Cesare's page

Funny, I don't remember studying Heinlein in any of my political philosophy classes as an undergrad. I must have fallen asleep that day. ;)

Jefferson, on the other hand...

Please help me with assigning stats, picking feats, plotting builds for the following characters. Feel free to pick and choose which ones to work on. All Pathfinder material allowed (no 3.5).

Sword and board human paladin of Iomedae
20 point buy
Party Role: Tank (primary), Face (secondary)
Campaign: Rise of the Runelords

Dual-wielding halfling rogue
20 point buy
Party Role: Skills, Skirmisher
Campaign Rise of the Runelords

Human cavalier
15 point buy
Party Role: Damager, Tank
Campaign: Kingmaker

Human archer cleric of Erastil
15 point buy
Party Role: Support (primary), Ranged Damage (secondary)
Campaign: Kingmaker

Dhampir inquisitor of Pharasma
20 point buy
Campaign: Carrion Crown

Thank you very much!

Can I get in on this as well? I would love to see a full rundown of your inquisitor build.

shinwonmoon@hotmail.com

Xabulba wrote:

ProfessorCirno wrote:

I wonder if it'll be as terrible as Oblivion

What was so terrible about Oblivion?

Terrible plot, terrible engine, boring side quests, the worst implimention of level scaling imaginable, and they took everything cool and unique about the setting and turned it into Ye Olde Britishe Land. No point in dungeon delving due to how the level scaling worked, no point in doing the plot due to how terrible it was, no point in exploring due to how boring and samey the setting was. No point in playing the game.

+1

I tried playing through the game, but the story and the world was incredibly dull. Also, there's something wrong when I have as tough a time killing a bandit at level 15 than I do at level 1.

In contrast, the world, mythology, races, characters etc. of Dragon Age were far more engaging and unique.

Personally, Bioware > Bethesda for me.

I have Noticed that Erian_7's maps for the first two encounters for Sand point have been removed so Here are a couple I knocked up for my run of ROTRLs

DIe Dog DIe

Initial Assault

Best way to print them for use is the 2x2 poster print setup in your print setup However you printer does it. Then stick them together

If your wondering I used Neverwinter Nights toolset to create them

These are very well done! I look forward to your future submissions.

1/2 Hour Dragon Age 2 Demo Video.

AWESOME!!!!

Okay, I used the spells database on the d20pfsrd website to isolate all spells with the air, water, earth, and fire descriptors. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/spells-db

Obviously, firebenders have the best spell list (most options), followed by earthbenders, waterbenders, and airbenders.

Yep, as is, airbenders are just awful. Any ideas on what other spells I can give them?

Flight spells (fly, levitate, feather fall) are obvious picks. Anything else?

I've been watching Avatar: the Last Airbender with my son and I cannot help but notice how much the oracle class resembles benders from that universe.

Looking at mysteries we have:
- Waves = Waterbending
- Stone = Earthbending
- Wind = Airbending
- Flame = Firebending

If I wanted to make benders, I might just make a couple minor changes to the oracle class.

- Make the curse voluntary
- Make a specialized spell list that corresponds with the given element
(I found a thread in this forum that made a pretty good list for an earthbender; I just need spell lists for the other three benders)

Thoughts?

Wow, I like it. Especially 'Balkor' the intelligent shield. The shield is the size of a stone giant's head and is emblazoned with the face of a long dead stone giant chieftain. A minor glamor causes the face to grimace when struck and grin whenever it uses its spell-like-ability.

Elves and half elves are rare in my Golarion, so the NPC will be human. I'm thinking I should give him weapon specialization as his bonus feat.

Alternately, I was thinking of making Balkor a tower shield and building the NPC as a phalanx warrior archetype. Thoughts?

Background: Down on his luck mercenary. He found an enchanted buckler off the corpse of a dead stone giant early on his career (heavy shield for him), and has built his fighting style around the effective use of his shield. Currently, he earns his living by hiring himself out to disreputable, but wealthy people as a bodyguard.

Level: 4 fighter

Stats: 15 point buy

Given the above info, can you come up with a unique and fun build? Thanks.

I've resolved the lag issue somewhat by running skype and other accompanying programs on a second laptop. As I am enamored by the sound of my own voice, skype is a godsend.

My PCs have skipped the glassworks entirely and are now on their way to Thistletop. They just hit second level, so they are a bit underlevelled. However, there are seven of them and they were brutally efficient in taking out Tsuto and his band of goblins.

Anyways, I am eagerly looking forward to your next installment!

Ditto on the above. I've shamelessly copied your liberating the Rusty Dragon idea for the fun of all in my group!

In any case, I intend on running the Glassworks next session. Do you have any words of wisdom to impart? On another note, does your groups' d20 pro lag as much as ours does (one player had to rely on my narration alone as the map was loading way too slow for him)? Is there any way to make the game run smoother? (the Glassworks map is pretty big and has pretty high res :P)

Hey guys, I'd like your help in deciding what the main baddies in Burnt Offerings are wanted for.

(I'm using this awesome website to make the wanted posters)

Here are the villains that I'm making posters for:

- Orik
- Lyrie
- Brusazthmus a.k.a. "The Mosswood Lurker"
- Jubrayl

How do you handle haggling for prices in your game? Do you have your players make a diplomacy check? Do you incorporate bluff and sense motive? Appraise?

I have my players use 15 point buy, average starting gold for their class, and average+1 hp at every level after first.

Mooks are constructed with 10 point buy and named NPCs get 15.

I used to use 25 point buy, but it strained my suspension of disbelief that the most gifted people in the entire nation just happened to band together to form an adventuring party. If one of them dies, suddenly another one in a thousand type of guy comes to join the group = lame.

In any Paizo adventure path, only the final villain (Karzoug, Illeosa, etc.) gets 25 point buy, and their CRs are adjusted accordingly.

Someone mentioned running Shore to Sea on Grubber's Hermitage near Sandpoint.

In my game, I will probably be adapting Masks of the Living God into Skinsaw Murders. I like the idea of the PCs trying to infiltrate the Skinsaw Cult to find dirt on its leader: Ironbriar. Instead of a cult compound in the middle of the city, I might just make the existing sawmill A LOT bigger (like a factory compound). The mask golem = scarecrow flesh golem and all the Razmir references will be replaced with Nogorber/Father Skinsaw stuff.

One thing to consider is the size of the room she's in. It'll be crazy tight with a large critter in there too, never mind fitting that many PCs in.

That's a very good point. I may relocate Nualia and her critter to the chapel, so they have some breathing room. This means, I can dedicate the bottom-most floor to highlighting Thassilonian culture and foreshadowing Karzoug.

Other thoughts 1: Nualia's spell selection. I'm thinking a mix between buffing and crowd control would work. No escape spells because I'm anticipating that Nualia will fight to the death.

Other thoughts 2: I might borrow a page from Smugglers Shiv (Serpent's Skull AP 1) and use the chupacabra encounters to foreshadow the Sandpoint Devil. This can occur while they are exploring the hinterlands and/or moving towards Thistletop. We shall see.

Other thoughts 3: Any ideas for an epic soundtrack for the Nualia fight?

Ripnugget is also a cavalier in my game. I've also added another goblin "occupation." 'Goblin Riders' are level 2 cavaliers that fight with horsechoppers mounted atop their goblin dog steeds. I kept commandos as rangers, but they function as infiltrators and scouts. They fight with poison-tipped dogslicers and shortbows.

Elyrium is an oracle (I haven't decided on her mystery yet).

I currently have 7 players in my VTT Runelords game and I am debating on whether I should bump Nualia up to level 8 (so her eidolon can become large). I'm also debating on bumping up her posse a level or two as well.

What do you guys think? They were all built with 15 point buy, but two of them have the rich parents trait. Do you think a level 8 Nualia is too much against 7 level 3 PCs?

Here's what I'm doing for the rest of Nualia's posse:

Tsuto Kaijitsu - level 3 ninja
Lyrie Akenja - level 3 diviner
Orik Vancaskerin - level 3 fighter (shield fighter variant)

For the second book:

Aldern Foxglove: ghoul aristocrat 4/rogue (rake) 3
Justice Ironbriar: elf inquisitor 7
Skinsaw Cultists: human inquisitors 3

OK, I've been toying with Nualia's stats on HeroLab and her eidolon is absolutely horrifying (in a good way). I'll post up stats later (when I am back home), but let's just say I am seriously considering doing away with the yeth hounds.

Man, I hope Paizo goes with this (or something VERY VERY similar). This is probably the best set of firearms rules that I have seen (and I have seen a lot).

This thread has gotten A LOT of hits, but I'm certain that there are a lot more lurkers out there. If you are lurking, I urge you to chime in and express your appreciation. Who knows, maybe we can help get Ashiel's gunslinger stuff into Ultimate Combat.

Just wanted to say: your gunslinger blows the official playtest version out of the water. Now all I need to do is jerry rig this into HeroLab for my wife...

I ran RotRL three years ago before the game ground to a halt in Book 4. Recently, my players have all expressed an interest in rebooting the game. I promised them that I've added/tweaked a whole bunch of things and this was one of my ideas.

I was originally toying with the idea of rebuilding her as an antipaladin, but then I decided that she might make an excellent summoner (high charisma). Her eidolon can be the child she miscarried. Malfeshnekor himself could be another, more eidolon which she is desperately trying to claim for herself. What do you guys think?

Cesare wrote:

How did this dalliance occur in your game? When was Justice Ironbriar able to meet and seduce Mrs. Kaijitsu? Was it at some high society function in Magnimar?

I'm yoinking this idea too (because it's a great one!) but in my version, Tsuto's mom meets up with Ironbriar in secret because she's making a naive, good-hearted attempt to pay down her husband's debts (in my campaign Lonjiku is still pretty heavily involved in the underworld/smuggling right up to the moment of his kidnapping, as that ties into a PC's background better and will nudge them into the Catacombs of Wrath a little more strongly as they explore the Glassworks "smugglers' tunnels").

She saw him meeting with some shady-looking sorts in the Glassworks near the smuggling tunnel entrance, asked what they were doing there, and was told that Lonjiku owed some nasty people money. From there she nosed around on her own in the secret office and came up with Ironbriar's name. Lonjiku made up a new lie to explain that one, with the upshot being that Mrs. Kaijitsu thinks Ironbriar is the one with the power to call off the thugs.

Alas, her husband's way more of a dick than she realized at the time, so her good-hearted scheme is doomed to failure. Nevertheless, she goes to Magnimar to make her attempt at freeing Lonjiku from his (100% fake) "gambling debt." Ironbriar, seeing no reason to disabuse Mrs. Kaijitsu of her illusions, takes advantage of the offer, agrees to forgive one (comparatively unimportant) debt in exchange, and sends her home to have baby Tsuto nine months later.

Then Lonjiku kills her over it, as we all know, cementing the fact that in my campaign, he probably deserved what he got.

Oh wow, this is brilliant! How are you going to reveal all this juicy, sordid info?

Someone on these boards mentioned makeing Tsuto Ironbriar's kid, and I did just that. The PCs captured Tsuto, Orik and Lyrie, and I them give testimony at their trial, which was presided over by Ironbriar. Nice bit of foreshadowing. I had the Justice sentence his son to life in The Hells, only to secretly spring him and have him leveled up and with him at the sawmill.

How did this dalliance occur in your game? When was Justice Ironbriar able to meet and seduce Mrs. Kaijitsu? Was it at some high society function in Magnimar?

I ask only because I intend on yoinking your idea.

If your looking for a yes answer to a question you should ask this one.

Are witches wicked cool?

Yes, yes they are. :)

A 1st level human witch with 2 extra hexes via feats:

Evil Eye + Slumber + Cackle

is definitely wicked cool.

Does magic resistance block hexes?

Does spell focus (enchantment) apply to witch's hexes?

Maybe Father Ezekiel Tobyn had a "transcendent spiritual encounter" with one of Desna's celestial handmaidens (perhaps a reward for decades of devoted service) and Nualia was the result.

Personally, Father Tobyn struck me as way too much of a perfectionist with a stick up his arse. I could easily see him worshipping a lawful god like Abadar, but Desna? Not so much.

Maybe Desna, in her mysterious, fickle way, used Nualia as a means to test Father Tobyn's ability to love and nurture someone unconditionally -- much like Desna herself was nurtured by the blind orphan when she fell from the sky. Obviously, by isolating Nualia and driving her to be perfect completely backfired on Father Tobyn, who felt that he had a sacred obligation to fulfill.

The sad thing is, Desna never wanted Nualia to be a picture-perfect nun. Rather, she wanted Father Tobyn to love his daughter for who she was -- faults and all.

Not sure about Tsuto, but I believe Nualia was found on the church steps as an infant. Don't have the book in front of me, so maybe I made that up? I would imagine it would be relatively common to leave infants in the care of a church. Clearly the baby was blessed by Desna, where better for her to be raised than the church.

I remember reading that as well. I guess I'm curious as to why she was left on the footsteps of the church. Why didn't her parents want her? What happened to them?

As for Tsuto, are there any prominent male elves in Sandpoint? Hannah and Shalelu are the only elves coming to mind, and they're both women. Doesn't mean he was local, though. Could be fun to have him be Ironbriar's kid, for example.

That is a very fun idea indeed!

Bump for awesomeness.

Has anyone written up who Nualia's real parents are? Where are they? What are they up to? Are they both aasimars? If they are dead, how did Father Tobyn find her? My PCs are all graduates of Turandurok Academy and I am sure that they'll ask the above question when they begin investigating the goblin attack.

On the same note, who is Tsuto's real father? Where is he? What is he doing?

How does one go about becoming a summoner? I like how Pathfinder clarified this question with sorcerers' bloodlines, but with the summoner, they are presenting me with another conundrum that I can't really wrap my mind around.

One of my players is playing a summoner in my upcoming ROTRL game, but I can't explain how a Sandpoint native (all my characters are natives of Sandpoint and its environs) somehow has the power to summon a powerful, otherworldly being. Any ideas?

Hey,

I am just about to embark on my second runthrough of RotRL, but for the first time online (d20Pro) this coming Sunday. Do you have any tips, tricks, advice to impart? Thanks!

I recently saw a post on another thread where someone had made the Stolen Lands map in Civ V editor. It looked amazing, with 3-D graphics and all. Not sure how that would translate to Maptools (if at all), but it looked really sweet. I'm gonna take some time this week and try to do my own with Civ V editor.

That would be a sight to behold :)

Hey,

Has anyone input the monsters at the back of Stolen Lands (and others) into Hero Lab or D20Pro? If so, would you mind sending them over?

In a session or two, I think I'll be running the thylacine and tatzylwyrm encounters.

Thanks in advance.

Email is shinwonmoon@hotmail.com

joela wrote:

Hasn't a similar argument been presented that "MANkind" and "huMANity" excludes the other sex?

Yes it has, but fortunately the normal thinking right minded remainder of the populace just ignored the fringe numpties and moved on.

+1 on ignoring fringe numpties and moving on.

I am insanely psyched about the gunslinger alternate class. Frankly, I'm sick of keeping track of a hundred different 3PP rules on firearms. An official rule set for firearms would be a godsend!

I'd buy the book for the firearms and dueling rules alone. The other stuff is just icing on the cake!

I statted up the armies that the PCs will command in the impending attack on Farshore:

[All of Farshore's able-bodied men have taken up the call to arms. After months of grueling training under the stern tutelage of Weia and Ivyra, they are as ready as they will ever be. As the last line of defense for Farshore, these 200 brave souls are formed up along the shore. The militia wears masterwork rakasta armor and are armed with spears and bows]

Farshore Militia (CR 3)
Large army of humans (warrior 3)
hp 16; DV 30; OM +2, ranged
Tactics: Hold the Line; Resources: improved weapons, improved armor
Terrain: Battlefield Advantage, Advantageous Terrain, Fortifications
Speed 2: Consumption 11
Morale: +3
Leader: Lavinia Vanderboren (17 cha)

[100 phanatons have arrived in Farshore, eager to test their mettle against the "bad bigginses" arriving on "giant floating treehouses." The phanatons are equipped with spears, bows, and arrows coated with potent tree frog venom]

Phanaton Skirmishers (CR 3)
Medium army of phanatons (ranger 3)
hp 16; DV 14; OM +8, ranged
Tactics: Expert Flankers; Resources: improved weapons
Special Abilities: mobility advantage, poison (1d6)
Terrain: Battlefield Advantage
Speed 1; Consumption 8
Morale +0
Leader: Not specified
Prerequisite: Allied with the phanaton tribe

[The Farshore harbor is filled with canoes as 200 Olman braves have answered your call to arms. They are equipped with javelins, shields, and spears of masterwork quality.]

Olman (Mwangi) Braves (CR 3)
Large army of humans (ranger 1)
hp 16; DV 14; OM +8, ranged
Tactics: Expert Flankers; Resources: masterwork weapons, masterwork armor
Terrain: Battlefield Advantage
Speed 2; Consumption 11
Morale +0
Leader: Not specified
Prerequisite: Allied with Olman tribes

[Possessed of strange and powerful magic called Juju, these ten Olman witch doctors are given a wide berth.]

Olman (Mwangi) Wendifas (CR 4)
Diminutive army of humans (juju oracle 10)
hp 18; DV 21; OV +11, ranged
Special Abilities: spellcasting; Resources: healing potions
Terrain: Battlefield Advantage
Speed: 2; Consumption 12
Morale +0
Leader: Not specified
Prerequisite: Allied with Olman tribes

[The ominous man-sized shapes lurking in the water of the harbor are dead braves brought back to horrid unlife through juju magic. They wait patiently for the taste of warm blood]

Juju Zombies (CR 3)
Large army of zombies (ranger 1)
hp 13; DV 15; OM +5
Special Abilities: Undead
Terrain: Battlefield Advantage
Speed: 2; Consumption 1
Morale Automatic success
Leader: Not specified
Prerequisite: Allied with Olman tribes

RotRL: Skinsaw Murders (Great horror and the grand finale of "WTF Dude Seriously!?") Hook Mountain Massacre (Hillbilly Ogres! What more could a kid ask for!?)

CotCT: Seven Days to the Grave (killing off massive amounts of townsfolk with very little dice rolling is always a sunny spot in any GM's life :))

LoF: Howl of the Carrion King (Hurray for Pugwampis)& End of Eternity (really fun to run with some elbow room)

CoT: Sixfold Trial (Although we skipped the AP in general I have stolen bits and tids for other adventures)

KM: Stolen Land & Blood for Blood (exploration & kingdom building are probably going to sink a whole year of our group's gaming due to the utter joy they are having with both facets thus far)

This list is virtually identical to mine!

Awesome!

Sometime last year, I began starting all my games with 15 point buy. I can use Pathfinder adventures right out of the book without having to make the monsters stronger. This saves me a boatload of time, which I can spend either reading the adventure or brainstorming new ways to involve the PCs in more roleplaying -- all wins in my book.

Rolled a Random Troll Encounter tonight, as my PCs decided to check out rumours of Spirits that can bind them to the land (another addition I've made to Kingmaker).

I'd like to know more about those spirits of yours.

My notes (such as they are) are spread between home and the office and include a bunch of Kingmaker stuff with KM hex-maps, some of whom are in Corel Draw format. Are you wanting the KM part as well or just the RotR stuff?

As I am currently running a solo Kingmaker game for my wife, the Kingmaker stuff would be a great help. Anyways, I just want to say thanks for everything in advance!

Yep. that went well.

12+ hours of gaming for a game time event of 5 minutes.
yeah. epic level games. woof.

What happened?

I can't wait for the next installment! I really find your game inspiring and hope to imitate your style of play in my own upcoming game.

How experienced are your players with tabletop RPGs?

Mine are COMPLETELY new to the game and I want to set the tone of my game to be not only fun for everyone, but that what you put into the game is what you will get out of it. (hopefully this encourages not only people looking up rules, and character options, but inspires the players who would want to do little side-adventures for character development)

For an odd reason, I really like Bruthy and I hated to read about him getting bested by Nualia. In my game he never fought her. Instead, he is still active in the Nettlewood and a thorn in Shalelu's side. (who I will be playing identically only including the bitter rivalry between the her and Bruthy).

Similarly to your game, if my players don't go looking for the bandits, Shalelu will. However, if the Stag Lord tires of her meddling in his affairs, he may look into hiring the notorious Bruthazmus of the Nettlewood to try and solve his elf problems.

Have you considered replacing the Stag Lord with Bruthy? Alternately, you can replace all the human bandits with hobgoblins. This kind of keeps everything in line with the goblinoid theme presented in Burnt Offerings.

Greycloak: Your thread inspired me to start up a new Runelords campaign once I can get a group together. Would you mind sending me your maps, notes, etc. for my game? Thanks a bunch!

Email is

I am leaning toward a cold frontier town sort of like the comptuer game Icewind Dale. I have not played Icewind Dale so I am leaning on the name and screenshots, and a little things I read about it. This way I don't plan on just copying the game itself.

Rather what I had original thought of was that adventurers will start in this town and slowly learn that all is not what it seems. Also to survive in this harsh climate will be part of the challenge since it is really cold.

Perhaps from the town they will learn of a nearby adventure spot but just getting there is half the battle. I plan on putting some acrobatic challenges like perhaps having to cross a bridge etc.

Anyway I haven't really written anything but I will start to. This is the basic premise though. A frontier town with a cold harsh climate. Perhaps it's the fall since Winter would be too hard for new starting characters.

I also have a question in terms of character levels. Should I just start everyone at level 1 since this is my first time Game Mastering? That would probably be the easiest, though I am interested in starting everyone a little higher say 3 or 4 to make things more interesting.

Once I start writing and coming up with the plot I will post it here for now that is just the basic idea. They will be thrust into a hostile town with a few friendly npcs but will have to be careful who they run into etc.

Have you considered the Kingmaker AP?

It's set in the River Kingdoms, on the border of Brevoy, which is generally a very cold climate. In my campaign, I liken the region to Russia -- all the NPCs have Russo/Slavic names.

My player absolutely enjoys the exploration/sandbox nature of the first module. In my experience, players seem to enjoy a campaign more when they have ownership over the direction of the game.

I'd love a copy as well :)

+1 for Tales of the Old Margreve

I bought the PDF yesterday, I can see how it can be adapted for the campaign. I already put in some influence from a Transylvania Chronicles (Vampire : Dark Ages) campaign that lasted many years, which is very similar in tone. This will help in filling the gaps between exploration and kingdom building.

+1 Tales of the Old Margreve pdf. One of the best 3P products I bought in a while...