Hello, Paizo!
I have some questions about main ally and foe of ROTR. First of all, how Runelord Sorshen got her mythic tiers? You know, you can't get a mythic tier just because you are sexy azlant lady. Any explanations, please?
And 2nd one. Alaznist,one of the most powerful evokers in history, fights with PC, using maximized chain lightning, maximized quickened magic missile, cool looking, but mostly useless meteor swarm, and mythic versions of this spells. Okay, but there are 2 delayed blast fireball AND EMPOWERED MAXIMIZED FIREBALL WITH MYTHIC VERSION in her spellbook. She can literally kill LVL 20 PC party by using timestop, placing 2 DBF and then open with actual fireball - 40d6 + 300 dmg in 1 round after timestop. But, as I said before, she uses maximized quickened magic missile (!!!), not a word about DBFs and fireballs.It's shameless downplay of most powerful runelord of all time! Can you say anything about it?
Creative Director
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Sorshen is an NPC, and as such she doesn't have to follow the PC rules for mythic, but the short version is that she attained her first mythic tier over 11,000 years ago when she discovered the Everdawn Pool, bathed in it, and figured out how to reverse engineer it to start building the first runewell.
As for what Alaznist does in that last battle against your PCs... her suggested tactics are just that: suggestions. We can't give her perfect tactics against your specific party because we don't know what your party's made of, and even if we did, those "perfect tactics" would be total failure tactics against other groups and unstoppable TPK generators against others. We generally aim for NPC tactics that are middle of the road options though; averages as it were. Furthermore, giving NPCs potentially not perfect tactics helps to make them more realistic since everyone makes mistakes.
How you adjust those tactics to work better in your game is part of the GM's job and part of the GM's fun.
That said... I'm not sure how much fun it'll be for your table if you hyper-specialize her tactics so that there's no way for the players to even have a chance to win. The whole point of the AP is for the players to endure and survive and triumph, not to slap them down at the last bit and "win" as the GM. A GM wins the game if, at the end, everyone at the table had fun.
Thank you for fast answer, but I have some more questions
You said: The whole point of the AP is for the players to endure and survive and triumph, not to slap them down at the last bit and "win" as the GM.
But what about Alazhnist? I mean, she is a real person in terms of AP. She got her mythic tiers, she is the most powerful evoker, she has her own agenda, lust for power. Why does RUNELORD must give up all her dreams and desires? I think, you're right - it will be disappointing for some tables to die in the end of 6th book, but will it be true win for players?
I think, it's dissrespect both for Alazhnist and players.
I guess, if ROTR would be mythic campaign, with mythic PC, with true battle against full power Alazhnist, this AP will be more... fair. But what is done can't be undone. Any opinions on this?
Also-also, any info about secret mythic source of Xandergul?
We have only this: "In -6448 AR, he secretly gained a divine source, becoming the demigod known as the Peacock Spirit."
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Creative Director
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Thank you for fast answer, but I have some more questions
You said: The whole point of the AP is for the players to endure and survive and triumph, not to slap them down at the last bit and "win" as the GM.
But what about Alazhnist? I mean, she is a real person in terms of AP. She got her mythic tiers, she is the most powerful evoker, she has her own agenda, lust for power. Why does RUNELORD must give up all her dreams and desires? I think, you're right - it will be disappointing for some tables to die in the end of 6th book, but will it be true win for players?
I think, it's dissrespect both for Alazhnist and players.
I guess, if ROTR would be mythic campaign, with mythic PC, with true battle against full power Alazhnist, this AP will be more... fair. But what is done can't be undone. Any opinions on this?
Up to you. You know your table better than anyone else, and whether or not your players will enjoy losing to Alaznist.
My opinion is spelled out in the adventure path—Alaznist is a villian and she is intended to be defeated. If she doesn't the campaign setting changes into something else entirely.
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Creative Director
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Also-also, any info about secret mythic source of Xandergul?
We have only this: "In -6448 AR, he secretly gained a divine source, becoming the demigod known as the Peacock Spirit."
He became mythic when he became the Peacock Spirit, and he became the Peacock Spirit when he became mythic. This is an intentionally "chicken and the egg" situation where both things enable the other, can't exist before the other, and yet do exist. That's part of they mythic power of it; a paradox that yet exists.
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But what about Alazhnist? I mean, she is a real person in terms of AP. She got her mythic tiers, she is the most powerful evoker, she has her own agenda, lust for power. Why does RUNELORD must give up all her dreams and desires? I think, you're right - it will be disappointing for some tables to die in the end of 6th book, but will it be true win for players?
I think, it's dissrespect both for Alazhnist and players.
Ware this line of thinking. It leads to the GM-PC arms race and to rocket tag. Follow that path only if everyone's down.
But you're hitting on the distinction between writing a villain for a non-interactive medium and writing a villain for an interactive one. If Return of the Runelords was a novel, a TV show, or a film, Alaznist's and the heroes' actions could be dramatized to maintain tension rather than breaking it. Alaznist could cast her most powerful routine, pursuing her ends through the best means at her disposal, and the author could both guarantee the heroes' survival while at the same time making it seem like they survived due to a combination of planning, grit, and luck. In a game, where outcomes are not guaranteed and the GM has no control over the PCs' plans, tension like this is a lot harder to arrange. Especially in high level, mythic PF1, which either produces swingy outcomes making dramatic tension-buildup difficult, or guarantees outcomes due to optimization, which makes it impossible.
He became mythic when he became the Peacock Spirit, and he became the Peacock Spirit when he became mythic. This is an intentionally "chicken and the egg" situation where both things enable the other, can't exist before the other, and yet do exist. That's part of they mythic power of it; a paradox that yet exists.Also-also, any info about secret mythic source of Xandergul?
We have only this: "In -6448 AR, he secretly gained a divine source, becoming the demigod known as the Peacock Spirit."
And I take it Alaznist gained her mythic ascension my making her pact with Yamasoth.
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Creative Director
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And I take it Alaznist gained her mythic ascension my making her pact with Yamasoth.He became mythic when he became the Peacock Spirit, and he became the Peacock Spirit when he became mythic. This is an intentionally "chicken and the egg" situation where both things enable the other, can't exist before the other, and yet do exist. That's part of they mythic power of it; a paradox that yet exists.Also-also, any info about secret mythic source of Xandergul?
We have only this: "In -6448 AR, he secretly gained a divine source, becoming the demigod known as the Peacock Spirit."
Seems right to me.