There's those that say all life began in the sea, and perhaps it is so. The oldest things of life still dwell in the deeps, and even among those of us born and bred on land, there's some that feel drawn to the endless waters. What that call is, none can say, especially those that feel it; the sea keeps her secrets, safe beneath fathom after fathom of rolling waves. There is a darkness in the heart of the sea, and perhaps that is what calls out to those she claims - for all that sailors call the sea a woman, the truth is that darkness lies in all of us, man and woman alike, and some few who stare into those uncaring depths go mad from it. The sea, of course, is unconcerned. She is simply content to know she has claimed one more of her own.
For some, however, the sea is not willing to passively call out to them. Instead, seeing something special in these poor bastards, she stretches out her hand to seize those she has claimed...
Okay! We have four players, and hence, a quorum to do business! First order of said business: introduce yourselves, and work out what your party makeup should be.
For the purposes of helping out with the character creation questions, I'll go ahead and lay down the ground rules I want to use:
* 20 point buy
* Core rulebook races only by default - if you have a really compelling idea for something else, though, ask and we can discuss it. Water-themed races would be the most likely ones to pass muster.
* Any base class you want from Paizo, and other 3PP products might also be available as well. (I hardly need an excuse to buy more 3PP PDFs, after all, especially if it's Rite Publishing or Super Genius.)
* No psionics, this time, but I'm down with - might even go so far as to say rather hoping for - firearms. It's pirates, dammit!
* Two Traits, one of which should be a Campaign Trait from the S&S Player's Guide; the other can be from any Paizo source.
So have a swig of this here rum, and let's spin a pirate yarn together!
It is spring of the year 1137 of the Imperial Calendar, the ninth year of the reign of Toturi I, Lord of the Seven Hills and Master of the Chrysanthemum. A fresh spring breeze carries the scent of cherry blossoms to you from a nearby orchard. To the south, just visible on the horizon, is the splendid tower of Shiro Sano Kakita, the ancient seat of the Kakita family. Ahead of you is the village of Tsuma, a modest-sized city located next to a minor river, and home to one of the major dojos for the Kakita Dueling Academy. Here, the best and brightest young samurai of their generation have competed for the title of Topaz Champion, to bring glory and honor to their Clan. This is the first year the test has been held in over a decade, and though fate denied you the opportunity to take part, you have been sent by your Clan to assist those who can.
Tsuma is a modest city of about 1,200 people – essentially a very large village. Located in the peaceful Crane lands, it has neither walls nor a military garrison. There are no formal embassies maintained by other clans, since most only have business within the city once per year. The largest structure in the village is the Kakita Dueling Academy, a sizable compound of buildings and gardens, linked under a shared roof and protected by a high stone wall… the only fortification in Tsuma.
Each of you arrives in Tsuma by land, as do most of the other attendees – the road is crowded with samurai, both mounted and on foot, as well as noblewomen in palanquins. Crane magistrates patrol the roads carefully, and you are stopped at least once to show your travel papers.
The vast majority of samurai in Rokugan regard the Topaz Championship as the most prestigious gempukku ceremony in the Empire. The ceremony is open to any who wish to attend, but the Great Clans tend to be very selective in determining who represents them at the Championship. To permit just anyone to enter the contest would risk embarrassment, and no Great Clan would risk such a thing in front of their Crane hosts. Minor Clan samurai and ronin candidates require a Great Clan sponsor to be admitted to the competition. The Topaz Championship has been held in the Kakita town of Tsuma for centuries, at one of the largest dojo for the Kakita Dueling Academy. This year will be the first Topaz Championship since 1126, due to the Crab Clan’s invasion of the Crane lands leading up to the Clan War. The Crane have not been in a position to host the event since, though saying that outright would be a breach of etiquette. While in years past, the contest has drawn dozens of prospective samurai, this year there are only nine contenders: one from each of the Great Clans, and a lone ronin who has managed to arrange a sponsor from the Imperial Legion.
Rather than contenders, with the exception of Takagi you are present as guides, guards, assistants, or sensei for your Clan’s aspirants. You have passed your own gempukku already and are ineligible to take part yourselves, but are here to serve your Clan’s interests as ordered by your individual lords.
The contenders are young samurai who have not yet passed their gempukku; as such, they are not full adults, though they have been trusted with their swords for the competition. They will be expected to listen to advice from their betters (including each of you), and to do their utmost to bring honor to their Clan. You are free to decide for yourselves how much or little assistance you wish to provide their young charges. However, samurai from all across the Empire are present to witness the tournament, and they will be judging the participants based off their actions. These actions, ultimately, will also reflect upon their instructors.
Okay, so here's the discussion thread for the game. We can use it to talk about game rules when we have questions, discuss character advancement, etc. I don't know how much we will be using this, but it's always nice to have it.
Campaign thread will be going up momentarily - everybody check in here and post there as soon as you can!
Awhile back, I ran a PbP of the Topaz Championship for Heroes of Rokugan 2, and it went fairly well. I've been thinking I might want to give an L5R PbP another try, especially since I'm actually one of the campaign admins for HoR3. With that thought in mind, I'd like to see if I could scrape together enough interest to kick off the HoR3 campaign with "New Beginnings," the first adventure for HoR3.
I'd be looking for 4-6 players; they can be new to the game or old hands, since New Beginnings is partially designed to help teach players the game. Access to the core rulebook would be extremely helpful, however. Character creation will follow the guidelines available at the Heroes of Rokugan website; if you are interested in a Restricted character option, we can discuss it.
The basic setting information is this: it is the year 1137 of the Imperial Calendar, four years after the Battle of Oblivion's Gate and the end of the War Against the Shadow. Rokugan rebuilds under the guidance of Emperor Toturi I, but the returned spirits that now comprise nearly 1 in 10 samurai in the Empire have brought with them new difficulties and new challenges for a society that does not deal well with change.
I'm playing around with a build for an oread monk who picks up Shaitan Style. Oreads have resist acid 5 innately, and Shaitan Skin would grant the character resist acid [monk level]. Would they stack? The resistance rules that I have so far found in the PRD only talk about energy resistance specifically from spells - "This resistance does not stack with the resistance that a spell might provide" - but otherwise appears silent on the topic of stacking. By calling out that resistance from spells doesn't stack, the text implies it would stack otherwise, but that's inference, not an explicit rule.
We're level 2, in this campaign. The pace is slow, but fairly steady, and we've got a good core of players. Unfortunately, we lost our healer along the way, and my oracle of battle really isn't up to the challenge of being a primary hit point battery! Can anyone give us a hand?
1) If you lose the cantrips ability, as the spellslinger does, are you still considered to have those cantrips on your class spell list? For instance, could you use a wand with a cantrip on it without using Use Magic Device?
2) The mage bullets ability lacks much of the verbiage that other, similar abilities (like the magus' arcana pool and the paladin's dive bond) have, and I am wondering if this is intentional. One of the most obvious is that it does not specify that the enhancement stacks with enchantments already on the gun, so I'm not sure what would happen to a +2 reliable musket whose owner converts a 4th level spell into an enhancement for it. Could I make it a +4 reliable flaming burst musket or am I stuck with a plain-ol' +4 musket? Also, it doesn't place the +10 cap on total of abilities + enhancement bonus, and it doesn't seem to require that a nonmagical gun be given a +1 bonus before any other enhancements can be made. What is the intention here?
The Red Redoubt of Karamoss once stood on a ridgeline some two miles north of Absalom, overlooking the city. The tales say that it was a tall, sweeping red-grey structure, like an arrowhead balanced on two graceful pylons, altogether nearly a thousand feet high. It was apparently raised in one night, an astonishing feat by anyone’s standards; even so, what was built in a night was brought down in mere seconds, when the forces of the city, led by the druid circles of Absalom, finally counterattacked and destroyed Karamoss’ mighty stronghold. The vast fortress tumbled and fell down the ridge, sending dust and chunks of metal across many square miles and high into the air. The scavengers of the city’s underworld feasted on the debris for months, and word slowly spread across Avistan and Garund about the many strange and wonderful treasures that has once hidden within the mighty Red Redoubt.
That was many centuries ago, however, and time and human greed together have wiped most of the traces of the Red Redoubt’s fallen glory away. All that remains are the bases of the two columns that once held it up, a pair of D-shaped ruins facing each other along the ridgeline. Each one is several hundred feet across, and hundreds of yards of empty ground separate them. To the east, the ruins are surrounded by the remains of the Redoubt, an unbroken red-grey wall that reaches forty feet into the air or more. A single entrance – what was clearly once a door – is visible, at the back of a deep recess in the straight section of the wall, some one hundred feet wide and roughly that deep. The remains of the walls curve inward toward their top, suggesting that the recess was once covered over, and what look like massive doors that would have sealed the entire recess are visible, just peeking out from within a small gap along each side.
The same recess appears in the other set of ruins, but the westward section was clearly the more damaged one; the walls are gone in many places all the way to the ground, and no section is more than twenty feet high. Through those gaps you can see an eerie, unearthly terrain, the ground covered in pipes, tubing, collections of metal wires bound together in rubbery casings, shattered crystals whose shards still glitter in the early morning sunlight, and more, so packed together that crossing it would be a matter more of crawling or climbing than walking. In the distance, more walls contain an inner set of ruins, whose contents are entirely invisible from your current vantage.
This is the view that confronts you as you approach the Red Redoubt on the small path that cuts up the ridge from the City at the Center of the World. Each of you has, for your own reasons, agreed to explore the Red Redoubt at the behest of the Pathfinder Society’s Venture-Captain Shevala. The meeting with Shevala, in an inn near the Pathfinder’s Grand Lodge called the Twisted Ladder, was an odd one:
Shevala Iorae was an attractive Varisian woman with a no-nonsense demeanor, but her eyes glittered with an unusual intensity as she spoke to you all. “It is a simple mission. The Society frequently uses the Redoubt as a training area for new recruits, but we do not wish to put anyone in danger. My usual agents are otherwise engaged, and I need the area swept for new dangers and cleared before our next training period can begin. The reward for this task is 900 gold eagles, divided amongst yourselves as you see fit. Also, the Society pays close attention to the, ah, ‘outside contractors’ who perform exceptionally well. Perform this task as I require, and additional contracts may well be in your future, whether you choose to join the Society or not.”
Leaning forward, the Venture-Captain placed a sheaf of papers and a small leather satchel on the table as well. From the satchel she withdrew a stack of what seemed like compasses, although some of you recognized them instantly as wayfinders. In each wayfinder, in the slot where an ioun stone should go, an unusual crystal had instead been inserted; at your incredulous looks, however, Shevala shook her head. “It is not an ioun stone,” she said firmly. “The Society is testing the creation of other stones that might also work with wayfinders, and these crystals are part of those tests. Your assignment includes carrying these wayfinders for the duration of your explorations and recording any changes or unusual behaviors you notice in either the crystal or the wayfinder itself as you use them. Ideally, there should be none; but research is not about the ideal.” Gesturing to the papers, she concluded, ”The details of your assignment are there. Do you have any questions?”
If you do, please ask them in the discussion thread. Also, Garrick, Mala and Sylvalia, give me a Sense Motive check, if you would.
Now you stand before the Red Redoubt, its secrets awaiting your discovery…
Okay, since we’ve already got characters being made, it’s time to get the ground rules laid out here. I hope to get the game thread going before Thursday, but this should get us moving in the right direction even so.
Character creation will be as follows: any of the races, classes, archetypes and feats from the PF RPG core, APG, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, Psionics Unleashed or most any other Paizo PF RPG source (‘cause I have just about all of them) are allowed. We will use 20 points for ability score purchase, and you get average starting gold for your class. You must choose one of the following Campaign Traits, and can pick one other from any Paizo PF RPG source (as long as its not another campaign trait):
Alkenstar Adept
You were either raised in the Mana Wastes of Alkenstar or visited there enough to become familiar with the place, but either way you see the technological advances of Alkenstar as the way forward for the Inner Sea Region. The Red Redoubt offers an opportunity to pursue that potential even further. Your familiarity with the firearms of Alkenstar has already made you a talented shootist. Choose a single Deed that you know. Once per day, you may reduce the Grit cost of that Deed by 1 (to a minimum of zero). If this reduces the Grit cost to zero, you must actually have a Grit point available to you to perform the Deed.
Budding Mentalist
You have discovered the latent potential of your own mind, but have yet to fully tap that power. The mysterious forces within the Red Redoubt might provide some means for you to further explore and advance that understanding – it is said that creatures from beyond the stars often have bizarre mental powers. You gain a reserve of one power point and are considered a psionic character. However, unless you have a psi-like ability, levels in a manifesting class or power points from some other source (such as the Wild Talent feat), your control over this ability is weak – you may only gain psionic focus once per day. If you do have a power point reserve already, this trait instead increases that reserve by 1.
Child of Lightning
Nothing has ever felt as right to you as being outside during a thunderstorm. For as long as you can remember, you have felt a kinship with the lightning; the tingle across your skin in the presence of electrical energy is what life itself feels like to you. The Red Redoubt calls to you like a beacon, for it is said that Karamoss channeled that force into his creations, both in combination with and somehow beyond pure magic, and you wonder if you might somehow gain that same affinity yourself. Whenever you cast a spell or manifest a power that deals electricity damage, you gain a +1trait bonus to the amount of electricity damage dealt.
Numerian Savant
The “machine mage” Karamoss gained his unusual abilities by studying the mysterious Silver Mount in Numeria, a mile-high metal mound that is all that remains from what might have once been a vessel from the stars. You have long studied the mysteries of Numeria – its strange metallic inhabitants and inscrutable implements of war among them – and you now turn your investigations toward the Red Redoubt, in search of new answers or greater secrets. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (engineering) and Knowledge (psionics) checks related to Numerian superscience (including both robots and technological devices), and you begin play with a etheric reservoir, a power source for many of the technologies derived from Numerian sources.
Etheric Reservoir:
Slot -; Price 100 gp; Weight –
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DESCRIPTION
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This small crystalline sphere, about half an inch across, is wrapped and inlaid with fine metal wiring. Two prongs extend out from each end.
When inserted into a piece of Numerian technology that requires a charge (and many do), the etheric reservoir powers the device for ten days. Once inserted, an etheric reservoir cannot be removed. Inserting an etheric reservoir is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
---------------
CONSTRUCTION
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Requirements Craft Tech, creator must have 3 ranks in the Knowledge (engineering) skill; Cost 50 gp
Robot Hunter*
The secrets of tombs around the world are guarded by deathless entities of steel, stone or crystal, and you have worked hard to learn ways to deal with them. In particular, the technological secrets of Numerian science are guarded by the mysterious Gearmen who serve the Technic League, and those secrets are the ones that call strongest to you. The Red Redoubt represents a chance to explore those secrets without Technic League interference, but you are nonetheless ready for whatever might stand in your way. You gain a +1 trait bonus on weapon damage rolls against constructs; this increases to +2 against constructs with the robot subtype.
Shroud of Silence
You once had an encounter with a device or weapon left over from Karamoss’ attack on Absalom. The device exploded when you were examining it, but rather than hurting you, a strange, quiet hum “wrapped” around you, a hum that is still with you now. Oddly, though, the hum seems to absorb other sounds, and you have come to the Red Redoubt to either cure yourself of this affliction – or find a way to enhance it. You gain a +1 trait bonus to Stealth checks, and have resist sonic 2 (which stacks with other forms of sonic resistance).
Student of Shevala
You are a member of the Pathfinder Society, and in particular a protégé of Venture-Captain Shevala, the explorer who most recently mapped the upper levels of the Red Redoubt. Access to her reports and personal tales gives you a unique insight into the dangers and possibilities of the Red Redoubt. You gain a +2 trait bonus to all Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Knowledge (engineering) checks made within the Red Redoubt, and one of these skills (your choice) is a class skill for you.
In addition to the above, the following three feats will be available during the campaign:
CRAFT TECH (ITEM CREATION)
You have learned the art of disassembling and duplicating Numerian superscience technologies.
Prerequisites: Craft (metalworking) 3 ranks, Knowledge (engineering) 3 ranks
Benefit: You can create technological items using the principles behind Numerian superscience. Creating a technological item takes 1 day for every 1,000 gp in its base price. To create a technological item, you must use up raw materials equal to half this base price, and you must have studied a technological item like the one you intend to create.
You may also mend a broken technological item, regardless of whether you have studied one like it before. Such repairs constitute adequate study for the purposes of creating an item like it.
Special: You must have been exposed to research materials or large numbers of technological items with an opportunity to study them in order to take this feat.
CRAFT TECHNOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND ARMOR (ITEM CREATION)
You have mastered the art of duplicating the unique implements of war you have found that derive from Numerian superscience.
Prerequisites: Craft Tech, Craft (metalworking) 5 ranks, Knowledge (engineering) 5 ranks
Benefit:Benefit: You can create technological weapons and armors using the principles behind Numerian superscience. Creating a technological weapon or armor takes 1 day for every 1,000 gp in its base price. To create a technological weapon or armor, you must use up raw materials equal to half this base price, and you must have studied a technological weapon or armor like the one you intend to create.
You may also mend a broken technological weapon or armor, regardless of whether you have studied one like it before. Such repairs constitute adequate study for the purposes of creating a weapon or armor like it.
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATOR
You have mastered the concepts behind Numerian superscience, allowing you to create your own blueprints for technological items, weapons or armor without needed to copy the design from elsewhere.
Prerequisites: Craft Tech, Craft Technological Weapons and Armor, Craft (metalworking) 11 ranks, Knowledge (engineering) 11 ranks
Benefit: You can create any technological item, weapon or armor in the campaign, without the need to duplicate an already-existing item.
Normal: You need to have studied an item, weapon or armor like the one you are creating before you can craft it.
Finally, I should note that the presence of psionics in the campaign will have some other effects, most notably the addition of the Autohypnosis and Knowledge (psionics) skills. I am sorely tempted to go all-in and remove the magic/psionics transparency to really drive home the differences between the two, but I am not sure they’re worth messing with. If anyone has an opinion on that matter, I would like to hear it. I will point out, however, that Psionics Unleashed does have a few non-psionics-oriented feats that might be worth looking at (Open-Minded is kinda cool, for instance) so I encourage everyone to go take a look. Again, for reference, those rules can be found at this link.
So let’s see those concepts and get ready to do this thing!
*I so very much wanted to call this one “Blade Runner.”
...and I'm not sure what I should be doing with them.
They're all higher level than the PCs, at least to begin with. They've all got levels in PC classes, even. All of them but one are or have been in the past "adventurers," with all the combat capability and aptitude for derring-do that implies.
So how should I fit them into the game around my PCs?
In particular, I'm curious about things like exploration/combat CR, XP awards, and so on. Will the encounters in JR assume one or more of the NPCs will be fighting alongside the PCs? If they do, how should XP awards change, if at all? Should I plan to modify the encounters on the fly based on their presence or absence? Will the AP include indications when/how they level, or will they level at all? I assume at some point the AP will come right out and say, "PCs who take Leadership should consider taking [NPC Whoever] as a cohort!" which would resolve at least some of the issues... but also assumes the players are interested in taking Leadership, which I am loathe to guarantee.
So far, the Swallowtail Festival in the small town of Sandpoint has been a dazzling experience. Beginning midmorning with speeches from the town's mayor, Kendra Deverin, the sheriff, Belor Hemlock, and local luminaries Cyrdak Drokkus and Father Zantus (the owner of the local theater and the town's priest of Desna, respectively), the festival has been filled with singing, entertainment, dancing, games and more, overwhelming you with sounds, colors, and the sense of sustained enjoyment from a whole town coming together. The butterfly release at noon, in which swallowtail butterflies sacred to Desna were released into the air in a swirling, fluttering mass of color, was matched by the bewildering array of free dishes brought forth by the town's five taverns for lunch. The spicy smells of the Rusty Dragon's curried salmon drew the lion's share of the crowd, but the Hagfish's clam chowder, the White Deer's tuna and pasta and even the thick beef stew from the Fatman's Feedbag all earned their portion of acclaim as well.
Now, however, the day is drawing to its close, when Father Zantus is scheduled to formally dedicate the town's new cathedral, a beautiful stone and glass structure containing shrines to the six most popular deities in the region: Abadar, Desna, Erastil, Gozreh, Sarenrae and Shelyn. Buily over the ruins of the town's previous temple, destroyed in a fire five years before, the cathedral is a shining testament to the will of Sandpoint's people to overcome adversity, and the town has waited five years for this moment.
Each of you makes your way through the crowd that now gathers before the cathedral, waiting for Father Zantus to begin the dedication ceremony.
Okay guys, welcome to the game! I'm going to go ahead and start the game thread in a few minutes - post as soon as you like. I think there are still a few last-minute mechanical tweaks to make, and if anyone wishes to tie backgrounds together or the like (as was suggested for Lamsfel and Tybus, for instance), go ahead and do that as well - we can get things moving as the last details come together. I'm really looking forward to this!
I've decided that I want to run Jade Regent as a PbP when it comes out. This thread is to find four players (I already have a fifth) to get in on the story. We'll be starting soon - probably on Monday - with a prologue to get the game going; it won't be We Be Goblins, sadly, as much as I love that adventure, but will feature your own characters.
Character creation will be as follows:
* 20 pt buy
* Standard core rules races
* Any classes/archetypes from core, APG and UM (3PP material potentially allowed - I don't have a lot of it, though, so it's by approval only)
* Feats and spells from any Paizo-produced Pathfinder RPG source (with stuff from the 3.5 Pathfinder era potentially allowed - I'm mostly thinking of the spells from Gods and Magic that haven't been converted yet)
* One non-campaign Trait
Once the prologue is over, I will allow a character rebuild to bring in Ultimate Combat and Jade Regent Player's Guide material (including campaign traits).
In terms of PbP itself, my posting standards will be the same as most of the others around here: post at least once a day if at all possible (and more is better if you can) and let me know if you are going to be gone for a length of time. If we are in combat and you have not posted in 24 hours, I will act for you to keep the game moving. In order to keep combats flowing, I only plan to be overly concerned about initiative in terms of who goes before the bad guys on the first round of combat; afterward, the round will basically break on the bad guys' action, so all the PCs act, then the monsters go, then the PCs again, and so on.
I'll be taking submissions through Monday, July 18, at noon CDT. I'd prefer characters designed to work together for a full party, and every character must have some reason to be in Sandpoint.
I'm thinking that the Black Sisters need to be witches. And in a coven. With an actual hag.
So here's my thinking: the encounter as written is two CR 9 opponents, for a total CR of 11. But three CR 8 opponents would have the same CR, yes? So I'm thinking about rewriting them as two 9th level witches and a 6th level green hag cleric of Gyronna. I'm looking for build suggestions I can use for the two witches and the hag, though, to make sure they are still worthy of their CR. (I'm particularly thinking that the hag might wind up underpowered.) Anyone got any ideas?
So, let's say I'm a magus and I want to use my arcane pool to enhance a double weapon, like, say... a quarterstaff. How exactly does that work? The ability description doesn't call out double weapons as an exception to the general "spend a point, get an enhancement bonus" rules, but double weapons...
goes off to read the PRD to make sure he didn't miss anything
Uh... waitasecond.
Did the whole "double weapons cost double" thing get dropped from the Pathfinder RPG entirely? 'Cause the table it was on in the 3.5 SRD doesn't exist in the PRD...
Okay, so still: do I get a full +1/+1 enhancement for my quarterstaff for one arcane pool point? And while I'm at it, how much does a +1 quarterstaff cost these days anyway?
Inasmuch as there is an "overarching plot" of Season Two (even though it began at the end of Season One), it's the Shadow Lodge plotline, and I'd like to make sure my home group gets to play through that story. Can anybody provide me with a (spoiler-free) list of the scenarios that touch directly on the Shadow Lodge conflict?
I have two copies of AEG's "Emerald Empire" awaiting shipment in my sidecart. I was hoping they would reach your warehouse before my monthly subscription shipment, but it looks as though they might have just missed the deadline this month. For a variety of reasons, I really don't want to wait until mid-late May to get them. If they are in stock now, as appears to be the case, I would like them shipped immediately. If they can be added to the pending subscription shipment, that would be great, but if not, I will happily pay the separate shipment cost to get them ASAP.
I was wondering - has anyone given any thought to the mechanics (in a narrative sense, rather than a rules sense) of having the party gather at the precise place and time of the funeral, from potential starting locations across Avistan? While the story assumes that the PCs all show up at precisely the right moment, I usually begin my campaigns with a short series of individual scenes that bring each PC into the storyline. Looking at the obstacles - getting a message to the PC wherever they might be, getting that PC to Ravengro within the alloted timeframe - I find myself wondering what steps Lorrimor or his agents might have had to take to make the opening scene begin as written.
I know that Dragon Age: Origins - Awakenings has me in a particular frame of mind just now, but I can't help feeling a little bit of deja vu when I consider the sidequest setup in at least this first part of the AP. Not that this is a bad thing, of course! But seriously, if my PCs were having to pick their spells and feat uses off of a radial wheel, it seems like it would just fit right in this time (and I would wonder if Paizo got bought by EA when I wasn't looking!).
I've got a couple of spots open in my Pathfinder PbP here on the boards - the characters are all members of the Pathfinder Society, and are searching out the secrets of lost temples and crumbling ruins in Varisia (and eventually elsewhere!). Currently the group has a swashbuckler, a bard, a druid (with a tyrannosaur companion) and - hopefully - a rogue. The group is short on healing and a dedicated arcanist, but any good character concepts are welcome.
Character creation guidelines:
* 20 pt buy.
* Available races are limited to the Pathfinder Core, though a good concept might persuade me to allow a 0-HD, CR +0 race from the Bestiary - maybe.
* Available classes include the 11 from the Pathfinder Core, the priest and the swashbuckler from Adamant's Tome of Secrets, and the six playtest classes from the Advanced Player's Guide beta. I have a few other resources available, including some of the Seper Genius classes, so if there's something you really want to play, we can discuss it.
* Average starting gold for a 1st level member of your class.
* Two traits, one of which should be from the Campaign list found here.
Please be able to post regularly, and please be willing to commit seriously to the game!
So the teamwork feats all want you to be either adjacent to an ally who has the feat or threatening the same target with an all who has the feat. As a standard action, cavaliers can give their allies teamwork feats to make such things easier. Yay! Awesome! I love it.
Except.
The Order of the Cockatrice doesn't like helping its allies. It generally would prefer not to be adjacent to its allies, and is mechanically disadvantaged when threatening the same target as one of its allies.
So why exactly would an Order of the Cocktrice cavalier ever want either a teamwork feat or the tactician class ability?
(Sidebar: Duck and Cover is, admittedly, somewhat up their alley, since it doesn't actually help the ally at all and doesn't require either character to be anywhere near an opponent. But it's a pain in the @$$ to use with tactician since it's reactive, and so doesn't really help much. Also, it's only one feat.)
The harsh winds have blown across the Southern desert for the entire week you have been traveling across them, the relative safety and comfort of Gem now but a distant memory. You have traveled in the cool of the mornings and evenings, resting beneath white canvas shelters during the worst of the midday heat, but the man who has hired you, a Guild mercenary named Garavel, claims you are at long last approaching your destination.
Garavel is a man of middle years, a sharp hawk nose in a sun-worn, leathery face framed by salt-and-pepper hair and goatee. Though no longer in his prime, he carries himself like a trained warrior, and he has suffered little on the journey, despite the heat and scalding wind. Around his neck he wear a curious jade torc, one that he never removes, but he will not speak of it to anyone. Garavel is a cold and humorless man, seeming intent solely on getting his cargo – that is, you – to his mistress, the Guild factor Almah Roveshki.
Other than Garavel and a pair of pack mules, you are the only members of this “caravan,” and you have wondered whether such a small group was asking for trouble from the raiders – Dune People and hyena beastmen – rumored to travel the area, but so far, your journey has been quiet, with only the Sun’s piercing gaze to threaten you.
Unfettered Silhouette:
Three of your gang members are already “undercover,” having been hired as mercenaries with Almah about three days before you left Gem. They are presumably with Almah now, wherever it is Garavel is taking you. The rest of the gang is following about half a day behind, and they have had trouble with raiders, hyena beastmen attacking at night. Your group was able to drive them off with only minor injuries, however. That might be why your trip has been so quiet.
Auric:
You happen to know that three members of the Company of Talik are already in place with Almah – you are the final member of the group being brought in to serve her plans, whatever they might be. As far as you know, they will be under your command, if such a thing should come up.
Yes, that's right, I'm going to run Legacy of Fire in the Exalted setting and system. I already have three players, but would like two or three more. Familiarity with the Exalted rules is a definite bonus, and access to at least the core rules is a must.
If you've got what it takes to show the Unconquered Sun you deserve to be among his Chosen, let me know here!
To begin with, I'd like the PCs to all be heroic mortals. We'll be following the heroic mortal character creation given in the Exalted core, with the following exceptions:
* PCs begin with three (3) Favored Abilities. They can have no non-Favored Abilities rated higher than the highest-rated of these three Abilities, and they must have at least 2 dots in each.
* You may, if you wish, begin play with an Awakened Essence. This costs 7 bonus points, and gives you an Essence pool equal to (Permanent Essence) x 10. The first (Permanent Essence) x 3 motes of this pool may be accessed normally; Essence beyond that requires the expenditure of a Willpower point. Having Awakened Essence means you may attune Artifacts and Hearthstones.
* Essence cannot be raised higher than 1 at character creation, however.
* In addition to the standard allotment of Background points, I plan to award two (2) additional Background dots based on your PC's reason for being part of the story. The relevant information is this:
The Guild has decided to reopen a lapsed trade route between Gem and the Lap, the key component of which was a large town called Kelmarane, at the base of the Pale Mountains between the two cities. The city suffered some ill-defined calamity roughly 20 years ago, and rumors claim that it has been overrun by bandits, slavers and hyena-like beastmen in the meantime. The Guild, in the person of their representative Almah Roveshki, have decided to reclaim Kelmarane, which means clearing it out and reestablishing the basics of civilization there.
So the question that needs answering is: why have you joined with Almah's group on this quest? Some possibilities include a connection to Kelmarane of some kind, a link with Almah, a history with the hyena-men, or something else entirely. Give me a good story and get 2 background dots!
* Finally, I have a fairly large library of Exalted books, though I haven't picked up many in the last year or so, so most of Second Edition is on the table; just ask if there's something you want.
So we've finally seen a post-spiked-chain-nerf reach/non-reach weapon, and it's pretty clear that the design team really thinks that simultaneous access to both adjacent and non-adjacent squares is a problem for weapon design. The urumi - currently unmodified by PFRPG sources - is clearly superior to the dorn-dergar in just about every way possible. So should we expect to see an urumi nerf in the coming books? What about other weapons with similar abilities? Where are we headed here?
So I was all excited about the idea of an Inquisitor of Sarenrae, driven to destroy the minions of Zon-Kuthon in a classic war of light versus darkness.
And then I realized that the Sun domain doesn't do a darn thing for inquisitors until level 8.
Given the iconic image of "bringing light into the darkness" that an inquisitor seems to be working with, could we perhaps see some kind of special exception or rules made for Sun inquisitors?
It begins with a letter:
“Mr. Nomura,
You don’t know me, but I need your help. I’ve been looking for those with ‘special’ family backgrounds to join me in a task of vital importance – I trust you understand what I mean by that. I realize you have obligations in Los Angeles, but I believe that resolving this matter will take only a few days. If you can see your way to lending a hand, the enclosed plane ticket should cover your travel needs.
I would not ask if I had any other options. Please, Mr. Nomura. For the sake of my people and the lives of literally millions, please come.
- Andrea Morningfeather”
There is no return address, but the envelope carries a Phoenix, Arizona, postmark. In addition to the single folded page of printer paper containing the letter, the envelope has a plane ticket from L.A. to Phoenix for a flight in two days’ time.
Ima:
Spoiler:
It begins with a letter:
“Ms. Jensen,
You don’t know me, but I need your help. I’ve been looking for those with ‘special’ family backgrounds to join me in a task of vital importance – I trust you understand what I mean by that. I would like to hire you for a case that is slightly outside your usual purview; I hope to prevent the need for vengeance, but there is also an ancient wrong to be righted. If all goes well, resolving the matter should only take a few days, and I can pay your usual fees. If you can see your way to lending a hand, the enclosed plane ticket should cover your travel needs.
I would not ask if I had any other options. Please, Ms. Jensen. For the sake of my people and the lives of literally millions, please come.
- Andrea Morningfeather”
There is no return address, but the envelope carries a Phoenix, Arizona, postmark. In addition to the single folded page of printer paper containing the letter, the envelope has a plane ticket from San Francisco to Phoenix for a flight in two days’ time.
Trent:
Spoiler:
It begins with a letter:
“Mr. Herman,
You don’t know me, but I need your help. I’ve been looking for those with ‘special’ family backgrounds to join me in a task of vital importance – I trust you understand what I mean by that. If my efforts are to succeed, I will need to have the support of someone I can trust to help track down several key pieces of information; if that person also understands the full scope of how the World truly works, so much the better. I realize you have obligations in Berkeley, but I believe that resolving this matter will take only a few days. If you can see your way to lending a hand, the enclosed plane ticket should cover your travel needs.
I would not ask if I had any other options. Please, Mr. Herman. For the sake of my people and the lives of literally millions, please come.
- Andrea Morningfeather”
There is no return address, but the envelope carries a Phoenix, Arizona, postmark. In addition to the single folded page of printer paper containing the letter, the envelope has a plane ticket from Oakland to Phoenix for a flight in two days’ time.
Xochipilli:
Spoiler:
It begins with a letter:
“Mr. Tocal,
You don’t know me, but I need your help. I’ve been looking for those with ‘special’ family backgrounds to join me in a task of vital importance – I trust you understand what I mean by that. An ancient obligation, once shouldered by your people and mine together, has fallen by the wayside, and now we face the disastrous consequences of that lapse. I realize you have obligations in Los Angeles, but I believe that resolving this matter will take only a few days. If you can see your way to lending a hand, the enclosed plane ticket should cover your travel needs.
I would not ask if I had any other options. Please, Mr. Tocal. For the sake of my people and the lives of literally millions, please come.
- Andrea Morningfeather”
There is no return address, but the envelope carries a Phoenix, Arizona, postmark. In addition to the single folded page of printer paper containing the letter, the envelope has a plane ticket from L.A. to Phoenix for a flight in two days’ time.
Okay, let's do this! Talk over characters, ask questions, whatever seems to fit here. Among other things, it would be nice to see where exactly everyone is in their character creation sequence, including background and the like.
Discuss characters, ask questions, chitchat and all sorts of other fun things!
Reposting the character creation guidelines and the campaign traits:
All the PCs will be Pathfinders, beginning play with wayfinders and full status as field agents in the Society. The group will be based out of the Magnimar Lodge.
All Pathfinder RPG material is legal, and most other Paizo-produced stuff as well (subject to conversion if needed, of course). In addition, I will be allowing the priest and swashbuckler classes from Tome of Secrets by Adamant, if you have access to that. Traits will be used, and PCs begin at 1st level with a 20 point buy.
Campaign Traits: Foresighted: You have long studied the mysteries of the future, and learned how to turn those secrets to your own benefit. Others often say your reactions are uncanny; most of them do not even know the half of it. Once per day as a free action, you may gain a trait bonus to the result of an initiative roll equal to the level of a divination spell you have prepared by sacrificing that spell (as if casting it).
Encyclopedic Scholar: During your Pathfinder training, you learned one lesson particularly well: knowledge is power. This is particularly true when it applies to knowing the weaknesses of others. As a result, you spent much time in the Grand Lodge’s libraries, reading up on all the various monstrosities you might one day encounter during your adventures. Choose two Knowledge skills. You gain a +2 trait bonus to checks made to identify a creature using one of those skills.
Careful Combatant: Though not all Pathfinders follow the path of the warrior, they all undergo some training in fighting. Your teachers often praised your ability to choose the right time for your actions, exploiting weaknesses and waiting for the perfect moment. You gain a +1 trait bonus to attack and damage rolls whenever you make an attack as a readied action.
Ever Prepared: Some of your fellow Pathfinders say that you are paranoid; you usually retort that paranoids tend to live the longest. Regardless, you have trained yourself to be ready for action on a moment’s notice, no matter the situation. You gain a +1 trait bonus to initiative checks and a +1 trait bonus to Reflex saves against traps.
Artifact Seeker: Mystic studies have always been a passion for you, and you spent many an hour during your training years wondering what strange and wondrous treasures might still lie in a dusty tomb or Darklands cavern, waiting to be found – waiting for you to find them. Let others have the gold and gems; you know where the real power is. In preparation, you taught yourself the necessary techniques to separate out the unique discoveries from the ordinary dross. Once per day, you can cast identify as a spell-like ability (caster level 1st).
Vision-touched: Not long before you set out to become a Pathfinder, you experienced a powerful vision that dramatically impacted your life, setting you on the course you follow today. Whether it was through a wizard’s spell, a witch’s fortunetelling or a shaman’s vision quest, your eyes were opened to the possibilities of your future, and the echoes of that experience still guide you today. Whenever you gain an insight bonus on a skill or attack roll, you also gain a +1 trait bonus to the skill or attack roll.
Sharp-eyed: One of the key areas on which your Pathfinder training focused was investigation, particularly the importance of attention to details; throughout the lessons, you were consistently at the top of the class. You can tell the difference between an Osirian hieroglyph and a symbol of sleep at thirty paces, and that fact as kept you alive on more than one occasion. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks, and it is always a class skill for you.
I'm looking to start a Pathfinder RPG PbP here on the boards, centering on the Pathfinder Society. I'd like 4-6 players, all of whom can hopefully post at least once per day (real life interruptions accepted, of course). All the PCs will be Pathfinders, beginning play with wayfinders and full status as field agents in the Society. The group will be based out of the Magnimar Lodge.
All Pathfinder RPG material is legal, and most other Paizo-produced stuff as well (subject to conversion if needed, of course). In addition, I will be allowing the priest and swashbuckler classes from Tome of Secrets by Adamant, if you have access to that. Traits will be used, and PCs begin at 1st level with a 20 point buy.
Well, since my previous attempt to find some players for a random In Nomine/Mutants and Masterminds game fizzled, I thought I'd see about players for some Scion instead. I'm looking for 4-6 players, hopefully all with access to at least Scion: Hero; otherwise, all I'm asking is that you be able to post at least once a day (unless you warn me otherwise, of course).
(This is such an out-there idea I wonder if I will get any replies at all...)
So all of my current PbPs have folded in the last few months, meaning I have a little extra time online again. I thought I'd see about trying something new.
The idea is to run a game in the In Nomine setting using the Mutants & Masterminds rules. This game would use the 3d6 rolling variant, allowing us to keep Interventions intact, but otherwise would use M&M pretty much straight out of the box.
I was trying to figure out which subscription shipment setting (once a month, with the AP, or individually) I wanted to use, but in playing with the settings, I accidentally created order #1261848, which is a solo shipment of a book I wanted help to ship with my next big combined order. Ooops! Can somebody put my L5R book back in with the rest of my pending items? Thanks!
I still have some store credit from GenCon. I had planned to use it to pick up some PDFs and an L5R book, but when I went to check out, I didn't see any store credit option. As it happens, the stuff I bought was pretty cheap, and as long as the store credit's still there, I'm not too worried about it, but I would like to be able to use it at some point. What am I missing for using it?
One of the things I was thinking about was using the credit to pay for my next subscription shipment, but I found a thread in the archives that said you can't use store credit to pay for subscription items. That was back 2007, however. Is it still true?
If it is, does it matter if I had something shifted to my sidecart to be shipped with my next subscription shipment? Can I use the store credit to pay for that?
Is a character without Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) but with proficiency with all martial weapons proficient with a bastard sword? Specifically, if I wanted to (for some silly reason) have a character who specializes in two-handed bastard sword use, would s/he have to have EWP (bastard sword) in order to take Weapon Focus (bastard sword)?
So, just to see what would happen, I decided to go ahead and work through the sewer map to see what I would get. Here, in all its glory, is the map of the Westcrown sewers that my PCs will be facing:
Sewer Map
1. Blockage (can be cleared, no Hellknights)
2. Junction (left turn, marker damaged)
3. Encounter (Hellknight patrol, map A1 – right is north, enter from southwest, exit north)
4. Intersection (four exit tunnels [south, south, south, east], exit is middle south, enter from west)
5. Junction (right turn)
6. Encounter (Goblin patrol, map A1 – left is north, enter from west, exit northeast)
7. Encounter (Undead [zombies], map A3 – down is north, enter from west, exit is south)
8. Junction (right turn)
9. Intersection (two exit tunnels [west, west], exit is northwest, enter from east)
10. Encounter (Undead [skeletons, plus loot], map A3 – up is north, enter from south, exit north)
11. No change
12. Encounter (Hellknight patrol, map A5 – down is north, enter from south, exit is west)
13. No change
14. Blockage (can be cleared, no Hellknights)
15. Entrance plus Encounter (Hellknight patrol, map A1 – left is north, enter from south, exit northeast)
16. Intersection (two exit tunnels [west, east], exit is west, enter from west)
17. No change
18. Blockage (dead end, no Hellknights)
19. Encounter (Cache, map A2 – up is north, enter from south, cache hidden in side chamber, cache contains 15 gp, 2 pieces of jewelry, 1 potion of cure light wounds)
20a. Blockage (dead end, no Hellknights)
20b. Intersection (three exit tunnels [east, east, north], enter from south)
20c. Encounter (Cache, map A4 – up is north, enter from west, cache hidden beneath north “bridge,” cache contains 10 gp, 1 piece of jewelry, two sunrods)
21. Junction
22. No change
23. Junction
24. Entrance plus Blockage (can be cleared, Hellknight patrol catches up)
25. Encounter (Goblin lair, map A6 – up is north, enter from west)
26. Encounter (Hellknight patrol, map A5 – left is north, enter from west, exit is east)
27. Exit from sewers
Note that the dead end at incident 18 means that from then until incident 26, the PCs are searching blindly for another marker. I also seem to have a lot of blockages appearing for a sewer system that supposedly needs almost no maintenance... ;)
Allip Stronger Than 3.5: Allips have 4 more hp than their 3.5 counterparts, as well as more Intimidate and better hearing and searching capabilities. Their Fortitude save has gone up by +3 as well. As with all undead, allips have the medium BAB progression now, so they have +1 BAB.
Weaker Than 3.5: The save DC for their babble effect has dropped by 1, as has their AC, both the result of 2 fewer points of Charisma. Their touch of insanity ability now only deals Wisdom damage rather than Wisdom drain, except on a critical hit (which still only deals 1 point of drain).
Different Than 3.5: Babbling is no longer described as a hypnotism-like effect, receiving instead a self-contained description about fascination, but it’s not clear if there’s actually any difference. Allips are not known for giving their victims instructions, so the suggestion option of hypnotism seems irrelevant. There’s no sign that being in combat might give a +2 bonus to the save, as the hypostism spell implies, but neither does a solitary creature outside combat receive a penalty – in neither case, however, was it ever completely clear that such considerations applied to 3.5 allips either, based on the wording of the ability. As with all undead, allips have a d8 Hit Die but add their Charisma bonus to their hit points with each die (instead of their Constitution).
Dragonne Stronger Than 3.5: Dragonnes have an extra +1 to their natural armor over the 3.5 version, and have picked up both Power Attack and Flyby Attack. Their claw attacks are made at the same bonus as their bite attack (this appears to be a general change to the way natural attacks work*), and receive their full Strength bonus (also apparently a general rules change*). The save DC against their roar has gone up by +2.
Weaker Than 3.5: Nothing.
Different Than 3.5: Their roar ability is no longer exhausts opponents within 30 ft who fail their saves; instead, they are deafened. The save is now a Fort save instead of a Will save.
Hag, Annis Stronger Than 3.5: Annis hags have 21 more hp than their 3.5 counterparts, thanks to an improved Hit Die and 4 extra points of Constitution. The same boost has increased their Fort save by 2. Their bite attack is at the same bonus as their claw attacks, and receives their full Strength bonus. They have gained the Intimidating Prowess feat, vastly improving their Intimidate modifier; they also have increased Diplomacy, Stealth and Perception bonuses.
Weaker Than 3.5: Annis hags have 2 points less Spell Resistance and have lost their rake attacks. The caster level for their spell-like abilities has dropped by 1. Their Bluff bonus has likewise dropped by 1.
Different Than 3.5: Nothing.
Lammasu Stronger Than 3.5: Lammasus have two more HD than their 3.5 equivalent, leading to a bunch of other bonuses: +26 hp, +2 BAB, +2 Fort, +1 Ref, and +1 Will, plus two more feats, Improved Initiative and Power Attack. The Fort save and hp total are both enhanced by +2 Constitution, and of course the Improved Initiative gives the usual +4 init as well. Lammasus’ caster levels for their spell-like abilities have improved by +2. They have also received +3 damage on their rake attack. They can also hear better and are far more diplomatic.
Weaker Than 3.5: Lammasus no longer receive domains as part of their innate “cleric” casting, giving them 1 less spell at each level. They have lost 1 point of bonus off their Knowledge (arcana) and Sense Motive modifiers.
Different Than 3.5: Nothing.
Nixie Stronger Than 3.5: Nixies have an additional Hit Die and +2 Constitution, giving them 6 more hp, +1 BAB and +1 to all their saves. Their wild empathy check is also higher by 1. The caster level for charm person is now the same as for water breathing, 12th. Bluff, Escape Artist, Perform (sing) and Swim have all improved, as have the nixies’ Stealth abilities (except in the water, which remains the same). It also appears that fey may have 8+Intelligence modifier skill points per Hit Die, but that is unclear (the listed nixie's skills don't seem to come out right mathematically either way).
Weaker Than 3.5: Nixies’ Spell Resistance has dropped by 4 points. They have lost Alertness and Dodge (and Weapon Finesse is no longer a bonus feat). They have lost 2 points of bonus on their senses and their Handle Animal.
Different Than 3.5: Nothing.
Shadow Mastiff Stronger Than 3.5: As with all outsiders, shadow mastiffs have d10s for Hit Dice instead of d8s; in addition, shadow mastiffs also have 2 additional Hit Dice relative to their 3.5 versions. The extra Hit Dice grant them +2 BAB and a total of 21 more hit points. They have +2 Strength and +2 Dexterity, and the combination of additional Hit Dice and the ability score improvements has given them +1 Fort and +2 Ref. They also have +2 natural armor, which combines with their Dexterity to give them a total of +3 AC. They have picked up the Iron Will and Power Attack feats, and all of their skill bonuses have improved. The save DC against their bay has gone up by +3.
Weaker Than 3.5: Outsiders apparently no longer have good Will saves; at the very least, shadow mastiffs do not (even with Iron Will, their Will save has not improved). They also have only 6+Intelligence modifier skill points per Hit Die, and have lost the Dodge feat.
Different Than 3.5: The wording on shadow blend has changed somewhat to incorporate the clarified illumination rules, but the end result appears to be the same.
* Jason has said in another thread that this is not true for all attacks, but that the difference between primary and secondary attacks is not handled in the same way as in 3.5 – apparently monsters can have multiple primary attacks now, as well as multiple secondary attacks.
Herein it is related (but Shilah is All-Knowing and All-Merciful) that in the thirty-first year of the Second Age of the Burning Sands, after the death of thousand-cursed Immortal Caliph and the destruction of her vile cohort of heartless sahir called the Khadi, a caravan departed Medinaat al-Salaam, called the City of Peace and the Jewel of the Desert, for the village of Kelmarane, in the foothills of the Brazen Peaks that mark the border between the Scarab Empire and the Burning Sands. This caravan was lead by Garavel, a servant of Almah al-Hazaad and of the houses of Dahab, a solid man of middle years, with a graying beard and a sharp nose that distracted those who saw him from noticing the callused knuckles and toughened muscles of a trained warrior. With him were Arek bint Jael, a sahir in the service of the Dahabi Houses as well played by Mary; Gahiji, desert scout of the Senpet people played by Mike ; the strange man called Mo Mo, a massive slave from a distant tribe played by Amy; Nadya, a young mystic from the traveling Ra’Shari played by Cat; and Tahib, a street rat from Medinaat al-Salaam played by Cory.
For a week the caravan traveled, first down the mighty Nahr’umar River, which brings life to the Senpet and Medinaat al-Salaam both, then across the desert itself, following a cracked and crumbling trade road, abandoned for many long years. Their destination, Garavel told them, was a hill outside Kelamarane proper called the Sultan’s Claw, where they would meet with Almah Al-Hazaad and the rest of her entourage. Now the evening prayers are done and night’s chill closes in as they approach the Brazen Peaks, where they expect to meet the rest of their expedition.
You have had a week’s travel together, so I would encourage you to post a little about yourselves – as much as you would likely know of one another in that time.
Herein it is related (but Shilah is All-Knowing and All-Merciful) that in the thirty-first year of the Second Age of the Burning Sands, after the death of thousand-cursed Immortal Caliph and the destruction of her vile cohort of heartless sahir called the Khadi, a caravan departed Medinaat al-Salaam, called the City of Peace and the Jewel of the Desert, for the village of Kelmarane, in the foothills of the Brazen Peaks that mark the border between the Scarab Empire and the Burning Sands. This caravan was lead by Garavel, a servant of Almah al-Hazaad and of the houses of Dahab, a solid man of middle years, with a graying beard and a sharp nose that distracted those who saw him from noticing the callused knuckles and toughened muscles of a trained warrior. With him were Ammon, lone sellsword who called Kelmarane home once as a child played by Arcmagik; Kaliq Aziz, potent summoner of jinn and apprentice of the mysterious Qabal played by Michael Moore; Layali Alzair, soldier-guard of the new Caliphate played by Mishi; Moto Aki, traveler and warrior from the distant land of Rokugan played by TerraNova; and Taumadu, priest of the Ten Thousand Gods and exile from his homeland played by Xaaon.
For a week the caravan traveled, first down the mighty Nahr’umar River, which brings life to the Senpet and Medinaat al-Salaam both, then across the desert itself, following a cracked and crumbling trade road, abandoned for many long years. Their destination, Garavel told them, was a hill outside Kelamarane itself, called the Sultan’s Claw, where they would meet with Almah Al-Hazaad and the rest of her entourage. Now the evening prayers are done and night’s chill closes in as they approach the Brazen Peaks, where they expect to meet the rest of their expedition.
It has been more than a year since the Topaz Championship, and the cherry blossoms are once again dropping from the trees as spring returns to the lands of the Emerald Empire. Two weeks ago, you met again in Tsuma to watch this year’s contestants compete in the championship, and Megumi was on hand to stand by Doji Sarutomo’s side as he awarded the Armor of the Topaz Champion to a new recipient, a young Mantis archer. There, you once again encountered Matsu Nimoro, a year older and already showing the strain of the burden he now carries.
“My friends,” he said to you, “I am to leave Tsuma and begin a progress around the Lion provinces when the tournament is finished. I understand that you are all expected in Dragon’s Guard City in a month’s time, as part of the retinue of your daimyo at the trade negotiations that will occur there; in the interval, however, I was hoping you might join me on my travels, as my guests, in honor of the experience we shared here, and the memory of… what was lost.”
An invitation from a Clan Champion not being something that one denies, you went. You visited the lands of the Matsu first, near the Crane border, and saw the vat, seemingly endless plains of rice the Lion use to feed their massive armies. Next you traveled to the provinces of the Akodo, near the ruins of Otosan Uchi, and saw the renowned fortress of Shiro Akodo, with some of the finest fortifications outside the Khol and Kaiu Walls. Finally, you turned northeast, across the lands of the Ikoma, ending your journey in Mura Sano Eiyu ni Suru, the Village of the Reinstated Hero.
The village is renowned in song and story as the place where a disgraced ronin, after years of searching, fought and slew his dead lord’s murderer, only to die of the assassin’s poison as well. In honor of the ronin’s tale, the Lion have constructed the Shrine to Duty, honoring the virtue of bushido that perhaps most defines a samurai’s life. It is one of the holiest places in Lion lands, and pilgrims from across the Empire travel to it to pay their respects. Nimoro, carrying what may be one of the heaviest duties that a samurai can know, is eager to pay his respects.
Feel free to add into your responses any downtime stuff you want to mention…
Welcome to the Discussion Thread for my other attempt to run the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path using the Legend of the Burning Sands ruleset. This thread is intended for out-of-character discussions, rules questions, general hullabaloo, and character creation.
A few notes to begin with:
* Although LBS is marketed as a complete ruleset on its own, it is of course truly an expansion for the L5R ruleset. As such, I fully intend to use the revisions to the rules that appeared in L5R 3rd Edition Revised, including changes to the Defense Skill, Grappling rules, and so on, with some possible houserules of my own to make the game make more sense in a couple of places.
* This is a conversion of a D&D game into a system with some decidedly non-D&D assumptions, and I'm not sure precisely how things will work out. I beg your indulgence as we sort through this together. I would also like to remind you that, as a D&D conversion, characters should be able to function in combat fairly well, since there is like to be a lot of it – the character background traits (see below) should help to emphasize this fact. Since you all begin as part of a mercenary caravan, this should keep everyone largely on the same page.
* I'd also like to remind you that this is not L5R, and some of the cultural assumptions made by L5R don't apply to LBS. In particular, money counts, and looting the dead is not particularly shocking. In this regard, a certain amount of the D&D mindset is probably more suitable.
* Finally, if you've read all this already on the other thread, skip down to the 5th post. That's where any new stuff might be.
I'd already assembled a group of mostly-new-to-PbP friends to play, but there seems to be enough interest that I could put together a second group, so I'm going to try. So sound off if you think you might want in!
Welcome to the Discussion Thread for my attempt to run the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path using the Legend of the Burning Sands ruleset. This thread is intended for out-of-character discussions, rules questions, general hullabaloo, and character creation.
A few notes to begin with:
* Although LBS is marketed as a complete ruleset on its own, it is of course truly an expansion for the L5R ruleset. As such, I fully intend to use the revisions to the rules that appeared in L5R 3rd Edition Revised, including changes to the Defense Skill, Grappling rules, and so on, with some possible houserules of my own to make the game make more sense in a couple of places.
* This is a conversion of a D&D game into a system with some decidedly non-D&D assumptions, and I'm not sure precisely how things will work out. I beg your indulgence as we sort through this together. I would also like to remind you that, as a D&D conversion, characters should be able to function in combat fairly well, since there is like to be a lot of it – the character background traits (see below) should help to emphasize this fact. Since you all begin as part of a mercenary caravan, this should keep everyone largely on the same page.
* I'd also like to remind you that this is not L5R, and some of the cultural assumptions made by L5R don't apply to LBS. In particular, money counts, and looting the dead is not particularly shocking. In this regard, a certain amount of the D&D mindset is probably more suitable.
All the items in this order are listed as shipping in 5-11 business days, and if I'm counting right, this is Business Day 12 since I placed the order. Can I get some info on the order's status, please?
Over the weekend, in hopes of being able to contribute to the high-level playtest, I ran the first section of Mike Mearls' "Root of Evil" adventure from Dungeon #122, using four pregenned versions of the iconics - Valeros, Merisel, Ezren and Kyra, specifically. As it happens, the very first major encounter of that adventure almost exactly matches the description Jason offered for one of the scenarios he wanted to see run. Here are the differences:
1) There was no buff time, save for long-term effects that were still in play from that morning. Ezren was floating around on an extended overland flight spell, and the entire group had had an extended heroes' feast as well.
2) Two worms appeared on Round One through the ground, and then two more appeared on Round Two.
3) The room suffered an earthquake-like effect, requiring those standing on the ground to make a Reflex save (DC 22) or lose their actions for the round.
The PCs were all 18th level, and had had one "encounter" beforehand: a group of 15 orcs (War1) and 4 trolls, which had been largely dealt with by a single chain lightning from Ezren. Merisel and Valeros handled cleanup, with Kyra providing the final fire-based touches.
When the worms appeared, Ezren made a Knowledge check and got something in the low 40s, so he rattled off dangers and weakenesses. The "tremorsense" part caught Merisel's ear, and she used her wings of flying to regain the potential for stealth - thanks to the columns, I ruled that she had sufficient cover to disappear, which she promptly did (Stealth mod of +54). Valeros waded into one, forced to charge and therefore not to get his full attacks off, while Ezren zapped the other with a lightning bolt. Unfortunately, that one proceeded to bite, grapple, and swallow (and in retrospect, I have discovered I have been running 'swallow whole' wrong - never realized it takes two rounds to accomplish) Merisel after she sneak attacked, which made Kyra and Ezren both worry about which effects they could use without hurting Merisel inside the worm. Merisel had acid resistance 10, however, and was doing alright for the moment. The other worm tried to bite Valeros and succeeded, tried to grapple him and failed (nat 1), and then tried to sting him and succeeded. The issues with poison, however, are hugely magnified at 18th level - trying to poison an 18th level fighter with a heroes' feast on him is really an exercise in futility, particularly when he only needs to make one save to shake it off.
On the second round, Merisel discovered that even being grappled is not so bad, got ahold of one of her daggers, and went to town on the worm from the inside. She wasn't quite able to work herself free, but the worm was beginning to have second thoughts about its meal. The worm facing Valeros had its back against a wall, and so it couldn't get away - this meant that Valeros unloaded all 5 of his attacks (using Imp Vital Strike to drop them down from 7 attacks), including one crit that triggered Bleeding Critical (Fort save, DC 28, is pretty hard for even a purple worm to make safely). The worm was down well over half its hit points, and bleeding to boot. Two more worms appeared, however, before Ezren and Kyra got to go, and each of them was promptly chomped and swallowed. Ezren took the matter in stride, however, autosucceeding on the Spellcraft check to cast while grappled and then using finger of death on the worm. The worm actually failed its save, but still did not die - so much for SoD effects, yes? Unwounded, it was still at 20 hp, though it nonetheless triggered the massive damage rule (could only fail on a 1, of course). I still ruled that Ezren had blown a hole in the thing's neck, and he calmly stepped out and flew off again. Kyra had a few more issues - also acid resistant, but without a light weapon or any prepped spells so suited to the cause. Instead, she cast righteous might after dropping her scimitar (it was not affected by the spell, and was now a light weapon for her) and expanded in the thing's gullet, then grabbed her scimitar and prepared to cut her way free.
On the third round, Ezren used his rod of lesser maximize metamagic to maximize a scorching ray at the worm holding Merisel, while the worm that had held him fled through the ceiling again. Merisel finished cutting herself free, and killed the worm in the process. Valeros launched another full attack on his worm, got another crit and made me yelp when I realized Bleeding Critical specifically allows its effects to stack, in contradition with the usual rules on bleed effects. The worm was taking an extra 4d6 hp every action at this point, and it actually killed itself trying to hit him. That only left Kyra, who cut herself free rather easily, and then they all tore the last worm apart.
Specific notes not mentioned above:
1) The only healing the party used was channel energy, which was 11d6 (phylactery) for Kyra, who could do it 10/day. The healing available via channeling scales extremely well with level.
2) When making the pregens, I wanted to do more with the critical feats, but simply did not have the room (even for a fighter). Having to take both Critical Focus and Critical Mastery in order to have more than one critical feat be worthwhile simply took too much space, since I couldn't start buying the feats until relatively high level.
3) In a later encounter, Valeros tore apart a greater stone golem by himself, despite not having the ability to overcome the thing's DR through pluses or weapon composition. In this regard, Improved Vital Strike was extremely helpful, since it got more damage through the DR than would have happened otherwise.
4) On the other hand, Vital Strike and Improved Vital Strike seemed to work at odds in fights where the opponents could suffer the effects of Bleeding Critical, since crits are determined almost entirely by the number of times you roll the dice.
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