Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9033102" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/IFpdySw.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Note: I had intentions of covering Week 18, but these posts have a tendency to get long so I wanted to cover 3 weeks for tonight instead.There are two places of importance to visit during the 15th Week. The first is a trip back to the Glowing Caves, where the PCs can be informed by allies of unique mushrooms to disrupt the use of Skati’s Life Scales (described in the previous post), finding a way to help create/enhance Allay, or breaking into Kumuhea’s secret library in finding a way to control her wurms. At this point several refugees from SpringBog and Chitoni will have come here for a safe haven, and it’s possible that tensions between the two groups have worsened relations. PCs who helped save one or both groups’ civilizations will be welcomed as heroes, but those whose civilization hasn’t will be more suspicious of the party.There’s a quest where the mirescales ask the PCs to help reinforce one of Kumuhea’s tunnels and clear it of monsters, but the bigger quest involves breaking into Kumuhea’s secret library, and at this point she has arrived or is about to arrive in the library to safeguard her belongings. At this point a mutated undead wurm has become free of her control and acts as a hostile third party for combat. PCs who are on good terms with the druid and help her defeat it will be taught how to control the wurms, but otherwise the PCs have to overcome the mundane and magical traps protecting the scrolls, carvings, and tablets to learn this knowledge. A DC 20 intelligence check teaches a character a ritual of how to control the undead wurms. This doesn’t have any explicit game stats, but judging by the in-game text it teaches the characters how to make a Wurm Bracelet of their own so I presume that’s the intent. Otherwise, leaving the caves at this point will have the PCs come upon some kia’i while sailing, speaking to them about events in Redfield.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/mwEfIPK.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Isle of the Watching Woman is our entirely new location. It is home to only one intelligent being, Makana Asteria, a child sphinx who is actually one of the oldest beings of the Isles of Manaki. She claims to be the Star Breather’s daughter and her Dominant Domain is Fate, which grants her peerless knowledge of past, present, and future. For much of history she has taken a non-interference stance in mortal affairs, for the last time she sought to dispense wisdom to mortals it was ignored to their folly. She’s also the only person who can help create the weapon Allay, which is another important reason to visit her.Makana won’t just talk with anyone: she has been aware of the PC’s actions throughout the campaign, and their decisions generate Confidence Points which in turn open up more actions and gifts. There’s no hard and fast list of how points are earned: basically each week grants the party 1 Confidence Point if the primary adventure/location’s goal was resolved in a positive manner. She may also play tricks on the PCs when visiting the island in the form of random encounters and debuffs, and parties who overcome then earn half a Confidence Point.At 7 Confidence Points she can grant access to her forge and allow the PCs to harvest Units from the island’s resources. At 10 she can grant past or current information about the Undead Lords, the ecliptic, and which island will sink next, as well as access to her library. At 13 she can tell the PCs about Kadaur/Kada’s true plans as well as help them build Allay. At 16 points and higher she will tell the PCs about her father, a sensitive subject for her, and actively participate in the final battle. As to whether this “final battle” is the War of Week 19 or fighting the Star Breather in Week 20, I’m unsure.There are four quests on the island: one is earning Makana’s permission to mine jarn (a metal that deals 3 extra damage to fey, fiends, and undead when incorporated into weapons), learning how to drive a Turntail Swamp hag’s hut by using the beach for practice runs, and helping fight off Kumuhea who attempts to invade the island (this earns 2 Confidence Points if the PCs defeat her, and Makana uses her magic to force the druid off the island if the PCs are at risk of death). The final quest only happens if the PCs have permission to visit Makana’s library: she has kept several of Kumuhea’s writing here, and is unsure what to do with them and will leave it up to the PCs whether they learn the Ancient Ritual from it or burn them down (earns Confidence Points and spare parts for the forge). The Ritual is Insula Movere, a spell that is cast over a period of 8 hours and transports an island up to a location familiar to the caster within 500 miles. The drawback is that the ritual only affects the island itself, not any of the creatures on it, and also leaves a crater that the surrounding ocean fills over 1d4 minutes, most likely destroying any ships and creatures that were near or on the island. So I take it this can end up leaving the island a barren rock, and even if a DM interprets the flora as being “rooted” the loss of all animal life will devastate the ecosystem.Last but not least, Makana can help realize the weapon Allay. Allay is not built like a typical weapon: it is instead a concept that is realized upon an existing weapon. Only one Allay can ever exist at a time, and only Makana can realize it. The weapon Marrow is used as its base, and the weapon can gain additional properties based on various events and combining it with other items. There’s a table breaking down each additional element that can be added to Allay:<img src="https://i.imgur.com/sOnvlfp.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Chances are the party has several such elements at this point in the campaign. If the PCs don’t have the required Confidence to help Makana realize it, then she will find the party on her own and do the service once they have the Points.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/0zFU3NO.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />By the 16th week, only half the population remains in the Isles at most. Wildlife and freshwater are scarce all over, and food is strictly rationed. The two locations are repeat visits: to the Primal Archipelago to petition the half-immortal Tyrannavis Deus for aid, or to visit Redfield and recruit the surviving fiends for the upcoming war against the undead and ecliptics.For the Primal Archipelago, the PCs can hear rumors that Beast Tyrant Island is home to a dinosaur so old it’s become a half-immortal, and can serve as a powerful living weapon to help the Isles. The dinosaur lives on Beast Tyrant Island, littered with countless ancient bones that have been picked clean. The only fauna living on the island are litters of rabbit, and the sight of so many bones fills onlookers with primal dread. This last part forces the frightened condition on a failed Wisdom save. The Tyrannavis Deus can be found at its nest on a tall peak. The monster will quickly fly back to the nest, interposing herself between the party and the sole egg there, giving the party some time to explain themselves before attacking. The monster can yield if reduced to half her hit points, and PCs can use the ancient ritual from Skyreach to control or influence her, too. PCs who managed to free the immature version of her species from the sunken ship in the Entropy Abyss will already have the half-immortal positively inclined towards the PCs, with no combat necessary. Said immature monster will join the final war as a t-rex with a 60 foot flying speed.In terms of stats, Tyrannavis Deus is a CR 20 monster with impressive movement speeds, with 120 foot flight being the fastest. Her tactics are primarily melee, with multiattack talons and beak as well as a Frightful Presence she can activate as part of the multiattack. Her Dominant Domain is Distance, making her immune to any kind of involuntary movement, and can teleport up to 60 feet at the end of each of her turns without an action or can teleport a creature within 60 feet that same amount of distance. She has legendary resistance and actions as well, the latter of which includes an AoE shriek causing deafness and thunder damage. She also has truesight and a 20 Passive Perception, so she’s hard to fool.PCs who persuade Tyrannavis Deus can gain her aid in the final war, and if they make a particularly good case can gain a magical boon granting each party member a 60 foot flying speed and can teleport up to 30 feet as a bonus action a limited number of times per long rest. PCs who dispense with diplomacy and kill Tyrannavis Deus will cause the island to slowly sink into the ocean, vanishing completely in 24 hours. The PC who slain her will gain her Dominant Domain feature and +4 to their Strength and Strength maximum, and nonmagical weapons coated with her blood deal +1d8 damage for 7 days.As for Redfield, its fate by this point widely differs. If the PCs failed to stop Kada from summoning a whirlpool in Week 13 the island would have sunk and only a few flying fiends managed to escape. If Redfield is still above sea level, the wards have since fallen due to seismic shifts. The demon/devil war is still going on unchanged if the PCs haven’t previously visited and resolved it. Otherwise the faction they helped has made great gains and their leader happily greets the party; they will need to kill the remaining forces of the enemy leader in order to gain further assistance. If the party resolved things via Diplomacy, the fiends have dedicated their constant warfare to urban planning and fastened the army camps into proper towns.Regardless of who they aided, the friendly fiends will lead the PCs to a recently unearthed cavern, a hidden workshop of Skati Fylkir that is full of valuable treasure ranging from Glow Caves resources, diamonds, and a scroll of the gate spell among other things. Furthermore, damaged portals can be reactivated or rebuilt, which is required to gain their aid in the final war.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/SwNQnJ7.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />By the 17th week, things are looking incredibly bleak: there’s little to no renewable or stored food left, natural freshwater is all gone, wildlife is either barren or highly dangerous, and the majority of survivors are sick or wounded. The two locations to visit are Skyreach and Kauhale, requiring the PCs to deal with an existential threat to a community. In Skyreach’s case, Kada is performing a two-week ritual to gradually sink himself, and by the 18th week all of Kadaur will be below sea level. In Kauhale’s case, an army of ecliptics are attacking the kia’i settlement. If the PCs neglect Skyreach, then by the 18th week Keyport and Alaula Cove will be submerged, and if Kauhale wasn’t defended then only a scattered handful of kia’i will survive in all the Isles.Difficult decisions!Skyeach’s hook is easy; everyone on Kadaur realizes that the island is slowly sinking, and the villagers of Makolf are building rafts and ask the PCs if they can help appease the island spirit. The entirety of this quest is a climactic fight against Kada, who in being in his own volcano now has lair actions! Once the PCs defeat him the ritual is broken, but Kada still survives as he gradually reforms over several hours. Approaching the party on non-violent terms this time, he lets the PCs keep Marrow and lets them coat their weapons in ichor if they so desire, before telling them about the Star Breather’s influence in the Black Atoll. PCs can convince Kada to fight to save the Isles in the final war; if they cast the Audire Animam Obsecro ritual (the one that affects half-immortals) and choose to make him dormant, this destroys Kada, the volcano becomes dormant, and someone else determined by the DM claims the Drama domain.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/lm4CDOR.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />There are many reasons the PCs may visit Kauhale during the siege. Much like SpringBog and Chitoni, this is a combat-heavy mission where the PCs will fight waves of ecliptics while helping evacuate people. The Relinquit is heavily defended, for the dead bodies within would increase the ecliptic forces immensely if seized. The kia’i don’t want to destroy the bodies, for should they win the war the Ceremony of Rebirth will be needed to help give the Isles a new start. Like before, it’s possible that the rogue ecliptic Keahi will arrive to aid the PCs, but it’s up to the DM when they’re deployed. A potential final encounter in defending the spawning grounds may have the PCs fight three greater ecliptic hunters. Which may be a bit overkill in terms of difficulty: not only are these monsters powerful individually, they all have legendary actions and the PCs are likely hurting for resources.If the PCs are successful in aiding the kia’i in repelling the siege, their people will slowly rebuild and attend to the dead over the next few days. If they don’t have it already the party will be bequeathed Wavesplitter, and will then be pointed to Skyreach Temple or King’s Tomb as the Week 18 locations.Thoughts So Far: Barring some minor random encounters and enemies, a lot of these weekly locations are quite brief in terms of quests. While some of them have the PCs fighting a single great monster such as a Balor/Pit Fiend in Redfield’s non-Diplomacy case, Kada, or Tyrannavis Deus, PCs will likely be fighting them at close to full resources which can tip things in the party’s favor. The ecliptic siege of Kauhale is likely to be the deadliest on account of the three greater ecliptic hunters as the final battle after waves of enemies. But Kauhale is also my favorite of the locations: in most of them the party is gaining the aid of some powerful being and is thus a more passive urgency, but Kauhale is pretty much an existential threat. Kada is too, but given he’s just a single fight that the PCs may have already done before, it doesn’t have as much weight behind it. I do have to wonder if it’s an editing error for Kada to point the PCs towards the Black Atoll this early; not only would it be anti-climactic to go there before the War in week 19, it will bypass the 18th week’s events as well.I really like the concept of Allay; a weapon that the PCs can build upon to add more benefits to it is pretty neat, as it progresses in power in line with their accomplishments. Having it gained at the 15th week makes it feel a bit late to introduce, though.Join us next time as we wrap up this adventure path, with the PCs participating in a War For the Isles and challenging the Star Breather itself!</blockquote>

Verification