RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I did my best to set things up so that the GM can easily encourage the players to run from the dino encounter. But I think the CR 9 tyrannosaurus could be a manageable challenge for certain parties, especially in the higher tier, and I don't doubt that some players will want to fight it. I'd be interested in hearing any tales of PCs bravely (and/or foolishly) taking on the dino!
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I have a (the?) Most Imporant Question about this scenario:
The interior art on page 11: Is this piece anywhere else? What product did PFS get to steal it from that it wasn't included in, if it wasn't commissioned for SotSK2:KQ?
I believe you are referring to the Mwangi Expanse chapter opener in The Inner Sea World Guide. I was really excited to borrow it because it is such a great fit for the adventure.
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I ran this at the weekend and had an issue crop up that I was wondering what other people would have done with. It isnt specifically addressed by the scenario but just how big are the eggs you are sent to capture.
One of my players had a handy haversack which is a pretty common item. It has both weight and volume limitations with the main pockeyt only able to hold 8 cubic feet or 8 pounds. Given these adult dinosaur is gargantuan I initially took the view that none of the eggs could realitically fit but eventually decided they could squeeze one in there.
It didnt ultimately make a difference as they got three out and completed the primary and secondary mission but I wondered what others would have done.
I did some research while developing this, and the size of such an egg seems to be roughly the size of an American football or a cantaloupe melon
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I did some research while developing this, and the size of such an egg seems to be roughly the size of an American football or a cantaloupe melonHow big and heavy would that be for us Europeans? :)
I'm curious as to how my players will perform during the chase scene, next week.
Roughly 5.5 kg. unless using one of the NE Patriots balls. Then it would be 4kg.
At first I was picturing the eggs to be the size of ones in Godzilla movie (mathew broderick one)
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I did some research while developing this, and the size of such an egg seems to be roughly the size of an American football or a cantaloupe melonHow big and heavy would that be for us Europeans? :)
I'm curious as to how my players will perform during the chase scene, next week.
Heh, how about a [non-American football] football that's been stretched into more of an oval shape? Somewhere between 3–5 kg seems about right—at least good enough as an estimate for gameplay.
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A minor nit-pick: I noticed that Fiveknives Kalim (the art actually portrays five knives on his persona, kudos!) casts Bull's strength and Bear's endurance on himself in higher tier even though he doesn't have the latter in his repertoire. I'm guessing he is supposed to have Bear's endurance instead of Cat's grace on his spells known?
Also: I'm so glad to finally see a chase scene where the PC's get to run away from something!
It ran just under three hours when I played it, but I'm guessing it might take longer with new players.
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I ran this recently, and it was otherwise alright, but boy was it short. 2.5 hours including a little mucking about and chronicle filling. I hope this isn't the new normal for 1-5s!My run seemed smooth and fun with room for roleplaying around both the early and late action.
It went smoothly and they had fun, don't get me wrong. It just went by very quickly. They also weren't a very roleplay focused group, so they didn't do a whole lot of that.
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I'm running this scenario this thursday and ran in to a question. In encounter A1 it is very possible that some of the pc:s (or all of them) get the Monkey Tree oil on them, making the rest of the scenario a little harder.
The oil is described that it smells really bad and in my region it's very common that pc:s use prestidigitation to negate smells and aromas after sewers and other unpleasant places. However using a cantrip to completely circumvent the difficulty of an entire encounter seems to easy. How should I rule this if it comes to play on thursday? Does prestidigitation work on monkey oil smell?
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I'm running this scenario this thursday and ran in to a question. In encounter A1 it is very possible that some of the pc:s (or all of them) get the Monkey Tree oil on them, making the rest of the scenario a little harder.
The oil is described that it smells really bad and in my region it's very common that pc:s use prestidigitation to negate smells and aromas after sewers and other unpleasant places. However using a cantrip to completely circumvent the difficulty of an entire encounter seems to easy. How should I rule this if it comes to play on thursday? Does prestidigitation work on monkey oil smell?
It cleans 1 cu. ft. per rd. Figure 3 rds per pc.
I would still give them 1 delay if they had to clean 6 pcs.Tough call though as I would imagine the writer is counting on 6 pcs prepping themselves for a decent scrub down.
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I'm running this scenario this thursday and ran in to a question. In encounter A1 it is very possible that some of the pc:s (or all of them) get the Monkey Tree oil on them, making the rest of the scenario a little harder.
The oil is described that it smells really bad and in my region it's very common that pc:s use prestidigitation to negate smells and aromas after sewers and other unpleasant places. However using a cantrip to completely circumvent the difficulty of an entire encounter seems to easy. How should I rule this if it comes to play on thursday? Does prestidigitation work on monkey oil smell?
It cleans 1 cu. ft. per rd. Figure 3 rds per pc.
I would still give them 1 delay if they had to clean 6 pcs.
Tough call though as I would imagine the writer is counting on 6 pcs prepping themselves for a decent scrub down.
Prestidigitation cites being able to clean an object, but whether or not this extends to cleaning a person requires a bit of GM interpretation. Under most circumstances, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Given the monkey tree is a fairly important hazard, I am similarly inclined to think that using a cantrip to remove the oils feels too easy.
For one, the oils affect both clothing and skin, and how effective prestidigitation is at cleaning living matter is open to debate. Second, the spell negate aroma seems to do exactly what the hypothetical PCs are hoping to accomplish, and benefiting from this spell after coming contact with a monkey tree would certainly negate the effects for the spell's duration.
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I did some research while developing this, and the size of such an egg seems to be roughly the size of an American football or a cantaloupe melonHow big and heavy would that be for us Europeans? :)
I'm curious as to how my players will perform during the chase scene, next week.
Roughly 5.5 kg. unless using one of the NE Patriots balls. Then it would be 4kg.
At first I was picturing the eggs to be the size of ones in Godzilla movie (mathew broderick one)
Totally read that as the Neutral Evil Patriots.
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I'll be running this Saturday. What are opinions on revealing the DCs for the chase scene? In the past I've always revealed them.
When I played it the GM running it did not reveal them. I'm trying to decide if it added to or subtracted from the experience. On the one hand there's more suspense not knowing them. On the other, I think its good for PCs to have at least a general idea of the difficulty of a particular task.
Thoughts?
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Thanks Joe, John and TetsujinOni for your thoughts. Very good points, especially about the Negate Aroma spell. I'll report back once I've run this scenario.
Looking forward to the chase scene! I'm pretty sure my players who usually gringe at the sight of a chase scene will love this one. I personally deciced to just give the DC:s to the players. I think it reduces metagaming and will save gametime for actually enjoying the chase instead of pickering about what choices to make.
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When running a chase scene, I make sure I'm standing to help convey a sense of urgency, energy, and attention. I then introduce each obstacle in a sentence or two before presenting two likely ways to overcome it.
For example: "Okay, you've now jumped through the trees and find that there's a quick-flowing river on the other side. There are definitely some rapids, but it seems possible to just swim across. There are also some vines hanging from the trees here, and you might be able to just swing across. Given the strong current, swimming might be a little harder."
In this way I'm not providing the DCs, but I am giving enough context for a player to make a fairly informed decision about how to handle the obstacle—and perhaps even come up with an alternate way to overcome it.
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I actually made custom "chase cards" for my table using some of the text from the scenario and put the associated skills without the DCs. My players loved it!
They pretty much blew every check out of the water. The power of using the highest roll among 6 players and having everyone else aid is pretty astonishing.
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They pretty much blew every check out of the water. The power of using the highest roll among 6 players and having everyone else aid is pretty astonishing.
This chase adaptation is still a pretty experimental technique, and I'm trying to get a sense of what the right numbers are. Did you find that the DCs are a bit too easy?
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They pretty much blew every check out of the water. The power of using the highest roll among 6 players and having everyone else aid is pretty astonishing.This chase adaptation is still a pretty experimental technique, and I'm trying to get a sense of what the right numbers are. Did you find that the DCs are a bit too easy?
Every GM that ran this at my local con this weekend had all the parties easily succeed in all the chase scenes. In my game, it was absurd how easy it was for them, but we got some real munchkins around here.
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This chase adaptation is still a pretty experimental technique, and I'm trying to get a sense of what the right numbers are. Did you find that the DCs are a bit too easy?
Oh, don't get me wrong, it was a rare occasion that the players thought the chase was the best part of the scenario. (I personally usually like them a lot anyway, but for a whole table to like it is rare). My results may be slightly skewed because I had a very high dex party that also had a lot of survival (...lots of slayers) which most chase scenes could be defeated by that. I know that dex plays a critical role in a case, but I felt there was joy enough variety for other skills. The wizard felt not so useful during the chase. Although, I'm not sure how you can reasonably vary it up too much based on the nature of the chase.
And yes, I think the DCs were a little low, but not extremely so (maybe 2-4 too low). I also feel the scale down for 4 should be more substantial like 3-4 lower as having less rolls to be high is a huge disadvantage.
That's just my opinion, though. Did anyone have an instance where there was lots of failure in the chase?