5 - Against the Scarlet Triad (GM Reference)

[Joana]

This is a spoiler-filled resource thread for GMs running the Age of Ashes Adventure Path, specifically for the fifth adventure, "Against the Scarlet Triad."

[Mechalibur]

So the wasp trapped in amber... does it do anything besides be a key? It doesn't seem to have any stats. I'm just checking since every other key seems to be magic item on top of its key functionality.

[Mechalibur]

Also, Uri has a reaction that lets him make an unarmed attack, but he doesn't have one statted up. I'm guessing it should be +34 to hit, 1d4+17 damage or something?

[Tarot]

So the Weathered Wail fight looks incredibly fun and terrifying for the PCs except for one thing: as written, Ride the Wind doesn't work. Air Walk is a ten minute cast time spell, and doesn't work at all in encounter mode. For anyone running the fight (or any fight with a Wendigo, because they all have the same problem), I recommend changing the Wendigos spells to one or two actions rather than the ten minutes they normally take to cast, along with letting its Wind Walk work fine in encounter mode (maybe give it resistance to physical if anyone wants to attack it).

[Tarot]

Reading the entire encounter further, it's worth noting that the party may well have to fight two Dust Wendigos rather than one, if they take too long and Eloisil transforms, especially if they aren't able to make the DC 41 check to diagnose what's wrong with him.

[Ice Titan]

Not the best. Feels like a low level Pathfinder Society adventure at it's heart, which is good and bad. Good because some low level Pathfinder Society adventures is where it's at, but bad because this adventure ends at level 17-- and the PCs with 9th level spells-- doing things that feel very, very 10th level.

Compared to some of the other AP volumes that end at 17, the stakes, enemies and locations fall kind of flat. The PCs just came out of an undead dwarven city after fighting a lava dragon in a volcano and now they're up against a horde of humans who are inexplicably more powerful than that dragon... stuffed in a cramped pyramid.

That the final fight is just the leader and his buddy cowering in a library is really lame.

Some of the set pieces are cool. The 13 pages of subsystems that Part 2 opens with is mind-melting, but the events described are awesome-- just really hard to not glaze over and scroll until you stop seeing activities.

[Tarot]

Yeah, the section of politics and activities is... crunchy. I actually look forward to running that entire chapter (the arena, the camel, and the heist are standouts), but it's going to take some serious prep to get there.

I think one thing to keep in mind with the 'horde of humans' point of view is that this is an extremely entrenched merchants guild headed by the product of three generations of eugenic experimentation backed by the power of years of massive mercantile and criminal success, as well as the tacit support of an ancient gold dragon in control of an entire nation state (not that he actually knows what they're up to).

The challenge here is going to be communicating the scale of the conspiracy, and connecting the dots of all the previous events that the PCs have had to deal with, to the players. Hopefully they'll feel like they're finally unraveling this awful scheme as they go along, but if the GM isn't careful or your players aren't invested enough at this point I could easily see it falling flat. Hopefully the plethora of roleplaying heavy segments of previous adventures help anchor this, as well as all the previously seeded encounters with the Triads agents.

One thing I'll try to do with the final encounter is try to sell it more of as a final stand/rearguard on the part of the Triad leader. Sure, he's stuck and can't escape, but at least he's bought time for some skeleton of his organization to escape (slightly more in character due to his sister being the other leader still in Promise, and if you add a now-empty wing behind the library that has been cleared out by whatever agents escaped).

[Tarot]

One last thing I love is the several encounters against rather powerful good aligned creatures, that are none the less as likely to end in fights as not. The simurgh I plan on playing as cranky, contrary, and adverse to the idea of anyone taming his beloved camel. The phoenix is admittedly bound, but still a great opportunity to fight something the players would normally have as an ally.

A couple things that can spice up the pyramid is adding any Triad (or allied) NPCs who escaped the party, back for revenge. Voz from book 1, the gnoll from book 3, etc, all leveled up appropriately and with a grudge to settle. Bonus points if you put them all in the same room.

Finally, as I keep looking back over the book while reflecting on above comments and apparently can't stop adding new notes here, are we looking at the same pyramid encounters? Sure, there's a lot of extremely powerful humans to fight, but there's also a ton of fiends, an angry phoenix, a demilich... There's some really nasty and very level appropriate and epic encounters that outnumber the 'here's a couple more Triad mages/bosses, have fun' fights.

[Ice Titan]

Remember, those fiends are all in rooms almost too small to fit them-- one is in a room where he can only occupy one set of 4 squares without smashing the desk next to him unless he wants to trigger his trap. The marilith appears by accident. The astradaemons are somehow completely unaware that the Triad are under attack/are too dumb to figure out everyone shredding the paperwork and dipping out means the jig is up and there are no slaves for sale. The demilich that they just like left there in a room without disturbing and also without boarding up the door or anything?

The adamantine golem is not really a fight. It's so gotcha that I can't even imagine liking it. It's a pop quiz to see if your fighter read the bestiary and knows he needs one of those to kill adamantine golems.

The phoenix is really cool though. And yeah, the simurgh part is neat. I just can't thematically get behind a lawful evil organization mostly summoning in demons and daemons-- and none of them are given names or personalities...

It's just a small letdown. The last adventure was a hard one to follow!

[Tarot]

I get where you're coming from, I think, but I managed to come to the opposite conclusions.

The Cornugon likely benefits from the small space, as it allows it to blast the party with it's spells before they're able to close the distance (by walking through the trap). The rest of the fiends seem to have plenty of room? Keep in mind that the fifteen foot ceilings allow them to fly and prevent flanks as well, and possibly avoid the trap in C6 (although that one is up to interpretation). Not to mention it can dimension door right out if it wants a better spot to fight from.

The Astradaemons I read as less not knowing the pyramid is under attack, and more not actually caring and seeing if they can still get something out of the deal. I might also play them up as opportunistically having already stolen the souls of a few Triad members who were unlucky enough to get caught alone. Daemons seem like the type to be bemused by the whole idea more than anything else, being nihilistic bastards.

With the demilich, I feel like opening the door, looking in, and noping the hell out is probably the best option for the Triad. And let's be honest, as long as you don't go in the room, it isn't precisely dangerous (not that this will stop the players, but it seems like a perfectly reasonable response from the Triad to me).

As for the golem, keep in mind that you can always cast Dispel Magic to kill it, too. And I feel like that would probably be the most important thing you could learn from a Recall Knowledge check, which if you don't try to make after it starts rebuilding yourself if not at the start of the encounter, you probably have bigger issues.

Finally, for the thematics of summoning, my general thought is that half of them were summoned by the demilich in the first place; and despite being Lawful, the Triad is a bunch of opportunistic slavers who would happily sell to the highest bidder (in the case of the daemons), or summon disposable thralls to use in battle (in the case of, well, just about anything else).

As I said, I get where you're coming from, I just feel like we had an alternate reading of the same material. :) And hooray for another wall of text because I'm bored while waiting for a meeting!

[Ice Titan]

I'm coming around to it thanks to you talking me through it actually haha. Maybe I'm a bit too critical but I was hoping for something really out there-- demiplanes, crazy locations, etc. but this is... fine.

The Adamantine Golem is still really dumb-- he's just the biggest gotcha encounter I can think of.

The golem requires a 9th level dispel magic is the big weird thing-- or disjunction, we'll get into that. Dispel Magic doesn't have a benefit for heightening so... why would you prep one at 9th level?

Similarly, disjunction turns off magic items, but enemies in Pathfinder 2 don't really benefit per se from magic items. They just have an AC and attack bonus = to what their CR says. Like Uri for example has 3 more strength, 2 levels and +1 more on his magic weapon in his stat block than the Scarlet Triad Boss creature, but the difference is only +3-- it's what the bonus to hit going from CR 17 to 19 demands. It doesn't change what they use for damage either since their damage dice are just CR dependant-- Uri has 4 dice for his greater striking sword, or 4 dice for his regular striking dagger, for example. So I don't imagine preparing this spell would do anything at all... unless you knew you were going to be fighting an Adamantine Golem.

If the demilich is on the Triad's side it probably would be much better. Uri can probably solo kill her if he lets someone cast Deafness on him so it's weird he wouldn't do that. It makes sense if he did and then the demilich surrendered and they struck a bargain-- would play to his arrogance if the demilich was "enslaved" by him, looking for a way to break free, and the PCs could try to use that to their advantage.

[Deadmanwalking]

Ice Titan wrote:

Dispel Magic doesn't have a benefit for heightening so... why would you prep one at 9th level?

This isn't correct. The counteract level for Dispel Magic is always based on its spell level. It thus receives massive bonuses from Heightening and should basically always be prepared in your highest slot if you intend to ever use it on on-level threats.

[Fumarole]

Ice Titan wrote:

Similarly, disjunction turns off magic items, but enemies in Pathfinder 2 don't really benefit per se from magic items. They just have an AC and attack bonus = to what their CR says.

If one of my players successfully used disjunction on a foe with a +2 weapon in their stat block I'd reduce that foe's attack bonus by 2 when using that weapon. To do otherwise is taking tools out of the party's toolbox, and why would a GM want to do that?

[Deadmanwalking]

Yeah, magic weapons are part of their CR, but that doesn't mean making them non-magical has no effect. Making them non-magical would still reduce the stats as normal, just as replacing them with a different type of weapon gives different weapon properties and damage dice.

[Loki the Poisoner]

Ice Titan wrote:

I just can't thematically get behind a lawful evil organization mostly summoning in demons and daemons-- and none of them are given names or personalities...

If I remember correctly, Devils themselves don't hate Daemons or Demons any more than they hate anything else. They simply consider them tools to be used. Maybe it's a similar situation.

[Maelorn7]

I am kinda sad that the maps in the PDF are of low resolution. It is pixilized if you zoom to it. Dear Paizo, if you read this please make the maps more user-friendly. I can't even think of why it must be this way.

[kayman]

Maelorn7 wrote:

I am kinda sad that the maps in the PDF are of low resolution. It is pixilized if you zoom to it. Dear Paizo, if you read this please make the maps more user-friendly. I can't even think of why it must be this way.

I agree 100% with you...

Dear paizo, the maps on this book are horrible (except the dusk station)
What has Happened ?

[Maelorn7]

Well I already had to say to my players that the module is ok but the maps are a downside from what we had in 5e modules where I could at least download the HI-RES versions of the maps from the artist directly for additional price. Here I don't even have this option.
IMHO the first module of the Pathfinder 2 system MUST have the coolest maps and art from all the modules as a lot of players from other RPGs are trying PF for the first time, but somehow I see the opposite - the art and maps from previous APs seem much cooler (((.

[Rysky]

The art has been great thus far, it usually is. Not really sure what could be done to make it “cooler”.

[Maelorn7]

Well, I just comparing the art of. for example, NPCs from the "Against the Scarlet Triad" and from the "Mummy's Mask" and it seems that it was more detailed and artistic earlier. The art of the head of the Scarlet Triad is somehow not inspiring at all against what I saw in other APs.
LVL 19 BBEG guy looks like he is lvl 1-3 fighter TBH, which is "not cool" and I think is an art design flaw. He is on the power level of a dragon and is stronger than this super-mega-cool Magma Dragon from the previous chapter (gorgeous art for him). I wish this would be reflected in how he looks, but it is not like that (. Lady Embermead looks more dangerous.

I don't say the AP is not cool, but the quality of the art seems a bit behind vs what I see in previous APs. Maybe it's just my taste. Some art is great, btw, e.g. the face art of books. I think I will have to look for other art in Pinterest for the BBEG, which I already did for the 2nd chapter's elves (Jhasi had almost no gold on his art!) and was the right decision.
Though art is up to taste, maps are of a not the top quality stil anyway (.

[Fumarole]

The maps in the adventure are fine and of a quality comparable to previous books, but the maps in the interactive maps file are of much lower quality than in previous installments. It immediately jumped out at me when I opened the file up. Hopefully it is something that can be corrected easily and a new file will be made available.

[Maelorn7]

Maybe I will write to customer support about it, hope it is easily fixable.

[kayman]

I love this adventure but the maps are horrible (expept the duskstation)
Look the map of katapesh streets, IMHO that map is a joke.

I love pathfinder 2e and Age of Ashes AP... This is my only complain.

[Paul Watson]

Page 39: there”s a missing fragment of text in the Speaking with Mekrem.
One paragraph starts “from the PCs to get Mekrem to admit his suspicions“. Presumably, this is missing something like “It doesn’t require much prompting”

[Ageron]

Ice Titan wrote:

Not the best. Feels like a low level Pathfinder Society adventure at it's heart, which is good and bad. Good because some low level Pathfinder Society adventures is where it's at, but bad because this adventure ends at level 17-- and the PCs with 9th level spells-- doing things that feel very, very 10th level.

Compared to some of the other AP volumes that end at 17, the stakes, enemies and locations fall kind of flat. The PCs just came out of an undead dwarven city after fighting a lava dragon in a volcano and now they're up against a horde of humans who are inexplicably more powerful than that dragon... stuffed in a cramped pyramid.

This is exactly my opinion. There's a point where the PC's have to make a DC 35 perception check to recognize a nearby woman as being in a charcoal drawing. Just adding 20 to a DC check does not make it a level 17 challenge, this is a DC 15 check tops. A moment later even the guards recognize her.

There's a part where approximately 15th level villains are shaking down merchants. It's just bizarre, as if all the numbers were increased without any consideration for the fact that these are characters with 9th level spells, rogues who can literally squeeze through walls, etc. etc.

[CorvusMask]

Agreeing with some of DCs being incorrect (in that either the guards shouldn't make the dc or it should be much much lower or even just automatic at these levels), but not really agreeing with it being bad that you fight lot of humans in this books :p

I mean, weird thing already existed in Pathfinder 1e, ulfen guard in certain ap are full of level 15/16 characters who by all accounts should be legendary warriors. Its just fact that at high levels all player ancestry mooks are going to be ridiculously tough and no real way to solve that besides avoiding to use them at all.(you could mitigate it by having them all be trivial level -4 threat, but that would still be level 13 mooks at level 17)

Second thing is that I like how the book essentially showcases what high level sidequests and such look like. Like, instead of ogre terrorizing folk, its dust wendigo. You go find fancy camel and it turns out to be guarded by simurgh. That was cool stuff to me

I like the maps in AP, but I have to admit that War for the Crown to Tyrant's Grasp maps were superb :D Either way, both are better than recent 5e "Let's go back to 1st edition style blank white squares" maps.

[Benjamin Tait]

I like the module, but I'm wondering what's up with some of the art direction. Palqari the Djinni Vizier, one of the genies of the Plane of Air, appears to look like an Efreeti. I see no reference to the fact he looks completely different from the norm, so I'm wondering if he was originally an Efreeti that they changed into a Djinni at the last minute and forgot to/ran out of time to change the art?

Either way, it's been bothering me and I wanted to see if anyone else noticed.

[Maelorn7]

Yeah, the more I look at the art the more questions I have about it. The Uri's +3 major striking super-mega scimitar (which will 90% be poisoned) looks like... ehm... simple scimitar.And the +2 greater striking shiled looks like... Rusty shield which I'd rather find in Citadel Altaerin at level 2.
Anybody noticed that Uri has strength modified greater than that of the adult Magma Dragon? This guy should have about 27 in Strength... Yeah, I know it's top-down creature design for PF2 but it looks like it is not very... logical? The belt of giant's strength would fit nice to that guy.
And I'm not complaining, I adore Katapesh, but the more I see the module the more I think it looks like lvl 6-10 adventure on steroids (like the above mentioned +35 DC to identify the painting (about legendary level, srsly?).

[Captain Morgan]

Maelorn7 wrote:

Yeah, the more I look at the art the more questions I have about it. The Uri's +3 major striking super-mega scimitar (which will 90% be poisoned) looks like... ehm... simple scimitar.And the +2 greater striking shiled looks like... Rusty shield which I'd rather find in Citadel Altaerin at level 2.

Anybody noticed that Uri has strength modified greater than that of the adult Magma Dragon? This guy should have about 27 in Strength... Yeah, I know it's top-down creature design for PF2 but it looks like it is not very... logical? The belt of giant's strength would fit nice to that guy.
And I'm not complaining, I adore Katapesh, but the more I see the module the more I think it looks like lvl 6-10 adventure on steroids (like the above mentioned +35 DC to identify the painting (about legendary level, srsly?).

I think some of that, like the absurd stat modifiers on NPCs, is just need edition pains. The monster creation rules were still in flux while Age of Ashes was being written.

[Rysky]

Also they don’t send the artists statblocks, the send short writeups of what they want the piece to be.

“[physical description of character] wielding a scimitar.”

[Maelorn7]

Rysky wrote:

Also they don’t send the artists statblocks, the send short writeups of what they want the piece to be.

“[physical description of character] wielding a scimitar.”

Well, I suppose then that the description looked like: This is and ordinary blond fighter with scimitar and shield in red armor.

Do you really think this is the way lvl 19 BBEG should be described like? Like, well.. he has FLYING BOOTS which are not actually represented... meh

For, say, Red Mantis assassin it is required for the artist to described the saw-sword. Throw some references. It's not that hard and Paizo certainly do this. But for this particular BBEG I think is was omitted. Probably by error, hurry or intention. Maybe they wanted him to look ordinary (which is strange to me, he is one of ideal examples of mankind with perfect will, etc. Why should he look ordinary at lvl 19?).

Anyway I already found some great alternative arts for Uri and can't wait to throw him at characters beforehand, maybe in book 3, so they could then recognize him. This should be cool.

The AP itself is great btw. It's just the art of Uri and maps which disappointed me.

[Rysky]

Or the Art was exactly as requested, he’s a human melee character that fights with a scimitar and shield. You personally don’t think his design is cool but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. He’s a pinnacle of human ability and looks like an ordinary human. Were you expecting him to look like an elf?

He has a +3 major striking speed scimitar. What are they supposed to look like? Why can’t they just look like a scimitar, why do they have to be grandiose and showy?

The armor in the statblock doesn’t match the art true but it almost never does. For art outfits are more important than having a specific set of armor unless the armor itself is important and his is just +2 greater resilient chain mail.

None of his equipment is unique or named or even super specific.

Bringing up the Red Mantis is a non-sequitur because they have a specific uniform. “High level bad guys” do not have a specific uniform.

[Rysky]

Also he has three different pieces of art in this issue and has the same look in all three soooo....

[Maelorn7]

Rysky wrote:

Also he has three different pieces of art in this issue and has the same look in all three soooo....

So this is an intended design for a lvl 19 guy who looks like... nobody.

Of course he CAN look like and ordinary guy even if he is level 30 and is a god, this has no LOGICAL issue. The same for +3 super-mega scimitar. It can look like a rusty piece of metal. But should it design-wise? Depends on the intention. The issue is purely design-wise and this is the design I don't like. This is my taste. You can absolutely disagree ).

To me design-wise (and to most players) the higher threat you are the more showy you look, this is how they can identify this guy from simple guard, or fighter. This is a simple correlation between the form and the content. I like it when the form reflects content (and actually this is how most things are designed).

Imagine Kratos being a slim guy. What do you expect from him? Beating monsters with his fists? I doubt that. Uri Zandivar for me is the same threat level as Kratos and actually Uri is stronger than a dragon. I just want his art to represent it. And his cool saber. And his flying boots. Even though there is no reason they can't look "default". I would like the art to help me show that this is the Major threat my PCs tried to defeat for 6 months.

PCs would be more happy to defeat badass-looking BBEG at lvl 18 than a default fighter, don't you agree?

[Rysky]

Maelorn7 wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Also he has three different pieces of art in this issue and has the same look in all three soooo....

So this is an intended design for a lvl 19 guy who looks like... nobody.

What are level 19s characters supposed to look like? Or have to look like?

Quote:

. The issue is purely design-wise and this is the design I don't like. This is my taste. You can absolutely disagree ).

Not being to your taste is fun, claiming the art order or artist screwed up because you don’t like it is not.

Quote:

I like it when the form reflects content (and actually this is how most things are designed).

What does this even mean? He has unique looking armor.

Quote:

Imagine Kratos being a slim guy.

Disingenuous. Kratos has an established look, neither Kratos nor Uri’s look has been drastically changed (and that’s not getting into all the video games where you play characters with athletic builds).

Quote:

. Uri Zandivar for me is the same threat level as Kratos and actually Uri is stronger than a dragon.

Kratos is a god that kills other gods. Repeatedly.

Quote:

I just want his art to represent it.

Sorry, the artists aren’t mind readers that zero in on you and your definition of cool.

Quote:

PCs would be more happy to defeat badass-looking BBEG at lvl 18 than a default fighter, don't you agree?

There’s not anything “default” about him other than his sword. Again, this is a taste thing and Uri isn’t to your taste. That doesn’t mean the art is bad or someone messed up or that he isn’t high level. The art just doesn’t meet your specific definition of “cool”.

[James Jacobs]

One thing about art is that it's subjective. It's okay for someone to love one illustration and for someone else to hate it. Doesn't mean either person is wrong or right.

[Maelorn7]

Don't claim my opinion right, the taste is subjective. I just tell what I like and what I don't like but Risky finds that offensive ).

Btw negative feedback is still a positive thing! I am not ashamed to tell that I don't like this piece while stil enjoying other parts. Maybe expressing one's opinion will somehow affect what Paizo does in future, IDK. Paizo are great guys.

I suppose this topic went off road and became the contest of tastes, sorry for that ).

[Rysky]

Maelorn7 wrote:

Don't claim my opinion right, the taste is subjective. I just tell what I like and what I don't like but Risky finds that offensive ).

Maelorn7 wrote:

For, say, Red Mantis assassin it is required for the artist to described the saw-sword. Throw some references. It's not that hard and Paizo certainly do this. But for this particular BBEG I think is was omitted. Probably by error, hurry or intention. Maybe they wanted him to look ordinary (which is strange to me, he is one of ideal examples of mankind with perfect will, etc. Why should he look ordinary at lvl 19?).

I'm fine with you not liking the art.

I'm not fine with you claiming incompetence or malice on part of those involved in the character's design just because you don't like it.

[Captain Morgan]

So I haven't read this chapter yet, but why would the leader of a secret slavery ring want to dress flashy? I'd think looking as normal and shabby as possible would be an advantage. Don't draw attention to yourself and all that.

[Volusto]

To be honest, the artwork is cool for Uri and feels like he is the leader of an organization.

I definitely love the aspect of him being very martial in a fight with two reactions per round, being able to act more. The previous end bosses of each book were a Charau-Ka Champion, Draconic Boggard Sorcerer, Gnoll Ranger, Magma Dragon.

So I say it's fair with the captain of the Scarlet Triad being a very skilled human that gained many of the skills in Hermea is fine as more of something normal to fight against. This is more of the calm before the storm with Dahak's destruction coming soon.

The only complaint I have is that the Red Pyramid map seems slightly lacking in my opinion. I would of preferred it in a one or two page map.

[Ageron]

CorvusMask wrote:

Agreeing with some of DCs being incorrect (in that either the guards shouldn't make the dc or it should be much much lower or even just automatic at these levels)

Yeah, according to the rulebook DC 40 is the DC required to earn a 1,400 gp living diamond for performing a concert for Shelyn herself. DC 35 for recognizing a woman in a charcoal drawing doesn't do it for me.

And it bothers me, because I actually defended 2e on exactly this issue on Facebook. A poster was complaining that a somersault shouldn't be DC 5 at level 1 and DC 30 at level 15. I told him the DC of the somersault wouldn't change - because it's based on the level of the task not the level of the character. These last couple issues of the adventure path make it seem like he was right and I was wrong.

[James Jacobs]

Ageron wrote:

CorvusMask wrote:

Agreeing with some of DCs being incorrect (in that either the guards shouldn't make the dc or it should be much much lower or even just automatic at these levels)

Yeah, according to the rulebook DC 40 is the DC required to earn a 1,400 gp living diamond for performing a concert for Shelyn herself. DC 35 for recognizing a woman in a charcoal drawing doesn't do it for me.

And it bothers me, because I actually defended 2e on exactly this issue on Facebook. A poster was complaining that a somersault shouldn't be DC 5 at level 1 and DC 30 at level 15. I told him the DC of the somersault wouldn't change - because it's based on the level of the task not the level of the character. These last couple issues of the adventure path make it seem like he was right and I was wrong.

What you're seeing there is growing pains of us finding our footing with the new rules. The DC of a somersault shouldn't change, in other words. If we put higher DCs into a game, we should do a better job justifying why the DCs are so high, or be comfortable having them be lower. We'll get there. In the meantime, you can (and should) always feel free to adjust things in your game to make them make more sense for your group.

[Volusto]

Anyone that is Puffin Forest fans will know that there is an Obelisk near the duskgate and there's a nalfeshnee statblock in the book. You know what to do if they knock the Obelisk down.

[Ginasteri]

Folks, I have a question about the haunt in the demiplane. It seems really easy to get rid of. Someone with master proficiency or higher makes a 38 religion check and the haunt is gone for an hour. Is that 1 action? And then have an hour to crit.

Does it just take one check to disable the haunt?

[ToiletSloth]

Ginasteri wrote:

Folks, I have a question about the haunt in the demiplane. It seems really easy to get rid of. Someone with master proficiency or higher makes a 38 religion check and the haunt is gone for an hour. Is that 1 action? And then have an hour to crit.

Does it just take one check to disable the haunt?

I believe it would take two actions to disable the haunt, because the Disable a Device activity takes two actions. Beyond that, I think you have it right. It's a moderate encounter, so it's not supposed to be super difficult.

[Cintra Bristol]

Page 52 says Dwazo Yelsi is 22 years old. The next page has art labeled with his name, but there's no way that's a 22-year-old; the creases on his face make him at least 40 (and that young only because he doesn't have gray hair).

I could just make Dwazo older, but I love the snarky mention of his massive student loans.

Although come to think of it, 436gp in student loans is kind of crazy for a world with a silver piece economy. I thought education expenses in the U.S. were out of control!

Problem solved - he was a dabbler in school, kept taking classes while avoiding getting enough credits to complete any specific major, until he slipped up and accidentally completed a major in Osirionology. 20 years of student debt piled up that he can't defer anymore. Sad!

(Just don't ask him what else he studied. One class away from completing majors in...)

[Cydeth]

I know some people whose hair had gone completely white by 25, and others who looked a lot older than they were, even in early 20s.

It really depends on the life you live, with a side helping of genetics.

[Rysky]

Cydeth wrote:

I know some people whose hair had gone completely white by 25, and others who looked a lot older than they were, even in early 20s.

It really depends on the life you live, with a side helping of genetics.

Yep yep

[Cintra Bristol]

Yeah, I suppose that's true. Maybe heavy use of pesh causes similar issues to meth?

By the way, I'm truly not trying to knock Paizo here. Clearly some of the art in this chapter doesn't match the text as well as usual. (Those are NOT kukris!) And I'm disappointed in several of the maps (streets and interior halls of buildings), so I'll be substituting things from Flip-Mats to compensate. But I'm not trying to slam anyone, I know that sometimes things don't come together quite as well at the end, or things come out a way that doesn't match my personal preferences, and that's okay. It's part-and-parcel of putting together any creative work on a tight schedule for a very diverse audience.

And the amazing bits in this entire Adventure Path far outweigh any little nit-picks. I adore the "flexible" government of the gnome town. The heist looks incredible. The tense encounters with good-aligned creatures are really cool. (This is the chapter 5 thread, so I won't gush about earlier chapters - but I absolutely could.)

And for what it's worth, I like all the character art, and I fully intend to use it.

So I'm looking for how to use what's been provided and have it be awesome and not a distraction. To take the things that look - off - and use them as inspiration for something that might end up even cooler. If that means reflavoring something or adjusting a back-story, that's easy. And I prefer to share ideas here, and benefit when someone points out odd bits I might have overlooked so I can consider them before my players latch onto them mid-game. (I'll try and do a better job of making my comments come across as kind and humorous rather than critical. My bad.)

So the kukris I mentioned above might become dual-wielded scimitars for my home campaign. No big deal. Likewise, Dwazo is a cool character and I want to include him. I might use that art and a funny twist to the story; I might decide I like him as a 22 year old, go repurpose a piece of art from Mummy's Mask for him, and then use this art to inspire a different NPC. Either way is good.

[Cintra Bristol]

Among Uri's possessions (Treasure entry in C23) is a collection of letters from his sister Emaliza. The final adventure of this AP has the PCs meet Emaliza, and none of the "dialogue options" in that initial meeting seem to expect the PCs to have ever heard her name before.

I'm guessing we should assume that the letters the PCs find in this chapter have the cryptic information listed, and are unsigned (so the PCs don't actually have Emaliza's name).