The Eel's page

265. The dead guy on the throne/beir/altar isn't dead. He's just waiting for you to get close.

I'm GMing at work so 12 players will be mixing between the adventure paths. Hopefully not too much, but if someone has PTO that day, another player will fill in. Essentially they'll all be playing the 3 paths and keep each other informed of what happened even if they didn't play.

It's the best I can do.

Unfortunately, Shattered Star assumes the events of the first three APs set in Varisia have already occurred. I haven't read it, though, so it's possible you can fudge that part a bit. Maybe try Runelords, Second Darkness and Curse of the Crimson Throne.

I'm about to start running RoW, and I have a couple of advice questions based on what I've read here on the boards. I should probably mention that I don't have the Snows of Summer book yet. I'll have my hands on it in a couple of hours, though.

The main question mostly revolves around XP and leveling. I have 5 PCs in the party. I'd like them to be 2nd level right before they hit the lodge, since this is a new group of players for me, and I don't know how they'll play it, or if they'll survive. With the party splitting XP five ways, I figure there's a few ways to go about it.

1. Bump up the encounters a bit. I'd like to avoid this. As I mentioned, I've never played with most of the players in this group, so I'd rather not get too crazy changing encounters from how they are written. Perhaps a few here or there, but adding other creatures, or class levels to the NPCs just throws even more uncertainty into the mix.

2. Put them on the fast track, XP-wise, for at least the first level. Get them to 2nd quickly, then ease off and have them level to 3rd like normal. Or extend it to third, possibly. I figure once they're past 3rd or 4th, they'll be more comfortable with their characters, and I'll know a bit more about how they play. At that point they should have a better chance to survive. If they die after that, it's their fault.

3. Add some earlier side quests/intro quests. I figure I'll probably do this anyway. I'd like to tie them to Heldren and the story a bit before sending them off. I've read some good suggestions here about how to do that. Since I haven't actually read the adventure yet, I'm unsure what's available for early XP, or how to tie them in, but I have a couple weeks to read and plan. This shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, maybe I'm missing another way, or haven't fully considered the options. For those of you who have run this, what are your thoughts? Should I fast track the XP? Add some oomph to the existing fights? Throw a bunch of minor side quests at them at the beginning? Thanks in advance for any help.

And now I only have room for one more.

Bumping with an update...

Looks like it will be Sundays only. Still looking for 2-3 more players.

I'm starting up a new campaign at my FLGS, and I'm looking for 4-5 players. The game will be at Red Castle Games in SE Portland, twice a month. Tuesdays and/or Sundays, 7 or 8 until midnight. I'm going to be running a Pathfinder adventure path, and I'm thinking either Reign of Winter or Shattered Star, though I'm open to other APs.

If you're interested, you can find my email in my profile. Put "Pathfinder Game" in the subject line. Thanks for reading.

-The Eel

Thanks for all the tips! I'll try to vary the CR for encounters a tiny bit for the next game (let's say, 1-2 CR) and maybe pick some smarter enemies than goblins. Maybe an evil necromancer with some skeletons? I'm not quite sure yet. Oh well, I guess we'll get the hang of it in a few more games.

That being said, I've still got issues with two things:

One, it seems to me that you just can go to sleep after each (combat) encounter and regains all your spells (and health, because the cleric can just cast heal over and over again). This certainly doesn't make sense in RPG terms (a party sleeping in a dungeons full of undead, or going back to town after every enemy they face). How should I prevent them from doing this? Should I just say:'don't do it, it doesn't make sense IC', or let them be ambushed if they sleep to much? It feels like a cheap way to keep them going..

Second, how to handle character death? While the odds of killing someone off is quite small if I keep the CR in check, it still could happen. It seems boring to me to say: You can't play with us until we are lvl ?? and can cast Resurrection spells. But a Deus ex machina like, 'it seemed you were dying, but a knight in shining armor ran in and saved you all' seems quite unsatisfying too.. Any tips on handling this?

Again, thanks for the quick responses! :)

Hi there, and welcome to Pathfinder!!

So, you'll have to forgive me if I'm getting this all wrong, as I have no familiarity with the Beginner Box, or how much the rules have been streamlined for ease of play. That said, let me address these two points from a general rules standpoint, in the first case, and from experience, in the second.

1) Not sure how the BB handles it, like I said, but normally a spell caster can't regain spells more than once in a 24 hour period. No matter how much, or how often they "sleep", they only get new spells once a day. While a cleric doesn't technically need a full 8 hours of uninterrupted rest, they do have a specific time of day that they "pray". As far as resting to heal, common sense would imply that you can't gain HP back from resting 8 hours more than once a day. It doesn't specifically call it out in the rules, but it does refer to a "night's" rest.

Of course, that's not even taking into account how dangerous it is to camp down in the middle of a dungeon. A midnight ambush or two is good to get the point across, but there's no need to over-do it. All the above advice about "making camp" is good stuff.

2) Let 'em die. Really. Let them die, and then have them roll up a new character. It could even be the same character for all intents and purposes. Just change the name and description. No need to wait until the other characters gain more XP, just come up with a good reason the replacement PC is in the dungeon, or where ever, and go from there.

Letting them die, you're reinforcing that death is a real consequence. It will put some fear into your players and make them smarter fighters. Dying is never fun, but neither is always winning. Honestly, it's harder to kill off a character than you'd think. Drop them into negs, sure, but unless it's massive amounts of damage, or they were near death already, there's plenty of time for an unconscious PC to stabilize, or for his friends to stabilize him.

Hope that helps. If not, just ignore me. My players often do. One last thing, out of curiosity... How doe's your fighter have a +7 to damage? I know it's doable, even at 1st level, but I'd like to know how it worked out for you. 18 STR, Power Attack and Two Handing a longsword? That's about the extreme end of the power spectrum at 1st level, barring using an actual 2handed weapon. If it is the case, then just know that the fighter is at the top end of what's possible for 1st level, and won't be getting much stronger for a few levels. It also means he's hurting somewhere else, stat-wise, assuming you guys used a point buy. Hit him there. Will saves, Cha based social encounters, Int based puzzle encounters, etc. Hitting things really hard is about the only thing he's gonna be good at. That's his job. The other characters will shine in other places.

Building a character for my gf. I was given two points of direction:

1) Like River Song.

2) I don't want to kill people.

The second is a tougher demand in Pathfinder, so even though Doctor Song always has a gun on her hip, I think we should go Archaeologist.

This is a 15 point buy, so for a spread I was thinking

STR 10
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 13
WIS 10
CHA 16

Human, stat bump to Charisma.

Doesn't want to kill people? Whip feats. So maybe Weapon Finesse and Combat Expertise, with the intent of opening up things like Improved Trip and Improved Disarm?

thoughts?

That's pretty much how I'd do it, but I'd use archivist instead. In addition to using BP to buff the party, which the archaeologist doesn't do, the whole journal keeping thing that River Song does seems to fit the archivist better. Also, don't forget to take a look at the whip mastery feats, in addition to combat expertise ---> imp. maneuvers line.

We play an E7 campaign, allowing full BAB characters two attacks, and full casters to get 4th level spells. Many of the epic feats are each classes 8th level abilities. There is also a feat which lets characters treat their BAB as one higher for the purpose of taking other feats. This doesn't actually raise their BAB, since I feel that defeats the purpose of E7, but does allow full BAB characters to take the +8 feats and 3/4 BAB characters to take the +6 feats.

The PCs have been 7th for a little while now, actually just reaching the benchmark for their first epic feat last night. It's been working wonderfully, so far. I'm very happy with the power level that E7 sticks with.

Well, in the case of ninjas, it specifically calls out that ninjas may not select a rogue talent of the same name as a ninja trick they have already taken. The rules don't actually say the same for rogues, but it's implied, in my book.

Steal away!!! : )

If you have access to advanced talents then the shadowdancer talents are also advanced.

Taken from the shadowdancer prestige class: " If a shadowdancer has the advanced talents rogue class feature, she can choose from the advanced talents list instead."

I'm aware of that part, it's that there's no advanced talent for taking a ninja's master tricks, though I feel like there should be.

Well, if that's the case (and I salute your commitment to a character concept), you'll still have to deal with the power of your talents/tricks based on rogue levels only. And according to RAW, there is no way a rogue can use master tricks. This does seem like an oversight to me, so if your GM has no issues with advanced talents qualifying for master tricks, then you're good to go.

Using just rogue levels would be fine with me, as I'll always have more levels in that than shadowdancer. The question remains, what about the tricks I take as a shadowdancer? I assume I only use SD levels for those.

Also, Simon, I love the idea of re-skinning the ki pool as a shadow pool. It fits my character perfectly, as well. So..... Totally stealing it, thanks! ;)

Multiclassing can be confusing, and I think this is a good example of how Pathfinder can discourage multiclassing (whether or not it was intentional). Let me answer your questions with another question. Is there some important reason why you need to be a rogue with ninja tricks? I'm assuming it's for dealing with traps, but it seems you'd be better off just being a ninja/shadowdancer and use the ninja tricks for whatever rogue talents you need.

EDIT: Forgot about the archetypes. I think you'd be better off asking your GM to let you use rogue archetypes and replace ninja class abilities instead. It's a lot less messy if he'll allow it.

Character is already made, and level three. Besides, it's all about the concept for me. She's a rogue, not a ninja. The ninja tricks, to me, compliment the character only once she's a shadowdancer. I understand that ninja/shadowdancer is an easier route, but it's not the one I'm going down.

I'm playing a very similar character, though I'm putting a few levels of fighter in there to gain more feats / base attack & survivability. Have you asked your DM if he/she would be fine with it, if it's not a written rule?

Yeah, I've run all of this by my GM. I just thought I'd get a few more opinions, as he is newer to the seat behind the screen.

Here's the background:

I have a knife master/ scout rogue that I plan on multi-classing into shadow dancer around level 9. I'm going to end up taking a few ninja tricks as well, both as a rogue and as a shadow dancer, starting with ki pool as a rogue at level 8. As a SD I plan on taking vanishing trick and shadow clone, as well as a few other talents. After 6 levels of SD, I'll be heading back into rogue for the remainder of the AP. During that time I plan on taking the invisible blade master trick (if I can).

Here's the questions:

As far as I can tell, rogues and ninjas can gain the other's talents and tricks, and ninjas can gain advanced talents, but there is no rogue advanced talent that lets a rogue gain a ninja's master tricks. This seems an oversight to me. Why would it work for a ninja one way, but not a rogue in the reverse? I've asked my GM to look at it and see if he'll allow it, but I'd love to see it as an official option.

Shadow dancers get rogue talents, and thus can get ninja tricks. While I understand that levels in rogue and levels in SD don't stack for purposes of gaining advanced talents (or master tricks, if so allowed), how does it work when determining effects based on level, such as the duration of some of the various talents and tricks. If, by character level 11 (rogue 8/ SD 3), I were to take vanishing trick as a shadow dancer, would the duration be 3 rounds, or 11? I know that nowhere I can find does it say the levels do stack, but tricks is tricks, right?

Related to the above question is this: Once I've gone back into rogue for two levels, at level 16 I'm up for advanced talents. Assuming my GM let's me choose master tricks from the ninja list, I'd be taking invisible blade. But I'm taking that as a rogue. Now the duration, without any stacking, would be 10 rounds. That 10 rounds of greater invisibility, based on rogue levels. But I took the pre-req as a shadow dancer, and when I used vanishing act, (pre-invisible blade, and assuming no stacking) I'd have a max 6 rounds of normal invisibility.

I guess for me it's confusing because of how all the talents and tricks interact, seeing as how both base class and prestige class get talents. I hope this post isn't as confusing for those of you reading it. Thanks in advance for your input.

DungeonmasterCal wrote:

Odraude wrote:

DungeonmasterCal wrote:

I didn't see the Unholy Reaver anywhere listed.

I've asked this question in another thread, but maybe it can be answered here. I know someone on here is more of a bean counter than I am, so what is the approximate ratio of new stuff in the UEG to reprinted stuff?

I counted up an estimated 55/45 in favor of old stuff, but the treasure generator and the value of having a compendium really boost it up to 50/50. YMMV

Thanks!

My personal favorite is how you can make leather armour or hide armour out of the skin of a flayed angel.

... it has mechanical benefits I swear.

and yet... it registers a good aura. Seems like wearing the flayed skin of an angel might be a bit evil, but i suppose its all in the intent.

Guy on a buffalo

Damn..... Ninja'd!

Anomander wrote:

what caius said.

If you want any sort of balance dont use rolled states, use point buy.

But even with all 18s in stats i too would like to know how he got 40+ in all stats.

18 (base)
+6 item
+5 book (or wishes)
+5 level
+2 race
= 36

and that is only to the best stat as he wont get race and level bonus to more than one, so the others really should be capped at 29.

Besides letting players get tons and tons of gold, presumably breaking wbl levels massively, will also make it increasingly hard to give challanging encounters, so my advice there is dont give the players too much gold or loot, and you will find the game not that broke.

Hmm, I must say, I find your taste in Avatars impeccable. Tis a handsome looking one, most definitely.

I find his taste in source material for names impeccable. Tis an excellent series, most definitely. Buttered Scone, anyone?

I really like the CharacterFolio app from Dark Theatre LLC. It fills in a lot on it's own, like BAB and Init, and almost everything is in a drop down menu form. It has customizable equipment slots. Actually, everything is customizable, which is a good thing, since it has it's own issues like not recognizing that you have certain feats. As long as you know what should go in, say, AC, you can enter it.

I don't know if it's exportable or not. I would just fill out an old fashioned paper sheet for your DM and update it every time you level. The app is....$7, i think. Not a huge investment. I use it in the game I play in, my cousin uses it in the game I run and the other that we play in together. Another player in my campaign uses it, and yet another player in the other game uses it as well. Also....character portrait. Always nice!

The Alexandrian has great advice.

Intelligence Check is PF specific, but is general musings on the game. Not really advice.

That's just two off the top of my head. Seems like every GM has a blog or a campaign website these days. It shouldn't be too hard to find more.

What level are they? We had a high level campaign with a lot of marching, but we teleported home most nights. That might disrupt your massacre.

Hahaha. Yeah, that would put a kink in my plans. Luckily that's not gonna happen. They'll be 7th level when this goes down. Marching through the dust with everyone else.

Hehehehehee! Have fun on the campaign. Wish I could be at THAT table!

I cried at the end of the 3rd book.

Yeah.... me, too. #notreallyabigtoughguy

I absolutely loved the books (just finished #8). Chain of Dogs is an AWESOME idea to put the players through. Nothing bonds a table of players like some good tragedy.

I would suggest maybe starting each "morning" and possibly "night" of the train with a meeting of the PC's and your Coltaine or One-Arm and any NPC's that fit the flavor of the higher-ups meeting. As it was in the book, that would be a perfect stage to set the feelings of desperation and give the PC's the chance to influence and live with the hard decisions needed to be made for the train to survive (cutting rations, mercy killing those who are wounded too badly or too sick, plague, spoiled food, etc).

Are any of your players an Alchemist? Hopefully someone has the ability to use bombs...I know I would just WANT to be planning some Moranth munitions scenes...like timing a charge and burying it and running away in time as a trap. Call me crazy.

P.S. Love the nick and the pic! I want to make Iskaral Pust someday...

Have fun with books 9 and 10. Dust of Dreams is a bit of a slog, but The Crippled God makes it all worth it. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried at the end. Of course, ending a ten year long relationship is always hard. Glad I can always go back.

Last night I finished up creating the mechanics of the march. I was thinking along the lines of what you suggested, having a daily meeting with the PCs and the higher up NPCs. I'd have them explain their plans for the day, tackle the logistical and tactical problems that arise, and then assign modifiers to the daily attrition rate. I also wrote up a random daily event table, sort of like an encounter table. These are the days challenges to overcome, and success or failure have different modifiers to the attrition rate as well.

On top of that I've written rules for handling those challenges. Essentially opposed checks modified by the PCs plans and actions during the daily meeting, plus any smart moves they make. Like I said, these guys never cease surprising me, so there's plenty of misc. modifiers to take that into account.

Sadly, no Alchemists, and no Moranth munitions. I decided early in the game not to include anything like that from the start. If one of the PCs decides to research and develop munitions, then I'm all for it. No one has, yet. The ARG has a gnome (I think it is) Alch archetype called Saboteur that's almost perfect for Malazan style sappers. Makes me wish I could reroll my gnome alchemist. Also, I tried statting up Pust once, but never finished. I couldn't decide on class.

The Eel wrote:

Now, here's the d!@k move, on my part. Everything they've worked for back in town will be sacked. Ruined. Gone. Many, many civilians, and probably some of their friends, will die.

Is this not your OP? Or have you changed this?

Yup, I wrote that. You'll notice it was also about 24 hours, and a handful of exchanges, ago. That's why I asked for feedback.

What I mean to say is, with the loss of their adopted city, they lose a base of operations, and a sense of home and safety. That's the point of the whole thing. I apologize for any hyperbole on my part in the OP

Note that those things you are taking away are not only things that the PC's worked hard to obtain, but things that the PLAYERs worked hard to obtain.

Unless you clear it with your players first, this is certainly a 'richard" move. Don't.

Err.. I just realized there's something crucial missing in my last post. The word "not", as in I'm NOT planning on destroying everything they've work for. HUUUGE difference. In fact, aside from a sense of loss and tragedy, most everything would be going on the march with them. All the more reason for them to protect it.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

@ HaraldKlak: The attrition rate would absolutely be behind the screen. I'd probably explain that the PCs actions will have an effect of the the survival of the refugees and soldiers, but not with any hard numbers. I believe something similar went on in the first part of the Serpent's Skull AP. Depending on what we did for camp, and things like that, the GM raised or lowered the chance of disease and random encounters. I'd do something like that, but on a larger scale and affecting the attrition rate.

I also plan on making the PCs the center of attention. There may be a leader, probably the king, or a general they know, but they'll be the ones making the tactical and logistical decisions. They'll be the ones at the center of the pivotal moments, being the deciding factor in whether they win or lose.

@ Hecknoshow: I'm planning on destroying EVERYTHING they've worked for, nor killing off all their NPC attachments, just enough to hurt. What part of the Jade Regent AP are the caravan rules in? I don't have it, but I could get just one part, if I need to.

If you're already running a Malazan-esque campaign, then the Chain of Dogs is pretty par for the course, in my opinion.

You'd seriously need someone like Fist Coltaine or even One-arm to pull off a fighting withdrawal like that though, I'd start grooming the appropriate NPC now.

Re-read and refresh the rules for fatigue and starvation. Coltaine effectively had his casters shut down, your PC's should also be on the brink of collapse too.

But, positive side, I want to the stats for the Wickan dogs and the horsemen. Also, Bult.

It is heavily influenced by the Malazan books, so I agree, it fits the feel. I already have a few Coltaine/One-Arm types, waiting in the wings. They've been seeded, the PCs have met them. I don't think I'll include the Wickan dogs, or the Wickans, in general. I want the PCs to be the elite warriors (as much as I love the Wickans). Bult will have to happen, though. Thanks for that. Thanks for reminding me about the fatigue and starvation rules, too. I'll need that.

I'm thinking about assigning a daily attrition rate, and modifying it based on the PCs actions and tactics.

Hey all,

I'm considering using the Chain of Dogs from Steven Erikson's Deadhouse Gates as the basis for an upcoming event in my campaign. If you're familiar with the book, you'll know what I'm talking about, if not, here's the tl;dr version:

The characters have to escort a large number of civilians many miles to safety while an enemy army harasses them the entire way.

Another reference that may help is from the Lord of the Rings, when the Rohirrim flee Edoras for Helm's Deep.

Anyway, here's the background. The PCs, once soldiers of an invading empire, have fled from a battle where they were betrayed and framed (more Malazan influence). They settled in quaint city in the kingdom to the north, and this has been their base of operations for at least five levels. They have made many ties to the area, some financial, some tactical, others romantic. Their quests have lead them away from worrying about the empire that's still hunting them. I intend on having that foe come crashing back into their lives at some point later in the campaign, and the Chain of Dogs has given me inspiration.

My idea is, at some point down the road (there is still much to do around the kingdom they're in), the invading empire marches an army into the kingdom and is about to sack the city the PCs are in. They'll be asked to help lead the civilian inhabitants further north to another city with is much better fortified (Helm's Deep, if you will). It's not that far away, maybe 200 miles, but a train of civilians will take around two weeks to walk there. During that time, the train will be attacked regularly. Usually small hit and run, harrying attacks, but a few large scale encounters, as well.

Now, here's the d!@k move, on my part. Everything they've worked for back in town will be sacked. Ruined. Gone. Many, many civilians, and probably some of their friends, will die. I want to put hatred for their former employers back into their hearts. I want them to have to start fighting a lopsided battle. These guys are too clever, by far, so I know they'll figure out a way to survive, and fight back. I just have two questions..

1. Should I do this to them? It fits the story that we've been building, and furthers a few other points of the campaign, but it's harsh.

2. How do I go about running it, if I do. I'm not a novice GM, but I could use some outside opinions and thoughts.

Thanks for reading this far. Sorry for the huge post. Any thoughts are appreciated.

The Eel wrote:

If she's Blade Bound, she won't need to purchase magic weapons. The blackblade is enough. This frees up some cash for stat boosting items, or whatever else she wants. IF she goes half elf, she can get the EWP from Ancestral Arms. Half Elf Adaptability will also help since she's multi-classing. I'd start with Magus at first level and alternate until she reaches Magus 4/Rogue 4, then stick with Magus. Unless she wants the extra SA d6, which isn't a bad idea.

Anyway, that's my 2cp

Ancestral Arms doesn't allow you to ignore prerequisites. A half-elf rogue or magus would only be able to take Martial Weapon Proficiency.

Actually, it does. From the PRD:

Ancestral Arms: Some half-elves receive training in an unusual weapon. Half-elves with this racial trait receive Exotic Weapon Proficiency or Martial Weapon Proficiency with one weapon as a bonus feat at 1st level. This racial trait replaces the adaptability racial trait.

It straight up says you receive the EWP. Not that you treat all weapons with the word Elven in it's name as a martial weapon proficiency. That's Weapon Familiarity from the elf racial traits. There are plenty of incidences where a character can receive a feat without meeting the prereqs.

Bandavaar, when I said alternate classes, magus then rogue, I meant until rogue level 4 (or five for the 3d6 SA damage). The go Magus the rest of the way. You're not losing out on that many skill points in the long run. It sounds far better to me to put off a few skill points to get Magus spells and the black blade at 3rd level (character level 5, if you were alternating). Obviously, you have it figured out pretty well well what your girlfriend wants to do, and it looks solid. I'm just stating how I would do it. Again, my 2 cp, and of course YMMV.

Edit: Kensai and Bladebound do stack, and they are wicked together. You'll lose out on spells, especially since your GF's Magus is multi-classing, but since that's only a part of the concept, I'd also say it's worth it. I'd also have to agree with Remco about the ninja. If said Magus was a Bladebound Kensai AND a Ninja, there is the potential for some cool Tien based backstory. If that floats your boat.

If she's Blade Bound, she won't need to purchase magic weapons. The blackblade is enough. This frees up some cash for stat boosting items, or whatever else she wants. IF she goes half elf, she can get the EWP from Ancestral Arms. Half Elf Adaptability will also help since she's multi-classing. I'd start with Magus at first level and alternate until she reaches Magus 4/Rogue 4, then stick with Magus. Unless she wants the extra SA d6, which isn't a bad idea.

Anyway, that's my 2cp

I would be happy just to see a correction of a long standing mistake that has been plaguing the game since back in 3.0 - the idea that a long bow cannot be made to give a strength bonus is just totally wrong. Especially in a magical world with nifty materials like adamantine and mithral, it is no harder to craft a long bow for a high strength than it is to make a composite bow for high strength.

Please, end this long lasting mistake.

The long standing mistake is yours, not the game's. A long bow crafted to give a strength bonus IS a composite long bow. Same thing. It's not Long bow OR Composite bow. Just like a short bow crafted to give you a strength bonus is a composite short bow.

From the PRD

Longbow: At almost 5 feet in height, a longbow is made up of one solid piece of carefully curved wood. You need two hands to use a bow, regardless of its size. A longbow is too unwieldy to use while you are mounted. If you have a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when you use a longbow. If you have a Strength bonus, you can apply it to damage rolls when you use a composite longbow (see below), but not when you use a regular longbow.

Longbow, Composite: You need at least two hands to use a bow, regardless of its size. You can use a composite longbow while mounted. All composite bows are made with a particular strength rating (that is, each requires a minimum Strength modifier to use with proficiency). If your Strength bonus is less than the strength rating of the composite bow, you can't effectively use it, so you take a –2 penalty on attacks with it. The default composite longbow requires a Strength modifier of +0 or higher to use with proficiency. A composite longbow can be made with a high strength rating to take advantage of an above-average Strength score; this feature allows you to add your Strength bonus to damage, up to the maximum bonus indicated for the bow. Each point of Strength bonus granted by the bow adds 100 gp to its cost. If you have a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when you use a composite longbow.

I don't ban it. In fact, everyone gets it, no feat needed. Actually taking the feat nets you a +2 to your leadership score. On the other hand, I don't allow automatic recruitment. Gaining followers is a roleplaying reward, and a cohort has to be actively, and specifically, sought out.

How about a whip/sword (Like what Ivy in soul calibur has?)

I wanted to make a villain with Ivy's sword, so I reskinned the urumi from UC: Commonly known as a whip sword, this deadly weapon is fashioned from one to four 5-foot-long, razor-sharp blades of flexible steel. The weapon is wielded by whipping the blades at one's opponent. The coiled blade is fine and flexible enough to be worn as a belt.

Perhaps this isn't very "evil", but during the run up to the start of my current campaign I gave the players the impression it was going to be a military style game. I gave them loads of background info about their Company, the legion said company belonged to, the empire they belonged to, etc. Down to troop numbers, commander's names, names of the other companies. I gave them I tiny amount of info about the land they were invading, the city they were laying siege to, the enemy troops. They picked a Sgt. and a Corporal from their party. Picked gear from the standard issue kit.

After all of that, after the first mission/battle, I had their entire company wiped out in a betrayal by their own allies, framed them for treason, and sent them on the run. Now they're stuck in a strange land with few allies and a price on their heads, eking out a living as mercenaries/adventurers. Basically, they're the A-Team.

Now they're completely paranoid, suspecting that everyone they meet is involved in one conspiracy or another. I even had trouble introducing a new player to the group, as they even suspected him. Every NPC they meet who is even slightly devious is a evil mastermind. Of course I play it up. Strange people are watching them, shady dealings are afoot, and they did uncover a completely different conspiracy, but figured the wrong NPC for the mastermind. THAT NPC is working for the Empire's allies, but they don't know that yet.

I like the bait and switch, as long as it isn't a complete 180*.

Also Dotting.

The problem with stalkers, is Daylight is a 3rd level spell, and since your party is only 5th level, they'll *might* have 1 prepared. Dark Stalkers opens up with Deeper Darkness, Creepers move up and sneak attack. Caster uses Daylight to dispel the Deeper Darkness. Stalker uses another Deeper Darkness to allow more sneak attacks. Party is now dead because the Deeper Darkness moves with the Stalker and unless the party can keep making the acrobatics checks to move while blinded, they will trip and fall and then the Stalker and Creepers catch up and kill them.

Consider dropping a Wand of Daylight with 5 charges on it somewhere so they can have a chance against the Stalker. Also, look into the Dark Slayer as an alternative. He's the magic using version of the Dark Folk and doesn't come with the Deeper Darkness ability. One Creeper opens up with Darkness, Slayer uses his Spectral Hand SLA, Creepers move forward and sneak attack. Slayer then uses his Spectral Hand to hit with his Chill Touch SLA while the Creepers are keeping the party busy. For a particularly resilient person, he would use his Inflict Moderate SLA on him. This would still be a challenging encounter, but less likely to be a TPK as Darkness can be countered by Daylight and in fact suppresses any number of Darkness spells.

There are in fact some Slayers there. More than Stalkers. I've already thrown in a few lighting condition changing items. I mostly want to use Deeper Darkness once or twice to scare the crap out of them and watch them run. I'll watch it to make sure it doesn't get out of control, but I appreciate the advice.

I haven't run it yet, but Curse of the Riven Sky, penned by Monte Cook, comes highly recommended.

The Eel wrote:

Dotting for future evilness. I really like the dark folk comments, as next session my players are about to enter a dark folk lair. I planned on abusing the deeper darkness/sneak attack trick, but I hadn't even thought about the implications of the blinding flash.

Add to it with the fact that it's a Goonies inspired dungeon, everyone assumes they'll find a helpful Sloth type guy and a pirate ship. Instead they get a very antagonistic ogre-kin and a big 'ol aquatic undead at the end. At least the water slide was fun......

** spoiler omitted **

I'd caution on the use of Stalkers and Creepers. Against a party without true strike, the Stalker can spam out Deeper Darkness to negate any amount of daylight, dispel magic, etc. the party can summon forth. Generally speaking, it's easy for a couple of creepers and stalkers to defeat anything short of high level parties as they simply can't counter the Deeper Darkness.

OOH, I like him! Yep, that's the one. Gonna have to borrow that stat block.

There's 7 party members, all 4th and 5th level, plus an eidolon. They typically tear through whatever I put in their way, as I'm still testing their limits. I don't plan throwing many dark folk at them at once, and I think there's only 2 Stalkers in the whole bunch. Still, it's supposed to be a grim fantasy, and they know they can easily die. I'll keep your warning in mind as they progress through the area.

Dotting for future evilness. I really like the dark folk comments, as next session my players are about to enter a dark folk lair. I planned on abusing the deeper darkness/sneak attack trick, but I hadn't even thought about the implications of the blinding flash.

Add to it with the fact that it's a Goonies inspired dungeon, everyone assumes they'll find a helpful Sloth type guy and a pirate ship. Instead they get a very antagonistic ogre-kin and a big 'ol aquatic undead at the end. At least the water slide was fun......

Well, we DID playtest the Vigor/Wound system and it turns out that really no one cared for it all that much. Everybody agreed that it SOUNDED awesome but once implemented, slowed our game down dramatically.

Alas, stick to the HP system for us. Cheers!

Right there with you. After running 4 sessions with WP/VP I scrapped it for a slightly modified HP system. Main reasons being it slowed down combat, it got confusing with things like stabilize, once you get past the wound threshhold you have to keep track of who's staggered, make a fort save for every action and deduct another wound point (actually, this is just a specific point with-in the first point... slowing down combat), and WP take too long to heal. The healer (2nd level oracle) can only heal 5 WP a day through her spells, plus 1 from rest? When she, herself, is down to 10/26 WP? No thanks... back to HP for us (actually switched mid-combat because it was so frustrating for everyone on either side of the screen.)

The term DMPC is a contradiction in terms. The correct term is NPC, specifically recurring NPC. This is of absolutely central importance. When a character run by the DM tags along with the party for a long time, it's such a character. However, DMPC implies a few things that are simply not done:

* That the DM sees his/her job as doing good for that character.
* That the character can be trusted as much as any other PC.
* That that character is as important as the other PCs.

All of these are game-breakers, at least to me. Someone pulled that on me, I'd leave. As a DM, I have had recurring NPCs, even quite long-term ones, but always firmly understood to be precisely NON-player characters. Usually, to help me establish this, they are clearly weaker/useless compared to the PCs.

+1

Over the course of the past two years I've played something like 3 or 4 GMPCs in my current campaign, including one cohort. Basically, I have a stable of NPCs that have class levels roughly equal to APL -1 or 2. These are all contacts and allies that the party has met over the course of the campaign. When ever the party is short (3 or less), they tend to go recruit one of these NPCs. I never play them for more than one or two adventures, and only when they need the extra help. These NPCs are also good for when we have a guest player. For example, whenever my brother comes out from NYC, he plays the bard/duelist ally. Now we're in the endgame of the campaign, so all these NPCs are showing for the final showdown.

I guess they don't really fall under the classification of a true GMPC, but they give me some fun getting to play different characters, even if they're backseat types.

I'm currently testing WP/VP in a lead up adventure to my next campaign. After seeing it in action during a couple of sessions, I'm still on the fence. It seems to drag out the combat, which already eats up quite a bit of time. I like the idea behind it, and I think it's the best version of the "John McClane" model of taking damage, but I'm still not convinced. The "healer" in the group is a little frustrated by it as well. I'll keep testing it through the end of this adventure, but we'll see.

Once the actual campaign kicks off I'll be using a restricted form of Called Shots. I'm allowing it, but a Hero Point needs to be spent to make a called shot. I'm hoping this limits a wild abuse of the mechanic, and it seems "flavorful" to make that heroic shot to the Ogre's eye using a Hero Point.

As for the rest... I will not likely be using them. Armor as DR sounds nice, but doesn't strike me a fully fleshed out. Performance combat is too situational. There's fighting pits in the Northlands of my campaign, so they might get broken out up there... maybe. Piecemeal armor looks broken. Again, a nice idea, but it allows some unbalanced (IMO) armor combos.

I've decided that I'm going to have everyone on the same boat heading to a city, something will happen along the way that will force them to work together, and then we'll work from there. Most likely after they arrive at their destination, they will be thanked for their helped and hired to take care of another problem.

I do find this thread quite interesting, and I think others will get a lot of new ideas from it, so maybe we should keep it going.

That's a good one. Serpent's Skull starts out like that, except the "something that happens" is a shipwreck. It works well.

I think part of the problem with 'happy sticks' is that they're more efficient than wands of moderate/serious/critical wounds, in a GP to HP ratio. no one is going to buy a wand of cure moderate if a wand of cure light is available.

Does anyone know how the wound/vitality mechanic changes this?

I've run the first two sessions of my newest campaign using VP/WP and so far it seems that the players are frustrated with the way WP heal, versus healing VP. They are far more concerned with watching their wound threshold, which is understandable. Since a wand of CLW would heal the regular amount of VP, but only 1 WP, I could see them blowing through the wand pretty quickly. Maybe this is a good thing, as it becomes financially difficult to maintain WP this way (at least at lower levels, where the wand is going to be the most useful). I don't know. They're only level 1 and don't have the cash for the wand anyway.

Sunder staff (1" wood: DR 5, 10HP)

<cut scene of crying monk>

Now he's fighting with two hanbos ;)

I once traded a jar of pepper (for a few copper) to an innkeeper in exchange for an item worth several hundred gold. I told him it was a "rare spice that I had first tasted in a far distant land that tastes glorious."

Then I used prestidigitation on the pepper so that it did, in fact, have a wonderful taste. I told him that it had no preservatives, so he'd need to enjoy it quickly, within the hour, or the taste would fade.

In the middle ages pepper was a luxury item, at times worth its weight in gold. It did indeed come from a "far distant land" (India, for the most part). Also, no need for prestidigitation... pepper already has a glorious taste! (sorry to threadjack. I love me some pepper.) =)

No advice for you (sorry), just coming in to say I love the idea and it reminds me a lot of Mani (played by Mark Dacascos) from Brotherhood of the Wolf. The first scene he's in has him whuping major ass with a staff, in the rain and the mud. Here's a pic

I'm starting my players off (at 2nd level) in my next campaign as members of the same squad in the imperial army. Not counting a prologue adventure that I'm running the RPG newbie through, they'll have a mission to accomplish (during a siege) which should warm them up to their strengths and weaknesses, after which they're betrayed and abandoned by their superiors, stranding them in a relatively unknown area (at least it is to them). The rest of the campaign takes place in this area, as they tromp around doing the usual adventurer thing. (yeah, it's the A-Team meets the Bridgeburners. What can I say...?)

This way, they've fought side by side with one another for at least a year (game time, as backstory) before they even start CharGen. They also get to make up their own backstories, like how they ended up in the army, without me having to worry about figuring out how they all meet up.

Great news! So, now that it's been two weeks, and you guys can work without snoops snooping, any idea when UC will hit the site?

Keep up the great work!

I like it. I'm already using weapon finesse as a weapon quality (most weapons that qualify for finesse allow you to use either str or dex right out of the box, no feat needed. Some are even dex only, like the rapier and the whip). This would make a good replacement feat.