Rise of the Runelords Hardcover stealth preview!


Rise of the Runelords

1 to 50 of 136 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Paizo Employee Creative Director

8 people marked this as a favorite.

So... I just did the preliminary stats for the revised Xanesha for the Rise of the Runelords hardcover, updating this much-beloved NPC to the Pathfinder rules while toning her down quite a bit from her over-the-top incarnation in the original adventure. So I thought as a quick preview for folks... I'd throw her stats up on these boards!

Spoiler:

Xanesha CR 9
XP 6,400
Female lamia matriarch rogue 1
CE Large monstrous humanoid
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +2
Defense
AC 25, touch 16, flat-footed 18 (+1 armor, +7 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 123 (13 HD; 12d10+1d8+53)
Fort +8, Ref +17, Will +10; +2 vs. poison
Immune mind-affecting effects; SR 19
Offense
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee impaler of thorns +17/+12/+7 (2d6+8/19–20/x3), touch +11 (1d4 wisdom drain)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Wisdom drain, sneak attack +1d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +19)
At will—charm monster (DC 21), ventriloquism (DC 18)
3/day—deep slumber (DC 20), dream, major image (DC 20), mirror image, suggestion (DC 20)
Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +13)
3rd—cure serious wounds
2nd—invisibility, scorching ray
1st—alarm, cure light wounds, magic missile, sanctuary (DC 18)
0—acid splash, dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound (DC 17), mage hand, mending, prestidigitaiton
Statistics
Str 20, Dex 25, Con 19, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 25
Base Atk +12; CMB +18; CMD 35 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Extend Spell, Improved Critical (spear), Power Attack, Silent Spell, Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +23 (+27 when jumping), Bluff +23, Climb +29, Diplomacy +14, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (local) +20, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +17, Swim +29
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Thassilonian
SQ change shape (fixed Medium humanoid form, alter self), undersized weapons, trapfinding +1
Other Gear impaler of thorns, medusa mask, Sihedron medallion, snakeskin tunic, -26,610 gp

Enjoy! Hope she's still mean, but not as mean as she used to be! (I'm thinking she MIGHT still be too powerful... but that there might be some new ways you can do things before in the adventure to prep yourself against her...)


Nice! She does still look a little scary, but in a good way. Don't make her any weaker please. This seems just right to me.

Spoiler:
My party just beat her at Fort Rannick (she escaped in her normal fight).

One question:
Spoiler:
Is silence gone on purpose? It was really fun to have the party deal with that while entering her territory.


James Jacobs wrote:

So... I just did the preliminary stats for the revised Xanesha for the Rise of the Runelords hardcover, updating this much-beloved NPC to the Pathfinder rules while toning her down quite a bit from her over-the-top incarnation in the original adventure. So I thought as a quick preview for folks... I'd throw her stats up on these boards!

** spoiler omitted **...

Thats about right. The lower AC will make her hittable at least. She can still charm so still a nasty creature.

Dark Archive

I actually made mine a little tougher. I think my party will mop the floor with her.I added two HD to her instead of class levels.

Spoiler:
XANESHA CR 10
Male Lamia Matriarch
CE Large Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Init +7; Senses Darkvision (60 feet), Low-Light Vision; Perception +2
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 26, touch 17, flat-footed 19. . (+1 armor, +7 Dex, -1 size, +8 natural, +1 deflection)
hp 160 (12d10+84)
Fort +11, Ref +17, Will +12
Immune mind-affecting; SR 19
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 40 ft., Climbing (40 feet), Swimming (40 feet)
Melee Impaler of Thorns +20/+15/+10(1d8+9/19-20/x3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Wisdom Drain (DC 24)
Spell-Like Abilities Charm Monster (At will), Deep Slumber (3/day), Dream (3/day), Major Image (3/day), Mirror Image (3/day), Suggestion (3/day), Ventriloquism (At will)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 6, +19 melee touch, +20 ranged touch):
3 (5/day) Haste (DC 20), Fly (DC 20)
2 (7/day) Silence (DC 19), Invisibility (DC 19), Scorching Ray
1 (8/day) Divine Favor (DC 18), Mage Armor (DC 18), Ray of Enfeeblement (DC 18), Cure Light Wounds (DC 18)
0 (at will) Acid Splash, Daze (DC 17), Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Ghost Sound (DC 17), Prestidigitation (DC 17), Message
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 22, Dex 23/25, Con 22, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 24
Base Atk +14; CMB +21; CMD 39 (can't be Tripped)
Feats Extend Spell,Improved Critical: Spear,Power Attack -4/+8, Silent Spell,Weapon Focus: Spear
[b]Skills
Acrobatics +11, Bluff +23, Climb +14, Diplomacy +13, Disguise +13, Fly +5, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (Arcana) +15, Knowledge (History) +15, Knowledge (Local) +11, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +3, Swim +14, Use Magic Device +23 Modifiers Acrobatics (Jump) +4
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Varisian
SQ Change Shape (fixed Medium humanoid form, alter self) (Su), Hero Points (1)
Combat Gear Impaler of Thorns; Other Gear Medusa's Mask, Ring of Protection, +1, Sihedron Medallion, Snakeskin Tunic
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Acrobatics (Jump) +4 (Ex) You gain the specified bonus to acrobatics checks made to jump.
Change Shape (fixed Medium humanoid form, alter self) (Su) You can change your form.
Climbing (40 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Extend Spell Spell duration lasts twice as normal. +1 Level.
Immunity to Mind-Affecting attacks You are immune to Mind-Affecting attacks.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Silent Spell Cast a spell with no verbal components. +1 Level.
Spell Resistance (19) You have Spell Resistance.
Swimming (40 feet) You have a Swim speed.
Wisdom Drain (DC 24) (Su) A lamia matriarch drains 1d4 points of Wisdom each time she hits with her melee touch attack. The first time each round that she strikes a foe with a melee weapon, she also drains 1 point of Wisdom. A DC 21 Will save negates the Wisdom drain.


I prefer her original version.


You tease.

EDIT: What? No shield or mage armor? ;P


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

So for the second stealth preview, PF versions of the lamia harridans, kuchrima, & hungerers?

Why, yes, I am preparing for Spires of Xin-Shalast, why do you ask? ;)


I think that now it's kinda too weak now, lower SRT, no weapon focus, no haste, no mage armor, no shield, no divine favor, has a burnt feat (vital strike), a half burnt feat (combat casting), no silence. Her only real defense is the mirror image.
Sure it might have been a walking TPK before but i think that now it's too easy*.

*i am assuming that the characters are 6th level when facing her, if the levels are changed and the characters are 5th then it might be enough


I wonder what kind of spear is Impaler of Thorns? 2d6 damage and 10 reach seems to suggest that it is large sized long spear? Shouldn't it be medium sized?

I am actually going to run the encounter tomorrow and tonight I will be tooling her in HeroLab. In my opinion she should have AC of 28 (buffed with Mage Armour) and Mirror Image. I think it would make good encounter against 7 PC:s (level 6).

I will not use Silence spell aproach, but put her in charismatic female form and start by investigating the daring warriors. She ll try to petrify/charm some of the PC:s (action economy is truly against her being alone) and she should also have some good punch on her hits. Tho, no power attack, she is more dexterity type in my eyes.

Overall, I would give her some more edge on the hardcover version than suggested at this thread.


James Jacobs wrote:
I'm thinking she MIGHT still be too powerful... but that there might be some new ways you can do things before in the adventure to prep yourself against her...

Good. She should be.

Xanesha was a watershed moment in my Runelords campaign — the point when they realized that even though this was a "book adventure", they couldn't expect to routinely face challenges at their level.

Obviously she needs to be toned down a bit, given the bodycount, but I think she should still be the hardest enemy they face in the first half of the AP. I think she should still be a little tougher than is fair. I wouldn't mind seeing her CR creep up to 10, even, or more.

The character is now infamous as a player killer; as good a piece of Pathfinder lore as you will ever have. You need to change her, true, but don't defang her entirely either.

(All that said, it looks pretty good. I wouldn't hesitate to give her more rogue levels and possibly some scrolls to simulate the spells that made her rock the first time around).

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

A part of me died when James posted that statblock. Snifff.


I should read spells known, not spells prepared.

Also, she can't fly anymore (I thought her lair really only made sense for a flying creature). Perhaps change her 3rd level spell to fly, and give her two potions of moderate wounds?

Grand Lodge

I dont think she is supposed to have Reach 10ft. While she is large sized, her torso and arms are not. The soear might give her the reach, but that should be labled on the weapon, not on her.

Also, I agree with this being too much of a drop in power.

Grand Lodge

In my campaign I sort of changed the Impaler of Thorns to be a sort of Heavy Footman's Lance that gave the reach, and the increased damage was part of its mystique. It led to the Barbarian taking it and using it over other weapons.

--

Of course, thinking about it another way, it never gives a magical + to the weapon, though by rules it should have one.

Looking at how the stat block is put together, it looks like it is a +1 weapon, but the +1 to hit is absorbed by the -1 penalty for using a large weapon. (The damage is up by one, since modified two handed strength for a Str 20 is +7.)

Am I right? :)

EDIT: Which could also give her reach, could it not?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

drumlord wrote:

Nice! She does still look a little scary, but in a good way. Don't make her any weaker please. This seems just right to me.

** spoiler omitted **
One question:
** spoiler omitted **

Yup;

Spoiler:
silence is gone because she relies on spells, first of all (so that makes silence awkward for her), but also because the fight "arena" is complicated and 3-dimensional already—silence is unnecessary extra complication. Part of my design philosophy for her was to select spells that are effective but not super complicated for the battle, or super-optimized for the battle (thus, no fly spell).
Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Ringtail wrote:

You tease.

EDIT: What? No shield or mage armor? ;P

Nope. She doesn't need the expected AC of a CR 18 foe.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
wspatterson wrote:
I prefer her original version.

You must be a GM! ;-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

coyote6 wrote:

So for the second stealth preview, PF versions of the lamia harridans, kuchrima, & hungerers?

Why, yes, I am preparing for Spires of Xin-Shalast, why do you ask? ;)

I'm not sure there will be a second stealth preview, honestly. This was a spur of the moment thing, and formatting that stat block took a lot longer than I thought it would—I could have statted up an ogrekin in that time!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

leo1925 wrote:

I think that now it's kinda too weak now, lower SRT, no weapon focus, no haste, no mage armor, no shield, no divine favor, has a burnt feat (vital strike), a half burnt feat (combat casting), no silence. Her only real defense is the mirror image.

Sure it might have been a walking TPK before but i think that now it's too easy*.

*i am assuming that the characters are 6th level when facing her, if the levels are changed and the characters are 5th then it might be enough

Why do you say vital strike is a "burnt" feat? Gives her more damage when she moves, after all..


If she has the undersized weapons ability, isn't the spear's damage off?

EDIT: Nevermind, I see the question has already been asked and then answered just below. Carry on.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Laerlorn wrote:


I wonder what kind of spear is Impaler of Thorns? 2d6 damage and 10 reach seems to suggest that it is large sized long spear? Shouldn't it be medium sized?

I am actually going to run the encounter tomorrow and tonight I will be tooling her in HeroLab. In my opinion she should have AC of 28 (buffed with Mage Armour) and Mirror Image. I think it would make good encounter against 7 PC:s (level 6).

I will not use Silence spell aproach, but put her in charismatic female form and start by investigating the daring warriors. She ll try to petrify/charm some of the PC:s (action economy is truly against her being alone) and she should also have some good punch on her hits. Tho, no power attack, she is more dexterity type in my eyes.

Overall, I would give her some more edge on the hardcover version than suggested at this thread.

Impaler of thorns is a plain old Medium +1 spear (with those extra powers). I didn't downgrade the weapon damage (but will for the final release, of course).

An AC 28 with mirror image is pretty dang rough... but for 7 PCs, maybe not. The assumption I go with is 4 PCs. If you've got 7 PCs, you should absolutely increase her power a bit... you should do the same for pretty much every other encounter, though. But be careful! It's generally better to increase encounters for large groups by adding more foes, not by increasing the power of single foes, since that actually dramatically increases the chances of a PC getting killed anyway. You don't want to punish the players simply because you have a lot of them, do you?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Hyla wrote:

I should read spells known, not spells prepared.

Also, she can't fly anymore (I thought her lair really only made sense for a flying creature). Perhaps change her 3rd level spell to fly, and give her two potions of moderate wounds?

I guess I should have noted that it's an unedited, raw stat block... that said, I've fixed her reach and the "spells known" as well. Thanks, All!

She can't fly on purpose. She can climb really well, though. Allowing her to fly was as problematic to the difficulty of the original encounter as her AC, honestly, and that was one of the MAIN ways I wanted to lower the peril of the unfairness.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Gorbacz wrote:
A part of me died when James posted that statblock. Snifff.

MWA HA HA HA!

(crosses something off his giant list of evil deeds)


James Jacobs wrote:
She can't fly on purpose.

Didn't even notice that until you just pointed it out. Xenesha certainly got a kick in the teeth.

Didn't rank up perception though? Not even with the rogue level?


Gorbacz wrote:
A part of me died when James posted that statblock. Snifff.

I agree

That was one of my favorite encounters in all the Pathfinder Modules, she was one scary b!tch and me and my group loved it


James Jacobs wrote:


She can't fly on purpose.

But she can still fly accidentally? We're bull rushing, baby!

Ringtail wrote:
Xenesha certainly got a kick in the teeth.

That's a first. Unless people played it at a significantly higher level (or power level), or the GM gave her a spontaneous lobotomy, she had nothing to fear from adventurers.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ringtail wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
She can't fly on purpose.

Didn't even notice that until you just pointed it out. Xenesha certainly got a kick in the teeth.

Didn't rank up perception though? Not even with the rogue level?

Nah. She needs to have some weaknesses. She's STILL a CR 9 foe, against a group of 6th level PCs in a terrain that, despite the fact she can't fly, still favors her. It's still a tough fight.

Playtest it if ya want! Let me know how she does against a group of PCs who have to deal with the Scarecrow, the faceless stalkers, falling bells and the like before they get to her!

Sovereign Court

3 people marked this as a favorite.

James, as a GM who mostly runs games for players who don't know the rules too well and have never even heard of optimisation or the paizo boards, I would like to thank you.

Xanesha was a dreadful encounter, an absolute waste of space in the adventure who was so obviously a TPK-in-waiting that it forced GMs to do a lot of work (missing the point of buying adventures).

Liberty's Edge

I'd consider adding Spider Climb so she has a cinematic escape route.

Without Fly, she's a melee-only fighter so Scorching Ray is a bit of a waste.


James Jacobs wrote:
Playtest it if ya want! Let me know how she does against a group of PCs who have to deal with the Scarecrow, the faceless stalkers, falling bells and the like before they get to her!

Alas, my current PCs took her down a few sessions back, they're halfway through:
reclaiming Fort Rannick now. But since I need to update my copy of RotRL to PF anyway, I suppose I could try our her stats for Lucrecia, though, who has already wiggled away once and will have plenty of allies when next encountered.

James Jacobs wrote:

Nah. She needs to have some weaknesses. She's STILL a CR 9 foe, against a group of 6th level PCs in a terrain that, despite the fact she can't fly, still favors her. It's still a tough fight.

Playtest it if ya want! Let me know how she does against a group of PCs who have to deal with the Scarecrow, the faceless stalkers, falling bells and the like before they get to her!

Faceless stalkers we have pathfinder stats and falling bells I'm sure won't change. But we don't have a Pathfinder Scarecrow stat block. Whatever will we do. I guess you'll have to stealth preview another stat block so we can adequately provide feedback on this one ;)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Greycloak of Bowness wrote:

I'd consider adding Spider Climb so she has a cinematic escape route.

Without Fly, she's a melee-only fighter so Scorching Ray is a bit of a waste.

Not when she doesn't have much in the way of other ranged damage. I'm fine with her taking a few ranged spells just in case the PCs have ranged superiority.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

drumlord wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

Nah. She needs to have some weaknesses. She's STILL a CR 9 foe, against a group of 6th level PCs in a terrain that, despite the fact she can't fly, still favors her. It's still a tough fight.

Playtest it if ya want! Let me know how she does against a group of PCs who have to deal with the Scarecrow, the faceless stalkers, falling bells and the like before they get to her!

Faceless stalkers we have pathfinder stats and falling bells I'm sure won't change. But we don't have a Pathfinder Scarecrow stat block. Whatever will we do. I guess you'll have to stealth preview another stat block so we can adequately provide feedback on this one ;)

I've statted up the Scarecrow. He's no longer got the lifespark template, since as of "Classic Horrors Revisited" we have a Pathfinder solution for intelligent flesh golems.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Gorbacz wrote:
A part of me died when James posted that statblock. Snifff.

The original will always be dear to my heart, but I also think it doesn't hurt to have a few different versions floating around.


James Jacobs wrote:
leo1925 wrote:

I think that now it's kinda too weak now, lower SRT, no weapon focus, no haste, no mage armor, no shield, no divine favor, has a burnt feat (vital strike), a half burnt feat (combat casting), no silence. Her only real defense is the mirror image.

Sure it might have been a walking TPK before but i think that now it's too easy*.

*i am assuming that the characters are 6th level when facing her, if the levels are changed and the characters are 5th then it might be enough

Why do you say vital strike is a "burnt" feat? Gives her more damage when she moves, after all..

Yes it would have a bigger damage if she moves and attack (no charge or anything) and if she doesn't have anything better to do with her standard action (such as casting a spell and using the mask) and if she needs to move in the first place instead of full attacking. After all that i consider this feat highely situational for her and the benefit wouldn't really me much, she would be better off with toughness or weapon focus IMO.

Without having tried the new stats* i think that this version will be quite an easy battle for the average half optimised party, and a mop for the floor for my players but then again after playing (as a player) through Kingmaker i realized that Paizo APs sometimes tend to be quite easy and need to be beefed up for our group.

*My group just started RotRL

PS. About Naulia, if you don't make her 6th level (and have her cleric 5/divine scion 1) and keep her 5th level with fighter 2/cleric 3 please switch the fighter levels to antipaladin levels and drop that damn bastard sword for a falchion (which is lamastu's favored weapon irrc).


This is my take for Xanesha against 7x level 6 PC:s. She ll start with medium/long time buffs (fly, mage armour, false life) laying in her silk sheets and having lil chat. When she is ready for her move, or feeling threatened she ll cast invisibility and if lucky finish the buffs (wear the mask, cast mirror image and haste [or divine favour, both would be overkill]). After that she ll try to be a good medusa girl, followed by lots of piercing strikes. Tho, in my case, the biggest problem will the pseudodragon able to spot her reliably..

Spoiler:

XANESHA CR 9
Male Lamia Matriarch Sorcerer 2
NE Large Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Init +5; Senses Darkvision (60 feet), Low-Light Vision; Perception +3
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 27, touch 15, flat-footed 22 (+4 armor, +5 Dex, -1 size, +8 natural, +1 deflection)
hp 115 (12d10+2d6+42)
Fort +8, Ref +14, Will +15
Immune mind-affecting; SR 19
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 40 ft., Climbing (40 feet), Flight (60 feet, Average), Swimming (40 feet)
Melee Impaler of Thorns +17/+12/+7 (1d8+7/20/x3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Wisdom Drain (DC 22)
Spell-Like Abilities Charm Monster (At will), Deep Slumber (3/day), Dream (3/day), Major Image (3/day), Mirror Image (3/day), Suggestion (3/day), Ventriloquism (At will)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 8, +17 melee touch, +17 ranged touch):
4 (4/day) Dimension Door
3 (6/day) Haste (DC 18), Fly (DC 18)
2 (7/day) Scorching Ray, Invisibility (DC 17)
1 (8/day) Magic Missile, Mage Armor (DC 16), Obscuring Mist
0 (at will) Resistance (DC 15), Daze (DC 15), Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound (DC 15), Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Prestidigitation (DC 15)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 20, Dex 19/21, Con 17, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 21
Base Atk +13; CMB +19; CMD 35 (can't be Tripped)
Feats Double Slice, Eschew Materials, Extend Spell, Improved Critical: Scimitar, Improved Critical: Spear, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Silent Spell, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus: Scimitar
Skills Acrobatics +9, Bluff +24, Climb +13, Diplomacy +11, Disguise +11, Fly +3, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (Arcana) +20, Knowledge (Enter Choice) +15, Spellcraft +20, Stealth +1, Swim +13, Use Magic Device +26 Modifiers Acrobatics (Jump) +4
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal
SQ Accursed, Change Shape (fixed Medium humanoid form, alter self) (Su), Horrific Visage (1 rounds) (8/day) (DC 16) (Su)
Combat Gear Impaler of Thorns; Other Gear Medusa's Mask, Ring of Protection, +1, Sihedron Medallion, Snakeskin Tunic
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Accursed Misfortune, pestilence, and nightmares follow your family like vermin drawn to carrion. Somewhere in your family history, a hag's foul influence entered your bloodline.

You may actually be related to the hag, or you may still be suffering the effe
Acrobatics (Jump) +4 (Ex) You gain the specified bonus to acrobatics checks made to jump.
Change Shape (fixed Medium humanoid form, alter self) (Su) You can change your form.
Climbing (40 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Eschew Materials Cast without materials, if material cost is <= 1gp.
Extend Spell Spell duration lasts twice as normal. +1 Level.
Flight (60 feet, Average) You can fly!
Horrific Visage (1 rounds) (8/day) (DC 16) (Su) At 1st level, you can draw upon your hag ancestor to cause one target to perceive you as having a horrifying appearance. As a standard action, you can force one target within 30 feet to make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charism
Immunity to Mind-Affecting attacks You are immune to Mind-Affecting attacks.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Silent Spell Cast a spell with no verbal components. +1 Level.
Spell Resistance (19) You have Spell Resistance.
Swimming (40 feet) You have a Swim speed.
Wisdom Drain (DC 22) (Su) A lamia matriarch drains 1d4 points of Wisdom each time she hits with her melee touch attack. The first time each round that she strikes a foe with a melee weapon, she also drains 1 point of Wisdom. A DC 21 Will save negates the Wisdom drain. Unlike

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

5 people marked this as a favorite.
leo1925 wrote:
Without having tried the new stats* i think that this version will be quite an easy battle for the average half optimised party, and a mop for the floor for my players but then again after playing (as a player) through Kingmaker i realized that Paizo APs sometimes tend to be quite easy and need to be beefed up for our group.

Remember as well that she's not intended to be the only fight the PCs have that day. And that we don't build our adventures assuming highly-experienced players—if you've been gaming with the same group for a long time, they'll just be better at the game than the average party. We don't assume that.

leo1925 wrote:
PS. About Naulia, if you don't make her 6th level (and have her cleric 5/divine scion 1) and keep her 5th level with fighter 2/cleric 3 please switch the fighter levels to antipaladin levels and drop that damn bastard sword for a falchion (which is lamastu's favored weapon irrc).

I'm really REALLY trying not to change actual class levels around all that much. In many cases, due to the fact that NPCs are -1 CR in Pathfinder, NPCs do get one more character level in order to maintain the CRs from the conversion... but completely rebuilding a character's levels from the ground up isn't something I'll be doing much of at all.

In Nualia's case...

Spoiler:
...that was a tough one. I'd originally intended to make her a divine scion (hence her art showing up for that prestige class) but I sort of screwed up on the divine scion's prerequisites a little—in order to qualify for the prestige class, she'd have to be completely rebuilt, and as I mention above, I don't want to do that.

Her current build, as a result, is cleric 4/fighter 2.

She's keeping the bastard sword for two reasons. First... it's iconic to her character—she's one of the most identifiable of our bad guys, and I don't want to change what she looks like. Second... she needs to be be able to make attacks with her claw, and that means she needs to wield a 1 handed weapon. I gave her a bastard sword originally since it's one of the better one-handed weapons out there.

I know that it's not Lamashtu's favored weapon... but know what? That's fine. ESPECIALLY in a case like Nualia, where the character wasn't born a worshiper of Lamashtu. She had already started to gain levels as a fighter when her life went bad; she converted to the worship of Lamashtu and started taking cleric levels AFTER she'd taken her first two fighter levels. As a result... she's a lot more organically built rather than built to be totally optimized and number crunched for her specific role as nothing more than a CR 6 stat block.

If you want to change her weapons and classes... by all means do so, but I'm not gonna do that because it's VERY out of character for her to start as a paladin, become an antipaladin, and just coincidentally start her adventuring career as a paladin who uses a falchion and then is delighted she made that choice because later she switches over to Lamashtu's faith.

What I'm basically saying is that many (pretty much ALL, in fact) of my NPCs are designed as personalities first. The stats come second, and are slaved to the flavor; the stats are almost never the first thing I come up with when building a villain for an adventure.

Sovereign Court Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

4 people marked this as a favorite.
James Jacobs wrote:

What I'm basically saying is that many (pretty much ALL, in fact) of my NPCs are designed as personalities first. The stats come second, and are slaved to the flavor; the stats are almost never the first thing I come up with when building a villain for an adventure.

This is why your game is awesome. Keep it up.


leo1925 wrote:


PS. About Naulia, if you don't make her 6th level (and have her cleric 5/divine scion 1) and keep her 5th level with fighter 2/cleric 3 please switch the fighter levels to antipaladin levels and drop that damn bastard sword for a falchion (which is lamastu's favored weapon irrc).

Yeah. And she should totally get int 7 because she doesn't need more and that way she can have higher strength or wisdom. And lower charisma, she doesn't need so much, she's not a paladin! Sometimes I despair of Paizo's maximising skills!

(In case it's unclear: The thing this post is dripping with is sarcasm.)


One thing: Her spells should be "spells known" rather than "spells prepared", and the spell list should have a (x/day) listing; Monsters typically cast spells spontaneously (unless you changed the Lamia Matriarch).

I'm otherwise liking the changes. She looks much more appropriate for the expected party-level now, while she should still be a very tough fight :)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Are wrote:

One thing: Her spells should be "spells known" rather than "spells prepared", and the spell list should have a (x/day) listing; Monsters typically cast spells spontaneously (unless you changed the Lamia Matriarch).

I'm otherwise liking the changes. She looks much more appropriate for the expected party-level now, while she should still be a very tough fight :)

Yup; as mentioned above, those errors have since been fixed. (My original post was a raw, initial output from our stat block generator before I went through and finessed it.)


@James Jacobs
What's the reason for not wanting to rebuild characters?

About Nualia:

spoiler:

When you put it that way i guess that it makes sense but the way i understand Nualia her life didn't really started until she set the church on fire, and by that account i see no problem with her firstly taking a few levels in antipaladin and then deciding to serve lamasthu in a more traditional more meaningfull way and became a cleric.

@KaeYoss
Did i say optimize her? All i did say was to beef it up a little (by having antipaladin levels instead of fighter levels) and give her lamasthu's favored weapon, what's wrong with that? And yes we all know that her stats are all over the place, it's the same with Tsuto's stats, i am ok with that but some things seem to make more sense from my point of view.

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.
James Jacobs wrote:
What I'm basically saying is that many (pretty much ALL, in fact) of my NPCs are designed as personalities first. The stats come second, and are slaved to the flavor; the stats are almost never the first thing I come up with when building a villain for an adventure.

+1 The way it should be.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

leo1925 wrote:

@James Jacobs

What's the reason for not wanting to rebuild characters?

Because I don't want to fix what's not broken, and because I prefer not to change things for the sake of change, and because I happen to think that the classes associate with most of the NPCs are already spot-on.

That said... I'm not trying to 100% stick to the EXACT build. There's a pretty huge difference between not wanting to chance character classes and not changing feat and skill selections. There WILL be NPCs who have different levels, or even different classes. I'm making those decisions on a case by case basis, but my baseline assumption is to not drastically change the class of any NPC.

Ironically... the stat block I'm gonna build soon as I post this WILL have a class change...

Spoiler:
Lucrecia, the lamia matirarch from Hook Mountain, is going to become a sorcerer. Basically, i'm switching her and Xanesha's classes.

Grand Lodge

Sneak peek at Lucretia when she is done?

Sneak peek of something between Books 4 and 6, please?
My group just hit book 4, so if you drop any state, I'll make sure to use the version you drop instead of the already printed version, if youd like some feedback.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

godsDMit wrote:

Sneak peek at Lucretia when she is done?

Sneak peek of something between Books 4 and 6, please?
My group just hit book 4, so if you drop any state, I'll make sure to use the version you drop instead of the already printed version, if youd like some feedback.

The super fast unformatted stats for Lucrecia... complete with bonus stat block generator commentary!

Spoiler:

Lucrecia CR 10
XP 9,600
Female lamia matriarch sorcerer 2
CE Large monstrous humanoid (shapechanger)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +2
Defense
AC 27, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (+4 armor, +5 Dex, +8 natural, +1 shield, –1 size) XX AC is unusually high.
hp 141 (14 HD; 12d10+2d6++68) incl2favoredclasshpXX
Fort +9, Ref +14, Will +14
; Immune mind-affecting; SR 19
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 keen dagger +18/+13/+8 (1d4+8/17–20), mwk dagger +18/+13/+8 (1d4+7/17–20)touch +14 (1d4 Wisdom drain+10) XX Its melee damage is unusually high.
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Wisdom drain
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +19) XX Lowest SLA DC is unusually high.
At will—charm monster (DC 21), ventriloquism (DC 18)
3/day—deep slumber (DC 20), dream, major image (DC 20), mirror image, suggestion (DC 20)
Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +15)
10/day—laughing touch
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +15)
4th (4/day)—dimension door
3rd (7/day)—cure critical wounds, haste
2nd (8/day)—enthrall (DC 19), hold person (DC 19), invisibility
1st (8/day)—cure light wounds, divine favor, mage armor, magic missile, sanctuary (DC 18)
0 (at will)—dancing lights, daze (DC 17), detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, mending, open/close, prestidigitation
Bloodline Fey
Statistics
Str 24, Dex 21, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 25
Base Atk +13; CMB +21; CMD 36 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Arcane Strike, Double Slice, Eschew Materials, Improved Critical (dagger), Inscribe Magical Tattoo, Power Attack, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting
Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +24, Craft (tattoos) +13, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (local) +10, Linguistics +6, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +20, Swim +17
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Giant, Sylvan, Thassilonian
SQ bloodline arcana (+2 DC for compulsion spells)
Combat Gear wand of scorching ray (22 charges); Other Gear +1 keen dagger, mwk dagger, Sihedron medallion, lesser caster's tattoo


No still spell to go with the TWF?

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Will Runeforge have expanded areas?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ringtail wrote:
No still spell to go with the TWF?

You convinced me! Double Slice KICKED TO THE CURB!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

logic_poet wrote:
Will Runeforge have expanded areas?

My hope is to have the Festering Maze of Sloth be fully detailed, but the other wings won't be expanding.

1 to 50 of 136 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Path / Rise of the Runelords / Rise of the Runelords Hardcover stealth preview! All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.