own whims. So she was turned into something vile in the later stories and became a Russian boogeyman so to let Christian priests scare children and worshipers into obedience - do good as per God or Baba Yaga would get you, grind your bones into meal, and cook them into her bread.

Pathfinder's Baba Yaga has taken those myths, the old and the latter, and used them to shape the character - even incorporating the rise of Christianity into her growing cynicism akin to the stories that slowly grew darker over time.

And finally, think of who Baba Yaga spends her time with. It's not people. It's monsters and the monstrous. It's those who embrace their inner darkness and think of themselves first and foremost. That sort of thing tends to rub off. From time to time she may, on a whim, do something decent or kind. But she's seen that no good deed goes unpunished. Why should she perpetuate harm through good? Far better to just be true to herself and think of herself first and foremost.


NE = " Neutral ME! " for good reason. ;)

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I'm a bit confused as to why the nuckelavees are attacking the maftets. Queen Esmyra says that they began attacking two days ago, but what stirred them up? It seems as though the maftets have been living on the island for thousands of years, so why are they being targeted all of a sudden?

Is the nuckelavees' activity related to the appearance of the PCs within the Cauldron? If so, how?


Tamago - my players have now got to this point and I've ended the session with them having found the Oak, recovered the athame and basically given up on the Maftets. They persuaded the Queen to lead them there after saving her from the sacrifical rock, but now want to go to talk to the Nucklavees to hear their side of it.

Their reasoning is that it's only because they've talked to the Maftets first that they're taking that side, so want to give the others a chance. They almost see the situation with the Maftets as tough luck for them, almost like fate...

Anyone got any ideas how I can either get this back on track or make it interesting?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Black_Cat wrote:

Tamago - my players have now got to this point and I've ended the session with them having found the Oak, recovered the athame and basically given up on the Maftets. They persuaded the Queen to lead them there after saving her from the sacrifical rock, but now want to go to talk to the Nucklavees to hear their side of it.

Their reasoning is that it's only because they've talked to the Maftets first that they're taking that side, so want to give the others a chance. They almost see the situation with the Maftets as tough luck for them, almost like fate...

Anyone got any ideas how I can either get this back on track or make it interesting?

Well,
Bestiary 3 wrote:
[Nuckelavees are] a manifestation of pollution and filth, be it the natural decay of a red tide or the intrusive pollution of sewage and other urban waste.

So I wonder if there's a particular reason they don't like the maftets. Have the maftets been polluting the island somehow? It seems unlikely, as it seems like they have maintained a pretty static culture there for hundreds of years. It's possible that something changed recently, perhaps after Queen Esmyra came to power? Maybe she's changed some of the old traditions and the nuckelavees view this as decay or pollution?

I'm not sure, though, the idea still seems a bit weak to me. Anyone else have any ideas?


I'm really unsure about the maftet saga as well. Apart from the issues you present, I'm just not sure that the nucklavees and their allies will actually threaten my party.

I like the idea that Baba Yaga's hut contains entire civilizations, complete with wars, that have existed here unwittingly for centuries. I would love to illustrate that for my PCs. Have people made any good modifications to this part of the adventure?


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Well, let us consider Baba Yaga's very presence - she has buried a part of her in this demiplane. It could be considered a corruption of sorts - at the very least, Baba Yaga has corrupted the natural order of things by cheating death and extending her life through arcane means.

So what has drawn the Nucklavees to this place? Baba Yaga herself... especially as she had been captured, her Hut suborned by her daughter, and her Mythic Essence drawn off by her son to achieve his own ascension. And they are attacking the Maftet because they have existed in this pocket world for generations... and thus have been "tainted" by Baba Yaga herself. Her corruption is theirs, if only tangentially.


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They've finally finished this section and it wasn't as succesful as the first, which surprised me a little.

In the end I ran it a bit like Pacific Rim - there was a trans-planar rip under the sea off the coast of the island. They were drawn there by the power in the athame, but were like locusts and wanted the island for themselves.

The party ended up taking the fight to the Nuckelavees by going down to the seafloor, so I changed the encounters so they happened underwater instead. They tried to stoneshape over the rip and as they did that they fought the final encounter. As the Elementals died they signalled the rest of the army, who esentially ran off back to their home plane and shut the rift behind them.

It sounds ham-fisted reading it back, but it worked out ok in the end.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Black_Cat wrote:

They've finally finished this section and it wasn't as succesful as the first, which surprised me a little.

In the end I ran it a bit like Pacific Rim - there was a trans-planar rip under the sea off the coast of the island. They were drawn there by the power in the athame, but were like locusts and wanted the island for themselves.

The party ended up taking the fight to the Nuckelavees by going down to the seafloor, so I changed the encounters so they happened underwater instead. They tried to stoneshape over the rip and as they did that they fought the final encounter. As the Elementals died they signalled the rest of the army, who esentially ran off back to their home plane and shut the rift behind them.

It sounds ham-fisted reading it back, but it worked out ok in the end.

That actually sounds awesome! I may steal that for my own group, depending on how the encounter with the maftets goes :-)

The point that I'm still stuck on, though, is why the nuckelavees are attacking NOW. I mean, Baba Yaga's death has been stuck in that athame for hundreds or even thousands of years. And she's been trapped in the doll for months while the PCs follow her breadcrumbs. It's awfully convenient that the bad guys in this section of the hut just happen to start attacking a day or two before the PCs arrive, isn't it?


Time runs differently there.


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I made Elvanna much more heavily involved - that as she's taking control of the Hut, things are just sort of going "wrong" through the Hut's demiplanes (cracks in the foundation) and Elvanna's directly causing some of it too, as she makes temporary breaches and sends servants through.

I also have Elvanna cheerfully allying with a weird mix of things as part of her bid for power, as many entities had an interest in seeing Baba Yaga never return.

And so the nuckelavee forces were led by a pair of starspawn - one with the anti-paladin template (wearing Abyssium armor, because why the hell not) and one with the wizard template (giving starspawn fiery body fills me with more joy than it really should).

But my game was mythic, so I did some cheerfully crazy things in that.


I had a planes-event happen in the previous section too, so this wasn't surprising... I think blaming it on Elvanna's presence and the ritual she's trying to do is probably wise.

Although it is what my group got stuck on too, as they assumed it was a historical thing and they should be there.


I am still finishing book 2 (after making use of Irrisen stuff to supplement it) but I'm giving thought to changing a lot of book 6 because after the awesomness of battling Rasputin in book 5, it just doesn't seem epic enough. Although I like the idea in principal of setting it all in Baba Yaga's hut, it just seems a wate to me when you could go literally anywhere!

So I am mostly putting this here for me to reference later and bounce ideas around.My thoughts are there needs to be three elements in it to round up the campaign. Dark fairytale, sci-fi and Irrisen. So the first part can remain the same with going down into the caves to meet the norn, only I'll have her attack to test their worthiness (it feels a waste to have her entire stat block and not use it).

Then after reuniting Baba Yaga with her fate they need to get her life and death. So instead I think I'll have two magical gates down there. Which can only be opened using her besom, which will be guarded by the infernal crocodile (I love this monster).

One leads to the thrice tenth kingdom to a hut on top of a cold mountain full of ice fey. The PC's must fight their way down and then through an enchanted forest meeting fey monsters and discussing philosophy with talking animals. Then they must enter the witchspire itself (using the castle from A Thousand Screams as reference) and battle a lesser jaberwocky and undead elf guards Baba Yaga has guarding the place. Finally they enter a magical tower called the fable where the lost daughters of Baba Yaga are.

Also in my campaign a mysterious nymph bound to the ley lines in Golarion has been helping them. She will be the original ruler of the thrice tenth kingdom who Baba Yaga supplanted and bound to Golarion. The PCs will meet some of her defilled nymph sisters in the Witchspire.

Ok, so messed up fairytale dealt with! Next the second portal leads across universes Stargate style...


This part I just have an idea for. They will arrive on an unknown planet in a star wars style market full of races from across galaxies and a lot of races from Distant Worlds. Some investigation reveals that the greatest bank in all of existence resides here and that the death of Baba Yaga resides in a vault there. The PCs can break in alone or ally themselves with alien thieves to get inside.

The bank has an intelligence based on the little girl computer programme from resident evil, which will taunt the PCs and Set off deadly traps as they explore. Not sure where to get aa good sci-fi dungeon lay out, I was thinking Iron Gods!? I hear there are cyber angels in that which might make a nice boss fight. Also rather than an athame I thought I would make Baba Yaga's death something alive that must be convinced, or forced, to reunite with her. Any ideas?


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Finally I won't bother having the Ps have to seek out anything more to free Baba Yaga. Being reunited with her fate, life and death are enough to free her from the doll.

The first thing Baba Yaga does is make the three PCs who have rider mantles into full riders (giving them extra powers). And then repowers the cauldren keys for Whitethrone.

In my version Elvanna is doing the ritual in a chamber below the royal palace in Irrisen where the winter collector is. Baba Yaga can't end the ritual with just a wave of her hand, she needs to be there and Elvanna needs to be dead. Also Elvanna, is not herself. Her delvings into Tashanna's diary led her to use extensive divination magic to find her lost sister. What if she were successful!?

I heard a rumour on these boards that Tashanna could be Tasha the dark (Iggwilv) from Greyhawk. Maybe she is in fact an extremely powerful female archmage who Baba Yaga carried to another world after being impressed with her rebellion. However she was bound from ever returning to Golarion by Baba Yaga. Maybe Elvanna unwittingly undid that magic and is now being controlled from a far via powerful magic by the archmage.

Therefore much to Baba Yaga's surprise she finds powerful magic stopping her simply teleporting the PCs into the royal palace. Instead the PCs must, along with Baba Yaga and a host of allies, storm the royal palace. Battlling those awesome named characters from Irrisen Land of Eternal Winter.

First Elvanna\Tashanna sends a force to fight in the merchant square. Then she collapses the best bridge to the palace. Of course Baba Yaga just conjures up a giant iceberg and flies them all across. The crown gives Elvanna the ability to change the palace at will, so she could have sealed up all the windows forcing the PCs to fight their way through a force in front of the main doors (which Baba Yaga blows open).

In the main hall Princess Cassisoche and the main baronessess make a stand at her mother's behest. Of course Baba Yaga is with the PCs causing sweet mayhem (again actually making use of her stat block). Finally Elvanna/Tashanna is up in her throne room with many nasty surprises for mother and her toy soldiers...


The first of which being the fact she has the Torc of Kostchtchie. She uses this to summon the very demon lord himself. Now I am debating whether to have the PCs fight him whilst Baba Yaga fights Elvanna/Tashanna, or vic a versa. Maybe Baba Yaga gives them the choice?

After finally defeating Elvanna they must go with Baba Yaga to the winter collector, where Baba Yaga needs to do a ritual to end the spreading winter. She must NOT be interupted. As she starts the ritual a furious Tashanna (Wilv) comes from across the void to stop her and the PCs must hold her off in an epic battle.

I'm pretty sure after all that the last thing on their worn out mind will be taking on Baba Yaga herself, but I will give them that option. The nymph from the thrice tenth kingdom (who reveals her true name to be Elena the beautiful) appears and with a defeated Tashanna offer to imbue them with the mythic power to turn on Baba Yaga if they wish. If they do then it is revealed an eldest is behind events and rewards the PCs boons instead of Baba Yaga.


A player in my group has decided to try to convince the group to get out of the dancing hut to keep Baba Yaga trapped in her Matyroshka doll forever (and finding help else where) to try to destroy it in the end.

Anyone have any pointers on what to do about them trying to leave the hut? Other than just having Baba will the ladder going to the Domovoi gulag altered such or changed.

I want to tailor to this possibility and keep his interests within in the game, so recently (since his character is more non-combative) he's going to be introducing his long-last cohort from his leadership feat. Which is a twin Kitsune of herself, although rogue; whereas he is a blind oracle.

Not only that but recently a summoner in the group got pumped full of like 15ish Baykok arrows in Queen Bremagyrs keep, and is finally coming back as an Eldritch Knight.

The way I see it is I could tie these characters into the backstory of Baba Yaga easily since they are entering the game while inside the hut, therefore perhaps giving a reason why they could have a hint to the destruction of the doll/ritual.

Despite being able to leave the hut in the first place. I plan keeping it difficult to remain undetected carrying this artifact necromancy/abjuration containing Baba, since she likely has other enemies, or even possible friends to pry it away from the players.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!


Taking a tip from you, Richard Pitt, a touch of roleplaying added a lot to the encounter with Baba Yaga's Death.

First, the divination wizard got the drop on the Quickwood, and failed to disintegrate it. The tree responded by pummeling the crap out of her. The rest of the party actually decided they were up for diplomacy and they wanted to talk to it instead. They healed the tree and stayed out of it. The wizard escaped the tree's grasping roots with a clever application of Wall of Stone (incorporating the tombstone they had yet to read). With the party out of reach, the tree deigned to parlay, demanding food in exchange for what it knew. The party used flesh to stone on the newly created patio, thus allowing the tree to consume Baba Yaga's tombstone. In return, it offered that Baba Yaga's Death was right in front of it.

The viking and the paladin dug down and unearthed the Witch Doll, which sat up and conversed with them. "I... AM... BABA... YAGA." It spoke slowly and simply, and just wanted to exist freely. The party concluded pretty quickly that what they needed was inside of it. After a long bit of conversation, the viking just attacked it. As they betrayed the Witch Doll, the tree betrayed them, provoking the fight that the wizard had foreseen, because prophecy's a jerk like that.


@ Venequin - the biggest issue is that without Baba Yaga's help, they can't get into the final section to confront Elvanna, and if they can't reach Elvanna, then Elvanna wins by default.

Is the player more concerned with destroying Baba Yaga than he is with stopping Elvanna?


Got a question for the very end... We've had a massive break from the last session to what is going to be THE last session on Sunday. The ending has been rumbling round my head and I don't think they're going to be satisfied with *having* to let Baba Yaga out to stop the ritual. I think they'll get frustrated with the thought that she's the only one who can stop this, given how much effort they've gone through. I know it's been the point since the beginning, but they're convinced BY is actually the final boss, so are almost preparing to fight her. So I was wondering if I could give them other "options" that show that releasing BY is actually the best option.

For example, I thought I could suggest that sacrificing Anastasia would end it. Or releasing then sacrficing BY... Those are where my mind has stopped though. Do any of you guys have any other ideas for alternatives, that aren't really alternatives?

I'd like them to decide to release BY, rather than feeling that's their only choice, if that makes sense...


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I did it! And it's over! A year in the making and our adventure closes... Been fantastic and now it's a little odd that it's done...

Dark Archive

I was reading over the statblock for the Icecrown of Irrisen, and I noticed something that struck me as odd:

The Witch Queen's Revenge wrote:
The Icecrown of Irrisen deals 3d6 points of cold damage per round to any creature touching or wearing it as it absorbs body heat (or 6d6 points of cold damage per round to a creature with the fire subtype).

Did Elvanna get the crown before level 14? Because she doesn't get immunity to cold until then.

Shadow Lodge

Maybe it never causes damage to the true queen? Or you're right and she got it after level 14. Either way that seems a bit strange.


It only does 3d6 damage. If she had 20 pt cold resistance she'd be fine.

Though I think I ruled that the crown didn't damage the recognized the queen. But I also upgraded the crown, too (I'd made the campaign mythic).


I imagine most of the Irrisen Queens Baba Yaga chooses are 20th-level winter witches. Even if that's not the case, they would definitely not last 100 years as the Queen of a frozen nation without planning for something as trivial as cold immunity.


I'm short on time as I'm posting this, so forgive me if it's been answered already. Queen Elvanna has 10 levels in witch, with the winter witch archetype. And 10 levels in winter witch prestige class. She wears the Icecrown... which does 3d6 points of cold damage... per -round-. Max damage for that being 18 dmg.

Now, I didn't see any cold resistance/immunity given via the prestige class. The archetype gives cold resistance 10 at level 9, and immunity at 14th. The Prestige Class stacks with the witch class for purposes of spells per day and spell level; not other abilities (such as the Cold Flesh, which gives the cold resistance).

So then. Shouldn't wearing the Icecrown kill Elvanna -long- before the PCs ever get to her? By all my reading, Elvanna should be taking that 3d6 each round. I mean, yes, she will ignore 10 of that each round, but still..

EDIT: Derp. Sure enough, right above my head once I posted this. Sorry. But yeah, still; she's only got 10 levels of basic witch, not 14...


@ Zhangar: Yes, he is more focused on killing Baba Yaga, due to his character being a previous Warden of Artrosa. He was punished and held prisoner within Artrosa until the player's holding the mantle removed his curse. He secretly yearns for her mythic power.

He basically intends to convince the party to refrain from finishing the process presented in the pre-made, and find an different route to destroying Baba Yaga while in the doll by contacting some higher power.

My question is would that just destroying the doll by other means just free Baba anyway?

And @Zhangar again. Half the party seems to have no care toward Golarion so stopping Elvanna isn't to much of an issue. Which gives me the ability to pit the party against each other, which would be interesting at this point.


The doll's functionally an artifact in its own right, and what the party's spending most of chapter 6 doing is satisfying its destruction condition.

So while there probably isn't nay other way to destroy the doll, but destroying the doll would release Dear Grandmother anyways.

The most probable outcome is that the doll gets locked away forever somewhere - Kostchtchie would gladly take it, for example.

(Approaching an upper planar power might get weirder results - most good aligned entities probably would not view Golarion's population as an acceptable price for keeping Baba Yaga imprisoned.)

Now, Rasputin's world engine actually provided a means to kill Baba Yaga while she's otherwise untouchable in that doll. If the party wants to abandon the mission and try to consume Baba Yaga's power, then somehow reconstructing the World Engine (perhaps using necromancy to bring back Miloslav as an intelligent undead under the party's control) is their best bet.


Draven: Your post made me look into the situation. The Prestige Class's Winter Witchcraft ability basically says that levels of Winter Witch (PC) stack with normal witch levels, including archetype abilities, for pretty much all purposes. The Winter Witch (archetype) ability Cold Flesh, which grants resistance then immunity, is presumably included in this. Does that answer your question?


flamethrower49 wrote:
Draven: Your post made me look into the situation. The Prestige Class's Winter Witchcraft ability basically says that levels of Winter Witch (PC) stack with normal witch levels, including archetype abilities, for pretty much all purposes. The Winter Witch (archetype) ability Cold Flesh, which grants resistance then immunity, is presumably included in this. Does that answer your question?

D'oh. I was looking at the "Spells Per Day" part, and somehow completely overlooked the Winter Witchcraft. That would explain it. Thanks! Your No-Prize is in the mail (along with another one if you get the reference).


Since I don't really get why the island Buyan has maftets (and I dont really like maftets) or the rest of the occupants I decided to change it. Instead I made the island Baba Yaga's testing facility for MMD's (Monsters of Mass Destruction). Changed the monsters to weakened versions of certain Tane and other powerhouses (a Boneship, Bandersnatch pups, Zomok and a starved Sard)with the Nuckelavee being viral weapons. The maftets were changed to a tribe of Strix (used the classed stats from the strix section in monsters of the inner sea book) and the Nuckelavee asking for the Rokoa since she can stop the disease they spread. The Strix see Baba Yaga as a protection spirit because she brought the tribe to the island and always shows up when the tribe is about to be annihilated. The tribe does not know that Baba Yaga is a witch she instead does the same thing that is described for the winter wolves. Trying to keep up the evilness of the Baba since I want my party to try and fight the Witchqueen as the last bit of the AP.


So would the Athame still be the objective, as well as the witch tree/ witch doll golem?

I like this idea, great work :)


Yes the athame (Heart of the Old Crow as the strix will call it) is still the goal of the island. I changed the witch tree to the Sard (my group is around 8 people so I dont feel bad plus I weakened it) The Zomok (actually 2 of them) guards the clearing, the Sard guards the witch doll, the witch doll guards the knife. I actually liked this bit very much.


Does the dimensional lock effect in the Buyan demi-plane prevent the PC's accessing their extra-dimensional storage (i.e. handy haversacks, efficient quivers, etc)?

I've seen lots of debate on the subject in other boards, but nothing definitive and thought I'd ask how other Reign of Winter GMs handled this.

I'm also thinking ahead as to the dimensional lock effect in the final battle.


It's been a while now, but I think I ran it as preventing access.

I did give the PCs advance warning, though.


Zhangar wrote:

It's been a while now, but I think I ran it as preventing access.

I did give the PCs advance warning, though.

Thanks for responding so quickly. I appreciate it.

Liberty's Edge

"Great Queen, we humbly request this boon: that you leave Golarion in peace, to never return to depose she who sits on the throne of Irrisen. We will forever honor your legacy and your greatness by establishing an annual holiday on the former days of your return, retelling your life and your magnificence for all to hear. With your approval, let Princess Anastasia be the first Queen of Irrisen to carry on this festival, that she and her posterity may rule in strength and wisdom for generations to come. I myself will guide her well, as her personal advisor. Will you grant this request, we humbly ask?"


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For the fight against the Crone Queens, I did a thing I thought was pretty fun. Instead of making their 1/day special effect a normal spell-like ability, I made them a permanent curse activated on their destruction like a death throes. Everybody had to make a save against Epidemic, Smug Narcissism, Vengeful Outrage (against Baba Yaga, obviously), and Terrible Remorse as the Queens fell. Sadly, my PCs made all the saves, except the oracle who is the victim of Smug Narcissism. (She's blind, though, so figure that one out.) I expect that to lead to some fun roleplaying going into the last section.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

My players only did it again...

The Popobala, this should be an interesting battle thinks I. Only one PC manages the stupidly high perception check; but manages to beat the creature to the initiative. Not recognising the Popobala he readies an action " to cast a spell if it attack either us of the Maftet".
OK, it's going to do a fly-by on the lead Maftet.
"I cast baleful polymorph." Popo' saves - NATURAL 1. (Thankfully making the secondary save.) And a worm hits the sand. As a shapechanger it can throw off the polymorph, and that's what it does with it's surprise round.
Round 1: Popobala tries to dominate the main fighter - failes.
Round 2: Popobala is dead before it can act again. (Large creatures critting whilst improved vital striking will do that to your monsters...)


The heroes are fast approaching the end of the campaign. They have become very powerful, and probably will easily kill Queen Elvanna in one round. Two of them are very proficient in their range attacks, dealing over 100 points of damage in a single round, and bypassing most damage reduction, etc.

They also will ignore the demodands and elementals, shooting at Elvanna immediately.

I'd like to make the final battle last longer without making the archers abilities completely useless (they worked hard in this campaign). Windwall seems to work well, especially if I could form a cylinder around the queen.

Any other ideas to prolong the queen's battle?


Mirror Image.

Projected Image, for that matter.

Alarm to alert her if anyone intrudes.

A couple Mythic Tiers to make her more of a threat. Hey, just because Mythic is overpowered for PCs doesn't mean you can't use it to enhance the villains! ;)

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Just noticed that the handmaiden devil beneath the Cottage in the Wood demi-plane has dispel good. What the hell happens to a PC hit by that? Where do they get sent? 'Cause if it's back to Golarion, that's basically completely out of the game...


If Rasputin was able to get away before the heroes killed him for the final time, would it make any sense for him to appear again in the final battle with the Queen?


@ Darrel - this is a bit late, but I'd have the dispelled/plane shifted PC simply arrive on the porch of the Hut. They'd have to make their way back, but it wouldn't be as catastrophic as getting punted to Taldor.

@ David - If Rasputin wants to recover the Doll and re-attempt absorbing Baba Yaga's mythic power, sure. He's a power house and it'd be good for both him an Elvanna to team up with his sister again.

Though if Rasputin cuts his losses, then he merely has to settle for being an 18th level oracle on 1918 Earth, which can't actually field anything that could oppose him.

So he can settle for "merely" being the biggest fish in the pond.


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I have a question. At the end of part two the party gets another boon from Baba Yaga, they get: 'Each PC can choose to gain either DR 5/— or
spell resistance equal to 12 + his character level.'

Would the DR from this boon stack with other sources of DR? Like the Barbarian's DR or the Druids DR from elemental form and such?`Rules as written I know that DR does not stack, but these boons are somewhat outside of the rules to begin with, so should they stack with other things? (The Natural armor bonus from the first boon said it did stack for example.)

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