Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Comics Subscriber. Pathfinder Society GM. 2,121 posts (2,474 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 3 Pathfinder Society characters. 1 alias.
I've received a number of asks for this, so I'm proud to announce that the Random Treasure Generator (updated with UE) I've been promising for so long is finally live. So far I've included five different types of generation, but more can be pretty easily added as the needs arise.
All areas use Ultimate Equipment for the various available treasures. Otherwise...
City Treasure: Uses the Core Rulebook/Gamemastery Guide rules for what magic items are available in the various sized communities.
Encounter Treasure: Uses the Ultimate Equipment's various "Type" tables for generating appropriate treasure based on CR.
Kingdom Treasure: For Kingmaker, produces a number of Minor/Medium/Major items, using the Core Rulebook's percentages for types.
Treasure by Type: Input the exact quantity of each item you want, and out it comes.
Treasure by Value: Input a GP budget for each area (Minor/Medium/Major) and get some random items. Uses the Core Rulebook's percentages for types.
As a plus, the value of everything is displayed with the item, along with other miscellaneous information (does the weapon glow?). I am still missing a few other bits that could go in, which I would like to address later. There is a percentage chance that a weapon/armor could be made of a special material, which right now doesn't happen (with the exception of specific items in the Specific Weapon/Armor tables, like mithril shirt). Additionally, while the tool will let you know if an item should be Intelligent, it won't do any other leg work. I couldn't find a decent table to fully generate an Intelligent item (the ones in the Core book and UE do have some random tables, but not for everything, like statistics). Of course, I may have just been blind and missed some obvious bits for it. In any event, that part will be in later.
Otherwise, all items/spells/etc. should be fully hyperlinked to their respective entries in the Archives. If something isn't linking properly or otherwise broken, please let me know! This is definitely one of the larger projects I've worked on, and while I have done a lot of testing there is always something one person can miss.
Note: Unlike my previous generator, a Windows-based program, this tool is on my website and should be available to you regardless of your OS (I hope). :)
Inspired by your lead, it looks like the Archives of Nethys site has recently added PFS-markers to the deity list.
Mike did alert me to this thread, which inspired me to finally get around to updating my Deities list. Tracking the various deities was something I didn't decide to do until I was already a good 100 books into my updates (technically the second time around, since I re-did everything for the new SQL-based system), so I was missing a deal of information.
Thanks to Dragnmoon for his help in compiling the books I needed to go through. It made updating things a lot quicker. The site now has a full list of the various deities mentioned in the books, along with the Sources listed and PFS-Legal markers.
Something that was already on the site, but worth mentioning, is the Domains section. Found in the Cleric area, this lists all the Domains/Subdomains and every deity which can grant it.
The deities are mentioned in the individual domains as well (eg: Destruction)
In regards to melee vs. ranged, this is something I was a bit unsure about when placing this particular enhancement in the Archives. The only example of its use was on a melee weapon (Shadowcount Sial's spiked chain). Not sure which NPC was using it on a crossbow, the Cinderlander (main NPC with a crossbow) does not have that property on it.
Based on the text, it allows the wielder to use Wisdom instead of Strength, and talks about modifications for two-handed or off-hand weapons. This pointed more towards a "Melee only" quality than both.
Quote:
A guided weapon may be wielded as a normal weapon, using Strength to modify attack and damage rolls...
As it was (and still is not) legal for PFS, I was satisfied with storing it as a melee quality. It is debatable if that was the intent, but individual GMs can allow it for ranged if they wish (though with the Zen Archer, I strongly advise caution... heheh). Personally, I feel as if it is *far* too strong of a quality to allow for a +1, especially on ranged weapons. It's already pretty amazing as a +1 for a melee-themed cleric.
Well, I started writing pregens and got up through Father Carras before I said "man, hell with this, I need to find out which five they want to play as first instead of just writing up ninteen".
So to help them pick, I wrote mini-backgrounds for all the characters and gave them out to the players. Each has a reason (sort of in some cases) to be investigating Castle Ravenloft. The creativity isn't great, I know, but I can only say "you want to kill a vampire" so many ways, haha.
Also, lots of dhampirs. D and Alucard were obvious, but I had Elizabeth in mind for one as well so she could take the various blood drinking feats. Ah well.
Enjoy!
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Herbert West
Male human alchemist (reanimator) 9
Dr. West has long studied ways in which to revive the dead. Scorned by his peers, he has ignored the academic community and pursued his dream. His alchemical formulaes have slowly improved, and he has seen success in using his creation to revive the dead, to some extent. Brain-dead zombies they may be, but they are a step in the right direction. Word that the count of castle ravenloft had great knowledge on necromantic studies has reached his ears, and so he sets out to see what lore his palace may hide.
Jason Voorhees
Male half-orc barbarian (invulnerable rager) 9
Named for his father, a man who slept with an orc for reasons beyond his knowing, Jason has never been a smart child. He grew up amongst the orcs, abused and berated by them for his ancestry. He was ashamed of his appearance and hid it behind a tribal mask, up until his 20th birthday. Nearly drowned in a lake by the orcs in his tribe, he lost himself in his rage. When he had finally recovered, all of the orcs in his small tribe were dead by his hand, including his mother. He felt no remorse. Speaking little to this day, hiding his face, he wanders the land with his sharp machete. His wanderings have brought him to Ravenloft, and to the Castle. He cares not what will die, but knows that only the killing will keep the screaming voices of his dead tribe quiet.
Elizabeth Bathory
Female dhampir bard 9
Elizabeth has been a vain woman since her birth. Raised amongst nobility, she learned long ago that she had an insatiable attraction for blood. She often had slaves brought in to bleed into a tub for her, in which she took her baths. Bleeding her servants became a regular activity, though she tried to avoid their deaths, less blood that way. She has heard often of the Count and knows his castle hides many secrets of the vampire. Wondering if he may have books or tomes to help aid her bloodlust, she has traveled to Ravenloft in order to explore and loot his castle of anything valuable.
The Headless Horseman
Male halfling cavalier 9
Little is known about this strange halfling. He says little to anyone, riding upon a black pony wherever he goes. A pumpkin constantly adorns his head and he carries with him a vicious bladed whip. He attacks and kills seemingly at random, as if under some strange hidden agenda. Known only to himself, he is but an agent of the god Groetus, his killings part of the strange deity's work towards the end of the world. His plans have brought him here, where his lord has ordered the death of Castle Ravenloft's vampiric count.
Father Karras
Male human cleric of Sarenrae 9
Father Karras has been a faithful servant of the goddess of the redemption since his earlier days. He was not much of a traveling priest before the incident, in which a young girl was possessed by a demon. Driving the beast out himself, he knew then that he had to ensure no one else would suffer the same fate. His travels took him to Ravenloft, where he heard of this beast, this vampire, this Count. Steeling himself and muttering a prayer to Sarenrae, he knew that some creatures were beyond redemption.
Willard
Male dwarf druid 9
Willard is a meek social misfit. He has lived in a large mansion with only his mother to keep him company. He grew to befriending the rats that soon plagued his house. Soon after his mother passed, and Willard left the mansion out into the world. A scruffy and strange dwarf, he speaks in erratic tones and is always followed by his largest rat, Ben. Why he is in Ravenloft is a mystery. Why he wants to venture into the Castle, a mystery as well. Perhaps he thinks there will be more rats there.
D
Male dhampir fighter 9
D is a bit of an eccentric man/dhampir/person. He seems a relatively sane person most days, but is occasionally seen talking to his left hand. His love of killing the undead is nothing compared to his obsession with ending the unlife of vampires. For obvious reasons, he has traveled to Ravenloft to seek out one of the most powerful vampires out there.
Ash
Male human gunslinger 9
Before Ash went on a vacation with his fiancee and friends, he did not believe in the supernatural. After a group of zombies, an insane treant, and a witch attacked his cabin, he quickly changed his mind. Losing his hand to attempted possession, Ash stalks the fields of Ravenloft with a determined gait. Using knowledge learned from the Magical Wastes, he has created his own boomstick and attached it to his missing hand. Hearing that the witch who caused all the mayhem in the beginning originated from the Count's castle, he has headed there to end the vampire.
Van Helsing
Male half-elf inquisitor (vampire hunter) 9
With a thick Chelaxian accent, Van Helsing is a learned scholar who has long sought out the worst of undead, those with the unnatural appetite for flesh and blood. It should be no question why he has come to Castle Ravenloft, seeking out one of the worst vampires there is.
Alucard
Male dhampir magus 9
Alucard was born of a lesser vampire spawn in Ravenloft, a young noble named Dracula. His mother long proclaimed her faith in humanity, and after her death he resolved to end the life of the evil vampire which bore him. Working with a young warrior named Simon, Alucard tracked down and finished off Count Dracula. In the end, he learned that Dracula was merely the spawn of a more powerful vampire living in Castle Ravenloft.
Buffy
Female human monk 9
Buffy was raised at one of Ravenloft's few monastaries. She was trained from an early age to fight the undead, demons, and devils that permeated a land. Her skill perfected, she has given herself the moniker of "Slayer" and headed for Castle Ravenloft to end the reign of its evil ruler.
Alessa Gilespie
Female gnome oracle (dark tapestry) 9
Alessa has long been haunted by horrific visions. She sees strange creatures when no one else can, hears a mind-numbing siren, and the fog... always she sees the fog. Driven insane a long time ago and granted mysterious powers she does not understand, she only remembers one thing: the cause of her strange curse may have originated from Castle Ravenloft. This is the only thing that drives her, and she will not stop until she has ended the curse and killed the vampire who gave it to her.
Roland Deschain
Male human paladin (holy gun) 9
Roland was trained as a gunslinger at the young age of 14 after being manipulated into taking the trial by a man named Marten Broadcloak (secretly the shapeshifting wizard, Randall Flagg). Marten had an affair with Roland's mother, forcing Roland into a trial to gain his guns and exact revenge. Though Marten escaped, Roland vowed to never let evil men escape justice, and trained for years to become worthy of the guns he now wielded. Hearing that the Count of Ravenloft was as evil as they came, Roland knew that this was exactly the test that he had been waiting for.
Geralt of Rivia
Male half-elf ranger (guide) 9
Geralt was from a land few remembered called Rivia. Descended from an elven clan of monster hunters, he was trained to combat monsters of all kinds by whatever means necessary. Hired by a group of upper class nobility, he has come to Ravenloft seeking out the undead and other vile beasts that live here. His job is to cleanse the land of these beasts.
Norman Bates
Male human rogue (knife master) 9
Norman grew up under a terror of a mother, Norma. She terrorized him for years, preaching the sinful nature of sex and women constantly. Driven over the edge when his mother took another man, he murdered the both of them, his mind shattering into pieces. He travels the land now battling multiple personality disorder. Norman is a scared child, Norma is posessive and threatens death to all who cross him/her, and Normal is a barely functioning adult. The Norma personality has dominated him in recent weeks, sending him to Ravenloft. In the darkest reaches of his mind, he hopes that the secrets which the castle hides can help to heal his broken sanity.
Carrie
Female human sorcerer (elemental) 9
Carrie White was a shy, friendless girl growing up. Her mother was a very religious worshipper of Shelyn, and constantly preached the beauty of art and song to Carrie. Unfortunately, the other girls made fun of Carrie and her 'hippy' mother, the final prank being played at a local festival. The other teenagers prepared a bucket of pig's blood to be dumped on her during one of the dances. Unfortunately, they had not known of the strange powers that this girl possessed, and her anger came to a boil with this last prank. Fire and force lashed out at those around her, killing all of the villagers at the festival. Her last murder came with that of her mother, who cried out that she was possessed by a devil. Carrie since fled her small town, traveling to Ravenloft, where she might end the reign of this vampiric count and take the castle for herself. Maybe there, in solitude, she can find peace.
Old Wizard Whately
Male elf summoner 9
Not technically a wizard, but old by human standards, Wilbur Whately was raised among humans and knew little of his elven heritage. Growing up in an isolated village of Dunwich, he became arrogant and hateful of the humans, believing himself to be better than the rest of them. As he grew older, he began to hear whispers from beyond, from a strange creature calling itself Yog-Sothoth. It promised to give him dominion over these humans if he would accept the power. Greedily, Wilbur was quick to accept, and so was birthed his eidolon. With a face akin to his own, the creature was a mass of mouths, tentacles, and defied logic. It rampaged through the village, killing all who would not submit to Whately's new rule. Dubbed "The Horror of Dunwich", the eidolon server Whately faithfully. Deciding that the village was too small, Wilbur killed the rest of its inhabitants before moving to Ravenloft, seeking a new land and a castle to call his own.
Maharet/Mekare
Female changeling witch 9
Maharet was born with a twin sister named Mekare. Both were blessed with mystical green eyes and curly red hair, and popular amongst men as they grew up. What they did not know was that they were birthed from hags, and soon, they began to hear their mother's call. Maharet resisted, scared of this voice and of the strange new powers that seemed to be manifesting. It was an accident, she said, when Mekare died. She said that Mekare couldn't resist, that she had to stop her. The village did not care, and drove Maharet out. Trying to avoid the hag's call, but slowly succumbing, Maharet found herself heading to Ravenloft. The guilt over her sister's death manifested in a split personality, and she believes herself to be Maharet or Mekare at any given moment. She blames the hag which brought her to this world, and hopes to find her somewhere in Ravenloft. This strange castle is a good place to start...
Randall Flagg
Male kitsune wizard (illusionist) 9
Randall is a master of diguise, thanks in part to his racial heritage, but also due to his long studies of illusion. He has used this knowledge for decades, changing his shape with each new land, playing games with whoever he felt like. He has care for no one but himself, and has heard that the Count of Ravenloft's treasures contain great amounts of illusory magic. Deciding that he was a better owner for these items, he heads to Ravenloft to gather more power, allowing him to continue his games for decades to come.
As I pointed out above, the Alchemist has a "Reanimator" archetype. This replaces bombs with the ability to alchemically create undead. :)
And remember, in the end, I'm not creating *exactly* these guys as pregens. I am making pregens *inspired* from them. Hence the headless horseman as a halfling wearing a pumpkin on his head instead of an all out ghost. Or Jason Vorhees as a mute sanity-lacking barbarian instead of some crazy spirit of vengeance.
The fairy tale witches aren't really 'horror', though I was half-tempted to go that route. In the end I decided to go with some ladies a bit outside my familiar source material, a pair of twin sisters (so I can essentially make the same stats but let the pregen be either) from the Vampire Chronicles series. Yay Wikipedia for having a list of fictional witches. :D
Also thought that the Witcher himself, Geralt of Rivia, would make a good ranger. Sure he uses alchemical potions and has a few spells, but they are minor enough that an archetype or some feats can make up for it, and rangers get spellcasting anyhow. He seemed to have a number of combat styles and was the 'monster hunter', so it works well enough for my purposes.
Thanks so much for everyone's help! I'll respond to this thread with all the pregens when I am done, if anyone is interested.
Alchemist: Herbert West (Lovecraft)
Barbarian: Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
Bard: Elizabeth Bathory (real)
Cavalier: Headless Horseman (Sleepy Hollow)
Cleric: Father Karras (the Exorcist)
Druid: Willard (movie of the same name)
Fighter: D (Vampire Hunter D)
Gunslinger: Ash (Evil Dead)
Inquisitor: Van Helsing (Dracula)
Magus: Alucard (Castlevania)
Monk: Buffy (the Vampire Slayer)
Oracle: Alessa Gilespie (Silent Hill)
Paladin: Roland (Dark Tower)
Ranger: Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)
Rogue: Norman Bates (Psycho)
Sorcerer: Carrie (S. King)
Summoner: Old Wizard Whately (Lovecraft)
Witch: Maharet or Mekare (twin sisters, Vampire Chronicles)
Wizard: Richard Flagg (S.King)
Some great ideas so far! I'm making a list to keep track of what has been suggested and classes that still need ideas (my preferences so far marked with an *):
Alchemist: Dr. Moreau (Island of), Herbert West* (Lovecraft)
Barbarian: Morlock (Descent)
Bard: Generic Scholar, Elizabeth Bathory (real)*, Dream (Sandman/Neil Gaimen), It (Stephen King)
Cavalier:
Cleric:
Druid: Willard* (movie of the same name)
Fighter: D* (Vampire Hunter D), Ben (Night of the Living Dead), Ripley (Alien), Alexandra Roivas (Eternal Darkness)
Gunslinger: Ash* (Evil Dead)
Inquisitor:
Magus: Elric (of Melnibone), Alucard* (Castlevania)
Monk:
Oracle: Alessa Gilespie* (Silent Hill), Sadako Yamamrua* (Ringu)
Paladin:
Ranger: Van Helsing* (Dracula)
Rogue: Norman Bates* (Psycho), Aleister Crowley (real)
Sorcerer: Witch Hunter Robin (anime same name)
Summoner:
Witch:
Wizard: Old Wizard Whately* (Lovecraft), Richard Flagg (S.King), Dr. Faustus (Marlowe)
Could use some more ideas for Barbarian, Cavalier, Cleric, Inquisitor, Monk, Paladin, Summoner, and Witch. :D Would one of the Belmonts be a Paladin? I was going to say fighter, but I'm not sure. Some great ideas so far, I particularly love the idea of Alessa or Sadako as an Oracle (and am torn between them).
Please, please, PLEASE keep up the suggestions! You guys are awesome! :D
My title is a bit of a misnomer, as I am not at all talking about the current beloved Pathfinder iconics. Ezren, Meriziel, etc. They aren't involved with this.
The plan is this: A buddy of mine is getting married, and the night before his wedding asked me to run a game for him. He loves the horror setting. Ravenloft, Lovecraft, you name it, so I thought I'd run something horror-themed. Turns out "Return to Castle Ravenloft" has a 'run in one night' option (start at the castle all leveled up), so that seemed like a good thing to run.
This being a one night event, I decided to come up with a bunch of pregens, one of each class, to give the players some options. Then I thought... we could make this even cooler. How about if each pregen was themed off an existing horror icon? Hero, Antihero, some main protagonist of a horror-themed story.
The problem here is that, well, I don't actually watch a lot of horror. I have a few ideas of course; Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde for a rage-chemist (or maybe an alchemist most of the time, but barbarian when he 'changes'), Van Helsing for a ranger, Simon Belmont for a fighter, Ash from Evil Dead for a gunslinger, that priest from the Exorcist as a cleric (maybe?).
You can see I'm having issues here.
The goal is this: Have *one* pregen for each class (or maybe a cool combo like the Hyde one above). 9th level. Themed off a horror icon. More obscure is worth more points, but there is a limit (too obscure and no one will recognize them).
I'm taking any suggestions :D This includes all the Core classes, APG classes, Magus, and Gunslinger (not bothering with Samurai/Ninja/Antipaladin).
For anyone ever curious about the official names of things, don't forget that all of Paizo's published mechanics (though no 3rd party material) can be found on the Archives of Nethys, using the community use policy.
So being everyone in view sees the missiles popping the third guy from the right basically they can negate the effect of the spell like a normal illusion correct?
While I agree magic missile hits the caster, I want to focus on this point. Are you implying that, once magic missile hits, the rest of the group can then ignore the effects of mirror image? Because I would argue against that. Mirror image is not negated just because the spell hit the proper person, for all we know the images could be constantly cycling around in an attempt to hide the proper person. Or maybe the illusion encapsulates the missile and shows it hitting all of the images.
Whatever the case, I would definitely *definitely* not allow magic missile to instantly 'kill' a mirror image spell. Way too easy and it cripples the spell.
Hey all! Sorry, I didn't realize there was still attention on this thread. I uploaded all the pictures/docs to my new Archives site again. You can access them below. I also added the "Printouts" doc I made to print out each NPC on a single page. While the doc I uploaded has my own campaign's information and current stats, you can easily swap out the ranks/statblocks for what should be appropriate in your own game.
It still exists in an offline format. I haven't gotten around to including that in the new site yet due to catching up on books, but since I'm down to 5-6 books now I may work on that section again. :)
I was going to wait on announcing this, but I see a number of visitors attempting to access the old webpages, so I thought I'd at least make sure everyone knew about the changes.
The Archives of Nethys have been substantially updated! No longer using HTML, it now functions using a combination of ASP.NET, C#, and SQL. What this means is that any old link using .htm will no longer function. To see (and bookmark) the new links, please go to www.archivesofnethys.com and navigate to the individual pages to see their address.
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New Features
Fully up-to-date information from every book in the Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Module, and Player Companion lines.
The RPG line is now being integrated into the Archives. The Core Rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Magic, and most of Ultimate Combat are online, with the others going very quickly. I programmed a little tool that allows me to parse and import data a *lot* faster then the old method. Each of these large books has averaged about 2-3 days to enter, meaning the 7 still not in (including Ultimate Combat) will be on within 1-2 months.
New sections have been added, including detailed Class sections (see all your Rogue talents and archetypes in one place, or Wizard familiars, schools, and archetypes).
Wondrous Items have been sorted using the Ultimate Equipment method, making that hard to find Chest slot item a whole lot easier.
Every single piece of information references the Source (or Sources) it came from and provides a handy link to take you to Paizo's store page for that product, allowing you to pick up the book you want quickly and efficiently.
Deities! They're all there, with hotlinks from their Domains to the Cleric section detailing them (and back) and more.
The Spells section previews a search tool that will soon be on every page. Check out the "Custom Search" option if you want to find that perfect spell. Select the spell's level, class, even scroll, sub-school, and descriptor. Want to find a 4th-level Transmutation spell for your fire-themed wizard? It's never been easier.
Every item also has a handy "PFS Legal" symbol next to it, for any Pathfinder Society players. Paizo's 'approved' list is constantly checked and the items are updated to make sure that you always know what is legal. As some of the legal material still has 'special' clauses, always be sure to check Paizo's list if you see something you like.
Ever wonder what was added when I update the site with a new book? Wonder no longer. Check out the Sources area for a list of every book that has been (or will be) referenced on the site. Each book provides a detailed list of everything I've culled from that source, giving you a link to its respective place on the site.
Upcoming Features
A custom search like the Spells one on every other page. Want to search for every Feat that has Power Attack involved? You can't yet, but you will be able to very very soon.
Bestiary 1, 2, and 3 all in one place. The program I wrote parses through monster stat blocks even easier than others. Very soon, the giant list of monsters I already have will grow by about a thousand more once those are in.
Minor bugs will be fixed. Right now, some links (mainly the animal companion or familiar ones which link to a Bestiary animal) don't work. They will be fixed when the Bestiaries are entered.
A prettier page. Right now, the page is very simple and user-efficient, but a bit bland. I have a rather lovely background/menu drawn and colored by famed Hugo Solis that is in the wings, ready to take a prominent place on each page and bring some life to the dull walls.
Enjoy the new Archives! If you have any feedback or find a problem, please comment here on the boards, or an my Facebook fan page. Alternatively, you can always send me an email at asknethys@karuikage.net.
My players just started book 5 and have entered the war of the river kings! Our first session ended before too much was done, but a lot of questions arose that the rules really didn't account for. As such, I felt the need to come up with some. I spoke with Jason Nelson about all of these to get his input, and ended up finalizing the below, shared for your use :)
Razing Improvements
An army that spends 1d3 days in a single hex can destroy all improvements in that hex (farms and roads with core rules, but also mines and such if you use Jason's house rules).
Cut-Off Improvements
Improvements that aren't connected to the closest city by roads stop providing their bonuses until the roads are rebuilt.
Emergency Army
CR 1 armies (Paltry Militia) can be raised in a single day.
Raising Armies
With a successful loyalty check, an army above CR 1 can be raised in 2d3 days. Otherwise it takes 2d6 days.
Digging In/Sieging (this uses some rules from later in the chapter)
An army that spends 2 days in the same hex as a city without attacking can dig in, gaining +2 to its DV if the city later attacks it. Also, for every week an army spends camped outside of a city, that city/kingdom loses 5 BP (in addition to the consumption cost of armies) to get in extra resources. Also, any armies stuck inside the city must make a DC 15 morale check (+1 per week) or lose 1 morale. Succeeding by 5 or more can increase their morale by 1 by spending 5 BP.
PCs attaching to armies
A PC can attach him or herself to an army, increasing its CR by 1 without increasing consumption. This effectively increases OM and DV by 1, along with HP (by a variable amount depending on the army).
Additionally, each PC should be given one Tactic that fits their class/type. While useless outside of an army, a PC can temporarily grant any army they are attached to the use of this Tactic.
Note: This was made because 1-person armies just are... dumb and really don't seem to mechanically work, but there should still be a good benefit for a PC working with their army. Hence the above. +1 CR and a bonus Tactic is pretty awesome.
Razing a City
If an army is successful in destroying the defenders and pushing in, they can spend 2 days in a city to raze it to the ground. This destroys every building (denying their bonuses to the kingdom), penalizes the kingdom by 2 to each score (Economy, Loyalty, Stability) and increases Unrest by 5. If the city is re-taken, buildings can be rebuilt as usual by paying half their cost in BP. The penalty to each score also goes away if the city is re-taken, although the Unrest will have to be dealt with as usual.
Flying Monsters attacking a City
A city only provides half the Defense bonus to DV against an army of attacking flying creatures.
New/Altered Equipping an Army
This goes off of Jason's changes in the Mass Combat thread way up top, with some additions. It mostly lowers the consumption cost, as it seemed way too high, while also adding a couple new options.
Arcane Aid (10 BP, +2 consumption, requires Academy): Arcanists attach to the army. +1 OM, +1 Speed.
Divine Aid (10 BP, +2 consumption, requires Temple or Cathedral): Priests attach to the army. +1 DV, special healing (once per battle, may heal double CR if army chooses to forgo an attack, or heal CR if they wish to keep attacking).
Healing Potions (10 BP, only adds to Consumption the week following their use (5 BP if only used once, 10 BP if used twice), requires Alchemist or Magic Shop): Up to twice during a battle, you can forgo attacking to heal your army hit points equal to twice their CR.
Improved Armor (3 BP, +1 consumption, requires Smith): +1 DV.
Improved Weapons (5 BP, +1 consumption, requires Smith): +1 OM.
Magic Armor (15 BP, +3 consumption, requires Smith and [Caster's Tower or Magic Shop]): +2 DV.
Magic Weapons (50 BP, +5 consumption, requires Smith and [Caster's Tower or Magic Shop]): +2 OM.
Mounts (BP = mount's CR x2, +consumption = mount CR, requires Stable): +2 OM and DV, and use the mounts' speed for the army. The army's CR is determined by the mount's CR if it is higher than the rider's.
Ranged Weapons (2 BP, +1 consumption, requires Smith): The army can act in the ranged combat phase.
Siege Engines (15 BP per engine, +5 consumption per engine, requires Exotic Craftsman): +2 OM (regardless of number of siege engines). For every siege engine in the army you reduce the enemy's bonus to DV from fortifications by 1d4 each round of the melee phase. Army's speed is halved (minimum 1).
This is what I gave out to my own players. It may need some editing (only part of it was posted until the players decided on some things, then more was added to the initial post) and it has some stuff from our campaign experience (such as how the NPCs are), but otherwise should help.
The last part of it just refers to a picture I made for them to reference when building things. Because it uses art from the book, I can't reproduce it here. You might be able to get an idea on what I did with it though.
Spoiler:
Chapter I: Key Terms
As was explained at the table, there are a few terms you will need to understand when you build a Kingdom. I am going to provide you only with as many details as you absolutely need. Here are some important ones.
Size: The size of your kingdom is the number of hexes it compromises. Simple enough. The size affects your Consumption and its Control DC.
Control DC: A kingdom's Control DC is 20 + its size. This value is the DC you'll be rolling against often with Stability, Economy, and Loyalty checks.
Population: While an exact population is always going to vary, you can get a general estimate of how big your kingdom is by multiplying your size by 250, also adding in the total population of each city.
Stability, Economy, and Loyalty: These three values are analogous to saving throws. Stability checks are made during Upkeep to determine whether your kingdom remains secure. Economy checks are made during Income to determine how much your treasury increases. Loyalty checks are made to keep the public peace, and later, to handle large armies. A natural 1 is always a failure for these checks, and a natural 20 is always a success.
These numbers I will be keeping secret, for the most part. You will be receiving a trimester report (once every four months) that tells you what the current totals are for each, and should help guide your future decisions.
Unrest: A kingdom's Unrest value indicates how rebellious its people are. It is applied as a penalty on all of your Stability, Economy, and Loyalty checks. If your Unrest ever reaches 20, your kingdom falls into anarchy. While in anarchy, it can take no actions and treats all of your Stability, Economy, and Loyalty results as 0. Restoring order once in anarchy requires a number of quests and lengthy adventures by the leaders, but your kingdom will suffer greatly during this, and you will be lucky to have much of a kingdom left once it is over. Pro Tip: Do not let your Unrest reach 20.
Unrest can never go below 0 - adjustments that would normally reduce it lower than 0 are wasted.
Consumption: A kingdom's prosperity is measured by the Build Points (BP) in its treasury and cities, and its Consumption indicates how many BP it costs to keep the kingdom functioning. If a kingdom is unable to pay its Consumption in any given month, its Unrest increases by 2. A kingdom's Consumption is equal to its size plus the number of city districts it contains plus adjustments for Edicts minus 2 per farmland.
Defensive Modifier: A city's Defensive Modifier can be increased by building certain structures (such as city walls) and has an impact on mass combat. Until your city is actually attacked, the Defensive Modifier is unimportant.
Base Value: The base value associated with a city is tied not to its size but rather to a variety of Economy-based buildings. Each such building, whether a shop, tavern, or brothel, increases the city's base value. Any magic item equal to or lower than this base value in cost is available for purchase 75% of the time (this check may be made again every month as new stock comes and goes). Any nonmagical item from the equipment chapter in the Core Rulebook is always available if its cost is lower than the city's base value. The maximum base value of any given city is 16,000 GP. The base value for a new settlement is 200 GP.
Magic Item Availability: A certain number of more powerful and valuable magic items are available for purchase in any city, although these items tend to be of a somewhat random nature as new items are found or created and enter the economy. As with base value, a community's size does not influence the number of magic items above base value that are available for purchase. Instead, these items become available as certain buildings (like academies or magic shops) are added to a city. Adding these buildings creates new slots for Minor, Medium, or Major magic items. Whenever the building is added to a city, every slot is filled by a random roll of the appropriate type. After it is generated, a magic item remains on the market until it is purchased. Alternatively, once per Income phase, a kingdom can make an Economy check to try and sell an item (push it out of its slot) which will free the slot and garner some BP from the economic traffic. Once sold, the slot remains empty until next month, when it refills again.
MATH IS FUN!
Chapter II: Who Will Lead?
There are a few things that all of you will need to collectively decide on before you can create your Kingdom. These decisions will take place over the next few weeks in game, and on the 1st of Erastus (how appropriate) your Kingdom Building will officially begin.
First, and most importantly, your Leaders! Here is the full list of who you need and what they can do.
Ruler (Charisma)
The ruler is the primary leader of the kingdom. Unlike the other leadership roles, a ruler uses one of three distinct titles, depending on the current size of the kingdom. For a kingdom of size 1-20, the rules is known as a baron or baroness. For a kingdom of size 21-80, the rules is known as a duke or duchess. A kingdom of size 81 or higher is ruled by a king or queen.
Benefit: The ruler chooses any one of the nation's statistics to boost. If a duke/duchess, they choose two of the nation's statistics to boost. If a king/queen, they affect all three.
Vacancy Penalty: A kingdom without a ruler cannot claim new hexes, create farmland, build roads, or purchase city districts. Unrest will increase a great amount every month the kingdom has no ruler.
Special: Two characters can fill this role if they become married, in which case the two rulers can jointly command the kingdom. Both rulers apply their Charisma modifiers to the checks as appropriate for their rank.
Councilor (Wisdom or Charisma)
The councilor ensures that the will of the citizenry is represented.
Benefit: The Councilor boosts Loyalty.
Vacancy Penalty: Loyalty is decreased, the kingdom cannot gain benefits from festivals, and Unrest increases a small amount.
General (Strength or Charisma)
The General commands the kingdom's armies and is a public hero.
Benefit: The General boosts Stability.
Vacancy Penalty: Stability is greatly decreased.
Grand Diplomat (Intelligence or Charisma)
The Grand Diplomat oversees international relations.
Benefit: The Grand Diplomat boosts Stability.
Vacancy Penalty: Stability is decreased and the kingdom can no longer issue Promotion edicts.
High Priest (Wisdom or Charisma)
The High Priest guides the kingdom's religious needs and growth.
Benefit: The High Priest increases Stability.
Vacancy Penalty: Stability and Loyalty are decreased, Unrest is increased.
Magister (Intelligence or Charisma)
The Magister guides a kingdom's higher learning and magic.
Benefit: The Magister increases Economy.
Vacancy Penalty: Economy is greatly decreased.
Marshal (Dexterity or Wisdom)
The Marshal helps organize patrols and enforces justice in rural and wilderness regions.
Benefit: The Marshal increases Economy.
Vacancy Penalty: Economy is greatly decreased.
Royal Assassin (Strength or Dexterity)
The Royal Assassin can serve as a public executioner, a headsman, or a shadowy assassin.
Benefit: The Royal Assassin increases Loyalty and reduces Unrest.
Vacancy Penalty: There is no vacancy penalty.
Spymaster (Dexterity or Intelligence)
The Spymaster observes the kingdom's underworld and criminal elements and spies on other kingdoms.
Benefit: The Spymaster can increase any of the kingdom's three stats, chosen each month.
Vacancy Penalty: Economy is greatly decreased and Unrest is increased.
Treasurer (Intelligence or Wisdom)
The Treasurer organizes tax collection and manages the treasury.
Benefit: The Treasurer increases Economy.
Vacancy Penalty: Economy is greatly decreased and the kingdom cannot collect taxes.
Warden (Strength or Constitution)
The Warden leads the kingdom's defense and city guards.
Benefit: The Warden increases Loyalty.
Vacancy Penalty: Loyalty and Stability are both decreased (with Loyalty taking a bigger hit).
You have some assistance in filling Leadership roles. Quite obviously, the five of you cannot fill all eleven roles. As such, some of the people you have met will be willing to offer their services in assisting you. Is the job they want the best? Do you want them in another role? Can you trust them? All of the people below are available for Leadership, although if you want someone in a different role that they wish (or want them in a role at all if they don't want to be anything) then Diplomacy is key.
Oleg Leveton: Oleg has been around since the beginning, and although gruff and surly, has taken a liking to the latest group of explorers. Mostly since you've been successful and brought a lot of supply back to him. Helping rescue his wife's ring scored major points as well. He would be happy (in his own way) to serve as a Treasurer, having a great experience with running a trading post and managing lots of income.
Svetlana Leveton: Svetlana is the friendly side of the Leveton family, always ready with a warm bed and hot meal to the weary travelers. She was especially grateful to you for returning her ring and offering her jewelry, but she has always been very wary of the company you have recently taken up with (namely three former bandits, including one that nearly took her husband's hand off). She is not interested in being a Leader, but might be able to be persuaded if necessary.
Jhod Kavken: Jhod has a bit of a self-esteem issue. He has been a bit uncertain and introspective since you first met him, unsure of his own abilities and happiest to stay at Oleg's and heal those who needed it. With the establishment of a new Kingdom, Jhod is eager to see you expand out to the Temple of the Elk, but is very patient. Although he is not interested in helping to rule a kingdom, he probably wouldn't take a lot of persuading.
Kesten Garess: The mercenary leader Garess is a rather morose and serious individual. All business, he has handled the majority of guard duty at Oleg's along with issuing the occasional wanted poster or reward. He is a bit unsure about you leaving bandits alive instead of hanging them as they deserve, but defers to your judgment. If asked to help lead, he would consider becoming the Warden to patrol the roads and wilderness for threats. You could convince him to take on another role, but it might take some doing.
Kressle: Kressle is, and has always been, a violent and scary woman. Former leader of the Thorn River Camp, she robbed and threatened the Levetons for months before you showed up. Recently, she seems to have had her wings clipped a bit, but the way she smiles at you all makes you think she knows something that you don't, along with making a shiver run up your spine. A lack of responsibility and the ability to be free defines her, and she has no interest in helping to run your little kingdom. Convincing her to take on any role would be very difficult. Although when the small halfling spoke of a Royal Assassin, that did seem to bring a smirk to her lips.
Akiros Ismort: Akiros is a mysterious man. In less than a week this man has betrayed the Staglord, joined you on the trek back to Oleg's, and volunteered to help run your Kingdom. The lack of deceit in his voice only makes him more suspicious, and one has to wonder when he'll get 'bored' and stab you in the back just like he did the Stag Lord. Still, he always seems to have something on his mind, and can occasionally be found glancing at a worn symbol of Erastil as if he were thinking back to something. He offers his services as a General, although it might be possible to convince him to take on a different role.
Others: While these are the ones you have met and seem the most obvious, there might be others for those who want to take a challenge in recruitment. More will also become available as you meet them.
Lastly, for a Leadership role to grant its bonus, the character in that particular role must spend at least 1 week per month engaged in various leadership duties (during which time you must be located within a hex that is part of your kingdom).
Chapter III: Alignment
This is a short chapter, but the decision is important nonetheless. The Alignment of your Kingdom might seem like a small thing, but it will subtly affect a great number of things as the campaign progresses. On the more immediate things, it has a couple of impacts.
First, it boosts two of your scores. Lawful and Evil will boost Economy. Chaotic and Good will boost Loyalty. Neutral will boost Stability. So a Lawful Good kingdom will boost Economy and Lotalty, a Lawful Evil kingdom will boost Economy a lot, a Neutral Evil kingdom will boost Stability and Economy, etc.
Second, it determines what religions you can upgrade your Shrines to in later stages. There are three types of religious buildings. Shrines are the smallest, and a kingdom can build a Shrine to any god. Temples are the next size up, with a small clergy operating out of them. Temples can only be built to a specific God if that God is within one step of the Kingdom's alignment. Cathedrals are the largest, and members of the faithful will only settle in large enough numbers to support a Cathedral if your Kingdom matches that deity's alignment.
Chapter IV: Starting Location
To begin your kingdom, you need to decide where it will be born. There are three obvious options at the start. Oleg's, the Temple of the Elk, and the Staglord's Keep. No matter where you pick, the hex will need to be fully explored and rid of any immediate threats. This does mean that you cannot found your first city in the Staglord's Keep yet, although exploring the hex and finishing off the undead would not take a great deal of time. You can also decide to build your first city somewhere else, and claim a city at one of the above locations later on. Each location will give a unique benefit too, as follows:
Oleg's Trading Post: Building a city here is quick (being in the Grasslands), cheap (1 BP), and you will be able to convert Oleg's into a free Shop, Stable, or Watchtower. Being close to Brevoy will also ensure that special orders will arrive quickly. On the downside, you will be far away from exploring the rest of the area, and it will take a long time to journey to the south and back.
Temple of the Elk: Building a city here will take the longest and cost the most (2 months and 4 BP), but the ruined temple will give you a head start on your own Temple, halving the initial cost of building such a structure (saving you 16 BP). A city here is also relatively close to both Oleg's and the southern lands, giving you about equal distance for sending/picking up orders or exploring.
The Stag Lord's Fort: Building a city here is not an option until the undead are cleared from the Fort, but that is a relatively quick thing to do, and as you have a few weeks before you establish your first city, it's doable. Such a city would take 1 month and 2 BP to establish. On the plus side, the Stag Lord's Fort is very defensible and near a plentiful source of water, fishing, and trade. The structure will give you a head start on your first Castle there, saving you half the cost (27 BP). It is close to the southern lands, making exploring easy, but is far from Brevoy and Oleg's, making special orders take some time. It is possibly the best location for a Capital city being the most central and defensible, but it is also the closest to dangerous territory. Whether the risk is worth it is up to you.
Other: You can, of course, establish a city anywhere though, and the three locations above won't disappear. The same bonuses will be available even if you don't build a city there until much later in the game, assuming the hex is still safe.
Once you've decided, you will spend 1 BP to claim that hex, increasing your size (and Consumption). Settlers will begin to head over there and set up shop, so to speak. You then need to make your first City District. One city district comprises 36 blocks of space (9 squares of 4 blocks each), and I'll go into more detail on those later. For now, all you need to know is that it takes time and BP to prepare a City District. In Grassland, the city district costs 1 BP and is immediately ready. In the Hills, it costs 2 BP and takes 1 month to prepare. In the Forest, it costs 4 BP and takes 2 months. Swamps cost 8 BP and take 3 months, and Mountains cost 12 BP and take 4 months.
When the city is established, you can begin having the settlers make buildings at the rate of one per month. More detail on buildings later.
The important thing right now is you decide where your first city (and current Capital) will be, along with its name.
I'll give you some time to talk it over.
Chapter V: Phases of the Month
Well, I said I would wait for you guys to decide on those three things before continuing, but I have some extra time so I may as well add more. I don't want to see too many questions or discussion about this Chapter (or ones after it) until you have commented on the three decisions mentioned above first. ;)
In any event, there are a number of Phases to ruling a Kingdom. These can really be done at any time during the month, as they are assumed to take place over an entire month. It's usually easiest if we do them on the 30th, and assume that any changes were being done in the previous month (or in the previous 2-3 weeks as it will be for your first set of Phases).
Upkeep Phase
The first thing that will happen every month is the Upkeep phase (except during the first set of phases when your Kingdom Size is 0, this Phase is skipped then).
Step 1 - Determine Kingdom Stability: This is pretty simple, we have to see what the current level of security in your kingdom is. You will roll a Stability check against the current Control DC to check. If you succeed, Unrest is reduced a little (if Unrest is already at 0, you gain 1 BP as a result of some surplus goods and services). If you fail by 4 or less, nothing happens. If you fail by 5 or more, Unrest is increased.
Step 2 - Pay Consumption: Consumption is what you pay for Edicts (for the most part). This is when you will subtract Consumption from your current BP. If this causes you to drop into the negatives, Unrest increases.
Step 3 - Fill Vacant Magic Item Slots: If shops have free slots for magic items in your cities, they are rolled and filled now.
Step 4 - Unrest: If your Unrest has reached 11 or higher, your kingdom immediately loses one hex chosen by your leaders. Any improvements in that hex are immediately lost and must be rebuilt after the hex is reclaimed. Any settlements in that hex become towns that must be annexed again if they are to be reclaimed. Finally, if your kingdom employs a Royal Assassin, they reduce Unrest slightly at the end of this phase.
Improvement Phase
During the Improvement phase, your kingdom decides on leaders, edicts, what buildings to erect, and various other improvements. At the start, most of these steps can only be done once per month (claim one hex, build one building, etc.) but these limits will increase as your kingdom grows.
Step 1 - Select Leadership: Assign leaders to any vacant leadership roles. Leaders must be PCs or closely allied NPCs. You can change leaders as often as you want for the most part, but if you change too many leaders too often it will cause Unrest.
Step 2 - Claim Hexes: If a hex has been fully explored, cleared of threats, and is adjacent to a currently controlled hex (with the exception of your first) then you can claim it. To do this, you simply spend 1 BP, increase your kingdom's size by 1, and increase Consumption by 1. You can abandon a hex if your Size (and Consumption) gets too high to manage, but doing so will increase Unrest (small if no city, large if it had a city).
Step 3 - Establish and Improve Cities: This is when you prepare land for city districts and purchase new buildings for your cities. The building's adjustments for your nation are applied immediately. You can also destroy buildings at this time in order to clear space for something new.
Step 4 - Build Roads: Roads have an immediate initial cost (varying according to terrain) but pay well over the long term, increasing Economy through trade and (to a lesser extent) Stability.
Step 5 - Improve a Hex: You can develop certain hexes that contain roads into improvements. The most common of these are Farmlands, which can be developed in Grassland and Hill hexes. Farmlands reduce Consumption.
Other options include Forts, Mines, and Camps. Forts can be built in any hex, and their cost is halved if built over an area with an existing Lair or Cave. They reduce Unrest and provide a small amount of Stability. They also give a small Defensive boost to any troops attacked in that hex.
Mines can only be built in the Hills or Mountains, granting a small bonus to Economy and Stability. This bonus stacks with the Economy boost from Resource hexes, and building a Mine there will also increase the Stability bonus to match. Lastly, you can build a (Logging) Camp in a Forest hex. This provides the exact same bonuses as a Mine, the only change being what type of hex it can be built on.
You can only put one of these improvements in any given hex, and by doing so are dedicating that entire hex to that improvement (IE: you are not building one farm but dedicating that entire hex to farmland). This also means that no Cities may be built in a hex you have an improvement in.
Step 6 - Edicts: Pick or adjust your edict levels.
Income Phase
This is when your Build Points come in. Hooray!
Step 1 - Deposits: While Build Points are not, strictly speaking, money, you *can* increase your BP by adding funds to your treasury and economy. For every 4,000 GP in value that you deposit, the kingdom's BP is increased by 1. If an item is individually worth more than 4,000 GP, then it has to be deposited (see Step 3 below).
Step 2 - Withdrawals: You can withdraw a smaller amount of funds per 1 BP (getting 2,000 GP worth of money, jewelry, what have you) but doing so annoys your citizens. Besides automatically increasing Unrest by a small amount, you will also need to make a Loyalty check. Failure means you get more Unrest equal to the total BP you withdrew.
Step 3 - Sell Valuable Items: You can attempt to sell items that cost more than 4,000 gp at this point through the markets and bolster your Treasury and economy. These can be items that you own personally or magic items that are held by any of your cities (in which case you are not directly selling the item but helping to push it through the markets). To sell these items, you make an Economy check (low for Minor items, higher for Medium items, very high for Major items). A failed check simply means it does not sell. Success indicates that it sells and you get some BP in your treasury, equal to 1 BP per 4,000 GP of the item's market value (extra money *will* be noted and carry over. ex: you sell a 6,000 GP item one phase for 1 BP. Next phase you sell another 6,000 GP item, but because you had 2,000 GP left over from before, you get 2 BP).
You can make one Economy check to sell items per city district each Income phase.
Step 4 - Generate Income: The last step is making an Economy check against the current Control DC. If successful, you get some BP based on the result.
Event Phase
There is not much to explain here. Essentially, there is a chance that something will happen here. Good, bad, who knows? If nothing happened in the previous Event phase, this chance is much greater.
Chapter VI: Building and Improvement Details
I spent a lot of time in Photoshop making a very handy picture for this, so enjoy it. I will go over a *few* clarifications for it.
The amount of pluses or minuses next to something are an approximation. A single + may mean +1, +2, or more depending on what it's associated with. Two +'s, even on the same type, may mean slightly different values. The symbols are there to give you an approximation and indicate what direction those buildings and improvements will take you. Do not rely upon them as gospel. E+ does not always mean +1 Economy (though it can) and a + in one thing might represent a very different range as a + in something else (though the E, L, and S values are comparable).
The BP values for Promotion and Festival edicts are the increase in Consumption they bring you.
Most of the buildings take up one 'square' on your city grid (which I'll show you come game day). One city district has 36 blocks. Each block is about 750 square feet. So a shop, for example, takes up a full block. The castle takes up four blocks.
Though they are singularly named, you are not building a single 'shop' or a single 'house' in each situation. Rather, you are dedicating all of that space for the purpose of that type of structure. A House would be dedicating that space to a great deal of housing. A Shop would be dedicating that space to a number of shops.
Houses are the most common structure, and are required to be placed adjacent to a number of structures for them to be built (as shown in the image). The one exception is the Tannery, which can only be built if it is NOT adjacent to any Houses.
The purpose of Tenements is very cheap Housing. They count as Houses for the purpose of filling building prerequisites, and can be improved to normal Houses later on for 2 BP if desired.
The "Special" for some buildings can vary. Most often, building that structure will reduce the cost for certain other structures in the same city. Sometimes that structure might make certain Edicts cheaper. Other special abilities may be seen.
I use a number of house rules for my own Kingmaker campaign, and thought I might share them with you all. These include a couple I've already shown on the boards (Hirelings and Temples/Cathedrals, though these have both been revised) and others I've never really talked about. Hopefully you enjoy them and can make some use of them! :)
I also make use of a few of Jason Nelson's house rules (mainly the addition of mines, camps, and forts) as you'll see mentioned in the below rules.
Oh, and MY PLAYERS STAY OUT! ESPECIALLY YOU DAVID! ;)
HIRELINGS
Spoiler:
Part 1: Securing your Hireling
If it hasn't become immediately obvious already, I am referring to these people as "Hirelings". "Hirelings" are essentially paid "Followers" (acquired through Leadership for free). And you all know what a "Cohort" is.
Now, the question is what you want the hireling for. The one core rule is that no hireling will accompany you in dungeon delving or actively assist in combats (except when fighting for their own life). That is what Leadership is for. No, these are for more menial tasks. Carrying your loot, keeping watch, managing finances, basic medical needs, and more. If you can think of a role that I think a hireling would be happy to do for money, then I'm sure we can come to an agreement.
Once you've decided what you want your hireling for, you tell me. You do not get to name a specific class, rather just what you want the guy to do. I am not going to screw anyone over by providing an Adept when you wanted a mercenary guard or anything, but I am keeping the class decision to my own for a few reasons.
After figuring out what you want them to do, you decide how much you are willing to pay. How much you pay will determine what you get.
Alignment
On the Law to Chaos scale, the amount you pay will determine the alignment and general loyalty the hireling will have. The baseline will get a Neutral hireling. More will get a Lawful one. Less will get a Chaotic one. The Good to Evil axis will be based off of who is doing the hiring. Assuming the Hireling is treated well, his or her alignment will gradually shift to mimic the alignment of their employer.
Class
The baseline will allow for a Hireling of any class, with one level in that class. You can hire them as Untrained (Commoners), Trained (Aristocrats, Adepts, Experts, Warriors) or Experts (any PC class).
Ability Scores
The baseline will give you a Hireling for 3 point buy (scores of 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 in most cases). If you pay more, you can get a Hireling with 15 point buy (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 in most cases). Pretty simple.
Rates
This is the most important part. The rates that hirelings cost in the core is... very basic. I needed a more flexible system, so I came up with the following pay scale.
Base 1st-level Commoner Price (Untrained Hireling): 1 sp/day
Base 1st-level Non-Commoner NPC Price (Trained Hireling): 3 sp/day
Base 1st-level PC Price (Expert Hireling): 10 sp/day
Add a Commoner level: +2 sp/day
Add a Non-Commoner NPC level: +5 sp/day
Add a PC level: +15 sp/day
The Hireling is Advanced: +25% to total pay
The Hireling is Lawful: +10% to total pay
The Hireling is Chaotic: -10% to total pay
Once the final pay is determined, an additional -10% may be subtracted if the hiring character has the Leadership feat.
Determining the Rate
All of the sections above come together when you get your Hireling. You need to determine what Rank you seek *before* you get your Hireling (and yes, current ones can be adjusted retroactively since these are new rules). Here is how it works.
Untrained Hireling: These include untrained laborers, maids, and other menial workers. They will be Neutral and have a 3 point buy, along with one level in Commoner.
Trained Hireling: This includes mercenaries, masons, craftsmen, cooks, scribes, teamsters, etc. They will be Neutral and have a 3 point buy along with one level in Adept, Aristocrat, Expert, or Warrior.
Expert Hireling: This group includes all hirelings that have levels in a PC class, and can include any and all type of hireling. They will be Neutral with a 3 point buy along with one level in a PC class.
Lawful Alignment: Makes the hireling less likely to suddenly abandon your service or disobey orders.
Chaotic Alignment: Makes the hireling more likely to suddenly abandon your service or disobey orders.
15 Point Buy (Advanced): Starts the hireling with better stats, hire an exceptional Hireling.
Alternate Methods of Pay
While most Hirelings will want coin, there are sometimes other acceptable things. If the Hireling is comfortable in appraise (has ranks and can make the DC 20) then giving him some piece of jewelry, gem, what have you will satisfy them. If you really have no money but need to pay the hireling, they might also accept a piece of gear they want that is worth *at least* as much as their monthly pay. You could never get more than one month of their service this way (giving a mercenary a +1 sword will not put them in your dept for life, nor will they give you 'change'.
How many Hirelings can I have?
As many as you can make Diplomacy checks to find.
How do I find Hirelings?
When you put out the word to find a Hireling, you must describe the position you want to fill and wait. Finding someone that fits the bill takes a bit of time. You may attempt to find new Hirelings twice a month.
When you attempt to find one, roll a Diplomacy check. The DC for this check is modified by the type, level, etc. of the Hireling you wish to have. It is also affected by the deaths of any Hirelings you have had in your service.
Base DC: 10
Chaotic Hireling: -1
Untrained Hireling: +0
Lawful Hireling: +1
Trained Hireling: +2
Expert Hireling: +4
Higher than level 1: +2 per level above 1
Hireling death: +4 for each dead hireling; penalty reduced by 1 per month after their death; penalty for one hireling negated if he is brought back to life
Part 2: Upgrading your Hireling
Now you don't want your hireling to stay at level 1 forever, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. Even if they're staying in camp or just guarding the horses, there's still a minuscule amount of experience to be gained. They will never gain experience like you do, that's a PC special thing. However, they can still go up in level. Their ability to do so is dependent on two things. How much you pay them, and your own level.
Upgrading a Hireling is simple. First, you check your level to see if they qualify for an upgrade. Then, you increase their pay by the chart above. The next day, upgrade! Below are the required levels for upgrades. You are not required to advance a hireling at any given level. If you give a Hireling a new PC level, it must replace a current NPC level if available. You can advance a Hireling with 1 NPC level to 1 PC level (still a level 1 character) by upping their pay to the Base Expert rate and waiting a day. They cannot, however, go the other way.
A hireling can be upgraded a maximum number of times as once per month (in your service). They cannot be upgraded when first hired until they have worked at least one month in your service. In your service means they actually have to have been out in the field with you for a month. Spending a week in a field and three back in town does not count.
1st: 1st level Hirelings available (+1 PC or NPC level).
3rd: +1 NPC level.
5th: +1 PC level.
7th: +1 NPC level.
9th: +1 PC level.
11th: +1 NPC level.
13th: +1 PC level.
15th: +1 NPC level.
17th: +1 PC level.
19th: +1 NPC level.
Example: You hire Bronn, a mercenary captain. He starts as a Warrior and has favored levels in Fighter. He could progress as follows (assuming you upgraded him as soon as you could each available time).
1st: Fighter 1 OR Warrior 1
3rd: Fighter 1/Warrior 1 OR Warrior 2
5th: Fighter 2
7th: Fighter 2/Warrior 1 OR Warrior 3 OR Fighter 1/Warrior 2
etc.
Yes, this means that the highest your Hireling can be (at 19th level) is 6th level (with one of those levels having to be an NPC one).
That's how upgrading works.
Part 3: The Hireling Agreement
I'm going to keep this short and simple. No, this isn't a generic contract that all Hirelings somehow know innately, it's more of me, as a GM, saying: this is what the hirelings will do. This may make them a little less realistic, but I don't want you to be worried about being screwed over by your hirelings or worry about managing all their income.
Hirelings are paid the way they are paid because they expect to be in dangerous situations. That said, they will not normally accompany you into dungeons, stand in the front when trekking through the wilderness, or put themselves in any more danger then absolutely necessary. They will be happy to stand watch, guard other hirelings, what have you. Danger within reason.
If you do wish the hireling to accompany you in a dungeon or place himself/herself in higher than normal harm's way, you must pay them Danger Pay. This doubles their rate for the day and allots them a quarter share of any valuables found through combat or otherwise.
Hirelings will, more often then not, stay with you the whole month you paid them and not run off. If they are treated particularly horrible (a lot for a Lawful hireling or a little for a Chaotic one) then they may just say 'f@&! you' and take off.
If a Hireling does need to leave, they will likely give some kind of notice. Lawful ones will give the most, Chaotic ones the least.
Hirelings will usually follow your orders, though Chaotic ones will take the most liberties with them, Lawful ones will follow them as they think you intended them to be followed.
The money you pay your hirelings does not disappear. A certain portion of it is allocated to 'upkeep' and they will handle their own inn stay, food, etc. Although if you offered them a free tent in the wilderness, they would definitely not turn it down. The rest of their money will go towards two things, savings and upgrades. Part of their money will be used to buy better supplies that they would use back in a town. The rest they will store someplace as 'savings', as all Hirelings ultimately want to settle down someday, the adventuring life is dangerous after all!
SELLING MAGIC ITEMS
Spoiler:
Selling magic items from the various 'slots' in the kingdom is still limited to 1 attempt per district and the DCs remain the same. When sold, an item adds its market value to a "Deposit" fund. Every time the Deposit fund reaches 4,000, the kingdom gains 1 BP.
Note: I do not recommend using the above rule unless A. You have some good way of rolling items and keeping track of the Deposit fund (I use my Magic Item Generator and Excel) and B. You think the magic item rules in Kingmaker are kind of broken.
POPULATION
Spoiler:
Population granted by various settlements is as follows:
Low Pop Building (Park, Shrine, etc.): 25d3
Medium Pop Building (most buildings): 50d3
High Pop Building (only Tenements and Houses): 75d3
Farm Hex: 125d4
Non-Farm Improvement (Mine, Camp, Fort) Hex: 100d4
Hex with no Improvements: 75d4
Note: If you plan on using these, make sure you have some computerized way of rolling these. ;) I use MapTool.
CHANGING KINGDOM ALIGNMENT
Spoiler:
Kingdom Alignment, once set, cannot be changed without a significant increase in Unrest. Changing the Alignment prevents any sort of BP gain (from Income, items, etc.) for one month. Additionally, if the kingdom's alignment is changing more than one step, the kingdom gains 3d4 Unrest. If the kingdom's alignment is only changing one step, the kingdom only gains 2d4 Unrest. Either of these can be reduced by 1d4 Unrest (to 2d4 for 2+ steps or 1d4 for 1) with a successful Loyalty check. The kingdom's alignment may only be changed once per year at most. Cities must immediately adjust to comply with the new alignments. Temples and Cathedrals within cities that no longer allow them are considered destroyed. New Temples or Cathedrals dedicated to gods the city allows may be built in their place for the usual half price cost.
NUMBER OF CITIES/DISTRICTS
Spoiler:
The number of cities a kingdom can support is based off its size. A kingdom may have one city for every 5 size (min. 1). A kingdom of size 9 or less may only support one city. A kingdom of size 10-14 may have two cities. A kingdom of size 15-19 may have three cities, and so on.
A city may only build additional districts if the structure desired to be built within it does not fit in the current district. Future structures which do fit (even if a second district is more open) mus still be built within the first.
Example: The city Caerleon has one district that is nearly full, only three squares remaining in a corner. The players wish to build a Cathedral. A new district may be added to Caerleon to support this. If, on the following turn, a Shop is to be built, it must be built in the first district as there is still room.
CITY ALIGNMENT
Spoiler:
Cities within the kingdom do not need to be of the same alignment. At least half of the cities in the kingdom, including the Capital, need to match the kingdom's alignment. Any others may be within one step of the kingdom's alignment.
HOME CITIES
Spoiler:
Any PC may designate a single city as their home city. This is where they must spend their week each month handling leadership duties. Within the home city, a PC is treated gains the benefit of a certain lifestyle for free (see Cost of Living in the Core Rulebook). For kingdoms of size 1-20, the PC gets the Average lifestyle. For kingdoms of size 21-80, the PC gets the Wealthy lifestyle. For kingdoms of size 81+, the PC gets the Extravagant lifestyle. PCs outside of their home city but in a city still within the kingdom continue to get a free lifestyle, but at one less step compared to what they get in their home city (Poor for 1-20, Average for 21-80, Wealthy for 81+).
TEMPLES
Spoiler:
Normal Rules: Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
A temple can only be built if the city's alignment is within one step of the deity's alignment. A temple dedicated to Calistria, for example, could only be built in a True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, or Chaotic Evil City.
NE and CE gods are not included due to the lack of organized temples within a city.
Erastil (LG): Halves cost of Park, Mill, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Iomedae (LG): Halves cost of Graveyard, Watchtower, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Torag (LG): Halves cost of Graveyard, Smith, and City Wall in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Sarenrae (NG): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Shelyn (NG): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Economy +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Desna (CG): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Cayden Cailean (CG): Halves cost of Graveyard, Brewery, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Economy +2, Loyalty +3, Stability -1; Unrest –2.
Abadar (LN): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shop in same city; 3 minor items; Economy +3; Unrest –2.
Irori (LN): Halves cost of Park, Library, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Gozreh (N): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Pharasma (N): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Nethys (N): Halves cost of Graveyard, Library, and Shrine in same city; 3 minor items; Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Gorum (CN): Halves cost of Graveyard, Smith, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Calistria (CN): Halves cost of Brothel, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Asmodeus (LE): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Zon-Kuthon (LE): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
CATHEDRALS
Spoiler:
Normal Rules: Halves cost of Temple or Academy in same city; halves Consumption increase penalty for promotion edicts; 3 minor items, 2 medium items; Loyalty +4; Unrest –4; limit one per city.
A cathedral can only be built if the city's alignment is the same as the deity's alignment. An LG city, for example, could only build Cathedrals dedicated to Erastil, Iomedae, or Torag.
NE and CE gods are not included due to the lack of organized cathedrals within a city.
Cathedrals to deities marked with P do not grant the reduced price on an Academy or Temple in the same city for the first cathedral to that deity built. When building a second cathedral to the same deity (in a different city), use the default cathedral statistics (a second cathedral to Erastil, for example, does not grant a discount for a second farm per month; it will discount Academies or Temples in the same city by 50% as normal instead).
Cathedrals to deities marked with L reduce the Loyalty bonus the Cathedral provides to +2.
Armies created by the Iomedae or Gorum cathedrals reduce the kingdom's Stability, Economy, and Loyalty by an extra 1 (total 3 each) if defeated. As long as the Cathedral that created them remains intact, they can be recruited again after waiting 1 month's time (IE: they cannot be recruited on the kingdom phase immediately following their defeat, but can be recruited on the following kingdom phase).
Erastil (LG)[P]: One farm per month can be established for half cost (1 BP for a grassland hex, 2 BP for a hill hex).
Iomedae (LG)[P]: You may designate any one Regular army created by this city "Legion of the Inheritor". The Legion requires 1 less Consumption and gains +1 OM.
Torag (LG)[L]: The Defense Modifier of this city increases by 4.
Sarenrae (NG)[P]: Sarenrae's healing of the sick and blessing of the crops reduces Consumption by 2 BP.
Shelyn (NG)[L]: A single Theater in this city can be upgraded to an Opera House of the Rose, increasing the Economy and Stability it provides by 1.
Desna (CG)[P]: Two roads per month can be established for 1 less BP (min. 0 BP).
Cayden Cailean (CG)[L]: A single Tavern in the city can be designated as the Lucky Drunk, holy to Cayden Cailean, increasing the Economy and Loyalty it provides by 1.
Abadar (LN)[L]: The cathedral of Abadar doubles as a Bank, increasing Economy by 1 and the city's base value by +1,000.
Irori (LN)[L]: A free Monastary to the Master of Masters can be established in any controlled Mountain hex, increasing the kingdom's Stability and Loyalty by 1. If the Kingdom does not control a mountain hex at time of this Cathedral's establishment, it may 'save' this until it does.
Gozreh (N)[P]: Preparing a Forest hex for settling only requires 2 BP and takes 1 month to prepare (same as Hills). In addition, cities settled in Forest hexes may be treated as a free partial farm, reducing Consumption by 1 BP.
Pharasma (N)[L]: A single Graveyard in this city can be upgraded to a Boneyard, increasing the Economy and Loyalty it provides by 1.
Nethys (N)[P]: A single Caster's Tower in this city can be upgraded to the All Seeing Eye, increasing the amount of items it provides by 1 for each category (total 4 minor items, 3 medium items, 1 major item).
Gorum (CN)[P]: Any one Regular army created by this city may be designated as the "Iron Warriors". These troops receive the Improved Armor upgrade for free and begin with the Defensive Wall Tactic (this does not count against the max tactics it may learn).
Calistria (CN)[L]: A single Brothel in the city can be upgraded to the "Unquenchable Flames of Lust" brothel/temple, increasing the Economy and Loyalty it provides by 1.
Asmodeus (LE)[L]: The Loyalty penalty for all Taxes (except none) is reduced by 2 (Light becomes +1, Normal +0, Heavy -2, Overwhelming -6).
Zon-Kuthon (LE)[L]: Fear inspired from a city in the shadow of the Midnight Lord increases Loyalty by 1 and the Defense Modifier by 2.
NEW EVENTS
Spoiler:
I'm not reproducing them all here, just linking the thread where all of them can be found and the new table I made allowing them to be rolled. At some point I will compile them all (with due credit, of course).
There are two house rules I *highly* recommend when it comes to magic items and the cheese.
1. Do not allow the players to build a new district unless they cannot build the building they want in any other district within that city. I have heard talk about how some groups will build a single district for one magic item shop just to have the extra chance to sell one per turn, and it is ridiculous. Both from a game standpoint and a roleplay standpoint. Just nip that one in the bud.
2. Change magic item sales to be "you get 1 BP for every 4,000 GP of item sold", turning it into a much more similar system as the Deposits. Having a single potion be worth the same 2 BP as a +2 sword is just silly. Of course, if you do this, it's also recommended to have the extra 'carry over' from time to time. I do this by having an excel sheet just add up everything they sell, and each time it hits 4,000, they get a BP.
These two combine make kingdoms a bit more of a challenge to really get going, but ultimately prevent a lot of the problems I am seeing.
Well, I've finally completed it. It was a project I started a long time ago, but eventually lost interest in (along with losing what code I had done at that point). Thanks to my Kingmaker group, however, I decided to spend a day or two over my break working on it. After manually rolling for just a few minor items in their kingdom's magic item slots, I dreaded what it would be like when they got more and more open slots to fill with magic items.
So, my desire for "click of a button" convenience strong, I hunkered down and coded this program up. I've learned a lot with C since my first attempt at this, and am proud with the final application that I've made.
What exactly does this program do, you might ask? Well it does a few things:
Individual Generation
This is the first tab you'll see when opening the program. It's pretty self-explanatory. Pick a number of minor, medium, or major items of specific types and click the button. It will pop out random choices based on your selections. If you're curious, Minor Rods and Minor Staves are missing for a reason, that being that the Core Book does not have any of those types.
City Generation
Using the rules in the Core Book for how many items of each type can pop up in various city sizes, this tab will genearate items for a certain city size based on your selection.
Kingdom Generation
What I, personally, will be using the most, this allows you to set how many slots of each Item Type your kingdom has (in a Kingmaker or similar campaign) and generate the appropriate items each month.
Those are the various sections. How do I calculate everything though? Well, I tried to be as comprehensive as I could, and this is what it comes down to:
Randomly generated items are done so using the tables in the GameMastery Guide and the Core Rulebook.
Armor and Weapons are done so that no two special abilities of the same type will be generated, and if two similar ones (shock and shocking burst) pop up, it will assign the better.
Armor and Weapons are capped at an effective +10 modifier.
Special materials are assigned as per the GMG.
The GP value of anything generated IS shown, and I made great effort to make sure that it is calculated as accurately as possible. Adamantine/Mithral adds different amounts dependent on what it's on, same with other materials. Enhancement bonuses are priced accordingly, etc.
Stuff I don't currently have in that will likely be added in the future:
There is, according to the Core book, a 1% chance for a Ring, Rod, or Wondrous Item to be intelligent. I don't have that chance in yet, but plan on adding it later on.
A reset button will be added to each tab with the next version.
The color of dragonhide, if it comes up, will be generated.
Anyhow, give it a try! Every item possible through random item generation using the Core Book and GMG should be in there and priced properly. It should work fine on systems with .NET framework 3.5 and higher. I don't know how well it will work on a Mac, but if it has issues and someone wants to walk me through making it work for them, I'd be happy to listen.
Also, please forgive the crude layout. I'm not much of a UI guy, so I don't really know a lot about appearances and such. Again, if anyone wants to help me out there, I'd be happy to listen.
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Q: Can an animal *companion* have an intelligence higher than 2? A: Yes. The exact text in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook alludes to this. People might be confused as the 3.5 FAQ ruled that animals with Ints higher then 2 became Magical Beasts (or some such) but Pathfinder has changed this.
PRPG wrote:
Skills: This lists the animal's total skill ranks. Animal companions can assign skill ranks to any skill listed under Animal Skills. If an animal companion increases its Intelligence to 10 or higher, it gains bonus skill ranks as normal. Animal companions with an Intelligence of 3 or higher can purchase ranks in any skill. An animal companion cannot have more ranks in a skill than it has Hit Dice.
The "Awaken" spell is another issue entirely, that spell specifically changes the animal into a magical beast.
If that is not enough, the post from James Jacobs here indicates that a paladin can put points into his mount's intelligence to raise it.
James Jacobs wrote:
So in the end... your paladin won't have an Int 6 horse at all... unless you decided to put points into Intelligence as your horse leveled up, of course. The Advanced Template has nothing to do with animal companions.
Q: How about a normal animal? Can it have an intelligence higher than 2? The heavy horse, for example, gets the Advanced Simple template, and the rebuild rules add +4 to all abilities, which would bring Intelligence up to 6. What then?
A: A normal animal cannot have an intelligence above 2. The designers intended players to use the Quick rules when making the heavy horse, not necessarily a rebuild rules. James Jacob's comment from here though does help this issue.
James Jacobs wrote:
That said, if you use the rebuild option with the Advanced template, not applying the bonus to an animal's Intelligence is probably a good way to go. If you're just applying the quick version, it doesn't really matter.
This is a good point; it's probably a good idea to not increase the horse's Intelligence score to 6. But even if you do, the horse doesn't suddenly get the ability to speak or understand languages; he'd need to take ranks in Linguistics to do that, and even then would lack the ability to speak.
In any case, I'll speak with Jason about making sure this bit of clarification gets added to the FAQ or whatever we end up doing for the Bestiary. Of course, if you just use the quick rules for the advanced template (which is the whole point of the advanced template, to make it easy to use), this isn't a problem anyway.
It's complete! Download it here. The document is intended for GMs. Though there aren't really any story spoilers, the mechanics aren't necessarily intended for players to see. If they're past book 1 and the 'ranks' have been decided, then it's probably alright to let them see it. Individual GMs can decide.
Inside the document is a system to enhance the other NPCs in the Children of Westcrown (or whatever your players named their growing resistance). Rules were made to set a 'rank' for each NPC based on PC interaction/training/assistance in the first book that will guide their levels throughout the rest of the campaign. It also presents a new concept on allowing a few NPCs to serve as backup in each adventure (or 'mission'), creating a base camp that the PCs can fall back to, along with later providing 'boons' to the PCs.
Anyhow, give it a read and let me know what you think. The rules aren't 100% set in stone, though I'm pretty happy with where they ended up. Keep in mind that this is a very mechanics-heavy document, the majority of it including over 140 stat blocks for the 13 NPCs (and a couple animals). I only mention the role-playing tie-ins a bit, but I highly encourage each GM to include a lot of role-play with these mechanics. Especially in book 1, when figuring out which NPCs should be rank 1, 2, or 3. Even in the future when they're coming along on missions and providing boons, make sure to keep them in the background (they never actually accompany the PCs, they just hang back a block or so outside where the PCs are adventuring in case the PCs need to retreat for healing or something). Play up their personalities and don't just see them as a set of rules.
To help in this, Hugo Solis is drawing portraits for the 11 NPCs not already pictured in the AP and should have those ready in a week or so. Once those are done I'll be making up some descriptions for each and will include all this in an updated version of the document. GMs can even print out 'cards' of each NPC with the face/description on the front, maybe a place for notes on the back. Still working on that idea.
So I've had a lot of downtime recently. As I've been using a projector to do digital maps for my weekly gaming group, I look at maps a lot. So far I've just been pulling maps from the Pathfinder pdf and usually they suffice. On some of the larger maps, however, the quality is a bit lower than I'd like. Everything seems empty, pixelated, with only the simplest symbols of furniture. It ended up looking like I had just drawn it myself on a battle mat, which is normally fine, but I have been craving higher quality.
So, after loading myself up with Campaign Cartographer 3, Dungeon Designer 3, and a few other expansions, I made my first high definition large map. In this case, I updated the Jackal's Lair from the Jackal's Price.
Did everything I could find this time around. Main story, set piece, and the full bestiary. Even monsters not completely statted out in the new PRPG Bestiary should be included (like the Ettin Skeleton).
As always, if anyone finds a problem I'd appreciate it if you let me know. I'm off to get working on book 4's conversion.
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This is something that needs clarifying in a PRPG FAQ. Until then, I recommend going with the 3.5 ruling, which *was* clarified in their FAQ.
3.5 FAQ wrote:
If a rogue has successfully hidden behind some bushes and fires an arrow at a target less than 30 feet away from her, does she deal sneak attack damage?
Yes. The rules don’t come right out and say this, but a character who has successfully hidden from an opponent is considered invisible for the purpose of rendering that foe flatfooted, and thus deals sneak attack damage.
Very important, albeit subtle, mistake. It turns out the random generator I wrote up would never hit the maximum number the way I set it. As it stands, this only usually meant a single percentage (1-99 instead of 1-100) but on some things it was worse. The random rooms each encounter happened on, for example, would just be a small die roll (1-6) which meant that with this bug one room never got rolled.
Anyhow, it has been fixed and double checked. Everything should be functioning properly now. :)
Thanks for all the kind feedback, let me know if there's anything else you'd like on this. I'm working on my next little project, the Random Loot Generator, right now but once I'm done I should have some time to come back and revise this a bit.
#3 is No. Jason clarified it in this thread. Shield Mastery, besides negating the two weapon fighting penalty for the Shield attack, only adds a bonus to attack and damage equal to the (base) Shield bonus. So +2 for a Heavy, or +1 for a Light, regardless of the Shield enhancement. The bonus it adds is treated as a weapon enhancement bonus as well, so if you enhanced it as a weapon while possessing this feat the two would not stack. A heavy shield enhanced as a +3 weapon would only be +1 to attack and damage better if you had Shield Master (which already provided a +2).
Also, in case you ask, Shield Focus or Greater Shield Focus do not increase the Shield's base shield bonus for the purpose of Shield Mastery, they only add to your AC.
The APs work well with the fast experience track. CotCT has my group of 5 players entering Scarwall at level 11. This seems fair even though it's a level below the expected start point, since there are 5 of them. If they were on a Medium track then they wouldn't even be 11th level yet, they'd be 10th. In Scarwall.
GAH.
Considering RotRL, let's add on the encounters from the rest of the adventure.
Total = 31,910
Total plus pre-Thistletop encounters = 42,875
Per Player with Four =~ 10,719
Level at Fast Track = 5th
Level at Medium Track = 4th
In the case of both tracks, the XP needed for those levels made it over by 719 for Fast Track, and 1,719 for Medium. This is including EVERY possible reward for the adventure.
Skinsaw assumes 4th level character starts for the adventure. So it would seem that Medium is the right choice, but this scales down later on, and I doubt the players will even reach 14th level by the end of the AP. CotCT experienced the same problem. Early on, the party was leveling a bit quicker than expected, and was even overshadowing the level line a bit around 5th and 6th level. By 10th and 11th though, they've gone back down to the expected level, and if they were using Medium would be vastly unprepared for Scarwall.
Also, the party only reaches 5th in Thistletop if they do EVERYTHING possible, which isn't always going to happen.
Thanks again for your help, James. I was confused on the Cavern picture because in the Upper Caverns picture, that top ledge (the one directly south of the stairs) has two bridges leading off of it, and when I *thought* the west-east one was actually below it, I saw that the ledge had those two little dots signifying posts on it, on each bridge. I understand how it works now though. D19's south ledge to D20, to D21, to a ledge just above the pier. It'll work. :)
As for the XP thing, I guess it just struck me so much because throughout the whole section on Balor's attitude, the text stressed how much he really wants them to go down there, and even if they attacked his palace, he'd wait and see how well they did before making his offer again. I am all for story rewards and have given them out plenty, this just seemed extremely generous for what it was given. I can understand the need for the XP though.
Any other suggestions on running this? My group just found Amin and left him some Goodberries to survive until they could take him back to the mainland (an Illusionist with Invisibility Sphere and a rowboat makes a nifty way to get back and forth). We left off there with the assumption that next session they would go look for Salvator and then head off to confront the Emperor (which should be fun, the Fighter in the group had a backstory that included working as a whore at Exemplary Execrables for her start). I'm going to need to do a lot of preparation for the labyrinth, the rotating chambers are awesome.
I recently got to look at the Guide of Korvosa, and love that book! In particular, I liked the layout of all the Wards, and how it listed a lot of the different rent costs for houses/apartments/etc. What I missed though, and what it took me a while to find on these boards was where the wards were actually separated.
I finally found a thread in the Pathfinder Chronicles section which outlined all I needed to know, thanks to Cintra Bristol and Mike McArtor. I went through in Photoshop and, using the map from the free CotCT Player's Guide (hopefully there's no problem with me putting that up here) outlined all the different wards.
This was initially done for my players, but I thought that you guys might be able to make use of them too, so here they are.
Karui Kage
