Wandering Monsters (Possible solution for players late scenario tanking)


Homebrew and House Rules


I think a great way for players who abandon an adventure early (Choosing not to explore and waiting for the blessings deck to empty) when low on health points (to hopefully avoid dying) should have a penalty applied to them. Basically risk/reward to keep it interesting... you wouldn't want it to be automatic.

How about a wandering Monsters roll?
Any player who chooses not to explore on his turn (Outside of using powers like Kyra's healing etc) rolls a D6. On a 1 or a 2 he has to draw a random monster from the box and encounter it.

Sovereign Court

When I play with my group of friends, we have no penalty for losing due to the blessings deck. However, when we start AP5 (pretty late to set the rule I suppose), I plan on suggesting the rule I've seen often online that I use with my brother. If the party loses due to the blessings deck running out, everybody banishes one random card from their deck. We've gotten lucky and banished things like Thieve's Tools, and other times we get really unlucky -- the last failure my brother and I had he lost his Great Club +3 as Valeros, and I lost my Mass Cure as Lini!!

I like your idea though. It keeps them from being safe just because they change their minds later :)


Andrew K wrote:

When I play with my group of friends, we have no penalty for losing due to the blessings deck. However, when we start AP5 (pretty late to set the rule I suppose), I plan on suggesting the rule I've seen often online that I use with my brother. If the party loses due to the blessings deck running out, everybody banishes one random card from their deck. We've gotten lucky and banished things like Thieve's Tools, and other times we get really unlucky -- the last failure my brother and I had he lost his Great Club +3 as Valeros, and I lost my Mass Cure as Lini!!

I like your idea though. It keeps them from being safe just because they change their minds later :)

I was trying for more of a "realistic' penalty (If thats possible in an fantasy game lol) but I really like your idea as well and will try it in our next game.

I don't think this problem is just in need of a "House Rule" though and is something that should be seriously looked at for the next set of cards.

Not a great start being thrown into the "Homebrew" section....


I think being able to "quit" is important. The cost of dying is so severe that it is designed, I think, to partially make you want to stop exploring so that you don't have to suffer the loss of your character. There isn't really a need to punish people just because they realize they are beaten to a pulp. A change to the rules that would force you to risk losing your character would be tough.

And even if you stop exploring, there are still some risks. If you can't get to a closed location, a "horde" barrier could get you. Or a harpy.

Do you play with people that frequently quit exploring?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm with Hawkmoon on this one. It doesn't make sense that your characters, noticing they're badly hurt, can't choose to cut their losses and head back to town to rest and heal. Any rule that makes trying to avoid death more painful is, in my opinion, to the detriment of the game. Unless people are really abusing running out the clock, I don't think an additional rule is necessary


An easy way to implement wandering monsters is to replace a few of the cards (3-6) in the blessings deck with random enemies. when a player reveals a monster, they immediately encounter it.
I've played this variant a lot and I think it improves the game.

Scarab Sages

I do agree that the idea of putting a bane in the blessings deck and having it threaten the characters is a really unique and interesting idea. I will definitely play with some form of that sometime...it does make players more cautious - they could hit it even if they're "resting" and chilling out.


Calthaer wrote:
I do agree that the idea of putting a bane in the blessings deck and having it threaten the characters is a really unique and interesting idea. I will definitely play with some form of that sometime...it does make players more cautious - they could hit it even if they're "resting" and chilling out.

Yes, I really love this idea!


There has also been a suggestion that each blessing has an effect when it comes up. Some help the arty, and other hurt the party. I forget where I saw the thread, but I am sure that someone can link it. It was a decent idea that I was thinking about giving a try at some point.


John Davis 2 wrote:

An easy way to implement wandering monsters is to replace a few of the cards (3-6) in the blessings deck with random enemies. when a player reveals a monster, they immediately encounter it.

I've played this variant a lot and I think it improves the game.

That is an interesting idea; maybe it enhance it you could 'up' the difficult based on the adventure deck number

Some like: For each scenario, based on the adventure deck, replace a number of blessings with a random monster from the box in the blessing deck. If a monster appears on the deck, summon it at the location of the character whose turn it is and immediately encounter it.

1, or non-specified: None
2: 1d4
3: 1d6
4: 1d8
5: 1d10
6: 1d12

Of course this also leads to others ideas: For a scenario, you are 'holding the fort' while waiting for a particular reinforcement (shuffle 'X' allies into the blessing deck); if the ally appear on the blessing deck, immediately acquire it... the game ends when all the reinforcements arrive.

In that example, you'd have to really ramp of the challenge to make that difficult of course, but the possibilities.... (drool)

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