I would like to say that I am running this module right now for my players (with some modifications) and we're having a great time.
In case someone wants to use it, I would like to recommend the following (spoilered due to mature themes and obvious spoilers):
Spoiler:
- I have added a village near the lake, where a few dozens of dretch-like humanoids toil maintaining a veritable army of inactive Retrievers.
- there is a constant threat of creeping dawn (the dawn here brings a great fire which consumes all creatures, only to let them respawn upon the coming of the night).
- make the succubi talkative. Let them brag, be friendly and above everything... let them enjoy pain, and even death.
One of the PCs, a paladin, freaked out when a Shantak-riding Sister of Vigilance sheathed her weapon and let him kill her profusely thanking him for the honor and ultimate pleasure.
- all succubi wear mortification devices (enchanted scale mail shirts +2, which tear into wearer causing intense pain, and in case of these succubi, ecstasy). Emphasizing their joy at their own suffering with every stretch of their bodies.
- note: Sisters of Vigilance look like emaciated skeletal hags - years spent bathing in radiation and void of space made them look really unappealing.
- make the alu-fiends also death-flirting - a half orc barbarian had its moment of doubt, when a maid forced him (charm + suggestion) to start beating and strangling her. True-Seeing users tried to convince him that he hurt a demon (Alu-Fiends in my games look totally human thanks to personal illusions, and illusion piercing means reveal them as having gaping dark holes in places of eyes and mouths), but the guy had its shock.
By the time the PCs left the shrine, they were so afraid to inflict violence, that they never even thought to strike out at Euphrixia, and with sheer gratitude accepted her help in getting to the next stage.
Consequently a battle with bugs from space came as something of a relief. Let's what they think when they get to the real part of the Ring of Agony.
IMHO, lack of cardinal directions forces you to rely on relative methods of description (like "this exit is in front of you, the other one is to your left"). I liked the way it supplements the feeling of disorientation.
I have run similar one-shots (similar by concept, not by execution) and never really cared about actual spread of rooms (though I let the PCs draw their maps). Of course, to mitigate eventual cartographic frustration, the dungeons were quite simple.
Consequently, the maps were only important with regard to the content of places of challenge, not the housing :)
If I were to complain All I can say at this point, it's that's my home city analog, Krakova, has been given the crest based on our cultural competitor, Warsaw. Why couldn't you give something more neutral? It's as bad as using derogative term for old lady as a name for NPC in Tales of Old Margreve (well, I know that some parents have a twisted sens of humor and named their son Dick Assman, but still...).
Viletta and Lincoln gave excellent advice already. All I can offer you at this point a bit of experience.
Most of the Pathfinder skills can be classified as:
1. Everyone's favorite (Perception, Stealth, Spellcraft, Diplomacy).
2. Strong suits of specialists (most Knowledges, Climb, Bluff, Survival).
3. Seldom used (Profession, Craft, Perform).
4. Someone else's problem.
Category #1 skills user have usually +(level+3+3) bonus or higher (a wizard in my party has 15th level, and boasts handy +28 to important skills).
Category #2 skills reach similar level, but there is usually only a single person per group to have such skills.
Category #3 skills usually stay around 3rd or 4th level with regard to competence.
Category #4 skills seldom exceed a single rank and ability bonus.
Tips
When assigning a DC to a task, classify the skill first - you do not want to set high DCs to skills nobody acquires, and you do not want to have autopass situations.
Assign higher DCs to popular skills, keep a lot of less popular DCs at basic level and always remember that the same task cannot become harder with levels - this goes against the spirit of adventure, fair play and sense of achievement.
The happy medium is usually 30% chance to pass for an important task which may be retried, and 75% chance to pass for a critically task with drastic failure consequences.
The tasks, where characters can help each other should have a decreasing difficulty - the first to pass must score the highest, the last one, with the help of everyone else, can be allowed to enjoy low DC.
If you want your characters feel like heroes, set difficulties to ensure that NPCs have low chance of succeeding, while the PCs should succeed around 60% of the time.
To encourage creative thinking you may also assign two or three different DCs to the same task - a default for those who just want to roll dice, a hard DC for those who use inappropriate skill or just try to brute force a challenge, and an easier DC for those who plan or roleplay.
Examples
Scaling an obstacle: standard climb check DC, DC+5 who want to rush things and DC-5 for those, who get help or use tools.
Searching rubbish heap for treasure: Perception check, +5 DC for every treasure found after the first.
Intimidate a local tough to release a hostage: Standard DC for city watch, DC+5 for no-name bystanders, DC-5 for famous heroes.
Building a close relationship with an attractive NPC: (various skills may apply), DC+5 to become an acquaintance, DC+0 (and probably being nice) to become a closer friend, DC-5 (if your GM is merciful, and the NPC is likely to respond well to your advances) to become intimate.
If you're an evil spirit (demon, devil), you may also use this progression to slowly corrupt someone.
Playing Switch-Hitter Ranger in Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. Currently at level 6.
My damage rocks, my ability to move around (Longstrider + Cleave) allows me to own most of the battlefield. That said, I came close to death several times because:
- my Will save sucks (only 13 Wis here)
- hitting stuff at range is problematic due to lots of confined spaces
- my AC sucks, if opponents get drop on me (or get to flank me), I'm down
If I were to start all over again, I would make the following feats my priority:
- Power Attack, Improved Will, Precise Shot, with Cleave and Point Blank Shot being close second, and Rapid Shot in distant third place
Here is why:
- Power Attack is no brainer, it's a staple of my gaming,
- You're supposed to switch to melee only when you have to... with 14 Dex and no Rapid Shot you miss too much to use a ranged weapon when someone else is in melee, Precise Shot is worth it, especially if you start using Deadly Aim,
- Get all +attack for your ranged weapon you can. With all my ranged feats in play, my attacks can look like this (Deadly Aim + Rapid Shot + Manyshot): +5/+5/+0 (2d8+12/1d8+6/1d8+6) - looks decent until you realize that most of the opponents boast 18 AC or more, making your hits quite difficult. Even more so if they are engaged in melee (-4 to attack).
Note that this is all very IMHO and based on my unrealized Savage Guild Wars conversion.
1. E6. All heroic characters of GW universe are not beyond a reach of a average folks. The magic and skills make them powerful, but they can be hit and eventually brought down always. They also lack access to world changing magic. The real game changers (Asura gates, artifacts, golems, magic swords) are items which take a lot of knowledge, cooperation and work to craft - in fact most of these items are beyond ability to create.
2. Skills. Characters who devote themselves can learn special abilities which allow them to go a little beyond limitations of standard E6 creatures. These abilities can be learnt at any time, provided certain resources (and effort, and time) are used.
2.1 (this is highly GW1) Each character may attune themselves to an archetype. This is a prerequisite to learning skills associated with the archetype. Highly experienced characters may attune themselve to secondary archetype, too, although effects of skills associated with secondary attribute are significantly weakened.
2.2 (this is highly GW1) At any time you may use only up to 8 (or 10) specific skills. This limit is a function of your inner strength.
2.3 One only needs to be rested and meditate for an hour to change currently active skills.
2.4 Unless otherwise stated, skills require a standard action, and usually are a stronger, more efficient version of such action.
2.5 Bringing someone from the dead is something any healer can do easily as long as: one hasn't been dead longer than minutes. One's body is not damaged beyond healer's ability to physically repair it.
3. Known archetypes: (see all classes from GW1 and GW2)
Asus Transformer series. If you, like me, buy it with a keyboard, you would get unparalleled battery time.
Note that for some PDFs page rendering may take a little time.
Does anyone know if PCGen will work on the Android operating system? My wife and I both have Android tablets now and since HeroLab isn't going to show any love for Ice Cream anytime soon, I'm looking for an alternative character creator that I can whip up on my tablet while I sit at work. I love HeroLab, but my boss might not be so sympathetic if there is a copy floating around on the corporate network. :)
No, it will not. Android is not Linux.
There were some ways around that but as far as I can tell they are no longer viable.
More specifically, can one force PCGen to use Java6 if it is installed (while keeping the installation of Java7 for minecraft?)
Yes, and it's very easy. You just need to type a few things.
Note however that latest beta should run under Java7 just fine.
1. Go to the folder of your java6 installation, there find bin\javaw.exe. Copy the path, like this:
c:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe
2. Go to your pcGen installation folder. Find pcgen_low_mem.bat file there.
Make a copy of this file, for example:
pcgen_mine.bat
3. Edit the file. This is a plain text file, so just start your trusty Notepad and open the file. Inside the file change last line from:
java -Dswing.aatext=true -Xmx96m -jar pcgen.jar
to:
"c:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe" -Dswing.aatext=true -jar pcgen.jar
4. Save the file.
Note that I have changed file extension (just a cosmetic change), removed maximum memory limit (i.e. -Xmx96m switch). Also remember to add double quotes.
I would be running this as a stand-alone. Like a one-off, mini-campaign kind of thing. New characters generated just for this adventure. Maybe I could just restrict some of the problematic spells you mentioned.
My group is used to somewhat gritty play with about 1/2 WBL as the expectation for PC's. They are also used to no "magic-marts" and don't usually have "big 6" type of equipment. They rely mostly on what they find in the field. Maybe the low treasure rewards here will work out ok.
Please share your notes or impressions afterwards.
If you need anything, just drop me a mail at ruemere AT gmail DOT com
(note: this applies to PFRPG version)
(note 2: my opinion is based on my experiences of running games for 15-level adventurers who ply their job intentionally low magic campaign world... in case of high magic campaigns, issues outlined may become even more pronounced)
The adventure relies on players doing walking and talking with NPCs to get information. If your players tend to Fly/Wind Walk or use Divination magic a lot, you will need to come up with in game reason to limit these.
NPC defenses suck. Mind control specialists are going to have a field day with overabundance of Fighter types with really low Will saves. This goes double for single BBEG spellcasters - no items, no defenses, low hitpoints.
If your players like to test major NPCs (or indeed, like in case of certain druid and certain island sorceress, when the PCs are to have a major showdown), consider adding additional creatures and characters to provide meatshield for the casters. Alternatively, revise NPC builds to include sensible equipment and reasonable defenses. Plucking ready-to-run builds of similar level casters from end-game scenarios provided by Paizo should work.
Many encounters are against of high-level, underequipped (masterwork weapons, no save improving items) groups of fighters. This is either a boring grind or incredibly easy win for control casters. Either scrap such encounters altogether (there are only so many 12-level Fighter infantry patrols in the world) or change them to CR-appropriate creatures (charmed or dominated to serve as patrolmen).
Treasure levels seem to be inappropriate to CR of encounters (too low). While I actually like this, you may want to adjust them to reward your PCs properly.
As a GM I would say something like this:
"Guys, what's your next action?"
From your story it is clear you have given him (and them) more than one chance. Also, it's quite likely these kobolds are holding innocents prisoner.
Mercy is precious commodity. Do not waste on those who don't cannot benefit from it. Paladin is a weapon - your job is to vanquish evil, not to split hair over a petty monster not willing to cooperate.
One thing I don't like is the run jump puzzles [1] to get to the top of some views.
If I wanted to play a platform game I'd play super mario. They have no place in a MMORPG IMO.
It is not mandatory - it's for overachievers and those who enjoy such challenges. Also, one of the vistas [2] is located over a skill challenge [3] - if you solve the jumping puzzle leading to the viewing vista, you may complete the challenge from the safety of cliff.
For the uninitiated:
[1] Jumping puzzle - a place one can reach only by navigating various terrain features, usually by jumping. It takes a bit of skill and reasoning to plan approach route in more difficult cases.
[2] Viewing vista - a place, from which one can activate a view of surroundings (a camera performs a flyover), marked on a map as two red triangles. Such places are usually located in remote locations requiring completion of a jumping puzzle to reach.
[3] Skill challenge - a combat challenge to gain a skill point. In some cases, activating the challenge requires standing still near a spawn area of a powerful monster.
For those of you going into Guild Wars 2, read this and take it as a warning. Hopefully they do not screw you all over as they seem to be doing with the City of Heroes community. Good luck and may you all last longer than my favorite MMO.
Guild Wars 1 is still around. Also, you need to remain profitable to stay in this business - someone needs to pay for servers and support staff.
So, it's sad to hear that but that's natural selection for you. If your business model cannot adapt, well, tough.
Currently playing human necromancer (nobility, missing parents, Trickster Demon aspect, worshipper of Balthasar, good at using charm).
Great experience aside from typical launch issues. Gaming world is very complex, and just investigating its dynamics is lovely.
As for the guys complaining about lack of end-game... they are trolling, please ignore them. Just by reading any decent review (ign.com, gamespot.com) you are likely to learn enough to make an informed decision yourself - the short version goes like this:
- characters core attributes are scaled down at lower level areas - so while your equipment is superior, you can and should revisit previous areas - there is so much content, that yu cannot simply play in one go or by yourself
- true high level play, the World versus World mode, is immediately accessible
- dynamic events at later stage are much bigger. Nothing like a fending off an army of opponents, only to mount a counteroffensive afterwards only to fall into a trap and lose badly - along with tens of other players
- personal (instanced) play can be also played in groups (higher level example: defending city from a marauding dragon - a dragon the size of Titanic)
Side note: The novel, the latter part, felt very Planescapish to me. If possible, I would love this part of the story expanded upon. This would, along with a series of Radovan and Jeggare's adventures form a basis for a nice tour of Pathfinder-verse.
Regards,
Ruemere
PS. My gripe list with the novel is considerably shorter and contains only two points.
Spoiler:
1. Salim does not act his level. Of course, Jeggare and Radovan also suffer from this problem... but when reading the book, I find it to be more Savage Worlds than Pathfinder, and as absurd as it may sound to some, it breaks the feeling of immersion to me. I am not saying that Salim should flaunt his hitpoint score (like he didn't with that failed backstab case) but still... his powers of observation, and results of other skill checks should be more pronounced.
2. Salim, being an investigator, does not seem to be investigating much. Well, he goes questing eventually, but in the beginning he does not seem to exhibit a lot of initiative. I know that it may sound a bit convoluted, but I would prefer the type of the approach exhibited by Dashiell Hammet heroes. For example, the nameless operative in Red Harvest builds strong relationships with numerous NPCs... while Salim feels unable to make other people talk to him. Something does not click here - an investigator who is at a loss while interacting with others? Jarring.
"Peace and out" as in "This is not meant as an attack, this is the end of my opinion".
I am, I'm ashamed to say, quite confrontational, so I try to end my posts in more positive way.
Lord Snow wrote:
[...]I am acutely aware of the race/gender fails in other works of litreture. Hack, I am a Jew, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the works of H. P Lovecraft, even though I have to clench my jaw and read past few enraging parts. Death's Heretic is a great read and I have stressed that point several times before. I even gave it the 5 star rating meaning that I declared it to be as good as Pathfinder Fiction could reasonably be expected to get.
Never disputed that.
Quote:
All of the above has nothing to do with the fact that the book is NOT fair to women. For example, I share many of my favorite books with my girlfriend, but I simply know that this will not be a pleasant read for her because of the treatment her gender is getting.
This is what I would dispute. Mind you, I am not saying she would like it...only that she may prefer to form her opinion herself.
Quote:
And about Velina (If I recall correctly that's the name of the merchant's daughter). She is an actual character, and I have no problem with her at all. She is presented in a sexual context - sexual tension is built between her and Salim from the first moment, Salim initiates touch with her at every opportunity, and no other character is described so many times as her, allowing the reader to imagine just how pretty she looks evrey time (seriuosly, check the book out - she is described once evrey couple of pages or so).
I was wondering why you hadn't mentioned her.
Quote:
And that's ok. sexual tension happens between people, usualy even between males and females, and I have no problem with that. Still means that there is no women in the book that has nothing to do with sex, while most men have nothing to do with sex. that's not fair.
In that case steer away from Malazan series by Steve Ericsson. That book offends even my, very liberal, sense of social discrimination.
The Name of the Rose.
Practically anything by sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Lovecraft (to lesser extent than the creator of Holmes, but still).
The point here is that the presence or representation of a type of characters bears little importance as to the quality of the story. Secondly, character nudity is not necessarily sexual in nature - it is quite likely an element of Osirion (see Egypt reference above) culture or, for Fey creatures, something natural. Bringing sex into this situation is inappropriate - Salim is conducting investigation, he does not seem to perceive a successful businesswoman in any other than business way. As for him wanting to have sex with a plant - well, he has no intention of doing anything like that. If anything, he seems to be quite socially awkward (one of the reasons I could not accept his age easily)... somewhere around the level of a stereotypical basement geek (with a bit more developed vocabulary).
That's why I find your opinion needlessly objectifying - you're apparently disregarding (a) a bereft daughter who actually manages to get a grip on her life after a loss of overprotective father, (b) VERY successful busineswoman (anyone capable of shelling cash for the elixir is VERY successful), (c) inhuman creatures living in a different world.
Dude. If you want to be so politically correct, why not add to your gripe list missing representation of non-Caucasian males from Tian Xan, Mwangi, children, handicapped etc? And on this cheerful note, peace and out.
[...]Do you feel that my claim that women are seriously misrepresented and under represented in the book? We only get two (statistically improbable, given that they do compose 50% of every species). Of the two, one is a romantic interest of the main character, making it legitimate to present her in a sexual context. The second is standing in the middle of a gigantic palace full of other naked whores, and she herself is yet another whore. After that, we also get almost nude dryads, and completely nude, obviously sexualized nymphs.
In a world like Golarion, where through (good) decisions of the Paizo stuff women are not treated as bad as they are in our world, I find this kind of treatment to be unworthy and unkind, and completely uncalled for. Where are the women worriors and women priests and women nobles who made their own fortunes (not inherited from a wealthy father or achieved by sex)?
again, not a giant issue, but I do feel it calls for a justification.
Funny. A protagonist encounters a forest fey, and the reader complains about lack of clothes... dude, I guess that in your opinion it was a given the satyr was wearing pants? FYI, Greek depictions were quite pant-less.
As for the palace part... just have a look at any Egyptian art pertaining to ancient period.
Been to Onyx Path site... not much news there, I'm afraid.
As for the original crew, they were a mix of WWGS core authors and freelancers. I haven't seen anyone of them writing for 3.5 or PFRPG.
Scarred Lands actually coming back? Oh, my dear <deity>.
1. Don't rush stuff. No need to republish hundreds of monsters. Until later, that is.
2. We need adventure content. Badly. Most of the products already present are system-agnostic. To hook people again, an adventure path would do wonders.
3. Bring back some iconic NPCs.
Let me propose a few campaign ideas:
- Cordrada Corridor and prairies swept in Proud uprising
- fall of Durrover
- Hollowfaust - just about anything would do
- Blood Monsoon - blood spattered mithril vs evil coming out from the sea
you do realize that you're up for one of the biggest active threads at Paizo messageboards, don't you? It's 1,098 posts long, actually, 1,099 long with this one included.
Allow me to revisit my question then - does Aneshka adhere to NPC CR guidelines as outline by Pathfinder? Outrageous powers are fine with me as long as the character's strength does not make it reach beyond's its CR.
As with any kind of CR modification, it all depends on the example. For Aneshka, while she is powerful, she has her weaknesses.
ruemere wrote:
Yes, it is a trick, loaded, even unfair question. Still, as I a GM I owe my players a degree of fairness. Otherwise, why would I bother using rules at all.
Regards,
Ruemere
I welcome questions off all kinds, and I have a question for folks.
Of those of you who have used any of the Faces of the Tarnished Souk, how did they play? Do you feel they are balanced for the CR in which you used them?
I have used mostly lower CR versions for very specific applications (serial numbers filed off, colorful NPCs needed). The full-power originals are waiting for end-game plots. As the party average level reaches number fifteen, the time of biggest guns encroaches ever closer.
Stuff actually used includes content of Book of Monster Templates, NPCs from Evocative City Sites (the bartender fiend with aspirations to godhood and her ex-poisoner expert companion) and a few others.
(warning: some rambling ahead)
Somewhat on-topic note: in my games there are no unkillable opponents, the big bad bosses play by the same rules as heroes and if you hit anyone strong enough, they keel over and die, without last minute speeches, last second escapes or deus ex machina tricks.
It's a dirty world where a paladin is fine with taking away a hand of a notorious thief, economic and political interests drive forth holy folk, the evil guys can be bargained with and can be quite nice, and living is full of small choices... bystanders die from accidental fireballs, family members turn to be good and bad, and likable to the point of breaking law for them, laws are bent by the mighty (or not), and the players know that everyone can die.
Such is the world of Scarred Lands, probably one of the best settings of d20 era, quite lost to the RPG community due to White Wolf stranglehold on its property.
Due to Google's ever present sniffing, I cannot reveal my plans for the end-game yet, suffice to say it is going to be somewhat modified Coliseum Morpheuon - I'll just drop this little hint: Jack of Tears x Khan (x as in Cartesian product symbol).
Note: Jack of Tears is a baddie from Scarred Lands.
For now, I am just gathering resources to build my own planescapish continuum. And biding my time, since the PCs haven't yet survived challenges of modified Bonegarden (converted 3.5 sandbox from Necromancer Games).
Aneshka, well, if she was a part of a Faces anthology, I would not mind purchasing the book. For now however, I am a bit uncertain. If she is indeed "horrifically overpowered", and if she exists outside of standard d20 rules, well, I do not really think I can fit her in the roster of the beings I need.
Well it is the Lite version, Harsk has been hitting the ale kinda hard and getting a bit of a ale gut on him. So maybe he is not lite enough to qualify for the lite version anymore. :)
True Rangers are stealthy. Maybe he's stalking some prey across the pages.
Allow me to revisit my question then - does Aneshka adhere to NPC CR guidelines as outline by Pathfinder? Outrageous powers are fine with me as long as the character's strength does not make it reach beyond's its CR.
Yes, it is a trick, loaded, even unfair question. Still, as I a GM I owe my players a degree of fairness. Otherwise, why would I bother using rules at all.
I was under impression that horrifically overpowered feats were not meant for regular play. Could someone tell me if Aneshka is actually a standard NPC?
ok so Alien are we all supposed to just go "ZOMG YOUR SO TOTALLY RIGHT, I'LL NEVER PLAY ANY OTHER RPG AGAIN!!!" because to say anything remotely negitive about a game someone is enthusiastic about is pissing in his breakfast, or marks you as being a "hater"?
Why do you have to say anything at all? Why be negative? He's excited to have found something that reignites his enjoyment of RPGs. How is it a good idea to then immediately start talking about all the problems of that system? What's the purpose in immediately saying, "Well, you may be happy to have found Pathfinder, but let me tell you about all the problems I have with it." Are you actively trying to drive him away?
We're saving him from future troubles and disappointments.
ruemere: The healing Domain power affects Cure Spells only. It does not affect channel positive energy, heal spells, breath of life or any other healing effect that does not have the word 'cure' in it.
Remember that weapon bonuses apply to all combat maneuvers with said weapon. This is a very efficient way to improve your chance of success.
Pathfinder PRD wrote:
Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver. The DC of this maneuver is your target's Combat Maneuver Defense. Combat maneuvers are attack rolls, so you must roll for concealment and take any other penalties that would normally apply to an attack roll.
In other words, all weapon based maneuvers with decent magic weapons get significantly improved success chance when you flank or when your weapon has nice attack bonus - Improved Trip and Improved Disarm are really good, but otherwise if you can get away with Dirty Trick (whipping someone across face may be considered to be sufficient to apply weapon-based advantages), go for it.
