taking prisoners is far more profitable then killing them. Gaius, I took no offence just stating that you don't have to believe in something in order to "pretend" that you do.
Please remove Gaius from consideration. I can not get my head around the whole ethics issue of being a pirate. Actively hunting people who have not harmed you or yours, for profit.
The dark, rough streets of lower Magnimar can be a tough place for a kid, but Olotor seem to thrive in them. Abandoned here at a young age, Olotor grew up not really knowing his mother and father. The only parental figures he know were the gangs of Magnimar. This is where he learned his trade and became very good at it. He really love to work down at Magnimars docks where he capitalized on the unsuspecting sailors that came on ships from all over the known world.
This is where he decided to get a job on one of the ships so he could travel and see the world. He traveled for a few years and one day found himself in Port Pearl. One of Olotor’s favorite things is shore leave, so he ended up at a local tavern when someone slipped something in his drink.
Olotor
Male Elven Rogue (Swashbuckler) 1
CN medium humanoid
Init +4 Senses Low-Light Vision Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13
CMB +2
CMD 16
Armor Hide Shirt +3
hp 15
Fort 2 ,Ref 7 ,Will 0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft
Weapon Rapier +5, Light Crossbow +3
Space 5 Reach 5
STATISTICS
STR 12 DEX 18 CON 12 INT 15 WIS 10 CHA 10
Base Atk 1
Feats Armor Proficiency (Light), Elven Weapon Proficiencies, Rouge Weapon Proficiencies, Simple Weapon Proficiencies-All, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +6, Appraise +8, Bluff +5, Climb +3, Disable Device +6, Knowledge (Local) +7, Perception +5, Profession (Cook) +5, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +6
Traits Eye for Plunder, Forlom
Languages Common, Elven, Gnoll, Orc
First session they did well. got as far as the storm on day 8. I am no liking the daily task and ship actions to much. I think I will do away with them for the next session and come up with another way of doing it.
Not sure if this has been asked yet but on the inside over of the AP there is the map of the Shackles. On this map there are 4 or 5 X's that are supposed to be random treasuer.
On the inside back cover there is info on the diff. random treasure but no sorry of stat blocks for encounters. Is this supposed to be up the the GM to come up with diff. encounters for this? I will just not use them I think.
Ryan, something like that. I was thinking more on the lines of style and presentation. I guess I could just look at the adventure paths and copy that format. I just like to make things look professional.
So, I'm getting married in May (and yes, before you ask, someone is crazy enough to want me as her husband). In every wedding I have ever been to there was the fancy, schmancy "wedding cake" and then the less fancy, usually goofy "groom's cake". But the folks I work with here in Phlly claim to never have heard of a "groom's cake" tradition. Has anyone else ever had or seen a groom's cake, or has my poor mind finally cracked under the strain of being a horrid undead thing feasting on the flesh (and brains) of my once fellow humans?
Either way, I plan to have a groom's cake, and I think I'll have one that looks like a brain....
Congrats on your wedding Aberzombie. A groom's cake is very traditional. I had one for my wedding. Every wedding I have ever been to has had one. Where are you from? I can't believe that they have never heard of this.
Gotta blame something in today's society. We can't possibly just say "hey, he murdered him because he's an insane s~*@head!" No, we have to find something "else" to blame, as we are a society of perpetual victims. Don't get me started on this or I'll have to go to the rant topic. D&D, death metal, anything weird makes a good scapegoat for the modern day witch hunters.
Bad parenting? Too complicated, gotta find a quick fix scapegoat....D&D? Okay, that works.
Maybe I didn't understand the article, But I think it stayed well away from the 'D&D turned this guy into a homocidal maniac' thing. Aren't you reading too much into this?
I agree with Chef's Slaad on this one. I mean D&D was only stated 2 or 3 times. How many times did they let us know that he used a SAMURAI sword? I think the blame should fall on Japan. Never did trust those swinty eyed basterds in the first place!!!
The problem is... you can't really leave out much in a stat block for a published adventure, because you can't know what kind of party is going up against the monster. If we leave out the Languages line, for example, the DM who has a party of diplomats and enchanters who've specialized in language-dependant spells like suggestion and enthrall suddenly has to do a lot of extra work to prepare for the adventure. Also, by leaving out information, those who enjoy tinkering with the stat blocks to adjust them and customize them to their campaigns suddenly get left out.
There's really not much room for compromise, I don't think, without redesigning the stat block Yet Again.
I didn't mean the guys at Paizo do the stat block thing. I was meaning the DM can do that. I'm sorry if I got anyone confused.
The next AP thread over on ENWorld mentioned this...
"Stat blocks for high level creatures are so huge, that the DM can't digest them without a Tactics guide. Half the stuff there is a waste that will never see play in your encounter."
And I thought to myself, if I'm never going to use some of the data elements, why have to navigate through them, let alone have them take up page space.
Since we already get web enhancements with the maps, why not just add the full length stat block to it for those who want the info, and provide an abridged version in the magazine, keeping only the elements you'll (likely) need in play?
Has this been considered?
If it's a new idea, what do people think?
Why not just do what I do. When I'm preparing for an adventure to run my guys though, like ST, I use Excel on my laptop. I make a form with all the info I need for my NPCs, monsters and such and fill it out. I leave out stuff like lang. and such and put in what I need for combat. I do this for all encounters in the mod. I label the taps with the name of the encounter or NPC or the Room number in the dungeon.
This also save time as I dont have to flip though the magazine or mod to find what I'm looking for when its not on the same page as the encounter description.
It's just what I do. You may be able to come up with something better or something that works for you.