The purpose of this thread is to clarify questions arising in this adventure. This is a SPOILER filled zone, do not venture further if you do not wish the adventure to be spoiled for you, and spoiler tags are not required when posting here.
This thread is a GM Reference thread for Part 2 of the Ruins of Azlant Adventure Path. Links for the individual threads for each part are as follows:
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So something I noticed that bothers me: While first book did mention how many starting colonists there are in which sort of roles, there is no master colonist list. Which is bit annoying to detail obsessed people like me who are bothered by that a lot of situations in book 1 & 2 introduce new oneshot colonist who isn't mentioned afterwards .-. Like, umm, if writers are going to do that, why not just include list of every starting colonist in first place? I wanna be consistent and not accidentally add more people than what colony started out with!
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I really didn't want to waste page space for a big list of names and what little information I could include for 50+ people (more as more supply ships arrive). Sorry that I couldn't be a completionist, but I also wanted to leave some of that open for GMs to flesh out on their own.
The people here on these boards are pretty clever and helpful with community projects, so maybe start a new thread about this and everyone here can help populate the colony? Heck, I'd even throw in a few names and professions.
First, I just finished reading this one and have high praise for it.
I am confused about the Nisid alignment of NG. What about , “as a nisid finds murder a small price to pay for solitude”, makes me believe this creature is good?
For the most part the text could be consistent with good as long as intruders are non hostile and trying to leave, but murdering inmcocent travelers because the won’t leave fast enough is not “good”. The usage of the word “murder” specifically, and the rest of the flavor text, makes me think this creature should be more CN or N.
So something I noticed that bothers me: While first book did mention how many starting colonists there are in which sort of roles, there is no master colonist list. Which is bit annoying to detail obsessed people like me who are bothered by that a lot of situations in book 1 & 2 introduce new oneshot colonist who isn't mentioned afterwards .-. Like, umm, if writers are going to do that, why not just include list of every starting colonist in first place? I wanna be consistent and not accidentally add more people than what colony started out with!
If you use the 14 names that Adam includes in Book 1, plus the 10 named colonists, and the handful that come up as part of the adventure:
Milo Cattenbury - Quicksand Rescue
Daib Joiner and Geoff Tamir - Choker Hill
Faedwyr Trundlebrook and Antona Sedgwick - 2 of the dissidents aboard the Peregrine
Medinna Harleau (and her mother, Sigha) - book 2
We're at 39/50.
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So something I noticed that bothers me: While first book did mention how many starting colonists there are in which sort of roles, there is no master colonist list. Which is bit annoying to detail obsessed people like me who are bothered by that a lot of situations in book 1 & 2 introduce new oneshot colonist who isn't mentioned afterwards .-. Like, umm, if writers are going to do that, why not just include list of every starting colonist in first place? I wanna be consistent and not accidentally add more people than what colony started out with!If you use the 14 names that Adam includes in Book 1, plus the 10 named colonists, and the handful that come up as part of the adventure:
Milo Cattenbury - Quicksand Rescue
Daib Joiner and Geoff Tamir - Choker Hill
Faedwyr Trundlebrook and Antona Sedgwick - 2 of the dissidents aboard the Peregrine
Medinna Harleau (and her mother, Sigha) - book 2We're at 39/50.
Already did that, check Flooded Cathedral reference thread
Oh. Wellll that's awesome, and thank you for doing that!
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Bonus points if we can get word from Robert Brookes or Robert Lazzaretti to chime in on this:
The stairs in the observatory map left me scratching my head. The room descriptions don't say what leads to where, the stairwells aren't tagged (I greatly appreciated this feature in Vault of the Onyx Citadel), and the shading doesn't seem to indicate up or down. I'm making the following assumptions:
L3 leads to L7.
L4 northeast <=> L8 southeast.
L4 northwest <=> L9 southwest.
L9 southeast <=> L13 northeast.
... and none of the smaller steps lead to a different level.
Your assumptions are totally correct. Sorry I didn't make that more clear and hope it wasn't too much of a hassle.
So, I’m part 1 of this adventure, Carver has asked the party to follow in the footsteps of Durvin Gest, and gives a total of 5 locations:
Ancient Ulfen Settlement
Waterfall Cave (or, Netstrix and Chuul)
Sunken Lab
Crystal Monument
Ancient Observatory.
It lists the last of these as area K, but that seems to be an unrelated murder-cave. Am I missing something? Is it safe to assume the Observatory is Helekhterie’s tower? If so, what are the bleeding forest, Bonetown, and the Smoking Marsh all about? Are they specifically en route to the Observatory, or just things to use at my leisure?
I'm bumping this only because my party is about to hit Sheskadrann next week, and will likely be heading toward part 2 the same night. They've already handled Joskadalr, the sunken lab, and the Chuuls at the waterfall cave, so they're closing in on the Ancient Observatory.
I'm bumping this only because my party is about to hit Sheskadrann next week, and will likely be heading toward part 2 the same night. They've already handled Joskadalr, the sunken lab, and the Chuuls at the waterfall cave, so they're closing in on the Ancient Observatory.
yep. It looks to me as if the Ancient Observatory Carver talks about on page 7 should be Area L. Nal-Shakar, not Area K. Is that was you concluded, Hedwick? How'd the game session go after the players visited Sheshkadrann? What other areas did they explore?
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I'm bumping this only because my party is about to hit Sheskadrann next week, and will likely be heading toward part 2 the same night. They've already handled Joskadalr, the sunken lab, and the Chuuls at the waterfall cave, so they're closing in on the Ancient Observatory.yep. It looks to me as if the Ancient Observatory Carver talks about on page 7 should be Area L. Nal-Shakar, not Area K. Is that was you concluded, Hedwick? How'd the game session go after the players visited Sheshkadrann? What other areas did they explore?
I came to the same conclusion, Ted - Area L is the one Carver mentioned. Sheshkadrann was great! They enjoyed the Akkiti-Shah Strix, and one of them is planning on learning Syrinx from them. They've talked to the Locathah about reinstating a trade agreement after the old bad blood.
I've decided that I really like the Bleeding Forest, Bonetown, Charnel Island, and the altar area, and want to use them, so I've simply put them on the road to Nal-Shakar.
The PCs handled the Bleeding Forest after Sheshkadrann, and also sorted out some domestic issues - specifically, they're now through the Hunger Strike event. We didn't make as much forward progress as I think we could have because they found the tunnel leading to the Darklands under the burned-out lab, and captured a Duergar while they were there. So of course, a retinue of Duergar came to the surface looking for them at night, tracked them back to Talmandor's Bounty, and negotiated for their guy back.
Tomorrow night they'll head through Bonetown and the altar, and probably head back to town to find Alba's closed up shop. I might start having a couple of events happen at once, since I don't think they'll make it through all 9 unless I double up.
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Ruins of Azlant fans:
As the Order heads into our second marathon of The Azlant Odyssey, I've been busy preparing to advance the colony of Talmandor's Bounty for the players. This colony-building aspect of the AP, while not mandatory to every group's experience, can be an interesting feature that enhances the AP's identity and separates it from many other APs out there. In his introduction to Into the Shattered Continent, Adam Daigle discusses the NPCs in the colony growing and advancing in level as they support and interact with the PCs during the course of their adventures. While each group will choose to interact differently with the colonists, my players have surprised me by embedding themselves deeply in the lives of these colonists, from interpersonal to logistical interactions. Some have even chosen to include an NPC on an endeavor or two in the first adventure, and with the large quantity of side-quests available in PF122, I'm expecting to see some involvement from Lyra and Anya at the very least. We GMs also know Luetin and Harcourt will see action in part three of this adventure; as such, I wanted to leave behind something that saves time and allows GMs to more easily take advantage of the opportunities in this AP.
In our Dropbox, you will find advanced stat blocks for the following NPCs:
-Ramona Avandth: levels 6-7
-Luetin Calewick: levels 5-6
-Harcourt Carrolby: levels 5-6
-Lyra Heatherly: levels 5-7
-Anya Sandstrider: levels 4-6
*Bonus* Oorka the strix: levels 1-6
Not only is there an advanced version of each of the NPCs listed, I've also included for a level-by-level stat block for each, so as GM you can choose how much you'd prefer to advance each of your NPCs. They have all been cleaned as well (i.e., Ramona's missing +1 to an ability score from PF121). I've chosen to keep mine one or two levels below the PCs, while still maintaining a sense of each NPC's growing competence. Adam Daigle also discussed some ideas for leveling the colonists (and keeping them slightly behind the PCs) in the first and second paragraph of the introduction to Into the Shattered Continent. Each stat block uses the base statistics from Jim Groves's PF121, The Lost Outpost, and tries to stay true to their original identity. Oorka's lack of a strix's standard hatred toward humans has also been reflected in her block.
Hope this helps some of your in your run of Into the Shattered Continent and beyond!
If it helps, I just sort of took some creative liberties with the geography. I put Nal-Shakar on a sheer cliff, like a lighthouse, with the Smoking Marsh on the way, and the Bleeding Forest -> sandbar -> Bonetown as the only way to get out to the Marsh.
There's enough cool, atmospheric stuff in those areas that I wanted to play with them. So I just made them happen.
The downside to this for my group was that the PCs felt like going back to town would be an enormous pain once they'd cleared the Bleeding Forest, so I only got to event 5 or 6 on that timeline, which meant they missed out on some other cool stuff.
If I could do it again, I might make up reasons for Ramona or Carver to send them to these places - especially Thanaldhu-as-Carver, because it makes it seem like he's trying to get them all killed, perhaps?
One of the motivations would be exploring the rest of the island to map it and identify / deal with threats to the colony.
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That was the motivation I was actually expecting. I saw the first two adventures as more or less running into each other, acting as the first third of this Adventure Path. This is where exploration of the island is first and foremost, and since the island isn't that big, I was expecting that the PCs would want to survey the entire place before they were certain that the colony was safe.
If the PCs need a nudge to one of these locations, that can come from Ramona or Carver, but also Perrell or Lyra might come to the PCs asking for them to look into something they might have seen while surveying the island as well.
That was the motivation I was actually expecting. I saw the first two adventures as more or less running into each other, acting as the first third of this Adventure Path. This is where exploration of the island is first and foremost, and since the island isn't that big, I was expecting that the PCs would want to survey the entire place before they were certain that the colony was safe.
Yes, and that seems to be working well as motivation for my group. I'm not sure if this reinforced the idea, but I added 1-mile hexes to the Ancorata map, added a fog-of-war layer so that only what they have explored is revealed and then used the UC exploration rules to give exp and other rewards for exploration - scaling everything down to 1/12, of course.
There is a great sense of mystery among the players as to how big the island is and what they will find around each corner - they are also very afraid of going too far or too quickly. Mixing this in with the UC downtime rules and the written events/encounters are providing an awesome playing experience.
So, building on the mystery, handing out the appropriate rewards and imposing a sense of extreme danger all seems to be producing what was intended. If you ever do an online supplement, Adam, the scaled down hex map and mention of scaled Ultimate Campaign exploration rules might help here. And - thanks for a great adventure and unique story. BTW, with nine players total, I am surprised not one of them has made a Lost reference.
BTW, with nine players total, I am surprised not one of them has made a Lost reference.
True! My players wouldn't leave it alone, from "The Spindle" station with its Dharma Initiative phrases about humanity, to the mention of "The Compass" station, even the boar. There were comments like "If there's a polar bear on this island, I swear..." It was the Smoke Guardian from PF122's bestiary that completely sold me on the Lost connection, though. It wasn't listed as a random encounter and so it never saw any action, but I also hadn't made up my mind yet as to how much Lost I wanted in my game, but I have felt that much of the feel of the island in this AP is up to the GM, which has been a real highlight. There are so many colonists with backstories and motivations, that after two adventures now I definitely feel something akin to the format of the show, where we are constantly shifting to another character's subplot at a great pace. The general consensus at our table was that if anything, the AP pulls from the best of Lost and what people enjoyed about the show.
BTW, with nine players total, I am surprised not one of them has made a Lost reference.
Smoke sentinel, that was the name: p. 88 of Into the Shattered Continent.
Smoke sentinel, that was the name: p. 88 of Into the Shattered Continent.BTW, with nine players total, I am surprised not one of them has made a Lost reference.
Adam (and Adam), I'm thinking of adding a polar bear pelt to a future loot stash if I don't get a Lost callout soon. A while back, one of my groups interrogated one of the chokers, asking what dangers were on the island. The frightened choker responded in broken undercommon, "Beware the black smoke..." and....still no reaction from the players.....sigh.
I'm just beginning this adventure path with a new group and one player wants to play a Paladin. I am scared to have a Paladin with Detect Evil at will during this second part of the path.
Faceless Stalkers are 5HD Chaotic evil aberrations. If a Paladin starts to get suspicious early on in the module, what is going to stop him from using Detect Evil to figure out just which colonists are now registering as evil because they are actually Faceless Stalkers?
Anyone have advice on how to work with that Detect Evil ability without it prematurely spoiling the story?
I know it only tell them whether the object/person is radiating an aura of evil, but Carver especially, will be a familiar NPC that they are regularly interacting with that may begin to act weird early off in the story.
I hate to say no to the Paladin and force him to play another class, especially if I have no good reason to say no except that Detect Evil will ruin the plot.
You'd be surprised how little paladins seem to remember they have that ability, in my experience, at least. I'd let him play the paladin, and see how often he uses detect evil in the 1st adventure, then potentially give the stalkers protections against it. If he doesn't use it against Eliza and Rayland, there's nothing to worry about. Of he does, Ochymua would know, and could easily warn Onthooth via telepathic mesh to give the stalkers some way to get around it.
I think the biggest risk is when Thanaldu replaces Carver Hastings - if the PCs notice this key NPC has gone from not-evil to evil, that could trigger events early.
Solid overview, first off. The idea of some colonists faintly detecting as evil is a great cover.
And I'd agree that Thanaldu's discovery is the biggest risk to the plot.
I'm considering trading in some of Thanaldu's valuable gear for a small cache of Undetectable Alignment scrolls that he can use with UMD. His boots of elvenkind would be worth a supply of these scrolls that he could tap into when the PCs return from excursions and he expects to encounter them. This may let him get past the initial hurdle of evil-detecting PCs, but it won't prevent other stalkers from being discovered. PCs who somehow discover his cache of these scrolls might also form some interesting opinions.
Alternatively, Onthooth could be modified to have both the spell and the craft potions feat, thereby creating a very limited supply to aid the initial stalkers. They might purposely put themselves in a position to be "scanned" by the PCs in the day or two after taking an NPC's place in the village. This would at least delay the discovery and suspicion of the first stalkers to infiltrate the town.
These tactics seem especially relevant if stalkers have information that detecting evil is part of the PCs' routine, something they may reasonably learn from one of the early kidnap victims.
I think the biggest risk is when Thanaldu replaces Carver Hastings - if the PCs notice this key NPC has gone from not-evil to evil, that could trigger events early.Solid overview, first off. The idea of some colonists faintly detecting as evil is a great cover.
And I'd agree that Thanaldu's discovery is the biggest risk to the plot.
I'm considering trading in some of Thanaldu's valuable gear for a small cache of Undetectable Alignment scrolls that he can use with UMD. His boots of elvenkind would be worth a supply of these scrolls that he could tap into when the PCs return from excursions and he expects to encounter them. This may let him get past the initial hurdle of evil-detecting PCs, but it won't prevent other stalkers from being discovered. PCs who somehow discover his cache of these scrolls might also form some interesting opinions.
Alternatively, Onthooth could be modified to have both the spell and the craft potions feat, thereby creating a very limited supply to aid the initial stalkers. They might purposely put themselves in a position to be "scanned" by the PCs in the day or two after taking an NPC's place in the village. This would at least delay the discovery and suspicion of the first stalkers to infiltrate the town.
These tactics seem especially relevant if stalkers have information that detecting evil is part of the PCs' routine, something they may reasonably learn from one of the early kidnap victims.
Super helpful comments, thanks!
Maybe it's not the end of the world if the party discovers the Faceless Stalker infiltration earlier than intended. I guess the next challenge would be to delay the discovery of where the kidnapped colonists went till later. If the party skips the hag and Ancorto cleanup, they will be very under-powered if they take off for the next module early.
Any advice? It seems like the spyglass and mirror are essential clues. Once they find the communication point using them, they could realize quickly that some other island is involved with the abduction. How can I delay this realization in a logical way?
Thanks again for great advice!
Thanks Midnight Anarch, good advice.
I think it makes sense for experienced infiltrators like that to have a few Undetectable Alignment potions available. I'm not sure who would be making them, but it is a Bard 1 spell, so maybe there is an evil Bard Faceless Stalker cranking them out. =)
I'm not sure who would be making them, but it is a Bard 1 spell, so maybe there is an evil Bard Faceless Stalker cranking them out. =)
Well, as I suggested it's possible to reconfigure Onthooth to provide some initial supplies of the potions. He is a powerful psychic after all. Swapping one of his spells and feats (for craft potion) would give him the ability to make these. They're not cheap though, even crafted, so I can't imagine the infiltrators would have many to rely upon. But it could be enough to fool PCs for a little while.
The idea of a bard (or even mesmerist!) could work but they'd still have to pick up enough levels to meet the feat requirement (3rd caster level). That puts the idea out of range, I think, at least for them.
Beyond, I think it's mostly of concern that Thanaldu cover his tracks. Having the PCs discover some of the other stalkers while Thanaldu manages to gain their confidence could result in a stunning reveal later on. Makes for a lot of paranoia and suspicion, which is fantastic, really.
Is it just me, but what is a Feeder in the Deep (CR8) doing in encounter E?
The party is likely to be level 4 and while it is possible to meet it on its own, it is far more likely to be part of a larger encounter.
On top of this the party are not yet likely to totally prepared for underwater combat.
Obviously they may have Koloshkora with them, but that is not guaranteed. Without her it looks to be a TPK. With her I can still see several character deaths.
Following on from my previous post.
C2 Buried Laboratory
This is a CR7 encounter. According to The core rule book that makes it epic for a level 4 party. However Blast Shadows appear to be under rated at CR5. Looking at The Beastry
The damage is 38 (OK for a CR8 creature). The rest are at the top CR5.
All of this and the encounter follows a very dangerous haunt.
I normally add material to AP's, customise it etc. I do not normally change the encounters. In this book it looks like I am going to have to double check each encounter!!!!
The Witch Hunt event has 15 participating colonists "of varying age and occupation", all commoner 1/warrior 1. This seems extremely odd given most other colonist encounters have them use farmer stats (commoner 1/expert 1)
I just have a hard time believing there are that many warriors among the colonists, let alone that many that aren't faceless stalkers and are roused to form a mob that somehow doesn't include any experts.
I'll definitely be modifying this encounter to include 'farmers' when the group gets around to it.
The Witch Hunt event has 15 participating colonists "of varying age and occupation", all commoner 1/warrior 1. This seems extremely odd given most other colonist encounters have them use farmer stats (commoner 1/expert 1)
I think it stands to reason there would be a good mix of the commoner 1/warrior 1 NPC class variant (see the Villagers section of the GMG) as there is a substantial number of commoners who have served as volunteers for the Andoran military after the People's Revolt and establishment of the Common Rule (see Andoran: Spirit of Liberty page 7).
In Witch Hunt, I guess, the distinction would only really matter if the PCs actions resulted in combat against the villagers - which should be unlikely, unless the PCs fubar the encounter. What might be more important is your other point about the likelihood that, in addition to Irvin, more of the 15 farmers are actually faceless stalkers. Good point, PonyFlare.
Was part 6 of this AP originally going to be called Out of Time's Abyss? That seems to be the inclination on the little blarb about the Compass on pg 68.
Does anyone have any good ideas if Itzcehlmna escaped death in encounter K3 what type of suggestions via the spell he might throw on party members later in the colony.
Echoes of earthfall area C1 impact crater
It's not clear for me how long it takes for the PC to climb down the cliff.
The haunt does 6d6 exploding damage per rounds. As the PC are level 4, they can't deal with repeating fireball for long!
Thanks
An answer to this would be great. It says 6d6 fire damage each round, but doesn't say how long it lasts. Does it last for a full 24 hours? With the Reset period as 1 day, if so then it never stops doing that damage as long as they're in the area, no? And why's it have 12hp? Do they have to attack the 'shadows'?
An answer to this would be great. It says 6d6 fire damage each round, but doesn't say how long it lasts. Does it last for a full 24 hours? With the Reset period as 1 day, if so then it never stops doing that damage as long as they're in the area, no? And why's it have 12hp? Do they have to attack the 'shadows'?Echoes of earthfall area C1 impact crater
It's not clear for me how long it takes for the PC to climb down the cliff.
The haunt does 6d6 exploding damage per rounds. As the PC are level 4, they can't deal with repeating fireball for long!
Thanks
Nevermind me. I hadn't read about Haunts before. Presumably it lasts until the haunt is destroyed and I didn't realize it had hit points.