marvin_bishop's page

Here's my 2 cents
1. 25 point buy is fine, but you're right, it does skew the expected xp for the AP. I would suggest leaving them as they are and using ditching the accumulation of xp. Just follow the guidelines in the book and tell your players when they should level. This cuts down on some of the math of trying to stay fair while dividing by three vs four.

A second option would be to slow them down a track, from fast to medium or medium to slow, but I'm not sure if this will fix the issue. you'd have to crunch the numbers to see.

2. Especially with 25 point builds and players splitting treasure three ways instead of four, I wouldn't bump up their treasure. Too much gear is the easiest way to have a game run away from you. When that happens you need to start rewriting baddies to keep up with the arms race. Their enhanced abilities should see them through until the cash starts falling.

3. A well built fighter is always like that at low levels. For the climactic fights, I would fudge things a little to keep your main villains alive for a few rounds. Double hit points and/or +2 to attacks/damage/DCs and/or +2 to AC/saves are an easy way to keep things a little more on par without changing an encounter drastically.

4. This is correct as far as I know, but i don't have books in front of me to find the reference.

Good Luck!

Asmo- I see 5 years as a perfectly reasonable timeline for building a cathedral. I don't see the sandpoint cathedral as a Gothic architectural feat like Notre Dame, but more of a solidly constructed stone building with some architectural flourishes.

I'll work on updating the timeline with the founding of sandpoint.

Derek- You are correct, I didn't check into it exactly but went with the assumption that the equinox was on the 21st. Everything in the timeline moves forward two days.

Congratulations on your unprovoked acts of genocide.

Also, I agree with Phil that I would have some repercussions for the heroes leaving the town undefended.

Sounds like a fun encounter though.

I'm curious what other GMs have done with the sin points mechanic in the AE. I'm thinking about scattering a number of encounters throughout the AP that specifically give the PCs a chance to be sinful or virtuous. While these might be combat encounters, I'm really looking for situations more like the Shayliss/Venn Vindner encounter to really tweak my players and give them chances to explore their character's sins.

So what have you done, or what ideas do you have for encounters that give characters the chance to be Envious, Gluttonous, Greedy, Lustful, Proud, Slothful and Wrathful?

Pathfinder, like it's predecessor 3.5, is not really designed to do 3D combat. The RAW do not address flying much beyond the fly skill and only a small set of monsters can fly. Dennis has it right on, that combat with flying creatures is the same as without.

It generally makes it simpler to not have a whole different rules set to deal with flying combat, as the mental geometry can be bad enough. One game I play in we have an evoker and a character that can fly. We got tired of doing the work to figure out what the fireball template looks like for someone 10' off the ground and one of the guys in the group made wire templates for the area of effect at 5, 10, 15 and 20 feet of vertical distance.

Based on my understanding of the combat maneuver rules, they should have no special effect on flying creatures. As stated before, the maneuvers do not hamper flying unless it is natural flight and the creature is unable to move (grapple). I think it would be reasonable to force a flying creature who is knocked prone (maybe with overrun?) to make a fly check to avoid stalling.

In respect to drag and reposition specifically, I don't think there's any reason that they would force a creature to stop flying. They may maneuver a creature into the first square above the ground (0' high) but the creature could be flying inches above the ground. I see reposition as directing attacks and leaving openings such that the creature is forced to move, lest they be pummeled (i know the rules don't give you that option, but CMB/CMD is an abstraction). Drag is something on the order of grabbing someone by the shirt or arm and pulling them after you. Neither of these maneuvers directly affects a creature's ability to fly.

You could certainly house rule that any forced movement while flying puts enough strain on the flyer that they must make a fly check or suffer some penalty (penalty to hit for being unstable?, loss of altitude?, stalling and falling?). If you're looking for RAW, however, the system is abstracted out enough that only trip has specific rules for flyers and only a few others can have any effect (grapple, overrun?)

the AE of the AP says that the ceilings in the cathedral are 20' high. It's the last sentence before the 'creatures' heading.

It is a barbarian, what else can you expect? Is a high ac barbarian even possible

I do believe I've seen a build for an urban barbarian dervish dancer that did silly amounts of damage with a scimitar and had an AC in the 30s at lvl 12

She's small enough that maybe she can squeeze down the stair to the scribbler's lair or spend some time digging a way. She can spend the next 3.5 books learning from another of Lamashtu's chosen and get leveled up to be an appropriate threat. Her natural abilities fit well with his hit and run tactics and she could become very annoying in book 5.

I think the Shayliss angle would work well. It can potentially give the PCs more info about Foxglove so that could make the murder investigation easier, depending on how many other red herrings you toss in.

I think Tsuto being infatuated with his half sister has some interesting flavor and could work out well. I would make sure to modify his journals somewhat to make sure that the party gets hints about what Nualia is trying to do, both the attacks and the transformation.

This is the party I would be afraid to face.

Dwarf Ranger Archer- Favored Enemy: Giants (max), Undead, Dragons, Human
Wolf animal companion built as a tank

Paladin: (Divine Hunter)- obviously archer

Bard- Noble Scion (war) and archery focus

Elf Wizard Diviner/ Arcane Archer

Everyone keeps their perception high and takes the Lookout teamwork feat. The Ranger and Bard can use stealth combined with the Diviner using arcane eye and other magic to scout. They should get the drop on most encounters and a full round from four archers (thanks to lookout and the diviner) will end most combats before they begin.

High initiatives (through noble scion of war, high dex, favored terrain and eventually, moment of prescience) means that the first round of combat will probably be a repeat of the surprise round.

It's not unbeatable, by any means and the first few levels could be tough, but once they get in their groove, these four will mow down most of the AP without breaking a sweat.

I'd have her wait a few days. If the party doesn't show up she starts hunting.

1) How will this be a detriment?
Most of the townsfolk you meet will not take kindly to your religion. Best case scenario would be quiet disapproval all the way up to outright hostility. Sandpoint especially has some unhappy history with Lamashtu.

2) How will this be a boon?
I'm sure there are some nice mechanical combinations.

3) How will this effect the story/encounters?
Badly. As said by Gwaihir, you'll be working directly against some of her agents/plans and that will create some dissonance and/or party conflict.

If you go with the peculiar worship path, what aspect of the Chaotic Evil Demon Lord of Madness, Monsters and Nightmares are you going to focus on that will be palatable to others? How is your worship so vastly different that you would oppose your goddesses plans? If it is that different, why aren't you worshiping a different deity?

4) How should I handle these effects?
I'd talk to your DM and see if they are okay with adapting things for your character or have ideas for ways to tweak your story and build to work with the AP a little more smoothly.

I assume that Kourzog will have been scrying on the party since the time they pick up the first Sihedron amulet. If they build a one trick pony and have been using that trick to kill his minions, he'll have defenses against that. Ioun stones, rings of counterspell or perhaps spell immunity cast by one of his Lamias should knock that out. Time is on his side.

I'd say no on the Kitsune, since she's doubling up what Gaidal is doing.

The Paladin is the next out. The oath against Fiends isn't going to come up much and the Tiefling thing might be a little odd in Sandpoint.

The ranger could be brutal with the right favored enemies but I agree with the others about doubling up melee roles.

For RP I really like the bard. I think the AP flows well when someone in the party is really into Thassilon. He is, however, doubling up on the Face's job and so maybe is better left as a tagalong expert or resource in town.

Archers are indeed brutal, but you might need that in certain encounters. Another possible option would be to make Shalelu into a PC. She has lots of tie into the story (though it sounds like your other NPCs do too) and fills that archer role.

I think if you can make the rest of the story work, her owning the inn is the least of your worries. Some of the older townsfolk might be a little unsure about the arrangement but she paid good coin for it and hasn't messed it up yet. Also, she's a noble daughter of the town. No matter how messy the family politics I can see the town happy to have an adventurous youth back in town "settling down" into a more stable living. The old ladies are probably playing matchmaker for her incessantly.

Having run RotRL once, I would suggest modifying some of the combat tactics to take out some of the mook fights. The AP assumes that you'll wear down some resources by fighting dungeons piecemeal and certain group hanging back. With a group that big, just getting everyone set up for combat takes long enough that I would tend to run the dungeons as one or two big fights. Have the mooks run to join up with their boss instead of trying to take on an entire squad of adventurers by themselves. This also gives the baddies the same advantage the PCs do of sharing some buffs without adding more casters (bless, bard song, haste etc).

I think two things are critical here.

1. Foreshadow books five and six with similar events

2. Make them care enough about the region that they will step it up in book four and help where needed and do the appropriate dungeon delving

Here's how I would do it.

I don't think Nualia would leave, she's got too much left to do in Thistletop. There are other goblin tribes in the area that would love the chance to get the 'best lair' and other mercenaries are easy enough to come by.

I think this would, however, put her on alert. She would keep all three Yeth Hounds by her at all times. Tomorrow she would probably change up her spell list somewhat to deal with the events. Animate dead for the goblins is awesome and you could maybe add a little Lamashtu flavor to them when they're raised...more monstrous appearances somehow. I think she'd also go without sleep for a few nights, using Gogmurt's trick of lesser restoration to fight off the fatigue. I think she'd probably continue like this until she got some new mercenaries hired to watch her back.

I would add one thing, having run RotRL once and looking to do so again. Since you're including character restrictions, I would have your characters find some reason to care about the town of Sandpoint. The adventure hooks are much easier when you have characters that care about something or someone in Sandpoint and are willing to work to protect it.

The first time through, my group was not well invested in the town and it was work to keep them on task. When I run the AP next time I'm going to make the Sandpoint connection mandatory, as well as requiring one of the characters to be interested in Thassilonian lore.

They're more expensive but Mithral weapons allow you to bypass silver DR without giving up the point of damage.

Wizard 5 is going to have to spend a feat on armor proficiency. I think it blends better with a cleric or oracle. Maybe a magus?

His two optional rules will create a number of problems

1. The math is going to be all wrong. If armor is DR, everyone will be much easier to hit. I can see where he is coming from, but from a realistic standpoint, you then need to track hardness and HP of armor and shields and find out how much pummeling they can take before they break and need to be repaired. Also, bonuses to hit won't scale properly with worn armor and by 10th level, everyone will be hitting everyone most of the time. There are also issues about how Magical DR stacks with Armor DR

2. The reality of dex to attack has some merit, hand eye coord is important, but so is strength and speed. Most melee fighters we see today (boxers, mma, etc) are not gymnast nimble the way a high dex fighters needs to be. Other games deal with this by having a prowess stat the specifically deals with how good you are at hitting a moving target (melee and ranged). PF doesn't have this. I suppose the easiest way to approximate it would be to average your str and dex but that seems like a lot of extra work.

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Adding on to the Timeline, here's what I've come up with for the events leading up to and surrounding the first few books. With my group, I want to add a little time pressure so everything in the first two books happens on a schedule. I might stretch this out to books three and four eventually. All the dates are approximations based on what is written in the book. Bold text are printed encounters. Obviously, all of this is Spoiler

8/8/4630 Foxglove Manor Constructed

12/21/4644 Vorel Foxglove attempts to become a lich, Manor becomes his phylactery

5/18/4662 Battle of Broken Trees, Black Arrow rangers defeat Kreeg Ogres. Fort Rannick Begun

4/1/4687 Traver Foxglove moves into Foxglove Manor

5/27/4687 Aldern Foxglove Born

1/18/4693 Cyralie Foxglove attempts to burn down Foxglove Manor, is killed by Traver. Aldern and siblings sent to orphanage.

6/21/4702 Runewells Activate- Wrath washes over Sandpoint

6/25/4702 Late Unpleasantness Begins. Lonjiku Kaijutsu kills wife, Jervis Stoot begins killing spree, Nualia burns temple and flees

6/30/4702 Nualia joins with Skinsaw Men

7/14/4702 Nualia finds catacombs of wrath, begins studying with Erylium

11/15/4702 Nualia sets up camp in Thistletop, begins to look for Malfeshnekor

3/27/4703 Aldern Foxglove returns to Magnimar

6/1/4706 Aldern joins with Skinsaw Men, reclaims Foxglove Manor

1/7/4707 Aldern harbors a group of Varisian travelers from a storm, meets Iesha

1/11/4707 Aldern and Iesha marry

6/7/4707 Aldern kills Iesha

8/20/4707 Aldern goes bankrupt due to Brothers of the Seven blackmail

9/12/4707 Barl Breakbones takes over Kreeg Ogre Clans. Hag Coven Starts filling the Storval Deep

9/21/4707 Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint, Campaign Begins, First Goblin Attack

9/23/4707 Boar Hunt

9/24/4707 Aldern returns to Foxglove Manor, contracts Vorels Phage

9/24/4707 Grim News from Mosswood
9/25/4707 Aldern dies and becomes a Ghast

9/26/4707 Monster in the Closet (Evening)

9/27/4707 Missing Bartender (Morning)

10/2/4707 The First Murders

10/4/4707 Murder Most Foul

10/18/4707 Mayor of Magnimar asks party to check on Fort Rannick

Asmo wrote:

Welcome to the boards!

I will run the anniversary edition, and I´ll go for 15 points and allow one score to go below 10; to - 8, to be exact. Max 18 in a score at first level. Thoughts?

Asmo

Excellent plan. It's good to set limits. Otherwise you'll need to put in a WIS-draining creature to remove the INT 4 WIS 4 CHA 4 barbarian that's turning every fight into a mockery...

...yes, I really have had players that would try that kind of 'stuff'.

A Cleric with 'command' or any other mind affecting spells would probably grind the 4 wis barbarian to a halt rather quickly

In PF, AoOs are not triggered by actions, they are triggered by opportunities. However, the standard in PF is that AoOs are not triggered by involuntary movement. I don't think this is spelled out in the rules, but is spelled out by designer posts and the design of the relevant portions of the game that trigger involuntary movement in the absense of feats or other rules resources that state otherwise.

I agree with the +4 thing, if it's not dangerous, he doesn't get it. Do you have any citations for the designer posts or other design elements?

Ah I see now. I would personally rule it to be the same as a Reposition, my main logic being that the movement is not voluntary and from a logic stand point if you're close enough to be grappling someone as you're moving them an ally would not be able to safely attack your opponent without risk of hitting you instead. Otherwise the potential for abuse is also high, you could move past 5 allies and they would all get AOO's, doesn't sound right to me.

That's basically my concern.

Stabbity: I generally agree with you. The other maneuvers spell it out very nicely when they do and do not provoke. Also, the spells that I can find that move enemies around the battle field make combat maneuvers, so the issues are generally the same.

From the SRD

Provoking an Attack of Opportunity:
Two kinds of actions can provoke attacks of opportunity: moving out of a threatened square and performing certain actions within a threatened square.
Moving
Moving out of a threatened square usually provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening opponents. There are two common methods of avoiding such an attack—the 5-foot step and the withdraw action.

Baddy is obviously not performing a 'certain action' (like casting a spell), so doesn't meet criteria #2. Criteria #1 gets a bit hazy again. He's not taking an action to leave the square so that takes us out of the common use of this rule.

Two similar examples jump to mind where a character is moving without acting.
First is falling: Say fighter is flying 60' in the air, 30' below Baddy on a flying carpet. Baddy's carpet gets hit with disjunction and now he's falling. Will he provoke an AoO from Fighter if the path of his fall takes him through Fighter's threatened square?

Second is being grappled by a large creature: Baddy is adjacent to Fighter. Monk (who is large for this example) flanks Baddy with Fighter and successfully initiates a grapple. Grapple rules say that Baddy is moved adjacent to Monk, does this movement provoke an AoO?

It would be nice if the grappling rules were as clear as the other maneuvers, which interpretation stays closest to RaI?

Here's the answer: An enemy being moved by a reposition does not provoke an attack of opportunity because of the movement unless you possess the Greater Reposition feat. You cannot move a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle.

But this isn't a reposition, it's a special use of grapple.

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Here's the situation:
Round 1:
Monk: grapples Baddy
Baddy: Attempts to break grapple, Monk giggles

Round 2:
Monk: Makes his grapple check against Baddy, chooses to 'move'. The path of movement takes Baddy through squares threatened by Fighter who is an ally of Monk.
Baddy: Attempts his escape check with +4 bonus for being moved through a dangerous situation, Monk giggles again

Here's the question:
Does Fighter get an attack of opportunity?

The Argument for an AoO: Baddy has moved through Fighter's threatened square and so provokes an AoO. It is fair since Monk spent two round setting up this little dance and Baddy got two opportunities to resist.

The Argument against an AoO: Baddy has taken no actions that provoke AoOs. He was moved through threatened squares but took no actions of his own and cannot provoke AoOs unless the rules say otherwise (greater trip etc). It is unfair since it makes greater reposition somewhat redundant.

The grapple rules are decidedly vague on this point

Move:
You can move both yourself and your target up to half your speed. At the end of your movement, you can place your target in any square adjacent to you. If you attempt to place your foe in a hazardous location, such as in a wall of fire or over a pit, the target receives a free attempt to break your grapple with a +4 bonus.

Has some thought been given to long term application of this? What if Joe Player joins PFS in season 5... but plays season 4 scenarios. Does he get access to boons for Faction Missions completed in the year/years before he joined the campaign? How in the world does/could he influence the campaign direction? If/when he is playing a season 4 scen., in season 5, does he work on the season 4 Faction Mission or the season 5?

A group I am in joined the campaign in the middle of Season 2, but we made an effort to play older scenarios... and I could see this happening with other people.

I think the player would need to understand that playing scenarios from previous years will not have an effect on the world at large.

In your example, Joe joins part way through year 5. Everything from year 5 works towards his faction's overall success and potentially works toward earning him a boon when the results are tallied in August. Everything else gets him xp, gold, PA, a chance to advance his character's story and any boons from his chronicles. Given the latitude GMs get for determining faction success in the new system, while playing a year 4 adventure, Joe could work on the year 5 mission to earn his PA (even though it doesn't count toward the meta-plot) or follow the hook in the module.

I have one 12th level character. Evan Tananger, Halfling Bard 12 from the river kingdoms and supporter of the Andoran faction.

My wife also has a 12th level rogue. Syra Tananger, Halfling Rogue 12. Evan's sister and also Andoran.

For what it's worth I'm in favor of more high level play options.

I like to play to at least 15. The game changes a bit when you get high level magic, but it gives you a lot of time at the table and a lot of space mechanically to watch your character grow up and change. You're a world shaker at high level, but that's part of the fun.

seems to me that a word caster that preps spells is on similar footing with the standard version of the class. Spontaneous casters, however seem to get a lot of added versatility in terms of what shapes and effects they can create.

Haven't seen the rules in play, but that's my take from reading through

I love the alchemist and I'm working out builds for an upcoming game. However, there are a few things (that have been pointed out elsewhere) that I'd like to see.

1. Between the spell list and mutagen ability it feels like the class is driving towards a self buffer yet they face the same downfall that all self buffers do. By the time she's done quaffing all her potions to be effective in combat, the fight is over. I'd like to see some ability that would allow her to buff up faster. A discovery that would allow her to combine multiple spell effects into the mutagen would be fitting.

i.e. when she preps the mutagen for the day she also uses the slots for two first level extracts and chooses enlarge person and shield. When the party comes to a big fight she can then quaff the tonic for a +2 str, +2 natural armor, +4 shield bonus and all the bonuses for being large. She only gets one per day, but it's pretty awesome when it goes off.

2. I'd like to see a way to make the alchemical items that are already present in the game actually useful to an alchemist beyond about 3rd level. Some ability that lets the alchemical items crafted by (or possibly just used by) the alchemist function at a higher DC. Tanglefoot bags and Thunder stones would provide all sorts of interesting options if there was a reasonable chance of the bad guys failing their saves.

3. The spell list is somewhat limited when it comes to actually affecting the environment. I'd like to see and alchemist that can either be an effective buffer (see #1) or can do a little more than just damage with his bombs (cure light wounds potions as splash weapons?!). Ideally the discoveries would let her choose but that might be too many rules for an already complicated class.

Great job so far! I've been loving digesting the new classes.

At Gen Con I heard some grousing about the lack of a coherent meta-plot for the Pathfinder Society campaign. I suspect this is in part driven by the focus of the faction prestige system changing from a competition of team vs. team to a personal goal related to availability of rewards. And the fact that we haven't announced which faction "won" season 0.

I've heard people requesting more linkages between adventures, more of a sense of "something going on" in the campaign beyond the events of a given scenario.

Do you feel this way?

Do you disagree, and prefer things the way they are now?

Do you wish your in-character actions had more of an impact on the overall "plot" of the campaign?

Should the campaign have an overall "plot" at all?

Please discuss.

Yes, absolutely there should be "something going on". For me, the experience of getting to interact in a world with many other participants is part of the allure of organized play. That said there are some very valid arguments against it too. The arguments for and against have gotten me thinking about similar examples in TV shows.

Some TV shows have huge amounts of ongoing plot. There are big things happening and deep character development but if you miss a week, or watch them out of order you'll be in for a confusing and unsatisfying ride because you don't know the characters and you don't know what's going on. Battlestar Galactica and Lost come to mind as examples.

On the opposite end of the spectrum you have shows that are completely episodic. After one or two episodes you know all of the important characters and how they relate and you can watch them in literally any order and it doesn't matter because everything is self contained in the episode. These are shows like Gilligans Island and the Simpsons.

Somewhere in the middle are the episodic shows that work in some character development and side stories. If you sit down and watch a random show you'll be able to follow the story and enjoy it but you might miss some of the side plot if you haven't been watching weekly.
Shows like CSI fit into this category.

These three categories can transition nicely to campaign set up as well. The games with deep plot and character development are awesome, but best saved for home games. The buy in is too high to be enjoyable for casual players and con games.

The games where the world resets at the end of the adventure, i think, would be very frustrating. It's funny to watch Gilligan and the Skipper try to get off the island week after week but I really have no interest in playing Gilligan, knowing that whatever I do, I'm back to square one next time I sit down. I know, I'd get to level up and get new stuff and new powers but whether Gilligan is 1st level or 15th, he's still stuck on the island.

I think the middle template is ideal for an organized play campaign. Anyone should be able to sit down and play most any adventure and follow what's going on without any but the most basic of background knowledge. Also, adventure order should rarely matter, allowing people to jump in anywhere. However, for those people that play most of the adventures and stick with it for multiple years, I think there should be a feeling of something going on and some sense of accomplishment.

Specifically, I would like to see the organizations of the world (5 national factions, aspis consortium and pathfinder decemvirate) having long reaching goals that are revealed over the course of a season with the players having some choices to make regarding who they help.

I understand more scenario are on the way, but they are not here yet and I'm talking about now. but it seems to be set up to run 1 character per season. well my gaming group games plays a lot, 1 to 3 scenario a week (16 so far). my primary character played 14 out of the 20 low tier scenario. my second character was made just as much to cache up other people, who missed games or cons as it was to play something new. with out replaying leaves only 6 low end scenario to do that with. (*) if replay to fill out the table but playing a 1st or 2nd Lv character with out getting any gold, gear or better skills ( sound like old school D&D, and Oh how I don't miss that) just to help some low level or new pathfinder play cache up. that sound lame to me ( I think GM should get something for there time every time WINK. not that I run) I love the game. but I don't every want feel helping some one new is a waste of my time. " sorry kid I...

1 to 3 scenarios a week, every week with 2 new adventures a month?

Is it really more fun to spend 75% (on average) of your time playing adventures you've already played? Why not take up something else three weeks out of four and play PFS the one week when it comes out? I know paizo puts out plenty of other awesome stuff.

I personally think it would be imprudent of the campaign staff to make decisions based on immediate needs without considering the long term implications. However, decisions based just on the long term can be very frustrating in the present. A balance is probably best with a slight focus on the long view.

I know I have a few characters I would like to try. but the fear of being punsh for haveing more than 1 character doesn't sound like fun to me.

How are you punished for having more than one character? The way PFS is structured, a certain character can only play 33 adventures before you retire and once you hit level 6 and 8 you are no longer able to play the low level adventures. That means, that especially as new adventures come out, second and third characters will be necessary to keep playing the new adventures.

I'm also seeing the replay argument as somewhat impatient. Right now, we're barely into year one of PFS and so there are only 28 adventures to play. If I remember correctly, most of the adventures will not be retired. Over time that means the library of playable adventures will grow and the complaints of running out of adventures to play will dwindle to a very dedicated few. We know that paizo is a relatively small company with limited resrouces; perhaps patience is the most prudent choice.

I think that allowing the replay of mods for credit goes completely against the purpose of an organized play campaign and would be a serious detriment to the pathfinder society campaign. Certain issues seem to keep rising to the surface in this discussion.

1. Sometimes you just can't get a table together because of the array of mods people have played.
While this is certainly true, I don't see it as a reason to allow replaying. It has been said on other threads that the table size guidelines are a soft rule which can be bent to allow people to play. 4-6 players is ideal but 3 and 7 are better than turning people away.

So you have three people that haven't played a mod and one person that has? Play with a table of 4 and the person who has played it stays mostly quiet and helps everyone else through the combats. When the mod is registered, register that you had three players...no problem

2. A mod may provide access to a certain item that would be PERFECT for your other character.

With the prestige award dictating your access I really don't see this as becoming an issue. For the few unique items that are awarded the blurbs describing a mod are usually enough to tell you if you'll want to play your paladin or your wizard.

3. Story continuity is a big deal in OP campaigns.

To me, the continuity of the story is the whole point of an OP campaign. If the mods don't have a story connecting them, if the characters aren't making an impact on the world and if adventures can be replayed by the same player with a different character, how is this different from sitting down to a variety of one shot adventures set in Golarion and why must I do the paperwork to track my GP and levels.

Part of the fun of any campaign is interacting with the story as it unfolds around the characters and responds to the actions of the characters. Organized Play campaigns expand the scope out from a single band of adventurers shaping their world to whole organizations shaping their world and that is what makes them so compelling to me.

I would be very sad to see the pathfinder OP campaign allow replaying of mods as it would feel like taking a step away from the story that draws me into the world and taking a step closer to to a video game where the combat matters more than the characters choices

I'm playing a Bard in Pathfinder Society and having a blast with it. In addition to inspiring courage you get a great selection of spells to mess with the enemies (grease and glitterdust, confusion, fear, etc. I know they're not as good as 3.5 but they're still solid). You also have a number of combat options with skills such as intimidate (w/ a range of 30') and bluff. Add a few feats for disarming and tripping with the whip and you're sure to always have plenty to do. With your help those big dumb sword guys following you around will have everything mopped up in a few rounds. Bardic Knowledge now makes it easy to get a 20 in all your knowledge skills, all the time (1 rank, 3 class bonus, 3 Int bonus, 3 half bard level, taking ten all the time) which is usually enough to get the bits of info you need. Top all of that off with UMD and a backpack full of scrolls to make sure that you always have the right spell at the right time.

But will they continue to make new scenarios for levels 1-5 or will the future seasons concentrate on higher level scenarios leaving fewer low level ones for second characters?

It will only take 33 scenarios to level a character to 12 and quailfy for high level play. That's just over a year of scenarios so they'll have to keep producing low level adventures to keep allow 2nd 3rd and 4th characters something to play

I was just curious if I'm missing something about this item. It's listed in the campaign setting as a purchasable magic item yet that book doesn't say what happens when an ioun stone is inserted. Is there more coming out about this cool item?

My players went overland and so got to see some of the odd things in the cities along the way.

They came into Nybor on the night of the winter solstice and saw thousands of charrigs making runes and patterns in the lake that even the thassilonian reading wizard couldn't understand.

In Galduria two living spells escaped from the twilight academy which they helped the watch fight off. The next morning all the houses that were damaged had been repaired by the wizards of the academy.

In wolf's ear they were attacked in the night by a band of sczarni wererats and got to meet the werebear sheriff.

I figured it was a fun way to add some flavor to the landscape and make it feel like the world goes on around them

I think your player's story is interesting and fun. I would give him the tattoo but I have a few words of caution from my group's experience.
To preface, I have 4 players who know 3.5 very well and have a good sense of tactics and a knack for finding back doors. The composition is a Grey Elf Wizard, a High Elf Scout, a Halfling Druid and a Human Duskblade.

Somewhere around 5th level I began to notice that I needed to make some of the encounters a bit tougher to challenge them. A 5th level fighter that can do 1d8+4 followed by 5d6 from shocking grasp (no save) tends to chew the monster hit points rather quickly. It's an interesting class and can be really helpful if your party needs the power in the front line but can become a bit overpowered in some situations as well.

One of my players is playing a halfling druid who is a very caring soul. When the party explored thistletop they found two goblin children in cages. She stopped the other characters from killing them and brought them home with her. She talked Madame M'vashti into keeping the goblins secret in the basement and is hoping to work out something with the master of turnadarok academy about an education. In the end, she wants to help the goblins to become something more than petty thieves and pawns for larger powers. She wants to give them something to be proud of.

My question is, What legitimate enterprise could the goblins undertake? I love the idea of at least some goblins rising above their bickering tribes but I have no good idea where to take this.

Hey everyone,

Here's the gist. I'm running my group through the Skinsaw Murders, and the player in question is a Human Paladin of Iomedea, himself the brother of the an aasimar cleric of the same goddess.

What happened is this:

[spoiler]

The group was exploring the Hanbey Farm, having a pretty rough time of it. They ended up taking the long way around and getting hit with the three ghoul patrol amidst the the area with the four ghouls strung up--a nasty fight all around.

The paladin did a decent job, I thought. He knew to use his detect evil on the "scarecrows" he saw moving, and knew to be cautious when he felt their evil aura. It put me at ease, because if they had him there they would have a decent way of telling "Hey, this moving, moaning scarecrow's evil. Might be a baddie." or "Hey, this moving, moaning scarecrow's not evil. Might not be a baddie."

But my Player has a bad habit of making snap decisions, sometimes without the prudence one could hope. And so, after the aforementioned fight with the seven ghouls, they hit the curve heading up to the farmhouse and barn, there's the single strung up farmer who'd yet to be turned. They see it moving, groaning. What does my paladin do? "I'm running up and stabbing it with my sword." No detect evil. No question. Just run up and stab. "It's going to suck if you run up and do that and one of them hasn't turned into a ghoul yet," says another of my players, flooding the room with palpable irony.

And so the group has a paladin with the blood of an innocent, helpless farmer on his hands.

So what to do? I felt I had no recourse but to strip the character of his class abilities, but I'm curious if this was perhaps too harsh a course of action? It is true the paladin did kill an innocent by accident, but I feel it was both a sin of wrath (because in his own anger at being ambushed by the ghouls so often he attacked on without even considering it might be a farmer) and pride (because he felt his judgment of the situation was better than that of...

This is definitely an interesting situation, especially for a relatively young paladin. My first thought when I read it was that your paladin has created a fantastic RP opportunity for himself. He got impatient, and screwed up, killing someone he was trying to protect. That seems like something that would eat most paladins alive inside, knowing that they were acting in the name of good but made a mistake. Hopefully you and your group can explore that in future adventures.

I agree that it was a moment of wrath and I could see the pride if you wanted to rule it that way. Stripping him of his paladin abilities might be a bit harsh but given what comes next...

Having a paladin that isn't immune to all of the haunts in foxglove manor could actually work to your favor. Additionally, most of the fights in the manor aren't so difficult that the paladin being without his abilities shouldn't burden the party too heavily.

If this were my table, assuming the paladin showed appropriate remorse for his decision and realized what he did wrong, I would have his powers reappear once they were done with the manor without the use of an atonement spell. If he didn't show remorse and/or didn't realize why his powers were gone then it would become something of a spiritual quest for the paladin, trying to figure out why Iomedae is mad at him.

Either way, it should make for good story and good character development. Let us know how it goes

I agree that it adds to the flavor and I'll certainly be using it. Thanks for the clarification.

I was reading through PF6 last night and came across something that I couldn't make sense of. The description of the dwarves cabin is great, but at several points it references a storm brought up by the Wendigo yet there's no description about when the storm starts. My assumption is that it starts about the time they find the cabin and gets heavier as the story unfolds but some clarification would be nice. I was definitely caught off guard when I read about the haunt that sends the PCs stumbling out into the previously unmentioned blizzard.

12. Male Human (Varisian) Bard/Ranger. Filled with a wanderlust matched only by his devotion to Desna, he travels around the countryside looking for new sights to see while sharing Desna's grace.

13. Cleric/Monk of Sarenae heading to sacred fist. Red haired and spunky, delivering the will of the sun goddess with flaming fists.

14. Male Dwarven Rogue/Artificer. Scrappy and resourceful, he carries a belt full of homemade alchemical devices which he uses to amazing effect. Always has another trick up his sleeve.

15. Female halfling (varisian style) knife fighter. A lithe halfling with an ever expanding collection of knives. Hates to see people oppressed, especially little people and loves the look on her enemies face when they realize how much a well placed knife can hurt.

16. Male human (chelaxian) Druid. Quiet and calm he is the defender of the wild creatures that live within the walls of a city. Loves his city and will fight to defend both the people and the animals and plants that call it home. Has a sparrow for an animal companion that calls a whole bunch of friends when things get rough (sparrow swarm).

Two thoughts come to mind here.

For your gnome, the favored soul/sorcerer sounds like a really fun concept, but it's a long road to the mystic theurge and you're going to be losing a lot of high level spells compared to another caster of your level. If the rest of your party can support it it's got wonderful flavor, just keep you spell progressions in mind.

Like what Dragonchess Player said,
For the paladin/rogue, complete adventurer has a lot of good stuff for you. The devoted inquisitor feat and Shadowbane Inquisitor are both 100% designed for a character who is a holy champion for justice but uses skills to solve problems more than his sword.

Lastly I want to echo Alex in that you should talk to your fellow players and DM, both to figure out what the group needs as far as skills and to weave your characters together. I've found that gameplay is much more rewarding when the players all have similar goals and can play off of one another. It also make life easier for the DM.