Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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For the record, Damanta and I played in Simon's game.
That gelatinous cube was special. The barbarian missed it on a natural 1 ("How could you miss it?! It's a 10'x10'x10' cube! It occupies four entire squares!"). Next round the cube saved against an Aqueous Orb on a natural 20.
We did so very much want to go after the hippos just because they were hippos, but ran out of time. I think that's actually good; your choices really matter, choosing one thing means closing the door on something else.
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Wow call me stupid. I missed you and Damanta being on my table. I am still tired from a weekend of gaming. That's my excuse!
Then there was the fact you guys threw enough ale in a starved Rand. :) The poor pathfinder was very gullible indeed. Then someone's cleric asked if he was a powerful cleric or something else useful in a fight. "I am very powerful, very powerful indeed." While they were dragging him back to the lodge he whispered to random passersby "Powerful cleric, that's me" :)
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Yes, my bloodrager always carries around a few bottles of ale as every proper follower of Cayden Cailean should do.
That cube was hilarious, after the cleric who was inside it got pulled out by the summoner's eidolon, it went into a random direction as there were people standing nearby on like every position it could go, which happened to be straight towards a tied up Rand, who got very scared. Luckily for him the ranger managed to pull him far enough away.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Yeah, it stopped inches short of Rand before our Endangered Ranger could pull him to safety. (The player has a talent for finding all the hidden enemies. He does this no matter the character or even the game system.)
Having a few bottles of strong alcohol on your character is useful in so many adventures. As diplomatic enhancers, bribes, fuel, to prime people for subtle interrogation, or to calm down shocked/traumatized/mind-affected people.
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I ran this at a con- a couple of thoughts and observations I had:
The players thought it was a horrible idea to leave the book unattended in the vault and insisted on carrying it around with them. I began to churn ideas about wtf to do with the siege. Would the league agents even be homing in on the vault if the book's not there? Would there be a siege at all or would the hammer just come down on the PCs directly wherever they are when zero hour strikes? Luckily when they rescued Rand I had him boggle at their insistence of carrying it around and he convinced them the security of the secret vault was superior to the security of the anonyminity of their backpack.
The players also discussed "why don't we just teleport back to Absolom with the book and our stupid agent now that we've rescued him?" Luckily I didn't have to resort to nudging them as grand lodge and exchange players correctly divined that they weren't gonna get their faction mission boons if they just let the league run willy nilly over the export facility (and the secret pathfinder lodge therein). If it wasn't for the self-interest lobby of those players however, I do fear that they would have just cheated themselves of most of the adventure. Had it happened and they blamed the story for not being as smart as they were, I would have certainly pointed out their initial mission briefing did explicitly tell them to defend the place. But I wasn't going to remind them of that order in game.
There was some grief after the game as players complained that there wasn't enough time to do everything. I had been gleefully suggesting that they split up during the game, knowing all the while they'd disregard any suggestion from a giggly GM that was "for their own good". I got to give them an "I told you so..." to answer their complaint on that. I rather like that there are a few adventures out there like this one and others such as
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Yeah, we knew that "don't split" isn't an iron rule, but on the other hand, there were advantages for us to staying together. Since we went on the offensive, it let us follow up on leads immediately, rather than spending time regrouping.
Also, during investigations, I hate it when team 1 discovers clue A from the first contact, team 2 discovers clue B from the second contact, and as it happens if team 2 had known about clue A when talking to their contact, then they would've also been able to learn about clue C.
It was always obvious to us that there was no time to pursue every strategy, so we basically had a choice between going on the offensive, trying to catch the TL on their home ground but unprepared, or to hunker down and try to use some sort of home field advantage. Our moves to free the prisoners were also preemptive strikes to weaken TL forces, and that worked out well for us. Divide and conquer and all that.
Teleporting to Absalom never occurred to us, because Aya made it clear from the start that this lodge in Nantambu was physically at risk, and that would be Bad. (Also again, we just like aggressive defence. :P)
I suppose in hindsight, given the importance of the book, you might wonder why we travelled to Nantambu by ship instead of teleport. In our game though, the bloodrager chick was also a pirate captain with her own man-o'-war, so the thought never occurred to us.
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I suppose in hindsight, given the importance of the book, you might wonder why we travelled to Nantambu by ship instead of teleport. In our game though, the bloodrager chick was also a pirate captain with her own man-o'-war, so the thought never occurred to us.
If the PCs question why they were required to travel by boat instead of using teleportation or other magical means of transportation, provide them for following answer, as though the question were asked in Absalom and answered by Kreighton Shaine.
“The city of Nantambu and the surrounding territory are under constant watch by the Tempest-Sun mages. While the Society’s presence in Nantambu is known, the existence of a lodge there must remain a secret. I fear that any fantastical means of travel may attract unwanted attention. Surely seasoned adventurers such as yourself can handle such a lengthy trip.”
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Ran it this weekend. Six players, level 7 average (one 8), so high tier with the 4-player adjustments. I'm going to write a review but wanted to share some spoilerific things. By the skin of their teeth (high rolls on the gather information DCs and low rolls by me) they got just under the wire to avoid the League finding out about the lodge - despite goofing off for a couple of hours to start and then another hour between rescuing the two NPCs. The combats were amusing, cunningly designed, very challenging, but not unfair. The role-play opportunities were great as they wandered the city. So I was going to the wrap-up when I realized that the Grand Lodge PC wasn't going to be able to get his prestige if I did that (he didn't make the survey checks). "You still haven't gotten that root."
And then the Hippo happened.
The tactic of attacking when they were halfway across was deadly. No one could make swim checks and the fighter had taken off his armor to cross. The players had a good time up until this fight. But they just hated this one. A pretty much unstoppable sneak attack to start. Once the hippo got up to someone they were as good as dead. Finally one drank a potion of invisibility to grab the root while the three other survivors (two were already dead) ran away. Having this as the very last thing really dropped their overall enjoyment.
Overall this is a great scenario but the hippo feels like an overpowered add-on that doesn't enhance the story. (They liked the tangential diamond mission, mainly because the option to role-play through it was there.)
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The tactic of attacking when they were halfway across was deadly.I'm not familiar with that as a tactic. On my phone, can you copy/paste the BH tactics? The only thing I remember is its tactic to drag under water.
In either subtier, however, the territorial animals attack the PCs as the Pathfinders approach the shore near the root they seek.
It's possible that the intention was "approach (either) shore near the root," but I interpreted it as "approach the shore near(est) the root" - in other words partway across the river.
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Venture-Captain, Pennsylvania—Philadelphia
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We had a great time playing this as well. The gelatinous cube was amazing! Totally unexpected.
There's not much that's more fun to me than framing the Aspis Consortium, and that's the route we went with, trying to convince the League agents that the book was in Aspis hands in Bloodcove. Our favored tactic was dealing with the opposition with extreme prejudice, then leaving one survivor tied up in an "easily escapable situation" with a warning never to mess with the Consortium again.
I'll also say, I was really pleased when using Speak with Plants on the baobab tree saved us from the vicious hippo ambush! (And all we wanted to do was compliment the King of the Forest.)
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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We were told there'd be hippos, but I had no idea hippos were sneaky. I thought they'd just be straightforward brutal.
If we'd gone in that direction and spotted the root without any nasty creatures around, we'd probably be suspicious. "We were promised hippos to fight. Where would they be?" Or just "it looks too easy to be true".
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The tactic of attacking when they were halfway across was deadly.I'm not familiar with that as a tactic. On my phone, can you copy/paste the BH tactics? The only thing I remember is its tactic to drag under water.In either subtier, however, the territorial animals attack the PCs as the Pathfinders approach the shore near the root they seek.It's possible that the intention was "approach (either) shore near the root," but I interpreted it as "approach the shore near(est) the root" - in other words partway across the river.
** spoiler omitted **
I guess I meant to quote the sneaky part. I know there wasn't an intention on my part for that situation to be an ambush, but I also designed the scenario to give the GM a lot of flexibility so you can choose what makes the most sense to you. :-)
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I ran this over the weekend at subtier 8-9. My table absolutely loved it and thought it was really cool. They were all GMs and they look forward to running it.
Overall, they did very well. They spread 1 rumor about the aspis, found rand, after knocking out the alchemist they charmed him. He freely told them about the Copper Buffalo. They paid Uzoma's debt and got the gem on the way to the bar. They easily dealt with the bar without any escapes.
With 4 hrs left, the Mystic Theurge (of Pharasma) bought a scroll of animate object, but refused to animate dead. In the mean time, the nature oracle hired a really good tracker and went by himself to find the root. I asked at least three separate times if anyone else was coming. No one wanted to. When the oracle and guide found the root, they heard a huge splash, looked up and seen the Behemoth Hippo in all his glory. (Everyone LOVED the hippo and wished that we encountered them more). Hippo won initiative and trampled both of them and they took dmg. The guide ended up unconscious and the oracle cast blindness/deafness, made they save by 1. Hippo wasn't very happy, charged and bit him did enough dmg to knock him unconscious. Luckily, the oracle had and ability that whenever he went unconscious he gained fast healing 1 for 1d4 rounds. With everyone unconscious, but not dead. It took some discussion about whether hippos are herbivore or are carnivorous. The ruling that I ended up going with was that, yes, hippos are herbavores, they hippo only attacked because they invaded his territory and now that they are no longer moving he left them. In the meantime the oracle healed from his wounds and arrived back in town the next day, not dead, but also did not participate in the siege.
The siege went fairly well. They animated the armor and the giant frilled lizard. After dispelling the globe of invulnerability, the wizard was able to torch everyone with a 67 dmg fireball and the magus finished off the sorcerer.
We knew going in that we were gonna take our time and not look at the clock. In between new rules discussions, table talk, and dinner it took 7 hrs.
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Discussed a running of this with a player recently and I came away with a this:
At high-tier the NPC Codex sorcerer in the warehouse has a wand of invisibility. The GM combined repeated uses of that with extra rounds buffing for the alchemist instead of engaging the PCs per the tactics. These tactics combined with the party make-up to cause the encounter to drag out and consume almost the entire slot.
This scenario is about drenching the PCs in Mwangi culture and providing the PCs options to do their investigation. Using the entire slot for a single encounter goes against the intent of this scenario.
As the GM, it's not your job to win, it's your job to tell a narrative with the PCs as the protagonists. You have a limited time to tell the story, don't waste it all on the first chapter.
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** spoiler omitted **
For future scenarios, do you have a suggestion how an encounter like the BH could be adapted for 4 players at high tier? A pair of advanced little ones perhaps?
Usually when I make a 4-player adjustment, I try to reduce the action economies for the bad guys as opposed to making them weaker.
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I guess I meant to quote the sneaky part. I know there wasn't an intention on my part for that situation to be an ambush, but I also designed the scenario to give the GM a lot of flexibility so you can choose what makes the most sense to you. :-)
I guess I shouldn't have used the words "sneak attack." Like a lot of other GMs (from what I read here) the hippo was just lounging in the river and no one noticed it until it reared up (rearing up was the surprise, then we went into initiative). Re-reading, that may not have been the best choice. If I run it again at this level I will probably have the hippo clearly visible and let the party decide whether to engage it from range, try to befriend it, or hope it is indifferent and try to cross.
For future scenarios, do you have a suggestion how an encounter like the BH could be adapted for 4 players at high tier? A pair of advanced little ones perhaps?
Maybe two Advanced Giant Hippopotami? The tricky balance is that for a party like I had (6 playing up) Advanced would work but it wouldn't really be a challenge for 4 players all 8-9.
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I agree with everyone above on this scenario. I'm prepping for an upcoming home PFS session and am very excited.
I've run into a problem that I'm hoping someone has the solution for. I use
I use GIMP to edit the pdf maps from Paizo (see Dennis Baker's thread on his technique - Great way to avoid drawing all of the details on a blank grid!) When I copy the maps in this scenario, they just show up as black in GIMP. I successfully used Dennis' technique in GIMP for other scenarios and the very first map in this scenario (map of Nantambu) works fine. It is just the rest of the maps. Any solutions? Thanks!
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I agree with everyone above on this scenario. I'm prepping for an upcoming home PFS session and am very excited.
I've run into a problem that I'm hoping someone has the solution for. I use
I use GIMP to edit the pdf maps from Paizo (see Dennis Baker's thread on his technique - Great way to avoid drawing all of the details on a blank grid!) When I copy the maps in this scenario, they just show up as black in GIMP. I successfully used Dennis' technique in GIMP for other scenarios and the very first map in this scenario (map of Nantambu) works fine. It is just the rest of the maps. Any solutions? Thanks!
Or if you don't want all the text on the map, Nitro PDF Reader has an extract all images function that removed them nicely.
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I agree with everyone above on this scenario. I'm prepping for an upcoming home PFS session and am very excited.
I've run into a problem that I'm hoping someone has the solution for. I use
I use GIMP to edit the pdf maps from Paizo (see Dennis Baker's thread on his technique - Great way to avoid drawing all of the details on a blank grid!) When I copy the maps in this scenario, they just show up as black in GIMP. I successfully used Dennis' technique in GIMP for other scenarios and the very first map in this scenario (map of Nantambu) works fine. It is just the rest of the maps. Any solutions? Thanks!
I used GIMP to create my maps for this scenario and had no problems. (USING Dennis Baker's instructional). Not sure what the problem your having might be.
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Regarding a recent review (and several other similar reviews):
"We had little time remaining so the GM, perforce hand waved a lot of it."
The scenario specifically states that if the scenario is being run in a constrained time slot (i.e. you're only given X hours), that the final encounter begins with 90 minutes remaining (assuming the PCs haven't figured a way to bypass it from happening at all).
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Regarding a recent review (and several other similar reviews):
"We had little time remaining so the GM, perforce hand waved a lot of it."
The scenario specifically states that if the scenario is being run in a constrained time slot (i.e. you're only given X hours), that the final encounter begins with 90 minutes remaining (assuming the PCs haven't figured a way to bypass it from happening at all).
Deserves a +1.
When I ran this at a Con, that's what happened. At 90 minutes before the end of the slot, they still hadn't yet hit X hour, even though they hadn't prioritized Sal's rescue and thus moved X hour up by 2 hours. I had to abort the hippo encounter just before they started with the sending from the Lodge.
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Question regarding the alchemist's formula book:
As a vivisectionist, he gains baleful polyrmorph as an extract, which is not normally available for alchemists. I have an alchemist in my game (PbP) who is wondering if he could learn this in his formula book for future use, as it is available during the scenario (he likened it to the keen longbow situation).
As far as I can tell, nothing is stopping him from doing that since according to the Alchemy ability alchemists can prepare any formula in their formula book and nothing is preventing him from adding it to his formula book. Unless leadership says otherwise I suppose he is free to do that.
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From the Alchemist's Alchemy ability: "An alchemist can also add formulae to his book just like a wizard adds spells to his spellbook..."
From this we can see that an alchemist can copy formula from other alchemist's formulae books. There is nothing saying that the spells must be on the copying wizard's spell list for this to be the case.
Additionally, "An alchemist can prepare an extract of any formula he knows." Once it is in the alchemist's formulae book, then he can prepare it. This is regardless of any "formulae list". There is no qualifier for this.
Finally, why can't a wizard copy Cure Light Wounds from a Samsaran wizard or Spiritual Weapon from a Pathfinder Savant/Wizard? Those spells are in that wizard's spellbook, thus eligible to be copied, unless I'm missing a rule that you can point to.
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Baleful Polymorph: Interesting. One little sentence in several pages on spellbooks, but there it is.
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RE-EDIT: Going to assume that "Adding a spell to your list of spells known does not add it to the spell list of that class unless they are added by a class feature of that same class." also applies to spellbooks and such, which would resolve my question.
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Regarding a recent review (and several other similar reviews):
"We had little time remaining so the GM, perforce hand waved a lot of it."
The scenario specifically states that if the scenario is being run in a constrained time slot (i.e. you're only given X hours), that the final encounter begins with 90 minutes remaining (assuming the PCs haven't figured a way to bypass it from happening at all).
Fair enough.
As I said in the review, I'm actually GLAD that the GM spent time where he did. With our group that was the right decision to maximize enjoyment.
Changed review to reflect new information
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Regarding a recent review (and several other similar reviews):
"We had little time remaining so the GM, perforce hand waved a lot of it."
The scenario specifically states that if the scenario is being run in a constrained time slot (i.e. you're only given X hours), that the final encounter begins with 90 minutes remaining (assuming the PCs haven't figured a way to bypass it from happening at all).
Fair enough.
As I said in the review, I'm actually GLAD that the GM spent time where he did. With our group that was the right decision to maximize enjoyment.
Changed review to reflect new information
No worries. I know some people really don't like having a scenario with more options detailed out than can be reasonably completed in a normal 4-5 hour PFS slot.
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I was going to run this at the local shop last week, but ended up moving it to a home game instead. We had a blast. I looked at the clock and realized it was 10:00 & then someone said 'wow' its almost 11:00. A little bit later man its almost 1. Holy crap its 2:00 so we had the time & actually lost track of it, because it ended so well. In short, I am glad we had the time.
Sandbox did mess with a few things. Talking to person A (& C), gives a hint to finding person B (& D), but the players did that in reverse order.
One player (last season) wanted to build Edmond from Cowboy Bebop, so we had an impossible bloodline sorcerer which changed the nature of the battles significantly, but led to one of the two most memorable moments.
Fearing time was getting short, they sent Colson to get the boaboa root (Colson you have knowledge of nature right? Colson's eyes flash for a moment /I.do.now/) Colson runs into the jungle. Now we have a heavy footed robot (thrum thrum thrum thrum) jumping logs, crashing through rush, disturbing termite nests. Colson quickly finds the necessary tree and tries to cross the river, /I.do.not.swim/ when he gets attacked by a pair of territorial hippos. Slug-trading begins and it looks like Colson is going to disappear in a jungle river never to be heard from again. Instead Colson stops for a moment, standing completely still. Then the gashes in his chestplate begin to knit, a bent fore-arm straitens, and the slugging continues. Colson drives off one of the river beasts and then--the other! Victory! Colson gathers the root and returns to the lodge. It took him long enough to return, that the remaining damage healed. The only evidence of his trek? A swath of smashed gnats across his chest like a sash, a mud encrusted shin, and jungle fronds stuck in his neck and finger joints. Oh yeah and the root.
The second good story revolved around the rumor starting campaign (and an inside joke). "Book of Silver? No I think you are looking for the Book of G1lr!" I thought he said Galdur--my master jeweler dwarf with the fashionable trait (& owner of The Emerald Heirloom jewelry shop). So it evolved into a book on Taldor fashions. The roll was highly successful (an enchanting sorcerer remember). Later when they are meeting with Aya's contacts, the florists convinces the sorcerer and the brawler to buy a corsage of beautiful emerald & silver flowers of the Mwangi expanse. "I was inspired by this new book, the Book of Galdur." It is a GM win when you can tie something said an hour ago into the story :)
Yes Galdur's second shop vanity will be in this city (visit the original in the Foreign district of Absalom!). Yes it will be operated by a heavy man with a bad cloak and monotone voice. /how.can.I.help.you?/
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I was going to run this at the local shop last week, but ended up moving it to a home game instead. We had a blast. I looked at the clock and realized it was 10:00 & then someone said 'wow' its almost 11:00. A little bit later man its almost 1. Holy crap its 2:00 so we had the time & actually lost track of it, because it ended so well. In short, I am glad we had the time.
Sandbox did mess with a few things. Talking to person A (& C), gives a hint to finding person B (& D), but the players did that in reverse order.
One player (last season) wanted to build Edmond from Cowboy Bebop, so we had an impossible bloodline sorcerer which changed the nature of the battles significantly, but led to one of the two most memorable moments.
** spoiler omitted **...
As the briefly mentioned brawler that was at this table. I am also very glad we didn't pay too close attention to the clock. This was a blast, and even the combat that no PC was a part of was fun to watch play out. I had a great time with this scenario and highly recommend anyone to play it in a setting which allows them to take as much time as they like with it.
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Warning - this scenario can run very long
I ran this at a local Con Last night and they got "Slotted"
Completing 3 hrs worth of gather info / searching / finding the missing agent / clearing the warehouse ... then they hit the deadline time limit
just want to confirm a couple of things
the goal of the searcher is to (in the following order)
A) Find/reach the book
B) get the book off premises
C) Destroy the book
this is my assumption since I did not see anything in his Stat block that could be used to destroy it
- Notes
those fighters are brutal
The searcher's Tactics are very well designed especially if the Sorcerer can cut off the party Support with a well placed spell and then redeploy to assist the searcher with another well placed spell of the same name (Also the inclusion of that wand is ingenious)
Maps Suck
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And despite no baleful polymorph, any alchemist playing this scenario should be extremely happy. :-)
Best choice of character playthrough ever.
Oh, and siege avoided thanks to tanglefoot bombs locking down every League member in sight.
Professor Hurtubize was the only one able to see our invisible foes and had the initiate in melee to discourage spellcasting. Then the cube appeared.
"You might want to go help them." she cheekily advised.
"Indeed. Vould you hold zhis for me?" he replied, tossing her a tanglefoot bomb. Thanks to Precise Bombs, he then flew off to aid the fight, as her readied lightning bolt fizzled due to the entangling goo. :)
It was pretty good that we fooled the League, as it allowed us to end the slot on time rather than running over.
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Two things:
I think Kyle put up the stuff on pfsprep.org, and it is simply marvelous. Thank you. I will be putting up my own prep (I have designed a format for elaborate scenarios like this one that is a bit easier to use in-game than the published versions) soonishly. It won't include the stuff Kyle put up, as I don't see how I could improve on those beautiful stat blocks.
There is one issue that is confusing me about the scenario though. Throughout the scenario there are a number of actions that can increase or decrease the time between arrival in the city and the siege encounter. My problem is that I can't find the 'default' duration between these two events anywhere. I seem to be adding and subtracting hours from a mystery. Maybe my eyes are just repeatedly glossing over it?
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Two things:
I think Kyle put up the stuff on pfsprep.org, and it is simply marvelous. Thank you. I will be putting up my own prep (I have designed a format for elaborate scenarios like this one that is a bit easier to use in-game than the published versions) soonishly. It won't include the stuff Kyle put up, as I don't see how I could improve on those beautiful stat blocks.
There is one issue that is confusing me about the scenario though. Throughout the scenario there are a number of actions that can increase or decrease the time between arrival in the city and the siege encounter. My problem is that I can't find the 'default' duration between these two events anywhere. I seem to be adding and subtracting hours from a mystery. Maybe my eyes are just repeatedly glossing over it?
it's there .. IIRC its in a sidebar ... but its 10 hrs
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Warning - this scenario can run very long
Heh, a group I played with last Monday blitzed this hard enough that we rescued both the guys and laid a false trail for the league within 3 hours. Our GM decided (but didn't tell us till the end) that since we still had a good amount of time, he'd run the final encounter anyway. (Btw this is not a complaint. I'm actually glad he did since it was more fun that way.)
A few scary moments, though. A sorc with a save-or-die (even with 2 saves before death) is rather scary. So is a ________? (never found out) with flesh-to-stone. Last action he took was to move towards me, presumably to deliver a touch (quite possibly a second flesh-to-stone), but I was using a reach weapon and used my AoO to trip the bugger (thank you smite-evil). He didn't last till his next turn, sighs of relief all around.
Extra prep for the siege and battling the siege itself took us to 4hr 20 min for the whole scenario.
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I just remembered something not-so-important... While picking the plant-stuff on the little island my bard Arturo Fonzarelli had an epiphany: there's just never going to be a better opportunity to jump a horrendous aquatic beast (sharks, hippos... what's the difference anyway?) on water skis (sticks) towed by a motorboat (samurai with potion of fly), is there?
So... That happened. The hippo even tried to grab a bite!
Arturo's comment: "Aaayy!"