I think I crushed one of my player's hopes and dreams by killing off Kalbio. And either my players are really good at acting, didn't read the text blurb online for the this chapter, or just really didn't see it coming - they were all caught totally off guard with Stavian III's Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal at the end of part 1.
So, any thoughts on letting the players attempt to raise Kalbio from the dead? The player in question is pretty intent on trying to find his body and trying to determine if they can afford the spellcasting services.
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I think I crushed one of my player's hopes and dreams by killing off Kalbio. And either my players are really good at acting, didn't read the text blurb online for the this chapter, or just really didn't see it coming - they were all caught totally off guard with Stavian III's Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal at the end of part 1.
So, any thoughts on letting the players attempt to raise Kalbio from the dead? The player in question is pretty intent on trying to find his body and trying to determine if they can afford the spellcasting services.
By time they can afford raise dead, enough time has probably passed that they can't do it anymore, so they would have to wait until spells that don't require fresh body parts I think
I think I crushed one of my player's hopes and dreams by killing off Kalbio. And either my players are really good at acting, didn't read the text blurb online for the this chapter, or just really didn't see it coming - they were all caught totally off guard with Stavian III's Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal at the end of part 1.
So, any thoughts on letting the players attempt to raise Kalbio from the dead? The player in question is pretty intent on trying to find his body and trying to determine if they can afford the spellcasting services.
Run the Lion's Justice for them as a one-shot with some other characters.
By time they can afford raise dead, enough time has probably passed that they can't do it anymore, so they would have to wait until spells that don't require fresh body parts I think
5000 GP (they get that much in loot in the underlevels of the senate easily), with a minimum caster level of 9 so they've got 9 days to round up the funds and find a caster. Well within the realm of possibility for a party that, as a whole, wishes to do it.
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By time they can afford raise dead, enough time has probably passed that they can't do it anymore, so they would have to wait until spells that don't require fresh body parts I think5000 GP (they get that much in loot in the underlevels of the senate easily), with a minimum caster level of 9 so they've got 9 days to round up the funds and find a caster. Well within the realm of possibility for a party that, as a whole, wishes to do it.
You are assuming they find the body in one piece in 9 days when they have more important things to do as well.
Actually, I wonder if canonically Kalbio does wind up raised. I wasn't joking about running The Lion's Justice; your characters are asked what to do about Kalbio at the end of that scenario.
I guess we'll have to see if he turns up again in the AP, filled with gratitude for the Pathfinder agents that had him raised.
Actually, I wonder if canonically Kalbio does wind up raised. I wasn't joking about running The Lion's Justice; your characters are asked what to do about Kalbio at the end of that scenario.
I guess we'll have to see if he turns up again in the AP, filled with gratitude for the Pathfinder agents that had him raised.
Ehhh, not entirely sure if my passing observations qualify as spoilers for The Lion's Justice, so I'll err on the side of caution.
I somehow doubt that he'll show up again in the AP given his overall lack of relevance and the fact that his fate is a variable from a non-AP book, though granted I could see it being an optional side box bonus event thing for the conclusion of the campaign. I think in my campaign if he's alive by the end of things Eutropia might give him a redo on the exaltation event as a nice little way to conclude the adventure.
However AP aside the boon you get for reviving him in The Lion's Justice definitely seems to suggest it's something you can use later in Society, at the very least for fluff purposes.
Also, I can't help but notice that there's no canonical location for Breezy Creek (at least none that I could find)...
Also, I can't help but notice that there's no canonical location for Breezy Creek (at least none that I could find)...
Thursty told me 'unrevealed' but Mark said, 'maybe Kazuhn?' so IMC I went with Kazuhn... :P
In the event timeline for the Exaltation Gala, Event 2, there's this line: "Review each of the areas of the senate, including those not currently accessible to the PCs."
Maybe I missed it, but where (if anywhere) is it specified which areas are or are not generally accessible?
I do see that in the event timeline, a few areas (such as emperor's hall) become inaccessible at certain points. However, none of the area-entries specifically mention being inaccessible in general.
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Just the individual offices of the Senators are out of bounds and conveniently not described :)
Martella's safe house: I may be missing something but is there any explanation of the secret door between E2 and E3? It's on the map and E1 explains that that secret door has been left open but there's no mention of the other one in the description for either E2 or E3. Is it secret from both sides or just the sewer side?
The description of E3 mentions it's a useful way for the players to retreat and return to the safehouse if they need to so it seems like it shouldn't be hidden from players too thoroughly.
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Assuming that PCs are forced to leave weapons, armor and the like outside of the Gala, is there an explanation as to how they would get them back for Part 2?
The Senate actually has fairly lenient rules when it comes to what's allowed inside. See the section called Senate Rules (pages 9-10).
Here's the short list of what players are allowed:
Armor: Breastplates, ceremonial armor, and light armor
Magic: Potions, scrolls, spell component pouches, and wands
Weapons: Light and one-handed
Animals: Familiars and service animals
Aside from the odd two-handed weapon, ranged weapon, or large animal companion, players at this level shouldn't have much of a problem with these restrictions. All of the above is more than enough to effectively arm your average level 1-2 PC. And frankly someone who needs a battleaxe to function might not be in the right AP.
If someone in the party really would be handicapped without something from their usual arsenal in Part 2 however, you have multiple potential ways to solve that for them.
Option 1 is to take advantage of "Event 1: Standing in Line" (page 19) to have Kathann find a way to either help them conceal their item or otherwise sneak it in for them. This works better for smaller things that could be concealed (i.e. not a battleaxe). Poisons and Alchemist bombs are specifically called out as candidates for this solution. I'd say use this for any class-linked gear that the player cannot easily replenish through material goods.
Option 2 is to use "C4. Museum of Conquests" (page 33), Factor 12 (page 37), and/or Mimips (page 38-39) to supply your players with whatever they need. The Museum of Conquests in fact explicitly mentions this as being a place where players can re-equip themselves. Though if you're worried that players won't be properly equipped to deal with the things they encounter before reaching this room, you can use Option 3...
Option 3 is to simply have equivalent items be conveniently stored in Senator Voritas' saferooms. It's a bit of a pull yes, but you can easily handwave it as "the senator kept a large stock of various arms here just in case; among them you can find pretty much whatever item you might need".
For options 2 and 3 if your players are the sort to try and loot everything, you can always restrict what's available (the rest is all rusted and useless, or not there at all) or casually remind them that they're not going to be able to walk around with literal crates full of weapons and armour.
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Am I missing a first name for the Grand Prince? His children are Eutropia Stavian and Carrius Stavian, sure; And if a PC takes the Noble Scion feat their surname can be Stavian as well. But the Grand Prince is just referred to as Stavian III.
Is this a Taldan royal naming convention I don't understand? None of the backmatter GPs of days gone by have surnames (Taldaris, Beldam), so how does the family name pass down? Or is the GP's name Stavian Stavian III?
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So I started Crownfall Thursday night for 5 players. Based on some of the feedback in this thread, I added 7 extra Senators with the intention of playing by ear how many social rounds to add. I think it was a mistake. My players are already overwhelmed by the new social influence rules, and they’re failing checks all over the place. They’ve just taken out Malphene Trant, and they’ve fully influenced 3 NPCs and 2 areas. I do think they’ve done almost all their jobs, but it’s taken most of their rounds. Altogether, I think they’re feeling frustrated and unsuccessful. I feel like fewer NPCs would have led to a more relaxing intro to social combat. When I run it again in a month, I think I’m going to have at least primary and secondary inluence targets.
I threw all Senators at them... and they ran out of things to do before the end (party of 6, good skills as they built balanced characters). They mastered all areas and all NPCs, plus all the Senators.
I threw all Senators at them... and they ran out of things to do before the end (party of 6, good skills as they built balanced characters). They mastered all areas and all NPCs, plus all the Senators.
So you added all the senators and increased the social rounds as recommended? Even with a party of 6 characters? I wouldn't be surprised they handled it all if that is the case, as they're still getting the extra action economy of two additional characters.
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Concerning the names of the Grand Princes, they do seem to go by first names and not last names. In the preview for Chapter 6 it is said that Carrius is Carrius II.
Although this contradicts the noble scion feat which does mention Stavian as a family name.
I threw all Senators at them... and they ran out of things to do before the end (party of 6, good skills as they built balanced characters). They mastered all areas and all NPCs, plus all the Senators.So you added all the senators and increased the social rounds as recommended? Even with a party of 6 characters? I wouldn't be surprised they handled it all if that is the case, as they're still getting the extra action economy of two additional characters.
I didn't increase the rounds due to the addition of Senators, no. I used the rounds as listed in the AP, plus one round between each event due to some built-in boon they unlocked after a certain NPC. They generated more XPs with all those Senators, but it evens out due to the XPs being divided by 6.
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Concerning the names of the Grand Princes, they do seem to go by first names and not last names. In the preview for Chapter 6 it is said that Carrius is Carrius II.
Although this contradicts the noble scion feat which does mention Stavian as a family name.
If you're not a Royal you don't use your First Name.
The only thing that contradicts this rule is "Princess Eutropia Stavian I"
...but, she's still not crowned yet, so if she does, I suspect her name will be:
Grand Princess Eutropia
From reading the backs of the books I think its clear that the Grand Princes go by their first names, so it's the last name we do not know.
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Ha. That certainly makes it seem like a last name. I was going off of the back cover with lines such as...
"Stavian I, firstborn of Micheaux, First of his name" obviously they should have the same last name.
"(Stavian I) was succeeded by Dominus II"
So I will change my stance. The only thing that is clear is that nothing is clear.
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I think it's his first name. Stavian. They call THEM the Stavians because there's been 3 Stavian grand princes in a row, so there's been a lot people born (brothers, cousins, distant cousins) in those three generations. So to anyone but him, last name becomes Stavian.
HE no longer needs a last name.
THEY (his relatives) are (last name) Stavians as a result of being born under a Grand Prince Stavian papa.
In effect, when you become Grand Prince IMO, you create a new noble house named after your first name. Your kids are Stavians; their kids become Stavians; and so on.
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Stavian I's first child wasn't named Stavian either it was Gosse. Out of his three listed sons, none of them were named Stavian. And there haven't been three Stavians in a row, or at least not Stavian I, II, and III.
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Who knows? :P
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I believe that those product lines have ended.
That's to bad, in my gaming group we have always been big fan of the item card, there were always something special about getting the first item card in a AP.
Some of you have allready starting to play this AP, and maybe i have missed this info in my Crownfall Book. How old is Eutropia?, and how old were Carrius when he was killed?
Some of you have allready starting to play this AP, and maybe i have missed this info in my Crownfall Book. How old is Eutropia?, and how old were Carrius when he was killed?
I think both answers haven't been officially given, but the best guess is, Eutropia is about 38–40, and Carrius II was 17–19 when he was killed.
I just noticed that Dagio should have an amulet (of some sort) in his possession. It was taken from Factor 12 but hasn't been mentioned since.
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I'm confused how the characters get to level 4 by the end of this AP. I just finished part 2 with my group (4 PCs) and they are at 5500-5750 XP, so just getting to level 3, as expected (this includes the xp for saving the nobles).
My understanding is they are supposed to hit lvl 4 by the end of this book and totaling up the XP from the enemies in the repository and safehouse, plus the 1600 xp for finishing the mission I'm like 5,000 XP short for them to level up.
Any thoughts?
How are you calculating exp? By my math, a group of 4 PCs should be able to hit around 7175(ish) by the time they finish Part 2, assuming they have completed all possible encounters and influenced everyone in Part 1. I had them at 2675 maximum exp at the end of Part 1.
Assuming party starts with 2675 exp from Part 1:
Escape Room: 1600 / 4 = 400 exp each. Future numbers will simply be individual exp.
Hall of the Protected (CR 4) = 300 each per this table (scroll down to Table: Experience Point Awards)
Museum of Conquests (CR 3) = 200 exp
Wax Figure Storage (CR 1/2) = 50
Artifact Storage (CR 3) = 200
Taxidermy Storage (CR 3) = 200
Arterial Hallway (CR 3) = 200
Seed Vault (CR 2) = 150
Chapel of Aroden (CR 2) = 150
Historical Archives (CR 3) = 200
Book Archives (CR 2) = 150
Rare Artifacts (CR 2) = 150
Ruined Hall South (CR 2) = 150
Greeting Room (CR 1) = 100 (Mimips)
Ruined Hall North (CR 1) = 100
Senate of Circles (CR 5) = 400
Lounge (CR 3) = 200
Security Room (CR 5) = 400 (CR is 4 if Gulbend already dealt with)
A SOMBER ESCAPE = 300 (escape) + 100 (per NPC saved, up to 5 NPCs counting 3 non-combat nobles, Malphene, and Zubari, max 500 exp)
TOTAL: 4500 exp possible; added to previous 2675, this makes 7175 exp obtainable by this point.
Remember that traps and non-combat obstacles (such as potentially Factor 12 in the Rare Artifacts area) still award exp for overcoming them. Disabling or triggering a trap should still award exp as if it was a combat of the same CR.
Healing issues with Wyssilka et al.
Wyssilka's "Tactics" include "she heals herself whenever possible" but she has no healing spells prepared, has no cure potions, and as an evil warpriest channels/fervors negative energy. How is she supposed to heal herself?
Similarly, the Norgorber cultists assisting her occasionally heal Martella when she falls unconscious. Again, no cure spells prepared or positive energy. Would the cultists really use their potions of cure light wounds on Martella?
Am I missing something?
Outside of combat its simple to figure out as you can use the heal skill untrained. They could give Martella a break a break for a day for long care rest. Or (and its a bit silly) three aid other plus the healers kit hits DC 20 for treat deadly wounds.
As for in combat tactics... ignore it. Its been commented upon in two other books that some NPCs tactics range from very poor to not being possible.
As for in combat tactics... ignore it. Its been commented upon in two other books that some NPCs tactics range from very poor to not being possible.
Been an issue for years, but some are in the "oups, forgot to rewrite that" category.
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but did anyone notice how the door in area E7 that heads north is simply a dead end? Strange.