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I did not give saves for the emotion oozes' emotional scarring. None is listed in the ability description, it only says that the damage it inflicts is "mental damage like that from mind thrust I."
Thus if someone had a spell or ability that reduced mental damage from mind thrust I and similar effects, it would be applicable. However, it is not actually the spell, so no save.
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Page 5 provides the table for different skill and saving throw DCs across the tiers. Is it really intended that skills and saves use the same DCs?
I believe the DCs are correct. There aren't that many saves required by the scenario itself, and most of those are used to halve damage or avoid a minor penalty. The only one that might be really dangerous is the Average Reflex save on A7 due to the possibility of Constitution drain.
That reminds me of one possible permadeath combo in low tier Raising the Dead. Constitution poisons combined with mummy rot have a small chance of dusting an unlucky player character beyond the reach of raise dead. It's unlikely someone runs to hug a mummy at Con 6 or lower, though.
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One thing i will say about this scenario compared to Tome of Righteous Repose, is that the reward is rather lackluster compared to the challenge.
I'm running this Thursday and rolled-
Major Threat being a pair Myceloids in low tier and a pair of Chaos Beasts in high tier; with some goblins being the minor threat.
With fittingly, a Scythe Wall or Frost Fangs Trap as the environmental obstacle
With all the "loot" they could potentially get, only a third of them are on the chronicle sheet. Seriously-
Elixir of Firebreath, Circlet of Persuasion, Ring of Protection +1/+2, Cloak of Resistance +1/+2, and a Deck of Illusions.
Sure there are several potions and scrolls, but a fully charged Wand of Summon Monster I would be nice to have on the chronicle sheet.
This should be an interesting run though, as one player wants to play up- and I nearly lost my Monk to an Advanced Chaos Beast in <a previous scenario>- as the only frontliner, and a handful of failed fort saves.
Contributor
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Wands of 1st level are always available, so there is no reason to put the wand of summon monster I on the chronicle, as it is not partially charged or at a higher caster level to make it unique.
Always Available Items
You may always purchase the following items or
equipment as long as you’re in an appropriately sized
settlement (see page 20).
• All basic armor, gear, items, and weapons from Chapter
6 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, including items
for Small and Large characters. This does not include
equipment made from dragonhide, but it does include
equipment made from the other special materials,
such as alchemical silver and cold iron (see the Special
Materials section on page 154 of the Core Rulebook). All
mundane weapons, armor, equipment, and alchemical
gear found in any other source that is legal for play
are considered always available, including masterwork
quality versions where a cost is defined.
• +1 weapons (2,000 gp + 300 gp for the masterwork
weapon cost + item cost)
• +1 armor (1,000 gp + 150 gp for the masterwork armor
cost + item cost)
• +1 shields (1,000 gp + 150 gp for the masterwork armor cost +
item cost)
• Potions and oils of 0- or 1st-level spells at caster level 1st (50
gp or less)
Scrolls of 0- or 1st-level spells at caster level 1st (50 gp or less)
• Wayfinder (at a 50% discount for 250 gp; see sidebar)
• All items purchased with Prestige Points.
I'd rather be buying my apparently-mandatory CLW wands with gold than prestige, so I hope there's something I've missed. ^_^
Venture-Captain, Netherlands
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Page 5 provides the table for different skill and saving throw DCs across the tiers. Is it really intended that skills and saves use the same DCs?I believe the DCs are correct. There aren't that many saves required by the scenario itself, and most of those are used to halve damage or avoid a minor penalty. The only one that might be really dangerous is the Average Reflex save on A7 due to the possibility of Constitution drain.
That reminds me of one possible permadeath combo in low tier Raising the Dead. Constitution poisons combined with mummy rot have a small chance of dusting an unlucky player character beyond the reach of raise dead. It's unlikely someone runs to hug a mummy at Con 6 or lower, though.
You would think that... but one player died in my run as he got poisoned by the wyvern poison in the trap and said he'd be able to deal with it and they should continue on (he had just quaffed a potion if invis).
Six failed fort saves later he was dead.|
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well, I was sorely disappointed- The party played up, and after having some fun with the Goblin Firestarter and Kobolds, the players went for the last challenge in the dungeon... I thought Chaos Beasts were Large creatures... reading the stat blocks for identification, i realized they were medium creatures. :( I replaced the Roper and Viper Vine mini's i had placed with the mini's i was going to use for the Myceloids- and the table breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The players used the Wand of Summon Monster to check for traps; which didn't stop the Frost Fangs Trap from hitting everyone in the hallway.
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Running this again Saturday for my second table, with the scenario-
If they were playing down, they'd be in a shock with how much loot they aren't getting. All they'd be getting with the low tier reward- is a Lesser Extend MetaMagic Rod. That's it.
unless i'm reading it wrong...
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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For treasure found with the Linked Threats I am assuming it is ok for the NPCs use the treasure found with them. Am I correct?
Yes!
If they were playing down, they'd be in a shock with how much loot they aren't getting. All they'd be getting with the low tier reward- is a Lesser Extend MetaMagic Rod. That's it.
unless i'm reading it wrong...
You are not wrong. Some of the loot paths are very thin. Wave the pre-crossed out chronicle at them in advance, and let them know. Explain that items 1000K or less were left off the chronicle sheet.
Hmm
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Running this again Saturday for my second table, with the scenario-
** spoiler omitted **
If they were playing down, they'd be in a shock with how much loot they aren't getting.
Too late, but.... I would NOT suggest anyone use the lead golem against a party that is playing up! It is by far the most dangerous opponent on the list, and unless you have a couple of very well prepared damage dealers you will wipe the floor with them.
Also - no matter what you run, at least 80% of the Chronicle is blanked out. There are 9 possible threads, and so 8 of those 9 aren't available. As HMM says, some creatures have less "loot" than others due to their make-up.
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Too late, but.... I would NOT suggest anyone use the lead golem against a party that is playing up! It is by far the most dangerous opponent on the list, and unless you have a couple of very well prepared damage dealers you will wipe the floor with them.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll give them the option of Hard Mode against the Golem vs an easier option. The party comp so far is an Arcanist, Shaman, Bard or Trip-Warpriest, and a pair of Grippli's tagteaming with sneak attack, and i think an out of tier kineticist... at first, i thought the Golem was immune to sneak attack damage, but just immune to magic shuts down half the party.
Also, how is the LEad Golem more difficult than Cr 10 and a Cr 8 in one fight? Nyogoth Qlippoth and Advanced Shoggti Qlippoth both have DR10/Lawful. We'll see how this one plays out.
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Well- The Lead Golem wasn't as big as a threat as i originally thought it would; namely with the Shaman slapping a Flame Curse on it (and the following characters tosses Alchemist Fires at the Golem) and the two Grippli's both had Adamantine weapons. We also had a seventh player, playing the Warpriest pregen. [I told them afterwards, that they could have lured the Lead Golem onto the weakened bring and just drop him into the river.]
The Nyogoth fight went interesting, as it had the encounter in the smaller room of B8, and as per it's tactics filled the room with Acid Fog, then dimension door'd out of the room- just outside the room to B7 to bottle neck the party and whittle them down. it didn't count on the grippli's climb to get around the Nyogoth.
the Warpriest ended the Nyogoth with a well-deserved Crit.
The Shoggti was in the other room, watching... The casters of the group tried to sneak around while the melee went back through the once-fogged engulfed room- a "sneak attack" fireball from the arcanist only dealt 5 damage.
The fight didn't last as long as the Nyogoth- especially when the kineticist crit'ed with his blast.
I did, as a bit of roleplay, as Horus, inquire how much it would be to acquire the grippli's corpses. :)
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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I have thrown down a challenge to S.W.A.T., a cop-themed Minnesota group to have them come in for an investigative case in Kaer Maga.
Muahahaha. S.W.A.T.: Kaer Maga edition is tomorrow. This will be excellent.
Hmm
Venture-Captain, North Carolina—Central Region
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I have thrown down a challenge to S.W.A.T., a cop-themed Minnesota group to have them come in for an investigative case in Kaer Maga.Muahahaha. S.W.A.T.: Kaer Maga edition is tomorrow. This will be excellent.
Hmm
This needs to be on Twitch\Youtube.
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I am working on Sparklegrim Drow Raiders scenario.
I am prepping both a 3-4 and 6-7 run as I am not sure what tier I will be in. I'll Post the 3-4 ideas I have so far.
In tier 3-4 I am running: a Caulborn for major threat and Goblin Sneaks for minor with Falling block trap for environmental.
I plan to place the goblins in C1 to catch some of the party going for the halflight charms and because of the alcoves there to hide in stealth.
The Falling Block Trap in the 4 squares leading from C2 to C3 (would this be considered dirty pool to put the trap right next to an area that with a knowledge check indicates the wall is safe?:)
Then the Drow in C5 with the hopes of catching some of the party in the hazard.
I am not sure where to place the Caulborn and Grothluts.
If I don't place the Grothluts before the Drow to give the party access to their treasure the Drow would be very difficult but it also might make it too easy with it.
And for the Caulborn the tactics read as it is to really debuff the party and its morale under tactics make it a little anticlimactic if placed after the drow.
With trying to keep the Drow as the Final encounter I feel I am cramming all the encounters in the first few rooms. What might be a better placement for the Drow if not in C5, C6 or C7? I'm not sure.
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Despite being a big map, there really are only a few places you can put things. It makes sense to try and keep the drow last, which pretty much means C7 or even C8, especially if you have something obvious to draw the party into C5 which is a big, multi-level cavern with interesting possibilities.
Remember, the linked threat doesn't need to be linked physically to the man threat... you could also have them start near the back but be sent forward to investigate noise of combat. Maybe the linked threat moves from C7 into C5 when it hears the party, and the main threat stays back?
This map is the hardest one for me to plan for, since it really is 5 encounters in 8 numbered areas. I think having mobile foes that react to the situation (though not ganging up on PCs beyond the rules in the scenario!) will make it feel the most "real".
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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I have never had the story encounter as the last encounter with this game yet. If you do a good job linking the additional ‘treats’ into your story, you can still have a satisfying story experience. Honestly, the drow should go in C5. It is the only big space.
The small rooms do have their challenges though. I put two trolls in one of the small back rooms and found that the party could not get around them in that space. I really upped the difficulty of that battle without intending to do so!
Hmm
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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So, I had a fantastic co-conspirator in the form of Damien_DM. Now that S.W.A.T is over, I am going to share two of Damien’s suggestions for dungeons:
Zareen, the fallen paladin, is hunting people to sacrifice. You could develop her backstory a bit so she can tell tales of how she was betrayed by her fellow crusaders and left in the clutches of demonic cultists.
I'd have her in C6, preparing an area with the crystal spikes for the sacrificial rite. I'd put the prisoners in C7; they have the option to escape deeper underground, but with no light source, Zareen knows they are unlikely to take that chance, or get far if they try. I'd put a trap (fireball or ice blast) in C8; the prisoners are aware of it, and know better than to flee that way.
For the independent major threat I'd use lead golem. If they do well on rumors, you could mention that there was a recent incident in Bis where one of the Ardoc experimental foundries had some of its constructs go rogue and run amok; they are keeping it hushed up, so any further information from them is not forthcoming. I figure they were experimenting with Jistkan crafting techniques, and an elemental spirit broke free of its bonds and caused the constructs to independent.
For the independent minor threat I'd use the dark stalkers. They recently came up from the Darklands and infiltrated the prisoners, and now pose as prisoners with the others, hoping for an opportunity to strike.
You might also have one of the prisoners encountered early on after having just recently escaped. He could provide a bit of information about the layout, and complicate the players' exploration since they now have an NPC noncombatant in tow to protect. If you play up the vaults' danger, they should feel reluctant to leave the escapee alone, unprotected.
For placement of the linked threat (demons), you might put them in C5. Then after dealing with Zareen and freeing the prisoners, as the PCs return to C5, have the lead golem arrive for a final battle.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Although I wanted to use a different story arc for S.W.A.T., I wound up using much of this dungeon for Dreamers. Since the Dreamers crowd is far less optimized than S.W.A.T., I changed out the Lead Golem for the pair of trolls stuffed into one of the small rooms in the back.
Overall, this storyline went great. I did give the group an escaped slave early on to feed them intel and tell them how many other prisoners were originally with her. The Dreamers crowd wound up fighting the babau demons in C5, and the party made sure that the new guy playing a Cavalier pregen was able to bring his horse into the vault with scrolls of Carry Companion spell, and he had great fun wheeling around the terrain in C5. The trap of the terrain here provided a lot of challenge and made the battle against the demons very memorable.
I put the trolls in C8, and it was so cramped the party had trouble positioning. I wam not sure I would do that placement again... It upped the challenge in a frustrating rather than entertaining way.
The prisoners (with the dark folk mixed in) were in C7, and that was great. Because the moment that I told the party there were eight slaves here, they said, “Wait a minute... How many did we get told to expect?” So the paladin detected evil, and the darkfolk made things dark and the battle was on. The fact that the dark stalkers explode when killed caused the party challenges as they realized that the civilians were in danger. They had to take out the dark stalkers non-lethally to keep the hostages alive!
In C6, I had a very short villain monologue and then the party just killed her. I had 3 paladins in the group, and they all got their smite on! So that battle was fast and fun. The Dreamers crowd really enjoyed this story arc, and I want to publicly thank Damien for suggesting some of the lovely touches that he did.
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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But wait... Y’all wanted to hear about S.W.A.T.
I told Damien that I wanted to do Recovering Implements for S.W.A.T. The tale of two thieves in over their heads really appealed to me, and besides... This would allow S.W.A.T. to do an investigation in the morally ambiguous Ankar-Te district. When I envision Kaer Maga, I think of it as being something like New York. It is a city where each of the boroughs has a very distinct personality, and where anything can happen. Ankar-Te is a hilarious enclave, with all of its undead, and the constant smells of flowers and incense. I wanted S.W.A.T. to have to investigate there, and to have the challenge of being professionals. It was the most intriguing of the 9-09 settings for me.
So Damien wrote back.
I thought about the implements storyline as well when considering recommendations. I ended up going for the Evil Seeks Sacrifices one because I liked the complicating factor of the captives.
For Recovering Implements, I think the key is fleshing out the four NPCs. You might offer them additional tidbits of information about them when they gather information.
Daven - CN human fighter #1. Extremely nervous, especially with Horus after them, not helped by a fear of the dark, and even more so of the undead. He's more likely to hang back and use his bow while Lodif goes into melee. Has a wife and two children in Magnimar that he is estranged from after she had enough of his troubles with the law. He is hoping to score enough money to return there and try to win her back. Devoted to his twin brother Lodif.
Lodif - CN human fighter #2. Tends to be impulsive, and is the one who had the bright idea of performing the break-ins. He's also an occasional drug user, and since the break-in has been hopped up on Allnight (see the PF wiki), which makes him even more irritable than normal. Responsible for leading Daven astray for much of his life. He ultimately has no loyalty, though, except to himself.
Drixel - CN human rogue. A freelance thief who spied Daven and Lodif's heist, and has trailed them to the vault, looking to steal the implements for himself. He looks like a middle-aged shopkeeper or scholar, posing as a stuffy amateur antiquarian waiting for two acquaintances to show up to keep their end of the deal (i.e., acting as the buyer for the stuff the twins stole). He acts shocked if he hears the items were stolen, and claims he was led to believe the items were retrieved from this area, and he was to be on hand to take them into possession right away. Make him a bit annoying, and players might be distracted from thinking he means them harm. He will of course seize a good opportunity to backstab the PCs and claim the goods for himself, perhaps when PCs are battling the brothers.
Abrelin - LE dwarf ranger. A classic Kaer Magan opportunist. Drixel hired him as a bodyguard, and he's now waiting for Drixel to steal them from the brothers so he can in turn murder Drixel and claim them for himself. He carries a locket with a portrait of Queen Ileosa Arabasti, with whom he was enamored prior to her death at the end of the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP.
I'd put Drixel and Abrelin in area 5 (with all the crystals) to give Abrelin opportunities to bull rush PCs into crystals or off the ledge into the water. If combat erupts, Drixel might flee by jumping into the stream and climbing out further down, then stalk the PCs looking for a chance for payback.
I'd put the brothers in area B8, by the entrance to B7. They know of the high chance of collapse in B7, and might try screaming loudly or bashing the rocks or something to trigger a cave-in.
At the other entrance to B8 (leading to B3) I'd put a trap, maybe the camouflaged pit. If that gets triggered it will alert them, and if the PCs find and disable it and the brothers hear them, the time it takes to disarm the pit will give them time to buff.
There's not a lot of room for Large creatures in Shining Deep, especially with the crumbling ledges in B3. For the independent major threat, if you have 5+ PCs you might use the intellect devourer and have it try to confuse the party and get them to fight each other. For 4 PCs, I might go with the deathtrap ooze and put it right in B1 as a nasty surprise right out of the gate. Maybe do falling block for that one.
For independent minor, you might use the black pudding and put it in the pool at B6. Be sure to put some treasure visible at the bottom of the pool to lure them in before it slithers out of one of the cracks to feast on them. Alternately, one of the people robbed in Ankar-Te might have sent the zuvembies after the thieves, and the PCs could run into them in B1 on their way out.
^ Isn’t that lovely? I wanted to take a moment to share Damien’s brilliance here.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
So, I also put some thought into this. I knew that S.W.A.T. was a group of experienced players, and that it was unlikely that any monster that made contact with them would last past one round. So most of my effort was in fleshing out Kaer Maga and the investigative sequence. Given that they were a planned group rather than a PFS random one, I thought it likely that they would ace the gather information checks so I made sure to handcraft some interesting rumors.
I also decided that I would totally play up the idea of vault instability that is part of Shining Deep, and make it a centerpiece of the story. After all, Daven and Lodif are using a thassilonian artifact that they do not understand to burrow into high class residences. In the process, they are burrowing through vaults and under significant parts of the city. So when the party arrives in Meatgate outside the Warren, the first thing that they would see is a giant sinkhole in the street, with part of a building having fallen in. It would give them a chance to get a few rumors in before they even had their mission briefing, and make it clear how important it is to catch these stupid thieves.
Although I liked the idea of the aquatic black pudding encounter that Damien suggested, I really enjoyed the idea of the lead golem that had escaped from Ardoc. Given that there are very few stable places in the Shining Deep dungeon, I placed the lead golem in B4.
I also realized that there was no way any party would want to miss investigating one of the houses in Ankar Te where the property damage was occuring. I knew that S.W.A.T. would have to look into that. So I created Horus Ilyakta’s Mother-in-Law, Gladys.
From Horus: “Someone has burrowed into a number of the finer houses in this district, including that of my Mother-in-Law. Now I love my Mother-in-Law. I even give her a discount on the protection money she pays me each month. But... She’s always a pain in the ass, and more so now. I need you guys to find these vandals so I can get her off my back!”
From Gladys: [Poking the chest of a S.W.A.T. Member] “Did my no-good son-in-law send you? I pay him protection money every month, and for what? My wine cellar is broken into, my silver and gold is stolen, and my babies are taken from me!”
The “babies” are of course her Zuvembies, the “papaya-dairy” (propietary) undead that she’s working on, and reluctant to discuss the details of because they are a trade secret. She sent them after the criminals, and then there was a cave-in and she lost contact with her sweet little “singing” undead.
I really liked the idea of bringing the Zuvembies in because their corpse call is a sonic attack, which would set off the rock falls. I put them in C7, the most unstable area. I figured that the only damage that I would do to S.W.A.T. all session was from rock falls, so I might as well encourage rock falls.
I did take Damien’s suggestion of a trap between B3 and B8. I threw the Blade Barrier Trap there, figuring that it would offer challenge to whatever trap specialist S.W.A.T. had on the team. I would not throw that trap at most groups... But I knew that S.W.A.T. would be a well-balanced party that could handle most of the higher-level challenges.
Hmm
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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So on Saturday, I finally got to GM for S.W.A.T. It was hilarious. We played at AJ Torgerud’s lovely home, where they were all set up for me. They had mirrored shades. Jack had on a S.W.A.T. cap, and at least two of them were wearing fake mustaches. Ray (who plays Dick Shaft) was wearing a fake mustache over his real one! They also had an easel set up with the words, “Poor, poor Hilary” where they could keep score on how often they broke the GM.
I also rather liked their custom set of Lego minis for this, each one uniquely set up for his or her team member.
Here are some Photos of the group, the minis, and the infamous “Poor, poor Hilary” easel.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Rico Rodriguez — The investigator rookie from Internal Affairs. The team’s trap spotter.
Dick Shaft — The S.W.A.T. Paladin with full plate and a heavy shield. Normally walks in front, ready to shield the others from trouble.
Ri’chard Beckett — The high-heels wearing Arcanist who thinks and provides essential spellwork.
Detective Dixon Hill — Their grenadier and bomb squad expert.
Officer Willard Briscoe — The old man of the group. An Arodenite who’s come forward in time, and feels he’s too old for most of this crap! Loves at least one modern innovation — guns!
Dicky Serpico — The team’s priest of Sarenrae, and group medic.
Officer Rikki Gunderson and Officer Crunch — K-9 patrol!
They all had at least one level of Gunslinger and the feat, Target of Opportunity. Whenever one of them shot something, half the team joined in!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
The first section, the investigation, went great! When they found the sinkhole in the Warrens, they yelled, “Grease up the rookie!” and dived right in to investigate. They had fun questioning hysterical witnesses and calming matters. I really respected that they took time and care with their cop roles, and I think that they appreciated that what I had prepped for them was pure cop show genre.
My intention when they hired the guides was to give them the pick pocket, just to fall fully within genre conventions, but I admit that I got so entertained by their antics that I forgot to have her do her pickpocketing later! Things that I liked that they did: they made a point of checking in early with what they considered to be law enforcement. They paid personal visits early not only to the Dusk Wardens, but also to the Ardoc Brotherhood because the brotherhood polices the Warrens and Bis with their golems. Because of this, I was able to integrate the rumor gathering section throughout all the early investigation sequence.
They saved group introductions for when they met up with Horus, and that was hilarious. The introductions went a long time, but it was clear that these guys all really loved their characters and they wanted to share that joy. At some point, AJ’s wife came in and said, “It’s been TWO hours since you started, and you’re still doing intros?”
After intros were done, they all yelled, and brought out donuts and coffee. Hilarious!
They loved Gladys, and Dicky Serpico had fun negotiating with her. The whole group mourned the loss of her wine cellar.
It was okay that the investigation and the intros took a while, because man... S.W.A.T. went through my dungeon like tissue paper! When the group has adamantine construct-bane and human-bane ammo, nothing lasts long. The only damage that they got was from rock slides, half of which they brought on themselves with bombs that shook the Shining Deep dungeon. They detected the Blade Barrier Trap, saw through the deception of Drixel and brought everything down quickly. No combat lasted more than a round. However, they carefully kept all the perps alive, manacled them, and took them home in the “Paddy Wagon” they had brought to Kaer Maga.
I am going to get to do Tome of the Righteous Repose for this group later, and am trying to consider if there is anything remotely cop-like that I can do with the story of that scenario.
Great fun was had by all, especially this GM.
Hmm
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I should update that to 'only playing Pathfinder in controlled groups'.
This makes me less sad, as long as I can be among the controlled group. :-)
Also, I hope to run for S.W.A.T. someday.
I've GMed for individuals who have S.W.A.T. PCs, but not the team.
Then again, I can't wrap my mind around it — I think I'm pre-broken.
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On the falling block trap it says it: Effect Atk +15 melee (6d6); multiple targets (all in a 10-ft. square).
My question: does the 10-ft square mean literaly a 10-ft x 10-ft square or can I have be the same area but in 5-ft x 20-ft. It is the same area and would still effect the same amount of characters?
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I am working on Sparklegrim Drow Raiders scenario.
I am prepping both a 3-4 and 6-7 run as I am not sure what tier I will be in. I'll Post the 3-4 ideas I have so far.In tier 3-4 I am running: a Caulborn for major threat and Goblin Sneaks for minor with Falling block trap for environmental.
I plan to place the goblins in C1 to catch some of the party going for the halflight charms and because of the alcoves there to hide in stealth.
The Falling Block Trap in the 4 squares leading from C2 to C3 (would this be considered dirty pool to put the trap right next to an area that with a knowledge check indicates the wall is safe?:)
Then the Drow in C5 with the hopes of catching some of the party in the hazard.
I am not sure where to place the Caulborn and Grothluts.If I don't place the Grothluts before the Drow to give the party access to their treasure the Drow would be very difficult but it also might make it too easy with it.
And for the Caulborn the tactics read as it is to really debuff the party and its morale under tactics make it a little anticlimactic if placed after the drow.
With trying to keep the Drow as the Final encounter I feel I am cramming all the encounters in the first few rooms. What might be a better placement for the Drow if not in C5, C6 or C7? I'm not sure.
I am doing my final prep and looking a C5 the majority of the area is effected by the negitive energy and the gravational shift, so much so the northeast half is almost total under these effects.
These squares also pull creatures toward them. If a PC steps into one of the squares adjacent to the squares that deal negative energy damage, she is subject to a gravitational shift. This acts as a drag combat maneuver with a +10 CMB (+15 in Subtier 6–7). A successful maneuver moves the target 5 feet into one of the squares suffused with negative energy and holds the target in that square. As a standard action, a character can attempt to break free of this pull with a successful Hard combat maneuver check or Average Escape Artist check. Alternatively, a PC can pull one of her allies free of the hazard with a successful DC 16 Strength check (DC 18 in Subtier 6–7). Note that attempting to free an ally may expose the assisting PC to the hazard.
So if any squares adjacent to the where cliff passes thru pull there is only a small area to the left were creatues acan progress without potentially being pulled toward the cliff correct?
Contributor
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I am doing my final prep and looking a C5 the majority of the area is effected by the negitive energy and the gravational shift, so much so the northeast half is almost total under these effects.
** spoiler omitted **...
Adjudicating the C5 hazard can be rough, depending on what else is in there. The only time I saw the Drow raiders used, the GM put them in C6 (and then had the raiders block off the southern entrance into C6 forcing the PCs to circle through C7 in order to get to them). C6 seemed to be big enough to accommodate a full party of 6 PCs and Drow at the high tier.
As far as the hazard - I ran Sparklegrim with the Kobolds last weekend. I brought a straightedge (effectively a piece of string) to lay on the actual "line" to help the players see it once they figured out where the hazard was emanating from (even if they didn't yet know why it was there). I found that helped me as well - the art on the flip mat showing the "angle" of the rift makes it harder to judge exactly which squares are adjacent to the wall and which are not.
Hope some of that helps, and good luck with your prep!
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Looks like my party will be Rogue 3, Cleric 5, Ranger 6, Slayer 6.
Hight tier, 4 player adjustment. I'm looking at the kobolds (traps will be nice for the rogue/slayer combo). And koblolds are the best.
To make it easier on them, I'll avoid the oozes, and have the minor enviromental threat be another trap.
So late - but this should have been play down without adjustment, not play up with.