GM Reference thread for City of Locusts.
I was actually, genuinely saddened and upset with one particular thing.
My plan is that the PCs will meet her when they arrive in Kenabres, and get to know her a little before the opening sequence.
I wanted them to feel genuine grief when she was killed, valiantly saving their lives while fighting the Storm King.
But to find she has been defiled and turned into a ravener? Oh...that hurts. That really, really hurts. *sniff*...*wipes away a tear*.
It's tres cool, but it's so cruel!
I've only had a quick flick through the book so far..is there a way to force her back to a simple state of death? I'm thinking maybe some Wish magic or somesuch.
They can't leave Terendelev like that! They just can't!
Brad -
I was confused by this bit...
I read that as meaning you can't "do the usual thing" with true resurrection, which is to destroy the creature, then resurrect it to life. That's why I was wondering if there was another way of resurrecting her.
It means you can't
Ah!
That is one of the reasons I wait until all of an AP is out before starting them - I don't like surprises as the GM! :)
But seriously, James - you guys have really raised the bar with WotR. Until now, Carrion Crown was my favourite AP - but you're really excelled yourselves with this one! :)
I'm still reading through City of Locusts, but I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of...
I was actually going to include her between book 3 and book 4 as a kind of bonus boss. I guess I'll rethink those plans.
Aponavicius is also a bit different than I expected.
i was quite confused on Aponavicius not being mythic also.
Tch, tch, tch.
** spoiler omitted **
On a more serious note, this book does indeed turn up the intensity knob. Like wow.
If it makes you feel better...
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I agree, about the bird and the demon, but to be honest Aponavicus is still a very impressive enemy. I guess due to the nature of certain mythic abilities, the kinda have to meet non-mythic foes too.
If you want to explain it with in-game logic, consider the fact that drinking the nahyndrian elixir was still quite dangerous even to demons, and the alchemist on charge was trying to make it safer. Risking one of his most important minions might have seemed to risky to Deskari.
Creative Director
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Tch, tch, tch.
** spoiler omitted **
On a more serious note, this book does indeed turn up the intensity knob. Like wow.
She doesn't need to know that spell. It's a spell like ability available to all silver dragons. Which is why we removed it from her spells known from her old pre-Pathfinder stat block.
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Creative Director
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i was quite confused on Aponavicius not being mythic also.
I waffled a bit between making her mythic and not... and in the end, I decided that it was more interesting to NOT make her mythic. It does mean there's a disconnect between her stats and one brief line early on... but by not making her mythic but still making her powerful I wanted to do something specific...
Pretty much ALL of the major NPC villains from there on out ARE mythic, and I wanted the mythic PCs to have at least one villain that had been foreshadowed to not be mythic so as to give them the satisfaction and delight of seeing how their mythic powers work against a non mythic foe that has been built up.
It's basically a present to the mythic PCs so that they'll actually FELL like they're mythic. If every battle is equally deadly... you never feel like you're getting more powerful, after all.
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I'm hoping to start running it in March/April - with a non-Mythic Group. I honestly think the challenges in Book 6 (as written) are beatable as non mythic, for a standard party that is well built and played by experienced players.
I'm thinking (based on what the books suggest) having Book 4 be level 14-17, book 5 is level 17-19, and in book 6 you just hit level 20, maybe with some bells and whistles a the end.
Probably will start another thread on that at some point.
I think you'd have to leave out the "non mythic targets get no saving throw" abilities at the minimum.
I was actually surprised about Aponavicius's lack of Mythic Power as well, and I'm likely to bump her up to Mythic Rank 6 or so at least. That's not a fight that should be below the power curve.
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In Bestiary 4, the demon lords have notes about their power ups for being in their realms. Those helpful little "*" were lacking from Baphomet, and now from Daskari as well. Are they not "in their realms" and getting the upgrades, or was that just omitted? (Sorry if this is being asked again, I'm just not recalling having seen it is all).
They were omitted. The easy answer is 'if there is a mythic version of the spell, the demon lord has access to it'
I'm more of a jerk than that. I'm giving them the Mythic Subtype in addition to 10 Mythic Ranks, and all of the benefits that come along with that. It doesn't technically read that way in the AP, but I feel it's a reasonable assumption.
At that point my party will be Tier 10 and putting out absolutely silly amounts of damage (I already have one player throwing 8 ranged atacks a round with a +2 Splitting, Throwing, Agile, Evil Outsider Bane, Chaotic Outsider Bane, Demon Bane Kukri Legendary Item) so I do expect them to be able to kill a Demon Lord in one round. Giving Deskari 10 mythic ranks and the mythic subtype might just give him a chance of surviving for a few rounds. It also gives his Balors a few rounds to possibly murder people. I intend to make it a truly terrifying fight, and with the final boss of an AP I do not pull punches. My players know this this and they are OK with it.
And the Deskari fight is technically optional. You could claim that before first death they actually have the full 10 mythic ranks, but the process of resurrection only gives them the little baby mythic.
That way it's still reasonable for your players to have murder-faced Baphomet.
I don't expect my party to murder face Baphomet. I plan to use Mythic Augmented Time Stop and a number of scrolls to their fullest ability should my players decide to try to face Baphomet.
That's true. He could technically be in a weakened state due to the first death at the hands of Nocticula, and could explain why the PC's are able to kill him at the level they are. I like it.
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Creative Director
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In Bestiary 4, the demon lords have notes about their power ups for being in their realms. Those helpful little "*" were lacking from Baphomet, and now from Daskari as well. Are they not "in their realms" and getting the upgrades, or was that just omitted? (Sorry if this is being asked again, I'm just not recalling having seen it is all).
That was an omission. In the future, we'll probably keep them, but I'm not sure how often we'll be doing them in the future.
Can anyone confirm if Khorramzadeh has the highest touch AC of any published creature?
Touch AC 48, you can figure out the rest.
They were omitted. The easy answer is 'if there is a mythic version of the spell, the demon lord has access to it'I'm more of a jerk than that. I'm giving them the Mythic Subtype in addition to 10 Mythic Ranks, and all of the benefits that come along with that. It doesn't technically read that way in the AP, but I feel it's a reasonable assumption.
At that point my party will be Tier 10 and putting out absolutely silly amounts of damage (I already have one player throwing 8 ranged atacks a round with a +2 Splitting, Throwing, Agile, Evil Outsider Bane, Chaotic Outsider Bane, Demon Bane Kukri Legendary Item) so I do expect them to be able to kill a Demon Lord in one round. Giving Deskari 10 mythic ranks and the mythic subtype might just give him a chance of surviving for a few rounds. It also gives his Balors a few rounds to possibly murder people. I intend to make it a truly terrifying fight, and with the final boss of an AP I do not pull punches. My players know this this and they are OK with it.
Um, you do know that Bane effects don't stack with themselves, right?
The source is all considered Bane, even if it's Bane against separate foes. So, against demons, your friend has a +4 +2d6 item, NOT a +8, +6d6 item.
If he wants damage to stack, he needs Holy and Axiomatic.
===Aelryinth
They were omitted. The easy answer is 'if there is a mythic version of the spell, the demon lord has access to it'I'm more of a jerk than that. I'm giving them the Mythic Subtype in addition to 10 Mythic Ranks, and all of the benefits that come along with that. It doesn't technically read that way in the AP, but I feel it's a reasonable assumption.
At that point my party will be Tier 10 and putting out absolutely silly amounts of damage (I already have one player throwing 8 ranged atacks a round with a +2 Splitting, Throwing, Agile, Evil Outsider Bane, Chaotic Outsider Bane, Demon Bane Kukri Legendary Item) so I do expect them to be able to kill a Demon Lord in one round. Giving Deskari 10 mythic ranks and the mythic subtype might just give him a chance of surviving for a few rounds. It also gives his Balors a few rounds to possibly murder people. I intend to make it a truly terrifying fight, and with the final boss of an AP I do not pull punches. My players know this this and they are OK with it.
Um, you do know that Bane effects don't stack with themselves, right?
The source is all considered Bane, even if it's Bane against separate foes. So, against demons, your friend has a +4 +2d6 item, NOT a +8, +6d6 item.
If he wants damage to stack, he needs Holy and Axiomatic.
===Aelryinth
Enhancement bonuses do not stack, so he is only getting +2 from the bane. That is already factored in. I don't see why he wouldn't get the 6d6 though as it's much like getting hit with multiple rays from a Scorching Ray or multiple missiles from a Magic Missile. They are all damage from the same source, but they don't provide a "bonus" so it is still added.
Not that it really matters that much. It adds an average of 14 damage to the attack which in not very much compared to the rest of his flat. When that character takes average damage and blows a point of mythic power to double the damage of a hit he is pushing 90-100 damage per attack and he has 8 of them in a round at Level 9, Mythic Tier 3. That doesn't even account for his 15-20 crit range.
The source of the dice damage is still the bane effect.
What you're proposing is something along the lines of a reflected lightning bolt. If it goes through the target, hits a wall, and bounced back in the direction it came from, he takes double damage, right? It's just dice, it should stack! Even if it is from the same source!
No, the dice don't stack. Bane is already THE best enhancement you can get, pound for pound, if you know what you are going to be fighting. The dice don't stack any more then a Flaming Flaming Flaming Flaming sword would stack.
If you want to be nice to him, he could add the Sun Sword 'scourge' effect of +2 Enhancement vs Evil. That would Stack, and it's effectively a +1 Cost, and also a great thing to have.
You're thinking of Bane as something that stacks. It's not, Bane is a constant damage source of +2/+2, +2d6. As you add different types, what you're doing is expanding what Bane damage can touch, NOT introducing different sources of damage.
It's like saying I have a sword that affects only undead. Oh, I then enhance it so it also hurts aberrants! Just because I then fight an undead aberrant doesn't mean my sword does double damage...it's still the same source, and does the same base damage.
Likewise multiple Banes. You're just expanding what the Bane damage can hit, not introducing a brand new bundle of Bane damage.
==Aelryinth
The source of the dice damage is still the bane effect.
What you're proposing is something along the lines of a reflected lightning bolt. If it goes through the target, hits a wall, and bounced back in the direction it came from, he takes double damage, right? It's just dice, it should stack! Even if it is from the same source!
No, the dice don't stack. Bane is already THE best enhancement you can get, pound for pound, if you know what you are going to be fighting. The dice don't stack any more then a Flaming Flaming Flaming Flaming sword would stack.
If you want to be nice to him, he could add the Sun Sword 'scourge' effect of +2 Enhancement vs Evil. That would Stack, and it's effectively a +1 Cost, and also a great thing to have.
You're thinking of Bane as something that stacks. It's not, Bane is a constant damage source of +2/+2, +2d6. As you add different types, what you're doing is expanding what Bane damage can touch, NOT introducing different sources of damage.
It's like saying I have a sword that affects only undead. Oh, I then enhance it so it also hurts aberrants! Just because I then fight an undead aberrant doesn't mean my sword does double damage...it's still the same source, and does the same base damage.
Likewise multiple Banes. You're just expanding what the Bane damage can hit, not introducing a brand new bundle of Bane damage.
==Aelryinth
There are several threads that both agree and disagree with you. From what I can find it seems to be a bit of a hotbed topic.
Ahh, apparently you are correct. It got an FAQ:
http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9rdl
Good to know.
Yeah, the FAQ is why this changed. Otherwise, getting a double Bane weapon for WoR is, like, AWESOME.
Special note: Mythic Bane is specifically noted to stack with normal Bane!!
==Aelryinth
Having only recently finished reading this volume, and loving this adventure path, I would have to say this is without a doubt the weakest volume in the path. I felt like at least 2 AP's of material and plotline was squeezed into one volume, and a lot of story elements feel kind of rushed. Especially the attack upon Drezen by the Marilith general, which feels like it could be removed completely without influencing anything. I kind of understand the reason...the statblocks for this volume are LONG and take up quite a bit of space.
If I were to get this far in the Adventure, this adventure would definitely require the greatest amount of reworking and fleshing out.
Yeah, I still liked the adventure but it did feel like it was trying to pack too much into too small a space.