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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16. RPG Superstar 6 Season Marathon Voter, 7 Season Marathon Voter, 8 Season Marathon Voter, 9 Season Dedicated Voter. Organized Play Member. 377 posts (393 including aliases). 2 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 15 Organized Play characters.



Sczarni 2/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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Hey all! Are you running one of the Season 6 scenarios dealing with the wonders of Numeria? There are plenty of new rules you're going to need to familiarize yourself with in order to run them properly. This is a quick rundown with links to pertinent forum discussions!

Learnin' Stuff!

The secrets of technology are difficult for the rest of Golarion to understand, and your average wizard is going to have a tough time identifying items and creatures without investing some resources.

Technology Guide pg5 wrote:

Skills

No new skills are introduced to the Pathfinder RPG to model how characters interact with technology--rather, existing skills** are expanded to allow for such interaction. Additional rules for how skills interact with technology are listed below. Without the Technologist feat, a character is treated as untrained in the skill in question when using it on technology.

**Includes Craft (mechanical), Disable Device, Linguistics (Androffan), or research skills like Heal, K:Engineering, and K: Geography.

Technology Guide pg7 wrote:

Technologist

Benefit: You are considered to be trained in any skill used against a technology based subject. If the skill in question requires training to use even against non-technological subjects, you must still have ranks in the that skill in order to gain the benefit of Technologist.

Normal: You treat all skill checks against technology as if they were untrained skill checks. This may mean that you cannot attempt certain skill checks, even if you possess ranks in the skill in question.

You may notice that Disable Device and Linguistics are both trained only skills, meaning that they may not be used against a technological subject at all unless you have the Technologist feat. Generally, you can only hit a DC 10 on an untrained Knowledge skill check, which means most PCs will be unable to learn about a technological subject.

For more information, check the Technology Guide. A lot of material has been added to the scenarios, but if you plan to GM Season 6 a lot, the book is completely worth it.

(forum post: Robot Knowledge Check DC)

I'll Take That There Space Gun

Using technology isn't a simple task either. Even if you manage to figure out what a particular item is, the item may not be properly charged and finding ammo isn't always easy. Regular ranged weapons take the Exotic Weapons Proficiency (Firearms) feat, though some will require an additional EWP (Heavy Weapons).

However, many of the items are also timeworn, meaning that they have the potential to glitch. These rules are outlined in full in the Guide to Organized Play, but the general idea is that a glitch occurs when:

  • an item is used for the first time after a month of inactivity (50% chance)
  • an item is used in such a way that drains the last charge (50% chance)
  • an item requires a d20 roll which results in a natural 1

The glitch table is detailed in the Guide, and has some pretty random effects. See the Technology Guide for more specifics about weapons, armor, and items.

Because these items are subtyped as technological and not mundane, they aren't Always Available and must be found on a scenario chronicle sheet for purchase.

Them Gosh Darn Robots

Robots are constructs with the robot subtype, which means they must be identified using Knowledge: Engineering with the caveats listed above.

Further, Robots have hardness rather than DR, which we often see as a rule for objects rather than creatures. Since the rules here are confusing, and the forum post is heated, I'll personally go with James Jacobs here.

James Jacobs wrote:
As it turns out, robots are not objects—they're creatures. And as such, energy damage is not halved when applied to them. That bit about halving energy damage is a quality of an object, not a quality of Hardness. (And in my opinion... it's a kind of silly rule anyway—the idea that fire deals half-damage to paper is ridiculous.)

I plan to use Hardness 10 to mean the same as DR 10/- and Resist All 10 for spell and other effects. Consensus remains mixed. :)

(forum post: Hardness Rules and Energy Damage)

Technological Scenarios

These rules currently apply to the following scenarios. There may be more specific information in their specific threads.

6-01: Trial By Machine (post 1/post 2)
6-02: The Silver Mount Collection (post 1)
6-03: The Technic Siege (post 1)

-----

Sooo... any suggestions or updates or arguments or official statements or requests to delete this thread and move on?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Arkos

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The Imperial Customs House of Corentyn
==========
When the city of Corentyn was first founded in 1520 AR, the Taldan Empire established a center of trade and commerce couched in the safety of indomitable military strength. Knowing that Corentyn would be the gateway between the Arcadian Ocean and the Inner Sea, stonemasons and architects from across the empire competed to design magnificent structures that would win them eternal renown. Corentyn became known as the City of Nine Forts, and many of the administrative buildings were constructed to stand for centuries.

Built in 3427 AR, the towering Imperial Customs House looked out upon the sprawling harbor and was even visible to those Garundi crossing the Arch of Aroden. The three floors of the building each had vaulted ceilings, fluted columns, and large open rooms designed to inspire travelers from across Golarion to appreciate the countless accomplishments of Taldor.

After centuries of operation, the rise of an independent Cheliax meant very little change for the workers at the Imperial Customs House, except in the specifics of the laws they were meant to enforce. Over the years, Corentyn held strong against military incursions from all sides, and trade continued to flow through this administrative center and across the Inner Sea.

The Chelish civil war shattered the city of Corentyn, and powerful evocations toppled the once great Customs House. The third story crashed down, shearing through the second floor and filling the streets below with rubble and debris. A brief restoration attempt stalled due to the already flooding streets of the West Drenches, and the broken remains of the Customs House were eventually abandoned as a casualty of the war.

In the years since, the ruined Customs House gained a reputation for being haunted, though this hasn’t kept the lower floor from being used as a clandestine meeting place for the criminal organizations of the city. On quiet nights, weeping and moaning can be heard coming from within the ruined structure, and curious citizens who come too close find themselves returning home with minds clouded by a deep and abiding sadness.

The Stolen Child (CR 5)
==========
The streets of Easttown seem ominously quiet as night begins to fall over the city of Corentyn. Before you, Tarak Bel appears to be a man tormented. His cheekbones are gaunt, his eyes red, and the bandage on his arm is caked with dried blood. “When we moved here, our neighbors told us to stay clear of Hellknights and devils, but we never expected...” Tarak keeps his gaze downcast at the cobblestone street. “I looked for any trace of Galan across the city, but a woman in a black cloak and bright red hair attacked me and—well, she said not to involve the watch, or they’d hurt him.” With the faintest glimmer of hope in his teary eyes, he turns his gaze to you. “Could you find my son?”

Galan, Tarak’s only son, has been kidnapped by a woman named Aleosa Tauranor and trapped inside the Imperial Customs House. For the last century, the ruins have been the home of Kacia, a shattered dryad whose tree was harvested to help rebuild the collapsed structure. Doomed to remain trapped within the building for the rest of her existence, Kacia lured a young Aleosa inside, and used the power of her alienation aura over weeks and months of captivity to turn the girl into her own personal slave. In the isolation of the ruins, Kacia has begun preparing Galan to become her hand within the city, just as she once indoctrinated Aleosa. While Tarak still hopes to find a way to meet Aleosa’s demands, Kacia has no intent of ever returning Galan to his father.

Outside the Customs House

Rumors of a mysterious, red-haired woman have led to a ruined structure surrounded by the flooded streets of the West Drenches. This decaying edifice stands as a monument to a lost era. Once an imposing center of imperial administration, the third floor of the forgotten Customs House has collapsed into the rest of the building, leaving the interior open to the sky and rain. Decades of graffiti conceal the myriad of engravings dating back before the Chelish civil war and the rise of House Thrune. Beyond the scattered roofing tiles and rotten planks covering the cobblestone street, the front door sits slightly ajar.

The front door remains the easiest way to enter the Customs House, but the wreckage has left many openings scattered throughout the structure. Athletic PCs may climb the walls of the building with a successful DC 17 Climb check and enter the second floor through the broken walls at the east and southwest.

First Floor

The ruins of the Customs House sway and creak with the evening wind. Scattered wreckage is strewn across the front of this room, while the far side is all but impassible beneath piles of broken floorboards and stone. A light rain falls through a gaping and jagged hole in the ceiling twenty feet above. Where the walls haven’t fallen down, open doorways look into empty meeting rooms and offices. At the end of the room is a stone staircase leading to the shattered floor above.

The fallen wreckage of the floors above have toppled down, cracking the northwest walls and leaving them open to the street. The first floor of the Customs House is littered with broken floorboards and debris, and the far end of the room is considered difficult terrain to all creatures. PCs who succeed at a DC 18 Knowledge (engineering) check realize that some of the splintered debris is freshly broken, as if it were hurled at the ground with unnatural force.

Development: Aware that Tarak is searching for his son, Kacia quietly waits above for any intruders, looking down at the floor below and attacking as soon as an enemy comes within range.

Second Floor

This jagged wooden floor was shattered when the third story came crashing down a century before. The remaining floorboards rest precariously on thick, stone columns, which protrude from the ruin and point up into the night sky. At the southern end of the room, broken furniture provides some shelter from the elements to small bundles of food and supplies.

The broken floorboards on the second story have been endlessly warped by both the rain and Kacia’s rage. Any items dropped near the edge have a 50% chance of falling down to the first floor. If creatures of medium or larger size end their movement in a square next to the edge, they must succeed at a DC 14 Reflex save or fall 20 feet to the wreckage below. Because of her extensive experience within the Customs House, Kacia automatically succeeds at these saves.

Creatures: Kacia stands near the barely-conscious Galan on the edge of the second floor, keeping him within a continual aura of alienation. Following Kacia’s instructions, Aleosa has hidden herself in a specially prepared bookcase in the southeastern end of the room. Aleosa waits silently, and will leap from hiding and attempt to flank the nearest PC when Kacia commands.

Once Kacia attacks the PCs, she cackles and shouts at her foes:

"Foolish mortals! Have you come to save the boy? Soon, he will know what it is to be truly alone! Trapped in this ruin of a building for a lifetime! Leave now, meddlers, before you have no choice but to stay here with us!"

Kacia, Shattered Dryad CR 4
XP 1,200
hp 21 (R2)
Tactics:
Before Combat Kacia stands near the edge of the second floor, using her structural mishap ability as soon as an enemy comes within range.
During Combat Kacia uses structural mishap as often as possible, while keeping her dagger drawn to allow Aleosa to flank their enemies. Kacia uses confusion on the second enemy she sees, and uses command to compel enemies standing at the jagged edge to drop their weapons, hoping they’ll fall to the floor below.
Morale Kacia will protect her home to the death, and will send Aleosa to pursue the PCs if they flee.

Aleosa Tauranor, Indoctrinated Rogue CR 2
XP 600
hp 20 (Inner Sea NPC Codex 49)
Tactics:
During Combat Once Kacia orders her to attack, Aleosa will burst from the bookcase and attempt to flank her opponents whenever possible.
Morale Aleosa is incapable of disobeying Kacia and will fight to the death. If the dryad is killed, Aleosa will surrender if convinced through Diplomacy or Intimidation.

Development: Galan slowly crawls away from combat and remains huddled near a solid-looking wall until Kacia is defeated. Being held in such close proximity to the aura of alienation has left him unable to speak, though he will recover once returned to his father. If the PCs leave Aleosa alive, she may eventually recover and become a potential source of information about criminal activities in Corentyn.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Arkos

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This disheveled, muttering figure leaps from the shadows with a bloody axe tight in his fist. Beneath the misshapen hood of his filthy cloak, hateful eyes glower at the surrounding cityscape.

Bogle CR 2
XP 600
NE Tiny fey
Init +9; Senses discern dread 90 ft., low-light vision; Perception +10
Aura echoed whispers (90 ft., DC 13)

----- Defense -----
AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 12 (+5 Dex, +2 size)
hp 14 (3d6+3)
Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +7; +2 vs. illusions
DR 5/cold iron; SR 14

----- Offense -----
Speed 20 ft.
Melee handaxe +8 (1d2–1 plus steal purpose/x3)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +9)
At will—bleed (DC 12), ghost sound (DC 12), message
1/day—dimension door (self only), dust of twilight (DC 13), obscuring mist, ventriloquism (DC 13)

----- Statistics -----
Str 8, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 11, Wis 15, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11, Intimidate +8, Escape Artist +11, Perception +10, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +19 (+23 in urban areas); Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +4 Stealth in urban areas
Languages Common, Sylvan

----- Ecology -----
Environment urban
Organization solitary, pair, or gang (3–6)
Treasure standard

----- Special Abilities -----
Echoed Whispers (Su) The angry murmurings of a bogle fill the city streets with an ineffable tension. Creatures within 90 feet of a bogle must succeed at a DC 13 Will save or become shaken for 1d4+1 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same bogle’s aura for 24 hours. This is a fear effect. The DC is Charisma-based.
Discern Dread (Ex) A bogle is able to hear the frightened whispers and shudders of other creatures with remarkable precision. A bogle gains blindsight within 90 feet, but only against creatures suffering from a fear effect.
Steal Purpose (Su) A bogle seeks to take meaning from the life of its enemies. A creature that is damaged by a bogle must succeed at a DC 13 Fortitude save or take 1 point of Charisma damage. Whenever an opponent takes Charisma damage from this ability, the bogle gains a number of temporary hit points equal to its Hit Dice. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Many frontier communities living on the outskirts of the Verduran Forest or Darkmoon Wood have found themselves tragically cursed by the presence of callous and vengeful bogles. These vile fey come out at night to terrify whole neighborhoods and ambush passersby from the shadows.

Bogles have large, deformed ears that they attempt to keep hidden beneath their hoods. When left to their own devices, bogles mutter fearfully to themselves, seemingly oblivious to the world around them, and they guide themselves through the city streets based on the echoes of their own whispers. Other sources of fear become new echoes that a bogle can easily pinpoint. Once a frightened target has been found, bogles will stalk and attack without mercy, using whatever tricks they can to isolate and kill their target.

Standing less than two feet tall, a bogle is often confused with its close cousin, the brownie. But while brownies retain a connection with nature, bogles have been corrupted by the encroaching towns and cities of humankind. Now little more than wandering, malevolent killers, bogles have long since forgotten their origins in the First World.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Arkos

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Sun Wukong's Puzzle Box
Aura moderate conjuration and illusion; CL 10th
Slot none; Cost 25,200 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
The plainly lacquered exterior of this wooden puzzle box cunningly hides the devious clockwork mechanism beneath. Once per day, the user may unlock a puzzle box as a standard action that creates two simultaneous effects. First, a shower of golden sparks envelops the user, causing her to become invisible and immediately teleporting her 20 feet in a direction of her choice. Second, a swarm of howling monkeys (Bestiary 2 212) bursts from the same square the user left.

Although the swarm is not under the mental control of the user, the monkeys will consciously keep at least 20 feet from the user at all times. The swarm attempts to surround as many opponents as possible, but otherwise acts as mad monkeys with a CMB of +12. The monkeys' antics provide a -10 circumstance penalty to locate the invisible user as long as they remain within 100 feet.

Both the invisibility effect and the monkey swarm last for ten rounds. Dispelling one of the effects does not dispel the other.

The mechanism inside a puzzle box makes use of magic aura to disguise its effects as greater polymorph.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, dimension door, invisibility, mad monkeys, magic aura, creator must be chaotic; Cost 12,600 gp

The Exchange

Dear Guaril,

Look, I know things are busy for you down at the Pickled Imp but I thought I should take some time and let you know how unhappy I've been with some of your missions lately. Now, if you're too busy to give me a mission yourself, I don't really mind being hired out to the other factions, especially when it gets me more shinies. But some of these other faction leaders are ridiculous.

Here's the thing. I'm really good at stealing things. And sneaking around and cutting off the occasional head. You need a message sent? I'm your bird. And if you've noticed the recent payoffs from the Ivy District, you'll see that since I took over that ruined Crowsworn base I've been earning just fine up here.

But when you make me listen to some Taldan chump who wants me to find some jeweled piece of junk so he can put it on his shelf, or some Qadiran who needs me to broker some stupid trade deal? It just makes me sad inside, like you don't actually care about my needs.

Remember the good times at the Green Market? Or with that punk kobold guild down in the Puddles? More of that, please.

Guaril, help me help you help me. More shinies for everyone is going to make us all happy.

May Abadar keep building expensive things for the Sczarni to steal.

Kotyk

PS. Pretty please, don't hire me out to the Paracountess. That lady totally freaks me out.