#5-05 The elven entanglement gm discussion [spoilers]


GM Discussion

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5/5

Mazlith wrote:
The centipede starts 10-30 feet away from the centipede, and the centipede tramples as a full-round-action in the first round, so it can't do more than a 5-foot-step. Trample work inside the centipede's reach, which is 30 ft? Or does the Centipede move on top of the PCs to trample?

Trample affects only those you physically move on top of. The centipede is like 30'x30', and has 50' or 60', so should be able to move directly on top of most of the party in the starting location.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/5 RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8

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Got to play this scenario at Winterfest this past weekend -- what a blast!

That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode. Which is just where I like to be!

Fortunately, our triple wizard team was able to entangle, grapple, curse, and knock the poor thing prone as the fight progressed, which was a good thing because it was eating through my barbarians 222 HP pretty darn fast! A wind wall kept the party safe as our rogue diplomanced the elves, and we made it through the encounter without much difficulty. Although I did start to get worried when it crit me for 80+ damage!

Dark Archive 4/5

Zach Williams wrote:
To trample, the centipede must move over the affected characters with its body. Literally trampling them beneath it. Reach does not have anything to do with trample.

I understand now. It tramples with it's move.

5/5

RainyDayNinja wrote:
Sniggevert wrote:
Constrict FAQ
I don't think anyone was disputing that you do the constrict damage on the initial grab. The question is whether you can use the Grab special attack to make a grapple check against someone you're already grappling.

I have actually been meaning to dispute that FAQ. There are creatures with the specific ability to constrict immediately (see Behir) - that is meaningless if you can constrict on the first grab regardless. This critter proves why it shouldn't be so. The key phrase in the Contrict rules that indicate this to me is the "(in addition to any other effects caused by a successful check, including additional damage)" - since a successful grab doesn't have any effect other than the grappled condition. Those all come with maintaining a grapple.

[/threadjack]

Liberty's Edge 2/5

Walter Sheppard wrote:

Got to play this scenario at Winterfest this past weekend -- what a blast!

That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode. Which is just where I like to be!

Fortunately, our triple wizard team was able to entangle, grapple, curse, and knock the poor thing prone as the fight progressed, which was a good thing because it was eating through my barbarians 222 HP pretty darn fast! A wind wall kept the party safe as our rogue diplomanced the elves, and we made it through the encounter without much difficulty. Although I did start to get worried when it crit me for 80+ damage!

People really need to leanr that this is not possible in the suprise round. To all future GM's!

In a Surprise Round, you may take one standard OR move action. You may NOT take a Full Round Action.

Trample is a Full Round Action.

It is also stated in the scenario, that it uses its surprise round to Burrow up onto the ground. Thus this fight is straight initiative. No surprise rounds.

If a GM pulls this on my at a con I am playing this in in a few weeks I am smacking them with a rule book.

....

But not really. I will set them straight though. A "Surprise Trample!" is simply horrible, and can put people down before the fight even begins. Hardly fair.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/5 RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8

Zach Williams wrote:
Walter Sheppard wrote:

Got to play this scenario at Winterfest this past weekend -- what a blast!

That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode. Which is just where I like to be!

Fortunately, our triple wizard team was able to entangle, grapple, curse, and knock the poor thing prone as the fight progressed, which was a good thing because it was eating through my barbarians 222 HP pretty darn fast! A wind wall kept the party safe as our rogue diplomanced the elves, and we made it through the encounter without much difficulty. Although I did start to get worried when it crit me for 80+ damage!

People really need to leanr that this is not possible in the suprise round. To all future GM's!

In a Surprise Round, you may take one standard OR move action. You may NOT take a Full Round Action.

Trample is a Full Round Action.

It is also stated in the scenario, that it uses its surprise round to Burrow up onto the ground. Thus this fight is straight initiative. No surprise rounds.

If a GM pulls this on my at a con I am playing this in in a few weeks I am smacking them with a rule book.

....

But not really. I will set them straight though. A "Surprise Trample!" is simply horrible, and can put people down before the fight even begins. Hardly fair.

You are correct! However, I believe I've mis-spoken here and slighted the table's excellent GM. I think he directed the fight correctly.

As I recall:
We arrived and the creature burrowed into view during the surprise round.

Initiative was rolled, and before anyone could get clear of it (our surprise round acting wizard cast wind wall to stop the arrows), we were trampled. We all had full turns afterwards before it could go again, so these must have been full rounds.

Of course, these are the memories of a battle-beaten barbarian, so who knows how accurate they are.

Dark Archive 5/5 *

question on the wisc.........

It has the pull 5' ability as a free action when it grapples an opp. But when an opp is grappled they are immediatly moved to an adj. sq of the grappler.

So when would the pull ability really be needed?

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ***

Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

It's for when you fail at grabbing but still succeed at the attack in the first place.

The Exchange 4/5 5/5

joe kirner wrote:

question on the wisc.........

It has the pull 5' ability as a free action when it grapples an opp. But when an opp is grappled they are immediatly moved to an adj. sq of the grappler.

So when would the pull ability really be needed?

Grab and pull are separate free actions when the attack form (tentacle in this case) hits the target. Pull is not dependent on the grab succeeding. If the tentacle hits you make the free CMB check to see if the target is grabbed. If so it moves adjacent to the WiSC and you're done with that tentacle. If not, you make a second free CMB check to see if the target is pulled (5' closer in this case).

There's also edge cases like freedom of movement where the target can't be grappled but can still be pulled.

Sovereign Court 4/5

Running this scenario on Sunday, and I have a poser to which I cannot find the answer. Does the Fungus Queen threaten the area around her sporepods?

1/5

yes, under the description, it states she can attack through any of the sporepods... with her tentacles.

The Exchange 4/5 5/5

Kess, Humble Servant of Abadar wrote:
Running this scenario on Sunday, and I have a poser to which I cannot find the answer. Does the Fungus Queen threaten the area around her sporepods?

Took me a second to realize what you were asking. I would say that she does threaten and can make attacks of opportunity through the sporepods (but only with tentacles) given that she can "attack through a sporepod."

Sovereign Court 4/5

That's awesome. Now for the visual: A tentacle "coming out" of the sporepod and striking a PC, would it be actually emerging from the sporepod (moving and spreading the pod), or since it's a teleport-like effect, look like a tentacle simply on the outside of the pod. If the latter, I would assume a rather difficult Perception DC to notice. As well, the AoO would have the PC flatfooted, no?

1/5

they would be flat footed if they were surprised by the attack, or any other means to gain that condition. The attack alone, would not be.

Sovereign Court 5/5 *

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Walter Sheppard wrote:
Zach Williams wrote:
Walter Sheppard wrote:

Got to play this scenario at Winterfest this past weekend -- what a blast!

That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode. Which is just where I like to be!

Fortunately, our triple wizard team was able to entangle, grapple, curse, and knock the poor thing prone as the fight progressed, which was a good thing because it was eating through my barbarians 222 HP pretty darn fast! A wind wall kept the party safe as our rogue diplomanced the elves, and we made it through the encounter without much difficulty. Although I did start to get worried when it crit me for 80+ damage!

People really need to leanr that this is not possible in the suprise round. To all future GM's!

In a Surprise Round, you may take one standard OR move action. You may NOT take a Full Round Action.

Trample is a Full Round Action.

It is also stated in the scenario, that it uses its surprise round to Burrow up onto the ground. Thus this fight is straight initiative. No surprise rounds.

If a GM pulls this on my at a con I am playing this in in a few weeks I am smacking them with a rule book.

....

But not really. I will set them straight though. A "Surprise Trample!" is simply horrible, and can put people down before the fight even begins. Hardly fair.

You are correct! However, I believe I've mis-spoken here and slighted the table's excellent GM. I think he directed the fight correctly.

As I recall:
We arrived and the creature burrowed into view during the surprise round.

Initiative was rolled, and before anyone could get clear of it (our surprise round acting wizard cast wind wall to stop the arrows), we were trampled. We all had full turns afterwards before it could go again, so these must have been full rounds.

Of course, these are the memories of a battle-beaten barbarian, so who knows...

So sadly this was miss played as I did trample your group with the surprise round I think, though I believe both you and Steve said that that was correct. It is also unfortunate that I didn't get to prepare the scenario very well. This was also my first 7-11 GM game for PFS. Luckily with Rukk to tank the creature, and a Breath of Life for the rogue, there were no deaths. Rukk also made the WISC look like a chump with his DR. I am also very glad that Steve Magic Jared the Hezrou at the end, that would not have been a great encounter to run with very limited preparation time. I look forward to playing this sometime, and possibly running it again with a bit more practice. Overall I believe everyone had a great time.

4/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

I'm running this in less than three hours, so there mightn't be enough time to get input, but I'm curious as to what other GM's did with the WISC encounter.

How did you describe the gnome? I fear the phrase "standing on top of a tree stump" has the potential to forewarn some of my players.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Just describe it as 'sitting on an old tree stump, quivering in fear'. Players SHOULD be suspicious, but their characters should only realize what is going on if they make their perception checks.

The Exchange 4/5 5/5

"Standing on a tree stump which - unfortunately for him - does not appear to be tall enough to avoid the spears of the Tanglebriar denizens you see a short distance away."

"Initiative rolls, please."

(Working from memory there.)

5/5 5/55/55/5

Isaac White wrote:

I'm running this in less than three hours, so there mightn't be enough time to get input, but I'm curious as to what other GM's did with the WISC encounter.

How did you describe the gnome? I fear the phrase "standing on top of a tree stump" has the potential to forewarn some of my players.

I waited for the perception checks , seeing as how there were 3 rolls over a 30, i said that a beetle crawled out of his mouth and then into his eye socket (clearly indicating it was dead)and that the babaus were clearly flynning with the WISC rather than making any effort to get near it.

If the rolls had been lower i would have rolled a die, said "Crap" and then said "you see two babaus trying to sneak up on either side of the calmly oblivious gnome..." making them THINK they got a perception check on me from an unlucky stealth check.

Lantern Lodge 3/5

Hi, I'm going to be running this in a con tomorrow and I have some questions.

1) Why does General Tenasi speaks in a weird 3rd person-kinda way when answering questions? Like calling her patrol teams, "the elves" instead of "we", Kyonin or "our teams"?

Is this intentional? Is the Kyonin military around the tanglebriar separated from other Kyonin elves or something?

2) The boss has a Keen weapon, but the thread range is just x3? Isn't a Keen weapon double the threat range? So it should be a 19-20/x3?

Just checking.

Liberty's Edge 3/5

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Secane wrote:

1) Why does General Tenasi speaks in a weird 3rd person-kinda way when answering questions? Like calling her patrol teams, "the elves" instead of "we", Kyonin or "our teams"?

Is this intentional? Is the Kyonin military around the tanglebriar separated from other Kyonin elves or something?

You're reading too much into it. Anytime she refers to "the elves", it's whatever elves are the subject of the sentence. If you find it sounds odd, just replace it with we or they, as applicable.

Secane wrote:

2) The boss has a Keen weapon, but the thread range is just x3? Isn't a Keen weapon double the threat range? So it should be a 19-20/x3?

The boss in the high subtier should have a 19-20 threat range on that weapon, you are correct.

Grand Lodge 4/5

I'm sad to report that Ryan's character managed to escape the loving embrace of the WISC without anything happening.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Jeff Merola wrote:
I'm sad to report that Ryan's character managed to escape the loving embrace of the WISC without anything happening.

Awww... *tears up mothers day cards*

Liberty's Edge 3/5

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I thought you'd be sadder to report that the centipede died before it could act.

Grand Lodge 4/5

When a Gunslinger signed up I didn't have much hope for the centipede.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 **

Walter Sheppard wrote:


That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode.

Where is everyone getting this surprise round from? There is no mention of it in the text that it gets auto surprise and the monster has a fricken -5 to stealth. So who is getting surprised?

Grand Lodge 4/5

trollbill wrote:
Walter Sheppard wrote:


That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode.
Where is everyone getting this surprise round from? There is no mention of it in the text that it gets auto surprise and the monster has a fricken -5 to stealth. So who is getting surprised?

As stated earlier in the thread, there isn't supposed to be a surprise round for anyone.

5/5 5/55/55/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
trollbill wrote:
Walter Sheppard wrote:


That awesome-pede just wrecked our party in the surprise round. Dishing out 51 damage to everyone in the opening round was pretty solid, and sent us straight in to triage mode.
Where is everyone getting this surprise round from? There is no mention of it in the text that it gets auto surprise and the monster has a fricken -5 to stealth. So who is getting surprised?

Many DMs inculde a surprise round for almost any fight.

You didn't announce you were ready for a fight!
You didn't say you were using your eyes!
They all have readied actions as you walk in.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 **

So really the bad rep this mod is getting has a lot more to do with jerk GMs than the mod itself, i.e. giving the pede auto-surprise (always a douche move), then breaking the rules and letting it take a full round action on the surprise round, then ignoring the written tactics and having it trample 2 rounds in a row.

I have played this once and run it once. In both cases it was run properly and the pede died before it could act in the 3rd round. My character was the only one that died to it and a timely Breath of Life brought me back just in time to kill it.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Trample may be.. creatively interpreting rather than breaking the rules.

Trample works like overrun
Overrun works on a charge
You can do a half charge in a surprise round.

Either that, people don't know the trample rules, or the thing just won initiative and trampled the group. We almost lost more than a few party members to that when I ran it: once it was in reach the gunslinger didn't want to fire. Would have been a few more if it hadn't gotten a 2 on its fort save vs. the snowball.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 **

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I think it is highly likely, and expected, to get 1 trample off. The author then deliberately gives the PCs a breather on the second round by having the pede only attack a single creature. If the PCs haven't figured out just how much danger they are in by the third round and pulled out all the stops, then it may very well result in a TPK as most characters that level can't survive two tramples from that thing.

From a designer stand point, if run correctly, the encounter should do exactly what the author seems to think it should do, i.e. scare the bejesus out of the PCs and have them scramble to pull out their biggest gun and/or save my ass power. But it shouldn't result in a large number of deaths.

5/5 5/55/55/5

And encounters are always run correctly.... :)

This is one of those encounters where a little bit of user error goes a LONG way, and we both know there's a lot of room for user error on the part of Dms. Some players are going to die , throw down an angry one star review, and not want to waste their money on such a "horrible scenario that killed me 3 seconds into the action), or don't have the near eidict memmory it would take to spot the DMs error while reading the tactics.

I know thats a really narrow wall to walk: If you don't push players they roflcopter your encounters and complain its too easy. If you push them to the edge some of the thousands of dms playing it WILL screw it up, get players killed and get players ANGRY.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 **

BigNorseWolf wrote:

And encounters are always run correctly.... :)

This is one of those encounters where a little bit of user error goes a LONG way, and we both know there's a lot of room for user error on the part of Dms. Some players are going to die , throw down an angry one star review, and not want to waste their money on such a "horrible scenario that killed me 3 seconds into the action), or don't have the near eidict memmory it would take to spot the DMs error while reading the tactics.

I know thats a really narrow wall to walk: If you don't push players they roflcopter your encounters and complain its too easy. If you push them to the edge some of the thousands of dms playing it WILL screw it up, get players killed and get players ANGRY.

I do see your point on that. Really, the author maybe should have made a warning statement up front about making sure this encounter is run correctly to avoid unnecessary TPKs. And maybe not made it the first encounter. I do love how it set the tone for the adventure, but dying in the first encounter always sucks.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

Problem with the BBG's high tier tactics:

Spoiler:
Fihralaz does’t hesitate to duck underwater, drink his potion of haste, and swim or teleport to a more advantageous position.

I thought the existance of potion sponge's established that you can't drink potions under water?

5/5 5/55/55/5

FLite wrote:

Problem with the BBG's high tier tactics:

** spoiler omitted **

That's the problem with inferring a negative from somethings existence.

Grand Lodge 4/5

There is no rule against it.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

Spoiler:
From potion sponge

Unlike a potion that is drunk from a vial, a potion sponge can be used underwater.

That sounds like a rule against it.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

On the other hand

Spoiler:
I suppose he doesn't have to drink it from the vial, he has DR 10, he can pop it in his mouth, chew and swallow it, broken glass and all.

Grand Lodge 4/5

FLite wrote:
That sounds like a rule against it.

Not really. It's referencing a non-existent rule.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

Also, since I know it is going to come up....

What effect does life bubble have on the saves / poison / disease for traveling through the tanglebriar?

It doesn't say whether they are inhaled or contact, and I would be inclined to treat it as partial immunity, similar to being immune to only poison or only disease.

(life bubble is one of the favorite spells in our area.)

5/5 5/55/55/5

Hmmm.. good question.

much
of that growth secretes dangerous poisons or is covered in
horrifyingly cruel thorns

Some of the poison at least is contact, so lifebubble can't stop it all. Mind you, it sounds like a druid would have an easier time of it since they move through it without impairment.

Silver Crusade 2/5 *

Anyone want to bet the designer of potion sponge THOUGHT it was a rule?

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

No, I think the designer of potion sponge thought it was just common sense. It was apparently a point of debate before potion sponge, and subject to table variation. The author probably thought he was settling the debate.

Silver Crusade 2/5 *

Common sense is a myth, since there are 6 billion version of common sense on the planet. There is nothing "common" about it.

The author should have known better than to try to backdoor a rule into a piece of equipment. Because that's a non-rule.

2/5

Getting ready to run this scenario as an end of the year thing with my local group. Just wanted to pop in and say 'thanks' to everyone who commented so far. As a 0-star GM, this scenario had mt scratching my head in a few parts, and this whole conversation has helped me out.

I do have two problems I'd like some help on.
1. The satyr, Is there a rule against making him one step friendlier to assist for the sake of time(I have the late slot, so if we run over, we get kicked out without finishing the scenario.)

2. The final battle has A LOT of things going on, from leech swarms, and captured elves, to a submerging demon. We will almost definitely have a full 6-player High tier party, so how would it be best to run the weird little flying thing that tries to threaten the elves?

I think I have a handle on the rest of the battle, but that one thing is throwing me for a loop for some reason.

3/5

Wyntir wrote:


I do have two problems I'd like some help on.
1. The satyr, Is there a rule against making him one step friendlier to assist for the sake of time(I have the late slot, so if we run over, we get kicked out without finishing the scenario.)

2. The final battle has A LOT of things going on, from leech swarms, and captured elves, to a submerging demon. We will almost definitely have a full 6-player High tier party, so how would it be best to run the weird little flying thing that tries to threaten the elves?

1. Well, yes, there is a rule against changing the scenario - the PFS Guide advises GMs to run scenarios as-written. There are some mechanics to add to the diplomacy check (bribery, bawdy lyrics, etc), so you could be liberal in suggesting these to the players. If the PCs are pretty bad at diplomacy, you could permit assists as well - all told, you should be able to finagle a +14 bonus for the diplomacy check, if a time limit is forcing you into a state of mercy.

2. The quasits? Well, their intent is less to kill the elves than it is to split the PCs up as some rush over to save them - so they should deploy in a manner to require maximum travel (lots of boggy terrain between the PCs and the elf, etc.) Every table I've run, PCs have sought to counter the quasits... players worried about prestige points suddenly stop being pure murderhobos for a few minutes when that prestige is threatened!

The main time savings is simply not bothering with the fungus queen (optional encounter), which can take a while.


Can anyone tell me where the Pathfinders teleport to in Kyonin to meet the General at the beginning of the scenario? It makes sense that they would teleport into Greengold as that is where the elves allow foreigners to enter the country. However, it makes no sense for the General to have a home in Greengold on the West coast of the country when she is supposed to be conducting a war in the Tanglebriar on the eastern border of Kyonin.


Beuller?

5/5 5/55/55/5

Brother Fen wrote:
Can anyone tell me where the Pathfinders teleport to in Kyonin to meet the General at the beginning of the scenario? It makes sense that they would teleport into Greengold as that is where the elves allow foreigners to enter the country. However, it makes no sense for the General to have a home in Greengold on the West coast of the country when she is supposed to be conducting a war in the Tanglebriar on the eastern border of Kyonin.

"You’ll be taking the Tapestry to reach Kyonin, and Kreighton

Shaine has already contacted the elves to let them know to
expect you. Any questions?"


Thanks for the response. Kyonin is an entire country - not a city. I don't run PFS, so my players are free to sandbox and do other things which is why I need to know where they are headed. Greengold and Iadara are two very different locales.

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