4-19 The Night March of Kalkamedes

[Shane Walden]

Ran this tonight, had a great time. My table decided to play up so I have very little pity for them.

The quick strikes ability from the black dragon zombie can be brutal. It killed the cavalier and scared the hell out of everyone else. Good thing zombies lose special attacks like breath weapon. It was also a good thing that it didn't have DR 5/slashing.

I almost tricked the table into releasing the glabrezu. So close I could taste it. But they persevered and it was awesome.

Overall a great scenario I thought.

Shane

[Sior]

I'm running it Tuesday. I read through it release day and got super excited! Love how it's like a Pathfinder "Weekend At Bernie's II", haha.

It doesn't have the DR/5 slashing?? Must have missed that. Just assumed it did. Thanks.

Question:

How did your players know to search the wood stove? Or did you give it to them with a Perception check? A lot seems to depend on finding the stove, Perceiving the switch, and getting the trap door.

[Shane Walden]

Sior wrote:

I'm running it Tuesday. I read through it release day and got super excited! Love how it's like a Pathfinder "Weekend At Bernie's II", haha.

It doesn't have the DR/5 slashing?? Must have missed that. Just assumed it did. Thanks.

** spoiler omitted **

spoiler:

A lot does depend on them finding the hidden compartment. I simply allowed them perception checks to find the switch. They don't get the opportunity to purchase items after the scenario introduction as in many scenarios so I felt that it was my responsibility to encourage finding that cache as much as possible. If it weren't for that potion of hide from undead we would have had at least 2 character deaths, maybe 3 character deaths and an animal companion, instead of just one. The elixir of swimming was a lot of help too.

Shane

[Doug Miles]

Question for a Developer:

A Bestiary 3 giant skunk has 27hp (5d8+5).
A dire skunk (Advanced template) is listed in the scenario at 37hp. The advanced template grants +2 to all ability scores, so it seems that it should have 32hp--unless it was meant to have the giant template (+4 Con) rather than the Advanced. Minor issue, but I'm doing stat blocks for GM Shared Resources and I'd like to know which is right.

[John Compton]

Doug Miles wrote:

Question for a Developer:

A Bestiary 3 giant skunk has 27hp (5d8+5).
A dire skunk (Advanced template) is listed in the scenario at 37hp. The advanced template grants +2 to all ability scores, so it seems that it should have 32hp--unless it was meant to have the giant template (+4 Con) rather than the Advanced. Minor issue, but I'm doing stat blocks for GM Shared Resources and I'd like to know which is right.

Doug, I'm looking at page 294 in the Bestiary, and there are the Quick Rules and the Rebuild Rules. The Rebuild Rules note that every ability score increases by 4. The Quick Rules establish that the creature should get +2 hp/HD.

[Doug Miles]

Sorry about that John, I checked again and must have misread. I looked right at it and it still didn't register. There's not much hope when neither memory or sight are functioning. Thanks for the quick reply!

[John Compton]

Pertaining to finding Kalkamedes's gear:

I'm putting on my GM hat.

Sheila does prompt the PCs to look around for useful equipment as an answer to one question, and it's certainly within reason for her to make mention searching his cabin as an option if the players seem particularly reticent to ask any questions. It's a Tier 1–5 scenario, and sometimes a little push in the right direction is appropriate for a table of newer players.

[Sior]

John Compton wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

I was contemplating opening up in town that afternoon with the request to come to the starting point. They can stock up if they need to then ushered to the briefing. Was either that or "Were there any retconned purchases you wanted to make now that you know what you're doing?" (which is odd anyway). Contemplating. Still have a couple days to decide.

[ZomB]

A few observations and queries:

Sulianna is described as having elven features, yet her picture is clearly human. Of course I can use that to create suspicion at the metagame level ;-)

Do the circles block the auras of those within? eg can the PCs reliably use Detect abilities such as magic/good/evil on those within?

It appears that Aasimars and Tieflings (eg native outsiders) could become trapped in at least the second circle (as described) if they enter. I hope there isn't a whole party of them - as that would be the weirdest TPK ever.

Dhampirs don't appear to be able to enter either circle - as undead cannot - due to the positive energy barrier.

I assume Gamin is not meant to talk at all until final approach to the edifice. Or is he meant to be just evasive/obstructive before that point?

He gives his sword "as a gift". This isn't clear if this is meant to be a freebie, or whether it is a paid for item and just crossed off the sheet if the mission fails.

[John Compton]

There's no built-in reason for the circles to block auras. If a party has access to alignment detection magic/abilities, I would allow them to function.

Your observations about outsider/undead PCs is very amusing as a hypothetically cautionary tale for us all.

Gamin only begins talking after the PCs have proven their good intentions and willingness to help Kalkamedes (likely after the PCs succeed at two of the Maiming Mountain tasks). His main interest is in helping Kalkamedes, and giving advice to wakeful Pathfinders is as good a means as any. So long as they have not abused Kalkamedes or been horribly negligent, I imagine Gamin will pipe up by the time they reach the Black Edifice at least. The adventure is much more interesting with an intelligent sword than without.

Just like other items gained in a scenario, the "gift" simply opens up Gamin for purchase.

[Sesharan]

Aasimars/Tieflings shouldn't get trapped in the circle, as it explicitly calls out that it only traps Extraplanar creatures, which Native Outsiders are not.

[Sesharan]

We just ran this yesterday, and as a result of a very convincing gnome in the circle and some poor sense motives and knowledge rolls, the big guy got let out. As I was reporting it, I was looking for somewhere to note that he was set free, and I didn't see anything. Am I just missing a big obvious button, or is that not something that gets reported?

[Sior]

I don't think that failure condition is pertinent to the overall storyline. Though I suppose good players would work it into their roleplaying, always looking over their shoulder for a giant beast. Or a mistrust of gnomes, haha. It would be nice to be able to report the different outcomes, not just success or fail. I guess we just have to wait for Season 5 to roll out for that.

[Sesharan]

That's what I thought. They also "succeeded" horribly on Midnight Mauler, and there was no special reporting option for that either. Well, I look forward to being able to report odd successes in season 5 then.

[CRobledo]

I ran this this past weekend and it was quite a hoot. I loved GMing this scenario. Having a CR13 encounter in a 1-5 is amazing. I had a table of experienced players, and I actually had the Glabrezu miniature plop down on the table. Everyone thought I was just using it to represent another huge creature and I was like "nope, it TOTALLY looks exactly like the miniature". They had that "oh #$%^" moment. Thankfully they did not set it free.

My suggestion to other GMs is to ask for all knowledges that players have ranks in at the start of the adventure, and make the relevant knowledge rolls (in the sidebar) secret from the players. Otherwise they know something is up way to easily and will metagame it.

The guardian encounter was pretty neat, although I think the damage in the statblock is a bit too low, even with the debuff it has printed. I ran it as printed, which was probably good for the party. The hat of disguise to make him not look undead is a pretty neat trick. (although technically, it cant switch its type from undead to dragon...)

[Kintrik]

I am curious on when you revealed his true form?

[Sior]

Kintrik wrote:

I am curious on when you revealed his true form?

Me, too!

[Tony Lindman]

CRobledo wrote:

My suggestion to other GMs is to ask for all knowledges that players have ranks in at the start of the adventure, and make the relevant knowledge rolls (in the sidebar) secret from the players. Otherwise they know something is up way to easily and will metagame it.

I had that exact thought, although rather than rolling in secret I thought I would make up a chart and have everyone roll a bunch of checks and saves before the game started (for that scene and for others) without telling them the DCs. Then as we hit each one, I could see who succeeded where and go on with the story without stopping to roll a bunch of dice (which is telling in and of itself).

[Matthew Pittard]

Agreed. In fact thats the only way it should be run Tony. Im running it the week after next. When you ask players during the game to start rolling sense motive checks , players tend to 'lock down' and refuse to believe anything

[DrakeSpartan]

Question:

How much warning should be given, before Kalamedes runs into a hazard?

With the banish being cast on Koth'Vaul, does he get a will save like the spells states, or is what "easily sends Koth'Vaul back to the Abyss" means?

[Sesharan]

DrakeSpartan: I would have the PCs roll Perception and then figure out, based on their results, at what distance they first spot the hazard. As for the other thing, I would assume that his bindings are designed to remove his ability to resist a dismissal. Alternatively, you could count up things that he "hates, fears, or otherwise opposes" that are present when you make the save- the circle is effectively composed of many such things, and Sulianna should count as another.

[Mike Lindner]

Just hand-wave the will save (failing it) for story purposes.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

the hazards also depend on how the PCs are running things. If they send scouts out ahead to try and see what hazards there might be, they should have plenty of time to prepare.

[DrakeSpartan]

Thanks for the assist. It saves that awkward moment if he was to save...

[Samish Lakefinder]

I ran this twice over the weekend and both times the party got split up by the elevator and had fighters beating on Koth'Vaul's summoning circle before wiser heads arrived.

One thing that isn't mentioned in the scenario that became important is how long the elevator takes to travel between rooms, since it will split up most parties and Kalkamedes doesn't sit nicely at the bottom waiting for everyone to arrive.

[Kintrik]

Quote:

One thing that isn't mentioned in the scenario that became important is how long the elevator takes to travel between rooms, since it will split up most parties and Kalkamedes doesn't sit nicely at the bottom waiting for everyone to arrive.

A person would fall the 200 feet in 1 round, so for it to be safe to use the elevator it would have to be slower then that. I planned on using the the decent speed of feather fall as a guide, then go a little faster. So about 80-100 feet per round. So about 2-2.5 rounds to go 200 feet. That would be 4-5 rounds of the first group being alone down below.

[Sior]

Aye, I figured approximately 60 feet a round, same as a normal character doublemoving. That would take just over three rounds, but I simplified it to 3 rounds. It seemed to work out. Though my group decided to actively block Kalkamedes from entering.

[CRobledo]

Kintrik wrote:

I am curious on when you revealed his true form?

The party finally decided to not mess with him, and check out the rest of the room first. They were getting closer to the Azata, so he ordered the zombie dragon to attack. They were already too far to see the demon, so what I did is when someone else moved back (to avoid the dragon's "Breath weapon") I was like "So the gnome is not there anymore, you see THIS instead".

[Tony Lindman]

Sesharan wrote:

DrakeSpartan: I would have the PCs roll Perception and then figure out, based on their results, at what distance they first spot the hazard.

That was my plan as well. I'll have them pre-roll Perception checks for each of the hazards (including the ambush), and use that to determine who sees each one and from how far away, using the -1/10' rule.

As for the lighting, from what I can tell, the dim light only gives a +2 to Perception DC's for "unfavorable conditions", is that correct? It seems like it should be more.

[Matthew Pittard]

Have you had a character actually enter the gnome containment area?

[Jelloarm]

My PCs wouldn't even enter the Ghaele containment area without destroying the magic circle first.

So weird situation arose - my party had very low healing powers (2 fighters, ranger, rogue). They used most of their potions keeping Kalkamedes up and walking, so when they got to the end, they didn't have enough healing "Oomph" to wake the azata. I ruled that Kalkamedes hadn't finished his quest yet, so they could lead him back by simply carrying her unconscious form, until dawn came and he woke. A day's rest brought her back, they got all the backstory, and our crossbow fighter took up the task of banishing the glabrezu.

Also, Gamin was the most ornery intelligent sword ever, because the sword-and-board fighter started insulting it and Kalkamedes immediately, and when the rogue tried to make peace he called it 'cutlery' and got to a 5 on his diplomacy. Good times.

[Criik]

Played this last night and plan to run it next week. One thing that I think the GM may have been mistaken (as I had never heard the rule before), but he said you could climb down at 5' without a check. Is this true? We only had 3 PCs, and he used it as the way to get our pre-gen 4th down (after 2 of our 3 were already in a heap at the bottom).

On that note, I think that the fatality of the cliff should get scaled down for the 1-2 subtier. 7d6 is a rough drop. Granted, it was due to the other 2 characters in my group not having rope (seriously?) So the person fell from the top. Maybe keeping the height the same, but having something like vegetation or mud at the bottom that cushions the fall in the lower subtier. That way, you still have to make the same number of skill checks but it's not nearly instant death on a fall. I guess scenarios don't get edits in this way, but maybe as a suggestion for future scenario writers.

I liked trying to figure out the solutions to the "puzzles". However, there was nothing really preventing the party from going around the thorns and the bog (at least in our regard where we had control over Kalkamedes due to having my cavalier's mount), so it was the easiest solution in those situations. We failed the linguistics checks for the inversion room, but by spellcrafting the wand, it was a good enough hint to figure it out.

Gamin never came to life for us, but seeing that mechanic as I start to prep it seems like a real fun opportunity.

My LN cavalier gave his word to the glabrezu that he would come back for him. Which he did, but with banishment. Let's hope he doesn't hold a grudge, but I did "free" him from his imprisonment.

[Qstor]

this is a question for people that have run it

Question:

What did people do with the cliff/ravine part of the scenario?

I allowed the players at a 1st 2nd level table to throw a rope across and 10 ten on climb checks otherwise it seems a little difficult for 1st level PCs.

[Jelloarm]

Mike -

Spoiler:

A well-prepared rogue used his climbing kit and two ropes to scamper down, then made a series of harrowing rolls to climb up with the other ropes. He rolled about 3 14s (enough to stay put, but not enough to fall), making my heart stop. I let them use the same DCs as the bog to create a rig out of their supplies to make a harness-type system to pull themselves across once the rogue had gotten to the top and pulled the rope taut.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

Ran this last night for 7 players in the 4-5 subtier. It went about as I expected with that many. They ended up rigging a harness for him that they tied to first the pregen samurai's horse, then to valeros when they couldn't get the horse over the chasm. This worked quite well, and he wasn't strong enough to break the rope. I did have him try the drag maneuver and actually succeeded a few times (even moved the horse twice).

Since there were several warriors in the group, it was easy for them to pin him to the ground, and even had him tied up a couple of times just so they could safely get him past obstacles. Gamin of course voiced his objections, but they politely informed him of their reasoning and Kalkamedes never took a single point of damage. (They had dressed him, so I assumed the "strong boots" were good enough to stop him from hurting his ankle. I let them know that it looked like if they hadn't put his boots on, he'd have sprained if not broken his ankle there, which made them happy that they had thought ahead.)

The chasm took probably the most time. They argued over climbing down then up or trying to throw a grappling hook across the gap. Since the sides were steep, I figured 50' across. That'd give one foot incline per 10' height, which is pretty darn steep. They had plenty of rope between them for either way.

They ended up trying the line across first, and the first toss was a nat 20 for a total of 20 with the penalties for throwing it that far. Several tight-roped across it, others used climb to get across. They had enough rope that with Kalkamedes tied up they tied him to the rope and while one group let rope out, the other group pulled it in. At that point they had wasted a good half an hour or more on that obstacle so I hand waved it. They had enough strong guys that it really wouldn't have been hard for them to succeed.

Unfortunately I had to skip the skunk encounter because of time, but I'm sure they would have torn them apart. Since they had a paladin with them, it was fun to be able to tell him that he detected overwhelming evil coming from the gnome. They all kind of freaked out a little bit over that, and the two bards easily saw the errors of his story so he sicced the dragon on them. The undead were no match for them, and recognizing the ghaele for what she was, it ended pretty well.

They couldn't believe that they got Gamin on their sheets, and were really happy with the Gift of the Ghaele. All in all we had a great time with this scenario.

[Sior]

I had an Oracle of the Heavens (I believe) in the group I ran on Tuesday. He ended up bypassing the bog and the chasm both with light bridges. I felt slightly cheated, honestly. But what can one do? Hope to run it again without that one ability nerfing two hazards.

[Yiroep]

Sior wrote:

I had an Oracle of the Heavens (I believe) in the group I ran on Tuesday. He ended up bypassing the bog and the chasm both with light bridges. I felt slightly cheated, honestly. But what can one do? Hope to run it again without that one ability nerfing two hazards.

It's actually kind of funny you said that. When I played it, as soon as I saw the first hazard I was like "Moonlight Bridge!" as a joke. It really does completely bypass those obstacles, though.

[John Compton]

Yiroep wrote:

Sior wrote:

I had an Oracle of the Heavens (I believe) in the group I ran on Tuesday. He ended up bypassing the bog and the chasm both with light bridges. I felt slightly cheated, honestly. But what can one do? Hope to run it again without that one ability nerfing two hazards.

It's actually kind of funny you said that. When I played it, as soon as I saw the first hazard I was like "Moonlight Bridge!" as a joke. It really does completely bypass those obstacles, though.

I had the same thought when I developed it. In that case the player made good use of a class ability. Congratulations all around.

Then towards the end of the scenario...:

Feed the character to Koth'Vaul.

Ah, does a moonlight bridge that breaks the protective circle release the demon? It probably shouldn't, but what I recall of the circle's description does leave that up to interpretation.

[Sior]

John Compton wrote:

Yiroep wrote:

Sior wrote:

I had an Oracle of the Heavens (I believe) in the group I ran on Tuesday. He ended up bypassing the bog and the chasm both with light bridges. I felt slightly cheated, honestly. But what can one do? Hope to run it again without that one ability nerfing two hazards.

It's actually kind of funny you said that. When I played it, as soon as I saw the first hazard I was like "Moonlight Bridge!" as a joke. It really does completely bypass those obstacles, though.

I had the same thought when I developed it. In that case the player made good use of a class ability. Congratulations all around.

** spoiler omitted **

Oh, I SO wanted to feed him to the gnome, but he was the ONLY one who saw through the twisted truths... Like I said, can't wait to try again with some other players!

[Seraphimpunk]

I played it Monday, our barbarian didn't think the "gnome" could do anything even though we were all highly suspicious that it really was a gnome, so he walked into the circle and said "kill me"... Which was precisely what we witnessed happen as the gnome grabbed him by the throat and demanded to be released. We called his bluff and he rended the barbarian, eviscerating him to death. It was quite amusing to see the look of disbelief on the barbarian's face.

I wish the high level games had some shockers like this one. Lol

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Does the party always get the sword if Kalkamedes survives?

Kalkamedes:

My party took to knocking him unconcious at the beginning of every encounter. There is no way the sword would like them after that. Or the part where they boosted his AC to 23 and let him waste enemy AoOs.

Koth'vaul:

Thanks to party flubbing most of the rolls and then making the assumption he must be a gnome azata, since there was obviously an elven azata, he got to escape and have some fun.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

How exactly were they knocking him unconscious? He's immune to sleep and non-lethal damage... (He's already unconscious, that's the point of him sleepwalking...)

[CRobledo]

I assume the party must have also found the sword in the first place, it's not automatic.

[zylphryx]

Ran this one twice over the weekend. A greatly enjoyable scenario for both GM and player. Good John

Spoiler:

The two groups came up with similar solutions to several things. They both put Kalkamedes on a "leash" (finding the contents of the hidden compartment while looking for suitable leash like materials)... basically tying a rope harness around him before he is cut loose and following him. They would pull to stop his momentum ... which helped give them time to deal with the threats as they popped up, though not without issues, such as a gnome alchemist be pulled behind him as he was the only one holding onto the rope while the rest of the party dealt with the bear (a grabbed PC allowing Kalkamedes to pass by unmolested) or an entire party of casters (2 wizards, a sorcerer and an oracle) struggling to stop him and ultimately using trees, rock outcroppings, etc, to help stop his movement).

Both groups used safety lines and tied off his "leash" to the main line to get him across the canyon, though they came to decisions in completely different ways. The sword piped up at this point in both runs.

The end encounters were both close calls, to the point of the first group's bard actually reaching into the glabrezu's circle ... a roll of a nat 1 kept him from losing his arm when it's true form showed and it tried to bite him. Nothing like party members examining two different things (the demon's ring and occupant and the azata's) at the same time.

All in all a blast for everyone at the table.

[Seraphimpunk]

Can a Make Whole at high enough caster level fix the sword?
Or can it ever be upgraded to be better than a +1?

And can a bladebound magus choose it as their blackblade?

[John Compton]

Make whole is not capable of repairing Gamin the Misforged, and the Chronicle sheet notes that at this time the Pathfinder Society has no means to repair Gamin. It's not that he's broken; he simply was never finished correctly. At this time Gamin also follows the rules for upgrading named magic items, which is to say it cannot be.

Based on my reading of the magus archetype, a bladebound magus's blade is a unique and independent acquisition with its own progression of Intelligence, Ego, and abilities. Gamin the Misforged cannot serve as such a bound blade, but he could still work with a bladebound magus as a "typical" intelligent blade.

[Seraphimpunk]

Thanks

[Raymond Lambert]

Running a game this week. I like the idea of collecting rolls before the adventure begins, especially the knowledge or sense motive rolls. What worries me is that if a player has a reroll, shouldn't they be allowed to know what type of roll it is before deciding to use that reroll? I would expect to know what I was rolling for when I have a reroll available.

I think this would be good to know in general, not just this mod. I am going to open a thread about this elsewhere.

[Hawkins]

I am running this scenario this Saturday. I have an average party level of 2 (5 players that I know of). So should I use the tier 1-2 encounters as is? I have GM'd before, but this is my first time GMing PFS.

[Kintrik]

You always run it as written for PFS. The APL only determine which tier the players play at.

APL 1,2 or 3 can play in Tier 1-2
APL 3,4 or 5 can play in Tier 4-5

APL 3 can choose to play either Tier, however unless they actually have in tier level players I highly discourage it.

All of these rules are fully explained in the Guide to Pathfinder Society Play. A free PDF download.