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Has anyone else noticed the Quarry Sluice trap at the end of chapter three has 38HP but a BT of 34? I've not exhaustively gone through every trap to see if there are some that have BT of more or less than 1/2 HP, but it looks like a possible typo. Then again, that trap is a tough one and so I wondered if it maybe it was intentional? Hard to disable but easy to break?
I'm not sure what they meant there, but I don't see the BT as relevant. When a mechanical trap is broken, it can't be activated. The six sluices will probably already be open, and the routine says that they'll have to disable or destroy each one. Broken doesn't stop the water, i.e., doesn't reduce the trap's number of actions. It's pretty rough—a 204 HP trap.
Has anyone else noticed the Quarry Sluice trap at the end of chapter three has 38HP but a BT of 34? I've not exhaustively gone through every trap to see if there are some that have BT of more or less than 1/2 HP, but it looks like a possible typo. Then again, that trap is a tough one and so I wondered if it maybe it was intentional? Hard to disable but easy to break?I'm not sure what they meant there, but I don't see the BT as relevant. When a mechanical trap is broken, it can't be activated. The six sluices will probably already be open, and the routine says that they'll have to disable or destroy each one. Broken doesn't stop the water, i.e., doesn't reduce the trap's number of actions. It's pretty rough—a 204 HP trap.
Routine (6 actions) The trap loses 1 action per disabled or destroyed sluice.
Dang, you are spot on TomParker. The BT value is moot.
Appreciate the reply!
Ok, so my next session of this module in the Adventure Path is next week. The PCs are in Kintargo, and have gone to Kite Hill, Long Roads Coffeehouse and Lady Docur's. They learned about Tanessen Tower and have done some preliminary recon there.
They now want to take a few days of downtime to get equipped (making use of some of the loot they've gotten since the start of the module). In the meantime, they intend to tell the Silver Council "Hey, you know that slaver issue you have in town? They are using Tanessen Tower as their base. You need to at least put it under siege so no one can get in or out. Better yet you just go arrest all of them."
I have tried to convey the issues the City is having with Remnants of Barzillai and the misinformation campaign being spread about Nidal. However there is still a feeling among my players the local police should be able to do something about the Triad, especially since their exact location is now known.
I'm looking for some ideas as to how Scarlet Triad would react under this scenario. They have some firepower, including Barushak and his summoned creatures, so if they wanted to break out they probably could. At a minimum Barushak could just dimension door away, and in fact he is written to do just that if he is reduce to a certain HP threshold. There is also the consideration of the prisoners the Triad has and whether the Triad might do something drastic to them before they all make their break for it.
All in all, I think the PC plan to 'put the place under seige' is reasonable and I want to make sure I let them have their agency. However the module assumes the PCs will be more proactive and look to take the fight to the Triad at the Tower.
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Nolly Peltry believes the Triad has the means for magical transportation and there isn't time for a downtime phase, or thinks they might be torturing Laria for questioning and she can't sit on her hands and wait.
This, to me, is most compelling. The Triad would love to get more info on the Bellflower Network. I'd have Nolly push the PCs to move quickly, and I might have her go it alone if they don't act. They'd find her corpse when they finally went in.
The authorities of Kintargo have their hands full dealing with the apparitions that keep appearing. The PCs are bringing them a story about a slaver operation run by a major, legitimate mercantile consortium. I don't know that the authorities would have any reason to believe the PCs at this point. They'd probably be willing to dispatch some people to Cypress Point to follow up on the attacks there. But I'm not sure they'd be willing to investigate the Scarlet Triad at this point.
Nolly Peltry believes the Triad has the means for magical transportation and there isn't time for a downtime phase, or thinks they might be torturing Laria for questioning and she can't sit on her hands and wait.This, to me, is most compelling. The Triad would love to get more info on the Bellflower Network. I'd have Nolly push the PCs to move quickly, and I might have her go it alone if they don't act. They'd find her corpse when they finally went in.
The authorities of Kintargo have their hands full dealing with the apparitions that keep appearing. The PCs are bringing them a story about a slaver operation run by a major, legitimate mercantile consortium. I don't know that the authorities would have any reason to believe the PCs at this point. They'd probably be willing to dispatch some people to Cypress Point to follow up on the attacks there. But I'm not sure they'd be willing to investigate the Scarlet Triad at this point.
The PCs actually sailed the Genie's Smile back to Kintargo. They crewed the ship with a few citizens from Cypress Point and some of the mercenary crew they captured. They also had a few captured Scarlet Triad thugs in custody. Upon reaching Kintargo they went straight to the authorities, using a combination of the Cypress Point citizens and captured Scarlet Triad operatives as evidence of the Triads actions.
I have tried to stress that Kintargo is dealing with both a Nidalese diplomatic delegation in town and the issues of Barzilai's ghost haunting the city, and as such, the law enforcement is stretched very thin. Its going to take time for the Kintargan authorities to get the numbers needed to deal with Tanessen Tower, and this should hopefully create an opening for Nolly to encourage the PCs to handle it themselves.
I can't imagine Barushak waiting around with the prisoners once he realizes they have been discovered. I think he would break out and slaughter whatever few guards the Council could muster to lay siege and then he'd leave town with the prisoners. Then, I guess, the party could encounter them at the quarry.
I also agree Nolly would not wait either, but the ST might be gone by the time Nolly was able to get together enough forces, unless Barushak was unaware they had been discovered.
In any event, I would think the suffering of the prisoners would be enough to motivate them to go in promptly.
I got to ask, because no one anywhere mentions them:
What about the Krooths?
As a GM, did any of your players have difficulty with them? It killed one of my players, and would have clearly been a TPK if I hadn’t let the rest of the party run away.
How did your players survive? Mine ended up having the 3 Krooths one next to the other, getting bitten nearly to death and without an easy way to escape from the tail AOOs. (Of all 3 at this point)
The party was the following: a fighter, a monk, a sorcerer (divine) and a witch (occult). Normally, there’s also an alchemist, but the player couldn’t be there.
I’d like fellow GMs opinion, and possibly stories of their own against those creatures.
Thanks!
My players completely bypassed all encounters in Cypress Point except the quay and the ship. They encountered One-eye Amnin, his drakes and the rest of the Triad members on the road to Kintargo.
Hello everyone,
My player have decided to help Heuberk Thropp and found 3 criminals on death row and convince them that slavery was a better option. mention to me that they may still kill them later, if they become a problem, but for now they actually want to infiltrate the scarlet triad and destroy it from within.
I actually think this could be a very nice approach and change of pace from book 2. but i have been trying to find ppl who would have done it or proposed idea on how to change book 3 to make this work (at least up to a point where they sabotage to much and become against the scarlet again.
Would appreciate it if anyone can point me toward good reading or ideas for this.
As my player now fear the gates, they really don't want to use anymore key anytime soon. so my idea right now, is to send them with 2 of the scarlet thug and about 12 slaves (including their 3) toward Cypress Point to deliver them to captain ONE-EYE AMNIN as their next mission to prove themselves mention that any dead slaves will paid tenfold by them. and have heuberk leave until later in scenario.
Ty for your help.
So I have been re-reading book 3 and came up with the following for players who want to try to be part of the scarlet triad when Heubrek offers it.
Here is chapter 1 of book 3.
Let me know what you think.
Book 3 tomorrow must burn
At kidnapping, Heubrek Thropp offer a job: work for us at the scarlet triad. They are always looking for good and strong adventurer like you. Not what if the PC actually want to join the group either if they are actually evil group or to infiltrate. The scenario doesn’t help us too much if the hero takes that path as my group did. I do personally think it’s a very good approach to this scenario, letting stealthy/sneaky/deceitful hero shine for a while.
I don’t think we really need to do too much work to change the scenario for that side, while using most of the work already in place. In this version I would strongly suggest having the Heubrek have the gate key and not the Elves from book 2. In my case I gave the star to the hero but its just a fancy weapon and false key (I decided it was stolen by the Triad months/years ago when they discover about the portals. That way it forces the hero to do a long journey on the land to deliver slaves. And reward them once they find out Heubrek also has the key (only when they meet him in Kintaro as described below).
Chapter 1 (Breachill)
Have Heubrek still use the wainwright shop or other place that the heroes don’t want to see burn, but also capture either a very close associate, an old hero if they chance hero after book 1 or 2, or even a missing PC if it matches the game timeframe. That way they will feel way more involve and understand he his not joking.
Find and bring back 3 slaves to replace those lost so far, you have 12 hours before we leave.
Take over Heubrek (he has more business in town… he tells them he will see them in a few months once he brings next shipment, hoping by them they will have climb the organisation ladder) and drive/march the 12 slaves with 2x triad sneaks to Cypress Point to deliver them to Captain One-eye Anmin. Heubrek will give them a triad paper that “should” let them reach the boat safely.
The PC are warned that they will be penalised for every slave missing by the time they reach the boat… but at same time, they will get a rewarded for any extra they bring (up to 20 but they won’t know that yet [not enough place on the boat].
If they decide/can use the gate, then just change the exit point so it’s further from Cypress Point so they can at least have the champion/knight encounter if nothing else and also a chance to replenish their rank since there is a good chance the Hag will ask about payment...
On way to Cypress a few key encounters will happen regardless of how party want to travel with slave. The main important one will be with a group of 6 with knights/champion (4 Cpl lvl 4, 1 Sgt lvl 8 and 1 Lt lvl 12). Party can fight them or find a way to explain what is going on, regardless of how it ends, the Lt (or the Sgt) needs to escape for now so he can be captured later and reveal their plot to higher triad boss after being tortured, in case things goes too well for the PC in Kintaro (that way, the quarry chapter won’t change since Laslunn will know of them by then and use it as a trap, as intended (the PC will find the Lt as a prisoner too). I intend to have him chained to the floor near the giant who just beat him for fun all the time (leaving him to 2d6 hp).
Stumble on a broken caravan being attack by local raider try to make a name for themselves with the triad. Player should deal with them (kill/make them flee or join their rank…) and have the scared family who try to thank them for saving them only be rewarded by joining the rank of the PC slaves... the two scarlets thug will take note on their action and report to Amnin for bonus or penalty.
Have monster attack the night camp (or day time if make more sense), using weak but numerous monster so that the hero must split resources to protect the slaves. Maybe use this encounter near Cypress Point and have 3+ blood boar who have escaped their mentor and now run free in the wild… good way to introduce them to these beast before meeting them in town and linking things a bit. Give them a bonus if they bring the boars back alive.
??? Maybe add more if things get boring or the player want to have it more challenging...
Cypress Point
Once the hero arrive near Cypress Point, read the same portion since as it turns out the captain couldn’t wait any longer and just decided to enslave the town until he gets his quota before he leave next morning, but not before he burn the town down to the ground as he saw from the vision he has been receiving in his dreams (I slowly want Dahak influence to spread and influence weak and gullible mind more and more as the scenario progress).
As they make their way to the ship, they should encounter 1 slave patrol and/or 1 resistance patrol to see how they react to those. Once they reach the boat (most likely using their triad paper) they will learn that the captain is not on the boat, but Bullbutcher will accept the slave and tell them to go in town help troops get more and report to Captain in middle of town when they have a min.
If they brought more than 20 slaves. Butcher ask them to select the lucky 20 (telling them they need to diversify the stock to bring better price), then once he have those secured in ship basement, he will murder the extra and feed on them in front of PC, offering them some part to eat. If the hero help him do the killing or eat some, they will gain reputation with him and the crew/captain.
The rest of this chapter should play like in the book, except that you should mix between slaver and town folk who are trying to put a resistance (re-skin slavers as farmer/militia, dropping boar or using dog) to create some challenge for the players.
Have 1 encounter were some slavers are burning townsfolk in their home for fun. The hero should try to save them and punish the slaver somehow for that since captain won’t be happy to lose slaves. The important part is that later the hero will need to explain their action to Captain Amnin…
After all is done with the raid on Cypress Point, the slavers (instead of the townsfolk) will have a party by the dock before they leave on the ship the next day. Captain Amnin will reward the group for good work (use same reward from saving village) since they pillage all of the town. Amnin will give the adamantine battleaxe to the PC who did best offense in the fight and the +1 resilient breastplate to the one who protected to group the most and so on…
He will then tell them to report next to Kintaro, after he give them a sealed letter to give to a Miss Scarlet, a recruiter for the organisation.
They need to make their way to Kintaro (about 3 days) and meet with that person at the Coffee house in 5 days. They don’t have to worry the person will be waiting. They just need to put the seal letter on the table and wait for him to contact them. If they arrive early, the captain advises them to find a room and enjoy/explore town while they can before they get put to work once more.
Depending how things turns out, I would propose to move Halleka Shadeborn as a road encounter, arrive at their camp at night (injured and need help to make it to Kintaro) or they see his fire camp and join him or… That way it doesn’t change that part of the scenario and give them a chance to learn more.
Chapter 2
Arriving at Kintaro … comming soon.
On page 34, A Diabolic Interruption.
The Scarlet Triad conjurer Barushak Il-Varashma conjures an ice devil just out of sight of Kite Hill. Barushak instructs the devil to attack the kite-flying PCs and to praise the name of the Umbral Lord and the nation of Nidal as it does so.
My party never went to Kite Hill, so this encounter didn't happen for them. But if they did and subsequently investigated how he did this, I would say he used a 9th-level summon fiend scroll to do so, and it was his only one.
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Ah, yeah, the conjuring that happens off-screen. That's one of those things that the party never learns the back story of. My party didn't ask about it at all.
But yeah, he's just a little shy of being able to summon the ice devil. I'd go with what xcmt said; his deity, thanks to infernal contracts and the like, let him conjure a creature a level higher than should be possible.
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Good day everyone. My PCs are going to Tanessen tower and will likely encounter Barushak this week. They did defeat the gelugon after a well timed natural 1 save vs paralyze..so they're feeling a bit tough at the moment.
Did 1 round make that big a difference?
My question is: has anyone had Barushak escape and actually join Laslunn at the mine? Her, plus the velstrac and trap already seems like a pretty challenging encounter. Adding him to the mix seems (on paper) to be overkill. But this seems in line with the intent of the AP, and what he would likely do given the situation.
It can be a tough fight. Barushak didn't survive in my game; waiting until he's below 25 hp to try and escape is cutting it pretty close, so he's likely to not live through it. If he did, there's any number of things Laslunn could assign him to do. He doesn't have to be standing next to Laslunn when they arrive.
Barushak escaped the tower to join Laslunn in my game. This made the fight against Laslunn very difficult, and my party barely scraped out a win when Laslunn critically failed against a disintegrate spell. It didn't help that at the start of the fight the party ranger jumped down into the quarry to help the captives that were going to drown. So it was four PCs versus Laslunn, the interlocutor and a Barushak who had prepared for them to come after him. The party ended up collecting Laslunn's ashes after the fight and had them turned into a custom urn of ashes by Lady Mialari as a reward.
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The flood was triggered, so after Laslunn went down I had Barushak escape again and jump into the water and get flushed down into the main central chamber, hoping to use the shadow giant and drowning captives to buy himself more time.
If I recall correctly, Laslunn kicked off the water flow and the sorcerer cast wall of stone to seal off the flooding—and Laslunn. He drowned before we could smash through the wall or disable the water spouts. Pathfinder suffocation rules can be brutal.
Thank you all for the replies. Barushak did escape them last week and I was initially thinking of having him hire some muscle and ambushing them at Whiterock, but im going to trust that they can deal with him at the mine now. I love the watery escape idea :)
Not sure if your party has gone through the quarry yet, but Barushak also escaped in my game, along with his Evangelists. (The PCs couldn't deactivate the regeneration at the tower, so they ran.) I just replaced the Vaklish encounter with Barushak round 2. I think this keeps things from getting out of hand at the quarry and doesn't significantly hurt the story.
Hi all, I'd love some opinions on where to go after a PC death at the quarry.
My PCs fled Tanessen tower after killing all Scarlet Triad members except Barushak and his Evangelists. During the escape, the champion fell and was captured by Barushak. The champion was carrying a bag of holding, which contained the golden dragon scale from book 1 and the shard of the Orb of Gold Dragonkind from book 2, These items have Laslunn and Barushak very curious. The champion has been undergoing interrogation (all offscreen and non-explicit) while the party found a new member and prepared to attack the quarry. Now at the quarry, they took the cave route and made it to Vaklish' chamber, which I replaced with Barushak's chamber. The druid scouted the room with pest form and saw the champion held captive, so the party decided to storm the room and take Barushak by surprise. On round 1 of combat, the summoner's eidolon charged in first. It was the only enemy Barushak could see, so he cast phantasmal killer on it. The eidolon critically failed the will save, failed the fortitude save, and died, bringing the summoner with it. No hero points left. The party fled. I regret my actions... ^^;
The party is not fully decided about what to do next, but it is likely that they will return to Kintargo to either find a new party member or resurrect the summoner. It will be a minimum of one week before they return to the quarry.
I see two options for how the Scarlet Tried would react.
1. High alert and fortification of the quarry.
2. Flee and pursue activities elsewhere.
With the majority of Scarlet Triad agents in Ravounel routed, I think 2 is most likely. However, I of course need to get Eye of the Wise into the hands of the PCs, and I also worry it may be anticlimactic for them to rally, return to the quarry, and find it deserted.
My leading idea right now is to have Laslunn go rogue from her colleagues in the Scarlet Tried and make a tactical gambit to attack Citadel Altaerein directly, either with the interlocutor or a small, loyal squad. Her journals indicate that she was already leaning toward this, and finding the gold scale and gold shard in the champion's bag of holding makes her paranoid that the PC's are working with Mengkare or otherwise pursuing ambitions in opposition to the Triad's. Assuming the PCs stop her in Breachill, they will regain possession of the scale and the shard, and they will also gain the Eye of the Wise. Barushak, the Evangelists, and the snipers would take the captives in the quarry to Katapesh, where Barushak would rise in the ranks and return as a boss in book 5. The captured champion's fate will be up to his player and me.
Of course, the easiest thing would be to keep everything in the quarry as-is for when the PCs return to challenge it again. It doesn't make as much sense to me, but maybe it would be more satisfying for the PCs?
Has anyone attempted anything like this? Or any other opinions or thoughts?
I definitely wouldn't keep everything in the quarry as-is, as that sends a message that their foes just wait around for the PCs to do their thing. In my game the party left the quarry after fighting Vaklish (a very tough fight for them as Vaklish dominated the party wizard twice), so I had Laslunn send Aadrushian to follow the party. Fortunately for them they hid their tracks and camp well so Aadrushian couldn't find them in the night, and was forced to ambush them on the road back to the quarry the next day.
I would have Laslunn and Barushak head to Kovlar to reinforce Ilssrah. The slaves are either drowned or brought along (I would have them be dead as a consequence of the party failing to kill Barushak twice). Maybe the champion was brought along to Kovlar as well? If the player isn't interested in the champion anymore (I assume they're playing the new PC) maybe have the champion be turned to worshipping Droskar. If the player would want the champion back as a PC, maybe this is temporary, like what happened to Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom. Maybe the summoner's replacement PC is from Kovlar and that's where they join the group?
Of course with Laslunn gone the party doesn't have a key to Jewelgate, so that's something to consider. Maybe everyone travels overland (underland?) and the party tries to catch Laslunn before they get to Kovlar.
Thank you for these great ideas! The current plan for the new PC is actually now going to be joining the party the evening of their retreat, so it's likely that they'll return to the quarry the next day.
But I'd still like to make some changes to give agency to the Scarlet Triad and weight to the PC's loss. I like the idea of the Aadrushian getting sent after them and Barushak leaving for Kovlar along with the captured champion. The champion's player is okay with the champion getting lost, so I really want to explore the possibilities with Droskar. Barushak will leave a threatening letter for the PCs to help establish him as a villain.
But I'm leaning toward leaving Laslunn and the snipers at the quarry. I think it's reasonable that they wouldn't close up shop in under 24 hours, and this allows the PCs to still have the climactic boss battle with the high-stakes sluice hazard.
We've still got over a week until our session, so I'm open to hearing other thoughts, and I'll update when it's all over!
Are the guards, giants and Jaggaki all dead? If so then Laslunn, the interlocutor and snipers should be a not too difficult fight as the party will be well rested. Per the AP, Laslunn flees the quarry if brought to 30 HP, so her staying at the quarry after its location is known and her guards being dead just doesn't make much sense to me. If you really want the epic quarry fight you might want to consider reintroducing Vaklish to support Laslunn.
We had our session after a PC died to Barushak at the quarry and then the party fled. Here's how it went down. I'll spare you the mundane details and "dive" into the new predicament for anyone interested.
The PCs escaped the quarry without issue, Aadrushian attacked at night, and the new PC rushed in to heroically save the day. The PCs returned to the quarry first thing in the morning.
The snipers were still alive, and I intended to bring back Vaklish, as Fumarole suggested, but I left him out after all to save time, since I wanted this to be a finale session. The PCs defeated the snipers in the northern tunnels, then they returned to Barushak's chambers (Vaklish's chambers) to find a letter from the long-gone Barushak, who took with him the old PC captured at Tanessen Tower. Laslunn, aware of the PC's presence, threw them a note tied around a rock, demanding the PCs present themselves or she would drown the prisoners and leave.
The PCs show up, there's some dialogue, including about the golden dragon scale and shard of the Orb of Gold Dragonkind now in Laslunn's possession (the PCs don't know what either of these are). During dialogue, the druid inspects the sluice and understands its function. The druid goes first in initiative and uses wall of stone... around both exits to the room... Laslunn, spiteful and confident in her ability to survive, pulls the lever...!
We're now two rounds in. Laslunn crit failed the Sorcerer's slow and is *slowed 2*, but the interlocutor has been dealing tons of damage. There's a pocket of air near the top of the room, but it will disappear this round. The druid turned into a dragon and is burrowing away. The magus cast deep breath (awesome), but he's now futilely trying to disable the sluices. The warpriest is at the pocket of air to cast a spell. Luckily he has athletics and breath control. The sorcerer is next to the interlocutor (yikes).
We plan to pick it back up in a couple weeks, and the players will hopefully have their new plan by then. The leading school of thought is the druid burrows and everyone follows as the new tunnel gets filled with water. Everyone has some way to do this, but I worry they might die as they try to escape. I think at least some people should be able to get out... Everyone except the warpriest has a turn before the interlocutor, who has already used its reaction, so I think the warpriest is in most danger of getting killed on the way out. Laslunn is screwed unless she and the interlocutor bust open the wall of stone. Recognizing she can't kill the PCs as they escape, she'd focus on escaping herself. But I think the interlocutor might be able to focus on killing someone and still have time to break the wall down. It would be ideal if the PCs somehow escaped and the baddies drowned, but at this rate I worry a PC will die, Laslunn will escape through a hole in the wall of stone, and the prisoners all drown. Wish my players luck...
Here's the conclusion to my group's battle with Laslunn! First off--I realized between these past two sessions that a burrow speed does not let a creature burrow through stone unless it specifically has an ability to do so. I did not share this with my players as we were already mid-combat, but if they try shenanigans in book 4, I will probably enforce it.
The druid burrowed to Laslunn's chamber in dragon form, creating a current in the resulting tunnel and letting the water out of the sluice room. Everyone made it through the tunnel, with the sorcerer turning into a shark and assisting the magus. Laslunn and the interlocutor have been dishing out damage while this happens, even as Laslunn loses air herself. Laslunn and the interlocutor followed through the tunnel, and the sorcerer tried a new wall of stone to block Laslunn off and drown her, but the interlocutor broke through it. Water is flowing out into the quarry now, but the pits will fill at a slower rate than normal, as water is being diverted through multiple tunnels and not shooting down the sluiceway.
Here's where real trouble strikes... the druid and the magus leave to go rescue the prisoners, while the sorcerer and the warpriest stay to fight. The warpriest hits the interlocutor with an impressive 70 damage channel smite, turning off its regen, but he goes down the subsequent turn. The sorcerer flees to the pits, and the warpriest, who lasted for all of two sessions as he was the replacement for the summoner, is lost. Laslunn's slowed 2 will wear off soon, so she possibly could have TPKed the party by sharpshooting from a tunnel opening, but I took the opportunity for her and the interlocutor to capture the warpriest and flee as the PCs were distracted with the prisoners. The warpriest's player hasn't decided if he will choose death or become a hostage.
All the prisoners were saved though (except for the champion previously captured by Barushak...), and the Scarlet Triad was successfully expelled from Ravounel, so we concluded the adventure. Thanks for the help. :)
To get the PCs the Eye of the Wise, I'm still leaning to having Laslunn attack Citadel Altaerein, but I'm still working through it.