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Thanks for all the suggestions. I think Varisia will do great; we played most of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path and they are familiar with the land. We'll keep the other suggestions in mind if we need a change of scenery or climate. Glad to be back in Golarion.
I'm a DM of a group who took a three year detour using a Different D&D System, and after much trial, tribulation and frustration, we're going to be returning to Golarion with Pathfinder. I've always loved the Golarion setting, but there are several creative types in our group who enjoy creating their own kingdoms, societies, factions, etc. Having been *ahem* gone for awhile, are there any regions or areas on the Inner Sea map where we could easily drop in a homebrew kingdom or two? We did try a conversion of the Kingmaker path that didn't really work and the group wasn't real fond of the River Kingdoms area anyway, so we're looking for places outside the River Kingdoms zone. Any help for a DM and group who's seen the light would be appreciated.
I hate to say it, but I'm not emailing out the PDF I made, as distributing it probably infringes on Pazio's copyrights to their art. On the other hand it might not, but but I'm erring on the side of respecting Pazio's work. IIRC, the company has stated that they don't want any of the internal artwork in their PDF's distributed unless it shows up in their blog first. The steps I've described are very very easy to do, and all the software to do it is free. It literally took me less than ten minutes on the computer, start to finish. Maybe Pazio could release a set of "terrain tile" images on their blog or something. Otherwise, the Mighty Empires map tiles are pretty good at that.
Another *YOINK* from me as well; excellent list, thanks!!!
Care to share your 4e conversion material? I end up changing things around a lot; I usually do that anyway with any pre-gen adventure, but when converting systems, its even more so. So what I have is sometimes very different from what's written here in the Paizo adventure. Plus our game group is large, 6-7 players at the table on a good night, so that's taken into consideration as well. I wouldn't mind sharing what I have, but am unsure as to the correct place for it - I don't want to step on Paizo's toes and put something out that could violate copyrights. I should shoot the powers that be an email and ask them. I make heavy use of "re-skinning" monsters; my life is way to busy to painstakingly try and re-create each and every monster. Thylacines? Just a hyena from the Monster Manual with a new name. My swarm of mite minions? Just renamed lvl 1 goblin minions with lowered defenses. I take my time a bit more with the major villains and monsters. Having the Monster Builder really helps in that regard. I will say that the major difference I'm encountering is in the number of creatures - 3.5/Pathfinder encounters are many times only 1 or two creatures, and that's a completely different paradigm then 4E, which calls for large numbers of creatures in an encounter. So for example take Tartuk - the encounter as written calls for the PC's to take on Tartuk, and he's alone. in 3.5/Pathfinder, that's fine - he's got a gobload of spells, feats, abilities, magic items and whatnot to defend himself with. In 4E...not so much. So I had him prepare in case the PC's did attack, and had him summon some minor demons to his lair, thus balancing out an encounter (IMHO solo fights are very dull in 4E). My conversions call for a lot of handwaving on my part: Does the character as written have the ability to summon demons? I don't know, and frankly don't care. He's a bad guy, bad guys have mooks, so voila - demonic mooks. Does it depart radically from the module as written? Of course. So as soon as I find out what is ok to post, I'll throw up some of my conversion notes. I will say that my players are loving the adventure so far, and can't wait to establish their own kingdom. Of course they have to live through their assault on the Stag Lord's fortress first...
I looked around for small 3d minis, and ended up buying the Pazio paper ones. They worked just fine, especially since I'm running a 4E conversion and wanted to try the mites as a swarm of minions. The end result was very good, I had up to 24 of the paper minis on the board at one time, and no issues with them being lightweight.
Here's how I did it: 1. Extracted the images from my subscriber's PDF using SomePDF Image Extractor 2. Using an image editing program (GIMP in my case), I selected an area on the map image from the book that lined up along the grid and then cropped the image to that selection. I ended up with an image that is exactly x squares wide and y squares tall, no partial squares along the edges of my new image. 3. Again using the editing program, I rescaled the image using inches as my measurement instead of pixels. So if my image was 30 squares wide by 20 squares tall, I'd scale it to 30 inches wide and 20 inches tall. Voila, I now have an image where the squares are 1 inch. 4. I then use PosterRazor to create a multi-page PDF of my new image, as I can only print to standard 8x11 paper. Its that simple; it takes longer to cut out and tape the sections together than it does to make the image. I've found that rescaling the image doesn't lose that much resolution, and PosterRazor makes a much better battlemat than the raster programs I used to use. Also, all of the software I used in the process is free/open source, so it didn't cost me a dime except for ink and paper.
Name: Khashana
After defeating the bandits at the Thorn Ford camp, they capture Kressle and she gives them details on the location of the Stag Lord's headquarters (the two LG types are attempting to turn her from her life of crime, and stopped the rest of the party from lynching her on the spot). They find the fort and scope it out, noticing that the bandits don't pay much attention to the backside of the hill and decide that's their avenue of assault <insert evil DM laugh here>. They wait until nightfall and begin their ascent up the hill. Halfway up the hill they are jumped by the undead guardians. Being a 4E conversion, I had to modify the encounter; a wight and several skeletons of various kinds attack the party. We're also playing "Brutal Style" (monsters have less HP but more damage). The rogue goes down and is bleeding out when the pacifist cleric runs and saves him from dying. About this time two bandits in the fort notice the commotion and begin firing on the party as well. For her heroism the cleric is peppered with arrows from the skeleton archers and falls unconscious, dying. Thus follows the dialog from the (redneck) bandits on the walls: "Whoo-wee, didja see that one? Them dead folk got her good!"
After finally defeating the undead, the party retreats from the hillside under fire from the arrows and jeers of the bandits, sneaking away and sorrowfully carrying the body of their dead friend with them. They return to Oleg's to discover that in their absence, a raiding party from the Stag Lord has burnt most of the trading post to the ground, kidnapped Svetlana, and has crucified Oleg by nailing him to what's left of the outer wall - revenge for their assault on the Thorn Ford camp. The cowardly priest of Erastil comes out of hiding and tells them what happened. I handwaved him to be high enough level to cast Raise Dead and the party forks over their hard earned cash to raise their cleric friend (they had previously completed his quest, so he was friendly to them). They also paid to have Oleg raised as well, and he vows revenge on the Stag Lord. The party doesn't need much convincing, as their blood is up now too. Reinforced by the addition of Oleg and Kressle (the Stag Lord went too far this time in her eyes; maybe she is on a path to redemption), they re-assault the fort, sneaking up the back hill figuring that they killed all the undead. From the fort they can hear the sounds of celebration, rough laughter, and occasionally a woman's scream. No time to lose - they hurry up the hill. All make their stealth rolls...except for the cleric, who is spotted out in the open by the same two bandit guards. What follows is utterly classic: Thinking quickly, the cleric begins waving her hands and moaning, ghost-like: "OoooooooOOOOo Yooo have killlled meeeee....I've come baaaaack for yourrrr soulll! OooooOOOOOooo!" <player aces her Bluff check, and the bandits fail miserably> Terror fills them as the deva psion teleports the cleric over the wall and RIGHT NEXT to the bandits. The cleric shouts: "By killlinggg meee, yooou have broken the barrrier...we dead can crossss the walll! Yoouuu willl alllll die!!!!" <player aces another Bluff check>. End result...one bandit runs screaming "They're comin! The dead are comin over the walls! Run for yore lives!!!" while the other falls to his knees, blubbering in terror. The rest of the party meanwhile has scaled the outer wall safely and the assault of the fort is on in earnest. Best. D&D session. Ever. Apologies for the wall of text.
Awesome looking poster, much better than the one I ginned up.
Using the image extractor from SomePDF.com, I extracted the image of the map from the Stolen Lands book. Using PosterRazor from http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/ I created a multi-page PDF of that image to print (using a 2 inch overlap so I could make sure and have whole hexes). I then printed out the hexes onto cardstock, cut 'em up and am gluing them to a piece of foamboard as my players explore. Beats a hand-drawn map any day. For those interested in using Mighty Empires tiles, you can view the PDF that GW made freely available some time ago here: http://talisman.clift.org/talismanisland/mightyempires/Memaptiles.pdf
Name: Kerr
In poor Kerr's case, he was a victim of Tartuk himself. He was hit with an area attack while already at negative hp, and that was enough to move him from the "mostly dead" stage to the "go through his pockets and look for loose change" stage. However, his sacrifice wasn't in vain - their defeat of Tartuk has ensured peace between the "Big Peoples" and the kobolds of the Sootscale tribe. This is our second PC death in three nights of play. My players are quickly realizing that their conquest of the Stolen Lands will be a grim and perilous affair...which will make their victories all that much sweeter.
Exactly. I've been converting the adventure to 4E and running it "Brutal Style" (monsters have less HP, but do much more damage) and life in the Stolen Lands is *very* deadly (3 nights of playing, 2 PC deaths already). It is interesting to note how suddenly pragmatic the LG types have become when death is lurking around every corner...
My PC's allied with the kobolds; they talked to the kobolds first, and even were bringing the captured mite back with them to try and work out peace between the two. But once the druid discovered the remains of the animals tortured by the mites along the way, he went berzerk. After a brief discussion and a small amount of handwringing by the lawful good types, the party made up its mind, and the mites were slated for extinction. They exterminated all the mites save Grabbles, and hauled him back to Chief Sootscale as a war prize in the hopes of making a lasting pact between the "Big People" and the kobolds.
Name: Duvad
Within minutes the player rolled up a new character and we had a new party member - the kobold prisoner the mites were holding was rescued and joined the team. As a kobold fighter, of course.
My group was quite pleased with Cry Havoc from Malhavoc Press. Plenty of options for running small to large scale battles, and it integrates the player character's into the process well.
Need some advice on tactics in Pathfinder #2 Spoiler: My players just reached the Hambley farm, where they'll do battle with various ghouls and Rogors Craesby. I have 6 level 4 adventurers (plus a heavy warhorse, courtesy of the goblins of Thistletop). It seems to me that a handful of CR 1 ghouls and a slightly scarier dread ghoul will be pretty easy pickings; without breaking a sweat they already blew through the group of three ghouls that moved out into the fields on patrol. Thanks to some saving throw boosters they found at Thistletop (cloak of resistance, Sihedron medallion, amulet of resistance) they'll have to get pretty unlucky on their saving throws to be paralyzed. Plus 4 of the six are elves - so paralysis doesn't work on 'em anyway.
I already plan on adding a few more ghouls to the mix; I'm looking for advice on combat tactics - how could I make this fight more challenging to the party, seeing as I have so many elves? Thanks in advance.
While going back and forth between here, ENWorld and WOTC/Gleemax, I've read a lot of comments along the lines of "sure, there are things in 3.5 that are broken, but they can be fixed." I've heard several calls for "maybe a version 3.75" that can fix some of the "broken" rules in 3.5. I'm curious as to what the Paizo family of designers, players, forum members, etc., think are specifically some of the "broken" game mechanics in 3.5 - and how you'd fix them. I'm talking about confining it to just the PHB/SRD here, game rules only. Also, lets confine it to game mechanics only; not fluff issues regarding elves/eldarin, the Great Wheel, or the like. I'll start off: WHAT I THINK IS "BROKEN": Feat System. Too many feats that might be useful, but no one would take them due to limited number of feat slots over the course of a characters levels. Too many levels where you get nothing from leveling except a bump in HP and maybe a saving throw bonus. HOW I WOULD FIX IT: In my home game, I've made a list of "secondary" mostly non-combat benefit-type feats, things like "Diligient" or "Acrobatic" (plus the item creation feats, wanted to jumpstart my player's making their own items for once). On levels where you would not normally get a feat (2,4,5,7,8, etc.) they get to pick a feat from this secondary list. This way they have something to look forward to each level. So far in our Pathfinder campaign, its working well. Ok, your turn - what would you fix about 3.5?
As a former teacher, I know the rigors of the teaching life and I wish you all the best in bringing gaming to these kids. You're giving them something special that they'll take with them the rest of their lives. I concur with the poster above - that is simply awesome. And for Pazio, this alone should show you the power of what you people are doing. What an exciting time for us D&D gamers, to be riding the wave of creativity that is pouring out of the Pazio offices! IconoclasticScream's letter should be printed out and posted above the coffee machine in the breakroom as a reminder that even when the work gets hard and deadlines are bearing down you're dragging in on very little sleep, what you folks are doing truly has meaning beyond mere gaming.
Thanks!!!! This is exactly the kind of information that my players are needing now...plus it gets me as a DM twice as jazzed to see more of Golarion. The wealth of names and hints dropped in Erik's post alone could fill hours of speculation. Thanks for the post, Erik. The collective world that Pazio is building is most promising. After our second session of the "Burnt Offerings" adventure last night, I had several players comment to me how much they loved the new adventure, and are really, really excited about the world and the way you folks are re-imagining and re-vitalizing D&D.
Woah...these are awesome! I plan on using both when I run the campaign soon. I like 'em better than the ones that were included in the bok. Excellent work, especially on Shalelu (her elf ears are perfect; I like elves with long ears, but the illustration in Pathfinder made them almost too long). Don't let anyone discourage you; keep posting!
Exactly!!! I for one love the new look of elves; heck, for that matter, I am looking forward to a re-imaging of any monster Pazio can get its hands on. I don't WANT to play in WOTC's tired old campaign worlds anymore - my group and I are looking forward to exploring a new universe. I want my elves, goblins, ogres and whatnot to be be different, fresh and new. If that means a lil manga influence creeps in, oh well. I'm with Pazio - no more dopey hobo goblins. Its a new day for D&D.
Thanks for the reply; I too will point my FLGS owner to this thread. One more reason I love Paizo - awesome customer service! Oh, and I'm in Central IL, so if they have only east or west coast distribution centers, those of us in the middle here might have to wait longer than the coasts. I never thought of that before.
Just got back from picking up an order my friendly local game store, and they had oodles of Paizo stuff for me, but no Critical Hit Deck. The owner called his distributor (Alliance) and they told him that the Critical Hit Deck "was not out yet, hasn't been published". Now, being an intelligent Paizo fan, I KNOW the deck has been published and is for sale - is Alliance fibbing here? I would love to just order from Paizo straight up, but I feel it is vitally important to the current and future health of our hobby to support our FLGS's, and I try to keep all my game-related purchases local. So any truth to this? I know that some distributors (**Alliancecoughcough**) can be very difficult to work with. I will wait as long as it takes to buy my products locally, but the temptation is getting greater every week as I keep drooling over the prospect of unleashing the Crit Hit Deck at my table.
My family emigrated from Sauland in Hjartdal kommune, Telemark to America in 1893...and now I'm completely jealous of of those of you who are in/have been back to the old homeland :) Back to the map topic - I am noticing a huge number of mountain chains, but not a lot of "hill" areas. Is Varisia that naturally mountainous, or is the scale too big to really show that kind of transition detail from low land to mountains?
Another huzzah for the Red and Green worlds - I am drooling at the prospect of including some alternate world stuff a la Burroughs' Barsoom. Now what would be icing on the cake is if these red and green worlds were close in orbit and appeared rather large in the sky, almost the size of the moon (like the sky background in many of Frazetta's paintings; check out http://frankfrazetta.org/ for a bunch of examples). Adventures on the Red Planet? Step into the this portal here... Hmm, what if the Red and Green planets were at war, sending ships and armies fueled by technosorcery back and forth? Or what if due to the cyclical nature of the orbits, the Red and Green planets affected Varisia's world when they got close, such as demons falling from the sky or the like? What if crawling cyclopian horrors of Lovecraftian proportions lurk on the dark side of one of them? The possibilities are endless. Oh, and you rock primemover003 for the Thundarr the Barbarian references. "Ariel, Ookla, Riiiiidddde!!!"
You can certainly tone down elements like Jervis Stoot/Chopper, gloss over these elements, or cut them out entirely. This goes hand in hand with the recent discussion on firearms. As a DM, I always, always am changing things around in the adventures - a good DM adapts the adventure to his playing group. I don't think I've ever played a game where I didn't modify the adventure or game world. Of course, coming up with a good substitution for some of the more gritty/horror elements in an adventure takes more work than simply disallowing a particular bit of technology like guns, but in the end, it'll be worth it. You will have made it "your own", and can take pride in watching your players as they play through something you adapted especially for them. Modules should be starting points and guides for an adventure, not Holy Writ that must be adhered to at all times. That being said, I would not run my kids through anything that I would consider inappropriate for their age either - that's not being old-fashioned or judgemental; that's just good parenting. Kudo's to the original poster for that.
I am planning on attending GenCon this year and am looking forward to seeing Paizo there - any word on when a schedule of Paizo's events will be coming out? Secondly, I just ordered the Critical Hit Deck today (from my FLGS, gotta support them) and would definitely buy a Critical Fumble deck. Keep up the good work, Paizo.
This freedom is very liberating, and to be honest I can't wait to hear what you think of Skinsaw or see what James and the chaps cook up visually and editorially. After my initial anger at the cancellation of Dungeon and Dragon magazines, I came to the same conclusion: this really frees up the writers, artists and other production people at Paizo to let their imaginations run wild and get really creative and pull out all the stops without being shackled by the same old D&D worlds and traditions. I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of new world you folks can come up with - I'm liking what I see so far. Keep up the good work!
The Wrath rune (I'm using the top left one) looks like a helmet to me, viking-beserker type. Envy looks like two half-lidded eyes, looking out in envy. Lust. that's a little harder, the sinuousness (is that even a word?) of the rune's shape can be suggestive. Actually though, I count eight runes..the one top center - is that another symbol for Wrath or Pride? Gluttony, Greed and Sloth are easy ones.
Very nice list EP. I know we'll eventually see the world, but its fun to pick through and glean what we can now - helps to pass the time :) Need to add "Abendigo" and "Belkzen" to the Realms list, from today's blog entry. Also add "Darvayne Gios Amprei", presumably a scholar who apparently authored a book "Merciless: Abendigo, Belkzen, Varisia, and Other Hells"
Dan Abnett. Don't know how much he's tied to the WH40k universe, but I love his writing; he's a great storyteller and I think he could do a good job of bringing the Pathfinder world to life.
Very good topic. I'm with you; the old planar structure needs a revamp (and seeing as its WotC's property, it'll have to be anyway.) I personally prefer that the prime material plane be just that - prime. I would like to see the focus of most of the Pathfinder adventures take place in the real, material world. Along with the fortune of adventuring should come fame; what good is kicking a demon lord's behind if no-one in the real world sees you do it? In my campaigns, I like to give my players the sense of being real true world-saving heroes and the fame that comes with it. That being said, the bad guys have to come from somewhere. My personal opinion is that the fewer the planes, the better. Eberron's setup is rather good; I like the "solar system" approach to their planes, and the rather nasty side effects when planes intersect. I'm not saying ditch all the planes, but pare the numbers down. As for the law/chaos/good/evil thing, I think that we can't necessarily get completely away from it - its one of those iconic things that make the game D&D. I wouldn't mind seeing the planes not so attached to alignment though. You're right - we don't necessarily need handfuls of Good Planes and Bad Planes; a few will do. Plus the addition of the Really Really REALLY Bad Plane where Paizo's obyrith demons live (I love those guys - they make Orcus look like a girl scout) would be icing on the cake.
My impression of that thread was that folks were asking Paizo what kind of new monsters they'd like as submissions, and throwing around ideas for those new monsters. What I was wondering was how would people like to see old, regular D&D monsters re-imagined. Not with new stats, just visualized differently (as the goblins were by Wayne Reynolds) or with a different flavor or background.
I love the new concept for goblins here in Pathfinder. You've done a nice job of taking a cliche'd old monster and made them fresh and even a little fun, vicious lil pyromaniacs that they are. So now that Paizo's not chained to WotC's intellectual property, how about giving the same treatment to some other monsters? I'm suggesting trolls to start with. I'm quite tired of the old 1st edition AD&D version of trolls - "thin, rubbery, and loathsome". And for heaven's sake, I know they regenerate, but here in 3rd Edition, with that goofy nose drooping down past their chin, they'd be biting it off every time they eat. I'd like to see trolls put back in their Norse mythology place as big, strong, and scary, similar to what we saw in the LotR movies. Or heck - turn the whole troll concept on its head and give them a civilization. Or something like that. I see this a great opportunity to get really creative and break out of some of the stale old stereotypes that D&D as perpetuated now for 30 years. So how about it? Anyone have any other ideas for other monsters they'd like to see re-imagined like Paizo's done with goblins? Post 'em up here!
Thanks for the clarification; haven't bought either of those two new WotC products, so I didn't know of the change. I agree with you, the Delve format would be good for running some in-store demos or at conventions; not so good for moderately experienced DM's and groups. To each company their own, I guess. Thanks again.
Delve format? I just thought they were adventures. Not exactly clear on that one - can you briefly explain Delve format? If you have the time, how would Paizo's new format be different? (btw, very much looking forward to Pathfinder)
Like everyone else, my first reaction was bitter disappointment, but then after reviewing your site further and seeing your vision for Pathfinder, I started to get excited thinking about the direction that Paizo could take us now that they're freed from the corporate shackles of WOTC. The whole idea of Adventure Paths were the best thing that ever happened to Dungeon magazine (Savage Tide being the best one yet). Then I started poking around further, and read the Pathfinder blog page. You sold me. From the ideas for a new world to play in, to fantastic artwork, it looked great. Then there were the goblins - they were it. I'm in. Anyone who can take a tired old run-of-the-mill monster and make 'em fresh, new, menacing, and even a lil funny the way you have has got my money. Dungeon magazine has consistently churned out the best adventures in the past few years under Paizo's leadership. I trust them to take it to the next level. My only dilemma is how I'm going to get it. I'd dearly love to support my FLGS, but the distribution channels in our hobby stink these days and its always a crapshoot as to whether they'll get new game materials in on schedule. So for the first time, I'm probably going to subscribe. If I think about it, its not that much more expensive than buying the Dungeon and Dragon magazines every month. Or any more expensive than my now-canceled World of WarCrack subscription. Or a couple of cases of cheap beer...but you get the point. New adventure campaigns, new monsters, new world - I'm sensing a fresh cool breeze blowing through the world of D&D. Count me in.
During this weeks gaming session, my brave band of adventurers will most likely meet and kill the tiefling Bozal. Its only the 2nd day of the Games, but they managed to bluff/bribe/slip past the guards to make their way down to the secret chambers that hold the growing ulgurstasta. My question is this: The adventure has a cool ending planned, with the ulgurstasta bursting forth from the ground during the final fight, the adventurers having to fight it on the floor of the arena. This scene will happen only if Bozal willfully drops the wall of force surrounding the monster on time. According to the Apostolic Scrolls sidebar, if he (as the original reader of the scrolls) is killed, the ulgurstasta will lose 1d8 hp/day until reverts back to an average version of its type, and then be released. According to the Fiend Folio, an average ulgurstasta has 110 hp. That means it needs to lose 94 hp - assuming an average 1d8 roll of 4.5, this means in roughly 20 days it will revert and then be released "in an extraordinarily foul mood". I would like somehow to keep the final scene and have the thing released in just a few days, as it is much more dramatic. But how can I do that if the person who can release the ulgurstasta at will, Bozal, is dead? I guess I could have Raknian homself release the thing during the last fight using one of the ways listed in the sidebar, but I don't know. I'd appreciate any help or suggestions.
I've been running AoW with 4-5 players, recently added a 6th. They're hip deep in the Champion's Belt adventure, and for the first time I've had to scale the adventure way up, due to having 6 characters, and one of them took leadership and has a cohort. I am generally not changing the type of monster they're encountering, but adding more of them. So far, the Spawn of Kyuss have been totally ineffective (with they're utterly pathetic AC11), and the cleric and the paladin tag team to turn most they encounter anyway. If my party holds like this, I imagine that I'll have to be scaling upward for many encounters here on out.
Like Brian's group above, my players brokered a deal with Arcane Auriga to hold off on fighting until the other teams were down. To keep things simple, I had "whole team" initiative, and for the players just went around the table; it ran very smooth, no complaints. My players won in just 4 rounds! The Sapphire Squad was taken out in round 1 with a combination of arrows from Arcane Auriga and an ice storm/fireball combo from the party's war mage and sorceror. Badlands revenge lasted a bit longer, and round 3 saw the elven archers turn on my party, realizing it wouldn't be longer. A nasty summoned celestial tiger and more fireballs put an end to them, and our barbarian/bard went toe to toe, rage to rage with the crocodile form of the Badlands druid. The archers almost took out the party's magic users, but in the end, my players were the only team left standing. The fight itself took about an hour or so to run, but I really played up the pre-fight build up - the trash talk down in the Coenoby, the roar of the crowd, the feel of the earth shaking as the masses stomped their feet, the introduction by the arena judge. After every action by the players, I would give crowd reaction; the players ate that up. By the end of the fight, I had all my players shouting and cheering at the table. When that happens, you know you've done a good job as DM. Of course the crowd went wild and started chanting their name ("Mangus' Mighty Mace", after their paladin leader). Becase of the speed and swiftness of their victory, they gained instant fame, and will no longer be anonymous dungeon crawlers. Also, I'm having to buff up Pitch Blade for their next fight, just to give them a challenge. Pitch Blade has a new pet - the owlbear from the Whispering Cairn adventure. The players had captured it and her cub, and sold them to the Emporium. The Emporium promptly sold the momma owlbear to the Free City arena, where Raknian has had her magically "enhanced"...insert wicked DM grin here :) In end, the player's played pretty honorably. My players didn't kill unnecessarily, and the people who died in the arena (the Badlands Revenge druid, the mercs from Sapphire Sqad, and 1 elven archer) really died to over kill, going below negative 10 in one swoop. Anyone who surrendered got away safely. In the end, our party's elf who had brokered the deal with the elven archers gave them money to get their comrade raised (!!!!) - you can bet he'll get extra xp for that bit of roleplaying, and that the whole party will benefit later on down the road, they will be returning as allies somewhere for sure.
My group managed to subdue both the mother owlbear and they baby owlbear. They sold them both to the Emporium; the baby became another one of the "attractions", the Emporium sold the mother off to the Free City arena. Oh yes, my players will face one very enhanced (fiendish? levels of figher? magical experimentation to make her more powerful? not sure yet) and pissed off momma owlbear in the arena. And when she catches the scent of the adventurers who stole her baby from her...well, you can guess its not going to be a pretty sight :)
When my players created their new characters for the Age of Worms, there wasn't a single "core" class among them; we all laughed as we wondered how they would survive with just "support" classes: a paladin, a monk, a ranger, and a bard. Its taken them a little time to get used to the unusual mix, but they are doing just fine. They heal using a mix of potions and cure light wands. My players are all veteran D&D players, and they're really enjoying the challenge of surviving without a cleric (or spellcaster, fighter, or rogue).
My group is about to finish Three Faces of Evil, and will be starting Blackwall keep soon. In preparing for the future, I know that my party HATES dopplegangers and the headaches they can cause in an adventure. No offense is meant to anyone who like dopplegangers, its just how my group of players feels; they really would not like an adventure that centers around dopplegangers. If I recall correctly (don't have it in front of me at the moment), the bad guy has some scrolls that are the adventure's only real tie to the overall Age of Worms plot. Since I can stick scrolls in any treasure pile, my question is this: is there another good city-based adventure printed in Dungeon in the last few years that I can substitute for Hall of Harsh Reflections, one that is around HoHR's recommended 7th character level? I know that I can remove the dopplegangers from the adventure, but since they're so central to the adventure's plot, I feel that I would make more mistakes that way than by just playing a different adventure, and putting the right Age of Worms treasure at the proper spots. Has anyone else made a substitution here? Thanks in advance
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