Can someone please tell me the name and page number of the supplement where this trap is described, so we can find out the context of the events?
"Cult of Cinders" pp 57-59, Areas C6 and C7.
Can someone please tell me the name and page number of the supplement where this trap is described, so we can find out the context of the events?
There are a handful of reasons for the apparent increase in difficulty.Wow. What happened to Paizo APs? in the ‘olden days’ they were the watchword for easily beatable adventures. I used to have to pile multiple encounters together in order to prevent a challenge.
Thanks for the response. Sounds painful - particularly when it comes to traps.There are a handful of reasons for the apparent increase in difficulty.
Related to number 3 there is that certain tactics that are okay in other games are a really bad idea in PF2. Charging into combat is usually worse than forcing the enemy to come to you. If you’re standing there, slugging it out because you want to fish for a crit on your third attack, then you’re probably taking damage you could have avoided. It’s much better to retreat and force the enemy to close the distance again.
- The guidelines for encounter building actually work. Because build optimization could make so much of a difference, they weren’t in PF1. Encounters might be hard or might be easy depending on the players. Consequently, hard encounters in PF2 are hard.
- Per the guidelines, higher-thread encounters can end the adventuring day or kill PCs (for severe- and extreme-threat encounters). Moderate-threat encounters are an example of the former, and they’re fairly common in APs.
- PF2 shifts system mastery from character building to tactical play. This helps with balance and making the guidelines work reliably, but it means consistently poor tactics gets you wrecked by moderate-threat encounters on a regular basis.
Additionally, another part of tactics is teamwork. If the group is not fighting as a team, it’s going to have a harder time (especially at severe and extreme threats where it’s practically a requirement). For example, a party that casts bless (+1 status bonus to attack), uses Demoralize (−1 or −2 status penalty to AC), and imposes the flat-footed condition (−2 circumstance penalty to AC) on a target has an effectively 20~25% higher hit and crit rate against it than one that doesn’t put much effort into maximizing its effectiveness.
Edit: I’m speaking generally here. In this case, there was an apparently nasty hazard involved in the encounter. That can also affect things, though I’d expect it to be factored i to the encounter’s budget.
Okay. I see the problems:Never. It just doesn't come up. As presented in the module, there is no way to learn anything about the showdown dungeon to gain a tactical advantage. You're in the middle of a jungle with no helpful NPCs who have ever seen the area - your allies are even magically blocked from getting close to it. They don't know how to pre-buff until a trap is sprung and combat started - and by then there is no time to waste on buffs. The cleric spends every available action and spell slot to heal the party. The party is 100% reactionary to the challenges of the adventure.
I kind of have the same impression of official adventures.Thanks for the response. Sounds painful - particularly when it comes to traps.
Thanks."Cult of Cinders" pp 57-59, Areas C6 and C7.
In what way do you think it is outside the norm?1) That trap is way outside the norm for a complex hazard of that level. I have been told that this model was written before the rules were finalized so that might explain it.
In my experience hazards are very nasty for their level.In this case, there was an apparently nasty hazard involved in the encounter. That can also affect things, though I’d expect it to be factored i to the encounter’s budget.
I should add that I see no reason to doubt your characters' numerical correctness.Yeah, I think so. We used Pathbuilder to construct the characters, then sort of double check that everything is entered correctly in the Character Sheet on Roll20 on a case-by-case basis.