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Ah Serpent's Skull. My favorite adventure path I've run thus far but also the one I've put the most work into. I tried to compile all the changes I made but -warning!- it's quite a list. Please feel free to use or ignore any of the below.
Spoiler for length.
AP Changes:
Book 1
0. Before the adventure, while doing character introductions or something, ask the PCs which animal best describes them. This lets you set up the Dream Quest in Book 2 a little earlier.
1. As others have said, use the diseases carefully. Consider having a timeline built out ahead of time and rolling for which player catches a disease when. This saves you from rolling the 5-15% chance for EVERY player at the table. You know that on Day 6, Nimblefingers has to save against Filth Fever (or whatever).
2. Make the other castaways likeable. Even if they like to hate them, they’re going to be almost the only NPC interaction for the whole first book. Plus if the PCs like the other castaways, it makes pulling them into Book 2 much, much easier.
3. A number of people have pointed out the value of keeping Yarzoth alive as the BBEG of the path. If she’s killed, try to ensure that her body is in some state to be Raised/Resurrected by Agents of the Coil so she can show up later. (I can do a full write up on how I did this if you're interested)
Book 2
4. The PCs will really need to like and link up with one of the expeditions/factions. If they don't, be ready to create a faction they WILL like and link up with someone else. (Example: Say you have a follower of Sarenrae. He goes to the church and asks if they can fund an expedition. Response: "Well we don't really have the funds or logistics to do that. But we do have several followers that are friendly with the Pathfinders. We'll send a small delegation with the Pathfinder expedition.")
5. Consider having Nkechi (and later Athyra) travel with the main expedition and NOT with the PCs as trailblazers. If you have a capable table already (or a large one) having additional NPCs travel with the party really isn’t a requirement and can slow things down/take attention away from the PCs. Have the native porters' spiritual leader was killed in the warehouse fire. The faction leader said they wouldn't be able to set out because the natives thought their expedition was cursed. So the PCs needed to have Nkechi come along to serve as a spiritual leader for all the porters. Worked much better, kept him in the background once the race began (he traveled with the main caravan) and he wasn't slowing down my already large table. Also makes Nkechi kind of the spokesman for the native manual laborers working for the faction expedition. Gave the PCs a "go to" man if they needed some manpower help with something (repairing a bridge to the central island, clearing an area to move the camp, etc) Same with Athyra once she joined. She gave the PCs some pointers on what was ahead in the M'Neri plains then she and Jagi dropped back to guide the main expedition.
6. For the spirit quest, have cards done out beforehand for the PCs in their animal totem form. Moves, attack forms, etc. Consider adding a “mini-quest” that the PCs can do in their animal forms if they appear to like this. Ruins on the Dream Plane that they have to get through before reaching the Dream Serpent.
7. ROLL RANDOM ENCOUNTERS OUT FOR THE JOURNEY BEFOREHAND. I can’t stress this enough and others have said it. That timeline you started on the island to track diseases? Keep using it to track the party's journey and encounters. (I just printed out one of the several available Calendars of Golarion and wrote notes on the days. Worked fine.)
8. Consider having the PC’s expedition start in the middle of the pack. Track where the other expeditions are and have them run into other trailblazers/expeditions as they catch up or fall behind. Make it feel more like a race.
9. Building off 7 above, consider adding in other encounters where the PCs can make up time or slow down the other expeditions to reach Tazion first. I did this and my PCs LOVED it. Said it was the high point of Book 2 and really kept the pressure on and made it feel like a race. (Some examples my PCs used: Sending herds of triceratops stampeding at them. The witch could speak with animals so he had a pride of lions harassing pack animals on the M'Neri plains. They hired thugs of their own in Kalabuto to harass the other groups. Adding in more encounters with locals like Zenj tribesmen or even Bas'O nomads that could show their expedition shortcuts, Setting some creative traps. etc.) (I have a full write up of the encounters I used if you're interested)
10. Starting in Book 2 and all through Book 3, remember the environment of the jungle. Want to explore into the afternoon/evening or early morning? Chances are the jungle is shrouded in a thick mist from the nearly daily rain. This is going to hurt their ranged characters (who can't see far) and greatly increase the likelihood they'll wander into an ambush. Even charging becomes a pain if you can't see what's lurking ahead of you in the thick, jungle mist. Make sure to enforce max encounter distances. Very few places are going to allow them to rain death at the enemy from a distance through the thick trees. Base encounter distance to even get a PER check in dense woods is 2d6x10 feet, if I remember correctly. Remember the increased PER penalties when in the jungle. There's a much better chance of (again) stumbling into an ambush if they can't hear the enemy waiting for them over the noises of all the jungle birds and screeching monkeys. Finally remember to apply the modifiers for the frequent rain. It makes PER checks even more difficult (additional -4 I think) and affects ranged firing like severe winds: additional -4 to hit.
These are going to be especially important through the valley of Saventh-Yhi in Book 3 as well.
11. If you’re using Yarzoth as the BBEG, have Isillar’s notes mention how she came through Tazion on her way to Saventh-Yhi (and possibly how she was raised by the Coil). This lets the PCs be engaged in a race for Saventh-Yhi and a chase for their old nemesis (and also keeps the danger/mystery of the serpentfolk in the adventure)
Book 3
12. Consider adjusting the discovery point system. Instead of requiring 120 points to claim the city, consider 15 pts in each district. This will force the party to scout around and move their camp. (I have a summary of the exploration changes as well.)
13. Have the different mysteries that can be found printed out beforehand on slips of paper to give out. Either pick which mysteries to give out or have a chart to roll on. (I have these done up if you're interested at all)
14. Make some minor changes to make sure the PCs know they're the first ones to find the lost city. A) Move the ghost at area C to outside the valley. Have his diary ranting about how he knows how close he is to the lost city. B) Change the bodies found in Vaults D and F to serpentfolk bodies or locals tribesmen (trogs, boggards, etc). C) Stress that Juliver and Cline came into Ilmurea through the Darklands. They did NOT find Saventh-Yhi. You don't want the PCs to feel even kinda cheated out of being the first ones to the lost city.
15. STRONGLY consider allying other factions with residents of the districts. This will make the race to claim the city a bit more tied into the city itself. Make the city feel DYNAMIC. You have 5 factions and 6 dominant tribes. Really think about who's allying with who, who exploring where and who's attacking who. (Example: If the Pathfinders set up camp next to the Military district, is Olujimi just going to watch them? Is he going to send envoys up there to demand his tribute for an alliance? Is he going to send a chaou-ki warband up there to try and drive them out? Is the Consortium going to approach the charou-ki and try to buy them off and get them to attack the Pathfinders while maybe supplying them masterwork weapons?) Have the other factions moving camps. Have the other city districts launching attacks at the other camps. Let the PCs know that the city is alive. Allow them to ally and interact with the other factions and tribal districts. Each day you have a lot of choices. Think of it more as various powers striving for control of the city instead of just a hackfest. Don't let them fall into the mindset of "we have to kill everything in the city." That will get boring super fast.
Bottom line: avoid City of Seven Spears feeling static. Be dynamic. Really flex your creative muscles and think about what each side is going to do and give the PCs a rundown on what they've seen happening around the rest of the city each day. Then let them decide where they want to focus their efforts on. Really have fun with it!
16. The timeline? Yup, keep running with it. Use it to track daily encounters for the camps (so you know what camps have to make defense rolls when) and to track discovery points for the various camps. This saves SO much time at the table. Also lets you know what camp is exploring what district so the PCs have a chance to run into/stop them if they want.
17. Consider having them find signs of Yarzoth’s interaction with the natives of the city. Being praised as an arriving savior by the degenerate serpentfolk, spotted sneaking towards the First Vault by the Tribe of the Radiant Serpent, etc. The serpentfolk are supposed to be THE bad guys of this AP and its important that you keep throwing little tidbits that they’re up to something big… even if the PCs don’t know WHAT yet.
Book 4
18. Be ready to run this book during the end of Book 3. If the PCs stumble on a Vault during their exploration of the city, let them find it! Just maybe give them a heads up that they MIGHT not be tough enough to explore it yet. This makes finding the mural/locations of the vaults more interesting if they’ve stumbled on one or two already.
19. Don’t be afraid to start this book while the camps are still racing to finish their discovery points and claim the city. Makes it more interesting if the PCs are exploring the vaults and their camps still have something to do (mapping out and cataloging the ruins).
20. Strongly encourage your PCs to build up Prestige Awards with factions here. There’re a lot of insanity checks and having Restorations available from a faction for 2 CPA was a HUGE help for my PCs.
21. Consider having the Gorilla King show up as an additional faction at the end of Book 3/beginning of Book 4. He sets up a huge (three times the size) camp and begins trying to beat the PCs at their own game by racing through the city collecting discovery points. Make him into a real menace that the PCs fear, watching over the ruined city. Only when the PCs are on the verge of claiming the city will he agree to meet with them and launch into the King events. The Gorilla King is one of *the* premiere characters in the Mwangi and should be played up as such. His approach, arrival and (possibly) encampment should be played up to instill sheer terror.
22. Playing off 17 above, consider not letting the PCs fight the Gorilla King. Someone else brought up the GREAT idea (that I used and it went beautiful) that the King sends his eldest son to fight the PCs to the death at the feast. His son has aspirations for the throne and the King uses this as an excuse to get him out of the way. This lets you play up the King as conniving and smart and lets you keep him “above the fray” and maintain him as a semi-legendary figure in the Mwangi.
Book 5
23. I had the ranger/guide make a survival roll to point out that if they could clear out the morlock/old Azlanti garrison portion of Ilmurea, it would make a suitable base camp. This would free up spell slots so they didn't have to teleport back and forth to the surface. This led them to clearing out the cloaker gate and the elementals.
24. While talking to Udarra, I made sure to mention that the urdefhan were very violent and most likely only willing to talk to someone in a position of strength. This led to the PCs assaulting the aerie and probably several other strongholds before walking in and saying "We're the ones who are kicking your butt. Take us to your leader."
25. My players have been big on Prestige Awards and moving up in their factions. The PA suggestions from the adventure didn't really reflect the goals of all the factions, so I modified them some to push for more exploration through Ilmurea. (EXAMPLE: After reporting on the broken stairs in the cloaker gate, the Pathfinders wanted to find an intact gate down to Orv. This will be worth extra PA and will (hopefully) divert them a bit between the urdefhan and Thousand Fangs.)
26. For Thousand Fangs, consider making a quick "cheat sheet" for the fortress with room numbers, occupants present (normal), and occupants present (alerted). It took a long time to flip through the book checking each of the nearby rooms to see who was where when the snake-men sent out a telepathic alarm. I think a table will be much easier. Just my finding.
27. Once PCs finally enter the Thousand Fangs fortress, remember the 100 ft range telepathy of the serpentfolk. If the PCs hit one chamber, they might be "chain pulling" a few rooms depending on how close they are.
28. As written, the fortress has an infinite number of guards. Whether on alert or not -by the book- there's a 30% chance of any barracks containing 2d4 serpentfolk. Consider that once the fortress is on alert, reduce the barracks serpentfolk to 1d4 and instead add a couple other guardposts through the main coil/corridor. Replacement guards at the tail watching the gate, guards manning the murderholes above the main gate and guards watching the broken section. I also put the other guardposts on "alert." They keep the doors open and have pairs of sentries watching the closest main approaches. But due to the "infinite" number of potential guards, I've also decided that when (if?) the PCs kill Sskhavo, the fortress commander, the remaining serpentfolk will essentially abandon Thousand Fangs and fall back to the Sanctum of Ydersius (area R in Ilmurea). This is where they make their stand in Book 6.
Book 6
29. The only major change I made was with the disconnected feel of the Hunter's Maze. It just didn't seem to fit so I decided that, while fleeing from serpentfolk forces, Valgaunt and his urdefhan troops had found a portal called the Eye of Savith. This was a portal that morlock legend said allowed Savith to watch over her ancient enemies the snake-men in Thousand Fangs. In reality it was a route into the upper levels of Savith's Crypt in Saventh-Yhi, a sight where Azlanti warriors would come to pay their respects to the legendary warrior and also served as a training ground for them. The urdefhan were trapped here and it allowed me to reflavor the Hunter's Maze as a winding Azlanti crpyt/training area but keep the encounters as is. Just how I did it.
0. Before the adventure, while doing character introductions or something, ask the PCs which animal best describes them. This lets you set up the Dream Quest in Book 2 a little earlier.
1. As others have said, use the diseases carefully. Consider having a timeline built out ahead of time and rolling for which player catches a disease when. This saves you from rolling the 5-15% chance for EVERY player at the table. You know that on Day 6, Nimblefingers has to save against Filth Fever (or whatever).
2. Make the other castaways likeable. Even if they like to hate them, they’re going to be almost the only NPC interaction for the whole first book. Plus if the PCs like the other castaways, it makes pulling them into Book 2 much, much easier.
3. A number of people have pointed out the value of keeping Yarzoth alive as the BBEG of the path. If she’s killed, try to ensure that her body is in some state to be Raised/Resurrected by Agents of the Coil so she can show up later. (I can do a full write up on how I did this if you're interested)
Book 2
4. The PCs will really need to like and link up with one of the expeditions/factions. If they don't, be ready to create a faction they WILL like and link up with someone else. (Example: Say you have a follower of Sarenrae. He goes to the church and asks if they can fund an expedition. Response: "Well we don't really have the funds or logistics to do that. But we do have several followers that are friendly with the Pathfinders. We'll send a small delegation with the Pathfinder expedition.")
5. Consider having Nkechi (and later Athyra) travel with the main expedition and NOT with the PCs as trailblazers. If you have a capable table already (or a large one) having additional NPCs travel with the party really isn’t a requirement and can slow things down/take attention away from the PCs. Have the native porters' spiritual leader was killed in the warehouse fire. The faction leader said they wouldn't be able to set out because the natives thought their expedition was cursed. So the PCs needed to have Nkechi come along to serve as a spiritual leader for all the porters. Worked much better, kept him in the background once the race began (he traveled with the main caravan) and he wasn't slowing down my already large table. Also makes Nkechi kind of the spokesman for the native manual laborers working for the faction expedition. Gave the PCs a "go to" man if they needed some manpower help with something (repairing a bridge to the central island, clearing an area to move the camp, etc) Same with Athyra once she joined. She gave the PCs some pointers on what was ahead in the M'Neri plains then she and Jagi dropped back to guide the main expedition.
6. For the spirit quest, have cards done out beforehand for the PCs in their animal totem form. Moves, attack forms, etc. Consider adding a “mini-quest” that the PCs can do in their animal forms if they appear to like this. Ruins on the Dream Plane that they have to get through before reaching the Dream Serpent.
7. ROLL RANDOM ENCOUNTERS OUT FOR THE JOURNEY BEFOREHAND. I can’t stress this enough and others have said it. That timeline you started on the island to track diseases? Keep using it to track the party's journey and encounters. (I just printed out one of the several available Calendars of Golarion and wrote notes on the days. Worked fine.)
8. Consider having the PC’s expedition start in the middle of the pack. Track where the other expeditions are and have them run into other trailblazers/expeditions as they catch up or fall behind. Make it feel more like a race.
9. Building off 7 above, consider adding in other encounters where the PCs can make up time or slow down the other expeditions to reach Tazion first. I did this and my PCs LOVED it. Said it was the high point of Book 2 and really kept the pressure on and made it feel like a race. (Some examples my PCs used: Sending herds of triceratops stampeding at them. The witch could speak with animals so he had a pride of lions harassing pack animals on the M'Neri plains. They hired thugs of their own in Kalabuto to harass the other groups. Adding in more encounters with locals like Zenj tribesmen or even Bas'O nomads that could show their expedition shortcuts, Setting some creative traps. etc.) (I have a full write up of the encounters I used if you're interested)
10. Starting in Book 2 and all through Book 3, remember the environment of the jungle. Want to explore into the afternoon/evening or early morning? Chances are the jungle is shrouded in a thick mist from the nearly daily rain. This is going to hurt their ranged characters (who can't see far) and greatly increase the likelihood they'll wander into an ambush. Even charging becomes a pain if you can't see what's lurking ahead of you in the thick, jungle mist. Make sure to enforce max encounter distances. Very few places are going to allow them to rain death at the enemy from a distance through the thick trees. Base encounter distance to even get a PER check in dense woods is 2d6x10 feet, if I remember correctly. Remember the increased PER penalties when in the jungle. There's a much better chance of (again) stumbling into an ambush if they can't hear the enemy waiting for them over the noises of all the jungle birds and screeching monkeys. Finally remember to apply the modifiers for the frequent rain. It makes PER checks even more difficult (additional -4 I think) and affects ranged firing like severe winds: additional -4 to hit.
These are going to be especially important through the valley of Saventh-Yhi in Book 3 as well.
11. If you’re using Yarzoth as the BBEG, have Isillar’s notes mention how she came through Tazion on her way to Saventh-Yhi (and possibly how she was raised by the Coil). This lets the PCs be engaged in a race for Saventh-Yhi and a chase for their old nemesis (and also keeps the danger/mystery of the serpentfolk in the adventure)
Book 3
12. Consider adjusting the discovery point system. Instead of requiring 120 points to claim the city, consider 15 pts in each district. This will force the party to scout around and move their camp. (I have a summary of the exploration changes as well.)
13. Have the different mysteries that can be found printed out beforehand on slips of paper to give out. Either pick which mysteries to give out or have a chart to roll on. (I have these done up if you're interested at all)
14. Make some minor changes to make sure the PCs know they're the first ones to find the lost city. A) Move the ghost at area C to outside the valley. Have his diary ranting about how he knows how close he is to the lost city. B) Change the bodies found in Vaults D and F to serpentfolk bodies or locals tribesmen (trogs, boggards, etc). C) Stress that Juliver and Cline came into Ilmurea through the Darklands. They did NOT find Saventh-Yhi. You don't want the PCs to feel even kinda cheated out of being the first ones to the lost city.
15. STRONGLY consider allying other factions with residents of the districts. This will make the race to claim the city a bit more tied into the city itself. Make the city feel DYNAMIC. You have 5 factions and 6 dominant tribes. Really think about who's allying with who, who exploring where and who's attacking who. (Example: If the Pathfinders set up camp next to the Military district, is Olujimi just going to watch them? Is he going to send envoys up there to demand his tribute for an alliance? Is he going to send a chaou-ki warband up there to try and drive them out? Is the Consortium going to approach the charou-ki and try to buy them off and get them to attack the Pathfinders while maybe supplying them masterwork weapons?) Have the other factions moving camps. Have the other city districts launching attacks at the other camps. Let the PCs know that the city is alive. Allow them to ally and interact with the other factions and tribal districts. Each day you have a lot of choices. Think of it more as various powers striving for control of the city instead of just a hackfest. Don't let them fall into the mindset of "we have to kill everything in the city." That will get boring super fast.
Bottom line: avoid City of Seven Spears feeling static. Be dynamic. Really flex your creative muscles and think about what each side is going to do and give the PCs a rundown on what they've seen happening around the rest of the city each day. Then let them decide where they want to focus their efforts on. Really have fun with it!
16. The timeline? Yup, keep running with it. Use it to track daily encounters for the camps (so you know what camps have to make defense rolls when) and to track discovery points for the various camps. This saves SO much time at the table. Also lets you know what camp is exploring what district so the PCs have a chance to run into/stop them if they want.
17. Consider having them find signs of Yarzoth’s interaction with the natives of the city. Being praised as an arriving savior by the degenerate serpentfolk, spotted sneaking towards the First Vault by the Tribe of the Radiant Serpent, etc. The serpentfolk are supposed to be THE bad guys of this AP and its important that you keep throwing little tidbits that they’re up to something big… even if the PCs don’t know WHAT yet.
Book 4
18. Be ready to run this book during the end of Book 3. If the PCs stumble on a Vault during their exploration of the city, let them find it! Just maybe give them a heads up that they MIGHT not be tough enough to explore it yet. This makes finding the mural/locations of the vaults more interesting if they’ve stumbled on one or two already.
19. Don’t be afraid to start this book while the camps are still racing to finish their discovery points and claim the city. Makes it more interesting if the PCs are exploring the vaults and their camps still have something to do (mapping out and cataloging the ruins).
20. Strongly encourage your PCs to build up Prestige Awards with factions here. There’re a lot of insanity checks and having Restorations available from a faction for 2 CPA was a HUGE help for my PCs.
21. Consider having the Gorilla King show up as an additional faction at the end of Book 3/beginning of Book 4. He sets up a huge (three times the size) camp and begins trying to beat the PCs at their own game by racing through the city collecting discovery points. Make him into a real menace that the PCs fear, watching over the ruined city. Only when the PCs are on the verge of claiming the city will he agree to meet with them and launch into the King events. The Gorilla King is one of *the* premiere characters in the Mwangi and should be played up as such. His approach, arrival and (possibly) encampment should be played up to instill sheer terror.
22. Playing off 17 above, consider not letting the PCs fight the Gorilla King. Someone else brought up the GREAT idea (that I used and it went beautiful) that the King sends his eldest son to fight the PCs to the death at the feast. His son has aspirations for the throne and the King uses this as an excuse to get him out of the way. This lets you play up the King as conniving and smart and lets you keep him “above the fray” and maintain him as a semi-legendary figure in the Mwangi.
Book 5
23. I had the ranger/guide make a survival roll to point out that if they could clear out the morlock/old Azlanti garrison portion of Ilmurea, it would make a suitable base camp. This would free up spell slots so they didn't have to teleport back and forth to the surface. This led them to clearing out the cloaker gate and the elementals.
24. While talking to Udarra, I made sure to mention that the urdefhan were very violent and most likely only willing to talk to someone in a position of strength. This led to the PCs assaulting the aerie and probably several other strongholds before walking in and saying "We're the ones who are kicking your butt. Take us to your leader."
25. My players have been big on Prestige Awards and moving up in their factions. The PA suggestions from the adventure didn't really reflect the goals of all the factions, so I modified them some to push for more exploration through Ilmurea. (EXAMPLE: After reporting on the broken stairs in the cloaker gate, the Pathfinders wanted to find an intact gate down to Orv. This will be worth extra PA and will (hopefully) divert them a bit between the urdefhan and Thousand Fangs.)
26. For Thousand Fangs, consider making a quick "cheat sheet" for the fortress with room numbers, occupants present (normal), and occupants present (alerted). It took a long time to flip through the book checking each of the nearby rooms to see who was where when the snake-men sent out a telepathic alarm. I think a table will be much easier. Just my finding.
27. Once PCs finally enter the Thousand Fangs fortress, remember the 100 ft range telepathy of the serpentfolk. If the PCs hit one chamber, they might be "chain pulling" a few rooms depending on how close they are.
28. As written, the fortress has an infinite number of guards. Whether on alert or not -by the book- there's a 30% chance of any barracks containing 2d4 serpentfolk. Consider that once the fortress is on alert, reduce the barracks serpentfolk to 1d4 and instead add a couple other guardposts through the main coil/corridor. Replacement guards at the tail watching the gate, guards manning the murderholes above the main gate and guards watching the broken section. I also put the other guardposts on "alert." They keep the doors open and have pairs of sentries watching the closest main approaches. But due to the "infinite" number of potential guards, I've also decided that when (if?) the PCs kill Sskhavo, the fortress commander, the remaining serpentfolk will essentially abandon Thousand Fangs and fall back to the Sanctum of Ydersius (area R in Ilmurea). This is where they make their stand in Book 6.
Book 6
29. The only major change I made was with the disconnected feel of the Hunter's Maze. It just didn't seem to fit so I decided that, while fleeing from serpentfolk forces, Valgaunt and his urdefhan troops had found a portal called the Eye of Savith. This was a portal that morlock legend said allowed Savith to watch over her ancient enemies the snake-men in Thousand Fangs. In reality it was a route into the upper levels of Savith's Crypt in Saventh-Yhi, a sight where Azlanti warriors would come to pay their respects to the legendary warrior and also served as a training ground for them. The urdefhan were trapped here and it allowed me to reflavor the Hunter's Maze as a winding Azlanti crpyt/training area but keep the encounters as is. Just how I did it.
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Short answer: Yes I used Yarzoth as one of the big bads.
Longer answer:
spoiler:
In my game, Yarzoth died in Book 1. But! Her body was recovered and she was raised by the Coil (the organization from book 6). She really needs to survive Book 1 to better draw the PCs into Saventh-Yhi (and into Ilmurea below). Essentially, have the PCs encounter some of the degenerate serpentfolk from the Government district soon after arriving (a patrol maybe). Have them ranting about the return of the "chosen one" who will bring about the "Golden Age of the Serpent". If the PCs inquire further (prisoner maybe?) the degenerates can tell of Yarzoth's arrival, how she turned them against their false god (the rakshasa) back to the true path of the Father of Serpents. Then she headed towards the south end of the valley (the Vault with the portal to Ilmurea). Have them describe her distinctive scale pattern so the PCs can recognize her as Ieana/Yarzoth from the Shiv.
NOTE: if Yarzoth is already dead, have the PCs find a location where she was attacked and a few pages were torn from her journal (it's already established that she keeps meticulous notes from her time on Smuggler's Shiv). There they can find that she was Raised by members of something called The Coil (agents sent by Ilmurea so she can assist in the ritual).
NOTE: if Yarzoth is already dead, have the PCs find a location where she was attacked and a few pages were torn from her journal (it's already established that she keeps meticulous notes from her time on Smuggler's Shiv). There they can find that she was Raised by members of something called The Coil (agents sent by Ilmurea so she can assist in the ritual).
I also made some changes to Issilar as well:
spoiler:
In my game, I established (and gave VERY vague hints in the Eleder Colonial Archives for the PCs to tip them off early) that the serpentfolk had a prophesy that a Chosen One would return to restore the head of the Father of Snakes.
In preperation for this, every few generations the degenerate serpentfolk produced a pureblood that was sent to Tazion to serve as the Watcher. He was charged with protecting the Pillars and to send the Chosen One to Saventh-Yhi when they returned. (I wasn't happy with the idea of Issilar being an exile. That just never sat right with me)
So in my scenario, Issilar knows how to operate the Pillars and has given one of the gems to his charou-ki allies/worshippers for safekeeping (he also hid another one in the Temple of Snakes so he only has two. Wanted to make sure the PCs fully explored Tazion.) When Yarzoth arrives, Issilar was going to escort her to Saventh-Yhi but she tells him of the PCs hot on her tail (heh. pun intended), thus the only reason the Watcher is still in Tazion... to destroy the PCs.
Issilar records his joyous meeting with the Chosen One in his journal (for the PCs to find after his defeat and to keep them on the trail. Also had to add where the Chosen One told Issilar how something called "The Coil" had found her body and raised her... the PCs originally killed Ieana in my game but left her body behind.)
So in Saventh-Yhi, Yarzoth finds that since Issilar has left, the serpentfolk turned to worshipping the newly arrived rakshasa. She returns the degenerates to the worship of Ydersius and they turn on Akarundo driving him back into exile in his "pleasure den" where he sulks now.
Yarzoth has been receiving visions of the subterranean city Ilmurea and assumes it's below Saventh-Yhi (something the degenerates know nothing about) so she travels to the Artisan district (assuming the humans there were left to guard it since it was the human Azlanti that drove them from the surface), finds the portal and uses it to return to Ilmurea.
It's actually her return and the celebration that follows that gives the opening for Juniver to escape (destroying the portal on her way back through).
I've added a couple chambers to the rear of the First Vault where Sozothala dwells, an undead exile from Ilmurea below. Several destroyed undead were added to indicate where Yarzoth had to carve her way through the crazed undead necromancer's forces to reach the portal and Ilmurea. This was actually what woke Sozothala up so he was ready to give chase to Juniver when she comes through (and leads to her capture and the Night of Hissing Death event)
So when the PCs arrive in Saventh-Yhi, they find the degenerates they capture ranting about the "Return of the Chosen One destined to bring about the Golden Age of the Serpent!" and can continue following Yarzoth's trail (and help to link the adventures together a little more and keep the serpentfolk -the main badguys- more prominent in the early adventures).
In preperation for this, every few generations the degenerate serpentfolk produced a pureblood that was sent to Tazion to serve as the Watcher. He was charged with protecting the Pillars and to send the Chosen One to Saventh-Yhi when they returned. (I wasn't happy with the idea of Issilar being an exile. That just never sat right with me)
So in my scenario, Issilar knows how to operate the Pillars and has given one of the gems to his charou-ki allies/worshippers for safekeeping (he also hid another one in the Temple of Snakes so he only has two. Wanted to make sure the PCs fully explored Tazion.) When Yarzoth arrives, Issilar was going to escort her to Saventh-Yhi but she tells him of the PCs hot on her tail (heh. pun intended), thus the only reason the Watcher is still in Tazion... to destroy the PCs.
Issilar records his joyous meeting with the Chosen One in his journal (for the PCs to find after his defeat and to keep them on the trail. Also had to add where the Chosen One told Issilar how something called "The Coil" had found her body and raised her... the PCs originally killed Ieana in my game but left her body behind.)
So in Saventh-Yhi, Yarzoth finds that since Issilar has left, the serpentfolk turned to worshipping the newly arrived rakshasa. She returns the degenerates to the worship of Ydersius and they turn on Akarundo driving him back into exile in his "pleasure den" where he sulks now.
Yarzoth has been receiving visions of the subterranean city Ilmurea and assumes it's below Saventh-Yhi (something the degenerates know nothing about) so she travels to the Artisan district (assuming the humans there were left to guard it since it was the human Azlanti that drove them from the surface), finds the portal and uses it to return to Ilmurea.
It's actually her return and the celebration that follows that gives the opening for Juniver to escape (destroying the portal on her way back through).
I've added a couple chambers to the rear of the First Vault where Sozothala dwells, an undead exile from Ilmurea below. Several destroyed undead were added to indicate where Yarzoth had to carve her way through the crazed undead necromancer's forces to reach the portal and Ilmurea. This was actually what woke Sozothala up so he was ready to give chase to Juniver when she comes through (and leads to her capture and the Night of Hissing Death event)
So when the PCs arrive in Saventh-Yhi, they find the degenerates they capture ranting about the "Return of the Chosen One destined to bring about the Golden Age of the Serpent!" and can continue following Yarzoth's trail (and help to link the adventures together a little more and keep the serpentfolk -the main badguys- more prominent in the early adventures).
As for Vyr-Azul:
spoiler:
I did keep Vyr-Azul as the high priest (and big bad) at the end of Book 6, but I added Yarzoth in the final encounter. I bumped her up a bit obviously and added some mythic power to her, but mostly she was just a focus for Vyr-Azul to perform the ritual to rase Ydersius and return the serpentfolk to their glory.
I did keep Vyr-Azul as the high priest (and big bad) at the end of Book 6, but I added Yarzoth in the final encounter. I bumped her up a bit obviously and added some mythic power to her, but mostly she was just a focus for Vyr-Azul to perform the ritual to rase Ydersius and return the serpentfolk to their glory.
I do like giving more clues about Vyr-Azul! I should have done that too. The intellect devourer seems like a very good spot for that.
The idea to have them ally with the serpentfolk in Book 3 is an interesting one. The serpentfolk are pretty darn evil, so a betrayal seems fairly inevitable LOL. But it would certainly give another good RP opportunity in Saventh-Yhi for sure!
I clipped some of this from an old post of mine in another thread....
Book 4) Overall, I'd shorten this book by only using 3 of the Vaults (C, G, H iirc, but keeping the vampire Gbala from E8 as a recurring villain). I'd also be changing the frequency of madness checks to once every few hours unless the PCs were doing things without a care for exposure. To me this book reads like a last minute expansion (DLC) to book 3.
Books 5 and 6) I'm not a fan of the Urdefhan in general, I replaced them all with Drow for a more D1-D3 feel. In a nutshell, Drow House Rasivrein is nearly destroyed IMC, survivors are refugees fleeing through the underdark and their house matron is well versed in ancient lore. She's looking for powerful magic (to destroy Zirnakaynen), as well as a new settlement (Ilmurea) to call home. She has also sent a large contingent to the area below Varisia looking for the another lost city, Xin-Shalast (Runelords book #6). Parts of that group are also below Guiltspur (Shattered Star book #5). It adds a sense of continuity for my version of Golarion.
I have all the Uredefhan to Drow conversions in a text file, the Monster Codex was a huge help here. If you need it, I can post it here or email it.
Other changes I made...
Book 1) Castaways and Factions. There are too many castaways along with too many factions IMHO. Keeping one or two castaways is useful for base camp duties, YMMV. Factions, I'd probably pick one for "good" so to speak and one for an "evil" rival faction.
Hope any of this helps.
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Could you maybe write your encounters of Racing to Ruin here? (the encounters with the other factions)
If they were in another thread already I might have missed them..^^
I think I had them written up somewhere, but maybe not. No worry! Here's some of what I did from my document of notes & changes:
Spoiler:
What I personally did was take the arrival times and back them all up the 54 days of travel time to get their assumed start times. Then assumed the PCs started a couple days ahead of them. Then backed things up a week (because that's how long it takes to get the expedition together). This gives you a good timeline.
Then -because I wanted it to be more of a race- I delayed the PCs start time by 1 day for every square destroyed in the warehouse fire. They ended up losing 5 days and starting in the middle of the pack.
Now this would have made it IMPOSSIBLE as written to arrive first (and that's just cheap and unfair) so I added in a few more opportunities to make up time.
- At Fzumi Salt Mines (area C) they can shave off a day as written in the book. Kept that as is.
- At the roadside camp at (area D) I had another set of thugs try to sneak in and poison the party’s horses at night. They found out that they’d been hired by the Aspis scouts that had come thru before. They hired the thugs themselves to poison the scouts behind them and get an extra day lead.
- In Kalabuto (area I), the party hired agents of their own to sabotage the caravans behind them to extend their lead by another day.
- At the Lake of Vanishing Armies (area L) the local fishermen were being harassed by the Spawn in the lake. If the PCs took out the Spawn in the lake, the natives would take their whole expedition up river by barge to the edge of Mzali territory thus cutting off another day.
- At the tomb (area P) I had some local natives show up soon after the battle. My PCs were careful to reconsecrate the grave site and turned over Amghawe's spear to the natives. As thanks, they showed the PC's expedition a shortcut through the jungle cutting off several bends in the river they were following and shorting the trip an additional day.
- In the jungle, I had another encounter with (I believe) Bas’O nomads. This was a purely roleplaying encounter and the locals showed them another shortcut if they were made friendly.
- Along the way they had several random encounters with animals. They used Speak with Animal to make them friendly and sent them ahead to attack the expeditions ahead of them. I slowed the other expeditions down a day per significant attack.
- After taking out the Mzali raiders (area M) they made an agreement with one of the survivors to have his people attack the other expeditions coming through slowing them down.
- At one point they also caught up with Ishirou and the Consortium trailblazers. They took him out in an ambush and I had that slow the Consortium down a day as they had to send more trailblazers ahead.
After all that, they ended up arriving on the same day as the Red Mantis trailblazers. I gave them credit for arriving first (since it was really a tie) and made the prisoners in Tazion (at V4) the Red Mantis scouts.
Overall my players said it really felt like a race with the pressure being on and they played smart to make up time whenever they could.
What I personally did was take the arrival times and back them all up the 54 days of travel time to get their assumed start times. Then assumed the PCs started a couple days ahead of them. Then backed things up a week (because that's how long it takes to get the expedition together). This gives you a good timeline.
Then -because I wanted it to be more of a race- I delayed the PCs start time by 1 day for every square destroyed in the warehouse fire. They ended up losing 5 days and starting in the middle of the pack.
Now this would have made it IMPOSSIBLE as written to arrive first (and that's just cheap and unfair) so I added in a few more opportunities to make up time.
- At Fzumi Salt Mines (area C) they can shave off a day as written in the book. Kept that as is.
- At the roadside camp at (area D) I had another set of thugs try to sneak in and poison the party’s horses at night. They found out that they’d been hired by the Aspis scouts that had come thru before. They hired the thugs themselves to poison the scouts behind them and get an extra day lead.
- In Kalabuto (area I), the party hired agents of their own to sabotage the caravans behind them to extend their lead by another day.
- At the Lake of Vanishing Armies (area L) the local fishermen were being harassed by the Spawn in the lake. If the PCs took out the Spawn in the lake, the natives would take their whole expedition up river by barge to the edge of Mzali territory thus cutting off another day.
- At the tomb (area P) I had some local natives show up soon after the battle. My PCs were careful to reconsecrate the grave site and turned over Amghawe's spear to the natives. As thanks, they showed the PC's expedition a shortcut through the jungle cutting off several bends in the river they were following and shorting the trip an additional day.
- In the jungle, I had another encounter with (I believe) Bas’O nomads. This was a purely roleplaying encounter and the locals showed them another shortcut if they were made friendly.
- Along the way they had several random encounters with animals. They used Speak with Animal to make them friendly and sent them ahead to attack the expeditions ahead of them. I slowed the other expeditions down a day per significant attack.
- After taking out the Mzali raiders (area M) they made an agreement with one of the survivors to have his people attack the other expeditions coming through slowing them down.
- At one point they also caught up with Ishirou and the Consortium trailblazers. They took him out in an ambush and I had that slow the Consortium down a day as they had to send more trailblazers ahead.
After all that, they ended up arriving on the same day as the Red Mantis trailblazers. I gave them credit for arriving first (since it was really a tie) and made the prisoners in Tazion (at V4) the Red Mantis scouts.
Overall my players said it really felt like a race with the pressure being on and they played smart to make up time whenever they could.