Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I thought we both had to save against the save thing. Rolling an 18 on the die for a save on a level 1 pally almost guarantees the save, and that is excluding divine grace and the auras of immunities.
But paladins do have to make sure they are within code.
Yes, a paladin who doesn't live up to the fire or health safety code might be shut down by The Inspection.
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We spotted the trap, but had no way (yet) to disable it, because the mechanism to disable it was inside the trigger area. Ah well, next time I'll have ranged legerdemain and can disable traps at 30ft away.
The barbarian/cavalier triggered it, failed his save vs the hunger, the rest of us succeeded in the save vs the sleep.
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There was a sleep trap? We didn't notice - maybe the barbarian made his save? The fighter was second into the room and he got the munchies.
A sleep/hunger trap combo is hilarious.
The thing is, it's pretty pointless if the hunger guy makes his save -- which he did in my run-through, so I skipped the rest.
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What is the cr of the polyp?
Thought that it was Sempet Eightfingers. Did he lose a finger since 2012 writeup by the author.
The note in the chest has initials S.E. for eightfingers.
curious which one is correct?
None of the room descriptions mentions skylights. Will put them in anyway like they are supposed to be.
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What is the cr of the polyp?
Thought that it was Sempet Eightfingers. Did he lose a finger since 2012 writeup by the author.
The note in the chest has initials S.E. for eightfingers.
curious which one is correct?None of the room descriptions mentions skylights. Will put them in anyway like they are supposed to be.
Either two possibilities: Typo / edit since the original writing, or his title varied over the course of his life depending on how many fingers he had at the time.
I can't say if its true but the latter seems more colorful. If intended, it was a nice touch.
I believe the arrow slits built into the map serve as the "skylights" in the walls giving lowlight throughout if time of day permits. I don't think it was an oversight as ambient lighting will vary depending on time of day.
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Is anyone doing some kind of knowledge check to know about the Necrotic Polyp?
My player scored astronomically on a knowledge check but since it was a unique creature I was less sure how to proceed.
I winged it by saying "he remembered reading an old text by a necromancer that theorized using/creating a regenerating creature to feed undead endlessly. Although, you are not sure if he ever succeeded, you strongly suspect it would look something like this if he had."
After the ghoul fight I gave them some supplemental information as they had a chance to examine it, but I roleplayed it into the investigation rather than free knowledge for a creature they definitely never encountered before.
I am curious how others handled this.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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We looked at it for a bit, decided it was too ugly to live, then I threw an Explosive Bomb at it. According to the GM it was vulnerable to fire and the average fire damage per round was just a little higher than its fast healing, so after 15 minutes or so it finally died.
Developer
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What is the cr of the polyp?
Thought that it was Sempet Eightfingers. Did he lose a finger since 2012 writeup by the author.
The note in the chest has initials S.E. for eightfingers.
curious which one is correct?None of the room descriptions mentions skylights. Will put them in anyway like they are supposed to be.
Either two possibilities: Typo / edit since the original writing, or his title varied over the course of his life depending on how many fingers he had at the time.
I can't say if its true but the latter seems more colorful. If intended, it was a nice touch.
Both are kind-of true. During the editing and development of the scenario, we learned that there were already two other "Eightfingers" in Golarion canon, and we didn't want to overuse a name and cause confusion. I sent an amusing email to Tom titled something like "Oh no! He lost a finger!" giving a heads-up about the change. There's not an in-game explanation for the disappearance of the eighth finger, but I am intrigued by the possibility that Sempet lost another finger after building his tomb and never got around to re-monographing his initials on various treasures. Perhaps we'll touch on that in a future adventure in the Gloomspires!
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Signed up to GM this encounter this Saturday and finally got a third player to sign up. Hopefully all three will show up and/or some walk-ins.
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Developer
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Signed up to GM this encounter this Saturday and finally got a third player to sign up. Hopefully all three will show up and/or some walk-ins.
** spoiler omitted **
To ponder hypothetical sequels, I would compare it more to "Fingerprints/Fury/Fate of the Fiend," a connected story spread over several seasons written by the same author, than to "Devil We Know," a one-season series with numbered parts. Based on how the Pathfinder Society schedule works out, the former seems more appropriate and gives us an opportunity to gauge the campaign participants' interest in seeing more.
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Tom's RPG Superstar proposal seems to have placed each of the four levels into one of the campaign's tier ranges—a layout that we might keep or modify depending on the story that we want to tell. I imagine we'd follow the traditional model of deeper = more dangerous.
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Many thanks for the quick and thorough response. I rather enjoyed playing this one with my paladin and wish and hope for more.
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I ran this yesterday.
To play up the eerie atmosphere I used small printouts with a dozen different versions of shadows moving, walls appearing to vibrate until they touch it, light levels fluctuating, and so on.
By any chance, would you happen to be willing to share those? I like that idea but I'm not very creative.
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Spoiler:.
To ponder hypothetical sequels, I would compare it more to "Fingerprints/Fury/Fate of the Fiend," a connected story spread over several seasons written by the same author, than to "Devil We Know," a one-season series with numbered parts. Based on how the Pathfinder Society schedule works out, the former seems more appropriate and gives us an opportunity to gauge the campaign participants' interest in seeing more.
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Tom's RPG Superstar proposal seems to have placed each of the four levels into one of the campaign's tier ranges—a layout that we might keep or modify depending on the story that we want to tell. I imagine we'd follow the traditional model of deeper = more dangerous.
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By any chance, would you happen to be willing to share those? I like that idea but I'm not very creative.I ran this yesterday.
To play up the eerie atmosphere I used small printouts with a dozen different versions of shadows moving, walls appearing to vibrate until they touch it, light levels fluctuating, and so on.
Of course. PM sent. Enjoy. I'll get around to putting on the GM prep site eventually.
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Of course. PM sent. Enjoy. I'll get around to putting on the GM prep site eventually.By any chance, would you happen to be willing to share those? I like that idea but I'm not very creative.I ran this yesterday.
To play up the eerie atmosphere I used small printouts with a dozen different versions of shadows moving, walls appearing to vibrate until they touch it, light levels fluctuating, and so on.
Can I have them as well. They were too much fun in the game to pass up.
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In preparation for gming this tomorrow, I have noticed something and have a question.
I know it is for one specific creature but it might be important if PCs stop to deal with it.
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Developer
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I would have liked to play this scenario, but I didn't really get the chance. I enjoyed about 10 minutes of this scenario with my level 5 wizard, that is until the first encounter. As the obvious caster, I was focused down with a searing light or some such touch spell in two rounds and fell unconscious. By then, the melee fighters of the group had just about finished the cannibals off when the GM called me over to apologize and show me the tactics with death knell to prove he wasn't just being a jerk. That distinction falls to the writer.
How does death knell have a place in a PFS scenario? Is the blatant killing off of a character supposed to add to the fun somehow?
Sorry for the whining. I'm just a bit salty about my unexpected death in the first encounter. As for the rest of the scenario, the remaining players at the table seemed to be having fun, but I wouldn't know.
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Played this Tuesday and had a blast. Mostly at my DM's expense.
Definitely think this could be an amazing mission to run; but man do I feel bad for my DM, as his dice were quite salty that night.
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I would have liked to play this scenario, but I didn't really get the chance. I enjoyed about 10 minutes of this scenario with my level 5 wizard, that is until the first encounter. As the obvious caster, I was focused down with a searing light or some such touch spell in two rounds and fell unconscious. By then, the melee fighters of the group had just about finished the cannibals off when the GM called me over to apologize and show me the tactics with death knell to prove he wasn't just being a jerk. That distinction falls to the writer.
How does death knell have a place in a PFS scenario? Is the blatant killing off of a character supposed to add to the fun somehow?
Sorry for the whining. I'm just a bit salty about my unexpected death in the first encounter. As for the rest of the scenario, the remaining players at the table seemed to be having fun, but I wouldn't know.
There are other things in there on that specific encounter that people do have problems with. I will not go into detail on them. Just know that there others who have problems with it, even on the 1-2 tier.
I had fun playing and GMing it. I did mess up some when GMing but that is my fault. I can say that as there are GMs that you will like and dislike, there will be scenario writers you will like and dislike. I wish you had the fun I had when I played but I do realize that my level 1 paladin wasn't rolling below a 12 (on the die) on any of the saves and was hitting most of the times she swung.
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While I appreciate the prescience of keeping the death knell tactic out of the low tier, I think it's a bad idea to put those kind of tactics in the first encounter.
Dying in the first encounter is quite frustrating. You don't ever get to see the rest of the scenario as a player unless you use a GM star, and it feels like a waste of time, especially if you had to drive a ways to the gameday.
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I do totally agree. As much as I feel that the encounters should not be cake walks, there are things that I do not agree necessarily being in a 1-5 encounter.
I do not have a problem as much with the spell existing in the tier as I do the tactics written. It is much like placing hardness 8 on some bad guys in 1-2 tier. AS I did enjoy playing and GMing this encounter and am thankful to Paizo, some tactics should not be done the way they have been done.
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I would have liked to play this scenario, but I didn't really get the chance. I enjoyed about 10 minutes of this scenario with my level 5 wizard, that is until the first encounter. As the obvious caster, I was focused down with a searing light or some such touch spell in two rounds and fell unconscious. By then, the melee fighters of the group had just about finished the cannibals off when the GM called me over to apologize and show me the tactics with death knell to prove he wasn't just being a jerk. That distinction falls to the writer.
How does death knell have a place in a PFS scenario? Is the blatant killing off of a character supposed to add to the fun somehow?
Sorry for the whining. I'm just a bit salty about my unexpected death in the first encounter. As for the rest of the scenario, the remaining players at the table seemed to be having fun, but I wouldn't know.
I felt horrible honestly bout that happening especially since my investigator got 1 rounded in slave ships of absalons 1st encounter so i know the feeling. I feel it is well written tho as the fog is designed to limit visibility. i think this is 1 scenario that will cause people playing healers to think twice bout waiting to heal players till they take more damage.
ive ran this 3 times and while death knell is scarey so far its only landed 1 time, characters will die unfortunately sometimes its the 1st fight sometimes its the last.|
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Suppose there had been some warning, "in this scenario the monsters use nasty tactics", would that have made a difference in how you felt about it?
Not for me. I have played through enough scenarios with weird stuff that I have come to expect hard stuff thrown in. Stuff that includes, on 1-2 tier:
Hardness 8
Live humans having immunity to mind effecting affect spells
utterly weird tactics
Super high saves (not on save or die spells but save or be inactive in combat spells)
Hell, the tapestry was thrown in there on season 3 so they had an excuse to put multiple creatures together that had NO business on the same plane together.
I have gotten accustomed and used to these things. I have even gotten to expect some weird stuff going on in the higher scenarios. I just question the placing of some stuff on tier 1-2 where you have the greater chance of new players. I am not saying they should make things a cake walk (far from). Just wait until the higher levels to pull out the big guns and let players know: "it's party time."
All in all, I had fun playing and GMing this scenario. I can see where people have some issues, especially on 4-5 tier. But on the other hand, with enough tactics being done of "target the guy in full plate first", it is nice (not so much for casters in bathrobes) to see a slight change in tactics.
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** spoiler omitted **
Yep, though the group I played in killed the heck out of the polyp. Wizard cast web at beginning of combat about half (maybe more) of the undead in the room failed the DC. Two swashbucklers and a paladin(?) of gorum smashed down most of the rest. Then the two team work feat swashbucklers set off a chain of AoOs (paired opportunist + Seize the Moment) and did about 200 damage in a round then finished it off the next round. (I didn't GM but it easily could have been argued that the polyp was immune to crits and/or precision damage, in which case I don't think it would have been killed)
I would have liked to play this scenario, but I didn't really get the chance. I enjoyed about 10 minutes of this scenario with my level 5 wizard, that is until the first encounter. As the obvious caster, I was focused down with a searing light or some such touch spell in two rounds and fell unconscious. By then, the melee fighters of the group had just about finished the cannibals off when the GM called me over to apologize and show me the tactics with death knell to prove he wasn't just being a jerk. That distinction falls to the writer.
How does death knell have a place in a PFS scenario? Is the blatant killing off of a character supposed to add to the fun somehow?
Sorry for the whining. I'm just a bit salty about my unexpected death in the first encounter. As for the rest of the scenario, the remaining players at the table seemed to be having fun, but I wouldn't know.
Out of curiosity, didn't you get a save against the spell?
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** spoiler omitted **Yep, though the group I played in killed the heck out of the polyp. Wizard cast web at beginning of combat about half (maybe more) of the undead in the room failed the DC. Two swashbucklers and a paladin(?) of gorum smashed down most of the rest. Then the two team work feat swashbucklers set off a chain of AoOs (paired opportunist + Seize the Moment) and did about 200 damage in a round then finished it off the next round. (I didn't GM but it easily could have been argued that the polyp was immune to crits and/or precision damage, in which case I don't think it would have been killed)
when i ran it, i treated the polyp as amorpheous cause that is how i percieved it, second im not sure how you got AoO's on it when it did not have any kind of actions it could take that would provoke. all damage that it deals is based on you attacking it not it attacking you. while each gm plays it different i do not see how the Aoo's are possible with what little info we are given.
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when i ran it, i treated the polyp as amorpheous cause that is how i percieved it, second im not sure how you got AoO's on it when it did not have any kind of actions it could take that would provoke. all damage that it deals is based on you attacking it not it attacking you. while each gm plays it different i do not see how the Aoo's are possible with what little info we are given.** spoiler omitted **Yep, though the group I played in killed the heck out of the polyp. Wizard cast web at beginning of combat about half (maybe more) of the undead in the room failed the DC. Two swashbucklers and a paladin(?) of gorum smashed down most of the rest. Then the two team work feat swashbucklers set off a chain of AoOs (paired opportunist + Seize the Moment) and did about 200 damage in a round then finished it off the next round. (I didn't GM but it easily could have been argued that the polyp was immune to crits and/or precision damage, in which case I don't think it would have been killed)
Seize the Moment procs an AoO from the partner of the person who confirms a crit. Paired Opportunist then procs to give an AoO to the person who crit. Thus, a confirmed crit gave both swashbucklers an AoO. The dice were hot that night which in fact led to a chain of AoO's (at least one of the 2 crit on those pairs of AoO's 5 times, though the fill didn't go off since they had both run out of AoO's at that point). (Also, yes all that information was there just not as explicitly) Between the AoO's and haste they took 11 attacks that round. And the chances of their crit chain were just slightly under 1/64 (assuming they confirm all crit threats, somewhat worse if you want to calculate them not comfirming with a nat 1).
Also, as I said looking at it (since I didn't run it) I could see the polyp being immune to any precision damage (amorphous) but that is not how it was run in this case.
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I played this at U-Con as well, although at a different table. We had a pretty beefy melee contingent of 4 of 6 on tier 1-2 and had a pretty tough time of both ghoul fights with players dropping left and right, but we came through in the end. Definitely felt like we earned it.
Both are kind-of true. During the editing and development of the scenario, we learned that there were already two other "Eightfingers" in Golarion canon, and we didn't want to overuse a name and cause confusion. I sent an amusing email to Tom titled something like "Oh no! He lost a finger!" giving a heads-up about the change. There's not an in-game explanation for the disappearance of the eighth finger, but I am intrigued by the possibility that Sempet lost another finger after building his tomb and never got around to re-monographing his initials on various treasures. Perhaps we'll touch on that in a future adventure in the Gloomspires!
What is the cr of the polyp?
Thought that it was Sempet Eightfingers. Did he lose a finger since 2012 writeup by the author.
The note in the chest has initials S.E. for eightfingers.
curious which one is correct?None of the room descriptions mentions skylights. Will put them in anyway like they are supposed to be.
Either two possibilities: Typo / edit since the original writing, or his title varied over the course of his life depending on how many fingers he had at the time.
I can't say if its true but the latter seems more colorful. If intended, it was a nice touch.
Having a dead pirate's finger enchanted as a wand or some other sort of item available on a chronicle sheet would be pretty awesome.
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The group I had was ok with it, but it ranks up there with the drowning stones in the (I wont DM it for kids under 17.) Having a PC perform canibalism on a rotting corpse is just out there.
I can understand that viewpoint, and I think that's a significant part of why most (or possibly all) cannibalism-style character options don't show up as legal choices on the Additional Resources page. Usually folks are fairly comfortable with the Bad Guys doing rather grotesque things so long as it's not too gratuitous or portrayed in a particularly distasteful way. I find that effects that drive the PCs to perform an evil, grotesque or taboo act tread a line between being too foul and just icky enough to make for a fun story.
Even though it's not a perspective I have (at least not in the context of a roleplaying game), I can see how the cannibalism trap could be distasteful for some groups, and I'll keep that in mind for future scenarios. Thanks for the feedback.
Contributor
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Another kitten betrayed!I can see how the cannibalism trap could be distasteful for some groups...*groan*
I see what you did there.
That's even better than the one I had last night running 6-07, when the NPCs were telling the PCs (who knew nothing of any of the races involved) about their "genealogy".
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I ran this earlier this week and the cannibalistic trap was surprisingly effective. Especially (out of six characters) since one got the munchkies, one fell asleep, two were still in the earlier room because of the hag's spooky eyes and the remaining two tried to grapple and disarm our would-be cannibal.
It was fun for me and players seemed to like the feeling of dread and wrongness in the scenario.
Maybe there could be an alternative trap for younger or more sensitive groups? Something along the lines of: "GM should warn the group that there are disturbing elements in the scenario, and there is a less spooky option for running said adventure." For example the trap in question would compell the character to bang his head to the floor if not stopped. Not sure if this goes well with the purpose of making GMing scenarios easier though.
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The hunger trap is all about flavoring (ahh yes, another pun).
Even if the trap is successful, the demented person can try to bite a sleeping character rather than the dead body, who immediately wakes up taking only minor non-lethal damage from a bite on his wrist. The point is, this trap isn't going to kill anyone, or really even burn party resources so adjust the flavoring to fit the audience.
If the table setting is deemed inappropriate, I'd just run it as a character makes a running tackle to stop the demented character before he gets a bite of dead flesh.
The creepiness is based on the geometry of the place means the characters can't trust their senses. This trap means they potentially can't trust their own actions. I'd play it up as such even if you need to make it rated-PG.
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It has the [Death] descriptor, so I would have to say yes, it is a death effect and prevents raise dead from working.
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Running this soon and have a question that might be more of a general rules question, but sine it's in this event here goes:
Is Death Knell considered a death attack per the core rules? A character may have enough PP for a Raise Dead, but I doubt anyone at this level has the PP or the gold for a resurrect. One reason I dislike seeing it it and CdG written into tactics.
Note that CdG is not a death effect.
Death effects include spells with the [death] descriptor, and other effects that call themselves out as such. SKR on Death Effects
CdG, not a death effect.
Vorpal blade, not a death effect.
Phantasmal killer, not a death effect
Twilight Sage "Consume Life" is a death effect.
Death knell is a death effect.
etc.
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It has the [Death] descriptor, so I would have to say yes, it is a death effect and prevents raise dead from working.
Brutal, but correct.