Mistwalker's page

In the following turn, Kimandatsu dropped her gaseous form in order to finish off the members of the Party who advanced on her, and kills Ameiko outright and sends Kal to -8 in a single full attack.

Kimandatsu dismissed her gaseous form (standard action) and did a full round attack to drop a PC and NPC?

Out of curiosity, how did she get the extra standard action? (wondering if I have missed something about her abilities)

On a related topic, is it really intended for the caravan to get unlimited Protection from Energy ( Cold )? Suishens first unlocked power is just that and it seems it would completely trivialize any cold weather problems during the long period the caravan is on the Crown of the World. Is this intentional?

I've have a slightly different interpretation.

I usually go with weapons apply their benefits only to the wielder. So in this case, the protection from energy, at will, means that Suisen is only able to use it on it's wielder.

Suishen will inform it's wielder that it can cast protection from cold on it's wielder, and no, it does not consent to be passed around like some cheap trinket. Also you may want to have it set up that when a new wielder learns it's powers, the links to the old wielder are gone.

Even if you decide that Suishen can cast the protection from cold (once it has been unlocked) to others, Suishen is an intelligent weapon that controls it's powers. Even if Suishen can be talked into using it on others (I would make it a difficult diplomacy check and even then, only in emergencies), I can't see it providing protection from cold to the draft animals.

And... let's lie to the players ? Because there is a very bad design choice on part of the author team or the editing of the adventure ?

I think that you have made a mountain out of a mole hill. Your "fix" for what you consider the problem, that of having Kroop (and I assume all the others that were captured with Harrigan) suddenly blackout whenever the discussion turns to the capture is putting a glowing and flashing arrow on the capture, saying that there is something here that is important for the PCs to find out about.

Harrigan, being seen escaping by his crew (and killing several Chelaxians while doing so), arming and then leading his crew in retaking the Wormwood is what legends are made of (hmm, sounds a lot like the exploits of PCs). There is nothing there to point to a betrayal.

Also perhaps it is best to wait till a later book comes out that may actually go into detail about what happend.

I have the impression that the OP is currently running the AP and cannot wait for the other parts of the AP to be published.

Mistwalker wrote:

I didn't say that his ship was taken by a few Chelaxians. I said that he overcame the few that were guarding him, took their weapons, freed the rest of his crew and lead them in the retaking of the Wormwood.

Once a ship has been captures, those that capture it put a prize crew on board, put the old crew in chains, and sail the ship to a friendly (or home) port, where the prisoners are unloaded, extra crew are taken on, new stores loaded, repairs made and the ship put back into service. There are not hundreds in the prize crew.

What I have suggested above does not contradict what Rob McCreary said (well not yet)

Please : no lecturing on Historical Navy stuff...

if you capture a pirate (of this calibre.. yeah, only a Pirate Lord...) : you guard him well... because he was 16th level beforehand, too, and probably killed dozens of your finest.
One clamps that guy in iron as hard as you can, possibly even teleports him home (unconscious or not) and given what Cheliax is capable off, there are quite a number of really nasty things (usually even worse in player imagination) that some capable Chelians, especially Asmodean priests, and who really believes you would have those on a major naval expedition, can get a hold on to chastise him. Devils left, devils right and probably two more sitting straight on his shoulders ?

And yes, teleportation and devils were usually not available to historical navies. For the Chelians though : full check

...and prize crews were only used on "prizes" sent home for sale to ports while the warship sailed on, not for enemy vessels with high-ranking pirates aboard. Those were kept "in fleet", the crew shackled below, and sizable contingents aboard.
And high-ranking officers being separated from the men - not always done by stupid captains, much to their chargrin.

I must have missed the lecture I gave - I am not a historical navy buff/expert in any way shape or form. My comments were from a common sense and Golarion point of vue.

You seem to be saying that the Chelaxians sent out a powerful fleet to capture Harrigan - where are you getting that? Yes, the Chelaxian Navy captured him, but no where did I see any mention of a fleet. I was working under the assumption that it was one or two Chelaxian ships that captured him (a lucky shot that dropped a mast or cut the rudder cables could leave his ship a sitting duck - surrender or be sunk).

As for guarding him - once he is in shackles (strong ones), why would you treat this fighter any different from other prisoners, he does not have a meter on his forehead saying "Level 16". Even if he is the best swordsman in teh world, unarmed and shackled, he is almost helpless. To me, treating him vastly different because he is 16th level is metagaming.

As for teleportation - well most ships will likely not have an 11th level mage as part of the crew, nor will they have magic items that can teleport them. Even if by some chance that they do, will there be a safe place in range that they can teleport to?

Your comment about seperating the men from the officers, and the captain from everyone - it was done, they were just all still on the same ship (which is how he could make the deal, arrange the escape, acquire weapons, rescue his officers and then his men). If you are saying that he should have been on another ship, well the deal arranged for a stupid captain, which to their chagrin, Harrigan escaped.

Super good idea, especially with the Monster Knowledge cards idea. Would make a DMs job easier.

And, what is likely a noob question, some folks responded with "dotted" ...um what does that mean please?

When you post something in a thread, you get a dot beside that thread that tells you posted there.

So, those who post "dot" are saying that they found the thread important enought that they want to keep track of it, but didn't have anything to add. So now they have a "dot" beside the thread's name to bring it to their attention.

Mistwalker wrote:

If you need an answer now, how about this:

Harrigan made the deal with Cheliax, but most of his crew know nothing about it, they weren't in the cabin where the deal was made. All they know is that Harrigan and a few of the officers managed to get the upper hand on the few Chelaxians guarding him, took their weapons and with the help of his crew, he retook the Wormwood (a lot of them died doing the retaking).

This should add to his reputation with the PCs and other pirates - even when captured and slated for death, he is dangerous.

Kroop is one of the crew that knows nothing about the deal, so there is nothing for him to tell, or forget to tell the PCs.

Right. Because the "few Chelians" stormed that ship by themselves..... all few dozens or hundreds

I didn't say that his ship was taken by a few Chelaxians. I said that he overcame the few that were guarding him, took their weapons, freed the rest of his crew and lead them in the retaking of the Wormwood.

Once a ship has been captures, those that capture it put a prize crew on board, put the old crew in chains, and sail the ship to a friendly (or home) port, where the prisoners are unloaded, extra crew are taken on, new stores loaded, repairs made and the ship put back into service. There are not hundreds in the prize crew.

What I have suggested above does not contradict what Rob McCreary said (well not yet)

She survived in my campaign as well.

I am having her become the BBEG in the final adventure (replacing the current BBEG), as there are lots of places along the way for the PCs to develop a hate for her.

Example: The PCs had just finished building a boat when they had the final encounter with her. When she fled the fight with the PCs, she stole their boat.

Example: When the PCs arrived in Eleder, they had to hire a sage to put the texts into context (yes, some were fluent in Azlanti, but without a context, it is often hard to understand old texts). The Sage hired a new assistant after taking the PC's contract - Jeneviere. Once the translations were complete, she tried to kill him with a fire trap (got his housekeeper instead), which also set the sage's shop on fire. It took weeks for the sage to recreate what he had done before, and even then he didn't get all of it.

Example: She had one of Coil agents suggest to Umagro that the sage's death would help his people because if the colonials got ahold of the treasure from a lost Azlanti city, there was no way that their choke hold would be loosened. This Coil agent also planted a picture book on one of the dead freemen that had a picture of Dargan Etters (that was the last picture, the other pictures were scenes of wildlife or village life), to make it look like Etters had put the freemen up to "revolt".
She was hoping that the death of the sage would require them to go back to the Shiv, recopy everything, find a new sage and get a new translation (with the potential to plant a "coil" sage or kill the new sage when they were almost finished). This would take time, lots of time.
By planting the image of Etters, she was hoping to cause active conflict between two of the faction, the two strongest factions.

Example: In Tazion, Issilar will be one of her companions, who was left behind to figure a way to destroy the pillars of light, or to stop the PCs and other expeditions from using them.

If you need an answer now, how about this:

Harrigan made the deal with Cheliax, but most of his crew know nothing about it, they weren't in the cabin where the deal was made. All they know is that Harrigan and a few of the officers managed to get the upper hand on the few Chelaxians guarding him, took their weapons and with the help of his crew, he retook the Wormwood (a lot of them died doing the retaking).

This should add to his reputation with the PCs and other pirates - even when captured and slated for death, he is dangerous.

Kroop is one of the crew that knows nothing about the deal, so there is nothing for him to tell, or forget to tell the PCs.

Have a "fire season" happen in all the towns that you pass throught, once you leave?

Ashram wrote:

This is probably a dumb question, but has anyone mentioned that there is a way to partially conceal your scent in Pathfinder? "Conceal Scent" from Osirion: Land of Pharaohs. Requires 1 rank in Stealth, 1 rank in Survival.

"Creatures cannot use the scent ability to track you (though they can still track you through standard means such as footprints). Creatures with scent can detect your presence by smell at half the normal distance, but cannot pinpoint your location with scent."

It's not perfect, but it's there.

.... and half the people in this conversation would consider that overpowered for an orison, and the other half would consider it moot because scent doesn't work even if various books says it does...

It's not an orison, it is from the country Osirion. It is a feat.

Isn't that why we have the term 'guard dog'

making a stealthy character fear proximity with a few types of animals doesn't make stealth useless IMHO

I have less of an issue with a guard dog, in a familiar location (scents known) being easily able to pick up any new smells, like say from an invisible intruder.

I have a problem when some say that the guard dog would be able to pinpoint the invisible intruder in a busy inn, or a dungeon room (especially if there has just been blood, guts and excrement spilled in that room) just as easily. I my opinion there are too many new smells to be able to do that easily.

I will grant that I would have less problems if the invisible intruder has fought the PCs before (hence smell is known) or is from a type of creature that the PCs always fight (dog smells dye number 5, so growls at the twinky eating assassin guild member).

Mistwalker wrote:

Did that help any?

No, because the situations where you can neither hear nor see your opponents is such a corner case as to make scent pretty much useless.

You lost me there.

In the example of the rogue that I did, didn't it show that scent helped a lot?

Mistwalker wrote:

Perception check:

-I agree with James, that you need to make one

Then what does scent do? You can get more information off a successful perception check without it.

Scent allows you to have the chance to successfully use perception when the sight or auditory modifiers will make it impossible to detect the hidden individual.

Example: Invisible, immobile 10th level rogue with a stealth modifier of +17 (10 ranks, 3 class, 4 attribute) will have a stealth result from 58 to 77. Most PCs and a fair number of creatures will have no chance of detecting that rogue.
Against a creature with scent, the stealth score range changes to 18 to 37, which means that there is a greater chance that they will be detected than when there is no scent involved.

Let's see if I can put this into real world scenarios to help clarify things.
Scenario 1) A lady is getting ready for a date. She showers with scented soaps and shampoo, puts on some scented products (body lotion, creams, etc..) and as a finishing touch, she dabs on a bit of perfume that will compliment the other products that she used. She smells nice. On the way to meet her date, she stops and fills up her car with gas. Now the smell of gas overpowers the other scents. So will her date be able to pick up the smell that she wanted them to smell, or will the gas smell overpower (or overpower it for a while) everything else? The perception check in this case is to pick up the more delicate scents behind the stronger smell of gas.

Scenario 2) Have you ever played where's Waldo? For those who are not familiar with it, there are pictures with Waldo somewhere in them. The hitch is that it is a very full and/or busy picture, with lots going on in it, making it hard to spot Waldo. Once you do spot him, he seems to jump out at you whenever you look at that picture again. The perception check in this case is to sort through all the visual clues/images/distraction/etc. and spot Waldo.

Did that help any?

Determining which 5' square the mirror imaged person was in, 100% chance.

Same as everyone else (:)), as the mirror images are all in the same square as the caster.

I don't believe that Scent is an auto-detect feature.

My rationale is:
-There are a lot of smells out in the world, in pretty much every location.
-Some smells are strong, some are not.
-Noticing new scents is easy in a familiar location.
-Noticing new scents is easy in a new location, but interpretting what each is, is less easy.

Animal companion (or any kind of pet with scent) considerations:
-How does the animal companion communicate what they are smelling?
-How does the animal companion know when to alert their "owner" when a new smell enters their "smell" range? That is how does the animal companion determine which smells are dangerous, of interest, etc. to the "owner" (most owners will not care about squirrels, street cats, a delicious smell of partially rotted meat, etc)?

Environmental consideration:
-natural environments have all kinds of scents associated with them, such as animal droppings (hmm, which animals and how many types), vegetation, decomposing material (rotting vegetation, animals, etc), etc
-battlefield environments also have all kinds of scents, such as sweat of those involved in the fight, blood (lots and lots of blood, splattered everywhere), excrement (from wounds to loosened bowels after death), perfumes (to mask the foul smells or simply those worn by some of the combatants), in RPGs there is likely also smells from spells, etc
-whose lair is it? the smells associated with the owners of the location will permiated all over the place, such as their sweat, body oils, cooking smells, housekeeping habits (from slobs to clean freaks), etc. Determining which scents are those of an invisible owner, an owner not present, an owner that has recently left, etc.. may be challenging.

Perception check:
-I agree with James, that you need to make one
-One of the main reasons is to know which smell is important (which of the 50 new scents that are picked up when a new room is entered is the one indicating that there is an invisible opponent beside the dirty laundry hamper?)
-metagame reason: to allow pets and animal companions to communicate the appropriate information to their owners

Scenario:
Orcs rush into a large room where the PCs are. There is a fight. How does the pet with scent know how many orcs there were to know if there is an additional orc hiding in the area? If there are 13 scents, but only twelve bodies, does that mean that there is still on hiding? or does it mean that one of the orcs grabbed the shield of a non-present orc, bringing an additional orc smell with them? How does the pet know? How does the pet communicate the details about an additional scent to their owner? (let's not even start the discussion on how the pet can count)

I have been able to snap a leash onto a guard dog by using scent to my advantage. I used some of the owner's cloths (unwashed), their cologne and with myself being freshly washed (soap smell - same kind as the owner) to be able to "sneak" up on the dog and snap the leash in place (yes, I then jumped back to be out of range of the dog - as the leash pulled him up short). To me, that means PCs and NPCs can also do similar things (like enemies using cologne from the PCs or their allies to have a chance to approach without being detected as enemies - detected yes, but classed as a non-threat).

Conclusion:
Scent can be powerful, but I don't believe it is an auto-detect ability. For game mechanic reasons, a perception check should be done as the simplest way of sorting out all of the variable of the smells that are present and the communication abilities of pets.

I have always interpreted it to mean that you have to make that reflex save every round, even if the first one is made. FAQed.

Two channels per round with Fast Channel, phylactery increased them to 7d6 each at level 9. I believe that the Undead Lord, as well as the Undead Variant Channeling from UM, each give an additional 50% to those numbers when used to heal (rather than used to harm the living)--so technically you only *roll* 14d6 and then multiply.

As to the second, the Undead subdomain of Death has a touch that grants them undead affinity, but it is short-lived. She usually only had the fronliners up with it at any given time, and even then, it is costly to establish if the party is surprised.

Thanks. It makes a lot more sense now.

The channel-focused Undead Lord I mentioned above was pretty potent for healing even at 9. She had Fast Channel and a Phylactery of Neg Channeling, so that was either 21d6 or 28d6 burst healing (she either had 1 or 2 things that added +50% to her channels for healing undead) to everyone who counts as undead. And then use the spells for whatever and channel to harm if you feel confident you don't need healing. And you have undead minions too (she has high strength bloody skeletons. Sure they went down in one hit, but they come back after an hour).

Could you break down how she managed to get 21d6 or 28d6?

I seem to be missing on how she can give negative affinity to her party members - could you point me in the right direction?

tldr; It may be realistic to kill a character on the ground. But it's not fun for the player in question and feels sadistic to the rest.

What is your definition of tldr?

I was under the impression that it was "too long, didn't read".

And only archers w/ Point Blank Master dont care about 5 ft stepping. All other archers are quite definitely screwed by Step Up. Far more so than a caster ever is. They don't get some check to not provoke with their bowshots.

I don't see that shutting down an archer. Provoking an AoO, yes, taking damage, maybe, but definately not shut down.

I played an crossbowman in a long campaign, and on a regular basis took damage from provoking AoO from aiming a ranged weapon. I knew that I would likely take damage, but still went ahead.

I think the 5' step referral was to the fact that many archers stay in the background, at range, and don't have to worry if the caster takes a 5' step or not, nor do they need to take a 5" step to get in a full attack round.

"Whenever you hit an adjacent opponent with a melee attack, until the start of your next turn, that opponent does not gain any flanking bonus on attack rolls while it is flanking you and cannot deal sneak attack damage to you."

What's unclear? Guy w/ feat hits rogue w/ a melee attack, rogue cannot sneak attack him for a round (by which time, guy hits him again to keep it going).

You seem to be saying that the only option for the rogue is to stand there and get auto-hit every round. Why would the rogue do that?

What about the suggestions that have been offered? Use a wand of vanish, move to a different position. Next round, do a full round attack with sneak attack damage applied. So the rogue has to use a consumable and can only get sneak attack every second round - I don't consider that shutting down the rogue.

Even if the rogue does not have any consumables, if they are the focus of the opponent, what is the rest of the rogue's team doing? Are they getting the AoO that are triggered when the feat owner moves to attack the rogue? Are they taking advantage of the flanking? Perhaps getting precision damage from a spell, feat or class ability? Why isn't the rogue moving around allies, to be in a place where the opponent can't get them that round, then move up and get in a sneak attack?

And that seems to be what it always comes down to when people tell me the feat's not so bad. I show how much it screws the poor rogue over, and the work he has to put in to deal with it, if he's even able to, and the final argument people always fall back on is some variation of, "rogue isn't a common or severe enough threat to validate taking the feat. Ergo, it's ok."

I must have missed where you showed how much it screws the poor rogue over. In another thread perhaps? Could you re-state/demonstrate how this feat screws over the rogue?

Rogues tend to have mediocre AC. If "not being hit" is your solution, then that sounds like a wonderful solution to any difficulty with surviving combat. "Having trouble? Try not getting hit." "Thanks, I never thought of trying that!"

The heavy sarcasm doesn't help much.

To the point, with UMD the rogue can cast Vanish and get a full round attack with sneak attack the next round. With a wand of mirror image, likely they will have a few rounds where they can get sneak attacks in. Wands with blue or displacement will also help.

A rogue could take the scout archtype (APG) and get sneak attacks when they charge (at 4th) and when they move more than 10' (at 8th).

There are options for a rogue faced with an opponent that has this feat. It will likely be a pain for the rogue, but unless every opponent has the feat, it is simply one more challenge.

This is not a "must have" feat for everyone. It can be effective in certain circumstances, but most characters and NPCs that I have made would not even consider taking it, there are other feats that have a higher priority.

Mistwalker wrote:

Doesn't the individual with Flanking Foil has to hit the opponent before sneak attack is foiled?

Even if straight rogues only get light armor, they can still have decent AC, and with UMD, they can also use wands to help with making it more challenging to be hit.

I am not seeing the feat as over powered and in need of banning. There are counters to it.

The fact that there are counters to it isn't the point.

Actually, StreamOfTheSky stated that there were no counters to the feat in the post above mine, so my comment about counters was directed at them.

Doesn't the individual with Flanking Foil has to hit the opponent before sneak attack is foiled?

Even if straight rogues only get light armor, they can still have decent AC, and with UMD, they can also use wands to help with making it more challenging to be hit.

I am not seeing the feat as over powered and in need of banning. There are counters to it.

So as I read it if the bought mounts, they would be in more out of luck as their traveler count would jump to 18(6 mounts for the PC's) & their consumption score would jump to a 26 and the 3 wagon caravan in the AP has a cargo cap of 18. that would mean not only can they not leave town but now they starve as well.

@ Drejk The AP list jobs the major NPC's can do and Shalelu will only do the jobs of guide, scout, or passenger. After looking over the groups character sheets the ranger of the party can drive a wagon if they buy one ,however they will still be pushing the limits of their food supply.

On page 22 of the guide, Stores: each cargo unit of stores is worth 10 provisions, so will feed 10 for a day (be they mount, animal companion or humanoid). Your 18 cargo units, if used only for provisions will feed 180, or your party of 12 for 15 days.

Your party of 6 will need to add at least one wagon, maybe more, depending of if you choose supply wagon, covered wagon, masterwork wagon, armored wagon, etc.

I bumped Koya up a level, so that she would have access to create food and water, and calculated how many she could feed a day and modified the required provision per day.

I am reading what jobs Shalelu will do differently than you. It states that she can do the guard, scout or passenger jobs. I took it to mean that those jobs were optimal for her, not that she will only do those ones.

My players have spent the majority of their gold on upgrading the caravan, including buying two armored wagons, two masterwork wagons and upgrading Sandru's wagons to masterwork wagons. And they have hired 4 drivers for their wagons.

I disagree with Power.Tyranny.Destruction. I believe that the caravan set up is a nice one, providing a mobile base for the players (including a place to do some enchanting) and a fallback position if/when they need to withdraw to heal up or have someone to back them up. Like many others, I have adapted the rules for caravans, based on the feedback of the authors and others who have done the higher level combats that are in the later books, but I still think the caravan idea is a nice one.

Have the Paladin work for Andoran, looking to stop the slave trade in the Shackles.

To be able to really affect the slave trade, the Paladin would have to be on the council (or at least have his own fleet). They are working towards the greater good, so can stand to work with some less savory individuals (that and Andoran and their church are footing the bill for a few atonements, as needed).

Rather than kill the sailors on the merchant ships that they are attacking, have them use non-lethal damage. The sailors either become pirates, slaves or are ransomed (better than being dead - where there is life, there is hope).

Once the Paladin realizes what Captain Harrigan has in mind, they are all for stopping it (and that will likely keep most of the AP on track).

We can't find a "Lesser Arrow of Slaying" anywhere rules-wise, but there was a Lesser Dragon Slaying Arrow in the hoard.

I would suspect that "lesser" was put in to differenciate it from the "greater" arrow of slaying. I took it for granted that they were refereing to an arrow of slaying (but not the greater version).

I took a different approach to incorporating the module.

Like Fox1212, my players will be 2nd level when then start the module.

What I did, was to have one of the heros from Rise of the Runelords, ask the PCs if they could investigate the disapperance of a friend of his, someone who was coming out of a bad patch in his life, but was well on his way to making something of himself. That there were rumors that he had run off with the gold, but the hero didn't believe it for a moment. The hero had paid off the taxes for his friend, so the PCs could keep the taxes as their payment for looking into what happened to Elias - he want's Elias found and/or his reputation mended. And finally, once they have done so, the hero asked that they leave message with another friend of his, Shorafu Pamodae, in Riddleport.

The reason that the hero couldn't take care of it himself was that there was a new army of Giants, lead by several Rune Giants, causing havoc in the mountains, and the hero and his friends were off to take care of it before the new giant army can become an even bigger threat.

This was my way of getting them into the village, investigating, without having to have a Magnimar side trip or folks involved.

The caravan will not make the side trip, but will spend a few leisurely days travelling, allowing the PCs to make the side trip and catch up. Sandru knows that the so called path to Ravenmoor is not easily passable for the large wagons that the caravan has, well, not without a lot of work, days of it. He has been to Ravenmoor in the past, there is no market there so he has not been back in years.

Treasure totaling 9k? Whoops. I thought it was 9k per character!

Don't worry about it. James Jacobs, the author, said that he handed out more than the 9K amount when he GMed the adventure.

Shakes his head.

I have to stop posting when I am brain dead.

Duration would be longer

I could see the spring loaded sheath working with a scroll.

In my mind, the scroll would have a dowel joined (glued probably) at each end of the scroll, with the scroll rolled up on one of the dowels.

When the scroll drops into the caster's hand, they grab the upper dowel (the one without the scroll rolled up on it) and let gravity unroll the scroll as the bottom dowel unwinds the scroll as it drops.

This should address the concerns about the scroll ripping as it is pushed out of the sheath, and as it is rolled around a dowel, it should not unroll to fill up the sheath.

I see casters using this for emergency scrolls, like breath of life, or teleport, or word of recall, or etc..

If you plan on loaning the books out, you may want to get hardcopies. I am extremely reluctant to "loan" out a PDF copy of a book.

You may want to take a look at Pathfinder Delver prestige class, from the Seeker of Secrets.

A two level dip in that one will bring you some nice benefits, such as not impeded by difficult terrain at all, being able to disarm magical traps and your bardic knowledge stacks with the prestige class levels.

In order to "defend against" these maneuvers one needs to roll their CMD...yes/no???

The way I read it:

WITHOUT Improved Overrun the target PC "lets you pass". However, Overrun is a Combat Maneuver. One still needs to make a CMD Roll...yes/no???

WITH Improved Overrun (pg. 127 CRB) the target has no option to avoid. No CMD roll allowed.

I have two cents buring a hole in muh pocket while scratching muh head,

Rom

No.

Combat Maneuvers are done by the attacker making a d20 roll + CMB vs the CMD of the target. The CMD is the equivalent to AC in a normal attack.

The opposed rolls were 3.5 rules.

The target of an overun maneuver can decide to let the attack by or try to resist them - it's their choice. If the attacker has Improved Overun, they the defender no longer has a choice, they will be subject to the overun.

Did the group befriend Spivey?

If so, she could be a resource in getting the PCs sprung, provide some gear (from a bag of holding) and provide some divine spellcasting for the group.

Have people roll all the necessary dice at once.
This way the damage dice have already been rolled if the D20 says that there is a hit.

If they have iterative attacks, have them roll sets of dice, to do the same as above with all of the dice.

Have a player run the intitiative board, letting other players know when they are up next, so that they can decide what they are going to be doing before their turn comes around. Once it is their turn, if they don't know, ten seconds later, they are automatically delaying until they do.

Add up the sale (half) value of all items, split that amount out, players buy the treasure at half value with the split number they were given. Unpurchased items are sold and the actual gold is split up and given to match everyones remaining unspent value.

The above is what my groups have pretty much always used.

During the adventure, the magic items are "loaned out" to the PC that can make the most of it. But after the adventure, or when there is downtime to sell off items, things done as indicated above.

Consumables are party pool items, used up as needed.

When the treasure is divided up, the party get's a full share (if not more), mostly for upkeep and consumables (like wands of cure light wounds).

Once an item has been bought, it belongs to the PC, who can do what they want with it. If another party members needs it, it is usually sold to them at half cost.

I have given the caravan rules a lot of thought and think I have a workable rules change for those rules.

I was influenced by Dorma Ob'Han, Jason Nelson and James Jacob's suggestions. As part of the problem seemed to be based on low attack value and low AC of the caravan, I decided to provide an additional attribute point per level of the caravan, which should even things out a bit.

Let me know what you think or if you see any glaring holes.

Mistwalker's Caravan Rules:

Every level, a caravan not only receives a feat, but an attribute point as well.

Masterwork Wagons are available from the start of the adventure (stats are in the last AP)

Caravan damage increases at the same rate as that of a rogue’s sneak attack extra damage dice.

The feat “Extra Wagons” is a free feat.

The caravan rule for the spell “Create Food and Water” is removed and the spell works normally.

Masterwork Wagon
Cost: 1200 GP Hit Points: 40
Traveller Capacity: 6 Cargo Capacity: 6
Limit: None Consumption: 1
Special Benefit: +1 bonus to AC

Hero combat actions:

Attack: The Hero can make an additional attack, using the caravan statistics (basically providing another attack for the caravan), up to three heros may take this action.

Defend: The Hero can aid the caravan in repulsing the next attack, providing a +2 bonus to AC.

Rally: The Hero may use Diplomacy, Intimidate or Magic to rally the caravan, granting a +1 bonus to the resolve check, with an additional +1 for every 5 points by which the Hero exceeds the check DC (10 + the encounter level).

Battlefield Repair: The Hero can cast a spell that repairs objects (such as make whole or fabricate) to provide the caravan with 1d6 hp per spell level (minimum 1d6). A Hero with the appropriate skill can make a skill check to provide the caravan with temporary hp equal to the check result.

One possible idea is to keelhaul a PC, preferably the brash one, and have them die.

Then look at the players and say that they are not in a good position right now, that they may want to bide their time a bit.

And then look at the player with the dead PC, and let them know that the individual who just died is now a nameless NPC, that their character is still amongst the newly pressganged crew.

Fallen_Mage wrote:

*semi-hushed tone* Magic.

*semi-hushed tone* Elven Magic.

*semi-husehd tone* your wrong, it's dwarven magic - elves use bows.

Mistwalker wrote:

How do the ones strapped to the chest stay loaded? Wouldn't the bolt fall out with movement?

Same question for ossian666, how does the new reloaded hand crossbow stay loaded when you drop it (and let it dangle on a strap) to reload the other one?

Thats like asking why your crossbow doesn't break when you drop it or how someone can run in full plate. Because if you nit pick every aspect of the game and run it like its reality then wizards are nothing but weird virgins in robes that think they can cast lightning bolts.

Hmm, I have had crossbows, dropped them and they didn't break. While I don't have full plate, I do have a full set of medeival armor, and friends who do have full plate - you can run in it, you can do forward rolls and get up without too many problems (gracefull - no).

I'm not nit picking every aspect, but I am having trouble seeing how a bolt lying on a groove will stay in place if it is not kept fairly horizontal.

Running with it, making reflex saves, sure, the bolt doesn't fall, but letting it hang down or somehow strapped to a chest, no.

How do the ones strapped to the chest stay loaded? Wouldn't the bolt fall out with movement?

Same question for ossian666, how does the new reloaded hand crossbow stay loaded when you drop it (and let it dangle on a strap) to reload the other one?

Mistwalker wrote:

I have always had a dislike for bardic performance, just not my cup of tea.

HERETIC!!! Though I do agree with the whip stuff.

Well, being tone deaf and lacking a sense of rythme may have something to do with it.

Hmm, how can I be a heretic if I never subscribed?
:)

I have always had a dislike for bardic performance, just not my cup of tea.

Depending on what you want the 5th character to do, you may want to look at the archeologist bard archtype. It replaces bardic performance with a luck bonus only for the bard. I like the template for the whip applications - disarming, tripping, repositioning from up to 15' away.

Hmm, well I don't know if you can compare them, as a module is usually only advances a PC by one level (if that), while even a single AP book will raise the PCs by something like 3 to 4 levels.

In general, I find it easier to run an AP than to string together multiple modules (even if mixed in with homebrew stuff).

The AP will have pretty much everything you need to bring the PCs from 1st level to 13 to 18th level, depending on the AP. The storylines are usually pretty solid.

Stringing modules toghether takes more work, having to find ways to link them (or move them from one area to another, etc..), and to make sure that it is balanced for the PCs.

more experience is not superior in itself unless you reach a higher level, just like low wealth with equip x isn't superior until you begin to get more xp.

And due to skr's ruling you ALWAYS have to adjust an AP if you want to follow WBL. Or rather, you always have to anyway.

And selling at more than 50% isn't RAW either. that limit can only be overruled by the dms decision, thus "in general", just like how WBL completely is a big "in general". Actually, not following SKRs ruling is not following a guideline, while selling for more than 50% is a house rule.

Actually, that should have been "If you are not abiding by SKR's FAQ, then you are not abiding by RAW and are houseruling. That is fine, but it isn't RAW."

Any rule can be overruled by the GM's decision, so they didn't need to put in "in general" to state that. My interpretation is that the value can be more or less, based on dice rolls and the local situation. The average, overtime will work out to 50% value.

How does SKR's FAQ ruling require you to always adjust WBL? I only see that happening if the crafter crafts for free, or over charges on the fee, for the rest of the party.

If the crafter sells his equipment, he nets 62k, because cost=sell price. If the Party sells their crafted items, they get 62k, because sell price = half full retail.

Wealth is how much their items are worth. I don't see how the crafter is behind.

WBL is calculated by cost value for the crafter and by retail for the non-crafters. WBL isn't calculated by the sell price.