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And while the style of game is at least cosmetically different, go with what you know! Keep building your encounters more or less the same way you've been doing, and worry about changing what you're doing after you find what works and what doesn't under a new system.
I wouldn't worry too much about altering how you construct encounters, then. As Morgan mentioned, you'll probably need to be a little thoughtful about how you include traps. And I really like Egoish's suggestions for a series of test encounters, to get a feel for how your group performs under various circumstances and use that as a baseline reference.
How do you normally build your encounters?
Sean, that was most certainly not a TLDR, thank you so much for your effort with this post. ....<snip>.... The worst part? Now I'm aching to get back in the DM chair! Starting to jot some notes down tonight to create some of my own scenarios for my players. I can't wait to see them start to have a great time with this. :D Thanks. Hope it helps!
Yes, indeed. As karkon notes, I am engaging in quite a bit of hyperbole. You do need to be careful about squishing player happies, because you want the game to be fun for everyone. However, my attitude is that killing PCs should be rare (although some PCs seem to go out of their way to die... if they are trying that hard, oblige them). But while killing PCs should be rare, everything else is fair game, especially all the NPCs that they care about. You can only kill any given NPC once, so use that sparingly, but suffering is eternal. Finally, just as a reference (so you know how hard I am on my players and adjust down from there), I run my games on an Epic (25pt) point buy, four players, using the Slow XP track, and my average difficulty combat encounter is APL+3 (I've found that with my players, combat with anything less than APL+1 is too short and boring, and too easily defeated by my players). I do not recommend this for other GMs.
Sean's Guide to GMing Introduction This is a quick and dirty guide to pass along some tips that I've found helpful as a GM. A lot of people here have and will offer some excellent tips on understanding and mastering game mechanics, as well as tips and advice on organizing your materials and managing combat, and I'll probably touch on some of that as well, but what I'd like to focus on is more of the creative/artistic side of it. The storytelling side. As you suggested, the "improvisational" side. I hope any of this helps. Ignore everything that doesn't. A first piece of advice before we begin, I actually don't like full on "improvisation" as a GM. Even an hour or two of thought and preparation before you begin will make all the difference in the world. Even with all the preparation in the world, there is still plenty of "improv" involved in running a game, but as with everything else, good preparation is key to good output. All the best professional stand up comedians and improv artists, who make it look easy, prepare like crazy. It's not a bad idea to follow their example. The Five Most Important Questions EVAR Who? Where? Why? What? When? Basic journalism is just as important for a GM as it is for a reporter. Those five questions define literally everything you'll ever need to know, ever. Plus, they are super-easy to remember. The first three in particular are vital to every story you'll ever tell. "Who?" starts with your PCs, includes their primary rivals and adversaries, and ultimately everybody in the world. But, you know, take it one step at a time. "Where?" starts with the town, village, inn or convoy where the PCs meet, and eventually leads to everywhere and anywhere. Every cave, dungeon, castle, windswept cliffside, frozen mountaintop, sun-beaten desert and sandy tropical beach. "Why?" is probably the most important question of all. The better you understand why anybody does anything, and why very frequently people do very surprising and unexpected things, the better your game will be. The "What?" is, of course, treasure. When you get right down to it, it's always a game about killing other people and taking all their stuff. "When?" might seem the least of all questions, but you'd be surprise. Start with the year, the month, the date, and the day of the week, but time marches ever onward, my friend. Things change, seasons change, day moves into night, and so on, and so on. Que sera, sera. Character is Everything This actually goes for both your NPCs and your players. In stories, character is everything. It's what we all relate to, and it's how we identify with a game or any story. What motivates us? What moves us? What basic wants and needs do we have? Above all, remember that everybody, from the lowliest homeless urchin to the most vile demonic overlord, is the hero of his own story. In his head, he's the good guy. Understand why and how any given goblin, bandit, dragon or paladin views themselves as the hero of their story. The best place to start understanding this is with your PCs. Each of your players will have their own vision of the game, STARRING! <their character>! Start by discussing each character with your player. It doesn't need to be a long conversation, but get a feel of who they are, what they want, and who they want to be. Where are they from? What is their family? What does their family do for a living? Are they from here <wherever your game is set>? If not, where are they from, and how and why did they come here? Why did they become an adventurer? Finally, is there anything they might want out of adventuring? This might be a magic weapon, or other magic item, or it might be a particular place the character wants to go, or it might be some motivation like revenge for some past wrong, or finding a lost love. Getting a grip on this for each PC will help both you and the players better visualize the main characters of the game. Once you've done this, you'll have an idea how to do it for any and all NPCs you dream up, no matter how sudden. Even if you're making a character up on the fly, take a quick moment to think about who that character is, where she's from, and what she wants. You'll thank yourself for it. In many cases, just asking a few of these motivational questions about your NPCs will be all the information you'll ever need. No need to write up a detailed character sheet for every character you make. Just a few questions and you've got your character portrait, enough for most any role playing situation. Conflict, Conflict, Conflict To really run great games and tell great stories, you need conflict. Conflict at every turn. This doesn't need to always lead to a fight, but it's as simple as "For everything anybody wants, there is someone else who wants the opposite." If the players are going after something, they should never be allowed to go after it unopposed. Somebody else wants that thing too, or wants to stop the players from getting it, or wants to destroy it instead. Even just buying supplies and equipment can offer opportunity for conflict -- the merchant wants the players to pay more, the players want to pay less (although don't overdo this one too much). Over the long run, you'll ultimately want to give your players the things the want, but always make them work for it. For any given scene, ask yourself if there is some kind of twist or complication you can throw in. And again for the next. Even in a fight, throw some kind of obstacle or difficulty in with it. If it increase conflict for all sides, even better. Twist the Knife and Bring the Pain One of the better favors you'll do for yourself is to get in touch with your cruel side. Whenever possible, make your characters feel pain. All the things that they want and like? Take it away from them. Steal it. Smash it. Destroy it. Kill it. Make them watch it wither and die. Make their loved ones and friends suffer. If they have a puppy, kick it. If they have a happy, squish it. In fact, give them happies and puppies, just so you can squish them and kick them. You must make your players happy on a regular basis, and make sure to make them very happy. But always, always, always remember that player happiness exists only for you to take it away and destroy it, thus forcing your players to overcome/revenge/recover it and making them happy again, just so you can ruin it all over again. Pain is your best friend and your constant companion. Pain is your happiness. Ratchet Up the Stakes Closely related to the last point, for a truly memorable game, ratchet up the stakes every chance you get. Start with what's at stake in the first place -- sure, when the adventurers start out, maybe all they want is to find a treasure in a dungeon, or root out a band of orcs in the nearby forest. But once they're in there, what if a trap locks them in the dungeon? Now the stakes are more than just money, the characters have to get out if they want to live! Not to speak of spending the treasure. While rooting the band of orcs out of the forest, what if they're kidnapped? By the orcs? Or maybe a nearby dryad who wants help with the orcs? Or maybe the dryad wants something else entirely, and the players have to do that first? Or what if the band of orcs is actually an advance scout troop for an invading army? Now the whole town is at risk! For homework in this arena, watch Buffy, Angel and Battlestar, and read Game of Thrones. General Advice Keep it punchy. Brevity is the soul of wit and GMing. Read Ernest Hemingway and Harlan Ellison. Read them aloud (to get used to speaking aloud). For Hemingway, Old Man and the Sea. For Ellison, Repent Harlequin, Said the TickTock Man, or I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Go to museums and look at art. Get in touch with how people relate to themselves and their religion and history. Take some hikes and keep track of how long the distance is and how long it takes you to walk it. Now you have a much better idea what it's like for adventurers to go walking around everywhere (until they get horses/flight/teleport). While you're at it, go horseback riding sometime. Now you know what that's like. If you're really feeling adventurous, learn some archery or swordfighting. As you go about your day, look at the things around you, and try to look at them from new angles if you can. Look up and out, don't always look just straight ahead. Look at architecture and geography. Get a feel for how cities and towns are laid out, and how things like rivers and hills affect that. While you're at it, start collecting maps. Not just gaming maps, but real maps as well. I'm an avid collector of maps. Old National Geographic maps sometimes be found at Goodwill or used bookstores. Maps and drawings of old castles and forts are good too. Try holding multiple competing, conflicting, contradictory thoughts in your head at the same time. This will help you get used to keeping track of multiple things at once. Or drive you insane. Either one being useful for running large, interesting, exciting combats and doing it smoothly and quickly. For example, try believing that you love ice cream, hate ice cream, and are ambivalent about ice cream. Believe all three at once. For a more blasphemous example, try believing fervently and with all your heart that there are no gods, all gods are true, and you are god. Believe them all at once. Practice thinking in three dimensions. Any time you get around any kind of multi-level environment, even if it's just standing inside or outside a house, or next to a tree, imagine a battle in that area, with combatants positioned in different positions around the area. Make sure you work constantly to give everybody equal time to shine around the table. What's in a Name? Names can be one of the trickiest parts of winging it. I've been writing and GMing for a very long time now, so names have (with quite a bit of practice) started to come naturally to me. But it takes plenty of work. Carry a notebook and jot down names when they come to you (or that you see, or whatever). Once you've got a name, maybe add a quick description, and ask some of the questions from earlier. Keep adding to the notebook all the time, and bring it with you to your games. If you use a character from your list, make a note of it. KEEP NOTES! Stand ups keep notes, improvers keep notes, actors, lawyers, singers, dancers and performers all take notes. Not just to guide them and help them remember what they're doing, but also to study, critique and improve themselves and their performances. KEEP NOTES! Thanks for reading, I know this was seriously TL;DR, but if anybody reads this and finds anything helpful from it, I really hope you enjoy it.
Grit doesn't bother me. I hadn't looked at the Gunslinger class until I started reading this thread, and it works for me. I guess we each draw our dissociative lines differently. Vancian magic bugs me much more than the Grit mechanic, but I've finally come to accept spell slots, and even kind of love them in their own way. I don't even hate 4e, though I consider PF the inheritor of D&D, not 4e. 4e is a beer and pretzels minis battle game and enjoyable enough, but I find it to be a terrible roleplaying game (and this thread finally helped me understand why), and I refuse to actually call it D&D.
As someone who works with riggers and rigging for a living, simply tying knots is absolutely an INT based skill, but the actual physical handling of rope, rope coils, throwing rope and rope loops where you want them, these are all DEX based. And while knowing how to use rope is no doubt helpful in a survival situation, knowing how to eat, keep warm, define hazards and avoid them, or tracking someone you want to follow - none of those require rope use at all, and all seem pretty reasonably WIS based to me.
Wow. Sorry if I'm raining on anybody's day. I honestly don't feel the previous post was trolling in any way shape or form, this is just my opinion based on any number of things, and frankly, I find it pretty supportable given the essay I linked to upthread, which essentially makes the case for me. I found it convincing, and it points out that olympic athletes and einsteins can get away with 14s. I think people are reading too much into standard deviations and how likely things are to pop up on a set of dice (the standard array is the average likely set of rolls on 3d6, BTW... elite array is the standard results of 4d6 drop lowest, and the highest stat there is 15. And I did specify that some people with high stats may *still* only be widely known within certain specific circles. This is just my opinion. I think people who are being defensive are still giving too much power to stats and not enough credit to skill ranks, but whatevs. I really wasn't picking a fight or trolling, and I don't see it in my post, so I'm kind of wondering where this massive overreaction (flouncing out of the thread, announcing that this is no fun any more, because someone expressed a dissenting opinion??? WTH???) is coming from. Sorry I didn't agree that everybody here has 18s in whatever they want. I will go somewhere else to express dissenting opinions, since they are clearly unwelcome here. YEESH.
I'm pretty firmly of the opinion that anybody who is not a household name, or otherwise widely recognizable, at least inside their field, does not have a single stat above 13. The vast majority of people are Standard Array at best. I think I'm a very smart person, and I wouldn't dare to give myself anything above a 13. And justifying a higher-than-13 stat with "I can do X or Y" have all been examples of your skill having a few ranks, not a high stat. It's all subjective, but I'm very amused that anybody would be so presumptuous as to give themselves a 14 in anything, let alone anything higher.
Some reference points to think about when trying to stat yourself out:
The worst death was a friend of mine, he was playing a Hackmaster... I didn't think anybody had ever actually played Hackmaster.
Kill the Stupid People. It's a holdover from forever ago. I'm thinking about changing it.
Had a ranger back in Forgotten Realms who died holding his ground and firing arrows at a charging antipaladin. I was buying time for the rest of the party to escape, and got mowed down for it. I had a "troubleshooter" rogue who liked to jump on the backs of enemies to fight them. Did that to a giant and got spiked head-first into a rock. A critical hit on the attack, and I was a dead doggie.
I apologize for my board coding being so poor. It's all fixed now.
Only monks can do that, as I read the rules. Only the monk's unarmed strike power specifically mentions the monk being able to attack with any part of the body and/or with full hands. The unarmed strike power also grants the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, but the feat text does not mention striking with any part of the body or with full hands. So as I interpret the rules, only monks can attack with full hands. No, but the monk rules do: A monk's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. That's what I meant earlier when I said that only a monk's unarmed strike mentions the monk being able to attack with full hands, because it does.
I'm sorry, I was using "any part of the body" as shorthand for "fists, elbows, knees, feet." I will not do so in the future, to avoid confusion.
Yes, but I'm bringing up the fact that only the monk can attack with his hands full to make the point that no, according to the RAW, the magus cannot attack with a spiked gauntlet if his hands are full of scythe.
I'd say no on the pistols and crossbows, because they're not thrown.
Hmm.... My initial inclination upon reading this was to say "Oh HECK no!", however... Pathfinder Core Rulebook (2nd printing, don't know if this has been errata'd), p. 202, under the section on Two Weapon Fighting: Thrown Weapons: The same rules apply when you throw a weapon from each hand. Right there in black and white. He's good to go.
I am saying no because the game would not allow you to make an unarmed strike, claw, or slam attack in the same situation. Putting that metal glove on your hand does not change the premise that you are trying to attack with an appendage that is holding something, and as for those pictures there is not much difference expect for the glove with the built in saw(?).Um...you can make unarmed strikes even when your hands are full, can you not? Only monks can do that, as I read the rules. Only the monk's unarmed strike power specifically mentions the monk being able to attack with any part of the body and/or with full hands. The unarmed strike power also grants the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, but the feat text does not mention striking with any part of the body or with full hands. So as I interpret the rules, only monks can attack with full hands.
i've known a few people who always play rogues like that. Very similar to the types that would always play a wizard, and then indiscriminately throw fireballs and other area effect spells that constantly catch the party, too (much more frequent under 1e & 2e rules). I always tried to play my rogues more as "troubleshooter" types, i.e. *not* inlcined to steal from the party or go solo. But I did have one rogue character I played who was constantly touching/opening the Wrong Thing and getting all of us screwed. It was never a deliberate choice on my part to screw us all over, it just kept happening to that particular character. We still joke about it to this day.
I've played a lot of rangers and rogues over the years. Those are frequently my go-to classes. I've had a couple of friends that don't necessarily play the same class every time, but more or less the same character. I have one friend who always wants to be a Drow (yes, the Drizzt Effect is alive and well), and another friend who always wants to be some kind of draconic humanoid ('cuz she loves dragons). They're great gamers and I love them, but they are a wee bit predictable.
With some super-powerful evil, I'd be kind of (read: A LOT) worried about the One Ring effect -- i.e. the Solar accepts your request to take this ancient evil artifact off your hands... ...And then the solar succumbs to temptation, turning evil and now in possession of the ancient evil artifact. Bad times, bad times.
Hey James, In preparation for my Absalom campaign, I've been pouring over the Guide to Absalom, learning the city backward and forward. I've found one contradiction I'd like cleared up, though. I've searched all over the site, but haven't been able to find if it's been answered anywhere else: The entries for both the Arcanamirium and the College of Mystery claim to be the oldest institution for magical learning in Absalom. The descriptions in those entries actually seem to indicate that the College is the eldest, having been founded by some of the first colonists to the city, whereas the Arcanamirium was built by the Arclords of Nex, presumably some time after Nex tried and failed to take the city. Am I reading those right?
I have only just returned to the board after a long absence, and am very excited to see this project. I'm currently pulling out all my year one stuff to look at, as well as reading all the back issues of Wayfinder, to get a feel for the mag. BTW, since it is mentioned upthread, can somebody point me in the direction of PF Chronicler?
That's the first session. I should have the second and third sessions posted over the next few days. Our forth session is tentatively scheduled for next week.
FIRST SESSION GM's note: The first two sessions actually occurred back in December, and as such, my recollections might be a little off in places. Also of note, this is likely the one and only time during the campaign you will see me using a published module -- Nic Logue's Hangman's Noose -- more or less as written. I chose it for it's setting, and because it's a nice locked-room sandbox alternative to the typical "you're all in an inn" start to an adventure. Still, I made some significant changes, most notably removing the visions granted to players at the start. I knew my players would be able to pick too much out of it, so instead I incorporated all important points into the haunt/visions that occur as the module progresses. Also, I added a gallery level to the abandoned courthouse, mostly on a whim. I tossed in a couple of other minor changes that are related to character based long-term plot seeds. Finally, for mood inspiration, I rewatched a few of the Saw movies in the days before the first session, particularly Saw 2. WARNING - This journal may contain spoilers for Hangman's Noose. Wealday - 15 Pharast, 4712, sunset Our heroes awake to find themselves inside an abandoned courtroom as the last rays of sunlight beam through the boarded up windows. The vaulted ceiling is decorated with a crumbling fresco of Iomedae holding her sword aloft, and rotting muslin covers the judges bench and evidence tables. They are seated in the jury box along with eight other people -- two human men, a human woman, a male half-orc, a crusty old male dwarf, a sickly looking gnome in motley, a female halfling, and of all things, a hobgoblin. Everyone seems to be regaining consciousness at the same time, and everyone seems to be suffering from a kind of mild hangover or residual drug effect. Strangers to each other, as well as the others, the four heroes quickly pick up on the fact that they are the odd ones out. That somehow the other eight know each other, but not them. They manage some introductions from a few of the strangers -- The men, Sir Rekkart Col and a dandy named Killian Paltreth, the woman Patrissa Vrakes, the dwarf Tablark, the halfling Madge and the half-orc Halgrak. Flezmo recognizes the gnome as a particularly drunk and unfunny jester named Ebin, and the hobgoblin as Malgrim Hurkes, a vicious local gang leader. With a few questions, they manage to piece together that these people served on a murder jury together ten years ago. Gaspar mentions his uncle served on a jury in Beldrin's Bluff ten years ago, a fact he had only just learned earlier that day. This prompts Flezmo to mention that his father served on a jury ten years ago too. Thinking they've clued in to the mystery of why the four of them are the odd ones out, they quiz Gallows and Kerrethel only to discover that neither of them have any relatives that have ever been to Absalom that they know of. Still, being the unknown factors in the room, they find themselves somewhat isolated from the rest of the group, who are all initially standoffish -- not that any of them seem terribly happy to see each other either. The quartet decides to stick together for the time being, and turn their attention to making their way out of the building. They give a few tugs on the boards over the windows and find them mounted securely in place. A quick examination of the judge's bench by Gaspar reveals little beyond a few coins (which he pockets). The four of them huddle and discuss their options. Flezmo's peek through the boards on the windows confirms that they are in the abandoned Precipice Quarter, inside a purportedly haunted courthouse, in a district that has been left to the ghosts, vermin and undead. While concerned and upset that they all seem to have been drugged and brought here against their will, their first priority is getting out. As they huddle, Kerrethel casts detect magic to do a scan of the room for any active dweomers or items, particularly the rather ostentatious fire opal necklace worn by Patrissa, but neither it nor anything else in the room gives off the telltale glow of magic. Before they can get much further the hobgoblin announces that he's not waiting for anybody else to leave and marches for the exit. The others follow after, and get slammed with a vision as they trigger a haunt entering the grand lobby of the decaying courthouse. The large clock along the opposite wall, depicting Asmodeus and his minions tormenting the souls of the wicked, springs to life chiming and screeching as the hands on its face spin and twirl, hammering at the sanity of all present with visions of strangulation and murder by axe. Just as the howling cacophony and choking visions seem to be overwhelming, they end. A few people, including Kerrethel and Flezmo, are slightly worse for wear with ringing headaches, but no one else is harmed. Seeing the boarded up great oak double doors at the front of the great hall, Gaspar and Gallows head over to it to try and get it open. They take a few hacks and pries at it with their weapons (though no one is will to misuse them too badly) to no avail. Even calling Sir Rekkart and the dwarf over doesn't get them any further purchase. They try to talk the hobgoblin into helping too, but he tells them to go rot in the Abyss, he's finding his own way out, and marches off toward the other end of the hall. Since no one is particularly fond of him, no one pays too much attention when Malgrim enters the judge's private chambers of the courtroom across the hall. When the door slams shut behind him, and screams of terror followed by sounds of choking and strangulation come from the other side, they start to pay attention. Everyone rushes over to the chamber door to find it wedged shut. They start a coordinated effort to try and break the door down when the sounds of struggle from the other side come to and end with a sickening crunch, and the door pops open on its own a moment later. They find the hobgoblin dead on the floor on the other side, strangled by his own spiked chain belt, with a look of terror frozen on his face. As they examine the body, a creaking sound from behind the desk catches their attention. A skeletal wolf hound, once the beloved pet of the judge who used these chambers, rises to defend its territory. One brief fight later and the skeletal hound again lies dead, allowing the heroes to search the room. They find a note written by the dead judge and never sent, accusing the other judge in the courthouse -- the one who presided over the murder trial in question -- of conspiring with unknown others to frame an innocent man for the crime. The man convicted and hung for the crime was the courthouse executioner, Jarbin Mord. The victims had been his lovely young Varisian wife, and their young son, both dismembered with an axe. The heroes realize the haunting and the frame up are connected, and the ghost has brought them all here for vengeance. Gallows and Gaspar examine the floor of the great hall and discover multiple drag marks in the dust, indicating someone had dragged the rest of them here, and may be hiding among them. This prompts a more thorough grilling of their fellow captives. Under questioning, the half-orc confesses to having been coerced into voting guilty by the now dead hobgoblin. The dwarf too admits to having been intimidated by the hobgoblin, though he confesses he'd found much of the evidence persuasive at the time. Their suspicions turn to Sir Rekkart, a paladin of Iomedae. When questioned, he becomes defensive, insisting he sent a guilty man to the noose. But when they try to pry details out of him, asking him what he found so persuasive, his memory becomes hazy and he's unable to recall any details. When the heroes point out his amnesia is rather convenient, he scoffs at the insinuation against his character, and tells them to examine the evidence for themselves if they like, as it still rests on a table back in the courtroom where they awoke. When the heroes venture over to the evidence to examine it, a chunk of the fresco above breaks loose from the ceiling. It smashes through the evidence, causing the heroes to dive for cover, and sending the dusty, blood-encrusted axe flying across the courtroom to imbed itself blade-first into the wall behind the jury box. After that, they decide they're getting out of the courthouse one way or another. First they check the judges chambers for this courtroom, once occupied by a man named Silman Trabe. As they search the room, moldering law books fly off the shelves where they'd lain for a decade and fling themselves at the heads of those in the room. Flezmo and Gallows take a bit of a battering, but the damage is limited to superficial bruises. Once that room is cleared, Gaspar opens the door to the courtroom across the hall to check it out, and disturbs a large flock of undead crows roosting in the room. He slams the door shut as the swarms take flight, content to let them batter uselessly against the other side of the door. For what would not be the last time that evening, Kerrethel shouts at Gaspar to, "Stop opening things!" Finding a locked iron door leading to another wing of the courthouse, Gaspar manages to get it open, claiming, "My uncle used to be a locksmith." The door leads to a hallway with two more doors down the left side, and boarded up windows along the right. The first door leads to a cage around the old public stocks. With a quick look from the doorway, Gaspar can see there's no way out through here, even as he can taste the evening breeze and and see tantalizing freedom on the other side of the bars. The next door down the hall leads to the gallows, a sinister room suffused with an unnatural darkness. Tablark the dwarf proclaims himself unafraid of the dead and heads into the room. As he steps in, a horrible rattling sounds from the darkest corner. A dead man, his head lolling at a sickening angle, steps from the darkness, and the dwarf and the paladin gasp, recognizing this specter as the supposed murder, Jarbin Mord. Mord points a skeletal finger at Tablark and tells him the time has come to pay for his crime. Wailing in terror and guilt, Tablark claws his own eyes out to make the horrible sight go away. As Sir Rekkart and the rest of the party charge into the room to defend the dwarf, Mord simply vanishes through the floor. Before venturing any further, they carry the maimed dwarf back to the courtroom and lay him out to rest. Patrissa, Halgrak, Ebin and Killian agree to stay behind and tend the dwarf. Sir Rekkart and Madge decide to continue looking for a way out with the party. The group heads back to finish exploring the wing of the courthouse. Checking the gallows room again, the unnatural darkness is gone, as is the specter of Jarbin Mord. At the end of the hall are the holding cells, a few other closed rooms, and a spiral stairway down. Gaspar gives the cells a thorough examination ("I have a brother who's a housing inspector.") and finds a note carved under one of the bunks. It is from Mord, the night before his execution ten years ago, pleading for his only friend, a man named Sveth, to help him take vengeance. The party speculates that maybe it was Sveth that betrayed him, maybe it was he who killed Mord's wife. They also begin to speculate that Sveth is among them somehow, and question the paladin again about his identity and memory. Even though he betrays no hint of lies, the party are still not entirely convinced of his trustworthiness, nor are they pleased with his continued inability to recall specifics of the trial or what he found so compelling about the evidence. Despite their dissatisfaction, they elect to continue with Sir Rekkart's presence among them, better to keep an eye on him. They enter one of the closed rooms and find a windowless courthouse "interrogation" chamber, with an iron maiden, and confessional chair and rack, among other tools for punishment, and the extraction of testimony. As they enter the room, some haunt grabs Gallows and yanks him into the confessional chair, tightening down the straps. As the rest of the party rush to free him, a ghastly wearing priestly robes and armor erupts from the iron maiden. The party puts the ghast down quickly, though there are a few close calls with the ghast's touch. Examining the ghasts outfit and effects, Flezmo realizes this is one of the members of a party that tried to enter the courthouse and cleanse it about five years ago, only to have it go horribly wrong. The only survivor of the expedition was a fighter and captain in the First Guard, who emerged from the abandoned district completely mad and carrying the severed head of his lover, the party sorcerer, in a lantern. No details of the events of that night were ever uncovered. Flezmo relates these events to the rest of the party, and Gallows collects some of the priests effects to bring back to the Temple of the Shining Star. They collect some weapons and other treasures from the room and head for the stairs down to the basement. Below ground, they find a small hallway with a door on either side. On the left, they find a records room, semi flooded. They wade in to see if they can find anything that might shed some light on their predicament, and encounter a pair of giant aquatic centipedes that have taken up residence in the derelict building. After destroying the creatures and recovering some pertinent records, they retreat out of the room. Reading through the records, they discover that Mord had been the executioner for the Beldrin's Bluff courthouse right up until his trial, conviction and execution for the murder of his wife and son. Not only that, butthat he had presided over the trial and execution for Madge's father for murder. When confronted about it, she confesses that she voted guilty out of revenge for her father's execution mere weeks earlier. When the party mentions that it seems highly unusual for her to have served on the jury, she tells them any number of things were unusual about the case, but it was all swept under the rug in the panic and chaos of the days after the quake that destroyed the district. They venture into the room across the hall to find a morgue, and several zombies of the convicted who rise to attack. One of the zombies happens to be Madge's father and he beacons to her. Overcome by grief, she runs to him, not noticing or caring about his now undead state. Gaspar dives in after her, deftly dodging zombie attacks and grabbing the halfling, shielding her from harm. In a brutal fight, they manage to put down the zombies, but not without sustaining some serious injuries. Gaspar, Kerrethel and Flezmo are all hovering near unconsciousness. They brave a couple of unidentified potions they found earlier. Kerrethel is unhealed, but his lingering headache from the clock-visions earlier dissipates. Gallows draws on his divine blessings from Saranrae and heals Flezmo from some of his injuries. Gaspar drinks another potion and finds his wounds healed completely. They tend to Kerrethel as best they can, but are unable to do more than dress his wounds. Having cleared the basement, they head back upstairs to examine the rest of the courthouse. The only remaining room off the great hall is the jury deliberation room, which also offers no windows. They head up past the gallery level to the floors above. Ascending to the third floor, they first enter a barrister's lounge and are again assaulted by visions. This time the visions are of the sentencing. Judge Trabe reads out the sentence of death as the jury and gallery look on. Among the jury, certain members are smirking, notably the hobgoblin, the gnome, and Patrissa, the woman with the fire opal necklace. Searching the room further, they find a jar of formaldehyde with what appear to be half-orc toes floating in them. Leaving the jar behind, they press on. The lounge has two doors, one halfway down one wall and the other in the far opposite corner. Also at the far end of the room is another set of stairs, leading up. The party elects to explore the door at the far end, finding a narrow hallway indicating another room to their right. They proceed down the hall and find a narrow stair up at the corner of the building. Realizing they must be under the belfry they head up to see if that offers a way out.
Having spied what appeared to be a small apartment above the lounge, they head back down to find that room. Ascending the stairs up from the lounge, they enter a small family apartment in extreme disarray, never having been cleaned up after the violence that occurred here. As they enter, they are assaulted once again by visions, this time of a beautiful young Varisian woman sitting in this room knitting a scarf when a tall dark figure enters the room. In the vision, the woman challenges the intruder, seeming to recognize him. He grabs her to assault her and she gouges his face deeply with a knitting needle. The attacker picks up an axe and hacks her to bits. He finishes as the young boy enters, wondering what's going on. He too falls to the axe. Despite the totality of the visions, they are unable to see the attackers face. As the visions fade, an insane child's giggle and a horrified woman's moan fill the air as two shadows rise from the darkness and threaten the party. Before they can attack however, Jarbin Mord himself arrives and addresses the party, calling the shadows to rest. He bids the heroes find the true murderer and put his soul to rest before sunrise or all here will die. Sir Rekkart leaps forward, brandishing a torch and shouting at the specter, "Back, foul thing. None more shall fall to your lies if I have anything to say about it!" Mord ignores him, fading through the floor again, along with the shades of his wife and son, proclaiming, "Find the real killer."
Apologies for the delay in posting this. It's taking longer to type these up than I hoped.
Well... What do you want the rat to be able to do? Do you actually want it to be an Arcane or Nature Bond? Or do you just want a really smart rat for a pet. As a GM, I'd give you the really smart pet for nothin'. As for actually getting Nature or Arcane Bond? Well, the Magician and the Arcane Duelist variants for Bard give Arcane Bond, duelist to let you bond your weapon and magician to let you bond any item except a weapon, and neither allow familiars, but not until 5th level. The Sea Singer lets you get a familiar at second level, traded out for versatile performance. If I were your GM and you want a rat familiar, I'd let you have it as part the normal bard progression at 2nd level, traded out for versatile performance. I'd let you have Nature Bond and get an animal companion at 5th level, traded out for lore master and tell you a rat probably isn't an appropriate choice for an animal companion. That's my 2cp.
As a GM running an Absalom campaign, I would dealry love some new Absalom stuff. Frankly, just a large, multi-panel map of the city would be invaluable to me. Like give-you-my-first-born priceless.
Character Introductions: Gallows: Katapeshi half-orc Inquisitor of Saranrae. Born to an orc mother, Gallows was raised among the savage humanoid tribes of Katapesh, learning early that cruelty and violence were coin of the realm. Then one day a burning vision of Saranrae led him to forsake his ways and convert. He joined the church and eventually realized his aptitude with applied cruelty was a tool that even the Dawnflower had need of on occasion, and joined the ranks of the inquisitors. He has been completing his acolyte training at the Temple of the Shining Star in Absalom, just prior to the start of the campaign. Gaspar: Varisian human "carpenter/stonemason/wheelright/locksmith/dockhand" (rogue). Raised in an extended Varisian family by his meme Esmerelda, Gaspar and his clan plied their "trade" in and around Korvosa, carefully avoiding the harsh arm of Korvosan law, and the cruel machinations of the Sczarni. His uncle Shemmi was an adventurer who eventually settled in Absalom in Beldrin's Bluff. Shemmi was there durring the earthquake, and the tumultuous time after, and even served as a juror on a bizarre trial before the district was abandoned altogether. He died a few years back, and Gaspar, having finally come of age, has been sent to ensure that any outstanding affairs Shemmi may have had are taken care of, and ultimately find his own fortune. He has just arrived in Absalom. Kerrethel Shoanti half-elf sorcerer (half-elven mother, Shoanti father). Raised by his parents in Kaer Maga, Kerrethel lived the mostly uneventful life his parents were hoping to give him when they retired from adventuring and settled down to start a family. Eventually he began showing signs of Arcane ability and draconic heritage. Wanting to give him the best training they could give him, his parents scraped together every loose coin they could find and packed him off to the Arcanimirum in Absalom. They had imagined their fortune would cover his tuition, room and board, but Kerrethel discovered to his horror that it barely covered the cost of books. After considerable wrangling, he managed to snatch a work study waiver, only to find himself practically a slave to the third-term student to whom he'd been assigned. Kerrethel has been in Absalom for a number of months, but has seen little of the city beyond the walls of his classrooms and dorm. Flezmo Absalom native half-elf bard. Suave, charming, handsome and talented, Flezmo was raised by his rather well-to-do parent in the City at the Center of the World. And since the world revolves around him anyway, where else could he possibly want to be? His every whim catered to, he remained carefree, even after his father died a few years back. Having always shown a natural talent for music and song, he eventually enrolled in the White Grotto, and moved into an expensive townhouse, above a music store, just off campus in the Ivy District. A hit with fan and the ladies alike, he has reveled through his first term at the Grotto, and celebrated his graduation with an epic bender, of which many great songs will be sung. Tomorrow: The curtain rises as the sun sets, and our players find themselves introduced under curious and deadly circumstances. Stay tuned!
GM's Initial Campaign Notes: Finally, after quite a considerable length of time, have finally managed to pull together a group to run a full Pathfinder campaign. I have been itching to do this since Paizo first started putting out campaign info about Golarion. I'm rather smitten with the setting, and the high quality of design and flavor in this wonderful world. In particular, I have wanted to run a campaign based out of Absalom since I first picked up the Guide to Absalom. Every single paragraph seems to suggest an adventure hook, and I have longed to put it to good use. This, paired with the Inner Sea World Guide, are the basis for the campaign. I'm quite liberal about stealing encounters and stat blocks from other places, as you'll see, but the campaign is purely driven by the characters, and their interactions with the world and the hooks provided. I'm also looking at this as an opportunity, over the course of the campaign, to clear out some of the massive stacks of 3.5 adventure materials I've purchased over the years but never used, depending on where the campaign wanders. Some of the basic mechanical decisions for the campaign -- The players have their choice of either "(4d6, drop lowest) x 6, arrange as desired" or Epic Point Build. All PFSRD standard is acceptable, and anything published by Paizo is default acceptable (provided GM has access to the material, not a problem so far). No third party stuff allowed. The GM reserves the right to impose House Rules, but none are in effect at this time. No non-standard races. No alignment restrictions were imposed, but no one chose an explicitly evil alignment, so that never became an issue. The campaign will be played without the use of minis or battlemats. Players, and more specifically characters are responsible for their own mapping, and mapping ceases the moment combat or other actiony/tense situation occurs, or the characters simply fail to posses quill, ink and parchment (that's right kids, we're doing this old school). Finally, the campaign is using the slow XP track, to really take our time and soak up the atmosphere.
Aye, there's the rub. If Heathy did that in public, he'd just go to jail for indecent exposure.
Apparently the MD who implanted this woman is considered super-skeevy by other AI doctors, because he has no ethical problems helping women turn their uteruses into clown cars.
Howdy gang! I'm... mostly okay. I've been through complete and total hell over the last eight months or so, plus being super super busy with work. The hellish stuff has mostly calmed down, and should be gone completely soon. I felt it was time to start poking my head back in here, and Heathy's Clown Car Uterus Lady thread seemed as good a place as any. It's good to be back, and good to see everyone's pixels.
Lady, your uterus is NOT a frakking clown car! Also, eff you for making me agree with Bill O'Reilly. That's still leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Also also, eff Bill O'Reilly
The UPS guy just came by, and the package is now on its way back to you, Cosmo. Thanks.
Hey, So over the weekend, I placed an order for a Gazetter, but then I remembered I already own one. Can somebody help me change that order into a pre-order for Gods and Magic? Or cancel it and I'll place a new order? Thanks.
I can't find it! I've searched the Applications for "D&D", "Dungeons", "Dragon" "Tiny" "Tiny "Adventures", everything I could think of. "D&D", and any combination of those words above beyond just a single word returns NO RESULTS. Everything else returns a bunch of stuff, that never includes this app. WHERE DO I FIND IT???
There's my post.....
It is with deep, deep regret that I need to cancel my Pathfinder subscription. I just have too many financial pressures right now. I'll continue to purchase Pathfinder and other Paizo products as I can. You still have my loyalty. I just cannot afford the regular costs right now.
Heath's Joker is hands down the most sublime thing I've ever seen put on film. It was not in any way an impersonation, which is what almost every superhero (or villain) performance is. He made the Joker a real person. And while his Joker was appropriate a disturbed and broken person, every time he spoke, he made it very easy to understand why he was the way he was, even as he lied with every breath when he would explain how he got that way. Heath easily conveyed that everything holding you back, annoying you, depressing you, and defeating you was fear of things that exist only in your head, and that all you need to do to liberate yourself is to just.... let it go. Give up. Surrender. Let those things you fear happen. The worst that can happen is that you suffer terribly and die.... Why so serious?
I work freelance in Los Angeles, in a job that pretty much always involves carting equipment and such around. It is next to impossible for me to give up driving. This has made my life more expensive than it already was.
Not at all like McCain and W, after their primary competition. Primary races are primary races.
Hi GentleGiant! ...which is probably about as close as you can get to a true democracy. Nobody wants a true democracy. I promise. Couldn't work with a group of 200 to 300 million people anyway.
Not only is it incorrect that "National Healthcare" is failing all over the world, wherever it's being used, more importantly, nobody is suggesting that the US adopt national healthcare. And while you may not like National Healthcare, you should note that the only people getting screwed over by the US health system are the sick and injured. You know the only people who ever actually need medical care.
As a note, this statement basically says to me that you are allowed to dismiss our concerns out-of-hand (basically implying that we are not entitled to our opinion) but we are not allowed to dismiss your position in the same way? It seems fairly difficult for us to have a conversation given those rules. I've found this to be rampant, though not Universal, among 4E supporters.
No, they really can't, at least not fairly. They're by law not allowed to take anything that's closed content into consideration.Something else to consider: Complete Warrior is CLOSED CONTENT. Paizo can't reference it, so holding them responsible for imbalances in it is the height of unfairness.They are making their rules backwards-compatible with the old rules. They can't reprint things that aren't OGL, but can be held responsible for how their rules interact with the old ones. I'm quite sure your understanding of what Jason means by "backward compatible" is wrong. I sincerely doubt Jason's intention was to make things compatible with the 3.5 splatbooks. I think he only means to make PFRPG compatible with the base OGL. This is not to mention that Jason has stated that backward compatibility is not the only, or even the primary design concern. In fact, I thought it was pretty clear that the game would backward compatible only where possible.
Thank you, Cosmo. I hope I was not too sucktastic to you guys. I do love you all very much.
Trudat.
Mail has come and gone for today. Still no PF#8. Also, very surprisingly considering the normal prompt responses around here, there has been no official reply to my post? What's up with that, guys?
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