Pathfinder Flip-Mat: "Bandit Outpost" [RPG]

I've had the Bandit Outpost flip-mat for a while now and never used it, but the advantage of having a big collection is that, sometimes, you happen to have exactly what you need when you need it!  I needed something that could serve as the walled Aspis Consortium compound, and Bandit Outpost fit the description perfectly.  It has a good array of features, such as buildings and their interiors, stables, an inner parapet and ladders to reach it, etc.  It's the sort of thing that would fit the bill anytime the PCs are out in the wilderness and you need a bad-guy hideout, or, as the packaging says, something that could also serve as the PCs' own headquarters.  The only downside is that, as with a lot of the early flip-mat releases, the other side is just plain grassland with a bit of a clearing in the middle of it.  I've come to find these blank sides more useful than I would have thought, but it's still not the best use of space.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 4-S: "Ruins of Bonekeep, Level One: The Silent Grave" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I imagine anyone who's played Pathfinder Society for a while will have heard of the legendary Bonekeep scenarios: a series designed to test the most experienced character optimisers around!  Famously lethal (but with higher-than-normal rewards), these scenarios are not for your average, run-of-the-mill PCs.  It was thus with a great deal of trepidation (but with plenty of Prestige Points for a raise dead) that I entered my completely-randomly-generated-multiclass character Jilla into a play-by-post game of The Silent Grave, the first of the Bonekeep scenarios.  It was very exciting to play with a real sense of fear (usually absent from most scenarios), though I think the scenario wasn't as hard as rumour has it or the GM was taking it easy on us (or perhaps both) because we all made it out in one piece.  I'd certainly like to play the next one with a no-holds-barred vibe and see what happens!


SPOILERS!

The in-game premise behind the scenario is pretty simple: a crumbling white-stoned siege castle outside of Absalom named Bonekeep is ripe for exploration, and Pathfinders are the ones to do it.  Two hundred years ago, Bonekeep was the fortress of a necromancer named Volzaras who planned to open a portal to the Negative Energy Plane under the siege castle, command an army of undead, and take over City at the Center of the World (Absalom).  Of course, Volzaras' plan went awry; he was destroyed and his keep was razed.  Various expeditions in the years since never turned up anything of interest in the ruins of Bonekeep, until two Pathfinders recently discovered a secret staircase to its lower levels.  One was decapitated by a trap, and the other ran for help.  The PCs are assigned by Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin to explore the place.  Out of game, the PCs can only explore the first level of the dungeon, as other scenarios in the series are for deeper levels.  This first level was home to the laboratories of Volzaras' apprentice, and have since been taken over by a ratfolk alchemist named Korsan.  

The scenario is pure dungeon-crawl, with no NPCs, skill challenges, wilderness travel, etc.  It's classic, old school, check-every-square-for-traps gaming that can feel very nostalgic to those of us who played in the era of graph-paper maps.  The scenario definitely has some appropriately ruthless features: multiple creatures like caryatid columns and grey oozes that can destroy equipment (this happened early in the game I played and really limited one of the PCs who until then had the modern luxury of never needing to carry a backup weapon), combats that can get out of hand quickly with poor tactics or bad luck on the dice (an alchemist that buffs for five rounds can be scary), and some great traps (I love one trap that is armed only by the PCs adding their weight to a pedestal to disarm a more obvious trap).  Disease seems to be a special theme of this particular scenario, as there are multiple ways to catch one and the scenario even includes a special GM handout to keep track of who has one and their progression!  (and there's a negative boon associated with disease as well)  

The Pathfinder experience it reminds me of the most of is Thornkeep, which came out after this, but that was also pure (and sometimes pretty tough) dungeon crawling.  There must be some rules for running the adventure that are outside the scenario itself, as there's some references to time limits in the text (and for PBP, we were limited to a route of about half the rooms, chosen by the GM)

I certainly had fun with The Silent Grave.  I wouldn't want hard old-school dungeon crawls to be the only type of Pathfinder adventure, but as a change of pace, it was great and escaping the first level came with a sense of accomplishment.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 59 [RPG]

[15 Erastus 4708 to 23 Erastus 4708]

After weeks of exhaustive trudging through the Cinderlands and a narrow escape from Deathhead Vault, the Harrowed Heroes decide to spend several days in Korvosa to rest and plan the next steps of their quest.  The raid on Deathhead Vault has clearly broken the back of the Red Mantis assassins, as rumor holds they were effectively wiped out and are unlikely to return.  In addition, several mid-ranking officers in the Gray Maidens were slain, and the effects are clear: patrols are less frequent and more cautious.  Without adequate troops to enforce it, Ileosa has “graciously” lifted martial law from Korvosa.  Unrest and violence remain—along with the knowledge that the cruel queen could tighten her fist at any time—but for now the city is better off than it has been since just before the arrival of blood veil. 

Across the city, various factions are also planning their next moves.  With the Church of Asmodeus and the Church of Abadar officially endorsing Ileosa, the “neutral” faiths of Sarenrae and Pharasma are coming under increasing pressure.   In Old Korvosa, House Arkona continues to take advantage of the power-vacuum on Endrin’s Isle by exerting more influence over local affairs.  The city’s only thieves’ guild, the Cerulean Society, seems to be laying low for the moment—always an ominous sign.  Merchant shipping has resumed, though at a slower pace, as chaos is bad for business.  Cressida Kroft arranges for word to be sent to The Reckoner that the surface raid on the Longacre Building was easily repulsed, but that she and the others successfully escaped and have set up in a different location than before.  Rumors run rampant that a new vigilante named Trifaccia has appeared in the city—an expert swordsman wearing a gold mask and red robe, he allegedly saves ordinary law-abiding Korvosans from the depredations of violent rebels trying to extort money from them.  And of course, events continue to churn outside the city, with Yraelzin sending a magical message to Goldcape that the giant siege on Urglin has been broken, and that he’ll be heading east after a dream vision from The Harrower.

In the days after their return, The Reckoner commissions Anorak to further enchant Plate (his sapient suit of armor) and gathers information on Trifaccia.  Goldcape collects an assortment of rumors and researches at the University of Korvosa to learn about Belkzen.  Anorak puts in hour after hour in his workshop.  But even during these days of preparation, portentous events still occur.

Goldcape rides Nipper out of Korvosa and to the nearby village of Harse.  There, she easily finds Blackbird Ranch, the place Vencarlo Orisini asked her to come after finishing her time in the Cinderlands.  Goldcape is greeted by a friendly rancher (and former adventuring companion of Vencarlo) named Jasan Adriel.  Jasan invites Goldcape to dinner with his wife and children, and they have a fun meal as Goldcape tells stories and answers a lot of questions from the kids.  They’re especially interested in Nipper, and amazed that Goldcape can speak to a horse!  After dinner, Jasan leads Goldcape to an outbuilding on the ranch, asks for help pushing a bay of hale to the side, and opens a trapdoor underneath it.  After climbing down the exposed ladder, Goldcape finds herself in a fully-furnished underground apartment!  Vencarlo and Neolandus Kalepopolis (Castle Korvosa’s presumed-dead seneschal) are there, and happy to receive a visitor.  Goldcape confirms that in the Cinderlands, she and her allies found information that will lead them to a way to render Ileosa vulnerable to attack.  Vencarlo sends Neolandus to talk with Jasan on the surface, and leads Goldcape over to a small black trunk.  He smiles at Goldcape, and says she probably knows what he’s about to reveal.  Flipping the latches on the trunk, he reveals the distinctive costume and equipment of Blackjack!  Vencarlo says he’s past his prime and needs to keep Neolandus safe, but that Korvosa still needs a hero who will live up to the ideals of Blackjack: justice, mercy, and the rights of the common folk.  “Korvosa needs you, Goldcape, and Korvosa needs Blackjack. Will you be take on the mantle of the city’s greatest hero?”  Goldcape happily accepts.  She gets confirmation of something else she suspected—that Vencarlo had hoped that one of his former fencing students, Grau Soldado or Sabina Merrin, would be suited to the role, but after the three had a falling out, it was clear neither could be Blackjack.  Before leaving, Goldcape shares some tragic news with Vencarlo.  His former partner (romantically and in crimefighting), The Harrower, is dead.  Vencarlo looks stricken and tries not to weep, as Goldcape puts a consoling hand on his shoulder.

Having spent hours enchanting The Reckoner’s sapient armor with new capabilities, Anorak is just finishing up a long, sweaty day when he hears a gentle tap on the door.  He opens it to reveal Mortimont, the unsettling baker from across the street.  Mortimont explains that he’s brought cupcakes, and urges Anorak to try one, but the dwarf remains cautious and declines.  He does let Mortimont in to talk though, and the baker says that unfortunately, he’ll be leaving Korvosa soon.  He asks Anorak to dispose of the mysterious box he had paid him to watch over, suggesting “the heart of a volcano” or “the depths of the ocean” as suitable places for it.  Several times, Mortimont reminds Anorak not to open the box.  Anorak receives the news that the box has been abandoned by Mortimont in good spirits, muttering as the baker departs that he’s certainly going to open the box.

Having returned to his original safe-house in North Point, Ralph Blackfeather is working hard to prepare for the impending journey to Scarwall.  Given that his lair is meant to be well-hidden, he’s surprised to hear a sharp rap at a back exit.  Instead of answering directly, Ralph quickly changes into The Reckoner and sneaks out another exit to see what’s waiting for him.  There, wearing a deep-hooded cloak and signs of burn scarring, is Grau Soldado!  Having been brought to the safe-house months ago by Goldcape during the initial riots, Grau must have remembered its location.  The Reckoner calls out to him cautiously, and Grau says it would be safer to speak inside, out of prying eyes and ears.  When both men are in, The Reckoner says he heard Grau was severely injured.  Grau nods, stating that a battle against Ileosa’s new “seneschal”—a powerful wizard—left him with severe burns.  Fortunately, the Temple of Sarenrae took him in and hid him away, healing him with their magic.  Grau gets to the point quickly: he wants The Reckoner’s band to join his resistance.  He says Cressida Kroft has her heart in the right place, but is too cautious and lacks the edge to get the job done.  When The Reckoner raises the recent raid on the Longacre Building, Grau concedes it was an example of smart planning.  But, he says, that’s the only operation her resistance group has conducted since martial law was imposed.  In contrast, Grau says his fighters’ constant hit-and-run attacks have forced the Gray Maidens completely out of the Shingles, effectively freeing a sizable portion of the city’s population from Ileosa’s grip.  The Reckoner is impressed, but explains that for now, it’s a moot point about which resistance group has the better prospects, so long as Ileosa is invulnerable—but that may soon change.  Grau is intrigued, and says when it does, there’s another reason why the Harrowed Heroes should throw their support behind him; he has a person on the inside of Castle Korvosa.  The two warriors agree to go their separate ways for now, but establish a system of communication involving squares of red cloth should they need to meet again.

In the slums of Old Korvosa, one of the projects Goldcape has expended days of effort (and a lot of gold) to accomplish is to set up her own resistance cell in an abandoned building.  Outfitted with defensive traps, cots and bedrolls, and a small armory, the hidden base seems safe from the Queen’s forces as long as it remains in the still-quarantined part of the city.  Drawing upon thugs formerly loyal to the “Emperor of Old Korvosa”, regular citizens out of work since they can’t cross the blockaded bridge to the rest of the city, soldiers left to their own devices after the abolition of the Sable Company and the Korvosan Guard, and even a former acolyte of Yraelzin’s “Temple of Razmir,” Goldcape has assembled a potentially formidable force.  Her greatest bit of luck was finding Sergeant Clenkins, the aged Korvosan Guardsman formerly responsible for watching the gate of Citadel Volshyenek.  Clenkins promises to train the disparate members of the cell so they can work well together once Goldcape gives them their first mission.  Goldcape says she’ll be leaving for a couple of weeks and that it would be too dangerous to do any raids for now, but when she returns, she’ll have a target for them.

One day, enjoying lunch in his workshop, Anorak hears the sounds of horse hooves, carriage wheels, and marching soldiers out front.  He opens the door cautiously to see that Glorio Arkona, patriarch of House Arkona, has come by with “an exciting proposition”!  The dwarf lets Glorio in but refuses him a seat, putting himself in the power position.  Glorio beats around the bush for a bit, explaining that “a little bird—or an invisible spy” told him Anorak was working on some truly “crafty crafting”.  The aristocrat looks meaningfully at Plate, strapped down to the worktable.  Glorio says that “quality is what House Arkona stands for”, and that he wants Anorak to come to work for him as Chief Armorer.  Anorak is frank that he doesn’t trust Glorio, but Glorio tries to reassure him that all of the danger and manipulation the dwarf experienced was due to his sister, who has surely fled the city.  Glorio goes on to say that instead of the unpredictability and constant danger of adventuring, Anorak would receive a steady, stable, and very lucrative experience working in an exquisite workspace in Arkona Palace itself.  Anorak seems mildly tempted, but still turns down the offer, saying it wouldn’t be exciting enough.  Glorio makes a final pitch, subtly hinting that with someone as unpredictable as Ileosa as Queen, having friends like House Arkona could be very fruitful indeed.  Anorak says that will only matter if Ileosa can be defeated, and right now she has world-breaking magic, is quite evil, and could live for centuries.  Glorio sighs in resignation, remarking that if Anorak thinks he would survive such a direct confrontation, his father told him never to do business with those who have a loose grasp on reality.

Another startling event during this period begins when Ralph Blackfeather makes one of his many visits to Hedge Wizardry to purchase enchanted items for the group.  Phaeton Skoda, the cluttered store’s proprietor, pulls Ralph in, locks the door, and puts a “closed” sign on display in the window.  Looking nervous, Phaeton begins by staying something dreadful has happened.  Before he can continue, Ralph hurries to reassure him that he was responsible for the recent attempted break-in at the back door and was sorry for any damages caused.  Phaeton’s eyes widen, as he had no idea about that.  He mutters something about how it was lucky “the guardian” hadn’t been awakened, but continues to explain that something far more serious has taken place: an inquisitor of the Church of Abadar visited just a couple of days ago and seized Phaeton’s accounts books.  But the inquisitor wasn’t after records of last year’s transactions (taxes on which Phaeton assures Ralph were fully paid), but of the last few months!  In other words, Phaeton thinks there’s a high-level investigation into who has been buying expensive or powerful magical items in the city.  Ralph remains calm, and says he’ll likely be leaving the city for some time.  He promises to work out a way to make future purchases anonymously so that Phaeton can record the buyer or seller as “unknown” in good faith and without violating any laws.

The days of downtime pass by quickly, but soon the time will come again when the Harrowed Heroes need to assemble for the next step of their epic quest.  The stakes are clear: either Queen Ileosa survives, or Korvosa does.

----------------------------

GM Commentary

In this campaign, I offered the players 3d6 days of "downtime" between each chapter: a time where they could retrain, craft, research new spells, earn coin, etc. with a guarantee that the downtime wouldn't count against any ticking clocks in the background or be interrupted by sudden attack.  I used a slightly modified version of the Downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign (I think) for this, and it worked out pretty well as the rules state how much different activities cost and how long they take.

Most of the downtime stuff was handled between sessions, but I promised my players they'd each get one or two role-playing scenes set during downtime.  That's what this session consisted of.  I knew the PCs would be off for Scarwall soon (and there for the entirety of Chapter Five), so I foreshadowed as much as I reasonably could about Chapter Six:  the vigilante Trifaccia, the new seneschal (the bloodmage Togomor), Grau's "man on the inside" of Castle Korvosa (Sabina!), and more.  I also tried to advance the three factions (Kroft's, Grau's, and Glorio's) plotline by showing what each has to offer and, hopefully, making the choice of which to support not be an obvious one for the group.

Two key moments during this session were Goldcape being selected as the new Blackjack (a rooftop-running, rapier-wielding chaotic good character fit the bill perfectly!) and Anorak being left with the mysterious box and advised to dispose of it (in a volcano or the ocean depths, no less!).  I loved the Blackjack element of Curse of the Crimson Throne, and it makes for a really memorable part of the campaign--and I know Goldcape's player loved it too.  As for the mysterious box, we'll soon see that Anorak was unable to resist temptation, and the startling consequences that has on the rest of the campaign.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 58 [RPG]

[Toilday, 14 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

A tremendous victory has been won, but the Battle of Deathhead Vault isn’t over yet!  As The Reckoner and Anorak search the bodies of the fallen Gray Maidens, the sound of reinforcements trying to break down the locked doors to the chamber echoes throughout the Vault.  The Reckoner says he wants to free the other prisoners in the facility, but The Harrower says cryptically that her power is waning and she has much to tell them.  She says she can’t stay much longer, and when she leaves, she’ll never see them again.  But The Reckoner is adamant that there’s more to do in the Vault and, using keys found on Kordaitra Destaid, the Gray Maidens’ second-in-command, he unlocks the door to a series of back rooms.  In one of them, he spots a secret door that opens to reveal a hidden closet full of potions, wands, scrolls, and more—a veritable treasure trove of supplies kept by the Gray Maidens in case of emergency!  But suddenly the outer doors to the main chamber burst in, and Gray Maidens begin to spill in.  The Harrower shouts her farewell, saying she’ll try to find Goldcape to listen to her final Harrowing.  She disappears in a swirling chain of cards.

The Reckoner and Anorak conceal themselves in the closet, shutting the secret door behind them.  They can hear the heavy footsteps of Gray Maidens searching the back rooms thoroughly for the intruders and decide to begin sweeping everything in the closet into The Reckoner’s handy haversack.  But one of the items must have also been enchanted as an extra-dimensional repository, as The Reckoner’s bag—and everything in it—implodes!  Trapped in the closet as dozens of Gray Maidens, led by a superior with an elvish accent, search for them, The Reckoner and Anorak decide it’s time to escape.  Taking the remaining valuables in the emergency stash, they use teleportation magic to vanish, reappearing safely elsewhere.

Meanwhile, The Harrower—frantic and dishevelled and somehow . . . less real—appears suddenly in Old Lady Cloggins’ kitchen!  The house’s owner is understandably quite startled, but quickly regains her composure, promising to make Goldcape and her guest some tea while they talk.  The Harrower pulls Goldcape into a back room, pulls the blinds, pushes a table to the center of the room, and spreads cards on it.  She performs a final Harrowing, pouring out her insight into what the future holds.  When she finishes, her body glows and becomes mist-like as she’s slowly drawn to a realm that perhaps mankind was never meant to witness.  “I’ve held on for as long as I could,” she says.  “But I can’t resist the pull any longer.  I have to say goodbye.  Remember what you’ve learned.  It may just be enough to see you and the others through.”  With a sad smile, The Harrower’s spirit moves on toward its final resting place.

Goldcape emerges into the kitchen to find Old Lady Cloggins feeding Rocky some scones in the backyard.  Goldcape explains she has to leave for a while, but promises to return soon.  She flies on Rocky’s back to Old Korvosa, fortunate that the Gray Maiden aerial scouts still haven’t returned from patrolling the skies above the statue unveiling to the west.  Once near The Reckoner’s hidden safehouse, Goldcape calls out and tries to get his attention, enraging the security-conscious vigilante.  The two argue, and Goldcape ends up flying away in a huff.

As another chapter in the epic tale of Queen Ileosa’s reign closes, the Harrowed Heroes have won a resounding victory against her forces.  But will constant internal fighting tear the group apart just short of their goal?
-------------------------------
GM Commentary

A correction to my commentary from last session.  One of the players reminded me that the reason I had the Harrower appear was as a fill-in for Goldcape's player being absent.  As I said in that post, the memory gets fuzzy the further away we get from the campaign!

When The Reckoner got going after blood and treasure, it was hard to get him to stop!  Thus, The Harrower's final message (meant to be a solemn and sad turning point for the campaign) was delivered only to Goldcape with the other players in another room.

We see here another exploded magic container, and believe it or not, despite warnings, this isn't the only time it happens in the campaign!

In the real world, personality conflicts between Goldcape's player and The Reckoner's player made Chapter Four a bit rocky, but things really come to a head here in a way that affects Chapter Five.  Soon, Goldcape's player decides to take a break from running a PC and instead becomes a temporary Assistant GM, helping me run combats and keep track of things.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-28: "Lyrics of Extinction" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Lyrics of Extinction is the final scenario in Season Zero of Pathfinder Society, the season where they wanted to test out an organised play system using D&D 3.5 rules prior to the official launch of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.  I got to play it via play-by-post at high subtier (10-11) with my half-orc Paladin of Sarenrae, Trokkus.  The adventure has a cool backstory and the ominous briefing raises expectations of a potentially deadly mission, but unfortunately the rest of the scenario is a let-down and mostly a pretty forgettable dungeon-crawl that wastes a great premise.  It's okay, but not a particularly good capstone to the inaugural season.

SPOILERS!

About a century ago, there was a small but prosperous city in the Mwagni Expanse named Dokeran.  However, the city's shaman, a man named Tyruwat, fell into the worship of Zon-Kuthon and was ousted by the community.  Vowing vengeance, he called out to Zon-Kuthon and his prayers were rewarded with the divine inspiration to write the lyrics to accompany a music box that together form an artifact called the Song of Extinction.  When played, the Song of Extinction destroyed the entire city of Dokeran!  Tyruwat gained an extended lifespan from his monstrous act, and still dwells in the ruins of Dokeran today, dreaming of conquest.

The PCs come into the picture when they're briefed by a Pathfinder named Tuukna in the city of Kibwe.  It seems that some treasure hunters were found dead after exploring the ruins of Dokeran, and that others who have ventured close to the area have reported hearing an eerie song.  The PCs are assigned to make contact with a witch doctor who will serve as a guide, explore the ruins, and see if they can retrieve the fabled Song of Extinction.  It's a pretty strong backstory and briefing, and made us PCs paranoid about wail of the banshee style sonic death effects!  With silence spells and earplugs at the ready, we set off into the jungle.

Despite a great opportunity, Lyrics of Extinction doesn't make any use of its setting--there's no chance of getting lost, no need to deal with the heat, and very little interaction with the locals.  Before the PCs meet their guide, they have to fight off an ambush from a pack of howlers led by a "wild elf" (one of a group enslaved by Tyruwat).  The map is big and well-drawn.

The witch doctor guide, Nangi, escorts the PCs to Dokeran by canoe.  He's pretty much the only NPC to interact with, so hopefully the GM tries to give him some character.  Interestingly, and casually slipped in by the scenario, Nangi participated in the betrayal of Dokeran a century ago and also gained an extended lifespan from the Song of Extinction! (though he now regrets his action)  For some reason, the scenario provides full stats and tactics for Nangi and his giant crocodile animal companion, though I can't imagine why even mercenary-type PCs would attack him.

Some good writing could have been done to set an atmospheric mood for exploring the tragic remnants of a city destroyed in mere moments, with the risk of the song being heard again always at the forefront of the explorers' minds.  Unfortunately, the ruins of Dokeran get two lines of very bland flavor text and then it's into a crumbling temple (aka, dungeon) for the rest of the scenario. Definitely a lost opportunity.

The pyramid ("The Grand Temple of Dokeran") features encounters with some trapped spirits (ghosts with barbarian levels), giant stag beetles, an old-fashioned spear trap, and a trio of enslaved wild elves.  None of the threats are particularly dangerous or creative.  The battle against Tyruwat (a Level 14 bard at high subtier) is similarly disappointing, as he'll die quickly and there's never any actual risk of hearing the Song of Extinction.  The PCs simply gather up the music box and presumably take it back with them.  In short, there's a lot of build-up for what ends up as a real dud of a scenario.

The Pathfinder who delivered the mission briefing, Tuukna, has never reappeared as far as I know.  The Song of Extinction was written up in Artifacts & Legends.  As a true artifact that can destroy structures in a 10-mile radius, it's not something to mess with!  I really hope the Pathfinder Society keeps it in the Grand Lodge's version of Warehouse 13.

Starfinder Society Scenario # 2-13: "Storm of the End Times" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I ran Storm of the End Times with a live tabletop group (crazy, I know!) at low subtier.  It has an original story and some interesting gameplay elements, with a focus on skills and role-playing over combat.  It's not related to the season metaplot so could be good for a standalone game, though I'd suggest more experienced players and GM (there's a lot to prep and track) would be ideal.  Overall, I'd slot it in the "average verging on above average" category. 

SPOILERS!

The backstory to Storm of the End Times connects all the way back to Starfinder Society Quest: Into the Unknown, a scenario that was in the first batch ever released for Starfinder Society!  In that adventure, the PCs salvaged the logs from a derelict exploration ship and learned of a stormy oceanic world named Wealdriad far out in the Vast.  Now, a few years later and with the Scoured Stars behind it, the SFS has the time and resources to send a team out to Wealdriad to investigate what unmanned probes have discovered is a once-in-a-lifetime atmospheric event: an aurora tied to strange basalt columns that thrust out from a particular location on the watery world.  The SFS has invited several other groups to attend and take their own astronomical readings as well, but what it doesn't know is that cultists of Groetus have decided to crash the party and blow up the basalt columns!  (I think maybe the scenario should have used cultists of The Devourer instead, but why quibble?).

When the PCs' starship exits the Drift, they immediately receive a distress call from the halfling captain of a Church of Ibran explorer vessel called the Whispered Wish.  Captain Jinnra explains that her vessel's astronomical recording equipment started malfunctioning as soon as the ship entered orbit, and she's worried they're going to miss out on the big show.  She asks the PCs to help investigate.  If they say yes, they have an encounter with some ferrofluid oozes (apparently the recording equipment was stabilized with a "ferrofluid suspension") and receive some thank-you gifts, but it also means they miss out on the best available spot on the planet to watch the aurora.  If they say no, they get that spot but will receive no cooperation from the Ibrans in the events that occur later.  It's a reasonable array of consequences (though I imagine most groups will assume they have to help).

The bulk of the adventure takes place planetside among the basalt columns.  In an inexplicable coincidence, the PCs and all the other groups (except for one) that have come to see the aurora have emerged from the 5d6 days of Drift travel with less than 12 hours to spare.  The groups need to scramble to get their recording equipment set up on one of the columns, but the columns have various topographical and other features that make some more desirable than other.  In-game, this scramble is represented by the PCs needing to explore the sites and negotiate with the other groups for a certain number of Recordings, Favors, and Findings.  Recordings are from the PCs' own observation equipment and those of the other groups, Favors are essentially goodwill from the other groups, and Findings are interesting discoveries the PCs make from exploring the columns (such as links to Morlamaws and a Great Old One named Ghatanothoa!).

It's a lot for the GM to keep on top of, but fortunately the scenario does provide a secret timeline sheet and a separate tracking sheet.  The various groups are mostly described succinctly and with just enough information (a named NPC leader with a line about their personality) to enable some role-playing, but a good GM will add some improv.   An exception to that is for one group that arrived on Wealdriad days ago and set up shop at the best location: a group of "shatoris" (a race I'm not familiar with from Alien Archive 3) from the Aeon Empire.  The scenario provides a great deal of setting lore about shatoris, and they do sound like an interesting species to continue developing.

There's a possible (and rather forgettable) fight between the PCs and some leaping fish ("sailpikes"), but the only mandatory combat in the scenario is the big end sequence when the PCs learn that Groetans have arrived on planet and are attaching explosives to the columns.  This fight is pretty cinematic in that it features the PCs on a hovercraft versus the cultists on hovertrikes as all parties skim just above the stormy waves (one could imagine the beautifully-atmospheric Jango Fett/Obi-Wan battle in Attack of the Clones).  As the GM, I wasn't able to pull off as much excitement as I would've liked (vehicles are challenging!), but I think it was still pretty fun and everyone seemed satisfied at the end.

In sum, Storm of the End Times turned out to be a well-written, well-designed, and solid gaming experience.  But hey, next time you see a Groetan on the street corner proclaiming "The End is Nigh", toss them a credit!  If the world doesn't end, it means they've had a bad day.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 57 [RPG]

 [Toilday, 14 Erastus 4708 A.R. continued]

The Harrowed Heroes are in trouble!  Their raid on Deathhead Vault to strike a blow for the resistance has come up against the self-described Mother of Thorns, a terrifying creature with magicks so potent she’s mentally dominated The Reckoner and forced Goldcape and Rocky to flee the complex entirely.  With only Anorak left to carry on the fight, the situation seems dire indeed.  But help comes from the most unexpected direction: above!  A thin, hand-sized card wafts down from the ceiling—and then another, and another, until suddenly there are hundreds of cards swirling around the room.  And from the vortex, a woman wearing the brightly-coloured skirts, scarves, and gauzy veil of a Varisian fortune-teller steps out: it’s the Harrower!  “I had a premonition you needed a hand,” she says to Anorak.  The Mother of Thorns shouts for The Reckoner to attack the newcomer, but with an immense act of will, he breaks free of her control!  As The Harrower hurls cards that turn into unerring bolts of magic to weaken the fiend, The Reckoner draws an earthbreaker crackling with freezing magic and starts swinging.  In seconds, yet another fearsome foe is laid low by his awesome onslaught.

Although the immediate battle is won, The Harrower says there’s no time to rest—the fighting here has surely been heard and reinforcements will be on the way.  Intriguingly, she adds that in her last Harrowing, she intuited that someone is hiding or hidden in Deathhead Vault, and if they can be found, it will do much to aid the city.  Despite her advice, the other two spend several precious seconds searching for treasure and identifying magic items worn by the Mother of Thorns.  An adjacent room is revealed to be a filing office.
 
The Reckoner leads the way back to the corridor and smashes down a door to reveal a long hallway with cells on one side, each containing a badly beaten and nearly unconscious “recruit” for the Gray Maidens.  Unable to pick the locks, The Reckoner resorts to smashing down more doors with his hammer—a process that frees the recruits but surely carries yet more proof that intruders are present.  Magical wands heal the tortured women’s physical wounds but can’t do anything for their emotional trauma.  The Harrower volunteers to lead the small group to safety, promising to return as soon as she can.  Meanwhile, The Reckoner scouts to where the corridor turns north and sees an even longer hallway, with several more cells on one side and two pairs of double-doors on the other. 
 
Using a wand to turn himself invisible, he tries to pick the lock on the first set of double-doors, but can’t manage it and has to break it down.  On the other side, he sees a sort of “reception” room for Deathhead Vault—doors lead off it, but more importantly, a staircase leads up to the Longacre Building where dozens of Gray Maidens must be stationed, especially since Kroft’s surface raid must have already ended some time ago.  The guards here are ready for a fight, but The Reckoner’s sudden appearance after being invisible is enough to terrify a pair of them.  Anorak follows, but even working together, they can’t silence the guards fast enough to keep the shouts from alerting nearby reinforcements:.  More Gray Maidens begin pouring down the stairs, while one knocks on the northern door and shouts “Commander Destaid, they’re here!” The fighting continues, with Gray Maiden after Gray Maiden falling.  “Don’t get overconfident,” shouts The Harrower, arriving like last time in a swirling vortex of cards.  “There’s a legion up there!”  The Reckoner shouts that they need to get to the commander, so Anorak uses his dwindling magical reserves to blindly teleport himself and The Reckoner to the north, while The Harrower stays behind and conjures illusions to distract the reinforcements.
 
Anorak and The Reckoner find themselves in a large torture chamber that has been outfitted with all manner of pain-inducing implements.  Three hapless and obviously-tormented prisoners are in cages, while a full contingent of five Gray Maidens stand in the center of the room.  Behind a barred portion of the room secured with a strong iron gate, an imposing woman wearing a bright-red dress and a Gray Maiden commander stand ready.  Anorak recognises the imposing woman as Zenobia Zenderholm, a well-respected senior arbiter who went missing months ago.  The Gray Maiden next to her speaks: “I am Kordaitra Destaid, Second-in-Command of the Gray Maidens.  In the name of the Queen, stand down.  Your execution will be swift and merciful.”  No one really expects a surrender, and no one is surprised as the battle starts.  The Reckoner skilfully evades the rank-and-file Gray Maidens to reach the iron bars.  As he starts to wail away at the gate, Kordaitra directs her soldiers to surround Anorak.  The dwarf is alarmed as, one by one, his illusory duplicates are destroyed, and he decides to use an even more powerful illusion to disappear from sight completely!  For her part, Zenobia Zenderholm reveals herself as a cleric of the Pallid Princess.  A deathly glow surrounds her hand, a glow whose merest touch would kill The Reckoner—but even this is impossible!  With an array of magical protections drawn from his mastery of wands, The Reckoner manages to avoid Zenobia’s touch, batter down the gate, and slay the two leaders.  The Harrower appears just as the last defenders in the room are dispatched.

 
Despite a delayed start, the Harrowed Heroes have pushed deep into the subterranean bastion of the Gray Maidens and won a tremendous victory.  Will they play it safe and retreat, or tempt fate and press on?
--------------------------------------
GM Commentary

The appearance of The Harrower at the beginning of this session looks like a total deus ex machina, but it's really a stylish way I chose to portray one of the players cashing in their one-time sort of "get out of jail free card" boon I gave them (it might have been as a Christmas gift; I don't quite remember, the perils of writing these commentaries a couple of years later!).  Because I had established that The Harrower and Blackjack were occasional crimefighting companions in the past, I wanted to show The Harrower here in her full street-level super hero glory as she swirled around, flung Harrow cards (that had the effect of magic missiles), and disoriented foes with her spinning scarves and such.  It played well in my head at least, and I was happy at how I portrayed her.  At this point, the players still don't know that she's dead and that her spirit is using its dwindling time on the Material Plane to aid them.

The Harrower's reference to someone hiding or hidden whose rescue would do much to aid the city was a hint about Sable Company Commander Marcus Endrin being held captive in a secret cell.  Unfortunately, the PCs didn't find him and (if I recall correctly) it was later established that he died.
As the timing of the underground raid and the surface raid ended up not being coordinated, I had the surface levels swarming with Grey Maidens; I used the Troop rules to represent this.  I think we see more of this next session, but the fact that Troops do automatic damage to creatures around them was very vexing to The Reckoner's player, who was used to relying on super-high AC and multiple buffs to fight most creatures with impunity.

Pathfinder Tales: "Noble Sacrifice" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

Noble Sacrifice is a short story available for free on the Paizo blog or as a 99 cent e-book here.  The story is set during the Goblinblood Wars and involves a rivalry between a Steel Falcon and a Hellknight.  The action scenes are fine, but ultimately it's pretty forgettable.

SPOILERS!

Set in Isger in the year 4701 A.R., Noble Sacrifice features a pair of warriors: a young Steel Falcon named Kal Berne and an Order of the Nail Hellknight named Tiberius.  When Kal accidentally walks into a hobgoblin trap, Tiberius reveals himself to be an amazing warrior and rescues him.  The pair follow some refugees to their camp in the Aspodell Mountains, and during the voyage there's some good debate about the views of Andorens vs Hellknights.  Big drama occurs when they spot a horde of goblins sneaking up on a garrison at Wolfpoint (which really should have had scouts and sentinels), and it looks like Kal will have to sacrifice his life so Tiberius can warn them, but then the latter turns back and saves both Kal and the day.  In short, the the story is excessively-fawning toward Hellknights, which might be because the author also writes for the Warhammer 40K universe (and Hellknights are pretty much the whole shebang there).

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 56 [RPG]

[Toilday, 14 Erastus 4708 A.R. continued]

Deep under the Longacre Building, the Harrowed Heroes continue their assault on Deathhead Vault.  While The Reckoner renews various enchantments to improve his fighting prowess, Goldcape flies over the deep pit in the chamber on Rocky’s back.  She then cleverly uses her magical cloak to help Anorak cross by turning a small patch into a full ladder that spans the pit once laid down.  Once everyone is back together again, they move cautiously down the tunnel and hear voices coming from somewhere far around the corner.  A woman is speaking to a goblin she calls Mogmora, as it seems the latter has sounded the alarm that there are intruders in the vault.  Anorak tries to lure them into an ambush by singing loudly in Dwarven, but the cautious defenders don’t fall for it, and maintain their positions.

The Reckoner decides to strike!  Racing around the corner, he finds himself in what surely must be a newly-built temple to Achaekek, the monstrous mantis deity of the Red Mantis assassin cult.  The vast, crescent-shaped cavern features stone benches facing a pulpit.  Behind it, stairs lead up to a worked stone façade that bears a looming carving of an immense mantis, its arms arrayed downward like an archway over a set of double doors.  The goblin that escaped from the intruders just minutes ago is standing in the room along with a beautiful woman with strawberry-coloured hair and a severe expression.  She pulls on a mantis mask as the Reckoner comes into view, and orders forward the cultists’ version of a guard dog: a massive ten-foot-long centipede-like monster!  But The Reckoner is undeterred, and slays the beast in seconds.

As Anorak and Goldcape arrive for back-up, they see the assassins have reinforcements as well.  The doors at the far end of the cavern open to reveal an aasimar wielding sawtooth sabres, walking on the air.  The goblin Mogmora, a seemingly innocuous foe compared to the others, suddenly laughs and begins to transform, flesh rippling as it grows into a snarling, wolf-like canine beast—a barghest!  The barghest lopes around the side of the cavern to try to reach the attackers’ back ranks, but Goldcape sends Rocky to intercept it.  The resulting fight is a savage death match of talon against claw and beak against fang, but (with a little help from Goldcape’s ice magic) Rocky prevails!

The angel-like newcomer must be a powerful spellcaster, for she conjures magical spinning blades in a bid to cut The Reckoner off from his allies.  But Anorak is no mere adept, for he uses a spell of his own and becomes fast enough to race around to stay close to his ally.  Giant praying mantises conjured by the strawberry-haired Red Mantis can’t pierce The Reckoner’s magical duplicates, and fall quickly to his battle-maul and Anorak’s fireballs.  Yet when the angelic Red Mantis prays to Achaekek and evokes wave after wave of nauseating energy, the dwarf falters.  The Reckoner’s mental fortitude is too strong for the spell to affect him, and he dashes forward, shrugging off more hidden assassins to dispatch the strawberry-haired Red Mantis with astonishing ease.

The angel-like Red Mantis evaluates the situation and realises she’s no match for The Reckoner.  With an arcane utterance, she disappears with a flash of light.  The remaining defenders in the room fall quickly, though Anorak is forced to temporarily restrain Goldcape from harming herself while under the effect of a hostile spell cast during the fight.  Fortunately, the effect soon wears off and the group is able to advance.

 

After ensuring it’s not trapped, the Harrowed Heroes push through the ornate doors at the top of the stairs.  They find themselves in some kind of inner sanctum with the walls magically-enhanced to show an eternal scene of slaughter as immense, mantis-like monsters destroy towns with various forms of architecture. Although a set of double doors lead to the north, The Reckoner remembers from the mission briefing that a secret door can be found on the southern wall.  Once again, Boule’s information proves to be correct, as a hidden door does indeed exists.  It leads to a steep stairwell that terminates at what must be another hidden door, though its outline is obvious from this side.  At last, the Harrowed Heroes emerge into the basement level of the Longacre Building in a wide hallway set with glowing, polished ivory tiles.

The Reckoner chooses a door around the corner of the hallway and opens it to reveal what is obviously an execution chamber.  No victims are present, but the executioner surely is!  A tall, emaciated woman with thorny vines growing from her eyes and fingers is in the room, and merely gazing at her fills The Reckoner’s and Anorak’s knees with water.  Both drop their weapons and flee in supernatural terror!  Goldcape sends Rocky in to fight as the terrifying creature begins blinking rapidly in and out view.  Vines with tiny red flowers and incredibly sharp thorns cut Rocky with jagged wounds that refuse to close.  Just as The Reckoner gathers his courage and returns, Goldcape shouts for Rocky to retreat. But before The Reckoner even has time to pick up his battle-maul and attack, he finds himself falling under the hypnotic sway of the emaciated woman, compelled to stand next to her with a single message resounding in his mind: “Defend me.”

-----------------------------

GM Commentary

I liked Goldcape's robe of useful items--it's a fun magic item compared to the standard ones that just give fixed bonuses.

The various Red Mantis leaders all have beautiful artwork and elaborate backstories.  Although I always appreciate fully-fleshed out NPCs, I don wonder if it's wise to spend the word count on enemies that will likely be defeated in a single encounter.  I'd rather have more colourful shopkeepers, neighborhood descriptions, or interesting optional encounters to slot in--things that are likely to see more value in actual play.

The Reckoner is really overpowered by this point, especially with the myriad buffs.  He wrecked several of these encounters one after the other.  On the other hand, the cliffhanger's pretty good!  (and I don't remember what happens next)

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 3-03: "The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet is a really good example to me of how different we might judge a scenario from a player perspective vs a reader/GM's perspective.  I played it via play-by-post with my Oracle of Grossness/Groetus, Makras Vekker, and thought it was a lot of just wandering around, waiting for something to happen.  But a lot of that negative experience may be attributed to an unmotivated character, the time dilation of play-by-post, or the GM's style.  When I read the scenario for the purposes of this review, it looked great!  A bit sandboxy, which is unusual for PFS, a great backstory, some good role-playing opportunities, interesting NPCs, and more.  Plus, it contributes nicely to the Season 3 "Year of the Ruby Phoenix" theme.  

One of my biggest regrets about PFS is having been unable to start it from the beginning and keep up with scenarios as they were released, as playing them in essentially random order (based on whatever someone offers) means I don't get to appreciate story arcs and NPC development over time.  I got to experience that with Season 1 of Starfinder Society, and it was great (but then my gaming got derailed in Season 2).  Anyway, that's all an aside.  My verdict is that this scenario has a lot of potential for the right GM and the right group.

SPOILERS!

The backstory to The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet feels like it could have been a short story or fun scenario in itself!  As the Pathfinder Society gears up to compete in a world-class martial arts competition (the Ruby Phoenix Tournament), it decides it could use an edge in the form of the Mutani Manual of Martial Mastery, an extraordinarily rare and exhaustive compendium of the fighting styles of distant Tian Xia.  The problem is that the only known copy in the Inner Sea region is owned by Temel Passad, a prickly Druman merchant (and Prophet of Kalistrade).  The Society sent envoys to Passad to negotiate the book's purchase, but various missteps led to them grossly insulting the man!  Passad detained the worst of the ham-fisted negotiators (a scholar named Harmidio Besai, who unwittingly compared Passad's wife to a prostitute) and kicked out the others, angrily vowing that the Pathfinder Society would never get the Mutani Manual unless they could prove their worth by taking it from him.  Because Passad owns extensive holdings throughout the Inner Sea, the Society has sent teams to twelve different locations to find the book and rescue Besai.  And the PCs just so happen to draw the lucky straw sending them to Katapesh . . .

At Farseer Tower in Katapesh, Venture-Captain Wulessa Yuul gives the briefing.  Wulessa sums up the backstory and tells the PCs they're going to Ghenett Manor, a luxurious property owned by Passad that lies about 50 miles west of the city.  She emphasizes that the Pathfinders are *only* to retrieve the book and Besai if either or both are there, and are not to steal anything else--after all, the Society doesn't want to offend the powerful Kalistocrat any further.  This bit is important, as during the adventure, the PCs will come across an awfully tempting array of treasures, but if any are pocketed, they face severe reprimands (including the potential of negative boons) when the mission is over.

The journey to Ghenett Manor is uneventful.  The map of the place is excellent, and could certainly be used for other purposes (it could be a flip-mat, but I think the grounds would be too large to be accurately reflected).  The scenario also provides excellent details about mundane but important-in-gameplay details like walls, windows, etc.  Upon arrival, the Pathfinders will face their first surprise: they're welcomed inside by a very friendly caretaker!  Gamaradim Po, and his demure wife Domitilla, have strict orders from Passad to be courteous to all visitors, even Pathfinders who have come intent on violence or theft.  The scenario does an excellent job portraying the scope of information Gamaradim will provide as he and his wife serve tea to the Pathfinders.  I was going to write about how there will surely be paranoid players who refuse to have their characters drink the perfectly-innocuous tea, but it turns out the tea is indeed drugged with a sleeping draught!  It doesn't lead to harmful consequences at all, but is apparently Passad's way of making a point.  It would be interesting to see how many groups try to bully and threaten the perfectly-nice and innocent caretaker and his wife.

From this point (or really even prior to this point, if the PCs decided to sneak over the wall and enter the manor stealthily) the adventure is open-ended.  The manor is large, and the PCs are unlikely to visit every chamber.  There are some clever traps that might catch-out even experienced dungeon-crawlers, and an assortment of guardians like hell hounds, flesh golems, and chaos beasts.  The kidnapped envoy, Besai, is indeed being detained here, in a secret room under the kitchen (the trapdoor has a stinking cloud trap whose soul purpose is to heap a little more indignity upon the rude man).  Besai is extremely cantankerous and verbally abusive towards the PCs, no matter how efficient they are, and I think many groups might regret having rescued him!

As for the Mutani Manual, an unpredictable factor in the scenario is that the Pathfinders aren't the only group who have come to steal it!  A team of Aspis Consortium agents breached the manor some hours prior to the PCs, and have lost two of their number in scouring the place.  They've found what they think is the real book (though it's actually only a decoy) and will encounter the Pathfinders at some point depending on how events proceed.  The PCs might think the Aspis agents have the real book and attack them (which might lead to a running battle as they try to escape with it), the two groups might just stumble into each other, or the Aspis agents might overhear the PCs' discovery of the real book and attack them (leading to a pitched battle).  The Aspis agents are interesting and well-characterised, which is good (though makes me feel sorry for them when they're inevitably dispatched in a single encounter). It's also perfectly possible that the PCs will get the decoy book from the Aspis agents, assume it's the real one, and travel all the way back to Katapesh for certain mission failure! I appreciate that it treats the players as grown-ups and is willing to levy some consequences for their actions, as I hate scenarios that feel obliged to ensure everything is happy ending all of the time.

As a scenario that's a bit more open-ended and could resolve in various ways, The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet is best for a GM who is flexible and can improvise, and a group that doesn't need to be led around by the nose.  Assuming those two conditions are met, I think this excellent scenario should provide a fun experience. 

Starfinder Society Scenario # 4-12: "A Festive Operation" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

A Festive Operation is certainly something different and memorable!  It's a very low-stakes, low-drama scenario that features the PCs helping ordinary people navigate holiday stress!  It would be right at home on something like the "DisneyKids!" channel.  That doesn't mean it's not well-written and fun, and it could be a good, relaxing game to play with friends and family over the holidays.  I wouldn't want to see *most* Starfinder Society adventures be like this, but an occasional change to a light-hearted tone is fine.  I played it via play-by-post.

SPOILERS!

The scenario begins with the PCs having a meal at a cafeteria in SFS headquarters during the winter holiday season on Absalom Station.  Is it a bit weird that "winter" holidays are so big on a space station where such a thing like winter doesn't exist?  Yes, but I guess we have to go with it.  The PCs are approached by a little plant person (a "raxilite") named Camellia and (seemingly out of the blue) asked for help in spreading holiday cheer "because it's the right thing to do!"  Again, I guess you just have to go along with it, even though Neutral-aligned PCs might struggle.  Camellia is the link between what are essentially three unrelated mini-adventures, each themed to a different holiday.

"First Choices" is a shirren holiday that involves gift-giving.  Camellia asks the PCs to help a shirren named Kinnik who is throwing a party but struggling to find the perfect gift for his best friend/secret crush.  The answer is a hoodie with the logo of a cult-fave rock band called Sonic Tumult, but to find one, the PCs have to visit the stall of an NPC named Dot in the Freemarkets.  I liked Dot, and it's always good to have more "civilian" NPCs in the game that authors can use (and there are some really nice connections to Intro: Year of the Data Scourge here).  Dot sends the PCs off to her storage unit to find the hoodie, but while the group is searching, a couple of skittermanders named Olive and Violet accidentally set the place ablaze with fireworks!  Essentially, it's a skills challenge to keep the fire contained and recover the merch.  It does contain one of the Starfinder organized play things that really irks me: an NPC giving a crazy-valuable gift (here, a 3600 credit armor upgrade) just for some trivial help (here, cleaning some shelves).

"Newspark" is an android holiday that celebrates android liberation with a street parade of very-elaborate floats.  Camellia asks the PCs to help an android named Yichen to finish their float in time for the parade.  There's several options the PCs can use in terms of skill checks to get the float ready and to make it fun while it's going down the street, though they will have to pause to fight a living hologram created by a malfunctioning projector.  Olive and Violet make a fun return appearance.

"Reunion" gets the PCs off Absalom Station and on to Akiton for a holiday feast celebrating family and kinship.  A shobhad named Alora (love the apron pic!) is trying to prepare the traditional meal exactly like her recently-deceased grandmother would have done, but she's not much of a cook and is struggling.  The adventure plays this for laughs, but I think there was actually a very real and relevant story that could have been told involving grief, family, the holidays, and the stress of trying to make everything "perfect." (an episode The Bear comes to mind)  And I didn't think the idea of the PCs having to go hunting and butcher a wild boar-type creature called an arabak was really the right angle--diversity includes vegetarians!

In a brief conclusion, Camellia thanks the PCs and gives them a magic flower from the First World.

As I said, the theme and tone is right on the edge of being unbearably saccharine to me, but I appreciate what it's trying to do.  It is well-written, and I really like the attention to detail and that consequences are set out for failed skill checks.  Let's just make sure scenarios like A Festive Operation are few and far between!

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 55 [RPG]

 [Toilday, 14 Erastus 4708 A.R. continued]

Deciding that breaking into Hedge Wizardry is a bad idea, The Reckoner instead changes into his alter ego as Ralph Blackfeather.  He heads west, across the mostly deserted streets of the city, towards a white marble building on a hill: the city’s Temple of Sarenrae.  He’s about to duck out of an alley and head for it when an instinct keeps him in hiding—something small and invisible is flying around the temple!  Realising that the government may have set an imp spy to watch who goes in and out of one of the few buildings not under its control, Ralph waits for the imp to fly to the far side of the building and then dashes in.  There, he sees that the recent crackdowns and Gray Maiden-led arsons have led to many casualties, as the temple’s wards and corridors are filled with victims.  When Ralph tracks down the fast-talking ratfolk priestess Wiquita, one glance tells her he’s been the victim of a poisoning.  Although the temple has exhausted its supply of lesser restoratives, she’s able to sell him some more powerful magical scrolls that will have an instantaneous effect.

Another well-timed sprint sees Ralph make it safely out of the temple and back into the sewers to once again don the guise of The Reckoner.  Still, almost two hours have passed by the time he finds his way back to where he left Anorak and Goldcape.  He finds Goldcape unconscious from the strange monster’s poisonous gas, with Rocky looming protectively over her.  A scroll from the Temple of Sarenrae draws the poison out of her body.  Anorak says he’s come up with a plan: he wants to use some minor illusion magic to lure the monster closer to the steel grate and then attack from a distance.  At first, the plan works—conjured lights and sounds draw out the beast, allowing the dwarf to launch a powerful fireball—but the explosion washes over the creature with no effect!  The creature retreats back into the darkness.

The Reckoner lures it out again by throwing his voice like a master ventriloquist, something that has the side effect of waking Goldcape up.  The vanara conjures magical hailstones that pummel the monster, but Anorak makes the mistake of getting too close to the bars and takes a hoof to the face!  The Reckoner closes in a bid to finish it off, but it exhales another cloud of noxious gas that weakens him.  Still, with an incredibly powerful swing of his battle-maul, The Reckoner smashes down the bars and crushes the beast’s skull!  He uses the last scroll purchased from the temple to neutralise the poison coursing through his veins.

Further down the tunnel, they find the secret door exactly where Boule said it would be.  But what they find on the far side is certainly a surprise: a makeshift tavern, complete with a wooden bar, rickety chairs, and dusty tankards.  Sitting on the bar with its little bandy legs hanging over the edge, a goblin smiles and welcomes everyone to “The Sewer Brewer!” and offers them drinks on the house.  But Goldcape’s nature magic reveals that they’re poisoned, and they rush the goblin.  Before they can reach it, it steps into a magically-conjured doorway and disappears!

A door behind the bar leads to a winding tunnel that terminates at a thick cloud of yellowish mist.  Anorak recognises it as a type of magical dispelling field, and manages to dampen its effect for a few seconds so everyone can dash through safely.  Past the mist, the tunnel opens up into a wide cavern with high ledges looking down on a rocky floor covered with softly glowing blue fungus.  On the ledges are a pair of women that Goldcape recognises as members of the now-disbanded Sable Company, and they call out for rescue, saying they’ve just escaped from the derro.  But The Reckoner spots a Red Mantis hiding on the far side of a pit at the southern end of the cavern.  Working together quickly, Goldcape sends Rocky to carry The Reckoner toward the assassin, and the foe is easily dispatched.  But when Goldcape and Anorak go to help the stranded women climb down from the ledges, a trap is sprung!  In life they may have been Sable Company Marines, but now the two are foul undead creatures!  One leaps down to claw the would-be rescuers, while the other emits a supernaturally terrifying screech that sends Goldcape running for her life.  Fortunately, once Rocky and The Reckoner fly back into the fray, the two monsters are destroyed, and the effect on Goldcape wears off.

The Harrowed Heroes have managed to overcome some early obstacles and push forward, but has the passage of time—and the escape of a potential sentry—given their foes time to rally?
------------------------------
GM Commentary

The Reckoner always kept his Perception score maxed out, which sometimes allowed him to even notice invisible creatures like the imp!  From a game perspective, the downside is that maxing out that one skill means you never have to worry about ambushes, disguises, someone sneaking up, etc., which can make the game less exciting.  That's the trade-off that I can never seem to get players to understand: the better your characters get at something, the less excitement the game has to offer in that area.
One thing the AP doesn't cover is the role of the Church of Sarenrae after the Queen's rise to power.  We're told that the Churches of Asmodeus and Abadar quickly throw her their support (as she is, ostensibly, the lawful ruler of the city) and we know that the leader of the Church of Pharasma supports the rebels.  Sarenrae is a goddess with multiple dimensions (healing, redemption, destroying undead, etc.), and I could easily imagine a more active role for the Church in the story.  But I went with them serving primarily as a hospital for all those sick from Blood Veil, injured in the rioting, beat up by the Gray Maidens, etc.

The weird creature behind the gate was a catoblepas.  I had never used one before, but it ended up being very dangerous for the party with its poison gas breath! It's funny how much something like a metal grate can increase the threat of a creature if it means the PCs can't get it to as easily.

The plan was for the underground entry to be a surprise attack timed exactly with a main attack on the surface to draw away defenders.  As the last line of the recap foreshadows, because the PCs had to retreat and come back, that timing is off and they'll face a much harder time of it.