3 - The Smoking Gun (GM Reference)

[Grumpus]

Surprised there wasn't a thread for this volume yet.
Has anyone ran this all the way through? How did your group like it?

[TAVelcro]

This is also the case for Stolen Fate. It seems that threads have died out.

[Unicore]

I was a player in a campaign that got 2/3rds the way through this book, but then we TPK’d at a point where it just didn’t feel like it made any sense for the story to continue.

We had a lot of fun with the first 2 books and there were great story themes in the third book, but it was really annoying that the whole campaign was built up around “play with guns, magic bad” and then the last book is essentially : Magic is essential, guns will be nearly useless in many important encounters. Like there should have been tons of enemies with weakness to either bludgeoning or piercing, not resistance to physical as a whole. Also, the time crunches in book 3 are pretty heavy in relationship to the difficulty of the encounters.

[thewastedwalrus]

My gang of outlaws proposed using the Maw with its enormous range to take out the Gearsmoke and prevent the pyronite bombs from ever reaching the falls. Certainly not minimizing collateral damage for the many folks on the boat, and aiming/firing the cannon at that distance accurately would be tricky, but it might save Alkenstar/the falls with some dubiousness from the unknown boat teleport ritual.

I had Dunsmith convince them to follow the infiltration scheme as written, but it was an interesting, if callous, idea. One big aspect against would be that destroying the vessel could play into Loveless's ambition to militarize Alkenstar and provoke tensions with Nex by sinking a "Nexian" vessel with many citizens aboard.

[dragonvan]

Anyone ran the first scene.

Coach:

Does the four success contained possible failure

[xcmt]

In the interest of having some kind of GM feedback here for future reference, my group's just started The Smoking Gun. General thoughts as they come up:

The Stagecoach Heist: This is perhaps the most effective my players have ever been in any set piece encounter ever, in any campaign, and they accomplished it by not remotely working together in the slightest. They didn't prepare anything resembling a plan ahead of time beyond a lazy ambush, but when it came time for initiative mode the dice just worked for them. The roof-hidden Ranger used a Roc-Shaft arrow to blow one of the gunners off the stagecoach (nat 1 saving throw). The Gunslinger used a cart for cover and occupied most of the incoming fire while the Tanuki Ranger in his doggo form on the ground bolted under the cart, changed back to humanoid form, and attached a grappling hook and rope under the coach. The Bard started trying to Demoralize all the riders not catching my obvious statements about counting successes towards the meta-challenge. And then the Kineticist who had taken a Snarecrafter Dedication finally revealed it to the party by setting up four Hampering Snares.

Three rounds later, each of them pursuing their own plan, the stagecoach was completely immobilized in traps and Disable Device checks, horses were Slowed, guards were at half health, and then the Bard finally made the final Intimidation check to force them to surrender.

Loveless's Offices: I hate this scene. My group lucked out in succeeding wildly on their restricted investigatory checks and had the whole thing wrapped up in two rounds, which was for the best because I really didn't want to run a combat here, and I don't see how it's possible for a full group that's interrupted by the Leadsmiths to all get out unnoticed unless you commit to a full Naked Gun moment. Meanwhile you have not only them but also the Shieldmarshals in Vault 15 who assuredly would respond to gunfire. That's too many bodies and too few avenues of escape, in a scene where you're specifically tasked with not fighting. I'd recommend to anyone reading this looking for input to stretch the Leadsmith arrival to five or more "rounds", and maybe give the party more optional opportunities for success if they stick around, like bonus loot or additional lore drops.

[xcmt]

Loveless's Office (cont): So after wrapping up the entire investigation in two rounds, rather than book it back to the cart to hide before the Shieldmarshals showed up they just stayed. Some didn't even hide. I gave them multiple outs to run and sneak away, but everyone was staying behind for everyone else, nobody wanted to leave...just a headache. They were eventually discovered, and the combat I didn't want to run was now being run, with TPK being prevented solely because someone had the bright idea to Disable Device on the door to the other Vault. The Shieldmarshals in there have neither Thievery nor Athletics training. One tiny Bard locked down the entire room with a single skill check, providing enough time for the party to amass on the elevator before the lock could be blown off.