A mere eight days have passed since the torch went out.
The familiar ring of hammers striking iron can be heard all throughout town. But not on Black Hill. Without the violet flame, blacksmiths have little choice but to toil over their clumsy coal forges to make ends meet. Unwilling to let the quality of their work suffer, they continue to churn out tools and weapons deserving of being called masterworks. Yet they pale in comparison to what could be made with skymetal.
Coin continues to flow, but only at a trickle. Merchants peddle their wares on the streets, but the townsfolk seem reluctant to part with their hard-earned money. Most have little use for trinkets when their livelihoods are on the line. Meanwhile, with the town’s primary means of garbage disposal gone, waste and refuse piles on the sides of the streets, filling the air with a less than pleasant odor.
And just to make matters worse, a wave of strange headaches has been passing throughout town, making an already frustrating situation even more stressful.
Four different expeditions have entered the caves below Black Hill in hopes of finding the cause of the torch's disappearance, one among them led by none other than Councillor Khonnir Baine - but not one of them has returned. The town council has sent out an open call, practically begging for volunteers to seek out the missing councillor and hopefully bring an end to the community’s woes.
For over a century the violet flame atop Black Hill had been alight, a beacon of Torch’s livelihood. The town owed more than just its name to the fire - it owed its very existence to it. While the flames would occasionally flare up to the heavens in a massive eruption, at all other times they exhibited a miraculous quality: a chunk of wood thrown over them would instantly burst into flames, yet a piece of paper set a foot from the bonfire’s edge would not even smolder. This unique combination of traits made the fire a perfect forge, ideal for smelting the rare skymetals riddled throughout Numeria. Torch’s entire economy rose from these purple flames, with traveling smiths coming from all across Avistan to pay for the opportunity to use them.
Unfortunately, most of Torch’s wealth does not belong to it. While the town’s distance from the Numerian capital of Starfall has made it too inconvenient for the Technic League to maintain a permanent presence in the region, the town remains within its grasp. Heavy taxes and tariffs ensure that in spite of its massive intake of coin, the town never truly prospers. But so long as Torch could maintain productivity to meet the League's exorbitant demands, they needed not worry about losing their independence.
Which is why when the flames suddenly went out, everyone knew that Torch was in trouble.
-----
Hello everyone, welcome to the discussion thread for my Iron Gods game. :)
If you have not had the opportunity to read it already, the player’s guide can be found here. The information in it is very useful for situating your characters in Torch, as well as Numeria as a whole.
The criteria for character creation are as follows:
Ability Scores: 20 point buy.
Race: Anything within reason, except alien races.
Class: All Paizo classes and archetypes are allowed. The unchained versions of the barbarian, monk, rogue, and summoner are required, but if there is a conflict with an incompatible archetype, we can work something out.
Hit Points: Maximum for every level.
Alignment: Any non-evil.
Traits: Two traits, three if you take a drawback. The campaign traits in the player’s guide are recommended but not required.
Starting Wealth: Average gold for your class. In addition to your free starting outfit, you start with a free kit that corresponds to your class.
I will be using the following optional rules from Pathfinder Unchained:
Automatic Bonus Progression
Background Skills
Variant Multiclassing
Wound Thresholds
As far as backstories go, I don’t require a novel or anything, but it should at least answer some of the following questions:
Where did your character come from? Do they live in Torch? If not, why are they in the area?
What does your character do for a living? Are they new to adventuring?
What inspired your character to take on their starting class? Were they tutored or schooled, or were their skills self-taught?
How does your character get along with Torch’s locals? Are there any locals in particular that your character is closely acquainted with?
Is your character religious? What is their opinion of technology?
Why might your character be compelled to oppose the Technic League?
As long as your concept meshes well with the setting’s flavor and themes, I do not foresee any real issues. Feel free to ask any questions you might have about Numeria, your character concepts, or anything else that comes to mind.
I've been reading the rules for radiation in the Technology Guide, but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around them.
1) Once a character leaves an irradiated area, are they no longer in danger of having more Constitution drained?
2) Radiation is a poison effect, so are the rules for multiple doses applicable? It has no duration to increase, but would the DC be increased by +2 every time they fail their save?
3) Does the secondary effect (Strength damage) use a separate set of saving throws than the initial effect? So even after leaving the irradiated area (and no longer having to save against the Con drain), they have to continue saving against the Str damage until it is cured?
4) When does a character make their first save against the secondary effect? Do they make subsequent saves at the start of each day?
I feel like I'm overcomplicating things, so I would very much appreciate it if someone can clarify things for me. For reference, the rules can be found here.
Even before daybreak the people of Sandpoint are up and about, making their last minute preparations for the festival. By the time the sun is out and the sky is bright, the streets are absolutely bustling with activity. A colorful array of tents and booths and stalls can be found all throughout town, ready to meet locals and visitors alike with offerings of food, clothing, and various other knickknacks. And of course, there is a wide variety of games and contests, for children and adults of all ages.
The most crowded place of all is the church square, where a large wooden stage has been constructed for the occasion. As the festivities kick off, the event’s keynote speakers move onto the stage to deliver the welcoming speeches. A rather sizable crowd stands in the square, giving their undivided attention. A woman with short-cropped, reddish-brown hair is the first to step forward, a broad smile covering her face. Her appearance is met with cheers and applause.
”Welcome, friends and newcomers, to the annual Swallowtail Festival! Thank you all for joining us on this auspicious day! For those of you that do not know me, I am Kendra Deverin, mayor of this wonderful town. It’s good to see such a lovely turnout this year. Why, even our very own Larz Rovanky has managed to tear himself away from his work at the tannery!”
The locals in the crowd roar with laughter, proving infectious even to those not in on the joke. Only a surly-looking bald man - ostensibly the workaholic himself - does not seem at all amused. When the laughter dies down some, Mayor Deverin goes on.
”As you all know, today marks an extra special occasion. After years of planning and construction, our new cathedral is finally complete, and ready to receive the gods’ blessings!” She gestures at the immense stone cathedral standing behind her. ”Five years ago, our chapel and beloved priest were stolen away from us by a great blaze. Some of our homes and businesses still bear the scars of that terrible tragedy. But today is a day for new beginnings! It is time for us move on and embrace our future!”
Once again the crowd cheers enthusiastically, perhaps even desperately.
”Now, I don’t want to hold you all from the festivities for too much longer, so I am going to hand things off to our town sheriff. Now, let’s have another round of applause for Belor Hemlock!”
There is more applause when an imposing Shoanti man steps forward, but when he starts to speak, it ceases right away.
”I would like to remind all of you to stay safe during this evening’s bonfire. We do not need any children - or adults, for that matter - hurting themselves. Do not stay out too late or drink too much either, if you can help it.”
Thinking that they are perhaps witnessing a rare, jocose side of the sheriff’s personality, a few people in the crowd chuckle. However, the choice glances he gives certain individuals tell a different story.
”I would also like for us to have a moment of silence, in honor of all the lives we lost five years ago.”
Everyone bows their heads. Silence permeates the square for several seconds before being broken by the sheriff.
“Thank you.”
Without another word he steps off to the side, giving the stage back to Mayor Deverin.
”Our next speaker is a special guest! Without his funding, I daresay that the construction of the cathedral would not have been possible! Now, may I present to you the head of one of our town’s founding families, Lonjiku Kaijitsu…!”
Several moments pass, and nobody steps forward. The crowd, still subdued by sheriff’s short speech, remains silent. After coughing into their hand pointedly, one of the town officials reaches out to tap the mayor’s shoulder. She turns around to exchange whispers with the small group. A minute later, she turns back around to address the crowd, her smile slightly less broad than before.
”Unfortunately, I have just learned that Lonjiku will not be joining us after all, as he has come down with a sudden illness. Let’s all wish him a speedy recovery! Instead, our resident entertainer and owner of the Sandpoint Theater, Cyrdak Drokkus, has a few words to share with you!”
The crowd grows lively once more as the handsome, flamboyantly dressed man takes the stage - something that he is all too used to. Cyrdak bows to the crowd graciously, his mouth a half-moon smile.
”Thank you, thank you Mayor Deverin! It is a joy to be here on this very special day! Our dear mayor made a good point about Lonjiku, but let’s not forget all the others that were involved in turning her vision into a reality! Our other two founding families, the Scarnettis and the Valdemars! All of those Sandpoint businesses that so generously donated gold to the project! Why, even I donated! I mean, who wouldn’t want to curry favor with the gods? And of course, the churches themselves, that all recognized the need for a place of worship - even if they have to share it. All in all, the cathedral was damned expensive, but stone doesn’t exactly burn, so we won’t be needing another new one any time soon!”
The crowd laughs in spite of the joke being in bad taste, though the town officials on the stage look a little less than pleased. Paying them no heed, Cyrdak goes on.
”Ah, but that reminds me! This is just the occasion to share a very special announcement with you! Coming soon to a theater near you - that is, my theater - is our production of The Harpy’s Curse! Oh, but that’s not all! The part of Avisera the Harpy Queen will be played by none other than Magnimar’s most famous diva, Allishandra!”
The theater aficionados in the crowd go wild as Cyrdak once again bows to everyone repeatedly, before being practically dragged off the stage by the sheriff. Everything seems to be in good fun as the local priest steps forward with a hearty chuckle. Despite approaching his middle years, Father Zantus doesn’t have a gray hair on his head. When everything calms down, he delivers the last short speech of the morning.
”Please join us here at noon for the Swallowtail Release, though I daresay you will not miss it no matter where you are in town!” the bearded man says cheerfully, ”And of course, when dusk approaches, join us once more for the consecration of our new cathedral! Now, contrary to what our dear mayor said before, it seems that we have kept you here for a little longer than intended. So go now, and have fun!”
4702, the darkest year in Sandpoint’s short history. Over the course of a single agonizingly long month, the serial killer known as Chopper claimed the lives of twenty-five victims, before finally ending the spree by taking his own. Just a month later, Sandpoint’s chapel perished in a mysterious blaze that killed the town’s beloved priest, as well as his daughter. Together, these events came to be known as the Late Unpleasantness. For five years the horrid memories of these events have plagued the people of Sandpoint, darkening moods and stifling progress. With this year’s Swallowtail Festival, and with the completion of the town’s new cathedral, the people hope to finally put those dark times behind them. Little do they know however, that there is more unpleasantness yet to come…
Not that I think this adventure really needed introduction. ;P
I'll try to have the specifics for character creation up shortly.
Kelmarane. For many years, this village in northeast Katapesh was at the southern end of a prosperous trade route with Osirion. The village flourished for it, always bustling with activity, and providing the rest of the nation with exotic commodities. Twenty years ago however, that all abruptly came to an end. The resources stopped flowing under mysterious circumstances, and it soon seemed apparent that the settlement’s citizens had vanished entirely. Kelmarane had been abandoned, and no one knew why. The Pactmasters of Katapesh seemed content to leave it that way. But in the absence of its former inhabitants, just two years ago, new residents took hold of the village – the Kulldis, a tribe of gnolls in the service of the notorious Carrion King.
The decision was delayed, but the Pactmasters eventually made their intent clear – they wanted Kelmarane back, by any means necessary. The word soon spread that an expedition was being mounted to liberate the village from its gnoll occupants. On the behalf this expedition’s leader – a merchant princess by the name of Almah – a man named Garavel had traveled all throughout Katapesh, in search of capable warriors. With what limited time and resources he possessed, he recruited those he could.
Whether for faith, family, freedom or fortune, you chose to sign onto Garavel’s caravan. Regardless of your reasons for joining, he had assessed you all with the same stony gaze. Your skills were untested, but he had little in the way of choice. His employer was growing desperate, and the date on which to start the mission was already set. He offered little in the way of elaboration on your mission, saying that you would have to speak to Almah directly.
More than a week has passed since you first left the markets of Solku by camelback, riding into the northern scrublands. The brutal heat and uncooperative terrain are made bearable only by the beasts of burden that you were lent. As you traveled onward, the immense, gray silhouette of Pale Mountain grew ever larger, looming over the horizon.
On your eighth day of travel, as the sun moves ever closer to setting, Garavel does not stop the caravan to set up camp as he had on the previous days.
“We push onward,” he announces to the five of you from atop his camel, “We will reach the Sultan’s Claw by nightfall.” Without another word the no-nonsense majordomo moves on, approaching the next rise.
The opening post is more or less finished, but before we kick things off, I just wanted to ask a few preliminary questions. I was rather upfront with “no combat maps” aspect of this campaign, but there are other things that I am more flexible with that I wanted my chosen players’ opinions on. The answers to these questions might address how fast combat - or even the game in general - moves along.
1. Do you want me to keep information such as the AC and hit points of enemies hidden?
2. Do you want me to perform all of my dice rolls in plain view, within the post?
3. Do you want me to roll your saves and initiative for you during combat?
4. During combat, would you rather that everyone post in initiative order, or that everyone post in any order?
5. Keeping in mind that this AP is sandboxy at times, would you rather level up based on experience, or at loosely established points in the main story?
There might be a few other things that have slipped my mind, so feel free to ask any other questions about how I plan to run the game.
Hello, everyone! I am Mahorfeus, and I am looking for five people willing to suffer the throes of an inexperienced GM. We would be tackling tackling the Legacy of Fire adventure path, taking it as far as we are so willing.
That being said, I suppose I should get a few things about how I plan to run this out of the way.
The big caveat is that I will be running this game without combat maps. I understand that this is a major omission, perhaps even a deal breaker for some, but the honest truth is that I am not all that good at creating them. I am hesitant to spend time and effort on creating an inferior product… especially since quite a few of them would be required.
Instead, combat will be abstract, relying a lot more on description and imagination. I enjoy the concept of narrative combat, though it might feel a lot less tactical. I can at times provide visual aids, to help with certain situations. Nonetheless, that is the kind of thing that we can work out in-game.
Of course, this complicates certain game mechanics. Attacks of opportunity come to mind, but there are many others. Suffice to say, builds that rely on precise positioning might not feel at home here.
With that out of the way, here are the character creation rules. Don’t worry too much about creating an alias right away.
Character Creation:
Ability Scores: 20 points. I only ask that you roleplay your scores in such a way that you feel suits your character.
Race: Any core race is allowed. Others are allowed on a case by case basis. The only one that I expect to be a hard sell is gnoll, for obvious reasons.
Class: All Paizo core, base, and prestige classes are allowed, including their applicable archetypes. Unfortunately, I have to say no to hybrid classes; I don’t feel like they play well with the others.
Hit Points: Max at first level, half plus one at subsequent levels.
Starting Wealth: Average for your class.
Alignment: Any but Chaotic Evil. Your characters are essentially mercenaries at the start, so characters of different moralities could certainly work together. The important thing is to play nice and cooperate with one another.
Traits: Two traits, with one being a campaign trait (the actual flavor for these traits is present in the player’s guide). This should form the basis of your backstory, essentially explaining why your character would want to take on this mission.
I will be selecting the characters whom I feel would be the best fit for one another, synergizing well both in combat and in roleplay. I am not necessarily looking to fill out every type of role (arcane, divine, martial, etc.), but I imagine that it will somehow end up that way anyway.
Recruitment will end this upcoming Sunday, on September 7th. If there is anything else you need to know, feel free to ask any questions!
Seeking to restore a trade route to Osirion, the Pactmasters of Katapesh have mounted an expedition to the old market village of Kelmarane. Since its abandonment twenty years ago, the ruined village has recently become home to a tribe of gnolls in the service of the notorious Carrion King. For this end, a man named Garavel, majordomo to a wealthy merchant princess, has traveled across Katapesh in search of recruits. Having learned of his mission, you have all joined his caravan, each of you with an ulterior motive.
It has been over a week since the six of you departed from the city of Solku on Garavel’s camel caravan. Journeying into the northern scrublands of Katapesh, you have gone over hill after hill, and have experienced several hot days and cold nights. All the while, the immense, gray silhouette of Pale Mountain looms in the distant haze, as though it were a massive gravestone. Not once does your patron say exactly where you are heading. One dreary day however, Garavel turns and speaks to your group.
“We will reach our destination by nightfall,” he announces, his voice as calm and stoic as it has been since the day you met him.
It has been at least a week since your characters first met, so they may already be familiar with one another – to what extent of course, is up to you.
Source Material: Any Paizo material, provided that it is on the PFSRD.
Ability Scores: 20 point buy.
Race: All core races are permitted, as are alternate racial traits. Bestiary races are allowed if they aren't too crazy. Katapesh has a lot of racial diversity so there is some leeway here.
Class: All core and base classes are permitted.
Traits: Pick two, one of which must be from the player’s guide. The Legacy of Fire campaign traits can be found here.
Background: Provide a brief background that meshes with the campaign trait you chose. You do not have to provide too much detail up front.
Alignment: Any non-evil.
Hit Points: Calculate normally at 1st level. Roll or average for subsequent levels.
Starting Gold: Average.
Well, after a relatively long hiatus, my PCs pretty much agreed that they suck at playing good guys.
Our first campaign was an evil one, that ended up having strange, out-there whimsical moments that practically became memetic amongst my group. Nobody has forgotten how the druid once slaughtered kobold children, rubbed their blood on his chest, and failed his Fortitude save, thereby contracting a plague, or how the party fighter got impregnated by a red dragon disguised as royalty. And of course, how the party convinced a cadre of imprisoned ogres to take revenge on their orc slavers for using them in their ogrekin breeding program. Good times. Needless to say, we have strange senses of humor.
We've come to the conclusion that random, stupid crap like that is what made the game special to us, and want that kind of experience again.
Bringing me to the question, what would be a good place to begin? The one weakness of that campaign was that there was practically no backstory to the characters, and they were pretty much strangers to each other. What would be a good way to make these characters more or less loyal to one another, so that they don't end up butchering each other (again)?
This kind of planning might defeat the purpose of the campaign being "random," but it did at least have some direction, so I'd appreciate any suggestion, comments, etc.
In my current campaign setting, there's a bit of running gag regarding a tengu merchant who almost seems to stalk the party, popping out of alleyways and offering exquisite merchandise of varying categories, all stored in his handy overcoat. Whether his merchandise is stolen is questionable at best, though I imagine he'd make for an interesting grave robber.
I figured it was about time I gave him an official stat block just for the heck of it. Any ideas on how he should be built? Current APL is 6, just for reference.
Once again, I have had a case of GM block regarding my game.
Just for reference, this is the overall makeup of the party:
Aribeth, paladin of Sarenrae 5:
Decked out in full plate and equipped with a tower shield, her high AC and saves are most problematic. She uses a divine weapon bond, which she tends to use in conjunction with Smite Evil to interesting effect.
Sayid, cleric of Sarenrae 5:
So far, he's mostly used a conjunction of blasting and supporting, favoring fire spells for somewhat obvious reasons. While most enemies thus far have been fire-immune, I feel his area-effect spells will be more effective in this particular scenario.
Reo, fighter 5:
This guy really likes nothing more than to beat things to death with his scythe. A plot-related custom trait makes him somewhat resistant to fire, and his AC is decent.
Kai, draconic sorcerer 5:
A more dedicated blaster mage than Sayid. The energy-resistant devils gave her a hard time, so she'll probably prove more effective this time around. She likes touch spells, and the player insists on using a mithral armor/arcane armor training combo to pump up her AC.
The party is to trek into the ruins of an ancient sewer system to rescue a paladin of their order, who was kidnapped by an unusually coordinated group of goblins. I already have an idea of what kind of challenges I want to throw at them, but the layout of sewers themselves is proving to be bothersome - dungeon design is ironically one of my weaker points. I don't want it to be linear, but at the same time a labyrinthine dungeon would be a little annoying to run.
I'm also having problems deciding on the goblin leader, an individual who kidnapped the paladin as part of a deal with Asmodean cultists. I originally planned for it to be a greater barghest, but a single CR 7 creature would be a joke to the party, especially considering smite evil, and the fact that the paladin NPC could very well be rescued already by the time they meet him/her. I thought about throwing in some minions, but couldn't really find a good balance between their numbers and the CR.
I'd appreciate any advice and suggestions, just please don't mention Tucker's kobolds... I don't want to give my players nightmares.
Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever made an archetype for the cleric built around channeling energy? Perhaps another means of gaining the Holy Vindicator's Versatile Channeling class feature?
Alright, so Ultimate Combat introduced this trio of feats, all built around the haunted fey aspect cantrip. They all sound interesting and pretty flavorful, so I want to build a character around them. Problem being, the way you have to go about using the ability (charging, critting) is all melee-based, so I don't even know if it would work with a caster type. An oracle maybe? It doesn't have to be super optimized, but I'd at least like it to be viable.
Benefit: You add haunted fey aspect (page 230) to your list of gnome magic spell-like abilities, and you can use this spell-like ability twice per day.
Benefit: You gain one use of your gnome magic that is independent of your gnome magic spell-like abilities. When you wish to cast a gnome magic spell-like ability for which you have no daily uses remaining, you can expend this independent use to do so.
Further, while you are under the effect of haunted fey aspect (page 230), you can discharge that spell as a free action after you hit an opponent with a charge attack or score a critical hit against an opponent. If you do, that opponent becomes shaken for 1 round.
Benefit: You gain another independent use of your gnome magic like that which Haunted Gnome Assault grants. Further, while you are under the effect of haunted fey aspect, you also have concealment (20% miss chance) against an opponent until that opponent deals you damage.
Haunted Fey Aspect:
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components S
Range Personal
Target You
Duration 1 round/level (D)
You surround yourself with disturbing illusions, making you look and sound like a bizarre, insane fey creature. You gain DR 1/cold iron against a single opponent until the end of the spell, or until you take damage.
Well, I just had my first session as GM in quite some time a few weeks ago, and an old argument got dug up regarding the geography of our custom campaign world. Particularly about the arrangement of certain settlements and landmarks, as well as whether the party was moving west/east/north whatnot last time around. As GM I just handwaved it, but it's become an issue of having no visual media to present the area with.
I honestly suck at drawing, but I'd love to have a world map of some kind, especially since that kind of thing could be expected to exist within the world itself. Is there any software or whatnot that an artistically challenged individual such as myself could use to help?
Gods and Magic mentioned that the Tarrasque was the most powerful of the Spawn of Rovagug, implying that weaker ones exist. Has Paizo ever released a product describing any of them? I'm working on a campaign that may or may not involve the god eventually, and I was looking for something less robust than CR 25.
So, here's the gist of things - one of my players wants to portray the child of her previous character from our last campaign, seeing as this is a spiritual successor with a time skip of over a decade. Usually wouldn't be a problem, but there are a few extraordinary circumstances.
For anyone that might remember, this child happens to be the son of a red dragon, who either planned for it to be conceived, or made a foolish mistake. That of course would make it a half-dragon, half-human child.
I could just tell her to make a draconic sorcerer or something, but the idea of it kinda cheapens out the direct ancestry. I'm thinking of a two level adjustment, but more needs to be done to balance things out a bit. What could I do to the template to work it out a bit?
I am currently in the process of developing a campaign world for my group, seeing as I will be the GM again in a few weeks. Up until now, the party I am in has only contained three people, with one of us controlling two separate characters. While it has worked fine so far mechanically, it seems to be a little difficult to roleplay in that situation; the player in question has mentioned that it is awkward a few times, and that he feels like he is talking to himself.
So, that has me thinking on how to balance the game so that they can control just one character each. One idea was to run the game at APL-1, but I'd rather not go down that route.
Would running the game with the gestalt rules help out? They don't do much to deal with the action economy problem, but they would certainly boost them up. I'd appreciate any feedback and suggestions.
To start off, I'd like to tell my players to stay out of here! You know who you are. *squinty eyes*
Anyway, the GM hat is currently off my head, but I've been planning ahead for when it's on me again, so that I don't have to wing it as much, which I am admittedly not all that great at.
My last campaign left off with my level 14 party fending off a band of stone giants, that had been throwing rocks over the city wall, inflicting considerable damage. After hacking through a couple of giants and dire bears, they came face to face with the stone giant elder and his goons. By the end of the encounter, the elder ran off, swearing vengeance. With a 20-foot stone wall in their way, catching up to him would have been next to impossible. That's where I left off.
Well, at this point, I am kind of at a loss as to how to continue things. Either the PCs will go after him preemptively, or they will end up returning in greater numbers. But that's it - I'd really like to spruce things up a bit, but don't know how. I suppose the biggest hole in the story is the lack of motive on the otherwise peaceful giants' part.
I'd appreciate any advice or ideas anybody has to offer - the greatest minds of our generation(s) lurk around these forums!
Well, I'm losing my GM hat in a few weeks, so I decided to make my character ahead of time to save myself the headache. My group finally agreed to use the RAW Standard method for ability scores, and I have to say, I really drew the short end of the stick. Nonetheless, after badgering my group about keeping low scores, I decided to deal with it. No need for hypocrisy.
And so, I went a ahead and made a wizard. I'm not exactly sure of what kind of builds the rest of my party will have, but I know that they'll be a paladin, rogue, and maybe a barbarian. Seeing as I never rolled anything arcane before, I'd appreciate any advice and critiques on my build.
And no, "die and roll a new character" won't work this time around.
Elf conjurer 1:
Elf conjurer 1
NG Medium humanoid (elf)
hp 11 (1d6+5); Init +4
AC 12, Touch 12, FF 10 (Dex +2)
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 8, Cha 7
BAB +0, CMB -1, CMD 11
Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +1
Traits:
Reactionary
Focused Mind
Class Features:
Arcane bond (raven)
Arcane school (conjuration)
Opposition schools (abjuration & enchantment)
In the ongoing game that I run with my friends, one of their primary means of powering themselves up is to have their weapons and armor enchanted, or to improve on enchantments they already have. I allow them to using the guidelines in the Core book, however it's occurred to me that this might be causing a balance issue.
One of the PCs is upgrading his sword from a +3 enchantment to a +5 one, a feat that would take nearly a month by RAW. I don't mind taking the opportunity to make a more city-oriented adventure, but something else crossed my mind. The party is about APL 11, so the gold they have plenty of gold to go through with this. However, is it logical for the enchanter to happen to have all of the spells required to make the signature enchantments (flaming, freezing, etc.)? It also seems unlikely that any non-spellcaster character is going to know what kind of special effects exist. Not to mention that the one providing the service would have to be at least CL15.
The joke is that the blacksmith is a level 20 wizard with huge muscles, that uses a copy of his spellbook as the store catalog. But this isn't going to cut it - how do I limit my party's ability to enhance their equipment?
After the death of one of his characters, one of the PCs in my campaign rolled a new character. Using the typical rules for purchasing items with average character wealth, he decided to buy a necklace of fireballs, type III with his gold.
However, he wants to use 7500 gp to purchase 5 extra 10d6 orbs, so he could reload the necklace whenever he needs to. Buying the extra orbs seemed fine by RAW, but I was under the impression that the chart indicated that a type III necklace is not able to hold 10d6 orbs. He contends that the chart only indicates the maximum number of orbs the necklace can hold, but that doesn't sound right at all to me.
How does one handle initiative when the PCs launch an attack against a character that they are interacting with? My group has had a few situations where they didn't like what an NPC told them, so they decided to just kill them on the spot. They wondered if they'd get something akin to a surprise round, but RAW, that wouldn't make sense since their target is aware of their presence. Especially in cases where their weapons are already drawn.
Obviously, it's generally impossible to throw a BBEG at a team of PCs without it being torn into shreds. The party's superior numbers give them the advantage in the action economy, so even an APL+2 opponent would not stand a chance. Of course, there are numerous ways to mitigate this issue, such as putting the terrain in the bad guy's favor, but the classical method seems to have always been to use additional enemies, the so-called "mooks."
Mooks are supposed to act as a buffer by hindering the PCs, but generally they are also supposed to be a little weak. However, what is best way of balancing these two? Make them too strong, and they can punch the PCs full of holes, make them too weak and the PCs can just walk right through them (figuratively) and stomp the BBEG anyway.
I have a little bit of trouble with this myself, as whenever I work on an NPC build for one, it always seems a little too weak or strong. In practice, they either end up doing way too much damage or swatted aside a little too easily.
One of the things I've never quite seen covered by the Core rules is the act of commanding a companion, be it an animal, summon, or eidolon. Talking is a free action that can be performed at any time, and all three of the aforementioned have initiative, so does the one controlling them make the action to command them do so on their turn, or his own?
The way I've been having the druid at my table do it is that the animal companion acts immediately after being told what to do on the druid's turn, so essentially, two characters are acting in the same round.
What is the proper way of doing this, and if there isn't any, how do you houserule it?
In my game a player decided to have his +1 greatsword upgraded into a +2 one, a process that took 6 days by RAW. However, looking through the rulebook, I was wondering, if the PC wanted a different weapon effect, such as flaming, or even the regular +effects, would he have to provide that spell for the blacksmith (which would limit the enchantments he can get to the spells he or another party member possesses)? And if he does, how long would he have to be present for the time it takes to enchant it? The PC I mentioned was able to go about freely for his six days, so I don't know.
In my last campaign, the PCs came across a young king that was apparently very fond of women - several women, at that. Attracted to one of the PCs, he... propositioned her. Having her own motives for conceiving a royal heir, she went through with it. And so, with a few percentage rolls made up on the spot by our last GM, now we have a week-pregnant PC.
Now, the GM Hat is back on me. This had all started as a joke, but I saw that it had some definite roleplay potential - but the roleplaying isn't a part of it. Pregnancy is definitely not in the Core rules anywhere, and it's apparent that within a month or so, the PC will be physically affected.
Her character isn't the type that would retire just because she is pregnant, so obviously the child will be in constant danger. So, what kind of effects should pregnancy eventually have on the PC? Anybody ever have something similar happen in your campaign?
With the conclusion of our last campaign, the GM Hat is back on me, and now I have to whip up another campaign in the next two weeks or so. I've been brimming with ideas, but something just now hit me.
My PCs predominantly evil, and have certainly acted as such, extorting people for money and killing enemies even once they have surrendered. However, I find that in the long run, they end up accomplishing something for the greater good, such as saving a village from certain destruction. In the end, they come off as ridiculously selfish and haplessly cruel, but it just doesn't feel like they're actually evil. They aren't chaotic, but I don't feel that means they can't ruin society.
So, does anybody have some good general advice for an evil campaign? Even better if you can give some anecdotal examples of past campaigns, that always gives me a chuckle.
I'm currently conceptualizing a new campaign, and part of it involves the locals of a city being kidnapped and dragged into the sewer by the BBEG's aberrant minions, and somehow tainted by his aberrant blood, perhaps through a custom spell or other concoction of sorts. Of course, this results in the victim being turned into an abomination, perhaps with tentacles or the like.
Are there any good templates, custom, made up on the spot, or otherwise that'd be good for making a mutant footsoldier? I'm thinking along the lines of tentacles, acidic vomit, other weird stuff. I might implement a "commander"-type as well, for progressed mutation.
I don't usually like using homebrews, but it'd be preferable to forcing monsters from the Bestiary into a campaign concept they won't fit into.
In a recent adventure, my Lawful Evil Cleric 5 came across a suit of golden chainmail, which was later identified as Celestial Armor. Doing a tad of research on it, I was a tad disheartened to see that it had a "good" aura, so I immediately presumed that it meant that I could not wear the armor.
However, looking at the description of the Demonic Mail that follows the Celestial Armor in the Core book, it specifically states that there is a penalty for wearing it, and goes into detail about the downsides. My GM and I took this to mean that the Celestial Armor's good aura is too weak to have any adverse effects, and that I could use it without consequence.
Is this correct according to RAW? I know I'm overthinking it, but I just want to make sure that there aren't any rules I have overlooked. If it is allowed, then could the armor's aura conceal my alignment?
I am currently running a LE Cleric of Urgathoa with the Death and Magic domains, in an Undead-heavy campaign.
By chance, I hit Level 5 and realized that I now have Animate Dead as a bonus spell because of the Death domain. It sounds like a cool spell, and given by the fact that our party is outnumbered by many skeletons of different varieties, having a few skeleton allies of my own could be a little handy for clearing them out.
Given the rules of the Animate Dead spell, I can create up to 10 HD of undead with a single casting, and can control 20 HD over the span of multiple castings. The problem is that I have no idea how to manage the creation of the skeletons, especially since the ones we are currently fighting against were generated by our GM. Would I just be recreating the ones I've just killed, except under my control?
Also, how do I manipulate the skeletons to do what I want? Do they act independently for the most part and thus have their own initiative (allowing me to take advantage of their Improved Initiative feat), or do I have to order them to attack/defend/whatnot on my own turn using verbal commands (which I assume are free actions)?
For some time I've been intrigued by the Bloatmage prestige class from City of Strangers. I know nothing of its viability, but the concept itself so strange and grotesque that I can't help but to like it. I don't know about using it myself as a character, but a campaign revolving around their kind sounds appealing.
Does anybody have any advice on how to build a Bloatmage? At first glance their downsides seem ridiculously prevalent, but I'm sure they can size up to be more than rolling tubs of... stuff.
I brought up my build before, but I decided to repost it here since it wasn't as relevant to my last topic. As a GM I've come to dislike the point buy system since it tends to be more associated with min-maxing and optimization, so I decided to use the standard system of rolling my stats (the scores I got were 17, 12, 15, 17, 17, 12).
I'm going to be a lawful evil Human Cleric (3rd level), representing Zon-Kuthon. Reflecting my alignment, character-wise I am going to portray myself as a greedy, corrupt individual, who usually has the tendency of leaving most of the dirty work to the party's chaotic evil Barbarian, unless he can't help it.
Combat wise, given his high Constitution score and his Heavy Armor (from feat), he's built so that he can take his own fair share of hits. On top of this, he'll be using his handy spiked chain to do share the aggro with the party's Fighter (sword n' board) and Barbarian. When the enemies start piling up, I'll just nuke 'em with negative energy, diverting it from my own teammates using selective channel - by 8th level with the Death domain, this will heal me simultaneously.
Sticking with Core Rulebook material only...
Spoiler:
Lawful Evil Human Cleric of Zon-Kuthon (Level 3)
STR 15
DEX 12
CON 17
INT 12
WIS 19 (Base 17 + 2 from Human)
CHA 17
Domains:
Darkness & Death
Feats:
Blind-Fight (from being a follower of Zon-Kuthon)
Selective Channeling
Heavy Armor Proficiency
Improved Channel OR Command Undead
As we all know, whenever a Cleric wants to channel energy, she has to present her deity's holy/unholy symbol. This is easy enough to do when you're wielding a one-handed weapon, but how about when you're holding a two-handed one?
My current character-in-development is Lawful Evil and worships Zon-Kuthon, meaning he gets proficiency with the spiked chain. Seeing as it's a pretty cool weapon, I figured that I might as well use it, but then it hit me that since the chain is a two-handed weapon, I wouldn't be able to hold it and the symbol at the same time.
Now, the general strategy so far against living enemies would be for me to get close, blast them with negative energy, and then flay them with the chain alongside my party's tanks. What would be the rules involving things like attacks of opportunity, holding the two-handed weapon, and attacking with it be as far as having to present the symbol go?
Going by something I was planning for the campaign I managed to complete, I was wondering if there is a template that can be applied to monsters that would make them statue versions of themselves, brought to life by magic.
I am assuming that it would give the monster the Gargoyle's Freeze ability, and perhaps some damage resistance to ordinary weapons, but I'm not sure what else to add, and how this would affect a given monster's CR.
I'd appreciate any advice that could be given; I have this idea about a Medusa-wannabe spellcaster (not sure what kind would have that kind of power, I admit) with the ego of an artist that has a mausoleum full of these things.
Seeing as my kobold hideout campaign is going to get wrapped up soon, I started to work on our next adventure. I have a neat concept, but I'm not sure how to execute the navigation mechanics.
Average Party Level will be about 3.
The story is that once the PCs wipe out the kobold tribe threatening the nearby town, they go to its mayor, who they had previously bullied into paying for their services. The town, which has not yet been able to profit from the mines that the PCs rid of disease and liberated from kobolds in an earlier adventure, is rather poor. So, rather than pay them the 500-1000 gp each that he promised, he offers them a map that leads to a mountain cavern said to hold untold riches within. Being the greedy bastards that they are, I am assuming that they'll jump at the chance, though I'm making preparations in case they do not.
The cave the map leads to of course, is far from empty. The PCs will have to fight through a mosh pit of goblins, goblin dogs, spiders, spider swarms, and the like. The real part of the adventure comes when they reach the deepest part of the cavern, which quickly begins to wind into a large tunnel maze.
Should they be able to navigate the labyrinth (which may or may not have a Gelatinous Cube in it), they enter the final chamber, which has a rather large treasure room door in it, albeit locked with a rather large lock. The key happens to be tied around the neck of a minotaur, who isn't very happy to see them - after all, he's the guardian. If they manage to best him, they get to enter the treasury, and claim practically the entire campaign's treasure budget in items and whatnot at once, since goblins don't have any use for gold (presumably).
Now, this sounds all fine and dandy in my head, but the problem is, I have NO idea how the maze part will work out. I'll probably have a battlemat for this adventure, but I'm not too sure of how I should go about mapping out the maze, or if I should just find some skill-based mechanic for navigation instead (though they'd miss out on the Gel Cube and being trapped in a hallway by spider swarms).
Well, as of now I currently GM a party, however the plan is for me and one of my friends to swap places, so that I can get a chance to play. I decided to work on my character early, so that fitting him into the storyline would just be a matter of leveling him to the party's current APL. However, I want to get an overall idea of how well the character will work first. This is my FIRST ever character, so I can only go by what I've read in the books and advice I read online.
Without my friend, the Level 3 party would consist of a sword n' board Warrior that basically tanks, a Rogue that relies most on archery, and a melee Druid that double teams enemies with his Tiger companion, while occasionally healing when he can.
Since the majority of the party is Evil or Chaotic, I decided to make a Lawful Evil Human Cleric under the god Asmodeus. I plan to use the Magic and Evil domains, since their abilities sound kind of spiffy, and their spells sound pretty useful.
We rolled for stats, and I got:
STR 14
DEX 13
CON 15
INT 14
WIS 19 (+2 from Human modifier)
CHA 18
The idea was to capitalize on Wisdom and Charisma, which are the abilities that seem to most affect the Cleric's special powers. The rolls were pretty decent, so I just dumped them into whatever, emphasizing the Constitution for a bit more survivability.
Since Asmodeus' favored weapon is a mace, I'll probably use a heavy one, while using a buckler on my other arm. If I'm correct, bucklers let you hold objects while using them, so I can hold my Unholy symbol in that hand throughout battle without any real worries (unless they disarm it or something).
For Feats, I'm thinking about taking Selective Channeling and Heavy Armor Proficiency. The former is so that I can use my negative energy in a bind without worrying about hitting my party members - my Wisdom modifier is high enough to compensate for more than everybody, so that's good. The latter is to further improve on survivability, taking advantage of the fact that there's no chance for spell failure.
At Level 3, I think I will take Combat Casting for the obvious Concentration check reasons.
The character definitely isn't set in stone yet, so I'm definitely open to any criticism you can give.
Recently, a few friends and I got into Pathfinder, so we decided to play at a local comic shop every Friday. Knowing that the job would have to fall to someone, I volunteered to be the GM. So far, it's been a blast - the first campaign went smoothly (with the exception of a rule oversight resulting in the instant death of the Orc Cleric 5 boss), and we'll probably be talking about how Thane the Druid smeared the blood of diseased kobold children all over himself, despite knowing that he'd probably contract the plague they were infected with for a long time. But enough of that.
Having caught up on all the rules, I've started my second campaign (this one of my own creation), but I've come across a dilemma with character navigation that I encountered with the first one. The PCs essentially rely on me to point out exactly where they are, or what a room looks like, and the positions of everybody in the room. It seems a tad illogical, given that movement is measured in squares. A lot of the time, the PCs have me move them "in range" of a certain target, without knowing exactly where they are moving to.
So this leads me to the question, should the PCs be able to see the map or not? I was going by the classical approach that they should have no idea where they are until I tell them, but this has led to the aforementioned problems. Is there a better way of keeping track of the PCs and the dozen or so enemies that are standing in the room with them?
