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If that was the perception, then the perception was flawed.It is not the store owner or customer's job to live up to Paizo's perception. It's Paizo's job to live up to theirs and all the reasoned justifications in the world won't change that.
Sorry, I don't want to just say "no," but, no. Paizo does not have a perception of their own in this matter, only consumers (in this case you and/or the store owner). They only produce a product, like they do with any other product. "It is bad" type statements are completely disingenuous when what you're actually saying is, "It it not what I want it to be/expect it to be." Your perception that all Free RPG Day products are supposed to be designed to be an introductory to completely brand new players is false. It is no publisher's job to live up to an expectation from a consumer that is contrary to reality, or, in this case, the information about the product that has been public knowledge for quite some time. If you purchased the first volume of the upcoming Iron Gods AP and were disappointed that it did not include material set in the Crown of the World, it does not mean that it is a bad product or a failure. It means that you do not like it, because it was not living up to an unfounded expectation. If you sit down to play at a Pathfinder game and are disappointed that you cannot normally move up to your speed and then take a full attack action, it does not mean that the rules are bad or a failure. It again means that you don't like it based on a personal expectation that conflicts with reality and all available information. Your criteria for what a publisher must offer as a Free RPG Day product does not line up with any reality of what they may offer, or guidelines on what they can offer. While you may not like that a Free RPG Day offering from Paizo, or anyone else, does not live up to your personal expectation of what should be offered, that does not make it "bad" or a "failure." It simply means that you don't like it, which is fine. Not everyone has to like everything that Paizo publishes, but to claim that a product is a failure because it wasn't what you were expecting even though there's been information on the level of the module has been available for some time and even though your understanding of the fundamentals of what can/should be offered as Free RPG Day products does not match any actual existing guidelines is simply unrealistic. I do actually understand what you feel a Free RPG Day product should be, and understand why you feel that Risen From the Sands does not live up to that expectation. However, Paizo did not fail simply because you don't like it.
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If he only wants to run the Free RPG Module even though it has been known for a good while that is for 3rd level characters, and therefor obviously not going to be something that's an entry-level sort of experience, then that's certainly his prerogative.I don't equate level 3 with no fit for new players. The metaphor I'll use is Star Wars movies. There was a reason Lucas started at Episode 4...that's where he thought he could give the best experience and story.
off topic, but lucas did not start star wars with Episode 4 because he thought it would better than starting off with Episode 1. Episode 1 didn't even exist yet, except as the vaguest of ideas of what came before Star Wars. The "Episode 4" was added to make it feel like it was the middle of an ongoing saga, not because the whole story was written out episodically. Star Wars was not make with the expectation that any other movies would ever be made. The level of its success was a welcomed suprise.
I think the same can be said in Pathfinder. Characters don't really come into their own until at least level 3, and I'd argue you can give a new person a better experience playing level 3 characters than level 1 characters. You get better variety of feats, spells, and skills...you have enough HP to survive a random hit, and each character starts to evolve a little bit in what they can accomplish.
Yes and no. This is certainly true for someone who has had at least some experience playing other RPG's or board games, or anything else that would give the new player a bit of understanding of "kind of" what's going on. If third level was the best and funnest place for brand new players to start out, then the Beginner Box likely would have focused on pregens and adventures starting there. When I talk about entry-level, I really mean entry-level - someone who has never really played an RPG before. Think of it using two existing products - Crypt of the Everflame and Masks of the Living God. Masks of the Living God is for 3rd level PCs, and while Crypt is good, it's "just" a dungeon crawl. Now, say you're running event for a group of brand new players who have never played an RPG before and no real idea what it is. Would you start them with Masks of the Living God, because they can play 3rd level characters which are more exciting, and because there's really a lot more to the story than just a dungeon crawl? Probably not. You'd probably go ahead and run the through Crypt of the Everflame, because they're going to learn more from starting at that point than they are from jumping into a higher level game. Now, that does not mean that Masks of the Living God is a "bad" module or a "failure." It simply means that it isn't a good fit for an entry-level introduction to Pathfinder. Crypt of the Everflame, on the other hand, is specifically designed to be a introductory experience for brand new players. The difference between the two is very similar to the difference between Risen From the Sands and, say, Master of the Fallen Fortress.
The issue here isn't that it's a 3rd level adventure. I applaud introducing people to this level. It shows them how cool characters can be after a short time, and gives them something to work to. The issue IS that this is a deathtrap in many ways, and that the 3rd level characters that were created weren't well suited for the adventure that was written. This results in less opportunity to shine and to learn to love it, making it less suited to new players.
I disagree that it's a deathtrap. Smart thinking and smart playing will go a long way here. For example:
D&D has really always been about rewarding creative thinking, and Pathfinder should be no different. Presuming that "through" is always the most effective path will often lead to Bad Things.
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Matthew, I think you are missing the point here, your perception of the goals of Free RPG Day are hard to understand.
Free RPG Day is not just a free Paizo product, it is an RPG showcase and recruitment event. Stores run RPGs during the day on a Saturday for this - that's prime time, often taken up by TCGs in many stores on most weekends. It's aimed at a public crowd, to try and attract crossover. It even comes with pre-gens (the only Paizo product to still do so) so that these new players don't have to make characters. Even if it wasn't intended to be an intro scenario, it is being presented to intro players by its time slot and format.
Think about it: why would Paizo do a special product that is just intended for their regular audience, and then give it away for free, when they already do 26 scenarios a year plus modules, APs, etc? It doesn't matter that we have known it would be for level-3 PCs - it comes with pre-gens specifically so players can have their first Pathfinder experience with this scenario, without needing to make their own PCs and start at level 1, like they would have to with other public games like PFS.
I'm glad you like that Paizo gave you a free scenario that is very challenging. I'm sad that many FLGS's around the world will just find a GM to run this for a bunch of new players as part of Free RPG Day, and those new players will think "Pathfinder is KILLER and I died in the first room, maybe I'll go try this new (to me) D&D Encounters thing next week instead."
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I disagree that it's a deathtrap. Smart thinking and smart playing will go a long way here. For example:
Again, a brand-new player won't necessarily be able to think of this on their first round. If they have played RPGs before, they will (think they) know that challenges are scaled to the party's level. "I should be able to beat this, or it wouldn't be here." It only takes a couple of rounds of hesitation to kill half the party on the first encounter.
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Free RPG Day is not just a free Paizo product, it is an RPG showcase and recruitment event. Stores run RPGs during the day on a Saturday for this - that's prime time, often taken up by TCGs in many stores on most weekends. It's aimed at a public crowd, to try and attract crossover. It even comes with pre-gens (the only Paizo product to still do so) so that these new players don't have to make characters. Even if it wasn't intended to be an intro scenario, it is being presented to intro players by its time slot and format.
I work at a comic and game shop, and have worked at others, as well as bookstores that would also host gaming events. I have been organizing public play events for more than a decade, and understand fully the purpose of programs such as Free RPG Day. The goal of Free RPG Day is to get people into stores to pick up the free products offered by publishers. While they're there, hopefully they'll purchase some other items and join in a game. If it's someone who's never played an RPG before, then even better. But who says it has to be the same module that they just picked up at the counter?
Risen from the Sands is presented as an introduction to brand new players only if a store chooses to offer and advertise it as such. There are no flashing lights and sirens proclaiming Risen From the Sand to be a great introduction for those who have never played an RPG before. From the description of the module that's been up on the Paizo site for quite some time:
""Risen from the Sands" is a dungeon-based adventure for four 3rd-level characters, written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world's oldest RPG. It also provides four immediately playable previews of exciting new classes debuting in the upcoming Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide, as well as a thematic supplement to the new Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path."
What about that gives ANY indication that it's intended to be played by brand new players as an entry-level Pathfinder experience? The fact that it's a Free RPG Module? Again, not all Free RPG Day products (by Paizo or other companies) are intended or required to be a complete entry-level experience. Should they be? That's debatable, but superfluous, as it's not actually the case.
There is absolutely nothing dictating that Risen From the Sands has to be offered as an intro to brand new players. Want to offer it for play? Sure, awesome, great. But it's not intended as an entry-level introduction, nor does it claim to be. Want to give someone a great entry-level experience to Pathfinder? Awesome. There's Master of the Fallen Fortress, First Steps 1 and The Confirmation for Society, the Beginner Box scenario or the Beginner Box Bash scenarios, or even Crypt of the Everflame for a longer all-day event. It's not like Pathfinder lacks for entry-level introductory material. Still want to run Risen From the Sands? Awesome. It's going to be a lot of fun for people who have some experience with Pathfinder, or other similar RPG's. It's a great "raid the unexplored pyramid" type dungeon crawl. But a brand-new player or brand-new group is going to have a rough go at it. While running the new shiny is nice, I don't know where this idea of "only the Free RPG Day Module being given out by Paizo can be run" attitude is coming from. If you want to organize an event true to the spirit of Free RPG Day and get some brand new players in, give them options that were designed for that. They can still walk home with a free copy of Risen From the Sands. No one is doing a disservice to a brand new player by letting them play something other than the brand new module.
The "problem" of Risen From the Sands not being an optimum entry-level offering for new players stems from advertising it as such when that isn't what it is, regardless of whether anyone feels that's what it should be. It would certainly be nice if everything was what we thought it should be, but if you carry on with the assumption that what you wanted is what you were getting, even when there was no indication that was the case, and plenty of flags that it wasn't the case, then the error does not lie in the product or the publisher.
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I disagree that it's a deathtrap. Smart thinking and smart playing will go a long way here. For example:** spoiler omitted **
Again, a brand-new player won't necessarily be able to think of this on their first round. If they have played RPGs before, they will (think they) know that challenges are scaled to the party's level. "I should be able to beat this, or it wouldn't be here." It only takes a couple of rounds of hesitation to kill half the party on the first encounter.
"I should be able to beat this, or it wouldn't be here" equating to "we must hit it with weapons and spells until it stops moving" is a bad frame of mind to be in. I'd think that a Lamplighter should agree with that.
The example I gave was not something that I would expect from a brand new player, nor did I say it was. I've been very clear about my view that RFtS is NOT an entry-level play experience. Gamers that have played other RPGs very likely may think of that, especially if they've played other games that aren't as "hit it until it stops moving" mentality as Pathfinder is. Here's another pretty easily thought of example of how to deal with that encounter:
presuming you had the foresight to check the newly uncovered ancient Osirian pyramid tomb of a pharaoh for traps and found and bypassed the falling rocks trap, run away, make the pyramid chase you, have it trigger the trap.
"It's here so I have to kill it" is a mentality that will eventually end badly. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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The ceiling slots aren't large enough for anything but a tiny creature to get into, and I don't see how a narrow gap between two pieces of stone in the ceiling helps you much. And the pyramid has reach, anyway, so even if you did manage to hang onto the ceiling at the edge of the passage it can still hit you.
The survivability of this encounter very much depends on whether your GM interprets this as a one-shot encounter (anyone caught in the passageway gets trampled; basically a trap, with no reset), or whether the pyramid continues to attack, somehow, using the 10' reach and melee slam attack described in the stat block. I have a hard job understanding just how it would do this, but presumably the inclusion of that attack was deliberate.
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** spoiler omitted **
Also, to address the spoiler that I missed the first time.
Large creatures do not necessarily take up a 10 foot cube. It's incredibly rational to assume that the trample ability of the creature is based on the fact that it's rolling over you/crushing you against the walls. "Reward clever or creative solutions" would be completely applicable here.
The PCs can run instead of double moving, easily outrunning the thing, or at least denying it its ability to trample ability (which only lets it move up to double its speed as a full round action). Given the fact that it's a mindless construct and was programmed to start rolling forward once any creature comes within 40 feet (pretty obviously to roll over them and crush them), it could be very easily presumed that it just keeps taking that full round action to double move and possibly trample every round, as long as something is within 40 feet of it.
While we're on the subject, the text indicates that once a creature approaches to within 40 feet, the "pyramid animates and charges, speeding forward on stone rollers to trample anyone in the passage." While it might be reasonable to assume that it then reverses direction and continues like a rolling pin flattening out dough for adventurer cookies, there's no reason to expressly say that it does. So if you want to give an easier go, have it do exactly what it says and move forward down the tunnel, trampling anything that's in front of it then stopping once it passes them.
Also, remember that this is only 375 feet down the hallway, so I'm not sure where you're coming up with bringing up the rules for long distance chases. As fun as it is to imagine a group of Pathfinders fleeing out of the temple entrance, screaming, to be followed shortly by a big animated pyramid that then proceeds to chase them through the desert (likely to the musical accompaniment of Yakkety Sax), that's pretty clearly not what happens.
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If I may, I think the main question people should be asking is not "Is it for first level characters" or "is it too hard" or even "Is this encounter too difficult for new players".
What we should be asking is : "Is it fun?" because in the end, that's what is going to hook people. I've played plenty of games where I died, but the game itself was FUN and I wanted to play more. I've also played games that were a solid introduction to the rules and I survived and the other players did and we had no problems getting through the scenario, and we were bored out of our skulls and by the end I would rather have eaten tacks than played again.
The thing that's going to make or break this experience for players isn't the stat blocks or the DC's or the to-hit bonuses or any of that.
What's going to make or break this scenario is how well we, as GM's, present it and run it. It has to be fun, and all things considered, this scenario has quite a lot of room for a lot of fun. Maybe not goblin-styled fun, but a lot of fun none-the-less.
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So the last few comments has be thinking of Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom. I might run it this way if I have a lot of new players at the table.
The best thing about these mods is that the GM has a lot of leeway as not much tactics are written for the encounters.
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** spoiler omitted **
As for the slam attack with 10 reach, that is incredibly silly. I personally don't plan on using it unless the party I run through is super min/maxed and really wants a challenge.
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What we should be asking is : "Is it fun?" because in the end, that's what is going to hook people. I've played plenty of games where I died, but the game itself was FUN and I wanted to play more.
That's quite an important point as well. The assumption has been that it might not be fun because a player using a pregen character whom they have no investment in might die, and everyone is upset and has no fun if their character dies. Obviously, that's not true, as Royce pointed out personally above. I'm the same way. The first game of Call of Cthulhu I ever played, after five or minutes in the game, my character went insane and I threw myself off a speeding train, nary to be seen again. It was awesome.
I've also run a number of PFS tables, where players are actually more invested in their characters, that ended up being TPK's, but the players had one of the best times of their lives gaming.
We Be Goblins and WBG2 are good examples of modules that can (and realistically, probably should) result in at least one PC death, and be incredibly fun at the same time.
So let's not assume that deadly = no fun.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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Here's another pretty easily thought of example of how to deal with that encounter:
presuming you had the foresight to check the newly uncovered ancient Osirian pyramid tomb of a pharaoh for traps and found and bypassed the falling rocks trap, run away, make the pyramid chase you, have it trigger the trap.
That doesn't "deal with" the encounter; the falling rock trap can do at most 1/5 of the damage necessary to stop the pyramid, and on average will barely even scratch it.
And while you may think that it's somehow a poor choice for a game store or the walk-ins to want to play the scenario that's in the box, that's how most of the stores I know around here treat Free RPG day scenarios. And they don't hang out in the Paizo forums to see the discussion of the module. Heck, several of them don't even run PFS events, and won't even know about any pregens other than those in the module. They also don't want too much emphasis put on the existence of an organized play campaign that could tempt potential players into a competitor's store.
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So the last few comments has be thinking of Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom. I might run it this way if I have a lot of new players at the table.
The best thing about these mods is that the GM has a lot of leeway as not much tactics are written for the encounters.
can't wait to have you run it tonight, June. very excited to see how it goes.
Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne
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Your perception that all Free RPG Day products are supposed to be designed to be an introductory to completely brand new players is false.
Based on what evidence? We discussed this last night and everyone at the table was in agreement. I also understand this is the feelings of at least 2 of the 3 local game store owners. And at least 2 other posters on this thread are agreeing with me and one of them knows of another game store owner that does so as well. And while I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it yet but I have good reason to believe my local VL would agree. I see one person possibly agreeing with you yet you are arrogantly claiming that your POV is the right one and mine is wrong. Is this definitive proof that I am right and you are wrong? No, but it is sure of a hell a lot better than what you are bringing to the table.
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That doesn't "deal with" the encounter; the falling rock trap can do at most 1/5 of the damage necessary to stop the pyramid, and on average will barely even scratch it.Here's another pretty easily thought of example of how to deal with that encounter:
presuming you had the foresight to check the newly uncovered ancient Osirian pyramid tomb of a pharaoh for traps and found and bypassed the falling rocks trap, run away, make the pyramid chase you, have it trigger the trap.
[spoiler]
As a GM you could certainly reward that creative solution by saying the fallen rocks make it so the pyramid isn't getting any traction, so it's stuck and unable to move. Or that it causes it tip over.[/spoier]And while you may think that it's somehow a poor choice for a game store or the walk-ins to want to play the scenario that's in the box, that's how most of the stores I know around here treat Free RPG day scenarios. And they don't hang out in the Paizo forums to see the discussion of the module. Heck, several of them don't even run PFS events, and won't even know about any pregens other than those in the module. They also don't want too much emphasis put on the existence of an organized play campaign that could tempt potential players into a competitor's store.
I'm saying that it is a poor choice to provide a module that's not really designed as an entry-level experience as the only option for new players simply because it is the new shiny product, and a FREE one at that. If you want to create new players from people who have never gamed before, you should be offering one of the many available products that are intended to do just that. I do understand that it can be an issue for stores who do not run PFS events and who don't know about other options, but store owners really should be aware of that. The bit about not wanting to put an emphasis on the existence of an organized play campaign because it might tempt customers to shop at other stores is a whole other bag of bad decisions, probably fit a thread of its own.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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So, you don't think an average 6 foot tall medium creature could make the required DC 8 jump check to make the one foot vertical leap, letting him grab onto the edge of one of the slots, and then, say, . . .
What "edge"? This isn't like a building constructed with thin floors; it's built out of large limestone blocks. The slot in the ceiling is just going to be a gap between a couple of the blocks; there isn't going to be a lip to grab on to. Making the jump is easy - it's holding on that's hard.
For a free RPG day run, I have every intention of ignoring the slam attack (and probably reducing the hardness, as suggested elsewhere).
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Your perception that all Free RPG Day products are supposed to be designed to be an introductory to completely brand new players is false.Based on what evidence? We discussed this last night and everyone at the table was in agreement. I also understand this is the feelings of at least 2 of the 3 local game store owners. And at least 2 other posters on this thread are agreeing with me and one of them knows of another game store owner that does so as well. And while I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it yet but I have good reason to believe my local VL would agree. I see one person possibly agreeing with you yet you are arrogantly claiming that your POV is the right one and mine is wrong. Is this definitive proof that I am right and you are wrong? No, but it is sure of a hell a lot better than what you are bringing to the table.
I would instead ask you to provide any evidence that Free RPG Products are only intended to be entry-level experience products. Other than your feelings that that is what publishers should produce for the products (which I'm not saying doesn't have any merit), there are no guidelines put out by Free RPG Day stating that products put out by participating publishers must be entry-level introductory products. Yes, the point of the Free RPG Day event is to hopefully try to get players to try out a game that they haven't played before, but the products offered to get people into the store are carrots and try out whatever events that the store may be offering for them to try. Is it great for stores to be able to offer events showcasing the current free items? Sure. Is it required? Absolutely not, especially in cases where the product wouldn't necessarily be the best option for an entry-level event. There have been a number of products offered by a number of participating publishers over the years that have been for higher level or experience play in a number of games. Sometimes that can work out for an entry-level event, depending on the game system. However, with Pathfinder that usually isn't the case.
Again, I do feel that your thought that Free RPG Day offerings should be entry-level experiences are valid. I think it serves publishers best to put out that sort of thing, but regardless of my feelings on the matter or yours, or anyone else's, the simple fact is that no publisher is required by Free RPG Day to make their product an entry-level product. Pretty much the only guideline that exist on what products may be offered are that they have to be new original content that has not been offered in print previously.
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** spoiler omitted **
For a free RPG day run, I have every intention of ignoring the slam attack (and probably reducing the hardness, as suggested elsewhere).
Everything Matthew describes strikes me as making the reflex save to take less damage from the trample. Anything more than that is pretty much just ignoring pathfinder rules.
Ignoring the rules is pretty much what I'll probably do. I'm very likely to just treat this as an extended trap. It rolls forward and then stops.
Maybe local players are weird, but I've seen few who find it fun to die in the first 10 minutes to a pyramid.
And certainly locally we're running this scenario. Kinda seemed the point.
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** spoiler omitted **
For a free RPG day run, I have every intention of ignoring the slam attack (and probably reducing the hardness, as suggested elsewhere).
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** spoiler omitted **
For a free RPG day run, I have every intention of ignoring the slam attack (and probably reducing the hardness, as suggested elsewhere).
Everything Matthew describes strikes me as making the reflex save to take less damage from the trample. Anything more than that is pretty much just ignoring pathfinder rules.
Ignoring the rules is pretty much what I'll probably do. I'm very likely to just treat this as an extended trap. It rolls forward and then stops.
Maybe local players are weird, but I've seen few who find it fun to die in the first 10 minutes to a pyramid.
And certainly locally we're running this scenario. Kinda seemed the point.
if a player wanted to describe their successful reflex save as tumbling up the side of the pyramid and clinging to the ceiling for a second before dropping to the ground behind it, i would be incredibly impressed, and probably give them a cookie, if i had one available.
if they wanted to tell me that on their turn, before the pyramid's initiative, that they wanted to try and jump up, try to get a purchase on one of the slots and pull themselves up in order to avoid getting trampled altogether, i'd absolutely let them try to make some skill checks to do exactly that. they'd also probably end up with a cookie for that as well.
regarding the hardness and stone fist that was brought up earlier, i think it's pretty safe to assume that the intent by the author and developers was that the stone fist was a tool to overcome the hardness of the animated pyramid, but was just a slight misread of the rules. i don't think it would be beyond the pale to allow someone playing the investigator pregen to bypass the hardness in that encounter. even in a PFS sanctioned table.
another option for player's who die early on in the pyramid would be to let them bring a clone back in, or even go the whole "killer breakfast" route and let a new player cycle in with a new pregen to that seat. could make it a lot of fun. obviously not for a sanctioned table in that case.
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I have a miniature of a fairly scary looking building that is the right size. Hopefully it will at least produce a "Oh my g#d, we're in trouble, run away" reaction.
sadly, the only thing that i was able to find is a pyramid that's only about one inch square. i used to have something that would have worked perfectly, but it appears that i got rid of it years ago. i am cursing my lack of supernatural prescience.
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So I went ahead and created an intro blurb for the module geared to PFS players. I will send the sheet with additional info/editing for knowledge check results for uploading to the PFSprep.com site tomorrow. Enjoy.
The adventure begins in Sandswept Hall, the Pathfinder Lodge in Sothis as Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir briefs the PCs on their upcoming mission. Read or paraphrase the following to get the adventure underway:
Greetings Pathfinders, It seems we have another task at hand in the Osirian desert. A travelling caravan heading from the village of Safani to the city of Eto was recently blown off course while traversing through the Parched Dunes due to unusually strong sandstorms. Much of the caravan was destroyed, but one of the survivors, a man by the name of Ahnkenetaa, claimed to have seen a large pyramid protruding out of the desert. At first many thought that the old man was suffering from heat exhaustion and may have seen a mirage. But then he brought forth a small clay tablet inscribed in Ancient Osirian. The tablet was a cartouche of the Pharaoh Sekh-pa-Mefer the III, The Pharaoh of Sphinxes.
If this indeed true then the sands of time have uncovered one of the few pyramids from the First Age of Osirion. I researched further into the pharaoh’s name and found that it is rumored to be one of the few tombs that the Pharaoh Jetrieti V did not plunder during his reign more than 7,500 years ago.
Using the directions the caravan guide has given me, I have created a map for you and will be sending your team of Pathfinders to explore this area. Locate the pyramid and explore it depths. Bring back as many artifacts as you can find, as I have no doubt that Ahnkenetaa has told his story to others.
Remember you will be traveling in an inhospitable desert environment and very close to the eastern edge of the Footprints of Rovagug. So be vigilant in your travels as all manner of beasts roam those harsh desert sands.
Do any of you have questions before you go?
Having traveled two weeks from Sothis and then to Eto, your journey through the Parched Dunes was difficult under the harsh rays of an unforgiving sun and stinging windswept sand. Thankfully all of your camels survived and most of the travel was uneventful. Now finally through the sandy haze you gaze upon the object of your quest.
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wow, june. that's great.
here's what i was planning to use for pre-game knowledge checks for the module (all taken directly from the Adventure Background section):
Knowledge (History)
DC 15 Pharaoh Sekh-pa-Mefer III ruled Osirion during its First
Age, some 7,500 years ago.
DC 20 Called the Pharaoh of Sphinxes,
Sekh-pa-Mefer was known to be a friend of the sphinxes
of the Osirian desert and hosted many of the enigmatic
creatures at his court.
DC 25 During his reign, he claimed that
the sphinxes had shared with him the secret of eternal
life, and promised that he would return after his death
as a god to lead Osirion into a golden age of wisdom and
prosperity.
DC 30 After his death, Sekh-pa-Mefer was mummified
and interred in a pyramid in the Parched Dunes. But
the Pharaoh of Sphinxes never made his promised
reappearance, and over the millennia his tomb was buried
beneath the ever-shifting sands of the Osirian desert.
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The rolling pyramid is shaping up to be a legendary encounter, I think!
I'll say this: it's a disservice to players to presume the necessity of softballing the encounter - the best "this one time" gamer stories arise from creatively dealing with problematic odds. Give players a chance to deal with it, and be prepared to adjudicate creativity fairly (but firmly)... THAT is what will keep them coming back.
As for new players, they're frequently the most creative because their thinking isn't bound by the rules yet; they're more focused on doing *something* than on what they *can* do. I've seen it often when GMing at big conventions, the most likely time to have a table of first-timers!
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I've been reviewing the Rolling Pyramid encounter and I'm going to implement the following rules.
Momentum: When the pyramid chooses a direction to roll in, it goes that direction for two turns. It's maneuverability is effectively shot by its weight and also by gravity.
Slam: The Pyramid has no limbs, and it's slam attack is effectively a crash attack. It will only complete a slam on a charge or at the end of a movement of at least 10 feet. It won't take any Attacks of Opportunity whatsoever.
Temporarily Disabled: If the PCs trick the Pyramid into crashing into a door or column, the stone collapses upon it and buries it, disabling it for 1d6 X 10 minutes. When the construct becomes free, it patrols the room awaiting the PC's return.
I think any GM that makes the Pyramid repeatedly trample the party in the causeway may be doing the mod a disservice (unless the party is a bunch of cheese-monkeys in which case go crazy crush them flat for me willya?)
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Well, it's an animated object, so its slam attack is just the "arm" of blocks which extrude out from the pyramid to slam someone.
It's worth noting that the rolling pyramid *does* have a perception of -5 (no skill ranks and a wisdom of 1); one could fairly give players a chance without softballing the encounter by taking that into account. I can certainly see a fun (and still very, very dangerous) encounter in which the players leverage the pyramid's lack of wits.
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Confused. My understanding from reading the rules is that that players may NOT use a regular level 4 pregen.
Please tell me I'm misinterpreting that. :)
It would also seem (almost certainly this is an error) that if you play the pregens you get no credit. Certainly not at all clear who that credit can be applied to (I'm guessing the usual rules apply which means it MUST go to a level 1 character with 500 gold)
No guidance on whether we are supposed to restrict it to 4 characters or to pregens on Saturday. Which I'm interpreting as we are NOT supposed to apply any restrictions.
I know its busy season but I can't help feel that Paizo is doing a pretty poor job both in many facets of this module and in communicating its intentions to us.
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Confused. My understanding from reading the rules is that that players may NOT use a regular level 4 pregen.
Please tell me I'm misinterpreting that. :)
It would also seem (almost certainly this is an error) that if you play the pregens you get no credit. Certainly not at all clear who that credit can be applied to (I'm guessing the usual rules apply which means it MUST go to a level 1 character with 500 gold)
No guidance on whether we are supposed to restrict it to 4 characters or to pregens on Saturday. Which I'm interpreting as we are NOT supposed to apply any restrictions.
I know its busy season but I can't help feel that Paizo is doing a pretty poor job both in many facets of this module and in communicating its intentions to us.
It does look like the option to use a standard PFS 4th level pregen was omitted from this module. A mistake, I think, but it is what it is.
As for applying credit when playing a pregen, there are no additional rules, so you should fall back on the standard rules - i.e. either put it on a new 1st level PC with the reduced gold for Free RPG Day Modules, or apply it to an existing character when they reach the level of the pregen played (3rd, in this case). There are likewise no specifically changed rules for appropriate table size, so if you are running it as a sanctioned event, go with the normal rules for a PFS table.
Also note that this Free RPG Day Module does include a secondary success condition to earn a second prestige point.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne
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I would instead ask you to provide any evidence that Free RPG Products are only intended to be entry-level experience products.
So let me get this straight. I have supplied evidence to support my argument, meager though it may be, and asked you to do the same. In response, instead of actually providing that evidence you instead try to turn it around and suggest I should have to supply evidence that you are wrong. In other words, I have to prove everything and you have to prove nothing. Nice try but I cry BS.
This problem is not my opinion. It is my opinion, plus the opinion of everyone I played the Slot Zero with last night, plus the opinion of my local FLGS, plus the opinion of several other local gamers I have discussed this with. While it is certainly possible this is just a local perception problem, I will point out that other people on this post also have a similar opinion. I saw what looked like a possible problem based on local opinion and thought it would be valuable to bring it up on this post. Whether or not Paizo actually has any obligation to provide entry level adventures for Free RPG Day is irrelevant if the general perception of the customer base is that they should. While you may or may not be right as to whether or not they SHOULD feel that way, none of that really matters if they actually DO feel that way. Free RPG Day is a marketing event and in marketing perception is everything.
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This may have been mentioned earlier in the thread, but does anyone find it funny that none of the pregens have the ability to identify magic items? None of the pregen with Spellcraft have Detect Magic, and the only pregen with Detect Magic doesn't have Spellcraft.
Wow. That's actually pretty frustrating.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Confused. My understanding from reading the rules is that that players may NOT use a regular level 4 pregen.
Please tell me I'm misinterpreting that. :)
Correct, the players have to either use the pregens in this module or a PFS-legal character of level 2-4 of their own. No level 4 pregens allowed.