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Question about the end of Part 1. The text says 2 Guards+, but the stat blocks suggest it's 3 Guards+. Since Red Alert replaces the encounter in Area B (which has 3 Guards+) that's my guess - but I wanted to check. Thanks in advance!Just bumping this since it seems to have been lost in all the posts since Gen Con GMs got this dropped to their accounts.
It's three guards, unless you are applying the four-player adjustment.
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I played this at Paizocon UK at the weekend with what I assume is that post US Paizocon updated version. We had something like 20 tables running of which maybe 2 or 3 seemed to finish on time. Most still ran well over with reports of some hitting 7 hours+.
Ouch! Were the slots 5 hours? As the Gen Con session is scheduled to end at 1:00 am, I'm looking at ways to make sure this fits in the 5 hour slot.
Are the players going to be provided with the pregens before the slot begins, like online, or it's all table time for the players to look over and pick the pregens? (I know that if they are available online, most players will still not have seen them before they are at the table.)
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I think the biggest thing that GMs can do to help will be to push a little in the investigation acts... RP, but don't go over the top. Go long enough until the gist has been gotten, then transition to the rolls. Give a good idea that they have most (or all) of the information, plus give good clues as to the rising level of concern (aka strikes). Aim for completing Part 1 within 1 hour.
Also, call combats when they are effectively done, don't worry about rolling out the last damages if it can save 10-15 minutes.
Have handouts for information garnered... hand those out instead of talking it through?
On The Lab Warren, be clear that there are three things that they can search for... find allies, find evidence, and find treasure. Tell them the skills, and one at a time, let them decide what they are rolling for. It says each PC knows what the other are doing. Remember that they only have 2 actions each for this, so you can push this pretty quickly. Have handouts for the treasures found. (Better, allow the spellcrafts casually, and only give the cards for the ones they identify).
And as a GM, know the special abilities of all the critters, and the PC's pregens as well.
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For the pregens, I am planning on doing what I did with True Dragons and Serpents' Rise... have very short blurbs about their abilities on a card, hand those out. Let the players decide based on limited information, and give one chance to trade. Once they decide hand out, and the keep what they got. Make it fast. The time to select pregens should be no more than 5 minutes.
I'll post the blurb cards to PFS Prep once I have them done.
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Mediterranean
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We chose not to give out the pre-gens beforehand, but we did make considerable use of the prep material such as the cheat sheets for each character. Even so, reading through the characters takes time.
The first part of the scenario is roleplay heavy, but shouldn't be rushed. In the second part, we skipped the optional combat but the combats are (enjoyably) complex.
As a GM who often seems to run long, I was expecting to be one of the last running this and that was the case. But I'm sure my players would have felt cheated if it had been rushed.
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They have made some changes to the scenario that will hopefully make it fit into 5 hours better than it did. (F'rinstance, one of the encounters is now an optional encounter.) But, yes, as GM, you really need to keep them on track during the first section; that one has the possibility to blossom... which would be great in an open-ended home game, but is a problem in a single-scenario time-limited slot.
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Venture-Captain, Ireland—Belfast
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When I read the scenario I knew that if I approached it the way I normally do it would run well over time even without the optional encounter.
I produced every time saving hand-out, floor plan, pawn etc. that I could to shave off minutes and prepped as fully as possible.
Truth is though, there is heavy RP and the fights are complex. It was a late night session at end of a long day & a number of the players found that though the spirit was willing the flesh was getting a little weak.
In the first part I had to try to keep players focused on the specified tasks at hand with their special mechanics and to use the time we had for role playing with these in mind.
The attempts at communication with the chandelier could & ideally should have lasted a lot longer (brought to an early end with a red alert). I'd have loved more time.
The underground section is another one where I'd have loved another 30 minutes to role play but as long as you have a clear idea of what info/handouts the players can get & the players understand how they get them, it runs pretty smoothly.
The final multi part fight again works smoothly as long as you remember what all the critters, terrain and environment do & how they interact. Pfsprep.com is your friend.
We still ran long and without the red alert being triggered would have run 20-30 minutes longer I think. With this scenario I think we just to need to embrace the longer run time rather than risk losing it's flavour by concentrating on bare mechanics in an effort to save time.
When I schedule this for our conventions next season I will be basing it on running 5 hours after the players have familiarised themselves and skipping the optional.
W
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Mine was one of the few tables that finished in under 5 hours, if only just. Things I'll say about it;
- In a perfect world I'd run this in a 6 hour slot, with an additional hour beforehand for players to familiarize themselves with their characters.
- My table were all experienced PFS gamers, and I believe that definitely contributed to the faster finish. If you have a table with players who are new to Pathfinder (or even just to the pre-gen classes that are available), I think you will struggle to fit this into 5 hours as an enjoyable experience.
- Part 1 is excellent and the first fight in Part 2 is also very good. Don't be tempted to fast forward the early game to try and get to the later encounters, as in many ways the later encounters are actually the weakest in the scenario. The nightmare creatures can be shut down far too easily (Shohiraj can basically deal with it single-handed without any combat) and the final boss is a debuffer type without the DPS to back it up. This scenario is definitely all about the journey rather than the destination, and should be run with that in mind.
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I've made some reference cards to pass out at the beginning of the slot to help players quickly pick a pregen. You can find the file on the GM Shared Prep site Here.
Question: I've included a blurp on Evidence Points. I'm hoping that it may speed up the adventure if the understand them. What do you think? Should that info be included?
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Hey guys, just thought it might be a good idea to post this in the GM thread as a reminder. Copies of the pregens are not being provided, so everybody make sure to remember to bring copies of your pregens.
Wait, what?
This is going to be a terrible problem, since it is possible that many or most of the 160 table GMs are not going to know this.
Mitch, did I miss something here?
EDIT: Saw it on Bob's email from Saturday. Still, I am concerned that a large number of folks won't have these, as they have always been provided in the past (ok, so perhaps the "always" is just last year, and previous year's WBG, but...)
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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Hey guys, just thought it might be a good idea to post this in the GM thread as a reminder. Copies of the pregens are not being provided, so everybody make sure to remember to bring copies of your pregens.Wait, what?
This is going to be a terrible problem, since it is possible that many or most of the 160 table GMs are not going to know this.
Mitch, did I miss something here?EDIT: Saw it on Bob's email from Saturday. Still, I am concerned that a large number of folks won't have these, as they have always been provided in the past (ok, so perhaps the "always" is just last year, and previous year's WBG, but...)
Um, I think that was specifically on the scenario pregens for 6-98, 7-98, and 7-99. Not the general use pregens.
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Hey guys, just thought it might be a good idea to post this in the GM thread as a reminder. Copies of the pregens are not being provided, so everybody make sure to remember to bring copies of your pregens.Wait, what?
This is going to be a terrible problem, since it is possible that many or most of the 160 table GMs are not going to know this.
Mitch, did I miss something here?EDIT: Saw it on Bob's email from Saturday. Still, I am concerned that a large number of folks won't have these, as they have always been provided in the past (ok, so perhaps the "always" is just last year, and previous year's WBG, but...)
Yeah, it was in Bob's email. But since it is different than how things were last year I thought it beared repeating.
Guys and gals, if you know people who are volunteering that don't normally check the boards, make sure and spread the word. This year is Bring Your Own Pregens.
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Question.
In Rataji's statblock Telekinetic charge is described thusly (emphasis mine):
Telekinetic Charge Rataji can telekinetically launch an ally within 45 feet to any other location within 45 feet. This movement provokes no attacks of opportunity. If he causes the ally to land adjacent to an opponent, the ally can spend an immediate action to make a melee attack against that opponent with a +2 bonus on the attack roll.
However, the description of Telekinetic Charge says (emphasis also mine):
While moving, your ally is flying just above the ground unless you wish otherwise. Movement from this spell provokes attacks of opportunity as normal, although you can lift your ally over objects or out of enemy reach, as long as your ally remains within this spell’s range.
Which one takes precedence?
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Ok, a couple of things I have come up with on prepping this.
If the team encounters Joliryn above ground (which seems likely, as she heads towards them, and will recognize them), what happens if she is attacked by the team?
If she gets the chance in combat, I see her casting invisibility, then using her scroll of dimension door. (unless she can 5' step, draw, and cast).
But then what happens?
She obviously knows they are under attack.
I could see this working in several ways.
1) Triggers an immediate red alert.
2) This is considered just a "especially aggressive approach" and just increase the minimum strikes to two.
I am thinking if she gets away, it is #1, since the complex is now alerted. This is far more than just kicking in doors or kidnapping workers.
If she is defeated at this time, I would, for sure, just go with the minimum of 2 (for this and every phase after the fight), because eventually she will be missed.
Also, in the case she is elimindated, does the red alert party (or the party in area B) just have three guards, or does the evoker now show up (I would do just the guards on first thought, but thought to ask).
Hope this all makes sense, as I am expecting that a good number of tables will have someone that qualifies for her, and any encounter with her will be violent in the end.
Or, maybe I am misreading what she is supposed to do in act 1?
Venture-Agent, Nebraska—Omaha
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If the team encounters Joliryn above ground (which seems likely, as she heads towards them, and will recognize them), what happens if she is attacked by the team?
Hopefully, this won't happen as they are "on the same side," and the PCs should not want to make a commotion.
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Hopefully, this won't happen as they are "on the same side," and the PCs should not want to make a commotion.
The thing is, she automatically recognizes half the party. She knows they're Aspis Agents, and fairly competent ones at that, having her report that to her superiors makes keeping a low profile next to impossible.
Trying to silence her isn't an unreasonable course of action.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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If you adhere them to a foam sheet with double sided tape they fit nicely into the pawn bases.
I prefer mine, though I'll concede the Aaog-Shagga needs work.
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I prefer mine, though I'll concede the Aaog-Shagga needs work.
If you adhere them to a foam sheet with double sided tape they fit nicely into the pawn bases.
All right. I give up. I can't beat that. You've won 7-98.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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Ask and you shall receive?Does anybody know if the images for Falth, Thestil Shadowtongue, and/or Eramay have appeared in a pawn box? I wasn't able to find them in the NPC Codex pawns or the PFS pawns.Those three art pieces come from Inner Sea Races, so they don't have pawns.
Yes, I saw that. I just prefer to use pawn images when possible. I also needed additional pawns for Cosmic Captive which don't exist and had already printed pawn pages for the figures which exist in pawn sets, so I just ended up making my own.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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All right. I give up. I can't beat that. You've won 7-98.I prefer mine, though I'll concede the Aaog-Shagga needs work.
If you adhere them to a foam sheet with double sided tape they fit nicely into the pawn bases.
Thanks. Sadly, I won't be able to keep it up on Cosmic Captive, as non-humanoids are a lot harder to work with.
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So many details I'd like to fine tune on my Dr. Zaweeb mini but alas the clock has run out before I take off for Gencon. But I think my table will enjoy it just the same and I'll settle for being happy with what I've accomplished rather than be unhappy with what I have't accomplished.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/143223852@N06/S3Z46r
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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So many details I'd like to fine tune on my Dr. Zaweeb mini but alas the clock has run out before I take off for Gencon. But I think my table will enjoy it just the same and I'll settle for being happy with what I've accomplished rather than be unhappy with what I have't accomplished.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/143223852@N06/S3Z46r
Looks good to me! I like the stage he's got too.
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Wow, Jerry - nice job. When I saw yours I ordered some minis to donate parts to the cause for when I run it at the end of August for our local con. It will be my first mini mod, so I'm not sure how it will turn out. You've set the bar high!
You can PM me for what was my "ingredients list", I used bits and bobs from six different Horrorclix figures.
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I'm certainly jealous of you guys who can find the time for such remarkable prep. I've got some PC minis painted and good maps, but I'm going to have to skip my morning slot to read through this monster again.
On a possitive note, I am particularly tickled that John decided to make one of the pregens the previously illegal Constable Cavalier. I think it's a great archetype for PFS and now more people will be aware of it.