7-18 Faithless and Forgotten III: The Infernal Inheritance


GM Discussion

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Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

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I for one welcome our new Duchess in Exile.

That one actually made me sit up straight with surprise. Niiiice.

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5

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Lau Bannenberg wrote:

I for one welcome our new Duchess in Exile.

That one actually made me sit up straight with surprise. Niiiice.

Me too. I think "holy crap, what?" was uttered. Nicely done.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

I just made chase cards for this; waiting for my registration for PFSPREP to go through and I'll upload them. I intentionally put ON the abilities called out and left OFF the DCs.

I'm getting really stoked about running this come Sunday. That trap in the interrogation room could be vicious. Very cool!

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

I'm also doing item cards for all the stuff you get during the mission briefing. Hopefully, with some physical stuff there, players will remember they have them (and what they do; I'm terrible at remembering poisons myself).

I did notice something weird: you get a lesser circlet of persuasion at the high tier, but it's on the low-tier list of items on the chronicle sheet. Huh?

Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

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Terminalmancer wrote:
Lau Bannenberg wrote:

I for one welcome our new Duchess in Exile.

That one actually made me sit up straight with surprise. Niiiice.

Me too. I think "holy crap, what?" was uttered. Nicely done.

Whenever we have an adventure or entire series that plays to a faction leader's interests, I really enjoy taking the opportunity to reveal more about that faction leader's past, shape her motivations, and open up room to grow as a character. All three of the authors involved here really helped make this series come alive and lend key context to this revelation about a key character.

I look forward to using future adventures to learn more about (or even replace) other faction leaders and venture-captains.

4/5

Just finished reading this. Nice! I really like this adventure, and...I'm a fan of chases. (Guilty as charged)

I have a question about the way the way Room A11 is written.

Room A11:

"PCs who succeed at Disable Device checks or attack rolls can deactivate or damage some of the statues ahead of time, but attacking or failing a Disable Device check activates the rest of the trap."

I think the way it reads to me is not what is intended. It seems that attacking at all would make you trigger the trap. Should be something more like "but failing the attack roll or failing a Disable Device check..." or "but failing to destroy the statue or failing a Disable Device check..." or something else? Or is what is actually written as intended?

As well, when it says "failing a Disable Device check," is that just failing the check by any amount or failing by 5 or more like the normal skill?

Thanks!

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John Compton wrote:
Terminalmancer wrote:
Lau Bannenberg wrote:

I for one welcome our new Duchess in Exile.

That one actually made me sit up straight with surprise. Niiiice.

Me too. I think "holy crap, what?" was uttered. Nicely done.

Whenever we have an adventure or entire series that plays to a faction leader's interests, I really enjoy taking the opportunity to reveal more about that faction leader's past, shape her motivations, and open up room to grow as a character. All three of the authors involved here really helped make this series come alive and lend key context to this revelation about a key character.

I look forward to using future adventures to learn more about (or even replace) other faction leaders and venture-captains.

Many thanks to you, John, for entrusting us with this plot arc and for giving us such rich outlines with which to work! I thoroughly enjoyed working with John, Brian, and Kalervo on this trio and am thrilled with the result released by the Paizo development team.

In response to Andrew's question about Room A11:

Spoiler:
That actually is how the trap is supposed to be worded. The idea behind the trap is that basically every chain in the room is rigged like a highly sensitive tripwire, so getting the prisoners out without setting it off should be extraordinarily difficult. Attacking the winches is one way to work toward disabling the trap (arguably one of the more efficient ways of dealing with it once it kicks into action, a deliberate change from the "Disable Device or bust" layout of many traps), but you can't damage a winch without touching a chain, so any attack—successful or not—triggers the trap. Same goes for any failed Disable Device check. Only someone skilled enough in Perception and Disable Device to find and activate all eight disarming mechanisms flawlessly, or in Escape Artist to get each prisoner out flawlessly, can bypass the trap without triggering it at all.

I hope everyone enjoys the adventure, I look forward to hearing about it post mortem!

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

I want to make sure that I understand the reverse chase scene correctly.

Each PC can attempt one of the checks or Aid Another, and each success is counted as slowing the guards? With a group of six, if everyone makes their check they can slow the guards by 6?

As for A11, I like that there are alternative methods for dealing with the encounter, but really dislike that it is supposed to contradict the standard rules.

A11:
CRB, pg. 95, Disable Device skill under Try Again. A trap isn't supposed to go off if you miss by four or less. As I understand this situation, setting one of the traps off causes all of them to go off. If the PCs don't have enough skill to Take 10 (and they will not know if they have enough or not) it becomes much likely that they will set off the trap because of the multiple attempts required.

Also, I'm not sure but it sounds like it is requiring the Disable Device to throw the bypass switch. Shouldn't it just be DC 25 Perception to find the switch? CRB 418. Or are we to assume it has a hidden lock as well?

So for PFS Organized Play which one trumps the other? Do not contradict rules or Run as Written?

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

BretI wrote:

I want to make sure that I understand the reverse chase scene correctly.

Each PC can attempt one of the checks or Aid Another, and each success is counted as slowing the guards? With a group of six, if everyone makes their check they can slow the guards by 6?

The way I read it, each PC can make a check for himself or Aid Another. For every independent check that succeeds, a Delay is scored.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

So if you rescue Zefiro, at the end of the scenario you get rewards from the Society. Sweet.

p18 wrote:

Treasure: Knowing that the PCs were unlikely to pick

up much treasure to cover their expenses, the Pathfinder
Society set aside several magic items that the PCs can
claim
as a reward if they rescued Zefiro Balinger. In
Subtier 1–2, the PCs can receive boots of the friendly terrain
(Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 228), a chime of opening,
or a javelin of thunderbolts (acts as a javelin of lightning but
deals 8d6 damage and has a save DC of 17). In Subtier 4–5,
the PCs can also choose from eyes of keen sight (Ultimate
Equipment 225), gloves of swimming and climbing, or a
scholar’s ring (Ultimate Equipment 177). These items appear
on this adventure’s Chronicle sheet.

Does this mean we cross off the things they didn't choose?

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Lau Bannenberg wrote:
BretI wrote:

I want to make sure that I understand the reverse chase scene correctly.

Each PC can attempt one of the checks or Aid Another, and each success is counted as slowing the guards? With a group of six, if everyone makes their check they can slow the guards by 6?

The way I read it, each PC can make a check for himself or Aid Another. For every independent check that succeeds, a Delay is scored.

This interpretation is correct. Thanks Lau!

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

Christopher Wasko wrote:
Lau Bannenberg wrote:
BretI wrote:

I want to make sure that I understand the reverse chase scene correctly.

Each PC can attempt one of the checks or Aid Another, and each success is counted as slowing the guards? With a group of six, if everyone makes their check they can slow the guards by 6?

The way I read it, each PC can make a check for himself or Aid Another. For every independent check that succeeds, a Delay is scored.
This interpretation is correct. Thanks Lau!

I'll be sure to point this out to my players; some people have gotten so used to "only the best check matters" that they only think to Aid. It'll be good to make it clear that in this case there's value in multiple contenders.

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Lau Bannenberg wrote:

So if you rescue Zefiro, at the end of the scenario you get rewards from the Society. Sweet.

p18 wrote:

Treasure: Knowing that the PCs were unlikely to pick

up much treasure to cover their expenses, the Pathfinder
Society set aside several magic items that the PCs can
claim
as a reward if they rescued Zefiro Balinger. In
Subtier 1–2, the PCs can receive boots of the friendly terrain
(Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 228), a chime of opening,
or a javelin of thunderbolts (acts as a javelin of lightning but
deals 8d6 damage and has a save DC of 17). In Subtier 4–5,
the PCs can also choose from eyes of keen sight (Ultimate
Equipment 225), gloves of swimming and climbing, or a
scholar’s ring (Ultimate Equipment 177). These items appear
on this adventure’s Chronicle sheet.
Does this mean we cross off the things they didn't choose?

I actually voiced a similar question in the 7-09 thread a while back. Personally, I think the interpretation of the commenting GMs is correct, that the selected item remains on the Chronicle sheet available for purchase while the other items get crossed off. That being said, the PFS development team has the final say, so they may rule differently.

I'm honestly not sure about the lesser circlet of persuasion's Subtier location on the Chronicle sheet.

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

I assume since it doesn't say pick one, you don't cross any of them off.

Compare it against something like The Confirmation.

The Confirmation, pg. 17 wrote:
In addition, the GM should either randomly select two pieces of treasure from the following list or choose two items that would best suit the PCs: a quiver containing 20 +1 arrows, a +1 light crossbow, a +1 light wooden shield, a +1 longsword, a suit of +1 studded leather armor, bracers of armor +1, an elixir of swimming, an amulet of natural armor +1, a pearl of power (1st-level spell), or a ring of protection +1.

All the items in the above list that are not always available appear on the chronicle. You should cross off the ones that were not given out since they were never treasure from the adventure.

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BretI wrote:

I assume since it doesn't say pick one, you don't cross any of them off.

Compare it against something like The Confirmation.

The Confirmation, pg. 17 wrote:
In addition, the GM should either randomly select two pieces of treasure from the following list or choose two items that would best suit the PCs: a quiver containing 20 +1 arrows, a +1 light crossbow, a +1 light wooden shield, a +1 longsword, a suit of +1 studded leather armor, bracers of armor +1, an elixir of swimming, an amulet of natural armor +1, a pearl of power (1st-level spell), or a ring of protection +1.
All the items in the above list that are not always available appear on the chronicle. You should cross off the ones that were not given out since they were never treasure from the adventure.

Good point. The phrasing of the rewards as "the PCs can receive X, Y, or Z," leads me to believe that they only get one, but this interpretation also makes sense. I'll defer to John, Linda, and Tonya, since I honestly don't know the right answer.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

Okay, done with another round of prep. I've made item cards and statblocks. Item cards for the stuff you get during the briefing, and the choices (if choosing there must be) at the end of the scenario, to streamline the decision process.

By the way, those are pretty nice item choices.

Statblocks for Zefiro and the Bellflower boyz could come in handy if they get caught in a crossfire. Odd that they're not in the appendix. Notice how fragile they are without any gear; players may want to patch them up a bit.

The other statblocks are for the final fight, putting the guards and the inquisitor on the same page to reduce flipping back and forth in the middle of combat.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Awwww.. no three part cookie?

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BigNorseWolf wrote:
Awwww.. no three part cookie?

It's there. It's the Delvehaven Star boon.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

Okay, let's analyze the chase, to see if I got it right.


  • We talk about time "steps" which take approximately 1 minute, most of which is spent on movement. Only one normal combat round per step is available for other actions.

    (If the PCs want to do more than that, that means they can't advance/the party splits? I'm sure I can convince the players to just keep moving...)

  • The PCs always start at card 1, but depending on the state they left the prison in, the Pursuit doesn't get any actions for the first 1-3 steps.

    (1 step head start due to Tamrin, +1 step if no sign of violence in the prison, +1 step if dressed in guard uniforms)

  • Every step, the PCs advance one card, and then they can all spend a full-round action to create Delays for the Pursuit. PCs can aid or try something themselves. For every "main" check that succeeds, a Delay is scored.

  • The Pursuit advances after the PCs' turn. They advance up to 3 cards, -1 per delay on a card. If the Pursuit doesn't have enough movement left in a round to enter a card, it stops. Next round they move into that card; I'm assuming this costs 1 movement and they can continue moving after that?

  • If the Pursuit enters the same card as the PCs, they throw a javelin at every PC and fleeing NPC.

    There's no actual combat; assume there is an overwhelming number of guards, so that it'll be obvious to all PCs that this is not the place to make a stand.

    Should a PC or NPC drop unconscious, then what? Does that PC stay behind? I'm inclined to say that the rest of the fleeing party can drag along the body, and suffers the same penalty as for an NPC that was injured by the trap in the prison. Since the javelins are unlikely to kill in one hit (1d6+2/4 damage), next round someone might want to cast a healing spell instead of trying to create an obstacle.

  • When the PCs enter the rendez vous card, finish up that round and then move on to the last stand encounter.

Now for an example run;

The PCs left a bloodbath in the prison but got the uniforms. Therefore they start out with a 2-step lead.

Step 1: The PCs move to card 2 and create 1 Delay.
Step 2: The PCs move to card 3 and create 4 Delays.
Step 3: The PCs move to card 4, but manage to create no delays. The Pursuit moves to card 2 spending 2/3 movement, and then lacks sufficient movement to enter card 3.
Step 4: The PCs move to card 5 and create 1 Delay. The Pursuit enters card 3 (1/3), card 4 (2/3) and then can't get into card 5 because that would require 2 movement.
Step 5: The PCs move to card 6 and create 1 Delay. The Pursuit enters card 5 (1/3) and then card 6 (3/3) and throws javelins at the party.
Step 6: The PCs move to card 7 and create 3 Delays. The Pursuit can't get into card 7 this round.
Step 7: The PCs move to card 8 and create 2 Delays. The Pursuit enters card 7 (1/3) and then can't enter card 8 because that would cost 3 movement.
Step 8: The PCs move onto card 9, the rendez-vous point. The Pursuit moves onto card 8 (1/3) and then onto card 9 (2/3), so the final combat starts in the worst way for the PCs.

Looking at it like this, this party did pretty poorly. Those 4 Delays in the beginning looked shiny, but there was no real gain compared to scoring 3 Delays; that would have still stalled the Pursuit. On the other hand, scoring poorly a couple of times in a row allowed the Pursuit to catch up quickly. What got them in the end however is that there's no Delay opportunities on the final card, so that if the Pursuit enters card 8 with movement to spare, it marches right on to card 9.

Now look at the secondary success conditions: at least 8 Delays were caused (check), but the final fight wasn't avoided. Will the party manage to triumph in no more than 7 rounds? Not getting 1d3 rounds to pre-buff isn't going to make things easier for them, and the guards' reach weaponry may also slow down the party, especially if they use it to trip. Then again, they don't have huge amounts of HP, AC or Will, so it could go very fast too.

The Pursuit is never going to advance slower than 1 card per step, so to make it to the end zone with a three-card lead and prevent the final fight entirely, you need to make sure that happens every round AND get the maximum lead of 3 rounds at the start. A tall order; it looks likely that a party that manages that must have dedicated substantial resources to being very good at sneakiness instead of combat. I'd say they deserve their victory.

All in all it looks like this is a pretty fair chase; neither easy nor impossible.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Terminalmancer wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Awwww.. no three part cookie?
It's there. It's the Delvehaven Star boon.

ahah! so there is. Sneaky little thing

4/5 5/55/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Lau Bannenberg wrote:

Okay, let's analyze the chase, to see if I got it right.

You are 100% correct, including your thoughts on PCs carrying each other or NPCs should they fall unconscious mid-chase (specific unconsciousness penalties called out in Pg 14, first full paragraph). Nice breakdown and good observation about the conditions for skipping the final encounter (i.e. "100% completion" of available head starts, plus 3+ delays in every single card)! I'm very glad that the rules to this chase translated accurately ^_^

I do want to point out that scoring multiple delays does not necessarily mean using different tactics in a single card. Four different PCs could all elect to use Diplomacy checks in the Free Meal card, and if all four are successful then they accrue four distinct delays.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

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Christopher Wasko wrote:
Lau Bannenberg wrote:

Okay, let's analyze the chase, to see if I got it right.

You are 100% correct, including your thoughts on PCs carrying each other or NPCs should they fall unconscious mid-chase (specific unconsciousness penalties called out in Pg 14, first full paragraph). Nice breakdown and good observation about the conditions for skipping the final encounter (i.e. "100% completion" of available head starts, plus 3+ delays in every single card)! I'm very glad that the rules to this chase translated accurately ^_^

It looks to me like it's gonna be a fun chase. Kudos on that; I don't think those are easy to write.

I don't think you need 3+ delays; if you get 2+ on every card it should work out. That way, the Pursuit needs one turn per card to cross, so you'll preserve your lead consistently.

Christopher Wasko wrote:
I do want to point out that scoring multiple delays does not necessarily mean using different tactics in a single card. Four different PCs could all elect to use Diplomacy checks in the Free Meal card, and if all four are successful then they accrue four distinct delays.

Yeah, I figured so. All in all the DCs look pretty doable. Which is a reason I didn't put them on the chase cards I'll be putting in front of my players. Knowing in advance just how easy it'll be would take out the excitement. It's enough to know "Oh, I'm good at that skill, I can try that!"

I saw this in action during Kaava Quarry, which also has an awesome escape chase scene. In our party, the GM laid down the cards, told us the options, and told us to choose a party tactic within ten seconds; he didn't tell us the DCs. We achieved almost perfect success, and it went very fast, but it had everyone's heart pumping.

With another party the GM printed out the cards with DCs on them, and that took out a lot of the tension. ("Oh, DC 16...I can do that in my sleep...")

---

By the way, I really appreciate you coming in here and answering questions. I'm running this a lot sooner after publication than I normally like to, so it's a big comfort to get some clarifications here and there.

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Lau Bannenberg wrote:

It looks to me like it's gonna be a fun chase. Kudos on that; I don't think those are easy to write.

I don't think you need 3+ delays; if you get 2+ on every card it should work out. That way, the Pursuit needs one turn per card to cross, so you'll preserve your lead consistently.

Thanks! And you're right, I was thinking of my original turnover where the guards automatically got their first move, meaning the PCs needed 3+ per card to maintain their lead. I think we changed it in development for fear of not enough PC action economy should they meet with spillover problems from the Nail (torture and whatnot), as well as to help out parties with only 4 PCs.

Lau Bannenberg wrote:
By the way, I really appreciate you coming in here and answering questions. I'm running this a lot sooner after publication than I normally like to, so it's a big comfort to get some clarifications here and there.

No problem! I'm stoked to hear how it runs and to receive feedback in general. I hope you and your players enjoy it!

Lantern Lodge 5/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

I be running it tomorrow myself with a group that ran parts 1 and 2. A couple of them are fairly combat oriented so I'm curious if they'll be able to handle a spy mission like this :)

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

*checks Warhorn* looks like the Tengu levelled out of tier. That one would have been challenging to explain as a regular Chelaxian anyway. If the player's grabbing a pregen, I think I'll be doing the group a favour by placing Quinn on top of the pile.

I'm... curious to see how they'll do it. I don't see anyone with Disable Device yet, that could be a thing for them. Apart from that they're pretty skill-heavy (wizard 5, inquisitor 5, psychic 5) so I expect them to have an easy time with the chase.

Then again, the inquisitor is Liberty's Edge, and the Bellflower Boyz are only AC 13 with 8 HP. If the Pursuit gets even one round of javelin-throwing, ouch...

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David H wrote:
I be running it tomorrow myself with a group that ran parts 1 and 2. A couple of them are fairly combat oriented so I'm curious if they'll be able to handle a spy mission like this :)

As much as it pains me, murderhobos can get through this adventure with full prestige awards, although it'll be an uphill climb.

Lau Bannenberg wrote:
Then again, the inquisitor is Liberty's Edge, and the Bellflower Boyz are only AC 13 with 8 HP. If the Pursuit gets even one round of javelin-throwing, ouch...

And that's not counting potential damage from the trap, either. Faction PCs gotta earn those boons ;)

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

If I'm understanding the reverse chase correctly, once the guards have caught up there is no way to get a gap again? The party will keep getting javelins tossed at them each 'card'?

Seems like this could quickly become deadly.

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BretI wrote:

If I'm understanding the reverse chase correctly, once the guards have caught up there is no way to get a gap again? The party will keep getting javelins tossed at them each 'card'?

Seems like this could quickly become deadly.

If the PCs create enough delays in their present card when the guards catch up, so the pursuit can't enter their card that phase, that can give the PCs a 1 card lead to keep from getting attacked.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria

I could be wrong, but if the group manages to create 4 delays on card number two, the guards can't actually get out of that first square in their first round ? (Thus enabling a 4 card lead?)

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

Sebastian Hirsch wrote:
I could be wrong, but if the group manages to create 4 delays on card number two, the guards can't actually get out of that first square in their first round ? (Thus enabling a 4 card lead?)

3 Delays should suffice for that actually; 3D + 1 normal movement required puts the card out of immediate reach.

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Sebastian Hirsch wrote:
I could be wrong, but if the group manages to create 4 delays on card number two, the guards can't actually get out of that first square in their first round? (Thus enabling a 4 card lead?)

As written you're right, assuming max success.

1 (hs): PCs move to and create 3 delays in card 2
2 (hs): PCs move to and create 3 delays in card 3
3 (hs): PCs move to and create 3 delays in card 4
4: PCs move to and create 3 delays in card 5, guards stuck in card 1.
5: PCs move to and create 3 delays in card 6, guards automatically move to card 2 and get stuck.
That maintains a 4 card lead for max completion PCs if they score enough delays in every card. So it looks like even groups who only get 1 of the extra head start options can still dodge the final encounter if they do everything right in the streets, which should give PCs some wiggle room and make things a little easier.

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

I'm running this today.

I've set up a map with boxes indicating each of the cards. I'm planning to place glass beads in each box to indicate the number of delays created. That should help visually represent the chase.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

I've seen this happen often enough: what's the effect of a potion of fly on the chase? This seems like a chase where it would be individually helpful, but would typically not be helpful to causing delays. Only places where it might help are the asmodean service (scaling the temple) and any of the checks on the Docks.

For that matter, what if someone casts Haste? (Likely from a scroll). What bonuses should that grant to the chase?

Liberty's Edge 5/5

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Nothing. Because this isn't a typical chase where you are running after or from a single source.

This is a chase through the streets where the pursuers are coming around every corner.

This is not a linear thing.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Moving faster as you pile up boxes definitely seems bonus worthy

4/5 5/55/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

It's ultimately up to the GM to decide how to reward creative spell casting like this. On the one hand, these spells certainly help expedite an escape. On the other hand, they don't last very long or affect many targets at this level, reducing their efficacy for helping the group, and they sort of defeat the party's goal of keeping a relatively low profile.

Personally, I would rule like Andrew, given the nature of this particular chase. The pursuers are everywhere in the streets, and the chase mechanics represent the PCs' overall avoidance of them by disrupting the holiday festivities.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

Ran this today. I'll write a more detailed AAR later; suffice to say it was a success.

During the chase, I used the chase cards (they're on PFSPREP) I made and glass beads to indicate Delays caused; I'd had the same idea as Bretl. That worked well.

I allowed Fly on the Docks card, as it looked like a sensible alternative to a Swim check for the watery shortcut.

I didn't allow anything for Haste, because each chase card takes a minute; Haste doesn't last that long.

On one card I did allow a +2 circumstance bonus for someone with Expeditious Retreat; I forgot on which check, but it made sense.

All in all, the players absolutely ruled the chase, getting an average of 4 Delays per card I think. But between an optimized wizard, competent psychic, infiltration/melee inquisitor, Quinn pregen and (some kind of medium I don't understand), that was to be expected.

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Lau Bannenberg wrote:

Ran this today. I'll write a more detailed AAR later; suffice to say it was a success.

During the chase, I used the chase cards (they're on PFSPREP) I made and glass beads to indicate Delays caused; I'd had the same idea as Bretl. That worked well.

I allowed Fly on the Docks card, as it looked like a sensible alternative to a Swim check for the watery shortcut.

I didn't allow anything for Haste, because each chase card takes a minute; Haste doesn't last that long.

On one card I did allow a +2 circumstance bonus for someone with Expeditious Retreat; I forgot on which check, but it made sense.

All in all, the players absolutely ruled the chase, getting an average of 4 Delays per card I think. But between an optimized wizard, competent psychic, infiltration/melee inquisitor, Quinn pregen and (some kind of medium I don't understand), that was to be expected.

Awesome! I'm glad your players did well, I prefer stories of the PCs pulverizing the chase than the other way around. I hope everyone enjoyed!

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

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I ran it today as well.

The PCs were able to accomplish all the goals and overall I believe it was a success. I had a low tier table of six, mixed first and second level characters.

The beads worked well for showing the delays blocking the guards. It also helped me to track the guards movement since I could just pick up the beads to represent movement.

I found the description of the reverse chase a little confusing, but the answers (above) helped me work those kinks out. The scenes described were fun and called for a good variety of checks.

My group was very light on face skills. I think every reroll at the table was for an instance where they were attempting a social skill check. This did hamper them a little bit, but that was more than made up for by my dice luck. They used the poison and only two guards in the whole place managed the save. They were able to keep a general alarm from going off because of a combination of my perception rolls (don't think I rolled over a 6 all night for perception) and some timely good bluff rolls on their part.

They were even nice enough to bring some of the stew to the guards in the hallway and get thanked for it. One of the players helped by bringing a dirty bowl (remains of stew) and talking about how good it was.

They did not get enough delays to skip the final battle, but they were able to defeat them without too much problem. I had a couple of the PCs doing running jumps to cross the stream, one even got wet after failing.

I had two people at my table who had never done PFS organized play before and one other wasn't very conversant in the world background. Fortunately, one of the players who was paying attention and knew the background was with the Dark Archives. It was fun seeing his reaction to the news about Zarta's backstory.

I think it was a good scenario and I enjoyed running it.

Dark Archive 2/5 *

If a player finishes part 3, having not played parts 1 and 2 before that, but later plays parts 1 and 2, do they then retroactively qualify for the Delvehaven Star boon?

4/5 5/55/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

benthic wrote:
If a player finishes part 3, having not played parts 1 and 2 before that, but later plays parts 1 and 2, do they then retroactively qualify for the Delvehaven Star boon?

As written, I do not believe so.

4/5 5/5 *

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Ran this today at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL and we had a great time. It was a 6 player party low tier with 2 PCs at 3rd, 3 at 2nd, and 1 at 1st. They owned it, literally, inside and out.

They took the tour with Galvar, switched chaperones with Krima, went back and drugged the stew, took the uniforms, used the replica key despite no one having Disable Device (great use of Luck by the cleric), and found the papers in the office.

They're one mistake involved a linguistics check that was made and found the "six". They that was assumed that was it. Psychic PC dials six and tries the door. Hit from the trap for max damage, staggered Psychic. The party examines the prayer further and find two more of the hidden numbers. They try those three numbers. Trap hits the Barbarian for 7HP. Both saves vs. poison were made. Then they finally find all the numbers and open the Vault. Highly amusing for me!

When reading about Zarta Draleen two players exclaim Holy S#@t!. Well done, that's some damn fine world building.

The central chain trap was set off quickly by the Liberty's Edge Barbarian smashing chains. However one of the wizards casting Grease on the central pillar made it much easier to release the prisoners. Some spiked chain hits were taken, but well placed channels healed the party and the prisoners before they left.

They crushed the chase. Absolutely crushed it! They had the 3 round head start with no killing guards, uniforms, and all prisinors at full HP. Then they scored 25 successes! The interrogator never got close before they reached the boat.

Done in 3.5 hours. Fun, but that chase may be too easy. 4 stars.

4/5 5/5 *

And a hearty Thank You! to Lau for his post on pfsprep.com. They were very helpful.

4/5

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Had two tables ran of this. I was a player, but read the whole thing beforehand because we thought there was going to be three tables and ended up having some people drop.

Follows in the footsteps of the rest of the series...seems short. But again, I feel F&F 1 and 2 were the exact same way. This is not a bad thing. I think it's good to have variety in scenario length. I often use shorter scenarios if another scenario ends up ending early and people still want to play.

The thing I really liked about this scenario is that it's a break from the normal pattern. It's all about infiltration and persuasion. Granted, I love a good dungeon crawl and don't think this kind of scenario should be the norm, but it's great to interject a large amount of skill-focus sometimes.

The biggest complaint about this is that the chase scene, while still lots of fun, is extraordinarily confusing and I feel that many that don't read this thread will be lost.

The biggest praise was the structure of the scenario and meat of it: conversing and manipulating the guards. FYI, both tables ended up going with the drug route. I think that is probably what most parties are going to go with because it's the most obvious solution.

Overall, great scenario. Think everyone loved it.

(As a note, boon-wise, neither GM noticed the text about the Delvehaven Star boon being only for those who completed all 3 and I had to inform them)

Lantern Lodge 5/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

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My table managed to avoid the final combat and had a very short combat in the Nail. They managed to poison the stew and every guard who ate the stew except 1 succumbed to the poison. That guard screamed and was quickly knocked unconscious, but the remaining guard (the one at the entrance since he got the short straw to wait on lunch) happened to roll low enough and missed his Perception...

After spending some time to stage the barracks, the party wasted little time clearing out the majority of the compound, getting the good stuff out the vault, office, and prison successfully, thanks to the party rogue having hot dice and the party expertly solving the puzzle (with compliments on it).

The chase was fun as the party was quite creative causing distractions, including Ferris Bueller'ing the parade, tackling mimes, and summoning a holy octopus.

Despite avoiding massive beatdowns, the players enjoyed themselves.

A+, would run again.

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

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I had forgotten the puzzle.

Our group had just about given up on the puzzle when one person finally saw the pattern. Once they had the pattern, it was quickly solved. The group didn't have a character with Linguistics skill, so no hints.

Everyone (including me) complemented the player who solved it. He was really pumped when he figured it out.

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

Does anyone know why the Core box on the chronicle sheet is already filled in? I just noticed this.

4/5 5/5 *

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Played this today at a table of 7 and had fun again.
Since I had run it yesterday and was late due to tire trouble I mostly sat back with my wizard and only rolled checks after others had failed. Once again the Oil of Taggit took out most of the guards. I used Color Spray on one and the guards in the barracks got Arcane Locked in. Uniforms were stolen, and the office and storage were searched fully.

The puzzle lock was cracked after a Linguistics check and an intelligent young lady who dedicated herself to solving it. The interrogation chamber took WAY longer than it should have due to bad dice by the party, but proper use of expendables got us and the prisoners through.

As for the escape, it got crushed again. Our group of 7 scored 30 successes. Seems like the mechanic favors a larger group. Group of 7 is 56 potential successes (7x8 rolls) with up to 7 per instance, while a group of 4 is 32 potential successes (4x8 rolls) with up to 4 per instance. Since the Interrogator's forces move at a flat 3 per they are much more likely to catch a smaller group. As there is no 4 player adjustment to the chase unless combat happens, I would suggest that the speed of the forces be adjusted as well. My experiences suggest that the speed should be 4 per at regular, and 3 per with the four player adjustment. If we made it 3/2 instead I would not argue. Of course this is only my humble opinion.

Still a fun scenario with a great world building reveal (Kudos!), but loses a star for wonky mechanics. 3 stars.

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