PF2 1-02 The Mosquito Witch

[cavernshark]

Didn't see a thread for this so I figured I'd start one. I ran this at my lodge and overall thought it was a great scenario. Players really loved the cryptic hunter vibe.

Couple of notes from my experience.

100% print out the mosquito Witch doll art and use it liberally. I regularly moved it between party members. They'd throw it off the boat, into the fire, etc. and then sometime later when a PC retrieved an item I'd have in their pack. Players loved this and it helped set the tone.

In Town:

Spoiler:

After seeing how Galia dealt with the mosquitos, they kept asking each NPC how they dealt with them. You may want to have a few precanned answers.

My PCs really got infatuated with Tanner, probably because I overplayed the Android bit which stood out against every other NPC. I eventually had to shoo them away rather than spend too much time here.

The Carraige:

Spoiler:

Narrating this was a bit tricky because it was hard to explain how some PCs had time to climb aboard while others had time to build barricades. We stuck to the mechanics which worked fine, but felt a little gamey as a result. Several casters also wanted to use magic and I would have been nice if future encounters like that offered some guidance on what could be substituted.

The Forest:

Spoiler:

I liked the way this was set up but definitely read the sections here since it's easy for the party to end up missing one of these it they aren't thorough.

My party had the magnetic rock from tanner and I let them make a DC 15 craft check to create a simple compass to act as a "landmark" for navigating to a disturbance in the woods.

There was a bit of an inconsistency in the scenario with there being no one to heal Andor in town when the PCs meet a priest of Tsukiyo in town. The PCs immediately thought that they should bring him back to town and I had to sort of hand wave that they were pretty sure only their medical skills would suffice.

Final Fights:

Spoiler:

Peaches fight was about as emotionally charged as you might expect. Definitely read all the attach and blood drain rules since there are a lot of triggers for various conditions depending on when things happen once a blood seeker is attached.

Fight with the mites was fairly anticlimactic. It was a good challenge for a team of 6 level 1 PCs though.

[Freedom Snake]

I just want to compliment the explicit callout of which flip-tiles were specifically used. THANK YOU! Also, the use of the flip tiles, as printed in the scenario instead of misaligned, overlapping pieces, as was often previously done with map packs, is a welcome improvement.

This does create some "skinny" zones but those can be easily ignored and treated as not existing. A HUGE improvement on both parts! THANK YOU!

[Gary Bush]

On page 11, when talk to Hsru Kwon, it calls for a DC 17 intimidation check for low tier. But for high tier it is 18. I would expect low tier to be 15 or high tier to 20.

Which is correct?

[Slamy Mcbiteo]

I agree the carriage scene seems pretty strange to me, I was thinking of having the carriage race through town before heading out towards Shimmerford road...just give the PC a chance to act. Or I guess have the PC on the road in front of the carriage as it races towards them?

We will see I am running it later today :)

[Franz Lunzer]

I'd be interested in any way to make that carriage scene more interesting and rooted in the map given.

Shimmerford itself isn't all that big, so racing the carriage through town? On a road that only goes up to the inn?

[Cirithiel]

For what it’s worth, I played it as the Shimmerford Road runs along the long edge of the map with the gate. I also made sure to mention crossing the road as the PCs get off the boat and head into the town. Later, I just had the carriage race out of control along the edge of the map from the north, past the gate, then (potentially) crash a few yards farther on.

Remember, that in order to save the carriage, the PCs need to take some action to follow up on the prophecy, Otherwise the PCs notice the runaway coach too late to save anyone and the carriage crashes into a ravine, losing them some treasure bundles.

[Doug Hahn]

I attempted a mosquito witch doll made from corn husks. Didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but hopefully it adds a little atmosphere at my table.

[GM Bret]

Janice Piette wrote:

Remember, that in order to save the carriage, the PCs need to take some action to follow up on the prophecy, Otherwise the PCs notice the runaway coach too late to save anyone and the carriage crashes into a ravine, losing them some treasure bundles.

That isn’t how I read it.

Quote:

If the PCs lacked advance warning, increase these DCs by 2 to represent the haste with which the PCs must act.

Increase the DC by two, plus the adjustment of +1 DC for every player over four.

——

So if we are just to use Table 10-5 for Identifying magic items, at low level I think there is basically a 5% chance at best to figure out the inky black potion. Seems rather harsh, DC of 19 and requiring a Crit Success.

How many groups end up using the potion?

[Cirithiel]

GM Bret wrote:

Janice Piette wrote:

Remember, that in order to save the carriage, the PCs need to take some action to follow up on the prophecy, Otherwise the PCs notice the runaway coach too late to save anyone and the carriage crashes into a ravine, losing them some treasure bundles.

That isn’t how I read it.

Quote:

If the PCs lacked advance warning, increase these DCs by 2 to represent the haste with which the PCs must act.

Increase the DC by two, plus the adjustment of +1 DC for every player over four

Huh. I don’t know how I missed that; I agree with you. My bad.

[Woran]

Doug Hahn wrote:

I attempted a mosquito witch doll made from corn husks. Didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but hopefully it adds a little atmosphere at my table.

That is awesome!

[JDDyslexia]

Just a question regarding this scenario: Most of the other scenarios say at the bottom of the Table of Contents if they don't have a scenario tag, but this one doesn't say anything about the tags.

Can I just get a confirmation that there are no scenario tags for this?

[Pirate Rob]

My notes show no tags.

[TheBigBlueFrog]

cavernshark wrote:

In Town:** spoiler omitted **

Tanner:

Yeah, my players got way too hung up on Tanner. They even did Medicine checks on him and used excuses to touch him to try to figure out what was up. Although I might have played it up a little too much, by using a monotone voice and pointing out that the mosquitoes didn't seem to bother him.

[TheBigBlueFrog]

Doug Hahn wrote:

I attempted a mosquito witch doll made from corn husks. Didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but hopefully it adds a little atmosphere at my table.

That's awesome! I thought about trying that, but had no idea where to start. Great job!

[Franz Lunzer]

TheBigBlueFrog wrote:

cavernshark wrote:

In Town:** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Tanner:

I also did mention that the PC's noticed that the mosquitos didn't bother Tanner, and rolled (secret) Perception checks for the PC's. Luckily the ranger rolled a crit and I slipped that player a note that said: "You notice a small patch of skin without make-up: Probably Tanner is an Android trying to blend in to society."

Said Ranger player was delighted, and ushered the other PC's out of Tanner's workshop when all was said and done. I don't think she disclosed the info to the others though.

[thistledown]

I've run this 6 times. I think two figured out Tanner. Note that it's a tannery - notorious for caustic fumes. Of course mosquitoes avoid the place.

[GM Bret]

How have people handled the development from encounter F?

The mitflits only speak Undercommon. Now that languages are much more rare, it is going to be a common occurrence that no one speaks a certain language. Makes it really tough for the mitflits to explain what they are doing. Begging can be done with gestures and such, explaining Gwibble’s plan...not so easy.

[Blake's Tiger]

Disclaimer: This is conjecture.

Given that 1-02 (1-00 through 1-03) were written when the rules were hot off the drawing board and not even finalized for the printer at that, I figure this is more a detail the author missed than an intentional obfuscation. Giving them the ability to speak simple common allows you to tie up the scenario for the players so they aren't left feeling like the scenario just ends with no resolution.

[Jib916]

The mitflits (tier 1-2) have sneak attack. Mitflits don't usually have this. It is also worded "mitflit sneak" (which is the 3-4 version) . Is this a misprint? Do the lower level mitflits get sneak as well?

[logsig]

Jib916 wrote:

The mitflits (tier 1-2) have sneak attack. Mitflits don't usually have this. It is also worded "mitflit sneak" (which is the 3-4 version) . Is this a misprint? Do the lower level mitflits get sneak as well?

I do think that it was likely a misprint, for the reasons you mentioned, but the counterpoint is the entirely rules-justifiable point of view that whatever is printed in the scenario should be used as written (in the absence of any official correction).

In general, when in doubt, I would tend towards making the choice that favors the players. It isn't likely to make a huge difference to the outcome in this case, though.

[Maik Strecker]

Doug Hahn wrote:

I attempted a mosquito witch doll made from corn husks. Didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but hopefully it adds a little atmosphere at my table.

Not as good as you hoped? What did you hope for, that it'd spring to life and dance on the game table?

If I'd ever pull off a prop half as stylish as this one I would celebrate for a week!

[leorising]

Sorry for the necro, but I just ran his for some friends of mine, and I want to share at least one pitfall I ran into.

Haru Kwon:

When my players met Haru Kwon they were immediately very suspicious, followed her into the woods, and basically bypassed most of the adventure! I tried to play it as close to written as possible, but I believe this loophole should maybe be closed, or at least made a lot harder.

[Doug Hahn]

Mosquito Witch page 11 wrote:

Haru attempts to be helpful to the PCs as long as it doesn’t interfere with her business, but doesn’t want to work with them out of concern for her friend. At some point after the PCs finish talking to her and leave, Haru ventures into the woods on her own—while it is possible that genre-savvy PCs may attempt to follow her and make sure she doesn’t leave their sight, this annoys Haru, and she refuses to do anything if she is aware she is being tailed. PCs trained in Survival can Track her by succeeding at a DC 15 Survival check (DC 18 in Subtier 3–4). this leads the PCs to area C, while failure results in the PCs getting lost, as detailed on page 13.

The scenario explicitly lets you track her, so that's not an oversight (following her is almost impossible, but the Survival is certainly achievable).

However, the group can still try and find the missing NPCs and other points of interest. After dealing with the mitflits they should certainly suspect there's more going on. As a GM I would have encouraged that.