Chastised Wolf's page

Set Piece: The Trouble with Magic (for Shadow in the Sky or other Riddleport-based adventure path; Careful, its 4.4MB) -> CLICK HERE

As I mentioned before, I have been hacking away at a "set piece" in my (very little) spare time. It's been a humbling experience. Those that crank these things out week in and week out have my appreciation and awe.

While I was going to finish the whole thing then post it, I came to the realization that with all of the words, I might need a little editing help as I go - perhaps this will keep the reviewing work to smaller, more manageable chunks.

Some background - The locale is available to be used as a traditional magic item sale/purchase scenario with some role-playing opportunities or can be used to set up a foe or run as an "adventure".

Some known issues: I need to put richer detail surrounding the issues and motivations of The Squint and Jezebeth. I have perhaps too much detail I want to put in (connecting Nocticula, the Writ, and Voodoo magic) which is why I shied away from too much in the front section so far. Also, if the party decides to try a "screw it, we attack" method, with everyone in the shoppe present, the EL will quickly blow into TPK land. I am re-working the earlier versions of Constantine and Jez ATM. Another thing, I am not totally zen with the whole "I go out and buy 12 wands today" sort of thing. While I don't want to role-play every single little interaction, and I like magic to be accessible, I also like magic to have some sense of rarity - e.g. More like Greyhawk (as I imagine it) than the poles defined by the Forgotten Realms or Iron Kingdoms.

If anyone is interested in providing feedback, with the understanding that it is clearly unfinished and a work in progress, please do. I'll incorporate any cool ideas people have if they work and want me to put them in. I'll try to keep updating the pdf until I start having a problem with uploading it (which will...

I'm just getting into running Second Darkness and was wondering if anyone had a copy of this set piece? It sounds incredibly interesting, I'd love to get a copy if I could!

I inferred to my players that Lictor Sabinus had, at the very least, an unrequited affection for Lord-Mayor Bainilus. He was particularly frustrated and upset by her disappearance, and I let that be the wedge that pushed him further into action with the subversive Ravens.

BornofHate wrote:

PM sent

Bornofhate, if possible, and you have access to such maps, would you mind PM:ing me about them?

Same, if possible, please and thank you.

See I always thought Rexus looked a lot like Dorian from Dragon Age Inquisition.

I actually switched out his picture for images of Dorian from DAI, myself. I liked the feel and it gave me a larger pool of pictures to work with for a very reoccurring NPC.

I did the same thing with Laria - using DAI's Sera. Just the face though. I just really liked how playful she looked.

With that in mind, I fell in love with the Hanging Tree song from Mockingjay, and I found a no-vocals version I'm planning on using.

Here it is.

Ralphrius, check out this violin cover as well. It's one I'm seriously considering.

Thank you Wolf. I was driving between towns yesterday and sang about four different variations of the song the whole trip.

I'm doing something a little silly with mine. As I said above, I like to use a common song to open my game with a piece of music.

For example, I found a lyricless version of 'Arabian Nights' from Disney's Aladin for Legacy of Fire, for King Maker, I used Dvorak's 'New World Symphony, 4th Movement.'

For Hell's Rebels, I recorded myself singing the lyrics I posted, added some reverb so I don't go crazy listening to my own voice, and I'm going to use it at the start of every game session to try and get my players a little more familiar with the tune.

Doesn't sound silly to me. I've been talking about seeking out someone to record a couple of songs for me, mostly because I'm pretty shy about my own voice.

I am doing something similar though. I'm assigning a song to each part of the AP. It can be a modern song, a filk/folk song, etc. For example, I'm using Woodkid's Iron for Turn of the Torrent because it made me think of the Order of the Torrent Hellknight's.

I also use theme songs for major NPCs and will even talk to players about a theme song for each player.

I definitely feel like music is an important component to a good game, but any game in Cheliax especially.

Might also be worth it to check out Steeleye Span's "When I was on Horseback."

I'll probably use this one if I decide I don't want to use a song that my PCs are familiar with, and since I'm planning to use Haladir's "Hail Ye Chelish Lords" this fits quite well.

Had I all the money in the world I would have hired Lisa Gerrard to create the Song of Silver, but I don't have that, and I didn't want to half-ass it on my own, since I know my limitations.

But I'm still also quite disappointed there's no music or lyrics for it. :(

While I can admit I was very much looking forward to seeing what Paizo could do with the Song of Silver, I can see why you would leave it out. I feel like one of the biggest obstacles in writing something like that is no matter what, it won't match up with someone's perception of what it should be. I'm not personally musically talented, but I definitely had a vision in my head of what the Song of Silver would feel like.

This way, GMs can create their own SoS, and tailor it to the feel of their campaign.

Don't be dissapointed, I've read through the 'lyrics' I drafted for our table several times now, and, while they may not be beautiful when sung, I made sure they had a lot of meaning in them and, more importantly, sound like a folk tune.

I've put the draft lyrics behind spoiler tags** spoiler omitted **

For a tune, it will probably sound like an amalgamation of Ranken Bass's song of the Misty Mountains, God Rest Thee Merry Gental Men and the Hanging Tree from the Hunger Games Movie.

OOOOOH Reo, this is awesome. For giggles, I put this to the tune of 'The Hanging Tree' (because I'll admit, I've been kind of wanting to use it for SoS) and it fits so very, very well. Essentially, repeat each verse twice (sing verse 1-3, then do so again), then repeat the last verse, with the potential for some minor tweaks.

Thank you so very much for this gift :D

Anyone still looking for good pictures of Kaer Maga should check our Fort Carroll. I stumbled across this on a whim and it reminded me of the City of Strangers.

My gaming group is rapidly approaching the finish line for Council of Thieves after playing for almost 2 years and we're all practically frothing at the mouth for this AP. They're already asking me if they can play "Legacy" PCs descended from their Council of Thieves campaign (assuming survival, of course).

So I guess I'm just saying thanks :)

I'll just be over here, falling in love with this.

Can I just say that I absolutely love/hate this volume.

Love because I play in a group where we take turns DMing, but Cheliax is hands-down my baby. This has so many juicy bits I want to dance.

Hate because I am half-way through running the fifth installment of Council of Thieves and I would have sold my soul to Asmodeus to have this two years ago...

I think I'm in love.

I considered incorporating a Shae or two, with class levels.

I finished running this module not too long ago. My gaming group was equally split between men and women at the time (3 male players and 3 female players) and I myself am female. The characters each matched their players gender (though that hasn't always been the case), and though none of the genders were changed for the play, it was handled easily enough:

My girlfriend, who is playing a female bard with the Chelish Diva archetype of course played Larazod - in drag. It was very fun for her because she got to showcase her characters acting talent, and she and Calseinica became friendly.

Calseinica remains close with the party and has been working towards a romance with the party's paladin.

I ended up adding in some of the extra roles that were posted elsewhere on the forums (I believe by Tacticslion?), one of which included the additional role of Larazod's younger sister, a role filled by one of my other players.

Finally, my third female player (and her female character) filled the role of Drovalid Vorclune, the torturer. This player does the least roleplaying but it fit well for her because she enjoyed exploring a more stoic role for the character.

Now, I'm going to partially reiterate some of what was said above (and if I start to repeat, my apologies), but I believe part of the sexism in the play IS intentional because of the sexism of hell. If you look at the layout of the hells, at Asmodeus, it states without a doubt that the Prince of Darkness has absolutely no use for women, whom he considers weak. And of course it is supposed to be an abhorrent practice - my players, all with the exception of said Chelish Diva bard - were absolutely opposed and they considered not even doing it, but decided it was the most viable option for entering Aberian's Folly without drawing undue attention.

That being said, I viewed neither this part of the adventure, nor any of the other parts I have read, as particularly sexist. I do feel like the lens you bring to the table directly affects much of how you perceive a game, and that different players like different things. I tend to like imperfect worlds/societies, games that dabble outside of the good, but also games that explore alternate world views, cultural ideologies, and even controversial subjects.

I would suggest talking to your players after you read the rest of the AP. Again, I believe it's a very well-written adventure path that gives a wide array of characters to interact with, of varying genders and affiliations, but if you're players would rather play in an environment with more of a focus on accepting diversity and clear black-and-white roles, then I'm not sure Westcrown (and the Council of Thieves AP) is a right fit for them.

Scarykavu, did you finish any down conversions? I'm considering switching up the order of these adventures myself.

Hey Sadie, I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but the beta site for your character sheets is unreachable.

Tacticslion, I am reading through your lines in bits and pieces. Thank you so much for the help!

I'd still be interested in these extra lines (I think I might have someone who can translate them) if you're willing to share :)

I currently have 6-7 players in my Council of Thieves game. We are getting ready to begin the second part, The Sixfold Trial, and I'm looking for any resources that the community has for running The Six Trials with that many PCs.

Just checking back in, but does anyone have the extra lines? I'm up to 6 PC's.

Following up on a suggestion from someone in my gaming group, I've made an adjusted version in which the Roboto font has extra "tracking" space applied. This may help to make it feel less "scrunched up".

• After #2: with extra tracking

Please let me know if this adjustment helps.

Overall, I find the new fonts to be mostly subtle enough in their difference, but I must admit I don't like the "2's" and the "4's." They are shady looking characters.

Not that they would scare me away from your beautiful sheets.

I'm looking to run Council of Thieves in the near future and may have more than four players. If someone has the extra lines, I'd really appreciate it. My email is balexoff13@gmail.com. Thanks in advance!

Instead of creating a new thread, I'm going to post this here. Copied from Planewalker.com

I am beginning my Planescape campaign using the Pathfinder rules soon. I will be modeling the campaign after Paizo's own adventure paths (including a Player's Guide, maps, and a thread of continual plot throughout the game), with the exception that my player's are starting out at 2nd level, and the adventure path will probably go all the way to 20th level.

The party is a mix of primes and planars, unaffiliated and faction namers. It takes place post-Faction War. I'm thinking of stringing together a lot of the pre-written adventures with appropriate modification, and then top it all off with something new. So far, I'll be starting with Desire and the Dead, and am considering the following order:

1. Desire and the Dead
2. Doors to the Unknown
3. Harbinger House
4. Modron March
5. Dead Gods
6. Something of my own?

Modron March and Harbinger House may switch places. My main concern right now is the Player's Guide. I've been trying to piece it together for a few weeks now, and I've got a list of what I'd like to see included, but I have been struggling when it comes to coming up with campaign traits.

I was thinking that I could use the suggested backgrounds/introductions in Desire and the Dead to build traits, but I'm just blanking. Has anyone done this? Can you suggest traits that would play into later adventures? I'll update as I work on these.

Very nice. I eventually decided on the 3e adventure Desire and the Dead, which had ideas for bringing all sorts of PC's together, but I think I might steal this for another Planescape campaign I have brewing in the back of my head. Thanks so much!

I am considering running a Planescape game using Pathfinder rules. Currently, I have players from all different worlds (Eberron, Ravenloft, etc.). I was wondering if anyone had a really great concept/idea/previous experience running an intro to Planescape. I'm looking for something to bring everyone together, and keep them together. Suggestions?

Also, not sure if this should go here or not.

So, a question for programmers and laymen alike: would moving to github and directing people to this program encourage more people to get involved in the project?

I'm definitely interested in getting more involved. I'm no programmer, and though I've used the basis of your sheets to create some pretty serviceable archetype sheets, I'm not an Illustrator genie.

So, short, count me interested.

Chris, if your willing to share the Dawnforge stuff you have, I'm more than willing to share some of my ideas :)

Well, first session went well. I used Pravus's method of introduction (with my own NPC lettering). My players pretty much assumed that they were being summoned by the unnamed "N" to deal with the disappearing citizens, once they found out about them.

It was a somewhat short session, but we're playing again this Friday. I am still running Jzadirune, though I'm going to try and run it a little faster than I usually do dungeon crawls. I think I'm keeping it as a Gnomish settlement, a conclave of the little buggers dedicated to Brigh, the clockwork goddess. I'm also using someone's suggestion of making the Vanishing a variant on the Bleaching so my PC's (no gnomes in the party) won't have to worry about it.

My only major worry is that I wanted to put together a Player's Guide for my PC's, but my copy of the Shackled City hardcover is still MIA :( I ordered it half off after Thanksgiving and it still hasn't arrived.

Apparently I was really excited. Sorry about that. I had a follow up question - did your PC's get sidetracked from the main adventure by trying to find out who "C" was?

The last time I ran this I had each character receive a letter asking them to meet at a tavern in Cauldron at a particular time with all their expenses to get there paid for (handled off scene). They all show up and the bar keep directs them to a table if they ask.

They waited and waited and no one showed up. The barkeep orders them out at the end of the night and that leads to the first encounter with the thugs and the priest (it is the first encounter in the adventure).

So the characters where all pondering the significance of their letters all simply signed with a letter C.

The C can be tied to a particular NPC later in the campaign or not that can be up to you.

Wow. This is beautiful! Thank you so much for the help, I think I'll definitely have to strongly consider something like this.

Hey,

I'm getting ready to start running the Shackled City adventure path and am looking for any helpful advice from DM's who've taken this path on before. I have already ordered the hardcover and can't wait for it to arrive, though I don't think it will be here before my first game session.

I'm situating Cauldron and environs somewhere in the Sargava/the Shackles region of Golarion, still deciding on some of the details though I don't think it will immediately impact the characters.

Currently, my party consists of five PC's; A human cleric to Cayden Cailean, an elven rogue, a dwarven fighter, a human (Ulfen) witch, and a tiefling gunslinger.

I'm particularly concerned about how to bring a group of PC's who probably don't know each other together in a believable manner, and how to handle the change in gnomes in Golarion and how it affects Jzadirune.

Any and all help is appreciated, thanks!

Ah, my players are so going to love/hate you :D

I ran a Slenderman adventure in a True20 Modern game (think a cross between Buffy and Harry Potter) that we designed and the players loved it! I think I may have to steal this >:3

Not sure if I uploaded it right, but I did one for a modified Cabalist from Super Genius's Magus book. Here it is: Cabalist

In our Rise of the Runelords campaign, I am playing a paladin of Saranrae. Our group decided not to attack Orik outright and he ended up working with us (for a price). After many long talks, my character convinced him to come and teach the young militia in Sandpoint and from there, a relationship developed.

They are quite sweet actually.

It helps, I suppose, that the DM is my boyfriend.

Here are some 'Homebrewed' Character Sheets using Sadie's style. They are for various Archetypes that I have used as a DM / Player, so I hope you enjoy them.

This is pretty awesome. I've tried my hand at a couple of the archetypes (particularly the Sandman Bard archetype, the minor changes for the Black Blade [Magus], and the Synthesist for the Summoner as well as some home-made archetypes). If I get up the courage, I'll post them, but in any case, yours look much better than mine!

And to you, Sadie, I again say that your character sheets are amazing and thank you.

Some random suggestions, from an Elven carnie NPC I once made:

-The Street Performer bard archetype from the APG is pretty fun. I can also see a Magician or Arcane Duelist working for such a concept.
-The Legacy of Fire players' guide and Adventurer's Armory have a weapon called "battle poi", which is basically twirling fire.
-Sleight of Hand should cover most of your stage tricks.
-The spells spark and pyrotechnics, and the new snapdragon fireworks from Ultimate Magic will add flavor, and also be pretty useful to you.
-Alternatively, you could take improvised weapon feats and start fighting with torches.
-An elixr of fire breath is always a great addition to a fire-juggler's show, and is useful in combat.
-Good performance types to take: dance (also good for acrobatics/fly with versatile performance), act or comedy for a street-performer type, or sing (bluff/sense motive) for something you can do while twirling fire.

Hope this helps!

These are all really great! Thank you, I really love the feel of the battle poi. Right now, I'm trying to work up a firestaff (pretty much a staff where I set the two ends on fire) that mimics some of the real world examples. I'm not sure if there is a write up out there for something like this or if I should just save up for a flaming quarterstaff.

I really like the Fire Music feat from Ultimate Magic, but you have to have non-bardic spells to take it, which makes me sad :(

Dungeons and Dragons Online, its free and awesome, if you havent checked it out, you should do so, the reason I mention it here is that there is a quest where you go into this evil carnival run by tieflings, some of whom are juggling fire, etc. there's even hellhounds that run on top of flaming spheres lol.

Nice. Never played it, but I can see where you would get that impression. I actually originally got the concept as an NPC in my own Dawnforge campaign. I don't know if you're familiar with the setting, but it's got a pretty radical take on races (they can get powerful through things called talents and transformations). Tieflings are a base race as are a few other odd ones. The player's were involved in this festival that the party bard wanted to do and I created a whole slew of bardic NPC's, including Free - my fire juggling tiefling bard.

Thanks guys!

I really like the Throw Anything idea, Montana. I'm also thinking about seeing if my GM will let me take the Wild Talent psionic feat from Dreamscarred Press's Psionic's Unleashed and then heading towards the Pyrokineticist prestige class.

Alright guys,

I'm really wanting to build a fire juggling, fire eating tiefling bard for the Second Darkness campaign we're getting ready to start. I was hoping and praying that Ultimate Magic would having something for this, but alas it doesn't have much.

What I'm wondering is, does anyone out there in Pathfinder-land have any suggestions for how to build this? Has anyone designed a bard archetype that could fulfill my needs? I'm pretty desperate here - hit me.

Beautiful sheet! You've done amazing work.

I think I will try my hand at some class modifications. I'm not very familiar with the software, so I make no promises, but my group uses a lot of variant/house rules, so being able to modify this to fit whatever whim strikes the DM/players is pretty useful.

One thing I noticed; on your cavalier sheet, you have the "Feat Sharing Duration" equation listed as "1 + ([character level]/2). Unless I'm reading this incorrectly, the Pathfinder SRD states that "allies retain the use of this bonus feat for 3 rounds plus 1 round for every two levels the cavalier possesses."

Bump.

I, as well, sent an e-mail requesting the PDF for Eberron races.

Edit: It's actually in my e-mail already. Thank you very much!

I never got my email :(

My deity/domain pdf is done now too, for those interested. It's just a revision of the Deity/Alignment/Domains/Favored Weapon chart, using the domains in the Core & APG books.

I'd be interested to see what conversions you've got for Eberron. We've been considering a conversion for our Eberron game and I'd like to have it on hand. Emailing you :)

I'd also be interested in seeing any converted material you have, if you're willing to share.

Thanks! And as for chat, check out http://www.chatzy.com/

It's easy to set up a free chat room there, and you just give out the url to your players and they can easily join right in.

I love chatzy, but I've been hesitant to pay for an account. Do you have a paid room or know someone who does? Is it really worth it?

So I'm working on the idea of running Pathfinder in the Dawnforge setting, and I could use some help. Here's a few things I'm a little stuck on.

• Monk, Ninja, & Samurai classes? Is there a place for them in this setting?

• Guns & the Gunslinger class? Same concern.

• Converting PF/Golarion gods into DF immortals.
  

Those are the one's I've come up with so far, the other races & classes I've dealt with and I'll post my full notes once I'm done.

FYI: This is cross posted on both the RPG.net Forums & the Pathfinder forums.

I'm actually currently running two separate Dawnforge campaigns using the Pathfinder rules and am willing to share any and all information I've got.

To answer your questions first - I would say that the monk, ninja and samurai are all bad fits for Dawnforge; at least in Ambria. However, one thing that Dawnforge has going for it is the complete openness in Zangala and Tamerland. Personally, I'm making Zangala Persian/pseudo-African in feel, incorporating a few human cultures (one is based off of the Redguard from the Elder Scrolls games).

Tamerland, in my game is going to mostly full of what are usually considered "monster" or non-standard races. More minotaurs, with an actual culture (very much similar to the Tauren of WoW, so I've been told), a race similar to the Al-Keric-Helam of 2nd edition, centaurs, intelligent griffons, and of course, the lizardfolk.

If you were looking for a place to incorporate the ninja, samurai or the monk, you could place them in Zangala (I'm going to allow the monk in Zangala, as part of one of my human cultures), or you could design a pre-existing culture in Zangala where they fit. Otherwise, I'd say that the monk is kind replaced by the Spirit Adept.

As for guns and the gunslinger, again, my thoughts are that they don't fit. At all. To each his own, but considering the "bronze-age" feel of Dawnforge, I think the gunslinger class and flintlocks would break the feel, unless you aged the world some (then, more power to you!)

I hadn't actually attempted to convert any of the PF standard/Golarion gods into immortals yet, but that is a really cool idea and one I may have to take a crack at!

I've converted the Spirit Adept and Disciple, and would be happy to share and get your thoughts on balance, feel, etc. if your interested. I'm also working on converting the Champion class from Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved to use in place of the paladin (allowing a Paladin PrC, mostly in the Kingsmarch). I have, to date, allowed the witch, the summoner, the oracle, and the cavalier (with some modification) in my Pathfinder/Dawnforge game, but decided that there wasn't really a good place for the alchemist or the inquisitor.

I've also reworked the wizard a little bit to fit in with the Dawnforge arcane aspect's - pretty much, I use the existing powers that Paizo has so graciously provided and allow the caster to pick from a set list associated with his arcane aspect at 1st and 8th level.

Finally, I've been debating whether or not I just want to replace the Shaper with the Oracle, but haven't settled on anything yet.

Still problems with the nav bar. it keeps changing back. I got the library section figured out, haven't had a chance to use it.

I'm not ultra website-savvy, but I was having this same issue. I went to the Site Layout. Under Navigation (like the fourth one), I clicked "edit," and under where it says "Title: Navigation," I clicked "display title" and the problem went away.

Also, kudos to the template. It's amazing! I am trying to find a good chat to embed into it right now for a play-by-chat game I'm running. Any suggestions?