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This is a spoiler-filled resource thread for the Triumph of the Tusk: Hoof Cinder, and Storm by David Schwartz and Shay Snow.
Below are my prep sessions for each chapter with the help of Niktorak and Ironbear. I'd love to see how other GMs are preparing and what their reactions are to the narrative of the AP in the second module. My direct review of book 2 and general thoughts to follow, and the error in Chapter 3 alongside the creative developer's discord post.
Chapter 1: Stampede of Bone.
Chapter 2: The Battle for Blisterwell .
Chapter 3: Tracks of the Past.
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I enjoyed this book, but in almost every Paizo adventure, I feel like my players will side with the opposite NPCs that the adventure presents. I'm glad that there was text in the adventure offering the PCs to side against the orcs from the Darklands, and with the surface dwellers. The nastier, meaner, and stronger looking NPCs are always the cooler ones to ally with for some reason.
Overall, I quite like this book for its open-endedness, clear objectives and many ways to achieve them, the art is incredible as always, and the maps were interesting as well.
I'm sorry to the technology fans to say that I like the lack of guns in this one (I am not a fan of the orc deity who is a gun-totter).
Sometimes, you just want the orcs to be presented as magnificent bastards and cruel savages so you can enjoy allying with them and they won't be judgmental about your choices and mistakes lol
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General Thoughts: This set of chapters does a much better job of continuing the story, and keeping pace with where we’ve been left off once the mystery of Ardax’s location is cleared up. The action here is good, the items are interesting, and there is plenty of dialogue for the NPCs; more so than we’ve gotten at the start of the adventure path. I reserve the right to examine the third and final book before making any final judgements, but this was definitely more enjoyable overall.
My feelings remain the same, good starting point for new players to pf2e and still a nothingburger thus far. There were many errors unfortunately. Art was surprisingly less reliant on pf1e orcs, and the style was consistent.
There are no statistics for Urgir as a settlement here or in Book 3, so I will do what I can with what we have:
:
Dwarven built Orcish fortress, and capital of Belkzen
Government Stewart of Urgir (Overlord) and Various Factions (War Council)
Population: 28,700 84% Orcs, 5% Dromaar, 4% Human, 2% Giant, 1% Elves, 1% Aiuvarin, 3% Other
Threats: Orc Disadents, Undead, Supernatural forces from Tar-Baphon, Natural Predators of Belkzen
Empty Hand Hold Urgir controls all of the trade in Beklzen and is the seat of power for the many orcish holds, Dwarven relics and artifacts can be purchased and sold more easily in Urgir. NPCs begin with one step better than usual towards characters openly displaying a diplomat’s badge the symbol of Ardax’s authority.
Ardax the White Hair Stewart of Urgir (Cunning Male Orc Empty Hand Hold leader)
Mother Agwilend Urgir’s High Priestess (Rhetorical Female Orc Matron, The Reverent)
Urgurak Ironmouth (Traditionalist Male Orc Warrior-Bard, The Warmongers)
Bravthur (Liaison Male Orc Jeweler, The Jobbers)
Also that “Glitch in the matrix” from the previous book, coined phrase by Ironbear for this AP, has been cleared up establishing Ardax is indeed in Urgir ready to give the players a reward of random scrolls, and pocket change. He offers to protect them, but can’t guarantee their safety. He refuses to commit to any trade agreements. So players essentially get treasure for helping, which is not their motivation. The diplomat’s badges thankfully go out to each player, and aren’t just a single badge as suggested by the text reflected as such in the foundryvtt module. I was genuinely worried it was a single badge.
Chapter 1 has a rather bulky subsystem that is time sensitive, but doesn’t detract from the mission. It handles better if the players had mounts, as this mission from Ardax to save the Aurochs is critical to the survival of the orc people, and yet mounts are provided only afterwards to check on a neighboring settlement.
In fact most of the obstacles seem to affect only unmounted players, and can be trivial with having those mounts given at the start of chapter 2. Purchasing mounts instead has the same advantage, and is doable in Ugir as a (metropolis)settlement. It’s very strange why Ardax doesn’t give the players mounts now which play out as needed for each of the 3 chapter’s goals. Namely in this chapter, as it is described as mission critical for the entire nation. The number of days it takes to resolve this journey is directly linked to the herd’s health. Nervous hunters obstacle seems like the diplomat’s badge would already be handy, but they apparently want money instead.
Yundarga’s introduction is in chapter 2 as a leader of a hold, yet she is mentioned here several hundred miles away from that location. Ah another glitch in the matrix, of course. I assume this was meant to be referencing Regnat the Green as he is the one whom we’ve been coordinating with the entire time here. A simple read through would have solved this problem, but we all know that’s beyond the scope of this adventure.
Chapter 2 was the strongest this time around, with a very decently paced set of events and payoff with the final battle against a hold leader, who rises as a new type of undead soon after. We also get the hint of the Whispering Tyrant with an ability that an NPC has, and that the former orc God of death, Zagresh is to blame for all the goings on. We don’t get a question and answer period with any sort of religious figure for now, hoping for that in book 3 as it’s a growing coincidence after Zeral.
Marrow has far too much influence for one scene to pay off outside of a single combat encounter, and isn’t seen again afterwards. Seems like a waste, but shows a departure of the orcs as primarily evil. This is one of the elements of their past we won’t see again with the contemporary orcs. Wargs won’t be used by the contemporary orcs.
Kinetic club is the right choice for treasure with the lizards. That with power attack is the perfect orc two hander.
Yundarga has the entire plan to take back the hold and weaponizes the players more effectively than I have seen Ardax do at this point. She’s been leading for only a year, and yet she’s leagues more impressive than I’ve seen from Whitehair in the several chapters of this AP so far. It’s going well until the players meet a ritualist with an aptly named talent, ‘Whispering Secrets’, it’s clear who’s responsible. Vecna. I mean Tar Baphon.
The final battle with the rival hold leader is well played out, but the subordinates who can effectively kill him and trigger the reanimating may immediately turn on him. It seems like they should be on par with the previous ritual guards and still fight, but okay.
Chapter 3 has a bad start. “Not long after this initial discussion, the PCs receive an invitation from Tulluk Clovenface,” Hold on a sec. This is another glitch in the matrix. I remember this guy’s reference in the previous chapter. “...little more than a year ago after challenging Tulluk Clovenface. Though Yundarga spared the elder chief’s life, Tullock died soon after.” There he is, mis-spelled name and all. The dead really are just rising up and trying to become part of the story again.
Okay, well he is referenced again in the dialogue box. It seems he’s not dead. Yundarga would actually be the NPC that needs to be in this situation and dialogue box as denoted by the gendered reference to “her” and not him. Yet down the line it refers to Tulluk with “folding his arms over his chest”, but I am certain this is supposed to be Yundarga again. She more than proved herself, even if she only has 1 year experience as a leader.
We get another Tulluk reference further down in the conversation, which is even more jarring. It seems to be a case of another NPC dead for the sake of a new interesting NPC. Yundarga should replace Tulluk here as well. At least there is consistency.
This error is also at the end of the chapter, and would again make more sense that it was referring to Yundarga. It looks like this and the previous Yundarga errors were caused by not replacing Tulluk, who was still alive in a previous version of the adventure draft.
Thanks to Dharkus, we know now. This does not impact the adventure or anything we can do, it just shows that the leader wasn’t fully replaced in the adventure, and could have been solved with a final read through before print approval. Not an editor error this time(confetti), it’s the creative director’s decision and not taking that change through into chapter 3 despite implying it was necessary by the linked post. I’m glad we were able to explain it fully this time.
The players get to prompt the visiting npcs, Sugha Sunfist and Ryko the Inked from the Gutspear Hold, with the question “What can you bring to Ardax’s cause?” That seems like an improper question to ask someone Ardax already considers their ally and needs aid. Also why wouldn’t the players ask, “We’ll have to ask Ardax first before we agree to anything, we're his agents not yours. You would have been aware this place was in conflict between two holds and didn’t have resources to spare.”
More Zagresh worshipers appear soon into the investigation, he’s had quite a few for a God no longer in the orc pantheon. I wonder why there is no question and answer period with any orc clergy or Grandmother referring to all the zealots of his we’re finding everywhere. After the oathsworn were exposed with the ritualist in the last chapter, no one seems too concerned. Zeral was too pure and confused for this Belkzen, now we have outright oracles and champions, divine heralds who require a God for their abilities and spells. I think he might still be around.
The investigation subsystem really isn’t needed here as the events can just play out, but it’s also not intrusive for showing that time needs to pass to find the Shoanti.
The players become spirit detectives, and progressively fight the ancestor storm in the area to solve a murder mystery between two lovers. The defense of the ritual is only in question if no PCs are active, so by that point the mission is lost anyway since all of the enemies target PCs only when available.
The sanguine klar is an immensely good treasure for any frontliner, paired with the shade knife which constantly bleeds for 1 min and does extra bleed damage with potency runes increasing that with extra flat damage. This also takes effect if a player/wielder is bleeding. Spells that make a creature bleed in 30ft should also work with the klar’s effects. This is an excellent combination tactical item for combat. Huge.
The conclusion is rather heartwarming, and ends the module on a pleasant note. I really liked the Shoanti, and they give you an outfit at the end. It’s like that side quest in an MMO and you get glam, the best treasure of all. Also new allies.
It’s a shame the missions that follow don’t contribute towards player advancement, but they are there to help shape the story of how Belkzin is changing and that orcs are the driving force of this change. I agree with Dice Knights, you should just use them as flashbacks/storytelling devices. There is no point for players to make new orc PCs who can’t transfer wealth and experience gained when there is more to be done on their end. I can’t see my players giving even a session of their free time to that. They will want to play the characters they built up.
I’d follow the recommendation to use them as PC side quests between holds, and just infer that orcs are pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Perfect chance for Davorr to contact them with things needing to be done. It’s important to note this world building is 7 pages worth of ‘extra’ adventure, which is why Chapters 2 and 3 seem shorter. I personally would have preferred more backmatter or part of a Belkzen gazetteer to replace what we had in pf1e, but it is what it is.
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...but we all know that’s beyond the scope of this adventure.
I laughed out loud. Thank you for this.
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I'll ask this here. On page 11-12, there are obstacle stat blocks for Forest of Stones, Scaling Cliffs, and Storm-Screamer Signs. They are followed by paragraphs of the same obstacles with skill checks and consequences. Is there something I'm missing in how these interact, or is this another example of poor editing in this AP?
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I agree with ch2, I was impressed by the execution.
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I agree with ch2, I was impressed by the execution.
Yundarga is best orc woman.
I laughed out loud. Thank you for this.
I'll ask this here. On page 11-12, there are obstacle stat blocks for Forest of Stones, Scaling Cliffs, and Storm-Screamer Signs. They are followed by paragraphs of the same obstacles with skill checks and consequences. Is there something I'm missing in how these interact, or is this another example of poor editing in this AP?
Ah yes, what's said to us so regularly is something we can shoot right back at the devs. Similar to the Blizzard logo of "You think you do, but you don't".
So the difference between these checks and normal obstacles listed above appear to be a group check, compared to a personal check. Should the paragraph text not have a player who is good enough at their check like in "Navigating the Forest of Stones" for survival, they suffer the consequences to themselves alone for failing, as opposed to making a check for the entire group for "Storm-Scream Signs" where failure means attempting again until the threshold of 4 VP successes are made.
Things like "Follow the Expert" in exploration mode pays dividends here, Follow the Expert
This is touched on loosely in the rules for chases, and group checks get about a sentence or two. Group Checks
Not poor editing here, simply normal exploration mode different from the the subsystem with a VP threshold.
Since these activities aren't considered the aforementioned mentioned phases, they don't take the half a day's travel to earn the VP necessary to overcome the previous or proceeding obstacles which are labeled as such.