Crystal Frasier's page

Sweet! My very first small-press publiction!

Download it, everyone, and give me some feedback.

One of the great highlights from last year's PaizoCon was getting to see dozens of different gamemasters and burgeoning writers put their spin on the setting with cool custom adventures and even new takes on the system. Let's start a running list of what will be run this coming year and who might be interested.

Last year's format was very effective, s let's just borrow from that. Be sure to include the following in your pitch:

Title of the game
Description of the game (the back cover kind of text)
Minium/Maximum # of players
Gaming System/edition
Maturity rating (G, PG, R)
Player experience req. (None/some/walking PHB+DMG)
For what Character levels, or will characters be provided?

Toying with the idea of a late-Renaissance/Age of Discovery campaign done with the PFRPG, but I’d like to keep magic mysterious and difficult to obtain. This means dropping the magic-fixated classes (Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard) and eliminating spellcasting from the remaining classes. I don’t mind keeping supernatural abilities the classes may provide, as those can simply be explained-away as ‘cinematic,’ but how do you adjust and compensate for a Paladin’s loss of spells and turning? Or a Bard’s complete loss of magic?

Here are my thoughts:

Bard
The Bard is a core spellcaster (spells from first-level onward), but to me they’ve never felt like a magic-focused class. Instead, they feel like a jack-of-all-trades and a face. Taking away their spells does eliminate some of their combat options, though, so I think we can replace those by giving them access to some custom Rogue-style talents, likely built from their low-level spells anyway.

Paladin
Paladins gain a big divine link through their spells, so I’m reluctant to just give them bonus feats to make up for the loss of spells and channeling. Instead, I’d be more inclined to develop a class ability that gives them bonuses and buffs linked to their faith. Starting at fourth level, they can call on their faith to gain temporary hit points and an AC bonus, similar to a Rage.

Ranger
I’ve always thought that Rangers get a good deal even without the spells: Bonus feats, tracking, good skill points, two good saves, great BAB progression, animal companion, favored enemy, and favored terrain. They don’t really seem to need any compensation for the loss of magic.

So, We're shaking down some PFS characters and scenarios and will be a few bodies short tonight at our hroup here in Bellevue. I know it's short notice, but if anyone is interesting in joining Sunshinegrrrl, Thelesuit, and myself tonight for an adventure, just respond here or send me an e-mail at amazon.chique at gmail.com

Now, I won't mince words: When it comes to D20 Modern, I am a brazen strumpet. I know it's not perfect, but it only hits me when it's been drinking, so I think we can make it work.

I'd love, at some point in the future, to run a Pathfinder AP using some variation on the D20 Modern rules. At PaizoCon, N'wah and I even talked about our mutual conversions we dabbled with for "Seeds of Sehan" from Dungeon (he went scifi; I took it in more of a pulp direction). This got me thinking about how I'd convert Curse of the Crimson Throne into a modern context while preserving as much of the Paizo flare and wonder as possible.

So, let's call this an open thread to toss around ideas. The update can be straight-up modern action flick without any "fx" elements, total sci-fi, modern magic, psionics, high weirdness, or whatever other elements you like in a modern campaign. How would you handle the various story elements, adventures, and NPCs if you had to bring the tale into the modern age?

It was the last day of PaizoCon, and everyone was tired and off their guard. Erik, usually so vigilante, was suffering from the fatigue of three days without sleep. In his hot little hands he held It.

The Pathfinder RPG.

Using all my natural guile and wits, I approached. And then I laid not one, but two hands on the It.

But then, like mighty Zeus, Erik struck me down for my hubris.

Now, lying battered and broken, I can only think: It was worth it. If I live, this will be a day I tell my children off.

I'm sorry if this is incredibly obvious, but this is my first time running an organized play adventure at a con.

I received the rough copy of PFS #24: Decline of Glory via e-mail last weekend, but in it, Joshua also mentioned that the final version would be in my Paizo.com account before PaizoCon. I'm prepping for this afternoon's game now, but still don't have a final copy.

Are these actually handed out at the con instead?

So, maybe I just don't know how to work the website, but I don't know who's going to be in the "Palace of the Gnoll Queen" game I'm running on Saturday at noon. Can I get a few shout-outs so I know who to expect?

So, I know that N'wah and Lilith are both coming to PaizoCon, and I'd love to meet you both face-to-face, along with any other artistically-inclined Paizonians. Does anyone feel like getting together at a nice bar or coffee house and doodling for an hour?

I'm still in a bad mood the next day.

A disjunction trap? Really? That killed our game session last night. It definately killed the usefulness I'd spent months developing for my character.

Our Fighter/Cleric lost two expensive items that cost her 30,000 gp and 1,200 XP and stormed out of the game. She's normally the level-headed one, and I've never seen her up and LEAVE like she did last night. Our Warblade lost everything magical on his character up until her rules-lawyered his way into only loosing a few utility items he was carrying. Our dedicated Cleric didn't even loose anything, and kept insisting that the trap wasn't really that bad.

Meanwhile, there's Immora, my Beguiler. Completely against the math (including four natural ones), she lost three-quarters of her magical gear, including her armor, weapon, cloak of resistance, and all of her wands. All totaled out, over 100,000 gp, the vast majority of her character wealth. To make matters worse, she's been unable to get a targetted spell off for six levels now: opponents are either impervious to illusions and enchantments (Beguilers are essentially a specialized rogue/illusionist class), or just inexplicably make their saves. The only effective thing I've been able to do in combat for have my character career (besides casting Haste at the start of every fight) has been dependant on those wands. Now we're trapped in the heart of the Runeforge, at my character at the very least is essentially naked: AC, hit points, saves, spell-casting, even basic attributes have all been nerfed. And despite our GMs insistance that we've already found more than enough treasure to make up for the lost gear (which is bunk; we've found nowhere near 100,000 gp yet, just to cover Immora's loses), even if we had that many valuables, sitting on a stack of +1 chainmail is nowhere near as useful to me as my wand of Scorching Ray or Cloack of Resistance or Handy Haversack.

I think I wouldn't be nearly as miserable about this whole affair if it had been an actual trap rather than just an encounter we couldn't avoid. We walked into the room and were promptly warned about the burn marks on the wall and charred bones, and immediatly assumed it was some sort of trap, obviously. Immora began searching for traps (her Rogue levels grant her Evasion and Trapfinding, usually protecting her from nasty traps) while the rest of the group left the room. But before the search check was even completed, the effect went off, affecting Immora and the rest of the party (who were waiting out in the stairwell) equally. Our GM tried to defend it all, saying that he'd given a warning, saying how I'd heard crackling as something charged up, but that's complete bunk: Even if Immora had rejoined the group (which she didn't, because all evidence we were given indicated some kind of fireball or electrical trap), the entire group was still within the effect even standing well outside the room.

It certainly didn't help that our GM spent the time we used to refigure our stats to say how he'd given us every opportunity to avoid it by just casting Detect Magic, or about how this is what happens when players are too reliant on their magic items.

When our Fighter/Cleric player finally came back from her walk to cool off, we decided to keep going (we were only an hour or so into our weekly session), but how the very next encounter was handled left all of us so frustrated that she left again and didn't come back. We called it a night there.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do from here. The vast majority of what Immora is capable of doing against all the undead and construct and mental-affect-immune opponents that this AP is packed with depended on her collection of wands and gadgets, and most of it has now been wiped out in a deadly, deadly dungeon we can't escape. We already all had issues with the game because the Warblade is clearly broken and dominates every session, but the one fight we got into after loosing our equipment left Immora completely useless and me, as a player, frustrated and not having any fun. We've spent a year now building up our characters and trying to tweak them to make them interesting and fun to play, and in one unavoidable encounter, it was all stripped away form us (well, mostly me; I'm the only one who lost anything but back-up or utility items).

So yeah, still in a bad mood.

When I was a teenager, I spent a year designing and building a fountain in the market square of Dunder's Hollow. It was the first upgrade we'd made from the old well dug when the town was first settled, and it still helps bring the community rogether today. I've spent my whole life loving to create, but now I've been made a destroyer, little better than the creature's we've spent years slaying.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I must reorganize my thoughts.

My name is Chikala Norian and I was the daughter of Cora and Burlin Narion, a promising mason, and a part-time volunteer with the town guard. But now... I woke up on a basalt slab, which was my first clue something was wrong: The cavern itself was granite. More slabs surrounded a dying firepit, with three other forms lying on them. I didn't recognize any of them, and the burly ogre-kin had me reaching for my bow, but once the half-elf opened his delicate mouth and let fly a torrent pfrofanity, I immediatly recognized Ulfric despite the new body. Shortly, we'd sorted out that the well-dressed, ashen-skinned fellow was in fact Dorje, our exotic wanderer, and the terrifying ogre-kin was Vexatia, sans her refined Chelaxian features and delicate curves.

That's when I discovered the rudest surprise of the night: Not only was I stock naked, but my own vuluptuous curves were replaced with some sort of angular, ophidian abomination! Dorje was gentlemanly enough to lend me the unfamiliar dublet he was wearing, but I estimate my frame to be a full 11 inches taller than before. Still, it was comforting.

We all seem to be bearing signs of wounds as well. My own chest features a recent scar just above the heart, while Vexatia complains of muscle spasms and cramps, Ulfrich had suffered an obviously severe blow to the head, and Dorje observes a pounding headache and difficulty focusing. Otherwise we seem healthy, with no obvious signs of illness or swelling. I seem to be infested with parasites, and Vexatia's new form bears signs of old abuse.

Among the remains of the firepit, we did find a flier apparently folded to transport a blue powder. It mentioned a gambling tournament in Riddleport, but the date was obviously misprinted, as 4709 is a decade away.

We spent some time exploring the cave complex, obviously a natural sea cave expanded by human hands, but decided to turn back when we encountered unwelcoming spectres. It seems none of us are as combat capable as we should be: Ulfric should have been able to seize control of the Shadow's mind with ease, and Vexatia's arcane output seemed less than 20% as effective as it should be. My own hands shook like they haven't since I was a teenager.

Outside, in the cold and rain, I made the unpleasant discovery that my new body seems to be exothermic; I became letharic until we managed to get a small fire started with the driftwood. Over time, we made our way up and out of the fjord and Ulfric finally recognized the terrain, close enough to Riddleport to make it with several hours' hike. The journey was made far easier when we stumbled across undead smugglers (a 'skeleton crew', by Vexatia's reckoning) and made a swift exit with their keelboat. They screamed profanities from shore, but on a healthier day we would've done worse than steal a leaky rowboat.

We arrived in Riddleport around third bell, and found a squat in the Rotgut district to sleep for the evening. It's structural integrity was questionable at best. We'd found a handful of coins while diggint hrough the caves, perhaps even enough for a decent inn room, but both Vexatia and I thought a pair of monsterous creatures stomping into a tavern in the dead of night would invite every other adventurer for an unwanted conflict. I had difficulty sleeping, and did what I could to fashion the a spare cloak and Dorje's dublet into a passable dress. Small comforts and all.

We rose around noon, still sore and suffering from our shadow encounter, and made our way to the temple of Methys. If anyone could reverse whatever magical effect had transformed us, it would be the acolytes of pure magic.

The first site I took note of in the light of day was the lighthouse. Father had helped with the early design work a few years ago, but already it was nearly complete. I knew from supervising the quarry, Dunder's Hollow's contracts were engaged for a fifteen year period. A quick check with a local vendor opened our eyes and made our situation that much more complicated: To our surpirse, it wasn't 4699. Instead, it was a decade later: 4709. We'd somehow lost ten full years!

Ferry fees hurt more than a little, and arriving at the temple, we were politely informed by acolyte Minos that they would be happy to help, but would require a consulting fee up front. A fee well beyond our current capabilities (our savings, along with my investment ledger, was nowhere to be seen).

While leaving, a junior acolyte by the name of Eggel engaged us to track down a missing friend, Lucious. He seemed concerned about Lucious' previous odd behavior. The boys' plight sounded eerily similar to ours, and I found myself concerned Lucious, even if my more mercenary companions were only in it for the fee. Investigating his home turned up a few names, including one Captain Scarbelly, a noteworthy orcish privateer.

Stopping by Scarbelly's ship hasn't yet revealed any information about Lucious, but it did reveal a fascinating tidbit regarding our own situation! The crew apparently recognized Vexatia's new body, and referred to her as "Urholda." From what I gather, she was something of a heartbreaker onboard the ship a year or so back, before being sold by the captain in Magnimar. Among other things, this indicates that our new forms were not created wholeclothe, but rather were pre-existing individuals. This speaks poorly for the miserable sentients whom we've replaced, and even worse for our original bodies, wherever they may be.

In the meantime, exploring this new body is extraordinary. I seem to be some sort of reptoid, likely a lizardfolk. The noteworthy lack of webbing indicates I am not one of the local tribes from the Mushfens to the south. The coloration, consisting mostly of blacks and earthtones, seems more suitable to a dry environment. Accidentally biting my lip or the boatride over resulted in a severe numbness; possibly suggesting a natural toxin in my saliva. And finally, in the last fourteen hours I have consumed a boiled crab, a head of winter cabbage, two apples, and a wind beetle, and thus far everything tastes of chicken.

I must stop this journal for now. Still getting used to holding this charcoal with clawed fingers. Abadar willing, soon I may be able to afford a pen.

So, one of my on-again, off-again hobbies is retooling d20 Modern to have a smoother, more action-packed system. My roommates and I got a little silly tonight working on the Feats chapter, and this is the final result. I thought I'd post them here in case anyone else wanted a strange, tough-guy feat tree.

Diehard [General]
You can resist pain and blood loss that would cause most to pass out.
Prerequisite: Endurance or Toughness
Benefit: When reduced to between -1 and -Con hit points, you automatically become stable. You don’t have to roll d% to see if you lose 1 hit point each round.
When reduced to negative hit points, you may choose to act as if you were disabled, rather than dying. You must make this decision as soon as you are reduced to negative hit points (even if it isn’t your turn). If you do not choose to act as if you were disabled, you immediately fall unconscious.
When using this feat, you can take either a single move or Standard Action each turn, but not both, and you cannot take a full round action. You can take a Move Action without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other action deemed as strenuous, including some Free Actions, Swift Actions, or Immediate actions, such as casting a quickened spell) you take 1 point of damage after completing the act. If you reach -Con hit points, you immediately die.
Normal: A character without this feat who is reduced to between -1 and -Con hit points is unconscious and dying. This is a slight variation from the standard d20 rules, in which a character dies upon reaching -10 hit points.

Die Harder [General]
Death will not take you as it would lesser mortals.
Prerequisite: Diehard, Constitution 13
Benefit: A character will not die until reduced to twice their Con score in negative hit points.
Additionally, while a character is still considered disabled when reduced below 0 hit points, they may choose to make a Standard Action without aggrevating their injuries or suffering additional hit point loss.
Normal: A character without this feat dies when reduced beyond their Con score in negative hit points. A disabled character normally takes an additional hit point of damage during any round in which they take a Standard Action.

Die Hard with a Vengeance [General]
They hit me with a truck!
Prerequisite: Diehard, Constitution 15
Benefit: When you are considered Disabled, your fury grants you a +1 morale bonus to attacks, damage, Defense, and Fortitude saves.
Additionally, when disabled you may choose to take a Full Round Action rather than the usual Move or Standard Action. Upon completeing your action, you take 1d6 points of damage and immediatly fall unconscious.
Normal: A character who is disabled is norally limited to either a Move Action or Standard action, and recieves no special bonuses while disabled.

Live Free, Die Hard [General]
They hurt you, and no force on earth will stop you from fixing that.
Prerequisite: Die Hard, Die Harder, Die Hard with a Vengeance
Benefit: While disabled, you may make melee and vehicle ram attacks against airborne opponents, even if you normally have no way of reaching them. Any such attacks automatically confirm critical threats.

Obviously the last one is not to be taken seriously, but the rets might end up in the final draft.

We've gotten a last-minute offer from a friend driving east to be dropped off at my fiance's mother's place, then picked up and driven home two weeks later. So, with about 36 hours' notice, we're gathering up everything we'll need to survive, mapping out a course, and about to head out. I have no idea what sort of internet access they'll have in Oklahoma, but it should be exciting.

...Or at least interesting.

Wish me luck.

I'm looking through "Seven Days to the Grave" and reviewing the wreck of the Direption encounter for tonight's game, and I started taking a closer look at Yvicca. She's a Sea Hag with five levels of Druid, but her CR is only listed as 7. At the very least, she's got 3 levels of humanoid in addition to being a Druid 5, so wouldn't that be CR 8, minimum? Maybe more when you figure in a Sea Hag's Horrific Appearance and Evil Eye abilities (which were left off of her PF stat block, strangely enough).

Tonight's game should be a blast. I've been tossing out occasional urban legends about "The Old River Woman" who eats children for months, and the players think they're just kids' stories.

My players have managed to tick off their fair share of NPCs so far, including but not limited to Glorio Arkona (spreading vicious rumors about him slaving young girls), Devargo Barvassi (they wiped out his Shiver production by killing his spiders, and almost killed his beloved partner, Chittersnap), and Vendra Loagri (humliating her and debunking her 'plague cure' in front of a huge crowd). Obviously, Glorio wouldn't deign dirty his hands with something as paltry as revenge, but he might just provide resources for someone else to handle it.

I was considering, as a side-trek in between "Seven Days to the Grave" and "Escape from Old Korvosa", popping in a quick revenge scheme. The death trap idea I pitched out a while ago never really came to fruition, but might still work. The other idea I'm having is for Devargo (probably with some funds loaned from the Cerulean Society) bails out Vendra, and uses her alchemical expertise to create a drug based on Dream Spider venom that can actually through dreamers into the Astral Plane.

Basically, I'm thinking a sort of 'mirror of opposition' scenario, where the Heroes of Korvosa will have to face their own dark sides as they sleep. I'll keep them together on the same lump of dessicated god-stuff, just because it's a pain to break up a party in-game and leave everyone sitting there while you run with one person. The reflections will be important NPCs in their lives, but using their own statlines. I can wheedle at them, and make their characters own up to some of the background stuff their players talk about, but rarely act on, in-game.

If they manage to defeat their other selves, Zellara can probably lead them through the Astral Plane and back to their own bodies, and then Devargo and Vendra should be easy enough for the team to handle.

Does this sound like a fun idea, or just irritating from a player standpoint?

I generally love alchemical items and other 'mundane' equipment (I've got a huge list of custom mundane goods that I often make a GM agree to that my characters often have), so I'd personally love to see Paizo expand the range of alchemical items: both the types and how they scale.

Maybe with an increased DC and twice the materials cost, you can brew improved Alchemist Fire that does 2d6 fire damage and 1d2 splash damage, or harder to escape Tanglefoot Bags. Or maybe introduce items similar to what appears in the Complete Adventurer, granting small skill bonuses (hopefully at more reasonable prices than the ones in CA). Honestly, I'd be happy to see whatever creativity the Paizo folks can stamp onto one of my favorite equipment types.

How does everyone else feel about alchemy? Fun addition that needs to scale up as players do, or extraneous flavor?

Like several others, I don’t really like that the Concentration skill has been rolled into Spellcraft. While I really like that Pathfinder RPG is condensing skills down (for example, I support rolling Knowledge Arcana and Spellcraft together), I think Concentration and Spellcraft are different enough concepts that they shouldn’t just be combined into one generic “Magic” skill.

But then what? All Concentration really does is let casters throw around their spells in combat. It technically can be used by anyone trying to perform delicate skills amidst distraction, but few GMs ever run with that concept, and the skill itself doesn’t appear on any non-spellcaster skill lists. I think the solution to having Concentration being just an extra Magic skill is to expand what Concentration can do and who can take it.

So let’s brainstorm. Here are my thoughts:

First, Concentration should be added to the skill lists of the martial classes, plus Aristocrats.

Secondly, here are some thoughts on additional, non-magical uses for Concentration.

Composure (trained only): Mental discipline can allow the adventurer to remain calm and composed in the face of taunts, insults, and even magic. The character may opt to make an opposed check against someone attempting to rankle him with Bluff or Intimidate, pitting his Concentration against the taunter’s Bluff or Intimidate check. Success indicates he is unaffected. In addition, the character may choose to make a Concentration check in lieu of a saving throw against emotion-altering magic, such as Calm Emotions or Rage; a failed Concentration check has the same results as a failed save.

Ignore Pain (trained only): As a Swift Action, a character can grit their teeth and ignore the effects of pain. With a successful Concentration check (DC equal to 15, plus the pain’s associated penalty) the adventurer can ignore the penalty from pain until the beginning of their next turn.

Stay Awake: An adventurer often needs to stay awake for extended periods, either on-watch when deep in dangerous territory or simply lacking the time or comfort to sleep. A conditioned individual can remain awake for 20 hours without penalty, but afterwards must begin making hourly Concentration checks, DC equals 10. The DC increases by +1 for every additional check. Failure indicates the character is Fatigued and takes a –2 penalty to all subsequent Concentration checks. A second failed check means the character is Exhausted and takes a –5 penalty to all subsequent Concentration checks. A third failed check means the character passes out for eight hours. The Concentration penalties from lack of sleep are eliminated with a good night’s rest.

Any other thoughts?

I've been doodling a fair amount for the CotCT game I'm running for my group, so I thought I'd share what I've got so far.

First, our team:
Amber, Urban Druid
Aula Wintrex, Wizard
Crispin, Priest of Cayden Cailean
Lehm, Rogue
Modus Sharn, Urban Ranger

Next, I got such a kick out of N'Wah's custom paper minis, That I'm trying it out myself. Here's what I have so far for 'Seven Days to the Grave':

Seven Days to the Grave, set 1

Hi all,

I ran the Dead Warrens about two weeks ago and had to update several of the NPCs to PF, so I thought I'd share the changes I made here. Cabbagehead and the Derro were very straightforward, by Vreeg required some interpretation. I ended up giving him and Arcane Bond to his Ghoul Touch wand and tweaking his spells slightly.

These stats are just the combat referrence sheets I made for game; for the full details on their stats, you'll need to check out Edge of Anarchy.

Derro (mm 49)
Init +6; Perception +1

Notice Entryway fight on Perception DC 16+

Offense (Blind Fight)
Short Sword +4 (1d4/19-20)
-Greenblood Oil (Fort DC 13, 1 Con, Cure: one save)
Light Repeating Crossbow +6 (1d6/19-20)
Sneak Attack: +1d6
CMB +3

Defense
Hit Points: 16
AC 19 (Touch 13; Flat Footed 17)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +6

Spells:
At Will - Darkness (3 min, 20' radius), Ghost Sound
1/day - Daze (DC 13), Sound Burst (Fort DC 15 or Stun, 10' radius, 1d8)

Skills and Feats: Bluff +5, Stealth+10, Blind Fight, Improved Initiative

Equipment: Small Shortsword, Small Light Repeating Crossbow, Small Studded Leather Armor, Small Buckler, 2 Spare Doses of Greenblood Oil

---------------------------------

Cabbage Head
Init +5; Perception -1

Offense
Unarmed Strike +8 (1d4+5/x2)
CMB +7 (+9 Tripping)

Defense
Hit Points: 31
AC 20 (Touch 13; Flat Footed 17)
Fort +10, Ref +1, Will -1 (vs. Fear +0)

Skills and Feats: Intimidate +3, Swim +9, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike

Equipment: +1 Studded Leather Armor (incribed with short poems paying homage to Irori)

----------------------------------

Vreeg (including prepped spells)
Init +8; Perception +2 (Listening)
Arcane Bond: Wand (recalls Vampiric Touch or Scare - p. 266)

Offense (Blind Fight)
Masterwork Dagger +7 (1d3/19-20)
-Blue Whinnis Poison (DC 14, 1/round (2), 1 Con/Unconsciousness, Cure: 1 save)
Grave Touch +6 (1d6+2)
Sneak Attack: +1d6
CMB +5

Defense
Hit Points: 68
AC 24 (Touch 16; Flat Footed 14)
Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +11

Spells:
At Will - Darkness (3 min, 20' radius), Ghost Sound
1/day - Daze (DC 13), Sound Burst (Fort DC 15 or Stun, 10' radius, 1d8)
Prepared Spells:
0 - Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Ray of Frost (+9, 1d3 damage), Touch of Fatigue (DC 14)
1st - Cause Fear (DC 15), Chill Touch (DC 15, +5 touch, 1d6, plus 1 Str), Magic Missile (3 missilies), Sleep (DC 14)
2nd - Blindness/Deafness (Fort DC 16), extended Shield, Scorching Ray
3rd - extended False Life, Fly
Specialist Spells:
2/day - Ray of Enfeeblement (+9, 1d6+2 Str)
1/day - Spectral Hand

Skills and Feats: Bluff +10, Knowledge: Arcana +9, Knowledge: Dungeoneering +10, Spellcraft +9, Stealth+14, Combat Casting, Extend Spell, Improved Initiative, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Stealthy

Equipment: see page 54

Expansion for added character: Vreeg is accompanied by two human zombies, one of whom he is using as a desk and the other is holding his spellbook open as he works on his reanimated arm. If caught unawares, he is yelling at both fo them for squirming while he's trying to work, and will send them as a buffer against the heroes while he casts his buff spells. If he has some warning of the PCs activities, the zombies have been ordered to hide as corpses scattered on the couch and desk.

Hi all,

I haven't really been updating much about what my erstwhile sister and I have been doing as we hunt down lost Thassilonian treasure (and I desperately try to keep her from getting us both killed). Among other things, we've weathered an attack on Sandpoint by Stone Giants and a Red Dragon, and have learned in no uncertain terms that they have a mountain fortress on the Storval Plateau. My usual suggestion of moving far, far away was shouted down by my do-gooder twin sister, so as usual I'm tagging along to keep these poor sods from being eaten by the first thing to come along that's larger than a Firepelt.

My first thought was: It's the middle of Kuthona, and it's cold enough down in sensible Verisia, so if we're hiking up to the "cone of cold", I'm going to have to trade-in my stylish yet functional Verisian skirts for some heartier outerwear. Thank Desna there's a halfway decent seamstress here in Sandpoint who knows her way around all the good dyes. I added a little doodle of my new outfit to my Journal before we set out:

Perhaps I should go through and re-examine our previous encounters and add a few more sketches. Our journeys have taken us to outlandish locations and I can only imagine that SOMEONE, SOMEDAY may be interested in forking over hard coin for this silly book.

My players have run afoul of Devargo over the course of Edge of Anarchy, and I think I've finally settled on the idea of luring them into an overly complicated death trap as his revenge. I'm toying with the idea of throwing them into a guantlet and this is the result of my brainstorming. I welcome any suggestions balance it (the group will be about 4th level) or make the puzzles a little more intuitive (or a thumbs-up if you think they're just right).

Devargo's Nest
The Nest is a series of traps originally built by House Viamio during the Cousin's War. Located in the city's catacombs and sewers, it was a quiet and entertaining ways to dispose of family enemies. After the war, it was largely abandoned until Devargo's father stumbled across it two decades ago. Both father and son tinkered with it over the years, and now Devargo occassionally uses it to dispose of those who've annoyed him or test theives who would work for him.
The structure winds about, being built mostly from pre-existing tunnels, but is fairly linear, one encounter leading directly to the next. Every room contains several concealed viewports made of glasteel so the host can watch a victim's stumbling or entertain guests. The entrance is easy enough to stumble into from the sewers under Old Korvosa (or would be, if Devargo didn't keep it locked and camoflagued). Every chamber contains a unique trap or encounter that can be uncovered through skill use, raw strength, or by overcoming a puzzle within the chamber.

Unless otherwise listed, the chambers are made of hewn stone, with well-worn tile floors and 10-foot ceilings. The doors are reinforced, but hardly unbreakable, and built with complicated locks.
Hewn Stone Walls - Break DC 50, Hardness 8, 540 HP
Interior Stone Doors - Break DC 28, Hardness 8, 60 HP, Disable Device DC 30
Metal Entrance Door - Break DC 28, Hardness 10, 60 HP, no interior lock or latch

Chamber 1 - The Stinging Swarm
The Stinging Swarm is a 15-foot by 20-foot chamber featuring mosaics of laughing imps on the walls. The entrance door is solid iron and bares no handles or hinges, and the only other door is solid stone and bares a lock, latch, and relief carving. Three rounds after entering the room, grinding machinery can be heard behind the opposing 15-foot walls, and they begin to slide together at a rate of one foot every round. After one additional round, 6-inch metal spikes extend from the wall, corresponding with the mosaic imps' tails. After ten rounds, the walls will meet, and whoever is trapped inside will be perforated.
Characters can attempt to slow or halt the walls with brute force by using a full-round action to brace aginst them. A DC 15 Strength check made against a wall slows it by half, moving only six inches that round. A DC 20 Strength Check prevents the wall from moving at all that round. A DC 30 Strength check damages the mechanisms behind the wall, and stops it from moving until repaired. Each wall must be affected seperately. Additional characters bracing the same wall make Aid Another checks.
The exit door can be picked or smashed open, or will open automatically if the trapped soul figures out the riddle in the relief.

Put an X through the circle for each round the wall moves unhindered, or a / through any box when the wall only moves half speed
Right Wall
OOOOO OOOOO
Left Wall
OOOOO OOOOO

The Door Relief: The relief carving on the door features a scene of imps running rampant, chasing several creatures around a burning city, including a man, a goblin, a bear, a ghoul, a chimera, and an angel. A Perception check (DC 15) on the door reveals that each of the non-Imp creatures are actually pressable buttons. Pressing the correct button will halt the walls' advance and open the doorway to the next challenge, while pressing any of the four incorrect buttons will slide each wall an additional 1 foot closer that round (modified by possible strength checks). A DC 20 Knowledge (Arcana or Dungeoneering) reveals that the puzzle probably relates to the Imp's stingers, as those are the threats the wall is presenting. The solution is to press the ghoul, the one creature who has nothing to fear from the imps' poisoned tails.

Chamber 2 - The Spider's Web
The first chamber empties directly into a massive 55'x55' room. In the center was formerly a statue of a grinning imp, but Cevargo has since replaced it with with an elaborate two-foot spider idol. Extending out from the statue and covering most of the room is a web of fine filaments, covering everything but a 10'x10' area next to each door.
Disturbing any of the spider's filaments will trigger one of a dozen poison dart launchers concealed in the walls (see page 310). Moving from one side of the room to the other requires moving cautiously across the open floor. A successful Dex check must be made upon entering a square to avoid disturbing a filament; the DC varies based on the character's how fast the character moves. Small creatures gain a +1 bonus to these checks.
Double Move - 30
Single Move - 25
Single Move at Half Speed - 20
5-foot Step - 15
Full-round action to move 5 feet - 10
If a character approaches one of the three poison dart launchers on each wall, they can attempt to disable it. Thereafter, any time a character fails a Dex check, there is a 1-in-12 chance that nothing happens. This chance rises appropriately with each additional launcher disabled.
The ceiling once housed four concealed oil canisters, to add to the fun, but Devargo has coverted these into nests for six tiny Monstrous Spiders, who are released once at least half the prisoners are well into the floor. The Tiny spiders can move freely along the filaments without triggering the dart launchers. Fighting within the network of filaments also requires a Dex check, based on the type of weapon used.
Two-Handed Slashing or Bludgeoning - 20
Two-Handed Piercing - 17
One-Handed Slashing or Bludgeoning - 15
One-Handed Piercing - 12
Light Slashing or Bludgeoning - 10
Light Piercing - 7
Ranged Weapon (any) - 12

The exit door in the opposite corner features a relief of eight staring eyes. It can be opened with a Disable Device check, or by turning the spider idol in the center of the room to face it. Turning the spider idol also disables the dat launchers.

Chamber 3 - False Hopes
The Spider's Web chamber exits into a long hallway with another stone door at the end. Unlike the previous doorways, this one bears no reliefs. Every ten feet, the hallway is adorned with statues of giggling imps mounted near the ceiling, though several have been smashed over the years.
Halfway down the hallway is a concealed pit trap, dropping victims 30 feet into cold, black water.
The far door is the real trap. It actually doesn't open at all, despite having a lock and latch like all the previous doors. A small airspace located behind it even makes wrapping on it sound normal. The deception can be discovered by examining the door and making a DC 20 Knowledge (Dungeoneering) or Craft (Stonework) check, revealing that the "door" is actually a cleverly-disguised wall. The real exit is the pit trap: The cold, dark water is 20 feet deep, and then leads off down a side passage for 100 feet before arriving at a real boor with another relief carving.
This underwater door can be smashed or picked just like the others, though non-aquatic creatures will suffer a -2 penalty to either. It also bears a dial, with numbers ranging from zero to nine. The door's releif is actually a clever visualization for an old Korvosan children's song about the Jeggare River.that can be recognized with a DC 15 Linguistics or Knowledge (Local) check:
Four young boys went down to swim,
And took their bloody time.
Three Reef Claws watched their splashing games,
And now they number nine.
Entering the combination 4-3-9 on the dial opens the door.

Chamber 4 - The End
Beyond the door is a shaft rising 20 feet into the center of the final chamber. A column slowly rises from the base of this shaft, forcing anyone inside upwards (and permanently trapping any dawdlers), until the prisoners are left standing in a knee-deep pool in the center of a 40'x50' room. The chamber is strewn with the remains of at least a dozen bodies, some obviously very old and others fairly recent. The walls are covered with mosaics of imps taking flight.
The ceiling, supported by four stone columns, rises 30 feet above the floor, and directly over the pool is a final door. The columns are elaborately carved, providing numerous footholds, and can be climbed with a DC 10 check.
After 30 seconds, a heavy, green gas begins to seep up from the floor. Though heavier than air, the supply is steady, and the level rises by one foot every round.
The ceiling door features only a skull and crossbones. There is no special trick to opening this door. It must be picked, smashed, or opened with a key. A DC 30 Perception check to search the room will uncover a key inside one of the skulls (attatched to a skeleton with a broken leg), but even reaching the door is tricky. Flight is the easiest way, as are spells like Spider Climb, but if they are unavailable the victims must be creative. The ceiling is carved to look like clouds and cityskyline, providing enough handholds to be navigated with a DC 30 Climb check. Another option is climbing the columns, then stringing a tightrope across the gap, providing a shakey base of operations. The exit is limited by creativity and time contraints.

Hello all,

So, through some tricky wordplay and embarassing oil paintings, my comrades have convinced me to run Curse of the Crimson Throne on Monday nights. I'm still a swashbuckling main-character in Rise of the Runelords, but I figure "Hey, I'm a modern, empowered woman of the 48th century. I can manage a duel career as both an adventurer and a goddess."

So, We're about to embark next week. I need to pick up the first adventure and decide whether to use 3.5 or PF. As a whole, we need to round out our group a little, currently only having a definite two members asside from my glorious self (incidentally, if anyone out there is in the Bellevue, Washington area and has Monday nights free, PM me; I'm always happy to bring in new blood).

To start out, can anyone throw out any useful advice for running the game? Any character choices I should limit or NPCs I should make certain the PCs don't kill? I'll be picking up the first adventure tomorrow from my FLGS, and we start the first adventure on Monday.

Hi Paizo-guys,

Just out of curiosity, where do is the Paizo warehouse itself located? I ask because I'm just 20 minutes north of Renton in scenic Lake Hills, and I ordered a few books over two weeks ago now with no sign of them. I'm thinking if your warehouse is also here in Washington, I should get in touch with the post office.

I'm reviewing Silent Tide to run my group through it tomorrow, but their looks to be an error in the rewards section of Act 4. It only lists the reward for 1st tier PCs being 5GP. Is this a typo?

So, two of my friends have never played an RPG before and wanted to see how it worked, and three more of my friends have been itching to test-drive the Pathfinder Beta we got, so I killed two birds on Monday, and then afterwards we decided to game.

Since I didn't have time to write anything up from scratch while they built characters, I decided to pull out "Life's Bazaar", the first adventure from Shackled City. There were some starts and stops as we all learned the new rules together, and we had to pause a few times while I explained the more complicated rules (like Attacks of Oppurtunity, and Tripping) as they came up, but everyone had fun. Maybe too much fun.

They've started crawling through Jzadirune, and everyone is having so much fun that they want to turn this one-off dungeon crawl into a full campaign. Has anyone else updated Shackle City to PfRPG yet? If not, I don't plan on making too many changes... probably just update the bosses to PfRPG stats and leave the grunt monsters more-or-less unchanged.

As far as setting goes (since two of my players are nuts for Golarion and demanded to know as much about Cauldron as possible), I've settled the city in the Aspodell Mountains, in northwest Andoran, but announced that the city mostly stays neutral in politics, due to it's isolation and indomitable defensive position.

I've also changed the half-elves from Striders to Pathfinders. Seemed more appropriate.

Any other advice? I haven't had the chance to read much of the rest of the AP yet, so I'm probably in for some surprises in the next few weeks.

First of all, I don't think it needs to be said that we all love that Paizo has put in all this work to create a quality product for their fans. And we all want to make certain the final release is the best possible product it can be. So in that interest, this thread is for niggling over the little things that even great editors can miss.

List the pag, approximate area, and then quote the text with the offending typo in bold

Page 80, Natural Spell description "Case spells while using wild shape"

I'm going to break from character for a moment and take a rare look at mechanics. Can anyone else out there help me to better personify a "Verisian Trickster"?

Immora (the character) is a quintessential trickster and jill-of-all-trades, with some dabbling in magic for flavor. Thus far, she has been built as a Rogue/Sorceror, with her spells leaning heavily on Illusion and Enchantment. I also jumped into Human Paragon for the added flexibility it offers.

The Verisian culture is clearly based on Gyspy/Romani from the real world, and I tried to work that slight of hand/everyday magic aspect into her: Ranks of Dance, Sleight of Hand, and plenty of Bluff are just as frequently "magic" as spells. She also carries a huge variety of wands, scrolls, and low-level magic items. The overall effect is a woman who excels at confusion and trickery and has been a lot of fun to play so far.

Enter the problem: We are halfway through Hook Mountain Massacre, and I'm starting to get in over my head. The monster's we're facing have enough Hit Dice to just shrug off most of my spells, and my usual approach to combat (Improved Trip) doesn't work well on giants. My sneak attack damage is alright, but thus far in the game I've mostly played a support character, inflicting status conditions on our enemies or using interaction skills to break up large groups of foes into more manageable chunks. Not to mention I don't have the HP to be a front-line fighter.

The rest of our party consists of two Clerics (one battle-oriented, one knowledge-oriented) and a Warblade. I need to straddle the roles of Arcane Caster and Skill Monkey

So, how do I continue to develop my character so that she still feels distinctly "gypsy" but can be less of a liability in combat? If there are any solutions in the setting book, know that I won't have it until Thursday.

This was one of the coolest moments I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in a game, and it reminds me of why I love this hobby so very much. It was fun enough that I had to create a profile here just to say how much I love Paizo’s work and that I hope they take some small amount of pleasuring in hearing these stories.

So, I know that most everyone else has probably graduated beyond “The Skinsaw Murders” by now, but my group got waylaid by me finishing up my degree, and we’re only now getting to carry on. And let me preface this story by saying that our party is not combat-optimized. We consist of two Clerics (one of whom never actually fights), a rogue/sorcerer (myself), and a warblade (from Book of Nine Swords).

Our adventuring party, which I have nicknamed Damage Control Inc, much to the chagrin of my fellow party members, was wrapping up the grisly murders around Margnimar, and had followed the corrupt judge’s ravens to an all-too-inhabited clocktower. Damage Control Inc very regularly gets its collective butt kicked, and have made an art out of retreating amidst a hail of alchemist fire, caltrops, and Obscuring Mist. Tonight was no different. By the time we reached the top of the tower, we were battered, out of alchemy, and almost out of spells. That’s when we discovered the secret hideaway in the attic and decided to start looting before whatever owned it came home.

But it was already home. It was a lamia cultist with more spells than sense, and she cut through most of our remaining hit points in one round. There was some leaping around and plenty of flashing blades, but the only ones taking hits were us. All too soon, one cleric goes down for the count, and the second one bolts, leaving only a bleeding gypsy and fatigued warblade to tackle our snakey hostess. The Lamia wormed her way into the center of the room, so she could hit us both at once with her reach and finish it in the next round.

That’s when we suddenly realized that, just above our heads, supported only by rotting timbers, was a 1,000-pound block of angel-shape salvation!

The gypsy starts jumping around, drawing the Lamia’s attacks of opportunity and keeping her in one place, while the Warblade jockeys into position, leaps, and swings with his flail!

CRUNCH!

Everything went quiet for a few, painful seconds, and then everybody looked up as the wood started groaning. The a half-ton of onyx pain came crashing to the floor below, not only pinning the Lamia, but inflicting enough damage to pound through the wooden floor, dropping them both (and ourselves too, but for the grace of a Reflex save) into the machine room below, inflicting more damage and breaking through that rotting floor as well, sending the Lamia plunging sixty mildewy feet to the flagstones below.

The really beautiful part of this story is this: Our cult leader was almost at full hit points when she dropped. The damage from the statue and the fall didn’t kill her. Rolling a natural “1” on her save vs. massive damage, however, did.

We were hugging and cheering for fifteen minutes over that one, and everyone got something great to remember the night by. Our warblade picked up a new signature weapon, my gypsy called “preemptive dibs” on (ie: stole) her jewelry. Our bold cleric got some new scars and armor, and our cowardly cleric got a boot-shaped stain in his robs.

It was the best adventure ever.