Menace Under Otari Questions

[profounddark]

Regarding the adventure included with the Beginner Box, Menace Under Otari, I had questions related to the end of the first level. I ran it today and am hoping to turn the first level into a solid "intro to Pathfinder" session, but the end left me a bit confused, as it seems that whatever was intended seemed to have gone over my head. So, I have a few questions mostly pertaining to the final two rooms of the first level.

My first question relates to the connected bits from Rooms 10 and 11.

Room 10/11 traps:

The whole shtick of the PCs activating a trap in Room 10 that would aid them in Room 11 wasn't obvious, especially after they had just experienced a trap that harmed them in Room 8. I'm not sure if the expectation was that the GM is just supposed to say, "oh, this activates a trap in the other room" and then explain the function of the trap, or if a kobold "accidentally activate" the trap before combat starts. Room 11 indicates that "from here they can’t tell precisely how the trap is triggered or what it does." It just seems like without intervention, it's just as likely that the PCs will trigger the trap (and get shot) rather than the kobolds.

My second question relates to an enemy in Room 11.

Room 11 enemies:

The Kobold Trapmaster .... are they expected to have traps already laid out in the room? Because it says she *deploys* three traps at the top of the stairs, and she *has* three traps in her item list. But, placing a single trap takes three actions. Once the battle starts, it seems a bit weird for her to spend her whole turn laying down a trap (especially if the PCs can *see her do it*). When I ran it, by the time her turn came around, she was already engaged in melee, so spending her whole turn deploying a trap seemed sort of unreasonable.

The players I ran it with were relatively experienced at different TTRPGs and while they thought a lot of the scenario was a reasonable intro to Pathfinder, they were unimpressed with the end (of level one) and had a lot of their own recommendations. For others who have run it, what was your experience with the room? Did you run it as written? Did you make changes?

[JohannVonUlm]

profounddark wrote:

Regarding the adventure included with the Beginner Box, Menace Under Otari, I had questions related to the end of the first level. I ran it today and am hoping to turn the first level into a solid "intro to Pathfinder" session, but the end left me a bit confused, as it seems that whatever was intended seemed to have gone over my head. So, I have a few questions mostly pertaining to the final two rooms of the first level.

My first question relates to the connected bits from Rooms 10 and 11. ** spoiler omitted **

My second question relates to an enemy in Room 11. ** spoiler omitted **

The players I ran it with were relatively experienced at different TTRPGs and while they thought a lot of the scenario was a reasonable intro to Pathfinder, they were unimpressed with the end (of level one) and had a...

I ran the Beginner Box twice last month. As for your first question

Room 10/11 Trap:

One of my groups decided to flip the lever, and I only told them that they had likely armed a trap-like device in the next room. Neither they nor the Kobolds were aware of what the trap was. They acted cautiously and the first Kobold to act triggered the trap -- devastating the kobolds in the room.

The second group did not arm the trap, making it a non-issue. They still handily defeated the encounter.

As for your second question:

Room 11 enemies:

Both of my groups handily defeated this encounter. I believe in both, I was able to set one trap (snare?) and the PCs basically watched him do it. So it amounted to one square the Trapmaster could use to prevent flanking. It didn't help. By the time the Trapmaster had a second turn, he was in melee and needed to do other things.

That doesn't feel like an end-level boss fight. But I tried to focus on those dark stairs going deeper and the mysterious egg-shell necklace. It's probably more of a teaser than an end-level boss fight.

[Starocotes]

I cannot find the DC to disarm the spike traps from the Kobold Trapmaster in room 11.

[CrystalSeas]

You're right.

The same room has a DC 18 for a Hazard 2 trap (spear trap on west wall).
I called this a Hazard 1 and gave it a DC 17 to disable.

[Lord Fyre]

Would this adventure work as a lead-in to The Abomination Vaults?

[narchy]

Lord Fyre wrote:

Would this adventure work as a lead-in to The Abomination Vaults?

Absolutely. You would be 2 and AV starts at level 1, but that only needs a little adjustment.

Both are set in Otari, so the town's PCs are the same. There's some links to MUO in AV.

[Varash Ironskull]

narchy wrote:

Lord Fyre wrote:

Would this adventure work as a lead-in to The Abomination Vaults?

Absolutely. You would be 2 and AV starts at level 1, but that only needs a little adjustment.

Both are set in Otari, so the town's PCs are the same. There's some links to MUO in AV.

I'm currently planning on Troubles in Otari 2-4 leading in to red hand of doom, but what levels does the vaults run?

[Dancing Wind]

The Abomination Vaults runs from Level 1 through Level 10

Ruins of Gauntlight starts at Level 1, and progresses through levels 2, 3, and 4.

Hands Of The Devil starts at level 5, and goes through levels 6 and 7.

Eyes of Empty Death starts at level 8 and goes through 9 and 10.