Dungeon #141

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I don't have the issue yet, but I'm guessing this is the AC of the Sea Wyvern or a similar vessel?

Most large vessels have negative ACs, and it really is just a "really bad AC".

Bear in mind that a medium inanimate object has an AC of 5 (base 10, -5 for zero dexterity), then factor in the -8 size-category modifier, and a Colossal vessel such as a caravel has an AC of -3. Basically, it's as easy to hit as the broad side of a very large barn.

Ah, got it.

Yeah, it's a ship AC. Guess I need to go look at the naval rules. The adventure is designed for the Stormwrack ship-to-ship rules, though there is a shorthand version in the adventure. There's an opportunity for at least one ship-to-ship action in the adventure.

 

[diaglo]

Our CS department's pretty good about getting problems like these taken care of and fixed.

quoted for troof.

i'm pretty much on a first name basis with the whole department.

 

[devilbat]

If anyone's having troubles getting issues, don't hesitate. Drop us a line at customer.service@paizo.com, or make a post over on our mesageboards in the customer service area. Our CS department's pretty good about getting problems like these taken care of and fixed.

I should note that while I have had trouble getting a few issues of my subscriptions, Paizo's customer relations team have been great to deal with. They are quick to mail out replacement issues, generally within one day of being made aware of a problem.

Edit: Oops, Diaglo beat me to it.

 

[Arnwyn]

Agreed - Paizo's customer service has been fantastic.

I'm just worried, though, of the horror stories I've read out here in intarweb-land that if it happens one too many times (whatever that might be), Paizo will just "cut you off" and note that the problem must be "elsewhere" and they won't send any more subscription replacements. While I've only had to have replaced 3 or 4 issues spread out over 5+ years, that does cause me a great deal of concern (though I admit I'm somewhat of a worry-wart - especially right now when neither November issue has arrived).

 

[GVDammerung]

*ahem*

TAMOACHAN!

...that is all.

The latest Savage Tide Adventure Path entry is a collection of sidetrek-like adventures, that get the players to the Isle of Dread.

One of the sidetrek-like adventures is a brief stop at Tamoachan to indulge a curious fellow traveller of the PCs, who the PCs are presumed to accompany ashore. Presented is a new map of new ruins at Tamoachan. Unfortunately, they are very abbreviated, as befits a sidetrek-like adventure, but otherwise less than might have been hoped for, at least by Tamoachan fans. More bothersome is the way these ruins are described; they lack much depth, using appropriate Olman names, but only vague descriptions of areas, none of which suggests much in the way of new possibilities for Tamoachan or the Olman.

Also presented in the adventure is a map of the area from Sasserine to the Isle of Dread. Except for the Isle of Dread, the map is almost a virtual duplicate of the map of the same area contained in the Scarlet Brotherhood accessory. Notably Xamaclan is missing from the Dungeon map.

In these particulars, the adventure is less than it might have been. The decision to create a "from-here-to-there" adventure out of mini-adventures likely doomed any greater development. Certainly, the trip to the Isle of Dread could have been broken up into two or three segments, allowing for perhaps a Tamoachan exclusive adventure but such would have then shortened up the opportunity for other adventures.

It seems, then, like a bowl half empty or half full sort of situation. Certainly for Greyhawk fans, the tendency is to see the bowl half empty as the opportunity for a greater return to Tamoachan was there but passed very much like a ship in the night - on its way to the Isle of Dread.

If anyone was considering buying the adventure purely for its Tamoachan content, unless you are a rabid Olman fan, I can't recommend it. Similarly, for anyone considering buying the adventure for its expanded map of the southern seas of Oerth, I cannot recommend that either.

For a Greyhawk connected adventure, Dungeon 141's entry is very generic.

 

[Alzrius]

For a Greyhawk connected adventure, Dungeon 141's entry is very generic.

Well, I'm a fan of Greyhawk (and all older D&D material, though not as rabidly as some people) and I can't bring myself to get the least bit upset over this. The inclusion of Tamoachan was an easter egg - it was completely unexpected, and as such all of it is appreciated.

Of course, as you said, it was a side trek. There's only so much they can fit in, even with a twelve-issue Adventure Path. But it's little extras like these that make it so much cooler. I loved the brief stop over in the Tomb of Horrors that was included at the end of the Age of Worms, for example. The Tamoachan side trek was one of those great bonus features that makes these campaigns so cool.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

How much flavor is involved in the Scarlet Brotherhood's involvement so far in the Age of Worms? My DM is thinking of using it in Praemal (the world of Ptolus) and I'm curious how easy it's going to be to turn them into a chaos cult or something instead of race supremacist monks.

 

[Wik]

Hm. I am something of a Tamoachan nut, but I kind of figured it wouldn't get too much information in the AP. I'm okay with that - I plan on taking out some encounters throughout the episode, so I can "beef up" the Tamoachan scene.

I would love to see a "return to Tamoachan" adventure, but I know it's never goign to happen, so I'll take this. It'll be fun to share Tamoachan (albeit slightly) with an entirely new group.

 

[James Jacobs]

We use a somewhat streamlined version of the Stormwrack rules in "Sea Wyvern's Wake," so if you don't have Stormwrack, you can still have ships fight each other. Of course, if you DO use Stormwrack, "Sea Wyvern's Wake" supports those rules perfectly.

And yeah... it's pretty easy to hit a 75 foot long ship with a sword, as it turns out.

 

[Jakar]

Any news on when the web enhancements which said were going to be posted in the Dungeon mags, are going to be posted? We are still owed ones from 139 onwards.......