Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber. Pathfinder Society Member. 963 posts (974 including aliases). 5 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Pathfinder Society character. 1 alias.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
Very excited..we started this past Tuesday...
Sindri Male Human Summoner (Bastard)
Besh Male Gnome Druid (Pioneer, small cat companion)
McTavish Male Dwarven Ranger (Noble Born, Garess)
Argyle Male Dwarven Fighter (Issian)
The unlikely group of adventurers arrived at Oleg's Trading post on the 28th of Calistril. Being of noble intentions or at the very least having something to prove, they accepted Svetlana's plea for aid, and McTavish got in the good graces of Oleg by helping with the chores.
In the morning, they easily handled the bandits, ambushing them and taking them down in the span of 20 heartbeats. The victory made them friends with the Levertons and they were very generous with sharing the spoils with them, even returning Oleg's reward money. With horses, they set out to explore the territory in the immediate vicinity of Oleg's and started tracking the bandits south along the edge of the Narlmarches. The first night's camp was uneventful.
The next day, McTavish found tracks intersecting with those of the bandits that Besh identified as kobold tracks. Despite Argyle's protests, though, they followed the bandits.
During camp of the second night, they encountered an owlbear, and due to the heroics of Besh's Cat, a timely Daze Monster, and Sindri's eidolon, they were able to take it down!
The warmish weather of the last few days changed though, becoming overcast with the dawn. By morning it was below freezing and snow had started to fall.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I heard that there were recurring characters in some of the PFS scenarios (aside from the Venture Captain who gives the mission). Is there an order on how we should play the scenarios?
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I will be running a (hopefully) ongoing store event at Dragon's Lair (7959 Fredericksburg Rd # 129 San Antonio, TX 78229) in San Antonio, TX. The inaugural event will be on 5/16 starting at noon.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
This was a surprise to me. How is this not a class skill for monks?
This totally borks the admission into the PrC tattooed monk, which requires 8 ranks of Knowledge (religion). If it isn't a class skill, that's level 10, when in 3.5 you could meet the requirements for this at level 5 (lvl6 being your 1st level in the PrC)
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I decided to take the plunge and run a 4e game, pbp. I totally like the rich background of Golarion but my players wanted to go 4e. I guess this is an experiment to see if these can mesh (pbp & 4e, 4e & Golarion).
The PCs: Thorvaldt Jarlsgaart: Dwarven warlord
Serawyn Lathandriel Meladrinya: Eladrin rogue (I ruled that Kyonin elves, being high elves were eladrin, and Forsaken elves were elves as written in the 4e PHB).
Balakar of Sarenrae: Dragonborn cleric of Sarenrae (I decided that dragonborn are nomads that live on the plains east of Taldor and north of Qadira. Most worship Gorum, but Balakar must have been influenced by missionaries from the south and taken up the worship of Sarenrae. The player loves the flavor of the goddess. He wields a hand-in-half scimitar (bastard sword stats).
Jacob Strife: Human wizard most likely from Galt..escaping the chaos there.
Virago: Tiefling warlock
Landres of Serre: human paladin of Desna (since paladins no longer have to be lawful good...a holy warrior of the goddess of luck..very cool)
The Setting:
I changed Brindol to the city of Yanmass (hopefully, not too much will change in the Campaign Guide, but the cities were about the same size, and I have not presented a map of Yanmass yet just in case). The Elisir Marches are on the northeastern edge of Taldor.
{In general, the PCs prefer Golarion to the generic 'points of light' setting, and have obtained the player's guides to start and will most likely purchase Gazetteers at least}
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
Has anyone thought about taking any 4e mechanics to current 3.x games (incl Pathfinder)?
Our group (well the other GM and I) have discussed trying to incorporate healing surges. Not so much to overshadow the cleric's potent arsenal, but to allow the cleric to be more martial and not just be a healbot. I was also thinking of getting rid of the 1-2-1 since I know it will cause confusion if we go back and forth between 3e, 4e, HERO (hexes!), etc.
I know some of you will say, "Oh noes, he got chocolate in my peanut butter!", but me personally, I love Recess Peanut Butter cups.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
Brief Review
141 pages of high-quality adventure. The production value is quite good on this product. The maps are well done, and there are also plenty of scale diagrams and alternate views. As usual for WH40K/BI stuff, the art, though black and white is very good.
Of the three adventures, the first one, Rejoice for you are True is the least linear, with plenty of opportunity for great investigative work. The other two are somewhat linked to the first, but have definite bookends as far as the action goes. All of them are pretty intense.
What I enjoy a lot though is the development of the NPCs that are confronted/interacted with and directions at various points in sidebars for running an encounter, and alternatives if players go "off the rails".
Maps are interspersed throughout and key NPCs are in a section at the end of the adventure. There are even handouts to give to the players at various stages in the adventure to help with the immersive experience.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
Spoiler:
I want to test new characters at 1st level, and using TC1 I can also convert the adversary NPCs and see if balance can be achieved...
Character Creation
The process of character creation seemed to go more smoothly than previous attempts using 3.5. Even two players who are not so 3.5-savvy made their characters within a half-hour. The players generally liked the races and their new abilities, both in terms of mechanics and flavor. Unfortunately, the revisions to the half-elf did not inspire any the players to make one. However, we did have one player create a half-orc.
I like to run over-the-top type games as a GM, and normally use the 32pt buy from 3.5. For this character creation, I used the 25pt buy. The characters were all 1st level, and I used the racial bonus to hpts (which the PCs really, really liked)
Darius Nane: human wizard (transmuter)
K'Gar Vruudash: half-orc cleric of Gorum
Manco "Needs a frickin' last name": human fighter
Marta Blackblood: gnome sorcerer (aberrant)
Seregor Pelmoth: elven rogue
Balin Blackhammer: dwarven paladin (GM-NPC for s&g's; will probably not run with the group above)
They haven't developed backstories yet, but I love the possibilities for the cleric and aberrant sorcerer (worships the mother of monsters)
The players also feel that the new options and redesigned classes give them the chance to fully develop their concepts, especially the wizard player who's always wanted to play a sword mage. The human martial prof, and arcane bond, as well as the arcane strike feat let him design this from the get go.
My own comment is that some of the classes don't get to realize the new rules until a few levels in, but at least the casters may be able to see a benefit (orision, new domain powers/bloodline/school powers).
The best part for the players, and what I ascribe is the main reason for the ease of character creation, had to have been the skills. The bonus for class skill instead of a penalty for cross-class is trump. Players who in the past would hem&haw about were to put ranks were done in a matter of minutes, putting emphasis on the skill they wanted to focus on, maybe add a non-class skill for flavor and done. The skill system seems to be a large successes.
One question I did have was starting money. I balked on using the table in the PHB since I saw that NPCs get 300 (basic) or 600 gp (heroic) to start. I compromised giving the PCs 450gp so they could get a mwork wpn or armor, but generally not both unless they wanted to blow their money on two items. Something to replace the PHB starting money would be a good thing, but I do like allowing the PCs to get something nice (ala FR character creation) to start the game.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I am running some friends through Sons of Gruumsh.
I allowed them to start 4th level. None of them made humans. I was pretty generous with character creation..32pt buy, two starting values at 10. Any FR race. Regional feats for free, some bonus skills. Any WotC splat and Hyperconsciouness (for psions), but no Magic Item Compendium gear, though FR books were free game.
I did allow reserve spell feats and Tome of Battle. Seemed to actually work out well.
The cast:
Daelin: male tiefling swashbuckler3/swordsage1 (Broken Ones)
Gil-goland: male sun elf rogue2/wizard2 (he has a longer name...but everyone calls him Gil')
Bryan: male halfling rogue3/monk1 (Broken Ones)
Akenaten: male aasimar cleric4
The first session: (used spoiler tags to hide as it is fairly long)
Spoiler:
The Outcasts arrived in Melvaunt bearing the seal of Woarstern Nanther. After some verbal harassment by the guards at the docks, they proceeded to the Nanther estate. There they learned of their job: 1000pp to find the scion of House Nanther, Oreal Nanther, missing for a week now. They learned that several other heirs to the various heads of the important houses of Melvaunt were also missing.
Hitting the local taverns, and one in particular,the Rusty Bucket, Bryan bribes a barwench and shetells him that one of the missing Kalman Leiraghon frequented the inn and hung out with a Dwarven mercenary named Dorn Crownshield. Kalman had been talking about buying a map to a ruin in the Grey Wastes of THar. Dorn they discover was well respected and had spoken about taking "his younglings" out on their first "real" adventure. That was five days prior. Bribing a stable hand reveals that a half-elf woman with a pet raven had five horses and a pony stabled and ready for an adventure. They left also five day ago.
The person who sold the map to the boy, a man named Old Tom has skipped town.
Returning to Woarstern Nanther, the Outcasts present to him their leads and he agrees to provide mounts for them to find the "foolish children" before they got themselves killed. They have overheard of increased orc activity in the region.
After an uneventful and restful evening at the Crow's Nest Inn, the Outcasts head to the Northern Gate. Before they can get out of town, they are accosted by five thugs in the street. Three are killed, and the leader is captured, but one gets away. Two House Natali dwarven mercenaries inform the party that the unmarked thugs are heavies in the employ of House Leiraghon. Interrogating the man, they find that he was ordered not by old man Dornig Leiraghon but by his son Bremen. They dump the prisoner at the Nanther estate, obtain mounts and head into Thar while Woarsten Nanther works to gain support against House Leiraghon, contingent on the Outcasts having a successful mission of course.
The first day proves uneventful, but the night turns cold, and in the morning the Outcasts destroy a shambling ogre zombie. Later on the Glister Road, they foil an ambush by orc brutes. Celestial monkeys prove more hearty than Bryan, the halfling monk who is knocked into unconsciousness by a raging orc. Towards evening, the group finds a trail that diverges from the Glister Road that goes north into the heart of Thar. They travel a few hours and then camp on a low, rocky outcropping. That night Daelin discovers two mountain orcs watching the camp. They attack, but one is killed while the other is compelled to flee into the night thanks to a cause fear spell by Akenaten. Gil attempts to shock him, but ends up frying himself misjudging where his invisible arm would be. The Outcasts break off pursuit, but move their camp in the night to hopefully prevent the orc from finding them easily with reinforcements.
*****
I was pleasantly surprised by the interaction and investigative work that the players did. They did not hit all the leads, but gained a good idea of what the young scions were up to.
We will be adding a fifth player (possibly a half-orc or full orc barbarian/ranger)
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I couldn't find a 'glory' thread though we already have a 'gory' thread (ie obituaries), but I had to give props to a player for a timely crit.
Spoiler:
Burnt Offerings Catalyst: Chief Ripnugget.
Down to 5hpts after being hit with a spirited charge by Ripnugget on Clawfoot who kept riding by of course, Franjak Shriikirri-Quah in a berserk rage climbed a pillar, leaped at the chief and smashed him with an earth breaker for 47pts of damage. It was a series of three amazing rolls for the climb and jump (over 20 totals) and the crit..nat 20, nat 16 (+9) and Ripnugget became just a goblin with a cheap trinket on his head in a pool of his own blood.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I might be hooked on "Life". I thought the acting was good and I like the ongoing story + serial quality. I originally wanted to give it a go because I like the lead actor Damian Lewis (Winters in "Band of Brothers"). I've never seen Sarah Shahi before, but her credits list her in the Sopranos.
Oddly, though maybe I shouldn't be surprised because they did Battlestar Galactica, "Bionic Woman" might be a keeper. Again, it might be the acting and character writing more than anything, rather than actual story. Katee Sackhoff's character is pretty creepy.
Lastly, "Last Man Standing" on Discovery might be interesting. Haven't watched the first episode yet. Anyone see it?
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
I didn't know where else to put this, and to me the Paizo boards are some of the best D&D gaming boards around...so I wanted to share the first kill.
PC: Erne ir'Grr'stak (human rogue/bard/druid...2/2/1)
Adventure: The Temple of Kha'shazul
Location of Death: Encounter A5, Temple Portico
Catalyst: Varmystix, the dracotaur and friendly fire
The Heroes of the Fallen retreated after the first assault on the temple, to rest and recover after having to fight against the viscious blackscale lizardfolk, outer guardians of the temple complex. They had encountered the dracotaur (and one of the dragonlings) already, but the wily dragonkin had remained at the entrance to the temple and had not succumbed to the temptation to follow the PCs from the defensible portico.
The next day, Erne and his ranger companion, the shifter Peloran, once agani failed to sneak up to the temple. The assault begain anew, with artillery from the xeph psion Ali, in the group. Erne failed to dodge away from the electrically-charged energy bolt, and tooks significant damage. But the rogue fought on, being tagged here and there by the dracotaurs bite, tail, and spear. He tumbled behind the dracotaur to gain advantage, but the party just could not get Varmystix down, and barely inside, Erne spotted one of the blackscale adepts. Not wanting to be caught between the two, he attempted to tumble past the dracotaur, but stumbled along the way (incurring an AOO). Varmystix skewered him with the spear (taking him down to -15).
And Erne lay dead on the steps of Kha'shazul.
***
OOC: It was too bad. His backstory was pretty amazing...aberrant d'marked and everything....The PC never told me how many hpts he was at, fearing that I would pull punches on the mighty Varmystix.
The dracotaur died the next round when the orc fighter in the party finally reached the scene, and ran him through with a halbred.
This was the second death in the campaign. The first was a halfling cleric whose throat was slit by cultists in the Depths below Sharn.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
Playing STAP in Eberron. One of my players is a psion. With the money they have gathered, he would like to buy psionic items. He has already found a psi tattoo artist, and there are a few magic/curio shops in the city. Where would an appropriate place be for psi-power goods to buy?
Besides the Scarlet Brotherhood facility which is a secret Riedran/Inspired Embassy.
Mactaka(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber)
The first two adventures were really good, increasingly better with each submission.
But, I recently received Issue#141 and have skimmed through STAP#3. Wow! This adventure, its style, and presentation and the writing is one of the best that I have seen. I really cannot wait to run it, and am chomping at the bit (still in STAP#1)in my current game.
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