1 - The Show Must Go On (GM Reference)

[Rysky]

Correct.

[Evilgm]

StephenOfOlde wrote:

learn the new spells in the volume. Is the unlock requirement just that they're playing this adventure?

Most of the spells can be found on scrolls throughout the adventure- for example Harlock's desk has Personal Rain Cloud, Sea Surge and Sudden Bolt.

[Zapp]

StephenOfOlde wrote:

Super excited to run this AP (my first time running an AP), but I had one thing I was confused by. It was my understanding things tagged "Uncommon" had specific unlock requirements, but I couldn't find anything that said how Players could unlock being able to use the Juggler or Staff Acrobat archetype, or learn the new spells in the volume. Is the unlock requirement just that they're playing this adventure?

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42x8q?Circus-Weapons

[CorvusMask]

With Flamboni sisters we at least know there are two of them, but with Dwarven Throwers we don't even know names or how many there are ._. Like they apparently form ballista shape and throw each other so there has to be at least three dwarves as part of the trick?

I do get feeling there really should have been at least short write up on each act/member/team of the circus

[Zapp]

Since we're in the GM thread, can I ask if there's more content upcoming for the Professor and the rest of the Sideshow of Everyday Marvels?

That is, will there be pictures of The Bearded Man, The Tattooed Woman and The Unjoined Twins? Will they feature in parts 2 and beyond of the AP?

In short: can a GM tweak or change their backgrounds, appearance without trouble, or would that be... complicated?

Thank you,
Zapp

PS. Can I also give the feedback that this sideshow should probably have been introduced already in Chapter 1?

[Winkie_Phace]

Chapter 1 is going to have a ton of new characters being introduced already. Adding another group of people to remember would just muddy the waters further, and make the whole circus a mushy mess in a lot of people's mind. It'd also balloon the number of suspects, slowing down the pacing of the adventure.

[Misroi]

I'm planning on having a Chapter 0 where the PCs meet all the NPCs the night before the performance en route to Abberton, and they get to know all of them before things get rolling. It also helps give weight to the murder - now the ringmaster isn't just a dead man, it's the guy that gave them a shot in his circus.

[SkylerJB]

StephenOfOlde wrote:

Super excited to run this AP (my first time running an AP), but I had one thing I was confused by. It was my understanding things tagged "Uncommon" had specific unlock requirements, but I couldn't find anything that said how Players could unlock being able to use the Juggler or Staff Acrobat archetype, or learn the new spells in the volume. Is the unlock requirement just that they're playing this adventure?

I believe some of the spells can be found as scrolls in this AP.

From the top of my head I don't remember the rarity rules all too well but generally speaking anything that is uncommon can be access by a PC should the GM permit it. Essentially, if my memory is correct, common is under the assumption that PCs can access that resource at anytime. Uncommon is not obtainable unless it is found or the GM give's the green light for the player to take it.

I know in my case, my players all have access to the new player options for this AP and one of them has chosen to be a Juggler.

[Ron Lundeen]

StephenOfOlde wrote:

Super excited to run this AP (my first time running an AP), but I had one thing I was confused by. It was my understanding things tagged "Uncommon" had specific unlock requirements, but I couldn't find anything that said how Players could unlock being able to use the Juggler or Staff Acrobat archetype, or learn the new spells in the volume. Is the unlock requirement just that they're playing this adventure?

Yes, they have to learn it somewhere in the adventure. Sometimes we're very clear about how you'd get an Uncommon rules item (this NPC has this particular item, or this book contains instructions for this particular feat), but sometimes we want to leave it up to the GM. For example, this adventure presents a bunch of new Uncommon snares. Where might the heroes learn these? Perhaps in the materials left by Lakkai in the aeon tower, or perhaps at Nemmia's camp. Maybe the heroes even seek out a hunter or trapper in town who isn't even listed in the adventure.

For the archetypes, the heroes' experience with the circus might be enough on its own to open up these archetypes, or the GM might decide the heroes have to do something in-game. That's why it's in a "toolbox;" it's a tool for the GM to use in the adventure however she sees fit.

The "Uncommon" tag serves a general game marker for "isn't the core assumption for every game." So you can't just hand your copy of The Show Must Go On to your GM in any home game and say "I'm a staff acrobat." But in the Extinction Curse campaign, it's as common as the GM wants to make it and we assume, somehow, the characters can get at it. (Similarly, we put the Uncommon tag on monster, in part, to say "you can't summon these by default.")

[Saldiven]

I just wanted to put this out there for commentary.

We are still in the middle of Age of Ashes, but our group is already looking forward to Extinction Curse after I described the basic idea of the party being party of a circus.

Now, the group is kicking around the idea of fashioning the party and circus after the Carnival of Chaos from the old GW game Mordheim.

The worst thing about this is that I'd really like to play in that....

[StephenOfOlde]

Ron Lundeen wrote:

StephenOfOlde wrote:

Super excited to run this AP (my first time running an AP), but I had one thing I was confused by. It was my understanding things tagged "Uncommon" had specific unlock requirements, but I couldn't find anything that said how Players could unlock being able to use the Juggler or Staff Acrobat archetype, or learn the new spells in the volume. Is the unlock requirement just that they're playing this adventure?

Yes, they have to learn it somewhere in the adventure. Sometimes we're very clear about how you'd get an Uncommon rules item (this NPC has this particular item, or this book contains instructions for this particular feat), but sometimes we want to leave it up to the GM. For example, this adventure presents a bunch of new Uncommon snares. Where might the heroes learn these? Perhaps in the materials left by Lakkai in the aeon tower, or perhaps at Nemmia's camp. Maybe the heroes even seek out a hunter or trapper in town who isn't even listed in the adventure.

For the archetypes, the heroes' experience with the circus might be enough on its own to open up these archetypes, or the GM might decide the heroes have to do something in-game. That's why it's in a "toolbox;" it's a tool for the GM to use in the adventure however she sees fit.

The "Uncommon" tag serves a general game marker for "isn't the core assumption for every game." So you can't just hand your copy of The Show Must Go On to your GM in any home game and say "I'm a staff acrobat." But in the Extinction Curse campaign, it's as common as the GM wants to make it and we assume, somehow, the characters can get at it. (Similarly, we put the Uncommon tag on monster, in part, to say "you can't summon these by default.")

Awesome! Thanks for clarifying! Can't wait to get started :)

[Dante Doom]

Can someone clarify for me why the Circus Rule a Player can have more than one type of Trick Roll? Why shouldn't he just roll always the better one?

[Jason Tondro]

CorvusMask wrote:

With Flamboni sisters we at least know there are two of them, but with Dwarven Throwers we don't even know names or how many there are ._. Like they apparently form ballista shape and throw each other so there has to be at least three dwarves as part of the trick?

There wasn't room enough on the inside cover to give all the details, so this is unofficial, but if you want to do what I did: there are four dwarves in the Dwarven Throwers act. Three of them form the living ballista while the fourth gets hurled through the air. They claim to be brothers, but in fact are not, and they use the names Nuthri, Suthri, Estri and Vestri. However, these names belong to the characters in the act, so if one of the dwarves drops out, gets injured, or otherwise replaced, the replacement would adopt the unused name.

[CorvusMask]

Jason Tondro wrote:

CorvusMask wrote:

With Flamboni sisters we at least know there are two of them, but with Dwarven Throwers we don't even know names or how many there are ._. Like they apparently form ballista shape and throw each other so there has to be at least three dwarves as part of the trick?

There wasn't room enough on the inside cover to give all the details, so this is unofficial, but if you want to do what I did: there are four dwarves in the Dwarven Throwers act. Three of them form the living ballista while the fourth gets hurled through the air. They claim to be brothers, but in fact are not, and they use the names Nuthri, Suthri, Estri and Vestri. However, these names belong to the characters in the act, so if one of the dwarves drops out, gets injured, or otherwise replaced, the replacement would adopt the unused name.

Thank you :D That is seriously very helpful!

[Dragonchess Player]

Dante Doom wrote:

Can someone clarify for me why the Circus Rule a Player can have more than one type of Trick Roll? Why shouldn't he just roll always the better one?

Probably because which Trick Roll is used depends on how the performance is described. For example, the Dwarven Throwers could use either Athletics to impress the crowd with the height/distance of the throws or Acrobatics to perform flashy flips and tumbles with the throws.

I also wonder if the Advanced Circus Trick feat (mentioned on page 64, but it seems to have been omitted from the Extinction Curse Player's Guide) had some other benefit than just adding a trait to the performance, such as making the second Perform a Trick check during the same act at no penalty when using a different Trick Roll.

[Zapp]

Dante Doom wrote:

Can someone clarify for me why the Circus Rule a Player can have more than one type of Trick Roll? Why shouldn't he just roll always the better one?

There is no reason.

Look at this for a possible rules-tweak to add a reason why a performer might want to use both skills during an Act:

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42x9c?Circus-Show-analysis#4

[Zapp]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

I also wonder if the Advanced Circus Trick feat (mentioned on page 64, but it seems to have been omitted from the Extinction Curse Player's Guide) had some other benefit than just adding a trait to the performance, such as making the second Perform a Trick check during the same act at no penalty when using a different Trick Roll.

The feat is detailed on the blog and it does indeed have such a provision. As its example suggests, it lets you avoid the -10 penalty for taking the Perform a Trick action a third time.

Of course, the additional trick checks you gain as you level up normally (level 4 and 16) does not provide such a boon. Assuming most PCs won't take the feat, they still have no reason to use more than their best skill.

[Dragonchess Player]

Cyprion wrote:

Dire Ursus wrote:

Did you take into account that performers can help each other, and also all the background roles that a PC could take over?

Yeah, the last scenario I ran with +8 skill checks and +1 circ bonus modeled that generously, as if every single check was helped by assistance and agile tricks. My model circus failed all 100 tries even so.

If you want the players to have a shot (and maybe you don't, idk) you really need to make sure they net that +4 excitement from outside events, or start with 10-11 anticipation.

I believe one of the "optimal" solutions for generating 15 Excitement with the first show includes the following:

1) Three PCs taking the Animal Handler (+2 on all trick checks with the animal trait, such as Axel and Eliza; note that this is in addition to the bonus for Costar), Backup Clown (can Send in the Clowns twice per act), and Pyrotechnic (tricks with the fire trait, such as the Flamboni Sisters, generate double Excitement) non-performer roles.

2) At least one of the PC tricks having the fire trait to also benefit from the Pyrotechnic non-performer role.

3) The Dwarven Throwers should probably be the big number, as they have the highest trick check (Athletics +10).

4) Convincing Axel to perform.

5) Persuading the Kanbali family to perform without a net. You may also want to allow a PC that can cast feather fall substitute the spell for an injury check (automatic success) on a failure (this may be in place of the Costar reaction).

6) Convincing Mordaine to perform other than as the big number (or letting her perform as the big number).

7) Dealing with the Troublesome Gamblers and Drunken Brawlers challenges without resorting to lethal damage.

8) Dealing with the Snakes in the Stands challenge swiftly.

9) Each performance (except for one of the three in the finale) takes two checks and Send in the Clowns on a second check failure (or for both failures in the opener and big number). The Backup Clown is probably the most important non-performer role!

Maximum possible Excitement (assuming the Flamboni Sisters and the PC trick with the fire trait fail the second check and need to Send in The Clowns for 1 Excitement instead of 2, plus gaining the +3 from the Kanbali and snake challenges) = 18. Tough, but doable.

[Zapp]

In our campaign, random event #11 "the Tent breaks" saved their bacon and made a Critical Success possible.

[Valeor]

Run my first session on previous week.

My party consist of:
Andre - half-naked human barbarian, who loves burn himself
Valda - leshy, acrobat, wizard
Moonshaez - goblin dog rider ranger with trained goblin dog
Selvin - gnome wizard with parrot
Veles - half elf alchemist (who take role of circus doctor)
Kithum - human rogue clown

First part - the show go smoothly. Mainly Beacuse they have pyrotechnic role and two shows with fire trait. Also they pursued feather fall five to perform without net. At end they have 18 Exitement vs 17 anticipation.

Second part - the investigation becomes hell for them, after a really fun show, they relaxed and separete from each other, group of 4 goes to investigate forest (mainly because one of the players run to forest and not all party followed her) and other two go to investigate ringleader wagon.

In forest party find snakes and kill them, but the fight was extreemly difficult, Valda and trained goblin dog died, 1 charater was unconscious, and Ande have only 1 hit point left.

Meanwhile plants in ringleader wagon eat clown Kithum. When party alltogether again, they healed and go investigate further (two players whoes characters died reroll to circus guards).

With Barnolf the all survived only because of lucky roll of charachter who have dying 3 and that bear fights only 2 rounds).

After that they gather all circus around the fire and try to rest and recover, but fairys come to have fun with them. After having pain with dancing and persuding fairys to leave them alone, they just sit near fire cowering in horror.

This time i think Nemia become impatient of hours of seating in wagon and she show herself to make a speach to PCs and atack. Terrified players have accepted combat and survive.

Now they do some gravedigging and furneal... Selvin got some mental damage and thinking of going to forest and hang some squirells on trees, other characters feel pain and anger for fallen comrades.

Don't know where it leads, but players don't expect such difficult battles and such brutality). Anyway players want to continue)

[Zapp]

Heh.

[The Rot Grub]

The pollen pods complex hazard... How did other people run it? I made it so that each pod had one-quarter the entire hazard's HP, since it has rules for number of pods. But where does that leave what to do with the Broken Threshold?

I ran it so that the entire hazard wasn't disabled until every pod was defeated. The entire encounter was a big drain on the party's resources. What was the intended way to run this encounter?

[Ron Lundeen]

The Rot Grub wrote:

The pollen pods complex hazard... How did other people run it? I made it so that each pod had one-quarter the entire hazard's HP, since it has rules for number of pods. But where does that leave what to do with the Broken Threshold?

I ran it so that the entire hazard wasn't disabled until every pod was defeated. The entire encounter was a bug drain on the party's resources. What was the intended way to run this encounter?

Yes, because if they're clever they can back away from it and damage it from a distance (remember, the door falls right off). To the extent any 1st-level adventure is a bit of a teaching tool, this encounter is teaching, "sometimes it's better to back away."

[Winkie_Phace]

I was pretty confused on how to run it too. I ended up running it a bit like 4 separate enemies that had no move speed. Each had 20 hp (was going to do 32, but quickly realized that would have been insane, so I dropped it behind the scenes). Still not sure how it was intended to work, but your 1/4 idea is how I'd probably run it in a future play through.

They succeeded, but it was tricky. One of my players was a Sensate Gnome, and she rolled perception at the door. I ruled that she could smell a strange floral scent. She rolled nature, and ID'd it as something she hadn't smelled in his wagon before. They started to look around the cart, so I let them find a small window towards the front. The Iruxi lifted her up to get a look, and she was able to ID the plant. The Monkey Goblin monk with thievery decided to break the window and sneak in to remove the pods. He removed one no problem, but failed on the second one. Got blasted with 3 bursts, fell against the door, and was dragged out by the rest of the party. After that they managed to take care of the pods without too many major issues.

[Zapp]

The Rot Grub wrote:

The pollen pods complex hazard... How did other people run it?

I pretty much followed the instructions.

They opened the door (having failed on their Perception check to peer into the windows), which triggered the reaction, and everybody rolled Initiative. The pods rolled a 19 and easily went first.

Despite missing two out of the five attacks (four plus reaction), all three PCs hit became confused (missing the rather hard save).

They all attacked each other (I fudged one random roll to prevent a PC from entering the wagon to charge a pod, which would have been a surefire way to die).

The two remaining PCs tried one attack to learn the pod's impressive AC, and then decided (with a hint from me) it was time to use the fallen-off door to block the pods, in order to save the lives of their comrades.

Then it was combat round #2, and the fight was already over. The pods easily downed the one or maybe two characters (out of the three melee combatants) still standing.

Then I let the two remaining heroes auto-succeed in propping up the door in the door frame, and the encounter was done. The pods didn't take even a single point of damage, and without my leeway would easily have caused a TPK. I did not boost the hazard even though running the AP for five, not four, players.

Not sure what the lesson is here, other than "PF2 is not easy like 5E" :-)

[ninibears]

Hi! This is my first time GMing a full on adventure path, and I'm really new to Pathfinder in general. My PCs are really excited about the idea of buying from shops so I know they are going to try to look for one as soon as they get to Abberton. I've never seen a shop stat block and have no idea where to begin putting one together. Is there a resource that can help with that? I've looked online and haven't been able to find much... Or is it really just "a town this size has 200gp worth of items and 1d6 items of minor note, so guess I'm gonna make up what you can and can't buy." Thank you!!

[Rysky]

The latter, though settlement rules are in the recently released Gamemastery Guide.

[ninibears]

Rysky wrote:

The latter, though settlement rules are in the recently released Gamemastery Guide.

Aw bummer, thanks for clarifying!

[Zapp]

ninibears wrote:

Or is it really just "a town this size has 200gp worth of items and 1d6 items of minor note, so guess I'm gonna make up what you can and can't buy." Thank you!!

Paizo isn't going to create lists of which shops there are (their names, proprietors, and lists of stock), mainly because it is so very individual to each GM and each group how easily available magic items should be.

What they have done though is this:

They have stated clearly their expectations on magic item availability. They have clearly stated how much gold a hero is expected to have available for magic item purchases at each level, and they have established clear market prices for each and every magic item in the game.

What the GMG is saying is basically that the guideline for settlement level (Earn Income, CRB page 504) applies overall, and that availability of magic items is limited by the settlement level. (So the limit is by level, not by a gold amount, which basically means you can't purchase high-level Consumables in a low-level town)

So towns are usually level 2, 3 or 4. If a town is level 3, all (common) items that are level 3 or lower are available, while no items that are level 4 or over are available.

And honestly, that's enough. That is very valuable (and far better than WotC's approach in D&D 5E).

At this stage, it's up to you, the GM. You should certainly not let yourself be bullied into allowing players to buy every level 3 item just because they're within the official guidelines.

The idea the treasure table in the CRB is an a la carte menu with every option available in unlimited quantities, which is what entitled players' demands effectively amount to, is simply unreasonable, and you should only allow it if you want to.

You're the GM - you decide.

You're entirely within your rights to make available a level 4 item (in a level 3 town) and at the same time make a level 2 item completely unpurchasable. You can halve the price of one item while doubling the price of others.

Just as long as you know what you're doing... Good luck! :)

Zapp

PS. There are excellent "magic shoppe generators" online, which can give you randomized names of the shop and its proprietor.

(These generators can usually also create random lists of each shop's inventory; although I realize that to be truly useful you'd need a PF2 specific such generator, and I'm not sure there are any just yet.)

[ninibears]

Zapp wrote:

They have stated clearly their expectations on magic item availability. They have clearly stated how much gold a hero is expected to have available for magic item purchases at each level, and they have established clear market prices for each and every magic item in the game.

What the GMG is saying is basically that the guideline for settlement level (Earn Income, CRB page 504) applies overall, and that availability of magic items is limited by the settlement level. (So the limit is by level, not by a gold amount, which basically means you can't purchase high-level Consumables in a low-level town)

So towns are usually level 2, 3 or 4. If a town is level 3, all (common) items that are level 3 or lower are available, while no items that are level 4 or over are available.

This is perfect, thank you so much for taking the time to write this. The idea of creating all of the shop inventories from scratch seemed kind of overwhelming but this makes things so clear. Also thanks for many of your other write-ups for this AP, especially with the circus mechanic! I've been shamelessly referencing them and they've been super helpful :D

[Zapp]

:-)

[Dire Ursus]

So I just GMed my first session last night and it went well! I decided to start anticipation at 10 instead of 15 based on calculations done by you fine folks, and the group ended up critically succeeding with a final excitement and anticipation of 11 thanks to the backup clown role clutching it out in the last act.

The bard of our group had some interesting questions that I thought I would post in here. He asked if he could use his guidance cantrip during the performance to help someone with their performance check. I decided that he would be able to do this once per act to only one performer but he has to be preoccupied the entire act while casting the spell. The bard also gains Inspire Competence next level, and I'm wondering how other GMs would handle this. Would you allow him to cast Inspire Competence to help out other tricks? I'm leaning towards the same ruling for Guidance, that he can aid them, but he must be preoccupied the entire time and only one performer per act.

[Zioalca]

I'd vote no on Guidance. It only last for 6 seconds. He would also need to meet the performer in or near their circle since it only has a 30ft range. I'd say a similar thing for inspire competence. In my mind, the act last for at least a full minute to entertain the crowd. Also, unless the bard knows the trick perfectly, he wouldn't know when to cast either of these spells to fully benefit the performer.

Any chance you kept track of the circus and wouldn't mind sharing the outcomes? I ran my first session recently and my group actually almost ran over the 15 anticipation mark with the excitement they generated.

[Dire Ursus]

Zioalca wrote:

I'd vote no on Guidance. It only last for 6 seconds. He would also need to meet the performer in or near their circle since it only has a 30ft range. I'd say a similar thing for inspire competence. In my mind, the act last for at least a full minute to entertain the crowd. Also, unless the bard knows the trick perfectly, he wouldn't know when to cast either of these spells to fully benefit the performer.

Any chance you kept track of the circus and wouldn't mind sharing the outcomes? I ran my first session recently and my group actually almost ran over the 15 anticipation mark with the excitement they generated.

They are both cantrips though so as long as the bard is within 30 ft. he can keep casting it. Right now I'm leaning towards making it a non-performer role as background musician or something, so they wouldn't be able to perform their signature trick themselves but they would be able to aid everyone else with their cantrips.

I don't have the sheet with me but I know they lost 2 excitement from attacking the drunken brawlers with a wolf. They only crit succeeded once, and most performers came out with a net 1 or 2 excitement each round.

[Zioalca]

Ah, yes, the brawlers. My group actually decided to trip and hog tie them. Was quite an excellent and unexpected plan from them.

I could see your bard doing that as a non-performer role, considering some non-performer roles already do similar things. I would say they could probably only really aid one trick with it as they would have to keep focus on that one performance/trick. Your GM, make it yours if it feels right.

[CorvusMask]

Ya know, the new circus members from book 2 are overall much easier to use since you know their background and generally what they are like .-.

With book 1 there is lot of "Okay there are two flamboni sisters, what are their names and personalities? What about feather fall five, is it mom and dad and three kids or dad and four kids or even other combo? How old are each member of family? What their personalities are like?"

In a way its good because it allows pcs to insert themselves into family or create npcs for the gm, but it does put lot of burden into gm to flesh out the members ._. (that said none of that was as hard as figuring out how dwarven ballista act worked(and without clue of how many there are), I'm still glad on unofficial version on that xD)

But yeah, I'm bit worried on how well I manage to flesh them out by time I run this but at least it'll be good practice

[Uchuujin]

I haven't seen book two yet, but I do know that I have no intention of leaving the original circus performers behind just because there is a new hot thing.

That being said they could be taught new traits from the new members to improve theirs acts even further. Given what some of the high level acts sound like (from interviews) I could see things like Mordaine doing her trick with acid or lava, Axel's birds glowing and changing color in near hypnotic patterns mid flight, making Mr Tickles dragon sized, etc.

[Zapp]

The new performers and possible recruits of book 2 are

Spoiler:

mostly performers from/at Mistress Dusklight's Celestial Menagerie circus

So yes, they have that crucial one- or two-liner description that the book 1 performers lack.

They also sport a full stat block in most cases, but honestly, that isn't needed for a circus performer NPC (such as the book 1 performers).

So there is a difference but it isn't all that big.

[Zapp]

Uchuujin wrote:

I haven't seen book two yet, but I do know that I have no intention of leaving the original circus performers behind just because there is a new hot thing.

Yes.

Frankly, I'm baffled that none of the AP authors thought the rules for leveling up tricks should apply to NPCs. I find that the notion "NPC performers never improve" to be actively unhelpful, since it is written expressly into the circus rules! It's not often you feel you need a houserule that actively and directly negates and counters the RAW like that.

[Kennethray]

Dire Ursus wrote:

Zioalca wrote:

I'd vote no on Guidance. It only last for 6 seconds. He would also need to meet the performer in or near their circle since it only has a 30ft range. I'd say a similar thing for inspire competence. In my mind, the act last for at least a full minute to entertain the crowd. Also, unless the bard knows the trick perfectly, he wouldn't know when to cast either of these spells to fully benefit the performer.

Any chance you kept track of the circus and wouldn't mind sharing the outcomes? I ran my first session recently and my group actually almost ran over the 15 anticipation mark with the excitement they generated.

They are both cantrips though so as long as the bard is within 30 ft. he can keep casting it. Right now I'm leaning towards making it a non-performer role as background musician or something, so they wouldn't be able to perform their signature trick themselves but they would be able to aid everyone else with their cantrips.

I don't have the sheet with me but I know they lost 2 excitement from attacking the drunken brawlers with a wolf. They only crit succeeded once, and most performers came out with a net 1 or 2 excitement each round.

I let my party use inspire in a similar way. Guidance has the issue of the being immune for 1 hour so it wouldn't work.

[The Rot Grub]

Jorsalheim wrote:

The Mechanical Carny on page 86 says it's possible to replace some of its Berserk-abilites (Berserk and Berserk Slam) to other listed abilites.

But the stat block does not show any Berserk-abilites.

Anyone know more about this? I will be running this encounter soon.

[Zapp]

The Rot Grub wrote:

Jorsalheim wrote:

The Mechanical Carny on page 86 says it's possible to replace some of its Berserk-abilites (Berserk and Berserk Slam) to other listed abilites.

But the stat block does not show any Berserk-abilites.

Anyone know more about this? I will be running this encounter soon.

From the stat block it's fairly obvious they're talking about the Haywire ability. Mostly since there's nothing else it can be.

(I seem to remember a conversation about this - you're not the first one pointing it out. Alas, I can't remember which thread or if an official rep was involved.)

[Porridge]

SkylerJB wrote:

[Lots of helpful suggestions and remarks.]

Thanks for this; I found these points to be really helpful.

A further issue (unless I'm missing something) is that it seems the cost of advertising is generally much higher than the increase in payout that the boost in anticipation advertising brings could bring about.

For example, Tier 12 advertising boosts anticipation by 50, and so can usually increase payout by 50 gp (though it can get up to 200gp if the show is both a critical success and performed during bad weather). But Tier 12 advertising costs 3000gp to purchase.

[Zapp]

Porridge wrote:

A further issue (unless I'm missing something) is that it seems the cost of advertising is generally much higher than the increase in payout that the boost in anticipation advertising brings could bring about.

For example, Tier 12 advertising boosts anticipation by 50, and so can usually increase payout by 50 gp (though it can get up to 200gp if the show is both a critical success and performed during bad weather). But Tier 12 advertising costs 3000gp to purchase.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's an event or NPC in future installments that require certain "circus variables".

Such as the King visiting only a circus capable of drawing in the crowds; meaning the show needs to get Anticipation 50.

Only time will tell. Or Ron Lundeen, I suppose.

[The Rot Grub]

Zapp wrote:

The Rot Grub wrote:

Jorsalheim wrote:

The Mechanical Carny on page 86 says it's possible to replace some of its Berserk-abilites (Berserk and Berserk Slam) to other listed abilites.

But the stat block does not show any Berserk-abilites.

Anyone know more about this? I will be running this encounter soon.

From the stat block it's fairly obvious they're talking about the Haywire ability. Mostly since there's nothing else it can be.

(I seem to remember a conversation about this - you're not the first one pointing it out. Alas, I can't remember which thread or if an official rep was involved.)

I suppose so. Thanks.

Anyone see the Vermlek demon on page 82? They have 3rd-level harm spells, which seems... strong for a Level 3 creature. Basically the 2-action version would do an average of 37 negative damage on a failed save.

I scaled it down by 1 spell level when I ran them against my party.

[Winkie_Phace]

The Rot Grub wrote:

Anyone see the Vermlek demon on page 82? They have 3rd-level harm spells, which seems... strong for a Level 3 creature. Basically the 2-action version would do an average of 37 negative damage on a failed save.

I scaled it down by 1 spell level when I ran them against my party.

I just ran the two Vermlek encounter against my players, and it was definitely a bit much. They aren't exactly tactical geniuses, but it still used basically all of their resources for the day. Two players went down at various times. The Vermlek's also taking damage helped them a bit against the AOE, but still should probably be lowered a bit.

[Zapp]

The Rot Grub wrote:

I scaled it down by 1 spell level when I ran them against my party.

I did too.

Actually I never even considered anything else than a level 3 creature sporting 2d8 harms, but you're right, they're supposed to be "overharmers" (if there wasn't a typo of course).

[Sporkedup]

The Rot Grub wrote:

Zapp wrote:

The Rot Grub wrote:

Jorsalheim wrote:

The Mechanical Carny on page 86 says it's possible to replace some of its Berserk-abilites (Berserk and Berserk Slam) to other listed abilites.

But the stat block does not show any Berserk-abilites.

Anyone know more about this? I will be running this encounter soon.

From the stat block it's fairly obvious they're talking about the Haywire ability. Mostly since there's nothing else it can be.

(I seem to remember a conversation about this - you're not the first one pointing it out. Alas, I can't remember which thread or if an official rep was involved.)

I suppose so. Thanks.

Anyone see the Vermlek demon on page 82? They have 3rd-level harm spells, which seems... strong for a Level 3 creature. Basically the 2-action version would do an average of 37 negative damage on a failed save.

I scaled it down by 1 spell level when I ran them against my party.

You're misreading Harm's effects. The two action version, when not used to heal, does NOT add 8 per level. A third level Harm used as two actions does 3d8 negative, so an average of 13 on a failure...

[Zapp]

Question 1:

Lindell Barn (Chapter 2, page 30):

Quote:

Nemmia’s last visit to the barn was sometime

before her attack on the Circus of Wayward Wonders.
The Hawfton family remains chained in the barn,
desperately thirsty and worried that the murderous
halfling or her demon allies might return at any time.

Quote:

The Hawfton family—Seirah,

Rikart, and Aima—are roped together and lashed
to the post in the middle feed bin. []
They have just enough room to
move about the enclosure, but not to leave it. They’ve
been working on fraying the ropes binding them, but
haven’t yet made a lot of progress, as they can work at
it only when the mephits aren’t paying attention.[]
The Hawftons haven’t
had any food or water since Nemmia left, but they
have not otherwise been physically harmed.

If the heroes defeat Nemmia on a Sunday, they begin their investigations on Monday at the earliest, but there isn't any hints there is any urgency. If the heroes leave the Lindell Barn for last, it can easily be days before the Hawfton's are freed.

Have any consideration been given to the fact a human will likely die after three full days without water (100 hours)?

Is it okay to narrate the heroes find the dead bodies if they only reach the Lindell barn on Thursday or later?

[Zapp]

Question 2:

What is a reasonable timeframe for "clearing out" the Hermitage of Blessed Lightning? That is from start to end of Chapter 3?

I'm asking because its my first Paizo AP, and obviously the timing of encounters affect difficult a great deal. Facing four encounters in a row is harder than the same encounters during four days.

I don't see much in the way of GM instructions: how Threndel and the other corrupted priests move about if the heroes take hours and days finishing encounters, and/or possible reinforcements.

It reads as if the whole chapter is intended to be played in one go, much like Chapter 1, but this seems to be non-trivial given the amount and difficulty of encounters.

As contrast, Chapter 2 clearly allows for each clue to be handled separately, so there the issue isn't pressing.