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So, my players picked up this handy little item(s) in the course of the Serpents Skull AP. And just looking at the item description, it says the golden lions come in pairs, so can they be used individually or even held by 2 different people or do they have to be used as a pair. Just a little unsure on that point. Wondering what the consensus is on that.
Bummer, I'm about to start Book 3 and it's kinda annoying there's no maps for it.
Has anyone actually been able to get a hold of these maps? I'm preparing to start book 3 in the coming weeks and would be interested in having a look.
That makes sense, thanks for helping to clear that up. Here's a mechanics question: I'm about to run the Terror Hall room in my next session with the fearborn devourers and caller in darkness, and I don't get the shock matrix trap. Does it get set off when someone is within 5 feet of a pillar? If so, wouldn't the devourers set it off constantly? This is another one that has me scratching my head...
I have a question about Kaklatath's knowledge and in general, her timeline. Just how long has it been trapped in the body of this human? If Kaklatath's body is in Neruzavin, I am assuming that it 'lives' there and would have a lot more knowledge of the place than the book is stating. Did the Yithians have no idea that XD was in that lake? Did they interact at all with Neruzavins current inhabitants. I didn't see it specified in the book how much info Kakl has, and presumably it's with the party as they are learning stuff from Hoshbagh/Upianshe/Aeptolinu ect. I feel like my PC's are gonna just turn to Kakl at that point and be like, why didn't you tell us any of this? Unless Yithians extend the life of the person they are inhabiting, but I didn't see anything about that in the Yithian article (I may have missed it though). Any thoughts?
Okay, so I have a burning question on my mind, and I didn't see it answered on this thread, but how does Lowls actually escape the Mysterium with the Necronomicon? Not only is the Soul is under a dimensional lock effect which would block teleportation, but the Necromomicon itself is supposed to be Teleportation-proof as described in book 5. Unless I missed it somewhere in the book, it doesn't actually explain how he managed to escape despite these barriers. Is this something I should just hand-wave away?
My wife and I worked out an Intimidate build with skill unlock. She pretty much panics most creatures than takes free attacks on those running away, making them sickened as well. This drops their saves and attacks to such a degree they are unable to fight back for a few turns. After that it's clean up. Wow, that is a REALLY creative solution! You really gotta think outside the box to come up with that. Love it.
You need power attack, a high stat, and make use of your riposte to get extra attacks in a turn. I was thinking that Chess Pwn, but I feel like Power attack doesn't exactly fit with a swashbucklers fighting style, and Dex and Charisma seem like the main ability scores, which doesn't leave more than a +1 for Strength. The extra attacks from riposte helps though.
So, I'm looking at the Swashbuckler class, and I'm really trying to understand how to make this a really effective damage dealing class. I love the idea of this class, and it seems like it would be a lot of fun to play, but I don't see how to get much damage out of it in the early levels. I mean, 3rd level you get precise strike and 5th level you get weapon training, but I feel like if I'm in a group with a barbarian, a rogue or a fighter with power attack, my measley attacks would be paling in comparison to theirs. Is there something I am missing? How do I get more out my swashbuckler?
Wow, this brings back memories... I have DM'd six AP's and this is the only one that I've played to the end, so I have a bunch of memorable additions I made.
Spoiler:
[-- During pt 4 in the Cinderlands, I had Cinnabar and the Cinderlander part of a group that was hunting them which also included Roth (who had escaped death twice from them) and a crazed fighter who was the vengeful brother-in-law of one of the PC's who he blamed for his sisters death. I read cut scenes throughout the adventure of that group hunting for them and actually had them play as them for a couple of encounters where they questioned and tortured townspeople in Harse, and combat encounters with the Shoanti in the Cinderlands. When they showed up at the Shoanti camp at the end for the showdown, it was a huge climactic battle against these characters who the players ended up being very familiar with. -- Throughout their time out of Korvosa (adventures 4 & 5), I did short scenarios where they played as NPC's in Korvosa (Vencarlo, Grau, Ishani, and another NPC guard I created) so they would still feel connected to the city and know what's going on there in their absence. They had the help of a mysterious inside informant throughout these scenarios who they find out in adventure 6 when the PC's return to Korvosa is Sabina. Made that reveal a lot more meaningful than the AP makes it out to be. -- One of the PC's becomes romantically involved with Laori Vauss. Throughout the AP, that PC starts to slowly shift alignment and is seduced by Zon Kuthon. Laori leaves the party when they return to Korvosa, but returns for the final encounter with Ileossa and tries to convince the PC to turn on the party and return to Nidal with her with the Crown of Fangs. I had no idea which way the PC would decide and kind of secretly hoped she would side with Laori, but alas, she chose to remain on the light side and stay with the party and kill Laori in the end. -- I also made the ending battle within Korvosa a lot more dramatic than it was in the book, with the PC's returning to Korvosa and uniting the resistance for a climactic attack against Castle Korvosa, and had them switching back and forth between the PC's infiltrating the castle while the NPC's they were playing battled the Gray Maidens and summoned Devils outside. Vencarlo ends up perishing in that battle and I kept the part where Ishani is found dead in the Castle which was also a hard hit for the group as he was part of the group for those side scenarios. All in all, I LOVED this AP. Out of all the AP's I've dm'd if I could only have chosen one to complete, I would have picked this one. I'm so glad that I actually did, and it's probably my greatest achievement as a DM!
You mean after Strange Aeons? That would answer my question. Thanks!
Howdy all, I've been out of the loop the last couple months, but I was just curious if Paizo announced the next AP yet. Didn't see anything on the forums, and I feel like we usually know what's coming next by this point.
My understanding is that there is no limit to how many times you can explore in a turn. There's a bunch of ways you can get extra explores. To name a few: blessing, inquisitor ability if you defeat a monster, defeating certain monsters, location and scenario effects, ect. Normally, you'd have to explore your location 1st to trigger one of those effects, so instead of doing your regular explore, there might be an alternative action you can take. Hope that answers your question! :)
Really just comparing it to the AP as it's written. I think the letters are also a cool option. I do like doing player handouts as it gives the players something to refer back to throughout the campaign, but I was trying to go for a more subtle approach and holy $#!*& moment I got out of them when they realized he was actually the Big Bad was priceless. :)
I had him appear early in the AP with as a sort of respectful adversary of Petros (they had sort of a professor X/Magneto relationship). He was present in Ravengro for the funeral, but kind of in the background. He ends up having some brief face to face time with a couple of the characters, but they just see him as some mysterious aristocrat who's there paying his respects. They end up randomly running into him again in Lepistadt for the next adventure, and by that time, he starts to see them as a threat to his plans and starts watching them more closely. He also poses as a friend and tries to give them a friendly warning, before straight up threatening them to get off the trail. When they realized that Adivion was the mastermind behind the events of the AP, it was a pretty big reveal, and I think had a more effective impact.
I can give some insight into this since we I run a game at lunch hour once a week at work. Dude, where do you work and are they hiring haha. I would love to play RPG's on my lunch hours. That sounds amazing.
I guess it depends how experienced your players are, Carrion Crown is a pretty brutal AP as far as difficulty for players, as my last group discovered. It's also not the easiest game to run as a DM. There's a lot you need to keep track of in the early goings, and you may need to do some juggling to keep everything straight. I don't have any experience with Shattered Star or Council of Thieves, but Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne were both really fun AP's to run for me. Crimson Throne isn't updated with the new pathfinder rules, but I don't think it's a lot of work to convert that and I think it would be worth it as it's probably still my personal favorite AP to date.
The first AP I DM'd was Shackled City when it 1st came out. We made it to the end of the 3rd to last chapter, when Rise of the Runelords came out and everyone wanted to try that out, so we did that up to chapter 4 before we had to end because 2 people moved. Then I DM'd Curse of the Crimson Throne with a new group and we played it to completion. One of my biggest accomplishments as a DM. Tried to simultaneously run a 2nd group through Legacy of Fire and made it through Chapter 1 before I realized DMing 2 games was a bit too much for me, plus the players in that group ended up having other commitments. Then after finishing Crimson Throne, that group started Carrion Crown, and finished up Chapter 3 before I had to move away. After moving, I found a new group and started a Rise of the Runelords game with them, and made it to chapter 4. Then they REALLY wanted to do a pirate themed adventure, so we decided to start Skull & Shackles. We just finished chapter 1 and are going on a hiatus, because my wife just gave birth to our 1st child. I hope to one day get back to these 2 unfinished games, but I have no doubt that that will probably be unlikely for some time : /
Hey all, just want to throw this link out to the community. A a buddy of mine is kickstarting a great product that will help add flavor to anyone's game when it comes to combat descriptions. Check it out and pledge to it, it's a great cause! http://kck.st/1fC2qsX
My RotRL group looks a little something like this: Jacintha(Jac)- F halfling rouge, agent of the Bellflower Network in Magnimar. Went to Sandpoint to lay low after her identity was compromised following an a recent mission. She is currently in town during the Swallowtail Festival. Naz- F gnome druid from Whistledown. After being proposed to by her boyfriend, she was afraid of settling down and suffering from the bleaching and tookoff without a word. She began traveling through Varisia, eventually finds herself in Sandpoint during the Swallowtail festival. Zardon- M elf fire elemental sorcerer, searching for his brother who, he had a somewhat unfriendly rivalry with growing up. His brother, a very studious wizard who resented the fact that Zardon's magical abilities and talents came to him so easily left his home to learn ancient secrets of rune magic in an attempt to one up his obnoxious, care-free brother once and for all. He has not been heard from in months and Zardon has been investigating various experts in Thassolionian lore trying to learn what happened to him. His search has currently brought him to Brodert Quink in Sandpoint right around the time of the Swallowtail festival. Twang- M Dwarf Ranger (Deep Walker) from Janderhoff. He has been scouring Varisa for a Sczarni con man who passed through the town and scammed his father, a local merchant out of an axe which is a priceless family heirloom. Currently in Sandpoint right around the time of the Swallowtail festival. Khan- F human Bard from Korvosa, a performer in the King Eodred's court until a pretty young thing from Cheliax named Ileosa came along and caught the King's attention and fired most of the King's more attractive female staff so she could have him all to herself. Khan decided to head out of Korvosa and see as much of Varisia as she could to tell the greatest story of all time. She eventually came to Sandpoint just after the events of BO, and decided to stick with a group of adventurers who recently fought off a goblin raid on the town, uncovered a greater conspiracy to destroy the town. It doesn't get more exciting than that!
Wow! Moondragon Starshadow, thanks a lot. That definitely answers my question above and beyond and also answers questions I didn't even know I had! That's definitely gonna help me clear things up with my druid player.
Yeah, that sounds about right, but for example, I have a 9th level druid in my group, so she's got 2 attacks/round. If she wild shapes into a dire bear can she get a bite and a claw attack or 2 claws using her regular attack bonuses which are modified by the size differences? That's what's kinda throwing me off a little.
I got a dumb Wild Shape question here. I'm sure it's been answered somewhere, but I didn't see it yet. If a druid is wild shaping into a creature with multiple attacks, can she make those with her full attack action or does it depend on how many attacks she normally gets with her base attack bonus?
These are phenomenal!!! I will definitely be using them, my group is on Skulls Crossing now and these maps will make such a difference!! Thanks for posting them bwatford !!
Wrath- 3
I also just have to say that reading these posts really reaffirms why Paizo is so great. They REALLY do offer something for everyone. And sure not every AP concept is going to fly with every customer, but there's almost guaranteed to be one around the corner that's going get SOMEONE excited. Keep it up Paizo!!!! :D
I agree, Rise of the Runelords is a great intro AP, it's got all the classic elements of a great D&D campaign and a really good and immersive story. It does get really dark at some points, but I think it works really well. One thing to keep in mind, though is that running an adventure path can be a very long and involving process, and you should expect for it to take over a year depending on how often you play and how long your sessions are. I am currently running a Runelords campaign that I started back in January and we're about 2/3 through the 3rd adventure. If you are looking to just get a little practice GM'ing before you start your own campaign, maybe try doing one of the new modules. The new format looks really cool and it seems like it would give you a great start without the commitment of starting a whole AP.
Name Of Character: Twang
Several rounds into combat with Jaagrath Kreeg, the party was pretty battered and beaten. Vale lay unconcious and bleeding on the ground, Naz, the druid was tending to her own wounds suffered on the previous round and Khan, the group's bard took a critical hit which left her bleeding from her forehead and blind. She was also down to 3 hp's and sure to be killed on the next round, but Twang heroically leaped in swinging with his dwarven waraxe and pickaxe hitting with all four attacks for a total of 48 damage. This succeeded in gaining Jaagrath's attention, who swung full force with both attacks on his next turn focusing soley on that damn dwarf and nailing him for 37 and 29 points of damage, and taking him down. No one realized how serious the blow had been and after Jac the halfling rogue came up behind Jaagrath and finished him off with 2 successive sneak attacks, the group was celebrating their victory and patting eachother on the back and shortly thereafter came to the horrid realiztion that Twang was not moving and was quite dead.
What was the party make-up? Also, how did the encounter go? Was it just bad die rolls, or bad decisions made by the players that did them in.
So, I haven't read this book at all and I wasn't really planning on picking it up, but just from the description, this whole mythic path thing sounds a LOT like how 4th ed. D&D powers work. Am I way off on this? I'm really not a fan of 4th ed., which is why this was kind of an instant turn off for me, but I'm just really curious if anyone else was thinking this.I don't see any similarities, so it could just be that you are way off. Or there is some major thing that I am missing. I guess that's good. Like I said, I'm just mainly going with assumption of what I thought it would be like based on the description, I haven't actually seen any material from it yet and I was just wondering
So, I haven't read this book at all and I wasn't really planning on picking it up, but just from the description, this whole mythic path thing sounds a LOT like how 4th ed. D&D powers work. Am I way off on this? I'm really not a fan of 4th ed., which is why this was kind of an instant turn off for me, but I'm just really curious if anyone else was thinking this.
Also, make sure you have some pretty scary music for a certain part in the Skinsaw Murders chapter. I used the Uninvited Soundtrack, and it was pretty effective in upping the creepiness factor.
Wow, really well written! I am running Rise of the Runelords myself, and it's really inspiring. Thank you!
This look really awesome, how come there aren't more of these available?
Wooooow, this is tremendous. It's usually a hard decision for me on what AP's to run, but 2 of my players are huge Dr Who fans and I think this seals it! The Dancing Hut = Tardis connection just hit me like a ton of bricks!
Of the AP's I've played: Shackled City: Lords of Oblivion
We also had a romance with Laori that had a fun twist: spoiler: The PC who had the relationship actually considered converting to Zon Kuthon and at the very end after Ileosa is defeated and they have crown of fangs, Laori tried to get her to turn on the rest of the PC's, hand it over and run away together. It was a very tense moment with the group and no one, (including myeself) had any idea how it would turn out. The PC ended up staying with the party and betrayed Laori, who was shortly after crushed by a falling debris from the ensuing madness with everdawn pool. Everyone paused for a moment, like 'holeee crap.' All in all it was a pretty memorable finish for that campaign.
One really cool thing I added to my CotCT campaign was drawing up character sheets for Cressida, Grau, Vencarlo and Ishani. spoiler: I also wrote up a couple of "mini-adventures" staring them as the Korvosa resistance forming up to book-end the 4th and 5th adventures so the PC's still have a sense of what's going on in the city even though they're spending a lot of time not in it, and giving them an extra sense of connection to those 4 important NPC's
Of the AP's I have read or partaken in: I loooooove Rise of the Runelords. It has all the classic elements of D&D with some really twisted plot developments. Curse of the Crimson Throne was a really good campaign as well, however the plot is very formulaic, but it still makes for an epic and exciting story for a group of characters. Legacy of Fire is really good and brings a whole arabian nights theme to the campaign. Carrion Crown, has that really different dark and gothic feel to it, but I tend to agree with some other posters that the adventures feel a slightly disjointed at times. One common trait that all the AP's share is some really deep story line, LOTS of stuff going on behind the scenes, interesting and memorable NPC's and just all around awesomeness. I reallt don't think there's a wrong choice, no matter which one you go with, you're group will have a great experience.
In the 10+ years I have been playing D&D, I have been in soooo many groups as both a DM and player, and it has ALWAYS been a challenge to actually play a campaign through to its end. I came pretty darn close to finishing Shackled City when that first came out, but when Pathfinder came out with their own game and started the new AP's, everyone was really excited to play that, so we started RotTL. We got to the 4th adventure after about a year and a half of some inconsistent weekly play and the DM of that game moved out of state. Then I started DMing CotCT, with another group and actually played that to the end after about a year. I am so proud to this day that I managed to pull it off... I started Carrion Crown shorlty after that , but just got through the 3rd adventure before I ended up moving away myself, so currently I am looking for a new group to start fresh in my new area, and start dming a new campaign to fruition.
I had a couple in my Curse of the Crimson Throne Campaign, Vencarlo was definitely a group favorite. I just couldn't resist playing him with the Antonio Banderas accent. Everyone always got a kick out of rp'ing with him.
Check out the Pathfinder module, Godsmouth Heresy. I ran is as a side adventure for CoTCT, during History of Ashes while my group was traveling to the Cinderlands. It fits in well if your planning on the group stopping in Kaer Maga and also drops some subtle info on the Runelords. |
