Armory is full of ways to hide or disguise your weapons and armor. Just invest in null space grips and that armor augmentation that lets your armor look like clothes.
Definitely don't restrict all combat equipment. It's just not that kind of setting. People wander around with guns, and some people (mercenaries, adventurers, etc.) probably have big guns, and other such heavy weaponry. Just having them isn't against the rules in the setting (unless otherwise specified).
A trap on the front door is definitely dumb. I've wandered into random office buildings just to see if I could use the bathroom before, and it'd be kind of unbelievable to say that nobody has managed to set a trap like that off.
I don't actually have the book in front of me right now, so I don't have the layout of the place, but maybe you can adjust things around a bit? A public area that's relatively safe in the front, with the trap moved just past an "employees only" door, or something.
...An extra couple of rooms (and more importantly: Doors) in the way also helps explain why the cops might not crash the party. If the PCs go in guns blazing right off the sidewalk, yeah, someone might get alarmed, but if there's a few rooms in the way you might rule that nobody outside hears it over the hustle and bustle of the city.
Way too constraining.
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It's not that I don't believe that's too constraining - but I do have to wonder how they expect us to use these beautiful maps of theirs on scales like this?
Printing them is difficult and prohibitively expensive - if they aren't going to build to standard size, they can at least build to fit VTT - a simple (this many squares x that many squares) with no more half square borders would make a WORLD of difference for VTT
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I am a VTT user and maps are a extra important issue with me. When it came to the triple map using the The Blue Room /The Lizard's Lounge/Scuttle's Shop I think you need to make them separate maps cause you get some wonky feels about locations when you have to "work around" the other locations when you are on scene in one location especially with the The Lizard Lounge as it is in a skyscraper.
No the map doesn't align perfectly but I did make it work for the grid.
If I was running this at a table I would would have drawn these completely separated on flip mats.
On the issue of fighting in these location vs the various ambushes and how the public reacts is the function of the GM wishes on how they want to add a tad of realism and extra role play chances. The PC's are not in a real authority situation and that extra layer of social interaction and moral question can add some real fun to the game in mu opinion.
I was not confident I could run this AP with he "horror" component but I am having a blast running this AP for two groups.
Just lost 2 PCs on the Lizard Lounge balcony encounter. Did I do something wrong or is that Black Lotus poison way too potent for this level? Con track with accelerated progression and a DC26 Fort save at level 10? None of the PCs made the perception check to notice she wasn't drinking a second glass but is there anything else they could have done to avoid dying?
I just ran this encounter a couple of days ago.
This is a very difficult encounter to say the least.
First off it is for level 9 PC (Level 10 is the Black Site).
Assuming your group was level 10 and assuming no special feats or special racial abilities the best Fort save you could have in your group is right around +12 (+7 on L10 Soldier + 5 Con)
So the soldier is going to need a 14 (35%) and it guts rougher from there for classes with less than robust Fort Saves.
If you group did not have a mystic with remove affliction in their arsenal then I would consider your group to be lucky to have 2 live.
This is a TPK encounter.
My group survived through sheer luck of a die roll and group composition.
My group were 9th level and they all use CON as a dump stat (everyone is a +0 or +1).
The party was Operative, Solider and 2 Mystics.
One mystic rolled at Nat 20 and saved.
On the first round combat (which they start as weakened, because that is when they know they have been poisoned) One mystic put remove affliction on herself and the other mystic cast it on the soldier. That neutralizes the poison for 90 minutes. The operative failed and was debilitated and one round from death.
On round 2 one of the mystics cast remove affliction on the operative.
The PCs then won the fight.
So no you did not do anything wrong.
It is just a nasty encounter.
Just lost 2 PCs on the Lizard Lounge balcony encounter. Did I do something wrong or is that Black Lotus poison way too potent for this level? Con track with accelerated progression and a DC26 Fort save at level 10? None of the PCs made the perception check to notice she wasn't drinking a second glass but is there anything else they could have done to avoid dying?
I just ran this encounter a couple of days ago.
This is a very difficult encounter to say the least.
First off it is for level 9 PC (Level 10 is the Black Site).
Assuming your group was level 10 and assuming no special feats or special racial abilities the best Fort save you could have in your group is right around +12 (+7 on L10 Soldier + 5 Con)
So the soldier is going to need a 14 (35%) and it guts rougher from there for classes with less than robust Fort Saves.
If you group did not have a mystic with remove affliction in their arsenal then I would consider your group to be lucky to have 2 live.
This is a TPK encounter.
My group survived through sheer luck of a die roll and group composition.
My group were 9th level and they all use CON as a dump stat (everyone is a +0 or +1).
The party was Operative, Solider and 2 Mystics.
One mystic rolled at Nat 20 and saved.
On the first round combat (which they start as weakened, because that is when they know they have been poisoned) The poisoned mystic put remove affliction on herself and the other mystic cast it on the soldier. That neutralizes the poison for 90 minutes. The operative failed and was debilitated and one round from death.
On round 2 one of the mystics cast remove affliction on the operative.
The PCs then won the fight.
So no you did not do anything wrong.
It is just a nasty encounter.
Yes my mistake, the PCs are level 9. And to think I thought the encounters would be too easy as I had another friend joining to bring the party to 5 PCs for this session. Glad to see it's been equally lethal for other parties, I feel better about my GMing now!
An interesting point raised on reddit is that Black Lotus poison was initially DC20 in the CRB before being errata'd to DC26. So it seems like the AP encounter was written with it balanced around being DC20. Just something to think about for anyone else planning on running it.
I'm glad I stumbled upon this lol. Probably safer to use a "lesser" black lotus poison for this bit then...
From the looks of it the adventure really expects me to handle a office building in the middle of a city as a normal dungeon and that no one notices nor cares when the PCs arrive with heavy weaponry and possibly power armor and start to shoot the place up, the same way no one cares or notices that they have a lethal trap on the front door which only by pure dumb luck has not fried someone already like a reporter who wants to do a bit about the upcoming Penumbra launch and decided to visit in person.
THIS! My players got the first shock and were wondering what is happening here. After this they decided to call the cops since there is a deadly trap on the door. I really had to think how to handle this but since it was a "private" building the police said they will come and investigate but were thinking it was probably a electrical malfunction and needs a electrician rather than police.
Also, the city is full of skyscrapers and suddenly there is this tech company operating from a one-story building? My players first reaction was to fire up their jetpacks and check the roof, wondering also about the dedicated small building here. Clearly the surroundings and the encounter do not match too well.I decided this was on an industrial outskirts of the town and that's why there were no bystanders and such a small building was possible.
And even after demolishing the place the PCs are targeted several times with bombs and fully equipped mercenaries, yet the police is supposed to not care while the PCs are expected to have their normal gear with them.
I think this problem is quite consistent through all the APs I've run. The futuristic scifi worlds clearly have taken their gun laws from the US and made them even worse :D
Even my players are often wondering how on Earth(or some other planet :)) are they even allowed to carry a gun when they leave their ship but we are from Finland where you can see guns in shooting range or on cops belts and pretty much nowhere else...
Some more notes about the night club part for the GMs who are going to run this. There are things one should note before running it:
1) Decide how the police are going to react if the players happen to kill a few bouncers in the assassin encounter. Even if they are deceived I think murdering Nightclub employees might cause some issues. I was lucky that one player only took a few out non-lethally and the one killed was by a player affected by the drug so it could be blamed on the poisoning. Also, if they kill Zurnalas bouncers they probably are not going to be allowed to search for the device.
The drug is quite lethal, we lost one character to it and another was close, one more fail and he also would have died.
2) The book says the singer is Verthani. The assassin on the other hand is human and the disguise goes away in 10 minutes. Still they are required to make the police believe shes an imposter? She is also mentioned to be wanted and even with a reward so the police probably would see that right after scanning her to the system.
Just to note a few things I needed to work with "on the fly" :)
The drug is quite lethal, we lost one character to it and another was close, one more fail and he also would have died.
As written it's a level 20 drug that only my con focused solarian player had a chance of living through. I'm honestly surprised you only lost one.
It's definitely a good idea to replace it with something level appropriate.
I went with green lotus extract, and my players ended up exposed to multiple doses. Which led to a hilarious game of delaying turns to order the pliant characters around instead of the boss doing so.
The drug is quite lethal, we lost one character to it and another was close, one more fail and he also would have died.As written it's a level 20 drug that only my con focused solarian player had a chance of living through. I'm honestly surprised you only lost one.
Well, Only two took the poison since two others managed to insult the Boss and were thrown out of the nightclub. They were called to help when the fight began...