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I'm prepping this as a backup table for a Halloween session. It has lots of great potential as a spooky scenario. Does anyone have any suggestions about upping the spook factor?
Here is what I've thought about so far:
1) Make it happen at night.
2) There is no light source mentioned in the basement. So - dark (unless nobody has a light source, which would be rare).
3) Reskin the continual flame light to emit a pale blue glow as opposed to a warm yellow glow. If asked, and given a spellcraft check, I'd suggest that the spell might have been cast by an admixture wizard, and the fire element had been converted to cold. (Not strictly RAW, and I'd tell the players that they shouldn't try to do that with their own CF spells, but fun nonetheless.)
4) Choose the Festrogs for the first encounter.
That's just starting. What else do you think?
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Yeah. This is going to be great. Just having it happen at night is probably enough to make it spooky. I mean...you're visiting a crypt at night. What's not to be creepy? :)
I'm going to play big with lighting effects, too. The first time someone lights a torch or casts a light spell then moves at all, I'm going to ask for a perception check. Nothing to see, except moving shadows on the wall.
It's exciting that Fimbrik's house seems to be set up to be approached at various hours of the day. There are different instructions for the programmed image at night.
This will be super fun. :D
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How has everyone else prompted your players to (ask to) get into the crypt?
Last time I was the GM for this the group had enough charisma to get the Pharasman priestess to open the tomb for them.
Last time I played this most of the group chatted up the Pharasman cleric while the halfling rogue (+13 Stealth) and my wayang oracle (+16 Stealth) robbed the tomb.
Contributor—Canadian Maplecakes
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How has everyone else prompted your players to (ask to) get into the crypt?Last time I was the GM for this the group had enough charisma to get the Pharasman priestess to open the tomb for them.
Last time I played this most of the group chatted up the Pharasman cleric while the halfling rogue (+13 Stealth) and my wayang oracle (+16 Stealth) robbed the tomb.
YEAH! Replay value! :)
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This was kind of mentioned earlier in the thread, but not explicitly answered in this case.
In order to keep things interesting for players who have already run through the scenario, the GM can use area E3 to host a unique encounter. If every player at the table has already played through The Wounded Wisp, the GM can replace the Ambush encounter at the end of the scenario with an encounter in area E3.
This consists of a creature guarding Eylysia’s repository—either intentionally left by the gnome or as a wanderer that managed to stumble into the secret cavern. Roll on the table below to choose the creature.
This optional replacement encounter cannot be used unless there are five or more PCs.
In Subtier 2, instead roll 1d3+1.
I have a table of 4 players, subtier 2, who have all played Wounded Wisp before.
Obviously, I'd be interested in running the Surprise Encounter since none of them have ever seen it before.
I see two ways to read the last two sentences:
(a) "The optional replacement encounter cannot be used" applies to subtier 1 (which is the main context of these call-outs). The sentence that follows (if it's like the "In Subtier 2..." sentence in other call-outs) trumps the above, and allows the surprise encounter to be run for Subtier 2 tables, regardless of party size.
(b) The "optional replacement encounter cannot be used..." sentence applies to the "In Subtier 2..." sentence that follows.
I'm almost 50/50 split on this. The (a) reading seems to be consistent with other "In Subtier X..." advice that basically says what you do in Subtier 2, and you ignore whatever was in the Subtier 1 advice above and run what's there. BUT, this one callout (perhaps in all of PFS) is special, because it's addressing a variant encounter choice for replay.
This could've used one more sentence at the very end like "If there are only 4-players in Subtier 2, then roll 1d3 instead of 1d3+1".
Thoughts?
At this point, I've slightly leaned towards rolling 1d3 (not 1d3+1) for the subtier 2 replay table as it fits the "do for 4-player high tier what you'd do for 6-player lower tier" model.
Ironically, rolling 1d3 on the table for a 4-player subtier 2 replay table results in a CR3 encounter vs giving them the same encounter from prior runs with the subtier 2 adjustment results in a CR4 encounter!
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That one is pretty much, if you don't have a party of 5 or 6, no matter which sub-tier, you can't use it. All the sub-tier 2 part does is change the randomizer from 1d3 to 1d3+1, so a sub-tier 1 party cannot meet the CG, while a sub-tier 2 party cannot meet the MFE, but it doesn't have a 4 player adjustment.
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This scenario has the dubious honor of not only being the first game in which I killed a PC whilst running a game as a GM, but also the first time I encountered a TPK in PFS.
19STR power-attacking barbarians. Just saying.
Props to my players, who despite this being their first ever PFS game took it in good stride and noted in hindsight that unlike the earlier battles this was not a battle they could just run into and just assume they would win, and that sometimes their enemies would play for keeps too. They are now taking their character generation seriously and have resolved to actually consider tactics in their future battles.
All in all, it ended well thanks to my players' attitudes, but damn...those barbarians. XD
That note won't make any sense in a year or two when the sky key is already found.You're right that this would seem less relevant in a year or two, which is why there are already plans for that Player Handout #7 slot in future seasons. It's one of the great things about Eylysia having cached so much information; we can find something a little different every year.
So... two questions. First, can anyone point me to any revision of that handout? Because the one that came with my download still has the old Sky Key stuff. Second question, mostly for John Compton: do you have the season 8 handout ready? Is it being tested at Gen Con?
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So... two questions. First, can anyone point me to any revision of that handout? Because the one that came with my download still has the old Sky Key stuff. Second question, mostly for John Compton: do you have the season 8 handout ready? Is it being tested at Gen Con?
Our week to week group is fairly consistent, so I just gave them a verbal briefing in the style of the notes pointing towards the next mission they would be going on (in this case, the path to perfection arc). And then referenced back to the notes they discovered during the next briefing, the players enjoyed the sense of continuality.
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It should be in the version you have. There should be the original handout and the one that talks about normally I would not recommend green agent (iirc)
However the season eight handout will most likely appear in an update to the scenario when the season eight evergreen is released in November / December if the release schedule follows the pattern of seasons five to seven
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I ran TWW yesterday. In the final encounter I ran the Necrophidius. Wow, that thing is scary. You do not become immune to the Dance, and DC 15 Will or be Dazed for 2d4 rounds is hefty. This ability really helps it hold out against the PCs' usual action economy advantage. Combined with a bite with decent to-hit and heavy damage, that thing is brutal.
I'm glad it's mindless, because at one point there was only one player still able to act, so I ruled that it prioritizes moving targets. The player went Full Defense to survive until the daze on 4 other PCs wore off.
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We're gonna run Wardens of Sulfur Gorge next week. The guy who's GMing it for me was one of my players, and quite liked the new Early Discovery.