This series is so helpful in prepping to run this adventure. There isn't much content like this, so thanks for producing it. Im finding it to be invaluable.
Thanks so much! For AV, I only did through book 1. People are now, a year later, finding and loving the content. It's crazy. I have added a goal on our Patreon to finish the series. For everyone who is finding this now, and would like it to be finished in its entirety, definitely help us reach that goal!
Just want to say thank you so much for the streams and the advice. FIrst session tomorrow and I feel so much more prepared having watched your streams. I've been GMing for a long time, but mostly I've done homebrew stuff where I just make it all up on the spot. This is the first long-form, pre-written adventure I've run and the prep has been so much smoother thanks to you guys!
Again, thanks so much. I've noticed in the updated Abomination Vaults that several problems you have mentioned were fixed (especially Mr. Beak's Vampiric Touch). Thanks for everything, this has made me feel very secure in running the entire adventure!
Well done Steve ! Once more… I’am convinced that these side quests are a nice way to improve character’s immersion in the story. It’s even more important in a megadungeon adventure type, where characters need to have purpose, other that just explore the ruins and kill monsters. You did a great job, gathering and highlighting main quests and NPCs. Each time I can, I try to delve into my PC’s background, to introduce new specific quests. As an exemple, our Wizard was eager to learn an uncommon spell when he reached lvl 3. I ruled this specific spell wasn’t available in Otari. Instead, he received a letter from his former Master of Magic, who wished to be recommended by Kreighton Shaine in the Pathfinder Society. In order to impress this elf scholar, Scroll Master of the Grand Loge of Abasalom, he has investigating his missing sister, a member of Absalom's Thieves Guild, 500 years ago, and he's found a note that suggests she might have responded to an invitation from Belcorra to Gauntlight. He asks his former apprentice to find a proof of her coming in gauntlight. Tracing the trail of Helena Shane, our wizard will eventually find her skeleton in area D1, and the bracelet of dashing with the initials H.S. carved inside. As a reward from his master, he may have access to 3 uncommon spells for his spellbook.
I'm about to run my first session of Abomination Vaults after doing a couple others Otari adventures. We've done Menace Under Otari (Beginner Box) and Troubles in Otari. My players are still using the same characters so they are all around level 4 but I think it's fine if they go to the Gauntlight and kick butt by being stronger. The change I plan on making is having them start in Otari and speaking with Wrinn about the glowing light in the swamp coming from the lighthouse. Then the light will shine on the graveyard from Chapter 2 and they'll fight the skeletons/zombies and big guy in the graveyard. The mayor will freak out and offer gold for them to do something about it and they'll be on their way to the Gauntlight. I'll probably also have them speak to several NPCs like you mentioned in this video. I like the idea of having the dwarf see the like as a good thing because it reminds her of her son.
One thing I've done is to give each of my players one of the side quests from the get go. The idea being that they are all at least a little familiar with Otari and this gives them a little bit of a hook into the town without having to awkwardly indroduce an NPC. For example, one of the characters know Morlibint quite well, so he has already given that character his list of books and asked them to look out for titles therein, just in case. This is partly because my group are not big RPers, so it's unlikely that they would choose to strike up a conversation with many of the NPCs on their own. This way it gives them "mechanical" motivation to not only continue into the dungeon, rather than "Emotional" reasons. This is specific to my group, though, so far less relevant to Nulara, Mukta, et al., who do all the roleplays :)
Thanks again Steve. Maybe I have a tip for you? After importing the pdf I went through all the chapters in the book and numbered the entries in Foundry so they appear in my folders in the same order. (I used A0, A00, A000 etc for beginning entries before chapter 1 etc, B0, B00 etc for Chapter 2.) it really helps with finding stuff.
Thats a good tip! For me, I never took the time to go back through all the automated stuff. I am notoriously bad at that : ) The PDF to Foundry doesn't organize the non room stuff very cleanly; I think maybe for Book 2 I will do that up front so everything is easier to find! Thanks!
I'm starting the process of setting up for Abomination Vaults for my playgroup now and these videos have been a major help. One questions I have though is how you went about creating a shoplist for the different shops in Otari. Not the mechanical how to create a shop in Foundry, but the contents of the shop. Using Wrin's Workshop as an example, did you add every bit of adventuring gear, magical items, and assorted staves and what not to the shop, or did you make a more condensed list? If you went for a condensed listing, how did you decide what was best to go in the shops?
There wasn't a ton of planning in it, actually. I thought about things that I thought each shop would cater to: Blades for Glades: All Metal Focused Otari Garrison: Surprlus army stuff, combat focused Wrins: Curious, Trinkets, Potions, occult focused things Odd Stories: All Arcane focused magics Druids Circle: Non metal weaponry, primal spells, etc Then, I just went straight down a list of adventuring gear and picked things that I thought fit the theme. And then, after populating some of the low cost "must have" items, I put some more interesting stuff I thought the Players would get excited for. Since they had no idea about what loot was available, dropping a "Staff of healing" got the druid excited about how staffs work. A cool, high level shield got the fighter excited to start saving up for that item. Oh, we have a bard, so putting magical musical instruments was of course a must. And then for the Rogue, adding a thieves guild shop with some cool poisons and potential magical daggers seemed like a no brainer. I basically followed this for each shop, knowing that if the PCs had a specific piece of gear I could just add it on the fly to a shop if they asked about it. My main goal was to make "window shopping" more exciting for my players, since it was their first exposure to what sort of items Pathfinder 2e could have.
I know I'm quite late to the party commenting on this video, but these are so useful, so thank you! I'm planning to run this after the Beginner Box adventure. Do you have experience with that adventure? I'm wondering if that would be a good time to introduce some of these key NPCs
We ran that as part of our progression on learning PF2E, but since then Steve has run quite a few people through the adventure. In fact, he's been running a new group of players through it recently. Here is our MUO Actual Play Playlist: ruclips.net/video/ZP3Ystve5Vk/видео.html -Ricardo
We actually have 2 videos that cover how to do this! 1st Video covers Loot Actors: ruclips.net/video/5FY3n5scgtw/видео.html 2nd video covers stores: ruclips.net/video/qCSSihmT_ts/видео.html And all of the stores I created can be found in the PF2E Shopping Experience Module: foundryvtt.com/packages/shopping-experience!
This may be a bit spoilery... The AP doesn't explain how the mayor (or perhaps his family) ended up with the Cooperative Blade. It appears though, that the transfer of ownership occurred long before Carman came along. Perhaps one of Carman's ancestors sold the blade to an ancestor of the current mayor. As long as it was a legitimate transfer I don't see Carman's "claim" to the sword being any more than the ravings of a man full of resentment that his life hasn't gone as he wished it had. On another note, the AP says the four items have to be placed on the altar. It doesn't say they have to be left there. So can the party at some point take them back and use them? Or return them to their owners in Otari? (Not sure returning the sword to Carman will have the salutary effect on his life that he assumes it will).
It's true it doesn't explain how he got the blade; my headcannon (and I don't know if this was backed up by lore or just something I made up) was that his family heir, when she reclaimed and refounded the town of Otari, she spent her newfound money to seek out and retrieve the blade of Vol Rajani. The sword itself is super ancient, forged a thousand years ago. It's definitely something of a family heirloom, and because the whole family line is cursed through some mysterious pact likely due to stealing the sword and running. But his claim is dubious. It belonged to his family member, but who knows how menhemes came to own it? I really agree to play up that angle, with both sides determined to believe that they are right. But as for the items, they are not destroyed. Once the altar is opened, the items can be given back. That's one of the ways to convince Carman, he comes to "unlock" the vault, then takes the blade and leaves without a fight. Same with the Thresholds of Truth, or any of the items. They are intended to be used by the party!
Hey Ed, I turned the current mayor into a "my life is not as exciting, but Otari will be respected by Absalom and I will be known and respected for it" aka trying to put all under the rug to improve his political relationship and status, thus hoarding whatever past Otari had. His daughter on the other hand I will give more presence and her poking into the past gives her a plot to eventually be against her father, thus helping the adventurers (and thus making the very optional sidequest to help her get her mind back more interesting, too).
This series is so helpful in prepping to run this adventure. There isn't much content like this, so thanks for producing it. Im finding it to be invaluable.
Thanks so much!
For AV, I only did through book 1. People are now, a year later, finding and loving the content. It's crazy.
I have added a goal on our Patreon to finish the series. For everyone who is finding this now, and would like it to be finished in its entirety, definitely help us reach that goal!
The advice with fleshing out Otari is super useful!
Just want to say thank you so much for the streams and the advice. FIrst session tomorrow and I feel so much more prepared having watched your streams. I've been GMing for a long time, but mostly I've done homebrew stuff where I just make it all up on the spot. This is the first long-form, pre-written adventure I've run and the prep has been so much smoother thanks to you guys!
Good luck tomorrow!
Again, thanks so much. I've noticed in the updated Abomination Vaults that several problems you have mentioned were fixed (especially Mr. Beak's Vampiric Touch). Thanks for everything, this has made me feel very secure in running the entire adventure!
Good to hear!
Well done Steve ! Once more…
I’am convinced that these side quests are a nice way to improve character’s immersion in the story. It’s even more important in a megadungeon adventure type, where characters need to have purpose, other that just explore the ruins and kill monsters. You did a great job, gathering and highlighting main quests and NPCs.
Each time I can, I try to delve into my PC’s background, to introduce new specific quests.
As an exemple, our Wizard was eager to learn an uncommon spell when he reached lvl 3. I ruled this specific spell wasn’t available in Otari.
Instead, he received a letter from his former Master of Magic, who wished to be recommended by Kreighton Shaine in the Pathfinder Society. In order to impress this elf scholar, Scroll Master of the Grand Loge of Abasalom, he has investigating his missing sister, a member of Absalom's Thieves Guild, 500 years ago, and he's found a note that suggests she might have responded to an invitation from Belcorra to Gauntlight.
He asks his former apprentice to find a proof of her coming in gauntlight.
Tracing the trail of Helena Shane, our wizard will eventually find her skeleton in area D1, and the bracelet of dashing with the initials H.S. carved inside.
As a reward from his master, he may have access to 3 uncommon spells for his spellbook.
I'm about to run my first session of Abomination Vaults after doing a couple others Otari adventures. We've done Menace Under Otari (Beginner Box) and Troubles in Otari. My players are still using the same characters so they are all around level 4 but I think it's fine if they go to the Gauntlight and kick butt by being stronger.
The change I plan on making is having them start in Otari and speaking with Wrinn about the glowing light in the swamp coming from the lighthouse. Then the light will shine on the graveyard from Chapter 2 and they'll fight the skeletons/zombies and big guy in the graveyard. The mayor will freak out and offer gold for them to do something about it and they'll be on their way to the Gauntlight.
I'll probably also have them speak to several NPCs like you mentioned in this video. I like the idea of having the dwarf see the like as a good thing because it reminds her of her son.
One thing I've done is to give each of my players one of the side quests from the get go. The idea being that they are all at least a little familiar with Otari and this gives them a little bit of a hook into the town without having to awkwardly indroduce an NPC. For example, one of the characters know Morlibint quite well, so he has already given that character his list of books and asked them to look out for titles therein, just in case.
This is partly because my group are not big RPers, so it's unlikely that they would choose to strike up a conversation with many of the NPCs on their own. This way it gives them "mechanical" motivation to not only continue into the dungeon, rather than "Emotional" reasons. This is specific to my group, though, so far less relevant to Nulara, Mukta, et al., who do all the roleplays :)
this is amazing work! Thank you so much for your prep videos, I watch all of them in advance and I find them insightful and helpful ❤🎉
Thanks again Steve.
Maybe I have a tip for you?
After importing the pdf I went through all the chapters in the book and numbered the entries in Foundry so they appear in my folders in the same order. (I used A0, A00, A000 etc for beginning entries before chapter 1 etc, B0, B00 etc for Chapter 2.) it really helps with finding stuff.
Thats a good tip! For me, I never took the time to go back through all the automated stuff. I am notoriously bad at that : ) The PDF to Foundry doesn't organize the non room stuff very cleanly; I think maybe for Book 2 I will do that up front so everything is easier to find! Thanks!
@@RecallKnowledge Glad I can be helpful in return for all your useful info
this videos are really helping me out, thanks for them!
Glad to hear it!
I'm starting the process of setting up for Abomination Vaults for my playgroup now and these videos have been a major help. One questions I have though is how you went about creating a shoplist for the different shops in Otari. Not the mechanical how to create a shop in Foundry, but the contents of the shop. Using Wrin's Workshop as an example, did you add every bit of adventuring gear, magical items, and assorted staves and what not to the shop, or did you make a more condensed list? If you went for a condensed listing, how did you decide what was best to go in the shops?
There wasn't a ton of planning in it, actually. I thought about things that I thought each shop would cater to:
Blades for Glades: All Metal Focused
Otari Garrison: Surprlus army stuff, combat focused
Wrins: Curious, Trinkets, Potions, occult focused things
Odd Stories: All Arcane focused magics
Druids Circle: Non metal weaponry, primal spells, etc
Then, I just went straight down a list of adventuring gear and picked things that I thought fit the theme. And then, after populating some of the low cost "must have" items, I put some more interesting stuff I thought the Players would get excited for. Since they had no idea about what loot was available, dropping a "Staff of healing" got the druid excited about how staffs work. A cool, high level shield got the fighter excited to start saving up for that item. Oh, we have a bard, so putting magical musical instruments was of course a must. And then for the Rogue, adding a thieves guild shop with some cool poisons and potential magical daggers seemed like a no brainer.
I basically followed this for each shop, knowing that if the PCs had a specific piece of gear I could just add it on the fly to a shop if they asked about it. My main goal was to make "window shopping" more exciting for my players, since it was their first exposure to what sort of items Pathfinder 2e could have.
I'm starting to run this soon. I'm having one of the PCs be friends with Carmen, they served together.
Amazing
You are
I know I'm quite late to the party commenting on this video, but these are so useful, so thank you!
I'm planning to run this after the Beginner Box adventure. Do you have experience with that adventure? I'm wondering if that would be a good time to introduce some of these key NPCs
We ran that as part of our progression on learning PF2E, but since then Steve has run quite a few people through the adventure. In fact, he's been running a new group of players through it recently.
Here is our MUO Actual Play Playlist:
ruclips.net/video/ZP3Ystve5Vk/видео.html
-Ricardo
@@RecallKnowledge thanks for the response! Yeah I actually just found that play list earlier today and is my plan for the commute home
How do you set up your shops so nicely?
We actually have 2 videos that cover how to do this!
1st Video covers Loot Actors: ruclips.net/video/5FY3n5scgtw/видео.html
2nd video covers stores: ruclips.net/video/qCSSihmT_ts/видео.html
And all of the stores I created can be found in the PF2E Shopping Experience Module: foundryvtt.com/packages/shopping-experience!
This may be a bit spoilery...
The AP doesn't explain how the mayor (or perhaps his family) ended up with the Cooperative Blade. It appears though, that the transfer of ownership occurred long before Carman came along. Perhaps one of Carman's ancestors sold the blade to an ancestor of the current mayor. As long as it was a legitimate transfer I don't see Carman's "claim" to the sword being any more than the ravings of a man full of resentment that his life hasn't gone as he wished it had.
On another note, the AP says the four items have to be placed on the altar. It doesn't say they have to be left there. So can the party at some point take them back and use them? Or return them to their owners in Otari? (Not sure returning the sword to Carman will have the salutary effect on his life that he assumes it will).
It's true it doesn't explain how he got the blade; my headcannon (and I don't know if this was backed up by lore or just something I made up) was that his family heir, when she reclaimed and refounded the town of Otari, she spent her newfound money to seek out and retrieve the blade of Vol Rajani. The sword itself is super ancient, forged a thousand years ago. It's definitely something of a family heirloom, and because the whole family line is cursed through some mysterious pact likely due to stealing the sword and running.
But his claim is dubious. It belonged to his family member, but who knows how menhemes came to own it? I really agree to play up that angle, with both sides determined to believe that they are right.
But as for the items, they are not destroyed. Once the altar is opened, the items can be given back. That's one of the ways to convince Carman, he comes to "unlock" the vault, then takes the blade and leaves without a fight. Same with the Thresholds of Truth, or any of the items. They are intended to be used by the party!
Hey Ed, I turned the current mayor into a "my life is not as exciting, but Otari will be respected by Absalom and I will be known and respected for it" aka trying to put all under the rug to improve his political relationship and status, thus hoarding whatever past Otari had.
His daughter on the other hand I will give more presence and her poking into the past gives her a plot to eventually be against her father, thus helping the adventurers (and thus making the very optional sidequest to help her get her mind back more interesting, too).