Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
I am currently reading the adventure as my first stop to preparing it for the coming weekend. I found a couple of things that stood out as weird / problematic:
Event 1 (the Chase Scene):
- The bonus from "Help from Shipyard workers" is untyped in the sidebar. In Handout #1 it is a circumstance bonus, but only if you get it for ALL obstacles. I guess it is meant to be a circumstance bonus all the time? That would also unfortunately make the possible bonus for creative solutions pointless.
- The scaling for higher subtier is only mentioned in passing at the beginning of the chase. Easy to overlook, so take note, GMs :)
- While at the topic of scaling: There is no scaling for either challenge points or number of players. So a group of four level 1 characters have the same DCs and number of obstacle points needed as a party of 6 level 2 characters. That seems like an oversight!
Conclusion / Reporting:
- Isn't Reporting Condition D superflous? If B and C are checked, D is automatic. Maybe it makes it easier for the devs to track? And it is just one more click, so not really an issue, just something I noticed.
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Another thing I just noticed (due to Foundry VTT not having an actor for the Determined Captain Coziva):
While in Low Tier the only changes due to her being a variant are the attacks, in High Tier, the HP are off by A LOT. It seems like they forgot to change the HP from low to high tier. And since downing her ends the fight immediately, that is a pretty big issue!
EDIT: And two more things I found:
1. Minor error in the scaling of the final encounter in low tier: 16+ CP tells you to add two Pirate Goblin Recruits. There are no recruits mentioned anywhere else. Probably an old name for the creatures?
2. On page 6, the description of Nairaba and Kitsch's assistance just states "healing potion", but not which kind. I assume it will be the level-appropriate one, so minor for low tier and lesser for high tier
Take a look at Handout 2 (for players) where the type of consumable is spelled out exactly.
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Hilary Moon Murphy wrote: Take a look at Handout 2 (for players) where the type of consumable is spelled out exactly. Ah, there it is. Thank you :)
The potions are as I expected.
A bit hard to find, but the info is there :)
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
And yet another thing:
The number of enemies for ALL encounters are unclear. The adventure itself lists a different number than the appendix. It also lists the level of the Athamaru Pirate as 2, while the appendix (correctly) says 3.
It is always one Goblin Pirate / Rigger that is added if you follow the numbers from the adventure itself. In every single case, it would bring the XP budget up from 80 to 100.
All encounters are listed as Moderate, so the budget of 80 sounds right? 100 is still not severe, so could be considered correct, too.
Alas, inconsistencies often slip into adventures during the process of writing, developing, editing and copy-fitting. Short of a developer clarification, I would suggest using your own best judgement as a GM and go with your gut and what feels right.
I hope that you and your players enjoy the adventure nonetheless!
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Hilary Moon Murphy wrote: I hope that you and your players enjoy the adventure nonetheless! I am pretty sure we will. The adventure itself was a fun read for sure, and I am looking forward to running it tomorrow. Just the editing stuff dampens my enthusiasm a bit
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I will tell you that after my first adventure playtests, I had raised the number of goblins above the normal encounter budget because they died too quickly. If you have a strong combat group, you may wish to go with the higher number.
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Hilary Moon Murphy wrote: I will tell you that after my first adventure playtests, I had raised the number of goblins above the normal encounter budget because they died too quickly. If you have a strong combat group, you may wish to go with the higher number. This might be one of the rare cases where I am actually allowed to make it harder since the adventure is unclear ;)
Oh, another point I noticed: The PDF lists the playtime as 2-3 hours - shouldn't it be 4-5 for a scenario currently? Will report on how long it actually ran later :)
I playtested it to run in under 4 hours, but not under 3. I was aiming for the sweet spot of the 3.5 hour run time available at my own store.
Let me know how long it runs for you.
Hmm
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Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
In that case you dialed it in perfectly. We player for a total of 3 hours, 40 minutes - including a 10 minute break in the middle. So a total playtime of exactly 3.5 hours :)
We had a lot of fun and the pirates with their constant ropey shenannigans where a lot of fun, though pretty underwhelming since they hit only rarely (18 CP, 6 players - 1x level 1, 4x level 2, 1x level 3)
Getting enough of them to surrender was quite a challenge since they rarely survived a hit. Olad killed quite a few with his additional damage.
Overall, if I disregard all the editing stuff mentioned earlier in the thread, one of the best adventures of rhe recent past. Thanks for that :)
Great! I'm happy to hear that I nailed the run time, and that your group enjoyed the swinging pirates! If you really like it, please leave a review!
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Hilary Moon Murphy wrote: Great! I'm happy to hear that I nailed the run time, and that your group enjoyed the swinging pirates! If you really like it, please leave a review! I usually sleep at least once before writing a review, so my brain can work on the experience. So, since it is a new day now, I posted my review just now :)
I think without the errors listed in this thread, I could have gone with a 5 star rating. But with them, it was a 4* for me in the end.
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Just started reading and prepping this.
Love the wine call back to 1-11. I really love continuity details like that.
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Pirate Rob wrote: Just started reading and prepping this.
Love the wine call back to 1-11. I really love continuity details like that.
I am delighted to hear that. There was not only a callback to 1-11 Flames of Rebellion but even more to the PFS 1st edition adventure, 5-04: The Stolen Heir. The Stolen Heir was the first game I GMed at a convention, and I loved having the Galtan revolutionaries bemoan the 'fish piss' they were drinking! I cited that adventure in the comments that I wrote for this one, explaining why sauerton red was a tradition worth preserving.
Nice, I didn't remember the reference to 5-04, was so long ago.
I also appreciate the handout for the fight at the docks. I was busy reading it, and started making notes about some cards and such I wanted to make to cover the extra stuff and then got to the end and found out it's already done!
When I write, I try to include the handouts that I would want as a GM to run things. I did that for Heidmarch Heist as well! Part of the reason I do this is to help hit my run time goals. Games go faster if everyone knows what's going on and is oriented to what they can do!
Hmm
Oh by the way, if you like this scenario, please review it! Thanks so much, everyone!
Hmm
Pirate Rob wrote: Just started reading and prepping this.
Love the wine call back to 1-11. I really love continuity details like that.
Can it be?
I've run that scenario two or three times, and every time played up the wine. That is a an awesome callback (and 1-11 was a great scenario, except for the maps -- which made no earthly sense).
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Isn't it nice that all it takes for us to unite across the editions is a bit of humor and wine snobbery?
Why is Brackett giving the briefing? Caudron Wallace is the venture captain for Augustana, has been since 0-13.
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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber
This has nothing to do with anything, but I have an Animist who is a Shackles Pirate, and for RP reasons she always has Lurker in Devouring Dark as her primary apparition.
I got to be a SHARK!!!
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