Aiddar's page

Hi there.

Sorry of this has been raised elsewhere, but has anyone had any thoughts on what Paizo might do for the big 100 on the adventure paths? From memory, was the anniversary edition of Rise of the Runelords part of the 50th anniversary?

Of course, loads and loads of free stuff to those of us who have been in since day 1 would be great, but I am willing to accept that may be "unlikely" ;-)

More seriously, a new version of Curse of the Crimson throne (a la Rise of the Runelords) would be good....

Aiddar

Message to mods:- the review that is posted up there - you may want to remove it...... Mind you - astrology in Golarion may be MORE reliable :-)

Aiddar

Hi there.

Another vote here for CotCT. Over midway through running this now (book 5), and having a blast. Of them all, current book (book 5) is probably the least that you would like though (don't want to give too much away, other than to say that it is a bit of a large dungeon crawl, with not as much opportunity for roleplaying as other pieces).

The early books are great, and I can't recommend 7-Days To The Grave enough. As the first book (and some of the later elements....) deal with the Shoanti, having characters from the area makes it interesting. In my group, I had a Shoanti brave who had been kidnapped and missed his chance to perform the rights of adulthood, and thus was regarded by all other Shoanti as still being a child. The fact that he was a 6' 6'' Barbarian warrior was beside the point! The story became (for a while) about his redemption in Shoanti society. Fun :-)

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there - and as veryone else has said, "Welcome aboard".

A few points that may be of use/interest (feel free to ignore - see rule "1")

1) Rule "1" - it is your (and your friends) game. You may run into some oiks who try to tell you you are playing badly/wrongly/whatever. Ignore them - if you are having fun, then you are doing it "right" (in so far as that means anything). Hopefully you won't run into any idiots like that, but they are around

To expand your game, there are a couple of things I can recommend

2) Have a look on line - there are LOTS of things you can (quite legally) lift from web sites and use. Paizo here has some add on adventures specifically for the Beginners Box; Likewise, there is an additional PDF you can get designed to make moving to the "full" game much easier. Have a look, and don't be afraid to steal ideas

3) Using pre-made adventures. Thoughts on this vary, as many people like to create their own adventures, but I think when you are just starting out, having a helping hand with a pre-designed adventure is a really good idea. There are some designed specifically for the beginners box as complete adventures. I am cursed with a bad memory though, so can't remember the names of them. I believe they had quite reasonable reviews, though, so may be worth looking up

4) If you want to spend some money, some of the better options include:-

a) The Bestiary 1 - a whole lot of new monsters. If there are sections on the descriptions or stats you don't recognise, ignore em, and just use what you recognise

b) The GameMasters Guide is also a good book if you are just starting out. It gives you a good grounding on running adventures, how to handle problem players, etc etc. Pretty good book in my opinion

c) The Core Rule Book ("CRB") - bit odd listing this one last, as it is truly the core of the system. The reason I listed it last is that it is chock full of rules... The others have bad guys you can pick and choose from, or good generic advice on what to do. The rule book has a lot of rules and can be overwhelming. Very very good book, aned essential at some point, but read the PDF I mentioned at the top first if I were you.

5) Have fun - never get so bogged down in rules that you spend 30 mins trying to work out what the book says - take a punt, guess at how hard it should be, and make the player roll for it ("OK - you are wearing a blindfold, on the back of a dragon, and you want to jump off just as it passes over the mill pond (which you can't see), stealing the bad guy's dagger as you go, making a perfect swan dive while singing "All Hail Desna". "sigh*. OK - lets start with a perception roll, DC 35 or so and work from there..."). Look up the rules AFTER the game - try not to use too much time in game.

Bahh - I could go on and on, boring you to tears. I'll end with just remember it is a game, and it should be played as such, not a competition. As GM, any time you want to kill the players, you can. Your "job" (apart from having fun) is to to give the players a chance to kill themselves ;-)

Cheers

Aiddar

Edited - odd post, removed quotes...

Anyway - weirdest scenario for me was in my CoCT campaign (no major spoilers). As people may know, one of the early adventures can result in you releasing a lot of orphans, kids etc. My players, being the good guys that they are, decided to set up a special orphanage for them (as a GM, loved this idea as it tied the players to future elements in the AP very nicely). As part of this orphanage, they decided to make sure the kids learned a couple of professions - they took a coule of kids to learn basic fencing from Vencarlo (they paid the fees), and such.

In the end, they decided that this was taking a lot of time from saving the city, so they decided to employ someone to help look after the kids' careers. As such, they posted an advert for a "Management Consultant" as a sort of careers advisor, and then held interviews for the post. So there we are, in game that features dragons, demons, legendary magic items, powerful wizards and great warriors, where I (as GM) am roleplaying a job interview applicant for a position as a management consultant! At least I did not have to do a PowerPoint presntation (hmmm - there again, with prestdigitation, perhaps I should have? heheheh).

Was (bizarley) really really good fun!

Aiddar

I may be different, in that I had no subscription to Dungeon or Dragon - I just came across this hard-back book with a big adventure in it (Shackled City I think :-)) and thought - wow, these guys are cool.

I went on the website and subscribed, starting with an adventure called "Burnt Offerings" - after all, it looks cool, and if I didn't like it, I could always cancel the sub...

4-5 years later, I am still here, buying FAR too much stuff for my wallet's health!!

I think there are less and less of us "Charter Subscribers" these days - I remember hearing from the boards here that approx 4-5 months ago, we were down to about 1,100 or so? Either way, the board title is a nice little tribute that give me a little glowy feeling of warmth ehheheheh Of course, if Paizo wants to hand out other freebies to the loyal-1000, please feel free (other than continuing to provide some really good adventures, of course!) :-)

Aiddar

not quite true namelessone, in PRPG the targets also need to be adjacent to each other

(when you initiate the Cleave according to Paizo, i.e. you can't 5' step to threaten the 2nd target)
Cleave is still a good deal for BAB6 characters because both attacks are at full BAB,
so assuming you have adjacent targets, both of whom you want to attack,
it may well be preferable to Cleave them rather than using a Full Attack action.
Of course, Cleave is 'gambling' that you will hit the first target, while Full Attack isn't dependent on that,
so both actions certainly have their pros and cons.

True... one con to mention is that D&D (and thus Pathfinder) rewards taking not bad guys, not injuring them. A bad guy on 1HP is just as deadly in terms of generating damage against you as one on full HPs.

As such, where you have a choice between full-round attack for two attacks Vs a Cleave, Cleave means you will have to attack two opponents (at least). Full attack means that you can attack one opponent, and if you don't take him down, re-attack the same one if you want to. As such, pros and cons, as mentioned. I *do* love that it gives the fighter choices to make on the risk they want to take,the mthod of attack etc. Options are good!

Aiddar

Thanks for all the replies - appreciated.

I think for me, the key element is that a Bull Rush can only be performed on creatures that are up to 1 size class larger.... Note that it is the water that is Bull Rushing the opponent, not the caster!

As such, a Gnome cannot use this spell to Bull Rush an Ogre.... but a human could? The implication being that being larger makes you a better caster.

I think at the end of the day, as there is nothing official in this, I will stay within my comfort zone and label it as "Medium" from now on, and go from there :-)

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi all.

Sorry of I have missed this somewhere else. This came up in a game recently, and was wondering if there is any clarity on it:-

Spell:- Hydraulic Push

You call forth a quick blast of water that knocks over and soaks
one creature or square. You can use this blast of water to make
a bull rush against any one creature or object. Your CMB for
this bull rush is equal to your caster level plus your Intelligence,
Wisdom, or Charisma modifier, whichever is highest. This
bull rush does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Hydraulic
push extinguishes any normal fires on a creature, object, or
in a single 5-foot square which it is targeted against. Magical
fires are unaffected.

Now... the rules for Bull Rush take account of the size of the creature doing the pushing (i.e. you can only Bull Rush a creature up to one size larger than you).

Ok - so, we have a gnome casting Hydraulic Push (and thus trying to Bull Rush), trying to affect a Large creature. Should it work? The gnome (by herself) could not (she is classed as small). However..... what size is the spell classed as? If it is also classed as small, then it means that a given spell becomes more effective simply because the caster is larger. If cast by a human sized caster, it would work. As far as I can tell, the implication of this would be that because of your size, you could cast better spells.

In the end, I simply declared that unless a spell specified otherwise, it should be classed as "medium" - and thus allowed the Bull's Rush attempt (besides - it was rule of cool - she was trying to push a big bad over a cliff, and it looked really good).

However - was wondering - is there anything "official" on this?

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there.

I had an archer (ranger archer) created in my game for the first time, and the power they have is quite impressive.

The key thing they get (from my view) is multiple attacks (as they can stand still), while "normal" melee types often have to move and thus lose their ability to do multiple attacks. It just gets worse when you add in many shot/fast shot etc. When archers get to add their STR to the rolled damage as well, that is when things really stack up. In the game, it is not usually the number of dice that cause problems (even though rolling lots of dice looks good), as they are self averaging - it is the fixed adds that really boost damage potential

In terms of reducing their impact....

1) Play the rules as written. This is key. If you fire into a melee, there is a -4 penalty to hit, unless you have the Precise Shot feat. Likewise, if there is someone (does not matter - friend or foe) in between the archer and their target, the target gains another +4 to AC (i.e. effectively, an additional -4 penalty to hit). This is countered by the improved precise shot feat. Note that the prereqs for this last one are fairly high, but the issue is that a ranger can select it even if they do not meet the pre-reqs.

2) Used range guys on your side - fight fire with fire

3) Have mobile bad guys who force the archer to move (i.e. treat them as a spell caster) - once they are forced to move, they lose all those nice attacks

4) Rules nerf:- disallow rangers from getting improved precise shot until they meet the other reqs

5) Rules nerf - declare that either comp longbows do not exist in your world, or they do, but they do not allow STR bonus.

6) Rules nerf - declare that when using many shot/rapid shot, STR bonuses cannot be added for any shot extra shots

Of course, the other option is to boost the other melee types - the easiest way of doing that is to allow multiple attacks even if they move...

Hope some of those help!!

Pretty sure you only need 1 hand free for casting? If so, just say that you are always carrying a dagger.... Whether you USE it or not is up to you... ;-)

Aiddar

The other advantages:-

1) You get a free PDF version of the document, pretty much as sson as it becomes available
2) There is a 15% discount on other stuff bought at the Paizo store (believe me, this adds up nicely)
3) When (If) you buy other stuff, you can have it shipped with your subscription items ("Moved to side cart"), and it seems to be far cheaper that way for the additional items
4) You avoid the usual Amazon "This will be shipped... sometime... we think" kind of situation :-)

Aiddar

I'm with Brok on this one.

I order direct from Paizo, and with the subscription discount, get the nice "freebie" of the PDFs - very very useful. Allows you to cut and paste the artwork and print it out during a game (good to have piccies of hte major NPCs that the players are dealing with clipped to their side of the GMs screen)
Cheers

Aiddar

History:- Paladins (AD&D) used to have a minimum CHR of 17 to be "allowed" to qualify. The concept at the time was that by having minimum reqs, it would be hard to qualify for the class, and thus there would be fewer of them. In return, they got a lot of stuff that common fighters did not. Of course... "rolling" a 17 (along with that 18/00 STR) was no problem at all for a 14 year old with no witnessess...

Now... with a nod to history, to keep with the concept of an incredibly charismatic leader who knows right from wrong (and can tell a bad 'un just by looking at them), and to reduce MAD, Pallys now cast off of CHR.

In other words - what Cheapy said, plus a (boring) history lesson :-)

Imagine someone standing on stage, the centre of attention, and saying something like:-

"My interests are in world peace, helping children,and providing a home for all the lost little doggies in the world"

i.e. your typical 1970s Miss World entrant :-)

Aiddar

These are not mine but they are good efforts:

Sandpoint map
http://www.rlucci.com/images/sandpointredux.jpg (2434x3176, 1.2 Mb)

Sandpoint / Catacombs of Wrath
http://www.rlucci.com/images/sandpointunder.jpg (2434x3176, 1.0 Mb)

Sandpoint Siege Guide
http://www.rlucci.com/images/sandpointsiege.jpg (2434x3176, 1.1 Mb)

Wow... consider those "yoinked" - Thank you - very very useful!!!

Aiddar

Hi there.

Not really a horror story, but just an amusing recollection of my first FLGS when I was significantly younger. This was when I was about 13-14 years old, and the advanced D&D PHB had just come out (someone else can work out what year that was!!). Anyway.... this was in Birmimgham UK, and there was a shop (long since moved on) called Dungeons and Starships... It was situated behind the Birmingham Central Library (a lovely 1960's poured concrete monstrosity), down some stairs. What I remember most, though, was that it was next door to a sex-shop... The shop itself was wonderful - helpful people, good stock (for the time), just that it was next door to the sex shop. I would be browing the RPG stuff (original traveller, T&T etc) whilst my mind was wandering elsewhere... It even got to the stage I would walk past the sex shop, heading to D&S very obviously NOT staring at the shop next door, and then nip into D&S while no-one was looking :-)

As I sad - a LONG time ago heheheh

Aiddar

I would add one thing - be very aware of anything that takes a player out of action if you are not bolstering the party with NPCs... With a party of 4, losing one person (blinded, hold person etc) is a 25% reduction in ability for the party overall. With a party of 3, losing that one person is now a 33% reduction in party ability, a significant impact.

In this situation, I would probably run an NPC fighter. It can be quite fun, allows some further RP options etc. Primary rule of course is that the NPC must (almost) never be allowed to steal the spotlight from the players - he/she is there as a support for them, not the other way around (unless there is a story specific element that needs that kind of support - kind of "Yeah, my brother was kidnapped by a bugbear ranger type. He promised to release him when we paid the ransom, but not heard from him since.... You guys heard/seen anything about this guy?")

Cheers

Aiddar

Hey there.

Done this a number of time - introducing new players is great fun. First off - work out what type of learning style the different people have. At the end of the day, as well as having fun, they are learning (some of!) the rules to a game. Making that rule "absorption" as painless as possible will enhance the game, in my experience. Different people learn in different ways, and trying to get people to read the CRB when they much prefer to talk about rules, just will not work. As such, be prepared to use different methods for different people. That said, two of the key useful things I have had are:-

1) Crib Sheet - a nice, large font easy to read note. It explains a) How to hit things, b) how to damage things, c) how things hit YOU and d) how much damage you can absorb. In addition, it covers the basics of the game - (roll 1D20 and add something). Tacked on the end is the comment:- DON'T PANIC!! If you want to do something , but don't know how, DON'T WORRY! Just tell the GM and HE/SHE will tell you what you need to roll! If you can imagine it, you can try it....

2) Character summary, but high level. Kind of "You are a trained warrior, good at hitting things, and absorbing damage (and even better at avoiding being hit....). You stand up to the bad guys and hold the line against them. You are not too subtle(all that metal armour means that sneaking is just not your thing)and tend to tell people as it is. Think Boromir from "Lord of the Rings" i.e. appeal to sterotypes for the first couple of games.

Oh - and have fun!!

Aiddar

Wow! I would so like this if it was available in child size - I have a 1 week old baby (sleep... remember sleep...? must ... sleep...) for whom this would be wonderful.

Oh well - will have to wait until she grows a bit!!

Aiddar

This is the part I had a problem with:

Quote:

He is saying this is as intended because "exploiting an encounter like this by making them unable to make attacks is obviously not what they meant to happen"

To me it sounded like the GM was saying that it isn't ok to simply stay far enough away from the zombies that you can safely attack them but that they can not move and attack you (either with a 5' + attack or a partial 30' charge). It sounded like it was the GM's opinion that doing so was somehow exploiting an encounter. Well... it is exploiting the weakness of an enemy. But that is what adventurers excel at. Why close with a stinking rotting carcass that could potentially cause you serious bodily injury when they can be safely dispatched at range?

If terrain permits it I don't understand why anyone would face that sort of encounter any other way. That is how you safely take care of zombies. Zombies ARE slow by design. That IS how encounters with zombies are meant to happen. It should typically be a fairly one sided encounter unless terrain prevents you from effectively fighting in this fashion.

OK - so if we agree that the GM was right by the rules (i.e. he did what the rules say the bad guys can do), is your point more that in general (rather than this specific item), you do not like the idea of the GM interpreting what the bad guys should be able to do? ie. - though he may have done the right thing here, the way he got to the solution was wrong?

If so - I can take your point and the reason you feel that way, but I think it comes down to a given GM's style, and that of the group they play with. If the players play well and keep more than 35' away from the zombies and pepper them with missile fire, all good. If they use terrain to hide behind so the zombies can't charge at them, alos good. I guess it I feel less happy at the players using a "rules solution" rather than an "encounter solution". Even if the rules do not allow it, I reserve the right as GM to amend encounters to be Encounter As Intended ("EAI" ;-))), as part of the job of making sure that players are challneged. If they have a masterful strategy ("OK - I am climbing the wall and dropping pots of oil on them") where the rules are tricky to interpret (ok - what is the mod for climbing while carrying a pot of oil in your mouth and one hand holding a lit fuse....?) I simply apply the "rule of cool" - it sounds good, so lets go with it - climb at -10.

If the solution is rules-driven and not in character, if I feel it breaks an element of the encounter, I can (and have) amend(ed) things - sometimes in the player's favour, sometimes not.

Cheers

Aiddar

Umm - don't understand your point here... The GM was correct by RAW, and (at least in my opinion which may not count for a lot!!) by RAI as well... Zombies can make a 5' step and attack; If they have more space, they can make a move/attack combination (i.e. charge)- just not very fast, and they tend to block themselves (check the rules on pre-requisites to charging)

You stand next to a bad guy. You move 5' from him. Bad guys moves up and hits you. From my mind, no problem.

Thematically, I always view zombies ("Brains!!!") as slow moving bad guys, not a "rules package encounter" that says "aha! if we do this, then we can expose a what I think is a rules loophole and win without challenge!". I take your point about it being a social game, and it most definitely is, but I think that part of the social contract in my games is that the players will be challenged to find in-game strategies that work, not rules ones (if I am making any sense here). As a GM, I have no problem of changing an encounter where the rules don't make sense (and yes - I am very very old-school in some ways. Rules are a guideline, not a straight-jacket)

My tuppence worth...

Aiddar

Thanks all - I thought I had it correct, but the overall penalty seems quite high! Makes a ranger specialising in bow quite powerful, as they get access to Improved Precise Shot as a bonus feat much earlier than any other class.... :-)

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi all.

Quick question on archery, firing into melee...

Up until now, I have been assigning a base -8 to shooting into a melee, IF there is a good guy between the archer and the target (i.e. we have archer, then a good guy and bad guy in melee, with the good guy positioned such that he is "blocking" the archer from hitting the bad guy.)

The reason for the -8, is the standard -4 for shooting into Melee (feat:- "Precise shot" removes) and then an additional -4 for the good guy acting as "soft cover" for the bad guy (feat:- "Improved precise shot" removes). Is this fair, or is it double counting?

Any thoughts appreciated!

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there.

I would add another recommendation for Battlestar Galatica - really REALLY good game, especially for roleplayers. Part of the fun is that some people have to be traitors, and have to act to convince everyone that THEY are not the traitor - it MUST be that guy over there...

There are a couple of add-ons, but the basic game is plenty good fun. Be warned - it is an involved and complex game, more so if you are not familiar with the TV series, but it is really worth the effort. Veryhighly recommended

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there.

This seems to me a bit of a hold over from "the old days" (tm).

Back in the day, Wizards did not get to choose two spells everytime they went up a level - instead, the only spells they got were those they found on scrolls (and copied to their spell books, thus destroying the scroll), they researched themselves or they found in captured spell books.

As this last route was the easily the best (for the wizard character), spells books from enemy casters had a big value. I suspect that this list of spell books is a kind of reminder to all the GMs and players out there that players do NOT have to rely on just the "2 spells per level", and that captured spell books are a great way of the GM introducing new spells into the game.

Interestingly, again in "the old days", a GM could keep spells he did not like out of the hands of players, as he would simply make sure that the player never found that scroll of Polymorph Other, or if he did, make it so expensive/hard to get, that it became a mini-quest in its own right...

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there - by lack of maps, you mean the large adventure one that you move the figures/minis on?

If so, then the vast majority of adventures (pretty much 99% I would guestimate) will not have maps of the type you want. That said.... the map that came with the beginners box... the flip side is designed to be written on and then erased. As such, normally, most people draw out the encounter area on the map when they need to (i.e. normally when a fight starts). As you note - you measure out the space needed from the map in the module (the scale is normally on the map - if not, something has gone wrong somewhere(!), and you can normally estimate it as being either 5' per square or 10' per square) and then draw it on the encounter map.

It *does* mean you have to keep on drawing/erasing, but that is how most of the hobby does things. There are alternatives, depending on how IT-happy you are - various options from just having a PC screen showing the maps that you share with the players, to having a ceiling mounted projector that projects the map onto the gaming table (and yes, ONE day I will have this - it must be mine!). There is another alternative, depending on how much money you have (i.e. lots) - Dwarven Forge (I think) do a range of 3-D dungeon bits and pieces that allow you to (literally) build your dungeon.

Hope that helps

Aiddar

Hi there.

Welcome to the fun of magic :-)

1) Normally, a spell will be very specific in the "stat block" (description) about whether a saving throw is allowed (example:- "Reflex save for half", or "Fortitude save negates"). This means the affected creatures can roll the appropriate saving thrown, needing to meet or exceed against a Difficulty Class ("DC") of 10+the level of the spell+INT (if a wizard - it would be 10+the level of the spell+WIS if the caster was a cleric).

So - if a wizard with an INT of +3 cast a second level spell, the affected creatures would need to roll 10+2+3, or 15 or more to avoid the affects. Note that each creature will normally have a modifier to apply to their saving roll (e.g. Fort +2, Reflex +3, Will +1). You roll the D20, and apply that modifier to see if they meet or exceed the DC. It seems complex, but will soon become second nature

2) Spells come into two big types - Area of Affect ("AOE") and single target. AOE spells (like Burning Hands) affect everyone in their target area - good guys or bad, so be careful how you target them!

Single target spells (as the name suggests) affect a single target - in general, you can use them against a bad guy standing next to one of the good guys, without affecting the good guy (example:- Hold Person).

3) Magic missile is a slightly bit trickier. First off, you get one magic missile to fire for every two levels (ie. 1 missile when you are L1-2, 2 misiles when you are L3 or L4, 3 missiles at L5 or 6, etc). It is a spell that gets better, as the level of the caster improves. The "up to 5 missiles" comment simply refers to the maximum effect it can have - at L9 or higher, it will generate 5 missiles. Beyond that, regardless of caster level, it will never generate more. As for the effect, each missile will cause 1d4+1 damage. Each missile will automatically hit, with no "to hit" die roll required - all you do is say - ok, I am L5, so I get 3 missiles. 2 of them will hit the orc over there (each doing 1d4+1, so 2d4+2 in total), the 3rd one will hit the kobold doing 1d4+1. Note that there is no saving throw for magic missiles - they always hit.

General comment - being a wizard is a bit of a balancing act in terms of spells.. Do you take the AOE spells which can affect a lot of bad guys, but will also affect your friends? Or a spell like magic missile - it does less damage, but will always hit and will not affect your friends...

Hope that helps!!

have fun

Aiddar

Hi there.

Pretty much all the above for general advice.

A few points of my own:-

1) Live and breath the NPCs. This is what changes the game from a tactical skirmish game to an RPG. It is through the NPCs that the players get the flavor of the world and the adventure. As has been mentioned above, if the players "latch on to" a specific NPC, use that NPC a bit more than perhaps originally planned for.

2) The adventure paths are normally reasonably well scripted, with recurring bad guys etc. That said, there is no reason not to add some other (lower level) interactions that help make the world seem more real... Have a seargant of the guard befriend them (perhaps the party saved the life of his sister at some point?) and give them advanced warning of raids etc. Likewise, have someone at an inn they stay cheat at cards and get caught by the party.... Thereafter, have this guy as a low level annoyance - if the guards are searching for the group, have the card-sharp pop up and shout "I see them - they are over here!" (always from a safe distance!!) kind of thing

3) Most important for me? React to the players, and make sure they can see the results of their actions. Personally, I find nothing kills an adventure more than the feeling that the players have no influence on what is happening. When they do stuff, make sure there are results... They use a fireball in an urban area? Have some houses burn down, people killed and made homeless. The locals then start accusing the party of being murderous vigilantes... Likewise, if the party kill some guards, have a mysterious "package" turn up from the local smugglers guild to say thanks - along with a note saying that if guards A, B and C were to mee similar accidents, further "packages" could just find their way to the players.

4) Steal steal steal - ANYTHING that looks good, do not be afraid to steal it. Take it from TV (base an NPC on Captain Kirk, or perhaps Daniel Jackson), take it from books, take it from other people who have run similar games. There is no rule that says everything you have to do must be original work! The only thing is - don't let the players know where you have stolen stuff from, as they may (being tricksy little SOBs) work out what is happening based on that theft....

Overall - try to make the city a living breathing place, not just a set of encounters. Oh - and have fun as the players ignore pretty much anything and everything you have carefully crafted in favour of a minor point you just planned as a throw-away. If that happens, roll with it, and incorporate it into the main story!

Good luck

Aiddar

I noticed in the Hero's Handbook that Wizard's specializing in Evocation get a bonus Scorching Ray (at 3rd level) and Fireball (at 5th level) according to the Wizard description.

Any chance this is a rule that should actually carry over into the Core Rule Book?!? I'd love to bring this one up to my GM.

If I remember correctly, you already get this in the core rules - a specialist (evoker in this case) gets an additional spell of levels he can cast.

Example:- A L1 evoker starts with 1 1st level spell, PLUS a bonus spell (of the evocation school) PLUS bonus spells for INT. As soon as he can cast L2 spells (i.e. 3rd level character), he gets a 2nd level spell PLUS a bonus (evocation) spell, PLUS bonus spells for int.

Pretty sure that is how it works, but I am away from my rulebooks atm....

Good luck

Aiddar

Hi there.

When I roll, I also do this behind the screen, normally just for the main person interacting with the NPC. In addition, though, I often simply tell someone who has a high Sense Motive (Vs someone with a lousy bluff) that "Something about this guy does not ring true... he seems to be uncomfortable or nervous about something".

All in all, I think it is a preference on playing style... I prefer to play fast and loose with skills when I am behind the screen, taking a judgement on how skilled is someone, Vs what they are trying to do. That said, if a player specifcally ASKS to role Sense Motive, then I go by the rules.

Hope that helps a little...

Aiddat

If you don't mind converting a bit, I am a fan of the old 3.5 Paizo adventures around Falcon's Hollow (D0 Hollow's Last Hope, D1 Crown of the Kobold King, D1.5 Revenge of the Kobold King etc etc). If you follow all the adventures around that locale (carnival of tears etc), roughly tied together, you should be hitting L6 or 7 by the end.

Hope that helps

Aiddar

Hi there.

This is one of those situations where there are no rules written, and I guess common sense would apply... If there is a shut door between the source of the light (the wizard's staff with a "Light" spell on it, perhaps?) I would say by default that the bad guys do not spot anything. If they are (for whatever reason) LOOKING for something like that (they are aware that there are adventurers near, for example), I might allow them to make a (difficult!) perception role to notice light "leaking" under the door.

If it is open ground (a long straight corridor), I would say that monsters would ALWAYS see the party before the party sees the bad guys (assuming the bad guys do not also have lights, anyway). A flashlight might only work for the person using it for about 20-30 foot. However, people miles away can spot the light being used if they have a clear line of sight.

That leaves the situation where there is not a straight line of sight (example:- bends in the corridor). I would suggest that the bad guys automatically notice that there is a light at something like 3* the light radius of the light.. . So, with a light spell with a 20' radius, I would assume that any monsters/bad guys not carrying their own lights would be aware that there is a light being used (a background glow approaching them) within 60' or so.... Possibly up to 5 or 6 times the radius, if they are looking and making hard perception roles (say DC22 or so).

Summary:- It depends :-) Just ignoring lights is "not realistic", but so what? Go with what seems easier!!! Oh - and have fun hehehhe

Aiddar

I also use a screen, at least at the start of the combat. As some here also do, I like to keep some of the monsters abilities secret, including just exactly how tough he is... As someone above me said - the players don't know if the bad guy got lucky, or if they 9the players) are up the creek without a canoe....

As the combat goes on though, and players start to get a feel for how tough the bad guy is, I then start to roll in the open. I tend to let the dice land where they fall, and if that means a dead PC, so be it. I *do* fudge, but very very rarely (to avoid a TPK sort of thing - one death is heroic and interesting... 4 deaths is just a statistic about why a campaign failed).

One roll I always make in the open though - monster/bad guy saving rolls. It is just TOO much fun not to (You mean... he made the will saving thrown on... a 2?!!!!! *gulp*)

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there.

If you want a good set of adventures that take you up to L10 or so... Have a look at the Falcon's Hollow set of adventures. They are all fairly loosely linked, allowing a fair bit of GM adjustment as you go along (unlike an adventure path, which can be far more tightly scripted). What's best, is that the first part (D0 - Hollows Last Hope) is actually free, and leads nicely into D1, Crown of the Kobold King. Other adventures follow, most of them fairly loosely tied in, some with undead, other with a circus that comes to town (I kid you not :-))

What makes it better for me personally is the RP opportunities in Falcon's Hollow (the "base" town) are superb. The place is not nice, with lots of people just trying to get by as best they can, under the heel of some not so friendly people - as such, moral choices abound in terms of RP :-))

The only down side is that the original adventures were for D&D 3.5, and will need a quick bit of shifting to allow for Pathfinder (no great problem though)

Have fun

Aiddar

Hi there.

I have a fairly firm rule in my games of no evil alignments, though I have made exceptions for characters that become evil, but seek redemption. I was badly traumatised by an intra-party conflict that knocked a good campaign off the rails, over 30 years ago (the flashbacks, man, the flashbacks!!) and thus happy to allow intra party arguing and bickering (in character), but no actual combat.

That said, I *have* seen evil characters played well in a group - the character who knows he is evil, but is working for good ends. He does the things that need to be done, but the other characters are too soft to handle. He often hides his evil, but where necessary quietly kills the person the group has let go (think of the scene in Buffy where Giles kills the avatar of Glory, or the Agent from Serenity). In the latter case, the character is evil, KNOWS he is evil, but is fighting for (what he thinks) is a good cause greater than he is, knowing he will never lilve to see it.

Now THAT kind of evil I could get behind

Summary - it depends :-)

I just got mine as well - with a 10% off code for January :-) Cursed international surface mail ;-)

Either way - lovely card, and nice to see it.

Happy Christmas for next year :-)

Aiddar

Aiddar wrote:

Hi there.

Possibly a silly question - the Fireball spell. Is normally considered to be a circular area of effect, or as a globe? The fluff suggests a globe, but the description is unclear.... I am 90% certain it is a globe, but have this niggling doubt that is treated as a 2-dimensional area of effect... Any thoughts?

Cheers

Aiddar

It is called fireball, not firedisk or firecylinder. In many (most?) combats, the third dimension barely matters, so it may not come up in any of the examples.

Rules quotes from PRD:
"Fireball ... Area: 20-ft.-radius spread"
"Magic ... A spread spell extends out like a burst but can turn corners."
"Magic ... The default shape for a burst effect is a sphere, but some burst spells are specifically described as cone-shaped."

Fireball is not specifically described as cone-shaped, so it is a sphere. QED

Many thanks - perfect.

Cheers

Hi there.

Possibly a silly question - the Fireball spell. Is normally considered to be a circular area of effect, or as a globe? The fluff suggests a globe, but the description is unclear.... I am 90% certain it is a globe, but have this niggling doubt that is treated as a 2-dimensional area of effect... Any thoughts?

Cheers

Aiddar

Hi there.

The players in my group have discovered just how useful the "message" spell is - for a "0" level spell, you effectively have the entire group in near silent (whispered) communication, for 10 mins per level.

My question - is the duration (10 mins per level) perhaps referring to sending a single message (and a single reply) within the duration ,or is it ongoing throughout the full duration? For a "0" level spell, it seems very powerful, especially when my game often features a scout out ahead reporting back to the group....

Spell descritopn:-

You can whisper messages and receive whispered replies. Those nearby can hear these messages with a DC 25 Perception check. You point your finger at each creature you want to receive the message. When you whisper, the whispered message is audible to all targeted creatures within range. Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal (or a thin sheet of lead), or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks the spell. The message does not have to travel in a straight line. It can circumvent a barrier if there is an open path between you and the subject, and the path's entire length lies within the spell's range. The creatures that receive the message can whisper a reply that you hear. The spell transmits sound, not meaning; it doesn't transcend language barriers. To speak a message, you must mouth the words and whisper.

War.... War never changes...." (Fallout)

"I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. The enemy was in us. The war is over for me now, but it will always be there, the rest of my days." (Platoon)

And to finish.. a bit of Shakespeare:-

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility; but when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage" (Henry V)

A player of mine, cleric of Cayden Cailean, was fighting a group of skeletons... The group was low on health, out of channeling power, and armed with rapiers (mainly). Not so good Vs skellys... At which point, the cleric draws his holy symbol (a tankard) and uses it (as an improvised weapon) to bludgeon the skeletons to death. Did I apply the -4 for an improvised weapon? Hell no - was just too cool and fun. The player now has a holy symbol with a number of dents in that make for a good story in the bars. Good times!

Hi there.

No prezzies, but am hoping to run a game over the Christmas break. It will probably be a one off, involving a bunch of barely sane goblins as they attempt to recover some of those nice exploding "fire-werky" things... Of course, they will be able to trust each other, being of the same tribe and all... ;-))) Hopefully know the adventure I am talking about!

Aiddar

I *know* that the accepted wisdom is that there will not be any BB2 ("Expert") set of rules being produced, primarily as a) Paizo do not want to split their player base (BECMI Vs AD&D) and b) the intention of the BB was that players, when ready, moved onto the core rulebook...

However.... The leap from BB to the full rule book is a large one. Would it be viable for a BB2 to be produced, with the express intention of covering the same (or at least, some) rules as the core rulebook, but with an easier introduction? I am talking about bringing people up to the same standard of the core rules (or perhaps to 50% of them - there are a lot!), but without throwing them into the deep end, after they have just learned to dip their toes in and paddle?

Perhaps it is just me who thinks the shift from BB to the "full" game is a daunting one, but I think there might be a market for it. After all - in thery, with the BB, there will be a whole new set of players/GMs who may have never seen a rulebook the size of the core rulebook, and may be put off by it...

Aiddar wrote:

Oddly enough, had a situation like this in my game last week... Mind you, I had house-ruled that greater invis worked slightly differently - at the moment you attack, you become visible, and then remain visible until the end of your action (including movement) and then fade back into invisibility.... May have to revisit that. :-)

Why would you need to nerf a 4th level spell that only lasts for 1 combat like that? If an enemy wants to see you, he should spend an standard action to quaff an see invis potion or something. Just like you spent a standard action to become invisible.

I guess that I feel that allowing attacks while invisible (as the basic spell is written) is too powerful an ability *shrug* - as I said, I may well re-visit it, but that is how I have always played "Greater Invis" (or even "Improved Invis", going back a few generations of D&D). To each their own.

Aiddar

Oddly enough, had a situation like this in my game last week... Mind you, I had house-ruled that greater invis worked slightly differently - at the moment you attack, you become visible, and then remain visible until the end of your action (including movement) and then fade back into invisibility.... May have to revisit that. :-)

Now... that "Message" spell for L0 looks quite powerful, for what a L0 is meant to do - or am I missing something (*reaches for nerf-bat* :-))

Aiddar

Hi there.

Impressed by the two modules (D0 and D1) - very high production values and lots of fun. I'd love to subsribe to the pathfinder subscription, but I live in the UK. Any chance you can let me know what the costs are for having this posted out to the UK?

Many thanks!

A