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My blog, Alvena Publishing has new post up discussing designing encounters for your games. It's the first in a series of posts about encounter design.
Special shout out to the Paizo posters Umbriere, Icyshadow, and Magnuskn for requesting the series.
Happy gaming. (^_^)
As always, totally love your posts, here or on your blog :).
Definitely quite a few things to take into account. I'll be looking forward to the rest of it in the future.
As always, totally love your posts, here or on your blog :).
Definitely quite a few things to take into account. I'll be looking forward to the rest of it in the future.
Thank you Artemis. That means a lot, and makes it far more enjoyable and worth it. ^_^
You're most welcome ^-^.
What the hey? Why was this moved to Gamer Talk? This isn't talking about gaming, it's an advice piece for building encounters in Pathfinder! It should be in the Advice section of the forums. :(
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You wrote another guide? GAAH!
:)
Every time I see one of your posts that sets up a theoretical encounter (CR 10 Goblin war party, Kobolds of death etc.) I copy it into a file and store it away for future reference. I've got quite a collection growing :P
Also, how did I not see this till now?
I rather like this one. Any chance of getting it in pdf form?
Comment on the Blog itself, but I'll copy it here.
This is a really good guide and I'm looking forward to it's completion.
Something to think about, is maybe a guide on what can be added to an encounter to change it, without making it more difficult. Some people have a hard time incorporating effects like difficult terrain because they just don't know what would be considered difficult.
Things like bushes, roots, rubble etc. are obvious hazards, but things like furniture, boxes, coins, are often over looked. You might think about a small guide (or table) of hazards that could be incorporated, and possible sources.
For instance, fog clouds hamper vision, but so too can heavy rain, or snow, or hail. Coming from Alaska, I'm all too familiar with how snow affects vision, but others might not be. Things like swarms of animals flying around in front of a light source might lessen it's illumination area, or reduce it's light level.
Cool guide.
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Hey thanks everyone! Sorry I hadn't gotten back to this sooner to say hey to everyone. But maybe you'll forgive me since I was writing The Next Blogpost! This one gives some advice I've found helpful for running high level combat encounters, and gives everyone a very twisted villain and high-level encounter to.
Hope you enjoy it! :D
EDIT: Also, after reading this to my brother, he believes I should seek mental help. :P
I rather like this one. Any chance of getting it in pdf form?
Yes, yes there is. After I complete the article series (or at least the important stuff since I'm considering turning it into a series of premade encounters and NPCs) I will be turning it into a PDF and putting it on my blog as a free download. :)
Oh, and since I forgot to say so earlier (sorry, I've been a little drained as I've been working on this blog post for 2.5 days due to interruptions :P), but it's nice to see everyone again (Artemis, Tels, Tark, and Grimmy)! I'm glad to see you guys are still around on the boards. ^_____^
PS: I'm going to hop over to your thread first thing when I wake up Artemis, and then I have need to check something for Lemmy, and then...then...part 3! ^.^
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Aww ^-^. Ashiel, you're too awesome. I think some of the best gaming chat I've had (or read) in my two decades of gaming comes from you (top ten!). I'm still around, for the moment. I may lose internet temporarily in two days X_X.
PS: Sweet. I've been swamped with other things and haven't been able to even think about expanding the list myself. Been trying to pound out these three story commissions before I lose net, and life has seen fit to smack my creative matrix with the stress stick. Plus, Pathfinder is fantastic procrastination material!
Shouldn't Au'hare have CR 19. How do you make the calculation of his CR?
I was wondering that too. I think Ashiel's calculations were made as if Eldritch Knight was not a "key" class for a Rakshasa, so it only adds 1 CR per 2 class levels. I would argue that it's hard for a class to be more key for a Rakshasa than Eldritch Knight, who gets to add 9 new casting levels, +10 BAB, and 10d10 hp to it's usual total, plus the other EK abilities.
Edit: minor stat block quibble you cannot wield a rapier in 2 hands so I don't think the Rakshasa should be doing -6/+18 with power attack, rather -6/+12. So 1d6+17 I believe for rapier damage rather than 1d6+23. /minor statblock quibble
That brings to mind something. Unlike, say, a nymph who is called out as casting spells like a 7th level druid, the Rakshasa who obviously casts spells like a 7th level sorcerer doesn't have that listed. By a strict rules standpoint would a Rakshasa get any benefit from the Eldritch Knight's "+1 level of an existing spellcasting class" feature? I'd say if it makes a fun scaled up encounter it works well enough by the rules to me, but it's an interesting point to think about.
The encounter itself is pretty interesting but, as a DM who does a lot of DMing online with virtual tabletop and chat, I've found that enormous amounts of opponents makes for a true slog of a fight. It doesn't matter that the 16 tieflings can't appreciably affect combat, they still have to be accounted for (and since they cast darkness and have bags full of alchemical supplies, they do use actions each round that have to be accounted for and could affect the fight). 20+ NPC encounters, in my experience, are not well received by my players.
Even a 9th level encounter I ran with a dozen low level and a pair of mid level NPCs in an area very much like the orc encampment (cover, houses to hide in, ranged low-level attackers, and a mid-level spellcaster) ended up taking nearly 2 full hours of not fun times for anyone. Players were unenthusiastic, frustrated by the tactics/defenses of these wimpy opponents, and annoyed with things like barricades, minor pit traps, and the like. It showed in how slowly and unenthusiastically they went about doing their turns, how long they took to calculate their bonuses, and how lackluster their role play and actions were. When I allowed leadership and trained animals the fights were even bigger slogs with so many actions going on that rounds took ages. Encounters where the party was outnumbered about 2-1, with 8 or so NPCs that were lower level than the party, but not incredibly minor threats beefed up with good tactics, have been way better received by my group.
All I have to go on is gaming with my group, which over the years has had about 11 players in and out (never more than 4-6 at a time) so I don't have any idea if the dislike for large mobs of opponents is only for them, and I've liked the articles. Just wanted to chime in with the perspective of a DM who wants to throw interesting encounters at characters without tracking 20 NPCs. The worg encounter for example was fantastic for my group's desires. Lighting, difficult terrain, intelligent opponents that are each a legitimate threat to the party, tactical thinking and taking archery into account, and opponents who can speak to banter/threaten back and forth with PCs all are wonderful things that my group appreciates. Thanks for doing these articles, just wanting to pass along one group's view on over-large encounters in case you do more!
Most everyone I know around here that games tends to love large difficult combat. Something about the idea of a small band surviving a larger force and wiping them all out seems to appeal to the sensibilities of folk I know. Of course, many of them play war/rts games and understand tactics and strategy. Or, like me, always loved the idea of the underdog team vs BBEG mook army. That said, large numbers of creatures should be used sparingly, since they can drag out combat and can make players start to lose interest.
My trap-laden kobold warren was a nightmare for my players when I performed a test-run of it with friends. However, no matter how often the crafty little buggers managed to stall them, they loved every minute of it. The archer especially loved shooting the vial of alchemist fire that one had prepared to throw, thus spilling it all over the poor kobold, set fire to the catwalk, and burned through the support rope for one side, causing four kobolds to slide off and fall the twenty feet to the pit-laden floor. He was feeling quite happy with himself when one of them landed on a trap door, and fell the rest of the way into the pit.
But, as is with everything in life. YMMV
That's cool, and yeah certainly not trying to claim my group's way is the right way, just figured I should speak up if I want any chance of seeing future awesome encounter ideas that my group will actually play. My players have loved encounters in large warrens/strongholds of enemies. I turned a noble's mansion into a headquarters for demonic entities, their cultists, and a major villain NPC which was a blast to storm. They fought probably a dozen cultists and the same number of lesser demons, plus some shadow demons, succubi, and a couple major demons and had a lot of fun. They also had a blast fighting a platoon of corrupted archons in an old dwarven outpost, because even with the coordinated enemies and tactics making it basically an extended combat session they were able to fight off a group and gain breathing space to stop acting in round by round combat for a moment, or set up their own ambushes, and otherwise prepare to face foes.
Large groups of coordinated enemies who work together has been awesome in a couple places for me, while a large group of enemies all in the same combat zone at once has just dragged on for my group. All it is in the end is my group's preference though, it could be unique to them for all I know and large groups of enemies could be the preference everywhere else.
Shouldn't Au'hare have CR 19. How do you make the calculation of his CR?
idilippy is correct. The eldritch knight levels were treated as non-key PC levels. That was probably a bit of a dick move on my part (I make a lot of those, and I think my players must have some gaming form of Stockholme syndrome as it only seems to excite them :P). Since you're curious, I'm going to breakdown the reasoning behind Au'hare's mechanics.
Behind the Screen - WTF is Au'hare?
Technically a Rakshasa is considered a "combat" monster, and eldritch knight actually does less for his martial-aspect than adding levels of Antipaladin would have (which is also not considered key for any role), so I made him more of a gish-caster. If I had made him a strait sorcerer, he would have been a CR 15 with even more potent spellcasting power and a BAB of +15 (a very minor change in his martial ability compared to the difference in his caster level and spell pool), plus a lot of spiffy bloodline powers. However, I wasn't really into that idea and thought Spell Critical and a rapier would be way more fun and flamboyant.
Au'hare himself has a lot of big numbers (330 HP + 15 DR is pretty tankish at this level) but he has a few good chinks in his armor. His caster level is only 16th and at this point parties have long had access to spells like greater dispel magic (which ignores spell resistance btw), and probably have a few high level scrolls of spells like mage's disjunction for emergencies. Without his buffs, Au'hare's AC is actually lower than average (being about average for a CR 12 creature).
Now if a party has not grossly neglected their defenses over the past 13-16 levels of play, then Au'hare and his family shouldn't be too much of a threat. In core alone, by 13th level a dedicated martial tank should be sporting an unbuffed armor class of around 33 (basically +3 armor, +3 shield, ring of protection, amulet of natural armor), give or take a few bonuses, and more than likely parties should have other benefits like concealment bonuses (via spells like blur or displacement or cloaks).
And if the party has been learning from their previous levels (where they have likely learned about extraplanar creatures through summoning spells and the like), they'll likely be able to crowd-control or wipe most of the succubi and summons in a round or two (depending on their positioning mostly) with spells like holy word or banishment.
About the Encounter
Though I haven't said it specifically, each of these encounters is designed to practice the lessons before them. The first blog post emphasizes the dynamic nature of the combat. The second one intentionally makes you deal with creatures with a lot of abilities and lots of them. If you do the things suggested in the guide beforehand, you can move the combat along very quickly (if you've already marked initiatives beforehand or roll once for the tieflings, succubi, and Au'hare, etc). We have a general plan for what everyone is going to be doing, so every enemy should pretty much be able to resolve most actions with a single d20 roll (either one move + attack, one saving throw, etc).
For this reason I intentionally used a lot of creatures and creatures that summon more creatures. It's practice. However, since today's practice is dealing with lots of creatures with different abilities, I left out things like stage-hazards or traps (because that's not the lesson today :P). An experienced GM may decide to cut down on the daughters (they are mostly for setting the tone and if the party isn't merciful likely won't last more than one right of combat anyway) and perhaps drop the number of succubi by 1 and toss in a few hazards or traps.
I'm thinking that the final encounter will probably be a classic dragon's lair encounter around CR 20-23 that will ultimately conclude the guide by utilizing the lessons from every guide beforehand.
I think that CR 15 doesn't hold water for Au'hare because if you compare him to a similar creature (the way the Bestiary urges a DM to do), or to the base stats in the back of the Bestiary I can't see any way he is not quite superior to a CR 15 assumption (AC and melee damage are the only assumptions where he is on par for CR 15). We're lucky enough to have a CR 15 Rakshasa to look over, the Tataka. Other than SR (30 for Tataka, 25 for Au'hare) he is strictly superior in every aspect, sometimes by a significant amount (saves, casting ability where it's 8th level spells vs. 6th for the Tataka, hp).
If you make him a straight sorcerer the CR is easier to determine. A Rakshasa is specifically called out as a Spell Role (also a Combat Role) monster in the back of the Bestiary and Sorcerer is key for Spell Role monsters so he would add +1 CR per sorcerer level. Considering it's both a Combat role and Spell role I'd think there's enough reasonable evidence in there to at least look at the end result compared to similarly CR'd monsters to doublecheck the CR math.
Just something to keep in mind for other DMs, especially those who don't play with optimizing tactical masterminds. Slightly dickish moves like counting all PrC's (or other classes like the APG, UM, and UC which aren't specifically considered in Bestiary 1 since they weren't invented yet) as non-key classes for all monsters to double up on classes per CR increase is an easy way to vastly underestimate the potency of your custom monster.
Perhaps so, but the problem is you're looking at the monster creation chart and assuming that's the end of the story. But the chart doesn't take buffs into account (this is proved by creatures like pit fiends, ghaeles, etc). Nor feats. Nor special senses. For example...
1) Toughness (+20 Hp)
2) Profane gift (+20 Hp)
3) +2 Constitution Item (+20 Hp)
4) +2 Charisma Item (+1 to save DCs)
5) +2 Dexterity Item (+1 to AC/Reflex/Hit)
6) +3 Resistance Item (+3 to all saves)
7) Spell Focus / Greater Spell Focus (+2 to most DCs)
So his HP is actually only 270 Hp with all buffs. The Tataka is naked, but only about 45 HP difference. Except that the Tataka has access to 360 hp worth of heal as a spell due to its special ability (which ignores his own SR when he casts it) and comes with all the status-condition removal that goes with that.
The Takata has 28 unbuffed, and up to 40 AC self-buffed. Au'hare has 27 AC unbuffed, up to 35 self-buffed. Takata wins here again. The SR is a pretty big deal as well here because 5 points of SR is effectively 25% more spell-evasion, and all his self-casting is unaffected. A 15th level caster can overcome Au'hare's resistance on a 10 (55% chance to beat it). Add in feats (spell penetration +10% or greater spell penetration +20%) and an ioun stone (+5%), and you have an 80% chance to pierce it (and if you're an elf, you win). Meanwhile, the Takata is sitting at a 75% chance to evade a spell, with the minimum being around 40% if metamagic isn't called into play. That's very significant.
Offensively the Takata is stronger in melee. He has exceptional reach and can take cleric spells. Neither of them can use enlarge person because they are the wrong type, but Takata has a greater natural reach and can take Cleric spells as sorcerer spells, which means a martial-focused Takata can take Righteous Might to push the envelope ever further (alternatively, divine power would be a good choice). Now Au'hare has the option to stop using power attack but then his damage falls into the abyss (1d8+5 damage, meh) and at that point he's just fishing for critical hits. The reason he has a called weapon is that his physical offense is basically non-existent if he is disarmed (which can happen via a powerful CMD attempt, if he is stunned, etc). Unfortunately there's nothing he can do about getting his weapon destroyed (break and shatter target his weakest save and aren't stopped by his mind blank effect).
The Takata also has superior movement and perception forms. It has constant true seeing (which normally requires an expensive material component) and constant air walk, both of which can be resumed as a free action if they are dispelled. Further, it has scent which can alert it to the presence of enemies even while hiding (barring certain very specific abilities) allowing it to begin combat even before it would otherwise be aware.
Finally the Takata has 19,500 gp worth of treasures. Essentially, I've been comparing the naked Takata to a geared and buffed Au'hare (and Au'hare has an extra buff from the succubi). If the Takata is carrying equipment that is logical for itself, it can easily afford items such as...
+1 Amulet of Natural Armor (2,000 gp)
+2 Cloak of Resistance (4,000 gp)
+2 Ability Score Item (4,000 gp)
+1 reach weapon (about 2,300 gp)
With 9,200 gp worth of additional items suitable for rounding out his possessions.
IMHO, I think the differences are very small in fact. If his spells were chosen (as Au'hare's were) to suit his combat style, I'd rather fight Au'hare than fight the Takata. Au'hare would definitely be easier to beat down in martial combat and more vulnerable to spells. His tricks are high burst. The Takata is generally superior in virtually every facet when benefitting from similar buffs. Less HP but his overall survivability is much higher and his offense is greater and harder to ignore.
There is more to determining the CR of a creature than merely looking at the monster creation chart and assigning numbers. There are spells, racial features, resistances, damage reductions, special qualities like regeneration, the capability of using treasure, special senses, unique abilities (like the takada's ability to pick up cleric spells).
I wouldn't have listed him as a CR 15 if I didn't feel that was about where his worth lies. Now that you've linked the Tataka, I am more sure now than I was previously.
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Aww ^-^. Ashiel, you're too awesome. I think some of the best gaming chat I've had (or read) in my two decades of gaming comes from you (top ten!). I'm still around, for the moment. I may lose internet temporarily in two days X_X.
I have to agree with this, while I've enjoyed several threads on here, my all time favorite thread was the Petition: I nominate Ashiel to work for Paizo as Rules Consultant thread. Most of the threads I encounter are pointless arguments comparing people's e-peens over rule debates. A lot of the times, I get the feeling it's just a gathering of people seeing who can shout the loudest.
Where as Ashiel, you always seem to bring a lot of good advice and perspective when it comes to your posts. Not only do you have interesting stories, you bring a lot of experience to any thread you enter.
Aww ^-^. Ashiel, you're too awesome. I think some of the best gaming chat I've had (or read) in my two decades of gaming comes from you (top ten!). I'm still around, for the moment. I may lose internet temporarily in two days X_X.I have to agree with this, while I've enjoyed several threads on here, my all time favorite thread was the Petition: I nominate Ashiel to work for Paizo as Rules Consultant thread. Most of the threads I encounter are pointless arguments comparing people's e-peens over rule debates. A lot of the times, I get the feeling it's just a gathering of people seeing who can shout the loudest.
Where as Ashiel, you always seem to bring a lot of good advice and perspective when it comes to your posts. Not only do you have interesting stories, you bring a lot of experience to any thread you enter.
Aww, thank you. Q.Q
I really appreciate it. I really enjoy trying to help, and believe it or not I don't like fighting with people over rules (I appreciate a good debate, but those are few and far in life). I'm really trying to go back to what I originally intended to do, and hopefully will be working on more content to give away to people on my blog or perhaps to make more cheap $2.00 adventures and such for the Paizo store (something I've been meaning to do for Grimmy specifically for some time now but I've been busy with non-gaming stuff for the past several months, so hopefully this will make up for some of it ^_^).
D&D/Pathfinder is a deep, deep game. With that depth, combined with its breadth of options, it can be a bewildering jungle. I feel like most of the time we should be sharing what we've mapped out with our adventures. I feel you on the shouting matches too. It's part of the reason I took a long hiatus from the Paizo boards. I've a fierce aversion to illogical fighting and I get a headache / feel bad when it goes on for a while. I realized nothing good was coming out of those "conversations" and my time was better spent hanging out with friends and family.
But I couldn't stay away from all you guys for long! I missed you, and what kind of evil overlord would I be if I left my cultists out to dry? (^____^)
Now if Mikaze ever sends me his/her verdict on the Aescetic Character Rules I threw together for him/her, then I could grin thrice as widely. =P
Dotting.
Dotting.
This might sound silly but...what exactly is dotting? I see everyone doing it, but I haven't actually payed much attention to it. ^.^"
When you post in a thread, that thread gains a dot. Whenever you check the forum, you can see which threads you've posted it, because a Dot will be next to them.
^Invisible Dot BTW. :P
[Edit] The one below this is Cthulhu Dot.
D̨͕̝̺̟̻͇̖̪̃̀̒ͥͪ̅͗͊̃̎ͥ̏͜͜͠ͅȌ̓ͦ̽ͭ̓͊̐̎͏̵̰̪͇̙͇͚̮̀̀͘T̵̓̔̓̓ͤ̈́ͮͨ̒͛̈ͥ͒͆̈͝҉̗̥̝̥͍͎͎ͅ ̬Ť̷͙͕̲̣̣̱̳̲̪̝̦̰̝̻̗̜̖ͭ͆ͭͮ͐̇ͧͭ́I̧͌̍ͪ̑̊̓̈̑́͐͏̰̙̪̫̱̺̭͜͡ͅNͫ̍ͪ̈͆ͮ̊ͬ͡҉͉̣̻̫̀ͅͅGͮ͋̐ ̵̑ͥͬ̄ͮ̅ͬ̀̔͂͆̓͌͆͝͡͝҉̟̤̰̞͎̣̖͕̳͇̯̣̱̟̖ͅ
Hahaha. Nice. Thanks, that explains it well. ^_^
Yeah
I mean, really, though, it's unnecessary since you can just list it... but I felt like being a little stinker today :D
List it? O.o
D̨͕̝̺̟̻͇̖̪̃̀̒ͥͪ̅͗͊̃̎ͥ̏͜͜͠ͅȌ̓ͦ̽ͭ̓͊̐̎͏̵̰̪͇̙͇͚̮̀̀͘T̵̓̔̓̓ͤ̈́ͮͨ̒͛̈ͥ͒͆̈͝҉̗̥̝̥͍͎͎ͅ ̬Ť̷͙͕̲̣̣̱̳̲̪̝̦̰̝̻̗̜̖ͭ͆ͭͮ͐̇ͧͭ́I̧͌̍ͪ̑̊̓̈̑́͐͏̰̙̪̫̱̺̭͜͡ͅNͫ̍ͪ̈͆ͮ̊ͬ͡҉͉̣̻̫̀ͅͅGͮ͋̐ ̵̑ͥͬ̄ͮ̅ͬ̀̔͂͆̓͌͆͝͡͝҉̟̤̰̞͎̣̖͕̳͇̯̣̱̟̖ͅ
Also, sword priest sounds like a really cool character concept. ^_^
You see the LIST option between FLAG and FAQ? You can click that and add posts to lists. It's a better way of favoriting posts and makes them much easier to find.
Oh nice. I'll have to try that. It might save the Paizo search engine some trouble. Lately these days I've been copy/pasting earlier thread posts to recurring questions and such. Saves time. :P
Aww ^-^. Ashiel, you're too awesome. I think some of the best gaming chat I've had (or read) in my two decades of gaming comes from you (top ten!). I'm still around, for the moment. I may lose internet temporarily in two days X_X.I have to agree with this, while I've enjoyed several threads on here, my all time favorite thread was the Petition: I nominate Ashiel to work for Paizo as Rules Consultant thread. Most of the threads I encounter are pointless arguments comparing people's e-peens over rule debates. A lot of the times, I get the feeling it's just a gathering of people seeing who can shout the loudest.
Where as Ashiel, you always seem to bring a lot of good advice and perspective when it comes to your posts. Not only do you have interesting stories, you bring a lot of experience to any thread you enter.
Aww, thank you. Q.Q
I really appreciate it. I really enjoy trying to help, and believe it or not I don't like fighting with people over rules (I appreciate a good debate, but those are few and far in life). I'm really trying to go back to what I originally intended to do, and hopefully will be working on more content to give away to people on my blog or perhaps to make more cheap $2.00 adventures and such for the Paizo store (something I've been meaning to do for Grimmy specifically for some time now but I've been busy with non-gaming stuff for the past several months, so hopefully this will make up for some of it ^_^).
D&D/Pathfinder is a deep, deep game. With that depth, combined with its breadth of options, it can be a bewildering jungle. I feel like most of the time we should be sharing what we've mapped out with our adventures. I feel you on the shouting matches too. It's part of the reason I took a long hiatus from the Paizo boards. I've a fierce aversion to illogical fighting and I get a headache / feel bad when it goes on...
C... Cultists? My dear, I'll have you know I'm feared throughout four universes. Gods have cowered before my might, crumbled to dust beneath my steps, as I visited upon their world!...
GMing aside.... +1 on all that was said.
Tels, some of us don't have ultra wide monitors and you're breaking the forum width. I've hit report on your post and Ashiel's quote for broken bbcode since it's the closest so hopefully a mod will clean it up, but please don't post long streams of gibberish without spaces in the future.
I'm not sure what you mean. The only code I saw that he put was a link to another Paizo thread. He just had a bracket turned around backwards at the end (but I edited that in the quote).
Unless you're talking about: D̨͕̝̺̟̻͇̖̪̃̀̒ͥͪ̅͗͊̃̎ͥ̏͜͜͠ͅȌ̓ͦ̽ͭ̓͊̐̎͏̵̰̪͇̙͇͚̮̀̀͘T̵̓̔̓̓ͤ̈́ͮͨ̒͛̈ͥ͒͆̈͝҉̗̥̝̥͍͎͎ͅ ̬Ť̷͙͕̲̣̣̱̳̲̪̝̦̰̝̻̗̜̖ͭ͆ͭͮ͐̇ͧͭ́I̧͌̍ͪ̑̊̓̈̑́͐͏̰̙̪̫̱̺̭͜͡ͅNͫ̍ͪ̈͆ͮ̊ͬ͡҉͉̣̻̫̀ͅͅGͮ͋̐ ̵̑ͥͬ̄ͮ̅ͬ̀̔͂͆̓͌͆͝͡͝҉̟̤̰̞͎̣̖͕̳͇̯̣̱̟̖ͅ
In which case, that's not broken bulletin code, nor is it long (it measures about 1.5 inches of text on my screen). That leads me to believe that the problem is not with his post but with the way your computer is reading it.
EDIT: What sort of language packs do you have installed on your PC?
EDIT 2: Actually, a better question would be what browser are you using, because it has to do with how your browser displays the unicode sub and superscripts. The problem is not with Tels' message, it is with your browser. Consider updating.
C... Cultists? My dear, I'll have you know I'm feared throughout four universes. Gods have cowered before my might, crumbled to dust beneath my steps, as I visited upon their world!...
Heh, I was referring to...
This for example. But this is not the only cultist lurking about on the boards. I am filled with great elation each time I see a new one pop up! There might be something to that follower energy thing after all. (^o^)
I apparently don't have that language pack... weird, I swear I had them all.
...Aww ^-^. Ashiel, you're too awesome. I think some of the best gaming chat I've had (or read) in my two decades of gaming comes from you (top ten!). I'm still around, for the moment. I may lose internet temporarily in two days X_X.I have to agree with this, while I've enjoyed several threads on here, my all time favorite thread was the Petition: I nominate Ashiel to work for Paizo as Rules Consultant thread. Most of the threads I encounter are pointless arguments comparing people's e-peens over rule debates. A lot of the times, I get the feeling it's just a gathering of people seeing who can shout the loudest.
Where as Ashiel, you always seem to bring a lot of good advice and perspective when it comes to your posts. Not only do you have interesting stories, you bring a lot of experience to any thread you enter.
Aww, thank you. Q.Q
I really appreciate it. I really enjoy trying to help, and believe it or not I don't like fighting with people over rules (I appreciate a good debate, but those are few and far in life). I'm really trying to go back to what I originally intended to do, and hopefully will be working on more content to give away to people on my blog or perhaps to make more cheap $2.00 adventures and such for the Paizo store (something I've been meaning to do for Grimmy specifically for some time now but I've been busy with non-gaming stuff for the past several months, so hopefully this will make up for some of it ^_^).
D&D/Pathfinder is a deep, deep game. With that depth, combined with its breadth of options, it can be a bewildering jungle. I feel like most of the time we should be sharing what we've mapped out with our adventures. I feel you on the shouting matches too. It's part of the reason I took a long hiatus from the Paizo boards. I've a fierce aversion to illogical fighting and I get a headache /
My master, Lord Ashiel, is the King of Kings. Gods? Pfft, the Almighty Lord Ashiel may spawn such beings with nary an effort on his part. Just as easily, he may destroy them as well.
If thou art as mighty as thy claims, where ist thou thread of Awesome?
My master, Lord Ashiel, is the King of Kings. Gods? Pfft, the Almighty Lord Ashiel may spawn such beings with nary an effort on his part. Just as easily, he may destroy them as well.
If thou art as mighty as thy claims, where ist thou thread of Awesome?
Let's be fair most loyal, he did say four other universes. There are many threads in this one. Imagine the threads beyond. :D
C... Cultists? My dear, I'll have you know I'm feared throughout four universes. Gods have cowered before my might, crumbled to dust beneath my steps, as I visited upon their world!...Heh, I was referring to...
This for example. But this is not the only cultist lurking about on the boards. I am filled with great elation each time I see a new one pop up! There might be something to that follower energy thing after all. (^o^)
Haha! I remember laughing 'til my sides split that night! We were on a roll.
Yeah it was awesome. With few exceptions that thread was just so much fun and win, and honestly even bantering with the naysayers was pretty fun 'cause I got to talk about gaming. I <3 you guys. :P
Oh, and Artemis sent me this thread. You guys should check it out while waiting for the next blog update. This thread made me think that wishcrafters are pretty cool (at least in flavor). I think their mechanics could use a little tweaking perhaps (I'd like to see their wishcraft wishes limited in a way other than their normal spells personally).
Wishcraft Useful Spells and wishes. This thread is fun enough that it should get more love than just one response. :)
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Took long enough, but Part 3 is up on the blog.
Effective Use of Mooks.
Really? Drow? Now I can't show that blog post to one of my GMs. Dude loves throwing us up against Drow and I'd rather not five him more help :P
Really? Drow? Now I can't show that blog post to one of my GMs. Dude loves throwing us up against Drow and I'd rather not five him more help :P
Heh, oops, sorry! I figured the first was orcs and goblins, the next was evil outsiders, the third dark elves. Maybe the forth will include some undead (always a good one when looking for a solo BBEG) or giants or something. ^.^"
The mini-encounter with Madam Elsa and her cats got a revision. The encounter is now pegged at CR 1 (400 XP) down from CR 3 (800 XP). This was because I recently found an actual price for cats (on the d20pfsrd.com, sourced from the Adventurer's Armory), valuing a cat at 3 copper pieces.
Because of this I just ate a gold piece from Madam Eva's 1st level NPC wealth which can buy her up to 33 house cats, and reset the encounter to involve her plus 20 cats (rather than 8). IMHO, this makes for a more interesting and amusing encounter. This also makes the cats more expendable since you're likely going to lose a few per turn due to attacks of opportunity and such (the cats have no natural reach which means they can't flank and can't threaten enemies effectively to prevent them from moving around, which means the cats must move into an enemy square just to begin attacking).
Also listed a morale for the kitties, so everyone knows that the cats aren't expected to fight to the death. Instead they spook and run as soon as you deal 1 damage to them. All in all, a cute and curious little encounter.
Fun times.
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I'll admit, I giggled a little when you posted Madam Eva, I recall when you first shared that encounter. :P
I'll admit, I giggled a little when you posted Madam Eva, I recall when you first shared that encounter. :P
It's a fun one and I thought that it was worth using as an example of expendable minions getting buffed. Perhaps ironically I'm less certain about the CR of that encounter than I am of the CR for Au'hare in the previous one. It's much easier to decide the appropriate CR at those levels with some practice.
Madam Eva/Elsa however? That one's trickier. In virtually all cases it threatens to be grossly extreme. If you gauge it by their individual CR, they're listed as 100 XP / cat. That's a sick joke really. Even kobolds with no real gear (sticks & stones, CR 1/6) would be scarier any day of the week.
Meanwhile, if I consider them gear as is customary for creatures with a set gold value included in the possession of an NPC (not unlike a wand of summon monster I) then things get even weirder. At 3 coppers a piece, madam Elsa could purchase about 13,000 of said cats with a nonheroic NPC's wealth. 3 HP or not, 13,000 would be a sick joke.
This is one of those rare instances where I myself feel like some serious GM judgment has to be used. I opted for a mix, counting them up to CR 1 and then judging the rest of it based on how much I felt the encounter stacked up with a quartet of kobolds or a trio of orc warriors.