| Mats Öhrman |
My notes from session one are here.
Note: There may be mistranslations: My GM translated the scenario on the fly from English to Swedish as we played, and I translated from Swedish to kind-of-English as I wrote notes on what happened
== Characters ==
The characters were:
Arami, Cavern Elf Maestro Bard.
Deena, Cavern Elf Cleric of Honey, passion domain.
Frag, Dwarf Fighter.
Keyt, Cavern Elf Rogue.
The characters were played by two players, each playing two characters. All characters had Darkvision, Fleet and Nimble. Yes, even the Dwarf had Nimble, as he had been adopted by the Cavern Elves.
My GM used his Greyhawk setting to tie in with other campaign, so some dieties and place names have been changed. Honey is an old ascended player character.
== Continuing from the previous session ==
We ended the last session just as the two rocs had been killed by the characters. That meant that there were some unhealed damage: Arami had taken 16 HP and Keyt 27 HP in the fight.
It was time to roll out the healer's kit and get to work:
Frag: Treat Wounds: 19 - fail.
Frag: Treat Wounds: 28 - success.
Deena: Treat Wounds: 31 - success.
Deena: Treat Wounds: 25 - success.
So, 40 minutes later we were all topped up and ready to go.
-- Day 20 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions southwest, southwest: hills
Arami: Survival 19 - fail
Deena: Survival 26 - fail
Frag: Perception 34 - success.
Keyt: Survival - ?
Nothing interesting.
-- Day 21 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions west, west, west: The gnome village.
We arrived at the gnome village with proof of the Rocs' demise. We were happy to have succeeded at the task, and the gnomes were in a festive mood too, so there was only one thing to do: Party!
With a bard and a cleric of a performing arts goddess present, partying also meant performing, now that we had an adoring audience:
Arami, bard: Perform 29
Deena, cleric: Perform 27
Frag, fighter: Acrobatics 29
Keyt, rogue: Acrobatics 19
The performances were enthusiastically received, and we were showered with gifts and vigorous declarations of support.
In mini-game terms this could be translated to 1 Treasure Point and 2 Ally Points. Yay!
-- Day 22 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions southeast, southeast, southeast: forest
Arami: Survival 21 - fail
Deena: Survival 20 - fail
Frag: Perception 25 - fail
Keyt: Stealth 31
Needed to stay a second day in the same hex.
-- Day 23 --
Same hex.
4 x rolls, no natural 20.
Nothing interesting.
-- Day 24 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions southwest, southwest: hills, river.
Arami: Survival 14 - crit fail
Deena: Survival 25 - fail
Frag: Perception 24 - fail
Keyt: Survival 26 - fail
Needed to stay a second day in the same hex.
-- Day 25 --
Same hex.
4 x rolls, no natural 20.
Nothing interesting.
-- Day 26 --
On foot, directions east, east: hills, river
Arami: Survival 14 - crit fail
Deena: Survival 30 - success
Frag: Perception 21 - fail
Keyt: Survival 33 - success
Nothing interesting.
-- Day 27 --
On foot, directions west: hills, river
Arami: Survival 14 - crit fail
Deena: Survival 33 - success
Frag: Perception 37 - success
Keyt: Survival 17 - fail
Nothing interesting.
-- Day 28 --
On foot, directions northwest: forest
Arami: Survival 21 - fail
Deena: Survival 26 - fail
Frag: Perception 21 - fail
Keyt: Survival natural 20 - critical success!
Keyt noticed that the vegetation seemed unnaturally lush to the east.
Knowledge Nature rolls:
Arami: 12
Deena: 11
Frag: 23
Keyt: 26
The lushness might have come from energies leaking over from the First World, which meant that there might be fey or fairies in that direction.
-- Day 29 --
On foot, directions east: forest.
We decided to adopt an entirely different exploration tactic for exploring the presumably fey hex: Draw as much attention as possibly and try to attract the interest of whatever was in the hex.
So, we rolled for these not-at-all-by-the-book tactics:
Arami: Performance 30
Deena: Performance 16
Frag: Perception 31
Keyt: Stealth 19
Frag noticed that the vegetation was subtly steering us in a particular direction. We decided to pretend we had not noticed this, and followed these guiding hints, into a lovely open spot among the trees.
We found us surrounded by applauding and smiling trees. We managed to identify eight of these as treants, while the others probably were animated trees.
As we took our bows, the branches of some of the trees lifted like a curtain, and a dryad stepped out. She introduced herself as Tulaeth.
She did not want to talk at once but wanted more performances. So as Arami and Deena danced and played, Keyt sat down in the grass and tried to extract some information while pretending to make light conversation.
Arami: Performance 29
Deena: Performance 29
Both were successes but not criticals. The GM was irritated, as we had rolled very well. If we had used the DCs for a dryad of Tualeth's given level from the bestiary, these would have been critical successes instead, but the scenario used inflated DCs...
Anyway, the performances put Tualeth in a good mood, and she let us enjoy her company for the evening, as she professed to dislike messy adventurers, but love talented performers.
She claimed to have some problems with cyclopses, who had appeared about a season ago and done some logging in her forest, which irritated her.
There had been many more fey in the forest before the gnomes had burnt most of it down, but now there was only she and her treants left.
Yes, she knew where the Cyclopses lived, and could point it out to us on our map.
The lake? Before the fire a nereid had lived there, and when she left she left her pet behind. It has since grown to a humongous size.
To the southeast a dragon had recently appeared, and Tuealeth did not like the way to was eying her forest. It was the fire breathing kind, you know.
The Moonmere? Wasn't that supposed to be at the source of one of the tributaries?
She did not mind helping such lovely people, so two more ally points.
We stayed the night in her pleasant glade, and in the morning we discussed Cyclopses. What did we know?
Arami: Know Occultism 20
Deena: Know Nature 26
Frag: Know Nature 13
Keyt: Know Nature natural-1
So, cyclopses can see into the future (which gives an auto success). They can take an extra hit when they are blow 0 HP. They like to use crossbows, and in melee they can it several opponents in one hit. They talk Jotun and Cyclops, and most also speak Common: "More well-spoken than the average adventurer".
This led to a rules discussion on Comprehend Languages, in case these cyclopses did not speak Common. In order to cast Comprehend Languages, you have to hear someone talk the language. But that usually means that you cast a visible spell in the tense first moments when you meet strangers - which can be taken as a hostile act, as they don't know it is a harmless spell. How *do* you handle this?
-- Day 30 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions southwest, southwest, hills
Arami: Survival 21 - fail
Deena: Survival 23 - fail
Frag: Perception 23 - fail
Keyt: Stealth 16
This was supposed to be the Cyclopses' hex, but we could not find them. Oh well, on to next day.
-- Day 31 --
In the same hex. If the cyclopses were here, we would find them. So we thought we would start with stealth tactics to avoid confrontation:
Arami: Stealth natural 1 - crit fail
Deena: Stealth 24 - success
Frag: Stealth 22 - fail
Keyt: Stealth 35 - crit success.
So Keyt is the one that found the cyclopses' viking-style timber longhouses.
They had two posted guards, but they spent most of the time looking up into the sky. More worrying was their sabre-toothed tiger pet.
The roofs were singed. GM: "You can roll perception to see what might have singed the houses." Players: "We don't have too. We've already decided it is the dragon."
So, those two that had found the cyclopses with their good rolls withdrew. Time to make a plan.
We decided to make a pompous entrance as questing dragon-slayers. Keyt was best at crafting, so she painted a big colorful standard for us. On it was a dragon, on its back, with a big sword straight through the body. We brushed up our armor, and made sure to sit straight up in a heroic pose as we rode into the Cyclops place.
Arami: Diplomacy 28
Deena: Diplomacy assist 15
Frag: abstained from assisting, as a crit failure would impose a penalty
Keyt: Intimidate assist 30
Keyt's assist was a crit, so it gave Arami a +4 for a total of 32. Deena's assist did not stack, which was especially unfortunate as we were 2 short of a crit.
Anyway, our entrance got a "too good to be true" reaction, and the cyclopses started cheering as we entered their place.
Soon they were gathered around us, more than willing to offer any information they could.
We wanted to talk to their leader, but they had none. They had followed a prophet up into this area. This prophet followed the proper god Obad-Hai rather than the random demons Cyclopses tended to worship instead. Unfortunately that prophet had been eaten by the dragon, and they were in the midst of discussing whether they should go back to demon-worshipping or not. (Deena made a mental note to try to send some enthusiastic missionaries their way if she could. The cyclopses were not prime material for her Goddess, but there were allied cults that might fit better...)
As reward for killing the dragon we were offered a chest of gold. Well, not purely gold, but a chest of treasure anyway.
-- Day 32 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions northeast, northeast, east: mountains, rivers joining.
Arami: Survival natural 1 - critical fail
Deena: Survival 27 - success
Frag: Perception 27 - fail
Keyt: Survival natural 20 - critical success
We spotted a giant-sized helmet that came floating down the river. It had a nose-guard in the centre, so it was not a Cyclops helmet.
Arami: Society 23 - success
Keyt: Society 16 - fail
The helmet had belonged to a Hill Giant. That means that someone had given it equipment, as they were too stupid to get things like helmets themselves.
Discussing plans for the dragon, we got to roll knowledge for it too:
Frag: Nature 29 - Dragon had immunities to sleep, fire, paralyse and cold. Their frightful presence depended on age, and this one might be old enough to have one. They have good perception, scent, and darkvision, but don't have blindsense.
Deena started rearranging spells to make room for resist energy and remove fear.
-- Day 33 --
Followed the river upstream. Directions: southwest, east: mountains, river.
No exploration to avoid drawing attention from the dragon.
-- Day 34 --
On foot, direction east: mountains, river. The Dragon's hex.
We decided to use a recon tactic of mixed stealth and perception.
Arami: Stealth 18 - crit fail
Deena: Stealth 21 - fail
Frag: Perception 32 - success
Keyt: Perception 29 - fail
Frag spotted the lair in the distance, but we didn't see any way up.
-- Day 35 --
We tried to find a better way to the Dragon's lair.
Arami: Athletics 35 - success
Deena: Perception 34 - crit success
Frag: Athletics nat-20 - crit success
Keyt: Stealth 30 - fail
We found the rear entrance, a narrow path that wormed its way up the mountainside. And not only that, but while the dragon was away, the lair was guarded by a fire giant. Looking her over, she looked more of a bored mercenary than some kind of fanatic dragon cultist.
We quickly made a plan, and as usual, it was hard to keep to any kind of semblance of the official exploration rules. Ah well, we had to make it work somehow.
Deena kept a lookout for the dragon's return.
Arami would try to charm the giant, and then try to talk it over to our side.
Frag would be in reserve if the Dragon returned early.
Keyt would use the Dust of Disappearance we found with the cultists to keep close by while invisible.
== Not Quite Fight ==
-- Initiatives --
Keyt: Stealth 37 (dice counted as a 20 since she was invisible)
Deena: Perception 33
Frag: Perception 21
Arami: Diplomacy 19 (sigh)
Giant: 23
-- Round 1 --
Keyt: Delay
Deena: Delay
Giant: Scan 37 - noticed the invisible Keyt. Draw Sword. Activate Sword.
Keyt: "No-no-no-don't hurt me, I'm not dangerous!" Deception 18 - fail.
Frag: Delay
Arami: Move out in full view of the giant. Cast Charm on giant. Giant save: 18 - fail. Giant was now friendly for an hour - better reinforce it with some quick diplomacy. We noted that charm only got penalty if *we* had been hostile. That the target had drawn weapons and advanced on us did not matter. Phew!
-- Round 2 --
Giant: Wanted to use intimidation to coerce Frag to reveal himself: "Come out!" but Coerce takes a minute... Frag stepped out anyway.
Keyt: prepares for diplomacy assistance: "What's your deal with the dragon? Is it any good?" - Critical success on the support roll.
Arami: "Let's have talk! I'm sure we can offer you so much more than a stingy dragon!". Diplomacy with Glad-Hand: 35 - 5 (for a fast Glad-Hand) + 2 (for friendly target) + 4 (critical support) + 2 (situation bonus) = 38, a critical success.
Not-quite-fight over.
The giant told a sad story about being outcast from har tribe, drifting around, getting a raw deal from the dragon...
Well, we negotiated a deal with her. After some haggling, we decided that the giant would get two shares of the dragon's treasure. To her credit, she did keep a good face on when Deena rejoined us, revealing that the giant's share would be two sixths, not two fifths.
Frag kept an eye on the giant to judge her sincerity: Perception 32 - she seemed to mean it.
While Arami, Keyt and the giant negotiated, Deena cast a Sanctify Ground versus Dragons in the middle of the dragon's very lair.
We ended with a final roll to seal the negotiations: Keyt support - critical success. Arami: diplomacy 36 - crit success: It was a deal!
Deena returned to her guard post to look for the dragon: Natural 20. The dragon was a bit away, but incoming. As it was a crit, we would have two rounds to prepare.
== Fight 2 ==
-- Pre-fight round 1 --
Arami: Cast invisibility 4 on Keyt.
Deena: Move to Frag, cast Resist Energy Fire on Frag.
Frag: Move to Deena, then move to mouth of cave.
Keyt: Exit out the cave to hang on the wall just outside.
Giant: Ready action - throw rock.
-- Pre-fight round 2 --
Arami: Move to Deena, cast invisibility 4 on Deena.
Deena: Cast Resist Energy Fire on Arami.
Frag: Ready action - strike when dragon was in range.
Keyt: Ready action - intimidate when dragon was in range.
Dragon backed away slightly when it spotted us, hanging in the air 80 feet away.
-- Initiatives --
Keyt: Stealth 37 (take 20 for being invisible)
Deena: Stealth 28 (take 20 for being invisible)
Frag: Perception 26
Arami: Perception 18
Giant: 36
Dragon: 26
-- Round 1 --
Keyt: Delay
Giant: Throw rock vs dragon: 30 - 26 damage. Throw rock vs dragon: miss. Throw rock vs dragon: miss.
Deena: Cast Resist Energy Fire on herself.
Dragon: Breathe fire on giant, Keyt and Frag: Damage 43. Giant: immune; Frag save: 30 - success. Keyt save: 21 - fail, hero point reroll: 30 - success, evade.
Frag: Draw shortbow. Shoot vs dragon: 28 - hit, 7 damage. Pick up polearm.
Keyt: Stow sword. Draw shortbow. Shoot: natural 1.
Arami: Inspire Courage. Move. Intimidate Dragon: 16 - fail.
-- Round 2 --
Giant: Throw rock vs dragon: 32 - 25 damage. Throw rock vs dragon: miss. Throw rock vs dragon: miss.
Deena: Delay
Dragon: Flies away (to recharge breath attack)
Frag: Delay
Keyt: Move. Move. Move.
Deena: Cast Resist Energy Fire on Keyt.
Arami: Step. Cast Fly on Frag.
-- Round 3 --
Giant: Throw rock vs dragon: 20 - miss. Throw rock vs dragon: 29 - hit, 18 damage. Throw rock vs dragon: 18 - miss.
Frag: Pick up bow. Shoot: natural 20 - crit, 18 damage. Pick up polearm.
Dragon: Breathe fire on Arami, Frag, giant: Damage 35. Frag save: 24 - fail. Arami: natural 20 - critical success.
Keyt: Delay
Deena: Delay
Arami: Move to Keyt. Cast Fly on Keyt.
Keyt: Move. Fly to dragon. Backstab dragon: 32 - hit, 20 damage, bloodied.
Deena: Move. 1 action Heal 5 + Healing Hands on Frag: 54 HP - completely healthy again.
-- Round 4 --
Giant: Throw rock vs dragon: 27 - hit, 23 damage. Throw rock vs Dragon: miss. Draw sword.
Frag: Fly to reach distance from dragon. Strike dragon: 33 - hit, 21 damage. Brutish Shove: 26 - miss, but dragon flatfooted.
Dragon: Fly into lair. Frag: attack of opportunity: natural 1 - miss. Draconic Frenzy vs giant. Claw: natural 1 - miss. Claw: 33 - hit, 19 damage. Wing: miss. "The Dragon has landed."
Arami: Dirge of Doom. Move to reach distance. Trip dragon with whip: natural 1, drops whip.
Keyt: Fly to outflank dragon. Dragon AoO: miss. Backstab vs dragon: 29 - hit, 23 damage. Backstab vs dragon: miss.
Deena: Delay.
-- Round 5 --
Giant: Sword strike vs dragon: 25 - hit, 27 damage, killed.
Fight over.
The giant definitely deserved her double share: In the fight she had done 119 in damage, while Frag had done 46 and Keyt 43.
The giant lifted one of the rocks in the lair, and there was the dragon's treasure: 6 treasure points! As we had agreed, the giant took two of those, while we kept four.
The giant also agreed to wait for us where the two nearest tributaries joined, to help us in the final fight.
So, four treasure points and one ally point. Not bad!
-- Day 36 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions west, west, west, west. The Cyclopses' place.
We got a chest of treasure, and their promise of assistance.
So, one more treasure point and two ally points.
== Stake-out ==
-- Day 37 --
On Phantom Steeds, directions northeast, east, east, northeast, east. Mountains, cultist camp.
We did not even have to search the hex; the camp was so large that it was immediately obvious, especially as they had spread garbage all around.
There were Trolls, Hill Giants commanded by a Fire Giant, and cultists in the camp.
The GM now explained the next step in the scenario mini-game: we could collect Research Points by doing a stakeout on the camp. A success versus a DC of 31 would give two points, while a crit would get three. We would need four points.
We discussed stake-out tactics for a while, and the GM thought it was reasonable to use stealth to add some Recon, and when we discovered that Deena could cast two Prying Eyes per day, the GM thought them so well-suited for stake-out duty, that we would be able to roll for them too, even if they only lasted 10 minutes each.
Meanwhile, Arami would use her Phantom Steeds, ride back to the base camp with the collected treasure in a Bag of Holding, inform about the alliance, and ride back with the magic items we could buy for the treasure.
Our wish list for items was:
Frag: +3 Guisarme
Keyt: +3 Short Sword
Arami: +3 Studded Leather
-- Day 38 --
Deena: Perception natural 1 - critical fail
Frag: Perception natural 1 - critical fail
Keyt: Stealth 19 - fail
Prying Eye: Perception 25 - fail
Prying Eye: Perception 28 - fail
Not a good start. Total Research Points: 0
-- Day 39 --
Deena: Perception natural 1 - fail
Frag: Perception 34 - success
Keyt: Stealth 23 - fail
Prying: Perception 35 - success
Prying: Perception 35 - success
Total Research Points: 6
-- Day 40 --
Deena: Perception 32 - success
Frag: Perception 30 - fail
Keyt: Stealth 29 - fail
Prying: Perception natural 1 - critical fail
Prying: Perception 35 - success
Total Research Points: 10
-- Day 41 --
Deena: Perception 32 - success
Frag: Perception 29 - fail
Keyt: Stealth 30 - fail
Prying: Perception 29 - fail
Prying: Perception success -
Total Research Points: 14
-- Day 42 --
Deena: Perception natural 20 - critical success
Frag: Perception 33 - success
Keyth: Stealth 30 - fail
Prying: Perception 23 - fail
Prying: Perception 35 success -
Total Research Points: 21
-- Day 43 --
Deena: Perception 23 - fail
Frag: Perception 30 - fail
Keyth: Stealth 34 - success
Prying: Perception 31 - success
Prying: Perception natural 20 - critical success
Total Research Points: 28
-- Day 44 --
Deena: Perception 34 - success
Frag: Perception 28 - fail
Keyt: Stealth 33 - success
Prying: Perception 29 - failure
Prying: Perception 33 - success
Total Research Points: 34
-- Day 44 --
Deena: Perception 34 - success
Frag: Perception 29 - fail
Keyth: Stealth 19 - critical failure
Prying: Perception 35 - success
Prying: Perception 19 - critical failure
Total Research Points: 38
-- Day 46 --
Merenaries and Allies arrived, and we had our new magic items.
The mercenaries and the allies meant that we only had to take care of a group of:
* One Boss Mummy (some kind of old flan wizard)
* One Brain Collector
* Two Human cultist.
We did not get anything extra for our massive amount of research points, but having four or more gave us:
* +4 initiative
* Cast any number of preparatory spells.
== Fight 3 ==
-- Preparation --
Arami cast Invisibility 4 on all four in the party, and Fly on Keyt.
-- Initiatives --
Keyt: Stealth 41 (as usual, invisibility gives an automatic 20 on stealth)
Arami: Stealth 39
Frag: Stealth 35
Deena: Stealth 32
Mummy: 23
Brain Collector: 22
Cultists: 17
Keyt: Battle Cry vs Brain Collector: 22 - success, frightened 1.
-- Round 1 --
Keyt: Delay
Arami: Inspire Courage. Move. Trip vs Brain Collector: 29 - success, prone.
Keyt: Move. Backstab Brain Collector: 32 - critical success, 51 damage. Backstab Brain Collector: 28 - hit, 19 damage.
Frag: Move. Strike vs Brain Collector: 31 - critical success, 66 damage. Strike vs Brain Collector: 18 - miss.
Deena: Flame Strike vs all four opponents: 55 damage. Brain Collector: fail, killed. Mummy: natural 20 - critical success (Drats!). Cultist 1 - critical success. Cultist 2: fail. Sneak: - success.
Here the GM remembered the Mummy's fear aura, and had us roll against it:
Frag save: 32 - critical success. Keyt: 31 - critical success. Arami: 11 - critical fail, hero point reroll: 23 - success.
Mummy: Move. Frag: Attack of Opportunity: Miss. Sandstorm Wrath aura: 42 damage. Frag save: 20 - fail. Keyt: 24 - success, evade. Arami: 24 - success. Deena: 28 success. Deena save vs fear aura: 19 - fail, hero point reroll: 30 - success.
Cultist 1: Cast See Invisible. Draw Mace.
Cultist 2: Cast Invisibility. Sneak: 27 - unseen.
-- Round 2 --
Arami: Inspire Courage. Step. Trip Mummy: 38 - critical success, 5 damage.
Keyt: Backstab mummy: 25 - hit, 32 damage. Backstab mummy: 25 hit, 32 damage. Intimidate Mummy: 35 - critical success, frightened 2, fleeing.
Frag: Move to mummy. Strike vs mummy: 21 - hit, 32 damage. Strike vs mummy: miss.
Deena: Move to mummy. Channel Smite: 23 - hit: 51 damage, killed.
Cultist 1: Cast Invisibility. Sneak: success.
Cultist 2: Cast See Invisible. Sneak.
-- Round 3 --
Arami: Delay
Keyt: Delay
Frag: Delay
Deena: Cast Invisibility. Perception vs Cultist 2: 34. Perception vs Cultist 1: 23
Frag: Seek: Perception nat 1 vs Cultist 1, 29 versus Cultist 2 - success. Charge Cultist 2: flat check ok, strike: 29 - hit, 15 damage.
Arami: Inspire Courage. Move to Cultist 2. Trip Cultist 2: flat check fail.
Keyt: Move. Strike Cultist 2 using blindsight: Flat check ok, strike: 19 - fail. Strike Cultist 2: flat check fail.
Cultist 2: Move. Frag Attack of Opportunity: flat check ok, strike: miss. Spiritual Weapon vs Deena: 21 - miss.
Cultist 1: Cast Soothe on Cultist 2: 38 HP.
-- Round 4 --
Deena: Cast Faery Fire on Cultist 2. Move
Frag: Move. Strike Cultist 2: flat check ok, strike: 20 - miss. Strike Cultist 2: flat check ok, strike: 33 - critical success, 67 damage.
Arami: Inspire Courage. Move. Strike Cultist 2: flat check ok, strike: 21 - miss.
Keyt: Backstab Cultist 2 using blindfight: 24 - hit, killed. You're Next vs Cultist 1: 37 - critical success, frightened 2, fleeing.
Cultist 1: Fled, not to be seen ever again.
Fight over.
== Wrap up ==
Investigating the camp showed that the cultists had tried to summon a Mu Spore.
This led to a long discussion about the forum thread on the high Mu Spore Stealth skill.
== Session over ==
7h 20 minutes spent.
Hero points used: 6 (three save rerolls)
Death Saves: 0
Consumables: 1 holy water as spell component, 1 Dust of Disappearance.
Resonance on non-investment: 1
During this sessions exploration we rolled Survival or Perception 38 times
8 were failed 2nd day "fish for a 20" rolls.
4 were critical failures,
18 were failures
6 were successes
2 were critical successes.
== Scenario over ==
Total time spent: 12 hours 13 minutes
Hero points used: 6 (three save rerolls)
Death Saves: 0
Consumables: 1 holy water as spell component, 1 Dust of Disappearance.
Resonance on non-investment: 1
During the scenario's exploration we rolled Survival or Perception 105 times
28 were failed 2nd day "fish for a 20" rolls.
15 were critical failures,
39 were failures
20 were successes
3 were critical successes.
| Starfox |
GM comments. Thanks again, Mats, for all the work on these reports. I made some notes that I've not yet made posts of, and those would be much less work than this, so kudos!
My only note on the report is to say that the invisibility the two cultists used was heightened to level 4 - making them able to attack with it on. Invisibility stands out as one of the few buff spells that is actually useful and that does NOT require concentration. The cultists were support casters without much offense, which made the fight against them somewhat slow, but not slow enough to be annoying. Taking them out last was clearly the right decision.
Something to be noted here is that Arami knows Lingering Composition, but despite being played in ALL the scenarios so far (yes, against the rules), she has NEVER used it.
And this was the best playtest scenario so far, and was actually quite fun to run. I rated it 3 stars, as it was up to the standards of an average Pathfinder Society scenario, which is actually quite good. The main flaws were the high number of almost pointless exploration rolls, and the many empty hexes. It took a LOT of time to even find ANYTHING. A piece of GM advice that comes to mind (I believe this was for 4E) is to not have the players have to search for fun. A scenario can have a hidden plot and goal, but the players should be able to engage with the fun of the scenario from the start. Not so much here. But this was a playtest, there are reasons for these flaws. Still, it does affect my ratings.
| Mats Öhrman |
Something to be noted here is that Arami knows Lingering Composition, but despite being played in ALL the scenarios so far (yes, against the rules), she has NEVER used it.
Yes, I have Lingering Composition. No, I’ve never used it. One, I hate the exposed treadmill mechanism. Two, it is unreliable. Three, it is unnecessary. I would need its effect if I was going to cast spells more during combat while moving, but the simple truth is that Trip and Demoralize are superior options.
As for using Arami during every scenario, I’d like to point out to the readers (Starfox already knows this): I’ve retrained her for each scenario to fit that scenario’s requirement, and I have not kept any items or cash from scenario to scenario. Each scenario I’ve done a fresh equip from scratch in accordance with the scenario setup rules, nothing more.
Ancestral Longevity and later Expert Longevity do wonders in order to fullfill scenario requirements: ”Oh, we are supposed to play characters that are good at handling terrain? Well, *today* I am an expert at Survival.” (What was the name of that TV series from the 90s? “The Pretender”?)
| Mats Öhrman |
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One problem with Survival that makes the Survival rolls in the scenario extra difficult: The difficulties are taken from table 10-2. Table 10-2 assumes you have magic items that boost your skill. There are no items that boost a straight Survival roll; there are items that boost particular subsets of Survival, but no items that help when you roll a generic, unspecified Survival, like there are e.g for Athletics and Diplomacy.