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Hello all!
Would someone mind telling me the name of the last map/flip mat/map pack for this scenario? ("The Final Exam" encounter)
I downloaded the other flip mats (thinking maybe it would have been on the other side), but didn't see it. It may have been written in the scenario but if so I keep missing it.
I'm pretty new to running games in Pathfinder so I am not as familiar with the maps. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm pretty sure it's just a custom map for the scenario.
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I'm pretty sure it's just a custom map for the scenario.Hello all!
Would someone mind telling me the name of the last map/flip mat/map pack for this scenario? ("The Final Exam" encounter)
I downloaded the other flip mats (thinking maybe it would have been on the other side), but didn't see it. It may have been written in the scenario but if so I keep missing it.
I'm pretty new to running games in Pathfinder so I am not as familiar with the maps. Any help would be appreciated.
Lol I guess that would explain why I can't find it after hours of searching.
I do appreciate the the quick reply. Guess it's time to break out the sharpies and the multi-terrain flip mat...
Sure thing. Luckily, it's not a difficult one to draw. I figured I'd use it enough to make a pretty nice giant graph paper version
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I love this scenario. I've run it three or four times and played in it once. The first time I played in it, I saw a wizard go down to a failed shocking grasp. Minotaur crit for somewhere around 40 points of damage. It was the first character death I'd seen at the table, and it served to drive home the occasional brutality of PFS missions. Of the times I've run it, I only saw PCs go down to it once, and that was new players who charged the minotaur instead of going into the cave. The minotaur killed 3 of them before the rest finally fled.
I felt a little bad, as two were brand new players with pregens, but I said, "Okay, so you want to charge the minotaur despite Janira urging you to flee? Let me explain about reach, threatened squares, attacks of opportunity, and Valeros's hit points. Let me also point out this five foot wide cave that the minotaur would have to squeeze to get to you. Here's an arrow pointing to the cave, just in case you were having trouble locating it on the map. You still wanna charge?" *AoO, hit, Valeros in negatives without swinging his sword once* "Okay, let me explain about constitution checks made to stabilize..."
They were my first character deaths as a GM, (that weren't in We Be Goblins), and as such, will always be precious to me.
I guess that brings me to my point. After the minotaur finished Janira and the other PCs fled, bled out, or stabilized on their own, he would have no reason to be at the other side of the caves, would he? I mean, without Janira to kite him? I just ruled that he stumbled off to heal and recuperate, leading to a somewhat anticlimactic ending. I'm curious as to whether I should've let the minotaur be at the other side anyway, just to give a final battle. Thoughts?
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Luckily, it's not a difficult one to draw.It's almost like that was by design... ;-)
Y'know I had my suspicions. Gotta step it up next time, Kyle. I expext all the maps in your next scenario to have staggeringly different elevations, all the rooms are circular, all the hallways are 5-ft wide diagonals, and they're all drawn with 10-ft squares.
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Thanks for the correction. It's been a bit since I've ran this scenario.If I remember correctly, Janira is out of inspire courage by the time the PCs arrive. She should also be out of spells, too.I'm prepping to run this weekend. She has 2 round left.
You are welcome.
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Quick question regarding possible missing items on the Chronicle Sheet. I know the missing wand given by Uori has been addressed, but I noticed today that the bundle of 20 +1 arrows was not on the sheet. Since my party had quite a few archers, I included arrows in the items found in the zombie area. So, do I add both the wand of shield of faith and the 20 +1 arrows to the chronicle sheet? If so, what are the costs of each item?
Excellent adventure by the way. I am a newbie GM and found the scenario a joy to run. I also used it as an introductory adventure to a group of first time PFS players (previously played that other system) and the scenario was well received.
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I'm pretty sure it's just a custom map for the scenario.Hello all!
Would someone mind telling me the name of the last map/flip mat/map pack for this scenario? ("The Final Exam" encounter)
I downloaded the other flip mats (thinking maybe it would have been on the other side), but didn't see it. It may have been written in the scenario but if so I keep missing it.
I'm pretty new to running games in Pathfinder so I am not as familiar with the maps. Any help would be appreciated.
You can actually achieve nearly the same map by making minor changes to the back of the deep forest flip mat which you are already using for this scenario.
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Is it me, or is Uori's wand missing from the Chronicle?
Sorry for the thread necro, but I'm going to be running a series of games for several new recruits to PFS we've gotten in the last week or so, and I caught this note from Kyle while I was skimming the forums...is there an update on this? Thanks!
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I downloaded it last night for my home group's intro to PFS tomorrow. I believe Uori's wand isn't on the Chronicle sheet:
oil of silence
potions of cure light wounds (2)
wand of shield of faith (CL 6th, 10 charges)
thunderstones (2)
amulet of natural armor +1 (2,000 gp)
bracers of armor +1 (1,000 gp)
cloak of resistance +1 (1,000 gp)
elixir of swimming (250 gp)
pearl of power (1st-level spell; 1,000 gp)
potion of barkskin (300 gp)
ring of protection +1 (2,000 gp)
scroll of gust of wind (150 gp)
scroll of mage armor (CL 6th; 150 gp)
wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges; 180 gp, limit 1)
wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 8 charges; 360 gp, limit 1)
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I downloaded it last night for my home group's intro to PFS tomorrow. I believe Uori's wand isn't on the Chronicle sheet:
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Ah, well, that bit I knew - I meant that much much earlier in the thread, Kyle (the author) seemed to hint that the wand was supposed to be on the chronicle sheet, hence my asking :)
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Tomorrow, this will be the very first PFS scenario I GM. :)
Living in Belgium, we won't be going to cons, and it will probably be strictly a home game, but still. I'm going to try to keep everything legit.
Looks like we're having a wizard/ninja/barbarian/cleric party.
Can't wait.
Good luck!
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After having played this twice before, I ran this for the first time and good fun was had by all.
They players very much wanted to help Janira at first appearance of the Minotaur, but went into the cave as told. They actually struggled with the kobold/mite fight, as the first person to jump across the water was hit by the trap and took a crit from the centipede. The final fight was a bit scary as the Minotaur brought the only level 2 at the table, a raging barbarian, down to 3 hit points but then wasn't able to hit anything else (my dice went cold after he crit-threat Janira but didn't confirm).
The group I had was 3 people trying to grandfather in their tieflings/aasimars, 2 players who had played previously but weren't out-of-tier, and one starting up a new investigator. They said they enjoyed me playing Janira using my girly gnome-voice, so I'll have to refine that even more. I was unsure of how to play Uori - does he speak, or communicate with sign language/gestures, or write? If he speaks, how PC/un-PC would it be to attempt to speak like someone who is deaf?
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2 players who had played previously but weren't out-of-tier
With different characters, correct?
I was unsure of how to play Uori - does he speak, or communicate with sign language/gestures, or write? If he speaks, how PC/un-PC would it be to attempt to speak like someone who is deaf?
I always have him speak perfect common. It tends to throw everyone off a bit.
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Human Diversion, the kobold/mite fight is an either/or and you roll on the table to see which group is present. There should never be a centipede and a trap in the same fight.
That might explain why they had difficulies...
Ahhh, ok, I had the mites, the centipede, AND the trap ... Well, they all lived. Only harm done is to my ego as I'm embarrassed about running something wrong.
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2 players who had played previously but weren't out-of-tierWith different characters, correct?
My apologies, I meant they had played different adventures previously, not previously played Confirmation.
always have him speak perfect common. It tends to throw everyone off a bit.
Hmmm ... would you justify that as his oracle curse manifesting after he originally learned to speak?
Also, his picture makes him look like Deep Roy.
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Hmmm ... would you justify that as his oracle curse manifesting after he originally learned to speak?
That's one way. I don't make it immediately apparent that he's deaf.
I have him kneeling down and praying at the water with his head very close to the water's surface. The PCs usually slowly approach assuming that it's a trap of some sort.
If they try calling out to him, he doesn't respond. If they move up next to him or some how make the water ripple, he usually turns around in surprise.
During the conversation, I have the players usually roll sense motive or perception to notice that he's following their lips as they're speaking to him.
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Hmmm ... would you justify that as his oracle curse manifesting after he originally learned to speak?That's one way. I don't make it immediately apparent that he's deaf.
I have him kneeling down and praying at the water with his head very close to the water's surface. The PCs usually slowly approach assuming that it's a trap of some sort.
If they try calling out to him, he doesn't respond. If they move up next to him or some how make the water ripple, he usually turns around in surprise.
During the conversation, I have the players usually roll sense motive or perception to notice that he's following their lips as they're speaking to him.
I run it exactly the same way. I try to keep my speech only very slightly "off" myself and make sure to look intently at the person who is speaking and ignore people who are out of my field of vision as well. Between that and a few skill checks they usually eventually figure it out.
Except the kid playing a "lawful" monk who insisted on sneaking up and attacking him while he was praying...
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Boxed text is very important in this scenario. I have played it where the GM did not really make it clear that Janira wanted us to go in the cave but just paraphrased the box text. If you do that, make sure this is not a "you are evil if you don't die trying to save her" situation. If it is left unclear, that will be many players base assumption.
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My first PFS game went great, though the rogue went down to -3 HP at the minotaur at the end. No big deal.
The group did not think to perform rituals at the miniature city. I asked for K(religion), but nobody had it trained, and they didn't realise on their own. I just left it at that. Did I make a mistake?
Everybody's psyched to play more, so I guess I'm buying more scenarios. :)
Glad everyone had fun!
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The group did not think to perform rituals at the miniature city. I asked for K(religion), but nobody had it trained, and they didn't realise on their own. I just left it at that. Did I make a mistake?
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No mistake at all. But tell them about the missed possibility. That helps them understand there are potential reasons for things like knowledge skills, trying wierd stuff, and interacting with NPC's in a friendly manner.
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When I play Uori I usually only respond to characters which are in front of him. While a player is speaking I fixate on his mouth and respond only if he looks at me - if he turns away or covers his mouth in some way I ask him to repeat that.
But I guess that's not clear enough - both groups I ran The Confirmation for didn't get that he was deaf.
Not that it's THAT important, really...
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I ran this again last night, and ...
Janira successfully disarmed the Minotaur That's right. Minotaur had the high initiative, he rolled a 3 and a 6 and missed her. She rolled a 19 and ker-thlump went his axe to the ground.
That being said, next round he pulled out his javelin and stabbed her with it (yes, taking the -4 for using it in melee) and dropped her to -1 and picked up her axe, then the following round charged the PCs. They messed with the bull and got the horns.
The players were wondering why I as the GM was staring at their mouths when I was playing Uori. They thought it was me being goofy. One of them finally asked, "Why did you respond to him when he asked the same question I did?"
Uori replied, "Because I didn't see your lips moving."
So all that being said, one of the players at the table has played this adventure before and insists that the CL6 wand of Shield of Faith should be on the Chronicle Sheet. Is that true? If so, is there an "official" reference on it?
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I just ran this for a party of 5 (Fighter, Rogue, Barbarian, Ranger, and Alchemist), as my first GMing experience. One young brand new player, two new-ish, two more experienced. They did much better than I expected, with pretty much all of the combats over in two rounds (even the Minotaur at the end, thanks to a pair of crits), and finished in under three hours. No PC deaths, though the Slime Mold and the Minotaur did their best. Janira did become a pair of quarterlings, unfortunately (I explained the mismatched initials as her having been recently married, which made it particularly sad).
I wondered how to make the rituals more accessible to players. They missed them, as did I the only time I've played. I believe one of the more experienced ones at my table has now played three times without coming upon them. I tried to have Uori drop hints, though they really didn't do well with diplomacy on him. The party also lacked Knowledge (Religion) and Detect Magic (I assume having the city ping as magical is appropriate?), which were the other main opportunities to throw in a hint. Does anyone have tips for getting first time players to discover the rituals?
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Venture-Captain, New Zealand—Dunedin
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I am curious why Janira's last name was changed to Gavix. On Monday's Blog the picture indicated her name was Janira Longburrow. Obviously "The Confirmation" was edited to change the name to Gavix because on page 7 her Wayfinder still has her original initials, "J.L.".
Thank Aroden I was able to find this link. I was reading through The Confirmation as I prep it for a CORE game this week and thought that I must be missing something because of the incorrect initials on her Wayfinder.
Apparently not many other people noticed this. I'll allow my OCD Editor mind to relax a little bit.
JUST a little.
-JJJ (chomping on a cigar)
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I must say, on the last Minotaur fight, that charging attack is absolutely brutal. The Halfling Cavalier got a lance charge crit and just about 1-shot the poor thing :) Note: Second round. Big Beefy missed his attacks on his first round, and got taken out by a combination of the lance charge and ranged damage before his turn on the second.
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If they fight it early it can go the same way as the halfling charge but with the Minotaur doing all that damage. My group decided not to run when told to and the barbarian got charged on the first round and then crit with the axe on the next round dropping him dead dead dead. I felt bad since it was The Confirmation.
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So I'm GMing this in PbP now and I'm new to GMing in PFS--when I apply the credit to my character, do I get all of the boons and items regardless of what the players get? I'm especially wondering because of the nature of room B4 and how they only get two items and I'm supposed to cross off all of the other items. thanks!
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Ran my first core edition this week.
One funny bit. With the random encounters, I go 'round the table, letting the players roll the d6. With the exception of the first encounter, they all rolled the hardest possible encounters.
Oh and the minotaur fight was rather anticlimatic.
Round 1, Janira goes down to greataxe. Cleric runs forward, throws starknife, crit/confirm/21 hp damage. Barbarian runs up, eats the AoO crit/confirm/dead minotaur.
Almost anticlimatic after the slime mold.
