Cesare's page

I go to a school that gives VERY short breaks (3 weeks for summer, 2 for winter and 4 days for Thanksgiving), so I try to cram in marathon 14-15 hour sessions during each session during these breaks. This Thanksgiving, the players made their characters and fought off the goblin raid for the first session. The next session took them through the Glassworks and the Catacombs, and the last session (the day before I drove to school), I took them through the thistles where they've just encountered Gogmurt. (We stopped at a cliffhanger, where the PCs hear menacing growling and the Birdcruncher goblin who they took prisoner wet his pants as he silently mouthed: "Gogmurt is gonna' eats us.")

Hey guys,

I'm getting a binder organized for my current Pathfinder game (I know, I know, I should have done this sooner, but better late than never eh?) and am curious if anyone else has done anything similar.

Right now, I have one section dedicated to a printed version of the Burnt Offerings pdf, another dedicated to a map of Varisia, and another dedicated to Sandpoint and its NPCs.

What do you guys have? Also, do you fellas have any suggestions for helping me organize an efficient pathfinder campaign binder?

UltimaGabe - wow, thanks for the reply.

What about character creation? I'm pretty intrigued with the whole point system instead of levels. Is it more customizable? Would it be fun for a group of players who are still relatively new to d20 mechanics, but have rich, fertile imaginations? Can you briefly describe how the character creation process works? Is it similar to something like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion?

Yeah, Nualia is one of my favorite low level villains. That is why I want to do her justice by making her encounter as memorable as possible. Anyone have any suggestions for making this happen?

Also, for those of you who have run Burnt Offerings already, how were you able to get her story out to the PCs? I kind of think reading about it in a journal is kind of lame and hardly does her backstory any justice.

The website claims that Mutants and Masterminds' ruleset makes combat run faster. Is this true? If so, does it do a better job in making combat seem more cinematic?

Also, how are skills handled? Would it be difficult to make skill DC conversions to Mutants and Masterminds?

Could you post some of the conversions or characters that you have made?

Thanks!

I don't have access to an office printer, but would still like to print these maps to scale, how do I print it in seperate parts? Also, thanks a bunch for the initial batch of maps. I look forward to the next bunch.

I just read Hook Mountain Massacre.

One of the B E S T A D V E N T U R E S that I have ever read.

I think I enjoyed this one more than Skinsaw Massacre. However, I'll get back to you on that one, so don't get your hopes too high Logue! ;)

I would like a copy as well please.

My email is: shinwonmoon@hotmail.com

Krypter wrote:

The Solomon Kane stories were exceptionally creepy and evocative of the whole Puritan world, and I look forward to the upcoming game in that setting.

I just read on the Sci-fi channel website that Solomon Kane was going to be made into a movie staring someone named James Purefoy. The compnay making the movie is Davis Films. According to the (very) short plot description, Kane will be a "damned 16th-century soldier who seeks redemption by fighting a dark power."

Maybe this is just me, but I've read the Solomon Kane stories, and I don't recall any mention of him being damned. He was a puritan-type character who was a dedicated foe of what he saw as evil - kind of like the classic "stick-up-his-ass" paladin.

Hopefully, they won't screw it up too badly.

James Purefoy is actually a very good actor. He played Marc Antony in HBO's awesome Rome series.

I don't know why, but I've always pictured Cersei as being played by Nicole Kidman and Jaime Lannister as Brad Pitt. Danny Devitto would play Tyrion and Ed Harris would be Tywin.

1. Godfather 1 & 2
2. Goodfellas
3. Casino
4. Fight Club
5. Gladiator
6. Braveheart
7. LOTR trilogy
8. Star Wars trilogy (the original)
9. Se7en
10. Nausicca
11. Princess Mononoke
12. It's a Beautiful Life (heartbreaking)
13. American History X
14. OLDBOY (This movie got me into Asian cinema)
15. City of God (Oh man, was this good or what?!)
16. Casino Royale (the new one)
17. Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon
18. Taeguki
19. Saving Private Ryan
20. Full Metal Jacket
21. Reservoir Dogs
22. Seven Samurai
23. Dances with Wolves
24. Clockwork Orange
25. Malena
26. Cinema Paradiso
27. Forrest Gump
28. Kill Bill 1 and 2
29. Battle Royale
30. Shawshank Redemption
31. La Femme Nikita
32. Spirited Away
33. Pulp Fiction
34. Aliens
35. Blow
36. Donnie Darko
37. Sin City
38. Blade
39. Batman Begins
40. Lord of War

The Sopranos (Seasons 1-6)
Rome (Season 1)
Firefly
The Wire (Seasons 1 and 2)
X-Files (Seasons 1-4)
Cowboy Bebop (the entire series)

:Proudly looks at his collection:

Now that's what I call quality!

I absolutely loved Rome and the Wire is quite possibly my favorite TV show of all time. Now, if they make a series about a Song of Ice and Fire (my favorite fantasy series), I'll probably die from the sheer awesomeness.

I really liked Arnold Tsang's pictures in ROTR 1. His blocky, line-heavy style is very unique and it definitely brings a sophisticated, yet gritty feel to the game. I'm going to show my players the art as is. I mean, come one guys, Shalelu is pretty in an earthy way and Nualia is absolutely stunning! Please keep this guy on board. He's definitely got a lot of talent to burn.

Dinner parties...a staple of horror lit. Interesting idea, but would require a bit more work.

I have a feeling that Iesha will be screaming and yelling her head off en route to Aldern, and Aldern has the ability to command all of the other ghouls. I would imagine that he'd have time to gather all of them together in a smashing show. Aldern, with his jumping ability can hop about to maneuver just right, and I wouldn't put it past him to change his face to mirror Iesha's. Like the mirror, that effect alone will paralyze her with guilt and self-loathing, allowing the other beasties to render her flesh from her bones.

Edit:
If I run it just right, She won't be able to put a scratch on him. He'll tease and taunt her as the ghouls feast on her flesh. Only the PC's must bring about her revenge and put her soul to peace. It will impress upon the PC's how vile Aldern is to interupt this scene.

Wow...that's just cruel. I like it!

Well, that still doesn't change the fact that the leader of a notorious and ruthless assassin cult is a creampuff. I personally think his piddly 1d4 damage, 40 hp, and somewhat limited array of spells make this encounter a little too easy for a group of 6th level characters. Rather than making my group feel tough and heroic, I'd think that this encounter would be a bit of a letdown.

However, I do quite like the last boss.

Although I might not be able to run this adventure in a long time, it was still well worth the money I put down for it. It definitely ranks as one of the best horror adventures I read. Logue would be hard pressed to match this one methinks.

on page 25 of Pathfinder #2, it says that all haunts are 'mind-affecting fear effects." How exactly does this affect a paladin? Also, would any allies within 10ft get the moral bonus to their saving throws against the haunts?

This should actually be a VERY good opportunity for the paladin's special abilities to shine. Just like the druid's trackless step ability in PF 1, the paladin's immunity to fear is a peripheral ability that really becomes highlighted in certain parts of this adventure path. Kudos to Paizo for this extra consideration!

How are you going to work this? Will you have them roll initiative as soon as you walk in the door and secretly keep track of who goes when?

I just subscribed as of 5 minutes ago. What's the difference between a regular subscriber and a charter subscriber? Moreover, what are the benefits of being a charter subscriber?

Thanks for that. Also, to clarify, do I have to buy the book version seperately for Pathfinder 1?

On a whim, I purchased the PDF for Pathfinder 1 and found myself entranced. Now, before I subscribe, I have several questions: 1) Will subscribing get me both the book AND the PDF? 2) If so, would I be able to get a book copy for Pathfinder 1 when I have purchased the PDF seperately?

Thanks in advance.

I was actually thinking of each Harlequin having some sort of card motif, such as Jil also being known as the "Queen of Hearts" or something like that. I'll need to roll this around in my head a little bit more though. I'm glad you guys like the idea. The Last Laugh is playing a significant role in my campaign.

I've actually done something VERY similar. In my version of the Last Laugh, there is only ONE jester, who is Nulin. However, I have five harlequins who are in charge of ASSASSINATION, THIEVERY, VICE/DRUGS, RACKETEERING, and PROSTITUTION. The Harlequin Council meets once every season to discuss guild policy, etc., but otherwise their operations are independent of each other. The only commonality between them is that a percentage of their cut goes up the pyramid to Nulin and the Cagewrights effectively.

The Harlequin of Assassination is Jil. As I'm using delvesdeep alternate Cagewrights, Jil is also a Cagewright Apprentice and in essence, the next Jester if something were to happen to Nulin.

The Harlequin of Vice is Adrick Garthun (the dwarf who mints the jester coins and owns a warehouse in the docks district). Much of the illegal drugs as well as tobacco and alcohol that are distributed in the black market can be attributed to this individual and his cronies.

The Harlequin of Racketeering (or Enforcement) is Velior Thazo. Many small businesses throughout Cauldron must pay "protection money" to the Last Laugh and Velior is the person who is in charge of collecting. In my campaign, the party's rogue has a vendetta against Velior who was responsible for crippling her father (he cut off her father's thumbs) when he couldn't pay the protection money.

The Harlequin of Prostitution is Gortio the doppelganger (from Zenith Trajectory). Prostitution is another means of information gathering/blackmail that the Last Laugh employs to get the upper hand over influential people in the city. Known in certain circles as Madame Gortio, the half elf proprietor of a gentleman's club in Obsidian Avenue, this doppelganger has an "agreement" with Commissioner Skellerang of the City Guard. She is also in charge of all the prostitution that goes on throughout the city (and the information that it brings).

The Harlequin of Thievery could be anyone. I like the idea of putting an unassuming Maple in this role. She is keeping a close eye on her prodigal apprentice (the party PC) who has delved into the dungeons of Jzadirune to rescue the lost orphans. I can view her as grooming the PC to eventually take her place.

Also, in my campaign, Nulin took power over the Last Laugh three years ago. Since he took over, the Last Laugh has become much more vicious and erratic. Their first action was to drive the Alleybashers out of the city. A bloody guild war ensued among the formerly 'peaceful' guilds and the Alleybashers were pushed out to the surrounding hills and forced to take up banditry to survive. The City Watch could do nothing during all this as Commissioner Skellerang was being blackmailed by Gortio and Vhalantru respectively, all while the Last Laugh ran amok.

Artus Shemwick was the former Jester of the Last Laugh, but when Nulin made his move to take over, Artus fled and went into hiding. As a result Artus often does things to try to undermine the Last Laugh throughout the city (such as helping the PCs, etc.)

Everyone's advice made last week's session a truly memorable romp through a gnomish enclave. Despite one of the PCs dying to the grell, everyone enjoyed the dungeon crawl and I'm sure they were proud of finding a way through the maze in a single session (albeit a 6 hour one). Now, next up on the agenda is the Malachite Hold. Several new PCs have expressed an interest in joining up, so I will have them be rescued in the jail cell areas. In any case, I would like to know if you guys have any more pearls of wisdom to share in running this second dungeon. Thanks in advance!

Cool idea! I especially like the scene of Jil and the wizard interrogating your PCs. That will certainly raise the tension among your players. If dungeoncrawling is not your style, then by all means cut it down. My PCs went through Jzadirune very quickly due to them taking a clockwork route through the dungeon, bypassing the skulks entirely. Even though they missed about 2/3 of the dungeon, they still got to where they needed to go. All in all, just do what you think your group will enjoy most. It seems that you have a very cinematic and imaginative campaign going on, so don't feel the need to go by the book if you have a better idea.

I ran Jzadirune this weekend and had a blast. For some strange reason, the PCs decided to split up, with the party wizard and ranger deciding to go speak to Lord V for some "backup," while the cleric, rogue and barbarian entered the ruins by themselves.

Needless to say, the three man team was ambushed by the skulks (I really played on their ability to camouflage with their surroundings) and were sufficiently freaked out. They decided to retreat upstairs and wait for the rest of their group to come back.

The other group went to Lord V's manor, where I ended up describing the statues adorning his lawn and his elegant manor house. They had several roleplaying encounters with his servants who told the PCs about several of Lord V's idiosyncrasies (his extremely large appetite for example). They were unable to speak with him directly, but they are more than a little suspicious about this half elf who is more than he appears to be.

The party gets together again and begins procrastinating despite my subtle reminders that they are operating under a limited timeframe ("half a dwarf binds them, but not for long..."). So, to remedy the situation, I have them encounter Fario and Fellian who had been spying on them from the roof before Fellian slipped and fell off the tiles. Once these two joined up, they decided to brave Jzadirune again.

In the mask room, they find the secret door leading to the great factory. There, they managed to find a creative way to bypass the tilt-a-pit trap, wherein the orc barbarian ended up legpressing the one ton stone slab, while the halfling rogue was lowered down on a rope to jam the rotating the mechanism. Afterwards, in the factory room, they are ambushed by the grell who flies off with a paralyzed orc barbarian in tow. The party manages to kill the foul creature, but not before it slurps out the brains of the barbarian.

The PCs decide to rest a bit before continuing. They run into a dark creeper who they subdue. The creeper leads them to the dark stalker who they negotiate with for directions to the lift. The stalker asks for the grell tentacles (whom it believes to be the cure for his illness) and the PCs comply. The dark stalker tells them how to get to the lift, but "forgets" to mention the pulverizer automaton and the dark creeper who are hiding inside of the invisibility sphere. Once the PCs get through that encounter they make it to the 'D' door leading to the lift. Though I suggested that they perhaps find another way through the locked door, the stubborn PCs decide to pick it. Amazingly, with the use of an action point, the 2nd level halfling rogue manages to pick the DC 30 lock (she had +10 to open locks and rolled a 17. The action point took care of the rest)leading to the lift and now they are on their way down to the Malachite Hold.

The session ended there.

Wow guys, this is all great stuff! I've looked over the dungeon and you are right about all the empty rooms. I'm thinking about filling them up with some of them with some creatures and possibly an encounter with a gnome ghost to really creep them out. (I was planning on making a little side quest relating to this - does anyone have any suggestions?)

Also, does anyone know what kind of monsters/encounters might fit in well in some of these empty rooms and might make for an interesting encounter?

After two fantastic roleplay sessions, I feel that the time is ripe for my PCs to get their dice out and start fighting things. I will be running Jzaridune and hopefully the Malachite Hold this coming weekend and I would like to be as prepared for it as I can possibly can. What have you done to make this dungeon more memorable? What do you wish you would have done? Any and all advice you can give will be readily digested and (hopefully) incorporated. Muchos gracias everyone.

I am intrigued with the ideas you presented Mary. Would you care to elaborate on the whole scenario with one of the PCs being a daughter of Lady Thirifane? The whole idea sounds quite interesting and it sure does attach a great deal of emotional attachment to the NPCs and their plots.

That's definitely a good idea mevers. However, wouldn't it seem kind of redundant to use dolgrims/dolgaunts again after using them in Life's Bazaar? (I'm thinking of replacing the hobbos with dolgrims and Kazmojen with a neogi to keep the whole aberration feel) :D

Hmm...I am thinking about having Drakthar be a corrupted Gatekeeper druid who masquerades as a vampire (I read a post on this a while back and have liberally yoinked from it).

He is helping the Cagewrights smuggle materials for the Tree of Shackled Souls and has enlisted the help of the Last Laugh to make sure everything transitions smoothly. (Again, yoinked from the same post)

Aside from this, I am hoping to add a more 'Eberron' feel to this whole side-adventure. Kobolds could work, but I never really saw them fitting in anywhere in Eberron. As such, I might just opt to use standard races (as low level cultists) or low CR aberrations. Any more suggestions are welcome.

Yeah I can picture it now:

The real Embril is preparing a plane shift spell to make her getaway. Flanking both sides of the room are six tubes filled with a greenish liquid. Inside each of the tubes is a clone of Embril. All of a sudden, the clones' eyes flutter open and they break out of the tubes to engage the party as the real Embril escapes.

Now that would be a pretty sweet boss-fight for the Shatterhorn Adventure. :)

Excellent work Robert. Just know that I'll be yoinking ideas liberally from this thread :)

In any case, in a PW Neverwinter Nights campaign that I play in, there was an adventure with a cursed painting. The painting depicted a foreboding fortress in a snowy landscape and when you touched it, you were transported to the area. The fortress itself was filled with incorporeal undead, which generally added to the whole creepy feel. The last boss was some sort of a witch/ghost that used the painting to feed on unsuspecting human souls. (A book that we found described the method in which a powerful, but slothful evil spirit would inhabit an item such as a painting or book as a means to capture and eventually devour its prey. Hanging out inside their own little pocket dimension allowed it to just wait for its victims to come rather than proactively seeking them out.)

I dunno how this might help, but take from it what you wish.

I too believe that the whole 'take one PC out with a magic jar climax' is kind of lame. I would be very partial to seeing Embril duke it out with the PCs considering the fact that she is one of the most powerful Cagewrights, and thus a primary antagonist.

If you could have Embril be a boss fight for a group of extremely high level PCs, what kind of tactics would she use? How will the battlefield look like?

I'm going to have the fight take place in a room full of bodies held in stasis. Everytime the PCs take her out, she possesses the body of one of the bodies and continues the fight (Kind of like the whole Agent Smith thing in the Matrix). Another scenario could be that she fights the PC in a strange room filled with clones of herself. These clones would be a couple levels lower than the real Embril, but the danger is that they will be having to fight multiple adversaries with the same skills, abilities, etc.

Robert,

I have toyed with a similar idea as well. As I am running SCAP in Eberron, I am thinking of having the painting be a conduit to Xoriat, the Plane of Madness. Of course, even high level PCs will get slaughtered if they stay there long enough, so I'm thinking of having the painting be a contained area. Maybe in order to free Celeste, they'll have to navigate a mini dungeon and defeat some sort of incorporeal aberration of one sort or the other.

I am running SCAP in Eberron and as such am going to be modifying several of the chapters. Goblinoids of Eberron are a noble, warrior race so I am thinking of replacing Drakthar and the goblins with something else. Any suggestions?

As my SCAP is set in Eberron, I am planning on making him a natural lycanthrope. Anyways, thank you for this!

Found a neat new post on the official Eberron boards. It details all of the six daelkyr trapped within Khyber. I've decided to substitute the 'Stained One' for Adimarchus. :D

Link is here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=11982417&posted=1#post11982 417

This summer, I am hoping to run several adventures for a batch of players who have never played the game before. I am planning on setting this new campaign in Eberron and would like suggestions on adventures that have the power to convert otherwise normal people into crazy D&D nerds like myself. With that said, I await your suggestions.

Romancing Jil seems to be a recurring theme in many peoples' campaigns. I am curious, how did everyone work this out with their players? As written, I'm having difficulty envisioning her getting on the good side of anybody.

That is a very intriguing idea Fletch. My question is though: how would such a fire spout relate with or foreshadow Adimarchus? I am still bothered by the fact that he would just be a vanilla Daelkyr lord wannabe. Perhaps we should pool our considerable intellects and come up with an interesting backstory for our ultimate villain. What do you say?

I just downloaded your conversion notes from RPGenius. Outstanding work mevers!

My only real gripe is the fact that there is too little involvement from the Emerald Claw. If Vol discovers the existence of someone else with a mark of death, I would assume that she would go to any lengths necessary to retrieve said individual. Considering how much influence that Vol has, a veritable army would be after Terrem. I have been debating converting the Ebon Triad into the Emerald Claw for this purpose - perhaps Vol and the Thirteen had a deal worked out beforehand when they began constructing the Soul Cages? Of course, not everything went according to plan... >:)

Additionally, while it is true that the Blood of Vol is not necessarily an evil cult, I still have a hard time envisioning it as a mainstream religion outside of Karnath. Moreover if Embril and Ike belonged to a benevolent church (such as a cathedral dedicated to the Sovereign Host), their corruption would seem all the more appalling to the players.

Oh, and once again, good job!

Very, very well said Fletch.

Like you, I also wanted to keep the whole Test of the Smoking Eye adventure and I was thinking: perhaps we can place it in the Mournlands? While having the Test of the Smoking Eye take place under Khyber might be a bit of a stretch, it makes perfect sense to place this adventure in the warped and twisted land that used to be Cyre.

Maybe instead of taking a test for the ruler of Cyre, the PCs will have to delve into the Mournlands to retrieve something or find something out. Perhaps Adimarchus is partially responsible for the Day of Mourning? Maybe a Cannith doomsday device is a necessary component for his freedom? There are many reasons why the PCs could be going in there, but I know one thing for sure: for an epic Eberron adventure like this, a journey into the Mournlands is an absolute must.

If anyone has any further ideas/comments, we can definitely start piecing together a plausible reason to keep the whole Occipitus/Adimarchus thing.

Mark, I too am an Eberron DM and I greatly enjoyed reading your conversion notes. The change to make Adimarchus a Daelkyr was an intriguing twist to say the least. Dyr'rd could make an awesome illithid and Vhaluntru fits perfectly in the whole theme of this Eberronized AP.

I also noticed that you incorporated Delvesdeep's changes into the overall AP. I am curious though, if I decided to follow your conversion and I wanted to foreshadow Adimarchus to the players beforehand, what should I do? Also, what have you done with Nidrama, Celeste and the other celestials? I really enjoyed Delvesdeep's dream sequences, but it might be a little difficult to incorporate them in this new twist.

Anyways, thanks for the writeup!

Cesare