Dark Arioch's page

I've never had a moments doubt. Still going strong. The great art and them constantly pushing the envelope will keep me around for a long time yet.

Thank you, that is my opinion also.

Ok, So we all know that secondary targets get reflex saves against the splash damage from alchemist bombs BUT does the primary target, assuming that he is hit directly, get a reflex save to avoid the follow up sticky bomb splash damage on the following round? I was sort of assuming not because of the original to hit roll required but one of my players brought up the point that it is still labeled as "splash" damage and he should get a save. What do you think?

Ahhh, thank you :)

OK, so the stat block for a Titan says: Melee maul of the titans +33/+28/+23/+18 (6d8+28/17–20) or 2 slams +30 (2d8+17)

However, It seems that the +21 BAB, +17 for 45 strength, and +3 for Maul of the Titans adds up to +41 for the first attack. Am I missing something here? Is there some correction out there that I have missed?

Yeah, kind of interesting that it leaves us guessing. You would think there would be something a little more definitive out there. Almost like the ability made it into the book in its concept stage and still needed the mechanics written.

As for the Spirit Naga's Charm ability the CL could be based off a couple of things. Such as the CL of it's other spell-like abilities or as you said, it's hit dice.

Perhaps there is something obvious that I am missing but so far I can't find anything specific.

Specifically, I am running a Bandersnatch in a current encounter and it has a confusion gaze. How long do the effects from this last? Is it just a single round thing since you have to save each round or is it a longer duration thing like the Spirit Naga's charm gaze? Actually, that brings up a similar question: How long does a spirit naga's charm gaze last? Obviously, a medusa's petrification gaze is permanent until cured. So are these other effects permanent also?

Is there any overlap between this set of cards and the Iron Gods Adventure Path Item Card Deck? If so, how much?

This is Bahir. I will be posting an Oracle character. The campaign arc looks like a lot of fun. For full disclosure I am planning to run it for my son also, so will have player knowledge of the campaign. I won't have any trouble keeping the knowledge separate though but understand if you want to try for players without any knowledge.

Thinking of maybe an Oracle character or can fill any needed role for the party. I'll have Oracle posted later today.

Baby steps?!?! NEVER! I subscribe because you dare to break boundaries! Do not listen to the vocal minority James (currently at a population of 1). These titles sound absolutely awesome. I am definitely coming off my 2 year hiatus from DMing to run this...

Well, according to the Encumbrance Effects chart you can still run; heavy load 'Run' is x3 base speed, so up to 60 feet per move action.

The specific text regarding dragging says, "A character can generally push or drag along the ground as much as five times his maximum load," so I don't believe it would break down by category; if something were in your medium load range, you could just pick it up and carry it without having to stagger along anyway.

And yes, the "move a heavy object" rule would apply.

As to the drag maneuver, I believe it has rules in there for dragging an unconscious creature; as Lincoln Hills pointed out, the drag maneuver rules indicate that they have a DEX 0 in regards to their CMD.

If the "move a heavy object" rule is used wouldn't that indicate that a run was impossible and you could only take 2 move actions? Since running is a full round action normally.

Do you know what page I could find the "dragging an unconscious creature" rules in the APG? I read the ones on page 321 but they don't seem to refer to any inert objects or creatures.

STR of 12 has a maximum carrying capacity of 130 pounds; drag weight is roughly five times' that amount, or 650 pounds. Regardless, he is at a heavy load at that point. Movement speed of 30 reduces to 20; movement of 20 reduces to 15. The person dragging also has a maximum DEX bonus of +1 and a check penalty of -6.

Covered under the Carrying Capacity section of the rules.

Normally I would agree with this but some curveballs have been thrown in. Such as can you run? Is it just your maximum that is multiplied by 5 or each category individually, thus giving you a dragging equivalent of the light, medium, and heavy loads? The table 8-2 on pg. 183 of the CRB says "move a heavy object" is a move action, does this effect it? The new rule for the combat maneuver check to drag has been mentioned but I think it only applies to dragging active enemies around. So what do you think of the above questions?

So we have a character that is down and another dragging them to safety. Normally unencumbered human (speed 30') with a strength of 12 dragging 250 pounds. How far can they get in a round if they are trying to get as far as possible?

Name: King Nicholaedes Orlovsky
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Cavalier 16
Name: High Executioner Turin Naldiir
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Ranger 16
Adventure: Sound of a Thousand Screams
Location: The High Folly
Catalyst: Absolutely brutal ambush by Ilthuliak the Wyrm

Never played one myself but couldn't you do it with a 12th level (Sorceress3/Cleric3/MysticTheurge6) instead of the 18th (Sorcerer9/Cleric9). Also, like some of the others have alluded too: Animate Dead, Gentle Repose, Cover with illusion. I believe there was a quest about this done in the old classic "Egg Of The Phoenix" adventure with illusion covered undead called Slinks.

LOL, nice! Keep pushing the envelope and I'll stay a subscriber forever :)

Same here, I'll try and get my PC concept up this weekend.

Just an observation but it wasn't until I read through the adventure that I came to realize that it wasn't a spine-whip wielding evil knight with the head of a dragon on the cover. I tested it out on my wife and she also thought the "headless" guy had a draconic head initially. One of those things you probably don't notice until everything has been put together for the final printing. The cover art itself is as always, awesome! Thank you Wayne Reynolds.

Ah, I see. I'll take your word for it.

I myself tend to agree with AD's interpretation of RAW but I can tell you something that DOES effectively lock someone into a full attack action without being able to switch to a move action. That is taking a 5' foot step prior to the full attack action (this would occur quite frequently in my experience). If this has been brought up previously then I apologize as I only had the patience to read through the first 100 or so posts.

EDIT: I kind of got ninja'ed by Wraithstrike...I think (something about a 5' foot step in there). However, trying to follow the logic in his post is...difficult.

But due to how things played out, Dovan and a majority were sent off by the "stag lord." I'm working in them running into the lagging PC, capturing him, connecting dots, and assaulting the PCs.

LOL, I like the way you think. The capturing of the PC (assuming they can pull it off) is a great twist. You might even have them set up an ambush instead of assaulting with the captured PC as bait. Things get tricky when the enemy gets to set up the place of battle and knows your coming, especially if the prisoner is in some sort of danger at the same time.

I was adding up each CR2 and CR 1/3 to get the total of 3540, and then dividing that by 5. I do that because 600 distributed evenly among five players isn't 150. I guess that comes down to RAW vs RAI

Ah, I see and understand from your previous post. Yes, you could do that and slow their progress a little if needed. My advice as far as making the encounters more challenging is to make the environments and situations more challenging instead of the straight raising of CR. Put that troll into a dark cave or have it attack at night since they like the dark. I would applaud their resourcefulness in the Staglord encounter and allow them to celebrate a easy victory (there will be plenty more dire situations coming up). I have run the AP through chapter 5 so far and if you want advice on a particular encounter you are about to run just ask but please spoiler it if it is AP specific.

Encounter Level or (EL) is mainly just a guideline to give you an overall idea about how challenging an encounter is going to be but experience is not based off of it only individual creatures CRs (as Turin explained above).

And the 3540 XP for fighting 5 CR2 and 4 CR1/3 Would be correct then?

No, actually since you have 5 characters (assuming they all take part in the encounter) each CR2 would be worth 150 xp each (for a total of 150x5=750) and each CR1/3 would be worth 35 xp (for a total of 35x4=140). Add those two groups together and you get 890 xp for each character after that encounter. The table is core rulebook page 398.

Hmmmm, maybe I am misunderstanding something here but my barbarian has taken improved overrun and it seems quite effective. She'll attack her target with a charge and overrun the target at the same time. The improved overrun does not allow the target to avoid the overrun so most commonly the target gets a greatsword to the head and ends up prone on the ground. Now the target has some choices, none of them good. #1) Can get up provoking an AOO and wasting a move action. #2) Attack from the ground incurring a -4 melee attack modifier and a -4 AC modifier. #3) Use acrobatics to move 5 feet from threatened area with a 5 increase to your DC but still be prone. #4) Use Stand Up Rogue Talent and still provoke an AOO but get a full round action. What's not to like?!

P.S. I don't actually think you can charge through anyone, by overruning them, on your way to your actual target without the Charge Through feat. Even then it's only one creature your allowed to overrun on the way to your target.

Because there seems to confusion I quote under the Improved Overrun feat: "Targets of your overrun attempt may not chose to avoid you."

It is possible for other classes to do exactly the same thing with touch attacks to higher CR critters through brilliant energy weapons (yes, I realize this isn't something lower level characters will have), rays, etc... It's just that they have to usually face a secondary line of defense like DR or SR when doing it. While the alchemist does too (energy resistance) he is usually versatile enough to be able to switch to some other energy type on the fly. Other casters with the right feats and/or the right spell selection can also do this pretty easy at higher level just not as quickly (alchemist can throw all five different energy types in a round if built that way). Of course then we get the force bomb which has absolutely no inherent passive defense. So, I guess what I am saying is I feel the crux of the problem isn't so much with the use of touch AC as it is with the ease which the alchemist passes by all secondary defenses. Change the bomb ability from supernatural to spell-like and suddenly you have a much more manageable class for the DM. Basically, the alchemist would then face similar issues to a mage casting a fireball. However, that may go to far in reducing the alchemists ability. Not sure, would have to see it in play but I suspect so. Thus I only did it to force bomb. My litmus test is usually would I think this is fair as a player should my DM suddenly use an alchemist against me? When alchemists start taking out PC's with no real way of them defending themselves except through pure luck then everyone has an interest in doing something about it. I guess I don't feel it's really that extreme a power imbalance yet but definitely keeping an eye on it.

JCServant what you say is very true but I would broaden it. It turns out that with Pathfinder character builds I have tweak encounters constantly for all my PCs, not just the alchemist. My witch will 1 or 2 round single creature encounters pretty easily and consistently. Same holds true for the charging cavalier if given space to use his mount (which since I am running Kingmaker is fairly often). The archer often decimates foes quickly by dealing 80-100+ hitpoints each round at long range. So what am I to do against this well oiled machine? Here's some examples from chapter 4 of Kingmaker (HEAVY SPOILER ALERT):

Those are but a few examples of memorable battles and conflicts from just one chapter of an AP that involved everyone in the party and lasted more than just a round or two. Good times. Never in those scenarios did my alchemist feel "targeted" or the party feel I tweaked things just to fit the alchemist. That being said, Pathfinder does require me to put quite a bit more thought into each encounter and I do throw in straight forward encounters where they all just get to blow things up and deal lots of damage. You are right about your observations and maybe this will give you some ideas. Hope it helps.

It seems that people are getting lost in the weeds about how the alchemist will do against a particular creature. That can be argued endlessly.

Having run a AP (up through chapter 5 now) with and alchemist I have to agree with the OP that the class involves some great challenges for a DM. The alchemist in my game is 13th level and very rarely misses and never runs out of bombs (and I have tried!). He saves them for what he considers worthy opponents and has plenty of other options when not using bombs. They after all have spells, mutagens, and normal alchemical flasks to throw around at great effect. So, the run them out of bombs argument is poor, at best, IMO having tested one in play repeatedly.

Do I think they are overpowered? Not really. My archer player (lots o damage to anything he can see), witch (high DC persistent spells), and cavalier (godly charge damage) all provide sizable challenges. That being said the alchemist is indeed a more consistently reliable source of damage than the others (well except for the archer but he is relegated to a single foe at a time and does miss a bit AND DR does a number on him (thankfully he hasn't yet picked clustered shot)).

The elemental protection argument is moot in the face of force bombs, which my alchemist uses unless he is sure something is vulnerable to his various elemental attacks (sure he's made a mistake from time to time but it just takes one bomb to tell him he has). I have only felt the need to make one change to the class and that is because of force bombs. They are shoe-horned into a supernatural ability when it should be spell like (at least in my opinion). Everything else has some sort of possible defense, such as elemental resistances to elemental type bombs but not force bombs. Oh no, they go through DR, SR, magic immunity, elemental resistances, etc... Every other force effect I can find is distinctly magical in nature (if there is another non-magical one please point it out to me). Anyway, the end result is they are susceptible to SR and magic immunity in my game but also can recharge their ring of forcefangs. A battle with an otherwise immune iron golem convinced me of this, the player agreed. Not to worry his acid did just fine.

How do I deal with him? Well, range increments are your friend, using terrain is critical, cover and concealment, missing when throwing into melee with friends tends to splash everyone, and creatures quickly target him when he makes himself a nuisance. The alchemist has learned to make sure the other party members have things locked down before going nova otherwise he gets targeted real fast (just like any spell slinger really).

Hmmmm, I was going for stuff less than lethal to the slaves in general. Freeing them yes....killing them no (she has lots of ways of flat out killing them if she wanted too).

Vague Kingmaker spoilers ahead.

My opinion of Kingmaker chapter 6 is that on my first read through it, I really liked it. I'm only halfway through the campaign right now and am heavily emphasizing the extremely unusual amount of fey activity and the thinness of the veil between Golarion and the fey world in the Stolen Lands. The clues of Nyrissa's involvement are seeded here and there already, I just put a little more emphasis on them. Since I like the overall story and where it takes us in chapter 6 I am planning on keeping it fairly untouched with the exception of making many of the encounters less about combat and more about role-playing. Come on, the blooms are brilliant and turn the PC's world on it's head in a very exciting and interesting way. To be honest, I was at first less than enthused with the heavy fey focus of this campaign (often they are just plain silly) but I am happy to see the Paizo take on them and think they did a great job of mixing their sometimes whimsical alien nature with some darker undercurrents. It was a high risk endeavor that paid off. Thank you for taking it James and keep pushing the limits no matter what we say ;)

Hmmmm, where to start...

First of all, I love the APs for their quality, style, and artwork (BIG fan of artwork!) I have personally run Age of Worms, Second Darkness (2nd and 6th chapters), Curse of the Crimson Throne, and am half-way through Kingmaker. I have played in Savage Tide, Second Darkness (other 4 chapters), Legacy of Fire, and the beginning of Council of Thieves.

Now it's interesting that you all are talking about chapter 5 when I feel there is more of an issue with chapter 6. Chapter 5 still seems dynamic in most of the APs; Kingmaker's war, CotCT's Scarwall, even Second Darkness' Thorn's Edge and Kyonin (even if we too hated the elves by this point and were wondering why we bothered). There tends to be a lot more going on in those chapters than just beating up bad guys. Chapter 6 however pretty much follows the same overall formula every time - let's string together a bunch of powerful enemies to fight one after the other (or sometimes at the same time if we screw up). Now, I realize, that the PC's need the chance to throw around the might that they have fought so hard for, and that by this point they should have solved most of the mysteries to have a solid idea about what their goals are BUT.....while this formula works sometimes, a variety of challenges other than fights would be welcome change at other times. There are some attempts at this in the last chapters of some of the APs but they are to few, far between, and little more than window dressing most of the time.

Hmmmmm, now the hard part....what takes the place of dozens of rolls and decisions that make up a nail-biting combat and is just as rewarding? Is it just a weakness of the high-level system? Could we maybe develop some skill challenge system of our own. Possibly have PC decisions that have greater impacts on the outcome of the campaign as a whole instead of just a win or lose scenario. Sacrifices that PC's have choices to make (slowly sacrificing a PC's life-force to protect the innocent from the BBEG, of course the old standby of magic items, maybe the mage has the choice to make himself permanently (or less so) part of and control a powerful construct at the cost of his arcane powers, etc...) Those are just a few poor examples off the top of my head but you get the idea, I hope.

I guess to summarize giving the PC a few other ways to feel powerful and useful other than killing stuff in chapter 6. I personally don't have to much of an issue because I add this to my games anyway but felt, perhaps, I could add some hopefully constructive criticism and would love to see what Paizo had to add in this area.

Thanks for the responses - we haven't gotten into the mass combat rules, and I hadn't realized there were elements there that required larger kingdoms.

What has everyone else's experience been in kingdom expansion? Did your party build an uber-city and then expand? What's so great about having a barony? How many cities can you have?

Since I am assuming your asking as a DM (spoilers inside):

but since we're already in the dessert

Mmmmmmm, dessert. My adventure sweet-tooth is intrigued.

I'm still thinking about what to do next. It's hard to find the time these days.

Has anyone/everyone played Fellnight Queen by our buddy Neil Spicer?

I have not. I own it but like most of my paizo adventures it just gets shelved for a rainy day. So I have no clue other than it has something to do with fey.

I think I saw Pact Stone Pyramid at my FLGS. Has everyone played that or are you anxious to get out of the desert?

I'm good with this too. Own it but again no clue. Wish I could let you borrow my copy if you wanted to run it.

BTW, Rite Publishing has just published my "30 Haunts for Ships and Shores" so, be prepared for a sea voyage.

Congratz! But why our Swan Boat Feather tokens are all suddenly haunted I'll never understand.

Also, if we lose any players, than I'd suggest finding a new player who can channel divine energy.

Divine, check! Channel, no.

Actually, I buy a lot of adventures so that I can play them too. When I feel like playing and someone doesn't have anything to run I hand them a stack of my stuff that I have heard good things about (good reviews, etc..) or just look cool (I'm a sucker for cover art).

Heya Atapax,

My brother lives up there in Colorado Springs. I'll let him know your interested in starting up a game to see if he's interested.

Resurrecting this thread just because it explains where a few items ended up toward the end here. Looks like Korian was right about where some of the items went (Rod of Wracking, Bag of Holding, etc...).

Broodiken is by far the best entry of the top 3 (that's all I read). Very nice. If you were even close I would go through the sign up process and vote for you.

It all depends on your society. If there is little or no social stigma against brothels, there is no reason they cannot become areas of great economic growth. It is more of a modern thing to consider brothels degrading to society. In Ancient Greece, they were prominently displayed in the marketplace. In ancient Japan it was a wealthy mans pleasure, and treating other wealthy men to a night in the brothel was a sign of respect and a way to brag. In early New Orleans history, one of the most powerful women in the city ran the brothel, which was a major ecconic draw. Without modern western values that degrade the profession, there is no reason to think that brothels should be low class or destructive. In this campaign world, they can temples to the goddess Calistria.

True, true, just thinking of a possibly good way to keep it in check. I have the frontier town old western saloon/brothel or seedier parts of medieval Europe stuck in my head. Too many of the wrong kind of movies I guess.

On a separate matter, over the issue of over building brothels, I may have a idea that could work. I would say that it requires a regular stability or loyalty check (not sure which would be more appropriate yet) to keep the attached house from downgrading to a tenement (and gaining the unrest from it). After all brothels are probably not good for neighborhoods and housing values :)

Berhagen wrote:

wraithstrike wrote:

scooter.monkey wrote:

For example, a new Kindom with Command DC of 21, if the Treasurer rolls a modified 26, does the Kingdom get 1 BP or 5?

They get 1.

I think they get 5..... I seem to recall that James confirmed this somewhere on these boards, but I might be mistaken. (It is a "all or nothing" roll)

That's what I recall as well - frankly, my PCs are hosed the other way around.

Having run some of this for my Kingmaker game I would have to agree that the 5 BP method is a requirement. Otherwise, it would take forever to build anything.

Yeah, no worries. After resting Sykala should be a much more active participant again.

Guys, in case you still watch this thread, I've got a casualty in my Age of Worms thread and will be needing a replacement. I guess most of you have played AoW already, but in case you're interested I will give you precedence.

It's a good group and a fast-paced game. The party has just finished the Whispering Cairn and you would be starting at level 2. We're primarily looking for a tank.

Cool. The next chapter is brutal. I ran the entire arc a few years back and it was a blast.

No, the way you are doing things is fine and I like when you put who is next in the initiative order. The problem occurred because I was waiting for you to state the mercenaries actions so I could react to that because they went before me.

Yep, just to clarify in case it was missed in my above post: Levistus. would work fine.

Hmmmm, ok, that's fine but can I have it changed to something less intrusive? Perhaps put a period after it or something? I'm hoping that this is something that occurred very infrequently, otherwise I understand why you wouldn't want to take personal requests and open up that can of worms. If not, than I guess I'll just create a new one and allow that one to languish on the Isle of Misfit Names.

EDIT: Apparently we are ninja'ing one another.

It appears that one of my alias was changed from "Levistus" to "Dark Arioch's Levistus" out of the blue with no explanation. I have been using the alias for some time now in PBP games on these very boards. Needless to say, I create my alias to help with immersion and find the "Dark Arioch" tacked on somewhat distracting and disappointing. I am assuming that a change like this has to come from you or someone very close to you.

Oh wait, I think I figured it out. Since he is awakened he now walks around on just his hind legs while wearing a smoking jacket and using a pipe.