DM rewards for PoTA side quests - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 NamelessHero May 03, 2015 11:47:07	If I run a one-shot side quest from chap 6 of PoTA, what DM rewards (if any) am I intitled to? I was thinking of running Halls of the Hunting Axe ( PoTA pg.180). If I do, would I receive 450 gps, 1,200 XP, and 10 downtime days as per the APLG pg.13? Or is this incorrect?
#2 MasterNamer May 04, 2015 19:41:27	If an adventure is the equivalent of an episode you should get the award detailed in the ALPG 2 for tier 3 episodes (900 XP and 450 gp). It would be nice to hear from an official source to confirm or clarify this though.
#3 Kalani May 04, 2015 19:59:05	I am still uncertain where all the break points are in PotA, however I am aware of the ones from Chapter 6. Show After Completing "Necromancers Cave" and "Into the Woods" (upon the parties return to Red Larch, just before the start of Tomb of Moving Stones). After completing "Tomb of Moving Stones". The break points for Chapter 3 appear to be at the end of each of the "Haunted Keeps" (4 in total).
(Reply to #3) MasterNamer	Kalani wrote:
#5 Kalani May 04, 2015 21:23:48	I got those split points from the Encounters document, which covers the Level 1 - 2 missions from Chapter 6, and the first two Haunted Keeps from Chapter 3. The Encounters document is broken up into 2 parts, with both parts granting 20 DT, and 2 renown (split at specific points in the document). Downtime & Renown - Princes of the Apocalypse Part 1: Chapter 6 Missions (Levels 1 & 2). Characters gain downtime and renown upon returning to Red Larch (after completing Necromancers Cave and Into the Woods), and again after completing "Tomb of Moving Stones" Part 2: Covers "Feathergale Spire", "Sacred Stone Monestary" and the investigations leading up to those two dungeons. Characters gain downtime and renown after completing each of those two Keeps. For those who have the book - there is a small sidebar in chapter 3 which states that each of the 4 keeps are intended for characters of levels 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectively. As characters are expected to gain approximately 10 DT and 1 renown per level, and given the fact that the first two keeps grant Downtime and renown, it was a logical assumption that the remaining 2 keeps did likewise.
(Reply to #5) MasterNamer	Kalani wrote:
#7 NamelessHero May 05, 2015 1:46:30	MasterNamer wrote:
#8 MasterNamer May 05, 2015 7:13:53	@Kalani: Thank you for providing a reference for your reasoning, but it seems as though it's insufficient to cover all of the adventures listed in the chapter. Is there a statement out from one of the admins like Greg Marks or Robert Adducci that covers an ambiguous area like this, or a more detailed list of what constitutes an episode in PotA?
#9 MasterNamer May 05, 2015 7:14:02	@Kalani: Thank you for providing a reference for your reasoning, but it seems as though it's insufficient to cover all of the adventures listed in the chapter. Is there a statement out from one of the admins like Greg Marks or Robert Adducci that covers an ambiguous area like this, or a more detailed list of what constitutes an episode in PotA?
#10 Kalani May 05, 2015 8:03:37	It has been discussed but I fail to remember what the conclusions were. It is something I personally need to follow up on myself.
(Reply to #10) MasterNamer	Kalani wrote:
(Reply to #10) MasterNamer	Kalani wrote:
(Reply to #10) MasterNamer	Kalani wrote:
#14 Pauper May 06, 2015 8:50:14	If the adventure lists the side quests as being seperate 'episodes', then yes, you would receive a DM award for running them. To this point, 'episode' has been synonymous with 'chapter' for the published adventures (LMoP, HotDQ, RoT, and PotA), so unless something is noted to the contrary by the campaign staff, you'd only get a DM award for running Chapter 6, no matter how many sessions that chapter lasts. -- Pauper
#15 Kalani May 06, 2015 9:20:07	Pauper wrote:
#16 shaterbane May 06, 2015 9:47:04	Kalani wrote:
(Reply to #16) shivafang	Other than the pre level 3 stuff (Necromancer's Cave and Tomb of Moving Stones) I wouldn't worry about running the rest of Chapter 6 just yet - you are looking at mid to late tier 2 for those (I think the lowest Side Trek is level 8). Send them through the chapter 3 stuff (as stated, 1 renown per 'Haunted Keep') and then the chapter 4 stuff (very likely 1 renown per Temple, but not official) and by the time you get there they will be a high enough level for the Side Treks in Chapter 6, and we'll likely have more information for you by then.
#18 Pauper May 06, 2015 11:08:58	Thanks, Kalani -- clearly I need to stop dawdling and pick up my copy of Princes. It should be noted, though, that just because Encounters divides up a chapter into multiple episodes does not mean the same is necessarily true of Casual Play. For the moment, I'd continue to go with the 'chapter = episode' rubric, excepting the specific reference in the Season 2 Encounters packet, until we hear something official, as it's much easier to add new awards than it is to remove awards that shouldn't have been awarded. -- Pauper
#19 Kalani May 06, 2015 11:37:50	Pauper wrote:
#20 shivafang May 06, 2015 12:06:36	Kallani is correct. The 'one milestone per chapter' method does NOT work for PotA. This is especially true since the campaign is designed to be sandbox. It is expected that the party will find (and probably clear) at least one of the Temples (chapter 4) before clearing all of the keeps in chapter 3. You will be expected to jump back and forth between the chapters unless you are literally leading the party by the nose to where you want them to go. (I've actually had to invent obstacles to avoid my 3rd level party from entering the level 6 Temple they found until they are a higher level to acomplish it - I basically flooded the valley and even then the party was like "Can't we just swim across?" at which point I flat out told them it was a higher-level dungeon and they should go back later.) The encouters document structure lends itself more to leading the party by the nose (do this, then do this) but if you are running it for home campaign play, they are to get clues from NPCs in and around town and those clues can litterally take them in multiple directions. I run this for two groups and even with the same clues they decided to investigate in different ways wich led them to different Keeps.
#21 Pauper May 06, 2015 13:44:28	How to handle chapters, episodes, and DM awards for Princes of the Apocalypse sounds like a good addition to the FAQ, then. I'd hold off on assigning myself any DM awards until such clarification is issued. -- Pauper

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

NamelessHero

May 03, 2015 11:47:07

If I run a one-shot side quest from chap 6 of PoTA, what DM rewards (if any) am I intitled to? I was thinking of running Halls of the Hunting Axe ( PoTA pg.180). If I do, would I receive 450 gps, 1,200 XP, and 10 downtime days as per the APLG pg.13? Or is this incorrect?

MasterNamer

May 04, 2015 19:41:27

If an adventure is the equivalent of an episode you should get the award detailed in the ALPG 2 for tier 3 episodes (900 XP and 450 gp). It would be nice to hear from an official source to confirm or clarify this though.

Kalani

May 04, 2015 19:59:05

I am still uncertain where all the break points are in PotA, however I am aware of the ones from Chapter 6.

Show

After Completing "Necromancers Cave" and "Into the Woods" (upon the parties return to Red Larch, just before the start of Tomb of Moving Stones).
After completing "Tomb of Moving Stones".

The break points for Chapter 3 appear to be at the end of each of the "Haunted Keeps" (4 in total).

(Reply to #3)

MasterNamer

Kalani wrote:

Kalani

May 04, 2015 21:23:48

I got those split points from the Encounters document, which covers the Level 1 - 2 missions from Chapter 6, and the first two Haunted Keeps from Chapter 3. The Encounters document is broken up into 2 parts, with both parts granting 20 DT, and 2 renown (split at specific points in the document).

Downtime & Renown - Princes of the Apocalypse

Part 1: Chapter 6 Missions (Levels 1 & 2). Characters gain downtime and renown upon returning to Red Larch (after completing Necromancers Cave and Into the Woods), and again after completing "Tomb of Moving Stones"

Part 2: Covers "Feathergale Spire", "Sacred Stone Monestary" and the investigations leading up to those two dungeons. Characters gain downtime and renown after completing each of those two Keeps.

For those who have the book - there is a small sidebar in chapter 3 which states that each of the 4 keeps are intended for characters of levels 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectively. As characters are expected to gain approximately 10 DT and 1 renown per level, and given the fact that the first two keeps grant Downtime and renown, it was a logical assumption that the remaining 2 keeps did likewise.

(Reply to #5)

MasterNamer

Kalani wrote:

NamelessHero

May 05, 2015 1:46:30

MasterNamer wrote:

MasterNamer

May 05, 2015 7:13:53

@Kalani: Thank you for providing a reference for your reasoning, but it seems as though it's insufficient to cover all of the adventures listed in the chapter. Is there a statement out from one of the admins like Greg Marks or Robert Adducci that covers an ambiguous area like this, or a more detailed list of what constitutes an episode in PotA?

MasterNamer

May 05, 2015 7:14:02

#10

Kalani

May 05, 2015 8:03:37

It has been discussed but I fail to remember what the conclusions were. It is something I personally need to follow up on myself.

(Reply to #10)

MasterNamer

Kalani wrote:

(Reply to #10)

MasterNamer

Kalani wrote:

(Reply to #10)

MasterNamer

Kalani wrote:

#14

Pauper

May 06, 2015 8:50:14

If the adventure lists the side quests as being seperate 'episodes', then yes, you would receive a DM award for running them.

To this point, 'episode' has been synonymous with 'chapter' for the published adventures (LMoP, HotDQ, RoT, and PotA), so unless something is noted to the contrary by the campaign staff, you'd only get a DM award for running Chapter 6, no matter how many sessions that chapter lasts.

Pauper

#15

Kalani

May 06, 2015 9:20:07

Pauper wrote:

#16

shaterbane

May 06, 2015 9:47:04

Kalani wrote:

(Reply to #16)

shivafang

Other than the pre level 3 stuff (Necromancer's Cave and Tomb of Moving Stones) I wouldn't worry about running the rest of Chapter 6 just yet - you are looking at mid to late tier 2 for those (I think the lowest Side Trek is level 8).

Send them through the chapter 3 stuff (as stated, 1 renown per 'Haunted Keep') and then the chapter 4 stuff (very likely 1 renown per Temple, but not official) and by the time you get there they will be a high enough level for the Side Treks in Chapter 6, and we'll likely have more information for you by then.

#18

Pauper

May 06, 2015 11:08:58

Thanks, Kalani -- clearly I need to stop dawdling and pick up my copy of Princes.

It should be noted, though, that just because Encounters divides up a chapter into multiple episodes does not mean the same is necessarily true of Casual Play.

For the moment, I'd continue to go with the 'chapter = episode' rubric, excepting the specific reference in the Season 2 Encounters packet, until we hear something official, as it's much easier to add new awards than it is to remove awards that shouldn't have been awarded.

Pauper

#19

Kalani

May 06, 2015 11:37:50

Pauper wrote:

#20

shivafang

May 06, 2015 12:06:36

Kallani is correct. The 'one milestone per chapter' method does NOT work for PotA. This is especially true since the campaign is designed to be sandbox. It is expected that the party will find (and probably clear) at least one of the Temples (chapter 4) before clearing all of the keeps in chapter 3. You will be expected to jump back and forth between the chapters unless you are literally leading the party by the nose to where you want them to go. (I've actually had to invent obstacles to avoid my 3rd level party from entering the level 6 Temple they found until they are a higher level to acomplish it - I basically flooded the valley and even then the party was like "Can't we just swim across?" at which point I flat out told them it was a higher-level dungeon and they should go back later.)

The encouters document structure lends itself more to leading the party by the nose (do this, then do this) but if you are running it for home campaign play, they are to get clues from NPCs in and around town and those clues can litterally take them in multiple directions. I run this for two groups and even with the same clues they decided to investigate in different ways wich led them to different Keeps.

#21

Pauper

May 06, 2015 13:44:28

How to handle chapters, episodes, and DM awards for Princes of the Apocalypse sounds like a good addition to the FAQ, then. I'd hold off on assigning myself any DM awards until such clarification is issued.

Pauper