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Creature Collection 4E is now available in PDF format. Check it out at fierydragon.com

I have already noticed some discussion of the alternate Cleric class ability 'Holy Warrior' on another thread. As a fire starter, here it is:

Holy Warrior (Ex) wrote:

A cleric with this ability is proficient with her deity's favored weapon. In addition, her base attack bonus as a cleric equals her cleric level, and her cleric Hit Die becomes a d10.

Taking the above ability requires a cleric to gve up both her domains, including her domain powers.

I just saw this ability in the Pathfinder Chronicles book today and the little munchkin in my head said- "That's the character you want to play!!!!" As a longtime DM who is hoping to get a chance to play in a Pathfinder campaign, I think this goes at least a little to far on balance. I feel that it clearly superior to a Fighter and to a Paladin. (I'm speaking strictly v3.5) I searched the message boards on this topic and was surprised I didn't find more discussion on it.

Please, tell me more about this Savage Tide in the Scarred Lands.

Sure, and sorry for the slow response! Sasserine has been converted to the city of Mithril on the Blood Sea, which has worked out great so far. I'm only converting it piece-by-piece as I run the adventures, but my master plan is to alter the plotline so that the Shadow Pearl that causes the Savage Tide is tied directly to the previous Blood Monsoon of the Scarred Lands world. If the PCs succeed they will stop the next blood monsoon. The sea-faring and Isle of Dread are on the Blood Sea, and I intend to place the defeated titan Kadum and other nefarious Blood Sea characters like Queen Ran into the mix.

Funny, I've been eyeballing Mad God's Key as an opening act to Savage Tide. My version would take place in Sasserine rather than Greyhawk, of course, but the PCs recovery of Zagyg's key would be what inspires Lavinia to call on them to retrieve her father's key.

That's a great idea!

Has this gone anywhere? The game I mean. If the 4x stuff advances the Scarred Lands, I might look at the PDFs, for backwards compatability. I like Scarn, have a love for it that is almost Golarion in its fevor.

Fiery Dragon is allegedly very close to releasing a Scarred Lands 4th Edition Creature Collection.

I just finished running Mad God's Key (Dungeon #114) and it was a hit. It took two sessions as a side quest in my Scarred Lands/Savage Tide campaign. I liked that there was some 'detective' elements without getting overly complicated- very easy to convert on the fly (upped for a 4th level party and swapped out the city and the gods).

This worked great to get the party to 5th before they set sail to the Isle of Dread with Lavinia.

My players said that the Tomb of Blood Overflowing had a creepy Temple of Doom-meets-Legend of Zelda feel to it.

Anyways, just wanted to say thanks to Paizo for giving me a great adventure to run.

I'm digging through old Dungeon mags all the time!

I dig this item. I think I'm going to insert it into the pocket of soon-to-be-killed NPC thief.

However, I do think the bonus to disable device should be raised to +4, but no big deal.

I agree with Forever Man on this. Given the narrow focus, I would definitely go with a larger bonus, perhaps even +6.

The real question, is are the dragonborn and tielflings, etc... necessary for the Scarred Lands?

In my opinion, no.

I totally agree. If you want the racial abilities of one of these races, I would re-write them to fit the forsaken elves or the drendali, or some other existing Scarred Lands race.

Heh. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but there's a city ( I think it's called the gleaming city) in the middle of some mountain range that are inhabited by a "race" of constructs called the hollow knights. Essentialy they're animated, sentient suits of armor...

Wouldn't take much of a tweak to make them your new warforged.

Right on- The Hollow Knights of the Gleaming Valley are remnants of the Divine War that were created by Corean. They're the original Warforged!

I've been digging through Dungeon back issues and Lord of the Scarlet Tide was at the top of my list to run in my current Scarred Lands campaign. I'm glad I found this thread and will tweak the adventure accordingly. Thanks!!!

I'm sorry to say, I really dislike the new modifiers.

Halflings with +2 Intelligence? Half-orcs without a Charisma penalty? I just don't get it.

The worst move is the +2 modifier to any ability for humans. Most players already takes humans for the bonus feat, and now they can also be human and be as strong as a half-orc or as dextrous as a halfling?

Its a dealbreaker for me; I wouldn't use Pathfinder Alpha without house-ruling right at character creation. Please rethink it! (I feel you have to take away the bonus feat if you give +2 to an ability of choice).

I'll bite. Check out my house rules: PHBIII: Lost in Translation.

Damn, there's a lot there (4.39MB file, nice presentation)

HERE ARE MY HOUSE RULES (I didn't realize I had so many):

Ability Scores:
Intelligence –
If a character permanently gains or loses Intelligence point(s), the character’s skill point total and number of known languages will change to accurately reflect the correct totals with the new Intelligence Modifier applied. Only permanent ability score changes apply; for example from level gains or from a Wish spell. (Not from a Headband of Intellect or Fox’s Cunning spell)

Racial Adjustments:
Half-elves – In addition to the abilities found in PHB 3.5, half-elves also have the following traits:

+1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution; As might be suspected, this half-breed is typically more graceful than a human (though not so much as an elf) and sturdier than the average elf (though still not as hearty as a human).

Like their elven parent, half-elves have razor-sharp senses. A half-elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if he were actively looking for it. A half-elf inherits an elf’s keen senses so that he practically has a sixth sense about hidden portals.

Classes:
Clerics, Druids, Wizards, Specialist Wizards –
These spellcasters automatically develop Spell Mastery as they gain levels. Divide the character’s spellcaster level by 3, rounded down. Spell levels of this number and lower can be cast spontaneously and do not need to be prepared or memorized in any way. For example, a 10th level wizard does not need to memorize spells of 3rd level and lower. (10/3 = 3.3, rounded down to 3) An 18th level cleric only prepares 7th, 8th and 9th level spells. (18/3 = 6).

Feats:
Cleave/Great Cleave –
You cannot Cleave while making an attack of opportunity.

Dodge –
Gain the benefit of +1 dodge bonus against all opponents. A condition that causes a character to lose his Dexterity bonus to Armor class will still result in a loss of this dodge bonus.

Metamagic Feats -
All metamagic feats work as stated in the PHB, with the following additional benefits as noted below:

Empower Spell - II
Enlarge Spell - I
Extend Spell - I
Maximize Spell - III
Quicken Spell - IV
Silent Spell - I
Still Spell - I
Widen Spell - III

I - Caster may enhance a spell with the metamagic feat at no additional cost 2 times per day.
II - Caster may enhance a spell with the metamagic feat at no additional cost 1 time per day.
III - Caster may enhance a spell with a metamagic feat using a spell slot one level higher 1 time per day.
IV - Caster may cast a quickened spell using a spell slot two levels higher than normal 1 time per day.

Combat:
Damage Reduction-
Potent Magical Weapons (weapons with high enhancement bonuses) can overcome the need for special weapon properties. See Monte Cook's Damage Reduction Redux

Gaining Levels:
Hit Points –
Each time your player character gains a level, he receives the maximum hit points per the hit die type, plus any Constitution modifiers.

Hero Points –
Player Characters earn one Hero Point at every level gained. A player may use a Hero point to add a +5 circumstance bonus to any d20 roll (Declared before the roll is made). A Hero point may also be expended to re-roll a single missed attack, failed skill check or saving throw. Only one re-roll is allowed per failure.

Injury & Death:
Hit Points –
A player character’s total maximum hit points are divided equally in two halves – Wound points and Vitality points. (Round wound points up and vitality points down when a character has an odd number of hit points). When a character is “damaged”, the damage first comes off of vitality points. When all vitality points are depleted, further damage results in a loss of wound points. Vitality points are regained at a rate of 1 per minute of non-strenuous activity (Resting, reading). Wound points must be healed as normal (1 wound point per level for 8 hours rest or 2 hit points per level for a full day of rest). Magical healing first restores wound points and then vitality points. The player characters’ may encounter creatures that possess more vitality points than wound points or visa-versa. In fact, some creatures (constructs for example) do not have any vitality points and instead have only wound points!
Special: The extra damage dealt from a critical hit and the extra damage dice from a sneak attack are deducted directly to wound points even if vitality points still remain. Additionally, if a character is affected by a spell that a allows a save for ½ damage (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, etc.) and fails his saving throw, one-half of the spell damage is deducted directly from wound points. A character with zero wound points remaining may still continue to battle as long as he still has some vitality left!

Dying & Death –
When any character falls to -10 or below, he must make a Fortitude saving throw every round to avoid dying. The DC is equal to the number of hit points the character is negative. At -10 hit points and below, a character loses one hit point per round and has no chance to stabilize without intervention.

Bringing Back the Dead –
A character brought back to life will be affected in any combination of the following ways: Permanent loss of experience points, ability scores, hit points and/or special abilities. The specific penalty is left up to the DM.

I'm 100% in agreement with Monte Cook on this one: the "material" DRs are cool, but work a lot better if "+X" will also overcome them. Thus:

+1 weapons beat DR/magic
+2 weapons also beat DR/silver
+3 weapons also beat DR/cold iron
+4 weapons also beat DR/any other material (other than adamantine)
+5 weapons beat all special material DRs.

This system makes +5 weapons valuable again (in 3.5 they're practically worthless; you're always, 100% of the time, MUCH better off with a +1 weapon with special abilities).

I agree with Monte & Kirth on this one. That's how I roll... Monte Cook's Damage Reduction Redux

The Singin' Sheet is the best. It is the only sheet I use. I sing its praises wherever I go. It has achieved the perfect balance of being entirely flexible while providing auto-calculations where you really want them.

If the Singin' Sheet were a ninja, it could totally flip out and kill everyone.

Paizo just cancelled my order for this book and two others! Bummer.

Yeah, as far as power goes, NOTHING beats higher starting scores. Absolutely nothing.

Thanks for the insight. I think I overstated the PCs stats as a 50-point buy. Any rolling method really isn't a direct equivalent to a XX-point buy-

Characters mostly end up with higher scores in abilities that they rarely/never use. Sure they have a Charisma score of 12,13, or 14- but in point-buy they would never spend the points on Charisma, they would go to 18 Dex for a Rogue, 18 Int for a Wizard, etc.

I agree that generous stat rolling equates to a +X slotless Ability modifier for a heightened stat.

Hanroy - Human Cleric of Corean (local priest)
Nopye - Human Rogue (local dirtbag)
Ntwined gan Myrddin - Elf Ranger/Wizard (foreign soldier)
Willshire Bry'n Hanidyn - Human Fighter (local soldier)

[Converted Sasserine to the city of Mithril in the Scarred Lands]

Really great ideas here for a DM beginning this adventure path- kudos!

Now she has a knife given to her by a former friend that can only be used on one person... (kinda like Capt. Jack Sparrow's gun - one shot only meant for an old friend).

I love this- how can you not use this dagger to enhance the story?

Thanks for the insightful comments. It appears that I may just be tight-
Magic Shops?!? I don't think so.

Almost every enemy in there has DR/magic, has considerable potential to inflict disease and ability damage, and has abilities that require frequent Fort and Reflex saves, not to mention their high damage output and ferocity.

And do keep in mind that if you run Savage Tide as a "magic-low" campaign, certain parts of the adventure are going to get a lot tougher. Especially parts that involve fighting monsters with damage reduction.

I agree that DR is something to be very mindful of. I was actually a little concerned with the DR5 for the vault snake construct. I let it be and the players handled it just fine.

Each DM should absolutely adjust the treasure in the adventures to match his campaign, and honestly, this also means adjusting the treasure now and then from what's in the adventures to things your PCs can actually use.

I couldn't agree more. I hand out fewer magic, but the vast majority of what I do give out is stuff that the players are excited about and will utilize.

But, if you feel confident in your players, and they have either the capacity for the increased challenge, or the bravery for it, then by all means keep up the good work!

I have really great players- they'll survive. And they all enjoy the style, otherwise I would be running things differently.

I have another campaign going (currently 10th level) in the Scarred Lands with the same 'low-magic' style and I actually find myself ratcheting UP the EL to keep things interesting.

So if you are going to go treasure / magic light, I suggest coming up with something else to boost PC power to make the AP more manageable. Maybe action points or more feats????

Conversely to my Scroogey treasure policy, I actually always make sure that the players have heroic characters with great ability scores. I have them roll, but I use top three out of 5d6 and let them restart if they get a lousy string of rolls. In the end, they probably have an equivalent of a 50-point buy. I wonder how much that offsets not having all of the uber-gear?

I've run a couple sessions of Savage Tide (converted for the Scarred Lands) and everyone absolutley loves it thus far. I have not had to convert/change too much, but I've noticed that the 'compensation' seems extremely high:

200gp per character from Lavinia to raid the Blue Nixie, plus 100gp/month retainer.
2,000gp of coin/gems in Parrot Isle (plus magic potions, magic wand)
1,700gp in coin/gems and 2 magic wands from Namien the Taxidermist!

I slashed Lavinia's reward to 50gp per character + 50gp to assist in the vault. I cut the Parrot Isle treasure by 75% (no wand) and the players were thrilled! The party will likely encounter Namien next session and I will be paring his equity down as well.

I won't likely change my low-magic style, but I am very curious to hear if I'm a complete miser or if others agree with me on this.