There's actually a magic item in AP #68 called Rimepelt. In rare situations when you skin a winterwolf its hide manifests as a Rimepelt.
At CL 11 It has similar properties to what Dragonchess Player wrote--still doesn't grant resist cold or immunity--and occupies the shoulder slot and you need a successful Profession (hunter) DC 25 check; failure results in the destruction of the pelt.
The events of "The Demon Within" are assumed to have taken place several years before this adventure. Furthermore... one of the key locations in "The Demon Within" is destroyed very early in the Adventure Path. And on top of that, the nature of how the Worldwound and wardstones even function has changed pretty dramatically since "The Demon Within," which got quite a few things wrong as far as how demons work and how the Worldwound works.
I think we've talked about that before (maybe in the thread "What do we know about WotR?) since I also would('ve) like(d) to use The Demon Within but that was some time ago; I'll actually go for some kind of dream quest where the heros get a chance to travel back to the past having to stem the tide against the demons as written in the module with the actual wardstone from the module to be some significant item/artifact for the shamans/druids who sent the PCs on this forray, but hopefully with the new mechanics concerning wardstones and such--if the rules/mechanics are provided and it'd still makes sence.
Hm. Can't wait for the last installment of this AP, the next two leave me cold. Ahahahahah.
Ok, actually looking forward for #5 - but only in hope of getting the statblock of a badass Rasputin to finally convince me of trying a witch.
First off: you need 5 skill ranks in Know (arcana). Since you can only spend 1 skill rank in any skill per level this means you need to accumulate at least 5 levels in any other class able to spontaneously casting arcane spells, e. g. sorc or bard or a combination with at least one level of bard or sorc.
Next Blood of Dragons states:
Quote:
Blood of Dragons: This ability does not grant bonus spells to a sorcerer unless he possesses spell slots of an appropriate level. Such bonus spells are automatically granted if the sorcerer gains spell slots of the spell's level.
Emphasis mine.
For determining if you get access to your bonus spell you add up your caster levels (CL) - bear in mind that DD does not grant a CL at every level of DD, so you're right.
E. g. you'd need to have Sorc5/DD3 to have a CL of 7 getting access to your bonus spell fly which a pure Sorc would've gotten at Sorc7 (=CL 7).
You could also go sorc1/wizX/ddY. It really depends on what you want to do with the PrC; make sure to read Oterisk's guide in the Advice forum and the discussion thread accompanying it.
JJ replied in an old post where the question concerning wizard's bonded object and qualifying for dd PrC was asked, that he would lean towards allowing it--though that is not to say it is RAW/official Paizo canon.
Nice thing is (at least as it stands from what's given in the description) that this will be six small communities as opposed to the cities described in Cities of Golarion; which means (hopefully):
detailed maps,
detailed NPCs,
lots of adventure hooks,
lots of intrigue and political relations between the inhabitants,
My players' motivation is three-fold. For one the kill&fetch quests usually come to their attention via their councillor arguing it is much in the interest of their people to not be eaten by a green dragon etc.
As the ruling body of the realm, my players see it as the right thing to do going on a quest and helping the land and their people to prosper.
Then, I have pally (currently) running the realm, together with his LG cleric buddy it is pretty simple to nudge them towards doing the right and the good thing.
I've also more or less removed the anonymous posting style of many quests and created a short backstory, attaching the quest giver somewhat to the PCs or the council with which they interact heavily.
And I gotta say this installment is as great as I expected it to be from the first tiny little bit of information we got fed about it as I have echoed across the boards for the last months.
I mean: Iobaria, centaurs, Kostchtchie, Hecate-themed dungeon, Kostchtchie, centaurs, Iobaria...
Mh, really cool, but not what I imagined when I read about it in AP #33 where it talks about three mesas into which the 3 images have been cut into the cliff sides and are "visible from many Iobarian cliffs despite the distance." [AP #33]
This, for me, is too much of LotR put into it--but still cool, don't get me wrong.
Maybe just post it in the Homebrew section with a more positive title focusing on what it is. I don't know about you, but a thread title telling me that these items were rejected from publication doesn't make me eager to read them. First impressions are important.
I somehow knew, I'd get something like that as response... but you're right of course.
Whatever the title of said thread would be, what I had in mind is something similar to what I saw (I think, it's been a while) in the RPG Superstar section where you could post e. g. an item and get critique by other forum members. I'll check out the Homebrew section--thanks, Shadowborn.
Got my confirmation email a couple of days back, too!
4 out of 7; an item, a bloodline, a monster and a WoW coming your way.
Are we free to post the rejected material here on these boards (maybe not in this thread to keep it clean); creating a new thread à la "[Community Project] Wayfinder #9 Rejected Submissions"--or would that be too similar to the "Call for Submissions" thread?
... huh? One's no more original than the other. Heck, I've heard/seen Maiden-Mother-Crone much, much more often in reference to the triune goddess than Maiden-Mother-Matron.
You might also wanna check Hecate on e.g. Wikipedia - fits the bill quite nicely (see my post above from January, 28th).
I don't think so. There is of course the 3PP book by Jon Brazer Enterprises which has received very good reviews and is/was highly praised and the kingdom building rules will see an overhaul for the Ultimate Campaign - not sure what's in either of the books, because the former I do not own, the latter's not yet been published.
Do you have any suggestion how to incorporate the skills; maybe lowering the cost for the buildings or increase some of their benefits?
Great guide! It covers the basics and is not too clustered with so many obscure race, class combination and what-not choices.
I would change the font to Times though for readability. *shrugs*
While I do understand the talk about "5 levels of whatever class combination + SD" I'd like to point out that going 6 levels in whatever class usually has the benefit of giving you another goodie (and more) of your base class;
Ranger: 2nd CSF, iterative attack, better saves, another spell
Fighter: iterative attack, fighter bonus feat, better saves
Rogue: better saves, another rogue talent (I personally like to have Major Magic early which gives you so much more versatility--too bad you didn't include it in your guide), overall faster BAB progression
Pally just wouldn't roll at my table...
Also, I think it would be worthwhile to do a search on these boards and include some of the discussion about stealth in combat, HiPS, lighting conditions and such, since there are a lot of problems, uncertainties and the 2 blog posts trying to remedy some of the issues.
In addition, while I understand your intention and your main motivation in choosing the greatsword, would you care to add your ideas about the falchion or a heavy flail?
It has been stated in the past by Paizo staff and players/GMs that an animal companion is mechanically different from a monster from the Bestiary with the animal type. A discussion as staged in your post thus shouldn't occur between knowledgable players and GMs alike.
The rules about polymorph has it all:
PRD-Magic-Spell Descriptions wrote:
Polymorph spells cannot be used to assume the form of a creature with a template or an advanced version of a creature.
The only way following the rules for a monster to change size is by advancing it as detailed in the Bestiary:
PRD-Bestiary-Monster Advancement wrote:
When advancing a monster by adding racial HD, you should start by deciding what you want the monster to become. In most cases, this means merely a tougher, stronger version of an existing monster. Note the desired CR of the new monster. This is also the point at which you should decide whether the creature is going to increase in size. As a general rule, creatures whose Hit Dice increase by 50% or more should also increase in size[...]
This, again, is explicitely barred by the polymorph rules from the Magic section making it clear the creature referred to has to exist as is in on of the Bestiaries.
The stats have been explained/discussed in the threat Jason Nelson mentions.
Here's the statblock JN mentions and some additional comments by Jason:
Spoiler:
Castruccio Irovetti - CR 16
XP 76,800
Male human bard (arcane duelist) 16
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +18
Defense
AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+10 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 149 (16d8+74)
Fort +14, Ref +18, Will +14
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 adamantine keen vicious human bane flying blade +18/+13/+8 (1d12+7/19–20/x3 plus 2d6), cold iron armor spikes +16/+11/+6 (1d6+6)
Ranged 1d4 +1 keen seeking human bane adamantine darts +16 (1d4+5)
Special Attacks bardic performance 40 rounds/day (swift action, bladethirst, dirge of doom, distraction, fascinate, frightening tune, inspire competence +5, inspire courage +3, inspire greatness, inspire heroics, rallying cry, soothing performance)
Bard Spells Known (CL 16th; concentration +22, +26 if grappled or casting defensively)
6th (2/day)—overwhelming presence (DC 24) (UM) (DC 24), waves of ecstasy (DC 24) (UM) (DC 24)
5th (4/day)—cloak of dreams (DC 23) (APG) (DC 23), greater dispel magic, greater heroism, shadowbard (UM)
4th (5/day)—dance of a hundred cuts (UM), primal scream (UM), shocking image (UC), wall of sound (UM)
3rd (6/day)—blink, charm monster (DC 21) (DC 21), confusion (DC 21) (DC 21), phantom steed, slow (DC 20)
2nd (7/day)—allegro (UM), gallant inspiration (APG), suggestion (DC 20) (DC 20), tactical acumen (UC)
1st (7/day)—cure light wounds (DC 17), disguise self, feather fall, grease (DC 17), moment of greatness (UC), saving finale (APG)
0 (at will)—I didn't bother picking any. :)
Statistics
Str 19, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 22
Base Atk +12; CMB +16 (+20 trip); CMD 29 (33 vs. trip)
Feats Arcane Strike(B), Combat Casting(B), Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Disruptive(B), Exotic Weapon Proficiency (flying blade), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Trip, Improved Trip, Penetrating Strike(B), Power Attack, Spell Focus (enchantment), Spellbreaker(B), Weapon Focus (flying blade)
Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +25, Diplomacy +25, Disguise +20, Fly +14, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (engineering) +5, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (history) +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nobility) +5, Perception +18, Perform (act) +10, Perform (comedy) +10, Perform (dance) +10, Perform (keyboard instruments) +10, Perform (oratory) +10, Perform (percussion) +10, Perform (sing) +10, Perform (string) +10, Perform (wind) +10, Ride +4, Sense Motive +3, Sleight of Hand +7, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +4, Swim +5, Use Magic Device +18
Combat Gear potions of barkskin +5 (2), scrolls of see invisibility (2), scroll of magic vestment +4, wand of shield (CL 5th, 10 charges), ring of evasion, ring of spell turning, winged boots; Other Gear mithral medium fortification +1 full plate, +1 adamantine keen vicious human bane flying blade, cloak of resistance +5, belt of physical perfection +4, headband of alluring charisma +6, necklace of adaptation, potion of gaseous form, scroll of stoneskin (CL 7th), scroll of blur (CL 3rd)
Jason's comments:
At first glance, it doesn't look like much for CR 16. However, his hit points were effectively doubled since he had received a shield other spell from his gigantic troll ally (by way of imbue with spell ability).
Next, the mountain of buffs that he rolled up prior to combat stacked up in impressive fashion. With buffs including:
1. (bardic performance) bladethirst to add ghost touch and shocking burst to his weapon
2. a shadowbard spell to provide him with (bardic performance) inspire courage simultaneously. I ended up cheating slightly here when I forgot he didn't get +4 until 17th level and only realized later that he should have gotten +3. (then again, this is countered by me forgetting to have people save vs. his cloak of dreams spell that might have put some of them to sleep)
3. +5 barkskin potion
4. +4 magic vestment oil on his armor
5. greater heroism
6. dance of a hundred cuts
7. haste (from allegro)
8. Power Attack
9. Arcane Strike
10. tactical acumen
11. spell turning from his ring
12. stoneskin scroll
13. razor shield from his "rod of razors" (the above-noted flying blade), which gave cover vs. ranged attacks and did fire shield-type damage vs. melee attackers
14. shield from his wand
15. shocking image
16. blur
17. and, the piece de resistance, the dirtiest GM trick in the book... dust of disappearance!
Final tally with all buffs:
AC 45, touch 23, FF 36
Fort +18, Ref +23, Will +18
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 adamantine keen vicious ghost touch shocking burst human bane flying blade +27/+27/+22/+17 (plus an extra +2 to hit, flat-footed if you can't see him, which you pretty much can't) (1d12+31+1d6 electrical+2d6 vicious/19–20/x3 plus 2d10 electrical).
Most of the palace in my version is under a forbiddance, but he was eventually able to use blink when the battle led down into the laundry below the main floor of the palace, which was very effective for him. The fight lasted so long that some of his buffs wore off or got dispelled, though he was able to re-cast a few. He did cast a few spells, notably including overwhelming presence twice.
Might I suggest you have a look at Oterisk's guide to the DD over in the Advice Forum, GM Solspiral? While I think your built is solid, there might be some areas for further optimization/using synergies.
This is where things got a little fuzzy for me. The cairn wight had used his create spawn special ability by killing Krell but was itself killed before Krell rose.
I ruled Krell would thus rise as a full-fledged wight--and was really disappointed in discovering the standard wight is a CR3 creature with 26hp and AC 15...) and thus the party killed Krell the wight in 1 round. I thought it'd be ok, since the party just defeated a 145hp, AC28, DR5/blud advanced wight with 2 attacks at +15/+10 and doing 1d8+8/17-20 with its +2 broken fey bane longsword.
Should I have used Krell's statblock instead?
The other horse was also a one-hit-wonder (I can't even remember which PC put it down).
Name: Krell
Race: human
Class/Level: Barb 6
AP #:Rivers Run Red
Location: The lonely Barrow
Catalyst: Glass Cannon, bad rolls
The gory details:Having had many difficulties in fighting off the bat swarms—both from the bats being of the swarm-type and the detonation of a fire ball right on top of the party with near max damage and many failed saves on the party’s side—the grave robbers advanced wearily deeper into the cairn falling prey to the breath of despair trap at the central crossing. Fascinated by the murals of the four winds the wizard and the cleric fell victim to the exhaustion effect of the trap only to be restored to normal via lesser restoration and the paladin’s Mercy.
Having experienced the portcullis traps I added to the entrance of each chamber before, the group sent in a summoned dog to sniff out the final resting place of the once great king of old.
With a group of five and three of them already lvl7 (the other too being lvl 6) I had two guards of honor (skeletal champions fighter 2) accompany the advanced king (cairn wight fighter 5) into death.
The bier was changed into a wagon, drawn by two skeletal horses facing east and looking onto a bas relief where a great battle was fought with hordes from the east of the Tors of Levenies being lead by one-eyed giants to conquer the west
Spoiler:
(foreshadowing VV and the Cyclopes)
.
The dog was easily dispatched by the king and all made it into the chamber before it, too, was sealed off by the falling portcullis.
As expected, the pally took on the king and one of the guards, while Krell charged the other guard, oblivious to the braced longspear which took him full center, critted and brought him down to 50% of his max hp.
Very bad rolls on the barbarian’s player’s side and a low AC of 12 would have ended the fight quickly but our faithful cleric channeled and spontaneously casted cure spells dumping about 2/3 of his daily allotment of spell slots into the barbarian before the guard finally fell to the repeated assault by the wizard’s magic missiles.
The group now focused on the king and the other guard which had been held in check by the pally so far.
More bad rolls on the PCs’ side (the pally didn’t land a single hit in 5 rounds against the king despite his smite evil ability and having been buffed by the cleric) draw the fight out.
After having repositioned himself, the Krell opened with a Power Attack–Cleave combo, critted the king and the guard and immediately draw attention from both.
After some hits from the king and two negative levels the king finally critted Krell-who had just before spent his last round of rage for this day-sending him into negative double digits; all efforts to stabilize/heal the barb were for naught and he rose as a wight two rounds later.
In between, the king was dispatched by the pally who finally did what he was supposed to do and smited the evil being into oblivion (which was rewarded with a cut scene where one of the horses drawing the wagon was revived by his goddess netting him his bonded war horse).
Much of the found loot will be dumped into getting Krell back to full...
Eric Clingenpeel quoted the relevant text. Everything is there:
no templates
no advanced versions of a creature.
Bolded mine. The creature has to exist in the first place; where do I check that? I have a look into Bestiary I-III.
There does not exist a huge wolf as an animal in any of the Bestiaries. The only way of getting a huge wolf is to advance a Dire Wolf by following the step-by-step instruction found here or to
PRD wrote:
When advancing a monster by adding racial HD, you should start by deciding what you want the monster to become. In most cases, this means merely a tougher, stronger version of an existing monster. Note the desired CR of the new monster. This is also the point at which you should decide whether the creature is going to increase in size. As a general rule, creatures whose Hit Dice increase by 50% or more should also increase in size, but GMs should feel free to ignore this rule if warranted by the individual creature or situation.
Emphasis mine.
This is how by advancing a monster you can increase its size. This is also what is explicitly negated for wildshaping by the rules Eric Clingenpeel quoted.
How's that rule outdated and no longer needed?
The new wild shape rules were written as such to keep the shape changing happening simple (every change is explicitly stated; if it's not on the list, you do not get is as a PC using a polymorphing effect) and to specifically avoid the bloat and power creep which took place in 3.5 with every new monster published in an upcoming Bestiary and which added to the mythos of CoDzilla (same goes for why the summoned monsters available via [i]summon XYZ[i] spells are not modified with new Bestiaries).
Definitely no hand waving. It is just too funny when the pally (lvl8), the cleric (lvl8) and the wizard (lvl6) almost drown, loose their horses and command the barbarian and the druid and his treant companion ("So glad you took the plant companion!") to cross rivers.
So looking forward to them exploring Candlemere! *evilgrin*
There's also the hippogriff statted up as AC somewhere here as a blog post.
The bonus bestiary (available as a free download at Paizo had the dragonne as companion with advancement statted up.
Maybe those might serve as a template for similar companions.
any chance left to receive my contributor's copy any time soon? I'd be willing to donate again, but can't find the relevant data (slipping it into a Paizo post box would work, too, I gues...).
I'm already looking forward giving my players a cut scene-like introduction by paraphrasing Demon Within to them. I really liked the atmosphere of that module!
I hope this is you and your table's definition of fun, otherwise it's just ridiculous.
And it's not even for roleplay reasons, only for cheese. The fighter already min-maxed his stats and now he needs the monkey for action economy reasons?
Must be player entitlement...
I'd actually argue that it's RAW. As has been stated you need a INT 10+
PRD wrote:
To learn, prepare, or cast a spell [...]
What's the defining class feature of a wizard? Her spells. No spells --> no wizard --> no familiar.
Let him take Leadership and get a monkey if he must.
I just can echo the general advice most have given so far: try reaching bard 7 asap, getting off inspire courage as a move and heroism in round one will up your team immensely. IMO, your next stat increase should go into CHA to get a 2nd 3rd level spell at lvl9 (Rog2/Bard7).
Eldmar wrote:
My next couple of feats are improved initiative and mobility at level 5, Spring attack at 6, combat expertise at 7, whirlwind attack at 8, combat reflexes at 9 and then 3 levels of shadow dancer.
Please help me out here, how do you get a feat at every level? Also, I do not know about your XP progression or other leveling mechanism, but having to wait to spend the next feat from level 3 to 5 is different (i. e. much shorter) than having to wait from lvl 11 to 13, so whatever happens at lvl 10+ shouldn't concern you right now.
Your group is seriously lacking the ability to attack foes from range/while flying. With your high Dex and the group composition you're predestined to fill that niche. The trick here is, that you open combat at range, thus precise and point-blank shot are unnecessary, while you pepper the enemy from range, your group mates advance and open melee, with you at a close behind (when the two feats mentioned would apply).
PrC:
In a low magic setting DD seems to be the way to go, since it gives you an good boost concerning stats (Str, Con, Int) and a decent inrease in CL; you've already mentioned NA and hp. As a suggestion, you should read Oterisk's guide to the DD over in the Guide to the Guides section in Advice.
