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Hello all.
I'm the GM of an AoE group that just finished Book Two and is moving onto Book Three. I had a wild idea about the Agents' downtime taking place on a magical attraction of the Radiant Festival, a device that is essentially a train that runs on the parameter of the Festival grounds.
A bunch of things will be happening during this events - introductions of future characters before they appear in the campaign; the remains of the Skinner Cult trying to murder the Agents that brought low their leader; and the train (called the Iron Scarab) running away like the bus from the film Speed.
So I came up with a scenario and wanted your opinions. The idea to is have a series of Obstacles in the Agents way before an actual combat breaks out. I modeled it on the Irorium games in the back of Book Three.
My players are Level 9 and I have five of 'em. An Goblin Alchemist (FA Monk), a half-elf Fighter (FA Wizard), a Human Cleric of Iomedae (FA Blessed One), a Human Investigator (FA Wizard), and a Human Imperial Sorcerer (FA Rogue).
The Iron Scarab Challenge
The Agents need to get into a position where they can stop the Iron Scarab.
Roll Perception initiative. In initiative order, choose one of the skill options. ROLL IN THE OPEN. Let the GM tally up the Victory points and end your turn.
Each Obstacle needs the Victory Point total in parentheses to advance; once those points have been met, the next obstacle immediately occurs, even if it is the middle of the round.
The Agents may only spend two rounds on a single Obstacle. Once the second round is complete, the agents advance to the next obstacle and lose 1 Victory point.
The Agents need to
a) Complete all 9 Obstacles in 8 rounds less or
b) They need to acquire 40 Victory Points total.
Critical Success – You succeed and force your opponents back. 2 Victory Points.
Success – Your team of agents gain 1 Victory Point.
Critical Failure – You need extra assistance with the obstacles before you. Your team loses 1 Victory Point.
1. PANDEMONIUM STRIKES (5 Victory Points)
People scream as half of the guests begin to turn violent and attack their fellow party goers!
Take charge and direct the civilians away from the chaos. DC 24 Society or 24 Diplomacy.
Bellow a challenge to the enraged guests. DC 28 Intimidation.
Try to ascertain what is happening. DC 28 Medicine or DC 26 Perception.
2. CHAOS REIGNS SUPREME (5 Victory Points)
While some of the civilians escaped, others are trapped in fighting off the enraged guests!
Spring to the aid of the remaining civilians. DC 26 Athletics or DC 26 Intimidation.
Attempt to move to the next car. DC 28 Athletics or DC 26 Acrobatics.
3. FIRE! (5 Victory Points)
Someone spilled their drink and it has caught fire! You must act quickly to ensure the car doesn't become an inferno!
Put the Fire Out with Mundane Means. DC 26 Athletics or DC 24 Crafting.
Put the Fire Out With Magical Means. DC 26 Arcana / Nature or DC 28 Occult / Religion. (Lower the DC by 2 if the agent calls out an appropriate spell to help, such as Ray of Frost.)
4. STOP THE ENRAGED SPELLCASTER! (5 Victory Points)
One of the enraged guests is casting spells indiscriminately! Stop them!
Grab their Hands or Break their Concentration. DC 24 Athletics or DC 26 Acrobatics.
Break their Concentration. DC 26 Intimidation or DC 28 Diplomacy.
Counter the spell. DC 26 Arcana / Nature / Occult / Religion.
5. THE IRON SCARAB PICKS UP SPEED! (3 Victory Points)
Suddenly, the Iron Scarab lunges forward!
Keep your feet. DC 26 Acrobatics or DC 24 Reflex Save.
Use your momentum to attack an enraged guest. DC 28 Athletics.
6. HELP OGGVURM THE MERCILESS (5 Victory Points)
At the far end of the car, the door bursts open and a massive Skinstitch launches itself at the nearest guest, the Ravenile champion himself!
Spring to the aid of Oggvurm. DC 26 Athletics.
Blast the Skinstitch with a spell. DC 26 Arcana / Nature / Occult / Religion.
7. BARRED DOOR (3 Victory Points)
When moving towards the engine room, you encounter a door which will not budge.
Pick the lock. DC 26 Thievery.
Break the door down. DC 28 Athletics.
Destroy the Lock with alchemical means. DC 28 Crafting.
8. CAR BRAWL (5 Victory Points)
Getting through the barred door reveals a massive melee within!
Brute's Tactics. DC 26 Athletics.
Scoundrel's Tactics. DC 24 Stealth or DC 26 Deception.
Scare Tactics. DC 28 Intimidation.
9. SAVE DESHARAQUIEL AND OLANSA (5 Victory Points)
Kyras' mother and the City Planner are surrounded by an enraged mob!
Force Through. DC 27 Athletics.
Immobilize the Mob. DC 26 Arcana / Nature or DC 28 Occult / Religion. (Lower DC by 2 if the agent calls out an appropriate spell to help, such as Slow, Hold Person, etc.)
10. SPOTTING THE REMAINS OF THE SKINNER CULT (NO POINTS)
At the far end of the car, you see the Skinners split up - half going on the roof and half moving to the next car.
Go through the next car's door. DC 27 Athletics or DC 28 Intimidation.
Fight them on the roof! DC 28 Athletics or DC 26 Acrobatics.
Do you thinking this is a good idea? Have I made the challenges too difficult? Am I robbing the players of something by not making the entire challenge combat? Other thoughts? Please let me know.
Thanks.
Seems pretty good. My only concern is that it has a very "theme park" feel, there is no "realistic" reason why all these people that are relevant to the plot are congregating in this spot and parade in front of the players one after the other. If this is the atmosphere you were going for (which seems reasonable since it's literally a theme park ride!), that's fine of course. Just thought I'd point it out.
Fair enough. I initially didn't want to go into the context because I was very worried about the mechanics - while I've been GMing for 25 years, this is the first time running Pathfinder 2 and I don't want to screw things up.
More context for this "idea."
One of the players' father has been secretly planning his announcement to run for Absalom's Low Council seat. With his son's (PC's) involvement in solving the Skinner murders, he figures the time is right. This has been foreshadowed to the party, but I'm hoping they kinda forgot it as it was several real-time months ago.
The father has invited dozens of movers and shakers to the maiden run of the Iron Scarab, hoping to spring his announcement onto the crowd. He will get Captain Asilia of Gyr, Olsana Terimor (he actually invited the Acting Primarch, but he couldn't come for reasons the party will discover later), and Reginald Vancaskerkin.
The Captain of Starwatch needs to be there so when the agents spring into action, she can become even more impressed by their actions and thus personally recruit them into the Starwatch.
I've got Jonis Flakfatter aware of the guest list. He's gonna attempt to poison his two co-conspirators early to remove them from the board - he has poisoned the hors d'oeuvres with Blackfinger Blight. In my version, I stole the idea that the Blackfinger Blight enrages those are poisoned by it (some forum member's "Kingsman" suggestion - thanks in advance). Thus, after the agents get introduced to the major players by the PC's father, guests will eat the hors d'oeuvres and start the chaos.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, the remains of the Skinner Cult take this opportunity and attempt to murder the agents who brought down their leader. They kill the Iron Scarab's driver and jam the controls, giving the agents a small window of time before the Iron Scarab gathers too much speed and jumps the tracks, killing everyone on board.
I did include Oggvurm in the scene so foreshadow his drugged state - and show off his regeneration abilities.
Nice, well I guess it's not as far-fetched as I thought. You seem to have everything figured out. As for the difficulty, it should be fine I think, just loosely follow the guidelines for the chase subsystem, that's probably the closest equivalent.
Thank you for your advice! I feel a lot better about the mechanics of this now.