Lord Snow's page

Yeah well, that is to be expected. However, I think one can deduce that generally speaking, the community here on the paizo boards is appreciative of the decision to allow gay marriage. so I'm happy :)

cunning moongoose: the comparison to slavery is very apt here, but it is "brute force" - the example is far greater than needed to just prove the point. and the point is a basic one - we (the human race, and the western civilization even more so) got to a point where considerations as cold as utility are unneeded. There were periods of time in history when reterded, or even just weak babies were put to death on account of them taking too much effort to leave alive. Surely no one will suggest applying such methods now?
claiming that we will "further weaken ourselves" by allowing gay marrige is absurd. I guess that we, as a society, would function better with some people feeling guilty and alienited because of their nature? a person is a part of the country or state she is a citizen of, regardless of their sexual inclination. I believe that the happiness and feeling of belonging we can grant to the gay community by allowing marrige (as if it was our right to disallow it in the first place) will be a far greater help to our so called "weakend civilization" than forcing gays to hide their nature and breed some more babies.

no part of the argument that aretas used makes much sense - not the assumptions its based on, nor the methods used to derive conclusions from these arguments.

I think Tim Minchin would like this thread - gay marrige is Bad, 'cause it's not Good!

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Quote:

1)Bush didn't "steal" the election. Dems in the state of Florida wanted to subjectively pick and choose which ballots to keep and to toss, instead of coming up with an impartial standard to go by. The courts said that this was not a valid way of approaching the way to tally up votes.

He unequivocally lost the popular vote, which means at BEST he was the president because of a system based around the idea of how long it took a horse to get from south carolina to new york city.

Well, whether you agree with the system or not, it is the one that is in place. It is irrelevant if you win or lose the popular vote, only the electoral college is important. People who blame Bush for "stealing" the election when he won based on the system in place are silly. You don't like the system start working on a Constitutional assembly and get the constitution changed.

By the way, it is not like this never happened before. I believe it happened with two other presidents as well.

EDIT: Let me give an analogy here. Let's say there is a basketball game. One team makes more baskets (gets the popular vote) but the other team wins because they scored more points (won the electoral college) by making more 3 pointers. Did the winning team cheat by making more points but less baskets?

Err, when the entire point of the method is to give the win to however had more baskets (or rather, whoever is actually *chosen* by more people to be their leader) than yeah, I'd say something is off with the system for allowing this to happen. Imagine if you were playing a fighter, and when you gained a level you somehow became weaker. that's not how things should go. Just as leveling up signifies gaining power in PFRPG, getting votes should directly translate into being elected.

personaly, my love for any other race is dwarfed by comparison. Never shall I forget my beloved Gormend Bittcos, a dwarven druid with a kobold as an animal companion (The character was a racist who viewd Kobolds as little more than snakes, and the GM felt like giving the group some comic relief). ah, good days...

mine are:

George R R Martin (big time, for writing A Song Of Ice and Fire and many other awesome stuff)

Stephen King (for being one of the most productive engines of cool, original creation)

Robin Hoob (I love Fitz)

Dan Simmons (the Hyperion omnibus is just about unmathced in scale)

H. P Lovecraft (his creation made this possible - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxScTbIUvoA)

Patrick Rothfuss (based intirley on Name of the Wind)

To further freak folks out... we also assume the Material Plane is big enough not only for Golarion and Earth... but for pretty much ALL campaign settings. For all RPGs. And for all books and movies as well. The planet Vulcan's out there somewhere, as is Narnia and Middle Earth. In some cases, time AND space separates these lands from Golarion, but in some cases only space separates them.

And all of those worlds are contained in the Material Plane, which is a speck at the center of the elemental planes, which are combined to a speck in the center of the astral plane, which is a speck at the center of the Outer Planes.

This is a rather fascinating possibility... though it does raise a number of questions. For starters, *all* of the different stories we read and watch in TV cannot coexist. obviously, for example, the universe described in the Hyperion Omnibus could not be the same one as the universe described in the Mass Effect computer games - each of them describes a distinctly different sort of fate for Earth and the human race. Just as well as the fact that the story told in "His Majesties' Dragon" could not coexist with the one told in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell.

In even broader terms, it would seem to me that having alternate realities *within* the material plane would make more sense - something more akin to Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" model for the universe, or even the Multiverse used as a setting for Magic: The Gathering. an infinite number of universes coexisting, bordering on each other, being "close" or "far" from each other in a way which has nothing to do with physical distance.
Wouldn't that be more sensible? each universe could house a different story and setting, and traveling between them would mean winking out from one existence to another.

Well, very interesting.

I have to say though, if digital games are a direction Paizo is looking for to further expand PF, shouldn't other mediums fit more? for years now I've been thinking how awesome it could be to convert any of the wonderful Adventure Paths to a Biowere style RPG... that could be a perfect medium to tell a story is reach, complex and cool as most APs tell. so I guess this is a question directed at both fans and Paizo stuff members - to the fans, would you rather have a single player RPG, done Biowere style? and to That Golem Who's Always Got It: can you see something like this happening in some distant, awesome future?

Lord Snow wrote:

2) Less than a year from now, I will be recruited to a rather elite force in my country's army. that means I'll be busy for, like, 8 years.

"Taking the black?" ;)

Sorry couldnt resist with your name being what it is. :) George RR Martin ftw.

indeed, the win belongs to Mr. Martin :)

Alas, I will be joining the sea forces, probably similar to the U.S navy, on a special training course that will lead me, in a munber of years, to be commander of my own ship (yay!). there is still a chance I'll be rejected from this force but evreyone who knows me believes I have a very good chance (sorry, this has nothing to do with anything but I am super excited and so I rumble :))

I wrote quite a lengthy response to that, too lengthy perhaps but, alas, the program ate it.
This is the recap of my points:
1) I don't think that in general charging money from considerably younger, inexperienced people to play with them is wrong. Consider yourself taking a chess class, a basketball high school team or even an art class. Both you and you tutor, the one who'll be charging you, probably love the hobby you pay him to teach you. Can't you play basketball on your own? of course you can! but you'll still pay in order for you to be able to play with your group while the couch oversees you. I, for example, spent two years of my life GMing a certain group. All of that group, me included, also took part in a weekly D&D session with a real veteran who ran really fan games - meaning, while we were playing with each other for free, we also paid to play with someone older and more experienced, and since we all enjoyed the game greatly we were all fine with that.

2) Less than a year from now, I will be recruited to a rather elite force in my country's army. that means I'll be busy for, like, 8 years. Before that, I want to make true a dream that I’ve been having for a while, and that is having an awesome vacation with my amazing girlfriend and my best friends, who I really wish to keep in touch with now that school will be over and think that sharing the experience of a trip together with them will help that cause. that means that I need a LOT of money and fast. Therefore, if I don't earn money from doing something in the following months, I'm simply not doing it. Running D&D as a business is, sadly, the only way I can afford to run it. I think my dream is worth it, and maybe that's just me being selfish but I think that if there is a time and a way to be selfish, it is now and by charging people as if D&D was a class.

anyway, I hope to hear your opinion on the matter and thank you for the response :)

summery of my question: is Godsmouth Heresy preferable as a first module than Crypt of the Everflame to a group of newbies with an expirienced GM? Should I introduce the newbies to the game by handing out pregenerated characters and teaching them as the game rolls or should I explain evreything out first? and are 6$ an hour a reasonable amount to charge for the game?

Hey,

I am and have been a GM for quite some time now - the past 10 years, I believe. Now that my last year in high school is nearly over, I decided to start making money from my hobby and run some D&D to some 7th graders for it. Now, the way it looks like I'll have a group of 5-7 children (I won't take more even if more will sign up as I think huge group unable good gaming), most of them with very little playing experience and all of them without any real understanding of the rules. What I hope to accomplish is not only having an enjoyable game with them but also helping them understand the game.
So my plan is to hand out pregenerated characters (perhaps the Paizo iconic, perhaps something of my own brewing), and sort of explain the relevant rules for every encounter they face so that they'll get to try out the rules the very first time they hear them. Do you think this is a decent way of doing this?

Anyway, I'm also wandering which PF module best suits my needs here. there's Crypt of the Everflame, which seems to go along precisely with what I planned. I worry about this one, however, since I don't think it's continuation, Masks of the Living God, would hook newbies as much as it does old timers... is the Godsmouth Heresy better?

And as a side note and last question: do you think 6$ an hour from each kid is legitimate, given that I plan to do 4 one and a half hour sessions per month? For me that's about 180 bucks a month and I also have a day job…

-Thanks!

As you read through the books, Kendra looks about somewhat helplessly. After a couple of moments she murmurs her thanks and makes her exit.
Most of the books you find are all but unintelligible to you - they are written in bizarre, alien runes, or contain such complicated formula that you cannot possibly hope to follow. Some books though catch your attention.

Dragos-

Durgan-

Darcy-

Dervin-

Exalar-

Darcy & Durgan-

"Well, I will tell you how he died", the woman says bitterly.
"He was exploring the ruins of that damned prison, Harrowstone. Father was the best man I knew, and he died in a stupid accident, an entire statue toppled over his head and smashed it. He was obsessed about the ruins for some time before his death." She pauses, hesitating, before she carries on.
"I tried to persuade him not to go fooling around an old, crumbling building but once he had the idea in his head he was immovable. I want to know why he died. And for all that I know, his reason might be found in the pages of one of his precious books."
She turns and looks at Durgan. "If you don't want to read this book", she turns and looks at each of you. "If not one of you is willing to read those books tell me. I'd read them myself."

]

Perception check +3 Wis

Durgan:

All:
Durgan and Kendra enter the room. Kendra approaches the locked chest containing the tomes.
"Father never wanted to prevent knowledge from anyone", she declares. "It would make sense if you wanted to red the books. it's up to your discretion, though. Tell me... do you know how my father died?"

Kendra smiles feebly at Dragos. "There, brother, there's no need for melodramatics. Father asked for nearly trivial things."
"Yes, Mr. Moldoban, I assure you, you will have little trouble carrying out Lorrimor's will. Kendra?"
Nodding, Kendra paces out of the room and returns a moment later, carrying a small chest.
"The books are inside... friends, I sincerely thank you all for coming, but I need time to grieve on my own... it is a family matter, after all. I will leave you here, for now. Please, make yourself at home."

Hearthmount excuses himself as well, and before he leaves he says, "Ravengro is not very welcoming of strangers... but the professor trusted the lot of you, and I trust the professor. If you'll need anything while you are staying, please let me know"

Yout chats are interruptes as a strong knocking on the house's strudy entrance door summons Kendra, who hastily open it and greet the raven haired, sour faced man who enteres the home as Mr. Hearthmount. The man strides into the room and glances around with an aura of authority and, you feel, slight disgust.
"Well, I don't know the lot of you", he greets, "But I respect the proffessor, and he wanted you here. Well, this is his last will and testement."
Hearthmount gets seated comfortably and pulls a large envelope from a large pocket in his shirt. Opening the envelope he extracts three items from it. The first is a key. "I'll be damned if I know what this opens", he sais apolegacticly to Kendra, who gives him a tightlipped smile. The second object is a book, small and tetered. the third is a long scroll.
"Well, Mr. Lorrimor's will. shall we?"
Without pausing for an answear, the man reads the scroll in a dreary, neutral voice.
"“I, Petros Lorrimor, being of sound mind, do hereby commit to this
parchment my last will and testament. Let it be known that, with
the exception of the specific details below, I leave my home and
personal belongings entire to my daughter Kendra. Use them or
sell them as you see fit, my child.
“Yet beyond the bequeathing of my personal effects, this
document must serve other needs. I have arranged for the reading
of this document to be delayed until all principals can be in
attendance, for I have more than mere inheritance to apportion. I
have two final favors to ask.
“To my old friends, I hate to impose upon you all, but there are
few others who are capable of appreciating the true significance of
what it is I have to ask. As some of you know, I have devoted many
of my studies to all manner of evil, that I might know the enemy and
inform those better positioned to stand against it. For knowledge
of one’s enemy is the surest path to victory over its plans.
“And so, over the course of my lifetime, I have seen fit to acquire
a significant collection of valuable but dangerous tomes, any one
of which in the wrong circumstances could have led to an awkward
legal situation. While the majority of these tomes remain safe under
lock and key at the Lepidstadt University, I fear that a few I have
borrowed remain in a trunk in my Ravengro home. While invaluable
for my work in life, in death, I would prefer not to burden my
daughter with the darker side of my profession, or worse still, the
danger of possessing these tomes herself. As such, I am entrusting
my chest of tomes to you, posthumously. I ask that you please deliver
the collection to my colleagues at the University of Lepidstadt, who
will put them to good use for the betterment of the cause.
“Yet before you leave for Lepidstadt, there is the matter of
another favor—please delay your journey one month and spend
that period of time here in Ravengro to ensure that my daughter is
safe and sound. She has no one to count on now that I am gone,
and if you would aid her in setting things in order for whatever she
desires over the course of this month, you would have my eternal
gratitude. From my savings, I have also willed to each of you a sum
of one hundred platinum coins. For safekeeping, I have left these
funds with Embreth Daramid, one of my most trusted friends in
Lepidstadt—she has been instructed to issue this payment upon
the safe delivery of the borrowed tomes no sooner than one month
after the date of the reading of this will."

He awaits your responses.

You have traveled long, and came across large stretches of land just to be there. You came to mourn an old friend.
And there you stood, surrounded by strangers you know nothing about, staring into the open grave as the coffin was lowered into place. It is customary to open the lid of the coffin one last time before it is covered with dirt - but the pouring rain made that in impossibility out of respect for the body.
Lorrimor didn't leave many physical things behind. A small house in the insignificant town Ravengro and a lovely daughter, Kendra. Blessed with a thin, tall build and long, bright hair - both rare commodities among the stocky dark haired Ustelavians.
She stood over the hole in the ground where her father was to be buried, tears streaming down along her noble cheeks.
"You were a good man, father", she said, and you all agreed.
"You brought your light, your heart, as gifts to this world. With your knowledge it would have been easy to settle down in a university and spend your time gathering power. You didn't. You cared to much. I loved you, father, as so many others did. And I... I..."
obviously this became to much for her to bare, and she left her spot by the open grave and went aside to mourn by herself.
You all knew the professor. You all knew of his death and that's the reason you came, but standing there, staring at the wooden chest that contains what's left of him... those kind of things always leave an impact.

An hour went by since the burial. You are all sitting now in Lorrimor's residence, at the relatively luxurious guest room, on leather couches surrounding a low wooden table. the room is pleasantly lit by four oil lamps. Kendra Lorrimor is making herself busy serving hot milk (which you understand from the way she speaks is the local traditional non alcoholic bevrege) and fruits. as she scurries to and fro along the house you have a chance to know each other a little, and talk before Mr. Heartmount, the leader of the Ravengro council, arrives and handles the legal procedures of reading the professor's will.

Reminder: the play by post thread is to be used as a "pure inplay thread". that means that all comments should have to be directly in relation to events. that means that those kinds of comments are allowed:
1) in character speach and descriptions (of actions, thoughts etc.)
2) out of character comments, questions and declarations that have to do with current situations. examples: "spot check, +7", "wait, didn't Lord Snow say that the dragon is blue?", "I don't think this plan would work, but fine."

all other discussions and out of character stuff should be done here .

also a note: all dice rolls will be performed by me. this serves a double purpose. A) it prevents potential cheating and B) it adds to the limit of your out of game knowledge, thus increasing mistery and fun.

Alright, grand news!

I've finaly recived my copy of HoH (it's fantastic), and the entire outline to the campaign seems great too.

Well, let's get down to buisness. I have opened a new thread in the play by post forum, named "Snow's Carrion Crown". your characters as written are fine, so come along and let us play!

Donato, Hedgeknight - still waiting for your PCs.

Ok, here we go!

** spoiler omitted **

What do you think? Am I in? ^_^

Well well well, it would be amusing if you will be, 'cause I'm in for the ride as well (that is, if I get picked :))

Prodigal Sun - this is my character. It's not divided into character presntation/character bakground, but hopefully the tone of the text is enough to get the hang of the concept.

Didn't play it but in CoT...

.
said to be one deadly beast.

Great! I have a character already built for another game that I never used. If you check my aliases, look at Durgan Stoneshield. I'll need to redo his stats for a 15-point buy and adjust his skills and background, but all of the other stuff is pretty much there.

If you prefer a different build, just let me know.

It's fine. However, do remember that your experience will be enhanced if you will make all proper adjustments to stitch your character to this campaign - do read the CC player guide if you haven't already.

Do you still need a healer or tank type of character? If so, I'll gladly join in if you'll have me. I'm an old timer who cut his teeth on Basic back in '83 and fell in love with Pathfinder when it was released at Gen Con two years past.

I can post every day, but during the work week, posting times are limited to early morning and late evenings; on weekends I can post just about any time of the day.

Let me know if I can get in. Thanks!

Hedgeknight, I'd be happy to have you. Consider yourself in. please follow the character creation instructions that are relevent for the rest of the people here.

[quote = "Ravenath"] Lord Snow, what about the amount of money for the Magus? I have purchased my basic gear, but I don't know how much do I have left.

Use the same starting gold as a ranger.

Alrght, Scranford, vip00 and ravenath - you are al fine.
as an answear to vip00 - starting gold according to the PFRPG core rulebook chapter 6 (eqippment), use avrege instead of rolling.
Donato - still waiting for you.

also, if someone not already listed wishes to play, we have an extra empty slot now that papa.DRB left the game.

OK. In the profile are the history of Darcy, a first run at the stat block (Note finished yet), and a personality brief.

I am sorry Darcy, but we are already at max player capacity. you are too late to join.

I wished to inform you all that I have just recived my "will be shipped sometime in the next 2-6 buisness days" notice in my email. Haunt of Harrowstone is coming, baby!

when it hits my download page I want to be able to start as soon as possible, so please take note to yourself that you have probably less than a week to finish working on your characters.

Alright, I would want to point out that so far we have 2 arcane/melee types (dragon disciple and magus), a sneaky type (yet to be determined), an inquisitor and an all out melee type.
You might come on a little short on healing and divine might, but it seems OK.

** spoiler omitted **

Question: Is this the OOC thread of this game?

Ravenath-

All -
Just a few notes I forgot to include in previous posts:

A) This is the OOC (Out Of Character) thread. this means if you have any comment you want to make that has nothing to do with the game or that is meta game (for example: If you want to consult each other about what skills you should increase when leveling up etc.)that way we keep the actual game thread (I'll open it when the time comes) crunch free and roleplay focused.

B) All playtest classes are OK for play

c) each of you is entitled for 2 traits. you could use all traits from all player guides and from the Advanced rule book.

I have to get ready to spend the day at my volunteer job. I'll put something together tonight or first thing tomorrow (Friday) as my wife wants to go to a lecture tonight and drag me along....

-- david
Papa.DRB

ps. I know what I want to do, and have a background percolating around in the back of my mind, but I just need to flesh it out and get it down on paper.

Hey, sure, I'm all for you volunteering, go community go. And wives, I am told, are pretty important. So enjoy the lecture. I myself will probably not be online the next couple of days since I am meeting my girlfriend. She might be busy some of the time though so don't wait and upload all you've got, maybe I'll have the chance to look at it.

** spoiler omitted **...

Ravenath-

Alright, also, by personal message I mean use a spoiler tag.
please do not read other people's characters! . your PCs should not know anything about each other when the adventure starts! (unless two of you specifically decide otherwise and combine your backgrounds - in that case make it crystal clear to me)

Ok, I'm out. But why, since I was the first person to respond?

-- david
Papa.DRB

Lord Snow wrote:

OK, so:

Ravenath
Donato
Scranford
Vanulf Wulfson
vip00

David - I apologize, your post was so short I overlooked it...

alright, with Vanulf Wulfson stepping down that solved the problem. thanks, Vanulf.

new player list:
Ravenath
Donato
Scranford
Papa-DRB
vip00

seems you are all fine with this so we will use a 15 point buy system.

OK, so:
Ravenath
Donato
Scranford
Vanulf Wulfson
vip00

you guys are in for posting first. congrats, you got it!

other people - sorry, missed the chance. please do not keep commenting about wanting to join!

alright people, let's get down to buisness:
each of you should send all of the following staff to me as personal massages.
A)read the player's guide
B)full character background. don't make it all too lengthy - remember that the PC's legend should develop along with the camiagn itself. also, remember to tiw your PC with the proffesor.
c)a short (roughly one paragraph) description of the PC's personality, just so that both you and I have something initial to expect
d) full caharcter stats according to the PFRPG Core Rulebook and Advanced rulebook. if you use any metirial outside of these two books, please add a full description of it, since I don't own any further rulebooks. no Homebrew stuff please. your PC is a 1st level character.

I want to make a democratic vote on the next matter. how many opoints do you think will be apropriate?
in my opinion this is a perfect oppertunity to use a 15 points system - we are playing a combat light, heavy roleplaying horror game where you heroes shouldn't be really larger than life. but this is up to you so please vote ASAP so we can commance on character creation.
thanks and good gaming for all!

smart staff

Hey and thanks for the comment.

However, neither you nor most of the commenters actually addressed the matter that bothered me, so I guess I wasn't clear enough.

I don't care if a story is a sandbox or a "railroad" (I don't like the term either). but I want it to feel like a story. I want to have the players feel that they are advancing not only in power but in development.
For example I think the CoT, while very fun to play, is not nearly as well constructed as CotCT. (spoilers)
the Council of Thieves is not mentioned even passingly as something with sagnificant until very lately, and then suddenly the PCs should care about defeating them. I know that CoT is more about Westcrown than it is about the council itself but it still feels a little fulse ahere CotCT felt true.
my feeling is that the storys of the last 3 - 4 campaigns are simply not very strong, as opposed to CotCT and SD.
thoughts?

Hey

as a GM for the last 7 years I decided to expand my horizons into the realm of online forum gaming - play by post according to the local terms, or so I understand.

the PBP will be of the Paizo official AP Carrion Crown, though keep in mind I reserve (and will use) the right to make thorough changes to plot, characters and locals according to my own judgment.

Now, as fan as PFRPG is as a tabletop roleplaying game is, it just won't work as an online game. a single battle could take us a month of posting realtively pointless massages: "I swing my greatsword at the Dire Puppy. 17." that's not all that fun,

SO - despite the fact that it will force me to change some things radicaly, I will cut all dungeon crawls out of the AP. having the game take place in a forum allows for some great things that are hard to achieve in a table top game. The AP will be very horror oriented, direct confrontations with unnatrual forces will be short, sparse and deadly.

if you are intrested tp join , please post a comment stating so on this thread. I am aiming for a group numbering 3 to 5 players (not including me). I have no preferances for players, so the first to post are the selected players. Please join only if you are serious about playing.

when I'll have my group of players I'll post what I expect of each player before we start (something along the lines of reading the players guide for the AP, creating crunch and fluff and so on).

and I was just wandering where can I see the threads of potential GMs looking for players to join their campaign?

in a descending orders. my favorites:
1. Cusre of the Crimson Throne - has plenty of variety, intrigue and awesome
2. Council of Thieves - Cheliax gets me. besided, there is a lot of roleplaying to be had here side by side with some mildly good dungeon crawls
3. Second Darkness - epic plot, underworld, pocket dimensions, secret societys... Paizo went maybe a little to far with the crazy on this one, but it's enjoyable
4. Serpents Skull - some of the best dungeon crawls ever on APs... but not so big on the plot side of things
5. Legacy of Fire - first four parts are kinda great actually, but the last third of the AP is simply not fun IMHO.
6. Kingmaker - not a fan of sandbox adventures, though individual modules are ocassionaly kick-ass.

Brian Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy has a different focus in each book for example.

spoilers!

Remeber, so does CotCT - your PCs will fight a plague, encounter Cthulhu-Things-Of-Many-Tentcles, have some urban fun, get eaten by giant fire breathing worms, stunble through a haunted castle...
that was precisley what I was talking about. each module in CotCT has a unique style and tone, but overall they all work togather and feel like diffrent parts of the same story.
in SS... well, yeah sure you get to bash some serpents in each module (or nearly each one, don't remember anything snaky in Race to Ruin), but each time you do, it feels like fighting a diffrent foe, because you end up venquishing stand alone cells and not fighting the same united force all the time.

I really do hope Carrion Crown will show a return to the "rail-road" AP type, since I see too much freedom as simply scattering your story all over the place.

Hey

I am a huge fan of the PF APs, for the mere idea of a full campaign intrigues me.
I was first hooked to Paizo by reading the CotCT AP, which was (I think) one big stroke of genius.

However lately I am getting the feeling that APs are less focused than they used to be.
I'll try to explain:
in CotCT, all the different adventures created a long, overarching story line (spoiler ahoy):

CotCT 1 - players get to know Korvosa & key NPCs
CotCT 2 - players start realizing the queen might be kinda nasty
CotCT 3 - the identity of the bad guys for this campaign, Ileosa and her minions, is confirmed - players now have a clear goal in mind for the rest of the story.
CotCT 4 & 5 - the PCs gather the information and the power they need in order to defeat the big bad boss.
CotCT 6 - the final showdown.

in this story there is an incentive for the PCs to act, there are links between the different adventures and each part in the plot serves a clear purpose. The campaign feels tight, it feels like a campaign .

now let's take a look at, for example, Kingmaker:]
KM 1 to 5: PCs conquer and rule a kingdom
KM 6: final showdown

or Serpent's skull:
SS 1 - players learn about potential ancient threat (look good!)
SS 2 to 5 - PCs spend a LONG time hanging around Saventh-Yhi, doing absolutely NOTHING that has to do with Serpentfolk except kill them occasionally
SS 6 - oh, by the way, there is an ancient evil God of Serpents and a huge dormant civilization getting prepared to sweep the surface world.

in both of these APs the players don't even know what the campaign is all about until the final part of it. would you enjoy reading a trilogy of book where only in the last half of the final volume the reader can start figuring what are the antagonists of the story fighting for? I wouldn't...

all I'm saying is, I really miss the old way of doing APs, where each adventure served as a step stone in a bigger story, and wasn't just awesome by itself. as a player I would enjoy playing in a CotCT type of story than, say a SS type of story.

does anyone else share those feelings? are am I the only one bothered by this?
and shall a Paizo staff member chance upon this thread - is there a change to the pattern in the foreseeable future?

Hey
I just ran the group through the ending scenes of Here There Be Monsters (and it was a blast). having come to the point where the Tides of Dread module start, I need to reach a decision, and I hoped to consult other GMs before I do: How aware should the players be of the victory points mechanic? should I not tell them of its existance and use it as a tool to measure success behind the scene? should I explain the system vagualy and than keep the amount of VP they have in any time secret? or should I just go, "cool, you recruited the aid of the Olman, +200 VP"?

thanks!

Hey

I still do not manage to see the playtest PDF in my downloads list, although I clicked the "add to my downloads list" button and the product page claims that it was added. is there something I can do?

Hey

I'm having some technical problems here- namely, I "purchased" the PDF, and the site claims that it has been added to my download page, but it is not there.

Did anyone else encounter this?

(Sorry, I don´t know what went wrong with the first thread)

I´ve been unable to run ANY AP for many reasons, be it that the rules require to much commitment from my players (KM) or the story is not appealing to us (SD, LoF).

WE REALLY WANT TO PLAY CARRION CROWN!!!

Problem is that I have zero experience running horror themed adventures and I don´t want such a nice AP to end in a "Hack and Slash" game.

I´m looking for something more vivid than a book like Heroes of Horror. I´m listening to the stories in the Pseudopod website and they are great but I don´t know how to transmit that kind of feeling in a Pathfinder game.

Do you have any suggestions?

the thing with D&D is, that battles are short, brutal, deadly and COMMON. players expect to have a good fight or two a session, and that's when you are not dungeon crawling. Each of your players (whom I assume are experienced in the game) has already defeated many terrifying beasts in previous adventures. Even pulling a way-out-of-scale monster with a CR much larger than what the party can handle won't intimidate players, mainly surprise them slightly.

I believe that if you play the suspension card - that is, drawing out an encounter with a monster by having it stalk the PCs in some dark corridor while the come across more and more evidence of it's brutality - won't work.

So, while D&D (and PFRPG too, of course) aren't that great for running roleplaying horror, you can still make it work. I think the key here lies in perhaps running a lower power level campaign, having frequent occasions when the PCs LOOSE A FIGHT (radical, isn't it?), describe in gory details the end of slain PCs and NPCS, and so forth. you must be careful not to heart the tempo of the game though, so have things happen fast, just not nessicrily fights.

all of these advice are just thin air, though. they have more to do with structuring the adventure than with running it. we'll have to see which particular kind of awesome Paizo delivers this time before serious thought could be focused on the subject.

Alright, thanks all.
I guess what I can conclude from what I heard is that though I'll probably never run it as is, being full of dungeon crawls, geeting the SCAP HC is both recommanded and effordable. thanks a lot for the tips.

I am a great fan of all of Paizos PFAPs. I also got most of the ST AP, and I think that the first half is awesome, while the second (say, SoS and forth) is rather lucklaster, boering and disappointing.
Suddenly I began to wonder weather I shuold get SC and AoW - are they as good as the later APs? I heard that AoW was very dungeon-crawl oriented (which, if it turns to be true, is enough to prevent me from getting it) but I know nothing whatsoever about SC.

so should I get them? what could be said about the two, in comparison with ST and the PFAPs?

thanks!

Lord Snow wrote:

oops. yeah. the story awards for befriending NPCS. forgot all about them, which means the PCs probably deserve considarbly more XP.

I still, however, am looking for a non-railroad way to stop them from rushing to the mountains and getting their ass sucked by the red mountian devil...

One of the "problems" with the 3.x rules system is this weird expectation of players that they should be able to defeat ANYTHING the GM throws at them. After all the game is balanced so the PCs always win, right?

I, for one, think that has been a poor legacy of the system. In older versions I remember a lot of running away to come back and fight another day.

As GM I would place "hints" along the way that they are moving into DANGEROUS territory. Then let the players make the choice. Go ahead, blind and stupid or actually try and scout ahead and figure out what they are facing.

In older versions I remember spending a lot of time trying to figure out what it was we were about to face. About half the time we got it wrong! And usually we learned the hard way we were in over our heads. So we ran away.

For some reason in the 3.x system I hardly ever find a party that actually wants to scout ahead or do some research. In many ways why should they? No matter what they do, the game is balanced so they always win, right? Rush in blind is just as good as doing research.

I would hold back my punches and try to NOT kill them. Unless they were too dumb to run away. Then perhaps a PC has to die for them to actually THINK.

The key of course, is to leave signs for them to learn from. Don't hit them blind. If a PC dies and they get upset, the GM simply has to ask, "What were you guys thinking? Did you NOT see the half dozen warning signs I threw at your feet?"

The game is supposed to be fun, but part of being fun is not having a guarantee of victory no matter what.

Hey, normally I couldn't agree more. I am now running Savage Tide to a second party of players, and THEY have learned fear after loosing 6 (!) PCs in the first two modules. I play them hard and keep them on their toes with encounters that present challenges always great enough to require thinking, and even though the campaign never got easier, they are now more capable of handling things - for example, in SWW (the 3rd module), as they explored that impossible-to-spell-its-name ruin with the bat idol, I had the gnome who requested them to go there not be sure of the type of guardian the ruins had (originally he knew it to be a basilisk). he told them it was either a basilisk or a dragon, so they took extra care to prepare a combat with either. that worked out well for them, as it turned out to be both - a dracolisk, which is what confused the gnome from the first place.

BUT... there is nothing interesting in throwing a 5th CR beast at your PCs, even if they had fair warning. the guy has 3 attacks per round, each capable of knocking a 1st level PC straight into the dying condition. one of them will be dead before they even know what hit 'em. that aside, the party is a bit of a soft one, consisting of a ranger, and a melee focused dragon-blooded sorcerer, a paladin and a bard. not a lot of healing or nuking there, which truly makes things hard. I already came suspiciously close to TPKing them with a haunted ship (4 zombies) encounter.

I think I might very well use Mr Jacbos idea of sending them scurrying to the silent islend. it is one of the easier, lighter places on the Shiv where a 1st level group could scourage some XP and make it to 2nd level.

oops. yeah. the story awards for befriending NPCS. forgot all about them, which means the PCs probably deserve considarbly more XP.

I still, however, am looking for a non-railroad way to stop them from rushing to the mountains and getting their ass sucked by the red mountian devil...

the advancment track side bar states that
"By the time they are ready to explore the interior of Smuggler’s Shiv and confront the Thrunefang cannibals, the PCs should be 2nd level."
well.
the APs assume the middle XP advancment, so it will require 2000 XP for each PC to level. the PCs already fought through the crew of a haunted ship, slain a dozen diffrent wildlife beasts and even chanced upon a couple of random encounters. they have 800 XP each. I am stretching the first part of the adventure as much as I can without overkilling the pacing of the adventure, but this simply dosent seem enough, since one of the players decided that charting the mountains at the other side of the shiv should be a priority and the party agreed to tag along with him so they are now making full speed to the interior of the islend. I fear that very soon my poor PCs will be overwhelmed, as evrey single encounter is CR 2 or 3 or even more where they are going.
should I simply use the fast advancmet track? because I sure dont see where could I squeeze enough encounters to level the PCs up quick enough...

I have a question about area z4 (both a, b and c) in the temple of blood. I just cant figure out why would anyone construct three trap pits in his hallway - its sort of silly, like booby traping your bathroom. you are the only one likely to get hurt by it.

I can accept the ancient cultists being paranoid enough to actually hinder themselves with pits, but only if there is a simple, quick way for a person who is familiar with the mechanism - a hidden preasure plate or something like it. nothing of this sort is mentioned however. is there a rational behind that?

James Jacobs wrote:

Jam412 wrote:

I'm really hoping they put the player friendly version on the blog at some point. I like to support my FLGS and thus don't have a PDF version.

This is a great idea. I'll post my original untagged map turnover on the blog Friday for use as a copy of the map found in the Jenivere.

EDIT: Crap. Normally I keep my original maps. I don't think I did this time. If I can't find it, at least I'll post a copy of the island as an untagged image, though.

Bah, I go make a map that takes me an hour and a half, and you upstage me with one you had lying about ;)

rest assured, HIS map didnt make itself either.