Spoilers galore ahead! If you're playing in this adventure, please keep out!
Are the players gone?
Good!
I am running a modified version of The Reaping Stone by TPK Games. I'd very much like to start a GM discussion, akin to the module discussions over on the Pathfinder Modules board.
I'll start off by saying that I'm making a few modifications right off the bat.
First of all, I'm setting the adventure in Golarion; specifically in the city of Korvosa. For reasons of timing, I'm setting the adventure in the year 4704, which is four years before the standard start of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path.
I'm also going to use the standard Pathfinder goddess Urgathoa instead of the goddess Maramaga in the module. That necessitates making a few changes to some of the evil priests, as the two goddesses' domains are different.
I also wanted to start my players off with first level characters, so I ran three short adventures before the actual start of The Reaping Stone. In addition to getting the PCs to Level 2, I also wanted to establish relationships with Vasaro and Basila before throwing the first encounter at them. So, I ran a barroom brawl encounter in the Stirge and Hammer Inn (of my own design); a modified version of the set-piece "St. Caspierans's Salvation" from Pathfinder #13: Shadow in the Sky, and a modified version of PFS Scenario 4-01: Rise of the Goblin Guild (at Tier 1).
I have four PCs, so I'm using the scale-down guide. I also don't have a cleric in the party: the closest thing we have is an urban druid of Abadar. This looks to be a deadly game, so I'm going to be dropping more healing items as treasure than I would normally do. I'm also running a modified Hero Point system: I'm assigning Hero Points as normal, but in addition, every PC gets one extra Hero Point per game session, which cannot be stockpiled. (I stole this idea from the RPG Savage Worlds.)
My PCs are:
Human barbarian with a greatsword.
Human urban druid
Half-orc rogue (two-weapon fighter)
Half-elf sorcerer (undead bloodline)
The first fight went went well, although it was a very tough fight for L2 characters. I modified it somewhat: I dropped the kobolds armed with alchemical items and replaced them with a third human cultists and one goblin third-level adept. (Kobolds don't really have much of a presence near Korvosa, while goblins do.)
I changed Vasaro's backstory to make him a veteran of Sable Company-- Korvosa's regiment of hippogriff-riding marines. To that end, I made him a 4th-level cavalier. I also upped Basila's age to 22, and made her a 3rd-level expert, who kept a loaded heavy crossbow behind the bar. In the fight, Vasaro pulled an Orcish shield and scimitar from the wall (they had been decorations) and joined the fray. His teamwork feat helped out the PCs in the fight.
It was a very tough fight-- all the PCs and their NPC allies ended in single-digit hp. The half-orc was unconscious. The barbarian had been at 0 hp, and he burned a Hero Point to impale the cleric on his action- taking her out.
Write-up of the fight is in my Campaign Journal.
So-- any pointers from other GMs from here?
Cross-posting some discussion from the TPK messageboards...
In the description of where the adversaries are, it says they are labeled with an X1 and X2 on the encounter map, but I don't see these.
Looking at the encounter map, I'm assuming that the PC's enter from the West; that the two rats in plain sight are indicated by the image of the single rat on the south entrance; the other two rats are the ones 10ft back on the north entrance; and that the otyugh corpse is in northwest corner of the map where there is a 5ft square w a grey blotch.
The map looks great, I just wasn't sure if I was reading it correctly.
Thanks!
There are several places in this module where the text refers to marked map positions that simply aren't there.
I'm running a 4-PC party, so I'm scaling the encoutner down as suggested: so for me, there are just two giant rats plus the rat swarm. I had the party enter from the south passageway, and they saw one giant rat by the otyugh corpse. It squeaked a warning to a second giant rat that was hiding in the eastern passage, which then charged the party. The other giant rat also rand over and attacked, follwed in one round by the rat swarm.
I modified the treasure a bit as well: I added a quiver with 20 arrows: 10 normal arrows, 5 silver-tipped arrows, and 5 +1 arrows. I added the extra weapons to give the PCs a bit of an edge in the next encounter with the wererat-- who has DR10/silver, and against the wraiths in Ambrik House.
I'm going to add a tiny bit of content with Slernik the wererat connecting him to the Korvosan wererat gang the Rat's Teat Boys.
I'm planning to run parts 1&2 mostly as-written.
Looking ahead, there are a few modifications I think I'll be making...
1.There is scant little in the module dealing with the panic and horror caused by a zombie apocalypse breaking out in the city. I think that's a missed opportunity for some survival-horror. I will be adding some content in that regard, inspired by material from Pathfinder #8: Seven Days to the Grave and the D&D 3.5 mega-module Expedition to Castle Ravenloft.
2. I want to play up some Thassilonian ancient history in Korvosa, and I'm also not sure if I'm ready to introduce the Darklands in my campaign. I'm considering replacing much of the caverns with parts of Pathfinder #61: Shards of Sin and Pathfinder #62: Curse of the Lady's Light.
These ideas are still early, and I have a good amount of time to figure them out.
There's an error in the Ambrik House write-up: There are two haunts listed for area A5 (Foyer), and no description for area A6 (I think it's a dining hall).
I'm guessing that the description for A6 got accidentally deleted from the final PDF, so a GM is going to have to write it up. The second haunt should be there.
I'll post what I come up with once I've written it. (I'll need to get that done soon, as my party will get there next session.)
I’ll be starting this next month.
I’m also Golarionizing it, but I’m not going to as much effort as you. I’ll swap Maramaga for Urgathoa and just plonk the city as-is somewhere in Varisa.
Let’s have a competition to see who can kill the most players.
Yay! Another GM in the discussion!
Despite the publisher's name, I'm not a killer GM, and I don't have a desire to knock off my PCs. It can certainly happen (and it came close in the "Mayhem at Midnight" encounter), but I try to avoid it. I'm using a modified (and very generous) Hero Point system, so I imagine that they'll be using a lot of those to "avoid death."
I put together an outline of my planned modifications to The Reaping Stone. As I said above, I'm going to be pulling in some sections of the Paizo APs Curse of the Crimson Throne and Shattered Star. I'm also going to add some of my own content for some more purely roleplaying encounters, including use of the brand-new library research mechanic that debuted in Book 3 of Mummy's Mask.
Once I've noodled over the outline (and possibly modified it a bit), I'll share it here.
I wrote up a bunch of Campaign Traits for this campaign, and required that each PC take one. These traits are mostly modified campaign traits from other campaigns.
One of the PCs has "Sewer Rat," which gives bonuses to Knowlege (engineering) and (dungeoneering) skills, so he's the expert on the sewer system.
In the first sewer encounter, I switched out the effluvium jelly for an encounter with a PFRPG-converted carrion crawler. (Carrion crawlers are one of my favorite closed-content classic D&D monsters.)
Roleplaying encounters already run:
1) PCs doing research on the "Cult of the Scythe Mother:"
- The urban druid of Abadar went over to the Bank of Abadar to consult with other priests.
- The sorcerer went over to Theumanexus College to do some library research and speak with a friend on the faculty, and then over to the Temple of Sarenrae to talk with the High Priest.
- The rogue asked around with his Sczarni connections.
2) I had the PCs meet with a friendly NPC captian of the Korvosan Guard who told them about the other simultaneous attacks. They told her about their suspicion that the cultists are trying to start a plague outbreak.
Roleplaying encounters I'll be adding...
1) There won't be a map in Ambrik House that leads the PCs to the Mortuary. There will be clues that there's more going on, but they're going to need to do some investigative work to find out what's next.
2) Because the rogue tipped off his Sczarni friends that investment in anti-plague medicine might be a good idea, one enterprising gang leader decided to do just that-- and bought up every dose of antiplague he could find in town. He's planning to start selling it at a 100% markup once the plague starts to break out. The PCs will find out they can't buy more shortly, and will have to track him down and convince him (somehow) not to do this. (Basing this encounter on "The Ambassador's Letter" encounter from Curse of the Crimson Throne #1: Edge of Anarchy)
3) Once the plague starts to break out, their guard captain ally will ask them to investigate what's happening to bodies that are disappearing. That will lead them through a couple of role-playing encounters with body cart operators, which will lead them to a ghoul encounter, which will lead them to the Mortuary. (Including a modified version of the "Bring Out Your Dead!" encounter from Curse of the Crimson Throne #2: Seven Days to the Grave.
4) They'll find clues in the Mortuary about the Reliquary of St. Alika (Note: switched the saint for a local hero in Korvosa), but when they get there, they will find tantalizing clues that there's some kind of secret entrance, but no idea how to open it. They'll need to do some library research at the University of Korvosa. Getting access to the library there will require some role-playing with the Librarian, and possibly with the commandant of the Korvosan Guard. Once they're in, I'm going to use the library research mechanic that were just published in Mummy's Mask #3: Shifting Sands.
That's what I've written/converted so far. I'm still working out what's going to happen after the PCs get into the Reliquary. I think I'm going to run the first level under the Reliquary pretty much straight. I don't want to send the PCs to the Darklands yet, so I'm thinking of replacing the underground caverns with the Thassilonian Laboratories section of Shattered Star #1: Shards of Sin.
I still need to come up with a smooth segue there, and also figure out where the actual Temple of the Sythe Mother is. I want to throw back to the Runelords, and include some suff about Runelord Sorshen (whose capital city once stood on the site of modern Korvosa). There is also an obvious connection between Urgathoa and Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony. I'm trying to figure out how to tie Zutha into the plot of Reaping Stone. I have some nebulous ideas, but nothing firm yet.
There's an error in the Ambrik House write-up: There are two haunts listed for area A5 (Foyer), and no description for area A6 (I think it's a dining hall).
I'm guessing that the description for A6 got accidentally deleted from the final PDF, so a GM is going to have to write it up. The second haunt should be there.
I'll post what I come up with once I've written it. (I'll need to get that done soon, as my party will get there next session.)
That's weird! Sorry about the missing text from the PDF. Here is the text for Room A6 from my original turnover:
A6: DINING ROOM (CR 2)
Note: The door leading into the stairs that descend into the cellar is warded with an alarm spell.
The cobwebs along the south wall contain hundreds of harmless tiny spiders. They scatter if the webbing is disturbed. A successful DC 15 Perception check notices footprints in the dust leading from the kitchen door to the cellar stairs. These were left by the cultists of Maramaga when they entered Ambrik House about a week ago.
HAUNT: When the PCs enter this room have them each attempt a DC 16 Perception check to notice the faint smell of burnt flesh. This smell grows stronger until one round later when the haunt manifests and six ghostly flaming hands materialize and attack.
Thanks, Tom!
I'm going to be running this adventure as well. Not exactly sure when I'll be starting it, but my guess is sometime this month.
I'm still reading through the adventure so my list of modifications isn't complete, but I'll be setting it in Midgard, in the city of Malena, the City of Iron, in the Seven Cities region.
In case anyone's interested in my campaign journal, I just uploaded the write-up for Session 7.
In Session 7, the party fought the wererat Slernik, made its way through the sewers, and entered the basement of Ambrik House-- which they have found is full of undead!
Incidentally, the city of Maerh-Varza is a mish-mash of Rome and San Francisco, albeit with a heavy sprinkling of ancient dwarven architecture.
Keen readers will note that the book does not come with a map of the city. In my home games, I've been using this excellent map by the talented Terry Maranda.
Incidentally, the city of Maerh-Varza is a mish-mash of Rome and San Francisco, albeit with a heavy sprinkling of ancient dwarven architecture.
Keen readers will note that the book does not come with a map of the city. In my home games, I've been using this excellent map by the talented Terry Maranda.
Thanks for the additional info/insight. Very cool.
I picked the City of Melana in Midgard primarily b/c it was on the border of the two regions I was trying to settle on - the Crossroads region (but Zobeck didn't see to quite fit) and the Seven cities. I picked Melana b/c of it's dwarven population seemed to match up with Maerh-Varza's dwarven architecture. The Seven Cities are inspired, at least in part, by the Italian city states.
Given your additional insight, not a bad choice!
Thanks for the map link! That's awesome! I'll definitely use that map for a city that isn't otherwise napped.
I set mine in Korvosa, because I wanted to run an urban campaign in Korvosa that wasn't Crimson Throne.
I also wanted to run a campaign that was more episodic than a full Adventure Path. Something that could at various points, and feel like a "win."
I've decided to change the nature of the Reaping Sickness a bit, making it both a disease and a curse. Even if the disease itself is cured, the curse remains-- anyone who dies while cursed will rise as a Reaping Sickness zombie in 3d6 hours. This will allow the PCs to be able to cure the disease (and not have their Con drop too badly), while the curse will still pose an existential threat.
The Reaping Sickness
Type curse and disease; Save Fort DC 15
Onset Immediate; Frequency 1/day
Effect 1d2 Con damage; Cure See text
The Reaping Sickness is both a disease and a curse. Con damage cannot be healed while the victim remains infected. The disease can be cured by two consecutive saves. However, even if the disease is cured, the curse remains. Anyone who dies while under the Reaping Sickness curse will rise as a reaping sickness zombie in 1d10 hours. The curse can only be lifted via remove curse.
--
Even with this change to the nature of the illness, a major outbreak of zombie rot in a city as densely occupied as Korvosa means that hundreds of people are going to die-- and hundreds of zombies will be stalking the streets.
Hmm, I think you may be holding back a bit too much. The RAW incurable Con draining disease may be nasty, but it's an integral part of the campaign's challenge.
I too was thinking of toning things back a bit originally, but I don't think it's fair on my players to deny them the true experience.
Well, I'm significantly modifying the module, so my players aren't getting the "true experience" anyway. Basically, I want the tension to be more about the city dying than themselves dying of the plague.
Upon reflection, you're right to a certain extent: that isn't tough enough. For PCs cursed with the Reaping Curse, the save DC will increase by 2 upon every new exposure to the Reaping Plague.
Some changes I made to Ambrik House...
1) The skeletal champion necromancer: I gave the monster a custom magic item that works like a hat of disguise, but also allows undead to appear to be living. After the PCs tripped her alarm, she decided to pose as a prisoner of "that madman!" to get their guard down, then let 'em have it.
I also increased the gruesomeness of that encounter by replaceing the fast zombie hounds with two zombie that had first appeared to be cadavers on experimental tables. (Which, actually, they were!). Upon the necromancer's command, they attacked!
I've updated my campaign journal with the details of my party's exploration of Ambrik House. (I still have last week's adventure to write up.)
2) I removed the clue to the location of the cult's safe house. I wanted to have the PCs do their own investigation for a while, and would see where the story unfolded, dropping a clue if they seemed to be following a decent lead.
Last week, I had the PCs do a bunch of investigation, and they thought of a few leads I hadn't. It was fun improvising them. I then ran a role-playing encounter that I lifted from Crimson Throne #1: Edge of Anarchy: an audience with the Spider King of Eel's End. That encounter went spectacularly!
For tomorrow's session, I'm going to have the Reaping Sickness start to actually kill people. The city's response will leave much to be desired.
I'm probably going to steal the hat of disguise idea.Out of interest, how long are each of your sessions? I'm trying to get a feel for how long some of the encounters are.
My sessions usually run 3 to 4 hours. We're scheduled to play Monday nights 7PM - 11PM, but we frequently don't start actually playing until close to 8:00. I try my best to wrap up right at 11:00 sharp.
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I had my first session last night. I’ve only got three players, so they rolled up an NPC for a fourth slot.
Dol’roon - Half-Elf Cleric of Zun-Kuthon (backstory is that he was a streetfighter who had turned to religion through pain)
Caliad - Half-Orc Summoner (built for melee with a skill-monkey Eidolon)
Marco - Human Conjurer (Son of a rich merchant who is really naive about the world)
Percival - Human Fighter (NPC that they take turns rolling for)
I kept the city of Mearh-Varza as is, which I put in an unspecified location somewhere in Varisa.
I decided that the town was having a mid-summer festival and most of the pubs that evening were overfilled. The Stirge & Hammer was somewhere deep in an industrial district and had avoided the crowds.
I ran the first encounter (fairly badly, as I forgot to bring my battlegrid) and ALL players failed their fort save against the reaping sickness :)
I ran three sessions of homebrew content, mostly adapted from Curse of the Crimson Throne. The PCs have finally now gotten to the Grave Street Mortuary at the end of the last session.
I'm three weeks behind in my campaign journal entries, but I hope to catch up over this weekend.