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Don't have it yet; just curious.....how hard is it to "upgun" this one about 4 levels? Assuming with all the roleplaying potentially involved it won't be too hard(?)
Nah, upgunning should be easy enough. Scale up the DCs for interactions and performances by 5 to 10, depending on the magic items they have (if any) for improving Perform checks/Charisma checks.
Treat the "Beast" as full-on immersion in acid [against which a judicious combination of protection from and resist energy spells should prove plenty effective]. Increase pertinent DCs by 5 or 10 as outlined above.
Have the torturer character use a vicious +1 whip in the 2nd act - and direct a full-round or vital strike whip attack be done for each of the 10 lashes at full Strength (provided so courteously by the "prop and monster miester" Cleric of Asmodeus - bump him to 10th level caster via ioun stone or something), while strapping 'Larazod' into a real rack (should you have access to, say, the BoVD perhaps).
Act 3's rot grub "flukes of Asmodeus" should be applied for several rounds' time - to give the audience proper time to appreciate the ecstatic performance you see before the knives will work to aid the characters in excising the "ecstasy flukes". I suggest 3 rounds as the minimum time of grub-chompage. Or worse, have them impart an ecstatic reaction to the Con-chomping little buggers while requiring some time "chowing down" before they are to be excised, perhaps imparting an equivalent to either the sickened or nauseated conditions while they are being snacked upon.
Act V and VI involved summoned devils (1 per character) and animated skeletons. Rather than mere lemures, use oh ... five bearded devils instead (via a scroll with five summon monster V spells on it for the cleric). If you are feeling particularly nasty, a higher end scroll bestowed by a mysterious benefactor just for the purpose of this auspicious occassion ... perhaps even the one who originally wrote the play... Tack on 5 points of DR/good as well as the benefits of Augmented Summoning (+4 Str and Con per bearded devil) and you have a good fight. Arriving round-by-round (instead of all at once) is easier - but the foes are much tougher too, so balance this as you deem necessary. Replace the two troll skeletons with four ettin skeletons benefiting from having been created on desecrated ground and operating under the benefits of unhallow courtesy of said cleric. After all, the cleric did "bless" the theater in Asmodeus' name - who is to say that it was not taken a bit 'further' than scripted? ^_^
That's lovely;
it's doable.....mwahahahaha!
Now I just gotta figure out what to do if they burn down teh opryhouse.
Prolly make it out of brick then.
HUZZAH!!!
I would think that burning down the Mayor's pride and joy would be a bit counter-intuitive of them. The most politically-prominent personage attending the play is rather likely to order the wrath of both Dottori and the Order of the Rack on their heads should they do so deliberately...
(Maybe a druid is covertly attending the play, or one of several bards are packing a quench spell or two on handy scrolls...)
Agreed, however, my guys will hate it (and I am not too fond of it either), so the whole AP is "wasted" for me. They are definitely of the ilk: 1) kick in the door, 2) kill the bad guy, 3) take his stuff, 4) repeat. There is *some* role playing (maybe 10%), but this is just too much.
I have been considering suspending my AP subscriber for the remainder of the AP.
Why bother with adventures at all? Just go through the bestiary sorted by CR and alphabetically? :P
You'll be pleased to know perhaps that Logue is back here with me now, in his dark cellar with his rusty collar and nose chain, his glove puppet raven and the punishment stick waiting.
Waiting.
Snick snick.
Snick snick.
Perhaps an extra morsel for Logue today.
Perhaps not.
Gods...I'm so f+*%ing hungry...
Gods...I'm so f*%!ing hungry...You'll be pleased to know perhaps that Logue is back here with me now, in his dark cellar with his rusty collar and nose chain, his glove puppet raven and the punishment stick waiting.
Waiting.
Snick snick.
Snick snick.
Perhaps an extra morsel for Logue today.
Perhaps not.
Here are some ... "tadpoles" ... oh famished one ...
Here are some ... "tadpoles" ... oh famished one ...Gods...I'm so f*%!ing hungry...You'll be pleased to know perhaps that Logue is back here with me now, in his dark cellar with his rusty collar and nose chain, his glove puppet raven and the punishment stick waiting.
Waiting.
Snick snick.
Snick snick.
Perhaps an extra morsel for Logue today.
Perhaps not.
Kind of salty...and just a touch on the bitter side.
Where are you directing LION IN WINTER? And when does it go up. I'm in NYC until Sept. 23rd - love to catch it.
Sorry for the delayed reply (goblins ate my train of thought). I'll be directing it for Brewster Theatre Company, up in Putnam County, this December. Though we may be pushing it back to mid-January to be able to get the performance space for 2 weekends instead of one... and if that's the case, I'll have time to do this staged reading sooner than later. :) I'll start a separate thread on it in a few days (or weeks) so as not to derail this one...
^_^ You have to love it when Pett and Logue exchange barbs...Okay...that one was actually really GOOD. It stung. Well done Rich.You or the tadpoles?
Kind of salty...and just a touch on the bitter side.
With Pett, I usually like to push the barbs in...and then pull em out. It's like something you'd see in Thailand, but with a lot more blood.
Why bother with adventures at all? Just go through the bestiary sorted by CR and alphabetically? :Pit
It has too much of a Victorian or renaissance feel to it for some groups (Including mine). And no offense, James, but Prince of Red Hand was a snooze as well, despite my trying to ham it up with a foppish nasal accent for the Prince...("Sink me, it's Percy...")
Why bother with adventures at all? Just go through the bestiary sorted by CR and alphabetically? :PitIt has too much of a Victorian or renaissance feel to it for some groups (Including mine). And no offense, James, but Prince of Red Hand was a snooze as well, despite my trying to ham it up with a foppish nasal accent for the Prince...("Sink me, it's Percy...")
No worries... I expected "Sixfold Trial" to not be for everyone; "Prince of Redhand" didn't make everyone happy either, but it remains one of the more popular installments of Age of Worms anyway. I fully expect "Sixfold Trial" in the end to be one of Pathfinder's more popular and talked-about volumes as well.
In any event: the rest of "Council of Thieves" has a lot more traditional plots and encounters for the most part, but it's good now and then to mix things up and test the boundaries of what an adventure can do.
Why bother with adventures at all? Just go through the bestiary sorted by CR and alphabetically? :PitIt has too much of a Victorian or renaissance feel to it for some groups (Including mine).
Monster stats are easy (they're in the book), plots not so much, so great plots are always great to come out of an adventure.
Kvantum
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber)
No worries... I expected "Sixfold Trial" to not be for everyone; "Prince of Redhand" didn't make everyone happy either, but it remains one of the more popular installments of Age of Worms anyway. I fully expect "Sixfold Trial" in the end to be one of Pathfinder's more popular and talked-about volumes as well.
In any event: the rest of "Council of Thieves" has a lot more traditional plots and encounters for the most part, but it's good now and then to mix things up and test the boundaries of what an adventure can do.
I LOVED every minute of Prince of Redhand. One of my all-time favorite DMing experiences. I just wish I could find a group of players who could do the play justice (my current group definitely wouldn't) so I could run Sixfold Trial.
James, Wes:
What happened with the art order for Robahl Nonon?
At the top of the right-hand column on page 11 he's described as short & stout, with a walrus mustache, and an obviously fake toupee.
On page 18, the portrait is of someone who looks anything but stout, with closely-groomed hair, a TINY goatee, and a monocle.
This is the sort of thing I'd hope would be caught during editing. If a DM actually went with the written description of Robahl and later had their players ask to see his picture, the DM would look like a ninny. It would be like having the players meet the gruff old dwarf who runs their favorite bar, yet the next time they go back, they meet the uptight, metro-sexual who runs their favorite bar. That sort of thing really hurts the verisimilitude, and sci-fantasy fans are like sharks drawn to blood when it comes to continuity and consistency.
Other than that, what I'm seeing so far looks much more engaging than part 1. I love that the adventure is based around a theatrical performance. It's pretty cool that you guys actually authored a play for this issue.
James, Wes:
What happened with the art order for Robahl Nonon?
At the top of the right-hand column on page 11 he's described as short & stout, with a walrus mustache, and an obviously fake toupee.
On page 18, the portrait is of someone who looks anything but stout, with closely-groomed hair, a TINY goatee, and a monocle.
This is the sort of thing I'd hope would be caught during editing. If a DM actually went with the written description of Robahl and later had their players ask to see his picture, the DM would look like a ninny. It would be like having the players meet the gruff old dwarf who runs their favorite bar, yet the next time they go back, they meet the uptight, metro-sexual who runs their favorite bar. That sort of thing really hurts the verisimilitude, and sci-fantasy fans are like sharks drawn to blood when it comes to continuity and consistency.
Other than that, what I'm seeing so far looks much more engaging than part 1. I love that the adventure is based around a theatrical performance. It's pretty cool that you guys actually authored a play for this issue.
Here is a link to the same question on page 4.
So far, with what I've read, I cannot wait to run my party through the first phases of this adventure tomorrow. I do, however have one thing I'd like to take exception to. Its little, and mostly I think its funny, but It's definately an error.
** spoiler omitted **
Mind you, I don't care, my party doesn't have to see the picture, and I'm not in the least annoyed or angry with this, but I wanted to let you all at paizo know. Its out of character for you
This is unfortunate... but it happens now and then. Sometimes, the art comes in very very late... in some cases, the day before, the day of, or even AFTER we're supposed to ship something to a printer. When it comes in this late, we have to basically hope that the artist followed the art order and that the art will match the description in the adventure. When it comes in late and it doesn't match, we change the description of the character to match the art. Sometimes, as in this case, the art comes in late and no one notices because the people who are familiar with the adventure have forgotten to double check everything... or more likely... don't have the time to double check things that shouldn't be problems. There's thousands of ways these breakdowns in communication happen. Especially when you mix late art with late manuscripts, moving offices, conventions, 60 hour work weeks, relaunching the core rules, and all that. We actually had a similar problem with another character illustration in this same adventure but we fixed that one in time. We just missed Robhal.
It's very frustrating, and when an artist does this to us more than a couple times, you generally end up never seeing that person's art in Paizo products again.
How hard would this adventure be to convert to WHFRP? How important is the Cheliax stuff and the Pathfinder gods to the plot (and especially the plot of the play)?
Relatively important... but if you've converted Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk adventures to WHFRP before, it shouldn't be much tougher than that.
Not to change the subject, but does anyone know when #27 will ship? I am not looking forwards to telling my gamers that I'll have to fake something until I get an email saying that it ships. They're looking forwards to looting...erm..."Exploring!" the pathfinder lodge.
thanks for any information!
Looking like it'll ship around the first week of November, I think. We MIGHT get lucky and get to ship it out in the last week of October... but I'd put money on the first week of November. (This delay is brought to you courtesy of moving offices, work on the RPG and Bestiary, and Gen Con.)
I'd like to actually run the play but I only have the hard copy of the book. Is there a copy of the play I can download and give to the actors (players) so they can learn their lines? Do I need to buy the PDF and if so can I print off copies to give to players with violating copyright?
We have not put the play online; if you want an electronic copy you'll need to buy the PDF.
I'd like to actually run the play but I only have the hard copy of the book. Is there a copy of the play I can download and give to the actors (players) so they can learn their lines? Do I need to buy the PDF and if so can I print off copies to give to players with violating copyright?We have not put the play online; if you want an electronic copy you'll need to buy the PDF.
Also, we don't mind you sharing essential information with your players, and the best way to do that is as you've surmised, via photocopies of your book or printouts of your PDF, not by sharing your PDFs electronically. (After all, if somebody else puts your PDF on the internet, it's *your* personal information that we'll find...)
Also, we don't mind you sharing essential information with your players, and the best way to do that is as you've surmised, via photocopies of your book or printouts of your PDF, not by sharing your PDFs electronically. (After all, if somebody else puts your PDF on the internet, it's *your* personal information that we'll find...)I'd like to actually run the play but I only have the hard copy of the book. Is there a copy of the play I can download and give to the actors (players) so they can learn their lines? Do I need to buy the PDF and if so can I print off copies to give to players with violating copyright?We have not put the play online; if you want an electronic copy you'll need to buy the PDF.
I think that the dialogue of the play counts as product identity and hence :
"No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission."
means that you are not allowed to print or photocopy. Unless what Vic wrote counts legally as 'written permission'?
I wish we could get a clear statement on printing - if Paizo makes the same profit on a PDF sale as a physical one then it would save me a ton of cash to buy PDF and do my own printing. That's probably 'save' as in 'spend on other Paizo stuff'. :)
Also, we don't mind you sharing essential information with your players, and the best way to do that is as you've surmised, via photocopies of your book or printouts of your PDF, not by sharing your PDFs electronically. (After all, if somebody else puts your PDF on the internet, it's *your* personal information that we'll find...)I'd like to actually run the play but I only have the hard copy of the book. Is there a copy of the play I can download and give to the actors (players) so they can learn their lines? Do I need to buy the PDF and if so can I print off copies to give to players with violating copyright?We have not put the play online; if you want an electronic copy you'll need to buy the PDF.
Thanks Vic, that's the info I was looking for. Didn't want to go doing it if that was wrong and all.
I think that the dialogue of the play counts as product identity and hence :
"No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission."
means that you are not allowed to print or photocopy. Unless what Vic wrote counts legally as 'written permission'?
I wish we could get a clear statement on printing - if Paizo makes the same profit on a PDF sale as a physical one then it would save me a ton of cash to buy PDF and do my own printing. That's probably 'save' as in 'spend on other Paizo stuff'. :)
While the play is not open content, that doesn't mean you can't photocopy it or transcribe it by hand or whatever for your own personal use. This actually goes for ANY print product, to be honest (although since places like Kinko's have no way of being sure that you're going to use a photocopied document only for personal use they tend to err on the side of caution).
Same goes for PDFs. You can print out a copy for your own personal use, be that because you just want to read the book not on a computer or because you're using the contents to prepare player handouts or whatever.
You just can't mass produce these things or resell them or claim publicly that you created them is all. And "mass produce" does include putting content up on a public website.