7-20 All for Immortality Part 1: First Taste of Eternity


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Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

Jeffrey Stop wrote:

Here are some questions I have that I didn't see addressed in the thread:

1) Can the PCs donate the gear they found in this mod to the Pathfinders to get the bonus? I saw nothing that would prevent it, but it also seems like the intent was for the PCs to actually use their own resources -- i.e., make the PCs make an effort and have a bit of a pain point. If they give up the found stuff, I believe it's on the chronicle and they still get the gold for it.

2) Is there any way for the PCs to know which skills they'd need to use to give the briefings to the Pathfinder groups? When I played it, I was told no, but someone else said that when he'd run it he gave the PCs the knowledge.

3) In regards to the Sun Orchid Elixir, one player indicated that he was taking the elixir for the Pathfinder Society -- not for personal use. That's not an option on the Chronicle, so should he be held to the decision even though the option he was hoping for was not on the chronicle? (I didn't want to give anything away about the options because every player was in the same room and some still hadn't decided.)

Spoiler:

1) The intention is for the donated gear to be wealth that the PCs no longer have, much as venture-captains in other scenarios regularly provide lower level Pathfinders with equipment that the venture-captains are unlikely to ever see again.

2) As a GM, I would provide some strong but non-explicit verbal prompts about what would be good ideas, giving the players a chance to volunteer skills they'd like to use. That's just my GMing style, as I find it gives the players more satisfaction to come up with answers on their own. When the tactic backfires, I tend to provide more explicit cues. The skill checks shouldn't be a big "gotcha" moment.

3) I would acknowledge the player's plan and then resolve everyone else's decisions. I would then choose the outcome that most closely fits the player's choice afterward—in this case I'd probably treat it as his having stolen the elixir.

5/5 *****

John, Part 3 introduced rules to deal with loaning rather than giving gear. The last time I ran the series I imported those into Parts 1 and 2. Is that something I shouldn't be doing?

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ****

Here's an odd one...does Alchemical Allocation work on the sun orchid elixir? If so, how should a GM handle that character's chronicle sheet?

Thanks!

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

I'd give them the Savor the Sun Orchid boon and cross off True To The Mission.

Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

andreww wrote:
John, Part 3 introduced rules to deal with loaning rather than giving gear. The last time I ran the series I imported those into Parts 1 and 2. Is that something I shouldn't be doing?

No, no, you're right. If I recall correctly, loaning permanent items was good (so long as the whole team does't die over the course of the adventure).

Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

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Steven Schopmeyer wrote:
I'd give them the Savor the Sun Orchid boon and cross off True To The Mission.

Yeah...alchemical allocation can circumvent some really key "no seriously, you can drink this once" item restrictions, and the organized play team has made a point of adding clarifications for some newer single-use items to make it clear that the spell doesn't allow infinite use. If alchemical alloocation worked on the elixir, rest assured that the world would have abused it by now. It doesn't work—at least not in the context of Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild—and the imbiber would earn the Savor the Sun Orchid boon.

Paizo Employee 5/5 Contributor—Canadian Maplecakes

Given that the elixir is an artifact... I'd probably have it operate under rules where alchemical allocation doesn't affect it. I'd allow the PC to spit it out, but inform them that they received no benefit, and then they can choose how to proceed from there.

As HIGH-LARIOUS as that would be in something like a home game—even if only as a one time crazy use—for purposes of an OP, it doesn't make sense to let a 2nd level extract allow for repeated use of an artifact.

Paizo Employee 5/5 Contributor—Canadian Maplecakes

Darn... John beat me! (Story of my career).

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ****

Thank ye kindly, gents.
*goes off to flog one of his VOs*

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ****

Having now played and run this scenario, I really enjoyed it both ways! It *is* a lot to prep for, and even an experienced group of characters will take at least 5 hours to complete it (high tier with hard mode even longer), but as a scenario offering, it's very solid.

Grand Lodge 3/5

John Compton wrote:
For years, players have complained that Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch a) didn't provide enough information before adventures, b) didn't give the PCs free equipment for missions, and c) didn't seem to care about the dangerous circumstances into which she sent agents—concerns I've tried to combat while at Paizo. Players have also seemed to assume that she and other venture-captains have all of the answers and unlimited resources, rather than just being accomplished adventurers who run lodges out-of-pocket. Now those same players get to play the part of Sheila and other Society leaders they've spent their careers demonizing. As the adventure advises, if you know that the players/PCs are critical of their venture-captains for perceived tight-fistedness, lack of empathy, or incompetence, let the NPC Pathfinder teams give them a taste of their own medicine. You may have heard the classic parental line "I hope your children are as terrible to you as you are being to me." Have some fun with it. Leadership isn't easy.

This seeker arc has encouraged my Brawler to take this into consideration. As a result, he's planning on dropping levels into the PrC Pathfinder Field Agent so he is capable of researching more and passing on more abilities in order to lead more effectively. Previously he would simply break what was in front of him and leave most of the thinking to wiser party members.

Above board I think this has accomplished exactly this. We still lost 2 people and we were trying very hard to keep them alive (lots of equipment and we made all our knowledge checks). We actively attempted to send teams to the places we thought were best suited to their abilities, and never sent them to dangerous locations if we could help it.

How it influenced our choices:
We even opted to bust down the front door in part III in order to draw attention away from the secondary teams in case it would have helped. We still lost one in that scenario despite wrecking everything we encountered :(

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Anyone have Roll20 friendly maps for this scenario? It would cut down on my prep-work considerably.

5/5 *****

I have roll 20 tables for all three parts with character sheets, tokens and macros set up if you would like copies. I don't think we can share the actual maps, or so I have been told in the past.


What is the light level of the Astral Plane? Based on the description in Planar Adventures I'd say dim, which would allow Deeper Darkness to create supernatural darkness, but having that be explicit would be nice.

2/5

This is a bit of a thread necro at this point in the scenario's lifetime, but I figured I'd asked how others handled this if anyone is still paying attention to this.

How does combat begin in the final encounter? Does the final enemy use a surprise round to exit the earth, then roll initiative for everyone? Does she get to emerge (move action) and attack once (standard action) during a surprise round? I don't see any abilities allowing her to do this, unless you consider her emergence to not count as her action in the surprise round.

The round-by-round tactics we're somewhat confusing as they stated initiative isn't rolled until she emerges but then gives you round specific instructions to follow, including her delaying her initiative for certain triggers.

As it currently stands my plan is to have the room start to shake as she begins to act. This will happen once someone is in the rift or tampers with the pillars, then initiative will be rolled as normal to avoid a weird surprise round. She will emerge and follow tactics on her turn. She should be able to use her feat if she is successfully hidden using stealth even if characters acted before her.

Any feedback from GMs who have run this would be appreciated, as I do not recall exactly how it happened when I played it at Gencon 2016.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Since there is no way for the party to see her in the earth, it's generally an automatic surprise round barring some sort of earthsight ability, but it doesn't have much effect as she waits to burst forth on round one. You can put them into initiative or just ask for actions until the listed conditions are met.

2/5

Steven Schopmeyer wrote:
Since there is no way for the party to see her in the earth, it's generally an automatic surprise round barring some sort of earthsight ability, but it doesn't have much effect as she waits to burst forth on round one. You can put them into initiative or just ask for actions until the listed conditions are met.

So the intention is to follow the tactics precisely and have her emerge and attack all at once?

I dislike these surprise round interactions because she is really getting more actions than it seems like she is supposed to. Until she makes her presence known there is no combat so it's still a surprise round and I just don't see how I can follow the tactics as written while following RAW. On the otherhand if I just have her emerge during surprise and then roll init normally with her +6 init bonus odds are no one will be flat-footed by the time she can attack, invalidating the tactics.

I'm happy to bend the rules for challenge's sake if the mod intends that, but I wish I had a better answer for my players if they raise an objection.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

It's not a surprise round. The PCs get actions before her if they win initiative. But until she reveals herself, they have no idea where she is, so those actions may be wasted. Feel free to say "you are in initiative" but that the fast PCs don't see anything attacking yet. Allow them to consider if their 'danger sense' is kicking in (especially for characters with abilities to act in the surprise roun) and make preparations for when something strikes.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

There are actually a number of ways for PCs to spot her before she emerges.

1. tremorsense. (Some PCs can have that by these levels.)
2. Once she begins moving (or possibly before depending on GM interpretation) Perception DC 25 to "sense a burrowing creature below you." (most likely higher if she is using stealth.)

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Good catch, I will have to remember that for my run of it.

5/5 *****

I run it as a surprise round with her taking a 5' burrow to break the surface in the surprise round.

5/5

Took 10 hours (2x5 hours), but had a nice time running this. Pretty well mixed group - All Level 12 (one 12.2). Cleric, Wizard, Slayer, Bloodrager, Occultist, and Brawler-mix.

Fights:

Spoiler:

Desert: Got to drag the bloodrager over to the Astral in the first fight and walloped him - was actually hard to find ways to subdue instead of kill as per tactics. The rest just took a long time with Blink, but kept them from rescuing.

Mission Briefings were great fun.

S&K: Got in some good hits, but they had trouble staying healthy enough around the slayer archer.

L: Very challenging, lots of trouble hitting. 4-5 dispels (on pillars and L) slowed things down enough that after being very weary of AoOs, they managed to wallop her just as her defenses went down enough to do so. Also a reach communal resist that went up right before breath weapon and managed to hit all but the cleric with the ranged touches.

One note: the upper tier staff is yet another victim of calculating the Cost and listing it as the Price (like the whole APG I think it was). Obviously a really good deal.

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