Venture-Lieutenant, Maryland—Hagerstown
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Read through a couple of times and the only things that is sticking out at me are:
No changes to the chase for more party members, only different tiers. I think adding an obstacle point for five and six players would have been suitable.
And #2: Hesla's action "Betrayer of Demons", should it be a free action? It shows as a single action ability. The requirements are "Hesla critically hits a foe or critically succeeds at her Ember Spinner reaction"
To me it sounds as if it should be a free action based off how it reads. IMO sounds like a special critical specialization. I could also see it as a reaction as well.
If it is to be a normal single action, you would not be able to use it as part of her Ember Spinner Reaction, except in odd corner cases.
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I have read through and searched the scenario a few times but can’t seem to find where the time matters for collecting the items.
GMs should track the amount of time PCs have lost in failures, because it will affect their interactions with both Seloana Norzu (below) and Dhrami Blakros (page 7).
I can give a circumstance penalty for taking too long, but would have liked it if the scenario gave what the penalty should be.
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And #2: Hesla's action "Betrayer of Demons", should it be a free action? It shows as a single action ability. The requirements are "Hesla critically hits a foe or critically succeeds at her Ember Spinner reaction"
To me it sounds as if it should be a free action based off how it reads. IMO sounds like a special critical specialization. I could also see it as a reaction as well.
If it is to be a normal single action, you would not be able to use it as part of her Ember Spinner Reaction, except in odd corner cases.
I plan to make it a single action where her reaction must have been used and critically succeeded since the end of her last round. I feel that is less of a change than making it a free action.
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I have nearly finished my prep and there are a number of editing errors in this.
Failing the chase is said to have an effect on subsequent encounters but I cannot find any such reference in the scenario. Given there are no penalties for failing chase sections it is entirely pointless.
Also, the ritual point thresholds leave a complete gap where Hesla is not co-operating between the PC's and Jorstal.
The consequences for failing chase sections are the narrative bits (and subsequent reporting conditions), but yea, no mechanical penalties for failing the chase seem to exist.
The ritual thresholds don't seem to hold a gap? If the PCs fail and Hesla is not a participant, it just falls to Jorsal. That's it.
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I plan to make it a single action where her reaction must have been used and critically succeeded since the end of her last round. I feel that is less of a change than making it a free action.And #2: Hesla's action "Betrayer of Demons", should it be a free action? It shows as a single action ability. The requirements are "Hesla critically hits a foe or critically succeeds at her Ember Spinner reaction"
To me it sounds as if it should be a free action based off how it reads. IMO sounds like a special critical specialization. I could also see it as a reaction as well.
If it is to be a normal single action, you would not be able to use it as part of her Ember Spinner Reaction, except in odd corner cases.
That's what I did when I ran this, and it flowed really well in the scenario.
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The consequences for failing chase sections are the narrative bits (and subsequent reporting conditions), but yea, no mechanical penalties for failing the chase seem to exist.I have nearly finished my prep and there are a number of editing errors in this.
Failing the chase is said to have an effect on subsequent encounters but I cannot find any such reference in the scenario. Given there are no penalties for failing chase sections it is entirely pointless.
Also, the ritual point thresholds leave a complete gap where Hesla is not co-operating between the PC's and Jorstal.
I suspect the reporting conditions will cause campaign effects. Just a matter of how much reporting they get before doing so. This can be more impactful since the players know it was based on game results.
Going to be lots of repair work in Absalom after this scenario. I do hope Chief Yiddlepode and her tribe survive the reporting conditions.
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Honestly, I’m concerned about how a group is ever going to make the ritual thresholds.
With only 4 players and between two and three NPCs you need everyone to succeed or it is the bad case. Getting to 10 ritual successes requires a lot of critical successes. This is coming immediately after a chase scene and those are notorious for draining hero points.
I would allow a PC to make the leap for 9 ritual points and no Hesla, just to allow a player to do it. I expect at these levels few should really take the full damage between Cat Fall, Gentle Landing and flying or gliding ancestries like Leshy, Strix, and others.
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I ran this last weekend (high tier), the PCs were completely thrown off having the Hesla encounter as early as it appears, I had set the scene as though they were about to go on an infiltration to steal from her.
Thankfully we had enough CP for the hazard to be involved in the combat, if it wasn't I think that encounter would have ended in less than 2 rounds. I did enjoy the Ember Spinnner reaction, the amount of times I was asked "how many times can she do this?" made me very happy as a GM.
Even with her stripped of the scythe she could still pack a mean punch; crit on a reactive strike
The NPCs really boost the ritual points with their +20 checks, it didn't seem a massive issue to get enough for the PCs to be the stars of the finale
The player described their "werebear" barbarian sprouting dragon wings and divebombing to strike square in the demons head, I may have fudged how much damage he took just so it didn't seem anti-climatic
My biggest gripe for the scenario was the second encounter, it just felt unnecessary, after dispatching the first wave and some others that appeared it just became a waiting game of watch the sky and you know more are coming, in the end I threw down every swarm token I had in my arsenal to cover the map before the kngihts and Rain came to start the finale scene
Overall, its good with a couple of minor rough spots
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There are up to 6 NPC's who contribute.
When I played it I cast air walk on our scythe wielder, not that the scenario distinguishes between the falling damage and the explosion damage.
Doh!
I somehow completely read past the second section. Thanks so much for pointing this out.
As for the NPC casters, Eando, Jorsal, and Hesla (if she's participating, which she only will if she came willingly) focus on might, while Valais, Urwal, and Shemis concentrate on magic.
They are most likely going to get 5-7 successes from the NPCs (chances of crit success being 20%) depending on how hot the GM dice are. That makes getting up to 10 successes much more possible and the middle result likely.
Good.
Venture-Captain, Australia—NSW—Greater West
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My run with Hesla was a bit anti-climatic, as the group disarmed her with a crit on the disarm attempt at the top of the second round. She has no Athletics, so no way to get Riftcarver back. I was also one AcP off having the Hazard.
The scenario also gives no guidance as to what is her native abilities, and what she gets from Riftcarver. Some are obvious, but some are not.
If you have a smart party, be prepared.
If I ran it again, I would potentially swap her Acrobatics to Athletics, as it seemed to be an obvious oversight.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Maryland—Hagerstown
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I plan to make it a single action where her reaction must have been used and critically succeeded since the end of her last round. I feel that is less of a change than making it a free action.And #2: Hesla's action "Betrayer of Demons", should it be a free action? It shows as a single action ability. The requirements are "Hesla critically hits a foe or critically succeeds at her Ember Spinner reaction"
To me it sounds as if it should be a free action based off how it reads. IMO sounds like a special critical specialization. I could also see it as a reaction as well.
If it is to be a normal single action, you would not be able to use it as part of her Ember Spinner Reaction, except in odd corner cases.
I left it as a free action and for once in a very long while, a severe encounter felt severe. My party persevered and succeeded, but was delighted with the tough combat.
No changes to the chase for more party members, only different tiers. I think adding an obstacle point for five and six players would have been suitable.I am prepping this at the moment and the scenario is internally inconsistent on this. The chase cards set the successes at 4 but the text says you need a number of successes equal to the number of party members. I plan to use the second option.
Completely glossed over that. Will keep that in mind for future chase scenes though.
