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Prepping this adventure. Looks like a fun one!
However looking at the scored earth scouts, they have composite shortbows with the volley trait.
Is that correct? Or are they using Longbows?
Damage is correct for composite shortbow so I plan not to use the volley trait.
Also, in levels 7-8, having basilisks means that almost all characters except 5th level characters will be immune to the petrifying gaze ability. This makes the encounter pretty much a cake walk.
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[snip, not much to comment on before]
...Also, in levels 7-8, having basilisks means that almost all characters except 5th level characters will be immune to the petrifying gaze ability. This makes the encounter pretty much a cake walk.
Yup, my party arrived a bit scared out of their wits after many of them had a near tpk with a previous basilisk encounter. However once they realized that incapacitation worked in their favor, it really was one of the 'wow we've gotten stronger' moments.
The low tier group I played in against the anhkavs was potentially scarier for their ability to destroy armor.... however I got a crit on a sudden charge with a fatal weapon and one-shot the first one.... the next was critted by a spell, etc. None of them got to go....
Venture-Agent, California—Silicon Valley
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Pretty sure it should be a Longbow in the first encounter. All the stats are for a longbow (shortbow is 1d6 not 1d8), it's just named Shortbow. In the final encounter, shortbows make more sense.
Also note the high tier special abilities for those enemies, Hamstring and Tethered Shot, have just been copy/pasted from low tier, so make sure to adjust to the appropriate damage.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Having played it, yeah it's pretty fun. Some takeaways:
- The DCs in the chase scene are lower than what you may be used to. But actually that fits the instructions in the GMG, that most obstacles should be easy. The result is that the party gets a lot of successes and critical successes, but you also need a lot of those so it works out fine. The chase should be fast-paced and make the players feel powerful.
- The basilisk encounter is definitely something that makes players feel like "hey we got stronger (than the previous adventure with basilisks)". In our case they all died in the first round due to some "kill it with fireball!". It's quite possible that players waste some firepower here that they might need in the next one, so don't feel bad if this encounter seems too easy.
- The final encounter is not easy at all, you have to cross a lot of terrain to get to those bombs on time. And getting shot at tends to distract players. You should make sure to emphasize the urgency when you're laying out the initial description of the scene.
I found it a really fun scenario to play. It's challenging but in a fun way that makes you realize that level 5-8 characters are kinda awesome and can deal with some rough stuff.
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Venture-Agent, California—Silicon Valley
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Just realized, Hamstring and Teathered Shot basically just have the Flourish Trait. Honestly, here's how it should be written:
Success The creature is unaffected.
Failure The creature is flat-footed and takes a –5 foot status penalty to its movement until the end of its next turn.
Critical Failure As failure, and the creature is knocked prone.
Basically, add the Flourish trait and remove the frequency, then remove the reference to the damage since they're already making a strike.
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Pretty sure it should be a Longbow in the first encounter. All the stats are for a longbow (shortbow is 1d6 not 1d8), it's just named Shortbow. In the final encounter, shortbows make more sense.
I don't see any of the bow damage as d8, only as d6. So not a longbow
Also note the high tier special abilities for those enemies, Hamstring and Tethered Shot, have just been copy/pasted from low tier, so make sure to adjust to the appropriate damage.
Since the Hamstring and Tethered Shot are a (apparently) unique abilities for the mobs in this adventure, I am not sure I feel comfortable about just changing the high tier stats.
The editing could have been a little better. An ongoing problem with the second season adventures.
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Another oddity. In the Trails area, the DC don't make sense between tiers. For 5-6, on the Collapse Path, the DC is 22. But in 7-8, the DC is 21. Why would it be easier?
And in Aggressive Wasp, the Stealth DC is 20 for 5-6 for it is 21 for 7-8. Why only an increase of 1, not the usual 3 or 4 point increase?
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Ya, the bow stats are some weird mix of shortbows/longbows. Since NPCs don't need to follow PC rules just used the bow as printed and described them as "powerful orc bows"
Hmm. At the ranges we are looking at, the volley trait will be a factor.
I have been hoping more clarity would be provide before my table tomorrow but I guess not.
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I posted some queries HERE but I got no reply.
Nuts.. I did look for a post. Didn't find yours!
I searched my copy of the PDF and I don't see any bow used by an orc to be doing d8s only d6s.
I wonder if they updated the PDF?
Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria
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Happy to see that others also noticed the issue with the bows ^^, I currently plan to run it as written, since that is usually what I do when the scenarios are missing a weapon ability like deadly on a rapier.
Considering the level, I doubt that the bows are exceedingly relevant as loot.