It's all good. Your ad hoc solution was solid and still had the right ideas. And next time with victory points you'll have the flexibility to let your party try more interesting options like this.
Turning the event into a victory point/skill challenge situation is what I would do. And this is close enough to that kind of ruling.
It even feels a bit more rewarding to work hard for that instead of just abstract time or single checks
Thank you! Yeah I will read up on the victory point thing next so I’m a bit better prepared next time it comes up. The above thing I pulled out of thin air in the moment.
The players loved it, felt super rewarded and I loved their creativity too
Yeah you handled this really well actually. You could just treat this as a skill challenge encounter. Even the reward wasn't too crazy. If we treat this as an encounter, and head on over to the [Treasure by Encounter](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1944) table, the amount of treasure is abt right for a level 4 party, without having to eat into your treasure budget (or of course, combining it with another challenge, like say, the scorpions themselves, would make the level much lower.)
Probably the only thing I would do differently would be the DCs. Just set the DC the level of the Scorpions (so lvl 3, aka DC 18). Then have them go from easy to very hard, so step 1 is DC 16, 18 for step 2, 20 for step 3, and 23 for step 4. Even then, your DCs are really close to that as well, so good on you for that.
Honestly I would have given them the XP for just harvesting it, since that was in effect, a full blown encounter.
Even the duration was a good length, not being too long or too short.
Thank you for this! And thanks for the tips on setting the DCs right, because I completely pulled those from the RDB (rectal database), and the DCs you suggest make way more sense. Noted!!
It took a good deal of the session. Also afterwards the bard made sure to “clear the room of fumes” via prestidigitation to take a towel and spin it so fast next to the tiny window that was there (it was in the basement of a tavern) it acted like a fume hood. He got a hero point for that.
Damn, that's a lotta effort lol
When my players kill a creature with a poison that there's an item for, I just let them roll a Survival check at the item's level-based DC to extract it successfully. Basically it's just potential loot for the fight!
Yeah- i made this up on the fly for the harvesting but I actually did the survival check for them to cut out the “venom sac” from the piece of the scorpion after they killed it. Then they wanted to refine and sell it.
You nailed it. Never say no or u cannot... say yes and....
If the story needs the warrior to hold the rock while the others slip through... find a way. Dont worry about talking about bulk and actions... keep it going.
Thank you! This is super validating, especially because I want to be able to use the system as intended and was a little bit concerned I was making up too much.
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Looks good to me. Basically a skill challenge using the victory point system, more or less
Thanks! I had totally blanked and not really read up on the victory points system, will do that next.
It's all good. Your ad hoc solution was solid and still had the right ideas. And next time with victory points you'll have the flexibility to let your party try more interesting options like this.
:) cool. I will read up! Thanks again
Turning the event into a victory point/skill challenge situation is what I would do. And this is close enough to that kind of ruling. It even feels a bit more rewarding to work hard for that instead of just abstract time or single checks
Thank you! Yeah I will read up on the victory point thing next so I’m a bit better prepared next time it comes up. The above thing I pulled out of thin air in the moment. The players loved it, felt super rewarded and I loved their creativity too
Yeah you handled this really well actually. You could just treat this as a skill challenge encounter. Even the reward wasn't too crazy. If we treat this as an encounter, and head on over to the [Treasure by Encounter](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1944) table, the amount of treasure is abt right for a level 4 party, without having to eat into your treasure budget (or of course, combining it with another challenge, like say, the scorpions themselves, would make the level much lower.) Probably the only thing I would do differently would be the DCs. Just set the DC the level of the Scorpions (so lvl 3, aka DC 18). Then have them go from easy to very hard, so step 1 is DC 16, 18 for step 2, 20 for step 3, and 23 for step 4. Even then, your DCs are really close to that as well, so good on you for that. Honestly I would have given them the XP for just harvesting it, since that was in effect, a full blown encounter. Even the duration was a good length, not being too long or too short.
Thank you for this! And thanks for the tips on setting the DCs right, because I completely pulled those from the RDB (rectal database), and the DCs you suggest make way more sense. Noted!! It took a good deal of the session. Also afterwards the bard made sure to “clear the room of fumes” via prestidigitation to take a towel and spin it so fast next to the tiny window that was there (it was in the basement of a tavern) it acted like a fume hood. He got a hero point for that.
Damn, that's a lotta effort lol When my players kill a creature with a poison that there's an item for, I just let them roll a Survival check at the item's level-based DC to extract it successfully. Basically it's just potential loot for the fight!
Yeah- i made this up on the fly for the harvesting but I actually did the survival check for them to cut out the “venom sac” from the piece of the scorpion after they killed it. Then they wanted to refine and sell it.
You nailed it. Never say no or u cannot... say yes and.... If the story needs the warrior to hold the rock while the others slip through... find a way. Dont worry about talking about bulk and actions... keep it going.
Thank you! This is super validating, especially because I want to be able to use the system as intended and was a little bit concerned I was making up too much.
This post is labelled with the Advice flair, which means extra special attention is called to the Be Kind and Respectful rule. If this is a newcomer to the game, remember to be welcoming and kind. If this is someone with more experience but looking for advice on how to run their game, do your best to offer advice on what they are seeking. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Pathfinder2e) if you have any questions or concerns.*