Caius's page

Honestly you and the player need to work this out. This sounds way more like an issue between the two of you that's heading out of character.

If i were GM my take would be Restov told you you had the right to put and unrepentant bandits to the sword and given their own issues at the time I don't think they'd like you sending them the rabble you capture. I'd also point out that Abadar's viwe on banditry by his paladins is as follows:

Bandits are a plague. Under my will they come to justice.
If they will not come willingly before the law, where they
can protest for justice in the courts, they will come under
the power of my sword.

So the standard LN may be even more hardline. They'll get a fair trial but it also means it will not be weighted much by mercy as they're very by the book.

Still I think this is a more personal issue for you and the witch's player so you definitely need to talk this out.

That really feels like blatant railroading. It seems like you're saying you want to follow a path or kill them if they don't. Please elaborate if that's not the case.

I believe according to wbl as written 25% is the assumed maximum amount of wealth ties up in one item

I was under the impression the cyclopes were something that had previously inhabited the region and they were all moved out or long dead (except Vordakai and his undead) by the time KM rolled around.

Much reduced stragglers in our case. We came across a tribe of about 30 so not a major entity but still valuable for allies.

Most of it he made up on the fly. He's expanded a lot of the random encounters to be less here's a group of monters to kill to be more this is where these creatures live in the region. Given us a lot more latitude in terms of how to deal with them.

The way our DM did that one was introduce a pair of eccentric chefs who would basically throw down iron chef style with rare ingredients which would bring in a pretty good haul to the location they did that in. We had to go near that area anyway to seal a truce with a cyclops tribe so it wasn't a huge logistic issue. He also turned the random dead noble in the woods into a brevoyan murder conspiracy which turned out excellent.

Going by the paladin example it definitely doesn't as a paladin gains the ability bypass dr/good at 14th leve.

You could have one of the powers awaken as the transformative property. The weapon has a vested interest in its wielder surviving for tales of greatness and it doesn't do well to have them die when they needed a mace.

I don't know if there's a hard rule for how it works, but I would at least allow the player to tell they aren't wounding them as effectively as they'd expect. I would require some kind of check to determine the reason (perception for disguise with maybe a bonus after the first swing, not sure about other ways)

I would advocate a ranger. Lots of places where nature and geography knowledge skills come into play and tracking can be really vital. Would say go ranged judging by the group, but if already covered by the bard then go whichever way you prefer.

Ahh wait. Brain was addled. It was Allips not Shadows. There ya go. Get youself allips and sick em on the tarrasque. Now you can defeat it with a CR 3.

Only if they crit.

I agree...i'm more inclined to use the modules since i don't have too much time to prepare a bunch of made-up stuff. on the other hand, I've stopped trying to guide the players directly toward the module things, and let them discover as they will.

we're experimenting with the two characters per player thing, the citybuilding, and the sandbox nature of the game. so, maybe that's too much?

Most of their visits to Restov are for resupply or to recruit people for their city. I think some of the characters are staying there in order to solidify some relationships (i've got some small guilds set up in Restov, etc.) Mostly, their city is so small and they're not willing to stop adventuring in order to take the suggested 1 year to build their city.

They are currently in Restov for a few days, preparing to head to Varnhold. I will have Jamandi come and explain to them some of the situation to the north...and how they must remove themselves from Restov, or find themselves helping to start that war too early...and she will be cutting off their support.

Meanwhile, Grigori will be starting up his mess in their capital. a few of the secondary characters are at home to deal with that mess.

great ideas from everyone...thanks so much for the input!

Have you asked them why they stay in so much contact with Restov? I'm just wondering if there's been some kind of miscommunication down the line.

I do think some are missing it's no so much the players want to quit as they don't really get why their characters would keep going and not buckle down. Lincoln's idea seems the best discussed for how to get the characters invested in the current mission.

a neutral character can technically wield a holy weapon, they just take a temporary negative level for doing such. if they are evil, the negative levels are merely doubled.

such penalties only apply as long as you wield the weapon and end when you finish, until you use it again.

The penalty only applies to evil characters and even then it's only one negative level. Neutrals can use holy just fine.

The only one I know of is the chevalier

In my case the group will be 6 players so going to have to add about 25-50% new monsters prob close to 50%, they are vet players who tend to build good solid character and work well together. I am a very experienced DM having run for longer then half the group has lived lol but I want to run this modual as close to the book as I can. It seams however like the 20 point buy should not b a issue as much as the 2 extra players. with luck we won't get any healers again as the last game without healers was a hell of a lot more fun then when the group has healers a plenty

There is a 6 player conversion for each book that should be posted in a sticky in the KM forums.

Speaking as someone who is currently in a group with pcs that run around the 50 PB equivalent since we enjoy high power and high risk (every array is up for grabs and it lets us try typically MAD builds that area pain under standard PB) here's a few things that our DM has done to work around this. Every encounter is at least doubled in size if not tripled sans bosses (they get more mooks/meat shields anda couple levels) For some of the encounters it can really amp it up. Second anything he deems too weak and encounter is taken out. It's just an empty hex and this helps him keep our levels down to compensate. Our GM is new as well (long time player) and what's helped him a lot is keeping open dialogue. What works for the encounters, what isn't, what may he have not seen that the more veteran dms in the group would propose, etc. You can reset them to the PB if you feel more comfortable, but it's very doable

poisons and the like don't trigger if the initial attack damage doesn't get through, but Precision Damage is good.

Many thanks. I just remember pages long debates over it so wanted to make sure.

I'm remembering similar discussion before where they were talking about SA not triggering if the initial weapon damage isn't enough to get past DR. Never played it like that in home games, but this forum tends to aim for as RAW as possible and I'm not sure if that was the final conclusion or not.

Greetings.

First time reader, long time poster. Seeking some advice for a Pathfinder Adventure Path I'm running for a mish-mash of players.

There are 5 players, 3 of which are brand new, one played AD&D in college some years ago and the last hasn't played until recently, but reads all the books for fun.

I am much more of a player than a DM or ST, but I've played more consistently than anyone in my group. However, my experience is mainly from the World of Darkness games, Vampire the Masquerade/Requiem, Werewolf, etc.

We just finished an fairly hardcore 10 hour session of Rise of the Runelords on Saturday.
This is our third gaming session, the first two sessions were one-shot adventures I made up. Typical save the princess type thing.

RotRL went well and everyone, for the most part, enjoyed the game.
One player, however, expressed some boredom throughout the game, he tussled with town guards, spent his 'downtime' in the brothel, gambled and was rude to NPCs. Not a big deal to me since they're NPCs. I didn't pick up on any incredible frustration from the other PCs, so I didn't do much to stop it.

The whole group works at the same place, so I was approached by our bored player, we will call him Andy. Andy said he's upset that gold is split 5 ways and wants a higher cut of the loot.
Right now, I simply read off what players find and they have a little auction and give out who needs vs. who wants then evenly divide the coin.
Andy wants to be able to earn more than everyone else, when I asked why, he simply said so he can buy more women and gamble. Lame reasoning to me, but, it's all about the players having fun IMO.

I informed him of this option (which I made up on the fly, this might not even be the best system).
Right before I announce giving out loot, he could wink and smile at me or whatever to indicate he wants to try to pocket more coin. I would then announce for everyone to roll perception checks. Which everyone does, except for Andy, he rolls a sleight of hand. If his...

You're definitely looking at some potential for a blow up. My main question is how long have you known these guys. The rogue in our game would often skim things before official looting, which our DM set aside an extra pool of gold in addition to standard loot that she could get based skill checks and whatnot. We've also been playing together for at least 6 years, several having gamed with each other for far longer so it's not an issue for us since there wasn't any direct hindrance to the party because of it.

That said Andy does sound a bit jerkish so you may want to discuss it more (is it him just trying to find some extra fun with a character he's kind of bored with vs just playing kind of a jerkish character.)

Given that we needed to get special items in order to effectively breathe at that height in our game (not sure if that's in the core books) I could see giving a round of actions before it kicks in, may two but that would be a pretty severe blow to the spell.

Seconding Turin. I've had to deal with way too many people like that and it becomes toxic not too soon after.

I think the issue with that trend in fantasy art wasn't on an individual basis but because it became near ubiquitous. For several of the women in my groups the fact that nearly every book cover, piece of art, lead mini, etc. used to trend towards that kind of submissive cheesecake really put them off because it gave the impression that female characters are for fanservice and little else. That coupled with several horror stories from earlier attempts to break into gaming put them off it for decades. Using such aesthetic for a purpose is fine, it's when the scantily clad seductress becomes the standard because female that it's really problematic.

Depends on the crime, how public the punishment was, and how easy it is to tell until he speaks. If severe and very public I'd say people probably try to avoid them for reputation sake. It's possible to talk with tongue damage but it's difficult and takes a long time to adjust and even then it's still hard to enunciate. If it's not well known what happened then I could see the player using one of the compatriots as his speaker as part of his nobility. Sign language is useful in general for parties. My group tends to create one around the level 5 mark in case its needed (and to help if we have druids in the party).

Speech is going to be difficult. I would rule a linguistics check to see if they're understood would be appropriate. if a spell caster some form or spell failure chance for all spells that need a verbal component would also fit.

Your problem was not just saying no in plain language.

I really think you should talk to him since it's inhibiting your ability to have fun with the character.

PVE servers exenabled but attacking them will flag you. Private servers are of questionable legality and I would heavily recommend against seeking one out.

From talking with the female players in my group, there is not a major divide along gender lines for the types of games they enjoy. Some are powergamers, some optimize to concept, some like odd builds, etc. By and large any lean toward the more "theatric" types of games a la World of Darkness was largely because those groups were more open to letting them play compared to a lot of D&D groups they encountered.

You need to make the game will be interesting to everyone so just sit down and discuss what. There's really not a gulf in what women prefer to do in pathfinder compared to what men like to do. It's all up to individual preference and trying to cater to some imagined gender line could backfire. Just focus on making it fun for them and you and you should do great.

You can say it's unfair, unfun, and uncool all you want but I have players that actually like being challenged like this. I know they'd get a kick out of it. I've taken their weapons away from them in another campaign and I didn't have a single player complain.

And yes, Caius, I'm looking for ways to make the characters really stand out. I think simply routing the goblins isn't that big of a feat...between the town guard and the militia, they'd probably get routed without the PCs involvement anyway.
I've got other thoughts on how to do this as well, this is just one of them.
And the old west argument isn't accurate, either. Most towns had some kind of gun laws on the books regardless of what legends and stories tell us.

What are some of your other thoughts because I don't see how they're any better off than the militia without proper arms. Slightly more impressive, but functionally the same thing. It sounds like you may want something spicier than a simple goblin raid. May de-level one of the goblin heroes a bit and have that as the centerpiece? If your concern is that their defeat of the normal goblin raid is as heroic as you'd like, taking down one of the known leaders may be more what you're looking for.

What are you really wanting from this idea? Is seems you want them to stand out more, but why would improvising do that anymore than routing the goblin raid alone?

Pretty sure the aasimar feats result in permanent wings, not temporary.

Elaborate on the divine intervention then because it does not read that way at all. Even if it empowers the PCs, I still find DEM a poor idea. For me, either I can achieve it through their own means or I face a truly terrifying foe that makes me save what I can and nothing more.

Gonna be honest the deus ex machina you imply at the end would annoy the crap out of me. You want to play gritty then play gritty, but regardless of style having something swoop in to save the day for the PCs would feel like a slap in the face.

From what I understand the novel of the movie said they attacked because the titan project used the same energy to matter tech that had created their race and could also wipe them out. It wasn't built with that intent but they thought it too dangerous.

Because they're from Adventure Paths which are not open content would be my guess.

Our DM for Kingmaker is a long time player but first time DM so we keep a pretty open dialogue about how the games going (the balance of fights, story threading, etc.) and he's managed to do some really neat things with the side quests. Wanted to see how other games had made these more than fetch quests. This can include spoilers so my example will be under a cut.

Blunt arrows can be found in ultimate equipment. My archer cohort has 50 of em and enough weapon blanch of the three material types to cover 50 arrows each.

That shouldn't have worked, Liches are immune to electricity >_>

Guessing either pity at overbalancing or "Oh god we've been here for 12 hours" fatigue set in.

Caius wrote:

Vordakai gets Dr 15/bludgeoning and magic which means any physical attack that's not done with a magic bludgeoning weapon has 15 damage taken off for each attack, which could outright make certain characters unable to damage him outside of crits.

OK wow, I missed that on my first read through. Holy crap. I see that the players need to be given some help before facing them since the have not faced many if any creatures who have such immunity to weapons.

thanks.

Our DM actually upped the ante by pushing it to dr 15/bludgeoning and good. Only the cleric could fully get through the damage and a lucky parting shot with a lightning bolt was the only thing that kept him from escaping.

Vordakai gets Dr 15/bludgeoning and magic which means any physical attack that's not done with a magic bludgeoning weapon has 15 damage taken off for each attack, which could outright make certain characters unable to damage him outside of crits.

We're planning to use this, but out of the gate the ones that change alignment or inflict continuous and scaling penalties don't sit well to me(though may be misreading the full impact). While it is my group's general agreement that there are too many that function as "make a easily achieveable or bad things happen" and adding a bit more direct spice to the events would be good, I find alignment to be an area I prefer solely built around what the players do as opposed to a random chance event. Those are the only two that I feel your list could do without.

Caius wrote:

Smite anything is really powerful. While limited, the alignment restriction also keeps you from exploding the non-evils sent against you. Just strikes me odd as being able to smite a dread necromancer to the same extent as a random bear in the woods.

What are you aiming for with this idea? Who would they largely be against? Hellknights get smite chaos since they're devoted to law utterly for example. Is there a specific foe you have in mind for them to be approaching? Looking at the class I would base it similarly off the old Judgement mechanics the 15 level hellknight prc had. This was the old version of smite from 3.5 but they could apply it to anyone they felt broke the law not just chaotic creatures. There were however repercussions at least in fluff. Abuse of the ability constituted a flagrantly evil act. Combine that with a reduced smite pool and it may work out but given the overhaul smite underwent I'm not really sure.

I'm trying to stay away from the judgements (The reason I don't use inquisitors). The Shadowbane Inquisitor is a class from 3.5. Campaign-wise they are basically a group of paladin like warriors that are extreme in their pursuit of corruption. In the campaign, there is a history of an evil faction manipulating good creatures to do thier work. These guys are a result of that. They tend to ask questions later. (The whole misguided good thing). Their smite works on anyone they consider Corrupt. I am willing to cut down the number of uses a lot, and can even go half damage, but I need to stay with the smite mechanic

Thought: would limiting it to intelligent beings make a difference?

Judgment from the old hellknight class is not the same as the inquisitor. This is back from 3.5

Judgment (Su): Starting a 12th level, a Hellknight can make a mighty blow against any creature he believes has committed a crime or is actively attempting to sow disorder. This attack is treated as one use of the Hellknight’s smite chaos ability and, should it hit, deals additional damage equal to the Hellknight’s level. This additional damage is dealt regardless of its actual alignment. The creature does not actually have to be a lawbreaker to be affected by this effect, but the Hellknight must believe it is. If the Hellknight uses this ability on a creature that is not actually opposing the will of law or for unfounded reasons (as determined by the GM), making use of this ability is considered an evil act.

The only way I'd be even remotely willing to let it work with the current smite mechanic is reduced uses, maybe taking away dr piercing and armor boost (similar to what party members get from the oath of vengeance aura of justice as opposed to full smite). With that damage could be kept the same, especially since I don't see anything really fitting a double damage target for them. I would still highly recommend an active in world punishment for improper use (it also seems like it could help bring in clues about the evil faction when a paladin is stripped of his powers but truthfully does not believe he did a sin) especially if you're giving this as an option to players.

Smite anything is really powerful. While limited, the alignment restriction also keeps you from exploding the non-evils sent against you. Just strikes me odd as being able to smite a dread necromancer to the same extent as a random bear in the woods.

What are you aiming for with this idea? Who would they largely be against? Hellknights get smite chaos since they're devoted to law utterly for example. Is there a specific foe you have in mind for them to be approaching? Looking at the class I would base it similarly off the old Judgement mechanics the 15 level hellknight prc had. This was the old version of smite from 3.5 but they could apply it to anyone they felt broke the law not just chaotic creatures. There were however repercussions at least in fluff. Abuse of the ability constituted a flagrantly evil act. Combine that with a reduced smite pool and it may work out but given the overhaul smite underwent I'm not really sure.

Our DM ran it that while they didn't keep any nonhuman crew themselves, hiring extra muscle for certain jobs wasn't too uncommon. That's how my half-orc inquisitor and the half-elf swashbuckler became the main contacts. We'd actually captured a decent few bandits alive and commuted their sentences if they worked with us in delivering the alcohol shipments. Didn't hurt that me and the elf were the most diplomatic members of the party as well.

It comes down to how you want to run it. With new players I'd probably play a bit soft on the prejudice thing just to make sure some don't feel dumped on for not playing human if you go pretty harsh. Infiltration-wise I I would have all needing to make charisma check to pass themselves off as bandits especially if their characters normally wouldn't do it. Not gonna say strictly which since I'd allow the RP to define success more than the simple roll.

Half-Orcs are relatively common in the river kingdoms so passing him off as a mercenary should be fine. Elves are actually more unusual in the region but I'm not sure what the book says about his crew's views.

I would advise against either Aasimar or Teifling 'raised' in Sandpoint, considering...

** spoiler omitted **

That was actually used a story & family hook for my character. Definitely made for some interesting feelings towards the end of the book

Given that it's a ninth level spell and requires you to be at 100 hp or less or it just fizzles, I would probably recognize more as a danger at that point. By the time you're usually facing those levels of spells ressing tends to be fairly regular. If dropped on a low level party for no reason then yes I would take issue.

How about ranger?

Rapid shot and look if you can find a +20 strength composite bow (probably made of unoptainium.

or Two weapon fighting style with double slice, add your whole strength bonus to that offhand attack.

On the other hand you may use some magic items to get the necessary dexterity for those feats. Then monk might be better.

He can just put the adaptive enhancement on a bow and it will scale to him for 1000 gold.

Not really. I've dabbled in WoD and the Wahammer systems. I like the fluff but the mechanics are still off to me and this is after trying games in each several times. They simplify the dice rolling but add in a whole lot else that doesn't really have an equivalent for d20. It's a lot harder, for me at least, to really understand how to judge merits and such compared to spells and feats. The ones who DM usually give us enough to run the sessions, but by and large I prefer d20 since i understand the majority of it. Not to say I won't try others, but I don't see it becoming a consistent event.

It sounds like the easiest way for you would be to sit them down and say you want to try something new. It may help if you simplify the rules you want to run to a point since dumping a load of books for an unfamiliar system on people is not going to help. in the forays I've done the GM has usually done that for newbies since it makes it less daunting. options are open if you want them, but they make sure they have a core that's as understandable as they can do.