Secrets of the Sphinx (GM Reference)

[serfmonkey]

So, yeah, it's 2022, and this forum thread is pretty dead, but ... a couple questions if anyone's still out there.

1) What's up with the trap on the front entrance to the Sightless Sphinx? The text says, "Fort DC 23 for 3d6 points of damage, 1d4 points of Strength damage, and stunned for 1 round." The DM text, however, says "DC 23 Fortitude save or die of fright."

Is the damage listed in the stat block for the trap what happens if you SUCCEED on the saving throw? 'Cuz ... YIKES.

2) I can't figure out what the Sightless Sphinx is supposed to look like. It's described as a "seated sphinx." The aerial view on the map shows its body to be considerable shortened, as if it's sitting down. BUT ... the front limbs are pretty clearly extended forward in the classic reclining sphinx pose. Are they supposed to be angled down, as if the sphinx is sitting back on its haunches like a dog?

[Elro the Onk]

serfmonkey wrote:

So, yeah, it's 2022, and this forum thread is pretty dead, but ... a couple questions if anyone's still out there.

1) What's up with the trap on the front entrance to the Sightless Sphinx? The text says, "Fort DC 23 for 3d6 points of damage, 1d4 points of Strength damage, and stunned for 1 round." The DM text, however, says "DC 23 Fortitude save or die of fright."

Is the damage listed in the stat block for the trap what happens if you SUCCEED on the saving throw? 'Cuz ... YIKES.

2) I can't figure out what the Sightless Sphinx is supposed to look like. It's described as a "seated sphinx." The aerial view on the map shows its body to be considerable shortened, as if it's sitting down. BUT ... the front limbs are pretty clearly extended forward in the classic reclining sphinx pose. Are they supposed to be angled down, as if the sphinx is sitting back on its haunches like a dog?

Re #1, it's a trap based on the spell weird; the text of the spell makes it clear how it's supposed to work. Creatures first get a Will save to disbelieve. If they fail that, they then get a Fortitude save: on a fail, they die; otherwise they take the damage you note.

Re #2 at least, there's a picture on p4 of the AP - a very uprightly seated sphinx, with a large chunk of its front left forepaw damaged.

[Asciiman]

I hope someone can offer some insight into this. I am looking for a few different perspectives on what to do next.

My party got to the Sphinx and began the process of assaulting it. It has been slow going. I run a fairly difficult campaign, and my party has been struggling. They have had to retake the entrance three times but now the Cult of the Forgotten Pharaoh has run out of reinforcements to hold the entrance. Instead they are retreating to the forge/pyramid room with all cultists and girtablilu. Everything else that is the Forgotten Pharaoh cult has been eliminated, aside from the two girtablilu in the sauna room who retreated to their main force on the parties last attack.

The party elected to explore a little more. They burst through the stone wall at K14 and were on their way to where Lady Sophronia resides. In the process, the Shadow Demon, Sargota, overheard them all call out before they got into the fight with the mud elementals. At which point the party was being overwhelmed and opted to retreat. In the process, the rogue was left behind and this allowed Sargota to use magic jar and take over the rogues body.

From this point on it all goes south and quickly. When the rogue(possessed by the Shadow Demon) rejoins the group she proceeds to drop the bard, ranger and fighter in two rounds. They were all nearly dead from the mud elementals after all. And then she turns to eliminate the Wizard. With that done the cultists had heard the battle, as the party ran and fought down the halls, and went to investigate. They find the wizard dead with the mask on her face. Of course they immediately take the mask, cheering in incredible luck and victory, taking it to the Forgotten Pharaoh.

As for Sargota(shadow demon), his description lists that he wants to gain sacrifices for Ninureset and as such using the rogues body, grabs the ranger and heads off to give the bodies over to the demon.

So my question is ultimately this; What happens if the Forgotten Pharaoh/Serethet gets the mask?

Assuming my party can recover from this(slim chance), I need to know a follow on plan and to be clear, I think I am in "make it up as I go along" territory. Not much here is happening by the book.

Keep in mind that this is the Forgotten Pharaoh/Serethet version that attains the mask. Not the full on Hakotep. He has NOT been resurrected yet as the Forgotten Pharaoh/Serethet hasn't been killed.

[Warped Savant]

Hakotep's ba is still in his body, which is still in his tomb. Serethet has the body of Chisisek so would be able to find out from him the same information the PCs can and head to the Slave Trenches.
So if the group DOES survive this they'll have to chase after Serethet and her cult, which will lead them to the Slave Trenches, they can have a stand-off somewhere in or near them, and the game can progress as normal. Or maybe Serethet has taken control of the Five Pointed Sun pyramid and attacks Wati (or just the PCs as they're searching for her, or she's taken control of it and is camped out near the Slave Trenches) so that she's the final boss of the pyramid instead of Isatemkhebet... Or the PCs have to fight both at different points in the pyramid...

If the group doesn't make it and they want to continue the story, the Five Star Pyramid attacks Wati, allies or other people from Wati storm the pyramid, Serethet is in the pyramid somewhere so that the new PCs can find out what's going on, and the story continues. (If some of the group want to play their original PCs they can likely get the location of the bodies out of Serethet so that they can bring them back to life.)

Or something like that.

[Asciiman]

Warped Savant wrote:

Hakotep's ba is still in his body, which is still in his tomb. Serethet has the body of Chisisek so would be able to find out from him the same information the PCs can and head to the Slave Trenches.

So if the group DOES survive this they'll have to chase after Serethet and her cult, which will lead them to the Slave Trenches, they can have a stand-off somewhere in or near them, and the game can progress as normal. Or maybe Serethet has taken control of the Five Pointed Sun pyramid and attacks Wati (or just the PCs as they're searching for her, or she's taken control of it and is camped out near the Slave Trenches) so that she's the final boss of the pyramid instead of Isatemkhebet... Or the PCs have to fight both at different points in the pyramid...

If the group doesn't make it and they want to continue the story, the Five Star Pyramid attacks Wati, allies or other people from Wati storm the pyramid, Serethet is in the pyramid somewhere so that the new PCs can find out what's going on, and the story continues. (If some of the group want to play their original PCs they can likely get the location of the bodies out of Serethet so that they can bring them back to life.)

Or something like that.

Okay, it sounds like you came to the same sort of conclusion I did. I figured that replacing Istakhemebet(sp) in the Five Pointed Sun Pyramid was a logical step too. As in, Serethet raises ONE of the pyramids as she remembers elements of that.

But if she did go to the Slave Trenches, what would she do there? This is more of a 'thought experiment" to make sure I am covering all angles.

[Warped Savant]

(It's been a few years, and I've run a few other APs since Mummy's Mask so the details are a little fuzzy about some parts of it. Change things as needed to suit your plans / suit what works best for the story.)

I could be wrong but the Five Star Pyramid (and the other ones as well, it's just that the Five Star was closest) only became active because Hakotep woke up due to getting his ib from the heart back when Serethet died... The ib makes Serethet be possessed by Hakotep, right? So she knows about the other pyramids but they're inactive (otherwise why haven't they done anything for the past few thousand years? I don't remember if the books say that they're inactive or what their deal is.)

Serethet has to go to the Slaves Trenches to activate a pyramid and since the Five Star Pyramid is the closest that's the one she gets. (There's that place with the combination wall thingie, she knows the code to get the Five Star). The PCs chase her there shortly after she's taken off in the pyramid (but it hasn't left the area) so they have to fight her first and then go through the Slaves Trenches to call down Hakoteps. (Or new PCs in Wati, Serethet calls down the Five Star and attacks Wati as a 'screw you' to the PCs.)

[Ben Ehrets]

My players recently finished book 4, defeating the Forgotten Pharaoh. They have elected to bring Serethet back to life.

It's great that the adventure has advice for exactly what to do in this case. "However, her actions have left her bereft of her connection to her god, and she remains an ex-cleric. A quest of atonement, likely involving the recovery of ancient knowledge from a dangerous area, is required for Serethet to regain her clerical abilities."

My question about that is: why? What's the offense? Nethys "remains neutral for the most part, unless his powers of omnipresent knowledge reveal he is being betrayed or threatened. He particularly allies with those requiring the use of magic, regardless of nefarious or benevolent cause." He is "torn between saving the world with one hand and destroying it with the other". His only edict is "Seek out magical power and use it".

It seems like Serethet, and the Forgotten Pharaoh for that matter, was being fully on Nethys brand when she recovered the heart and took on new magical powers, regardless of the intent. For what exactly would Serethet need to atone?

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

I don't know enough about Golarion gods to say, really. Maybe it's punishment for incautious use of magic items. Maybe Nethys doesn't like even inadvertant furthering of the Dark Tapestry. Maybe it's a technical failure because of lack of proper worship during the time she was under Hakotep's influence. There could be all manner of reasons. When I determined it was a matter of Serethet having taken a severe blow to her own confidence and world-view, so it more that she had fallen from faith rather than her god being upset.

If Serethet losing her powers doesn't make sense to you it's hardly a problem story-wise to say Serethet hasn't fallen.

[Ben Ehrets]

I was most struggling with why Nethys would be offended, so I appreciate your notion that the problem could be in her.
I was also thinking it could be a Nethys clergy political issue. They can turn her abilities back on (so to speak), but someone's jealousy, or backroom trade of favors, or some other concern has them stalling or keeping her in her place.
Thank you for your reply.