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 Recent Posts
Tatzlford features prominently in the first act of Kingmaker's Blood for Blood adventure...written by some first-time AP contributor hack, I think. ;-) Meh, little bump in the road for conquering armies to stamp 'neath jackbooted feet. Nothing major. Move along, move along ... this is not the plot hook you are looking for ... ;-)
Since PFO is very heavily influenced by EVE Online, there are significant differences between PnP and PFO's skills concept. The best way to contrast/compare the many will be familiar with is a few comparisons with WoW. EVE predates WoW by the better part of a year between launch dates as I understand. WoW uses a narrowly focused level-based progression that a player can hit the level cap within a few months or so. The class-based level progession contains a specific set of abilities, armor and weapon proficiencies, access to four secondary professions and a choice of two from amongst three gathering professions (herbalism, mining, skinning) and a variety of crafting professions that use a combination of item recipes, vendor-only items and player-gathered materials. Once your character hits the "cap" in these various factors, the character is "done". EVE doesn't dictate anything but a race-specific basic starting skills set. There are about 300 skills in the game, each trainable from level 1-5. These skills are assigned a numerical rank. The lower the rank, the faster each level of that skill can be trained. A rank 1 skill is extremely basic and very fast to train, with the 5th level of that skill taking a few days' real time to complete training. The highest rank skill in the game I believe has a rank of 20 - training such a skill takes roughly 3 months of real time to train from level 1 to level 5. The skills are assinged to various categories, such as Science or Gunnery. How fast a character is able to train skills from a particular category as a general rule of thumb is govorned by the primary and secondary attributes for that skill. For example, as a general rule a character's Percpetion (primary attribute) and Willpower (secondary attribute) govorn how fast in skill points per time unit, the Gunnery, Missiles and Spaceship Command skills are trained. However, the Electronics, Engineering and Mechanic skill categories contain numerous skills that passively improve the statistical values of every ship you fly (as does Navigation). If your character has extremely high Perception and Willpower they will train "combat" skills very fast while suffering a much slower training rate for all other skills. As you learn more and more skills your versatility increases. Within your first day of game play you can, potentially, be flying around in a destroyer instead of your rookie ship. Within a week you could have developed a fairly broad, basic, skills set permitting you to something other than shoot things. Basic resource gathering, basic production ability, basic self-repair, faster navigation, a respectable capacity to shoot things while tossing out 2 or 3 combat drones to help you kill stuff and more. Within your first year you will have solidly carved out one or two niches to a near-perfect capability. You have no "cap" to hit. If you're of the mind, you can develop skills to engage in "market PvP" over entire regions of space, command a fleet of your allies, administer a corporation of hundreds of players or to facilitate flying the battleships and battlecruisers of your fancy with more than adequate capacity. By contrast, in WoW I have already maxx'd one character's entire ability/skills set out in a mere 3 1/2 months - and another five are already at 50th out of 85 levels. In order to have access to all of the professions, I have no alternative. By contrast, my EVE character could fight reasonably well across several hull classifications, had near-maximum harvesting capacity and was competent enough to build basic stuff to meet his own needs without having to shell out hard-earned cash constantly for ammunition. After more than 8 years my one character *still* cannot do everything that there is do. He is however very, very good at doing the rest of the things that there are to do. If I decide that I want to go do something, odds are that I can do it, or learn how to with proficiency in short order. TL;DR: With enough time, there will be almost nothing you will not be able to do if you choose to do so. It's all a matter of what you choose to learn how to do and when you choose to learn it. In PATHFINDER ONLINE you are what you forged yourself into being.
If memory serves, prior to the start of the war, Starfall had Economy, Loyalty and Stability bonuses in excess of +1,000, 450-odd Manpower and at least two dozen 5th and 6th level NPC followers trained as their Officer Corps. The treasury of Starfall stood at roughly 10,500 BP with monthly income sufficient to absorb 80% of the consumption cost with their entire "line" military out on campaign due to the "magic item industrial engine". Starfall controlled 125 hexes with a staggering 52 combined city districts, all but around 6 of which are fully developed. Contrast with Pitax: 122 controlled hexes (4 completely undeveloped), pre-war treasury of perhaps 8,000 BP, Economy/Loyalty/Stability bonuses in the high +600s, 327 Manpower (all but 2 of which was invested in their line forces) and 38 fully developed city districts. It was good to see that Pitax bloodied Starfall's nose a bit. The cost was too high and the "war" resolved itself too quickly. Even using my house rules the entire "main" campaign start to finish took a paltry 15 days. The rest of the time sets up the conclusion of Chapter 5. It will probably not go well for Irovetti, Pappy Graul and company. Only the dice will tell the tale in a couple weeks. Being self-respecting bad guys, they still have a few cards left to play in the game... Muhwhawhawha!!
Thank you very much Sir Hamster and carborundum! It was close, the Highlanders gave gave as good as they got thanks to their Dirty Fighting tactic. Combined with Reckless strategy in melee they inflicted the lion's share of the losses upon Starfall. The mass combat system RAW is far too easy to break. Armies comprised of individuals much above CR 5 or 6, once they hit Huge size, are gawdawful. Factor in Planar Binding and the like and you can cheaply field armies of Glabrezu or the like - which totally throws things out of kilter... Hopefully, any official revision will take the "high bang for CR" into account...
Today our Monarchal Miscreants did layeth the smacketh down upon the righteous forces of Pitax. Da Pimp statted himself up as a one-man army and intercepted (ambushed) the two battalions of elf scouts that peeled off south from the ruins of Fort Numesti/Drelev on the 16th of July, wiping out one battalion and routing the 2nd without taking hardly a scratch.
In the meanwhile, the balance of General Graul's units peeled off along the road north from Numesti/Drelev, crossed the Wyvernstone Bridge and started firing farmlands and settlements as they went. They sought to engage Starfall's armies outside of the protection of their forest and fortifications. Starfall's main muster fell upon the northern wing of Pitax's forces on the 18th of July. This wing was comprised of the seven Glenebon Highlander tribes and Moleg's Tusker Riders. The southern wing, led by General Graul himself, was comprised of the Troll Marauders (with two batteries of cannon), Pitax's 8 regiments of line troops (each with a battery of cannon) and the 4 "squadrons" (battalions) of hippogryph 'air cavalry'. The bulk of Starfall's army fell upon the northern wing, slaughtering the hill giants and their mastadons. It seems that using mastadons as the 'primary' creature with lower CR 'riders' is a far nastier army than creatures using mastadons as mere mounts. That's certainly how the battle showed it to work the best. On the 2nd day of the battle General Graul's southern wing wheeled in support of the northern wing. A five-day battle raged from the 18th through the 23rd of July. Cannonballs caromed across the battlefield whilst clouds of black smoke drifted in thick banks. Men on both sides died screaming for their mommies. Giants of elemental fire, wielding enchanted weapons of still-smoking magma, waded through foes left and right. Crystalline ice scultpures stomped and smooshed and sliced and diced. Oliphaunts in miniature trampled, tusked and stampeded throughout massed ranks of infantry behind spiked embankments. Bodies piled in windrows. Screaming hippogryphs plunged from the sky to scatter crude fragmentation grenades whilst their riders hurled spears. "Ready, Level ... FIRE!!!" was heard time and again as the well-disciplined line troops of Pitax unleashed volleys of lead hell into the massed ranks of Starfallian spearmen. All in all, five days of pure unadulterated carnage saw a pitched see-saw battle rage in the plains between the East Sellene River and the northern expanses of the Narlmarches forests. At stake: the very survival of both kingdoms. When the dust settled Pitax lost the field, although they exacted a terrible toll while coming very close to ridding Golarion of the fire elemental and "oliphaunt" armies of Starfall. It came down to the dice at many points of the Battle of the Narlmarch, as the opposing forces were fairly evenly matched. Starfall lost a Gargantuan Army of 3rd level Inquisitors of "the Book" (CR 8) - - along with 2 Colossal regular Armies of 3rd level Fighters (CR 10) and Her Majesty's pet project, a Large Army of Ice Golems (CR 7). Severe damage was dealt upon the Huge Army of Mastadons with 3rd level Druids packing composite longbows (CR 13) and Zin Serina's Large Army of well-equipped Fire Elementals (CR 7, very nasty for its CR) and some liberal casualties amongst several other of Starfall's armies. Pitax lost all of its mercenary elite units [Catspaw Marauders, Troll Marauders, Tusker Riders] as well as 5 of the 7 clans of Glenebon Highlanders [mercenaries], 2 of the 4 squadrons of Hippogryph Air Cavalry, both flights of Wyverns [mercenaries], all 3 elf scout battalions and the entirety of the 'Three Knives' division. General Graul's 1st Pitax Regiment was forced to rout and disengage from the field on the last day of the engagement. Her Majesty pitched a natural-20 Diplomacy check to persuade the 7 remaining line regiments and the 2 surviving Highlander clans that, in exchange for clemency/amnesty for themselves and their families, they would participate in investing Pitax in a siege and facilitate repairing the 700 square miles of torched acreage. Needless to say, the mummified 'leaders' of these units were summarily incinerated and dismembered before Starfall acquired another 8 combat regiments of now-seasoned infantry to fight alongside them. Pitax's remaining defenders comprise a regiment of hippogryph air cavalry (2 squadrons), the 1st Pitax Regiment, the 2nd Elf Battalion (that survived the dastardly ambush by Da Pimp) and 10 battalions of conscripts. Pitax is heavily fortified and well provisioned to withstand a protracted investment and siege (5,500 BP previously provisioned in the city's granaries prior to commencing with the war). After R&R, training their first couple of tactics for the units that earned them, resupplying magical curatives for those expended during the campaign, themselves unlocking the "17th circle of cosmic mysteries" , requisitioning the total of 12 batteries of cannon and the march all the way to Pitax, Starfall will commence with investing Pitax on the 10th of September, 4718 A.R. As I presently understand it, at this point Our Rulers should resume playing their characters with the aim to lop the heads from the hydra and despose Pitax's ruling body - or themselves being deposed / disposed of. I leave it to Da Cultist to accurately relate his humorous attempt at "negotiations" with King Irovetti and his strategic staff before the Battle of the Narlmarch. In two weeks' time we should see the (hopefully messy) conclusion of Chapter 5!
On the morrow Our Monarchal Miscreants resume their War of the River Kings. Brevoy is in the throes of a civil war with the return of Choral the Conqueror seeking to reclaim his throne. Cordelon, too big for its britches, is caught in a 3-front war against Daggerford, Mivon and the Pactmasters of Katapesh. How will Starfall's southern and western neighbors fare in a River Kingdoms-wide war? Will Starfall resort to attempting to assassinate King Irovetti to force a premature end to their war to "spare the people"? Will General Graul recover from the loss of the Three Knives Division, the Catspaw Marauders and both flights of wyverns, or will His Majesty's overconfidence spell Pitax's downfall? Will Starfall be able to afford to fight a defensive war, or will budgetary constraints force their hand? What other wrinkles await to decide the fate of the Stolen Lands? Tomorrow, in an extra-long "the GM does not have to work right after the game and can drink" session, will tell the tales of carnage! Shields will be splintered, spears will be shattered, many men will die screaming for their mommies and buckets of bullets will fly as the red ruin of war bathes the River Kingdoms in blood!
"What is a sword compared to the hand that wields it? THAT is the Riddle of Steel, boy." *dramatic pause* "Crucify him."
It's a GM requirement ;) Look at it this way. One of my players could be overconfident in his character's badassery and 'call out' Pappy for a mano-e-mano throw down. Wouldn't that be a right shame? :D
*curses having to do most of these via smart phone* In a nutshell, Pitax believes that Starfall has 18 thousand line troops and another 1,500 "special forces" in line with a guesstimation that another 10,000 are probably being conscripted in the deeper parts of the kingdom relative to Pitax. They assume that Starfall can conscript roughly another 25,000 men over the subsequent 2 or 3 weeks' time. Makes things rather dicey for Pitax, doesn't it? ;)
20 1st level bandits don't know how to do Aid checks? As Sir Hamster advised, Chapter 1 is not the worrisome part. It's when they inevitably decide to min-max ("make efficient use of" to quote one player) the kingdom and mass combat army rules sets that you need to shove your iron gauntlet inside the velvet glove before slapping them upside the noodle.
19. As "the boss", you wonder if your Perception bonus is high enough to beat your hirelings' ... er, "employees" ... Sleight of Hand checks. 20. As a hireling ... er, "employee" ... you wonder the reverse. 21. Your significant other is grateful that all this "nerdy gaming stuff" still beats the 'norm' of going out drinking at strip clubs with your chums. Added bonus: costs less, no STDs *and* your "paper lover" doesn't hold a candle to the real thing. 22. You gripe that your health insurance provide should include clone services for what they're charging.
Have your favorite Gargantuan dragon drop a ship on his character's noodle from 200 feet up. It's the only way to be sure. If you need to be REALLY sure, it's a pirate ship with a reasonably full powder magazine, cannon and of course screaming pirates. All the collateral damage should ensure a fiery, messy and thorough demise. ^__^
The War Room, somewhere within the bowels of Irovetti's sprawling Palace - 12th July 4718 A.R. In the dead center of a large chamber squats a gem-flecked marble table. The majority of the top is a smooth expanse of multi-colored sands in various shades of green, blue, brown, grey, white, black and red resting inside a lip of shimmering crystal. The circumference of the table permits beverages and other accoutrements to be set upon it without fear of disturbing the sands within the crystal bed. The chamber's illumination focuses upon the table and its immediate environs, casting the remainder of the room into dark shadow. About the table stands His Majesty King Irovetti of Pitax, 'Pappy' Graul the General of the Armies of Pitax and His Majesty's Mistress of Intelligence and Foreign Affairs. The King subconsciously stroked his neatly trimmed goatee as the trio took their positions about the table. Waving her gauntleted hand the lady whispered a phrase that animated the sands upon the table. As she spoke the sands formed into a detailed geographical depicition of Pitax and the Stolen Lands complete with scuttling clouds, flowing rivers and snow-capped mountains at the northern and easternmost ends of the map. Illusiory magic completed the depiction with impressive realism, smoothing the sands into what appeared to the normal eye as the world writ small upon several feet of table. Thousands of miniature men, horse and hippogryphs complemented by hundreds of mastadons, hill giants and armored trolls first arose from the sands. Large groups sport banners depicting the crest designating their unit for all to see. Kilt-clad claymore-waving Highlanders from the Glenebon Highlands. Crusty hill giants astride mangy mastadons, bags bulging with both ammunition and supply milled amidst the trolls. Neatly drawn up line troops of Pitax, draft horse towing some ten batteries of cannon. Four squadrons of hippogryphs flapping their wings in uneasy wait. All having constructed a crude field encampment upon the western bank of Lake Hooktongue. Ten battalions of black ant-like men arose along the road from Pitax to the burned ruin of Fort Numesti, marching into the field encampment that secured Pitax's line of supply from the west into Starfall. "Our forces are currently massed here with the conscripts now entering position to secure our line of supply," the deep gravely voice of the Minister said. A second wave of her hand and another whispered phrase raised red icons above several of Starfall's cities. "Here are Olegton, Erastown, Tatzylford and Castletown from north to south through the fey-infested forest that secures Starfall's western front against us. Olegton rests on Restov's southern border. Erastown was erected upon the site of an ancient temple to Erastil. Tatzylford is the insignificant speck that incompetent twit Baron Drelev was supposed to wipe out for us. I don't believe that Starfall has seen fit to formally incorporate the place into their kingdom. Castletown is founded upon ruins of elf-make that predate even Erastil's temple. "They have massed several thousand line troops in Olegton, Erastown and Castletown. Unlike our own forces, it is clear that they invest heavily in both horse and curatives for almost all of their forces. "The capitol of Starfall still has at least three thousand line troops stationed there, most having moved west from their eastern cities." Additional icons sprung upon the table, the largest city glowing with the largest-lit name: Starfall. "Starfall is sited upon the Stag Lord's old fort just a bit north of Candlemere. South at the 'T' intersection of rivers along the border with Mivon is Booktown, due east of which nestling in the foothills of the mountains is Riverton - there they acquire all of their iron, sulphur, pitch and precious stones. A short distance north of Riverton is Monktown. Place is quiet as a church of Irori, so seeing five hundred horse-sized fire elementals marching out of there was a total surprise to our agent there. North of there across the mountains is Varnhold. Tombstone, as we now know, was where the bastards spent millions of gold and the better part of five YEARS training a mastadon force equal to our own in number." Solid red depictions of armed men and creatures settled in upon the western cities of Starfall while blinking red depictions showed enemy forces further east. "As things stand, the enemy stands well disposed to effect a defense of their land against us, as follows: "Castletown is their southwesternmost city and fully fortified. Present there are approxomately 4 thousand line troops. "Erastown is their educational center, fully fortified and is currently defended by another 4 thousand line troops. "Olegton is their Sin City, fortified and defended by 3 or 4 thousand line troops. "Starfall is their capitol, fortified and believed to be defended by perhaps 1 or 2 thousand line troops. As central as this city is, simply marching there and investing the city won't work. "Booktown stands astride the ferry from the road leading north out of Mivon. Mivon has its own concerns south against Cordelon so the best we can hope for is that they stay the hell out of our way. "Riverton to the east is their primary source of war materiel - and might as well be on the moon from our troops' standpoint. "Shrike Falls is the only city between Starfall and Restov, sitting just below the three waterfalls of the same name. A road winds up through Varnhold Pass to the city of Varnhold proper on the east side of the mountains that seperates eastern Starfall from the rest of the kingdom. "Monktown sets as far up in the moutains as river traffic will permit from that big fingery lake over yonder. "Lastly, Tombstone is their easternmost settlement. From there are the steppes of Casomir. "Based on our agent's reports, I would estimate that Starfall is able to use magical pigeon-figurines to provide VERY fast communications, at least for the next month or perhaps even two months. They were able to evacuate Fort Drelev - or Fort Numesti, as they renamed it - two days too fast. By all rights, we should have been able to wipe the place out ourselves were they solely reliant upon more conventional methods of communication." General Graul scowled, leaning over the table as he took in the display. "Those blinking forces over there, those are the mastadons and the Varnling Host?" "Yes, as well as the fire creatures. They should reach the capitol at the very least by the 14th or so," she replied. Irovetti puffed his chest out. "If the Three Knives had done their job at Tombstone we wouldn't be in this mess!" Graul's massive hand nearly slapped Irovetti's face off of his skull, halting just short of physical contact in a display of total control. Graul's hand hovered as it quivered with ki energy. "Your Majesty, you conveniently forget that it was your eagerness to wage war that cost us that division. Five thousand line troops that we simply cannot replace. If you cannot bring yourself to accept responsibility for your own orders, keep your tongue behind your teeth and leave the war to us. We might be able to salvage this mess." The Ministress of Intelligence smirked behind her porcelain mask. "We value your input your Majesty." Ice slid into a voice that Irovetti had previously never heard speak in anything other than pleasant tones and sultry hints. As though a glacier covering meteoric iron somehow made audible while her eyes locked his in place in a staredown a cat would lose. "If you dare issue such foolish orders again, be assured that it will be the last time that you do so." Irovetti slid his tongue behind his teeth, suddenly much less confident in his ability to 'deal' with his lieutenants should the need arise. "General, what do you propose?" Grinning at the cold steel from the woman's voice, Pappy Graul replies in a surprisingly casual tone. "My dear, we are the ones on the offensive. They must react to us." "So, all told, Starfall has a muster of - what - some 18 thousand line troops, the battalion of fire creatures and another battalion of mastadons ? "Oliphaunts" I believe they are calling themselves. As if anyone around here would know a real Oliphaunt until it stepped on their house." "Yes, plus let's say another 10 thousand coming in conscription by mid-month." "Conscripts are fodder, the trick is their line forces are half what we expected. The damned mastadons though, are another matter." "One thing we have that they don't, however, is air superiority. We can easily see fifty or sixty miles all around the main force. And the hippogryphs are far faster than the wyverns were." "The faster elements of our force will have to work to our advantage, if we can make it work. Time to draw up a new order of battle General. This piecemeal nonsense won't work if they won't come out to play..." "They can potentially conscript another 20 or 30 thousand if they get desperate enough." "That will take several weeks. And we have our own conscripts as well." "Very well, Phase 2 commences on the 15th." "What about Restov and the Swordlords?" "They're pretty busy with their rapidly accelerating civil war I'd imagine. All of a sudden there's war here, there and everywhere. North, south, west ... at least the centaurs aren't setting things on fire willy nilly. I'm just hoping that things don't spiral completely out of hand or we're in for some very interesting times!" fade to black
Ozzy is a Gargantuan dragon - his wingspan is easily pushing 200+ feet, and I'm reasonably sure that his actual snout-to-tail-tip body length is equal to that of a caraval's length. All he needs for leverage is to grab the main mast and flap his wings. So ... what you're saying is that your PCs' first encounter with Ozzy is that he uses true strike while invisible to drop the Sea Wyvern on them from orbit as his surprise attack?
How much damage would that be, out of curiosity ? :D EDIT: I suggest he use some dust of disappearance to become invisible for the short time he should need to plummet the ship and its crew to its collective demises atop the noggins of one or more of the PCs - preferably the ship's captain. ^__^ Did you notice the Dragonfire feat? That's home brew.
Then by all means enjoy hammering / crossbowing / breath weaponing them into toe jam. Don't forget the limited wish to heal himself with! They'll know they're in trouble when that frightful presence DC slaps them upside the head. Learn 'em to read the Bestiary too much! *shakes fist*
There are so many. This one was related to me by another player in one of my Savage Tide campaigns. If memory servess, this took place in Asheron's Call. A particular area had the vorpal rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Some one had managed to kite the rabbit all the way back to the town square rez point before eating a fatal "bunny smite". The trick was that rez point is heavily trafficked. And unlike most monsters the Bunny would hang around for a while before hopping back whence it game. Each time fresh meat came into the rabbit's not-inconsiderable aggression radius, "Bunny Smite!, dead character, character rez'd ... right near the wee vicious rodent with sharp cruel fangs. Dozens, maybe a hundred or more died repeatedly and often to the Vorpal Rabbit in the span of an hour or two before the bodies stopped hitting the ground. The little bugger even decapitated alll the NPCs within range. It made me laugh.
Answer to the dust of sneezing and choking is a minor wondrous item tucked under a scale - or more likely worn as a 'nose ring' - known as a necklace of adaptation. If the dust isn't inhaled, thanks to the necklace, it doesn't affect him. That and it would take more along the lines of 100 or so botched attempts at creating other magical dusts to come up with a single batch of dust of sneezing and choking.
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. grins
Glad the green dragon gets your stamp of approval, carborundum. I expect to hear something to the effect of " Whaddya MEAN you 'borrowed' another critter from that Turin fellow? Every time you do that, we have deaths!! " in your STAP journal. Not that I read Dutch or the like ...
Say, Turin, do you still have your version of Khala? Sadly, as far as I am presently able to discern, Khala's "Turinized" stat block did not survive. I suggest - for a royal hosing - is to take the existing one and apply the eldritch horror template to both heads... If that doesn't rain on a few parades, not much else will. ^__^
Ryan, I've been playing EVE off and on since early January 2004 and have kept my "main" training steadily since that time. After all these years, why do I bother continuing to pay my subscription fee every year? Because of the skill system. About the only thing in EVE that still holds my interest after more than 8 years is the fact that my character is now very close to being able to do almost everything sub-capitol there is. I probably have another 2 or 3 years to go before I will actually be looking around and saying "so what do I do now"? I have done almost everything there is to BE done in EVE. Alliance, turf control, massive scale industry, wormhole exploration, roaming null-sec, smuggling, you can probably name it and it's done. (Excepting capitol ships, for me they're "meh, I'll figure them out later".) What would I like to see now? What has always been missing. Story - there's soooo much potential that is just waiting. I spent a ... long time in W-space trying to find that dangling carrot but never did. This was my last hope that there would / could be something "enormously kewl" that the devs have commented is just waiting to be puzzled out and revealed to the public. Theses days I *like* hi-sec. Not "jita 4-4" hi-sec, but the more entertaining 0.5 systems. In terms of PFO, it would be incredibly disappointing to have something with the promise of an EVE-like skill system *ever* hit any kind of barrier or cap. If there are caps (level 5 in EVE terms), there should be something else to go onto. I detest the *need* for alts, especially given modern fiscal reality in an MMO. If I distribute my "training time" across all kinds of stuff, that should be my decision. I like being able to craft all my own stuff. It may take a great deal of work to get there, but it is an option that I have in EVE that is completely unique to EVE (at least, it is at present). If PFO is going to be a sandbox, it will need elements that appeal to those who don't care for it - such as those who enjoy crafting - or that have hardware barely able to handle PvE. It will be outstanding to see towns carved out of the wilderness, kingdoms carved out of the hinterlands, treaties negotiated with the not-small NPC groups and so on. Lastly, I'm excited to see PFO as a possible contender for my entertainment money. Keep your knives sharp, your cookbook dry and your skillet clean. You never know what you're going to eat next.
Especially since Pitax is technically the underdog in this war in terms of territory claimed, districts of cities developed, depth of treasury, manpower and officer corps. So better to dictate the terms of the onset of the war with the intent to attain a "short, victorious war". And we know how well those usually go ... :D
On the bright side, the War of the River Kings finally began in earnest today! The Three Knives division's two batteries of cannon barked death against Tombstone's walls. Unfortunately for the Three Knives and the Catspaw Marauders mercenaries attached to them, Pitax's military intelligence failed to inform them that - in addition to the 500 strong Tombstone Rangers - this particular city also served as the training grounds of Starfall's formidable "Oliphaunt 500" battalion that just concluded its training a week or so after they left Pitax on the long 400 mile march through the hinterlands between Mivon and the ever-expanding Cordelon. For the 8th and 9th of July 4718 the Battle of Tombstone raged, the oliphaunts sallying forth to wreck havoc from behind the walls under the withering covering fire from the Rangers while ineffective fire from the Three Knives' muskets and cannon remarkably failed to achieve much effect against either defending force. The Three Knives Division was defeated in detail whilst Alasen's Catspaw Marauders effected a "tactical advance to the north", attempting to escape Starfall by way of Brevoy, taking the Kiravoy Road just north of Varnhold. Unfortunately for the Marauders, they were caught straddling the Kiravoy River by General Armag-Varn's elite 1st Varnhold Battalion (gargantuan army with guns) with the Oliphaunt 500 pursuing the mercenaries from Tombstone. (The Tombstone Rangers remained behind to scavenge the fallen and loot their baggage train). A desperate pitched battle took place: the Battle of Varnhold Ford, occuring on the 10th and 11th of July. Caught between the 1st Varnling Host and the Oliphaunts, the Marauders were routed. Alasen was successful in effecting an orderly withdrawal into Restov wherin the mercenaries that survived disbanded. During these four days' of battles neither Our Rulers nor Irovetti were idle. On the 8th the tamed tyrannosaur and Beaky the Ginormous Owlbear stationed in Fort Numesti were quickly decided as being quite inadequate for the task of stopping 500 trolls, 500 hill giants astride mastadons, 4 thousand hippogryph "air cavalry", 7 thousand slobbering Highlanders and 16 thousand heavy infantry - all together clattering along with 10 batteries of siege engines - and an unknown number of "mercenary" wyverns. The entire populace of the Fort and its surrounding populace were immediately ordered to evacuate to Olegton on the morning of the 8th. As the civilains streamed along the road that leads northeasterly along the Hooktongue to eventually cross the Wyvernstone bridge Our Rulers ordered the whole of Fort Numesti put to the torch ahead of Pitax's army. The same day nine militia battalions were ordered conscripted and trained, slated to complete their training on the 15th of July. On the morning of the 10th Pitax's two flights of wyverns - each 500 strong - descended upon the lone battalion defending "elven castle city". While their flight permitted them to ignore the city walls, the city's guard towers and refurbished castle were another matter. The wyverns, utilizing relentless brutality and, when in melee phases, reckless strategies sorely tested the defender's mettle. Themselves engaging the wyverns purely on the defensive until Da Cultist's battalion of Inquisitors could arrive that night to bolster that city's defense, the clumsy dim-witted beasts suffered as good as they gave during the ensuing carnage of the 10th-12th of July's "Battle of the Elf Castle Place". The session concluded after this. Starfall's forces are largely arrayed along the west with most of their armies now bivouac'd in Starfall, Olegton, Erastown and "elf Castle place. The 1st Varnling Host and the Oliphaunts are trundling westward. The Tombstone Rangers are policing loot through the 15th. The refugees from Fort Numesti have safely arrived in Olegton. Thus far Pitax has lost three of their mercenary forces and the smallest of their army divisions, with only the Catspaw Marauders being routed instead of being defeated in detail whilst Starfall has yet to suffer a defeat. Yet Our Rulers know that the real challenge is approaching from the west with the arrival of ten thousand militia to secure their supply lines and attend to any necessary city subduing. A combined total of roughly 30,000 line troops are coming in force against Starfall's 12 to 15 thousand men. Stay tuned for the AAR next Sunday the 4th of March. Will the Kingdom of Starfall be able to withstand the hammer and anvil of the combined might of Pitax's forces? Will General Graul pimpslap Irovetti like a red-headed stepchild and assume proper command of the army? A week should tell the tale!
The other option on this without the inevitable consolidation of "most people doing everything in Capitol City X" is to factor in something like this: Bob the Adventurer goes to Tom Trader and asks if he can acquire 50 kilos of white plaster for a reasonable sum. Tom Trader cannot locally acquire it, but his contacts in Timbuktu can do so the last he heard from them. Tom tells Bob that he can acquire the good [place the buy order] on Bob's behalf for a suitable service fee and that it will take [y amount of game time in minutes/hours/days once the plaster has been delivered to his agent in Timbuktu] to be acquired. Depending upon the amount Bob was willing to pay for the plaster in addition to any "service fees" for acquisition and delivery, Bob (eventually) acquires the plaster he ordered. Meanwhile in Timbuktu, Tom Trader's contacts arrive (after x amount of game time) and post notices to the effect that some chucklehead in Big City 33 wants 50 kilos of plaster for a handsome sum. Pete the Plasterer is overjoyed at having a chance to unload the 50 kilos of white plaster he's been hauling around in his one horse cart for the past week and promptly delivers it to Tom Trader's agent in town. Once [(y amount of game time passes) plus (z amount of game time that passes for Pete the Plasterer to make the 50 kilos of plaster to fill Tom's order on behalf of Bob)] Tom Trader sends a messenger pigeon to Bob, patiently waiting for Bob when he next logs on. Bob logs on, with one or more messenger pigeons cooing about him carrying his numerous messages, including the one from Tom that he has been waiting for. Bob then travels to Tom and picks up his order. I would suggest that such orders be paid for up front. None of this "pay half now, half on completion" stuff. Another option is a bit larger in scale. If certain materials are acquired only from certain areas of the game world, then the communities near those areas should be fairly well known as the spot to acquire them from. If certain materials can only be acquired from areas outside of the River Kingdoms then those are items that would have to be imported by whatever means are at a character's disposal. Be that NPC agents working a steadily growing mercantile concern in numerous markets outside of the River Kingdoms or a network of want ads targeting the communities closest to the area of resource acquisition within the River Kingdoms proper, whichever is appropriate. Iron, for example, is notoriously difficult to acquire locally and is often imported at considerable expense due to the distance. Wars are liable to be fought over the few iron mines within the Kingdoms once their location becomes well known.
Well, I can't actually pronounce/spell their real names, Wil Wolfthistle, Tyriel Tunderthimble, riesan, Vendrick, somethign starting with a T. so your names are easier. Hopefully I am writing this in an easy, enjoable to read style, that show's the growing confusion/Paranoia of the Party. I was glancing at D1: Crown of the Kobold King, and noticed a fun little magic item that hopefully will be picked up and worn by one of the PC's. :D The duo / trio of Kobold King modules have some nasty little tifbits buried in their pages. Very nasty. :)
Trick to a battle cleric is three fold: extend spell, via metamagic feat and several lesser metamagic rods: domain abilities - one in particular really shines if your group is willing to "go team cleric"; timing is everything. You're correct that if you really want to keep pace - as with monks - putting your stats in STR/WIS/CON/CHA/INT/DEX order will generally get you the most with the least. Many times your services will be required to assist the other characters rather than yourself as you are the only probable source of useful spells (remove fear, bless) that can really swing things for the entire party. Besides, your cleric would probably much rather that the meat shield soak the first round or two of nastiness before wading in after a divine favor is cast. That command to fall over is all kinds of nasty as your entire group can hose down the victim PDQ. If you really need an ace up your sleeve, always prepare a silence spell to cast on yourself (starting at 3rd level) so you can wreck havoc amongst bad guy spellcasters. Later, spell immunity to silence can be a life saver...
Katana power attack coup de gras in tortle-boy's sleep. Toss his broke carcass off the poop deck. *if* he survives the coup de gras Fort save, odds are he's in negative hp. Use the katana two-handed for maximum damage output. Don't forget its "deadly" quality. If you don't lop his head clean off, tossing his unconscious self in the drink should preceeded by a knife under the ribs. Leave the dagger in. Mop up the gwilch and make like nothing happened until you wake up in the morning. GM should handle it via a note (as suggested above). Be flabbergasted that some one would have the temerity to off tortle-boy. Express condolences. Most importantly, have a wake celebrating his unexpected shuffling off to Nirvana. Party hard. Pick up a proper scaliwag at your next port of call (his replacemnt), party hard in celebration of the spirit of those dauntless crew that have shuffled off their mortal coil with the race to find the McGuffin to deliver a full cranial evacuation upon the Gawd-Dragon thing. I suspect that tortle-boy's player is looking for a foil or straightman to his character. Indulgence may be in order ... once you have turtle soup for breakfast.
Glad I reviewd this - the war begins 8th July 4718 A.R., a year later, if my records are accurate. I'll have the accurate start date for tomorrow's inevitable AAR on the war proper. After all, we don't want to sack a kingdom before they've built up a proper treasury to loot! Stay tuned for roughly dinner time tomorrow (EST) to catch at least the opening battle or three. Will the military genius of General Graul, the CC&C of Cassandra Slayn and the dastardly deviousness of King Irovetti prove a match for Queen Eirwen Kiersi and her hyper-capable staff of miscrreants? Will the War of the River Kings be a proper bloodbath? How many commoners and assorted hapless NPCs will sufffer the horrors of winner-take-all war as it exacts its grim harvest across the northern River Kingdoms? Will Pitax assume its rightful rule? What other twists await our unsuspecting monarchists?
It's been about six weeks Sir Hamster. Did the First World overrun Kamelot in a riotous orgy of rainbow crabgrass and shrieking mandrake ? Did the Big J smoke them like cheap cigars? Did Briar make itself useful as something other than a combination butter knife and letter opener? Eager fans of glowing mind-blasting hamsters want to know!
And of course tomorrow sees the War of the River Kings beginning in earnest. I hope no one wusses out on me. :( Will the kingdom of Starfall be looted, pillaged and plundered? Will the Grand Army of Starfall march forth and crush the bastards of Pitax underfoot before laying siege to Pitax proper? Will Our Rulers take the pansy way out and attempt to cut the heads off the hydra? Starfall's armies are ready, Pitax's armies are ready, it is time ... FOR WAR!! Pre-script: They had cleared out Whiterose Abbey in an undocumented session before the long hiatus beginning in mid-October'ish. According to my notes they wasted the wererat and his mini-onions. Satisfied that the rumors of a "cloudkill of mass destruction" was not in the offering, they returned to Starfall, rejected King Irovetti's offer to attend a tournament at the beginning of July 4717 A.R. and went about their business. The War of the River Kings begins in earnest on the morning of 8th July 4717 A.R. as the "Three Knives" divisions' guns open fire on hapless Tombstone. On Starfall's Eastern Frontier lays the 5 district city of Tombstone. Home to the 500-strong Tombstone Rangers (3rd level ranger cavalry) and the extraordinarily expensive 500-strong Mastadon cavalry - ridden by half-elf druid archers that have cared for and trained this mighty pachyderms for war, they're Starfall's "oliphaunts". It took 4 years and 8 months to train them, costing vast sums of BP. They've just really gotten settled in from their last patrol when Pitaxian banners unfurl (completed only 3 months prior to the war). Our Rulers have Large armies of exceptional troops in addition to more than a few regiments and battalions. All of their troops ride heavy horse as a general rule. Starfall has gained renown as prime horse country for its "Stardale" horse stock.
Preparing to sack Tombstone are the Catspaw Marauders - elite mercenary cavalry 500 strong [Huge army] - attached to Pitax's "Three Knives" Division. The "Three Knives" Division is comprised of 2 regiments of musket master gunslingers on light horse with a battalion of woodcraft elf scouts that on foot are as fast as horse. They have just brought to bear their 2 batteries of cannon upon the fortifications of Tombstone during the night hours. This division's banner depicts a man with two daggers already buried in his back about to be stabbed in the back by a third dagger. All told the "Three Knives" is comprised of four thousand musketeers and a thousand elves with the services of 500 elite cavalry and 2 batteries of cannon. Acting immediately via crystal ball, they locate most of the other forces of Pitax, a scant 3 days' march from Fort Numesti on the western banks of the Slough. These forces are converging from the west, northwest, southwest and south to envelope the town in force. 500 trolls march against Numesti along the road from Pitax alongside Kob Moleg's 500 mastadon-riding mercenary hill giants. Two batteries of cannon accompany these armies. They will arrive on the afternoon of 11th July. The Seven Glenebon Highlander tribes have each committed a battalion of their most psychotic that will approach Numesti from the south on the afternoon of 11th July. A day's march behind the trolls and giants are Pitax's "Cyclops" and "Deadly Deuces" Divisions. Each division has the services of a battalion of woodcraft elf scouts, 4 regiments of musket infantry, each towing a battery cannon with their light horse, and 2 squadrons [each 500 strong] of hippogriff air cavalry. These divisions will arrive at Numesti on the 12th of July. The "Cyclops" division is lead by the notorious General Graul. Its banner depicts a deformed man with a single eye. The "Deadly Deuces" division's banner depicts a pair of playing cards: the deuce of diamonds and the deuce of spades. It is suspected that Pitax has some additional forces that they were unable to locate in any detail. Short Version: Tombstone, the easternmost city of the Kingdom of Starfall, is about to be besieged or assaulted by 5,500 combined enemy troops (1 Huge cavalry army, 1 Gargantuan 'scout' army, 2 Colossal armies each with a battery of cannon). This battle begins on the morning of the 8th of July, 4717 A.R. Numesti, the westernmost border of the Kingdom of Starfall is staring doom in the face a scant 3 days' march away: 500 trolls with a battery of cannon, 500 mastadon-riding giants with a second battery of cannon and seven thousand rabid Glenebon Highlanders set to arrive around Numesti from the west and south on the afternoon of the 11th to begin the assault on the morning of the 12th to begin the battle of Fort Numesti. Worse, Pitax's main army comprised of 4 battalions of hippogriff cavalry and 8 regiments of musket infantry towing 8 additional batteries of cannon and 2 battalions of elf scouts are likely to arrive on the afternoon of the 12th. These guns, if necessary, can be brought to bear against Numesti on the morning of the 13th. These two divisions number roughly 42,000 men in total (21,000 per division). It is suspected that two "flights" of wyverns (each said to number 500 strong) and several battalions of militia are also at Pitax's disposal under General Graul's command. Where these forces are Starfall is presently unable to discern.
As promised, the dragons: “Reggie” Regiarix CR 19
Veil disguises Reggie and Ozzy as massively muscular wood elves wearing dark green scale mail armor, greek-style helms with green-dyed hair crests that run front to back and various bits of jewelry featuring gold, emeralds and diamonds. Reggie has his maul, while Ozzy has his mattock and heavy repeating crossbow. The golems guard the entrance into their lair complex. What Arcane Sight Sees: Ozzy (Gargantuan Green Dragon)
Advanced 20 HD Shield Guardian Stone Golems (2 – 1 each for Reggie and Ozzy) CR 15
Da Hordes: 96,000 gp in gold coin for each of the dragons’ beds.
The manpower-based alternative rules to army building I put up in the Mass Combat sticky thread. I used JBE's concept of training time with hard caps on class levels for NPC and PC class levels. NPC training is far faster with a level cap of 4. PC. Training takes quite a bit longer with a level cap of 3. There is or should be a percentage limit of how many non-warrior / non-fighter classed units you can draw upon from your kingom's manpower pool. I also added in another linit: your nation's officer corps. These are the generals you have educated to lead regiments / armies. At the time of writing, most of the KM campaigns, player groups had Leadership, so the preliminary source of officers are the 2nd - 6th level followers provided by leadership.
1st level spells are Your Friend:
Cantrips and Orisons are also Your Friend:
Bardic Inspire Courage Cold iron weapons cost 2x normal gp - even with 300 gp, a stand-by cold iron weapon falls under th same "must have" as a wooden club (for dealing with skellies and rust monsters)
Traditionally, wandering monster checks occur maybe about once an hour. If memory serves, the ToH does not have such a chart. Given that a rogue can check 10 5 ft squaers in a minute or two - the disabling is what takes all of the time up - it is the amount of *real* time that exceeds the amount of time in-game. Now, if enough in-game time passes (a day or two), those who survived the heroic invasion may be awaiting them at the "real" entrance to slaughter the survivors and take their stuff before animating shiny new scroll caddies... So, KGM, by all means feel free to permit them to take 20 on search checks - at 2 minutes per 5 ft square, being sure to include each square of wall and ceiling in addition to the floor, game time will fly lickity-split! The heroes may well find themselves fleeing for their miserable lives at top speed only to run face-first into Ngese and Friends... :D
I have also been remiss in mentioning that there have been a grand total of 50 player character deaths (temporary or otherwise) during the campaign up to the start of "War of the River Kings". Mostly not temporary. Celebrate this hallmark - and let's see if they can hit 90 before all is said and done! I need to set the bar I hear ...
Interestingly, the "starter edition" (free) is a great way to build up a solid set of level 20 characters. While I've only been playing for a few months, hindsight tells me that I should have taken a total of 9 characters to 20th. Six primaries (covering the professions) and 3 bank-alts. Crank the professions as high as they'll go, stuff their banks to the gills with gathered materials (including the full rack of bank bag slots on each one) and make your wallet full of gold via Archaeology (well, reasonaby so). Once you're ready to upgrade to a paying subscription you'll already have a ready source of stuff to sell on the AH and be able to mail stuff between your characters with crafted gear. EDIT: no Archaeology on the freebie, but that's ok. I wish that I had more patience when starting out. It would have the alts' lives a lot easier. :) EDIT #2: 6 primaries and 2 bank-alts. Alll characters in the same faction. 9th slot for a Death Knight, 10th "held" for a monk.
I had totally forgotten about that. Thank you very much for both including and crediting!
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