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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32. Goblin Squad Member. RPG Superstar 6 Season Dedicated Voter, 8 Season Star Voter. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber. Organized Play Member. 1,282 posts (1,338 including aliases). 2 reviews. 1 list. 1 wishlist. 33 Organized Play characters. 1 alias.


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Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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I came to this thread since I realized there was a gap in my book shelves, and I am super happy with all the replies Paizo & Aaron have been giving. Most online retailers today would simply say "backorder" or "out-of-stock", but Paizo goes the extra mile to publicly answer questions and explain things out-right. KUDOS!

I also appreciate that Paizo supports their physical suppliers, such as FLGSs, by not releasing digital product until their physical products hit their street date. This AP's delay has shown that Paizo sticks by that philosophy and has not caved on their morals. Double KUDOS!!

As a TL;DR:
- Book delayed due to import issues
- Ports operate via top-of-stack instead of first-in-first-out, so the container is buried under more recent containers
- There are global supply-chain issues and this just happened to get caught in it
- People are people, so please be patient
- Aaron Shanks is awesome

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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A big step forward. I'm proud to see the landscape changing is positive ways. I continue to be a fan and ally of the excellent creators and workers of Paizo. Recognizing and accepting this change in business will allow the company to grow as a whole.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

Brian Bauman wrote:

Hello, all. We've resolved the issue, and downloads should be working properly now.

If you have an empty 22 kb zip already queued up from yesterday, click on the "Problems downloading this file? Click here." link to regenerate the download.

Hey Brian - I've clicked the Problems Downloading link, and the file size on the product I'm attempting to download changed from 22 kb to 11.7 mb, however I'm still only getting an empty zip folder.

I have tried logging out and in again, tried from the product page, and tried from the My Downloads page. I am on Chrome if that helps.

UPDATE: I got it to work when I switched browsers. Its also possible its a cache/cookies issue for people.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

Also glad I checked here before sending an email... guess I'll check again tomorrow ^_^

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

History: I've had a player in my CotCT game who has been playing a summon-focused wizard, and they've expanded out to using Planar Binding. At first I ran binding right from the book, with the caveat that the player can only have 1 bound creature at a time - this encouraged the player to set contract termination goals, cycle in new minions, etc. As we round into the end of the AP, the player and I sat down and brainstormed revising the binding process to be a bit more dynamic than just opposed checks. So here is the homebrew binding rules; let me know your thoughts.

Step One: Research
The player spends time researching the outsider they would like to bind, typically taking 1 day of research per CR of the outsider when access to an appropriate library is available. At the end of that time, the player makes a Knowledge (Planes), or other appropriate check, as if identifying the monster in combat.

Success means the PC knows the powers and abilities of the creature they are going to bind - AKA: let them see the stat block. They are going to look it up anyway to decide what they want to bind, this just gives them an in-game excuse for looking it up.

Step Two: Binding Preparations
As optional steps, the player can draw an appropriate Magic Circle spell to hold the outsider, and add a spell diagram to help anchor the bound creature. Instead of the flat DC 20 Spellcraft check however, the DC is equal to 10 + twice the CR of the creature to be bound (including templates, if any). In the case of permanent diagrams (see below), the Spellcraft check is representative of your attunement to the existing diagram, and not your competency in drawing the diagram.

A successful diagram still requires the casting of Dimensional Anchor to activate the enhanced protections: stopping extra planar travel and the outsider breaking free via their CR.

However, instead of the diagram providing a +5 to the caster on opposed Charisma checks flat out, the bonus scales based upon the type of material used to make the diagram, and whether it is a temporary diagram or a permanent one. Permanent diagrams cost significantly more, but provide a better bonus and can be re-used binding to binding.

  • Blood or chalk (1 cp) is used like a material component to draw the diagram. +0 bonus.
  • Salt (1 gp) is used like a material component to draw the diagram. +1 bonus.
  • Powdered silver or cold iron (50 gp) is used like a material component to draw the diagram. +2 bonus.
  • Permanent diagram is carved into wooden floorboards (100 gp to hire an artisan, or 40 gp + Craft (woodworking) DC 20). This is used like a focus component, but adds 8 hours of work to the preparation time when first created. +3 bonus.
  • Permanent diagram is carved in stone and filled with a precious metal (200 gp to hire an artisan, or 80 gp + Craft (stoneworking) DC 25; and an additional 300 gp in precious metals). This is used like a focus component, but adds 1 week of work to the preparation time when first created. +4 bonus.
  • Permanent diagram is carved in stone and filled with rare or exotic materials such as a skymetal (1,000 gp to hire an artisan, or 800 gp + Craft (blacksmithing) DC 30; and an additional 4,000 gp in exotic materials). This is used like a focus component, but adds 2 weeks of work to the preparation time when first created. +5 bonus.

Step Three: Casting Planar Binding
The player casts a Planar Binding spell and the target outsider makes a Will save against the spell to negate it.

If you did not cast Magic Circle at all, roll initiative and start an encounter!

If you prepared correctly, the outsider applies its Spell Resistance to your Magic Circle - OR you skip this step entirely if your Spellcraft check from Magic Circle was successful.

Now, the outsider can outright escape via extra dimensional travel - UNLESS you cast that Dimensional Anchor earlier, activating the enhanced protections.

Finally, the outsider gets one Charisma check (DC 15 + 1/2 your caster level + your Charisma modifier) to try and escape the Magic Circle.

OLD Step Four: Negotiation
Normally, the player has 1 day per caster level on the Dimensional Anchor (or the Magic Circle, whichever caster level is lower) to negotiate a deal with the outsider. The PC can make 1 offer per day, and the outsider can only refuse if they succeed at an opposed Charisma check, with a +0 to +6 bonus based on how one-sided the deal is. If the player's offer is not reasonable by the powers of the outsider, the binding fades after 1 day per caster level.

In this homebrew, this step is broken into smaller pieces which add nuances to the agreement.

NEW Step Four: Initial Negotiation
The player starts the negotiation by describing the service they want performed, and any incentives they are willing to provide to the outsider. The outsider is then able to reject the deal, or negotiate with the player on additional terms. The player usually has 1 day per caster level to negotiate a deal, but some outsiders may stick around to complete the deal if it seems lucrative enough.

After the initial offer, the two make opposed Charisma checks. An overly generous initial offer can provide up to a +5 bonus to the player.

  • If the player wins by 6+, the outsider agrees but gets to negotiate up to 1 additional clause to the agreement.
  • If the player wins by 5 or less, the outsider agrees but gets to negotiate up to 3 additional clauses to the agreement.
  • If the outsider wins by 5 or less, the outsider gets to negotiate up to 5 additional clauses to the agreement.
  • If the outsider wins by 6+, it outright refuses the deal, and the player must come back with a more agreeable initial offer after at least 24 hours if they wish to continue negotiation.

If the player's initial proposal requests multiple services, the outsider can negotiate for 1 additional clause per additional service that would be performed.

NEW Step Five: Terms & Conditions
The outsider and the player negotiate additional terms to their agreement, one clause at a time with roughly 8 hours spent haggling on each clause.

At the start of each clause, the outsider proposes an additional payment for its services, condition on type of service, or situation on which it will become free, determined by its nature, goals, and personal desires. Don't worry too much about what will happen if the player can't or doesn't pay; that will be covered in Step Six.

If the player accepts this clause at face value without argument, then the clause took less than an hour to discuss instead of 8 hours.

If the player wishes to haggle, they can offer a counter-proposal. The player and the outsider then make opposed Charisma checks. If the player wins by 10+, they win the negotiation round by outright rejecting the additional clause. If the outsider wins by 10+, the clause is added to the deal as originally proposed. If the difference between the rolls is 9 or less, use the difference to determine who won the negotiation and by how much they moved the middle ground in their favor (roughly a 5% move from exact middle per point).

This step repeats until the outsider has proposed the number of additional clauses it was allowed in the initial negotiation.

Example: Varian is in negotiations with a Kyton. The Kyton proposes an additional payment of one of Varian's fingers for each day of service. Varian counter-proposes one finger per day taken from a slain enemy, if any. The two make opposed Charisma checks and the Kyton wins by 3. The player and GM work out an appropriate middle ground that is 65% of the way to the Kyton's proposed clause, settling on Varian surrendering 1 finger at the end of each week or until the binding is broken by other means.

NEW Step Six: Broken Terms
The outsider lays out 1 final proposal at the end of negotiations, a clause handling the punishment to the player should they fail to uphold their end of the bargain, skip out on full payment, etc. Use the same process as Step Five to come to an agreement.

The proposal and counter-proposal should take all previously agreed terms and conditions into consideration, but need to be feasible for the player to pay. Consequences can range from as lax as negation of the binding and the outsider turning hostile, to as monumental as the PC losing their soul and is whisked away to face immediate final judgement.

After landing on appropriate consequences, the player can review the entire agreement and decide if they still want to bind the outside on this agreement. The player has until the negotiation time (typically 1 day per caster level from the time of casting the binding spell) runs out to agree to the final deal or reject it. If the deal is rejected, the outsider is returned to their home plane.

Once accepted, the binding is complete, and the player and GM have a nuanced document defining the nature of their relationship.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

<3 Y'all outdid yourselves ^_^

stay safe, stay home, stay gaming #paizocononline2020

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

Session 0 - Oct 23rd, 2019
I refer to the first meeting of the players as Session 0. This is where they can talk over character concepts, ask questions of the GM, and pull my aside if need-be. I also talk to the players about consent in gaming, go over player resources, and explain how the prologue will work. It is a light-hearted session with no pressure to actually begin the AP.

For this AP, I put together a Google Sites website to be a place to store NPCs and handouts. We discussed how Korvosa’s city stat-block impacts the players, started talking about Korvosan slang, and it’s government structure. I have some new players to the Pathfinder setting, so we also talked about some of the core deities and the legend of Aroden’s death. We also cover that the Acadamae takes 10 years to graduate, and you are a freshman your first 3 years (unless you advance fast academically).

The PCs:

Fullbright Fordyce:
(Human Unchained Monk 1) A person of no magical talent, his family spent the last of their wealth bribing him into the Acadamae as a legacy-submission. PC plans to take Rogue levels and fake being a wizard with Minor/Major magic talents and a strong Bluff.

Enrika Cadavra:
(Half-Orc Inquisitor 1) A witch-hunter of Pharasma who applied as a joke, but is now eager to learn how to better fight against arcane-casters by being trained like one. PC’s “spellbook” is their prayer book.

AJ “Will come up with a name later”:
(Half-elf Unchained Summoner 1) PC’s eidolon is a corgi-shaped agathion. Applied to honestly get a better education.

Varian “needs a last name”:
(Elf Wizard 1) A Nidalese conjurer who does not remember applying, but was told by a government official to accept. PC is an alienist interested in researching the Dark Tapestry.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Some special rules for the AP which the players know about from the player’s guide I put together for them, that I will summarize here:
  • I have blended the Harrow Point subsystem with the Hero Point subsystem.
  • Item creation feats are not needed so long as you craft on Acadamae grounds; they have special equipment for that so the students can learn - but they have to use a variant of the Dynamic Magic Item creation system when they do.
  • PCs get +2 skills per level that must be spent on the Lore (Int) skill, symbolizing recreational academic pursuits.
  • Prestige and Fame subsystem from Inner Sea Magic is in effect and tracks a student’s progress towards graduation.
  • Occult Rituals exist, and the Acadamae uses them so an entire class can learn the magic behind the spells the ritual replicates.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    From there it was time to start the Prologue:

    The PCs begin moving onto campus on Starday, Rova 7th, 4719 AR. They are met by Terentius who gives them a brief tour of campus before they report to Ornelos Hall to complete their paperwork. Here they meet Jandar Lilswin and see he is drunk on bureaucratic power. Enrika catches on this and calls out Jandar for abusing his power - their argument calls Toff Ornelos down from upstairs.

    Toff chastises Jandar, volunteering the student to finish the PCs paperwork. Toff introduces himself to the PCs and emphasizes the campus rules. He explains all the PCs are going to freshman House Drake (the other dorm being House Imp), to help balance a population discrepancy between the dorms. AJ asked for details about the discrepancy, and Toff explained that a freshman last year was practicing unsanctioned magic in the middle of the night and conjured a Cloud Kill spell that sank through the dorm as many of its young wizards slept. (high student mortality rate indeed!)

    After a small conversation about Toff’s responsibilities as both Headmaster and a member of the Peerage Review, Toff sends the PCs to their dorm with Terentius. Along their walk, Terentius confides he was once a House Drake freshman himself, and the tragedy moved him to want to be a mentor during his final year.

    At the dorm, the party meets their House Lead, Seskar Imintar, who takes over from Terentius in getting the PCs settled in. She introduces and gossips-about the other NPC freshman, including why these specific students missed the Cloud Kill tragedy. Varian asks if his bunk bed smells like corpses, and Seskar explains all the students were donated to the Hall of Whispers (School of Necromancy). Seskar also explains the point system between the 2 freshman dorms, and how it impacts campus chores.

    As the PCs settle in for the night, the house drake Majenko comes down from the rafters to engage the PCs in some icebreaker activities. They learn the tiny dragon lost his master to the Cloud Kill incident, and he would like to adopt the party - in a dorm-mother sense. The conversations continue until each of the PCs falls asleep.


    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    End of Session 0

  • Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    The Great NPC Shuffling
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Major Ties back to the AP
    I mentioned foreshadowing NPCs, so here is a list of some of the major NPCs from later in the adventure that I am teasing during the prologue. The PCs have a feeling that the BBEG is being teased in the prologue, which to some extent that is true, and made me happy that I pulled in so many red-herrings (see next sections).
    WARNING - STRONG SPOILERS AHEAD!

    King Eodred, Queen Ileosa, & Seneschal Neolandus:
    - The King is meant to attend the prologue Breaching Festival in the PCs 3rd semester, but his health prevents him from attending - sending the Queen and Seneschal in his stead. Which lets the PCs know that Eodred’s health is failing, and highlights a rivalry between Ileosa and Neolandus. PCs may see both of them mingling with other individuals as the festival carries on.

    Glorio Arkona:
    - attends the graduation ceremony of Vavana Dhatri; will reappear during Escape from Old Korvosa

    Janeska Hount:
    - The players see her graduate in the same ceremony as Vavana Dhatri, but when she is not offered a position amongst the faculty, she leave the Acadmae very upset. She will go on to fail out of the entrance exam for the Order of the Nail, and cause havoc on the streets during Crown of Fangs as part of an encounter from the Runescar comics.

    Maganrad:
    - A student teacher at the Acadamae, Maganrad will compete alongside the PCs during the 2nd time the Breaching Festival occurs as part of Academy of Secrets.

    Majenko:
    - This house drake adopts the PCs on their first nite in the dorms, and will serve the party as if he were a familiar with the Mascot archetype. He gets kidnapped during the PCs 3rd semester, but they have a chance to rescue him from Eel’s End during Edge of Anarchy.

    Meliya Arkona:
    - attends the graduation ceremony of Vavana Dhatri, and PCs may see her flirting with Verik Vancaskerkin (who is working security at that event). She does not make any further “appearances” in the AP, but it may help the PCs connect Verik’s actions during Edge of Anarchy to the Arkonas, providing a foreshadow of the family flexing their political muscles and playing the long-game.

    Rolth Lamm:
    - A very creepy upperclassman at the Acadamae. The PCs will be integral in uncovering that Rolth has been killing students and stealing their bodies to try and build a corpse golem; even though that project was rejected by the staff. This results in Rolth being expelled from the Acadamae. PCs encounter more of his deeds during Edge of Anarchy, and can confront him directly during Seven Days to the Grave.

    Terentius:
    - Speaking of the Breaching Festival, the wizard Terentius will be used as a mentor and friend to the party during their first 3-ish semesters. The PC’s 3rd semester includes their first look at the Breaching Festival as they assist in setting-up and running the festival. Sadly, Terentius will disappear while attempting the Breaching, but the PCs will get a chance to rescue him the next year when the attempt it as part of the Academy of Secrets module.

    Toff Ornelos:
    - The Headmaster of the Acadamae welcomes the PCs as new freshmen, explains local political situations (as he sits on the Peerage Review), but also has to dish out discipline actions as needed. The PCs may see Toff conversing with Volshyenek at nite in House Ornelos if they sneak out at nite, and Toff is responsible for some other NPCs knowing each other. Ultimately, he will ask the PCs for help with the Breaching Festival as I insert the Academy of Secrets module into the mid-late game.

    Togomor:
    - This bloatmage is one of the faculty members of the school, working to dig-up dirt on Toff Ornelos. During Seven Days to the Grave, he will leave the school to become the new Seneschal until the PCs confront him during Crown of Fangs.

    Vavana Dhatri:
    - The players will see her graduate, and become a faculty member at the instance of Toff Ornelos. During the prologue Breaching Festival, she will get in the good graces with Queen Ileosa, and leave the school to work on the founding of the Gray Maidens.

    Yzahnum:
    - the efreeti is called and bound during a conjuration group project / occult ritual, i’ll even let the PCs determine an item that is the binding focus and then place that item within Ileosa’s chambers in Crown of Fangs, which is when they will face-off against the efreeti. It also means that he can better personally taunt the PCs in his other persona.

    Zellara Esmeranda:
    - Traditionally Zellara sparks the start of the AP. In the prologue, she is the current Dean of Divination, and is the PCs academic advisor. She has foreseen the “Doom of Korvosa” and has surreptitiously pulled strings to get the PCs admitted to the Acadamae so she can prepare them for their fate as saviors.

    Zenobia Zenderholm:
    - as a noble, she attends the prologue Breaching Festival. She also comes to the Acadamae to scold Toff Ornelos for expelling Rolth Lamm rather than having him hang for his crimes. She disappears from public view during Edge of Anarchy, returning at the end of Seven Days to the Grave to exonerate and publicly back the queen. The PCs confront her during Crown of Fangs.

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Minor Tie-ins
    The following are NPCs who will also appear in the prologue as part of world-building but don’t play major roles in the AP. They are NPCs that the PCs will meet directly and serve to deliver bits of info, facts, and rumors about Korvosa and things that may happen down the line. They are also red-herrings to keep the PCs from recognizing the major NPCs from above. These are all NPCs from preliferal Paizo materials.
    WARNING - MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!
    Cheh:
    - the mimic spy and assassin of Gorbic Salmore (ala Beginner Box: Tome)

    Doctor Orontius:
    - Prof of Illusion, fills the role of the hippy professor who bucks authority but is generally laid-back and lazy. Also works for the Cerulean Society as a positive connection the PCs could have with that organization. Character is borrowed from from the Theives’ Vinegar webfiction, and repurposed.

    Elgin Remorri:
    - Dean of Transmutation

    Gasta Weagra:
    - owner of the Golden Orrey, the Acadamae bookstore and supply store.

    Gorbic Salmore:
    - Prof of Transmutation, he fills the stereotype of the research professor who can’t be bothered by students and is annoyed by them. He is overly patriotic and plots the assassination of Linna Montrovale using a mimic servitor (ala Beginner Box: Tome). His zealotry is an indicator of the general political temperment of the faculty, which should build-up overtime to make the party eager to change things by late-AP.

    Hazelindra:
    - Prof of Necromancy & Occult - borrowed from Beginner Box: Tomb

    Heresta Tarlan:
    - Dean of Enchantment, she networks Vavana to Queen Ileosa.

    Jandar Lilswin:
    - student and Toff’s administrative assistant; borrowed and repurposed from the tour-guide student in the beginning of Academy of Secrets.

    Julaei Cangi:
    - Dean of Abjuration, her feud with Toff Ornelos leads to the Breaching being overly dangerous, and is one of the reasons Toff agrees to let the entire party participate.

    Linna Montrovale:
    - Prof of Conjuration, she fills the stereotype of the super-political liberal teacher who is trying to change the institute by infusing students with a desire to summon chaotic and good aligned outsiders. During the prologue, there is an attempt on her life by a zealous and traditionalist teacher that the PCs foil (ala Beginner Box: Tome). After the brush with death she decides it is time to leave - she could be an additional contact for the PCs in Kaer Maga during A History of Ashes.

    Messida Vost:
    - Dean of Conjuration, she accepts the contracts from the Queen for binding the 4 deamons that appear during Seven Days to the Grave, and the binding of the efreet Yzahnum who appears during Crown of Fangs.

    Nazari:
    - a doppelganger pretending to be a student so they can rob the Acadamae; PCs catch them late in the prologue. Borrowed from Beginner Box 2: Masks.

    Nella Cailean:
    - Freshman, and a bad-influence on others. Character is borrowed from from the Theives’ Vinegar webfiction, and repurposed.

    Norva Allesain:
    - Prof of Divnation, she ascends to Dean after Zellara’s death - being in the right place at the right time

    Oriana Delmore:
    - Dean of Necromancy, she makes the final decision that Rolth should be expelled but argues against his killing as he is a prodigy. She becomes depressed at Terentius’ supposed death, but is overly grateful if he is returned.

    Rombastle Falgeringer:
    - Dean of Illusion

    Sagitar Tiguan, Basha, Phaedron Skoda, & Jope Chantsmo:
    - merchants that frequently commission or purchase magical items from the campus crafting classes. Borrowed from the Guide to Korvosa and the Winter Witch novel.

    Salgar Irevotnin:
    - Dean of Evocation

    Seskar Imintar:
    - a freshman Enchantment major who is the stereotypical flirty gossip; she conveys several rumors to the PCs which help inform them of other students and faculty early-on. When the PCs return to campus for Academy of Secrets, she is the student who accidentally summons a Retreiver while trying to impress a student she has a crush on.

    Varian Jeggare:
    - The character from the Dave Gross series of Pathfinder novels makes a stop on campus as a distinguished alumni, and signs copies of Pathfinder chronicles at the Golden Orrey. He knows how infernal the Acadamae can be, but the great training it can provide. He’s like a celebrity guest appearance, or campus event speaker. Throw in some snide remarks about the Magistrate of Tourism using his likeness on brochures for the Acadamae against his wishes, and the PCs discover Varian’s true reason for the visit - a deal on getting those brochures discontinued.

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Purely Filler Characters
    I needed to round off some things, so these are characters that only exist in my mind (or are PFS characters of mine or my husband). They fill-out missing gaps in knowledge or coverage in the vignettes. Their stories are entirely confined to the prologue, and serve as additional red-herrings.
    Azure Blackros:
    - Prof of Abjuration, a wizard who is at-odds with Dean Cagni’s teaching style

    Blargh:
    - Head of the campus guard, and a professor in PE; yup, make those freshman run laps! Gives the PCs a non-wizard as head of security that they could go to; a not-so-bright muscle-rogue.

    Damien Leroung:
    - Freshman student, a bully who directs many of the pranks and hazing against the PCs. Over the prologue the PCs find he is a good person with really bad influences around him (like an imp familiar assigned to him by his family). He has a crush on Illcaster but only knows how to express his interest through trying to target him with pranks.

    Illcaster Jeggare:
    - Freshman student, usually oblivious, serves as a sounding-board that the PCs can recap their adventures to since he is always out of the loop.

    Jeldanara:
    - student worker, first encountered performing menial labor on campus, but then found student teaching the next semester. She is an elf who is taking her sweet-sweet time with her studies by falling delinquent on her tuition every few years. Serves to highlight what happens if the PCs don’t pay their tuition.

    Julia:
    - Freshman student, failing grades push her to the point of accepting to be the subject of a risky ritual binding a devil to her body and turning her into a Possessed Oracle. Highlights the depths and risks that students are willing to go to so they can pass classes. After prologue, she is accepted by the Order of the Nail, which adds more insult to Janeska Hount, and give the PCs a friendly person in that order they can reach-out to if needed.

    Nindrick:
    - Freshman student, dies accidentally to a deadly prank early-on in the prologue. Serves to illustrate the high-mortality rate of students.

    Voska Volvetos:
    - Prof of Evocation, a sorcerer who is pretending to be a wizard, a slight touch of CG among the faculty

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    When it is time to start a new adventure, I tend to have lots of ideas on games I’m interested in GMing, and pitch those ideas to my players to let them decide which one they want to pursue. The pitch my players have currently selected is for the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path.

    The AP is mostly set in Korvosa, and I’ve always loved the details about the Acadamae in that city. I also wanted to incorporate the Academy of Secrets module into the adventure. I like the idea of having the PCs be students at the Academae, and so I have dubbed this modification: “Harry Potter and the Curse of the Crimson Throne”

    I will be using this thread as kind of a development diary & campaign journal - this first post is long and explains my set-up, but I’ll come back every few weeks with a new comment summarizing the most recent session.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

    Initial Concept Pitch to the Players:
    All is not well in the Varisian city of Korvosa and its Acadamae of Arcane Arts; your first day as an incoming freshman has been marked by the death of the king, and riots in the streets! While the school traditionally only takes Wizards, they have been forced to expand enrollment due to the high student-mortality rate and dwindling finances; PCs should be some casting class, or find ways to fake it. Can you survive the oncoming rise of tyranny *and* prepare for your potions final?

    Expanded Concept:
    Welcome to the Korvosan Acadamae for Arcane Arts and Sciences!

    To some surprise, you have recently been accepted as a new student to the Acadamae, a university for arcane study in the heart of the city-state of Korvosa, in southern Varisia. Traditionally, the school only accepts wizards who have passed rigorous magical tests, but for one reason or another, these tests have been waived for you and no one has checked to see if you really are a wizard!

    Perhaps you just never thought of yourself as powerful enough to get into the Acadamae, or were pressured to apply by overbearing family members out of a sense of tradition. You could have faked your application, bribed a university official, or even had someone else apply on your behalf with embellished stories. Maybe you appealed to a sense of magical diversity, were a part of a legacy admission, or are from a culture or family that the Acadamae wants to make a good impression with. You may not even have any magical talent at all, and were accepted in error, bullied and cheated your way in, or were contracted to have diabolic power forced upon you to correct the deficiency.

    The details of your application process and background are up to you, but now that you are accepted the challenge is to avoid expulsion. Students at the Acadamae are pledged as a resource to the university for a period of at least ten years—students either graduate by that time, or die in the process. Failing students are put into dangerous situations to force success as the prevailing teaching philosophy is “diamonds must be forged under heat and pressure.”

    Your arrival at the Acadamae is peppered with despair. The Acadamae’s finances are stretched thin, and the student mortality rate is at an all-time high. Your workload and expectations look insurmountable, and each student appears to be focused on advancement in their craft at the expense of all others. Finally, Korvosa’s king, Eodred Arabasti II, has taken ill, resulting in unrest in the streets and a cloud of foul disposition to grip its people.

    The kings and queens of Korvosa have long ruled under the shadow of the Curse of the Crimson Throne—an infamous superstition claiming that no monarch of the city of Korvosa shall ever die of old age or produce an heir. Whether or not there is any truth to the legend of the curse, King Arabasti II is poised to be the latest victim to succumb to this foul legacy. Now, the metropolis teeters on the edge of anarchy, and it will fall to a band of new heroes to save Korvosa from the greatest threat it has ever known!

    Can you save Korvosa from the oncoming doom and still pass conjuration class?


    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Beyond the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, I’ll be layering in material from these sources:
  • Academy of Secrets (module)
  • Beginner Box Adventures 1 & 2
  • Pathfinder Comics: Runescar #1-#5, encounters section
  • Borrowing NPCs from novels, webfiction, and some PFS player characters, that all have ties to the Acadamae

    Before the game began, each player received a “New Student Packet” from the school which included:

  • A player’s guide formatted and themed as a New Student Guide
  • A freshman house assignment (they were all House Drake, but I mocked-up one for House Imp too)
  • A letter of acceptance
  • A letter from their academic advisor
  • And a harrow card with a mysterious message on the back ;-)

    A picture of the materials is on Know Direction’s facebook page.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    The Prologue
    I try to find creative ways to provide exposition to my players and set-the-scene for an AP, and I’ve recently found that doing a prologue chapter helps me to accomplish this. In the prologue, the PCs will spend 3 semesters (9 months) attending classes at the Acadamae. This gives the PCs a period of time in which they can get to know each other as both players out-of-game, and characters in-game. The prologue is also meant to give context to the adventure, world-build, and foreshadow NPCs that will play larger roles later in the AP.

    I foresaw this playing out as little vignettes of RP, similar to the “scenes in the classrooms” montage in the Harry Potter movies helps to show the kids learning and bonding. Each vignette will introduce 1-3 NPCs that the PCs should vaguely know about, drop a piece of information about Korvosa or the Pathfinder universe, and let the PCs RP out how they generally respond to that NPC and/or ask questions about them.

    This also give the PCs room to be creative and come-up with their own situations they feel their characters would get into while at a wizarding boarding school, and RP out how the other PCs would have joined-in or responded to the situation.

    Each semester will also have an “electives” course where a PC can ask the GM to detail out a question as it relates to the game world, and I’ll provide them a short paragraph answer summarizing what stuck with them the most from that class.

    I’m not going to be super restrictive about time-versus-information in this chapter either, to avoid constantly returning to every NPC. The character may spend 100% of their time at the school, but the game is only taking-up maybe 2% of the player’s time. So there will be times when I say something to the effect of: “over the course of the semester you will discover that this NPC has X, Y, and Z social traits and quirks.” It may not be the most immersive means, but it is effective on making an impression with the PCs such that they remember that individual.

    There are some very-low combats planned so the PCs can get to know how each responds to combat, and some skill challenges planned as part of “course-work” so that party can tell who is good at covering which skills. They can also adjust their 1st level builds as needed during the prologue.

    As a reward for completing the prologue, the PCs will be level 2 before the actual story of the AP kicks-in.

  • Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Share Feature

    Share Feature Feat wrote:


    Prerequisites: Animal companion, master must have the chosen class feature.

    Benefit: Choose one of the following class features: bravery, camouflage, favored terrain, hide in plain sight, resist nature’s lure, track, trackless step, venom immunity, and woodland stride. The animal companion gains the benefits of the selected class feature, using its Hit Dice as its level in its master’s class for the purpose of this ability; the animal companion gains the benefits of the base class feature, even if the master alters the class feature via an archetype or other means, though the animal companion doesn’t count as having the class feature for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites.

    Share Feature gives your animal companion one of a specific list of class features that the master possesses, but is uses the companion's HD as its effective class level for that feature.

    Is the class feature always from base classes (ie: Druid/Ranger)? What if a character's only class granting such a class feature is from a non-base class?

    Specific example is a character who is only getting Favored Terrain from Horizon Walker. Would the companion's Favored Terrain progress at the rate of Horizon Walker (twice every 3 HD), or progress at base Ranger (3rd and every 5 HD after)?

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Congrats ^_^ welcome everyone!

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    I have GMd a few sessions of Starfinder for Society, and am now swinging a home-game into full gear. A common complaint I have heard while GMing, and in talking with fellow players and GMs, is that the Mystic (particularly the pregen Mystic) does not have a true role in starship combat: Their class skills do not lend them to being great at any of the main roles on the ship, and in most parties they end up being a back-up gunner.

    Now for my home game, one player has decided to be a shirren-mystic, and takes a stance against being the ship's back-up gunner as they are drawing from the pacifist flavor of some shirren from the core rulebook. So my problem becomes how do I keep them engaged in starship combat?

    The answer I've landed on is homebrewing a Medical Officer role. I have heard a few people comment on the lack of a Medical Officer role aboard starships. You have medical officers playing big roles in classic sci-fi shows like Star Trek, so why isn't there one in Starfinder?

    Short answer is that there is only a very low chance to inflict damage to PCs/NPCs during starship combat so there is only a cinematic need for a medical officer and not a mechanical need. Hence the need for an alternative rule that having a Medical Officer supports.

    Alternative Rule: Player Damage on Critical Thresholds
    During cinematic space fights across many sci-fi genres, you will find camera shots that go into the ship and show the crew being tossed around after taking a hit from enemy fire. This might be punctuated by a console exploding and throwing someone back, or by an explosion followed by a stream of cloud-like gas venting.

    In this alternative rule set, when a ship receives critical damage (from either a critical hit or by reaching a critical threshold), the crew takes damage after the results of the impacted system are determined.

    If a system is brought to Glitching, the officers responsible for that system take 1 point of damage. Bringing a system to Malfunctioning system deals 1d4 damage to its responsible officers and 1 damage to all other officers. Wrecking a system deals 2d6 damage to its responsible officers, and 1d4 damage to all other officers. Finally, if any system rolled was already wrecked, then in addition to moving further up the chart to find the next system impacted, crew damage is inflicted as if the wrecked system hit was a wrecked power core (see page 321 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook).

    On capital ships (size huge or larger) where there are more crew members than PCs usually, a wrecked system results in 3d4 incapacitate crew members that support its associated system, and a damaged system that was already wrecked results in an additional 3d4 incapacitated crew members spread evenly across the crew. These crew members are not dead, just temporarily unavailable to assist officers. This may result in a ship not having enough crew members to support all of the officers - or may prevent the ship from being immediately operable in rare circumstances.

    Alternative Starship Role: Medical Officer
    Your role during starship combat is to keep the crew alive, and to attend to any critical injuries to the crew. A starship can have multiple medical officers and can act during the engineering phase. A medical officer takes penalties associated with damaged life support systems and is responsible for those systems along with the captain. A ship is not required to have a medical officer, but it is encouraged if you are using the Player Damage on Critical Thresholds alternative rules above.

    Medical Officer Actions:

    Maintain Life Support (Engineering Phase):
    You can use your knowledge and understanding of healing and anatomy to push life support systems back into functional range for short periods. This functions as the Hold It Together action for the engineer role except that the medical officer can substitute the Life Science, Medicine, or Mysticism skill in place of an Engineering check, and the action can only target the life support systems of a ship.

    Restore Life Support (Engineering Phase, Push):
    By succeeding at a Life Sciences, Medicine, or Mysticism check (DC = 15 + 2 x your starship tier), and spending a point of resolve, you can repair the life support system of a ship by two steps. This repair remains in effect for 1 hour.

    Assign Medical Teams (Engineering Phase, Minor):
    On capital ships, a team of 3 crew members can form a medical team on command to attend to incapacitated crew members. With a Medicine or Mysticism check (DC = 15 + your starship tier) you can assign a medical team to restore 1d4 crew members back to active duty in a singular system role of your choice. For every 5 by which you beat the DC, you restore an additional 1 crew member to active duty.

    Treat Bridge Crew (Engineering Phase):
    You can actively attend to the effects of stressful combat on the ship's officers. With a Life Sciences, Medicine, or Mysticism check (DC = 10 + 2 x your starship tier), you can restore either 1d4 stamina points to a singular officer, or 1 stamina point to all officers (including yourself). If treating an individual officer, you restore an additional 1d4 stamina for every 5 by which you beat the DC. This can restore stamina to a maximum amount of stamina equal to what their stamina score was at the start of starship combat.

    Mid-Combat Surgery (Engineering Phase):
    If you have at least 6 ranks in Medicine, you can use the Treat Deadly Wounds function of the Medicine skill once during a starship combat encounter. This action costs 1 resolve point, but takes only a singular round of starship combat.

    Faith Shielding (Engineering Phase, Push):
    By being particularly devout, you can momentarily increase the shields of your ship. By succeeding at a Mysticism check (DC = 20 + 2 x your starship tier) you gain an amount of temporary Shield Points equal to 5% of your ship's PCU rating. These points are evenly distributed at first but can be reassigned by the science officer as normal. Treat these Shield Points as temporary and subtract from them first. Any temporary Shield Points remaining at the end of the round are lost.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    I've posted my tier 10-11 prep material over on PFS Prep

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    After prepping this myself, and watching a greener GM struggle with prepping and running this, I have come up with a worksheet to help with prepping and have uploaded it to PFS Prep

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    John Compton wrote:
    Michael Eshleman wrote:

    Does the scroll of restoration on page 13 contain the 1,000 material component to remove a permanent negative level?

    I assume not, but I thought that I would bring it to everybody's attention so we are all on the same page.

    Scrolls are assumed to have the maximum necessary components expended, so yes, the scroll is as potent as it appears.

    O.O

    Okay then...

    Not to derail the thread, John, but this may warrant a discussion about scroll purchases in PFS - as I know some people who have bought 100gp Restoration scrolls for the ability to remove multiple temporary negative levels in one go.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Is it just me or does the Hazard at E1 seem useless?

    Best I can foresee

    Spoiler:
    is triggering the hazard if they become panicked by the haunt
    - thoughts?

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Noticed an error in subtier 7-8.

    Encounter C1 lists

    Spoiler:
    2 Bone Priests from Emerald Spire
    but the stat block is not in the subtier 7-8 bestiary appendix. For anyone who needs them they are on p62 in the subtier 3-4 bestiary appendix.

    Interestingly,

    Spoiler:
    Totenmasks
    are listed in the appendix for subtier 7-8 but do not appear in any encounter

    I wonder if the appendix is wrong or the monster listing is wrong?

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    So i have a swashbuckler who multiclassed spellscar drifter cavalier and received Amateur Gunslinger as a bonus feat. Amateur Gunslinger reads that if you gain the grit class feature you automatically exchange the feat for extra grit. With grit and panache essentially being the same, im wondering how this is suposed to work out. Per the ACG if you have a grit and panache pool you combine them. Amateur Gunslinger is the only thing giving me a gunslinger deed, so if it switches to Extra Grit do i lose access to the gunslinger deed?

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    I'm Hiding In Your Closet wrote:
    Nimrandir wrote:


    See, I was thinking a 5-foot enhancement bonus to your land speed, but only when moving in a line.
    There. That's the qualifier to keep that option from being overpowered that I was looking for!

    Or only when running or charging might be another one

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Leshy Familiar (Ex) wrote:

    At 1st level, a leshy warden forms an intimate bond with a nature spirit, incarnating the spirit as a leaf leshy. She gains a leaf leshy as a familiar and treats her druid level as her effective wizard level for the purpose of this ability. If the leshy dies, the leshy warden can incarnate the same spirit again by paying the normal cost to replace a familiar. So long as the leshy lives, the leshy warden gains access to the Plant domain as if through a druid's nature bond class feature, but she can't choose the Decay subdomain.

    This ability replaces nature bond.

    By RAW it seems it would, but I agree that it would break the theme and feel of the Leshy Warden

    Now if you were playing an Aasimar, the Celestial Servant feat may be a better non-contention feat

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    OMG! I can actually see what changes are in the Additional Resources without needing to squint and wiggle the screen! Thank you for that. It may not seem like much to others, but that is by-far the best change for myself and other color-blind users ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    Love the character concept. I have a similar character (Kitsune Wood Oracle - melee type with daisho and the wood-armor revelation looking like samurai armor) and I went with Sovereign Court. That faction is supposed to be "nobles without boarders" and being a chosen defender of the First World meant I was essentially a noble or ambassador. That was my reasoning anyway.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    John Compton wrote:
    It is pointedly apparent that I am not allowing enough spellcasters to summon gibbering mouthers. I should fix that.

    Perhaps add it to an Old Ones expanded summon list in a future AP deities write-up? And then laugh, as Old Ones are not a PFS legal deity? :-p

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Fromper wrote:

    And why Pathfinder Savant? I briefly glanced at that prestige class, but I didn't have a chance to figure out all the details and why it works so well with this build.

    I think it was mostly for Esoteric Spell class feature, allowing you to grab spells off of other classes' spell lists and add them to your own. The prestige class grants you 6 such spells over its 7 levels. In this case, grabbing odd force spells like Emergency Force Sphere or Admonishing Ray

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Jared Thaler wrote:
    BigNorseWolf wrote:
    Jared Thaler wrote:
    BigNorseWolf wrote:

    Just get a porter?

    "Hey how come nodwick looks a lil green around the gills

    Sadly, this won't work

    At this point you have, as John Compton says " made a conscious choice to endanger the follower well beyond the scope of what the vanity would normally assume. "

    If you're adventuring with pathfinders radiation poisoning is the LEAST of the things you signed up for...
    Yes, but the point of John's post is that followers are in the background, and unaffected by anything that happens to the party unless the party is the one doing it to them. Your follower can follow you through a room full of radiation, and is presumed to use their own resources not to get poisoned. But if you poison them, that is on you.

    Except you can flavor most follower vanities however you want. Why can't your porter be a tiefling, aasimar, or other native outsider that is immune to viridium?

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    I think we need to lay offerings at the altar of Erik Mona to fix this one folks :-p

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    So here is my general approach to grey-area builds when players approach my table, and I find that this works really-well at tables in our local area with the repeat players, and helps prepare convention players for encountering this issue in the future:

    I let the player know that I can see an argument against how their build works. They then let me know their argument in favor of their build. I may make counter-points, but I do not let the debate last more than a minute or two. So that play is not detracted from, I make a decision in the moment to either allow the player's interpretation or I negotiate a middle-ground. And move on with the scenario.

    I let the player know that between this session and the next, that they should do some research on Paizo to provide some documentation to back-up their build. If it winds up being a true grey-area, then they should come to the next table prepared to talk about their build with the GM. My preference is that the player give me a quick summary of the argument for their stance on the grey area, the argument against it, and that they propose a compromised version of what they believe is fair or balanced - I will then let them know before the game begins how I would interpret the grey area in most situations, and resolve to reach a middle-ground with the player that works best for them but is still in line with the flavor of the game and RAI.

    At a convention, I stress to the table before I begin that I should be made aware of any shenanigans, grey-areas, and loop-holes that anyone is using. If a grey area then comes up, I inform the player that at their next table, they need to make the GM aware of that grey-area before the game and to ask that GM for their variation so that no-one is caught by surprise in the middle of the game. I also suggest that after the convention, they research their build and bring some documentation with them to their next convention.

    Is this the best solution? No, but it does allow for the game to continue as soon as possible. When I am stuck in between on an issue, I tend to rule in favor of the player, even if it is part of a compromise - completely voiding a character's shtick or major build-point detracts the fun of the game from most everyone. I have witnessed rules-debates break gaming groups apart, sunder a scheduled game day, and even banish the GM or enough party members to make continuing on an impossibility. I find that it is best to carry-on and correct the potential issue before or after the game.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    The husband and I have signed up. First Gen Con, and first year where we both have the vacation time to go ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Chris Lambertz wrote:
    Thanks for the heads up! We'll add this to our to-do list. :)

    Thank you Chris ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Hello Team Paizo,

    The page for listing the sanctioned modules under PFS Products is a bit out of date. The latest product listed in that queue in the Emerald Spire.

    http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/pfsproducts/sanctionedModules

    Thought I would mention it so that it can get updated ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Steven Lau wrote:
    Justin Riddler wrote:
    As stated in the CRB, quoted above, a player can also effectively purchase the spellbook of another player at the table for the cost of a blank spellbook, plus half the scribing cost for all the spells contained within.
    Players can't sell other players items.

    Player's do not "sell" to one another, correct. But the player adding the spells to their spellbook must still pay the scribing cost - this goes towards materials used and not to the other player's pocket. In this instance the purchasing player makes all of the expenditures to get a copy of the other player's spellbook and the other player gets nothing.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Tweedle-Dum wrote:

    so, if I buy the flasks can pay the costs associated with creating them, can I have an alchemist in the party create Acid Flasks for me (and add them to my ITS)?

    How about Vials of Anti-Toxin? Or Poison? I'd be willing to pay the cost associated with creating it.

    No? Then why can I get him to write spells (formula) into "my formula book" and add that to my ITS?

    Heck, I have the ranks in Craft Alchemy myself, why can't I just create it myself? I'll scribe spells to his spellbook (I've got a level of wizard, so there is no question I can create a spellbook - just whether I can create them for a different PC), and he can make some alchemical items for me.

    Because the ability to do that is limited to characters with the Alchemy class feature, per the PFS FAQ. Just as poisons are limited to be purchased by characters with the Poison Use class feature.

    The exchanging spells in spellbooks section of the PFS FAQ does not make the distinction that only characters with the Spellbook class feature may make the exchange. There is a distinction made that the rules utilize both the CRB and their class descriptions, but if a class lacks that descriptive text, I would default to the guidelines of the CRB - not exclude the class entirely.

    PFS FAQ wrote:
    Players are welcome to exchange spells with each other during an adventure. They must still follow all the normal rules as put forth in the Core Rulebook and their class descriptions (for instance, an alchemist can scribe from a wizard, but not vice-versa) and they must not bog the session down.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    PRD wrote:

    Replacing and Copying Spellbooks

    A wizard can use the procedure for learning a spell to reconstruct a lost spellbook. If he already has a particular spell prepared, he can write it directly into a new book at the same cost required to write a spell into a spellbook. The process wipes the prepared spell from his mind, just as casting it would. If he does not have the spell prepared, he can prepare it from a borrowed spellbook and then write it into a new book.

    Duplicating an existing spellbook uses the same procedure as replacing it, but the task is much easier. The time requirement and cost per page are halved.

    This is the language from the Magic section of the CRB that discusses wizard spellbooks. I have quoted only the relevant text. The PFS FAQ references back to this section with relation to scribing.

    This section talks about how a wizard might duplicate or replace a spellbook. The same procedure for adding a spell to your own spellbook is used for copying the spell into any spellbook. Alternatively, a wizard can transcribe a prepared spell into a spellbook losing the prepared spell as if they had cast it.

    For PFS, it is my interpretation that if a character purchases a spellbook without the spellbook class feature, they can have a party wizard scribe the spell into their spellbook with the appropriate scribe cost paid by the spellbook owner. If the situation arose at my table where there was no wizard for scribing into the spellbook, I would charge the player scribe cost plus spellcasting services for the appropriate level of the spell.

    As stated in the CRB, quoted above, a player can also effectively purchase the spellbook of another player at the table for the cost of a blank spellbook, plus half the scribing cost for all the spells contained within.

    However, do note that spells written by another spellcaster must first be deciphered (via Spellcraft or Read Magic), and preparing a spell from any source not written by you directly requires another Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level) every time you prepare the spell by referencing that source. This is also covered in the Magic section of the CRB.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    An interesting question for anyone playing a Lore Oracle with the Arcane Archivist revelation

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Scott Romanowski wrote:
    Could you use change bars in addition to the red text? When you print the document in black & white the red text isn't very noticeable.

    Seconding this one as advocate for the colorblind ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    That is the cutest little Goblin anarchist I have ever seen. ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Scarab Sage Faction Card wrote:

    SOUL WARDEN (4+ goals): Your scarab increases your effective Constitution score for determining when you would die from

    hit point damage by 4. If you permanently die, you can donate your scarab to another of your characters that belongs to the
    Scarab Sages faction. This character receives this card (discarding her current card).
    Faction Journal Card Rules wrote:

    Each Faction Journal Card provides one or more new rewards as well as at least one reward that appeared during a previous

    season. If a PC would receive a duplicate reward that she earned on a previous card, she instead treats her effective number of
    goals completed on all cards as though it were one higher.

    The Soul Warden ability appears on both Season 6 and Season 7 of the Faction Journal cards, which means that some characters will have both of these abilities unlocked. The rules for the cards say that you would count the number of checked goals for the reward as 1 higher, however the Soul Warden ability is not mechanically tied to the completed goals on the card.

    I see 3 possible rulings on this:

    1) They stack - a flat stack of the ability which would be a +8 across the 2 seasons.

    2) They don't stack - at which point the 2nd reward is non-functional if you already have it on the other season's card

    3) There is a compromise ruling for this ability. Something like the +4 increases to +5 or +6 for completing the reward in a previous season.

    I open this up for discussion as my regular table encountered this mattering recently, in a Schrodinger-deadly scenario with a pair of scarab sages who had both seasons checked off each.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    Just an FYI: Armor for unusual creatures states that creatures of size Tiny or smaller divide the armor bonus by 2 from armor and shields.

    Still a nice AC boost for your wizard, but the bonus to AC would be 6, not 13, unless your familiar was altered to size Small or larger at the time you activated the immediate action.

    I feel there are far better boosts to your AC though... Mage Armor and Shield come to mind.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Congrats everyone! Excited for the new structure ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    A few pieces of insight:

    Paizo is a steadily growing company but they are still a smaller business. Last I checked they had about 40 or so employees. That includes customer service, warehouse staff, licensing, accounting, tech wizards, and other operational staff. The editorial pit fighters come to about a dozen souls.

    This means that the ideal staffing for certain projects just will not exist. However the good folks at Paizo will routinely add additional side projects into the release stream as their hobbies intersect with their career. These are bonus goodies that come when they come, and are worked on in between other pressing matters.

    Pathfinder Society is kind of this grey area between structured work assignments and hobby projects from the people at Paizo who just happen to love the organized play campaign.

    Try thinking of PFS as a marketing strategy instead of a physical product. Scenarios are commissioned that tell a great story but are ultimately being used to let you playtest the game and some rules subsets.

    Say a rulebook or module comes out. Paizo generates sales at the release but then sales for that product will most likely start to decline. A few weeks later the product is sanctioned for PFS which sparks a new interest in the product and a growth in sales. This is how PFS makes a mark on Paizo at large beyond just the scenarios every month.

    If you do not like this because you engage in mostly PFS play, then I suggest holding off on the purchase of the module until it's PFS sanctioning. As Lisa Stevens has said in the past, let your wallet do the talking. If Paizo sees a greater increase on sales of a product that coincide with the sanctioning of the material for PFS, then greater resources will be dedicated to it.

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    John Compton wrote:
    Muser wrote:

    Time to toss some statues and some dead PC's!

    Feels nostalgic though, the QfP trilogy was a while ago.

    So very long ago—before I even worked for Paizo!

    Though they made a lovely background appearance in

    Spoiler:
    Serpents Rise and Siege of Serpents
    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    One of us! One of us! ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    Yay! Thank you. ^_^ And the hubby will thank you too cause they are birthday presents for him

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Hello CS ^_^

    I've been having some trouble checking out this weekend to add stuff for my next subscription. It might be a local issue, but I saw at least one other post with a similar problem.

    When I click "Proceed to Checkout", most times the website spins for a minute and then prompts me to sign-in; after I sign-in it dumps me back to the homepage and I have to start over. Every now and then I can get to the actual checkout screens, but when I click on the "Confirm your Order" button, the website spins for several minutes before prompting me to sign in and dropping me back at the homepage.

    My browser has been stuck looping between Paizo 19, 22, & 33. Manually trying some others gets me the No Store link. Giving you this FYI in case it helps at all.

    ~Justin Riddler

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Welcome Tonya!

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    Gorbacz wrote:
    What Rasputin does when he's not TPK'ing people.

    Don't forget about this

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

    I was reading through the Hell's Rebels players guide for inspiration on characters for an upcoming play through of the AP. The thought of doing a Maestro Bloodline sorcerer intrigued me, however I am slightly confused on how one of the bloodline feats works with the class, Spellsong

    Spellsong wrote:

    You can combine your bardic performance and your spellcasting in two ways.

    • First, you can conceal the activity of casting a bard spell by masking it in a performance. As a swift action, you may combine your casting time of a spell with a Perform check. Observers must make a Perception or Sense Motive check opposed by your Perform check to realize you are also casting a spell. This uses 1 round of your bardic performance ability, regardless of the spell's casting time.
    • Second, as a move action, you can use 1 round of bardic performance to maintain a bard spell with a duration of concentration. You can cast another spell in the same round you are using bardic magic to maintain concentration; if you do this, your concentration on the maintained spell ends when you end the bardic performance the spell is part of.

    The Maestro Bloodline gets a power that works as the fascinate bardic performance ability, but you get uses per day with each use having a duration rather than bardic music rounds per day.

    So both abilities require you to use a round of your bardic performance ability, which you do not receive from the bloodline. And both abilities only interact with Bard spells you cast... but you are a sorcerer.

    Viewing this as a feat that is only beneficial if you multi-class, you still do not receive a bonus feat until level 7, so you are mostly Sorcerer by that point.

    It is unlikely that there will ever be an errata or FAQ on how this works, but you never know. With the bloodline being suggested in the Player's Guide for this AP, maybe enough attention will get a clarification.

    For discussion, how would you home-rule on this bloodline and feat interacting?

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Justin Riddler wrote:
    Hmmm... I seem unable to download the new cards. The page just reloads. Any thing an issue on that end Robot?

    Tried again this morning and it worked ^_^

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

    Hmmm... I seem unable to download the new cards. The page just reloads. Any thing an issue on that end Robot?

    Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

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    Wonderful writing Linda! The story-so-far cards look like they will make an excellent way to easily summarize meta-plot before running some of the older scenarios that are linked to that meta-plot.

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