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I agree that the AP has - issues - in the latter half but I maintain that the second book is one of the most fun adventures I've ever run. The alien and odd occurrences really resonated with my party.

Overall, they were not too disconcerted by drow - they've known about drow for a long time, regardless if they were new to Golarion. But an entirely new monster with peculiar habits and zombie attendants gave them a great deal of pause.

I've been delayed, but I finally managed to get a copy of Carrion Hill. An avid Lovecraft scholar and CoC player, I was very pleased with the atmosphere and nature of the adventure, as well as the buried chamber that echoed of many Lovecraftian locales. (Sermon Bishop's farm, anyone?)

Has anyone had a chance to run it yet? I like the open-ended way the PCs can encounter the Shogo - I mean - Chaos Beast, but the adventure seems best if they run into it at the Asylum. Is this the case? Is there a subtle way to guide your PCs there last? Any thoughts on creating the proper atmosphere?

Just a quick question that's arisen as I've been prepping stat blocks.

As I've read the rules in creating NPCs, you assign an NPC with monster HD or NPC Class (commoner, etc.) the average die roll HP for every hit die.

Logically, I then wondered what would happen with an NPC who had a Character Class level (Fighter, etc.). The chapter on NPCs didn't appear to address it directly, and so after a great deal of looking I settled on the rule from the first few pages of the book, which states that the first level of a class grants the maximum possible hit die.

But as I've been reading the adventures involving NPCS with character class levels, it appears they only recieve average HP on their first hit die. Carrion Hill has several examples of this.

Am I missing a rule in the NPC Section or a common tenet of design? I'd like my home-brews to be in-step with the rules, but I'm not sure why a PC 1st level fighter has 10 HP, but an NPC would only have 6.

Thank you!

So, I've gotten stuck on A Gathering of Winds, Kings of the Rift, and Into the Wormcrawl Fissure. The settings for each of these adventures are so unlike anywhere on Earth as we know it that I'm having trouble placing where they would take place. AGoW is supposed to be over 1,000 miles away from the site of The Whispering Cairn, according to the module. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to have such a deep dungeon in the "Underdark" somewhere in Africa or Asia. I thought perhaps somewhere in the Middle East might be fitting as the Wind Dukes seemed to be somewhat related to genies as they are air-based. You could even keep it pretty much as-is as its so far removed from civilization. That's all I got for now...discuss!

Well, there's plenty of options for the party based on where your game is set. The rift could be any canyon in the American Southwest (even a hidden portion of the Grand Canyon) or Mexican desert. Certainly Kyuss' lost cities would be great Olmec or Mayan Ruins! Canada may also offer some good options, if you wanted your party to venture to the Yukon. Alaska or Siberia would qualify as unexplored wildernesses capable of hiding the rising power of Kyuss.

Think on all the X-Files episodes where they're alone in the Artic. I think such a motif would work very well for modern versions of those adventures.

The effects of Color Spray are good, but think of this way: If your low HD enemies were hit by a shocking grasp or burning hands cast by the same caster, how would they fare?

Really, Color Spray provides a nice non-damage alternative in low-level spells. Given the fact that low-level casters do not have many spells, and that the effect against higher HD opponents quickly scales back, I don't see much problem with it.

And, as always, if the PCs are abusing a loop-hole, use it against them. They'll quickly figure out a way to defeat it and, in doing so, show you a good defense.

Yes, you can use improved feint and take a 5' step. A good rule of thumb always is "When in doubt, let them take a 5' Step."

One of the few streamlining changes of 4.0 was to clarify when a character could "Shift," so you may consider using a similar rule in your game if the 5' step rule is problematic. In my games, players are usually overjoyed to find they can take a 5' step between iterative attacks or cleave attacks.

I would say you are right in general.

But I think the PHB2 classes like Dragon Shaman are on more or less the same power level as PFRPG classes.
They where a bit to versatile for 3.5 but good and fun classes, not like other splat books.

It would be a shame to lose them

While a few classes are better left long gone, most I think have value to add some engaging NPCs, useful cohorts, and the like to a PFRPG game. I think the PHBII Classes match up very well with the PFRPG upgrades.

You could also look to comparable skills to replace the requirement with. Instead of concentration, perhaps Perform or Spell-craft. In the case of psionic feats, I think autohypnosis or Psicraft would be a good choice.`

I always saw the d10 hit die as a conscious choice to add some durability to a melee support class. The 3.5 designers varied from the normal rules to make the class "stand out."

I think, given PFRPG's move to "Standardize" classes, the d8 hit die makes sense. It's certainly better than boosting the BAB.

I don't see a need to change much else for the class - it's been playing well in my games. Has anyone tweaked the class features?

Don't forget that dopplegangers advance by class level. This means you can have a doppleganger actually be a warlock/rogue (for example) or any other class. If you are concerned about CR of the resultant doppleganger, you could ave the doppleganger just be a warlock, and oddly "fail" when making trap search checks and the like, though this takes a bit more panache on the part of the player, requires the other players to not overly scrutinize the replaced player's rolls and/or requires some of your support.

This is also an appealing option. After review, I think the Warlock is the easiest to replace. The player would be up to the challenge. I can justify it by having a member of the Doppleganger pack be a warlock; infiltrate and replace; and then avoid rogue situations and "sneak attack" scenarios. The player would probably love the chance to encourage the heavy hitters to barrel into every situation, justifying his triumphant return and their need for a rogue.

I have just used this trick before, so I will need to make sure I do it in a fresh way. Last time, the Barbarian went two adventures without raging before the party noticed.

You could introduce an NPC or two. Maybe a bard can latch on to them at the tavern, and offer to follow them around and chronicle their adventures? You could introduce Ekaym eary in order to fill this purpose, but then you have to make sure he doesn't get killed too early...

You could also have some of the prisoners that they rescue tag along for a while to "help" - especially if the PCs don't choose to immediately rest or backtrack to escort them out of Sodden Hold. Rather than attack immediately, have them pretend to be helpful at first, them betray them at an inconvenient moment.

I am intrigued by the idea of a Doppleganger who befriends the party as a helpful NPC only to turn on them at the last minute. Crust's variation on the theme is also quite interesting.

I've run many Doppleganger encounters over the years, so I am familiar with the mechanics. In this instance, I'm less inclined to force a tight-nit party to be blindsided by a Doppleganger who was built specifically to infiltrate them, and more inclined to drop a friendly stranger into the mix.

I'm going to begin playtesting the Truenamer with PFRPG as part of a mini-AP I am running. It's going to replace the arcane caster classes available to PCs (the AP focuses on the unavailablity and return of Arcane Magic).

As I've read through everything, I think that aside from bringing the HD/BAB/Saving Throw progressions up to standards, the class is playable as written. The reason is because of the increased feat progression. This allows the Truenamer to not only boost their Truenaming skill at a better rate, but also grab Incantation feats.

Is anyone out there testing out alternate class features? Perhaps a few things that will add some "paths" to Truenamers?

How about Truespeech itself? Again, it seems to be a reasonable feat progression in light of the final PFRPG. Considering it was a bit underpowered in 3.5, it strikes me that a bit of boosting may be in order.

Since 3.0 I have allowed my PC's to detect a magical invisibility with Detect Magic. Under the rules as written, after three rounds of concentrating, the PC can detect the square containing the invisible creature. Often, they direct their allies to the square. Any attacks still have a 50% miss chance.

This isn't nearly as effective as See Invisibility or the like, and so it isn't used in combat much. Instead it's used to detect clever thieves and the like.

Does this mesh with the Pathfinder rules? I have yet to see anything that says it wouldn't.

My party recently started up the Hall of Harsh Reflections after absolutely trouncing the Lizardmen of the Mist Marsh. I'm looking forward to it as a chance to give them a new kind of challenge, as the party really didn't find any danger in the numbers of the Lizardmen.

The problem is this: There's no one in the party a Doppleganger can easily replace. We have four PCs: A Paladin tank who relies on her Summoned Mount and Lay On Hands (which a DG can't duplicate); a Half-Orc Cleric of St. Cuthbert who is a constant healer and caster; a Sorceress with an Infernal Bloodline (shown through Heritage Feats) who also casts constantly and uses unique feat-based abilities, and a Halfling Warlock/Rogue who is constantly Spider-Climbing walls and who hasn't touch a weapon in ages.

So how do I have a Doppleganger infilitrate them? I trust any one of my players to take on the roll, but I need to do it RAW. I want there to be a few clues, so if my players are paying attention they can root out the mole. Do I turn the infiltrator into a caster of sorts?

Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially if you've run the adventure with or without the infiltrator.

I found this prohibition odd as well. I don't really have a problem with the master-alchemist being able to sling multiple vials about, nor a rogue-wizard built to wield wands able to quickly grab the right wand for the job. While I don't think people should be able to pull anything out of their bag, it makes sense that an item in a holster should be easy to grab.

In my games, PC's often purchase bandoliers for ease of access to common items. If they spend a precious feat on Quick-Draw, they should be allowed to pull the items put out for easy access as a free item.

I think it's a safe house rule.

Heroes of Horror, an excellent book all around, has a taint system to it. Similar to Oriental Adventuers and Rokugan, Characters acquire Taint by committing unwholesome (not necessarily evil) acts, interacting with tainted items, or going to tainted places. Taint would have a noticeable game effect as it accrued, depending on what kind it was.

I feel their system is a bit over-complicated, bifurcating Taint into a physical and a mental category, with seperate game effects for too much of each. But I really liked some of the side options that went with it, including prestige classes that were attainable only when characters got a certain amount of taint. In particular, I liked the idea of Taint replacing alignment, so persons who committed evil deeds weren't evil per se, they had a high taint level. Abilities changed too; for example Paladins could detect taint and smite taint. Especially in a Cthulhu-esque campaign, it's a nice alternative to the rigid alignment system.

The 3.5 Book Elder Evils, a fantastic supplement of the last days of 3.5, had an Elder Evil which came to kill the world. It was literally a dead moon which would sap the life of a world and pour undead onto it from its tortured surface. It had a number of interesting ways to boost undead over the course of a campaign, and had a great set of high-level undead baddies.

Consider setting your characters in the end result of this apocolypse. It would explain why the world was overrun, give you an excuse to kill any high-level characters, and allow you to start scaling your game. Eventually the characters can go to drive away the dead moon and restore life to their world.

Pity, pity, as it would have been a great hook for veteran FR players who enjoyed Red Hand of Doom!

Thanks for the tips!

RHoD is one of our favorite adventures of all time. The "war" feel of it really reasonated with my players - we're enjoying being back in the same area but curious as to how much it will factor in.

I agree - I would like to see such an adventure in the old Realms.

17. Give it to the Bard for Combat-Enhancing puppet shows.

18. Use it to remind the living Flumphs what happens if they step out of line.

I have to echo the sentiments of all those who have already posted. I came to Paizo when the Beta Pathfinder RPG was released. Up until that point, I occasionally read Dragon but had given up my subscription long ago.

And in one happy coincidence I picked up the Beta and Age of Worms collection in one week. And I was hooked.

The big thing for me is that Pathfinder is trying to build something bigger than the individual module. Every Adventure Path, every Module, every Companion is more than an adventure or subsection. They are all part of a grand story that our players help flesh out.

In particular, I love the way you can play through an entire AP and not feel like you can't go back to Golarian. There's always more to explore.

Oh - and their spot on rules developers make the lawyer in me quite happy.

I own all of the 3.5 Dragonlance adaptations and ran Dragons of Autumn. The players got a kick out of running it but it really isn't well designed by today's standards. As previous posters have mentioned its still too railroady (although its improved over first edition which I also have) and there are always a ton of NPCs joining and leaving the party. Combat falls into two types. A battle against a horde of mooks which tend to be too easy, or a single very high level opponent which kills half the party before the realize they have to run.

I too am a bit of a saavy consumer when it comes to Dragonlance. I got into D & D because of the books. I played (and still play, a bit) Saga. And when it came to 3rd Ed., I was ready to finally bring my regular players to the campaign setting I loved.

And I was a bit disappointed. The adventures were far more railroads than I recalled. Incorporating the NPC's didn't work well. It was the feared "Lord of the Rings" game, where the fealty to the story was paramount.

And then I realized, as I looked over the rules, that we were playing the setting wrong. The point was not the standard 3.5 Min/Max, it was all about creating characters who fit the themes of the world. Wizards who got fatigued by casting. Knights who adhered to duty. Gnomes who got a bit crazy. Once we got used to that principle, and worked on telling a story through our characters, it became a lot more enjoyable.

The question that I am left with is this: Can 4.0, with it's focus on perfect balance, capture that? Perhaps. But warlocks, invokers, halfling and devas don't belong on Krynn. And after the debacle that was the Age of Mortals, I don't think a reboot will work. I'm heavily in the "They did what to Faerun?!" I don't want to see a reboot.

Rather, I hope they provide you with the flavorful elements of Faerun for 4th ed. What are the stats for Tinker Gnomes? What are the stats for Minotaurs? What is the curse of the magi? Can I play a Solamnic Knight? Nerekan Knight? Give us some advice for incorporating existing classes while retaining the flavor.

I want to use 4e to run a Warhammer 40k type game. I didnt want to get into 4e until I started thinking about getting some use out of my 40k figures.

1) How hard would it be to drop the Grid Map for combat?

2) Is it difficult to "adjust" classes to fit certain SCI-FI themes?

3) Do I have to "adjust" any rules to allow rapid fire weapons?

4) Is game balance affected if I limit players choices of Races?

5) How much does the new alignment system affect gameplay?

6) Can the rule set handle, say 10 to 20 combatants with out affecting game time to much?

7) Can certain Classes be ignored with out it affecting game Balance?

Thanks for any help!

Eric

Hey Eric -

I'm a veteran 40k player and a big proponent of Sci-Fi campaigns. I like the idea behind this - I think that the 4E system can lend itself very well to the gritty and pulpy universe of 40k.

1) I'd just follow the advice of the others above. 1" equals 1 square. While realism may be a problem, it will certainly mimic a 40k feeling very well. Break out your terrain and tape-measures. You can even pull out your old blast templates.

2) The flavor of 4E can be easily modified (indeed, it's supposed to be). The classes can easily become whatever you like them to be - the medieval base for much of D and D is the same gothic base for 40k. It sounds like you're going for a Space Marine campaign. The Fighter becomes the Tactical Squad member, the Warlord the Seargent, the Wizard a Librarian or Devestator, the Cleric the Chaplain, and so on and so forth. Keep it campaign specific, and work with your players to fit their classes in your concept.

3) I would look carefully at ranges. Not all the Melee based classes are that effective for those battling Eldar and Chaos marines - nonetheless, if you make the Scout/Rogue type able to shoot across the battlefield, your Blood Angel Death Company member will be out of place. I'd look at the ranges in the 40K book for various weapons - make that the range for the PC's standard weapons. Then figure out which powers can work at both Melee and Range - work rapid fire into the flavor of those.

4) I don't see any. That being said, it's easy to explain race changes away with the usual mix of genetic engineering and planetary variation. Even if you don't have Eldar, Stunties and Ratlings in your campaign, the Scout who uses an Eladrin or Elf as a base is genetically engineered to have those traits. The same is true for the Goliath Terminator or Dwarven Tactical squad member. They're all human, but they're DNA has been specialized.

5) In the amoral and brutal world of 40k, I wouldn't worry about it. There is only the Emperor's Will. All the rest is Heresy.

6) It certainly can. Look into Minions to represent the teeming hordes of Orcs or Heretics. That'll help mimic 40k's wound system, let Seargents and Boss's stand out, and help keep the battlefield hectic without being too crowded.

7) Yes, but make sure you keep party balance. Make sure they're a cohesive special forces squad (Deathwatch, perhaps), or a cohesive tactical squad. You don't need Wizards or Warlocks, per se, but you want to understand what happens if you don't have a Controller or Striker in the combat model.

I think it's a neat idea. I like the 40k model a lot (pun intended). I would direct your attention to a couple other systems that can do what you want them to do - the first is Fantasy Flight Games' Dark Heresy, which is a 40k roleplaying game in and of itself! Focused on the Inquisition, it can easily be transferred into creating a Squad of Space Marines. d20 Modern is a very flexible system aimed at creating a wide variety of characters - I've run a number of successful Sci-Fi RPG's with the system. And finally, look into the old Rogue Trader game. It's the original rules for 40k, and while not at all helpful for rules ideas, it's packed with great material on running a campaign like the one you've suggested.

Good luck!

Here's a final thought. I haven't played Scales of War, didn't even look at the instalments closely after the first one (for reasons others have specified) but: even if your DM decides against continuing with Scales, tell him to have a good look at one particular instalment in the series - "Hales of the Bitter Glass" by Kevin Kulp. People on ENworld have repeatedly hailed it as the most roleplay-intense module that's been released for 4E so far, and if your group is into that then I think you'd miss out by not giving it at shot.

Excellent. Thanks for the heads up. I know my DM has been rather unhappy with some of the adventures - especially how they tie together. He's been unspecific on some parts (to keep us from spoilers), but apparently there've been some real problems with the way things tie together.

That being said, I will definitely pass along your recommendation. I'd love to really get into something that lets the system shine.

Part of the question we're trying to answer is: Should we experience 4E through Scales of War or not? From the responses to my question, it sounds like we should. I just want to make sure we're giving the system it's due before passing any judgment.

That and a Dwarven Druid is far too much fun to play.

I know it's been mentioned above, but I feel the need to reiterate one point: Encourage the PC's to take leadership and perhaps befriend a few NPC's along the way. The lethality of the earlier adventures is apparent, but reworking it can limit a few of the fun aspects. I found a few NPCs from the Bronzewood Lodge or a friendly acolyte of St. Cuthbert can do a lot to help keep PC's alive when they're tracking down the Lands, battling Filge, or scouring out the Ebon Triad.

This helps you fill in the PC's weaknesses, but also gives you a "meat shield." If someone has to cover a retreat, it might as well be an NPC. Later on, Leadership lets the PC's fill in their own gaps. Followers would fall like flies, but Cohorts provide some much needed support.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts. I've passed them on to the group and we're going to continue with the Scales of War for at least a while longer.

So we've just finished playing the introductory adventure to the Scales of War. Our group is comprised mostly of veterans but is our first foray into 4.0. Our characters were crafted with our usual care, with engaging back-stories built around the Elsir Vale (many of us have played Red Hand of Doom). Despite our die-hard 3.5 loyalty, we had a lot of fun playing our characters and getting into 4.0. The ruleset was palatable and my Dwarven Druid made my day.

The problem: The adventure was rather - lacking. This is not our DM's fault (he's quite good). Rather, the dungeon felt forced, the villain was stale, and the story hackneyed. The encounters were not balanced and we missed a lot of things because of failed skill checks. We ended up blowing up most of the dungeon with alchemical items because we had been beaten back by the various undead.

I never expected the adventure path to be as good as Paizo's, but we were all a bit disappointed with the way it played out. The DM has informed us that this adventure was a test-run, and generally independent from the rest of the campaign. We're debating now if we want to keep going with the path or have our DM whip something else up.

For those of you who have played the later adventures: Are they worth our time? Have others disliked the initial adventure and liked the later ones? Did we have an abberrant experience and the adventures are otherwise solid?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. And please - no spoilers.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and thoughts.

In the end, I felt that another party would be a bit of a cop-out and probably meet a similar fate to the original expediniary. Instead they encountered a few local guides and a captured Raegeros who helped fill them in on some of the details.

The run through the Pyramid was as engaging as I had hoped. The party was sufficiently worried about turning into a mummy to keep them from prying too deeply, but got enough of the history for the Pyramid to stand out as a dungeon.

No one was turned into a mummy, but the fact they couldn't take the river of gold with them broke a few hearts.

Well, you may consider monsters that either embody those traits, or look to those who punished the sinful in classic literature.

I'd also aim for adventures which push the PCs into these actions, causing them to fall from grace and perhaps even become embodiments of the sins themselves as a warning to others.

Lust is easy: Succubus, Erinyes, Incubus, Lamia, and Harpies all easily fit the bill. I'm sure there's a hundred other good options out there.

Pride: Difficult to represent in a combat encounter. Consider a series of encounters in which the PC's are taunted and tested and given the option of slinking away in embarassment or being pushed beyond their limits.

Sloth: Again, challenges in which rewards appear to be for those who wait, but instead it brings disaster. Sloth isn't moving slowly, it's failing to act when opportunity presents itself. The PC's can get to the portal home or take the gem from the pedestal.

Gluttony: MMII has the Famine Spirits, which while high CR fit the bill perfectly. A modified Urgulglasta would also probably do very well for this. A colony of Phaerimm might do it as well.

Wrath: Redcaps, Barbarians, Werewolves, anything showing brute strength is a solid match. Encourage the PC's to take foolish actions in combat by slaughtering innocents, risking too much for too little, or otherwise action rashly.

Greed: Dragons are the penultimate representation of greed, but this may be a bit too obvious. Consider "thieving" types, like Ethereal Filchers, Kenku, and

Envy: Harvester devils offering the PC's the chance to make themselves prettier. Dopplegangers who want to steal the PC's identies and happiness. Joystealers from MMIII might do well. A medusa who "resculpts" those who are more beautiful than her into hideous shapes.

As I said - give the PC's as much opportunity to do themselves in as the monsters have. Though they may recognize some, the trick is to not hide the ball from them, it's to make the sin so tempting they start down the path with a little taste and end up losing themselves in the process.

You should keep the ghoul lord in Gathering of Winds. He's creepy!

The Faceless One is a perfect cult leader too!

I'm not sure about the native american savages though...what about degenerate hillbillies?

Lovecraft is steeped with all manner of savage natives, degenerate immigrants, and other overtly racist tones. While it is certainly not PC, savage natives fits in very well with basics of Call of Cthulhu.

The same is said for a few hillbilly wizards who lurk in the hills and summon - dire - things. Perhaps the Land family was not killed by the plague? Perhaps the thing that lurks in their house is the cast-off remenant of their misbegotten magics that damned their son to haunt this world and killed the rest of them?

It wasn't on your list, but you should strongly consider The Red Hand of Doom. Possibly the finest adventure/mini-campaign published for 3.5 (certainly on the top five list), it has a lot of the elements you're looking for. It's got a cohesive story, clearly divided chapters, a good deal of player freedom within the confines of world-changing events, and above all some great scenes.

In short, it's got a lot of the elements of an AP without the length.

There are several skills which seem appropriate here, as others have already mentioned: Bluff and Perform (acting) to play dead, Spot, Heal, or Sense Motive to detect the ruse. However, I must say I think SmiloDan's inclusion of the BAB into the roll is good. Looking at the skills suggested, why don't we take those skills out (which would favor certain classes to an extreme degree, or may be pretty rarified skills in other cases) and make it a combination of ability modifier and BAB?

Play dead: d20 + BAB + Cha modifier vs. d20 + BAB + Wis modifier.

Classes with high BAB tend not to have as high of Charisma or Wisdom modifiers, but classes which tend to have high Charisma or Wisdom modifiers tend to have lower BAB, too. So, it should be pretty equitable overall.

The inclusion of BAB holds appeal for me as it resolves my main problem with my current system. I don't want rogues or trickers to be the only ones who can play dead - it adds another "feint" trick to their arsenal without giving it to anyone else.

Rather than hamper their attempts to bluff, I'm inclined to go this way: You can make a check to play dead if staggered. It can either be a Bluff Check of your BAB + Charisma modifier. Thus a hardened fighter can play dead quite well, but so can a sneaky sorcerer. Obviously once down certain actions will give you away - these will only be concealable with a Hide or Bluff check.

The opposing roll would then be either Spot or Sense Motive, with a +2 synergy bonus available from Heal. Your skill with a weapon isn't going to let you know when someone's playing possum, but opening it up to several skills will make it harder to fool someone.

I also want to allow players to play dead even if not staggered. To fake falling from a blow is the same system above, but it adds a +10 to the DC. The logic behind this is that, even with the abstraction of hitpoints, a combatant would realize that their glancing blow wouldn't drop an opponent like that.

Thoughts?

Either that or introduce a rival party that isn't so hated, or perhaps filled with friendly competition. This way, they wouldn't be able to just wipe out another group (unless they are evil). It could also help to bring in some of the storyline, as the other group may share knowledge (perhaps after they were saved from a trap or a mummy).

Finally: If players decide not to learn about something before hand, and happen to perish or have a hard time of it, that's their decision. Not all parties have a Loremaster (or even someone literate) who'll figure out what's going on, and to truly make that knoledge have any worth, I feel (in my opinion) that you have to have some sort of consequences if it's not gleamed....

I think you're quite right. Another rival party would feel forced and would, simply put, crowd the already crowded pyramid. I think the good compromise are the various options I discussed in earlier comments and a half-mad survivor in the pyramid. That will add an interesting character for them to encounter, help recapture a bit of flavor of the earlier adventure, and not disrupt the original text.

Of course, additional suggestions are welcome. I think there are some great ideas here.

First, allow me to commend you for not attempting to railroad your party, the world doesn't have enough good GMs who let characters be.

Thanks. As soon as the players bluffed their way into the Black Reliquary and ran for it I knew things were going to be different. What's rather amusing to me is that the party Scout (a true scoundrel) was going on about the mask at the museum being an obvious fake - without even once looking into it. The Crook Bearer was so impressed with this accidental truth that getting in to see the real mask was almost a given.

Sometimes players make something up that happens to be absolutely true.

I think a few comprehend language scrolls are the way to go. It gives them the opportunity without being heavy handed and, if they continue to ignore warnings and walls of heiroglyphics, they will meet a much deserved end.

The only thing I would have done differently is perhaps made the rival group from Westgate or Sembia. There are enough rat bastards in Sembia to use as an analogue to Cheliax, and Westgate has all of the evil you'd need.

I only say this because you indicated there was a Rashemen in the party, and Thayans and Rashemen, well, what happened happened for a reason...

;)

Yay! I got to talk about FR here without complaining about the 4e setting!

Yes, in retrospect, you put a Wychlaran next to a Thayan, and you get what you deserve.

I picked Thayans because I wanted to play up the magic-hungry and deadly rival aspect of it. I had hoped the expedition would bloody the party's nose in a fairer fight earlier on so that the later inevitable confrontation would be more satisfying.

As it turns out, the only confrontation was very satisfying to the players.

They do need to be aware of the curse - you might have the blindfolded guy wandering in their path, speaking to the horrors he witnessed. That's really all they need to know.

That's probably the way I will go. I am thinking of having a blindfolded old man who warns of the curse lurking outside. As a means of keeping with the flavor of the rest of the adventure, he will only remove his blindfold at night, to peer into the sky and look for Aucturn.

It sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on it. Pulp is definitely the way to go - if you stay too true to CoC roots your party will be dead long before they even begin to unravel the greater scheme.

As for Blackwell Keep, I like the idea of a mad Native tribe in the hills. You may also look to the Whisperer in the Darkness as a model for an adventure - a small mining camp or old hotel besieged by the Alien MiGo who are trying to get at the strange creature locked beneath it. It will change the adventure a bit but is definitely classic Cthulhu.

What rule system are you planning on using? I always loved the d20 Cthulhu magic model and the way players could learn spells through study. I figure there are any number of places a party could learn spells, either from the walls of the Whispering Cairn to even etched in the bronze markings of the Champion's Belt.

What have you done with the NPCs? The Free City Champions would be a lot of fun to transfer into a more modern setting, as would some of the later villains.

The Worms are not a disease, per se, rather they are parasites. The use of Remove Disease is there, in my opinion, for two reasons: 1) It gives the players a way of dealing with the Worms that isn't limited to high-level spell-casters (as Paladins and others have access to this spell) and 2) it is in keeping with other parasites in various books.

The Periapt of Health is a useful item for avoiding diseases like Mummy Rot and Lycanthropy, but it doesn't remove the threat of burrowing parasites which get inside a person and begin warping them.

I don't think you're cheating the PC's at all - there are enough ways to counter the Green Worms that a magic item which makes them immune to such beasts is not truly necessary.

I have a bit of a problem with my party in J1, Entombed With The Pharoahs. They've taken a course of action that has wildly warped the general plan of the adventure and I'd like some advice on how to make sure they still have fun with it.

As background: I've modified it to be set in the Forgotten Realms; my players are agents of the Church of Kelemvor who were sent to Mulhorand (the logical setting) to investigate recently unearthed ancient tombs. Her Majestrix's Expedition became a group of Thayan Wizards out to exploit ancient magics; my party hates the Thayans for a number of reasons (mostly earlier run ins and a party member being from Rashemen).

The party met with Mithral Scarab, and all started off well. They then reached the auction, refused to even talk to "Nefertet," and left before they could interact properly with the Thayans. Seeking out the Black Reliquary before the museum, they bypassed the false mask entirely. Some they bluffed their way into a private tour of the Crook Bearer's collection (through brilliant role-playing and no small amount of luck) and, when they saw the mask, grabbed it and ran. The Scout in the party easily outran the guards and the party escaped out of the city and into the night.

So, lacking much of the background that makes the adventure so engaging, barely being conscious of the four marks of the pharoahs, and having ruined some excellent roleplaying moments, the party ventures to the Pyramid. SHortly thereafter, they realize the Thayans (who have no reason to doubt the fake mask) are also travelling in that direction. Worried that the Thayans are up to no good, they decide to intercept and ambush them (the Thayans, having never encountered the party at the auction or the museum, have no idea who they are).

In a brilliantly executed morning raid, the party wipes the Thayan Expedition out to a man without ever speaking to them. Any hope of rivalry or brinkmanship is gone.

We pick up the party preparing to enter the pyramid in the next session. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get some crucial information about the pyramid to them? What about recreating the sense of urgency, rivalry, and excitement otherwise created by having a rival party?

I don't want to punish my players for being tactically minded, scoundrels in both action and role-playing, and generally taking control of the adventure. But I'd hate for the PC's to miss out on the brilliant history behind this pyramid, but at the rate they're going most of what they'll encounter will either be mere curiousities or will turn them into a mummy.

As for the Prophecy, it's laced throughout the various adventures. Go through the Handouts available for each one and you'll get a pretty good idea of the whole thing. If you want a complete one you can fashion it yourself to suit your campaign.

Make sure your players have a healer. I normally eschew the classic "four-role" party model but this is a good one to have it in. If your players don't have a Cleric, Healer, Favored Soul, or at least a Druid with them, they will die early on and often. The combats are brutal, knock-down drag-out fights. The alternative is a cart of healing potions.

If you have access to Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, really look at creating a Lightbringer party. The prevalence of undead, Kyuss' nature, and many of the themes of the adventures would suit that really well. It also helps whatever the PC's choose to be more effective in the fray.

In my campaign I play with a variant "On Death's Door Rule" in which you are staggered from 0 hp to a negative of your Constitution modifier and die when you reach negative hitpoints equal to your Constitution score (-10 minimum) (e.g. a Fighter with a 15 Constitution is staggered from 0 to -2, dies at -15). The normal rules for staggered or unconscious apply. This has come in to play many times and is, frankly, responsible for several characters being alive when they normally wouldn't be. My players love it.

It's come up multiple times in recent sessions that a character in melee is staggered without being knocked unconcsious. They choose to fall prone instead of remain standing in hopes the villain doesn't pursue them but goes after a more tempting target. Alternatively, they're unconscious but healed enough to be brought back to staggered condition.

Often times my players want to play possum so that they don't attract attention, giving them time to either quaff a potion, avoid injury, or launch a sneak attack.

My question is this: What's a good way to represent this in the rules? I've been using a Bluff check opposed by a Spot or Sense Motive roll - this works as a quick resolution but favors Rogues and often hinders NPCs with low social interaction scores who are otherwise incredibly cagy combatants.

What's a good way to incorporate playing possum into the rules? What skills do you think would represent it? What are appropriate modifiers? How can I turn this against the players?

Suggestions are much appreciated.

A very interesting concept to be sure. I'm a veteran CoC player, a Lovecraft afficianado, and deep in the middle of running my own AoW game. I really like your idea and, while I can only imagine the legwork it will take, would be glad to proffer some suggestions.

First of all, make Diamond Lake a small town outside of the Free City equivalent. It's meant to be a dirty, small, boring town where the PCs are desperate to leave. With a little bit of conversion it becomes a run down old mining town, with a dark cult, an ancient wizard's burial ground, and a host of conniving hicks. Look to Dunwich or Innsmouth for inspiration. Merging it with the Free City risks making the PC's irrelevant.

Certainly play up the exploration aspect of the adventures as well. With the Whispering Cairn there are a lot of good opportunities to turn it into a creepy, haunted place where those who pry too deep risk losing their mind.

The Three Faces of Evil and others are combat heavy adventures; dungeon crawls in a pure sense. Not bad adventures, but for a group wielding six-shooters and fedoras it will prove to be highly lethal with little exploration. I'd add some non-combat mysteries and tone down the enemies. The temple of Hextor doesn't need to have a giant boar and so many tieflings - a pack of guard dogs fills those roles nicely. The labyrinth of Vecna is a great CoC dungeon - even looking at the walls drives you mad. But instead of having so many Kenku in it, limit their numbers or replace them with a strange beast that haunts the labyrinth.

In general, replace some iconic DnD monsters with iconic CoC beasts. Lizardmen become Serpent People. Undead Dragons become Haunters in the Dark.

Figure out as well who Allustan and other high-level NPCs become. CoC does not have any "friendly wizards," and so replacing them with a Theron Marks or Professor Armitage might be a good way to give PC's advice without having to explain magical proficiencies. 1920's technology can help fill the gap that some of the NPCs leave without magic.

Overall, it will be up to you to manage the tone. If the players want a horror campaign, give it to them. As their characters start to go mad from knowing too much, I'm sure the players will bite on the overall story and plunge into unravelling the plot of the Elder God Kyuss.

And of course - add in some extra ancient tomes or dusty manuscripts. You know you're doing your job right when the players are terrified of reading a book for fear of insanity but know they need to anyway.

I sweat the small stuff. A lot of my players and DM's do as well.

Part of it is that we like to play a semi-realistic game. Equipment, along with armor and weapons, has to be carefully balanced for a situation and maintained over a long haul. Not every town has an expert blacksmith and few towns have magic shops.

Part of it is that we like to use terrain and environment as a hazard and an obstacle. It isn't just about the next fight or getting to a point where you can rest. It's about survival. That makes endure elements incredibly important.

Really, it just comes down to our play-style.

If we're just doing a one-shot, I care a great deal about what the characters are carrying. It's kind of funny to see what situations a random party falls into because of their odd equipment. In one instance, a hapless bard got caught in an immolation trap. When asked what he had in his pack to see if it could catch fire, he replied "Parchment, oil, and three pounds of firewood."

He didn't survive.

It sounds like this thread is skirting one of my sacred rules (and a good rule in general) which is "Don't punish creative use of skills."

There's a difference between creative and abusive, of course, but I find that players really flourish in an environment where there isn't one set answer to a problem. You can climb over a wall, but why not use "Knowledge (Engineering)" to figure out which bricks you can remove to make a small hole. Bluff or intimidate may get you past the town guards, but so can "Profession (Lawyer)" and a bit of good roleplaying.

My players think very differently than I do. If one of them took the time to flesh out his or her character with a Profession skill, such as Navigator, I'd love to reward that by making it useful to the story and otherwise engaging. Waiting for them to use the one skill I expect, or hire someone who can, is a game-killer.

Abjurers make excellent counter-spellers, as their versatility allows them to maintain combat effectiveness in a variety of situations while always keeping the necessary dispels up their sleeves.

There are also feats that let you Take 10 on dispel checks, boost your dispel check modifier, and let you counter as swift actions. Look into those!

As for Prestige Classes, I would look at the Initiate of the Seven-fold Veil. There's nothing like stopping your opponent's myriad attacks in their tracks and then zapping their magic to control a battlefield.

I must say, I like what you have come up with. Recently, I've been getting more and more into a lower magic mind set and your world seems right up my alley.

The ideas for master smiths being able to make +1 to +3 items is intriguing. What Green Ronin book gave you that idea? I also really like the idea of Heal checks restoring hit points once per day.

All in all, it seems pretty solid.

Thank you!

The Advanced Gamemaster's Guide had the weapons rules I referred to. It makes sense and is a good fantasy trope, in my mind. A master smith can make incredibly sharp swords without the need to turn to a wizard.

The healing rules were brought about after a d20 Modern campaign in which our surgeon proved to be the party's saving grace. I'm hoping a PC in a future game is based more as a battlefield medic; it's a role made rather obsolete by Good Cleric.

Are you familiar with the old show "Pirates of Darkwater?" Darkwater is an intriguing villain - I believe there are some variants on that out there. Your Black Pudding is a good start. What about a Dark template Water Elemental (bends a few rules, I know)?

For aquatic villains, I really like Dragon Eels from MMIII. Perhaps it's a bit too much in the way of Sea Serpents, but they're cagey opponents. Easy to make Shadow versions of them.

If you'd like to hinder the party rather than subject them to constant battles, you may also consider variant advanced Ethereal Filchers or similar "pesky" creatures that will cause the party to have to worry about leaving the ship.

Unbelieveable Luck gives you 2 re-rolls a day and only requires 1 other luck feat. It also gives you a +2 bonus on your lowest base save as long as you have at least 1 re-roll available. If you're a ninja, you might consider putting it into Fortitude saves, then you've virtually got all good saves (real Good Reflex, +2 to Will from ki, +2 to Fort from luck).

This is nice (my lucky Halfling Wizard took this), but it doesn't let you use the re-rolls for anything else. I'd take it after you've got two other luck feats, unless you only really want to reroll the skills or checks allowed by the first feat.

I'd agree with the consensus of the others - a fast start for a Ninja is the best way to maximize your Sudden Strike feature.

Good Karma, however, is a great idea if you can give yourself a massive miss-chance or otherwise hinder the opponent's attack. It can be dangerous, but Ninja's are all about evading attacks. If you can spare the Tank a few heavy hits while helping flank the Big Baddie, you've just become invaluable to the party.

The thing to remember about Luck feats is you'll want at least three in short order to bump up the number of rerolls you have available. One reroll is a nice thing to have; three lets you rely on it tactically.

This is true, also DR actually becomes much more significant although with the 3.5 version not insurmountable. As for the shadow, in my game spellcasters were there and had full progression and from what I've read his game has them too with full progression they are just distrusted. Anywho, the point I was making is that when playing in low magic campaigns I found the CR system held up better than in the normal games I played, in the normal games, I found myself for even the 4/day fight assumptions of the CR system having to throw CRs two or higher at the party to have a challange. if I only wanted one fight in the day the CR usually had to be 4-5 CRs higher and this was against a party that wasn't optimized at all (a fire sorcerer, a bard, a ranged ranger, and a two weapon fighter)

DR is a challenge for any party. Again, this is where my thoughts on masterwork weapons proved helpful; a cold-iron sword famed for its fey battling abilities needed to be found before the party entered the haunted woods. I had to carefully select opponents to match the party's capabilities, but the casters soon learned to keep Magic Weapon in their repetoir on a regular basis.

Bards and their buffing abilities seem like they'd really come into their own in this style of game; none of my players have tried one yet.

I don't want to speak for him, but Saern's been pretty firmly against trying to be too "realistic" in the past, and I think his argument is more against the complexity it throws into the game, as well as the fact that it damages his suspension of disbelief moreso than "its not how it would really work."

I used to have a 1 count as a fumble, but dropped it after some compelling arguments by players that such a rule only really hurt melee classes, as dropping a weapon isn't as big a deal from range or with a spell.

Paizo's fumble deck brought the rule back. The fumble deck makes it incredibly easy to incorporate some good flavor into the game (our paladin threw out her back in the last fight!) I extended it to cover "Casting on the Defensive," so that spell-casters aren't immune to it (NPC spellcasters have since had trouble with this), and with the Critical Hit deck it has done wonders for variety and flavor to combat.

And as for the realism argument: Combat of any sort is a chaotic, hectic, and terrifying experience. World-class fencers and well-trained soldiers have, in game terms, a much higher attack bonus than most and so fumbles are rarely confirmed.