Organized Play Lead Developer
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Just a note.
Admiral Pythareus can resolve his crossbow attacks as touch attacks. Crossbows don't have the special provision that guns do which allows Deadly Aim to apply (the general rule is that you can't Power Attack or Deadly Aim with touch attacks). So even though he has Deadly Aim he can't use it.
The intention is that he's using the hand crossbows with all of the fun touch AC technicalities that firearms enjoy. Let him use Deadly Aim.
Contributor
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John and I can clarify any ambiguities and incongruities in the adventure, and so, I encourage everyone to ask rather than to assume that something doesn't work because of technicalities, especially if the intent seems clear. I'll check the thread daily this week, so you can expect a reply within 24 hours. Feel free to pm me if it takes longer than that.
Here's hoping that the adventure runs smoothly and everyone will have fun!
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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Shout: If you succeed at an Average Intimidate check, Gulgamodh creates a 60-foot-long destructive cone of sound that deals 4d6 sonic damage (Fortitude DC 19 half).
Atalazorn is a construct, and constructs aren't affected by effects which require a Fortitude save unless they also affect objects. As written the quoted effect does not have that note. Should it?
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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Overclock: Gulgamodh exceeds its designer’s expectations, but this strains the system. Gulgamodh takes 3d6 points of damage, and one of the construct’s other systems can perform one extra action on its next turn. Each system can be overclocked in this way only once.
I presume that this damage isn't reduced by Gulgamodh's DR?
Venture-Captain, Ohio—Columbus
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Plot question: if the PCs don't choose to do the Scarab Sages mission, how do they get the key before the big battle in part L?
Did I miss it somewhere? If I missed it in the text, I suggest Amenopheus give it to them at the Intermission section, "in case it comes in handy".
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I probably missed it, but what is the travel time between faction missions in part II?
Well, more generally, what are the travel times? So that we can adjudicate duration buffs... is it safe to assume that minute per level spells don't last between scenes and acts?
What about lower level 10 minute per level spells?
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Contributor
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Admittedly, it hasn't been explained in the adventure how the PCs get the key if they don't complete the Scarab Sages mission, but I guess "The same key that Amenopheus lent to the Pathfinders" refers to Pathfinders helping with Absalom's defenses in general, not necessarily people at your table. What you suggested should work, or when the big A attacks, it could be a group of high-level Scarab Sage Pathfinders running past and throwing the key to your PCs and saying "Catch! You'll probably need this more than we do." or something to that effect.
Page 10: "For the purpose of tracking spell durations, assume that each mission takes about 30 minutes to complete." Travel times for Part 3 are not mentioned in the adventure, but 30 minutes sounds about right for moving from one front to the other. The big G vs big A fight and the final encounters count as Cairnlands encounters, so there's no travel time involved if the PCs are already in that area.
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I just noticed a discrepancy in Part 2:
Mission 7 (Sovereign Court)
Successfully completing the mission requires that the PCs convince at least two of the four families to help Absalom.
If the PCs successfully rally at least three noble families, report one Sovereign Court success to HQ staff.
I am assuming that we go with three, but clarification would still be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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Ok, was reading brought. The musket marauder is a rogue, not a gunslinger. So, his rapid reload only brings down to a standard action.. so he isn't very effective at marauding.
Was this intentional, or an oversight?
Pretty sure that's an NPC from the villain codex, So... yeah, the counter-intuitive build is to be expected.
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Contributor
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When selecting stat blocks for the encounters, I didn't notice the musket marauders lack the ability to reload as a move action, but as Disk Elemental pointed out, the stat block is from the Villain Codex, so I don't know if it was intentional (probably not).
Consider using the following tactics: On the first round of combat, the musket marauders attempt to target PCs who are still flat-footed (so they can sneak attack). On subsequent rounds, they move into flanking positions and attack with their short swords. If there's no ally to flank with when moving in, they might ready an action to attack when an ally moves into a flanking position. They reload their muskets only if there's literally nothing better to do.
As for Mission 7, yes, 3 successes should be correct because the reporting condition was added in development.
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Contributor
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Gen Con GMs, thanks for running the special! I hope you enjoyed the convention and make it safely back home.
I would love to hear some feedback on the scenario: which parts were difficult or annoying to run, did you notice any mistakes or other things that require clarifications (other than those already mentioned in this thread), and finally, which parts of the adventure were particularly enjoyable to run and/or the players seemed to enjoy the most? Also, if you have any advice for GMs on how to make the adventure run smoothly, please share.
Thanks!
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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The intention is that he's using the hand crossbows with all of the fun touch AC technicalities that firearms enjoy. Let him use Deadly Aim.Just a note.
Admiral Pythareus can resolve his crossbow attacks as touch attacks. Crossbows don't have the special provision that guns do which allows Deadly Aim to apply (the general rule is that you can't Power Attack or Deadly Aim with touch attacks). So even though he has Deadly Aim he can't use it.
Thank you for pre-answering the logic bomb there. Guns have only been around a bit more than a hundred years, and the Silent Tide have been dead a lot longer than that, so them having actual guns would be strange.
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I really enjoyed GMing this Special. I would rank it as my 2nd favorite Special, though a few GMs from my area say it's now their favorite. I liked the format. I liked the stat blocks.
I think the tier 1-2 enemies are a bit too weak, though. (same thing with tier 1-2 in the other Special this year) My table waltzed all over every one of them. I even added in a few more enemies in some encounters, but it didn't matter. They stomped them easily. For a Special, where speed matters, maybe tougher enemies isn't ideal, though.
My group almost never got interrupted before finishing an encounter in each section. The exception to that was the big construct fight. It was awesome that they could run Gulgamodh, but it took too long to go over how their control worked, and they had several questions about it. 20 minutes isn't nearly enough time for that fight. I was hoping I would be able to let them run that big thing over to some tier 7-8 fights and stomp some tougher opponents than they would normally be able to face. But they only got to finish 1 round of combat before the transition to the next part cut them off.
We really enjoyed the Faction Mission part. It was great to see the players discussing which one they wanted to do and looking at the completion status and trying to estimate which ones they could complete before the whole room completed them. I told them right up front that they should do the Scarab Sages mission 'cuz it made everything else after make more sense.
My table liked to role play out everything that they could. They did, and it all worked pretty well within the allotted time.
Great job with this one, Mikko!
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Contributor
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Thanks for the feedback, guys! :)
James A., I don't think any of the interactive specials have scaling for 4. I guess the rationale is that because there are so many tables, it's usually possible to move people from one table to another if necessary. The other reason is probably that it would make the adventure 1,000-2,000 words longer because there are so many encounters and subtiers.
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Organized Play Lead Developer
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Thanks for the feedback, guys! :)
James A., I don't think any of the interactive specials have scaling for 4. I guess the rationale is that because there are so many tables, it's usually possible to move people from one table to another if necessary. The other reason is probably that it would make the adventure 1,000-2,000 words longer because there are so many encounters and subtiers.
It's especially the volume of encounters, which as Mikko notes would add a great deal to the content of the adventure. It would also add considerably to the development time, layout time, and size of the creature appendices in the back. Currently, that's just not something we can safely budget in producing everything else for convention season, much less impose on GMs during preparation.
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Organized Play Lead Developer
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Upon reviewing Assault on Absalom with other members of the team, comparing notes from the event at Gen Con, and looking through varied feedback from the community, we’ve made several changes to this special adventure. You can find those listed in the adventure's product page discussion.
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Organized Play Lead Developer
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John,
I don't suppose you remember which factions the Gen Con 2017 House obtained? Thanks in advance!
Ah, good point. I've added that information in a new post just after my announcement in the product page discussion.
Also here:
The House fulfilled the faction objectives for the Grand Lodge, Liberty's Edge, Scarab Sages, and Silver Crusade.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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It's especially the volume of encounters, which as Mikko notes would add a great deal to the content of the adventure. It would also add considerably to the development time, layout time, and size of the creature appendices in the back. Currently, that's just not something we can safely budget in producing everything else for convention season, much less impose on GMs during preparation.Thanks for the feedback, guys! :)
James A., I don't think any of the interactive specials have scaling for 4. I guess the rationale is that because there are so many tables, it's usually possible to move people from one table to another if necessary. The other reason is probably that it would make the adventure 1,000-2,000 words longer because there are so many encounters and subtiers.
That's fine, I was prepping for slot zero and wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Totally understand not having one.
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Page 17 of Guide v9:
The GM can select any special boons bestowed by a Chronicle sheet, such as free magical treasure, regional boons, or future bonus die rolls. Boons for specific faction members may only be selected if the character that is receiving credit is part of that faction. The GM’s character does not engage in Downtime activity.
and
A GM can assign credit for running an adventure in the same ways a player can, and must follow the same rules as a player when applying credit to a character. When you choose to take a Chronicle sheet for GM credit, you must decide which of your characters receives the Chronicle sheet when you fill out the tracking sheet for that table. You must apply Chronicle sheets in the order they are received.
That's the closest to official I know of.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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I have a question regarding the Eldritch Artillerist boon.
Per Linda Zayas-Palmer's post if access is granted to your character as if it is in additional resources then it grants access in core.
The Spellslinger archetype grants you a broken firearm, and gives you the Gunsmithing feat.
The Organized Play FAQ says:
Determine the price of special material ammunition the normal way (or look it up on the table on page 141 of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Equipment). If you have the Gunsmithing feat, you can craft non-alchemical cartridge ammunition for 10% of the price. If you have at least 1 rank in Craft (alchemy), you can craft alchemical cartridges for half the price of the cartridge.
The Spellslinger archetype gives you the Gunsmithing feat. The FAQ says that if you have the Gunsmithing feat then you can craft ammunition. FAQs aren't core/standard, they apply to the entirety of PFS.
There is certainly an argument to be made (which I am making) that with the Gunsmithing feat you can craft ammunition in core.
Thoughts?
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You would still need access to the ammunition to be able to get it. There would need to be a Core specific ruling for it to work, as there is no connection to the ammunition in UC and crafting ammunition from the FAQ, and the FAQ certainly does not give access to additional resources. Tread carefully until there is a ruling as a GM can easily outright disallow it and be perfectly in their rights to do so.
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Contributor
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I would say yes, Atalazorn can make attacks of opportunity and yes, it can pounce, but no, it can't use the bite attack to make AoOs or when pouncing because it's holding onto Gulgamodh with its bite attack. The special mechanics in Subtier 7-8 don't exactly follow the normal grappling rules. It's less than ideal, but it allowed me to use the same stat block for Atalazorn as in other subtiers (thus saving words) and involve Gulgamodh in the encounter in a reasonably balanced way.
By the way, I don't check this thread quite so frequently anymore, so feel free to send me a PM if you need a quick response to any questions about the scenario. :)
I hope that helps!
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The intention is that he's using the hand crossbows with all of the fun touch AC technicalities that firearms enjoy. Let him use Deadly Aim.Just a note.
Admiral Pythareus can resolve his crossbow attacks as touch attacks. Crossbows don't have the special provision that guns do which allows Deadly Aim to apply (the general rule is that you can't Power Attack or Deadly Aim with touch attacks). So even though he has Deadly Aim he can't use it.
I’m preparing to run this in a few weeks and I noticed something...the scenario lists the Admiral as being an Advanced Pale Stranger however the stat block in the Apendix is a standard version. Should he be advanced or not?
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Contributor
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It should be an advanced pale stranger (with hand crossbows, etc.). The stat block in the appendix seems to be the vanilla version with pistols and no template.
The appendix is something Paizo adds during the development phase, so I don't know for sure, but I think the stat blocks there are generally copy-pasted straight from bestiaries, and GMs should apply any changes listed in the adventure itself rather than using them as-is. A similar example is the dullahan; the appendix gives stats for the bestiary version who wields a longsword, but as mentioned in the adventure, it should be wielding a falcata, the traditional weapon of Taldor.
I hope that helps!
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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The Powerful Charge damage for Huntmaster Minawar (and the mook Minotaur Marauders) appears to be incorrect, dangerously so. The mistake originates in the Monster Codex but could hit hard.
It's listed as Powerful Charge (1d6+17). It's missing the normal attack modifier, and doesn't follow the regular trend for powerful charge damage. The Universal Monster Rules don't give a clear formula, but Advanced Race Guide does: 1.5x strength modifier + 2x damage dice. All the other monsters with powerful charge in the scenario conform to that rule.
This monster is placed as an enemy in the 3-4 subtier, and could conceivably use Power Attack (it would still be getting a +10 to hit) to deal 1d6+26 damage. That seems over the top.
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Regional Venture-Coordinator, Baltic
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The Powerful Charge damage for Huntmaster Minawar (and the mook Minotaur Marauders) appears to be incorrect, dangerously so. The mistake originates in the Monster Codex but could hit hard.
It's listed as Powerful Charge (1d6+17). It's missing the normal attack modifier, and doesn't follow the regular trend for powerful charge damage. The Universal Monster Rules don't give a clear formula, but Advanced Race Guide does: 1.5x strength modifier + 2x damage dice. All the other monsters with powerful charge in the scenario conform to that rule.
This monster is placed as an enemy in the 3-4 subtier, and could conceivably use Power Attack (it would still be getting a +10 to hit) to deal 1d6+26 damage. That seems over the top.
It should indeed probably be +13 for 2d6+6 as a Regular Minotaur has +11 for 2d6+6, and the Minotaur Marauder has the same strength and +2 BAB.
With power attack it would be +10 for 2d6+15. Impressive, but she's probably more dangerous rapid shooting with her bow and switching to her axe when the enemy engages in hand to hand.
The powerful charge does seem like a nice way to switch from ranged to close combat >:)