Rasputin Must Die! (GM Reference)


Reign of Winter

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GM Reference thread for Rasputin Must Die!.


Earth? Siberia? Go there? Anyone know?


Guess so! Bust out your mask here comes the mustard gas!


I must admit I find it somewhat amusing that the players don't get to use the Hut to any significant effect despite earlier hints (such as using it on giants early on).

I do have a question.

Spoiler:
If Rasputin is hit with a Disintegrate spell after his first Death (after which point he returns as if via Resurrection), does it mean he can't come back a second time?


Answer to the spoiler of Tangent101

Spoiler:
From the Resurrection spell: The condition of the remains is not a factor. So long as some small portion of the creature's body still exists, it can be resurrected, but the portion receiving the spell must have been part of the creature's body at the time of death. (The remains of a creature hit by a disintegrate spell count as a small portion of its body.) The creature can have been dead no longer than 10 years per caster level.

Reading up, it brings him back as though the raise dead spell. Which changes some things. As the DM I'm ruling that the point is to have him come back at half hp, not to mimic the spell exactly. (But that's up to you)

Dark Archive

in the AP there is a monster called

spoiler:
"overgrown mandragora"

is "overgrown" a size category or a template or what?


Shouldn't be any need for the spoilers; this is a dedicated GM thread, after all.

I think disintegrating the Mad Monk would stop the second extra life as written, but I'm so having him manifest as an angry ghost with the malevolence ability if that happens to him. (In part because I EXPECT my party to immediately destroy the body after he self-resses the first time). Though with the caveat that disabling the World Engine immediately wipes out Ghost Rasputin.

I believe the hut can be used in the initial fight at the village (though it's going to have the snot kicked out of it by mines and shelling), but yeah, it can't be used at the prison camp.

Contributor

chopswil wrote:
is "overgrown" a size category or a template or what?

Overgrown is just a descriptor used to convey that the mandragora isn't your average run-of-the-mill CR 4 beastie. I used it to similar effect with the large-sized and over-stuffed "corpulent ghouls" in Shadows of Gallowspire.

It results from increasing a creature's hit dice to the point that they jump size categories (generally by one category with each 50% increase in hit dice), as described in the "Adding Racial Hit Dice" section of the Bestiaries.

It is more work than stacking Giant and Advanced simple templates, and more of a ground-up rebuild, really, but ultimately the way it should be done for a solid, accurate creature representation.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

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Just a brief comment.

I read this today while the network was down at work. Brandon, the adventure is phenomenal and engrossing. Romanovs, machine guns and gas, oh my!

The rest of the book is awesome as well.


Just two innocent questions from the sidelines, sorry to nitpick...

- On Page 84, the animated tank's statblock contains the Feat 'Power Attack'. Umm... is this supposed to be there? After all, Tanky has exactly zero melee attacks at its disposal. Switching to 'Deadly Aim' won't work either, for lack of Dex...

- The sample Trench Zombies on page 91 are statted as 'LN Medium Undead'. Erm... wasn't it iron law at Paizo that Undead (with very few exceptions) are evil, period?

As for disintegrating Rasputin... the solution of having him come back as a ghost sounds quite... enticing to me. *evil chuckle*

Paizo Employee Developer

Doh! The trench zombie alignment is absolutely a typo. It should be LE. It looks like I failed to change the alignment when I applied the template.

For the animated tank, Power Attack is there to help with its bull rush combat maneuvers. (Not that it really needs much help).

Horizon Hunters

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

I really like the troops = swarms. Before I got the point where it actually says that, I was thinking to myself "sounds like a swarm to me". I'm really looking forward to running this!


In the midst of reading this, very cool stuff, but one thing jumped out at me... the special ability of "Polina"...

Spoiler:
The Danse Macabre only works on evil creatures, but Miloslav is listed as LN.
Should she be a variant that can target non-evil creatures, or should he be evil?

-TimD

Sovereign Court Developer

TimD wrote:

In the midst of reading this, very cool stuff, but one thing jumped out at me... the special ability of "Polina"...

** spoiler omitted **

-TimD

Spoiler:
Either change would work equally well, I think, but I would change Viktor's alignment to LE - after all, he was willing to work with Rasputin to create the World Engine, which is a highly dangerous weapon.

That being said, if you think your PCs might balk at resurrecting (and working with) an evil character, it would probably be better to change Polina's ability to work on any creature.


I am curious. What would be the required skills and DCs for the adventurers to reverse engineer the weapons and especially the ammunition for the goodies herein?

(Specifically, the firearms and, worse, the heavy weapons.)

I'm thinking 10-15 higher than the usual Craft DCs, along with Craft (alchemy) and at least Knowledge (engineering) in the DC 35-40 range. Perhaps requiring one or more specific feats (Gunsmithing)?

Shadow Lodge

Turin the Mad wrote:
I'm thinking 10-15 higher than the usual Craft DCs, along with Craft (alchemy) and at least Knowledge (engineering) in the DC 35-40 range. Perhaps requiring one or more specific feats (Gunsmithing)?

Relevant text from the Gunsmithing feat:

Quote:

Crafting Firearms:...At your GM’s discretion, you can craft advanced firearms for a cost in raw materials equal to half the price of the firearm. Crafting a firearm in this way takes 1 day of work for every 1,000 gp of the firearm’s price (minimum 1 day)...

...Crafting Ammunition...At your GM’s discretion, you can craft metal cartridges for a cost in raw materials equal to half the cost of the cartridge. Crafting bullets, black powder, or cartridges takes 1 day of work for every 1,000 gp of ammunition (minimum 1 day).

Restoring a Broken Firearm: Each day, with an hour’s worth of work, you can use this feat to repair a single firearm with the broken condition. You can take time during a rest period to restore a broken firearm with this feat.

The feat should be all the characters need to repair broken Mosin-Nagant M1891s or Pulemyot Maxima M1910s they find, but you're under no obligation as GM to let them make either M1891s or M1910s from scratch. Likewise, the feat should let them craft the 54mm metal cartridges the guns use. More problematic is crafting smokeless powder. Dmitri Mendeleev crafted the stuff the Russians used, so if we make a few assumptions about his stats we can probably arrive at a DC.

Let us assume Mendeleev was a human with five levels of Expert, built on the average array (as Pathfinder NPCs with NPC classes are). He would start with 15 Intelligence (13 plus 2 from human), and raise that to 16 at level 4. His max rank in Craft (alchemy) is 5, plus 3 from being a class skill, plus 3 from Intelligence puts his Craft (alchemy) check at +11. But we can do better. Let's give Mendeleev the feats Skill Focus (craft [alchemy]), Prodigy, and Master Alchemist. Together, they're worth another +7, pushing Mendeleev's Craft (alchemy) check to +18. Giving him an Alchemist's Lab is worth another +2, pushing the check to +20. And of course he didn't do all this alone, but I'm not sure how large his team of students, research assistants, and fellow scientists was. Let's be conservative and say he worked with five other people. That's another +10 from Aid Another, pushing his check to +30. At this point, a Craft (alchemy) DC of 45 or 50 to craft smokeless powder doesn't seem unreasonable.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Re: Reverse engineering modern firearms.

There's also the quality control issue. Can non-magical methods in Golarion make brass cases to the tolerance of the 1918 ammo? If you're not using fabricate I can see doubling the misfire chance, at least.


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Alchemy can craft golems, so brass cartridges seem to be (game mechanically speaking) less of a concern than the smokeless powder. Mithral and adamantine cartridges if nothing else will easily handle the tolerances, being 50% and 100% more durable than steel. I'm inclined to go with mithral as 'Golarion brass'. Given the expense, policing one's mithral is eminently worthwhile.

I don't know enough about Russian field methods, so presently I assume that they would have policed their brass and have reloading capability in any place that they set up shop for an extended period. Especially one where they are fortifying and setting up artillery. Perhaps there are associated items in a pertinent location that is not 'in the script'? (Field reloading manuals, reloading stations, et al.)

DC 40 sounds about right to come up with smokeless powder in a reliable, recreatable (alchemical?) formula. I'm happy to set that as the DC to engineer a method to craft the weaponry as well (plus research costs on par with spell research, using high-end values and requirements). Keeping in mind the x10 cost multiplier, that makes the weaponry very expensive and time-consuming to make barring access to fabricate (which merely makes it expensive).

A gunsmithing wizard/sorcerer/artificer domain/the Gawds help us an Alchemist PC coming back with this stuff, with the "right" combination of skill bonuses, is going to be scary-fun post-RoW.

Certain deities might take a very keen interest in any PC that figures these weapons out...


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Just "doting" for a time when I may need this reference.

Sooooo excited it's available now.

~Dean


The introduction of the Automatic Weapon Quality (which I love) brings up a few rules clarification questions for me, and not wanting to spoil anyone's fun by asking this in the general rules question forums, I figured I would post here to fellow GMs for help.

Automatic Weapon Quality for reference:
A weapon with the automatic weapon quality fires a burst of bullets with a
single pull of the trigger, attacking all creatures in a line.
This line starts from any corner of your space and extends
to the limit of the weapon’s range
or until it strikes a
barrier it cannot penetrate. When an automatic weapon
attacks all creatures in a line, it makes a separate attack roll
against each creature in the line. Each creature in the line
can only be attacked with one bullet from each burst.
Each
attack roll takes a –2 penalty to account for recoil, and its
attack damage cannot be modified by precision damage
or damage-increasing feats such as Vital Strike. Effects
that grant concealment, such as fog or smoke, or the blur,
invisibility, or mirror image spells, do not foil an automatic
weapon’s line attack. If any of the attack rolls threaten a
critical hit, confirm the critical for that attack roll alone.
An automatic weapon misfires only if all of the attack rolls
made misfire.
A single attack with an automatic weapon
fires 10 bullets. An automatic weapon cannot fire single
bullets that target one creature. When taking a full-attack
action with an automatic weapon, you can fire as many
bursts in a round as you have attacks.

I added Bold to highlight specific questions above and below:

Range: Just to be sure, that would be it's full range, so all 10 increments, right? For the Madsen Light Machine Gun (range 100') that would mean its burst-line effect goes out to 1000'? Would attacks, for the first 5 range increments be resolved as touch attacks, following the standard rules for Advanced Firearms?

One Bullet Per Target: It's too bad you can't just "unload" a full burst on one target then. Even a large one like a gargantuan dragon would still only be subject to one bullet? I guess this mechanically might be too powerful (yay! 10 free attacks on one target from one standard action). Would it make sense to say, in the event you are attacking a helpless target, you could get all those bullets to possibly hit? Or am I missing how this mechanic would work?

Misfires: I would have hoped that misfires or at least "jams" were MORE common, not less common for automatic weapons. I'm surprised they didn't have it that the machine gun would bind-up and need to be "cleared" as a move action or gain the broken condition if you "misfire" on one of those attacks? Even if it let you resolved the rest of the line effect's attacks (though I'd personally want to say that if on the third of five possible targets you roll a misfire, then the remaining two possible targets are safe because the gun jammed and the line effect ended).

Range and One Bullet Per Target: So lets say I have twenty troops charging down at my position and I open up with a burst. I fire a burst of 10 bullets into the line (and my line, we'll say, would extend through all of them). Can I only get chances to hit on the first 10, one attack roll per bullet? Or can bullets tear through one target and on to the next? Meaning I could possibly hit all 20 with only one burst of 10 shots (I just need to make a single attack roll versus each one)?

I am curious what everyone else has to say about these? I could foresee some interesting moments, even if the PCs are trying to sneak up on the encampment because a few "spooked" soldiers could just start firing blindly -- and automatic fire ignores that kind of thing :-)


The question for modern guns and cartridges isn't so much the materials tolerance but the measurements tolerance. Is Alkenstar up for the task of mass-producing rifle barrels that don't vary in width by so much as a millimeter, and bullets to match?


Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
The question for modern guns and cartridges isn't so much the materials tolerance but the measurements tolerance. Is Alkenstar up for the task of mass-producing rifle barrels that don't vary in width by so much as a millimeter, and bullets to match?

More concerned about being able to reproduce them individually than in a mass-production environment. I'm pretty sure a Gunsmith with sufficient skill can do so, especially if they are able to recover a few choice tools...

Sovereign Court

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Lucus Palosaari wrote:
Range: Just to be sure, that would be it's full range, so all 10 increments, right? For the Madsen Light Machine Gun (range 100') that would mean its burst-line effect goes out to 1000'? Would attacks, for the first 5 range increments be resolved as touch attacks, following the standard rules for Advanced Firearms?

I would assume it would be the full range, with the associated penalties for each range increment beyond the first and the base -2 for firing a burst.

And yes, I would assume the first 5 increments would be vs. touch AC.

Lucus Palosaari wrote:
One Bullet Per Target: It's too bad you can't just "unload" a full burst on one target then. Even a large one like a gargantuan dragon would still only be subject to one bullet? I guess this mechanically might be too powerful (yay! 10 free attacks on one target from one standard action). Would it make sense to say, in the event you are attacking a helpless target, you could get all those bullets to possibly hit? Or am I missing how this mechanic would work?

yeah, for particularly large targets, I think there should be the potential for multiple hits from a burst. Maybe 1 for Medium or smaller, 2 for large, 3 for huge, 4 for gargantuan, 5 for colossal as a house rule? I'll have to ponder this one.

As it is a line attack though, as written, I think you are looking at 1 bullet worth of damage per target in the line, even if the are helpless (though you could coup de grace if they are helpless, so ... ).

Lucus Palosaari wrote:
Misfires: I would have hoped that misfires or at least "jams" were MORE common, not less common for automatic weapons. I'm surprised they didn't have it that the machine gun would bind-up and need to be "cleared" as a move action or gain the broken condition if you "misfire" on one of those attacks? Even if it let you resolved the rest of the line effect's attacks (though I'd personally want to say that if on the third of five possible targets you roll a misfire, then the remaining two possible targets are safe because the gun jammed and the line effect ended).

Agreed on this one; the odds of getting a misfire on ALL the attack rolls is extremely low, and becomes lower with each target in the line attack.

Lucus Palosaari wrote:
Range and One Bullet Per Target: So lets say I have twenty troops charging down at my position and I open up with a burst. I fire a burst of 10 bullets into the line (and my line, we'll say, would extend through all of them). Can I only get chances to hit on the first 10, one attack roll per bullet? Or can bullets tear through one target and on to the next? Meaning I could possibly hit all 20 with only one burst of 10 shots (I just need to make a single attack roll versus each one)?

Since the description states it goes to the limit of the weapon's range OR until it hits a target it cannot penetrate and that you are attacking all creatures in the line, it would seem to me that if you had 20 people in the line attack you are basically seeing the effect of rounds punching through their targets and hitting the next person in line.


Lucus Palosaari wrote:
Misfires: I would have hoped that misfires or at least "jams" were MORE common, not less common for automatic weapons. I'm surprised they didn't have it that the machine gun would bind-up and need to be "cleared" as a move action or gain the broken condition if you "misfire" on one of those attacks? Even if it let you resolved the rest of the line effect's attacks (though I'd personally want to say that if on the third of five possible targets you roll a misfire, then the remaining two possible targets are safe because the gun jammed and the line effect ended).

Modern weaponry is really quite reliable. Here's a video of a guy firing the Madsen LMG, squeezing off several bursts at a time for several minutes.

If it only took one misfire to cause the Madsen to jam, you'd have to clear it once every two bursts, on average. That's simply so unreliable that the weapon would have never made it out of R&D and into production, much less onto the battlefield.

Dark Archive

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
closetgamer wrote:
I really like the troops = swarms. Before I got the point where it actually says that, I was thinking to myself "sounds like a swarm to me". I'm really looking forward to running this!

Are the rules for creating Troops published? If not, could they be posted. I would like to use them in Serpent Skull AP. They would be nice to replace the faction generic NPCs and the glut of level 4 creatures in each of the zones.

Horizon Hunters

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber
Turin the Mad wrote:
More concerned about being able to reproduce them individually than in a mass-production environment. I'm pretty sure a Gunsmith with sufficient skill can do so, especially if they are able to recover a few choice tools...

What sort of penalties should be incurred when trying to replicate "new technology"?

Sovereign Court Developer

remoh wrote:
closetgamer wrote:
I really like the troops = swarms. Before I got the point where it actually says that, I was thinking to myself "sounds like a swarm to me". I'm really looking forward to running this!

Are the rules for creating Troops published? If not, could they be posted. I would like to use them in Serpent Skull AP. They would be nice to replace the faction generic NPCs and the glut of level 4 creatures in each of the zones.

Keep an eye out for tomorrow's blog!

Dark Archive

For GRIGORI RASPUTIN, I'm not seeing how how he get a count for spells known for certain levels and access to certain spells?

My findings (and I'm neglecting Expanded Arcana, which ought to give him up to a mere 4 extra spells):
9th level = correct (1 known + 1 mystery (Astral Projection))
8th level = correct (2 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
7th level = 3 extra (3 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
6th level = 1 extra (3 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
5th level = 1 extra (4 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
4th level = 1 extra (4 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
3rd level = correct (4 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
2nd level = 2 extra (5 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
1st level = correct (5 known + 1 mystery + 1 cure)
0th level = 2 extra (9 known)

That's 10 extra spells. I can't account for those

how does he have access to theses spells as an oracle?
Spell DC-reverse gravity:
Spell DC-minor image:
Spell DC-ghost sound:

Liberty's Edge

chopswil wrote:

For GRIGORI RASPUTIN, I'm not seeing how how he get a count for spells known for certain levels and access to certain spells?

That's 10 extra spells. I can't account for those

The Human Favored Class bonus can do this. I assume he's Human.

chopswil wrote:

how does he have access to theses spells as an oracle?

Spell DC-reverse gravity:
Spell DC-minor image:
Spell DC-ghost sound:

And those'd be free extra spells known from the Haunted Curse. Which actually gives a total of 6 spells known. 6+4=10...I guess he doesn't need to use the Human Favored Class bonus after all.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I've noticed that the Akuvskaya Monastery (area H) seems very much laid out like a typical Western Christian church, in Latin cross cruciform with transept and apse, and not at all like an Eastern Orthodox church would be arranged. Eastern Orthodox churches are most often arranged in Greek cross from and rarely have transepts or apses, nor do they have the pews that have been stacked up here. In these churches, the people are made to stand before God. Only for the infirm, there are seats at the sides of the nave.

What Eastern Orthodox churches do have, though, always, is an iconostasis, which is missing here: a high wall or screen of icons between the nave and the sanctuary (called presbytery here, a term mostly associated with Anglican churches actually) that divides the clergy from the people. Only at certain points during a service do the priests open the doors in the iconiostasis and face the congregation.

I have visited several Eastern Orthodox churches on a trip to Russia a few years back, and they really are markedly different form western churches.

So I'm wondering, was this change done on purpose? If yes, why? If not, I'll be changing the church to look more Eastern Orthodox. Adding an iconostatis could even make the reveal of the World Machine more effective: the heroes could see the purple lights flickering through the doors and above the screen, and only when they walk through the Beuatiful Door (as the central door in the iconostaisis is called), Rasputin will be revealed. I don't know where to get the pews to stack up though.

Contributor

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Akuvskaya Monastery is based on this ruined church in Penza Oblast, Russia. I fell in love with it in my research, particularly how the fledgling onion-domed belltowers flanked the larger central dome, which gave perfect resting places for snipers. And it had a transept that, while not necessarily typical for Orthodox churches, gave me the room I needed for an extra couple of encounters. I also took inspiration from the abandoned churches of Ryazan Oblast, which proved to be great specimens to base a composite on, and I stole a little from this ruin, with a great cruciform architecture (though it lacked the onion-domes I wanted), this old beauty which is very similar in style to the Penza church, and this currently-domeless cruciform-style monastery in Voronezh Oblast.

Like their Western counterparts, there is a tremendous variety in form of Orthodox monasteries, convents, and churches spread over Russia. I do wish I'd have included an obvious iconostasis on the map, but they were obviously long-gone from the interiors of my ruined examples. It would be a simple matter to add one. And you can make the pews salvaged prison benches, raw lumber hauled from the trenches, or even disinterred coffins dragged from the cemetery grounds, which would give a great effect when frozen corpses come spilling out when you-know-who does you-know-what. I needed those there to suit my dramatic encounter goals, and ultimately I'm happy with how that encounter worked out despite a use of furniture that might not otherwise be found there.

Turns out fantastic ruined churches that really fit my design goals litter the Russian countryside. If this one still doesn't do it for you, I'd be happy to continue the discussion of some of the other locations I considered, including Krypetsky Monastery, Kammeny Island, Kozheozersky Monastery, Makaryev Convent, and finally Nikitskiy Monastery. Between what I've given and those examples, I'm sure you'll find something evocative that serves your purposes perfectly! Most of all, have fun!


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Thanks, Brandon, for explaining your reasoning and the links of original chruches you based this on. I was sure you had your reason, and your explanation of your research makes me happy. I like these little details, and I just had to ask why the church seemed so western-like. I like the ideas with th ecoffins, thank you very much for this! I'll have to check out the other monasteries you mentioned.

Shadow Lodge

This is the first AP book that I've been excited enough about to buy. I don't care how much will or won't be usable in PFS, it's an awesome idea.


Brandon Hodge wrote:

Akuvskaya Monastery is based on this ruined church in Penza Oblast, Russia. I fell in love with it in my research, particularly how the fledgling onion-domed belltowers flanked the larger central dome, which gave perfect resting places for snipers. And it had a transept that, while not necessarily typical for Orthodox churches, gave me the room I needed for an extra couple of encounters. I also took inspiration from the abandoned churches of Ryazan Oblast, which proved to be great specimens to base a composite on, and I stole a little from this ruin, with a great cruciform architecture (though it lacked the onion-domes I wanted), this old beauty which is very similar in style to the Penza church, and this currently-domeless cruciform-style monastery in Voronezh Oblast.

Like their Western counterparts, there is a tremendous variety in form of Orthodox monasteries, convents, and churches spread over Russia. I do wish I'd have included an obvious iconostasis on the map, but they were obviously long-gone from the interiors of my ruined examples. It would be a simple matter to add one. And you can make the pews salvaged prison benches, raw lumber hauled from the trenches, or even disinterred coffins dragged from the cemetery grounds, which would give a great effect when frozen corpses come spilling out when you-know-who does you-know-what. I needed those there to suit my dramatic encounter goals, and ultimately I'm happy with how that encounter worked out despite a use of furniture that might not...

This response right here is why you're a rising star of adventure writers:) the pictures are awesome. phenomenal research! great job

Dark Archive

How do you pronounce Akuvskaya?

Sovereign Court Developer

I say "Ah-koov-SKY-uh." It's not a real Russian word, but that should be pretty close to a proper Russian pronunciation.


...why not use a real Russian word or name?

Shadow Lodge

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
...why not use a real Russian word or name?

"Akuvskaya" just means "[place or geographical feature] of or belonging to Akuv". Akuv could be the name of a nearby creek, or the name of the town's founder. As for why it's not named after an actual river or historical figure, well, that's just to make it difficult to find on a map :P

Dark Archive

Rob McCreary wrote:
I say "Ah-koov-SKY-uh." It's not a real Russian word, but that should be pretty close to a proper Russian pronunciation.

Thanks, Rob.

I have another question. How much should I tell my players about the new "Troop" type. I need to tell them that although I'm using a bunch of models (hooray for being an Imperial Guard 40k player) it will be treated as a single monster with one pool of HP. But what about it's auto-hit melee attack? Or how a fusillade works?

What about the vulnerability to blasts? Should I be upfront about it or make them do a spellcraft check to know it's done more damage? What about the inability to use spells that define certain types of targets?


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Description works wonders. Fear of the unknown is a healthy thing, especially at this level of game play.

And they should fear being mowed down by massed rifle, machine gun and artillery fire. Let alone the other fun stuff... ;)


Does protection from normal missiles still exist in Pathfinder?

Because it still does in my 1st edition game and that little 3rd level spell will be a game changer for my game next friday...

Any ideas on how to rule on that issue? My players ideas will be very predictable..."is that a +1 rifle?...no?...I laugh at the faces of death!"

Artillery is not a normal missle, Grenades are also not a normal missile...but rifles-pistols, and maybe machineguns of rifle caliber might be...hmmm.

Sovereign Court Developer

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Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
...why not use a real Russian word or name?

Because the adventure takes place on the real world but the monastery is not a real place. :)


selunatic2397 wrote:

Does protection from normal missiles still exist in Pathfinder?

Because it still does in my 1st edition game and that little 3rd level spell will be a game changer for my game next friday...

Any ideas on how to rule on that issue? My players ideas will be very predictable..."is that a +1 rifle?...no?...I laugh at the faces of death!"

Artillery is not a normal missle, Grenades are also not a normal missile...but rifles-pistols, and maybe machineguns of rifle caliber might be...hmmm.

It's called Protection from Arrows now, but if you read the spell text it doesn't just apply only to arrows.

Sovereign Court Developer

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YuenglingDragon wrote:
Rob McCreary wrote:
I say "Ah-koov-SKY-uh." It's not a real Russian word, but that should be pretty close to a proper Russian pronunciation.

Thanks, Rob.

I have another question. How much should I tell my players about the new "Troop" type. I need to tell them that although I'm using a bunch of models (hooray for being an Imperial Guard 40k player) it will be treated as a single monster with one pool of HP. But what about it's auto-hit melee attack? Or how a fusillade works?

What about the vulnerability to blasts? Should I be upfront about it or make them do a spellcraft check to know it's done more damage? What about the inability to use spells that define certain types of targets?

I agree with Turin the Mad that you should try to keep the players in the dark as much as possible - it's hard to surprise PCs at this level. You might tell them that it works like a swarm, but if you think they'll pick up on its weaknesses to early, you can let them learn the hard way.

Like Turin the Mad said, description goes a long way. Describe how the PCs' attacks are taking out individual soldiers, but the unit keeps fighting on. Eventually, they'll try some of the attacks that are more effective and learn how to better face them.


Orthos wrote:
selunatic2397 wrote:

Does protection from normal missiles still exist in Pathfinder?

Because it still does in my 1st edition game and that little 3rd level spell will be a game changer for my game next friday...

Any ideas on how to rule on that issue? My players ideas will be very predictable..."is that a +1 rifle?...no?...I laugh at the faces of death!"

Artillery is not a normal missle, Grenades are also not a normal missile...but rifles-pistols, and maybe machineguns of rifle caliber might be...hmmm.

It's called Protection from Arrows now, but if you read the spell text it doesn't just apply only to arrows.

Cool! A 10 point damage resistance with a total limit of 10 point per caster level...massed rifle fire will blow that spell away in no time at all!

Plus, each spell memorized will use up one more fireball/lightning bolt/whatever...defense or offense? They must choose wisely!

Contributor

selunatic2397 wrote:
Any ideas on how to rule on that issue? My players ideas will be very predictable..."is that a +1 rifle?...no?...I laugh at the faces of death!"

Be a cryin' shame for the troops to have to pull out a couple of those maxims of suppressive fire from page 61. ;-)

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4

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Turin the Mad wrote:
Description works wonders. Fear of the unknown is a healthy thing, especially at this level of game play.

I don't want to derail the thread, but I think this is true for every AP chapter, every AP, every published adventure, and the overall game.

Transparency in dice rolls are a fine thing, but the GM should conceal their cards.

That is definitely my advice for the whole Reign of Winter. Don't telegraph anything. Let it be unwrapped like a surprise.


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Jim Groves wrote:
Turin the Mad wrote:
Description works wonders. Fear of the unknown is a healthy thing, especially at this level of game play.

I don't want to derail the thread, but I think this is true for every AP chapter, every AP, every published adventure, and the overall game.

Transparency in dice rolls are a fine thing, but the GM should conceal their cards.

That is definitely my advice for the whole Reign of Winter. Don't telegraph anything. Let it be unwrapped like a surprise.

Or a matryoshka doll. ;)


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Brandon Hodge wrote:
selunatic2397 wrote:
Any ideas on how to rule on that issue? My players ideas will be very predictable..."is that a +1 rifle?...no?...I laugh at the faces of death!"
Be a cryin' shame for the troops to have to pull out a couple of those maxims of suppressive fire from page 61. ;-)

That would be a crying shame, watching PCs do the Maxim Mambo as a result of overconfidence in their abjurations... ;)


Is it weird that my favorite part of this module is that it referrences Tesla and melding magic and tech?

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